#I would be interested in this version of the story

[thewertsearch]

Anonymous asked: just read through your entire liveblog and wow. what a place to catch up. do you have any predictions about what the postscratch versions of the guardians will be? what about the guardian versions of the kids?

So.

Mom Lalonde, Grandpa Harley, Nanna Egbert, and Bro Strider, reborn as the story's protagonists, and thrust into a Playerdom I never expected them to bear. The consequences of this reveal are likely to kick in on the very next page - and since that's a page I'm clicking on tonight, this is my last chance for some blind speculation.

There are an absolute mountain of angles I could potentially cover here, and it's impossible to address all the implications of this twist, so I'm just going to touch on a few key questions that Act 6 will need to answer sooner rather than later.

Without further ado, let's dive into our first question.

Who, exactly, is raising these kids?

The simplest solution, of course, would be a one-to-one exchange between each Player and their Guardian. That certainly seems to be the case for Jade and Grandpa, who have been directly swapped. This would imply that Rose raised Mom, Dave raised Bro, and John might have raised Nanna. (More on that later.)

Still, that's not the only possibility. There's no reason why Dave couldn't raise the adolescent Mom instead, for example, with Rose adopting the younger Bro in his stead. That particular configuration has a lot of character potential, actually, because Bro Lalonde would undoubtedly be an unholy terror, and Mom Strider might just be one of the coolest characters I've ever conceived of.

This aesthetic, with those shades? Come on.

...all that said, though, I'm fairly sure we are just getting a one-to-one swap. That's how it appears to have worked for the trolls, and the one post-Scratch Player with a confirmed Guardian already matches this pattern.

Plus, swapping the kids with their own parents is just so interesting, on a character level, as it'd add a whole new dimension of analysis to the fucked-up relationships between Bro & Dave, Mom & Rose, and Grandpa & Jade.

Seeing how they all treat each other, now that the roles have been reversed, would be incredibly illuminating, and might shed some light on the thought processes of the pre-Scratched Guardians, as they were raising their own respective charges.

Anyway - now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk about each individual family.

The Egberts

Astute readers will notice that I only mentioned the Guardian-Player parallels for three of our Players above - and that's because when it comes to the fourth, there's a slight complication.

Namely, Dad Egbert no longer exists.

This means that Nanna's home life can't parallel John's, because the man who raised John was never even born. It's possible, then, that John will simply raise Nanna himself, as her grandfather.

Honestly, that's the scenario I'm hoping for, here. Out of our four original Players, I think that John would be the best parent by far - he's sweet, resilient, and has a natural talent for nurturing the positive qualities of the people he loves. If a baby lands in his backyard, he's going to rise to the challenge, octogenarianism be damned.

...now, here's where I'd speculate a little about Nanna's personality, but she's the one post-Scratch Player I can't really get a bead on. We only ever interacted with her Spritesona, whose personality was obviously corrupted by the presence of the jester doll.

As a result, I don't really have a clue what Nanna will be like. The only thing I'm sure about, if John's the one raising her, is that she'll be loved.

The Striders

First of all, I have faith in Dave.

I think he's more or less guaranteed to be a better Guardian than his brother ever was. Granted, I don't think Dave would be particularly paternal, but I also think he'll be able to refrain from beating Bro's ass with a puppet, which is progress.

I think Dave would be a laissez-faire type of guardian, who allows the younger Bro a lot more agency and autonomy than other kids his age, but also struggles to be the adult in the room when his kid needs guidance. He's not going to be as traumatized as his younger self, but I bet it's still borderline impossible to have a serious conversation with him. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Kid Bro turned out to be the more mature of the pair.

In a nutshell, Dave was born to be a cool uncle, but was forced unwittingly into a parental role instead. He's doing his best.

Quite frankly, I'm very worried about Kid Bro.

If we assume that every Paradox Clone keeps the same Veil item as last time - and there's no reason why they wouldn't - then Bro will be coming down with Lil' Cal, the cursed puppet created by Gamzee's Chucklevoodoos.

I'm still convinced that long-term exposure to this abomination was the main reason Bro was so batshit insane, and while the younger Bro won't have been around it for quite as long, he'll still have thirteen years of an evil Juggalo's Rage miasma being beamed into his brain.

I think Kid Bro will be a little batshit, but not completely batshit. We'll see a child with the potential to become the deranged ventriloquist who tormented Dave, but one who can still be saved, if we can just get that hell puppet away from him.

Separated from Cal, I still think Bro will be a memelord, and I'm sure not all his interests came from the puppet. I think this guy was always destined to be a pretty bizarre dude - but with luck, this iteration of him will be a little more pleasant to be around.

The Lalondes

Rose... could go either way, honestly.

Just like Dave, I don't think she's the type who'd willingly choose to be a parent. Rose doesn't want a baby, she wants a library full of cursed tomes, a coven of witches to scheme with, and to live in an enormous gothic castle with her wife, Kanaya Maryam. Her ideal lifestyle couldn't handle a kid, and I think she's self-aware enough to know that, and adopt a hundred mutant kittens instead.

That said... if she had to raise a daughter, I think she'd try her best to do right by the girl. I think some part of her would absolutely resent the fact that she's a background character in someone else's life - especially if, like the Sufferer, she remembers being a Player - but she'd do everything she could to keep that resentment to herself.

Rose would be an alright mother. A little cold, maybe, and more than a little distant, but she'd still love her Roxy.

As for Roxy, I can only assume she's a gigantic fucking badass. Even among the Guardians, her barehanded combat feats were always astounding, and I think she and Kid Bro will be the primary combatants of their session.

I also think she'll be one of the most analytical, scientifically-minded Players we've ever seen. Her adult self was experimenting with Ectobiology even outside of Sburb, which suggests to me an intense curiosity about how all this shit works, which isn't present in most of our other heroes. Like Rose, she'll be a researcher, and maybe even a Seer - but while Rose searched for the truth via magic and mysticism, Roxy's research will be entirely scientific.

Honestly, the most exciting thing about finally meeting Roxy is the milestone it'll represent. I'll finally, finally have encountered every character I knew about prior to starting the comic.

The Harleys

Grandma Jade was still the Witch of Space, and was clearly aware of that fact.

This tells us that:

John, Rose and Dave also retained their Titles, even if they don't know it.

Grandma Jade was probably aware of Sburb and its secrets, especially if she was living near the Frog Temple.

Grandma Jade was the Witch of Space. She's gone.

...and I have a theory about what happened to her.

I think that when Grandpa was a baby, Jade travelled to Anachronism Island, just like her predecessor did - but this time around, it wasn't Bec who greeted her at the Temple.

No, I think Jade had a fatal encounter with the new First Guardian of Earth - a corrupted First Guardian, spliced with the same HONK code that created Scratch. Kid Grandpa clearly survived whatever happened next, and I think it's horribly plausible that the new First Guardian is a pseudo-Guardian to him, the same way Becquerel was to Jade.

In other words, this kid might be completely compromised, manipulated by English's servant since infancy. Let's not forget that he's the one who suggested making the bunny to Jade, which is the reason Jack was able to ascend in the first place...

...but someone suggested it to him, first.

Anyway, those are my high-level thoughts about the new timeline's key players. We'll be starting Act 6 in an hour or so, and I've got a feeling that we're about to see Nanna standing in a very familiar room.

After all, it just so happens that today...

[cutehoons02]

You don’t have to tease the "Ice Prince"

*pairing: pervy boyfriend Sunghoon idol x coquette Girl

*tags: grumpy x sunshine

*synopsis: What if your boyfriend finds out you’re reading a "spicy" one-shot found on Tumblr with him as the male lead?

*tags: Teasing, fluffy, humor, Sunghoon is a pervert, jealousy, possession, tease each other, embarrassment, unprotected sex (don’t horny people) + 18 minors don’t interact,cowgirl with skirt,masturbation,kissing,fingering,a little degradations (slut,bad girl),pet names (good girl,princess) (Hoonie) fluffy moment at the end

(English is not my native language)

5.4k (🎀)

You were on the sofa where you shared the apartment with your roommates but luckily that weekend they were all going out, you had your phone in your hands and were particularly distracted and curious by what you found on Twitter. Your mind wandered, while the sound of water rushing from the shower made you aware of Sunghoon’s proximity which was a few meters away. You had just seen a fan account that recommended your boyfriend’s new Tumblr fanfiction dedicated to him, written by a profile who was very popular on Tumblr because this account wrote fanfiction about Enhypen and each one-shot had thousands of likes. Curious, you decided to read it, without imagining that reading would trigger an unexpected reaction from your boyfriend.

"Hmm, let’s see what the fans say about Hoon..." you thought opening the link.

Meanwhile, Sunghoon, who had just showered, came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel with his usual serious but relaxed look. It seemed the perfect version of "Ice Prince" even then, but those who knew him well knew that inside he hid a more sarcastic personality and a little perverse, especially when it came to Y/n. Hoon looked at you while you were busy reading something on your phone and his look lowered on the top that you had with small bows that stood out your shapes above your breasts. Still, his eyes moved immediately on your skirt of a good girl who loved to put on, especially during the weekends to go out in the clubs or to tease the direct interested, always appreciated your physique but your legs were the thing that made him more and more excited, they were: skinny to the point, straight, your thighs were firm and a little muscular for all those years you had done sports and loved to put you on his big legs muscled and crazy when you rode it.

He had a little bit of a kinky mind when he thought about you but when he talked about you to his friends or family, he always described you as his favorite kind of girl, You were sweet with everyone, you studied a lot, and were happy to be your boyfriend because in more than 6 months of relationship you had almost never argued about anything and he was happy to have a healthy relationship.

'What are you reading princess? 'What is it that has so much attracted your attention?' You looked up completely embarrassed and gave him a little smile that he loved to see you do, was a sincere smile but at the same time you were hiding something

"Oh my God, Hoon! You scared me I didn’t think you had already finished washing" You immediately turned off the phone and put it on the small table that you had in your room.

Sunghoon, as he was drying his hair, raised an eyebrow, almost annoyed at your response. Walking towards you and with a low, mysterious voice he said: 'What were you looking at? Don’t tell me you were still reading those dark romance books that you’ve been obsessed with lately.'

You looked at him with bright eyes and the eyes that passed from the phone to his body in plain sight that you had before you and the thing that made you blush most was that he had only a towel tied to his waist and nothing else. "Uhh.... one of your fans on Twitter posted a link to a Tumblr story... about you. It seemed interesting and I read the plot just to see what it was about."

Sunghoon looked at you with a mischievous smile 'Interesting, huh? And what does this story say?' He came up to you and blew on your neck, making you a little bit scared but also excited. The air between you two became immediately more charged and he laughed nervously. " Well, it’s about this super cute girl... and a mysterious and sexy guy who is called "Ice Prince" as well as you, who wins the heart of this girl. It seems to me that they have used a little too much imagination..."

Sunghoon stood in front of you, bending his head with a funny smile. 'Oh? And how do you think they describe me, eh?' His voice was low, and his tone more provocative.

You sunflower to look at him with an ironic smile on your lips. " Well, I guess you’re the typical 'Ice Prince', but with a hidden side you would say a mix between a possessive guy of his girlfriend and we also add sexy but at the same time that you love to have it just for yourself and treat her as if she was the only one for your eyes."

Sunghoon approached slowly, leaning towards you, the eyes shimmering with a mischievous light. 'Sexy, uh? And how would you like me to be, Y/n? Because I know you like to play with fire and you know that with me you will be sure to bite.'

You blushed slightly but didn’t back down. " Ah, but you know it, Hoon. I like you both as 'Ice Prince' and as... possessive guy towards me and that you treat me like your princesses." Your smile widened as you added, "And then, it’s not my fault that... you’re so sexy and handsome, aren’t you?"

Sunghoon stopped for a moment as if that sentence had struck him. But then his perverted side took over.

Sunghoon came even closer, almost making you touch your body. 'Oh? Sexy, huh? Then you should tell me which part of me makes you crazy."

You chuckled, unsure of how to answer. "Well, Hoon, that’s it. You drive me crazy when you’re serious and cold, but also when things get hot...and when only with me you show me the most human part of yourself"

Sunghoon looked at you with a twinkle in his eyes and lightly stroked your all-red cheek and gave you a little kiss 'Oh, Now I understand... so you like it when it comes out both my perverted part that is only with you princess but also when I make the perfect boyfriend, huh?'

The tension between you was palpable, as if every word, every look, were a little game of seduction. You knew that Hoon had that side of himself he never showed to others, but you, with your chatty and carefree character, managed to get it out.

"Well, if I say it too clearly, you’ll become even more perverted, and your alpha male ego will double up so maybe you should just let it go."

Sunghoon smiled with a face that defied innocence. 'Oh, don’t worry, you know by now my 'perverse' is only for you." and gave you a wink and went to your room to dress.

You watched it amused and your mouth curled into a mischievous smile. "I know, Hoon. And I love you for that."

After the dinner you had prepared for you two, Hoon stretched and you saw how he looked good with his fake nerd glasses, gray jumpsuit pants, and a slightly loose shirt that wrapped up his beautiful toned physique. Hoon wanted to relax and you put them in your bed to watch a series but after a while Hoon fell asleep hugged you and you took some photos to send to the other members to tease him after your session as a photographer with a grin, you dumped Tumblr because you were curious to know and read what fans wrote about your boyfriend and you found hundreds of one-shots with #Sunghoon x reader and thought in a low voice "Wow, they’re all so... smut and intense!"

The stories were almost all based on Hoon, but each time they described more daring, provocative versions of him, some even a little "inconvenient". There were many stories of him in the vampire version, in the nerd version, in the Ice Prince King of Ice Skating etc, etc. A wave of excitement and curiosity crossed you, but there was also a small part of you that felt... jealous... No, not exactly. You were just a little amused by the idea of all those girls writing about him, almost as if they wanted it in the absolute way.

You would see with your finger and put some like to stories because you wanted to read them absolutely and you stopped at a particular story and thought.

"Oh, I can’t believe they imagined this... Hoon is so different when you know it, but I don’t mind that they see it like that. Who wouldn’t be attracted to him?"

You kept reading, while every word, every description of Hoon as a "perfect guy" made you smile. But the more you read, the wider your grin became, a little amused but also surprised. Hoon, although more shy and distant, had another face that came out in the fans' dreams. You had found a story interesting and tried to read it but while you were reading and you were almost halfway through the story and you were completely absorbed in the reading, a warm hand suddenly squeezed your wrist.

You shoot, finding yourself face to face with Hoon, who is looking at you with a mischievous and... dangerous smile.

'It seems to me that you are finding something interesting in that phone, Y/n '

You felt a shiver down your back. You didn’t know if you were excited or a little scared by his expression.

"Oh... nothing, I was just... just running through. It’s not what it looks like." you gave a forced smile, trying to hide your embarrassment and curiosity that you had to finish that story.

Sunghoon raised an eyebrow, still holding the phone and in a deeper tone told you. 'Really? Because it seems to me that you are reading some... detailed stories about me.' His voice had a tone that mixed the game with a kind of warning, but his grin added tension.

You were a little more nervous, trying to get away from his grip, but he stopped you with a look that left no room for doubt. Sunghoon came closer and his warm breath on your ear gave you a little shiver. 'You know Y/n, it’s not nice to do things without asking... but I like that you’re curious.'

You felt your legs give a little, but you did not let yourself be discouraged.

"I didn’t think you were jealous of fanfiction, Hoon. It’s not my fault they’re so fascinated by you." You said in a slightly provocative tone and Sunghoon smiled at you, a smile that, though affectionate, concealed a veil of danger. 'Oh, I’m not jealous. But more than anything... I’m curious to know what you like about me, and how you react to these stories. Do you think they’re right? Or maybe you’re trying to... imagine something more? What is it that, I don’t suffice in flesh and bones that touch you, To make you come with my hands or fuck you?'

You looked into his eyes with your mouth slightly open in amazement, feeling the atmosphere change completely. " Maybe I want to see what happens when the game gets... more interesting and how you imagine your fans in situations like this..."

The whole environment seemed to change as if the serenity of the evening had been replaced by a thrill of anticipation. You should have been very careful that night because Hoon was not at all like his fans described him in those fanfictions.

And now... he seemed ready to let you discover a whole new side of himself...

Sunghoon, with the phone still in his hands and a smile of pure satisfaction, settled more comfortably next to you. His fake nerd glasses reflected the light of the screen, and his gaze was fixed on you as the tension in the air grew. You watched him, nervous, trying to grab the phone, but he was too fast and kept it out of your reach and looked at you with a look that made you understand that you should be in your place.

Let’s see what my princess was reading with such interest.

'Am I curious as well to know what the fans think of me... or maybe us?'

You tried to hide the redness that invaded your cheeks and saw the look of Hoon down to your long legs completely uncovered and your skirt that rose slightly as you were sitting, you tried to pull the skirt down to cover your legs, But Sunghoon was quicker. His big hand laid naturally on your completely naked thigh at this point, touching the skin uncovered and making you shudder when while gently touching your thigh it also left you little pinches.

You were definitely nervous and tried to stop his hand from slowly rising more and more "Hoon, it’s nothing! Just... nonsense, really. You don’t have to read!"

Sunghoon ignored you and with a cold smile said: 'Nonsense? Let’s see...'

He began to read aloud, with his calm and deep voice making the words sound even more intense.

"'Hoon pushed her slightly into his bed and her look was icy as he sat down leaning on the bedside keyboard he made her lean on his muscular legs. His voice was a whisper, but strong enough to make her lose her head: 'You can’t run from me, you know that?'"

You held a hand to your face, embarrassed to the bone, while Sunghoon kept reading in a funny but sharp tone.

""His hands slowly slid down her legs, leaving a trail of chills. She needed no words; his touch was enough to make her understand that it belonged to him... completely.'""

Sunghoon’s hand, meanwhile, moves slowly on your thigh, almost following the rhythm of words. His eyes never broke from the text, but the smile on his face revealed that he knew exactly what he was doing.

You almost stammering you said. "Hoon! You can’t... I mean, stop it! That’s not fair!"

Sunghoon smiled and smiled, just turned his gaze to you 'Isn’t that right? You were reading these things about me. I think you were very curious, didn't you? Or maybe you wanted... to imagine something more?'

Your eyes were pierced and his words struck you. Your mind was in turmoil, torn between the embarrassment of being caught in the act and the excitement that Hoon was creating with his calculated and direct attitude.

Sunghoon came to your ear, with a low and sharp tone. 'Tell me, princess, why do you have to act like a bad girl and read these things when you have me right here? Don’t you just have the original?'

His hand slipped slightly higher on your thigh and when he found the edge of your panties he began to pass one finger along your entire lace edge and you held your breath.

What did you have to answer him? With the truth or with a lie?

"Maybe I just wanted to... figure out what the others see in you."

Sunghoon laughed because he knew it was a lie, you just wanted to cover your ass so you wouldn’t face the consequences.

'What a nonsense answer. You don’t have to find out through Tumblr. You’re the only one who can see the real me. And I assure you that I’m far more interesting than anything these stories can tell.'

The atmosphere between you had become more intense, almost palpable. Sunghoon, despite his serious tone, had that spark in his eyes that indicated how much he was enjoying seeing you embarrassed and, at the same time, excited by the situation.

'Now, tell me: would you rather read more stories or find out what I can do? Because, I’m not just the ice boy that everyone imagines... but this you already know, right?'

You didn’t know exactly what to say and there was an awkward silence, your cheeks were all red and you were torturing your nails with your teeth. It was a reaction that Sunghoon had never seen before. He watched you, his grin was more and more pronounced. This rare vulnerability of yours to see was a weapon he would never have wasted.

Sunghoon came closer to your ear, with a low and icy voice

'What’s the matter? You’re speechless? You can’t even defend yourself, where is the girl who loved to tease me and test me with her arrogance?'

You looked at him, swaying, biting your lip to try to calm the embarrassment that grew to excess.

"I can’t stand you, Hoon! You’re unbearable!"

Sunghoon stopped, pretending to reflect for a moment. Then he smiled a dangerous, almost sharp smile.

'Unbearable? Are you the one who has decided to read certain things? Are you the one who has behaved like a bad girl?'

His words hit you like an arrow, growing that mixture of embarrassment and tension that made your heart beat faster.

"No... it’s not true. It was just curiosity."

But he didn’t seem to want to let you escape. He scrolled the fanfiction on your phone and began to read aloud again, in a slow and dangerous tone:

"His lips settled on her skin, slowly descending as he held it under him. «You can’t run away», he whispered to her, his breath against her neck, making her tremble. It was all control and desire as if every movement of her was calculated to drive her crazy... and while he kissed her neck he fingered the already completely moist panties and said: take off your panties without getting up from my lap and leave the skirt of a good girl that you are not for nothing"

Sunghoon’s hands moved slowly on your uncovered leg, his fingers brushing with a delicacy that seemed almost dangerous the center of the panties and felt they were already wet. You hold your breath, trying not to be overwhelmed by the sensation.

'Put yourself over my length, princess, let’s see if you can recreate this scene,' said Sunghoon looking at you with a cold look. When you heard these words you pushed him slightly to leave but he blocked you with a wrist.

"Hoon, stop it! I told you to stop it! I was just curious you don’t have to act like..."

Sunghoon stopped for a moment but with an even more intense smile

'Stop? You are the one who made me discover these things. Now you can’t complain'

You tried to reply, but you didn’t have time. Before you could say anything, Sunghoon took you by the hips put his muscular legs over you dropped the phone next to your bed, and leaned towards you and his lips found yours with a chilling confidence, yet warm and overwhelming.

The kiss was anything but gentle. He was full of desire and control as if he wanted to show you that no story, no fantasy written by a fan could compete with what he was.

Initially, you stood still, surprised by the intensity of the kiss but soon you found yourself to respond to the kiss. His hands immediately sought your ass and brought you even closer to him so you felt immediately its hard length between your panties that slowly became more soggy; you tried to push it away because you were slightly angry, But you ended up clinging to his shirt, as if your body had decided to surrender. Completely to him.

Sunghoon slightly detached from your lips and whispered to you:

'Tell me, princess, do you still think these stories can truly describe how I feel about you? Or must I prove it to you again?'

You looked into his eyes, still unsure of how to react. Your breath was fast, your heart was beating so fast it seemed like Hoon could feel it.

"You’re not... you’re not as intense as they describe you."

Sunghoon laughed, a low and deep laugh that seemed to vibrate in the air.

'Intense? Y/n, I haven’t even started. Take off your panties without completely taking off from me and leave the skirt' He said to you in an authoritarian way you would have wanted to yell at him but his gaze was fixed on yours and looked at you with a grin.

You knew he was playing with you, but you couldn’t deny that that side of Sunghoon - so sure, so controlled yet passionate at the same time was irresistible to both your mind and body.

"You’re terrible, Hoon." Whispering, trying to regain control, You slowly rose with your knees from your legs, and slowly as if you wanted to tease him even more slipped your pink panties with the bow between your legs and immediately felt the cold air around your pussy that was getting wet more and more.

Sunghoon bent down to the level of your lobe and said to you. 'Good girl' with a mischievous smile

His lips immediately went to give you small kisses on your neck and at the same time sucked it to give you the idea that only he could leave you red marks, You would have seen them in the next few days as you would have gone to see them in the mirror and you unwillingly your hips and your pussy now completely wet move slowly and unconsciously along its length still covered by your pants.

'You were embarrassed until a few minutes ago while I read that shit on me and now you’re here like a slut rubbing up on my dick, who are you y/n? Take off my pants but don’t you dare to take off my boxer, I want you to come straining over my dick and if you’re good I could give you a little help'

You stared at him as you felt that he had called you slut but at the same time you were even more excited because he had used his tone and sharp point that he used a few times with you, but when he used it you knew that it would end not bad anymore. You saw Hoon take off his shirt and stand bare chest and put your little hands in his strong muscles and you covered them as if they were made of gold and with the hands, slightly trembling feces slip his pants of the suit on the ground and with a snatch he brought you back over his boxer shorts and you with your pussy completely naked could feel the attrition of his cock that was getting bigger and bigger inside the boxer shorts.

His big hands were around your hips and at the same time on your ass and began to make you squirm against its length and every time you tried your mind was clouded with pleasure, you could not wait to have it completely inside of you. " Hoonie, please" You heard Sunghoon giggle and gave you a light slap in the ass and you jerked both for the scorching but also the excitement.

'Use the words Y/n, you are no longer that little girl who had to learn how to take my cock. They created you with your mouth both to take my dick blissfully but also to talk and to have your opinion, use her' You rubbed again your pussy dripping in his boxer shorts, and with embarrassment saw that you had slightly wet them and you were not only wet but there was also a more slimy part attached to you.

"Please let me come, I’ll be good to you" Sunghoon stretched your buttocks slightly and saw that you were gone, Your pussy was dripping, and without telling you he stuck his finger in the center of your heat and began to pump it up and down and at the same time curl it inside you.

'Are you satisfied? You know I shouldn’t even make you come, right? I don’t like bad girls who read dirty and you know that, But today you crossed the line. You read some dirty things about me with the knowledge that I could discover you' You sighed slightly and another finger entered inside you and as a good girl, you took both so well.

Sunghoon was ecstatic, You had only the bra on obviously pink candy with cute bows, and that fucking little skirt that now held it up to see how your pussy took well his fingers but with a brusque gesture immediately pulled them out and looked at him with the mouth slightly. " Hoon, no please, it was so nice please you can’t" Hoon put his finger on your lips to make you shut up and lightly smeared your arousal and licked it.

"How many times have I told you that you shouldn’t tease the ice prince in me, Y/n? I will only make you cum with my dick inside of you and you should also thank me because I could go again to take a shower and masturbate instead of making you come.

Sunghoon pulled up his supreme black boxer shorts and his cock slightly bounced in her sculpted V-line, it was long, thick, and slightly veiny and you already knew that you would have a hard time getting it all inside your tiny tight pussy. With slightly trembling hands and the excitement you had between your legs, you took it in your hands and gently pumped it, you would have wanted to tease him but Sunghoon was looking at you with a funny look but at the same time serious and if you did something that he would not be well he would leave you alone or punish you. You pumped it for a good minute and saw how Sunghoon was passing his fingers through the thick hair after a while you got up slightly and tried to take it but the feeling of its tip pressing on your hole was too much.

Sunghoon held your ass tight and you tried to get used to it slowly and felt his cock working its way into your tight pussy, you jerked so sweetly and a little moan came out of your lips and Hoon was amazed to see you so all for himself, The eyes began to slightly become brighter as your hole tightened around him. Your swollen lips drop into a pretty "oh!" and he smiles.

"Fuck- Hoonie is too big! I can’t!"

'You can do it for me, princess. It’s the second time you've taken him sitting between my legs and already the first time you had enjoyed', his breath is hot against your ear. 'I’ll make sure it goes well. Just when you feel comfortable mount me slightly and then I’ll help you as the last time ' You already feel so drunk on his dick, you struggle to keep your eyes open while he sticks his big tip in the sloppy hole. Hoon’s cock contracts so well inside you to the sight. 'Come on, darling, be a good princess for me, I already feel that you can ride me.' was so excited to see the way your pussy is gaping so shamefully open for him. Gasping gasps at every push, every ride you make of his cock your pussy squirts and milks it well with all your slimy sperm. " Hoonie...too much," Whine a little until you hear your boyfriend untie your breast strap and start sucking on a nipple all hard, and at the same time his big hands were on your hips helping you ride his dick 'Oh god it’s so nice to be on top of you, Please continue to suck my breast"

'open your eyes princess,' moan, touching the bottom in a quick push 'Feel how you take it all...like a good girl or I can call you slut?' your head shakes no, The stretch is enough to break you but Hoon won’t stop until he’s buried in your dripping pussy all the way.

You can’t think. You don’t even realize that your tongue is sticking out until he pulls it out and bends over to suck it when he pushes it back in while your boob bounces at every push of his cock, his hands slamming against your ass in the process. You’re so overwhelmed with him that you can’t return the kiss. The kiss had begun gently but after a while there was nothing sweet and gentle left it was rough and with its strong arms you imprisoned between him. Moving away from you, he smiles as he begins to pull out inch by inch in a painfully slow way. 'the pussy belongs, my cock is yours and I repeat you do not need to read those one-shots about me' he hums, while the dick enters you again and you mount it as if you were obsessed by him.

The rhythm that starts is numbing and makes you delirious. "Oh! Oh my... oh my god! Hoonie please!" You can’t do anything but take it while Sunghoon is getting closer and closer to orgasm. 'I’ll fill you.' he whispers, with a husky voice and dripping with despair. "Must I remind you that you are mine? That you can only take my dick and the only one who can love you and feel all these feelings is me?" You nod enthusiastically, "Yeah... I’ve been yours for months now... Hoonie!" That’s what’s driving him. He impossibly increases the pace, so violent that your skin burns where his hands hit you and slightly pinch your ass. 'Fuck, you’re so beautiful, who would have thought that the girl super cute and with a coquette style girl could be fucked so well by me, an asshole who loves to possess you and love you'

breaks dangerously, the look lost in the cock full of white cream that forms around its base to look you in the eye, 'I need you like this forever...all my life'

"Yes yes yes, please! Forever please!" is completely intent on making you babble for him and being so completely obsessed with him both mentally and physically you can’t stand it anymore.

Your eyes are wide open when he starts hitting your g-spot, fingers sticking into his arms. " Right there! Oh! Hoonie right there is so good to feel and have you just for me!" little howls leave you.

'right here, princess?' purrs, the tip presses more in that soft spot. His eyes are dark and glistening with something predatory. Your body moves with every push, you jerk repeatedly and slam against his cock. Hoon’s thrusts become sloppy when he is near, and the body bends to groan in your ear. 'I'm coming princess' Wrap your arms around his body to pull him closer, you need to feel his heartbeat against yours before pressing your lips on his cheek. " I’m coming Hoonie!!"

You come so strong that your body trembles in Sunghoon’s arms, you were too exhausted and drunk on his cock that all you can feel is Sunghoon beating inside of you. " Hoonie, inside like this, it’s so beautiful "moans softly, the words get blurred as he gives you little kisses on the cheek. The slob hole trembles at the feeling of being so full. "I know princess," he whispers, his voice was light and sweet again. Patiently wait for you to let go of him so he can clean you, not wanting to accidentally trigger but instead of loosening the grip, you curl up against him more, and after a while you start to kiss lightly all the little ones that you loved so much in his face and you saw him slightly become a little embarrassed and his cheeks were even redder.

"I love you, Hoonie." He made you stand up slowly and when he made you lie down he went straight away to get a clean cloth to wash your intimate areas and after a while put on his wide shirt and made you take off that already crumpled fabric of your little skirt and embraced you and gave you a small kiss in the Front and looked at you.

'I love you too, You must never doubt what I can do for you, Y/n. You don’t need those fantasies. You have me and I can give you everything you want. From crazy sex, to love, to protection...whatever you ask" You embraced him, and after a while you both fell into a light sleep as you hugged each other.

OMG🤍i hope you like it not know if you want but I would write this reaction for the other members, would you like?

[lesbianherald]

Hi! Just curious. What exactly is that you didn't like about Viktor's arc? I've seen a few people saying the same thing and idk if I'm missing something or I'm just too over the moon about him that my brain has gone smooth haha.

oh no oh no i'm probably going to write like a whole dissertation about this I am so sorry I'm literally cracking my knuckles I have so many thoughts and not all of them I'll even get to articulate here.

Saying this upfront: you aren't smooth-brained for disagreeing with me or liking it. I want to say that outright as I'm a very opinionated person and I am going to state my very strong opinions very plainly.

That being said : I genuinely feel like season 2 needed like... character writing 101 for a lot of these characters, especially the two characters whose names start with a 'V'. I'm so serious if one of my students brought in a story like this, I would (gently) take it apart.

If you don't want to read the whole thing I'm about to unleash, the crux of it is this for me:

Throughout the course of the season, it's very hard to discern how many of Viktor's decisions are his own. He lacks the baseline autonomy that's necessary for satisfying development. The magic of the hexcore becomes a shiny distraction that makes meaningful development impossible. Additionally, season 2 forgets so many of the themes and threads they explored with Viktor in season one explicitly in terms of class and his position on war and weapons manufacturing.

And, like almost everything in season 2, these issues are compounded because his story is done at a pace that's completely lightning-fast and prioritizes the wrong things.

Here's my thesis:

How Does a Man Like Viktor Become the Machine Herald? Arcane's Answer: Magic orb or vague sadness or something idk.

Harry Lloyd said in a season 1 commentary somewhere that one of the main appeals for Viktor is knowing who he is in the game and wondering how you take a man like him, who is so kind and has people's best interests at heart, and see him slowly become the machine herald.

I agree 100% that this is part of the story's appeal for players. And it would be a delight and surprise for non-players.

We... get that very juicy premise ripped from us. We don't see him making decisions grounded in the character they set up in season 1 at all, really. And its very unsatisfying seeing him be rendered a mere victim of circumstance with vague attachments to his past self.

This is not necessarily a complaint about arcane herald vs machine herald (I did not play league and am not attached to the lore) but a complaint that a lot of what happens with Viktor in season 2 seems very unattached to his psychology.

Christian Linke himself said (and I forget where, so I am sorry if I'm paraphrasing terribly) that part of the question he wanted the audience to ask with Viktor is how much of this is really him? Bluntly. That is incredibly silly. It's such an important question that it makes all other interesting questions one might have about him really hard to parse.

That's not compelling. That's a mistake. That's not rooted in character anymore but a vague magical orb.

Here are some questions that would have been more interesting for us to ask, Christian.

How does his desire to tamper out human emotion prompt him to do the unspeakable? What leads him there?

How far is he willing to go to take away human pain and suffering?

Is his version of pacifism really, in actuality, a form of violence?

Will his connection with others be enough to bring him back to his humanity? (this is a question we were not prompted to ask, and if we were, it would have made the final scene (which I love regardless) a lot more satisfying.

What is the root of his hunger for power? How much of his quest is a hunger for power and control over others (rooted in a fractured and tragic sense of self)? and how much is it rooted in his desire to help? Where is that line?

Any of these questions or any other questions we could enjoy exploring with Viktor become tampered with and weakened by the fact that a vague magical entity is controlling him in a vague and unrelatable way.

In short, 'How much of Viktor is still Viktor?' is a far less interesting question than. 'how is Viktor going to act, change, and learn? ' We are forced to ask the first at the cost of the second. He clearly is not fully himself this season.

The Dropping of Themes and Traits

Season 1's exploration of Viktor was multi-layered and fascinating. I feel like we got to see the establishment of a kind-hearted, sometimes awkward yet quite funny, passionate scientist.

I don't feel we see much of any of this in season 2. The stupid fucking orb overrides a lot of the traits we've come to know and love. This would have been cool if done with an ounce of care, understanding, or autonomy.

In season 1, we see Viktor in a position of powerlessness over and over. We see Viktor ignored and looked down upon by those in power both for his disability and, crucially, for his status as a Zaunite.

We're introduced to him as someone who is desperate to prove himself and carve a place for himself. He knows he's brilliant. And he knows he can help people with that big brain of his. That's all he wants. And he wants to make his mark (something I theorize is rooted in his loneliness as well as his ambition)

(Side note: I find a lot of the debate on whether or not Viktor is insecure a little silly because you can be both confident and insecure. He's incredibly secure in his abilities as a scientist, but I fully do believe he places all his worth on his work because he's not as confident in other places - represented visually by him trying to point out his boat when Sky is looking at him in the flashback. A 'don't look at me look at what I've made' type thing.)

Anyways. Viktor is willing to risk his position as an assistant and, honestly, his position at the academy and in Piltover as a whole to help Jayce. This is not just because he's 'lol so chaotic' or whatever. This is actually quite calculated. He knows he will get nowhere in Piltovian society without bending rules, because Piltover was not built for people like him.

"Do you think it was my life's ambition to be an assistant?"

But even in taking that huge step for himself, his new role is complicated.

We see him sit through meetings where his people are talked about like burdens. We see his closest (and honestly only) ally and partner speak over him in meetings and overrule his desires and wants when it comes to the future of hextech in massive ways. We see Jayce call all Zaunites 'dangerous' (I love jayce... don't shoot me please. But we do often forget that this does canonically happen and what makes Jayce so incredible is that he grows from this point)

The moment on the bridge directly causes him not to tell Jayce about what he's doing to himself. Jayce apologizing right after doesn't matter so much as it reinforces one of Viktor's fears: he is alone.

We see his illness, !!!!caused by Piltover's oppression!!!!, take over. We see him and Jayce grow apart. We see the way his loneliness impacts his desperation and the way his desperation impacts his loneliness and we see the way he's so damn afraid and just wants to live. We see how much he wants to help people, and how even though he's tried so hard he never got to achieve that because the limits of this society just don't allow for it.

Season 1 Act one is Viktor taking action for himself. season 1 Acts 2 and 3 are a brutal reminder that no matter how hard he works. No matter how hard he claws. He will always be who he is. And that makes him Powerless in this society. I honestly find it a really compelling storyline in terms of the 'bootstrap theory' and debunking that - but a different topic for a different time!

At the end of the season, he's able to gain a huge amount of power - speaking at the council about freeing his city - through Jayce's platforming and allyship. But at the end of the day it doesn't matter, because what the council is doing is too little too late - people in Zaun are too tired and too hurt - and he gets caught in the crossfire.

Despite all this, Season 2 does not engage with Viktor's being a Zaunite outside of the fact that he returns to Zaun first. But the themes explored related to class and power are gone - as they are with everyone else really.

It makes sense to me that one of the first things Viktor would do when granted a new body and new power would be to go and try to help people in Zaun, but the ambiguous mechanisms of the magic inside him, the immediate divorce with Jayce, and the bizarre way he goes about it don't make this land.

And even the return is rendered sort of meaningless. Where is the personal connection to this place? Why are we given no details related to his past here? Why doesn't he return to somewhere more personal for him?

He speaks in this cold, unaffected monotone. This healing ability seems to be the 'recursive impulse' - so him finally getting to help people just like he wanted feels rooted so much in the arcane influence it becomes murky and strange.

This is more nitpicky, and I'd be okay with it being ignored in the right context - but another aspect of his character that gets dropped is his work as a scientist. His desire to help people not through magic, but through invention. This would have been fascinating. (They try to keep this alive through vague allusions to 'look at what I've created' blah blah but again, so much of it is all ORB)

What inventions would a fully autonomous Viktor who decided to leave Jayce and return to Zaun of his own fruition create? Would they toe the line between inventions of progress and inventions of destruction?

Guess we'll never know!

Speaking of weapons. Let's talk about weapons. Let's talk about Viktor's vehement opposition to weapons not being explored within the context of his relationship with Jayce or outside of the rule that there are none allowed in the commune - which becomes quite meaningless when he agrees to work with Ambessa. Yes - he saw those blueprints on the table. But that's all we get.

Also, the fact that Jayce just unquestionably builds hextech weapons in the finale, and they're used as a good thing and a way to fight off Noxus, makes me want to claw my own hair out. Like - my themes ! Not my precious themes !

Let's also talk about him working with Ambessa. There's no build-up to that decision, not near enough character work to make that believable and considering the way the plot is written elsewhere, I fully believe this is a huge part of the problem of the writer's room dropping the issue of class. The idea that Viktor, the character that they set up, would ever willingly work with Ambessa is laughable. There are so many other ways he could have gotten to the hexcore in his fully evolved form, easily bested Jayce, and evolved. And they did absolutely nothing in the writing of season 2 to make that an interesting or satisfying choice.

An arc is only an arc if there is substance between point a and b. There's no substance here. There's vague orb. There are little glimpses of the pain he's in because of his separation from Jayce. Teeny tiny allusions to him trying to shut down his emotions. That's simply not enough.

You cannot bring a character who values choice and autonomy, whose been made to feel so powerless and is empathetic, to "choice is meaningless" without a deep study of his psychology and pain. Viktor taking away the autonomy of others, inhabiting their bodies. Being super chill with it. Okay. Coo.

Where does his desire for evolution even come from? For real? Because they seem to mistake Viktor's ambition with his desire for perfection, which is something that was never really... brought up? It could be believable that he felt this way. But where were the signs of this? Not just in season 1 but in season 2. He always wanted to help, not make humanity perfect. Because this is grounded in so little emotional logic I assume we're supposed to be satisfied with the idea that magic orb + machine herald form = ??? this ??? like ??? why???

If he wants to create a world where nobody can feel pain or complex emotions of any sort anymore, which is not psychologically where he was at the end of season 1 at all despite all he went through, you have to give us an event (ideally multiple) in season 2 that could break his mind this badly. Jayce killing him could have been this, but it happened so fast and was executed so impersonally that it doesn't work. He doesn't really acknowledge it happened the next time they see each other. Which... would probably be important to do... again emotional logic where?

His entire speech about humanity at the end of episode 6 feels like it's trying to be a catalyst. But it also feels... incredibly generic and impersonal. It felt written to play over a flashy montage of all the other characters fighting. Not for Viktor. If this was Viktor's moment where he finally snaps, we should probably focus on Viktor. And, of course, it doesn't help that he has this odd monotone this whole time, as if he's not fully in control of himself (this is not a rip on Harry Lloyd at all. He did what he was told and did it very, very well.)

Because remember. They wanted us to ask this. They wanted us to ask how much of this was orb. I think because they knew on some level they could not create a compelling enough story to get viktor where they wanted him to be for some reason without orb. That none of this would make sense without the vague spice of the arcane. And guess what it still doesn't.

Becuase people will not relate to a vague arcane influence. Connect to it. We would want to see what actually in his life made him become this. What in his psychology outside of magic orb made him do this? They provide vague tastes of this in the same way La Croix flavors its drinks.

Brought Back Wrong Can Work: Here's Why This One Didn't

I also really hate the trope of killing off characters only to bring them back. And back again. And... again. Because guess what. It takes one of the core elements of the human experience - death- and cheapens it. This for sure happens with Viktor the second time he dies.

But what i do like about bringing someone back from the dead is when you consider how doing so can bring someone back wrong. Or changed.

But because the orb is so impersonal. So bland. Such a vague sinister force that has very little to do with character, it doesn't... work. It doesn't hit. Viktor doesn't really grapple with being brought back from the dead against his will in a meaningful way.

Timing

You can see concepts of a plan, if you will, within this story. I can see how Viktor would naturally go to the undercity after waking up changed with new healing powers. But it happens way to fast. So bizarrely. I can see how he would build a society like this (of course, the power of that is dulled because orb and by the fact that we don't see it happen). I can see how the pain of being rejected and left behind by the only person who made him feel like he wasn't alone (Jayce) could have lead to a category 5 'make me evil' sort of meltdown.

Becoming the Herald, asking Singed to begin the transformation, is the only true time in this show in act 2 (before his final moments) where it feels like he's making a choice for himself. But again, we get so little time with him. To see his emotions. To elegantly point from that moment with Jayce to Viktor's need to transform and in doing so rid himself of emotion (something that they did not expand on enough ) Like oh my god, how much more satisfying would it have been to see Viktor torn apart by his own emotions - in his own viktor way - and to have singed offer him a way out of his pain - and then have viktor take it. There are certain things that should be obvious.

But It's both the timing of and the structure of the story - how quickly we cut between plotlines - that makes this really hard to follow. That makes moments that could be something feel rushed and sloppy.

Let's Talk about Sky

Viktor's guilt over sky was absolutely reasonable to explore, but it was not.... all that haunted him. To make Sky the sole guide/companion to him in the astral/arcane headspace I found to be a bizarre and honestly kind of offensive choice.

Amanda overton said she was used as a "Jayce substitute" essentially. And... why? Literally why. Why would you write a character whose sole deal is having an unrequited crush on a man only to bring her back to be 'the embodiment of his guilt and loneliness' as well as a 'substitute' - it feels... icky to me? Just in a writing women and especially women of color point of view? And it didn't feel true to Viktor's character either.

I think if we actually got to know sky better in season 1, this would have worked because it would have been obvious how different she was, how she was a product of his mind or the hexcore or whatever (the lore being vague here doesn't help...)

Plot Twist because I keep hating on Orb: They Could Have Made The Orb Really Cool

Here's the thing. Magic influence on its own can be used to write extremely compelling plots. Walk with me.

Imagine Viktor wakes up. Immediately knows something's wrong with him. That something inside him is toying with him. Making him see things (visions of not only sky, but maybe his parents, Jayce, Heimer). He wakes up earlier in act 1. Despite his anger, he stays with jayce in order to better understand himself and his powers. All the while, he is haunted by whispers and visions of the hexcore. What if it whispers to him of his own insecurities and failures?

What if Things with Jayce are tense. Jayce has to admit to making weapons again, in an argument leading to more haunting visions from the hexcore offering him an out: emotional numbness. You would never have to feel again Viktor. If you let me in fully, you would never have to be alone again. You'd be more powerful, Viktor.

Imagine Viktor is there during that attack ambessa orchestrated. That he has the horror of witnessing Jayce wield his hammer in a genuine attempt to defend himself and the people he loves. He sees first hand how hextech is being used for destruction in a way that horrifies him.

Imagine him being accused of being a part of it because he's a Zaunite - humiliated in some way. Publicly. Imagine the emotional trauma of this resulting in a falling out so devastating he embraces his visions of the hexcore - gives into the numbness. And only then leaves. With the hexcore... he feels better than he has in years. He hopes he can give the gift of this to others. Now he is under orb influence, but now the way he's gotten there is more satisfying to me at least.

Now imagine him fighting the orb influence in key moments. Imagine the color in his eyes coming back. Imagine Viktor's relationship with the arcane being more of a dance than a vague entanglement. Imagine its influence haunting him in the same way Jinx's visions haunt her. Imagine it being personal rooted in his character.

Old Man Viktor

Listen. I am the old man Viktor connoisseur. I love him. I love the idea of him. I wrote a whole fic about him, during which I had to spend a lot of time with the story. It's sort of... very much impossible to make much sense of?

I'm not mad at the fact that it's an obvious retcon. Honestly, because I think from a storytelling perspective, it worked a lot better than most of the decisions they made this season.

But I'm not a fan of (shocking) how little time we spend with him. How little chance we get to understand his motivatons. And also. What the fuck he said to Jayce to make Jayce's first line of action killing him? In my fic, I made it that Jayce needed to shoot Viktor to get the hexcore out, so he could communicate to viktor without influence. But that felt like heavy lifting I shouldn't necessarily have to do for something so important. It also doesn't feel like a compelling or satisfying question to make your audience have to wrestle with.

The Final Scene

Want to say upfront I am not one of the people who did not like Jayce's speech.

I was quite moved by it. And aside from the perhaps out of place mention of the illness brought on by Piltover which I can understand the criticism for, I felt it was beautiful. (I am disabled btw)

That being said. I think i'd be a sobbing mess on the floor if the themes Jayce is presenting in his speech were more present throughout season 2. Because we really don't see this enough - the desire for perfection.

I'm also not one of those people who thinks Viktor's insecurities weren't present in season 1. To me, they were and were obvious, but not enough in his motivations and actions in season 2 to make Jayce's speech land like it could.

I really loved Jayce's arc in season 2. Him immediately embracing Viktor after he woke from the goo was surprising but felt right. But I wish they had more genuine conflict rooted in their conflict in season 1 that would allow their final moment to land even harder.

I really liked the final scene, and it made me an emotional mess. But weirdly, I'd almost like it as a short film removed from the context of the season two, which says just how little Viktor's arc this season contributed to the moment.

Final Thoughts

I'm so sorry I went so in-depth. I just love him as a character and feel he was very much not done justice.

We can attribute some of this to the lack of time. But when you know you have a lack of time, you need to write with that in mind instead of trying to do it all. And ultimately, I found a lot of scenes this season a waste of precious time. They had so many characters alone contemplating something intangible or alone and trapped for episodes. They didn't plan this with the care and precision needed to pull it off.

I also want to note that I know I say here a lot that there's a lot they needed to make "more obvious". This is not because I'm stupid. But when you're a writer, you need to know what to highlight and what you can leave vague so you leave your audience exploring the right nuances and asking the satisfying questions.

Anyways umm. The end. Holy shit, I'm so sorry I wrote so much.

[ammstify]

So I wanted to (for funsies!) throw in my two scents as a moot who has been involved in the Arcane fandom, but like not a vocal member other than some reblogs?

[THIS IS A LONG ONE APOLOGIES :'3] One of the biggest discourses currently right now, in the fandom, besides some of the fumbling with the more politically intricate storytelling, is COMPLETELY about the fact that the two male characters, Viktor and Jayce (Jayvik), are being shipped at all. Quite a few people have harassed fans and folks for merely suggesting the idea, some being hardcore straight shippers of Jayce and Mel (Jaymel), while others are (sadly) the shippers of the lesbian couple Caitlyn and Vi (or Caitvi).

At lot of this is focusing on the insistence of what is "canon", with many folks putting jayvik shippers down for that, along with viewing them as "degenerates" or "gross straight women fetishizing gay men" or "ignoring the canon lesbian ship willfully", which is all.... Just wrong.

A lot of the fans I've seen are queer, with one of my favorite artists @/hexhomos, being a trans man who prior to Arcane, has extensive HISTORY about shipping the League of Legends versions of Viktor and Jayce, but also minimally Cait and Vi. There are also other artists who are trans, lesbians, nonbinary, and many other forms of queer too, so the statement of it being just "straight women" or "degenerates" just... Bothers me so hard.

Hell, even I'M QUEER, and happily ship Viktor and Jayce, because their story was intrinsically romantic to me and reminded me of the soulmates sort of relationship Vash and Wolfwood have in Trigun.

And truthfully, it sucks that they can't be canon like Cait and Vi, who also have a very interesting, complicated, and beautiful relationship where the fight but work together to fix things. It makes me happy though that fans from League, or those who began with Arcane did get to see these ladies finally be together in animation, and trust me I was on the edge of my seat waiting for their first kiss and first time together!

And, it also sucks you don't see much of them, because you kinda have to brave through Tumblr or Bluesky's algorithmic waters to find content of them! Which in turn, creates this false view that folks are lifting the (mostly) noncanon gay relationship above the canon lesbian relationship and making them seem more important, which in turn makes many fans of Caitvi, or lesbian/female fans feel lesser represented. But it shouldn't have to be that way!

As for Jayce and Mel [MINOR SPOILERS], I did ship them before S2 and its ending, and realized in episode 6 that the two of them basically had broken up! They vocally disagree with each other, and while it isn't spelled out, they're no longer romantically or sexually interested in one another, and decided to simply go forward as allies in war, and continue their lives focusing on their goals.

And lastly, for the insistence it's not canon well... It's not my fault that the writers made a seemingly queer-like, romantic, soulmate relationship between two men, who's lives are entwined in every universe. Like if you made Viktor a woman, or switched him with Mel, pretty much everyone would go "OH MY GOD ITS ROMANTIC!"

But yeah, there's my two cents. It sucks to see that people view only straight or lesbian relationships as more "okay" (especially only if the latter is considered 100% canon, cause trust me, some folk in this world try to insist vi is bisexual and into jayce/men to this day), and I hope that one day we CAN have both f/f and m/m relationships further normalized in media and taken more seriously alongside m/f relationships and other queer relationships.

(also for the fanfic well... A majority of mainstream content usually is centered around M/F ships, but I'm genuinely shocked that F/F fanfic is so low... I guess its just more popular in the fanfic sphere to write M/M fanfic :'3)

reblog if you prioritize women to the point you mock people for liking m/f or m/m ships. im insane

[gatorbites-imagines]

Do you write for Scott Summers/Cyclops??! Specifically James Marsden version/X-men movies?? (I am so normal about him I promise)

If so, fucking Scott against/bent over his motorcycle and he's a whimpering mess 😍 just something about him loving his bike so much makes me wanna breed him on/against it😋

If you don't do X-men you could replace Scott with Nightwing :3

Kurt Wagner x male reader

Ficlet

I swear to god I misread Nightwing as Nightcrawler and it was first when I was about to post this that I realized the mistake, and there is too much about Kurt, his powers and appearance to rewrite it as anyone else… so… Kurt it is. If you want it with Scott, send the request again, my bad bro.

Don’t ask me why Kurt is hitchhiking and doesn’t just BAMF away, it’s for plot…

Kurt was well and truly lost when you picked him up. Thankfully hed still had his watch, the one that altered his physical appearance, so he wasn’t so visibly a mutant. It was out in the middle of nowhere, somewhere Kurt had stumbled after BAMFing out of one situation or another. And yeah, he could have just teleported back again, but his head was hurting really badly, so he didn’t.

In the end he pulled the good old tradition of hitchhiking, of standing by the side of the road with his thumb out and hoping some soul would drive down these baren roads. And luckily, you did, in a mud-covered, beaten truck that looked like your stereotypical country car.

The conversation flowed between the two of you, with you being fascinated by how far away he was from Germany, because Kurt made up some story about being a German hitchhiker seeing the world. Kurt could feel his tail twitching even as it was hidden, and the dirty tanktop, messy beard and old trucker cap you wore wasn’t helping.

There was a reason the one rule of his religion that Kurt couldn’t follow was celibacy, and you made his blood rush. Kurt knew he should be careful, he knew all the stereotypes about men like you, and he knew that later on some of the others would scold him for getting into a stranger’s car. What if you were a serial killer?

But Kurt was a weak man, something he prayed about on the regular, so when you offered to let him spend the night at your place, he jumped on it. even if it didn’t lead to anything, staying the night would be better than trying to get back to the X-men in the dark. That was an excuse, and he knew it, but who could blame him.

It was a nice place you had, large and cared for, even if it was only you. There were two more cars in your massive garage, and a beautiful motorcycle, which Kurt was quick to climb on top of and started turning the handles as he cooed in interest.

There were multiple reasons Kurt was called an imp and elf, and his curled flirty smile was one of them. That very smile as thrown your way, Kurt crossing his fingers in hopes that he had read you right. Seeing you huff but suppressing a smirk of your own had blood rushing downwards, his tail flicking and knocking something over, even in its invisible state.

One thing led to another, and the two of you ended up making out against your bike. It wasn’t actually in a drivable state, it didn’t have any wheels and was just a passion project of yours, but making out with a cute guy against it was really good.

It was a lucky coincidence that you liked jerking off in your garage, meaning you had lube laying around in one of your multiple toolboxes. Kurt was gonna make a flirty joke about it, but your mouth was on his before he could, your teeth clacking and tongues intertwining wetly.

All your jostling and rutting must have smacked Kurts wrist against your bike, as a familiar beep met his ears, and suddenly the illusion flickered and there was blue. The kiss was disconnected as you pulled back, eyes widening at the suddenly fuzzy and very blue man against your bike.

Kurts eyes had widened too, they were completely yellow you noticed. For him it wasn’t shock as much as it was fear, as any mutant knew how some people reacted to their kind, especially the ones that didn’t look like the norm.

There was a flicking motion in your peripheral, your eyes turning to it only to see a tail of all things flicking side to side. It even had a triangle shaped tip like a cartoon devil. It wasn’t that you hated mutants, you hadn’t ever met one that you knew of, and you liked to mind your own lane.

“Well… this is awkward, hehe” Kurt chuckled out, voice a little dry and tense as his shoulders rose, eyes flicking towards the well. “Only if you make it one” you reply after taking him in, sliding your hands up his sides and feeling his velvet fuzzy fur. You could work with this.

Kurt could only widen his eyes as you kissed him again, just as hungry as before and hands exploring across his torso. The X-man could only be pleasantly surprised, winding his arms around you and pulling you close once more as you started rutting against each other again, but this time Kurts tail could join, wrapping around your thigh like a leash.

“Flip over” you pant into his mouth, making Kurt snicker but do as you tell him. His tail wags and coils like a pleased cat as you pull the last of his clothes off, the blue mutant seeming almost smug or cocky in his own way, even if it was obvious, it was just him playing.

A shaky gasp punched its way out Kurts chest as you spread him open, the X-man looking back over his shoulder just to catch you dropping to your knees and burying your face between his spread cheeks. A puff of warm air brushed against his hole, making Kurts toes curl as his tail tapped against your back. “Guess one place doesn’t have any fur” you mumble, more to yourself than anything as you kissed against his tight pucker.

Kurt struggled not to let his tail curl around your head, or worse, your neck as you ate him out, the cap of the lube bottle being heard before your fingers joined in on the mess. The X-man tried to bite down his noises for a moment, until you groped at him encouragingly and he couldn’t hold it back anymore.

The prep was maybe a tad too rushed as you opened him up with a couple of fingers and your tongue, but Kurt was as needy as you were, so he didn’t care about the burn as you pushed inside, with a condom, of course. Instead, he wound his tail around your thigh again and pulled you close.

Your strong hands on his hips and your groans in his sharp ears, as well as the feeling of you stretching and filling him had Kurt feeling like he was in heaven. The blue fuzz coating his body made it nearly impossible to leave hickeys, at least visible ones, but that didn’t stop you from trying, and your enthusiasm to mark him up made Kurt dizzy in the best way possible.

Kurt hadn’t even noticed he had stumbled over the edge as you ground into him, Kurts body aflame with want and pleasure as he rocked back against you like a needy cat in heat. It was only when you bottomed out inside him and tumbled over it yourself, that Kurt noticed how he had painted the leather seat of your bike in his spend.

Maybe hitchhiking wasn’t so bad, Kurt thought, as you pulled out and flipped him over, replacing the used rubber with a new one, giving his tail a slight yank only to make him yelp and spread his legs enough to give you room. Definelty, not bad at all.

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

One user asked me if the reason for the “push back” against Robert Eggers intention in his 2024 “Nosferatu” adaptation (especially Ellen Hutter relationship with Count Orlok) is because 1922 Ellen Hutter is meant to be a pure-hearted and virtuous woman, like her book counterpart Mina Harker from “Dracula” (a model of purity and modesty of the Victorian woman), and I decided to write a post about this.

I think many are missing Eggers intention with this film for several reasons:

1) Going Mainstream

First, this film is being a success at the box office, and while that’s amazing because I want more films like this getting made, this also means many who aren’t the “target audience” are seeing it, and completely missing the mark because they aren’t familiar with the Gothic Horror or Gothic Romance genre. Nor with Robert Eggers work.

Not liking this film is completely valid, not every piece of media and art is meant for us. Great, move on.

And there’s nothing wrong with folks not being familiar with the Gothic genre if they are interested in learning and understanding it. The problem is when people are hellbent in misunderstanding it and stuck on their own narrow views to the point they sound brainwashed, without an ounce of critical thinking and behave like a hivemind: “if many are saying this is probably true” type of thinking. And we are in the “social media era” where everyone thinks their own opinions are valid, so there’s that too.

Also I would add many are probably used to the “Marvel formula” of “over exposition”: having the entire story spelled out on screen instead of classic storytelling with an actual build-up and narrative devices (foreshadowing, red herrings, Chekhov's Gun, etc.). This causes misunderstanding, as well, because folks used to this type of storytelling won’t understand what they are seeing because they are used to be fed everything (“exposition”) and taking everything literally. This is also a film that requires analysis; this is clearly for the “film buffs” because Eggers wants to become a “cult director” too.

Eggers probably knew this was going to happen and he probably doesn’t care either. As Von Franz so interestingly says in the film: “Neque mittatis margaritas vestra ante porcos!” And ancient Latin saying which means “Nor cast your pearls before swine!”

Directors with strict artistic views (like Eggers) rarely care if the audience understands it or not. “The VVitch” was a feminist success when it was released in 2015, apparently now some are saying it’s problematic, because “oh my God, the Devil is a deceiver! Who knew???”. “The VVitch” and this version of “Nosferatu” are also pretty much the same story with a different framing.

2) Lack of Knowledge concerning the story and the time period

Many don’t seem to know that “Nosferatu” and “Dracula” are the same thing. Count Orlok is Count Dracula.

This story takes places in the Victorian era, and Eggers transports his audience to the time period his films are set in. Which means, we can’t look at this story through contemporary lenses, nor with our current sensibilities because that’s missing the point of Eggers work.

This movie deals with female sexuality, especially its repression and containment, which was the case in the Victorian era. Women weren’t supposed to be sexual, at all. If women displayed sexuality they were considered “hysterics” and could be institutionalized by their fathers and husbands (which is what happened to 2024 Ellen, as she tells Von Franz). Really, women could be institutionalized just by talking back to her husbands in this time period. And even within marriage, female sexuality should be modest and restrained, women weren’t suppose to know sexual pleasure, and it’s the husband who took the lead, always.

Men could sleep with whoever they wanted and even go to brothels every night, but this wasn’t the case for “decent Christian women”, at all. Sex for women in the Victorian era was supposed to be a painful task they had to go through to have children. There was even the famous saying “think of England” when wives were having sex with their husbands (“think of England” as in “think of something nice” other than what’s happening).

Ellen having astral sex with Orlok and getting pleasure from it was highly scandalous for this time period. Of course this a freaking horror movie and he’s a demon, but if they were actual people, doing this, unmarried, in the Victorian era, this would be a scandal and she would be ruined socially. Which is kind of what happens, and why the whole thing causes her great shame and guilt. It has nothing to do with “abuse” or “grooming” or whatever.

And, I don’t know why many are saying this happened during Ellen’s childhood? Because what she had since childhood are her supernatural abilities, as she tells Von Franz: she knew what her Christmas presents were before opening them and had a premonition of her mother’s death. She wasn’t talking about getting that demonic D, that was during her teenage years as a metaphor for her sexual awakening/puberty. Obviously.

3) Confirmation Bias

While seeing this movie without any previous knowledge (like “Nosferatu” = “Dracula”; or the historical context where this story takes place) the opposite is also true.

I think this is more true for fans of the previous adaptations of “Nosferatu”. They are misunderstanding the story Eggers is telling in his own adaptation because their perception is shaped by the 1922 film (mostly) and the 1979. And so, they will interpret what they are seeing as a “rehash” of the previous story (which isn’t the case here, this is an entirely different story).

And so, they see 2024 Ellen as the pure-hearted and virginal 1922 Ellen who selflessly sacrifices herself to save everyone, even though that’s not the story Eggers is telling and the script contradicts this. Eggers added plots that aren’t a a part of previous adaptations (Orlok and Ellen psychosexual connection; their covenant; occult meaning) and Ellen character being completely different from the 1922 and 1979 films (she’s a antithesis to them).

And how on earth someone sees these three adaptations (1922, 1979 and 2024) and thinks they are equal and this “sacrifice” has the same meaning is beyond me, honestly.

4) The “Sexy Vampire” Trope

Last but not least, we have to talk about the “Twilight”, “Vampire Diaries”, “True Blood”, etc. generation. Some probably heard “vampire” and “Bill Skarsgård” alongside with “obsession” and a female character involved, and were probably expecting something like this:

(That’s 2024 Count Orlok beneath the prosthetics, when he played another vampire)

Eggers truly catfished his audience into watching this film by not revealing how is his Orlok truly looked like. They did warn us Bill was covered in prosthetics and completely unrecognizable, but that flew over some people’s heads?

Personally, I loved the historical and folklore accurate Orlok Eggers created, but, indeed, many didn’t felt the same. I’m still hearing folks complaining about the freaking mustache when Gary Oldman as Dracula, in “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992) also had one, but yeah, he was hot when he was with Mina (not his usual monstrous self, we also see in that movie) so the problem isn’t the mustache is it?

Of course not, it’s because he’s a freaking rotten corpse and he won’t make the list of the “sexiest vampires ever” in cinematic history. Because that’s not what Eggers was going for. We are suppose to see Orlok was handsome in life, but he’s still a walking corpse, because, shocker, that’s what vampires are.

And Eggers is forcing the audience to confront their own bias with all the necrophilia going on in this film: “you like vampire love stories? This is what you actually like.” Many didn’t like to be confronted with that. Which probably has Eggers laughing diabolically because that was his intention, which is why he brings “Twilight” in his interviews.

And then we have the magnificent love triangle “Twilight” style, too; Ellen is Bella, Thomas is Jacob and Orlok is freaking Edward Cullen. Someone said Eggers has balls of steel, and he truly does. And it’s actually amazing he didn’t cast Robert Pattinson in Count Orlok role (they already worked together in “The Lighthouse“, 2019). But Bill Skarsgård’s imposing height and previous cinematic experience (Pennywise in “It”) was probably more in line with what he wanted, and he absolutely nailed this role.

Although we could still see Bill’s face as Pennywise in “It” (beneath all that make-up), which isn’t the case as his Count Orlok, as he’s in full prosthetics.

This also means many will latch on to the “hot guy” in this demonic love triangle: Thomas, played masterfully by Nicholas Hoult.

Many didn’t see any love story between Ellen and Orlok because they were also expecting a Disney fairytale in a freaking horror film about demons and walking corpses, but I would argue that’s not Eggers fault nor an execution flaw. Ellen and Orlok are a demonic love story, they aren’t suppose to be rainbows and unicorns. Duh? Although, yeah, if the audience could actually see Bill Skarsgård, I have no doubt more would recognize this wicked/evil love story going between these two characters.

[ajeckaea]

“I asked Master Kcaj, I think he’s attending the performance actually,” Anakin explained, with a little shrug. “He took me through Light Side Force Healing 201, he said it was good that I was learning to solve problems in ways that didn’t involve a lightsaber.”

The Knight frowned. “Well, he just called it Force Healing 201, because I don’t think he knew there was a Dark Side version, but I guess that makes sense, because that kind of thing would have to be really, really old by now. Was Darth Plagueis killed by one of the Jedi during the Jedi-Sith Wars or was he a victim of infighting?”

“He wasn’t-” Palpatine began, but Anakin was shaking his head.

“Actually, now I come to think about it, the way the Light Side version of Force Healing works, the way it’s Light Side is that you have to personally pay for the cost,” he said. “I guess it’s kind of ironic, really, because it means that Jedi can keep other people from dying, but we can’t keep ourselves from dying… we’d have to take on our own wounds and we’d be back where they started. There’s other things we can do to make it so that injuries aren’t as serious, but those only work for ourselves, so it’s… actually a way that you can combine two techniques to get a net benefit.”

Palpatine blinked, still about one and a half sentences behind and trying to catch up. “I… suppose it is ironic, yes,” he said. “Darth Plagueis the Wise had the same problem.”

Anakin frowned. “Chancellor, how do you know about this? Are you sure that it was a Sith? Because the Force Healing technique you’ve mentioned sounds a lot like it has the same limitations as the Jedi one, so maybe it’s actually been distorted and corrupted over more than a thousand years. It could even be that he wasn’t called Darth Plagueis but was called something that sounded that way and the story’s been corrupted over the centuries. You know, like Sifo-Dyas and Sidious, that only took a few years.”

“I’m sorry, Anakin?” Palpatine said, after a pause to try and avoid panicking when Anakin linked the two names. “What do you mean? This isn’t… it’s the story of a Sith.”

“Sure, that’s what you’re aware of,” Anakin replied. “And maybe it’s correct, but there’s lots of possibilities even then, right? It could be that he discovered the Jedi healing technique independently, or it could be that he stole it from the Jedi. Maybe the Jedi stole it from him and they don’t tell the story because it’s embarrassing to admit that the most highly restricted healing techniques are something originally invented by the Sith. Or maybe they let this Darth Plagueis guy borrow some holobooks from the Jedi library and he stole them, and they’re embarrassed now.”

Anakin ticked off points on his fingers. “Oh, and there’s also the possibility that if a Sith stole holobooks on Force Healing he’d have done it in a way that couldn’t be traced back to him, so the Jedi wouldn’t tell the story because they just flat-out didn’t know.”

“This is not a story from a thousand years ago,” Palpatine said. “It’s a story from only a few decades ago, as it happens, so it is definitely not warped by time!”

“Not more than the Sifo-Dyas thing,” Anakin pointed out, helpfully. “But yeah, it’s now really obvious why the Jedi don’t tell me about it, because it’s either really catastrophically embarrassing because it would mean that the Jedi literally didn’t realize the Sith were back despite a Sith stealing some library books, or they just have no way of knowing in the first place. I guess I’m more interested in the second one, though… does this story go into any more detail about how Plagueis did the Force Healing? If they genuinely are Light Side and Dark Side and that’s different, then it’s interesting.”

“I… didn’t take you as someone to be interested in healing,” Palpatine admitted, since it was about the only response he could think of at that point.

“I didn’t think I’d be interested either,” Anakin said, readily. “But Master Kcaj had this great analogy, he said that it was like being a mechanic of the body. Isn’t that such a cool concept? The heart’s the motivator, that kind of thing… and the better I understand that the more I can work on not needing to use the Force to heal people, except in a real emergency anyway. All I need is to use it to stabilize someone, and then I can get them the rest of the way to safety.”

Palpatine nodded.

“A… useful endeavour,” he said, in as fatherly a tone as he could manage, and tried to get back on script. “As I said, Plagueis could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life. He taught his apprentice everything he knew, and then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. He never saw it coming.”

“Oh, right,” Anakin replied, nodding. “Yeah, I think this sounds like a badly garbled origin story for the Sith.”

“Excuse me?” Palpatine asked.

“If Darth Plagueis was a Sith who’d taught his apprentice everything, then how would he not expect to be betrayed?” Anakin asked. “It makes much more sense if this apprentice was actually the first Sith and Plagueis being a Sith got read back into the story at a later date… but I’m still not sure how to get the midi-chlorians to create life. They’re our connection to the Force, it’s not about a connection to the Dark Side specifically. Unless what he’s doing is forcing the midi-chlorians to create life when it shouldn’t be, that would be a Dark Side thing that violates the balance in the universe while Light Side techniques are about balance – that’s why Light Side healing involves paying for taking away a wound by taking on a wound. Balance.”

Anakin glanced at his chrono. “Huh, I should probably get going… I need to tell the Council that thing you mentioned about Grievous hiding in the Utapau System.”

“Come, now, Anakin,” Palpatine said. “You can’t find yourself running around doing the bidding of the Jedi Council all the time. We were talking about this. They don’t necessarily have your best interests at heart.”

“I know, Chancellor,” Anakin replied, nodding. “But I don’t speak Quarren and I think if I need to watch five more minutes of this ballet I’m going to pass out from boredom.”

“This ballet is in Mon Cal,” Palpatine said.

“Yeah, I don’t speak that either,” Anakin shrugged.

_

“Did you know the Chancellor’s really interested in old stories about the Sith?” Anakin asked Obi-Wan, back in the Temple. “Fascinated by them.”

“He is?” Obi-Wan replied. “I’ve never got that sense.”

“No, it was a surprise to me, too,” Anakin agreed, shrugging. “But he was telling me this story about a Darth Plagueis who could heal people. It’s a weird kind of healing, though, using midi-chlorians to create life? At least that’s what the Chancellor said… he said the Jedi didn’t know about it, so I guess it must be an old story, even though he said it was recent. I wondered if maybe it was twenty generations ago instead of twenty years, or something like that.”

“I won’t lie, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said. “I don’t know what I expected your assignment to result in, but this isn’t it.”

Anakin sighed. “Master… I can’t do it, okay? I can’t spy on someone who’s been such a friend to me. Sithspit, all I’m really doing is sharing gossip he brought up and that still makes me feel dirty.”

Obi-Wan nodded. “I understand, Anakin,” he said. “The problem is really that there’s… a question about how independent the Jedi Temple is.”

He indicated the nearest landing pad, which had a trio of gunships waiting there. “We’ve been acting as generals for the last two years at least… the Chancellor feels that he can make decisions about who becomes a member of the Council… regardless of your abilities and suitability for the role, Anakin, after he suggested you it was impossible for us to put you on the Council with the rank of Master. It would set a precedent that the Jedi are simply another department of the government for the Chancellor to control.”

Anakin looked thoughtful.

“I hadn’t realized that,” he admitted. “I don’t think the Chancellor would do that, though.”

“The problem isn’t with this Chancellor,” Obi-Wan replied. “It’s with the next Chancellor. Or the one after that.”

He spread his hands. “Really, I think part of this is my fault. I didn’t try hard enough to make sure you learned the political skill a Jedi needs.”

“Master, you’re really good at that kind of thing,” Anakin protested. “I’m more into… aggressive negotiations.”

“Indeed,” Obi-Wan said.

Anakin waited.

“...you’re supposed to tell me I’m not that bad,” he said, eventually.

“I know I’m supposed to,” Obi-Wan said, virtuously.

Anakin rolled his eyes.

“Oh, before I forget,” he went on. “The Chancellor did say General Grievous is on Utapau.”

“Noted,” Obi-Wan said. “Now, what’s this story about Sith healing that the Chancellor told you? I’ve never heard of Darth Plagueis before.”

_

When Anakin had finished recounting the conversation, they were most of the way to the Council chamber, and he shrugged.

“You get what I mean… right?” he said, then took note of Obi-Wan’s disturbed expression. “Is something wrong, Master?”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan replied, firmly. “Anakin, what you’ve just described is exactly how it would look if Palpatine was trying to hint that he could teach you a Sith technique.”

“Really?” Anakin asked. “The Chancellor be able to use Sith techniques? There’s no way that is possible…”

He got out his datapad, and began flicking through records. “He’d have to be able to use the Force, and his midi-chlorian count is… is… not here?”

Anakin looked up. “Didn’t the whole Senate get tested to see if any of them was Darth Sidious?”

“Now I’m very worried,” Obi-Wan declared. “I know he’s your friend, Anakin, but how possible is it that Palpatine is Sidious?”

Anakin considered that.

“Do you think that explains why he ordered me to cut Dooku’s head off and leave you on a starship that was about to explode?” he asked.

“Definitely need to teach you politics,” Obi-Wan muttered.

Comparative Healing 202

“...he had such a knowledge of the Dark Side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying,” Palpatine explained.

“Really?” Anakin asked. “That’s strange… I wonder how that works.”

“It’s a power that you can’t learn from a Jedi,” Palpatine said, delicately. “The Dark Side is a path to many abilities that some consider… unnatural.”

Anakin frowned. “I guess,” he said. “But what I mean is, how it’s different from the Light Side way of doing it.”

Palpatine looked at Anakin.

“What do you mean?” he asked, a little puzzled.

“I asked Master Kcaj, I think he’s attending the performance actually,” Anakin explained, with a little shrug. “He took me through Light Side Force Healing 201, he said it was good that I was learning to solve problems in ways that didn’t involve a lightsaber.”

The Knight frowned. “Well, he just called it Force Healing 201, because I don’t think he knew there was a Dark Side version, but I guess that makes sense, because that kind of thing would have to be really, really old by now. Was Darth Plagueis killed by one of the Jedi during the Jedi-Sith Wars or was he a victim of infighting?”

“He wasn’t-” Palpatine began, but Anakin was shaking his head.

“Actually, now I come to think about it, the way the Light Side version of Force Healing works, the way it’s Light Side is that you have to personally pay for the cost,” he said. “I guess it’s kind of ironic, really, because it means that Jedi can keep other people from dying, but we can’t keep ourselves from dying… we’d have to take on our own wounds and we’d be back where they started. There’s other things we can do to make it so that injuries aren’t as serious, but those only work for ourselves, so it’s… actually a way that you can combine two techniques to get a net benefit.”

Palpatine blinked, still about one and a half sentences behind and trying to catch up. “I… suppose it is ironic, yes,” he said. “Darth Plagueis the Wise had the same problem.”

Anakin frowned. “Chancellor, how do you know about this? Are you sure that it was a Sith? Because the Force Healing technique you’ve mentioned sounds a lot like it has the same limitations as the Jedi one, so maybe it’s actually been distorted and corrupted over more than a thousand years. It could even be that he wasn’t called Darth Plagueis but was called something that sounded that way and the story’s been corrupted over the centuries. You know, like Sifo-Dyas and Sidious, that only took a few years.”

“I’m sorry, Anakin?” Palpatine said, after a pause to try and avoid panicking when Anakin linked the two names. “What do you mean? This isn’t… it’s the story of a Sith.”

“Sure, that’s what you’re aware of,” Anakin replied. “And maybe it’s correct, but there’s lots of possibilities even then, right? It could be that he discovered the Jedi healing technique independently, or it could be that he stole it from the Jedi. Maybe the Jedi stole it from him and they don’t tell the story because it’s embarrassing to admit that the most highly restricted healing techniques are something originally invented by the Sith. Or maybe they let this Darth Plagueis guy borrow some holobooks from the Jedi library and he stole them, and they’re embarrassed now.”

Anakin ticked off points on his fingers. “Oh, and there’s also the possibility that if a Sith stole holobooks on Force Healing he’d have done it in a way that couldn’t be traced back to him, so the Jedi wouldn’t tell the story because they just flat-out didn’t know.”

“This is not a story from a thousand years ago,” Palpatine said. “It’s a story from only a few decades ago, as it happens, so it is definitely not warped by time!”

“Not more than the Sifo-Dyas thing,” Anakin pointed out, helpfully. “But yeah, it’s now really obvious why the Jedi don’t tell me about it, because it’s either really catastrophically embarrassing because it would mean that the Jedi literally didn’t realize the Sith were back despite a Sith stealing some library books, or they just have no way of knowing in the first place. I guess I’m more interested in the second one, though… does this story go into any more detail about how Plagueis did the Force Healing? If they genuinely are Light Side and Dark Side and that’s different, then it’s interesting.”

“I… didn’t take you as someone to be interested in healing,” Palpatine admitted, since it was about the only response he could think of at that point.

“I didn’t think I’d be interested either,” Anakin said, readily. “But Master Kcaj had this great analogy, he said that it was like being a mechanic of the body. Isn’t that such a cool concept? The heart’s the motivator, that kind of thing… and the better I understand that the more I can work on not needing to use the Force to heal people, except in a real emergency anyway. All I need is to use it to stabilize someone, and then I can get them the rest of the way to safety.”

Palpatine nodded.

“A… useful endeavour,” he said, in as fatherly a tone as he could manage, and tried to get back on script. “As I said, Plagueis could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life. He taught his apprentice everything he knew, and then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. He never saw it coming.”

“Oh, right,” Anakin replied, nodding. “Yeah, I think this sounds like a badly garbled origin story for the Sith.”

“Excuse me?” Palpatine asked.

“If Darth Plagueis was a Sith who’d taught his apprentice everything, then how would he not expect to be betrayed?” Anakin asked. “It makes much more sense if this apprentice was actually the first Sith and Plagueis being a Sith got read back into the story at a later date… but I’m still not sure how to get the midi-chlorians to create life. They’re our connection to the Force, it’s not about a connection to the Dark Side specifically. Unless what he’s doing is forcing the midi-chlorians to create life when it shouldn’t be, that would be a Dark Side thing that violates the balance in the universe while Light Side techniques are about balance – that’s why Light Side healing involves paying for taking away a wound by taking on a wound. Balance.”

Anakin glanced at his chrono. “Huh, I should probably get going… I need to tell the Council that thing you mentioned about Grievous hiding in the Utapau System.”

“Come, now, Anakin,” Palpatine said. “You can’t find yourself running around doing the bidding of the Jedi Council all the time. We were talking about this. They don’t necessarily have your best interests at heart.”

“I know, Chancellor,” Anakin replied, nodding. “But I don’t speak Quarren and I think if I need to watch five more minutes of this ballet I’m going to pass out from boredom.”

“This ballet is in Mon Cal,” Palpatine said.

“Yeah, I don’t speak that either,” Anakin shrugged.

“Did you know the Chancellor’s really interested in old stories about the Sith?” Anakin asked Obi-Wan, back in the Temple. “Fascinated by them.”

“He is?” Obi-Wan replied. “I’ve never got that sense.”

“No, it was a surprise to me, too,” Anakin agreed, shrugging. “But he was telling me this story about a Darth Plagueis who could heal people. It’s a weird kind of healing, though, using midi-chlorians to create life? At least that’s what the Chancellor said… he said the Jedi didn’t know about it, so I guess it must be an old story, even though he said it was recent. I wondered if maybe it was twenty generations ago instead of twenty years, or something like that.”

“I won’t lie, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said. “I don’t know what I expected your assignment to result in, but this isn’t it.”

Anakin sighed. “Master… I can’t do it, okay? I can’t spy on someone who’s been such a friend to me. Sithspit, all I’m really doing is sharing gossip he brought upand that still makes me feel dirty.”

Obi-Wan nodded. “I understand, Anakin,” he said. “The problem is really that there’s… a question about how independent the Jedi Temple is.”

He indicated the nearest landing pad, which had a trio of gunships waiting there. “We’ve been acting as generals for the last two years at least… the Chancellor feels that he can make decisions about who becomes a member of the Council… regardless of your abilities and suitability for the role, Anakin, after he suggested you it was impossible for us to put you on the Council with the rank of Master. It would set a precedent that the Jedi are simply another department of the government for the Chancellor to control.”

Anakin looked thoughtful.

“I hadn’t realized that,” he admitted. “I don’t think the Chancellor would do that, though.”

“The problem isn’t with this Chancellor,” Obi-Wan replied. “It’s with the next Chancellor. Or the one after that.”

He spread his hands. “Really, I think part of this is my fault. I didn’t try hard enough to make sure you learned the political skill a Jedi needs.”

“Master, you’re really good at that kind of thing,” Anakin protested. “I’m more into… aggressive negotiations.”

“Indeed,” Obi-Wan said.

Anakin waited.

“...you’re supposed to tell me I’m not that bad,” he said, eventually.

“I know I’m supposed to,” Obi-Wan said, virtuously.

Anakin rolled his eyes.

“Oh, before I forget,” he went on. “The Chancellor did say General Grievous is on Utapau.”

“Noted,” Obi-Wan said. “Now, what’s this story about Sith healing that the Chancellor told you? I’ve never heard of Darth Plagueis before.”

When Anakin had finished recounting the conversation, they were most of the way to the Council chamber, and he shrugged.

“You get what I mean… right?” he said, then took note of Obi-Wan’s disturbed expression. “Is something wrong, Master?”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan replied, firmly. “Anakin, what you’ve just described is exactly how it would look if Palpatine was trying to hint that he could teach you a Sith technique.”

“Really?” Anakin asked. “The Chancellor be able to use Sith techniques? There’s no way that is possible…”

He got out his datapad, and began flicking through records. “He’d have to be able to use the Force, and his midi-chlorian count is… is… not here?”

Anakin looked up. “Didn’t the whole Senate get tested to see if any of them was Darth Sidious?”

“Now I’m very worried,” Obi-Wan declared. “I know he’s your friend, Anakin, but how possible is it that Palpatine is Sidious?”

Anakin considered that.

“Do you think that explains why he ordered me to cut Dooku’s head off and leave you on a starship that was about to explode?” he asked.

“Definitely need to teach you politics,” Obi-Wan muttered.

[seasonalmoss]

Amanda the Adventurer: Wooly and escapism

“There’s nothing you can do but Dream. Hopeless you think of a Better place to be. One where you’re free.

One with triumphant tales And dangerous lairs And a happy ending that’s fair

A happy ending in your head A happy ending you can grasp A happy ending you’ll never have

A happy ending you can only dream”

(Disclaimer I am not a professional or in anyway someone with credentials, I’m simply someone who Knows a lot about trauma and psychology and has an interest in it, do not take my words especially my exact wording as anything)

Do any of you guys think about just how much it’s implied that Wooly is typically off in his own head and thinking of different stories to help him cope? that he possibly and most likely maladaptive day dreams?

two specific incidents come to mind:

There’s a version of the very first tape of the second game, Let’s Plan a Trip, where Wooly appears at the end. When Amanda goes over to give the coins to the doll Gretchen, Wooly shows up and asks what Amanda is doing. When Amanda answers that she’s going on a trip Wooly says “Oooo! it’s fun to pretend to go places” with a clear vocal emphasis on pretend

In the tape When You’re Feeling Bad, at the beginning Wooly says “well… I’m going to go on an adventure in my mind. You can come along with me if you like. Telling a story is like going on an adventure!”

all of this implies a level of escapism that Wooly is trying to achieve or note. When he first appears he mentions how it’s fun to specifically pretend to do something, how it’s fun to pretend to be on a trip. His tone emphasizes the pretend bit but it wasn’t condescending, in fact it was more happy if anything. He expressed a level of excitement with his “Ooo!” And seemed genuinely happy and okay at the prospect of pretending. His wording shows this, “It’s” implies that he’s done it before, “It is fun to do that” as opposed to “it would be fun to do that” or “It’d”. “It’s” is more past tense and in this context implies that it’s been done before and therefore a conclusion can be drawn from said experience, and this case, the conclusion that is drawn is that it’s “fun”. the second time he mentions anything, especially demonstrates his need for escapism. He mentions specifically going on an “Adventure” in his “mind” and the certainty in his tone along with the “you can come along if you like” implies that this wouldn’t be the first time that he’s done this. What even led up to him doing this shows this. When Amanda expresses not knowing or caring about what to do because she feels “weird” Wooly thinks for a bit and then suggests going on an adventure, to which Amanda immediately shuts down. But instead of being unsure or nervous after Amanda yells at him, he continues forward with a confidence to suggest that he was either already going to talk about stories or that regardless of what Amanda did he was going to go on an adventure in his mind. The fact that he had the idea in the first place, and his confidence to share it and do it, implies a level of consistency on how often he does it.

this entire Tape in general show’s his need for escapism. If you don’t follow along with his story and instead follow along with Amanda’s he gets incredibly worked up. And I think a part of this is because it breaks and messes with the reason people even escape into their heads in the first place. Escapism can occur because the person who’s doing it want’s to escape from their current situation and off into a place that is better, more accepting and in general easier to control. If you continually interrupt that clear more perfect and happy world with a tragedy much like the one they’re trapped in. Of course the person trying to escape would show a level of annoyance by it. Especially in this kind of situation where Wooly is actively trying to get away from the awful place he’s trapped in, get away from all of the dread, and get away from all of the trauma, of course he especially would get incredibly worked up.

and that’s not to say that he’s doing all of this to cheer only himself up, quite the opposite actually. It’s clear that he wants to help Amanda, but he simply just can not understand why having a story like that of your own, would help in any capacity. he probably genuinely thinks that it’s nothing but harmful if anything, and that it would do nothing but remind you of how awful your situation is then help it. He’s doing what he genuinely thinks is best for Amanda.

it’s clear that overall Wooly exhibits the flight and fawn trauma responses the most. We see him constantly try to appease, obey and follow Hameln with little amount of boundaries and poor advocacy for his own discomforts and himself overall. All of these are signs of the Fawn response but he also clearly exhibits flight as well. The way he quickly changes topics, refuses to talk about certain things and in general his attitude of shaking things off is the flight response, with that being said forms of escapism *can also be categorized as the flight response. Your flying away from your problems and into a world where everything’s okay. (*That is to say, this particular kind of maladaptive daydreaming- or more rather this form of intense escapism- would generally be described as dissociative. Which to my understanding typically falls under the “flop” response.)

Wooly is constantly shown to have discomfort in dark topics and often seems afraid and scared, because on one hand it’s going off script, it’s going against the precedent of the TV show and by extension what Hameln wants them to do. He doesn’t want to go against Hameln, he doesn’t want to go off script because neither of that would appease the people who are hurting them (Hameln) nor would it typically appease the viewer. And if they don’t try to appease them if they don’t try to comply, one of them would most likely get hurt! And on the other hand Wooly simply doesn’t want to be reminded that he’s trapped, that he isn’t in a good place. Because all of that is hard to cope with! All of this is hard to understand! It’s so clear that he’s simply trying to please Hameln and then pretend that everything okay, since that’s simply what he thinks is the only way they can stay safe.

Wooly being an escapist and constantly in his own head makes sense for who he is as a character and how he handles traumatizing situations. I feel like at some point it would be more then just escapism, but it would turn into maladaptive daydreaming as well.

Maladaptive daydreaming is an excessive amount of “day dreaming” that can span for hours on end and make you ignore some of your basic needs. “Maladaptive” refers to the unhealthy nature of quickly adapting to something. It’s caused by multiple factors but can be caused by

Trauma especially childhood trauma. The need to be away from the stressful situation your in, and a way to cope with everything that’s happened.

Boredom and poor enrichment. Unable to do anything to pass the time or stimulate yourself in a meaningful way. the first one clearly applies for Wooly but the second one applies too. In any of kind of content outside of the original games, where we see Amanda and Wooly simply sitting around, we see an immense amount of boredom and in general a kind of understimulation. The animators and creators deliberately chose to portray them in such a way, and it make sense too. What purpose does the two have when there isn’t a viewer watching? Nothing. They don‘t have much of a purpose when no one is out right watching, and it clear that they are often alone, looking at Amanda’s many mentions of having to do stuff “alone”.

With all of this I definitely feel as though Wooly does Maladaptive Daydream or at the very least has the likely possibility to start doing it.

In generally he’s desperately trying to get out of the world he’s trapped in without physically doing anything about it, since he’s simply hopeless and resigned to what he’s trapped in, and refuses to go against Hameln out of fear.

so I drew this do capture that.

this is my design for him in the TV show, it’s a whole lot more simple and round. The shading is meant to look empty, lifeless and odd, the textures and colors not being right. I was trying to emulate the poor shading in a old 3D program but in a 2D format because that especially would look odd and off putting. In general I wanted this piece to look and feel empty but also chaotic and fearful.

[witchthewriter]

What do you think would happen if Gwayne Hightower stayed and took Criston Cole's place as a guard and hand? Would Rhaenyra and Gwayne be close? Would Gwayne be close with his nephews and niece? Would Gwayne and Criston be close? Would Rhaenyra still have her children with Harwin? What would change in the story? Would the Dance still happen? What would his relationship be like with the characters?

I have questions

Brilliant question! Well ... I think the outcome of the civil war and its events might have been different. Most likely smoother. Not necessarily in a good way...⋆.˚🦋༘⋆

Also, I think you mean what if he stayed in King's Landing in Season One. And became, essentially, Criston Cole's role? I'm just going to go with that ‧₊˚✩彡

As a Hightower himself, Gwayne would be extremely loyal to his House, his sister and his father (although I don't think Gwayne likes his father all that much...) But ultimately, I think his decisions would likely have aligned with The Green's goals to place Aegon II Targaryen on the throne over Rhaenyra Targaryen.

If Gwayne showed respect for Rhaenyra’s claim or worked to mediate the brewing conflict, their relationship could have become a bridge between the Greens and Blacks, potentially delaying or altering the path to war.

However, we should start in the past.

𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐑𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐫𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞? I think they would. Gwayne is a few years older than Alicent; I think Rhaenyra might have this warped vision that Gwayne is practically the male version of her best friend. This would cause conflicted feelings in Rhaenyra. A crush would form, and possibly be a small wedge between Rhaenyra and Alicent. I don't think Gwayne would let anything happen between he and Rhaenyra though.

𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐆𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞? As he'd be at court when Alicent married Viserys and children started being born - he'd have a very big role in their upbringing. For example, Gwayne would act as a mentor or protector for his nephews, particularly Aemond, given Aemond's fiery temperament. If he treated them with care and respect, they might have grown to admire him, further solidifying his influence within the Greens. However, Gwayne’s potential attempts to bridge divides might have led to tension with Aegon II, who lacked political foresight and could have viewed Gwayne’s diplomacy as disloyalty. I think he would absolutely adore Helaena and Daeron. I can see Alicent and Gwayne taking all four of them for picnics. Bonding with each in different ways. Like Criston Cole was the male figure in the kids lives, so would Gwayne be. However, he would have the rank, respect and place to actually pull them in line. 💢𝑨𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒏 & 𝑮𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒏𝒆 = Gwayne might try to connect with Aegon through shared discussions of duty and honour. He might've encouraged Aegon to focus on his kingship duties rather than indulge in reckless behaviour. 🌻𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒆𝒏𝒂 & 𝑮𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒏𝒆 = Helaena’s love for creatures and her prophetic dreams could intrigue Gwayne, and he most definitely would encourage her unique interests. He could also serve as a calming presence in her life, treating her with respect and kindness when others dismiss her eccentricities. ⚔️𝑨𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒅 & 𝑮𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒏𝒆 = They could bond over combat training, and strategy. Gwayne might also serve as a stabilizing influence on Aemond’s fiery temperament, encouraging him to channel his ambition constructively. ⚖️𝑫𝒂𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒏 & 𝑮𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒏𝒆 = They might bond over shared ideals of knighthood, loyalty, and service. Gwayne could take pride in Daeron’s maturity and work to mentor him further, fostering his growth as a capable and honorable leader.

𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐆𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞? Criston Cole and Gwayne wouldn't be close. Criston’s aggressive and rigid loyalty to Alicent and Aegon would have clashed with Gwayne’s more balanced and diplomatic approach. Gwayne’s higher rank as a member of House Hightower would have made Criston feel overshadowed, leading to rivalry.

𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐑𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐫𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐧? Of course she would! She would still have been married to Laenor, and the romantic aspects of her life would be the same. ˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲? With Gwayne being a bigger role in the story, he would influence things greatly. For example, his approach would likely have been less provocative than Criston’s, potentially delaying or softening the lead-up to war. Gwayne might have attempted to have a compromise between Alicent and Rhaenyra, possibly suggesting a power-sharing arrangement or gradual transition of power. Without Criston Cole pushing for immediate aggression, events like the Crowning of Aegon II and the Storming of Dragonstone might not have happened as quickly or violently.

𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧? Yes, it would sadly still happen but would look very different. The divide between the Greens and Blacks wouldn't be resolved by Gwayne’s efforts. However, his diplomacy might delay open warfare or make the initial battles smaller and less devastating. With fewer provocations (like Criston’s crowning of Aegon II), things would play out differently. Who knows, maybe Aemond wouldn't be so filled with anger and humiliation, that he wants revenge. Hence, Luke's death ... might not happen. Would Rhaenyra have a stillborn? Could Visenya have survived? I'm not sure... I have a feeling that Aegon being crowned had a direct influence on Visenya's birth. Not just the stress but a supernatural/magic moment. Exactly what happened with the Amethyst Empress.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬? ✹ 𝑨𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑯𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 ⋆ Dynamic: Fierce Loyalty, Protective Brother ⋆ Gwayne would be Alicent’s most steadfast supporter and confidant. His loyalty to his family, particularly Alicent, would be unshakable. Unlike Otto, who uses Alicent as a political tool, Gwayne might genuinely care for her well-being, both as a sister and a queen. ⋆ Act as a calming presence, provides emotional support, Alicent would talk to Gwayne over Otto. ✹ 𝑹𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒏𝒚𝒓𝒂 𝑻𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒚𝒆𝒏 ⋆ Dynamic: Cautious Neutrality, Potential Mediator ⋆ Gwayne’s relationship with Rhaenyra would be complex, shaped by his Hightower loyalties but also his own diplomatic temperament. Unlike Criston Cole, who turned bitter, Gwayne might maintain a professional and respectful relationship. ⋆ He'd treat her with respect, act without aggression and listen to plights. Remember when Rhaenyra had just given birth and Alicent wanted to see the baby straight away - I think Gwayne would influence Alicent to stop doing things like that. ✹ 𝑽𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒔 𝑰 𝑻𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒚𝒆𝒏 ⋆ Dynamic: Respectful Advisor ⋆ Gwayne’s relationship with Viserys would be one of respect and duty. Viserys, who values peace and stability, might find Gwayne’s diplomatic approach refreshing compared to Otto’s manipulation or Criston’s aggression. ⋆ I have a feeling that behind closed doors, Gwayne thinks Viserys is a bit of a coward or passed his time. Yet, those opinions don't see the light of day. Gwayne knows how important words are. ✹ 𝑶𝒕𝒕𝒐 𝑯𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 ⋆ Dynamic: Dutiful Son, Subtle Rivalry ⋆ Gwayne would be loyal to Otto as he is family and influential in House Hightower but they would chafe against each other. He'd question his father’s more manipulative and aggressive tactics. ⋆ Otto might view Gwayne as a useful tool to execute his plans. Their relationship would depend on Gwayne’s willingness to follow orders. If he challenges Otto too openly, it could lead to tension within the family. ✹ 𝑳𝒂𝒓𝒚𝒔 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 ⋆ Dynamic: Distrust and Unease ⋆ Gwayne’s honorable and straightforward nature would clash with Larys’s secretive and manipulative tendencies. ⋆ They would hate each other. Completely. Gwayne would see straight through Larys, and call him 'The Snake.' I think it would cause distress in the relationship with Alicent, as he doesn't know why she keeps him around. ✹ 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 ⋆ Dynamic: Respectful Camaraderie ⋆ Gwayne and Harwin could have a relationship built on mutual respect, particularly if both serve as prominent knights or advisors at court. ⋆ Harwin, who values loyalty and straightforwardness, might appreciate Gwayne’s more measured approach compared to someone like Criston Cole. ⋆ This could also mean that those rumours about Harwin & Rhaenyra might lessen. And the training session would be equal; no Criston Cole choosing favourites.

Ultimately, it was Criston Cole's aggressive nature that escalated tensions and alienated potential allies. While the Dance of the Dragons wouldn't have been prevented; it would have been delayed or there would be less casualties. Including the dragons.

[blackcatsnest]

The meaning of "Solas" and its influences

While researching lore for my solavellan fanfic (if you are interest, see here), I came across something intriguing that I haven’t seen much discussion about in the fandom. Solas once said, “I was Solas first. Fen’Harel came later. An insult I took as a badge of pride.” This implies that Solas was his original and "only" name before he chose to rebel against his kins.

This raises an interesting question: do spirits even use names? From what I remember (and correct me if I am wrong), in the game spirits are typically referred to by their nature—Spirit of Justice is Justice, Demon of Spite is Spite, and so on. The only exception is Cole, but he gained his name by assuming the identity of the real Cole. This suggests that spirits don’t have the same sense of individualism as mortals. However, if they embody or manifest in a physical form, they might adopt a name that reflects their nature or experiences. This leads to an interesting possibility: Solas might not have had a name until Mythal crafted him a body. But why would Solas, a spirit of wisdom, choose a name associated with pride? (And it can also mean 'stand tall,' which carries a more positive aspect while still hinting at pridefulness—thanks for the reminder from @smoggyfogbottom )Here are two potential theories:

Theory 1: The trauma of becoming physical twisted his essence into pride.

The process of taking on a body is said to be very traumatic, maybe that altered Solas at his core, leading him to identify himself as pride rather than wisdom. However, I find this theory unconvincing. At the beginning of their creation, the Evanuris were still performing good deeds, and Solas served Mythal and her people as an advisor. This indicates that the spiritual purpose of the Evanuris wasn’t significantly altered right away. While the act of taking on a body may have been distressing, it likely wasn’t as severe as the transformation spirits undergo when crossing the Veil and becoming demons instantly. Thus, there’s little reason for Solas to call himself "pride" immediately after gaining a body.

Theory 2: The name originally meant wisdom, but the meaning changed over time.

It’s possible that the word Solas initially conveyed the idea of wisdom or something closely related, but its meaning was later distorted to represent pride. This wouldn’t be the first instance of a name or term being twisted over time. For example, the meaning of Fen’Harel has been confirmed to have changed. According to the Codex, Fen’Harel does not mean “God of Deception” or “Trickster,” but rather “God of Rebellion” or even “God of Noble Struggle.”

----

Codex entry: The Rebel God The Dalish use "Harellan" to mean "traitor to one's kin," but the word does not appear in any elven text before the Towers Age. The ancient root-word is related to "harillen," or opposition, and "hellathen," or noble struggle. The Dalish call Fen'Harel a god of deception, but I posit a far more accurate translation would be "god of rebellion." What he rebelled against is a story lost to time. In Dalish legends, Fen'Harel seals away the other deities out of love of trickery. If we understood more ancient elven, we might find earlier versions of the Dread Wolf's story give him a more nuanced motivation beyond spite.

-From A Treaty on the Pagan and Heretical Customs of the Elven, by Senallen Tavernier of the University of Orlais, commissioned by Empress Celene.

---

If this distortion of meaning could happen with Fen’Harel, it’s plausible that the name Solas experienced a similar fate. The question then becomes: when did this shift in meaning occur?

The Codex notes that the word Harellan—first appeared in the Towers Age. This suggests that the meaning of the root of the word, Fen’Harel, and the related terms Solas, were changed much earlier, potentially as soon as Solas led the rebellion. The Evanuris likely employed highly effective propaganda to paint their enemy in a negative light, which endured for thousands of years.

But where were Solas’s supporters and allies in all this? After the Veil was created and its devastating consequences unfolded, many likely turned against him, resenting him for the chaos and suffering that followed. Others may have felt betrayed or abandoned. Over time, they may have forgotten that it was Solas who freed them from slavery, focusing instead on the cost of his actions.

An additional point of interest lies in the timing of the word Harellan’s emergence in the Towers Age. This coincides with the birth of Flemeth and her eventual possession by Mythal. The Codex containing this information is found in the Temple of Mythal, which seems too significant to dismiss as mere coincidence. Could Flemeth/Mythal have influenced the Towers Age Dalish to create Harellan and deepen the misrepresentation of Fen’Harel’s true nature?

If so, what was Mythal/Flemeth’s motivation? We know that Mythal and Solas’s relationship was never a healthy one—there were certainly elements of manipulation involved, and many people even believe Mythal was abusive towards him. Perhaps she still harbored grudges against him? Having a trusted subordinate rebel against you would have been both humiliating and deeply personal. In some ways, Solas’s actions may have even contributed to her death. So she seeks revenge, even after all these years? We have no way to be certain. But her action did denied Solas further from his legacy as a liberator. Now he is reduced to a villain in the eyes of future generations completely.

This is why I think Mythal is definitely not the noble and innocent figure Solas would like us to believe, and why their relationship may not have been a romantic one. I imagine their dynamic to be more like a superior and subordinate, or perhaps a mother and son, mixed with thousands of years of friendship. In one word—complicated. I also believe there’s more to the story of Andraste, who is implied to have been possessed by Mythal at some point. Morrigan once remarked that Andraste “runs off and falls in love with a wild man,” suggesting that she and Maferath had a genuine emotional bond. If there is no Maker, as Solas claims, why then would Maferath become jealous and betray Andraste? Could it be that Mythal sought to destroy the Tevinter Imperium to restore Elven glory, but the war dragged on for too long? Perhaps Maferath saw no end in sight and felt it was all spiraling out of control. This would be an interesting topic to explore further.

But back to our current discussion: the impact of these shifts in meaning is significant. Imagine waking up with the hope of seeing a better future, only to find that everyone now calls you a traitor. While Dragon Age lore doesn’t specifically state that names influence people directly, it’s common sense that names represent how others perceive you—and this perception undoubtedly affects self-image. Over time, even Solas begins to acknowledge himself as the God of Lies, believing deception is inherent to his nature, even though he uses lies only as tactics.

And let’s be honest—he’s a terrible liar! He leaves hints everywhere, unable to fully conceal the truth. Moreover, spirits reflect people’s thoughts and emotions, and at his core, Solas is still a spirit. Can we blame him for struggling under the weight of these misinterpretations and the world’s expectations?

It seems Lavellan understood his nature better than most. She said, “Lies of the heart? No.” That simple statement cuts to the truth of who he is.

[waynes-multiverse]

Gladly 😂🫶

Loll I'm loving how you're writing his internal monologue -- matches his quirky personality well. 😂

One thing I missed when writing Beau (although he can be a lil goofball 💚). But Dean, Russell, and SB are just bound to have more hilarious inner monologues 🤣 (Russ did remind me a lot of PH Dean because of the blatant sneakiness. He's a little shit too lol)

Again, lmao great personality color, and so freakin' relatable!

His paranoia and suspicion was so fun to write throughout lol

LOLL. That's so very Colter. 😂

He was definitely not happy with Russell in this part 😅 LMAO. Classified, indeed. 😏 Can I hope for one of your legendary flashbacks in the future??

Welp, I might have caught the flashback bug. I went with a whole prequel this time 😂 (And of course, the kitchen island story comes back up in detail 😏) Most of the references to their past are actually stories in the prequel series. Was fun (and a bit insane) to wove 'em all in 🤪

Russ just HAD to bring up Reenie multiple times, didn't he? It's feeling very much The Misadventures of Russ and Colter, and I'm so here for it. 🤣

Bahaha totally! They're a bit of chaotic team 😂 I loved writing all the teasing about Reenie. Of course Russell wouldn't let that go (also a great deflection from his own problems lol)

(Also, not the "midlife crisis beard" 🤣)

lmao it comes back too 🤣🤣

But OMG they were married?!!! And why would she send the papers just to get his attention? Good Lord, so many questions…

Hahaha I loved dropping that casual reveal in there 😆 He was already so vague about how long they were actually together, this didn't feel like a big stretch lol

Ahh, makes sense. It tracks that Russ would be hard to pry open, even to someone he loves and has been in such close quarters with him for such a long time. (LOL Denver Airport. 👌🏽)

Yes, although reader knows pretty much everything about his backstory and his family. It was more that he was pretending it didn't bother or affect him, even though she could clearly see that it did until the dorment volcano became active again... 👀

It's so sweet to think Russ had a surrogate dad that actually treated him like a normal kid, teaching him how to throw a football, etc.

Yup, my heart couldn't take him being entirely alone for every holiday and birthday for over twenty years 😭 Totally makes sense too that he would "imprint" on reader's family and view them as his 🥹

Oh my GODD. They have a son together too?? What the hell happened between them? She left and took their son with her?

Well, we get into all of that in the next few parts... 😅

My heart is truly breaking for him, and now I need to know what the hell he did to make her actually leave him, even though they have two kids. 😭😭

Honestly, writing this scene wrecked me. He didn't even know if he had a daughter or second son like... 🤯😭 But I tried to show throughout that their life wasn't "normal." It was her way of trying to help him, so it was less about what he did than what he didn't do 😉

True to typical Wayne, this is an intricate cobweb of a story, Russell AND the reader are infinitely complex, and I'm very interested to see where you take this from here. 💜

Hahaha love that I'm getting that label now! Just wait till you read the Wayn'e Version meet-cute 😂😂🫶

Thank you so much, Alex! You always make me laugh so hard! I truly appreciate this (and you) 🤍🤍🤍

The Exit Strategy – Part 2

Summary: Russell is ready to hang it all up and retire, open up a brewery, and enjoy the rest of his civilian life. However, there’s one important thing missing before he can take the big plunge. Luckily, he knows just the right person to help him find it.

Pairing: Russell Shaw x Female!Reader

Warnings: +18, language, minor injuries, a bit of angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, a reunion, more secrets and revelations 😉

Word Count: 6.3k

A/N: Guess, the cat's outta the bag! Couldn't reveal too much about the reader beforehand without ruining the surprise now, could I? 🤓 Cozy up in your favorite chair with eggnog. Hope you have some lovely holidays, guys ❤️

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Part 2: This Is a Russell Mission

If Russell hated one thing in this world, it was playing The Waiting Game. The thought of being helplessly stuck inside a car with his hands metaphorically tied behind his back nearly wrecked his sanity. Well, whatever was left of it, anyways.

Colter had a point. Russell knew he could be a little paranoid sometimes, but considering everything he’d seen and done in his life, who could honestly blame him? It was only natural to feel a certain level of paranoia in his particular line of work. It kept him on his toes and, therefore, alive.

But maybe it had nothing to do with the job as he had always told himself. It might have been just a family trait he had inherited. And, well, he hated that fact even more than The Waiting Game.

As he impatiently watched a set of doors once more, he pondered if he was still seeing things clearly or if his kooky mind was playing tricks on him. Adjusting to civilian life wasn’t always easy.

What normal people would see as a perfectly nice, faithful woman picking up mail from the post office, Russell saw as a dead-drop pick-up.

There was a construction crew about three hundred yards to his right that seemed to be on constant break by their lack of work ethic. They also took turns to watch the supermarket closely. Ever wondered why there was so much street construction seemingly everywhere and yet America’s roads were still full of potholes? Russell didn’t.

And then, there was the cashier who handed you a flyer of some sort, which you accepted with a polite smile and stuffed in your purse. Live drop, Russell noted as he watched you walk out of the store hand in hand with your supposed husband.

It was all so abundantly clear to him, he almost couldn’t believe no one else could see it. It certainly worried him that Colter couldn’t.

What if…

What if he was in fact seeing things? Things that weren’t actually there. Ghosts of his past. No drops, live or dead. No secret surveillance in disguises. No fake husband – just a very real one.

Was that even legal? He figured it was under your new identity.

Russell shook the uncomfortable thought out of his mind and concentrated back on you. You stopped short by a row of shopping carts, exchanged a few words with your “husband”, and headed back inside. His little brother, of course, was hot on your tail, following you back in too.

That was when several alarm bells went off in Russell’s body. His head felt like the Liberty Bell on the Fourth of July. Experience told him: If it smelled like an ambush, it usually was.

Jumping into gear, Russell’s gaze snapped to your husband, who not only unloaded the groceries into the trunk of the car but also loaded a pistol and hid it underneath his sweater vest before heading toward the supermarket again.

Russell sprung into action rather quickly then, snatching his own semi-automatic from the glove compartment. Soon enough, he heard two familiar voices flowing out from a back alley behind the main building. There was no doubt in his mind that it was you and Colter.

As he rounded the corner, he had to stifle a laugh once he saw his little brother down on the ground, straddled by your legs. Russell had found himself in similar positions with you, but they had been mostly out of pleasure.

“If it helps, my name is Colter. Colter Sh–”

“Shaw.”

Russell watched as your hold on his brother swayed and shock claimed your expression.

“Hiya, sweetheart,” he greeted your eyes with a cheeky smile as warmth spread through his heart.

Fuck, he had missed you.

“Russell?!”

Your jaw had fully dislodged itself as you slowly got back onto your feet and let go of your prisoner. But the shock of seeing your ex here of all places didn’t last long till it made way for your anger.

“Are you fucking insane?” You stormed towards him, shoving his chest. Whoa, broad! Shit, what had he done? Spent more time at the gym? “No, wait, don’t say anything. I already know the answer to that one!”

“I’ll second that,” Colter chimed in with a groan and dusted off his jeans. He stretched his sore muscles briefly before glaring at his older brother, who only offered him an apologetic smile and a half-assed shrug of one shoulder.

“Did you tell him to follow me?” you asked and pointed an accusatory finger at his younger brother while still glaring daggers at Russell. The similarity between them suddenly struck you, and you cursed yourself for not putting the puzzle pieces together sooner. “What was the plan here, huh?”

“Oh, trust me, he had no plan,” Colter muttered sourly, still recovering from your attack.

Russell clicked his tongue and sighed, scratching the back of his neck. “Look, he’s right. There wasn’t a plan. I just-… I had to see you. But once I did, well… here we are.”

Full disclosure: There might have been a little bit of a plan. Just tiny, really. Not worth mentioning at all.

You scoffed and shook your head. “You, of all people, should know better. You could’ve blown our cover. Months of work down the drain…”

“I think your cover’s still good,” Russell assured you with that same old lazy grin of his that was scarily charming and glanced at your partner. “Might wanna call off the cavalry, though.”

You shared a look with Tom, your partner during this mission.

“I’ll signal them. Clean up here,” he said, unamused, and disappeared back to the parking lot.

“Road crew in front of the store?” was all Russell asked. You confirmed it with a simple nod. Internally, he celebrated his little win. His instincts were still intact.

You exhaled a deep breath and threw your hands up. You had been so incredibly relaxed before that menace of a man waltzed back into your life – with a goddamn wrecking ball, no less. Now, the tension was crawling back into your shoulders.

“Russ, what the hell?”

Your question wasn’t filled with anger, however. You were just exhausted by today’s surprising turn of events. The life of a spy…

And probably the life with Russell, too.

“I know. I know, okay?” Russell held up two placating hands. Large hands. Warm. “Can we just talk? Somewhere… I don’t know.”

With some reservations, you still nodded. “There’s a church picnic at First Presbyterian tomorrow. It starts at one. We can talk there.”

There had never been a day in your relationship where you had denied that man a thing – till that last day at least.

“Church picnic?” Russell cocked a brow but was only met with your glare.

“Don’t mock. Be there,” you told him firmly and walked back inside the building. You still had to buy that damn milk. Covers were complicated to maintain – much like relationships.

Once you were out of sight, Russell let out a long sigh of relief, followed by a laugh of happiness. Step One was done. Only when the high of his meeting with you subsided, did he notice his brother’s exasperation.

Colter threw his hands in the air and stared at his sibling with incredulous eyes. “What the hell, Russell? What was that, man?”

“Right, yeah.” Russell bobbed his head calmly, smacking his lips. He knew he owed Colter an explanation at this stage of the mission.

“So, I’m guessing she’s not an old Army buddy of yours,” the younger Shaw started.

“No, not quite. She’s in the CIA,” Russell explained at last. He couldn’t help the grin. He was sure Colter would laugh about it eventually, too. Well, here was to hoping he would. “We worked together when we were both stationed in Baghdad. You know how it goes. We met, and a couple of hours later, we were doing it on the kitchen island of some safe house.”

Well, alright, that was braggy. There was a lot more going on than that. Best night of his life, really. But Russell considered it classified.

“Romantic,” Colter scoffed with sarcasm lacing his voice. Honestly, a part of him was happy for Russell. Another part, though, was incredibly furious for obvious reasons. “But I’m sorry – you had me stalk a CIA operative? During, what I assume is, some elaborate undercover mission?”

“It’s actually not that elaborate,” Russell quipped with amusement. “You shoulda seen half the things I’ve seen her do, so…”

“Oh, hilarious!” Colter shook his head at his childish brother. “Are you nuts?!”

“I think we’ve already established that,” Russell chuckled.

“You know, if Reenie finds out about this, she’s gonna kill me,” Colter said, and Russell swore his brother seemed close to breaking into a sweat. “Oh, you think this is still funny, huh? Guess who she’s gonna kill right after? You.”

Russell rolled his eyes at the unnecessary theatrics. “She’s not gonna find out unless you tell her, brother.”

With pursed lips, Colter nodded in defeat. “Can’t say I like you a lot right now, Russell.”

His older brother only snorted a laugh in response. “Oh, c’mon!”

“You probably would find it less funny if you had been beaten up by a 5’4” woman,” Colter continued and pressed a hand to his ribcage, wincing. “Yeah, pretty sure she cracked a rib or two…”

“Don’t be a baby. Soldier up! You’re fine.” Russell patted his back roughly and inspected the swelling nose for good measure, causing Colter to groan in pain once more. “And by the way, pretty sure she’s only 5’3”.”

“What?! No! She’s at least… 5’4”, okay? Probably even 5’5”,” Colter argued, following Russell back to the truck.

Russell’s lips rose to a teasing smirk. “Yeah, you keep telling yourself whatever gets you to sleep at night, little brother.”

“I will, thank you,” Colter deadpanned and unlocked the car. “So, you’re gonna go to this church picnic thing tomorrow?”

“Oh, no, not just me. We are going to this church picnic thing tomorrow,” Russell said with a cheeky grin and slid into the passenger seat.

“Well, you know, technically, I’ve already… found her. This is usually where my job ends,” Colter said with a tight smile and popped the key into the ignition.

“Yeah, well, not this time,” Russell replied, chuckling. “This ain’t a Colter mission. This is a Russell mission.”

“Oh, I got that, yeah. Thank you,” Colter said with a laugh that made his bruised ribs ache. “You know, you could’ve at least told me she was in the CIA.”

“Yeah, probably. But this was more fun,” Russell grinned.

“Did you know this whole time this was a clandestine operation?”

Russell sheepishly twitched his shoulders. “Well, not when we first got to town, but once I saw her in that outfit, I had a pretty strong inkling. I’m tellin’ ya, even if she had changed her entire life and personality, there’s no way she would have accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and savior. I mean, maybe if she suffered a traumatic brain injury…” Russell mused and then grinned. “Or if she got abducted by aliens!”

“Oh, not the UFOs again,” Colter sighed with a shake of his head.

“It’s UAP, man. U… A… P,” Russell corrected him once again and let the last letter pop from his lips for emphasis.

“Uh-huh… Did you even need me for this?” Colter leaned back against his seat and quirked an eyebrow.

“Hell yeah!” Russell assured eagerly before changing course. He dialed his enthusiasm back a little. “Well, honestly, I just needed your op analyst. I could’ve used one of my guys, but then that would’ve flagged it with someone upstairs, so… But c’mon! This was fun, right?”

“I don’t know, Russell. I usually prefer my fun to look a little different,” Colter deadpanned.

“With Reenie?” Russell wagged his eyebrows. The huge smirk on his face spoke volumes.

“Would you stop?!”

“‘Sides, this is nice, isn’t it? Us… hanging out?” Russell’s sly grin then morphed into a much softer and genuine smile.

“I guess, yeah,” Colter reluctantly agreed and shrugged his shoulders. But the tiny smile on his face wasn’t missed by Russell.

“Alright, let’s get some fuel,” Russell announced and playfully slapped his brother’s chest. “I’m starving. We also need to find a place where we can park that Airstream of yours. Maybe get a nice fire going, drink a few…”

“What is this? A sleepover? Did you just invite yourself?” Colter really wasn’t used to family members dropping in like this, but he couldn’t deny that it felt sort of nice, too.

“Yeah, I am. I mean, you didn’t offer. Would’ve been the polite thing, you know, considering I saved your ass last time,” Russell retorted puckishly.

Colter exhaled a humorous breath, shaking his head with a chuckle. “Alright, okay… Consider yourself invited.”

“See? Wasn’t so hard now, was it?”

Russell’s nerves leaped through the roof as he set foot onto the church grounds. A part of him expected his boot soles to leave burn marks in their wake on the perfectly green and trimmed lawn, considering his extensive list of sins.

Families, children, couples, and the elderly had all gathered in front of the church. There were picnic tables, blankets, even balloons and a banner. His green eyes, however, landed on the giant buffet, his mouth already beginning to water.

That’s also where he spotted you, handing out cupcakes and slices of pie with a pious smile on your face. Your hair was stuck behind your ears, a headband keeping it tightly in place. Your dress looked the same, only the flower pattern varied, with a tight cardigan around your shoulders that hid any naked skin.

Deceptively innocent, Russell thought, causing his mouth to water for a different reason.

“You okay? You nervous?” Colter checked with a curiously raised brow.

“Nervous? Me? No.” Russell gave a quick shake of his head, but his eyes were transfixed on you. “Gotta admit. That outfit’s doing something to me, though.”

Colter patted his shoulder blade. “Yeah, might wanna keep it in your pants, Russ. Pretty sure you get kicked out for impure thoughts.”

Russell snorted a laugh. “Yeah, probably.”

The Shaw brothers then made their way over to your stand. Russell’s heart thumped louder with every new step he took towards you. And once he was so close he could smell your irresistible perfume, his smile only widened.

You, on the other hand, played your role flawlessly and pretended you didn’t know either brother in front of you. Your brows knit in question, but your devout smile remained the same.

“Gentlemen, how can I help you? I don’t think I’ve seen you here before,” you said and subtly gestured your head to the pastor next to you.

Russell’s brow raised in understanding. He cleared his throat. “Oh, me and my brother just moved here. Looking for a new church. Heard this is the place,” he stated loud enough for the pastor to hear. “You know, we are very devout Christians. I mean, especially my brother here. If he doesn’t pray at least ten times a day, he gets real cranky.”

Colter threw him a look but decided to play along. “Oh, yeah, I just-… I hate that. Can’t pray enough, right?”

“Amen,” you said with all the sincerity you could muster. On the inside, however, you were bursting with laughter. Leave it to Russell to make you smile brighter than the sun.

“Well, you’ve certainly come to the right place,” the pastor chimed in with a cheerful smile that spelled kumbaya all the way through as he shook the brothers’ hands. “I’m Pastor Jeff. Welcome to our little congregation, folks.”

“God can never have enough sheep, am I right?” Russell quipped and wondered how long you’d already been undercover, playing your dutiful role as a Christian housewife. Five sentences in, and he already was at his limit.

“That’s right!” The pastor grinned broadly. “Please help yourselves to our delicious buffet.”

“Well, lookey, what do we have here.” Russell’s eyes zoned in on a plate of apple pie, rubbing his palms in delight.

“Oh, you have to try the pie,” the pastor eagerly suggested and put an arm around your shoulders. “Our Nora here is an excellent baker. Her desserts are a real trend in our community. It is downright sinful. But shhhh, don’t tell the big man upstairs.”

“Secret’s safe with me, pastor,” Russell grinned slyly before meeting your eyes for the briefest second. “Say, do you do marriage counseling too?”

The glare you shot him had enough power to kill him from afar. You might as well have ordered a missile strike on him.

“Oh, my, yes, of course!” the pastor eagerly replied, causing your frown to deepen. “Are you married? Having a little trouble with the missus?”

“You could say that,” Russell earnestly played along and propped up his hands on his hips. “Everything was going fine, you know? And then one morning, just whoosh, gone. No explanation, no letter, no anonymous call from a pay phone…”

“Wow…” The pastor was stunned and enthralled by Russell’s colorful storytelling at the same time. You weren’t, however.

“Well, I’m so sorry to hear that,” you feigned your sympathies with tight lips and a fierce glare at your former lover. “But you know what they say, the Lord giveth and he taketh away…”

“You know, Nora here is right. Our Lord does work in mysterious ways,” the pastor chimed in agreement.

“Amen, Pastor Jeff,” you said, smiling contentiously. “Do you have any idea why your wife left?”

“Oh, I’m afraid she’s as mysterious as the Lord,” Russell replied.

Crossing your arms over your chest, you forced a tight smile. “I don’t mean to overstep, but it sounds like someone was having a little trouble with commitment.”

“It does,” Pastor Jeff agreed. “Why do you think that is?”

Clearing his throat uncomfortably, Russell’s head bobbed, his tongue poking the insides of his cheeks. He was definitely feeling a spotlight on him. Even Colter seemed to curiously lean in. Then, the oldest Shaw clicked his tongue. “Rough childhood.”

Amused, Colter scoffed under his breath behind him. “You could say that.”

“Oh no.” The pastor sent the brothers a pitying look and turned his attention to the younger Shaw. “And what do you do?”

“Oh, uh… Well, before I moved in with my brother here, I lived in a trailer and traveled all over the country.”

“Sounds… lonely,” Pastor Jeff stated worriedly.

“Yeah, this one is a big lone wolf. He has commitment issues too,” Russell replied, earning him a scolding look from his brother.

“Uh, I don’t think we need to overshare, Russ.” Colter gave an awkward smile, turning to you and Pastor Jeff. “He’s kidding. I don’t have commitment issues.”

“It’s a sin to lie, Colter,” Russ noted. His tone was serious, but the twinkle in his green eyes was impish.

“What happened to your face there?” The pastor cocked his head and inspected the younger Shaw’s injuries.

Oof, he looked rough. The skin under his eyes and bridge of his nose were swollen and bruised, ranging in color from blue, purple to black. A thin burgundy line also graced his throat. You had done quite a number on him.

You should kick Russell’s ass for setting you both up like this. Who would do this to their little brother?

“Uh, you know, moving boxes…” Colter stammered with a shift of his weight from one foot to the other, pursing his lips.

Russell was a better liar than him, you noted.

“Yup, walked straight into one of those wood planks,” Russell added, oozing just the right amount of charm and humor to wrap the pastor around his finger. “Tiny thing, honestly, but still got him good.”

Oh, he was so proud of that too, you could tell. He smirked right at you. Well, they were both terrible liars.

“Not that tiny. Big, big plank,” Colter corrected. Apparently, you had bruised his ego, too. “Lucky to be alive, really.”

Yeah, he really was.

“Well, speaking of taking things away, I still have to get the eggs from the chickens,” you said, segueing the conversation to an exit strategy. “Excuse me.”

“Oh, you have chickens here?” Russell enthusiastically slapped Colter’s arm. “Did you hear that? They have chickens.”

“Yeah, uh, very exciting,” Colter said, subtly clearing his throat.

“We’ve always wanted chickens,” Russell clarified for the pastor, joining you by your side as you rounded the table. It wasn’t true, though. The brothers actually had a chicken coop at the cabin when they were kids and hated it. The hens were noisy, the rooster was the worst, and it was always a mess to clean up. “I love those clucking little buggers. And now that we have a big backyard… Mind if I come along and check out your setup?”

“Not at all,” you replied with a friendly smile.

“Great. Be right back,” Russell told his brother, hurrying after you before he eloquently made a U-turn back to the stand and grabbed a plate of pie.

“Take your time,” Colter said through a pressed smile, although he wondered how long he’d be stuck here for with the pastor and your fake husband.

“Clear,” you said and held the creaking wooden door of the coop open for Russell to follow inside. As soon as it fell shut behind you two, you crossed your arms. “Okay, talk.”

“What? Here? Now?” With squinted eyes and a cocked brow, Russell looked around the small and dark space full of farm fowl, hay, and feathers.

You threw your arms up in exasperation. “You said you wanted to talk, so talk. What’s wrong with this place?”

“Nothing,” Russell said timidly and swallowed. He scratched the back of his neck. “You know, I just imagined this conversation a thousand times in my head, and it never happened in a chicken coop on church grounds.”

“Adorable,” you commented unamused, your brow knitting even more.

“All I’m sayin’ is, this just takes some time gettin’ used to…”

“Get used to it faster.”

Russell sighed. Then you did.

You softened your stance, crossed arms falling freely to your sides. “I’ve missed you,” you said earnestly and gifted him a small smile, taking in his changed appearance for the first time in detail.

He was hairier than you remembered. That you knew for sure. If you went back even further, he was also a lot broader, too. When you’d met, he was just a kid – as were you. It was only in the last few years of your relationship that he started to gain some serious muscle and really began to fill out his uniform. And all of a sudden, the tall and broad-shouldered soldier became more threatening – and more protective.

Now, clean-shaven, young, somewhat naive, and rule-following was replaced by a rebellious, midlife-crisis beard and the matching hair.

Ah, the t-shirt… Mötley Crüe. He found that thing eleven years ago at a thrift store in Arizona. It had a (bullet) hole on the left side of his lower back that you had patched – thrice. Once even with teething floss in a tent.

“How have you been?”

Russell’s head bobbed. He shrugged. “So-so.” Then he smiled. Soft and warm. The first few rays of sunshine on frozen winter skin. “I’ve missed you, too.” Then, the smile disappeared from his lips, replaced by contempt. “Got your divorce papers. Not signing them, by the way.”

“Good.” You smiled weakly. “I didn’t want you to sign them. I just sent them to get your attention.”

The relief that surged through Russell’s body was ineffable. For months, he thought he’d lost you – that you’d finally given up on him for good.

“How’s the new job working out?”

Russell’s lips drew a smirk, flirtatious charm glimmering in his forest green eyes. “What, you keeping tabs on me, sweetheart?”

You matched his expression. “Who do you think recommended you, huh?”

Russell stumped for a beat. His lips pursed, eyebrows drawing into a wondering v. “Well, they said someone did. Just didn’t think it was you.”

All this time, he’d believed you had crossed him out of your mind with a red pen as soon as you’d walked out the door that very morning.

“I told you. I’ll always look out for you,” you replied simply, a caring smile dancing on your lips. “So? Did it help? Are you any closer?”

“Yeah, guess so…” He paused for a moment, his gaze focused on the tips of his boots as he thought. “Not sure it was worth it, though. Actually, I’m fucking sure it wasn’t.”

You exhaled a long breath. You knew this day would come eventually. You knew he’d come back for you. Granted, you had expected him on your goddamn doorstep years ago, but he never showed. Sending divorce papers was a last resort in hopes he’d wake up then. That had been nine months ago.

“Why are you here, Russ?”

“Things have changed.”

Ah. That made things perfectly clear.

Lifting a brow, you crossed your arms again. “Is that why you brought your little brother along? As a show of good faith?”

“Kinda.”

“Poor Colter… How’s his nose?”

Russell wiped your sincere concerns away with a shrug. “He’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it. Just a scratch.”

Just a scratch…

“It’s weird… seeing you two together,” you said. For more than fifteen years, you had wondered. A part of you thought this day would never come, so maybe Colter being here was indeed a show of good faith and Russell was finally, finally dealing with his shit.

That man could easily fill the Denver airport with his baggage.

“You look good,” you noted. You were trained to control your heartbeat, but he had always made your job harder. “Different.”

His fingers brushed his beard as if to emphasize the newness. “Yeah? You like it?”

“Well, uhm, I don’t hate it,” you said rather coyly. Did you want to give him a win? No. But if he stepped any closer, you would falter. Your cheeks blushed as the tip of your shoe drew circles in the sandy ground. Why did your ears suddenly feel so hot?

Russell smiled as heat crept to his cheeks as well. “Your new look is somethin’, too.”

“God, shut up.” You rolled your eyes at him but couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face.

“Oh, I don’t think you’re allowed to take the Lord’s name in vain here,” Russell teased. “Don’t let good Pastor Jeff hear ya.”

You laughed, scoffing. “I hate that man.”

“Pastor Jeff? I can tell,” Russell chuckled in amusement and finally stuffed his face with the first bite of pie, chewing a mouthful as he spoke. “But c’mon, he ain’t half bad.”

“Really? You don’t wanna shoot yourself after spending five minutes with him? ‘Cause I do. And it’s been months for me,” you said. “You don’t know what that man does in his office.”

“You bugged his office?”

“And the confession booth. Two words: game changer,” you said, wide-eyed. Russell whistled lowly. You narrowed your eyes at the half-eaten plate in his hands and the pie crumbs in his beard. You raised a scolding brow. “Did you really have to bring the pie?”

“Do you even know me at all? Of course I did.” Russell then shoved the last bite into his mouth to prove his petulant point. “Did you actually bake this?”

In expectant offense, you stepped back a little, crossing your arms again. “Why?”

“‘Cause it’s good.”

“Do you even know me at all? What d’you think?”

“Thought so.” Russell gave a shrug of his shoulders. “The first bite of this didn’t give me immediate food poisoning.”

“Fuck you. I’m a great cook,” you huffed but couldn’t help the grin on your face. You had missed this – the bickering, the bantering, the fun. And Russell, the sly asshole, knew that, judging by his own smirk.

“There’s a lot of reasons why I love you, but your cooking skills ain’t one of ‘em, sweetheart,” he quipped.

“I’ll use you as shooting practice, Shaw,” you threatened playfully. Russell laughed, but it sounded more secretive than a laugh about a joke. “What?”

Russell’s eyes found yours. “Nothing. This is nice, right? We slid right back into it. Like the last three years never happened.”

“Russ…” You sighed, your heart hurting. For you, they happened.

“Just saying it was easy. That’s all,” he said with placating hands. “How’s the family? How’s your dad?”

That caused you to suck in a breath. You had wondered when he would finally dare to ask. You knew this was the real reason why he was here. “Dave finally married Jill last spring. It was a nice wedding. Florence, Italy. Got to wear a sun hat.”

“That’s good.” Russell smiled softly, although it stung that he wasn’t invited. He had always imagined he would be, once your brother popped the question to his longtime girlfriend. After all, Russell was the one who introduced the couple in the first place.

“They wanted to do it sooner, but because of the pandemic…”

“They shoulda done it ten years ago. I kept telling him to lock it down,” Russell quipped, the irony not entirely lost on him. He knew even if something was locked down, didn’t necessarily mean it would stay forever.

“You did,” you remembered with a fond smile. “They wanted you there,” you added, noticing his saddened expression. “It’s just-…”

“No, I know. Don’t worry about it,” Russell brushed it off with all the coolness he could muster at that moment.

“Russ…”

“I said it’s fine,” he repeated and forced another smile. “So, how’s the old man?”

Silently, you bit your lip and sent him a look that spoke volumes.

“Uh-oh. That bad, huh?”

“It’s the reason why I moved back here. To be closer… As close as I can be with this job. Figured it was best for everyone,” you explained. “In the beginning, he had a lot of good days, you know? Now they just all seem… bad.”

“Yeah… I’m sorry,” Russell replied, dumping his empty plate by the chickens. He stepped closer.

Uh-oh. Now, you were in trouble.

“I’m sorry, too.”

Russell’s brow jumped up. “What are you sorry for? It’s your dad.”

“I know. But… he kinda was yours too, right?” Russell’s green eyes meeting yours confirmed your statement. “He still talks about you on his good days. God knows you couldn’t throw a football before you met him.”

“Hey, that’s not true. I could throw the old pigskin around perfectly fine,” Russell defended.

You snorted. “You could not,” you argued with a teasing smile. “You knew how to kill sweet little forest critters and turn your pee into drinking water. But you did not know how to throw a damn ball.”

“You’re never letting the pee thing go, are you?”

You shrugged. “It was a very memorable trip.”

Russell laughed at that. Then the melancholic sadness returned to his face. “How’s-, uhm, how’s Lewis?”

He’d made it through the list of your relatives, finishing with the most important one. And it stung so unbearably much it broke your heart for him. But in the end, you knew he’d done it to himself.

Fighting the tears in your eyes, you forced a smile to your lips. “He’s good. He’s a sweet boy. Keeps asking questions about his daddy that I don’t know how to answer…” you scoffed humorlessly but decided to forgo the pettiness. It would be so easy to be mad at him, but not even on your darkest days could you do it. “He’s starting school this fall.”

“School, huh?” Russell huffed a devastating chuckle, the tears brimming in his eyes as the lump in his throat only grew. “Shit…”

It was getting to him, you could see, and he hadn’t expected that it would. Knowing Russell, he probably figured he could push through the pain and be fine. But he had never really been fine since the day you met him – and he wasn’t this time either as he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to blink the tears away, and turned his back to you with a hand clasped over his mouth.

“Should I stop?”

It felt like you were torturing him with a cruel new method of some PsyOp. Even if you had cursed this man for the past three years, your heart refused to see him hurt.

But Russell shook his head, finding your eyes again. He offered you a weak smile. “No, uh, don’t. Just tell me something about him, okay? I’m fine. Please.”

Sighing, you nodded in acceptance. “When my dad was better, he and Dave would take him fishing a lot. He loved it. He’s in his ‘backyard adventures’ phase,” you said, giggling softly. “He’s catching frogs and releasing them in the house. Never imagined I’d wake up with an amphibian on my head. It’s been a delightful experience.”

Russell laughed, but it was feeble at best. “I can imagine…”

And I can’t imagine I missed it all, he thought self-punishingly. But the hard part still hadn’t come yet.

“And, uhm…” Russell wrung for words, taking a deep breath. “How’s the baby? Is it–”

“She,” you stated, watching him swallow upon your correction. “Her name’s Amelia. She turned two in April.”

“Huh, girl…” His heart beat faster, grew bigger, and painfully yearned. His feet trembled to get home, wherever that was, and see them, but he knew he couldn’t. It wasn’t so easy, after all. “Guess I was right…” he said with a sad smile.

You had been sure you’d have another boy. However, Russell had bet you ten meatball subs – your craving at the time – that it wasn’t.

“What happened to Ann? Thought that’s the name we picked,” Russell teased in hopes of lightening the mood.

“Yeah, well, if you wanted a say, maybe you should’ve been there…” you retorted.

Russell should’ve known winning you over wouldn’t be as simple as spelling the ABC.

“You’re the one who left,” Russell muttered finger-pointing-ly under his breath.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know why,” you bit glaringly.

Russell swallowed lightly, nodding. “You’re right. I do. I’m sorry.” Pausing, his eyes glanced around the coop before he gestured with a hand at your outfit, looking you up and down. “So, speaking of the kids, what’s going on here? Thought you were done with the deep-covers,” he changed the subject with a clear of his throat.

He knew if he continued talking about what he’d missed, he wouldn’t make it out of that chicken coop for the next several hours, sobbing uncontrollably in the hay with the hens.

“I was. Had a desk job. Kinda…” A desk job in the CIA still never really was a desk job. “I was station chief in Paris.”

“Paris, huh? Fancy,” Russell said, but the joke didn’t reach the crinkles around his eyes.

“It’s the job I took after I left. We only moved back to the States in the beginning of the year,” you explained. “The kids loved it there, though. Lewis still gets a craving for crêpes every once in a while.”

Russell chuckled, even though every story added another bruise to his heart.

“Anyways, I got a job at Langley. Desk. Bought a house not too far from here, actually. It’s nice. Got a big backyard. Even bigger oak tree,” you told him with a smile. “Lewis wants me to build him a treehouse, but I’m not sure I can swing it.”

“I could help,” Russell offered, trying to keep his eagerness at bay when truly all he wanted was to race there and build the damn thing now. “I mean, if I can come by sometime…”

Your heart sank. “You can always come home. You always could, Russ.”

Home.

That four-letter word filled him with so much warmth and longing it brought back the tears in his eyes.

“So, uhm, why are you here and not there then?” This time, he switched the topic because he would’ve kissed you if he hadn’t. “You running a sting on the pastor or…?”

“One of his sheep.”

“Ah.” Russell nodded. “Need any help?”

“From you and Colter?”

“Yeah.”

“No, thank you.”

“Oh, c’mon, just lemme help. The faster you get this done and over with, the sooner you can stop clutching your fake pearls and get home to the kids,” Russell reasoned.

You sighed, knowing he was partially right. You did hate your disguise as much as you hated the annoyingly nosy pastor. Moreover, you missed your children a fucking lot. It had already been three months. Fall was coming soon, and you had promised your son you’d be home by his first day of school.

“C’mon, how did they lure you back in, huh? Who’s the naughty little sheep you’re working?”

“Can’t talk about this here,” you told him, automatically lowering your voice. It was hard to remember who you were right now, when what you were used to be was standing right in front of you.

Russell quirked a brow. “Did you bug the coop, too?”

“No, the pastor’s scared of the chickens, which is why I didn’t bother. But you never know if someone else isn’t listening. We’ve already shared too much. We shouldn’t do this here,” you insisted, and Russell nodded in agreement. He knew the dangers as well as you did.

“Then where?”

You exhaled a deep breath and thought for a moment. You wanted to see him again. You knew he didn’t just come find you to catch up and then leave again.

“Come by the house tonight. Make it look natural. I’ll invite you guys to dinner as a sort of friendly welcome wagon to the neighborhood. The pastor is gonna buy it in a heartbeat. Just give me a good reason to invite you over.”

Russell nodded in understanding. “Alright.”

Part 3: This Is a Heart-To-Heart – SOON 💚

Welp, seems like Russell omitted having a wife and two kids... 🙈😂

I'll post the next part in the beginning of the new year or straight after Polaris has finished. We'll see ☺️

Enjoy the rest of your holidays, loves! Can't wait to read your comments on this one 😉🤍

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[twistofstory]

(Context) Newt. One of the first ideas for the AU (and the reason for creating it, in a way) was him becoming a Desolation avatar. Because this would be oh so tragic for his character and would create a big moral dilemma for him. And it was a nod to a previous version, in a way.

At the time I only recently made him a second protagonist “officially”, and, although I had an idea for his arc, I wasn't exactly satisfied with it. He had a lot of potential in the right role (one of the reasons he became a protag), but I needed to explore it. So I took him in the completely different direction in the AU. And it worked! Now his AU version's closer to his main iteration character wise, but oh boy the AU helped me a lot with figuring out the characterization I wanted him to have in canon. The boy gets existential A LOT, moral dilemmas are his best friends, and I think that's interesting. About design: He doesn't change that much in any version, although his look in the AU gradually changes many times, depending on a place in the plot. He even has a monster design, actually, I just didn't draw it much yet (but I have a decent idea of how it looks). And I really like his current design for the main story, esp since I figured out his eyes!! He is very cute now, I think, just how I intended :] (I'm still thinking about changing his frills into something more hood-like. I'm not comfortable with them looking so close to a fandom design, but they are functional and give him flowery look... We'll see how I'll solve this problem)

[oneknightstand-if]

Author, first of all, I'm obsessed with your story; it has kept me awake late at night and been a constant presence in my head during the day. Thank you. I really needed something to take my mind away from some things this year, and OKS has been an absolute delight.

Now, what is the way to the ROs heart's? How do we win them? How should we flirt with them?

Bonus question: If it isn't a spoiler, how flirty is OKS's version of Mordred? If a very handsome or pretty individual threw themselves at him, would he even care? Asking for a friend.

Yeah, I need something to take my mind off things too. 😭

How to win the ROs would be an entire romance guide that really can't exist yet until some of the romances have actually properly started. But like in real life, just pay attention to them & what they like. Spend time with them. Don't purposefully trigger/really tick them off.

They've all got their own nuances, and you certainly don't have to continuously be agreeing with them. Some might even think you're being a sycophant if you do that. Some actually like being sassed back. Some of them will be coming to you, not the other way around.

Just pay attention to the affinity bar, which usually isn't lying, and interact with them. You'll have multiple points to trigger a romance and an ungodly number of opportunities to raise & lower their opinion of the MC.

Also, unless you're aiming for a slow burn, actually act like you're interested in romancing them. "Platonic" and Tsundere MC have a far longer path to walk.

Mordred doesn't really come across as flirty. That's more his younger brothers (mostly Gawain, but Gaheris and Gareth can get into that too). He acts very chivalrous and is well used to having people throw themselves at him with being the Crown Prince and Arthur's heir and all.

[monabee-draws]

You know what would have made the Crow storyline better? If Governor Ivenci was right.

Have the traitor who sold out Treviso to the Antaam be Illario from the start, but have the Butcher's well-organised influence somehow continue even past Illario's incarceration/exile. Why? Because despite House Cantori and House De Riva (and arguably Dellamorte) buying into the whole 'liberation' narrative, the Antivan Crows are not freedom fighters. Have the Talons who stand outside of Teia and Viago's freedom fighting cause actively aid the Antaam - per Ivenci's offhand comment that they 'wouldn't be surprised if it was the Talons fighting again' that does Treviso in. Most of the Talons and their underlings probably don't even believe the whole 'ancient gods are also part of the problem' schtick because why would they? The qunari? A relatively known enemy whom most Thedosians only know as one unified conquering army. Ancient elven gods come back to end the world? Uh, yeah sure buddy. We still have to put food on the table on Sunday, and the rest of Antiva is not under occupation, actually, and devoting two entire houses to repelling an occupation which could arguably be exploited for monetary gains (a la, Zevran's contract in Ferelden) is a massive waste of resources. Considering all their general infighting and power grubbing, the Antaam presence in Treviso may in fact be a boon for those Crow houses outside of it. After all, if House Cantori and Dellamorte fall entirely, and the House De Riva Talon goes with them, more power to them.

I think this would help the Crow narrative in two ways:

One: The ruthless version of the organisation we come to know through DAO and DA2 (and most non-game lore sources) is maintained. They are an assassin's guild. Those at the top are very, very rich and powerful, and their underlings are mostly just scraping by. Politics and infighting are common. Even if a few might be swayed to a more altruistic cause, most remain loyal to the original tenets of the organisation (a juxtaposition similar to Zevran and his Crow friend Taliesen.) The writers can have their cake - a somewhat morally balanced faction from which the protagonist can still be proud to originate - and eat it too - maintaining the storied and well-trod history of brutality, neglect and coldness the Crows are known for.

Two: Illario's writing automatically improves. He's a very obvious villain character from the start, and Ivenci js essentially just a mirror of him who becomes so laughably maniacal at the end that neither can be taken seriously. Within the context of the Crows being divided on the Antaam issue, Illario choosing to side against Teia and Viago makes more logical sense. He's not just a stupid power grubbing villain. He's simply playing the game the way any self-respecting Crow would. Not only that, but his plan may still work even with Lucanis being back because he has genuine support from the remaining Houses, even if its the kind of support that will fizzle once Illario weakens his own position by killing Lucanis and Caterina, leaving the remaining houses to sweep him up in the power vacuum.

Illario being a more competent villain also deepens Lucanis' situation. In the side stories he has no interest in becoming First Talon, but his bleeding heart is also a mark against him. The Crows are ruthless and methodical, and Lucanis is emotional. Maybe Illario WOULD be a better First Talon (in this new version.) Perhaps it is not Lucanis who calls for Illario's freedom at the end of his quest/chooses incarceration over execution, but the other Talons. It always sat badly with me that none of the other Crows even suggests execution after the multiple betrayals Illario commits. Not even Teia or Viago. But perhaps they COULD, and what saves Illario is not Lucanis or Caterina's authority, but the quiet rumble of general dissent amongst the Crows. One that complicates Lucanis' transition into the new role of Talon, and which prompts him to maintain the older more ruthless ways largely out of appeasement. This also explains away the plothole that is the complete lack of discussion of Lucanis' future role as Talon, whether he intends to/how he would alter the abyssmal training system. He won't because he can't because the Dellamortes are on thin, thin ice.

[night-market-if]

Im so happy you are back! I can put on my tinfoil hat again and ask lore questions! I love your story and it's gonna be so much fun playing book 2!

I asked a while back how the MC looked in the eldritch horror form. And I was just wondering if let's say the caracters could look at it. I would think not.. it is pretty hard to look at gas and starlight. What would they think? Be horrified? I'm in love with a monster kinda thing? Or be like woow so pretty? I feel they all would react differently.. but I don't know xD

Malcolm would be in awe. I think it would be such an interesting version of Lamplight to see that he would just want to stare at them for a long time.

Hazel would be giddy. I don't think she would realize how strange any of this is. I don't think she really has a concept of how powerful that MC is in the grand scope of it. She would just tell MC though how beautiful they are.

Belladonna would be a little at odds with it. Bella struggles not being the main one in power. The physical representation of that would throw her and I think she would be a bit standoff.

Gabriel would struggle with it as well. I think seeing that representation would be hard for him religiously. Because the Knowing is the all powerful one. But MC is a contender.

Milo.... I actually do not know how Milo would feel. It wouldn't be a negative reaction. There would be a sex joke in there somewhere. But I don't know if it would be covering something more.

Pen has already seen it. That's what they are used to.

[platoapproved]

What was that you said about memory? "A monster," was it?