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fangirlovestuff · 4 years ago

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littera scripta manet - steve rogers x reader

a/n - hey lovely people!! first of all, this is based on a moodboard by the amazing @cloudystevie, which inspired this whole fic, thank you!! the picture above is how i imagined steve in this one, but you can imagine him however you want:) also, there’s a list of meanings of the flowers i mention at the end because i’m a sucker for the language of flowers (the flowers are in bold in the fic). i love the dark academia aesthetic and i hope i did it justice:) enjoy!!<3

title means ‘the written letter remains’

summary: unlike you, steve doesn’t have a problem admitting to himself he has feelings for his best friend. that’s what makes it so painful when it seems like you don’t.

word count: 7k (oops?)

warnings / tags: friends to lovers, Pining™ , angst with a happy ending, as slow burn as a one shot can be, an obnoxious amount of clichés but i’m not sorry, no plot just vibes (i mean there’s like,,, some plot i guess), the songs/quotes i used in this aren’t mine!!!

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You watched as the morning mist slowly faded, the sun showing it away. You watched as the curtains fluttered against the touch of a delicate wind. You watched as the sparks of dawn came to life under the sky's watchful eye. You watched the tree beneath your window in the glory of its blossom.

You turned your body in the other direction, the one facing not the east window but the bed. And there, beside you, you watched as he stirred hazily, his body still clad in yesterday's clothes, huffing out a quiet breath before his eyelashes fluttered open to reveal the pair of familiar blue eyes.

You watched, and his eyes told you the most amazing story – his look was disoriented, then bewildered, and then, well, the most gorgeous smile stretched onto his features, and it told the rest – love, and hope, and home.

That story is the one I will tell you today.

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The first day of school was always a straining one. All the way from elementary school to high school, it was a constant in your life.

There was, however, one more constant. Your best friend.

Steve Rogers was truly the most wonderful of boys.

You two met when you were very young, your mothers getting along well, so you had no choice but to do so as well. And you did get along, splendidly. You became fast friends, not stopping even when his other friends were telling him about 'girl germs' or when your other friends were constantly asking if you wanted him to be your boyfriend, or if he was. What you and Steve had transcended it, in a way.

You grew together, and you watched as Steve Rogers became the most wonderful of men. He was your best friend, and you loved him with your whole heart. Platonically, of course.

You smiled at him fondly as the both of you stepped into your new college, in through the big iron gates. As far as you looked there was grass, trees, flowers. The big cobblestone building stood tall in the distance, and if you listened carefully, you could hear the chatter of students above the sound of the wind that was gently ruffling your uniform skirt.

"Excited?" Steve asked, smiling back at you.

"Nervous," you let out a quiet laugh.

"You shouldn't be," he answered, "look at this place!" he gestured around, "you fit right in here with all the-" he cut himself off, closing his mouth before continuing, "you fit right in!"

"Yeah, maybe. This place is just… dreamy," you smiled. "But that doesn't stop me from being nervous."

"Well, you have no reason to be," he took your hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly.

You hoped he was right. You never liked being far away from home, but this school was truly the school of your dreams, and well, with Steve by your side… you could never be that far away from home.

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Adjusting was… an experience, certainly. This school was like nothing you've known before, the uniform seemed a bit excessive, the school halls were so incredibly long, and the grounds so vast you could barely see the outside. And yet, it felt like something about this place was magical. Like it accepted you right in, it wanted you to be there. The library was huge, and you've already spent countless hours digging away for course related materials and, well, less course related materials. The vast grounds meant you could walk out every day in a different direction, if you wanted to, and find a new hidden treasure.

You shared your thoughts with Steve when you discovered one of these treasures together. It was fairly early evening, you two had just gotten out of class and were walking off the long day you've had, and you suddenly came across some high rose bushes. Steve tried to see what was on the other side of them, but it was too tall even for him, so you circled around and found a small, rusty gate. You went through it to discover a small fountain, with a marble statue of a mermaid in the center.

You gasped in delight, unable to contain yourself from running to kneel on the grass next to it, looking into the water curiously. Dipping your hand in tentatively, you shivered at the touch of the chilly water, and immediately took out your hand, massaging it in your other one to warm it up.

Steve laughed as he finally caught up with you, not running but walking calmly. He dipped his hand in the water as well, before raising his brow mischievously. Before you could ask him what's going on, he took his hand out of the water and sprayed the cold droplets of water right on your face.

"Steven Grant Rogers!" you said, shocked, "You did not just do that," you glared at him.

"You know what, you're right," he began shuffling away, "I didn't," he stood up with a cheeky smile as you continued to glare at him, "It was a happy accident."

"Oh I'll show you happy accident!" you couldn't contain your laughter anymore as you dipped your hand in the water again, getting up to chase him around the little garden. He managed to evade you for a bit, and then you finally caught up to him, placing your cold hand right on the back of his neck. He turned around, making him lose his balance and fall down onto the grass, which in turn made you topple over him, stopping your fall with your hands just when you were about to fall onto his chest.

"Alright, I surrender!" he lifted his hands up.

"Good," you smirked.

There was a moment where you just stared into each other's eyes, each sparkling with a smile. It was broken when Steve asked, "Well, can I, uh, get up now?"

You noticed you ended up straddling his hips, which you then fumbled to undo, standing back up hastily. You dusted your skirt a little awkwardly, avoiding Steve's eyes as he got up too. You didn't even know why you were feeling so awkward. You've had plenty of play fights with Steve, there was no reason for this one to be different.

But Steve just extended his arm to you, like he did on the first day you were here. You took it, and just like that, you were fine again.

"Do you know, Stevie, I think there's something magical about this school," you told him as you were walking.

"Really? Why do you think that?"

"Well, the library's huge a-"

Steve burst into laughter, and once it died down a little, he said, "I'm sorry, it's just so… like you to say a big room full of books is magical. It's true, don't get me wrong," he said before you could get annoyed, "but I feel like no one but you would have vocalized that truth."

"Well then, lucky I'm here," you smiled.

"Yeah," he said softly, "very lucky."

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About a month later it turned out the school holds a ball twice a year, at the start of winter and at the end of spring, right before the school year ends. At first you were a little shocked, but you quickly warmed up to the idea, given that it was very much on brand with everything else in the school.

You did obviously make more friends than just Steve, so you and your friends went to get dresses together. Roaming between the big expansive stores was fun, but after a while you all realized it wasn't very affordable, and not really your style. You wandered into a small, secluded second hand shop, where you found the perfect dress – fancy but not overly glamorous, a color that suited you beautifully, and not too bad of a price. It made you feel like a princess, the long skirts shuffling gently behind you as you stepped out of the fitting room to show it to your friends, who were just in love with it as you were and told you to buy it right away.

That night you went home with a dress in your hand and a smile in your heart.

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As the school year progressed, you started picking up and drying different flowers you found on the grounds, keeping them between pages of your notebooks. A bit of a messy hobby at times, but it made you happy.

You were just writing a letter to your family, trying to figure out if and which flower you should attach to it, when you heard a knock on your dorm door.

"Just a second!" you called out before shutting the ink box, putting down the dip pen before getting up and opening your door. There, you found a flustered Steve, smiling at you with a few honeysuckle flowers in his hand.

"I, uh, brought these for you," he said timidly, "I know you collect flowers and I don't think you have some of these yet."

"I don't!" you smiled and took them from Steve's hand, "thank you!"

You ushered him in before putting the honeysuckles on your desk. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," he shrugged. He saw the letter and pen on your desk. "Oh, am I interrupting you? I'm sorry, I could come back later if y-"

"It's alright Stevie," you chuckled, "I was just writing home. Anything you'd want me to tell my family for you?"

"Ummm… hi?" he smiled bashfully and you both laughed.

"Well, that's just too long! I don't have any more place on the page for such eloquent greetings!" you teased.

"Alright, then no, I don't have anything to say to them. I wrote my family a few days ago already, so if you wanted to say anything to them, you'll just have to wait till next time."

"Anyways," you smiled, "did you need anything?"

"Not really," he shook his head, "I just, well, I don't really have a person to go with to, you know, the ball thing, so i-"

"So you want me to set you up?" you giggled. "Is it Ella? Or is it Kathrine?"

"No, let me finish," he half heartedly grumbled. "I was thinking, I wanted to ask you to come with me," he smiled timidly, averting his gaze. After you didn't say anything, he continued, "I mean, I didn't think you had anyone to go with either, and since we've been friends since forever, I thought-"

"No, yeah, that's a great idea!" you spoke up quickly, "Sorry, I just spaced for a moment, I think that'd be great, since no one really asked me and stuff," you shrugged and smiled.

"Great!" he smiled.

"Great," you nodded. You both chuckled, not really knowing what to say.

"I should leave you to get back to your letter," Steve said after a moment. "I'll, um, see you around."

You told him goodbye before shutting the door behind him and sitting back down at your desk. But you found you didn't have it in you to pick up your pen. No, your train of thought was lost, and was now racing a hundred miles per hour, because –

Because why would he ask you. Because he could've asked any other girl and they would've probably said yes, yet the thought of him going with another girl made your stomach drop in a peculiar way. The obvious answer was that it was just about his comfort zone, which you knew Steve was prone to staying in.

Yeah, that's it. It's just comfortable. Familiar.

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The night before the ball, you found yourself tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. At around 2 am, you officially gave up and traded in your pajamas for some more presentable clothes in case someone is also awake, and made your way to the library.

Over the few months you've been here, the library has become somewhat of an escape for you. Sure, it was where you did a large amount of your schoolwork, but it was also the place that allowed you to 'travel' to several magnificent worlds.

You made your way as quietly as you could, picking up one of your favorite classics. It was an old, worn in version of Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo", a book which you vaguely remembered reading in your childhood and, when you stumbled upon it here, fell in love with all over again.

The place was dark, and you wanted to keep it like that, giving you less of a chance to be disturbed by others. You sat down and lit a candle, getting immersed in your book. So immersed, you didn't notice the sound of footsteps coming up behind you.

"I figured I'd find you here," Steve smiled, sitting down on the wooden chair next to yours.

"How come?" you smiled back and closed the book, not before putting a bookmark in it.

"I went up to your room to see if you were still awake because I wanted to show you something. When you didn't answer my knock, I guessed you were either in extremely deep sleep or you were here. And would you look at that, I was right," he smirked.

You chuckled. "What did you want to show me?"

"Come on," he stood up and extended his hand to you, "I can show you right now."

You smiled and followed him as he led you outside, into the chilly night. You shivered slightly as the cold air hit your face. "Steve," you complained, "I wasn't really planning on going outside. I don't have my jacket."

"Oh, right," he said, stopping in his tracks, "sorry. But you could just take mine," he said, while already shrugging it off.

"No, Steve, then you'll get-"

"Come on!" he smiled, wrapping the jacket around your shoulders, "let's go!"

You giggled at his excitement, adjusting his jacket a little before following him further away. He took you somewhere you had shockingly never been before, a small, secluded field of hydrangeas, peaceful in the moonlight. You looked around in awe.

"I knew you'd like it," he smiled. "And look," he gestured upwards, "it's far enough from the building so we can really see the stars."

You looked up and your breath caught in your throat at the sight. He was right. The stars never seemed so many or so bright to you than in the moment.

"See right there? That's Ursa Major, and that-"

You looked to him, and his words faded away in your mind, becoming a low stream of sounds. Everything seemed to become softer, distant, while he flooded your mind.

In that instant, it looked like Steve had the moon in him. Soft, and bright, and beautiful. His pale skin glistened under the moonlight, but when his eyes turned to meet yours, you thought you may have been wrong.

Because in them, you found the stars.

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And there it was, the big night, the night of the ball. You were nearly ready to put on your dress when you heard a knock at your door. You opened it to find Steve there, smiling.

"I just came to check in on you," he said, handing you a few hibiscus flowers. You smiled, taking them from him, your fingers brushing against his.

"Well, I'm doing quite well," you said, and wordlessly invited him in. He followed you inside and shut the door behind him.

"You look great," he said.

"I'm not even wearing my dress yet," you giggled. Squinting, you tried to figure out what about him seemed off to you. Then, when you realized it, you stepped up to him and brought up your hand to fix his shirt collar, which was partly stuffed under his tie. You then rested your hand next to his collarbone, above his heart.

"You look great too," you said softly, smiling a small smile up at him.

"Thanks," he breathed.

"Alright, I better get ready," you chuckled, stepping away from him. "I'll see you there."

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Steve didn't think of himself as a very sophisticated guy. Sure, he was smart enough, but he was no match to you, for example. He wasn't that big on words or analogies.

And yet, when he saw you step down the stairs into the ballroom, his first thought was that you looked like the sun, ethereal and radiant in your beauty, almost blindingly so; your hair was styled in a simple manner, your face stretched in a soft smile as your wonderous eyes roamed around the room. Your dress created an angelic sort of look, and as you gently walked down each step, your hand delicately gliding on the banister, he nearly couldn't believe you were real, that you were making your way to him.

The moment your eyes met his, your smile became bigger, your steps quickened, much like his heartbeat. When you arrived, he extended his arm to you, like he has a habit of doing, and greeted you a soft hello over the sounds of the dainty music.

The night went great, it really did. You two danced together, ate some of the fancy food, laughed. It was… magical. There was one point, when you were swaying together to a slow song, when he thought –

Well, it didn't matter what he thought, didn't it? Because at the end of the night, you didn't wait on him. No, you sneaked out with some guy in the year above you.

Steve wanted to be angry. He couldn't, not at you anyways.

Ever since a year ago, when you found out you were going to the same college, he knew. The relief that washed over him when he heard the news, the gratitude of being able to be by your side – he didn’t understand how he didn't see it sooner.

He assumed, sooner or later, you'd see in him what he sees in you. The sun. Happiness; bright, celestial, divine.

But maybe you can't see what's simply not there.

Steve went to his dorm. He went to sleep, but his nightmares awakened him again and again. Nightmares of losing you. So, without any other choice, at around 5 am he decided to give up and get up, maybe take a shower.

At the moment, it felt like real life wasn't any better than his nightmares. He hoped at some point, that would change.

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"Damien!" you laughed breathlessly as he pulled you through the endless corridors.

"What?" he chuckled, stopping and turning back towards you, pulling you a little closer to him by your joint hands. You panted a little in an attempt to catch your breath before you spoke.

"Where are we going?"

"Oh, wherever you want to! Just away from that stuffy ballroom," he grinned.

"It wasn't stuffy, I thought it was very pretty!" you defended it with a smile.

"Not as pretty as you," he softly said, bringing his hand to cup your cheek. He's been complimenting you like that since you two met an hour ago at the ball, and well, you were a simple girl; you really wanted him to kiss you right now.

He took a step closer and his hand traveled to your chin, holding it and gently tilting your face up. Just as his lips touched yours, your eyes fluttered shut, allowing yourself to succumb to his embrace, your lips moving against his. You broke apart for air, and you opened your eyes when you remembered.

"Damien," you said, "I just remembered, I was with my friend at the ball and I didn't tell him I was going… can we go back for a second?"

He examined your face for a second before smiling and saying, "Sure. Just for a bit though," he winked.

You made your way back in silence, the sound of your footsteps muffled by the carpets below you. Looking at him from the corner of your eye, you found him looking ahead with a smile. Bashfully, you smiled too, slightly biting your lower lip. Soon enough, you arrived.

Staying close to the ballroom doors, Damien asked you, "Can you see him?"

"I don't think so," you said with a frown, scanning the dancing crowd with your eyes. Steve was tall, usually you were able to easily pick out his frame from any crowd, but you couldn't see him anywhere nearby.

"Well," you said after a couple more moments passed, "he probably realized it and went already," you shrugged.

"In that case," Damien gestured at the exit, "After you, madam."

You giggled and bowed a small bow before exiting, Damien on your heels. You spent the night walking the grounds, talking to each other over the sound of the wind. When it was getting late, he escorted you to your room and gave you a good night's kiss, a perfect gentleman, just like you read about in books.

That night you slept peacefully, no dreams, good or bad, plaguing your consciousness. The next morning you woke up refreshed, ready to take on the day.

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You and Steve were still friends, but something changed. You didn't really see it, too occupied with school and Damien to notice, but there was a shift, a distance that wasn't there before. You still talked, you still hung out from time to time, it just… wasn't the same.

One day, when you were in the library together, one cold February night, Steve asked you a peculiar question.

"What do you think is the best way to tell someone you love them?"

"Why, any Valentine's day plans?" you joked.

"Nothing in particular," he shrugged.

"Well, I think the best way to tell someone you love them is with words. Just… say it, or write it, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess that's nice," he smiled, returning to his book.

"So, who's the lucky lady, huh?" you nudged him with your elbow, "is it Kathrine? Because I'm telling you, I really think if you'd ask h-"

"It's not Kathrine, because it's no one," he cut you off with a chuckle. "It was just a general question."

You never bugged him about it again, quite honestly you forgot about the whole ordeal.

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The months of the winter passed, and lo and behold, the spring settled over you. The winds were less harsh, the flowers were blooming again, the sun was shining brightly. With only a few scattered days of still wintery weather, you mostly studied outside on the grass, maybe under a tree. You were making the best of it, inviting your friends of Damien to study with you too. You felt like bursting into song.

One day, when you and Damien were sitting on the grass, studying together, he picked a rhododendron, sticking it behind your ear. The large flower didn't hold on for long, and fell down after a couple of seconds. You laughed, and he chuckled. Picking it up, you tried to put it on once more, but it just wouldn't stay. Then, you took it again and this time, stuck it behind his ear. Somehow, it managed to stay on.

You laughed, "You look very pretty."

"I do?" he asked, fluttering his lashes playfully, "why thank you darling."

After a while, he took it off and pressed in between the pages of his notebook. "Like you always do," he smiled, showing off the closed notebook before putting it back into his bag.

"Be careful," you giggled, "if it falls out the entire bag will be full of petals, and even when you’d think you got them all out, you'd find a couple more a few days later."

"Are you speaking from experience?" he asked cheekily.

"Why of course not! I was born a professional," you stuck your nose up indignantly, making him laugh.

"Of course you were, how could I forget," he offered you his hand and helped you up.

As you walked together back to the school building, you had a feeling you forgot something, or like something was missing. You looked back at the place you were sitting in seconds ago, but there was nothing there.

"Everything alright?" Damien asked.

"Yeah, everything's great," you answered, squeezing his hand that was clutched in yours.

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When the second ball was approaching, Damien had started to send you love letters. Every time you had gotten one, you felt your heart pick up its pace, a smile stretching on your face. Some of them were poems, some quotes, some just sentences, you didn't know which he wrote and which he read and thought of you. You took to the habit of saving them all in a small box in your room, going through them every couple of days.

I see you everywhere, in the stars, in the river, to me you're everything that exists, the reality of everything ~Virginia Woolf

Every one of them was simply signed with three x's, signifying kisses. You smiled as you put the most recent one into your pocket, intent on putting it with the rest later.

Some days, you'd get small notes, and some days would be a rather large page. You loved both.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for right. I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.

~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

You resonated with the words, you've always loved poems. Weirdly, you've never talked to Damien about your love of them, but you guessed he just… knew. That's what made him so special.

If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk in my garden forever. ~Alfred Lord Tennyson

That one made you stop in your tracks for a moment. It made you think of Steve. He didn't really bring you flowers anymore. Well, maybe he just didn't find any new ones.

Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark, That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come; Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

~Shakespeare

You smiled brightly as you read the note. You were getting new ones every other day. Amongst the chaos of exams, it was nice, knowing that's the way he had to keep in touch with you. You were just done reading it when your friend came up behind your back, reading over your shoulder.

"Oh, did Damien bring you this?" she smiled. "You guys are so cute together."

Today it is heaped at your feet, it has found its end in you The love of all man’s days both past and forever: Universal joy, universal sorrow, universal life. The memories of all loves merging with this one love of ours – And the songs of every poet past and forever.

~ Rabindranath Tagore

That last one you found in the library copy of "The Count of Monte Cristo". You gravitated towards it every time you were anxious, or couldn't sleep, or both. It was a comfort. Finding the note there nearly made you cry; the long day you've had mixed with the love you felt bringing tears to your eyes. You blinked them away with a smile, stuffing the note in your pocket before starting to read the book.

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Steve saw you open the book and get the note. He smiled to himself.

He didn't know if this would work, or if you'd think your boyfriend wrote them. He just wanted to make you smile.

He also wanted to make you know, make you understand what he was feeling. But you weren't exactly emotionally available right now, so Steve did the best he could; he waited.

In the meantime, he went to search for another poetry book. He was surprised you hadn't recognized his handwriting yet. He did write it a bit more neatly than he usually did, with more careful attention.

Maybe she recognized it but didn't want to say anything. Maybe that was a pitying smile, whispered a voice in his head. He shook it off.

He knew you weren't his, but he couldn't give up hope. He could wait some more.

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The spring / end of the year ball was approaching in giant steps. You were done with your exams, and already had a dress, which you adamantly refused to show Damien despite his repeated pleas. Now, you were spending an afternoon outside, enjoying the fresh air picnicking with some of your friends, who were playing a card game you couldn't care to learn the rules of. You were taking photos instead, borrowing one of your friends' camera and taking some pictures of them playing, of the scenery.

"Has Damien asked you to the ball yet?" one of them asked.

"Oh, not yet," you shrugged, "I'm sure he will though. I mean, you've seen the notes he sent me," you giggled, "I don't see another option."

Just then, you saw a figure coming towards you from afar. In the other direction, you saw Damien approaching, and before you had a chance to wonder about the other person, he was there, planting a kiss on your cheek. You put the camera down on the blanket and smiled at him.

"Speaking of the devil," your friend chuckled.

"Only good things, I hope," he sat down next to you.

"Of course," you laughed and leaned away from him to snap his picture, "what else could we have said?"

"Well, that's great, because I was wondering," he took a breath, "do you want to see me do a card trick?"

"Yes, sure," you said, slightly confused but still smiling.

He held up a card. "Could you tell me what card this is?"

"A leaf ace," you said.

"Great," he flipped it around in his hands a couple of times, before pulling off a complicated hand movement you couldn't keep track of, and was now holding a small, card sized mirror. "Now, could you tell me what card this is?"

"It's… a mirror," you said, puzzled.

"Look closer," he encouraged.

"Still a mirror, Dames," you chuckled.

"No, it’s a queen of hearts!" he laughed, "my heart, more specifically," he leaned in closer and smiled. "Would you go to the ball with me?"

"Yes! Of course I will!" you laughed, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him into a kiss. Just then, you heard the shutter of the camera clicking, and broke apart from him, laughing.

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

The night of the ball finally arrived. You were in Damien's room, getting ready, when you finally had the mind to say, "Oh, Damien, I don't think I ever thanked you for the notes," you smiled at him from the other corner of the room. He was standing in front of the mirror, tying his tie, while you were sitting on the bed, already in your dress, which you finally let him see.

"Oh, from last week's lecture? No problem love," he smiled at you, your eyes meeting through the mirror.

"No," you giggled, "I meant the notes you've been leaving me."

He looked at you, puzzled. "You know, the notes with the– oh come on, don’t play dumb," you scoffed playfully.

"I'm not," he said, "I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about." He finished the knot and came to stand in front of you, offering you his hand and helping you up. You stood in front of him, squinting.

"Okay," you said after a few moments. Smiling, you noticed his collar was partly stuffed under his tie, raising your hand to fix it and –

"Oh," you frowned softly.

You knew who wrote the notes. You knew all along. I mean, how couldn't you recognize the handwriting of the person you know the best? Who knows you better than anyone else?

The person you've been neglecting the past few months. And yet, he was sending you love letters. You felt like crying, because you should've known it was him. More than that, you should've realized; you love him too.

You love him so much it nearly hurts. The man with flowers in his hand and stars in his eyes, the one who took you to every bookstore you ever wanted to visit, who gave you his jacket when you were cold, who knew not only what your favorite book was, but also what copy of it you would take.

As good as Damien was to you, he was never the one for you. He was charming, lovable for sure.

But he wasn't your Steve.

Your Steve who was probably going to the ball alone, or maybe not even going.

"Is everything okay?" Damien asked, a concerned frown on his features.

"No, I- look, Damien," you took a deep breath. "I owe you an explanation, and I swear, I will give it to you, but I just… I can't do this anymore."

"What do you mean can't do this anymore? Do you not want to go to the ball or-"

"No," you closed your eyes forcefully before opening them, "us. I don't think we should be together anymore."

"Where is this coming from? Love, is everything o-"

"It's not okay, Damien!" tears welled up in your eyes, "It's not fair to you, I know. But I just… I have to go," you stepped away from his embrace.

"Go where? You're not making any sense, please, can you just-"

"I'm sorry, I am so, so sorry, but I have to go. I promise I'll explain everything, just… not right now," you said shakily, fumbling to collect your things before leaving the dorm, and a stunned Damien in your wake.

You weren't sure where you were going, you just knew you had to find him.

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

You roamed the corridors in a bit of a daze until you finally realized your legs were carrying you to the library, and shook your head, deciding to go there anyway since there was a decent chance Steve was there.

He wasn't. You knocked on his dorm room door, but he didn't answer it, so he probably wasn't there either. You went to sneak a look at the ball, but you didn't find him there too.

You were just about to give up when you looked out of one of the windows. There, you saw the small glass gazebo that was a little further away from the building. The light was on, and there was someone there. You couldn't tell if it was Steve, but you figured it wouldn't hurt to try.

You went down the stairs and outside. The night was surprisingly crisp, and the dress you were wearing had short sleeves, but you continued anyway. As you got closer, you could see the silhouette clearer; it was indeed Steve.

You stopped a few yards next to it. Now that you found him, you didn't know what to say. I'm sorry didn't feel like enough, and –

Your train of thought was cut off by Steve turning around, his eyes locking with yours through the large glass windows. You swallowed heavily.

He went outside, crossing the distance and standing in front of you. Both of you were quiet for a moment before he spoke up.

"Not going to the ball?" he asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I feel like it's obvious I'm not going. Where's your boyfriend?"

"I don't know."

Silence settled between you for a couple of minutes, each one of you absorbed in your own thoughts. Eventually, you were the one to speak up this time.

"I know you wrote them, Steve."

He chuckled. "Okay. What do you want me to say?"

"That you meant them," your voice broke with emotion, not knowing how true the words were until your lips uttered them out loud.

"I did. I do. I can't say I'm sorry for that."

"You shouldn't be," you said, "I'm that one that should be sorry. I am sorry," you looked up at him, your eyes sincere. "I'm sorry I didn't realize it was you sooner. And I don't mean the notes, Steve," you stepped closer to him.

"Then what do you mean?"

You licked your lips hesitantly, bringing your face closer to his. You didn't know which one of you finally broke the distance, but suddenly his lips were on yours, and it's all you could think about. You were kissing Steve Rogers, and it was enchanting. You wrapped your hands around his neck as he wrapped his around your waist, pulling you impossibly closer. You melted into his touch as your hands tangled in the soft hair on the nape of his neck. One of his hands came up to cup your cheek gently, and suddenly you were both smiling so hard you broke apart, gasping for air. Your foreheads stayed connected, leaning on each other as you slowly opened your eyes.

"This," you whispered, "I mean this. I love you, Steve."

"I love you too," Steve laughed, "so much. I was afraid you will never say that. That I'd never get to hear you say that to me. I love you," he said again, his eyes looking into yours.

Just at that moment, it bizarrely started to rain. "Really?" you looked up at the sky, "it's spring! Hell, it's almost summer!"

"Maybe it's summer rain," Steve suggested with a smile.

"But it ruined our moment," you playfully pouted.

"We always have another one," he smiled, pulling you in for another kiss, not minding the rain that was now wetting your dress, his suit. You felt the raindrops fall on the top of your heads, but the sensation was a thin echo compared to Steve's lips on yours.

A thunder roared, and you broke apart once again.

"Maybe we should get inside," you suggested.

"Maybe we should," he grinned, "last one there is a rotten egg!"

He started running before you could even register what he said. Just like he did when you were kids.

"Wait!" you laughed, running after him, gathering your skirt in your hands, "Not fair! I have a dress!"

He stopped and ran back to you before picking you up with ease, carrying you bridal style to the entrance and putting you down right on the threshold.

"You're a rotten egg, Stevie," you giggled.

He looked down to see that indeed, your legs were technically inside while his weren't.

"Don't worry," you cupped his cheek and tilted it upwards so he'd meet your gaze, "you're my rotten egg."

You both laughed before you went inside. He offered you his arm and you wove yours through it, leaning your head on his shoulder.

Taking your time, you strolled through the corridors in comfortable silence until you reached your room. You came inside and turned on the heating, Steve right on your heels, hugging you from behind.

"I can't believe it's raining," you looked out of the window with a smile.

"I can't believe you're mine," he whispered into your neck.

You tilted your head back to kiss him softly before you involuntarily shivered. Wordlessly, Steve guided you to the bed, tucking you into the blanket. He was about to leave, but you opened your blanket and gestured for him to come cuddle you. He chuckled and climbed in next to you, wrapping his arms around you again.

"Tell me a story," you said as you laid your head on his chest.

"Once upon a time," he started, "there was a very beautiful princess. And she chose a normal boy. No one knew why she did it. They asked her, 'why not a prince?' and sh-"

"And she said she didn't like princes, but she loved the boy more than anything else," you smiled.

"Wow, more than big libraries?" he chuckled.

"Yes, even more than big libraries," you giggled. Humming contently, you snuggled even closer to him, the rise and fall of his chest lulling you into a peaceful sleep.

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

Which brings us to where we started this story, the next morning.

The story Steve's eyes told you that morning was better than any other story you've ever heard. It was a love story that you would tell your children, and your grandchildren.

And every time Steve heard you telling it, he sat and listened with a smile.

You once asked him why he always listens to that story, it's not like he didn't know it, he lived it.

"I did live it," he answered, "but I still live it, every single day. And it gets better with each day," he leaned down to kiss you.

Steve Rogers was the most wonderful of men, and over the years he grew to be the most wonderful of husbands, of fathers and of grandfathers.

You both grew, but there was one thing that stayed the same – his heart was yours, and your heart was his; forever.

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

flower meanings:

Rose – love.

Honeysuckle - pure happiness, sweet love, devoted affection.

Hydrangea - gratitude, grace, beauty, abundance. some colors also symbolize bad luck.

Hibiscus - variously symbolizes health, delicacy, beauty, respect and hospitality.

Rhododendron – beware.

p.s. - the meanings are based on my limited searches, also there are some flowers with more than one meaning:)

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i’d love it if you’d want to tell me your thoughts!! if you’ve stuck through this entire thing - thank you!!!<3

Taglist: @horny-nd-bored @shannon124 @perfectlyharolds @wintersoldierslut @iceebabies @sleepingpapermouse @steverogerswasalwaysworthy @holtzkinnon @angelicl-y @stydia-4-ever @thatoneperson5000 @fangirlfree @kaitcordx25 @bequeening @steve-barry-damon-logan @itscrazycherryblossomcollection @hollandxmarvel @stargazingfangirl18 @readsreblogsfics @onetwo3000 @beritmetal @harrystylesholland @jazbot2000 @anobscurename @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @peggycarter-steverogers @evansphnx12 @starlightcrystalline @procrastinatingsapphictrash

if you wanna join / be removed from a taglist, comment/message me! much love <3

#chris evans x reader #steve rogers x reader #chris evans x female reader #chris evans x y/n #chris evans x you #Steve Rogers x Female Reader #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers fluff #dark academia fic

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fitzefitcher · 4 years ago

Note

honestly i've been seeing bastion as like a Buddhist-ish place with ancient greek aesthetics, bc letting go of your earthly attachments to be enlightened is pretty Buddhist. 'If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill the Buddha. If you meet your father, kill your father.', that kind of thing. i haven't thought of it as a Light place at all, though i can see why others do.

so there's. a lot of things I would like to cover in answering this, and I'm honestly dreading it a little lmao buuuuut I will do the best I can. I have a lot of thoughts about Bastion, and about the Light, so I'm going to take this as an opportunity to explore that. so: content warning for discussion of religion and religious trauma, esp in regards to identity erasure.

full disclosure: I'm an american queer that was raised roman catholic (specifically, roman catholic within the confines of a heavily irish-italian community) and currently identify more as like. an agnostic apostate, would be the closest thing to describe it, I think. generally, while I'm not really crazy about organized religion as a massive institution capable of doing absolutely wretched things to the people it alleges to helping (and by no means am suffering under the delusion that it hasn't and won't continue to do these things so long as oppressive systems of power are in place, just like it would be in any other area, not just religion), I also acknowledge that there's a lot of good in it, too, and it's the cornerstone of many people's community, culture, and identity. ultimately, my opinion is that religion is a tool, and whoever's holding that tool decides its purpose and intention. it's. a complicated matter lmao.

I'm not going to pretend I'm an expert on buddhism, here. obviously this was not the religion (or any of the many cultures its beliefs are centered in) I was raised as, and honestly even the research I've done for this feels like it's barely scratching the surface. so, rather than try and argue or explain something that is really out of the realm of what I'm familiar with or have experience with (esp. something that's not really mine to claim), I will try and explain things from my own experience as a queer AFAB person raised as roman catholic. and speaking from that perspective, it is very incredibly obvious to me how much of bastion was lifted from christian theology. not just the aesthetics of it, all of the weird identity conformity shit, too. the way that kyrian ideology is being used here, is as a tool to enforce this conformity.

same with how the Light as a concept has been developed in recent years- there are no longer any significant differences between the way individual factions use and interact with the light, even though as cultures their views on it should be radically different, or at least different enough that they don't feel like homogenized versions of each other. like, there's no real difference between how the humans view the Light, and how dwarves view the light, and how gnomes view the Light, and it doesn't really feel like there ever was. Nelves' view on it used to be characterized pretty strongly and differently, as did trolls and draenei, but the longer the years go on, the more that they sort of blend together. to get back to your statement, "I haven't thought of it as a Light place at all," I find that very difficult to parse as a statement, as Bastion as a whole has been developed from base concepts of the Light. Like, Kyrians were designed from spirit healers, spirit healers are now confirmed to be Kyrians (for some reason), and all of the aesthetics of their magic, their clothing, their environment are all heavily priest, paladin, and light-inspired. everything is golds and marbles and sky blues, when they become "corrupted," they suddenly become shadow-themed, like all greys and blacks and purples, their wings turn black, etc. but the similarities, and all their short-comings, go much farther than that.

so the general story thread of each area of the shadowlands in this expansion is that things aren't as they seem, right? that their individual systems are beginning to fall to internal corruption and are crumbling under their own weight. and we see this in each of the trailers- the houses of maldraxxus are starting to eat each other, ardenweald is slowly starving to death, revendreth's citizens are being choked with heavy demands from the aristocracy, and bastion is struggling to adjust in the face of new, unprecedented problems, unwilling to change their ways, even when it's explicitly obvious how badly they need to change. like, I've talked about this a little bit before- the trailer and the way it's structured led me to believe that we, the players, are meant to be hanging out with Devos and Uther, trying to help them convince Devos' boss that very obvious bad thing that's happening, is happening. And this is about how it goes for the other trailers- we learn about the betrayal of Draka's house in maldraxxus, and the maldraxxus storyline is centered on helping her figure out what happened and pick up the pieces. We learn about Ardenweald's rapidly shrinking resources and dying environment, and the ardenweald storyline is centered on figuring out what the cause of this famine is. We learn about Revendreth's aristocracy and how they're demanding more and more of the common people, and the revendreth storyline is centered on overthrowing the increasingly tyrannical cruelty of their current leaders and helping the common people, with the help of a leader favored by the common people. And I feel like, given the state of things, and how the IRL world as a whole has been going the past couple years, helping Devos and Uther get to the bottom of this, maybe even helping Bastion adjust and change in the face of these new challenges, would have been a very good, insightful storyline, and very appropriate for the times we're in.

This, clearly, is not what happened lmao. Whether or not they'll decide to develop bastion further, at least in terms of addressing its failings with its own people, is up for debate, but based on WoW's previous history of similar stories, I'm not very confident lmao.

so I will touch on that statement of bastion being a "buddhist-like place" for a moment, I did look into buddhism a bit, and while I very quickly realized that there wasn't really a way that I could discuss this at length in a way that's fair (esp. with how many variations and cultures there are centered around it, again, I am not an expert, I am doing the best I can with the information I have), the very very bare bones basics of buddhism that I can find more or less boil down to, yes, letting go of earthly attachments to attain enlightenment. but this is not really a nuanced assessment of buddhism, and tbh, isn't really the goal of the kyrians' purification rituals. sure, at first glance, it seems to line up- shedding the burdens of their mortal lives in order to achieve ascension- but ascension here, is not enlightenment. buddhist enlightenment, from what I can find, seems to be the act of breaking free from the cycle of death and rebirth and from mortal suffering. kyrian ascension is the act of, not breaking free of that cycle, but tying yourself to it for an eternity of service. and living your life (even an eternal one- especially an eternal one) in the service of others is a really strongly christian concept. and the kyrian's concept of virtues only strengthens this. the fact that kyrians have virtues at all is heavily christian-coded, and on top of that, the virtues they have feel like they've been lifted directly from christian beliefs. also like. they're literal fucking angels, trying to earn their wings. like. there's not much else I can think of that's that heavy-handed lmao.

let's talk more about those virtues, though.

the kyrian virtues are as follows: purity, humility, courage, wisdom, and loyalty. There are a number of variations on christian virtues, but here are two of the main sets: one set lines up as the ideological opposite to the seven capital sins (or seven deadly sins if you're an FMA fan lmao), and the other is more-or-less what is accepted in contemporary belief. This is what I was taught in sunday school/CCD, so this is what I'm a little more familiar with.

so set 1, the heavenly virtues, are: chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility, and set 2, the contemporary virtues, are split further into 2 groups: the cardinal virtues, prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance, and the theological virtues, charity, hope, and faith.

So humility, courage, and wisdom, are pretty straight-forward in terms of what they represent, and line up pretty neatly with humility (lol) from the heavenly virtues, and fortitude and prudence from the contemporary virtues. To touch on those briefly, humility is exactly what it says on the tin, and acts as an ideological opposite to the capital sin of pride, fortitude is bravery and endurance as well as patience, and prudence is reason and self-discipline, esp in terms of handling yourself and how you interact with others. And these are perfectly fine as principles. the ones that set off alarm bells for me, though, are loyalty and purity.

as kyrian virtues, they don't really line up to any christian virtues from either set. but tbh, this is beside the point- the fact that purity and loyalty are considered virtues, at all, especially in combination with each other, at best feel very suspicious, and at worst openly hostile. and the way this is covered in game only enforces this. purity is only obtained by sloughing off pieces of yourself that the kyrians consider obstructive to your ascension and how you can serve the Purpose, and questioning this or any other aspect of their ascension ritual gets you sent to the temple of loyalty to, ostensibly, stay there until you Get Your Priorities Straightened Out lmao. Like, there's no exploration of why these purity rituals are being questioned to begin with, there's no examination of why the rituals are necessary to begin with, and seemingly, prospective kyrians are punished for even asking. like, for a faction that seemingly prides itself on helping their members becoming their best selves, it feels strange that the reaction to their unsure members is punitive instead of therapeutic.

at this point, the link between the kyrians' beliefs and christianity should be readily apparent. it's no secret that over the centuries, christianity has used as a tool for oppressive systems to dominate marginalized groups, both within its ingroup and without. "purity" in christianity is less a virtue and more a heavily enforced, wildly contradictory idea, hiding itself in mealy-mouthed platitudes about being a Good Person or Becoming Your Best Self while simultaneously, stringently punishing its own members for daring to step a toe out of an extremely arbitrary line. like, I remember going to church growing up, and in the same breath that the head priest said to pray for various members of the community (thoughts and prayers, lmao), pray for [insert local sports team here] to win for their upcoming game, he also said that yes, democrats are corrupting the country. yes, homosexuals are going to hell. mass was an exercise in enduring misery most of the time, and a big reason I stayed closeted from my family for the majority of my life is because of this, and I still am, in many ways. I still have to divvy myself up in bits and pieces to become Socially Acceptable enough to appease my extended family, and there are certain family members that I will go to my grave never having come out to them, because I know they will never accept me for who I am, truly. so to have purity be a kyrian virtue with no further examination, no trace of irony, and to have loyalty as a virtue to back it up, feels, at best, extremely tone-deaf.

when you quest alongside kleia and pelagos, you see these purity rituals, and you see how large a toll they take on them. you see pelagos struggle, and you as the player help him overcome the difficulties he faces- difficulties he could not overcome himself. you see kleia, over time, becoming more and more disgruntled with bastion's governing body as a whole, and finding more and more cracks in the kyrians' concept of purity. but no lessons are learned, from either of these. nothing is examined further, and I have doubts that it ever will.

you, the player, see other kyrians, who previously were orcs, tauren, trolls, draenei, all these non-humans, being stripped of their identity, ostensibly for the reason that it will make them more just and fair a judge, a concept that rapidly falls apart the longer you look at it. the idea of all these sentient creatures from all these walks of life, particularly the ones heavily coded as BIPOC, are to be stripped of their cultural identity and made into Homogenous Standard (white-coded) Blue Human is so intrinsically malicious that it is genuinely baffling that it was even seriously considered as an idea, let alone greenlit and put into the game. prospective mortals are scouted to be kyrians theoretically for the lives they lived in service of others, in justice and kindness and wisdom, and then they are made to give up more and more pieces of those lives, rendering whatever they've learned, whatever experiences they've gained, that made them this person that the kyrians sought out in the first place, an utterly pointless and redundant endeavor. things like kindness, wisdom, courage, are not inherent qualities. They are things that have to be learned. They are things in which the context of them is paramount to how they will be measured. So to say that it is Necessary to do this, to make them Fairer, to make them More Just, feels both stunningly nonsensical and just pointlessly, nihilistically mean.

so what does this have to do with the Light?

well, in recent years, it seems to be steering more and more towards the idea that only correct religion within WoW is the Light, and there's only One Way to be Light. Early on in WoW's development, it was established that yeah, shadow has a bit of a reputation and can certainly be misused, but nobody's arguing that the Light can be misused, too, and that neither shadow nor light are inherently good nor inherently evil- they just Are, and each serve their own purpose in this world and its way of things. I had written a post about this like. several years ago, and a lot of it hasn't aged very well (I will not link to it bc woof, it was Pretty Rough to look at again after seven years lmao), but the gist of it was that Light and Shadow, are less like good and evil, and more like the Force from star wars. Well, a more nuanced force- again, Light is not Strictly Good, Shadow is not Strictly Evil. They are merely opposite sides of the same spectrum, but they are not inherently antithetical to each other. It was less a religion/belief system with an established deity, and more just reverence for the universe and its workings as a whole. Yes, it has the markers and drapings of christianity, particularly in its aesthetics, but the actual belief system didn't really lift anything from any particular christian belief system, and didn't really match up to any one of them, besides, again, the aesthetic of it. The Light now, however- now it does have a lot in common with christian beliefs. or at least, it and the church of the light have a lot in common with the mentality of those with strong christian beliefs. Which is to say, again, there is only one Correct Religion, and it's Light, and there's only One Correct Way to be Light. other religions within wow are either condemned, painted as savage, violent, heretical, or watered down so much that they either don't matter or function as mere Extensions to the light.

last summer, when I was reading the "before the storm" novel as research for my sylvanas essay, one of the many, many things that made it a difficult read was how like. unintentionally, thoughtlessly intolerant Golden had written it. Anduin, one of the main characters in it, despite having a history of kindness, compassion, curiosity, and understanding, is kind of shunted into being a 1-dimensional Good Christian Boy(tm). Like, he struggles with interacting with the forsaken, despite them having been in existence for over a decade at this point, and more than half his lifetime, and despite having dealt with them before, and orcs, and tauren, and a great number of other non-human creatures, while still treating them with grace and dignity, and respecting their perspectives, experiences, and beliefs. like, he's painted as thinking that the netherlight temple would be an alliance-only, church of the holy light only affair, and is really surprised, even stunned, at the thought of having to interact with non-alliance, non-light priests. and something that really really stuck with me while reading this, was that Anduin, this compassionate, intelligent, understanding person, could only learn to interact with priests of other factions and species, despite having already done this before, many, many times in his life, on the basis that They, Too, Are Servants Of The Light. and there's just. no examination in this. no irony. Light is Right, Others are Not. No lessons were learned.

#warcraft #ask tag #god I guess I should tag this as #essay tag #Anonymous

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algernoninwonderland · 4 years ago

Text

Miraculous, intertextuality and why referencing other works all the time isn’t necessarily a great idea

TL;DR: Miraculous loves itself some pop culture references, they’re in the show all the time for you to enjoy, especially if you’re a big nerd.

Only, making a list of references and trying to replicate what other works did before yours doesn’t make your show good by association, and when it comes to Miraculous, these references seldom do these original works justice. Instead, it makes comparing these other works with Miraculous really easy, and the comparison is rarely flattering.

Miraculous would be a much better show if it tried to be its own thing, a few scenes are just that and they are great. It’d be a wonderful show were they not so few and far between.

Miraculous is made by nerds, as is the case with most cartoons. The show itself lets you know that right away. It’s a pastiche of magical girl anime and Silver Age comics, it uses a lot of their visual languages, and references its other inspirations a lot, for instance:

The name of its fictional locations, (Françoise Dupont is a regular kid with a masked detective alter ego named Fantomette, Marinette’s address is a reference to a French illustrator who often drew a talking ladybird)

The way its characters look (Master Fu is both Mr Miyagi from the Karate Kid and Muten Roshi from Dragon Ball, when akumatised, Mme Couffaine becomes basically Captain Harlock and her houseboat becomes the Arcadia)

Sometimes entire scenes are references to other works (Aurore’s akumatisation is straight out of Utena’s Dark Rose Saga, “Gorizilla” has a King Kong pastiche).

You could fill an entire Wiki with all the references in Miraculous if you wanted to. If you paid me well, I’d do it myself.

Wearing your inspirations on your sleeves is a double-edged sword, really.

On the one hand, you showcase the things that inspired your creative process, a way to say, “hey, that show/film/book exists within a landscape, it’s the heir to such and such work”. You acknowledge that you owe a lot to your predecessors, you acknowledge that there’s no such thing as a 100% original thing. That’s a great act of humility.

And intertextuality conveys meaning, too! Let’s take a very mainstream example. When you notice that ha! The pod-racing scene in Phantom Menace comes from the 1959 movie Ben-Hur for instance, you get the sense that you understand the cinematic masterpiece that is Episode 1 a bit more. It tells you that your movie about space wizards owes a lot to other genres, and that it transposes these genres to another setting, space! “It’s Ben-Hur, in that that slave kid is pod-racing for his freedom, but I gave it my own spin,” George Lucas tells you. “Look, the funny Gungan stepped into that space cow’s poop! Haha, sure hope I’ll sell lots of toys and buy myself some death sticks!”

You feel really smart when you get a reference, too! “Hey, that’s a Dezaki effect right there!” “Wow, is that a robot from Castle in the Sky in Age of Ultron?” Likewise, if you don’t recognise the work being referred to, you might get curious about it! References send back to other things and your knowledge of these things and when you get it, it feels nice. Lots of people discovered Utena thanks to Steven Universe and that’s really cool, and these references add to the meaning of the cartoon! Folks who casually got into RWBY but didn’t know Soul Eater and Cowboy Bebop heard about those shows and many others while discussing RWBY and I’m sure lots of them got into anime thanks to RWBY!

On the other hand, by being so open about your sources of inspiration, you expose yourself to criticism, especially in the case of your work being compared with what inspired it: it might be seen as derivative, or even worse, unable to do these previous pieces of media justice by only retaining and replicating their most superficial elements without a great understanding of what made them work, gratuitous fanservice for nerds.

And I’m not quite sure where Miraculous stands. Oftentimes, it feels more like a Spider-Man/Kamen Rider crossover with bits of outdated shoujo manga and superficial wuxia sprinkled in there than a show at least trying to be its own thing.

And the problem is, Sailor Moon is better at being Sailor Moon than Miraculous could ever be, as it uses its visual language better, and it has a tiny thing called “the main character having a group of friends who aren’t props and a plot you can follow” that is the very reason why people liked the manga and anime in the first place. Miraculous only retains the very superficial aspects of the manga/anime and of the genre. Marinette still trips over a cat in the opening. Because that’s how it happens in Sailor Moon. Her characterisation as a civilian screams “Usagi Tsukino but more stressed out”.

Spider-Man is better at splash pages than Miraculous because ML’s CGI is pretty meh when it’s not in motion, these weird filter effects don’t look great, that only works when you’re Into the Spiderverse and have comic-book aesthetics. Queen Wasp has a whole sequence that is just that scene in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 only this time Queen Bee sabotaged a metro on purpose to stop it. It’s not an awful scene, it carries its point across rather well (Chloé is a selfish nerd who thinks she can be like these comic book characters but truly isn’t fit to be a hero) but the original did it better, it was more impressive, there was more tension to that original scene, some really interesting camera and foley work that made you feel the weight of that train. It didn’t feel cheap the way that scene in “Queen Wasp” did.

Utena’s Black Rose Saga explores the psyche of some of its secondary characters the audience is already familiar with, with problems we could already identify within them. It offers an examination of the storyworld from another point of view, and helps build it further. There’s always a proper buildup before these characters have a mental breakdown in an moody elevator with a butterfly pinned on the wall that turns back into a chrysalis, because the characters are going through a kind of regression that makes them easier to manipulate and turn into “villains” while acting out their true desires in a twisted way. “Stormy Weather” has most of that, an elevator with dramatic lighting, a butterfly and a mental breakdown, but the character is all new to us so it’s just not that impactful. Often, that one secondary character who’ll get transformed has had spoken lines, yes, but that’s only minutes before they get akumatised.

“Kinda the same but a bit worse and missing some of the key aspects of what made the original thing so good” isn’t much of a tribute, is it?

In an earlier post, I stated that Animaestro was basically “I have watched a lot of animated shows and I know how to mimic them, the episode”. It told us nothing about animation as a medium except that it’s cool sometimes and that you get to imitate other people who are much better at the things they do than you are.

It’s not a clever metacommentary, it’s just “me likey moving pictures”. Good for you, I guess… Did you really need an entire episode to make that point?

And then you’ve got all the bad outdated shoujo tropes with characters falling on top of each other, aggressive flirting (harassment, really) from Adrien portrayed as really sweet and romantic because it’s just like in the shoujo manga (which one?) you see… And that’s just not great, is it?

Miraculous is a much better cartoon when it doesn’t try (and fail) to emulate other shows and movies and comic books and manga. The only thing it tells us about these works is that That Guy and co really like them and that copy-pasting them is the best way they’ve found to show their love. Imitation and flattery and all of that I guess.

“Look, it’s like in that scene in the anime! Did you like the anime? It sure was a good anime, and if our show makes you think about it, then it’s also good, right?”

No, you guys, I’m sorry but no. If making references was all it took to be good, then gaming webcomics would be regarded as masterpieces.

Very often, the show seems interested in being anything but itself. And it’s a shame, because there are lots of ideas the show kind of brings up but never quite touches. Marinette is interested in fashion design? That’s great, show us more of that! Make it an important part of her character, and by the same occasion, make her creations look not-laughable. Miraculous could be the first cartoon to explore what it’s like to be a biracial kid with a Chinese parent in France (would that work with a crew of almost strictly middle-aged white men is another question to which the answer is a resounding “no”). The show is set in Paris? Cool, how about exploring the city outside of its landmarks every tourist and their mom already knows?

Inexplicably, in the middle of an episode when you expect it the least, you get brilliant bits of directing that aren’t references to other works. Alya becoming Rena Rouge and her first steps as a superhero? Brilliant, really immersive, loved it, not a reference. The sad car scene in Puppeteer 2? It’s really really good, not a reference either. All the unexplored lore? It seemed really promising and having more of it would help us understand things a bit more!

People don’t just like your show because it reminds them of another show. Why watch it if you can watch that original work in the first place?

Trying to make a superficial mashup of all things you think are great in other works is not the way to do these works justice, nor is it the way to make your show interesting, let alone good.

#miraculous #ml salt #ml writers salt #ml critical #ml analysis #longpost #rwby #star wars #spider-man #adrien salt

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ironmansuuucks · 5 years ago

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Hi sweetie ^^ just saying, you fics always make my day better 💜can I get some fluff/funny with Beej? Maybe playing tag with reader, using his demon powers

beetlejuice x reader

hello my lovely, thank you so much for your kind words💚 and i loved doing this request sooo much!! it is actually my first time ever writing for beej so I hope I done him justice lol 🙈

words: 835

p.s i reached out to @thewolfisapartofmysoul to make a sweet aesthetic for this beautiful request, and she never fails to amaze me with her amazing boards, so thank you🧡

“ah fuck your bad vibes Lyd’s! you’re no fun when you’re learning”. You could hear Beej shout through the house, his grumbly voice sending butterflies straight to your abdomen. You hadn’t admitted it to yourself yet, but the daft demon really sent you wild, in more ways than one.

You rolled your eyes lightly at his antics, he was always groaning about something, or someone you thought to yourself before you were abruptly interrupted. Not a second after the shouting, your ghost with the most suddenly appeared right in front of you, surrounding you in a cloud of green smoke, and that familiar earthy smell that he usually sported.

“hey you! My favourite breather!... be a bad ass with a good ass would ya babes and play some games or something with me.. I’m soooo booorreeddd” he whined, bouncing up and down in the same spot. He was adorable.

“help me out here doll will ya?” he pleaded. You grinned and moved past him playfully, headed towards the coffee machine. “last time you asked me to help ya out you told me to fuck off because I was too adultey” you reminded him playfully.

He thought for a moment before moving up right next to you again, laying his chin on your shoulder, making you nervous with excitement at the contact. “yeah but, you know, we’ll change that babes…” suddenly he was in front of you, in your way of the coffee machine. “oooooooh how bout we play tag!”. His eyebrows were raised, and he looked the happiest you had seen him in days.

“tag? What do you take me for?” you snorted, trying to act cool. He smirked, a cheeky glint in his eyes. “someone who hates to lose… tag”, he poked your collar bone, pushing you back very lightly before disappearing in the same cloud of green smoke that he appeared in.

You stood there shocked at his antics. I mean, he was right, but still. You started to stomp around the house playfully “Beej?!?! You lil cheat!! Where are you?” you started to look for that lil smart ass.

Eventually, you found yourself in the corridor next to your bedroom, silently looking for that green glow you were so used to. But it wasn’t green you stumbled upon when you looked at the curtain in front of the window. It was pink.

You squinted your eyes, knowing you had found him.. but why did the tip of his hair look pink? You raise your eyebrow and pull the curtain back “boo” you say sarcastically.

Beej slightly jumps when you pull the curtain, but laughs. “took you long enough.. I thought you had forgotten we were playing” he said sarcastically. “aw shut up, it’s been like five minutes.. and you cheated!” you smack his arm playfully, the touch making his hair beam even more pink. You decided not to say anything.

“anyway…” you glanced up at his pink, wispy hair, then back down, the cheeky glint now appearing in your eye “tag” you shouted before poking him lightly and pulling the curtain back over him and darting away, hopefully leaving him baffled for a few seconds.

But this ghost wasn’t as dumbfounded as you thought. Because as you were running towards your room, looking behind you to see if he was following, he suddenly appeared in front of you, sending you literally head over heels for him, as you both tumbled to the floor.

You were both laughing as you lay on top of him, on your bed room floor. “maybe you’re more fun than I initially thought” he joked, and you returned by playfully smacking his chest.

“hey Beej, did you dye your hair, or are you just happy to see me?” you smirked, laying your chin on your hand, still laying on top of him. He furrowed hid eyebrows, and his hands moved to clutch his hair, looking up at it, blushing when he notices the colour.

He looked down at you and smirked. “that’s not the only indicator I get when I’m happy to see you babes” he raised an eyebrow. You snorted and rolled your eyes, smacking his chest lightly again.

“maybe I should come and annoy you more often.. you’re fun”.

“what does your pink hair mean?” you played dumb, having some sort of inkling as to what it might mean.

“weeeell.. it kinda sorta means I maybe wanna doooo thiiiis” he mumbles quickly before bringing his head closer to yours and kissing you quickly. He pulls away and waits on your response, nervous that he wasn’t catching the right vibe and that you might hate him and think he was weird and that was wrong he shouldn’t have done it and…

Suddenly your lips found his again, settling his mind. His cheeks painted with a similar colour blush as his hair. You pulled away and smiled sweetly at him, and admired how flustered and adorable he looked.

“you sure this isn’t too adultey for you?” you smirked.

tags: @little-miss-shy-goth @paxenera @heknowshisherbs @missihart23 @geminiacally @go-commander-kim @gegehaddock @baby-beej @sadpuppetshows @hoodoo12 @large-unit @thats-specific @vicunaburger @stranger-strings @bugdrinkss @sheinassheina @demonwifey @beetle-herbs

#Beetlejuice #beetlejuice x reader #beetlejuice the musical #Alex Brightman #school of rock the musical #school of rock #dewey finn

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spiritmaiden23 · 4 years ago

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why do you even like skyward sword zelda

Oooooo, anon you finna make my followers hate me even more since I don’t shut the fuck up about one beautiful sky Zelda. In short:

In long? Well, I’ll place it under the read more. Juuuuust in case I do actually get super rambly ramble with this girl because I can like talk hours. Excuse the mistakes, I’ll get to editing them once I learn how to read again. I tend to go off when I ramble and not check anything until later on. Bear with me, please!

I’m not even sure where to start?! I suck at getting my thoughts out into cohesive enough reading pieces because ADHD is just hell brain going 755034 miles per minute and expecting everyone to keep up sometimes. I feel like everything I’ve said has been said before... but, I’m always totally ready to ramble once more because it’s something I can never be tired of and is very on-brand of me to yell about either sky or ALTTP Zelda. I’m just super passionate about these girls!

What drew me to Skyward Sword Zelda in the first place is the aesthetic of her game as well as her design as a whole. I remember seeing the trailer for SS drop and how hyped I was. The cel-shading was back with a vengeance with a nice combo of the art style we see in TP too rather than the more toon style with WW and I feel like it worked beautifully, the graphics for the game never fail to amaze me and I love the watercolor look they went with in both the official art and game! I knew I would love this Zelda and guess what, I was right in that because spoiler alert: I LOVED this Zelda the minute we were introduced to her. Not her first physical appearance because all we saw was her beautiful dress design... well, ok this did help in making me love this girl. BUT her first introduction as to who she is as a character in the letter sent to Link. She’s cheeky in the letter and it gives us this sense that the two of them really are on a more familiar level with each other, compared to every other relationship with Zelda and Link where they are strangers bound by fate to save Hyrule. It’s very simple, a few sentences but all that simplicity painted a good enough sense as to what we were in for with Zelda and her friendship with Link.

HOOOOOOO BOY HOOOO BOY!!! And then we see her, and we see Link smiling at her like it’s the first time seeing her ever despite seeing her yesterday. And gosh, she’s just a charming character overall!! She’s funny, someone who likes to tease others and carries a strong sense of justice! She can be pushy (literally and figuratively speaking) but she does mean well by the end of the day and is aggressive in showing support for you! She’s an optimist mostly for friends because she thinks that things will turn out alright for her friends and she wishes that they can see the same too so often she will encourage them. She’s not a princess. She’s very ordinary here, and that ordinariness illustrates both Sky and Tetra best because of how lighthearted and open they are. Granted they’re not super lax and are still very responsible like all Zeldas but they’re pretty informal and I love that about them!

Sky Zel is someone who’s pretty straightforward, she has no issue with letting both her body and facial expression do the talking for her as such she doesn’t really hide much. She’s an open book of sorts all while being someone who expresses her mind and isn’t roundabout in saying things, she has no issue with calling you out as shown with how she called out Groose and his bullying on Link. On top of that, she does call out Link a few times too depending on the choices you give in-game! Skyward Sword did an excellent job in making Sky Zel so likable and adding nuance to her relationship with Link through the little things in the first few minutes of the game and it’s like, damn you kinda wanna see her again all safe and happy!

It reminds me of how Wind Waker starts off with Aryll and Link having a wholesome brother-sister bond and it motivates you to rescue her because you’re sure that Link wants to see Aryll home safe and happy again with Grandma.

It’s a shame how we don’t see her journey throughout the game and see how she becomes the more melancholic, wise girl we see during her scene where she falls asleep for over 1000+ years or the full extent of her relationship with Impa either because I’m sure those two had a pretty good bond going too for Zelda to react like that during the end where Impa fucking dies hweoh. That’s another thing too, there’s a whole other layer to Sky aside from Genki. Yes, she’s cheery and seems like your typical anime heroine but keep in mind that she was Hylia, a goddess who fought for her people to protect them, the lands, and the Triforce. She was in a war, she had to see so many of her people die that she loved and vowed to protect because of one demon’s greed to have the power of the gods. Hylians were weak back then, Demise says this straight up. So death was very likely in those days.

She had to endure a lot during that time, once Zelda’s memories of her past life came back she grew up from that girl we see at the beginning of the game. It’s also worth noting, that Zelda and Hylia have different mindsets. She may have her memories back but that doesn’t really mean she’s back to being Hylia fully before she became mortal. I’ve talked about it before but Zelda, with her ordinary background, grew up surrounded by love. In other words, she has a more compassionate heart than she did as a goddess. Gods and deathless beings overall have a long lifespan, they tend to forget about morals and how humans worked. While Hylia did love her people and the lands her love is different from mortals as such it can be very painful. I mean *gestures to Sky Link* there you go. It’s why she’s so remorseful of her actions... but the ending scene where she tells Link she wants to live on The Surface tells me that there are still shades of that playful gremlin we saw in the first half of Skyward Sword. She’s someone who’s hopeful for tomorrow but likes to live in the now and make a brighter tomorrow. She won’t hide away from the past, willing to admit to her mistakes and refusing to make excuses, but she won’t let it define her either and will instead grow from it. She wants to protect the people she loves and the world she loves much like she did in her past life but with more empathy with that love!

I think that’s all for her as a character aside from one more thing to add:

It’s cool to me how she’s not a princess, but a literal Goddess. She’s legit Hylia. So she’s unique in that aspect and she serves as an explanation as to why the royal family even has divine powers because her blood is passed down to them. I don’t buy fanon theory that all Zeldas are reincarnations of Hylia, I think Sky is the rare case of Zelda reincarnating. There’s no evidence to support either theory because Nintendo tends to be open-ended in their lore for the most part... although Demise makes it a point to say “those with the blood of the goddess” rather than the “spirit of the goddess” like he does with Link which is something that Ghirahim and Demise wanted from Zelda, aka the Spirit Maiden, to bring Demise’s form back from the seal Hylia placed on him. Her very soul has divinity to it.

On top of that, in BOTW it’s explained that the sealing power has been passed down and that Zelda’s mother knew how to use it as did her grandmother and so on. So... with that in mind how on earth is Hylia around for both those ladies and the current Zelda we see in BOTW if every Zelda ever is the reincarnation of her? On top of that BOTW Zel says in her diary that she had a dream where a woman in white tried to call out to her so??? Huh? What? It creates a plot hole if you think every Zelda is Hylia reincarnating. And sort of takes away the fun headcanon of Zeldas interacting in the Spirit Realm. That said, I’d like to think her presence is eternal through the powers that become unlocked rather than Hylia herself. If that makes sense? It’s not literally Hylia reincarnating but a connection made with her. This might not be making much sense haha. But! Reincarnation is a thing I do think is possible in LOZ since BOTW does say this but I don’t think it’s not as straightforward as fandom thinks it is and I’d like to think it’s more nuanced. People tend to cite Avatar sometimes and ehhhhh. No.

But that’s just me on that one.

ANYWAY THAT IS ALL THANKS FOR COMING TO THIS RAMBLE

#ooc postings.#gosh what do i even tag this as?#shut up amber.#there we go...#anyway sorry to new mutuals and old mutuals. this is hell.#GOOD LUCK READING THIS ON MY THEME I NEED TO FIX THE PLACEMENT OF THAT BLUE FREAKING FEATHER DSHJBVAKD #sorry for that... mobile might be your best bet haha

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windstormwielding · 4 years ago

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How did you come up with Kotaro's zanpakuto? (i really love the bird theme of his attacks!) did you go through a lot of changes when coming up with names, abilities, and the general concept?

{ ooc } bUCKLE UP KIDDOS ‘CAUSE IT’S TIME FOR SOME LONG OVERDUE GODDAMNED KŌTA META-

Kōta’s zanpakutō was essentially conceived out of my own love for great big storms and heavy winds – and yes, I have a story to go with that! On one occasion many years ago, I hopped on a bus to visit a friend in town, but I was ill-prepared in that it was about to rain heavily and I had jack shit but a jacket. No raincoat and not even an umbrella. I thought I would make it there on time, buuuuut evidently, I did not. It already started raining and thundering hard by the time I walked out of the bus and had to walk a few blocks by myself.

And honestly, Plouton, looking back? I would not have changed a single little detail that day. Those several minutes I spent outside at the mercy of a live thunderstorm left such a huge impression on me! The incessant rain keeping me tethered to the ground, the sheer volume of deafening thunder cracking so hard and so loudly that the air around me quaked... pair that with times I’ve enjoyed feeling myself at the mercy of heavy winds, or even the smell of the outside after rain falls...

...pretty much all of that served as the biggest source of inspiration behind the wind and storm-oriented zanpakutō, and I wanted Kōta to embody that himself.

Besides, aside from Senna herself in Memories of Nobody, the Gotei 13 lacked a dedicated air-manipulating shinigami barring Kensei’s unique take on the topic with Tachikaze, and we’ve only seen antagonists use this power (Dordoni of the Arrancar within the main story, Kariya if you want to go filler with the Bounts... whom I’ve honestly forgotten about prior to creating Kōta WHOOPS) in the traditional sense. Not to mention, air as an element is SUPER malleable and there’s so much you can do with it if you get creative?? So, given we’ve got some real powerful element-leaning shinigami already with water (lbr Kaien would’ve been a beast had he not been nixed), fire (Yama), snow (Tosh), and electricity (Sasakibe), why not keep adding to the idea?

With that, we’ve got the main concept locked down. Powers and general theme? Check. Bird-like zanpakutō spirit? Check. Defined attacks? ...noooooot quite there yet—in fact, those were a fairly late addition well after the blog reboot. As for what led to it, this never took off since the other mun blipped on an indefinite hiatus, but our thread would have likely turned into a fight thread between our muses and uh...

...yeah, I realized named techniques are kind of an important thing to have, especially when writing within the context of an action-oriented series like Bleach. It wasn’t just about the cool factor, but having a readily available kit for reference (for myself, my writing partners, and folks reading in) was a must, not to mention it helped better define just what his main friggin’ weapon is capable of like those of most of the existing cast. In case a fight thread does come around in the future, it’d be an ideal thing to have ready to go and bring him further up to par with other fighters!

Just like that, I subjected myself to extra homework. Coming up with the moves themselves came to me simply enough, in seeing how air was played with in other media I was familiar with (key ones being Sonic the Hedgehog, The Legend of Zelda, and Avatar: The Last Airbender) and fashioning some of my own spins on top of some original ideas. I knew I wanted to lean hard on the bird motif since his zan spirit is a tengu, and given the wide variety of things the element of air/wind can do, I thought to make full connections between the two by theming each special move after certain species of bird! Creating those moves and naming them were the easy parts.

Naming them, that is, in English. Naming them all in Japanese was, by far, the hardest part. Why? Parce que je ne suis pas japonais, et aussi parce que je ne parle pas la langue, you see. On top of language barriers, the Japanese tongue operates on a whole other set of rules, compared to the Latin/Germanic-based ones I’ve grown used to with English, French, and (at one point) German. I did take some Japanese classes as an elective back in university, but that was only in first year – my own understanding, as a result, was threadbare and surface level at best, so that was not going to get me anywhere. I did not want to half-ass it with romaji and I love Bleach too much to not want to do these ideas justice.

I am a stickler when it comes to detail and canon-compliance, so getting the naming right by abiding to the proper conventions as best as I possibly could became my topmost priority. Google Translate was not going to fly because lord knows it’s no good without proper context between wholly different languages in English and Japanese, and it only gets wilder once you throw Chinese into the mix, given I’m supposed to use kanji. Thus, the name of the game here turned out to be “reverse engineering,” and I had to go in accepting I probably wasn’t going to get it 100% right the first time.

“What rules do zanpakutō names and special attack names follow?” “How do I apply on- or kun-reading in spelling out a group of certain kanji?” “Where are the common denominators in those rules that I can identify?” “Which language conventions have I already picked up from watching god knows how much anime over the years that I can replicate?” “Which set of words best conveys this particular English word that has no direct Japanese translation?” “How does [x] roll off the tongue? Does it sound right and fluid enough, or does it still feel super stilted and weird?” It was a loooooooot of this until I was finally satisfied with each individual end result!

Tl;dr: Jisho.org and Wikipedia were godsends during this whole process. I also want to thank @tigrextoque who gave me some helpful pointers after the fact!

ALSO... the ones on the Battle Info page aren’t even all of the ones I’ve thought about. Because I’m a glutton for punishment apparently, I purposely went and submitted a request for a certain ask meme on an ask meme source blog, JUST so I could play around with more ideas that came or would come to mind. This time, however, it was through the form of COMBINATION ATTACKS (which, by virtue alone, are honestly peak awesomeness). Those that implicated other shinigami got new bird motifs to meld the aesthetics of both muses, while I did get a couple of Quincy ones (with their referenced attacks actually using romaji as a base! Whoo-hoo for saving me the effort!) as a bonus to mix things up!

I’ll link them all right here (and later on the Battle Info page) for your convenience:

Noboru no mai, Shiro Fukurō (騰の舞・白梟, Rising Dance, Snowy Owl), with Rukia Kuchiki

Ahōdori Kyōka: Flying Battery (群烏強化: フライングバッテリー, Albatross Strengthening: Flying Battery) with Bambietta Basterbine

Muragarasu Kyōka: Galvano Volley (群烏強化: ガルヴァノボレー, Flock of Crows Strengthening: Galvano Volley), plus upgraded variant Muragarasu Kyōka: Galvano Storm (群烏強化: ガルヴァノストーム, Flock of Crows Strengthening: Galvano Storm), with Candice Catnipp

Hagetaka Rinbu (禿鷹輪舞, Vulture Round Dance) with Rangiku Matsumoto

Senkō-fū: Kitsutsuki (穿孔風: 啄木鳥, Drilling Wind: Woodpecker) with Nemu Kurotsuchi

Gyaku-fū Fūsa: Benizuru (逆風封鎖: 紅鶴, Headwind Blockade: Flamingo) with Byakuya Kuchiki

Hikuidori Hinshō (火食鳥頻傷, Cassowary Frequent Cuts) with Ueno Chie

Yes, “Flying Battery” was a deliberately written Sonic the Hedgehog reference. No, I will never apologize for that.

...might I reblog that meme again in the future though...?

...probably not right away.

So, uh... Plou, I should probably apologize for giving you a lot more than you likely bargained for, but hey, I just didn’t want to leave any stone unturned! Thank you so much for sending me your three questions, I enjoyed writing these little deep dives into my Bleach OC, and thanks for taking interest in Kōta! I hope all of my responses have been both enlightening and to your satisfaction.

#deivorous #{ i’m falling free in the wind ☁ headcanon ☁ }#{ cut for length }#{ whispers in the wind ☁ replies ☁ }#{ beyond the sky ☁ ooc ☁ }#{ ooc: we hope to return to our regular programming tomorrow-! }#{ i just could not focus much until i answered all of these hahahaha- }

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princeasimdiya12 · 5 years ago

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I adore your talentswap backstories! I'd like you to write some headcanons for my Talentshift SDR2 au. It consists of Mechanic!Hajime, ReserveCourse!Mahiru, Photographer!Ibuki, Musician!Fuyuhiko, Yakuza!Gundham, Breeder!Chiaki, Gamer!Mikan, Nurse!Nagito, Lucky!Imposter, Imposter!Peko (impersonating non-despair Junko), Swordswoman!Sonia, Prince!Nekomaru, Coach!Teruteru, Chef!Hiyoko, TraditionalDancer!Akane, and Gymnast!Kazuichi. If not, I completely understand.

Hey anon! I’m glad you enjoyed them! ^_^ And I’d be happy to make some headcanons for your AU. But just to let you know anon, I would appreciate it if you asked me first before sending me your listed requests. I honestly don’t mind writing headcanons for talentswaps (I honestly enjoy doing that) but I would appreciate you asking me and then sending them to me. That way it doesn’t take me by surprise.

So without further ado, here are my headcanons for your SDR2 Talentswap AU.

Peko Pekoyama as the SHSL Imposter

While Peko was adopted by the Kuzuryu Clan, she didn’t have a choice in her lifelong profession like Fuyuhiko did.

She was made to work as an infiltration agent.

As a professional imposter, Peko learned how to analyze and copy the body movements and behaviors of any potential person.

She also was taught how to apply makeup to make her disguises as accurate as possible.

Her assignments involved abducting low level workers of rival clans and taking their place while disguised as them.

She’d then relay the rival clan’s weaknesses and business transactions towards the Kuzuryu’s so they can exploit them.

Peko was discouraged from having any personal interests or hobbies so that her infiltration and identity theft skills wouldn’t be tarnished.

This made Peko feel more like a tool and how she only existed to promote the success of the Kuzuryu Clan.

When Fuyuhiko was scouted to go to Hope’s Peak, her superiors used their connections to grant Peko a spot with him to keep an eye on him.

She would take on Junko Enoshima’s image given that the supermodel was busy with her own personal affairs.

Although no one can recognize her while disguised, the viewer/player can recognize Peko with her thick glasses and piercing red eyes.

Hiyoko Saionji as the SHSL Chef

Hiyoko came from a family of culinary masters who amazed Japan with their creative and flavorful dishes.

There was unfortunately alot of drama within the family as they each wanted to train Hiyoko so they can pass their personal culinary training onto her.

Her grandmother managed to win and was one of the most ruthless teachers ever.

Under her training, Hiyoko received burns, cuts and having her food thrown in her face just for making the smallest of slip ups.

Her brutal training mixed with having negative relations with her family made her bitter and aggressive towards everyone around her.

She also has a hard time trusting others to work with her in the kitchen due to multiple incidents where dishes were poisoned and nearly tarnished Hiyoko’s reputation.

Because of this, she prefers to work alone in the kitchen. When she’s assigned to work with partners or underlings, she can be best described as Gordon Ramsay if he were a sassy lost child.

She often holds a knife or a frying pan whenever she’s threatening someone she doesn’t like.

Her culinary specialties involve desserts such as wasabon and kompeito.

Ibuki Mioda as the SHSL Photographer

Throughout her childhood, Ibuki was neglected by her caregivers so she took up photography as a means of distracting herself from the loneliness of her household.

She managed to earn her success by taking high quality photos of lovers in romantic situations.

At her middle school, she made it a game for herself to see how many pictures she could get of different couples at her school without getting caught.

While developing her photos, the couples tried to chastise Ibuki for her actions but they immediately changed their minds when they saw how cool the photos looked.

Ibuki gained a reputation among her peers for her photos and now everyone wanted one too.

This resulted in Ibuki getting alot of “friends” who only wanted to hang out with her just so she could photograph them doing what they wanted while conveniently leaving out the photographer herself.

The fact that these people only cared about her talent so she can capture their memories for them gave Ibuki a sense of familiar loneliness.

Despite this, she wants to enjoy her talent as much as she can with an upbeat attitude.

Ibuki’s favorite subject to photograph are people.

She loves to people watch since the people walking around come in different shapes and sizes and are always doing something unique that you wouldn’t expect.

Sonia Nevermind as the SHSL Swordswoman

Sonia came from a family of professional swordfighters who taught her the power of the blade at an early age.

She grew up on European fairy tales and legends of powerful heroes who used their swords to fight for justice or prove their superiority against enemies who opposed them.

Her family taught her classical fencing, mordhau, the half-sword, destreza and several other fighting styles which she claims are a secret.

She earned her title after winning multiple swordfighting tournaments, many of which were held underground.

Despite her victories, she’s actually been hospitalized due to the extreme injuries she received from sword wounds and physical attacks from her opponents.

Since these wounds have yet to diminish her fighting power, Sonia feels that it’s best to pay them no mind so she can continue her family’s legacy.

She’s never seen without her longsword which she made herself. She calls it Stjerneild because there were shooting stars on the night of making it and also since she burned herself during the process.

Sonia isn’t afraid to boast about her fighting skills and eagerly offers her girl friends the chance to learn how to use a sword.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu as the SHSL Light Music Club Member

Rather than becoming the next heir of his family business, Fuyuhiko wanted to pursue his dream of being an idol.

He takes his career extremely seriously and wouldn’t do stupid stunts or scandals that could jeopardize his work.

To make up for his young appearance, Fuyuhiko uses outfits that have a punk aesthetic while also incorporating black and gold color schemes to make him look older.

Alot of his songs feature themes of embracing your personal talents or how it’s better to carve your own path rather than rely on others.

He knows how to play the electric guitar and the keyboard.

Having refused his parents’ intended career plans, he feels that he can’t screw up his career or else everything he ever worked for will be for nothing and he’d have to crawl back to them for support.

His sister Natsumi often joins him during his tours and unofficially becomes his manager and bodyguard during her visits.

He has a hard time dealing with fanclub meetings because the fangirls would make jokes about his baby face which would drive him insane.

Akane Owari as the SHSL Traditional Dancer

Just like in canon, Akane had to take care of her younger siblings while struggling to survive her poor hometown.

While she did take different jobs to support her family, she would lose those jobs constantly because she kept getting into fights against strangers who tried to grope and harass her.

One day, while she was training by herself in an empty plaza, a woman passed by and paid close attention to her fighting form and rhythm.

She revealed herself to Akane as a traditional dance instructor and offered to train Akane to perfect her skills.

The girl wasn’t interested in doing something fancy like dancing but she changed her mind when she realized that her dancing could be used to raise money for her family. To which, she accepted.

While the instructor taught Akane the fundamentals of mai and odori techniques, the girl performed better when she used her own skills.

While frustrated, the instructor decided to rework her teaching style so Akane’s performances would be passable while also integrating her own skills.

She ended up winning multiple competitions and performances and used the prize money to move her family into a bigger and better house.

Although her reputation as an “easy waitress” would often rear its ugly head and would make Akane become agitated.

Her dancing moves incorporate alot of her old fighting techniques.

She wears a cherry red kimono with a yellow dragon etched on the side as a design.

At the end of each performance, she can be found at the snacks table eating just about everything.

Nagito Komaeda as the SHSL Nurse

Nagito lost his family when he was just a child.

Having pity on the boy, along with finding traces of frontotemporal dementia, the head doctor of the hospital he resided in decided to adopt the boy as his own.

Nagito became the doctor’s apprentice and learned of the different techniques that came with working in the medical field.

The doctor taught him which drugs/medicines were used for what along with how to use the surgical tools properly.

He personally saw different medical cases each more mesmerizing than the last.

He became fixated on the concept of death and how it was an integral part of life.

When he became old enough, he started to work as a nurse and partake in the same surgeries he saw as a child.

While he certainly participated in a number of cases that saved the lives of his patients, he also had a number of cases that resulted in death.

He personally requested to handle the patients that were unable to be saved so he can spend their final moments with them and capture the memory of their deaths.

There’s been word from the medical staff that he tries to comfort the dying patient and their family with speeches on how they shouldn’t be afraid of death and how the patient will move on to greater things in the next life and how the families will become stronger afterwards.

This has earned him the nickname “Angel of Death”.

He wears mint green scrubs and carries a portable bag withhis own medical equipment.

Teruteru Hanamura as the SHSL Coach

Despite his physique, Teruteru has amazing stamina and is capable of lifting heavy objects that ordinary people would have trouble lifting on their own.

Teruteru can analyze a person’s physical stature and determine which exercise or physical activity best suits them.

He always offers massage therapy proclaiming that it’s the best way to strengthen the body and relax the mind.

There are multiple cases where the players he’s worked with have accused him of sexual harassment or groping their bodies.

He has a complicated relationship with his family.

The younger siblings antagonize him for pursuing a career that isn’t related to their family’s restaurant business while putting more hardships on their mother.

His mom on the other hand, is more accepting of his career and asks that he focus more on what he enjoys doing in life.

Teruteru’s massages originally stemmed from how he would give massages to his mama to help alleviate her of her body aches.

He wears a dark red track suit and gold chain. Mixed with his combed over hair, it makes him look like a sleazy gangster.

Chiaki Nanami as the SHSL Animal Breeder

As the daughter of a rich family that hardly had time for her, Chiaki’s parents bought her a variety of animals to keep her company.

She found comfort with them but was heartbroken when she noticed that they became saddened and died.

She became motivated to learn from them so they could stay alive for long as possible.

Chiaki began studying different types of animals and what behaviors are ideal and which are concerning.

After school, she would venture to local animal shelters and veterinarians and offer to volunteer so she can work with different animals and examine first hand their behaviors.

She earned recognition by forming connections with the animals in her care and teaching them commands.

While she prefers the company of animals to humans, she will make an effort to help her human clients have a better relationship with their pets.

She can often be found napping alongside any of her animal friends.

Sagishi as the SHSL Lucky Student

Saigishi grew up in an orphanage having been abandoned by their family before they can remember.

They noticed that they had an unusual luck themed streak when it came to playing with the other kids.

If they were playing soccer, they would accidentally kick the ball into the window which surprisingly knocked out a janitor that was about to assault one of the orphanage workers.

If they tried to pass a love letter to another child they had a crush on, a burst of wind would fly the letter straight into the child’s face and they’d end up having a terrible accident.

If they were preparing food for an upcoming dinner, they would end up pouring too much vinegar into the meal which would spoil the dinner resulting in the staff having to order pizza for the kids.

Saigishi developed a reputation as a kid with creepy powers which both amazed and terrified their fellow orphans.

The kid realized that their luck would only benefit the people around them but would make bad things happen if they tried to use it for themselves.

At the urging of their friends, they ended up participating in the Hope’s Peak Lottery and wound up with the chance to join them as the next SHSL Lucky Student.

Sagishi was worried since something bad would eventually happen if it was the work of their luck, but they decided to take the offer knowing that they needed to make a future for themselves.

They wear a white collared shirt with old jeans.

They still have a mullet which has a small ahoge on the top of their head.

Mikan Tsumiki as the SHSL Gamer

She still had a horrible childhood growing up where her family and classmates would bully and abuse her for a variety of reasons.

Not wanting to put up with their abuse anymore, Mikan decided to drop out of middle school and become a hikikomori.

Using her worn out computer, Mikan found comfort in playing online video games.

She personally enjoys fighting games as she imagines her enemies as her abusers and would deliver swift justice on them by beating them up.

Mikan has a preference for playing as male characters since the female characters wearing skimpy/stripper-esque outfits bring back painful memories for her.

After sufficient online practice, Mikan gained enough confidence to try tournaments in the real world.

But she kept this secret from her family in fear that they would use this to torment her.

When it comes to tournaments, she unleashes her pent up anger and frustrations for her past tormentors by cursing at her opponents as she beats them.

While her fandom is impressed with her gaming skills, they do question why they would call her opponents by a different name and accuses them of doing something awful to her.

When she wants to calm down after a heavy day, she likes to play relaxing games with cute animals.

Nekomaru Nidai as the SHSL Prince

During his childhood years, Nekomaru stayed in his room because of his heart condition.

He received private tutoring based on the history of his kingdom along with different world cultures.

His father and mother spared no expense in providing the best doctors and medical professionals who could ensure that their son would be physically fit.

When he started making appearances outside of the palace, there were rumors that the frail prince was placed in a secret government program that was designed to create super soldiers.

He’s often recognized for working first as a soldier under his father’s militia before becoming of it’s main generals.

Nekomaru is well versed when it comes to proper etiquette and engaging in the company of royals or high class aristocrats.

He has a personal club made of suitors who have fallen for his image as a charming (and handsome) prince.

He also devotes alot of time to interacting with the middle class of his kingdom as he believes having a bond with his people is important for a royal to have.

The main uniform he wears is a blue military outfit with a silver sash and a black beret with a family jewel in the front.

Gundam Tanaka as the SHSL Yakuza

He inherited the throne of the Tanaka Empire at an early age due to the death of his father.

He wasn’t able to remember his father but the stories passed by his underlings and advisors describe him as a devil who was incredibly powerful but dangerous when provoked.

His mother on the other hand, remembers him as a loving man who was very attentive toward her needs.

Gundam would unintentionally embrace his father’s memory thanks to his “overlord” personality which would make him come off as overly dramatic and sinister to his enemies.

His reign as a yazuka lord involved more emphasis on spiritual affairs by bringing spiritual communities under his Empire.

He personally believes that maintaining ties with the spirits and Gods will grant the Tanaka Empire a stronger chance of survival.

While maintaining relationships with minor businesses under his control, he would also invite potential gang groups for tea ceremonies and offer them the chance to join him.

He’s been trained by his advisors in using a katana and gun making him skilled enough to handle even the most dangerous of gang members.

While he’s capable of defeating them, he vows never to take the blood of anyone weaker than him or unless he’s given no other choice.

Before entering high school, Gundam was able to have his upper and lower body tattooed with images of oni demons and spirits.

He found the Four Dark Devas when he passed by a street and saw the four hamsters foraging for food in a dumpster.

He also expresses admiration for Sonia’s impressive swordfighting skills and has offered her an opportunity to work for his Empire if she wishes.

Kazuichi Souda as the SHSL Gymnast

Kazuichi got into gymnastics by reading alot of shonen manga.

He was impressed by how athletic and fit the heroes were so he wanted to train and be like them.

When not helping in his dad’s shop, he would try practicing parkour near the streets of his town to help him develop better flexibility.

While practicing at middle school, his teachers noticed his potential and offered him a spot in a gymnastics program.

His dad didn’t like him getting into “girly shit” like gymnastics and frequently insulted him for it.

He would often perform for his friends which impressed them at first. But then things got troublesome when they requested him to do flips and jumps for their amusement.

It got worse when they tricked him into breaking into a second story classroom so he could steal the answers for an upcoming test.

Not wanting to be taken advantage of again, Kazuichi gave himself a radical makeover so no one would mess with him.

Along with his pink hair, his outfit consists of a black tanktop with neon green stripes and yellow shorts.

Hajime Hinata as the SHSL Mechanic

His parents rented his own shop for him to work at but they personally didn’t invest their own time to work with him.

To avoid having to think about his loneliness, Hajime placed all of his effort and thinking into his work.

He began receiving requests to repair average household appliances before moving on to bigger machines.

He’s received alot of praise for improving the appliances while also explaining to the owners on how they should best maintain their appliances so they can last longer

The machines that he worked best with were vehicles and motorcycles.

Despite being underage, Hajime managed to practice driving on his own and learned how to drive the basic motor vehicles.

While he’s grateful for his mechanic talent, he often worries if he’s really living his life to the fullest and if there’s something missing that he needs to achieve.

His favorite invention is a hoverboard that he uses to ride around his hometown to clear his mind after a hard day’s work.

His mechanic uniform is a mechanic uniform with a design similar to that of a racecar driver.

Mahiru Koizumi as a Reserve Course Student

While Mahiru was interested in the idea of going into Hope’s Peak, she wasn’t confident enough in her photography skills to go through with the entrance exam.

At the insistence of her best friend Sato, Mahiru ended up in the Reserve Course so they can fight for the chance to be special.

While she didn’t mind the work provided by her classes, Mahiru took notice of how her peers had a hard time with paying for their tuition along with even getting into the Talent program.

She also had to deal with Sato having to fight against her old rival Natsumi who was picking fights with her while trying to get recognized herself.

She became an unofficial peace keeper of her class as she would chastise her classmates for picking fights against each other or making rude remarks.

As time went on, Mahiru herself was unable to keep up with her classes since the money to pay for them was running low.

She would later receive an e-mail from the Steering Committee offering her a chance of entering the Talent program through an unconventional method that was funded by the school.

She had to cast that thought aside when Natsumi ended up dead and Sato is all but stated to have killed her out of frustration.

Soon vengeance would claim Sato’s life with Mahiru finding her in an empty classroom and on the brink of death with her head bleading.

Before dying, Sato begs her friend to make something special with her life and not to waste it in the Reserve Course. She knows that Mahiru will do great things in her life and that she believes in her.

Casting her doubts aside and refusing to let her friend’s death be in vain, she accepted the Steering Committee’s offer by participating in the Hope Cultivation Project.

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sourbat · 4 years ago

Note

25 or 50, hammertooth or magcharles? 🥺

Sunlight

I’ve been meaning to give butterknife a try...

(special thanks to @metalrat for letting me play with their headcanons here)

Charles was grateful he designed Mordhaus with hardly any stairs, save for the grandiose ones designated for the more lavish, festive rooms, and instead opted for more practical means of getting around the gargantuan fortress as quickly and effectively as possible. Naturally, the boys had little positives to discuss, and Nathan muttered a few lines about Vikings lacking elevators and smoothened flooring, but Charles saw little point in arguing over minor aesthetics. With so many servants, and the promise of Dethklok’s new army already exponentially growing, having alternative access to rooms, hidden pathways and chambers made locating, servicing, and, quite often saving the boys far more manageable and accessible.

“I, ah, took the liberty of cleaning a spare room in the dungeon.”

Charles wheeled Magnus up a gentle incline. Despite the model of the wheelchair, Charles required more than his usual effort to keep a steady distance between himself and the handles and the back of the seat. The scientist in the upper levels had supplied a remote control to the left armrest that Magnus refused to use on a basis of (his absolutely stubborn) principle, and with his right wrist handcuffed to the armrest, Charles was placed with the burden of carting the man through the dark, secret passages.

Magnus huffed underneath him. “Wonderful,” he said with a dry flick of his tongue. “I look forward to the sounds of screams filling my otherwise uneventful nights.”

Charles halted to let a hand rest on top of the man’s slumped shoulders. “The walls are thick, and will repress most sounds,” he exclaimed, not picking up on Magnus eye roll until he got close and witnessed Magnus’ less than savory reaction to his presence. “You, ah… you don’t care about that, do you?”

Magnus emitted another dry chuckle. “It doesn’t really matter where you place me, Charles,” he said, then wheezed out an airy cough. Charles leaned close, offering a handkerchief as Magnus covered his mouth with his one, freed hand. He brushed off the offering, shaking his miserable head at Charles. “A hospital room. A cell. A bedroom in a dungeon. I’m still your damn prisoner.”

Magnus had been like this since he woke up from the hospital three weeks prior. Klokateers were sent to locate him upon Toki’s request, but it was only Charles that knew of the man’s actual condition. He was found alive, though not without retaining some severe damage. Charles told the boys he was in a coma, and would likely never waken. A lie Charles knew he would, at some point, retract, but for now, found it easier to keep silent on Magnus’ progress. The impalement left by the assassin had damaged the central nervous system, and though it was possible to rewire the spine and provide Magnus the ability to walk, Charles declined approval for the experimental surgery. Partly out of fear. Partly as a means of enacting justice on a man who didn’t deserve to walk again. Partly out of something else.

This, and the recent heart surgery more than likely meant Charles didn’t need the handcuffs to secure Magnus into his seat, but when a klokateer handed him the restraints, Charles was hit with a blast of nostalgia, and could only think (and say), “why not?”

Magnus was declared healthy for release a few days ago, and since then, Charles busied himself with the arrangements. At some point, he would depart Dethklok for good, but until then, he’d work on this secret side project, fixing Magnus piece by piece, diagnosing the unknown source of his rage and misery, and would, eventually, have the man own up to his terrible acts. There was Toki to consider, after all. There was Abigail, too. Nathan. There was the whole damn stunt he pulled at the funeral.

But, for now…

“Prisoner, hmm?” Charles turned a wide, round corner, revealing yet another hallway leading to an elevator. He added nothing more, letting the stirs and weakened low chuckles inform him of what Magnus still thought of him.

“I sincerely doubt you’ll let me go once I’m all patched up,” Magnus remarked, then rested his heavy head on top of his free hand.

Charles deflected the statement with a question. “Where would you go?”

“Good point.” Magnus finished with a laugh, far softer this time. Charles wheeled him inside the elevator, not saying a word as Magnus’ stare rested on his legs. “You have me where you want me.”

Charles didn’t bother to come up with a witty remark, a joke or question. Any further attempt to detract or defer would have Magnus pushing back harder until he was using his one good appendage to wring the truth out of him.

So he remained quiet. Both men were silent the entire ride, with Magnus facing the consequences of his own actions, and Charles years of “whys and what ifs” he hadn’t bothered asking himself since learning of Magnus’ departure from the band. It had been so hard then, and now it was becoming close to unbearable; all the questions he wanted to ask Magnus.

Why did you do it?

Why did you toss your future away?

Why didn’t you answer my calls?

What if I had stopped it?

What if I had given you the attention you craved?

“What do you think?”

They stood on top of the head of Mordhaus. An icy, but refreshing morning hit them, stirring Magnus up to clench his ailing chest, and Charles to lower and offer the man his scarf. He was sure Magnus would refuse it, like had every small, kind offering affronted to him, but this time greedily took the cloth and brought it up to his bandaged front.

Charles took it as a sign of progress.

He asked again. “What do you think, Magnus?”

Magnus was silent. Not out of defiance, but because the sight of the sun compounded him so. He’d spent his entire recovery induced, forced to face the unending darkness and whatever machinations his mind would allow while under the influence of power opioids. His time spent awake wasn’t much better. Charles purposely kept Magnus in a room separate from the rest, secluded and lacking a window. Any light Magnus was exposed to was falsified, a product of man’s great undertakings. And, as of earlier this morning, Magnus would be spending an… undisclosed amount of time healing in his new room. Much like his hospital room, this one would be small, isolated and kept secret to most of the staff.

This room would also lack the extra lighting the hospital supplied, and somehow Charles knew that Magnus was aware of this.

Charles stared out at the blue fields below them, eyes gazing up the sea of swaying blades of grass against the morning breeze, and those in the distance that were gathering sunlight and shifting into a more natural dark green hue. In the distance, the top of massive trees shook against the harsher winds, gales that made the entire forests groan in misery at the start of a new day.

The sun, however, rose proudly against the icy winds and foggy atmosphere, tearing through the sheet and hitting Magnus with the first real warmth that he had no choice but to accept. Warmth Charles hoped he might be able to offer, one day.

If either would allow.

Charles lowered to Magnus’ level. “Well?”

Magnus blinked. Charles thought he heard something similar to that of a smothered choke. “It’s nice, I suppose.”

Finally, an end to the attitude.

“If you be good, I promise you can watch the sun rise more often,” Charles said, unaffected at how such a simple reward could sound so ominous coming from him. He saw Magnus shirk underneath him, and knew the message had come off as intended. Still, despite the cruelty behind his words, the desire to get close was still there, and his hands quickly left the wheelchair’s handles to rest on top of Magnus’s shoulder. “We can watch together… or on your own. Whatever you prefer.”

This time Magnus made no attempt to cover the frustration in his forced, pained laugh. “And who will have the honor of wheeling this waste of space up the topmost floor?”

The sarcasm, though unwelcomed, returned familiar feelings of a simpler past.

Charles pressed his face into the center of Magnus’ crown, breathing in the smell of freshly washed hair he had worked so thoroughly to clean. “…good point.”

#magnus hammersmith #charles foster offdensen #butterknife #warning: mentions of injury #ficlet ask thing #thank you #wxcked-fc #tw: physical disability

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captain-yeet · 5 years ago

Text

Oops, That Happened (Demetri Volturi x Reader One-Shot)

Request by anonymous; "One shot where the reader is Bellas sister and she goes with her to Italy and when Demetri and Felix show up she mumbles something about Demetri topping her not realizing everyone can hear her."

My friend. This request gave me so much LIFE THANK YOU, I hope I do it justice.

Warnings: Swearing, goofs and s e x u a l TENSION. A little NSFW, oops. HOO WEE ZOO MAMA, let’s go!

Your sister sure knew how to get herself into the most ridiculous, most insane of situations as of the past few months or so. Seething with rage and a healthy dose of fear, you chased after your little sister Bella as she ran through a crowded Italian street.

If you had your way you never would have let her leave the house with her Cullen friend - and you certainly weren't letting her go to Italy alone for the guy who dumped her and made her spiral into a deep depression. So you left a frantically scrawled note to your father, telling him of what was happening and how you were going after Bella to keep her safe.

The poor man. But you were determined to bring your sister back safe - no vampires were going to get in your way, or so, you hoped.

"Bella!" You cried out, losing your sister in the crowd. Everyone was wearing red cloaks for some reason - not that you cared as to why. You just wanted to find her, get her stupid ex and leave the country.

Finally, you spotted her... running through a fountain?

"Bella what the actual fuck..." you groaned, exasperated. You decided to go around, trying to keep an eye on her as you weaved through the crowd.

Making your way to the opposite side of the fountain, your heart skipped a few beats; you couldn't see her. I swear she was right here! Where did she go!? You thought frantically. I promised Dad I'd protect her. I can't find her. God help me, I can't find her.

A firm grip on your wrist pulled you away from the brink of hyperventilating. Alice lowered her glasses, golden eyes concerned yet focused. "It's okay, I know where she is."

Leading you toward a tower with old medieval style doors, without any difficulty Alice broke the lock of the door. "Come now guys, it's a festival," she said cheerily, letting go of you to lower her headscarf as she entered.

You followed behind her and saw your little sister, safe. Ignoring your surroundings you rushed over to her, taking her face in your hands and scanning her for any sign of injury or pain. "Bella, Bells are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Y/N," she replied quickly, gripping onto something white and pale like her life depended on it.

Your eyes traveled up to the face of the boy who'd caused your sister so much grief and who she was currently clinging to. "You," you snarled, glaring at him.

Edward. Oh, how you grew to despise the copper-haired boy who stole your little sister’s heart. The nights where you’d hear Bella screaming in her sleep, see her sitting on a chair staring blankly out the window, her reckless behaviour... he’d sent her into such a deep depression that you had the following thought on the plane over to Italy; If these Volturi don’t kill him, I sure as hell will find a way.

"Y/N don't -" Bella began but you ignored her, stepping up so you were inches away from Edward's face.

"Do you have any idea how much pain you've caused her? You broke her you selfish son of a bitch!"

Instinctively, you pulled your fist back without thinking to strike him, but a coldness took your wrist and pulled you back. Ready to argue, you turned to who you thought was Alice only to be shocked when it wasn't her, but a rather handsome man with eyes the colour of blood.

And holy shit, he was handsome. They weren't kidding about the whole vampires are so hot they practically blow you away, you thought to yourself feebly, dumbstruck. Blond hair carefully styled yet so soft looking, and a strong jawline and cheekbones that defined his perfectly sculpted face.

"There's no need for violence, my dear," his smooth voice made you shiver involuntarily. You couldn't place his accent but it sounded somewhat British.

"She's a feisty one," said a second voice, "I like her."

He let go of your wrist, and that's when you finally took in what was happening around you. The rage that clouded your senses as soon as you saw Edward made you unaware that not one but two cloaked vampires, both of whom shared the same red eyes, were in your presence and the soft echoing footfalls down the hallway alerted you to a third vampire.

The third, Jane, began leading your group down a hallway and into an elevator. It was crowded and you tried to remain calm, but a certain blond man stood directly behind you and you could feel his eyes burning into the back of your head.

At one point, your little sister whispered to you. "I'm so sorry I brought you into this Y/N."

"I wish you didn't jump the gun and run after Sparkles here like you did." You gestured to Edward who simply ignored you. A deep chuckle came from the taller Volturi guard, and the blond walked ahead of you to join Jane, the two murmuring to each other.

"... I don't have a response to that," she barely whispered in reply, eyes downcast. Bella's lower lip trembled and you tried to hold back a sigh.

Great, now I've made her cry. Well done, Y/N. "Hey, we’ll be okay, I promise.” You don’t know that. “Well it could be worse I guess," you murmured, speaking to both your sister and honestly yourself. You eyed the blond man who was trailing just ahead of you, behind Jane. "Being led to my probable death by an attractive vampire couldn't be one of the worse ways to go."

Bella looked at you like you'd grown a second head.

You shrugged, leaning into your sister's ear. "Just saying, Blondie up front could bite and or top me any day and I'm sure I'd die happy."

A couple things happened after you confided that thought to Bella. One, she hissed your name in warning but you barely registered that. The second? Said blond man in question quickly looked back at you, made eye contact and winked.

Heat rushed to your face, flooding your cheeks as you stared incredulously. “He could hear that...?” The sound barely escaped your lips. You hadn’t thought much about how heightened a vampire’s senses could be - in fact, you tried not to think about vampires too much in general. Finding out about the supernatural gave you a migraine.

Blondie merely smirked in response, eyes trailing up and down as if to take in your appearance before turning away, leaving you thoroughly flustered.

You were right about the near-death thing. After nearly being drained of life by a gaggle of thirsty vampires, somehow you and Bella made it out alive - with the promise that you were both to be turned into vampires. Of course, Bella agreed, but you? Immortality was terrifying.

“Shh, Bella, it’s okay.”

“I think she’s going into shock. Maybe you should slap her?”

“Alice!”

Sighing, you looked over to Bella, who was currently cuddled up on Edward’s lap, gripping onto him for dear life with a vacant frozen look of horror in her eyes. The Volturi had led in a group of unsuspecting tourists for “lunch” and it affected her. That and the Volturi themselves did just threaten her with imminent death.

You were shaken too but you tried to be brave, for her sake and your own sanity’s sake.

“Pardon me for interrupting,” a familiar smooth voice interrupted your thoughts. Snapping your head up, you locked eyes with none other than Blondie himself. He paid no mind to the others, addressing just you. “May I have a moment of your time?”

“Am I in more trouble?” you deadpanned defensively.

“No. This is more of a... personal matter.” Offering his hand, he gave you a confident, winning smile. “May we speak in private?”

“Demetri...” Edward growled in warning. Locking eyes with you for a brief moment he shook his head in warning.

If you were in your right state of mind you’d probably have heeded his advice. However, today you were tired in many ways possible and Edward was right at the root of it all.

So, you took Demetri’s hand and let him lead you away from your group.

Ending up in what appeared to be a study of some kind a few halls down, you found yourself distracted by the decor; it was old, you didn’t know your history well enough to determine what era or century all the furniture and art were from. But it fit in with the rest of this Italian castle’s aesthetic and architecture.

“So, what was that thing you said earlier that involved me?” The question pulled you back to the present and you stared at Blondie - no, Demetri you remembered - incredulously.

You crossed your arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you fibbed, your attempt at a staunch expression laughable.

Closing the distance between the two of you, you felt Demetri’s hands press themselves against your waist, pushing onto you and making you walk backward until you felt something hit your back. A stray book falling to your feet confirmed that it was a bookshelf. He was so close to you that you could see every little detail of his gorgeous face.

“Don’t play coy with me, love,” his voice was low and sent a jolt of something electric down your spine. “If I remember correctly, you said you wanted me to ‘bite and or top you’, is that correct?”

A shaky breath. “That - that may have been what I said, yeah,” you stammered.

Demetri chuckled quietly, leaning down into the nape of your neck, making you let out a small squeak as he did so. Lips brushing against the skin there, you felt your soul ascend from your body as his tongue swirled almost experimentally in a slow circle. You leaned into him, biting your lip trying to keep a moan back.

If this is how I’m going to die, then dying feels so damn good.

Demetri’s lips moved from your neck to your ear, moving a hand from your waist to tuck your hair behind your ear. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want more of that,” came your husky response. Hands finding some strength, you pushed very gently against his chest till he pulled away. The two of you stared at each other for a moment, time coming to a halt. Raising a hand carefully, watching his expression for any sign of disgust or discomfort, you placed your hand against his cheek.

To your surprise, he didn’t pull away; he leaned into the touch, closing his eyes. “You... are confusing to me.” Opening his eyes again, the red had darkened to a dull almost black shade of red. “I shouldn’t be doing this, but I’ve gone this far already so I might as well not withhold anything.”

He moved the hand that was in your hair to your cheek, mirroring your actions. Instinct taking over your sense of rationality, you kissed him. Gripping your waist tighter, he responded eagerly to your affections, kissing back with an intensity that began to cultivate a certain ache within you.

A low growl sent vibrations down your throat and against your lips, you gasped when Demetri’s hands slid down to the back of your thighs, lifting you up. Locking your legs around his waist, you swore he purred in response to your body’s reaction, moving his lips from yours back to your neck once more. The moans couldn’t be held back anymore and you knew that this only egged him on further.

“I think I’d like to see more of you,” he commented in between kissing your neck.

“Feeling’s mutual,” you replied, tangling your hands in his hair.

The kissing ceased, and to your dismay, Demetri set you down. Seeing your appalled expression, he laughed; the sound brought you out of your lust-fueled mind state, as it was unlike any laughter he’d done previously. This laughter was him. No secret intentions or undertones to it. “As much as I’d really enjoy continuing this, I believe your friends are about ready to head off soon.”

Running a hand through your hair, you breathed deeply to try and calm your wired emotions. “So uh, I guess this is it then, huh?”

Demetri raised an eyebrow. “Whatever do you mean?” Shaking his head, he caressed your face once more. “If you think I’m the ‘fuck you and leave you’ type dear Y/N, you’d be sorely mistaken.” With a wink, he added, “That would be my friend Felix.”

His crass language took you aback. You didn’t expect him to speak so... normally? You assumed with vampires they’d be all formal and old-school with their way of speaking - and in a way yes, you were right. But right now, Demetri wasn’t speaking as formally as his coven mates did.

“So, you actually mean it when you say you want to see more of me?” you questioned him. “As much as I enjoyed... that, I’m not a one-night stand girl.”

“I’m glad to hear it because I don’t intend for this to be a once-only event,” he replied smoothly. You smiled at him as your heart skipped a beat happily. A small smile made it’s way to his face, and he held out his hand once again for you to take. “Come on, I’ll lead you back to the others.”

When you arrived back to the waiting room, Edward and Alice eyed you suspiciously. Oh they know, you sighed internally. Giving Edward a look, you gave him a wee mental note. “I don’t need to explain myself to you. Let’s keep it that way.”

Jaw clenched, he dropped the eye contact to glare at Demetri. “Can we go now?”

Demetri nodded curtly. “Yes, the sun is down now so it’s dark enough for you to take your leave. Gianna will escort you out.” As your group began to follow the human receptionist who trotted over from her desk to lead you away, Demetri called out to you. “I’ll be in touch, Y/N.”

Out of sight from the watchful eyes of the Cullens and Bella’s surprised stare now boring a hole into the back of your head, you winked at him. “You better be,” you replied with a grin, still running off the adrenaline of your earlier make-out session.

The last thing you saw of Demetri was a wide grin of his own before your group turned away.

As the elevator doors closed, your sister rounded onto you. “Y/N, what was that about?” Bella asked.

You turned to look at your little sister; she was exhausted. Running a hand through her hair affectionately, you gave her a calm smile. “Not quite sure yet, but nothing for you to worry about, kiddo. Let’s go home.”

#this request literally made me SQUEAL #PURE JOY #hope i did this right #demetri volturi #demetri volturi x reader #volturi #the volturi #twilight saga #twilight saga imagines #bella swan #my fics

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nyxshadowhawk · 4 years ago

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Best of Nox Arcana Playlist

Nox Arcana is by far my favorite music artist, and since I’m desperate for Halloween season to begin and can’t wait any more, here’s my Best Of playlist! I think every album is represented here except for the collab albums, the Doctor Arcana soundtrack, and Blackthorn Asylum (since that’s the only main album I don’t have a single song from). This list is about three hours worth of music, so strap in!

1. We Are Legion, Legion of Shadows: Every Nox Arcana album begins with a narration track that introduces the album’s theme and story. Of all of them, I decided to go with this one for the Best Of playlist, because I think that it encapsulates Nox Arcana and those who love it.

2. Night of the Wolf, Transylvania: Nox Arcana’s most famous track, by far. Also one of their most distinctive! The lyrics translate as, “The moon is the mistress, werewolves of evil / powers and destroying, incarnated wolf. / Wheel [or chariot], life, nightmare, vein / Sea [or likely “nightmare” again], devil, death, life.” (volkodlak, which means werewolf, is Slavic. “Mara,” meaning nightmare, is Germanic. “Dracul” speaks for itself. The rest is Latin)

3. Labyrinth of Dreams, Grimm Tales: My personal favorite Nox Arcana track, which I first discovered through this video. It is so ethereal and haunting, and absolutely screams “Halloween” to me.

4. Into the Night, Legion of Shadows: Another personal favorite of mine, and a really spooky piece. I love it for its fast pace, and I think it sounds both unsettling and exciting.

5. Shadow Dance, Season of the Witch: This is the best Season of the Witch track, in my opinion. I actually like a lot of Season of the Witch tracks, but I left most of them off this list. Season of the Witch sounds kind of like a Spiritual Successor to Grimm Tales, with that same distinctly autumnal and Halloweeny atmosphere. This piece in particular epitomizes that.

6. The Quest Begins, Blood of the Dragon: Nox Arcana has a tendency to start sounding the same after a while, but about once per album there’s a piece like this one, that sounds completely unlike anything else they’ve written. This piece is unique for how unusually optimistic it sounds. If you knew nothing about this piece, you could easily guess that it was about noble knights setting off on a quest, couldn’t you? I love the drums, and the dramatic vocals work really well.

7. Legacy of Sorrow, Shadow of the Raven: The title of this piece sounds like it could be Part 3 of Soma Cruz’s story, but I think it’s kind of an underrated gem. I like its melancholy, lilting melody, and I also like the organ that comes in midway through. This piece is just kind of everything you’d expect in a Nox Arcana track.

8. Echoes of Elise, Ebonshire: Nox Arcana’s haunting rendition of “Fur Elise,” which is very ethereal and eerie. It also has the same “aesthetic” of falling snow that permeates this album. It’s really beautiful.

9. The Hidden Realm, Legion of Shadows: One of two pre-existing tracks to be used on the Doctor Arcana soundtrack. It’s spooky, but also kind of calming and peaceful. It’s also definitely got a fantastical flavor to it.

10. The Raven, Shadow of the Raven: The title track, named for Edgar Allen Poe’s classic poem. This was the first Nox Arcana track I downloaded once I rediscovered it, almost by accident. I love this piece. Its melody is simple and repeats over and over again, but it works, almost resembling the structure of a song. I love the violin solo in the middle, which sort of acts as the “bridge.” My one complaint is that it’s much too short to actually recite “The Raven.”

11. Ebonshire, Winter’s Knight: Back before Ebonshire was an album unto itself, there was this track from Winter’s Knight. This piece definitely calls to mind the image of a spooky forest with tall, straight black trees and slight snowfall. It’s a very different vibe from the autumnal forest of Grimm Tales. It’s also peaceful and mystical, like “The Hidden Realm.”

12. Hearthside Lullaby, Ebonshire: What a gorgeous piece. This is another outlier among Nox Arcana’s music in that, while it’s still a haunting piece, it isn’t grim or sinister. It’s soft, almost cozy, like snuggling into a blanket by a fire when there’s a snowstorm outside, and drifting off to sleep. It’s another one that sounds like it should have lyrics. This is my favorite Ebonshire track.

13. Masque of the Red Death, Shadow of the Raven: “There were much glare and glitter and piquancy and phantasm [...] There were delirious fancies such as the madman fashions. There were much of the beautiful, much of the wanton, much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust.” The lilting waltz, the spooky organ, the sinister chiming of the clock. The multitude of dreams! This is the ultimate dark masquerade music, if you ask me. It totally does Poe’s story justice. You can totally imagine the masked dancers twirling, the dimly lit colored chambers, the infiltration of the deadly disease... you know what, never mind, that hit a bit too close to home.

14. Haunted, The Dark Tower: I think The Dark Tower is my favorite album, because there are more tracks from that album on this list than any other one (including Legion of Shadows). This is among the Nox Arcana pieces that I would call genuinely unsettling, as opposed to just spooky or dark. This piece is creepy and almost threatening, like something is out to get you.

15. Haunted Carousel, Carnival of Lost Souls: One of the highlights of this album for me! Carnival is definitely the most unsettling album. Listening to “Calliope” alone in the dark put such disturbing images in my head that I actually stopped listening, which is saying something. That’s not on this list because I don’t like to listen to it, but this one is, because I like this one a lot better. It’s plenty creepy, and it sounds like a nightmarish carousel. Even if you didn’t know the album theme, you’d know after listening to this.

16. The Dark Tower, The Dark Tower: ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE. The title track of The Dark Tower, and an awesome track in every sense. This just perfectly encapsulates the sinister majesty that is the Dark Tower and all the lore that goes with it.

17. Magic and Moonlight, Winter’s Eve: I think most fans agree that this track is one of the best on this album. What really needs to be said? It’s all in the title. I have to say that some of the most breathtaking moons I’ve seen have been at the beginning of February, with fresh snowfall. There is nothing like the shadows of trees on snow in the moonlight. You just know that the gods are meeting up to dance in it when you’re not watching.

18. Crimson Thirst, The Dark Tower: Why did I put this one on here? It’s pretty unremarkable, since there are a lot of other tracks like it, but this one sticks with me. This one gets stuck in my head and haunts me through the rest of the day. Honestly, all the Dark Tower tracks are excellent.

19. Virtuoso, The Haunted Symphony: The Haunted Symphony is Nox Arcana’s most recent album, and I’ve been slowly warming up to it. Its soundscape is similar to The Dark Tower and Legion, with a truly gothic flavor. This piece is just so impassioned, I can completely believe that it expresses the mad inspiration of a tortured artist (as it’s meant to in-universe).

20. Necromancer, Theater of Illusion: Theater of Illusion is a great album, and I’m really glad it’s getting more of a presence (and maybe even new lore?) in the Doctor Arcana games. This is another really fast-paced piece. I honestly think the beginning with the fast chimes is the best part.

21. Born of the Night, The Dark Tower: I mean, come on, it’s “Born of the Night”! It kind of speaks for itself, doesn’t it? Creatures of the Night rising to take over the world, shadowy choirs, the hordes of nocturnal beasts silhouetted against the moon, a Dark Lord or Dark Lady commanding them all from his/her castle, young vampires swooning in the rapture of fresh blood... There’s something so ecstatic about this piece.

22. After Hours, Carnival of Lost Souls: I wasn’t really sure if I should put this one here, but honestly, its clock-like, rhythmic chiming so jarring that it doesn’t matter where I put it. This is another really unsettling piece, both because of the chiming and also because of the creepy whispers, and I’m not exactly sure what it makes me think of. Wandering a dark labyrinth, probably. In some ways, it reminds me of The Night Circus, although the Night Circus isn’t sinister. This piece definitely stands out.

23. Dark Desire, The Dark Tower: What is this piece about? Lost love? Insatiable lust? A forbidden romance? Bloodthirst? All of the above? Whatever it is you desire, it’s clear that you’re fighting it, and you’re losing. It’s going to overtake you soon, and when it does, you’d better pray to whatever god you believe in that it doesn’t end badly for you.

24. Lords of the Night, The Haunted Symphony: This one’s along the same lines as “Born of the Night,” but stately rather than frenzied. This one is more like vampire lords and ladies gathering on a hilltop on black horses, preparing to tear off across the countryside in pursuit of prey.

25. Noctem Aeternus, The Dark Tower: This is the only concluding track from an album that I’ve put on this list, and if you’re familiar with Nox Arcana, you know what that means. I was genuinely spooked the first time I listened to this all the way through. I remember I was lying in bed reading Tales From the Dark Tower, and it went quiet, and... well, I won’t spoil it.

26. Nocturne, Transylvania: This is one of my favorite Nox Arcana tracks. It just strikes me as perfect. It’s dark and sinister, it’s atmospheric, it’s memorable, and it comes right out of the darkest depths of Überwald.

27. Pandora’s Music Box, Carnival of Lost Souls: Definitely one of the best Carnival tracks, and one of the best of Nox Arcana’s selection of creepy music box pieces. It has such a distinctive melody. Slowly, other instruments and vocals arise to compliment the music box, keeping things interesting even as it repeats itself.

28. Velvet Darkness, The Haunted Symphony: The first thing that comes to mind when I hear this piece is an empty candelabrum covered in cobwebs, sitting in front of a mirror in a corridor that is completely dark except for a bit of pale, diluted moonlight coming through clouds. I take the candelabrum almost instinctively even though it has no candles in it, and walk down the corridor...

29. Castle Dracula, Transylvania: What an underrated piece! I actually like this one better than “Night of the Wolf.” It screams “vampire.” It perfectly captures the dark majesty of Dracula’s Castle, it’s towers, its dusty halls, its freezing crypts, its gothic windows, its flickering sconces and floor candelabra that are just begging to be hit with a whip... And the Dark Lord on his throne, with a wine glass...

30. Ritual of Fire, Season of the Witch: This piece is oddly catchy. It has a great rhythm to it, and I like the percussion. It would be so much fun to dance naked around a Samhain bonfire somewhere deep in a secluded wood, with a bunch of other witches and maybe an incubus or two, or five... We’re definitely summoning or worshipping something, but ultimately, it’s just a party. It’s sinister, but a fun kind of sinister.

31. Rogue’s Hollow, Blood of the Dragon: I was pleasantly surprised when I found this piece. I love medieval-style music. This sounds like the kind of thing your Bard would play when you and your party are resting around a fire in the woods, in the middle of an epic quest. It’s peaceful. It’s a breather, maybe even a calm before the storm. It would be really easy to do a simple circle dance to.

32. The Forgotten Path, Grimm Tales: This piece sounds very... mystical? Mystical and seductive. I don’t know. It sounds a little like you enter a dark, smoky, perfumed tent and are seduced by scantily-clad women who probably want your blood, or your soul... It also sounds a bit like being escorted to an initiation ceremony by veiled women down a dark forest path, with little golden lights twinkling around you... It would make a great belly-dance piece. It’s a bit of a departure from the general fairy tale theme of the rest of the album.

33. Unhallowed Halls, Gothic: I think this is my favorite piece from Gothic. I don’t know why, it just is. It’s got a nice mix of piano, organ, strings, and harpsichord. And spooky vocals, because of course. Overall it’s a pretty standard Nox Arcana piece, but like “Crimson Thirst,” it stuck with me.

34. Mysterium, Theater of Illusion: This is the piece from Theater, and I will never understand why it wasn’t used anywhere on the Doctor Arcana soundtrack. I guess because it’s used for the album puzzle? But there isn’t a single track from Theater on Arcana’s soundtrack, even though the game ties into the lore of Theater. Anyway, this track should have been there. It should have been there because it just sounds occult, distinctly mystical, eerie, vaguely threatening but more weighty (like an initiation) than unsettling. This is an auspicious ritual, and you’re here to witness its secrets.

35. The Nameless City, Necronomicon: I haven’t listened to too much of this album, but this track really stood out to me and stayed in my head. It’s based on Lovecraft’s story of the same name, in which an explorer finds an ancient, ruined city and descends into its catacombs to discover it belonged to a lost civilization of pre-human reptile people. Because Lovecraft. This piece really sounds like film soundtrack, the track that plays when you’re on the cusp of discovering the information mankind was not meant to know. The paranoia that permeates all of Lovecraft’s work is definitely there, but it’s kind of exciting, too. You just have to know! It builds and builds until it ends with a gong.

36. Twilight, Grimm Tales: This is what I meant by “autumnal.” You can hear it, can’t you? It’s sunset in the woods, and the orange glow of the setting sun is magnificent through the mostly bare trees. The leaves crunch underfoot, with their distinctive crisp smell. The night creatures are coming out, some benign, others not so much.

37. Once Upon a Nightmare, Grimm Tales: This is one of my favorite tracks from Grimm Tales. I don’t know why I love it so much. It slowly gets more dramatic, alternating between the glockenspiel and the strings, with male backing vocals for once. It’s just the right mixture of adventurous and spooky. I love listening to it in the forest at dusk.

38. Memento Mori, Transylvania: One of the best chime/music box pieces, in my opinion. I don’t think it’s as good as “Pandora’s Music Box,” but it really grew on me after I got Transylvania.

39. Saturnalia, Winter’s Majesty: This is such a great piece to dance to. I love how it starts as a slow, medieval-ish circle dance and then picks up! There’s even clapping sounds on the rhythm. Although it’s still spooky, it puts you in the mood of a fun winter festival.

40. Gifts of the Magi, Winter’s Eve: I don’t actually know why I picked this one. I like a lot of tracks on Winter’s Eve, and “lighter” Nox Arcana pieces in general. My favorite is “Greensleeves,” but that one felt too “Christmasy” for this list. This one is better, being a bit spookier and kind of mystical whilst still being on the lighter end. It sounds like it casts the Three Kings more as wizards than kings or priests.

41. Veil of Darkness, Darklore Manor: One of only two tracks I have from Nox Arcana’s debut album. It’s a pretty standard spooky Nox Arcana piece, but a good one nonetheless.

42. Lullaby, Winter’s Knight: Another one of my favorite chime/music box pieces. Unlike “Hearthside Lullaby,” it sounds less like an actual lullaby, and more like a piece to accompany an animatronic ballerina.

43. Nightshade (Single): One of the newest wintery pieces from Nox Arcana. I like this one almost as much as “Hearthside Lullaby.” It’s also on the lighter side of things, but I like that it’s more otherworldly than spooky. It’s like exploring a frosty garden during a light snowfall.

44. Undying Love, The Dark Tower: Wow, what an unnerving piece to be titled “Undying Love.” It sounds downright threatening, and maybe a little tragic. That handsome vampire you’re dancing with is definitely going to sink his fangs into your neck. Or maybe this vampire’s sunk into despair because the humans killed his wife again.

45. Brides to Darkness, Transylvania: Speaking of vampires and their loves, there’s this haunting tribute to Dracula’s brides. They are beautiful, ethereal, and dangerous. I love that this piece is almost entirely vocals in the first half, and then the creepy harpsichord comes in.

46. Legion of Shadows, Legion of Shadows: The title track. Plenty spooky with that organ. Similar to “Born of the Night” in that the night creatures are rising up to take over the world or get vengeance, but this time you’re the night creature and it’s something to be proud of. Honestly, I wish this album had more context. Who’s Lorelei, and what happened to her?

47. The High Seas, Phantoms of the High Seas: This was one of the standout tracks from this album for me. Like “The Quest Begins,” it sounds distinctly adventurous, but more sinister than optimistic. We’re setting out over sea instead of land this time, and the sea is brutally unforgiving.

48. Dreamscape, Legion of Shadows: Another really spooky piece that’s kind of unlike anything else Nox Arcana has produced. It definitely has the quality of exploring an eerie, surreal landscape, like an alien planet. This isn’t the Poe album, but it sort of reminds me of Poe’s poem “Dream-Land,” which I think is super underrated.

49. Black Sails, Phantoms of the High Seas: Another piece from this album that really stood out to me. I really like the instrumentation. I like the harp, and the stringed instrument in the middle that sounds like the guitar used in the “winter” pieces... is that what it is, a guitar? Whatever it is, it has such a unique sound.

50. Grimstone Manor, Gothic: This piece lives up to the album’s name. That church organ really hits you. This is another classic example of Nox Arcana, with the organ and piano and vocals and everything. It’s one of the best pieces from Gothic.

51. Shadowplay, Theater of Illusion: This is definitely my favorite piece from Theater, and one of my favorite Nox Arcana pieces overall. I love how energetic and fast-paced it is, and I can easily imagine an umbrakinetic dancing on a stage, manipulating the shadows on the wall as they do. They conjure writing tendrils, shadowy dragons, swarms of bats and crows that they send out into the audience with a flourish... I think this piece is just so much fun!

52. Gypsy Caravan, Transylvania: There are a lot of these types of pieces across Nox Arcana’s albums. Like “The Forgotten Path,” it sounds seductive and smoky. This would also make for a great belly-dance piece, and it’s fun to listen to while reading Vargo’s Gothic Tarot or the Madame Endora deck.

53. Highland Storm, Blood of the Dragon: What’s this? Nox Arcana does a Celtic piece? With bagpipes? There is absolutely nothing else like this in Nox Arcana’s repertoire. It sounds so unlike their usual work, I probably wouldn’t guess it was Nox Arcana if I didn’t know better. I love it. It makes for a great medieval-battle-style piece, and was a lot of fun to listen to in Scotland.

54. Temple of the Black Pharaoh, Necronomicon: This is a really spooky Egyptian-style piece, that instantly transports you to dusty sealed tombs that almost certainly have curses. The whispered chanting consists of the names of Egyptian gods, and Nyarlathotep. (Nyarlathotep, Atum, Osiris, Set, Amon-Ra. Nyarlathotep, Khonsu, Anubis, Set, Amon-Ra.)

55. Sanctuary of Shadows, Darklore Manor: Another really creepy organ piece, and the other one I have from Darklore Manor. I’m not sure whether it makes me think of the atrium of a haunted Victorian mansion, or a secret temple where shadowy people conduct rituals, or vampires and their attendant beasts, or what.

56. Autumn Dusk, Season of the Witch: I don’t know why I chose this one over “Bell, Book, and Candle” or “Mystic Circle” or any of the other ones I like from this album. I guess the clue is in the name. Like “Twilight” and “Shadow Dance,” it just sounds like autumn. Like the setting in Over the Garden Wall, but even spookier.

57. Pax Terra, Winter’s Eve: Another piece that sounds unlike anything else Nox Arcana has produced. It’s almost entirely choral, except for the sound of church bells, and it’s pretty. It has a kind of bittersweet optimism to it, and it’s moving. I’ve actually cried listening to it. Its lyrics are Latin, and translate as: “Everlasting God, life on the forest floor, eternal sacred earth -- tree glory, life [of] the nourishing mother, eternal sacred earth -- incarnate, hail blessings, glory to Nox Arcana [night secrets] -- To the threshold of time, follow the song, glory to Nox Arcana!” The grammar isn’t perfect, but it’s still beautiful, profound, and usually uplifting.

58. Dark Embrace, The Haunted Symphony: I remember when this album was released last year, and I thought to myself, “Have they seriously not written a piece called ‘Dark Embrace’ yet?” And man, what a piece for that title! This is definitely my favorite track from this album. Technically, it’s the same melody as “Virtuoso,” but with strings instead of piano. While “Virtuoso” sounds like a standard (although memorable) Nox Arcana piece, this one is unique and striking.

59. Toccata, Legion of Shadows: What better to close off with than “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor”? I actually have no idea how this piece came to be associated with vampires; its first use in film was for a Jekyll and Hyde adaptation, meanwhile the famous Bela Lugosi Dracula film begins with... the Swan Lake theme, of all things??? So, I don’t know how this became the “vampire music,” but I’m glad it did. Nox Arcana’s cover begins with the classic organ, but most of it is piano with some strings, eventually bringing in harpsichord before returning to the organ. There are spooky vocals and some tolling bells for effect.

If you made it to the end of this list, I commend you, and I’m interested to hear what everyone else’s “best of Nox Arcana” playlists include. Nox Arcana is the best!

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itsybitsylemonsqueezy · 4 years ago

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So I finished watching Yakuza 7: Like A Dragon. Spoilers under the cut.

(Mainly positive take, some criticisms. C+/B I’d give it.)

So, first of all, I didn’t play it, I just watched people on youtube so my perspective of gameplay should be taken with a grain of salt. But I really liked the turn taking fighting style! Like a real JRPG, I thought it was fun, it seemed fun anyway, and the strategies to JRPG make more intuitive sense to me than fighting games, which I don’t know at all. I did end up missing the hand-to-hand combat like... aesthetically and it kinda breaks universe rules a little. But, like, Ichiban seeing combat as a sort of heightened fantasy reality actually helps with that and the plot still treats us like average combatants. Like, there’s still no murder, despite a lot more weapon use, including guns. So... it’s a little sad and weird universe-wise, but seems fun to play.

Ichiban is a great protag! Definitely not Kiryu! He has two dads, like 8 spouses, a lot of hair... He’s only 7 years younger than Kiryu and that’s... that’s a choice ^^; But he’s got a lot of good things going for him and I like his build. Interesting rage-grief he has going and a thing about revenge that Kiryu never had. And I like that actually, I like that Ichiban gets hit with different things than Kiryu did, but he still has flaws. Kiryu was never blind with rage the way Ichi got, but then, Kiryu also didn’t save his brother. Like, they have VERY different shit going on, which is GOOD. So I’m kinda annoyed that in the end we took Ichi’s dad and brother, just like Kiryu’s? Like... damn :/ Lame. Lazy.

I love Ichi’s team! I love Adachi, Nanba, Saeko, Joon-gi, Zhao. Top notch peeps! I like that they all just like him and are here for a fun adventure with him. They’re all here for something different, which is also really cool. Zhao is sort of redefining who he is in... retirement I guess? Trying out being a companion rather than a leader. Saeko is longing for family, connection, a place to belong. Adachi was here to accomplish a goal, to restore his honor and provide justice. And Ichi’s been a big help to that. Joon-gi is... a whore. I’m sorry! He’s just this beautiful, obedient man who’s just here on lend and he does whatever the fuck you say. Do not put him in charge of decisions, he’s terrible at them, but he knows a lot and has a vast network. But he appears just to be here to serve everyone’s needs, so to speak, and to moon after Ichiban like everyone else. And Nanba. Nanba hates adventures. He hates germs. He hates people and friends and danger and doing things. But he’s here. Because Ichi makes him hate things a little less. Nanba is a cynical, cowardly bastard, and Ichi’s a fucking sunshiney idiot always trying to fix shit that isn’t his problem. And he makes Nanba get up and fight. He makes Nanba believe in tomorrow. Nanba doesn’t trust people, Nanba doesn’t hope. He’s a pessimist and lives only to complain. But he is first in line to get shot for Ichiban every fucking time. He’s always the first to Ichiban’s side when he’s in trouble. Leaving and betraying Ichiban broke his fucking heart and my ship is probably showing A LOT here but I don’t care. I fucking love Nanba, I love his arc, I did NOT see it coming. And they are definitely my ship out of this. The fact that Nanba without fail is always the first to put himself in danger for Ichiban guts me. With how much he doesn’t believe in good things ever happening, it destroys me that he’ll dare it all for Ichiban. Fucking wild.

I thought it was cool to bring up a political villain, but... we didn’t really carry through on Bleach Japan’s thematic importance. We revealed them to be cruel and hypocritical, but we didn’t end up actually saving the slums or proving why the slums needed to be saved and that’s... kinda lame :/

I was really hoping that we might make a stand on why grey spaces were needed, on why organizations like the yakuza are needed but instead we... disbanded? And I don’t even know why?

Like, it was to fuck over Ryo Aoki. But... he was a TEMPORARY problem. All you had to do was move the organizations underground until he was unseated, which the Tojo already was???

But instead... we brought down Tojo and Omi and... WHY?! Like, SERIOUSLY, can ANYONE tell me WHY! Because I have a LOT OF FEELINGS about why that’s a BAD CALL.

What are all those guys going to do now? “Oh, we’ll just make a security company” YOU’LL WHAT?! THOUSANDS of guys used to shake downs will now be hired to patrol rich estates and cover banks and business buildings?! Fighting WHO, themselves?! A LOT of that job is just watching some fucking cameras, what... what the fuck are you talking about Watase?!

But I guess that’s still better than Daigo’s “I have no fucking idea” plan

NO WONDER Majima’s depressed at that funeral you JUST TOLD HIM his new job is BABYSITTING SOME RICH FUCK’S BUILDING. Fuck you guys!

And HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING ABOUT POWER VACUUMS?! CRIME doesn’t disappear just because there’s no one there to manage it! That just means it gets worse! And rasher, crueler people grab power in the interim. Smaller but rougher groups will appear. More and worse crimes will happen now. You just disenfranchised thousands, not all of them are going to come with you to play security detail and not all of them WANT to. So why EXACTLY did we disband the yakuza? What problems did that solve???

What about all that shit about the yakuza being a home for people who didn’t fit in? What about people who fell through the cracks in the system, who don’t have anywhere else to go?

If the yakuza, as an idea, was so fucking bad, WHAT WERE THE LAST SIX GAMES ABOUT?!

You can’t have an established series that accepts the idea that crime and violence are sometimes necessary or are even good things and have a compelling protag who does that, ONLY to turn around at the last second and pretend like it was always wrong!

If you were gonna act like the idea of organized crime is a Bad Thing, THEN THAT NEEDED TO BE A CONFLICT FROM THE BEGINNING

But you didn’t even do that!

We DIDN’T disband the yakuza because organized crime is inherently morally corrupt, no we disbanded because some prick thought he could use us! A PRICK WHO IS NOW DEAD! THE FUCK?!

And DON’T GET ME STARTED on how this reframes Kiryu’s narrative. KIRYU WASN’T RIGHT FOR LEAVING YOU FUCKING BASTARDS.

THE WHOLE POINT OF KIRYU’S ARC WAS THAT HE WAS FUCKING WRONG TO ABANDON HIS RELATIONSHIPS I- *screams into pillow*

AND why does Kiryu need to be dead now?! There is no more yakuza! Who does he need to hide from?!

OH no wait, my mistake! We didn’t disband ALL the yakuza, just Omi and Tojo! You know, the two biggest cities in Japan. I’m sure THAT won’t have Fucking Consequences. But Kiryu still has to be dead for uh... Reasons.

This was just such a fucking dumb universe-building move. It’s not been thought through, it betrays the whole point of the franchise up until now, and I’m honestly just mad that they didn’t even feel the need to address it? Like, the yakuza’s just gone now, but it’s whatever. Who would even care about that. Like, that’s not going to be a plot point next game. It won’t matter, at all, I promise you. All of the in-universe implications this has, none of it matters. And I’m not even mad I’m just... tired. And annoyed a little. that you can’t be bothered to tie up your own rules. You won’t give your own writing decisions weight and that’s just... kinda sad. It’s just lazy and sad that they don’t care enough to connect the pieces. But I’ve had my heart broken enough by yakuza writing decisions. Of course they would do this, of course they haven’t thought enough about their own series to really consider what ending the yakuza would mean. Why would they?

I’ll still watch the next game. Like, Ichiban is likeable enough and I’m interested in his arc enough that I’d play or watch next time. But... *sigh* We’re the Yakuza series with no yakuza. And y��all gonna act like that’s a good thing or pretend it doesn’t even matter. And I really don’t know what to do with that since you haven’t bothered to examine it either.

On a nice Kiryu note, I did like that he was scaled appropriately, I like that Ichiban is Wiped Out after almost every fight. He’s a good fighter, but he has human endurance. Kiryu’s still god. He hits the hardest out of anyone you fight and you Don’t win and that’s As It Should Be. I’m REALLY glad they at least let me have that. I’m glad they let us fight Kiryu and we passed and it was a cool passing of the torch. I was so worried they were going to destroy Kiryu’s legacy and at least they didn’t do that.

The coin locker baby thing... it was cliche and convenient, but in the way that Yakuza is cliche and convenient and melodramatic and over the top. It was sort of fitting and familiar that way. Shame we ended Swashiro like that, I think we could have done more and cooler shit with him but, eh.

SPEAKING OF MORE AND COOLER SHIT

...all that effort, just to kill him? Alllllll that long time, that hard conversation, that break down with Ichiban... just to kill him. Just to make him Nishiki, all over again.

I... fuck you.

Why do you refuse to write a goddamn redemption arc

Fuck, you don’t even have to write it, have it happen off-screen if you’re so fucking afraid of it. Just have him recuperate in a goddamn hospital and, I don’t know, by next game just show that he’s doing better and is getting therapy and whatever.

Jesus fucking christ, he doesn’t have to MATTER in the next game just... don’t kill him. Jesus. Please.

All that fucking work and you’re STILL going to give Ichiban the trauma of losing someone he was trying to save.

I just... it’s really gutting how much you don’t like your characters and you don’t like to write and you’re cowards. You won’t take risks. You’re too afraid of fucking up so you won’t do what the narrative calls for.

Killing Masato was lazy-ass, punk-ass, coward shit and I wont’ stand for it. I did not expect to care about his ass by the end but you guys REALLY made an effort in making him a three dimensional character there at the end and explaining why Ichi would care about him and I was willing to come with you! I was willing for us to invest in this dumbass. We walk him all the way up to the edge and step him back. We let him let go. And then you just. fucking. gave up. You goddamn cowards.

I’m so tired of this shit

For all that, it was genuinely a really fun game and a really fun story with a lot of likeable characters. I think a solid C+, even a B. I really did enjoy most of it. It’s just... in usual Yakuza style, they only fucked up 2 things but they were a REALLY IMPORTANT 2 things.

Oh and I did like the fact that Ichiban Still Doesn’t Know. No one tell him.

#Yakuza 7 #Yakuza: Like A Dragon #It's always a mixed bag with RGG Studios #At least Kiryu was pretty nice #Y7 spoilers

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utanoprince-imagines · 4 years ago

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Off to Neverland!

Prompt: Cecil and Otoya celebrating halloween

Characters: Cecil, Otoya

Genre: Fluff

Word count: 1,137

Warnings: None!

A/N: I’M SORRY I’M LATE CECIL! I decide to go with a halloween idea for this one since it’s the same day. Also made Cecil Peter Pan cause I am also very in love with Peter Pan and I think Cecil suits him.

Happy birthday to this sweetheart and pure child, I love u Cecil

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27349699

“You really think I look good in this?”

Cecil took a look at his outfit reflected in the full length mirror in front of him. He loved the way the olive green shirt wrapped nicely around his broad shoulders and how the pants were comfortable even though they were a slightly tighter fit than what he was used to. Around his waist was a knife holster and Cecil became giddy with happiness when Otoya helped him put on this triangular shaped hat that had a distinct red feather attached to the side.

"Cecil you look great! I always knew being Peter Pan for halloween would suit you!" Otoya said.

Cecil was hesitant, "are you sure you didn't dress me up as him because we have the same colour aesthetic?" he asked, just to make sure.

It's not that he doubted Otoya's hard work or sincerity, if anything he knew that Otoya was a member that he could trust the most to give him honest feedback and opinions.

But this was Peter Pan he was talking about here. It was his childhood hero. When he was a kid, Cecil would always ask his parents to read him the story of Peter Pan before he slept every night. He absolutely adored the child like innocence and his playful side, and looked up to him as a role model.

Does he really have the right to dress up as someone he adores so much? Is he doing justice to him? Were thoughts that kept running through Cecil's mind.

Tokiya who was reading a book in the far corner of the room suddenly piped up, "Cecil, if anything, you're the perfect person to go as Peter Pan. You share the same playfulness and curiosity as him, it's like you two are almost the same person apart from the fact that Peter Pan doesn't age."

The reassurance from his fellow members was enough to convince Cecil. They were right, Peter Pan was his role model, there was no one else who could pull off his outfit better than he himself.

~~~

The van pulled up along a narrow street tucked away from the bustling city area. From inside, Cecil could see the halloween decorations hung from the lamp posts. The sidewalk was bathed in an orange hue from the decorations, and it made Cecil finally realise that today was indeed halloween.

As he and Otoya alighted from the van, Cecil was greeted with the sight of children running around. It was all too familiar - this was the orphanage that Otoya grew up in. Upon seeing the two idols, the children ran up excitedly to greet them.

“Otoya-niisan, welcome back!” The children crowded around the red head male, many of them stretching their hands out for hugs, to which Otoya willingly gave. It took awhile for the kids to notice that there was someone new standing behind Otoya, but once they saw Cecil, their excitement levels were raised, and before Cecil knew it, he was surrounded by a crowd of extremely energetic kids.

“It’s Peter Pan!” Cecil heard a kid shout, and his heart swelled with happiness.

“Ne ne, Peter Pan, are you going to bring us to Neverland?” Another kid asked.

Cecil smiled, squatting down so that he was on the same eye level as the kids, he said, “Tonight’s going to be a special night, because I’m going to bring you all on an adventure to Neverland!”

Loud cheers were heard after Cecil made his announcement, and the kids eagerly followed him into the main hall, waiting for Cecil to tell his story.

As Cecil sat on a chair in front of the kids, he began to recite the story of the boy who never grew up. He knew every word of the story by heart, since it was a tale his parents told him every night before he slept. Cecil was sincere as he recited the story in the most magical way. He hoped that the kids would grow to love this character the same way he did when he was younger.

Before long, the story came to an end. Cecil looked at the faces of his audience, all of them staring back at him in awe, and Cecil hoped that it was because they fell in love with the main lead.

“Peter Pan, why did you bring Wendy home? Wouldn’t you miss her?” A child suddenly asked.

“Because, I came to realise that growing up was a part of life. Of course it will always be fun to stay as a kid. Playing with toys and hanging out with your friends is not something you want to leave behind right?” Cecil asked, earning a few nods from the crowd.

“But, remember that you won’t be growing up alone. You’ll have all your friends with you.” Cecil smiled, gesturing to Otoya who was standing at the back of the room.

“Think of it as another adventure in life, it’s going to be more challenging as you grow older, but trust me, it will always be fun!”

Smiles were seen on the kids’ faces as they broke out into a loud chatter.

“When I grow up, I want to be as cool as you, Peter Pan!”

“I wanna have a cool friend like Otoya to play soccer with!”

Cecil couldn’t help but laugh seeing all the children so excited. He was glad that his words reached their heart, but more importantly, he was glad that he pulled off the role of Peter Pan well enough.

~~~

It was getting late, and Cecil and Otoya slowly made their way back to the van. Suddenly, Otoya handed Cecil a paper bag. Cecil looked at him curiously.

“Dressing up as Peter Pan for halloween is important, but celebrating your birthday is also equally important.” Otoya said.

Stopping in his footsteps, Cecil reached inside the paper bag and pulled out an intricately crafted keychain. To be exact, it was a Peter Pan keychain, and when Cecil turned to look at its back, the words ‘you can fly’ were engraved into it.

“I’m sure the whole dorm knows how much you respect him, and honestly I’m happy that you do. You have taught us all to find joy in the smallest things in life and that has been very helpful to the team when we’re faced with challenges.”

Otoya paused for a brief moment before continuing.

“Happy birthday Cecil, I hope your mind will only be filled with happy thought from now on.”

Cecil examined the keychain once again, not sure how to express the immense amount of joy he was feeling at that moment. Clutching it tightly in his hand, he turned to face Otoya the biggest smile he had ever worn on his face.

“Thank you Otoya, I promise to treasure this with my entire heart.”

#uta no prince sama #utapri #starish #aijima cecil #ittoki otoya #uta no prince sama scenarios #uta no prince sama imagines #utapri scenarios #utapri imagines #aijima cecil scenarios #aijima cecil imagines #utanoprince-imagines

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thorne93 · 5 years ago

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Inside the Criminal Mind (Part 3)

Prompt: You’re married to Dr. Spencer Reid of the BAU, and are a distinguished doctor yourself on the team. You’re sent down to Miami, Florida for teaching and as a side request from the FBI, to investigate a string of missing persons. When you think you’ve figured out who the unsub is, your life becomes more complicated than you ever could’ve imagined.

Word Count: 3181

Warnings: (throughout the fic –>) death, blood, gore, killings, language, disturbing mental notions, mentions of rapes/murder/etc (You know, Dexter and Criminal Minds related business)

Notes: Thank you so much to @arrow-guy, @carryonmyswansong, and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo - without each of you, I couldn’t have finished, written, or properly navigated this story. Each of you helped me fish out details that were incredibly important to me. Beta’d by @carryonmyswansong and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo… Aesthetic by @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo

This is a crossover of Criminal Minds x Dexter. First time writing Dexter.

Also, the timeline is after Season 1 of Dexter, but during season 14-ish of Criminal minds into Season 15. Enjoy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spence dropped you off at the gate, a rather tearful parting, mostly for you. You two had only been apart for the time Spence was in prison, and that was utter hell. Compared to that, this should be a cakewalk.

Your first week was the hardest. You spent most of it getting acquainted at the school, in the classroom, rehearsing a few of your lectures, meeting other faculty, rereading the textbook you’d chosen. There wasn’t any time to look at the FBI cases you’d been given, let alone trying to find a more permanent residence while you were in town.

The second week, the classes began and you could already feel a rhythm beginning to set in. Some of the students really seemed to be ready and liking the class. Others, you could tell, were stuck with this class. It made no difference to you, as you’d teach the best way you knew how and help anyone who had questions.

The second Saturday night, you dove into the case files. At first, not much had tied them together. Different backgrounds, ages, races, sex. Victimology was all over the place. If these were even victims at all. But they were missing persons, who had never been heard from again, there had to be a reason. Something, or someone, chose these specific people, for whatever purpose. It was your job to figure out why those people.

Over the course of the next few days, nothing struck with you. None of it made any sense. Finally, you caved and talked to Spencer about it.

“So how is the case going? Got it cracked?” Spence questioned.

You let out a heavy sigh before groaning. “Actually, I think I need your help.”

“Oh no, we know it’s a tough one if you need me,” he said with a laugh.

“I just can’t figure this out. Here, let me run the profiles by you.”

“Okay, shoot.”

He listened to you inform him of all of the cases, all their demographics. By the time you were done, you could practically hear him frowning. “That’s really odd. There has to be some kind of common denominator.”

“I know but… nothing.”

“No, no. Let’s look more closely. Do you need Garcia to run their backgrounds? Same high schools? Any familial relations?”

“That’s a good idea,” I murmured. “I’ll do it myself though. I’ll dig as much as I can and if I get lost again, I’ll have her run them through the database and see if any hits show up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I mean, at the very least, they all lived in Miami at the time of their disappearance, so there’s that.”

“It’s a start.”

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

As you dug deeper and deeper though, you found that most of the people had been through Miami Police Department as suspects, arrested, or even a ticket. Somehow, they had a run in with the law. Not all of them had been in trouble, some were actually stand up citizens in the community, or so it seemed. But unsubs don’t just take some people, then switch it up and take the opposite.

So you took it upon yourself to head up the investigation in the Miami police department. You began to question the cyber crimes unit, seeing as some of these people never came in contact with the police, maybe their browsing history did. Maybe they pissed off the wrong person. After a day of questioning the entire unit though, no one fit any loose profile you might have built.

The following day that you only held a morning class, you headed straight to the narcotics department. Maybe some of the well-to-do men and women that had been missing, kidnapped, or killed, whatever their fate was, were involved in some crazy drug ring, but the officer couldn’t get good evidence on them.

However, that was quickly a bust too. Miami and their police had no problem busting drug rings for coke, heroin, and pot. Their detectives seemed open and honest and most of them admitted to knowing some of the missing persons but it would go as far as, “Yeah, I arrested them,” or “Sure, I saw them, I think they were in the station in booking at one point.” Not exactly real motives.

None of this felt right.

Well, you couldn’t do anything about that now. Thursday and Friday were booked solid with classes and a meeting for the psychology professors.

Again, Saturday and Sunday you spent investigating and apartment hunting. Finally, you found a place for the apartment. Economical, good part of town. You didn’t need a lot, a bed and a kitchenette. All the paperwork was settled on Saturday and you were moved in by Sunday afternoon, the files spread all over the floor as you studied them.

Monday came and you had classes starting at noon, but that left your morning open so you got up bright and early and went to the homicides department. That’s when everything started to feel a lot more promising.

“Lieutenant LaGuerta?” you asked, poking your head into an office in the back of this section of the station.

“Yes?” she responded, lifting her head from a pile of papers.

“Hi, I’m Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Y/N Reid of the FBI,” you stated as you walked in and extended your hand. She took it and shook your hand, a frown coming on her face. “I’m here to investigate some missing persons.”

“Oh? Under whose authority?”

“The FBI’s, ma’am. I’ve already conducted some questioning in the other units. This is the last stop on my tour,” you noted with a laugh to which she gave you a somewhat hesitant, forced polite laugh.

“I don’t recall anyone telling me you’d be down.”

“Well, it’s not exactly under the radar, but we aren’t advertising that the FBI is actively investigating,” you explained.

“I see. Don’t you all usually come down only if it’s crossed state lines?”

You couldn’t help but wonder why all the animosity. Sure, cops were territorial, and no one liked anyone coming in and saying, “You can’t do your job so I’m here to do it for you.” But the fact of the matter was, there were eighteen missing people and Miami was the hub of it all and that’s the lead you needed to follow.

You grinned, looking down, humming. “We don’t, usually. But our Florida division is stumped so, they brought me in.”

“Wow, a whole team is bankrupt of a lead, and you have one. Impressive.”

You couldn’t help but bite your lip and ask, “I’m sorry, does my presence here offend you in some way?”

“I just don’t want you wasting my units time with pointless questions about missing persons we probably know nothing about.”

You nodded. “I understand, but I would hope, as a fellow law enforcement officer, the goal would be to check all avenues first and make sure these missing persons are found and justice is served. Correct me if I’m wrong, and I’ll tell my supervisor back in D.C. that the Lieutenant doesn’t want me snooping around this case.”

Your eyes leveled with hers, challenging her. You weren’t typically someone to throw your weight or rank around, or even start confrontation, but you had a job, a duty to do and this woman seemed adamant against helping you in that endeavor.

She grinned politely. “You’re right. I apologize. What can I help with?”

“First off, do any of these people look familiar?” You pulled out the paper that you’d photocopied all of the pictures and wrote their names, ages, and sex below it. Rather than tossing out eighteen files

She glanced through the pages. “Uh, yeah, a handful of them. The names ring a bell too. These your missing people?”

You nodded. “Yes, they are. Would you happen to know anything about any of them? If any of them moved after a trial or perhaps ran? Not all of them have a criminal background but about half do.”

“And the other half?”

“Mostly spotless, relatively good citizens, but where I come from, victimology doesn’t swing on a pendulum like that.”

“Alright, well, all I can say is that yeah some of them are familiar.”

“Would you mind if I questioned your detectives?” you wondered.

“Not at all. I’ll introduce you and you can proceed how you like.”

She took you out to the common area where she introduced you to Sergeant Doakes, Detective Batista, Forensics specialist Masuka, Detective Morgan, and forensic specialist Morgan.

“She’s conducting an investigation for the FBI, please assist her any way you can. Dr. Reid, you can use the conference room to do questioning.”

You thanked Lieutenant LaGuerta and decided to just go down the list from highest ranking to lowest ranking. Sergeant Doakes was first.

“Hi, Sergeant Doakes,” you greeted as you sat down in front of him. “Thank you for speaking with me.”

He merely nodded.

“I’m going to show you some people, and I’d like you to tell me if you recognize any of them?”

“Alright,” he said with a shrug.

You slid the papers in front of him, and waited for a reaction, gauging anything he did. An eyebrow twitch, a clenching of the jaw. Anything.

Yet, you saw nothing but a studious eye from a good detective.

“Yeah, I have seen some of these people. Booked a few of them myself. Sonsabitches got away on some bullshit their lawyer pulled. Why?”

“They’re missing,” you informed with a cocked brow. You wondered if he would change his less caring manner, but he didn’t.

“So you want to know if I’ve seen them?”

“Or where they might’ve gone. Did any of them seem like they had other connections that might help them disappear?”

“I don’t know. Some might’ve,” he agreed.

“I’m not convinced all of these people are victims. Some may have very well gotten involved in some things they didn’t know how to get out of. Some may have just ran. I’m just checking all avenues.”

“Makes sense,” he stated. “What’s your gut say?” he wondered.

You sighed as you shook your head. “I don’t really know. I’ve got people with criminal backgrounds, others with nothing at all except attending church and a perfect attendance at work.”

“Be kind of weird for all these people to all skip town.”

“Yes, it would be. But Miami is big, with a lot of transient people, and it isn’t exactly Cookie Cutter, USA.”

“True. So you got any more questions for me?”

You shook your head again. “No. If you can think of anything, where they might’ve gone. I’d appreciate it.”

He nodded and stood. You asked if he could send in Batista.

Questioning with him was much easier. He seemed a lot more easy going and he seemed more willing to share information. Your gut didn’t tell you it was him though. It didn’t tell you it was Doakes either. Batista felt more of a “I like justice being served” kind, while Doakes felt more like a “criminals get what they deserve.” But that didn’t make you suspect him.

Next was Masuka, then Debra Morgan.

Debra was a colorful character but clearly not witty enough to carry out a crime. She was bright enough to solve a crime, but not stage one, let alone eighteen. Masuka was just as bad, if not worse. He seemed oblivious, and not on purpose. He said he didn’t recognize two of the missing people, but when you reminded him that he’d investigated two of their crimes he suddenly remembered all the details of the case. He was spacey, not covering anything up. But spacey doesn’t bode well for anyone who may have abducted eighteen people.

Finally, Dexter Morgan, Detective Morgan’s brother met you in the conference room.

“Hi, Dexter, I’m Dr. Reid.”

“Doctor of what?” he asked casually as he leaned back and smiled. That smile didn’t seem… sincere. Oh, it felt sincere on him, but not a friendly, polite smile. It was a smile of… an inside joke.

“Doctor of psychology,” you stated with a grin.

“Love the mind, do you?”

“Yes, Mr. Morgan. I am really interested in what makes people tick.” You flashed him a smile that served as a warning not to fuck with you.

“Me too.” He smirked quickly before hiding it with a serious face but it didn’t go unnoticed by you.

“So you and your sister work together? That’s nice,” you remarked.

“Sometimes.”

“Do you not get along?”

“We do. We’re really close, but everyone needs space, privacy now and then.”

You nodded. “Mm. I understand. I work with my husband. We met on the job, and work together on the same team, and obviously live together.”

Dexter stared at you for a second before speaking. “Wow. That’s a lot of time together.”

You bobbed your head in agreement. “Yes, it is. But I’m down here now. He’s back in D.C.”

“You’re just down here for this case?”

You couldn’t help but laugh slightly. “Actually, I’m teaching at the University. A new forensic psych class. But I believe I need to be questioning you, Mr. Morgan,” you reminded.

He chuckled, nodding. “Right, right. Go ahead.”

That bothered you. All of the other people that had come in weren’t as relaxed as him. Masuka and Batista might’ve been a little lax, but he was entirely too at ease. Almost smug. Not to mention the smirk and the fact that he was trying to find out much about you, and delaying the questioning.

You pushed the pictures across to him.

“Tell me what you know about these people,” you ordered. You didn’t even bother asking if he knew them, because you knew he did. He had to have known them. All of his colleagues did.

He looked at the pictures, a good amount of time. Not too long to pretend which ones he knew and which ones he didn’t. But not so short that it was curious how he could dismiss it so quickly.

He picked out about five of them that he knew, what he knew about them, then smiled and sat back. The smile. That’s what got you. Batista, Morgan, when they were done telling you what they knew they would look up at you expectantly. Wondering if you were profiling them, wondering if they’d satisfied you, wondering if they needed to go on, wondering if they were under suspicion.

Not Dexter. For some reason, he smiled.

Did he think that’s what he was supposed to do? Did he think innocent people smiled when shown a list of missing persons? It wasn’t smug, not the smile itself, but the action of smiling. A gut feeling formed and it was aimed right at him. You knew he had something to do with this. Whether he abducted them or knew where they went or who took them, he knew something about it.

“Do you have any reason to believe these people would run after committing the crimes they did or getting arrested?”

“I can’t speak to other people’s motives, Dr. Reid.”

A bemused smile fell on your face. “You aren’t on trial here, Mr. Morgan.”

“I know that.”

“So then tell me, you interacted with these people. Did they seem like the type to run?”

“People are capable of all kinds of things. This guy here who was involved in that armed robbery, probably not. But take this guy who murdered a twenty-one year old girl, he might have.”

“He was acquitted. Said there wasn’t enough evidence to hold him.”

“He might have feared retrial. Maybe his life was ruined down here.”

“Maybe,” you agreed, peering at him.

“It’s a shame though. Lots of people missing.”

You nodded. “Mhm, eighteen people.”

“Have you talked to their families? Maybe they know something. I mean, we just arrest them here.”

“Well, you don’t,” you corrected. “You investigate the crime scene. You tell your colleagues if the person is capable of doing it, based on their strength, size, height.”

“Yes.”

“So you’re rather familiar with crime scenes, and what they look for, and what they don’t look for… Who’s capable of doing criminal acts…” You were pacing at this point, talking to him, thinking out loud.

“That’s right. It’s my job to know exactly how someone could or might kill, and how they might clean it up. Just like it’s your job to profile people based on age, sex, and whether or not they have mommy or daddy issues,” he said, his voice getting a bit more agitated than it had been.

You couldn’t help the grin that popped onto your face. “You don’t believe in profiling?”

“I believe that people aren’t so black and white. I believe that you all like to think you can put people in a box with a pretty ribbon and say ‘Here, this one is a textbook psychopath who kills women because his mother beat him for masturbating when he was fifteen’.”

“You seem to know an awful lot about my job.”

“Am I wrong?”

“Yes.”

“Prove it.”

“Check my track record,” you challenged with a gleam in your eye. “Profiling isn’t breaking people down with textbook definitions and diagnosis. We look at victimology, and branch out. If the victims aren’t related in any way, much like my missing persons, we have to seek out the one thing that is common for them. For Dahmer it was young men. For Bundy it was women. Gacy, little boys. Jack the Ripper, prostitutes. You get the picture. Whether you like to believe it or not, Mr. Morgan, killers have a type, a style. It can be obvious like sex, or something small. For whoever may have kidnapped these people, I’m sensing a trace of vigilante,” you informed. You hadn’t told anyone this yet.

“Why?”

“Because it’s simple. About half of these people have had run ins with the law and for whatever reason they were back out on the street. The other ones have picture perfect lives that are just a little too picture perfect for me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think these people all committed crimes, whether or not they were caught by police is another thing. I also think that the person who took these people knew about some sort of shady past.”

“That’s quite the theory.”

“Exactly. Only a theory. Once I talk to all of these families, I’ll be back for further questioning.”

“Does that mean we’re done?”

You gave him a polite smile. “It does. So far all of you have admitted to knowing some of these people, and the rest, well the rest are just perfect citizens that I need to figure out how they’re related to these criminals.”

“Sounds like you have quite the task, going around to eighteen families.”

“It may take a bit, but I’ll get it done.”

“Between that and teaching, has to be a lot.”

“It’s my job, Mr. Morgan. I can make it work.”

“I bet you can.”

With that, you two said your goodbyes and you went back to your apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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