#IMAGINE HER SEDUCING A CLAN CAT

[insaneiceshard]

There is so much Dawnclan lore bouncing around in my head I'm BEGGING YOU to ask me about it!!! Everytime I listen to a song I HAVE TO imagine it in my universe it HURTS BRO MY BRAIN CANT THROW IT UP IM FUCKIN SICK

[jackoshadows]

I do think Sansa staying in the Vale is the most likely option for her, but how do you think her becoming Lady of the Vale will work? With her marriage to Tyrion, her being wanted for king-slaying, and with no way to verify her identity I don't imagine that her revealing herself is going to go smoothly. And there's only so much that can be done through LF's manipulations and we don't even know his real intentions. I only ever seem to see theories that gloss over these details.

I think GRRM has indeed been laying the groundwork/some foreshadowing/parallel journeys (both characters pretending to be bastards after going on the run from KL for ex.) for Sansa and Tyrion.

For me, the biggest thing is consent. Whichever character ends up with Sansa, I need for Sansa to want to be with that character/love that character. Considering her imagining kisses with the Hound, it's clear she desires him, burned faced not withstanding. While in the Vale she also thinks more fondly of Tyrion, wishing she could flee from Littlefinger and go to Tyrion if she knew where he was.

Slowly but gradually, Sansa seems to be moving from just good looks in terms of what she desires. It could be that this happens with Tyrion and that marriage is not annulled and Sanrion end up in Casterly Rock at the end.

If Sanrion does not happen however, then I see her making her base at the Vale. She likes it there, she feels alive once again. Once she gets the gist of playing the game and wields an iota of power, it could be she likes being the behind the scenes player holding all the power.

I don't see Sansa openly being Lady of the Vale as long as she is married to Tyrion and the Lannisters hold power in KL. As you point out she is currently wanted for murder by the crown. I can see her trying to get the Lords of the Vale on her side and slowly take away LF's power. And if by the end of the series, Harry the Heir is still around (I think SR is a goner), and she genuinely likes him, they get married.

Or there are the Mountain clans and Timmett son of Timmett who are Chekov's gun waiting to be fired. Timmett also has a right to the Vale

“Which brings us back to the five remaining daughters of Elys and Alys. The eldest had been left terribly scarred by the same pox that killed her sisters, so she became a septa. Another was seduced by a sellsword. Ser Elys cast her out, and she joined the silent sisters after her bastard died in infancy. The third wed the Lord of the Paps, but proved barren. The fourth was on her way to the riverlands to marry some Bracken when Burned Men carried her off. That left the youngest, who wed a landed knight sworn to the Waynwoods, gave him a son that she named Harrold, and perished.” - Alayne, AFfC

Or it could be that the Hound gets to the Vale and it's him she loves, despite being married to Harry. We just don't know enough of what it is that Littlefinger is planning to do to speculate on who Sansa will marry etc. Which is why it's baffling to me when readers want her to go North asap in the next book. Like how?! There's so much plot to cover in the Vale!!

Or Sansa finally gets rid of Littlefinger by dragging him out the moondoor with her! Recall that Sansa was one of the characters who is most likely killed by Jaime on his way to the Iron Throne in the OG outline. All the characters who die in the OG outline - Ned, Cat, Robb, Drogo etc. - also die in the books. No doubt GRRM has expanded Sansa's story in the series, but it could be she still has the same ending considering GRRM's insistence that he is still heading for that same 1991 ending he has in mind.

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

The Highlander’s Secret Avenger by Heather McCollum

Brothers of Wolf Island #4

Three of five brothers overshadowed by a curse have found their true loves and begun to change the future for their clan bringing back t o life Wolf Island and a tree that seemed to have died. Two brothers remain, Drostan and Eagan, and this is Drostan’s time to do his part to break the curse.

What I liked: * Amelia “Lia McLeod: sister to two horrible brothers, skilled archer, running from a forced marriage, has plans for revenge that go awry when she meets the family that are supposed to be her enemies

* Droston Macquairie: twin, fourth in line of five brothers, strong, caring, protective, believes he will have trouble with the curse, interested in Lia until a secret is exposed

* Sia: six-toed cat, saved more than once by Droston, could be lethal to Lia, finds a safe home

* Getting to see the brothers and how they are doing

* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing

* The part the curse and the willow tree play in the series

* Grisselle: older woman on Wolf Island who takes in stray children and women needing a safe harbor, descendent of the woman who cursed the Macquairie family, knows more about the curse than we have heard so far

* Getting to see some of the characters from previous books

* Wondering if the part of the curse related to tampering with the willow tree is true or not – hope to find out in the next book

* Looking forward to reading the conclusion and finding out who Eagan ends up with

What I didn’t like:

* Who and what I was meant not to like

* Thinking about what makes someone as evil as Lia’s brothers and the pirate Jandeau

Did I like this book? Yes

Would I read more in this series? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

BLURB

Drostan Macquarie, the fierce battle-hardened Highlander, was still a young lad when his father first warned him of the ancient curse on the Macquarie clan. Should any of our kin sire a bastard, the entire clan will be cursed to die out. Drostan vowed then to live his life alone, far from the reach of the curse. But on the eve of Beltane, a sizzling kiss with a mysterious lass ignites Drostan’s blood…and threatens his vow. Amelia MacLeod is on the run, desperate to escape her past, and an abusive family. But Wolf Isle isn’t just a place to hide, it may be her only hope of redemption—if she can doom her clan’s enemy, the Macquaries. Only, she imagined her enemy would be a hideous brute, not a big, brawny, and kind-hearted Highlander like Drostan. Because now Amelia’s discovered a way to destroy the Macquarie Clan for good—if she can bring herself to infiltrate the clan, seduce Drostan, and bring about the Macquarie curse. Of course, she hasn’t accounted for the far-reaching consequences of her own dark past…or her traitorous desire for the Highlander she came to destroy.

[smokeclan-oc]

Beetlestrike - deep brown tom with black leopard spots

Family: Snareleap (father), Ospreyswoop (mother), Leopardtail (younger brother), Rabbitleap (younger sister), Locustwing (younger sister) Gender / Sexuality: tom / gay  Personality: super humble, says im sorry a lot, always feels like hes in some cats way, always offering to help out where he can, awkward abt how talented he is, always is like “well its how snareleap taught me” super shy abt it Backstory: Born to his parents when they were young, Snareleap and Ospreyswoop did the best they could as parents. Beetlestrike was trained by Snareleap as an apprentice, earning himself the position of fellow fighter, and will take over his fathers position when he retires. Grandson of the leader, Beetlestrike doesnt do any wrong. He’s a really solid warrior, and when a clanmate is asked about him, they probably say he’s a really *nice guy*. Always offers his warm nest to those returning from a moonhigh patrol, and willing to hunt for a tired warrior, he even offers to take out apprentices if their mentor is preoccupied.  Ideal Partner: the trouble maker like squirrelflight, or maybe the like kit of the bad guy now a warrior Position | Clan: Warrior | Brookclan

Leopardtail - pale orange leopard spotted tom

Family: Snareleap (father), Ospreyswoop (mother), Beetlestrike (older brother), Rabbitleap (sister), Locustwing (sister) Gender / Sexuality: tom / bisexual Personality: jokster, troublemaker, problem child for SURE, often punished by being sent to the apprentice den to sleep, the senior hanging out with freshman Backstory: Often referred to as the *oldest triplet* since his pelt is only a little darker than his sisters, Leopardtail was the troublemaker. The irresponsible older sibling, he’s been punished regularly as an apprentice, and even still as a warrior. Leopardtail learned the warrior code by breaking it. Chasing prey too far over a border, getting in arguments at gatherings, and sneaking a bite of food during a hunting party, Leopardtail learns the hard way.  Now a warrior, earning his name a day after his siblings as punishment, Leopardtail is watched closely by the deputy.  Because he’s a troublemaker, he’s popular with the apprentices and kits. He’s often asked  to assist with training sessions, both to keep him sharp and so some cat can keep an eye on him..    Ideal Partner: the goodie two shoes, the other troublemaker, he’s basically greystripe so like gimme silverstream? Or Firestar? Position | Clan: Warrior | Brookclan

Rabbitleap - pale brown leopard spotted shecat

Family: Snareleap (father), Ospreyswoop (mother), Beetlestrike (older brother), Leopardtail (brother), Locustwing (sister) Gender / Sexuality: she-cat / bisexual Personality: people pleaser, would love to be a mom, would be so damn good at being a full time queen fr tho, really sweet, always says yes Backstory: Middle child Rabbitleap was peacemaker between her older brother and younger sister littermates. Leopardtail likes to learn the hard way, and Locustwing cannot imagine having to learn the warrior code by breaking it. Rabbitleap is the middle of the road warrior. She was punished once as an apprentice, and that was for chasing a mouse over the border into Frostclan territory, even if she didn’t get caught.  As a warrior, Rabbitleap loves the forest floor rather than the water. She often will climb the trees in their territory, dreaming of a diet of exclusively furry creatures.  Still, she remains loyal, especially for her siblings, even if she could be swayed into another clan. Ideal Partner: gimme a Whisperclan Thrushclan frostclan anyclan warrior who seduces her and they have kits and she joins his clan, or give her a gf who brings her into her clan, *and they were roommates* Position | Clan: Warrior | Brookclan 

Locustwing - cream leopard spotted shecat

Family: Snareleap (father), Ospreyswoop (mother), Beetlestrike (older brother), Rabbitleap (sister), Leopardtail (brother) Gender / Sexuality: shecat / Herero - questioning Personality: goodie two shoes, always follows the rules, really clever, a little sassy but only when she’s right Backstory: Youngest of her litter, Beetlestrike mentored Locustwing, and trained her to be a very skilled warrior. Always following the rules, she plans to follow in her older brothers pawsteps of becoming a response warrior. She cannot stand the way that Leopardtail acts, and they fight often about him disrespecting the warrior code. If it were up to her, she would have exiled him.  Sharp as a thorn, Locustwing is a pleasure to watch hunt or fight. Skills passed down from her father to her brother, now to her, making her a polished warrior. She is an ideal mate for any handsome young warrior. Ideal Partner: the deputy, the deputy’s son, the leaders son, son of the clans queen, best friend of either brother Position | Clan: Warrior | Brookclan

[thewriterowl]

Thief!Din/Luke Headcanons

The snippets of Pedro’s commercial is killing me. No one has asked me yet and no one has uploaded their own (from what I have seen) so...tadaaaaa

I like to imagine Din started off pick-pocketing when he was younger, maybe even before the loss of his parents. He was very good with his slide of hand and very agile and silent. When he was once a normal, happy child he was eager to impress and energetic. He won all hide and seek challenges with his friends and could climb higher on a tree than many adults. His mother had multiple heart-attacks when she found her six year old trying to scale a building just because he’s gotta.

After their murders when he was seven, he was in the foster-care till he was near nine, jumping from one home to another with pretty horrible results. He was very jaded and had a tendency of running away by the time he landed in the Fett household. Jango wasn’t the most loving of fathers, but he was a good man who clearly cared about every child that came through his doors...and every child that he took care of were adopted. What Din discovers is that Jango is highly involved in an underground crime network and would welcome the kids (at a certain age, he’s a bad guy but he’s not a Bad Guy) and is curious about it. Jango, in return, is very impressed with Din’s skills and hones it along side his biological son Boba.

He learns how to fight, gets strong in parkour, picks up hacking easily, and can strategize better than the whole group. Jango has to put a bit more focus on the personality as Din is soured and a bit awkward, not too interested in being around people and had a temper. Jango teaches him how to flirt, manipulate, use words to distract people as good as his hands, how to earn information by tilting a chin rather than breaking a jaw, and how just the right expression make everyone gape over you or disappear. It takes Din a bit longer to get this...but when he does the world is not ready for him.

Din takes whatever he wants. Most all of it is taken to his father and brother who get to selling it and the money is split up. But there are some trinkets he has to keep for himself.

Din finds he really likes art and he likes things with a certain shine to them. Not necessarily literally, but that can be the case (his older brother teases that he’s like a cat) but something else. Some sort of exquisite, pure aura that he just wants to horde (then his brother teases that he’s a dragon; Din just throws something at him by this point). He doesn’t bother fighting it though, why should he? So he takes and takes and takes, never filling up.

Him and his family, and those part of this close underground crime clan, are hella wealthy. They are responsible for turning multiple billionaires into regular ol’ joes and enjoying their wealth for themselves (of course, Din says they’re donating a lot to anything to do with kids--the others agree). For most people on the street, Din seems like a regular guy who just jumps from job to job unable to keep anything steady. Handsome but a bit aloof and unapproachable. To some, he is this seductive dealer who appears in the art world, seducing a whole room out of thousands in a single night.

He doesn’t really care what either side thinks of him as long as no one can ever connect him to a hit. And so far none have.

Well, except for one. But his darling toddler son doesn’t really count. And Grogu is just happy living in their very nice home that had a collection room hidden away of the most treasured of Din’s prizes.

At least it was only one...until Luke.

Luke is probably an art historian or art-historian major who is working hard at a museum. Young but talented who is at the bottom of the totem pole wherever he is. But as long as he is close to art, he is happy.

Luke sees Din at an event and is smitten instantly. He stays hidden away, but kept a bashful eye on the mysterious man in the tux as he wandered through the crowds. He is painfully handsome and painfully Luke’s type (big, sexy, with facial hair...he’s not the pickiest) but Luke knows if he is seen talking, let alone flirting, with a guest he’ll be dis-allowed from attending another event. And these things are when special pieces were wheeled out so the rich could coo over (it drove Luke insane but by god they were gonna get these donations).

It’s when everyone has cleared off and Luke is left behind to finish cleaning or straightening up and he just gets lost looking at pieces and then he runs into the stranger.

Din was not expecting anyone to be behind and it certainly throws a wrench in his plans...for the better.

Luke shines more than any other piece he had stolen before.

Din acts like he was just hiding out to get a private tour and Luke believes him (and, yeah, the guy seems rich...and this has happened before so it’s believable) and Luke offers to give him one...just for a chance of a charitable donation and not because he was internally drooling over the man.

Luke takes him throughout the whole museum, telling Din all sorts of information and stories and just genuinely appearing in love with art that it does something to Din’s brain.

It’s hours of them talking and bickering and debating, with Luke laughing and Din just smiling over the beautiful man. 

Din decides, then, that he’ll be stealing Luke too.

[maggyme13]

The Girl that had no Name (5/?)

AN: Next part :) Wordcount: around 8k

Warnings: physical abuse of a child and mention of injuries, menstruation,

Read at your own risk

Part 4

TGTHNN-Masterlist

Today they celebrated Kuma´s eleventh birthday and the third anniversary of her living with Genma.

She still wouldn´t speak but had started to use the sign language that was taught at the academy to communicate with others. It was not perfect with its small vocabulary and only usage to communicate during missions or in the field when stealth was important, but it got her points across.

“Mah mah Kuma. Another year has gone, and look how big you are now. Soon Genma has to scare suitors away. I got you something.”, Kakashi greeted her from his usual spot on the windowsill. If it wasn´t for his ninken, Kuma would think of him like a stray cat that did and went where it wanted, “How is the academy. Only one year left, right? Or do you want to graduate early?”

“ Thank you. Academy is good. One year left. Lightning idiot.” , she signed her answer,  “No Stalkers.”

There were no signs for individual names, so Kuma had started to use other words whenever she mentioned someone.

Raidon was Lightning, Small Deer was Kojika, Eyes was Hiraku Hyuga (another classmate and member of the side branch), Dog was Kakashi, Dumb was Gai, and she had many more.

“Mah, maybe he is already your suitor. They say teasing is a sign of affection.”

“ Lightning bully.”

“Who is her suitor?”, Genma piped up.

“That Raidon boy.”

“Over my dead body. He´s still a little shit and fights dirty in their sparring. Last week he tried to use a genjutsu on her because he couldn´t win. He failed and accidentally caught one of the clan kids from another year. The Yamanaka was angry.”

“Idiot.”

“ Eyes fought lightning. Lightning down. Next fight.”

“I can imagine. Any broken bones?”

“ Negative.” , she signed again, though with an almost sad face, only to continue with an interested one, “Box?”

“It´s your present. Do you want to open it now or later?”, Kakashi grinned, “But make sure Genma doesn´t steal it.”

“ Now please.”

Smiling beneath his mask he handed over the small box he had gotten out of his vest.

“That´s by all of us. Kotetsu, Izumo, Gai, and a few others got it for you. So you stop stealing Genma´s senbon and chopsticks.”

Her first ´Birthday´ had been a mess. Anyone who knew her (and liked her) had brought gifts. She had been so overwhelmed by everything that she had an episode and ran away for almost three days. A Hyuga had found her hiding in an old training ground buried underneath a tree and covered in mud. She had been able to mask her scent so well that neither Kakashi with his ninken nor the Inuzuka had been able to find her.

After that incident, they had only ever gotten her one or two presents at once during a period of weeks.

How she had gotten away from a group of well-trained shinobi? Something she had learned during Kunoichi classes, was a lotion that erased individual scents and was used for infiltration missions. They would cover their skin with it and then add a scent their target loves. It was created to make it easier to seduce a target.

Only negative side effects? Poisonous and acidic plants are used to create it, so regular or long time use is not possible. Kana-sensei went as far as saying that the repeated use of it within one month time can have devastating side effects and to NEVER use it lightly. That and it took nearly one hour to apply it properly.

The only reason why she had a viol of it? Homework. Kana-sensei had tasked her students to find a creative way to hide it within their clothes.

Kuma still flinches whenever she remembers that time. Everybody had been mad with her and it almost caused another episode when Genma and Yoshino had sat her down on the couch and berated her for the stunt she had just pulled. Asking her why she ran and hid from them and if she knew what kind of trouble she had caused for everyone. They told her who had all gone looking for her. The two of them had been so scared about her well-being that they forgot to keep in mind her history of abuse. Shikaku, who Yoshino had pulled along, noticed and tried to speak up, only to be the center of attention long enough for Kuma to bold again and lock herself in her room.

“See what you did?”, she had scolded her husband,” We-”

“You scared and overwhelmed her. Calm down and wait for her to get out of her flight response. And then DON`T corners her again. You were close to throwing away any progress that she made over the last year.”

That had brought the two back to reality and Genma wanted nothing more than punching his wall but stopped at the last second when he realized it would make everything worse.

Genma had returned to his behavior of the first week. Preparing food and letting it out for her to get whenever she wanted. On top of that, he hid away in his room to give her as much space as possible. It took almost one week for her to enter the living room when Genma was still there and he was at the edge of asking Gai to punch him as punishment when he saw her reserved face.

“Kid. I am sorry. I did not mean to scare you. I was worried. There was no trace of you for nearly three days. To disappear within a Ninja village is almost impossible and usually means that the person that disappeared is dead. Please. Can you forgive me for scaring you like that?”, Genma had pleaded with her, sitting on the floor to be on eye height with his ward.

Kuma had looked at him with huge eyes: He had been worried about her? He thought she was dead and was sad? For her?

It had confused her but after another day within her room and thoughts, she walked to him and gave him the first of only a handful hugs ever.

Genma had nearly started crying then and Kuma had looked sorry.

“Never do that again, okay?”

She had promised him with a nod.

In the box were two black hair needles that looked like there were made of molten Onyx that was twisted before cooling. They were beautiful and would contrast her silver hair perfectly.

“They are empty but can be filled with potions or senbons. Like that you can get your hair out of your face and be armed at all times.”, the masked man explained and showed Kuma how to open them.

“ Thank you” , she signed again before braiding her hair into a ponytail and twirling it up to a knot secured by her new needles.

“Your hair has gotten very long. I think you should cut it soon.”, Genma stated casually only to frown when he noticed the pained and shocked eyes of his ward. He had just put his foot in his mouth, “If you want.”

“ Negative.” , she motioned while shaking her head with force.

“Ku-”, he tried again but her shaking only got worse before she grabbed her back and darted out of the window and to school.

“Why do I always have her run away on this day?”, the Guardian sighed, “Next year put me under a jutsu that keeps my mouth shut. You think she was punished using her hair?”

“There are clans that give their hair special meaning. Some don´t cut it unless they lose in a fight. For others, it is a way to show spirituality. And then there I one where the women do not cut their hair until they marry and then they let it grow again.”, Kakashi sighed, “It could be a possibility. But long hair has its special threats during a fight.”

“Yeah. I always thought her wish to grow had something to do with being a girl. Every girl likes long hair. Right? I will need to talk to her. And maybe get some female help.”

“Yoshino Nara?”

“No. I thought about someone more her age. Maybe I ask Yamanaka, heir, Ino I think her name is.”

“Good luck with that. I am off. Shikaku wanted to see me once the mission room opens.”

“THAT WAS TWO HOURS AGO!”

-..--..--..--..--..--..--..--..--..--..--..--..--.

“Inoichi, I fucked up.”, Genma stated the second he entered the Yamanaka flower shop and found the Jonin standing at the checkout.

“How bad?”

“Not sure yet, Kuma jumped out of the window and left for school.”

“Sure?”

“She took her bag with her. So yeah.”

“Why come to me?”

“You have a daughter yourself.”, Genma finally admitted much to the amusement of the older man.

“Hahaha. I have. What happened?”

“It's her (birth) day today. The others bought her some hair needles to put up her hair. It's already longer than her shoulder blades. I told her she should cut -”

“WHAT?!”, a young female voice interrupted their conversation.

“Ino-”

“NO. You don´t tell a girl that took years to grow their hair back to cut it. No wonder she ran. That- that...”

“I only meant the tips so it stays healthy.”, Genma tried to justify his reason.

“Then you did a piss poor job at it, Shiranui- san. I don´t have any missions. After school, I will get talk to her and if she WANTS, I will help her take care of her hair. What conditioner does she use?”

“-”

“hair mask?”

“-”

“*sigh * what kind of shampoo?”, the genin interrogated with a more and more twitching eyebrow.

“Hair shampoo?”, Genma answered already flinching.

“Her hair type?”

“Long and Silver?”

“Don´t tell me you have her wash her hair with all in one men shampoo.”, the young girl squinted at the man with a raised fist.

“No. She chose it herself. I think it is flower-scented.”

“Men.”, she sighs, “I will get Shikamaru and ask Yoshino-san what the girl likes. Pops can you take care of the shop alone? I have a girl spa day to plan in just a few hours.”

“Su- sure Ino. I got it.”, her father gulped, himself being intimidated by his daughter.

“SHIKAMARU! WE ARE VISITING YOUR MA!”, she hollered out on the streets.

“With all due respect. Your daughter can be frightening.”

“None taken. You are lucky it's not that time of the month.”

“That ti- oh – “, Genma started confused but let out a groan once he understood. He hadn´t thought about THAT time of the month. And it could start any day with Kuma. Genma paled when he thought about how he would have to talk with his ward about her menstruation, and sex with its consequences.

“Don´t they teach that in the Kunoichi classes?”

“Nope. Some of the Kunoichi are already mad that they have to learn more at the academy than boys. So they say they leave that talk to the fathers. And don´t try to persuade them. The last one who tried was on the shit list of half the kunoichi for almost two months.”

A cold shiver went down their spines. That poor guy. No Shinobi liked to mess with their female comrades. Most of them might look innocent, compared to their male counterparts, but they could be cruel and cold.

“Well, lucky for you that your first specialization is seduction. Just treat the talk as a mission report.”

“I will NOT have a talk like that with her. Who knows what was done to her other than those scars.”, he whispered the last part, and dread filled him, “Inoichi. You were in her head. Was she-”

“No. I don´t think so. I, I did not go through every little memory. But nothing made me suspect that someone took advantage of her.”

Silence hung between the two men for minutes until the head of the Nara clan entered.

“Why the gloomy atmosphere in here?”, he asked and Genma answered with a sigh.

“Kuma ran-”

“Again? What was it this time?”

“I told her she should cut her hair-”

“-”

“- the tips. So it stays healthy. She ran before I could explain that.”

“Ino is catching her after school and talking to or helping her. Girl stuff.”, Inoichi continued and Shikaku grimaced.

“So that is why she is pulling my son through the village mumbling about idiot men and their dumbness with hair. Poor boy. But he better learns now than later when he has a wife.”

All three men hummed in the union to that.

“But that´s not why you are this pale, are you?!”

Of course, nothing stayed hidden from the mastermind that is the head of the nara clan.

“Inoichi-san remembered me that there is a certain talk I still have to have with my Ward. Earlier than later. Especially with her only having one more year until graduation.

That caused the dark-haired man to laugh, “Choza and I lucked out on that one.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“You are Kuma, right? Shiranui´s ward.”, an older blond girl greeted Kuma when she left the academy after lessons, “I am Ino Yamanaka. I think you already know my father Inoichi.”

Uncertain Kuma nodded and signed “ Yes.”

“Nice to meet you. I heard today is your special day and I was wondering if you want to join me for a spa day. You have really beautiful hair. Shikamaru doesn´t be rude and congratulate her too.”

“Yo. Ma wants to know how you like your present.”, the dark-haired boy waved. He had met Kuma a few times when she was taking lessons with his mother.

“ Positive. Thank you.”, she signed.

“Ino had me run around all village all morning. She won´t force you but it was such a drag.”, he continued. Shikamaru knew about her past, he had overheard his mother complain to her father one evening a few years back.

“Of course, I wouldn´t. But every girl has the right to a day of pampering. And your hair is soooo beautiful. Tough the tips seem to break and could need a trim, maybe two centimeters, if you don´t want them to break all the way up. I can show you how to keep your hair healthy so it will grow longer without the need to cut it too often.”, Ino continued with a smile and sincerity in her voice. She had beautiful hair, Kuma noticed, and she wanted her hair to grow long and healthy.

“Ma can cut it.”, the Chunin shrugged.

She trusted Yoshino-sama. She wouldn't cut more than necessary, right?

In the end, the girl nodded an uncertain yes and slightly flinched away when Ino squealed in delight.

“Awesome. You will love how you will look afterward. Choji, I don´t know if you know him, will bring some food by his mom to the Nara compound.”

Kuma knew Choji and his father Choza, he was her Guardians sensei after all, and she loved the food they made.

In the company of the two older teenagers, Kuma walked through the village and towards the house of the nara clan head.

Yoshino Nara had cut two centimeters of Kuma´s hair, and she had to admit, it looked so much better after that. The tips that were spreading now laid straight and it felt much softer now.

“ Thank you.” , she motioned with a happy grin.

“Glad you like it.”, the matron smiled back, “Do you want me to braid it?”

“ Negative. Thank you.”

“You are even more beautiful now. Eat up and then we can go and get you all the products you need. Most are for at home, but I found a few that are awesome to take on missions. Better than those we learn in the kunoichi classes.”, the older Kunoichi awed, “And don´t worry about the money. Shiranui-san gave us enough.”

Another long minute of contemplating later she finally nodded again and started to braid her hair again.

The older girl showed her all the different stages to take care of her hair and how to apply several different remedies.

“This one I love to take on missions. You spread it in your hands and then massage it into your scalp. It will clean your roots and give your hair a beautiful scent.”, she had told her while handing her a black bottle, “And all that without the need for water.”

Now with a bag filled with (far too many), new hair products did Kuma return home to her guardian.

“You are looking good.”, he greeted her with a smile, “And I see you have a lot of new things.”

“ Apology.”

“You don´t have to apologize for anything. I have to apologize. I did not mean to bring up bad memories. I know how much you care for your hair, but I thought that was because of you being a girl. But I guess hair is very important for your clan, right?”, he sighed and Kuma nodded. She felt bad for her earlier reaction, she knew Genma would never make her do anything she would not want, and yet she had not even continued to listen to him and simply ran because losing her hair (again) had scared her.

“ Positive.”

“Can you tell me?”, he breathed

“ Important. Loss punishment and outside. Long treasure and Beauty and Worth. Style shows profession and rank. Braids only Family.”,  She signed trying not to cry about what he had been reminded of most of her life with the loss of her hair.

“Your clan uses their hair and hairstyles as a form of social communication. Hierarchy, profession, and family situation. Getting it cut is a punishment. Family members braid their hair, so it is something very private to touch it. Did I understand you right?”, he compiled everything he believed had just heard and Kuma waved her hand in a so-so motion before giving a nod. He had understood the most basic things. More she could not explain without actually speaking.

“I will never ask you to cut it again. But you need to be aware that long hair can be dangerous out there. Any opponent can grab it and then you won´t be able to get away.”, he continued with pure worry in his tone.

And she already knew that, during one of her spars with Raidon he had grabbed it to keep her from getting away from him, it had caused her to freeze in shock and lose the fight. Of course, the boy teased her with it ever since.

So she nodded with a knowing look and signed “ Spikes braid”

“Spikes? You want to braid spikes into your hair?”

“ Positive. Spikes, senbon, poison.”

“That. That could work.”, he hummed, “So. I need to have another talk with you. You are not in trouble, don´t worry, but Inoichi had made me aware of something I had suppressed and hoped I would never have to do. And trust me this will be so much worse for me than it will be for you. I so don´t want to do this.”

Those are not words a child wants to hear from the person that is one of the strongest people ever for her. She was kind of scared after that and Kuma became even more nervous when he motioned for her to take a seat on the couch.

“Okay. Do you know where children come from?”, he started and Kuma nodded confused, and pointed at her belly.

“Alright. Good. Now, for children to get in there have to be certain requirements set. One: a girl or woman must have reached a certain age and the body must have developed accordingly. Two the female must be fertile and three, the female must have either sex with a male or have her eggs fertilized by male seed.

Once the body has developed enough it will go through a fertility circle every month that ends with monthly bleeding if she was not impregnated. You might be wondering why I am telling you this, right? You are at an age where you could start your monthly bleeding- your menstruation- any day now, and I don´t want you to be scared when it happens. I will not go into detail about how sex works, but if you ever have feelings for a boy or another girl, not judgment from this side, know that you can always come to me and talk. I will help you as well as I can. Okay? God, I just sounded like an old man citing a definition out of a medic book. We can go and get stuff you might need if you want. Or I ask a kunoichi if you would rather go with another woman.”

If he was honest, he hoped Kuma would prefer another kunoichi to go with her (this talk had been embarrassing enough even though it was only natural and part of his profession) but deep down he hoped she trusted him enough that she wanted him to go with her.

“ Pain?”,  the girl wanted to ask, she had already endured so much, would she have to go to returning pain once a month?

“As much as I know differs it from woman to woman. But it is not a pleasant time of the month. You might have mood swings, or be hungry all the time. That´s normal. So don´t be afraid to growl at me when it happens. I won´t be mad. Okay?”

Musing over his words she finally nodded and asked him to go and get the things the next day. She had a feeling, one she could not pinpoint, that they should get the things earlier than later. She was feeling strange for a few days now, but nothing that would be a sign of concern.

“Ehm, sure. We can go after the academy if you want. I can meet you there.”, the man almost stuttered flustered. He would have interesting talks the next morning when he would have to ask one of the kunoichis he works with for help, “Do, do you have any questions?”

Kuma nodded no and Genma let out a relieved breath only to remember one more important thing: “Dammit. I need to make you an appointment at the hospital. You are dead if you get your period at the wrong time or place. Tracker nin can scent you from kilometers away. I know there are medications but… it's better you talk with a professional. I can do that tomorrow as well, get the appointment I mean.”

Again Kuma nodded in understanding and started to undo her braid. She had come to love to play with her now long hair and often did it to pass time or to calm her nerves.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“Look. The Pity case doesn´t even know how to use a toilet.”, Raidon shouted all over the schoolyard catching a lot of attention, and other boys entered into his shouts or started laughing.

Kuma was confused at first (She hadn´t had an accident like that since she was four. Just as everything it had been a painful time until then), but then she felt the strange wetness between her legs and she paled. Did she have an accident? But why wasn´t she smelling urine then?

“Kuma-san, can- can you come inside, please?”, Iruka-sensei mumbled almost embarrassed and the girl was sure she saw him blushing.

“ Positive.” , she signed and followed her teacher inside, trying to ignore the taunts and laughter by the boys in the courtyard.

“Uhm. Kuma-san, do- do you maybe know about periods?”

Slowly she nodded and frowned at the relieved sigh her teacher gave.

“Good. Good. I believe- maybe- could it may be that you started your period today and did not realize it?”, he stuttered further.

Kuma shrugged, only to nod the next second. Due to her past, she had learned to ignore the scent of her blood as long as she did not feel any injuries (Otherwise she would have gone crazy a long time ago), but now as he mentioned her state she realized she was indeed bleeding.

“Do you have clothes you can change into? Otherwise, I can see if we have some spare lying around. But you still need utensils to help you – with, your bleeding.”, he continued, his blush deepening with every passing word.

“ Negative. Today preparations after the academy. Too late now.”

“That is really unfortunate timing, then. Do you want me to go and ask one of the female sensei if they can help you ou- What is going on?”, he interrupted himself when screams and noises of a fight – a big fight- reached them.

“Iruka get your ass outside. We have an all-out brawl in the yard.”, another teacher Kuma did not know called before flickering away.

“Who is fighting?”, he asked out loud and his student answered with a shrug, only to run back outside. Her curiosity had been caught and she knew Iruka-sensei would not leave her back there alone. Maybe he was needed to protect the others?

The noise was extensive. Screams of children of all ages mixed in a roar. It seems as the whole academy was fighting each other or rather. The girls were fighting the boys, with only a few of both sexes to stay ´neutral´.

It was a sight to be told. Punches and Kicks were exchanged, younger children ganged up to try and beat older ones that tried (more or less successful) to use the jutsu they were taught. It was as crazy as it was astonishing and not one of the sensei knew what they had to do. A few tried to stop little skirmishes but ten teachers against nearly four hundred students were nearly impossible.

All the screaming and ruckus had quickly caught the attention of the nearby ninja and soon the schoolyard was surrounded by Chunin, Jonin, and Anbu all seeming confused and/or bemused at the situation.

Usually, fifty trained ninja should not have a problem with stopping children from fighting, but they all were hesitant to hurt them.

The fight was in the end stopped by a group of ten Nara- Jonin that used their shadows to freeze the whole fight. Just in time for the Hokage to appear and demand to know what happened.

A chorus of “ THEY STARTED IT- NO YOU DID.”, erupted and lady Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Hokage-sama. I can not recite the exact words that had been exchanged to start this, but I may be able to give the reason behind this.”, Hiraku Hyuga bowed.

“Speak freely.”

“Some male schoolmates expressed their thinking that some if not all female schoolmates are and will be useless. Because they have to take extra lessons they must be stupid and useless. Some female schoolmates took this as a direct insult and told them to shut up. It all escalated from there.”

“And what may start this exchange of words?”, the Hokage asked with slight anger, in her voice, letting her eyes roam the whole yard. And turned towards the girl that stood next to Iruka and had her hand raised.

“Kuma? I never believed you to be a troublemaker.”

“ Started bleeding today. Lightning not like.” , the girl fidgeted, embarrassed that she seemed to be the cause for this chaos.

It took the attending ninja a few moments to register what the girl had just signed and it caused all different kinds of reactions. Some of the male ninjas looked like they wanted to be anywhere but there, others (mostly the younger chunin) blushed and sputtered and some just groaned. The reactions of the attending kunoichi were different. They ranged from sympathy for the poor girl's situation to pride (about their future comrades to stand up for themselves) and anger at the behavior of the boys.

“Who is that lightning you spoke of.”, Lady Tsunade demanded to know but only got the shake of the girl's head as a return.

“That would be Raidon, Hokage-sama. He is a troublemaker and can´t seem to be able to get along with Kuma-chan.”, Iruka-sensei answered for her.

“I see. I want everyone to be checked for injuries and treated as it had been a usual spar. Then every class will return to their rooms and continue theoretical lessons. I will think about this whole situation and give my decision at the end of the school day. This will not be ignored. You are to become Ninja of the hidden leaf and not a bunch of bandits.”, she ordered and now that the minds had time to calm down, most of the children looked shocked and sorry, “Go.- Not you Kuma. Please wait. Iruka, you may leave to your class.”

Student after a student walked past Kuma back into the school. Some looked pissed, others scared, and some pitied her. To be ordered to stay back alone never meant something good.

“Sakura?”

“Hai, Tsunade-hime?”, the pink girl stepped forward.

“Take Kuma here to the infirmary, there should be hygienic articles there. See that you help her.”

“Hai- what will you do?”

“I need a drink and then decide what I will do because of this. Never thought I would have to punish a whole school because of some idiotic brat and a girl that got her period. You are not in trouble for that, Kuma, don´t worry. At least the training seems to be working somehow. Maybe we should let them spar more often against each other. Shizune, Beaver, you are in charge.”, and with these words, she flickered away and Sakura lead Kuma to help her.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“Okay listen up brats!”, lady Tsunade called out and the whole school fell quiet once again that day, “As I have already said are you training to become honorable Ninjas of the hidden leaf and not some bandits. I can not let this incident pass without addressing it. I have talked with a few jonin and Anbu that witnessed the fights and came to a decision: Seeing that nearly 98% of you decided to fight everyone will have to suffer. From this day on the weekly work table will change for at least this school year. Konoichi classes are now mandatory for every boy to attend. The girls will have mandatory survival and fighting classes at the same time. FURTHERMORE, must every single student write a report on what happened and why it was stupid and a dumb idea, you will write that next Saturday when you all have detention. Your parents and guardians will also be informed. You are dismissed and your teachers will inform you tomorrow about the exact details of the new schedule.”, she finished and dismissed the children.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“What did I hear about an all-out brawl at lunch break today?”, Genma chuckled upon meeting his ward at the gate at the entrance of the academy.

Kuma answered with a sigh and a hung head. She was still embarrassed about the fact she had been the reason it started.

“You okay though?”, he hummed and Kuma nodded with a shrug, “I asked a few kunoichis I worked with what we should get you and they were nice enough to write me a list. So if you want we can go and buy the stuff. You seem to need them after all.”

“ Positive.” , she signed, “ Thank you.”

Ward and Guardian walked through the streets to a store that was recommended by his comrade Kurenai for their excellent selection of female hygienic products and chocolate. They had just turned onto the street when Tsune Inuzuka and another female Inuzuka ninja stopped them.

“Heard you little Pup caused quite a ruckus at the academy today. Toshi, one of our kids came back with some bruises and a letter of detention. Was about to have him clean the puppy kennels when he told me what happened. Stupid boys. He was fighting alongside a few girls from his class. I wished I had seen it, nothing is better than a brawl. Here kid, heard you need it- us girls have to stick together. I think a few other kunoichi are about to give you more. You, while you did nothing, finally got rid of those stupid classes. Maybe now the next generation of Shinobi won´t be such a pain in the ass when they become genin.”, the head of the Inuzuka clan chuckled and handed Kuma a backfilled with different kinds of boxes, “You still on for our training lesson next week? Gado is missing you and I think some of the pups could do good with meeting outsiders.”

“ Thank you. Positive. Next Sunday.”

“See ya then! Take care of the Pup Shiranui and make sure to have enough meat in the fridge.”, and with these words, the Inuzuka left.

“What´s in the bag?”, he asked and Kuma showed him.

“That´s some of the stuff I was told you would need. Well, guess we don´t need that anymore. Let's bring that home first and get the rest later. We can grab something to eat on the way.”

“ Positive.”

The young girl was confused. She had done nothing other than accidentally start a fight by bleeding in her pants, because of that the kunoichi classes (many girls annoyed because they had longer schooldays than the boys) were changed to only male classes and now she was gifted things for her menstruation by other women.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“Well, Tsune mentioned others want to give you stuff, too.”, Genma stated shocked seeing the ten bags standing on the kitchen table and the surrounding chairs, “I am by no means an expert, but this looks like it will last a while. I- I will get the take-out ready, why don´t you get these bags to the side and we can sort through them after we ate if you want. Seriously why does none takes the door? I should think about sealing the damn window. Kakashi´s face, when he hits his head alone, would be worth the hassle.”

While her guardian continued rambling about how in a village of ninja windows and doors are useless did the girl place all the bags on the couch and went to the bath to wash her hands. It was then that a knock sounded from the door causing both of them to glance at it in wonder and confusion. No one knocked that they thought would show up then, usually whoever wanted something came through the window. Unless it was something official or strangers.

“ Me or you?”

“You can open.”, he answered her signed question.

Her nose picked up an unknown scent when she cracked the door open and saw the owners standing in a half-circle.

“So you are the little demon that caused my little angel to have detention and visit girl class?”, one woman immediately sneered upon noticing Kuma, “He is a BOY and now has to wear DRESSES. I hope you are proud of yourself. Because of you, he will be gay.”

“They should kick you out for causing a riot. You can´t even speak. No one will want to marry you anyway.”, another huffed.

“Because of you is my son black and blue. He cannot even eat his favorite food because his poor jaw hurts.”

“They found her in the woods, I bet she had rabies or something, that's why she doesn´t speak. Get your guardian so we can discuss a proper punishment for you.”, the last of the women ordered.

Just last year, Kuma would have reacted by shivering and covering in fear, now, because of training and experience, she held up a finger to signal “one moment”, closed the door, and turned around to see her guardian standing there with pure anger on his face.

“Kuma, let me handle this, alright?”, he nearly growled but she shook her head no, and signed  “Shadow Lady.”

Shadow Lady were the signs she used to reference Yoshino Nara. She had after all told her to get her if anyone started to treat her like her clan again. And who would be better to deal with mothers than a mother herself?

“You want me to get Yoshino Nara? That- I will be right back.”, he grinned and flickered away.

One minute later a furious matriarch stood in their kitchen, wearing an apron and having a cleaver in her hand (looked like she had been cooking), accompanied by Choza´s wife who looked slightly calmer but not by much.

“Hello Ku-”, Yoshino-sama smiled but was interrupted by a loud banging on the door.

“We are waiting for you, stupid little girl.”

“She is as stupid as she is ugly. Open up now!”

“This will have consequences you brat! My husband is the head of the trader's union and because of you, our little angel has to wear dresses in school. His honor is destroyed. Open up!”

The anger rolled off the two women who marched to the door and ripped it open so hard it looked like it was falling off the hinges.

“How dare you.”, Yoshino sneered coolly, “How dare you to show up here and talk to a little girl like this.”

“La- Lady Nara.”, one of the mothers stuttered.

“You will apologize to Kuma right now and teach your children to respect. And don´t try and start to give some untrue explanations. We know what happened at the school and we know your sons deserve any disciplinary actions they received. One. Just one more word that is not an apology and I will drag your asses to Lady Tsunade myself. And if I ever hear you talk about or to her the way you just did and there will be consequences.”

“It´s a pity, we had always a good business relationship with your husband. But it cannot respect the future of this village or the decisions the Hokage makes we will have to look for another source of produce for our restaurants. And your dresses were always so beautiful, I fear Yoshino-san we have to find another seamstress.”, the matriarch of the Amakichi clan added, apparently addressing two other women.

Not waiting for any answers the two of them turned around and closed the door on the group.

“The nerve they have. I am sorry, Kuma. If they or other mothers bother you again just come and find one of us. They can be glad you asked Shiranui to get us and not Tsune, she would have eaten them alive.”

“I will bring you some of my special herbs tomorrow and some sweets I am currently baking.”, Lady Amikichi added and the two of them flickered away.

“Well. Let´s eat.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Yelps of pain caught Kuma´s attention on her way back from the detention that Saturday night.

“I am gone for two weeks on a small business trip and what do I have to learn? My useless son became a useless girl.”, a man growled around the corner and she followed the sounds of punches.

“Are you going to wear dresses as well? Huh? If you are so desperate to do girl stuff you can take over your mother's tasks.”, the man continued and another pained whimper answered.

The sounds had brought her to a wall that must have a garden behind and she contemplated on looking for an adult for help but was stopped in her tracks when a known scent hit her nose. Lightning.

“Father, I- I am sorry. It´s that stupid girl's fault, she-”, Raidon cried and Kuma was shocked, all the while anger started to rise in her veins.

“The little girl you are too weak and stupid to beat in a spar. Oh, I heard all about that from customers. You are a disgrace to this family. You should up and hurry up to become a Genin. At least then I am finally rid of you. And maybe to stay on one of those missions forever.”

Pure hatred for the man took over Kuma´s body and she caught herself jumping onto the wall, to see her classmate being a bloody pulp on the floor of a garden and a man standing over him with his bloodied fists raised.

A deep growl erupted from within her chest and when the man raised his fist again she acted. Jumping in between the man and her classmate, she caught his fist and kicked his legs from beneath him. Like a feral animal, she towered over the much older and larger man and steered him down with deep growling for a few seconds before she turned around, pulled the boy over her shoulder (like they had learned at the academy), and got out of there and towards the nearest place to hide.

“You going to take revenge now?”, he croaked the second they hid within a group of trees.

She shook her head no and motioned to his wounds.

“ Check? Injuries need treatment.”

“Mrph.”, he snorted and looked away in shame and distrust, a look she had seen too much on her face.

Careful she touched his face and rips to check if any bones were broken, luckily they weren´t, but he still hissed in pain. Slowly she lifted his shirt to see new bruises upon old ones upon older ones. He was abused as well.

“Go ahead laugh about me. I am weak and useless. Can´t beat you even in a spar.”, he dared in a defensive manner. It was his coping mechanism like fear and submission had been hers.

Kuma shook her head “NO” and turned his head to make him look at her. She needed him to understand that she was not an enemy, that she knew what he went through, and that he was not alone. Finally, he followed her silent pleas without really wanting to only for him to splutter in shock when his classmate lifted her shirt before him and revealed the abundance of scars that littered her body.

“ Not alone.”,  Kuma signed, her eyes pleading for him to understand and to allow her to help like Genma and the others had helped her.

“You. You… who?”, he stuttered, he had always seen her as the girl who was loved.

“ Clan. Long ago. Now better. Now safe.”

Shocked he did not move for a while until Kuma stood and offered him her hand. He took it and she guided him back to their flat.

“ I treat wounds. Sit. Strip.” , she ordered motioning for her classmate to take a seat on one of the kitchen stools before leaving for the bath to get everything she would need. It took her nearly an hour until she was done cleaning the wounds, stitching and binding them. One hour that neither one of the children said something.

Knowing out of her own experience how people that had been abused felt did she leave him alone and waited for him to come and open up to her.

While she waited for him to do so, did Kuma gather some clean clothes for him to change into and started preparing some soup for them to eat. Genma had left money and a filled fridge a day prior before he had left on his three-day-long mission.

Once it was finished she placed a bowl on the little couch table in front of him and sat down at the table to eat her fill.

“ You stay here. I get you things and then sleep.”,  she told Raidon and went to gather the spare cover and pillow they kept around in case Kakashi needed a place to crash.

“I ca-can´t.”, he mumbled shocked but Kuma just placed the things down, shrugged, and motioned to her door.

“ Need help, wake me. Night.”,  she declared, turned around, and went to sleep.

In reality, she lay there awake, thinking about what she had just learned and how she could help him.

Around 3 am did she finally hear his breathing calming; he had fallen asleep.

“Morning little bear. Want to tell me why your bully sleeps on your couch?”, the masked ninja hummed from his place on the windowsill when she entered the kitchen.

The boy was still sleeping on the couch. Curled together as small as humanly possible for a boy of his size.

“ I help. He like me.” , she signed before preparing some tea and offering him something.

“Mah. What do you mean?”

“ Father dangerous. I helped. Now here.”,   she explained and it dawned on Kakashi.

“His father is abusing him as your clan did with you?”

“ Positive.”

“Mah. I see. Well, I just came because there was a trail of dried blood leading up to the door. I am glad you are alright. See you around.”, he waved goodbye and jumped.

Raidon slept for another two hours until he jerked away with a whimper and it took him a few minutes until he remembered where he was.

“You stay here. Tomorrow we talk Sensei. He helps.” , Kuma told her classmate a few hours later when she noticed that he became nervous.

-.-.-.-.-.-.

“Kuma, Raidon. I have to admit I never thought I would see you two together this early. School only starts in one hour. What can I do for you?”.

“ Lightning help. Father bad.”,  Kuma signed, knowing her classmate was too embarrassed to speak up first.

“What do you mean with his father is bad? Raidon?”, Iruka-sensei asked his interest caught, but Raidon only shook his head and looked away in shame. So Kuma took matters into her own hands and pulled up his shirt to reveal all the different bruises that littered his skin.

A shocked gasp escaped the teacher's chest and at once he knelt in front of them.

“Are you telling me that his father did this, Kuma?”, he frowned and the girl nodded.

“Is it true Raidon? Is your father doing that to you?”, he continued and finally did the boy nod, “It was good to bring that to my attention. I will speak with a few people and we can see where we will go from there. For now, I have to ask the two of you to wait outside until school starts.”

The two kids nodded and returned to the schoolyard.

“ I not mad you return to the group.”,  Kuma signed upon noticing one of Raidons friends were approaching, and after a grateful smile he left her alone to join his friend.

Part 6

AN 2.0:

I hope you liked it.

Comments, likes, and Reblogs are always appreciated.

@resaldasan I tagged you because you seemed to like the other parts. if that is not okay let me know and i won't do it again. if anyone else wants to be tagged please send an ask :)

[violet975]

Random thoughts.

So i replayed BOTW a while ago for the first time and decided to write down some of the random thoughts that i get while exploring Hyrule, here they are.

… A lot of these things gave me some fanfic ideas and I hope that they will do the same for someone more competent.

It's realty in character that the response to being asked why you took the man's torch is either to bludgeon things to death with it or to be a pyromaniac.

When the tower pedestal shines, Link instinctively leans back for a second before diving right back in because curiosity kills the cat.

The message from the slate/tower is to watch out for falling rocks which either means that 

1: zelda is writing them (and has a fair bit of free reign still).

2: the ancient Sheikah could see the future.

3: Ai to the likes of Fi.

Ganon kinda reawakens when the towers are up so maybe he was resting and building a body until he was interrupted here, which could be why his form later is such a hodgepodge of the Blights?.

Link is not too naive since he kinda clamps up in his answers to the totally unimportant old man.

Did Link briefly make eye-contact with the camera when he got the spirit orb!?

Link is a bit freaked out in his "How did you know!?" Response cas now he knows something major is up when the old man directly mentions the spirit orb.

Again, in character that you can choose to be an impatient brat with the "paraglider please?" Or inquisitive when Roam points out the slate.

Either run out of temper with the "that wasn't the deal!" Or be resigned with "so I need more now?" When the old fart sends you off to the other three shrines.

Ohh, another adrenaline junkie option with the "got it!" Over climbing the tower for a good view or a Deadpan "are you joking?".

"Or so i heard quite some time ago.. I do not know if it actually works as such" so they did not get teleporting to work before? or he just didn't learn how it was done.

So the monks, according to how the Triforce signs they held, apparently associate Power with Magnesis, Wisdom with bombs, Stability with stasis and Courage with cryonis?

The monks dissipate into green specks like Ganon’s soul does under the castle!

I'm not into men but damn if Link doesn't look good in the Warm Doublet.

Oh. My. God, he was King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule!!!!!

Link is such a dumbass, you get to ask Kass "are you a ...bird?" As if the man isn't standing right in front of you. No shit Sherlock! What next, is that a recorder?.

OhhohoHO! You either say "no(, i have not heard of them)" or "Ancient songs?" As if you do not initially realize why they are thought to be ancient which either is old memories warring with the now world or Link not realizing what impact The Calamity had on culture.

Another flat-faced sarcastic remark everyone!

When Manny mentions that his job is checking for beauties/sus people you can either be a dumb dunce and ask about the said beauties or a little menace with "sounds though".

Manny is an Incel, talks a big game and puts himself on top of a pedestal alongside being demanding and a creep.

Does Hateno not have a goddess shrine? Just the ~Evil~ one?

There is a pair of rusty knights sword and shield by the leftmost part of the walkway of Fort Hateno. Some knight probably died laying there, watching out over the field of guardians having been/being purged by Zelda.

A traveler (Chelessa) is interested in history and wants to question Impa about it, and is on her way to do so in fact. . Describes her personality as very pleasant, that must be wrong.

The Yiga know exactly how Links first waking moments played out so either they have extensive knowledge about his character and the setup of the Shrine Of Resurrection or Ganon was watching in on Zelda's call and relayed it to a minion in the clan.

"Hero boy" - derogatory.

Arrow in the eye of the bridge at the entrance of Kakariko, the Yiga are petty and I love it.

Piano's (the painter) hair bun thing that is styled like a pencil has paint on the tip... this man painted with his hair.

So the great fairy Cotera makes it sound like she will enchant your gear because you rejuvenated her, not because you bring the materials to do the enchanting.

The levels of enchantment seemingly depends on physical closeness to the Fairy (blow< indirect kiss< kiss < sex)

She can not enchant beyond Lv 1 without her sister's help, so they share power?

Paya specifies that they have watched over the Orb since the grandmother of the grandmother of Impa, that's 9 whole generations of long lived Sheikah! roughly 1000 years of recorded history!

Again with Link being a dense Shonen protagonist with "where is it?" Or a sly bastard with "really, though?"... maybe so that she would want to prove it ;) 

…”I'll answer you some day, just not today!”

Either Paya is just not ready for that or she is so nervous that she did not think about the fact that her own grandmother was in the room when she said it!

“Served the royal family in secret” so it's not common knowledge that the royals have a village of Magic ninjas!? No wonder it took a damn demon to topple it instead of rebellion or infighting... probably has been like this since the old old king banished 'em.

"The royal family was destroyed, and the members of our tribe scattered."- okay so it was probably some Sheikah that either thought the royal family was completely extinct and either fled or, according to this next bit- "Sadly, there were some who swore allegiance to Ganon at that time. They joined together as the Yiga Clan, seeking out all who opposed Ganon... cutting them down, one after another." 

So from that we get to know that not all Sheikah deserters became enemies (unless the Sheikah dislike defectors enough to hunt them down) and others who either joined an existing opposing group or simply up and created the Yiga clan that then aligned itself with Ganon... probably under either the belief that Hylia's line was extinct and that it was join or die or because they wished to spite the goddess and her followers.

I actually like this way more because it makes no sense that the Yiga could survive before the Calamity when the Royals would have an entire damn country and anbu black-ops to hunt them down with.

"Master link, now that you are awake, you are surely the most formidable opponent standing against them!" Either hero worship or the Sheikah are freshly out on capable warriors with Ninja magic tricks, probably the latter which would explain why the world isn't infested with Lynels or why hynoxes haven't just trampled every settlement.

"No doubt they will come for you, employing whatever underhanded methods they can device" 

oh come on! Do not tell me that i'm stuck with the goodie two shoe ninja clan!? Underhandedness is your bread and butter! No wonder you served the royals in secret because you and them by proxy would have been a laughingstock otherwise!!!

"The great fairy Cotera... few remain who know that this village was built under her watchful eye." So the village is fairy new and the Yiga came about before Kakariko or it is old and so well protected that they can't get in... at least not easily.

"The mysterious power of Cotera is that of sacred protection..." so the Great fairies are linked to either Hylia or the gods, good to know.

So it’s not that Cotera “-would be happy to help” but, instead “i can't think of any reason why she wouldn't be happy to help you”. so either she only directly helps men or the earlier "you can put your trust in the great fairy" means that she judges more favorably for the chosen hero.

"I heard that the weather is going to be beautifully tomorrow... to bad you won't be alive to enjoy it"

So they have weather accurate~ich prediction? through magic or old time methods?

Again: Hero boy - derogatory... It's a common nickname for Link within the Yiga.

The lush green shrine could tell that a buck was on it, so the platforms are most definitely scanners.

A travelers sword by a campfire at the foot of mount Lanayru, so someone either took a swim and died to the Lizardfo, dramatically quit or got killed in their sleep.

Love the effect when you have metal weapons on the ground and swing a ThunderBlade!

You automatically reflect the Octorock's rocks, goes faster if you do it manually.

There is a hollowed out part of a hill/mountain with a lot of fic potential to the North-West of the Sword by the campfire.

Located where the lines meet if you draw a line to the right from Rabia plain and up from Trotter's Downfall.

Koko of Kakariko has been deceived by my cunning and slight-of-hand. 

Yes, Sagessa (woman by the lake of the Dueling peaks stable), there is, in fact, something "quite romantic" in Link's "endeavor" to save Zelda, thank you for noticing!

The chests inside the shrines can only (non-violently) be opened by use of the Sheikah slate so why not steal a few? prefect safe-keeping for more stuff to keep in Links house.

Dunce moment everyone! 

The Yiga traveler tries to seduce Link and you either go with "OK..." so he either has no damn idea about what is going on or is just not good with women? 

Orrrrr you go with a straight "I refuse!" cas you see through their ruse and want to rub their face in the dirt!

According to Mina the Hylian, taking out two Bokoblins is considered as great martial caliber which both she and her traveling companion could not do while decently armed.

Best way to deal with a guardian scout when you have weak weapons: hit with electricity, switch weapon, hit 2-5 times, switch to electric, repeat.

When you first enter the area around Hyrule Castle, smoke Ganon throws a fit until Zelda slaps him away. 

This either means that Zelda canonically gets a larger workload from there on and out or that the both of them push harder against each other every time you get close.

According to Zelda's diary, Link was assigned as her guard after the champions had been appointed.

How Link was focused on her yet did not voice his thoughts apparently "makes my imagination run wild!". Either romantic or dense.

Link admits to staying quiet because of the pressure of being the boy chosen by the sword. 

King Rhoam mentions that he decided to honor THE royal family's traditions by naming his daughter Zelda, and that he is "not a man accustomed to frivolous musings". 

Basically confirming that he is not the parent of royal blood.

They probably knew about The Calamity for a good while cas the page after zelda's naming speaks of the fortune teller, probs 3-8 years since Zelda was described to already have vast interest in the relics.

Pikango gets up at 10 past 5, I spent the night watching him and Beetle sleep.

According to all known laws of aerodynamics, Rito should not be able to fly, is Revali's gale then just an absurdly strong variation of some kind of sky Arcanum that all Rito possess? Do all the races possess one as Well?

Slimes ate the Bokoblins in the tree base at the center of the west Hyrule fields.

Savelle is a helpful guy without a pension for violence.

Munk Shae Loya is just flexing on all the other Munks, those old farts need to sit down while he's been squatting on one leg the last 10'000 years.

Chork of the Tabantha Bridge Stable is drunk.

Toren is either naive or a simp for the Faireys.

If you have the Hylian hood equipped with no weapon while riding at max speed then your cape will flap.

"Sweet boy..." "...I see now that my first impression of you was correct. You most definitely are pleasant to look at." 

So link has some kind of presence/soul-thingy that appears pleasant to mystical creatures? Might be the spirit of the hero or this link in particular.

The Fairy Kaysar makes Link blush! No player input needed! We’ve found one of his types!... either that or he's just shy.

The fairies almost never use normal materials to enchant, it's always either monster parts that don't dissipate or things that grow in magical arias.

The Sheikah towers are sturdy as all hell, the Tabantha tower did not even get a scratch from a giant fucking pillar falling on it.

Okay, am I just crazy or is a Lizardfo and a Moblin holding a class for 5 bokoblins just to the left of the Tabanta fairy fountain!?

Lester, the wise curry rice guy at Rito Stable, describes Link as sunny boy, another point to the soul/aura theory thingy.

Phontos laughs to hide the pain.

According to the story that Kass sings. 

Calamity Ganon was the result of sealing the enemy at its source.

It fought not only the spawn of the Goddess and the bearer of the Spirit Of The Hero but also the army of Guardians and the Champions that piloted the Divine Beasts for quite some time, as implied in the "and the guardians protected them throughout every hour".

So what i get from this is that the attack 10 000 years ago was the first sighting of what we know as calamity Ganon. 

It was also far stronger than the one that attacked 100 years ago which implies that that one was either a rush job or that Ganon bounds had been tightened, both of which would drive him to seek out other methods like corrupting the Guardians.

...And the Guardians are apparently powered by the ancient blue energy which was, time-line wise, first shown when the Golden Goddesses created the world.

No wonder that Ganon was capable of doing this since he most likely is running on fumes, spite and the power of the Triforce which likely is made of/channels said energy.

According to the rumor mill, you need the blood of the Hero in your veins to wield the Master Sword, if this is accurate then that means that Fi is sentimental or that Link has magic blood.

Wildberrys are fucking massive.

Genli (the salmon child) is a cunt, one kid was crying about someone Vah Medoh killed and then Genli is all like "no don't stop it, if you do then i have to go to class again!", She would fit right in with today's youth.

Monk Akh Va'quot has the best position so far, he is just done with your shit.

"You adventurers are Crazy" -> "you're right"

You get nothing if you melt all the ice by the Tabantha tower! You lose! Good day sir!

Monk Daka Tuss got bored during his self-inflicted quarantine and started stacking his arm bands.

Tula (the bathing Zora) said "wow either you are a Hylian or hideously deformed"

Phura has vandalized and mounted one of the spirit frog statues above her door.

Okay but the fucking noice that comes out of Bolson when you buy everything!! It's as if you just walked up and twisted his nuts with the power fit to shield block a Lynel’s charge.

Is the flower by Link's bed a Korok version of a Silent Princess?

The monsters of Hyrule are show to have interest in consumption based on three accounts. 

1: the Bocoblins and the Moblins by Hateno bay steal cattle. 

2: Hynoxes carry around warriors foodstuffs. 

3: Moblins (or at least the ones by the camp near the Serenne stable/forgotten temple) have a resting animation where they dig through the dirt and stuff something down their goblet.

...not to mention that nearly every camp has a bit of meat roasting by the fire.

Koyin has joined the fan-club!

God, the Naydra snowfield is fucking loaded in chill-shromes!

Stasis is perfect for looking for ingredients in forests, just open it, look around and bam! No more hidey hoe.

Why no shiny text for hylia's statue!?

I really do not like that they changed Naydra's colors when the malice was removed, they were so cool and then bam! White! White is not the color for ice and cold!

When praying by the spring of wisdom you are facing Hyrule castle, the same with courage and power if my memory serves me right.

...The master Torch

The Katona Aug shrine is just fucking mini-golf, how is that meant to prepare the hero?! Imagine how that Monk goes to the afterlife and has to look his fellows straight in the eye and admit that he was so lazy that not only did he make the hero play golf, not only was he so lazy that he made the Hero play mini-golf, but that he was so lazy that he did not even make a course! It is literally just a straight line!

Robie wants to see Links scars to verify that he is who he says that he is, Robie was likely one of the ninja that took Link to the shrine of resurrection.

Oh and Robin has two interesting sketches in his lab, the first is a detailed graph of a Sheikah tower so those were likely known about long before Link activated one (the one closest to Robin would be the one covered in malice and guardians so he could not have gotten enough detail from that one).

And the other is a sketch of what I believe is either a tier 2 or tier 3 guardian scout. Now, how can Robin know how that looks if only Link can/could enter shrines?

The Sheikah shrine that has the Barbarian helm is located at the end of the Sinai maze, did they just plop the shrine down there and steal the treasure of the ruin to later present to the hero?

There is one usable room in the citadel.

There is no compendium slot for the malice eyes that litter Naydra, Hyrule Castle and the Divine Beasts.

You can change the element of already elemental slime, not just the neutral kind.

Those head-spitting fuckers inside the divine beasts! They are partially reanimating mobs! So it's not that the Blood Moon is the time where Ganon is at his strongest, it's just where he chooses to revive everything.

The edge of duality can also be found in the shrine at the top of the dueling peaks.

[nightofthemeteor]

Modern AU/Mythology AU

(Also here on AO3)

They were children when they met. They had to have been children, for if they had met as adults, they would have known too much, and their meeting would have been very different.

It happened on an awful, stormy day in early spring, and it began with Hashirama huddled and miserable in a cave. Even at fourteen, Hashirama knew the mountain as well as he knew his own family – he wouldn’t have ventured out this far into the forest if there had been any chance of a storm like this. And yet, despite the season, there was a blizzard raging outside. It was a tengu wind, Hashirama knew; only a tengu wind could rise so suddenly and sting so badly. He was lucky he’d been able to take shelter in this cave, but now he was trapped without warm clothing or the tools to make a fire. Curled into a ball with his arms around his knees, Hashirama had no choice but to wait out the storm, and eventually shivered himself into a fitful sleep.

When he awoke, the cave was dark, and he was wonderfully, deliciously warm. Hashirama wondered for a moment if he’d frozen to death, and this was the moment before his new reincarnation. But, no – he could still feel the rocky floor of the cave where he’d gone to sleep digging uncomfortably into his legs. He was warm because he was wrapped in something, something soft…something that was moving, gently and rhythmically, as if it were breathing. Hashirama reached out a tentative hand and felt soft feathers beneath his fingertips.

His breath caught in his throat. The tengu – for that was what the creature curled around Hashirama had to be – shifted around him with a whisper of feathers. And then, in the darkness, Hashirama found himself staring into a single, glowing red eye.

Hashirama’s insides had turned to ice, but he still retained enough of his wits to remember to be polite. “Hello, Tengu-sama,” he whispered to the eye.

The eye blinked.

Feeling a little encouraged, Hashirama said, “Thank you for protecting me from your storm.”

This got an affronted shuffling of feathers; Hashirama backtracked. “Not your storm?” Another blink – acknowledgement, Hashirama imagined. “Ah, I see. You’re stuck in here, too.” The tengu didn’t react to that, which Hashirama took to mean he’d guessed right. Without thinking, he ran his fingers through the feathers under his hand and was surprised when the tengu leaned against him, like a cat asking for more scratches. “Well,” he said, “Thank you for keeping me company. At least we can wait out the storm together.”

The eye disappeared; the tengu shifted position again, tucking its head back under its wing, or so Hashirama imagined. Hashirama knew he should take this chance and run – tengu were dangerous and unpredictable, wild spirits of the mountains, and there was no telling what this one might do to him – but the blizzard was still howling outside, and at least in here it was warm. Seeing no better option, Hashirama leaned back against his new, feathery companion, closed his eyes, and drifted back to sleep.

When he woke again, the cave was lit with sunlight, and the tengu was gone.

---

Madara wasn’t exactly sure why he bothered to find the human again. He was already sliding dangerously in the direction of his father’s bad side – that blizzard had been a nasty reprimand, with Madara still too young to control his powers well enough to fight back. Now that his flight feathers had grown in, Madara had found he wasn’t terribly interested in the clan politics he was supposed to be learning. His father’s world was full of restrictions: don’t use any of your powers without permission; don’t question your elders; and, most importantly of all, don’t come into contact with humans. And that, perhaps, was why Madara let himself slide out of the shadows of the trees and into view of the young human.

The boy in front of him tensed, reaching instinctively for an arrow; Madara prepared himself to fight, but the human relaxed and lowered his bow. “Tengu-sama,” he said, and smiled.

Madara looked down at himself in confusion. “How did you know?��� He’d appeared in human form – had he made a mistake somewhere? But no: his purple robe was a perfectly normal style for a human, and on his head was definitely spiky black hair, not feathers.

The human boy in front of him shrugged. “I don’t know – you just sort of…feel the same?”

“That’s weird,” Madara informed him.

To Madara’s surprise, the boy sighed deeply. “I knew it,” he said, utterly dejected. “I must really be a freak if even a spirit thinks I’m weird.”

“Wait – that’s not what I – ” Madara stuttered to a halt, realizing that the boy wasn’t distraught at all – he was laughing at him from under those bangs. “Hey, what do you mean ‘even a spirit’?!”

The human raised his head to reveal a smug, aggravating smile. “Are you really my age?” he asked cheerfully. “To think I was so scared of you!”

Madara drew on the shadows around him, forming the shape of massive, ever-shifting wings to tower over his back, and let his black human eyes flash red. “You should be afraid of me!” he hissed.

The human’s eyes widened in awe, but to Madara’s chagrin, he watched this show of power without the least sign of fear. “Wow!” he said to the writhing mass of shadow. “What’s your name? Mine’s Hashirama!”

Madara sighed, content for the moment to at least have impressed the human – Hashirama – and let himself shrink back to his still-unfamiliar human form. “You can call me Madara,” he said.

“It’s nice to meet you again, Madara,” said Hashirama, and dipped his head in a clumsy bow.

“Hmph.” Madara crossed his arms, trying not to show that he was pleased. “So, Hashirama, what are you doing this far into the forest?”

“Looking for mushrooms!” Hashirama replied, with more excitement than this answer really warranted. “I know I saw some good ones around here the other day.”

“You’re lucky you’re with a tengu, then. I know this forest better than any human.”

“Oh, is that so!”

As the two of them left to walk together through the forest, neither of them noticed the tiny seedlings that sprung to life in Hashirama’s footsteps.

---

When Hashirama was nineteen, a beautiful young woman with fiery red hair came to his town.

“She’s definitely interested in you,” he was informed by his little brother, Tobirama, with a healthy amount of disdain.

“Can you at least pretend to stay out of my business?” Hashirama snapped back, uncharacteristically annoyed. If he was honest with himself, he had mixed feelings about Tobirama’s analysis. If anyone had asked him half a year ago if he would like a gorgeous woman to mysteriously arrive out of nowhere and fall in love with him, he would have offered his right hand to make it happen – but although Hashirama had always been a bit of a romantic, lately his thoughts on that score had turned in a…different direction.

But that was only half of the problem. Though nobody else had seemed to notice, Hashirama had realized right away that there was something different about the woman calling herself Mito.

“You’re not entirely human, are you?” he asked her, the next time they were alone together. Hashirama had always been in favour of the direct approach.

She stopped in the action of brushing a strand of hair behind his ear, and carefully withdrew her hand, looking at him with sharp, bright eyes. “You’re perceptive,” she said. “I should have anticipated that.”

“I have some experience with shapeshifters,” Hashirama told her, a little ruefully. “But I don’t think I’ve met one like you…?” He made the end of his statement into a question, hoping she would answer.

“Can’t you guess?” she asked playfully. At Hashirama’s flat look, she said, “Come on. A girl can’t give up all her secrets that easily.”

“Are you actually like this?” Hashirama asked. “Or are you trying to seduce me?”

“Er…” for the first time, Mito actually looked a little awkward. “I’ll be honest: I was trying to seduce you.”

“Don’t worry; I’ve heard the stories. Humans are kind of hard to interact with unless you’re giving them something they want, right? I don’t take it personally.”

Mito laughed at that, the light catching in her bright red hair as she did. “You’re a very strange human, Hashirama!”

“I’ve heard that before,” Hashirama replied with amusement. More seriously, he added, “But I don’t understand why you would choose me to seduce. What do you want from me?”

“Like I said, Hashirama: I have to keep my secrets.” Mito looked at him appraisingly, her head cocked to one side. “Let’s just say you have some interesting qualities – for a human.”

“Fine – you don’t have to tell me. But can you drop the whole – ?” Hashirama waved his hands vaguely in her direction, too uncomfortable to actually articulate what he meant; she smirked at him in response. “Whatever you want, you can just ask me, alright? I mean – I’d like to be friends.”

“Alright,” she said, sounding surprised. “Friends it is.”

---

“Kitsune,” Madara spat.

The fox sat back on her haunches and began to unconcernedly wash one of her paws. “Tengu-san,” she replied.

Madara, roosted in the branches above her, hunched his wings threateningly. He was the power in the forests around here, and she could do with a reminder of that. “Stay away from the human boy, Kitsune. He’s mine – understand?”

“Relax, Tengu-san. He already called me on the trick.” She dipped her head at him in sarcastic deference. “He’s all yours for the seducing.”

Madara wasn’t buying it. “What do you want with him?”

The fox cocked her head to one side quizzically. “The same thing you want, I assume? He may be a human, but you must know he has the power of the forest inside him.”

He’d guessed it years ago, of course, but hearing another magical being acknowledge it like that made Madara’s stomach drop. “You feel drawn to him, don’t you?”

“Others will be drawn to him as well, as his power grows stronger. You did well to get in with him early, Tengu-san. Better act fast to lock him down.”

“Kitsune,” Madara called, as she turned to leave. His stomach was in knots now; asking her this would be showing unforgivable weakness, but he might never have another chance to have his suspicions confirmed. “What does it feel like when you’re with him?” he asked. “You said the power of the forest draws you to him. Does it make you feel breathless when he looks at you? Does it…” he swallowed hard. “Does it give you a hollow feeling when you say goodbye to him?”

The fox looked at him in silent surprise for a moment, and then barked out a laugh. “No, Tengu-san, it does not!” she said, laughter in her voice. “I feel a pull towards him, yes, but my heart is still my own. I believe you are in love with him.”

“Oh,” said Madara gruffly. “Er, thanks.”

When the kitsune had gone, he considered his course of action. In any other circumstance, Madara would have done his best to deny his feelings about Hashirama – he’d been managing that successfully for years now, and could probably have sustained it for quite some time. But this was different; now he had competition, and Madara’s nature couldn’t ignore that.

So what if the kitsune was trying to seduce his human? Madara could perform a seduction as well, and he had the advantage of knowledge, thanks to years of friendship with Hashirama. He could win this battle – all it would take was some careful planning and an artful execution.

---

“Where did you find this?” Hashirama exclaimed in delight.

Madara shrugged nonchalantly, his blue-black mane of hair shifting over his shoulders, but Hashirama could tell he was pleased with Hashirama’s reaction. “I told you: I know this forest better than anyone.”

By now, Hashirama knew this wasn’t quite true: he knew the mountain at least as well as his tengu friend, sometimes even better. Even so, Hashirama would be able to equal Madara’s skill at finding far-off treasures of the forest, for the simple reason that Madara could fly. Hashirama cradled the branch Madara had brought him in his hands, admiring the small white flowers with their elegant, delicate petals. “I’ll bet I can graft his onto one of my trees,” he said, already planning how he would do it.

“So…you like it?” Madara asked, a strange edge in his voice.

Hashirama beamed at him. “Of course I do! Thank you, Madara!”

His friend turned a very interesting shade of pink. “Great! Um…good, that’s good.”

Hashirama waited patiently for a further explanation – an account of how he’d stumbled across a wild apricot tree, maybe, or something that had prompted this gift – but when none was forthcoming, he prompted gently, “I didn’t know you were so interested in plants.”

“I am, uh, interested – that is to say, I was thinking…uh…” To Hashirama’s fascination, the tengu was flushing even further. Was this some strange consequence of his shapeshifting? Now a little concerned, Hashirama leaned forwards to get a better look.

“Are you alright?” he asked. Maybe he was overheating? Hashirama laid a hand against Madara’s forehead to check.

“Hgk,” said Madara.

“Hmm, you do feel a little warm,” Hashirama told him. “If you were human, I’d tell you to get some rest, but what about a spirit like you? I have to admit I don’t really know anything about – ”

And then he shut up, because Madara was kissing him. Later, Hashirama would remember how Madara’s hands on his shoulders were trembling a little, and how Madara’s hair felt almost exactly like his feathers had under Hashirama’s fingertips all those years ago. But in the moment, all he could think was why haven’t I done this before?

After just a brief moment, Madara pulled back, his eyes wide and startled. “I didn’t mean for it to happen like that!” he blurted.

Hashirama blinked at him. “What?” was all he could manage to say.

“I’m sorry! I had it all planned out, and then I just…went and…”

He looked so distressed; Hashirama felt the only reasonable response was to reassure him by leaning forwards and kissing him again.

When they parted, Hashirama smiled at him, suddenly feeling shy. “I’m glad you did,” he said.

Madara looked about as thunderstruck as Hashirama felt, but at these words, a slow grin spread across his face. “You mean…you wanted me to do that?”

“Madara, I’ve wanted that for ages!”

“But,” Madara objected, “What about Mito?”

“Mito? Oh! I’m not interested in her like that.”

“Good,” said Madara huffily, “You know she’s only trying to seduce you for your powers, right?”

Up until now, Hashirama had been just barely staying afloat in the rapids of this conversation, but this last question threw him completely. Confused, he pulled a little away from Madara and repeated, “Powers?”

“Yes, the power of the forest! That…you…” Madara trailed off, seeing the expression on Hashirama’s face. “You…didn’t know?”

“No,” Hashirama whispered. He’d been about to deny the possibility that there was anything supernatural about him – he was an ordinary human, had been all his life – but the words evaporated on his tongue. He wasn’t really an ordinary human at all, was he? Sure, his life was ordinary enough, in general: he foraged and hunted in the forest; he tended his garden and grew fruit trees; he did his best to live in peace with the spirits of the mountain. He was just a bit unusually good at finding what he was looking for, at predicting the changing weather and coaxing things to grow. If that talent really did have a magical explanation, then the one truly unusual thing about his life suddenly made a lot of sense: his inexplicable friendship with a tengu.

“Is that why you showed yourself to me?” Hashirama asked, the thick certainty of it beginning to clog his throat. Why else would a tengu, a spirit born from a falling star, show any interest in a human like him?

“No!” Madara protested, vehement at first – but then he paused, considering. “Well – maybe at first, but I didn’t even know about your magic back then. And it has nothing to do with the way I feel about you now!”

These words were meant to reassure him, but instead, an even more horrible thought took root in Hashirama’s mind. If Hashirama had somehow influenced Madara before they’d even met, without either of them realizing it…was it possible he’d made Madara kiss him?

“I think you should go,” he said. Anger at Madara for keeping this secret from him was mixing with guilt at the thought of what he might have unwittingly done to his best friend, making him feel sick to his stomach.

“Hashirama – !”

“Go!” Hashirama shouted.

Madara disappeared in a burst of feathers, leaving Hashirama alone.

---

The wind was howling as fiercely as it had the day they had met, but this time, instead of snow, rain was falling in a deluge that soaked through Madara’s feathers in seconds. In his turmoil, he’d settled on neither bird nor human form, but something in between – he was walking on human legs, but catching the wind of the storm in feathered wings sprouting from his back, and his hands, when he looked at them, had birdlike talons on the end of each finger. He glared furiously at a tree in front of him; a bolt of lighting flashed, and the tree exploded, splinters of wood flying past him in the storm. Madara felt, for a moment, just the tiniest bit of satisfaction before fury and anguish overtook him once again.

Why had he let slip the truth about Hashirama’s powers? No – why hadn’t he told his friend about them sooner? Everything had been going perfectly – not exactly the way Madara had planned, but still, he’d kissed Hashirama! And Hashirama had said he was glad Madara had done it, and had kissed him back! How had things gone so wrong, so quickly? It was all his fault – Hashirama thought he’d lied to him; thought he was using him! Alright, Madara hadn’t told him about his abilities, but it wasn’t like he was trying to win him over just to take advantage of him; not like that kitsune. It wasn’t fair!

As if summoned by Madara’s angry thoughts, a voice reached his ears over the screaming of the wind: “You seem like you’re in quite the state.”

“Kitsune!” Madara bellowed, more than happy to direct his rage at a more tangible target. There was the fox, sitting placidly in a tree despite the fury of the storm around her. “This is your fault! You told me he’d called you on your trick!”

“I didn’t say he knew why I was trying to trick him. I’m afraid this is entirely your fault, Tengu-san. His death will be your fault as well, if you keep wandering around here blowing up trees.”

Madara blinked water from his eyes, fear momentarily taking the place of rage. “What do you mean, his death?”

“The boy doesn’t know the strength of his own powers – he doesn’t even know he’s causing this storm,” said Mito, with pity in her voice. “He’s out wandering around, looking for you on the mountain. I’m afraid – well, you already know what rain like this means.”

Horror seized Madara by the throat. Hashirama knew this mountain better than anyone, better even than him; he knew the danger of flash floods. But if he was really out in the forest looking for Madara – if he was beside himself enough to cause a storm like this, and not even realize it –

“Where is he?” Madara howled.

“Fly northeast,” said the fox, “And hurry.”

Madara launched himself into the air, not bothering to alter his form, knowing his own magic would carry him despite the winds. He fought his way through the storm, trying to feel the familiar tug of the power inside Hashirama calling to the power inside him – but now that he was looking for it, the feel of Hashirama’s magic was everywhere, seething around him. His friend was the one causing the storm, just as Mito had said. Just as Madara was beginning to despair of finding him amidst the frothing treetops, he spotted a familiar white and green robe in a clearing below and dove headfirst towards it.

He crashed into Hashirama at full force, sending both of them sprawling on the ground. Madara, clinging tight to his friend, somehow ended up with Hashirama beneath him, rain falling onto Hashirama’s face; Madara hunched his wings to shield both of them from the storm.

“Wow,” Hashirama breathed. “Look at you. I – I think you have fangs. Why do you have fangs?”

“Why are you out wandering around putting yourself in danger?” Madara shot back.

Hashirama put a hand up to Madara’s face. At his touch, Madara realized he had little feathers sprouting from the skin there as well. “I was looking for you! Mito said you were in danger from the storm I caused.”

“Mito said – she told me you were in danger!”

They stared at each other for a moment, Madara feeling the rain against his wings slow from a deluge to a trickle, until Hashirama suddenly burst out laughing. “I should’ve known,” sighed Madara, over Hashirama’s giggles. “Kitsune are born to play tricks.”

“Madara,” Hashirama said, growing serious again. “She also explained about my powers. I…thought I might have accidentally used them to trick you into liking me, but Mito called me an idiot and told me I don’t have that kind of ability. I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier.”  

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Madara said earnestly. “I really thought you knew.”

“I guess I really am an idiot.”

“I guess so,” said Madara, and leaned down to kiss him. Because of this, neither of them noticed the sun emerge from behind the layers of cloud, or heard the bark of a fox’s laugh from the forest.

There is more to this story, of course, for such an unusual pair as them could hardly manage to lead an ordinary existence. But all the legends and stories they would later come to inhabit began like this: chance and a little bit of trickery, and spirit and human together in the stormy woods.

[feynites]

I’m sorry @selenelavellan but the prospect of Selene becoming a semi-unwilling Cat Lady who Owns No Cats but also No Really None of Them Are ‘Cats’ was too good to pass up!

It is Des who comes up with the plan.

 “Humans love cats,” he insists. “I have seen it on the light boxes. All we have to do is look like cats. Then we can find sugar daddies and live like royalty!”

 Fear is the most reluctant.

 “Humans do not love cats,” they insist. “Humans tolerate cats. They throw boots at them, and drown them in rivers. I have seen it.”

 Des shakes his head.

 “You just have to find the right sorts of humans,” he insists. “Or elves. Dwarves. Whoever. The race is not important, the important thing is to find one with a nice house and very little companionship with its peers. Then it will pack bond with anything sufficiently cute and cuddly - like me.”

 “You are just going to get drowned in a river again,” Fear insists.

 “No. I am going to get us safe access to dreams and adoring tribute again,” Des replies, equally adamant.

 In the end, the two do not come to an agreement. But that is not so uncommon. Des vows to go through with his plan, and come back once he has ascertained its effectiveness. Fear pretends to worry less than they do when he disappears for several works, and sends no word back.

 Not at first, at least.

 Some of the skepticism towards the plan thaws when a full month has gone by, and Des does come back.

 He is wearing the cat form he designed for the venture. In his mouth, he is carrying some kind of totem. It is shaped roughly like a bird, and is clearly of mortal make. He spits it out onto the ground before them, and then sits back on his haunches, and radiates self-satisfaction.

 “I have found a benefactor,” he claims. “She is an elf. She lives in the village of Redcliff, above a shop which sells repositories of mortal knowledge. For three weeks I have stayed with her. No one else has visited in that time, and she has offered me food, and let me sleep in her bed, and stroked my fur every day. And now she has given me a token of worship.”

 Dirthamen can confess some fascination with the described situation. He is the first to venture closer, though Fear remains cautiously at a distance. Examining Des’ aura; checking to make certain that he is uncorrupted.

 The totem is small, but it does not vanish under the weight of his scrutiny, as an illusion would. And Des looks supple and well cared-for, his magical energies rejuvenated in a way that upholds his claims. Spirits are not mean to be completely disconnected from the physical world. It takes a toll on them; leaves them more vulnerable to certain types of corruption, even as it protects them from others.

 “Alright, so, the plan is a success - you can all come back with me,” he proclaims.

 “Definitely not,” Fear argues. “Just because this elf is willing to indulge you, that is no guarantee that she would not try and drown the rest of us.”

 This is a fair point. Des is among the most charming of them, after all.

 They debate it for some time, before an agreement is reached.

 Affection was young when the Veil was raised, and is nearest to vanishing from the lack of mortal contact. Des shows the little spirit how to transform, and Affection takes on the shape of a short, wide-faced cat, with stripes all along its form. A little more than half the size of Des, who declares the form ‘perfect’, and takes Affection with him to the mortal plane again.

 Fear’s worries intensify. Several more weeks pass, but Dirthamen and Deceit are more calm and cautiously optimistic of the situation.

 A stance which is validated when Des and Affection return.

 Des has another totem in his mouth. This one looks somewhat like an overly fat fish. Affection, on the other hand, is carrying what looks like some kind of knit foot covering. They deposit the items, while Fear examines them at range, and Dirthamen and Deceit move to greet them again.

 “It is just as Des said!” Affection exclaims; tail twitching excitedly back and forth. “Selene is a fabulous benefactor! She gives us food and touches us often, and lets us sleep with her and gambol in her dreams! And she is very warm, and has a box of something called lon-derry that is perfect for regaining energy in! I brought some to show.”

 Dirthamen pokes curiously at the lon-derry, and then examines the second totem.

 “Alright, but surely this elf will not accept more than two interloping felines,” Fear insists.

 “Of course she will, she loves us,” Des counters. “You should all come along now, and we will live like royalty. Just as I said.”

 More arguments ensue. But this time, Dirthamen decides to interject.

 “You will go, Fear,” he decides. “Along with Deceit. Go back with Des and Affection. If this mortal rejects you, you are both quick and clever enough to escape. And if you think she has reached a limit, then I am at least the most powerful, and best suited to survive alone here.”

 “We are not going to abandon you,” Fear insists.

 “No, and I did not tell you to,” Dirthamen replies. “But you could visit and share your tributes with me, if this mortal is willing to offer you such things. And I would do better than anyone else in that situation.”

 “Are you certain?” Deceit asks, as Fear wavers unhappily in place.

 Dirthamen is firm in the choice. It is the most reasonable one to make. Des has proven his case, but there is still some merit to Fear’s caution. They debate some more, but he knows that he is unlikely to be overruled. It is rare for him to make commands at all - he is almost always obeyed, when he does.

 This time is no different.

 Fear and Deceit take on the shapes of two sleek, short-haired black cats, and go with Des and Affection. Dirthamen spends the next few weeks alone, before all four of them return again.

 Des has brought another fish-totem, and Affection has some more lon-derry. Deceit has brought the roasted leg of a hen, and Fear has some sort of device that lets a light out from one end. But the demonstration of tributes is not nearly as necessary as the sight of Fear inclining their head towards Des.

 “The plan was a good one,” they say, with only a little terseness to their tone. Des smugly licks at one of his paws. “You should come back with us.”

 So Dirthamen takes on the shape of a cat. Not choosing it so much as finding it. He ends up slightly bigger than Fear or Deceit - or maybe ‘fluffier’ would be the more apt description. Long-haired and blue-eyed, with the same dark fur. His companions leave the tributes behind in their lair, and they cast a warding spell to protect it in their absence; powered by the mortal offerings.

 Then they all cross through the Veil, and into the waking world.

 It has been a long time since Dirthamen made that trip. He nearly loses his shape for a moment, before Deceit and Fear wind around him, and him remember it again. Des takes the lead, then; ushering them out of the woodland cave where the Veil is thing, and towards the obvious signs of mortal settlements.

 Loud constructions rumble down paved roads. Even though it is dark out, light floods the environs close to the settlement. Not magelight, but or at least not primarily that kind. Instead this is the light of stolen storms, that the sundered mortals have forged into a likeness of magic.

 Dirthamen is fascinated with it. But Fear and Deceit keep him moving, and stop him from lingering beneath the glow of a stormwrought banner.

 It is a long trip. Or perhaps it only feels that way because it has been some time since Dirthamen travelled. He had forgotten, mostly, what it was like to be in things like weather and wet. The brush they pass through smells sweet, though, and a petrichor scent lingers around the stones of mortal construct. Des pauses at some intervals, to let the noisy constructs pass, before meowing to signal the rest of the group forward.

 The moon is high when they come to a line of buildings. Shop buildings, by the looks of them. And indeed, Des leads them to one with a window full of books, and then around to the back of it. There is a narrow set of railings which they all ascend, then. Moving one at a time. Dirthamen’s coordination nearly fails him, but he only needs to stop a few times along the way. Des is the first to disappear into an open window, to be greeted by the sound of a friendly voice.

 “There you are!” says the voice.

 Des meows in return.

 “And where’s the rest of the gang?” the voice - the mortal; Selene, he supposes - asks.

 Affection follows Des, and then Deceit leaps through.

 “Two, three - where’s your partner in crime?”

 Fear lingers long enough to ensure that Dirthamen makes it successfully up the last bit of railing, and then heads through the window themselves.

 “And, four! Okay, good, there’s supposed to be a big storm tonight-”

 Dirthamen reaches the window just as a brown hand reaches out towards it.

 The mortal Selene turns, and sees him. Her eyes widen in surprise.

 Dirthamen had not harbored much in the way of preconceptions about Selene. But for some reason, he does think he had imagined her somewhat… older? Plainer, perhaps? Des had not extolled her beauty, as he might expect him to do, given the elf he is faced with. But then again, the plan is obviously not to seduce her. Perhaps Des had simply not thought the information relevant.

 Selene’s hair is pale, and her eyes are bright. Her features are sharp. She is wearing some sort of knit overshirt, with mortal lettering spread across the front of it. ‘Bibliophiles Do It Better’. He does not know what clan that denotes, if it denotes any. Her hands smell like interesting foodstuffs, though she does not seem to be holding any at the moment. Beneath the overshirt, she seems to only be wearing a pair of brightly-patterned smallclothes.

 It is a strange outfit. But Dirthamen is not well-versed in mortal fashion trends.

 “Oh!” Selene says. Her fingers hesitate at the window; but her body blocks the way inside. “Shit.”

 Dirthamen supposes he must present himself.

 The window ledge is narrow, but he still manages a decent approximation of a bow.

 Selene sighs. But she also moves aside, in what seems to be a clear invitation. Dirthamen leaps through the window, and lands on a narrow structure situated beneath it. Only then does their mortal host close the window.

 “Mister,” she tuts. “What did I tell you about expanding your gang?”

 Des meows.

 “Yes, I know a storm is coming. I’m on to your little guilt trips,” she replies, as if interpreting his speech.

 Dirthamen blinks, and wonders if she can. To his ears, it sounds only as though Des is making nonsense ‘cat noises’. But perhaps there is a linguistic nuance he is missing?

 As he settles down onto the little windowside table, and regard Selene solemnly, the others seem to fall into a comfortable sort of routine. Fear jumps up to the top of a shelf of books in the room. Wedging themselves into the narrow space between the top shelf and the ceiling, until the most visible thing about them is the gleam of their eyes.

 Des and Affection exit the room - which appears to be some sort of bedroom - through the open doorway. Following the scent of food. Deceit, on the other hand, leaps up onto the bed at settles on the foot of it.

 Selene returns Dirthamen’s scrutiny. After a moment, she presents him her hand.

 Dirthamen stares at it for a moment, uncertain of protocols when he is in this shape. After a moment, he leans forward and delicately presses his nose to it. This seems to satisfy requirements, as Selene moves the same hand to tentatively touch his fur.

 She pats his back gently a few times. When he does not move away, she begins to send some searching fingers through his fur. It feels fairly pleasant; so he leans into the touch.

 “Well, you don’t seem to have fleas…” Selene murmurs.

 No indeed, he does not. He would have no reason to tolerate them. Selene gently scritches him, though, and it feels wonderful. How long has it been since he felt physical touch like this? From an entity that was not connected to him, like Fear and Deceit? He arches into it, and finds a low, rumbling sound begins to reverberate out from him.

 Selene snorts.

 “Buttering me up, hm?” she says. But she does not stop scritching, either. Not for several minutes anyway. When she finally does pull her hand away, she gives him a parting pat.

 “I guess I’ll put down another dish of food,” she decides, with a resigned sigh.

 Dirthamen flicks his tail, and finally concedes his own last, lingering reservation.

 Des’ plan does indeed seem to be a success.

[agentharrisonofshield-a]

multimuse/blog ask: 1, 5, 11, 18, 23

ASKS FOR PEOPLE WITH A MULTIMUSE OR MULTIPLE RP BLOGS@brooklynislandgirl​

1. Which muse(s) is/are your favourite(s)?

ASK A PARENT WHICH CHILD THEY LOVE MOST WHY DON’T YOU?

Vivian and Ros are my favorites, with Duvessa running a very close second.  (Vessa may be my oldest muse, but she’s also the opposite of me in just about every way imaginable and therefore is a pain in the fucking ass to write.  Forget ‘how does ballet?’, I’m sitting there going ‘how does flirt?’ and ‘how does neurotypical?’.)  Vivian and Ros are just so… easy to write and get into the heads of.

5. Name a muse you wish to write in the future. What’s your favourite thing about this muse?

So this counts because I haven’t officially written her yet, or even added her to my canon multimuse, but Valkyrie from the MCU.  I don’t know if it’s my favorite thing about her, but I love how much she reminds me of Vivian.  The unhealthy coping habits, the disillusionment with the power she served, the willingness to settle for just surviving and waiting to die, the willingness to do what it takes to just survive.  There’s so much to unpack there, and for all I say she reminds me of Vivian, I’m certain that what comes out of exploring her is going to be completely different than my ‘ordinary’ mortal muse.

11. Do you have any original characters on your multimuse? If so, tell us something more about them.

Putting this under a cut because it’s going to get long

I currently have blogs or sideblogs for six OCs on tumblr, and I’m planning on adding five more to Duvessa’s blog as NPCs.

Vivian - autistic bipolar pansexual geeky unpowered SHIELD agent with anxiety, major trust issues, and too many books on her tbr listVictoria - WWII-era SSR agent turned modern-day SHIELD agent, girlfriend of @soldierwithoutaname​Duvessa - potentially-all-powerful vampire who has no idea how to use her powers, but will still literally kill you if you get between her and her ballet career     Dylan - Duvessa’s roommate, an escapee from a dark cult who wants to prove that vampire clan doesn’t define destiny     Chloe - Duvessa’s therapist, an ordinary human who’s decided to make a career out of providing counselling for the supernatural     Shadow - Duvessa’s best friend, a vampire-succubus hybrid created by the same goddess Duvessa dealt with in the past     Estelle - Shadow’s teenage construct daughter, likes mixing magic and science, spends a lot of time with Duvessa learning how to live as a human     Madi - Estelle’s best friend (and eventual girlfriend), a mix of feline and human, an absolute genius at mathematicsSera - Asgardian, Sif’s half-sister, practices an ancient form of magic worked through thread and threadcraftShae - the Fair Lady of Hungarian folklore, currently running a coffee shop in New Jersey in between seducing college students and dancing in thunderstormsVladimir - Ros’ cat, is literally just a normal cat, hates @lucxsnorth

18. Share an opinion you have about multimuse blogs.

I personally find that running one is annoying as all fuck, which is probably why I still haven’t gotten mine off the ground yet.  It’s the little things that annoy me.  Having to specify which muse an ask is from just irritates me so much for some reason.  Trying to come up with a cohesive tagging system that covers all the various characters each muse knows in canon is just... ugh.  I hate it so much.  

I have so much respect for people who set up and keep multimuse blogs going.

23. Tag a multimuse blog and write some positivity about them (their blog, their muses, etc.)

@truaillithe has been with me for years now, and I can’t imagine tumblr without Brandie and her muses.  All the things I hate about running a multimuse she seems to handle without difficulty.  Her world-building for her muses - all OCs - is breathtaking, and reading her meta posts for the various factions her OCs fall into is so much fun.  

[the-pug-addict]

Imagine: Being an Evil Villainess who’s obsessed with Trevor Belmont

Based on my most recent fic. I’m really sorry, but for some reason, I’m strangely addicted to the belief that Trevor’s adventure wouldn’t be complete without some wicked vixen trying to stop him from his quest and trying to get into his pants. Because heaven knows if I’ll ever have the time to write more fanfictions based on this concept, I wrote this thing instead.

As the title so clearly exaggerates, you’re ultimately evil in this scenario. By some strange circumstances, you work for Dracula and serve as his inquisitor. You constantly keep him updated on everything going on in the world outside of his castle, and you will gather him useful information by any means necessary (which most often involves torturing, interrogating and killing people).

Basically, you are what every stereotypical villainess starts out to be. You’re a very powerful witch skilled in the art of black magic. You are probably somewhere high up in the ranks of your coven, most likely as the right hand woman of your coven’s leader, the Witchmother.

You are also well known for your astonishing beauty. In fact, you’ve had plenty of fine lovers in the past, a list which consists of some of the most powerful, wealthy and handsome men in all of Europe.

However, your personality is utterly hideous. Though charming, you are arrogant, manipulative and have an insatiable appetite for power. You feel that you are entitled to the best of everything.

For that reason, you have a very impeccable taste in everything: clothes, jewels, wine, baths,... even men.

Like, any man you have your eye on has to be perfect.

Which is why you’re so smitten by Trevor Belmont the very moment you lay your eyes on that snarky bastard.

Originally, you’re sent by Dracula to investigate the rumors of the return of Alucard and the Belmont Clan. In the process, you find Trevor and the others somewhere in a town, and you simply can’t keep your eyes off the vampire hunter.

Because he’s Trevor fucking Belmont. We don’t need to discuss why you’re suddenly obsessed with him.

From that point on, it becomes your secret main goal to make Trevor your new lover in addition to gaining a ton of power over Wallachia. This, of course, results in conflicts in your loyalty to Dracula as you sometimes stray from his direct orders, sometimes creating irritability and tension between you and the vampire lord.

When first meeting the vampire hunter, you are 100% getting your flirt on. You flaunt your best features. You wear your prettiest, sexiest dresses. You do your hair and makeup perfectly. Anything you possibly can to seduce the hunter.

At one point, when you try to convince Trevor to join you, it almost works. Seducing him with the most cat-like charms, you wind up getting him worked up. Without thinking, he decides to bed you that night.

But here’s the catch: when you both are finished, you ask him to join you.

In response, he decides to be his cocky, sneaky bastard self as he grins and tells you “no.”

From then on, you’re pissed as a hornet. How in the hell would any man have the nerve to tell you no? How dare he?! HOW FUCKING DARE HE?! You’d make him die a horrible death for rejecting you like that.

But oh dear God, you still want him. So, you decide to give him another chance. If not, you’ll kill him.

And when you fail again, give him another...

And another...

With every encounter with Trevor and his group, your interactions are always a mix of both flirty seduction and ruthless anger for destroying your pride.

Whenever fighting against Trevor, every comment you shout at him is almost always suggestive in nature. For instance, as you throw fireballs at him, you won’t stop rambling on about how his whip “adds to his sex appeal” and the things you imagine him doing to you with it.

It definitely throws Trevor off during these fights. He just... isn’t sure what to say....

To be honest, he’s not sure if he’s supposed to feel weirded out or turned on by your sexual comments...

Maybe he’s both.

Dear god, the lines you’ve even crossed during these battles, too. In yet another attempt to get Trevor flustered, you decide to pull of the CRAZIEST thing you’ve ever done.

When Trevor tries to initiate the fight, you simply grin at him. “Do you mind if I take off my dress first? It’s brand new. I don’t wish to get any blood or dirt on it.”

Let’s say you did just that and....

... Well, things got interesting...

Trevor has some pretty mixed feelings towards your advances towards him. He absolutely wants nothing to do with you. He stresses it to you as hard as he can until he’s blue in the face. For God’s sake, you were an evil witch. Yet, at the same time, he feels himself becoming strangely allured by your temptations and tricks, which is why it is sometimes quite tough for him to resist.

Perhaps he caves in once or twice and regrets it afterwards...

((Trevor, the fuck are you doing? Hasn’t anyone told you never to stick your dick in crazy?))

Whenever Trevor decides to give in to you, your lustful encounters with him can range anywhere from sweet and tender to brutally controlling. You always like to be the dominant one. You never bottom in bed. You give him commands and treat him as if he’s your little pet animal.

Oh. Lots of dirty talk, too. Your favorite nickname for him is “dirty boy.” 

When Trevor rejects you, though, that’s when your real colors usually come out. You go from giving him praises and feeding his ego to lashing out at him with every insult in the book, calling him a filthy mongrel, an animal, a pig, etc.

And ohhhh boy, what a bitch you turn into when he starts to develop a thing with Sypha...

Seriously, though. Seriously. What does he see in her? She’s not even that pretty. She’s not even that good of a magic caster, either. What kind of a blind idiot would pick that wench over you? You were the one he desired, not her. Really. You were perfect! FUCKING PERFECT JFAOIDCIDCIIJCIAHFIPAJEIAED--

Unfortunately, in the end, Trevor doesn’t wind up picking you. He sees through your BS. He knows that you don’t truly love him-- you’re just in love with the idea of him. All he is to you is a wild beast meant to feed your blooming ego.

In the end, you most likely die horribly. Very, very horribly. It’s Castlevania, so it’s completely possible that your death is a very gory, graphic one at that. It’s either by Dracula’s hand for betraying him, or getting slain by Alucard’s sword.

Or by getting tricked into embracing Trevor in a kiss, only to be poked by something very hard and sharp.

I’ll give you a hint. It’s not his dick.

So, there you have it. In the end, good overcame evil. Your death proves to the Castlevania TV fans that charm and beauty aren’t everything-- even though you were probably the hottest character in the series, you just simply couldn’t get the hero trapped into your clutches. Thus, you lose him to the good girl whose smart, nice and totally kicks ass.

Because brains over beauty, bitch.

[thecrucibleffxiv]

BEASTS FROM THE EAST: THE SHADOWY ORGANIZATION WITH THEIR EYES ON YOUR HOME!

Yakuza? In your neighborhood? It's more likely than you might think. Reports are flooding in from housing districts in every major city of homes being cleaned out by a gang of eastern thugs, sometimes while the residents are still inside! Speculators are expressing interest in the real estate market in the wake of the Alliance's push toward Ala Mhigo, and word of this interest has caught the ear of these criminal organizations.

For those fortunate enough to be ignorant of the Yakuza, allow me to burst your bubble. The Yakuza are a long-running problem in the far east - heavily-tattooed thugs who are made even worse by their state of semi-legitimacy in their home lands gained through threats, bribes, and straight-out infiltrating the government. Yakuza are a monstrous type of organization that have fingers in just about any crime imaginable, from drugs to human trafficking, extortion to murder-for-hire, and even in minor things like illegal casinos and underground betting. What's worst is that Yakuza are so widespread and nebulous that there is no single head of their “organization”, they are a collection of smaller organizations with similar goals and highly-specific hierarchies, and so long as they do not impede on one another's territory they tend to allow other branches to coexist, recognizing that the more people accept the presence and power of Yakuza the better it is for all of them. Disputes which threaten to break into open violence are often settled, at least by the more “respectable” organizations, through complicated shows of deference and honor that tend to break down into either offering exorbitant sums of money or mutilated fingers.

The organization that exists within Eorzea is known in more shadowy circles as the Chidarake Tatsu-Kai (loosely translated to “The Blood Dragon Association”), and they are responsible for providing primals with crystals in order to continue the endless cycle of summoning and killing primals, selling the services of their men as mercanaries in order to further profit off of it. Furthermore, their yakuza code of honor and loyalty is so strong that it seems that they are immune to tempering. In addition to war profiteering, the Blood Dragons are also responsible for the meteoric rise of the preteen sensations known as the songbirds! They found Narumi singing on the street for change and, moved by her performance, sent her across the sea to Eorzea where her stylings would stand out more and found her a pair of underlings to boost her appeal. They've been in charge of them every step of the way and because of their massive success they take a large cut of the profits the girls make, using said money to fund their nefarious deeds.

Earlier I said that the yakuza are skilled at the infiltration of organizations, and it's that very skill that is putting adventurers the realm over at risk. The Blood Dragons have been sending low level scouts out to pose as budding adventurers and find free companies that are too trusting. Once they infiltrate the free companies they assess the value of their homes and the belongings within and if they deem the house to be worth the trouble they earn the owners’ trust and, when their guard is down, raid the place and strip it of every furnishing they can. Often times if residents are home they'll even take the clothes off their backs! 

Why would such a powerful and influential crime syndicate stoop to such petty crimes? Because of an international trade deal with an another organization, the infamous Tojo Clan in Kugane. With the war effort pushing into Ala Mhigo, rumors are floating around that Kugane will soon be opening their ports, and if Eorzean adventurers lose their homes at the same time as Kugane's ports open, then they'll be enticed to buy land owned by the Tojo and fall into the trap of paying them for protection. A mutually-beneficial arrangement both brilliant and dastardly.

The head of the Blood Dragons is a woman known as “Sohei Dojima”, who is infamous for the frequency with which she murders her own allies when they cease to prove useful and the brutality with which she treats obstacles in her path. To commemorate their alliance with the Tojo Clan, she is to be wed to the head of their family. He’s man who's dwelt in the shadows for over a decade and all have been too afraid to speak his name, until now. The man responsible for this invasion into our homes is none other than Jugemu Jugemu Goko no Surikire Kaijarisuigyo no Suigyomatsu Unraimatsu Furaimatsu Ku Neru Tokoro ni Sumu Tokoro Yabura Koji no Bura Koji Paipo-paipo Paipo no Shuringan Shuringan no Gurindai Gurindai no Ponpokopi no Ponpokona no Chokyumei no Chosuke. He is a man who will cut the fingers off of his suboordinates for the smallest wrongdoings as a reminder of what they've done, a man who will trade information with the Garleans in order to keep his empire running, a man who aims to rule nothing less than the entire world from the shadows.

This reporter is not afraid of what he or the Blood Dragons will do to her. Before living in fear of the Garleans I once in fear of men like him, my former employers caving to their threats to bend over backwards to accommodate the brash bastards, and the thing about men who hide in the shadows is that they're always afraid of the light. They may come for me, with brass knuckles and cheap katanas, but my life is meaningless and if I can give it to help bring down these monsters then that’s more than a fair trade. Release from this mortal coil would be a sweet relief. I would never have to go back to this gods forsaken office and have to see these garbage people bicker amongst one another, I would never have to put up with that stupid elf constantly trying to seduce me. It would be wonderful, it would be serene. All I ask is that my sacrifice be honored by someone taking my cat in and giving her a new home, she likes fullmoon sardines and scratches on the top of her head. Her name is Makoto and she deserves a good home.

For everyone else: lock your doors, citizens. Don't allow anyone you don't know into your free company or business - especially if their bodies are mostly covered in tattoos or if they’re missing fingers on their left hands. And, most importantly, don't buy any land in Kugane: It's a trap.

Yomiko Kusanagi can be located at The Goblet, Ward 10 subdivision, apartment 6. Working with her 5 coworkers who were complicit in the writing and publishing of this article. Especially the tall elf. Kill her first.

This article idea came directly from our wonderful patreon supporters! We’re happy to have their kind support and wonderful ideas. If you’d like to contribute, you’re welcome to pitch in here, where you’ll gain access to our private Discord server and exclusive channels where you can contact us directly at any time and pitch any idea your heart desires!

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[stormyvixen]

Release Day Review! Enticed & Seduced (House of Cat #7) Shelley Munro!

Some days, getting out of bed is a mistake…

Kaya Ignatius loves her job, working as part of the Indefatigable crew. But this isn’t a normal morning. Gryffnn Drake, a hunky dragon shifter, has a problem with another clan and wants her to act as his betrothed. It’s a chance to smash a dry spell and help the man who has become a good friend. After all, what’s not to like about steamy sexual encounters?

But everything after that is downhill.

She’s slimed by a stinky plant, her brother arrives with bad news and dumps a huge, scary responsibility in her lap. Suddenly, her life is full of drama and nasty surprises.

Gryffnn has always lusted after Kaya, but she only saw his older brother. Now things have changed, and he has a plan to capture the sassy Kaya and woo her to his way of thinking. A move by an opposition clan forces him to escalate his romantic plan. Things proceed well until the past struts in to say hello and creates havoc with his love life and his dragon clan.

Never mind bed, Gryffnn and Kaya are too busy putting out dangerous fires and trying to stay alive to worry about the future…

Note: although Enticed & Seduced is part of a series, it can be read as a stand alone.

Alrighty, then! Kaya Ignatius, a member of the Idefatigable crew has a chance to smash her dry spell when Gryffnn Drake, the hunky dragon shifter wants her help with a problem in the sensational House of the Cat story – Enticed & Seduced.

Kaya and Gryffnn are two strong, enthralling characters with lots of explosive chemistry that singes readers in this delightfully feisty romance that has sparks flying in every direction.  The relationship is in question throughout the entire story because while Gryffnn is determined to make Kaya his, Kaya is unaware of this but she steps right up in his time of need and ends up for him and his kingdom with a spirited and kick butt attitude that blows the characters as well as readers away. The story also has quite a bit of emotional upheaval as well, due to both Kaya and Gryffnn’s family issues that have come to bite them in their a**es.

This fast paced and really energetic plot keeps readers glued to the pages with non-stop intrigue, lots of attitude, action and surprising twists. With Shelley Munro’s well developed world, wonderfully charming characters and the impressive but realistic fight scenes, there is no way for a reader to become bored as they are easily drawn into the story by the strength of the connection that is effortlessly formed with the characters.

First of all, you can read Gryffnn and Kaya’s story without having read the previous books in the series, but really why would you want to do that? All the characters of the House of the Cat series are charming and love to wow readers with their daring stories and personally, I can’t get enough of this series. I have been waiting for the dragons to get their own stories and Enticed & Seduced went above and beyond my imagination. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series which features the hunky Ransom!

Enticed & Seduced

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40693679-enticed-seduced

Author – https://shelleymunro.com/books/enticed-seduced/

BookBub –  https://www.bookbub.com/books/enticed-seduced-house-of-the-cat-book-7-by-shelley-munro

is the 7th book in the House of Cat series

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/series/130882-house-of-the-cat

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F884MVW?ref=series_rw_dp_labf

which includes

1 Captured & Seduced 2 Claimed & Seduced 2.5 Merry & Seduced 2.75 Stranded & Seduced 3 Seized & Seduced 4 Hunted & Seduced 5 Festive & Seduced 6 Betrayed & Seduced 7 Enticed & Seduced

Enticed & Seduced is available in ebook at:

Amazon – http://smarturl.it/EnticedSeducedAmzn

USA Today bestselling author Shelley Munro lives in Auckland, the City of Sails, with her husband and a cheeky Jack Russell/mystery breed puppy.

Typical New Zealanders, Shelley and her husband left home for their big OE soon after they married (translation of New Zealand speak – big overseas experience). A twelve month long adventure lengthened to six years of roaming the world. Enduring memories include being almost sat on by a mountain gorilla in Rwanda, lazing on white sandy beaches in India, whale watching in Alaska, searching for leprechauns in Ireland, and dealing with ghosts in an English pub.

While travel is still a big attraction, these days Shelley is most likely found in front of her computer following another love – that of writing stories of romance and adventure. Other interests include watching rugby and rugby league (strictly for research purposes), and curling up with a good book.

Website - http://www.shelleymunro.com/

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8603.Shelley_Munro

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/ShelleyMunroAuthor

Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/ShelleyMunro

BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/authors/shelley-munro

Pintrest - http://www.pinterest.com/ShelleyMunro

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Shelley-Munro/e/B001JOWGNK