#Russian Cursive Part 1

[keysorsomething]

Everyone Has a Reason To Stay (Primireniye)

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7

Hello everyone, I know it's been just over a month since I posted the last part, but I'm back with this one!

Cross-posted on Ao3

Velikan didn't have to think too hard about what to do. How to keep Nikto in check.

He didn't know much about the Russian man - he was always so distant. But he was there, on that mission in Africa with the Jackals.

It had taken a lot of bribery and over a week of following the Russian, but now he has his ace. He shushes the fluffy beast as it fights to be put down. He grumbles at it, telling it to calm down, but it doesn't listen. It probably doesn't even understand him.

Still, with all of the struggle, he manages to get the wild animal to the door. He places the beast down, straightening up to knock on the door before the thought that it will run off spoils it. He swings his leg over it, like how you get on a horse, using his knees to keep it from scrambling.

He grumbles - standing like this is not comfortable at all - before knocking at the door.

He hears the grumbles of Russian cursing, and the door swings open with a defined “Иди на хуй!” before the man stops. It’s a disturbing sight, watching him go from a full swing of movement to as still as a statue. “Oh, Velikan,” he mumbles, “We thought-” Velikan cuts him off with a grumble and pushes a small envelope into his hands, before shifting his legs to let the hyena held by them go.

The beast rushes forward, nearly toppling the Russian man as it begs for his attention. Velikan nods to him and is nodded to in return. The door shuts, and Velikan slips back to his own room.

He just hopes Dimtry was right with this plan.

Nikto is bewildered, reading over the pretty, collected Cyrillic writing on the letter. It tells him to be good - to not get in too much trouble. Sloppier handwriting tells him to save the nose-breaking for the field, encouraging him to show off some time and lamenting the writer won’t be there to see it. A third writer taunts him, telling him to keep the hyena fed and clean as it’s the only body that will keep his bed warm now - before telling him not to watch a film without them.

There’s a fourth paragraph, the shortest one, that talks about their time in the Allegiance. It tells Nikto how proud the author was. “There was a reason I picked you. You were a good soldier,” the writing is the most swirly - traditional Russian cursive burning the blue eyes that scan it. Nikto’s head is jumbled, it had been far too long since he had read anything in his language. He blinks in confusion at the names signed at the bottom of the page:

Дмитрий

МИНОТАВР

Нико

Коля)

Nikto is surprised at the dull ache in his chest. The creeping feeling of nostalgia at the edges of his mind. The smell of the dog shampoo Rodion used on Sputnik creeps up into his nostrils, seeping into the mask at a suffocating rate. His hands shake.

…Do they?

Is that blood in his mouth? Is he biting his lip? He can’t tell. Nor can he tell if that is the paper crinkling in his hands. Everything is silent. Or muted, like he had been hit with a stun. His brain is fuzzy, oh so fuzzy.

His brain is always fuzzy.

He can not tell what time it is in his room. There are no clocks, no natural light. He does not mean to keep it that way. Still, it feels late at night - 2am, or perhaps 4. Or maybe it feels like the afternoon, on a slow day. A day after a long mission, when he lays dully in his bed, eyes barely open. He can not remember when he’d done this - if he’d done this, but the thought is there.

He kneels down, placing the paper on the floor and letting fur meet him. The hyena laughs, standing on his knees. Its body twitches, sides pulling in and pushing out as it sniffs at his face. It is fluffy, the thick fur coat from its winters in the outskirts of Moscow yet to thin out. What season was it? Would he begin to shed, or was he just building it?

Where were they? Would he need such a thick coat?

Sound returns to Nikto as he thinks about the hyena. His other senses do, too. He blinks slowly, looking around. The hyena is heavy on him, and there’s pressure on his face, his mask pushing into him. His hands come up to the beast’s fluffy side, feeling the fullness of the being.

“Спутник,” Nikto whispers, turning to meet the snout pushing into his face. He lets out a sigh. “You are back with me,” He blinks, taking a moment as he studies the image of the animal in front of him. It squeals, tail whipping through the air enough to cause the sound of breaking air, the one you hear at the drop of a rollercoaster, or the sound of rushing wind past your ears, through your hair, as you ride through the streets with the windows of the car down.

Nikodim always used to do that. Nikto could remember, just enough. Just enough to make that ache more present in his heart. He does not remember it enough to see it, or does he? Can he see the image of the young man, much younger than the rest of the soldiers in the Allegiance, short hair whipping across his face and over the seat back, all four windows down as he drives far too fast with that awful American trash pop blasting out into the crisp air? Was that an image he had ever seen?

Nikto could not remember. He could not tell if the image he was seeing was one of his own creation, of his brain’s creation. He did not know if there was more than those vile blotches, empty spots in his head, hid.

He wanted it back. He wanted all of it back.

Well…. maybe not all.

Nikto swallows thickly, “I will not leave you behind again,” He announces to the beast. “We will be together. “всегда́,” He mumbles, pressing his face into the hyena’s. “We will get you ужин, Да?” The hyena pants as he stands, obeying the soft order of “Сидеть,” while the shadow of his owner slips into the darkness of the hall, once more melting into nothing.

The shape strikes again.

Luckily, the only casualty this time is a hunk of brisket Graves was set to cook.

Something the rest of the site is very thankful for.

(Translations:

Primireniye (примирение): Russian; reconciliation

Дмитрий: Russian; Cyrillic spelling of Dimtry

МИНОТАВР: Russian; MINOTAUR

Нико: Russian; Cyrillic spelling of Niko

Коля: Russian; Cyrillic spelling of Koyla (common diminutive of Nikolai)

Спутник: Russian; Cyrillic spelling of Sputnik

всегда́: Russian; forever

ужин: Russian, dinner/evening meal

Да: Russian; yes

Сидеть: Russian; stay)

(An hour or so before)

Velikan stands outside, eyes flicking around the dark corners every now and again. Oh, Graves was going to jump his ass tomorrow. But, you were so sad when you came to him. And Velikan was only so trusted to catch Nikto’s hands.

He was nothing like the men he had contacted. Nowhere near as important - not that that upset him. He could handle being underneath the men. Though he was very careful not to mention too much about you, he was sure that would just crush the little heart of the young man he was there to meet tonight.

Speaking of which, a nice car pulls into the dark lot. It was pretty much abandoned - no one goes to Arby’s this late. Well, do they ever? That doesn’t matter, right now. Velikan’s back straightens as he stands, stepping away from the truck he was leaning on. The car stops, the loud bass through it shutting off quickly.

“Блять, Niko!” The hiss of a familiar voice enters the air. “Ти мало не влаштував мені серцевий напад!” He scolds.

“I don’t know what you’re saying,” Nikodim’s reply came back, desperate.

“You drive like a maniac,” Yegor responds, stepping out of the car. His eyes settle on Velikan fast, approaching him calmly. Rodion stays behind, coaxing the hyena out of the car. Yegor watches, arms crossing. “До біса цей російський, making me babysit,” He mumbles to Velikan, shaking his head.

“Yeah, that was Nikolai’s favorite thing to do,” Velikan responds, nodding his head.

Yegor turns to him, brows furrowed, “Що?” He asks. Velikan lets out a loud grunt and nods more obviously to show that he is agreeing. Yegor nods too, before sighing. “But Rodion is not a bad kid, he is just…” He gestures toward the man, and Velikan nods.

“Godspeed,” He grunts out, patting Yegor’s shoulder. Rodion approaches, hyena on a leash. Oh, God, what was Velikan doing? This motherfucker was going to get him put on Fatal Attractions. He is compelled to agree with Yegor. Goddamn Nikolai for putting him in this position. For hiring him, so he had to meet Nikto, so he had to be the one you went to to keep him in check, so he had to talk to Dmitry, so he had to get a hyena from Rodion. This was too much. Why did he agree, again?

That doesn’t matter as he opens the back door of the truck to help Rodion load Sputnik into the back seat. The whole time, Rodion is fussing about making sure the hyena is happy.

“He takes his orders in Russian, he doesn’t know English,” The young man explains, going on to list things like sit and heel, before he turns to Velikan. The masked man was busy adjusting the blanket he had set down on the seats before he had his shoulders grabbed and he was whipped around. “And tell him Молодец when he follows an order, okay?” He speaks, eyes low. “Okay? He has to know he’s done a good job. He’s a good boy,” Velikan nods, grunting lowly.

“Rodion get in the car,” Yegor orders, causing the youngest man to flinch.

“Молодец!” He re-affirms to Velikan, before slipping away and taking his seat back in the sports car.

Yegor huffs, rolling his eyes, before approaching Velikan with a white envelope, “A letter, for Nikto. I… did not participate, we didn’t speak much. But everyone in the Spetsnaz wrote something. I even got Nikolai to write a little.”

Velikan grips the paper, “Krueger?”

Yegor looks down, letting the paper go, “немає,” he shakes his head. Velikan looks down at the paper. He uses his other hand to move the mask, slipping the bottom off. As much as he likes his mask, he needs this question answered.

“Is he dead?” He asks, hidden eyes flickering over Yegor’s face. The Ukrainian man shakes his head.

“Not as far as I know,” He responds, “Just… MIA.”

“Ah,” Velikan nods, “Good luck with the kid,” He mumbles, pushing his mask back into place. Yegor chuckles.

“Good luck with the beast,” Yegor responds.

Velikan chuckles, “The hyena or Nikto?”

They laugh together for a moment before they turn separate ways and enter their respective cars.

Now all there was between him and his good night's sleep is a good old military man-pet reunion.

(Блять: Russian/Ukrainian; Vulgar exclamation (akin to fuck! or shit!)

Ти мало не влаштував мені серцевий напад!: Ukranian; You almost gave me a heart attack!

До біса цей російський: Ukranian; To hell with that Russian

Що: Ukrainian; What?

Молодец: Russian; Well done

немає: Ukrainian; No)

[love-kurdt]

This is Me Trying (byler)

(A three-part fic inspired by the Taylor Swift song)

It’s December 1990, and Mike is at his last University of Indianapolis frat party. He’s going through hell; after having lost contact with his friends, tried to fill his emotional void with sex, and dropped out of college a year and a half in because of his worsening drinking habits, Mike stands at the edge of a lookout with only one thing— one person— on his mind.

total word count: 23,936

on tumblr: 1 2 3

on ao3: 1 2 3

playlist

audiobook

RUSSIAN TRANSLATION

This is Me Trying (Mike's Version) (first person rewrite)

companion fic: Now That We Don’t Talk

compilation fic of all of mike's letters to will: Swooping, Sloping, Cursive Letters

sequel: Don’t Blame Me

[mama-honeydew]

for if you dont read cursive;

Jang Sooah

장수아

A gnomish woman using print storage to transport stone bricks, helping to rebuild a local lighthouse that was destroyed in a recent storm.

This is part of a big lore poject im working on

im using korean for gnomish, bc 1; making conlangs is fun but i get bogged down quickly and i want to make a big project so im using real languages so i don't loose all my steam conlanging

2; hangul is so cool-

elves speak spanish

and giants and humans will speak russian and german respectively (although im not sold on those last two)

(note i speak a little spanish and no korean, german, or russian- so pls forgive any weird names or translation errors)

Hope yall enjoy gnome lady!

[lunarcovehq]

WHITE ELEPHANT WRAP UP - PART 1

The first chaos plot drop will be posted in just a minute, but before it is, we did want to post a gift wrap-up. Below is a full breakdown of all of the gifts that were given during the White Elephant Party and who they ended up going home with. This will be in two parts as as there were so many gifts.

GIFT #1: from Aiyla, inside you find: A crystal jar full of supplies for mixed drinks and a variety of candy. A “mini” bar.

Ended up with - Rangi

GIFT #2: from Ben, inside you find: Wrapped in a fancy green paper, this gift is particularly heavy. Upon unwrapping, one will find a special edition copy of Shakespeare's Complete Works, illustrated, annotated, and leather bound.

Ended up with - Bri

GIFT #3: from Leyla, inside you find: The gift is a Mickey Mouse hat that appears at first glance to be the Mickey Mouse hat Todd had been inhabiting. It is not Todd's Mickey hat. Leyla would never subject Todd to a Russian Roulette gift exchange, but being the mischievous little fae that she is, she doesn't mind letting other people momentarily think it is. There is also a matching Minnie Mouse hat that is Santa-themed in pink and a pink tamagotchi that she picked out when she was Holiday shopping with her good new friend Cypress. Though while the Mickey Mouse hat may not be possessed by a ghost and is just an ordinary hat, the Tamagotchi was cursed with a sleep hex when Leyla wasn't looking by Cypress. Whoever is holding the Tamagotchi will be put to sleep. They will only wake up when the Tamagotchi is taken away from them. You will never be able to keep the Tamagotchi alive because every time to try to feed it you will pass out. Dun, dun, dun.

Ended up with - Dilan (though Ken stole the Tamagotchi)

GIFT #4: from Rangi, inside you find: A kid's chemistry set, complete with safety goggles and a full instruction manual to become "the coolest science kid on the block".

Ended up with - Amrita

GIFT #5: from Jonah, inside you find: Neatly wrapped in brown paper with green pine leaves is a Bob Ross toaster. Note reads: Hope this brings some creativity whenever you feel like life is toast.

Ended up with - Ben

GIFT #6: from Amrita, inside you find: The main gift appears to be a basket adorned with two white bows. Inside of it is a box with freshly baked raspberries and white chocolate cookies with a side of freshly picked raspberries. Next to the box is a tea set that includes five tea bags and the flavors include: 1) Hibiscus Mint, 2) Chamomile Lavender, 3) Darjeeling Cardamon. Next to it is a small candle with clear quartz in the middle and dried flower petals, the scent is vanilla bean. On the other side of the basket, to even out the weight, are two books. One of the books is "The House of The Spirits" by Isabel Allende, and the second book is "Pop Song" by Larissa Pham. Both books are decorated as seen in the picture, with brown paper, wax, and a sticker of a flower. On the brown wrapping paper are written in black ink the genres each book belongs to. The first book says: Fiction, Magical Realism, and Historical, and the second book says: Nonfiction, Essays, Feminism. On the very top of all the gifts is a very small square card with the pun "the s'more the merrier" inside is the following message, written in beautiful cursive: "I hope this new year brings wonderful things to your life. Clear quartz has healing properties, so I hope it is useful to you. Have a jolly Christmas! - A."

Ended up with - Briar

GIFT #7: from Linden, inside you find: a custom Batman toilet cover.

Ended up with - Elif (though she gifted it to Kitty after Kitty threw a fit and flipped a table over losing it)

GIFT #8: from Dilan, inside you find: Since they caused such a stir last year once more there is a vampire garlic crusher and a pair of pink sheets.

Ended up with - Ronnie

GIFT #9: from Julian, inside you find: In a brown bag which has "WRAPPING IS HARD." written on it you'll find torn tissue paper concealing the following items: a baseball cap that says "women want me, fish fear me", a pair of fish flops, homemade gingerbread people cookies (which are pretty cursed looking) and the main event; A Cursed Remake of the Birth Of Aphrodite Painting featuring everyone's least favorite robopet toy of yesteryear, The Furby.

Ended up with - Billie

GIFT #10: from Rohan, inside you find: This vintage board game, still sealed in plastic wrap, seems to be from the late 80s or early 90s. But rather than using the included telephone to chat with mystery boys, the object seems to be communicating with "over 100 eerie beings from the beyond." The thing radiates a foreboding aura, and there does not seem to be a record of this toy even existing in the first place. Maybe it's a prototype? The eyes of the girl on the cover seem to follow you when you move.

Ended up with - Jasmine

GIFT #11: from Kitty, inside you find: Wrapped in absolutely primo Nicolas Cage themed wrapping paper, this box isn't heavy, but it's not exactly light, either. The box is, at the very least, definitely not empty. After unwrapping and opening the box, one can find a tin of homemade cookies (assorted), as well as a homemade booklet of "coupons" that say "EAT FREE AT PEGGY'S. OFFER LAST UNTIL DECEMBER 31, 2024." The person who receives this gift will be able to eat for free at Peggy's diner for the entirety of 2024.

Ended up with - Culver

No Image attached. Please use your imagination.

GIFT #11: from Mason, inside you find: In a box wrapped messily with skiing dinosaurs wrapping paper, a note reads: A Merry Cretaceous Crunch-mas to you! (with a disclaimer written in smaller font on the back: chips, dips and tacos not included). Inside the box are three food holding dinos; stegosaurus for nachos - comes with a dip holder, triceratops and t-rex for tacos."

Ended up with - Bexley

GIFT #13: from Elif, inside you find: In a box wrapped messily with skiing dinosaurs wrapping paper, a note reads: The gift is wrapped in bright blue dinosaur wrapping paper with a bright red bow. The present is in the shape of a toilet, but when you unwrap the toilet present, you will find an absurd amount of crinkled up toilet paper that had been used as tissue paper to keep the toilet shape. There is a note taped underneath of the lid of the fake toilet seat that says 'Don't worry. The toilet paper is clean and can still be used so that you can avoid a bad shit-uation. Recycling." followed by a sketch of the 'More You Know' rainbow. Buried in the toilet paper, you will find a bottle of water that has been relabeled with the words 'Melted Snowman' across it, a bag filled with chocolates that are labeled as "Reindeer Poop", a pair of socks that say "I didn't fart, my butt blew you a kiss", & a rock. The rock says "Turn Me Over" while the back of the rock reads "You just took orders from a rock".

Ended up with - Mason

GIFT #14: from Briar, inside you find: In a box wrapped messily with skiing dinosaurs wrapping paper, a note reads: A pair of sock with Briars face on it with a gift cards to local restaurants tucked inside.

Ended up with - Jonah

GIFT #15: from Bex, inside you find:The gift is a hexagonal potted terrarium with different kinds of succulents and moss growing amongst a small fox skull.

Ended up with - Aiyla

GIFT #16: from Ronnie, inside you find: An incredibly fancy envelope, sealed with an elaborate looking wax seal. The material looks expensive and of a fine quality. Inside is simply a phone number.

Ended up with - Efe

GIFT #17: from Noel, inside you find: The gift is: (drugs & alcohol tw) Probably one of the most eye-catching gifts in the room, this medium sized gift bag made with brown paper and decorated with two red mittens, is tied to what feels like 10 different balloons. Balloons consists of a giant gingerbread man, candy canes, stars, and regular balloons. The balloons are red and white. Inside the bag a Haribo Advent Calendar is peaking through given it's size. Also in the gift bag is a small container with San Rafael's blasperry THC gummies, and a bottle of Absolut Exlyr Vodka. At the end of the giftbag, buried under all the goodies is a card whose cover reads "Fuck it! It's Christmas!" with the following message: "The holidays are a good excuse to let loose! Cheers to the New Year! - Papa Noel 😎" The text is written very messily, and it was clearly rushed. Some of the text is actually smudged against the other side of the card.

Ended up with - Ken (though the edibles made their way around the party)

GIFT #18: from Poppy, inside you find: The gift is:Wrapped on the outside with red santa paper, inside is a red box containing the following items. A red Stanley cup, shot glass roulette with an array of beer included, and a portable campfire.

Ended up with - Noel

GIFT #19: from Eren, inside you find: The gift is: Wrapped elegantly in a matte black wrapping paper paired with a black bow (and a sprig of greenery for color) are the following: A Turntable Stereo System and three vinyl records - Disintegration by The Cure, Rio by Duran Duran (Limited Edition Double Vinyl Set), and Rumors by Fleetwood Mac.

Ended up with - Rae Elle (which started drama after Rae stole it resulting in her being outed as Silas' henchwoman)

GIFT #20: from Arlo, inside you find: The gift is: a set of A4 size hand painted portraits of each member of the Council in the style of Giuseppe Arcimboldo's vegetable portraits.

Ended up with - JC (though Meena's portrait is missing after having thrown it into the fire)

GIFT #21: from Ken, inside you find: The gift is: An extreme last minute entry, Ken's gift is a pack of batteries (image has only two, but he's generous this holiday season - there's four).

Ended up with - Arlo (who chucked them at Ken's head)

GIFT #22: from Remmy, inside you find: An average sized frame that holds a watercolor painting of the main street in downtown Lunar Cove.

Ended up with - Rohan

GIFT #23: from Jas, inside you find: An empty jar. The label of the Jar reads "The Jar of Nothing. Did you say nothing? When you were asked what you wanted for your birthday, Anniversary, Graduation or Christmas, don't you remember saying, "NOTHING"? Well, this time someone heard you, searched high & low and found this perfect gift.

Ended up with - Poppy

GIFT #24: from Efe, inside you find: A heavy-duty solar-powered rechargeable power bank, great for camping or general emergency use. Even vampires could benefit from a little sun energy!

Ended up with - Remmy

GIFT #25: from Bille, inside you find: A small red gift box. It's not heavy, but, when shaken, there's clearly something very solid inside. Upon opening it, there's a small, blue, crystal elephant figurine. There's also a carefully handwritten note that says, "sorry it's not white :("

Ended up with - Meena

[katya-learns-language]

I’ve been working on my penmanship in Russian, as well as learning words and letters. It’s been hard, having certain letter look similar to ones in English but sounding different really does throw me off.

Right now, I’ve been almost exclusively using Duolingo for education and then occasionally looking things up along the way as they pop up in my course.

I’ve been watching a handful of videos on YouTube for help- mostly to show me how to write the letters instead of guessing- as well as looking up pictures of the alphabet and people’s writing.

Russian writing is honestly so whack. Sometimes you can make out the letters and other times it looks like someone just made loops and lines over and over again. I’m a little confused on how it’s supposed to work, but I wanted to share a few things that have helped me.

[Image 1- Russian Alphabet, offers print and the cursive equivalent in navy blue, then the English transliteration phonetic equivalent in red]

So this image (image 1) is from https://russiainanutshell.com/russian-cursive-alphabet/ . I’ll be honest, I didn’t read this whole page just yet. But it looks really good. I actually just downloaded the photo off the internet a few days ago for personal use and then went back to get the link for credit and decided I should skim through the page. So what’s exactly what I did. But I like that it seems like a very personal and relatable webpage/blog and it appears to discuss just how crazy Russian cursive is.

[Image 2- neat Russian cursive written in dark blue ink against a grid in red. This is handwritten]

For image 2, I won’t lie. I don’t know where I got this from. I don’t even know what it all says. I believe these are all just very basic phrases and I can recognize a few of them. For example, the first line is “privet-poka” (hello-bye) and the last line is “kak dela - khorosho” (How are you-Ok!). I can’t read the word exactly but I recognize it as “OK/fine), which would be an appropriate response to the question. I do believe this is from a video, however. I could take the time to sit down and write it out, but I am not going to at this very moment. Right now, I just wanted to look at and see an example of really neat penmanship. Handwriting where you can clearly distinguish each letter from one another.

Trying to find where this came from, I think it is a screenshot from a video… however, this specific image is from amazingrussian.com . I’m trying to put a link in to the exact page, but tumblr mobile isn’t letting me. Like the blog the at the first image comes from, this page is also dedicated to Russian learning. The specific page that image 2 comes from also discusses cursive and penmanship. It’s very long, I had just used the image as a reference for how to write the word “privet” initially and went back to find the source. Once again, I just skimmed the page. I do plan on going back and reading all of these the next time I decide to sit down and practice my Russian. Which will be sometime later today.

EDIT: A lovely user had helped me out and translated and transliterated the writing from Image 2 for me and I wanted to include them here. I also did not want to edit out my own ignorance. I did, however, correct any errors I had. Here is the translations and transliterations:

1.) “Privet-Poka” is “Hello-bye”

2.) “Zdravstvuyte - do svidanya” is “Hello-goodbye” but in a more formal and official manner

3.)”Spasibo - pozhaluista” is “Thank you - You’re Welcome)

4.) “Kak dela - khorosho” is “How are you? -Good/OK/Fine”

Since tumblr mobile is still not letting me add more links to this post, I’ll either reblog this post with more link OR if that doesn’t work, I’ll just make a brand new post with more links. I’m going to tag these all under the same tag to make it easier to find, which will be “Russian Cursive Part 1”.

[liannelara-dracula]

School in the Demon World with the Sakamakis [HCS]

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Prompt

Requests are open

Rules

Warning:

*certain words have been censored for Tumblr guidelines.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

If you haven't read the school in the human world hcs click here -> 1

Culture & General Facts before we begin:

📚As I’ve said before I headcanon that in the demon world all the races existing there have their own language. The demon language is one that only they (supernatural creatures) can understand.

📚However they do speak human languages, especially English bc it’s widely used. Depending on the clan the languages change too.

📚Romanian is also spoken to bc it’s where the demon realm is located so everyone knows that language too. (At least a majority)

📚However, English is spoken with lots of sophistication like it was back then in like the 1600s and stuff

📚Cause remember they like to stay classy, sure they used to speak differently 100s of years ago but they still do not modernize themselves like humans.

📚Even tho Karl brings human culture into the demon realm it is still not like the human world mostly bc these beings have too much pride.

📚So things are different in fact one of the most modern things about that place is school and how the uniforms are like the ones in the human world.

📚The younger generation has some technology but not everyone has it.

📚So there are phones but not computers. Most people don’t have them tho bc they don’t like them and don’t go to the human world.

📚I know it might seem like they wouldn’t have phones but Kino has one so I think that some may have them.

📚The sky is always a dark grey throughout the day and only gets darker at night.

📚It is a world with only a moon but not a sun.

📚The animals are also different, most of them are dull in color.

📚For example, it is a common occurrence for a dragon to soar above in the sky.

📚Birds do not really exist unless they are ravens, but these are no ordinary ravens either. Basically, even though the animal may reflect one in the human world, they don’t exhibit the same behaviors, abilities, or diets.

📚The animals are usually more demented looking too.

📚There are no colors in the world, at least not a lot of them.

📚There are only three seasons: winter, fall, spring (but not much bloom, it lasts for a little bit)

📚Time moves slower in this world, in fact, clocks move counterclockwise.

📚Calendars are in their demon language and probably look something like Russian cursive with like symbols in between.

📚I could also see it looking like English letters vertically.

📚And there is no translation to any of this so good luck and no human can speak it.

📚I'm betting that the calendar is backward or numbers are upside down.

📚Everyone who lives in this world possesses a power of their own.

📚Girls are allowed to go to school because while this realm is quiet s*xists Karl would like for the younger generation to be more modernized.

📚However some rules are still s*xist.

📚That’s all I have for the general context of this post. I will make a post more focused on the clans and the culture itself in the future (maybe). However the best way for me to really get to it is if it’s in my inbox 😂so request stuff you want to see it, anyways let’s dive into the school part.

School specifics 

📚Name of the school is probably in their demon language.

📚The school was opened and funded by Karlheinz.

📚He had an old castle which he turned into an academy that largely extends like as big as a college cause there are separate buildings attached to it.

📚Not mention all the various gardens which Karl actually names.

📚It’s a school mostly for vampires but other high-class creatures such as Viboras are allowed.

📚There is a slight division between the two but usually they have mixed classes.

📚Humans (if vampire brides) are allowed as well however they will need a magic pendant to repel any supernatural causes which could alter their human state.

📚In other words they need it to avoid turning into a ghoul.

📚It is a magic school of royals and nobles.

📚Magic is perfected along with other subjects at school.

📚 There is a dress code as students wear uniforms but the Sakamakis tend to alter theirs.

📚And even other students cause they just don’t care.

📚Girls tend to have their shirts much more opened.

📚The skirts are like mid-thigh. Some girls have worn garters tho.

📚Everyone wears a tie, a blazer, and those shiny school shoes.

📚The school colors are black, red, navy, and white.

📚Viboras wear blue, vampires wear red.

📚It’s just what they prefer.

📚But a lot of the time students break the dress code but the teachers kinda let them.

📚It’s probably three years of high school.

📚The rules are supposed to be strict but the students don’t really care.

📚However because they are from royal/noble families they do have an image to hold.

📚Especially the Sakamakis because they are vampire princes and everyone knows that over there.

📚So as you can imagine the girls are all over them. I will talk more about them later.

Rooms

📚Main entrance: it’s where they all check in it’s quite big and leads up to a double staircase.

The place is like two or three stories high.

📚Library: have you seen beauty and the beast, like the live-action? That’s how big it is! It’s completely dark academia vibes and there is a large window you can sit by and read at!

📚The library is two stories and has a staircase leading to the more private section as most students don’t go up there.

📚It is so freaking quiet there.

📚Speaking of the private section students only go if they’re a couple and want to you know~

📚It’s by a pair of curtains so it does make it a little convenient.

📚Music room: such a beautiful place with so many instruments. I can’t even tell you.

📚Art Gallery: where all the great artwork is and some of Karl’s favorite pieces of work are there.

📚They might be magical or something.

📚Laboratory: I would say it's really a spell room actually but yes I think they have a room where there is science and different properties exist. Some of the elements are supernatural so Chem is cool in the demon world. It’s mostly just magic tho.

📚Museum: or as I like to call it Karl’s junkyard.

📚I believe he’s a collector. So all kinds of historical and magical objects are displayed there.

📚If people touch stuff they are going to pay dearly.

📚Gym: It's huge and it's where the students can play their brutal sports.

📚Threate: Where plays and dances are performed. They do tend to like theatres just as if it were the 1500s+.

📚Karl directs a lot of the plays so of which are about him. Sometimes the school directs them and he wants his sons to participate.

📚Gardens: Karlheinz loves his precious gardens, it’s where a lot of his statues are.

📚That being said DONT TOUCH the statues!!!

📚Each garden is named after a special woman in his life (not his wives)

📚And they all contain spiritual energy which moves anyone in the garden.

It’s primarily based on the way these women made him feel/what they represent.

📚So for one he’s loved, anyone who enters will question their love life and if they have a love interest at the moment.

📚It's prone to making students confess.

📚He’s probably got one that is quite mysterious too so that might play some tricks on you.

📚I think it has aspects of greek mythology wrapped up in it.

📚I also think that the art inspiration stems from Italy, Greece, England, and little bit of Japan when it comes the gardens.

📚The gardens are well tended to and are usually a maze, housing some benches and resting places, magical ponds, quiet areas to study, and just beautiful scenery.

📚They are something out of this world.

📚There are lots of roses with thorns too.

📚And the mazes are magical so it becomes difficult to get through them. Especially for humans because it tends to mess with their thoughts and keeps them there longer than they should be.

📚Remember nothing here is normal and everything in here greatly affects human beings.

📚So the maze can act as a trap if you’re weak-minded.

📚Although the gardens are very pretty, and tempting to go into it’s advised for humans to not enter.

📚Spirt hallway: there are lots of places in the demon world which houses spirits that are bounded to the realm.

📚You can see spirit mist in the hallway, which usually happens when one uses magic the wrong way which can happen with students.

📚Spirit mist is just magic particles that appear when a trapped spirit enters the demon world (this is entirely my idea I don’t know for sure if they have this but I could see that this is what happens when magic goes wrong.)

📚It can also happen where there are disruptions of magic in their world which create imbalances and open doors to sealed dimensions.

📚Happens a lot if humans are around and if they are weak it allows spirits to have the access to enter.

📚Magic like that can also occur at the school so you have to be very careful in dealing with it.

Classes

📚Obviously, they have a magic class which is where they learn how magic works, how to cast spells, and how to undo the spell.

📚Depending on the student’s powers they have specific classes for that which would be an elective.

📚They have the school subjects humans have too but since they learn quickly it doesn’t take them very long to understand how to do things.

📚Magic takes longer to learn.

📚History is a little different because they have to learn about the wars that went on in their world.

📚Every student falls asleep in those classes.

📚Karlheinz takes pride in these classes because it talks about the wars he has been through and so much more.

📚They have history lessons based on him solely, the king--because he’s so important.

📚Students are required to pass with an A, if they don’t they have to retake it.

📚There are literal history books on him and he even has one that he wrote, it's a first account and the students are required to read it and write a paper on it.

📚There are presentations and appreciation reports in this class that must be completed.

📚It’s taken very seriously and students have to memorize facts about him.

📚There are several history classes too on all the sub-races and founders because it's important for the students to know the history and why their kind do not get along with others.

📚Total brainwashing, I know.

📚There are books and honorary classes about him that students also have to take.

📚They teach things like dance more specifically ballroom dancing bc they have to know it to attend a royal ball.

📚They even have class on manners for when they are at ceremonies and royal gatherings.

📚It’s very ridiculous (at least to us) but they think it is very important.

P.E

📚Sports are brutal and not human-friendly.

📚Dodge ball? More like a fireball.

📚Boys can only participate in this.

📚They have basketball and other related sports.

📚Students use their powers during games and it gets brutal.

📚The girls can only do dance or gymnastics.

Cafeteria

📚So as I said before Karl brings human culture into this so there is human food bc vampires and Viboras have taken a liking to it.

📚However, they do have human b|ood bags.

📚They are lifeless humans that are kept for the school for vamps mostly.

📚They don’t utter a word and are not allowed to.

📚Of course, they are preserved with magic otherwise they’d become ghouls.

📚It’s easier for them to feed from them because they stand still.

📚Which can be boring for them so that’s why in the human world they like the chase.

📚Everyone has specific table groups because there are all these cliques.

 📚You have nerds, jocks, artists, etc. All those kinds of things. Even magicians.

📚And you can best bet there are mean girls as well as gossip.

📚In fact, there is a heavy amount of gossip in the demon world.

Rules

📚Tend to be s*xist in most times.

📚The girls can only wear skirts. No shorts

📚They need to be polite.

📚They have less education than males. On purpose!

📚Not allowed to participate in all sports only some.

📚Guys cannot do certain sports either.

📚Classes are not split but the sports teams are.

📚Students are not allowed to use powers because it could ruin the building.

📚But Karl could give less of a shit if a student set fire to another.

📚just don't ruin the building

📚You could be expelled for ruining the property because you have no respect for the vampire king and the establishment he has provided for you.

📚Talking shit about him is illegal too.😂

📚Touching the S brothers' bride is also illegal. Like you will be kicked out and shamed.

📚If you are referring to the vampire king you must address him with great respect.

📚I read in one of Reiji’s game routes that he refers to Karl, as “our lord father,” and there was a lot of things that implied Karl to be the God of vampires which differs from the one of humans so I’m not surprised if he’s addressed as Lord or something.

📚There is a statue of Karl, which is kept well and students must bow to it each day and anytime they pass by it.

Perks

📚There are none actually.

📚Although women tend to fawn over the Sakamakis because they know that they’re vampire princes and they'd like to have a secure spot as their princess.

📚Plus they know that one day they have to get married so the girls fight to be the ones they choose.

📚So they are always nice to them and try to get their attention.

📚Plus it would bring their families great honor if they married a prince.

📚As nobles or lower-ranking royals, they would move up in class.

📚Families even pressure their daughters to marry them if they have the chance to.

📚Some literally believe it's their purpose in life.

Specifics to the mood board

📚Dark object - there are many rooms in the school and one of them is a museum that holds a bunch of artifacts and objects which hold magic. The round object is an example of one of the dark objects.

It is probably used to house magic and during a spell, it releases magic for whatever purpose it may be. Whatever the case it doesn't do anyone any good if they use it.

Usually, when students get hold of these objects it never ends well. Mostly because they will unleash something they do not understand.

📚Girls looking through glass - because women have lower education they like to take a look at what the boys are doing in the classrooms bc they want to learn more.

📚Castle front exterior view - This academy is just a castle Karl once had and he turned it into an academy for royals and nobles.

📚Black Cat - Although most animals are dark and demented, cats are an exception. Well before their eyes glow red anyways. It is a common animal.

📚Yard - That is what the maze gardens look like actually.

📚Lock/Key - Everything is secretive and kept under lock and key. The school doesn’t let students access certain rooms either.

📚Spellbooks - These are some materials they use in class and they learn a lot of different spells, of course most know about the basics even if they cannot perform them, the point is to be familiar with them.

And those who can actually perform magic have more classes on this.

📚Magic mirror - Another example of a dark object however students have reverted to using this object in order to escape from their realm for a little bit.

The mirror shows your reflection, the only difference is that this reflection of yours acts on its own and can speak to you.

If you merge with it you end up inside the mirror the evil side of yourself takes over your body and pretends to be you around others.

I see that sometimes female students take advantage of the new girl and force her to use the mirror which has temporarily trapped them in there, and trade bodies with her. This has happened if the girl has a close connection the Sakamakis, however, it is temporary.

📚Spirit Hall - It's as I already mentioned before, magic gone wrong and an imbalance of magic.

📚Fire - It's to show the spell power and how some have special abilities so you can expect to see this at such a school.

📚Dragon - You will see them soaring in the sky, it's not a problem. It's completely normal.

Events:

📚They have some special parties where there are dances.

📚And every girl is trying to be all over the s brothers.

📚It’s where everyone has to be perfect.

📚The selection is also quite special (look further down to find more info on it).

📚There are spell contests

📚They have a school carnival every year and every student has to have a stand open or at least be a part of one in a group.

📚And then there are shifts so some will be on break while others will not be that way they can enjoy the stands too.

📚 It's much different for sure, I mean there are probably spell contests as a stand or whatever.

📚Although I would say that carnival is pretty close to the way humans have there’s.

📚Maybe only some things change cause the games might be more intense or whatever.

📚There's even a "feeding stand" so you can imagine how that goes.

📚Some students perform their magic as a show too.

Female students:

📚They wear uniforms as I've said before.

📚And they all have these cliques there in and they have fan clubs for the Sakamakis, cause you know they are vampire princes.

📚The groups are just completely toxic.

📚It's just bad I mean they will physically fight about it.

📚Like Shu has this group of girls who are always tagging along with him.

📚Actually, all the boys have a crowd of their own which I will get into.

📚There are always s*xist remarks towards them and guys still act like jerks.

📚There is still harassment and dating is pretty much the same.

📚It might not be allowed, most break this rule and just try to be discreet about it in front of teachers but then all the students know who's with who and so on.

📚The only thing that may change with dating is that it's a little more formal.

📚And courting definitely exists.

📚It's actually how the boys approach women they have an interest in.

📚It isn't super modern.

The selection

📚This is entirely my idea (so don’t steal) but there is this even called the selection in which the Sakamaki brothers will eventually choose a bride they will marry (vampire or human, totally up to them.)

📚And so there are gatherings and balls that are hosted in order for them to meet and greet and girls from their school are so very excited about it once Karl announces he’s hosting one for one of his son(s). 

📚It’s such a long process and I’d need to make a separate post on bridal selection, let me know if you guys want that.

📚Anywho, usually their father tries to find possible matches which he invites and the prince is also allowed to choose a variety of women so he can get to know them.

📚They can choose whoever they’d like to meet, and they have to choose various ones actually.

📚And not every girl from a royal family gets invited.

📚You see there are tests girls must pass in order to obtain a guaranteed spot as a guest at the events. 

📚Of course this doesn’t mean she’ll be chosen but she will at least be in the event.

📚There are certain requirements Karl is looking for so things can always change.

📚The funny part is choosing who to invite rather than meeting them in person as they first see paintings of the potential candidate and read a letter about each bride, sorta like a biography of the girl.

📚And from the paintings Karl and his son(s) (depending on who’s marrying), decide which ones they like.

📚And they have declined sometimes.

📚Of course before this part the girls go through training and specific schooling in order to be royalty as they grow up and when they are finally of age.

📚If they have a certificate from the school then the school will write a great report/biography on the potential bride which leads to the whole painting and biography decision-making I mentioned.

📚Anywho after they decide who they will invite there are like 50 guests and it just keeps getting lower with 12 (or less) different events.

📚They are all meant to test the brides and have the prince decide what he will keep and eliminate.

📚The events they go through vary sometimes if the prince has a specific request.

📚Overall it's a long process and I’d have to explain this in a separate post if you guys are interested about the selection and weddings in DL. (like vampire weddings and weddings with human brides let me know.)

📚Oh and one more thing, this is why girls at the school are nice to them too.

📚They really want to be picked and are curious.

Sakamakis: their images & how they act at school

📚Now, generally speaking, the boys act much differently in the demon world because they have an image to maintain and there are a lot of expectations.

📚And you know their dad is kinda strict.

Shu: 

📚Mr.popular, like he has a line of fan girls surrounding him, cause he’s the heir.

📚He’s honestly a piece of shit bc knowing that the girls praise him he gets away with a lot of stuff.

📚They do anything for him.

📚Like if he said to ransack a teacher, they're doing it.

📚They make him food, they buy him things, and they ask him dozens of questions.

📚Although he is actually really annoyed, he can’t show that bc he’s supposed to be polite and stuff as a prince.

📚The girls think he’s perfect and really want to be close to him so that's why they are so loyal to him.

📚His fangirls fight within their group about him too.

📚 There are literally rivalry groups about this dude.

📚It annoys the rest of his brothers even, especially Rei.

📚Like the girls have even fought about it psychically and it's gotten to be such a problem that Reiji told him to handle it.

📚And if it wasn’t enough Karl told him to handle it.

📚They have made him mad before but have learned their limits.

📚He likes to play music and that's where the girls usually find him, in the music room.

📚Girls will literally lie and say they’re pursuing music so they can get his attention/just to be around him.

📚And he knows that they’re just in it for him

📚He’d be most attracted to a girl who doesn’t even know of his own existence.

📚So if she doesn’t acknowledge him, he wants to pursue.

📚He plays at certain ceremonies and gatherings the school has because Karl insists because he wants his favorite son to be present.

📚Karl gets upset if he doesn’t show up, and so he pressures him to attend things he doesn’t want to.

📚But Shu goes because he doesn’t want to go to the north pole again or worse. So he participates in all the events.

📚Karl also aspects him to bring someone to a dance and there was probably one time when he didn’t bring a date and Karl was very mad about it.

📚Karl knows he’s lazy in the human world but he doesn’t tolerate it here.

📚Not one bit.

📚So he’s on his best behavior.

📚Harrassemnt is allowed at school so if he’s being perverted teachers don’t say anything cause you know he’s a prince.

📚So he’ll openly harass.

📚Doesn’t date, but screws chicks whenever he feels like it.

📚But he’s picky, he’s never screwed one chick from his fan clubs and it makes them mad.

📚He’s purposely slept with girls that have had an interest in Rei just so he can change their mind.

📚Cause he claims he’s better.

📚He even steals the girl away from Rei and vice versa.

📚loves competition if boys challenge him to win a girl, even if he doesn’t like her he’s still gonna do it cause its fun.

📚Stands a lot girls up bc he’s such a jerk.

📚Reiji gets mad and tells him to not put such a thing on the family name because it could cause a backlash.

📚Is more talkative than you’d think because if he isn’t it looks bad and you know he can be more of himself.

📚Since he can speak Latin he is sometimes required to demonstrate Latin spells for classes that are for first years or whatever.

📚And he’s really good at it.

📚He uses it if he’s in a play that his father directs.

📚As an elective he’s in a fencing class.

📚And the girls love watching him.

📚He’s not allowed to have his headphones at school but he sneaks them.

📚Reiji likes him here a tidbit bc he doesn’t get to slack off as much.

📚Even tho he doesn’t study if his fangirls want to he will and they just praise him for his knowledge and Rei can’t stand it.

Reiji:

📚Charms the girls because he acts like a gentleman.

📚He really loves being in the demon world because he can be more of himself.

📚And although he’s formal he will lose his formality with a girl which piques his interest.

📚Gives lectures/presentations in classes because the teachers like how he is so on point.

📚And he takes pride in it.

📚He also demonstrates for a lot of classes.

📚He TAs for the history class that is about his father.

📚The school asks him to tour new students too because he knows so much.

📚In fact he’s part of the student council cause his father wants someone to represent him while he’s gone. 

📚He tutors students when teachers ask him.

📚And he really takes pride in everything he does.

📚If you make a mistake he expects you to apologize to him cause he’s a prince so.

📚May have dated one or two chicks at the school but not too many.

📚He has a good amount of girls who praise and fawn over him a lot.

📚Of course it's mainly just to get on his good side and try to climb on social ladder and he knows this.

📚Deep down he thinks the girls are pathetic for doing that and is annoyed with people.

📚He likes being smart but finds it annoying when people only think of him for that.

📚He’d be interested in a girl who doesn’t look at him for his knowledge.

📚And if she could make him care less and show that status and impressions are not important to her, he likes that.

📚When I say impressions I mean that she doesn’t think too highly of first impressions bc its usually when people are acting their best which is usually a letdown in response to their true character.

📚Of course she herself has to be smart in order for him to take some interest.

📚She’s probably someone who doesn’t put herself out there enough even tho she excels in a lot of things herself.

📚And it's definitely the kinda girl who isn’t a good girl nor a bad girl, she’s got a mix of both so it keeps him interested.

📚However, she’s got a pure heart despite the fact that she has a wall up in front of others.

📚Aside from this he will call people out for their mistakes.

📚Even the teachers.

📚He’s still discreet about things but doesn’t care if people see him intimately interacting with a girl.

📚There was one manga panel where he was going to suck Yui’s b|ood in the middle of the school hallway or something and he told her that he didn’t care if someone saw.

📚So it doesn’t surprise me that he’s a little careless and somewhat openly harassing (to a bride).

📚Especially if the girl has pushed him to his limits and he doesn’t want to hold back anymore.

📚Honestly she doesn’t do anything, he just can’t control himself.

📚He still scolds his brothers and gets upset if they try to take away the attention of a woman he’s interested in.

📚Laito did this once and he was not happy.

📚Reiji really likes being back home and feels like he can relax a little bc his brothers are more well-behaved because they don’t want to deal with their father.

📚So he gets to relax a little more and he’s able to be himself with his vampire culture and all that.

📚It's easier because people understand him more and he can use his powers freely.

📚It also gives him the chance to show off and keep a nice image for his father which he is so fond of.

📚On one note though, he doesn’t actually admire his father at least at some point in the games he claims him to be ridiculous by being involved with humans.

📚Rei’s gotta lot of pride.

📚Plus I mean I’m certain Reiji has his eyes on the crown but I guess one of his bigger intents may be to even end his family (according to games).

📚I know it’s never been stated that he wants to take his place (shu’s) but I just feel like his initial aim, if he sees that Shu never gains responsibility, is to be next in line and rule as king.

📚It just seems like something he’d want to take after his father because he looks up to him to such a degree.

📚So yeah that's also why he cares a lot about his image cause he’d like to be king one day. Although he wouldn’t necessarily fight for it either, he’d just hope that his efforts are enough to catch his father's attention. 

📚He gets annoyed when a girl asks him about Shu just cause they are related.

📚Reiji tries to change the girl’s mind and “educate” her about what she should look for in a guy.

📚The crazy part is how it tends to work.

📚I also would like to say that I hc that he doesn’t wear his glasses in the demon world.

📚Simply because it would be weird if a vampire had a weakness.

📚I know his eyesight is a mystery but I think he wears them for insecurity purposes.

📚I think he is quite insecure because he wasn’t his mother's favorite/etc so he feels the need to do so much.

📚And he may not like his eyes and by putting glasses on he’s able to hide them.

📚However, because he has too much pride, in the demon world, he never wears them because he wants no one to think he has an eye problem or that he’s insecure.

📚So he honestly never wears them there.

📚So we get a really attractive Rei. Aren’t we lucky~?

📚He still does his experiments tho, but that never changes, actually the teachers praise him for his work and he’s a fairly busy guy.

📚I mean he like runs the science department.

📚But you know because he’s part of the council he is like really busy and he is just an attraction to a lot of girls cause dude this hot rei without glasses were talking about here like???!!

Laito:

📚Flirts with the teachers if they're all for it.

📚Of course he does need to make sure he’s careful because some may report him for it.

📚But he flirts with all of the female students and he does it in a way where he charms the girls.

📚He is also still a pervert but since most are brainwashed into marrying a prince they completely overlook the way he is.

📚Plus vampires have a higher s*x drive than humans in general so it’s also why they may not think he’s all that pervert.

📚And what he does in the human world such as as$ault is not allowed bc Karl doesn’t want to deal with that kind of stuff.

📚So Laito doesn’t go very far here bc he doesn’t want to deal with his father.

📚He stays clear of him because initially, he does hate him.

📚But he is still a big-time play boy.

📚And girls are always around him, wanting to be his.

📚Which is such a challenge because even if he is giving to a lot of them he’s not picking anyone.

📚It’s also difficult for them to impress him because they don’t know what he wants.

📚Plus they don’t know that he has a hatred towards women.

📚So deep down he is somewhat annoyed by the women and I think he’d be interested in finding a girl who didn’t focus on boys or dating.

📚And someone who wasn’t so stuck on attraction, I think he’d want her to be someone who focused on much more important things.

📚And if she’s a little shameless with certain things it's a bit of a spark.

📚Latio would find it very interesting if she was able to make him speechless with her words.

📚That’d have him hooked.

📚So she’s someone who observes more than she talks.

📚Anyways, he acts like himself for the most part always surrounded by women and doing something scandalous.

Kanato:

📚Like Reiji, he feels much more at home because ppl don’t actually bother him.

📚He’s pretty much able to do whatever he likes.

📚Although he’s less psycho here because his father doesn’t allow him to make dolls (it’d have to be someone insignificant but even then he doesn’t want people to find out about things like that because they have an image to maintain.

📚Italian spells

📚He might know Italian or something because I remember reading some spell he said once and it was in Italian so he must know it. 

📚Of course I’m not 100% sure but if he does, he’s been asked to perform his spells since he’s probably pretty good.

📚Considering that his mom is a demon, he is partially too so that might be why he can control fire.

📚So it also wouldn’t surprise me if he’s good with spells too.

📚It’s like his thing and he feels confident about it.

📚And I see that he totally digs witches, if they exist in the demon world, (they might).

📚And it wouldn’t surprise me if he was in Italy way back when witches were believed to be real by humans.

📚That’s also why he may have learned so much.

📚Anyway, I think he is still deemed somewhat as psychotic and he’s neglected by the family.

📚In fact, they don’t include him in all of the gatherings and events because they know he’s crazy.

📚Me and @mikalara-dracula hc that Karl doesn’t want to admit the fact that his son is crazy (even for their kind).

📚Although all of his brothers know he is.

📚Because of this, Karl lets him do almost anything he wants as long as he doesn’t kill anyone or make a scene at school or during important events.

📚Which he never seems to bc he either doesn’t attend or when he does he actually wants to be there which means he’s much calmer that day.

📚Plus theirs food.

📚Although apart form the psychotic part he is pretty romantic and flirty with girls, so if there are girls who take interest in this little prince he has to do his best to not lose his cool.

📚He somewhat hates it but kinda likes it because they pamper him and are like total doormats he can use to his own advantage.

📚He doesn’t date but he f*cks a lot of girls, even in front of teachers if they walk in on him.

📚And if a female classmate walks in on him having s*x and he notices he keeps bothering that girl merely for his own amusement.

📚Plus he wants to make her fall for him even if she’s not interested.

📚And its weird because with women he’s surprisingly a different person, he’s honestly so nice and romantic to them its strange.

📚It doesn’t even seem possible considering that he’s psychotic.

📚And Teddy is not allowed here.

📚But he does bully girls if he finds it interesting and especially if she’s not interested in him.

📚He will bully those he finds easy to pick on like freshmen or just innocent girls.

📚If he is interrupted by his brothers when he’s with a chick he gets pretty sour about it.

📚His goal is to corrupt any royal princess or noblewoman that he knows.

📚He like f*cking thrives on this.

📚He doesn’t like it when they take away his time with his dolls.

📚Kanato literally calls the girls that fawn over him his “toys” or “little dolls/my dolls” and little do they know what that means.

Ayato:

📚a jock

📚Pranks the teachers and gets into loads of trouble.

📚He’ll start fights with rivaling schools and even vibora students.

📚And Rei is sooooo mad.

📚But he does cause less damage than in the human world bc he fears for his life when it comes to his dad.

📚He broke one of his dad’s statues and oh dear.

📚He has gotten in fights with Subaru sometimes and Subaru always wins.

📚He’s got a lot of stupid friends.

📚They bully girls cause they think they can take advantage of them and guys that they think are wimps.

📚There isn’t much to him.

📚He can use his powers freely he doesn’t have to hide them because there are no humans around and even if they are it doesn’t matter.

📚He pretty much does whatever he wants.

📚But he doesn’t act much different he may just follow some rules a bit more, cause remember his dad.

📚I think he is a bit of a playboy at school and there is competition between him and Laito since they look alike and a lot of girls tend to like him.

📚Since vampires are s*xist he flexes on being the best and loves it when girls praise him cause he’s a prince.

📚It’s just disgusting from how egotistical he is.

📚I mean he’s already an @ss but forget when he’s in the demon world since he’s so acknowledged.

📚He’s too busy focusing on what everyone says about him.

📚Like literally he loves how girls throw themselves at him and that he can get whatever he wants.

📚And cannot stand it if a girl likes one of his brothers more than she likes him or if she doesn’t like him at all.

📚And he’s always telling people to address him in a specific way, maybe worse because here he can uphold his royal title.

Subaru:

📚Everyone knows who he is, and he hates it. Mostly because people actually bother him or try to get his attention because he’s royalty.

📚He’s always trying to ditch crowds and sometimes he doesn’t go to school because he doesn’t want to deal with the drama.

📚Some guys try to pick fights with him and he gets annoyed af.

📚He’s not much different than he is in the human world.

📚He doesn’t talk much and tries to not be involved.

📚Is so annoyed by Laito and all the women he’s around.

📚Pretends he doesn’t know his brothers honestly.

📚He just like doesn’t talk to anyone and just makes sure his dad isn’t on his case about his poor grades.

📚Even if he likes a girl he doesn’t approach her because he doesn’t want to deal with his family.

📚Plus his insecurity is something that really hinders him from doing what he wants.

📚He’s also worried Laito will ruin it cause he tends to get involved if he’s interested in someone.

📚Girls are also interested in him but they are intimated a little since he is a little brash.

📚He has a harder time controlling his anger since he doesn’t need to hide his power.

📚Is easily ticked off.

📚Sometimes he gets cornered by girls who like him and ask him questions so he knows he can’t act out but he quickly tries to bore them so that they leave him alone.

📚But honestly they will love anything he says cause he’s a prince and a lot of these girls have been brainwashed into thinking that marrying the prince is one of the best things ever.

📚I said this in my hcs for the boys at school in the human world but I’ll say it even here that he probably has a journal he writes in and he listens to music.

📚He tries to be unnoticed by everyone and tries to hide his identity.

📚Literally I feel like he’s tried to change his appearance by dying his hair and putting contacts in just so people wouldn’t bother him.

📚He hates going to school but only goes cause he doesn’t want to deal with his dad.

📚He, like Shu, does the bare minimum to pass.

📚Other than that he just wants to be alone and honestly kinda hates being there.

📚I think the demon world is a place full of bad memories for him.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

˗ˏˋ 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 ˎˊ˗ ©𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟔~Present

[moinsbienquekaworu]

OKAY SO. I was asked for my aurebesh thoughts and I shall deliver! @zeawesomebirdie this is for YOU <3

Here's what the standard version of the aurebesh (I used it like you'd use the word alphabet because well, it's alphabet but in SW speak) looks like, rewritten by me but faithful to the most widely accepted version that I know of.

Now, this is all fine and good for computer fonts, since you're at best typing them with a keyboard. But to actually write, with a pen or stylus? Extremely inconvenient. Try to write that A cleanly but in one try. That's just not easy to write: the diagonals, the two different parts, it's just not made to be written.

I can hear you think "it doesn't need to be written though does it, who still writes on paper in the GFFA?" and fair, but. But. 1) some people just like Doing It Like They Used To in Ye Olden Days and there must be a thriving community of calligraphy enthusiasts making their own paper and writing in ink. 2) if WE can have apple pencils they can have styluses, if only to draw, and a natural extension of that is writing little notes. 3) and most important I think, but often disregarded, it's easier to learn a new writing system if you make your hand go through the motions. Obviously there are exceptions and obviously you can still learn by just seeing but actually going through the motion and gesture? That really helps a majority of people. Source: I took japanese and russian classes, and therefore had to learn both the japanese writing system and the russian cyrillic alphabet, and yes, putting in the effort to copy the symbols again and again with a pen in your hand works much better than trying to remember it from having seen it, and it was the same for a lot of other people in my classes.

(Obviously the aurebesh was developped hastily by people who wanted to make it a font before anything else AND who are most likely american, which is a country where they don't teach you cursive anymore apparently, so that influences things)

All of this to say, I think since the fun of being a fan is filling in the holes of canon and having fun with your stuff, I tried thinking of what a more realistic aurebesh would be like.

From my deep dive on wookieepedia a while back, I learnt that a few actual alphabets of our world exists in the GFFA, like Tionese is written using Greek and Sith markings are Hebrew letters, + our roman alphabet is called High Galactic, but is a very fancy thing most people don't use. So, the aurebesh is the standard writing system of galactic basic, which means it's probably very widespread. I imagine that people actually do learn to write with some kind of stylus, just to get you to remember quicker and because either you have access to the equivalent of an apple pencil, you can find a ballpoint pen somewhere, or you have an outside with dirt/sand and some kind of pointy stick thing. That means we need a more writing-friendly version of the aurebesh (not even a cursive version, just an easier block letter version, I'm still brainstorming that one because god this was NOT made to be cursive but my love of cursive is powering me through)

So here's how I write the aurebesh!

Purple are letters I've rewritten but without real changes, and blue are actual changes, ranging from "yeah I could tell what this was" (p, o, v) to "I think you need to know that it's this letter to be able to tell" (a, g, eo). I'm pretty proud of that A honestly! Generally, I rounded out things that could be rounded out, made simpler things that didn't need to be complicated to be understood, and reduced the number of strokes necessary, because needing to lift your pencil and come back for a second stroke is a huge time loss. You might also be able to tell that I took japanese for 4 years in my squares: the TH looks like a 日, the W like a ロ, the K like a コ, and the H is basically a 三 because I like to work smarter not harder and I love japanese. I made the V into a normal Y from our alphabet, and I still get I and L mixed up a lot of the time, but here it is. And YES I forgot the numbers but uuuh tbh I always forget them so yeah haha. Might do a few sentence samples just for fun + to show what it looks like when I write it VS my normal handwriting (because I'm a handwriting amateur)

Another note: I hate with all the fibers of my being the "reverse the letter and that marks it as a capital" because it is incredibly clunky and inconvenient. Nobody does it like that and it's stupid. I think making them bigger/smaller like the computer font version of cyrillic is the way to go honestly, like Д for capital and д for lowercase. I don't have the words to explain why but you should not mirror a letter and make it a capital that is bad and wrong and it clearly was thrown in there last minute when people asked. Either everything is capitals or the lowercase is smaller but please no mirroring T-T

If you have anything to contribute I am BEGGING please come tell me. If you have cursive aurebesh ideas I will ask for your hand in marriage right here and there. When I told my best friend about this they said "oh my god this is like Tolkien why are you thinking about how the people of the galaxy would use their alphabet what is wrong with you (affectionate)" and yeah.

(Also ALSO bonus aurebesh fonts I like, apart from the standard one: the Aurebesh Droid, Rodian, Cantina, and Typewriter. )

[dilemmaontwolegs]

The Contingency Plan - Pt. 1

Bucky Barnes x 1940′s!woc!reader

|| MASTERLIST || PART 1 || PART 2 || PART 3 ||

Chapter Summary: In the present - Bucky receives unexpected information from his past. Meanwhile, in 1930’s New York you are trying to navigate falling in love and wanting a life with a white man while society wants segregation. Series Warnings: 18+ only, racism, violence, mature themes, swearing, smut (part 2) WC: 2k

A/N: so this idea has been lingering in my head for a while but I was worried about the reception because of some of the disgusting comments aimed at BIPOC writers and their works. In the end, I decided fuck it, if people have a problem with stories that portray real issues then that is their problem and I will just keep doing what I love which is writing. I personally have had bags searched and my pockets patted down in shops for just looking my race and I have watched my father be ‘randomly selected’ in airport queues, every.single.time I have flown with him. So, I’mma write about it as I know I’m not alone.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Bucky turned the business card over once again, finding nothing new on the brilliant white rectangle but the opulent handwriting giving him a short message. She’s alive. He didn’t even have to ask who she was, there was only one woman who had ever been important to him but she had gone missing 80 years ago, or so he thought. Grabbing his phone, he dialled the number on the business card and waited impatiently for the call to connect.

“I knew you would call soon enough, soldat.”

Bucky could imagine Zemo’s smug smile on the other end of the line and immediately wanted to punch off his face. He couldn’t understand why the man seemed so happy with the rest of his existence being spent on the Raft. That was a lie, Bucky knew that nothing would ever truly make Zemo happy, not after losing everything he held dear when Sokovia fell. Zemo was just content to one day die.

“I got your message.” Neutrality ate Bucky’s voice as he tried to stop hope seeping into his thoughts. “Now tell me why I should believe it.”

“Have I ever lied to you?” Zemo chuckled and moved around his small cell. “Hydra always had a contingency plan for you, to ensure your compliance. I was kind enough to make sure she was safely moved before the tête-à-tête with Iron Man in Siberia.”

“Where is she?” Bucky growled, the glass screen of his phone threatening to crack under the strain of his grip.

“I’m glad you asked. Come and free me and I will take you to her.”

A torrent of russian curses spewed forth from Bucky’s gritted teeth and he pressed his phone to his forehead as he tried to decide just how to tell the Baron where to go fuck himself but he knew he couldn’t miss the chance of seeing you again. If it all turned out to be a lie, Bucky would just kill Zemo himself. With a defeated sigh he put the phone to his ear and hated himself for what he was about to say.

“Send me proof and you have a deal.”

“I have it on good authority that you should check your mail. I’ll be waiting.”

The line disconnected and Bucky threw his phone across the room, striking the couch before bouncing onto the thick rug on the floor. He didn’t even notice it once it left his hand, he was already dropping over the side of the staircase and dropping three flights to get to the postboxes that lined the foyer. A brown envelope was tucked inside, the same cursive handwriting spelling out his name like the business card upstairs and he tore the seal away.

Thick glossy paper slipped out and Bucky lost all ability to breathe as he flipped it over and found photographs of you. He could have believed they were taking back in the 40’s as you were exactly as he remembered you, it was only the timestamp from two days ago that told him otherwise. Your eyes were closed as you sat strapped to the chair inside a cryo chamber and it looked like you could have been sleeping peacefully.

Bucky’s finger traced the next photo that was a close up of your face, remembering the feel of the soft skin on cheeks and the ways your dark eyes would crinkle when you laughed. Carefully slipping the photo’s back in the envelope to protect them he sprinted upstairs, leaping up the landings before swiping his phone off the floor and making the call he was actually dreading.

“Cyborg, what’s up?” Sam chirped happily as he saw the caller ID.

“Uh, you’re not gonna like it.” Bucky muttered as he scratched his neck. “I kinda…need to commit a federal felony.”

“We need to work on your definition of ‘need’, ‘cause that ain’t gonna work.” Sam huffed.

“That’s not the worst part.”

“Oh, this’ll be good...” They may as well have been on a video call the way Bucky knew Sam was rolling his eyes and looking up to the sky while he prayed for strength.

“We need to break Zemo out again.”

“Firstly, there’s no ‘again’, I was not involved the last time. Now give me one good reason why I would put my ass on the line for that guy.”

“He’s got my wife.”

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Brooklyn, New York 1935

The innocent laugh of Rebecca scattered the birds that she chased around the park and you watched Bucky chase after her before bundling her up and giving her a piggyback ride. Steve was sitting on the picnic beside you, picking at the crust of his ham and cheese sandwich while staring at the wind rippled water of the small pond. You wanted to ask what was going through his head but given that his mothers health was deteriorating you already knew the answer.

The wind suddenly picked up and the woven hat you wore was stolen from its perch to fly across the field, Bucky noticing and taking off after it. You were too busy laughing at his comical chase to notice the group of young men approaching your spot in the shade. It wasn’t until Steve scrambled to his feet that you looked up and found what had ruffled his feathers, standing up just as quickly as he had.

“This is a good family park.” The young man who had attended Steve and Bucky’s school growled before stepping closer, dirty boots ruining your picnic blanket. “You're on the wrong side of the river.”

Steve stepped in between the men and you, his slight stature doing nothing to deter them, only amuse them. “Just leave her alone, John. We’re just having lunch and this is a free country the last time I checked.”

“Always the peacemaker.” John snickered and ran his fist over his mouth. “How’s that split lip treating ya?”

Steve refused to back down or rise to the taunt reminding him of the still healing cut from their last run in, instead he held his bruised chin high and rolled his shoulders for what he knew was coming. “Don’t even notice it.”

John’s fist shot out and socked Steve on the chin, his head rocking back from the force but he stayed on his feet. Your hands flew to your mouth as the violence broke out and you stifled the cries that were building before a streak of dark hair shot past you and tackled John to the ground. Steve was breathing heavily as he wiped the fresh blood away from his lip and he stepped over to the spot where Bucky was sitting on top of John, pounding fists into the swollen mass of his face.

“That’s. My. Fucking. Girlfriend.” Bucky spat between punches, only stopping when you both heard the whimpers of Rebecca as she watched her big brother beat the shit out of someone.

“Come ‘ere, sweetie.” You said as you pulled her into your side and hid her face from the gnarly sight. “Keep your eyes closed.”

“Get him out of here.” Bucky ordered the other young men he had gone to school with. “I don’t wanna see any of you around here again, got it?”

They grumbled an acknowledgement as they picked up a semi-conscious John and began to drag him away. Bucky’s broad shoulders blocked your view of their retreating figures and you flinched as he touched your cheek, feeling the wet tears you hadn’t realised had leaked out. His blue eyes were full of concern as he brushed the tears away and cradled your cheeks in his hands.

“They’re gone, doll. You’re alright.” He promised before pulling you into his chest and wrapping his arms around you, finding his sister hidden behind you and pulling her into the hug.

“Why were they being so mean?” Rebecca asked you with wide eyes.

“They are just small minded jackasses, Becs.” Bucky said as he caught you biting your lip, wondering how to explain racism to the little girl that loved everyone.

“They think they are better than people like me because they’re white.” You sighed, brushing her hair back from her face.

“Are they?”

The question was just the words of an innocent child but it still hurt that she had to ask.

“No!” Bucky growled a little too gruffly and his sister pushed herself back into the shelter of your side.

“We are one world, one people.” You said softly. “No one is better than anyone else, and anyone who says otherwise isn’t worth listening to. Now, we should get the boys home, I need to tend to their wounds.”

“What wounds?” Steve joked, holding a blood covered napkin to his nose.

The tension disappeared with his misplaced humour and you exhaled a laugh before packing up the picnic and heading towards Bucky’s apartment. Most of your free time was spent at the small two bedroom flat he had inherited when his father died. When you weren’t working as a nurse at the nearby hospital, you were there looking after Rebecca so Bucky could work down at the docks.

Steve declined your offer to stitch his split lip back together, citing ‘the scar will give me character’ as his excuse before heading home to look after his sick mother. That left just the three of you, with Becca quickly heading to her room to play with her toys while you grabbed the first aid tin. A small hiss made it past Bucky’s pursed lips as you dabbed rubbing alcohol over the cuts on his knuckles and you offered a small commiserating smile before packing it all up again.

The old couch springs squeaked as you took a seat and adjusted the cushion so your dress didn’t get caught on the handful of springs that had pierced the linen fabric. Bucky had already lifted his arm up as you took the seat and he relaxed it back down and across your shoulders, pulling you closer so he could kiss your temple. You still had time before your evening shift started so you cosied into his embrace and closed your eyes for a moment.

“Will you marry me?”

You weren’t sure if you had imagined the words while you were balanced on the edge of sleep but when he repeated them you shot upright, startling him at the same time.

“Bucky, we’ve been through this.” You sighed.

“I know, I know.” He echoed your slow exhale.

It had taken months for the neighbours to stop giving you the sideline looks every time you entered the building, but after George died in a training exercise they begrudgingly accepted you were helping James and Rebecca learn to live as orphans.

“I’ll sell the place. We can move somewhere else, anywhere.”

“I love you, Buck, and if this were another time or place I would marry you in a heartbeat.” His bright eyes fell to your hands that held his own and he pulled away. “Look at your knuckles, Steve’s face, hell, Becca was absolutely terrified at what happened today. Do you want her to go through that every single day?”

“I…I just want to be with you, as your husband. Shouldn’t a man be able to marry the woman he loves?” His hands grabbed yours and raised them to his lips, soft kisses peppering your knuckles. “Please, doll, we can make it through whatever else comes our way, as long as I’ve got you.”

Your will was eroded by his ocean eyes and you crumbled like a sandcastle upon the shore. Before you knew it your head was nodding and he bit his lip in disbelief as you said yes. You couldn’t even think beyond that moment, the pure elation on his face was something you hadn’t seen since before the news of his father broke. You couldn’t spare a thought to fear what may come of your answer but instead you bathed in the sunlight he brought to your life and committed the feel to memory for the dark days you knew would come.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Part two click HERE

[hanoella]

Affettuoso- With Feeling (Part 6)

Pairing: Bucky x Pianist!Reader

Set after the events of TFATWS: In an effort to start over and make a home in Louisiana, Bucky meets a friend of Sam’s who ends up being his landlord. With only a driveway to separate them, he finds that he’s not the only one looking for a fresh start.

Series tags/warnings: Slow Burn, Eventual Bucky x Reader, Mentions of Domestic Abuse, Canon Level Violence

Part 6 Word Count: Just over 6k

A/N: It's been such a joy to write this series. Once again, thank you for all your support! Every heart and comment motivates me and is just so wonderful

Taglist!: @vicmc624 @officiallykuute @undiadeestos @tailsoflightning

Read Part 1; Masterlist

“Please join me in welcoming Irina Novikov, the Reigning Queen of Russian Classics!”

Bucky watched from the special box seat as you walked out from the left curtain, the silver embroidery on your sea-reminiscent blue-green dress and matching hairpin glinting in the bright spotlights. You shook hands with the conductor and faced the crowd, greeting them with a deep bow at the waist. You sat at the piano which had been moved from the back left to the front, right by the conductor. The crowd clapped all the way until you sat down on the bench. Bucky watched you smooth out the tea length dress on your lap, your black velvet flat peeking out to settle on the golden pedal.

Bucky tried to pay attention to conductor as he explained the piece, but he was just so confused about the name. He looked down at the program he had gotten at the front. Irina Novikov was featured and italicized, indicating that person as their featured guest for this concert season. There was applause once more as the conductor gestured to you to open with your opening solo piece. Seeing your shoulder rise with your preparing breath, he watched as you raised your arms to begin playing.

The opening notes grew in intensity before settling into a haunting melody. It gradually filled the extravagant room. It was amazing how one instrument could fill an entire room. Or rather, one person. One beautiful, talented person.

You captured the attention of every person in the theater. Framed on either side of the stage with deep red curtains, you were in the spotlight. The way you moved as you played conveyed the emotions of the music. You could have been a dancer, arms moving gracefully up and down the entire length of the black grand piano.

Enchanted, Bucky was focused on you, and only you. The blue tulle cape on your right sleeve of your dress fluttering as you moved, hiding the shoulder. There was one stray piece of hair that moved with you, having fallen out of the low bun you had pinned with a silver chrysanthemum comb. The silver thread twinkled. It was as if you were the night sky itself, clear and brilliant.

---

Earlier in the month…

Bucky had just gotten back from his trip with Sam. Parking his sports bike, he walked into the garage to the door of his apartment, where something was sticking out. A white envelope, addressed simply to his first name. Walking up the steps and chucking the keys on the table, he opened the letter to find a note stuck to a lanyard with a ticket in the holder.

Here’s a season pass I got from the orchestra. If you’ve got nothing better to do, come see me play! :)

He looked down at the bottom where your name was scrawled, half-cursive and half-print. Flipping the ticket around, he saw the dates of all the concerts, the opening of the season being next weekend. Russian Classics-Part One was listed as opening weekend’s theme. Well, that was your specialty, right? He had to come.

Peeking out the window facing your house, he saw that your car was missing from the driveway. Probably at rehearsal. Wait, what do you wear to something like that? Did he even own a suit?

After taking one look into the closet, the answer to that was no. He was going to have to get one. Which is how he ended up at the tailor’s with Sam.

Sam had replied to Bucky’s text on where to get a suit. How have you gone this long without having a suit? Every man needs a good suit. What’s the occasion?

Bucky had texted him back. Never needed one until now. It’s for the concert next weekend.

Oh snap, that is an occasion. Meet me here-

So now, he was sitting in the plush velvet armchair by the entrance, waiting for Sam to show up. He was on his phone, scrolling through the news, trying to avoid the gaze of the sales clerk who was giving him quite the look from under her eyelashes. Thankfully, Sam came to the rescue.

“So, what’s the vibe we’re going for? Sleek? Rich? Mob boss?” Sam asked, rubbing his hands together.

“What? I just need a suit, man.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” he mumbled under his breath, before getting hyped up again. “Let’s get you a suit!”

An older Black man dressed in brown slacks and a white button up came up to them and greeted Sam with enthusiasm.

“Sam! Good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you Mr. Frank!” Sam said, hugging him. “You remember my friend Bucky from the cookout, right?”

“Of course, I do. Good to see you Mr. Barnes” Mr. Frank said with a smile that brought out little wrinkles in the corner of his eyes, giving him a handshake.

“Bucky, please.”

“Well Bucky, what can I do for you?”

Sam answered for him. “Bucky here is going to need some suits so that they don’t kick him out when he shows up at the orchestra.”

“The one that your friend is at?”

“Yeah, actually. How do you know that?” Sam asked.

Before Mr. Frank could answer, a familiar voice floated faintly into the room.

“Wow, Selena, it’s absolutely stunning! I honestly couldn’t have asked for better. It’s beautiful.”

Sam and Bucky looked at each other before walking under the arch into the other room, Mr. Frank following. There on the short pedestal, you were standing in the middle of the room, holding the slightly big shimmering blue-green dress to your chest to prevent it from falling while the seamstress pinned the various alterations. Your hair was up in a messy bun, giving the seamstress room to work. The soft light of the chandelier giving you an ethereal glow.

Sam gave a low whistle. “Wow, you are one pretty lady.”

You looked in the mirror to make eye contact with Sam.

“Sam!” You said excitedly, turning your head and causing the seamstress to chastise you while chuckling. Your eyes then flitted to Bucky, suddenly leaving you feeling very exposed. You hadn’t seen him from the angle in the mirror. A blush creeping over your nose, you spoke

“Bucky!” You said with more surprise than enthusiasm. You were very happy to see him. He had just caught you off guard. His eyes lingered on the exposed piece of your back, framed with soft sea foam tulle, before meeting your eyes.

“Hey.” He said simply, before clearing his throat, red creeping up his neck. You stared at each other for a moment before the seamstress hung the measuring tape on her neck and gave the all clear.

“You can move now, but don’t mess up my pins.” Selena said, turning to point at Sam for the last part of the sentence.

“I would never.” Sam said fondly, putting a hand to his chest before wrapping the seamstress in a hug.

“This is my wife, Selena. We’ve owned this shop for the last twenty years.” Mr. Frank explained proudly, introducing Bucky to Selena. “Selena, this is Bucky Barnes, Sam’s right hand man.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” She said with a smile, shaking Bucky’s hand.

You hopped off the pedestal to give Sam a hug.

“I am so excited to get back to performing, Sam. You have no idea. Are you coming next weekend for the opening performance?”

“I’m gonna try my hardest! I have a meeting with Senate that morning, but I’m gonna use the supersuit, try and fly back in time. If I don’t make it Saturday, I will for sure see you on Sunday.”

“Awh, it’s no problem Sammy. I appreciate it. I’ll just be happy if you show up at all this season.” You said, taking a step back and turning towards Bucky.

“Well, Bucky’s going to be there, for sure. That’s actually why we’re here. To get him a suit.” Sam said, tossing Bucky a wink on the side.

“Really?” You said as you looked up at him, eyes sparkling.

“Yeah. You look beautiful… by the way.”

You averted your gaze shyly. “Thank you.” You said meekly, swishing the dress slightly. “I’m glad you’re coming. I was wondering if you had gotten the season pass.”

“I did, thank you.”

Sam, Frank, and Selena all exchanged knowing looks, Sam rolling his eyes while smirking.

“Well, you guys got an exclusive sneak peak at my opening night dress. It was nice to see you guys!” You said as you gathered your dress up, Selena grabbing the back. You waved as you disappeared around the corner into the dressing room.

A few moments went by in silence before Mr. Frank spoke up.

“Well son, I see why you got it bad.” He patted Bucky on the shoulder, turning around and walking towards the main room.

“Well, I-” Bucky started, turning to see that he was alone with Sam, who was leaning over on his knees, holding in the laughter.

An hour later and Bucky had settled on a slim cut dark blue suit and a similar one in light grey. With a handful of ties and a pair of dress shoes, they were at the front to check out.

“So, the suit alterations will be done by this weekend so you can pick it up anytime this Saturday or after.” Before Bucky could pay, Sam held out a hand, shoving his card in the payment kiosk.

“This one’s on me. Just promise me you’ll make it this weekend. I might not be able to. But someone she cares about should make it to her first night back in action.”

Bucky paused before putting a hand on Sam’s shoulder and squeezing. “Thanks man.”

“Anytime, Buck.”

“Actually boys, the bill’s taken care of.” Selena said as she strolled up to the desk. “Your friend footed the bill. So, you’re paid in full.”

---

A week passed by and he hardly saw you to thank you for the suits. You would wave hello and goodbye in passing as you got into your car. Sometimes, you were dressed for physical therapy, donning clothes like army green leggings and an oversized black hoodie. Sometimes, you were dressed in business casual for rehearsals, wearing slim cut khaki slacks and a light blue blouse with the sleeves rolled up into cuffs just above your elbow.

Bucky really didn’t have anything to do since you weren’t around much. Occasionally, he raked the fallen leaves in your yard. He’d finally fixed that mower, though there was no use for it now. So, he spent his days catching up on reading, watching The Hobbit movies and waiting up for you to come home. He couldn’t really sleep if you hadn’t made it home safe yet. Something that had taken him a while to realize. It made him linger by the window facing your house, pretending to watch something on TV until he saw your car come down the driveway.

Today though, he had one thing on his to-do list. Walking into the tailor’s shop to pick up his suits, he saw that the sales clerk from last week with the eyes was working today. He cursed in his head as he walked up to the desk, where she was leaning over trying to show off some cleavage.

“How can I help you?”

“Picking up some suits. My ticket number is-”

“No need, I remember you from last week. Hard to forget a face like that.” She said with a wink as she walked to the back. Bucky purposefully looked the opposite way, clearing his throat in the process.

“Here you go Mr. Barnes, I appreciate your patronage.” She said with a sly smile.

“Thanks.” He responded dryly.

As he grabbed the hanger of the garment bag, she startled him by refusing to let go. Bucky pulled the hanger lightly out of her grasp and left. Sure, she was conventionally attractive. But she doesn’t hold a candle to you.

---

On the evening of the concert, Bucky turned to look in the mirror, making an impressed face. He didn’t look half bad. The dark blue suit had a little bit of texture, and while the white button-up made him feel a little claustrophobic, the wine colored tie really brought it all together. Running his fingers through his hair to straighten it up, he didn’t look bad at all. It made him happy that like this, he looked like a normal guy who cleaned up nice. Well, almost. He had gotten a finer, more delicate set of black leather gloves. Ones that weren’t so clunky, to match the nicer clothes he had gotten.

He looked at the clock. Still had time to buy flowers. He’s got to do something nice for your opening night. Taking a backpack, he started his bike and drove to first florist in the city to find a gift. He took a lap, everything he was looking at blending together. Red roses were too formally romantic… Daisies were too casual…

Rounding the corner of the counter, he saw a small arrangement peak out from behind a large one. It was a smaller jar filled with a few blush pink peonies, with a few stems of lily-of-the-valley, lilac and eucalyptus pouring out of the sides. Wrapped around the neck of the jar was a crème colored satin ribbon, pinned with a small square cut emerald brooch.

“Ah, that’s the perfect gifting pair, one gift to enjoy now and one to last!” The florist said, popping out from the back. Bucky thought back to your room, with the soft sage greens and soft crèmes. It was perfect. Bucky nodded while holding up his backpack.

“Uh. Is there anyway I could get it to last a trip in this backpack on a motorcycle?”

---

The florist first emptied most of the water, wrapped it in plastic, and then put it in a firm cardboard box. Carefully setting it in his backpack, Bucky thanked the florist, tipping him extra. He waved on the way out of the store, feeling good about the flowers he had picked out. The ten minute ride from the florist to the concert hall was taken very carefully.

Parking his bike and joining the long lines of well dressed people, he felt a little self conscious wearing a backpack and holding his lanyard. He tried not to draw any attention to himself as he made his way slowly up to the box office.

“Welcome to the Louisiana Philharmonic! May I see your ticket?” A perky young woman in usher’s attire asked through glass.

“Sure.” He said, sliding the lanyard through the window.

“Hey, you can’t bring backpacks in the concert hall.” The security guard said, pointing at the bag Bucky was holding.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know, I just-”

“Either return it to your vehicle or throw it away.” The man sternly said before the usher whispered through clench teeth and gestured for the security guard to come over. Bucky couldn’t hear exactly what she was saying, but he caught every other word or so.

Ticket… Ms. Novikov’s personal box… have to let…

The security guard squinted his eyes at Bucky before gesturing at the bag.

“What’s inside?”

“Just my wallet, keys, and some flowers.” Bucky said, unzipping the bag to show him. The security guard had him open the box and show him the flowers for good measure before grumbling something, handing the lanyard back, and letting him pass.

Yikes… Bucky thought, putting as much distance between him and security as he could. Getting up to the usher, he showed him the ticket as he was handed a program. The usher took a moment to look at the ticket before directing him to the left, away from where everyone was walking.

“Box one will be on the second floor, last entrance on the right.”

Huh.

Bucky walked up the stairs, passing a fancy bar and going down the empty hallway. Coming upon an entryway labeled Box One, he pushed aside the heavy red curtain to find that he was directly overlooking the stage. He was the closest balcony seat to the stage, the private viewing area containing five seats, two in the front and three on the step behind, staggering the tiers so that everyone could see properly. Sitting in one of the front seats, the one closest to the stage, he admired the scene.

The seats were plush and comfortable, the architecture of the theatre traditional yet stunning. The stage was framed by a huge rectangular arch that was rounded at the edges. The gold on the trim and handrails accentuated the softly glowing lights that hung in two rows over the aisles. Each bulb was captured in a long tube of rectangular glass, creating the image of a row of glowing piano keys floating in the aisles.

Speaking of pianos, the shiny black grand piano in the front caught his attention. The keys were facing him. If this is where you were playing, he would be looking at your back and have a clear view of your hands. Most of the musicians were already on stage, except for you, warming up for the night. Suddenly the orchestra stopped, commanding everyone’s curiosity. The sound of dress shoes against the stage prompted applause as the conductor, an older man, walked out onto stage. After pausing to let the applause die down, he gestured for someone to come out. There was more applause as the first chair violinist, the concert master, walked out onto stage. The woman bowed before playing a note, prompting the rest of the orchestra to tune to her pitch. She did this several times before giving a nod to the conductor and sitting down in the first chair of the row of violins.

Clearing his throat, the conductor grabbed the mic and turned towards the crowd, slight German accent coming through.

“Good evening. It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.” The crowd gave more applause before he continued.

“My name is Arthur Albrecht, your guest conductor for this season. This weekend we have a lovely selection of classics that stem from Russian composers.” He went on to explain some of the history behind Russian composers and how their music was influenced by their culture. Bucky looked at the piano that was still empty, wondering where you were. A sudden loudening of the conductors voice snapped his attention back.

“We have with us this season, the most lovely pianist, nicknamed for her excellent performance of these very pieces. Please join me in welcoming Irina Novikov, the Reigning Queen of Russian Classics!”

---

Sam had showed up right before the end of the first piece, dressed in concert attire. Playing the last chord, you held it down as it reverberated all around the auditorium, waiting for the slow fade before finally releasing the keys. A moment of silence emphasized the heavy digestion of a piece such as that. Then, the applause and whistles came. People stood up in waves as you got up from the bench and bowed once more.

Sam and Bucky stood up as they clapped, just in time as you looked towards the box. Eyes flitting over Sam, you made eye contact with Bucky before bursting into a big smile, the breathlessness from the adrenaline making the rise and fall of your chest evident. Turning back to the crowd, you graciously accepted their applause. Sam glanced to his side at Bucky. But there was no acknowledgement. Bucky stood smiling and clapping, completely enamored, completely smitten by you.

---

After a few longer pieces that included the entire orchestra, the lights came on to signal the intermission. Bucky and Sam got up leisurely, greeting each other and stretching their legs.

“Glad you were able to get here.”

“I did! That suit is amazing, man. Stupid fast.”

“You’re welcome.” Bucky said, bemused.

They chatted for a few minutes before the curtain moved, letting light in from the hallway.

“You guys made it!” You said as you hopped down the two steps before hugging Bucky, who was closest to the aisle.

“Woah, you’re gonna push me off of the balcony!” He joked, steadying himself before hugging you back tightly around his waist, resting his chin on the top of your head. You let him go, moving onto hug Sam. He squeezed you back saying, “You were amazing! And these fancy seats you scored us really let us in on the action.”

“Yes, it was incredible, seeing you play up there on that stage.”

Practically radiating happiness, you tucked the one loose strand of hair behind your ear as you let go of Sam and faced the both of them.

“Thank you guys so much for coming. I was so nervous to get back in the spotlight. Especially as a featured artist, you know?”

“Oh yeah, speaking of-” Sam said as he reached into his suit pocket for the program. “Who’s Irina Novikov?”

“Oh, shoot. I’ve been so busy with rehearsal; I didn’t even get a chance to tell you. One of the things that we worked out in my contract is that I work under a stage name, and they get all the talent of a known artist. That way, I can… avoid anyone who’s looking for me.” There was a slight pause, Bucky chiming in to lighten the mood.

“Okay, but ‘Reigning Queen of Russian Classics?’”

“Hey now, I got that nickname ever since I won that International Rachmaninoff Piano competition while I was in college. When I got back, my friends threw me a huge party with a banner that said that, and now it’s followed me throughout my career. It started as a joke, but now I kind of like it.” You said, laughing.

“Well, you basically are!” Sam exclaimed, gesturing out to the stage. “You’re gonna tell me that you don’t look like royalty up there? Especially with this dress.”

As you smiled and accepted Sam’s compliments, Bucky’s eyes finally got a chance to take in the full dress. Selena had done a fantastic job. The silver accents sparkled lightly, the fabric orchid blossoms making their way up one sleeve. She had made it to look like the bodice was made of two large delicate petals of a sea green blossom. If Thor was the god of thunder, you were the goddess of greenery.

“Ms. Novikov,” an attendant called as they peaked their head through the curtain.

“One moment!” You called back. “Sorry, excuse me for one second.”

You looked like you were practically floating as you pulled up the dress slightly to go up the couple steps, the waves of fabric moving like a mist off of the sea. The attendant said something in a hushed tone and you sighed. The attendant left and you made your way back over to them.

“I have to go, but thank you both so much for coming. I mean it.” You said, each of your hands reaching out and squeezing one of their arms.

“Wait, I got this for you.” Bucky said, reaching for his backpack. He carefully took out the cardboard box and removed it off of the vase of flowers. He watched as your face lit up.

“Oh, these are beautiful Bucky. Thank you so much. I’m going to take them to my dressing room.” You said as you accepted the flowers, gently rubbing one of the petals between your fingers.

“You have a dressing room?”

“Yeah! Its around the hall and down the stairs. If you want to see it after the show. I’ll tell the attendant at the bottom of the stairs to let you through. You too Sammy.”

“Alright, sounds like a plan.” Sam responded.

“Okay, see you guys after!”

You walked away, arranging the flowers in the vase with a small smile on your face. Bucky watched you walk away before turning to Sam who, for once, had a serious expression on his face.

“What?”

“She’s a good one, Buck.”

“What does that mean?”

“You know what it means.”

“Aren’t you the one she calls Sammy?”

“Oh, so you noticed that because you’re jealous.”

“No, of course not-”

“She’s a nice girl.” Sam said, cutting him off. “I think you two would be great together.”

Bucky bit his lip and looked to the side. “I don’t think so. I’ve still got… so much going on.”

“No offense to either of you, but so does she. She makes you happy. I can tell just by how you perk up around her. You deserve to be happy. And so does she. You know you have the same effect on her, right?”

Bucky didn’t answer.

“You’re a good person, Buck. She’s a good one, and so are you. So, give it a shot. Don’t be afraid to be happy.”

Bucky paused before swallowing and nodding.

“Thanks.”

“Of course, man. Anytime.” Sam said, putting a hand on Bucky’s shoulder.

---

The show ended with a standing ovation. The conductor took a bow, then signaled to you. You swung an arm out and gestured to the orchestra, giving them credit before you took a deep bow at the waist. When you came up, you clapped along with the crowd, facing the orchestra to applaud everyone’s fine work.

Bucky and Sam turned right out of the box, which was the opposite direction that the crowd was filing out in. After rounding the corner, they found a stairwell heading downwards, just as you had said. At the bottom, the attendant greeted them, leading all the way down to the end of the hall to the last room.

“Ms. Novikov? Your guests are here.” The attendant called, knocking on the door.

“Thank you! You can send them in.” You called from inside the room.

The attendant opened the door and gestured for them to enter. Walking in, they admired the aura of being backstage of a performance. The attendant shut the door behind them, leaving them with you as you sat at the vanity. You were adjusting your hair, just having taken it out of the bun that it was in. Soft curls fell out and framed your face, the lightbulbs around the vanity giving you a halo of sorts. The cement-bricked walls kept the room cool, housing the green velvet couches, mini fridge, coffee table and faux fur rug. There was a three-paneled, gold mirror right next to the bathroom. There was a clothes rack with several garment bags hanging from it.

“Wow, major movie star vibes in here.” Sam commented, touching the edge of the velvet couches.

“Thanks! This is the suite for guest artists. Every time they have a guest star, they make a little nameplate and hang it up outside. When my time is up, they’ll stick it outside of the room with the others.” You said, now getting up from the vanity. Your hairpiece was set down on the vanity, next to an open velvet box that held your earrings.

“I didn’t realize you were making big money like this! Dang, can’t Captain America get a raise?” Sam joked.

“Ha ha,” you said sarcastically. “I will admit I get a nice salary, but the only things I spend money on are fancy dresses and jewelry to perform in. Gotta keep up the look, give people something to see.”

“And that you do.” Sam said as he chuckled. The sound of a phone vibrating paused the conversation.

“Oh, hold on, I gotta take this. This might take a minute. Be right back.”

That left you and Bucky. You looked at him for a moment before settling down on one of the couches, folding your legs underneath of you and resting your arm against the back cushion to support your head. Swallowing, Bucky tentatively sat down next to you. It remained silent before you both spoke up at once.

“I know I-”

“I’m so happy you-”

You laughed and he gestured for you to go ahead.

“I was just going to say, thank you. I’m so happy that you came to support me. It’s been a long road to get here and I just want to let you know how much I appreciate you. I wasn’t expecting for us to be friends at all, and here we are. I’m so thankful for it. You’re just… amazing.” You said, smiling softly at him. He felt the red creep up his neck and didn’t know what to say. Fortunately, you figured that and gave him an out.

“What were you going to say?” You now gestured to him. Taking a moment, he cleared his throat.

“I was going to say, I know I already said this earlier but the concert was amazing. You sounded great.”

“Thank you.” You said simply, still staring into his ice blue eyes.

“And you look great.”

“Yeah?” You said amusedly as you raise your eyebrows.

“Yeah. You look beautiful. One might even say stunning.” A little of the old Bucky, the smooth-talking one, made a surprise appearance.

“Oh? Who’s the one?” You scooched closer to him.

“I thought it was obvious.”

“Not to me.”

His eyes met yours in a deciding moment. You watched as his eyes flickered down to your lips momentarily. You wondered if he could notice how your breath quickened.

“Ms. Novikov?”

The attendant’s voice was muffled through the door. The knocking that preceded it had startled you out of your moment. Tentatively, the door was opened just a crack.

“They’re ready to toast the champagne.” They called in. You sighed and got up.

“I’ll be there momentarily, thank you.” You called back. Satisfied, the attendant walked away, the soft clicking of dress shoes slowly fading away. You turned towards Bucky, who had also stood up.

“They’re opening a bottle of champagne in celebration of opening night, if you’d like to join me.” Your fingers nervously picking at each other.

“Yeah, of course.” He accepted, somewhat awkwardly. You tried not to be disappointed about what might’ve happened if the attendant hadn’t interrupted. Turning towards the door, you were stopped by his hand gently grasping your upper arm. Eyes wide, you whipped your head around. Bucky opened his mouth, though no sound came out.

“Yes?” You said softly, features softening from shock to gentle anticipation.

“Did I hear the attendant say something about champagne?” Sam’s voice floated in through the crack of the door. Quickly, Bucky dropped your arm and you turned towards the door. Sam opened the door and eyed the both of you. His expression changed slightly as he looked back from you to Bucky, eyes narrowing slightly.

“Did I interrupt something?”

“No.” Bucky said quickly.

“Not at all!” You said, a little nervously. Clearing your throat, you smoothed out the front of your dress. “Let’s go, they’re handing out champagne on stage.” You flitted around Sam and into the hall. Sam raised an eyebrow at Bucky, who gave him a look that told him not to ask. They followed you to the stage where the chairs had been cleared to the side to make room. The red curtains were drawn, separating the stage from the auditorium where people were still filtering out.

Upon seeing you, the conductor cleared his throat and called everyone’s attention. It fell quiet as he made your presence known. An attendant handed you a glass of champagne and you quietly requested two more for Sam and Bucky.

“This had been such a wonderful opening night. We’re so happy to have you with us this season, Ms. Novikov.” He started. A hum of agreement made it’s way around the other orchestra members. “It is a delight and an honor. Without your charity, we would not be standing on this stage tonight. Truly, you have helped us keep this program successful and alive in such turbulent times.” The orchestra broke out into thanks and cheers. Your face lit up, your smile breaking out into one bigger than it had in a long time.

“If I may, I’d like to say a few words, Arthur.” You said, gently squeezing his arm with your free hand. The conductor reciprocated warmly, setting his hand atop your before you let go. Looking behind you to make sure that the attendant had gotten Sam and Bucky some glasses, you started speaking.

“Many of you know that this is the first I’ve performed in quite some time now. The road to recovery was and still proves to be difficult. But I’m so happy to have found my way back to performing, and it is an honor that it be with the incredibly talented people in front of me. Each and every one of you has cause to be proud. This was an incredible performance. And it is with pleasure that I say the real recognition goes to you all. With all of your hard work, you were able to reopen the concert hall and provide people with a bit of respite in a time of rebuilding.”

You raised your glass. “So, with that, I say we toast. To growth, and a wonderful season.”

The others raised their glasses while repeating the words. After the celebratory sip, another round of cheers erupted. Several members came up to you with words of thanks and commendation. The jovial atmosphere under the golden hue of the stage lights made it feel surreal. Bucky looked at you, nodding your head and redirecting praise to whomever you were talking to. Your dress made you stand out in a sea of black suits and black dresses, like a gemstone amongst the coal. He’d never seen anyone so beautiful, inside and out. He was snapped out of his daze when he heard you excuse yourself politely and walking back over to them.

“Sorry about the long speech, guys. Thanks for staying.” You apologized, tucking your hair behind your ear.

“Are you kidding? That was beautiful. I’m glad your back to it. You seem happy.” Sam said, always quicker than Bucky with the responses.

“I am.” You said with a big smile, gaze moving over to Bucky.

Normally, Sam would be rolling his eyes or something at Bucky, but a text stole his attention away. He looked at his phone and cursed under his breath, scrolling through something. Bucky took the moment to ask a question.

“What’d you do for them?”

You swallowed the sip you had taken and looked at him with a confused expression.

“What?”

“Sorry, for the orchestra. They mentioned charity.”

“Ah. Yes.” You looked over at Sam, who was busy texting a reply.

“I, uh… Some unexpected problems with the building were going to close the orchestra. They couldn’t afford to fix it. So, I donated half of my salary for the season to repair the theater.”

Bucky looked at you incredulously. You smiled sheepishly under his gaze.

“What?” You responded, as if he was the strange one for the reaction. You never got it though, Sam now done on his phone.

“I’m sorry, but something came up. I thought it could wait ‘til morning, but things are developing a lot quicker than I thought. We need to go.” Sam said, looking at Bucky.

Bucky opened his mouth and closed it, nodding in reluctant understanding.

“I’m proud of you. Great job tonight. Sorry we have to leave so suddenly.” Sam said, hugging you.

“Oh please, don’t apologize. Go save the world. I’ll see you when you get back. Thanks again for coming.” You said, rubbing a hand on his back before letting go. Sam looked at his phone again before looking at Bucky.

“Your go-bag is on the plane; I’ll meet you there.” He said, before walking away, giving you one more wave before typing on his phone. You and Bucky turned to each other, not saying anything. You spoke first, reluctance filling your voice.

“You should probably go. Sounds important.” You said, looking up at him.

“Yeah…” Bucky looked in the direction that Sam had walked away in before turning back to you, still unmoving. He opened his mouth to speak, unsure of what to say before settling on an apology.

“I’m sorry.” Something told you he was probably apologizing for more than just having to leave.

“It’s okay,” you said softly, placing a hand on his arm and squeezing gently. “Be safe. I’ll see you when you get back, right?”

He nodded and you reluctantly dropped your hand. He walked backstage, but not before looking back at you one last time. Someone had approached you, but you were still watching him. You gave a little wave and then he was gone. You took a big sip of your drink and nodded at whatever was being said to you.

Bucky Barnes was going to be the death of you.

[lilolilyr]

Tagged by @ongreenergrasses, thank you!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Way over 300! Tho it feels like it's been at 300sth so long by now, it'll be weird to look at once it hits 400 :D

Btw, funny how this tag meme asks for so much stuff that can be looked up by just... looking at my Ao3... without asking for any commentary by me? Lol

Anyhow, rest under the readmore bc this is 20 questions and Long!

Personal post - do not reblog

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

995596 - just a few more ficlets or 1 longer fic, and I've got a Million! Hey, maybe I should try to write one with... 4404? (I'd need to ask a calculator xD) words exactly... not rly a hardship with how many drabble exercises (exact wordcounts, 100 is the most used, I also do 200, 500, longest was 10000 exactly lol) I've already done... we'll see!

Over 400k for this year alone, and over half of that is my actual writing (not translations etc), I'm so proud! Last year I only barely hit 200k and that included a lot of translating work

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?  

Again, one could look this up in my works filtered - sorted by kudos? But all three of my incubus!jaskier witcher series are in it, part 2 of the series is highest with 1091 kudos, then a Venom halloween oneshot, and 'Belonging', a fluffy snake-crowley piece from my ineffable spouses series (yes, sth with under 1k words - 666 to be exact - is in the top 5... my poor longfics lol)

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

...I try to? But atm I have 202 unanswered (and I always click 'mark read' on replies so these are all comments on my own fic) even tho I told myself I'd not let it get past 200, and now I'm doing a tag meme instead of replying to anything so ummmm

Edit: 203 unread now

But I do love love love all the comments I get! And while atm it's still semi-manageable, if it ever gets to the point where I really can't manage to reply to everyone cause it's too much, i'd rly take that as a compliment lol :D I'd still try to reply to the longer and/or more thought through comments tho :)

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

*thinks* I have an MCD fic? But not only is that very much a case of ~posting a draft version that's barely in complete sentences insgead of taking the time to turn it into a real longfic~, I also just killed off the mlm couple I only semi care about and left the wlw couple with a happy/hopeful (rly don't remember) ending, so... hm idk whether that counts for angsty ending

Apart from that... I dunno, I just prefer my babies to be happy and fluffy? *.* i remember a mirror milippa in the mirrorverse one where in the end Michael is worried about lying to Philippa about her identity... there are some angsty TOG and Gomens ones but I think they end happy-ish (my memory is. Bad. but looking through my 'angst' tag I just saw a lot of h/c and 'angst with a happy ending')

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

They're all happy???!?

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Ahahahahahhahahaahaha

Check this out

I need you to know that all the works in that collection take part in the same universe (or rather, multiverse), and are alltogether just scratching the surface of my gigantic headcanon multiverse that I've been building in my mind since I was like 10

Actual crossovers other than that I don't remember writing

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yeh but I only remember clicking 'delete comment', as it should be

Recently I've just gotten a bunch of 'you Need to continue this' and 'omg why isn't there more' or 'this shouldn't end' type comments, not hate, probably not meant maliciously, but So Annoying (maybe espesh bc I don't want to just hit delete on these, but I also don't want to pretend it's fine, but I also don't have the energy for a fight, and trying to explain why that behaviour is entitled and annoying and that I write what I want to write and nice comments should praise what I actually have written, and hoping that they understand and don't get mad is... hard.)

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Check out my rated E and rated M in my works

Mostly femslash lately, but I did also write other smut in the past

Most is a bit dominant/submissive play, but I do also like good fluffy smut with feelings! Best in combo, really :D

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not in the sense of pretending someone else wrote it (that i know of), but posted to other sites without my permission - writing 'don't repost to other sites' etc did Not help, they even copied those tags lol, so I just let it be, choosing my battles wisely etcetc, I'd prefer for my fic not to be cross-posted by others bc then I can't edit or otherwise influence the fic anymore and don't see everyone's reactions to it, but as long as it's not someone pretending they wrote it, I only semi care, not enough to fight it tbh

PSA: I Only post fics to Ao3 (and WIPs/prompt fills to tumblr&discord at times), if you see them somewhere else that's Not Me and you'd do me a favour by checking them out on ao3 and kudosing&commenting there instead :)

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yup, one to Russian a while back, a floreleine (Gunpowder Milkshake) one to Korean just today actually, and I translated a bunch to German myself

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I made a TOG fic together with @cinnamonplums, well mostly I wrote and she made the art :D

Trying to remember whether I ever actually co-wrote anything... don't think so?

13. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Don't make me choose!!!

Atm Milippa is OTP bc I'm busy writing them for @discoveryfemslashfortnight (this is not a post to reblog for the fortnight), but I'm also still rly into Floreleine, Bering&Wells and Andromaquynh and Andronilynh, and I read a lot of Mirandy lately

All-time favs I'm not rly active in atm but will always be dear to me are the ineffable spouses, clintcoulson, heistwives, gosh so many more I'll stop here tho xD

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

A Heistwives Kinda Job immediately comes to mind

I also rly want to finish at least one cohesive original-ish storyline for the lverse that I already linked for the crossover question above, but I just have so much backstory (it's been over 10 years!!!) and it's... hard...

And everything else that's still WIP and untouched for more than a few months will probably have the same fate lol

Also have a few that haven't even seen the light of day at all, most recent a Mirandy ~what if Andy had been pregnant when Miranda hired her and how would it change the entire storyline~ bit - I wrote it in bulletpoints in one go as quickly as I could, I know I had the finished product in my mind, I don't remember anything now and don't feel like going through the bulletpoints painstakenly filling in the blanks

15. What are your writing strengths?

Writing one-shots quickly in one go

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Forgetting everything about a fic if I leave it in a draft for a second too long

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

There are many ways to go about it, and I think they all work (depending on the fic and the length and relevance of the dialogue)

I tend to leave single sentences as is, and for longer and important sequences use cursive and 'they said in xylanguage'.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

The Hobbit apparently? I remember thinking that fic was so long lol, it's 3k

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

Kat/Ana from Reef Break, they have Such Shippable Chemistry, and it would totally fit Kat's player personality to bang both siblings (she's canonically friends with benefits with Ana's half-brother)... but the ship has one (1!) fic on Ao3 *cries*

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

TOG Andromaquynh longfic In Your Stead has had the title since last year and probably for a while to come! I loved the story idea so much I really worked with several drafts and only! worked on that fic until it was finished so I wouldn't get distracted & forget about it, and the result was wonderful.

Tagging, if you want to do it, @sarah-fiers @purlturtle @cookie-sheet-toboggan @ussjellyfish @onaperduamedee @startrekgeorgiouery @rosalie-starfall @lonely-night @banashee @xvnot15 and everyone else who sees this

Questions to copy:

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?  4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? 5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? 6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending? 7. Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written? 8. Have you ever received hate on a fic? 9. Do you write smut? If so what kind? 10. Have you ever had a fic stolen? 11. Have you ever had a fic translated? 12. Have you ever co-written a fic before? 13. What’s your all time favorite ship? 14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? 15. What are your writing strengths? 16. What are your writing weaknesses? 17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? 18. What was the first fandom you wrote for? 19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to? 20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

[itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto]

Jealousy... Part 2!

A/N: Sorry for the delay in fics everyone, I’m halfway through (nearly) my final year of University and have a lot of work on, so fics won’t be up as much as normal, but I do have some exciting ones coming up, along with a side project with @g0ldengubler​ ! More on that later though! Make sure you read part one before reading this otherwise nothing will make sense!

You, Spencer and Penelope walk to the conference room.

“I knew you liked him Y/N!” Penelope said, “I want all the details and spare none of them.” She said as you two caught up in her lair as you do every Monday morning.

“Well… Safe to say I have a boyfriend now.” You began and told her everything, sparing no details.

“He kissed you! What dates have you been on and how many?” Penelope continued to probe.

“1st date was coffee and a walk around a museum, second was to watch a film in Russian, third was going to a Halloween shop for decorations…” You started going on.

“Eeek, I’m just so happy for you two.” Penelope giggled

“How much coffee have you had this morning?” You ask your best friend

“5…” Penelope began as you gave her a stern look. “15.”

“De-caff time.” You say taking her mug off her as Spencer comes in.

“Hey ladies.” He smiles.

“Morning genius.” Penelope smiled

“S’up bro.” You say which causes Spencer to have a fit of giggles.  “Does Penelope know?” He asks after calming down.

You nod, “Everyone on the team does. Hotch said as long as we can be professional at work, he is happy for us.”

“Does this count as professional?” Spencer said putting his arms around your waist. “We got a case.” He whispers in your ear.

You groan, “You suck at dirty talk.”

“We have a potential suspect.” Rossi said once J.J had finished as everyone looked at you.

“Me?” You ask shocked your family would accuse you.

Hotch brought up a photo of Myers and said nothing.

“Oh.” You say, “Not to defend the son of a bitch, but why is he a potential suspect?”

“He wrote your name in blood on all of the victims houses.” Rossi said, “If you don’t want to see the photos kiddo, none of us will judge you for it.”

“No, I will recognise his handwriting. I’ve been doing a course on understanding people’s handwriting and how it reflects their personality. I want to help.” You say taking the photo from Hotch and put on your glasses. “It’s his handwriting, but not as cursive as normal, so he’s writing on his non-dominant hand.”

“I can see why Spencer has a thing for Y/N.” Emily said to Derek.

“They are a couple.” Hotch said.

“Is he..” Spencer began

“Left-handed.” You say knowing what the question was about to be.  “And don’t think I haven’t clocked the victims are from my school.”

“We…” Emily began

“It’s okay.” You say. “Is it too early to put whiskey in my coffee?”

“Yes, but once the case is over you are having a week working from home.” Hotch said knowing you’d need a week to lash out and relax. “Wheels up in 30.”

You nod and leave to get your go bag, before Penelope hugs you. “I’m sorry cupcake.” She says

“Don’t be, as far as I know, none of you are assassins.” You say bluntly as you hug back.

Penelope winked at you, and you went to get your go bag.

“Make sure Y/N isn’t alone on this case, okay?” Hotch told the team whilst you were hugging Penelope.

“You got it. Spencer can share a room with her, I’ll be opposite, Emily and J.J and I will be in the rooms next door either side with Rossi.” Derek said.

“How does Y/N normally relax?” JJ asks

“I smoke weed.” You say grabbing your bag, everyone knows you are being sarcastic but do know you do smoke cigarettes just as much as Rossi and would rather have a night with the guys playing poker or going to a basketball game over shopping with the girls any-day of the week. “Plus, I train with Morgan, so I hope your muscles are up to it.” You wink at him and then hold Spencer’s hand.

“Remind me to never try boxing with you again.” Morgan said as you all got in the lift

“What happened?” Emily whispered

“I kicked his dick so hard he couldn’t have sex for a month.” You whisper back, “I was trying to go for a year.”

“Try harder next time and try to get it on record.” J.J whispered

“Oh I will.” You smirk

“Please don’t. Savanah still hates me for showing you how to box.” Morgan said

“Please do.” Hotch said

“Is that an order Hotch?” You ask

When Morgan wasn’t looking, Hotch winked at you and you smirked to yourself.

“Please don’t kick me in the male area.” Spencer whispered to you

“No promises.” You smile again

The team boards the plane and Penelope briefs the team with some more information that Myers lost his job at the NYPD after the case you helped him and his team on.

“It just doesn’t make sense, why would he go after people I went to school with, and write my name in their blood? I get he wants to get to me but what is his motive?” You accidentally say out loud.

“Maybe that is the motive.” Spencer said offering his hand for you to squeeze or hold, which you accepted.

“It’s just disgusting.” You say sighing. “Those poor girls. I wasn’t friends with any of them but that’s not the point. Did he target single women, those with families or both, does anyone know?”

“Families.” Rossi whispered

“Son of a bitch.” You say squeezing Spencer’s hand wishing you had a punch bag. “Sorry Spence. Did I squeeze hard?”

“No more than usual.” Spencer said with a smile, worrying about his girlfriend. “Can we talk later?”

“Of course.” You say, wondering what he what he wanted to talk about.

Spencer bites his lip, since you left New York a few months ago, Myers still called you most days and nights, and in a fit of rage, you ended up shooting your phone whilst doing round tests with Rossi as part of your refresher training a few days ago and haven’t brought a new phone since as you’ve been afraid of Myers getting hold of you, even if you get a new number.

You start day dreaming about your relationship with Myers, glad you left and Spencer is your boyfriend, but you keep the thoughts going as it may help the team find him.

“Y/N…” Emily said waving her hand in your face.

“Little genius…” J.J said poking you

You shake your shoulders, realising you were really out of it. “Yeah?” You smile.

“We’re here.” Emily said

“Where is everyone? Where’s Spence?” You ask looking around

“Off the plane. Spencer grabbed your bags.” J.J said noticing you look for yours.

“Well, he tried.” Emily chuckled. “Morgan carried them.”

You chuckle and get out of your seat, tying up the laces on your trainers. You are the only one besides Penelope on the team that can get away with wearing casual clothes, and the team always say it’s because you’re Hotch and Rossi’s favourite, something you disagree with, but everyone knows its true.

“I hear someone tried to lift my bag that only had my clothes and hairdryer in.” You smile at Spencer

“Shut up.” Spencer laughed and kissed your cheek

“It could have a dead body in there.” Rossi winked

“Rossi, don’t ruin the surprise.” You say laughing and adjust your bandana.

You arrive back to the NYPD office where the officers all look very stressed. “I didn’t think I’d have to come back.” You say

“Well statistics...” Spencer began before you glared at him, so he stopped.

“I’d finish that sentence if I were you Reid.” Hotch warned him

You all go to the conference room, and you start to form an evidence board with all of the photos. “How is she so strong? I wouldn’t be able to do this.” J.J whispered to Emily

“She’s young, and she used to work here. She probably wants this over as quickly as possible.” Emily said

“How young?” J.J asked

“25.” Derek said handing everyone coffee.

“I hadn’t even started at the FBI at 25. When did she start here?” J.J said sipping the coffee

“20. She was younger than pretty boy over there.” Derek said pointing to Spencer who handed you a coffee.

“Thanks Spence.” You smile at your boyfriend and take a sip of it.

“Sorry for going on a statistic thing.” He said looking down

“It’s okay. I just didn’t want one at the time. Maybe you can give me some when the case is over?” You ask

“Deal.” Spencer smiled and added his unhealthy amount of sugar to his coffee.

Hotch and Rossi come in, “Any ideas?” They ask the team

“I think I’d like to explore New York, go where he used to take me on dates... Maybe something will come up.” You say

“I’ll go with you.” Rossi said, “Reid, with us.”

Spencer nodded and put his satchel around his shoulder.

You start exploring New York with Rossi and Spencer, talking about your life with Myers before you transferred to the FBI.

“Are you glad you moved?” Spencer asked

“Yes. I think so.” You smile. “I’m much happier with you guys.”

Rossi smiled. “You are one tough cookie Y/N. We need another poker night when we get back.”

“Oh yes please.” You say, “I love beating Dr Genius.”

“Dr Genius let you win.” Spencer said

“Nope, if I wasn’t there, you’d have won but if I played the wrong card you would have won 5 moves before.” You say

Spencer pauses to think, hating that you can actually beat him at poker but secretly happy.

“I think that’s Myers’ twin brother, Toby.” You say noticing a chef smoking at the back of a bar. “Maybe he’s seen him.”

Just as you all start to walk over, Toby runs away. “Freeze FBI!” You call and run after him with Rossi and Spencer, “Rossi, take the second left and right. Spence, take the second right and left. I’ll go straight and we can block him in.” You tell Spencer and Rossi before running straight.

Part 3 coming soon!

Requests for Matthew Gray Gubler and Spencer Reid are open!

Taglist: @pumpkin-goob , @jpegjade , @andiebeaword , @hopebaker , @hotchsbabygirl , @hercleverboy , @cupcake525 , @gubetube , @aperrywilliams , @cosmic-psychickitty , @marleyhotchner , @gubler-me-up , @trina2323 , @goldentournesol 

[oscaronthegloryroad]

Story Time, kinda.

I have a co-worker (for now) that I have to talk about, lets call him Peter.

Peter is an 18 year old who came to the states from Russia when he was in middle school which leads into some funny things: 1. There is a vast gulf of popular culture that he just doesn't get, including jokes that he makes and doesn't really get. 2. While I admit that I have a warped knowledge/perception of world history I am at least aware that the united states has committed genocide, Peter refutes that the USSR/Russia has ever done anything like that. Vehemently. 3. Peter will listed to Russian comedians and podcasts on his phone speaker, no big deal, but its funny because he'll laugh at something and look over to other people and start to say something before remembering that he is the only person that understands what he is listening to. 4. His favourite word seems to be "bitch", I am not entirely sure if he knows what it means. 5. He can read and write in cursive because it was taught in his Russian school and he was kinda salty about a lot of people here not using cursive. 6. He will occasionally stop dead with a piece of gear he is supposedly to be merching and read the Russian language information off the box in a mumble.

Unrelated to being Russian/ESOL: 1. He views himself as a great philosopher and sociologist, at age 18, and thinks he has the world figured out because he listens to a bunch of philosophy youtubers. 2. If he is to be believed, which I doubt he is, he does a ton of drugs and thinks it is truly bizarre that most of his coworkers don't. 3. He thinks it is really weird that I drink alcohol. 4. He is working on a book that he claims will revolutionize modern sociology. I should state again, he is an 18 year old high school graduate with not academic study in the field other than reading random books. 5. He speaks fluently in jargon and buzzword. 6. He is into crypto and NFTs, to the extent that when two of his supervisors and myself expressed doubts about NFTs being anything more than money laundering attached to shitty art he ranted about decentralized currency for a solid five minutes. 7. He states his opinions as fact. And if you call him on it he tells you he's just saying what he thinks. 8. He compares what we do to sex work (okay) with framing to put what we do on par with sex work (alright) because he views sex work very negatively (Oh.). 9. The first time we had a shift together be basically asked me what my sexual orientation is, then tried to explain my "Bi, or, pan or something. I'm just queer." answer to me. 10. He also works at a shoe store and talks about how its better than working where we work together because there are no expectations there.

He is 100% an edgelord dipshit who calls himself an anarcho-communist. But the thing about him calling himself any kind of communist is that he has little-to-no respect for common property or things that aren't his. And maybe my concept of communism is outdated, but I think that makes him an awful shitty communist.

But I don't have to deal with him for much longer! Because he has proven to be unreliable, unmotivated, slow, and an active detriment to the workplace environment (my words, my boss just called him "fucking useless") his hours were cut. And honestly, he was lucky not to just get canned. So he got butt hurt and spent an entire shift bitching about it. Then put in two weeks notice. My favourite part about that is that he was going on about how he would have no trouble getting a job because he has good work ethic, after demonstrating the exact opposite for two months

[miazeklos]

Fic Writer Review

Tagged by @takaraphoenix. Thank you! ;33

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

301 as of right now!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,106,292 currently. More written, but not posted. ;D

3. How many fandoms have you written for?

If I bring out umbrellas for some fandoms (for example, I'd count Mando under Star Wars but won't count Torchwood under Doctor Who), I'd say 10-11.

4. Top 5 fics by kudos?

Okay, so. My stats are sorted by hits, usually, and now that I've sorted them by kudos to check, I'd like to say that this is NOT representative of my work. At all. I actively recommend maybe two of these fics.

Rapture in the Dark (Malec, Rated T. It's a one-shot where nothing happens. Why.)

The Only Permanent Tenderness. (Janto, Rated T. I barely remember what happens in this one, but it's Time Lord!Ianto and also a lot of bendy space-time rules.)

For the Sake of Staying True. (Saphael, Rated T. Soulmate AU. Once again, why.)

deeper than time (13/River, Rated T, pseudo-noir setting. I actually like this one, ngl.)

In the Backroom of a Bad Dream (Jalec, Rated E. I have written better Jalec smut than this!!! But it was the first one, so I get it.)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why/why not?

I do! Comments are amazing and I love talking to people. Unfortunately, I also have crippling executive dysfunction, a time-consuming job, and the terrible conviction that I can't answer one comment unless I answer my entire inbox, which means that I'm pathetically slow about it sometimes, but I try (oh my god do I try).

6. A fic you've written with the angstiest ending.

Oh man, this one is hard to decide. I write so much morbid shit. I've narrowed it down to three: Jalec (death by parabatai bond), twincest (death by anti-white walker wildfire; 8x03 hadn't aired then), and the one where Tyrion buries his siblings. Being sad while writing is my passion.

7. Do you write cross overs?

Not really? I made... an attempt of it once many years ago, but it did not really work for me and I haven't tried since. Unless mix-ups between parts of the same properties count, of course, which I suppose they don't.

8. Ever received hate on a fic?

:/ Let's not go there.

(For a more wordy answer: I don't know why I'm always fatally attracted to characters/ships that the most vapid people in the fandom seem to loathe, but here we are. The bright side of it is that it's been going on since my teens and I am completely numb towards it, so now when people gleefully go on anon and send me impressively graphic suicide baits occasionally, I can laugh at them).

9. Do you write smut?

Yep! Not in every fic, but I sure love using even the slightest excuses for it.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

A few times, yeah. Intimidating people into deleting it is... not ideal, but the way they start immediately backtracking is always hilarious, especially when it comes to 'it wasn't me my cousin posted from my account' sort of stuff.

11. Ever had a fic translated?

Yes! A few Shadowhunters ones, in Russian. I think there was one in Spanish too, and I think one in Japanese? But I'm not sure if they only asked or actually did it.

12. Have you ever co written a fic?

You bet! This massive Jalec collab right here.

13. All time Fav ship.

Ooof, hard to say, hard to say. Given that I keep circling back, on and off, around them for years now, I'd say either J/C or Jalec.

14. WIP you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I might be far too optimistic, but if I've started posting something, I like to think that I'd finish it. Eventually. At some point. There really isn't a story I've fully abandoned. I've lost the outlines for at least one and have 0 clue where I was going with it, but I want to get it done if I have a lightbulb going off moment.

15. Writing strengths?

Going by what other people have told me, I'd say getting characterisation right and also metaphors/being flowery in sort of the right way.

16. Writing weakness?

So many run-on sentences. So many semi-cons. Also irregular writing patterns.

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I just feel like it rarely works, tbh. It breaks the flow of the story if I have to go back and forth with the footnotes (or worse, Google Translate if the translation isn't included). Pet names - that I like. Buuut when it comes to entire conversations, putting it in cursive and indicating that it's in a different language does the job, IMO.

18. First Fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter, though somewhere distantly before that, in a notebook somewhere, I think I might have small vignettes of H20: Just Add Water fanfic, and my very first misguided attempts at smut. I was like 10, so I'm not gonna go through my old stuff and check what that memory's about. ;D

19. What's your fav fic you've written so far?

storm within skin, no doubt. It is my one true love for many reasons - I love that it gives the characters a semi-plausible happy ending, I love the journey it takes them on, I love writing about the sea (my other one true love), and - last but definitely not least - I'm ridiculously proud of the fact that I made people feel bad for Euron Greyjoy for even a second.

Tagging: Anyone who would like to and hasn't yet, seeing as I'm always last. ;D

[breaniebree]

Talking about my love for my OC with @xxqueenofdragonsxx​.  This is my Zahira as best as I can make her, though someone awesome may be drawing me some amazing fan art of her so fingers crossed. 

ZAHIRA ZELENA ZACARIAS (ZEE):

Magizoologist, works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures for the Ministry of Magic.

Born 9th April, 1964 to parents Michael Ivanovich (Misha) Zacarias and Magnolia Jackson Zacarias.  Misha, a Muggleborn Russian Auror who is following the trail of a dark wizard and finds himself in Paris where he meets the American witch Magnolia Jackson.  They fall in love and get married and Magnolia moves to Moscow to be with him and then when Zee is six, her mother is killed.  

I think that it was a gruesome death, a curse that tortured her for days before she finally succumbed to her death.  They were living in Russia at the time and Zee was with her Baba and Deda, as she was only six, and her mother had gone into town to do some shopping.  The dark wizard was stalking her and cursed her.  She was left alone in an alley to die and wasn’t found for almost six hours, by then, the curse had taken over too much of her and any attempt at saving her life was impossible.  She’d lost her mind and Zee was never able to say goodbye.  Magnolia didn’t even recognize Misha when he found her which was part of why it hurt Misha so much to lose her in the end.

Misha meets Sorcha Brown when Zee is eight, a freelance journalist from Scotland. Zee grew up travelling between Scotland and Moscow and she always loved animals.  She spent her summers visiting her American grandparents on their ranch in Toccoa, Georgia where her grandmother owns a 50s diner called Flo’s and her grandfather is chief of police.  Her stepmother is the mother she grew up with.  Mama, seeing Zee’s love for animals always allowed her to bring home strays.  Her father continued to work in Russia, travelling back and forth via international portkey every day when they spent time in Scotland.  And when it came time for her to go to school, they decided to send her to the wizarding school in Russia — the Koldovstoretz School of Magic because it had such an amazing Care of Magical Creatures program.  She speaks fluent French, Russian, and Mermish because of her upbringing and her career and a little bit of Greek.

She has 4 tattoos:

Gold and green tribal elephant on right side of ribs

Red and gold dragon across spine

Black niffler on back of her neck

Zee tattoo over scar - deep green vines with bright blue orchids scattered from the top of her left hip down the side of her thigh, wrapping around her knee, Lady Godiva hidden in the vines covering her scar lying on a bed of blue orchids ending at her ankle.  I AM WOMAN written on one side, HEAR ME ROAR, written on the other.

Zee found him napping on the sofa and she smiled at the sight of him, bending to kiss his forehead.  Her curls tickled his face, a small smile on his lips.  Not wanting to disturb him, she hurried upstairs to pack the rest of her bag.  She changed into a short halter dress over her new bikini and was admiring her calf in the mirror when he came in.

His eyes met hers in the mirror and the look in them sent desire raking through her.

“When did you get home?”

“Maybe fifteen minutes ago?  You looked so peaceful having your nap.”

“I was resting my eyes,” he said, making her grin.

“Right.”

Sirius moved towards her, his eyes trailing down her body.  “You look fucking gorgeous.”  His gaze stopped on her leg, a brow rising.  “You got a new tat?”

Zee held onto his arm as he picked up her leg to examine the new tattoo.  She had gotten Lady Godiva.  She’d done her panther’s sleek form in a dark black outline but other than her golden eyes, she’d coloured the panther in with flowered camouflage.  Purple perennials and pink tulips, red roses and blue lilacs that brightened her leg and covered every inch of the ugly burn scar to the back of her knee.  Deep green vines and leaves surrounded the outline of the panther, framing the words written down either side of the panther in cursive: I Am Woman and on the other side it continued with: Hear Me Roar.

“Fuck, that’s sexy,” Sirius murmured, his fingertips tracing the words. 

“Yeah?”  Zee said.  “I didn’t want to look at my burn anymore so I wanted to cover it with something beautiful.”

“And the Reddy lyrics?”

She grinned.  “Points to you.”

Sirius let go of her leg and bent his head to kiss her.  “I love it.  But you were sexy with the scar too.”

Zee slipped her arms around his neck.  “And that, Mr Black, is one of the many reasons why I love you.”

Sirius slid his hands up her back into her hair.  “Let’s go shag on the beach.”

She laughed as he let her go and picked up their bags.  “Sounds perfect.”

As he walked out the door, she couldn’t help but think that she had never loved anyone more than the man before her.  She didn’t know what the future held for her, but she did know that her future was nothing without Sirius Black and Harry Potter. (Excerpt from A Second Chance, chapter 213)

Zee’s wand was made by Gregorvich and it is chestnut as the wood meshes with her love of animals, I think it’s short like her, only 15 cm  in length and her core is from a coral reef.  Her wand core gives the owner patience, someone with a coral reef core knows how to bring things to fruition, provide protection for all, as well as generate longevity.  They have a knack for deflecting disaster, whatever form it takes.  They are also loving, nurturing, and healing; are a source of enduring friendship and support and often the glue that holds the ship together.  I thought it sounded very much like Zee.

She stands no taller than 156 cm (roughly 5′1 and 3/4) and often wears 4 inch heels as if she was born in them, preferably her heeled cowboy boots.  She has long dark brown hair with golden caramel highlights mixed through it.  Her grandmother on her mum’s side was African-American so her skin is like a caramel toffee.  She loves bright red lipstick and big earrings.  She wears a white gold and turquoise turtle belly button ring and usually has smaller hoops or studs in her ears above the big hoops.  As shown above and mentioned before, she is very curvy, hourglass and I picture her body type like Jaydah Doll, but her face is the gorgeous model at the top (I saw her and thought Zee).

Her pet is a panther named Lady Godiva.  She rescued her from Muggles who were hunting her and her pack in Kenya.  Her parents were killed and she was the only cub that she could find so she nurtured her and kept her safe.  Why Godiva?

“I always admired her bravery; standing up for what she wanted and doing the only thing that she could do at the time to make her stand.  No one would listen to her and she had no power and no ability to use weapons.  She wasn’t a witch with powers to sway them so she set out on a horse, completely nude, and she got the attention she wanted.  She made her mark.  I found Lady Godiva in Kenya, hiding from the Muggles who had shot and killed her family, when I rescued her and confronted the Muggles, she jumped from my arms and stood in front of me, growling at them, almost daring them to fight her to get to me.  I thought that she was making her stand, a cub with no power of her own, but she was trying.  So I named her Godiva.” (Excerpt from A Second Chance, chapter 65)

Her grandfather on her dad’s side was a Muggle and veteran of the Second World War.  He drove a 1937 BSA M20 and it’s hers now.  She loves motorcycles and getting her hands dirty.  She’s an incredible cook.  She likes to read mystery, horror, and romance novels.  She travels for her job and has been all over the world, but has recently been enjoying her time working in the menagerie within the Ministry of Magic and helping to organize it.

As to the Koldovstoretz School of Magic, I like to think it’s hidden somewhere deep in Russia and that it looks like the ruins Balga Castle to prevent anyone from finding it, but when you get through the warding it opens up and looks the Vologda Kremlin and Saint Sophia Cathedral, just gorgeous Russian architecture -- but not as large as Hogwarts’ castle.  It says that they played a version of Quidditch there where they flew on uprooted trees instead of broomsticks -- which is another reason why I think Zee was never big into playing the sport herself.  Also I imagine her as short and curvy, which means she may not have great balance on a broom, and she loves riding the motorbike and likes the Muggle machine more than a broomstick if she has to choose.

As to her family tree:

The Jacksons:

Colten (Muggle) and Florence Jackson

Daughter Magnolia Jackson Zacarias (deceased) married to Michael (Misha) Zacarias with one daughterZahira Zelena Zacarias

The Zacarias’:

Ivan and Anya Zacarias (Muggles – Ivan was the soldier in WWII with the motorbike that he gave to Zee)

1. Michael (Misha) Ivanovich Zacarias m. Magnolia Jackson Zacarias (d) m. Sorcha Brown Zacarias

(a) Zahira Zelena Zacarias eng. Sirius Orion Black

(i) Harry James Potter

(ii) Twin 1 and Twin 2 Black (due January 1997)

2. Olga Ivanova Zacarias Petrov m. Dimtri Petrov

(a) Mikhail Petrov m. Ana Ivanov

(i) Yuri Petrov (11)

(b) Mila Petrov Sokolov m. Nicholas Sokolov

(i) Nastasia Sokolov (9)

(ii) Dinara Sokolov (6)

3. Sasha Zacarias Blok m. Yerik Blok

(a) Tanya Blok Fedorov m. Alek Fedorov

(i) Eva and Irina (twin girls identical) (2)

(b) Tatiana Blok eng. Iosif Kuznetsov

The Browns:

Callum and Fiona Brown

Brian Brown m. Jocasta Fitzgibbons

(a) Dougal Brown m. Ellen Smith

(i) Jenny Brown (24)

(ii) Ian Brown (22)

Sorcha Brown m. Misha Zacarias

(a) Zahira Zacarias

Names for Family Members:

Ivan & Anya = Baba and Deda

Tetya = auntie

Dyadya = uncle

Misha & Sorcha = Papa and Grandmama

Colt & Flo = Grandpa and Grandma

Callum & Fiona = Gran and Grandda

Basically, I love her and I’m so glad that other people have come to love her as much as me.

Zeerius is my canon.

@velvethopewrites​ thank you for loving her enough to put her in your Muggle AU.

[russianwithpolly]

Russian Handwriting (letters АОУЭИ) #part 1 📜🖋

Пропись русских букв АОУЭИ #часть 1 🇷🇺

I made this video and practice sheet for everybody who wants to learn how to write Russian cursive. In the video you also can see the way of joining some Russian letters. Hope the video will be useful for Russian learners ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srH2NRn7cYI

Handwriting samples:

[caffeinated-engineeringstudies]

1, 2, 12

Wohooo! I love you for asking these ❤️

1. How do you take your coffee/tea

Black or maybe with a dash of milk if the coffee is really bad. But tea I will always keep just the tea and not add anything unless I‘m getting a London Fog, which I barely consider tea anymore...

2.If you could be fluent in any language what would it be and why?

Probably Russian. It seems like a dope language to know and sojnds heckin cool when you hear people speak it! (I‘m already fluent in German, Swiss German and English, so you gotta switch up what alphabet you know, ya know? 😂)

12. Is your handwriting print, cursive or a mix?

My handwriting is definitely a mix.

Fun story: We learnt cursive in elementary school and somehow I was able to unlearn it completely over the summer between grade 5 and 6 and have never written cursive again. I remember the worst part of the SAT was when we had to write that statement in cursive and it took me like 10 years to finish it...