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aspoonofsugar · 10 months ago

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Have yo read Captive Prince? What do you think of Laurent's character? Does he foil any other characters (besides being mind to Damen's heart)?

Hi!

Yes, I have and I love Laurent <3 He has the most complex arc and is at the centre of the major conflict, so he foils several characters, who are used to explore his personality and to progress his arc.

In general, I would say three major jungian archetypes are used in Laurent's story:

Inner Child = the childish and most vulnerable part of a person, which is influenced by one's younger years. Laurent's inner child is embodied primarily by Nicaise, but also by every boy abused and raped by the Regent.

Shadow = the repressed part, which the person doesn't want to aknowledge. Laurent has severals: the Regent himself, Aimeric and Jokaste. They all embody Laurent's most negative side.

Anima/Animus = the anima is the female side of a man and the animus is the male side of a woman. It is usually used in romantic subplots to show two characters growing closer. Here, it is embodied by the bond between Laurent and Damen.

Laurent's arc is one where he integrates with Damen, but to succeed he also needs to save his inner child and to face his shadow. Or to fail and try again.

BROTHERS AND LOVERS

Laurent and Damen foil each others' brothers:

Laurent foils Kastor: both are the unfavourite child, but Laurent adores Auguste, while Kastor resents Damen. At the same time, Damen perceives them in opposite ways. Damen initially doesn't aknowledge the good in Laurent, while he doesn't see the evil in Kastor. It is as Nikandros says. At the beginning of the story, Damen sees things in black and white. By getting to know Laurent he learns complexity and that the world is in shades of grey. He integrates his own heart with Laurent's mind. His own idealism with Laurent's wisdom.

Damen foils Auguste: both are strong fighters and beloved leaders, able to inspire others. The moment Auguste dies, Laurent loses his heart and it is only with Damen that he learns to trust and to open up again. It is also through Damen that he overcomes Auguste's death and his sense of inferiority, which is carefully nurtured by the Regent. Laurent is brilliant, but his arc is about showing vulnerability and find new faith in others. He integrates his mind with Damen's heart. His wisdom with Damen's idealism.

So, as you said, Laurent is the mind to Damen's heart and has to rediscover his own interiority. He needs to love himself again. Only by doing so he can truly escape the Regent and grow up. This process of growth is the main focus of the trilogy and it happens twice:

Laurent fails to grow in the second book

Laurent succeeds and completes his growth in the third book

Let's see how.

NICAISE AND AIMERIC = LAURENT'S DARKEST HOUR

Laurent's darkest hour happens at the end of the second book. This is common for a trilogy. It is not rare for the second installement to end in a negative way. Now, The Prince's Gambit doesn't end badly. Laurent and Damen win and grow closer. Laurent even frees Damen and they have sex for the first time. Still, psychologically, Laurent risks a huge brakdown because of Nicaise and Aimeric's deaths.

Nicaise and Aimeric are two parts of Laurent:

-Nicaise is Laurent's child-self. He is petty and capricious, but he cares deeply. And yet, he can't show any vulnerability. The moment he does, he is killed. Moreover, Nicaise plaids for Laurent because he deep down thinks the Regent won't kill him. This is true for Laurent, as well:

"I didn't think he's really try to kill me" Laurent said "After everything... even after everything".

-Aimeric is Laurent's shadow. He is a young man, whose life is defined by the Regent's sexual abuse. Aimeric confuses the Regent's imitation of love with true care and fights to get it back, even if it means hurting people, who truly love him. Unconsciously, this is true for Laurent too:

"You play his games like you want to show him you can. Like you're trying to impress him. Is that it? You need to beat him at his own game? You want him to see you do it? At the expense of your positions and the lives of your men? Are you that desperate for his attention? Well, you have it. Congratulations. You must have loved it that he was obsessed enough with you that he killed his own boy to get at you. You win."

Damen's speech to Laurent is basically the same one Laurent gives Aimeric. Aimeric shines light on this specific aspect of Laurent. Laurent too still loves his uncle. He too wants his attention and on some level thinks of his uncle as his only family:

"When you lost your brother, was there someone to confort you?" "Yes," said Laurent. "In a way".

So, Nicaise and Aimeric embody Laurent's vulnerability. Nicaise is the child who still feels safe with the Regent. Aimeric is the young adult, who wants the Regent back. Both are Laurent. This is why Laurent wants to rescue them both. He grows close to Nicaise and tells him he will buy his contract and free him. He accepts Aimeric into his guard and refuses Damen's advice to send him away. And yet, the Regent uses them both against Laurent. He kills Nicaise and has Aimeric betray Laurent.

Laurent wants to help both Nicaise and Aimeric and the Regent tells him he can't. Just like he can't save himself.

According to the Regent's narrative:

Laurent is fond of Nicaise, but eventually leaves him alone out of selfishness

Laurent welcomes Aimeric in, but this is a blind spot that is used against him

By using vulnerable and abused kids, the Regent conveys to Laurent two messages. On the one hand Laurent isn't selfless enough to truly save anyone. He isn't good enough to be a protector like Auguste. On the other hand he is still foolish enough to trust others. He isn't smart enough to be a mastermind like the Regent. Too cruel and too foolish is how the Regent wants Laurent to see himself. So, that Laurent would feel trapped and cut others out.

And Laurent almost gives in, but is stopped by Damen:

"You tried to hurt me, and you have. I wish you would see that what you have just done to me is what your uncle is doing to you."

Damen goes through to Laurent and stops him from losing himself. He saves him from turning into a copy of the Regent.

THE REGENT

The Regent is Laurent's negative foil. He is who Laurent could become if he gave in to his worst instincts. As a matter of fact Laurent shares many similarities with his uncle:

Both are very intelligent master manipulators

Both are able to seize people's weaknesses and to use them

Both can be cruel and ruthless

Both tend to complicate things

This isn't by chance because the Regent does his best to break Laurent's heart and to warp his mind into a frailer copy of his own. He needs Laurent to think like him and to follow his rules, so that he can beat his nephew. This is why the Regent spends the years after Marlas by abusing Laurent in different ways.

The Regent's abuse has a double nature:

It has a sexual component: the Regent rapes Laurent multiple times as a child and shows possessiveness of him as a young adult. For example, many of his assassin attempts come with a sexual element. The assassins instructed to rape Laurent by using a drogue the Regent clearly used on his nephew as a child. Having Laurent and Damen sleep together, so that Laurent would eventually kill himself. Twisting Laurent and Damen's love story, as if to frame Laurent as dirty and despicable. Spreading voices about Laurent's supposed romantic feelings for Auguste. And so on...

It has an emotional component: the Regent keeps mentioning Auguste, which hurts Laurent in two ways. On the one hand it doesn't let him move on from his brother's death. On the other hand it drills into Laurent he isn't as good as the previous prince

"I hate to see you grown up like this," said the Regent, "when you were such a lovely boy."

The Regent basically blames Laurent for both growing up (physically) and not growing up (psychologically). He manipulates him by treating him as a child, while implying he isn't pure as a child anymore. The result is that Laurent hates himself.

This self-hate manifests itself in recklessness, suicidal tendencies and self-destroying behaviors. Like Laurent lashing out at others, when he is actually furious at himself. This is why specifically Laurent breaks Aimeric by using their shared trauma as a weapon. He hurts both Aimeric and Jord (who hasn't done anything, but being loyal to Laurent) because to truly face Aimeric means to accept himself and he can't.

Symbolically, Laurent kills Aimeric like he is slowly killing himself. This is why Aimeric's death happens after the reveal of Nicaise's murder by the Regent. Laurent kills Aimeric, just like the Regent kills Nicaise. Both victims are abused kids with frail and unstable senses of self, who deep down seek love and vulnerability. The lesson Laurent needs to learn is that he can't save the Nicaise within himself, if he doesn't help the Aimeric too. This is why it is important that Laurent is able to express empathy for Aimeric and to recognize he is a wounded person, just like Nicaise:

"Nicaise knew that when he got too old, he would be replaced." "Like Aimeric," said Damen. Into the long silence that stretched out between them, Laurent said: "Like Aimeric."

It is the first step to aknowledge his own hurt too.

AUGUSTE WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH

The second step is instead to face Auguste's ghost. Laurent's big brother is a double edged sword for the Prince. On the one hand Laurent deeply loves Auguste and is devastated by his dead. On the other hand his idealization of Auguste is unhealthy and leads to Laurent undervaluing himself.

These powerful contradictive feelings come to the surface in his "sparring" match with Damen. There, Laurent for once is able to show all his anger and grief. He lets it all out and is forced to accept he would have never been able to kill Damen in a fight. Still, another realization comes to the surface:

"I know," said Laurent, "that I was never good enough." Damen said, "Neither was your brother." "You're wrong. He was -" "What?" "Better than I am. He would have -" Laurent cut himself off. He pressed his eyes closed, with a breath of something like laughter. "Stopped you." He said it as though he could hear the ludicrousness of it.

Damen's words might seem cruel, but they are actually necessary because they break Laurent's internalised idolisation of Auguste. Laurent has been brought up with the convinction that Auguste is somehow better than him. This idea is present even before Auguste's death because of their father's favouritism. The early loss of his brother and subsequent abuse only makes this feeling stronger. Hence why Damen refusing this helps Laurent grow. Damen is the first one to see Laurent as his own person and to give him a choice:

Damen picked up the discarded knife, and when Laurent's eyes opened, he put it in Laurent's hand. Braced it. Drew it to his own abdomen, so that they stood in a familiar posture. Laurent's back was to the post. "Stop me," said Damen.

Laurent chooses to give up on his revenge. He chooses his present relationship with Damen over Auguste's ghost. He starts wishing for something positive for himself. He starts caring for himself. He starts looking toward a possible future.

JOKASTE = OPENING THE DOOR

To reach this future Laurent has to face Jokaste, who is really another version of Laurent:

"You're lucky we're alike," Jokaste said, stepping down. She and Laurent looked at one another like two reptiles.

Not only that, though, she is Aimeric and Nicaise combined in a single character:

Like Aimeric, she betrays a lover for selfish reasons (apparently)

Like Nicaise, she is caught up in a power struggle and has to choose the side, which ensures her survival, even if it means negate her heart to do so

"You mean, the only difference between us is that I chose the wrong brother?" As the stars began to drift across the sky, Laurent thought of Nicaise, standing in the courtyard with a handful of sapphires. "I don't think you chose," said Laurent.

This time Laurent is able to see this. He empathizes with Jokaste and gives her freedom. He opens her the door:

"We're alike. You said that. Would you have opened the door for me? I don't know. But you opened one for him."

In this way Laurent understands the Aimeric he could not understand and saves the Nicaise he could not save. By the end, Aimeric (Jokaste) is shown mercy and Nicaise (her baby) survives. Laurent gives Jokaste and her family a future. And in this way, he symbolically gives himself a future and a family. He opens his own door.

THE TRIAL

The climax of the trilogy is Laurent's trial in Ios. This choice is interesting on multiple levels:

It is an inversion of the ending of book 1, where Damen is blamed for the assassination attempt on Laurent's life and Laurent protects him. In fatc, it is not by chance that Damen mentions the episode in his initial defense of Laurent.

It shows Damen and Laurent's integration. As a matter of fact Damen is the one who realizes Paschal has the key to dethrone the Regent. He is able to do so because through Laurent he has learnt to observe others, to understand them and to empathize with them. Laurent instead selflessly gives everything up for the person he loves and bravely faces off the Regent with no plan, but simply with his heart. The Regent tries to turn it into a weakness and to force Laurent to give it up, but fails. Finally, he and not Damen is the one who fights Kastor and kills him. He uses the skills he has learnt for his revenge and uses them to protect Damen, instead. He chooses life and love over death and hate.

Most importanlty, though, the trial starts as a farce, but by the end it becomes a fair administration of justice, which punishes the criminal and recognizes the innocent. Let's see how this change happens.

NICAISE = VICTORY

Laurent wins not because of his mind, but because of his heart. Specifically, he wins because of the relationships he builds and of his ability to empathize with the humblest people, those nobody cares about.

First of all, Laurent obviously wins thanks to Damen. It is Damen choosing him over his kingdom that makes it possible to the tides to turn. So, it is because Laurent overcome his internalized hate for Damianos and slowly comes to accept and love him, that he is saved in the end. In a sense, the night where he has to choose if to let Damen die or to save him out of loyalty in volume 1 is when Laurent chooses who he wants to be. He can let a man he hates die without risking anything, like the Regent would. Or he can save that man our of a sense of fairness, like Auguste would. Laurent chooses the latter and makes the first true move towards his victory.

Secondly, Laurent is able to touch the councilors' sense of morality thanks to Loyse, Aimeric's mother. She reveals that her husband basically sold Aimeric to the Regent in exchange of power. She also explains how the Regent conspired with Kastor to kill Theodemes. This testimony isn't decisive because the assassination of Theodemes is a matter of Akielos. Nonetheless, Loyse re-opens the trial and gives importance to Aimeric's story and pain. It is also important that she is a woman because the Regent hates women. She is the character nobody considers, as everyone is focused on Guion's, the powerful councilor. And yet, Laurent does and convinces her to break free from her husband influence for the sake of her son.

Thirdly, Laurent is saved by Paschal's testimony. That said, Paschal is only able to reveal the truth about the Regent's murder of the King only because of Nicaise. In general, Nicaise is a character, who ends up being important in the finales of all three books:

In book one, Nicaise goes to Laurent's apartments after the attempted murder. He is clearly worried and can't decide if to openly switch sides and tell Laurent the truth or not. He also appears to tell Laurent goodbye and to give him his earrings. Symbolically, Laurent is saying goodbye to his younger and most innocent self, as he prepares to enter war with his uncle.

In book two, Nicaise's death is revealed in the climax and it leads to Laurent's decision to march on Charcy. It also kickstarts Laurent's deepest psychological crisis, as he struggles to keep a clean mind and shows how deep he is hurt and desperate.

In book three, Nicaise is the one who indirectly hands Laurent victory, as it is him who stole Govart's papers and gave him to Paschal.

In other words, Nicaise is the one who leads to victory, which fits his name. As a matter of fact Nicaise means "victorious", the person who brings victory and he delivers.

Thematically, this is very important, as Laurent initially regrets to have grown close to Nicaise:

"I killed Nicaise when I left it half done. I should have either stayed away from him, or broken his faith in my uncle. I didn't plan it out, I left it to chance. I wasn't thinking. I wasn't thinking about him like that. I just... I liked him."

He believes that because of their sibling-like bond Nicaise is now dead. He believes his influence isn't enough to break the Regent's control over Nicaise. And yet, it is precisely because of Laurent's love and care for Nicaise that the boy is able to rebel himself enough to steal key documents and to hand them to Laurent's side. Nicaise dies tragically, but his life and Laurent's kindness to him are not in vain. They change the destiny of two kingdoms. Laurent isn't able to save his child-self, but his child-self is strong enough to save him. Just like Laurent might not cancel what happened to him in the past, but can still move forward:

"Stop it, you're hurting him. You're hurting him. Let him go." A soldier was holding him back, and the boy was fighting him. Laurent looked at the boy, and in his eyes was the knowledge that some things couldn't be fixed. He said, "Get that boy out of here."

The new Regent pet once again mirrors a part of Laurent. The side of him that still sees the Regent at family. And yet, Laurent is finally able to accept this part of himself, but is strong enough to start healing. Just like as King he has now the chance to help as many children as the Regent hurt. Laurent ends is arc by growing up. He isn't a child anymore:

"You think you can defy me?" the Regent said to Laurent. "You think you can rule Vere? You?" Laurent said, "I'm not a boy anymore."

He isn't a boy anymore, he can't be controlled by the Regent anymore. He can now start a new life as his own person, free from the Regent and from Auguste's ghost. A life of love and new relationships.

#the captive prince #captive prince #laurent #damen #damianos #the regent #aimeric #nicaise #jokaste #my meta #the captive prince meta #asksfullofsugar #anonymous

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tigreblvnc · 14 days ago

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YOUR LIFE IN BLUE LOCK — @nikonautic

BACKGROUND HEADCANONS;

♤ As a kid you had good academics, i’d assume your parents put much care into your activities.

♤ So naturally, selecting a sport/extracurricular was expected as well. Soccer was pushed on to you, but you weren’t against it as you were able to use your creativity in a more physical manner than usual.

♤ Eventually you were scouted by Ego, since he caught on to your desire to make an impact, and wanted to see just how hard you’d work for it.

♤ His answer is a lot.

♤ In bluelock, you met a few people who you connected with. And knew that there’d be more along the line. If there was any place where you could meet people who you felt most comfortable with, it’d be in bluelock.

♤ So you endured and adapted through everything they put you through.

♤ And it paid off!

COLOR AURA;

♤ Yellow.

♤ A nice dandelion yellow

♤ A perfect mix of your socialness, weirdness, and ideals.

♤ You want a color that’ll leave an impact? Can’t think of anything better. The brightness of yellow is often used to balance out other parts, and can often do so on its own, without relying on other colors.

♤ Yellow looks amazing in so many palettes. It can work in many situations, even ones you think it may not look good in. But if you darken or dim it too much, it becomes much harder to appreciate.

♤ Because of that, for yellow to look its best, it must be used in usually similar tints and tones as its surroundings. As long as there aren’t too many mismatches within an environment, yellow can always pop out and support the picture in the best way.

TEAM SELECTION;

♤ Bastard München

♤ With understanding being one of your main strengths, it makes sense that you can quickly gather the details of a situation.

♤ Whether it be emotional or logistical details, both help you understand the whole situation on the field

♤ No one on BM handles failure well, there you’ll be fighting with people with the same underlying fear of losing. Although things may vary between you guys, that will remain the same.

♤ Emotions aren’t something you have to worry about either. BM is the last team to judge you for getting overly intense on field, it seems to be the case with everyone.

♤ The lead players on BM all have incredibly strong goals, and will put almost anything on the line to achieve them, spectacular plays are the expectation.

♤ This I feel you would link into very quickly.

BEST FRIEND;

✦ What a magnificent duo, Niko :)

✦ I'm not only talking about your BFF… but about your overall dynamic, not just with your BFF but with your rival as well.

✦ Not to mention your position on the field.

✦ (Although, I am going to talk about it.)

✦ I think Isagi is perfect for supporting you in your desire to grow and affirm yourself through your successes. It's a strong trait that stands out in your entire description: you seek recognition for who you are through your achievements.

✦ Isagi is very skilled at analyzing and understanding every type of player, as we've seen multiple times in the manga.

✦ And I believe he quickly grasped your intentions, how you play, and why you play that way.

✦ We also know he's someone who performs better in a tandem than alone. I'm convinced that with you, he forms a formidable duo on the field.

✦ He not only helps you achieve your goals but also makes an excellent companion in your growth. It's entirely mutual, as he also learns from your game and personality.

✦ In short, one of the healthiest duos in the lore.

RIVAL;

✦ I didn't choose your rival by chance.

✦ I find that Kaiser is one of those characters who craves recognition more than almost anyone else in the Blue Lock cast.

✦ There's a huge identity quest behind why he plays. He seeks to define himself through his achievements, through his victories. He's someone who wants to be acknowledged for what he can accomplish on the field.

✦ And like you, he has doubted himself a lot. His self-esteem is complex, even damaged by his past. These are things he hides, trying to repair through everything he's building in the present.

✦ Seeing someone else on the field, motivated by similar intentions, could hit him like a lightning bolt.

✦ Understanding someone's intentions because you share them doesn't make that person a friend. This can even spark a rivalry, as a form of ego establishes itself: "It'll be me, and me alone."

✦ At the same time, I also think you’re both capable of recognizing each other's worth. You just don't openly admit it. On the contrary, I even think you tend to hold back from each other in public.

✦ But I know that in private, you both acknowledge that you have a formidable opponent who can teach you, even indirectly, how to surpass yourselves. How to turn weaknesses into strengths.

POSITION ON THE FIELD;

✦ Striker.

✦ The first striker of this matchup series :D Pleased to meet you. 🤝

✦ It's not a position for everyone: it requires boldness, courage, and an initiative that not everyone has.

✦ This position further amplifies the dynamic between you, Isagi, and Kaiser.

✦ You become the eye of the storm during the tense moments of the match.

✦ On one hand, you're supported by Isagi. On the other, you know that the threat of a Kaiser pushed to his limits could cost you the victory.

✦ In this particularly stimulating environment, you can give your best, highlight your qualities, and challenge the greatest opponents.

✦ The emergence of Niko in front of the whole world :)

#suo matchups #yourlifeinbllk #blue lock matchups #bllk matchups #isagi yoichi x reader #bllk isagi #blue lock isagi #isagi x reader #isagi yoichi #michael kaiser x reader #michael kaiser #blue lock kaiser #kaiser x reader #bllk kaiser

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indigo-constellation · 20 days ago

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Your changeling!Daniil is amazing. Your Clara Burakh is amazing. Your totally-normal-scientist (who totally didn't do anything like Jack the Ripper and Victor Frankenstein in the capital! only ethically sourced bodies here!) Artemiy is amazing.

Clara as Haruspex is breaking my heart especially! The way you wrote her being friends with the kids - how Artemiy was once with Stakh, Grief and Lara - and how she has a foreboding feeling she won't belong with them once it is all over, because her role is to protect them, not be one of them! Rat man still found a way to be mean my girl 😭 Also she and Grace are so sweet. Wanted to say that Grace's name (Ласка) in Russian has double meaning: 1) weasel (animal); 2) tenderness. Do with that as you will~

Also Daniil (both of them) is so good as a changeling. I loved that quiet moment he had with Clara on the stage, where they say how odd it is to play like that. Love the eyes of the "twins" being what sets them apart, too! Raven feels like he wants to be a bad guy, but can't quite bring himself. Regretful plague that is also a dead man who is alive but only because the sickness is. Snake being so gentle and kind and seemingly having some sort of planning he doesn't fully share even with the reader. Also Daniil speaking Hebrew! I gasped when I realised. It's also a fun contrast to him only speaking in Latin in the game, especially if we still to see him as Jewish. Makes me really want to see how you'd write bachelor!Daniil! Want to take a look inside his head! I know what I shall read next.

Artemiy having a worst imposter syndrome out of all of them because of coming back home where he was supposed to take on his father's role and finding the man who was a founder of a project that could be called Artemiy's life work is comedy gold. Also his little sister literally living the life he refused! 10/10 no notes. Artemiy and his unfun coming-home-to-steppe party! 🥳 Roots, Rain and Reflection is secretly a comedy.

Thank you for writing this amazing role reversal, don't think I will be able to get it out of my head.

tumblr is so annoying bc I had a whole response and then it got deleted roijepigjetiuheoigj let me try to write what I can remember and hopefully do it better

I literally screamed when I read this ask btw thank you so much

the healers in this fic are so incredibly dear to me and I love them so much, I love getting to focus on them, yes Artemy's organs and cadavers as ethically sourced and fresh as he can get them :D

Haruclara truly deserves so much, she doesn't fit into the Termites despite being a kid herself, half because of the way she was raised and half because of the nature of the story and the separation of Healers and Bound. While also having messy connections with the other two Healers. I really wish I could have more Grara but this is primarily p1 focused so the Bound's role is limited (the amount of Yulia/Rubin/Lara/Aspity I had to cut- istg I was so excited to have an Aspity and Artemy interaction on day 6 but it would've been too long) I will keep what you said in mind though! thank you ^^

Changeniil has been so write, he keeps so much of himself hidden, so getting to reveal those small bits of him like in that theatre bit are great. The hands and the eyes being the main things to distinguish the twins Dankovsky is fun because those are two things Pathologic focuses on a lot, though I will say that there might be more later on. The Raven is a miserable wet beast, the idea behind the twins has been that different bits of Daniil are split up, so and what's fun about that is that it's Plagueniil that has the idealism. He's a fucked up guy held together only by spite and disease but he cares so much it hurts him. The Snake is also a creature, truly, he knows his plan, Raven knows his plan (and doesn't like it at all), and I know how it will fail, the narrators being unreliable is such a fun part of patho. I always write Daniil as Jewish (because he is to me lol) but specifically Daniil I think fits with Hebrew because it is a revived language and as a guy who is trying to defeat death I think it would suit him (also revived language and revived Daniil was an intentional choice) I will say though, idk how well my old writing holds up bc my writing got a lot better while writing roleswap so go at your own risk lol

Finally, Bachtemy, a dearly beloved fool <3 he used to have a much bigger conflict with Daniil about Daniil not being who Artemy expected him to be and that being a lot more angsty but then I started writing that scene and it turned out gay so nice. There's a lot about Artemy I'm planning to go into in chapter 7 so look out for that. Artemy is also 100% the character I get to make the funniest, truly the comedian of the cast, I am putting him in the blender as I write this.

thank you again for this!! sorry with inflicting you with the thinking about it curse lol, it's happened to a few people as I've seen and idk how to fix that (I am also infected I cannot stop thinking abt this au) but this long ask really made me so happy to see and I'm so glad you're enjoying it!!

#indigo rambles #pathologic roleswap au #pathologic #daniil dankovsky #artemy burakh #clara pathologic

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kerizaret · 7 months ago

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Hello everyone and welcome once again to my brain! Today I want to ramble a bit about

✨️ Tsukasa and Rakunosuke (Emu's grandpa) parallels ✨️

Because I feel like we don't talk about them much. Or at all actually

Now, I'm not pulling this out of nowhere. It's quite literally stated at least once, outright, in the game, that Tsukasa is really similar to Emu's grandpa (or even twice – but the other time I'm unsure 100% whether its about Tsukasa specifically, which I'll get to later). That's not to mention the other little things throughout the stories that I think similar between the two

So here's just some thoughts I've had on the topic after rewatching some events, more or less cohesive

1) Tsukasa's PXL auditon & WMS speech

Starting at the very beginning, we've known ever since the wxs main story that there's something in Tsukasa that has drawn Emu in to him already the first time she's ever saw him, at his audition for PXL, which made her hire him herself. She says "found you" at that moment, as if she's been searching for someone exactly like him. Out of all the possible candidates who applied who she might've seen, why Tsukasa specifically?

It could be just about him boasting about making fantastic shows, which of course is a part of it. But I feel like this isn't all, that there was something else that she noticed, that maybe she didn't fully realise at that moment

Then later, in Wonder Magical Showtime, after Tsukasa's motivational speech, Emu specifically thinks back to that audition and how she felt something special there. And, most importantly, she thinks it as if she's talking to her grandpa – like he's somehow tied to it, to her realisation that Tsukasa is the one

Putting aside the fact they were fighting for Rakunosuke's park, which obviously makes Emu think back to him, there's something more. Emu doesn't think anything of the sort about Rui, even though he was the one who came up with the night show, or about Nene. Nor did she mention any kind of this strong feeling/conviction about having them on the Wonder Stage in the main story

She's focused on Tsukasa, because he's the one that brought all these people together and gave them the last push they needed to fight for PXL. He's the one they listen to, he who understands what this park was all about and why they need to save it. He's standing on the stage her grandpa built, looking at all those people working here, and he's leading them, telling them this dream CAN be made a reality and it's more important than anything else

And I feel like she could have looked at that and been reminded of her grandpa a bit, with how much he loved the park he built and brought people together with the same ideals and love and made dreams come true

2) Miles

Speaking of WMS, I'm sure we all remember Miles, the sorcerer Tsukasa played in the night show in WMS, and how he was a character very clearly based on Rakunosuke. It's not very surprising it's Tsks who got this role, but it's still interesting to me. It feels like no-one else would've been able to get this character right and neither would Emu as Shao with someone else playing Miles

I won't get into what "Miles" Tsukasa says in the play, because that's just the script and not a representation of Tsukasa himself, but I do want to draw attention to the specific scene where Emu's father is watching the night show and looks at Tsukasa, then says this:

This is the first time that – i suspect – Tsukasa is outright "stated" to be like Rakunosuke. Here I say "suspected" since I'm not 100% sure of it for two reasons. One of them being that as we know, the ensekai translation is sometimes often bad. For that I looked up the original text as well as an old translation of the event on YT to check for differences

The line ends up being similar in meaning, more or less, but a bit more vague. That also ties to my second doubt though, which is that Emu's father might be referring not to Tsukasa himself, per se, but rather to the character of Miles he's playing

I feel like both can make sense, in their own way (and the event is a Tsukasa focus for a reason, too), but for here I'm throwing it more as a hint than any kind of outright proof. Food for thought

3) Tsukasa and Rakunosuke's deams

Then, as we reach Popping in my Heart! and learn more of Rakunosuke from Riley's pov, there's another interesting thing that pops up. That is, the fact that Tsukasa and Rakunosuke share the same dream

And then, that's when Emu confirms what I've talked about before – that this whole time, she's felt something about Tsukasa being so reminding of her Grandpa

So Tsukasa has all this time "carried the same spirit" as Rakunosuke – which is possibly the reason why Emu has been feeling strangely drawn to him from the beginning

4) The Wonderland SEKAI

Hey. Hey. Remember this line?

(tl by tsukasa's #3 fan on YT)

Yeah, this one. The same reason why wxs even has "Wonderlands" in their troupe name

You know what else has Wonderland in its name?

That's right! Tsukasa's SEKAI!

Tsukasa's SEKAI. A different world that's created from his feelings, that's a place born from his desire to make everyone smile with his shows. A world that just recently expanded to include plushies representing all those different shows – different worlds – wxs created as a troupe. It's a world that Tsukasa, in a way, made by himself (albeit unconsciously)

Oh did I mention the Wonderland SEKAI is also, primarily, pre-wl, a theme park? With a big ass ferris wheel and several stages and a castle and a train and a merry-go-round, a rollercoaster and more? You know, kind of just like Phoenix Wonderland? Which was built by Emu's grandpa?

Do you ever think about that? That both Tsukasa and Rakunosuke "made" their own "Wonderlands"? That the SEKAI is so similar to PXL? Because I do

Anyway. Those were the main similarities or references I noticed, but I still have some few other miscellaneous thoughts i had aside from that that I'll sum up a bit quicker

Tsukasa and Emu's grandpa both care more about the shows (& pxl) themselves and the effect they have on people to make them smile than any kind of fame or recognition

A reminder, too, that despite the movie's popularity, nobody really knew that Rakunosuke worked on "Smiley" (or that it was even a Riley Entertainment movie at all)

There's also the fact that both tsks and rknsk get stuck more on the excitement they want their audiences to feel rather than on the technical sides or worries about how it would be possible – as seen with Rakunosuke convincing Riley to include all his dreams and ideas in "Smiley" without focusing as much on the budget and all to install that wonder in the viewers, and Tsukasa doing anything to perfect his acting, and also agreeing to most of Rui's stunts and experiments and production ideas as long as it gets the audience to become more immersed

I noticed as well that they're both people who wear their hearts on their sleeves, who easily get emotional and enthusiastic, who empathise a lot with the others' emotions and struggles, becoming happy when something good happens to them

^ he cried here. And later at the fan festa seeing nene sing confidently and happily he teared up again

And also just *gestures vaguely at pandemonium event and Rui's "tsukasa's friends' happiness is his own happiness" line*. Yeah

Most importantly, Tsks and Rknsk both care so, so much about shows ending with smiles and not tears

And overall about everyone smiling and being happy. Like Tsukasa telling Emu in the main story, on the ferris wheel, that when her grandpa meant making EVERYONE smile, it included Emu, too, and he wanted to make sure she's happy as well

There's also everything with Emu, too. The way she's very clingy with Tsukasa, always throwing herself at him (not that she isn't with everyone, but she does seem to jump at him the most often)

She's also implied to open up a bit more around him – in Smile of a Dreamer, when wxs expressed their worries about emu hiding her problems, KAITO implies that its unusual she "hasn't told EVEN Tsukasa"

And it's Tsukasa who first understood that, despite how it may seem that "she always is so optimistic and says whatever's on her mind", in the end "the bigger the problem, the less likely she is to talk" (paraphrased quotes from smile of a dreamer). And also underdstood what's the most important to her and how to give her a push to voice her worries to them

It's Tsukasa who Emu first got so scared of leaving their troupe and her behind

I simply feel like Emu is aware of the similarities her grandpa and Tsukasa share and, subconsciously, trusts him a lot and gets attached to him easily

Anyway. This is just a bunch of thoughts that came to mind that I wanted to share and hear your thoughts on maybe too. I love emukasa so much they have such a great dynamic, and I feel the implied similarities between Rakunosuke and Tsukasa add a lot to that too. I'm really curious if it'll be something they'll explore more in future events. Because I feel these parallels are there for some reason

#this might make sense or not #i just want to throw it out there #keri rambles #prsk #project sekai #wxs #tenma tsukasa #ootori emu #wonderlands x showtime #someone take these characters away from me or else

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cupidjyu · 1 year ago

Text

win over your heart (goal!)

sunwoo x reader (this is for the anon who requested jealous sunwoo and bff eric! thank youuuu~)

summary: getting partnered up with your best friend eric and your childhood enemy sunwoo for a school project isn’t always ideal.

genre: friends to lovers, childhood enemies to lovers lol, school au (high school, college, not rlly specified), soccer player sunwoo and eric!, eric is your best friend and the real mvp here actually, fluff, jealousy, confession, getting together, first kiss, reader likes photography, flirting but also shyness notes: yumi is in a weird era where she suddenly writes these long ass fics for literal no reason 😭 my true writing potential (not rlly, i could write 20k if i rlly wanted to) word count: 7k

There were many rules when it came to soccer. You never quite understood all of them. The only thing that you were absolutely sure of, was that the goal is always the main objective. So really, every time you watched soccer games, your eyes couldn’t help but wander to the area next to the two white nets, wondering which team will score next.

“Y/n! Hey.” Eric popped up from the bleachers, dressed in his usual soccer uniform. He leaned his forearms against the cool metal, looking up at you with a quirky smile. “You didn’t forget what you have to do, did you?”

You immediately shook out of your little daydream, looking down to face him. “Oh, yeah. I definitely remembered.”

Eric raised an eyebrow.

You huffed. “I remembered… just now.”

“Focus.” He rolled his eyes. Then, he gave you a cheesy thumbs-up and a wink. “Make sure I look top-tier and better than everyone else.”

“I’ll make sure I do the opposite,” You deadpanned. As he walked away, you picked up the heavy camera that hung around your neck. Photography has always been your sort of… escape. Being able to look through the lens in a completely new perspective and even capturing precious moments easily caused you to get lost in your own world.

Usually, you took pictures of scenery or pretty flowers. But sometimes, there would be a certain someone who wanted you to take high-quality pictures of him so that he could use them to impress someone that he was crushing on.

You sighed, bringing the camera up to your face, to zoom in. You moved your view around until you found the familiar back of Eric’s head.

“Found you, dummy,” You whispered to yourself, turning the lens so that you could focus on his face. You followed him around, taking pictures whenever he would subconsciously pose in the sunlight or when a bright smile would appear on his face whenever he successfully passed the ball.

After the first game of practice was finished, you tracked your best friend as he walked towards someone. You squinted your eyes, watching as he began to talk to him, punching his shoulder and everything. Eventually, your curiosity got the better of you and so with a held breath, you shifted your focus onto the man next to him.

“It’s you,” You wondered to yourself, pulling back briefly. “Sunwoo.”

Sunwoo was your enemy. Well, not anymore. Elementary school enemies. It was funny, really. You two had always bickered when you were little children, sticking tongues out and messing up each other’s coloring papers.

“I’m gonna tell on you!” You would always threaten whenever he stole your little zebra eraser.

“Nuh-uh!”

There never was a day where you didn’t fight with him. Up until elementary school ended and he had moved away.

You brought the camera back up, trying to find Eric again but he was long gone. You sighed, as you went back to search for him, but again, your camera landed back on Sunwoo. Swallowing nervously, you watched as he began to play in his own style. Even the way he ran was alluring. He was a lot more serious than Eric, but his eyes were always adorably bright and his hair always bounced like a puppy’s.

You forgot to mention that when Sunwoo had come back to school all grown up, he had really grown up. Taller, broader, his jawline suddenly appearing? It was hard to admit but he became… attractive rather than the cute, scrawny boy from before.

You were enamored, the thought of taking pictures of Eric completely abandoning your mind. You knew that Sunwoo was a very skilled soccer player, which was why he was always moving. Stretching his legs, rolling his neck, blah, blah.

“If you would just stay still…” You mumbled, only managing to take horribly blurry pictures. And suddenly, he paused. “Aha,” You breathed out with excitement. “Stay there.”

But just as you were about to click the button, he was looking up at you, with a confused pout. And then it turned into a growing smirk.

You inhaled sharply, pulling the camera away from your face, your cheeks burning.

“Oh my god,” You panicked and shut your eyes in hopes that this was all a dream. When you peeked one eye open, he was still staring up at you. You simply wanted to crawl into a hole.

And you could have just stood up and left. But poor, poor you. Oblivious you. You decided to wave. Wave at him.

Sunwoo widened his eyes slightly. And then he waved back, giving you a small smile. Even from so far away, you could see the twinkle in his eye.

—

Practice had finally ended which meant that you could finally escape the heat of sitting on the bleachers. You bounded down the stairs to meet up with Eric.

“Tell me! He eagerly jogged up to you with an excited smile. “Did you get any good pictures? Ones that will make people fall in love with me?”

You winced. “I think I did?”

“Great! Let me see–” He reached forward to grab your camera. Normally, you would let him, but this was different. You couldn’t risk him seeing all the pictures that you had taken of Sunwoo.

“No!” You blurted out. “I have to edit them. Some of them aren’t–”

“Eric?” Sunwoo walked up to the two of you, a knowing smile on his lips. Even while sweaty, he still glowed under the setting sun. It was quite unfair actually.

You gulped. “What?”

He raised an eyebrow, motioning to your camera. “Are they all pictures of Eric?”

You bit your lip, glancing down at the floor. “Of course. Why wouldn’t they be?”

Sunwoo only smiled wider. “Could’ve sworn you were focusing on someone else.”

“You’re imagining things, Sunwoo.” You glared.

Eric gasped. “You were taking pictures of someone else? Who?”

You shook your head, whining and holding the camera desperately out of reach. “I did not! Leave me alone.”

Eric laughed louder. “Never. Not as long as you’re with me.” He surged forward, pulling you into a tight hug as he pressed a loud kiss to the top of your head.

“Eric,” You giggled shoving him away. Except, he only prevailed, holding you closer. Physical touch has always been your guys’ thing. Neither of you complained. That was just what best friends do.

“You will accept my kisses.” He glowered.

“Fine, fin—“ Your eyes met Sunwoo’s. He was staring at the two of you with an incomprehensible expression. Your eyes traveled down and you could see how oddly stiff his shoulders were.

You cleared your throat nervously and pushed Eric off, making him grumble sulkily.

“Can you go ahead without me?” You turned to your best friend. “I have to ask Sunwoo something.”

“Sunwoo? Why would you— ow.” He winced when you pinched him on the shoulder. With a pout, he walked away.

Eric was aware that you knew Sunwoo from way before. You both were best friends after all, meeting just a few years ago. No secrets were to be kept. Well… except for the fact that you think Sunwoo is cute. But that’s different.

You turned to Sunwoo with an embarrassed frown. “If you could just forget that all happened, I would greatly appreciate it.”

“That you were secretly taking pictures of me?” Sunwoo tilted his head innocently.

Immediately, a blush rose to your cheeks. “I was not.”

“Show me then.” He glanced at the camera around your neck. You hesitated but with a sigh you turned it on. Sunwoo approached you and you could even hear his breathing. You let out a shaky exhale, willing your heartbeat to calm down.

You clicked through the pictures, praying that they would all be of Eric. But to no avail, the very next picture was of Sunwoo, kicking the ball.

He hummed, looking at you with a mischievous smile.

“That looks like me.”

You stuttered, at a loss for words. He only continued to stare back, his eyes gleaming.

“Fine!” You blurted out. “It is you. But please.” You squeezed your eyes shut, hanging your head low. “This is embarrassing,” You mumbled quietly.

“Why?” You could practically hear his smirk. Then, a finger was under your chin, pulling you up to face him. You gasped quietly, trying to look anywhere but at him. He only leaned closer. “I think it’s cute,” He whispered. “After all these years, I have a secret admirer. And it’s you.”

“I am not!” You sputtered, blushing profusely. “Last time I remember, you stole my favorite crayon.”

“You’re still on that?” He pouted.

“Yes, in fact. I very much am,” You stubbornly huffed.

He pulled away finally but he was still smiling. “You do know I was doing all that to get your attention right?”

You froze. “What?”

“We were never enemies. At least I thought we weren’t,” He mumbled as he quickly turned away. If you stepped forward any further you could see that his ears turned red.

“Sunwoo?”

He only walked faster.

—

“What are the chances that we all get paired up together?” Eric happily plopped down on the desk in front of where you and Sunwoo were sitting together.

“Great,” Sunwoo huffed. “It was supposed to be me and Y/n. You just happened to show up late.”

“Aw,” Eric cooed playfully. “Don’t be so jealous.”

“I’m not,” He mumbled. Surprised, you turned to him, only to see his flushed cheeks as he avoided your gaze.

You giggled to yourself as you picked up the paper you were assigned.

“Exploring each other’s hobbies. A way to expand a person’s interests and grow a connection to the other.” You read with a bored voice. “Each person will teach the other their hobby and— This feels like the school talent show all over again.”

Sunwoo laughed. “Remember when I tripped you during your cute little dance routine?”

“Yes,” You groaned. “I was literally about to cry by the way.”

Eric watched your interaction with a growing smile. It was his time to play cupid.

“Did I hear that right?” He spoke up with a grin.

“Hm?”

“Cute. Cute?” He turned to Sunwoo. “Are you flirting with my best friend right now?”

Sunwoo immediately sputtered. “No. I was not. I actually thought it was stupid and dumb.”

You gazed at him with a small smile. “You thought my silly dance was cute?”

He grumbled, flopping down to hide his face in his arms. “I— I didn’t. Not at all.”

Suddenly, the teacher came around and she poked Sunwoo in the shoulder.

“No sleeping in class, young man. And you two should start working.”

You sighed, turning back to the paper.

“As I was saying before someone brought back bad memories.” You glared at Sunwoo who’s cheeks were still tinted red. “We’re supposed to try each other’s hobbies and write a few sentences on what we think about it.”

“Easy,” Eric replied. “What hobbies are we doing?”

“Photography.” You smiled giddily.

“Soccer,” Sunwoo said.

“But I already know how to play,” Eric whined. “Oh, but Y/n doesn’t.” He gasped. “You’re going to be a great soccer player,” He joked as he took your hand in his. He intertwined your fingers with his with an excited smile.

You laughed, turning to Sunwoo only to see that he was staring directly at your connected hands, a small frown on his face.

“Enough of this,” He muttered grumpily, reaching forward to grab both yours and Eric’s wrists, pulling them apart. His warm hand lingered on yours for a second, making you inhale sharply.

“What about you?” You choked out, turning away to hide your blush. “Eric.”

“Me?” He said. He gave a sly smile. “It’s a surprise.”

—

“You walk awfully fast.”

You heard a voice call out from behind you. Classes had ended which meant the usual routine of you heading home.

Turning around, you were met with the sight of Sunwoo running towards you, bag slung over his shoulder. His hair was slightly wavy, reminding you of a poodle.

“Sunwoo,” You breathed out. “What are you doing here?”

He gave you a quirked-up smile.

“Am I not allowed to walk you home?”

You laughed. “It’s a short walk, I’m okay.”

He shook his head, beginning to walk side-by-side with you. It was a comfortable silence with him occasionally taking soft glances at you.

“So,” He spoke up. “You and Eric.” You looked at him, noticing a nervous expression flit across his face.

“What about him?”

He frowned. “How long have you known him for?”

“Mmm…” You thought for a second. “About three years.”

A relieved look replaced his anxious one. “So you’ve known me longer.”

“Well…” You eyed him skeptically. “We were young kids and you did disappear for a good while. And came back really tall all of a sudden.” You nudged his shoulder with a smile. “Didn’t think you would be one of the taller ones.”

“Hey." He scowled. “What do you take me for? Of course I would be tall.” He puffed his chest out, making you laugh dearly.

But then, his expression softened as he looked at you with a sort of longing in his eyes.

“But, I’m sorry,” He whispered. “For disappearing like that. I didn’t want to move away but—“

“It’s okay,” You reassured him. “I mean, for what it’s worth…” You trailed off when you realized just how intently he was gazing at you. But still, you kept up the eye contact no matter how warm your cheeks felt. “I did miss you. When you were gone.”

Sunwoo’s eyebrows rose as he stared at you almost like he was in disbelief. But then, it contorted into a teasing look.

“You missed me?” His laugh was deep. “Tell me, are you in love with me or something?”

Heat rose to your cheeks rapidly. “I was trying to be genuine and nice!” You huffed. “Fine, I'll take it back. I didn’t miss you at all.”

“Don’t be like that,” He teased further.

You grumbled, stubbornly turning away.

“Look at me.” He tapped your shoulder. When you did, you noticed that his coy smile was gone, now replaced with a shy, timid one. “And for what it’s worth,” He mumbled, copying your previous words. “I missed you too.”

“See!” You exclaimed, trying to hide the smile that threatened to widen on your lips. “Was that so hard to say?”

“Definitely. Took all of my courage actually,” He joked, giving you a charming tilt of his lips.

You snorted. Something glinted in the corner of your eye and your smile fell briefly.

“Is that…” You pointed at the keychain that hung on his bag. It was a small plastic cat, dirty and chipped, almost like he had gotten it years ago.

He widened his eyes, his hand shooting out to cover it from your sight.

“It’s nothing.”

Your mouth dropped.

“Take it.” You had shoved a cat keychain in his hand. “Since you’re moving away and all… you should have this.”

Young Sunwoo had frowned at you. “I don’t want it. It’s ugly.”

But he still took it from you anyway.

You had assumed he was going to throw it out or give it away but here it was, hanging on his bag.

“Oh my god, Sunwoo,” You whispered in utter shock. “You kept it for so long?”

He shut his eyes, wincing from mortification. “It— it was too hideous to throw out.”

“Sure.” You smirked. “Then tell me, Sunwoo. Are you in love with me or something?”

And for some odd reason, he never answered the question.

–

“Photography is all about capturing the moment in it’s best,” You explained. “As long as you do so, then it doesn’t matter if your camera is absolute shit.” You snickered, glancing at Eric with his camera that was basically holding on for dear life. It was battered and dusty as he had claimed that he found it in his attic.

Eric pouted. “I tried to find a better one,” He cried.

Sunwoo laughed to himself. He didn’t have a camera, so he was borrowing yours. Something about the way he gently handled it put a funny feeling in your heart that you couldn’t quite comprehend.

The three of you had agreed to meet at a park, where it was likely to find subjects to take pictures of. Pretty flowers and the like.

“Using a camera is self-explanatory, but it’s the focusing that people need to work on,” You said. “But, I like to think that it comes naturally, as long as they choose something beautiful in their eyes to take a picture of.”

The two of them stared at you blankly, like obedient puppies who wanted a treat. You groaned, frustrated.

“So go,” You urged them. “Capture what’s beautiful to you.”

“Oh right!” Eric shot up, running over to a bed of flowers. You followed him and you helped him focus on a specific pink one.

“You’re supposed to– twist it so that it–”

“I got it!” Eric looked at you determined. “You may be my best friend but you’re a pretty bad teacher.”

You whined, pulling away. “That’s harsh coming from someone who has a camera that’s literally unable to focus at all.”

“Oh.” His mouth dropped open. “Is that why it doesn’t work?”

You snorted. “No. Your camera isn’t even turned on.”

“Shut up.” He scowled.

You laughed, turning around. That was when you saw Sunwoo, standing from a distance. He had the camera brought up to his face. Underneath, you could see a small smile on his lips.

But the thing is, he was pointing the camera straight at you.

Your past words rang through your ears. You felt your breath be completely taken away at the realization. Sunwoo seemed to be unfazed as he only zoomed closer on you.

Clearing your throat, you walked up to him.

“Me?” Your hand came up to the camera, pushing it down so that his kind eyes met yours.

He nodded, stepping closer so that he was only inches away from your face. You could feel your heart beat all throughout your limbs as your breath was caught in your throat. His hand came up to the side of your face and you felt something being tucked behind your ear.

You furrowed your eyebrows and touched it. It was a small, white flower.

“Sunwoo?” You breathed out, your voice shaky.

“You said to capture what’s beautiful to me,” He answered. You couldn’t even bring yourself to reply as he stepped backward, brought the camera up to his eye, and took a picture of you. You were sure you looked like a deer in headlights. A deer with a flower tucked behind its ear.

“You…” Your mouth went dry as you looked down at your shoes like they were the most interesting thing. “I don’t know what to say.”

Sunwoo smiled. He took the camera off his neck and handed it to you.

“Just know that I think you’re the most beautiful,” He whispered. He walked away as soon as he noticed Eric coming towards you.

Your mouth gaped open yet no sound came out. You turned the camera on and looked through the pictures. There were no photos of flowers or butterflies. They were all of you either talking to Eric or walking toward Sunwoo. And the last photo was what made your legs go weak. The one with the flower behind your ear.

“Woah, you look so nice in that picture!” Eric stated, peering from behind you.

You had forgotten to mention that what the photographer captures, is what they truly see in their eyes.

(Photography seems fun. Though it isn’t something I would pursue, I did learn to take pictures of lovely things. Or people. There’s one person in particular. - Sunwoo)

“Soccer isn’t just about kicking the ball.” Eric walked across the field, his chin held up high like their coach always did. “It’s about– uh…”

You tilted your head in confusion.

“Nevermind, it really is just about kicking the ball,” He muttered, his cheeks flushing. Sunwoo snorted, taking the ball from him.

“We’re just going to kick the ball at the goal over there.” He pointed out.

You nodded. “See? Eric, Sunwoo’s a much better teacher already.” Without thinking, you grabbed Sunwoo’s arm, pulling him closer. You didn’t notice him begin to blush profusely.

“No, no.” Eric shook his head. “I’ll teach you how to kick the ball properly.”

You sighed. “Fine. Prove yourself.”

“I will!” Eric stuck his tongue out at you. You let go of Sunwoo so that Eric could walk behind you. He rested his hands on your shoulders, tilting your body slightly. “When you kick the ball, you don’t use the tip of your shoe. You use the–”

The both of you were interrupted by Sunwoo clearing his throat. He was practically glaring daggers at Eric, his eyebrow raised.

“Let me teach.”

Your breath hitched and you turned to Eric. He seemed to be completely unbothered though. Instead, there was a knowing smile on his lips as he looked at Sunwoo, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Okay,” He jested. “Go ahead.”

He easily backed off, bewildering you. You stared after him about to say something but he cut you off again.

“Your boyfriend is a really jealous person,” He remarked, cackling as he walked off to kick the ball around for himself.

You squeaked. “He’s not–”

You inhaled sharply when you noticed that Sunwoo was already standing behind you.

“Pay attention,” He whispered, his voice sending shivers down your spine.

“Oh,” You breathed out shakily. “Okay.”

You could hear him huff out a subtle laugh as he brought the soccer ball closer to your foot. Did the weather change? You wondered why it was starting to feel so warm.

It got much, much hotter when you registered the feeling of a large hand resting on your waist. He gently shifted you so that you were at an angle. You took in a deep breath.

“At an angle,” He explained. “Use the inner side of your foot to kick the ball.”

You looked up at him. He was gazing back at you, his eyes soft on yours. With a shaky exhale, you turned back to face the goal. And then you kicked the ball. You watched as it traveled barely a short distance before stopping right behind the goal line.

“I hate this,” You cried.

Sunwoo laughed, his deep voice alluring. “You did alright.”

“Better than that one time you fell flat on your face in kindergarten,” You snapped.

He pouted. “You remember that?”

You snickered. “Of course I do. That was the first time we met.”

“Yes, and you–”

“Don’t finish that sentence.”

Eric appeared out of nowhere, balancing the soccer ball on top of his shoe. “You what?” He watched the both of you intently.

You blushed, and shoved Sunwoo away after realizing just how close he was to you. “Nothing! I did nothing.”

“Are you okay?” You called out after realizing a boy had fallen on his face.

“I’m fine,” He had sniffled.

“Here, let me help you.” You beamed. You sat beside him for the next few minutes, putting bandages on his scratched knees.

“Thank you,” He whispered.

Yeah, definitely childhood enemies.

Sunwoo smirked as he looked at you. “You’re still the same to this day, you know,” He replied.

“How so?”

“You like to take care of me.”

“I don’t,” You grumbled.

“Oh, so what was that water bottle doing right next to my locker when I said that I was thirsty?” He grinned.

You slapped a hand over his mouth urgently. “How did you know it was me?”

“On the piece of paper next to it. You still have similar handwriting from what I remember.” He winked.

(Sunwoo is a great teacher. But also a little excessive. Waist grabbing to teach how to kick? Someone’s awfully whipped. - Eric)

–

“Tell me I look good,” Eric pleaded. He began to practically hyperventilate, severely worrying you.

You set your hands on each of his shoulders.

“You look great. Very handsome.”

Eric whined. “Do you really mean it?”

“Mhm,” You nodded with a smile. “Now go. This is your first date, you can’t mess it up.”

He nodded, determined.

“Okay. I’ll text you after, okay?”

You smiled and waved goodbye. As he was walking out of the school grounds, he turned back around.

“I look good right?” He hollered again, cupping his hands around his mouth.

“You look hot!” You yelled back, waving and jumping up and down, causing Eric to double in laughter.

Once he was out of sight, you turned around, only to see Sunwoo sitting at a bench reading a book. You raised your eyebrows and went to take a seat next to him.

“You hate reading,” You finally said after a few moments of silence.

“Oh do I?” He looked up at you.

“Yes. Unless you’re a changed man?”

“Definitely,” He dully remarked, turning back to his book. You studied him oddly. Something about his tone threw you off. It lacked emotion, almost like he was upset.

“…Sunwoo?” You leaned closer so that he would look at you.

“What?” He glanced at you briefly before gulping and turning back to his book. You could tell he wasn't reading a single word.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine,” He replied. Yet there wasn't even a hint of a smile on his face.

“Are you sure? You can tell me.”

He shut the book harshly before turning to you.

“I mean, if you’re going to call him handsome and…” He paused. “Hot. You might as well date him.”

You furrowed your eyebrows. “What? Eric?”

“Yes, Eric,” He huffed grumpily.

You stared in utter disbelief. This was… different. He was looking back at you intently while being adorably frustrated. There was a crease between his eyebrows and a cute pout on his lips. Slowly, your frown began to grow into an endearing smile.

“Sunwoo,” You giggled. You took the book away, placing it down. Your hand wrapped around his, pulling it into his lap.

“What’re you doing?” He asked gruffly. You could hear the shakiness in his voice.

“Sunwoo,” You whispered. “Are you… jealous?”

“What? I’m not—“ He wrenched his hand away, his cheeks red. “I’m just annoyed that you call him handsome and all,” He grumbled, rolling his eyes. “You don’t do that for me.”

Your smile only widened as you looked at him knowingly. His shoulders squared and he cleared his throat awkwardly. Now his ears have turned red.

“I’m not jealous,” He insisted, frowning endearingly.

“If you’re so sure about it then I guess I won’t call you handsome then…” You sighed, biting back a smile as you stood up from the bench. Suddenly, a hand caught onto your wrist.

“Wait. Are you really?” He looked up at you with round eyes.

You shrugged. “It’s a pity since you’re so certain that you’re not jealous.”

“No!” He blurted out. When he realized his volume he blushed even more. “No. I— I guess I was a bit jealous…”

“And?” You laughed, sitting back down.

“And… can you call me handsome now?” He hung his head low.

You laughed even louder. “Yes.” You cupped his face in your hands. “You are so handsome.”

You could see him visibly struggle to conceal his smile.

“So handsome. So handsome I will faint,” You exaggerated.

“Ah…” He mumbled, grabbing hold of your hands and trying to escape your hold. “That one time was enough.”

You ignored him. “But you’re so handsome!”

“Okay,” He whined, blushing intensely. “I— I get it.”

–

“You never told us what your hobby is.” You frowned, sitting next to your best friend after practice had ended.

“Oh, right,” Eric replied. And then a smile grew on his face, slightly scaring you. “I’ll tell you first and then I’ll tell Sunwoo once he’s done.”

“Okay, what is it? You’re being awfully suspicious.”

He motioned you so that you would lean closer. He cupped his hands around your ear and whispered, “Dressing up.”

“Huh?” You pulled away in bewilderment, staring at him like he was the craziest man in the world. “Dressing up? Since when did you like to–”

“Shh,” He panicked, slapping a hand over your mouth. “Call it a guilty pleasure of mine.” He grinned.

You cringed. “Okay. So, what do you want us to do then?”

“Dress up?” He replied like it was the easiest thing ever. “Wear your fancy clothes or whatever. And then meet there.” He pointed at one of the goalposts. “Seven in the evening. Don’t be late.”

You groaned. “I don’t want to dress up though.”

“Trust me,” He pleaded. “It’ll be worth it.”

You sighed. “Fine, but only because we’re best friends.”

“Great!” He excitedly stood up. “See you there!”

“Mhm, all dressed up.” You rolled your eyes.

–

Just like he had requested, you stood under one of the soccer goalposts. The sky was orange, and the sun setting beautifully. And yes, you had attempted to dress up. You did your hair and everything, even wearing your nicer clothes. But, you didn’t enjoy standing there. All alone.

Maybe you were early, but there was no one else standing beside you. Sometimes you despised Eric for being so mysterious. You bit your lip nervously, pulling out your phone. You dialed Eric’s number and he picked up a few moments later.

“Eric? Where are you?”

“Oh, Y/n.” He laughed nervously. “About that… I uh– caught a cold.” He forced a cough out that was oddly suspicious. “So I can’t show up.”

“What?” You panicked. “So I did all this for nothing?”

“Don’t forget Sunwoo,” He sang. Before you could even reply, he had already hung up, leaving you stranded. You groaned, frustrated as you put your phone away.

You were just about to grab your things and go back home but that was when you caught a figure in the background. A very familiar figure.

“Sunwoo?” You tilted your head.

He came into view. He definitely didn’t get the memo of dressing up but he somehow still looked good. He had a hand behind his back, hiding something.

“Did you–”

“Oh wow,” He breathed out, stepping forward as he looked you over. He gave you a soft smile. “You look really… nice.”

Already, you could feel your legs transform into jelly.

“Thank you,” You whispered. “But did you also dress up?”

Sunwoo looked at you with confusion. “Dress… up?” He pulled his hand away, only to reveal a bouquet of flowers. It was beautiful, filled with colorful tulips and carnations. You gulped at the sight, gazing at him with shock.

“Sunwoo…” You uttered. “What is this?”

He pouted with puzzlement. “Did you not get flowers?”

You frowned. “...No. Eric told me that the thing was to dress up.”

“Huh.” He was deep in thought. “He told me that it was to make bouquets.”

“What?” And then it dawned on you. “Don’t tell me–”

He laughed, clutching the flowers to his chest. “This is a set-up.”

You snorted. “What’s the point of this? It looks almost like a love confession.”

He grew silent at that.

“Don’t tell me he noticed...” You heard him mutter to himself quietly.

You stepped closer. “Notice what?”

“Nothing.” He turned away.

“No, tell me.”

He sighed. “Well, I did make this for you,” He grumbled as he placed the flowers in your hand. You smiled as you observed how well it was made. The ribbon was tied neatly and the flowers were arranged beautifully.

“Thank you, Sunwoo.” Your eyes sparkled.

He blushed, turning away.

“And what do you mean by you making this for me specifically?” You widened your eyes.

“I found out that flowers have meanings so–” He pointed at the pink and red flowers. “The carnations and tulips both mean… love and affection.”

“Oh,” You dumbly replied. You laughed trying to ignore the pounding of your heart. “Are you in love with me or something?”

You had expected him to roll his eyes or deny it. But instead, he stayed quiet and looked at you with utmost sincerity, as if to silently tell you that,

Yes, I am.

You blinked, the flowers falling to your side.

“Sunwoo?”

“You have to listen to me first,” He said quietly. “I didn’t expect this to happen today but I guess Eric had other plans.”

You looked up at him softly. “For what to happen?”

“For me to tell you that…” He searched your eyes helplessly. “That I like you.”

You felt your whole world shift, almost making you drop the bouquet. “Wh–what?”

“I like you. A lot. And I have since all those years that we bickered as young kids. The reason why I teased you or stole your things was because I wanted you to pay attention to me. And I still tease you to this day because I like your cute reaction,” He rambled. “And I–”

“Don’t be nervous,” You whispered.

He sighed. “But you make me nervous.”

Your breath hitched, your grip on the bouquet tightening.

“You make me so nervous that I become a fool,” He said. “I’m supposed to be calm and collected but when I’m with you, I… I get jealous and anxious. And I feel like I look stupid all the time.”

You shook your head. “That’s not—“

“And,” He groaned, blushing even more than before. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something small that sat in the palm of his hand. “I still have this stupid crayon. Because I’m always thinking of you.”

You gaped at it, then looked back up at him. He no longer had the constant smug or teasing look, instead, it was replaced with an unsureness that made your eyes soften.

“Sunwoo.”

“I know,” He mumbled, looking away briefly. “This is sudden and I understand if you don’t like me back. I just needed to tell you at some point. It’s been years.”

“Years?” You whispered. You stepped closer after gently putting the flowers down. You placed a hand on the side of his face and you were pleasantly surprised to see him nuzzle into your touch. Oh, he was going to be the death of you. “After all this time?”

He nodded nervously.

And then you laughed. You just couldn’t help it. He frowned cutely at you, humming in confusion.

“What’s so funny?” He asked.

“No I—“ Your eyes crinkled with a smile. “I just can’t believe it. I thought we were enemies this whole time.”

He whined, “God no, I really liked you. I still do.”

“For me, back then…”

His eyes brightened. “You liked me back too?”

You winced. “Okay, not really.” You eyed him sheepishly. “I did actually despise you in elementary school.”

Sunwoo laughed lightheartedly.

“But that doesn’t mean I don’t like you right now.”

“Well I would hope that you don’t hate m— what?” He swallowed thickly, studying your features with a mixture of disbelief and undying hope. “You like me?”

You nodded, your smile widening. “Why’re you so surprised?”

“Because I’m a complete loser.” He furrowed his eyebrows.

“Who said I don’t like this complete loser?” You teased, caressing his cheek with your thumb. “And besides, you’re not really. You’re cute and sweet.”

He choked.

“I like this side of you,” You continued.

“Which one?” He asked shyly.

“The one where you always look out for me.” You searched his eyes tenderly. “The one who always blocks me from getting hit by a soccer ball and the one who always checks up on me when I’m tired. That side of you.”

“Of course,” He answered softly, turning to press a small kiss to the palm of your hand, causing you to stutter over a breath. “It’s only natural.”

You grinned.

“Then it’s only natural that I do this then.” Before he could get a single word out, you leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. You lingered there for a moment, trying to process your own mess of feelings, before pulling away with reddening cheeks.

His eyes were wide and his pupils were dilated as he gazed at you with so much admiration that you couldn’t help but shy away, pulling your hand with you.

And then he spoke again, a teasing lilt in his voice.

“You deserve a yellow card for that.”

You pouted. Soccer terms were the death of you. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” He chuckled. “It was foul play.”

You bit back a smile, looking at him shyly. “How so?”

You gasped when you felt two hands on your waist, pulling you in close and right up to his chest. His eyes had never once left yours after the kiss on his cheek. He only continued to gaze at you lovingly.

“You were supposed to kiss me on the lips.” He smiled softly.

“Oh.” You rolled your eyes. “Well I’m sorry, Mr. Referee that I—“

“Blah, blah.” He smirked. “Make it up to me then.”

“As a matter of fact,” You huffed, with fake annoyance. “I will.” Your hand came up to the back of his neck and you pulled him right against his lips, making him manage out a mmph noise. Butterflies immediately filled your stomach to its very brim when his hold on your waist tightened and he began to tilt his head to deepen the kiss.

Soon enough, he began to smile into it, even breathing out a husky laugh that only turned the butterflies in your stomach into literal cartwheels. When he pulled away eventually, he still lingered on your lips, pressing small pecks on them which made you giggle.

You could see clearly that he was in a daze with the way his eyes were blanked out and his cheeks were flushed adorably.

“I think I just scored the best goal in my life.”

You erupted with laughter at that, pulling him into a hug as you hid your face in the crook of his shoulder.

“When you like someone you become so cheesy,” You laughed. “It’s hilarious.”

“Specifically because I like you.” He pulled away, searching your face with fondness. “I can’t help it.”

He took your hand in his, bringing it up to his chest, right where his heartbeat was. You widened your eyes, but you also weren’t that surprised to find that his heart was pounding rapidly.

“See?” He frowned.

You giggled. “That’s so cute. You’re so cute.”

He struggled to contain a shy grin.

“You should have this back.” He placed the crayon in your hand. It was your favorite color and it sort of looked foolish in your hand, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. “Sorry for stealing it in the first place…”

You stared at it, feeling all the fond memories rush through your brain. You did contemplate keeping it, but instead, you threw it behind you, letting it land somewhere among the grass of the soccer field.

“What was that for?” He groaned.

“I only like you.” You giggled. “You’re my favorite now,” You joked. "A great kisser too."

You had expected Sunwoo to retort with a comeback or tease you like he usually did. But instead, he blushed. Maybe you broke him after that kiss.

“You can't just casually say that,” He said with a pout and a bothered huff. “That’s your second yellow card. Which technically means a red card.”

“And what’s that?” You smiled slyly.

“Penalty. So come kiss me again please.”

You rolled your eyes. Taking hold of his collar, you pulled him into another kiss in which he happily obliged with an adorable hum.

Walking back home together, it seemed that Sunwoo couldn't keep his lips off you.

"For the project, what grade do you think we'll ge- mm?" You were interrupted by his lips on yours once again. You stared at him, bewildered. "At least let me talk, Sunwoo."

He pressed another kiss to your lips. And then two more on each of your cheeks. And then one on your nose. You squeezed your eyes shut with mortification.

"No can do," He replied, smirking slightly. "You look too pretty for me not to kiss you. Like you do everyday."

You clutched the bouquet close to your heart. Oh, he was going to be the death of you.

(eric when i find u im going to kill u -Y/n)

(ahhh ur so scaryyyyyyy -Eric)

Grade: 95% (-5 points for bad grammar.)

–

“Eric!” You yelled, running toward him with one fist already raised. Your other hand was… preoccupied. With holding Sunwoo’s hand as he trailed after you like a lost puppy.

Eric snickered at the sight, even pulling out his phone to take a picture of you practically dragging your boyfriend along.

“Hey, at least give me the credit for getting you together!” He shouted back as you approached him. “I had to set it up. You both were getting frustrating.”

“We didn’t need your help.” You glared.

Eric raised an eyebrow and glanced at Sunwoo. “I don’t know. I could tell he was too shy to say anything, hence why I–” He pointed at himself proudly. “–had to come in. You should’ve seen how focused he was when making that bouquet. He is in love.”

“Are you?” You grinned, facing Sunwoo. His ears had tinted red, funnily enough.

He shrugged, trying to act completely normal. “Maybe, maybe not.” Yet he refused to look you in the eye.

You turned back to Eric, only to see him smiling knowingly. You laughed, already knowing what he was going to say. It seems that best friends share the same thoughts.

“He is so in love,” Eric whispered, cupping his hand around his mouth.

“Shut up,” Sunwoo grumbled. Yet he continued to gaze at you with heart eyes.

#deoboyznet #fics 💞#requests 💞#the boyz imagines #the boyz reactions #the boyz fluff #tbz fluff #tbz imagines #the boyz x reader #the boyz scenarios #tbz x reader #sunwoo x reader #sunwoo fluff

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sleepingdeath-light · 8 months ago

Text

smoked cheese cookie smut hcs ; 18+

requested by ; anonymous (17/12/23)

fandom(s) ; cookie run

fandom masterlist(s) ; hub | specific

character(s) ; smoked cheese cookie

outline ; “Can u do smoked cheese cookie smut hc?? I really like them. :)) (im 18 btw)”

warning(s) ; sexually explicit content, dominant leaning!smoked cheese cookie, sadist!smoked cheese cookie, collaring, pet play, free use kink, dollification, objectification, dumbification, degradation, humiliation, body writing, marking kink, edging, overstimulation, impact play, bondage, masochist!reader, submissive leaning!reader

note ; i’m not gonna lie smoked cheese cookie was a really difficult character for me to get into the head of, especially since i’ve never written for him before, so this may very well be somewhat ooc. this was also 90% written from my initial thoughts as i was going back through the story snippets in game where he appears, so apologies if this reads as a bit jumbled here and there lol ^^

minors and ageless blogs will be blocked

the first thing we need to establish is that while smoked cheese cookie has an extremely strong dominant lean, he is still a switch and can be convinced to take on a more submissive role in the bedroom every now and again — granted, it’s very very rare that he’s in the mood to sub, so unless you’re extremely patient or know exactly how to get him into sub space it’s unlikely that you’ll get much of a chance to dominate him outside of special occasions

those special occasions usually consisting of the times where he’s absolutely exhausted, defeated, and drained after a long day or a failed plan and he wants nothing more than to be held and pampered and spoiled until the whole ordeal is wiped from his memory — so anything involving body worship, praise kink, long and sensual foreplay, and lots of orgasms is the ideal way to get smoked cheese cookie to sub for you

(and if you start whispering praises about his power and intelligence and strengths as a future leader in his ear whilst making love to him, then you may just be able to send him straight into sub space — depending on how relaxed and vulnerable he’s feeling at the time, of course…)

on the other hand, as a dominant he adopts a much more strict and controlling demeanour, even becoming outright mean and sadistic at times, which means that a lot of the kinks he prefers to indulge in are the ones that emphasise the power imbalance between the two of you and, consequently, his ownership of you as your lover and your dominant

he’s a big fan of objectifying you and will go about it in whatever way you prefer (as cruel as he can be, and for as much as he likes flaunting his status, you’re still his equal at the end of the day and he wants to ensure you enjoy these things just as much as he does) — but the main two methods he defaults to are dollification or dehumanisation: either treating you as a dumb little dolly to be moved and dressed and posed and used however he wants (bonus points if you really perfect the glassy-eyed, thoughtless look), or as a glorified cocksleeve that’s only real purpose is to be a set of holes for him to use and a body for him to own (bonus points here if you get into the habit of presenting yourself to him whenever you’re alone — e.g. falling to your knees and opening your mouth when he spreads his legs for you). he also tends to combine each of these with very degrading and humiliating language, for example blatantly pointing out how much you enjoy being used when he’s deep inside of you, or commenting on how easy you were to train when you drop to your knees on instinct the second he motions for you to do so

(though both of these kinks are only really appealing to him in a sexual context as outside of the bedroom he does generally appreciate having a partner to covet and converse with as opposed to a living toy)

these ideas also go quite well with his love of the ‘free use’ kink as, with your express approval of course, with his busy schedule it’s nice to just be able to snap his fingers or drag you somewhere private to get you both off without having to skip out on his duties too much (he has an image to maintain after all)

pet play is also something he comes to be quite fond of as, again, the idea of owning you and treating you as his possession is something that’s extremely appealing to him — and if you’re up for it then he goes all out: buying you a collar and some matching jewellery to wear when you’re out and about in the golden city, insisting on you kneeling by his side whenever he’s working on some documents at home, having you eat and drink out of a personalised set of bowls, purchasing the best gear that money can buy (what kind of master would he be if he didn’t spoil his pet?), refusing to acknowledge your speech when you’re in pet mode and mocking you for making such a racket (e.g. telling you to stop ‘barking’ if you prefer being treated like a dog), and even getting a comfortable pet bed for you to rest in and a cage large enough to hold you for when you misbehave

being as greedy and possessive as he is, smoked cheese cookie also has a strong thing for marking you as his — sometimes that means covering your throat and thighs and chest with hickeys, and other times that means writing his name and statements affirming his ownership of you all over your body in a neat, but thick, cursive that take several hot showers to fully wash off

when it comes to punishing any bad or bratty behaviour you show, in public or in private, he tends to use a mixture of three different elements: impact play (usually using a flat instrument to swat at your ass and/or thighs until either he’s reached a number of hits he deems suitable for your ‘crime’ or you call the safe word), bondage (using a stretcher bar to keep your legs spread nice and wide so he can have full access to your body, while also using standard bondage rope to tie your wrists together and keep them extended above your head so you can’t reach down and get yourself off), and edging (using his hands and his cock to slowly work you towards the edge of climax before backing off just at the last moment over and over again, paying no mind to your tears or pleas as he continues to degrade and humiliate you for your desperation — recalling how desperate you were for his attention before and how pathetic and needy you’re acting now that he’s finally touching you)

and then once you’ve paid your penance, in his eyes at least, that’s when a different flavour of his sadism comes out as he proceeds to roughly overstimulate you until you physically can’t take anymore: until your throat is so raw that even breathing hurts, until your eyes are so full of tears that you can’t stop yourself from crying, until your voice is so hoarse that even your loudest screams sound like little more than timid half-coughed whimpers, until your whole body is limp and trembling, until the bed beneath you is soaked with sweat and your cum, until you’re so thoughtless and dumb that all you can do is climax over and over again

that’s when he’ll finally let up and get started on aftercare — he may be greedy (greedy for power, greedy for attention, greedy for your pleasure) but he’s no monster and makes sure that you have everything you need to recover from even the roughest of nights in his bed

#sleepingdeath #minors dni #minors will be blocked #ageless blogs dni #ageless blogs will be blocked #gender neutral reader #smut #smut hcs #crk smut #crk x reader #cookie run smut #cookie run x reader #smoked cheese cookie smut #smoked cheese cookie x reader

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stars-tonight · 18 days ago

Note

hi there! just stumbled across your account :> i’d like to request for long haikyuu matchup, please! also, this is my anon emoji hehe: 🦑

main details:

firstly, i'd like a romantic pairing!

i am female (she/her) and i'd like to be paired with a guy. generally,

i prefer not to be paired with a character who's considered immature/childish (they’re better off as friends! 😭)

my ideal partner:

the type of person that any parent would approve of immediately. like they would just ADORE him! (family is very very important to me!)

i’d also like someone creative, or at the very least appreciative of things like music, art, literature, you name it!

knowledgeable and nerdy guys are also really cute!! like YES talk to me about your interests!! also i'd like to be able to learn new things from them

would be nice if he's a foodie, or gives importance to sharing of meals together

good balance of listener and talker. overall a good communicator! <3

my personality traits:

my mbti is infp (mediator). conflict and challenge has me worrying and overthinking most of the time.

i am primarily influenced by emotional reasons/motivations (though of course, i still try to be logical).

i am introverted, but social and talkative when i'm comfortable with people. still need alone time to recharge, and by default, i am a reserved/quiet person.

overachiever, which causes me some anxiousness and stress sometimes bc of personal standards T-T (i need to be kinder to myself)

i try to be very patient and accommodating with others (but mostly it's also because i am a people-pleaser aaaaaaa)

hobbies: i’m a creative at heart! i love anything to do with:

music (listening, making playlists, playing electric guitar, producing)

arts/crafts (drawing, journaling, crocheting, graphic design)

worldbuilding (original character creation, self-inserts, writing, extensive research on franchise lore hahahaha)

love languages (giving and receiving):

words of affirmation and physical touch <3

sharing meals!

ideal date:

so hard to narrow this down tbh! i generally gravitate to the idea of casual café or home dates, because it's just chill and we could have meaningful conversations with each other.

but if we're doing something special, i would love an aquarium date! (oh my god i'm already imagining getting those cute sea creature plushies at the gift shop... WHY AM I SINGLE!!

likes:

food (if that wasn't clear enough hahaha), especially noodle dishes

colorful things! rainbowcore should give you an idea hahaha

stuffed toys and stickers. i collect so many of them oh goodness

learning about human sciences! psychology, anatomy and physiology, development, etc.

tabletop games! scrabble is my favorite hahaha

fav music is rock & kpop. generally, anything high-energy

other info:

my hogwarts house is ravenclaw

i'm a pisces (idk much about astrology though lol hahaha)

enneagram is 9w8!

hope this all helps! have a good dayyy <3

headcanons

🥛 mr. mature right here for ya

🥛 you can't tell me akaashi isn't the guy all parents want their child to date

🥛 he would totally get your mom flowers when he first meets them

🥛 he's so nervous he's shaking >_< (he's so cute, everyone needs an akaashi in their lives)

🥛 akaashi is a big literature guy and he'd definitely appreciate art of all kinds, including visual art and music

🥛 he's also very knowledgeable and i headcanon him as a little bit nerdy (especially about books)

🥛 while akaashi's not a foodie, he definitely hopes to eat meals with you and maybe even cook for you. mealtimes to him are always supposed to be spent with loved ones, as it's a time to catch up and just talk and be with each other

🥛 and he's a really good communicator :)

🥛 akaashi tends to be more logical in his thinking and decision making so you could balance out and help each other

🥛 you're both introverted overachievers which hopefully means you'd be able to relate to each other and help each other overcome these challenges

🥛 while akaashi is a generally chill guy, he is not a people pleaser and he will make sure you put yourself first!

🥛 he doesn't listen to music much because it makes it hard to focus on reading but if he ever needs inspiration he'd definitely put on some classical music

🥛 i imagine he'd be really good at arts and crafts (setting -> thin and nimble fingers -> good at precise-ness and stuff)

🥛 he'd love worldbuilding with you! he's an editor, so he's not necessarily doing the worldbuilding, but he has to be really good at it anyway. you can run characters by each other, it's always nice to have a second set of eyes on your work

🥛 akaashi is a words of affirmation guy, he's great at giving them but also needs them 🥺

🥛 i touched on the sharing meals part already but that'd also be very important to him

🥛 he's not big on pda but in private will for sure enjoy holding hands or cuddling

🥛 akaashi also definitely prefers calm or private dates; there's not as many people and it's not as loud or chaotic

🥛 he'd always keep an eye out for cute plushies or stickers and if he finds one he knows you'd like he'll get it for you! especially if he knows you've been having a rough week

runner up for you was kita shinsuke!

A/N: hi 🦑anon! i hope you liked your matchup, i had a lot of fun writing it! this was actually a really easy choice, and thank you for formatting your request so neatly (it was super visually pleasing lol)!

#haikyuu #haikyuu!!#hq #haikyu x reader #haikyuu headcanons #haikyu headcanons #haikyuu hcs #haikyuu matchup #hq headcanons #matchups #haikyuu x reader

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randomnameless · 9 days ago

Note

Sorry I need to send this about the "children of the goddess should not be allowed to rule" thing. Cause like, why shouldn't they. We, as humans generally appreciate the guidance of someone older and wiser. Wouldn't a nabatean's lifespan and experience make them the most "fit" to rule? Like, yeah, I trust someone with a millenia life experience to lead more than I trust someone with under 3 decades. And maybe it can be argued that Rhea didn't do a good enough job, but that doesn't actually disqualify the rest of them? Like, either they're truly godlike and should lead due to their inherent experience and wisdom, or they're just like any other person, in which case why shouldn't they get the CHANCE to lead. Like, is the situation that they live in fodlan, but have no rights to play a role in the future that they'll have to live in? They're not allowed to be in a position of leadership due to their race? Cause that's like. Pretty bad. But this is a question the game cannot answer because it might make homegirl look slightly morally questionable.

Go ahead anon, rant!

I think this issue could have also been raised in FE10 - but that game and "racism" is like... you believe you're eating a chocolate flavored peanut, and only realise you're actually eating a peanut flavored chocolate.

For all of the focus, in both games of the duology, Daien got as the laguz hating country, there's no line/zilch about them being happy - or not - with having a heron branded queen? Miccy will age slower than regular beorcs, will Daein peeps be okay with that? We don't know, but we sure know that legends will remember Ikey-poo fondly, just, don't give a fuck about the world or the other characters from the verse please.

As for Nabateans not being allow to do either X or Y based on their race... well, it was basically raised early in the fandom days by some people, myself included, but I guess being able to drink tea with Freezer overwrote that issue.

We could argue using headcanons all day long, for 5 years lol about what Rhea did or didn't - since the game loves to tell and show different things, but the fact that Nopes had to add Yuri and Dimitri discussing about common sense, like feeding people first before giving them education, I'm pretty sure the devs never believed people would seriously wonder what would Clout/Supreme Leader/Dimi's policies about "making a better world" would entail : both Yuri and Ferdie's supports are just here to, in a typical Fodlan fashion, sprinkle peanuts on your ice cream to make you believe you're really eating a snickers.

"We're a very serious game about having three political powers discussing about the future of the world and what should be done to reach this ideal !"

"And no one thought about food? People needing food to survive? Before doing anything else like getting a proper education or wishing to have a say in the politics of their respective states?"

"... Well, we also tackle very serious themes like isolationism and its effect of society and prejudices!"

"By depicting the foreign neighbours as MENA inspired people being bloodthirsty and deadset on pillaging or rampaging in cities? They attack for fun and let their orphans die as canon fodder? And the main lead who wants to talk about opening the borders and isolationsim never mentions this? At all? Especially since he's a prince of this MENA inspired country?"

"... but we hammer in 3 routes how this lady is evil incarnate, and in the 4 others, we say she sus!"

"Your point being? One person hearsaid to be wrong doesn't suddenly make the rest of your cast likeable, especially if their writing has glaring holes like the ones I pointed!"

"... we can sell super rad umbrellas?"

And you know what, it's a damn shame the devs didn't believe in their "homegirl" as you said it, because Freezer is somehow super popular, and that was even before the DBS retcons!

#anon #replies #fodlan nonsense #fandom woes #seiyuus are seiyuus but like #did you know Freezer's og seiyuu is also the one who voiced Kurotsuchi Mayuri in Bleach?#Sure they're both evil and hammy and have no regard for life in general but damn #they're super popular for a reason #their writers never pulled their punches about them sans dbs of course #yep even for mayuri #imagine if Zihark told Miccy that as Branded she shouldn't be allowed to rule over humans #even if he sang a jpop song I believe he'd receive some backlash

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tvckerwash · 1 year ago

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okay so idk how popular "other freelancers get epsilon and take wash's place" au's are these days but one problem I've always had with them is that I feel like people don't understand that wash is so perfect for taking down the meta and pfl that I honestly don't think anyone but him could succeed in the way he did. (utc again because it's kind of long)

the other freelancers (imo) lack the same 'wait and see' calculated nature and skilled subtlety to play the director and the counselor's waiting game like wash did, because while they always knew wash was going to betray them, they didn't know when he would betray them, or what he even knew in the first place. wash's long memory and his ability to hold a grudge is his greatest strength, he will remember what you've done long after you've yourself forgotten, and that's when he'll strike.

wash going around collecting the blues (and the reds) in s6 was more than him just trying to find people with experience with project freelancer to help him take down the meta—I mean at first that's all it was, but by the time he comes across church with caboose he definitely started to piece together the whole alpha puzzle, and at that point is when he switched gears and he was now looking at the blues (and reds) as people he could trust with his insurance policy when shit finally went down.

wash gave epsilon to the reds and blues for the same reason that ct gave tex a copy of her data in pfl, that being of course because he knew that there was a good chance he wasn't going to make it out alive, but he still wanted the director to pay for what he did even if he wasn't the one to put him behind bars. wash decided that the simulation troopers were the safest place to hide epsilon until they could get the chance to turn him in to the unsc—if it was good enough for the director to hide alpha, then it was good enough for wash to hide epsilon.

but back to the meta, wash was the ideal freelancer to take him down because wash had an advantage with the meta that no other freelancer did. wash was the only freelancer who understood maine even after he lost his voice, and it's heavily implied that they were fairly close going by the like 1.5 interactions they had in pfl and all of s8. wash's advantage of being able to read maine—and subsequently the meta—in ways no other freelancer ever could, meant that he could predict the actions the meta would take and plan accordingly.

wash also wasn't dumb enough to think he could take the meta head on with no tricks and live, and I personally think that's exactly what happened with north and south—they were so confident in their skills and abilities that they thought they could beat the meta, but they were wrong and they both paid the price. north with his life, and south who was stuck with the guilt of knowing that she inadvertently got her brother killed (and whether she did so intentionally or not is debatable and up to interpretation, I personally don't think it was intentional and I think wash believed the same thing, but he decided to use it as one of the many excuses given by delta to shoot her anyway because the guy is PettyTM and he didn't want to have to worry about her shooting him in the back again and ruining his plans).

another advantage wash has is his ability to (mostly) remove his feelings from the situation at hand ("I said that I didn't like it, not that I wouldn't do it."). wash and maine formerly being close friends did not change what he needed to do, wash and south being former teammates did not change what he needed to do, alpha having a life as away from project freelancer as he could did not change what he had to do, caboose just wanting his friend back did not change what he had to do, carolina being his former leader did not change what he had to do, etc etc.

slightly off topic but the above is probably where locus got his idea of wash being some perfect soldier who always follows orders from. he misconstrued wash's ability to push his emotions and morals aside in order to get a job done (something that is admittedly seen as an ideal trait in a soldier or anyone who is in a position in which you shouldn't question authority), as a point of similarity between them without recognizing that the reasons why wash did that are totally different from locus' own. wash's definition of what it means to be a soldier is of someone who is fighting for the sake of something bigger than themselves, someone who is fighting to protect and preserve humanity and ensure the survival of their species. locus was using his identity as a soldier to justify the atrocities he not only committed himself, but to justify the atrocities of others as nothing more than "just following orders". that is why wash is a true soldier, and locus is just someone who had been indoctrinated.

that aside, if we compare wash and carolina for example, I don't see her being able to take down the meta, and it has nothing to do with skill or even any of the above reasons, carolina is characterized as having waaaay more emotional baggage when it comes to pfl than wash does, and considering how she reacted to epsilon bringing up the meta in s13 ("don't you dare talk about maine like you knew him.") even if she was at the peak of her revenge quest I think she's too emotionally attached to the other freelancers to do what wash did.

south, north, and york all feel a bit too....self centered? to care about bringing pfl to justice, like yeah north and york had that "we're the good guys, right?" conversation and they both helped tex during the break in but it's pretty obvious york's main priority was to try and convince carolina to come with him, and north really only cared about south and theta. south based on what little we know of her really doesn't come across as a justice seeking type, wyoming and florida were still working with the director and pfl, maine is very difficult to say anything for certain because we know very little about him prior to becoming the meta, and while I think there's a chance for beta tex I think she really only cared about alpha (I didn't watch s1-5 on my rewatch though so maybe I just don't remember shit lol. I'll have to watch those seasons and come back), e!tex wanted to find the director, but I think her want to do so is because epsilon himself wanted answers only the director could provide.

#rvb #red vs blue #agent washington #mine #hmmmm i don't have anything to add in the tags this time lol #i would like to revisit the whole “carolina has lots of baggage related to pfl but wash really doesn't” at some point but ehhh not today #wash #the meta #the freelancers

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kirbybecomesastarwarrior · 11 months ago

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Your au is really interesting and charming! your ocs are very interesting. Question, is dark matter and/or zero a part of this au?

Dame Morgan: Conductor of Chaos

Ohoho~ I have big plans for them... >:3

Lore/Explanation:

My Morgan is loosely based on "Morgan Le Fay" from Arthurian Legend... and her name suggests that she has a connection to fairies, so... of course, I was going to tie her into Ripple Star. (the planet of the fairies...)

Their partnership actually started after (Kirby 64 and the crystal shards): If you know the game, there are two endings (a bad ending if you collect all the crystal shards) & (a good ending if you collect all the crystal shards).

KBASW Kirby follows the bad ending route... and this is where things get interesting: Dame Morgan's added to the mix...

So in the KBASW Kirby and the gang just miss one crystal shard... and it just happens to fall into the hands of... the worst person you could possibly imagine... And instead of Fairy Queen being possessed... Dark Matter finds another host...

(This is also why I made Dame Morgan's eyes purple in a reference to Queen Ripple and her purple eyes~)

Dame Morgan goes to the remains using the one shard crystal to absorb the last remaining remnant of Dark Matter... (they purify the queen... but Morgan is secretly there and uses the last bit of the shard to pull him away... just before anyone notices it...)

At first, Dark Matter freaks out because it's another star warrior: he's done for... But instead of purging them... she offers them a deal... an offer that Dark Matter couldn't possibly refuse... It was everything they could've asked for:

A free hiding spot/victim no one would suspect

A new vessel they could control freely

Access to the raw power of an ex-star warrior

AND THEY WERE WILLING!

All they needed to do was help her with her goals, revenge on the GSA, intergalactic conquest, destruction of other worlds, unsealing Void Termina... you know that sort of thing.

DM when they hear all this: SWEET NOVA GURL... you're speaking my language! So, hey, why not?

Unlike Dark Matter's other possessed victims... this one felt different... she was able to separate from their dark aura with ease and regain control of herself perfectly. Maybe it was because she was willing...

However, Morgan played it off as if they were the only ones who relinquished control back to her body (playing dumb). And being the prideful smuck he is... Dark Matter goes along with it. "Hey, of course... we're partners, right?"

He didn't want to lose his flesh puppet, plus their ideals matched up with each other, and saw no problem in helping them (DM) with their goals (taking over Ripple Star)... what could possibly go wrong.

This should have been DM's first sign to run...

For a while, things were great... little did they know Morgan was allowing them to believe they were in control. Dark Matter's hubris and desperation backfire on them...And, soon enough something happened they never thought was possible... and regret it dearly.

He was no longer the puppeteer... this time... he was the puppet?

Also, shoutout to @camachine

I always felt something was missing in Dame Morgan's design that I couldn't quite place... but then I did a little cross-over post (@camachine 's style of drawing the characters to be more fluffy): it just clicked so well with Morgan I had to keep it for her design.

And that's why she has a tuff of hair fluff now (for those who were wondering.) Plus, it shows how unhinged she's gotten after leaving the GSA... And I love it for her.

Morgan remains quiet working behind the scenes and is the main villain of the KBASW (AU)... It all comes together in the end... And needless to say, Ripple Star's in big trouble.

Also dropping what I consider Morgan's character song

youtube

Villian~

#kirby #dame morgan #kirby oc #kbasw #zero kirby #morgan le fay #zero two kirby #dark matter #queen ripple #kirby 64 #kirby and the crystal shards #ripple star #anon ask #answered #kirby gsa

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flintsilvers · 1 year ago

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i think the reason re8 wasn't as well executed as re7 is because they tried to convey too many things at once.

in re7 the main villain is a 10 year old girl abused by a secret corporation that wants to turn her into a bioweapon when all she wants is a normal family. however she has only ever known authority and hierarchy, not the love and affection that should exist within an actual family, therefore she is only able to create a toxic home with a strict hierarchy where every new member is at the bottom of the food chain. jack is the abusive father who delights in torturing his children, marguerite is reduced to her reproductive organs, as her role is solely that of the mother who bears new children, and is otherwise just a very disguting annoyance. lucas is the product of this toxic home, showing that it isn't genetics that play the biggest role in the child's education (he has been cured of the mold and is acting solely of his own free will) and that cycles of violence and abuse are not easily broken. however they can be broken, and we see that in zoe, who goes out of her way and risks her own life to help ethan. mia, while technically the "younger sibling", is probably just a step above lucas in the hierarchy because of her bond with eveline and her ability to adapt. when ethan "joins" the little family unit, he is nothing but the scared little kid who's just trying to run and hide from his father, a practically impossible task in the claustrophobic house.

this all works because this is all the game is about. it's not trying to be anything else or to make bigger statements or commentary. the first re game was about the collapse and moral corruption of modern society (with the cannibal zombies) as well as the obsession with modernizing warfare by developing bioweapons to be used arbitrarily on the civilian population, who become mere test subjects for the military industrial complex.

re7 focuses on the moral decay of the family unit as a sort of case study for the larger aforementioned collapse of modern society, as it is both a direct result of a human-made biochemical disaster and the sum of every toxic and abusive ideal of patriarchal society.

re8 at its core is about pollution, with moreau being the most self explainatory case. however, the problem with re8 is that every one of the four lords represents a different thing, and the player doesnt really get enough time with any of them to really unpack anything. re8 tries to recreate the family unit we had in re7 but at the same time it wants to talk about how the nobility is nothing but a very pretty looking blood sucking parasite, and also about how pollution is bad for the fish, and about how technological advancement requires the utter annihilation of the natural landscape to make way for factories that produce machine-human hybrids, but it's also about family.

mother miranda tries to make a family for herself, but she fails miserably as she isn't interested in any of her "children", instead focused on exploiting them to create the perfect child. alcina, the nobility, has some pretty evident issues with authority; she's used to being the ruling class, the one with all the power and who exploits those below her; she also has daughters of her own, so she clearly isn't interested in miranda's plans. moreau is the most pathetic and also most obvious Lord Of Pollution, as there is nothing else really going on with him. he is a poisonous creature the spreads disease at his every breath. heisenberg is the rebellious son who wants to break away from his overbearing mother's control, the mother who put him on earth without his permission, who changed him without his permission, but he is the worst kind of pollution that exists: war. he cannot break the cycle and is not interested in doing so.

donna is the one that stands out the most to me, as she doesnt really represent any kind of physical pollution, but rather something that is plaguing our modern society on a much larger scale than ever before: metal illness. she is also the one who, more than any other lord, personifies the theme of the sick and twisted family; she taunts ethan with his insecurities about being a parent, about his own body and his own "wrongs" that his child might have inherited from him (scary giant fetus). she also makes him to take apart a mannequin modeled after mia, his dead wife, forcing him to deal with his grief and and fear to lose the only family he has left: rose.

it's not a bad game at all, and every lord is a very compelling villain (except maybe moreau) but the game doesnt give any of them nearly enough time to be developed fully and to be truly, undeniably monstrous. not to mention mother miranda, who barely feels like a villain by the end of the game, she's just annoying.

tl;dr: it's a good game, i realy liked it, but it could have benefited from having less characters and from focusing more on the horror than on the action doom-like style of gameplay

#just random thoughts sorry. also im relatively new the RE universe so bear with me #resident evil #resident evil village #re8 #re7 #resident evil biohazard #oh btw i know the other games after re1&2 are more action than horror but re8 is very much advertised as a survival horror game #just like re7 but i think re7 does a much better job than re8 #gaming

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happy-pencil · 2 years ago

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Prediction time for TWST Chapter 7 Book 3!! *SPOILERS*

So y’know how in the ending of Chapter 7 Book 2, Malleus Overblots & covers the entire Sage Island with Vines???

And you know how in the very end we end up being covered in thorny vines??

You know how the only other time we see those vines are when we’re trying to obtain cards and groovies?

So bare with me:

My theory is that we’re going to be transported to a dreamscape that Malleus has created for everyone to act as a “hero” in their own stories.

And as a result of Malleus putting everyone in this wrapped illusion, everyone in the dreamscape will become someone that they always envisioned themselves to be.

For example: Vil as a child actor had a really hard time trying to fit into a “hero” role in filming because he was overshadowed constantly by Neige. And because he was always casted as a villain for movie roles, he was always either mocked or bullied by other children his age because of his cast role; which would eventually result in him developing a hate towards Neige and wanting to outshine him. To put it bluntly, he wants to be “The Fairest One of All”.

So when Vil is now in this dreamscape that Malleus had created, he will now act like a “Hero” in his own story.

How do I think this will this play out?

Well, the idea is that when the characters are now in Malleus’ fantasy world, the TWST cast would most likely have developed some sort of amensia which would make them forget about who they are in the real world.

So quite frankly, no body would have any recollection of who they were before Malleus put them in a thousand year sleep.

And what would the world look like?

Personally, I think it would be really cool if we had brought back the Overblots. And it would be really interesting to see the main crew that overblot reinacted themes and plot lines from their original Disney stories. The only thing that I think would different would be that the dreamscape would litterally just be a copy & paste version of the Disney films, but in one chaotic mesh.

That’s an interesting concept right?

Let’s take this into consideration:

Do you remember how Crowley gifted Yuu with the Ghost Camera?

And do you remember how the ghost camera LITTERALLY has not been brought up at anytime other than the first few chapters of the game? (With the exception of the Halloween event where Yuu is taking photos.)

WELL-

Most people have pretty much theorized (and I believe it’s been confirmed but if I’m wrong lmk!) that the cards we collect in the game are actually photos Yuu has taken on their camera. Which is a pretty wholesome thing ngl-

ANYWAYS.

Let’s say that Yuu wakes up in Malleus’ idealic world trying to find their friends (ADeuce, Grim etc.) only to realize that no body remembers them OR what happened and the TWST cast are playing into positions they always envisioned themselves to be.

And the only way they’re able to gain any memory of Yuu or their lives as students would be to show them the photos they have taken on the Ghost Camera.

(Also, fun note: someone on Twitter made a comment on how the items you collect like the Awakening Perfume and other gameplay elements could potentially foreshadow Chapter 7. If I come across that post again I will link it!)

And you know how when you GROOVY a card, vines litterally uncover the frame to reveal the picture and what could essentially be a core memory? Like the photo was blocked unless you had certain items to unlock the GROOVY?

What if that was Malleus’ Magic that were originally blocking the photos of the character’s real identities? As if Malleus didn’t want anyone to know who they were in the real world?

Or y’know I could be wrong lol.

This was kinda just a complex theory that I had developed while rereading some posts on Twitter.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around how Mickey could be tied into the theory but unfortunately my brain is going numb 🫠

Feel free to share some of your theories!!

Even if this was wrong, I’d like to call this the Dreamscape AU lolol

Theory a Nutshell: Malleus puts everyone in a false reality where they’re either their overblotted selves or an alternate version and the only way Yuu can save them is using their Ghost Camera to bring back their memories.

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catt-nuevenor · 1 year ago

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Baldur's Gate 3 - Writing

Right, yes. I am a writer, time to put all the pretty screenshots aside and talk about the writing. Still going to sneak a screenshot or two in, but I will try and remain focused on the task at hand.

Spoilers for BG3, BG1 and BG2, visual and textual. The games are best experienced knowing as little as possible going in, so I highly recommend you do that if you plan to or are playing.

Considering just how long the game is and how much story is pack into it, it would be foolish of me to try and condense my thoughts on it down into an itty bitty tumblr post. So, we're going to pick out a few elements and overview their structure, progression, and impact.

These are my opinions, not fact, they are also from a 1 and a half playthrough perspective with far too many additional hours spent in early access, and I'm a good bean who gets physically squirmy with 'evil' choices. In other words, I'm not going to have seen everything. With all that in mind, let's dive in.

As the character who has probably changed the least from early access through to full release (so is therefore the most linear developed character in my head), let's talk about Shadowheart.

When I first came across Shadowheart I was reminded of Sebille from Larian's previous game Divinity Original Sin 2. The comparison didn't hold up long, but its undertones were always there, just under the surface.

Quick catchup for clarity, in DOS2 Sebille is a classic Femme Fatale character. She is openly seductive, dangerous, and introduces herself to your character by sticking a needle in your neck. First impressions very important and all that. After you strike something of an uneasy alliance with her, involving agreement to murder someone, or several someones, her approach to you shifts. She takes nearly every opportunity she can to physically touch you, the first being as you approach her first 'target' she walks up behind you and places her hand to the small of your back. A definite seductive action. It's not your shoulder, not your arm, certainly not your hand, all platonic or affectionate, but the intimate sensitive position of the small of your back. It's a great set up for the breakthrough you get with that character a short while later. You reach for her hand to comfort her, and she recoils bodily. If you apologise, she does the same and compares herself to, "A cat that has known too much unkindness." And so the two sides of Sebille begin to be revealed. (Highly recommend DOS2 by the by)

In my opinion, Shadowheart begins the game with the ambition of being like the initial side of Sebille. I hope you all paid attention to the spoiler section. Considering Shadowheart's parental figure, or at least the only one she initially remembers, this should come as little surprise to the informed player.

She wants to be cold, but appealing, she wants to be able to draw people in, use and discard them, she wants to be ruthless and detached and to be able to use other's weaknesses to get what she needs out of them. Take the moment where she demands to know what the main character thinks about Rafael before she will give them her own opinion. My read on this is that she is trying to use techniques she was taught back 'home'. Find out what facade will fit the best with her current companions. Ideally, if she were successful at the Femme Fatale archetype, she would twist her own feelings to compliment or manipulate the Main Character's. But here is where some of the first cracks show through. She can't twist her opinions, her own morality breaks out.

It's difficult to know at the beginning how genuine her care for the Main Character is. I think of the moment you free Lae'zel from her cage:

"She sees your kindness as weakness. Don't let her take advantage."

Now, with hindsight, she's probably right. Lae'zel doesn't have a brilliant opinion on kind acts. But, one could argue there's a little self projection going on there. It is possible that 'mother' superior said the same to her at some point? Less 'be careful', more 'kindness is weakness, take advantage of it'.

It's interesting to think that Viconia had 40 years of trying, and possibly failing, to beat the kindness out of Shadowheart, yet it's only when she is out from under her control, forced to rely on others, that her personality 'locks in'. If you are kind, above nearly all other things, kind to others, kind to children, kind to animals, Shadowheart softens. She opens up, reveals more, even if you disagree with her beliefs.

Second playthrough my main character is a priest of Eilistraee, the chaotic good drow goddess, who has on multiple occasions had 'disagreements' with Shar, and is allied with Selûne and Mystra, among others. On paper, Shadowheart should hate that character on principle, possibly try to murder them if no Selûnite is available. Yet, she does not. So long as she is not antagonised about her faith, Shadowheart is willing to let the eternal war her own goddess seeks to perpetuate lie.

"A cat that has known too much unkindness."

I keep coming back to that line. I think is sums Shadowheart up, despite it being written for another character. If you coax her out of her shell, if you are gentle and understanding, and do not admonish her for her occasional lashing out, show her that she can relax around you, that you won't punish her for miss-stepping or misspeaking, she uncoils. But if you meet her hostility with the same, or encourage her into hostility against others, she'll draw further into herself, remain hissing and spitting in her corner.

"The fate you seal is your own. To be a Dark Justiciar is to turn your heart from everything but loss. You will know no love, no joy - only servitude."

I just did a little Wiki digging to see what the alternate routes through this scene are, since it's mid-morning here on a workday and I'm not loading up Baldur's Gate 3 before 5pm, I would never get anything done otherwise. It's interesting that many folks seem to have found that you need to convince Shadowheart to do the right thing here.

When I first played this through, I did the same, persuaded her. Due to a muck up on my part and some serious save backtracking, I had to do this section again with the same playthrough, and I quicksaved before the dialogue began and decided to see what would happen if I let things just play out. If Umrae (the Main Character) trusted Shadowheart to do the right thing.

She chose, without input on the Main Character's part, to release the Nightsong. It stunned me, it really did. And I realised that all those little kindnesses had led her up to that decision, that she'd been allowed to show her softer side with the Main Character and the others, and even in the Shadowfell, even in the heart of Shar's domain, she clung to her gentler side without explicit encouragement.

"They trained you well, trained you hard. Chiselled away any part of you that did not fit their plan. They made you forget."

Trusting Shadowheart brings to the table self-motivated development. Later in the playthrough, once we'd kicked Viconia around for a far longer battle than it should have been due to me being seriously under-leveled, I had the opportunity to give the reigns to Shadowheart again.

Shadowheart chose to spare her tormentor.

In hindsight, upon exploring the rest of the cloister, I was very tempted to go back to an old save and have a word with Viconia myself, nostalgia for the old games be damned. But it felt right to respect Shadowheart's decision instead.

In that vein, the conclusion of Selûnite Shadowheart's story can feel a little hollow initially.

The options:

Her parents die, she is free from Shar.

Her parents live, Shar can (and will) torment her for the rest of her life.

I am a wee bit annoyed at Larian for the framing of Shadowheart's final scene at Selûne's statue. If her parents are alive, they get to hug and comfort her. If her parents are dead, she stands alone and sobs, and even in the Main Character has a close or romantic relationship with her, they stand like a statue in the background. Let us give the poor woman a damn hug!

EDIT: You can now give Shadowheart a hug! Thank you Larian!

Because otherwise it can feel like Shadowheart is choosing between having support but never-ending torment, or peace and utter isolation. Imagine how differently that scene would feel if not only the Main Character could hug and support her, but if others, like Karlach, or Gale, or Wyll, or heck even Jaheira and Minsc, could all pile in and remind her that hell no she's not alone.

"Embrace loss."

Personally, I chose to follow her parents' wishes.

I've seen it argued that this is letting Shar win, that Shadowheart is forced to, 'Embrace Loss'. But I'd like to dispute that, if I may. As you're approaching the House of Loss in act 3, you come across a woman on the bridge. She's confused and doesn't seem to remember why she's there, who she is, or why she remembers the words to a lullaby but not who she sung it to. It doesn't take much to fill in a tragic story in place of what the mirror has taken.

This is the loss Shar preaches.

What Shadowheart begins to experience after her parents die isn't this dizzy blank nothing, it's grief.

You've all heard me exposit on grief and its difficult, painful journey many, many times before, so I won't rehash the same here.

Shar doesn't 'win' if Shadowheart loses her parents. She'd only win if Shadowheart chose to deal with her grief by taking what memories she has of them and giving them up to the mirror.

If you take her to the temple in Baldur's Gate, after everything goes down with Shar (perhaps this also happens before, I haven't checked), and get her to interact with the shrine to Selûne, the goddess welcomes her. It's a scrap of narration, and a blessing if you make an offering, but it feels complete to take her there after the House of Loss.

The seduction of Shar is that she conflates absence with relief, that grief is something to be discarded, thrown away, that silence is peaceful rather than quiet.

Early Access screenshot. Dialogue remains the same, I think.

"Most fear the dark, like children, because in darkness they see their fears reflected. But Shar teaches us to step beyond fear. Beyond loss. In darkness we do not hide - we act."

I've had few more rewarding experiences in a story to walk beside a character who goes from that.

Through little glimpses of sweetness like this:

To this:

Anyway, I think that's enough for now.

Not sure how much analysis went on there, I think I more just gushed. We could have a look at a single scene if you'd all like, if I have an appropriate save or can zip to the point in question in another playthrough.

Kudos if you got to the end, this has definitely got to be up there with my longest post.

#BG3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 spoilers #long reads #bg3 screenshots #Shadowheart

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