#and the siblings are always coming into conflict about what Really happened

[pillowspace]

csd ask about that cool concept you had for the end of the fic? may we know any more about it? :3

OH. HEY WAIT, DID I EVER SAY WHAT THAT WAS? I don't actually know what you're referring to exactly, but I can guess

Y/N was never actually from that universe. The CSD universe. They were never even from it. I don't know if you remember the frankenfate au but this was a little secret I held that made frankenfate funny to me, because... because Vale kinda was from a soulmate AU. It just wasn't of the soulmarks or red string variety.

Y/N had a destiny in a modern mer!DCA world, but they were taken from their universe as a toddler to eventually give Sun and Moon a weakness years down the line. I... I know it was William Afton's doing, I think Henry had trapped him someplace and he needed the power of multiple gods to escape or something like that? So he was using Eclipse to get his way, but he secretly had plans to also kill Eclipse once it was all done? That was probably it??

Being brought into this universe, it was like... forcefully jamming together two soulmates when Y/N's narrative was meant for a different Sun entirely. Y/N would find this out later, and although it'd be horrifying to them, they'd eventually decide that it didn't matter if this bond was planned with ill intent, they cared about Sun and Moon now so they had to HELP them! Once William or whatever the hell I planned to call him had trapped both Sun and Moon and gotten what they needed out of Y/N, William would just... send them back off. You've completed their role in this universe. Bye bye now.

So Y/N would've been sent back to their original world. Lost and horribly confused. They were only human. They didn't know how to go back. They're still reeling from realizing that they had been a trap since the moment they met Sun. They could just... stay here, even if they're too scared to approach their own family. Knowing how their life was meant to play out, it's not hard for Y/N to stick close to the sea and soon meet the Sun and Moon they were fated to meet. And it feels like something's clicked, they had always been drawn to water, but they also feel so... empty. Their wants conflict with their fate because a god had decided to tamper with it. They miss their universe, this isn't the home they were raised in, they want to go back!!

And then they meet Michael and Elizabeth. Two gods who Y/N had met in godly disguise before, so they don't recognize the siblings. But Michael recognizes them, and after some conversations, Michael picks up on the fact that Y/N isn't some parallel version but instead the very same person he had met before. So Michael makes an offer. I can't get you directly back to your universe, it doesn't work like that. But it does work like a staircase. Each step is a different universe, and if you'll let me help you get through each world having fulfilled a goal, you'll be able to move on to the next. At the end of that journey will be the universe you truly see as home.

Y/N agrees, and later has a heartfelt goodbye with the mers. I'll... note that the mers don't really talk, so it was just Y/N thanking them, apologizing, and wishing them well in life.

Truthfully, I know I had a reason for how this happens, but I can't remember it: CSD Eclipse also travels with Y/N. They're there, I can't remember why 😭 But their dynamic is... easier then. The two (three?) of them bicker back and forth, but that's a lot healthier than whatever Eclipse had going on previously.

Fun fact!! One of the universes they would end up in on their journey back to the CSD Universe would actually have Sunna and Meno. Y/N would've gotten to meet them separately. Eclipse would've had... feelings about that universe.

I didn't want to drive in the idea of soulmates being this big and necessary thing, so Y/N would eventually come to learn after their happy ending with the gods that the mers are now happy with friends of their own. Everyone got what they wanted, even if the whole rhythm of life got disrupted into a new story.

SO? SURPRISE? CSD Y/N WAS FROM A MER UNIVERSE THE ENTIRE TIME? I hope this is coherent, I'm fighting for my life to sound even remotely coherent in any of this

[lyinginthesnow]

Logan speaking about his past in Succession 2x8 Dundee // Succession opening credits

[rollinouttahere-writes]

It took the better part of a year, but I've finally figured out where to go with Joyride. A lot of people have been asking for this, so I hope it lives up to your expectations.

Joyride (Part 2)

Part 1

Yandere Ace x GN Isekai Reader

4.8k words

Warning! This contains pretty much every Ace related spoiler btw!

When going into a world you already know everything about, you don’t exactly expect to be surprised by anything. Sure, there will be slight changes and alternate interactions now that you’ve been unceremoniously dropped in, but you had been anticipating for the story to follow all the same beats.

Which is why you were really thrown off when Ace didn’t go his separate way when he was supposed to.

Luffy had succeeded in defeating Crocodile and stopping his plan for dictatorship of Alabasta, but Ace was still here. Granted, having Ace around was hardly the worst thing that could happen, but you didn’t understand what was going on with him.

After your downright bizarre interaction during the little joyride he took you on, you’d honestly had every intention of avoiding him going forward. Then he threw a curveball at you by sincerely apologizing later that night. With everything going on right now he just got a little carried away, that’s all, he won’t harass you about it again. Or so he claimed.

You were skeptical initially, but true to his word, he hasn’t brought up you joining the Whitebeard Pirates since. Between that, and him having an unknown advantage over you by being a favorite character of yours, it was easy to find it within yourself to forgive him. You two have been borderline inseparable since, much to the chagrin of your crewmates. 

While Ace hadn’t openly made further attempts to convince you to join his pops’ crew, he’d found a thinly veiled loophole in the form of telling you all kinds of stories about them. You knew this was in and of itself, a method to win you over, but deemed it not worth calling out. Besides, who were you to refuse the opportunity to get some Whitebeard Pirates lore?

There were many late nights filled with quiet conversations about various shenanigans the crew got up to in their free time, of which there were many. An unsurprising fact because of course having that many sibling jam packed onto a ship would turn it into a vessel of chaos. 

If you had a weaker resolve, these stories might have won you over. But no, you need to go home.

Even though you weren’t convinced on switching crews, or even just staying here, there was a different problem arising from all your quality time together.

The longer you spoke and goofed around with him, the deeper and more intricate the conversations became, the more human he became to you. Or course, he’d technically always been a human being, but your mind had always registered him (as well as everyone else here) as a “character” first and foremost. A figure in a fictional story which you just so happened to be in temporarily. 

Now? After spending so much time with him, aftering seeing him make decisions based off his own experiences and preferences rather than being dictated by some omnipotent author, things have changed. He wasn’t Portgas D. Ace, the fan favorite character from One Piece. He was just Ace, your friend.

With this came something you never saw coming. Guilt. An all consuming, agonizing guilt that picked away at you every single second of the day.

You knew what was to come. You knew what was going to happen to him. What were you doing about it? Absolutely nothing. And for what? For the sake of preserving a story that’s already been altered from your mere presence?

What a disgusting excuse of a friend you were.

The internal conflict you were going through hadn’t gone unnoticed, not when it was taking such a high toll on you. Nami was the first to start grilling you on it. Naturally, she immediately started pointing fingers at Ace as being the cause, which while not wrong, she wasn’t correct in the way she believed herself to be either. It was hardly his fault that you had a heavy conscience. 

Sanji had also picked up on your struggles and was very concerned about the bags under your eyes, even offering to make some tea to assist with sleeping. An offer you turned down perhaps more harshly than truly necessary, but being trapped in a deeper sleep sounded awful with the nightmares you’ve been having.

It had been upsetting enough to watch Ace die through a screen, but in your dreams you were right there. It felt so real.

A suffocating heat burned at your skin and seared your lungs with every panicked breath, which only became more frantic as hot blood splattered over your face. Life was rapidly draining from Ace’s eyes as he collapsed into the waiting arms of his now deeply traumatized brother.

Your feet were rooted to the ground, all you could do was stare in horror as he looked up at you with tearful, pleading eyes. “Why?” The word was more so coughed out than spoken, spraying out more blood that he couldn’t afford to lose. An arm extended towards you, the hand locking onto your own. His nails dug into your skin, drawing out blood of your own to mix with his into a revolting cocktail. “You could have stopped this. How could you do this to me?”

The last word was wheezed out and his body went limp as his dead, lifeless eyes stared through you. A soul wrenching scream tore its way out of Luffy’s throat, only to morph into your own as you were mercifully ripped from your slumber.

The screaming damn near gave Ace a heart attack, you’re sure of it. This nightmare had occurred after you and him had become separated from the rest of the group while traversing the desert, and you had found a compact cave for the two of you to pass the night in.

What made it worse was how he reacted. He was so concerned, even fretting over you as you desperately tried to get your breathing under control. The compassion in his eyes had done nothing to comfort you, it only served to further sicken you. Here he was wanting to save you from something as trivial as a nightmare, yet you couldn’t be bothered to speak up on and prevent his upcoming demise.

The guilt was killing you, and the solution was not only clear, but easy. So why couldn’t you bring yourself to just tell him? To plead and beg for him to give up the chase and not throw his life away. Yet your lips remained sealed. 

All of these elements came to a boil and demanded your attention, so you did what seemed to be the easiest thing to do in your situation. Drink it away.

Now that Luffy had awoken from his brief coma after fighting Crocodile, Alubarna Palace was hosting a lavish party in celebration and thanks for what everyone had done. And what high end party would be complete without absurd amounts of alcohol?

It started with one, purely to help ease your nerves. However, when it didn’t, you poured yourself another. And then a few more. Zoro had initially been thrilled to have you as a drinking buddy, but apparently even he had his limits and had cut you off.

“The hell’s gotten into you? You’re drinking like you’re trying to run from demons,” the bottle of expensive liquor had been moved out of reach when you tried to go for it again.

“You have no idea,” you slurred out, head spinning from your evening of poor decision making.

Zoro shot you a questioning look, but didn’t press it, likely knowing full well that getting a coherent conversation out of you right now would be impossible. He heaved out a sigh and stood up, “I’m going to get you some water, stay right there.”

Thoroughly defeated, you slumped back into your chair. After all that, you still couldn’t get your dilemma out of your head. Your “demons” continued gnawing at your soul, and all that your drinking had done about it was ensure that you would have a miserable hangover in the morning.

Your head lulled to the side, and you caught sight of a familiar orange hat. Speak of the devil. While you were in the throws of self inflicted misery, Ace was happily taking advantage of all the food being offered. Good for him. He deserved a nice night. 

As if acting on its own, your body managed to get up onto its feet. You shambled towards him, doing your best not to fall flat on your face with each uncoordinated step. Whatever invisible force that had been helping you to make the walk to Ace failed you at the last second, and you crashed into him from behind.

“Shit! Wha- Oh, it’s just you,” Ace whirled around, visibly agitated, but his features relaxed when he realized who it was. He appeared to be ready to say more but you cut him off.

“I need to talk to you.” 

Ace quirked a brow, “Yeah? What’s up?” 

From the expectant look he was giving you, it’s clear that he’s waiting for you to spill your guts here and now. You shook your head, “No, it’s… It’s a secret. We have to go somewhere else.” Realization flashed across his face and he nodded. Fortunately for you, he led the way. You honestly did not think you’d be able to scout out a place for this discussion. You were finally going to come clean and tell him everything before you could sober up and come to your senses.  

It was going well. At least it was, until he passed out and took you down with him. You both collided onto the floor with a resounding thud, him on top of you. The hall you’d slipped into was empty, meaning there was no one here to help you. 

You groaned as you attempted to move, the fall had hit you harder than it should have thanks to the copious amounts of alcohol in your system. You were also mentally kicking yourself for not seeing this coming. He was eating when you stumbled into him, of course it was only a matter of time before this happened.

Whatever, there isn’t time to be bemoaning a minor inconvenience. You manage to shimmy out from under him and use the wall to get to your feet. Ace is snoring on the floor, not a care in the world. Hopefully he’ll wake up soon. 

Taking a look around, you see a door just a couple steps away. You inch your way over to it and try the knob. It clicks open, and you peer in. Looks like some sort of guest room, and it’s empty. Perfect.

Pushing the door open fully, you turn back to Ace. He’s still asleep, but you don’t want to wait around for him to wake up on his own and run the risk of being seen. You lean down to grab the closest part of him, his right foot, and pull. You’re not sure if he’s actually heavy, or if you’re just too drunk for this, but you tip over while trying to do this and fall flat on your ass.

“Huh?” Ace’s head snapped up and he looked around owlishly. The second his eyes connected with yours, he remembered what he was doing before his narcoleptic tendencies took the wheel. He laughed, a light blush on his face, as he got to his feet, “Sorry about that, you alright?”

“I’m fine, get in here,” you urged him to hurry, which he did. In the time it took you to stand again, Ace had already slipped into the room, closed the door, and flicked on a lamp so you two wouldn’t be talking in complete darkness. You eye the door for a moment, then grab a chair and drag it over to wedge it under the doorknob. Someone walking in on the conversation you were about to have would be something of a worst case scenario.

Ace watched this curiously, “Is everything okay?”

This probably looked weird, but oh well, it’s about to get a lot weirder. You decide to sit on the bed and motion for Ace to join you, which he does. You take one of his hands in both of yours and stare at him intensely, “I need to tell you something. It’s going to sound insane, but you need to promise me you won’t tell anyone about this.”

He repeated his previous question, asking again if everything was okay, but you cut him off, “Promise me, please!”

Your desperation got through to him, “Okay, I promise! What’s going on?”

Here goes nothing. You take a deep breath and take the leap, “You need to stop going after Blackbeard.”

Ace recoiled immediately, and if you hadn’t been holding onto his hand for dear life, he probably would have backed away from you. “What? I can’t do that, why would y-”

“Let me finish!” You snapped at him, only to immediately regret it. You sighed, “Please. There’s more, please let me finish talking first, and then you can talk.”

While he did not look happy about it, he did relax his shoulders and settled back into the bed. You took this as your cue to continue, “You need to stop going after Blackbeard because you will die if you do.” Ace exhaled sharply and rolled his eyes at this, assuming that this was coming from a place of fear and doubt.

“I know this because,” you took in a shuddering breath, steeling yourself for what was to come. “I know this because in the world that I came from… This world is a story.”

Ace stares at you wide eyed and slack jawed. He laughed, but was very clearly uncomfortable, “I, uh, I think you’ve had a little too much to drink tonight. How about I take you back to your room to sleep it off, okay?” 

He tried to stand, but you yanked him back down, “No! I’m not drunk! Well, I mean, I am, but I know what I’m talking about! I can prove it.”

His expression was nothing short of incredulous, but he indulged you, “Yeah, okay, sure. Go ahead, prove it.”

“You’re hunting down Blackbeard because he murdered Thatch so he could steal his devil fruit,” you started light. Ace had told you about Thatch being the one he was avenging, but he’d never mentioned the devil fruit before, likely not deeming it an important enough detail. His brows knit together and his eyes drifted upwards as he racked his brain to remember if maybe he actually had said something about it.

“Before you were with Whitebeard, you were captain of the Spade Pirates. Your first member was Masked Deuce, who you met while being stranded on an island together. It’s where you found your devil fruit and built Striker,” he hadn’t told you anything in regards to his old crew, and his face reflected that. You definitely had his attention now.

“You and Luffy were raised by mountain bandits because Garp couldn’t raise you two himself. It wasn’t just you guys, though, you had another brother named Sabo, but he was killed when he tried to set sail and got shot down,” at this point, you were saying whatever came to mind with no regard to whether or not it was a good idea to say this right now. You couldn’t bring yourself to keep looking him in the eye, so you settled for staring at his hand in yours. It was completely slack.

“Your parents are Portgas D. Rouge and Gol D. R-”

Before you could finish the sentence, Ace’s free hand clamped over your mouth with such ferocity that you almost fell off the bed. Forcing yourself to make eye contact again, you see that his are blown wide and wild. The color has been drained from his face and he looked physically ill from hearing everything you just threw at him.

An extremely tense moment passed with nothing to be heard beyond his labored breathing. Then, he hesitantly let go of your face and with a shaky voice said, “Okay. I’m sorry. I believe you. What… What’s going to happen if I keep pursuing Blackbeard?”

You attempted to swallow the lump in your throat, but it refused to go away, “When you catch up with him, you’ll fight, but lose. Your powers are no match for his, you don’t stand a chance against him. After your loss, he turns you in to the marines. 

“Because of who your father is, they decide to make an example out of you and sentence you to death.”

“That bastard turns me in and I get executed?” He sounds like the wind has just been knocked out of him. Disbelief and bitterness are the two most prevalent emotions in his tone, but many others brew beneath the surface.

“Not exactly,” it’s true that he gets turned in and killed, but it’s nowhere near that simple and straightforward. “Luffy comes to your rescue at Marineford, and so does Whitebeard and a lot of his crew.”

Before you could go more into detail, Ace speaks up, “They… W-Why would they do that?”

“Why would they- You have to ask?!” Your voice raises and you have to remind yourself of just how much character development he has to go through in that arc to finally realize and accept the fact that he’s genuinely loved. “Because you’re family, their family! They care about you and don’t want to see you die!”

Your outburst shocked him, but not as much as seeing you start to cry did. His hand is abandoned and you lurch forward to bring him into a suffocatingly tight hug, “Y-You are so loved, you know that? They l-love you so much! A lot of people do! I do! We all want to see you live and be happy!” You limply hang off of him as more tears bubble to the surface, greedily taking the chance to escape with every sob as you finally let out everything you’ve been keeping in. Ace makes no move to return your embrace, he just sits there stiff as a board. 

“A-And, at that battle, you’re killed by Admiral Akainu while protecting Luffy. He’s devastated by it, being forced to watch you die hurts him so bad,” you cling onto him tighter upon feeling him flinch from your words. “Whitebeard dies there too.”

“What?! How could anyone kill him? That can’t be right!” You’re wrenched off Ace violently and his stare is almost as unhinged as it was when you said his parents’ names.

“Blackbeard does it,” Ace freezes at this. “That should give you an idea of how strong he is. If he can kill Whitebeard, fighting you is nothing to him. Besides, you of all people would know how hard it is to kill him,” you chuckle but it’s humorless, empty even.

A heavy stretch of silence follows after that. Ace’s eyes don’t leave your face for even a second, desperately searching for anything that would tell him that this is all one big, sick joke. But there’s nothing of the sort. 

Slowly, he releases your shoulders and he shifts away from you to rest his head in his hands. Without his support, you allow yourself to fall back onto the bed. Between all the alcohol and your emotional outburst, you’re exhausted and want nothing more than to sleep. You try to force yourself to stay awake, but it feels like an insurmountable task. 

“Hey, Ace?” There’s no answer, but you continue anyway, “I’m sorry. I know that was a lot. If, um… If you don’t believe me about knowing what’s going to happen, stick around until after we set sail again. Bon Clay- Mr. 2- is going to bring the Going Merry over here so that we don’t have to backtrack. Marines will be all over the place, but he sacrifices himself so that Luffy and his crew can get away. Once they’ve lost the marines, Nico Robin will reveal herself to have been hiding on the ship and joins the crew.”

Ace continues to not react to what’s being said, you’re not even sure he’s listening to you at this point. As much as you want to comfort him, your limbs feel like lead and your head is swimming. The last thing you see is the jolly roger of the Whitebeard’s staring you down as you fade into darkness.

—

Consciousness comes back to you slowly. Painfully so. Before you can even make out your surroundings, you’re assaulted by the worst headache of your life. The stabbing pain behind your eyes is crippling, all you want is to retreat back to the comfort of sleep, but you know that’s not going to happen.

It doesn’t help that your mouth is so dry that you feel like you’re back in the desert. One hand comes up to gingerly massage your eyes. The action brought more discomfort than relief, but it did clear up your sight a little. 

As your senses ebb back into you, you hone in on the pressure all over your body. It takes considerable effort, but you manage to lift your head enough to take a look. Your nose is less than an inch from bumping into someone else’s. Chopper’s to be exact. He was curled up into your side and using your chest as a pillow. Looking past him, Luffy was sprawled across your lap, belly up. Both of them were still asleep.

You prop yourself up on one arm. Chopper shifts, but doesn’t wake. Off to your side is a bedside table with a glass of water on it. Oh, thank God. Using the arm you aren’t propped up with, you grab it and bring the cup to your lips. The water is divine, an absolute blessing for your dry throat.  

As you enjoy your drink, your eyes glance around to observe the rest of the room. It’s the one you all have been staying in since saving Alabasta. Most of your friends are in their respective beds, except for Chopper and Luffy, obviously. Zoro was also not in his bed, instead being slumped over in a chair next to your own.

Your eyes flicker over to the massive windows of the room, and you spot Ace sitting in the windowsill. From the way he’s positioned, he appears to be awake already. Your gaze narrows as you focus on him. Something tickled at the back of your mind, demanding to be remembered. But what?

“Y-You are so loved, you know that? They l-love you so much! A lot of people do! I do! We all want to see you live and be happy!” 

The water going down your throat is suddenly going out of it when you choke. Memories come back and hit you like a train as you realize what exactly it is you did last night.

Naturally, this wakes up Chopper and Luffy, who are both jolted from their once peaceful sleep by you choking on your drink. Chopper immediately starts to panic, “AH! Don’t die, (Y/N)!”

—

It was crucial that you speak to Ace again, but it seemed like the world itself was committed to making sure that didn’t happen. Ace slipped out of the room while everyone was fussing over you, and it honestly felt like he was avoiding you now. Everytime you thought you might be able to catch him alone, either he vanishes, or someone else comes out of nowhere to drag you away.

Today was the day you all set sail from Alabasta, and while that did put you in close proximity with Ace, it also put everyone else within earshot of you two. And considering the delicate nature of what you needed to talk about, that was extremely inconvenient. 

The only good thing was that the events following leaving Alabasta played out exactly how they were supposed to. Hopefully that meant that Ace would believe you and give up hunting down Blackbeard, but you won’t be able to confirm that unless you speak with him. 

You were so stressed that you’d barely been able to focus on Robin being here. She “introduced” herself to you as if she hadn’t had an extremely uncomfortable run in with you in an alleyway back in Rainbase, but all you could manage was a half-assed handshake before excusing yourself.

For probably the fifteenth time today, you checked to make sure that Striker was still tied to the Merry. It was, much to your relief. But where was Ace hiding? You haven’t seen him since Robin showed herself.

The stress of trying and failing to corner him was doing nothing to help with your hangover, your head felt like it was about to explode. Did you still have Advil in the bag you got isekai’d here with? Maybe. Pushing off the railing, you march to where your room is while praying that you’re right about the painkillers.

You open the door without much thought, only to stop dead in your tracks when you catch sight of Ace rummaging through your belongings and stuffing them into his backpack. The door opening did briefly make him stop and peer over his shoulder to see who it was, but the second he saw it was you, he went right back to pillaging. 

“Can I help you? Why are you robbing me?” You stomp over to where he’s crouched down and shove his shoulder. 

“I’m not robbing you, I’m packing for you,” Ace mumbled, sounding lost in thought.

“Why would you be packing for me? Actually, you know what? That’s the least of my concerns right now, we need to talk about last night.”

“We’ll talk about it later, not here.” He still hasn’t properly faced you, and you were getting sick of only making eye contact with his tattoo and not him. 

“Where else would we talk about it?!” You hissed.

Seeming content with his work, he stood up and kicked the dresser drawer shut, “On the Striker. Or maybe the Moby Dick, I guess. I’m going back and you’re coming with me.”

You can’t believe what you’re hearing, “Excuse me?”

“I’m going back to the Moby Dick, and you’re coming with me.” Ace had finally turned to face you. His eyes were sunken and vaguely bloodshot. 

The sight catches you off guard, “Did you sleep at all last night?”

He shook his head, “No, we’re going to have to stop somewhere else to sleep before going the rest of the way back home.”

“Ace, I’m not going with you. Look, I’m happy that you’re calling off your hunt, relieved honestly, but I’m staying here.” You will ideally be figuring out how to go home sometime soon, there’s no sense in hopping around from crew to crew now.

One of his eyes twitched, and he looked exasperated, “You can’t stay here. You aren’t safe here.”

“What are you-”

“Let me finish,” the words were spoken calmly, but very firm. “I don’t think you understand how serious this is. You apparently know everything about this world and what’s going to happen in it, do you have any idea what will happen to you if word gets out about this?”

“You’re the only person I’ve told, so as long as you keep your mouth shut, I’ll be fine.”

“Until you get drunk again and tell someone else, then what?” His words were just as scathing as his gaze.

Your face flushed in shame, “That won’t happen again.”

“You don’t know that!” Ace snapped at you, then sighed and dragged a hand down his face, “This is for your own good. Nothing good will come from anyone else learning about this. If it ever got back to someone like Big Mom, she would send every single one of her children after you so she could have you on her side. And that’s the nicer option. I’m sure the marines would be more than happy to kill you off so that no one else could have you if they can’t.”

Throughout this entire conversation, his face had remained uncomfortably neutral, but now it cracked. Fondness peaked through the exhaustion as his expression softened ever so slightly. He steps forwards and brings you against him in a crushing embrace. His skin is hot to the touch, effectively chasing away any chill that you may have had.

“You said you wanted to see me live, and I want to see you live, too.” The words are hushed, you wouldn’t have been able to hear him if he hadn’t been speaking right next to your ear.

Reluctantly, he pulls himself away. His face is serious again, “We’re leaving tonight, be ready to go.”

“But-”

“If you don’t come willingly, I will make you. The only thing that you resisting will accomplish is making this messier than it needs to be. Even if you don’t like this now, you will thank me for it later.”

Ace spins on his heel and heads for the door. All you can do is stand there gawking at him as he leaves. Just before the door closes behind him, he spares a glance over his shoulder to say, “I’ll see you tonight.”

[raconteur-wanpi]

Time to defend Reiju again because sometimes I feel like people have a misunderstanding of her character and even what Sanji thinks of her.

I love looking back at the source material because it's always a good reminder of what the characters actually say, feel and do.

Immediately you can tell she trusts Sanji so much, she tells him "I know you wouldn't lie to me". She trusts him with her life. At this point she's even supposed to still have her cold facade, but she lets that kindness towards him "escape" from her mouth.

I've seen some people even say that Reiju's kindness only extends towards Sanji, but she so clearly despises the fascism and violence of Germa with her whole being. This scene is not just her being suicidal, she thinks Germa shouldn't exist. Sanji's reaction to the idea of her dying is immediate as well! He's extremely upset at the idea of her getting hurt.

And when he's worried about her, she dismisses it. It's so easy to misread the middle panel as her saying "oh Sanji, I fooled you into thinking I care about you", when what she's actually saying "I'm not worth your kindness". She's not trying to be cruel towards Sanji in this scene; she's trying to be cruel to herself. She doesn't see herself as worthy of any love, concern or praise from him.

Once again she is sacrificing herself for him. Again and again, the only thing she cares about is his safety. Telling him to be with the people that are free to openly love him and take care of him. She doesn't care about what happens to her. She never partook in the cruelty towards him out of any agreement with the rest of her family. It was always fear and self-preservation that motivated her, and it's apparent how much it haunts her and how much she regrets every second of it.

She also doesn't blame him for Sora's death in the slightest! The moment Sanji even thinks about it, she shuts it off immediately. It was Sora's decision, her strength, her choice, her power. Reiju doesn't want anyone to take away that from her mother. She respects the little agency that she had. After all she wishes she was capable of such disobedience and rebellion towards her father. She sees Sanji as the gift Sora left to her and to the world, not as the thing that took her away. And she clearly wants Sanji to feel the same way.

The juxtaposition of "Sanji's a worthless failure" from the rest of their siblings to Reiju saying 'of course you're not a failure" hurts so much. She used to pretend to agree with the rest of them as a kid. She'd call him a failure in front of them. This is her admitting she never, ever meant it or even thought it. This is the closest her emotionally constipated ass can get to an apology. She's telling him to his face how she really feels, that she didn't mean it. She cries! She cries while she tries to hold it back, this is how much she cares about him! She's telling him how much she appreciates his kindness, but also how she doesn't she herself as kind like he is.

Again, telling him to run away. She's not worthy of mercy in her eyes. And Reiju here not only rejects Germa's fascism, she also shows a really good understanding of how it works. Glorification of an imagined past is the first telltale sign of the ideology. She is very clearly both emotionally and intellectually opposed to the ideology itself, not just Germa's tangible actions. She sees all of it as a plague.

And here's the part that frustrates me the most when it comes to people misremembering or misunderstanding canon: Sanji absolutely does not group her with the rest of his family. It's text, he says it right here! "I have nothing but hatred for them, but why you? Why do you have to die?!".

Every time Sanji rejects his birth family, this panel makes it clear to me that he understands that Reiju hates them just as much, that she is a victim of the same abuse. He is not including her. It's normal for him to have conflicting feelings toward her, don't get me wrong. He doesn't seem to trust her at first, especially when she puts those handcuffs on him. I don't think that he doesn't have feelings of discomfort about how she was forced to treat him in the past. He obviously does! That's normal! But that doesn't mean he doesn't understand why it happened. He can feel upset and recognize the situation at the same time, those aren't contradictory. He absolutely does not see her as or include her within the rest of the Vinsmokes.

It's interesting to look back at Arlong Park and see the way Sanji talks about Nami being forced to act cruel and lie about who she is, presenting herself as a monster. He immediately recognizes that sort of behavior. He understands what young girls often have to do to escape the violence of men; he saw it with his own very eyes with Reiju. And like Nami, she sees herself as someone who has to hurt and isolate and self-sacrifice for the safety of those she loves. Hell, Sanji does the same thing! This is probably the moment where he realizes what he looks and sounds like to the Strawhats during this arc, what self-sacrifice looks like to those who love you. It's probably part of the turning point for him to decide to go where Luffy is waiting for him. He finally got to look at the situation from Luffy's eyes.

It hurts. She's saying "leave me behind" again. Like you did those 13 years ago. You were able to find the people "out at sea" I promised you that you would. Maybe they can love you for me, in my place.

And he knows it. She's not the same as the rest of them, she never was, and she never will be in his eyes. She's his mirror. She's who he'd have to be if he was forced to stay behind. He understands.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Do you have any tips on making characters more plot relevant? I have characters that are important to the story because of who they are and their interactions, but when it comes to their page time or POV I struggle to make their side and individual story meaningful. I’ve been able to add more events that they deal with and add importance to their character, but I feel as if it’s too secondary. I won’t call them afterthoughts but they kind of are. I struggle with having character arcs and development that are a part of the main plot but don’t deal with it directly often.

Making Characters More Plot Relevant

If you have characters who are important to the story in terms of their relationships with other characters, and who you feel need to be a bigger part of the story, here are some things you can do to give them a stronger role in the plot:

1 - Give Them Agency in Main Plot Events - First and foremost, you want to make sure these characters have at least some bearing on what happens in the main plot. Each character should make decisions or take actions that directly affect the main plot, at least once in a while. They can even make decisions or take actions that initiate major plot events even if they're not involved in them.

2 - Create Subplots That Feed into the Main Plot - Can you think of any "side quests" (so-to-speak) that need to be carried out in order for the story to progress that these characters could do? For example, maybe your protagonist has to pull off a big heist in order to solve the story's external conflict, so they are gathering their team. Perhaps some of these characters could go on a "side quest" to locate one of the potential recruits.

3 - Create Main Plot Conflict for Them - Each of these characters should have their own internal conflicts and their own motivation for working toward the story's goal. Can you think of some way to create conflict for them between what they want and what actually needs to happen? For example, maybe they were trained in the dark arts and the reason they are with this heist group is because they left that life behind and no longer want to practice dark arts... but maybe their role in the heist will require them to use dark magic. How will they overcome this conflict?

4 - Utilize their Unique Skills or Knowledge - Consider giving some of these characters unique skills or knowledge that can be used in the fight toward resolving the conflict. So, in the case of the example heist story, maybe one of these characters is really good at creating forgeries. Or maybe another character has incredible stealth skills. By making their knowledge or skills invaluable to the "mission," you can give them more weight and make them invaluable to the plot.

5 - Consider Combining Characters or Reassigning Tasks - Quite often, if you're really honest with yourself, you can probably take some of these important-but-not-plot-relevant characters and combine them. In other words, if you have one character who is important because they're the protagonist's love interest, and you have another character who's important because they're a main character's sibling, is there some way you can combine this into one character? So that this character is both the protagonist's love interest and the main character's sibling? Another option would be to look at important tasks completed by other characters. Can any be reassigned to a character who needs something more important to do? Or could they play an important role in assisting that character with the task?

By utilizing some of the tips above, you should be able to give your characters more relevance in the plot.

Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[mouwrites]

Hopefully requests are open and if they aren’t then please ignore my ask!! I would like to request if you could write a platonic ninjago x younger sibling!reader where the Reader is basically the crying child from fnaf? A crybaby, easily scared and clingy in a sense that they only feel safe with the ninja or their older brother, if you cant do this then you are free to ignore this ask, Have a very nice day/night or evening where you are!

Here you are my darling! I hope you have a lovely day/night too! :D

Ninjago - Ninjas With a Sensitive Little Sibling

Kai

He's already a protective older brother, but with you being so sensitive, he's ultra-protective

Even when people are being nice to you he's hovering carefully, making sure they don't do anything that might hurt you

Not that he really needs to hover; you usually stick to his side anyway

Maybe that's also why he gets worried when you're on your own, though... he's not used to not having you nearby

Whenever he's forced to leave you, he makes sure you're in good hands (i.e. with the other ninja) first

He knows you're sensitive, but he's still Kai; you're not escaping a little sibling conflict

Sometimes he gets annoyed when you follow him around too much, and he'll get all quiet

He knows why you do it, but that doesn't mean it doesn't irritate him a bit

There have been times during which he'd snap and tell you to go find someone else to follow around

If/when that makes you cry, though, he does a complete 180 turn

He crouches down to your level, smoothing your head and frantically telling you he didn't mean it

"Aw, Y/n, please don't cry! I didn't mean it..! Please don't cry!"

Then he'll give you a piggyback if you want it, entirely forgetting his earlier desire to be alone

Cole

He's also pretty protective, but he's more focused on your character and emotions than actually defending you from the world

What I mean is that he'll watch for when you're upset, and when you do get upset he'll take the opportunity to try and build a little character

He's super gentle and always supportive, of course, but at the same time he wants you to grow

So when you cry, he'll hug you until you're calm but then he'll try and talk it out with you

"What made you upset?" ... "Why do you think that upset you?" ... "How can we make sure that doesn't happen again?"

I think he's just really emotionally mature, and he'd want his little sibling to have that maturity, too

Of course, he doesn't force it on you; you're just a kid after all

But he tries to get you on the right path

He still gives you lots of affection though, and is always checking to make sure you're comfortable

When you have to separate, he does try to leave you with one of the other ninja, but if he can't he'll offer lots of reassurance that he'll be right back

He'll be so proud if you're able to be alone for a bit!!

All in all he's just super supportive regarding your needs, but also wants you to learn and grow

Jay

Out of all the ninjas, he coddles you the most

When someone makes you cry he's on them like a feral cat

Once he's satisfied that they've gotten what they deserved (or when they're done beating his ass 💀) he'll come to check on you

He's a little scatterbrained, so he doesn't always remember that you're fragile

Sometimes he'll accidentally make a backhanded comment or leave you all on your own

When he realizes his mistake he flies into a panic, especially if he's mid-mission and remembers that you're alone

He hates seeing you cry, and just the thought of it makes his stomach churn

He always gives you the tightest hug when he realizes his mistake/gets reunited with you, apologizing a million times

Honestly he's more upset about it than you are

Long after you've stopped crying, he's still apologizing (and probably crying a little himself)

Just call him a crybaby and he'll stop on the dot

He'll just stand up and furrow his brows

"Okay, I see how it is. I was all worried about my little Y/n and now they're making fun of me. I guess that's what I get!"

(You're both able to laugh about it, dw)

Zane

As has been established, he's not the most emotionally intelligent out of all the ninjas

Sometimes he struggles to know what he's feeling himself; your emotions are a whole other realm to him

That doesn't mean he can't tell when you're upset, though

Whenever you start to whimper or cry he's at your side in a second, holding your shoulder affirmingly

He's not always sure what to say, but if you want to hug him he'll hug you back

He'll patiently wait for you to calm down, then he'll try to understand why you were upset

"Um, do you know why... what... made you... cry..?"

Be patient with him, I promise he's trying 😭

He starts to learn after a while which things upset you most, and he starts to look out for them whenever you're with him

Whenever he spots one of those things, he's already hurrying to your side before you even start crying

He feels really proud whenever he's able to catch a fit before it happens :)

Honestly, as protective as he feels towards you, he sometimes wonders if you're better off with the other ninjas

You're just so emotional, and he feels like the other ninjas might understand you better

He actually sometimes looks to them to help calm you down

But ultimately he does prefer to be the one to help you, both because he feels responsible and because he loves you the most

Lloyd

He was a pretty rowdy kid when he was your age, so he has a little trouble understanding you

He was rude where you're sensitive, he was cruel where you're gentle... when he thinks of you compared to his younger self, it's like night and day

So he doesn't always catch things that might make you cry

(makes it a little hard to be protective when you don't know which things to be protective about...)

Only when someone else points them out, or when he hears your high-pitched whine, does he realize that you've been upset

He'll rub your back and try to calm you down, but honestly he's a little apprehensive

Like I said, he can't really relate, so he struggles to empathize

That doesn't mean he won't try, though

He'll give you a hug and tell you everything is fine, but he's not sure if he's actually being helpful

"Hey, hey, it's okay..! Here, give me a hug!"

He just feels really bad for you, especially because of this

He asks the others for advice sometimes, trying to understand what it might've been like to be a kid who spent more time being afraid and gentle than trying to be tough and evil

They always assure him that he's doing a great job, with him being so great at showing kindness already

He still doubts himself, and he probably always will, but he'll never stop trying to be there for you

Nya

If you were anyone else's sibling, or just a random kid, Nya would absolutely coddle you

She'd be the most protective person ever, always at your side, ready to defend you from the world

But since you're a Smith...

Sorry, you're getting none of that

She'll never berate you or anything, but every time you start to have a breakdown, she tries to get you to toughen up a little

"Come on, my Y/n, dry those tears. It's not that bad. I'm here."

She'll still be hugging you anyway while she says this

The way she sees it, Kai can do the babying, and she can do the actual teaching

Though she can't help the distaste she feels whenever Kai treats you like a baby

She's talked to him before about getting you to grow up a little, and he does agree that you can't always be this sensitive

From then on they work together to find the balance between comforting you and toughening you up

(Kai still does most of the comforting and Nya still does most of the toughening)

She knows what it's like to be the "weaker" sibling, and she doesn't want that for you–not now, not ever

She'll even give you fighting lessons if it makes you feel stronger :D (tbh she probably will anyway)

Thank you so much for this request! And thanks for reading, take care sweet duckies <33

(divider by saradika)

[transsongtaewon]

Magical Girl Yerim AU

Yerim becomes a magical girl some time after her parents die, while living with her uncle

Not really a conflict while she's there since no one really cares what she's up to. Yay.

She is known as the Ice Queen

however once Yoojin becomes her guardian... who knew having an involved parent could be such a hindrance

I mean, a guardian who would object to you going to fight deadly monsters??? Cruel.

Yoojin assumes she needs some time to warm up to them since it's a new situation etc. and is trying to give her space until she is more comfortable

Yoohyun is Deeply Suspicious because obviously this annoying new kid is hiding something and it might be dangerous to hyung!!!

(also she's eating into his precious Hyung-time but that's obviously not why he's upset. Not at all.)

...anyway, he follows her one night when she sneaks out and gets caught up in one of her battles against the forces of evil, which results in him also becoming a magical girl.

Oops

"This is what you've been doing???" "What did you think it was?!" "Idk, drugs?" *sounds of violence*

Yoohyun becomes her de-facto fighting partner even though their powers do not compliment each other and half the time they are about as likely to attack each other as their enemy, but still, they usually win so it works out

And now they share a secret

Yoohyun does not like keeping this a secret from Yoojin, but also Yoojin would try to fight monsters on their behalf and it would likely end Very Badly so they agree to just not mention this whole thing to him

it does mean they have to hang out more now. And collude to hide their secret identities, much to their annoyance

Yoohyun starts to pick Yerim up after school so they have more time to plan/train and Yerim's friends are smitten with the hot older boy, which is the worst thing that's ever happened to Yerim. Yoohyun is subsequently banished to wait the next block over

Yoojin is delighted because obviously this means they get along well now! His sweet kids are finally adjusting to each other! Sure, they quarrel a lot, but it's always in good fun :-)

obviously he still worries a lot because they live in a world where monsters randomly attack and his kids always go missing during those times for some reason

one time he is looking for them and runs into Ice Queen:

Yoojin: "Have you seen my daughter, she is 15 and about your height, I'm really worried" Yerim: "...No." 🧍‍♂️ "But I'm sure she's fine, don't worry" (Yoojin continues to worry)

Yoojin also loves getting kidnapped by bad guys which is tremendously stressful to his kids, but somehow by the time they free him, his captors are frequently already crying or unconscious

Peace is a monster that was purified by Yoohyun in a fight and he planned to get rid of him, but Yoojin finds them while he's arguing with Yerim what to do about the monster and decides to adopt the incredibly adorable cat that also happens to have a horn. Stranger things have happened

tldr, Yerim and Yoohyun become reluctant siblings/partners in crime and are vaguely annoyed every time they notice they actually get along. But maybe it's nice to have someone you can rely on to have your back. Possibly.

they sometimes accidentally fall asleep on the couch together and whenever Yoojin comes across this scene he almost cries from how cute they are (and takes pictures as proof, horrifying both Yerim and Yoohyun)

(Also obviously Yoojin has his inklings about what's going on and goes on a quest to make sure his wards are safe, where he encounters head of the Supernatural Associates Department, Song Taewon, and seasoned magical girl (grown man) Chains. Things proceed from there in a very gay manner.)

[darkestspring]

wait wait wait i need more of visenya ii targaryen being born to viserys and alicent au....

what do you mean she would have been betrothed to jace, i need more 🙏

if Visenya 'Senya' Targaryen was born to Viserys and Alicent instead of Aegon and Helaena, she would be daeron's twin sister. a kind, lovely girl with a penchant for collecting flowers and ribbons. in an effort to mend strained relationships between alicent and rhaenyra, senya, viserys has jace, daeron, and senya share the same wet nurse.

senya grows up extremely close with her elder sister, rhaenyra, which in turn leads to her always spending time with or near jace, something which irritates her mother and three brothers.

when rhaenyra leaves for dragonstone, senya becomes really sad to see her sister and nephews go. but she sees them again too soon at her aunt's funeral.

senya sees how sad jace is and gives him a ribbon from her hair, a blue one that has her name stitched into it.

"I hope you'll find comfort in this. I don't like it when you're sad." Senya beamed a smile at him as she tied it around his wrist, rhaenyra watches with a pensive look, jace smiles back and at her and alicent narrows her eyes.

senya only comes in to find her brother and two nephews injured. she sees the upset look on her cousins face and wonders what's happened. she knows they're still in mourning.

jace is the first one she sees, so its him she rushes towards. daemon takes that as a victory. "Jace?! You're hurt." Senya starts to fret over him but jace simply holds her hand.

"Aemond...?" Senya's whisper is horrified as she sees him, she grips onto jace tighter in terror.

alicent wants to scream for her daughter, her precious lovely girl to get away from that... that bastard!

her lovely girl, kindness is both a virtue and a sin.

Senya doesn't respond well to hearing that jace and luke, (and sweet baby joffrey) have been having to endure being called bastards.

"Say its not true. Aegon, you haven't been calling them that!" She's even more upset by the insult to the nephew she cares about. he's her family, her friend!

Rhaenyra feel touched by Senya's upset and places her hand on her shoulder softly.

Viserys decrees that senya will marry jace, after the conflict ends. Alicent tries to fight against it but rhaenyra just smiles and goes "thank you father."

Senya doesn't want to leave, not her mother and her siblings, as horrible as they had been to jace but she does say goodbye to Helaena.

"I'll write to you often, I'll send you gifts I find. I love you Hela." Senya whispers softly to her older sister.

"I love you too, Senya. I'll miss you."

extra fun stuff:

senya gives baela and rhaena ribbons with their names embroidered onto them (she did them herself!) she also goves one to luke before he leaves for meet with the baratheons

[bonefall]

I LOVED hearing about the Ripwater episode!!!! Could you discuss whichever episode that would include Jayfeather‘s warrior training perhaps? If not I’d LOVE to hear about any other!

Jay's warrior training happens across lots of them! He only pivots to being a Cleric near the VERY end of the arc. He's considered fully trained after "saving" Hazeltail by secretly kicking Moleflight's ass.

Jaypaw -> Jayfang -> Jayfeather

Blackstar's Bog Project seems to be the conflict so far that's going to be featuring Jaypaw's training the most, though, the way that most of these episodes end up being centric for one of the three.

Jaypaw will be dominant in ShadowClan-related episodes because his first rival shows up here; Owlpaw, later called Owlclaw.

If you recognize that name, it's either because you know he's the secret brother of Kestrelflight and Harestar, or you remember that he's the father of Weaselkit and Happyface which causes familial problems within Violetshine's adopted family. Noteworthy recurring ShadowClan cat!

Head's up this one's way less organized than Ripwater's

Pre-Bog Project; The beginning of Jaypaw's apprenticeship Ableism and Longtail

Before Blackstar begins the bog project, I want there to be a decent amount of battle between ShadowClan and ThunderClan.

At the time, The Three are kits or young apprentices. For the most part, they're born into a world where they mostly know ShadowClan as this kinda distant, scary thing that the older warriors fight a lot.

When they become apprentices, it doesn't help that ShadowClan's presence is sharp. They have a very dry, dark sense of humor which can mask bullying. They cite the Warrior Code a lot and take blasphemy seriously. It's not always obvious when they mean what they say or if they're being sarcastic

This is especially bad with ThunderClan cats. Tawnypelt had a REALLY hard time adapting to this culture back in TNP.

there's one major fight Jaypaw takes part in between the two, as a young apprentice. Enter Owlpaw.

It's REALLY important that in this fight, Jaypaw gets his ass kicked.

Owlpaw is the third oldest lakeborn cat. He's big, mean, and vicious. He is a DIFFICULT opponent, he really is an Owl to a Jay at this point. Bad Bad Leroy Brown type shit

This curbstomp messes with Jaypaw baaaadly, shaking any confidence he'd gained in the short time where he's started training with Longtail.

When Jaypaw FIRST becomes the apprentice of Longtail... it wasn't actually welcome. Jaykit's ceremony was nearly delayed, as if Firestar was just going to pass over him.

An objection was raised, as it was wondered what would happen with Jaykit. The poor kid was put on the spot, when he'd just been expecting to get given a mentor the same as his siblings.

When Firestar and Brackenfur had an awkward answer, Longtail leapt in heroically, demanding to be un-retired so he could come and mentor his grand-nephew.

While most of the Clan saw this as impressive, Jaykit did not. It was humiliating and embarrassing!

It was like they were just going to skip over him, and "the only mentor I could get was another useless cat, like me..."

Jaypaw is dealing with a lot of shame through internalized ableism. It's that kind of sticky misery where you just end up hating everything you touch. NOTHING is good or okay. Everything is awful and if you try to tell me otherwise I will double down.

The type that you can't reason with. So Longtail trying to get through to this kid was already hell.

He was trying to be motivational and uplifting. "We'll prove them wrong, together!" and "Stick with me kid, I'll teach you everything." and "There's lots of ways to be a warrior, we'll find what works best for ya."

It does not work. Jaypaw is determined to hate him, dismissing him as being insincere and fake-nice.

And when that first fight comes up, Jaypaw's spent however long as an apprentice being difficult and his first real matchup is against ShadowClan's Youngest Blender

So of course, Owlpaw toys with him like canon. Keeps dodging and taunting him, making little jabs, commenting on how weak ThunderClan must be to put him out on the battlefield.

After the fight ends, Longtail tries to let Jaypaw mope for a bit about it, lick his wounds, recover.

But he just ends up at his lowest point, and snapping at Longtail that he'll never amount to anything anyway, "a blind warrior isn't worth anything."

And Longtail's LOST his patience. That's IT.

"Get up right now and fight me."

"wh... what?"

"Maybe you're used to everyone else just letting you say whatever dumb thing, but when you insult yourself, you insult ME. And I've got the Right to Challenge over my honor. So GET UP."

Over the course of this fight, Longtail uses it both to coach him on how to properly move, and also to let Jaypaw blow off steam. He taunts him to just let his claws out, while keeping his own sheathed.

And during all this, Jay can barely get a hit in. The fight ends with Longtail easily pinning him to the ground, and he reminds him,

"Don't wanna be a blind warrior? Fine. I can't teach what you don't want to learn, you tell me and we'll find other options, but if I EVER hear those words come out of your mouth again, it's personal."

And after THAT, it clicks for Jaypaw. It's personal. Longtail didn't need to do any of it, stand up for him, mentor him, he wants to.

When he insults himself, or when he thinks of Longtail like he was some cheap option, it hits both of them.

Longtail is an excellent warrior-- and a warrior defends their honor.

Still, Owlpaw remains, and these aren't just internalized thoughts only he has, "don't get mad at me for insulting your honor. I was just repeating what Owlpaw said to me. He said a blind warrior isn't worth anything at all. And it's like the whole Clan agrees, but they just don't say it."

"Then we'll kick his ass," removes his paw from his apprentice's back, "We'll kick all their asses. But you're not going to go around agreeing with them before you even learn how to fight."

The grand irony of this is that after making this promise to kick Owlpaw's ass, having this as a goal in-mind, Firestar begins the fruitful negotiations with ShadowClan which will result in a period of sweet peace. There aren't any battles to get into between them for a while.

So Owlpaw continues to be this sort of "goal" on the horizon. Jaypaw wants revenge against this specific person, while also being forced to work with him at various points, as ShadowClan is their ally.

Something interesting I plan to do is to secretly write Breezepaw as being a MUCH stronger fighter than Owlpaw ever was. Owlpaw is big and strong, but it's BREEZEPAW who's the truly vicious fighter of the Po3 apprentice generation. A cat that Jaypaw faces off with several times, and has a difficult time fighting because of Breeze's aggressive, straightforward fighting style.

Jaypaw fights best against cats who try to get out of his grapples, because he can turn it against them. When a cat is so ferocious that they don't relent at all, meeting him with even more biting and scratching, it effectively counters his unique style.

Between his brawls with Lionpaw and Breezepaw, Jaypaw has no idea how overleveled he is lmao

Bog Project

There's two times that I want to zoom into the Bog Project in Po3.

The first one is when they FIRST construct the dam that destroys the pine plantation, including an altercation with human plantation workers who come to try and dismantle the dam. The Clan cats run circles around them as the humans are too heavy to not sink into the mud. I want someone to jump off the dam, bounce off a person and knock them over with a SPLAT, and then jump back on the dam in one smooth movement lmaoo

(Switch over to the researchers for a second and they're actually scrambling to get the area turned into a different classification of protected site during this. Unknown to ShadowClan, they really do just have to buy some time.)

The SECOND time is when they're simply repairing some damage, Owlpaw starts a fight with Jaypaw and swings the first blow, and Jaypaw realizes it's time to take this man to Clown Town.

The fight begins while they're up on the dam, trying to figure out where a leak is or some other minor thing.

Owlpaw starts REALLY getting into it with Jaypaw. "I can't believe they put me up here with you. It's like they want you to have a little accident so I can say I have no idea what happened."

I'm REALLY TORN between Jaypaw either playing this as peacefully as possible, so it's completely Owlpaw's fault they got into it... or realizing he can totally goad this fight and then be able to say it wasn't his fault because Owlpaw threatened him first: "Bold of you to talk about little accidents. Ur mom"

I'm leaning towards Jaypaw goading it after Owlpaw started it, realizing that snark is a very useful tool. Thinking back to how he used to call himself useless, how Longtail used it to make him unload all his pent-up anger and aggression. It has a purpose.

and that purpose, right now, is making an opportunity to put this git in his proper place.

But either way, when Owlpaw starts lashing out at him, SO much like that first fight, Jay notices something REALLY interesting

Owl always tries to stay out of the line of his whiskers. The blows are hard clobbers, but he's not really scratching because he doesn't want to get close

Jaypaw stays perfectly still, UNNERVINGLY still, and takes one, two whacks. Then he knows that his opponent favors his right paw, and he's about... 2 mouselengths away.

Owl lifts his paw again, and in one, smooth move, JAYPAW LUNGES

Caught square in the belly, they roll back along the wall

Owl recovers, twisting onto his opponent, hissing and scratching to untangle, and they tumble right off the side in a clattering shower of sticks and daub

They make a SPLORCH as their bodies splatter the mud below them

"THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING" -Lionpaw probably

The entire construction crew gathers around. "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

Owlpaw seems to be getting wise, trying to wriggle out of the grapple to win back distance, but Jay hears Longtail's words of wisdom echoing in his head

"To know his own limits,"

He never lets his opponent out of range of his whiskers, Owl breaks away only to expose his back to a vicious opponent

Jaypaw grabs his foe by the neck, rears up and dunks his face down in the mud. SPLAT!

"AND EXPLOIT THEIRS"

Owlpaw screeches in rage, snorting muck out of his nose, blinded

The big bully has no idea to slow down and think about where the blows are coming from, or anticipate how his opponent moves.

Jaypaw's jaws close down viciously on his shoulder, and in a flash, he's wrapped around him like a snake.

Trying to buck him off is only causing Owlpaw to sink into the mud

Jaypaw only releases his lock long enough to command; "SAY UNCLE"

Terrified, like a rabbit with a weasel with its fangs dangerously close to its pulse, he obeys; "UNCLE!!"

Jaypaw disentangles and hops off, and it's only now that he registers the size of the crowd.

Hazelpaw, Poppypaw, Cinderpaw, both of his siblings, every ShadowClan apprentice, plus all the warriors who were assigned to the project

Most are cheering, others murmur with awe or hiss with frustration, Owlpaw's mentor is helping him out of the mud, asking him what the hell happened back there

Jay is GLOWERING. He can't help the smug smile that paints his face, or the pride that washes through his veins, though he nonchalantly flicks the mud off his tail.

but the gloating is cut short. Longtail's rough tongue passes over a swelling lump next to Jaypaw's eye, and a little cut he didn't realize he'd gotten had started to sting.

"Knock it off!" He grumbles, doing nothing to stop him, "you're embarassing me!"

"Embarassing?! I'm so proud out of my fur I just might cry about it and embarass you even more!"

In the aftermath, Owlpaw is the one who gets blamed for the fight on the wall. Though Longtail freely admits that his apprentice can be rude, Owlpaw is the one who escalated it to blows.

That said, no one really "gets in trouble" for it. It's written off by both Blackstar and Firestar as an "apprentices will be apprentices" moment. BB!Battle cats can have battles without holding a formal hearing in parliament about it.

What DOES happen that Jaypaw finds bizarre is that when he gets home and the news spreads, Bramblestar is one of the first cats to start gloating. He feels odd about how odd he feels about it.

But after his father has given his ear a proud lick and explains the situation to Squirrelflight who gives a proud lick to the other one, Jaypaw examines the feeling. He tries to think of other times Brambleclaw has been this proud of him, and that's when it clicks; there are none.

Lionpaw is an accomplished fighter at this point, having landed the fatal blow onto Ripwater. Hollypaw is at the forefront of nearly every diplomacy meeting alongside her mentor, Brackenfur. But Jaypaw.. well, most of his brawls have been little skirmishes. Not really "achievements."

It's not like Brambleclaw has been absent or anything, so... he's not yet sure what to do with this feeling. It's quickly buried as the other apprentices dogpile him, begging for the full details.

Assorted closing thoughts for other episodes and such;

Jaypaw's power is plane-hopping. He can move freely between supernatural realms-- dreams, heaven, hell, Earth. He can interact, physically, with anything on these planes.

No more magic empathy. Society has progressed past the need for magic empathy.

He's going to get several little moments in other episodes where he helps to heal others, especially when Cinderheart breaks her leg.

Becoming a Cleric is a choice that should have significant build-up, since he chooses it over Poppyfrost.

I think the REAL inciting moment that he decides to commit to the bit is that he ends up having some kind of dream where Moleflight (Poppyfrost's ill-fated brother) visits him, just after getting his warrior name, and Mole says, "you will be an excellent warrior."

Jayfang: "theres no way youre just being nice to me. What are you trying to stop me from doing."

He also really likes giving advice and listening to people. Enjoys a good little debate, but I kinda want to show him visibly sharpening his emotional intelligence as Po3 goes on.

It starts with Longtail, who whittles that aimless cynicism into something earnest and constructive.

I also want to work in some scenes where Longtail explains to Jaypaw how much he reminds him of Swiftpaw, his "uncle."

Sootfur too, sometimes. In the humor.

Jay: "Great track record, two dead kids."

Longtail, very quiet... only to break the tense silence himself, "Sootfur, no. Swiftpaw... yes. I should have been a better mentor."

Everyone knows a mentor is meant to teach an apprentice. But Longtail realizes that an apprentice is meant to teach their mentor, too.

And he wouldn't be worthy to guide another paw if he hadn't learned his lessons from Swiftpaw.

"I taught him to ignore his limits. I made him think that he had to "prove" himself to be worth anything. It was something my mentor taught me, which was something his mentor taught him. Jaypaw, there's going to be things you can't do, and when they come, you'll hate me for stopping you. But I'm not here to raise another brave fool who dies to prove a point."

Jaypaw also meets Rock at various points through BB!Po3, especially when StarClan isn't being straightforward about answers or they end up in the tunnels.

Rock is VERY gentle with Jaypaw, but no one else. If Jaypaw hadn't been in the tunnels that time the WindClan kits went missing, he probably would have just left them all to drown lmao

The first hint The Three discover about their powers, and the prophecy at all, comes through Jaypaw inadvertently ending up realm-hopping. I'm keeping it on standby for him gaining access to information through dreams.

Before he eventually pressures Dovepaw to spy on other Clans, he was using his own powers to gather what info he could.

Thankfully, he doesn't discover how much power this actually grants him, or what he can consciously do with this, until OotS.

[ask-aph-hws-iceland]

[OOC: hello! Paiko here! I just have a few things I'd like to discuss. Now, I do have to make a few disclaimers before I go on. I absolutely do not condone the harassment of anyone regardless of what I may discuss and how it may apply to anyone. I also want to make it known that this doesn't mean anything for my ask blog. I'm not abandoning it. Iceland is here to stay! I also would like to clarify that this doesn't apply to most of the people I've interacted with on this ask blog. Most of you are absolutely wonderful, and (contrarily to my portrayal of Iceland) I am a huge extrovert, so I absolutely love interacting with everyone.

That being said, I've noticed that some of us aren't too familiar with some common unspoken rules of having an ask blog, so I'll try to bring a few up, shall I?

Let's start with something simple.

1)You are not entitled to anyone's character. I'll try to say this as nicely as possible, but you're not playing dolls with your siblings where you can make demands as to how the story should go. Your version of a character is not absolute and people should not have to alter their character to fit your own mold. It is also very sucky to try and force your headcanons onto someone else. If you really dislike someone's character so much, you're more than welcome to find another ask blog.

2) your right to swing your fist ends at the tip of my nose. This one is slightly related to the last one, so it'll be a bit shorter. Do not try to force your chosen course of events onto someone else. Yes, we all love having our characters in strange little scenarios, but if someone isn't cool with that, that's a shame, but it never gives you the right to try and force them into it. Creating an arc in an ask blog community is... Hard. It's hard to get everyone on board. A great example of an arc well done is the meeting arc we had for a bit. That was funny, super sweet and it was actually quite immersive. Everyone had fun, we all caused chaos, it was great. When someone isn't entirely on board, then it gets a little unfortunate. If you want to have a full arc with a fellow ask blog you can communicate over PMs. I know not all of us care to use them, but it can be very helpful in coordinating something like this so there are no issues later on. Especially if said arc deals with any form of rivalry or conflict. Otherwise, you're just attacking someone for no apparent reason.

3) your fellow ask bloggers are not therapists. A bit of character angst can be nice when done right. It can help explore these kinds of issues in a digestible way, but when it's essentially just using mental health issues as a plot point to get the story where you want it, that's when we start having problems. I mentioned this before on my main blog, but trivializing mental health under the guise of representation really does not sit quite right with me and nor should it anyone else. My interpretation of Iceland is a really insecure teen. It plays a lot into his character and he has this self-deprecating humour that can come across as concerning at times. The difference here is that Iceland's character is not seeking help here. His character is meant to be relatable. A lot of us make this sort of joke. When it's just 'oh, this arc isn't going how I wanted it to? That's fine, let me just have the character have some serious mental problems as a result of that!' then I have a huge issue with it. If your character is the type to always complain about their life and walk around with a half empty bottle of booze belligerently yelling about their happenings, it's important that this character is treated as a punchline. Even as someone who has never and will never drink, I can recognise how funny and tension breaking a character like that can be.

4) please respect other people's personal rules. Some of us dislike shipping and whatnot for various reasons. Keep in mind that a lot of the people you interact with are minors. This isn't a dating simulator. I, for example, forbid shipping as Iceland is a minor and I am personally not comfortable with shipping him even if the other character is also a minor. If you're cool with that, fantastic! But not on my blog. This plays into the whole not forcing your storyline on someone else point, but it's important to me that people understand that when someone says they're uncomfortable with something, stay away from that something while interacting with them. I've stated wanting to keep this blog mostly PG. That is a boundary, not a request. I can and will ban anyone who disregards mine or anyone else's rules.

I'm sorry if this post came across as a little harsh. I don't mean to attack anyone. I'm just trying to ensure everyone's safety here. If you see a problem with anything I've said don't be scared to bring anything up. It never hurts to discuss.

Once again, thank you for coming to my yap session.]

[yanderes-galore]

Arcane request

platonic!yandere Vander and his kids kinda thing basically all of them being platonic yanderes for reader and what they’d be like

I have a max of one character per request now unless it's a rivalry/sharing thing. But I did what I could!

I apologize as I am going primarily off memory for this!

Yandere! Platonic! Vander + "The Kids" Concept

(Mentions Vander, Vi, Powder, Mylo, and Claggor)

Pairing: Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Overprotective family dynamic, (Emotional) Manipulation, Paranoia, Clingy behavior (the kids), Isolation, Punishment, Dubious/Forced family dynamic.

You are most likely the oldest of Vander's adopted children, being 18 years old.

As a result Vander may trust you with riskier jobs to get by in Zaun.

You are seen as an older sibling to Vi, Powder, Mylo, and Claggor.

Yet even though you're the oldest that does not mean Vander doesn't worry about you.

Vander appears to be a decent father to all of his children.

You end up helping a lot when it comes to wounds or watching after them.

If anything sometimes you take on a secondary parenting role while Vander is busy.

This is your family, ever since the Civil War you have considered Zaun your home.

It's your job to mend wounds, settle arguments, and keep your family safe.

In a way you do love Vander.

So he isn't entirely forcing you to be his child for the most part.

He's your father, has been since he found you.

In return you do what jobs you can in order to have money to spend.

In this concept I'm going to primarily explain how this family would be as yanderes.

Vander is the typical overprotective father of the group.

He'd rather you stayed in sight yet sometimes relies on you to do bigger jobs the kids can't do.

He gives you some freedoms, but they can easily be taken if you get yourself hurt or have a falling out.

The kids are primarily emotionally manipulative and clingy siblings.

Vi is protective of her family, including you

Powder is always asking to help you on jobs but you decline.

Mylo often complains that Vander gives you better jobs yet really is just worried.

Claggor is also one to be protective of you and the others, yet you reassure him you're fine.

Honestly, there's no real yandere signs until something happens.

The kids ultimately listen to Vander.

If Vander enforces a rule, they'll probably go along with it.

Especially if we assume they're just as bad as Vander.

Things would turn sour if there was conflict between you and Vander.

Maybe you got hurt and never told him, maybe you just disobeyed orders.

When Vander realizes his eldest kid is being too reckless he knows he has to do something.

Vander would be the platonic yandere father to ground you to one spot so he can keep an eye on you.

He doesn't want to lose you to death or you leaving on your own.

Even if you're an adult... he doesn't want you to leave his family.

Plus... the kids don't want that either, yeah?

If you're "grounded" by Vander, the kids often visit you.

They continue to do jobs even if you're forced to stay at Vander's bar.

Even though you now see this place as a prison... the kids do make you smile a bit.

They love you but don't want to go against Vander's orders.

Plus... they don't want you to leave them either.

Even if you thought of escaping, you may be guilt-tripped into staying.

Especially by Powder... you really don't want to leave any of them.

Yet Vander keeping you locked away makes you antsy.

Even when he pulls you aside to hold you or speak with you, you are distant.

Your love towards your family wanes the moment your freedoms are restricted.

Being stuck in Zaun is a cage enough... now you're stuck in a bar by your family.

You try to distract yourself from your isolation by interacting with family.

You hug the kids and Vander... you tinker to occupy yourself...

But it's all only temporary relief.

At some point, you'll find time to run off.

Yet Vander will know and track you down himself if he has to.

Who knows, maybe he'll even ask Vi to help him.

He keeps you hidden away for a reason.

If he has to drag you back and chain your ankle to your bed... then maybe that will get the point across!

Mylo is certainly the one to throw a fit at you for leaving while Claggor just appears hurt.

Vi feels bad as she understands you want freedom.

Yet Powder simply clings onto you and doesn't let go once you're brought back.

Vander can't have you being reckless... he plans on keeping his family safe....

He'll sacrifice everything if it means keeping you and the kids out of harm... even your freedom.

Plus... you being around more often makes the kids happier, right?

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

just a thought, I feel like the song "surface pressure" is a perfect fit for Romeo

Just as Leo at some point felt the weight of everyone on his shoulders and felt useless if he were to fail, Romeo now feels the same burden of being the oldest of all his brothers and cousins even if his parents assure him that is not the case.

For sure he does! He is his father’s son, and that can be curse and a blessing.

Romeo is a skilled fighter, no doubt about it, but I could easily see him getting so caught up in being the perfect kid, that he at one point might accidentally alienate himself from the others.

We have to remember that Romeo’s pressure doesn’t just come from being the oldest - and the oldest som of the leader at that - but also that his birth was this thing that shouldn’t really have happened, but it did, making everybody realize, that it could in fact be possible for them to have children as well. Romeo’s conception was the start of the domino effect, that led to his cousins and siblings (also in real life. He was the first of the children I came up with. With the rest I always had in mind that Romeo was there, so they wouldn’t have to care too much about being the oldest).

Romeo is very much under a lot of pressure, and that is partly why he has so much tension with Marcello at times. Romeo gets a lot of praise from their father - praise which Marcello really wants as well - but I could also imagine that Romeo might be defensive of this praise. If he isn’t told he is the best, then who is he? Is he a failure? Is he not as good as he thought, nor “worthy” of being the oldest.

It’s a stark contrast to how Joan is with her siblings. She can be tough at times, but that is also because her father is tough as nails. She is skilled, but she doesn’t have the same pressure, nor does she feel a need for the same praise. Often times she will stay back and watch what her siblings does, but on the occasions that she steps in and takes leadership of them, she does it for a short time. She doesn’t feel the need to be a boss at all time, though she may come across as bossy at times.

While Romeo trains, Joan might use training as a way to teach her siblings a thing or two. Both Minerva and Ragnar struggles a bit with fear and self esteem, so she takes the time with them. In these times failure is okay, and at times even needed.

Romeo in the other hand doesn’t train his siblings in the same way, mainly because he doesn’t. Could it be because he views his father as the best teacher? Maybe. Is it because he fears that failing his brothers’ training could cost not just his own status as the oldest golden, but could led to them getting seriously hurt? Could be.

We are just now seeing Romeo’s first growing obsession outside of training and his role as the oldest - that unnamed girl broke his kneecap in. And already now we’re seeing to different reasons from Romeo. First time he met her, he was calmer. It was his first patrol. He didn’t know what to expect. Even while he was in pain and shock, he told what had happened and what he saw. Second time however, Romeo has a much stronger reaction to her. Anger, annoyance and a strong need for some form of revenge, leading him to swearing that one day he will get a hold of her and make her pay. A little bit of a strong reaction from Romeo’s side, even for Marcello’s standards.

One would think that hot tempered and easily emotionally bruised Marcello might have such a reaction to that girl, but he doesn’t. He gets mad when he realizes it’s the girl that caused his brother pain, but other than that, he just feels conflicted. He doesn’t like the way Romeo reacts to her, and he doesn’t like the way he himself feels about her. And for the first time, we see Romeo and Marcello almost switch places. While Marcello retreats and stays quiet, which is rare for situations like that, Romeo is openly angry. It was more than just his knee that got damaged that night.

Did I just do a character analysis of my own oc?…

[sapphiresaphics]

———

^^^ So, stupid takes like this piss me off so much.

Jinx has those flashes and hallucinations because she was in conflict with who she was. She was both Powder and Jinx.

Whenever she’d have those hallucinations or flashes it was ALWAYS when she was in conflict about her past.

When she is reintroduced and fights off Ekko in episode 4, she has no problems until she sees the kid with the pink hair and is reminded of Vi.

When she’s freaking out about being “useless” it’s because Silco unintentionally reminded her of the way Vi treated her.

When she’s experiencing with the hex tech gem ball and it goes off, she’s reminded of what happened when she was a kid.

When she’s confronting Sevika it’s not until she mentions Vi does Jinx begin to have flashes.

When Vi finally shows back up, for a brief moment Powder returns to the surface and everything seems fine. But then Caitlyn (an enforcer) shows up and Jinx rears her head.

It’s always when there’s conflict about her past. Every. Single. Time.

Which brings us to the dinner scene. In that scene Jinx was trying to resolve this schism in her psyche. And unfortunately at the end of the day, Jinx won out. Her conflict got resolved. Her darkest fears about herself solidified.

That’s why she sits in the Jinx chair. She’s finally resolved the conflict in her mind.

And that’s why she’s not as “crazy” in season 2. That part of her storyline is resolved (for now). She is Jinx. Powder is gone. And Jinx doesn’t want anything to do with her old life. Silco is gone. Vander is gone. Vi is gone. She’s just Jinx now. She has no one and no reason to care about any of the stuff going on.

Which, incidentally, you’ll notice that her arc actually heads in the same direction as Vander’s does. Just like Vander, she now has a kid she needs to protect and wants nothing to do with the revolution. Just like Vander she had a fight with her sibling that resulted in them being estranged. Just like Vander she can still be violent and deadly when she needs to, but she keeps that inside and doesn’t let it out. Just like Vander she is seen as a symbol of the undercity even if she didn’t want anything to do with it.

That’s why she’s less crazy. That’s why she’s not hallucinating anymore. She doesn’t have need to. Her past is resolved. And the ONLY times there are hints of it coming back up are when Vi or Sevika remind her of it.

“Why is it gone? That doesn’t make sense to me!” Yeah of course it doesn’t make sense to you, because you never understood WHY she was having those issues to begin with or how the story uses them to show her conflicted nature in the first season. Of course you don’t understand why they’re gone, because you don’t understand narrative storytelling or what themes are.

Also, can i just say… it’s REALLY WEIRD how you only want the crazy version of Jinx. That somehow THAT is her true self to you and that you prefer it when she’s psychotic. Heaven forbid a show have GROWTH for a character or that a character doesn’t WANT to be crazy, eh? It’s really weird that you prefer her being crazy than healthy.

[inquebrar]

Leo and Sunny's "disagreements" are something totally different that has never happened in this way between any of the eggs before, it's a completely new situation and could lead to some character developments in new arcs from now on. but from my point of view, this situation is quite real and unfortunate. i love Leo so much, the dialogue she had about being genderfluid with qFoolish on the first day of school is one of my favorite moments and even though i don't know Sunny very well i still like her a lot and i don't think they deserve to be treated the way they are being treated. it's unfair, and the point is that yes, Leo has every right to dislike another child and shouldn't be forced to be friends with anyone, that's part of life but that doesn't mean she can treat the other child badly. and here's the thing, Leo is also a child but she's almost a year old while Sunny is only two months old if i'm not mistaken, and this is when the way a child is raised comes in and shapes their personality and how they act.

Leo's parents have always spoiled her a lot and that's a fact, qFoolish loves his child a lot and even though he often scolds Leo when she's being very stubborn, it was never something that was really talked about with the intention of changing, everyone just accepted "Leo is like that" and only now is becoming clear how harmful this behavior can be to the other kids that Leo interacts with, she needs to know that it's not okay for him to act as he wants because "that's how she is, so it's okay" "that's her personality" it was like i said, he may still not like Sunny and choose to never be friends with them, that's ok! but she does not have the right to act how she wants based on how she feels, because through actions you affect the other person and there is consequences. and Sunny isn't even invading Leo's personal space or being mean, and when you realize the key to everything: the parents, everything becomes easier to understand why it's happening because i repeat, both Sunny and Leo are kids.

qTubbo recently ended up involving Sunny in his plan to make qFit and qPac break up, which directly affects qRamon (who is also just a child) and with that, it affected the beautiful siblings relationship that Sunny had with him. qTubbo and qFoolish are the only parents present (at the moment) who takes care of Sunny and Leo respectively, they are the adults so they have the responsibility of dealing with things that affect the children which makes everything more complicated when you remember that there's not a single person on that island that is mentally stable to be a parent... but still, this whole situation can lead to great character development, we can see how qFoolish will deal with noticing that Leo's actions are no longer just "being stubborn" and "acting selfishly for silly things" and qTubbo realizing that what he does affects Sunny too and she needs a lot of support instead of isolation. these are conflicts that drive a story and it's okay to disagree with characters' actions, it's part of following something that's entertaining, it's only interesting to analyze things when they are complex to understand and when there are different points of view.

that being said i want happy endings stop the angst it's enough already! /lh

[howlonomy]

How much did Ceroba freak out when Kanako first bitched out? Because she remembers her as a kind and caring individual, and now she's this

Also I think it'd be funny if it happened because Kanako found out that Clover broke the mask she made for Ceroba right off of her face. She's just like "They did WHAT? Ooooh, if I could ever see them..." (this happens, like, literally the day before Clover returns to the surface with Frisk and Flowey. Kanako then mistakenly believes that she can just wish anything into existence, since she is still a child or something. Also she then sort of forgets what she was gonna do since they're her sibling now (Ceroba (and Martlet, let's go lesbianism) did officially adopt Clover, right? I'm not just making this up on the fly?))

kanako was always kind of an asshole kid i think AHDJSK maybe not AS bad but she kinda chalks it up to. trauma and snakes. but she’s always had a bit of an attitude its just stronger now

KANAKO WOULD BE SOOO MAD AT CLOVER FOR BREAKING THE MASK like ok. yes she probably idolized them and ceroba would hide the mask breaking for a while. but once clover comes back and she starts resenting them for a bit and she finds out i think its like a breaking point for her. and she probably explodes at them about it. queue third act conflict where clover is upset and kanako is upset and ceroba is upset and no one really knows how to fix this

SHE FORGIVES THEM EVENTUALLY bc shes like. yeah my mom Did try to kill you. but you know what that means?? it means you HAVE to help me make a new one!! and thus clover and kanako build ceroba a new mask :]

[dear--mars]

Bloodthirsty

── Synopsis: "The sun gave earth the most light but the earth is slowly destroying itself." Childe wasn't made for love and he knew this. So why does he keep trying? And why do you keep letting him try? Opening your arms for him to fall into even after everything, showing him such warmth that he thought he could only get from the sun.

── Character: Childe/Tartagliaa/Ajax

── CW: Toixc relationships, fighting, taking it too far.

── Notes: This is my 2nd and LAST birthday post. Enjoy the angst. [angst/slight comfort]

── Word count: 800+ words

Ever since he fell into the abyss, the euphoric feeling and the adrenaline that fighting gave him was one of a kind. As friendly as he seemed to outside people, he couldn’t care less about anyone other than his immediate family. 

He didn’t feel the need to connect with others, they would only get in the way. They don’t get him the way fighting does. Fighting doesn’t need to be logical, it didn’t have feelings he pretended to care about. In the world he was living in, he only needed himself and his own two fists. 

Being one of the Fatui harbingers didn’t help him either. If anything it made him worse. Childe became a slave to the adrenaline and the Tsaritsa took advantage of it, using him as a killing machine. 

But Childe never batted an eye, he knew that the Fatui was using him but it didn’t matter to him. He couldn’t be happier to be fighting and with his position as a harbinger, he gets paid an absurd amount of money for doing something he loves doing. Not to mention he’s able to support his family as an extra bonus.

He’s a family man but at his core, he's no better than a bloodthirsty dog. Someone like him is destined for violence, driven by anger, as he treats the world as if it’s only for conflict.

So what happens when he meets someone with the same kind of bite?

Your relationship with Childe was doomed to fail the moment it started. Both of you were too competitive, wanting to win everything, and treating everything like a competition. 

It was harmless at first. After a defeat, one of you would give a joking glare or side-eye before laughing it off and you’d be in each other’s arms at the end of the day, still madly in love. 

But as his work days get longer and your love fades, your competitions turns into more than just a lover’s quarrel or friendly banter. The two of you can't remember the last time you laughed together. Only screaming, yelling, and genuine arguing. But one day, he crossed a line he could never go back on.

“Well, at least, I didn’t try to kill myself over a minor inconvenience!” He yelled and the room stilled and Childe knew whatever happened after this day, your relationship would never go back to what it was before. 

You stayed silent, only able to hear the sound of your own voice. You bit your lip as anger took over you and you too, crossed the line. “At least I didn't run away from home because I was bored and fall into the abyss as a child and almost die!”

“You’re going there?!”

“Yeah, I am. What are you gonna do!?”

“Big talk coming from someone who almost got sexually assaulted and needed me to save them!”

“You bitch…. I don’t want to hear anything from the Tsaritsa’s lapdog!”

“I enjoy being in the Fatui!”

“I’m sure you do but your family doesn’t. I know you can see it. The way your parents and older siblings look at you, they're afraid of you. Because you're a monster. How are you going to feel when Tonia, Teucer, and Anthon find out who you really are?”

“Don’t spout any bullshit about family to me, when you killed yours with your own hands.”

“That wasn’t me! I was possessed!”

“It doesn’t matter, it was still your body, your hands that killed them. So who’s the real monster?”

“Still you! Can you even call yourself human with that foul legacy transformation of yours? You are the antithesis of what it means to be a human.”

“You know what? I’m with this!”

“Yeah, run away like you always do.”

“No, [Name] I'm serious I'm done with this.”

“So you’re breaking up with me?”

“For a fact, I am!”

“Then just leave!” was the last thing uttered before Childe slammed his hands on the table before storming out of the house. You sighed before running your hand through your hair. You knew he’d be back in a couple of days. This was a routine for you two but now you were doubting if you guys could go back and pretend that nothing happened.

It had been over 5 days and Childe still didn’t come home and you started to think that it was truly the end of your relationship. But you heard the door open, your head shot toward the sound of the door slamming shut. You saw Childe walk in, he looked a bit disheveled, there were clear eye bags and his hair was even more of a mess than it usually was.

We had eye contact and you bit back your usual questions, asking where he was and such. You saw Childe’s shoulder sag a bit before he walked up to you. Your eyes widened when he flopped onto the couch, his head in your lap. It was clear he wasn’t able to get much sleep. 

You let out a sigh before running your fingers through his hair, comforting him. You felt Childe melt at your touch, letting out a small groan as he nuzzled into your lap even further. 

That argument was never brought up ever again…

- Navigation -   - Prismarine -