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quailxcrossing · 3 months ago

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CHARACTER DYNAMIC ASK GAME YES!!! You have so many amazing duos….

Machwell and Bartenn (I’m predictable) 5, 3 and 16!!

Magic and Ruse - 1, 6 and 8!

Ruse and Esperanza - 13, 15 and 7!

Runo and Peony - 2, 4, 9!

aaand Spiro and Tai - 2 and 11!

BWBWBWB i want to talk about dynamics so much and you selected like. all of my favorites

thank you for being one of the biggest machwell and bartenn fans ever . i will write a lot about them, just 4 you

MACHWELL AND BARTENN

5. A has to get B a gift. right now. what would they get? how long would they spend thinking about it? Machwell's POV oh god i can't even express how bad Machwell is at gifts. when the pressure is on, he truly forgets most anything that person ever liked- and his ability he feels like to fulfill this task is shot down to 0. can you imagine Francine being good with gifts? yeah. Machwell would work himself in a stupidly long tizzy, so stressed out to pick something that's not only perfect, but something that Bartenn will receive well, and he overthinks and replays fake scenarios of every possible reaction Bartenn could have-

-without actually getting him anything. and the longer this goes on, the worse he feels, the harder it is to think of anything-

gifts from Machwell will come in due time. they're heartfelt by the nature they came from him, and usually in the form of perishables. that's great! that's exactly what Bartenn wants!!!! it's hard to give gifts in Nhales anyway- and he's always so overjoyed when Machwell brings over some drinks or gummies or bbq bacon pizza, and there's always room for him to enjoy it too!! cmon sit down!!

3. what's something A thinks in their head about B that they would NEVER tell them out loud? alternately, what's something they want to say to them but haven't/can't, and why not? Bartenn's POV Bartenn definitely struggles with articulating how much Machwell really means to him; yeah they're close, but they're also middle-aged men who aren't doing Therapy-Speak at each other. its impossible for either of them to say "hey, you know you're my friend, right, and i care about you immensely and i'm sad when you're not around and you keep me on this planet"??? i dont even think he can think thoughts like that. how could he possibly say that....

16. free space: what's your favorite thing about their dynamic, as a fan or as a writer? smiles :) i just like them......I like how a character (Machwell) who originally started as literally "well he's Goat's absent father, who he would have never had any chance to meet, so he pretty much exists to make him warm-colors" and then Bartenn was a character I, like....got in a custody battle with my ex-girlfriend?? not really sure how it happened, honestly. but she gave him to me! and i was, like....not in a good headspace, so Bartenn got set aside for almost a year

and then they looked at each other....and Bartenn tried to give Machwell weed-paranoia. and ruffled his hair and told him to get his head outta his ass and chill the fuck out and come drink expired apple juice with him.

i did not mean for their relationship to be that serious. i did not mean for either character to be that serious!!!! the way these two have wormed my way into my heart is so fascinating... they literally are getting straight-man married. they keep track of each other's mental health and make sure the other one is eating and showering and sleeping. they get knocked outta their zourds and lay completely still for hours together. machwell starts to feel safe enough to go places with bartenn, and then safe enough to go places by himself. and bartenn has a companion again, someone would could never replace his late wife Lindsey, but Machwell doesn't need to- he makes Bartenn laugh, and gives Bartenn the reason to make jokes again.

i think they're a very good testament of how scarily sentient characters get to me! i really care about both of their journeys and how they found each other and are just,,,friends. just good, genuine friends, and i could roll around forever and think about how these two fucked up little men became friends and helped each other get out of their spirals just by being a buddy :]

MAGIC AND RUSE

YAY!!!! I LOVE GIRLS!!!!!

1. what were A's first impressions of B? were they mostly correct or have they changed? Magic's POV This is such a fun question to answer after just drawing their first meeting out, finally!! i've had that scene in my head for years....Magic's first impressions of Ruse were, oh geez well my head just got chopped off, but really Magic is quite used to that (her limbs are quite detachable! it doesn't hurt, she swears) and she was mostly concerned if Ruse was okay after fainting. She felt bad for startling her!! clearly, this girl was living on a hair-trigger...Magic wanted to make sure Magic herself wasn't too scary, though. She did feel a little self-conscious about causing such a fuss....

her POV has certainly changed- she knows now why Ruse was so scared, but they're definitely over that now. the story of their first meeting is a funny story Magic likes to tell while Ruse hides her face in (normal levels of) embarrassment. Magic knows Ruse is a big softie and gentle giant, who doesn't ever want to hurt anyone ever. She just wants to eat chicken wraps and go shopping and sing badly to her favorite songs as she sits pretty in Magic's passenger seat.

6. what does A think B thinks of them? or, if asked to describe their relationship, how would they do it? are they right? Ruse's POV

Ruse would hum and haw....emotions and perceptions are not her strong suit. but she'd shyly say that Magic really likes her. before their relationship is confirmed, Ruse is generally confused about Magic's feelings, but she can pick up on the fact that Magic always sticks up for her and takes her fun places and always jumps for a chance to hang out. they can spend a long time doing nothing together- their hangouts can easily span 9, 10, 11 hours, much longer than either of their social batteries. they spend their time recharging together, doing errands together....Ruse doesn't know how to explain things on the terms of internal feelings. she loves spending time with Magic, and she's pretty sure Magic does too.....right? she's right!!

8. is there anything they really disagree on? what are they most likely to argue about?

The most major thing these two disagree on is their variation in threshold, basically. they're both autistic/have a range of mental illnesses, from Magic's extreme sensory differences to Ruse's C-PTSD. And sometimes, things overlap and they clash. Ruse is very sensory-seeking, while Magic is not. Magic needs a lot of quiet time with minimal noises, and Ruse loves loud music and big crowds. Magic can handle going out for an hour or two, while Ruse wants to be at events from start to finish. sometimes they miss what the other wants, and they both get frustrated. Especially since both of them lack a lot of understanding in emotion/ conveying how they actually feel.

they're trying to find the perfect happy medium! Ruse learns to understand that Magic doesn't want to go to every loud party that she does- and Magic understands that Ruse can't stay at home parallel-playing all day. Magic likes to go to events for limited hours, and with aids like her headphones and sensory happy objects, and Ruse will happily wait for her. And if Ruse needs a day of distraction or loudness to block out the cluster of teeming slush in her brain, they'll cafe-hop or take part in outdoor activities. they do their best to make it work !

sometimes it doesn't always work out, and they are just truly incompatible in a way that neither of them will be happy. sometimes you just really wanna spend time with your bestgirlfriend, but she wants to do something that you Cannot Do- sure, they get ticked off. but they ultimately care about the happiness of the other, while preserving themselves.

and then youre gonna hit with Ruse and ESPERANZA. geezus...../posi thank you thank you thank you for bringing them up. they fuel me. they mean everything 2 me

RUSE AND ESPERANZA

13. if A needed help, how likely would they be to ask B for it? Ruse's POV ah! she would! not! Ruse is so terrible for asking for help, especially in her current situation. This Ruse we're talking about is not healing, chicken wrap eating Ruse, this is Ruse in the middle of an active coup. She firmly believes she is in this situation because she signed up for it. She does share her grievances with Esperanza, but that is different in her mind than asking for help. And even when Esperanza offers help, unrelated- she cannot take it.

15. what's A's absolute favorite (or least favorite) thing about B? Esperanza's POV

Esperanza's favorite thing about Ruse is her humor! And yes...Ruse is not TRYING to be funny, but Esperanza just loves how dry she is, how funny she is without trying...how earnest and genuine Ruse is, without needing to put on a face. Esperanza really admires that.

for what Esperanza dislikes the most, probably when Ruse's dryness turns to stubbornness, and then cost-sunk fallacy pride. She wishes she could knock Ruse outta her brain sometimes- she knows she can't.

7. are there any habits, mannerisms, practices etc. A does because of B? anything they do because they saw B doing it, or got advice from them about it, or something rubbed off on them? Esperanza's POV

Yes.....yes. quite a few. Esperanza is only just recently living in a physical body again (long story) and for a while, the only person she knew before she regained her memories was Ruse. Esperanza picked up lots of her little quirks to relearn how to exist.

One of the major ones is playing with her tail, Esperanza has never had a tail before, but she's seen how Ruse used it with her body language! So Esperanza tries her best to mirror those mannerisms. she wants to feel comfortable in her new shape and have others feel comfortable around her!

RUNO AND PEONY !!!! MY PARENTS

2. if asked to describe B to a stranger, what would A say? are they mostly truthful, or is there anything they omit? Runo's POV

I think he'd try to keep it on the lowdown best he can but he's such a wifeguy. he's weepy sobby over his wife and keeps hyping her up, did you know she's trying to publish a book she's so talented and such a good writer and so intelligent and eloquent and .....!!! i'm pretending he's not deathly shy in this situations, but honestly if Peony was brought up, he'd be gushing all about her.......man who loves a woman. augh

how does A refer to B (first name/last name/pet name/title/etc) in their head, to them directly, and to others? are they different? why? Peony's POV

This is a pretty simple answer, but to herself and to Runo, she calls him...Runo. To their kids, it's Dad. To strangers, she uses Brunowe, at Runo's request. To friends, it's whatever name they know him by (usually Runo) that's it! I mean she's got pet names but she doesn't throw those around too often, nor does she think in them!

she knows Runo is most comfy with Runo, but he's also really embarrassed to give people his nickname, hence the "this is my husband, Brunowe!" and if he ends up giving that person his nickname, that's his choice!

9. what do outsiders think their relationship is? do they consciously or unconsciously act different around others?

also kinda simple, but to others they're mostly like...aww a normal married couple. aw look, its Sunny/Indigo's parents. They just seem sweet, quiet, and in love. which they are usually anyway!

SPIRO AND TAI UAUUUGUUGUHGHHGHGHHH!!!!!!!!! CMON FISH!!!!!! I LOVE THESE GUYS........... NO ONE UNDERSTANDS /LH

2. if asked to describe B to a stranger, what would A say? are they mostly truthful, or is there anything they omit? Spiro's POV augh he's a husbandguy too. he'd be saying some real embarrassing shit he knows Tai would turn into a tomato to hear, and because it's Spiro, i can't guarantee it's PG. but yeah he's bringing up the opioid story. he's making dramatic hand motions. he's pulling out all the sickly sweet nicknames he knows Tai hates.

11. what's something A knows about B that most people don't? alternately, what's something most people believe about B that A doesn't? Tai's POV well....take everything I just said about Spiro's mannerisms above. most people see him as this really confident, semi-famous guy who is known for being very quick socially but also really weird.

what most people don't know (basically the only people being Tai, their daughter, and Star) is that Spiro is still handling a lot of things really poorly. he has bad coping mechanisms and he's scared shitless to leave his house alone, even for simple things like getting the mail. he's tethered to his house and even going in public with a safe person is too overwhelming, and Spiro tries to keep things light with a smile despite how terrified he is. ALL. THE. TIME.

everyone thinks he's completely over The Incident; this couldn't be further from the truth. i don't think there's an expiration date on trauma, but you know how Society is :(

only Tai is really deeply privy to how deep this goes, and he wouldn't share it with a soul unless Spiro was seriously in danger.

yay!

#YAYYYYY OCSO OFGIHDFGJDF OCS!!!!!!!!#im not putting this under a read more. read about my ocs (if you want)#i love lovw LOVEEE TALKING ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS. WOW THIS IS SUPER FUN I LOVE THIS THING #every single question had me freaking tf out all over again #god i love characters #quail talks #quail ocs

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mrs-sharp · 7 months ago

Text

The Eyes of Graphorns

Read part 1-5 here.

Pairing: Aesop Sharp x MC

Summary: One day, Dinah Hecat shows up in Aesop Sharp's classroom. Hecat not only seems to know all about his self-doubt but also reveals another secret to him as time suddenly has become a valuable resource.

TW: mention of death, loss and injury

This one got a little darker than I intended.

(I noticed it now that the song is called Mr Gaunt, I don't know why, but it always reminds me of Sharp)

Chapter 6 - Elaine's Secret

'You're thinking about her, aren't you?'

Sharp startled and raised his head. It suddenly occurred to him that he didn't know how long he had been sitting there brooding over what had happened in the past weeks. The ink on the quill he held in his hand had already dried, some of it had dripped onto the parchment on his desk. Sharp looked into the face of Dinah Hecat, who was sitting beside him and definitely hadn't been there before.

'Since when...?' Sharp began, puzzled, but Professor Hecat interrupted his stammering.

'I took the liberty of finding myself a seat. At my age, one can't wait around for reclusive potion masters to emerge from their musings. You haven't answered my question yet.'

She looked at him penetratingly.

'Hm?' he replied, still lost in thought. How in Merlin's name had she managed to enter his classroom without him noticing? Until now, he had always been able to rely on his senses, and it troubled him that he had been so inattentive lately.

'You're thinking about her, aren't you?' Hecat repeated her question.

Sharp thought for a while before responding, setting aside the quill he still held in his right hand. What had he even wanted to write with it? He lifted his gaze and looked around. It was the time of day when his classroom was flooded with light, casting sharp shadows on tables, chairs, and cauldrons with warm rays through the low windows. This was usually his favourite time of day. The warmth of late summer light always gently settled on his weary bones, but today it brought a penetrating sense of a past he preferred to forget. He straightened up and tried to stretch his leg.

'You know I don't like talking about Scarborough...' he tried to deflect.

'I'm not talking about Helen.'

Sharp glanced at Hecat sideways. Hearing the name of his partner unsettled him even more than talking about the place where he had lost her.

'Then who are you talking about?'

Sharp already knew the answer, it was obvious, but he didn't want to admit that Dinah Hecat was right with every word, as she often was. At least not yet. He didn't want to give himself away so easily, although he knew it wasn't worth dodging Hecat's questions.

'I'm talking about our new colleague, of course.'

Sharp didn't return her gaze and didn't answer.

'So, I was right. Come on, I can’t blame you. She’s an incredibly intelligent, talented and considerate witch. A true Ravenclaw. We both know you haven't been the same since she showed up here. Just like you weren't the same when she disappeared from here. I see how you look at her... and how you try to resist it.'

Her words left a gentle pain in his chest. There was no point denying what she knew anyway. She already knew the answer to her question, and even if she didn't, she simply regarded his silence as consent.

'Is it that obvious?' he finally admitted.

The expression in Hecat's eyes softened a bit as she observed with satisfaction how the imposing, intimidating wizard in front of her attempted to open up.

'When do you plan on talking to her about it?' she asked.

'Is that supposed to be a joke? I might as well request a transfer if she ever found out.'

'Do you really think she would react that way?' Hecat retorted.

Sharp snorted, but he knew his colleague was right. Since Elaine had returned, he had become aware of how much the thought tormented him that he would never feel the gentle touch of a hand on his own or the quiet warmth of a tender embrace again. Since the accident, he had tried to lock away any emotion that could make him vulnerable. But now, he repeatedly noticed how much he wished he could lean on a shoulder one more time and be carried away by gentle closeness.

'No one understands an old, disfigured, disabled wizard who deludes himself into thinking that anyone could…' he answered instead, but before he could finish the sentence, he already knew that Elaine Hopkins wasn't so shallow as to believe what he had just described. She made him feel as if she regarded him with respect – even when he dropped the authoritarian facade and showed himself as he was. And she did it in such a naturally caring way that it almost hurt him, because he knew he didn't deserve it. Immediately, he condemned himself for his self-pity.

'You're afraid she'll end up like Helen, aren't you? That's why you're so dismissive when someone brings it up. You don't want her to become your weakness and put herself in danger because of it.'

'She already is my weakness,' he replied, louder and more irritated than intended.

It had been 20 years since he had lost not only his colleague but also his fiancée in Scarborough. Yet his pain and the scars reminded him every day of the damage he inflicted on the people who meant something to him. And now the story threatened to repeat itself. In fact, since Elaine's return, he had repeatedly felt the burning desire to protect his former student. The thought that something could happen to her caused him to feel as if something inside him could shatter at any moment. But that's only half the truth, he thought. He felt responsible for what Elaine had gone through and for her finally being able to find peace.

'Did you know she tried to find the perpetrators?' he suddenly asked into the silence.

Hecat's chair creaked as she sat up slightly straighter.

'Then you know about the attack?'

Sharp nodded. 'I probably remind her every minute of what has happened. I don't have the right to burden her even more.'

Hecat placed a hand on his shoulder. Sharp was surprised, but he allowed it. Over the years, Dinah Hecat had become a close friend to him, but she had never felt the need to comfort him. Not even when he told her what had happened in Scarborough.

'Aesop, none of this is your fault. And she wouldn't be here if she saw it differently.'

The former Auror buried his face in his hands.

'If I had known back then when she started here what kind of inner conflict she would cause in me...' he whispered half aloud, more to himself than to his colleague. What he felt wasn't right. At least, he tried his best to convince himself of that. In the past few days, he had tried to distance himself from Elaine, but he didn't have the strength to keep his thoughts from returning to her and their conversations.

Hecat continued, 'I must admit, I'm amazed she has told you so much. She actually wanted to keep it to herself because she knew you wouldn't approve.'

Sharp recalled the evening when she told him about her travels, about her search for a cure and the betrayal that ended in a fight. Until today, she hadn't expected an apology for his behaviour.

'I... we had a little disagreement. She told me because I made a fool of myself.'

For a few seconds, there was silence between the two old friends. Dinah Hecat had a pretty good idea of what had happened, and Sharp knew it, but she had enough tact to know when it was better to remain silent.

'I don't understand why she did all that,' he finally began.

Every day, when he saw the reluctance and suspicion in the faces of his students, he became more aware that he didn't deserve anyone standing up for him. And when he looked in the mirror, he could understand it even more. He was grateful for the friendship some of his colleagues showed him, but that was already more than he deserved. He was certainly capable of reciprocating it, but over the years, he had come to believe that he had little left to give to the wizarding world except to pass on his knowledge. His only task now was to repay the debt and make amends for his mistakes. There was no room for compassion and affection.

Dinah Hecat rolled her eyes.

'Aesop Sharp, you may be a powerful wizard and a capable Auror, but your self-doubt blinds you.'

She paused briefly, as if considering something, and then decided to continue speaking, 'Listen, it's not really my place to tell you this, but...'

'Then you shouldn't,' Sharp interrupted her.

Professor Hecat made an energetic gesture with her hand, commanding him to be silent.

With a firm voice, she said, 'I'll tell you anyway because I'm afraid you don't have much time left. There never was an order from the Ministry for Elaine to go into hiding. She just told you that so you wouldn't suspect anything. She was released from her duties as an Auror at her own request to return to Hogwarts. The curse seems to have stronger effects on her than on you. It's spreading. We assume that it's somehow related to her ability to wield Ancient Magic. It's as if the curse is drawing power from her magic like a parasite. The further it spreads, the weaker she becomes. At least, that's what we assume; we don't know for sure.'

Sharp swallowed and looked at her, horrified. He felt something cracking deep inside him.

'She told me she ran into you in Hogsmeade by chance...' he began.

Hecat sighed, 'She wrote to Matilda this summer because she had heard that a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was needed. When it was decided that she would get the position, she told Matilda and me what had happened. We already knew that there was no cure, but we spent the whole summer looking for a way to at least slow down the spread, but we had no success.'

Hecat paused for a moment and watched Sharp. He had a look on his face that she couldn't decipher. He had a deep furrow between his eyebrows and looked thoughtfully at the table.

'I hope you know what it means,' she continued her report, trying to smile encouragingly despite the seriousness of the situation, 'that she returned here after her futile search and all those years of unfinished investigations.'

'What?' Sharp growled, a bit more agitated than he had intended. His thoughts were already far away, and he had no patience for annoying questions.

'She's here because of you,' Hecat continued gently.

Those words instantly brought Aesop Sharp back to his classroom. Suddenly, his attention was completely on his colleague again.

'Because of me?'

'Have you never thought about it? The search for a cure, the decision to become an Auror and follow in your footsteps, the investigations in Scarborough... all of that is connected to you. And now, she has given up all of that, she has come back empty-handed — the only reason I can imagine is that she wants to spend the time she has left with you.'

In that moment, something changed in Aesop Sharp. Her words felt like a burning that cut deep under his skin, leaving nothing but emptiness behind. Suddenly, Sharp stood up and limped out of the room without saying goodbye, so Hecat wouldn't see the pain dripping from his dark gaze to the floor. The sound of her voice echoed in his ears, her words reverberating through his thoughts: 'The time she has left...' he murmured softly to himself before succumbing to his despair in an unobserved moment.

-> This way to part 7 - Firewhisky and Despair

#Spotify #hogwarts legacy #professor sharp #aesop sharp #professor aesop sharp #aesop sharp x mc #professor sharp x oc #professor hecat #dinah hecat #hogwarts legacy fanfiction #hogwarts legacy fanfic #my fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry

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nian-7 · 8 months ago

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Heyo, I think matchup reqs are open but if not feel free to ignore (⁠・⁠–⁠・⁠;⁠)⁠ゞ

If it's alright I'd like a romantic and platonic match up for Pjsk and bsd (if not just romantic/ pjsk is fine)

Info:

My names Karma

I'm a minor, 17

I'm afab but I'm Genderfluid and use all pronouns

I'm pretty short for my age, 5’1 the last time I checked unfortunately, sobs. I don't get out much besides going to work for money so I'm pale as hell. I have freckles pretty much everywhere not a whole lot but they're definitely noticeable. I am cursed with a baby face, it gets better when I put on my glasses though, im cursed with terrible vision, I'm not allowed to drive without my glasses it's that bad

My hair is a shaggy wolf cut with curtain bangs, I'm a natural blonde but I always dye my hair ginger cause it's my favorite look on me (I'm trying to look like Chuuya cause I love him sm)

I'm an INFP-T, I'm also Asexual and Panromantic (slightly woman leaning but not an insane amount) I dress in dark academia style almost always: cardigans, sweater vests, long over coats paired with sweaters underneath. I'm very much trying to be that person you fall in love with in the book store

When I'm in public alone I am very much socially awkward and anxious. I keep to myself and I am terrified of causing trouble for anyone

I tend to be drawn to more loud people; or more like popular/louder people adopt me out of the blue and I go along with it (which is funny considering I'm usually quiet)

Once I've warmed up with people I very much match energys with whoever I'm with, typically just trying to make friends laugh. I value people's happiness very much

If we're out at a mall or something I'm quieter, but in private I can get very loud

I also have a very close group of online friends all over the world (Some of us are meeting up soon and I'm very excited)

A lot of people have said that I also have big sister vibes

I do have diagnosed Anxiety and depression, typically I try not to let anyone see that side of me. I can spiral a bit into episodes where I just kind of ghost people and ride out whatever feelings I'm dealing with, then come back about 3-6 days later

I don't really do well with anger in general, weather it be my own or other people's

I also don't really have any appetite most of the time (I'm not sure if it's medical or not) but this can cause me sometimes to get super dizzy out of nowhere because I've forgotten to eat/drink

I'm a digital artist, and I actually write fanfiction on Tumblr as well. I absolutely love cats, I’d talk about my cat Hazel for hours if I could (She's mean to me but I still love her </3) I also really like Vocaloid/Hatsune Miku music (kinda not surprising considering pjsk lol), I don't usually mention it in person though cause it's embarrassing to explain that shes just a singing hologram

I also have a fox obsession, I own a huge fox plush that takes up a designated corner of my room lol

I don't mind most things personality wise in people, but I do wish to be respected obviously

I like someone I can poke fun at casually and who can poke fun at me as well

My love language is big gift giving (wether it be buying or drawing occasionally) and physical affection (Cuddles always ╥⁠﹏⁠╥)

I've gotten tones of jokes that I only go for gingers, but I have zero preference for looks

I'm an overly patient person and get a little annoyed when people aren't as patient (but it's not a complete put off or anything)

I also am very much someone who has to be on time. If I am not on time I lose it a bit

I think that's all (Maybe too much ´⁠-⁠﹏⁠-⁠`)

But thank you so much in advance! I hope you have an amazing day/week 💟

hi, anon! i haven't read bsd in a while so i'm a little rusty so i only did prsk. hope you still enjoy!

I match you with... (platonically)

Saki Tenma!

-The biggest thing for you to be matched with Saki was the big sister vibes that you mentioned. The dynamic would just be too cute to pass up on!

-I tried to pick a more 'loud' or extroverted person and although I decided to opt for Saki instead of Tsukasa, I think you both would mesh together even when she's not necessarily as loud as her brother.

-Saki is like the person you can fall back onto in social situations when you get anxious. She doesn't mind taking the lead and helping you out when you get nervous.

-She's not someone who gets angry often and tries to be there for you when you ghost her or others. She tries her best to understand what you're feeling and tries to sympathize with you.

-You both having the same energy is something that would make the whole friendship mesh well and she has the capabilities to be calmer or quieter if needed.

I match you with... (romantically)

Shizuku Hinomori!

-Although Shizuku is somewhat different than Saki, I think she's the best match overall. The physical affection she gives to you is one of the big factors.

-As someone who enjoys pda/affection, Shizuku would love to cuddle or hold hands with you all the time. She kisses you in public and just loves to be near you.

-She loves the gifts you give her as well no matter what they are. She'll always gush about them whenever someone asks about something relating to it (whether that embarrasses you or not).

-She's a very light teaser and it comes off more lovingly than anything but she enjoys it when her partner gives her attention through light teasing too.

-Although a bit airheaded, she's treating you similarly to Shiho. Asking always if you're hungry or thirsty, being the talker in public if you need it, etc. She just gives you more romantic affection than sisterly affection (obviously)

#x reader #fluff #gender neutral reader #nian-anon #project sekai #project sekai x reader #saki x reader #saki tenma x reader #saki tenma #shizuku hinomori x reader #shizuku x reader #shizuku hinomori

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shytastemakerthing · 1 year ago

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Hi! Could I get a matchup My Hero Academia and Twisted Wonderland please! I haven't got properly into Twisted Wonderland yet but I want to have a character to keep in mind for when I do.

Name: Eren

Age: 19 (almost 20)

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Straight

Zodiac Sign: Gemini

MBTI: INFJ

Personality: I'm pretty quiet in social settings but if someone talks to me first, I can keep a conversation going. I will occasionally go up to someone to initial a conversation but not very often. With people that I'm close with, I'm very open and sarcastic. And I make a lot of self-depreciating jokes (even though I have a high self worth).

Likes: Reading, writing, anime, video games, Marvel, and listening to music (stuff like Hamilton, Panic! at the Disco and Offspring). Dislikes: Spiders (deathly afraid of those), being forgotten when I'm gone, and disappointing those who I care about.

Looks: I'm 164cm (5'4") and have an average build (not too curvy but definitely not straight up and down). I have green eyes that everyone thinks are brown and curly/frizzy dark brown hair that is just below my shoulders.

Extra Info: I'm at university and am majoring in English and Writing. I regularly get distinctions and high distinctions with my assignments and have very high expectations for myself. I want to be a published author and have written several manuscripts.

I hope the rest of your day goes well for you!

A/N: Hello and thank you so much for your request!I hope that you enjoy both of your match-ups! They're a little shorter than what I usually do as there are 2 and I'm still trying to work through the rest of the inbox. Enjoy!

Twisted Wonderland will be first, and then MHA

Tw: None

I match you with.........

Idia Shroud

Say hello to the king of self-depreciation. Literally, nearly every time you see him in the game, he is putting himself down (man really doesn't know just how handsome he is, even Vil Schoenheit himself has said that Idia is, in fact, a very handsome man). He may talk down on himself, but there is no way he is about to let you do the same to yourself. In his mind, you are quite literally UR+ tier and he will constantly remind you of that.

Now, chances are you met Ortho first before Idia, given that Idia is one hell of a hermit and usually only attends class via his magical floating tablet. Ortho ended up approaching you first as soon as he heard you mention the latest anime that you're into, and wouldn't you know? His brother is currently obsessing over the same anime!

Thus, you find yourself being taken to Ignihyde via a very excitable robot child. Now, Idia did have a full panic attack the moment his brother arrived with a literal person ( a real life, air breathing person), into his room. But lets just say that the moment you saw the same anime he was currently watching, he noticed the same look he gets when he obsesses over a new anime or game. Now you have yourself a permanent spot in his room.

Idia is tall, being just under 6'1'' with the potential to grow a little more (most people don't finish growing until around 20-23, at least from what I have learned), so there are times he will crack some short jokes. It's how you can tell that he has warmed up to you, likes you, and much more. Hardly anyone sees that side of him. And you're dating him, so it all works out.

He absolutely loves that you write. Now, the man has money, finances aren't an issue to him, now he gets to spend it on you. Whatever it is that you need for your writing endeavors, just let him know and he will have it all for you by the end of the day.

Overall, you managed to make yourself a nice little home inside the shut-in housewardens heart and he doesn't plan on evicting you anytime soon. He absolutely loves you and while he may be introverted and terrified of people at times, he will always protect you in his own way.

I match you with...........

Eijiro Kirishima

You were first approached by him after everyone had moved into their dorms and had gotten done with a rather long day of training. Everyone was basically just kinda mingling with one another and he took notice of how you were just kinda off on your own. And that wouldn't do! Meaning he was quick to approach you, striking up a conversation quite easily and the two of you quite literally talked for hours.

After taking notice that basically everyone was gone and it was just the two of you still out there, he did the manly thing and asked if he could walk you to your dorm, and of course, you agreed. Once there, you both exchanged numbers and bid each other goodnight.

Thus, a beautiful relationship was formed between the both of you.

He takes notice of how much you love to read, and more importantly, what you love to read. There are a few times where he will come to class with a book that he had found that he thought that you might be interested in, and he does this quite often. After all, what kind of man doesn't provide for the woman that he loves?

While he knows that you hold yourself in high regard, he doesn't really like the self-depreciating jokes. A couple of times, Eijiro came to you about the concerns that he had and he was just glad that you at least did have high regards of yourself, but it hurts him to hear you say these things.

Music buddy! I swear this man must have a really good music taste just by looking at him! This means that the both of you will just have all out little concerts in either of your dorm rooms. It's one of his favorite ways to spend time with you.

Overall, Eijiro is a dedicated partner and is always there to protect you should the moment ever arise. He loves to see the smile on your face when he manages to find a new book for you and then hears you talk about it. He wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.

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liugeaux · 4 months ago

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The Best Games of 2009 | A Pivotal Year

2009 was the year I went to E3. It was one of the most exciting trips I've ever taken and with it, came a tiny sample of what it would have been like to work in the games industry professionally. The whole idea behind these lists was to fill a gap in my experience before and since I took this trip. 2009 was also a huge year for me personally as it was when I moved back to the Jackson-Metro area and switched careers to my current one (still not in the games industry). So much has happened both in and out of the industry, this post will be a fun snapshot to explore.

Remember, (I say like anyone is reading) this post will be written as if it were published in December of 2009, so all critiques will be from that perspective. LFG!

#10 - Left 4 Dead 2

The original Left 4 Dead defined a brand-new corner of co-op gaming and by no means is it old or boring, so the sheer existence of Left 4 Dead 2 is shocking. It tweaks and improves basically everything from the first game and gives us new survivors and new infected. Valve hit us with the surprise announcement of L4D2 at E3 this year and that surprise likely won't disappear any time soon.

#9 - The Beatles: Rock Band

It's Rock Band, but The Beatles. I kind of wish it was more than that, but having a beautiful tribute to the most celebrated band in history in one of my favorite games is hard to complain about.

#8 - Trine

What feels like a simple platform game is actually an intriguing physics puzzle box dripping with medieval charm. Trine takes familiar concepts and glues them together in a game that borders on the exact right amount of chaos for the genre. More than once my heroes accidentally sent a magic box careering off the screen as my little brain tried to cheese a jump well enough to hit a ledge. Trine earns it's wackiness and is a breath of fresh air because of it.

#7 - Halo 3: ODST

It's Halo 3, but Blade Runner. Ok that's a bit dismissive, but who knew the tried and true formula of Halo would graft so well onto a cyberpunk-esq world. ODST could've just been a pallet swap with Oribital Drop Shock Troopers taking center stage, but the changes were much more game-altering. Most importantly it is has a sleeker vibe than the previous 3 games. OSDT is cool, the way Blade Runner's dark and always raining aesthetic is cool. Will it age as well as the other Halo games, who knows, but today ODST is super dope.

#6 - Borderlands

Part irreverent joke, part Diablo-inspired loot-a-thon, part RPG, part first-person action, Borderlands blends so many different things so well, its hard to believe we haven't been getting games like this for years. Oh and did I mention it's class-based too? Borderlands is the entire games industry in a blender, and then cell-shaded. It's not without its fair share of jank, but there is enough meat on the bone to confidently say Borderlands is one of the best games of the year.

#5 - Shadow Complex

The Metroidvania genre is a storied niche with some of the most fiercely beloved games in it. However, publishers will tell you, while they play well and score high in reviews, they don't sell well. This means they aren't as prevalent as your FPSs or straightforward platformers. Shadow Complex mixes everything you love from the genre and brings it into the modern era with competent puzzles and action and the forever memorial foam gun. Will SC usher in a new generation of Metroidvanias? Who knows, but it definitely has defined what it means to be a modern one.

#4 - inFAMOUS

Sucker Punch is no stranger to great Sony first-party games. Sly Cooper was quite a dark horse of the PS2 generation. inFAMOUS is the studio graduating to the big leagues. Taking their knowledge of open-world design and grafting it onto what is essentially a superhero story, really makes this game pop. Not every open world will keep your attention long term, but inFAMOUS will gladly steal hours upon hours of time stringing together compelling story and non-story activities. I'm not a huge fan of Cole as a character, but the story built around him is more than adequet.

#3 - Batman: Arkham Asylum

Arkham Asylum is the best example of a 3D Metroidvania since the Gamecube's Metroid Prime. The puzzle-box nature of getting around the Asylum grounds works on both a structural and narrative level. Detective vision is legitamately a revolutionary mechanic and the visercal feel of the combat, is surprisingly satisfying. All of this being in a licensed game is mindblowning. The odds say Batman Arkham Asylum should suck, but it might just have ushered in a new direction for licensed games.

#2 - Assassin's Creed II

When the first AC game came out it felt like the official beginning of the new console generation. There was a revolution in the way games were being made and AC's potential very much out weighed its execution. AC2 is the realization of all the previous game's ideas. Gone are most of the clunky assassination plots, blown open are the open world maps, Altiar is a much better character and Italy is a much better setting. AC2 isn't just the sequel, but a true 2.0 for a frachise that's just beginning to stretch its legs.

#1 - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

So, here's where we are, video games are just movies now. Are we ok with that? It seems like we are, at least as long as the output is akin to Uncharted 2. Like Assassin's Creed 2, Drake's second outing is the realization of what Naughty Dog was trying the first time around. The story and action beats are as good as what you would find in the biggest budget summer blockbuster, and the characters are better. I've herd alot of chatter saying "Sony should make an Uncharted movie" and I say "nah, they already did." Dare I say Uncharted 2 is a perfect game? Maybe, but I will shout to the roof tops how perfect the already iconic train sequence is.

Noteable Omissions

Dragon Age Origins - RPGs and fantasy are not my thing, I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's probably great, but just not for me.

Demon's Souls - Nothing about Demon's Souls sounds appealing to me. A hyper hard Japanese developed fantasy action game that prioritizes frame animation over raw twitch timing? No thank you.

Bayonetta - I'm American, in America Bayonetta was released in 2010. Tune in next time to see if it makes the list.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Honestly, CoD:MW2 almost made the list. If this was top 11, you'd probably see it at the end of it.

Hmmm, I just noticed, there's no Nintendo on this list. Oh well, this was fun! catch you next time.

Cheers

#assassin's creed #the beatles rock band #inFAMOUS #batman arkham asylum #shadow complex #borderlands #halo 3 ODST #trine #left 4 dead 2

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lesbianrecorderplayer · 1 year ago

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why is the secret door your second fav barbie movie? :))

Hi Katie! So you, @calmthings, and @pinklovehearts all wanted this, so here we go

So first of all, down to the basics, I actually really like Alexa's character arc. Unlike most other Barbie films, Alexa's situation is relatively grounded and relatable, as what is basically an authority figure who can't make her way around public speaking situations: anyone would be able to relate to situations like that, even if the stakes aren't as high for them. Moreover, this situation is just resolved as a matter of her basically just gaining more experience doing something worse, and having more pressure on her to do something: basically just a coming of age story, and the fact that her issue is resolved at the end of the film shows that this is now much more confident for her given what she's already been through. In addition to this, it's kind of similar to Luz Noceda's character arc, in that the thing that makes her progress as a character is the fact that she has people she cares about, and I think that's really cool. I genuinely believe that Alexa has one of the best character arcs to come out of a Barbie movie, like up there with Annaliese and Erika.

However, what I most enjoyed about this film was the villain. Malucia is quite possibly the most creative idea for a villain that Mattel has ever had, and it shows. In a world where all the villains can basically be summarised as "discount Preminger", having a villain who can be summarised as "bratty child who was given too much power" is so refreshing and fun! What's more, I feel like every time they write a villain song, they try to revamp How Could I Refuse somehow, trying to write something with the same tone, like in Diamond Castle (aka one of the worst villain songs they ever wrote), but I Want It All is so beautifully reflective of Malucia's character, while also being so fun to listen to and having all the capitalism jokes you would expect. I would go as far as to say I Want It All is one of the best songs they have ever written, it makes me so happy every time and is the perfect song for Malucia's character. In addition, she has some of the best one liners of the entire film, "No! I'm goal oriented!" comes to mind, honestly she's just endless fun all around, I adore her. Honestly, I believe that Mattel weren't trying too hard with this character, which I think is why she works so well. In addition, such a character could very easily be annoying, but she never gets to that point, and I think that's partially to do with her amazing dialogue, and partially to do with Tabitha St. Germain's absolutely incredible voice acting. She's been one of my favourite voice actresses ever since I watched mlp, and she shows her talents so well in this, creating such a fun performance.

I haven't watched this film for so long, but it's such a fun watch, and would definitely recommend out of all the post-Christmas Carol Barbie films

#barbie and the secret door #barbie #mattel #princess alexa #malucia barbie #seriously i adore malucia #amelia answers

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deadletterpoets · 1 year ago

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This bioware/DA:D rant got long so I put it under the jump

Idk what Bioware's plan is with DA:D, but I do know they've lost a lot of trust and have kinda become a joke within the RPG fandoms and frankly have become a warning for a lot of fans on how quickly a great studio can fall (CD Projekt Red has also felt that but seem to have recovered much better than Bioware).

I've said this before, but Dreadwolf is basically the last ditch effort for Bioware. I know they're also working on another Mass Effect, but if the fans don't like the quality, and especially RPG mechanics, of Dreadwolf it'll be almost impossible for ppl to be too excited about a new Mass Effect. Especially since at the moment I barely see anyone excited about Dreadwolf due to the lack of transparency of what the plan is for Dreadwolf.

I'll be honest the lack of communication doesn't bother me as I would rather they not say anything until they're ready than say or show stuff just cause pressure from fans. It is just unfortunate they haven't shown *anything* since they've been working on Dreadwolf for at least 3 years at this point (reminder it was rebooted twice so some past stuff they showed might not even be relevant anymore).

And of course obviously when games like Baldur's Gate 3 are getting such praise due to it's communication with fans (which they had to do since they were in Early Access and feedback from fans was basically a given so showcasing new stuff consistently also made sense) definitely makes it harder for Bioware devs to have to justify why they aren't saying anything. Even though I'm sure most just legally aren't allowed.

I've also said this before, but for me, the only game Dreadwolf needs to compete with is other Dragon Age games. It won't be true for basically anyone else on the internet. I already know whenever the game comes out a LOT of vids are gonna ask the question of "Who did the RPG better?" and I think it'll be a losing fight no matter what for Dreadwolf just cause Bioware as a studio has gone away from strict RPG and more action. Plus if that leak is anything to go by we might be getting like a party based God of War game (which honestly I'm all for, but wow well it make DA fans rage).

#idk just felt like ranting about this cause watching vids on Baldur's Gate 3 and ppl keep bringing up how Bioware is a failed studio now

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exlwandering · 3 months ago

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Celica and Lemal Part 5

I actually wrote this stuff like just yesterday and today so it's actually reasonable me posting this now. Horary! Any way, enjoy these two weirdos, this is definitely my favorite chapter thus far because its mostly just them finally talking to each other and this is were other bigger world elements start coming out so world building wise this was really fun to write. I've said it before but I think I should have the next part soon ish. Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself tho

Lemal

“Alright Mont, why won’t she talk to me? Let’s figure this out!”

“Well what do you want me to do about it? It’s her own damn problem if she won’t answer you.”

I invited Mont into my office today to talk about Celica, to figure out how to get her to like me, or figure out why she doesn't like me so far. “Maybe because you’re a prick?”

Unfortunately Balasey invited herself.

“Why not give her some presents? Women tend to love that!”

And so did Cuss.

“Okay thank you Balasey, Cuss, very… Helpful. But we really need to discuss, and truly discuss, any problems.

“Well,” Mont starts, “what have you done so far. It’s only been two full days so what’s gone wrong already?” He chuckles to himself.

“Oh I’m so glad that you can laugh at my marital troubles, aren't you lucky that you’ll never have to worry about me doing the same to know mister no-marriage. Ha.”

He gets quiet and glares at me. “Don’t you mention that like it’s a joke or I’ll walk out of this room right now. That’s a promise.”

“Oh don’t be so dramatic, Mont, you know I don’t mean it. Relax.”

“You've yet to answer his question,” Balasey finally pipes up.

“I was waiting for you to add your cents, okay here we go. I’ve: complimented her, trying to get her new dresses, though she’s yet to be fitted, bought her fabrics, tried to get her to talk about herself and when she wouldn’t do that I thought I’d open up about my own interests. So I don't know. I couldn’t tell you, I’ve done everything that Father can’t and won’t.”

“Oh well that’s why,” I turn to Cuss, I wasn’t expecting his input. “You’re using Father as a guild map, you’re bound to lose that game brother, HA!”

I glare at him, growling under my breath, he tucks into himself in response.

“He’s right about that,” Balasey comes back in. “As well as all that is well and good to compliment her and give her gifts, but it means nothing to the Compatu given the whole reason she’s here.”

I give her a moment to answer but she doesn't.

“Well why is she here other than to marry me,” I ask, consciously.

“What the hell do you mean why else is she here? You don’t know!?”

“Well why don’t you enlighten me!”

“Well I will!” She loses a sigh, “She’s here to die. All of them have always been here to die and almost every single one has. Only like, what, three have lived longer than a few months, and our uncle has the only one to date to ever survive into old age. Do you know that? Why should she trust you at all? Her family likely told her ‘it’s better to stay quiet, best not to anger him.’ You really are stupid if you haven't thought of that as a possibility. That’s she’s scared you’ll eat her-”

“Oh and there it is, the delusion! Okay, thank you for the input sister, now I think you’ve overstayed your welcome.”

“OH you brat!! Just get away! You disrespectful, arrogant, little boy!”

She screams at me, not unexpectedly, but I can hear her voice crack and I see her eyes tear up. It’s not my vault, however, if she's consumed with fake knowledge. She needs to learn that her fallacy is hardly ever correct.

“And just for your stupid little information Lemal!!! She can’t hear us!! COMPATU TALK SO LOUD BECAUSE THEY CAN’T SPEAK AS LOW AS US!!! AND THEY CAN’T HEAR AS LOW EITHER!!! You little idiot!! She can’t hear you if you're talking to her!! You have to use paper! Like Mont did when he picked her up!! BECAUSE, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, HE HAS SOME BASIC INTELLIGENCE! UGH!”

She runs out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

“Alrighty, if you say so little sister!” I smile to myself but it doesn't last long. Mont’s looking at me like he’s confused.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“She’s… She’s right about the hearing thing you know. They have whole legends calling us ‘the silent death.’ Because they can’t hear us.”

“Mont can you please not-”

“She is right, Lemal. Compatu cannot hear us talk. Her mother on the carriage ride actually asked me if we could not talk. They don’t think we talk, Lemal. They. Can’t. Hear. Us.”

“Are- Oh shit you’re being serious. Oh shit. OH SHIT! She can’t hear me!! No fucking wonder!! You’re not pulling out my feathers are you?”

“No! You idiot!”

“Fuck!”

Cuss comments, “well go to her with some paper! So you can actually talk to her! And remember that weird magic lady from a couple of months ago? The Madam I think? She gave you an ear thingy so you don’t have to learn languages! Why not use that?”

“Sorry-” Mont tries to cut in but I cut him out by standing and running out of the room. As I’m leaving I hear Mont ask, “Is that true?”

Cuss just responds with an, “I don’t know, that’s what she said! Lemal just called her a cracked pot and set her away...”

I rip through the hallway and for the first time ever find her where she is supposed to be: the fitting room. She’s completely naked but I can’t even care.

“Everyone out!!”

“But your majesty, we’re almost done here, just a moment longer-”

“I. Said. Out! Go. Be gone! Everyone.”

Relua goes to pick up Celica like an idiot, “Leave her.”

She pulls back and quickly leaves the room before any more fuss can be made.

I look over at her again, she’s curled in on herself, shaking.

I shout at her, “Can you hear me?”

She looks around. Confused.

I say it again.

“Can you hear me?!”

Her eyebrows furrow.

“This isn’t working, okay! If you can hear me, clap your paws together.”

I go to clap my own hands but I stop myself. I silently pray that she’ll do it.

She doesn't. I try one more time.

“Celica, my darling. If you can hear me-” I take some steps toward her and I’m only a few feet away when I say, “I need you to say literally anything while… Touching your nose with only one finger.

I wait several seconds.

She does nothing but curl in on herself more.

I panic for a moment, thinking this whole time she hasn’t been able to hear me, oh my god. How could I not have noticed this! But I come back to reality for just a moment, and a moment is all it takes to see that she’s terrified, crying and hugging herself so hard that her delicate little claws are pushing into her own skin and are starting to draw blood.

I reach for her, to let her know that I mean her no harm but she pushes back, forgetting she’s on a stool and falls onto the floor with an unceremonious thump.

I quickly go to pick her up but she fights to get out of my embrace. Clawing and pushing to get away from me and so I let her go. I look for anything that might allow her to understand I’m not going to hurt her.

I look around the room and notice that one of the walls is holding up chalk, and on closer inspection is revealed to be a chalk board covering an entire wall.

I quickly write down, “Calm down love, I’m not trying to hurt you!”

She shouts back, “Then what the hell are you doing?? Why were you trying to grab me??”

I start to write again, “I didn’t know you couldn’t hear me.”

I look back at her and instead of seeing relief, like I would have loved to see, I see anger.

She chucks a pillow at me.

“What the hell do you mean ‘I didn’t know!!’ Are you fucking stupid? Even Mont knew and he said he wasn’t even an official member of the royal court! Why did he know and you didn’t? Who told him? How did Relua know? The Towle lady? She can’t even write! Even Rami knew and you’re telling me you didn’t know? How could you not!”

She breathes deeply, shuddering still. She is right though.

But my bigger question is why didn’t anyone tell me. Why didn’t anyone at any point see me talking directly to her and not think to tell me? I really am surrounded by idiots.

I just write on the wall once again.

“I think I might have a solution. Let's go.”

I wait until she reads it to go and pick her up before she yells, “damn it no! I’m done with the holding! Stop it, I can walk.”

I go back to the board and write one word.

“Naked?”

“Yes naked, who cares, I don’t! I just wanna stop getting vertigo every time I need to go somewhere!”

“The answer is no.”

“AH- What the hell-”

I cut her off by picking her up and just wrangling her in my arms. It takes some great effort to keep her more or less still but if she doesn't want to keep her dignity then dammit I’ll make her keep it.

I rush us both down the hall, her grunting and scratching at me the whole way there, and there are several moments where I go to tell her to stop before I remember again: she can’t hear me damn it.

I enter my office and slam the door behind me, the door cracking like lighting. That crack comes with a bite on my finger. I drop Celica.

“What the hell was that for?” I hold my hand and look at my finger, blood pouring out. “UH! I don’t care about this!”

Looking around the room I try to remember where I threw that letter: The waste basket.

I dive for it hoping it hasn’t been emptied and lucky it hasn’t. Ripping it over I skim over the words.

King Lemal… I implore your agreement to a multi-world union… Great trade opportunities… an ear piece as compliments of The Greed Court. …allows multi language communication without any need to learn any of said language, instructions in my package. I look forward to our next meeting, King Lemal.

Best wishes

~The Madam Greedal~

I look around the room looking for this package, slamming the letter down onto the table.

I push things around, open drawers, look through my bookshelf but nothing. It takes several minutes before I check the wastebasket again and while I don’t find it there, I do find it under one of the legs of my desk.

“A-HA! Look what I found! Celica?” When I turn to look at her she’s reading the letter from the Gremal lady. I sigh, paying it no mind, instead pushing my attention to the “ear piece” whatever that means.

Opening the box reveals a strange almost spiral shaped thing, it’s small but it would be too big for Celica? I don’t actually know. I pull out the instructions and illustrations to show how to put them into different types of people's ears, starting with Shatto and ending with Compatu.

It shows the piece being dropped into one ear with the sides raised - I suppose for structural support- and waiting until a red light shows itself. Once it does the wearer pushes it into their ear until they hear something? Like a small chirp? Then the light should change to blue and then turn off. Great. This makes no scene but it’s worth a shot.

I grab Celica’s attention from the letter by pulling it out of her hand and then placing the instructions in their place. She looks it over and when I go to place the thing in her ear she growls- fucking growls- at me!

“You don’t put anything in me.”

After a moment she looks shocked and then pulls back into herself.

“I- I need a little more time to understand the instructions. Can we go back to your room?”

I sigh, I don’t want people just looking at her almost completely naked but if she won’t let me put it in…

I nod. Giving in as quickly as a fool. But this time I think to put her in my coat, and better yet she barely fights me this time, only groaning when I go to pick her up.

Before we leave I write, “by doing this you promise to put some clothes when we get there,” on a piece of paper.

When she’s done reading it she says, “that’s why I wanna get to your room, I’m cold as hell! Why do you guys have to be so far down south. It’s summer damn it. It shouldn’t be so cold.”

Getting back to our room she jumps out of my arms and onto the floor. She marches herself right over to her chest and pulls out, pants, a shirt, and a bright orange sweater. She pulls them on herself -and what’s so cute is that her pants have a hole to let out her tail- before grabbing the instructions and ear thingy and sitting right down on the floor. She combs over the paper for several minutes, her tail twitches in unison with her nose, her eyes squinting at the papers. Finally, she bends her head to the side, drops the piece in her ear and says to me.

“Lemal, nod when it changes to red.”

I do that, and after a moment the light makes red light and I nod. When I do she pushes it into her ear and stops when it turns blue. I hear a small chirp from the thing and she looks at me.

I pick her up when I stand and place her on the edge of the bed and she glares at me a little. I don’t mind.

“Well… Can you hear me now Lovey?”

She pulls back and blinks at me. Several seconds pass before she says: “I-... I did not know you would sound like… That.”

Celica

“What the hell do you mean ‘Like that?’” He crows back at me. God that was a stupid thing to say. Who the hell wouldn’t take offense to “I didn’t know you would sound like that!” UGH. He’s gonna kill me or I him. (Most likely he'll kill me though. But his voice is so much lighter than I thought it would be, you'd think someone so big would have a deep voice, yet here we are.)

“Oh I didn't mean- Not that it’s bad! I- um… I’m sorry.”

I look down at the hard wood floor.

And then he fucking laughs.

I look up at him to see his head pointed up, his eyes closed and beak open wide, releasing a deep and throaty laugh. His head moves back and forth and he sounds almost like he’s cawing. He really is a bird.

After a moment he puts his hands on his eyes before whipping fucking tears from them.

He takes a deep breath before saying, “Well at least I know you can hear me.”

I glare at him for a moment, caution be damned.

“What the hell made you think I could hear you in the first place? I thought you all knew that I can’t hear you. Riddle me this King Lemal: how does a bath servant who can’t read or write know that I can’t hear your kind but a fucking king has no clue?”

I stand so that I have a better chance at being eye level to him for once, he still has to look down at me.

The smile from his face still hasn’t faded when he says, “well how was I to know? I didn’t think that was possible and no one bothered to tell me. Actually, riddle me this girl: why did it occur to no one to maybe tell the king that the woman he’s marrying can’t hear a word he says?”

“I actually have an answer to that,” He crooks an eyebrow at me, “two answers in fact. For one, maybe people are afraid to correct a king, this seems less likely to me though. What seems more likely is that it’s such common knowledge people must have assumed that you’d get mad if they so much as presumed how much you do or don’t know.” I leave him an angry smile before curtsying ironically.

His smile drops a little but only for a moment while he rolls his eyes at me. “At least you have an answer.” He then stands and before I have even a moment he pulls me up and quickly drops me again on the bed. I grown as another headache hits me.

“Oh for fucks sake can you stop doing that” I rub my eyes.

“Doing what?”

“Picking me up? It’s a nightmare! It gives me headaches, and people drop me, and I hate being so damn high! I get such horrible vertigo!”

He crawls onto the bed and lays flat on his back before asking, “why would anyone not like to be quote-un-quote high?”

“Because.”

He looks at me with a stupid smile.

“...I have a chronic fear of heights. You picking me up makes it worse.” I try to look away from him but I can’t, even turning completely around only results in me seeing him even more clearly. I silently curse my eyes.

He clicks his tongue and says, “naw, how cute, the little Compatu is scared of heights, how adorable.” He grabs my sides and pulls me to him, whispering right into my ear, “am I too big for you Celica?”

I can tell he wants me to blush. It just makes me want to claw his eyes out. I push him away with my legs.

“Be quiet.”

He waits for a moment before backing up. He sighs and lays on his side, propping his head up with his hands.

“You're so cute Celica, I just wanna say that, since you haven’t heard me before now.”

That one does in fact make me blush and i feel stupid for doing so.

“What do you want.”

“I want,” he rotates his head until he’s looking at me upside down, “to talk to you, to get to know you. So… What are… Your favorite… Hobbies?”

“Is that really the best you could come up with?”

“Oh come on! Humor me Wife.”

I growl at him but it only serves to make him chuckle.

“I like to write. And read. The arts in general suit me very much I think.”

“Oh~ what types of stories? What art? Do tell.”

“Well I like-”

“Romances? Oh I can just imagine you all curled up enjoying a nice long romance.” He smiles and winks at me.

“Historical texts.”

“...What?”

“I like studying history. A little. I packed five or six books on my kingdom's history, two on yours and a couple others. They are mostly textbook styled but they do have some personality to them and my favorite one talks about its subjects in a discovery type of way and the narrator constantly falls into little obsessive episodes. It’s very funny to me.”

For a moment he could barely do anything but stare at me

He looks vaguely confused. “So… You’re a little historian, okay.”

“Not really. History is just fun.”

He thinks for a moment before asking, “Do you read anything else? Or write? Mont told me you write pretty frequently.”

This kind of strikes me, I guess Mont told Lemal about how I wrote the whole way here. “...I do, but mostly just about my own life, or my family. I don’t write many original works, and besides, it’s important for royalty to write about their experiences, you know, for history's sake.”

He nodds when he says, “Hmm. Well I don’t think you’re wrong. Oh, but Question: if it's for the people of the future to read, why don’t you want me to read it.”

“Are you from the future?”

He laughs at this. “ I suppose not. But still, why?”

“While I'm alive, my thoughts are private and totally mine, no one else's. Not even yours, King,” I bite back.

“Aww, I told you, just Lemal for you.” He stops for a moment, scratching the side of his beak, (he’s actually got a small dent exactly where he’s scratching. I guess he does that a lot. Maybe it helps him think?) he mutters, “I actually don't think you heard that.”

“You're right, I didn’t hear it but I could tell what you meant. You have…” I wave my hands for emphasis, “very expressive body language.”

He laughs before nodding, “I suppose you’re right. By the way, why didn’t you ever try to tell me that you couldn’t hear me?”

I sit quietly for a moment before saying,“I thought you were toying with me.”

His eyes widen and he pulls his head back. “No. No never, I don't like to…” He stops short, “And I would never do that to you. Happy wife, happy life. So I don't intend to play with your mind like that.” He reaches out to me and boops me on the nose, making me sneeze. I Swear he squeals just a little, like the thought of my sneezing is just too cute.

I sit there for a moment, I can’t tell if he’s completely serious yet, it seems like it but he always seems to have this aloofness to him, but then he acts so caring in one moment and then the next… I don’t even know. So all I can respond with is a quiet, “that’s good.”

He smiles a little bit. It makes me want to change the subject.

“...What do you like to do? Hobbies.”

“Naw, is that the best you can come up with?”

I look up at him caught off guard, he's laid down now, lounging on his back, hands behind his head and smiling at me.

Before I can say anything he picks up again, “I like to hunt obviously, and I'm a bit of a reader myself. However I do have one obsession that’s been nagging at me recently.”

He gets quiet and waits for me to say something so I respond bored,” and what would that be.”

“Oh, nothing much, just a little Compatu named Celica, she’s rather adorable from tip to tail. Tell me, what do you think of my obsession, hmm?” (He thinks he’s so damn clever.)

“I think it’s rather boyish and that you might hope to reign that ‘obsession’ in a bit, after all you’ve only known her for about three days.”

“Wise words, I suppose. However I’m not sure I’ll heed your advice, little love, as soon we'll have known each other for a lot longer.”

He reaches out for me and scratches under my chin, the sensation is nice but the fact that he’s doing that with a claw that could push through my skin like butter makes me weary of the touch, so I push him away.

He clicks his tongue in disappointment before pulling his hand back.

“Why are you so weary of me?”

This feels like the most obvious thing ever to me, maybe he just thinks I'm dull? Or that now that we're married I should hand myself in whole to him. Trust him. (Well excuse me for having survival instincts.) “Well for one I don’t know you, this is the first real conversation we’ve had.”

“Well that’s nothing, my own father met my mother the day of their wedding just as you and I did, hell, he picked her out from a collection of other women.”

“That’s disgusting,” I pulled myself further away from him.

“What? No, not at all. Wait, how do the Compatu usually marry?”

“Normally. We meet someone, get to know them and fall in love, then after a long time of being in a relationship they may get married, but the decision is mutual, not… Like this.” I curl in on myself, hugging my knees to my chest. Looking over at him, he almost has a remorseful look on his face but it’s overshadowed by his confusion.

After a moment of being quiet he nearly whispers, “Have you ever been in a relationship before?” (Thinking about it, it’s like he’s scared of the answer.)

I turn to him, sighing before saying, “yes. Three. I loved them all very much, especially my last one… But he didn’t know who I really was until the end of the relationship, and when he found out that I was promised to you…” I closed my eyes and turned from him, I don’t want him to see me cry. So with a shaky voice I finish, “he left me, so that he wouldn’t be.. I don’t know. Reprimanded? Killed even? By the- ...By you.” Silence fills the room but before I know it, Lemal pulls me into a hug. He wrapps his wings around me and rests his beak on my head.

“I am truly sorry, My Love. You didn’t deserve to be hurt like that.” He then wipes a small tear (that I hadn’t realized I had shed) away with his claws.

“It’s fine.” I try to pull myself out of his arms. “Anyone who would just up and leave like that is not someone I want in my life anyhow.” Finally I pull so hard that I pop out of his hands, go flying into the air and land on my face.

He fucking giggles.

I mutter, “fuck you…”

“Excuse me?”

I stay quiet for a moment before saying it again. “Fuck. You.”

After an almost amused moment of silence he says, “Wow. I comfort you and then you curse me, how kind.” He’s crosses his legs and is propping his head up with his hand now.

“Well you laugh at me when I try and get out of your grasp, what's fair is fair.”

“Oh no, no, no, that wasn’t fair.” He says pulling me by the waist until I’m in his lap again. I don’t think he can help himself from touching me. My evidence? He’s rubbing my waist, and I can see how he tilts his head a little to get a better look at me. I hate how I almost like this type of attention, it's been forever since I’ve just been touched like this .(But does it have to be him??)

He’s about to say something but stops short. Maybe it’s because I’m not fighting him?

No matter the reason he keeps going, groping me and moving his hands further back unti-

“Ee!”

He pinches my fucking tail, hard.

I finally kick myself out of his grasp.

“I should have known that would be too far.” he mutters.

When I’ve positioned myself to have my tail facing away from him I ask, “what the hell were you trying to accomplish there?! That shit hurts!” Still rubbing the base of my tail mind you.

(I’m lying. I hate that I have to lie. Frankly it shouldn’t have felt that fucking good. I hate myself for liking it actually. Stupid, Stupid-)

“I- I’m not actually sure. But I am sorry. If that helps?”

“No you’re fine, I let you go that far anyway…”

“So… You liked it? Other than the pinch I mean.”

“I’d prefer not to answer that.”

He smiled then, more than likely knowing the truth.

I just want to change the subject now. “So… What’s your family like, you said something about your mother and father, what are they like?”

He blinks at the subject change but submits to it. “Oh my father is a bastard, not that I’m ever going to tell him that, and neither should you. Not that I think you will though. It’s my mother I’m more fond of. We’ve always been rather close. She is one of the fairest women alive, even with her growing age there is not another woman who could even compare.”

“That’s… You know how odd that sounds coming from her son. Right?”

“I do, but that's what she tells me all of the time, and she is beautiful. It’s why my father picked her actually. She was known as the most beautiful woman in all of our territories and so she was brought to the palace here and was wed to my father. Of course you’ve seen her so you know just how lovely she is.”

“You’re right, I have seen her.” I think of the stylish woman that poked and prodded at me, and the judgmental looks, those make a bit more sense now, she must be pretty vain. “She was the previous queen, correct? What was her role here?”

“Oh she wasn’t Queen, nor was my father King.”

“They… Weren't?”

“Not at all. My father was what you call the breeder. The second born son is to marry and have children. His first son shall be King and then the second born is the Breeder and so it just goes on like that. It’s rather unorthodox compared to the other species' way of doing things.”

“Is that because of our marriage?”

“Yes, it is my smart, little Wife. The Breeder may marry whom he wishes but the King has a moral responsibility to tradition and so on, so forth.”

“Interesting. Wait so back to your family, you have a younger brother?”

“I do, he’s rather dull but he’ll likely do rather well at his role. He’s always going on about finding a wife that he loves and such, and if he accomplishes that fast enough he’ll likely produce dozens of little children. I also have a sister, she can be rather delusional and my father has to threaten her with marriage almost every hour for her to behavior but that’s just because she has no real role to play in court, but honestly there aren't any roles for her to play anyway given her woman hood. And she’d do no good as a breeder given her refusal of men, she continues to perplex me.”

“Wait so she just does nothing everyday and that’s just okay? Surely she must do something everyday.” That’s such a horrible fate to me, just doing nothing but being seen for the rest of my life, I can only pray that that doesn't happen to me here. For now I have my tunnels but as soon as I’m done… What then?

“Oh she does, she taught herself to read when she was only, what? Four or five? And ever since you could always find her in the library, but it clouds her mind rather horribly, she barely takes care of herself and her delusions have nearly completely taken her over.” He looks so remorseful for her.

“That’s terrible, she doesn't hurt herself does she? Have you taken her to the doctor or some type of physician or psychiatrist?”

He shakes his head dismissively. “No, father doesn't think that’s needed, I don’t think so either, she just needs to do something other than just think, or at least that's what I believe.”

I’m quiet for a moment before he decides he’s had enough of the silence.

“Anyhow though I don’t want this conversation to get too dark, so do you have any siblings?”

I laugh to myself (more of a giggle to be honest but that’s a bit embarrassing to admit.)

“Do I have siblings? A better question is ‘does the amount of siblings you have ever end!”

“Oh? How many do you have?”

“Guess,” I say, still giggling to myself.

He sits for a moment before saying, “well it can’t be any more than- what? 10? No! I’ll go 15, just to be safe.”

I laugh right into his face, harder than I thought I would for a long while. I have no doubt that he thinks he’s way over shot but oh do I have a surprise for him.

“I have thirty-one siblings!” I spout out. At this point I am laughing so hard that I might throw up and when I look at him again his beak is as open as a broken hinge and his eyes are so wide that I can see the whites of his eyes (I guess he doesn't have all black eyes after all, huh.)

“Woman! DO I feel sorry for your mother, my goodness! Unless you have several? How does one even get that many children! Thirty-two children- by Magont! That’s just insane!” He’s laughing at the end of his sentence but there's a twinge of nervousness.

“Don’t worry too much, I was born in a litter, all Compatu are.”

“Wait so- how does that work?”

I compose myself before explaining, “I was in my mother's first litter and was supposedly the first one out, but there were- and get ready for this, you’re gonna freak out so compose yourself.” He fixes his poster, hands rested in his lap and nods when he’s ready. “I was one of seven in my mothers first litter.”

His beak breaks itself open again and he laughs again, “How does one woman hold that many children in her? My goodness!”

“Well in all fairness Compatu babies, even when they stretch out all the way, arent even as big as my hand, so… They’re really tiny.”

He puts my hands in his and rubs the back of them with those claws again. (To be honest it’s not really that scary anymore, I mean, he’s always been rather gentle with me. Other than earlier but in all fairness I was fighting him to get out of his grasp and naken, and who knows how people here would interpret that.)

“Thats’ an adorable image,” he practically sighs this into the air, his voice going soft.

“It really is, when we’re born, we’re blind as well so our mothers and fathers have to lick our eyes open. It's cuter than it sounds, I helped deliver my mother’s fifth and last litter and it was really sweet. My father says he was the one to give me sight. I wish I could have kids…” I let that last bit out before I consider what I’m saying and before Lemal can say anything in response I change the subject, just a little.

“So what do Shatoo babies look like?” I fake a smile and look up at him and it felt like he was blushing, hard to tell though.

“Well…” He starts, I suppose remembering his siblings' births, “they are also rather cute. I didn’t see my little sister being born as I was at a military camp at the time but when my brother was born I was very much present, almost wishing I wasn’t.”

We both laugh for a moment, “but my brother had small little legs, no real claws and a very short beak, very round. It gets longer as we get older but it stops while we’re still pretty young. I remember how it took me years to grow into mine all the way and I’m still not sure if it’s too big for me, haha.”

I laugh at that too before thinking, “Wait, why do you have to grow your beaks? Do you know why it’s so short at first?”

“Oh, so it doesn't scratch the mother on the inside, you know, while she’s pregnant.”

Excuse me what. “Wait, I thought Shatoo were hatched, like in eggs?”

His eyes widen and he caws to himself, “What? No! Not at all, our women get pregnant! Why did you think of eggs?”

I look him up and down, “maybe because you’re a bird? Aren't you?”

He shakes his head in disbelief “Not really, I think more canine actually. I mean-” He slides off of the bed and takes off his shirt, “Actually take a look at me, look past the feathers and wings and beak, actually look at my body.”

I do and sure enough everything suggests canine. Long thin limbs that can be used to walk on all fours, backwards knees, and hands that take the shape of elongated paws, and feathers covering his legs entirely until a furless set of paw like claws … That would also explain the teeth.

“Huh, I guess so.”

He smiles

“Okay but you can’t blame me for thinking that!” I shout, laughing to myself.

He too laughs hard, holding himself up by leaning on the bed, his head moving up and down. Eventually that up and down motion becomes shakes and he just says, "I'm gonna go change into some sleep clothes, I’ll let you change in here.” He reaches into his dresser and pulls out his night pants and heads to the toilet room to change.

Once the door closes I head for my chest and pull out a loose knitted nightshirt, shorts and a book, the favorite one that I had talked about earlier. The Strange History of our Nation's Most Beloved Monuments, Catacombs and Palaces.

I jump back onto the bed and change, throwing my day clothes on top of the chest, right then the door opens and Lemal comes walking out in just his night pants, he then quickly throws himself onto the bed onto one his giant hides.

His eyes are closed and he looks very comfortable.

“Hey,” I start, curiosity grabbing me. His eyes open and he looks up at me. “Did you hunt and skin that?” I point to the hide and he awkwardly looks down the whites of his eyes showing again, making me smile a little.

“Why yes I did, this was one of my first actually, my father and I went hunting and he taught me how to skin animals. This particular beast was a Barcuma. They're actually almost the size of a Shatoo, which was very scary to little me. My father took me to kill one so that I wouldn’t be scared anymore. It nearly killed me. But I wasn’t scared anymore.”

“Hold on,” I start, “did he send you to kill it by yourself! Were you okay?”

He caws (which I guess is like his version of snorting), “Oh no. Very much not, it broke my arm actually, it put up a real fight. Wanna see the scar?”

I’m taken aback by this, is he actually looking back on this fondly? I give him a small nod and he lifts himself to his knees and shows me the scar, it takes a little bit of looking but in the middle of his bicep there is a jagged gray scar where his feathers just stop. Despite myself I reach for his arm and lightly trace the scar. It goes almost entirely around his arm.

“That must have hurt so terribly.”

“Oh trust me, it did. But it was the first scar I ever got, it’s a sign of strength against adversity and fear.” he pulls his arm up and admires the scar, proudly. “Every scar on my body is a sign of strength and that is incredibly important to me. Both the scar and what it represents. They all mean something different too, some type of adversity. You know?” I give him a very close once over then, and when I do this I see dozens of smaller scars. For example: one on his neck that looks almost like a stab wound; two under his left eye, they’re thin and short; a massive bite mark on his side, looking around him it goes almost all around his back and some small bits of skin are missing around each tooth mark; and dozens of scratches and bite marks all over both of his wings, making them spotting in places (and that's just their insides, their outsides must be much worse).

After a moment of silence from my part I whisper, “That’s terrifying Lemal.”

He laughs a little before saying, “oh don’t worry about it my Little Love. And again, I look at them in fondness. And more are to come. Besides, I'm not the only one with scars to show for.”

I crinkle my brow in confusion before he gestures to my thighs. I realize that he’s talking about my digging scars. Some are as fresh as from yesterday.

“Oh, no, those aren’t really like yours.” When I look back at him he’s laying down, and is stretching his wings out over the bed. “Hey, leave some room for me!” I Laugh as he lifts his wings and after a moment I crawl under his wing and sit down on a pillow. He drops his wing and it rests over my legs.

“Why aren't they the same, how did you get them?”

“Digging madness.”

He looks confused and especially sounds it when he asks, “Digging madness? I haven’t married a mad woman have I?”

“Ha you wish, but no. Digging madness usually happens with royals because we live in the palace, Compatu have the natural instinct to make burrows instead. So after a while you start experiencing ‘digging madness’ where you kinda get really obsessed with digging a burrow. Sometimes in the same place, sometimes not. It’s just a very intense need to dig. Doesn't really matter if it becomes a burrow or not.”

He’s quiet for a moment before asking, “is that what happened the other day? I know you said you were making a garden but…”

I panic for a moment, and I really try not to. IF I’m unlucky enough he'll be able to tell what it is before I even answer. So in my smoothest most non-lying voice I lie, “Oh, umm well both. Needed dirt for the garden and I got digging madness as a result of digging too much for too long. That’s another way to get it.” (It really is though. You know I find the best way to lie is to add truths to the lie, like how I did get digging madness, that I needed dirt for the garden. But not why. None of that was actually a lie thinking about it, I just didn’t tell him everything.) He begins to nod but I just wanna change the subject, so I spit out, “What were you doing that day? What were you up to?”

His eyes widen in interest and he looks away from me, “well, my Celica I was busy in the trading town nearby getting fabric for your new dresses! You're gonna look just so cute in them, I’m designing them myself. Also,” he looks back at me, “Do dresses for Compatu have little holes for your tails?”

I Sigh before reluctantly nodding (the last thing I want is more dresses, give me pants and I'm perfectly fine. Besides they’re so difficult to run in, especially when on all fours which I think I might have to do everyday for the rest of my life. I’m so glad I packed some other clothes.)

“Good,” he says, a goofy smile on his face, “That’s just the most adorable image ever!” he looks over to me, “you’re gonna be adorable.”

I throw back a sarcastic, “Hooray.”

He clicks his tongue, “Naw, I know you don’t think you’re cute but you really are. I'll make sure that that is a very well known fact to you. Eventually.”

I sigh, “I am so grateful.”

We’re quiet for a moment. It’s kind of striking. Before now every single time we’ve gotten quiet with one another it’s always had this sense of awkwardness, or even hatred on my part. This feels different. Relaxed and comforting, if just this is the rest of my life I'm not too sure how opposed I am to the idea. Comfortably discussing our families, idly relaxing talking about our interests, it doesn't sound terrible. If this is who he really is… It’s much better than the alternative to say the least.

He’s smiling at me when he says, “what do you have there?”

I look down at my lap. “It’s that book I was talking about.”

He gets a slightly bored expression on his face, it’s playful though, “are you going to put me to sleep with your boring history lessons?”

I whack his beak with my book softly before saying, “I’ll show you, just let me read you one chapter, just one. You’ll be begging for more, I swear it.”

He gives me a look that says ‘I don’t believe you’ before actually saying, “sure. It’s a quick trip to sleep, so I don’t mind. Besides,” he stops for a moment before looking at me differently, very fondly, “I rather enjoy hearing your voice.”

We smile at each other for a moment before I open the book to page one.

In the end I was right, we finished the whole thing, albeit very deep into the night.

#original writing #writing community #writers on tumblr #writeblr #writer #inhuman characters #talks of sex #terrible flirting #a tad bit of sexism bc Lemal is a dumbass #LORE #Worldbuilding #Celica and Lemal Slow Burn #romance

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an-aroaces-harem · 8 months ago

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Ivy Chapter 11

DISCLAIMER: I just deepl and google translated my way through this because I wanted to know what’s going on, so there are definitely mistakes but I believe I managed the general gist of the story. Anyway, it’s just a fan-made translation solely for entertainment purposes. Morganatic Idol belongs to Cybird and ABC Frontier, Inc.

... Ivy-san and I spent time together at a fine restaurant and it was like a dream.

He invites me to walk with him, and we walk side by side through the night.

Ivy: Huh ... the night air feels so good.

Ivy: I haven't walked around town in a long time.

Rina: Is everything all right? If Ivy-san is seen walking around, there would be a commotion ...

Ivy: There's not a lot of traffic, and I'm in disguise, for one thing.

Ivy: I don't think you have to worry about people noticing as long as you act with dignity.

Rina: So that's how it is.

Ivy: Well, that was a pleasant meal, by the way. I'm glad I invited you.

Rina: I had a great time, too. And it was so delicious. ... Thank you so much.

Ivy: I'm glad you said that.

When he smiles kindly at me, my heart starts to beat again.

(I feel like I'm closer to Ivy-san than usual.)

(I mean, it seems like he has been staring at my face for a while now ...)

Standing next to the person I like, staring at my face so close ... there's no way I can stay calm.

(What should I do? I have to say something.)

To cover my embarrassment, I desperately searched for a topic of conversation.

Rina: Oh, you used to be in a unit called R2R with Sakura-san, didn't you?

Ivy: What? Oh, you know me so well.

Ivy-san seemed a little confused by the sudden topic.

Rina: I heard a song by R2R the other day, and it was fantastic.

Rina: I did some research on exe, but I didn't know much about the music industry back then ...

Rina: If you don't mind, can you tell me a story about that time?

(Was I being a bit pushy? But it's true that I'm curious about the past Ivy-san ...)

I heard a little bit from Hitaki-san, but I wanted to hear from Ivy-san himself.

Ivy: ... I don't mind. Maybe it's not such a fun story, though.

With a wry smile, Ivy-san began to tell his story.

Ivy: I met Eito when I was, I believe, about twenty years old.

Ivy: I was a college student at the time, working part-time as a model and doing music as a hobby.

Ivy: I met Eito when he approached me at a club event.

At that time, Sakura-san was already an artist belonging to a well-established entertainment agency called Egret.

Ivy: I thought it was some kind of joke that he wanted to form a unit with me, an amateur, and at first I refused.

Ivy: I sort of got caught up in the pace of Eito, and before I knew it, we were a unit.

Rina: That's ... something that stands out in my mind. Sakura-san hasn't changed much since then.

Ivy: He's still the same. He seems aloof, but he has energy, passion for music, and talent.

Ivy: Eito not only sang, but also wrote lysrics and composed music. ... He was really great.

I felt a slight pause of doubt at his words.

Rina: Eh, but you were active in the same way, weren't you, Ivy-san?

(Hitaki-san told me the other day that Ivy-san and Sakura-san wrote the songs for R2R together ...)

Ivy: That's true ... but it was nothing compared to Eito.

Ivy: He's really talented. He was great then, but he's as great now that he's retired, right?

Ivy: He's the president and producer who created Aero Light at such a young age.

Ivy: He's really great.

Ivy-san's smile conveys the deep respect and trust he has for Sakura-san.

Rina: Sure, Sakura-san is great, but ... aren't you great too, Ivy-san?

Rina: The R2R song I heard the other day was written by Ivy-san, and it was very nice.

Ivy: ... Is that so?

Rina: Yes, it is. And even now, you are doing a great job as an exe member, aren't you?

Ivy: ... You're so kind, Kawanaga-san. But really, you can't compare me to Eito.

I feel frustrated when he laughs like that.

(I'm saying this from the heart, but it doesn't seem to be conveyed very well.)

(Why is he so modest when he is so good at what he does?)

Unaware of my feelings, Ivy-san shared his memories of his R2R days with me.

His first tv appearance, when he got the first place in ranking. An award ceremony at a music festival.

He had a very nostalgic look in his eyes as he told me that everything was an exciting experience.

But ... that expression gradually clouded over.

Ivy: We were steadily gaining popularity domestically and were hoping to expand overseas ... but things weren't so easy.

Ivy: It just didn't work at all for the rest of the world.

Ivy: ... After all that happened, the unit was eventually disbanded. ... Too bad, but I guess that's the way it goes.

After saying that, he kept his mouth shut.

Although he is smiling, there's a deep shadow in his eyes.

(Maybe he doesn't want me to mention the breakup ...)

The experience of not being world-class must still be a painful memory for him.

Rina: I'm sorry. You don't like to talk about it.

Ivy: No, it's okay. It was a long time ago.

Ivy: And you wanted to know about me, didn't you? Because I'm glad you're interested.

Rina: Ivy-san ...

He smiles at me and my heart warms.

(I guess he's saying this so I don't mind.)

His care and kindness have not changed since we met.

Ever since he saw me with Hitaki-san, I've been avoiding him because of the awkwardness.

But Ivy-san has invited me to dinner and has treated me the same as before.

(You're so sweet ... It's nice to be able to talk like this again.)

Rina: Thank you so much, Ivy-san.

When I thanked him, Ivy-san widened his eyes.

Ivy: No, I was just talking about the past, so don't be like that.

Rina: But that's not all.

Rina: As I said before, I really appreciate you always looking out for me.

Rina: I'm just happy to be with Ivy-san like this. It makes me feel strangely at ease ...

Ivy: ...! That's ... I'm glad to hear that. Because I feel the same way you do.

Rina: ... I actually had a bad day at work today and was feeling down.

Rina: But thanks to you, Ivy-san, I feel better. ... Thank you!

I looked straight up at him and told him so with a smile and ... Ivy-san stared at me.

Ivy: ... I'm glad. I can't believe you feel that way.

Ivy: But ...

At that moment, the air surrounding Ivy-san seemed to change.

Ivy: I'm not the only only person encouraging and protecting you, am I?

Rina: Eh?

Ivy: You know that guy from work who just patted you on the head. Just like I did to you.

Rina: !? How did you know that ...

Ivy: I was in the audience.

Rina: !

Ivy: And you know ... how Finn covered for you when your coworker was being sarcastic? I couldn't do it because I was too worried about my surroundings.

Ivy: I felt sorry for myself ...

Ivy: That's why I invited you to dinner. I couldn't stay and thank you for the other night, but that's just a cover.

Rina: I didn't know that ...

Ivy: It came as a shock to me to realize that there were people besides me who cared about you and were protecting you.

Rina: No, that's not true! Aside from Finn-san ... today is the first time Yamauchi-san has treated me like that.

Rina: He doesn't do that usually.

Ivy: ... Is that so?

Rina: Yes!

I tried desperately not to be misunderstood. Ivy-san stared at me and then laughed, as if relieved.

Ivy: I see. That's a bit of a relief.

(I guess he believed me. Good.)

... but, I don't know why Ivy-san is saying this.

(Are you jealous? ... No, that can't be true. I'm treated like a sister ...)

Ivy: But, if that's the case, I'm extraordinarily worried ...

Ivy-san placed his hand on my shoulder as I was confused.

Ivy: You're a bit open-minded, like you were the other day with Hitaki.

Rina: Eh? Ah ... !

Just like that, a strong force pulled me towards him.

Ivy: ... you see. I can hold you like easily. You need to be more vigilant.

His arms go around my back and waist, restraining me.

(Is he holding me? Why are you doing this ...?)

I can't look away from the scary serious expression on Ivy-san's face.

Ivy: I'm worried that you'll be taken advantage of by a man with ulterior motives ... It's nerve-wrecking to watch.

Rina: I don't think so. Nobody cares about me like that ...

Ivy: ... seems like you really think so. That's the part I can't leave alone.

Something happened that was different from the previous time when I was gently hugged.

He may look slender, but his arms and chest are much bigger and stronger than mine ...

Above all, the eyes that seem to look into the depths of my heart make me feel irresistibly flustered.

(Ivy-san is a man, after all ...)

I felt it again, and my heart was beating wildly.

I wanted to hide my reddening cheeks, but I was too caught up in the gaze to move my head.

Rina: I-I'm sorry for worrying you. I'll be more careful from now on.

Ivy: ... really? You promise?

My quiet voice interrupted him, and he responded reflexively.

Rina: Yes. I promise.

Then, he smiled at me.

Ivy: ... Yeah. I get it. I believe you.

Finally, my body was released.

(Thank goodness. My heart wouldn't have been able to take it if he held me like that the whole time ...)

Whether or not he knew of my condition, Ivy-san smiled as usual.

Ivy: Still, I'm a little worried.

Ivy: Ah, I know. Can we exchange contact information?

Rina: Eh-

Ivy: It's more convenient that way, isn't it? From now on, you can call me me anytime you need anything.

Ivy: I don't care how trivial it is.

Rina: I'm really sorry. Ivy-san is busy with work.

Ivy: I'd like you to do that for me. It would cheer me up when I'm busy if I could get a message from you.

Rina: I-is that so?

(If you can say that much ...)

We take out our phones and register each other's contact information.

Ivy: That's better ...

Ivy: Well. We've been standing around talking for a long time. Shall we go home?

Rina: Yes.

We lined up and started walking down the path to the apartment again.

It was as if the scary serious expression on his face had been a lie, and Ivy-san was in a good mood.

(I was surprised by him hugging me suddenly. It was a little different than usual.)

(Does that mean he cares about me that much? If so, I'm glad ...)

I'm puzzled by the pushy Ivy-san, but I'm still happy.

I felt as if my phone, with which I had established a solid connection with him, was a precious treasure.

(From now on, I can exchange messages with Ivy-san ...)

... I didn't realize at the time that there was someone staring at me from behind as my heart pounded in my chest.

Yamauchi Kota: ...

Yamauchi Kota: Kawanaga-san, who is that ... that man ...!?

... Little did I know that this would later become a major event.

⤷ next chapter

#morganatic idol #morudoru #morudoru ivy #resa translates something for once?

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bluebellthesponge · 1 year ago

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apropos of nothing my brain just remembered you talking about NSYNC being your parents' ages and suddenly putting together that you are actually a few years younger than Joey's oldest kid. This isn't that special, but I still remember when her existence was confirmed after months of being an Internet rumor and the fact that she's basically grown fucks me up.

lol obvs i'm sure in couple of years it will be a mindfuck for me as well to see kids born in the 2020s like artists from today in 2040 and refer to them in such a way as a distant memory...i am already flabbergasted seeing kids born in 2013 being 10 years old and not babies...also tiktokkers already making aesthetics and romanticizing things from 2014 is also sort of weird to see, but i am sure as time goes on i will probably start seeing more posts about past years that i fully more lived in/remember talked about in a way like it is something "distant" and that will be interesting to experience

for me i can look back at old nsync performances and see them basically around my age/only a couple years older do these performances it's still a different experience than watching people actually around my age today be performers you know? i know nsync aren't around my age anymore, i know what i am watching was filmed at a time i did not exist in, they're now all dads...(besides jc technically speaking which good for him), but like dad age basically. like i can so see joey be a friend of my mom's, my mom loves joey, but not in a cougar way, because i know joey back then was also popular with the moms but now being the 2020s, it's not like my mom is thinking this 20 something year old guy is cute, because i mean joey is from my mom's generation so she just likes a guy around her age lmao

it's interesting to hear how joey's first kid was just an internet rumor back then, while it is not impossible today to basically be hush hush about your pregnancy/kid today, it is definitely more interesting/rare to see somebody of influence not be quick to post a pregnancy announcement/birth post right away or never even post at all about their kids these days. i just feel like back then almost every celebrity was so detached from being so interactive??? with their audience, there wasn't individual users of them online, just some guys you would listen through a radio or see on tv lol. that's how i prefer it tbh. i actively do not follow any celebrities on social media. i prefer being detached to them on a personal level and only really enjoying their art and some lore that surrounds them. i just like them beep booping around on screen singing a song, not whatever they have to post on tiktok these days

maybe reversed to you it's a weird experience whenever i come across these old forgotten fansites that haven't been updated since 2001 still exist or come across fics that were written at a time i wasn't even conceived of is just so fascinating to me...fandom has really always been happening before i existed and will continue even after i die lol. obvs i wasn't there for nsync in its heyday in the early '00s, it's still a very interesting subject...once again i hope to one day make some video essays about nsync topics since there is a lot of things that could be talked about the band, the period, and the fandom itself and i just don't see much talk about it haha

one of my older sisters was born around the 2002 winter olympics, and nsync performed a concert for it and i am so mad she didn't drive her 10 day old ass to catch nsync all the way to utah!!! fakeeee (joking)

also i just listened to songbird and thank you! honestly chris get on it...NOW... now i am mad because it reminds me how much potential nsync could have had on covering songs, but they are cowards and don't really do that >:((( i watched nsync's rio show last night and when they did that very interesting medley cover of bee gees song,,,it just reminds me how much potential nsync just generally could have had with showcasing all their abilities back then but at last,,,hopefully with this reunion(???) we get more fun stuff out of them, but if not it's fine ig lol they don't owe a random 18 year old on the internet anything

#asks #rae-conteur

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pippin-katz · 9 months ago

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I would argue that the flaw is not Red, White & Royal Blue being classified as a romcom, but rather how the industry views romcoms as a whole. By definition, a romcom is a romantic-comedy. There is nothing about those words that means that a romcom can't address "real" things. There are hundreds of movies that are comedies, but also have moments of deeper, more serious issues. Allow me to ramble a bit about one of the greatest movies of all time and a perfect example for this scenario.

The Birdcage (1996): a comedy about the son of a gay couple, Val, marrying the daughter of a right-wing conservative senator, Barbara.

One of Val's fathers owns a drag club that they live above, while the other is the star of the drag show. In order to get married without them interfering, Barbara told her conservative parents that Val's father is a cultural attaché, or a diplomatic ambassador of the arts, to Greece, and that his "mother" is a housewife. This happens to be a massive problem when a political scandal breaks out that leads Barbara's parents to go visit and meet Val's parents.

The set-up to this fateful dinner while you watch both sides struggle with absurd problems that keep making things worse is fantastic and pays off with one of the best executed and hilarious sequences in film history. The whole film manages to keep building the tension and making you nervous, while also making you laugh your ass off.

That being said, there is also a very real discussion about being true to yourself, not changing who you are to appease someone else, accepting those you love despite their flaws, and being proud to have them in your life even if others disapprove. And one of the best parts about it? It aged beautifully.

I cannot count the number of times that I've watched an older film that tried to put LGBTQ+ characters into it, and left me so bitter and disappointed by how poorly it was done. This film, despite being very, very bold about its jokes, characters, and topics, holds up to today's standards of portraying LGBTQ+ characters and stories on the screen. This film was made before gay marriage was legalized in the United States, and yet it portrays a middle-aged gay couple with more respect and accuracy that some films/shows made today.

All of that being said, the movie is still labeled a comedy, and it is. But some people would feel their messages are less important, or take them less seriously because of it. It shouldn't matter.

Genre is meant to determine the overall themes/aesthetics/tones of the film, not act as a rigid sorting system of what can and can't be done. It is not meant to determine the film's quality, but people use it that way. It's why you don't see genre movies getting nominated for awards, or always lose if they do.

When people see a trailer for a romcom, their most likely reaction is an eyeroll and a comment of how bad it will be, based on nothing but a trailer, which is not a reliable source to base their judgement off of. That has been proven time and time again, but people still do it, instinctively, habitually.

There is no rule that states a romcom must be bad. I also wish people would stop associating "cheesy" with "bad", but that's entirely other essay. This already got away from me in length.

The takeaway from all this is that the idea that romcoms are inherently bad films purely because of their genre needs to stop. They can be written, directed, and performed just as well as a drama; it's an unfortunate reality that the majority of them aren't, but that can change. All of Hollywood's standards and elitist bullshit can change, but we actually have to try.

Okay, I'm done now, sorry! If you haven't watched The Birdcage (1996) I cannot recommend it enough. Everyone should watch that movie at least once. It would do people a lot of good.

I dunno RWRB did get some positive reviews so this whole idea that it’s inferior is so upsetting.

Unfortunately, positive reviews don't really apply when discussing the level of respect a film/show receives in the Hollywood industry. Again, this would require an essay to fully explain, so I'll try to give a brief summary.

The biggest determining factor is genre. Genre fiction writing and genre cinema productions have historically been considered lesser versions of the artform. "Genre" in this context does not just mean the style or theme of the content. It stands as a divider between literary fiction, or drama/serious film, and the other genres, like horror, fantasy, sci-fi, romcom, comedy, superheroes, etc.

There's an idea that dramatic acting is more impressive/difficult, and therefore more respected than the others.

An example of this bias can be seen in Robin Williams' career. He was an incredible comedic actor, but when he was announced to be in his first drama film, people genuinely doubted him. They were unable to comprehend the idea that a comedic actor like him could also perform to the "higher caliber" of drama acting. That's a mindset that's still in effect today, even if you're unaware or don't realize it.

I hope that helped with perspective a little and didn't make everything more confusing. Like I said, I would have to write a beast of an essay to fully explain all of this in detail.

#cinema #movies #romcom #romantic comedy #the birdcage #rwrb #rwrb movie #rwrb thoughts #red white and royal blue

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lokigodofaces · 2 years ago

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(I haven't seen L&T so maybe that completely discounts everything I have to say)

Now that I think of it, we learn very little about what the Asgardian people think of the royal family. We aren't introduced to that many Asgardians. You've got the royal family, Sif, Warriors Three, Heimdall, Skurge, and Elliot Randolph making appearances as named characters with plot importance, and that's it.

This is purely headcanon, but I'm guessing Randolph is the only one that isn't a noble/very wealthy. Asgard is a warrior society, so being a warrior is not enough to be friends of the princes and to go to the palace frequently and commit treason multiple times to only get a slap on the wrist. And with the importance of the bifrost, they didn't just choose anybody to guard it. Throughout history, nobles have become notable warriors because that was expected of them. For this, I imagine that Sif, the Warriors Three, and Heimdall are all nobles. As for Skurge, he isn't on the same level as those four. Skurge met Thor in battle and was able to guard the bifrost, but Thor didn't remember him. Makes me think Skurge is some lesser noble or just from a wealthy family. Because some random guy probably isn't going to meet the crown prince just because they're in a battle together. This headcanon can also be used with in relation to the insecurity and recognition issues Skurge definitely had. And Randolph straight up told us about his life on Asgard, no need for headcanons. He was a stonemason who came to Earth as part of the Berserker army because he wasn't happy with where he was (wait wait wait did he come to fight the Jotuns in the beginning of Thor 1? Oh heck I probably should have seen this earlier. I know Asgardian aging isn't something we know a ton about but he looks like he could be the age) and in the end fell in love with Earth and stayed.

I wonder how everyone else thought about the royals? We have very little references to go off of. Well, Randolph wasn't happy in Asgard, and we don't know why. A headcanon could be made that he didn't like the royal family (he certainly wasn't massively loyal to the royals if he was ready to live on Earth after one battle). In a deleted scene a servant laughs at Loki (which is crazy because he's a PRINCE. I'm not a fan of the British royal family, don't get me wrong, but if I were in the presence of one of the princes I wouldn't be pulling crap because there are rules and enforcement). There's the crowd at Thor's coronation (which begs the question of who is allowed to attend). Then there's the emotional crowd watching Loki's death in the play. And there's the crowds reactions to Thor and Loki at the beginning and end of Ragnarok (though to fair that end one doesn't count, if zombies were about to kill me and King Charles showed up and electrocuted them all, I'd put aside my feelings for him for a moment until I'm not about to die. Except they lost their entire continent and were saved by like four royals/nobles and a rock guy, so maybe I would either prolong my eventual disliking a bit longer out of shock or impulsively punch someone).

Really, at least to me, we really don't know enough. All we know is that the people like Loki because of the reactions to the community theater's play (community theater, probably anyone could show up. There probably were lots of performances because this is about a PRINCE who recently DIED for the Nine Realms). Everything else, you can come up with headcanons either way. Servant laughs at Loki? Well, so does all the nobles and royals, the servants got used to it, or maybe Loki is more merciful so you can get away with more and the servant misjudged this instance, or people in general saw Loki as the butt end of a joke. Cheers at Thor's coronation? Well, maybe they only invite the nobles and upper class most benefitted by the royals. Silence when Thor arrives in Ragnarok? Could be shock that he returned, could be holding back disappointment because they don't like him. When Thor is king in Ragnarok? Well, their planet fell apart (literally), they could be in shock, they could be relieved there is a leader at all, they could be happy there isn't a violent war between nobles over who will lead them again, they could be happy that not only did their crown prince survive, they got Loki back from the dead so their government is in better condition than it could've been, who knows?

But with the stuff we do have, for all we know Loki is like Princess Diana or something since he is the only one we know for certain people liked. Which is crazy because imagine if in a few years it's revealed that this entire time Diana had been posing as Charles.

#i wrote several paragraphs just to get to the last one about loki & diana #loki laufeyson #thor odinson #odin #frigga #heimdall #sif #warriors three #elliot randolph #skurge #thor (2011)#thor: the dark world (2013)#thor: ragnarok (2017)#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. (2013 2020)

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helloalycia · 4 years ago

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The Wrong Lifetime – Three // Wanda Maximoff

chapter two | story masterlist | main masterlist | wattpad | chapter four

author’s note: i have nothing to say except enjoy!

Chewing on my bottom lip, I looked over the shelves at the different kinds of stationary the shop had to offer. I needed a new notebook and some ink since I'd ran low at home, so I decided to come into town to have a look.

A brown leather-bound notebook caught my eye and I picked it up, flicking through the pages. Sadly, they were too thin for my liking, so I replaced it and kept looking.

Moments like this were one of the few luxuries I had to myself, where my mother wasn't nattering in my ear about finding a husband and learning to do something useful other than writing, or where my brother wasn't overshadowing me in everything he did, making me feel even worse about myself. No, moments like this, I could just be.

"Y/N? Is that you?"

And there goes my moment.

Plastering a smile on my lips, I spun around and was surprised to see Wanda approaching me with an equally surprised expression on her face. She really was everywhere, wasn't she?

"Wanda, hello," I greeted as she stopped by my side. "It's good to see you."

She looked good, considering I hadn't seen her for a few days. Maybe once when she'd popped in to say hello to everybody before her date with my brother, but that was hardly a meeting. Now, she looked cheery, eyes sparkling with their usual excitement.

"You, too," she said softly, a smile creeping on her lips. Her eyes fell to my hands, where I was holding some ink. "Don't you have servants to do that for you?"

"Don't you have servants to do that for you?" I countered lightheartedly, eyes flickering to the vast amount of paintbrushes and paint in her arms.

She narrowed her eyes in a playful manner. "Touché."

Rolling my eyes in good nature, I asked, "So, what made you decide to go shopping?"

"I needed some new supplies," she quipped with an adorable smile, lifting her arms which were filled with said supplies.

"And you didn't think a basket would help?" I joked, before turning to grab a stray basket beside the shelves and helping her to put everything in it.

She chuckled, accepting my help, and answered, "Truthfully, I only came for the paint, but then I saw some new brushes I wanted to try, and then there were some new colours in stock and, well, before I knew it–"

"This happened," I finished for her with amusement, handing her the filled basket.

She took the basket from my hands and nodded. "Exactly. I would have sent my servant to get the paint, but last time I did, she came back with the wrong one."

"Oh, the scandal," I teased.

Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and it was refreshing to see the shoe on the other foot. I guess I could see the fun in it now – no wonder she teased me often. Plus, she looked cute when she was caught off guard.

"What about you?" she countered, attempting to take the attention off her.

Content smile on my lips, I watched her. "What about me?"

She gave me an isn't it obvious? look. "I told you why I was here. What about you?"

I shrugged, looking back to the shelves. "I just needed some things... and I may or may not get excited when buying stationary."

Her melodious laughter filled the air. "Of course."

"I just don't know which to get," I told her, motioning to the notebooks. "There's so many options!"

She hummed with amusement, stepping by my side closely and reaching out to get a better look. I was acutely aware of her shoulder pressed to mine and tried to stop thinking about it, but obviously, once I told myself to stop thinking about it, it was all I could think about.

"How about this one?" she suggested, picking up a notebook wrapped in a burgundy-coloured sleeve. She was probably biased since it was her favourite colour.

I took it from her grasp as she held it towards me, feeling tingles at the tips of my fingers when they grazed her hand. God, I needed to get a grip.

Before I could look at the notebook properly, I noticed a smudge on her hand, subconsciously grabbing it before she pulled away. Flipping it over so I could see her palm, I saw several smudges of colour and stared with confusion.

"Paint," she explained, mildly embarrassed as she pulled away. "The stuff goes everywhere."

I hid a smile, finding it cute, before looking to the notebook again.

"I like it, but now to see the pages," I said, flipping through them to see if they were thick enough. I hated getting a notebook with flimsy pages that ink seeped through.

"Are they to your liking, your majesty?" she teased, and I looked up to see her tilting her head and watching me through her eyelashes.

"Yes, they are actually," I retorted with a childish glare, before closing it. "Thanks."

She half-suppressed a laugh. "Good. Let's hope it gives you some... vdokhnoveniye."

She paused, scrunching her nose in thought, probably searching for the right word in English. I was too distracted by how enchanting she looked when she did that to care about her struggle to find the word.

"Vdokhnoveniye is like inspiration," she explained, eyes looking back to me after staring up in thought, "but it's something better. It's from the word vdykhat', meaning to breathe."

"So, you want me to get a good breath from this?" I asked, quirking a brow with bemusement.

"No! No." She laughed, running a hand through her curls. "It's like... when you get inspired by something so quickly, as quickly as it takes to take in a breath. Never mind, it's stupid."

"It's not," I reassured her with an appreciative look. "I get it. Thanks. I like that. Russian is definitely a fascinating language."

She seemed glad that I made sense of her ramblings and I smiled, realising there was much more to Wanda than her ability to make me a stumbling mess.

"Have you got everything?" I asked her, glancing to her basket, before quickly adding, "What am I saying? Of course you've got everything. Practically half the store is in there."

She shoved me gently. "Not nice. But yes, I have everything."

I refrained from chuckling at her dismay before leading the way to the till so we could pay. As we took turns, the cashier made conversation with both of us. I knew of him because I'd been here enough times to make a friend, but I was surprised to see Wanda was the same. I was certain I'd never seen her here before. And I'd been here a lot.

When we finished paying, we began to head outside and I decided to speak my thoughts.

"You know, it's strange to think that we've both been coming here for a while and yet we've never crossed paths," I noted. "I mean, unless we have and just didn't know who each other were then."

She shook her head casually. "Oh, no, we haven't crossed paths. I'd definitely remember a pretty face like yours."

I paused, bewildered at her words as they took time to sink in. She seemed to notice as she laughed, holding the door to the shop open for me. I walked outside and she followed after me, eyes glancing at me satisfactorily.

"So, er, what are you doing now?" I changed the subject, recovering from my momentary shock.

She settled with a smile as she answered, "I'm in the middle of adding some finishing touches to a painting I'm working on. I'll probably head back to finish it."

"Ah, the paintings that you talk about but I've never seen," I joked, relaxing under her stare. "I'm starting to believe you're lying to me, love."

She rolled her eyes, though her smile widened, revealing a dimple by the corner of her mouth. "I'm not... You can come with me if you'd like. I don't mind showing you." When her eyes met mine, she quickly added, "If you're not busy, that is."

Humour disappearing, I nodded with surprise. "Sure. I'd love to."

And that wasn't a lie. I was curious to see the Sokovian's work since she seemed to enjoy talking about art so much. Plus, I could appreciate some good art when I needed to and I wondered if hers would fit the bill.

Or at least that's what I told myself when she flashed her dazzling smile my way, making my heart explode with adoration.

—

Just like me, Wanda didn't have a dedicated place to work from because her parents didn't deem her passion an appropriate hobby for a young woman in today's day and age. So, just like I did, she worked in her room and made the most of the space she had.

As soon as we took a step inside, I was amazed by how much stuff there was. Of course there was the expected – a bed, an ottoman, a wardrobe and a desk – but it was as if that was all secondary furniture to the main focus.

Closest to the giant window on the opposite end of the room were several canvases being supported by easels, some painted and some blank. Papers with sketches of literally anything you can think of were taped to the walls, some scattered along the floor and some scrunched up entirely, missing the bin.

Her desk was filled with jars of paintbrushes, oils, pencils, chalk and any other art supply I'd probably never heard nor seen of before. The place was messy, but not dirty. Her bed was made, the sheets as crisp as could be, her books were lined up neatly, her paintbrushes all had a perfect spot. It was clean, but it was a giant mess, and it was the most beautiful mess I'd ever seen. I refused to believe art was merely a hobby for her when it seemed like her room was dedicated to it.

"This is your room?" I asked with disbelief, eyebrows raised.

Clearly mistaking my amazement for critique, she dumped her newly purchased art supplies on her bed before rushing to pick up some loose papers and canvases from the floor.

"Yes," she squeaked, attempting to kick some papers under her bed as she straightened up sheepishly. "Sorry for the mess. Believe it or not, it does follow a system."

I laughed wholeheartedly, heading further into the space to where her makeshift studio was. "Wanda, you don't need to apologise. This place is amazing."

She snickered, glancing around at everything. "You think? I'd love something more – a real studio – but of course, women aren't supposed to have hobbies apart from pleasing their husband and hosting dinners every other week."

The last part she said with a hint of bitterness, clearly repeating what she'd been told before, no doubt by her parents. I was surprised by her vulgarity, but I wasn't in disagreement. She was absolutely right and it was such a shame because women were so much more than their husband. Too bad society would never see that.

"My father only allows me this... sanctuary," she finished with a sigh, before her hand rested on her desk. "It's not much, but at least it's mine."

"Well, I love it," I told her honestly, making her smile as she looked my way. "Can I look around?"

She waved her hand. "Of course. Nothing's off limits, but do be generous. My ego is easily bruised."

I chuckled at her joke and she flashed me another smile before grabbing her neglected art supplies. As I helped myself to looking around at her work, I heard her rustling around behind me and glanced her way, seeing her making herself comfortable on a stool before a particular canvas. I presumed it was the piece she was working on that she mentioned earlier and got back to my browsing.

She was extremely talented, not that I had any doubts to be honest. There were her bigger pieces, the extremely detailed ones, that she'd painted of grassy landscapes. Some were green full trees with falling leaves, some were cherry blossom trees with pink blossoms floating in the air, some were buildings overgrown with mother nature. I recognised none of them, but they transported me elsewhere like a nostalgic reminder of being a kid and playing in the garden with my mum. Even now, I helped her do the gardenening, but I'd never really appreciated my surroundings until I saw Wanda's work.

And those were just the huge pieces. She'd done sketches that were taped to the wall, to her desk, floating out of sketchbooks. Some were plans for bigger pieces, others were daily observations, all of her surroundings. She didn't draw people, I noticed, it was mainly scenery. But it was all stunning and it brought a smile to my lips as I imagined her producing all of this in her own little sanctuary, as she called it.

"You've been quiet for too long," she called out jokingly, after a while of me perusing her sketchbooks.

I looked up from my seat at her desk, seeing her focused on her painting, but an amused smile ghosted her lips. The sunlight from the window was hitting her perfectly at the moment, and even from where I was sat, I could see the flecks of gold shimmering in her eyes, matching the auburn streaks in her hair. The breath got knocked out of me momentarily, and I almost forgot that she'd said something.

Clearing my throat, I returned her smile. "I'm admiring your work, Wanda. You're bloody talented."

She lowered her paintbrush and gave me an incredulous look. "Tell me what you really think, Y/N."

I grinned, laughing slightly. "I am! I genuinely think this is amazing."

She pressed her lips together, still reluctant to believe me, but she nodded gratefully and returned her attention to her painting. I didn't fail to notice the pink spreading across her cheeks at the compliment, and my heart fluttered at the sight.

"Would you ever sell any of these?" I asked her, standing up and approaching her side to see what she was working on.

I noticed the addition of stray paint that had made its way to her hands and forearms and it made me smile. I don't even think she realised it was there.

She scrunched her nose up at the idea. "I've given some away to family friends because my parents made me. But no, I don't think I'd sell them." Something seemed to make her snort with amusement, then she said, "Nobody would buy them anyway."

I frowned as she sighed, her shoulders sagging at the thought. It was horrible to admit, but she was right. Female authors – questionable, but sure, they existed. Female painters? Let's just say that it was easier to be successful if you worked under a pseudonym and pretended to be a man. Which she clearly wouldn't do, or at least her parents wouldn't allow her to do. Sadly, Wanda Maximoff was in the wrong lifetime.

Hoping to cheer her up, I stood by her side and admired the strokes she made with her paintbrush. "If it's any consolation, if we were in another lifetime where I actually made money, I'd buy them."

She glanced at me, partially disbelieving my words, partially intrigued. "Seriously?"

I nodded with certainty, eyes flickering between hers and her painting. "Seriously. All of them. I'd buy every single one."

She looked away, swallowing hard, then a soft, barely noticeable smile appeared on her lips, and I was glad I'd said the right thing.

Focusing my attention on the painting again, I saw it was a stunning view of a stream, and the way she'd painted it made it seem like it was flowing off the canvas. Her last minute touches, adding white flecks of oil paint on the water, managed to bring the piece to life without any effort. I was amazed at how someone could make nothing turn into something so easily.

"Where is this?" I asked curiously, not recognising the scene, and also wondering where she'd gone for the inspiration since we lived in a busy town that didn't have water sources nearby.

She pointed to her head with the end of her paintbrush. "Up here."

"You made this up?" I asked, surprised for the millionth time since arriving.

"Uh-huh." She tilted her head to study the piece, whilst saying, "I usually paint what's in the garden. Sometimes what I see in town is good, too. But I really wanted to paint water, and apart from the constant rain we get, there is none. So, I made it up."

I was impressed at her ability to make up something like this, but also slightly confused. "Why don't you just visit Blackpool? There's a beach – water, sand, pier, everything. And it's not too far from here. You could make it a day trip."

She shrugged, distracting herself with dipping her brush on her palette. "I don't want to go by myself."

I probably should have recommended she visit with my brother. You know, the man she was engaged to? But my eagerness got the better of me, and I ended up saying, "Maybe we could go together. If you want."

She looked up, a slow smile forming on her lips. "I'd like that."

I mirrored her expression, nodding slightly. "Great. I'm sure we can arrange something. Promise."

She held my gaze for a second longer, saying, "I'll hold you to that, milaya," before looking back to her painting.

"What does that mean?" I asked suddenly, my mind clearly not controlling my words today. "You keep calling me it."

She chuckled, leaning forward to get a closer look at her work with her paintbrush. "Darling."

"Pardon?"

She shook her head, glancing at me with amusement. "No, Y/N. It means darling."

I swallowed awkwardly, certain my cheeks were as red as they felt warm. I wasn't sure what was more embarrassing – that I'd responded to her calling me darling when she hadn't, or that she'd been calling it me this whole time without me knowing. "Oh."

"Pull up a stool," she changed the subject, though my mind was still racing at her revelation. Had she called Y/B/N that? I couldn't recall. "I'll show you how to paint a little if you want."

Dazed, I did as she said whilst chewing on my lip with thought. She watched me, grinning from ear to ear, but said nothing. Was it normal for my heart to flip-flop in my chest like it was? I couldn't tell anymore. And when she grabbed my hand without saying anything, my hand felt like it was on fire with her touch.

The tip of her paintbrush swiped against my inner palm, her soft fingertips holding it up. Every area that her finger touched was burning, sending tingles up my arm and leaving me paralysed. Good thing I was sat down.

"There," she said like it was obvious. "Now you're an artist."

Blue eyes met mine excitedly and I gave her a small smile in return, hoping that these strange thoughts and reactions would disappear soon enough. Because this was definitely not appropriate.

—

My dreams were never anything worthwhile.

For someone who had a creative mind and could string sentences together to create a story I was proud of, my subconscious was the opposite. It was dry and boring and I rarely remembered my dreams unless they were scary enough to wake me up. But this time, this was a dream I was certain I'd never forget...

As with all dreams, I was unable to control what was happening. I was myself, observing from a first person point of view like it was real, but I had no control over my words or actions. Everything was predetermined, like a script I was forced to follow.

So, in this particular dream, I was sat in the back of a carriage, wearing a dress that was fancier than my usual taste. One hand was clutching my purse and the other was in someone else's hand, the person playing with my fingers soothingly.

"We're stopping now. Are you ready?"

It was Wanda. I had no idea why she was in my dream, or why she was leaning into my side comfortably, or why she was playing with my fingers like she did it all the time. I just knew that it shouldn't have been happening.

"Yeah, c'mon," I said with a smile, following my dream's script.

I intertwined our fingers and raised them to my lips, pressing a kiss to her palm. She smiled with adoration and allowed me to lead her out the carriage quickly. We were at the theatre and the first thing I thought was that my mind was creating a date similar to the one she shared with my brother. Oh, God, this wasn't good.

"Promise you've got the tickets?" she asked as we walked inside, hand in hand.

In my dream, nobody around us seemed to care that we were together, that we were two women showing affection and simply existing in a way more than friends. As wrong as I knew it was to dream of my soon-to-be sister-in-law like this, my mind was at peace, knowing I could be myself in my dream state. I didn't have to hide my identity and it was liberating.

"No, I decided to leave them at home," I answered her sarcastically, smiling.

She squeezed my hand and tugged me close, stopping me from walking any further. Her face scrunched together with a feigned annoyance.

"You don't need to be mean," she mumbled, eyes peering into mine, and my heart raced at the contact of her body pressed to mine.

Grinning, I pressed a kiss to her nose. "I've got them right here, love. Now let's go before we're late."

The dream didn't have a clear transformation. I just knew that one second I was staring at Wanda and the next I was sat beside her in the theatre, waiting for the lights to go down.

"Here," I said, passing her the programme for the show that was in my hand.

When I looked down at it, I was surprised to see a wedding ring on my left hand. Huh.

The lights dimmed when Wanda looked my way, green eyes bright in the dark. She shrugged, grabbing the programme and tossing it over her shoulder to the (thankfully) empty seat next to her.

"Looks like I missed my chance," she said, referring to the lack of light.

I opened my mouth to counter her words, but she didn't give me chance to as she pressed her lips to mine, hand raising to hold the back of my neck and pull me closer. Real me was freaking out, wondering why the hell I was allowing myself to have such thoughts about the girl who was going to marry my brother. And dream me was melting into her touch, shivering at her warmth and the way she began to suck my bottom lip.

"Wanda," I breathed out, pulling away breathlessly, but she continued to hold me close with a stifled grin.

"Isn't that why we got these tickets?" she said jokingly, eyes meeting mine.

My heart raced as she did, the simplest of glances making me weak in the knees. I was beginning to learn that her eyes were irresistibly beautiful.

"Right," I found my words, smiling in agreement as my eyes flickered to her lips.

They were painted red tonight, slightly smudged from the abrupt kiss she gave me, and I could only imagine the state of my own lips.

"We can watch the play now," she whispered, and I just about managed to tear my gaze from her lips to see the entertained look in her eyes.

I hummed in response, not trusting myself to say something comprehensible. Her lips curved into a smile and she linked our arms before settling into her seat, head leaning on my shoulder. I leaned mine on top, kissing the top of her head gently before also getting comfortable.

When I woke up, I didn't remember the rest of the dream, or know if there was a rest of the dream. I opened my eyes and found myself laying in my bed alone, tired and in the dark. It was still nighttime and my mind was foggy with fatigue. It took a moment for me to remember what I'd just dreamed. And then it hit me.

I liked my brother's fiancé.

#wanda maximoff au #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x you #wanda maximoff imagine #scarlet witch imagine #scarlet witch #elizabeth olsen x reader #elizabeth olsen imagine #elizabeth olsen #marvel #marvel imagine #mcu

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