#and will graham is just not polite half of the time
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daisies-on-a-cup · 2 years ago
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theres something rlly funny about ppls approximation of what southern dialects are like- esp when its like the stereotypical southern politeness imposed on a very sarcastic character
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incorrect-koh-posts · 6 months ago
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Your knowledge of medieval stuff is really impressive! You said in the tags of that ask you answered that you majored in literature? I would love to hear more about your passion for medieval literature and just medieval times in general. Did it start with Kingdom of Heaven or were you interested in it long before watching the film?
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Ahh, I'm glad you think so, thank you! ☺️
I did my BA with a major in German literature and linguistics and a minor in English lit. For my MA (which I'm almost finished with save for my thesis defence), I switched to English full-time. My interest in medieval literature is really something that came with my studies - I've always had a general interest in history and read lots of historical fiction while in school, but I'd had basically no exposure to medieval texts (or the knowledge to engage somewhat meaningfully with them) until I had to take my first compulsory "Introduction to Medieval Literature" class at uni. From then on, I just kind of fell in love with the subject. We had a great prof - a really cool older lady who gave the most engaging lectures and with whom I later took seminars on topics like the medieval idea of monsters or animal depictions in chivalric romance.
Within all things medieval, the area that perhaps fascinates me the most is medievalism studies, which is a sort of sub-discipline of medieval studies that investigates, broadly speaking, the reception and depiction of the Middle Ages as well as medieval texts and topics in post-medieval media. Idk why it had to be that field in particular, but there's just something so beautiful in finding parallels and continuities between our world and the medieval one, especially since misconceptions about the Middle Ages are still so prevalent. Unsurprisingly, I wrote both of my dissertations on such medieval/modern overlaps: In my BA thesis I looked into the portrayal and function of mentor-mentee relationships in medieval literature and modern adolescent fiction (lots of commonalities there, interestingly enough!), whereas in my MA diss I focused on the construction of dystopian scenarios in recent British Arthurian fiction and how these respond not only to the older Arthurian material but also to present-day environmental and political anxieties. (Sounds a bit complicated but it makes sense, I promise.)
Perhaps this is why KoH has had such a chokehold on me these past 4 years. It's such a flawed piece of media that it makes me want to dig my teeth into it, in an academic as well as a fic-writing sense. There are so many moments in it that could be right out of a chivalric romance, yet also so many others where the film blows its pretence to historicity to all hell; there are so many interesting characters who only scratch at the surface of the historical figures behind them, and simply so much wasted potential. It's just ... ahhh.
The funny thing is that my growing interest in medieval literature kind of coincided with me discovering KoH, which in turn made me dig even deeper into the research side of things (a vicious circle lol). I think I wrote another post on this about a year ago, but me discovering - or rather re-discovering - Kingdom of Heaven was basically the result of the following chain reaction: I somehow stumbled upon an old novel covering the same events as KoH (Graham Shelby's The Knights of Dark Renown) > something in that book's depiction of Raymond of Tripoli scratched my brain in the right place > I investigated further and found KoH > I saw that skrunkly Mr Irons was part of the cast and decided I had to watch it immediately. In such matters I'm a simple girl - nothing will incite me to watch a film more than an old history man being hot 😂
And then half-way through the film I remembered I'd actually seen it before - with my former best friend during the early years of secondary school when she was obsessed (and by that I mean obsessed) with Orlando Bloom and made me watch literally every film with him that she could get her hands on. Which was a good thing only insofar as it made me discover Lord of the Rings. Though in hindsight it's very funny because she clearly intended for me to join her in her Orlando insanity, whereas confused 11-year-old me instead stared at Aragorn and Tiberias like this: 😳. Yes, I've always had impeccable taste, obviously.
And thus, in the spring of the year of our Lord 2020, I entered my KoH era, and so far the brainrot is still thriving.
I do wonder, though, how many people in the fandom have a similar background? The handful of people that I know or have interacted with seem to skew that way, with mostly history- or literature-related fields of study, but I wonder how representative they are of the overall fandom 🤔
In any case, thank you for the fun ask that did not flatter me at all!
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The Party (Spacedogs) - Shortfic
Explicit // M/M // Adam Raki (Adam)/Nigel (Charlie Countryman) // Tags: Christmas Party, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Alternate Universe, Meet-Cute, Getting to Know Each Other, party hook-up, Closet Sex, Dry Humping, Dirty Talk, Coming In Pants, Family Drama, Anal Fingering, Masturbation, Anal Sex, Riding, happy ending. Prompt Fill. Nigel and Adam meet at Will and Hannibal's Christmas Party... smut ensues...
Inspired by this amazing art by @beatricenius
The Party (4.5k words):
Nigel usually made plans specifically to get out of these pretentious fucking parties, but this year he’d dropped the ball and had no excuses when it came to the Lecter-Graham annual Christmas costume party. 
On the one hand, he supposed, Hannibal was probably happy he hadn’t attended since the tradition’s inception - not having to inflict his brother onto polite company. On the other, Hannibal’s in-laws were probably beginning to think that Nigel didn’t actually exist. 
It wasn’t like Nigel had met any of Will’s family, ever. And from the way Will sneered at him half the time they were around each other, he probably preferred that. 
After five years of these parties, perhaps it was time to partake. Though the costume had been a palaver. 
Every year had a theme and this year was masquerade, which Nigel imagined would be comprised of a lot of stuck up wankers dressed in those Venetian masks. Nigel didn’t have time to or desire to get something like that, besides he had an old Halloween costume that would work perfectly with the mask theme.
Nigel zipped up the boiler suit and rummaged for the mask. It wasn’t that he was purposely trying to piss off Hannibal and Will, it was just something that came naturally and he felt the urge to lean into it each time. 
He found the mask and pulled it on, he looked in the mirror and smirked. 
*
“Are you mad at me?” Adam asked, trying to read Will’s expression as they stood in the guest bedroom. Even though Will shook his head, Adam still wasn’t sure. He’d always been close with his cousin and spent most Christmases with him since both their parents had died years ago, But reading people entirely was difficult, and Will knew that. He knew he had to tell Adam what he was thinking or feeling and not expect that he would always know. 
“It’s cute,” Will shrugged and Adam frowned. That at least seemed to prompt his cousin, “It’s fine, honestly. When we said masquerade, we had in mind more… masks…” he made a motion over his eyes as though to indicate wearing a mask.”
“Like Zoro?” Adam asked, frowning. 
Will shrugged and winced, “Just a mask-mask. A mask.”
“Repeating the word makes it no clearer. I do understand the concept of a masquerade but you seem to want something very specific. This <i>is</i> sort of a mask,” Adam held up the helmet and put it on, then he flicked down the sun visor, “this bit is a mask.”
“You’re right, it’s fine.” Will agreed.
“Okay then,” Adam smiled and secured the helmet on. “I didn’t have anything else I could bring.”
“Hannibal and I could have gotten you something, or we could have gone shopping…” Will trailed off as Adam shook his head. He really wasn’t great with shopping, and was pretty particular about clothes.
“I’m comfortable in this,” Adam said.
Will smiled then and nodded, he grabbed Adam’s shoulder and squeezed, though he could barely feel it through the thickness of the spacesuit. 
“That’s all that matters.”
Continue on AO3!
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princess-of-the-corner · 1 year ago
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HEY MY DUDES
Okay so we went down the Rabbithole with the Princess Bee AU and now I have a bunch of Nextgens I slapped together! Some may end up being yoinked over to HC/LL eventually but for now! Let's go down the list!
(Note: obvs I am limited in color pallet by the picrew so some colors are not accurate to the show so like. Take what their parents' colors are and roll with that)
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Name: Dawn Mellifera
Gender and Sexuality: Female, Lesbian
Info: Chloé's daughter! Main character energy. Snarky as hell but genuinely kind.
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Name: Louis Dupain-Cheng
Gender and Sexuality: Male, gay
Info: Oldest of the Adrienette kids. Got a lot of the high-energy and the occasional brain cells from his parents.
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Name: Emma Dupain-Cheng
Gender and Sexuality: Female, Lesbian
Info: Charming and sweet middle child! Absolutely overthinks her romance options.
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Name: Hugo Dupain-Cheng
Gender and Sexuality: Male, Aroace
Info: Baby of the family(by like a year and a half but still)! Somehow 100% done with everyone's romance nonsense. Soft and sweet, but boy has a TEMPER
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Name: Blossom Lahiffe
Gender and Sexuality: Female, bisesxual
Info: The older of the twins! A bit brighter and more cheery! Loves mystery novels and pranking people by switching with her sister
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Name: Carmen Lahiffe
Gender and Sexuality: Demigirl(she/they), Pansexual
Info: The younger of the twins! Slightly more mature, but loves doing voicework. And also pranking people with her twin.
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Name: Asphodel Couffaine
Gender and Sexuality: Male, gay/ace
Info: A bit peppy but morbid as HELL. I love him so much actually.
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Name: Erika Couffaine
Gender and Sexuality: Female, Pansexual
Info: Dresses punk, acts polite enough that everyone assumes it's for aesthetic purposes rather than genuine, absolutely punk rock.
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Name: Lê Chiến Summer
Gender and Sexuality: Genderfluid, Pansexual
Info: Into every sport possible and wrecks house at all of them. A touch competitive and one-track-mind, but a good friend!
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Name: Vivian Bruel
Gender and Sexuality: Female, Lesbian
Info: Takes after her father very much in being large as FUCk, but is sweet softie like her mom!
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Name: Viola Kubdel
Gender and Sexuality: Agender(they/them), Achillean
Info: Quite soft and shy. Likes to spend their time painting, hoping to one day be as great as the ones in the Louvre. They do have quite a sense of humor though, as they joke about the idea that their mom adopted them from another timeline. (no one knows if it's really a joke)
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Name: Abigail Anciel-Kurtzberg
Gender and Sexuality: Female, Straight
Info: Absolute mom friend. Somehow the most stable of these idiots.
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Name: Westley Keynes (Wambli)
Gender and Sexuality: Demiboy(he/they), Bisexual
Info: Probably the only one of the group who /expected/ to become a Superhero, though had yet to begin training as the next Sparrow by the events of Canon.
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Name: Artemis Graham de Vanily
Gender and Sexuality: Male, Pansexual
Info: Just as socially awkward as his parents, which makes people think he's innocent. In reality, he's the most likely to commit vigilante murder.
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book--brackets · 5 months ago
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The Cemeteries of Amalo by Katherine Addison (2021-present)
When the young half-goblin emperor Maia sought to learn who had set the bombs that killed his father and half-brothers, he turned to an obscure resident of his father’s Court, a Prelate of Ulis and a Witness for the Dead. Thara Celehar found the truth, though it did him no good to discover it. He lost his place as a retainer of his cousin the former Empress, and made far too many enemies among the many factions vying for power in the new Court. The favor of the Emperor is a dangerous coin. 
Now Celehar lives in the city of Amalo, far from the Court though not exactly in exile. He has not escaped from politics, but his position gives him the ability to serve the common people of the city, which is his preference. He lives modestly, but his decency and fundamental honestly will not permit him to live quietly. As a Witness for the Dead, he can, sometimes, speak to the recently dead: see the last thing they saw, know the last thought they had, experience the last thing they felt. It is his duty use that ability to resolve disputes, to ascertain the intent of the dead, to find the killers of the murdered. 
Now Celehar’s skills lead him out of the quiet and into a morass of treachery, murder, and injustice. No matter his own background with the imperial house, Celehar will stand with the commoners, and possibly find a light in the darkness. 
The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston (1954-1976)
Tolly's great-grandmother wasn't a witch but both she and her old house, Green Knowe, were full of a very special kind of magic. And Green Knowe turned out not to be the lonely place Tolly had imagined it to be. There were other children living in the house - children who had been happy there centuries before.
The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green (2018-2020)
In a land tinged with magic and a bustling trade in an illicit supernatural substance, destiny will intertwine the fates of five players: 
A visionary princess determined to forge her own path. 
An idealistic solider whose heart is at odds with his duty. 
A streetwise hunter tracking the most dangerous prey. 
A charming thief with a powerful hidden identity. 
A loyal servant on a quest to avenge his kingdom. 
 Their lives intersect with a stolen bottle of demon smoke. As war approaches, they must navigate a tangled web of political intrigue, shifting alliances, and forbidden love in order to uncover the dangerous truth about the strangely powerful smoke that interwines their fates.
Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones (2016)
He was born an outsider, like the rest of his family. Poor yet resilient, he lives in the shadows with his aunt Libby and uncle Darren, folk who stubbornly make their way in a society that does not understand or want them. They are mongrels, mixed blood, neither this nor that. The boy at the center of Mongrels must decide if he belongs on the road with his aunt and uncle, or if he fits with the people on the other side of the tracks.
For ten years, he and his family have lived a life of late-night exits and narrow escapes—always on the move across the South to stay one step ahead of the law. But the time is drawing near when Darren and Libby will finally know if their nephew is like them or not. And the close calls they’ve been running from for so long are catching up fast now. Everything is about to change.
The Door Within by Wayne Thomas Batson (2005-2006)
Aidan Thomas is miserable. And it's much more than the strange nightmares he's been having. Just when life seemed to be coming together for Aidan, his parents suddenly move the family across the country to take care of his wheelchair-bound grandfather. When strange events begin to occur, Aidan is drawn into his grandfather's basement where he discovers three ancient scrolls and an invitation to another world.
No longer confined to the realm of his own imagination, Aidan embarks on an adventure where he joins them in the struggle between good and evil. With the fate of two worlds hanging in the balance, Aidan faces Paragory, the eternal enemy. Will Aidan be willing to risk everything and trust the unseen hand of the one true King? The answer comes from The Door Within.
A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge (2012)
In the underground city of Caverna the world's most skilled craftsmen toil in the darkness to create delicacies beyond compare. They create wines that can remove memories, cheeses that can make you hallucinate and perfumes that convince you to trust the wearer even as they slit your throat. The people of Caverna are more ordinary, but for one thing: their faces are as blank as untouched snow. Expressions must be learned. Only the famous Facesmiths can teach a person to show (or fake) joy, despair or fear — at a price.
Into this dark and distrustful world comes Neverfell, a little girl with no memory of her past and a face so terrifying to those around her that she must wear a mask at all times. For Neverfell's emotions are as obvious on her face as those of the most skilled Facesmiths, though entirely genuine. And that makes her very dangerous indeed...
Squire by Nadia Shammas (2022)
Born a second-class citizen, Aiza has always dreamt of becoming a Knight. It’s the highest military honor in the once-great Bayt-Sajji Empire, and as a member of the Ornu people, her only path to full citizenship.
Now, ravaged by famine, Bayt-Sajji finds itself on the brink of war once again. This means Aiza can finally enlist to the competitive Squire training program.
The camp is nothing like she envisioned. Hiding her Ornu status in order to blend in, Aiza must navigate friendships, rivalries, and rigorous training under the merciless General Hende. As the pressure mounts, Aiza realizes that the “greater good” Bayt-Sajji’s military promises might not include her, and that the recruits might be in more danger than she ever imagined.
Dragon's Bait by Vivian Vande Velde (1992)
Fifteen-year-old Alys is not a witch. But that doesn't matter--the villagers think she is and have staked her out on a hillside as a sacrifice to the local dragon. It's late, it's cold, and it's raining, and Alys can think of only one thing--revenge. But first she's got to escape, and even if she does, how can one girl possibly take on an entire town alone? Then the dragon arrives--a dragon that could quite possibly be the perfect ally. . . .
Tales of Alderly by Alan Garner (1960-2012)
About 150 years ago, my great-great-grandfather, Robert Garner, carved the face of an old man with long hair and beard in the rock of a cliff on a hill where my family has lived for at least 400 years, and still does. He carved the face above a well that is much older. How much older, no one knows, but it's centuries older, or even more. And why did he carve it? He carved it to mark that here is the Wizard's Well.
I am Joseph's grandson, and I grew up on that hill, Alderley Edge in Cheshire, aware of its magic and accepting it. I didn't know that it wasn't the same for everyone. I didn't know that not all children played, by day and by night, the year long, on a wooded hill where heroes slept in the ground. Yet there were strange things. Below another ancient well, the Holy Well, a rock lies in a bog. It fell from the cliff above in 1740 and made the Garners' cottage shake. It landed on an old woman and her cow that, for some reason, were standing in the bog, and, as a result, are still there. When I was seven, the bog was dangerous for somebody of my size and I once got stuck in it and thought I was going to drown, even though I sank only to my hips; but I managed to reach the rock and to climb up it to where a fallen tree was lodged, which spanned the bog, and by sliding along the trunk I was able to reach firm land. Nearby, under the leaf mould, is a layer of white clay that we used as soap to wash ourselves before we went home after playing. But there wasn't anything I could do about my clothes, and Grandad was not pleased.
The Edge is a land of two worlds: above and below. It took me my childhood to learn about above; when I was 19, I went to learn the wonders of below: a world of darkness and silence, so dark that you can see the lights of brain cells discharging; so silent that blood in the veins can be heard.
Stoneheart by Charlie Fletcher (2007-2009)
A city has many lives and layers. London has more than most. Not all the layers are underground, and not all the lives belong to the living. Twelve-year-old George Chapman is about to find this out the hard way. When, in a tiny act of rebellion, George breaks the head from a stone dragon outside the Natural History Museum, he awakes an ancient power. This power has been dormant for centuries but the results are instant and terrifying: A stone Pterodactyl unpeels from the wall and starts chasing George. He runs for his life but it seems that no one can see what he's running from. No one, except Edie, who is also trapped in this strange world. And this is just the beginning as the statues of London awake
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fatalism-and-villainy · 9 months ago
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I think one thing that always bothers me about the Red Dragon arc is - well, it’s a common talking point in the fandom that each half of season 3 represents Hannibal and Will, respectively, living the lives they’d ideally want but without each other. But the thing is, we don’t actually really see much of Will “living without Hannibal.”
Like, in 3A, we get an entire episode of Hannibal’s life without Will, one in which Will doesn’t even show up (and for a season premiere, that’s an even more radical departure from the status quo - we feel Will’s absence as much as Hannibal does) but it feels like there’s this void of negative space where he is. And the contours of that void are so brilliantly and subtly suggested through the flashbacks to Gideon, which contextualizes the preparation of Bedelia (the inadequate substitute for Will Graham) and underlines Hannibal’s need to have others bear witness to his artistry (again, something only reluctantly done by Bedelia, and done in a manner unsatisfactory to him by Anthony Dimmond, the episode’s other unsatisfactory replacement for Will who gets recycled as a macabre valentine for Will). So Gideon saying “if only that someone could be Will Graham” feels like the culmination of what everything that has until now been unspoken has been leading up to.
And in 3B, we don’t really get any kind of analogue to that with Will. In some ways, that makes sense - given Hannibal’s Hannibal-ness, it’s possible to devote an entire episode to his murder and identity theft shenanigans and get some entertaining television out of it. But the life Will is living is a lot more mundane, so it’d be pretty boring to watch forty minutes of him fixing boats and playing with his dogs and eating dinner with his family.
But I do think there should have been something to indicate potential cracks there. We could potentially have had some bits of Will’s life interspersed with the expositional sections of episode 8 that were dedicated to Hannibal being a little shit while in prison, maybe featuring Will being haunted by murder (in the form of the disturbing visions the show is so good at) or missing Hannibal and feeling out of sync with Molly and Walter somehow (as opposed to waiting to get back to Will until literally the equivalent of the first chapter of Red Dragon). Or, they could have been included in flashback form in episode 9 alongside Hannibal’s memories of Abigail (especially in keeping with the themes of family, and Hannibal’s cruel contrast of the family he tried to give Will with the family Will chose for himself).
I get that time constraints were a concern, but ideally, this sort of thing would have helped a lot. Because what we actually get is somehow, simultaneously, Will leaving his family (apparently on a suicide mission) without any kind of mention of them at all, and Will seeming perfectly content with them without much qualification. (And even the book gives us more potential cracks in his marriage - both in it being made clear that Will never expected the marriage to last, and in the “maddening politeness” he endures near the end. The show does give us a little bit of that with the friction between Will and Walter after Dolarhyde’s attack, but Molly still isn’t as angry or distant with Will in the wake of that attack as she should be for me to really buy the dissolution of that family.)
So, all of that is to say that, while 3B has grown on me quite a lot, I think it fails to show us the Hannibal-shaped negative space in Will’s life. And I don’t buy the argument that we should just take it for granted that of course Will couldn’t live without Hannibal. Just as with the Minnesota Shrike, I need to see a negative to fully see the positive.
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labrxnth · 1 year ago
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Prison Break- Part 5 (Leon Kennedy x Reader Series)
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Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
CW: Death Island spoilers, suicidal thoughts/tendencies
WC: 5350 (whoops)
Summary: You and your co-worker Leon Kennedy are sent on a mission to rescue a kidnapped robotic engineer Dr. Antonio Taylor. The journey for him leads the two of you to somewhere you thought you would never go, Alcatraz.
A/n: IM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG. I graduated my students, I fell ill, and I had an ADHD fueled hyperfixation on a specific pale elf made by Larion Studios so here it finally it. I hope the length makes up for the month of silence.
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* : 。゚☆. ───
January 27th, 2015 
You and Leon had been working together for a year and a half. Last year, you two defeated Glen Arias alongside Chris Redfield and Rebecca Chambers. This year, things were relatively quiet. You hated to say it, but it was quiet. 
You were sitting at your desk that was against the wall in now you and Leon’s shared office. A crate of ice coffee was melting, the condensation dripping from the cups onto the top of your desk. Glancing at the clock, you bit your lip. Normally, Leon would be out of a meeting with the President within an hour, but it was now an hour and 15 minutes, something was up. 
And with it being quiet lately, you could only speculate another big mission was popping up. 
The door opened and Leon walked into the office, looking exhausted and drained. Over the past half a year he had really pulled himself together. His eyes looked more present, less glossed over. He had grown his hair out more, stopped dying it, and styled it like he used to when you first joined. He was also very proud that he started lifting again, something he said that he did all the time in his 20s. 
And all that personal care paid off, because even though he was exhausted from his meeting, he still looked gorgeous. You thought he was really attractive when you joined the D.S.O. and even last year when he had lost a bit of weight and had his depressed alcoholic arc. But you didn’t know just how attractive he could be, and it still amazed you. 
“Are you going to tell me… or….” You said and looked at him. 
He took his coffee out of the tray on your desk and pat your head. Your eyes trailed him to his desk. 
“We have another mission coming up,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sat down. He took a sip of his coffee and relaxed in his chair. 
Leon had told you multiple times about his relationship with the past few presidents. Apparently, President Graham scared him shitless when he “asked” Leon to rescue his daughter and he was intimidated by him until his terms ended. President Benford was like a mentor to him and helped found the D.S.O. with Leon; they were pretty close until Leon had to kill him a few years ago. Now, Leon was drained from all the politics of the new guy. 
You smiled to yourself a little bit because you were right about the mission. “You know that’s just watered down coffee, right?” You asked, looking at his iced americano, trying to lighten the mood.
He looked at you from his desk, almost scoffing in reply. “Like I’m gonna take coffee advice from you. You’d guzzle the grounds if you could,” He said, turning his attention back to the folder in his hands. 
You sat there with your mouth open, not knowing how to reply to that. Closing your mouth, you turned back to your laptop, typing away at a case file. 
“We have to go to New York,” Leon said after a few seconds of silence. “We’re going to attend an upcoming biology summit and check in on a few things.” 
“Meaning, there’s a potential virus being sold?” You asked. The past few months after dealing with Arias had been mostly doing work for the government, so bounty hunting and few and far between B.O.W. hunting. 
Leon nodded and your heart jumped with excitement. It was kind of morbid to put it this way, but you loved work like this. This was why you joined the D.S.O.
“We’ll be undercover so be on your best behavior,” Leon said. 
“Yessir,” you said and jokingly saluted. 
“And another thing…. We’ll be undercover as a couple… so try to pretend like you like me,” Leon said and grinned. 
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* : 。゚☆. ───
January 30, 2015
Ingrid’s eyes trailed up and down your figure, looking at the dress and seeing if it complimented your skin tone and hair color. The D.S.O. was providing the wardrobe for the mission, the racks of dresses they had filled you and Leon’s office. 
When the racks were brought in, Ingrid didn’t explain why the D.S.O. had so many when you and Sherry were technically the only female agents. She also kicked Leon out of the office so she could help you try on the dresses and pick out the one. 
You were standing in the middle of the office, a burgundy coloured dress hugging your figure. The bodice had straps that fell off the shoulder, corset ribbing, and enough cleavage to make your mother pass out while still keeping it classy. The bottom hugged your figure on one side and had a long slit on the other, trailing up to your thigh. It felt Greek and Romantic, while also being modern. 
You felt like a million bucks. 
“Wow,” Ingrid said, looking over you again. “With your hair and makeup done, you could probably get it at the summit,” she added and chuckled. 
You looked down at the dress. “Why does the D.S.O. have this?” You asked again, clearly stuck on the question. Sherry Birkin hadn’t been back from traveling for a mission in years, and she was pretty young, so it genuinely made no sense to you. 
“Does it matter?” Ingrid replied. “The D.S.O. keeps them just in case. A lot of times they’re purchased for the mission. Tax write offs and stuff.”
You nodded in reply, letting Ingrid touch up the dress a little bit. 
“This will go nicely with what Leon’s wearing…” she said, mentally taking notes. She walked over to a box and pulled out a pair of heels higher than you had ever worn before. 
“Are you trying to get my ankle snapped in half?” You asked and looked at her in shock. 
“You’ve worn heels before, what’s a few more inches? And they’re designer, when else will you get a chance to wear them?” She asked. 
If you weren’t in awe of the shoes, you would have glared at her. “True…” you trailed off and tried the heels on. 
“Okay, now take everything off and I’ll pack them away,” Ingrid said and turned around so you could change. 
After handing the dress and shoes to her, you put your regular clothes on, feeling less like a million bucks. Ingrid put the dress and shoes in a suitcase along with a box of jewelry. 
“Alright… I’ll leave these with you. Good luck,” She said and smiled at you. 
You walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. No amount of hugs could make up for her landing you this job, or even just being your friend when you got lost in the sea of USSTRATCOM agents. But still, it was the thought that counted.
The two of you hugged each other for a good while, making a silent promise to work hard and for you to make it back in one piece. “I’ll try not to drive you insane this time,” you said and smiled at her. 
“You know better than making promises you can’t keep,” she replied and chuckled. The two of you broke the hug. 
The room was littered with clothing racks and  discarded dresses. “I’ll help you bring the racks back,” You said, looking around the room. 
“Don’t bother, I’ll have it done in two trips tops. And you need to get going, check in time for the hotel ends at 11pm,” she said. 
You nodded and picked up your bag and suitcase. “Talk to you later,” you said and gave her a toothy, warm, smile as you walked out the door. 
Walked through the D.S.O. office, you made your way to your locker, grabbing the duffel bag you carried around on missions. It had your knives, guns, and pretty much a small armory in it. 
“Ready to get going?” Leon asked, walking up next to you to go through his locker. 
“Yup,” you replied, slinging the duffel bag over your shoulder. 
“Let’s get going then,” he said, smiling at you. 
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* : 。゚☆. ───
January 31, 2015
“Name?” 
“Nathalie Oakes,” you replied, confident in your fake persona. The two of you, you and Leon were putting the finishing touches on your outfits. With a job like this, all of the details mattered, how he cuffed his sleeves, what you wore for jewelry, everything. 
“My name?” Leon asked, fixing the collar of his blazer and undershirt. He was wearing a suit that was matching the dress shade, his blazer and undershirt being the same shade. His tie was black and so were the pants. The way he had his shirt and blazer, the shirt was unbuttoned a little bit so his chest was slightly out. Almost like he had cleavage, which if you were honest he kind of did. That man worked on his chest like he was paid to do it. 
“Edward Wingate,” you answered. Your fingers gently pulled the top off of the velvet covered jewelry box, staring at the almost blinding gold necklace. Picking it up, you were trying to figure out how to clasp and unclasp it with your nails.
Ingrid had treated you to a manicure the other day. Adorning your fingertips were acrylics, nude colored and almond shaped. When you had asked how to shoot or fight in them, you were met with snickers and were told to figure it out yourself. 
So you did. Spending the last few days in the shooting ring and training rooms, making sure you were confident in your abilities with the nails on your hands. A chuckle came from behind you and Leon’s hand gently grabbed the necklace. “Need help?” He asked. 
You nodded in reply and pulled your hair up so he could put the necklace on you. 
“It's funny, I’ve seen you kick ass hundreds of times and you’re getting stuck on trying to put a necklace on,” He said, the everpresent teasing fronting his voice. 
“It’s these damn nails. I have so much respect for people that function with these things. And I can still kick your ass with these on,” You retorted, earning another chuckle from the man behind you. 
Looking at the mirror, you saw a reflection of a life you could only dream of. A woman dressed up to the nines and her partner helping with her jewelry. The juxtaposition to what your reality was was almost taunting. Where there were ivory colored gloves in the mirror, there was usually blood; yours and others’. The hair that fell smoothly like silk sat on top of the head that was filled with nightmares. Nothing in the mirror was a true reflection, except for the man behind you. 
You dreamed of finding the one person who got you, emotionally and physically. One who always had your back and would be there for you on the nights where you remembered the blood filled apartment in Manchester. Leon was the one person in your life who could quell the cold isolation, the icy, crushing feeling of your past. He didn’t know about your feelings for him, he couldn’t. 
Even if the feelings for him overwhelmed you in only a way that a full symphonic orchestra could. His smile made the world feel a little brighter, his laughter made life sweeter, He was like honey added to coffee, something that made a bitter drink sweet and a different palate. 
“Alright, done,” Leon said and pat your shoulder lightly. 
Your eyes looked at the gold adorning your neck and you smiled. “Thanks,” you said warmly and turned around to get the purse that matched your dress. The feeling of someone staring at you made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, something you had from the STRATCOM training. 
Looking in the mirror to your left you saw Leon staring at you, something that happened quite a bit, but this time it was differently charged. Something was fueling the look on his face, but as usual, he was hard to read. He noticed you looking at him in the reflection of the mirror and he turned his face towards the wall, pretending like he wasn't staring at you.
“You ready?” You asked, willing to ignore that he was blatantly staring at you. 
“Yeah,” He replied and grabbed his Sentinel 9, sliding it into his blazer and through his shoulder holster under the jacket. 
Turning towards your bed, you grabbed your holster, fastening it to your thigh under the dress. The slit was on the other thigh so it wouldn’t reveal the holster. 
“Ready Miss Oakes?” Leon mused, holding his arm out for you. 
“Ready Mr. Wingate,” You replied, smiling a bit and taking his arm. This all felt wrong, but right at the same time. What would it feel like if instead of a mission, this was your reality? What if instead of heaving Edward Wingate on your side you had Leon Kennedy? It was jarring, as jarring as the emotions you had been trying to sort out the last few months. Swimming somewhere between your heart and your brain were your complicated emotions. 
They really weren’t complicated, your situation was. 
If Leon wasn’t your coworker and technically your superior, you would’ve tried to go for it, but the reality was that your lives could get messy. You didn’t want him to potentially get in trouble for fraternization, you didn’t want your relationship to change if there was rejection, and most importantly you didn’t want either of your potential deaths to hurt more. 
If you left your feelings unsaid, the chance of you or Leon dying wouldn’t sting as much. So, your feelings were buried between your tight lips, unspoken and never going to be explored.
“You okay? You seem lost in thought,” Leon said, his eyes meeting yours. The clicks of your high heels and his shoes were echoing through the hall on the way to the elevator. 
“Yeah, I’m fine, just thinking about the mission,” You replied as the two of you stepped into the elevator. Your gloved finger pressed the 6 button.
“Our target is a potential C-virus sample. Most of the summit will be held on the 6th floor and a lot of the vendors will be here starting tomorrow. Tonight is the dinner party that starts off the summit. Everyone will be busy socializing and drinking,” Leon reminded you. 
“Meaning tonight is our best bet to get in and out unnoticed,” You said, smiling. 
“Meaning, our job will be a lot easier if we get it tonight,” He said. 
The elevator opened to the 6th floor, warm yellow lights illuminating the space. The room was open, the venue taking up the whole floor. Across the walls were floor to ceiling windows, the city lights coloring the dark horizon and sky. The floor was dark wood, glossy in finish, and the ceiling was an off gray color with golden details. All over the room were circular tables with chairs around them, the tables adorned with empty champagne glasses, cutlery, napkins, plates, and candles. 
“I feel like I don’t belong here,” You said quietly. The last undercover mission you went on was almost the polar opposite of this. 
“Don’t let them make you feel inferior. They’ll see through the disguise,” Leon assured you as you two walked into the room more. “And don’t sell yourself short. More importantly, don’t let rich assholes sell yourself short. You’re worth more than everything in this room put together,” He added. 
You smiled a bit, redness slightly painting the tips of your ears. “Thanks for the confidence boost. I’ll make sure to put this down as one of the only times you were sweet to me,” You said, looking at him. He opened his lips to say something, but closed them as someone was making their way over to you two with a clipboard. 
“Good evening, I presume you’re here for the North Eastern Biotech Summit?” The man said. He was dressed in a usual black tie suit. He stood around 5’11”, being only a few inches taller than Leon and looked to be around your age. 
You didn’t miss how Leon almost changed into a completely new person with his energy level and atmosphere. You also didn’t miss how his arm suddenly snaked around your waist, pulling you close to him. The corners of your mouth upturned into a warm friendly smile at the contact and the man in front of the two of you. 
It was all for the mission, that’s what you convinced yourself. Being a couple, that was for the mission, but enjoying it? That wasn’t part of the mission. 
“Of course! Edward Wingate, and this is my lovely fiancé, soon to be Mrs. Wingate,” Leon said, his voice sounding like silk. As he spoke, he pulled you close to him, squeezing the two of you in a side hug. 
The man in front of the two of you checked his clipboard, his eyes skimming down the list of names on his sheet. His eyes lit up when he saw the two names you presented. 
“Ah yes, Mr. Wingate and Ms. Oakes,” He replied, putting the clipboard down and gesturing to a table. “Let me help you find your seat,” He added. The two of you followed the man to a table in the corner of the room. 
As you got closer to the table, you tried to process all the people here, their fancy clothes, and their arm candies. The people paired with the lights, and the complete lack of smell in the room was almost too much for you to handle. 
Leon and you sat down at the table, your hands immediately going to the glass filled with water. The cool liquid made its way down your throat and relief was evident on your face. As you put your glass down, another couple sat next to Leon, their outfits as extravagant as the venue. There was a man and a woman, the woman looking slightly older than the man. 
“Hello! You weren’t here last year, it’s always good to meet a new supporter,” The woman said and outstretched her hand to Leon. After they shook hands, she outstretched the same hand to you, which you took as elegantly as you could. 
“Finally got invited to join in on the summit this year. We’re excited to see what the latest developments in biotech are,” Leon replied, smiling at the two of them. He lightly put his hand on your thigh, the warmth spreading through your body. If you were drinking, you would have almost choked on the water. 
“Nice to meet you, I’m Blaire, this is Ambrose,” The woman said and gestured to the young man next to her. Looking at his hand, you could see the two of them were engaged, the gold engagement rings sparkling. You slid your hand onto the tablecloth, so the two of them could observe that you and Leon were also “engaged”. 
“Pleasure’s all mine, Im Edward, this is Nathalie,” Leon gestured to you, almost showing you off. Your mind wandered off to thinking about what if it was Leon who was showing you off, not Edward showing off Nathalie. Could you ever make him proud to introduce other people to you?
“The summit this year is said to be the biggest yet,” Blaire said. Her midnight blue dress was stunning against her skin. The gold jewelry could catch anyone’s eyes. 
“That so? It certainly is a special night,” Leon said and chuckled a bit. You were surveying the room, seeing where the wait staff and other people were coming out of, making it look like you were taking in the decor. 
A frazzled worker coming out a door directly across the room from your table caught your eye. From your seat, you could see shelves and what looked like a storage room, or a green room that the items being showcased in could stay while waiting for tomorrow. 
Your eyes glanced back over to the couple sitting next to Leon and you smiled warmly at them, playing the role of the pretty arm candy that didn’t talk much. 
“We’re going to the bar for a few drinks, want to come?” Ambrose asked warmly and gestured to the bar on the opposite end of the room. It was close to the storage room you saw earlier.
Before Leon could object, you spoke for the two of you. “Of course,” You replied with a smile. 
As the two of them got up, Leon looked at you, his eyes asking for an explanation. Giving him a look back, your eyes told him, trust me, I have a plan already. He nodded in acknowledgement and you two got up, following Blaire and Ambrose. 
The four of you got to the bar counter and you looked up at Leon. “Hey, honey, I’m gonna head to the bathroom, could you just get me a vodka lemonade?” You asked and held his elbow lightly. 
Leon’s eyes twinkled a little bit, him knowing what you were really saying. “Of course, I’ll hold your drink for you,” He said. Before you walked away, he leaned in and kissed the top of your head. 
Your rational side knew why he did it, it was strictly to play your parts, but the part of you that dreamt about a different life fluttered when his lips met your head. Heat ran to your face as you blushed and started walking towards the bathroom. 
If there was one thing you didn’t want, it was for Leon to see the red painted across your cheeks. Then your feelings would be questioned. 
Making sure no one was watching, you walked past the bathroom and towards the storage closet. 
The first thing you noticed about the room was that it was cold, like a walk in freezer. The next thing you noticed were the lights, they were a cold blue hue, no warmth found in them at all. The very last thing you noticed was the lack of smell. Where the scent of mildew and/or dust would be filling your noses there was nothing. Not even the various cleaners on the shelf were creating a smell. 
Looking around the room, you saw various gadgets and displays set up for the summit. Each piece was on its own roll out table,but one in particular caught your eye. On a smaller display table, there was a closed briefcase. If you were lucky, the vial containing the virus sample would be in there, if not, you would have to survive more socializing. 
Walking over to it, your eyes traced over the case, looking for any signs of vents or anything else that could be a trap. Clearing the case, you brought your finger up to your earpiece. 
“Condor 2 to Roost, I found the delivery. Am I cleared to grab it?” You asked.  
“Condor 2, good job. You’re cleared to grab it,” Ingrid’s voice rang out in your earpiece. 
You nodded to yourself and studied the case again, making sure it wasn’t trapped. Flicking the clasps open, you saw the vial. Inside of the small glass container was a red substance that looked almost sticky. Reaching out to it, your hand went to grab it. 
Suddenly, you felt a strong sting of heat course through your hand. Smelling a burning sort of smell, you ripped your hand away from the glass and looked at it, seeing a second degree burn forming through the glove you were wearing. Snickering in annoyance, you bunched up both of your gloves and picked up the vial, stuffing it in your purse and thinking of a way to conceal the burn on your hand. 
Walking out of the storage room, you made your way back to Leon and the others getting their drinks. Leon went to hand you your glass, but his eyes immediately caught on to the burned palm of your hand. His eyebrow raised in questioning and the look you gave in response didn’t ease his worries. 
“Well, it’s been good to meet you two, I think Nathalie is feeling rather ill. We’re gonna head back to our room,” Leon said, looking over at the two he had walked to the bar with. 
Blaire and Ambrose nodded in respect and left to go back to the table. Leon’s eyes went back to your hand, concern written across his face. 
“You gonna tell me what happened?” He asked. 
“I suggest that we get back to the room then have this conversation before the sample vial burns a hole through my purse,” You retorted quietly and walked with him. 
The two of you slipped out of the party, unnoticed, just like how you had gotten in. The job was as easy as Hunnigan had said, in and out, and other than the burn on your hand you both came out unscathed. 
“We’re talking and walking,” Leon said as the two of you got out of the elevator, walking down the hallway to your room. His voice told you that he wasn’t asking, more telling you that you two were going to talk. 
“The glass burned my hand, that was it, everything else was fine,” You replied as you made your way to the door to your room. 
“I’m patching that up when we get inside,” Leon said, again leaving no room for debate. 
“Fine,” You mumbled and swiped the keycard, opening the door. 
The two of you walked in, you immediately getting out of your heels and leaving them by the door. You were about to head into the shower, before Leon closed the bathroom door from behind you. You didn’t have to see his face to know he was staring intently at you. 
“Before anything, I’m fixing that hand of yours,” He said, his breath hot on your neck. You turned around, looking him in the face. 
“I want to get out of my makeup and this dress,” You replied, a slight whine in your tone. 
“You’ll get to later,” He said, almost pulling you to the bed. Begrudgingly, you sat down on the edge of the bed and watched him walk to the bathroom. While you were getting ready, earlier today, you didn’t notice how soft the bedsheets were. The silk pooled under your fingers, wanting to lull you to sleep. 
Leon returned from the bathroom, with a bowl filled with water, a first aid kit, and a couple hand towels. Your face scrunched a bit, uncomfortable with the idea of someone doing something that you could do yourself. 
“Leon, I’ll be fine. I can bandage myself up after I get changed,” You said, trying to quell him. However, one of the things that you had learned early on while working with Leon Kennedy was that he never walked away from someone needing help, no matter how small or big the need was. 
The bed dipped as he sat next to you, pulling your hand so that it was face up on his thigh. “And what happens when you don’t fix it and you get scarring or can’t use your hand as well as you used to? This is your shooting hand, don’t be stubborn,” He insisted. 
“‘Don’t be stubborn?’ That’s rich coming from you,” You replied, eyes scrunched together waiting for the pain of him putting your hand in the bowl of cold water. 
Where you expected there to be pain from the water, there was relief. Part of you wished that it was running water, but the other part of you knew it might’ve been rough on the freshly buried skin. 
“Just relax, I’ll take good care of you,” Leon said, his hands going to open the first aid kit. 
“That really makes me feel better,” You said back snarkily. 
“Good to hear that you didn’t lose your sense of humor,” 
“I got a burn on my hand, I didn’t get impaled,” 
Leon chuckled a little bit and took your hand out of the bowl, putting it down on one of the hand towels. “I thought I trained you to say ‘thank you’ when someone helps,” He replied, a glint of teasing in his eyes. 
“You didn’t teach me shit other than how to shotgun a beer,” You replied, a smirk on your face. 
Leon’s small chuckle turned into a hearty laugh. “Fair, fair,” He replied and started to bandage your hand. “Good eye, seeing where the displays were held. The job was easy thanks to you.”
“Is that praise from Leon Kennedy?” You asked, feigning shock. “Oh my god, the world is ending.”
“Hey, I give you enough praise,” He retorted and lighting wrapped the bandages around your hand, lightly tying them. “Okay, your hand is all set and will be as pretty as it usually is soon,” He added with a toothy grin. 
“Thanks,” You said and looked at the bandaging, your voice softening. 
“Before you change, I have something else for you,” Leon said, walking over to the fridge in the room. Your eyes followed him and watched him pull a box out of the fridge and a large bottle of sparkling cider. 
“What’s the occasion?” You asked as he walked back to the bed with two forks and two flutes. 
“It’s January 31st….” Leon trailed off.
“Oh,” You replied softly and looked at the box. Leon opened it up and revealed a tiramisu cake, simple and plain, just like you liked it. 
“I’m sorry you had to be on a mission tonight, but our lives are what they are,” He said and handed you a fork. “I know you like tiramisu cake and you hate most types of alcohol so I got you some goodies,” He added with a soft smile.
“Thank you, I haven’t had anyone to spend tonight with for a long time,” You replied, taking the fork and flute. 
“Before we eat, actually, I think it’s a waste that we didn’t get to dance while in these fancy ass clothes,” Leon stood up, walking to the radio in the room and putting on a classical music station. 
“I don’t know how to dance,” You said. 
“If you can fight, you can dance, it’s pretty much the same thing,” He replied and held his hand out to you. 
“You say that now, but you won't be laughing when I step on your foot,” You warned, taking his hand with your good one and standing up. Leon laughed in reply and pulled you close to him, his hand finding a respectful spot on your waist. 
“How do I put up with you?” He asked dramatically, his eyes sparkling with humor. 
“I should be asking that question,” You replied. “Maybe, we were meant to annoy the shit out of each other.”
The two of you chuckled as you swayed together to the music. Leon’s eyes never left yours and the way he was looking at you felt… intimate. Like you were the only person in the world to him and you were all he wanted. 
“Happy birthday, (Y/n),” He said after a few seconds of silence and smiled. 
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* : 。゚☆. ───
Present Day
You saw Leon’s mouth moving on the other side of the prison cell bars, but couldn’t hear a word he was saying. His blue eyes were staring at you, squeezing shut in a grimace every few seconds. If you were going to get infected after all the missions the two of you had gone through, you were happy that at least you could lose your minds together. Nothing else mattered to you other than the feeling of closeness you two had in the moment and your fingers laced together through the jail cell bars. 
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* : 。゚☆. ───
Catch this fic early on my AO3!
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chamberlains-ghoul · 9 months ago
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Resident Evil AU: Leon is President Graham’s stepson and Ashley’s half-brother who causes problems on purpose.
His parents are still murdered, just not at the same time (his dad when he was small and his mother when he was around 15), so he still wants to be a police officer and hates the idea of being in politics. Graham publicly brags about Leon becoming a police officer but he’s actually pissed that Leon never went to college and ran away to the police academy instead. Especially since they had to cover up a lot of that situation because Leon basically moved cross-country without telling anyone.
Everything in RE2 basically stays the same except he doesn’t end up a government agent. He gets a lot of military training and becomes a lab rat (look, you can’t convince me that Leon doesn’t have some kind of immunity since a bite isn’t an insta-kill) for Sherry’s protection. He ends up an all-American anti-Umbrella poster boy for Graham’s campaign. He takes every loophole and opportunity to get around that, though, and ends up being Sort Of Controversial within the political sphere. He causes drama a lot, mostly as Ashley gets older so she stays out of the tabloids. Him being the only confirmed Raccoon City survivor still does a lot for Graham’s campaign, though.
He and Ashley were never close as little kids because of their age gap, but after their mom died, Leon took up a lot of the care-taker roles. She gets angry after he leaves for the academy because she feels like he abandoned her. After thinking he died in Raccoon City, then finding out he was alive, she forgives him. However, they’re mostly kept apart outside of public appearances since Graham doesn’t want Leon telling Ashley anything about what happened in Raccoon City.
In the events of RE4, Leon accompanies Ashley to her school for some kind of student government meeting. Krauser still picks them up and kidnaps them. They’re kept apart by Las Illuminados, and Leon escapes early on and is able to hide in the village. He finds Luis the same way and they’re still chained together, but in this AU Leon is obviously a civilian. He gets his little “oh god, why is this happening again” moment (like RE8 Ethan’s little mental breakdown) and Luis feels bad enough to stick around after they find the key.
Luis isn’t able to get away to meet Ada, so she eventually intervenes and reveals Luis is working for her and separates them. She tells Luis not to worry about Leon and that he could take care of himself and find Ashley. Since Leon’s well-known for being a Raccoon City survivor, Luis goes full guilt mode after finding out who he actually is.
Hunnigan isn’t there to tell Leon that Luis was Umbrella, but Leon is distrustful after finding out he’s working for Ada and still threatens him in that cabin and his interactions with him and Ada are similar to how they are in the game. However, I like this version of Leon to be a little more sheltered and naive despite RE2, so he becomes trusting of Luis and offers to take him to an American embassy with him and Ashley so he doesn’t have to work for Ada.
Leon tells Luis what Annette told him, about how Ada worked in weapons dealing and would sell Las Plagas to the highest bidder. Luis insists that he has faith in Ada, and he believes she won’t let the world burn even if her morals are gray. Luis eventually admits his history with Umbrella and Las Illuminados in the elevator, and that’s why he has so much faith in Ada. Because he was in a similar situation himself.
I like Luis and am an avid Serennedy supporter, so this is a Luis Lives AU. I also like the idea of Leon and Ashley presenting a sad Spanish war criminal to their father and begging to keep him.
So anyways do what you want with this AU. I might write something for it but idk.
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lilmoonbunny · 10 months ago
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Just Alex; Alex Casey
When a case gone wrong leads to a confession, Casey is unsure how to act around her.
Warnings: hostage situation, stabbing, slight jealous!casey
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This takes place before Alan Wake 2. Also, I'm only like half-way through, so he may be out-of-character.
Alex Casey loves coffee, anybody who knows him was aware of this. There was never a point in time when he was free and was seen without his beloved drink. Perhaps it was unhealthy – an addiction – but he couldn’t find him in it to care. With the stress of everything, coffee was the thing that made him feel better, well… one of the things.
Y/N was his co-worker, his partner in crime, if you will. She helped him feel better too, maybe even more than coffee did. Y/N was many things: kind, sweet, funny, and a coffee addict also; that was potentially a reason that the pair got along so well.
“Morning, Casey,” Y/N greeted the mentioned man with a smile the moment she spotted him entering the office, two cups in hand.
“I’ve told you before, Y/N, just Alex is fine,” he grumbled, passing her the coffee cup, a daily occurrence between them.
“I know, but then everyone looks at me weirdly, so…”
Because you’re the only person I let call me Alex, he thought to himself with an internal roll of the eyes.
Casey simply sighed and sipped his own coffee.
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The case that they were working was tough. There were no leads and neither of the duo knew where to go with it next, which is why they brought in Graham.
Graham was around their age, a cop from the town that they were currently working in, and Casey did not like him one bit.
“Y/N, why don’t you come with me, and I’ll show you around?” Graham grinned as he pointed towards his car, completely ignoring her partner as he did so.
The woman, however, seemed oblivious to the flirtatious offer that the cop gave, smiling politely and looking towards Casey. “Me and Casey have got somewhere to be soon; a meeting with something very important.”
Casey shot her a look. They had nowhere else to be, nor any leads, so why was she saying this? She simply nodded at him.
“Oh, all right,” Graham said, clearly annoyed that Casey came first. “Maybe another time?”
“Absolutely!” She smiled, although it didn’t quite meet her eyes. “See you later.”
A relieved sigh left her lips the moment Graham was out of earshot.
“We have something to meet? Did you mean someone?” Casey asked bluntly, confusion filling his face when she laughed.
“Coffee, Casey. We have a meeting with coffee.” She grinned, this time it completely meeting her eyes and he couldn’t help the small smile that crawled onto his lips. “I couldn’t stand listening to him flirt any longer, it was awful.”
“You realised? You seemed oblivious,”
“Years of being around men will teach you to act that way, Casey.”
He grumbled. “Just Alex is fine.”
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The case had gotten intense, and Y/N and Casey were currently hunting the killer. Back-up was on the way, but they had to chase the killer alone, or else they’d lose him for God knows how long.
Guns drawn, the pair rushed after the shadows of the suspect, muddy footsteps mixed with blood being their lead.
“FBI! Show yourself!” Y/N called into the wooded area, eyes darting around the scene, looking for the killer or anything that may reveal his location.
Casey was behind her, watching their backs just in case, but a gasp from his partner had him spinning around.
In front of him stood the killer, Y/N in his arms with a gun to her head. His body froze, yet his face remained neutral, his own gun raised towards the killer. He couldn’t get a clear shot of him, but hopefully it would deter him from doing something stupid.
“Drop your weapon,” Casey demanded, heart racing.
“Or what?” The killer taunted. “You’ll shoot? I’ll just shove your pretty little girlfriend here in front of me.”
Y/N remained silent, focusing on her breathing whilst planning how to get out of this mess. Her gun had been grabbed and tossed the moment he got a hold of her, so that was no use, but the knife on her thigh…
Casey was stumped for what to do. He was right, of course, shooting at him would just get Y/N in more danger, and that was the last thing that he wanted; he never wanted her in danger. Back-up was likely nowhere near and possibly had no idea where they were.
“Look,” He had to stall for time, “I know you’re scared, but hurting her will just give you less options.” Casey had no idea what he was saying and had to force himself to keep his gaze on the killer and not the woman he had grown fond of that was in danger. “I’m a witness, remember.”
The killer tensed at his words. “You know nothing about what I’m feeling.” He spat. “You’ve never known true fear.”
“I have, and I am right now.”
“Why!?”
The gun was on him now, perfect.
Y/N’s arm slowly inched towards the knife strapped to her thigh whilst she prayed Casey could keep him distracted.
“Because you’re holding her hostage,”
“And that matters why?”
Almost there, Y/N thought to herself, the conversation going on unheard by her as she focused.
“Because I love her.”
The moment she had hold of the knife, she swung it into the killer’s thigh, feeling his grip on her and the gun release as he stumbled backwards. Casey’s eyes widened, both at the confession that had just hit him and the fact that Y/N had stabbed him.
Y/N’s own eyes widened in shock at her actions as she let out a breath that she was unaware that she had been holding. “Oh my God,” she gasped, turning to face the killer who was lying on the floor. Without thinking, she rushed towards him, unsure of what to do; Casey did the same.
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“Here,” Casey handed Y/N her usual coffee as she sat in the empty office.
“Thanks,” she muttered, curling into her soaked FBI jacket.
Casey took note of her shivering form and excused himself before coming back with his dry jacket, passing it to her. “Take this.” He spoke.
“Thank you,” she said, finally looking up at him from where she was sat.
The silence was comfortable, at least to her; Casey had no idea what to say to her, assuming she had heard his earlier confession.
“Casey,” Y/N broke the silence, “are you all right? You look uncomfortable.”
“I’m sorry for what I said earlier. It was out of line, and I shouldn’t have said it.” He rushed.
“What did you say? Have I missed something?” She asked, cuddling into his jacket.
It smells like him, she noted.
“In the forest, before you…” He trailed off.
“I’ll be honest, Alex, I wasn’t listening.”
The use of his name had his cheeks flushing red. “You finally said it,”
“Well, yeah. You kind of saved my life, I think I owe you.”
“Saved your life? How?”
Y/N smiled softly, reaching out to take his hand and give it a gentle squeeze.
“You kept him distracted long enough for me to grab my knife, idiot. Now, what were you on about?”
Alex sighed quietly, taking a sip of his coffee. “It’s nothing.”
Y/N glanced at him, his awkwardness something she wasn’t used to seeing on him. Something was up, and she wanted to know what.
"Did you say you loved me or something?” She joked, eyes widening as he pulled his hand away from her own and tensed. “Oh, you did.”
She watched as he quickly stood to his feet. “Forget about it,” he muttered, turning to leave.
“Alex, c’mon.” You can’t just rush off when I find out you feel the same.”
Her words had him freezing in place, slowly turning to face her.
“The same?”
“That is what I said, yes.”
He smiled. “You mean that?”
“Obviously, you idiot,”
The pair smiled at each other as he took a seat opposite her once again. Y/N’s hand found his again, the warmth shooting through their bodies the moment their skin touched.
Sure, it might have been a life-or-death situation that got them to admit their feelings, but at least they got there.
“It took you years to call me Alex, I will never forget that.”
“We were having a moment…”
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cardiac-agreste · 5 months ago
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I'm particularly proud of the idea I had for today's Olympics-related ficlet, so I decided to share the full text here instead of just leaving it on Ao3.
FWIW these are hastily written and not beta'd, but for me that was part of the challenge. I'm writing a story a day during the Olympics, intended to be a reaction to the day's events. This is the least reactive, since it takes place during the Olympics but doesn't mention a single competitor. Most involve ML characters as spectators (e.g., Kagami going apeshit cheering for the Japanese fencing team that won gold in team foil).
Citius, Altius, Fortius, Miraculous - Aug 6 - Day Eleven [Adrien & Félix - Equestrian]
Adrien and Félix walked the grounds of Versailles, having decided to take a break from watching the equestrian events.
“How was lunch with Zara?” Félix said, fiddling with his fingernails as the grass swished beside his feet with every step he took.
Adrien smiled softly. “It was nice. It felt like coming home.” He stopped walking. “You know, she was the first from the extended family to reach out after Father died. It was really nice… It’s not like we really know each other. Mother never got to take me to see anyone in England. Father wouldn’t allow it. But still…”
Félix turned slowly and looked at Adrien, considering the way the light filtered through the trees on his cousin’s face. He clenched his fists a few times, relieving anxiety that had wrapped tightly around his forearms like shackles. “Colt wasn’t too keen on seeing the family, either. He’d received the imprimatur of our grandparents to marry Mum, but it wasn’t enough for him. As I got older, he was more…forcefully against it. Thought they were always judging him for being arriviste… And he knew that selling weapons could never buy him passage through certain doors.”
Adrien closed the distance to Félix and put his hand on his cousin’s shoulder. “I used to be so jealous of you, that you lived closer to family.” His eyes were half-lidded in sympathy. “I’m sorry you had to—”
“I’m a sentimonster.”
Adrien’s hand flinched at the abrupt admission. “You’re a…” He swallowed. In the distance, a horse’s hooves thudded on the green.
“Well, sentibeing. Though I doubt Ladybug would be so charitable.” Félix smirked, but shifted nervously from one foot to the other.
“You’re a… a sentibeing? H-how?”
“Well, when a man loves a woman very much, he acquires a magical jewel…”
Adrien took a step back and looked straight into Félix’s eyes. “Fé, I’m serious. How?Is that how you knew there was a Peacock Miraculous? Did you know Mayura’s identity and stole it from her? Or…did you know Hawkmoth?”
Adrien had gotten to the important questions faster than Félix had expected. The spectators in the distance politely applauded a performance, and he waited to see if Adrien would ask anything else—anything more pressingly personal. A minute passed, and Adrien was still looking at Félix with concern.
“Um, does this change how you see me?”
“What? Of course not. It’s like magical IVF, who cares? You’re still human.”
Félix breathed a sigh of relief.
“Does Ladybug know?”
“Yes.”
“And she still trusts you to have a Miraculous?”
Adrien’s words had breathlessly fallen out of his mouth, and Félix wondered if this conversation was about something he hadn’t picked up on. Well, if Adrien was surprising him like this, then he might as well be honest with his cousin. “She does. Not that she has a choice. She’s not getting the brooch from me.” Félix huffed. “And to the extent she’s worried, it’s because—you might recall—I killed pretty much everyone on Earth so you and I could have some peace.“
Adrien looked down at the three rings on his hand.
Félix had been wondering lately about the one his cousin had been wearing before he put on the Graham de Vanily rings.
“I… I think I might be…”
Félix held his breath and let Adrien keep talking.
“We’re nearly twins. And your father had the Miraculous before he died…” A lone tear snaked its way down Adrien’s cheekbone and toward his chin. “Félix, who did you steal the Peacock from?”
A frustrated rider yelled at a horse in the distance.
“I didn’t steal it. I traded for it.”
Adrien looked down at his hands and fiddled with his fingernails. “But she told me he helped defeat Monarch…”
Félix remained silent.
“Why wouldn’t she…”
Félix put his hand on Adrien’s shoulder. “She was terrified to tell you, so I volunteered. Actually, I begged her to let me be the one to tell you.”
Adrien didn’t make eye contact. He kept his face toward the ground, sniffling. His shoulders and chest trembled. But as soon as it started, the quivering stopped, and he took one final sniff. He wiped his eyes and looked back at Félix, giving him a watery smile. “It’s like magical IVF. That’s what I just said, right?”
Félix wasn’t sure about this swift change in emotion. “…Right. But still, he was—”
“An asshole. And abusive.” Adrien laughed, a little wild, a little mirthful. “I guess that explains why I avoided Marinette. And why, after talking to Nathalie, that weird feeling stopped.” Adrien swallowed, his developing Adam’s apple bobbing as if it were tracking his acceptance of the truth. “Oh. Nathalie…”
“Yeah…”
“Sentibug…”
“Who?”
“Mayura—well, Nathalie—made a girl like Ladybug, and then…and then she killed her. She knew she was like me, and she killed her!”
Félix felt his blood pressure rise. He hadn’t known about that. But he swiftly pressed the emotion down. “How are you feeling?”
Adrien smiled. “You know, I beat his ass the day he sent me to London.”
Félix’s eyes widened. “Really? Wow, cousin, I didn’t think you had it in you. And I’m surprised he didn’t stop you…”
Adrien pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, and then he spoke. “Who else knows? You, me, Ladybug, Nathalie… I’m guessing your mom…”
“There’s this Super Guardian guy who probably knows about both of us.”
Adrien fiddled with his original ring, sliding his index finger and thumb along the smooth metal as he spun it. “Do you think I should tell Marinette?”
“That’s a decision I think you should make on your own. But I think she’ll surprise you. When I pretended to be you at the Diamonds’ Dance, she broke in, you know. She’s obviously in love with you. And she doesn’t care about the family name or anything. Actually I think she hated your dad.” 
Adrien laughed. “Yeah, there was this whole thing about pancakes she told me about. I don’t really get it, but you’re right.” He beamed with pride. “She’s so perceptive. She’d give Ladybug a run for her money in that department… I called her that once, you know. My ‘Everyday Ladybug.’”
Félix choked back a laugh.
“Wait, have you told Kagami?”
“Oh, she has zero problem with the senti-stuff if you know what I’m saying.” Félix crossed his hands over his chest to signify a certain kind of prowess. He leaned in and cupped a hand to his mouth, pretending to share a secret. “Prestidigitation…”
It was typical of Adrien to turn everything back to others. Always trying to understand how everyone else felt, how everyone else was acting. He supposed it was the model training in Adrien, that he’d done so well because he’d learned to mimic and follow orders.
But could he blaze this path himself? Félix had struggled with it, and he had that rebellious streak, titanium lacing his backbone.
But Adrien had him. And Marinette. Ladybug. A family that loved him.
Just so long as Chat Noir didn’t come calling with a Cataclysm. Well, he’d skin the cat alive if he went after his cousin.
Félix looked down again at Adrien’s ring.
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yonderghostshistories · 9 months ago
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I'm planning on starting that MP Regency AU fanfiction! What should I include? (U, PG and 18+ suggestions are all welcome!)
OH MY GOD YOU'RE ACTUALLY DOING IT?!?!!? LESS GOOOOOOO!!!!!
Ok uhh here's my suggestions!! :
-All (well technically 3) the Pythons have a really specific kinda Regency royal/heir-like title/nicknames to them based on where they were born (i.e some random examples; John Cleese, Earl of Weston-super-Mare, Captain/Admiral/General Graham Chapman, Duke of Leicester, Terry "Jonesy" Jones, Baron of Colywn Bay of North Wales). Then you have Vicar Michael Palin (of Sheffield), Baron Terry Gilliam from Paris, France (he says he's a Baron but the others don't really believe him and thinks he's really a phony or something lol), and self proclaimed "Maestro" Eric Idle (from the local Cheshire pub). Then you also have Stableboy Neil (Innes)/Neil the humble Stableboy, Countess Carol Cleveland and Countess Connie Booth (in this AU, Connie is Carol's older half-sister/cousin) of London, Lieutenant David Sherlock (Gray's second-in-command in the army, and also love interest but pretends to just "be friends" so to not make people suspicious about their relationship with eachother, etc!
-Gray is both a highly respected army official by day (at work technically), and a promiscuously gay playboy by night (when he has the time off doing the army business). He smokes alot too.
-Jonesy ends up with Regency era Denise Coffey and learns that she's not as "bad" as anyone makes her out to be. She's considered"bad" because she's apparently "too common" to fit with society. In other words, society thinks she's "too unattractively normal" to be considered pretty, to which she politely says bullshit to :).
-John and Gray are childhood best friends with eachother. Michael and Jonesy are also childhood best friends with eachother. Eric and Terry tags along as well.
-John becomes instantly uhh "emo" and tragic and moody and cold because of his recent breakup with his (ex-)fiancé Connie, even though they just broke up since almost a week ago. He mopes about it all the bloody time that even his friends start to get annoyed by it all, and it makes even his own sappy poetry look like decent stuff.
-Eric and Neil meet up at the weekends to play as a musical duo at the local Cheshire pub. Eric is, ofc, sorta homeless, meaning he has to to stay over at Neil's cottage house but also stay at the local taverns until he has to pay rent.....but mostly he chills out at Neil's house.
-Eric gets a "rags to riches" kinda story where, with the help of Gray who just so happen to be at the local Cheshire pub to "meet a special friend of his" (which is ofc David) in which Gray overhears the pretty good singing, he agrees to hire Eric as his servant and give him a permanent place to stay and enough money to live by. Eric is ecstatic ofc!
-Michael is a kind and innocent vicar, a follower of god, but he's a bit horny too! He particularly has a crush on a nice and kind woman called Helena (who runs the local bookshop in the town). Mike has the hots for Helen but knows he can't actually ask her out due to him being religious and stuff and it apparently going against the rules to marry whilst preaching about god or something. However, he tries to get around this by starting out slow, via becoming companions with Helena by helping her with the bookshop part-time. It all seems going to plan. However, things start to get a bit too *spicy* when Michael accidentally sees Helena in her regency era undergarments (which is a "stay"-kinda undergarment) just as she was about to get unchanged. As if it couldn't get any worse, the stunned Michael commits the greatest sin he has ever committed.......he sees a bit of her bare back. That alone is enough to make Michael faint. Helena, being the good and understanding friend she is, helps Michael get back to life and takes care of the poor soul. Michael is grateful for Helena helping him, but feels guilty for seeing her like that. Helena tells him that it's ok and that it was an accident at the end of the day. Michael smiles, and out of the repressed passion he held back for all these years, he slowly cups her face and begins kissing Helena, and Helena, at first surprised, is then quickly eased and understands and kisses back Michael. Michael and Helena then have the most excruciatingly passionate sex that night, and both are left satisfied.
-Gray meets David in an abandoned farmhouse, and they both announce their feelings for one another, and they both kiss passionately and uhh have the most beautiful gay sex one could ever hope.
-There's alot of "characters running through the moors" whenever the character starts a new relationship, romantic or platonic.
-Gray wakes up naked every morning after each promiscuous affair.
-Terry the Parisian Artist develops a romance with the ""weird"" woman who runs the tailoring clothes shop, Ms Margret "Maggie" Weston. Terry & Maggie bond over their shared weirdness and love for absurdities in life.
-John and Connie began an (almost) lifelong romance (before they broke up) when they were young teenagers of about 16/15 at a ball one night. From there on, they hit it off with each other pretty well. The young John and Connie then sneakily exited from the ballroom, then they snuck out and playfully ran to the garden maze and then snogged each other all night long.
-The Pythons and Co go to a regency era fairground/carnival and have a lovely, fun time there. They also get to ride on the merry-go-round on the merry-go-round horses!
Uhh hope you enjoyed the ideas I gave! Let me know which of the ideas is your favourite and why? I absolutely can't wait to read it!!
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playcharade · 5 months ago
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YOU MAY KNOW ME BY MY MORE COLOURFUL MONIKER ... HOOK.
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an infamous pirate across all seven seas, killian jones was not always captain hook. a man with a code, he braved through the seas in search of riches and found something infinitely more valuable instead: love. it was upon losing it that his legend turned somber and his spirit voracious. without care for anything other than his insatiable thirst for revenge, the captain is a charming man capable of being terrible. there are no limits as to what he wouldn't do to achieve his revenge –  his heart has turned rotten, and there may be no salvation for it.
" his eyes were the blue of the forget-me-not, and of a profound melancholy, save when he was plunging his hook into you, at which time two red spots appeared in them and lit them up horribly. in manner, something of the great seigneur still clung to him, so that he even ripped you up with an air, and I have been told he was a raconteur of repute. he was never more sinister than when he was most polite, which is probably the truest test of breeding. "
𝙿𝙾𝚁𝚃𝚁𝙰𝚈𝙰𝙻 𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙴𝚂: my portrayal of killian will blend both his show canon as well as elements from his character from the j.m barrie's novel, the dark and sinister man that he can be. i love both versions dearly and will adjust depending on verses –  quite happy to make him his softer self when interacting with other ouat characters. also, in regards to his romantic journey on the show, i assume nothing with emma roleplayers! although i love cs, i do prefer to plot their dynamics a little before jumping into canon territory.
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STORYBROOKE, the first curse › JAMES ROGERS is an underpaid police deputy with a bad attitude and an affinity for rum. By day, he works at storybrooke’s police station with a perpetual frown on his face and an unwillingness to truly be of service to the community. while sheriff graham is ever the golden boy, well-liked by the people in the little town, rogers stands as the unpopular ne'er- do-well half who’d much rather be at a gig in the rabbit hole than patrolling the three streets of storybrooke. in the evenings, he is the lead singer of local rock band the buccaneers, who can’t for the life of them make it past the town border with their music. must be the curse, of course. not the fact that they're just really not that good.
DARK AND SINISTER MAN, the captain › this verse intends to cover his days as a pirate navigating through the seas. could be pretty much based on any form of worlds, as the jolly roger is equipped with magical properties that allow for interdimensional traveling between realms. he will solely go by captain hook in this portion of his story, at his most malicious.
AU VERSES UNDER THE CUT:
THE FEVER, THE RAGE, gotham / dc › detective killian jones was a stand-up member of the gcpd. dedicated and incorruptible, he and his brother liam did all they could to maintain their code of honor and fight for what's right. but in a rotten city, such is a fool's errand. the duo is tragically separated when liam is killed in an mob ambush that costs killian not only his brother, but his hand. jones becomes insatiable after the fact, thirsty for revenge. he abandons all forms of morality he knows and becomes determined to make those who killed liam pay for their crime.
killian soon becomes the thing he's hunting. after taking down the operations of mobster known as rumplestiltskin through less than orthodox means, he takes the crown for himself. leaving behind his life of crime-fighting, killian turns the tide. the club once owned by rumple becomes his, and is aptly renamed THE ROGER, a pirate themed environment that is befitting of its new captain: HOOK, for now the detective wears one in the place of his left hand. he becomes gotham city's brand new mobster, with a small gang of his own and a reputation he intends to only make more gruesome.
FABLETOWN'S HOOK, vertigo's fables › Captain Hook is more accustomed to the mundane world than most. For one, he goes by the name of KILLIAN JONES rather than his more colourful moniker. For another, he found a way to sail swimmingly in the waters of the new world; though it did take some time for him to find this particular set of sea legs. Hook came into his money during the 20th century, where the age of the internet came to be and he embarked on it readily. 
Killian became incredibly apt at computer science, his interest in the subject being sparked by the sheer interest in exploiting this new age to its fullest  –  specifically, to his advantage. He saw the opportunity in virtual piracy, having become ( arguably ) the first internet pirate. He started out with a small, simple scams, but as the technology progressed and the phenomenon of the internet grew bigger than anyone could possibly imagine, so did Hook’s empire. Though most his business is integrated well within the mundane world, Killian still lives in Fabletown, New York City. He owns an apartment at the Woodland, and his most trusted assistant is one Mr. Smee. His company was made on shaky grounds, morally and legally, but now boasts a reputation for being an exquisite virtual security company ( thanks to the viruses Killian himself releases ) as well as developer. The government of Fabletown is very generous to him, counting on his yearly donations at Remembrance Day to keep things afloat.
THE WORLD IS QUIET HERE, asoue › Killian Jones is an active VOLUNTEER of the secret organisation known as VFD. He is the younger brother of Liam Jones, who was the sole reason why Killian stayed on the fire fighting side of the schism rather than the alternative, which really would have suited the man’s inclination for trouble and insubordination much better. However, as it often occurs in the life of a volunteer, Killian had the misfortune of outliving his brother. Liam was one the first casualties of the schism, having been killed under mysterious circumstances aboard a sailing boat with little else around him but a fish hook, a compass and an out of place string of tagliatelle grande. Killian mourned his brother as any in his situation would: solidifying his position in the fire-fighters' side and becoming one of its most active field operatives. The desire to avenge his brother’s death still simmers underneath the surface, making the last standing Jones very willing to eliminate the threat that the fire starters pose on the first opportunity that arises, though the chance never quite seems to come about.
THE NEED FOR SPEED, top gun › lieutenant killian "hook" jones is a legacy of the top gun program, being the brother of the late liam jones, who died honorably in battle ( although killian has his doubts about calling it that ). with his heart in the skies, killian is a reckless pilot who attempts one too many risky maneuvers. he is bold, he is brash and he is damn charming. doesn't give a damn about anything other than himself or his bird.
FORTUNE AND GLORY, mercenary › set on modern days, killian jones is an infamous mercenary with a dodgy past that he keeps close to his chest. no one really know why he does what he does, but he's the best at it. killian is an incredible sailor and performs most his assignments and operations through the seas, which sets him apart from the competition. A MODERN DAY PIRATE in his own right. if you need something recovered by any means necessary, he's your guy.
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abigailspinach · 7 days ago
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3, 5, 8, and 19 for the reading asks? :D
DNF With Prejudice: Book(s) you didn't finish on purpose
Can't Spell Treason Without Tea - Rebecca Thorn
The Ones We Burn - Rebecca Mix
Ooops maybe authors named Rebecca were not in the cards for me? I rarely DNF but these debut novels weren't doing it for me. Flat characters, bland worldbuilding, I got bored
Crowd Pleaser: Book you would recommend to almost anyone
Hand of Isis - by Jo Graham. Man, she needs a bigger fandom.
"Set in Ancient Egypt, Hand of Isis is the story of Charmian, a handmaiden, and her two sisters. It is a novel of lovers who transcend death, of gods who meddle in mortal affairs.
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Historical fantasist Graham (Black Ships) heads to Egypt with this elegant, engaging memoir of Charmian, half-sister and handmaiden to Cleopatra. The two young women and their other sister, Iras, are inseparable from childhood, getting one another into and out of numerous mishaps. As teenagers, they vow to Isis that they will protect Egypt from the covetous Romans, and in return for their devotion, the goddess rewards Cleopatra with the throne. Graham never resorts to melodrama even at the murder of Julius Caesar or to cliché when Charmian recalls her past lives, and she supplies plenty of superb historical detail, but doesn't let it overwhelm the narrative. Charmian's shy hopes, failures and devotion to Cleopatra and Isis make her one of the most memorable witnesses to history to emerge from fantasy in quite some time."
Blorbo Of The Year: Perhaps not your favorite of the year, but contains The Character
It's a reread and I'm going with "The Curse of Chalion" for the one two punch of Iselle and Cazaril. Cazaril as the lead gets more screen time but Iselle is so wonderfully clever. Cazaril is a favorite type of character. Honorable, intelligent, stubborn, kicked around by life, but still kind. Iselle is young, intelligent, willing to learn, and a canny player of politics. LOVE THEM
Favorite old(er) book you read this year
I did a reread of 6 of the 8 the Anne of Green Gables series... so that would be the oldest. I do enjoy Rilla of Ingleside for being "Teen Mom: Canadian WW1 Edition." Actually, I'm going for Emily Climbs instead. I Emily isn't as beloved as Anne but she's a touch more gothic and psychic and I love her sassy diary entries. So "Emily Climbs" by Lucy Maud Montgomery.
Which is free online:
"And just as Emily was ready to slip into her high black bedstead a sudden inspiration came—a splendid new idea for a story. For a minute she shivered reluctantly: the room was getting cold. But the idea would not be denied. Emily slipped her hand between the feather tick of her bed and the chaff mattress and produced a half-burned candle, secreted there for just such an emergency.
It was not, of course, a proper thing to do. But then I have never pretended, nor ever will pretend, that Emily was a proper child. Books are not written about proper children. They would be so dull nobody would read them.
She lighted her candle, put on her stockings and a heavy coat, got out another half-filled Jimmy-book, and began to write by the single, uncertain candle which made a pale oasis of light in the shadows of the room. In that oasis Emily wrote, her black head bent over her book, as the hours of night crept away and the other occupants of New Moon slumbered soundly; she grew chill and cramped, but she was quite unconscious of it. Her eyes burned—her cheeks glowed—words came like troops of obedient genii to the call of her pen. When at last her candle went out with a splutter and a hiss in its little pool of melted tallow, she came back to reality with a sigh and a shiver. It was two, by the clock, and she was very tired and very cold; but she had finished her story and it was the best she had ever written. She crept into her cold nest with a sense of completion and victory, born of the working out of her creative impulse, and fell asleep to the lullaby of the waning storm."
Thanks @cheriboms
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undetectorist · 17 days ago
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for the book ask: 1 :) and 12 and 13
How many books did you read this year?
as of today my count is 129!!
[cracks knuckles] time to be a HATER
12. Any books that disappointed you?
Small Fires by Rebecca May Johnson because i know a lot of people who love her writing! and i do really enjoy her newsletters. this book though... it felt a bit too pretentious, a bit too forced, like she was trying too hard to make you care about food in a "new" and "intellectual" way. girl just give us the recipes
There's Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib
again i love hanif's writing (just today i read his instagram post about running and felt #emotional) but i think perhaps he works better for me in short form essays. this book didn't hit for me
13. What were your least favorite books of the year?
How to Lose the Time War by Amal el-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
i knew i would hate this book so tbh the L is on me. in fairness i was in a house with nothing to read but my god what a waste of time. the most overwrought overblown prose, with no distinctive character voice. i could not have cared less about red or blue or their (incredibly unbelievable) love story. but worst of all i just simply did not care about what was going on in the war. the authors were just pulling stuff out of their head because it sounded cool rather than actually doing any substantive worldbuilding. boo hiss tomato tomato tomato
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
oh i hated this one down. self-insert rpf with some man from that terror tv show that everyone loves so maybe if you've got those brainworms this book will appeal in that regard. me personally? i didn't give a fuck about naval officer graham gore and his journey to wokeness, hated the half-baked "decolonial" politics which are impossible to take seriously when your protagonist literally works for the british government. the sex scene made me want to rip out my own eyeballs
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
this is probably my number one most hated book of the year because it got so much critical acclaim. but guys.... it's just BAD? even setting aside the whole concept of "disaffected white woman quits job at endangered species centre to go live with white australian nuns because they do no harm and are peaceful <3" which i could spend days ranting about, the prose is absolute garbage. i mean, look at this
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GOD. SHUT UP
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rearranging-deck-chairs · 1 year ago
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i think the problem with the fam is theyre too obedient. theyre such goody two shoes the hope is that it'd rub off right? on the doctor. but it doesnt bc she hides her badness and they wont question her. okay they'll question her "what happened to never do weapons" "why dont you ever share anything with us" but they wont push back when she says nah ah we dont talk about that. and thats her problem. she wont talk about that. or that. or that. or that. or any of it
i think if you put a limit on their patience. theyre understanding but not forever (i mean theyre even understanding after her "death". "she knew she was gonna do something that might kill her" "she wanted us to live"). watch them grow more annoyed as they call out hypocrisies and less and less willing to accept bullshit answers. it would put a lot of movement in the dynamic i think
like okay, taking yaz out of the equation bc shes not a companion shes a doctor, just considering ryan and graham for now: ryan is young and like, being formed, which is part of his arc, but he also already has a lot of like really life- and worldview-shaping experiences right? black, disabled, unable to count on most of the guardians in his life. those things profoundly shape how you stand in the world, how you approach and are approached
and okay lets put yaz back in for a sec because shes really interesting to like put next to ryan and see like what happens there. because she and ryan share both being racialised and being neurodivergent, if you want to call it that (if depression counts. personally i think depression is more of a like regular human reaction to life than "divergence" from the "typical" so to say, but then i also think the secret underlying reason she was bullied and thus depressed was the autism. so it cancels out for me. but like thats sort of weaving in and out the text. and depression also is something very different from dyspraxia. BUT these are both things about them that like have been Underlined for us the audience, same as the conversation behind the bins in rosa, so i think im justified in putting these two things together as comparison. okay tangent over)
ryan and yaz both have had experiences of not being able to count on the people around them, for various reasons but all the same. it would be fairly understandable i think for ryan to be sort of like, fuck adults fuck people who have authority over me based on nothing. whereas yaz,,,,becomes the authority
RYAN: Yeah, see? It's not like Rosa Parks wipes out racism from the world forever. Otherwise, how come I get stopped way more by the police than my white mates? YASMIN: Oi, not this police.
and you could really have put them like,,not opposite per se but like clashing in some way over this. not clashing like in fighting necessarily, though yes as in conflict. clashing as in different ideals, different conclusions drawn from similar experiences
yaz says to do good in the world i must have the power of the state. which also implies the power of the state can be good and is meant to be good. ryan i can easily imagine having been someone who no authority was worth counting on so fuck them all. that wouldve been a reaaally interesting tension to see play out throughout s11 and s12 i think
and thats just two of them. we've got a team of four. imagine both of their reactions to the doctor. we dont have to imagine with yaz, but ryan couldve been more like well whos she. you know? why are we listening to her? what just because she says so? let her prove herself first.
and then theres graham who has like half a lifetime of experience of Being A Human on them, who isnt in the coming of age phase anymore, who must have a lot of his own worldview, ideas, politics. we see like, a tiny bit of that with like edison or whatever but how does that play with a Time LordTM?
like theres a lot of interesting ways to pair up and to clash them! 13 and yaz with suicidal ideation, 13 and ryan on the dad thing, 13 and graham on survivors guilt. 13 and yaz vs ryan and graham on authority and law. ryan vs graham and 13 on guardians. ryan and yaz vs 13 and graham on being racialised. 13 and yaz vs ryan and graham on sexism. this couldve been a wildly dynamic team i think. if only you'd let them fight! if only you'd let them have their own opinions and Speak Them. this would put like so much schwung in like,, every plot, every episode
because it's all there! right? it's all already there, just look at the episode list of s11, it's all there, racism, sexism, workers, colonialism, big fucking spiders i dont know! wait thats a worker one again let me revise big fucking spiders capitalism! it's all there, you just gotta make it a bit dialectical. have them argue their sides and disobey and have 13 be like herding cats
imagine the way this would have challenged the doctor and the doctor's politics, then to follow it up with s12 "gallifrey is not what we think it is. we are not what we think we are"
and then revolution of the daleks, ryan and graham gone, and in that episode the police was very obviously like sided with the daleks and the capitalist and that politician right? the police was the fascists. hi, yasmin, how are you. oh, crazy? right, good, the doctor is too.
yaz and 13, now alone, ten months between revolution and flux, time to grapple with what it means to be both victim and agent of an empire. do we accept that? do we refuse that role? how do we refuse that role? how do we be good? what does it mean to be good if police clearly isnt it? how do we take off the uniforms. what moral framework do we build and then commit to, and hold each other accountable to, as copilots of this operation. what do we want to do in the universe. what is our impact. what do we want to avoid doing. how do we do that.
had the doctor said "i was in prison for being me" to yaz, imagine how that would have shaken up her ideas about prisons and how and why people might be in them. might have started her thinking. but then we're back to where i started this post before i totally lost control of it: The Doctor Doesnt Talk About That. and if the fam had been slightly more disobedient in s11, maybe in revolution there would have been place for it
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hxrundxne · 2 months ago
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who: @rememberences when and where: a banquet hall of a lord in the vale, a tense dance has begun between the targaryen guest and king consort of the vale
aemma loved dancing when she was younger, it was far easier then before she understood the weight of politics and roles dancers were meant to take. over the years she had learned many different group dances, she found that across westeros some dances would quite similar with minuet differences from region to region. the music and dancing of the north was some of her most favourite with the vale a close second. aemma had been making her way through the vale, visiting houses great and small hunting for something that seemingly would never be found. tonight was the same as most nights, a grand feast followed by dances. the room was warm and bathed in yellow fire light, laughter and music filled the air. all things considered it was a good night, it would be a better night if he was not in attendance. lord graham royce, aemma would rather wear green than call him king consort, was a repugnant kingslayer. he stole the life of a good honourable man and he stole his wife. aemma longed for the day where her dreams of his death were more than just longings but proper dragon dreams, visions blessed upon her valyrian mind.
it was then just her luck that in the haze of another group dance that she would be paired with him. aemma followed decorum, curtsying, offering him a polite smile. all the while she was considering how much of an uproar would it cause if she just walked away. it would be undoubtedly rude and cause her more trouble than her own personal satisfaction was worth. it was still a nice idea though.
"your grace," the words tasted like bile in her mouth, she curled her lips into a sneer. others carefully began the dance around them, aemma a half step behind them.
"how fairs your sleep?" aemma stepped purposely a breath too close to his toes.
"i can't imagine what it is like to sleep with the weight you carry," a careful smile played at her lips, "death is a heavy creature."
with her final words, she stepped on his foot before gracefully stepping away following in time to the steps of the dance. to any onlookers it looked a like a perhaps uncomfortable dance but no especially strange. any time a targaryen was in attendance things were sure to be strange.
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