#everything is either already known or wasn't a major thing to be addressed in the main plot anyway so enjoy! 😁

[elsannabackwardsposts]

I CANNOT believe I’m late for this but uhm!!! When they were training in the Southern Isles, I’m curious about what Elsa’s reaction was to Anna calling her “Elska” 😔😔

Hey Anon! I really needed a writing prompt break, and so I’m gonna do you one better than just answering this question.

I’ve written a 1,600 word BONUS FEATURE: 

Elsa’s POV Chap. 20, final scene reaction. :)

Elsa Winters had always been a woman who put her all into everything she did, always given that additional responsibility with a pre-determined future’s demand hanging overhead. And her extra effort had to be there, with the looming role she was destined to one day inherit. It was ever present. Forever present, actually, if she even tried to recall to her earliest memories.

Her parents had pressed her studies, from as far back as she could remember. Academics first; completely limited in her extra circular activities all through her formative years. Homework, tutors, studying. Had she been of the age before discovering crew, she sometimes wondered if her parents would have put her through the traditional training to become a Debutante (but thank goodness that never happened). Instead, home life trained her in manners, poise, and professional behavior; preparedness that would one day propel her forward into the world with so much greatness and respect.

Despite all of that, there had been one thing, one little joy she had found and held close to heart in those young years; way before crew was destined to find its own home in her heart.

Her language studies.

She had already loved reading, losing herself in the many stories she could come across, but to explore meaning in foreign tongue was an adventure all on her own. Of course English had been the initial language to learn, taking priority in her elementary school scholastics. She enjoyed it and, with a natural born intelligence, easily excelled at every corner from the moment she memorized the alphabet.

But what may have been most amazing was that it was not just an activity that she herself loved, but a skillset that her parents actually commended. With how she picked up her second language so early on was the very first time she could ever recall feeling that semblance of pride coming from them.

Being able to converse with foreign clients with elegance in her prose and something close to native fluency would elevate her appearance by speech alone. The comprehension of detailed linguistic patterns, semantics, intonation, would also be an equal asset to dissuade any underhanded manipulation of a company trying to skirt past the reliance of an interpreter. And so, outside of school’s required language modes, she was asked to learn their neighboring country’s native tongues: some basics in Finnish for a non-Germanic input, as well as Danish and Swedish to expand on her own Nordic based language knowledge.

It was easy. Enough of the words in Danish were the same, even if pronunciation varied, while Swedish sounded so similar, but new word selection was more demanding; Finnish, she barely got a chance to begin, but internally (and never admittedly so) she was thankful that she could at least recall the bare minimum word for ‘summer’ over a decade later.

But it was just as she passed the precipice entering her teenage years that she recalled a wave of tension befalling the Winters household; her father’s ever astute, ever composed, attitude shifting greatly. The surrounding air feeling frigid for days, perhaps weeks, only heated by loud outbursts coming from her family’s study, painfully warming her ears if she opened her door a mere crack.

One day, her mother had finally enlightened her about a fallout deal that had occurred, causing a massive blow to company funds. Just as Elsa had been warned all of these years, a slip of interpretation between two national languages, Nordic to Slavic, had been a hit to her father; both fiscally, and in pride. It was that same evening that her mother told her that she would turn her studies away from the delicate intonation shifts of Finnish speech and onto the heavier, precision based consonant production of the language having felled her father’s plans.

Polish, it was. It was trickier, dependence on a new alphabet development, those dastardly consonants, a trial all its own. However, it was here, in the challenge, which Elsa began to see variants in terms. So many more words, varying descriptions of her thoughts being colored by arbitrary linguistic creations she’d never even considered, imagined. Not just one adjective, but four! It was a spark that she had found, realization hitting her like a ray of light, opening her eyes to something even more magical.

Emotions weren’t a thing she was allowed to express. A lady was polite and demur, but a business woman was stoic and firm. It was well ingrained, both in her mind and automatic mannerisms, that she was responsible to be both.

Yet having these many languages at her hand, on the tip of her tongue, categorized in her brain, associations were built, reaching to each and every aspect of her life.. including the untouched, unexplored confines of her emotions.

Of what her emotions were, or rather, could be.

In the privacy of her room, she would talk out loud, speaking to her few stuffed animals, listening to her echoes bouncing from the tall wallpapered walls, responding to her linguistic tapes in a one sided conversation flow. But it was an outlet. She could be as energetic, upset, angry, and colorfully descriptive as she wanted without concern for retaliation. She could describe her emotions, give them meaning through multiple words, infinite sound concoctions, and finally allow herself to learn what these unfamiliar feelings were, all thanks to the connection of something as unthought-of about as everyday language.

Polish stuck to her in particular. Maybe it was because of the extra effort she had to put in to learning it, or maybe it was the sense of responsibility to avenge her family’s name from a financial embarrassment.

Or maybe it was because, of all the languages she had been told to learn, Polish was the only one that her parents did not speak. Something she could call her own. Something she was free to use around the house, to express each and every thought she felt without fear for being told to stop; to actually be encouraged to say her mind all under the guise of ‘practice’.

It was during this period that she came to try out familial names, allowing herself the little pleasure to actually address her parents by terms of endearment that had been bred out of her vocabulary before she could remember; mamusia and tatuś. Stark contrasts from the formal ‘mother’ and ‘sir’ she was required to use at any other time in daily discussions. And without any close friends to practice on, she found a longing for use of such endearing names, but when put into real life social situations, joining crew and meeting Flynn, her sharing of these private language abilities was already farther away from socially acceptable than her own social ineptitude.

A longing to express closeness, forever tucked into the depths of her heart, stored within a language she held for family pride and family love; never expecting to find someone who both was allowed a chance into her heart while simultaneously drawing her mind to even think in the second language.

And yet, then she came to know the graceful grace of summer; Anna Grace Suvi.

It was a moment, so organic, filled with ease and contentedness, with friendly familiarity, and enjoying a favored topic, the most random language; a moment that she never foresaw an opportunity to share with anyone in her life. And it just.. happened. For the first time, not spoken to an audio tape conversation partner, not given to her favorite childhood toy, but given to an actual person. An actual friend. A friend she’d let deeper into this hidden part of her heart’s emotions than she realized.

“Anka.”

The embarrassment had been hot and flustering, at least after she recognized the error. More embarrassing was that she would never have even realized her slip had Anna not called her on it. Oh how natural had she felt around this girl.. but for how long?

Elsa had been quick to catch herself, spinning a tale, administering tricks that she was trained for, using supporting facts to hide misleading information in a genius guise. When Anna moved on, she silently vowed to never let that verbal slip up happen again, and she prayed that Anna would forget the entire incident by the time they reached that class lessen. A new semester should definitely put enough distance to erase such a stupid memory.

After consciously and successfully pushing that event aside, so many new worries now taxing her mind’s reserves, the brilliant blonde had certainly not expected to be wrong.

Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be the case.

Standing beneath the searing hot sun of the Southern Isles, sunblock painted cheeks red and burning from a reason farthest from sunburn, Elsa was left in an absolute stupor. Blue eyes watched the body of her Freshman Double’s partner running away with a merry pep in her step, but all the older girl could do was attempt to process the repeating term bouncing around in her skull.

“Elska.”

The knowledge that Anna had not just remembered the silly slip of tongue (and also had managed to piece the meaning together despite likely sleeping through most of her studies) should have been enough reason for why the Senior turned away, bracing herself against the hull of the prepared Double; tightly gripped fingers trembling along the carbon fiber, navy orbs wide eyed and blinking rapidly, each breath exhaled with a shudder. And she wished, really really wished, to the highest heavens, that that information was reason enough.

But as her heart pounded, she couldn’t mistake the initial trip; the flutter of delighted surprise, a zing shooting through her chest, and the wave of momentary elation. Finally, not just having discovered a person to express her yearning unspoken feelings of closeness to, but a person, for the first time in ever, to actually return the very same sentiment in a personally cherished language she shared with no one outside the privacy of her heart.

[lilmissbeanie]

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Toru Oikawa x F!Reader

Song ~ One Way ticket - ONE OK ROCK

Genre ~ SFW Fluff

Word Count ~ 2.8k

Posted ~ 09/08/20

Glancing at the clock on his bedside table, the bright red number shone brightly in his room. Reading the number on the clock, he groaned, 2:19 in the morning rolling back over to stare at the ceiling once again. Sleep wasn’t coming easy tonight, if he was honest with himself, it didn't most nights, not since he left for Brazil six months ago. 

The one thing that always sent him soundly to sleep was a twenty five-hour flight away. The twelve-hour time difference didn’t help as he knew it was two in the afternoon in Japan, also wasn’t a thing, they were a person and as much as he wanted to hear her sweet voice that always soothed him yet, he knew that she would be in a lecture right now.  

To Toru Oikawa home was not a place, it was a person. That person was his highschool sweetheart. The girl that stood by his side no matter what, whatever the outcome of a game, she knew his true self, the one that wasn't this popular arrogant pompous prince facade he put up to protect himself. She knew the side that was a little broken, the side that doubted his abilities as a person and as a setter. The one who would stay up late into the night after she would listen to him whine about Kageyama or Ushijima so she could bring him freshly made milk bread the next day. The girl who would scold him for pushing himself too hard and hurt his need once again. The girl who asked him to teach her how to play volleyball and the rules.  

The adventurous spirit he feels in love with that would try and convince him to join in her passion for adrenaline-filled adventure and sports, she would often scare him half to death when she happily run and jumps off a sixty-foot cliff into the sea, he could hear her excitable scream as she plummeted into the water to below. He was sure that she would be the death of him. His mind flashed back to the time they were at a cliff that was known that experienced rock climbers would visit and climb the wall, before they had gotten together, it was probably one of the moments he realised how much he was in love with her.

“Y/n, seriously what if you fall doing this and get yourself killed?” he asked as he nervously watched her walk along the base of the cliff her climbing sunglasses hid her e/c eyes, but he knew it held an excited glint as her fingers ran over the crevices, she would often grip them and try with footholds to see if that way was an excellent place to start. “Your parents are against this, you know this!"  

"And you know I would do this either way. If it goes wrong and I die then no one can tell me off, and if it goes right then they’ll never need to know!” She grinned at him making sure her hair was tied tightly before her hands dipped into her chalk bag hanging from the belt loop on the back of her shorts before clapping them together removing the excess dust and began the climb. Toru spent the whole time at the bottom freaking out, she would often stop to work out where to go next or re-chalk her hands where they were beginning to sweat. When she was 3 quarters of the walk up the cliff face, he climbed up the footpath to the top to meet her. When he made it to the top. There she was already sitting down on the grass looking over the view in front of her.  

“Hey Ru,,” She leaned her head on his shoulder as he took a seat beside her, the sun was low in the sky, nearly setting.  

“You scare me so much with your love for adrenaline you know that right?"  

"Sorry, I just love the rush,” She murmured quietly so as not to disturb the peaceful setting of the sun, as they sat there. It was the little things like this that he loved, just watching the sky turn from blue to have orange, yellows and reds dusked the sky, with the girl he loved resting her head against his shoulder, even if only half an hour ago she had given him heart failure, he knew she would never stop with her the love for adrenaline-filled adventures. 

The ding from his phone brought him out of his memories, picking it up he was a text from her. 

Lil daredevil queen 2.47am  

I know you’re awake baby xxx  

My king of the court 2:48am 

How did you know?~ xxx 

Lil daredevil queen 2.48am  

Cause you are like me, you struggle to

sleep unless I am by your side  (｡╯︵╰｡) xxx 

She was right, he would often get out of practice when she would have been asleep, but she was scrolling through youtube or Tumblr and sending him random things to laugh at or smile at when he gets back to his phone.  

My king of the court 2:49am 

Want to have a chat? (⌒‿⌒) xxx 

not even a second later, the screen flashed up with the contact picture for her. He loved that picture. It was her looking over the sea, her hair blowing in the wind and a surfboard under one arm. The red and white striped bikini hugged her body with a pair of red booty board shorts.  

He ran his finger over the green answer button as he held it up to his ear.  

“Hey, my lil daredevil.” 

“Hey king of the court, I miss you.” Her sweet voice seeped through the speaker of the phone, and he sighed in contentment. It had been six months since he had seen her, held her in his arms, heard her voice in person, and it broke him. They both knew this was going to be heard being nearly eleven thousand miles away from one another, they couldn’t just drop everything and be by one another’s side like they used to be. Toru already felt incredibly guilty for the fact he couldn’t be with her for her birthday and Christmas was only three weeks away.  

“I miss you too, my love. How was your lecture?” 

“It was good, we did lots of things about knees and how to help them when they are in pain, so I can help you more now.” He loved the fact that she had taken sports therapy as a minor subject, so she could look after him, her major was anthropology. He still wasn’t sure how she managed to worm her way around the board to have these two subjects that really did not correspond at all with one another, but she did. “What did you want for Christmas?"  

Y/n was known to get her Christmas shopping done early. "You?~” He questioned with a laugh, “I jest baby, as much as I wish we could spend Christmas together, but you know I will love anything you get me, so surprise me."  

They continued to chat for a while before Toru finally yawned.  

"I better try and get some sleep,” He yawned again, 

“Oh, before you go, I won’t be able to talk for the next day or two. I have a huge essay due in a few days, and I want to get it done."  

"Of course baby don’t worry, good night lil daredevil, I miss you, and I love you loads."  

"Sleep well, I miss and love you too, my king.” He hears her blow him a kiss over the receiver before they end the call.  

“Still no clue?” Y/n looked up and in front of her was her classmate, Tetsuro Kuroo, he was leaning against his car with his hands shoved into his pockets.   

“Nope, not any clue at all!” Y/n laughed as she walked towards him. “Ready?“ She grinned and nodded, jumping into the passenger seat as they took off for the airport. 

A whole Twenty-five hours later, Y/n arrived in Rio, the heat was intense, she was glad that she was wearing shorts and a tank top, somehow managing to drag her two huge suitcases, with smaller ones on top, next to her she waved over a taxi and gave the drive Toru’s address. Her arms leaning on the open window as she watched the scenery outside it was stunning, she could see the emerald blue sea in the distance. The drive wasn’t too long, and she knew that when she arrived at his apartment, he would be at practice till late this afternoon.  

Stepping out of the taxi, she was met by Toru’s landlady who grinned at Y/n, she knew she was coming, they had constantly been communicating for the past three weeks planning and keeping the secret between them Y/n flying to Brazil was a surprise for the love of her life of course. Paying the driver, she followed the sweet little lady to Toru’s flat. She pulled out the master key and pushed the door open. Y/n couldn’t help but laugh at the state of the flat, she apologised to the landlady who was shocked at the state clearly didn’t know what her boyfriend was like, he usually was pretty tidy, but training seemed to be keeping him so busy. Waving goodbye to the landlady, dragging her suitcase in the bedroom before setting to work on cleaning the flat, she had about eight hours to get this done. Grabbing his washbasket, she began collecting his clothes up that were strewn across the bathroom floor and sitting room, she put a wash on, hoovering, polishing the whole apartment before moving on to cleaning the bathroom. She washed the windows before moving into the kitchen which was the worst room of them all, dirty dishes, glasses, mugs, pots and pans all over the place. Once everything was clean, Y/n grabbed the spare key from the hook and headed to the local shop to get the ingredients for his favourite snack. While she waited for the dough to raise, she changed her top to a cropped loose front tie kind of floral wrap. 

Eight a clock rolled around, and all Toru could think was coming home and get into the shower, he knew his apartment was a mess, but right now he didn’t care, and he was off tomorrow so he would do it in the morning and he would finally be able to speak to his Lil daredevil after she has spent the last day and a half doing that essay of hers.  

"Olá Toru.” His kind landlady greeted him with a light knowing smirk on her face. 

“Olá Beatriz.” He smiled at the little old lady, shrugging off her smirk, before sending her wave, watching her turn back around and continue to tend to the flowers outside the apartment block as Toru trudged up the steps to his apartment. As he neared his door, the smell of his favourite treat-filled his senses, it smelt just like Y/n’s. He must be craving it so much he must be imagining the scent of milk bread now, he tried to bake it himself, but it always seemed to go wrong or not taste anything like Y/n or his mums for that fact. He sighed sadly as he unlocked his door and pushed it open, to be greeted by a clean apartment. His jaw dropped as he stared around his apartment, wondering who the hell broke in and cleaned his apartment. The sound of water running made his head flick to the doorway of the kitchen. He slowly walked towards the sound, the smell of milk bread getting stronger as he approached.  

A heavy thump caused Y/n to smile to herself before turning around, finding Toru standing in the doorway, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.  

“Welcome home Toru.” She gave him that loving gentle smile, in a flash he had her wrapped up in his arms off the ground, peppering kisses all over every bit of visible sink he could causing her to giggle. 

“You’re here,” he mumbled, burying his face in the crook of her neck, continuously kissing the spot taking a deep breath in finding her smell the same as always, that sweet peachy smell.  

“I’m here baby,” she cupped his face in her hands, planting a delicate kiss to his lips, “Go have a shower, you reek and by the time you get out the milk bread will be ready.” She pushed him away giving him a slight slap on his arse as he walked out the kitchen, jolting at the contact laughing, but as he got to the doorway, he glanced over his shoulder making sure he wasn’t dreaming, that she really was here, wearing a cute like apron her hair tied in space buns as continued to wash up the utensil she had used making his favourite food. 

“Make sure you get those sweaty clothes in the basket please.” Waving the wooden spoon, she was washing up at him with a pointed look.  

“Yes, ma'am.” He saluted with a cheeky grin before heading off to the bathroom, gym bag in hand. He put his sports kit and clothes in the now-empty hamper, he smiled, finding the clean teal blue towels hanging on the railing, clearly, the ones that Y/n had brought with her. He was still in shock that Y/n was here in his kitchen, she had cleaned his whole apartment and was making his favourite treat. He didn’t think he could love her more than he already did but in that moment he just fell more in love with her than he ever has. 

Clambering out of the shower, he headed towards the bedroom where he found Y/n rather immense suitcases on one side. How long was she staying? Those two cases along with the two smaller ones most likely had all her belongings in. He pulled on some boxers and shorts before he wandered back towards the kitchen, rubbing his hair with the small hand towel.  

“You moving in or something, with those suitcases baby?” He joked as he stepped through the door.  

“Yep~” She replied, popping the p, as she got the milk bread rolls out of the oven before shutting the door with her foot and placing them on the cooling rack that was on the table, she watched as Toru took in a deep breath as he smelt the bread he seriously missed this.  

“Brilliant!” He laughed, taking a seat at the table before he clicked that she wasn’t joking as he suddenly all but yelled: “Wait, what?!” 

“I have transferred to the University of Rio, and I start after the new year. I’m here to stay, I’m not going anywhere, I’m not leaving your side again.” 

He just sat there gawking at her, did she really just drop everything in Japan to be here with him. “You didn’t drop everything in Japan just to be here with me, what about your parents or your friends?” Removing the apron, she placed it on the counter before leaning against it, facing him with a smile on her face that just reminded him that she really didn’t have a care in the world. 

“My parents, as you probably guessed, we’re kinda against it, but they know that once I set my mind to something I’m going to do it, and my friends are your friends, they know how rough we have had it the last six months, we both have barely slept. We got so used to sleeping next to one another that sleeping alone doesn’t cut it. You are my home Toru so wherever you are, as long as I am with you I am home.” She walked around the table placing her lap as she draped her arms around over his shoulders, gently caressing his fingers against the bare skin of her hips, he had missed the smoothness of her sink under his fingers.  

“You’re my home too baby,” He replied, kissing her with so much passion before pulling away, “Are you sure about this?"  

"Yes Toru I want to be with you, and if it means being here in Brazil with you or in any other country I will always be by your side, I can do Anthropology anywhere, and I am studying Sports Therapy to look after you, and we both know that’s why.” Placing a kiss on his forehead, she watched as his eyes flickered around her own to find any kind of regret or lies. “I’ve missed seeing my king on the court playing volleyball where he belongs, and also this."  

He couldn’t help but chuckle as she gestured to his toned naked torso with a wink, he had become even more muscular and defined in the last six months. Toru wrapped an arm around her waist as he hooked the other under her legs, hoisting her up as he stood up and headed towards the bedroom.  

"Toru?!” She squealed her arms tightening around his neck instantly, knowing what he was planning.  

“Now, now that’s not what you normally call me~” He smirked as he threw her down on the bed, she rolled her eyes.  

“What about the milk bread?!” 

“That can wait, I have something much more appetising in front of me .” He smirked hovering over her, his head lowing to nip at her sweet spot, eliciting those sweet sounds he loved and missed so much.  

That night was the first time the pair of them slept better than they ever had in six months. They were home, back in one another arms where they belonged and where they always will be from now on. Together, Y/n had brought her one-way ticket home, and that is where she will stay with him, it didn't matter where they would end up on this planet just so long as they were together. 

Home. 

He was hers and she was his.

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[xxwritemeastoryxx]

These Violent Delights Ch. 4

The Black Card

Author: xxwritemeastoryxx

Pairings: Elijah Mikaelson x OC

Word Count: 2.4K

Warnings: Talk of murder, that’s pretty much it in this one. The next few chapters will have more warnings. 

Author’s Note: Smaller chapter than the last two, but it’s definitely needed to help progress the storyline. I do hope you guys enjoy this one!

Feedback gives me life and motivation for future things. ♥

<< Chapter 3 || Series Masterlist || Chapter 5 >>

Elijah quickly walked into the conference room. "What do we have?" He asked as he looked over at the other officers in the room. 

He had gotten a call moments ago that he was needed down at the station asap. Without hesitating, he was there at the station in record time. All he knew was the information coming in was about Damon Salvatore. 

"We got word that Damon will be making a few calls today." One officer said, looking over at Elijah. "No doubt calling Rosa to confirm that she got the black card. "

"We've got a direct line to overhear the conversation, courtesy of Rebekah." Another officer added before handing Elijah a case file.

Elijah's eyes scanned the file. The only thing that was considered noteworthy was that Damon had already called Elena minutes before he arrived.  Closing the file, he tossed it on the nearest desk. 

"Alright, all ears in this room need to be open." He said as he addressed the room. "Whatever piece of information you think might be of use, write it down. If Damon is making this call to Rosa I want to know where she is in this city.  If I catch anyone that so much as yawns during this call, you'll have me to deal with."

A throat cleared, getting Elijah's attention. "Sir, he just made the call."

"Bring it up." Elijah said with a nod. 

The officer connected the call to the speakers in the room. The ringing played through the speakers, and it seemed as if everyone held their breath for a second. A moment later, the call connected. A distorted voice answered. 

"Are you fucking nuts, Damon?" The distorted voice asked, earning a chuckle from Damon. 

 "I take it you've picked up the kitten." His voice clear over the line. 

"Obviously. You know I don't mix business with personal affairs." The voice said, causing Elijah's eyebrow to rise.  "This is definitely crossing my line of mixing the two."

"Take note of that." Elijah said as he snapped his fingers, wanting someone to take down that as a note. If Rosa didn't entangle herself in personal affairs, there might not be a hit after all. At least Elijah was hopeful about that thought. "Rosa isn't happy with who is on the hit list." he noted. "She might actually have a heart."

"Come on, Rosa." Damon said, not missing a beat. "You know this type of kitten a lot more than anyone else. You can train it in your favor until you get it to Elena."

"You're missing the point-"

"I get the point, Rosa. I get how attached you used to be. But things changed from the last time we were all in the sandbox and I need this done."

That was enough for everyone in the room to know Rosa had known her target intimately. This hit wasn't just some random person that Damon needed to be handled. It was someone who they both knew. 

"Run a list of known associates to Damon." Elijah said, looking over at an officer. "Go far as back as you can. Including classmates. There's a connection in there somewhere."

"Don't expect me to do the works on this. I'm changing it to a drop and run."

The chuckle that came through the line from Damon was dark. "Just think of all the fun you'll have beforehand. You might hate dropping it off later but at least you'll enjoy it while you can. While dropping and running would be easier, you know you've been waiting a while for this."

"Fuck off, Damon."

"Has anyone ever found out what 'the works' meant?" Rebekah asked as she entered the room. 

"Still working on that." Elijah mumbled as he listened to the next part of the call.

"It seems I've struck a nerve."

"No shit. I've got half a mind to back out of this and return it to sender."

"But no one does it as good as you do. Come on, Rosa. You promised if I called, you'd answer. Plus it'd be a shame if I had to have a talk with V about this."

"I dare you Salvatore. It'd be an eye for an eye and there's only one of them that's currently a sitting duck. While a personal visit would be fun, I have friends in low places that would be willing to help a girl out."

"There it is." Elijah said with a small smirk. "Our list can be narrowed by anyone with a name starting with a V or even their nickname. That's where our ticket to Rosa will be."

"As much as Rosa has been a pain in my side since taking this position, I do enjoy her threats against the Salvatores." Rebekah said with a smirk pulling at her lips. "We'll need a list of anyone who has access to both Salvatore brothers."

Damon sighed. "Look, I want this taken care of, and you're the best I've got. It's a bad one to you, and I get that. But name your price, and I'd gladly pay it if you don't walk away from it. We don't need anyone else being involved."

There was a brief pause in the conversation. It was as if Rosa was debating on whether or not she wanted to do this. Both Elijah and Rebekah held their breath. They hoped it would be easier for them all if Rosa just opted out. 

"Triple the payment, upfront." The voice said a moment later. "And I'm cleared from your database."

"Done." 

"That is one hell of a payout." Elijah noted as he looked towards his sister. 

Rebekah nodded her head in agreement. "He's got enough to do just that."

"I'm serious, D. After this, I'm out. Our contract will be over and I expect you to find someone else."

"Deal. We won't discuss business at the dinner table anymore." 

Without another word from Rosa, the line went dead. 

A thought crossed Rebekah's mind as the call came to an end. "That payout is so she can completely disappear after she makes the hit."

"Looks like we'll just have to catch her before she does." Elijah said with a small smirk pulling at his lips.

_____

Adriana threw the phone across the room the moment she ended the call. She wanted nothing more than to strangle Damon for this black card. Damon knew all of her reasoning for why Adriana never wanted to mix business with personal dealings. And yet here she was. 

After seeing Elijah's name at the bottom of the tablet's screen, Adriana couldn't get herself to go to dinner. She couldn't face the girls knowing that Elijah was her intended target. She couldn't sit there and pretend that everything would be okay. That she wasn't having an internal panic attack because she was supposed to kill the only positive best friend she had. 

She hadn't even bothered to look at the complete file. The initial shock of it all forced her to shut down the tablet and put it away until now. She couldn't bring herself to look at any of the details just yet. Her heart wasn't ready for it. 

It wasn't ready to find the traces of her past inside of it. Or learn the new things Elijah had gone through while she was gone. But this was a part of the job that she usually would breeze through. And with every passing second, it was a reminder that she was about to cross a line. 

Part of her believed that she would already know a lot of the information contained in it. Even though it had been years since she last spent more than a few hours with Elijah, she still knew a lot of the details of their past.  And that alone is what made her the right person for the job, just as Damon mentioned. 

What she wasn't ready for at all were the plans Damon had forced on her. "The works" was a term that she and Damon used when Damon wanted Adriana to weasel her way into the target's life. Once she was in and they were least expecting, Adriana would make her kill. 

But this was Elijah Mikaelson. The very guy that she had known for the majority of her life. He was the one that could easily tell when there was something wrong with her. And now, she was going to have to put on a brave face if she went through with this. 

If

Now it was a matter if she could do it or not. She may have demanded triple the payment, but she didn't believe Damon would give it to her. But when Damon wanted something, he usually got it. What made it worse was Adriana never failed at her assignments. It's what made her the best on the market. 

Elijah Mikaelson was going to either break her streak or make it so she could disappear from her life as Rosa. Adriana just didn't know which one she wanted to go with yet. She knew from the moment she left home that her life as Adriana Vega was a distant memory. Her life as Rosa was about to end if she completed this job.  But it was the ghost of her past that was about to make or break everything. 

_____

"What happened at Dinner last night?" Bonnie asked as she handed Adriana a cup of coffee. 

Taking the cup, Adriana led her down the street. "I took a look at the travel arrangements after I left the bar last night." 

"And?" Bonnie asked as she walked right beside her. She brought the cup up to her lips, taking a drink. 

"I couldn't face the three of you after I found out who it was." She admitted. "This was never a life you were a part of-"

"That's bullshit." Bonnie said, cutting her off. "While we may not have known the life you were in, we were still a part of the same crowd."

Adriana's tongue clicked against the roof of her mouth. "Same crowd or not, I am stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to this hit. Damon crossed a line with this." Her words had barely been above a whisper. 

Bonnie sighed. "How close is this person?" 

"We were all in the sandbox together." Adriana said with a nod. "But I can't give you more than that." She shook her head. 

Bonnie nodded her head in understanding. "You obviously care for this person. I know this is going to be hard for you to take care of."

"Taking care of it is the easy part. It's getting my emotions in check that will be the hardest." Adriana's voice was emotionless as she spoke about it. 

"What happens if you don't go through with this?" Bonnie asked curiously. She probably shouldn't have asked, but she couldn't help it with how Adriana was looking at the moment. 

Adriana thought about her answer. All she could think about was Greta's voice in her mind at that moment. 

"You are not to fail." Greta said as she circled Adriana. 

Adriana stood tall as Greta took her steps around her. After all the training Greta had put her through, Adriana was the perfect killing machine. Everything Greta knew, she taught Adriana, and she made it better. 

"And if I fail?" Adriana asked the moment Greta was back in front of her. 

The woman took a few steps towards her until she was right in her face. "You may as well as turn that pistol on you before the buyer finds out. It's never pretty, Rosa. Cause once they get a hold of you, you're gonna wish you had done it yourself."

Sighing, Adriana brought the cup up to her lips and took a drink of the hot liquid. "It's either them or me. And I kind of like having the air in my lungs."

"Damon wouldn't-" Bonnie began, but Adriana stopped her. 

"This is a business." Adriana stopped in her tracks and looked over at Bonnie. "I knew what I was getting myself into the moment I left. Salvatore is no different from his father, and I've seen what is done to those who go against Damon's orders."

Adriana didn't miss the way Bonnie's eyes widened at her words. As much as Bonnie had been learning from Elena and Caroline, they were blind to what went on behind closed doors.  It is evident to Adriana that this wasn't the world Bonnie belonged in. 

"Are you going to go through with it?" Bonnie asked a moment later. 

Adriana shrugged. "We'll see how deep down the rabbit hole I go tonight."

_____

Marcel's eyes scanned the list of connections to Damon Salvatore that started with a V. The list still held a decent amount of people on it. Most of them had a record. While a part of the list was still locked away and a few others were six feet under, two names were sticking out to him the most. 

Shaking his head slightly, he sighed. The names were going to make things harder. Getting up from his seat and grabbing the paper, he headed over towards Rebekah and Elijah, who had been talking away about the case. 

"You guys might want to see this." He said as he approached them and held out the paper. 

Rebekah took the paper, and her eyes scanned the list. "Is this the known associates of Salvatore?"

"Yes." Marcel said with a nod. "Going back as far as the sandbox."

It was as her eyes landed on the same names Marcel had taken notice of that they widened. "That doesn't mean anything." 

Elijah took the list away from his sister as she spoke. He went through the list quickly, trying to figure out what they had been talking about. His heart dropped at the names. 

"We knew this." He said, shaking his head.  "Vega and Salvatore were always tied together."

"You heard Rosa, though." Marcel said, looking at Elijah. "Only one of them was a sitting duck."

"It might be time to go speak with them and see what they know." Rebekah said, placing her hand on her brother's shoulder. "Victor is the only one who is still out in the open, and he might just be the connection to Rosa we need."

Elijah sighed. "Adriana isn't going to like this."

“The Mikaelsons to come and question a Vega isn’t going to sit well with either of them.” Marcel added. 

“It might be better to give her a call as a heads up.” Rebekah said as she turned to grab her things.

Marcel grimaced. “She’ll still give us hell.”

Elijah shook his head. “Better to have before than after we get there.” He pulled his phone out and dialed her number. 

The phone rang a few times before Adriana answered. 

“Hello?”

“Adri, I hate to be the barer of bad news, but we are going to be heading over to speak with your father.” Elijah said as watched Marcel grab his things. 

“Is there a reason, Mikaelson?” Elijah hadn’t missed the venom in her words. 

“We believe he may be able to help us out in a case.” He wanted to give her as much information as possible without actually discussing the case. 

“What case? The same one you questioned Caroline for?”

“Yes.” He said with a nod, even though she couldn’t see it. “Just a couple questions. If you’d like someone to be there, we’ll wait.”

“If my father leaves in cuffs from the house after you are done asking your questions, you won’t like what comes next.”

A small smirk pulled at Elijah’s lips. “Is that a threat, Adri?”

Adriana’s chuckle came through the line before she hung up.

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[altairsarts]

Day seven: Free Day: Chosen Prompt: Letters

Mystery is smart. Nobody would expect anything less from him. He was the one who came up with the idea. (He might have also taken a little inspiration from a book and a movie.)

When Vivi came to him about her crush on Lewis, he told her to write letters to him, expressing how she felt, even if she never sent them. She did. And when she realized she had a crush on Arthur? The same thing.

She wrote letters.

Well, Mystery was apparently a really good confidant. Lewis and Arthur did the same, coming to Mystery and each time, he told them to write letters to each other and to her. And he kept their secrets, never telling any of them about the others, feeling it wasn't his place.

After they all got together, he may have mentioned that he told them all to write letters to each other.

Vivi wanted to read Arthur and Lewis’ letters to her. She was more than willing to let them read hers, the majority of the letters telling them about things she was interested in like shows and why she loved them.

Arthur was more hesitant. In some of his letters, he had put things he was too nervous to say to them out loud. He had also written down small things they’d said to him that he wanted to remember.

Lewis wrote down little things that he noticed that they did sometimes. He wrote his internal fanboyish responses to conversations and how they could've gone differently.

In the end though, all of their curiosity got the better of them and they exchanged the letters.

Despite Vivi writing the letters the longest, it was Arthur who had the most. Some of them singularly addressed to one of the other two, some of them addressed to both.

It was a rainy Sunday night in December when they all finally had the chance to sit down and read the letters together. Arthur kept his folded up in locked box, Vivi's were kept in an old jewelry box she kept in her closet, and Lewis’ were kept in a shoe box that he kept under his bed.

They all curled up on the couch under a blanket and started reading.

Dear Lewis,

Oh wow, it's strange to be able to write all this down somewhere. I guess if this helps I’ll have to thank Mystery. So, I guess I say all the things I want to say to you in these letters? I write ‘these’ as if I’m going to write more than one. Um, so, first I guess I want to say that I think I love you? It's hard to tell with the fact I’ve never loved anyone before and the fact that up until I realized I never thought I would like guys? Like, it's not a new concept to me by any means, I just never thought I would? I don't think I ever considered my romantic orientation actually. Huh.

So because you'll probably never read this I can spout whatever nonsense I want about whatever. So uh.. Yeah I guess the moment I realized I like you was probably yesterday when I caught you singing along to Helpless yesterday and you didn't realize I was watching until the song was almost over. You kind of just looked ethereal and I thought ‘I wanna kiss him’ and that was kinda what started this? I dunno.

I was kinda in shock and was really flustered actually and the way you got all embarrassed about it helped me realize that it wasn't just a passing thought and I actually really really wanna kiss you and love you and wow this is rambly. Like that was so cute oh my gosh. Anyway, I’ll have to remember that Hamilton is your favorite musical, maybe surprise you with one of the songs on your birthday. Also I’ll have to listen to it. The only reason I know the name of that song was because I googled the lyrics. Anyway, that's really all I can think of at the moment. I think I will continue writing these letters, they do help.

-Arthur

Lewis smiled at the letter and leaned his head on Arthur's shoulder, smiling and retrieved the next letter addressed to him. Vivi laughed at something the letter she was reading.

Dear Vivi and Arthur,

So I’ve known I love you both for a while now and I just talked to Mystery about it and he suggested this and it's a great idea, I don't know how I haven't thought of it before, what with me watching all those romance movies and shows but I’m writing now. Anyway, where should I start?

The beginning might be a good place. So I first realized I liked Vivi when you dragged us to that festival you wanted to go to. I knew it was probably a really bad idea since it was colder than usual and it was nearing cold and flu season and you said that you had been feeling more tired and less hungry than usual, which is normally a sign of being sick but you were so determined anyway. And then when you brought me that little flower crown I kinda just figured that you were who I wanted to spend my life with? I don't know if that's a good way to explain it but that's kinda what happened.

I realized I liked Arthur when we all drove down to that clearing in the woods together. You fell out if the van but ended up slipping into one of those ‘draw me like one of your French girls’ poses on accident and it was just so funny and you tried to play it off like you meant to do that and the level of sarcasm was the best and I knew I wanted you around for the rest of our lives, just like I did with Vivi.

So recently I noticed that we make up the pan flag with me being pink, Arthur yellow, and Vivi blue. It probably doesn't relate but this is my letter and you might not even ever read it so I’ll talk about the pan flag if I want to.

I’d love to talk on and on about the little things I notice about both of you but that’ll be in another letter since it's nearly eleven and I'm tired. Goodnight :)

~Lewis

Vivi grinned at the letter and then neatly put it back in the envelope she found it in, addressed to both her and Arthur and labeled ‘Number 1’, sliding it into Arthur's pile of unread letters while he read one of hers.

Dear Arthur,

Heyyyy so letters proclaiming everlasting love are more Lew’s thing so I have absolutely no idea how to do this. But yeah I just realized I love you (And Lewis too but this is your letter) a few hours ago when you did that whole party for my birthday and it was really fun. Actually now that I think about it the signs were all there I just never picked up on them. Huh, looks like none of us actually know what we're doing do we?

No we don't. But I can assure you it's totally, one hundred percent working! I mean, none of us are dead yet and that has to count for something. Anyway, I'm determined to tell you guys on a special occasion like Valentines Day or Christmas or some holiday or something because dramatics are fun. I freaking swear if either of you feel the same way and tell me or each other first… I need my moment people.

So there’s this new show I like that I think you’d be really interested in, if you haven't already watched it. It's Voltron: Legendary Defender and it's this kinda sci-fi thing but there's also magic which Lew would be into and overall I think that it would be fun to watch it all together. Make a night out of it whenever a new season is released, sit up with popcorn and snacks watching it.

There's also this band I’ve started liking recently. I can't remember their name for the life of me though. I’ll have to look it up later.

Oh maybe I’ll tell you through songs. Oh now I have ideas. I’m gonna go write them all before I forget.

-Vivi

Occasionally, one of them would go ‘awww’ or lean closer to the person whose letter they were reading, or laugh at something that was written.

You just caught me singing to Helpless. And I was singing about you two. Oh gosh, I hope you didn't notice. Or maybe I hope you did? I mean notice about me singing about you? Ah I don't make sense right now.

I NEARLY TOLD YOU I LIKED YOU. OVER A GAY JOKE. THIS WAS NOT THE PLAN.

Update: the band’s name was Panic! At The Disco. Was the exclamation point necessary? Probably not but it adds to the aesthetic.

I only just noticed how your hair smells like the ocean. Vivi is everything you do blue?

Arthur, I love you but you have no idea how to make cinnamon rolls. I think you used up all of my sugar yesterday in your attempts. I swear that is the very first thing I'm teaching you to do if you ever let me teach you how to bake.

Holy heck Lewis how do you get your hair so fluffy and soft? Like I was really tempted to play with it and braid it during the movie but I didn't know whether or not you’d be okay with that?

I didn't think you remembered that road to the little cove I brought you to. But apparently you did and put up little fairy lights all over. I’m not sure how you managed to power those but I’m impressed.

I’m starting to think that you might know about my crush and have taken it upon yourself to let me know you know in the absolute slowest and most romantic way possible. Like last night when you asked me to dance with you.

So last night at the campfire when you two caught me staring? Yes I was very much so staring because you're both pretty.

Soon all three of them had read each and every letter that had been addressed to them.

“That was nice,” Vivi grinned.

“It was. I’m glad I kept those letters,” Arthur agreed.

Lewis hummed. “I would've still found a way to convey all of that out loud given time.”

“Yeah but this way we get to see your immediate reaction. It's nice,” Arthur said.

“Also I would like to say something for the record,” Vivi started.

The other two hummed and allowed her to continue. “Yes, everything I do has to be blue.”

Arthur laughed at her response to the passing comment.

“So you listened to the entire Hamilton soundtrack because you knew I liked it?” Lewis asked.

“Yeah, pretty much. You’re always doing nice things for me, so,” Arthur trailed off.

They discussed their letters a while longer until Vivi eventually fell asleep during a lull in the conversation.

Despite still being on the couch, they all happily fell asleep right there. In the morning, they woke up to the soft music that had been playing turned off and an extra blanket thrown over them.

Mystery is a very good not-dog.

~~~~~

So! Last post of the week wow. I'm kinda sad, writing all these and drawing them was fun. Speaking of drawing, I did some sketches for this story! So to address a few things in this story. Yes, Mystery got the idea from "To All The Boys I've Loved Before". I got the idea from myself, when I was crushing hard on my now-girlfriend, I wrote a few letters to her. Some of the things written in here were inspired by the things I would've wanted to say to her. Also, I had Vivi say 'a new show' in reference to Voltron even though it literally ended today is because these letters are supposed to be old, the majority of my stories take place after the cave so the first letters were written before the incident and they're reading them after.

I also had different fonts for their handwriting. (This was originally written on google docs) Vivi's was indie flower, Arthur's was caveat, and Lewis' was corsiva. I wanted Vivi's writing to be a bit messier because her hands are trying to keep up with her brain which is going 100 mph, but google docs didn't have anything that fit that really, so I settled.

[musictatertot]

Walking a mile in their shoes (Yang)

A previous post about Ruby and her character development up until the episode "So That's How it is" has lead to this! Yang is absolutely fascinating!

Let me know if you guys noticed anything I missed or if you think I have misunderstood/misinterpreted something (highly likely).

Yang Xiao Long

Out of every character in the show right now, Yang worries me the most. Her character development has been spot on and completely realistic, but not particularly in a good way. At least, not for the situation she is in.

Yang has been through some shit. Not even just recently, but her whole life. The feeling of abandonment that has followed her her whole life has never really gone away. In fact, it's only grown stronger.

In the first three volumes Yang was bullheaded, stubborn, energetic, and a large positive influence on her team. She had always been Ruby's cheerleader, pushing her to be more confident in herself and go for the gold! She was the main support pillar of Blake, working closely as her partner to make her feel safe and listened to. Those first three volumes we didn't really see many interaction between her and Weiss, but just because you aren't actively working to help someone doesn't mean you are not helping at all. Weiss is from a very tense, closed door kind of home. Yang, for all intents and purposes, was the Sparta kick to all closed doors she had never known was possible. Watching someone with that kind of confidence can be extremely inspiring, and I believe that might have been a strong portion of the respect the two clearly had for each other throughout those first three volumes, as shown in the two vs. two battle in the tournament.

Then Beacon fell and everything went wrong. Cinder was right to have them take out Yang the way they did (those rat bastards. I still love them as character portrayals but damn them!). Yang was the unshakeable foundation. She held absolute belief in herself because she had worked her damned hardest to be able to feel that way. She made sure her team, her family, saw her as someone they could depend on. Someone who was strong enough, and good enough, to defeat anything in their way.

Mercury and Emerald took that from her. I know we all place pretty much all of the blame for Yang's emotional turmoil right now on Adam (and rightfully so that dick) but I don't think we should forget that directly before that she had already been shaken down to her core beliefs. For a moment there, her whole team had been against her. Not aggressively, no, but it was clear that they were horrified by her actions (false as they were but no one had known that yet).

Suddenly her role was gone. Ruby looked at her as though she were the one that needed supporting. Blake, for a heart wrenching moment, believed she could become a cruel person. And Weiss...

Weiss actually surprised me. For all of her troubles with Ruby and Blake before I had expected at least a small confrontational remark. Nothing major, she had clearly already grown and opened up some by that point, perhaps just asking her why she did it. Instead she was completely supportive of Yang, immediately believing that she had a reason for what she had done and that the reason was valid. I knew she had grown but at this moment I realized how much. Good job Weiss.

I think that was a strong starting point for the supportive relationship (romantic or platonic, I just love the interactions and really, really want to see more so you can choose for yourselves) that they begin to develop in the fifth volume.

Weiss withstanding, Yang was still at a loss. Then she hears about her mother from Qrow. I won't say it was a wrong call, I don't have enough experience with either of their emotional states to say if it would have been better to remain silent or not, but it is factually accurate to say that Yang was in a very emotionally vulnerable state when she got the news.

Mentally vulnerable, mentions of absent mother thus bringing a strong reminder of those heavy abandonment feelings, Beacon falling, loosing an arm (another huge part of who she is) and then Blake leaves.

If the tournament had gone well, or at least Yang had been left alone, I feel like Yang would have reacted a bit differently about Blake's disappearance. She still would have been upset, absolutely, but the strong stab of betrayal she had felt would have been lessened. At least, I believe so. Too much had happened, she couldn't think about why Blake had left. Only that she had.

Thoughts of abandonment had already been on her mind. The situation exacerbated that and tore what little mental defenses she had left down. Losing her arm was, no doubt, an extreme blow to her core. The mental manipulation just added twice the impact.

(I actually think she should be equally, or maybe even more so in some cases, vengeful towards Emerald and Mercury, but I can see how the actual physical trauma has overwritten what they did in her mind a fair bit)

As such, I was supremely impressed when she was able to pull herself up again, and in such short time too! I know it was months covered in the fourth volume, but things like that can take up to years to even to begin making strong progress in. She wasn't completely stable, of course not, something like that doesn't just go away (and CRWBY you are gosh darn amazing for keeping that in mind you loveable masterminds) as shown by her shaking hand in tense situations and outbursts of anger whenever she is questioned but she was taking strong steps forward. She was trying, and really, that's all I wanted for her.

Honestly, I think at this point she has genuinely moved on from the trauma of what Adam has done to her (not the feelings they inflicted, but the trauma of it), taking that pain to make herself stronger, but she is still struggling immensely with what Mercury and Emerald did to her. This is especially worse because I don't think she even realizes that there is a problem that needs to be addressed (Jinn, can we please have some more questions please? We need a therapy circle, stat).

There are a lot of different ways to process trauma. It all depends on the person and what works for them! For the trauma with Adam Yang has turned her pain and fear into vengeance and anger again. Awesome for her, she's moving forwards! Unfortunately, by not paying attention to the mental attacks she suffered she is using those same tactics against those without fully being aware. In volume five it was not quite as noticeable, a few moments here and there (shouting at Ruby and Weiss, losing her cool when asking about her mother being turned into a raven), but I especially noticed it in her character songs. Especially "Ignite".

Yang's songs have always been about self assuredness, fighting, and unwavering confidence. These were still there, and I loved it.

There was also a lot more... aggression. "I Burn" as well as "Armed and Ready" were about fighting and fighting back against an oppressive force. "Ignite" was a bit more brutal. Slowly but surely her actions are taking on more violent means. She has always been a fighter, so violence is par for the course, but the line in particular in "Ignite" that caught my attention was "Didn't mother warn you, now she's going to mourn you". Several other lines follow this thread and I can clearly see that her anger and bloodlust is on the rise.

Not necessarily a bad thing, when fighting enemies. Not a great thing when it is directed at the people closest to you as well.

I adore Yang, but I am growing increasingly worried about her more constant bouts of anger. They are valid reasons for anger, but she is losing the restraint she once had. My main case in point is when her, alongside Weiss and Blake, turned their weapons on Qrow.

Weiss and Blake I can understand. They don't know Qrow. All they know is that he is extremely loyal to Ozpin so of course they would be wary of him approaching Ruby when she stands against him.

Yang, however, knows better. She's known Qrow even longer than Ruby, and his actions were clearly pacifying. Standing between him and Ruby, sure. Letting him know you stand with her, even if he disagrees. Pointing her weapon at him, that's too much. That is a reaction without thought, which is becoming more common.

I also find Yang acting more and more like, well, a rebellious teenager. Teenagers go through a hormonal period where it is literally almost impossible to see things from a point of view different from their own, particularly when they are upset. Everyone has it at different times in their lives ranging from preteens to even their early twenties, but it is still a process of growth. It is very egocentric, very normal, and a very bad time for it.

Yang has no patience anymore. She is acting hypocritically more and more often. Being angry at Ozpin for hiding things is natural, and I expected it. But the amount of anger she held and self righteousness she showed was at odds with her own secrets regarding Raven. Protecting her mother is something I empathize with, but Raven is also a Maiden. If you're going to get mad at someone for hiding things about the fight you are in, you should be aware enough that you are doing the same. She is not; this the teenage egocentrism.

Even during Jinn's story about Ozpin's past, Yang's expressions were more often anger than anything else. And not really anger at anyone other that Ozpin. She can not break herself from her original thoughts that he can not be trusted, regardless of his reasons.

I am especially worried about her thoughts on her mother now. Because she did not trust a word her mother said, but as it turns out not everything she had said was a lie. This, almost scarily often, had the ever present thought of "what else was she right about". Now I am worried that her mind will make that emotional leap of distrusting Ozpin so much that she believed everything her mother said. She still is angry and hateful for the abondment but now there is a valid reason for it. Her mother abandoned her for a reason, and that reason is currently locked away inside a lost farmer boy.

Im hoping Weiss or Ruby is able to get through to her. I wish it could be Blake, but with the previous abandonment and Yang's feelings about it I don't think she will really be willing to listen to what Blake has to say while her emotions are still high. Ruby has a very special connection to her and has the best luck of making her step back, but I think Weiss has the best chance of making her reflect. Speaking from experience it is kind of hard to take when you get a younger sibling's criticism for you choices. It's both a matter of pride and a matter of you, being the oldest, are supposed to be taking care of them and showing them the best way. I hope it will be Ruby who makes her take a step back, Weiss who makes her reflect, and Blake who listens and supports thus bridging the gap between them and restoring that trusting relationship Yang desperately needs.

I love Yang. I hope she looks in and works to help herself soon, before she does something she will regret.

[labime]

Got ended after season 7 although I would even accept the first two eps of season 8 but after it ? Nope. The characters only looked the same and had the same names nothing more and were not the characters we have been known for so long. And Jonerys? A strong fucking unit they can't destroy. Because it simply wasn't them, like all the other characters.

That episode was ridiculous. I expected mediocrity and yet I was surprised by the levels displayed in what was supposed the be the epic ending to a high fantasy show with complex lore, politics and characters. The plot was—similarly to almost every other episodes—contrived and the favoritism of the creators for some characters was blatant.

The North got its independence even though with Bran being a Stark it really wasn’t needed—or maybe Sansa didn’t trust him to have their best interests in mind? And if that was the case then why not at least mention it?—and yet a kingdom like Dorne which has a history of independence and refusal to submit made no comments on that topic and Yara apparently forgot Daenerys had granted her independence after she bargained to be the queen of her people. Bran got to be the King of six kingdoms and granted another to his sister and no one complained about that despite the recent history and characterization that would indicate the opposite. How convenient.

The scenes were rushed. It was one storyline trampling over another and another. The timeline was unclear too. Even if it was clear there had been a timeskip after Jon killed Daenerys, we don’t know long it had been, or what the aftermath of Daenerys’ murder was. It was simply ignored in favor of jumping to the next plot point with no explanation.

Grey Worm and Yara were both out of character and apparently incapable of standing up against the Starks. Arya made some threat against Yara who was, of course, promptly put into her place and Grey Worm accepted Jon’s ‘punishment’ too easily. We didn’t even get to see the khalasar react to Daenerys’ death, either, and for two seasons now they were used solely for battle scenes and treated as cannon fodder by the writers. If I considered the Dothraki too stereotypical and one-dimensional before it’s nothing compared to this one last season where they have no opinions or reactions or dialogue and the little we know of their culture has been ignored.

The only thing that was worse than the characterization was the awful dialogue. I couldn’t take anyone seriously. I howled when they made Bronn, of all people, master of coin, like he wasn’t a self-serving mercenary with no loyalty who was fine with killing anyone—including babies—for an acceptable price and needed Tyrion to explain to him how basic transactions worked in the earlier seasons when borrowing money.

For people who have bend over backward in order to avoid cliches, Sam writing about the wars and calling it ‘a song of ice and fire’ was very predictable. I hated Sansa behavior towards her uncle and I think that it was a disrespect to her book counterpart, who values courtesy and would not insult her own family in a public meeting with other high lords. Apparently, Tyrion got the be hand of the king once again even after he betrayed on many occasions the last monarch he served.

No closure for Arya and Gendry’s relationship that we’re supposed to consider as a fling and nothing more. No consequences for Sansa breaking a sacred oath. No valid reasoning is given to the formation of the Night Watch. No one addressed the fact that a few episodes ago Bran affirmed he could not have a title or a hold a land.

Arya’s ending was too vague, and so was Grey Worm’s. Yara was not even a minor character that season and the narrative didn’t delve into her story despite her being a major player. Jon ended up at the same place he started with years of characterization rendered unimportant by that last ‘twist’. Being a queenslayer, oathbreaker, and kinslayer was apparently too futile for Jon’s characterization—that gravitates around honor and principles—to be given a proper discussion. I honestly think him dying killed by Drogon would have been more fitting and also more logical considering he’d just killed Drogon’s own mother. Brienne was reduced to propping Jaime’s arc—or lack of arc—and the focus was not on her at all in the last episode of the show in which she was regular for years. Daenerys’ own dead was seen through another character’s perspective and the writers failed to provide a clear reason for her descent into madness; if we are to believe Tyrion’s explanation of her philosophy having corrupted her to the point of extremism since she killed slave masters and men who would ‘have done worse to her’—which is a delicate euphemism for gang rape, forced bestiality, and death—then there was no reason at all for him to join her in the first place. He already knew all of that after all.

Everything was disappointing and after that, I think it will take a long time before I will be able to rewatch this show and I know for sure I won’t watch the spin-offs.

[entamewitchlulu]

Besides the resentment cause by some people, what is your current opinion on Vrains? Personally overall I like it but I just wish Yusaku wasn't so perfect and people would stop staying this is best thing in yugioh ever when we're only 10 eps in.

welllllll okay, at the risk of sounding kinda bitchy….I’m not particularly enjoying it so far. 

Don’t get me wrong, I like it!  About as much as any other Yu-Gi-Oh series (except for Arc V which is…always going to be on a different level for me for personal reasons.  But I digress).

Resentment towards the fanbase and it’s antics aside, the show itself is…just a little lackluster for me.  It’s kind of why I stopped doing those episode by episode reviews, because I didn’t want to steal anyone’s thunder with my own lack of enthusiasm.

But…anyway.  Let me try to quantify my feelings more specifically; i’ll put it under a cut cause it might be a bit long.

ALSO, please bear in mind that I’m…actually two episodes behind;;;;  So some of the things I complain about may or may not have been addressed in those two episodes, I don’t know. (but then, there’s the main problem right there…I haven’t felt an urge to watch them….anyway.)

first…the setting.  I just…don’t feel like it’s been utilized to it’s fullest extent.  Virtual reality is cool!!!  It’s super cool!!  But….but VRAINS just looks like….regular space.  Regular space with the occasional data stream/storm to hoverboard through.  It’s not….very visually interesting.  Everything about it is pretty subdued, realistic, and with a darker, duller palette, which are not my favorite aesthetics.  Like, it’s virtual reality, man!!!  Show me beautiful ridiculously spread out environments like mountain ranges and meadows and forests, not just…the same old cityscapes that we see in the real world.  VRAINS and the real world do not look visually distinct, at all.  If not for the avatars, I would not know when the characters were in one world or the other, and I fail to see the necessity of the VRAINS system at all.  Why is it important?  Why is it more important that the duels take place on that stage rather than anywhere else?

The visuals of data storm duels just…aren’t very interesting to me, either.  They’re getting repetitive, and I’m already sick of seeing the Link Summon animation because it’s so LONG.  and what with the backgrounds being so boring, too, i just…I want them to have to zip around obstacles and shit, instead of just zooming down a freeway and then occasionally getting sucked into a data storm, where Yusaku does the exact same animation for his skill as always. (like man there is so much recycled animation in this series, his transformation sequence, the Link Summon sequences, the Storm Access skill…no wonder the animation is so good and consistence, they only have to animate new footage for about half the episode)

Second, the characters so far.  I just…I don’t feel much of a connection to them.  As far as Yusaku goes, I do like him, and I’ll get into the parts that I do like about him later in this response, but as far as he goes, I feel like we’re watching him from the outside, rather than actually getting into his head.  We’re not getting much, if any, of his internal monologue.  I feel as though we’re being told how he feels instead of being shown how he feels.  There’s nothing wrong with a stoic character!!  Absolutely nothing wrong with that at all, I mean, I adore Yusei.  What I don’t like is a stoic character who’s….just stoic.  Yusaku is just a little too perfect so far; he never gets tripped up by anything, even when it looked like Blue Angel had him on the ropes, it turned out he had been planning on the entire situation from the beginning.  Like…I’m getting BBC Sherlock vibes out of him at the moment, and I…I don’t like it.  Let me see Yusaku fail.  Let me see Yusaku get upset when he does.  Let me see him feeling, let me see his flaws, besides his single-minded focus on revenge.

I found Go somewhat lackluster as well; his aesthetic didn’t appeal to me, and he just………what about him was “”entertainment dueling”” ?  Maybe once he joins the crew and interacts I’ll enjoy him more but I really can’t even say much about him because I don’t feel like I learned anything about him.

And as for Aoi…..let me preface this with the fact that she is by and large my favorite character in the series so far.  I think she does the subdued personality better than Yusaku does so far, but i think it helps that we have the duality of her Blue Angel persona to really give her some depth to her conflicted personality and nature.  But besides that…?  She’s been treated very poorly so far.  They set her up as a very powerful and important duelist, which is great! ….but then they immediately had her possessed by the bad guys and sent her into a coma.

and….as an aside, i was….uncomfortable with the long, drawn out scene where she was fighting her possession.  There was really…no actual reason for that whole scene of her losing her wings and falling, like…what exactly was happening there????  And just the drawn out sequence of her just sitting here, screaming, without seeing her internal struggle–like, was she actually fighting the virus?  if so, instead of seeing her losing her wings and falling, I would have liked to see her shouting at the virus in her head and struggling with it.  Instead we just got….almost five minutes of her just screaming in pain and it almost felt like torture porn to me.  I would have accepted the losing her wings scene if we had seen some kind of internal monologue about her feeling like she was failing her desire/purpose to prove herself to her brother, and that was why she felt like she was losing her wings, but…instead it was just, straight up screaming in pain.

don’t get me wrong, i loooove seeing characters get broken down, i just like to feel like there’s a character point to it instead of just seeing it to see it

and finally……the plot.  A lot of people have hailed this as the “first yugioh series to focus on plot” but i would counter with….exposition is not plot.  What we have gotten is not plot so much as it is info-dumping.  And there’s nothing wrong with that, not at all.  I just…it rubs me the wrong way to call it “”plot”” because so far, the plot is still developing.  You can’t act like they dumped all of it into the beginning, and you can’t act like a series not doing the same thing is somehow “not plot.”  Plot is the overarching storyline; what we have right now is not plot it’s just…….vague info dumping that makes me feel like i know less than if they hadn’t told me anything at all.  A lot of that info-dumping has been done in an incredibly stilted manner imo, also.  Like Akira talking to Bishop, and he explained things out loud to Bishop that….both of them would have already known.  He was just saying it for the sake of the audience.  That’s…imo that’s a poor way to explain backstory.  It’s telling instead of showing, instead of letting the plot simmer up through the actual story and peek through the cracks, slowly drawing you into the world and slowly getting you involved.  Nope just…just dumps it on ya.  Here it is.  Here’s the back story.

honestly, let me clarify that previous complaint with this: I am 100% a character over plot person.  Give me characters that I love and I will ride through any plot, no matter how convoluted or poorly written.  I am of the firm belief that if you have well-written characters who interact in interesting ways, the plot will fall into place behind them.  My first rule of thumb when writing is, if you have a scene with only one person, do whatever you can to add at least second person for them to play off against.

So far….?  VRAINS has not wowed me with its characters interactions.  And I think the plot is suffering for it.  I don’t know these characters.  I don’t know how they feel about each other.  The majority of interaction comes from them zipping around from a distance on the field, and they don’t really talk…they mostly talk to themselves about what the other person is doing, and then do some loud trash talking that isn’t real interaction.  The closest VRAINS has gotten so far to getting the kind of interaction I want to see is in the intro ep for Blue Angel, where Yusaku had some good interaction with Ignis and Kusanagi, and then with Naoki and Aoi.

I think it’s telling that the only parts of the show that I’ve really, really enjoyed so far are the above mentioned instances.  Not the duels, not the backstory, not the evil dudes plotting, not the new cards or summoning types, not even the fucking virtual reality gimmick.  The only parts I’ve actually really, really loved watching are the parts where Yusaku is put on the spot and expected to awkwardly interact with things that have nothing to do with his overall mission.

And i think that’s a good segway into what I do like about VRAINS so far.  First, what little we DO have of Yusaku, I do like more than i dislike.  I think he’s cute, and like I said before, during those brief moments of awkwardness he had with Ignis/Kusanagi’s teasing and with Naoki strongarming him into the duel club, i loved a lot.  That is what i want to see more out of him.  I want to see him put on the spot, dragged out of his comfort zone, forced to see things from outside his tunnel vision.  I do love his ticks, like his “three reasons” thing, I think that’s actually a very interesting master gesture for him that implies an extra depth that i hope will be explored later.

I like Ignis, and I like his relationship with Yusaku.  I like that it’s almost a reverse Yuma/Astral thing.  I love how expressive Ignis is even though he’s just an eye. 

The animation is good!  My complaint about recycled animation aside, the animation actually is v good, the CGI bits aren’t too bad, definitely improved since their first usage in BBT.  The characters are nicely articulated and expressive in their movements.  My complaints about the backgrounds and sameness aside, this is a style that would become more than just beautiful if and when it decides to expand from it’s current repertoire of backgrounds.

And the parts of the plot that they haven’t explained?  I am fascinated by that.  TBH I could care less about the AI subplot, but the flashback of tiny Yusaku getting dragged out of a house in a blanket as though there was some kind of fire?  That is interesting to me, because they left questions unanswered, and didn’t throw any exposition at me for it yet.  That i am looking forward to seeing explored and explained and threaded through the story.

And as for what I’m looking forward to: I’m looking forward to Yusaku getting a squad.  That’s basically it.  I think my opinion of the show will increase tenfold once Yusaku has his friend group.  Like I said, I’m a character person.  I want characters over plot.  Once Yusaku has his team put together, I think I’ll be much more engaged.

So my overall thoughts, if somehow you read through that entire monstrosity of a response?  I don’t hate it, but I’m not currently very engaged.  This isn’t meant to be a comparison, but coming off of the high of Arc V, which is very important to me for personal reasons, it’s harder for me to become engaged in the new story when it doesn’t hit my buttons for the things I generally like in media.

I’m still definitely in it for the long haul, I’ll be watching the entire series no matter what, and I expect to enjoy it, but I don’t expect it to overtake any of the other yugioh series in terms of my overall love and interest in it.

And I apologize sincerely if this wasn’t the kind of thing you wanted to hear…I really do wish that I enjoyed it more, and I’m glad for all the people who are enjoying it.  Please don’t let my own disengagement take the wind out of your sails.