#have they been raiding orphanages ??!?!?

[nyaskitten]

Why does the FSM family love taking in orphans and adopting/training them??? FSM and Nineko, Wu and Morro, Garmadon and Harumi, and Lloyd and Arin?? Like, sirs what??

[randomnameless]

I wouldn’t call it a genocide.

However, Nopes really made me reevaluate FE16!Claude and tbh, after playing VW and discoursing for, uh, 4 years, I still don’t think I have a solid grasp on what Claude was supposed to be in FE16, as a character.

After Nopes, all the kind of “uhhh” moments I found in FE16/VW really, hit home : Claude has a certain agenda he sometimes reveals, and what I used to find fascinating in FE16 about the unreliable narrators sort of apply - sort of - here, in the end, do we learn what is Claude’s goal? When is he straight out saying it, without metaphors or sweetening it to make sure his allies would support it?

There is this “small” tidbit here that really made me pause a bit after finishing VW :

A rising flame was alight as the flow of time carved a new history for Fódlan.

The ambitions of the Fell King Nemesis were crushed, averting what could have been the greatest crisis in the history of Fódlan. After five and a half years of war, a new age was set to begin.

Country, faith, history... All that had once formed the order of the world was wiped clean. The heroes whose very hands saved Fódlan from a dark fate commenced with the building of a new society.

The leaders of this new, unified Fódlan began their walk down a seemingly endless path—one towards a world that would cherish differences in race and belief, one where all life would be valued equally.

Those leaders clung to the hope that their path would not end with Fódlan, that it would someday span the seas to Dagda, and beyond the Throat to Almyra...

(i don’t have the text in the jp version it’s not in the datamine, maybe it’s a lolcalisation goof?)

How the crap can a world cherish differences in race and belief if faith is wiped clean??

Has Claude learnt anything about the CoS and reconsidered his initial PoV?

There is also this portion just before going to fight Z-Nemesis :

Let's defeat this dusty old King of Liberation and put an end to this history of lies.

Once we've done that, there'll be nothing holding us back. A new and brighter age will begin.

Claude, at this point, pretty much learnt from Rhea why those lies were born, and how the only “history full of lies” is the Church’s history, starting with Sothis, Nabateans being once a thing, Relics, crusts and what not.

Claude, who hides his Almyran heritage to protect himself from people who would, supposedly, bring him harm because of said heritage, wants to put an end to... Rhea’s lie to hide her Nabatean heritage because people slaughtered her race because of said heritage?

“There’ll be nothing holding us back” of course, Rhea conveniently dies at the end of this route (and off-screen because that’s how Fodlan rolls). But what was Claude meaning when he said “put an end to this history of lies”, was he thinking of revealing the Truth about Nabateans and Relics to the world at large ?

Would Rhea really have been okay with him revealing to the world at large that you can slaughter any green haired pointy eared being you find to get a shiny weapon and magical superpowers?

We don’t even need to think about this question, because Rhea doesn’t survive and the other Nabateans are ignored by the plot but it’s still fascinating to think about* : Claude wants to reveal everything about the Church or not? Putting an end to the history of lies means revealing the truth, or erasing history?

And yet, even if this Rhea’s convenient death was already alluded to in the Billy question about a world without Rhea - it was dealt with Claude asking Billy to take Rhea’s mantle and role which is important to Fodlan...

But even earlier, there is this convo :

But be honest. You're having a hard time adjusting to your new role, aren't you?

You weren't even a follower of Seiros to begin with, and somehow you've ended up as a representative of the church.

I realize that you might feel guilty about deceiving the believers for our cause...

But this is just what the archbishop wanted, and she's the highest authority in the church.

Of course Billy in FE16 is TV Static, so they can’t tell Claude whether his assumptions are right, or bonkers. But... B!Billy (even if FEH’s canonicity is, uh, shaky) pops up singing the songs of the Nabateans, L!Billys are guides and accepted their role of a prophet, SS!Billy accepts Rhea’s mantle even if they are a bit lost....

So why is Claude going all “woe is you” here, making assumptions about Billy’s wishes and thoughts about their new role as the leader of the Church?

Actually, I'd like for you to come with me, Teach. To help negotiate with the lords.

They're followers of the Church of Seiros, after all. It'll make things easier if we have someone there to speak on Rhea's behalf.

TFW Seteth - per the SS narrative, is used to “negotiate” and “deal” with randoms and Lords to gather troops... 

But here, Claude thinks Billy, as the appointed successor of Rhea, will make “negotiations easier” because... those Lords follow the CoS, and he believes the word of Rhea’s successor has enough weight to “convince” people? Is he suggesting they are mindless and need the Church to tell them to agree to whatever - because they are religious - or thinks Billy will support him and Billy’s presence (even if they repeat Claude’s words) will have more weight to those Lords because they are religious?

No wonder why Seteth couldn’t have fit that role...

Oh and there was tidbit too which I found really... odd

Good work, Hilda! You didn't do much manual labor, but you managed to rope the knights into helping us restore the monastery.

Claude wants to restore the Monastery to use it as a base of operations, but why the fuck is he thanking Hilda here? When she went “ Yeah! This is an important location for the church. To think you've left it in such a state!” earlier which is very, hm, insulting and grating, it’s not like they were kicked out of their base of operation after Supreme Leader’s visit, scattered everywhere, tried to survive and to find their leader - especially coming from Miss “1181 :  Goes back home to a wealth of free time” ????

So, after playing VW, can we say Claude has grown from his initial assumptions on the CoS and Rhea? Has he learnt anything? About the Church? Let’s check his S Support - avatar games are built like that, the pinnacle of character development for the Lords is often in the S Support

You're the successor Rhea appointed, aren't you? And now you're also the hero who saved Fódlan.

All those weak people who have nothing to cling to but their goddess... They'll rely on you just like they used to rely on Rhea.

You'll be a leader all who are struggling to survive in war-torn lands can look up to.

It’s pretty mild-positive here, even if the “nothing to cling to but their goddess” feels weird, just like the “Billy and Rhea’s role was to be something people could cling to”, but that will devolve in discussions about faith and it’s too serious for this blog.

And I...I want a ruler who can lay down a new set of values for the people. Values that don't exclude anyone for being different.

...

The fuck -

Rhea told you her story, how she tried to set some values through her book “be kind to each other” “don’t abuse the power of crests and relics bcs plz don’t kill me or my relatives” and it ended with Supreme Leader.

Claude is implying the values that “don’t exclude anyone for being different” are new, thus didn’t exist yet in Fodlan? Even if that was in Rhea’s book? And it was what the Central Church was all about - like getting rid of the xeno western church?

So what has Claude learnt at the end of his journey? Did his POV about the CoS change?

Hmm...

From :

The people of Fódlan only know a small part of the world. Their prejudices are born because they don't know what lies beyond their borders.

They totes didnt’ build the Throat because they saw what was “beyond their borders” and saw some people trying to invade them. Nope. They felt like building a fort. And we totally don’t learn what the Almyran army - who hails from “beyond the border” does to Fodlan in Nopes. 

To :

The majority of people in Fódlan believe in the Seiros faith that Rhea preaches.  That's why they accept the noble system as if it were the only option, and refuse to associate with those who believe in anything else. That closed-minded philosophy is the reason why Fódlan's Throat is locked tight. But if you remove the archbishop who strictly advocates that doctrine, that world view is no longer an absolute. There's room for free thought.  The leadership of the church would undoubtedly fall to you, and you would hold the power to change the shape of the faith. Of the world.  Then, for the first time, people would truly be free to think for themselves. To decide what's right, and what's wrong.

There is an odor of sulfur here...

anyways, it’s always funny to see Claude pretending the CoS is the reason why the people of Fodlan “accept” the “noble system” - maybe the CoS also has some reach in Brigid and Almyra to make them accept a noble system? Claude would know after all, he is a Prince of Almyra - and Rhea’s doctrine being the reason why the Throat is locked, and also the reason why the people don’t think by themselves (compare with the earlier point I tried to make about Billy being used as a figure head of the church, which would of course make the religious people nod to everything they say because they are religious and have no free will, having to follow the head of the church) and don’t decide what is right from what is wrong.**

Ending with :

And I...I want a ruler who can lay down a new set of values for the people. Values that don't exclude anyone for being different.

Well.

Claude’s journey starts from someone who genuinely thinks the CoS as it exists under Rhea’s tenure controls people and is the reason they can’t think and are close minded to... someone who, after learning the truth about the Church and its creation born from a story of intolerance***, still thinks it upheld values like “treating differently people who are different is A-ok!” and its subsequent faith should be “wiped clean”.

...

At least he thinks the concept of a Church can be useful - under Billy though - to help the people who might need it, but the current CoS and Rhea ?

Meh. Bleh. Watermelon tier.

Tl; Dr : Claude, even in FE16 and after VW, still thought Rhea was the reason why Fodlan was xenophobic, close minded, relied on the noble system, had too much turnips served at the monastery, etc etc.

If Clout is more ignorant than Claude, they still come to the same conclusion : Rhea is the reason why the Fodlan he wants cannot happen, and he has put as many thoughts about it as Supreme Leader did about her “new MAGA muhritocracy version” Fodlan.

In a way I find VW even more infuriating, because he had time to grow at the academy (even if he discovers water is wet in VW about Petra and Dedue existing), he meets Macuil and hears Rhea’s infodump - so his conclusion doesn’t make any sense, it’s as if you give that boy all ingredients to bake the best flan ever, and he gives you a hard boiled egg instead (in Golden Shower he only had an egg and some parsley).

----

*which is rich, considering he can marry Flayn, but the implications of “by the way I erased your Aunt and your Grandmother’s faith and I might have told the world by skinning you they will have shiny weapons, but we still marry and don’t tell your dad who can also be skinned for parts” are swept under a rug for a “eloped without telling the dad” jokes. Very funny. Ha.Ha.Ha.

It’s almost as funny as asking them to fight under what used to be Nemesis’s banner !

** Hilda’s paralogue is just like Bernie on a pyre event, it was a programming error in the game, left by the beta testing team. I mean, how could you explain Claude’s mutism in that map - which is native to his route - when he takes time to defend Almyra’s reputation in the Shamir paralogue? Rhea and her CoS are the reason why the people of Fodlan don’t like Almyra, Almyra never did anything wrong to them (or maybe thinks they are cowards :( ). 

We never heard of those raids you are speaking of. Why, if they really existed, you’d think the Almyran prince would think those raids are a more plausible reason explaining why Fodlan doesn’t love his country rather than come up with an elaborate theory about a woman controlling a skynet level of network dictating how people should think and what is right from wrong and removing their ability to “think for themselves”.

*** It’s also never adressed, because why would you care about Nabateans, how Claude’s dream to open borders and live together was... what Nabateans tried to do, and were rewarded with genocide. 

Rhea tells him Sothis tried to befriend humans and share her tech, they started a war against her and ultimately genocided her kin. Rhea trusted a human and made Adrestia? Well, 1k years later, Adrestia and that human’s descendant will invite her to the worst Zumba seminary ever - from which she could die of if she doesn’t rest for a month. And after that? The people her mom tried to befriend send her 5 nukes for funsies.

What do you do when some people accept to live with other people, but those other people refuse to live with you and prefer to see you dead? Everything will work out in the end, and Rhea conveniently dies. So kumbaya time for everyone!...

Or not?

The CG at the end of the route can be interpreted in different ways, but on one side we see Almyra with a kickass camel and many spears, and on the other side we see Fodlan people decked in armor, without weapons, not smiling and looking down.

Hm.

At least it’s better than what Nopes suggested about the shopping for souvenirs?

So, I think it’s time to reevaluate Claude in light of the analysis I’ve been doing. I know I’m going to take some flack for this, but I don’t think Hopes!Claude was meant as a retcon. I think that, due to the “quality” of the writing in Houses, Claude didn’t come out of the oven the way he was supposed to. That the “pure good guy” Claude was a happy accident, while Hopes!Claude is closer to how he was meant to be. The “villain you couldn’t hate.” I think the problems with the execution in Houses amount to two things, that joining Claude would result in a hero path for him due to his own character growth in addition to how people misinterpreted what his issue was.

Most people assumed Claude’s issue was one of ignorance. That he was this guy who comes to Fodlan, knows nothing about it, begins saying that Fodlan needs to change only for his ignorance to be called out in his own route. He learns the truth, reevaluates his positions, and ends up achieving his own form of Enlightenment. He never really does anything too villainous in other routes either, so this must be the problem. Right?

Recently, I’ve been talking about how Claude’s personal classes reveal the truth. He’s a wyvern lord, a guy atop of a lesser dragon. He’s somewhere between dragon and snake. The former represents enlightenment, the latter the poison/flame of hatred or aversion. Claude is also a bow user despite being a flyer, meaning he’s his own worst enemy. And with that in mind, it becomes pretty clear.

Claude dislikes the Church of Seiros, believing it’s the reason Fodlan isn’t so welcoming to foreigners. Specifically, they commissioned a fort to keep the Almyrans out, something that resulted in Almyrans viewing the people of Fodlan as cowards. While Claude has been shown to be able to admit he was wrong when presented with new data, usually through his supports, that is tied to a route where Claude begins working with the Church, becomes more open to the idea of some form of deity, empathizes with Rhea, and ends up believing that Rhea’s work must be carried on. This is presented with the implication that Claude undergoes his own enlightenment during Verdant Wind, resulting in someone who will help reshape Fodlan and Almyra. It is Claude taking up the mantle of the dragon.

I feel if you take this into consideration, Claude’s actions in other routes start taking on a new light. He doesn’t get over his prejudice against the Church in Silver Snow, uses the Church to retake the Great Bridge, causing the Church to suffer casualties that they need a month to recouperate while he then goes off marching to Gronder. He gets his ass kicked, survives according to Word of God only to leave Fodlan and the Alliance behind to rot. When he gets his ass kicked in Flower, he still arranged things so the people of the Alliance would back down and be spared. When he was getting ready to leave in Moon, he set up the Alliance rejoining the Kingdom and handed over his relic. In Silver Snow, he leaves nothing for the Church.

Then there’s his whole neutral stance, Claude is someone who talks a big game about how bad it is people are othered and how we need to accept others and their differences. That, despite Claude’s own aversion to religion. Edelgard declares war on the Church after everything seen in White Clouds, Claude isn’t looking out for a group being persecuted. He just tries to stay out of the fight. And when he does have to fight, he knows so little about Fodlan he assumes that the people his country views as cowards would run away and save themselves, not fight to the bitter end. It doesn’t even matter the fact that Claude outright calls Edelgard’s regime one of “military rule,” or how in Hopes she props up her own Church. He’ll still hand over the Alliance and leave if he can’t win, provided the player doesn’t opt to kill him, but he won’t hand it over to the Church.

Hopes and White Clouds being stopped in it’s tracks messes with Claude’s development. There is no Remire. No monster experiments. No Lonato, or trying to steal Relics. None of that shit. It’s just Edelgard declares war on the Church, invades the Alliance to take the Great Bridge in order to march on Garreg Mach, then tries to take over the capital.  While the invasion of the Alliance can be held against her, and is if Byleth isn’t recruited in Scarlet Blaze, Edelgard is still doing so in order to get rid of a group Claude doesn’t like and wants gone himself. Claude wants the Church gone.

Claude wants a genocide. Not against the Nabateans, but the Church itself. And is willing to work with Edelgard in order to accomplish this, provided the Empire isn’t setting itself on fire under Thales’ control. What’s more, Wildfire represents Claude losing himself further to his hatred after having to kill his brother, something he never wanted to do, because said brother rejected him due to his mixed-race heritage. From there, Darth Claude’s habit of playing dirty comes out more than ever, willing to drag more and more groups into the war just because he wants Rhea and the Church gone.

Claude wants to tell himself he’s the good guy here, but his shadow calls him out on pretending to be the good guy. Likewise, he also talks about how if Rhea is killed Edelgard will lose her justification for the war and unless she wants to be seen as the bad guy will stop. I feel like these both indicate that Claude is aware of how bad his actions actually are, but he wants his own acts to be seen as right. His hatred towards the Church has made him turn away from the truth, just like in his support where Dimitri easily points out flaws in what Claude is planning and how it’ll put him in danger only for Claude to end the discussion.

Least, that’s what I’m getting right now looking at everything. Yet despite this, this only makes me like Claude even more. I mean, it’s the same reason why the Eagles are my favorite class, that without Byleth they become the villains. Really makes Byleth’s impact on their lives be known, in addition to making Verdant Wind stand out more for it’s character growth. Claude goes from someone who wants the Church to be wiped out, in spite of his ideals I might add, to someone who has to face off against the guy who committed a genocide against Rhea’s people. That after Solon tried to manipulate him into fighting against Rhea like TWSITD are implied to have done with Edelgard, Claude rejects their influence and takes out her out alongside Nemesis. That Claude gets Rhea’s side of the story and realizes how she’s been othered herself, how she’s an outsider just like him, and what he wanted to do to her. Claude sees how wrong he was and how his hatred blinded him to the truth, and in the end becomes a better person for letting it go resulting in not only Fodlan changing but Almyra as well.

Claude’s growth is deeper than we realized.

But this is just my attempt at trying to rationalize what Hopes did. Make of it what you will. Cheers.

[safination]

Mother Of Mine

|Masterlist|

Pairings: Alastor x Reader, Velvette & Mom!Reader CW: Alastor, foul language, talks of murder, (Hopefully not, but possibly) OOC

Requested by: @thill20712 My inbox is still currently open. Feel free to keep requesting.So I just did a headcanon format for this. It was pretty fun. Listen, is this my best work? No, but that’s fine because it was actually very entertaining for me, and that’s all that matters. Tbh, I would actually like to turn this into a series but undergrad studies are killing me rn, so maybe in the future. I can like already see so much fun shit around this concept. Imagine the family dinners, or like Alastor going to an Overlord meeting and just unknowingly being slightly less of a chaotic shitlord to Velvette because there’s something faintly familiar or like Vel and Al just both doting on you.

Your husband died.

Everyone found out what Alastor had been doing. The city had no compassion for a monster’s grieving widow. Ha! Alastor would have a kick of your current situation, that’s for sure. It should have been you and him running for your life as the city chases you out of his mother’s home.

That’s how it should have been.

There wasn’t even time to gather all your belongings before those who wanted revenge go to fulfill their goal. Just a measly change of clothes, some emergency money, and documents. Photos never made it to the list. It’s funny how a single piece of film could pack the most weight.

As your ran for your life, cold and frightened, you heard muffled wailings.

And they called Alastor cruel. Who would leave a baby inside a dumpster? You thought about it . . . . Just for a second. The baby’s shrill cries were getting on your nerves, and there’s no way it will survive the night. And an orphanage is no place for a child to grow—you know that much.

So . . . why not? You could just end it’s suffering—Right here, right now.

Compassion isn’t your strongest trait. It’s why you never said anything about all those people who fell under Alastor’s pursuit of self-righteous justice. Who were you to care for someone you don’t know?

You don’t hate children, far from it, actually. Children are the light of this world, and they were the path to bring a better future into this world.  Such pure creature shouldn’t be stained by you. Especially, because you’re not sure if you could ever fully love a child the way it needs to love. Children deserved care, and you refused to bring a child into this world without the assurance that it would be loved.

It was an easy decision that Alastor wholeheartedly supported.

The world took away the very few things you truly loved. Maybe, you could return it ten-fold. . . but you’ve been cold and frightened before, just like this baby. Actually, you’re cold and frightened, right now. Also, just like this baby. Two cold and frightened souls.

So, with the clothes on your back, and no home to call, maybe¸ you’ll find warmth and safety together.

There’s always the option to give it—no, the child, just for a night. Drop the baby off on a porch of some nice couple’s home.

Tomorrow, you’ll give this baby girl away.

• Tomorrow never came

People keep assuming this baby girl is your daughter. You don’t bother correction them. Why should you? It’s not like you’re eager to say that you skipped state lines because of your dead, murderous husband, and basically kidnapped her.

It’s easier to let people assume.

And you can’t keep calling the baby, ‘that baby’. She needs a name eventually, and Alastor always spoke fondly about his mother.

Tomorrow never did come, and tomorrow never will come. Despite this, the sands of time trickled down.

The baby turned into a girl and the girl also grew. Part of your misses the days when she would raid your closet, and dress you up like a doll with a sharp tongue and a demanding attitude. Gone are the days when you’d be sleeping on the same bed, and gone are the days when you would tell her about Alastor.

You would tell her about the flowers, and how Alastor drove around the city, with you right next to him. The sun went down, the moon rose high into the night, and that sun eventually appeared once more. Yet, neither of you were ready to leave each other’s presence.

That girl grew, and took up a weird hobby of wanting to be called, ‘Vel’:

Vel walks into the room, her nose high in the air as she sharpens her tongue against you. “Mother, you cannot walk around looking like this!” she tells you. “The colors look absolutely atrocious. I will burn that shoes the next time I see it on your feet.”

Daughters can be quite judgmental. Maybe, you really should have left her in that dumpster.

“I’ll change my shoes if you stop calling yourself, ‘Vel’,” you tell her, smiling. “I gave you such a nice name, and it makes me sad that you aren’t using it!”

“It’s a stage name,” she says, rolling her eyes at you. So judgmental, that girl. “It’s what I’m going to be called when I finally get out of here, and such a drabby, old name like mine won’t get men anywhere.”

“Well, Vel, I got a call.” You tap your fingers across your knee, staring her down. “Apparently, Mister Joseph doesn’t appreciate being called a, ‘Pathetic and blind fool who goes to work looking like dog poop’.”

“I did not say fool or poop,” she says. “And that old fucker knows it.”

“What I want to know now is—Why?” You stroke your forehead. “What was he wearing too much brown?”

“No.” Vel crosses her arms. “Because my mother was called, ‘an unmarried whore, and who knows where that child come from?’”

“I am married!” You press a kiss on her forehead, chuckling. “It’s just not my fault my husband died not was it my fault your parents didn’t want you.”

Vel rolls he eyes, and sticks out her tongue.

You flicker her nose, and stick out your own tongue.

But time goes on, and as they do. All came to dust and all return to dust.

Of course, you’d end up in hell. It would be a shame that Alastor would never get to meet your daughter. It eventually all blurred into one. And if you didn’t give a flying fuck about others on Earth, why would you give any more fucks to care in Hell of all places?

Building kept growing higher and higher. Bright lights and television shaped morons came into picture. If you could find Alastor, surely, you would have a laughed together. Radio will always be superior. So, you kept your distance from that part of town.

More years kept passing. Alastor was nowhere to be found.

When enough time passes, things tend to loop. Like how you’re hearing cold and scared cries from an alley way. Something posses you to step into the alley. Piss and death and a sweet perfume all assault your nose. You keep walking and . . . somehow, your daughter ended up with you in hell.

Daughter really can be so cruel to their mothers.

Maybe, you actually should have left her in that dumpster. You were destined for Hell, and it seems you dragged your daughter down with you. If you did leave her, surely, Heaven wouldn’t turn away such a new soul.

You squat next to your sobbing daughter in this random corner in hell, and watch her tears with a small smile. “This is exactly how I found you all those years ago,” you tell her. “Although, you were much cuter.”

Her head snaps up, and through her tears, she glares at you. “Mother.”

“Yes, dear?

“Mother,” she says again, and fat tears streams out of her face. “What the fuck are you wearing? It’s soooo ugly!”

“I’m going to leave you here.” You blow a strand off your face, and lean against the wall, next to her.

It’s a lie and you both know it. If you cold leave her, cold and frightened next to a dumpster . . . Well, you would have done it a long time ago.

“Why are you even in Hell? Actually—Don’t answer that,” she says, that same sharp tongue somehow even sharper. “You were a nasty bitch in life. It’s no wonder you’re here.”

“Language.”

“Oh, fuck you!” Vel slumps on you, curling around your shoulder. There’s a scowl on her face even as she settles her body next to you. “You really are nasty. How come I’m only seeing you now! I’m sure even a recluse like you should have heard of me.”

“What am I doing here?” you parrot, matching her scowl. Actually, she got that scowl on you. That’s your scowl on her face. “What are you doing here? I raised you to be a good person worthy of Heaven!”

You pat her hair a bit, glad that she couldn’t see your face. Did you really drag her down to hell with you? Was it a mistake to love when your very love condemned her?

“That’s bullshit,” Vel says. “The decisions I made are my own. I’m here because it’s what I decided to do.”

You flicker her nose and laugh when her scowl deepens. “Please, please! Tell me you’re still not going by ‘Vel’.”

“It’s ‘Velvette’ now, actually.”

“That sounds like a stripper name,” you say, barking out a laugh. “I gave you a nice and proper name! Your name came from—”

“Mother! No one goes by their real names here!”

So that’s how you, sadly, found your daughter in Hell. Daughter, yes. Husband, no.

Oh, where is your Alastor?

Clothes are thrown everywhere. Your daughter has an eye for fashion and surely, you’re capable of remembering anything she’s tried to tell you. And granted, Velvette did tell you quite a lot of things about clothes . . . a bit too much.

Maybe you should call her, but you wouldn’t want to inconvenience her, especially since she has that show coming up. She’s worked so hard, and you’ve learned to accept that she works in such a noisy and bright place. And you have thought about those co-workers of hers, but that’s not important right now.

The door bangs open and Velvette stands there irked. “I’ve been knocking.”

You grab her and ask her about the clothes. “What do you think?”

“You know what I think about your clothes,” she says. “You haven’t been answering my calls.”

“Is that the thing that keeps ringing?”

“Mother!” Velvette says, irked. “Answer my calls, and put that down! Neon is never a good color on you.”

“Then help me then!”

“I can’t help you if I don’t know where you’re going.”

You pause to think, dropping the clothe around your arms. “I . . . I found my husband,” you say. “We’re going on a date.”

 “Are you sure about this?” she says, slowly . . . carefully. “It’s been so long. What if he’s just trying to get your soul? If you finally tell me his name, I can take a look at him. I mean, there could be other –”

“No, there’s no one else,” you say with a small giggle. It’s like you’re back to being a love sick-teenager. “There will be no one else. I’ll chain him to my basement if I have to.”

 “You keep that shit to yourself.” Velvette sinks on the couch. “I don’t want to hear about this.”

“Oh sure, but when it comes to those little co-workers of yours, suddenly, every detail –”

“Mother!”

Maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t leave her in the dumpster because with a snap of her fingers, you look beautiful.

Velvette crosses her legs. “I’ve never seen you this happy.”

“That’s not true.” You approach her, and press a kiss on her forehead. “I’ve had my happiest moments because of you. Maybe, you just weren’t watching.”

Apparently, Alastor and Velvette are familiar with each other. Unfortunately, they aren’t on very friendly terms. Actually, your house would say that they were on very hostile terms. It would be a drag to have to find a new house, but luckily, your daughter is an Overlord, and it seems your husband is also an Overlord.

Those two things overlapped, and when Velvette opened the door to see Alastor at your door. Well, the house couldn’t withstand their argument. Thing settle down, eventually.

Velvette is off showing her frustration on your poor neighbors.

Alastor stands proudly next to you, a constant and intimidating smile on his face despite the dirt and tears on his clothes. He watches Velvette curse and shout into the air. “Ours?”

“No, not at all,” you say, smiling as you watch your daughter. “Mine.”

Velvette stomps back, clothes also as dirty and torn. “I would rather skin myself than share the same blood with this tacky, old joke,” she says, hissing at him. “You’re not wanted here. It takes another level of pathetic to be shot while trying to hide a dead body.”

Alastor’s eyes twitch, and there’s that long, tried look on his face.

Maybe, hell isn’t so bad. You’ve got your daughter, and you’ve got your husband. A happy, little, chaotic family.

[codenamesazanka]

Eri's touted as sort of a 'Tenko But Things Went Right', which isn't wrong, but I feel like her save relied a lot of luck too. And luck shouldn't be a determining factor in child welfare??

It was by pure chance that Deku and Mirio first encountered her. 100% random bump. Nighteye had no idea about any child in the Shie Hassakai compound, despite having staked it out for at least a few days already.

The rescue effort was launched to save Eri, yes, but only because the Heroes had that one lucky detail to connect “DNA inside bullets” to “visibly injured child”. Without that...who knows? If Heroes had no compelling evidence to storm the compound, would they have just continued a routine drug investigation? If they raided the compound but didn’t know about the child beforehand, what would’ve happened to her? Shunted off to an orphanage because she’s ‘a criminal/yakuza’s child’? Place under HPSC supervision because of her relation to the bullets?

The manga itself stated that Eri was going to be sent off to an orphanage, BUT her out-of-control quirk was cause for concern and fortunately there was the one (1) guy who can suppress her quirk and help train her - who happened to be a teacher at a private educational campus run by a multi-millionaire who can afford to take her in as a ward. How amazingly lucky!!!! (And everyone themselves said that they were hoping to teach Eri how to use her quirk so that she can cure Mirio. How nice that her quirk is deadly but also has this miraculous healing ability that lends this additional incentive to take her in.) Eri is still only in custody of UA because her last living blood relative, her grandfather, is still in a coma. Would Pops ever want her back, if he ever wakes up? Would UA let him? Good thing UA has the resources and connections to win a custody battle, in this case.

Plus, before all of that, Eri was already another abandoned child, way before the Heroes ever learned of her. Her mom abandoned her; then her grandfather took her in, but when he fell into a coma, she ended up with the worse possible caretaker. Yeah, Overhaul is Overhaul, but a relative falling ill and being unable to take care of a child is something that can happen to any family.

Eri was abandoned by her mom because she killed her dad. What on earth was the police doing then? Did her mom is not report this? Five seconds after the dad disappeared, the mom immediately plopped the toddler in the car seat and drove her off to Pops? Or is it more likely the mom screamed and panicked and called emergency services, but it turned out that there’s nothing to be done about the dad… and then emergency services also apparently did nothing about the mom or Girl With Newly Lethal Quirk or the beginning of quirk counseling so that the mom could understand the accident as ‘mutant quirk’ and not ‘curse’??

There were points where Eri could've been saved, before she ever bumped into Deku, before Overhaul put Pops in a coma and started cutting her up.

Similarity, saving Tenko shouldn't have just been 'Hero happened to be in the area and wasn't busy and was able to spot this injured child and go help him' (if it doesn't turns out AFO was behind this too lol), or 'if only there could've been a Hero 15 years ago who could handle his quirk, hold his hand, and give him relief'. It should've been 'first person who saw this injured child called the police or took Tenko to a police box'. It should've been 'Kotarou's last act of parenting was not to pick up garden shears and whack his kid with it, but know to keep calm and know what to do in a quirk emergency' or whatever. It should've been 'the three other adults in the household had enough conscience to not let Kotarou bully his toddler'. Hell, it should've been 'All Might and Gran kept tabs on the Shimura boy'.

idk. I just don't think 'Luckily a Hero noticed!' is good enough.

[staytinyville]

OUTLAW (43)

ATEEZ poly!ot8 x Reader

Cowboy AU / Wild West

Series Masterlist

Warning: none

A/N BETA READ (@mariana-mmtz). Sorry for missing updates yesterday. I had finished up this chapter however I didn't finish the BTS one and I like posting on the same day.

Staytinyville Permanent Taglist

The following day you found yourself watching over the boys anxiously. They were calm on the outside, going about cleaning up the camp as they prepared themselves to leave. However you could see they were tense–as if expecting something. 

You knew they were waiting for something to happen. After all, they had just robbed both the entire town and some people. It was obvious the city would start to look for the bandits. And it wouldn’t be behind them to start searching the woods soon. 

They had explained to you in order to avoid an ambush they would have to move camp for a bit. Travel was going to be farther to reach town but it kept all their stuff safe from a raid. It was the best thing to do with the war that was about to start between all of you. 

You were cleaning up the dishes and likes, while the boys did the heavy lifting for the most part. Yunho was taking down some tents, when frantic footsteps were heard coming from the woods. The large man immediately stopped, and turned to the sound. His eyebrows pinched together when he noticed a woman running towards him.

As they came into few, Yunho noticed it was your sister looking around wildly and in a panic. “(S/N)?” He questioned, coming up next to her in order to comfort her. “Hey, what's going on?” He asked, placing steady hands on her shoulders to gain her attention. 

“Yunho!” She gasped out. “Where's (Y/N)?” She asked, looking behind him to find you. 

“Over here.” He told her quickly, turning around to lead her towards where you were cleaning up. 

“Kitten.” You turned around, hearing Yunho call for you. 

Your eyebrows immediately furrowed as you placed everything down seeing your sister in a panicked state. “What's going on?” You asked, moving to pull her into a hug as she gasped into your chest. 

“It's dad!” She cried out. “He's been taken into custody.” 

You pulled back from her, looking at her in confusion. “What? Why?” You asked.

“The other night someone robbed city hall of the people's taxes.” Your sister began to explain.

You looked up at Yunho for a moment, realizing where things were going at that point. You pressed your lips together, giving your sister your attention again.   

“They gave it to those in need of it and the orphanage was one of them.” (S/N) continued. “All dad did was defend them but they thought he was one of the people who stole it in the first place.”

You glanced down when she placed her hand out, leaving the pouch you had given your family in your hand. Your shoulders dropped as you realized you were at fault for your own father going to jail. 

“We don't know who it was but they gave us some. Dad told us you would know where to hide it.” (S/N) continued, looking up at you. 

You didn’t realize where it was things were going to take a turn to. You might have had a rough last couple of months with your father but no matter he was still your father. You knew he loved you and was just trying to look out for you. Even if his words stung more than you could ever think about, in the end he was only worried about what others might say. 

Your mind was running 100 miles a minute, trying to come up with a solution on what to do. However you let out a deep breath, calming yourself down for a moment. You were someone who knew what they wanted to do. You couldn’t think of anything without a calm mind. 

“Just leave it here.” You told your sister, giving her the bag back.” I'm sure the boys will keep it safe.” After you got her to calm down, you turned her around, making her take a seat.

“What about your father?” Yunho asked, after you stood back from your sister. 

You turned to him, a sigh leaving your lips as you looked at him with a determined stare. “We have to go get him.”

You didn’t ask the other boys for help, only allowing Yunho to go along with you towards the jail where your father was being held. You felt anger rise in your body the moment you walked through the familiar building. You tried not to make faces at the bypassers but it was hard when all you had in mind was taking down the people who made you come in the first place. 

No one dared to question what you were doing there seeing as you walked with conviction. The moment you saw the cells and your father sitting on the bench, you rushed over with Yunho following behind. 

“Dad!?” You called, pushing your hands through the bars as he stood up to meet you there. “What's going on? Why are you in here?” You asked, searching his face to see if he was injured. 

“I'm going to go ask about it.” Yunho softly gripped your waist, before letting go to find some information. 

“Just forget about it.” Your dad called out to Yunho. “The others are suspicious of you and Jongho. They think you're crooked cops.”

Yunho furrowed his eyebrows. “Why?” He asked, coming to stand next to you to listen better. 

“Someone stole all the money from city hall and gave it to people in need.” Your dad explained.

You purse your lips, the guilty feeling eating you up once more. Yunho took notice of your anxiousness, so he looked down at you in worry. Your father took notice of his look, quickly looking down and away from the both of you. 

“But what does that have to do with Yunho and Jongho?” You asked, not noticing the looks either of them had. “They can't honestly be blaming them.”

“I don't know anymore.” Your father shook his head. “They won't tell me what they plan on doing.”

“We have to find a way to get you out of here.” Yunho spoke up, looking at your father. 

“(Y/N), you have to go with the boys and leave.” Your father finally told you. “They'll take you in again if they find you've been with them.”

You began to frown as you realized your dad was going to allow himself to stay in the cell.“I can't leave you here, dad.” You shook your head. 

“Please!” Your father demanded. “Keep your family safe.” He glanced up at Yunho for a moment.

“Dad.” You spoke softly, trying to convey that you wanted to fix things. 

“I see you're back in town.” Both of you turn around at the voice, coming face to face with Hendricks. 

Your lips turned up in a sneer, jaw locking in anger as you looked at him. Yunho placed his arm in front of you, keeping you back from swinging at the man. If the last couple of fights you had all been in, Yunho knew that you wouldn’t hesitate to swing at someone bigger than you. 

“Got more criminals to sleep with?” Hendricks asked you. 

“Shut your mouth!” Yunho growled, taking a step forward but was held back by you.

“Watch your tongue.” Hendricks sneered. “I can put you in jail.”

“Under what crime?” Yunho demanded. 

“Conspiracy for thievery.” Hendricks shrugged. 

“That's a bullshit lie and you know it.” Yunho called out, glaring at the man in front of you. 

“Then leave my town.” Hendricks returned back. “And never come back.”

“Enough.” You shouted, getting both men to look at you. 

You had a deadly look in your eye that made Yunho shiver, mouth opening just a bit. His eyes were wide as he took in your stance and deadly glare. He pursed his lips, trying not to smile as he took you in. 

“Come on, Yunho.” You gave Hendricks a deadly stare. “We have to find a way to get dad out.”

The man nodded his head, following behind you as you began to strut out of the building. He bumped shoulders with Hendricks on the way out, huffing out in warning. By the time he had caught up to you, you had already stomped your way out into the street. 

And like a lost puppy happy to follow his owner, Yunho smiled brightly as he rushed to catch up. 

Series Masterlist

@thefrog3223 , @iarayara , @0rangemilk , @explorewithd , @detectivedoodle , @bangtanxberm , @a1i33a , @loveforred , @drunken-deitence , @0325tiny , @the-ghostest-with-the-mostest , @atinyreads , @atinytinaa , @lexiigom , @smilingtokki , @mismatchfluffysocks , @brain-empty-only-draken , @sousydive , @alex-tinyy , @h3arteyes4mingi , @onedumbho3 , @popcatx0 , @blue1amory , @mommahwa1117 , @sunnyhokyu , @cloudieclair , @puppyminnnie

[wizisbored]

the inevitable nimona centaur au baybeeee

lore dump under the cut:

this au is mostly film-based, but theres some comic references in there too

nimona is not a shapeshifter and gloreth is not a legendary figure, theyre both centuar foals. gloreth is a noble, ambrosius' younger cousin - their family is still incredibly high up in this setting, possibly having direct ties to royalty. nimona, on the other hand, has been on and off the streets since she was six due to constantly running away from orphanages. shes not originally from the kingdom, but at six she was the only survivor of a raid on a nearby villiage. shes eventually found by knights from the kingdom. she doesnt want to go with them but its not that hard for them to catch a young foal. they dont ask if shes got surviving relatives elsewhere or even give her a chance to grab anything other than the mandolin she was already carrying, they just carry her back to the kingdom and put her in an orphanage. years later, she still considers that event a kidnapping.

im not quite sure how nimona and gloreth meet, but theyre best friends for a good few years. it's sort of an escape for gloreth from uptight nobility. but shes still taking in everything she's being told about how knighthood is the best and most noble thing you can do and that the kingdom is the best place, so as nimona becomes more vocally anti-establishmet things start to get tense between them.

now, to those knights. ballister and ambrosius are knighted when nimona and gloreth are less than ten, and while the director isnt happy about the first commoner knight its not quite enough for regicide this time. knights are expected to take a few years after graduation to gain experience before taking on and training a squire, and in ballister's case those few years are very important.

with no regicide conspiracy to throw things off, the queen's announcement that anyone will be able to sign up for knight training is put into practice. and with orphanages in the kingdom being overcrowded and underfunded, staff quickly begin encouraging foals in the system to go into the institute. with each passing year its pushed more and more and the idea that its optional shrinks down, until the year ballister decides hes ready to take on a squire when its reached the point that foals are simply sent sent from the orphanages without being given the choice. the arrangement is something of an open secret.

nimona is vocally against knighthood and the kingdom in general, but at maybe 14 is sent to the institute. her finding out that this is going to happen is the breaking point for her and gloreth, because gloreth still thinks knighthood is an honour and doesn't sympathise with her anger.

not long into nimona being at the institute, foals are selected to be paired with knights that are taking squires that year. some are pre-arranged, like gloreth being apprenticed to her cousin ambrosius, and some are institute-assigned. the director, in an attempt to harm ballister's reputation, deliberately puts him with a 'problem foal' - nimona. with his zero kid experience, ballister is in no way prepared to wrangle her.

at this point, theres no bad blood between ballister and ambrosius, and they have no idea of their squires' history until they have them sparr during training and it goes terribly. but with how closely they work they decide the fillies need to get over their argument and force them together a lot, even arranging for them to be roommates. a lot of the time this leads to nimona feeling ganged up on, since obviously the other three are all quite pro-knighthood.

but anyway, thats the setup. plot is something im still brainstorming - including how ballister loses his arm - but ive got a couple thoughts :)

[shixcherie]

I Love You 3000 | Choi Jongho ☆

~ ~ call me chérie ☆

Navigation | Kinktober List

☆ Day 08 : Jealousy/ Cheating Sex

↬ [ Synopsis ] : A lap dance can do a lot of things. It can bring Jongho running to your door, drenched in rain just for a taste of you.

Word Count : 3.06k Genre : Smut, Angst, 18+, Non-idol Au. Pairing : Lawyer! Jongho x Strip Club worker! F.Reader

WARNINGS : pure smut (18+), lap dance, Hard Dom Jongho, reader is a switch, mentions of drugs, alcohol, serving clients, strong language, dirty talk, pet names (baby, honey, pretty, sweet girl), angsty, fluff at the end, foreplay, reader calls jongho master.

Tag list OPEN! - let me know if you want to be tagged for this Kinktober list

☆☆☆ NOTE : Day 08 dropping a little late ma chéries. Its Jongho’s turn to have a taste of you. Hope you end this piece of mine as well. Day 09 and Day 10 fics on their way, dropping tomorrow.

Who knew this Historical day could become even more iconic and memorable with Jongho showering u with all his love.

Today marked the 3000th day since you ran away from the orphanage, the place your so-called 'amazing' faceless parents abandoned you to, a living hell in all aspects . A place that was supposed to be your home, but felt anything but that. It was the opposite of everything you craved: no warmth, no love, no freedom, only pure dictatorship.

Your 18th birthday marked the first night you tasted freedom, running away from that hellish place. A historical moment for you. Running away wasn’t just the best option, it was the ONLY option, to not only achieve freedom but A life of your own.

Inferno Nights became your second home. The club was infamous for its illegal activities but had never been raided, offering top-class services, premium liquor, exotic drugs, with an irritatingly attractive boss, Choi Lucas, sitting at the top of the food chain.

Was it really better than the orphanage? No.

But does it pay the bills and guarantee you the freedom to be whoever and however you want? Abso-fucking-lutely.

Being Lucas’s favorite fuck toy, oops “His main” like her liked to address you, allowed you to climb the ranks quickly. Not his girlfriend, just a companion. An overwhelmingly satisfying one at that. Trading your body for freedom seemed like the only way to survive in this cruel world. So be it.

Serving him came with lucrative pay, an apartment to call your own, access to the best booze and drugs, and a roster of elite clients to serve.

One of them was a guy who was a criminal attorney by day, but a total stoner, drunkard, and limitless black card swiper by night,Choi Jongho.

Lucas’s darling younger brother, but with double the stubbornness, double the brains, and double the handsomeness,double the money with a sprinkle of love.

A love not for the world, but reserved for a few special, lucky people. For them, he bent the rules and toyed with authority like a tiger playing with its prey.

—

The night of the 3000th day marked the beginning of a rollercoaster ride you never wanted to experience, not even in your wildest dreams. But one your soul desperately needed.

Another historical moment in your life’s calendar.

You always took this day off to indulge in drinking the night away, celebrating the first time your life became your own. Your living room table was set with snacks and whiskey, Netflix playing on the TV, and you all cozy and cuddled up on the couch, when your phone rang.

You scrunched your nose at the name on the screen. Demi. Ugh... you hated that bitch.

Lucas’s second favorite, one of the elite servers like you. She had an extremely pretty face but a completely opposite personality - entitled, bitchy, and annoying. She hated your guts more than you hated hers, and was the sole reason you ended up in trouble most of the time.

“What?” you say, picking up the call, annoyance dripping from your voice,deliberately.

“No hi, no hello, kitten? Is this how you talk to your seniors?” she mocks. You hated being called kitten. It made you feel homeless, helpless, and extra fucking lonely. Like a stray cat wandering the streets, with no place to call home.

“Cut the crap, Demi. Get to the point” you snap, not wanting to endure her voice a second longer.

“A client is asking for you” she says.

Not today. Today you and your precious time belonged to no one.

“Nope. Not coming.” You say dismissively, ready to hang up, but then she drops the name.

“It’s for Jongho. I mean Master Jongho. His friends booked a lap dance for him.And they want only you,” she pauses, her tone shifting instantly. Being Lucas’s brother, no one says no to Jongho.

“So be at the club in 10 minutes. You know what to wear. I don’t need to remind you, do I?” she says and hangs up before you can respond.

Would Lucas be angry with you serving his brother? Maybe.

But a client is a client, and it’s just a lap dance,nothing more.

“No intimate relationships with any of my clients. You three belong to me, so don’t even think about putting those mouths anywhere else” Lucas lectures, addressing you, Demi, and Anya, his three mains.

“That would be cheating in my book, and trust me, you don’t want to find out the consequences of treason.” he adds, a villainous smirk playing on his lips as he delivers the threat.

In 10 minutes, you arrived at Inferno Nights, dressed in the sexiest, tiniest gold shimmery dress, looking like a goddess. A choker around your neck added to the seductive charm, paired with chunky boots to heighten the tension. Light makeup and a bold red lip sealed the deal. Gold was definitely your color. In the dim lighting, it made you look like an angel, a euphoric dream, a salvation from all the stresses of your clients.

Demi greeted you with her usual annoying face, a vicious look in her eyes. Something about it felt off, but you dismissed it, assuming she was just jealous that Jongho had asked for you.

You entered the private room where Jongho and his friends were seated. You recognized every single one of them—Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, and Wooyoung. Not just because they were regulars at Inferno Nights, but also because each of them owned powerful businesses and had definite connections to the underworld, just like Jongho.

The air buzzed with tension as their gazes locked onto you, the dim light highlighting your shimmering gold dress.

"Look who decided to grace us. Jongho’s favorite." Hongjoong whispered to Seonghwa, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.

Hmm? Why am I his favorite? Does he even know I exist?

Jongho’s smile widened as you approached, his eyes dark and intense, drawing you in like a magnet.

“Ready for your dance, Master Jongho?” you teased, swaying your hips. It took everything in you to resist the temptation to pounce on him. The way he looked absolutely perfect in that blazer made you feel weak, like it was tailored just to intensify his sex appeal.

Why the fuck does he have to look so mouthwatering? And he's off-limits? I hate you, Lucas!

“Show me what you’ve got.” he replied, tilting his head slightly with a smirk, trying his hardest to maintain his smooth composure, though you could feel it slipping as you traced his broad shoulders.

You slid onto his lap, the heat between you undeniable as whispers echoed around the room.

“Damn, she’s stunning.” Yunho remarked, leaning closer to San.

“Hope he can handle her.” Mingi added, chuckling softly.

Handle me?! Man, I hope I make it out of here alive.

The world, the people, their whispers—everything faded into oblivion as you became his sole focus, and he became yours.

You straddled him, hips rolling to the sensual beat of the slow music, your body pressing lightly against his chest. His breath hitched as you leaned in, the scent of whiskey on his breath mingling with your perfume, intoxicating both of you.

“You seem a little tense, Master Jongho,” you whispered into his ear, your lips brushing his skin slightly. His jaw clenched, and you could feel his restraint slipping.

His hands hovered over your hips, wanting to touch but holding back. You could see the internal battle in his eyes: desire versus control.

The friction between your thighs and his lap sent jolts of heat through both of you. You could feel him tense beneath you, trying to maintain his composure, but his ragged breaths told you he was already losing that fight.

You leaned back slightly, grinding down harder, your lips parted as the intensity built between you.

“Touch me, Jongho.” you whispered, daring him. Your words caused him to snap. His hands finally gave in, gripping your waist with a roughness that made your breath catch, finally surrendering to the desires he had harbored since the first day he laid eyes on you.

Desire - 1, Control - 0.

Jongho’s craving for you went way back. The first time he saw you at Inferno Nights, you were just a new worker, but seeing you all lovey-dovey with Lucas made him step back, thinking you might like his brother. Only later did he realize that Lucas was a selfish asshole, keeping three girls all to himself. That only fueled Jongho’s desire for you, after all, forbidden things always taste sweeter.

For a moment, the world seemed to shrink down to just the two of you. Every grind, every movement sent electric shivers through your body, and you could feel his rock-hard response beneath you, your own arousal pooling in your core.

The music played on as you rolled your hips one last time. Jongho’s grip tightened, and his lips brushed against the skin of your neck. A low, hungry growl escaped him.

“God, you’re dangerous.Want you more.” he muttered, his voice thick with lust. His lips found the delicate spot behind your ear, kissing it before biting down hard, pulling a whimper out of you.

The teasing was over. Now, it was pure, raw intensity.

Suddenly, you jumped off him, gulping hard, breaths shallow as your cheeks flushed a deep red. Every pair of eyes in the room was on you, their gazes piercing right through your soul.

“Time’s up. I—I should go now. Thank you, Master Jo-Jongho, for calling on m-me.” you stammered,taking a deep breath, you swiftly walked out of the room.

As you hurried out, Demi caught you by the arm. “Done for the night, kitten?” she asked, a little too amused for someone who should’ve been jealous. But you couldn’t focus on her right now. Your mind was foggy, all you wanted was to go home, strip off the dress that smelled of him, and sleep.

—

Why can’t you sleep? Why did he kiss you? No, bite... it was more of a bite. But why? And why did it feel so good, so heavenly?

Raindrops hit your windowsill as the storm outside raged. You stared at the ceiling, rolling from one side of the bed to the other for what felt like the hundredth time, trying desperately to sleep.

Will Lucas punish you for that? Why does Jongho have to be Lucas’s brother? Ugh… what a fucking mess.

A soft knock at the door pulled you from your thoughts. You checked the time, it was 2 AM.

Who could it be? Is it Lucas? Did he find out already? Who told him? Demi for sure. Ugh… Demi, you bitch.

Slowly, you made your way to the door and opened it just enough to peek through. There stood Jongho, drenched from head to toe, a smirk playing on his lips. He looked irresistibly sexy in his wet state, which in turn made you wet down there as your arousal pooled at your core, reminising the moments you both shared a few hours ago. Three words: I. Want. You.

That was it. All your promises to Lucas and your sanity went down the drain as you dragged Jongho inside, latching onto his lips hungrily, which he returned with equal intensity and passion.

Pinning you against the door, his hand cupped your cheek, deepening the kiss as your hands fumbled with his blazer, desperate to free him from his wet clothes. As much as you loved him in that sexy black blazer, right now, all you wanted was him—deep inside you, fucking the living hell out of you.

Breaking the steamy kiss for just a second, you tugged off your tank top before your mouths collided again. His hands now cupped your hips, pulling you tighter against him. His hand signaled for you to jump, which you obeyed, your core aligning perfectly with his clothed, rock-hard dick, the bulge fighting hard to be freed.

His tongue explored the depths of your mouth, sucking, nibbling, biting, as your breathy moans filled the room, accompanied by the sound of the rain outside. His length rubbed against your clothed core, the friction sending waves of pleasure through you, making your toes curl in response to the overwhelming sensations.

“Jongho… ahh… I need you.” you cried out, desperate for him to fill you up.

“Where do you want me?” he teased, his lips trailing open-mouthed kisses along your neck, stopping just behind your ear. “Be clear and precise.” With that, he bit the sensitive skin behind your ear, making you gasp.

“Inside… I need you inside me. Fuck me, and fuck me hard, please.” you gasped, grinding harder against him, desperately trying to ease the ache.

“Good girl.” he murmured, carrying you to your room and gently laying you on the bed. His eyes trailed over your body as he removed your pants, landing on your wet core, dripping and aching, begging to be fucked. His thick fingers slid against your folds, sending waves of pleasure through you as your hands gripped the soft sheets.

Can someone’s touch really do this? You’d never felt like this with anyone else, not even with Lucas.

Collecting your slick on his fingers, he brought them to his mouth, savoring it with a satisfied “Mmm.”

“Turn around for me, pretty girl.” he commanded softly but firmly. You obeyed, lying on your belly, ass up, giving him a full view of your juicy cheeks. He smacked your ass, eliciting a sharp yelp from you, and his hands found yours. “Up.” he instructed.

Spreading your legs for him, your back pressed against his chest, your hands pinned behind you by his large ones as his hard length lined up perfectly against your wet core. He gave you a few teasing rubs before slowly sliding in, stretching you deliciously as you adjusted to his girthy length.

Your head rested back on his shoulder as his pace quickened, his lips latching onto your neck again, kissing and biting, leaving purple bruises wherever they made contact with your delicate skin.

The sensation of his hard length filling you over and over again sent waves of pleasure through your body. Each thrust brought you closer to that painful but sweet release, one that you both have been craving for a while as his groans mixed with your soft whimpers. His fingers found your clit, rubbing in perfect rhythm with his movements, pushing you further to the edge.

Your body trembled, dancing on the brink of euphoria. “Jongho… I’m so close.” you gasped, breathless, your body clenching around him.

“Fuck, baby.” he breathed out, his voice strained with pleasure.

But just as you were about to tumble over the edge, a sharp, familiar ringtone pierced the air, causing both of you to freeze.

Lucas.

His name flashed on the screen of your phone, lying near your feet. The blood drained from your face, terror flooding through you as the realization of what situation you are in dawned upon you. You were too scared to pick it up.

Jongho's chest rose and fell heavily against your back, his hand still on your clit, rubbing softly, teasingly.

"Pick it up, baby. What are you waiting for?" his voice taunted you, breath hot against your ear.He knew exactly what would happen if Lucas found out what the two of you were doing, it would mean death.

Trembling, you picked up the phone. "Hello, Lucas.” you answered, only to be pulled back into the delicious sensation as Jongho’s movements resumed, his dick working its magic as he continued thrusting into you, slow and torturous.

"Y/n! Where the hell are you?" Lucas barked from the other side. His tone was sharp and angry? But why? And how ?

Jongho’s pace quickened, matching the rhythm he had set earlier, each deep thrust making your toes curl, a moan dangerously close to slipping past your lips. "At home. Why? Where else would I be at this hour, Lucas?" You fought your hardest not to moan.

"Are you alone? Why do you sound so… awake?" Lucas questioned, suspicion lacing his words.

Jongho chose that very moment to thrust into you harder, making it almost impossible to keep your composure.

Because your brother is fucking the life out of me? So just hang the fuck up already.

"Because it's raining here." you managed to say. "There might be a storm. You know I’m afraid of lightning and thunder, so I couldn’t sleep." Almost on cue, thunder rumbled in the background, validating your excuse. Jongho’s deep thrust synced perfectly with the sound, sending shockwaves through your body.

"Oh yeah, I remember, sweetheart. What was Demi blabbering about—never mind. Sleep tight. I’ll see you when I’m back." And with that, he hung up.

You let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. Demi, you fucking bitch.

As soon as Lucas hung up, Jongho wasted no time. His thrusts resumed with intensity, each one driving you closer to the edge.

"Jongho... I can’t hold…am close, baby." you whimpered, your body trembling, aching for a release after that intesne call.

His deep voice urged you."Cum for me honey" as fingers find your clit again, rubbing in sync with his movements. “You’re soing soo good, sweet girl.”

Your body couldn't hold back any longer. A wave of euphoria crashed over you, and you cried out his name, clenching tightly around him. Jongho groaned, thrusting deeper as he chased his own high. His arms wrapped tightly around you, and with a final groan, he pulled out, spilling all over your back. Hot!

Why does he have to look so hot doing that?

The two of you collapsed together, breathless, as the rain poured outside.

Minutes passed as you both recovered. Pulling you closer, he cupped your cheeks, staring into your eyes as if he wanted to say something but was holding back. “I-I love—” he hesitated.

“I love you,” you smiled, finishing his sentence and stealing a small peck on his lips.

Why did you confess? Who confesses after one night together?

But somehow, it felt safe. He felt safe. His entire presence had that protective blanket you had craved for a while now.

Maybe he is the right one?

“I love you 3000,” he replied, smiling and blushing hard. Cringing at what he said, but you could feel the sincerity in his voice, his words somehow perfectly aligning with your 3000th day.

Another historical moment! also more freedom, maybe.

~ ~ Chérie ☆ signin’ off

DISCLAIMER: This is totally fictional and not a real depiction of the ATEEZ members. It's all just for fun only so please don’t take anything seriously and keep the mood light around here.

© ShixCherie.

[jade-of-mourning]

listen the idea of lin & mako having history pre-canon is the funniest shit to me ever idk why it's just funny especially seeing how their relationship casually evolves throughout the series

edit: i wrote this before getting around to rewatch and i drastically failed in my characterization of lin please forgive me

There's a ratty kid running messages in the middle of a busted underground drug transaction. He gets arrested with the rest of the participants who didn’t scram fast enough and is taken to the station — where he promptly escapes his juvenile cell before he can get pulled in for interrogation. Lin knows his type, thin-faced with eyes older than their body, and she hopes that this is the last she sees of him, because she hates having to deal with kids involved in crime.

Two months later, she's on the night patrol when she runs onto the scene of a Triad raid. There's a small firebender wielding flame and settling the building ablaze, stark against the black sky; she makes eye contact with him and realizes that it's that ratty, slippery kid who had been running messages. As more officers arrive on the scene and quell the flames, she snatches him before he can flee with the rest. He's snarling sparks and biting at air with his teeth, kicking his feet viciously in an attempt to escape the metal cables wrapped around his body, and she hauls him into the station and sits his ass down in the interrogation room, where he gets his first mugshot taken and she fills out the paperwork to send him back to an orphanage. A few days later, she reads an offhand report that a kid’s run away.

She doesn't see him again until a year later in the aftermath of a violent robbery, this time hauled in the back of a getaway car that their pursuers don't catch. There's a woman lying in water with smoke coming off her body, and Lin can see the lichtenberg figures crawling over her skin.

They're on a stakeout on a warehouse when he fires lightning through the window, shattering glass. Lin's yelling orders and fighting off a triad of gangsters, and as whips her cables around the last man, she turns around to see the now-teenager whipping lightning through her officers' metal suits and kicking flames through the air. He spits in her face when she captures him in earth and breaks away the back to cuff his hands and calls her the worst of 'em all, the mighty fuckin' Chief of Police herself. He's sitting in the interrogation room with his hands bound to the table and infinitely subdued, dead silent under the weight of her gaze, meeting her eyes with a hard dirty gold edge. His face is still thin and young the way it'd been years ago, bones still jutting out of his cheeks, hair chopped unevenly and falling across his brow. You must be close to Zolt, to have learned lightning to any level of proficiency, let alone been taught, she says to him, and he scowls and hisses like a feral pygmy-puma and doesn't speak a word. His second mugshot gets stored in his growing file. She learns from other subjects of interrogation that he's Zolt's project and intended successor should he survive long enough, learns of their general resentment towards him. Someone still busts him out of jail by the next night.

He's way too involved in the underground for anyone's liking. He's Zolt's protege and he's constantly involved in raids and exchanges and assaults. He's often the last one fighting off several officers until he's captured by Lin, the warehouse scenario playing out over and over again: he's shooting lightning and spitting fire and fighting viciously until his blood is in his eyes, absolutely wild without reservation. He vomits insults at the police out of his mouth while driven to the station, curses them for the lack of care the world's ever shown towards him and his brother. Every time he ends up in a jail cell and the guards look away for a minute, he's managed to slip away, a slippery bastard eel-shark. He quits his silence, tears into her and her job over interrogation rooms in handcuffs and still escapes despite it all. (He even manages to snatch the blasted red scarf out of her office while on the way out. What the fuck.) He's got nearly half a dozen mugshots accumulated in his folder at the station, each one documenting his eyes darkening to a harder gold, the growth of bruises around his neck, evidence of his increasing inability to fill out his skin.

And then he vanishes. At first she doesn't notice, but his absence becomes more evident as Zolt's work begins showing up with increasing frequency rather than his favorite errand-runner. She doesn't really give a shit about the little asshole fire-spitting punk who'd only caused trouble while running with the triads, a notable accomplice in harassing the city for the past four years — but she also can't help but wonder what happened to him. No body ever turns up and she eventually forgets about him; crime never stops.

Imagine her fucking surprise when three years later, he's suddenly best friends with an even more asshole fire-spitting punk: the Avatar. She sees him in the City Hall when she comes to assert her support for the pro-bending arena, doesn't register who he is until he turns in surprise and narrows his eyes at her, familiar in the cold fire behind them. She realizes that he’s the Mako she’s been hearing on the radio, the rapidly rising star of the sport. She also doesn’t get the chance to address any of this madness before Tenzin drags her aside, and then the world moves too fast for her to figure out how the fuck he’s involved in this mess. She sees him fight now and she knows that he knows she knows, but they don't acknowledge it at all because there's too much more at stake. His voice is still low and scratchy, but it's now carefully articulate, no sign of vicious vitriol and derision that had once spilled from his lips, just reservation and consideration.

Their non-interaction lasts until after the entire Amon ordeal is (somewhat) resolved and her bending is restored. She confronts him, grudgingly acknowledges his role in saving the city, then flatly declares that she doesn't trust him for shit. He glares her down for a moment before the familiar fire fades from his eyes and his shoulders slump ever so slightly. He says that he’s trying to be a better man now, that he cares deeply for the people around him now, that he doesn’t ever want to turn back to who he was forced to have been because it was never who he wanted to be. She tells him that she can’t let him go unanswered for his crimes from when he was younger; he begs her to not ruin everything that he’s worked so hard to make for himself. It’s unexpected for all that she thought she knew of him, the desperation open on a face no longer carved by starvation.

And Lin knows in her heart that he’s trying. She can see it in the way he looks at Korra like she cradles the sun in her palms, the way he puts his hand on his brother’s shoulder and opens his arm to embrace, the way he talks to the Sato girl with softened edges and keeps his eyes on her face, not her pockets. But she can’t trust that trying of itself is enough. It comes to her: she needs to keep an eye on him, and he needs a stable job (— kids like him who’ve managed to crawl out of the gutter are always on the hunt for one after all, despite how rarely they find it).

So she offers him an application for the force, tells him that she’ll turn a blind eye to his past if performs this service under her watch. She admits he’s got a good head on his shoulders, that he’s a good fighter — she would know —, and states that if he’s truly so determined to do right, then he should be extending that to the city as well. He looks at her and asks, Do I really have a choice? 

She looks at him wryly, raises an eyebrow. I don’t have much of a choice myself, now do I? she tells him.

other random mako-related tumblr writings i did: x / x

this is also kind of the only way i can picture mako joining the rpcd initially, because it actually makes no sense to me lmfao. how he got involved, that is. like i can definitely see him being super passionate about it and ultimately coming to enjoy working for this fictional police force, probably finding some kind of self-appointed redemption for himself as a kid, but also how did this get started in the first place. consider me baffled.

… i kinda wanna write a oneshot on this now. oops. goddamnit </3

spat this out in maybe two hours cuz i thought it was funny. i'm still writing That Fic, it's almost 10k long somehow and i think i need to delete about half of it, but we'll see lmfaooo

also here's a wip on him i started that i may or may not ever finish

[3motionally3xhausted]

This took a few... 16 hours when it was meant to be a silly little comic to sorta introduce my many AUs/Fics centered around Izuku. I'll give a little context for the joke and introduce the AUs below the cut

I've actually already introduced the "Phantoms AU" (hence why it has a tag) but its changed quite a bit since I last talked about it. But he's kind of a minigod, constricted to a human form. Since he's literally not human, he's thousands of years old. (In the scenario that he would meet other versions of 'himself' he would feel pretty out of place.)

"And Thus, We Live" is actually not my original concept, it comes from a fic I read a while ago, I'm not sure if the original author has an active tumblr. Anyway, at the end of the war, Izuku and Shigaraki both die and get reborn as twins. So he lived to be about 17 the first time, and after being reborn, if he keeps counting, that makes him 33.

In "First and Last in Line" Izuku is Yoichi, AFO's younger brother. He has a revival quirk, so he's died many times and is roughly 200 years old.

Now, the rest of them are 15/16 like usual (Except the Bladed AU, which starts when he's younger) so they don't really add anything to the joke, but since I added a little reaction panel, I figure they deserve a little context.

"Sleep When I'm Dead" is about Izuku getting hit with a quirk that makes it impossible for him to fall asleep until he dies. I think this one also came from a fic I read, but I can't remember

"Eyas Izuku" is literally just Izuku being Hawks' son where his mom was murdered and his step-father is a piece of shit. It's a lot of hurt/comfort with Hawks trying his best to take care of this kid he didn't know he had. (This is the only one I've posted so far, but I've been in a block for a while)

"Instinctive Nature" ....I have a love hate relationship with this one as the author but Izuku's quirk caused his apartment to collapse when he was a kid, Inko died, but he and his little brother survived. They lived on the streets for several years until Overhaul took an interest in Izuku's quirk (Only good things happen after that, I promise)

"Bladed" Izuku was taken in by AFO as a kid and given a quirk, he grows up with Tomura as a brother until heroes raid the base, Tomura dies, and he escapes. He struggles to adjust to life at an orphanage, but accidentally befriends Hitoshi along the way :)

[holylulusworld]

Hey Lulu! Hope you’re having a nice October! Just wondering what Captain SassyPants and Goddess are up to for spooky season?!

Please feel free to ignore. Just wanted to let you know they still live rent free in my brain! I love their banter 😍

Hi lovely. October has been kind to me so far. I hope yours is great too.

Aw, I love them too. I try to get the next chapter out in November. After Kinktober vs Flufftober is over.

Here's a little blurb for their first Halloween. It's set right after his birthday. Goddess wants to play...

"Steve, please come and pick your girlfriend up," Tony groans. You are threatening to blow his head off if Steve doesn't come out. "I'm not in the mood to end up as a smashed pumpkin."

You cackle manically. *only for the drama of course* Carl, your favorite minion helped you build another weapon. You call it the pumpkin maker and now you threaten the mighty Iron Man once again.

"Steve, she threatened to use her weapon on me. She said it'll turn me into a pumpkin." Tony huffs as your nemesis finally steps out of the building. He's wearing a brand-new suit and his shield.

"Goddess," Steve sighs. "Again?"

Steve looks at the pumpkin-shaped weapon in your hand. It looks like a small bomb, and he worries that you'll wreak havoc today out of all days.

"Trick or treat Captain Sassypants," you grin at Steve. "I got a brand-new costume only for you. I call it the sassy cat. I got cat ears and a tail too."

You turn around and wiggle your ass in your black leather suit.

Steve's eyes darken for a moment, and he clears his throat. "We talked about your attacks on the headquarters and/or my friends."

"But it's fun," you pout. "If you come with me on free terms, I'll shelter your friend's life."

He dips his head to glance at the weapon in your hands again. "Fine."

"Great," you grin. "Carl, get the candy buckets. We are going on a candy raid with Captain America."

"YAY!" Carl cheers from the back. "Candy...candy..."

"Wait...What?" Steve furrows his brows as your minions run toward you, carrying candy buckets.

"Haha...Captain Sassypants. We are going to rob the neighborhood of their candy and bring it to the orphanage."

Steve smiles. He knows that behind your cocky façade, you're a good person. He only needs to make you see you're a hero, not a villain...

[vazaha-tya]

Chapter 6 of "no longer human is out". And as promised in the author's note, here're two snippets from the Voldemort PoV that didn't make it into the fic:

1/

Lord Voldemort remembers being eleven and told he is a wizard. He remembers the judgement of an elder, and being found wanting. He remembers fire, and the loss of his trophies. He remembers thinking he never wanted to feel small again.

"Sinful little beast. I hope you never come back," cursed the matron of the orphanage the night before he left.

Lord Voldemort knows the Riddles died by his wand. He knows because they were the first people he truly intended to kill. He knows there could not have been another son of Tom Riddle Sr. He knows it cannot be him either, for he has never felt the need to indulge.

“Merope was pregnant. I shouldn’t have... I shouldn’t have left, if only for the child, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t! She... she raped me. She made me think I loved her and reshaped my mind to only think of her, bewitched me and touched me. I never wished... I cannot heal from this madness,” lamented the father who abandoned him in a memory Voldemort plucked from his mind.

Lord Voldemort thinks of all the ways his participation might not have been needed. He thinks of all the rituals and spells and potions one might have performed, cast or brewed to put him under a thrall, steal from him, violate him. He thinks of who might have done this, and why. He thinks of a boy with his face and hair, whose magic tastes like his and who might speak the language of their ancestors.

“I know that you are not mad. Hogwarts is not a school for mad people. It is a school of magic,” assured a great man to a wary child so used to fighting for every scrap he'd become a bestial little thing with a poorly-tacked on mask of cracked porcelain by the age of eleven.

Lord Voldemort believes the boy must have been drawn to him, or he wouldn't have sought out jumpy Quirrinus Quirrell on the first day of class.

A blood son could be his salvation. It could also be a trap.

"Who are you, child?" he hisses wonderingly in Parseltongue.

2/

"Mother committed a crime and stole from you. She is dead now, and cannot pay the price of her transgression, but the debt House Mulciber owes you for the slight is great. I am prepared to pay it on her behalf."

Voldemort's magic stutters like a breath caught in his throat. He hates it, this vulnerable state of his. His magic reflects the beat of his still living soul, stops and starts with his emotions and is only truly dormant when he himself is recuperating, or when he exhausts all his strength to hide from Dumbledore.

He has a son. An heir of his blood, born from Medea Mulciber, his Knight's daughter. Priam had sung her praises. She had raw talent, where her brother Hector's power was more subtle.

She was mad, however, and a mad tool was an unpredictable one. Voldemort had considered sending her to be taught by Bellatrix, so she could learn to curb her madness when the cause required it. He remembers, distantly, that she had talked to him at her father's funeral. She'd asked what he wanted. He'd replied dismissively, "Right now, I want Edgar Bones' head on a spike." The man had been an annoyance. Dumbledore's man through and through and a consummate liar to boot. He'd called the Greyback pack child predators, and swore they sought to infect all of Albion with lycanthropy. Fenrir had been livid.

The week after, Medea and Rosier Jr had conducted a raid, and brought him the heads of the Bones couple. Medea had apologised for letting Amelia Bones escape. He had found it very amusing. At Evan Rosier's funeral, he had needed to knock her out. The curse Lily Evans had thrown at her in grief had unbalanced her magic to the point she had almost caused an earthquake. When she had awoken, she had asked him again, "is there anything else that would please you, my lord?"

And he'd said, "Surprise me."

He never saw her again. She was ill, said her brother. He'd wondered if she'd defected, but somehow he doubted it. And so he'd assumed the curse had gotten worse. Then there was the prophecy, and he'd had other things in mind. He couldn't allow a newborn to pose him a threat.

"I told her to surprise me... I did not expect..."

[valentine-cafe]

Oooooh, in relation to my last ask:

What if a child — a young orphan, coming from the dark slums of their society (so probably an enigma) — one day happens to come across the Herrera husbands and decides to stick with them, popping up every now and then even if they're sent away. They can see how nice the husbands are to them, so in their child mind: these guys = safe = stay with them. And considering their past, they wouldn't mind the gruesome experiments going on in the background.

- 🙇

˖⁺. ﹙ mad scientist and mad doctor parents with an enigma kid. ﹚ .𖹭 ݁

. . . legacy !! 🍒 :  mad doctor ˖ mad scientist ˖ mad doctor father ˖ mad scientist mother﹙ verse 209 jìngyí & rishen. ﹚

an enigma kid sneaks into the hearts of the most renowned businessmen, a mad doctor and mad scientist, of elritea. they have to decide what the fate of the kid will be

they hadn’t known that the kid was an enigma at first. they had simply been following the husbands around for some time and kept coming back around the entrance of valence.

it’s rishen that would grow concerned first. crouching down to the little one with a soft. “hi sweetie - where are your parents? can I take you to them?”

but the sake of the kid’s head would leave his brows furrowing. jìngyí would coincidentally find his way out for a smoke break when he saw the child who’s been coming around more times than he can count - and his wife seated along one of the fountains. the kid excitedly explaining something loosely to rishen who only smiles and nods along. showing just as much excitement to listen and talk.

they would take the child home that day. it took next to no convincing from jìngyí. they’d welcome the kid home. get them all fed and cleaned. rishen made a quick order of clothes so that the child would be comfortable. and once they were asleep - the husbands would talk about the plan moving forward.

and then they discovered it.

the kid’s an enigma.

they have a code. no experiments done to children. but that still didn’t mean the child was safe - what happens when they grow older? the husbands know that their urges and motives are not something that can be changed.

they couldn’t just let the kid go off on their own. they didn’t have anyone. rishen refused when jìngyí mentioned putting them into an orphanage - what would they do when they find out they’re an enigma?

what do they do? make an exception?

they’re not sure. they’re conflicted. but when the kid wakes up the next morning and excitedly runs over to hug onto their legs while they’re having their morning coffee. . . the husband’s hearts melted.

so they’ll keep the kid. at least try to. hope that the resistance might take the kid away during their next raid and save them from the ticking clock — but at the same time they’d grow so accustomed to the kid. so loving on them. they can’t —

but what if. . . they made them one of their own? made them understand why they did what they did when they grow order?

follow in their footsteps. . . protect them in the process. and have someone to continue their legacy. it’s a win-win.

[ipsen]

Eto Character Analysis

Big long post coming. Couldn’t help myself.

Admittedly, I’m mostly stealing from this post from the old ages (it’s crazy good and turned Eto into my favorite character), so you can read that and honestly get the same information. But I figured I’d take a swing at the behemoth myself.

Also wanna preface the analysis with the fact that I’m using the official translations as my source, as I can’t access the original scans and also couldn’t read them even if I did (cursed by monolingual tendencies).

Under the cut!

Eto is, unfortunately, a character that is built mainly on subtext crammed into very few chapters. Figuring her out is very difficult and a lot of her more nuanced traits can go over most people’s heads (it’s easy to call her insane, for example, and while she does have a few issues up in the old cranium, i’d hardly call her that).

The most important thing about Eto to keep in mind when discussing her is that she has been failed, and as a result of that, she also believes that she has failed those around her.

Her father left her in what is basically a literal shithole, especially for a baby. Her mother, though she died without really knowing Eto, did leave a journal behind, and Eto’s singular insight to the work regarding herself is that she is just a “byproduct,” and her foster parent got killed (presumably) protecting her from V, punting her to an orphanage where she’d have to steal money to survive (see: re 62), and presumably pretty often at that.

She got insanely lucky with the writer gig and shiono, who-- side note-- means a lot to her. Finally, a positive adult figure in her life! Unfortunately, he is a) only human, and b) her editor/coworker, so his positive influence, while welcome, is limited. still, she picks up his cute little hand gestures and I, personally, appreciate that (see: re 62 and compare it to TG 114).

Just the greatest.

Where was I... Ah, Eto being failed by those around her. And where does that leave her? Look no further than TG 98:

“A replacement is merely a replacement.” Eto doesn’t believe in found family, because she never actually found one.

And within the context of this chapter, we learn another thing about Eto. Whenever she interacts with someone and “breaks” them (the Yasuhisas, Kanae), she heavily projects onto them (because she recognizes their situation; notice how she only ever targets people who are both relatable to her and weaker than her) and breaks apart the “lie” the target tells themself, even if it isn’t entirely accurate:

(re 43) This is a false statement; Kanae does wish for Shuu to recover, he’s just upset it’s happening like this. Because who wouldn’t be, in his situation? Despite everything that he and the others did for Shuu, the only thing able to bring him out of his depression is the very thing that caused it. But I digress.

Back on track, there’s also Haise’s analysis of her work, the most personal thing she has, to consider when discussing her in re 39:

Once again, the void rears its ugly head.

Hopelessness. Emptiness. Filling it with anger and bitterness, and it’s never enough, but it’s all she has. Because the void can only be filled by the things she can never have.

So she throws herself at the CCG, banging her head against its walls with small raids alongside some fellow ghouls and then taking on the special investigators by herself. She’s 14, she’s a kakuja, and she’s mad. Mad at the world that failed her, mad at V for making it the way it is, and mad that things haven’t changed for a very long time. She has Ukina’s journal; she knows how stale the “narrative” is.

Of course, her raids don’t work very well, but she’s basically just a kid. She is as old as Hinami during TG.

Then, she’s finally thrown a bone, and is worse off for it:

Something I’ve noticed when factoring Arima’s influence into Eto’s character is that there is an assumption that the power dynamic between them is equal. It isn’t. I cannot stress this enough; there is a hierarchy at play here, and Eto isn’t the one on top. How do we know this?

(TG 139)

(re 52)

Kaneki was the new toy to replace Eto, the old one.

The ultimate plan is “the One-Eyed King will destroy the egg of V’s world and make something new.” By the time Kaneki does take the throne, this plan has been going on for 13 years. Kaneki was chosen as a candidate at the ten-year mark; he had to have been a non-factor before then. So who is left to become the king instead?

Eto.

The age difference between her and Arima is roughly 4-5 years. Remind you of another relationship?

(TG 14)

Uh-oh.

To reiterate, Eto is a 14-year old kid who has been abandoned by everyone who could possibly love her the way she wants. She desires parental love, protective love, the kind of love that makes her feel safe, when she has only ever fought to defend herself.

Enter someone who is far stronger than she could ever be, someone who could actually offer her the protection she so desperately wants. Unfortunately, Kishou Arima is the endgame mindset of Black Reaper Kaneki, to put it simply: someone who is impossibly distant, wants to die, and craves the approval of everyone.

Let’s expand on Arima for a brief moment. “Craves the approval of everyone,” specifically. He is both the One-Eyed King and the greatest ghoul investigator that ever lived. He doesn’t pick one or the other, and when he dies, he doesn’t have to pick. He is mourned by the CCG, and Kaneki, ever a puppet in someone else’s game, carries on his legacy and “wish“ for coexistence.

Eto is no exception to his godly levels of charisma. She is one of Hinami’s foils, and we know how quickly and easily she latched onto Kaneki. It’s safe to assume that something similar happened with Eto and Arima.

And Eto failed him. She doesn’t become king; someone else does. Someone very similar. And yet, when faced with this new person:

(re 56)

Well, then.

Eto also does everything in her power to give Kaneki the information he needs to break the eggshell. She freely gives away information about V, the Washuu’s involvement with them, the connection to the CCG, everything. Or as much as she can give him while under Cochlea’s surveillance.

So what’s the game here? Why does she support Kaneki, the one who basically stole Arima's approval, something everyone around him wants, from under her nose? Better yet, why is she aiding the search for her “replacement” in the first place? Because remember, even before Kaneki registered on her radar for a candidate for the OEK, she and Aogiri were searching for Kanou, the one-eyed ghoul maker specialist man. Aogiri wanted to use Kanou to make as many possible candidates beyond just Kaneki. So even without Kaneki in the picture, Eto wants a replacement. She wants this. Why?

Well, here’s what I think she actually wants:

(re 53)

There’s no other explanation that I can think of for why she would willingly get herself arrested and leave Aogiri to be fully exterminated on Rushima (the One-Eyed Owl totally could have turned the tables of that battle). She’s only lived as long as she has because she doesn’t want to leave anything unsaid. This is also the reason why she reveals herself as a ghoul as Takatsuki; she’s effectively destroying her own career while simultaneously giving V a huge middle finger.

This desire to close off everything she’s built up until now and pass the torch to Kaneki is also represented in her haircut; she’s literally shedding her burdens to give to someone else. Someone similar to her, but kinder than her. Better than her.

(re 52)

--

I’ve said what I’ve come to say. Thanks for reading!

[ikuudo]

SOL JINHAO’S ALTERNATIVE LORE

warning: long post + infodump

This is Jinhao’s alternative lore where if he was born under normal circumstances(?) and have not been involved with the Order of Aesir (yet)

CHILDHOOD:

- He was left on the doorstep of an orphanage when he was a baby. At age 11, he meets Andre Lai (the person with spiky hair) and became best friends with him.

- Andre ended up in the orphanage because his village was raided by pirates, leaving him as the only survivor.

- Both decided to join the Grand Navy when they were kids.

childhood doodles:

GRAND NAVY:

Both joined the Grand Navy at age 18 (around the time the in-game story starts)

In this au, Jinhao is 21 y.o while Andre is 22 y.o (in the grand navy for 3 years since the start the original lore)

Andre is largely respected among his peers as he is one of the few that has managed to climb up the navy ranks without magic

Both are popular among their colleagues: Jinhao is seen as a nice guy to talk to, while Andre is seen as a reliable senior (although they find him scary sometimes)

They’re mostly seen together outside of missions/off-duty: either doing paperwork, fishing, or just strolling around town outside HQ like normal citizens (occasionally gets ambushed by criminals looking to collect their bounty placed on them by the Assassins).

EXTRA INFO (random info bout their time in the navy):

Jinhao’s nails are always painted different colours every week cus he joins his female juniors during their weekly manicure sessions

(Andre gets forced by Jinhao to join in the manicure session, so he always wears full gloves to cover up the painted nails cus he finds it embarrassing.)

They have this competition thing where they try to catch the largest fish they can find, and whoever has the biggest fish by the end of the competition wins.

The fish competition started since they were kids and it has since become a tradition for them to do this once in awhile.

Current largest fish record: COLOSSAL SQUID (caught by Andre)

author's note: feel free to ask any questions regarding their lore or the character themselves

[romanov-family-photos]

The 1997 Anastasia movie, while most likely being most people’s introduction to the Romanov Family and their history, was incredibly inaccurate.

Here are some of those inaccuracies

In the first opening moments, of the film we see the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna boarding the carriage to go to the ball. The footman greets her as Your Highness. In fact, the Dowager Empress addressed as Your Imperial Highness (there was a huge difference as Princess and Princesses were only entitled Your Highness.)

The Romanov Tercentennial was in fact 1913, not 1916.

In 1916, as the movie claims, Anastasia is 8. In fact, Anastasia was born in 1901, making her actually 15 at the time of the ball.

When we see Anastasia greet her grandmother at the ball, Marie Feodorovna wears a wedding ring on her left hand. In Russian Orthodoxy, the wedding band is worn on the right hand.

When the ‘evil’ Rasputin party-crashes the ball, Nicholas tells him he is a traitor. In the time Rasputin spent with the family, there was never any evidence that he betrayed them. He offered them his support, albeit for questionable reasons, but was only sent away for a short time by the Tsar under pressure from his ministers.

The raid of the Winter Palace occurred well into 1917, not 1916 as portrayed in the film. By this time, Nicholas had already abdicated (March of 1917) and they were imprisoned first at the Alexander Palace, then in the Governor’s mansion in Tobolsk, before being moved to the Ipatiev House in 1918, where they were ultimately murdered. The murder of the imperial family did not happen until two years after the ball in the film.

When Anastasia runs back to her room to retrieve her music box, we see the room to be rather “royal-looking” with a single large bed in the corner. Anastasia shared a room with her older sister Marie for all of their childhood, and their beds were in fact camp-beds; hard and not as luxurious as other royalty’s of the time.

Ten Years Later, 1926, Anya leaves the orphanage for a job at the fish market. When Anastasia reaches the fork in the road, the sign says Saint Petersburg. During the Great War, St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd, a less German-sounding name. After communist leader Vladimir Lenin died in 1924, it became Leningrad, when it did not become Saint Petersburg again until 1991. Throughout the film this inaccuracy is repeated, most significantly in the song Rumor in Saint Petersburg. One would think even the peasants would be accustomed to a new name of their city after 10-15 years.

When Anastasia reaches the train station, the station guard wears the red cap with the Soviet crest. This crest wasn’t used in fact until the 1930s. It was only 1926.

A number of times, the peasants and Dmitri call her The Princess. In Russia, this would have been a great offense to her title, as Anastasia had always been, a Grand Duchess. The title Princess ranks significantly under Grand Duchess

Anya, is in fact a Russian nickname for Anna, not Anastasia. Anya was the name of her mother’s lady-in-waiting and close friend Anna Vyrubova. Anastasia’s nickname was Nastya, Nastia or shvibzik “imp”.

In 1926, the Catherine Palace was being used as a museum and its park area was open to the public, not quite as run down as in the film. 

It wasn’t also the Imperial Family’s home, as suggested; they preferred the comfort and privacy of the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo, a little while outside the city.

When Olga, Tatiana and Marie come down to dance with their sister during the song, they all look to be around the same height. In truth, Anastasia was much shorter than her sisters. Tatiana was the tallest in the family, standing at around 5’9

The same mistake was made with Nicholas. When he and Alexandra come out of the portrait, he looks to be much taller than Alix; he, like his daughter, was actually rather short, only about 5’6, and stood around the same height as his wife.

When Bartok watches Vlad, Anastasia and Dmitri leave the ball room, he says All the Romanovs are dead. This simply wasn’t true.  In 1919, around 30 Romanovs managed to escape via various methods, including the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna.

On the boat to France, Rasputin attempts to force Anya to jump off the side of the ship. She dreams she sees her father, sisters and brother playing in water. Nicholas calls her “Sunshine”, which was actually the nickname of her little brother, Alexei.

In this same dream, Alexei jumps from the top of the cliff down into the water. It was well-known that Alexei had a severe type 2 case of hemophilia, and there was no way Nicholas nor any of the sisters would have allowed him to make such a dangerous leap.

When the gang are journeying to Paris, they hope to meet the Dowager Empress. In 1926, Marie was actually living in Denmark, after the death of her beloved sister, Queen Alexandra of England the year before.

When Anastasia meets Sophie, she is asked how she likes her tea. Anastasia tells her she doesn’t like tea. But there have been many anecdotes of the real Anastasia drinking tea in the mornings and afternoons with her sisters and parents. (This of course may have changed as she aged).

When Dimitri refers to Anya and the Dowager Empress as ‘your grace’ this title is also incorrect. “Your Grace” was commonly used only amongst non-royal dukes and duchesses, and archbishops of the United kingdom.

When Vladimir announces ‘we have found the heir to the Russian throne’, this is completely innacurate. Even as the closest surviving member to the last Tsar, Anastasia would, sadly, have no right to the throne. There were around 30 dynastic members of the family surviving in 1926, and many available males. In Imperial Russia, the line of succession was strictly male-primogeniture; the eldest son would inherit the throne. In 1926, by law, this male would be the Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich.

The Dowager Empress could not have possibly had the means to offer a 10 million ruble reward for the return of her granddaughter. The Romanov fortune had all but disappeared and she largely relied on the charity of the English and Danish Royal Family.

The biggest inaccuracy, however, was that Anastasia survived. She, along with the rest of her family, were murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918

[chriscdcase95]

(Wednesday, having been sick the past day or two, is just now getting better. The phone in her and Enid’s room rings, to which she goes to answer.)

(She and Enid were put in charge of watching Pubert, but while Wends was sick, Enid took Pubert on an outing. So she already knows who’s on the other line.)

Wednesday: (groggily answering the phone) “Speak.”

Enid: (on the other end) “Um, so…Nighty-light ?”

Wednesday: (pinches the bridge of her nose, but is otherwise calm) “Don’t…you don’t call me that in a public setting. We’ve been over this fifteen times.”

Enid: (on the other end) “Actually it was twenty seven, but that’s not the point. It’s Pubert…”

Wednesday: (narrowing her eyes) “What about him ?”

Enid: (On the other end) “So you remember that Reenactment they were having ?” (Wednesday’s eyes widen and her head perks up. There was a Civil War Reenactment for the past week, commemorating  the “Nevermore’s Red Bath”; a weeks-long siege in which past Addams’ are said to have held down the fort against confederate raiders.) 

Wednesday: “Enid…where is Pubert ?”

(Enid hesitates for a second before sighing)

Enid: “Xavier was participating and offered to show him-”

Wednesday: “I’m on my way.”

(Wednesday hangs up the phone.)

(We jump cut to Wednesday getting off a bike, and making her way down an encampment, where an antsy Enid is waiting for her.)

(There are in a forested area five miles off the school; there is a makeshift camp down the bank, where the third day of Red Bath occurred. The sun is disappearing over the horizon.)

Enid: (following Wednesday closely behind) “He’s at the-”

Wednesday: “I know where he is, get your phone out, this needs to be on record!”

Enid: (momentarily confused) “Record bu-”(realizes what Wednesday is insinuating, and sighs) “Of course.”

(At the camp, fourteen confederate reenactors are bound by their wrists to these makeshift posts from the trees. Union reenactors – Xavier, Ajax and Eugene among them – look on mortified and bewildered at Wednesday’s four year old brother, and what he's preparing to do. When they see Wednesday and Enid, they look a little relieved.)

(Wearing a set of Union soldier coat pants, and a sweater vest (adjusted for his size), Pubert has red paint around his eyes, which are still wet and dripping, like bloody tears. Pubert is cosplaying as his ancestor of that era – Ezekiel “Tanhide” Addams.)

(Presently, Pubert is sitting before a fire, heating up a very real bowie knife over the fire, sharpening it on a bronze cutting stone. The other participants are too scared to take it from him.)

Wednesday: (amused) “Ah, so that’s where it went.”

(Enid glances at Wednesday with a flat expression.)

Pubert: (in-character, singing a little tune) “I was a highwayman/Along the coach roads I did ride/With sword and pistol by my side..”

(Pubert decided the knife is hot enough. At his side is an apple, which he picks up.)

Pubert: (in character, still singing) “Many a young maid lost her marbles to my trade/Many a soldier shed his life blood on my blade…”

(Pubert slices through the apple effortlessly; the heat of the knife causes the juices to steam a little, even as he takes a bite. He glances at his observers and spits out an apple seed.)

Pubert: (in character, still singing) “They finally hung me in the spring of twenty five/but I’m still alive…”

(Pubert gets up, advancing towards the prisoners; cosplaying as the captain of this troop.)

Pubert: (stops singing but is still in character) “Which is more than I can for you lot.”

Participant: “Kid, listen! This is just a reenactment! It’s all just fun and games-”

Pubert: (in character, but snapping) “Fun and games ? Your fun and games burned a hospital and an orphanage! Carved up that poor girl and left her as a message!” (chuckles) “Well, messaged received, mi amigo.”

(The other players looked around bewildered. As vicious as the raids historically were - we’re talking “Blood Meridian” levels - they obviously didn’t reenact those parts.)

Enid: (Whispering to Wednesday) “Aren’t you gonna stop him-?”

(With an amused expression, Wednesday holds up a finger to silence her. Conceding defeat, Enid sighs and shrugs.)

Pubert: (in character, now holding the bowie knife under his prisoner's neck) “So you like scaring people ? That’s good. I need a scarecrow. You and your troop are gonna be my message!”

(Pubert takes hold of the participants hair, holding the knife at his cranium, as if about to scalp him. It’s then Wednesday steps in.)

Wednesday: “Pubert!”

(Pubert stops, looking quiet, humbled. Like a toddler caught stealing cookies. The other participants sigh in relief.)

(Wednesday sits on her knees before Pubert, wiping the red paint off his eyes. She silently looks at the paint for a moment, before speaking.)

Wednesday: “You know…If you want it to look real, you’d need to add a shot of green into the paint. Blue would make it purple.”

(Wednesday looks at Enid)

Wednesday: “Enid, I wouldn’t normally ask this but-”

Enid: (non-plussed but going through her bag) “Way ahead of you.”

(Moments later, Pubert, is wearing more real-looking “blood” as war paint, with Enid putting on the finishing touches.)

Enid: “Aaand, there we go!”

Wednesday: (opening a pocket mirror for Pubert to see) “What do you think ?”

Pubert: (still in character, but now pressing his hand affectionately to Wednesday’s cheek, and his forehead to hers) “You’ve always been good to me, Morrigan. If only these swine had a sister like you; they wouldn’t be as stupid.”

(Moments later, Wednesday looks on with a proud expression, wiping a tear from her eye. Enod records this on her phone, nonplussed, but with the ghost of a smile on her face. Pubert is once again pacing, back and forth before the prisoners.)

Pubert: (still in character) “I want you to know what you’re here for. What you’re fighting for, and what you’re dying for! A lost cause! Nothing! The death throes of dying era, from which you will never rise! When history looks back at you, that will be your legacy-”

(They are interrupted when the sound of the horn over the horizon, indicating that today's game is over. The participants sigh in relief, while Pubert looks irate.)

Ajax: “Okay, so I guess that’s a wrap every-”

Pubert: (in character, chuckles humorlessly) “You must have been born yesterday, son. That’d be re-enforcments you hear. More for the fire…”

Eugene: “Pubert, it’s getting late, shouldn’t we-?”

(Pubert inhales and exhales deeply, smearing the “blood” all over the face. He stretches' his arms, and cracks his neck, before tossing the bowie knife into the air, and catches it by the handle.)

Pubert: (in character) “Puede que me vaya al infierno, ¡pero esos nueces de mantequilla se irán primero!”

(With a makeshift torch from the campfire in one hand, and bowie knife in the other, Pubert lets out the best war cry a four year old can muster, and he runs towards the sound of advancing participants, in a Banzai-like charge.)

(Enid and the other freed participants are busy untying the “prisoners”, while Wednesday looks on at Pubert; her proud smile widens as the sounds of other participants screaming in terror and disbelief could be heard.)

Enid: “Should…shouldn’t we go get him ?”

Wednesday: (shrugs) “Ah, let him tucker himself out.”