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water-to-drink · 4 months ago

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How They Became Attracted to You pt2

(Characters): Sethos, Ayato, Itto, & Thoma

(Synopsis): First meetings with the most popular or influential students at the academy and how their love for you blossomed

(Tags/Warnings): gn!reader, school au, stalking, Kaeya is called a whore and a harlot in this, reader gets tackled, reader is an artist, (if I missed anything lmk)

(Word Count): 1.7k

(A/n): Sorry there’s none of the female characters in this one, tell me which characters you want to see in the next one

Part one

Sethos

🏜️ Like Ayaka, he saw you in the hallway with your sketchbook in hand or you drawing in it but instead of leaving you be, Sethos walked up to you and began to introduce himself. He goes on about how he rarely sees you talking with anyone and he wants to change that

🏜️ Just like that you were adopted by an extrovert. Sethos would find you and immediately talk to you, at first you went along with it because you didn’t have the guts to tell him to leave you alone and you wanted to be more social. After a couple of days you soon warmed up to his presence around you all the time

🏜️ You and Sethos would talk to each other and laugh at each other’s jokes, to him your humor came natural and often times caught him off guard making him double over in laughter. Sethos would introduce you to one of his friends and you got along great with him, Sethos’ heart swelled with joy seeing you spread your wings

🏜️ That was until he saw you with Kaeya, laughing and acting all buddy-buddy with him. A twinge of jealousy bubbled in his chest, sure he wanted you to be more social but not with him of all people! He’ll only break your heart after he got what he wanted

🏜️ Though Sethos doesn’t encourage stalking, but in this instance it’s warranted. Following you and that whore, he saw something that he feared the most. The look in his eye, it’s love!

🏜️ Sethos vowed to himself that he would protect you from that harlot and totally not to potentially have a relationship with you. No sir, Sethos doesn’t want to hold your hand nor kiss you on your soft lips. Obviously not! He’s just looking out for a friend

Ayato

🧋Isn’t stupid, as part of the student council and eldest son to the Kamisato family Ayato is more than familiar to picking up on whether people are hiding something from him, especially his dearest sister. He noticed that Ayaka seemed different, more happy and she won’t tell him what’s going on in her life (so mean (´༎ຶོρ༎ຶོ`) )

🧋 So as any loving brother Ayato sent members of the Shuumatsuban to follow his sister and to his surprise they followed her to a rinky dink cafe. The more interesting fact is that they found her talking to a waiter, you in fact, and both of you seemed very close. With his interest peaked Ayato had the Shuumatsuban follow you now

🧋 They pulled up the most basic information on you, coming from a low income family gave the blue haired student pause. Are you trying to warm up to his sister in attempt to get money from her? He can’t have someone trying to take advantage of his family, so time to delve in deeper. Having his spies enter the cafe and watch while you chat with Ayaka, an interesting thing came up during the investigation. Ayaka didn’t give much details about the family, only the fact that she has a brother who goes to the same school as her. Well at least that quells one of his concerns that you aren’t after their money

🧋 Maybe finally his dear sister has a friend that she can talk to like a normal girl and maybe he can check out your family’s cafe when Ayaka isn’t there and talk to you. But he has to be sure of that and so he investigated you even more

🧋 The more info they got, i.e. photos and videos, the more he finds you interesting. You’re so quick and witty with your responses with the few friends you have, even though he has the Shuumatsuban following your every move and sending Ayato the reports he feels that he’s right there with you. This goes on for a couple of weeks and soon it isn’t enough for him to just watch you on his phone, he has to talk to you in person. “Be natural” is what he told himself as he walked into your family’s cafe and took a seat in one of the booths

“Hello sir, what can I start you with?”

“Just black coffee.”

“Okay.” You said before you went to get the coffee pot and return to pour some in a white mug. “Would that be all sir?”

“Yes, and please call me Ayato.” The blue haired man spoke

🧋 Ayato made small talk and quickly found out that you were a shy little thing, cute. You nervously answered his questions and asked some yourself, obviously trying to be more social. It was clear that you weren’t fully out of your shell but he’ll take what can get. However as the hours rolled past you slowly showed that witty nature you had. Ayato never had so much fun talking to someone before, he was sad that once closing time arrived and thus had to leave. No matter there’s always next time, for your time the young man gave you a 100 dollar note. He loved the look of shock on your face

“Sir I can’t expect this!” You put the 100 back in his hands. “I had a good time but, I can’t take it in good conscience!”

🧋 Ohh he’s going to have fun spoiling you

Itto

🪲 Your first time meeting wasn’t too romantic or special, it was more chaotic to say the least. One day after school Itto was looking for the onikabuto he found earlier today, he had a feeling that bug would be his champion! While scouring the hallways the one heard a scream. So as any unreasonable person would do he ran into the classroom to see you about to slam your sketchbook on his meal ticket!

🪲 The obvious thing to do is to tackle you to the ground, don’t worry he used his hand to shield your head from hitting the floor. When he first got a good look at you, the larger student thought that you were cute. The look of shock was what snapped him out of it and made him get off of you

“I’m so sorry, but you were about to step on my onikabuto!”

🪲 You were still shaken up as you watched the oni pick up the bug and put it in the breast pocket of his blazer, feeling your hands empty you look around and don’t see what you’re looking for, until your eyes lands on the open window and your heart instantly drops

“Ack! My sketchbook!” You yelled out upon seeing your precious work in the school pond

“Don’t worry I’ll go get it!” The oni said

🪲 You watched as the white haired oni run out the room and out the building, he picked it up and threw you a thumbs up. Finally coming back to the classroom, Itto handed you the sopping sketchbook

“Thanks…” you said

“Uhhh, I’ll make it up to you! I swear on my oni pride!”

“You don’t have to. It’s fine.”

🪲 It wasn’t fine to Itto, he thrashed your book and so he has to make it up to you. The day after that little event Itto would find you at lunch and buy you milk cream bread from the canteen, he would sit with you on the roof and watch you draw much to your dismay

🪲 Itto would excitedly ask you about the characters and came to learn you like a lot of the manga that he likes! The more time Itto spends talking with you he sees you as one of the guys in the gang, no definitely more than that. Maybe a best friend, or a super friend? Whatever he just likes spending time with you

Thoma

🧹 Someone who met you at your family’s cafe, he knew you before you entered the academy. He comes in whenever he can to get away from the hectic schedule being one of the many secretaries of the student council and right hand of Kamisato Ayato. Not to mention he has to run all around campus either dropping stuff off or getting items, but here it’s still and quiet. A time to himself

🧹 Since the cafe isn’t well known and often times empty except for a few elderly customers drinking coffee, you know Thoma on a first name basis. He’s a bit of a regular and you know his order by heart. A croissant sandwich with a latte. You would sit and talk about stuff with the blond, you actually have a lot of stuff in common

🧹 You two relate to each other, not coming from well off backgrounds but against all odds both of you got accepted into a prestigious school. He knows the feeling of being looked down upon and having to keep your head up the whole time. Hell, the reason he joined the student council was to be respected like everyone else, but now he’s seen as the student council’s errand boy, here he can be him and not Ayato’s secretary

🧹 Sure he works hard, but seeing you work whenever the cafe gets a little spike in customers just inspires him to work even harder. The sight still stays with him as he is running some errands back on campus. He vows to get good grades, go to a good college, get a good job and hopefully support you

🧹 In his little fantasy of you two being married Thoma didn’t see where he was going and bumped into someone in the hallway. The papers in his hands scattered across the hallway, the poor boy profusely apologized to you as he picked up all of the papers and ran off to wherever he was originally going. Once back at the student council room, Thoma sorted through the papers and find a drawing of him sitting at the cafe. A piece of art in the blond’s eyes, he wonder how it got there

“Uhh excuse me?”

🧹 Thoma turns around to see you at the door looking down at your feet, he instantly thought that you looked cute in the school uniform

“I think you got something of mines.”

🧹 The blond hands you the drawing of him and a sudden look of realization and then horror appears on your face. You apologize profusely

“Thoma! I just was trying to do a still life to expand my portfolio!” You nervously explained

“It’s nothing, it’s actually pretty good. I can be your model if you want.” Thoma scratched the side of his face

“Ehhh?”

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disappearinginq · 3 months ago

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I really wish I could be convinced that more people would be interested in non-ship stuff for fandoms I'm in.

Look, we all know we write for ourselves. I get it. I do. But my desire (ability) to finish things is hinged on feedback. My two longest fics that I wrote the fastest were because of audience engagement. And because I knew I had people I respected and liked reading, and I wanted them to enjoy the read, I wrote better.

Now I feel like I'm just stuck in No Man's Land of fandom, and while I have like a dozen things half finished, they never seem to actually BE finished because if the audience is me, then I know how it ends. There's not much point writing it down.

So this is basically my To Do List.

The Rookie - I just don't care about what 90% of the fandom cares about

1. Series of one shots that establish Angela and Tim's BFF status that may or may not lean Tim aspec because I'm me.

2. Pre series flashbacks to Tim in his time in service when he survives an airstrike that kills two of his friends and almost kills him.

3. Trauma Tim post season 6, because in rapid succession, he loses his job on metro, he witnesses his old team die in a way eerily similar to the way he was almost killed in the airstrike, had a friend commit suicide in front of him after confessing to being dirty, gets accused of being dirty himself, and is again almost killed in close quarter combat (among other things that will remain unmentioned here)

Slow Horses

1. Do not ask me why but I love the idea that Lamb potentially met River was he was a kid because he had to work closely with David Cartwright and River is always where he's not supposed to be

2. River goes missing, and for once, not his fault. Lamb has to come to terms that just because he pretends not to care, doesn't mean anyone buys it

3. Post season 4, somebody finds out that River is the last remaining son of Frank's assassin cult, and it goes about as well as can be expected. I fully intend to have Lamb use this line: "trying to detain you is like trying to nail jello to a tree".

Magnum PI (yes, I still work on these)

1. Finish Wrong Side. I actually have like another 10-15k words on it, but it's not in order or complete scenes, but it does include Thomas’s recovery and discovery that Hannah is the one who sold them out

2. I have like 6 other chapters to Bad Things Happen that I half wrote but then retired the card

3. Crossover with MacGyver because I thought Mac could use some down time in Hawaii after season 4 and the last half of season 3

Tracker 1. Colter goes missing during one of his cases, and I borrow heavily from an episode of Lethal Weapon wherein Colter will be held hostage in an illegal drug trial that he stumbled into and now finds himself an unwilling participant, and I drag Russell into it because that is how big brothers work

Hudson & Rex - honestly, I have the most written for this fandom, even though the fandom itself is pretty quiet, but it's most of a bingo card 1. Finish Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful because damn son it's been years

2. In no particular order, I have Bad Things Happen Bingo It's Not My Blood, Stitches, Caught in a Snare, Falls Through the Ice and three others that fit other prompts - a boating accident, Charlie finally finds himself at the bottom of a well (sort of) and completes his "Timmy and Lassie Scenario" bingo card, and where Charlie realizes he's developed claustrophobia after having a mine collapse on him, being locked in a freezer storage, almost crushed by a shipping container, buried alive, etc and gets stuck in an elevator with Jesse

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aethon-recs · 1 year ago

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Tomarrymort Dead Dove Recs, Part 2 🕊️

Thank you all for the wonderful reception to Part 1 of Tomarrymort Dead Dove recs! I was honestly blown away by the interest in this first list featuring Non-Con/Dub-Con recs. It was so incredibly heartening to see that the open-mindedness towards the taboo, the degenerate, the ‘problematic’ is not only alive and well, but thriving, in this ship, when it seems like it’s been reviled and sanitized out of other ships and communities and spaces within this fandom and elsewhere. But Tomarrymort readers seem to be a special breed 🤝 and I’m just so glad we can all be horny sickos together 🤍

For Part 2 of the Dead Dove rec list, the first half is comprised of incest fics, and the second half is chan (underage) fics. These aren’t all necessarily dark fic in terms of tone or plot (some fics are actually quite cozy); the dead dove label just serves as an indicator to take the tags seriously.

Please note there is potentially triggering and disturbing content in the rec list below (including in some of the summaries), so I will be placing all 25 of these recs below the cut. Keep in mind don’t like; don’t read, so feel free to scroll on by if either incest and/or chan is not a theme you would like to explore.

This list was made in collaboration with @danpuff-ao3’s Dead Dove Diaries Series. Check it out for other HP dead dove recs!

Tomarrymort Incest Recs

Fruit of the Forbidden Tree (part 1) / Forbidden Indulgence (part 2) / Forbidden Darkness (part 3) by @neurowriter14 (E, 19k, complete)

The true parentage of Harry Potter was unknown to everyone except for three people. None remain, but another figures it out.

Hold Me Down (Fuck Me Up) by @itsevanffs (E, 15k, WIP)

Tom Riddle, chief of police, first met his nephew Harry Potter handcuffed to his desk, lip cut and knuckles bleeding, a proud smile on his lips and challenge in his eyes.

I Could Send You to Hell, I Know You by @dividawrites (E, 7k, complete)

Nothing about Harry Potter intrigues Tom—he's average in everything, doesn't act out in class, doesn't do very much at all, in fact. When he finds out they're related, though, this changes at once. After all, there's something to be said for family traditions.

In The Dark by @itsevanffs (E, 64k, WIP)

Harry's mother remarries shortly after his father's death to James' half-brother, Thomas, much to Harry's confusion and disgust. First a duke, now a king, it seems that nothing will stand in his uncle's way when it comes to getting what he wants. Not Lily, not propriety, and most certainly not Harry himself.

Infinite by @duplicitywrites (E, 8k, complete)

Harry and his twin brother Tom have the same mark. The same soulmate. Whoever their soulmate is, wherever they may be, they will go to Tom. Tom, however, has other plans.

Little Bits by @lordmarvoloriddle (E, 10k, complete)

Inspired by Cinderella. Only there's no prince, and surely no one is singing about their feelings, and Harry's life could be a lot worse than having three step-brothers and a father who didn't like him. He's going to be proven right.

Plains of oblivion by @milkandmoon-ao3 (E, 3k, complete)

Trapped in the past with no way home, a disillusioned Harry executes a plan to make an ally of the rising Dark Lord and reshape history.

Say It Right (part 1) / Say You'll Haunt Me (part 2) by @rightonthelimitt (E, 32k, complete)

After James Potter dies, his wife and son have it rough. Their lives change for good when they meet Tom Riddle four years later, but is it for the better?

Seventeen Years by RenderedReversed (T, 10k, complete)

Voldemort is a day old when he realizes he’s been reborn to muggle parents and that he has a twin brother. He is a year old when it sinks in who his twin could possibly be. Because his twin might, possibly, probably be Harry Potter.

Summer Break by anon (E, 5k, WIP)

A story of a brother's love and duty and terrible obsession.

the dark passenger by @cindle-writes (E, 5k, complete)

Harry had lived 17 years as a horcrux, and Ginny was possessed by another one, so is it all that surprising that their middle child reminds them a little bit too much of another boy they once knew?

Tomarrymort Chan (Underage) Recs

Below Stairs by pauraque (E, 1k, complete)

Harry receives a visitor.

conversationalist by worn (E, 3k, complete)

As a boy who's known silence and solitude well, Harry finds himself quickly growing attached to Tom Riddle's diary and the way it has so much to talk with him about.

Creatures of the Dark we are by @hikarimeroperiddle (M, 20k, WIP)

Banished to his cupboard at age 4, Harry learns to listen only to the Voice in his head. Its teachings wrap all around Harry until no more than dark magic and devotion remains, along with visions of a wraith with red eyes.

Everything Green Is Gold by @cindle-writes (E, 27k, complete)

Prior to Hogwarts, Harry had stayed mostly invisible to the teachers and adults around him his whole life. But Tom Riddle, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, looked at Harry like he was something to be wanted.

File A by @kushimanii (E, 7k, complete)

In a different universe, one where the prophecy was never heard and Voldemort won, Voldemort finds eight-year-old Harry Potter in the basement of Fenrir Greyback and takes him in.

he whistles and he runs by @wolfantlersinspace (E, 5k, complete)

"Tom," Harry murmured, ducking under a branch and nearly touching the top of Tom's diary with his lips, "I really don’t like this."

Hearthstone Abbey by @ramabear (E, 92k, WIP)

Harry follows Thomas Gaunt into his world much like he stepped onto Diagon Alley that first time, wide-eyed and full of wonder. He has no idea what exactly this world has in store for him, but he knows that with Thomas at his side, he is safe and happy for the first time in his whole life.

Make a Wish by @crowcrowcrowthing (E, 3k, complete)

Tom Riddle is wasting away in his hospital bed, far too young to succumb to such a terrible and mysterious illness. The only thing that gives him solace is the hope that football star Harry Potter might visit him in his final days.

Quam singulari by anon (E, 6k, complete)

Spermarche: the beginning of a boy's development of sperm; normally signifies a boy's beginning in sexual maturity and puberty.

shelter from the storm by @cindle-writes & @duplicitywrites (E, 7k, complete)

After being left behind by the Dursleys, Harry stumbles upon an empty shack in the middle of nowhere, where he finds a mysterious ring underneath the loose floorboards.

study session by @ilya-zzz (E, 3k, complete)

"Tom–" Harry tries, coughing a couple times before lifting his hands to his head, softly rubbing his temples a couple times. "...I think you should go back to your common room."

The Abyss by AislingSiobhan (E, 36k, complete)

Nietzsche was right: when fighting monsters, Harry should have been more careful not to become one himself. That didn’t matter anymore. It was too late to save himself, yet he could still save the world from Voldemort. But who would save Voldemort from him?

the eternal flame by @duplicitywrites (E, 25k, WIP)

There’s a well-dressed older man who enters the orphanage asking after Tom Riddle. The man’s green eyes fix on Tom’s face, searching and searching. “My name is Harry Gaunt,” the man says, the tenor of his voice soft and faltering, a reflection of Tom's deepest, most secret anxieties, “and I’m here to adopt you.”

This Is Why You Don't Summon Demons, Harry by @kushimanii (E, 59k, complete)

Harry Potter is seven when he's left at the nearby church by Petunia to get an exorcism. Instead, he ends up summoning a demon that he makes a deal with. The demon, Voldemort, will protect him, and in return, the demon will devour his soul when it is ripe.

Without A Chance by Harryfan80 (E, 20k, complete)

When Voldemort (as Quirrell) meets Harry in her first year at Hogwarts, he exploits her naivete and uses her to acquire the Sorcerer's Stone.

#tomarrymort #tomarry #harrymort #aethon recs #tomarry recs #tomarrymort recs #harrymort recs #dead dove #dead dove recs #dead dove do not read #hp fic recs #ao3 recs #fanfic recs #tom riddle #voldemort

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taeaura · 7 days ago

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if the 2006 TCM movie was produced or direct by the same person as the 2003 remake {Marcus Nispel}, it would be so so SO much better. Don't get me wrong, I love TCM: The Beginning - For the lore. If I wasn't invested in TCM I wouldn't care for the movie - Honestly. The cinematography is wonderful {there's better, but I loved the shots outside the house/through the fields}, the FAMILY character designs are top tier - The group/main protagonists? Their designs are..fine. Nothing special, really {which they don't have to be, but some have pointed out that they aren't the most historically accurate.} THE HOUSE?? God, I love the architecture used in this movie - The house is an 1800's plantation home, which I LOVE the features of {not the history..}

I think what made the 2003 remake so great was how consistent the story was, how believable the story was, the cinematography, the characters, and the chemistry. Lots of stuff was happening in that movie - And that doesn't necessarily refer to the events occurring: The connection to the Hewitt's kitchen from the community center's display shelf - Leatherface/Thomas peering through the walls, floor boards, shutters, HIS MASK?? The reveal of Hoyt, Luda Mae, the Tea Lady, and Henrietta as antagonists??? {Monty was an opp from the start}

Also, I hate to say it, but the 2006 protagonists didn't appeal to me much. Listen..they are all GORGEOUS actors {both in talent and looks} but they were dealt with poorly-written characters. The dialogue is fine - Compared to the 2003 remake? Subpar. The 2003 protagonists had/have so much character to them - Pepper is what Bailey was intended to be: A sexual, screaming damsel who loses their love interest. Kemper you just feel bad for; He was gonna propose and dies before he gets to tell Erin? Especially since just {under} an hour before, she'd asked when they were gonna get engaged? His character is built on sympathy - He's a protective, sarcastic, and a bit too nosey for his own good {hence his death.} Morgan is a sensible anxious guy who’s kind of an airhead at times..but he’s logical when faced with fear {surprisingly.} Andy is the protective and reactive force {similarly to Kemper.} Erin is THE final girl. Smart, strategic, alluring? Doesn’t that sound like Erin?

Chrissie and Eric are good characters - but they could've been better. insulting your captives is NOT a smart move. At. All. The thing is, when Eric was insulting Hoyt, he was provoking him as a distraction. When Chrissie insulted the family, she did it as a final ‘fuck you.’ One is more productive than the other in terms of survival {but the ‘fuck you’ was deserved.}

Dean and Bailey pissed me off fr - No survival skills what so ever {okay, that’s not fair..they’re trying - and I sure as shit can’t be talking considering this was a life-or-death situation.} Also, I get it, no one wants to go to war {I sure as shit don’t} but consider Hoyt’s perspective for a moment:

Dean not only abandoned his country - he abandoned his brother. Hoyt knew from the moment he called Eric and Dean over which one was which. He stares Dean down so much; ESPECIALLY IN THE CAR !!!

Hoyt is disgusted by Dean. How could he be so selfish? After all this country’s done for him - He just..abandons it? Not only that, he sacrifices his brother? The Hewitts are so family oriented that this ONE action alone could've set Hoyt off. Pair the two together - Dean was bound to die.

{I feel bad for them all, just fyi}

The worst part {in MY opinion} is the waisted potential. There was so so SO much opportunities for this movie to focus on the FAMILY - Instead, it shares the focus with the protagonists. I know this is supposed to be about their 'first family kill' and how they adopted cannibalism, but we could've had so much more.

More into the relationship between Thomas, Hoyt, and Luda Mae. More into the sibling relationship between Luda, Monty, and The Tea Lady. How's Henrietta related? What was Thomas' first mask? How far did he make it in school? WHY can't he speak? CAN he speak? What is his skin condition??? I wish they explored these more in the movie rather than snippets during the introduction sequence.

Anyway..I still watch this movie religiously, but I wish it explored the family wayyyy more :)

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acknowledge-reigns · 13 days ago

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Triple Threat | Jimmy Uso x Naomi x Black fem!OC | SMUT (18+!!!)

Description: Tatiana realizes a potential complication in her relationship with Jimmy and Naomi.

Chapter: 2/5

Face Claim: Arsema Thomas

Warnings: Mentions of Dom/Switch/sub dynamic, petnames, nothing else really.

This is the Jimmy and Naomi x Tatiana sequel to Swipe Right, Rivals With Benefits, Kiss It Better, Baddie and The Beast and The Nanny. As always my stories are NOT about real people and does not reflect their character. This is very much an 18+ BDSM based romance with some comedy thrown in there. If kink content isn't for you, please scroll. You have been warned.

Word count: 2,185

My masterlist can be found here.

Taglist: @lov3rla03 @acute-crashout-jeyuso

Tatiana wakes up the next morning feeling both satisfied and giddy. She's still feeling a bit sore from the previous night's activities, but she can't help but smile as she remembers how good it felt to submit to Jimmy and Naomi.

As she walks into the kitchen, she sees Jimmy and Naomi preparing breakfast for her. They both greet her with warm smiles and kisses, making her feel even more cherished.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Jimmy says, pulling out a chair for her at the table.

Tatiana sits down at the table, her heart fluttering at the simple gesture. She can't remember the last time anyone had been so sweet to her.

Naomi sets a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of her, and Jimmy pours her a glass of orange juice. They both take their seats across from her, their eyes filled with affection.

"Did you sleep well, baby?" Naomi asks, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind Tatiana's ear.

Tatiana nods, a shy smile on her face. She's still a little embarrassed by how submissive she was the night before, but the way Jimmy and Naomi are treating her now makes her feel so cared for and strangely enough subby, just in a different way.

"I did," she says softly. "Thank you for breakfast. You didn't have to do all this for me."

Jimmy chuckles, shaking his head. "Of course we did," he says. "You deserve to be pampered after being so good for us last night."

Naomi nods in agreement, reaching across the table to take Tatiana's hand.

"You're our good girl," she says, her voice filled with warmth. "And we'll always take care of you."

They finish breakfast together, Jimmy and Naomi both making sure Tatiana eats enough to satisfy her hunger. They exchange flirty banter and lighthearted conversation, all while continuing to dote on her.

As they clear the table and begin to clean up the kitchen, Jimmy turns to Tatiana with a hopeful expression.

"We were wondering, babygirl..." he says, his voice soft and persuasive. "Would you like to go on a second date with us?"

Tatiana's heart flutters at the question. The idea of spending more time with Jimmy and Naomi makes her feel both nervous and excited.

She glances at them both, her eyes darting between their faces as she considers her answer. She doesn't want to seem too eager, but she can't deny that she's very much interested in spending more time with them.

"I'd love to," she says finally, a small smile spreading across her face.

Jimmy and Naomi exchange a pleased look at her response.

"How about this weekend?" Naomi suggests, stepping closer to Tatiana and wrapping an arm around her waist. "We could go have a picnic in the park, and then maybe take you back to our place afterwards..."

Jimmy nods in agreement, moving to stand on the other side of Tatiana. He places a hand on her hip, his fingers brushing against Naomi's as they both hold her between them.

"Sounds perfect," he says, his voice low and husky. "We'll take care of everything, all you have to do is show up looking as beautiful as always."

Tatiana's phone buzzes in her pocket, interrupting the intimate moment between the three of them. She frowns as she pulls it out and sees the text message from her brother, inwardly groaning a bit.

From: Devon

URGENT! meet us at the office.

Jimmy and Naomi both look concerned as they see the expression on her face.

"Everything okay, babygirl?" Jimmy asks.

"It's nothing," Tatiana says quickly, tucking her phone back into her pocket and forcing a smile onto her face. "Just my brother being dramatic as usual."

Naomi raises an eyebrow, clearly not convinced by her explanation. She can Tatiana is lying, she's always been one that was good at peeping game but she doesn't press the issue.

Jimmy looks like he wants to question her further, but he seems to decide against it. "Alright," he says instead, still looking a bit skeptical. "Just making sure you're okay."

They say their goodbyes, with Tatiana giving them each a quick kiss before leaving.

She heads to her brother's office, feeling a mix of irritation and anxiety. A part of her had just wanted to stay in her little bubble just her, Jim and Naomi and learn more about the couple that she so quickly was falling for. But alas, work had to be a buzz kill.

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Tatiana arrives at the office, a small and unassuming building on the outskirts of town. She takes a deep breath before entering, mentally preparing herself for whatever this was that so urgently needed her attention. She scanned her palm on the keypad gaining entry to Cara's computer room, that's where the three of them would typically debrief on new cases.

As she enters the room, she sees her brother and Cara standing there, both looking serious.

"Hey," she says, trying to keep her voice light. "What's going on?"

Cara has known Tatiana and Devon for years, since she and Tatiana were in kindergarten in fact. She's an extremely skilled hacker and investigator who handles the cyber stuff for their cases. She's like their very own Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds. Well, maybe her fashion taste wasn't quite as colorful and out there. And in place of blonde pigtails she rocked chunky box braids.

Devon is Tatiana's older brother by 4 years. When he headed off into the real world and started his PI business it hadn't taken his baby sister very long to decide she wanted to follow in his footsteps. Despite being a total pain in the ass at times, Tatiana loves him dearly and trusts him with her life.

Devon looks up as Tatiana enters the room, his expression stern.

"Took you long enough," he says, crossing his arms over his chest. "We've been waiting for you."

Tatiana rolls her eyes, plopping down in the chair next to Cara.

"It's not my fault you summoned me so suddenly," she retorts, giving him a cheeky grin.

Devon huffs in annoyance, clearly not in the mood for her sass.

"This is serious, Tatiana," he says. "We have a new case."

Cara chimes in, turning her attention to the computer screen in front of her.

"And it's a big one," she adds, tapping away at the keyboard. "It's going to require all of our attention."

"So basically, we have a 61-year-old woman named Beatrice who's hired us to dig up some dirt on a wealthy wrestling family," Devon explains, pacing back and forth as he speaks.

Cara nods, continuing to type away on the computer. "Her daughter is dating this guy" she adds pulling up a photo of Jimmy's brother Solo Sikoa. Holy shit! Amanda's mom has hired them?

Tatiana's eyes widen in shock as she sees the photo of Solo on the screen. She tries her best to keep her expression neutral, but a small gasp escapes her lips.

Cara and Devon both turn to look at her, their eyes narrowing slightly as they notice her reaction.

"Something wrong?" Devon asks, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Huh? No. Nothing. Just.. This is the bloodline we're talking about. Like The Rock and his folks. Are you sure we aren't biting off more than we can chew, Devon?" Tatiana tries desperately for a reason to reject the case.

Devon rolls his eyes at her concern. "Don't be ridiculous, Tati," he says, waving a dismissive hand. "We've handled much more challenging cases than this. And besides, this is a big opportunity for us. The payout on this one will be enough to set us up for a while."

Cara chimes in again, nodding in agreement with Devon.

"He's right, Tati," she says, giving her a sidelong glance. "This is our chance to really make a name for ourselves. If we help in something as high profile as this.. it could mean huge things."

Tatiana groans inwardly, knowing that her protest would fall on deaf ears. She can't exactly tell them the reason she doesn't want to take the case is because she has a personal connection to Solo. That would just lead to more questions and suspicion.

She sighs, resigning herself to the fact that she's going to have to get involved in this mess whether she likes it or not.

Devon notices her reluctance but decides not to press the issue further. He knows his sister well enough to know that when she gets that look on her face, it's best to just let her stew in her thoughts for a while.

Cara glances at Tatiana, sensing that there's more going on than she's letting on. She makes a mental note to talk to her about it later, when they're alone.

After a few more minutes of planning, the three of them come up with a game plan for how to approach the case. They spend the rest of the day going over details and figuring out where to start.

As the day comes to an end, Cara grabs Tatiana by the arm as they're leaving the office.

"Hey, wait up," she says, pulling her aside. "We need to talk."

Tatiana raises an eyebrow, giving her a questioning look.

"What is it?" she asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

Cara glances around to make sure they're alone before speaking.

"I noticed you seemed a little... off, when we were discussing the case," she says, her tone gentle. "Like you didn't want to take it."

Tatiana sighs, knowing she can't hide her true feelings from Cara. The woman has always been able to read her like a book.

"Yeah, well.. it's a bit complicated," she admits, looking away from her friend.

Cara raises an eyebrow, sensing that there's something Tatiana isn't telling her.

"Complicated how?" she asks, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms. "You can talk to me, Tati. You know that."

Tatiana hesitates for a moment, debating whether or not to confide in Cara. But in the end, she knows that she can trust her friend with anything.

She takes a deep breath before finally speaking.

"Solo Sikoa... he's not just some random wrestler," she says quietly, avoiding eye contact.

Cara's eyes widen in surprise as the realization dawns on her.

"Wait a minute... you know him, don't you?" she asks, her tone full of shock.

Tatiana nods, finally meeting Cara's gaze.

"I do," she admits, her voice barely above a whisper. "And it's complicated because I kind of.. Have this thing with his brother and his sister in law."

Cara's jaw drops in disbelief.

"You have a thing with his brother AND his sister in law?!" she exclaims, her voice rising slightly. "What the hell, Tati?!"

Tatiana holds up her hands defensively, trying to calm Cara down.

"It's not what you think," she says quickly. "I mean, yeah, It kind of is.. It's like a poly situationship."

Cara's eyes widen even further, if that's even possible.

"A poly situationship?" she repeats, clearly stunned. "You mean, like a threesome situation?"

Tatiana winces at Cara's choice of words, but nods nonetheless.

"Yeah... something like that," she admits, looking down at the floor. "But it's more than that. It's deeper than just some threesome."

Cara takes a moment to process this new information, her mind racing with a million questions.

"You cannot utter a word of this to Devon, okay?" Tatiana sighs.

Cara snaps out of her shock and nods firmly.

"Of course not," she says quickly. "Your secret is safe with me."

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As Tatiana drives home, she can't help but feel a mix of emotions. Excitement at the thought of seeing her new partners again, anxiety about taking on this case and hiding it from her brother, and guilt for keeping secrets from both him and Cara and pretty much everyone.

She couldn't tell Jimmy and Naomi about the case, not without compromising it.

Hell, it was already compromised though wasn't it? She's biased. She has intimate connections with the family of the target.

By the time she reaches her apartment, her head is spinning with conflicting thoughts and feelings. She enters her home and throws her keys onto the counter, letting out a frustrated sigh.

She needs a drink.

Tatiana walks over to her liquor cabinet and grabs a bottle of whiskey. She pours herself a generous glass and downs it in one gulp, relishing the burn as it goes down her throat.

She pours herself another one and heads over to the couch, flopping down on it with a groan.

She takes a sip of her second drink, staring blankly at the wall as she contemplates her situation.

She's a private investigator, for god's sake. She's supposed to be objective and impartial, not involved with the people she's investigating. And yet, here she is, caught up in a complicated relationship with Jimmy and Naomi with an insane conflict of interest.

And now she's taking on a case that involves Jimmy's own brother.

What the hell kind of entanglement has she gotten herself into?

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#Jimmy Uso #naomi wwe #naomi knight #wwe naomi #jimmy uso smut #jimmy uso fanfiction #wwe jimmy uso #jimmy x naomi x oc #jimmy uso x oc #bloodline fanfiction #the bloodline fic

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havendance · 3 months ago

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Bat affiliated characters ranked by how interesting I think a genderswap AU of them would be

Tim Drake - I admit that I am biased as a Tim fan, but also if Tim where a girl then I think she would pretend to be a boy as Robin and her identity issues would be like ten times worse and it compells me

Dick Grayson - I maintain that in response to all those 'eldest daughter dick grayson' ideas, there should be an au where Bruce actually has an eldest daughter. (something I partially explored in my Helena-Dick roleswap) But also, what if the first robin were a girl!

Jean-Paul Valley - If Jean-Paul Valley were a girl I gaurentee you I would find her way more interesting (and probably actually read her comics instead of letting them languish on the to read list)

Bruce Wayne - The question of 'what if Batman were a woman?' is also something I have explored in various Helena AUs, but there's still lots of interesting ground to explore there.

Stephanie Brown - So much of Steph's character is connected to her being a teenage girl and created as this foil/love interest to Tim so I think on his own, Stevie Brown is one of those things where I think a lot does get lost, but I think that in an AU where we're also swapping Tim to be a girl there's a lot of juicy potential because of the foil thing.

Julia Pennyworth - Okay, I originally had below Alfred and then I started thinking about it. Alfred abandoning one son in favor of the other. Jules and Bruce as these sort of brothers. Buried tension... It compels me.

James Gordon - You know what? Yes. Jenny Gordon as the woman commissioner who has had to fight for every inch in Gotham and the fact that she's working with Batman just means that everyone's questioning her competence even more and there's endless rumors that they're having an affair.

Damian Wayne - The more I turn this idea over in my head the more it grows on me. The potential's there. I would need to chew on it some more. I might rank this higher if it weren't for the fact that the couple genderswapped Damian AUs I've read just weren't doing it for me.

Alfred Pennyworth - I usually do not care much about Alfred, but think of the mommy issues that Bruce would have if he were raised by his emotionally-absent brittish housekeeper.

Duke Thomas - I'd give one a shot, but I just haven't read enough of Duke yet to really get an idea on how compelling I would find this.

Cullen Row - The Row siblings have their moments, but I'm just not super invested in them. That being said, Cullen being a girl probably would make me more interested in her.

Harper Row - See above.

Barbara Gordon - The fact that Oracle is a woman is part of what makes her so awesome, but I think there could be potential for, uh, Barry Gordon (not all of these random names I come up with will be hits I am afraid) as Jim's son in terms of the Gordon family soap opera drama.

Cassandra Cain - This just makes her more boring I am afraid. He does get ranked about all the Rucka women though because of the kick-ass factor. I'd give reading about boy!cass a shot which is more than you can say about a lot of the people we're about to get into.

Jason Todd - Sorry to the Jason fans out there because I can see the potential there, but also even making her a girl is not enough to make me care about Jason more than I usually do.

Selina Kyle - There might be something there but I fear I have to admit that I don't care enough about Selina to put her higher on this list. I simply do not spend time thinking about her though I am curious enough to want to read her comics eventually.

Helena Bertinelli - The bottom of this list is all Rucka women because genderswapping them makes me actively not interested despite the fact that I usually like them. Helena being a guy would just be so boring.

Kate Kane - I guess Kate could be a gay man but then we loose the messy lesbian drama :/

Renee Montoya - ditto

Sasha Bordeaux - (This is my list and I get to include her if I want) The whole point of Sasha Bordeaux is that she is like, the ur-Rucka Women. We can't take that away from her. What's left then? (I guess other than swapping her with Tim which was a thing that I did do once.)

#I know I'm probably leaving some people out here but it is my bed time and I am running out of steam #please feel free to share your own opinions #dc #bats + birds + affiliated #tim tag #last of the flying graysons #cass tag #babs tag #the cooler gotham antihero #dennis o'neil's poor little meow meow #sasha bordeaux #carthago delenda est

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a-small-batch-of-dragons · 4 months ago

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Loved and Unloved

Considering the large amount of content of unsymp patton that exists in comparison to any other side currently (most often depicting him as an anti-lgbtq+ Christian dad with control issues), feels like some real meaty angst potential to explore for Patton. He has been way more open to change and hiding when he isn’t doing okay, so maybe he tries actively stripping the aspects of himself these extreme characterizations originate from only for it to go wrong? Maybe Virgil’s snappiness as of the last few episodes or Roman’s unease ends up fueling it in someway? No pressure if you don't wanna write Patton angst, just thought the concept was interesting. – ax3-e0ns

Read on Ao3

Warnings: self-doubt, self-esteem issues

Pairings: none!

Word Count: 3172

Everybody has to be open to change, so it's not fair of him to be so upset by it. He just needs to get over himself first.

Everybody has to be open to change, so it's not fair of him to be so upset by it.

Come on, he'd be the most unreasonable person in the world if he constantly talked about how good it was to keep an open mind, try new things, and then shirked away from actually doing any of the hard work that came with that, wouldn't he? It wouldn't be right! So no, Patton isn't going to pretend that he's the exception to his rules, not like this, so he's going to change. That's how things work, that's how things need to be done.

He just…needs to get over himself first.

Figuring out just how badly he'd been messing everything up—well, okay, no, he's going to go back a little bit first.

The wedding had been hard on everybody, which was something he'd never expected. It had been such an honor to be asked to be there by Lee and Mary Lee, and then to have everything crash and burn the way it did…it had been so disappointing. Not just because Thomas had clearly been so miserable, but because it wasn't ever supposed to be like that. Weddings were supposed to be joyous affairs, all about celebrating two people deciding to tie their lives together, and how could they be there and be so upset about it? Patton hadn't wanted to admit it when Roman first passed the sentence, but ever since Deceit—Janus had pointed out how rough it would be on poor Thomas if he was there—or rather, since he'd given up the chance for a callback to be there, it was…difficult.

Then there's the whole matter of Patton himself. He's not sure when he really noticed how much he was causing all the problems, but once he did, it was sort of impossible not to notice anymore.

Maybe it was in that first meeting where they introduced Janus, back when he'd taken Patton's face and used it to coerce Roman into helping him with his schemes. Maybe it was when Roman passed the sentence and everyone looked at Patton like he was the one who did that too. Or maybe it was when Remus showed up and Logan told everyone that it was Virgil's fault and Patton's fault that Thomas had slept so badly last night.

Whenever it was, it made it clear that Patton…wasn't doing the best he could do when it came to actually being there for everybody else. And that was bad, because Patton was supposed to be there for everyone! Not just because he was at the center of a lot of Thomas's feelings, not just because he was Morality, but because those are his kiddos. Those are the people he cares about the most in the entire world, and if he can't even be there for them in the way that he should be, how could he pretend to be there for everyone else?

So, he could change. He had to change. He needed to change. And the best way to do that was to figure out what parts of himself were bad and needed to go.

As always, the fans were…helpful? Maybe? Is that the right word? He remembers hearing Logan and Roman talking about how fan communities were interesting beasts—he's pretty sure those were Roman's words, not Logan's—especially when it came to interpreting characters. There were always going to be those that acted in bad faith and just saw the parts that they wanted to see, and there were always going to be those that just decided to die on the hill of their favorites and act as though they'd never done anything wrong, ever. But the vast majority of the fanbase would react similarly to the big events of the series, and so he figured that it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to just…see how they were reacting to him lately.

It was an eye-opening experience.

There were a lot of theories going around as to why he'd been so…problematic in the series lately. Everything from him being responsible for Thomas's internalized homophobia to the Split to truly, truly horrible things that he knows are just meant to be alternate universes so the writers can experiment with what they want but to think that there's a part of him that they saw to make the ideas happen…

He'd never been more grateful that the Imagination covers up lies so Janus wouldn't know the truth as to why Thomas was so upset that night, and he'd never been more ashamed of himself for being so cowardly as to run there.

He'd tried to convince himself that it was just that small minority, like Logan and Roman had said, but the thing was…it wasn't. Not really. The amount of content like that for him versus the amount for everybody else was staggering. Even if it was just as small as making him the one that needed to change his mind so everyone could get their happy ending, it was—well, it started to weigh on him. More and more and more with each time he had a look at what the fans were doing, and after a while, well…

Maybe Logan was onto something when he said it was Patton's fault Remus had managed to worm his way so close to Thomas so quickly. He knows, somewhere, that chastising himself for having such a strong reaction to that sort of content isn't going to be productive—quite the opposite, in fact—but he can't stop. What sort of horrible person reacts so badly to being told they need to change?

Well. That's enough of that. He needs to change, so he's going to.

For everyone else's sake.

"Hey, Logan?"

Logan looks up from his notebook to see Virgil and Roman standing in front of him. "Yes?"

"Have you noticed something's up with Patton?"

He frowns. "Not particularly. Is there something the matter?"

Roman sighs, sitting down on the couch. "That's the thing. He won't talk to us—he won't even be in the same room alone with us if he can help it, and I don't know if we did something wrong that he's not telling us about or if there's something going on with him that he's trying to keep a secret."

Logan sighs, closing his notebook and tossing it onto the coffee table to steeple his fingers together. "Well, when did we first notice it?"

"Uh, a couple weeks ago?" Virgil scratches the back of his head. "I tried to ask him how he was doing—you know, since Thomas had that one late night where all of us were really on edge for some reason, just because we didn't really see much of him and then he wasn't talking to us."

"That's right," Roman adds, "and then he wouldn't—he wasn't—I tried to ask him what was going on and he just smiled at me and thanked me for asking."

"Wait, he didn't answer?"

"No! Not really."

"That is bizarre." Logan drums his fingers on his leg. "And we're certain there isn't something obvious we're overlooking? There's not a deadline coming up—well, no, I know for a fact there isn't, not where Thomas is concerned, nor are we near the anniversary of something happening that would make him upset."

"I don't think we did anything either. We've not really had any big fights or blowouts since…" Virgil trails off and he doesn't need to finish the sentence. "And I'm pretty sure it's not really related to that."

"How have we determined that?"

"Well, it's not really how Patton likes to deal with things. He's all about talking things through, remember? Especially when it comes to stuff that doesn't have to do with Thomas." He shudders. "There's only so much reassuring bonding time I can take before I really start to lose my shit."

If they all glance around, half-expecting and half-hoping for Patton to pop out with his signature 'language,' then that's for them to know and them alone.

"I don't know what to do," Roman confesses quietly, "he's been so distant, it's hard to talk to him about anything that isn't food or what we're doing later today."

"I can see if—" Logan doesn't get to finish what he was saying when Remus suddenly appears over the couch and falls squarely on top of Roman— "Remus!"

"Ack! Get off me!"

Remus plants a big, wet kiss on Roman's squawking forehead and rolls onto the coffee table, legs kicked up behind him and hands under his chin. "What're we gossiping about?"

"We aren't gossiping, Remus, we're just talking."

"You're talking about one of us, so spill! I want all the teeth!"

Virgil rolls his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. "The expression is 'tea,' Remus, not 'teeth.'"

"But tea is boring. Janny drinks it and acts like he's the most pretentious snake-bastard on the planet. I was the teeth, that sounds much more fun."

"I don't have any teeth to give you," Roman grumbles, "and even if I did, I wouldn't, because that hurt."

"Aww, is Roro getting soft?"

"I'll show you soft—"

"Boys," Janus announces, striding from the shadows as though he's been there the whole time, "let's keep the roughhousing to a minimum for today, shall we? I'm not in the mood to tiptoe around shards of glass right now."

Remus cackles, Roman grumbles, and Virgil tilts his head back as though asking the heavens to give him patience.

"Janus," Logan greets, "have you noticed anything strange about Patton's behavior recently?"

"If by 'strange,' you mean 'worrying patterns that speak to an imminent mental breakdown,' then yes, Logan, I've noticed a few strange things."

That gets everyone to stare at him quite quickly. He raises an eyebrow.

"Oh, come on, certainly you've noticed it as well?"

"We have, that's why we were talking about it before someone decided to appear right on top of Roman."

"I didn't appear right on top of Roro, I appeared above him so I could fall on top of him!"

"Semantics." Logan waves his hand. "Janus, continue."

Janus sighs, glancing around, before beginning to fiddle with the ends of his gloves. "I don't know what started it, but I do know that Patton's been…having a rough time recently. He's been acting as though we're about to pull the rug out from under him the moment he commits some sort of grave offense."

"But why? What did we do?"

"I don't know. That's the part I haven't figured out yet."

"It started that one night—"

"Where he was in the Imagination, yes, I know."

Remus sits up, a look of actual sobriety flickering through the common mania. "Pat-Pat was in the Imagination that night? What was he doing?"

"If I knew, don't you think I would tell you?"

"No."

"Probably not."

"Doesn't really seem that likely."

Janus holds a hand to his chest, the perfect image of a scandalized maiden until Virgil smacks his arm. "Rude."

"So—we think Patton maybe saw something in the Imagination that threw him off? Why wouldn't he tell us, then?"

"He wouldn't be able to get into Remus's side through those big common doors in the hallway, and it's not like he would know if he—"

"Yeah, I'd be able to tell."

"—right, but I don't know what it could be on my side that would make him so upset."

"Maybe we're thinking about this wrong," Logan says suddenly, "maybe Patton being in the Imagination isn't the cause, but the consequence."

"What, you think something happened that made him go into the Imagination?"

"It's possible."

"Like what? What does the Imagination do that would've made it the place he'd go? The rest of us need Princey or Remus to make anything happen in there that isn't, like, summoning a bowl of Butterfingers."

"Maybe he just really wanted some Butterfingers?"

"Nah."

"Lies," Janus says softly.

"Huh?"

"The Imagination covers up lies. It's all lies, really, which means that—"

"That you can't hear what's going on in there," Roman finishes, his eyes widening, "so if Patton went in there on that night, then…"

He doesn't get a chance to finish that thought, because he spots Patton standing at the top of the stairs, his eyes wide and his mouth trembling.

"Wait, Padre, we didn't—"

Patton turns around and bolts.

"Patton," Logan coaxes gently from the other side of the door, "Patton, please, come and talk to us."

Patton shakes his head, even though he knows Logan can't see it, burying himself deeper into the blankets. This has all gone wrong. Everything is wrong. He has no idea when they started realizing how awful he is, but the last thing he wants to do right now is give them any excuse to confirm their suspicions.

"It's getting worse," he hears Janus murmur, "the lies are—they're getting really bad."

"Patton, please." Logan's getting desperate, he can hear it. "Please, just—just let us explain? We're not here to hurt you, we aren't mad, we're just worried, please."

He can't. He can't because as soon as he tells them what's going on, as soon as they make him tell them what's going on, he knows they'll be angry so quickly it'll be like they've always been angry at him. And he can't have them be angry, not right now, not while he's so weak that just the thought of having to be in the same room as them while they're angry with him is enough to make him muffle a sob into his pillows.

He thought he'd been doing well. He hasn't been overhearing, he hasn't bothered Roman about his work or personal projects in ages, he hasn't tried to walk all over Virgil and force him out of his comfort zone, he hasn't even distracted Logan from the important things that he's doing. He'd thought—he thought he was doing better. He thought he was changing in a way that made sense, that was better. He thought—he thought—

It doesn't matter what he thought.

He can hear the voices from behind the door. He doesn't want to try and listen in to hear what they're saying. He doesn't want to hear about how they're trying to figure out—he doesn't even want to think about it. He wants to push all this down and have it never have happened so he can just go out there and figure out what he needs to do to make himself better.

Then there's a very soft pop of someone appearing in his room and he has no idea how that's possible.

"Perks of the job," Remus says quietly, the bed dipping as he sits on the edge, "Intrusive Thoughts and all that. Means I can go places that the others can't sometimes."

Patton goes still. Well, he tries to go still. What he really does is lie there with the hitching sobs making him tremble every few seconds until he can feel the whole mattress shake with how quiet he's trying to be.

"Oh, Pat-Pat," he hears Remus mumble before a hand pats around the top of the blankets to find his head, "what happened?"

"S-sorry."

"Don't be sorry, it's okay. We just want to help."

Patton shakes his head, trying to burrow deeper, but that just lets Remus know exactly where his head is, which means that he gets about two seconds of warning before his blanket huddle is being moved apart piece by piece, layer by layer, until Remus is lifting up the last one and peering inside.

"Hey," he says, voice remarkably soft, "what's going on, Pat-Pat?"

He swallows painfully. Why is his throat so sore?

"You don't have to worry about being coherent or anything like that," Remus says when he doesn't say anything for a long moment, "just…get it out. I'll listen."

And just like that, out it comes. The whole messy, unforgiving story. Remus doesn't say a thing, not until Patton's sobbing and pleading for a forgiveness he's not sure he deserves, not until the door starts to bang again with how many lies Janus can hear and how Remus was supposed to make it better, not worse, and then Remus is saying his name softly and tenderly and there are hands cupping his cheeks and—

"C'mere," Remus whispers, hauling him up out of the blankets and into his arms, "there, here, here we go…it's okay, Pat-Pat, it's gonna be okay. You're okay. You're gonna be okay. You don't have to worry about any of that anymore, you're gonna be just fine."

"Remus—Re, can we come in? Please? I think Virgil's about to break the door down."

"Get in here."

The rest of them pour in, something Patton only registers because there are suddenly more arms around him, more voices murmuring soft things, more hands rearranging blankets and pillows until he's sobbing into Remus out of more than just fear.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, Padre." That's Roman carding his hand through his hair. "We're right here. We aren't going anywhere."

"Just relax." That's Logan, making him lean back so he can breathe a little easier. "Just try and rest, we won't leave—we can figure everything out later, alright?"

"No more lies," Janus whispers as he settles a pillow to Patton's left, "you need to let us help you, sweetie. We're here for you, you have to let us be."

"Alright, all of you shut the fuck up." Virgil, that's his wonderful Virgil. "We're not gonna overwhelm him any more than we already have. So let him cry this out and sleep a little and you all can fight for who gets to cuddle him first."

This…this no one else gets to see. No one gets to see how happily they all squeeze onto Patton's too-small bed that the twins make bigger so everyone can get comfortable. No one gets to see how tenderly Remus wipes the tears and spit from Patton's chin as Roman takes his glasses and puts them carefully on the nightstand. No one gets to see Virgil, Janus, and Logan adjusting blankets and pillows until Patton's so dazed with sleep that it's a struggle to keep his eyes open.

And he thinks that maybe…maybe this part doesn't have to change. Maybe he's not beyond forgiveness after all.

Maybe he's forgotten that his kiddos love him as fiercely as he loves them.

General Taglist: @frxgprince@potereregina@gattonero17@iamhereforthegayshit@thefingergunsgirl@awkwardandanxiousfander@creative-lampd-liberties@djpurple3@winterswrandomness@sanders-sides-uncorrect-quotes@iminyourfandom@bullet-tothefeels@full-of-roman-angst-trash @ask-elsalvador @ramdomthingsfrommymind@demoniccheese83@pattonsandershugs@el-does-photography@princeanxious@firefinch-ember@fandomssaremysoul@im-an-anxious-wreck@crazy-multifandomfangirl @punk-academian-witch@enby-ralsei@unicornssunflowersandstuff@wildhorsewolf @thetruthaboutthesun @stubbornness-and-spite @princedarkandstormv @your-local-fookin-deadmeme @angels-and-dreams@averykedavra @a-ghostlight-for-roman @treasurechestininterweb @cricketanne @queerly-fluid-fan @compactdiscdraws@cecil-but-gayer@i-am-overly-complicated@annytheseal@alias290@tranquil-space-ninja @arxticandy @mychemically-imbalanced-romance@whyiask@crows-ace @emilythezeldafan@frida0043 @ieatspinalcords @snowyfires@cyanide-violence@oonagh2@xxpanic-at-the-everywherexx@rabbitsartcorner @percy-07734@triflingassailantofmyemotions @virgil-sanders-the-gay-emo@cerulean-watermelon@puffed-up-bees@meltheromanstan@joyrose-fandomer@insanitori@mavenmush@justablah65@10paradox10@uhhh-hi-there-i-am-nervous@cutebisexualmess@bella-bugatti-frogetti-baguetti@ultrageekygirl@raven1508

#dragonbabbles #fic #sanders sides #patton sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #janus sanders #deceit sanders #sympathetic remus #sympathetic deceit

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zahri-melitor · 3 months ago

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Newish Comics:

Action Comics #1072: I am enjoying following the path of both of these stories, but I'm getting the vibes that I need some things to start happening soon, rather than stacking up more mystery boxes.

Still delighted by Kenan and Kon's antics though. The decision to team them up continues to pay off.

Detective Comics #1090: look, have we seen the premise of Thomas helping characters he probably shouldn't have, as a doctor, and that leading to disaster down the track before? Yes. Am I going to enjoy the parallels again anyway? Also yes. Get Leslie into this plot, Tom Taylor, for some support for Thomas' tendencies.

Nightwing #119: My first thought here is how nice it is to see a run that's picking up smoothly from the last one and where the writer is fully indoctrinated on Dick/Babs flirting from the Dixon days. It's got potential and so far I don't mind the characterisation.

Absolute Wonder Woman #1: I think this is probably going to end up my favourite title from the Absolute line. The art was beautiful and full of character, and I really loved the characterisation of Circe in this, and how she moves from indifferent to a mother. "How you fall in love with a child is by raising it." gaaaaaaah I had those words still ringing in my head last night as I was supervising bathtime and teeth brushing.

Green Arrow #17: and we finally get this book handed off from Joshua Williamson. First half was more tidying up of the Absolute Power mess (without much real resolution, but we all need to move on from that plot), but the new run with Chris Condon looks like it has some promise. I'm happy to go with it for the second.

The Flash #14: Skartaris time! I still need to actually get to the point where I understand what the current timeline of Skartaris is from Flashpoint onwards, because my personal understanding is that Travis should be DEAD DEAD DEAD but yet he's still around. I suspect this is because nobody at DC actually cares about Warlord lore enough to make this a problem, aside from Mike Grell, who at this point is in 'sure, that art proposal sounds fun to draw' life stages.

Anyway, the concept of the Wests all going to Skartaris for some family bonding time is hysterical (by both definitions) and I eagerly await to see how Spurrier handles adapting it for an audience who isn't already used to Skartaris oddities. The fact we have floating Ancient Atlantean buildings in the art is a very promising sign to me, though.

Zatanna: Bring Down The House #5: This was a good conclusion to the story. It's been very much Black Label levels of existing in its own continuity, and I respect how it was put together. I do wonder how much of Tamaki's insistence on how she characterised and centred rabbits in the run is influenced by and in opposition to that classic picture of Giovanni Zatara from The Books of Magic #3 with the dead rabbit.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #18:

I really liked the art in Doubt. It was quite effective.

The Constantine and Streaky team up remained completely unnecessary but oh well, not written for me.

Reflections was an interesting team up! I wouldn't have put M'gann and Jackson together (actually I just realised this was probably influenced by YJA, carry on), but they do both have interesting placement in their narratives of Xebel v Atlantis and White v Green Martian. Wish the story had leant a bit more into that outsider narrative from the villain to try and convince them.

Why do we have a random Harley Quinn story from nowhere in the continuity? anyway.

Robin Season is uh not particularly good Tim and Damian characterisation (in that the one-upmanship competition doesn't really feel how the two of them compete?) but it's full of interesting background detailing for indications of setting.

The Warlord #73: This week for our second trip to Lost World of Skartaris, we're starting out strong as Travis is still trapped in the bondage tree from last week.

Terrible bondage peril! Over a fire!

Only to be further attacked by flying dinosaurs of some description!

Thanks for the art, Dan Jurgens.

We spend 6 pages of this comic with Travis trying to escape from the tree vines clinging to him, while also fighting the dinosaurs. We have never been more back.

In terms of the plot that doesn't involve tying Travis up in perilous situations, we're still tracking down the plague unicorn. The unicorn dies in a swamp, the gang figure out that Scarheart, our non-Skataran speaking friend from another dimension probably drank magical healing water from a pool which is why he doesn't have Unicorn Plague, and they go off to get some to heal everyone who's sick. Shakira gets better and falls immediately for Scarheart. They decide to hang out with the group of travellers who speak to animals and leave the main story group for a bit.

Also Travis uses up all his bullets, yet again. I must assume he just has a supplier in Skartaris by now who's worked out how to make ammunition.

#z canon read throughs #newish comics

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screamting · 9 months ago

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Do you have any examples in mind for the Alfred as Bruce's handler idea? What would be the sort of thing that's weird? Because keeping him up-to-date on politics and taking care of his diet, or even talking him down from fear gas attacks doesn't seem that weird to me. Especially with how their lives are going. What specifically are you thinking of? This is such an interesting take, would love to hear more about this

"With how their lives are going" is sort of the point. A butler is a household manager, so like yes, there's some overlap with controlling and organizing lots of people-- but like, not their boss? In a smaller household butlers might do things like take on valet and housekeeping duties, which is probably what happened after the household downsized after Martha and Thomas died. That's also probably when he went from Mr Pennyworth to Alfred.

And people know it's a weird situation. Like. Okay. So the one potential relative the Waynes may have had (Jacob Kane) is too young to take Bruce in, or Martha and Thomas just fuckin hate their other living relatives and specifically write that if anything happens to us Bruce goes to Alfred, or Bruce goes to a relative for like 2 months and it Does Not Work and either Bruce or Alfred bribe a judge to make Alfred his guardian. Lots of options, all of them A Weird Situation Everybody Knows About.

I think partly because of trying to maintain normalcy in Bruce's life (and because of his own emotional issues) Alfred does hold onto the butler/valet thing maybe a little harder than might have been ideal, but if he dresses Bruce he's just lying clothes out for him on the bed or helping him get dressed up for important events. There's no point for Alfred to drive him around-- by all rights Alfred should have his own driver-- and they should have a cook and housemaid and maybe they have Dory like in the batman 2022, but it's still a weird thing to be, essentially, raised by the staff.

(I think maybe that's a separate point but I do think it should play more into the conception of Brucie as a person. He's not just comfortably empty headed and kind to 'the help' because he's stupid and never had parents to teach him how a rich man ought to behave. He's that way because he was raised by the help. Not even in the normal way where you pay/kidnap a nanny to raise your kids instead of her own. Just straight up the butler and the housekeeper and the family physician. [Bruce knows Leslie's a surgeon but his association is still like, 'ah, yes, my pediatrician who showed up to all my birthdays whether I wanted one or not.'])

The thing is that when this is happening as Bruce is a kid, it's weird, but like, it's normal too. They get a closer relationship than child and butler usually do. It's normal for a younger kid to not control his meals too much but once he's an older teen he makes requests for dinner and it happens. He starts growing independent and comes to Alfred less for advice, sometimes making him worry, but he's becoming an adult and soon he won't need Alfred at all!

...and then Bruce runs off with a few hundred thousand dollars in cash and vanishes for years without a word.

When he comes back he's got this absolutely deranged idea in his head about going out and violently making the city a place people are afraid to commit crimes. Sure petty theft and carjacking, but no: he's going to make mafiosos afraid. He's going to very specifically make them feel unsafe in their own homes. He's going to terrorize every crooked cop and politician until quitting and struggling for the rest of their lives sounds like a better option than continuing to take an extra 10k home a month.

....so anyway, Alfred unfortunately loves this kid too much to throw him into Arkham, and it seems like he'd be pretty hard to wrestle now after going through all that assassin training.

So early Alfred takes on what eventually sort of gets outsourced to Oracle, because even if he hasn't been around it since Martha and Thomas were alive he remembers more about upper crust society behavior and Bruce needs to nail it down. So it's not just "here's the summary of the daily newspaper master bruce" it's "this is Julia Danvers she's the only heiress to an oil field fortune and has an allergy to shellfish. She's sort of into environmentalism but isn't really thinking it through and any real complicated solutions that would cause damage to the business make her feel like the end of her family line, which of course ends with a woman and they're going to blame her for being a woman and ruining the business for everyone else. So when you talk to her, here is what I think you should do..."

Bruce doesn't pick his meals anymore because he barely eats so Alfred makes a protein shake with so many other added nutrients that you do have to ease yourself onto them unless you want to absolutely annihilate your gut and suffer in the bathroom for three days. Of course, Bruce never had to think about this, because Alfred did the easing on himself by varying the inputs over the course of a month gradually with the rest of his meals that were easy digestables.

Talking down from fear gas isn't something they plan for but it is something that like: Bruce is seeing a monster. It is telling him the terrible things it will do.

It is using Alfred's voice, so Bruce has to believe there's a good reason for it to do those things, and gives himself over to it.

It's not just that Alfred puts aside what he'd carefully raised and hoped for to ruthlessly try and keep alive what he has. It's that Bruce knows he's being handled, and allows it.

#it's WEIRD and no one else was raised by a butler so they have no idea if it's just them not being used to it or not #incorrrct it is objectively a weird relationship #i had to free thought associate to answer this sorry. i hope it makes sense though #beatext #bruce wayne #alfred pennyworth

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amysgiantbees · 10 months ago

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Dead Boy Detectives Cat King Spoilers

I ADORE the Cat King and I'm really fascinated by him and I just love how detailed everything about him is.

A few thoughts on him...

I love that he's living at Empire fish company to harken to his royal status.

I adore the head-cannon that he's Desire's child. With his golden eyes that remain no matter his form. Desire's actor even tweeted about it!

He asked which boy put the spell on his cat. Also, the cat's comment in the murder house ep that "the Cat king won't like this" and the implied rest of that sentence I feel is "when he finds out, when we report back." But at the end of the Dragons ep we can see the cat's eyes glow, implying he's magically looking through them. I know I'm assuming a lot but he seems to let the cats do their thing most of the time and report to him if they feel like it. It might even be a two way thing where they allow him to look through their eyes, he can't force it. I just think it's interesting what powers he has. Also it's interesting how his relationship with the cats work. Knowing cats, they have to want to report back. They don't just do it out of obligation. So, I'd like to think he's a pretty decent ruler. Or even my head-cannon that he doesn't really rule them more protects and acts as their go between, between themselves and other creatures.

His powers so far: Personal resurrection. Teleportation (but maybe just to pocket dimensions). Shapeshifting. Binding spells or just magic in general much like Edwin can practice magic from books. All very indirect kinds of magic which really suit his trickster spirit vibes.

I love that his loneliness is tied in to almost every interaction he has with Edwin. From insisting that he likes to keep things consensual then putting a spell that forces them to be closer. To watching out for/stalking Edwin with his cats. To forcing him to tell the truth but only a little bit in a kind of desperate attempt to get Edwin to see he cares about him and embraces him for who he is. Edwin calling him lonely really doesn't come from nowhere to humanize him which I love. It's great that even the minor character's motivations are well thought through in the show.

I feel like he took to Edwin so quick possibly just out of pure desire. But also people love to say animals are great judges of character, especially cats, they're discerning. So I love the idea that even if Thomas was repressing the fact that he is lonely a part of him knew it and recognized that loneliness in Edwin. As well as what his actor's mentioned in interviews that Thomas is so free and has so few inhibitions and thus just enjoys messing with stuffy old Edwin so much.

Me enjoying Thomas' moral greyness does not mean I'm condoning his behaivour. But it certainly doesn't bother me for multiple reasons. Firstly, his actor is SO charismatic. It really does make a difference that he's just SO fun to watch. Also, not that I've never been harassed by a queer guy before, but him being not straight does help beat the creep vibes in my mind. Also, the way that he will push a boundary but say or do something that softens what he's done helps. Like ranting and raving in the woods that Edwin will regret this but instead continuing to try to protect him from Esther. I think he clearly cares enough about Edwin that if Edwin was REALLY that uninterested in him and uncomfortable he would of just have given him a different punishment. Also, it's a fair punishment. He binds Edwin just like Edwin bound that cat. He's an ambiguous trickster fantasy creature, I'm willing to let a lot slide due to the fact that he clearly has an important role in the story and people's lives as a disrupting and mischievous influence.

I also am not particularly bothered by any potential creepiness from the Cat King as the way in interviews everyone talks about him is that he had a very specific role to play. He was made to be Edwin's sexual awakening. Yes he could have just been a guy that like always seems to be obliviously shirtless going on runs or something like that and it would have been less problematic. But, for one, I'm sure Edwin's seen that before and just looks away when it happens. Two, Edwin is SO repressed I think it makes a lot of narrative sense that he needs someone SO pushy and desperate in return to wake him up. And also he then contrasts against the purity and sweetness of Edwin's love for Charles. I don't see this as condoning this behaivour because real people aren't deeply repressed Edwardian ghosts that couldn't access therapy even if they wanted to on account of being dead.

Furthermore, as I'm sure many people have seen in recent popular discourses media does not need to be morally pure. I don't think that should be a get out of jail free card though. Or that creatives should be allowed to make whatever offensive shit they want and then say but "it's art" or "it's satire". Context matters. It's important how you frame something. And sure the Cat King is not punished for his bad behaivour but he is framed in such a way that I feel like he is not supported for it either. He doesn't get "rewarded" with Edwin in the end. He's not even guaranteed to have his company in even a platonic way since they're heading back to London and he, presumably, has to stay in his kingdom (he calls himself A cat king so I'm assuming there's others elsewhere so he probably can't go to London and intrude on another's territory. Or maybe he's A cat king in that there's just one at a time but there's a history of them).

Also, I've seen some people be uncomfortable at the age gap between Edwin and the Cat King, but to quote one of my favourite YouTubers Kennie J.D. "They're brooding hot 25 year old teenagers". They're both actors in their 20's. They could both theoretically be playing immortals frozen in their teens. I get that Thomas looks older but none of them look like teens. Edwin's actor has a 5 o'clock shadow. The most info we get about Thomas' age that he's meant to be appearing as is that he says "he's not a daddy type" according to him. Admittedly his actor says that when he was imagining a backstory for him part it was that he thought he and Esther were ex's. So that does lend to the idea of him being frozen as an adult. So I'd definitely say it's a grey area. But also people arguing it's not weird because they're all kind of ageless anyway, I do disagree with. As a TikToker, Babbity Kate, I like pointed out just because Edward is over 100 years old doesn't mean Bella dating him isn't less weird than her dating Carlisle. There's a difference, it matter's a person's maturity.

I just hope we get a Season 2 and the Cat King sticks around for it. Hope Edwin misses him XD

Other people with great takes on him: https://www.tumblr.com/weareinastormoffuck/749853517024559104?source=share

#dbd #dead boy detective agency #dead boy detectives #dead boy detectives spoilers #myanalysis #the cat king

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joannerowling · 11 months ago

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funny that she would say "Tell me something about Dean. You can't, can you? He had no backstory," when Dean gets the most characterization out of all the Gryffindors (minus the trio + Neville). we don't know much about Seamus, besides that he loves Quidditch, that he isn't brilliant at school, that his mom is annoying and that he seems to like confrontation. that's very basic info. we don't know much about Parvati and Lavender besides that they are pretty girly, love divination, are interested in boys (and that Lavender had a bunny). i don't think we know much about both of them individually either (but that's okay because they are kind of like a codependent female duo, every school has those). but DEAN? he loves football, he is a good drawer, he is good at quidditch, but he is also a fierce fighter and has no hesitation standing up to people like Umbridge when she insults Lupin. like, come on, there is a reason why ginny choses to date him and there's a reason why Harry hates him so much -- Dean is the archetype of the nice, popular boy made up in a lab for Harry to be jealous about! he is the Gryffindor version of Cedric, in that sense. "We don't know much about Dean" he literally gets more "screentime" than every other Gryffindor (minus the trio + Neville). Dean was in the Malfoy's manor. Dean was on the run with the goblins and Ted in DH, we literally get a scene where the trio overhears him and it's such a poignant and moving scene!! Dean was at Bill and Fleur's cottage. Dean was Ginny's boyfriend. Dean was on the Quidditch team. Dean was in the AD. Dean was literally the most relevant secondary character in ootp, hbp and dh (as far as the Gryffindors are concerned). Not to mention that he has a fully fleshed out backstory - his dad was killed for refusing to join Voldemort and Dean was raised thinking he was a muggle but he finds out it's not true (we actually do get to hear some echo of this backstory in that DH scene when the trio overhears him talking to the goblins and Ted).

"He had no backstory, I don't think we even met his parents, he was just "Seamus' nicer friend"." this is projection. this is not how Dean is treated in canon, but this is how Dean is treated by the fandom. the fandom constantly overlooks Dean and ruined his characterization to make him look like Seamus' nice friend when he actually has a personality of his own and is more interesting as a character than Seamus. now, as a former Popular Deamus Blogger, i can tell you the reasons why the fandom prefers seamus over dean sooo much is a bit suspicious but i don't want to wave around the racism allegations.... but they do constantly uwu-ify Dean and reduce him to Seamus' friend while Seamus receives significantly more attention from the fandom. canon doesn't justify this, if we were to follow canon, then Dean would be the one getting more attention and fanfictions than Seamus. (Dean also has great potential for fanfictions as you can also ship him with Luna) Anyway, all this to say that this woman probably forgot all about the books and is going on a whim about fanon characterization. I'm mad she turned off reblogs because I was ready to go out of my HP blogging retirement to defend my lord and savior Dean Thomas, the best background character in HP

Girl!! In the name of all Rowlingblr, i would like to appoint you head of the Dean Thomas fanclub. That was some good fangirling.

I didn't know that Dean was currently or in some fandom spaces LESS popular than Seamus. I always thought the opposite was true! Seamus is kind of annoying and confrontational in canon. Dean is way cooler and could have been the hero of his own story. Dean x Luna had its hour of glory circa 2007 (post DH release), it was definitely a guilty pleasure of mine.

I think people who get all up Jo's ass about Lavender and Parvati being kind of vapid and annoying need to take a chill pill. It's not like they're on Pansy's level of mean and hateful, they're just not heroines. God forbid a story imply that focusing on gossip, fashion and horoscopes might not make you a role model.

#replies #djuvlipen #hp #dean thomas

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imthepunchlord · 11 months ago

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Just a random question, but do you like adrien and marinette being the main duo, or do you think two other people would've been better?

Yes and no.

It's kinda complicated.

So, with my long break from Miraculous, clearing out my salt mines, and doing a gradual rewatch of the show with fresh eyes and enjoying the nostalgia of what used to be, I can say I am reminded on why, we as a fandom, enjoyed them as leads and as a pair.

There was some yin-yang potential in their dynamic, specifically playing off Lady Wifi introducing the Head vs Heart idea.

Marinette's an Empathetic Head. She's observant and perceptive, the planner and quick thinker, typically, she responds logically to what's presented to her. But she does feel deeply for others, and that empathy and kindness drives her to step up and help others.

Adrien in turn is a Reasonable Heart, at least, meant to be. He works off his feelings, goes with his gut, his wants; but he's also meant to be the emotional reason, knowing what to say to ground those that are getting caught up in themselves, offer support and direction, one they didn't consider or see before.

It nicely places off that theme that there's a little bit of the other in the counterparts, which is why the two halves have those dots, a little bit of yang resides in yin and vice versa.

And between the fluff and the snark and the support/loyalty they do offer each other, that potential for them as partners and users for the Cat and Ladybug is there.

Unfortunately, the writers' bias and stubbornness ruined that dynamic. What's meant to be a partnership of equals never becomes equals. Adrien never steps up as a leader and shares the weight of responsibility, and Marinette never feels like she can ease back and trust others to handle things, making her feel like she has to solve everything and be THE solution.

There's also the factor that they decided to prioritize the romance over the friendship, which did not really help Adrien as a hero as he focused more on his romantic pursuits than being a hero, flirting at the wrong time, not taking anything seriously... it was a bad look. And then Adrien and Marinette as civilians, despite being stated to be friends, I kinda question if they truly are. Adrien never actively goes to hang out with Marinette on his own, most of the time, there's a social expectation for them to hang out as civilians, or a favor is involved.

One of the aspects that has a romance work is having a good friendship to be that foundation. But the writers don't value friendship, not between actual friends and not between the love interests.

And the third issue is their means of growth.

Thomas, unfortunately, echoed the idea that girls grow through suffering. So Marinette's growth is just having the narrative against and giving her a hard time and she just can't win no matter what she does. Damned if she do, and damned if she don't. And I got to see that she developed anxiety and has an Atlas Complex and is very stress and just...

And with Adrien, he's just stagnant. He doesn't get involved in his own plot. He doesn't step up to the responsibility of being a hero, nor does he seek to share the weight of leadership. He's handed things on a silver platter, is allowed to be upset and petty and recklessly use his power.

And all of these factors just throws a big wrench into the potential of their partnership and them as leads and as the Cat and Ladybug heroes.

Better writers can make them work. And I bet there are a lot of good fanfics out there that have made them work.

I can see that potential and promise there. It's just really poor execution that ruined it.

I also will say, personally, I do think narrative wise things would flow better if they had a kwami swap at the start. Though, this is largely working the direction canon did go and I can see how a kwami swap could've combated that.

Plagg is set up to be the ideal foil to Marinette and have her grow, as she's too much of a giver, overthinks, piles too much on her plate, and struggles to put herself first. Extra bonus that they could've been a hilarious duo to see.

Tikki's big appeal with Adrien is that she would've gotten him involved in his own plot. Would've pushed for him to figure out who he is, what he wants to do, to be more involved if not be the leader, and to think more before he acts. And there could've been some good fluff as Tikki fills the void his mom left, as she can be very affectionate and supportive.

There's also the factor that Adrien needs someone to straight up tell him when he did something wrong or uncool. Anything that's a vague hint that Plagg occasionally gives just goes over Adrien's head or is ignored.

And there is that big appeal of shifting up the dynamics. Canon's issue is that Marinette and Tikki are initiators, while Adrien and Plagg are reactors. Mixing up these dynamics would've done wonders for their characters and interactions.

So, yeah over all, they can and could've worked as leads and holders of the Ladybug and Cat. The writing just really screwed them over. Though, I will say, doing different leads for Ladybug and Cat isn't an impossibility either.

#ask Punchie #ml salt

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im-out-of-it · 20 days ago

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now that I’m thinking of it but wouldn’t chain of irons be so much better without the whole wedding or marriage? I’m just saying if you take out a lot of the Cordelia and James stuff, you can work in other stuff that personally I feel takes higher priority

instead of focusing on the marriage, focus on James finding out about what Grace did and his trauma. literally the whole marrying James and then Cordelia being jealous that James had “feelings” for Grace-

GIRL WHAT DID YOU EXPECT

YOU KNEW THIS

IT WAS NOT A SECRET

I feel chain of iron and thorns take too much time on the marriage and the nonsense miscommunication. thorns spent 400 bloody fucking pages just on not communicating and iron spends about 500 ish pages on their wedding and marriage.

I said it from the start that this series should have focused on Alastair. sorry not sorry but he’s more interesting than Cordelia and his story deserves to be heard. having a lgbtq+ main character and couple would have been elite. also all Cordelia’s growth and development kinda goes out the door after chain of gold. she’s just kinda set up as this I don’t care about anyone but James type of person

ITS LITERALLY REPEATING CLARY THEN TESSA NOW CORDELIA WE GET IT YALL ARE SELFISH AND ONLY CARE ABOUT YOUR DICKISH BOYFRIENDS

the fact that Alastair doesn’t have any pov and that he doesn’t have more moments with Thomas or really bonding with Ari, Kit, literally anyone is criminal. Alastair, Matthew, Thomas, Kit, Anna, Ari are some of the most fascinating characters to me and they should have more of a spotlight

and then James being magically back in love with Cordelia after all of that? I get he’s under graces spell or whatever but it didn’t feel believable for me. there’s just so much wasted potential in this book especially that I don’t see talked about that much

the fact that some of the most important moments (thomastair, Lucie development, James and Jesse trauma, any upcoming wars regarding belial, etc) are overlooked is insane. the whole timeline feels wrong too. like shouldn’t they be spending more than 50 pages on a bloody war?

CC uses 95% of her time on miscommunication and then is like ah shit, there’s a war with a villain coming up. let’s squeeze that in and do the aftermath in 50 some pages. it won’t be that noticeable

IT WAS AND IT IS

yes she put some murders in but this book still largely feels like it’s the James show when there are much better characters out there

FOCUS ON BETTER CHARACTERS THANKS

#anti cassandra clare #anti cc #just my stupid opinions #thomas lightwood #alastair carstairs #thomastair #thomastair deserved better #the whole setting seems ill suited #so much potential and cc said let’s focus on James #anti james herondale #anti cordelia carstairs

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yahoodarling · 1 year ago

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Yandere Thoma/Ayato X Isekaied GN Reader

Warnings: Posted in comments to avoid spoilers, please read them if you wish to avoid potential triggers.

Chapter 2: 6k+- words, Chapter 3

Full Fic option: 20k words

The words Ayato left with you clung to your mind, in all this time interacting with ‘characters’ you haven't once seen anything alter the course of the world yet. Perhaps it's a twisted Butterfly effect and your actions have changed something you cannot see but Teyvat was still intact and no news of a newly declared war has come about (for whatever reasons your actions may potentially had started a war in the first place). Perhaps the time of paranoia can finally come to an end and you can ‘live' a little, truly live here if it means spending the rest of your life in this world. You also owe it to Thoma. You've done everything in your power to avoid him when he's done nothing less but show genuine interest in getting closer to you and with Ayato's words you can confirm that you've hurt him. In your time knowing him, truly knowing him, not as a character reading lines of script, not as a collection of pixels on a screen but as a real person with flesh and feelings, it's really made you appreciate him more than anything one could feel for a fictional character. Thoma is not fictional in this world and in this world he looked to you for a friendship, you lead him on in your weakness and now he has to face the loss because of your choices. Ayato was right, you truly don't have the right to make this decision but the least you can do is make up for your mistakes and keep your promises. Teyvat isn't going to fall apart just because you want a friend, what led you to think you could change the fate of the universe in the first place? Fate is a strong thing, it will not break so easily just because you exist. The rest of the ‘plot’ will go on as normal, the ‘hero’ is most likely still in Sumeru sorting out their issues and that ‘hero’ can go on and change Teyvats fate, you can sit still, live a normal life and they can keep the story going.

You decide the best way to apologise is to show Thoma you genuinely care and the best way to do that, (other than actually talking to him) is to do what he's already established means a lot to him, make something. Thoma loves to see the effort people put into something much more than the actual execution of it. You are hardly a master baker yet he savours what you bake like it's been done by a professional, so play to your strengths. You finish your work day, inform your boss you will no longer be taking the overtime and rest for the day. Not wanting to rush into things too quickly you wait a few days and in your spare time make a batch of miso butter cookies and a simple fresh loaf of shokupan on the day you decide to meet him. It being a weekend you were off work but that also meant Thoma wouldn't be in the city, he does his trips here only during the week when he needs specific supplies for his upkeep of the clans residence. Taking a walk to the Kamisato Clan is quite the walk but you owe it to him to get this done, he can't be the one to keep chasing after you, you need to show you want to be close as well.

You arrive midday, the walls of the clan still so daunting, and walk to the entrance where the clans guards await, noticing your presence long before you could actually stand before them.

“Good day, I am here to deliver something to Thoma.”

The guard eyes you but responds, “He's out. If you have any deliveries you can leave them here where they will be checked before entering the clan.”

Thoma isn't here? Shit. That makes this whole thing a bust.

“Do you know where he's gone or when he'll come back? I'd prefer to see him in person.”

“No. Please leave any packages here and-” the guard was cut off as the man of the house walked up to the entrance, Ayato offered a slight smile, perhaps to ease your nerves at the guard's menacing stance though that is his job, before turning to said guard.

“They are a guest and are welcome to the clan. Thank you for serving your duties but they are free to enter.”

The guard bowed and uttered a small, “Yes my lord.”

Ayato then stood to the side to allow you in, his arm outstretching the direction in welcoming.

“Ayaka and I were just having tea in the break of our schedules. Please do join us.”

Well it seems you will be meeting Ayaka (for the second time), not expected, not something you were prepared for but if you are to truly let go of your worries then meeting Ayaka should not be a problem.

You follow suit and see Ayaka sitting at the table on the outside courtyard , she smiled in greeting as you and Ayato approached.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, I am Ayaka Kamisato.” she nodded in greeting. It's a little difficult to respond to people such as Ayaka and Ayato whom are so versed in proper Inazumaian etiquette but you've been in Inazuma for long enough to have picked up some things. You bow slightly in turn, “A pleasure as well Lady Ayaka, thank you for welcoming me to your home.” You responded in a similar way when first meeting Ayato though you imagine conversing with him from now on would be a lot more relaxed after your previous meetings. Said man indicated for you to sit beside his sister which you did, form a lot less refined compared to the pair of siblings.

“Ayaka, this is the person Thoma has been talking about as of late. A new friend to the Kamisato Clan.”

“Oh! It's truly wonderful to put a face to a name. Thoma has spoken only positives about you. What brings you here?”

You look down to the wooden box in your hand, your apology gift.

“I need to speak with Thoma and give him something.”

You don't even need to look at Ayato to know that he's fully aware of what your meeting with Thoma is all about.

“I see. He's gone out for a walk at the moment but should be back soon. Anyway,” it felt like ice drawn at the blunt way she changed the topic. She quickly turned back to Ayato, more specifically the paper in her hands, with a look of true delight on her face.

“The travellers' tales of Sumeru are incredible! Such a different place but the stories they are embarking on are memorising.” her eyes had a sheen to them, not the gloss of tears but of something you couldn't exactly tell what it embodied.

“Their letter details so much, the food, the culture, the people as well as all the situations they've ended up in.” she giggles, lifting her hand to cover her joy but not truly caring about it since she was in such comfortable company which is… odd considering you just met.

Ayato looks at you with a quick strained smile, almost to say, ‘sorry she's overlooking you’ but quickly returned to paying his attention to Ayaka.

“I am not surprised they often find themself in trouble haha though it is good to know they are enjoying their time there. Do they mention when they may return to Inazuma?”

Ayaka looks slightly dejected at that, “No. They say they need to stay in Sumeru for now but will come to the next major festival if they can.” she takes a deep breath in and releases it. “I hope it's soon. I want to hear all these stories from their mouth rather than just as words on a page.”

So Ayaka also has that ‘crush’ on the traveller which was very heavily implied in the game. That must be the reason she is so relaxed and open with her emotions here.

She looked back down at the letter, a soft smile developing. “I hear Yoimiya is planning on taking a trip to Sumeru in the future, perhaps I can ask her to deliver a token from me to the traveller while she is there.”

Ayato's smile remained as always listening to his sister but the small crinkle of the wrinkles by his eyes increased slightly for but a moment before relaxing. His wrinkles… a pity the game models of the characters didn't implement small details such as those. It would have been interesting to see what small features the characters had ‘realistically’ that weren't shown. Would Jean have bags around her eyes? Would Albedos skin have a slight difference of texture than normal? Perhaps Cyno has a more defined tan or Xiangling having slight burn blisters on her hands from cooking and her vision? You've only had a closer look at Thoma and he was so much more ‘real’ than just a 2D image which was slightly unsettling at first but normal now. What interesting things to think about…

“How about you join her?”

Your fascination died instantly. What? No, Ayaka will NOT be joining Yoimiya, that's not how it goes. Ayaka will deny or something will stop her.

“Really? But what of my responsibilities? I don't even know if she'd accept me joining.”

Exactly.

“Do not fret, I will have your duties covered and Yoiymiya is your friend, I think she'd appreciate getting to share the trip with you. You deserve a break as well and I see no better opportunity than this.”

No, no, no, no you won't because she's not going.

Ayaka stood up, elation beaming off of her while she clutched the letter closer to her.

“Thank you brother! Oh I must ask Yoimiya right away!”

She bowed and made haste out the residence not even sparing you a glance, to her you were a nobody. Her mind was solely on making this trip.

You sat in shock, in the past her forgetting about you would be amazing, proof of your ‘npcness’ but you only felt stunned. Ayaka doesn't go to Sumeru, only Yoiymiya does for her second story quest, Ayaka is not involved, Ayaka does not show up, Ayaka is not part of that plot!

“I'm glad she can have a chance to experience the world outside the residence though having to cover for her duties will prove tedious.” Ayato shook his head, then chuckled. “But I'm not opposed to it for this.”

Just how- how has your involvement changed this?! It must be your fault, it can only be your fault, the story has gone on exactly as it was shown in the game so why is this different? What could you have done to make Ayaka go?

“Hmm?” Ayato noticed your silence, “Is something the matter?”

You swallow the spit that had accumulated in your mouth and regained as much composure as possible. “Yes yes I am fine I just- I just need to go have a quick walk by myself. I will be back soon.” It's all you could say. Your mind switched to autodrive in shock and walked you away, neither mind nor eyes truly focusing on anything but your legs walking you a path you've taken many times before yet never once stepped on, into the forests behind the clan house.

Walking in the tanuki filled forest may not have been the best idea, you recall ingame how Hilichurls and Fatui mages are ‘spawned’ here yet your walk was nothing but peaceful. The sound of the stream was somewhat calming, it helped you to think logically. Just because Ayaka says she's going to go on this trip doesn't mean she actually will, something will happen that will prohibit her from going to Sumeru. She is a very important character, her absence in Inazuma may cause something terrible to happen that didn't ingame. Maybe she helps a person in need ‘canonically’ but because in this existence she leaves for Sumeru she isn't there to save said person, that person dies or many people die which could upset their families which could cause them to lose faith in the (police) which could lead to disrupt in the city which could… which could… leave blood spilt?

You stopped your rambling thoughts, eyes zoning in on the pools of blood on the moss covered stones. Whatever caused this is nothing you should get involved in, until a sound of a strangled hiss, electro energy popping and fizzing in the air, a shriek of vengeance and then… nothing. The sound came from further ahead to the right behind a large mound, you watch to see the source, feet ready to run away as the slightest threat. Footsteps sounded and around the bend came a semi dirt covered Thoma, looking ahead with a solemn expression, seemingly dazed. His chest huffed out periodic breaths of air to regain himself and latestly wiped off his brow and took out a cloth and dabbed at the specks of blood on his clothes and arms, while doing so he turned and saw you standing motionless, eyes awide and still in semi shock. Almost instantly devastation fell upon his face, his eyes sunk in immediate sadness, he just looked at you for a second, whatever his thoughts were were his own, before quickly putting the cloth away and rushed to step towards you.

“Please just- i'm just doing my duty, I don't mean-, i'm not…” the more he tried to justify himself the more he seemed to sink into his own hole.

“I know this looks bad, you are the last person I'd want to see me like this but-” he took a deep breath in, steeled himself to elaborate properly, “it's to protect the clan. Fatui spies, rogue samurai, rival clans, a lot of them come here to spy on the clan or put us at risk, i'm just doing my duty and protecting the people who protect me.” he looked at you earnestly, hoping for your understanding, hoping you don't see him as a murderer, hoping to retrain the image of an amicable person but his soft smile of a plea also held the acceptance that you may not acknowledge his reasonings, that you'd turn your back and leave.

You do understand, you do know Thoma isn't a harmless friendly face, that he can and will do what must be done for the people he cares about, it's just that… it's a little hard to easily be calmed even with that notion when the very real blood and remains of that dedication is shown spewed across the forests floor, it's not something any ‘average’ person would not react to but still, this is Thoma, he has his reasons, it was done in the name of goodwill and he's trying to explain it to you.

You take a few steps towards him and offer a hesitant smile, “I get it, I don't see you as any less than before.”

Before you even regain your senses properly you feel his arms around you, tight and secure, his hand cupping the back of your head and hiding his face in your shoulder, so desperate to have the reassurance that it's okay but still hesitant to look at you, like you may change your mind.

“Thank you… archons above I was worried I've scared you. My word, that's the last thing I'd want…” she shook his head slightly, took one last deep breath and moved back up, his hands grasping your shoulders lightly, you could see his face up close now and he finally allowed himself to look at you, his face held a smile. “I am so happy to see you!” the heavy atmosphere diminished as Thomas usual radiance shone, “Haha, what are you doing here? It's been ages, the last place I thought I'd see you was all the way here.”

“Oh yeah, I actually came to apologise about that, about being distant. It wasn't right of me to just cut you off, I'm sorry.”

He stayed silent, only looking at you, his eyes softened and nose wrinkled in his genuine expression of embrace. “Dont worry about it, I was clingy, I'm just glad to know you are here now. I'm really happy about that.” he chuckled and shifted his weight to point you back up the path to the Kamisato residence.

“Let's go catch up shall we?”

On the walk back up you explained to Thoma your ‘reason’ for avoiding him (your half lie, half truth reason), the same one you told Ayato. You are shy and get intimidated by how social he is. Thoma nodded at your explanation, expressed his apologies for not noticing your discomfort and promised from now on he'll be more aware when you are together and not encourage meeting with others you aren't comfortable with. The walk was nice, a bit strained because of the topic but after all the knots had been loosened it felt good to be relaxed with him again.

You two entered the Yashiro court again, Ayato still sat at the table reading through some papers. Thoma turned to you, “Oh sorry, meeting with Ayato was one of the things that made you uncomfortable right? We could go somewhere else to catch up?”

“No it's alright, I met with him earlier when I arrived. I told him I'd return so it would be rude not to haha.”

The noise must have alerted said man, Ayato peaked his head up and greeted the both of you with a smile as you walked towards him and sat down.

“The both of you have returned safely from your walks then, it's good to see. How was it?”

Thoma hesitantly chuckled, “Haha, came across some trouble but nothing I can't iron out. Otherwise we just had a little talk.”

Ayato nodded and hummed.

You remember your carrier box filled with the apology gifts for Thoma and opened it.

“Thoma, I made some more biscuits and bread and wanted to give them to you, to further state my apology.”

“oh? Perfect then, we can have them with tea.” Ayato must have had someone refill the teapot while you were away as Thoma poured you both cups of steamed golden liquid and refilled Ayatos. Thoma took a biscuit and devoured it in delight, did he always over exaggerate when eating the things you baked or was his reaction authentic?

“Ayato, would you like one? They really are divine.”

“No thank you. It would be wrong of me to strip you of your joy haha.”

It was odd but so welcoming to be able to have a casual conversation with the two. It seemed easy to get lost in Thomas stories, he seemed fully invested in everything he spoke of and when listening he truly captured every word. Ayato, though not as vocal as Thoma when he did speak his words were like a maze you'd have to do a small mental puzzle to understand if they were a wise response or a guileful remark coming from his teasing nature. Though harder to understand, Ayato's words were still a welcoming part of the conversation as the three of you went on to drink and share.

Ayato shuffled his papers, putting them to the side, even on his supposed break he was reading through documents, Thoma hummed, took a quick look around then returned his gaze on Ayato.

“Where is Lady Ayaka? I thought you two were having this tea break to discuss something.”

Oh wait… Ayaka…

“Yes, she received a letter from the traveller today and was eager to share it, haha she truly is fascinated with that adventurer. She's not here at the moment however, she's gone to speak with Yoimiya. She says Yoimiya will be taking a trip to Sumeru in the future and has gone to ask if she may join.”

“Oh that's wonderful!-” Thoma hesitated, “Oh but doesn't she have some important meetings lined up these coming months with the shrine? There were those exchanges that need to be made, some deliberations about the upcoming festivals… as supportive as I am about her going on a trip, it doesn't seem doable with just how much is installed for these next 3 or 4 months.”

Oh Thoma you are truly a blessing, not only are you a true friend but you reestablished that the ‘plot’ wont change. You mouth a soundless thanks to him.

Ayato hummed and tapped his quill* rhythmically on the table. “That is true but I want Ayaka to enjoy her years and not only focus herself on clan affairs, this trip is a good first opportunity to see the world outside Inazuma and with Yoiymiya as her travel partner I do not doubt they will have a good time. As for the workload-” Ayato reached over to the paper stack and shifted through them, “I was busying myself with planning and rearranging the meetings and visits she had in the time I expect her departure will be. It is more work but it will be rewarding, you'll see.”

Thoma seemed confused, it seemed from the look on his face he was doing the same as you when it comes to Ayato's words, figuring out the puzzle but if there was an underlying meaning to his words you didn't detect them, Ayato was simply stating facts and expectations yet Thomas silence ment he was looking for more than just that. Whatever mental games Thoma was tackling he must have failed, he chuckled and melted back into his relaxed self.

“I'm glad then, it will be good for her.”

No… no this isn't right. There will be something, something will stop her from going, there must be.

“mhm, I only await to hear back from her and her meet with Yoiymiya, I don't see any reason why she would decline.”

Yoiymiya will decline, she will, she must.

“oh? Are you okay?” Ayato looks at you in concern, he puts his quill* down and gives you his full attention.

“Is something the matter? Whatever it is, I am sure we can address it.”

“No, no its okay I just realised- I had some serious stuff to do for work which i've forgotten.”

Ayato's face turns to mock surprise, you know he didn't believe you but he doesn't comment on it, Thoma does the same but you can detect the small quiver of his smile in disappointment that you are leaving so soon.

“Oh dear! Do you need help getting back home?”

“no no, i'll be fine thank you” you rush to stand up and then smile down to the two. “Thank you for today but I must go. Enjoy your afternoon.” you rush pleasantries and are out the gate before the two could press you further on your actions.

You've done it again, you came here to try to fix things but you've just made a mess. You can try to fix it tomorrow, for now the more pressing thoughts of the potential Sumeru trip Ayaka will go on drowned out any other thoughts. You walk home rushed, the long walk not helping much to ease your nerves, you can only hope fate will prevail and Ayaka will stay in Inazuma.

Ayato and Thoma sat in silence as you left, mutual understanding of the odd nature of your departure yet not wanting to address it.

“So… your ‘walk’ was fruitful then?”

“Just a few stray Hilichurls and a Fatui mage but it's been sorted.”

“Thoma, you know securing the perimeter is not part of your duties, you needn't lie about the reasoning for going out.”

Thoma did not respond.

Ayato breathed in deeply, “I am not opposed to you going out to release your emotions but I worry you may get caught up in them only to further feed into your obsessions.”

“I'm not obsessed! I'm just-” he grit his teeth in his own turmoil, “I don't want to label these feelings as ‘obsession’, that wouldn't be right to them. I don't know, I still don't know. When they stopped talking to me it felt like I'd lose them forever, that everyday I don’t see them with my own eyes is a day that they may disappear and I know that sounds obsessive but… but I don't want to call it that. I just don't…”

Ayato soaked up his friend's words like a sponge and as always his responses were either clear or muddled with undertone, this time Thoma could tell instantly Ayato's words were transparent.

“You need not worry yourself about labelling your feelings then, you two are back in contact and there is still a future for you to explore what the emotions you are holding mean. Just do not lose sight of your health and those around you, even obsession can be tamed. “

The next few months were both easier and harder than the times you were avoiding Thoma. Sure, you lessened your workload and your health improved, you stayed in contact with Thoma, not as much as before but still enough to bond over. It was good to have a friend again and the feeling was mutual, every time you did meet he seemed eager to enjoy it to its fullest. You had even met with Ayato a few more times, never to the extent of Thoma but at least it became comfortable to sit and have tea with the both of them in a relaxed manner but that was the positives, the looming threat of Ayaka changing the plot was a heavy cloud always looming. The few occasions she saw you she was cordial and respectful but her interest glossed right over like you didn't even exist. She and Yoimiya made plans, fulfilled the work she could and now here you stand on the beach you woke up on exactly 2 years ago, 2 years since you randomly came to be here in Teyvat, the same day fate was changed and both Yoimiya and Ayaka were set sail for Sumeru.

In blunt terms, youve fucked up. This was pure proof of your paranoia, this was proof your existence can cause the plot to change and the realisation of just how helpless you are in this situation dawned on you. The very act of your existence, whether you interact with those deemed ‘special’ or not, can and will change the story and you can only wonder if it will end well or if you've led something to doom.

It's not fair, it's not fair at all. Even though you've been friendly with Thoma recently it's not like you can truly confide in him and he's just a painful reminder of your mistakes. The burden of wearing this responsibility, one you didn't even know how to fulfil, one you failed to fulfil, it's unfair. You are only human, you have needs to fulfil and ‘dying’ isn't one of them…

But

But is it moral to be so selfish as to care about your own being when putting the risk of others on the line? Ayaka is gone from Inazuma, just how many people was she meant to interact with if she stayed? How will her presence in Sumeru affect the story? If you guess right the ‘hero' should be done with the main quest of Sumeru if it means Yoimiyas story quest can start but what if something happens that prohibits the plot for future stories? What of Ayakas presence delays the ‘hero’, even for a minute, in which that minute was originally meant for something in the greater scheme of things?

This is awful… this isn't right. Not only has living become so difficult because of the constant nagging of anxieties and worries but you also have the potential to be responsible for disaster simply by existing.

It isn't right… it isn't right you afflict this world with your existence and the threat it brings.

Two years ago when you awoke on this beach you hoped to retain a normal life, perhaps find a way back home but at the very least, set up a life for yourself, an npc life but at least something. It's only fitting that you felt you had to come here, to kneel in the sand and watch how its granules slip through your fingers, it's because you exist that this sand is moving… it's only fitting that you finally come to the conclusion that you must die while being here. This is the place of your ‘birth’ into this world, perhaps it can be the place of your death as well. Not ‘death’, not some convoluted meaning of ‘dying' and becoming a new person, no you need to die. You need to die to ensure the people of Teyvat can remain on course. You are the virus here, you are the disease you need… you need to die.

Tears ran down your cheeks at such a resolute statement, sure youve thought about it all but now and truly you've decided that this is it, that you must do this. It's not like you want to die, not on a personal scale, but on a mental and emotional scale all this is too much, too much to bear and too much to live through.

It's not fair to leave the people you've so selfishly afflicted with your presence without giving them a reason but you are too much of a coward to tell it to their face. It wouldnt go well if you were to stand infront of Thoma and tell him you were going to kill yourself, thats for sure but at the very least he could get some form of an explanation.

You decide tonight is not the night you die, that would be tomorrow, you stand up from the ground and walk home, the weight of your choice still as raw as the moment you decide it, death is no light matter after all.

You get home, a small space a person like yourself could afford, only the basics of furniture and 2 rooms. There under your door lay a letter, you pick it up and sit at your table where unblemished paper sat to become future suicide notes. Taking a look at the letter it was sealed in wax, the crest of the Kamisato Clan dug into its mass.

You open it,

‘Dearist XXXX

May this letter find you well. Both Thoma and myself wish to invite you for a stay at the Kamisato Clan as both a guest and a friend. The changing season brings a beautiful opportunity to witness it first hand as the trees take on their new hues and the oceans change their tides, you are welcomed to join us. Thoma sends his best wishes but asks for them to properly be said in person rather than in post. We eagerly await your response.

Signed

Ayato’

Haha… how casual for a man like him… haha… haha here you are preparing to write letters announcing your death to them and yet they think only of including you in their lives. Haha… how horrible, how utterly vile it is to be able to experience emotions such as these. These feelings only prove your point more. You put the letter to the side and stared blankly at the response you are going to reply with, oh of only it were as optimistic and welcoming as theirs was.

You tried to make it easy for both yourself and those intended to read it. You state that the mistakes of your past have lay heavy on you and that death is the only relief, that you are sorry you cannot return the sentiment of friendship and must lay your mistakes to rest.

To Thoma you leave a more personal note, telling him that he made your life here in Inazuma so much better, that it was only in the moments with him you forgot your ‘mistakes’ for even a moment and for that you are grateful. It's true, it's only Thoma who made you forget the fact you don't belong here when you spend time with him. Sending this letter to him is assured to rip his heart, he sees you as a friend and he's going to beat himself at the thought that he did not help you enough to make you feel you'd want to stay, that he wasn't a good friend, which is not true at all but you know there is little you can do to convince him otherwise. In a moment of distressed induced vulnerability, with tears in your eyes you state something so cliche as that perhaps in another life you two may be able to have the friendship you both craved in this life, if only there is a case of reincarnation and you may be born in the same universe as him and live that life with no burdens or guilt of your existence.

To Ayato you are more cordial, less emotional or descriptive but you tell him that he was right on that day in the rain, that there is a deeper problem than you just being ‘introverted’, otherwise you keep it professional.

After the hardest two were done it was rather simple, it's not like you have any friends or family to write to and sending a letter to the street vendor you buy from doesnt make sense. You do write a letter and tell your boss that you simply will not be returning to work, you don't say why, and that you thank him for all the opportunities and help he has given you.

For once it was easy to fall asleep, for the first time in 2 years the moment you lay your head on your pillow you were unconscious. For once you've felt the release of the burden you feel and the comfort that will come when your plague on this world is done. You are so tired and finally you can rest.

The next day went on simply, it was a weekday and you went to work, in the afternoon you submitted your letters to the post and walked back home, taking in the scenery of Inazuma. This will be the last time you walk these streets. You wait at home quietly, have a decent meal and enjoy the sounds from outside of leaves and people. You felt in an odd state all the way through the day, like your senses were hypersensitive noticing the slightest thing around you which was lovely. You got to focus on the squirrles you passed on your way to work, the smell of baked bread smelled heavenly once again like it had the first day you were in the bakery, the pink and purple blossoms of the trees were so vibrant on your way home. You had given the shop vendor a smile and a wave as you passed her, that day you felt no burden, no grief. You only had one more step to take, the hard part was already over with.

In the late evening you stood by that beach again, the view was incredible. You sat down in the sand and got comfortable leaning against a rock and letting the tide touch the tips of your toes. You were naughty today, you bought enough substances from clinics or herb stands to be sure you felt good in your last moments. You took them quickly and then rested your head back against the rock, letting the sound of waves softly crashing, leaves rustling and the odd animal chirp lull your mind. It took some effort not to fall asleep just yet, you blinked your eyes harshly and woke yourself up a bit. This part was slightly uncomfortable, the beach you woke up on had a slight cliff, nothing you'd die by jumping off of, it was just a little steep incline but it was enough. You took a large rock from nearby and rolled it closer to the edge, tying a rope around and around your ankle. Drowning didn't seem like a peaceful death but at least like this your body can be washed into the sea where it can decay in peace without traumatising a random person strolling the beach. You relaxed and took out the large knife you had brought with you. Bleeding out decreases the time by knocking yourself out and not having enough energy to wake up in the water and struggle. You should be numb enough now. You closed your eyes and cut lengthwise, both arms, a leg… you tried your neck but even drugged up that was beyond doable. You didn't even register when you had stopped, you didn't see the blood flowing or feel the pain as it pooled, slowly your will died out as everything became hazed. It was a feeling, not a good or bad one, you couldn't even think. You felt the weight on your ankle tug, your consciousness dropping and allowing the gravity to pull you away. Black.

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