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skzsauce01 · 2 years ago

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Mina's Delivery Service

Synopsis: It's not appropriate to loudly say that you hate children while in a school, but surely saying that you hate your sister is allowed. Or, your sister is determined to set you up with every attractive man at your niece's school, and you are not having it.

Warning: none

Word Count: 3.2k

Pairing: gn!reader x Lee Minho, gn!reader x Han Jisung, gn!reader x Kim Seungmin

Happy Halloween!

Let’s make one thing clear: you don’t like children.

In fact, “don’t like” might be too kind; you hate children. Snotty-nosed, annoying brats who never do as they’re told with an endless supply of the most asinine questions you’ve ever heard and have the audacity to keep pestering you with their babbles after your fiftieth “Because I said so.” Loud, unhinged goblins who stomp around at five in the morning and throw what has to be every single pot and pan in the kitchen because they were bored and had nothing to do. Horrible little demons who push cats down the stairs “to see what would happen” and then have the audacity to cry when you push them out of a five-story window so they can experience empathy in real time—

Okay, so that last one hasn’t happened, but you were really close. And Sesame only tumbled down one step, but anyone who has ill intentions to your darling kitten is on your hit list. No, you don’t care if it’s a child because once again, children suck.

The only exception to this rule is your niece. Lee Mina, daughter of your younger sister Nari and your brother-in-law Felix, is the sweetest girl you’ve met, and she’s only five. She’s kind, caring, and knows the appropriate amount of questions a child can ask before an adult loses their mind. She definitely got all of those attributes from her dad because Nari is the definition of Annoying Little Sister. To be honest, she’s probably the source of all your hatred.

Nevertheless, you love Mina (and your sister too, you suppose), so when Mina insists that you come to her school’s Halloween parade, you take a day off work and put on a pair of cheap cat ears to be the Jiji to her Kiki. Ever since she watched the movie in the summer, Mina has been insisting that she dress up as Kiki for Halloween. Her mom will be Bakery Lady (Osono), her dad Bakery Man (Fukuo), and you Jiji. You told her that you could be Cool Artist Girl (Ursula), but she insisted you be her cat since she couldn’t bring Sesame to school with her.

Not that you would have let her, but you did give her several pictures of Sesame to show her classmates and a stuffed cat to complete her costume.

You show up a few minutes before the scheduled parade begins and stand with your sister on the unusually large schoolyard. Vaguely spooky music plays from hidden speakers as parents in nice sweaters and in various different costumes mingle around. You suddenly feel inadequate in simple all-black clothes. Sure, you drew some whiskers, but you don’t even have a tail or anything. If this is what being a PTA parent in a private school is like, you don’t want it. Regular PTA parents are already a handful. If not for her job, you can definitely see Nari as a PTA mom.

She enrolled Mina in a private early education academy for its curriculum, which is kind of understandable but it’s kindergarten. Well, they also provide two years of pre-school, but it’s a tad bit overboard in your eyes. You and Nari went to public ones, and you both turned out mostly fine.

“Morning,” Felix greets. He looks the part of a baker but certainly not of Fukuo, who is usually quiet and stoic; Felix is all smiles, even at 8:30 AM. He holds out his basket, which is only partially a prop. “Bread?”

“Thanks.” You take a small roll from the basket and marvel for the umpteenth time about how lucky Nari is. Weekly fresh-baked bread for breakfast and delicious brownies for dessert—you can only dream. “How was Mina this morning? She told me last night that she was gonna wake up early to practice being Kiki.”

“She woke me up at six,” Nari replies after a healthy sip of coffee. She’s finally taken to drinking black after spending all of her college years maintaining that barely caffeinated milkshakes were enough to sustain her. “Could have asked her other parent who was already in the kitchen, but she wanted me to tie her ribbon. Guess what Mr. Han’s dressed as? Her teacher,” she clarifies after seeing your blank face.

“Also Kiki?”

“No, but still Studio Ghibli. I think all the teachers agreed to do a Ghibli theme.”

You think back to everything you made Mina watch in August. “Howl?”

“No, that’s Mr. Hwang from the class next door. I think Mr. Yang’s going as his Sophie.”

“You’re telling me all this like I know who all of these people are.”

She sighs and looks over at Felix with an expression that undoubtedly says, “Can you believe her?” “He’s Turnip-Head. He even stuck his arms out like him when Mina recognized him. He’s so funny,” she muses while you privately think to yourself that Nari needs to get her sense of humor reevaluated after having kids. After a pause, she adds, “He’s cute too.”

“If you wanna cheat on Felix, you could at least do it when he’s not around.”

On the other side of Nari, Felix laughs.

Nari elbows you like she’s seven again and has discovered how much fun she has elbowing people. “Did you suddenly get a date in the last twelve hours we’ve talked? You haven’t dated anyone in like, I don’t know, forever.”

By “forever,” she means a year. After that last fiasco, you’re never trying online dating—and maybe regular dating—ever again. “I’m not hitting on my niece’s teacher. That sounds a little problematic.”

“So if he wasn’t, you’d be interested? What if I introduced you as my former roommate? Or Felix’s friend? You two are friends, right? Wouldn’t that be fun?”

Annoying Little Sisters never grow out of their questions, do they?

Fortunately, lines of children are being led out to the schoolyard by their accompanying teachers. Admittedly, they do look adorable as little princesses, little superheroes, little prospective career choices. One kid is dressed as a carrot, which makes you chuckle and then makes you wonder if you also need to reevaluate your humor.

“There’s Mina!” Felix exclaims, pointing out a distinctive red bow in the sea of tiaras and top hats. A lot of kids want to be magicians apparently.

Following Turnip-Head the teacher into the yard, Mina is first in line. Slung across her shoulder is a brown satchel with a stuffed kitten poking its head out to see the world. Like her dad, she’s all smiles. When she finds her parents and you in the distance, she waves her arms back and forth.

“Hold this,” Nari says to you as she hands you her coffee. She pulls out her phone from her dress pocket and begins snapping pictures of her daughter. “Gosh, she’s adorable. So, what do you think of Mr. Han now that you’ve seen him?”

He is good-looking, you’ll give Nari that. To be fair, it’s not like anyone would disagree with that assessment. “Is that all you can think about during this very important school function?”

“You’re talking to the person who was planning how to ask me out during a midterm,” Felix interjects. He wraps an arm around his wife’s shoulders and looks at her with so much affection, you have to tear your eyes away. “Of course that’s all she can think about. If you don’t want to risk it with Mr. Han, I can set you up with my friend. Chan hasn’t been on a date in years.”

“Not you too,” you groan. Just for revenge’s sake, you take a long drink of Nari’s coffee. You don’t know how you’re supposed to last another hour if this is what your company’s like. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

Egged on by his annoying wife, Felix only grins at your exasperation before gasping at something. “Mr. Lee’s Kiki!”

Mr. Lee, you learn, is not Felix’s long-lost relative, but Mina’s pre-school teacher last year. You weren’t invited to the parade then, so you don’t know what his Cruella de Vil costume looked like exactly, but from Felix’s report, his fur coat was truly magnificent. All the kids wanted to touch it.

When Mr. Lee passes by with his class, he does a double-take at you and your family. Nari greets him enthusiastically, Felix offers his bread basket half-jokingly, and you wave hello awkwardly. Mr. Lee takes a roll and exchanges compliments with Nari and Felix for a while. He looks at you curiously after you don’t say a word, so you introduce yourself first as Jiji and then your actual self.

“Mina’s my niece,” you add before Nari can make up some elaborate lie. “Nice costume.”

You’re not saying that to be polite; it really is a nice costume. He has a birdcage with a stuffed cat in one hand, and an appropriate witch broom in the other. Maybe you should have lent Mina your broom after all.

“Yeah, you too. I gotta go, but we should get a picture later. I didn’t think anyone would be Osono or Fukuo,” he says, nodding at Nari and Felix. “It was great seeing you again.”

After he leaves, twenty-something children following him like ducklings to a mother duck, Nari nudges you with her elbow. “What about him?” she whispers.

You whisper back, “I’m gonna kill you.”

After a lifetime of death threats, she’s unfazed. “He’s cute, and you already have some rapport with him. We could both be Lees.”

“This coffee is mine.”

“Have it. I hate black.”

The drink doesn’t taste as good anymore, but you make a big show of draining the last dregs of it anyway. Meanwhile, Nari prattles on about how she doesn’t want you to die sad and lonely, which is really not the insult she thinks it is. Besides, you refuse to take romantic advice from someone who failed their midterm over a date.

Fortunately, before you seriously consider committing a felony, Mina’s class comes up the designated path. Killing your sister? Totally fine. Killing your sister in front of her daughter? Traumatic for Mina and therefore, not fine.

Mina tugs on the sleeve of Mr. Han’s black coat and points directly at you. If Grandma were here, she would have slapped Mina’s hand down for being rude. “See?” she loudly says. “I told you I have a real Jiji!”

Again, you awkwardly wave hello to yet another stranger Nari is trying to set you up with.

“Hi, Mina,” you say. Then because her classmates are staring at you like a zoo animal, “Hi, kids. Happy Halloween.”

A few of them are polite and shout in response, “Happy Halloween!” Most of them are disappointed and say with palpable dejection, “You’re not a real cat.”

Relatable.

Mr. Han at least has the decency to doff his top hat to you. “It’s nice to meet you, Jiji.”

You can feel Nari vibrating with excitement at this throwaway exchange. The parade continues, and you do an excellent job of ignoring your conniving sister’s attempts at conversation. All roads will lead to either Mr. Han or Mr. Lee. Mr. Lee seems to be the frontrunner by the sole virtue of sharing the same surname as Felix.

“When is this over again?” you ask Felix after Nari steers your passing comment about how loud the music is to how considerate the teachers at this school are to their students. He seems more receptive to talk about something other than your love life.

“Technically, 9:30. They went overtime last year, but no one really cared since it bled into the party.”

“There’s a party?” Maybe public school did suck after all.

“You’re staying for it, right? It’s mostly for the kids, but there’s snacks and candy.”

“I guess. I promised Mina I would stay until the end, but that was before I knew there was a party.”

“It’s just an hour or so. Besides, you need to at least get a picture with Mr. Lee before you go. If only you came as Tombo!” Nari says, starry-eyed. Whether it’s the caffeine or her having too much fun, you don’t know. “Stop glaring at me.”

You keep your glare on until the parade loops back around one more time before officially ending. The students are lined up by class in the center, and hordes of parents rush to get pictures of their children and their friends. Feeling every bit like an involved adult, you join Nari and Felix in the flood.

You mill around the edges for a few seconds before Mina drags you into her group of friends so you can answer questions about Sesame. You allow it because one, you love Mina enough to not play the part of Irritated Adult and two, you love talking about Sesame, the most precious creature in all of existence. In the meantime, Mina shows every possible person her favorite photo of Sesame lying on his back in the sun. You gently correct her when she declares that Sesame is her cat. In the spitting image of her mother, she vehemently denies it.

In the middle of explaining how Sesame’s ears twitch, Mr. Han squats down next to you and glances at Mina’s picture. “So this is the real Jiji?”

“Yeah. He’s adorable, isn’t he?”

You turn back to the rapt children around you, prepared to continue your lecture. However, before you can do so, Felix gathers all of Mina’s circle for a group photo. Scheming little rat—he and Nari are one and the same, no matter how good his brownies are.

You stand up, and Mr. Han follows.

“I like your pipe,” you say after some silence. It’s probably only been a second, but that’s already a second too long. “I imagine it’s not real?”

He shakes his head, amused for seemingly no reason. “Definitely not. The kids ‘ooh-ed’ me when they saw it, and I thought they were gonna try to send me to the principal’s office.”

“That’d be pretty embarrassing. They would never let you live it down. I told off my sister in front of Mina once, and Mina brings it up all the time when she gets in trouble.”

He’s one of those people who throws his head back when laughing. It’s a miracle that his hat doesn’t fly off. “Tell me about it. I forgot the word ‘milk’ and called it ‘cow water,’ and every time I ask them what they had for lunch, at least one of them tells me they drank cow water.”

“Kids are so great.”

He sighs fondly. “They really are. Hey, you mind if I get a picture with you and your family later? All the teachers did a Ghibli theme and since you dressed up according to the theme…”

“Yeah, no problem.” With just a twinge of cynicism, you say, “It’s all Nari’s been talking about.”

As if on cue, Nari bounds over and informs you that there’s a Ghibli group photo happening. Some of the teachers, namely Mr. Hwang as Howl and Ms. Kim as No-Face, have already gathered together. The three of you head to the spot, taking Mina along and picking up a boy in a Totoro hoodie. Mina and Totoro stand in the front center. The Kiki’s Delivery Service franchise kneels around them, and under the guise of unity, you and Mr. Lee wind up next to each other through the graces of Nari.

While the other members get sorted into perfection, Mina takes the opportunity to tell Mr. Lee about Sesame. She gives him one of her many pictures, and he carefully takes it, studying a sleeping Sesame with lofty consideration.

“You can put it in the Cat Hall of Fame,” she proudly says. “Next to Dori.”

“When did you get a cat?” he asks.

“He’s mine,” you interrupt, trying your best to hide your smirk when you notice Mina pouting that she couldn’t claim Sesame as hers. “I adopted him seven months ago, if you’re curious.”

“First time cat parent?”

“Yeah, but it’s still easier than babysitting the fussy three-year-old your sister dropped off with no warning.” You say the last part extra loud for Nari and receive a light kick to your tailbone. “Do you have any? Cats, I mean.”

His whole face lights up. “I’ve got three! Soonie, Doongie, and Dori. They’ve been with me for years. I’ve got pictures of them in my classroom. You remember, don’t you, Mina?”

Mina nods her head vigorously. “I like Dori the best.”

He indulges her with a laugh. “Feel free to come by my classroom afterwards,” he says to you. He waves the glossy photo, making it ripple. “I’m gonna add Sesame to our Cat Hall of Fame.”

Nari kicks you again, probably to literally kick you in the right direction. It’s not like you needed it. Forget Mr. Lee’s face—cat pictures are the best lure for you. You turn around with a ready scowl, but the photographer, one of the many moms around, directs everyone to smile at the camera.

You have no idea how it turns out, but it doesn’t matter because the pictures on the Cat Hall of Fame are infinitely better. As per Mina’s request, Sesame is placed right beside one of Dori. And as per Mina’s other request, you return to Mr. Han’s classroom immediately after to see if you can guess which paper ghost she decorated. It’s not a lie; it’s the perfect excuse because goodness gracious, pre-schoolers will cry at the drop of a hat. Or in this case, about the drop of a hat. To be fair, you likely would have done the same if your homemade witch hat was also dunked into a bowl of punch by another kid.

Nari is disappointed by your arrival but recovers seconds later. She grabs your arm conspiratorially. “Teachers are off-limits to you,” she whispers, “but what about parents? Mr. Kim Seungmin, single dad to Seoyun, who is one of Mina’s tablemates. Felix is talking to him right now.”

At this point, you shouldn’t expect anything different. Mr. Kim Seungmin is also good-looking, especially in a plaid overcoat reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes. But really.

“I’m not gonna use my niece’s school as a dating app,” you hiss.

“But look at all the possibilities! And c’mon, Felix and I are paying for it. You might as well. If you talk to Seungmin, I won’t accidentally leave your number on Mr. Han’s desk.”

“I’m the emergency contact. He already has it. Have you given up on Mr. Lee already?” you tease, and that’s the wrong choice because Nari is now pulling you along to Mina’s table.

“If you like him so much, I can leave at his desk instead. I’ll explicitly mention a date.”

“I hate you.”

She pushes you forward into Mr. Kim's line of sight, and you quickly plaster on a happy face while she makes introductions. Seungmin holds out his hand for you to shake, and you note that his fingernails are painted a shocking pink, no doubt by his daughter who has a matching shade that compliments her princess dress. You absolutely loathe your sister, but she is right in that the school is a good source of dating material.

You hate it when she’s right.

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mybg3notebook · 4 years ago

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Astarion Analysis

Disclaimer Game Version: All these analyses were made up to the game version v4.1.101.4425. As long as new content is added, and as long as I have free time for that, I will try to keep updating this information.

“Morals are all well and good, but power always wins.”

“If all I want is shallow praise? Hardly, there is also gold, sex, revenge, quite the list, really. But failing any of those, I will always settle for shallow praise.”

--Astarion

The majority of sources used for this article are in the game itself (including Astarion-solo playthroughs) and the dev’s notes and datamined information provided by pjenn. Astarion as origin is (almost) not taken into account since it’s not finished and is highly unpolished.

The itemised list will show some instances of approval or disapproval as seen in the game. To make the reading of this article easier and shorter, you can skip them since they are basically the proof I use to sustain the introductory concept of each block.

We can infer a lot of Astarion by analysing what he approves and disapproves of. Sometimes, we can even lightly infer some information from his neutral reactions, but let’s be honest: this way of analysing a char is pretty poor since it leaves everything to speculation. Neutral reactions can only be analysed by contrasting the same situation in other contexts, and seeing what other options Astarion approves or disapproves of. With these considerations in mind, we can proceed to describe this character.

Disclaimer: this is a meta with my personal interpretation of the character, sticking as much as possible to the facts and leaving little to “desires” or “projections” of what I want him to be. If I do so, I will state it explicitly in the text for the sake of analysis honesty. I want to be clear about what is canon (facts shown in bg3 EA), from what’s personal interpretation with little proof.

Also, this list is extensive, gathering as much as I could in my many playthroughs, but I’m sure it’s not absolutely complete. Some details may have escaped to me, but honestly, I believe they will be easily fit in these blocks once the pattern has been seen.

Understanding Astarion by enumerating his reactions

Astarion is usually seen as a character whose behaviour is the embodiment of “randomness”, and after several Astarion-solo playthoughts, I began to see the patterns that showed little randomness in my opinion.

We can say that he likes gratuitous cruelty and murder. He has a special taste for animal cruelty too. He is greedy, but mostly if it leads to murder or to make little people suffer. Sometimes this greedy side comes from the fact that he doesn’t like to “work for free”: most quests should have a reward for him to be neutral to them. Accepting them without asking anything in return tends to earn a disapproval. He is more reticent to humiliate or outsmart NPCs that may be potentially stronger and more powerful than him.

[[1]] Situations showing his greed:

He supports the robbery of the fishermen that were helping the mind flayer (MF) after the crash.

Astarion supports stealing the “magical” ring from the tiefling kid (Mattis). This could be seen also as a gesture of outsmarting a person or mere trickster behaviour (see below).

He supports asking for compensation from the deep gnome we saved at the windmill.

He agrees to force Tulla (dying gnome in the myconid camp) to give you her magical boots.

Denying Baelen the scrolls because “they don’t come cheap”.

He approves pickpocketing Mirkon while being lured by the harpies.

[[2]]Situations displaying plain murder or violence:

He supports joining Lae’zel against the tieflings if you persuade them to free her, since this means killing (which is always an entertainment for him) creatures he considers lesser.

He supports killing Gimblebok and his gang near the Jergal ruins if you avoid any attempt of persuasion. This can be shown as a demonstration of power. (see below)

He supports killing Kagha without trying to persuade her or change her ways, not because he thinks Arabella’s death was an aberration (he enjoyed the show, as his approval and later comment confirm it) but simply because he enjoys murder.

He supports attacking the goblin camp. It’s a great spectacle of murder combined with his personal dismiss towards goblinoid races.

He approves of joining Minthara and massacrating the tieflings. It’s another great spectacle of murder, but in this time, of weak people (He detests weak creatures, and despises Tieflings in general).

He approves of killing Lae’Zel in the scene where she attacks Tav during the night, out of fear of turning into MF.

He approves of killing Rugan in the hideout.

Still related to this level of violence and cruelty, he supports learning more about Shar once Shadowheart explains Shar’s teachings, all about violence and death, fighting against the illusion of safety.

He approves killing Ellyka, the tiefling spying on the Gith patrol, if Tav is a Githyanki (true or disguised as) and chooses “Attack.”

He approves of helping Glut in massacring the whole Myconid colony.

He approves of sacrificing one of the companions to the fish-people who worship Booal.

He approves fighting the fake god Booal because it’s a massacre; where there is bloodshed, there is Astarion’s approval.

For the same reason he approves killing the Githyanki patrol: pure bloodshed.

[[3]] Situations of gratuitous cruelty: I understand that a lot of people confuse this trait of his personality as a “trolling attitude”. There are different archetypes of tricksters in DnD, and he is not particularly the silly-funny one (e.i. Jester in Critical Role), but the cruel-funny one. His “pranks” don’t cause annoyance or silly troubles, they usually end up in murdering the person he is pranking, or causing them great pain. What he considers “funny” is always related to a lot of blood and suffering. Examples of this:

He disapproves of diffusing the situation between Aradin and Zevlor after the first goblin attack. He is “missing” his show. This situation is also related to enjoying humiliation of others (see below).

After letting Arka kill the goblin and take her revenge, Astarion will approve the comment that refugees are desperate and they will do anything. He is enjoying the show of despair of weak creatures. And he is also expecting for some of them to become survivalist beasts.

He approves of telling Kagha that you enjoyed the show of Arabella’s death as an answer to her question about if she is a monster.

He also approves of telling Arabella's parents that Kagha will release their daughter when the Rite of Thorns is completed (while Arabella, in fact, has been killed by Kagha's snake). This is another example of Evil Trickster, a prank with a really dark taste. This also shows that Astarion likes to give false hopes [One of the most iconic characteristic of Cazador]

He approves of telling the tiefling kids training with Wyll that they are going to die, inspiring that despair he enjoys to see in weak creatures. (see below)

He approves of breaking Alfira’s teacher’s lute, leaving the tiefling heartbroken because that had been the only memento she got from her teacher, and could not finish her tribute song.

Astarion approves of interrupting the goblinoid couple having sex, which he considers disgusting. After killing them, Astarion will support the idea that it was funny. Another example of Evil Trickster where the prank ends up with the death of the pranked one. But we also know Astarion despises goblinoid races.

He approves of killing Crusher after humiliating him.

He supports Tav who volunteers to torture Liam at the goblin camp.

He supports of laughing at Lorin (the elf trapped in Ethel’s house) after pretending to be the monster he sees (psychological torture). This example can be part of the list of humiliation too.

He states that seeing Mayrina’s horrified face after resurrecting her husband was funny. Another example of false hopes [One of the most iconic characteristics of Cazador] On the contrary, if Tav kills the undead afterwards, Astarion will disapprove, since he missed the “fun” of seeing Mayrina tortured.

He enjoys every state of Abdirak’s torture upon Tav. This can be seen as a fine bloody show he is enjoying, or as a way to put Tav in a humiliating situation (as he approved the dung-smearing or the foot-kissing instances)

Using the leader gnoll Flind to attack her own gnolls earns his approval. Asking her to devour herself increases approval once more. This situation could also be seen as enjoyment of animal cruelty (since gnolls are considered animals by Astarion too) but also as the reflection of Astarion’s inner desire of becoming a Master of bending wills.

Probably the most innocent prank so far we saw, he approves of doing Baaa at the redcaps in the Bog.

[[4]] As I said previously, he suports any form of animal cruelty:

He approves of kicking and killing the squirrel Timber in the Druid Grove. According to the dev’s notes, he is “shocked and annoyed” because “you stamped a squirrel to death when he could’ve eaten it.” (DEN_General_Squirrel)

He supports prodding to death the bird that Nettie was healing during the dialogue (you need Speak with Animals for this).

He supports freeing the Owlbear cub at the Goblin Camp, and feeding it later, because he wants to bite the owlbear cub eventually (he uses the word “delectable” to describe him, and when the owlbear escapes, Astarions states “You‘ve scared off the little snack.”)

When we find Halsin in his bear form, Astarion will have two instances of approval: the first one when Tav tells the goblin kids that throwing stones with sharp edges would hurt the animal more, and then when Tav themself joins the goblins in throwing rocks at Halsin.

We can also add the confrontation with Flind, the Gnoll leader, as another example of animal cruelty since he approves a smart yet twisted way of killing her by double-using the tadpole. First to command her to attack the gnolls, and then to devour herself. However, since Gnolls are considered aberrations lore-wise, this point could be left aside in this particular case.

If we take into consideration that Astarion sees Goblins, Kobolds, and Gnomes as animals, killing them always increases his approval. This happens when we kill, out of the blue, most goblin NPCs, or simply attack the camp. (Datamined content) He will also approve of killing slave gnomes in Duergar Encampment (place you find after the boat). All these moments can be also seen as “animal” cruelty if we take into account Astarion’s perspective.

He approves of killing Priestess Gut in the Goblin Camp. It could also be interpreted as his usual dismissal towards goblins (he sees them as animals), since he never believed that she could help them in the first place. Or this approval can fit perfectly fine the cruel, murderous aspect of Astarion. As I said, many approvals overlap different aspects of Astarion, but all seem to fit his patterns either way.

I suspect that the reason behind this particular kind of cruelty comes from those two hundred years of torture, in which he had to drink animal blood. Considering he was such an unfair magistrate, directing his rage against the ones who are not the root of the problem seems fitting.

[[5]] Astarion is filled with racial bias and prejudices.

He only sees elves and humans as the only creatures capable of thinking. (Scene after the bite)

However, he has strong biases against a particular ethnic group of humans: Gurs. He thinks they are all cut-throat, and probably would approve the rest of stereotypes that Gandrel added in that scene. (Scene of meeting Gandrel)

He mocks halfling and dwarf Tavs, who he thinks are naturally weak, until they prove him wrong. (Stargaze scene for short-sized Tav)

He supports the idea that tieflings have demonic powers just because of their heritage. (Speaking with the Grove halfling seller). During the party, he compares the lives of the tieflings with the lives of the goblins as something of similar value (which we know he considers as animal).

He sees goblins, kobolds, and gnomes as animals. (Scene after the bite)

After killing the goblinoid couple which was having sex, if Tav choose to say that the situation made them scrub their eyes, Astarion would add and extra “dehumanizing” comment against gnomes. “I’ve seen worse. Gnomes can be… ughh.” (Scene of interrupting sex)

[[6]] He finds pleasure in humiliating people or in outsmarting them, especially if they are trying to outsmart Tav. He dislikes weakness and loves to humiliate weak people in particular.

He approves telling Lae’Zel to say “please” when we met her again in the cage, humiliating her.

He disapproves of diffusing the situation between Aradin and Zevlor after the first goblin attack. We know he is “missing” his show where one of them is being humiliated.

Astarion approves of telling Elegis that she is pathetic for being scared of a few goblins. Once more, humiliation due to weakness.

He disapproves of telling Arabella's parents that the Druids overreacted when speaking in the Druid Grove’s stairs. He is disapproving for defending a weak and silly creature who was not smart enough to survive on her own.

Astarion supports stealing the “magical” ring from the tiefling kid. This is another situation of humiliation of a weak person and outsmarting them. This could be considered a prank of a more silly-funny trickster doing an innocent prank.

He approves of telling the tiefling kids that they are going to die.

He feels disappointed when Lae’Zel did not kill Zorru, the tiefling that she forces to kneel and confess where he saw the Gith patrol. He approves the psychological torture of the interrogation.

He enjoys interrupting the goblinoid couple having sex. This is an example of the prank cruel-funny trickster. This “prank” ends up with the goblinoid couple being killed.

Astarion approves of smearing dung in the guard's face at the goblin camp entrance. The show of seeing someone being humiliated is satisfying.

He supports booing and humiliating Volo off the stage in the goblin camp.

He supports licking the goblin’s foot (It could also be considered a prank).

He supports kissing the goblin’s foot while stealing the ring. This situation puts two things he enjoys in the same place: the humiliation experienced by Tav and how the Crusher was outsmarted in the process. Astarion will approve if Crusher is the one humiliated and forced to kiss Tav’s foot.

He approves of laughing at Lorin (the elf trapped in Ethel’s house) when the elf is scared of Tav who pretends to be the monster that’s torturing him.

Humiliating “low people'' is an important aspect of Astarion’s personality, since it’s a small petty pleasure he can have now, when during the last two hundred years it had been done to him. Humiliation has to do with power as well, another symbol tight to Astarion’s personality. Through humiliation Astarion can taste a little bit of power, that power he lacked for two hundred years. That power that, if his backstory is not retconned in future versions or in the full release game, he had before turning into a vampire, abusing those groups he considered less.

[[7]] If we think in power, we also have to think in manipulation. And of course, Astarion is a great master of it. Sometimes the events that stand out his taste for manipulation overlap with the ones displayed in the humiliation section.

Since the moment we meet Astarion, we know he keeps working in turning himself into a pleasant and useful companion for Tav. Astarion knows he has bigger chances to succeed and survive staying with this group. A lot of his “neutral” behaviours respond to this goal: he doesn’t want to enrage Tav to the point of being kicked out of the party, it’s not about a hidden gentle side inside he is showing with an apathetic neutrality, it’s, once more, raw preservation and survival. During the first scenes of the game, when we don’t know he is a vampire, Astarion tries to avoid taking a position in the situations we face: he is just feeling the ground all the time: with Sazza and with Arabella’s death is clear. He doesn’t judge hard, he is testing Tav, he is trying to understand their mind, and acting as pleasant as he can according to what he sees. It’s a natural use of manipulation to guarantee his survival in a group of strangers. During the bite scene—when this façade finally ends—he is truly nervous of being killed for his vampiric nature, and tries to convince Tav of keeping him in the group using arguments that go from seduction to practical usefulness.

The scene of stargaze also shows his usage of seduction as a manipulative tool to guarantee his survival (he weponises seduction and sex). Although he says mostly the same, he reacts very differently in tone depending on Tav’s approach. If Tav is wary, Astarion will act encouraging their ego and enumerating several feats, while getting uncomfortably closer. If Tav is already interested in Astarion, the elf will use softer manners to keep the seduction into a more intimate tone. This is a scene of a predator tasting his future prey as well (Dev’s notes are pretty clear about his manipulation). In this scene, also, Astarion is light-headed because he has not drunk blood in a while, and has “his head foggy” (something we can repeat during his origin as a personal tag). Exact words he will use as a narrative hint during the bite scene. Therefore, this scene has little of “Astarion falling for Tav”, and has everything of vampiric hunger combined with a raw sense of survival and usage of seduction to guaranteed it.

(potential interpretation) He approves when he is persuaded into sharing his dream with Tav. In any other character, we usually would understand this as an approval for caring about the character himself. In that scenario, failing the approval doesn’t cause a penalty (unless the character understands this failure as prying, as it happens with Shadowheart). In Astarion’s case, when you fail this persuasion, you are penalised with a disapproval. We can understand this in the same way we see it with Shadowheart: this is his annoyance for prying into his personal business. But there is another interpretation in this disapproval: he recognised a bad execution of persuasion as a manipulative attempt, and Astarion is in particular very sensitive to manipulations and mind games (see point [12]).

Most of his “romance” is manipulation as well, keeping in mind the first point of this section: he becomes pleasant for Tav, using whatever shape he needs, so he can survive (this is especially noticeable with a good-aligned Tav). Astarion has weaponised seduction and sex without any hint of subtetly for the player (As the Dev’s notes say: “For Astarion, this is a game of power - one he’s played many times before in the taverns of Baldur’s Gate, trying to lure people back to his master. He’s an old hand at seduction, very self-assured at first, but the player might not go along with the script he expects them to follow.”) We can assure that Astarion will find more satisfaction in having “fun” with a high-approval Tav rather than a low-approval Tav.

If Tav is not evil enough (and therefore has a low approval), Astarion will need to be the one inviting Tav to have sex (to be sure the control is still in his hand, still pushing for “catching” Tav). If a low-approval-Tav invites Astarion, he will decline saying that he “has standards'', implying he needs to be the one controlling the situation (he is basically playing “hard to catch”. Astarion already knows that he “caught” Tav in this scenario since Tav was the first one showing their interest). If Tav is evil-like (and has enough approval), Astarion will not only weaponise sex, he may express some degree of personal desire in having “fun” with Tav. After all, evil characters can like one another. In this case, he would accept Tav’s invitation for more hedonist reasons such as personal pleasure and not mere survival. Still it’s always present the layer of using this situation as a manipulative tool to have control on Tav.

Approves persuading Crusher without a fight, understanding it as an approval earnt for the good manipulation tool used. Of course this scene is combined with the natural approval that Astarion gives when outsmarting creatures he considers lower or animal-like (See point [6]).

Successfully persuade Lae'Zel to "play along" when meeting the Githyanki patrol, and pull off the deception.

I personally found funny that Astarion, without the intention of the writer, is so good in his manipulations, that he broke the fourth wall and ended up manipulating a good amount of players as well into believing him.

[[8]] He supports revenge in all its forms and degrees, which is not strange since it’s his main motivation against Cazador.

He approves of letting Arka kill Sazza in the cage as revenge for her brother’s death.

He approves of the attack against Nettie when she poisons Tav.

He approves of telling Edowin's siblings to find the beast that attacked him as a way to avenge the True Soul.

Astarion approves of Arabella’s mother killing Kagha at the party.

He approves of helping the Sovereign to take revenge against the Duergars that killed their young. However, it’s not clear if Astarion approves the revenge itself or the method proposed, which is, according to his own words, “a bit genocidal” and therefore more entertaining for him (we need to remember he enjoys the display of murder and violence in all its forms, [2,3]).

He approves of helping Glut in massacring the whole Myconid colony, since according to Glut’s words, they saw Glut’s circle being killed by the Duergars and did nothing, so Glut is looking for revenge.

[[9]] He doesn’t like to get involved in anyone’s problems unless you can obtain a benefit or a reward for it (this is directly connected to his greed aspect [1])

He approves of telling Mayrina’s brothers that they are on their own, and actively disapproves if Tav agrees to help them find Mayrina.

He approves of declining to help Halsin in killing the Goblin leaders.

He disapproves of helping Wyll to save the Tiefling refugees in the Grove.

He disapproves of helping Zevlor.

He disapproves of finding evidence that confirms that Kagha is working with Shadow Druids. He will additionally disapprove again if, after exposing her, Tav asks her to change her ways. From Astarion’s point of view, Tav is basically meddling too much in the Grove’s problems for free, and ruining all the instances where murder could happen.

He also disapproves if Tav agrees to help the two Zhentarim humans that are attacked by gnolls without asking for compensation.

He approves of not getting involved in the rescue of the Duke when Tav speaks with Florrick

[[10]] Despite having been a slave, he lacks of empathy for those who shared his fate and, instead, he supports slavery:

If we take into consideration what Swen said about his background in one of the first playthough he showed, we know that Astarion, as a magistrate, used criminals as food for local vampires, and in an attempt to outsmart them, he began to sell them into slavery (we can see in this brief background that Astarion has been greedy and cruel before turning into a vampire).

Although he disapproves paying for Oskar, the painter in the Zhentarim Hideout, he does it because of the money. When Tav buys the painter and demands him to stay silent because “slaves should speak when they are spoken to”, Oskar will think this is a joke (which is not the case, since none of those options has, in this patch at least, a (performance) tag). When Tav reinforces the idea that this is not a joke, and Oskar is now a true slave, only then, Astarion will approve.

When seeing one of the servant Duergars of the Myconite Colony, Astarion will comment on how useful they are, and how Underdark drows should learn about these creatures, since these slaves are more efficient than the standard ones. If Tav brings awareness about the contradiction that those thoughts cause coming from an ex-slave, Astarion will justify his thinking saying that they are husks without mind, claiming that his feelings “may be different, had they been conscious beings. Or maybe not.” He emphasises in this dual possibility. And we can be sure that he certainly would not care slavery on conscious creatures, as we confirm it later with Oskar (A human who is not a Gur, and therefore, a creature that Astarion consider thinking acceptable beings).

(Datamined content) When reaching the Duergar Encampment, once Nere is rescued, there is approval for killing the slave gnomes when the True Soul orders it. One can interpret that Astarion minds little for these slaves because they are gnomes, and therefore, animals.

[[11]] He looks for power and dominance, to have control over others and also as a way to guarantee his own freedom.

In the discussion after every dream, Astarion supports the use of the tadpole's power in every opportunity, dismissing their effects. He is thrilling for the ability of bending everyone’s will (curious note, this is one of Cazador’s characteristics most hated by him)

He approves of letting the Koa-Toes bow before them as the Booal's chosen. This scene can be understood as a typical prank of a trickster, but also as a taste for being adored as a master/entity with more power. This scene shows that he and Tav are placed in the “Master” position. This reinforces the idea that Astarion wants to be a Master/Cazador, eventually. (Check post about Astarion and Power 1 and 2)

If Tav claims that the worship to them as True Souls can be useful after letting Edowin’s siblings leave, Astarion will approve. He shows in every instance more delight for having Cazador’s powers, making emphasis in the mind control ability, again.

Astarion approves of keeping the Necromancy of Thay tome. As we see later in his scene, he believes that there is something powerful hidden in it that may help him against Cazador. He wants to muster all the power of any kind he can.

Astarion approves of sparing Auntie Ethel’s life when she surrenders during battle because she will grant them power in exchange. He wants to muster all the power of any kind he can.

[[12]] Astarion is particularly sensitive to mind control. His expressions and the tone of his voice against any type of mind control are filled with feral ire (video here):

He is angrily affected by the movements of his worm in his own head,

He screams against Ethel’s control when using the mask,

The insults at the harpies when he is lured,

The way he is annoyed by the telepathic spores in the Underdark,

He disapproves failed attempts of persuasion (understood by his character as failed, obvious attempts of manipulations).

And, potentially, this is the reason why he disapproves of Priestess Gut cleaning Tav’s mind.

[[13]] Because he likes power, he also likes the demonstration of power whether his own or his allies’, therefore he likes most intimidation options in general

He approves of intimidating Gimblebok and the gang near the ruins.

He approves of intimidating or provoking both Aradin and Zevlor at the Druid Grove.

At camp, when discussing preferred methods of death, he approves if Tav tells him "If I die, I'll take you with me." (after first picking "Try it and I'll spill your guts") . He also approves if Tav chooses a method of death (decapitation, knife, poison). Both options show resolve, strength, and freedom in deciding one’s fate. Since Astarion died at the hands of strangers, he values the freedom of choosing how to die. He will disapprove picking the option of letting others decide your death.

He approves if you intimidate the mirror into allowing passage.

[[14]] He is a survivalist character, and therefore, a lot of his approvals are related to elements that will guarantee his life, such as looking for his own freedom, the acceptance of his vampire nature, and the encouragement in looking for strong alliances or keeping alive strong individuals that can be useful as allies.

He approves of being accepted with his vampire nature and allowing him to feed on Tav’s blood. He keeps approving if Tav defends him during the exchange of opinions in the camp.

He approves if he has permission to feed on enemies.

He approves of killing Gandrel. This approval is also mere raw survival.

He approves if during sex, Tav allows him to drink their blood.

He disapproves of promising Nettie to take Wyvern Poison if you feel symptoms of the Tadpole, since it goes against his survival instinct.

When Lae’Zel is killed by the Gith patrol, he will state in banter that it was a waste since Lae’Zel was a powerful/strong specimen, so clearly he is lamenting the loss of a powerful ally.

Despite appreciating his freedom, he has explicitly stated that he “would choose servitude over oblivion any day”, showing how extremely survivalist he can be.

[[15]] He likes to find a solution to their tadpole problem using unconventional ways, or at least, using options that may lead him to the twisted solution he needs (which is not exactly being cured of the tadpole, but to control it, he certainly needs more exceptional means)

He approves of telling Auntie Ethel about the tadpole in the Druid Grove simply because she “looks lunatic”.

At first, Astarion disapproves of Raphael's invitation to remove the Tadpole, claiming that he would not change one master for another. However, when the situation starts looking dire, he will approve of the idea, because anything “may be better than Cazador” adding later that he “would choose servitude over oblivion any day.”

A bit contradictory when he was the first one claiming that Raphael used mind games similar to Cazador’s, games they know they have won before starting.

[[16]] He has a “soft spot” for helping people to escape their masters or killing/rejecting people that can be seen as Masters. However it’s requirement that those escapees could be seen by Aastarion as strong and capable creatures. He would mind little for creatures he sees as underlings. (Weak concept, seeing it with squinted eyes)

He approves of helping Karlach to get rid of the Tyr followers, since they are in fact working for Zariel, Karlach’s previous master. With all what Karlach explained about her past, she certainly qualifies as a strong person who is trying to get rid of her master.

He disapproves of Tav who tells Raphael that they would do anything to remove the Tadpole. This is probably resounding in Astarion: his past bad choice when he was at death's door due to the Gur attack and Cazador appeared to “save” him. He knows that going to that extent has poor results.

Astarion approves of Tav if they say that they won’t become Raphael's pawn (conversation in the camp after the encounter with Raphael). It’s true that when the other options narrow, Astarion starts to consider the possibility of changing a vampiric master for an infernal one.

This post was written on April 2021.

→ For more Astarion: Analysis Series Index

#astarion #bg3 early access #bg3 meta

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goshikitsutomusmommy · 4 years ago

Text

“Incorrect Quotes with Haikyuu Boys„

Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 , Part 8 , Part 9 , Part 10

Synopsis : Different Quotes From Brooklyn-Nine-Nine as Haikyuu Characters

Genre : Comedy

Pairing(s) : Goshiki x reader , Atsumu x reader , Tsukishima x reader , Lev x reader

Word Count : 1.07k

Warning(s) : She/her pronouns used , slight violence , slight timeskip spoiler

Masterlist Link : Here

*Shiratorizawa manager in this*

[Name] : Mm. All right. Haha, C’est la vie (“It’s life.” in French). Let me grab your student ID numbers ‘cause I will be filing an official student complaint with Coach Washijou.

[Name] , Semi , Shirabu : *All laugh the joke off waveringly whilst Semi and Shirabu side glancing each other*.

Coach Washijou : Why did a just receive a student complaint about ya two?

Shirabu : I can answer this. Because our manager is a goblin.

*Shiratorizawa manager in this*

Coach Washijou : Ye’ll stay after school hours at the gym for extra practice today.

Goshiki : Darn it. I had a belly dancing class today! Today is Egyptian undulation.

[Name] : Ooh!~ Show us some moves!

Goshiki : Sure! *Tries to get on top of the bench*.

Coach Washijou : Dismissed!

Kyoutani : It’s my birthday. I hate birthdays. If you wish me a happy birthday, I will punch you.

Oikawa : You’re a funny little bird, Mad Dog-Chan. Happy birthday!

*Gets punched in the guts*

*Inarizaki manager in this*

[Name] : *Holds up two pictures* Here are two pictures. One is your gym locker and the other is a garbage dump in the Philippines. Can you tell which is which?

Atsumu : *Points to the right one*, That one is the dump?

[Name] : They’re both your locker!

Atsumu : Gah! A should’ve guessed that, that’s good!

*Inarizaki manager in this*

Part 1/3

Atsumu : A can see that yer upset, but let’s just sit down and talk about it.

[Name] : Done talking! *Throws boxing gloves*, Time to dance.

Atsumu : Fine. But a should warn ya. A took three years of tap.

*Inarizaki manager in this*

Part 2/3

Atsumu : Again, [Name], it’s so good to see ya. Just outta curiosity, how did ye find out about this?

[Name] : I’m the club manager at Inarizaki High... Kita-San told me. I know you’re trying to set me up with some guy in class 7 as a joke!

Atsumu : What? That’s crazy! ‘Samu, come in ‘ere and stand in front of ma body and tell ‘er that’s crazy!

*Atsumu gets punched by the manager*

Atsumu : Ow! My lucky face!

[Name] : You gonna talk to me now?

Atsumu : Sure. If ya could be any vacation—

*Gets punched again*

Atsumu : Ow!

*Inarizaki manager in this*

Part 3/3

Atsumu : So we good?

[Name] : We good. And for the record... If I can be any kind of vacation... I’d be lake trip.

Atsumu : Classic!

*Karasuno manager in this*

Nishinoya : Come on. You’re not even moving. Let’s go.

Asahi : Get your hands off me! I’ve heard about this in the news! You’re cyber-bullying me!

Nishinoya : Shh!

Asahi : I’m getting [Name]! Get the hell away from me!

Nishinoya : No, you’re very misinformed. Please don’t get [Name]—

*Slight timeskip spoiler*

*Karsuno manager in this*

[Name] : Here’s the plan: We’re gonna go to nationals, you’re gonna enjoy and fall in love with volleyball, you’re gonna want to pursue being a volleyball player as a career. And that’s a [Surname] guarantee.

Tsukishima : Your last [Surname] guarantee you made was that you could dunk a basketball.

*Flashback*

[Name] : *In a ladder with a basketball in hand*, I never said I couldn’t use a ladder. [Surname] guarantee achieved! *Tries dunking the basketball but falls off the ladder and misses the shot*.

*Nekoma manager in this*

Part 1/3

Kuroo : Now, I have been taking notes on points of friction in this gym for three years. *Pulls out a poster that is highly detailed with work flow strategies for Nekoma*, The red areas are places where no work gets done. If we can fix these problems without anyone knowing what we’re doing, we will make progress.

Coach Nekomata : Are you saying you want to secretly perform scientific experiments on your friends and colleagues to increase efficiency?

Kuroo : Yes.

Coach Nekomata : Sounds fun, let’s do it.

*Nekoma manager in this*

Part 2/3

Coach Nekomata : Tell me about the Haiba-[Surname] reaction...

Kuroo : Lev gets cold a lot because of what he calls his—

*Flashback*

Lev : Medically diagnosed thin skin.

*Flashback over*

Kuroo : So he goes to the lost and found, and he grabs something that’s usually unflattering... That’s when [Name] usually gets involved.

*Flashback*

*Lev walking past [Name] wearing an oddly knitted sweater*

[Name] : *Condescending laughter* Sweet sweater, Lev! You look like you’re starting in an Albanian remake of The Cosby Show.

Lev : ...

[Name] : Dr. Huxtable! Dr. Huxtable!

*Flashback over*

Kuroo : [Name] is completely useless when Lev is wearing lost and found clothes.

Coach Nekomata : Well, I can’t really blame her on this one. Maybe we should just uh... empty lost and found.

Kuroo : Already done, sir.

*Lev walking past them in a white cowboy fringed jacket*

Kuroo : Don’t worry! I had a backup plan. I distracted [Name] with a mirror. She’s like a cockatiel, sir— Fascinated by her own reflection...

*[Name] staring at her reflection*

[Name] : Muah! Hello, sexy!~ How are you?

Lev : *Not glancing up* Right back at ya!

Coach Nekomata : Well done...

*Nekoma manager in this*

Part 3/3

Kuroo : Sir, I’m begging you, please, we have to stop!

Coach Nekomata : The problem is, we didn’t take Yaku into accounts. In our next trial—

*[Name] clears her throat whilst dramatically turning around on the office chair*

[Name] : Hello, boys. Welcome to your own office!~ I hear you’re trying to make the precinct most efficient.

Kuroo : [Name], what are you doing in the coach’s chair?

[Name] : I’ve narrowed the problem down to one location: The Coach-Kuroo vortex. Things would go a lot faster if the two of you did less experimenting and more working... And I’m not the only one who thinks that.

*Double clapping and the whole Nekoma team enters the office*.

Coach Nekomata : Well, I suppose it’s possible we may have been a tad enthusiastic in our pursuit of efficiency—

Kuroo : Really? A tad, Icarus?

Coach Nekomata : Fine, message received. Kuroo and I will get right to work.

[Name] : *Still in Coach’s chair*, Great, that will be all. Thank you.

Coach Nekomata : Get the hell out of my chair.

[Name] : Yeah, All right, I pushed it a little bit on that one. Okay~ Bye!

Kuroo : Today we face the worst Tokyo has to offer— Fukurodani Academy.

*Kuroo and Bokuto walking in slow motion towards each*

Kuroo : Fukurodani captain, Bokuto, we meet again.

Bokuto : Nekoma captain, Kuroo, your fly’s down— I made you look!

Kuroo : I didn’t look. And I’m wearing shorts, so there is no fly.

Bokuto : That’s not what your mom said.

Kuroo : You make no sense.

Bokuto : And now I’m inside your head.

{Pretend this is a divider pls}

Author’s Note : GAHHAHSA THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 90 NOTES, I can make this a series if you’d like, they’re really fun to make and think of as characters and I just have to write them down as soon as I see them LMAOO

385 notes · View notes

batarangsoundsdumb · 4 years ago

Text

yet another ask dump yeehaw!

do you ever think that jay's mother was one of those bitch who believes in horoscope and tarots and things like that and so he believes in these things too, or it is just me projecting?

sheila haywood took one look at jason's birthchart said 'nah this won't do' and left.

Wait, but what happens when the justice league does find out that Bruce and John fucked? Lmao it sounds like it would be hilarious, really, I don’t want a justice league that doesn’t make fun of Bruce for like his entire life.

barry runs out of the meeting immediately and comes back with an entire sti testing kit. diana fully seriously wants bruce to get tested while bruce is sitting there like 'come on guys, you're being ridiculous, i already checked twice'

john is standing in the corner clearly offended while bruce is just like 'don't even say anything, constantine, you fucked a shark'

tim was like "i'm drake now" and everyone was like ahh so your fursona is a dragon and tim was like pffffft no. ducks.

on the one hand, good for him, on the other hand, bro, how do you still have a secret identity when your superhero name is just your last name,,,,

Your fic on ao3 was GOLD PLEASE CONTINUE I loved Dinah's cameo btw ( @purple-vixen

thanks so much! i already continued but this ask is like 10 years old because i'm a notorious procrastinator (also yes! i love dinah so much aahhhhhhhhhhhh)

I've FINALLY been watching the Batman animated series and I gotta say, after watching "the gray ghost" I am CONVINCED that Batman is a closeted super hero geek who was 100% freaking out the first time he met Superman and is just REALLY good at hiding it.

bruce internally: holy fuck holy shit holy fuck holy shit holy fuck holy shit holy fuck holy shit holy fuck holy shit bruce externally: get out of my city, alien

AHHH ur multimedia fic is the only thing that brings me happiness anymore continue it forever pls

uhh thanks, but can't continue it forever because my attention span is that of a toddler on crack on a good day and i can't function without at least 10 things going on at the same time and music in the background

Oi, so I'm getting into dc and watching batman the animated series, and they use fruitcake a lot. Which I thought was very funny and wanted to share w you - Denilla

wait like fruitcake (food) or fruitcake (derogatory) ?

young justice 🤝 teen titans slut shaming batman

tim drake and dick grayson to their respective teams 'you guys stop it, that's my dad'

Happyhoganon: If an eighty year old Batman had fought crime in Gotham City for decades and the only threats to him and the city lately are a wheel chair bounded Penguin, your usual purse snatchers and a few con artists popping up every now and then, how well could the Dark Knight do in maintaining the peace in Gotham despite him being just somewhat fit to do that as an elderly man (which says A LOT given how old he is)

uhh he'll probably do what my grandpa does and that is ruthlessly prank them until they die of shame.

in the death in the family interactive movie there's an ending where Jason is tasked with raising Damian and he decides he's gonna raise Damian to take down the waynes and al ghuls which uh maybe isn't great BUT the idea of Jason raising Damian... PRICELESS. CHAOTIC. I just need more people to know about this :)

yes i saw that wow holy shit but jason would accidentally drop damian on his head one (1) hour in and jason just yeets him into the lazarus pit.

Headcanon: The Penguin has a really hard time fighting any of the Robins because of his avian obsession means there's always a small part of his mind that's like "Birb. Child. Protect" ( @subspacecadet )

as soon as dick becomes nightwing the penguin is like 'you know what, fuck this dude' and shoots at him.

Y'all talking about King Shark dating Constantine, let's not forget about John literally hooking up with Satan

listen there's a clear difference between monsterfucker and satanfucker in that king shark is literally a shark and satan still looks like a normal dude

Does everyone in Gotham think Batman is a teen dad?

everyone in gotham thinks batman has been around since gotham was founded, but they do think that bruce wayne is actually a teen father and dick grayson's biological dad.

why. why would you do that fancast when you know it will only hurt people

what? i loved my fancast it was really well done. i did it with good representation in mind and i really managed that with alfred pennyworth being ✨italian✨

Seeing james charles a jason gave me psychic damage how dare you i need to wash my eyes

well that's a you problem isn't it?

do you think dick grayson thirst tweets about nightwing just to annoy his family/cause problems on purpose in general?

he thinks nightwing is hot, next question.

holy jiminy cricket batman, its as cold as the good lords ass crack in here!!

i- what? this is why i don't fuck with english expressions it's way too goddamn weird

Brooooooo, your teen dad!Bruce au is soooo good. I've got brainrot.

Honestly if you ever write anymore, I'd read that shit twice. Sign me the fuck up. Good stuff, Good Stuff.

uh yeah i'm thinking about writing a fic, but i have exams coming up and i don't wanna fail because that would suck. but after i'll certainly be writing more tho

your teen dad AU is so great! bruce acting like a big brother for all of like a week before he's telling everyone about his son. what if in the AU dick meets the JL because they need to rescue him? maybe he's in trouble/kidnapped at a gala and bruce starts calling for JL. clark finds him and has to fly with dick to bring him home - that's how dick and clark meet and superman becomes dick's fave hero. he goes around the manor thinking he can fly with a red blanket draped around him like a cape.

actually- if you want a young dad! bruce fic with like that kinda stuff(just with damian) go check uhh- in for a penny by cdelphiki. it's really good and bruce is like 24/25-ish. (and dick's there!!!)

This account has solely convinced me that Tim is a trash goblin ( @hamilcat-and-magic-turtle )

because he is. that boy has slept in dumpsters on multiple occasions even if he is the son of a billionaire.

Okay but when you said victory dance I did think of the whole justice league defeating the big bad and then they all start flossing

well that's exactly what hal jordan does and that's why batman uses a gun now. no but the victory dance in my opinion is like the 'we're all in this together' dance from high school musical.

The horrors in Invincible s1 was nothing compared to the comics, I cant wait for s2

oh well okay, i mean i personally react to horror and violence by laughing awkwardly so i can't wait to be called a monster for accidentally laughing at a mass murder.

I'm currently watching Batman: The Brave and The Bold and- Bruce is just talking about Oliver like he's an old love (@nightwings-kid)

okay im going to watch that lmao that's totally and completely in character for him tho.

The invincible comic is like super gratuitous with its violence so much so I'm shocked the show was able to adapt it in a faithful way! Anyway had the show been live action it absolutely wouldn't have the same impact as it does as an animated show and I'm so glad so many people agree with me on that

also because a live action casting would've been like uhh amanda stenberg for amber, the dude- the guy from the supernatural but with a mustache for omni-man, and scarlet johanssen for debbie grayson

Debbie grayson is a milf, yes. You're welcome for the invincible propoganda, now you can questions your life. Bruce def seems like the perfect father next to Omni-man. Like they really took a rip off justice league and I was like well, now I'm attached even tho I was like hah I know who they're supposed to be. And then bam- death gore death gore gore gore sad Mark grayson just had to have daddy issues. Why does every character have daddy issues. I'm sick of the attacks

because daddy issues make a person arguably funnier, that's why i'm not even remotely funny (haha good dad flex). i liked that it was dark contextually, but not in the colouring, bc i hate when it's like 'uh yeah graphic murder and now a shot so dark you have to sit in a dark room and squint at the screen to faintly see the characters. (like dcau ugh)

About the Wayne insurance, for a moment I thought you would put the video with moans over the waves.

i mean- i could've done that, but rick rolling seemed more family friendly.

Its the first time in forever that im surpise rickrolled, i usually expect it. Congratulations (i really should know better this is tumblr)

i get rickrolled so often but i actually like the song so i dont really give a fuck

Actually, my information about Damian and John's kids is outdated because it was revealed that the old men telling the kids stories about the Supersons were actually Jon and Damian the whole time. I was blinded by my thirst for Grandpa!Bruce Wayne but I was wrong... I liked my version better, tbh (@artemisa97)

fair enough. but i'd honestly like to see damian and jon getting together, just because it's a really fun dynamic and their friendship was really cute when they were kids. (also idk maybe it would be nice to have one (1) main batfam/superfam character that's not cishet)

How am i JUST finding your blog skdskfkd you're so fucking funny and ur takes are hot

i thought u were calling me hot :( but youre not :( crime detected (but lmao thanks)

So I have depression and I swear that your memes are one of the few things that have made me laugh so thank you 💛🥺 (@katekanebadass)

aw you're welcome, and i hope you're doing okay!

The metropolis memes are so funny, I love them 💀😌

i think metropolis is also so fucking funny it deserves more attention imagine having your entire police force being upstaged by an alien from kansas and his kids

as an american i feel your complete lack of knowledge of us geography is just so sexy (platonic) ❤️

thanks so much (i also don't know any other geography, i'm not kidding, like you can tell me you're from hungary and it will just blank, there will be nothing that comes to mind)

In the DC universe they don't say "Can't have shit in Detroit" they say "Can't have shit in Gotham"

this just reminds me of that guy whose porch got stolen like the steps to his door, and i'm thinking of people living in gotham and waking up without a front door and going "can't have shit in gotham"

honestly all i know about chicago is the bean, so. what would gotham's famous sculpture be?

gigantic gargoyle statue in front of one of the police precincts because a villain thought it was a smart way to keep the police inside, but it's too heavy to move.

why tf do people go on about how batman "works alone" or how he's the "lone wolf" when he like 38290202 members in his family

bc people think it's cool that a grown man in his 30s has no friends or family instead of calling it what it is (sad)

Bruce is gotham's sugar daddy

why would say something so controversial yet so brave.

my favorite batfamily fanfictions are the ones where they use their shitty codenames, unironically, in any context

dick: gerard way are you in position, gerard way are you in position

tim: for the last fucking time, my codename is 'totally not count olaf' this week, abbafan 3000

dick: shut up my codename isn't 'abbafan 3000'

dick: it's 'abbafan number 1' and you know it

I have a feeling Tim drake is ur favourite batfamily member but okay u don't have favs if u say so ok

i mean he is, i won't deny it. but i love each and every one of the batfam just the same, i just have a weak spot for short dumbass nerds, because i'm a short dumbass nerd.

Omg i fuckin love boy meets world too fam shsjkfk

bro boy meets world was the shit!!! it was just fire and awesome and so fucking great like bro. it was so good im not even going to be accepting criticism

you know I find the whole "joker completes batman" thing a bit disgusting considering the horrendous stuff the batfamily went through because of the joker and let's not get started on the "joker has a point" thing like yeah he's this cool complex villain but he's absolutely batshit crazy

like yes! i get what you mean the joker just fucking sucks man he doesn't do shit for batman's character or the batfam he's literally just annoying as fuck. like the joker has a point' shit is so stupid. i will accept 'magneto was right' because he fucking was and i think he didn't do anything wrong, but joker? he's just like that. he's not even cool and complex he's just a weirdo with a bleach kink at this point.

ALSO YOUR RACISM POST- SO TRUE BESTIE

thanks bestie, i'm glad you agree.

in today's essay of why I think cass should become batman- I was thinking Tim would probably be the most efficient batman in many ways but I also think he wouldn't want to be batman tbh none of the batfamily members would want to be batman because they're trying to outgrow him but cass is the one who wants to represent the symbol that is batman

absofuckinglutely i will say it again and again that cass represents the batsymbol more than anyone in the batfam, in batgirl (2000) she literally didn't care about anything else than bruce's oath to not kill, she thought the batsymbol was more important than anything in gotham. she's just an excellent character because her motivation to not kill is not 'i'm scared i can't come back from it' or 'well my dad says no murder so i'll go along with it' but that she's killed somebody as a young child and she never wants to kill a human ever again and that's so fucking beautiful for a new batman like yes.

need more cass, duke and tim inclusion in gothamite memes

yes yes, a tall order of cass, duke and tim coming up in 1-14 business days

oldest to youngest batfam members cus I'm confused as shit

okay order of being taken in: dick, jason, tim, cass, damian, duke order of age: alfred, bruce, dick, cass, jason, tim, duke, damian (though cass and jason are around the same age general consensus is that cass is a little older)

I'm so confused Steph is a redhead?? like how was it that hard to get this right? the source material is literally right there and free

cw is jared, 19

do you receive anon hate? if so, how do you deal with it

uh no, i'm not remotely popular enough to get anon hate and i also don't say a lot of things that would attract anon hate, but i do send anon hate to @the-real-peter-parker because he forgot about the specialists from winx club

Wait how many languages do you speak??

uhh- 5 if you include latin, but that's a dead language and i'm really bad at it. but english, my native language, german, and french also, tho german and french not fluently.

You can mix aguaepanela with aguardiente 😈 and is tasty

okay but now i'm curious if the liquor deserves the 😈 emoji or if that's a you problem. but i googled it and it looks like something you'd take one sip of and then not remember the rest of your evening.

#i love all of you guys so much thanks for all these asks #some of these are literally from march but fuck it #the day tumblr puts dates next to anon messages is the day i close my inbox crawl into a hole and die #it's such a basic task to answer asks but i don't want to bother anyone with asks clogging up their timeline #and if i don't have a funny or good answer i'm like 'uhh okay won't answer it now then'#so this is for you #also i deleted a few asks because it gives me mental pain to see my inbox go over 50 and it's almost at 100 #i was complaining about having too many asks to the-real-peter-parker like months ago and then i had 45 asks in my inbox #now it's amassed to going over 100 twice #but no i love all of you and you're great and you're all fantastic and i lvoe you #muchos kiss kiss #kiss kiss for my kiddies lvoe you #invincible spoilers #dc #dcu #dc comics #ask #anon #bataranswers #i really wanna try aguapanela now i'm gonna see if i can find panela somewhere and review it for you babes #uh yeah that's it #muchos gracias for all your questions babes

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chockfullofsecrets · 4 years ago

Text

Critical Role: Unnecessary

(Read on AO3)

Rating: Gen

Summary: The thought stays with her the next time she visits Nicodranas, though, and she determines to make an experiment of it. Maybe without the shoulder bumping - she is here as an emissary, after all.

Allura's new mage friend in Wildemount seems a little lonely and very reckless. She takes it upon herself to investigate.

Wordcount: 2.3k

A/N: MORE WIZARDS

one more @ticklesofcolor event fill for @ticklishnonsense - i am starting to think that assigning us each other in this event is taking the shared braincells to a whole new level 😅 Prompt was “Allura, early in her friendship with Yussa, discovers he's very touch-starved and very ticklish, and takes advantage of this.”

---

The first time it happens, Allura is fairly sure that she’s just caused an intercontinental diplomatic incident.

She can hardly fault herself, though. There are certain instincts one develops when one regularly dines with adventurers and has the pleasure of being married to a halfling paladin who takes particular delight in tackling her every so often. Her arms are full of books, newly on loan from the only mage she’s found in Wildemount that doesn’t seem to be completely obsessed with politics, and she needs to bid her new friend farewell somehow. It seems perfectly logical to knock her shoulder lightly against his as she brightly thanks him for the pleasure of their meeting and turns to leave.

Apparently, this is not a logic that Arcanist Errenis shares.

The air itself seems to still as he stares at her. Stares some more. Then reaches up, cautiously, and presses his palm against one silk-covered shoulder as if he’s reaching for some unidentified magical artifact.

Allura winces. She can’t see any of the signifiers of elven disgust that Vex has mentioned to her, being uniquely suited to identify them, but to have such a reaction - “Oh - oh dear, I apologize. A rather uncouth habit I’ve picked up from my wife, I’m afraid.”

And she’s going to have quite a time confessing that particular sidestep to Kima later, but Errenis holds up the same hand to cut her off and lifts his chin, instantly settling into his usual placid composure with enough ease to lull her heartbeat back down to a reasonable rate. “No harm done, Arcanist Vysoren, merely… unnecessary.”

He blinks, slow as melted gold, and frowns lightly at her for a moment before turning away and gesturing sharply for a nearby tea set. “I trust that you can activate the circle yourself?”

She can, as well as take a hint - bemused, she casts without looking and steps backwards into the glowing circle, barely catching a last glimpse of him reaching for his shoulder again.

---

She tells her wife.

“Kima - Kima, darling, I’m glad you think this is funny, but it’s hardly helpful-”

Kima sighs a little, wiping a tear from her eye, and wraps her arms a little more securely around Allura’s waist where they’re lounging together. “Aw, Al, the poor thing’s just lonely! You antisocial wizards and your pretty little towers and your, what was it called? Oh, intellectual property-”

“I am perfectly social,” Allura says, prim, and promptly ruins it when she can’t help smiling at Kima as she laces their fingers together. “I certainly became acquainted quickly with you, didn’t I?”

“Oh?” Kima responds, catching Allura’s other hand in hers. Her eyes brighten in that unique combination of challenge and affection that Allura will never tire of seeing. “Is that how you remember it?”

Allura sniffs. “Well, if you’d like a refresher - mmm-”

And, well, it’s a little hard to remember anything after that.

---

The thought stays with her the next time she visits Nicodranas, though, and she determines to make an experiment of it. Maybe without the shoulder bumping - she is here as an emissary, after all.

Acquiring an adequate sample size becomes. Frustrating. He levitates everything, removing any chance to pat his hand in thanks when he offers her a cup of fragrant cardamom tea or to tap her knee against his as they pass a tome back and forth.

They are making progress, though, equally enthralled by the arcane, and it’s genuine excitement that does it in the end. A particularly difficult passage of an ancient spell untangles under their combined effort, bandying translated syllables back and forth with increasing urgency until they fall into blessed, triumphant silence, and she sweeps over and claps him between the shoulders in celebration. “Wonderful! You know, this might be quite useful for facilitating crop growth in arid land-”

He freezes under her touch in what seems like genuine shock. She pats him again and he lets out a little surprised huff, ears twitching confusedly even as his gaze remains pointed firmly ahead. It’s like blowing dust off a statue that hasn’t been touched for centuries.

Which, considering his introduction - I have been a practitioner of the arcane arts in seclusion for over 200 years, he’d told her, neither proud nor regretful - may be somewhat too close to the truth.

He sways back slightly towards her when she retreats to the other side of the room, shoulders rising and falling at a degree just shy of unpracticed. Interesting.

She does it again, and again, over the next few months - shoulders, back, arms, anywhere suitably innocuous, watching closely for any sign of annoyance. He is, after all, far older than her and perfectly capable of enforcing his own preferences. To say nothing of the way he tilts his head, when he’s deep in thought, in a way that seems so other that such petty mortal things as touch might be of no concern to him at all.

At one point, her hands are full of charcoal as they successfully cast another new spell and all she can do is smile at him. He glances over at her, implacable as always, but there’s a nearly imperceptible tightness as he turns away that she just barely knows him well enough to catch.

The next time, he brusquely commands her to put everything down before he casts. It’s sweet - nearly as sweet as the surprise on his face when she does so and completes the spell before he can.

---

There is, of course, increasingly apparent over time, Yussa’s irrepressible lack of instinct for danger. There have been fires. There have been many frantic castings of Dispel Magic. Allura starts to understand why his faithful goblin manservant is constantly twitching.

Today, she arrives in his study with a tired smile and sore fingers. “Yussa, I’m sorry - I’m afraid that I haven’t got a Dispel in me today, I’ve been Identifying a cache of arcane items all morning.”

“No matter.” Yussa waves off her raised eyebrow with a casual flick of his hand that serves the double purpose of summoning a tea set from thin air. “Tea?”

She accepts the cup. “Are you certain that we shouldn’t wait?”

“Unnecessary. Come.”

His study is as brilliant as always, cramped only in the sense that combined the artifacts lining his walls hold enough arcane power to reduce a rather large portion of the coast to rubble.

She’s a little jealous, honestly.

Yussa plucks a little beaker of gold dust up in one hand and a crisp sheet of paper in the other, beckoning her over with a brusque tilt of his chin that would be highly annoying from anyone else. “Now, there have been whispers of Kryn spies using a spell that renders objects immovable to cover their retreat on multiple occasions. I believe I’ve finally been able to recreate it, to some degree.”

“Oh!” Any lingering exhaustion forgotten, applications are already racing in her mind. “How interesting, please show me!”

He hands over the page and she scans the runes eagerly as he flicks his long sleeves back over his wrists and prepares to cast. “A little gold dust, and - it seems quite inelegant, at the moment, as if they are using some frame we have yet to find reference of, but-”

He gestures towards an empty box on his desk, sending gold dust and bright energy scattering. For a moment, there is only light.

And then, the spell shrinks back onto him, sinking into the fabric of his golden robes. Allura gapes - she has wondered, certainly, but to wear actual gold on a daily basis, especially when casting a spell that has it as a component-

Yussa stands very, very stiffly.

She presses her lips together as tightly as she can to hold back the surprised, giddy laughter brewing in the back of her throat. “You - the components-”

The sleeve of his robe looks slightly duller. The box, on the other hand, sparkles merrily under its powdering of gold dust.

Yussa sighs at her as she fails entirely to contain her amusement. “I seem to recall that you are lacking spell slots at the moment.”

She takes a deep breath, regaining her composure, and shakes her head. “Maybe I can go fetch someone-”

He grimaces instantly. “Absolutely not.”

Both of them spend a fruitless moment tugging at the robes, but it seems that Yussa has indeed managed to create a temporarily immovable object. He sighs again, after a minute, and lets his hands flap loosely against the stiff material. “Well, it’s only meant to last for an hour - I’m sure we have a Teleport spell stored somewhere around here, if you would call Wensforth-”

Allura bristles. “I can’t just leave you like this!”

“An hour passes quickly with meditation-”

“No, no, certainly we can do something.” She steps away and paces around him. “You know, your robes are quite, ah, voluminous - do you think you could squirm out, perhaps?”

Yussa sniffs in clear distaste. “I’m quite sure there’s no need.”

Really, she shouldn’t find his arrogance half as endearing as she does. “Oh come, Arcanist Errenis,” she teases, smiling despite herself, “surely you can do better than that, for a friend.” She crouches in front of him, heedless of her dress trailing onto the floor, and tries to gauge the possibility herself from what she can see through the open front of his robes - his legs, dressed in equally fine trousers, shift indignantly as she does. “Here, just bend your knees a little-”

She prods lightly at the back of one of them, hoping to spur him into action, and Yussa jumps. “Arcanist Vysoren-” he begins, and - there, almost unrecognizable for its novelty, a thread of nervousness creeps into his voice.

Allura tends more towards caution than mischief in most cases - a necessity, with the company she keeps - but she’s already grinning as she leans back a little to catch his eye. “Oh, this will be quite simple after all, I think.”

Yussa’s ears twitch up in clear, startled embarrassment as his legs attempt to press themselves to the back of his robes. “Arcanist Vysoren, I would thank you to - mmM-” She reaches for him again, sending one hand to wriggle behind the vulnerable joint and the other to scratch gently across his kneecap, and watches happily as his entire leg buckles under the attack. “Ah - haaah-”

The tremulous gasp that wrenches from him as she takes hold of his other knee to repeat the process is music to her ears - clearly, what her experiment has been needing all this time is a more direct approach. “This will be a little faster if you help,” she tells him, and crowds her fingertips up into the tender dip of flesh before he has a chance to respond.

“Vysoren-” Yussa tries, as tersely as he can with a frantic whine climbing up behind his words, and promptly cuts himself off as his other knee gives out. His robes are, in fact, made more for their drapery than their fit, and as what could graciously be called standing dissolves into ticklish squirming he’s slowly but surely sliding out of them and onto the floor. “Ihi - I can handle this from here, don’t-”

“Don’t what?” she responds innocently. The bottom of his silken shirt, neatly tucked into his waistband and glimmering even in the dim light, sinks into view. She elects to confirm its luxurious quality by prodding along the softness of his belly until he sputters and curses and drops another few inches, his indoor slippers sliding uselessly against the tiled floor. “You’ll have to offer an alternative solution - we’re a bit limited, at the moment.”

He’s laughing outright now, high and stilted and quite a bit more ticklish than she expected he might be. The way she’s kneading at his sides certainly isn’t helping. “Ahaaaaha - the damned - unnecessary - eheeh! -”

“Unnecessary,” she says, raising her voice enough that he can hopefully hear her through all the layers of fabric he’s trapped in, “would be insisting on testing a spell without taking any of the proper precautions beforehand. This, I fear, is entirely necessary, Yussa.”

And fun, besides, but there’s no need to tell him that. Besides, it seems that he shares the sentiment somewhat - she hasn’t been kicked in the face yet, and he’s hardly trying to get away from her hands, for all his grumbling. She wonders, absently, if he might allow her to do this again, the same way he’s slowly becoming accustomed to her casual friendly overtures.

He’s far too ticklish to let her wonder for long, though - it’s hardly a moment more before he squirms his way entirely free, tumbling nearly into her lap and grabbing desperately at her hands with his own elegant fingers. His face is flushed with laughter, hair falling into his eyes, and he looks like an entirely different person as he flops tiredly away from her and curls up on the floor.

It’s enough to send Allura straight back into her own startled amusement - she reaches for him, unable to help herself, and smooths a hand over his back. “Alright, alright,” she soothes, “you’re free, no harm done-”

Yussa grumbles something under his breath and twists to butt his head up against her hand instead. Allura nearly freezes in shock - and so does he, realizing, eyes wide just under the heel of her palm.

They stare. Yussa’s jaw works for a moment. “Your hand,” he says, glacially slow, “is on my head.”

“You put it there - oh, fuck it,” Allura decides, and leans forwards to drag her friend in a proper hug. “That could have been much worse, you fool. ”

Yussa stiffens and then relaxes all at once into the hug, bonelessly dropping his head onto her shoulder - he’s breathing unevenly, still, the aftereffects of laughter working their way through. “This is unnecessary, too,” he murmurs. “But I offer you my thanks, regardless.”

Chin resting atop his head, Allura smiles and plans a slight revision to her experiment.

#critical role #tickling #allura vysoren #yussa errenis #chocfic #i hear that allura is in campaign 1 and so i apologize in advance for whatever i got wrong but. wizards good.

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aerdendios · 4 years ago

Text

Vixannya cupped his cheeks in both of her hands, lifting his face to make eye contact, “You fucking got this, Aerden.” Before he had the chance to reply, she greedily mashed blood red lips against his own while both hands smoothed down the front of his expensive suit. Pulling away with a lick of her lips, she grinned that secretive grin. “And you look sexy. ...Ready?”

Aerden was getting better about not blushing in front of Annya, but it was a trait that would likely follow him for life despite how much experience he put beneath his belt. It wasn’t so bad, people seemed to enjoy getting that reaction from him. He cleared his throat and clenched then unclenched both fists repeatedly; the nerves were obvious. “Ready.” His mouth may have agreed, but his body did not. He did not budge from where he stood, instead he looked up towards the bright, neon lights of the posh nightclub and shivered. He could already feel the bass of the music within pounding in his chest; the touch of thistle they smoked beforehand did little to relax him.

Annya smiled and laced her fingers with his, guiding him towards one of the club’s bouncers. While they had a good few feet on him, goblin bruisers were not to be messed with, or they would fuck you up. “Miss Ana’diel, good ta see ya again. Wantin’ yer usual table?” Bilgewater Harbor was one of her usual haunts, more specifically this particular underground club. There was gambling, peep shows, drugs, dancing, and more; what else could one wish for?

“No thank you, dear.” She leaned down and slipped something into the goblin bruiser’s hand before leading Aerden in through the double doors. The music immediately overwhelmed him and there was a moment when he hesitated and nearly retreated. Annya stopped with him, squeezing his hand as she whispered in his ear. “We can leave, we don’t have to do this.”

Aerden shook his head, urging her forwards, “No. I want to.” They had already come this far, in his mind there was no backing out.

She led him through the crowds, her hips swaying to the beat while pushing through the dance floor. All Aerden could do was stare at her back, having something to focus on helped but he still felt like he was going to vomit. The duo continued on through a few private lounges where some more salacious activities were happening, down a couple flights of stairs, and through a narrow hallway lined with metal doors on either side. He focused on the clack of Annya’s stilettos against the hard floor and stopped when she stopped in front of a door with the number two on it.

She released his hand and turned to face him. “You are very brave, and I am very proud of you.” Nimble fingers made quick work of unbuttoning his suit jacket, coaxing him to turn around so she could slide it off of him. “Go on, I’m right behind you.” Aerden took a deep breath, and grasped the metal door handle to crack it open. The duo slipped inside and Vixannya ensured the door bolted shut behind them.

Just as planned, there were two familiar faces in here. He first met the gaze of Pollux, his father. It was still a little jarring to see the man in full gear and fully armed: black leather, tactical goggles resting atop his head, silenced pistol in one hand, and a wide variety of other weapons strapped all over his body. He looked downright intimidating, but that was probably the point. The older man nodded his greeting, but remained silent.

The next familiar face sent a shiver up his spine, despite the man’s current predicament. Kneeling on the floor, face bruised and bloodied, was his mum’s husband, Aerden Varril Lo’sharri, Senior. The man Aerden had assumed for so long was his real father. The man he was named after and so desperately wanted to make proud when younger. ...The man that physically, mentally, and emotionally abused him day after day for years of his life. The man that killed his mum.

Pollux had already taken his pound of flesh by the looks of it, that is what they had agreed upon so long ago when plotting this very moment. His real father had every right to do so after what was done to him and to the woman he loved, Aerden’s mother.

Now it was Aerden’s turn.

Being in the military, he had killed before. It was out of necessity, but so was this, right? After all the threats and damage already done, this should be considered self defense. If only it were that simple. He stepped closer to the elder Aerden and crouched down so they were face to face. A man that once always seemed larger than life now looked so small and pathetic. There was a pleading look in his eyes, but he didn’t say a word despite being free to do so. Maybe he already knew there was nothing that could be said nor done to atone for his cruelty, maybe he knew that his death was the only way. Normally death would have seemed like the easy way out, but considering it would land him in the Maw, it now seemed very appropriate.

Aerden searched his eyes for something, anything. Being an empath, surely he would feel some sort of remorse there...but he felt nothing. Not even fear. Thinking back on his life it all made so much sense now, why even in those ‘nicer’ moments with the man he thought to be his father he still felt unsettled and uncertain. The man was a damn psychopath. Had it always been one big lie? They had their good moments; there were times that Aerden felt truly loved by the man, and he knew his mother had felt the same way once upon a time. The truth wasn’t surprising, and honestly it made this that much easier.

Pollux closed the gap between him and his son, silently offering the pistol which Aerden took willingly as he stood. There was so much he wanted to say to the kneeling man, but it would be a waste of breath. A hand was placed on his shoulder; an unspoken question: Pollux had offered to be the one to pull the trigger, but this was something Aerden needed to do himself or he would regret it. His gaze once more met his real father’s and the feelings poured from the older man like a waterfall; everything from fear to anger, but more importantly and most cherished, pride and love.

Attention was returned to this pathetic being on the floor before them. This was just like Annya had predicted in the painting she had done many months prior: Now to complete it. Aerden aimed the gun at the center of Aerden Senior’s forehead, and squeezed the trigger.

@vixannya @polluxhale

#story #my writing #aerden #Wyrmrest Accord #wra #pollux #annya #abuse #death

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spirits-n-giggles · 4 years ago

Note

I thought he turned back because he liked her petting his snout and he didn’t want to do anything to give that away. Or he was surprised he liked her touching his fur. Not gonna lie that sneeze threw me. Why did he sneeze? Side out: I know he’s a dog not cat, but does he make any purring noises? Like a dogs pur sound kind of? Some wolves can purr. Inquiring mind here 😉

Okay! FINE! I give up!

Here you go! 😍

Fully fledged, and with art at the end to boot.

Enjoy!

The First Time Rin Met Doggy!Sesshy

So, you want to know about the first time Rin ever saw Sesshomaru in full Doggy!Sesshy form, eh?

Hmm.... It would have to be at some point during the original series, yeah? So Rin would still have to be what demons would call a tiny human. It would happen in the evening, after the night would fall. The camping party of misfits would consist of Lord Sesshomaru, Jaken, Ah and Un, and the tiny human, Rin. They would all lay at their own leisure in a safe area to camp, complete with shade to stay hidden in the large bushes and trees.

They would have sat for a while, whilst the toad demon and the tiny human would feast upon the catch they would have made earlier on in the day. With bellies filled, it wouldn’t be long before Rin would finally find herself in a sleeping state. This would be a queue for Sesshomaru to go and hunt for his own food, as he would order Jaken to stay behind and keep guard over the camp. He would only travel as far as he needed to in order to obtain his food, but that would vary depending on how far away camp would be from his preferred diet.

What does he eat?

Use your imagination.

That’s not what this oneshot is about. :)

Something would happen while Sesshomaru would hunt, and it would most likely be a huge giant big-headed demon of some kind that would have smelled the dwindling campfire from not too far away. Careful to guard itself with its own personal demonic energy, this pathetic waste of space would cleverly hide its scent as it would happen upon the camp while the moon hung high in the sky. This stupid demon would believe Sesshomaru to be rather small compared to it’s large stature, and unfortunately for this idiotic demon, it would soon find out what happens when one assumes.

This filler episode demon would have waited until all was clear to attack the camp so he wouldn’t have to try very hard for his own dinner. With the larger demon long gone, this moron would emerge from the trees in the night and spot the sleeping girl and pathetic goblin-looking toad and see them as nothing more than a nice midnight snack. This causes Rin to release a blood-curdling scream. All this stupid demon would know was that the bigger demon was gone so these little tiny nothings be ripe for the picking. Sure there was still a dragon but surely he could handle one and be done with his business before the bigger demon would return, right?

As Sesshomaru would make his one and only kill to eat, he would immediately hear the cry of Rin. It would take naught but a hop and a jump for him to get to her, only to see that she would be lifted into some giant’s mouth. Ah and Un could only do so much while muzzled, and stupid Jaken would get himself caught, again. Sesshoamru would arrive to see the size of such a spectacle, and figures that it would just be easier to settle this the old fashioned way.

He would sigh at such a pathetic excuse of a demon, and he wouldn’t even have have to think as he would suddenly -- *- BAMF -* -- transform into full Doggy!Sesshy. Doggy!Sesshy would be a big vicious beasty, and poor Rin wouldn’t have even been able to see the transformation since she’d be too busy with almost being eaten, and all that.

The dumb demon would have had no time to react to the sudden giant-ass dog demon that would suddenly come lunging towards him. Doggy!Sesshy would swiftly kill the vermin, with little to show for it since his blood would taste absolutely disgusting to the Demon Lord. After mere seconds, both of the demon’s arms would separate from the rest of its body (cause duh) , and Sesshomaru would catch Rin (and Jaken) on the safety of his back to guide them down to safety.

It would take a few moments for the damsels to come back to their senses. “W-what happened?” Rin’s voice would speak as she’d subconsciously hold onto whatever she had landed on. She would look up to see that she’d be in the sky, flying as if she were on the back of Ah and Un, but she would see her two-headed friend as he would anxiously await her back on the ground. She would then look down to see white fur under her as they would glide in the air, and the fur would feel somewhat familiar, but not enough for her to directly understand what had just happened.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" She would scream for his attention. She would know that he’d sometimes leave the camp to eat, but a demon was just killed by another in front of her. "Lord Sesshomaru where are you?" He would usually hear her cry. It wouldn’t be like him not to show up to a fight like this.

She would be eager to get off this random.... demon and search for her lord.

"You fool!” Rin would hear Jaken’s voice from behind her. She would look to see her friend desperately trying to hold on to any kind of fur under him. This IS Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken would berate the tiny human and her ignorance while holding on for dear life.

“Hold on Jaken! I’ve got you!” She would be close enough to be able to pull him up to safety by his unique looking staff.

Jaken would be thankful, though he wouldn’t want to be. “Meddlesome girl. I could have made it on my own.”

“What do you mean that this is Lord Sesshomaru?” How would she have known? This would be her first experience seeing him this way, after all. Doggy!Sesshy would take this time to slow them down and eventually come to a smooth landing.

“Don’t you know anything?” Jaken would screech as he would jump off of his Lord’s back. “Lord Sesshomaru is a Dog Demon. This is his true form! The look of a human is an optional one, but it does keep his true form rested and at bay so he doesn’t go crazy and kill the entire world with his vicious power and anger!” Jaken would cower at the very idea of the story. Rin would follow and slide off of Sesshomaru’s side, but he would stand there for a moment in full form. Rin would be shy about her movements, but she would be careful as she would slowly come to see the front of his dog-like face.

This would be the face of a great beast. He would be large and white. His snout would be pointed and vicious, and his sneer would hold a look of what most would consider to be pure evil. He would growl as he would refrain from releasing any of his poison around her, and such a sound would resonate within her ears. He would be fully aware, watching her intently, waiting for her every move. He would only imagine what his horrid form would look to her. ‘Surely, she must be frozen in terror. Look at how still she stands.’ He would believe it to be fear that he’d see in her eyes.

Nothing about his true form would be recognizable to her, except the familiar markings on his face. His two stripes on each of his human-like cheeks would morph into one jagged one on each in this form. The moon in the center of his head would make Rin wonder if the moon somehow helped his power in some way. Her disposition would calm as she would eventually be able to see him through his demonic form. "Lord Sesshomaru?" She would ask, looking into one very large red eye.

It would seem to be him after all, as he would shortly transform back to his usual form- the form that she'd be most familiar with. She would shield her eyes of the wind that would flow out of him.

He would stand, calm and emotionless, as per usual, but he would carry a disposition that would somehow be more quiet and standoff-ish. There would be no voice from Jaken, this time, and Ah and Un would always prefer to be the silent contenders in these situations. Sesshomaru would be waiting for Rin to scream and run from him in terror after what she had just seen. He would have just transformed into a vicious beast and murdered in cold blood right in front of her. In a way, he’d be no different than the one that just tried to kill her, so she must be terrified...

Right? ‘I really am a monster.’

Rin would not notice the trepidation in his movements. “Wow...” She’d whisper. Her eyes would grow wide with a smile to match. "Can you do that again?" She'd suddenly ask with hopeful eyes.

Sesshomaru’s eyes would widen at her sudden request... and for just a moment, Sesshomaru’s voice would be caught. ‘...What?’

"HOW DARE YOU REQUEST SUCH A THING." Jaken‘s voice would screech in her ear, scurrying over to the tiny human. "Lord Sesshomaru does not waste such valuable demonic energy to entertain the witless demands of a pathetic little human like you."

"Silence." Sesshomaru's voice would only have to utter a single word to get the demon toad to quiet himself.

“Y-yes milord.” The servant would do as he was told, sheepishly hiding behind the tiny human Rin in the process.

Sesshomaru would be the Great Demon Lord of the West. It would take naught but little energy for him to do something as simple as transform into his full self for a second time. The air around him would start to pulsate once again, as would the echo of his heartbeat. The wind would ripple through the tall grass and the leaves in the trees. Rin's eyes would grow in awe as she would watch his hair start to freely dance with the wind. Before she’d know it, a dangerous red color of his demonic eyes would return as the usual soft amber color of his eyes would fade away. His gaze would land directly on her.

Rin would stand completely still, wanting to see the entire transformation. There would be a certain something inside of her that would never want to look away. Rin would be an empathic human being, and this power could be very valuable in the future, should she desire to continue down the path of divinity. But for this moment in time, it would be able to help her see the beauty in such an extremely wild and dangerous moment as showing one’s true demon form like this. This would speak to her heart, though her mind would still need to develop a little more before she would be able to fully understand this power. For now, she would just be able to enjoy this moment.

Oh, what magic this would be to her- but Jaken would be smart to grab her arm as he would run from the blast that he knew would come. The human would watch in awe as Sesshomaru’s human-like being would become wrapped in the fur that would usually stay at his side, right before fully transforming in size with the power of his demonic light.

Clad in his full beast form, Sesshomaru would stand tall and mighty. The hiss in his growl would even scare away the sleeping birds that nest high in the trees, but Rin would pull herself away from Jaken's hiding spot and make her way towards this new Demon Lord Sesshomaru. This full transformation would be the raw and natural state of a creature that would call himself the Demon Lord of the West, and this would intrigue Rin to no end, no matter what age she might be.

He would actually be a... dog.

Her eyes would be directly on him as he would gently turn to see her with one very large and perhaps a little bit of a timid eye, as well. She would take her time making her way towards him, but she wouldn't hesitate to take the first step as soon as possible. His growl would come from deep within his throat, as if warning her not to get too close. This would be a recurring theme in Sesshomaru’s character, whether he’d notice it or not. This would just be another way for him to push her away, and to remind her that he is not good, he is not kind, and he is definitely not nice.

He is a monster, and he would always be a monster.

She would pause, but she would not be afraid. He would be in a defensive stance, but his body language would eventually simmer down to a calmer state, as she would grow even closer. Her mind would only be on Sesshomaru with youthful eyes of her own, but not with fear of him hurting her, but with fear of him being frightened of her footsteps.

The closer she would get, the more his growl would dim. Jaken's eyes would be large, as he would observe Rin’s courage. Even he wouldn’t dare to get so close to such danger. His jaw would seem to hit the ground.

Sesshomaru would then lower his snout down to Rin’s gaze. He would only be able to see her with one eye, but one would be enough. Rin would eventually be close enough to gently, yet gradually feel the familiar fur at the side of his nose. She would know the soothing familiarly of his fur, for it would be thickened with his wild nature, and warm to the touch. Here she would come to the understanding that his Moko-moko would be a part of him somehow. as she would continue petting the bridge of his nose.

This gentle action of hers would cause his eyes to gently come to a close. He would feel her kind touch, and it would be a foreign feeling. It would almost seem as though he... might... actually....

His eyes would suddenly pop open wide, and he would yank his face away from her, which would frighten the poor girl and she would end up falling back with a small scream. Her fear ridden voice would cause him to immediately transform back to normal as if nothing happened.

After a moment of defining silence between the small camp of beings, none would dare make a sound. They would watch Sesshomaru as he would slowly, but surely raise his (only) arm (at the time) . The silence would remain until the smallest ... *sneeze*...? would suddenly come from their Demon Lord of the West.

Did... Did Rin just make Lord Sesshomaru... sneeze?

"Let's go." Sesshomaru says as he turns away from the camp. "Since you're all awake, we might as well travel on."

She did! Rin made Lord Sesshomaru sneeze...

Well...Sort of.

He had to think of something, didn’t he? She was PETTING him like a DOG. That was unacceptable... right?

A-and it’s not like he actually enjoyed it or anything... right?

Never.

That would be considered affection.

Affection?

What is that?

Unfortunately, he would have absolutely no idea of what affection would be, so he wouldn’t understand why he would feel something ... positive in her gentle touch to his demonic form. And he definitely didn’t use the excuse of a fake sneeze so he could..... touch... the spot that she touched in his own state of shock.

Please.

This Sesshomaru? Have feelings?

Ridiculous.

Rin would scurry on up as everyone would continue on. ‘Lord Sesshomaru....’ she would think to herself. ‘You truly are beautiful. Inside and out.’ She would smile a smile that would be felt by the entire group.

‘I am a monster,’ he would think to himself, ‘but... perhaps I can be a decent one.’ Lord Sesshomaru, too, would hide a vague grin as they would venture on with their adventure.

Art and story by: Me :)

#inuyasha #sesshomaru #rin #xxiixiii #sesshomaru and rin #pre romance #she is still a tiny human in this piece #so characters act accordingly #dog demon #jaken #sessrin #sessrin plz interact

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graysmiles-world · 5 years ago

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How J.K. Rowling is a Terrible Person

Hi! I know almost everyone has seen J.K. Rowling’s transphobic comments on twitter or anywhere else. A lot of people are now saying how some of the actors wrote the books instead, or how Rick Riordan wrote them as a joke.This is harmful and should not be said. This is why.

J.K. Rowling’s terrible behavior did not suddenly appear a few years ago. It was always in the books. Nothing major, like the openly transphobic comments, but through things that could have unconsciously altered our minds when we were young. Here’s a list of a few (if I miss any, just let me know) starting with stuff IN the books and then things that she talked about after they were published:

- Hermione has a constant “not like other girls mentality” throughout the books. Hermione is a good character, but she is written to make girls think that they are better than others because they don’t wear makeup or like reading. Hermione really only hates Lavender in the 5th book because Lavender loves Ron. There’s really no other reason.

- Goblins are constantly given Jewish traits. Such as: large noses and constantly clinging to money. This is, again, extremely harmful as the stereotypes really bring the Jewish down.

- During the Goblet of Fire, when describing Rita Skeeter, she gives her a lot of “manly” attributes. There is nothing wrong with that, however, J.K. Rowling continues to compare a lot of Rita’s features to a man, which gives the impression of Rita being a trans woman. Rita was caught spying on young children and lying about them to the public, this enforces the stereotype that trans women spy on children and/or lie.

- Snape is forgiven. This is a huge thing in the Harry Potter fandom years later. Snape was a terrible person who constantly abused Harry and many other children for YEARS. He was willing to kill for Voldemort, but as soon as Lily was in danger, he switched. If Neville was the chosen one, Snape would have continued to work for Voldemort. No matter how much a jerk James was to Snape and no matter how much Snape loved Lily, he was abusive and did not deserve the forgiveness that J.K. Rowling wrote for him

- In the new movie, Crimes of Grindelwald, Nagini was revealed to be an East Asian woman. Nagini is the feminine form of the Sanskrit word nāga, which means “snake." The Sanskrit word was borrowed into English in the late 1700s, and showed up in translations of Buddhist and Hindu texts. So J.K. Rowling gave an East Asian women a South Asian name, as well as making her a slave to a literal Wizard N@zi for the rest of her life.

- Let’s talk about Cho Chang. Cho and Chang are both Korean surnames. Cho is Chinese. That’s it, that’s the ignorance right there.

- Did I mention that all (3) Asian characters are in Ravenclaw, the “smart” house?

- In the Cursed Child, Padma and Ron get married in an alternate reality. Padma wears Ron down until he’s not he’s usual self, and their son is named Panju. Panju is an island in Vasai, that’s all you need to know. One simple Google search would have cleared up the reason that she thought that Panju was a boys name and not the name of an island.

- Also, the Goblet of Fire dresses, anyone?

- J.K. Rowling claims that Harry Potter is about racism, but all the main characters are WHITE

- The only irish character in the books keeps blowing things up, and the first time we’re introduced to him, he tries to make alcohol

- Kingsley SHACKLEBOLT, one of the ONLY black characters in the entire series is named SHACKLEBOLT

- In 2007, years after the final Harry Potter Book was published, J.K. Rowling told everyone that Dumbledore was gay. There is no evidence of Dumbledore being gay in the books, and while it is not something that needs to be announced, it did come out of nowhere. And, Dumbledore was a man who manipulated Harry for YEARS and raised him like a pig to be slaughtered. This along with claiming Grindelwald to be gay as well. Grindelwald, who was a literal N@ZI and tried to wipe out an entire race of human. AND saying that they had a relationship with zero mention of it in the books or movies.

- J.K. Rowling compared the werewolves to the AIDS/HIV epidemic. The werewolves in the books were told to be men who prey on children and then biting them and turning them. This enforces the stereotypes that gay men are predators.

- Apparently there was a rumor that J.K. Rowling said in an interview that she was going to have Sean and Dean be in a relationship, “but didn’t want it taking away from the main trio.” I could find no evidence of such interview or quote. And if she did say that, that is completely untrue. There are tons of books that have side relationships that take almost no attention away from the main characters and conflicts.

- J.K. Rowling claims that she never specified Hermione’s race. This is untrue. I love Black Hermione, but in Prisoner of Azakban, she wrote: Hermione’s “white face was sticking out from behind a tree” as well as reference Hermione’s skin as “pale.”

- While promoting Fantastic Beasts, J.K. Rowling published The History of Magic in North America. She plundered Native American legends to tie them into the wizarding world for the new movie. She obviously did very little research on the culture she was marketing off of.

This is all off of the top of my head. Let me know if there are any more.

#harrypotter #jkrowling #harry potter #jk rowling #the philosopher's stone #the chamber of secrets #the prisoner of azkaban #goblet of fire #the order of the phoenix #the half blood prince #the deathly hallows #black hermione #indian harry potter #racism in harry potter #why jk rowling sucks

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mybg3notebook · 4 years ago

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Gale: Hypothesis and Analogies – Part 2

Here, I will compile several hypotheses that are pretty common to find around and I will express my opinion on them showing what EA has given us so far to justify them or not.

Disclaimer Game Version: All these analyses were written up to the game version v4.1.104.3536 (Early access). As long as new content is added, and as long as I have free time for that, I will try to keep updating this information. Written in June 2021.

Disclaimer about interpretations of Real Life concepts: I’m not a fan of bringing real life issues into plain analogies/allegories in a game which intention in doing so was not made explicit, but the fandom seems to like this aspect and therefore I would like to share those opinions here as well since some seems reasonable despite not being of my taste. This topic may be sensitive for some people. Be aware of it.

Hypothesis: Gale is a gaslighter

Concept

Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which a person or a group covertly sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or group, making them question their own memory, perception, or judgement. It may evoke changes in them such as cognitive dissonance or low self-esteem, rendering the victim additionally dependent on the gaslighter for emotional support and validation. Using denial, misdirection, contradiction,and disinformation, gaslighting involves attempts to destabilise the victim and delegitimise the victim's beliefs.

A gasligther's ultimate goal is to make their victim second-guess their choices and to question their sanity, making them more dependent on the abuser. Fandom does an incredible misuse of this word (and similar ones), that over-magnifies situations which don't have those dimensions. For example, it’s pretty common to read in this fandom that Wyll “gaslights” Tav when he denies that his eye is a sending stone. Gaslighting and lying are not synonymous at all.

Then, what's the difference? A person usually lies by either withholding or concealing information, or falsifying information and presenting it as true.

Gaslighting is similar to lying, but a gaslighter will also be attempting to confuse the other person by flipping a situation and putting the blame onto them, making them doubt their perception of events and second guess themselves. Typically the gaslighter is either trying to avoid taking responsibility for something and they want someone else to take responsibility, or they are trying to gain control over someone because they have an agenda.

So basically, gaslighting is about flipping, attacking, confusing and blaming, gaining power over another, and trying to get someone else to take responsibility for their bad behaviour. But lying doesn’t involve flipping, attacking or blaming and the liar isn’t trying to get someone else to take responsibility for their behaviour, they are merely hiding information for personal reasons.

Inside the context of BG3

Honestly, nothing of this is happening with Gale, not even with Wyll and his denial about the sending stone. Gale and Wyll are hiding personal information, but without any interest to control Tav. In fact, the one holding power is Tav: the leader of the group that no companion questions. It's clear for any player that Tav has so much power over the group that they can kill any of the companions without consequences.

Unlike an average gaslighter, Gale is well aware that his dire situation is the product of his own mistakes; the folly of his young self who believed that Mystra's love would last forever. We also learnt in the Loss scene that he deeply regrets this situation and during the Revelation scene he makes it clear over and over again that the only one to blame is “the silly wizard who did not accept a no from a goddess”, while being quite oblivious of the power imbalance his young self was in (here is where the grooming interpretation comes. Read Part 1 for details). Gale never disrespected Tav's opinions, confusing them or dismissing them. Gale can agree or disagree with Tav, and be very clear about it, but like an expected scholar, his disagreements are done with sensible touch and respecting Tav's individuality. In the only moment where Gale is aggressive due to dissidence is during the conversation after the goblin party or in his final scene before leaving the party when he is very low approval. But it's more than understandable since Tav forced him to be part of evil acts he did not want to participate in (after all, he is a good-aligned character, as Sven said it in PAX).

Even Wyll, lying straight to Tav's face about his stone eye, is not even gaslighting. Gaslighting is about power, control, and submission of the other. I would really like the fandom to learn the context of the words they use.

Hypothesis: Gale is a narcissist

Concept

Another word that fandom can't grasp and misuses so lightly. The difference between a narcissist and a cocky person or a high self-esteem person is big.

A narcissist is not just someone who loves themselves in excess and has a big ego. A narcissist is a person that has very specific character traits, the three main are: having a sense of entitlement, being exploitative, and being empathy impaired, or having a complete lack of empathy for others.

Sense of entitlement: A narcissist views themselves as superior and special and better than everyone else, so they think they should be treated that way. They have delusions of grandeur and a sense of omnipotence and grandiosity that makes them feel entitled to have whatever they want.

They see their needs and desires as a priority and more important than anyone else’s; they are ruthless in getting them fulfilled. They crave admiration and adoration and will demand attention, but they will not give anything in return. They’ll punish others if they don’t get what they want. They don’t care about the consequences because they don’t believe consequences apply to them, since they think they are above reproach.

Being exploitative: Because of their sense of entitlement, the narcissist needs to exploit and use others to get what they want. Exploitative behaviour includes: intimidation, manipulation, control, plotting, conspiring, strategising, teasing, bullying, threats, being aggressive and passive-aggressive. They take advantage and treat people unfairly . They do only what is best for themselves in order to achieve their own goals. Due to their lack of conscience they will not feel any remorse or concern for the person they use and exploit. Instead they will just feel excitement and pleasure at having gained what they believe is rightfully theirs.

Lack of empathy: Empathy is the ability to put oneself in someone else’s shoes, and imagine what they are feeling, understanding those feelings. Narcissists lack this ability, so they do not concern themselves with other people's feelings, showing little compassion for others. This lack of empathy means they have no problem taking advantage of people or hurting them when they exploit or degrade them for their own means, and they have no conscience or awareness about the pain they cause in others. This is the reason why they can't offer comfort or reassurance. Another big sign that someone might be a narcissist is if they have trouble being told ‘No’. Narcissists lack boundaries and they don’t care about other people’s boundaries, so trying to set a boundary simply by saying no to them, may provoke a very strong reaction in them.

So, the difference between a narcissist and a cocky or high self-esteem person are clear:

A person with high self-esteem greatly respects themselves. Self-esteem is confidence in one’s ability to think, make choices, and act on those choices, as well as feeling deserving of happiness and benefiting from one’s hard work and accomplishments. Above all, it means valuing the facts of reality and reason to guide one’s life. A lapse in knowledge or a mistake won't threaten their self-esteem. In fact, they embrace facts, whether those facts come from themselves or someone else, because they know that knowledge will help them in their life.

People with high-self esteem rarely (if ever) evade facts or rational advice because they know reality is their survival tool and means of achieving and maintaining happiness. They may be cocky at times, but they have tact and empathy to understand their own mistakes and the effect that they may cause on others, accepting the blame.

Narcissism is the opposite of self-esteem. Narcissists act as if they know everything, and anything that contradicts what they believe is either evaded or rejected out of hand. They’re not interested in facts that contradict what they feel or want to be true. They feel they must be right all the time. Their charm and show-off is usually aimed to belittle people. They always want to remain blameless.

Inside the context of BG3

Gale is certainly confident in his knowledge and he is proud of what he does; he spent many years learning under many tutors; his skills are a product of hard effort and a privileged education (wizard education).

Gale: I'm a wizard of considerable acclaim, and scholar of exceptional accomplishment.

Lae'zel: You strike me as cleverer than most istiki, Gale. Multiple tutors I should guess. Gale: Many a wise man and woman, indeed. Waterdeep is the home of myriads of scholars.

Gale: Benefits of a wizard's education, you see. Of course my considerable talent didn't hurt either. Well... That depends on who you ask, I suppose. I may have summoned things rather more exotic than a winged cat.

This is not mere fake, because the scene of Ceremorphosis shows that Gale has a deep understanding of the process, compared to the knowledge that any githyanki has (Lae'zel or githyanki Tav). What Gale continues stating are facts:

Tav: And what makes you the expert? Gale: Study.

He is far from being the typical obnoxious scholar who enjoys making people feel small and inferior. Unlike the archetype, Gale doesn't enjoy mocking Tav's ignorance, on the contrary, the excess of explanation can be seen as a typical vice of a teacher (which is confirmed after the Weave: Gale has been a teacher for some students even though his patience was thin). But in the same way Gale states the fact that he knows a lot, he is also well aware of his limitations, and he doesn't hide that fact: during the scene of ceremorphosis, he acknowledges that his “knowledge fails him” when he tries to understand the anomalies they are experiencing.

During the Weave scene, he acknowledges the obvious:

Tav: You’re a good teacher. Gale: I Know.

Annoying? yes, but true. After all, the game allowed a non-wizard Tav to channel the Weave, a unique experience for non-magical users. They are casting the Weave for the first time thanks to Gale's good instructions (and some luck with the dice).

Another situation can be seen during the scene of the consumption of the artefacts.

Tav: Thanks don't get me that artefact back Gale: I myself am a much more powerful artefact in your arsenal. Rest assured of that.

His comment may be cocky, but it once more displays a fact: a functional wizard (with many spell slots) is more valuable than the power that those artefacts give to Tav (usually one spell alone). It’s also worth noting that none of his show-off comments tries to dismiss or belittle Tav.

Because of his habit of over-explaining, Gale tends to be considered a mansplainer. I would see it that way if his excessive explanations would only happen with female Tavs. But the truth is that he is explaining too much to anyone, even to fellow wizards that may know all that stuff already. After all, it makes sense: he has the [sage] tag; he read all his life, he knows a big amount of things, and he was a teacher: a terrible combination that justifies a character with a tendency to over-explaining.

But Gale is not even that cocky, in my opinion. Many of his scenes have a level of teasing that implies more a hidden joke than high self-esteem. This is a pattern that can be seen in several opportunities: Gale uses this fake cockiness to put some levity in the moment, showing his joking intentions by context or explicitly with words:

The scene of Ceremorphosis starts with him observing his own reflection. When Tav asks him what he is doing, Gale answers: “Indulging in a spot of vanity. Handsome devil, aren't I?”. He deflected the raw context of the answer with teasing. He was not indulging into vanity, what he was truly doing was to observe any change in his physiognomy, and he attempted to levity by teasing. This is explicit later, when the topic of the conversation focuses on the changes that ceremorphosis causes. Even the handsome devil comment has teasing implications: according to some idiom dictionaries, the expression handsome devil “it's usually used playfully or flirtatiously”. Again, a teasing.

During the Stew scene, Gale puts some levity before introducing the dramatic conversation about the artefacts he needs:

Gale: Curious time to be dieting. Especially with a chef like myself around.

When meeting the Myconid, Gale will talk with fascination about the ability of this species to raise the dead through spores.

Tav: Sorry, but I don't share your fascination for fungi. Gale: Nobody's perfect.

Tav can be a bit dismissive with his response, to which Gale will reply with one of his typical teasing/jokes, implying the ridiculous idea that a perfect person should always be interested in fungi. It’s a joke.

Another attempt to levity despite fearing to turn into mind flayers that night:

Gale: More blood. That's a pretty sight. Give it to me straight, how do I look? Tav: Like your handsome self, Gale. Gale: Thanks, that's what I thought.

During the Loss scene, in the romantic path of “more than friends”, we have this silly, teasing/cockiness which lacks belittling intentions. He is just playful. That can be seen because he doesn't let the situation last more than a moment, immediately calling himself “insufferable”. A narcissist, under no circumstance, would call himself as such.

Tav: When I said we could be more than friends, you answered “perhaps”. What does that really mean? Gale: If I recall correctly, the Waterdhavian Dictionary of the Common Tongue of Faerûn defines it as an adverb that conveys the meaning of “It may be that”, or “possibly”. Sorry, sometimes I just can't help being quite insufferable. In seriousness, I'm glad you asked that question. [...]

When the joke/teasing finishes, his words change immediately returning to the “serious” note of the conversation, doing it explicitly: “In seriousness”. Meaning he was joking a moment ago. He is painfully explicit.

The same exact teasing/joke happens during the scene of the consumption of artefacts:

Tav: Let's hope this was the last artefact I had to part with. Gale: Come, come, these are mere fabled objects of great to enormous value. My continued presence though – quite priceless! On a more serious note, I do not wish to give you false hope. We're only treating the symptoms, not the cause. [...]

After the teasing, Gale explicitly says “talking on a more serious note”, meaning, the previous moment was a joke. Again.

Another example of teasing/cocky joke:

Wyll: Between the orb and the bug you've got more than your fair share of unwelcome passengers. Gale: What can I say. Mother always taught me to be a gracious host.

Gale claims to be a gracious host, but the context surrounding this... just makes it into a joke. This is why I insist so much in the Context.

This happens during the “Revelation” scene too, when it's Tav who attempts to use this teasing to relax the tense situation with a joke:

Tav: When you put it like that – no one can say no to me. Gale: After all, even I am only human. (Gale Approves)

It's painfully obvious they tease one another. After all the conversation of Mystra and the orb, some Tavs may want to opt for this option to answer Gale, and he even would approve this attempt of levity, because it's the same exact, silly thing he does as a pattern. He also approves it because he likes confidence. Again, I will repeat myself, but it's clear that Gale is char with high self-esteem, and likes people with that same trait. We know this because during the party when Tav accepts his out-of-nowhere “thank you”. Gale immediately says: “There's that confidence I like”.

During the scene after the party, we have some extra silly, cocky moments that could be the result of wine in Gale's system, or the messiness of the scene itself, since it’s so unpolished:

Tav: I think that sounds delightful Gale: That's because I'm full of delights

Tav: You’re a good kisser. Gale: I’m of the opinion one should try to excel at everything.

Tav: Thank you for a wonderful night. Gale: Like I said; I try to excel at everything.

I would like to highlight this line because the way it's said shows a level of confidence that is not related to an excess of ego, but to a high self-esteem behaviour: he says “try”. Meaning, he knows he may fail. His past is proof that he can try to excel at things that he would never be able to manage, and unlike a narcissist, he acknowledges his limitations once more.

Another interesting exchange is after that night:

Gale: A night to remember. It was wonderful, wasn't it? Tav: Oh, I've had better. Gale: I had a goddess, but you don't hear me complaining. [After apology] Tav: We should do it again sometime. Gale: We absolutely should, after all I need to undone the misconception that you had better.

Tav can question Gale's performance, and after repaying that rudeness with his comment on the Goddess, (again, Gale is a character that will pay you with the same coin [18]) he accepts the criticism and promises—with a teasing—to do it better. Again, an impossible gesture in a narcissist.

But not only in these teasing/joking situations we see his high self-esteem: in bitter or aggressive reactions, we see he uses it to enrage his rude/violent interlocutor:

During the Weave scene:

Gale: What did I think about seeing my head on a spike? That I still looked as handsome as ever, that's what.

Gale is hurt of being depicted beheaded (we know he fears death, the scene with Nettie shows it). His answer is, of course, rude after such a gore image projected in his mind. But instead of resorting to plain aggression, he pretends that it did not have the effect that Tav wanted to cause. To do so, he shows off.

The scene of Mirkon displays both styles of teasing: Gale started using his teasing/cocky attitude with a clear intention of sharing something personal with Tav, who has just done an action that it's important for Gale (saving children/youngsters of their own mistakes [5, 12b], a concept that echoes in Gale's background).

Gale: Benefits of a wizard's education, you see. Of course my considerable talent didn't hurt either. Well... That depends on who you ask, I suppose.

Tav can ignore this silly cockiness and engage in what Gale wants to share, leaving the moment at that. But if Tav opts for a rude comment, Gale will answer with a degree of rudeness too, using a condescending tone (but it’s very light if we compare it with the level of aggressive condescending he displays with an evil Tav). We need to remember that Gale is a char who follows the philosophy of giving people their own medicine [18]. That's what he does:

Tav: Considerable talent. Are you always this full of yourself? Gale: Only when the occasion suits. That's mostly a synonym for 'yes', by the by. Anyway--

Gale is a very confident character, but his high self-esteem is not that broad. It is limited to his knowledge and appearance, but never to relationships. Exactly it's there where he becomes less confident and when his emotions and abandonment issues conflict with his good sense.

Don't get me wrong, Gale's ego is there, I'm not denying it. But like everything in this fandom, some groups tend to over-magnify what the game gives in EA. Gale has a very well founded self-esteem in academic and researching fields: he has been a prodigy of the Weave from a young age (probably very close to a Weavemaster, skill referred in the novel Dead Masks), and a remarkable scholar with artistic attitudes in poetry. He worked hard for years to amass all that knowledge (he has a [sage] tag for a reason) and then he became, briefly, a Chosen one (not a small feat) which catapulted him to an status of archwizard. He could be so immensely obnoxious, aggressive, and dismissive as Fane is in DOS2. Still, Gale remains in a low level of a playful ego that only surfaces when the situation requires a teasing/levity or when it is a bitter tool against an aggressive and rude Tav. Considering him a narcissist is to over-magnify this trait out of the chart. He is a lore-content character; that character that in many rpg games will accompany us while explaining the context of the fantasy world we are playing in; therefore it is natural and obvious that he will over explain like no other companion so far.

Of course, all this is EA and may change by the time the game is released. But so far we should analyse what has been given to us.

I personally don't like this trait of his, but I think it's part of his many flaws. After all, he is the embodiment and the concept "humans are fallible", and he is very aware of that every time he speaks in seriousness.

Hypothesis: Gale is a manipulator

Concept

I suggest reading the post about "Context, persuasion, and manipulation" for the definition and understanding of the concept.

Inside the context of BG3

On this aspect, I won't repeat myself, and I will recommend to read the series of posts I've done about "Gale: Manipulation, Lies, and Trust" which explains in detail the Stew Scene, the Loss Scene, the Party Scene and extra scenes (death protocol and dreams). This series focuses exactly on the degree of truth and lies that Gale shares with different Tavs (depending on their choices). As a broad conclusion I can say that Gale is not a manipulator as a main trait in his personality, and may (or not) withhold information if romanced (depending on Tav’s choices).

He is not even a liar, since he has always made clear his boundaries and never denied to have secrets. Earning his trust to open up takes its time and good actions, and only in a romantic path there is a more messy approach: the scene pretends to create a “great betrayal”, when there is little since all the information concerning the “orb” has been given in broad strokes previously. The information that Gale has been withholding was personal and private but said in a bad timing making it of poor taste. The whole scene is very unpolished, not reacting to the amount of information that Tav can have from previous scenes. It presents two apparent conflicts:

The “orb”, which danger has been stated since the first moment we met Gale, and it was reinforced in most scenes; so there is not a great revelation in it by the end of EA.

The other conflict is apparently Gale's past lover: Mystra. Which can be surprising for a Tav, but not so much for a player who knows the lore background. In any case, the scene offers poor options to react to all this: or it ignores all the information that Tav can know by that time (information given by Gale himself), or gives over-reactive options, pretending that Mystra and the Orb are informations that never were informed in the game.

So far in EA we see that Gale could withhold personal information not because he wants to have power over Tav, but as a consequence of his visceral fear for a second abandonment. Gale suffers from abandonment issues that make him prone to making bad decisions when confronted with that situation.

As I said before, for a real and detailed analysis read the post "Gale: Manipulation, Lies, and Trust", which is summary of the posts

'Stew' Scene (extensive)

Loss Scene ( extensive )

Party Scene ( extensive )

Extra Scenes: death protocol and comments on dreams

Hypothesis: Gale makes you "cheat" your LI

I won't repeat myself so I recommend to read the post Gale proposes you to 'cheat' "

Hypothesis: Gale still loves Mystra

I recommend reading the post Does Gale love Mystra?.

Hypothesis: Gale has no Tadpole

I recommend to read the post of "The Tadpole"

---

Sources for both parts:

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( 5V)

Some concepts were summarised from: https://melcrowecounsellor.com www.d2l.org/child-grooming-signs-behavior-awareness/

This post was written in June 2021. → For more Gale: Analysis Series Index

#bg3 meta #gale #gale of waterdeep #bg3 gale

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fanficimagery · 5 years ago

Text

Can’t Help Falling In Love.

Relationship: Sam/Reader Words: 8.2K Warnings: I’m afraid Sam’s OOC. I tried, I really did.

Imagine being Bella’s older sister from a woman Charlie was with before Renee. You’re only staying with your dad now until you get back on your feet and had no intentions of looking for romance, but apparently Fate has other plans for you.

The taxi drops you off in front of a familiar two-story house, and after paying the taxi fee and collecting your two bags, you hesitantly walk towards the front of the house. A police cruiser sits in the driveway and it brings a small smile to your face as you cautiously walk up the iced porch steps. Then hesitantly knocking on the door, tears immediately spring to your eyes when Charlie opens the door and his eyes light up with excitement.

"Y/N!"

"Hi, dad." Charlie is quick to then envelop you in a hug, your bags falling at your feet so you can wrap your arms back around him in return. "I know you knew I was coming, but I'm sorry I didn't warn you I took an earlier flight."

"Don't apologize, kiddo. This is a good surprise. I'm happy you're finally here."

You and your dad continue to squeeze each other as tightly as you can before the cold finally gets to you, Charlie then releasing you to grab your bags himself and gesturing you inside. "Thanks for letting me come back home," you mumble. Charlie drops your bags on the couch before turning to face you once more. "I screwed up, dad, and you had every right to refuse me. I promise I'm going to get back on track. I won't let you down a second time."

He smiles fondly. "We all make mistakes, Y/N. I'm just glad you realized what yours were before it was too late."

"You and me both."

You glance around the room, gaze sweeping over the worn-in furniture and family portraits littering the walls. The house is a lot homier than you remember and you're grateful for it. You haven't had a place that felt like home since you left for college and you're anxious to finally settle down and get your life back on track.

"Bells, Nessie, and Edward should be here soon. I didn't tell her you were coming, but don't be surprised if she's not surprised you're here. In fact, don't be surprised if she shows up within the next few minutes as if she already knew you were here."

Your brow furrows. "Nessie?"

Charlie looks at you, surprised you don't know. "Yeah. Renesmee. Your niece?"

"I have a niece!?" Charlie's eyes widen and yours close as you pinch the bridge of your nose when he takes a beat to answer. "I have a niece and I didn't even know? I must have been really out of it."

"To be fair, Renesmee is Edward's niece they adopted after a tragic accident the girl's parents were in." You frown at your dad and he sighs. "It's weird. Trust me, I know," he chuckles. "There are some things you need to know, but can't know because it's not my place to tell you. What I can tell you, however, is that your sister has changed."

"Changed?"

"Apparently she contracted some very severe illness while on her honeymoon. She spent months recuperating and when Jacob came to tell me that Bella was better, he informed me that she had to change in order to be better. You'll see what I'm talking about when you see her, but please don't voice your thoughts aloud. It's weird for everyone involved when she gives you the speech about can't knowing for your safety."

"Jesus," you mumble. "What the hell did Bella get herself into?"

"All you need to know is that your sister is happy, your niece is adorable, and the Cullen's are really great people."

Your mouth opens to reply, but whatever you had to say just completely blips out of your mind. You sigh and your shoulders droop. "Yeah. Okay."

True to Charlie's prediction, the front door opens and Bella appears around the corner with windswept hair. Amber eyes widen before the most beautiful smile overtakes her features. "Y/N.."

"Hello, sister." Bella closes the gap between you, her body a little too firm and too cold. The oddity of her eyes flashes in your mind as you return her embrace, followed by Charlie's words, and you let it go after a brief thought. Something in your sister has changed, but she's here and she's happy, and that's all you've ever wanted for your little sister. "I'm sorry I missed your wedding."

"It's okay. You're here now."

When Bella finally releases you, behind her is probably one of the most gorgeous individuals you've ever laid eyes on and the cutest little girl who appears at least four or five perched on his hip. His eyes are the same color as your sister's, but again Charlie's words float into the forefront of your mind. Smiling shakily, you ask, "You must be Edward. Welcome to the family, brother-in-law."

He chuckles as he smiles and bounces the little girl in his arms. "It's nice to finally meet you." You nod, but when your gaze is drawn back to the girl once more, he asks, "Would you like to hold her?"

"Can I?" Your gaze darts between Bella and Edward, and both nod. You then hesitantly walk towards him and hold your hands out when Renesmee smiles at you, and you're surprised at how easily she goes from Edward's arms to yours. "Hello, little one," you coo as you perch her on your hip as Edward had her. "I'm your aunt Y/N."

Renesmee yawns and lays her head on your shoulder, and you twist up your mouth to keep sudden tears at bay. Edward chuckles and Bella stares, amused. "You alright there, Y/N?" Your sister asks.

"I've only known the little crotch goblin for two minutes and if someone ever raises their hand to her, I'll kill them."

All three adults laugh and you sway your niece as her body starts to go lax in your arms. Charlie suggests everyone take a seat and you do, moving Renesmee around in your arms so she's comfortable.

There's a brief bout of silence before Bella asks, "Where have you been? We used to keep in contact every week and then nothing, Y/N. What happened?"

Rubbing your cheek atop your niece's head, you then meet your sister's worried gaze. "I messed up, Bells. I.." With your throat suddenly feeling too tight, you trail off and gulp, and then clear your airway. "I got overwhelmed with school and work, and I- I messed up."

"You should have called," Bella says, frowning. "We would have helped you."

"I was so lost. I didn't know how to ask for help or anything without feeling so ashamed."

"What changed?" The question surprisingly comes from Edward.

"A couple of months ago it was like my mind just cleared. I was sober for the first time in a little over a year and when I realized just how much I had screwed everything up, I put aside my pride and called home. Dad made me settle some things with my school in order to take some time off, found me a 30 day rehab program to endure to make sure I had someone with me for the worst of the withdrawals, and then when I completed it, I asked if I could come back home to get back on my feet."

Edward nods in understanding. "For what it's worth, coming from a stranger and what not, you made the right decision. There are a lot of people in your shoes who choose not to seek help and continue on their destructive paths, but you- you're strong. I'm glad you came back. Now Renesmee gets to know another aunt and I get to know my sister-in-law."

Bella huffs a laugh. "Be careful what you wish for. Once Y/N gets comfortable with you, she's a pain in the butt."

You hiss. "Language, Isabella. Don't corrupt the sleepy little crotch goblin."

Charlie groans. "Can you please stop calling my grandchild a crotch goblin?"

"Sorry, dad."

The rest of the evening goes exceptionally well, and you quickly get over the glaringly obvious differences in your sister and her husband. While you are curious about them after your talk with your dad, you're just grateful that she nor Edward had judged you when they realized just how far you had fallen.

Edward, Renesmee, and Charlie had then leave to go grab some take-out while you catch up with Bella, and you apologize over and over for missing such a big day in her life. She assures you it's fine, but after admitting you're more upset at yourself because you had really wanted to be there, Bella comes up with the idea of holding another ceremony so you can be there this time around. You immediately refuse because you don't want her going through the trouble, but after a phone call from her sister-in-law Alice your sister assures you it's very do-able and that Alice was already making arrangements.

Charlie had chuckled when he heard his daughter was renewing her vows already and Edward looked quite scared that his sister was already in planning mode. The only condition Edward had, however, was that they give you a few months to settle down in Forks before the ceremony was to take place.

Bella, along with a reluctant Alice, agree.

In the couple of weeks that you've been home, Bella has only visited twice. You had expected she'd make more frequent trips given how excited she was now that you were home, but Charlie assured you it was the new norm when it came to his youngest. And though you felt let down, you ended up feeling quite content with all the texts and phone calls you shared with her.

"Hey, kid, what smells so good?"

You startle at Charlie's voice, setting the ladle back down into the pot you'd been stirring before grinning at your dad. "Beef stew. The cornbread is just about done, so go on and wash up."

"Sounds good." Charlie turns to walk away, but then turns back around. "Y/N, you remember Billy Black. Right?"

"Uh, yeah. Lives down on the Rez?"

"Right. The thing is Billy usually has a few caretakers, but tonight everyone seems to be busy. If it's not too much to ask, can you take him whatever leftovers we have?"

"Of course."

"Thanks, kiddo."

Dinner with Charlie is had in relative silence, the small talk being the bare minimum seeing as there was really nothing to talk about. Work for Charlie was his usual, boring day, and finding a school to transfer to near Forks in order to complete your nursing degree was proving quite tricky. However, there was an online course you could complete so long as you found a hospital willing to take you on to accumulate hours of experience.

"Well why don't you ask Carlisle to see if they do some stuff like that at Forks General?" Charlie asks when you're spooning the leftover stew into a large Tupperware bowl for Billy.

"Who's Carlisle?"

"Edward's father. He's the best doctor around."

"Huh." Your lips purse in thought. "I'll text Bella or even Alice to ask Carlisle then. I guess Bella gave her sister-in-law my number and that girl texts nonstop once you get her going."

Charlie chuckles. "Alice is a force to be reckoned with. She may be tiny, but she's terrifying."

"Tell me about it. I've never even met the girl and already she has several dresses for me to try on for Bella and Edward's second wedding."

"That sounds like something she'd do."

Clicking the lid onto the bowl of stew and then loading up another with the last of the cornbread, you gather both bowls in your arms. "So I guess I'm using Bella's old truck that she dropped off the other day?"

"Yep. Keys are hanging by the front door. And don't worry, Y/N. Bella's other sister-in-law Rosalie is a genius mechanic. She replaced everything in that truck and it now purrs like it's supposed to."

You laugh. "Got it. See you in a bit. Hopefully I don't get lost."

With the heat nearly on full blast and the radio playing classic rock on low, you drive down to La Push and take the somewhat familiar path to Billy Black's house. The sight of the red house with white trimming brings back vague memories from long ago and you park several feet from the wooden ramp leading up to the white door.

You know the house has seen better days, but it's a house that still brings a small smile to your face. The second the engine cuts, a group of shirtless men come from around the corner. You briefly hesitate, but gather the tupperware bowls in your arms and exit the truck.

"You're not Bella," are the first words that greet you.

"Nope. That would be my younger sister." You attempt to avoid gazes, quickly scanning their faces. With as quick as you look over them, not one face is familiar to you. However, you are a little suspicious of their matching tattoos and the fact they're shirtless in such cold temperatures. More weirdness, but this wasn't something Charlie had warned you about. Not like he did with your sister and her new family. "Is, uh, is Billy home? I come bearing food for him."

"Y/N?"

The guys before you seem to part as another one steps forward. You meet his dark eyes straight on and it's like a light bulb goes off over your head. "Jacob?" He smiles and you allow yourself a short laugh of disbelief. "No way. You're all grown up!"

"That does tend to happen as the years pass by."

"Shut up. I just- I'm surprised is all. You're not supposed to be taller than me." You then pout.

"Yeah, well.." Someone clears their throat and Jacob suddenly remembers that they have an audience. "Oh. Right. Y/N these are my friends Jared, Embry, Paul, and Sam. Guys, this is Y/N. She's Charlie Swan's first born."

You meet each and every one of their gazes now, nodding in greeting, but it's the last face- Sam?- that has you momentarily freezing. His expression seems to instantly drop when your gazes connect, but you're the first to collect yourself and look elsewhere. "Um, right." You drawl, suddenly finding it hard to keep your gaze from darting back to Sam. "So Billy?"

Everyone's gaze seems to be darting between you and Sam, smiles slowly forming into teasing smirks as they nudge and push their friend.

"Yeah, he's inside," Jacob says. "I'll just- lets go."

As Jacob leads you into his home, calling out his father's name, you can't help but ask, "So, Sam..?"

He chuckles. "First day back on the Rez and already you have a crush?"

"Shut up. I just- it was weird. Don't get me wrong, all your friends are oddly attractive, but Sam-"

"Was it love at first sight?" He teases.

"You might be taller than me, J, but I will sit on you and push your face into the sand like that one time." He leads you through his house and towards the kitchen, calling out for his dad once again. "And besides, he might be cute, but I'm not exactly in any position to attempt dating."

"No?"

"Not at all. Talk to your dad, I'm sure mine has already told him all the sordid details of my return."

Jacob opens his mouth to reply, but the appearance of Billy has him stalling. "Y/N! Charlie told me you'd be stopping by."

"Hello, Billy. I hope you're hungry."

Two days later is the next time you see Sam. Though Forks has its very own supermarket, the one down in La Push has cheaper prices for the same quality type of products. But not only that, La Push has always held a special place in heart since that's where your mother was born and you rather your money spent goes towards the smaller community.

So as you're pushing your cart down the aisles of La Push's supermarket, it's there you run into Sam. Literally, almost.

"Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry!" You say, choking down a laugh when Sam's immediate glare shifts into a smile upon seeing you. "I was too busy staring at the shelves rather than where I was walking."

"It's okay. Y/N, right? Charlie's daughter?"

"Yes. And you're Sam." He seems to stand a little taller upon you remembering who he was. "Almost didn't recognize you with a shirt on."

"Ha. Ha." Sam shifts his handheld basket from one hand to the other, his gaze then dropping to your half filled basket. "What brings you down to La Push? I'm pretty sure Forks has their own grocery store."

You shrug. "To be honest, if I had to choose between either La Push or Forks, La Push wins hands down. I love it here," you say while smiling. "From what I remember, everyone was close knit and content to just be. But everyone in Forks- everyone wants to be in each other's business just to have something to spread as the latest gossip. If I'm going to spend mine or my dad's money, I'm going to spend it where I know it'll go towards a community I adore."

Sam smiles at that. "I like your honesty."

"Mhm. Well I, uh, I should get back to shopping. I don't wanna hold you up anymore than I already have."

"If you say so. It was nice to run into you, Y/N."

"Yeah. You too, Sam."

The both of you share a look a little longer than necessary before he reluctantly walks away, and you finish your shopping excursion with a smile on your face. And given that Sam only had a handheld basket of groceries, you're surprised to see him get in line behind you. You'd figured he'd be done shopping long before you, but apparently that wasn't the case.

You then bid Sam another goodbye before you walk out of the store, only to groan and curse your luck moments later when you realize your truck has a flat tire.

"Sonnuvabitch." You already know there's no jack or spare tire anywhere in the truck, so your mood instantly takes a nosedive.

"I would make a joke right about now, but you seem honestly upset and I don't want to piss you off."

You huff a laugh. "You know, learning how to change a flat would come in handy right about now if I actually had a spare to change the flat out with." Glancing over your shoulder, you spot Sam grinning at you. "Today just isn't my day it seems."

"Need a hand?"

"Yes, but I don't want to rope you into this mess."

"Oh you're not roping next into anything," Sam muses. "I was just going to give you a lift after making a call to Paul and Jared. They can pick up the truck, fix the tire, and then deliver it to Charlie's for you."

You shake your head, amused. "Are you sure? I don't wanna step on toes."

"It's fine. They'll be glad to take some time off from their normal duties. Just leave your keys in the visor and you can follow me to my truck."

Grateful to not have to mess with the truck yourself, you place the truck keys in the visor and then reclaim your shopping basket to follow after Sam. He places a call to his guys, telling them the problem and where to leave the truck, and even helps you load your groceries into the bed of his own truck.

"Thanks for this, Sam. Really," you say after hopping into his passenger seat.

"Don't even worry about it. If you continue to shop in La Push rather than Forks, you'll be seeing a lot more of me."

He flashes you a smirk and you can't help but return it. The drive is relatively silent, but Sam somehow manages to sneak in a few questions to learn more about you without making you feel like a bug under a microscope. And by the time you pull up to your house, the two of you are laughing as he helps you grab all your bags from the bed of his truck to take inside.

Before you can even open the front door, however, Charlie is pulling it open.

"Y/N and.. Sam. This is a surprise."

"Hey, dad. Truck got a flat down in La Push and luckily for me Sam was there. His friends will be bringing the truck when they have time."

"Super."

You roll your eyes at Charlie's sarcasm, he then winking as Sam chuckles. "Chief, if you got a minute, I'd like to speak with you. Privately."

Sam seems to convey some sort of message with body language and expression, and Charlie stands a little taller. "Of course."

"Right," you then drawl, gaze darting between the two men. "I'll just get started on dinner while you two chat. And Sam? Thank you. I'm seriously going to have to make you and whatever boys help you some lunch one of these days as a proper thank you."

"Oh. You don't have to."

"I want to. Now stop refusing my kind gesture and talk to my dad about whatever it is you need to talk about."

You show Sam where he can drop the bags and then proceed to take everything to the kitchen yourself. You get the urge to eavesdrop when Sam closes the front door after Charlie's joined him outside, but decide against it and start prepping dinner as you said you would.

Charlie joins you some fifteen minutes later and you smile when you seem him studying you curiously. "What?"

"Nothing," he muses. Your eyes narrow as he takes a casual stance against the door jamb, arms crossing over his chest. "So Sam Uley, huh?"

"Don't."

"What? In all my years, I've never seen Sam smile the way he did earlier."

"He's just being friendly is all."

"If you say so."

"I do."

"Well whether he's friendly or has ulterior motives, I approve. Sam's a good guy."

Groaning, you can't help but chuckle. "Okay, dad. I'll keep that in mind."

Lunch with Sam, Jared, and Paul proved to be a rather delightful event. Sam had been nervous about something from the moment they showed up, and Paul and Jared made it their mission to tease him every chance they got. The homemade hamburgers and fries were a hit with the three of them, and they seemed to be relieved when you didn't comment on how much they ate.

From that day on it seemed like the flood gates had opened and the boys were dropping by more often than not, introducing you to the rest of their close knit group. Charlie found it all rather amusing, especially when the boys and Sam were comfortable enough to show up in nothing but a pair of jean shorts, and you found yourself welcoming the distraction no matter if Sam kept making you blush.

He visited frequently and it was on one of his late night visits that you found yourself truly opening up to him. Sam knew a bit about why you'd come back to Charlie's, but he didn't know the extent of all that you did or how much you struggled in and after rehab. He seemed alarmingly upset about your suffering all alone when you were away and then promised to be there should you ever feel yourself slipping into old habits. You were touched about how genuine he seemed that you found yourself hugging him before he went home.

And it was there, in Sam Uley's overly warm embrace, that you realized you were royally screwed.

Being back at Charlie's and finding a healthy rhythm lifts a weight off your shoulders. With Charlie now a constant in your life, as well as your sister who checks in every other day by calling or texting, it was a lot easier to remain on the straight and narrow while also making them proud. Even Sam had turned into a constant, and while you were grateful for his presence and friendship when Charlie was at work, you had to have the uncomfortable conversation with him that friendship was all that you could currently offer him when you took notice of his too fond expressions when he thought you weren't looking.

And Sam, being the gentle giant that he was, assured you he would take whatever you offered. Your refusal of whatever affections he might have held for you didn't seem to put a damper on his continuous pop-ups and you were secretly relieved.

Today, however, is a day that Charlie and Sam are going to be busy which means you'll be all alone for quite some time. So after quickly packing a bag of snacks, water, and a compass and a map, you decide to explore the woods behind your home. The beginning of the woods just behind your home is somewhat familiar, but the further you walk in, the more you realize you've never been this far out.

You manage to keep track of your whereabouts using the map, marking certain spots on it with a pencil. And around eleven you decide to take a break, sitting on a log near a meadow and eating some of the snacks you had packed.

Then just after you've packed your leftovers and are taking a sip from your water bottle, you see a figure standing just on the opposite side of the meadow. Swallowing your drink and capping off the bottle, you hesitantly stand and call out. "Hello? Are you lost or something, mister?"

Your eyesight isn't the best, but you do manage to make out the guy tilting his head in a curious manner. And the fact that he closes the distance between the both of you within the blink of an eye. Yelping, you step backwards and trip over the log you'd been sitting on.

The man with blood red eyes and too pale skin tuts mockingly at you while slowly crouching before you. "Such a fragile little thing. You should be more careful, darling."

Heart pounding furiously, you stare with wide, terrified eyes. "W-What are you?"

He smirks. "A living nightmare."

Faster than your gaze can keep track of, the man reaches out and grips your left forearm in a bone crushing grip. You scream as you feel your arm break and before you can even comprehend what's going on, you're airborne and then landing with a pained shout. Your vision is blurry with all the tears you're crying and you cradle your injured arm to your chest as you curl up on your side. Deep laughter resonates around the meadow and you scream when he grabs you by the shoulder to push you onto your back.

"Why are you doing this?" You sob.

His then red eyes are now pitch black. "Because, my dear, I'm absolutely starved." His top lip curls back as he hisses and he raises his arm to strike. Another sob breaks free and you clamp your eyes shut as to not see the killing blow.

But before he can strike, a heart stopping snarl seems to cease all noise in the meadow. Your eyes fly open to see the man now frozen above you, he staring at something across the meadow and out of your sight. You're too scared to look for what has the monster above you frozen scared, especially when wolf-like howls rip through the air. Everything is calm and quiet for a split second, and then a snarl to your right has your head whipping in that direction.

Faster than the monster above you can move, an overly large black wolf clamps his jaw around the monster's upper torso and rips him from you. You scream and try your best to roll away from the snarls, the screaming, and the howling. More wolves join the black wolf in a frenzy of ripping apart the man who was set on killing you and then the most beautiful sound reaches your ears.

"Y/N!"

Your heart freezes and you turn towards the voice. "S-Sam?" He jogs up to you, barefoot and wearing nothing but jean shorts, and a look of utter horror on his face. "Sam, you need to go. Run! There's this man and these wolves, and they- he.." you trail off, looking towards where the wolves last were. But only there are no wolves. Not anymore. Instead there stands Jared, Paul, Quil, and Embry- all barefoot, shirtless, and shielding their crotches in front of a roaring fire. "What's going on?" You then murmur.

Sam crouches next to you. "I'm sorry," he apologizes, expression pained. "I should have warned you sooner, but I didn't know how to tell you. This is all my fault."

"Tell me what?"

Suddenly torn about his mental musings, Sam gulps and shakes his head clear. "Not now. I need to get you to Carlisle Cullen. He can help me explain what it is that's happened here."

You frown. "Carlisle? What does my sister's father-in-law have to do with this?"

"Sam!" Paul suddenly calls out. "The leech has been contacted. He's expecting us."

You look at Sam for an answer yet again, but still he refuses. "Not now. Please bear with me, Y/N. It'll all be explained soon."

Everything in you is raging to demand answers now, but his expression breaks your heart. "O-okay."

Vampires. Vampires existed and one tried to eat you.

But not only that, shapeshifting werewolves were also a thing and you just so happened to be the soulmate- er, imprint- of one. But not just any werewolf. No. Life had to go and complicate things, and make you the soulmate to Sam. Which yeah, learning Sam was an alpha of one of the packs protecting Quileute lands? Total mind fuck. And while you were absolutely terrified of the one vampire who tried to make a snack out of you, you couldn't let that one experience paint your view of all vampires. Paul and Jared had tried to assure you that you should think all vampires were the enemy, but you couldn't believe that- not when your sister and her new family were vampires themselves. Vegetarian vampires, but vampires nonetheless.

You had then managed five days of no contact with Sam or the boys after the impromptu meeting put together by the Tribe leaders to properly explain the wolves' duties, and to be honest it was probably the most five miserable days you've experienced since rehab. You had texted with Sam as to not totally cut him out, but it just wasn't the same. So when Charlie took notice and expressed his concerns, you readily agreed to have Sam over so you could talk face to face.

Charlie's at work when Sam shows up and as soon as the door is open you're stepping into his space and wrapping your arms around his waist. With the side of your face pressed against his chest, you feel him exhale with relief before his arms wrap around your shoulders. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." His voice sounds rough and you squeeze him a little tighter. "It's a lot to wrap your head around."

"Funny thing is I got over you being a wolf and the whole imprint thing days ago. It was the vampire part that left me questioning everything I knew and the fact that my doctor is a freakin' vampire."

Sam chuckles. "I'm not a fan of the leeches, but Doctor Carlisle has proven himself a friend of the packs. We trust him. Mostly."

Realizing the hug has lasted a little too long, you step back with a sheepish smile and gesture him inside. He follows you into the living room and you both take a seat on the couch, side by side. Then picking your feet up onto the cushions and wrapping your arms around bent knees as to not reach out to touch Sam, you say, "So I know we texted a bit about the whole imprint thing, but what exactly are you looking for with me?"

Sam inhales deeply as he rubs his hands along the tops of his thighs. "Whatever you want, Y/N. If you want to remain friends, we can. I'll just be that protective presence which would no doubt annoy you the first relationship you hop into." He says this with a smile, but you can see the forcefulness of it and it actually sends a pang a hurt through you.

"What if- what if I don't want to be just friends?" You ask. Swallowing thickly, you turn your head to meet Sam's wary expression. "What if I want more? Eventually, of course."

Sam actually blinks in surprise before a slow smile curls the corner of his lips. "If you want more, I'd be happy to offer you that too. We'll take things as slow as you need to."

"Thanks, Sam. It's just I'm still kind of-"

"Hey, hey," he shushes you politely, reaching out and tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. "You don't owe me an explanation. You're my imprint and the most important thing to me is your well being. I know what led you back here, so if you say you need to go slow, we'll go slow. I'm more than okay with that."

You take the time to really look at him and this time it's your turn to smile. "My dad's gonna be stoked, 'ya know? He's been singing your praises since you brought me home that first time when my truck had a flat. He's actually the one who made me realize I needed to call you over."

"I always knew I liked Charlie."

"Mhm." Letting your feet touch the ground once more, you grin. "So I know you've been here less than twenty minutes, but I need to go into vampire territory now." Sam tenses and you quietly huff. "Behave. Carlisle's gonna take a look at my arm and see how long I actually need to be in this stupid cast," you say while moving your broken arm to draw attention to it. "I don't want to be wearing this for my sister's second wedding. It'll clash with my dress."

"I know the Cullen's are some of the nicer bunch, but it still doesn't sit right with me that my imprint is walking into a leech lair."

"Then don't think of them as leeches. Think of them as my family because that's what they are. Well at least Edward is, but yeah. I talk mostly with Edward and Alice, and Carlisle and Esme are the most loving couple I've ever seen. You don't have anything to worry about."

"I know, but try telling that to my wolf."

"You can always go with me if that'll make you feel better."

"It would, but my patrol shift starts in less than ten."

"Then I go alone. I'll text you as soon as I'm back in my truck. Promise."

"That actually makes me feel a little bit better."

With nothing else left to say, you and Sam prepare to leave- you to the Cullen's and he back to La Push. After helping you into your jacket, Sam then makes sure you're actually capable of driving with a broken arm. And once knowing you are, he crowds into your space for yet another hug and a kiss to your hairline.

"You can come over tonight. Right?" You ask.

"Of course. Charlie grilling?"

"Yep. I'll see you later then."

"See you later."

The drive to Cullen territory has now become familiar to you and you get there in no time. Out on the front steps, Edward is waiting for you in all his sparkling glory since he knew it greatly amused you.

"Hey, Sparkles, how's it hanging?"

He chuckles at the nickname and steps back out of the sunlight. "Just fine. How are you, Y/N?"

"Honestly? I could be better. I don't like the cast."

"Well lucky for you the break wasn't too bad. Carlisle thinks you'll only have the cast for six weeks."

"God I hope so." You walk up the steps and let Edward lead you inside the home. "So where's my sister?"

"She and the rest of the girls took Nessie to shop for a flower girl dress. Emmett and Jasper are out hunting, so it'll only be Carlisle and I here with you."

"Your brothers don't have to leave when I come over," you say with a small huff. "I already explained to Sam that just because I'm his imprint I won't stop keeping company with your family. After all, you're my family now too."

Edward's brow raises in surprise. "And how did Sam react to that?"

"He growled," you muse, "but he tried to play it off. I told him to come with me now, but his patrol shift was about to start. And speaking of Sam," you then trail off as Carlisle appears with a smile, wheeling an x ray machine behind him, "is it okay to have him as my plus one for your second wedding?"

"Of course." You beam at Edward and he nods, gesturing towards the door. "I'll leave you and Carlisle to it then."

As Edward leaves, Carlisle gestures for you to take a seat where he's now set up. "For what it's worth, I think you'll be quite happy with Sam. He's a great man and protector."

"Carlisle, please stop hitting on my wolf." There's a snort from the other room and you grin. "So what am I looking at doc? Edward mentioned something about six weeks and then I'm free?"

"The severity of the break usually tells me how long you'll need to remain in a cast, and fortunately for you it wasn't too severe. Depending on how fast you heal, you should be out within six or seven weeks."

"Awesome." Then before Carlisle can comprehend what you're thinking or even doing, you touch the tip of your nose with your pointer finger. "Not it on telling Alice the wedding has to be pushed back another two weeks!"

Carlisle gapes and just then Edward rushes into the room, his finger on the tip of his nose as well. "Not it."

The Cullen patriarch glances between you and his first turned son, eyes rolling fondly. "We'll just get Jasper to break the news."

As the weeks progress, Charlie's house seems to become hangout central for Sam's pack. At first you thought your dad would be annoyed by the ever presence of shirtless young men parading around his house, but seeing as they provided money for groceries and seemed to fix whatever plumbing problem Charlie suddenly found, your dad was more than willing to put up with them. But not only that, Charlie now had a group of boys to watch and talk sports with, and you knew he was a lot happier than he led on.

Then the day before the wedding, your cast came off and Alice readily made calls to their cousins up in Alaska and sent out invitations to a select few others- Jacob, Billy, Seth, Charlie, Sue, yourself, and Sam. Others had been invited, but Jacob nor Sam felt comfortable leaving the borders free, so Leah, Embry, and Quil opted to remain on patrol rather than attend the wedding.

The morning of, you were whisked away by an apologetic Jasper and a grinning Emmett. You quickly texted Sam so he wouldn't panic and then left with boys. Alice did your makeup, Rosalie your hair, and Esme showed you to your dress while your sister laughed at your misfortune of being their doll this time around.

Alice reminds you that you'll be giving a speech as the bride's older sister and you momentarily panic. You had forgotten about the speech and have absolutely nothing planned.

"You can always sing a song," Edward muses while you pace what apparently used to be his bedroom. "Renee sang a song, but it was- it wasn't exactly the best."

You snort and then chuckle, your amusement slowly dwindling as you look at Edward in surprise. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. I'm not the best singer, but Bella and I used to love this one song.." You start humming, swaying slightly, hoping he'll know it. He does.

"Can't Help Falling in Love," he says with a faint grin. "Elvis Presley."

"Yes! I'll just- I need to find the music online. I doubt the band can play the version I want to sing. Is that okay?"

"Of course." You're brought a laptop and after finding the music to the song you want to sing, Edward quickly downloads it to have it prepared for after your speech.

Then as you're waiting for Sam to show up, you mentally practice singing the song in your head, praying you remember the lyrics correctly. But as you're singing, Sam keeps popping into your mind. You can't help but picture walking towards Sam at one point in the song, reaching out to him and letting the song help you tell him you're in love with him. You haven't told him you loved him, only relying on your actions so far, but the song is the perfect opportunity to finally say the words out loud.

"Do it." You startle at Edward's sudden appearance, brow furrowing. You almost forgot he could read minds. "I'm sure Sam would like to hear it."

"Yeah, but it's your wedding. Isn't it inappropriate for me to do that?"

"Not really. Bella and I have already had our day. Let us help you do this."

"If you say so."

"I do. Now go out front. I can hear Sam's truck coming up the driveway."

Sam shows up only slightly disgruntled, tie hanging loosely around his neck and suit jacket left unbuttoned. You whistle at him and he glares up until he realizes it's you. You laugh. "Rough day?"

"Something like that." Sam stops just at the bottom of the steps, staring up at you and taking in the dark green dress hanging off your frame. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks. You clean up nice yourself." As Sam joins you on the step you're standing on, he reaches out to bring you into his arms. You settle in his embrace after kissing his cheek in greeting, arms wrapped low around his waist. "By the way, I have to give a speech so don't start growling when I eventually leave your side."

He sighs. "At least the only leeches invited are all vegetarians."

"Shush," you huff a quiet laugh. "Don't call them that when they're in hearing distance."

"Vegetarians?"

Pulling back, you playfully swat at him. "You know which word I mean. Stupid doesn't suit you."

Sam smiles before taking your hand in his own, he then heading towards the front door. "I apologize. Some habits are harder to break."

"I know. At least you're trying though."

- X - X - X - X - X -

The wedding itself is very beautiful and you're shocked at how quickly the backyard was transformed into the perfect wedding venue. Even Sam seemed surprised and Charlie took great amusement in your awed expression, but not as much amusement as you shared when you realized Charlie was hiding his girlfriend from you right under your nose. Sue Clearwater was a soft spoken woman with a hidden fiery attitude, and she was the perfect woman for your father.

The ceremony itself is rather quick given they were already married and then everyone is moved to yet another part of Cullen property where a newly installed dance floor is covered with a tent of white flowers.

The wedded couple have their first dance all over again, with the addition of their daughter, and then Alice is up on stage and calling you up to give a speech. Sam fidgets in his seat, but after grabbing his hand and giving him a reassuring squeeze, he calms and releases you to perform your sisterly duty.

Then stepping up to the microphone once on stage, you nervously chuckle as all eyes are on you. "First of all, I just want to thank the Cullen's for making Edward and Bella have a second wedding since I missed their first one." Alice preens as the rest of her family throw a mock glare in her direction and the rest of the guests all express their amusement. "So as you all probably know by now, I am Bella's older sister. Unfortunately I have no embarrassing stories to tell since we only got to see each other when we spent summers together when we visited our dad-" Emmett boos and you laugh, "but I can tell you what I thought when I first heard she was marrying the kid she dated since her junior year of high school."

"Oh this oughta be good," you hear Emmett chortle.

"I remember- I remember my sister calling me in tears one day. She asked me if she smelt bad and I laughed, but through her tears she told me that this boy at school acted as if she were the most awful smelling individual he'd ever come across and that he actually tried switching out of their shared classes."

"I apologized!"

"I know you did, Sparkles, and I've already forgiven you." The small crowd chuckles. "But then a week later my sister was singing a different tune. Edward was suddenly the most amazing person ever and she was passed smitten, already claiming to be in love with him. I thought she was being utterly ridiculous and that her hormones were getting the best of her for the first time, but she assured me that wasn't the case. Well," you trail off, grinning, "she did tell me, repeatedly might I add, that she wanted to jump-"

"Not another word!"

Grinning deviously, you hold your hands up in mock surrender as your dad groans and everyone else looks rather amused at Bella's panic. Emmett and Jasper are urging you to continue, but you know she'll only release something embarrassing about you if you do. Instead, you start walking towards the laptop that Edward set up for you which is already connected to the speakers around the area. All you have to do is press play. "So now that I know how perfect Edward is for my sister, I don't feel bad for my early assessment of thinking them fools in love. And speaking of fools," you press play, letting the chords of a guitar play an all too familiar tune, "I thought I'd sing a little something for them. And don't worry, I'm not as terrible a singer as Bella's mother."

More laughter rings out and you unhook the microphone from its stand. It's a wireless one, so you're free to walk around the stage. Then finding your spot near the edge of the stage, you nod at Edward who readily takes your sister's hand in his and leads her to the middle of the dance floor. Bella is grinning and you breathe a little easier, inhaling deeply just in time to sing.

"Wise men say only fools rush in, but I can't help falling in love with you." You sing it slow and a little raspy, and you mentally applaud yourself when you see the small crowd all perk up in surprise. "Shall I stay? Would it be a sin if I can't help falling in love with you."

More couples join Edward and Bella on the floor, half lovingly staring into each other's eyes as you sing while others watch you. "Like a river flows surely to the sea. Darling so it goes, some things are meant to be…"

The music trails off, the lights dim only to be replaced by twinkling fairy lights entwined with the flowers, and as you step off the stage the crowd parts which leaves you a straight shot to Sam who's staring at you in wonder. Jacob and Seth, who'd sat with you at your table, gleefully nudge Sam into standing when they realize what you're doing.

You walk towards Sam and Bella squeezes your shoulder in support as you pass her by. "So take my hand," you grab his hand, smiling through tears as you pull him into your space, "take my whole life too for I can't help falling in love with you. For I can't help falling in love with you."

As the song ends, everyone applauds. There's whistling and whoops of cheer, and you briefly turn around to bow and thank everyone. Alice takes the microphone from you to direct the attention back on her and you feel a tug on your hand once everyone else is distracted. Sam gestures to the side and you follow him out of sight.

"You planned that," he eventually says.

Gulping nervously, you shrug. "I did. I just- it popped into my head right before you got here and Edward helped me quickly put it together."

"Do you mean it? You love me?"

"Sam.." You reach up to cup the side of his face, bringing his gaze down to yours. "I would never say those words- well, sing it in this case- without meaning them. You have been patient with me, and kind, and I- I fell in love." You chuckle, sniffling. "I love you, Sam, and I'm sorry I'm so awkward and told you in front of every-"

Sam immediately leans down, pressing his lips against yours. You smile, returning his kiss, and just breath him in when he then rests his forehead against yours. "Good. Because I love you too."

AN: If you want to hear how the song was sung, Youtube: Can’t Help Falling in Love by Kina Grannis. It’s the version of the song that’s in the movie Crazy Rich Asians. Watching that movie actually inspired this. Haha.

#fanficimagery #imagine #sam uley x reader #sam uley imagine #twilight imagine #new moon imagine #eclipse imagine #breaking dawn imagine #sam uley #bella swan #charlie swan #edward cullen #carlisle cullen #twilight #new moon #eclipse #breaking dawn

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zoe-oneesama · 5 years ago

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Serving up some LOOKS! I love Mylene's Ivan sweatshirt! Would you be willing to talk about what sort of style elements you use for each character? (If you already have and I haven't found it, please ignore the question, that's on me)

I mostly did this for Mendeleiev’s class back when Punch was starting Leave for Mendeleiev, and I did a small run down for how the Main 5 fashion will change in Scarlet Lady, but not Bustier’s class sooooo:

Marinette -[I’m copy/pasting from an earlier ask]- When she likes a color, she sticks with it. She has a versatile wardrobe, but pink must always be present. She has the hardest to nail style because she experiments all the time, but no matter what she doesn’t feel comfortable unless she has an outer layer. Summer, Winter, Shorts, Pants, she needs to the comfort of a jacket - for Tikki to hide in when her purse isn’t appropriate.

Adrien -[Also C/P]- Basic B*tch. He thinks he’s fancier than he is. Oh sure, his clothes are well tailored to him and fit well, but they’re basic as hell. Gabriel isn’t as “innovative” as he thinks he is. Most of his clothes have the Gabriel logo and he sticks to the brand…because Adrien has no fashion sense whatsoever. Oh, he knows in theory what works and can put an outfit together, but he doesn’t want to. If it were up to him, he’d wear tshirts with physics puns and cat themed jackets. But alas, when one is an icon��

Alya -[C/P]- Mom Vibes. Fashion is not her priority. She knows enough to do good for her figure, but otherwise can’t really be bothered. Flannels and jeans in varying heights and a snappy tshirt are all she needs. But she is drawn to things that remind her at least of superheroes or superpowers. Her ridiculous high tops with the spiky tongue? She thinks it makes her look fast. She’s also the one who’s going to embarrass Marinette by wearing trendy but “garbage” fashion: fanny packs, Jellies, ugs with sweatpants. Dammit Alya, you’re a beautiful human being, do you mind NOT dressing like a hobo on vacation?! (Secretly her favorite outfits are from Martinique, but she saves them for special occasions).

Nino -[C/P]- Precious trash goblin. Wash your shirts and the neckline won’t be so worn out! He likes graphic tees with his favorite bands and DJs logos on them (he’s partial to ones without the name of the band or DJ so he can find other fans) and prefers things to be loose. He’s also drawn to colors and he’s super chill when his “garbage” girlfriend rolls up to a date looking like she’s going to an amusement part with her four kids, because it means she can’t dump on him for not looking “put together” (she would never!). He’ll try to dress up every now and then for a fancier date or when Adrien manages to snag him a spot at an event with him, but it’s pretty clear he’s uncomfortable without his hat and headphones. He has a few Moroccan outfits that he brings out in the Summer.

Chloe - Expensive Fashion Forward Chic. She made a staple out of shaming anyone else who dared to wear her favorite color yellow over the years. She was extremely smug about being the first in her grade to experiment with makeup that she never bothered to get good at it. Her clothes are expensive with just a smidge of impractical - only someone with cash to burn would constantly wear white pants! She’s also the kind of person to put off dressing for the cold as long as she can- if she puts on all these jackets and layers, how will these peasants see my brand name clothes underneath?! A lot of her fashion decisions are based on long forgotten advice from her mother - gold over silver jewelry, always have something on your head, brand or nothing. She’ll only abandon a well worn trend if her mother directly contradicts it.

Sabrina - Nerdy, geeky, almost like she’s wearing a uniform. She’s preparing to be Chloe’s assistant best friend for life so she has to look the part. She’s long abandoned any hope of shining next to Chloe, so being flashy and showy is out of the question. Luckily, Chloe isn’t drawn to patterns, so that’s a field of fashion that Sabrina can claim for her own. Doesn’t matter where it is, something she’s wearing needs to have a pattern. Leggings are her favorite accessory and she’s taken to collecting Chat Noir merch (though it’s less out of admiration for the hero himself and more for her “role” with Chloe. It reminds her of the rare times when Chloe acts like they’re friends.)

Mylene - Bohemian, and a touch artsy. Peace is important to her and her vibe reflects that. She’s not super up for showing a lot of skin, but neither are a lot of girls in her class. She leans towards a muted color palette so that her hair doesn’t clash, though she usually tries to match one piece of clothing to some color in her hair. Her accessories are a bit childish and kitchy, like her monster head bead, and she has a huge collection of hair accessories, like bandannas and headbands. She has a lot of different passions with various levels of seriousness, so she’ll come to Marinette for advice on how to use her wardrobe to fit the level of professionalism she wants.

Alix - Sporty but on the lazier side. Fashion is such an anti priority. She’s the one Marinette will go to for her more out there ideas because she has no recoil to pants made of buckles or shapeless over shirts, but that’s as far as it goes. Her clothes are made to be weather resistant and easy to slip on (and so that her dad won’t be pissed if she wipes out and rips something). If it were up to her, she’d just shop out of thrift stores and pick out all the color blocked 80s windbreakers, but when your whole squad is held together by a fashion designer, you can only get away with so much. Her nicest clothes are made by Marinette for her professional races and competitions and her favorites have nods to Egypt mythology and history.

Ivan - Punk but like…beginners guide to punk. Let’s be honest, when you’re built like a brick house, shopping is hard - or at least not that much fun. Ditto when you’re a dude that just…doesn’t particularly care. Ivan has a bunch of cargo pants because they fit, they’re grungy, and they’re practical. SO MANY POCKETS!!! Beyond that, like Nino, he prefers to wear band shirts of his favorite groups. His hiking boots are the nicest things he owns and he has a few bracelets that he only brings out when he’s “dressing up”. The most colorful thing he owns is a hoodie/pants set from the Cartoon Monster Show that Mylene’s hair bead is modeled after.

Kim - Sporty and Serious. Sweatpants and running shoes. That’s the make of his wardrobe. After all, you need to be able to challenge anyone to a race at ANY TIME!! Dressing up for him means putting on a pair of jeans, and he’s pretty much always under dressed but also completely oblivious to the fact. Red is his favorite color and he’s partial to that one brand of sports wear that’s on his hoodie-shirt and sweatband. If something is waterproof (and therefore, sweatproof) he’ll give it a try AS LONG AS IT’S REEEEED!!!

Max - Geek Fashion. Max dresses like he’s already 65 years old, and with his best friend being Kim? He might be. He has invested in some good walking shoes because when your bestie is running off at any and every moment, you gotta do SOMETHING to keep up. His pants are higher up than most guys and his shirts are always tucked in. He prefers sweaters over sweatshirts and cardigans to jackets. We are comfortable in this house, not trendy!

Juleka - Electro Goth. Black is the main attraction, but she likes that punch of something neon - purple, green, even blue (Rose can tell she’s feeling romantic when she puts on some pink). She’s tall and likes clothes that accentuate that and she’s a fan of the details - shoulder cuts, lace inserts, epaulets. And despite covering half her face, she’s really into makeup (and she’s way better than Chloe). Does she have colored contacts? She’ll never tell.

Rose - Decora Kei is probably the best shortcut to describing her look, followed by Kawaii Fashion. Doesn’t matter if she burns to look at, she IS the embodiment of soft and cute! Obviously pink is her favorite color, bu she also likes pairing it with some other bright colors. Rainbows. Are. EVERYTHING. And she’s a sucker for bunnies and strawberries and angel wings ^^! How else is she supposed to have an amazing day if she’s not decked out in sunshine?!

Nathaniel - Basic but like Colorful Basic. He definitely hopped the skinny jeans phase and will continue to do so until he finally grows a bit. He holds onto clothes pretty long because there’s only so many times you can buy new shirts after getting paint and charcoal on them before you just stop caring. He aims for durability instead of fashionable, but also collects clothes with the logo from the show he likes. (And no one knows about his secret Ladybug merch collection that he only wears around his house).

Lila - Gyaru was the search term I used. She’s one of the few with a not super saturated color palette, sticking to dark neutrals. She’s drawn to patterns, like polka dots and zebra prints, and tries to balance it with neutral colors. Plus anything that makes her seem “exotic” and foreign and more interesting, she’ll wear (as long as it’s stylish enough for her.) She cleverly toes the line between fashionable and trashy, showing just enough skin or using a just flashy enough pattern. Every piece she wears she’s crafted a whole story around how she got it, like her bracelets being a gift from street kids in Belize or her earrings being a prize she won when impressing an East Asian Prince.

#fashion #ask zoe #ml #miraculous ladybug

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witchkings · 4 years ago

Text

The One Engagement Ring

An Angbang Modern AU drabble as prompted by the lovely @darklord <3

Three seconds. Barely any time at all. Negligible in the greater scheme of Mairon’s life, nothing to the ever-advancing flow of the universe, miniscule, dismissible, stupid. Three seconds was all it had taken to ruin Mairon’s picture book life. Melkor would kill him.

These were the facts as Mairon had them:

1. He’d slipped into the bathroom at the university library for a short piss and to get a minute of quiet in the constant chatter of his study group which was spiralling head-first into a discussion about the meaning of life. Even though they were anthropology graduate students with at least half the group minoring in either philosophy or sociology, this was never a good idea.

2. When he’d been in the stall, his engagement ring had still gleamed golden on his ring finger, a constant, warm reminder of the grand day to come. Mairon had planned an autumn wedding, complete with matching tuxes, a seven-course feast and was already training Draugluin to carry the wedding rings down the aisle with Thuringwethil as his reluctant guardian. Melkor, of course, would have preferred for them to pop into Vegas and have some drunken fat Elvis proclaim them married, or better yet, simply hand in the necessary paper work on his way to the office, but Mairon was having none of that. If for one day in his life he wanted to feel special, be marvelled at and fawned over, it was going to be this day, his accursed father be damned.

3. After completing his business, he’d slipped the ring off and into his pocket to wash his hands. He wouldn’t chance it being dulled by hard water or rough soap. Mairon always did it like this, only putting the piece of jewellery back on whenever his hands were dry and spotless, but when he’d made to retrieve it, his pocket had been empty.

4. There’d been two other people on the bathroom with him and he couldn’t remember whether they’d ever come near him at all, but their childish faces, curly heads, and mischievous giggles could only mean one thing: freshmen.

5. For three seconds between drying his hands and reaching for the ring, Mairon had leaned over the sink and inspected his own face. The stress of upcoming exams together with his thesis‘ due date drawing ever nearer gave him red spots along his jawline and he’d glared at them to will them away before Melkor picked him up.

Conclusion: As Mairon had been caught up in his own flaws, one or both of those bastards had sidled up to him and stolen the ring out of his pocket without him noticing. This implied many things, for example that the fatigue was getting to Mairon’s mental capacities or that those freshmen were unusually sneaky. Chiefest of all was this though: Melkor had paid half a fortune for that golden band. For Mairon to lose it, well. It would spell disaster.

Mairon glared at himself in the dirt-speckled mirror, bracing himself on the sink. Three seconds, oh he would show those impertinent, stupid, drunkard gnomes what he could do to a person in three seconds. Mairon took a deep breath and marched out of the bathroom, back to the round table his study group occupied. Eönwe and Tilion were at each other’s necks with arguments dissecting Descartes’ meditations while Osse and Uinen had their tongues down each other’s throats with disgusting slobbering noises. No studying to be done here, one of the sodden constants of Mairon’s life. He grabbed his notes and tablet and shoved them into his bagpack with more force than necessary which had Curumo look up from where he had hovered over his mess of tiny handwritten notes. He looked a little like a deer in head-lights, always lost was poor Curumo. Mairon rolled his eyes and tugged at his classmate’s sleeve.

“What?” Curumo whined, reluctant to forgo the last stretch of productivity he illusioned himself with, but he was already packing up.

“Come with me,” Mairon replied. “We’re going to hunt down some freshmen.”

After a quick text to Melkor to explain he needn’t be picked up today, Mairon dragged Curumo out of the library. The dismayed reply came seconds later, and Melkor wasn’t at all happy with the excuse of needing to tutor Curumo on their upcoming French test. Melkor and Curumo had never gotten along and if Mairon was honest with himself, he would have ditched Curumo after the first week of the first semester, but sometimes the guy proved useful. Especially because, in spite of his timid disposition, he somehow knew everyone on campus, ranging from the most introverted freshman all the way to the creepy maintenance guy who smelled like he lived in the sewers.

“What for?” Curumo asked. They crossed the student-littered yard, dodging peer-pong balls and caffeine-crazed grad students to the cafeteria where Mairon figured his best bet would be. Freshmen were always hungry, and he had a vague memory of four curly-haired heads positively camping in there at all times, claiming they needed seven meals a day to function.

“They stole something from me,” Mairon muttered, raking his hands through his hair. He’d neglected to trim it to its usual chest length and it was getting quite out of hand, tangling at the lightest breeze. Still better than what Curumo’s mother had done to him over the last holiday, short and ragged so that he looked like Jack Frost.

“What did they steal?”

“My engagement ring.”

“What?” Curumo spluttered, and almost ran into the door, but Mairon held it open in time. Under the pretence of having lunch – Mairon never had university lunch if he could help it, the stuff was vile and Melkor was a great cook if he wanted to be – they both got into line, eyes darting about for the thieves.

Mairon spotted the usual groups as he scanned the perimeter. The musical theatre kids led by a haughty grad student with a harp who had a gazillion brothers around. The nature-loving hippies who smoked too much weed for their own good and gave themselves funny names and pretended to be trees on weekends. The burly punk rockers who rode Harleys and had a kink for arson, Mairon had met their gang head Gothmog in a colloquium once, he wasn’t too bad. Even the naval engineering students who usually spent all their free time down by the beaches to test their self-crafted boats where in attendance, picking at salads and discussing hydraulics. Not a sign of those nasty burglars though.

The guy behind the counter handed him a tray, and Mairon took it, paying with his student ID chip card before turning back towards the room, just in time to see a pair of dark, curly heads disappear through the swinging doors of the cafeteria, chips trailing after them like crumbs. Mairon dropped his food and took off after them, spitting curses. Curumo, the good dog that he was, mirrored this. They tore out of the cafeteria and down the hallway together.

“Hey,” Mairon screamed. “Hey, stop!” The two freshmen threw hasty glances over their shoulders, hollering as they ran and dodged around students, but Mairon and Curumo were faster, knew these halls better and soon enough, they had the two cornered against a row of blue lockers.

“Now,” Mairon crooned and made to advance on them, but before he could, someone interrupted him. “Now you will repent.”

“Hey, what do you want with them,” he barked and two people stepped into Mairon’s and Curumo’s way, obscuring the goblins from view. They were both jocks, broad-shouldered and bearded, and towered a head over Curumo and Mairon. He knew the blond one, Eomer, an agriculture major, from a finance class they’d both taken as an elective, but he’d never seen the other man before. He was the one who’d spoken and wore a sports shirt of a team Mairon had never heard of. A white tree was their logo and their motto was written in a strange swirl of letters that looked almost Arabic.

“Just a friendly chat,” Mairon said through gritted teeth. “Not to worry.”

“That didn’t sound so friendly to me,” the guy growled and Eomer put a hand on his shoulder, nodding. His scowl deepened and his eyes burned, staring daggers into Mairon’s.

“Weren’t you that condescending guy at the back of Accounting 101 who called everyone peasants?” he asked and Mairon sighed inwardly. One bad day to haunt him. Or well, a whole semester of bad days, but who was counting anyway? Melkor had been abroad for that time and Mairon had suffered terribly.

“Why do you even care?” Mairon asked, and Curumo put a warning hand to his arm. It wasn’t unlikely that he’d seen these two beat someone up at some frat party before, but Mairon wasn’t intimidated by such mundane things as physical violence.

“Because they’re our friends,” the second jock growled, crossing his arms over his chest. It was hard not to laugh, these fully grown men proclaiming themselves friends of two troublemakers who weren’t even legally adults yet.

“Look, guys,” Curumo said quietly. “Merry and Pippin stole something very valuable from my friend here and he is rather upset about it.”

Eomer bared his teeth, but the other guy whirled around to stare at the two thieves in question who were huddled against the lockers, but silently giggling amongst themselves.

“Is this true?” he asked, and the tone of his voice implied he knew already. Helpless or not, they probably had a reputation for mischief-making.

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t,” one of them said with a thick accent.

“You said it yourself,” the other added, “he is a condescending ass.”

“Boys.”

“Boromir.”

“Enough,” Mairon hissed and pushed through the two jocks and bore down on the freshmen, holding out his empty palm. “You give me back my ring or I will make your lives here a living nightmare. You can hire as many football players and wannabe wrestlers as you want, I am very good friends with the dean, I have more than enough money to bribe every professor in the state to bully you and my boyfriend will beat every last one of your bodyguards to a pulp. Is that clear?”

Merry and Pippin stared at him, their facial muscles contorting in a series of impossible expressions, torn between laughing and crying. They settled for blankness and, at last, Pippin handed over the ring. It was smudged with grease from his fingers and Mairon pulled out a linen handkerchief to polish it with.

“I’m sorry, they’re still not used to their actions having consequences,” Boromir sighed and Eomer nodded sternly.

“Whatever,” Mairon said with half a shrug and he stalked off the scene, leaving Curumo to deal with the polite formalities or whatever the situation demanded. He had his ring back, he could call Melkor to get him after all, he would get laid tonight while all these losers were busy with their parties and teenager friends and studying until their eyes bled. It was not ten minutes later that Mairon was comfortably tucked into Melkor’s Chevrolet, the heated seat warming his ass-cheeks.

“Have a nice day?” Melkor grumbled, not taking his eyes off the parking lot around them. Mairon leaned over and pressed a kiss to the corner of his beloved’s mouth.

“Nothing special,” he replied and leaned into the backrest. “Nothing special at all.” The ring glinted in the low-afternoon sun and everything was as it should be.

#tolkien #angbang #my writing #melkor #morgoth #mairon #sauron #modern animation #drabble #curumo #boromir #eomer #merry #pippin #lotr

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soyeahitsmiddleearth · 5 years ago

Text

Birthday

Thorin x Reader

Request: It’s the reader’s birthday, which Thorin has found out. He knows from Fili and Kili that she likes writing but doesn’t have her thing called a computer with her, so Thorin gives her a leather bound notebook with parchment, much to her surprise. Thorin ponders his feelings for her.

Your initial arrival in this strange other world was not the best. The transition from electricity, social media, running water, and family, to being surrounded by multiple men, dirty, technology-less, and constantly hungry.

To say it was difficult would be an understatement, but you did eventually learn how to adapt to your surroundings.

You became friends with the majority of the people in this Company and have been accepted quite easily despite the oddity of your arrival and circumstances.

Actually, the abnormality of your admittance into this journey is what’s made you so popular in the first place. The dwarves (and little hobbit) were entranced with your stories and explanations of the things you had in your world, awestruck at the vivid descriptions and theatrical ways you tell them things.

What surprised you more than anything was the way the leader of this group of dwarves took to you. It seemed he enjoyed your company quite a lot, and he always listened when you went on one of your little rambles about what technology and things you had once upon a time.

Fili and Kili, Thorin’s nephews, also grew to like your stories and decided to ask how you could describe things in such evocative detail, and that’s when you told them about your hobby back when you were still at your original home.

Writing has been a big part of your life for as long as you can remember, so naturally, you became rather good at it the more you practiced.

“Usually I would write my stories on my laptop, you know that thing with the buttons and flat-screen that lights up I told you about, and I’d show them to others and even submit things to contests sometimes.” You had a smile on your face when you’d explained it to them, “Gosh I miss it… I miss my home, but I’m grateful to have such a wonderful group to look after me."

Those were your sentiments then, and they’re the same now a few weeks later.

You’ve been keeping track of the days since you arrived in this place and tomorrow is to be your birthday.

It’s around this time where you begin to really feel the toll that being away from all you know and love is taking on you. A mixture of homesickness and deep sorrow has been keeping you down these past few days, and it seems everyone has noticed as such.

You don’t really try to hide your internal suffering, but you don’t necessarily wear it on your sleeve either. It’s hard to pretend everything is alright when there are already 1000 other worries stacking up on top of you as time drags on, but you try nonetheless (not that you’re fooling anybody).

The two brothers, Thorin’s nephews, asked you a day or so back what had you so down, and you explained half-heartedly what was eating at you.

They seemed very understanding and tried to cheer you up. Though their attempts didn’t work completely, you did still appreciate it, and their thoughtfulness made your heart all warm and happy.

When you wake up the morning of your birthday, feeling a bit more well-rested than usual and pretty warm. When you sit up to stretch, you realize you have an extra blanket from who knows where, and it succeeds in bringing a smile to your face.

You stand up and glance around the still-sleeping group of dwarves, trying to see who it was that gave you their blanket.

During your first glance around the camp, you don’t spot who is missing their blanket, but on the second look, you realize that Thorin is the only one coverless.

A small smile tugs at your lips, grateful and also a little flattered that he’d do such a thing.

You begin to make your way over to him careful not to step on any unsuspecting dwarves, and you flash a smile at Bofur who is on morning watch.

Bofur returns the smile with a little less energy, then looks back out at the forest again.

When you finally make it to Thorin you crouch down and lay his blanket back over him, then turn and slowly make your way back to your bedroll.

—

Later on in the day begin to feel less energetic than you had been that morning, but you are definitely happier than you have been in previous days.

Walking on foot isn’t exactly your favorite thing, but you prefer that to being the prisoner to Goblins and on the dinner menu.

You walk by yourself for the majority of the time, but you don’t mind some space to think during a long multi-mile trek.

At some point during the hike up a big hill, Thorin steps up next to you and trudges quietly for some time. It’s a comfortable walking silence, and even though the two of you don’t speak you still find yourself enjoying his companionship.

The silence is broken suddenly when Thorin pipes up, "I hear that today is the anniversary of your birth."

You’re a bit surprised that, that’s the first thing he says when he finally addresses you, and you’re caught between confusion on how he knew and happiness because he knows in the first place. "Ah, yes it is. How did you know?"

"Kili told me as such.” He replies easily.

Oh, that makes more sense.

“Of course he did.” You don’t say it negatively, but instead with humor in your voice, “I’m turning 24 today."

At first, he looks surprised when you mention your age, but it doesn’t last long as realization dawns on him. "Oh, yes I forgot that the ages of men are different than a dwarf. You would be no more than a child if you were one."

You nod your head in understanding, finding it a bit funny that he was so taken aback at first. "Well, I’m sure you don’t see me as a kid, right? That’d be embarrassing."

"Well of course not. If you were to ask for my inquiry, I’d say that your maturity is rivaled by none in this group, excluding myself and Balin of course."

That draws an amused laugh from you since it’s essentially a compliment that both flatters you and backhands the rest of the group. "Even Bilbo?” You question jokingly.

You’re surprised when he nods his head, “He is extraordinarily polite and proper, but those qualities do not make for maturity.” He sounds so sure in his reply that you actually believe him, “and one who is a writer of poetry such as yourself has a better way with words than any of us.”

“Well, I don’t know if it’s fair to consider myself a writer anyway, Thorin. I have nothing to write on or with, and my works would probably only confuse the lot of you.” Your speech is slightly more complex than it was before you ended up here, as it seems you’ve begun to pick up some of their speech habits.

The soon-to-be King Under the Mountain looks surprised at your reason for quitting, “You give up because you’ve lost your medium? And because you fear not being understood?”

“Well, yes."

Thorin doesn’t say anything right away, but you can see from the expression on his face that he does have something he want’s to tell you. But you don’t try to get anything out of him, instead, you wait and hope that he’ll just get to it himself.

"There’s something I wish to give you.” His voice breaks the silence again, and you find yourself a bit surprised that he even has anything for you to begin with.

“You want to give me something?” You repeat with confusion clear in your voice.

“Yes.” He reaches into the bag on his back and feels around blindly for something for a few moments, and you just watch and walk hoping that he doesn’t trip on anything by accident.

“Ah, here it is.”

You cock your head to the side when he pulls out a cute little leather-bound book. “What’s this?"

He doesn’t reply right away for he instead holds out said book to you and waits for you to take it before saying anything more.

You accept the gift and look at the little leather thing in your hands, flipping it open to see several blank pieces of parchment inside.

"Kili also told me of your desire to begin writing again, and while it is no ‘laptop’, it’s still a rather fine book.” He sounds sheepish almost like he’s afraid you might dislike the present and give it back.

A huge smile breaks out on your face as you look at him joyously, “Oh my god, Thorin, t-thank you so much!"

At this very moment, you couldn’t be happier. The gift is so thoughtful and sweet, and for the first time in a while, you feel like something has gone - mostly - back to normal. "I love it…” You say quieter this time, placing a hand on his shoulder to squeeze it appreciatively, “I’ll write a story just for you, how does that sound?"

The raven-haired king to-be smiles at you warmly and nods his assent, "I would like that."

#kili #fili #the company of thorin oakenshield #thorin durin #thorin oakenshield #thorin x reader #thorin fic #the hobbit fanfiction #the hobbit #tolkien #fluff #reader #reader insert #originally posted on ao3

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eorzean-tale · 4 years ago

Text

Temporary Escape

Menphina still dominated the sky when he woke, and he rose silently as to not wake the ever vigilant Sahali from her own slumber. They had chosen to sleep just outside the town’s borders, the oppressive stone of the city being too much to bear after two moons of it already in Ishgard. He hadn’t bothered taking off most of his armour the eve before, so it only took him minutes to be ready. Minutes he’d definitely need if he was to be gone before Azeyma rose from her slumber - the moment when all Golden Vipers would wake to greet her. The entire two of them that were left. All the older serpent would find of him was the note he left behind - one promising he’d be back in a few suns.

He knew he shouldn’t go at all, knew his duty was here even if he still did not understand why. Rkah had expected an organized band of adventurers, of troublemakers, but they only seemed loose-knit at best. Like strangers to one another, who didn’t stand for anything as a group. The tia had to admit that the Conjurer who set their feet on this path probably got exactly what he wanted - now that they were away from the place that had bound them in a common purpose, the Unsung seemed to have lost all sense of cohesion, no longer forming any kind of threat to the status quo with just the occasional strong opinion the only exception. Those opinions weren’t worth much though, without anyone else to back them up.

And yet, something still gnawed on him, ate at his resolve from the inside out. He wasn’t one to linger on feelings of rejection and regret, but with nothing of note occupying his mind he found himself more and more the victim of uncharacteristic bouts of melancholy. The Seeker man had always felt things with unbridled intensity, but on occasion that passion for life turned against him. Rkah had felt it when the Elezen lord he had grown fond of, admittedly more than he should have for the short time they had known each other, had shut him out, and he felt it again when the Hyur woman he felt a kinship with had rejected a part of him he couldn’t change even if he wanted to.

The cities were just a stop on his journey, but they were not his home.

Except, maybe… He made it to the aetheryte, paying its fee to a nearby sleepy-looking attendee, then focused his being into the stream. Travelling like this didn’t sit well with him, though he could not really explain why. Perhaps his superstitious side couldn’t fathom coming out of the sea of aether without leaving at least something behind, or maybe it just felt a bit like cheating to a man from a nomadic tribe. Back when he still had his own people around him, their journeys took more than a Twelvemoon to complete. Only to then be taken again in the other direction. Rkah remembered spending more time on the road than anywhere else, and it was where he still felt most at home.

Unfortunately he couldn’t spare the time it would take to go on foot, or even by chocobo. He appeared in the dry heat of Camp Drybone just as Azeyma rose up from her slumber, ready to welcome to Goddess with his arms outspread. And then all he had to do was find a comfortable place in the warm sun, and wait.

Cocoshan arrived first. The old Lalafell preferred to scout things out before the rest of them had a chance to catch up, but seeing Rkah standing there being his usual smug self, arms crossed as he lazily leaned against the wall, a shit-eating grin on his face made him curse.

“Well toss me over your shoulder and marry me off to a goblin,” he grumbled. “You were still listening to the linkpearl then?” The man did his best to look gruff, but Rkah knew him well enough to know that he was glad to see him. Instead of answering, the Miqo’te tia took a few brisk steps to close the distance between them, to clasp the small man’s arm in a brotherly manner.

“If I married you off to a goblin, every Lalafell lass twixt here and the known world would weep in sorrow, old friend. It’s good to see you.”

Cocoshan was about to warn him, but the whip crack voice of Blazing Horizon beat him to it. Their Roegadyn Flame Captain had arrived, and she needed no explanation to know what was going on.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

L’rkah visibly flinched, and his black-tipped ears lowered as he turned to face the imposing woman, her eyes as blazing as her name as she looked down on him. Shit, he thought. He hadn’t expected her to be on this mission. The tia had been pretty confident that his buddies would need little convincing to let him come with them - the chatter over the linkpearl had been grim with tales of most of his squadron being too wounded to be on active duty after their last assignment had gone awry.

“You need me,” he countered as the two others under her command still able to fight arrived. Wyat - an Ala Mhigan thaumathurge that only looked small when standing next to Blazing Horizon’s imposing form, and Lina - a former Conjurer who had left the Fane behind her a long time ago. The both of them looked both surprised and happy to see him, though one glance at their commander told them that this was not something she had ordered without telling them, and the mood shifted to awkward shuffling as they waited for her to chew his ears off.

And then all eyes were on her, as she sighed and simply nodded. “Very well.”

Wyat whistled low, the sound conveying the sense of shock they all felt much better than words ever could. They’re in more trouble than I thought, Rkah silently thought to himself, a pang of guilt clumping around his heart. He was just one guy, and even had he been present he couldn’t have prevented the odds turning against them, but he couldn’t help but feel like it was his fault somehow. If he wasn’t out there frolicking with the Unsung, then maybe…

There was no time to wallow in misplaced feelings of guilt, though. After a short but warm welcome by his fellow Flames they were off.

---

Several days later, a group of tired men and women returned to Drybone. The nature of their particular work never really left them with a feeling of pride or victory after one of their missions, but someone needed to do what they did. There was honour in that duty, even if it left them with no joy, and there was camaraderie in their shared experiences. Lina was walking between Rkah and Wyat, her arms hooked into theirs, while Blazing and Coco walked a little ahead of them.

The tia closed his golden eyes and sighed. He was tired, dirty, and his heart was heavy, but he felt good. He felt like he belonged, that he was a part of something. It was over too soon for his liking, but there was nothing he could do to keep them here. Hugs and well-wishes were exchanged, and before he knew it Rkah was alone with his captain, who had crossed her arms to make her glare look extra intimidating.

The man tried one of his grins, which earned him a quick slap on the back of the head. It hurt his pride more than anything, but the message was still clear: cut the crap.

“Tell me why you came here, and none of this ‘you need me’ crap or so help me,” she ordered briskly as she looked him up and down. Over the years she had learned his body language well, and Blazing knew that his ears and tail would always betray his lies. At best, he could omit truths, but outright lying to his insightful captain was an exercise in futility.

“It’s driving me up the curtains,” Rkah started, but paused again. She wasn’t the type of woman who would respond well to what she deemed as whining, so he had to make sure his tone was neutral. “This mission of mine is a farce. The Unsung these suns aren’t the same as those that got in trouble - for the most part, and a Moogle could deliver these let..”

Blazing Horizon cut him off: “That was the duty you were given, and so you’ll see it through.” The woman kept talking, not giving him a chance to argue. “You need to step up, L’rkah. And think - if what is out in the open isn’t worthy of a Flame to waste his time on, then what else might be going on?”

Rkah didn’t need to ponder that question, he had already done so many times in the past few moons. “Either I did something so heinous that they want me out of the way - which I would know about. Or..” He sighed, closing his eyes. “...Or they are testing me.” Blazing didn’t nod or give any other indication that she thought he was right. He already knew that.

“And if I don’t want to be groomed for command? I like serving under you. I’m… happy here.”

That made her take her turn to sigh, the sound full of regret and resolve at the same time. “Doesn’t matter much, does it? Do me proud, Rkah,” she urged him in as gentle a tone as she ever spoke, clasping his shoulder. “Show these arsehats that you’re worth consideration, or screw it up so badly that they’ll hang you for being an embarrassment to the uniform or some such blabber.” When she grinned like that, she was the most beautiful woman he knew, Rkah thought as he mirrored the expression. The moment was short lived, and she briefly petted his shoulder before walking to the aetheryte.

“No more sneaking off, Flame,” she commanded in a tone that would tolerate no backtalk, and just like that she was gone again. “Yes, ma’am,” he whispered to where she had been, before he focused and vanished himself.

#ffxiv #l'rkah #unsung #Final Fantasy XIV

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