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byeolbeloved · 8 months ago

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Letters to Cupid -Kang Yeosang

Pairings> soldier!yeosang x typist!reader

Genre> childhood friends to strangers to lovers, angst, fluff, use of flashbacks, slightly suggestive, setting takes place around 18th century

Summary> for centuries, women named cupids worked as typists to write letters on behalf of senders who couldn't write themselves. You were always the writer but never the receiver for a love letter, yearning to be picked up by a knight. What you didn't expect was for this knight to have a familiar set of eyes, only this time lost from the innocence they once had.

Words from pupa : This fic is inspired by the anime Violet Evergarden! Also note that the writings in small italics are meant to be flashbacks. I had so much fun writing this so I really hope you enjoy it <3 The picture is also fanart I made myself hehe so I hope you like that too ^^

The typewriter clicked away, following a warm melody of the woman reminiscing her adventures with the other piece of her that is now battling the screams and horror of man. The warm scenery of her words contrasted the thunderous roars outside. The weather had no mercy on lovers under the moonlight.

"Please tell him I love him and I'll always be waiting for him" the woman said glass eyed.

She's a gorgeous woman, with light make up and well done hair, although judging from the purple under her eyes you can tell she's had restless nights, tearful even, by her pink nose that was already prominent as she walked through the door.

You always thought about how hard it must be to have your lover be in the military. You've seen many cases of these couples working as a typist. You had at least 10 letters a day of women writing to their husbands on how badly they miss them, some not knowing their ashes have become part of the land they fight to protect.

"He will appreciate this letter dearly, Elenor. I will make sure to send it out by Friday" you say with a smile embossing a wax seal on the letter.

"Oh thank you Cupid. I was never good at using the typewriter so when an old friend told me about you I practically came here as fast as I could. It's been a month since he's been away, we've never been separated for this long.."

"It must be so hard for you both. He'll be just fine El... I see the love in your eyes, he'll come back to them"

Education was a privilege, hence the reason why so many people were illiterate. For centuries women named "Cupids" wrote letters on behalf of senders who weren't able to write to their loved ones themselves or simply didn't know how to express their emotions on paper. It started from a voluntary organisation but has now turned into a whole company, well known throughout the land.

You were born into the world of literature. Your father was a writer and your mother was a book illustrator. Work being the opening chapter for their own love story. From the moment you were born, books heavily dominated your life. Literally. Because even from the scene of your birth, where your mother delivered you unexpectedly at the house you grew up in, you were wrapped in ripped pages from books- that being the first thing they could grab instead of a blanket at such a chaotic scene of panic.

You grew up with your mother reading you books and you accompanied your father while he wrote. Although you loved literature, writing your own book wasn't something you saw yourself doing. You much preferred experiencing a realistic event rather than coming up with a story, which is why you fell in love with this job.

You get to write true emotion while hearing another person's story and relationships. And you were clearly good at portraying what people wanted to express as you had tons of people personally asking for you to write for them.

Love; a topic you could rant on and on about. You dreamt about being picked up by a knight, running away from reality just to intertwine in each other's soul.

However, you weren't such a hopeless romantic as you were very selective with the guys you talked to, let alone dated. No one has ever made you feel like a princess getting saved by the prince. Maybe reality isn't like the books, however, you felt that there must be someone in this lifetime who could make you feel like that.

The night was dark. Dark as the swelling wave of the ocean before the rising winds, when it bends its head near the coast. Rain fell hard against the concrete floor and the wind was so sharp it could cut you.

The girl shut her eyes, trying to count sheep to calm her heartbeat but the sound of the rain only pictured her sheep drowning in the night alongside her.

"The rain won't get us here" spoke the boy, flashing her a smile that emphasized the pink red mark by his left eye. The red mark he told her was from a kiss from cupid after she pointed out how it looked like a heart. They were under the awning of a closed store.

"The rain is scary Yeosang" she frowned.

"It's only water" he held his hand out to the rain and let it get wet "see? I'm fine"

"I know but I don't like the noises"

"Then don't listen to the noises. You can just listen to me" he wiped his wet hand on the side of his pants and grabbed onto hers.

"I will protect you from the rain. I promise I will always hold your hand when it rains Y/N"

“Sorry I’m late, I just finished up with my last client for the day. Did I miss anything?” you place down your coat on the chair back.

“Only Jia swooning over mailman Tony again” Sakura chuckled while sipping her coffee.

“Seriously, when are you going to make a move? He might be single” Maya continued mouthful with a sandwich.

“Oh shush there shall be no romance at work. We have a business relationship and that’s how it’s going to stay. Now let’s get started with the meeting so we can head home before the weather gets worse.” Jia snaps and everyone hides their smiles at her shyness.

“Okay, this meeting is to just remind everyone about plans for next week. We will be accompanying commander Chan- everyone remembers him right? From last year. We will be writing letters for his unit, he has a different unit now. Make sure to pack warm clothes sinc-”

“Since there will be lower temperature in the North” Sakura and Maya said together in a monotone voice. “We’ve done this before Jia we knowww~” Sakura whines.

“Just relax and look out for the hot single soldiers” Maya giggles to Sakura who is now poking at Jia’s side.

“Business! This is business guys! We're going there for work. Plus, these hot guys are depending on us to bring back their messages to their families. No fooling around” Jia makes clear.

Once a year your team will visit military camps to write for soldiers. You’re usually there for 3 days excluding travel. Apart from some of the men being touch starved and looking as if they’ve never seen a woman in their life- most of them are really nice. Last time they even set out a mini farewell and thank you party before your departure.

The crisp sound of snow beneath your feet and cold sensation on your nose definitely woke you up from your nap on the way here. It actually felt quite nice, your surroundings bright from the white snow despite the sun not yet risen and the cold air felt like a splash of water to your face in the early morning. All nice except for the sound of Sakura and Maya’s whines from how their boots weren’t fit for the snow. This is exactly why Jia spent so much time whining about clothing.

The soldiers shared cabins or tents. You girls too got your own cabin to share- unfortunately quite small so you’ll have to put up with Maya’s snores throughout the night, however big enough for the 4 of you. The main area had its own cabin. That’s where the soldiers mostly hang out and eat.

As you girls made your way to the main area, commander Chan introduced you to everyone. There seemed to be at least 40 men in there, thankfully all divided into units so it was easier to organise when you’ll be working with who.

Everyone gave you a warm welcome. You girls spent the first hour chatting with some of them, or you could say flirting for Maya and Sakura, before going into your cabin and unpacking your stuff.

Everyone was really sweet. Two soldiers, a long haired guy with a mole under his eye and another slightly taller than him with a dorito-like physique showed you around the area and let you know the schedule for breakfast, training and lunch. The area was quite open, you could see yourself getting comfortable here as it was very quiet. However, during all this you felt a pair of eyes on you. Though looking around you never saw anyone who could be staring.

“Slow down Yeo! It’s really rocky here” the little girl pants, trying to keep up with the energetic boy in front of her. He’s practically waddling like an excited maltese dog that’s about to get a treat.

“Just a little more, come on!” he grabs onto her hand speeding up her steps, now reaching his pace.

The two youngsters reach the top of the hill, overlooking the dazzling sight of flowers in different shapes and colours spread out across the field.

The girl lets out a gasp eyes sparkling “This is… what you wanted to show me?”

“What do you think?”

“Yeo this is…. Beautiful” her eyes scan across the field, completely forgetting the distant yelling from her mom she was worrying about 15 minutes ago from why she took so long to get back home after school.

“It’s gorgeous” says the boy, but he’s not looking at the scenery of flowers. He’s looking directly at her. Swimming in the ocean of her sparkling eyes reflecting the warm colours from the sunset.

You are gorgeous he thought to himself.

The day was busy. Each unit who was on their breaks got their letters done and even though it was only day one, you managed to get lots done already. It was already pitch black outside and everyone was already tucked into their cabins.

Maybe you were still in work-mode but your body had no intentions to rest as you couldn’t stop tossing and turning in your bunk bed so you decided to take a step outside. You walked over to a corner with bright pink flowers contrasting the white snow, standing tall and so youthful.

“So beautiful…” you whispered, crouching to touch the soft pedals. They look like they have just bloomed.

“Cyclamen” a deep voice from behind you startles you, letting out a light yelp from you as you turn around quickly. Your yelp almost turns into a loud gasp as you quickly identify the figure owning that deep voice.

His hair is a light chocolate brown, long enough to be tucked behind his ears but not in a I haven’t thought about cutting my hair type of way- it was well maintained. He was taller than you but not enough so that you’re practically looking up. His body was clearly fit, arm muscles very prominent even from his camo print thick jacket. His skin was pale. So pale it looked like milk. So pale it emphasized the pink mark by his left eye.

Kang Yeosang.

You had no doubt this was the same boy who used to have thick pitch black hair, sometimes patchy bangs from the self haircut his sister used to give him. The same boy who looked at everyone with sparkly eyes and clapped his hands together when he laughed.

This was your Kang Yeosang.

“Those flowers are Cyclamen” he said expressionless, hands in his pockets.

You don’t know if it's the cold air drying your eyes or your overwhelming emotion but you start to feel tears forming, so hot and full of sentiment they almost burn your skin. “Yeosang…?” you whisper but it comes out shaky.

“They mostly bloom in cold weather” he says, still in the same stance.

“Are there any more flowers around here?” you sniffle out tilting your head.

“I’ve seen snow roses around here before. Would you like to see them with me someday?”

“I’d love to” you said with a smile, now earning a smile from him.

He takes his hands out of his pockets and steps closer to you, pulling you into a hug which you gracefully accept, your arms latching around his neck almost a bit too tight.

“Hello Y/N” and that's your breaking point. You start sobbing into his chest muffling out I miss yous to which he responds with a hand on your head, caressing it gently.

“I’m here”

The walk was quiet and heavy. Each step representing minutes lost from each other.

The girl is the first to break the icy silence “can’t you wait at least till next year? We just graduated”

“Y/N this isn’t my choice to make, I don’t have any other choice. It’s what I’m supposed to do” the boy says against his wishes.

“When will I be able to see you again?” the girl now looks at him glass eyed.

“I don’t know” he lowers his head but quickly looks at her holding her hand. “Hey, no matter how long it will take, I will always be here, yea? I promise Y/N”

“Please don’t break that promise Yeo..”

The following days you and Yeosang were practically glued together when you had the time. You caught up on each other's life events and even reminisced about your childhood together. It was almost like you were kids again, except you noticed how serious Yeosang is now.

You don’t expect him to have that same innocence as he had when you were younger. He’s a grown man now and also a soldier. Not a particularly happy go lucky type of job. However, apart from teeth smiles while covering his mouth with his hand, you haven’t heard him laugh yet. You missed it. You missed the days when you both ran around giggling at any little thing. Is that boy you loved, lost?

“But yea, let’s just say leaving a half opened can of soup in a tent for 2 weeks isn’t a great idea” he scratched his head and lightly chuckled.

You laughed at his stories with his cabinmates. So far he has only told you about silly fun stories with his friends, apart from him explaining the basic routine of what they do in training. You were glad he was able to make fond memories as a soldier, especially since you knew how nervous he was joining the military.

But something about you knew that wasn’t all. Has he really been doing well? What about the times he's been in battle? Has he been greatly injured before? Broken a bone maybe? Does he miss his family?

Did he ever think about you?

“Yeo…” you placed your spoon down. The main cabin was far too loud for both of you to have a conversation so you and him chose to stay in his tent for breakfast and dinners. His cabinmates barely stayed there unless it was for sleep so you had all the privacy you wanted.

“How are you? Really”

“I’m doing well”

“No Yeo, I mean about everything. Do you like it here? Don’t you miss home?”

“Home? Well… Mom occasionally sends letters, I’ve visited sometimes but travel is so long I’d only have a day with them till I have to come back so… I’ve stopped visiting.” How long has it been since he’s had a home cooked meal?

“This definitely isn’t luxury heh, but I’m used to it Y/N. Don’t worry about me, I know what I’m doing here”

“Do you ever think about… me? Us?” immediately his gaze softens to your words. This is probably the first time you’ve seen a genuine expression on his face since being here. His hand is gently placed on your thigh and he brings his face closer to you.

“Of course Y/N, I told you I’ll always be here. I promised” his eyes burn into your soul and your gaze meets his birthmark. Your finger moves by itself and goes to gently touch it.

“I don’t see you anymore Yeosang… everything is so different”

“I know. It’s hard. This is all very hard but we are going to work this out Y/N”

Your faces are so close together you can practically taste his breath. His eyes land to your lips and for a second you could see the pupils of his eyes grow. He slowly breaks the space between you and you close your eyes, expecting to feel a touch on your lips until he breaks off the moment with a whisper “I want to write a letter.”

“I don’t understand thissssss~ let’s just take a break”

“We’ve already taken 2 breaks. Here, I started the first step for you, now remember what we did for question 6, it’s basically the same thing” the boy hands her the sheet of paper.

“Yeo I appreciate your help but maybe this is a sign from god that I should just give up on Math” the girl slouches on her seat kicking her feet.

“Math isn’t that hard, you just need to focus. Now come on we still have 5 pages left.”

“5 PAGES!? I might as well throw myself off the window”

“If you finish this in the next hour” he leans in close to her ear “I might give you a kiss” he leans back to his chair with a smug look on his face.

You’d think the girl wore face paint on her face from the deep red that was now formed. Without a word she picks up a pencil and writes away on her paper.

“Damn you Yeosang”

Some people get frustrated with slow walkers in front of them, slow drivers or even someone talking way too calmly, but the way Yeosang is working the typewriter makes you want to snatch it from him and do the job yourself.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to write the letter for you?”

“It’s fine I got this” he continues on with his slow pace.

“Who are you writing that letter to anyway?”

“Just someone”

“Who is just someone?”

“A person I know”

“Who is this person you know?”

“You don’t know them”

“Pleaseee Yeooo~” you lean in closer to him “I’ll give you a kiss if you tell me who” you giggle remembering his little tactic he used to use on you in school.

“Mmmm I’ll think about it” you huff in frustration and he laughs.

He laughs.

Your worries of losing the boy you loved dearly completely vanished as you finally see that innocent boy back. His laugh sounded like the doorbell of a childhood house, where kids would run to see if daddy is home. The last bell ring at school, when kids ran home to show mommy what they drew. The sound of the ice cream truck song amplifying as it rolled up from down the street. The clicking sound of riding your first bike, parents cheering in the background for balancing without training wheels.

He sounded like childhood and you felt like a child again.

In what felt like forever, Yeosang finished his letter. Sealing the paper into an envelope ready to be read by this mystery person you so badly wanted to know.

“Okay I’ll take it and make sure to send it out. Make sure to write the address.” you reach your hand out but he doesn't move.

“Oh no I want to keep it”

“What?”

“I want to keep the letter.”

“What do you mean? Don’t you want to send it to that person?”

“Not yet.”

“We can withhold it and send it at any given time you want”

“It’s fine, I’ll send it myself”

Him protecting this letter made you even more curious as to who it was for. Surely he didn’t just write something for fun. Who was this friend? Was it a girl? Or possibly a lover? Surely not. Especially not when he almost just kissed you a while ago.

He promised. You’re just overthinking. Right?

It was your last day with the soldiers. You only had a couple of letters to finish and by nightfall you and the girls were set off to travel back home. Absolute no bone in your body wanted to go back home. This meant being separated from Yeosang again and you weren’t ready to let him go yet, you only just reunited with him.

“Y/N, you have a visitor waiting” Maya points to the door, only to see Yeosang waiting for you.

“I have a few more letters to write th-” you’re shushed by Maya when she lightly shoves you out of the room “Don’t worry, we got this, you go enjoy your last moments with lover boy” she whispers the last part although Yeosang surely heard judging by the way he looked away.

“Ooo he’s a shy lover boy too” Maya says before closing the door, you can still hear her giggles through the wall as you’re now left alone with Yeosang.

“Shall we go?” he quietly says.

“Yeah, where are we going?”

“You’ll see”

The two of you slowly walk side by side, occasionally bumping the sides of your arms. There isn’t much talking but the silence is comfortable. Almost too comfortable that you forget this is the last time you get to examine his features before the final goodbye for god knows how long it will be again.

You’re snapped out of your thoughts when Yeosang hands you a big white flower, a snow rose. “This is the snow rose I told you about” he said with a smile gently handing it over to you.

“Yeos-”

“Marry me Y/N”

What.

Time stops for a second. A long second. Even the birds stop chirping and the wind halts. You aren’t sure what just happened but your heart knows for sure that it’s a big deal as it beats so hard, destined to break out of you and reach his own, intertwining with his and merging into one.

“What did you say?” you mutter quietly.

In contrast with your tone, Yeosang is confident. His chin is up high, shoulders back and there's a look in his eyes that show no sign of hesitation.

“I want you to marry me Y/N” he takes a step closer, and another, and another, till you’re now backed up into the rough surface of a tree.

“I’m going to make this work, I’ll find a way to leave this place if I have to but Y/N, I can’t let you go again.” he cups your face gently and swipes his thumb across your cheek “I’m done keeping promises and making you wait, I want to be with you Y/N, only you” he rests his forehead against yours.

“Come home to me Yeosang” you breathe onto his lips before locking them together.

Your lips dance together so full of passion and need it almost feels as if your bodies are intertwining into one. You feel his small smile through the kiss as you deepen it, locking your hands in his hair while his explores the sides of your body.

Cold air hits your belly as he lifts up your shirt to slide his hand against your skin, caressing your chest. If you weren’t so lost in the kiss you would have noticed that he was practically spelling his name across your chest with his hand movements.

Remembering that you both need to breathe, he’s the first to break the kiss. You’re both a panting mess but he manages you let out a chuckle “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Yes in every language Yeosang. I will marry you” you smile out taking in his lips once again.

You asked for a rose, but Yeosang gave you a whole garden.

Two years later

“Tell me Cupid, what should I tell her? I’m so scared. What if she’s waiting for another man?” the man from across you says, blowing his nose into his now 8th tissue in the past 10 minutes.

“Sir Walker, you clearly love her right?”

“Yes! Oh heavens more than anything, I-I’d kill for her, I’d crawl on my knees for he-” he sighs taking a breath “I don’t imagine a life without her”

“Then fight for her” you say softly.

“She’s lands away from me Cupid! How will I be a man to her if I cant even reach for her?”

“Make that happen. You said you would kill and crawl for her. Put actions to your words Sir Walker and show her you love her. You are living in the same lifetime, right here, right now, don’t regret your choices and lose her. She needs to see you fight for her”

The man breaks down but looks up at you again, composing himself before saying “Have you experienced love Cupid?”

“Everyone experiences love. If not now, one day, just as you wait for love, there is another person waiting for the same. Everyone has someone awaiting them” you softly smile.

“I’ll do it. Tell her I’m coming to get her. I’m not sure when but from today onwards, she will be my focus” the man lets out a broken smile. Broken yet mendable.

“She will be waiting for you Sir Walker” you say before typing away, a paragraph that awaits a new chapter for the couple.

Your night ends with that heartfelt love story. You hope the best for the couple and your heart nearly breaks with his as you also can’t help but think about your person you are waiting for.

The weather outside is mean. Almost in hopes of drowning man in its rage. The thunder roars and you’re left counting sheep in your head- something you’ve been doing ever since you were a kid to calm down.

As you’re walking out of the building Jia calls you from behind “Y/N you have a letter!”

She runs up to you and hands you the letter. “Who is this from?” you ask as you’ve never received a letter before.

“Hm not sure” she looks into a room, clearly distracted by something, or someone as you look at the direction only to see the famous mailman who has been working here years before you joined the company- Tony.

“Um yea I’ll see you tomorrow Y/N I gotta go, bye! Let me know who that letter is from!” she says from a distance practically skipping her way to Tony,

You don't get the chance to even reply to her before she's gone. You look at the letter and there is no address to indicate where it was sent from, which could only mean this letter must have been dropped off by the sender here at the company.

You walk out the building, still sheltered from the awning covering you. Your steps are heavy, unable to move.

It's fine Y/N let's take this slow you thought to yourself deciding to just stand there for a while before making your way home.

You curiously open the letter and start reading it;

Dear Y/N,

How are you? I am writing this letter to you while you are right next to me. I hope you’re not mad about almost kissing you and asking to write a letter instead. It’s just that I wanted to capture my feelings towards you at this given moment, so we can hopefully both look back at this letter.

You asked me if I liked it here. I don’t. I hate the feeling of knowing every movement I make can be my last, and that I won’t be able to say my final goodbye to you. I hate that I go to sleep at night, responsible for another lost man from his lover. I wish I could be able to come home from work and tell you about my day. But what can I tell you? About how many screams I heard? How bloody my hands are after every battle?

You asked me if I think about you. My answer is yes. Painfully yes. I always think about what you could be doing at any time. If you found yourself love. I worry everytime it rains, do you have anyone to hold your hand during thunderstorms? I force myself to repeat your voice in my head because I’m so afraid of forgetting what you sound like. I always remember about the day I took you to the flower field. You looked so beautiful in that moment. So everytime I find a flower, I make sure to stop and admire it, pretending it’s you. Because to me, you are far more beautiful than any flower out there.

I will come home to you Y/N. I promised I would be there. I promised to hold your hand. And I will fulfil my promises, even if it means fighting for my life.

Wait for me my love.

Love,

Yeosang.

“Damn you Yeosang” you chuckled out, a crack in your voice causing tears to slip out. You look up to the sight of the man in reason for these tears. He’s still wearing his uniform, hat covering half his face. He seems to have gotten bigger in physique too. He drops his hat and you smile widely at the sight of his birthmark, now holding smiling eyes.

“It’s raining” he said, reaching out a hand “I’m here to hold your hand.”

You completely ignore the extended hand and crash your body into his for a tight hug. An embrace with no chance of him slipping out.

“You came home” you said into his chest.

“I came to stay”

“And to hold my hand”

“And to hold your hand” he laughs out.

Yeosang was your childhood. Yeosang is your home.

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asumofwords · 1 year ago

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Smoke, Fire and Ash

Warnings: This fic includes noncon, dubcon, manipulation, violence, death, forced marriage, and inc3st. Tags will be added as the fic goes on.

This is a dark!fic. 18+ only. Read at your own discretion. Please read the warnings before continuing.

Summary: You are the eldest daughter of Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen. You are forced to navigate the difficult surroundings of your upbringing and the eventual disintegration between your family and the Hightower's relationship. What will happen when your older and estranged uncle suddenly takes a more sinister interest in you? (Dark!Aemond x Reader)

Masterlist

Characters: Aemond Targaryen X Reader, HOTD characters.

Note: I am home from the shit show that was my work meeting haha. Feels good to be back in my own bed, and I will hopefully be able to write more and post more often. I went back through all my planned chapters and holy shit I have a lot hahaha, might have to cut it down a bit oops. Thanks for all your love and support as always and thank you so much for all the beautiful birthday wishes!!!! <3 Enjoy

Chapter 69: Alone

You had stewed in your chambers, staring out the window at the water, willing the oceans swell to calm your rising waters, but it did nothing but let you sit in your bitter anger and resentment. Thinking of all the ways he had hurt you. Of all the ways he had wronged you. Of all the ways the Greens had taken everything from you.

From your mother.

From your brother.

It spiralled out of control and you found the anger mount within you at a frightening pace. Your blood rushed in your ears as you stared into the fire, pacing in front of it. Thinking more and more of what they had done.

What they would do.

What they could do.

What you were forced to do.

Forced to lay beneath a man you did not love. Forced to have his seed inside of you as he thrusted above, or below. Forced to kiss him back. Forced to smile at him, and dress prettily for him like a doll.

You were voiceless.

Powerless.

Defenceless.

You thought of how you had crawled on top of him and ridden him, seeking your own pleasure and basking in his. How you had moaned and whined, uttering his name to the Gods as you peaked. How you had let him touch you, hold you, whisper praise to you.

The doors to the chambers had opened, and Aemond entered quietly, whispering your name as you stilled. Without turning to face him, you kept your eyes on the flames, watching them devour a log inside. Wishing the flames were devouring the Keep. Devouring the King.

Devouring him.

Aemond came to stand beside you, and you saw in your periphery that he placed your book down on the coffee table beside you. He uttered your name again, but you refused to meet his gaze. Refused to meet his eye knowing that you would lash out at him.

Strike him.

Curse at him.

You wanted to hurt him.

You wanted to so badly that your fingers twitched at your side, forcing you to bite the inside of your cheek, tasting the bitter copper of your blood flood over your tongue. Your hands shook in anger, bawled in tight fists as he continued to stand there.

What did he want?

My blessing?

To fuck her?

To leave me with them?

Fuck you.

Aemond whispered your nickname, trying once more to gain your attention, standing still as he watched you, but all it did was make you bristle.

“Dracarys.” Came the whisper of Lucerys.

You blinked, and let your eyes drift to the window away from the raging flamed.

There, seated on the seat beneath, was a mop of brunette hair you wished to bury your face into. The boy you missed dearly. Someone you would do anything to have back, including giving up your own life for his.

Lucerys sat, wet, watching you, stiff backed, but eyes dangerously angry. His hair stuck to his forehead, robes dripping below him creating a puddle on the chambers stone floors.

He reflected the anger within you.

You clenched your jaw, refusing to turn to look at Aemond. Instead, keeping your eyes on Lucerys who continued to whisper over, and over.

Dracarys.

You heard Aemond sigh beside you. His footsteps moving away from you, halting by the door. Pausing as though he wished to say more. As though he wished to do more. Thinking, waiting, wanting.

The chambers doors opened and then closed.

Lucerys leant back against the window, watching you as you watched him. He looked comfortable now that Aemond was gone, relaxed, at ease. Like all the anger had drained out of him with his uncle’s leave.

His head tilted, dark curls flopping over his forehead. His robes had stop dripping, the sound of water ceasing in the room, only to be filled with the crackling wood.

You moved to step forward, to reach out, to touch him.

Would you feel him as you felt Helaena?

The young boys lips split into a smile, teeth showing and cheeks rosy. And with a blink, he was gone.

You exhaled the breath you didn’t know you were holding and looked at the empty space he was was in. The space looked cold, sparse.

Haunted.

Why did he have to leave?

Why could he not stay?

The book on the coffee table caught your attention, and all the rage and anger came back.

Grasping the book, you hurled it across the room, pouring all your anger and resentment, fear and disgust, into the movement as you screamed. The book flew across the room and hit the wall beside the window where Lucerys had been. It fell to the floor with a heavy thud, cover half ripped off in the impact, and pages bent beneath its weight on the stone floors.

You stood, chest heaving as you stared at it without moving.

When the sun had sunk below the horizon, the maids came to your chambers bringing your supper, and only yours, placing it on the table. The smell filled the room and your stomach rumbled. Only then did you move away from the book, only then did you make your way to the table to eat alone.

One of the girls moved to pick the book up from its discarded spot on the floor, seeing how your eyes never left its sight.

“Leave it.” You all but barked as the girl neared it, hand outstretched to pick it up.

The maid rescinded her hand beside her, uttering an apology and moved to leave the chambers with the other girl quietly.

You ate alone, stewing your anger. Replaying the events that had led up to this very moment over and over in your head. Every single waking moment where Aemond had imposed himself onto you. Where he had come to haunt you. Where he had come to hurt you.

His visits to your chambers when Viserys was still King.

The glass in your feet.

His fingers in your core.

His hand around your neck.

Lucerys.

The fall.

The wedding.

All of it.

The longer you thought, the more resentful you became, drinking the entirety of the decanter of wine, not caring for the headache that would no doubt greet you when you rose in the morning.

The maids came later when you had finished to tidy the chambers and ready you for bed.

They did not greet you, nor did they bid you a good night. The two girls seemed to have sensed your anger, and most likely had learnt that keeping their head down and staying silent was the best way to deal with a Targaryens fury.

They would have learnt this the hard way from serving Aemond.

When your hair had been brushed, and you were dressed for bed, you moved to lay in the sheets of the bed and stared at the ceiling thinking. Waiting. Turning possibilities over in your head. Thinking of the promises you made to your family, thinking of your duties to them.

You fell asleep that evening, the flames within being doused with wildfire.

And you let it consume you.

When you woke the next morning, your head throbbed, but your thoughts were clear. The maids came, and you greeted them softly. If you were to do this right, you needed their sympathy, their loyalty, their love. You needed to be kind to them, not bark orders at them like your husband.

You ate alone, were dressed with their help, and once you were readied for the day, you stood and walked to the side of the room where the book had spent the night.

You stood over the black leather cover, looking down at how it had half of its spine separated from the glue. It was broken. Ripped apart. Yet it was still the same. Still held the same words of ‘The Fourteen Flames’. Still held the tales of the Gods. It was still, despite its outer appearance, a holder of memories, truth, secrets.

Crouching down, you picked the book up, careful to not rip the spine any further, feeling its weight in your hand. The pages were a little bent from where it had fallen atop itself. The crisp paper creased and marked.

The Septa would be enraged if she saw this.

With a gentle hand, you smoothed out the bends and looked at the pages.

Still the same words, still the same tales, just marked.

Never to be unmarked again.

Scarred.

You were the same.

Scarred. Bent.

Broken.

No.

Not broken.

Different.

Changed.

You took the book down to the Gardens by the water to read.

The sun peaked behind clouds, occasionally casting warmth upon you. The soft formations moved across the skies, growing heavier with each passing, and you wondered if it would rain.

You hoped that it wouldn’t.

You spent your first day alone, as you always did, seated where you and Helaena always had, looking out at the water and reading. And when the day had ended, and the evening had creeped in, you went back to your chambers and ate alone, as always, and went to bed alone, as you would with the absence of Aemond.

You had passed Aegon in the halls on the way back to your chambers, skin prickling and anger simmering as he smiled at you and continued on walking with Otto and Jasper Wylde.

That smile followed you into your dreams.

When you woke the next morning, you followed the familiar routine, though not having seen Lucerys again, and sat yourself at the water with the torn book. You wondered if you could ask for some glue, or perhaps should take it to the Septa or Maester or maids, and have them fix it for you.

“I thought I would find you here.”

You lifted your head at the voice to see Aegon approaching you, smirk on his face and hands behind his back. Ser Cole stood behind him as he approached you, armour tight on his body and crisp, white cloak clasped to his pauldrons. Your eyes flitted between the knight and the false King.

Aegon’s green robes had a large, golden, three headed dragon on the front.

You looked at your eldest uncle expectantly, waiting for him to continue speaking.

He walked around the space, looking at the table and chairs, the bench, and the flowers surrounding you in false interest. When he got close to where you sat, you shut the book in your lap with a thud, finger in-between the pages to keep your place.

Cole stayed where he was, at the entrance of the sitting space, hand on the pummel of his sword.

“Thought I would give my niece some company, now that her husband has gone from Kings Landing again.” Aegon sat himself on the pillow that Helaena favoured, and you had to force yourself not to scream.

“Aemond is performing his duties to the realm.” You replied, watching the man closely as a smirk wound its way on his face.

Aegon cocked his head as the smirk rose higher, “I wasn’t aware that his duty was between a woman’s legs.”

Cunt.

You breathed deeply, pushing down the fire that burned you hotly.

“The Prince assured me that his duties lay elsewhere,” Lie, “By your command.”

Aegon frowned at you in a mocking manner, a falsely sad smile as though he pitied you, or found you to be simple.

“I am sure that he did. My brother has other interests in Harrenhal that I don’t require.”

Was Aemond lying?

Aegon smirked as he saw your composure falter. Standing, the King looked out at the water.

“Helaena loved this spot.”

Your brows furrowed as you stared up at him.

How did he know that?

“She spoke of you often.” He added, but his voice was quieter.

Softer.

Nostalgic.

You watched as Aegon turned his head, his silver waves moving to look down at you. And for the first time, you saw some form of mourning for his sister-wife.

His eyes were soft, and if you weren’t mistaken, held sorrow. But as soon as you had witnessed the storm cloud pass over his eyes, it went, and instead, the King grinned slimily down at you before bidding you a good day.

You watched in confusion as Aegon left you behind to sit with your thoughts.

Did he love her?

Did he regret what he did to her?

Was there a small piece of Aegon that mourned her death and descent to madness?

Did he mourn his son?

You shook the thought away.

No.

No one who loves someone would do what he did to her.

You went to bed that evening with a crawling feeling of being watched. You had to remind yourself that Aemond was not there.

You were alone in your chambers.

And you woke alone the next day too.

The same routine, just as bland as the last.

Wake. Eat. Dress. Walk to the gardens to read.

Yet now there was a new part of your routine which set you on edge, something that you couldn’t seem to escape, like flies on a hot day, or the smell of soldiers after training. It came as a great annoyance, an irritant. Something that stirred fear and fury alike within.

Something that you couldn’t shake, no matter how hard you tried.

Someone.

Aegon.

The King came to visit again that day, Ser Cole behind him as he came to observe the water with you for a moment, if only, just for a moment.

He made a comment about the weather, which had earned him a look of confusion, which had then earnt you a laugh in return. Aegon asked if you were in want of anything in the Keep whilst Aemond was away, and you had answered, uncertainty in your tone, that there was nothing you were in need of.

Aegon had left you to your reading, yet you found that you could not concentrate for the rest of the day. When you returned to your chambers that evening, you had a crawling sensation upon your skin and felt dread begin to settle in.

Aegon’s sudden interest in you whilst Aemond was away was not a good sign. His sudden interest in your wellbeing, the weather and your peace was not a change in heart, nor was it a King doing his duties.

It was a man who was plotting.

A man who was fertilising the seed that he had sown, checking if it was time to reap.

A man who clearly had interests in Aemond being away for long periods of time.

The next morning you refused to go down to the Gardens, instead keeping to your chambers, having your meals brought to you by the maids. You told yourself you were not hiding, and that you were tired. That you wished to see if Aegon would notice your absence and storm the chambers. That you were testing him in the same way he was testing you.

You wrote a letter to your family, telling them that you would regrettably not be able to join them for Jacaerys and Baela’s union, and each stroke of the quill made your heart break. You had cried as you wrote the letter, and tears landed upon the ink, causing it to smudge the ink, and the parchment to dry funny.

You promised that upon Aemond’s return, that you would find when was best for you both to visit them. Perhaps on Driftmark, instead of Dragonstone. You had told them about the beautiful flowers in the Garden, and even made reference to one of the songs the Septa had sung.

You described the purple flowers, and hoped that they would understand, and that should anyone from the Greens read the letter, they would suspect naught. They would simply read the letter and see a lonely girl, writing to her family about the days that drag on, and the nights that get cold.

That evening you could scarcely eat your meal as you mourned the union you would miss. A union in which you desperately wished to see. A union of love. A union of promise. A union of happiness and goodwill.

Something you wished you had.

You felt a calmness in knowing that Baela would not meet the same fate as you. For to wish your own sister that fate would be a cruel thing indeed. You knew that their marriage would last, and bring laughter and happiness for them both. And you knew that Jacaerys would be loved and would love fiercely in return.

When you finally retreated to bed that evening, letter drying of your tears upon the table, you found that you tossed and turned until the hour of the owl, and the sun began to rise. When at last you did fall to sleep, you were haunted by dreams of a woman with black hair and glowing green eyes.

When you rose the next morning, you decided to go for a walk around the Keep, opting to not return to the Gardens until later that day, when the sun had begun its descent in the sky, and Aegon would no doubt have lost his interest, if indeed he had any at all, and went back into his chambers to drink himself into a stupor.

Your feet ached from how much you had walked, and your stomach growled in protest. You had not stopped to eat, aimlessly walking around the Keep, checking each room, each chamber, and each corridor for how many guards were stationed there. If there were any guards at all. You would turn corners quickly and pause, pressed against walls as if in thought, but waiting to see if any familiar face followed behind.

Watching you.

You watched the people go about their day, noting their appearance, their colours, and any house sigils they have have adorned. You used the day well, finding that every single passage to the Dragon Pit was heavily guarded, and a small servant boy with bright blue eyes seemed to round the castles corners at break neck speed when you would hide amongst the shadows.

A day of observing had helped in more ways than one.

One one hand, you were beginning to recognise members of the court, their houses, their spouses, and their duties in the Keep. You were learning the movements of guards and knights. And were not at all surprised about the small servant boy following you. You wondered if he was a spy for Larys, or for somebody else.

Perhaps Aemond?

But then on the other hand, your walking and observing, counting and hiding, gave you an opportunity to desperately avoid the company of the King.

The more you moved, the less likely he would find you, and the more you would learn.

The birds chirped in the trees as they readied themselves for their sleep, and the waves below rolled softly up the cliffs. A calm spread through you as you looked out at the water, leaning over the edge of the wall. The sky was a soft pink, like dragonfruit flesh in the spring, or the peonies that sat at the bottom of the Gardens.

“I’d say that you have been avoiding me.”

He was like mould that you thought you could clean away. Hands scrubbing the dark spores until the surface was clean, and you would stand back in triumph and look at your success. A false sense of conquest. Only for it to return some days, months, or even years later, Aegon would come back to haunt you.

You didn’t bother to turn to face him as he came beside you, the sound of Cole’s armour clinking behind you noisily. He could not sneak about the Keep even if he tried. He should put bells on instead to announce his arrival. Aegon leant against the ledge beside you, looking out at the water and the sunset.

“Perhaps you should take it as a subtle hint.” You purred, hoping the tone would keep him at bay.

Aegon laughed in earnest, a guttural laugh that was not spiteful or mocking in its tone. It was a true laugh to your comment.

You sighed.

“Does it anger you?” Aegon asked, curiosity laced in his voice.

“What?”

“That I am King.”

Yes.

Dracarys.

“I didn’t think you were that stupid.” You mused, keeping your eye on the water as a way to keep the rising anger locked down.

Fucking stupid cunt.

Aegon laughed again, leaning further forward on the edge as he looked over it and down to the cliffs and ocean below. Images of you pushing him over and watching him fall to his death flashed across your mind.

It could be easy.

A hard push would send him tumbling over and down on to the jagged rocks below. With any luck, he wouldn’t die straight away, and would spend his last living moments in agony upon the cliffs, body twisted and broken.

But a quick death would be too merciful for him. As much as you wished to see his head dashed against the rocks, skull and blood around his head like a halo, you knew it would be too swift, too unjust, too painless.

“I’ve missed our little talks.”

“I wasn’t aware that we had them.” You quipped back, voice light.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

“It was a lot easier than I thought it would be.”

Aegon waited for you to ask ‘what’ but you didn’t. You had no desire to play into his little games, and so silence spread between the both of you uncomfortably, and fell flat like a bad joke. Aegon huffed at your silence, before turning to look at you. You could see his face in your periphery as he observed you.

“Mother had told me when we were young, that I was the challenge to Rhaenyra’s succession. I didn’t believe her at the time, but it is my birthright to be King.”

You finally turned your head to face Aegon, a triumphant smile on his lips as he saw that you had finally turned to look at you.

“Viserys never named you his heir. Not once.” You looked him up and down, pausing at the crown atop his head, “Not once in his life, did he see potential in you. Not once, did he see you as being worthy. But he saw it in my mother.”

“And yet I sit on the Iron Throne.”

“A punishment from the Gods, I’m sure.”

Aegon smirked, hand coming touch you. You stiffened and grit your teeth as one hand came to touch the hair that had fallen over your shoulder. He held it in his fingers before gently pulling on it.

You stared at him blankly, but within you were fuming. Screaming at him in your head.

You are no King. You could never be worthy of being a King. You are nothing but scum.

A waste of space. A waste of flesh, and air.

A pile of dragon shit would have more right to the throne than you.

You are filth.

I cannot wait to see you burn.

I cannot wait to hear your scre-

“I have missed your fire, niece. It gets boring in the Keep with all these Lords.”

“I’m sure you can find the comfort of someone’s cunt to dive into.”

“Only yours.”

You sneered at Aegon and slapped his hand away from your hair. The sound of Ser Cole moving towards you came from the side. Aegon lifted a hand to halt the knight and quiet fell around you.

“Aemond should return soon. I am sure your mood shall improve once he has warmed your bed. After he has warmed Alys'.”

“And you will return to your empty bed.”

“Did you bleed when he took your maidenhead?”

You blinked.

You were so taken back by the comment that you could not even respond.

Aegon smiled as he looked at you.

“Does he fuck you often? He is such a serious man, always brooding. I wonder if he takes it out on you.”

“Your repulsiveness never ceases to amaze me.” You snipped, turning your body to face him, hands pressed at your side to prevent you from hitting your uncle.

A lazy smile stretched up his face.

“Does he make you scream on his cock? Does he kiss your cunny til you weep?”

You breathed a heavy breath out your nose.

It could be so easy.

You could simply grasp his shoulders and hurl him over the edge. If he grasped your robes and took you with him, you would not be upset. At least he would be dead and you would be free.

Aegon’s hand came to touch your hair again and you had to force yourself to hold still, touching the strand as it fell down the front of your gown, but his hand did not stop there. It trailed a path down the strands and grazed itself over your breast.

Bile rose in your throat as he openly touched you. A thick finger trailed over your nipple and you felt it stiffen beneath your robes. His hand finally fell back to his side, eye locked on your breast, clearly able to see the way your body had reacted.

Shame and disgust curled around your gut and you fought to not gag. You thought of the night in the dungeons and swallowed thickly, rushing away from him without a word. You fled back to your chambers, heart racing and tears rising to your eyes.

You moved through the Keep so quickly, so angrily, so fearfully, that your breath was caught in your throat and your eyes stung with tears.

There was no escape from him.

There was no escape from this.

You wished to act now. To push forward and cast the first blow, but it was too early. It was too rushed. And you knew that you had to endure for this to work. For the pieces to fall into place. For the Gods to give you a sign.

And until then, you would wait, and endure, and suffer.

You passed the knight at the door of your chambers, swinging the door open and all but racing into the chambers. The door shut quietly behind you.

Your eyes were blurred with tears as you made your way to the fire, staring at its flames, trying to steady your breath and fury. Trying to force the bile that sat in the back of your throat back down into your stomach.

It was too much.

It was overwhelming.

It was-

“Y/n?”

Thanks so much for reading along with me, if you wish to be added to the tag list please let me know :) Likes and reblogs are greatly appreciated ! Enjoy <3

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hazelkjt · 4 months ago

Text

OC Introductory Post

Hello, and thank you for stopping by my blog! I'm Hazel and this is my main character for everything FFXIV related, from raiding to rp'ing. My pronouns are he/him, I'm an early 20's college student still trying to figure out what to do with my life, but I'm getting there!

I had mentioned this before but I'll reiterate it here: this blog was originally just for my main FFXIV OC, Hazel Kha, but because trying to manage multiple blogs was pushing me away from doing anything with these character I'm consolidating this one to have all of my OCs on it rather than just one. Those old blogs will remain up to keep the content from disappearing but I will not be utilizing them anymore. I'm sorry if you followed me here exclusively for the Hazel stuff, she will still be the main focus of most of my posts here but there will be others posted up here and there.

I'm situated on Zalera (Crystal) and spend most of my time either raiding or taking GPose shots, but regardless I look forward to seeing everyone's creativity here on the Tumbles.

Anyways, onto the intro bits to them all below the Read More

Hazel Kha

Age: 24

Race: Xaela Au Ra

Height: 6'4"/193cm

Nameday: 25th Sun of the First Umbral Moon (February 22nd)

Gender: Female (She/Her)

Sexuality: Bisexual

Carrd: Here!

A young hunter and warrior of the Kha tribe, Hazel is a proud daughter of the Azim Steppe who has always longed to see more, to do more. Through her mother's collection of foreign books and literature she came to daydream and wonder of the lands beyond the Steppe. Her desire for adventure high a fever pitch when coming into possession of a wandering samurai's soul crystal, and all the memories and knowledge it contained. She would hold on to the stone dearly for years, until one fateful day she had a chance encounter of a lifetime and through it found her way across the waters to Eorzea. After arriving she found herself under the employment of the Sharlayan scholar Nolanel Corbeaux, working as both research assistant and hired hand to help defend against threats. Not long after Hazel finds herself under the tutelage of Lia Amelune of Ishgard, retired Dragoon and head of her own noble house. Extremely curious and adventurous by nature, Hazel's love of the unknown is matched only by her competitiveness. Idealistic and prideful, Hazel takes to each new day with excitement and wonder in her eye.

Claire Ashe (Claire Bas Syndris)

Age: 29

Race: Garlean

Height: 6'2"/188cm

Nameday: 17th Sun of the Third Astral Moon (May 17th)

Gender: Female (She/Her)

Sexuality: Lesbian

A pureblooded Garlean who spent most of her childhood and teenage years living in Ala Mhigo under Garlean occupation. She grew up befriending many of the Ala Mhigan children there without her parents knowing. After her two closest friends were beaten to death in the streets, Claire revoked her family name and fled the city, no longer disillusioned by the Garlean propaganda she was fed her entire life. She traveled to Ul'dah and came into contact with the Lemures, where she was then trained by Drusilla as a Reaper. With her training and pact with the Voidsent Sidian, Claire aided in the revolution to liberate Ala Mhigo from Garlean control. She now works aboard the merchant ship The Enduring Deeds as a deckhand and the ship's main cook. She wears a bandana at all times to hide her third eye, paranoid over the general consensus most people have of Garleans. She puts up a cold and harsh exterior, which as of this point might not be as much of an act anymore, but underneath is a truly kind soul afraid of being hurt and hurting others just from existing.

Derrinall Evramont

Age: 33 (physically)

Race: Duskwight Elezen (also Ashkin/Undead)

Height: 6'7"/201cm

Nameday: 9th Sun of the First Astral Moon (January 9th)

Gender: Male (He/Him)

Sexuality: Pansexual

Derrinall Evramont originally lived during the final years of Gelmorra. His family were that of knights, dedicated to serving the people, though unfortunately his life was not lost in service of this oath. Sickness claimed him a few years before the total fall of Gelmorra, his soul adrift yet still holding strong to his memory and sense of self for centuries...that is, until he was brought back to the star for reasons he did not know. When he awoke again he wandered the ruins of the crypt he was buried in, eventually stumbling upon two he would learn to be kindred spirits, in a way. The two strangers helped him to recover even as he kept his personal information close to his chest, eventually pointing him to work and housing in Ishgard. He found work under Lia Amelune, both as house servant and a member of the House's ranks of knights. Derrinall's previous experience as a knight of Gelmorra saw him quickly rise through the ranks to become Captain, a title he holds with pride and only the occasional harassment of the Lady he serves.

E'venna Zekiel

Age: 22

Race: Seeker of the Sun Miqo'te

Height: 5'4"/162cm

Nameday: 3rd Sun of the Sixth Astral Moon (November 3rd)

Gender: Female (She/Her)

Sexuality: Straight

E'venna Zekiel is the eldest daughter of five children. After her father was tempered by Ifrit and subsequently killed, she took it upon herself to help her mother care for her younger siblings, specifically her triplet younger sisters. It wasn't an easy road to get where she and her family are now, especially in a place such as Ul'dah. E'venna began her "career" in back alley fights, as she had always been scrappy in a brawl. After getting into an impromptu fight outside the Pugilist's Guild she was offered membership, and upon joining took it upon herself to partake in Coliseum matches. The shine of her golden hair is matched only by her bright smile and optimistic personality. Combined with her unorthodox and playful fighting style in matches and soon E'venna had earned her the nickname "The Dancing Coeurl" from dedicated fans of her's. Her tournament winnings are a major boon to the family, with it they are able to put the three youngest through a formal education. Her family members almost all strongly disapprove of E'venna's line of work she can't imagine herself doing anything but. She's found her place, and that's in the ring.

Exploding Goldfish

Age: 36

Race: Hellsguard Roegadyn

Height: 7'2"/218cm

Nameday: 30th Sun of the Third Umbral Moon (June 28th)

Gender: Male (He/Him)

Sexuality: AroAce

Exploding Goldfish, simply known as "Fish" by most everyone, was born to a family of miners in Uldah. Throughout his life he was surrounded by heavy machinery, sparking a lifelong love of machines and inventing. His youth was spent learning everything he could about technology. His studies eventually paid off and he scored the job of his dreams working as part of Garlond Ironworks...for a while. An accident during a project cost Fish partial vision in his left eye and his position in the company. Scarred and humiliated, he drifted for months before finally finding secure work and pay at Wolves' Den Pier. Fish spent his time maintaining the machines used in "Rival Wings" competitions, and when he wasn't working on repairs he was drowning his self-pity in alcohol. It wasn't all for nothing, however. While at Wolves' Den, Fish chanced upon meeting a scrawny Viera living under the pier; Qara Wen. It took some coaxing but eventually Fish was able to befriend him, and over time that friendship evolved into brotherhood. And so when Fish was recruited to join the merchant ship The Enduring Deeds, his one request was that Qara be welcomed aboard as well.

Perseverance "Percy" Kha

Age: 9

Race: Hyur

Height: 4'7"/140cm

Nameday: 3rd Sun of the Second Astral Moon (March 3rd)

Gender: Female (She/Her)

A certain time, and a certain place...where a certain young spark was chosen to light the way. It is in this reality that a young girl lost everything. Her family was killed, and even her memory of them were taken from her. She was rescued from the same fate as her mother and father by the Warrior of Light, Hazel Kha. With no one else left alive to raise the child Hazel became Percy's guardian, and slowly accepted her place as the child's new mother figure. Hazel has been slowly acclimating the young girl to her new life, hoping to be able to deliver the childhood she deserves. Perseverance has grown to love reading, a pastime brought about by Hazel's own love of literature. Thanks to her favorite genre being heroic fantasy and also viewing her new mother as a larger than life hero, Percy has become fascinated with the idea of being a hero herself once she grows older. She is soft spoken, quiet, and quite blunt when she does speak, but Percy does have a good heart. What the future holds for her only time will tell, but thanks to the love of her new family, Perseverance's future is shining bright.

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sequinsmile-x · 3 months ago

Text

Salience

/ˈseɪlɪəns/ Noun

the quality of being particularly noticeable or important; prominence.

-x-

Hi friends <3 this is a fic for the lovely @ssa-sparks who deserves the entire world and who I love very dearly.

Hope you all like this, and let me know what you think <3

-x-

Words: 2.7k

Warnings: burns, panic attack/flashback

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

She felt anxious.

Not in the way she was used to these days, but in a way she hadn’t felt since she was a teenager, all long limbs and insecurity about who she was as she tried to get the attention of the boy she liked. It was odd feeling this way as a grown woman. She knew who she was, a sense of self she’d clawed out of the grave that had once borne her name, the new her built out of the ashes of who she used to be. The fluttering in her stomach, the pleasant nerves thrumming under her skin as she stood on the brink of something new was enjoyable, entirely different to the pit she’d had there for months, the heavy weight that had settled low in her gut ever since she found out Ian had escaped from prison, and it was all because of one man.

Part of her wondered if Aaron would ever actually ask her out. They’d skirted around it for months, both of them a little shy because of everything they’d been through, and for a while, she wondered if they’d ever take that leap. If they’d ever jump over the line that they’d walked like a tightrope for years, ready to hold each other’s hand on the way down. She was just days away from asking him out, from breaking the pact she’d made with herself that she’d let him make the first move because it would be important to him, when he did it. His smile soft as he passed her a glass of wine and asked if she wanted to go for dinner, as if that wasn’t exactly what they were doing at the time, Chinese food containers spread out on his coffee table as Jack slept just down the hall.

She thinks she said yes before he’d even finished asking the question, her answer prepared for much longer than she’d care to admit to even herself. She kissed him at his front door when she left that night, a gentle thing against his lips, an answer to a question she’d had for years about what he’d taste like. It had been three days since then and their date was tonight. Aaron had assured her that they wouldn’t end up having to go away on a case, something she was sure Penelope had something to do with, and she’d caught him looking at her all morning. His eyes fixed on her and his smile soft whenever she tried to sneak a look at him.

She knows coffee could tip her over the edge, that it would make her anxiety shift from strangely pleasant to overwhelming. As she waits for the tea kettle to boil she digs through the cupboards for some chamomile tea.

“So,” JJ says, appearing out of nowhere, smirking when Emily jumps for a split second before glaring at her, “You and Hotch are making eyes at each other so much I’m surprised either of you are getting any work done.”

Emily huffs out a breath and dumps a tea bag into a mug, “JJ-”

“Em, I’m just teasing you,” she says, leaning her hip against the counter, “Although, if you guys are this intense now I dread to think what you’ll be like after you’ve seen each other naked,” her smile gets wider when Emily rolls her eyes, “I’m happy for you both. We all are.”

Emily hums, “So everyone knows?”

“Hotch asked Penelope to make sure we didn’t get a case this weekend,” JJ says, her arms crossed loosely over her chest, “Plus, we’d be awful at our jobs if we didn’t see how the two of you are around each other.”

She suppresses a smile at that, warmth blooming in her chest, flowers of hope and something she refused to call love crowding her lungs, “Thats…” she drifts off, not sure what to say, still so used to hiding everything from everyone, even those she loved, that she struggled to share even when she wanted to, “Thank you.”

She lifts the tea kettle as it comes to a boil and starts to pour it into her mug. She’s distracted by the sound of familiar footsteps, by the smell of his cologne that was a calling card that let her know he was near, and she looks up for a split second.

“Em, careful-”

JJ’s warning is cut off as Emily’s hand moves just enough that the stream of boiling water slips over the edge of the mug and onto the hand holding it steady. She gasps, the pain burns through her and she drops the kettle down, a hiss of pain forcing itself past her lips.

“Fuck.”

JJ and Aaron spring into action simultaneously. JJ ensures the kettle is on the counter correctly, not wanting any more boiling water to spill on the floor. Aaron reaches out for Emily, his hand at her elbow as he starts to usher her towards the sink, saying something about needing to get her hand under cold water that she barely hears. Everything fades, even the pain. The edges of it fuzzy as she desperately tries to suck in a deep breath, her lungs aching as the smell of burning flesh overwhelms her, forcing her back into a memory she had tried her best to move forward from.

She’s immediately back there. The concrete floor cold and damp as it presses through her pants, the material of it sticking to her skin with what she knows isn’t her blood, yet, but the memory is confused. Everything happening all at once as she hears Ian’s laugh, a cruel callback to a sound she’d once found strange enjoyment in, the ability to make him laugh something she’d prided herself on when she lived under a different name. She can hear him taunting her, claiming her as his own as he leans over her, the scent of cigar smoke and whiskey on his breath mixing in with the smell of her skin burning.

Her chest feels like it’s on fire. Her skin melts as her lungs burn with the need for oxygen, and she can’t feel or see anything. Anything other than the smell of her burning skin out of reach as she desperately tries to scramble for it.

Everything comes flooding back in a moment, the shock of cold water on her hand bringing her back to herself as she sucks in a shallow breath. She looks around, desperate to pull her hand from whoever was holding it, their grip on her wrist the next thing she’s aware of as her senses return.

“Em,” Aaron says, his eyes soft and kind as she looks at him, “Em, it’s just me.”

“Wha…what happened?” She chokes out, her eyes wild as she looks around them and realises they are now in the accessible bathroom. She has no idea how they got here, and has visions of him leading her through the bullpen, his hands on her back as he guided her through their concerned colleagues, “When did we get here?”

“Don’t worry,” he says, smiling at her, his gaze flicking to her bright red hand under the cold water, “I didn’t carry you.”

She chokes on a laugh, the sound raw and painful as it forces itself from her still aching lungs, “Thank fuck for that,” she says, wiping her cheeks with her spare hand, grateful that he hasn’t acknowledged that she’s crying, “Being clumsy enough to pour boiling water over myself and having a panic attack in the same minute is embarrassing enough,” she says, her smile fading as she tries to fake it, the corners if it never quite catching in place, “Last thing I needed was my boss carrying me like I’m some damsel in distress.”

He smiles, reaching out with the hand not holding hers under the running water to tuck some hair behind her ear, the action so achingly gentle she has to stop herself from shying away from it on instinct, “You’re never a damsel in distress, Em,” he says, letting his knuckles linger on her cheek before he pulls back, not wanting to cross any lines, “You’re always the hero in my book.”

She laughs bitterly, not sure how that could be true given everything that had happened over the last year, “I already agreed to date you, Aaron,” she offers him a half smile, “You can stop wooing me.”

“Never.”

“Never?” She asks incredulously, furrowing her brows and he shakes his head, his smile turning shy in a way that makes him look young, making her wonder if this was the version of him that had asked once Haley out.

“We could be married 50 years and I’d still woo you,” he says, his eyes going wide as he realises what he’s said, and he clears his throat, his gaze once again fixed on her hand, “How does it feel?”

“Cold,” she says, smiling when he looks at her, a look of mild disbelief in his eyes, “It stings a little.”

“We have to keep it under here for 20 minutes. Then I’ll dress it for you. Good thing this is where we keep the first aid kit,” he smiles reassuringly in the way she’s seen him do with Jack when he presses Batman bandaids to his skinned knees and she wonders if he’ll kiss her injury better for her too. “What happened?”

She tenses, not wanting to get into it yet, the edges of her vision still blurry from her panic attack, “What?”

“How did you miss the mug?” He asks, “I’ve watched you hit the bullseye when playing darts and at the shooting range. Didn’t take you for the clumsy type.”

She rolls her eyes at herself, focusing on the burn in her cheeks rather than her hand and the phantom burn in her chest, and she looks down at the ground between them, “I…was distracted by you.”

He clears his throat, something that draws her attention up to him, and she watches him fight a smile, “Really?”

“Please don’t gloat whilst my skin is still blistering.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he says, winking at her, and she can’t help but smile, entirely unsure when he started to have this effect on her. When he managed to sneak under her defences, leaving them intact to everyone but him, and make her smile just minutes after she was thrown back into one of the worst moments of her life.

She hums, biting the inside of her cheek as she continues to try to centre herself, “Everyone saw me freak out?”

“JJ did. Derek came over when he heard you scream-”

“I screamed?” She asks, spitting it out, her cheeks warm with embarrassment drawn out of her by his naked honesty, his inability, and lack of willingness, to bullshit her as disarming as it was charming.

“You did just pour boiling water on your hand, Em,” he says, raising his eyebrow at her, “I think even you are allowed to react to that,” he quips and she huffs out a breath but nods, “They distracted everyone else and I brought you in here and locked the door,” he pulls her hand out of the stream of water for a moment to look at it before he returns it, the fresh sting of the coldness of it making her hiss, “I figured you wouldn’t want an audience.”

She smiles at that, the butterflies in her stomach briefly starting up again, their wings singed by the panic attack, the flutters not as strong as they had been all day, “Thank you.”

He smiles and nods, shrugging as if it was nothing, as if it wasn’t everything that he knew her well enough to get her somewhere no one else could see her, “You don’t have to thank me, sweetheart.”

The nickname makes her want to confess her love for him there and then just so she can hear it for the rest of her life. The way it catches on his voice, how it sounds as he wraps his tongue around the syllables, but she stops herself. She knows she loves him, and she knows he loves her too, but she never wants to associate it with this. Her last ever first I love you in the air still tinged with the smell of her burning skin and a phantom ache on her chest. She wanted it to just be about them, not about the man who’d done his best to make sure she never had anything like this.

Aaron keeps her hand under the water for exactly 20 minutes, an alarm on his watch that he stops from chiming the moment before it’s due. He guides her over to the toilet and closes the lid, encouraging her to sit down before he kneels in front of her, the first aid kit in hand.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asks, his focus briefly on the kit as he looks for the bandages he needs. She’s grateful that he’s given her time, that he didn’t ask the second she could breathe again. She knows if she says no, that if she wants to keep it to herself, he won’t push. He won’t force her to talk until she is ready. It makes her want to tell him, her desire to keep it to herself nowhere to be found.

“It…” she clears her throat, unsure when she’d placed her good hand on her chest, her thumb rubbing back and forth over the brand covered by her shirt, the edges of it as familiar as the rest of her, “It was the smell.”

He read the report about what happened to her. She already knew that, but that the way he looks up at her, his eyes briefly lingering over where she’s rubbing soothing circles on a phantom ache, only confirms it. He nods, returning his focus to her hand, his touch soft as he wraps the bandage around it.

“For me, it was the sound.” He says, and she furrows her brow. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting him to say, not really, but it certainly hadn’t been that. He smiles softly when he looks up at her for a moment, “Of the knife,” he clarifies, “Every time I heard a knife against the air I just…froze,” he sighs as he’s visited by the memory, a spectre of his past sitting on his shoulder, “I couldn’t cook or prepare food for a long time. I lived off of frozen meals and takeout.”

She presses her lips together, love for him bubbling in her chest, “How did you…get past it?”

He blows out a slow breath and tucks the edge of the bandage in under itself, testing it was loose enough not to hurt but secure enough to stay in place, “One day I did it without thinking,” he says, closing the first aid kit and looking up at her, “I went to the knife block and pulled one out of it and made Jack dinner. I didn’t even realise what I’d done until after he was in bed.”

She nods and stands at the same time he does, reaching out for him with her uninjured hand to link her fingers through his, “Thank you for telling me that.”

“Of course,” he says, using his free hand to cup her chin to make her look up at him, “It will get better, Em. This doesn’t undo anything or make you weak.”

She presses her lips together and chases his hand as he cups her cheek, stamping a kiss against his palm before she smiles at him, “Are you sure you still want to go on a date with me after seeing all of that?”

He leans forward and kisses her, the action lost to a smile before he pulls back, “Nothing could make me change my mind,” he says, looking down at her injured hand, “Want to reschedule?”

She shakes her head, “No, not at all,” she scrunches her nose up, “You may have to cut my steak up for me though.”

He chuckles, “I’ll happily do that for you in 50 years too when you have dentures and can’t chew anymore.”

She scoffs, narrowing her eyes as she shakes her head at him, “I’ll have you know I take excellent care of my teeth.”

#hotchniss fanfic #aaron hotchner #emily prentiss #aaron hotchner x emily prentiss #hotchniss fan fic #aaron x emily #emily prentiss fanfiction #aaron hotchner fanfiction #hotchniss fanfiction #hotchniss

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fiction-box · 1 year ago

Text

To End Where You Started

GN!Reader x Dimitri

This is a response to a request for a GN!Reader who was childhood friends with Dimitri before switching sides once it came time for the war. This one took me much longer to write because I wanted to better establish the circumstances of the work. Hopefully, you love it all the more! If you like this, there is another I wrote for the same prompt with Felix on my page!

Requests are open. The story will continue under the cut.

You’ve always valued human life.

So when you saw Dimitri in the Holy Mausoleum, his mind lost and his lance bloody, you weren't sure what to do next.

It seemed no one knew what to do next. Felix was standing in front of Annette, glaring daggers at the blond. Mercedes slowly shifted toward her friend as Sylvain and Ingrid exchanged worried yet knowing looks. Dedue stepped forward, though he had no words. Even the professor seemed to be at a loss.

Dimitri, however, just began laughing again and shouting nonsense.

“No one will rest until Edelgard and the rest of the Empire force are burning in hell.”

“Your Highness-”

“Did I stutter, Dedue? Or perhaps you are considering turning your back on me now?”

“Snap out of it, Boar!” Felix growled. “We’re not going to-”

“Then leave! If you no longer see me as your leader, why not go join her?’

Silence.

You could only watch as Dimitri’s eyes scanned the faces of your allies, daring your friends to take a step in either direction. No one spoke, but there was a palpable tension in everyone’s body. In the way that Mercedes and Annette clung to each other, in the way that Felix kept his hand by his sword, Dedue kept silent and steady, and Professor Byleth did not intervene. In the way that Sylvain grit his teeth, Ashe pursed his lips, and Ingrid practically strangled the pole of her lance.

In the way that you stepped forward, quiet yet resolute.

“I won’t be treated like this.”

Dimitri scowled, “You’re a soldier, aren’t you? You signed up for this the moment you joined the Blue Lion house.”

“I signed up to fight in the hopes of protecting Faerghus and its people! I signed up to honor my family and keep the ones I love safe!” you shouted over him before bringing your voice back down. “There is no honor in this.”

“And you would not serve your future king? Where is your honor in running away?”

“I would not bow to those corrupted by their emotions! No one who would act in such a manner ought to represent Faerghus!”

“Then go to her! Run off and join the scum of the earth that march under that woman’s name!” he spat. “But mark my words, when we do meet again, I shall meet you with the fate of a traitor. There will be no mercy even should you beg for it. Do not expect remorse from any of us when your head, too, rolls upon the dirt.”

You did not allow your face to betray any emotion at all. You would show no sign of anything, despite the way his words cut through you. How could someone you practically exalted, someone you had become so close to over the past several months, turn around and talk to you like this.

Maybe your friends weren’t strong enough to stand up for themselves. Maybe they had too much to lose; people to protect and family to remain with. Ideals, relations, and possessions that could only be secure if they sided with Dimitri. A few had said as such, declaring their belief in Dimitri as their future king.

You loved them dearly, but there wasn’t a single one among them that you would allow yourself to be treated this way for. Especially not now, when none cared to stand up for you.

Finally, you clenched your teeth. If that was how he really felt, and if your friends were letting him speak for them, then that truly was the end of it.

“Maybe I will go. Edelgard would at least pretend to care whether I live or die, and the Black Eagles are actually bold enough to stand up for what they believe.”

Spinning on your heel, you left the Mausoleum alone.

In truth, you had no intention of joining the empire. At least not at first. Once you arrived back home, you informed your parents of the prince’s delusion. They seemed to be proud of your decision, and as proof of their support, chose to become a neutral faction in the war.

The amount of prestige and connections that came with that sacrifice…you were torn between being moved and remorseful. While it was true that your family had not lost too much power, as crest wielding houses tended not to do, there was still a great sacrifice made in keeping you safe from the Kingdom’s demands.

That was not the only change, however. It turns out that news travels fast when the family of a veritable noble house defects from their allies. People were stopping by left and right, bargaining troop stations, land usage, resource management, and all the other things that would keep your mother and father busy. You chose to focus on defending your land, though it did not consist of much work while both the Alliance and the Empire found it so valuable.

Needless to say, you were more than curious the day your mother called you into one of the drawing rooms to meet with one of her guests.

“Mother, what is this about? You know I prefer not to attend these sorts of things.”

“Oh, I know very well, darling. This one is a bit different, though. Someone has requested to confer with you directly, and I would have been in a bit of a tight spot to say no.”

“What do you mean?”

“It is no secret that we have been both opening up to and prospering from negotiations from several sides of this war. There have been enticing offers to nullify our neutrality and pledge allegiance here or there. You know this.”

“Oh,” you were beginning to catch on. “So then someone must have made an offer that you liked?”

“Just…promise me you’ll keep an open mind.”

“Of course.”

With an odd tension about you, you braced yourself for whatever would be found in that room. Your mother was not usually one to be so cryptic. A quiet sigh left your lips as you turned around.

The doors opened in front of you.

“Ah, I see you made your way here without much trouble.”

…what?

“Lady Edelgard? What are you-...Shouldn’t you be heading the war effort somewhere?”

What was this, really?

Remembering yourself, you lowered yourself in greeting, “Forgive me, your Imperial Majesty.”

You rose, trying to process the image in front of you. The Emperor of Adrestia sat poised on the sofa with a cup of tea your mother had no doubt been the one to offer. At her side stood Hubert, dutiful as he was so often described.

Soundlessly, she set down her cup, “Everything I do is for the future. For this war to end. I took notice that you were not among your former classmates’ ranks and grew curious. Needless to say, I did not need to look far to find you.”

“It was not my intention to run and hide,” you stated, taking a seat on the couch across from Edelgard.

“I never meant to imply as such,” she began. “On the contrary, I believe you still have a place in this war. If you left for the reasons I believe you did, that is.”

The conversation that followed consisted of platitudes and ideals; the type of which you both seemed to agree upon. You found your own ideas of the values of talent and human life to be eerily similar. It was decidedly reassuring that she had come to you directly, so that you could see them reflected in the leader of the Empire firsthand.

In time, you would join the Empire’s ranks under a woman named Cornelia while your house remained neutral. It would not have been in the best interests for a house so distant from the Empire to declare fealty, after all.

~~~~~~~

Several years later, you would be uncertain of your decision.

After everything you had witnessed Edelgard do up to this point, you weren’t so sure she viewed your ideals in the same light. Crest beasts, experiments, secret treaties, and deals made in the dark of night…you couldn’t get behind it, but your family had already made its decision.

Even so…

I agreed to fight for the empire, you reminded yourself, not for this woman.

Right now, you were being assigned to defend the Kingdom’s capital in an effort led by Cornelia. Ironically, the sorceress seemed to be the epitome of everything you stood against, yet here you were as her ally.

How far you had come from home.

She had positioned you between a pair of horrifying machines; two technological terrors known as viskam.

How low you must have come from your initial meeting with the Emperor.

You watched as your previous house leader’s army dispersed. Some soldiers veered left, others went right, but Dimitri’s main force charged up the middle, directly at you and the mechs Cornelia had placed.

Watching diligently, you noted how the Kingdom soldiers would take on multiple of Cornelia’s fighters while Dimitri would sneak past.

Well, as sneaky as someone with a bright fur cape and a target on his back could be.

A thought came to mind with every step forward he took. It came slowly, not sudden in the slightest, but sure.

If I were to kill Dimitri, all of this would end.

It was true, you knew. You were unsure how you felt about it, though you deduced that part of that uncertainty came from your past friendship with the prince. But had he truly reverted from the monster you left in the Holy Mausoleum?

There was only one way to find out, you supposed. You would face your past friend head-on. If he turned out to be the same man you saw that day, you would not hesitate to kill him. Anything to end this war.

Just as he made his way to the staircase, you walked forward, blocking off the top.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Dimitri’s eyes went wide, but you didn’t buy it. He had a clear view of you positioned just below Cornelia since the moment he walked into her sight.

So what, then? Were you to believe his surprise came from the idea that you were actually trying to stop him? You’d be lying if you said that wasn’t the slightest bit insulting.

“It’s you…but why-”

You threw a dagger at him, which whiffed as he sidestepped, “That’s all I get? It’s you? After all those years, not to mention the amalgamation of everything you said and did once the Flame Emperor unmasked herself, you cannot even say my name?”

His eyes softened as though hurt, “I didn’t think I had the privilege, anymore.”

“Then fight me! You have always given yourself the privilege to take the lives of others,” another dagger, this one closer to hitting its mark before Dimitri barely moved out of the way, “Do not let mine be any different.”

“I’m sorry,” he approached you, climbing the stairs, “I understand why you left, but know now that I do not wish to hurt you. Just step aside so-”

“And then what? Let you kill Cornelia? Condemn thousands of others in some future conquest?”

What were you doing? This version of Dimitri was worlds apart from the boy you left in the Holy Mausoleum.

So why were you still fighting him?

A loud noise disrupted your thoughts. You turned to face it, noting that Dimitri paused, as well. Farther away, Cornelia let out a dark cackle.

“Wonderful job getting the poor princeling right where I need him. Your death will not be in vain.”

You did not allow yourself to fully process her words as a bright light shot out of the viskam that had made that awful noise, earlier. With the future king just paces away, you could guess where it was going to land.

But Dimitri had turned to face Cornelia.

It appeared you had a choice to make.

“Don’t resist,” you closed the distance between yourself and the Kingdom's rightful heir. He had grown since your last encounter; holding this grudge could only do more harm than good.

Maybe that meant you would not survive this, but in that moment, what was your life next to his?

So, in the second before he could react and before the viskam struck, you pushed Dimitri down the stairs.

And it was when the world went from bright white to pitch black that you knew your death would not be in vain.

~~~~

“A…ing…rk?”

“We…bre…ag?”

“I bel…sh…wake up in…!”

Everything ached, and you couldn’t move. It would probably hurt if you tried, anyway.

At least you could feel something, right? At least you were alive. Though if you had to go through life like this, then perhaps you were better off dead.

But then a cooling sensation began to make itself known throughout your body. It was strongest in your head, torso, and legs, though you could feel it spreading and connecting in your arms and neck.

Tentatively, you allowed your eyes to open.

“Oh, thank goodness! Mercie, we did it!” Annette beamed from her position at your head.

Felix scoffed, “About time.”

“How do you feel? Are you alright?”

“I can’t feel my legs,” you managed, surprised at the strength of your own voice, “and…I cannot move.”

Scanning the area with your eyes, you realized you hadn’t been moved, either. You were still lying on the floor by the stairs; exactly where you remember being struck down.

“Is Cornelia…?”

“Dead,” Felix confirmed.

“And I remember pushing his Highness down the stairs. It was the best I could do with my own strength…” you had known you weren’t strong enough to normally push him far enough out of the way nor to pull him far enough before he instinctively resisted, ”but he isn’t hurt too badly, is he?”

“Oh goodness, no! Annie told me she saw the whole thing. Apparently, Dimitri caught himself rather quickly.” Mercedes reassured you.

Annette frowned, “I’ve never had to spend this much time on an injury, and certainly not while working with others. I’m surprised it’s taking this long.”

“I’m surprised you’re alive.”

“Felix!”

“What? You and I both saw that thing,” he turned from Annette back to you. “If you had sustained any other injuries before getting hit by that thing, you’d have been dead on the spot.”

Annette and Felix continued their banter as you shut your eyes and listened. Finally, you began to feel your body coming back to life; stronger and back into your control.

“Okay, I think that should do it! How does that feel?”

Annette waited another moment for your response before calling your name in confusion.

“Oops,” Mercedes giggled, “I think the magic might have lulled them to sleep. We did go a little overboard, I suppose.”

“Is everything alright?”

The group turned, looking up at the new voice that joined them.

“Prince Dimitri! Yes, everything is fine. They should be all better upon awakening.”

“Ah, that’s good. I am sorry to have left you all here for so long. Sylvain, Ingrid, and myself were working on reconciling with the remaining soldiers.”

Felix raised a brow, “Then where are they?”

“Once the issue of alliances was out of the way, Ingrid told me they could handle the rest,” Dimitri directed his eyes down to you. “Sylvain…said it might be best if I came to check on them.”

The swordsman’s expression didn’t change, “Well that doesn’t make any sense. There’s already three of us-! Hey!”

Dimitri balked as he watched Annette get up and drag Felix with her. Mercedes followed close behind, smiling back at him.

“Let us know if they need any more help!”

“Y-Yes of course…” he stammered, confused.

“Of course what?”

Shocked to hear your voice, the Blue Lion’s leader dropped his gaze unto where you had been resting on the floor, “Ah! You’re awake!”

You made a small noise, blinking against the light of the sun as you began to sit up.

“Mercedes told me to fetch her if you were having any issues. Are you alright?”

Methodically, you tested each of your limbs, “Yes…Yes, I think so.”

“Good,” he sighed, and you swore you saw him relax the slightest bit.

The ensuing silence was uncomfortable, to say the least.

“Forgive me for this. I know you’ve just recovered, but I’d like to thank you for saving my life.”

“You're welcome,” you said, “but why are you apologizing for that?”

He maintained eye contact with you, “Because I would also like to ask you why you did that.”

At first, you didn’t really have a response. The more you thought about it though, the more clear everything felt in your head. There was really only one answer.

“I just did what I thought was right.”

“But I was terrible to you!” Dimitri didn’t hesitate, “I said horrible things to you, and I treated you like…”

“Like I was worthless?”

It was as though all the words left Dimitri's mouth. After another moment of silence, he finally averted his gaze, “I do not deserve your forgiveness.”

“No, you really don’t, do you?”

…no reaction. So he was telling the truth.

“But, if you were to apologize, I might forgive you.”

He looked to you slowly, a look of timid surprise written on the blond’s face, “Surely, it would take more than that…”

“It should not take more than that if you are genuine,” you painted your face with a small frown, in conflict with yourself, “You’re not the same person you were 5 years ago, Dimitri. I am not about to make a habit of forgiving people just because some time has passed, but I know that many more people can be helped if we clear the air right now.”

“Right,” he swallowed, extending his hand down to you. “In that case, know that I am truly sorry for the way I treated you, both within the Holy Mausoleum and the several days before. I also apologize for the effect it has had upon both you and your family, though it seems you have found a way to make the most of your situation.”

You laughed a bit at that, accepting his offer to help you to your feet, “I suppose you could say that.”

Now it was the prince’s turn to frown, “I am being serious. This will not happen again. I promise to respect and honor both you and all that you do for the Blue Lions.” He paused, suddenly unsure, “If…you do choose to come back, that is.”

Turning away to hide the small blush that appeared at his phrasing, you looked at the stairwell, “It would be thoughtless not to join, seeing how I almost died for you.”

At the feeling of his hands on your arms, you turned back to him, surprised.

“You must promise to never do that again. Do you understand me?”

“I…you know I could never promise that. You’re too important.”

“Swear it anyway,” he pleaded.

How uncharacteristic, you wondered.

“Really, Dimitri-”

“I don’t care if it’s a lie,” he let go of you, taking a step back while never wavering his gaze, “Just…”

He seemed to have run out of words, and all the two of you could do was stare at each other. Eventually, you broke first with a sigh. You couldn’t bear to maintain eye contact knowing you could never rely on your words alone to determine your future. Regardless, you spoke.

“...I…promise…that will not happen again.”

A grimace appeared on Dimitri’s face out of the corner of your eye, but the two of you spoke no more after that. Wordlessly, you left to go find Mercedes and the others. Where Dimitri went in the moments following, you had no clue, but the conversation would stay in your mind throughout the rest of the war.

Only time would tell if your promise was kept.

#fire emblem #fe3h #fire emblem three houses #fiction #fe x reader #fe3h x reader #fire emblem x reader #x reader #fe dimitri #fe3h dimitri #dimitri fe3h #dimitri fire emblem #dimitri x reader #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd

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mcntsee · 10 months ago

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— ★ works in progress!

↳ these are not in any specific order!

— KAZ BREKKER

— my wife

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Summary: This marriage was not an act of love, just pure convenience. Kaz thirsting for revenge, and her itching for a way out.

Snippet: Perhaps, in this alternate life, they might have fallen in love. In that scenario, Kaz speculated he would have invested genuine effort into getting to know her. Truly know her. And just maybe, their wedding would have been a celebration of love, not a calculated ruse.

— crimson smoke - 3.1K words

↳ (Kaz Brekker x sister! reader)

Summary: Stealing the Neshyenyer

Snippet: Her eyes widened in fear as she tried to step away from him. Her father's grip was relentless. She managed to break free but found herself unable to step back further. She whispered, "Da..."

— routine

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Snippet: But maybe routine was meant to be broken every now and then.

Still, he waited and waited, but she never came.

— what’s your name?

↳ (Kaz Brekker x civilian! reader)

Snippet: Initially, a person’s name holds little to no significance to us. However, as we build a relationship with them and feelings arise, their name acquires a new meaning. Someone's name signifies the feelings it evokes in you.

— breaking my heart

↳ (from jesper’s pov + slight platonic!crows)

Summary: Jesper’s heart breaks at the sight of Kaz Brekker, his boss and the coldest person in Katterdam, on his knees.

Snippet: His breath caught in his throat as he watched Kaz’s usually steady form falter. He watched as his knees gave way, and sank to the ground, pressing his forehead against the cold earth.

— the problem

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Snippet: “I fell in love with you.”

“Say it again.”

— my angel

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Summary: Epilogue for Fires of passion, ashes of hate from Kaz’s point of view. (Can also be read as a standalone or first part to my devil)

Snippet: She remained the sole divine thing he believed in— the one enduring belief he still clung to.

— my devil

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Summary: Epilogue for Fires of passion, ashes of hate from reader’s point of view. (Can also be read as a standalone or second part to my angel)

Snippet: He was the forbidden fruit she couldn’t resist—the captivating rebel who stole and kept her heart.

— my dearly detested

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Summary: Enemies to lovers

Snippet: "I've known you for a while now, Rietveld. Although my family wasn't much into Lij festivities, I remember you and Jordie being part of it, just like me."

— old friend (request by: lottle-is-little)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x civilian! reader)

Request: I was wondering if you could write Kaz x reader (female) where the girl is from Lij and was best friends with Kaz (like Alina and Mal) and Kaz finds photos of them and Jordie together before they moved to Ketterdam (she stayed behind when they went and lost contact) and he misses her a bunch and him and the Crows go to Lij and meet her and super fluffy and happy

— the waves (request by: @lottle-is-little)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x grisha! reader)

Request: Reader is a part of the Counsel of Tides and Kaz doesn't know and something happens where the Counsel threatens the city because of something that happened and the reader comes back to the Slat exhausted from using their power too much at once and passes out and Kaz takes care of them.

— stalker (request by: @tayrae515)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Request: Reader having a stalker. Maybe it starts out as creepy notes the reader hides but ends up with the stalker approaching her (kidnapping or not.) and Kaz saving the reader by dealing with the stalker. Maybe it even ends with Kaz's attempt at admitting he cares about the reader.

— my head, my heart (request by: @nicole198205)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Request: kaz brekker x reader where the reader has been struggling with like migraines or something and attempting to hide it from kaz but he eventually finds out?

— pull me closer (anon request)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Request: maybe they are sleeping together for the first time, but not in a sexual way. like, they are cuddling for the first time after working on his touch aversion for so long?

— stay with me (anon request)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Request: reader is from The Menagerie, and Kaz is paying her in debts, as well as Inej's, and she's one of the crows, she's in love with Kaz, he's in love with her, but the something happens and she's afraid that Tante is gonna take her back to The Menagerie, and she decides to run away but then Kaz says the famous "Stay. Stay in Ketterdam. Stay with me." to her.

— my demons, your fears (anon request)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x grisha! reader)

Request: kaz brekker x reader oneshot where they grew up together as neighbors but then the reader's parents died and Kaz'a family took her in and she went with him the Jordie to Ketterdam and was with Kaz helped Kaz swim out of the Reaper's Barge because she's a tidemaker. Anyway, her and Kaz used to be together but they broke up and then the reader had a nightmare about Jordie and woke up screaming and crying and Kaz comforted her and brought her to his bed to sleep for the night and in the morning she was confused why he helped her and they get back together or something, you can choose the ending.

— those eyes (request by: @yhaywhwvsh)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader + slight platonic! crows)

Request: Reader finishes what she wanted to do in Ketterdam (her goal) and she only stayed because of Kaz, but after that argument "You would be nothing without me, Brekker", "I saved you. Don't forget that." she leaves. She comes back to Ketterdam after the Ice court heist and all that shit and the new Crows met her?

— don’t panic, love (anon request)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x gn! reader)

Request: i was wondering if you could do a fic where Kaz or Freddy can tell the reader(gn if that's okay) is going to have a panic attack before they knew due to Kaz/Freddy seeing the signs and provides the reader with comfort and helps them calm down

— THE CROWS

— long live (anon request)

↳ (slight Kaz Brekker x reader + platonic! crows)

Request: six of crows x reader (platonic)/slight Kaz x reader based on the song "Long Live" by Taylor Swift?

— you shot me! (anon request)

↳ (platonic! crows x reader)

Request: 31. "You shot me!" "Oh, don't pretend to be surprised. It's unbecoming." So maybe some sort of just heist gone wrong but with comedic elements. Of course someone got shot but its funny right

— FREDDY CARTER

— I’ll take care of you (anon request)

↳ (freddy carter x reader)

Request: fluffy one shot of Freddy Carter taking care of the reader when she’s sick, Thank you so much ILYSM!!!

— SIMON "GHOST" RILEY

— the aftermath (trojan horse pt.2)

↳ (ghost x reader + platonic TF141)

Summary: Zero is dealing with the aftermath of their London mission. Luckily she has Simon by her side. And of course, the rest of her team.

Snippet: He grappled with disbelief. A lifetime of enduring pushbacks, hits, and abuse had etched a belief of being unlovable. Yet, here she was, loving him effortlessly, as if it were as natural as breathing.”

— ALASTOR

— bygone (series!)

↳ (human! alastor x fem! reader)

Summary: it’s fascinating how different people can be in hell from how they were back when they were alive, which is exactly why charlie decided to visit the hotel guests in their heydays.

— angelic prey (anon request)

↳ (alastor x angel! reader)

Request: We can have a yandere Alastor with an angel reader... After Charlie went to heaven, the angel reader was moved by his proposal to save the demons... So to help Charlie the reader went to the hazbin hotel... What no one counted on is that Alastor fell in love with the angel reader... Now what would happen?

— CRIMINAL MINDS

— come back to me (anon request)

↳ (spencer x reader)

Request: spencer reid x reader (preferably non bau reader) where reader goes missing and they are gone so long that they are presumed dead. And they are never found (at least not found alive)???

#banners by cafekitsune #six of crows #kaz brekker x reader #six of crows x reader #fanfiction #kaz brekker #angst #fluff #oneshot

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samurailoveballadhistory · 3 days ago

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These stories are references to various Japanese folklore, though for the life of me I cannot figure out what Kojuro's was.

Nobunaga: Bamboo Cap Jizō

The story tells of an elderly poor couple, who lived in a mountain making bamboo caps. On a winter, near the New Year, the old man took his caps to sell so he can buy food. Some version says it's winter provisions, some says New Year celebratory items. On his way, he sees a row of Jizo statues (Buddha statues usually placed on roadsides) covered in snow. Feeling sorry for them, the old man cleaned off the snow and put all his caps on the statues. He didn't have enough caps for them, and gave the last Jizo his own cap (some version I saw said it was his scarf).

With no more caps to sell, he just went home. Later that night, the couple heard bumping noises outside and opened the door. They saw a pile of food in front of the door, and in the distance they could see little figures in bamboo caps leaving.

Mitsuhide: Momotarō

I think this is the most famous one of them all, and has been referenced in so many other media (anime, games, etc).

Momotarō was a boy who was born of a peach to an old couple. When he was grown, he heard of oni (ogres) terrorising the people and decided to set out to defeat them. His parents didn't like the idea, but eventually relented. The father gave him kibidango (kibi is an unknown grain, usually translated as millet) to eat on his journey.

On the way, Momotarō met a monkey, a dog, and a pheasant who wanted to join him in his journey in exchange for the kibidango. The group then travelled to Onigashima, successfully vanquished all the oni, and returned with all the treasure they found there.

By the way, the common version says that the wife found a giant peach, and Momotarō was inside when she cut it open. However, supposedly the "original"/older version of the story says that what she found was a divine peach. She and her husband ate the peach, became young again, and was able to conceive Momotarō through normal means.

Yukimura: Urashimatarō

Urashimatarō was a fisherman. One day, he found some kids tormenting a turtle and rescued the poor animal, setting the turtle free into the sea. Later, the turtle came back to him, and took Urashimatarō to the underwater Dragon King's palace (Ryūgujō).

There he was welcomed with a banquet and entertainment by the princess named Otohime. After some time, Urashima missed home and wanted to return. The people of the dragon palace tried to tell him not to, but he insisted, so in the end the princess let him go. Before leaving, she gave him a box (tamatebako) and told him never to open in.

When he reached land, Urashima found that hundreds of years has passed. The place is no longer recognisable, and his family and friends had long died. Distraught, he opened the box and he immediately grew older, as old as the hundreds years of age that has passed.

Some version says he just vanished into thin air after.

Saizo: Flower-growing old man

An elderly couple had a dog whom they loved dearly. One day, the dog began digging a hole in the field. The old man dug in the same spot where the dog was digging and found gold. His neighbour got jealous and borrowed the dog in hopes to find gold as well. However, he only got trash and rocks. In rage he killed the dog.

The dog's owner sadly buried his dog and planted a tree to keep the dog's grave safe from the weather. The old man eventually cut it down to make a pounding mortar, but to his surprise, gold would miraculously appear whenever he pounded rice in it. The greedy neighbour borrowed the mortar, and the old man kindly did. Like before, only trash and other gross stuff came out. The neighbour then burned the mortar.

The old man then asked if he could at least have the ashes for keepsake, and the neighbour let him. Then, wind blew the ashes towards a flowering tree, and suddenly flowers started blooming despite it being out of season. The old man scattered the ashes everywhere, making flowers bloom. Then the feudal lord heard about it, and requested the old man to make flowers grow on his favourite tree. The old man threw the ashes on the tree and flowers immediately started blooming.

The lord was happy, and showered the old man with gifts. The neighbour, still greedy, claimed that he could do the same. He started throwing ashes in front of the lord, but the ashes blew away and stung the lord in the eyes. The lord got angry by this and sent the greedy neighbour to prison.

Masamune: Crane Daughter

The more famous variation of this is probably the "Crane Wife" one, but there's actually a version where it's a "daughter".

One day an old man rescued a crane from a trap. Later, a beautiful young woman showed up at his house, seeking shelter. The old man and his wife then took in the girl as their daughter.

To repay their kindness, the daughter told the old couple that she would weave fabric for them to sell, but warned them to never peek into the room when she does so. The fabric the girl wove were exquisite, and they fetched such high price that the old couple quickly became quite well off.

However, whenever the girl finished weaving, she always looked so weak and exhausted. Worrying for their daughter, the old couple looked into the weaving room, and saw a crane pulling out its own feathers to weave.

After finishing the bolt, the daughter confessed to being the crane the old man rescued, but now that they've seen her true form, she could not stay. She turned back into a crane and flew away.

The crane wife story is exactly the same, except the rescuer is a young man who married the crane woman.

#slbp #samurai love ballad party #japanese folklore #story event

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sleeplessdreamer123 · 2 years ago

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Fanfic Idea! (ABO Lucemond, where Lucerys had a son before Aemond)

Lucerys stared at the new child blankly, his heart devoid of love or joy when the screaming babe was placed in his arms. He had only held her for a few moments, before giving her up to one of the nursemaids, using the excuse that she was tired and needed rest. Well, it wasn't really an excuse, the labor was rough, his eyes were drooping, but it still felt like he was using an excuse. He didn't want to see this new addition to the family.

It had been years, ever since he was forced to bear the crown as queen, to keep balance with the greens. He hated this, but it was better than forcing his poor Aegon to marry the daughter of their mother's killer. He still remembered the screams of Aegon, the first time he made such a noise ever since they were forced to witness their mother's death.

"NO! I won't do it! No! No! No! Don't let them make me do it, Luke, don't let them make me!"

So he had to do it, he had to make the sacrifice. It was a good think his husband has already long died in the war, otherwise he would have no way of helping Aegon now.

When he woke, the room was clean, the babe was placed on a small bassinet next to his bed, sleeping soundly. He could only look at her for a few seconds before looking away. He couldn't, he couldn't look at the child without the guilt of knowing he had no love for her.

After his husband's death, his family's demise, after the war, after being forced to marry Aemond, he thought he had long lost his ability to love the way he used to. He was so sure he wouldn't feel love again. But then it happened. The familiar burst of energy and warmth from his chest, and it had only happened when-

"Muña?"

Lucerys turned his head, and the feeling came back. He gestured him to enter, and he ran to his side, quickly getting on the bed. He was in his nightclothes, Lucerys noticed absentmindedly. He gestured him to his side, and when he did, Lucerys held him tight, inhaling the soft scent of his hair, relaxing him well.

His son, his sweet boy Corlys II. It was a hard pregnancy, the supposed joyous occasion ruined by the war, ruined by the very news of the death of his husband mere moments apart.

He was heavily pregnant when he was forced to marry Aemond, yet Aemond still accepted the alternative solution, to the disgruntlement of his side of the war. When he gave birth to the sweet being in his arms, he felt so much joy his heart felt it would burst. He named him Corlys II, in honor of the man who continued to support his claim even after he was declared omega, who stood by him in everything, who chose a good husband for him who loved him dearly, and who stands beside him now, his unofficial Master of Whispers.

He felt something after so long that he could barely look at anyone else for so many moons, only having eyes of Corlys II, only thinking of his sweet boy. He was addicted to the feeling. The feeling of love he never thought he would have again.

So after a year or so, when Aemond wished to consummate the marriage after waiting for so long, he agreed, thinking that maybe more children could heal the empty hole in his heart.

But it didn't. When he held his twins, he didn't feel the familiar swell of emotions, he didn't feel the joy and the heaviness of love. Instead he felt nothing. So much of nothing and he scared him. It scared him how much he felt nothing for his own flesh and blood, it scared him so much he couldn't bare to look at them for the first few weeks. It was the same with the third child, a girl. He had hoped he would feel something, anything, but it was just the same emptiness of the heart and it burned him so.

And now, a fourth child with Aemond, and nothing. Only Corlys made him feel love. And he's sure his other children were catching onto it. He felt guilt, so much guilt for not being able to love them the way he loved his firstborn, but he doesn't know why, nor does he know how to learn to love them, because he never needed to learn before. Love came naturally to him, it was an emotion he could have easily given years ago. Now, though, now it seems he only have enough for one person.

He tried his best not to make it obvious, included all his children in everything, did everything with them, but tried to force himself to love them, but he couldn't. He just couldn't do it, and he had felt like he was going mad with guilt. How could he not love them, innocent ones that they are? Has he changed that much? Did the war ruin even this?

He felt himself crying, and he knows he needed to stop, Corlys was looking at him worriedly, looking like he was about to cry too, but he can't help it. He couldn't stop the sobs, the tears and the guilt he had for years finally forced him to explode. He hugged Corlys tighter, and he felt Corlys cry too, and that just made him cry even more. Then the new babe he didn't even name yet must have woken up and sensed the sad atmosphere, because she began crying too.

Lucerys wasn't surprised Aemond entered the room mere minutes later, sure that the guards must have told him he was crying senselessly with the children. Aemond sent for Corlys' nursemaid and sent him back to his room despite his protests, the newly born babe was also taken away. Now it was just Lucerys and Aemond.

And Aemond, heartless man that he was, wrapped his arms around Lucerys' shoulders as he allowed Lucerys to cry his heart out. This was the first time he has ever cried out outside of his labors, the first time he had allowed himself to mourn and cry. The endless guilt was the straw that broke his back, and in that night, all the guards outside could hear was the cries of their queen, and the soft, coaxing words of their king.

----------

I made Lucerys' husband as ambiguous as I could. I'll let you chose whoever he was.

So, any thoughts? Any declarations?

Update:

Part 2:

#lucemond #aemond x lucerys #lucerys velaryon #aemond targaryen #lucerys x aemond #aemond one eye #alpha aemond #omega lucerys #what if lucerys already has a kid before marrying aemond #lucerys feels great guilt for not being able yo love his other kids

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books-and-strawberry-tea · 25 days ago

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Discarded Good Reads TBR

1/11/24

I was gonna leave this till New Years 25, but decided to do it early. Yes it's November, but I have over 600+ in my good reads tbr and would rather get it sorted sooner rather then later. Some of these books and been on my list for years. So long I didn't even remember I had a good reads account. So lets go!

Can I Steal You for a Second

The Lady Upstairs

Silverglass

Night Tide

Off The Record

Dearly Departed

Melt With You

Her Countess to Cherish

Two Winters

Never Ever Getting Back Together

Mistakes Were Made

The Fiance Farce

Victories Greater Than Death

Fake It

The Hellion's Waltz

Payback's a Witch

Cool for the Summer

In The Event of Love

Something Borrowed

In Her Shoes

The Fault In Our Stars

Bridget Jones Diary

The Devil Wears Prada

Confessions of a Shopahoplic

The Help (As you can see from the last few listings, I went through a time were I wanted to read the books of some of the movies I loved but I've just lost interest in doing this. Doesn't help that the people who wanted to read them with me didn't end up reading them either.)

Good In Bed

A Lady's Guide to Scandal (turns out this book was a sequel)

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins

If I Stopped Haunting You

I Hope This Doesn't Find You

Funny Story

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping

The Ballad Of Never After

A Curse For True Love (Iykyk)

Safe Haven (An Aussie Book, I'm wanting to read Chai Time of Cinnamon Gardens, and if I like this book I'll try the other one)

Wrong Text, Right Love

Spellbound in the Stacks

That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved A Demon

Girls Weekend

Parties

Redeeming 6

Saving 6

Keeping 13

Binding 13

Not In Love

Taming 7

Hate Mail

To Woo And To Wed

Haunt Your Heart Out

Otherworldly

Truly, Madly, Deeply

Make The Season Bright

I Feed Her To The Beast Series

Tangled Up In You

Werewolf's Guide to Seducing A Vampire

King of Sloth (Kings Of Sin Series as a whole)

Ready or Not

Kilt Trip

Dead To The World

Dead of Night

Dead Weight

Dead Wrong

A Thousand Broken Pieces

She Who Rose From Ashes

Rebel Belle

Sinner's Anonymous Series

Pretty Little Liar's (I loved the tv show but I dont feel like reading the books anymore)

Peculiar Tastes Series

Children of Blood And Bone

We Used To Live Here

Shatter Me

A Sweet Sting of Salt

My Darling Dreadful Thing

The Summer of Broken Rules

Morrighan (The Remnant Chronicles)

Beasts of Gatamora Series

Dungeons and Drama

Rewitched

The Cottage Around the Corner

A Hunger Like No Other

Crimson Debt

Scream For Us

The Binding

The Betrayals

The Undermining of Twyla and Frank

The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam

A Rival Most Vial

The Volcano Girls

Vampire Girl

The Christmas Appeal

The Pairing

By Any Other Name

Small Miracles

Hum

YouthJuice (I DNFed this. Dunno why its in the TBR list on GR. Boring as all hell)

My Best Friends Exorcism

The Raag of Rta

Silent Sister

The Price Guide to the Occult

Never Fall for a Dragon

The Gathering Dark

Mortal Skin

At Least You Have Your Health

After The Forest

Fit To Do

Natural Beauty

The Glow

All Night Pharmacy

Guillotine

The Vanishing at Castle Moreau

Slasher Girls and Monster Boys

In The Dream House

The Dark Within Us

The Vampires Melody

The Invocations

Such Sharp Teeth

The Ones Who Come Back Hungry

Indian Burial Ground

Castle of the Cursed

Diavola

Haunt Sweet Home

The Dangerous Ones

Fang Fiction

So Let Them Burn

The Woods All Black

We Shall Be Monsters (Turns out I had two books under this name from two different authors)

The Botanical Daughter

Red In Tooth And Claw

Such Lovely Skin

Incidents Around The House

The House Of Last Resort

I Accidently Summoned A Demon Boyfriend

Together We Burn

Even Though I Knew The End

The Monsters We Defy

The Magpie Lord

Mortal Follies

The Dead Romantics

A lot of the books I got rid of in the older tabs were contemporary genre, and there's not a whole lot of contemporary books I like. At least as a whole. There are exceptions but mainly, I find the genre boring. I feel like if it's contemporary, it has to be something really gripping or deranged for me to stay entertained. Murder mysteries and thrillers that are particularly messed up (I loved Butcher & Blackbird), Dark Romance (Adored Haunting Adeline and everything else I've read so far from H.D. Carlton.)

(Also just side note, a lot of the older books listed in my list reminded me of bi erasure and how its alive and well. Bi characters are always listed as lesbian. It's so stupid. Anyway, rant over.)

Books I found that I forgot about (That sound amazing!!)

Spice Road

Off With Their Heads

Dragonfruit

The Lunar Chronicles (I always forget about this series but it looks really awesome, and really want to give it a go)

The Heir of The Beast (I keep missing being able to read this.)

I now have 490 on my list, I may go through it again. Cause there's still a lot on the list. If I go through it again, I'll edit this post. If you've read any of these books, and you think I should reconsider, please let me know!., , ..0 (Greetings from my cat apparently)

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midnightmuffingay · 2 years ago

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Rating the pets of EAH based on what is on the EAH wiki and my limited knowledge:

Adelita - Rosabella's butterfly. I have never heard of this. Also apparently Adelita translates to 'noble'?? 3/10 I don't think it suits her and also how do you keep a butterfly as a pet.

Barber - Poppy's squirrel monkey. I guess squirrel monkeys are cute and I can see it as a pet for her but I have yet again no memory of this. 5/10

Clipper - Holly's lion cub. Apparently it is 'charmed' to stay a cub forever?? Don't know how that work or why she has a lion or why she would name it Clipper?? there are better names girl. 3/10

Carmine - Cerise's dire wolf. Okay so technically they're part of the same pack or something but it's the daughter of Littler Red Riding Hood and the big Bad Wolf. You can't go wrong with giving her a wolf friend whose name is another shade of red. 6/10

Carrolloo - Kitty's caterpillar. A sneaky little guy. From what we saw of him he compliments Kitty's personality and you know, a caterpillar with a wonderlandian? It's not like I can be mad. 6/10

Clockwork - Cedar's wooded cuckoo. Okay I do actually like this a lot. Even if we never really saw him it's a great concept for her pet to be wooden like her. Especially when you consider it would probably have to been made specifically for her. I love it 8/10

Clydesdale - Farrah's pet mouse. Don't recall and there are better mice. 2/10

Divacorn - Briar's unicorn. Absolutely slayed so hard I don't care about the name which is an astonishing feat. I mean of course Briar would have a pink unicorn it just makes sense. 8/10

Drake - Hopper's dragonfly. Drake. 2/10 Only getting extra points because it is a literal DRAGONfly. He breathes fire.

Earl Grey - Maddie's dormouse. Perfection. Best dressed of all of the pets. Is a silly little guy with a silly little hat that lives in her hat. Impeccable. 10/10

Gala - Apple's snow fox. Gala is a great name just because of the fact this it is not only a type of apple but also a fancy party. Very royal, on brand, like to curl around her neck. Iconic. 8/10

Grizz - Blondie's baby bear. Blondie. Girlie. You are a reporter. Please get original. A bear for goldilocks' daughter is fine but it's just like. I'm bored girl. You can do better. 3/10

Jelly - Ginger's gummy fish. I. Love this. A sentient gummy fish she accidentally made? So iconic I'll ignore the basic name. It's like naming your goldfish 'Goldie'. Anyway, I love the concept, love the execution. 8/10

King Benedict - Humphrey's chicken. No. 2/10 for egg related name.

Mr. Cottonhorn - Dexter's jackalope. Guys. Guys. look at him.

He's just a little guy. 10/10.

Moustro - Melody's rat. I like the idea and the pun name but I feel like I'd need to see a picture to be impressed. 5/10

Nevermore - Raven's dragon. There is no need for discussion. 10/10

P-Hawk - Daring's peacock. I think I remember him being kind of terrible so uh 1/10 because Daring I don't think that's how you say peacock honey.

Pesky - Hunter's squirrel. I love how even though they're like enemies they have the same haircut and Pesky has a little acorn bag that Hunter definitely made for him. Lives up to his name. 7/10

Philia - Cupid's Pegasus. Apparently 'Philia' is one of the ancient greek words for love that is often translated to friendship. soooo, even though I didn't know about her she gets a 6/10 because I think that's sweet.

Pirouette - Duchess's swan. Queen. Icon. Slay. Need I say more? 10/10

Sandella - Ashlynn's phoenix. The fact that Ashlynn has a phoenix because it rises from the ashes is so hardcore and I love it. Even if her name is Sandella. 7/10

Shuffle - Lizzie's hedgehog. The bestest and cutest little croquet ball. I don't have much to say but love you dearly. 7/10

Sir Gallopad - Darling's horse. He can change colour and camouflage which is THE coolest thing. Horsegirl Darling. 8/10 Also Daring officially has the worst pet out of the Charming siblings.

Spindle - Faybelle's pomeranian. Of course an evil fairy you have such an unassuming evil little dog. And of course she named it after her evil destiny. Iconic. 8/10.

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bbu-fan-blog · 1 year ago

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Hello to my favorite blog ever do you perhaps have any info/facts about Elaine? I've been digging thru the bbu twitter but havent been able to find much other than her being a lesbian and her favorite food being cheese, so maybe you have more! Thank u in advance if you ever answer this ^_^

Elaine won't reveal, but I can! Er, some, at least.

One thing: some of the biggest info I have on her are spoilers, so what I'll write about her will be just officially released info, and won't be complete for classified reasons. Hope you understand. ^^'

- As you correctly stated, Elaine is a lesbian and likes cheese.

- Elaine is the Pirate Queen of Claw Bay, and has decimated a lot of enemies and crews over the years.

- Officially, her last name is "Corso", like "corsair".

- Elaine used to be respected as a queen, but lost it all after her partner disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Rumor said she killed her, but no one can say for sure.

- She speaks with a Spanish accent

- Despite her cold exterior, she sees her crew as her family, and loves them dearly.

- Elaine has the gem of alchemy (the green one).

- She seems to find Billie's face familiar. Indeed she had met Arthur and Aristotle before, but she was very young back then, so her memories are fuzzy.

- Gold used to be a symbol of pride for her, once. Now it just brings her a feel of dread.

- She's been in search for powerful magic for an important thing. Billie's is the strongest she's ever seen, so that's why she needs her.

- She has a strong vitrol towards Scrimshaw, reciprocated by him. The cause for such tension is a huge event that happened years earlier.

- Her most treasured item is a golden statue...

- On Mario Kart Wii, she'd main Daisy.

- Not a fan of candy, but she'll eat a hard one or two.

- Favorite sandwich is sauerkraut and mustard sandwich

- She's got no magic of her own, unlike Billie herself.

- Not a huge fan of hugs, but she'll allow them with an "I give up" kind of gesture with her hands.

- Elaine is a serval, one of the fastest cats in the world.

- On her forehead there's a group of spots that resemble a skull.

- She's probably ticklish, but just try to touch her and she'll get really angry.

- It's generally hard to make her laugh. Overall, I'd say she's the most serious and hard-nosed main character of BBU.

- Her name is a nod to Elaine Marley from the Monkey Island series, and was inspired by Tempest Shadow from the MLP movie.

- Apparently she's one of the first characters ever designed. If Ash could, they'd make her taller and give her a different outfit.

- She'd avoid catnip at all costs.

This is all I can share, for now. Sadly a lot of her more interesting stuff, it's Patreon info or not revealed yet. But trust me, you're gonna love her! 💚

#Answered Ask #Billie Bust Up #BBU Elaine #Elaine Corso

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adarkrainbow · 2 years ago

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The Perrault fairytales: Little Red Riding Hood

After looking at the most obscure of Perrault’s fairytales, let’s take a look at one of his most famous stories: Little Red Riding Hood.

It is the second of the “Stories and tales of the past”, right after “Sleeping Beauty”, of its original French name, “Le Petit Chaperon rouge”. And... before digging into the story, I want to make a little precision about what is a “chaperon”, the word English people translated as a “hood”, but which isn’t exactly that... The first of the two big dictionaries of the era (Furetière’s Dictionary) defines “chaperon” as: an old-fashioned headwear, as much for men as for women. For women, a chaperon was a velvet ribbon worn on their cap, and it was an indication of bourgeoisie”. The other big dictionary of the time, the Dictionary of the Academy, proposes the definition of: A ribbon of velvelt or silk that girls and women who were not part of the nobility often wore on their head up to quite recently - and women of the bourgeoisie were especially noted to wear chaperons.”

Quite fascinating isn’t it? Little Red Riding Hood should technically be “Little Red Head-Ribbon”. Heck not only is it not a “hood”, it is not even for “riding” as the English title suggests - it is not a travelling hood, but just an ornamental, pretty headwear. One more proof that the fairytales “everybody knows” aren’t truly known...

The story of Little Red Riding Hood is very short and simple, so it will be quite easy to sum up. There was once upon a time a young village girl, who was the prettiest of all children - her mother loved her dearly, and her grandmother even more. In fact, her grandmother loved her so much she had a red “chaperon” crafted for her to wear.

One day, as her mother had cooked “galettes”, she said to her daughter: “Go see if your grandmother is well, because I heard she was sick, bring her one galette and this little jar of butter. And so the little girl left to visit her grandmother, who lived in another village. [Note: “galette” is usually translated today as “pancakes” by English people, but a “galette” of at the time actually meant “a small cake cooked under the ashes, usually prepared when the bread is placed in the oven - galettes are usually cooked for children or for domestics.”]

While crossing the woods, she met the wolf who wanted to eat her but didn’t dare - there were wood-cutters nearby. So rather he asked the girl where she was heading, and the “poor girl, who didn’t know that it was dangerous to listen to wolves”, told him what she was doing and where she was going. The wolf asked her if the grandmother lived far, and the girl explained her grandmother lived “beyond the mill you see over there, it is the first house of the village”. The wolf said to the daughter that he also wanted to visit her grandmother, and proposed her a sort of race/game. He told the girl to go one road, while he would go another, “and we’ll see which one of us reaches her house first”. The wolf ran with all his might by the shorter path, while the little girl took the longest path while picking hazelnuts, running butterflies and picking up small flowers.

The wolf arrived at the house of the grandmother and knocked, pretending to be Little Red Riding Hood (he imitated her voice). The grandmother, who was bed-ridden because of her sickness, told the wolf a famous sentence - it is usually translated as “Lift up the latch and walk in”, but the actual sentence is one of the iconic phrases of French fairytales: “Tire la chevillette, la bobinette cherra”. It is a sentence about something being pulled by the visitor, “la chevillette”, and something falling because of that, “la bobinette”, but the exact nature of these two objects is actually unclear, since Perrault seems to have been referencing here the door-technology of humble houses in the 17th century. There have been various theories and interpretations, but the most common interpretation of the sentence is that it is a reference to the primitive form of lock of peasant houses - there was a wooden bar or plank blocking the door that could fall if a visitor pulled on a small rod. What reinforces the use of this type of primitive lock here is the fact that, while this system couldn’t prevent thieves or burglars from entering the house, it was originally created to prevent wild animals from coming in.

The wolf enters and devours extremely fast he old woman “because he hadn’t eaten in three days”. He then closed the door, and snuck into the grandmother’s bed, hiding under the blanket (the part of the wolf putting on the grandmother’s clothes isn’t described when he hides in the bed, but when Little Red sees the wolf he is in the grandmother’s nightgown, so he must have slipped in the clothes without Perrault evoking it) When Little Red Riding Hood arrives she knocks on the door, but the wolf forgets to change his voice for his first sentence. The little girl is frightened by this deep voice, but upon hearing a softer more feminine voice afterward, she blames the tone-change on her grandmother’s sickness. She enters. The wolf tells the girl to put the galette and jar of butter aside, and climb in the bed with “her”. The girl obeys, and follows the famous dialogue.

“My grandmother, what big arms you have!” “It is to better embrace you, my girl.”

“My grandmother, what big legs you have?” “It is to better run my child.”

“My grandmother, what big ears you have?” “It is to better listen my child.”

“My grandmother, what big eyes you have?” “It is to better see, my child.”

“My grandmother, what big teeth you have?” “It is to eat you.”

And the wicked wolf ate the little girl.

The end.

Despite the story being so small, there is a LOT to unpack here.

This tale is, of course, a warning tale. It is literaly the story of what happens when a little girl takes all the wrong steps and does all the wrong things. She speaks to the wolf, despite the narrator clearly painting this as something wrong that should never be done. She accepts the wolf’s game, and despite being in a race, she merely loses time doing all sorts of childish things in the wood. When she arrives at the house, she seems to have forgotten all about the wolf. When she hears the big voice coming from the house, she thinks her mother just has “a cold”, and as she is “surprised” by her grandmothe’s appearance in the bed, all she can do is ask, question by question, why she looks so different... We have a clueless, careless, naive little girl, bordering on stupidity, who literaly walks in the mouth of the wolf.

But despite this, too many people misunderstood Perrault as somehow “punishing” the little girl with this very dark version where Little Red Riding Hood is just eaten and her grandmother too, and this is the end. Actually, when you read the story, you realize the narrative voice takes the girl’s side and is saddened by this whole adventure - the wolf is said to be “wicked” when he devours the girl, and when she talks to the wolf the narrator points out that “the poor girl didn’t know one should never listen to wolves”. In fact, in this very sentence lies the hidden message: this is a warning tale as much for children as for their parents - it is the story of a girl who was “badly raised”, since she visibly was never taught by her mother or grandmother that she shouldn’t chat with wolves in the woods. The very opening sentences describes how much her mother and grandmother loved Little Red Riding Hood - and to describe this, Perrault uses the term “elles étaient folles d’elle”. It is a figure of speech meaning “they were crazy about her” - but in this expression, there is “crazy”. There is the idea that they had a form of chaotic, crazy love for their child, which led them to spoil her: they give her a pretty headwear rather than teaching her about the dangers of the woods. Perrault here clearly condemns the mother and grandmother here, for which the little girl has to suffer. Little Red Riding Hood didn’t break “a rule” per se, since she is ignorant and innocent from beginning to end - it is for her mother/grandmother’s flaws that she has to suffer.

Beyond this first, superficial message of “don’t spoil your kids and teach them the dangers of life instead of trying to make them look pretty”, there is another message, more serious, quite deeper, but just as obvious for those that read the fairytale. The wolf here is a frightening figure because he is a wild beast of the woods and a devourer seeking to eat the human child - but he is also a man, or at least a beat with man-like traits enough to bring to mind modern werewolves. We have here a wolf that talks like a man, that can open and close doors, that can put on human clothes - this disturbing entity breaks all the laws and limits of nature and civilization (the beast becomes human, the wilderness enters in the home, the male becomes female, the young child is devoured...), but also bears in it uncomfortable and frightening sexual undertones.

Because Little Red Riding Hood is a sexual tale, and there is no denying it. If the message was unclear, Perrault explains it in the Morality that follows the tale. To sum it up, it says: “We see here that young children, especially young girls, beautiful and kind, often bring themselves troubles by listening to anybody, and it is thus not surprising to see so many of them eaten by the wolf. I say the wolf, because all the wolves are not of the same kind : Some are courteous and silent, without bitterness and without rage, they are sweet, compliant and friendly, and they follow young ladies, to their homes and to their beds. But alas! Who doesn’t know that these sweet wolves are the most dangerous of them all?”. With this morality, we clearly see the allegory Perrault places in this tale: it is a sexual tale, where the wolf represents the seducer, the man who gains access to the house and the bedrooms of women by sweet words and kindness, but deep down are dangerous, devouring beasts who will destroy the girls that put their trust in them.

And this sexual undertone, beyond the morality and the character of the wolf, can also actually be found in the “little red hood” worn by the girl - aka the “chaperon”. Now, you might recognize the French word “chaperon” in the English word “chaperone” and it is no coincidence: while literaly, “chaperon” was a ribbon to wear on the head, figuratively it was a “chaperone”, as a person. “But then, if she had a chaperone, why wasn’t the girl protected from the sexual-wolf?” you might ask. And here is the trick: Perrault fairytales are filled with games, puns and wordplays on the expressions of the time. Now, the chaperone - which was the older woman who was in charge of watching over and protecting younger girls - was actually called “un grand chaperon”, “a big chaperon, a great chaperon”. But here, what is the little girl sent alone in the woods with? A “little chaperon”. And we find here back the “sins of the grandmother” or “sins of the mother” - as the grandmother preferred to give her granddaughter a “little chaperon”, a mere pretty ornament, a shining red accessory, rather than giving her a “grand chaperon”, aka a chaperone, an older figure that would watch over and protect her, aka the advices much needed in life such as “do not speak to wolves that try to chat in the woods.”

This wordplay becomes extremely relevant when one notes that, in all the versions of the tale that seem to predate Perrault’s, there is no mention of the “red chaperon”. It only came forward with Perrault’s version, and was thus very clearly his invention. The artificial nature of this key element, that gives its name to the story, points out very obviously to its wordplay-nature.

#little red riding hood #charles perrault #perrault fairytales #french fairytales #fairy tales #analysis #fairytales #the big bad wolf #red riding hood

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