#i guess i inherited more from her than i thought but that's a different story

[sortanonymous]

Just remembered this one comment I had on AO3 (kinda forgot the fic) and now I can't stop imagining Elfilis as Elvis Presley.

[helenazbmrskai]

Guide on how to not marry the Northern Duke. [1/2]

Title [Guide on how to not marry the Northern Duke.]

Pairing [Northen Duke! Yoongi x Reincarnated! Reader]

Genre [Fantasy Romance, Reincarnation, World in a novel AU, future smut and angst]

Summary [You need to make an elaborate plan so you can avoid your impending death at the hands of your favourite character so you can’t just sit around and wait for something to happen – no matter how distraught you wake up one day in an unfamiliar bed.]

Words [11,5k ; part 1 out of 2]

Warnings [mistreatment and negligence, period drama, slow burn, mention of blood and drugs, tiny sexual tension]

Rating [+18 overall but this part is a tame +14]

A/N: Guess who’s back again? ME. I’ve been working on this for a lot and I know I already have a similar story on going but I just couldn’t get over this idea in my head. So enjoy! And as always excuse me for the typos.

Masterlist // part 2 (end) // I don't do tag lists anymore I'm sorry!

Every story needs a good start, and this one starts now with an old tale, much older than you.

There’s an ancient fairytale that tells you about the funding of the Empire and it all starts when God left.

Tired of human foolishness and deeply rooted malice he left the world he created to turn around its axis and burn down on its own; famine started to scavenge the continent as war broke out in every corner of the human world. Each kingdom perished one by one until only one was left.

It seemed like humanity would be wiped out permanently in no time but then just when they all thought there was no turning back, a saintess appeared among the rest and divided the continent into four regions with the help of the received divine power. That’s the birth of the empire’s central city where the empress Hyeri ruled over the four divided territories.

To prevent war from breaking out again the saintess turned to the heavens and pleaded while crying out to their maker and hearing her prayers the God who left decided to give them one last chance at redemption seeing the pure heart in front of him.

That’s when the holy prophecy was made.

Each chosen duke was granted unique powers to rule over their territories. However great powers come with great responsibilities. In the end, there’s always a price to pay but that’s the tale of another story.

This is how peace finally settled over the world once more. In exchange for the powers, the dukes wrote a blood oath that prevented them from stealing each other’s powers or waging unnecessary war. However just like every pact it wasn’t perfect. Loopholes could be taken advantage of but momentarily peace was forged.

This is the short version of the founding tale of the originated Kingdom that was taught to the people of the empire throughout generations. You particularly remember these starting lines from the novel you read in your previous life. The introduction is something you often skip through but thankfully you didn’t do that with this one.

The four families who inherited great power were Kim, Jung, Min and Jeon. When you first read the story introduction you thought that it’s quite lame and generic to base the family's attributes on the four seasons. However, seeing one of the duke’s illustrations you decided to read it all.

When choosing a book to read you only pay attention to the hotties. In this case, it wasn’t any different either.

A mysterious and cold duke of the north is something that a girl cannot ignore to save her life.

Each duke possesses an artefact which comes in the form of a ring and different precious gemstones that fit into the depression are named after the four seasons using a dead language.

Nix - means snow, which makes the wearer the lord of winter. The most handsome guy throughout the entire book in your opinion. Next, Saltus - translates to forest which is the symbol of spring. Umbra is shade and Calor is heat. The last remaining ones are autumn and summer. Each duke is the epitome of beauty, and their descendants are no exception.

This is a fantasy romance novel you read before you died in a sudden hit and run accident.

The original story is about an orphan girl Hyo who is the lost daughter of the king. After she’s found – the plot starts as she meets the four archdukes at the annual imperial ball and falls in love with the lord of Spring. Kim Taehyung. A handsome man with good manners and unmatched beauty as he’s described in the book. She’s captured by one look of the male lead’s brown eyes and shiny blond curly hair. Despite their fairytale-like first meeting, their love is not exempt from hardships. Their first obstacle is the villainess Kim Y/N who falls in love with Taehyung at first sight at the same ball and sets her eyes on marrying him but in the end, she fails to murder Hyo and gets beheaded by the second male lead Min Yoongi as an imperial order.

Hyo and Taehyung then live happily ever after and the novel ‘Flowers bloom in the heart of the Lost Princess’ ends there.

You see, dying a second time is not an option even if the one you possessed is Y/N.

You need to make an elaborate plan so you can avoid your impending death by the hands of your favourite character so you can’t just sit around and wait for something to happen – no matter how distraught you wake up one day in an unfamiliar bed.

Even though there’s no chance you will fall in love with the Duke of Spring like in the original novel – things can still go wrong if you make changes in the natural flow of the story, so you need to think this through carefully. You need to think about the plot holes and that the characters you see can be different from what you read in the book as that only tells you one side of the story.

The first thing you need to change gradually is the way the servants and the Duke see you.

The first week when you reincarnated as Y/N you spent your days with a high fever bedridden, you’re not sure if the pain came from the strain of absorbing the real Y/N’s memories or if something else is behind it. Your health is very poor as your medical history suggested, but you get accustomed to the villainess' body step by step. After another week your probation ended so you were able to leave the estate freely again. There were days when sudden headaches interrupted your day and, in the morning, you often coughed up blood.

You ignored it at first because the symptoms seemed to get better with time, and you had no way of knowing if it was normal. You didn’t ask in case someone found it suspicious. The most important thing right now is that you need to focus on staying alive and avoiding your death at the end of this novel – this is what you thought without knowing anything at that time.

As the plot thickens when you least expect it.

It’s not just your weird health conditions your head hurts just from thinking about the actions of the real owner of this body.

You just can’t grasp why a beautiful woman like Y/N would do those cruel things when she has everything she could’ve asked for. She’s a rich girl born with a golden spoon in her mouth, and she gets crazy just because she can’t have a man. It feels unnatural. If someone asks you to choose between life and a man you would choose life without hesitation.

You can have another man but not another life. Er, well – in your case, you do get another one thought but that’s beside the point.

Even before that incident happened with the female lead, she had a terrible reputation among the nobles.

Well – you can’t do anything if you’re not well rested so you will just think about this a bit later. You can’t possibly pull another all-nighter to study how this novel works. You close your eyes to finally get some shut eye when some woman barges into your room without knocking forcefully parting your curtains to let the early rays of sunshine in. The sound of her voice makes you freeze. This uncomfortable feeling suddenly ripped through your body as if a pile of rocks were sitting on your chest not letting you breathe. While you gained some of Y/N’s memories there are still holes in those fragments that you’re unsure of. However, her feelings are so intense sometimes that your body reacts like clockwork.

What you feel after hearing her voice is sheer terror. Who is this woman that even a villainess like Y/N is even afraid of? You can’t open your eyes as if your body is doing it unconsciously, unmoving like a doll to protect itself. Someone is coming closer.

You feel a prick on your forearm and your eyes fly open due to the pain. Her name appears in your mind as soon as you see her face and some of Y/N’s memories flood your head regarding that nasty woman. She triggers something dark in your eyes to appear.

Your nanny, Biwon.

“Wake up. Are you planning to sleep till the afternoon?” Biwon lets out a fake troubled sigh and her eyes are full of arrogance when you meet them you freeze completely at the sight.

“I’m sorry nanny.” Your mouth moves on its own like a broken record. It feels like this is not the first time she wakes Y/N up with a prick of a needle and the apology comes to her like second nature. Y/N’s attitude shows all kinds of trauma of being abused. How is it that this was never mentioned in the novel? While not much was mentioned about how she grew up you would think this is a piece of important information to have.

“Wash your face the duke requested to have breakfast with you for some reason.” She left without giving you any kind of assistance like a maid should do. At last, the water in the basin is ice cold to the touch and murky it manages to wake you up completely from shock.

You’re not just imagining it. Biwon has complete power over Y/N even though she’s the lady of the house.

You knew that the other maids avoided Y/N because of her temperament but to think that she’s been through manipulation and abuse by someone so close to her. Because Biwon is the one who spent the most time next to Y/N ever since she was a child everyone buys her lies. No one pays attention to Y/N, not her father or her brother.

She has no one to rely on in this household.

Biwon deliberately made her isolated in her own home so she could control and exploit her. Her malicious plan is clear to you after observing the situation objectively. What else is there that was not mentioned in the novel? Things might be more complicated than you thought.

However, this is not the time to ponder over this. You need to get ready alone. It didn’t take you long to realise Biwon forbids the maids from helping you so you can embarrass yourself in front of your family. While the real Y/N would have problems with getting dressed and being presentable without help as she’s a noble – there’s one tiny fault in your nanny’s plan – that she has no idea that you’re a modern woman who can wear her own fucking dress and get ready all by herself. She has a lot of extravagant dresses, so you had a hard time choosing but then something caught your eye. This dress has been buried deep in your wardrobe, a solid light cream-coloured dress with an elegant bow in the front. This is the perfect dress.

You do light makeup to match the dress and leave your long hair down after brushing it. While you were getting dressed you saw the countless bruises on your skin and your right arm was full of holes from the needle your nanny used to stab you with to wake you up. It’s good that the dress is long-sleeved. There’s no way the maids don’t know about your abuse since they bathe you. So, your guess is they are either the nanny’s people or they just simply don’t care enough to tell the duke. It’s clear the duke doesn’t care about Y/N so it wouldn’t benefit them to tell him when they could face the wrath of your nanny if she finds out. They think he wouldn’t do anything about it, and you think so too.

You feel compassion for Y/N. She was made to be a villain even if it doesn’t excuse her actions in the end. It’s only been two weeks for you, but she had to endure this for a lifetime.

You’re determined to change her future even more now that you know the truth. You’re going to live for her as well.

Opening the door to your room you find a maid waiting for you to lead you to the dining room as per the duke’s request. She looks taken aback by your neat appearance but doesn’t say anything and just shows you the way.

She dares to walk ahead of you. Even if you want to give her a piece of your mind you hold yourself back, you can’t afford to create a ruckus and be sent back to probation. It’s not that you care about who walks in front of you it’s the meaning of this action that angers you.

You hold back by creating a fist the pain of your nails digging into your palms in half-moon shapes keeps your head clear and controls your bubbling rage. You’re going to show everyone how Y/N won’t bow down anymore. You’re not a doormat that everyone can just walk over.

You’re not going to let everyone disrespect you ever again but to achieve that you need to make a plan and be more patient.

First thing first you need to make the duke care about you to an extent so he will listen to you. Good thing that you know the novel. You might be able to use that information to get what you want. You’re not going to make him like you, you just need to be useful for him to look at you. You’re not sure he would be even capable of liking you in the first place – not that you would want that after he neglected Y/N like that. Talk about loving family, this is just another example of being blood-related sometimes does not matter.

It's not like he’s your real dad anyway.

The dining room is just as fancy as the rest of the mansion. By the time you arrive the duke and your brother are already seated and chatting. The duke is sitting at the head of the table and Seokjin is sitting on his right.

Your tableware is set away from them probably a scheme made by your nanny to keep you isolated.

She must be afraid of why the duke suddenly wanted to dine with you when he usually never bothers to see you. You can’t let this golden opportunity pass like that. You’re going to make the most of it.

“Good morning, Father, Brother. Sorry for being late.” You give them a little courtesy. You’re careful to get your posture nice and graceful like you read in the etiquette book. The nanny purposefully discouraged the young Y/N to skip classes and remain a dumb doll for her to exploit but you’re not going to let her continue to do that.

While your posture is not perfect this will at least show that you’re trying to be as polite as possible.

You stayed up all night for an entire week to study about this new world’s etiquette and history to play your part more convincingly who knew that your knowledge would come in handy in a situation like this? You’re thankful that you decided to study even before you realised the nanny’s schemes.

You school your features to remain passive as you look at the grand duke’s and your brother’s dumb expressive faces. It looks like they are seeing a ghost. Even though you’re annoyed to be bent like that you keep the position until you receive the acknowledgement like a lady should. How annoying that you must bow like that until you are recognised by a man.

“It’s alright. Sit down, Y/N.” The duke gives you a curt nod seemingly flustered that he stared at you for so long. You remind him of his late wife a lot dressed like that. To everyone’s biggest surprise, you take a seat directly on his left side facing your brother.

You remain silent in your seat knowing that the duke’s pride will take a hit if he doesn’t correct the mistake that he didn’t even notice until you sat down. Usually, they wouldn’t care if you sit far away, they would probably think that you were the one who wanted the seat away from them in the first place as a sign of defiance but they can’t deny that you’re the lady of the house so to assume you would sit far away is an arrogant mistake on the servants part.

“What are you waiting for give my daughter a set and bring the food.” Thankfully the duke is just like you expected. He looks annoyed at the servants. His authority is absolute so the maids scurry to bring you some new tableware and bring out the food. The lonely set is forgotten at the rear end of the table. This is the first time you see something so mouthwatering in a while since you were forced to eat in your room and the food, they brought you was not even close to this. Now that you think about it, it was probably some leftover from the kitchen. No wonder Y/N is this thin.

It probably wasn’t even part of her punishment so someone must be stealing the food that is made for Y/N.

It’s hard to control your expression or your body language that is burned into your body by nature. You’re feeling uncomfortable all over that you can’t enjoy the food at all. It’s sad to see how rigid you are in the presence of your supposed family members. You don’t have any appetite even though you feel like you’re starving.

“How are things with Gold Wing? Did you manage to get them to agree with our terms?”

The Gold Wing is under the jurisdiction of the House of Summer. The old man Jung Jeyhun is a greedy man who keeps delaying his son’s succession because he wants to keep his title as an archduke. He’s the hidden boss of this novel. Y/N can’t compare with an evil villain like him. There’s probably no one else who knows he’s backing that trading company. You’re an exception only because you read the novel and know everything about how he wants to be the sole ruler of the Empire. He’s behind many unfortunate events that happen in the novel that no one finds out about until it’s too late.

“No. They’re trying to sell their stones for double the price. Knowing that none of the other companies have that much supply since they bought the rights to the mines.” Your brother looks irritated as if he recalls the meeting with the head of the company vividly.

No wonder they are cocky, they have the backing of House Summer, and they cheated the other rival companies out of the right to produce this type of stone that’s particularly high priced in the first section of the book. This stone is called Stelar which is steel but it’s a novel, so they had to give it a fancy name. Swords here are mainly made from two important ingredients iron or steel, but steel has a longer durability and is easy to craft to different shapes, so they tend to use that instead of iron which is way cheaper because of this fact. The knights used swords made with Stelar but because of the high price, it was hard to come by after the Gold Wing trading company monopolized the rights.

Their goal is to weaken the other three houses’ military power by selling the stones at a high price and getting funds for their territory but it’s not the only reason. The swords they sell are not simply made of Stelar. Steel is an alloy of iron. Iron needs to be mixed with carbon to make steel. They use some steel and put more iron to degrade the quality of the sword which breaks more easily than it should. You remember learning of it in school in your previous life, but these people don’t know of it because the novel has plot holes here and there. Since the novel focuses on the main characters things that are not related to them too much have more freedom to change, and things may differ as the author cannot mention every little thing. This could be what you need to make changes.

The truth that they tempered with the swords that got imported only comes to light when Yoongi investigates the company when he almost loses the battle with the barbarians but that battle only happens when you reach nearly half of the novel. He could tell that there was a difference in quality when he saw the sword break too easily. He made an assumption just by that and the fact that the new sword became heavier due to the added mass of iron.

Even if you feel bad for taking credit for his discovery you need to use that information, he finds out later so you can survive in this household.

“May I speak up, father?” You heard enough to grasp the current situation. You need to speak up before you lose your courage.

“What can you even contribute to this conversation?” Your brother looks angry that he got interrupted. In your eyes he’s not scary he’s just a big child throwing a tantrum when things don’t go his way. You decide to calmly face him even if you have to hide your nervousness by clasping your hands together under the table for comfort. Still can’t control the original Y/N’s physical reactions.

“I don’t think I asked brother.”

The duke raises his hand to silence Jin before he can spit out angrier remarks. The moment you appeared and gracefully bowed wearing your mother’s dress the duke could tell that something about you just became different. The air around you is filled with determination.

He got reports of you acting unusually tame so he asked you to dine together and see it for himself.

Your eyes that only reflected the world around it suddenly became full of will to live.

He’s curious to hear what you have to say. Usually, you wouldn’t speak unless you were spoken to. “Do you perhaps have a good idea of how to deal with them?” He proposes fully giving you his attention.

“The problem is that we don’t have Stelar to make swords for the knights, right? I suggest we find a mine suitable to harvest the stones we need that way we don’t have to depend on the trading company.”

���Are you a fool? Do you think if we could produce it, we would continue to make this ridiculous deal work?” You’re getting tired of your brother always cutting in. You can’t get angry though. The first thing you need to change is how people see you and you can’t get angry because the people around you will call you a temperamental child even if your anger is justified. They wouldn’t care either way they just want to belittle you. You just need to not allow them to do so.

“We have a place like that in our territory that could be suitable. I can mark it on a map if you’d like.” Even though the duke might be suspicious of how you know of a place like that he will investigate either way. This deal is too good to pass up on.

In hopes of discovering a new mine, he will even accept the flimsy lie of you just discovered it by reading some book and looking at maps.

“Alright. I will instruct the knights to check it out. If what you said is true, I will reward you.” You nod your head pleased with the outcome of this uncomfortable breakfast.

In the novel the imperial prince comes across the mine in your territory when he’s running away from assassins and due to his discovery, he gets praised by the king for solving a big problem. However, if you find the mine first that puts you in a favourable position with the other houses and even the king if you give the stones at a lower price making the Gold Wing trading company lose its base customers by making better deals.

Thankfully that painful breakfast comes to an end soon as father’s aid whispers something into his ear. He leaves in a hurry which makes you think it’s about something important and work-related.

Your brother leaves without saying a word so you can finally enjoy your food alone.

Ever since you came to this place you’ve never been this full before, it puts you in a fairly good mood. You even managed to grab the duke’s attention and for once got something more filling than stale bread.

All you need to do is wait until the mine is discovered and now that one thing is out of the way you need to start with disciplining your maids and get your nanny kicked out. Biwon had a good life here up to this point because now that you’re here you will make it a living hell for her, and that’s a promise.

“What did you talk about with the duke?” You’re not surprised to find your nanny in your room when you get back. She looks anxious you can see how her nails are bitten and she slightly thumps her foot. You got back early so if you tell her some half-truths, she won’t suspect you that much.

“He didn’t talk to me at all. He only talked with my brother about work that I don’t understand. I don’t know why they keep ignoring me. You’re the only one who cares about me, nanny.” Good thing that the maids left after serving the meal, you would be in trouble if someone overheard you and you were caught lying. You bury your head in her apron to conceal your disgusted expression when she caresses your head.

You need to act like usual, so she won’t suspect a thing. If her guard is down, it will be easier for you to make your move.

You can easily produce some fake tears for the greater good.

“That’s right, only I care about you. Who else would love a useless child like you.” You bite your tongue to hold back when Biwon hugs you. You agree with her even if you want to break her arms that hugs you like a shameless person.

Biwon doesn’t use needles on you again to erase her marks since you started to dine with the duke. Thankfully she doesn’t realise what you’re planning.

The mine you talked about last time turned out to be true and the duke was very happy to get back at the Gold Wing trading company. He started to make a profit thanks to you, and he even listened to your suggestion of lowering the price to sell it to the other houses. Developing the mining ground consumes a lot of money at the moment but the profit will be greater than ever if it’s finished. You asked to have dinner with them every day as a reward which made him look surprised. He reluctantly agreed when you asked to make your contribution a secret for now you can’t let your nanny hear about it just yet. The duke probably thought he would buy you some clothes and accessories and you will be all set. Unfortunately for them, you don’t care about luxuries especially if it comes from them.

While you would prefer to not eat with them you need to show the staff that you’re indeed the lady of the house. Now they are giving you the bare minimum of respect after the maid got scolded by your father after the tableware incident.

You didn’t think Jin would come after you excused yourself from the meal. Right when you leave the dining room your brother appears halting you in your step and grabbing your hand forcefully to stop you in your tracks.

“Where are you going in a hurry so dressed up?” Your wrist throbs in his hold. That bastard how could he grab the hand of his sister so hard? Compared to him your body is so small you look like a child next to him. You’re not surprised since you were malnourished before. You’re sure it will bruise badly but you refuse to show him that he’s hurting you.

“I believe it’s none of my brother’s business where I go in my free time.” You look into his eyes with confidence. Y/N was always longing for her brother’s love but you’re not the real Y/N and you will never consider him your brother, so his attitude doesn’t bother you at all emotionally. He simply became a person you’re forced to live with and tolerate for now.

If everything is over you will cut ties with them for good.

“You’ve been acting weird ever since your probation. If this is your way of seeking attention from father or I, that will never happen no matter what you’re scheming.”

Using the moment of his surprise you get out of his hold and get farther away from him. Your smile says it all. ‘I don’t consider you a brother so go to hell’. You’re getting angry but you refuse to show him any reaction even if you can’t exactly control the fire in your eyes.

“You don’t have to be afraid of that. I don’t consider people who neglect and belittle me my family at all. I don’t need your love or attention anymore.” You show him your back confidently as you walk away from his frozen form.

“Gaon prepare some indigestion medicine for me. Is the carriage ready?” Jin catches your voice talking to your maid still frozen on the spot you left him.

Your eyes looked different. When you were young you used to beg for his affection always clinging to him but now. Why does it look like you despise him and why does it bother him?

He never felt anything for you for a very long time.

“Yes, my lady everything is like you instructed.” You nod satisfied by the way things progress.

Now there’s only one thing left to do.

You’re on your way to meet with the head of the blacks information guild. The only one who could top the Gold Wing trading company by power would be them. The blacks is one of the largest information-selling guilds – trading only to deceive people and hide the fact that they know everything that can be known throughout the empire.

They have men everywhere. The head is conveniently the second young master of house Autumn who currently stays in House Summer territory. Jeon Jungkook is clever enough to know that information is the most important thing to have the upper hand this is how he was able to survive the battle for succession.

It will be probably dangerous to meet him but you will have to take this gamble on if you want things to work out you need the backing of the most powerful guild in the empire.

Convenient that the duke doesn’t care about Y/N’s safety so you don’t need to play hide and seek with the guards you can do your business without getting interrupted. If you say you don’t need an escort, they back off immediately and let you leave.

Following the novel’s description, you look for a house with a red chimney and a black door away from the main streets. Once you find it you have to knock two then three times until someone asks, “Are you lost?” and you have to reply with “Yes can you tell me where can I find black paint?” - and you’re in.

It’s only a select few that know about this code so Jungkook will be suspicious of how a lady with a bad reputation knows about it, but you came to make a deal that he can’t refuse. You can talk around the fact of how you know about their secret entrance.

As you expected Jungkook came himself to greet you, you could recognise that brown hair and emerald eyes anywhere.

“Please have a seat. I prepared some tea.” His smile is pleasant but calculating. His intentions are clear unlike when you talk to your blood relatives, so you’re surprisingly relaxed in his presence. Jungkook is intrigued by your body language. Usually, people are distrustful of him because of his mask. Your eyes tell him that you know more than you look.

“I have a request to make. I would like to know what this liquid is and any information that you can get on it or the bottle.” Jungkook is said to like straightforward people, so you try to be confident.

Jungkook laughs seeing your confidence. You exceed his expectations he heard that you’re stupid and extravagant with a bad temper, but it seems like his information is outdated. That needs to change he smirks.

He gives you credit for realising he wields information. Usually, people come to his guild to do business. Not many know that the purpose of the blacks is different.

“How much will you pay me for the information?”

“I heard I can pay with information for information. I have something important to tell you anyway.”

“Oh.” People rarely have any information that he doesn’t already know but you look so confident that he has to humour you. “Please enlighten me.” Taking a relaxed laid-back pose he awaits your answer.

“The head of the Gold Wing trading company is the current Duke of House Summer and he has a spy in your guild.” The only reason the blacks are not at the top is because of the upper hand they gain from the spy. No one would suspect that Jungkook’s right-hand man is a spy. He causes the guild’s destruction near the end of the novel. Heartbroken from the betrayal Jungkook is stabbed by him in the end.

Jungkook grips the side of the sofa after hearing your daring words until the wood slightly splits. He doesn’t usually trust people so to think that someone betrayed him feels impossible.

“I’m not saying that without evidence. There’s a tree in the back looking directly at the alleyway if you dig the dirt near the roots, you will find a letter with a coded message it was placed there this afternoon so you have to look for it before sunrise. I swear on my life that if I lie to you, you have the right to kill me.” The only way he will believe you is if you match the sacrifice for your accusation. Your life is on the line, but you know you’re right.

Or that you hope it’s the same as in the novel.

Jungkook instructs one of his men to look for the tree. He visibly pales when he sees the man come back with a dirty envelope. He reads the letter with a face of indifference, but you know he is furious deep inside and somewhat sad. Trust is not easily given away by him.

“Who— ” Jungkook closes his eyes to compose himself. “Who is the spy?” He appears distraught which is normal considering the fact you just dumped on him suddenly.

You hesitate for a moment. You know this information will hurt him, but he is entitled to the truth – and you do this to save his life in the end. “It’s Sam.”

You can tell it hit him hard but you don’t think he doesn’t believe you. He might get angry and it’s really not your place to intervene. However, you know this feeling very well. Being betrayed by someone you trusted. If nothing else you can sympathise with that feeling.

“Please excuse my rudeness.” You tell before you impulsively side-hug him. He’s so surprised by your embrace that he doesn’t try to push you away immediately. You’re so warm and your hand is comforting on his back. He doesn’t know you, but it feels like you understand him to some extent.

He closes his eyes and lets this moment pass by. Hidden from prying eyes it’s just – you and him for this moment.

At last, he composes himself and accepts your request. He even gives you a pendant that’s only given to the highest-ranking customers saying that your information is worth that much.

It’s a pretty pendant with a black snake on it. Looks like a masterpiece.

Thankfully nothing out of the ordinary happened while you were out. You were able to enjoy some snacks when you got back in peace as your nanny was on vacation.

You need to make your move while Biwon is away your plan needs to be done by the time she gets back. Thanks to the blacks information guild – you were able to identify the liquid your nanny made you drink every day — you only had to wait two days to hear from them.

Your discovery is enraging and liberating at the same time.

It helped you put the pieces together and even gave you an advantage to work with. To finally know the full truth of what happened to Kim Y/N. This could be a good explanation for why you couldn’t access all her memories or why some things become hazy the longer you thought about it.

Life was way too cruel for a girl like Y/N.

Now that you’ve set up the stage you just need to wait for the protagonists to arrive.

Biwon seems relaxed after her vacation; she probably enjoyed a luxurious life out of the jewellery she stole from you. You’re getting sick just from seeing her smile. It must have felt good to be able to look down on a noble lady and make Y/N cater to her all this time, exploiting a poor young lady. To think that all those rumours come from her to isolate and degrade her. She should smile while she can you think smirking through the rim of your cup.

Now’s showtime.

The taste of tea is familiar in your mouth. Due to double the dose of the liquid she made you drink each morning the symptoms came earlier than you anticipated. Suddenly getting on the drug after you stopped taking it is a huge risk, but you need to prove her involvement in the crime.

You didn’t think it would hurt this much though. Your head clouded over soon, and your body collapsed on the floor in tremor.

Gaon called the doctor immediately as you instructed and while you were getting examined your other trusted maid planted the evidence in your nanny’s room. It didn’t take long to see Biwon try to escape your trap, but it was too late when the knights found the medicine bottle.

She had nowhere to run to.

You regained consciousness but it was hard for you to open your eyes yet. The pain you felt in your abdomen felt unbearable, but you need to see this through till the end.

“I can’t believe I didn’t notice this. To tell the truth, the lady came to me often to ask for headache medicine.” You could feel the worry in the doctor’s voice. You feel bad for suspecting him at first. He might be the only one to actually care for Y/N in this forsaken house.

“This drug is called blackroot it’s made from a rare flower that was used in a war experiment in the past. The characteristic of the flower is that it can manipulate the mind – it makes the user unable to control their temper and creates hazy thoughts. While it works as a brainwashing technique it has all kinds of side effects such as explosive temper, haziness, headaches, loss of appetite and memory loss. The longer someone takes it the more fragile that person will become.”

No wonder Y/N is this thin. When you first heard about this drug you felt incredibly furious to make her take such a dangerous drug just because Biwon was greedy for things she couldn’t have.

Once the dizziness subsided you were able to open your eyes it seemed like the medicine the doctor gave you had some effect. The pain is still there but your head is clearer.

“I- didn’t do this! I was framed!” Biwon begs on her knees in front of the duke and young master but seeing their reactions no one actually buys that half-hearted accusation. Serves her right.

You made sure to get solid evidence of her crime.

You’re able to sit up thanks to Gaon’s help and you look down upon your nanny with a hard expression.

You cannot believe this is finally over.

Now no one will dare to take advantage of you after this incident comes to light. It won’t make your reputation restored to how it was before but at least it will provide you with a good opportunity to show the people around you that you’re different without having to fear someone figuring out you’re not the real Y/N.

“Have the witnesses come forward.” The maid who is questioned is shaking like a leaf in front of the duke.

“Who served Y/N tea?” Jin comes forward to interrogate the maids. For some reason, he looks livid. It’s probably because of their pride. How dare they manipulate the duke’s daughter a mere maid. – they probably think like that.

“The nanny always prepares the tea for the lady in the morning. No one was allowed to touch it I swear I didn’t know that the lady’s tea had blackroot in it.”

“That’s right, we were never allowed to serve her tea or be present when she made it we would be only called when the lady was about to get dressed.” If they were present at all you think for yourself as you roll your eyes.

“N- No! That…” Biwon looks around like a cornered animal. It’s nothing compared to what you’ve been through. No, you promised the real Y/N that you would not let her go so easily.

“I’ve heard enough. Drag her to the underground dungeon.” After hearing the duke’s command, the knights drag Biwon out of the room. Finally, some quiet. Your head is killing you.

“Everyone leave, now. My daughter needs to rest.” As if seeing it on you that you’re nearly at your limits the grand duke instructs everyone to let you be.

Everyone leaves except for one person. Jin looks torn as he contemplates what to say to his sister.

You know the reason why Jin treated Y/N with contempt is because of that incident in the past. Y/N mad because of withdrawal symptoms from the drug called him a monster. She told him that because of him their mother died, and she even threw a teacup in his face that made him bleed. In reality, she partially blamed him for being forgotten and emotionally abused. After that Jin ignored her altogether. While saying those things are hash and not justified because of the drugs the behaviour of her brother is not something that you can overlook either. There’s no clear line to determine what’s right or wrong. You can’t simply judge if someone deserves forgiveness as it entirely depends on the person who’s granting it.

There are no right or wrong answers.

Their relationship was probably a bad fate. You’re not his sister so you have no intention of making up with him even though he’s wearing that pitiful expression. You feel bad for Y/N but you’re not going to live as her shadow forever. Once this story ends you will leave this kingdom and live as yourself. To make that happen you need to keep your relationship with Y/N’s family distant just like before so you could leave without problems in the future.

“How are you feeling?” Y/N has memories of when her brother spoke to her softly like this. Too bad it’s too late for Y/N to see this. You pull your hand away when he tries to hold it.

“This doesn’t change a thing between you and me. I would appreciate it if you could ignore me like before.” You turn away not inclined to see that pitiful expression on his face anymore.

Thankfully he leaves without a fuss this time.

Things are only growing more awkward as time passes. You made the suggestion of dining with them every day to avoid being punished by Biwon, but it comes back to bite you in the ass now that she’s gone, and no one dares to bother you anymore. You ignore the looks of pity you receive from the staff. They were the ones who ignored and badmouthed you. They have no right to take pity on you at all.

Those who did not try to see the truth don’t deserve to feel regretful.

It's annoying to see the duke and your brother try to get closer to you. They have no idea what Y/N had to go through while they were living in their blissful ignorance.

You wonder if things would have been different if she had been born as a boy in this period. Women are often ill-fated. How tragic.

“Your birthday is coming up in a few months. Do you have something in mind about how you want the celebration banquette?” Your fork freezes in the air when the duke calls you.

While you don’t want a party it would be good to build your reputation. You have no choice but to have one.

“I’ll prepare for it. Thank you for your concern.” You keep your eyes on the food. After taking that double dose your appetite seems to be worse than before. You need to gain some weight, you’re too thin as it is.

“Don’t worry about the budget just prepare how you like.” You’re getting dizzy this is getting bad you overestimated and thought some rest was all you needed. You need to take better care of yourself if you want to beat the final boss of the story. This is about time you meet with your favourite character as well. You need to look your best even if he only glances at you for a second. You’re getting excited just thinking about him.

“Alright. Excuse me I’m full.” You step away from the table to leave and prepare for the upcoming events when you lose your sight for a moment. Thankfully the head butler catches you in time that you’re not faceplanting the floor this moment.

“I’m fine. Thank you.” You push the old man away with reddened ears. This is so embarrassing.

“I’ll carry you to your room.” Your hand automatically holds onto your brother when he suddenly picks you up, to keep your balance. Now you’re really getting tired of their sudden act of affection.

“I said. I’m fine.” You pursue your lips in a frown when he keeps ignoring you to let you down.

“You can hate me all you want. I deserve it but I’m not letting you down.” You’re speechless. At least he knows. It doesn’t matter if he has regrets now that you solved everything.

If it weren’t for your effort and sacrifice things would have been left alone and you would be still suffering without anyone to rely on at the hands of your greedy nanny.

They can feel guilty all they want; it doesn’t change a thing. If anything, you’re feeling angrier about how they think they have the right to make things right after everything that has happened.

It’s bothersome.

“It won’t change anything. No matter how hard you try I’ll never consider you as family again. Not after you and father abandoned me. You don’t know anything about me or how much I suffered. If you didn’t care then don’t care now.” It’s probably hard to hear and somewhat you feel guilty for saying that since you don’t know what Y/N would have wanted but this is how you feel.

You’re torn about what you should do.

This is supposed to be your home when you feel the safest.

However, you can’t remember a single good memory or a time when you felt relaxed in this place. It just makes you sad.

“I understand.” His hand around you tightens just a tiny bit before he relaxes his posture and the hands that hold you gently. At least he’s not trying to come up with excuses. He knows fully well that what you told him was the truth. They have no idea how much you had to suffer since they kept ignoring you. His heart is getting heavy when he realises how light his sister feels in his arms. A woman in her twenties should weight a lot more than this. He’s carrying you with care and gently places you on top of your bed. You have no intention of getting closer to him, but it’s been bothering you for a while ever since you saw that memory. You feel like they don’t deserve your kindness. You wonder if Y/N would be forgiving. If she would be able to embrace them and trust them again. You know you can’t.

“You’re not a monster and I’m sorry for saying that so stop thinking about useless things.” You impulsively grab his hand before he can leave. This is all you can give him as an apology – you know Y/N probably would have wanted him to hear that at least. Something wavers in his eyes. You didn’t think such a small gesture would make him cry. Now that you think about it probably no one said such words to him before. His biggest fear. From an early age, he always heard that his mother died because of him. It shouldn’t be a small child’s fault. It makes you feel like this whole family is just unfortunate.

“I’m sorry Y/N.” Jin holds your hand with shaking fingers. You can clearly feel his tears fall as he pushes his face into your palm seeking some comfort. You don’t know how but you can feel that this apology is sincere. You don’t have the heart to push him away this time.

Just this once you will allow it.

“The captain of the imperial guards shouldn’t cry like this.” You pat his head while he cries. Seeing such a powerful figure crying into your skirt on his knees feels weird.

He hadn’t left for a while and even when he did, he looked reluctant. You could tell what he was thinking without having to hear him say it. He’s afraid that the next time you see him you will push him away and avoid him. Your hand on his head and your words comforted him. He’s the one who did wrong but, in the end, you helped him instead deal with his biggest fear a little better.

He realises that he doesn’t deserve such a good sister as you.

His sudden resolve and earnest eyes make you bite your lips in worry. You know it won’t be good when he suddenly turns around with fiery passion. “I, Kim Seokjin give my oath to Kim Y/N that I will protect you for as long as I live. If I break my promise, I’m willing to die a miserable death.” This is your first time seeing someone give their knight’s oath. His hands are elegantly placed over his heart in a kneeling position and his eyes are fierce and honest. Stupid brother, you’re not the one he should give his oath to!

That was not your intention to make him so motivated. You should really learn how to ignore things in the future if you want to avoid bothersome situations like this. It’s not like you can reject him now either.

After he finally left because of work called you collapsed on your bed.

You can’t believe he gives you the knight’s oath instead of the female lead. He’s supposed to fall in love with her and be the miserable second male lead. You expect that things will be different if you change your destiny, but such drastic changes make you anxious for the future development of the plot.

Thankfully your favourite character was not caught up in the love triangle since his territory is the farthest away from the capital. He doesn’t frequent gatherings because of his inability to fully control his powers, and he has a bad reputation overall because of his war achievements and fearful power. Throughout the novel, he is described as someone who doesn’t care about women and is only fixed to find a way to control his abilities.

Min Yoongi you can’t wait to see him at the upcoming hunting festival.

Everything becomes normal and quiet.

Your daily life is better except for the torturous dinners with your family. Thankfully Jin is busy with imperial work and your father manages his new business and duties as a duke, so you don’t have to run into them too much inside the house.

In two or three days you make a trip to see Jungkook and get useful information and sometimes chat over some tea.

What’s next on your list is to gather personal intel on people who will attend the hunting festival. The fact that this is organised by the Duke of Summer is making you anxious. You remember some crazy shit happen around that time and his main target will be your favourite character. Min Yoongi.

Trying not to look too obsessed with a man you’ve never met before you decided to look over his information last.

There’s not much that could be gathered on him (even by a professional information broker as the North keeps their gates locked skin-tight) in the first place the info that your eyes skim through is less than you expected even with the additional stuff that you know because of the novel is limited mostly to his childhood and main events which is not much at all.

He wasn’t present in all the episodes but when he’s involved – well, things were never good.

You don’t know all the archduke’s special abilities which is a concern. You know Min Yoongi can read minds. The limitation to his power is that he has to touch the person to hear all the thoughts but with malicious intent, it doesn’t even need that.

It makes him the second most powerful ability user since he can detect lies and see one’s true self. Someone has to be well aware of his ability to hide something from him.

His special skill is to tell what the other person is thinking good or bad but that means that he could hardly hear his own thoughts. The world is never silent for his ears and that has its consequences. What little is known of them in the outside world is that all the Min descendants had gone mad at some point in their lives and chose to kill themselves when there was another person that could take over the Ducey or their son became of age if they were lucky to hold on until then. Min Yoongi’s tragic childhood is summarised in a few sad lines in the novel it was not overly detailed, but you remember feeling sad.

Whilst your survival is the priority you want to change Yoongi’s fate as well if it’s possible. Even if he’s not going to madly fall in love with you. You want him to have a happy life and not end as tragically as in the novel. You liked his character a lot. Even when he was faced with such hardships, he never gave up he would never succumb to the same fate as his father, and he held on until the last moment of his life.

You admired his determination to live.

You want to do the same with your second chance and hold on until the last moment trying to change your fate.

Who knows maybe you could overcome it together.

So many scenarios run through your head imagining how you will greet him when you finally meet him, what you will say to him. All of those restless nights couldn’t have been wrong when you’re finally faced with him. None of them could get you ready for that hard cold stare that he shows you.

You practically burst open the carriage door after the chaperone states that you’ve arrived.

Being in the same space as your brother and father acting all cute and considerate for almost four full hours made you want to let the ground swallow you whole and never want to see the sun again.

This is when you first make eye contact with him – or so you think. His eyes visibly slip over your face as if he’s not even seeing you just looking through you like you’re one tree of the dozens curving the landscape. It hurts your pride a lot to be invisible to your favourite character, but you gulp it down and hold your head high when you exit the carriage.

You knew it well that he was that type of person, but it didn’t mean it still did not hurt you to see it with your own eyes. There’s one thing to say he’s not interested in women but in reality, it felt like he’s not into humans – not just women. Hearing everyone’s thoughts might be a reason why he would be so over humans that he doesn’t even want to acknowledge them but damn.

Now that you see him and not just read about him you can tell two things already. One, he’s crazy handsome. The lines that describe how good-looking he is does not give him justice. Two, the lines in the novel are too tame to describe how much he loathes to see and interact with anyone. It’s almost comical how disgust is written all over his face when he has to shake hands with nobles or greet the young ladies.

That face still has many admirers even when his expression is a permanent frown all the time. Most likely to his greatest disapproval, he’s very popular with the ladies despite his bad reputation.

You can imagine how annoying it must be for him. Forgetting how you felt hurt before you even started to feel bad for him. His circumstances are unique and, in fact, no one knows what he has to deal with every single day. Even though you know you don’t really know what it feels like.

You’re contemplating how to approach him to not get immediately shut down or seem too suspicious when some of the ladies have you locked in a circle. Seeing their arrogant expressions, you could already tell what would happen when they finally opened their mouths.

“What a surprise to see you attend this year. Are you even allowed to be outside yet?”

You grit your teeth and smile at them.

It’s a waste to argue with them and you’re not here to let them bully you. You came here to see your favourite character and they are already dampening your mood.

“The ladies might need to check their eyesight soon. I arrived here with my brother and father so if you have complaints about me being here you could always go to them.” You speak with a permanent smile but there’s nothing friendly in your expression as you cross them leaving the circle of hyenas behind you.

They’re lesser nobles of course they wouldn’t dare complain to them. Your family is powerful after all one of the four most powerful people in the kingdom is your father. They targeted you specifically because you were an easy target so far too dumb to attack them with words like they do, and Y/N's violent temper just served the right purpose to belittle her and make her the most hated woman in high society. You’re not going to give them the chance to humiliate you anymore. They are just extras in a novel.

The thought alone makes you smile. Right. You’re the main villain in this novel but you’re going to turn it into your story so that you can be the main character in your life.

Something that you always wanted to try.

The first day goes by without incident. After the second day of the hunting festival starts the hunting begins and activities for both the ladies and men begin slowly but surely following the original plot of the novel.

Until there’s a big error occurring in the middle. You don’t remember any banquet happening to welcome the most influential families. This could mean that it wasn’t relevant to the main plot to mention, or things changed somehow and now there’s a sudden dinner plan made by someone.

There’s a banquet held for the four archdukes and their families and while you’re thrilled that you’re seated right across from your favourite character you were not expecting him to death glare you right in front of your salad.   

To your best knowledge you haven’t even greeted him yet so why does he look like he wants to murder your entire family? You’re unsure.

At some point, you stop avoiding him and look him in the eye but still, you can’t read his expression at all.  

You feel like you don’t have to emphasise that you couldn’t eat a single thing at that dinner in peace.

You jump when a man approaches you in the empty hallway and when you look at him something clicks in your mind, now that you think about it you can recognise this man from anywhere. He’s Namjoon his right-hand man the only person that he tolerates.

“You scared the living shit out of me.” You’re so surprised that you don’t check your language before it’s already out in the open. Your eyes are wide as you look at the man probably thinking that you’re a weird person. Shit. Now you’ve done it. You tried so hard until now to remain in character and not use slang words or bad language.

Which is hard on their own as you breathe and live with words that end in fuck most likely than not.

The struggles of a modern woman. Haah.

“I mean you should not hide in the shadows like an assassin ready to strike Mr. You scared me.” You try to put the blame on him entirely so he would forget your previous words and it seems to work as he’s quick to apologise and state his business.

“Duke Min would like to speak with you. If you could please follow me, I will lead you to him.” You narrow your eyes after Namjoon finishes his sentence. Him wanting to see you is very weird.

Why?

“Does this have to do with him glaring at me throughout dinner?” You take a step back narrowing your eyes suspiciously at the man. Even though he’s just the messenger you can’t help but ask. You and him being alone after you witnessed his personality might not be the best idea even if he’s still your favourite character. You don’t want to die by his hands either.

“He.. the duke has a difficult personality but he’s not a bad person. I’m sure he’s just interested in the lady.” You can tell that Namjoon really believes that but for some reason you can’t picture him being interested in you. Y/N might be pretty but the duke is not that kind of person to be captivated by something so shallow as that. That has to be a different reason why he wants to talk with you in private and while you’re anxious.

You decide its best to see what he wants.

Also, he’s not someone that anyone can just say no to. He will most likely force you to meet him. It might be your best option to get this over with and see where this conversation goes. If it even goes anywhere. He’s a practical person like that.

You’re anxious and excited at the same time as you follow Namjoon just a step behind.

“Who are you?” You’re perplexed to meet with this type of question. He cornered you without warning, both his hands were caging your hip, your backside digging into the edge of the table.

You’re scared and strangely excited to be this close. Your heart is beating heavily trying to break out from your ribcage.

“Kim Y/N.” You reply dumbly while still trying to process this sudden change in his behaviour and his closeness to you.

You were greeting him first and suddenly you’re completely caged in.

“Kim? Is Duke Kim your father?” You would find his furrowing brows adorable if you weren’t so close to witnessing it. His scent is overpowering your senses, and your faces are just a hair's breadth away from touching – your favourite character makes it hard for you to think straight. Air is caught in your lungs when he holds you by your chin tilting your head up to meet with his eyes.

“Y-Yes.” You’re unsure what he wants to hear from you. From the moment you stepped into his office, he kept questioning you without answering any of yours in return.

“Am I interrupting something?” Both of your gazes turn to face a surprised Kim Namjoon standing by the door. He looks exactly like he just got here and witnessed something weird happening. You can’t blame him for it, you’re surprised as well. Min Yoongi keeps acting weird. He looks somewhat bewitched as he keeps looking between you and Namjoon almost bordering to look crazy in your eyes for a moment.

As if he’s in a deep thought about something mind breaking discovery.

Yoongi didn’t hear his right hand man coming at all but what’s even weirder than that is he can’t hear his thoughts at all.

It all started when he tried to read this woman’s mind throughout the dinner celebration but failed while everyone’s else mind spoke to him clearly. He found it strange for her to be the only exception. As if she has a shield around her mind that doesn’t allow his power to penetrate. The Kim family’s power is to neutralize other powers (everyone is aware of it as the family never tried to hide it) but that can’t be the answer since he could hear their thoughts all the same as you have to be aware of the power you’re trying to block but no one knows that he can read minds.

But now upon making contact with her, he can’t even hear what others are thinking. Which could mean her power is even more rare compared to her family. Everything is quite like it was never before. It’s unsettling but on the other hand, it’s quiet and peaceful.

A realisation draws on him that Kim Y/N might be the key to finally learning to control this power of his that has been plaguing his generation of heirs and forcing them to live a miserable life until they either take their lives or become insane. Her power acts like a tranquillizer almost. Tasting this peaceful silence Yoongi’s hand curves around her waist more protectively. Protective of this silence he’s experiencing for the first time in his life.

He will do anything to keep this woman by his side from now on. He comes to a firm resolution on the spot.

“Be my wife.” To say you feel shocked after hearing that would be an understatement. This is not your usual love confession, and you know it. There’s nothing tender in his words or expression if anything it feels like a business transaction to you.

It’s clear he’s proposing an arranged marriage kind of deal where you both get something out of it but you’re not fond of the idea. In your previous life, you never had a real boyfriend whilst you dated here and there. Someone you could say is the love of your life you never once experienced that feeling, and you don’t want a marriage in your second life without love. You decided to do anything you wanted from now on.

“I’m sorry but I have to refuse your proposal. I won’t marry a man I know is not in love with me and I don’t love him either. This is not something I want.” Too shocked to reply you use that time to get out of his hold and get away before he regains his senses after getting rejected. He probably didn’t think anyone would dare to say no to him as he was aware to be popular with the ladies. This just makes you even more unique as it was anyone else, they would have said yes immediately to an offer like that. Namjoon gets out of your way as you leave, his mouth hanging open still trying to process that the man who notoriously hates women suddenly asked for a lady’s hand in marriage and getting brutally rejected by one at the same time.

The door shuts behind you abruptly and Yoongi massages his temple with his hands trying to figure out what he did wrong for you to storm out like that. Was his proposal not to your liking? What does it even mean to marry the person you love is beyond his comprehension.

[thewertsearch]

Ask Comp 13/05

@garnetduodecim asked: I always assumed jack spent the first 4 hours in the troll session, before destroying prospit, destroying Aradiabots, there were A LOT of them.

Maybe one of the Aradiabots got in a lucky shot, and was able to tag him with a weaker, non-God Tier variant of her freeze ability. That'd certainly at least delay him.

@morganwick asked: So, you were talking about Aradia "injuring" Vriska (post/704357246751113217) and comparing Vriska to a fairy godmother character (post/722100305374986240)?

@manorinthewoods asked: Serendipity Gospels is by Tamsyn Muir??? Really? Um, that's… hoo. That was one of the fanfics that I didn't end up liking. Might need to revisit that. Side note: 'Doc Scratch's School for Supernaturally Gifted Adolescents' feels more like something Locked Tomb-esque to me. So that's really… ah. ~LOSS (3/5/24)

I do wonder how similar the Gospels are to TLT's writing style.

Actually, can anyone confirm at what point the fic will be safe to read? I could just wait until I'm reading panels from after its publication date, but if I can check it out before, I will.

@abysswarlock asked: Ooh I’ve had this hypothesis for a while now but you just said something that made me lock in my guess that your classpect is Prince of Doom

The classpect wheel continues to turn!

I'm married to Doom for at least one of my 'sonas, but my Class is still up in the air, since we know even less about them than aspects.

@manorinthewoods asked: As a sort of Part 2 to that sylladex comment - how do you think the Sylladex works? Do you think that Homestuck will go into more detail about Sylladices, or do you think they'll fade into the background as different aspects of the magic system come to the fore? ~LOSS (24/4/24)

I think the latter is a lot more likely. Most aspects (lol) of Homestuck's magic system are there to serve the story first and foremost. As much as I'd love the comic to turn into a treatise on Sburb deeplore, it really doesn't feel like something Hussie would be interested in doing.

The story won't really suffer without, say, a detailed explanation of every facet of alchemy - I just really like speculating, because I'm all about shit like that.

@heliotropopause asked: What are your thoughts on Homestuck's translation convention(s)? As an example, take page 2251, line "Arrivederci, Megido.": Is she writing in something close enough to Earth English to scan as such to the reader, no translation necessary? Is Vriska saying a word in Troll Italian, which gets translated to Earth Italian? Is she expressing a sentiment in her usual language that's best translated as the word "arrivederci" as it's used in English? Has Doc Scratch secretly been translating all cross-species communication we've seen so far?

Vriska's arrivederci seems diegetic to me. If we inherited English from Alternia, it makes sense that some of our other languages might come from there too.

tl;dr: Troll Italy is real 🇮🇹

Anonymous asked: im not one to dip my toes into The Vriscourse but this one piece of analysis i really liked is that vriska is jealous of tavros, that hes had a much easier life compared to her and that hes allowed to be more of a wimp while she has to be the toughest fuck alive or else shell die

It's only one piece of the Vriska-Tavros puzzle, but it's an important one. She'll refuse to acknowledge it to the end, though, because the idea of being jealous of Tavros is disgusting to her.

@obscureaeguran asked: Are there any current theories of yours that you want to be wrong about?

Confident as I am in my Vriska death theory, I don't actually want to be right.

I really like Vriska's character, and I want to see her grow past the worldview that's preventing her from finding peace. I just don't think that's likely, given her current trajectory.

Anonymous asked: 'In what universe are 13-year-olds the people most qualified to make universes?' well per the beta version of homestuck (when hussie wanted to make the whole thing in flash before deciding against it) they were all going to be 10 instead, i think this is the much better option!

How young can we go, anyway?

AU where the Homestuck Babies aren't sent to Earth at all, and just start playing immediately.

@manorinthewoods asked: Have you played Deltarune? ~LOSS (9/4/24)

I have! I was actually replaying it on day one of the liveblog - hence the several references I made to it at the time. That feels forever ago, now.

@bladekindeyewear asked: Jade changed pretty drastically as a person after her dreamself died, if you think about it— demanding Feferi stop using her quirk in chat, standing up to the trolls for the first time, getting angry, to such an extent that Karkat was so surprised that it turned his opinion of her around completely in a single conversation. Even forcing a password system to keep talks linear instead of using cloud visions to do everything out of order. This doesn’t just feel to me like dream Jade being a “different individual”, it also feels like a metaphorical confrontation between her NEW self and her OLD self…

I think it's both.

Jade's been through a lot in the last couple of hours, and she really isn't the same girl who died on Prospit.

Being an oracle of Skaia's visions led to disaster. They showed her that John's Dream Self would awaken, leading her to believe she was finally going to meet him, but neglected to mention that she'd die the moment he opened his eyes - or that Prospit would die alongside her.

As a result, the new Jade seems to have made a decision to completely reject all prophetic information. She'll supply the minimum possible intel to her past self, and no more.

It's clear her Dream Self's death was a catalyst for a pretty dramatic shift in her worldview. She's angry - at the trolls, at herself, and at the world that betrayed her trust. She's tired of being jerked around, and her tumultuous emotions are making her rather testy. Basically, she's sick of all the bullshit, and she won't take it from anyone anymore.

Jadesprite has experienced the same catalyst, and has also come to mistrust the clouds, but for different reasons.

Jade rejects prophecies, in part, because she doesn't want to be deceived - but Jadesprite rejects them out of sheer hopelessness. She just doesn't care anymore.

They both have the same trauma, but they're dealing with it in very different ways - and at this point, I really do consider them to be different people.

And then on a metaphorical level, Jadesprite represents the 'silly', absent-minded childhood self that got Jade into this mess.

I think this taunt from Karkat hit very, very close to home for her, and I'm sure she associates the traits he described with her idyllic days on Prospit. It's part of why Dream Jade is such a perfect target for her fury.

@spyril4132 asked: i beg to differ on the entry item similarities only applying to prospit. iirc, rose shatters a bottle, and dave hatches an egg; both involve breaking open some sort of "shell", and neither are associated with a larger object, which could be seen as similar types of items. (while jade does break a piñata, she does so by shooting it, not by splitting it apart)

It's true that Rose and Dave's object's have some physical similarities, but John and Jade are both summoning the same tree, which feels like a much stronger connection.

Rose and Dave's entry cards also summoned auxiliary items, but they were different - a cabinet and bird, respectively. From where I'm sitting, the link between the two Prospit items does seem unique.

@skelekingfeddy asked: what herptiles would sally and sahlee have as their consorts? i feel like a monitor lizard would fit for one of them…maybe losas has like, turtle or tortoise consorts, what with their long-livedness and the wise sagely vibe and all.

I was thinking pretty much the same thing for Sahlee. Let's say they're Galápagos tortoises, because the Sage gives me Oogway vibes.

For Sally's Consorts, I'm going to get really funky and say they're a type of pterosaur.

@sparten4ever92 asked: The HS version of Megalovania is slept on way too much, the Vriska guitar adds so much to it that the UT version just doesn't have. @sanctferum asked: Finally, MeGaLoVania by Toby Fox (feat. Joren "Tensei" deBruin on guitar)! Would you say that Tavros had an…unpleasant chronological progression? (btw I do love the bit of Spider's Claw that plays during the Vriska segment, which is (obviously) unique to this Megalovania) also, the audiovisual style of homestuck flashes is just really cool imo @mimescantscream asked: You have no idea how long we've waited for the Megalovania

This version of Megalovania was a great choice for Aradia's finest hour - or at least, her finest hour so far.

It's moments like this which are why I decided to stop listening to the albums in advance. If I hadn't first heard Aradia's Megalovania in this flash, it wouldn't have hit the way it did.

@elkian asked: MEGALOVANIA TIME BAYBEEEE! Also, let's go back to that theory you had about Aradia getting more alive, because you NAILED it. @iris-in-the-dark-world asked: i am so excited to see aradia again and finally as herself :33<

She's fucking BACK, baby!

Seeing Aradia smiling for real after all this time is genuinely heartwarming - and with her time-stop attack, she's almost unkillable. It'd take some absolute nonsense to take Aradia out of the picture again, and I think she'll be sticking around for a long time. Hopefully forever.

@grippingtraverse asked: notice any similarities during megalovania between aradia vs. jack & sans vs. player? 0u0

The best I can come up with is that Aradia and Frisk are both time travelers whose signature color is red.

Or maybe Jack is the Frisk analogue, since he's the one wiping out all life in the session, and Aradia is the last foe he faces.

@captorations asked: please consider, with this new information about aradia, what it could mean for her literary descendant dulcie septimus. please also keep considering this as you continue and see more of aradia. i am very normal about both of these characters

Ooh, they do have similar vibes, don't they? They're both doomed, they're strongly associated with death, and they both have a cheerful side that comes out when you don't expect it to.

@duorogue asked: "You have to give Nepeta some credit. The literal first thing she did after this traumatic murder was log into Trollian and report on Jack’s activities." To be fair to her, when I have a bad nightmare the first thing I do is log onto discord

nepeta hopping on mic at 2am to complain about the hat man (the hat man is doc scratch)

@absinthe-and-alabaster asked: when the writ keeper was introduced as fifth exile you mentioned that it was a little fucked up how the king was the only prospitian that was preserved - i just wanted to remind you that no, he wasn't ! on page 1974 we see all the other prospitians that were exiled with the white queen on her ship (including ms paint!) WQ just left them to go wander the desert

I'd actually forgotten about that. So much happened during the Act 4 ending that it completely slipped my mind. I even missed Ms. Paint!

Anonymous asked: Hey, as you noticed, the Dave Coin Split is a plot hole. We've never seen the timeline split because of someone's choice before. Compare to John flying to the seventh gate, there weren't two timelines based on his choice, the timeline only changed because Dave came back from the original timeline and changed it. And of course, like you said in the tags, Terezi shouldn't have been able to communicate with Doomed Dave, including to tell him the result of the FL1P. Have you noticed any other plot holes or things that don't seem to make sense?

While I see what you're saying, it might not necessarily be a plot hole! Certainly the Dave Coin Timeline was created in a different manner to Davesprite's - but that might just mean there are multiple ways to split a timeline, or that there are certain requirements that must be fulfilled for a decision to spawn one.

Because of things like that, it's hard to tell whether something's actually a plot hole, or if it'll eventually make sense in light of later reveals.

This is particularly true for aspects of the plot involving time travel, like the one you just described. Like, remember before I learned about Doomed Timelines, when I thought Davesprite broke Homestuck's predestination rules?

Anonymous asked: You said "God Tiering is just another way to inhabit your Dream Self," so do you think the things that Dream Selves can do (such as Jade growing extra arms) can be done by God Tiers?

I never really thought about that!

I think it's definitely possible. God Tier bodies can fly the same way that Dream Selves can, so other powers might transfer, too. Maybe the only reason Vriska, Aradia and John aren't shapeshifters is because Jade hasn't taught them to how to dream up extra limbs.

She might be one of the only Dream Selves who've learned how to shapeshift this fluidly. Logging thousands of hours on Prospit has its perks!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

a thought 🤔💭

Consider this post an offshoot of this one!

A lot of the world lore we receive comes directly from the 22-student main cast of NRC. However, this information they provide us with shouldn’t always be taken at face value 💦 Characters can be unreliable narrators; they won’t be 100% honest with us just because we’re the player.

There are points where they speak with sarcasm (so it negates the words they actually say). This happens a lot with Leona’s lines. Other times, characters intentionally say something to avoid implying something else or to cover up a less savory truth. An example of this may be Azul, who is highly concerned with maintaining his self image. Therefore, not everything he says may be entirely truthful, as the words may be intentionally changed to preserve his self image. We need to more carefully parse through and determine what is true and what is false or insincere of the information they disperse to us. It’s much easier, of course, to get a sense for their intentions by listening to their voiced home screen lines rather than just reading the text snd comparing it to their facial expressions, but voices aren’t always available.

Something else I was thinking about that goes hand-in-hand with this is how different backgrounds bias clouds the information given out or can provide an incomplete sample of the TWST population. For example, if you think about it, NRC only has ~800 students and we only see 22 of them. That’s a very small fraction of the total population of Twisted Wonderland (the whole world)—not to mention that almost 75% of those 22 come from at least upper middle class or at least “special” or privileged families:

Riddle’s parents are both medical mages, with his mother being particularly well-known in their hometown’s community. He had the privilege of studying magic since he was very young (which is notable since education is typically general and does not include magic unless you specifically go to a school for it like NRC).

Cater’s dad is a banker. I’m guessing he has to be pretty high up on the food chain to be traveling all the time (and far enough to separate Cater from his friends every time they do), as a regular low-level banker would stay put at one bank location and devote most of their time there.

Leona is a prince, and so is Malleus. Whether they are crown prince or not doesn’t matter because they still receive great educations and access to great funds either way.

Azul’s mom owns and operates the most famous restaurant in the ENTIRE Coral Sea. His stepdad is also a lawyer.

The Leech twins’ father has important connections and is highly influential in the Coral Sea; they are probably loaded because of this. (Popular fan speculation is the Leech mob family.)

Kalim’s dad is a wealthy trader and he is related to royalty; as the eldest son, Kalim is going to inherit the business. The Asim family’s enormous wealth is mention several times over in the main story, voice lines, vignettes, and events.

Jamil’s family is also said to be well-off.

Vil is an A-list celebrity and his father is as well.

We don’t know the specifics about Rook’s family, but they must be influential and deal in some kind of international business, as Rook mentions they have villas and warp pads (which require special clearance for) all over Twisted Wonderland.

Idia and Ortho’s family legit runs a secret government organization that studies blot. Idia himself is a child prodigy, and is set to become the next director after his father and grandmother.

Lilia is a renown war general and was close friends with his country’s crown princess and her spouse. He lives humbly, but he still has highly influential connections that a regular person wouldn’t.

Silver is Lilia’s adopted son, so by extension, he comes from a privileged background. Even if he technically grew up in a hut in the middle of the woods and didn’t live luxuriously, he still has Lilia’s social connections.

Sebek’s parents are both dentists and do you know how much money dentists make—

Ace, Trey, Jack, and Epel come from normal income families (excluding the portion in book 5 when Epel said his family’s farm has fallen on hard times).

Ruggie comes from extreme poverty while Deuce’s family has had financial issues due to being a single parent household.

And that’s not even to mention that NRC is all-male and mostly 16-18 year olds, thus skewing the perspectives we see in a “male” and “adolescent” direction. This will naturally limit the scope of how they see the world and how they speak about it, even if the characters themselves don’t intend for it to happen. In fact, I wonder if part of the reason the NRC boys aren’t open to accepting help or being open with others when they’re struggling isn’t purely a school-exclusive thing. Maybe it’s because 1) teenagers tend to be largely egocentric/focused on themselves anyway, and 2) society largely discourages men from showing “weakness” and NRC happens to attract particularly prideful students 😭 but the most obvious example of background limiting scope of perception are definitely the super sheltered, super wealthy characters (Malleus, Kalim, etc.).

Just getting our information from them won’t be entirely accurate to how the rest of the population acts or perceives things. We cannot 100% rely on what we know of the TWST boys’ behaviors to assess what everyone or everything else is like.

[camellia-salazar]

Ed Edd n Eddy Pony Redesigns.

Ed Edd n Eddy; Friendships are Jawbreakers. (Ed Edd n Eddy rhymes with My Little Pony)

I did this last month, but for some reason put off posting it until now.

I was into both shows at the time, so it was easy for me to understand the characters as well as the rule set of the MLP universe.

I would tell you each explanation of their cutiemarks, but maybe in another post. For now, I'll explain at least a few distinct facts about each of them.

Ed: Him and Sarah's family are relatively stronger than the average earth pony thanks to them actually being hella strong in canon. AJ would be tripping on the sight of Ed casually lifting a boulder.

Edd: Does pretty well with certain spells, less than Twilight and Starlight, but more capable than most unicorns his age. It takes a lot of energy to even do them, tho, like teleport.

Eddy: Pretty much what Scootaloo has when it comes to his wings. A lot of his insecurities are from his lack of flying. He can barely hover for about 3 seconds but ultimately crashes hard at the end. He blames it on not being taught.

Kevin: Not many ponies ride bikes. He's one of the exception. Wanted to be a Wonder Bolt at one point, but eventually dropped it on account of the day he earned his cutiemark. (I'll explain eventually).

Nazz: Like all unicorns, her magical ability depends on her cutiemark/special talent. She can spark up visions that resonate the stories she would tell. She was also trained in defense magic to protect the kids she would babysit along with herself.

Rolf: His family is the only one that have a stipe across their torsos. It just develops like a cutiemark, but only when you figure out the role you play for the family. So basically, there's a little more pressure on this kiddo.

Sarah: If my pony version would be a version of the show, she and Jimmy would earn their cutiemarks at around season 3. She would be a teeny tiny bit more empathetic, too, since she's a pony now.

Jimmy: He and Sarah were a lot like the CMC prior to their cutiemarks. Mostly inspired by the fact that they act like so in canon, always trying new things essentially. He also struggles with his magic like Sweetie Belle did for a while.

Jonny 2×4: He acts a lot like Pinkie Pie and often would stim by bouncing on his tail. Also, much like how I thought of Sarah and Jimmy, he would learn to fly later on, but most likely the end of season 2, beginning of season 3. Most likely, the former.

Plank: Was supposed to be an imagined pony, but idk if I want to keep that or have him be a dragon. He would give off griffin vibes at times, tho. Idk. Maybe I should just draw his face like the OG so that the others would keep guessing.

Lee Kanker: I couldn't think of her with normal mare hooves, so she inherited her dad's hoof look. Rather, she shaved it, or it was just developed that way is pretty unknown. I thought of the latter at first.

Marie Kanker: Much like Kevin, she loves cloud bucking. The only difference is that she loves it while he sees it as more of a chore. She would often get away with chores because her mother would tell her to. But even then, she would have fun doing it.

May Kanker: Most would be threatened with her magic being red, that is, anyone but her sisters. Not only would anyone know it's her, but also red magic is usually frowned upon. The judgment doesn't bother her, tho, giving the fact that she's used to it.

Eddy's Bro: He got one of the biggest pare of wings anypony had seen on a pegasus. Because of his huge wings, Eddy would have another reason to not only look up to him but also envy him. Stupid bro taking all the flight genes.

So that's it for now, I went from EEnE to other things, so it'll take some time before I get back into EEnE again.

Thanks for reading all of this. Have a good one. 👍💖✨️

[angels-are-sinning]

thoughts on how the riley family made simon instinctually latch onto soap.

something about how the generational gap is during simon and his own parents. i think his grandparents -- experienced the world war(s), of course, and from what i've seen from those parents and their children they aren't very affectionate.

they don't normally say "i love you" or display affection with hugs and kisses. maybe it's cultural differences or something. from what i see from that generation, they're more reserved and withdrawn. they leave their children to fend for themselves in a way. like if you think about those stories of immigrant parents and how they don't really say I love you but show their love in other ways. maybe not verbally but physically. in other means.

i suppose i think that way for simon's own parents too; when you read the comics, you don't see affection shared between his parents or himself, but he holds his mother in a high regard.

there's this wonderful headcanon that's about how "ghost doesn't say "I love you" a lot." and i agreed, since i think when he loves someone, he doesn't say he loves them more so than he shows he does care for them. acts of service and stuff. I attended a funeral of someone's mother, who lived through the great depression and second world war. her daughter talked about how her mother only hugged her once in her life, at least when she could remember -- and that was when she graduated medical school. i think maybe the riley family was like that too, even if simon's parents weren't conservative (they were shown to be previous punks Back in the day ((and punks were political)).) they still were Conservative in raising their children.

but to add to the angst, i don't think that simon handled it very well. i imagine him to be touch-starved, even if he doesn't like to say it or admit he needs the company or presence of other people to be around with, to feel safe. i think he was very quiet and shy when he was younger, keeping to himself more, and not one for social crowds and public events. keeping his distance. but i think a part of him longed for a family, a loving one, like the ones in the sitcoms with loud laughter and many jokes which were popular back when he was a teenager. i guess maybe that's why he was also drawn to the 141, seeing them as his family in a way, that he couldn't have, because his actual family and his parents were the type who .. Needed to be asked if you wanted any sort of affection with them. and i think simon's too embarrassed to ask.

to add to the angst: he knows his parents do love him. he's grateful. he has a house. and he has food and a good education and clothes. but he desperately craves love, warmth, attention, things that his parents did not/or could not provide for him. but even if they do love him, love is useless if it cannot be understood by the recipient. he feels guilty that he feels like this, that he needs More of what they've already provided for him.

bonus points if maybe his parents (or at least his mother) worked really hard out of destitute poverty and is stretched thin to give her children a comfortable life, but never really said anything about it.

(((i like the idea of his father was from some wealthier means, but was kind of shunned for marrying someone of a lower class and thus unable to inherit or was excluded from the high society his childhood offered Etcetera because of his "relations".

A marriage for love that was doomed to fail from the start. How his grandparents on "that" side of the family were right about his father.

Simon got hit with the double combo: working class background trauma (you hurt me so much but you broke your back working for me to have a good life) from his mum and the generational trauma (controlling rich parents) from his dad...

it also makes it easier for simon to instinctively care for his mother more than his father because his father Does have somewhere to go back to, if this family fails. he can easily rebuild with another woman and have other children with her. but maybe his mother has no one except this family.

so soap comes in. soap, gaz, price, the 141. somehow he feels at home with them, how they feel more like a family than the one he had. his house was relatively quiet. not many conversations shared during meals. some brotherly bonding, sure. but his father was usually absent (for work) and his mother was always busy, or very tired after work that she couldn't do anything else when she got home.

but the 141?

they were there for him. gaz was there by his side and elbowing him whenever soap made a joke. soap, the sunshine, always cheerful. price and his fatherly nature towards the 141, as if they were his children. his to nurture. his to protect. i think maybe that's also why ghost is more drawn to price than his actual biological father, because price Acts like an actual dad. deep down, he's been longing for this. touch starved. aching for some sort of warmth and affection, even if its just a shared look or a graze of the hand. he craves touch. he craves for attention, after being withheld from it for so long.

[sheeparuu]

I’ll call it Severed link au for now.

So I was always a sucker for a bad ending and I wanted to put out a few ideas cuz I thought it would be fun. Yes it started from Linked Universe since I’ve seen people make their own versions and I thought it would be cool to do it too. Also, English is not my first language.

Games I’ve finished:

1.  Sky: Inheriting a god’s power after defeating them is not something Link would have expected to happen after stopping Demise. Still, if the corruption of his mind and body is not enough proof of that, his old home falling out of the sky might be.

2. Twilight: Having a pointy chunk forcefully jammed in one’s brain is bad, using it to keep switching between hylian and beast form is worse, loosing their mind the more they shift is the worst. At least he might be able to get a position as Ganon’s lap dog.

3. Wind: One would be surprised how hard it is to kill a parasitic entity, especially when it takes over your body as a host. Still, after such a gruelling fight, it might remain inactive for a long time, licking its wounds at the bottom of the sea.

4. Spirit: When the hero fails saving his best friend and end up having to swear allegiance to the demon lord inhabiting her body, everything seems to be going to hell. But having that fight with the said demon awaken something from the sea might be just as bad.

5.Wild: Sometime even if a friendly goat amputates your arm, it might not completely remove the malice from your blood stream, or stop it going to your brain. It might just slow it down enough for you to realize that something is taking over you from inside out.

Games I haven’t played/ finished but I tried to research:

6. Losing your uncle, the girl of your dream and having the path to Lorule closed might give someone things to grieve about. Hoarding magical items and knowledge for the purpose of “keeping the people you love safe” is also bad. Being swayed by the dark magic to the point where turning people into stone to “protect them” is, you guessed it, bad.

7. Time: Once a certain evil entity realizes that the kid carrying godness power is a better target than a mere Skullkid it might just have to switch hosts. Maybe if the other masks the “hero” carried weren’t splitting his mind like hair ends he could have stood a chance.

8. Four: Sometime allaying with the wrong side, even if you plan to change sides once you get the upper hand, might lead to actions that you can never forgive yourself for. And sometimes the shame grows to the point you can’t even face the three other versions of yourself, even when they are fighting the big bad of your world. And sometimes when they lose, you might feel the most vulnerable you’ve ever been.

9.Warriors: Maybe if the portals Cia chose to open lead to worlds were the heroes won their adventures, the story would have been different. Maybe if she never realized that Link wouldn’t be hers, even by force, she wouldn’t have turned him into a puppet king. Maybe if his mind wasn’t completely aware of everything around him, while being completely disconnected from his body he wouldn’t have had to agonize like this.

10. Hyrule: Sometimes when a the kindness and heroism of a child is rejected by the entire world and the cult that’s following him takes a much more manipulative approach instead of trying to kill him, it might just end much worse for the common man.

Notes: I always liked the idea that heroes are not purely good and always getting the good ending, and that if their life had just enough differences they would have failed/turned to the dark side. I mostly thought it would be cool for the characters to have a “failed” version and in my head they could serve as a “self discovery journey” for the og heroes. Like having to compare yourself with your worst version would cause some major introspection.

P.S: Yes I added Spirit since I think he and Wind could have some really cool dynamics. Also if someone already did the idea before me I'd like to know.

[jackdaniel69nice]

Inktober 12/2024 “Wish”

I reeeeally struggle with this prompt until I remembered another story (that has an au within it) I made. I always get unreasonably upset seeing aus where dark shadow simply doesn’t exist even when tokoyami is the focus. Taking dark shadow out of Tokoyami’s existence would completely change his upbringing and likewise his character, he wouldn’t even be tokoyami without knowing dark shadow. (You can compare it to bakugo being taken out of Midoriya’s story, but even worse). So this is sort of a vent story where I make tokoyami suffer and also see how his personality would differ.

Tw for suicidal ideation and other bad shit. This is not a nice story. It is slightly self indulgent and vent too so maybe my feeling are skewed about what is most likely to happen idk

This story is based off that episode in adventure time with prismo and the farm world. Our story starts with a girl (13yrs old) who has the power to grant wishes, reality bending wishes. Her quirk is so powerful a lot of people want to get their hands on her but she always manages to get away by making their wishes backfire on them. She is wanted by the hero’s to “keep her safe” so when Tsukuyomi (16-19yrs old) finds her and somehow manages to catch her gaseous form she offers him a wish for her freedom. There are the usual rules about wishing that you cannot kill, ask for love, excetra. She is based on a djinn or genie so the wisher gets 3 wishes (I guess she’s kinda based off Alluka from hunterxhunter). Tokoyami is smart enough to know that’s a bad idea, nor does he even have anything he wants to wish for. Dark shadow on the other hand…is more easily swayed. Their wish is such:

“I wish I never existed, and fumikage had a normal quirk that was easy to control.”

…

Yeash, self esteem issues much.

When shadow makes their wish they are sent to a sort of limbo or liminal space that is a large white void. The girl also joins them there and together they watch Dark Shadows alternate reality play out.

It becomes increasingly obvious that dark shadow’s intention to create a better life for fumikage is not working out the way they wanted. They thought he would have more friends without a scary shadow demon for a quirk but instead tokoyami is more reclusive and timid than ever. Tokoyami was always bullied for his interest in the darkness and when they were little dark shadow learned to defend him from those bullies. Without dark shadow he simply does not fight back because he wants to avoid getting in trouble. Which leads to the bullying getting worse and still being treated like a freak. For what little friends tokoyami had made, they were usually the result of dark shadows more outgoing personality. So they arnt around either. The obvious issue is without dark shadow tokoyami is alone and suffering.

Otherwise Tokoyami’s home life isn’t much better. His mother is too overbearing and putting stress on him to be perfect. He doesn’t have ds to help mitigate that stress through venting, reassurance, or even trying to tell her off. Even when dark shadow was sure his relationship with his father would be better, tokoyami has pulled away from him and become bitter since he won’t help with the struggles against his mother.

Eventually in middle school the bullying escalates to extreme assault that leave tokoyami in the hospital a few times. No one does anything to help, he is (once again) in this alone. Tokoyami eventually snaps, but instead of becoming violent…he tries to end his own life.

He survives but is put under suicide watch. Everyone finally seems to notice the decline of his mental state so he drops out of school and moves in with his aunt. She is the one who inherited Tokoyami’s grandfather’s homestead. So now he lives in the country more isolated than ever, at least his aunt seems to care for him well. He can’t help but wish there had been more to his life though…

This is about caught up to Tokoyami’s current age. so now dark shadow has been shown the error of their judgement. To top it all off the djinn girl shows how even though dark shadow was never able to directly hurt anyone in this timeline there were people who they never saved as well. From all the way back to shadow protecting other kids from bullies to people they saved in their hero career, more people ended up hurt by their absence. They are a blessing to this world, and don’t you forget it.

Dark Shadow tries to revoke their wish, which is perfectly successful in sending them back to their own timeline. They return to the exact moment they made their wish but unfortunately tokoyami still heard what they said and is very upset and panicked. They both end up crying a looooooot.

As for djinn girl she actually learned a lot about family who loves and supports you. She has a younger brother who has been searching for her but she had been avoiding him to keep him safe. Tokoyami lets her go and she goes home, the hero’s keep an eye on her from afar. They know they’re no match for her power.

But before she leaves Dark Shadow uses their third wish to get a sandwich :)

As for the fate of the alternate timeline, well…only time will tell ;) ;)

Was that too cheesy?? Sorry

[adoriels-tears-if]

('Guess who back? Back again? Me! Tell a friend.' Time for my version of Elianna and Mc relationship analysis.)

From what I took from the QA and the story so far like my past and future mc she had inherited something I like to call "I never said I make good decisions just that made decisions." Granted mc wasn't a planned pregnancy as I doubt there is any type of elf protection to use that won't give your nonelf lover pregnant other than playing the worst version of gambling with the house having 0.0001% of winning of course eventually they were going to lose at some point.

I think the worst part is it seems like since they were both surprised this happened they both didn't have a general game planned if the worst were to happen. So both Elianna and Ash shrug and worked on the not thought-out plan of Ash leaving his soulmate and child alone while flashing himself with the forget-me-nots stick to forget them and parts of himself in case the worst were to happen. While Elianna becomes a single mother in the female version of full house. (Full house is an American old sitcom where the father I think lost his wife so now him and his brother-in-law and best friend work together to raise his three daughters.)

Pop ⁹pThis plan isn't really the best but it's a plan questionable at best but so far it's been working. I think readers can argue if doing this was the right decision or not but the facts remained no one else had a better idea, none of her best friends argue against it and if they did it was in the past before mc was born so it doesn't count. (Note I'm not counting Elianna getting abortion...yet as that hasn't anything to do with deciding to hide everything about Ash and going into hiding to protect mc.)

I don't know who first came up with this plan but either way Elianna is a stubborn person sticking through the course even if it hurts her relationship with her own child she admitted that this decision of protection over all else is the right one. (She will bite her in the ass later.) I don't think she even knows at first what she is risking at first when barely talks about Ash (something I think she has a hard time doing as she misses him dearly, she is not a really emotionally open person and three she doesn't want mc to hurt more by knowing him and if mc gets kidnapped.) which of course alienate mc and Ash barely stand bridge of understanding.

Let's talk about Elianna's mother, we don't know much but she doesn't hold any motherly instincts, has lots children she probably never met or even cares about and is cold towards her child as she never raise Elianna only willing give her up without a second glance back. (Though you can argue both made mutual decisions to cut tides.) The scars which Elianna's mother made definitely bleeds through her own parenting with her child. She obviously wanted to be different from the woman who 'raised' her but choosing a non human lover— just like her mother except she was prostite while her mother chose to walked she accidentally walked the same path of her mother except differently.

Elianna's mother never cared (or some say didn't know how to love her children.) about her children. She had many but she prostitute so it wasn't like she could grow anytype of relationships with them if she wanted as time is money. Eliana is trying her best to be a good mother, it's good she is always thinking about her actions as shows she truly cares about her child if she having doubts if she becoming like her own mother. The main problems is living a life of lie is going to further break mc. MC has no identity and no self-esteem as everyday they must hide their ears and pretend that their mother isn't their mother. Resentment, isolation, self-hatred are components she is festering within her child unknowningly only when she saw the look mc had when she had them pretend to be an adopted child she felt guilty.

But that guilt can't be enough, Elianna has gone too far with her decision and she can't look back now, even if destroy MC's mental health at least mc will be 'protected' I think that's one of the reasons why unlike Tobias she doesn't tell mc anything or explains anything because she doesn't want feel guilty or doubt her decisions if she begins to doubt her decisions that will break her as realizing you put tremendous pain and suffering on your child for no reason for years will break her. I think that's why Elianna keeps telling Ash (probably herself) mc will understand when they get older we can ask forgiveness later — Will mc accept their forgiveness is an answer only the readers can decide. This is no more prominent when mc gets kidnapped because she never told mc of the threats and mc over hearing talks over other children like them being kidnapped lead mc to either stupidly use themselves as bait or try to hide only to get kidnapped later...either way it's Elianna's fault and this is worst horror she could ever imagine her child to go through —the question remains will Elianna learn from this mistake and open up more with them or will this push her to double down?

Harlem ! DEAR ! 🙃❤️

Can I reassure you that Elianna spends whole nights wondering if she's doing the right thing and crying? Can I tell you that after the events she's seriously considering having a long, deep discussion with Mc?

Can I tell you that she'll probably cry? And Mc too?

May I ask if you'd be interested in becoming a psychologist? Everyone needs a good therapy. Myself included.

[heliphantie]

“Bubo Marquez, what it is, dark magic?”

Local fauna enthusiast has discovered an exceptional specimen.

Local goddess of flora has inherited gene that makes one falling for nerds.

A lot to say about Bubo under ‘read more’…

Bubo! The man who was cut from the story and replaced by cactus:D

I believe real reasons for it is that his storyline would’ve been excessive for already crumped timing of the movie. Sure, in concept art his and Isabela’s couple looks like comedic stereotype, but then, underlying theme of the story is how deceptive surface picture in human relationships (and humans in general) can be. Aren’t Pepa and Félix embodying a cartoon duo cliché (a stocky man and tall, often spindly woman: Boris and Natasha, Popeye and Olive Oyl, Gomez and Morticia, you name it) as well, yet they have enough personality and chemistry to feel like full-fledged people in genuine relationship. And it’s not like Disney had problem with pairing statuesque confident woman with dorky/nerdy man just not so long ago: Captain Amelia and Dr. Doppler, Kida and Milo, Sgt. Calhoun and Felix Jr. … I’ve had written here my thoughts on this plot point as it appears in revealed animatic of scene: there is no much further context to it, but from what the scene discloses, it may create unfortunate impression of Isa’s character, as she seemingly tries to ditch her family and elope with somebody who can promise her future and allows her to indulge in her interests rather than maintain a respectable image she doesn’t want. Compared to her eventual storyline she appears more egoistical, and her feelings for Bubo seem self-centered too, as she only talks about loving what he loves in her. So, based just on that scene only, it could give Isa rather unsympathetic air and hurt her character arc (as it doesn’t reflect faithfully on cultural values it’s intended to portray). But her arc, I suppose, was intended to evoke sympathy after all, as, amidst all the comedy bits, the scene implies genuine and deep affinity between two (and, as another storyboard for epilogue shows, Isa’s happy ending did involve getting married to him). I guess it was decided that focus on sibling and intergenerational bonds was more pivotal for the message, thus any romance got sidelined as it was (even though different romance plot was squeezed in, it’s got even less room for development). /And, after all, love story is in the heart of the plot, it just deals with its consequences rather than blooming stage of it./

Back on the subject of stereotypes: well, yes, scrawny nerd type and model beauty together is an odd pair that may rise brows and ill suspicions in real life (presumably) and taken as joke in fiction, not particularly fresh too. But the catch in this particular case is, in all production materials and in the movie itself, it’s implied to various degree, Isa is a nerd too, by her nature. in concept art, she’s shown with books in hands (only her of all characters), and her song shows she’s knowledgeable of botany far beyond her typical repertoire, and it’s strongly implied the magical gifts stem from one’s deep inclinations. /It also stealthily upturns the presumed dynamics of three sisters: gorgeous one is really a Brain, while Luisa, a sensitive one, is Beauty, and finally, strongheaded and determined Mira (presupposed “Brain” of trio) is a figurative Brawn./ The scene from the animatic, in its turn, implies Bubo may be just as much into zoology (fearless in the woods and, that, I guess, why he has these animal urinе samples). So, romance or not, they apparently have something to see eye-to-eye and grow mutual affection over it. And the scene is quite essential in showing a gist of his personality: smart, brave, bit of eccentric, - enough to see him as likeable charismatic figure without needs to question what may be so charming about him. /Quite obviously, after he was cut, a lot of him went into final character of Bruno; he is basically just younger (well, not *smaller*) bespectacled Bruno sans all the gloom and drama./ Inner kinship under contrasting façades makes effectual portrait of a functional couple, I think.

Also, his name, which is likely a nickname, referring to his oversized glasses (Bubo is Latin and Spanish for “horned owl”.) Emphasis on eyeglasses again, like in case of Mirabel, a metaphor of “seeing beyond the obvious” through the movie. And owl is a symbol of wisdom, of course.

TL;DR: In this house we respect Bubo Marquez. I’ve finally come to giving tribute to him, at last. (This is not the last you’ve got to see of him, I gotta warn you.)

All the butterflies are based on actual species that can be found in Columbia, even though I didn’t check on correct sizes and a habitat of each, sorry for that. Hey, it’s all magic after all.

The last, related to this piece of fanart of mine: Bubo is said to be an outsider from the big city who had arrived one day in Encanto, in my version he is, perhaps, born inside the village (like Agustín, who has ancestry from big city) and was a friend of Isa in their adolescence, but eventually left Encanto to see the world. Maybe he even suggested Isa to consider joining him, but she was adamant to stay… They said goodbye, their feelings for each other left unexpressed.

[goldrushenthusiast]

What do you think happened between Snow and Tigris?

oooh this is a good question!!

I believe that Tigris found out about Lucy Gray, about Dean Highbottom, and most definitely about Sejanus.

I don't think it was all at once though. We know that Coriolanus tells his cousin pretty much everything (the kiss with Lucy Gray, the death/murder of Bobbin, things like that), and that Tigris tells him pretty much everything back. Coriolanus acknowledges the sacrifices Tigris made to help him, and while he is grateful for that, he also sees himself as the primary caretaker of the family and is weirdly protective of her, ex. his reaction the conversation about possible prostitution in the first few pages, how she mustn't tell people what she thinks of the games, things like that.

Coriolanus sees Tigris as one of the only ties to his childhood. His protector, his cousin, his only true confident. He sees these differently than her. Tigris had to grow up fast, and her care for Coriolanus is more of a motherly love than something siblingish or friendship like.

So, Tigris sees the more "soft" side of Coriolanus. She says that the games changed him (she's right), and she was willing to accept that. But I think that Tigris also thought that he wouldn't ever intentionally hurt anyone, or at least not in anything that wasn't self defense.

She was for sure surprised to hear about Dean Highbottom. In her eyes, her little cousin would have no reason to do it. He probably told her a few weeks after the news of his death came out. In all honesty, I don't think she thought about it too much then, except maybe to worry about the repercussions. But she would have justified it to herself at least a bit.

Next, however, was probably at the next Hunger Games. Because of the general consciousness that Lucy Gray would be back, she probably asked him why she wasn't. I don't think Coriolanus would tell her immediately, but after twisting the story some like he does it would all come out. But Tigris had met Lucy Gray before, and I don't think she would buy the story he told her and the other version he most likely told everyone else. She would start having doubts right about now, and start questioning other things.

Sejanus would be the final straw. She knows Mrs. Plinth, she knew Sejanus, and she had seen how easily Coriolanus had lied to everybody. This would also be after the 11th hunger games, so after Coriolanus was (basically) a gamemaker and she could have seen what he truly thinks of the games. All 3 kills/attempted kills would've been way too many in her mind. She would start to question everything he did after that, and I don't thinks she would truly feel safe with him ever again.

I don't know how she would have gotten him to confess to Sejanus, because I don't think it was something he would take lightly. He is careful about his alcohol intake (as we know from the first chapter & posca), so that's not very likely. My best guess is he may have felt guilty about it, something spooked him, or he just fessed up and Tigris happened to be there. Either way, I truly believe that was her final straw.

She would have moved in with her boss (Fabricia) as a more serious apprentice, where she would have learned about the trends and more detailed guides to fashion. She would know that helping Plurbuis was too risky and close to Coriolanus. Eventually, and most likely with help from the Plinths for at least a bit, she would have bought her own store, or inherited Fabricia's once she died. I believe she did always have faith in Coriolanus becoming president, especially after the stunt in District 12, but now she also knew how ruthless he could be so she built the bunker and used it for clothes.

She most likely kept in touch until the 50th hunger games, when twice as many kids died. She had a heart, and as mentioned was genuinely sweet, and I don't think she could handle that her Coryo was part of this monstrosity. If not then, then the aftermath of the 74th hunger games, with Katniss and Peeta. Maybe she cut contact immediately, but I think she's smarter than that. She knew Coriolanus would make the connection quickly and I don't think she would think he would have hesitated.

I don't think Coriolanus ever thought that his cousin would betray him. He has that air to him that he knows everyone is just pawns, but not those he doesn't want to be. He holds a special connection to her, but unlike Lucy Gray, who he stopped loving very fast, he never had any true confirmation that Tigris betrayed him so there was never a reason for him to stop loving her like the other way around.

In conclusion, I believe Tigris was saddened and a bit disgusted by the monster Coriolanus had become, and I don't think Coriolanus ever knew to what extent she had. I also believe that once he became president, he did disassociate himself a bit from her.

[devilsrecreation]

More previous gen oc’s cuz I love lore and worldbuilding

Kujivunia(brag)-Makuu’s lovely mother and a good friend of Pua; A great fighter and an even better mom, she doted on her little Makuu til her death and didn’t care what anyone said. Crocodiles usually tend to avoid spoiling their young and prefer to give them tough love. Too bad Kujivunia wasn’t a very good listener cuz she spoiled him like hell, bragging about how proud she was of him (which definitely added to his ego). Don’t be fooled though, she DID draw the line at certain things and whenever Makuu did something stupid, she gave him a glare that would make even him back down. Although very sarcastic (which no one was safe from), she still had a good heart and very much respected the circle of life. Makuu gets his fighting skills, stubbornness, and good heart from her.

She was adamant that Makuu would be the next leader, even telling him that before she died (idk how yet cuz I’m the worst at timelines). Makuu promised to, in her words, “be the leader you’re destined to be”. After a long talk with Pua, Makuu remembered what he had promised his mother and from that point changed his ways so he could make her proud.

She also has this weird tendency to unintentionally predict the future:

-She kept saying how Makuu was going to be the next leader and he did

-Piga argued how Kiburi was going to be the leader and at one point, she said something like “Keep talking like that and they’ll challenge each other in a Mashindano”—yeah, about that…

-She kept telling Makuu to watch out for traps once he became leader. Now that the Savannah Summit happened, it makes sense

-“Pua respecting the Circle of Life? What’s next, a Lion Guard with one lion?”—Guess what happened?

AND THOSE ARE JUST A FEW EXAMPLES. The others think it’s stupid at the moment but years later, they’re like “holy shit”

Mamba (crocodile)-Pua’s predecessor; The cocky, merciless former leader of the crocodiles who believed the world was a hate-filled place and fighting was the only way to survive. Unlike his successors, he cared nothing for his float and blamed any losses on the world and the Circle of Life. Pua eventually got sick of his leader’s poor choices and mustered up all his courage to challenge him to a Mashindano, which he won. Although arrogant, Pua was still a better leader than Mamba ever was

I love to think that the crocodile leader eventually getting overthrown by an arrogant member is an ongoing cycle, no matter how strong the current leader is. Whether they humble themselves or not is a different story (although it seems Pua may have started that trend lol)

Karimu (kind) and Kicheko (laughter)-Chungu’s parents; I’ve mentioned them in my “Kifamilia Means Family” idea where they talk to Chungu near the end. Not much is known about them due to Chungu being a baby when they died, but they were shown to be generous and loyal as their main concern was for Chungu. Chungu inherited his father’s silliness and love for food, as well as his mother’s cluelessness

Furahia (frown upon) and Nidhamu (discipline)-Reirei’s parents; When thinking about how Reirei was raised, I like to think they did everything right “Jackal-wise”, meaning they fed her well, prioritized her and her siblings, and taught her everything she knows. Personality/morality-wise…….ehhhhhh not so much. Furahia’s a very strict, stern, and uptight mother who never seemed to be satisfied with anything Reirei did. No matter how hard she tried, she was never good enough in her mother’s eyes. Nidhamu was no better, as he was controlling and a perfectionist who would get annoyed over the slightest thing going wrong. He lets out a single bark to keep his pups in order, which is shown to still work on Reirei when they run into each other at some point.

Neither of them approved of Goigoi. They thought he was pathetic and tried to forbid Reirei to stop playing with him, claiming he’d only be a distraction. Against her parents’ expectations, Reirei ran away to start a new life with Goigoi.

Mpenzi (darling)-Goigoi’s mama; Unlike her son, she was very hardworking and intelligent for her kind. Goigoi was her baby boy and she coddled him to no end, believing he could do no wrong. Fortunately, she did teach him to treat his loved ones with the same love he gets, which is why he dotes on Reirei so much. She had the same slight accent Goigoi has

I don’t have any lore for Jasiri and Madoa YET, but what I CAN tell you is that her mother’s name was Athiri, meaning “attentive” or “influence”

[bnhaobservation]

My Hero Academia Ultra Archive (May 2, 2016) - Prototypes for Todoroki Shōto and Todoroki Enji

I'm pretty sure everyone saw those images around, but the translations are a bit harder to find (at least as far as I'm involved, I'm sure other people might have found it with ease).

So, since in my country this book was translated, I thought to share the translations of the prototypes of their character descriptions.

Keep in mind they were originally thought pretty different from the original and that this isn't a translation from Japanese to English, but from Japanese to Italian to English.

For who can't see the image here's the text.

Flame Hero

Endeavor

TODOROKI ENJI

He has a fire ability and can manipulate flames.

He has a completely (not really) heat-resistant suit.

Furthermore, thanks to an armor whose surface is coated with a special oil, he becomes a super cool guy who wears an armor made of flames.

He has an honest personality and abides by law and order above all else. Due to this, even if he is chasing a Villain he also stops at a traffic light and happens to lose sight of him.

Although as a Hero he leaves something to be desired, he is loved by the people.

He is incredibly strong and is in the top 5 in terms of popularity.

He has the ability, but he has always put in the effort.

Why is he so strong?

Because he has always been serious and tireless…

My two cents: Okay, I guess it wasn't decided yet he would be Number 2. Sure is, Enji is pretty different here. In another circumstance Horikoshi said he planned to have him be an U.A. teacher, so, although Shouto is, according to Horikoshi, the first or second class member he came up after Midoriya, Bakugo and Uraraka, it's possible Enji was planned before him as a teacher and then changed to fit the role Horikoshi wanted for him in Shouto's story. With the way they present him as so honest he would stop at a traffic light when chasing a Villain, I wonder if, originally, he was meant to be some sort of gag character. The fact he's loved by the people was clearly changed, since there's plenty of discussion when he inherit the mantle of Number 1 and he's, according to Horikoshi, the Number 1 among the Heroes that looks like Villains. Endeavor in canon has fans, but has also haters.

Well, at least the fact that he's a guy who put in a lot of effort was left.

On another note... this says Flame Hero (フレイムヒーロー) but in Vol 1 chap 3 Horikoshi called him 'Nenshō-kei Hero “Endeavor”' (燃焼系ヒーロー「エンデヴァー」 "Combustion hero ‘Endeavor’”) so I guess that although "Combustion Hero" was probably meant to be Enji's original name, Horikoshi here corrected the name so that fans could easily recognize him.

By the way, here we can see the evolution of Enji's costume

In chap 1 it was more or less the same as in the prototype.

In chap 3 the arm guards were changed slightly and so the colouring but the rest of the design was the same.

In chap 28 the chest are was changed slightly, as now the flames reached the center and didn't start halfway.

In chap 34 the neck has changed, we can see the belt is different and the pants are tight and the belt is different. The boots too are slightly different. Basically it's the custom Enji is meant to wear until he'll upgrade it as he'll turn the Number 1 Hero.

And now let's move to Shōto...

Recommended student

TODOROKI SHŌTO

Definitely dark, definitely strong.

He was born from a disgusting practice called 'crossbreeding' used to further strengthen a Quirk.

His mother, who had a boyfriend, was chosen by his father for this but then she lost her mind.

She hates half of her son and hurts him.

Shouto hates her and seeks affection from his father, who however is only interested in those who are strong.

Overcoming his father, becoming more powerful than him: for this reason he aspires to become a hero stronger than his father… that is, Todoroki Enji, the top Hero Endeavor.

My two cents: Okay, Shōto originally had... part of Tōya's backstory? With him searching Enji's love and being obsessed with becoming the strongest to get Enji's love?

Well, that's quite a change. Here it seems more like Rei was turned insane not so much by Enji's abuse but by having to give up on her loved one since Shōto shows no sympathy for her...

Definitely in the original Horikoshi had planned a rather different story. I wonder why he changed it and if he was unsatisfied with the change and that's why he kept on tampering with Shōto's past. Oh well, we probably will never know.

[anyalovesu]

we're not saints at all.

༘˚⋆𐙚｡⋆.✧˚ four ༘˚⋆𐙚｡⋆.✧˚

necessary reminders

this chapter contains 🔞 , if u are a minor or uncomfortable with reading these kinds of content , click away ( or u can just skip it )

the smut is pw authenticated , pw is very easy to guess tho ( it's just so those who r uncomfortable w reading this can have the option to skip it + i'm still not very confident w my writing to i'm still trying to save face lol )

extra pw clue : 🐝

if you want to talk to me you can do that here ( ask me anything hehe ) ( i would also appreciate feedback hehe , let me know you think i'm doing right or wrong i'll make sure to keep it in mind ! )

i did not have much time to proofread this, i'll make sure to correct mistakes when i find the time to ! <3

also , mdni ! <3

Jas was on the brink of yet another panic attack, but she figured that ignoring it would do the job for the meantime. After all, she wouldn’t know how to explain to Ally how all of  sudden she was so anxious of where she stands in Tobi’s life because she knew exactly where she was. Maybe after the multiple meet-ups that can disguise itself as a date at first instead of a direct plea to be satisfied really blurred those lines. She didn’t even know which side she was toeing. 

She could go on and on about how justifiable that she is dead worried about how Tobi is right now—they are friends after all. It’s normal to worry about your friends, right? Completely nothing wrong with it. She can gaslight herself time and time again that they are friends and it’s normal to wonder why your friends don’t tell you how they are or what they are doing—because you’re friends, right? 

But it doesn’t change that fact that maybe, or a bit more possible than maybe, she’s just one of the girls he brought to bed. Another one of his casual things.

And she hates the thought of that. The thought of it made her mad at herself for letting it drag for that long. Years of trying to be someone people couldn’t lose and here she is right now being at someone’s disposal. She saw nothing of herself but a biggest hypocrite that she knew of.

How long was she going to do this? How long was she going to keep it inside of her? Sweet candy rots teeth faster after all. It’s only a matter of time until her sweet distraction begins to rot her from the inside out and it is beginning to worry her. 

Sure the unconventional love story worked out well for Eli, but it’s not always the same way. Who knows? Maybe it’s written in prophecy that she’s meant to pay for her cheating father’s doings. That’s what they say right? The first daughters might always inherit their father’s karma—in that alone, there already is so much to unpack. 

“Kanina ka pa tahimik, akala ko ba magsusulat ka rin ngayon?” buntong hininga ni Ally sa tabi niya. 

They were seated in the corner of Jas’ cafe just a few streets away from their apartment, as Ally mentioned, supposedly to write, but Jas has only been sitting there for hours already while Ally typed away on her laptop, writing what seemed to be her next best selling book. Jas, on the other hand, sat next to her with her notebook, still waiting for ink. 

Everything with Leon and Eli went by quickly and it’s not that different for her and Tobi, except for the fact that they have been pining for each other for years already—emotionally constipated for that matter. And it’s not like that for her and the other Park. 

Tobi did not do relationships. He made that clear from the get go and she was painfully aware of that. Love really does hit you when it hits you, no? She had no chance of avoiding it. Not when he just casually invites her to formal dinners with his family. Not when Bianca is rooting for them. Not when even his mom openly bothers him about wanting to meet her. Not when he kisses her like it means something, because she knows damn well that it doesn't mean anything at all. 

“Ha?”

“Hatdog, Jacynthe,” Ally replied sarcastically. “Alam ko ‘yang ganyang mukha mo. Ano ‘yan? Ginugulo ka nanaman ba ng tatay mo?”

Jas shrugged. Even though her dad has in fact been trying to get in touch again, somehow, having Tobi to distract her every time her dad messaged, it made her feel less miserable about it. Her dad was the least of her worries right now. 

“I have tickets sa laro sa Araneta bukas, sama ka?”

Althea Kim looked at her curiously, as if trying to decode what her actions meant. Jas was an open book after all. She moves so animatedly, it’s almost always a dead giveaway on how she was feeling. But this time, she just looked like she was just trying to get her mind off things. Ally knew Jas the longest among everyone in the house, they’ve been friends since highschool after all—it was safe to say Jas has never looked more glum than ever. The fact that she couldn’t write anything at all, was very telling that she hasn’t been feeling her best.

“Ang tagal mo nang hindi nanonood ng laro,” Ally tried life up the energy, trying not to feed her sullen mood. 

“Busy lang,” Jas replied. 

Well she has been. For the past few months, she has been working with Tobi, Amir and Kyle for their upcoming album after Leon’s wedding. On top of all of that, the past few weeks before Tobi and Leon were asked to go to Cebu,  they have been secretly cooking up an EP as their wedding gift for Eli and Leon. That and… well… Tobi has been keeping her occupied on the days that they were not working. Hindi naman na sikreto yon sa lahat at this point. Everyone just deals with it dahil hindi naman sila nakakaabala ng ibang tao. Plus, it keeps the both of them away from causing trouble whenever they end up sleeping with someone with a hidden agenda.

Al could not argue with it. She’s seen her work very hard on and off the studio. Other than that, she has also been trying to keep up with her cafe business. She’s a busy woman after all, even before Tobias came along.

“Sumama ka na kasi,” Jas scoffed, playfully hitting her elbow to stop her from typing. “Mabubulok ka na dito kakatype mo d’yan. Baka doon ka na makahanap ng inspiration mo—”

“Ang ingay ingay doon!”

“Ayaw mo no’n?” She laughed. “Admist of the noise, the world paused and there was peace in his eyes.” Althea could not help but laugh at the way she dramatically delivered it like a Shakespearean play. It was classic Jacynthe to burst out with poetic lines and deliver them in the most ridiculous ways. It’s what made her such an efficient song writer. She’s just full of Shakespearean punchlines that a normal person would not have hanging around her head on a random Tuesday. 

Which brings her back to the thought of why she hasn’t written anything for the past hours. 

Truth is, she had words in her head already. In her mind, is already a staff, filled with intricate and endearing melodies and harmonies, along with words that quite described what she felt. She just didn’t have the guts to write it down, because it would mean that she has, indeed, fallen in love with Tobias. 

Someone who’s she’s only supposed to have sex with and not fall in love with. 

༘˚⋆𐙚｡⋆.✧˚ continue here ༘˚⋆𐙚｡⋆.✧˚

[petite-ursus]

More Tortall thoughts as I listen to Kel's story...

I'd actually love to hear more about The temples of the Great Mother Goddess...

I'm interested in the beliefs of those who live and work within the temples. In banquets Kel is transferred to serving a priestess of the goddess, who sits with the Shangs, as she doesn't offend anyone at that table. The priestess sits multiple times with the Wildcat. Obviously she doesn't mind women who don't live a standard woman's life, even outside her temple. But I'd guess there are also some in the temple who believe women who don't want to live a Standard Woman's Life should turn exclusively to the goddess (or similar) as the only acceptable alternative and not anything beyond goddess work. Another tier of sexism, not a total divestiture from it.

But I'm also interested in how these temples exist alongside systems in places even like Sarain, which is even more sexist than Tortall. The disconnect between the belief of the general population of both of these countries that women are not meant for ruling or combat and a temple which is relatively autonomous (though we do see limits to that as Thayet flees Sarain and cannot be offered shelter.)

Because yeah, there are women who are purely priestesses, but also there are woman guards in the temple of the Goddess.

In the temple in Corus, in Alanna's books, they wield double-headed axes to prevent men from setting foot on the grounds. Women can and do seek refuge in the temple and cannot be taken away from the temple until its court finds them innocent or guilty. In Kel's books it's noted they go after rapists, even if they're nobles.

It's different than the Shang, where yes there are women, but the members are roaming, not incorporated into any specific country's life and laws (except ostensibly wherever their school is, but this is, as far as I know, undisclosed.)

Even the K'miri are nomadic, and though they maintain a tradition of allowing women warriors and leaders, it is scorned by those in the ruling class, and that power and freedom of choice does not extend to the official law the of the land (Thayet can't be a warrior or inherit.)

We know more about the Mithran cloisters, where mages and Mithran priests are trained. And Mithran priests even teach at the palace.

But the priestesses don't work amongst the people, or teach, as far as I can remember, outside of wherever they're trained and... where do the disciples of the goddess train? Is this the same convent in the City of the Gods where Alanna might have gone? The Goddess on Earth does live there.....

George's mother Eleni and Thayet's cousin were both priestesses. So it's equal opportunity for commoners are nobles.

I just. Want to know more.

Is any of this information anywhere? I haven't read the Provost Dog series in years and years and I know that deals more with the actual city, so maybe there?

[panlight]

Hello!

One thing that baffles me is how Renee and Siobhan's gifts are brushed over? These 2 have the most powerful/course-altering gifts, but we are instead so focused on the Jane/Alec/Alice/Bella's gifts?

Siobhan could potentially influence reality! If this power was real, she could play 'god' and end the Volturi single-handedly if she wanted, because whatever she desires could become the reality.

Renee's (potential) mental-persuasion power is obviously more of a speculation, but if it was real, she obviously poses a huge threat and could directly influence the Volturi, or turn their own guards against them.

Why would Aro and the Volturi not be more concerned about them? Is it because the powers are unconfirmed and/or of a weaker form? Even then, powers could be developed, and given the gravity of the implications, I would have thought they would keep a very close watch on them (more so than the attention given to them in the books). Better safe than sorry.

I'm going to guess that in Renee's case, SM didn't come up with that until later. I think her original version of Renee was just supposed to be this quirky, free-spirited "I'm not a regular mom, I'm a cool mom!" type but as the books progressed (and as she wrote different versions of the same book but continued to have Renee as a character in each), Renee became more narcissistic and terrible and she eventually came up with this idea that she had a latent power all along and that's why she turned out like she did.

And on the one hand that's interesting, I guess, but on the other it's a strange choice for SM to make because it undermines Bella and Renesmee's specialness to a degree. That is, she's made is clear these gifts can be inherited, so now when I think about the books and how everyone is just falling all over themselves to support and love Bella and later Renesmee, is it actually because they are Good and Worthy or is it because everyone is picking up on a similar subconscious mental "help meeeeeeee" frequency that they inherited from Renee?

With Siobhan what fascinates me is that Siobhan herself isn't fully convinced she has a gift; how much more powerful would she be if SHE believed in it? Wouldn't that create a loop of making herself more powerful? Because really, her power to bend reality to her will can spiral into horrifying if you think about it too much. It's like Imprinting and the Alpha orders in a way -- can she rob you of your free will and make you do what SHE wills?

As for why the Volturi doesn't care, I think it's because SM didn't care. They feel like sort of fun little seasonings peppered in that she might have thought of at the last minute, not gifts that actually like, matter to the story. Siobhan might joke that she willed the Volturi confrontation to end peacefully, but the narrative gives Bella and her shield all the credit, so Siobhan still just feels like an afterthought. And with Renee I'm not entirely convinced she didn't just make up her gift when writing Midnight Sun all these years later.

Because, yeah, both of these gifts can veer of into mind-control pretty quickly, and Renee's is especially scary because she doesn't even know she's doing it!