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emile-hides · 2 years ago

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Hey, requesting a ramble; given the chance what singular thing would you change about Fairy Tale as a show?

What would you change about the fandom?

Blessed with the ability to ramble I'm gonna answer these out of order because one I want to actually go off about and the other I'm trying so hard not to be too negative with.

The fandom itself, I'm surprised to find, is still alive. Mostly for the manga, 100 Year Quest, and the Gajeel spin off apparently. Super cool love that for y'all.

But I think the general Fairy Tail fandom is very... Boring?

I don't want to be mean! Everyone has the right to enjoy fandom however they want of course! This is an attack on no one! Live your life! I love and respect you so much!!

Just like. 90% of the active fandom are infatuated with Natsu/Lucy exclusively, which I don't get at all. Coming from My Hero Academia, I saw how big the cast of this program was and really expected everyone to have their little Blorbo guy with their own niche content. Blurry screen caps and low quality images with "There he is the scrimblo!!" kind of nonsense.

Instead the entire place only cares about the Main Guys Smooching. There's no crack ships, there's no Tono Rabbits Stan accounts, there's no Some Gremlin Blorbo from my shows background character lovers and it's Really jarring?? And boring. Y'all boring.

If I could change anything about the fandom, I'd ask y'all to pick A Guy (gender neutral) and go rabid for them. There's so many guys of so many types in this program. Please fawn over someone other than the main 7.

Okay I'm worried about this post being annoying and too long so what I'd change about the show itself is going under a Read More

Really I want to change a LOT about the program itself. The execution, the treatment of most female characters, everything with Lisanna, the lore behind Magic, the Morals behind Magic. There's a lot to unpack here.

But if I absolutely had to pick one thing to change it's be the character's ages.

I found out recently that Mirajane is 19 in canon. Cana is 18. The oldest woman in the Guild before the 7 year time skip was Evergreen at 20. TWENTY. That's how old Bisca is when she gives birth to Asuka!! (roughly. Asuka doesn't have a canon age but she's somewhere between 5-6 based on how she acts)

I'm twirling this show's timeline on a fork like Spaghetti these girls are going to be 20+ and you're going to like it.

Here's my rough concept so far (this is for the beginning of the series, the wiki list their ending ages, after the two different 1 year time skips and the 7 year stasis)

I want to make Natsu the oldest of the dragon raised dragon slayers, but still roughly the same age as Grey. I'm thinking 23 or 24 for the both of them, with Gajeel close behind at 22, and Laxus just ahead at 25 or 26.

Lucy I want to be the youngest current member, so she can stay at 17-18, but I also want Erza to be young compared to the Raised By The Guild squad, so she's 19, maybe? Levy's 20-21, Cana's 23, and Juvia is 19-20, like Erza.

Mira gets the most change because I just think she should be pushing 30, maybe 27 or 28. Elfman about 3 or 4 years younger at 24 or 25, to keep him Grey/Natsu aged. Lisanna has about the same age gap, 3 or 4 years, making her somewhere between 20 and 22.

I really jangled up the Thunder Legion because apparently Bickslow is the oldest at 22 in canon. He's still 22 in this version but now he's the Thunder Baby. I wanted to keep Freed around the same age as Laxus, so 25, and Evergreen the same age as Mira, maybe a tad younger at 26-27. I like the idea of Bickslow being the youngest anyway, he's big but young and it fits with his personality. I'm tempted to make him 18, but your 20's are age of being dumb anyway so it's fine.

Macao and Wakaba are in their mid 30's at the beginning of the series, Reedus in his early 30's on par with Mira maybe older, with Warren, Max, and Mest all near mid 20's I think. I don't have exact numbers for them because I don't really know if they're meant to be Natsu's peers or not, but they all seem pretty young and stupid. Jet and Droy are the same-ish age as Levy, 20-22, with Jet being a year younger than them.

Wendy's hard because apparently she's 12 when we meet her, but she doesn't change at all in the next 2 years, which simply isn't how being on the cusp of puberty works. But I don't have as much wiggle room as I do with everyone else sense she's at the stage where she should be growing a lot so I'll just keep her 12-13.

Unrelated but Sting and Rouge being the same age as Wendy is the reason I hate the 7 year stasis thing. We deserve more age diversity in dragon slayers, I say. They can't all be a brisk 18, that's boring. Also how old is Erik??? Genuine question I cannot get a read on him.

The exceeds are also hard but it bothers me that supposedly they all hatched at the same time when they were supposed to be an entire lost generation (which for humans is about 20 years, cats about 2 years). Unfortunately I don't have a scale for how long they are expected to live, what their incubation period is like, how long their infancy to adulthood is, if Happy and Carla are even considered child bearing aged adults in their society at their canon age of 6, etc.

Still I think there should be a few years or so between them, so in order oldest to youngest of Earthland born Exceeds it's goes; Carla, Samuel, Lector, Happy, and Frosch. Also I wanna add right here unrelated to anything, Nadi is my second favorite Exceed, right behind Samuel. I love them.

I realize this causes a collection of problems with how the timeline reads, but considering the constant usage of 7 years never really came up in a meaningful way I am more than happy to tear that consistency apart.

#Thankyou for asking #Fairy Tail #This ask took me all day not because I had to think on it #But because I had to put it down and run around getting Christmas decorations with my dad in the middle of it #Luckily I THINK I got everything I wanted to say out #I'm sorry for calling the fandom boring I really just #Usually when I get into a Program with a big cast everyone has their little guy (gender neutral)#MLP and MHA are both like that everyone's got their Main Character Fave and their Obscure Fave #Everyone's got their Main Ship and their Crack Ship #Because there's just SO MANY GUYS #But I feel like every post in the main tag is either about Natsu or about Natsu/Lucy #Roughly there's some people in there rabid over Gajeel and like. You know what that's fair #Fixing these character's ages is a dream I love it I love it a lot #I WISH I had a better read on Sabertooth they just.#They weren't??? Importaint??? to me???#Like Blue Pegasus was around from the beginning so they felt more pressing than Sabertooth #The only think that made Sabertooth plot importaint was that they had last minute dragon slayers #And BECAUSE they're so last minute I cannot for the life of me get a read on them #Age sexuality gender etc I have no solid headcanons for them because they feel so... Unimportant???#Sorry sorry #Thankyou very much for reading my long post if you did #And if you post exclusively about NaLu that's fine it's your right you post whatever you want that's how fandom works

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mindofharry · 4 years ago

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In which mafia!bucky had a hard day and you know just the thing to help.

mafia!bucky is here!! ahh!! i’m so obsessed with the mafia!bucky concept, i think it fits his character so well. smut, bucky having a hard day (and penis) and you being an absolute sweetheart! happy reading, loves <3

James buchanan barnes is having a hard day.

He’s having a hard day without you. You both met in high school when james, known to you as bucky, was just starting out and taking over his fathers ‘business’. You started off as the best of friends, but everyone knew that you were buckys, and buckys was yours. What you knew of the barnes family business, was that it was a restaurant and the oldest child in the family would take over. What you didn’t know until you and bucky started dating was that it was all a front. The restaurant is real, people in the family are employed as chefs and waiters. But bucky isn’t just the boss of the restaurant, he’s all the boss of a gang. The biggest gang in brooklyn.

Of course you were shocked, you had met just about every person in buckys family and none of them gave you a bad vibe. Looking back, you probably should’ve noticed. It was a shock, it did take you a couple of weeks to digest and get over. But you understood why bucky couldn’t tell you. Maybe you were too naive, but you loved bucky, and you were going to let him go over this. He was trained for this and you know he wouldn’t let anything happen to you. You trust him with your life.

From then, you’ve both been inseparable. Everyone knew that you would be married in couple years, so you knowing about the family business didn’t bother them. And buckys parents had known you since you were a little girl, they trust you just as much as you trust them.

Bucky was in a meeting with his right hand man, steve rodgers. They had met a couple years back on a job and had basically been brothers ever since. Steve was in the business with his dad, but he wasn’t too interested in the drugs side of things. He liked business, he liked numbers and helping out, so when bucky found out he wanted out of his dads gang, he immediately offered him a job as manger of the restaurant. Steve would still have to take care of some seriously, illegal shit, but it was better than what he used to be doing.

The meeting was on opening another restaurant in another state, but bucky wasn’t too sold on the idea. Not only did he grow up here, you grew up here too. If he was moving locations, he’d have to move everything. And the only normalcy you have is your family.

And there’s way too many memories here. Bucky likes how close the two families are, and moving to a new state and having to start from scratch would make the restaurant lose its momentum.

Bucky and Steve both looked at each other, knowing the answer was no. But they had to sit in on the meeting as bucky didn’t want to start anything.

Although these men have a lot of respect for the brooklyn gang, they wouldn’t hesitate to shoot.

So bucky will sit here all day if it means both him and steve can leave alive and in one piece.

Buckys phone went off with a small ding, the other men didn’t seem to nice - even if they did, bucky still would’ve checked it. It was a text from you, he softly smiled seeing your name pop up on his screen. God, it had only been three hours but he missed you so much. You’re both each other’s soulmates, that’s what everyone says when they meet or see you both. Can’t keep your hands off each other, know everything about one and another, it’s a fresh of breath air for your side of the family as everyone you know is divorced or separated.

angel; missing you 🥺.

That simple text made bucky want to get up and leave the office and go back home to you. You both live in an apartment, just 15 minutes away from the restaurant and 20 minutes away from both of your parents. Your mother wouldn’t have it any other way. But even with a short 15 minute drive home, bucky would still get a ticket. He just can’t go long without seeing his baby. Usually you drop into the restaurant before and after work, there’s some new members, wives and husbands. You like to make them comfortable, like other people in the family treated you. You know how overwhelming everything can be, so you want everyone to know you’re there and ready to listen. And bucky likes having you around in the restaurants and offices. He likes having something nice to look at while working.

Steve hit his leg, making bucky clear his throat. The men had stopped talking and were waiting on answer. Bucky leaned back in his chair, dropping his phone back on the table.

“Steve and I will get back to on this. Great presentation fellas” Bucky said standing shaking their hands. Steve shook their hands too, just as eager as bucky to get out of this god for saken office and home to his partner.

They quickly rushed out of the office, body guards following them as they walked to the car. The drivers were in there already, bucky sighed remembering he hadn’t told the drivers they wouldn’t be needed.

“Lance, you can drive yourself home in the porsche. You’re not needed for the rest of the day” Bucky said waving him off and throwing the keys and the driver, lance. Lance nearly choked on air, but didn’t hesitate quickly walking off to the porsche.

Steve chuckled to himself getting in his car. “See you tomorrow, buck” Steve said waving as he drove off in his car.

Finally, peace and quiet. This day had been so hard and hectic. A busy day, was not unusual but usually bucky could handle it. Maybe everything was finally catching up with him. This morning started off great, morning sex and breakfast in bed. Then the phone rang and before you knew it bucky was out of the bed dressed and out the door. Traffic was exceptionally bad and he had ran out of gas just 10 minutes into the drive. So bucky got gas and had to stand outside as there was huge line coming out of the gas station, he didn’t know why and he was not going to ask. It’s started to pour rain so when he got into the office he was soaked and had to change. Then that boring, presentation had begun.

Bucky could feel the headache coming on already.

It was like you could sense bucky was having a hard day. You ordered some chinese and opened up a bottle of wine for dinner, then you opened up your victoria’s secret bag. You had bought this when you were out with one of your friends from work, wanda. She had recently just had twins, and needed to get out and have a girls day. You had offered to go out as you needed some new bits, so you made a day out of it. Went for lunch and shopped till you dropped. You had bought some lingerie, red buckys favourite colour on you. It was lacy and tight in just the right places. You felt amazing in it, so you thought today would be the best day to break it out and surprise your husband.

The drive home was the worst. The music was bad, buckys phone had died and the rain was really pouring down again. He needed you so badly.

Bucky just needed a taste of you and he’d been all good again.

You showered, shaved and did all the bits you wanted and needed to do. After putting the lingerie on, you changed into a black dress and then got the plates out for the chinese. It hadn’t arrived yet, but you didn’t want to be rushing around when know bucky is properly very hungry and tired.

Bucky was home soon enough and almost whimpered at the sight of the apartment complex. He parked in the garage, and ran to the elevator putting in the number to the floor of your shared apartment.

“Baby, i’m home” Bucky called out after opening up the front door. He could smell the take out and his stomach grumbled at the most devine smell. His favourite. He married the right woman. You always knew how to cheer him up.

He walked into the kitchen, putting his keys, phone and wallet on the counter. The dinner table was all done up, candles, special plates the whole nine. He grinned as heard you running down the hall. He looked over towards the kitchen door and there you were, his honey. You stood tall, in red heels and a short tight black dress that made your curves shine. Fuck, you looked so good. Bucky wanted to push everything off the table and fuck you right then and there. Bucky brought a hand to cover his mouth as he looked you up and down. You blushed and giggled placing you hands on your hips.

“You’re so beautiful” Bucky said, walking over to you and placing his hands on your hips. Bucky couldn’t get over you. Everything about you is beautiful, gorgeous even. He got so lucky. Gorgeous, smart, kind.

“James” You whined as he kissed down your lips. “Want to eat first, ok?” You said and bucky nodded with a smirk.

“Wanted to eat too” He murmured kissing behind your ear. You laughed pushing him away, and walking over to your seat at the dinner table. “Eat. Then we can do whatever you want” You said biting your lip and bucky sighed fixing himself, you were teasing. He kind of liked it though.

“How was your day?” You asked picking up your fork. Bucky sighed placing some food in his mouth.

“Better now i’m with you”

Dinner was slow, but good. Just what bucky needed, you, some food and a nice chat. But by the end of it he was getting antsy. He needed you, no he needed to be in you. You could tell because he was giving you those eyes. You smirked and brought the dishes over to the sink and placed them in there getting ready to clean up, bucky jumped out his seat and stood behind you, his hands on your hips and his boner pressing into you. You whimpered as buckys cheek made contact with the top of your head.

“Thought we could do whatever i wanted?” He asked, and you nodded turning around. “I did say that, didn’t i?” You said, your hands running up and down his chest.

“Well, i want you down on your knees. Naked”

You raised an eyebrow, before unbuttoning your dress, keeping eye contact with bucky. Bucky stepped back, watching the dress fall to the ground. His eyes widened as he saw the lingerie, your breasts pushed together and your curves extenuated. You’re so perfect, so beautiful. You blushed as buckys eyes ran over you, he bit his lip and placed a hand on your cheek softly caressing it. He didn’t speak, but you knew. You took off your heels and got to the ground, kneeling down. You unbuckled his belt and pulled down his pants quickly, seeing the outline of his boner.

“Fuck, you’re beautiful” Bucky muttered taking you hair into his hand, and putting it into a make shift pony tail.

Bucky looks down at you and moans at the sight, gripping your hair tighter as you grip the base of his cock. A throat moan escapes him as you wrap your hand around his member.

“Want my mouth?” You asked and he nodded quickly. “Please, baby. Need it so bad” He whimpered, pulling at your hair. You smiled, leaning in and placing your lips over the tip of his cock. Bucky moaned loudly, pushing into your mouth and gripping your hair tighter. He tasted so good and you never wanted to stop making him feel good. You grip his hips as bucky pushes more of his cock into your mouth, you moan as you feel him in the back of your throat. Your moan sends vibrations through buckys body, he moans in pleasure.

Bucky is a complete and utter mess looking down at you. You looked up, your eyes wide and full of tears as bucky fucked your mouth with no mercy.

You grip the base of his cock, knowing how that gets bucky worked up. Bucky pulled at your hair making you choke on his cock. If you needed to stop, you would tap his thigh twice, but you would never. His cock felt too good in your mouth.

“So good to me” He whimpered, making you speed your pace up a little more, edging him closer to his climax. This might be the quickest he’s ever cum. Your mouth is a like a gift from god, you could definitely say the same thing about his cock that’s for sure.

Buckys moans get louder and his pace gets slower and sloppier. You know he’s getting very close. You make eye contact with him one more time and that’s when he loses it, he wants to pull out and cum all over your face, but you grip his penis hard swallowing every last bit of his cum.

“Fuck me” He moaned his head rolling back. You licked your lips and kissed up his torso pecking his lips.

“My turn!”

#bucky barnes #sebastian stan #bucky barnes concept #bucky barnes headcannon #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes smut #mafia!bucky barnes #bucky barnes x female reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n

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haehaeming · 4 years ago

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100 random facts about SJ members that may or may not help you with your FF

Or if you’re just... bored

1. Eunhyuk doesn’t like finger prints on screens, glasses, etc... It’s a little thing I find cute

2. Kyuhyun was a fan of SJ’s music before debuting with them

3. Leeteuk knows what ‘daddy’ means in a sexual context

4. Leeteuk also understands the concept of a sugar parent, but it was not a positive experience for him. It’s possible other members also understand this concept.

5. Kyuhyun likes men and women

6. Yesung writes his own music

7. Leeteuk has many unreleased songs

8. Eunhyuk has difficulty with his emotions in a general sense, so he’s thankful SJ understand him

9. When Kyuhyun was a teenager, he has to rebel against his fathers wishes to debut as a singer.

10. Kyuhyun dated many girls as a teenager, but only kissed one

11. Sungmin and Kyuhyun have the highest amount of testosterone among SJ members. This was public information a long time ago, though, and alcohol consumption has probably lowered the number a little over time.

12. Sungmin and Kyuhyun share a love of wine

13. Ryeowook is an affectionate drunk

14. Leeteuk is a Leo Venus which means he’s very annoying (read: passionate) in his relationships (This fact was corrected by @fanbynature , it originally said Heechul was a Leo Venus too but he’s actually a Leo Virgo, bonus fact!!)

15. Donghae thinks Eunhyuks lips look best in the morning.

16. Eunhyuk understands the concept of drag.

17. Yesung is very talkative but only when you’re close to him

18. Yesung would kiss SJ good morning back in the dorm days

19. Kyuhyun shows love through acts of service

20. Yesung shows love through quality time

21. Leeteuk is a huge flirt, any fan who met him more personally will tell you

22. As far as we know, Yesung used to collect all sorts of jewellery.

23. Ryeowook and Leeteuk are into cute things (phone cases with cute characters, charms, etc)

24. It’s said Yesung and Sungmin will sleep the least amount of time, but Ryeowook will sleep the most

25. Sungmin and Leeteuk share a moon phase (Waning Gibbous)

26. Back in the dorm, Donghae would also wake his members with affection, but no kisses.

27. Donghae lost his first love because he was too clingy.

28. Kyuhyun and Leeteuk were consider ‘mom’s friend’s kids’ in their school days because they excelled in everything they did. Like the scold ‘why can’t you be more like my friends kid’

29. Kyuhyun has a HUGE fanboy past. Now he can barely use the Internet without making it clear he’s old.

30. Shindong doesn’t like to be clothed at night or in the summer. He takes off his clothes unconsciously

31. Donghae was entrusted to Leeteuk by Donghae’s father

32. Donghae keeps his habits from the dorm days around Leeteuk even now. When he and Leeteuk would share a room, Donghae would cuddle Leeteuk. Even now, when they share a room to sleep, Donghae sings to Leeteuk to try and lull him to sleep.

33. Kyuhyuns relationship with Donghae has been a little bit confusing for him, but recently he said Donghae is like SJs son

34. Yesung’s favourite song is ‘I’ll Make Love To You’

35. Sungmin is the only introvert in SJ

36. Kyuhyun, Leeteuk and Sungmin are open to book recommendations at all times

37. Because of Koreas age system, Yesung and Sungmin are basically the same age.

38. Sungmin technically ages 2 times on his birthday.

39. Teenage Leeteuk celebrated little milestones in relationships like ‘100 days anniversary’

40. Leeteuk would rather be called his stage name than his given name.

41. DBSJ* worked with a ghost in the recording studio, according to Sungmin

42. Donghae and Eunhyuk share a love of strawberries

43. Kyuhyun does not like to be called with pet names

44. Yesung has always shown interest in Canada for whatever reason

45. Ryeowook played the triangle in his school band. Literally

46. Yesung, Donghae and Leeteuk don’t drink.

47. Leeteuk and Kyuhyun love the colour white

48. Sometimes, Kyuhyun unwinds by solving math problems

49. Kyuhyun cited himself in his college thesis on K-pop’s popularity.

50. Leeteuk is taller than Sungmin. It’s more drastic than you think

51. Donghae and Sungmin have both been deemed as ‘naturally cute’, but oddly enough, Sungmin has said he doesn’t act cute anymore. Donghae hasn’t changed in terms of cuteness once

52. Donghae is very fond of dogs. Kyuhyun and Ryeowook are not

53. Sungmin and Eunhyuk were the closest friends predebut. They would take the bus to SM together and make sure nobody else sat next to them. There’s a picture somewhere online of a predebut Sungmin resting his head on Eunhyuk during one of those bus rides

54. Leeteuk didn’t have many friends when he was younger. Leeteuk still thinks he doesn’t have many friends.

55. Donghae and Sungmin share forgetfulness.

56. Leeteuk and Heechul became friends easily because they’re the same age and look out for each other. Also because if Leeteuk was busy or resting, Heechul would be the oldest and have authority over the young SJ for him.

57. Leeteuk and Kyuhyun taught themselves how to cook. Ryeowook and Sungmin were good at it from the beginning

58. Leeteuk wanted to become an idol because of 90s kpop groups looking super cool. He wanted some of that for himself and now I think he’s one of the coolest people ever

59. Leeteuk smokes

60. Sungmin used to sleep in a pink nightgown. Even now, he doesn’t let the fact go, but he says it’s embarrassing

61. Predebut Eunhyuk stole a Shinhwa CD from SM to impress a girl

62. Leeteuks waist size is 26 inches. The ideal size for women in the west

63. Leeteuk entered to win special edition Nike shoes 100 times total. He won

64. When a younger Sungmin was frustrated, he would vent online. Similar to how Leeteuk would when he was younger

65. Sungmin recently said men ask him for his number when he goes out

66. As far as we know, Yesung used to worry about whether or not he would live to grow old :(

67. Donghae has always had a love of poetry

68. Kyuhyun’s originally near-sighted

69. Both Yesung and Leeteuk struggle to define their relationships with others

70. Yesung doesn’t smile a lot when cameras aren’t on him

71. Eunhyuk doesn’t like seafood. Donghae does.

72. Donghae doesn’t like sweets. Eunhyuk does

73. Sungmin was the first member to open his YT channel back in 2018.

74. Ryeowook is said to be a heavy drinker

75. Leeteuk finds peace in the rain

76. Kyuhyun is said to have one of the biggest hearts in SJ, alongside Leeteuk

77. Eunhyuk first appeared publicly in 1992 on a TV show by complete accident. It made him happy

78. In order to sleep in a new location, Donghae sleeps best if there’s something near him that reminds him of home. This is an old fact holds up today, Donghae often sleeps close to his members

79. Predebut, Eunhyuk and Junsu purposefully tried to make Donghae cry

80. Every roommate Donghae has had, he has had multiple complaints about all of them

81. Yesung bought a turtle a long time ago because he felt bored without a pet. Even after buying the turtle, he was still bored

82. Eunhyuk is constantly getting ‘friend zoned’ by Donghae. It’s mostly Donghae who calls them as friends, Eunhyuk got a million other words

83. Sungmin studies English and music every day.

84. Leeteuk loves to learn and is always studying something new as well

85. In high school, Leeteuk studied German

86. ‘Don’t give up’ was Sungmin’s motto in elementary school

87. Leeteuk and Sungmin are big Na Hoon Ah fans

88. When Donghae was in elementary school, he was taller than his classmates and even had a nickname relating to how tall he was

89. Sungmin is still mistaken for his 20s

90. Sungmin loves to eat, he talks about food a lot, but still diets strictly as a couple with his Saeun~

91. Eunhyuk is clumsy

92. Leeteuk is very different off camera, but he’s always aware of hidden cameras, so it’s impossible to catch him ‘normally’.

93. Leeteuk and Yesung curse like sailors

94. Kyuhyun and Shindong share great memorization skills

95. Donghae doesn’t like to eat alone

96. Yesung is the only Virgo in SJ. Kyuhyun is the only Aquarius.

97. Leeteuk finds some men to be cute. Particularly men with beards (in terms of dating)

98. Sungmin wants to record music in English for his international fans

99. Sungmin and Leeteuk both have a fan they consider a friend

100. Eunhyuk loves to be in Japan

#super junior #suju #eunhyuk #donghae #yesung #kyuhyun #shindong #ryeowook #leeteuk #sungmin #heechul #🖤 idiot

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scover-va · 3 years ago

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Also because you’ve been talking about them recently… any headcanons for the Pony Island gang as a whole? I read your post about the Daemons and you’ve absolutely got my interest (Asmodeus and Buer in particular are such interesting takes).

Good bc my gf and I have developed Buer and Asmo the most (I’m sorry Azazel and Beel but yall are mostly comedic relief rn)

Doing this in order of character appearance (as far as I can remember anyways, I can’t perfectly remember when Baphomet makes their first appearance)

Theodore (the player):

Chronically sad

He misses his family, but also can’t perfectly remember them, so he’s stuck grieving in a confused state

Was a bit of a flirt when he was alive, though p much dropped that shortly after getting with his gf/future wife

He’s a sad drunk

I don’t have much for him, or anything for HS, since my gf plays them, and we’re biased towards Asmo and Buer rn

Lou Natas/Lucifer:

As old as the concept of sin itself

Only started going by Lucifer/Satan after humans nicknamed him that

Souls he wants to take are regular player souls, souls he already has in his possession when the person dies becomes a demon. There’s many different demon jobs

The only demon of his who isn’t a stolen soul would be good ol’ farty mcgee Vallamir

Like I said in my Barry hcs, they dated for a bit. Lucifer’s a gayass

Struggles with issues that he dubs ‘mortal issues’, such as pain of any kind or emotions. He hates it

Made Gamefuna so he could keep making games, though obviously sucks at it

Created three ai’s to aid in game creation, Irving being one of them

The pony in Pony Island, creatively named Pony, is his daughter and he would kill on sight for his kid. All his other kids (the demons, not actual kids they just call him ‘father’ as a respect thing) can go die in a ditch tho for all he cares. Especially Bu-

His sister is as old as the concept of morality, basically being God. I’m taking some basic religious things and moving them a little to the left bc im not fuckin reading the bible so I can go make Lucifer a manwhore /j

Baphomet:

They/Them, very gnc to the point where you cant tell their gender

Sold their soul for infinite knowledge and wisdom, as well as the ability to see into the future

Was like a parental figure to Buer during their time on the overworld map

Baphomet lived back during BC times. I don’t have an exact time as to when they died, but they’re the oldest of the daemons

Killed themself back when they were alive so they could have immortality

The braincell AND the impulse control of the group

Azazel:

Was a party animal when he was alive

Sold his soul for simple power, most likely to have as a cool party trick

Somehow the nice one when compared to everyone else

My gf plays him in the rp so i got NO idea what her interpretation of his death was. Sorry folks

Buer:

Lived back during the black plague

Came from a highly religious family of priests and nuns. His family wanted him to do the same thing but he wanted to study medicine

Only ‘supportive’ relative was his uncle. His uncle was still highly religious, but hey. We’ll get to that later

Had a boyfriend back when he was alive! Gayass

When the black plague started up, he and his bf switched to love letters instead of meeting in person, since Buer decided to become a plague doctor to help with fighting off the plague

Was typically unbothered by all the death around him. He grew used to it

That changed though when a little girl in his village fell ill with the bubonic plague. He didn’t know the kid, but every attempt to help her get better proved to be useless

So, after doing some research, he summoned Satan and sold his soul in exchange for the girl to be healthy

Weeeeeeell the family was then accused of witchcraft, the parents and little girl all burned at the stake. Buer still hears the girl’s screams in his sleep

Went on with his life for a bit, but his uncle found out about Buer’s newfound connection to the devil. His uncle told others, and Buer was soon burned at the stake, too

Lucifer used him as a temporary solution, just someone to guard the third core file while he looked for a better daemon. Buer was none the wiser

Buer’s mechanic would just be that you’d need to wait him out. That’s it. He’d make it impossible to reach the core file via glitchy walls blocking said file, but it drains him of so much energy he kills himself in the process

Obviously, grew resentful and angry when he was replaced. Stayed in the overworld map, only talking to Baphomet

Did take his own life at some point between being replaced and Theodore showing up, but Baphomet brought him back

He’s also severely mentally fucking ill. He uses drawing as a coping mechanism

Beelzebub:

Was a soldier in his past life

His side was losing a war, and he didn’t wanna die. So, he traded his soul in exchange for his side winning the battle

Was later killed on a different battlefield, being dragged down to hell to become a daemon

Living up to his namesake, Beel snacks a lot. His non-file demon form is also based on a fly, since canonical mythology Beelzebub is the lord of the flies

Asmodeus:

He’s albino!

Was born into royalty in the 1600’s

Had a twin brother

When his father fell ill, he and his brother started competing to see who would be better fit for the crown, constantly battling for their parent’s attention

Asmo constantly lost at these challenges. So, he sold his soul so he could be better than his brother

Upon becoming king, he banished his brother so he wouldn’t have to deal with him again

One day before a royal meeting, he came in to do his makeup. Thanks to his poor eyesight, an assassin snuck up on him after Asmo sat down in front of his vanity

Asmo was forced to slit his own throat

Quickly replaced Buer, and hated him because he thought he had to, thanks to the competition thing with his brother

He knows how to sing! Has a low and sultry singing voice

Also had a pet raccoon who was a golden colour names Vanilla. I found this out in the rp last night. I was expecting a cat or something but Vanilla is much much better

He’s a clean freak because he got in trouble once as a kid for making a huge mess and not cleaning it up. Fun

Twink (affectionate)

Aaand that’s all! That I remember, anyways. Would’ve been quicker but wifi isn’t working on my chromebook so I had to type all this up on mobile. Fml

#pony island game #pony island spoilers #pony island #lou natas #theodore pony island #azazel.exe #baphomet.exe #buer.exe #beelzebub.exe #asmodeus.exe #does theo have a last name? i cant remember #scov.txt #currently hoping the read more doesnt fuck up on mobile like it did last time

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germanicseidr · 4 years ago

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Frisians

We are picking up from where we left off on my post about the Frisii. The Frisians were a germanic tribe/kingdom located in modern day Frisia, Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Groningen, Drenthe and Overijssel in the Netherlands, east-Frisia in Germany and north-Frisia in Denmark. They are the oldest Germanic culture that still exist until this very day with their own unique history, flag, traditions and language.

During the great migrational period, which also marks the end of the iron age and the start of the medieval age, new settlers, mostly Saxons, settled themselves in former Frisii territory. Most of the Frisii had abandoned their homeland and migrated either southwards or to the west to Britannia. Only a very few Frisii remained in their homeland, too little to continue their population.

Around the 5th century AD these migrants were now settled properly and called themselves Frisians. They quickly turned their homeland into a powerful seafaring nation now bordered by the Christianized Franks to the south and the still pagan Saxons to the east, the Frisians were still pagan as well. By 500AD they were possibly the most powerful sea power in western Europe, a power they gained from their long history of sailing and trading.

Since the collapse of the Western Roman empire, the economy in western Europe was in a very sad state. Poverty and hunger were considered to be normal while ancient Roman settlements started to decay and slowly disappear. Between 300-500AD, trade was pretty much dead and time appeared to have stopped moving for the people in western Europe. This all eventually changed thanks to the Frisians who were able to restore trade routes and opened up a path for the now so famous vikings.

During the late 6th century, the Frisians set up wide-spread trading routes all across the north sea, east sea and the Rhine area. In all of these trading areas, settlements grew like cabbage thanks to the wealth that these Frisian traders brought, settlements like: Ipswich in England, Ribe in Denmark and Medemblik in the Netherlands. Already existing settlements such as London and Dorestad grew thanks to this trade. Dorestad, a city which was located in modern day Utrecht, the Netherlands, even became the most important trade hub of western Europe, it was also the capital of the Frisian kingdom.

The Frisians were in fact so dominant in their trade that the term Frisian became a synonym for trader in many Germanic languages until around 1000AD. Curiously enough, many of the trading settlements were not fortified with walls or forts, the 6th and 7th century were relatively peaceful times. It was also the Frisians who reintroduced the concept of money in the form of sceatta coins. The word sceatta itself is Frisian for treasure. Archeologists have found these sceatta coins all around the North sea coast, England, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. These sceattas were based on earlier Roman coins. So you can thank the Frisians for the fact that we use money instead of the old trading system.

So what did the Frisians trade exactly? They traded both luxery goods and more mundane goods per example: Fabrics, skins, pottery, metal, cattle, fish, flesh, salt, wine, dairy products, fur, milling stones and even walrus, sea lion and reindeer products which they got from the far North in Scandinavia. They also traded in human lives because the slave trade was a lucrative business and slaves were essential for the early medieval economy.

Who ruled the Frisians? It is not known when the Frisian tribe turned into a kingdom but we do have written sources of some of the earliest Frisian kings. The oldest yet quite unreliable source comes from the epic poem Beowulf which mentions Finn Folcwalding as the first king of the Frisians. It is however doubtful if Finn actually really existed since Beowulf is not exactly a reliable historical source. According to the Poem, Finn was the son of Folcwalding and married a Danish princes, Hildeburh.

Here is a quote from the Beowulf poem: "The warriors returned then to seek their houses, bereft of friends, to see Frisia, their homes and high fort yet Hengest the death-stained winter spent with Finn, in a place with no fellowship at all; he remembered his land, though he could not drive on the sea the ring-prowed ship: the sea welled in storm, fought against the wind, the winter locked the waves in icy bonds, until came another year to the courtyards, as it still does now, those which continuously carry out their seasons, gloriously bright weathers." Beowulf

The first Frisian king of whom's existence we actually got archeological evidence, is king Audulf, who ruled Frisia between 600-630AD. The most famous Frisian ruler however is king Redbad/Radboud who ruled Frisia from 690-719AD. His story is recorded by the Franks, the enemy of the Frisian kingdom. According to these records, Redbad refused to convert to Christianity exclaiming that he would rather spent an eternity in hell with his ancestors than to go to heaven.

It was also under Redbad's rule that the Frisian kingdom reached its peak. The Frisians and Franks were continuously at war with each other as the Franks tried to expand their empire. Not only did the Franks aspire to add more land to their already massive empire, they wanted to convert the Frisians to Christianity as well which they eventually did with quite some violence. Bonifatius and Willibrord were send to Frisia with orders to built churches and convert the local people.

Bonifatius started to chop down sacred trees throughout Frisia, oak trees which were dedicated to Donar, which were used not only for religious purposes but also for judicial purposes. This angered the Frisians greatly and eventually the mob turned against Bonifatius killing him and his followers out of anger and revenge.

Redbad managed to keep Frisia largely pagan until his death in 719AD. After his death, the Frisian kingdom was quickly conquered by the Franks who divided the kingdom into three parts, East-Frisia, Middle Frisia and West-Frisia. One thing I want to mention is that there is a very popular post going around the internet saying that Redbad is the last Frisian king, this is however not true. The last Frisian king was Poppo who ruled Frisia between 719-734AD. It was during Poppo's reign that Frisia was conquered by the Franks, perhaps the reason why most people conveniently leave him out of history.

By the year 734AD, the Frisians were now largely converted to Christianty but some pagans still remained. The latest pagan burial dates back to around 1000AD and some pagan habits like placing offerings in moors and swamps continued on well into the 18th century. It took a very long time before the Frisians accepted Christianity, almost 1000 years before the Christian faith fully got its hold in even the smallest settlements.

Not only Frisia was conquered and converted by the Franks, the Saxons were also invaded by them which led to the Saxon wars which took place between 772-804AD. These wars eventually led to the destruction of the Irminsul and the forcible conversion to Christianity. Countless of pagans were murdered for refusing to convert. The Frisians provided military support for the Saxons in their uprising but it sadly failed. With the arrival of the 9th century, continental Germanic paganism has almost completely died with the exception of Denmark.

The Frisians were no longer independent and by 839AD, the reign of Frisian counts began. During the 9th century, the Frisian territory, now part of Lotharingia, was repeatedly attacked by the vikings. Thanks to the vikings, the Frisians lost their status of the most powerful seafaring nation and an age of terror began. Dorestad, former capital of the Frisian kingdom, was raided several times by the vikings until the city eventually slowly died. It was rediscovered in 1842 during archeological research conducted by L.J.F Janssen, conservator of the rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden.

Since the Christianization of Frisia went so slowly, many of its people still believed in the Germanic Gods by the time the vikings were active. After the passing of Louis the pious, king of the Franks, in 840AD, a power struggle broke out between his three sons which resulted in devastating civil wars. The Frisians, who are genetically and culturally identical to the Danes, decided to stop defending their territories from Danish raiders and so Frisia fell in the hands of Danish rulers. The Frisians and Danes actually had good relationships with each other as their culture and religion were the same. It is believed that many Frisians turned viking as well and joined the Danes in their viking raids.

Eventually the viking raids stopped but the Frisians, now known as the West-Frisians, continued their good relationships with Denmark, a friendship which continued for many centuries as Holland and Denmark later united to battle the Swedes, in fact this friendship still endures until this very day and was recently celebrated between both governments.

The counts of West-Frisia, who governed on behalf of the Holy Roman Emperor, ruled over the area which was formally part of the Frisian kingdom, modern day Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe, Utrecht and east-Frisia. The first known count is Dirk I who governed over Frisia between 916-928AD. This line of counts continued until count Dirk V of West-Frisia declared himself as count of Holland and so the province of Holland was born.

The climate of Europe changed again between 800-1200AD, the medieval warm period had begun. This eventually led to a gigantic flood, the Sint-Lucia flood, which created the Zuiderzee and separated West-Frisia from East-Frisia. Eventually east-Frisia became known as simply Frisia but West-Frisia, now reduced to an area connected to Holland, continued to exist under its former name. The remaining part of West-Frisia refused to join Holland which resulted in the West-Frisian wars which lasted around 160 years.

West-Frisia was eventually absorbed into Holland by count Floris V during the late 13th century after series of battles and a mass slaughter committed by the Hollanders on West-Frisian men, women and children. Even though West-Frisia is nowadays part of Holland, they still remain their own unique identity, anthem, flag and dialect. the province of Holland grew into the most powerful province of the low lands and eventually revolted against their Spanish overlords in 1568, a struggle now known as the 80 years war for Dutch independence which resulted in the free republic of the united provinces in 1648, the creation of the Netherlands as a united land.

Meanwhile east-Frisia, now known as Frisia, continued to resist against every power that tried to conquer the territory. Frisia became an independent territory around the year 1000AD and continued to be independent until they decided to join the Dutch revolt against the Spanish. Frisia joined the union of Utrecht and became part of the Dutch republic and still continues to be part of the Netherlands until this very day although some Frisians want to reclaim their independence again.

I am sorry for this long post on the history of the Frisians but they have a very long history that deserves to be told since they greatly influenced all of Europe and are the oldest still existing Germanic culture of Europe.

Here are images of: a map showing Magna Frisia, the Frisian kingdom at its peak. An image of king Redbad/Radboud, Frisian traders, artist unknown, A map of the Frisian trade network, Frisian sceatta coins with a depiction of Wodan, a map showing West-Frisia before the formation of Holland, A photo that I took myself of West-Frisian remains badly maimed by soldiers of Holland during the West-Frisian wars, Current territory of West-Frisia, map showing present day Frisia and east-Frisia

#Germanic #Germanic tribe #pagan #Frisia #History #Dutch

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piracytheorist · 4 years ago

Note

What are your thoughts on Dark Hook and Dark Swan in ouat in general?

To preface my thoughts, I want to first talk about how the writers of OUAT may have had good ideas for a show, but they lack the ability to execute them well. I think the main reason most of us loved the show was because seasons one and two were quite good - and those were the seasons that the writers had years in front of them to plan out - and then we were just into it. From season 3 onward, you can see the writing quality decline, from the occasional wtfs of s3 to the outright out-of-character, pointless, even backpedalling decisions pretty much all the characters took in s6 (I believe that the main reason s7 worked was because they had a lot of clean-slate characters, even Rogers had a different path to expand from). So there’s the theme of the writers having great ideas, but they can’t work on a very small time frame and develop a whole season in the span of a few months, so their ideas fall flat.

Onto Dark Hook and Dark Swan.

Again, Dark Swan is a great idea; Emma facing her strongest fears, just at the time that she’s fully ready to accept her future and move on from her past pain. But what they failed to realize is how complicated of a concept that is, and how to give it justice, it needs more than a half-season with a limited screentime because of the development of other characters, as all ensemble cast shows have to do. Add to that the fact that the writers wanted to pander to the audience with ANGST! for CS and the obligatory SQ-but-no-homo storyline... with a group of writers that can’t execute their ideas... on a limited screentime... you get this.

And this is a magnificent failure, not only by itself, but most importantly its consequences.

The Dark CS storyline has zero consequences. As proven by the horribly-written s6, Emma doesn’t learn to trust in her family. She doesn’t learn to stop working on her own, to recognize her work - I mean, when she comes back from the Underworld, she’s all “Boohoo I should never have gone there” like bish you saved Killian? You helped souls move on? Bish? - or learn from her own mistakes. Killian... he just falls deeper into self-loathing, and I’m not sure how that’s a positive development from him. He was already on the path of making himself better, of wanting to repent; he didn’t need to assist in nearly killing Emma’s entire family, close and extended, in order to have a development.

And of course, there’s the matter of the heavy things both of them did; Emma ripped out Violet’s heart to force her to break Henry’s heart in order to get his tears. She literally manipulated things and people’s - her own son’s! - emotions to get to the final point. Which may have been a noble cause, freeing Merlin from his prison, but immoral acts for a noble cause? That’s the work of an Anti-Hero character, not a Hero character. And that’s not something the writers realized let alone admitted in the narrative.

Same with saving Killian’s life, against his own dying wish. I actually recently remembered this exchange they had:

Killian: Do you have any idea how it feels to not be in control of yourself? [...] Emma: I know exactly how it feels! Everyone I’ve ever loved abandoned me!

And like, what’s the connection between point A and point B? Killian is talking to her about becoming a puppet to someone, not having free will of choice, and Emma is talking about how she had no control over when people would leave her. One is a terrifying matter, and the other is something everyone goes through. You can’t choose when the people you love will die, and you will meet people who will hurt you.

But because Emma has had that latter a little too much, she wanted control over it. And with the Dark One’s powers, she was even more inclined to use them to make sure it doesn’t happen. Ergo, her taking away Killian’s consent, when he was choosing to die. And then again by hiding Excalibur from him, lying to him about it, forcing him to talk to her by summoning him when he had chosen to go away because he was enraged over the previous three betrayals, and then by taking away his memories when she concluded that he was “too far gone”. Again, manipulation and control, in order to save Killian’s life - when he didn’t want to be saved, btw - all acts of an Anti-Hero character.

And then you have Killian. I’ve said before how I think most of the things he said and done as a Dark One were Killian’s actual deep fears - that he had become a lovesick puppy dog, that Emma was eventually going to push him away and revert to her “orphan” state, that he had no hope of making amends for his villainous past, so might as well give up trying, and making sure Rumpelstiltskin doesn’t hurt him again - so having him say both things like “That’s why you’ll always be an orphan” and “I might have given you your wife back. Soiled, but returned” on the same episode, you kinda wonder, how much of that does he mean? What the hell is going on?

The fact that right after waking up, he desires to die because he thinks he deserves to more than Emma does, the fact that after Emma rescues him he’s a mess with guilt... those kinda point to the fact that he had some control over what he was doing, or at least his feelings behind them - that, for example, he regrets allowing the Dark Ones to nearly kill Emma’s family and friends just so he could have his revenge on Rumpelstiltskin.

So, you’ve got some heavy issues. Manipulation, betrayal of trust, controlling and disregard of consent on the one side, and humiliation, degradation and homicidal attempt on the other side.

What are the consequences of all that? Nothing. The Dark CS storyline is forgotten, Killian’s guilt over it is mentioned once in the later episodes and then never again.

All those required at least a moment to sit and talk about. Killian feeling guilty over it for about one episode - and just for the things he did! God forbid we have Emma face the emotional consequences her actions had on other people - doesn’t even begin to reach enough.

So overall, it was a very interesting concept, with a less than promising introduction and execution, and an outright disappointing and unrealistic conclusion. And I’m saying this as a CS fan - I’m not saying nothing of this should’ve happened. It was interesting to see how they happened, to see Emma’s and Killian’s deepest fears surface and take control of their actions, but it was disappointing to see that it lead to nothing. It was emotionally taxing, especially if you connected to the characters, and then it was nothing. It never happened, please look away and look! Cruella’s back and we got a villain with blue flaming hair please keep watching the show despite the fact that we disregard one of the oldest rules of storytelling by not providing Catharsis!

So yeah. Disappointing, 0/10, wouldn’t invest in anything A&E write again.

#lillpon goes meta #ouat #Captain Swan #Emma Swan #Killian Jones #ouat criticism #Anonymous #ask and ye shall receive

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thethreemages · 4 years ago

Text

*rises from the grave to finally deliver on a certain new story arc chapter*

...Heeeey everybody lol I know this may not be something anyone expected in like, ages compared to my other recent TTM-content... but well, ever since my last chapter upload from maaany months ago... I've just continuously kept getting blocked from wanting to get back more into the main story, especially with the influx of developing lore and side casts I've been having fun with a bit more in comparison.

But well, after some more heavy thinking and reworking a bit of how I wanted to frame the next few bits of the story to go (while still keeping relatively faithful to my original concepts)... here's the official next part to keep the main story flowing with some rather "juicy" drama ahead~

((Here's the DA Link for the fic itself in case it gets too cut-off here-))

===========

The eerie stillness of the forest was something all too familiar to those raised around this trek of the woods… but this night in particular was getting all the more “curious” for what semblance of peace was broken left and right....

On one side, a noble prince and a gentle strength mage were connecting all the closer together as they were quietly walking through the woods.

On another, a fiery prince and a gruff healer mage were stumbling into the middle of an ominous find… enough to have stirred up some lingering “threats” following after them.

And finally, as of now… a cunning dark mage was finding herself apprehended by a group she once looked up to, respected, and trusted…

“-I will not say this again! Unhand Me. This. Instant!” Prym Fletcher hissed towards the pair of guards who were roughly escorting her back to the camp, feeling tempted to have blasted them back already with her magic… had it not been for a fierce pair of eyes ordering her to keep still.

“Save it, kid. You’ve snooped upon very classified information against official orders, you’re not leaving our sight.” Taiyin Zhou replied back with a firm tone, “You’re about lucky we haven’t already arrested you as is…”

“Ughhh, I’m telling you I did NOT snoop! I had simply stumbled across your camp by accident!” the young dark mage insisted, her voice already growing exasperated with frustration, “Why won’t you believe me?? I’m Lady Meradyth and Sir Luka’s daughter, for Saint’s sake-!”

Halting in her tracks upon hearing that, Taiyin only turned her head to give a… rather puzzled look, “Sir… Luka? Um, sorry but... no one’s ever been registered in our ranks with that name…”

Rightfully confused as ever by that response, Prym had taken the moment to shove off the guards restraining her as she offendedly exclaimed, “Wait… w-what?? Oh, now this has to be a damn joke… Luka was once one of your top members back in the day! Closest friend to Ivor and my mother Meradyth, what do you mean by ‘never been registered’??”

“-Look, I’ve been here in the Elite for a good number of years, kid... and I think I would know if I was aware of anyone named Luka,” Taiyin furrowed her gaze to Prym in a frustratedly tired way, almost reminding her of one of the strict & overworked teachers back at St. Ravilda’s, “I don’t know what else to tell ya on that front, but we’ll be the ones handling the questions here, thank you very much...”

The younger mage could feel her fists clenching in a rising anger towards this woman’s insensitivity… yet didn’t have time to make another retort as a pair of familiar faces joined to greet them from behind Taiyin.

There stood the imposing General himself, alongside the stoic Alastair who gave a quiet look of disapproval towards his comrade’s harshness to Prym. In the meantime, Ivor’s face seemed to twist with many mixed feelings upon seeing his daughter’s friend. Shock, disappointment, confusion… and perhaps even a bit of fear?

“Prym… what in the Saints’ good names are you doing out here??” Ivor shakily demanded to know, the stern fatherly side of his kicking into high gear as if she were his own child caught in the act, “I told you specifically to stay back at home where it’s safe! Don’t you know what kind of danger you’re putting yourself in, especially at this hour of night within these woods??”

“I… w-well,” Prym struggled at first to find the words, not wanting to risk giving away that Tula and the others were very much out there in the woods too… so, after taking a second to think and compose herself, she retorted back to him with an unamused tone of her own, “Hmpf… I suppose I should be more asking you the same question, Ivor. Don’t think I didn’t hear His Majesty giving you orders to collect this insidious-sounding ‘white plague’ for him… whatever the hell that means for his standards…”

“-Hey, what did I say about watching your tone, kid-!” Taiyin attempted to scold her… only for Alastair to hold up his hand to let the young girl speak her mind. Not exactly expecting Prym to have spun the question onto him now, Ivor gave a conflicted moment of silence… but eventually, an approving look from Alastair encouraged the hulking General the resolve to just admit what’s up, not seeing much else to lose now that she’s already here...

“The… white plague we were speaking of earlier, Prym… is a code name for this strand of white fungal root that had suddenly taken bloom within Graystone. These plants… they’re about the most devastating plant species our country’s faced in these past few decades… once was the stuff of legends within our oldest history books, but then… somehow some twisted, sick individuals decided to recreate these plants and spread them loose to cause countless amounts of destruction among the lands…”

Hearing of these plants made Prym’s eyes widen a bit in recognition… taking a moment to think on it, “Hold on, I… think I might’ve heard of such plants back in this one story Professor Blanchard once told us; an old crone who was jealous of the younger beauties in her town made up a mash of brew from these weird, white twigs so she could poison the girls, and absorb their own beauty to become a ‘goddess’. The plan backfired when it simply made the other men exposed to her inner flaws despite all her good looks, so she was cast off in a ritual fire to pay for her sins. Could… those perhaps be the white plague plants you were mentioning?”

One by one, Ivor and the others had given a nod of yes as Alastair floated up a steel box to open in display… revealing within a sealed-jar the shriveled up remains of a ghastly, half-rotted root… curled into a position like that of a crooked hand. Nauseating as the contents were to look at, the fact that this root was seemingly swimming in a sickeningly thick black liquid near the bottom didn’t help either…

“Indeed, Prym… this is the white plague we’ve been tasked by King Grayle to retrieve,” Ivor continued on to explain, “In our years of tracking them down, they’ve been linked to many terrible cases of people becoming infected when they didn’t expect it. Whether it’d be from injesting the root itself or the snow-like spores spread out into the air… its almost impossible to fully recover from it before its too late...”

“Yes… these roots were the ultimate cause of many terrible tragedies our country will never forget…” Alastair finally spoke up as cleared his throat, his tone serious yet solemn as ever, “Queen Elianne’s death, the double-crossed Wraith Night survivors, the village residents of Yulong…”

‘...Aevri’s hometown…’, Prym thought as she felt the tears prick to her eyes, remembering when her friend was given the grave news of her parents passing away of illness a few years back in school... so sudden and out of nowhere during a seemingly peaceful period of time. Long as it was since the last she saw Mr. and Mrs. Ren, Prym could still plainly recall them both being such kind, healthy-bodied people who wouldn’t hurt a fly… so hearing of them being the unsuspecting victims of such a ghastly plant this whole time was beyond tragic… “...even among our own ranks we’re all too familiar with white plague being inflicted right under us… ” Ivor admitted with a saddened tone, his gaze to Prym signifying she’d know who he’d talk about next, “The night Lady Meradyth had fled, the arrow blades recovered from the crime scene were found to be traced with this blackened poison linked back to the plague root… which, in connection to those other past incidents could only mean one thing..”

Not having to say another word, Alastair let his magic do the talking for him as he enchanted his glowing aura to shapeshift a group of silhouetted figures gathered together, each holding the white plague roots within their hands in an ominous, unified fashion. With that, signifying that whoever was perpetrating these white plague attacks… were all working together in a single, spread-out group.

Hearing all this was already pretty heavy for Prym to bear… breaking her more into confusion as she noticed Taiyin and Alastair turning to leave along with some other guards, “w-wait, where are you going?”

“Continuing the rest of the mission, kid.” Taiyin informed her, thankfully not as harshly as before but still firm enough to try and hold the young dark mage back.

“Yes, if our sensors are correct then its only a matter of time before these plague roots bloom upon the first morning hour. We must give haste at once.” Alastair joined with Taiyin as he packed some quick essentials nearby, looking over to his superior, “General, please inform us if anything stirs around this area while we’re gone, and we shall do the same in return.”

“Noted.” Ivor simply nodded as he gave some silent orders for the two to continue heading out. As much as a part of Prym wanted to say more in perhaps suggesting to go with them or however… her mind was still much too focused on the growing anger she had towards all these suspicions and secrets being kept from her. Not even letting Ivor reach to touch her shoulder in comfort, she had resigned to simply stomp towards the tent to cool off… the shining light of the moon following behind her.

——-

On another section of the sprawled forest, making their way through the thickets was Prince Elas and Tula… seeming to make good headway on the path they were on. Further back they had found some tracks being quite imposing enough to belong to no one else but Tula’s father,

“Okay, looks like it won’t be long to find Papa!” Tula had deducted, feeling some more confidence at finding another cluster of footprints up ahead, “my guess is that he might’ve set up camp just a few trees away, by this rate.”

“Indeed, I can’t say I can find much to disagree with that notion.” Elas gave an approving nod, analyzing some of the tracks for himself, “Seems to me he might’ve had some party members of his own crossing though here, so whatever he may be up to then he’s bound to not be alone…”

Looking on ahead in the direction they were headed to, something inside Tula was feeling… odd, and kind of confused as to how everything was going so smoothly at the moment. Perhaps… a bit too smoothly, as the forest seemed eerily still at this point in time.

“...Elas, does something seem ‘off’ to you?” the young Strength mage pondered, her gaze glancing around for any signs of possible life within the trees or bushes. At first, the prince didn’t seem to detect anything out of place as he stepped ahead… until his foot caught sight of something that made him jump back in shock.

“Oh good Saints, w-what in the world was...?” gathering himself to calm down, Elas took a closer look to find that his shoe had stepped into what looked like a puddle of thick, ghastly-white goo… the contents sizzling a bit under the glow of the moonlight above. Tula had curiously peaked over his shoulder to see what was up… only for them both to jolt back again once the puddle started to bubble and release a hissing, acidic green stench.

“-What is that stuff?? I-I’ve never seen anything like that in these woods!” Tula exclaimed with a clear worry in her tone, “Do you think any of the girls or Kain found-”

Halted in her thoughts was the ear-piercing shriek of something very much inhumane ringing throughout the trees, rattling both her and Elas from standing upright. Careful to at least not fall back in the goop behind them, the two helped pick the other up as within these shrieks, they heard the loud crashing and glowing of magic clashing near the distance ahead.

“-Kain!” Elas deducted, upon recognizing the reddish-orange glow from where he was standing, “He and Aevri must’ve found something dangerous up there, come on!” he encouraged to Tula while instinctively firing up some blue fire in his hands.

Answering back only with a firm nod, Tula didn’t take long to summon up her Strength gauntlets as the two of them hurried on to try and help the other mages. If only they had looked back behind them, they would’ve noticed how that white goo from earlier was beginning to fade away as a figure summoned it back into the darkness…

—-

The normally firm General was in quite an awkward spot having Prym stumbling upon such top secret info as she did… having hoped that tonight could’ve been just a simple detour mission without having to drag any of the kids along. And he knew that hearing the truth about the dangers of white plague had truly shaken her up… so, he knew that he couldn’t have any room to blame her for not being willing to talk to him at the moment while they were alone at the campsite.

A few more minutes would pass before he’d finally make the move to head inside the tent as well… looking to find Prym with her back turned from him, clearly lost in thought and conflicted.

“...Prym, I know what you may be thinking,” Ivor steadily began, trying to keep his tone as delicate as possible, “-But you must understand that this situation was... much too dire and dark for me to just confess it freely among you and the others back home. I simply wished to protect you all-“

“-Protect us from what, Ivor?” Prym finally spoke up, not so much defensively as much as she sounded… tired, “If you haven’t already noticed, me and the girls are not little kids anymore… if you truly meant to be on an important mission regarding these plague plants, then we could’ve understood if you simply told us. Otherwise I thought… well, with the King’s orders and that one lady’s coldness to me, I…”

“...I know. And for that as well, I deeply apologize...” the General lowered his head as he sighed, “Taiyin is quite a strong soldier, noble-hearted as well… but we’ve been meaning to correct her more about not letting her loyalty to the Elite get the better of her towards outsiders. I’ll be sure to have a talk with her when she gets back, I promise.”

Assuring as that thought was, as well as relieved at his genuine apologies… something in Prym’s mind was nagging at her to not let it go. Something regarding one, particular detail that wouldn’t leave her thoughts…

“...Ivor, earlier Lady Taiyin had given me this… really strange response to me mentioning my father Luka. Basically saying he… apparently never existed within the ranks.” Prym had turned to further face the general, looking up with a look of questioning, “You didn’t even directly say that he died within those other plague casualties, simply that there was poison found at that scene where Mother ran away. Is… there something you’re not telling me, Ivor...?”

“...Prym, n-now is not the time to-“ he looked quite shaken by her sudden accusation, but Prym continued to stand her ground further with a firm anger in her tone.

“-No. Now is more than the perfect time to explain- Why is it that all my life, I’ve been told my father was this grand, loving hero of the King’s Elite alongside my mother, giving his life to protect countless innocents… and yet now I learn that’s all apparently been one big lie?? Ivor, please what is the real truth here?? W-Was my father a true soldier, or not?? Was he working for some other party, dealing with some unsavory types?? Please, j-just tell me already, Ivor!”

Steadily her voice began to shake more to a near-sobbing tone, lip quivering as her mind was drifting to all sorts of possibilities… and one more question stuck out the most as she pitifully looked up to the older general,

“Ivor… is my father even alive…?”

Silence quickly fell upon the tent… as Ivor looked conflicted as to how exactly he should answer such a question, let alone in a situation like this. As the seconds were passing into a minute between them, Prym was afraid that… perhaps he wouldn’t give her an answer, that maybe it was a mistake to ask at all after she had already stepped out of line as is… until at last, the still air broke when Ivor delivered a simple, one word answer that changed everything…

“...yes…”

——-

On their end of the forests away from everyone else, things had… really picked up much more chaotically for Kain and Aevri, the two of them now lost in a battle between an eerie group of monsters clamoring around them. Resembling that of tall, ragdoll-like humanoids made of white tree bark… their gaping mouths and hollow eyes dripping with white goo could’ve easily shackled their two foes in complete fear, if they both weren’t so stuck in fighter mode right now.

“-Eat this, bitch!” Kain had exclaimed with some kicks and punches of his crystal magic blasts, encasing the tree-like creatures in red shards that pinned them all to the ground. Aevri in the meantime did her best to defend them both, having summoned her shields to ward off and slice away closing-in enemies.

“Ughhh, will you freaks get the damn hint already?? Piss off!” the Healer mage grunted, swiftly throwing her summoned-shield to knock back some of the foes before it flew back into her arms. Try as they might through their defenses, however… Aevri and Kain could only watch as the monsters had simply risen up more from the ground up, not even seeming phased by their earlier attacks.

“Oh for fuck’s sake… what the hell is keeping these things alive??” Kain cursed while powering up another set of crystal attacks, “Even a wyvern would’ve fallen down by now, shit!”

Before Aevri could’ve answered back with a possibly-snarky retort, their thoughts were halted as they saw a flurry of blue flames burning back the horde of monsters that tried to make a grab at the two… the sender revealing none other than Elas and Tula who had hurried on to join the battle.

“...Greeaaat, perfect timing, bro.” the younger Graystone prince flatly remarked with a roll of his eyes, his brother simply scoffing in response with a flick of his hair, “-Save the backtalk til after we’re safe, Kain.” Letting his companion Tula take the next step in pummeling down some of the creatures with her firsts, she at least gave a more grateful and relieved look to her healer friend at seeing her standing strong in the fight, “-Aevri! Thank the Saints you’re alright! I-I hope these things didn’t hurt you too much…”

“Pff, hey... what would it be a fight without a few scrapes?” Aevri joked a bit to lighten the mood, bringing a small smile to Tula’s face before the both of them turned to ward off the next wave of monsters. It almost seemed concerning just how much these things were reanimating up again despite the waves of attacks… only seeming to keep going and going within the next few minutes to pass.

All… until each of the tree dolls suddenly halted in their place like statues, the melting white goop re-materializing into their eye sockets properly as each of them stood up straight. Confusing the hell out of the mages that were fighting them, the four watched as these dolls started to assemble into some upright positions… almost like an army awaiting their leader approaching. And with a rustle of movement coming from the bushes from behind, that… actually seemed quite closer to the truth as a pair of footsteps came walking out from the dark.

“-Hey! Who’s there??” Aevri turned in the direction of the steps as did the rest of her party, all rearing for another big battle… but then pausing as they finally saw who it was. Turning out to be a pair of hooded, ominous figures greeting them in plain view… their features hidden from where they were standing a lil far back. All until they stepped further into the moonlight was it shown that they were both women, one of them covering their face with a featureless white doll mask… and the other simply smiling back in a rather calm, calculating way.

“Aww… whats wrong, little ones~?” the hooded figure with a mask tilted its head, giggling in a tone that sounded much too saccharine sweet, “Sister and I simply wanted to have a lil playtime with my babies here… don’t be so mean~”

Naturally, this quite frankly creeped out the young mages who were now all the more confused seeing the masked lady stepping over to gently caress one of the tree dolls, as if it were her most prized possession. Compared to everyone else ain was at least trying to mask his unnervedness by standing back more boldly,

“H-Hey, these things of yours attacked us first, lady… what the actual fuck are you on about-??”

“...Hmmmm, temper temper...” came the much more dignified voice of the other woman, shaking her head in Kain’s direction though that smile of hers still remained clear as day, “Is that any way to speak to your family… Kain?”

The once-fierce gaze in Kain’s eyes had… very much evaporated into a look of disbelief upon hearing that voice… the crystal auras in his hands disappearing as they dropped to his sides in shock, “...w-what…?”

Alarmed by his brother’s sudden distress, Elas had turned to try and step up in Kain’s defense as he demanded, “-What in the Saints’ good name are you on about?? Kain is my brother, and I do not recall either of you being anywhere near ‘family’!”

“-Shhhh, manners… young man~” whispered the masked-figure, holding a finger to her lips as all stilled around her… summoning an eerie aura that surrounded the other mages into freezing in place, much like the tree dolls. Unable to do anything but move their heads and faces, Tula, Elas and Aevri all looked on as only Kain was allowed to move on his own… yet all he could do was just shakily stand in place as the unmasked figure slowly approached him… again still smiling that damn smile of hers…

“-No, n-no no you can’t… you can’t be her…!” muttered the now-shaky voice of the usually-haughty prince… trembling as the figure was now up face-to-face with him. Even without being freeze-spelled like the others were, Kain could do nothing but stare as the figure reached up a hand to his face… gently caressing his cheek as her free hand moved to pull back her hood.

Now… there was really no doubt who exactly she was. The striking red hair, the ruby red lips, the amber eyes all too similar to Kain’s… save for the subtle signs of aging, he could never forget a face like that....

“Yes… it is me, my son~”

———

Millions of thoughts were running through Prym’s mind as she recalled what Ivor just confessed to her. Her father… her own father Luka… was alive all this time?? As much as she wanted to celebrate such news, another dark side of her was just reeling at the implications…

Where was her father, all this time she and her mother were in hiding? Why didn’t he come back for them? Was someone keeping him hostage, forcing him in place? What if… what if he willingly chose to abandon her? Not even sparing her a second thought, wherever he’s at now…?

Sensing the growing conflict growing within Prym, Ivor did his best to try and diffuse the situation as he reached to comfort her, “Prym, I… p-please try to understand-“

“-What IS there to understand, Ivor?? Nothing is making sense anymore!” the dark mage exclaimed as she threw up her hands, feeling her tears growing hot as she began to pace back and forth, “You say my father’s apparently alive all this time, but where in Terra IS he?? Obviously he’s not within the Elite ranks now, Mother hasn’t heard from him in ages, and none of the current Elite seem to know who he is! All I want now is the truth, and I want it now!”

“...” Ivor had grown quiet for the moment, heavily sighing as he gestured for Prym to follow him near one of the seats, “I… know this is very much against protocol, but… i-it’s about time you knew, Prym…”

As much as she would’ve liked to argue and stay pouting… the ever-curious side of Prym decided to relent in at least hearing his side of the story out, wiping away her tears with a still-determined look in her eyes. All she could do was watch on as Ivor went and grabbed an old wooden chest to carry over to her, opening the contents to pull out a sealed document folder hidden under some other papers and trinkets inside.

“Prym… your father was a man that had many burdens over him at his age,” the General began to explain, handing Prym the folder as he sat down next to her, “As much as he tried his best to fulfill his duties as a leader… others still feared and hated him for feeling like he took away what wasnt ‘rightfully’ his, on top of the already-detested dark magic he carried. And well… being his oldest friend, I knew that it wouldn’t be healthy for him to linger on all this bad press… so, it was my suggestion that he would involve himself more with our growing Elite forces, to help him lighten up from the stress of it all...”

Within her grasp, Prym flipped open the folder to see the first page contained a picture of Luka’s face on it, with the royal insignia of the Elite stamped below it. With a silent nod from Ivor, she flipped under it to see that inside held some various papers and photos from the old days of Luka’s younger years… from sparring with his troops, to happily posing with some grateful-looking civilians, to joining together with his team to stand vicariously together all at once.

“Overtime, your father grew to fit in well within the Elite for letting him express himself for who he was… beyond all the titles and dark magical stigmas, but as a loyal comrade who’d do anything for the good of Graystone. And since the local civilians didn’t seem to recognize him as a simple soldier like the rest of us, he had even felt comfortable enough to try and help out these communities through his own acts of vigilantism…” Ivor chuckled, unable to resist a small blissful smile at the memory, “Not too surprising that he and your mother grew to get along a lot well in that department, denying as they were at first...”

Pausing for a moment from browsing through the folder, Prym looked over to Ivor with a look of puzzlement, “...So, if you say my Father did all these great things for the people… why would they turn on him because he performed some darker magic spells than normal? I know Mother had mentioned that he enraged some uptight army for his necromancy, but…”

“...W-Well, truth be told, that... wasn't exactly the ‘full’ reason for his eventual attack, Prym...” Ivor admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, “Luka, well-meaning as he was… at the same time was always rather stubborn and reckless when it came to what he thought was the right thing to do, regardless of the possible consequences ahead. There was no better example for when he had stepped out of protocol in one of our missions against a local crime-lord of the downtown New Grayle district… Boss Byzantine.”

“Byzantine…?” Prym blinked, steadily recognizing that surname after a bit of thought, “-One of Kaz’s bully friends shared that name back in school… Cable Byzantine.”

“Ahh, yes… the Boss would’ve been Cable’s father, from what I recall of that man.” Ivor gave a nod of acknowledgement, “Often kept to himself apart from the few public appearances with his family… most wouldn’t even know much else of him aside from that automobile company of his. But well… we as the Elite were having our growing suspicions after examining more of how poorly the downtown area was, and interviewing the locals terrorized from his gang’s past attacks. And thanks to one of our undercover operatives, Sgt. Kodiak, we had not only started to put any and all accomplices in jail, but had planned in the near future to soon put Byzantine to justice too. Luka, however… well, turns out he had decided to take fate into his own hands by cornering the Boss one day in his office with his dark magic… giving into temptation with his soul-ripping spells to really show the crooked man who he was messing with…”

The air seemed to grow heavier as Ivor quickly grew quiet again, his gaze going back to the chest’s contents as he pulled out something else from under all the papers… a locket with a purple moon gem symbol on the front, “...In the end, thanks to some nearby guards catching wind of his actions, Luka wasn’t fully able to be rid of Byzantine as he hoped… but that would soon seal his fate as the Boss had subtly planned a “vengeance” of his own. And so, a few years later Luka and Meradyth had made plans to head into the Downtown area for a quick errand, picking up this upcoming birthday present for you...” explaining as he gently placed the pendant within the girl’s hands, eyes closing as he painfully recalled further...

“...and, just as they were heading back home… they were ambushed. A mix of Byzantine’s own men and a few hired hands from the army Luka has disgraced, together overwhelmed the couple in more ways than one. Within all the smoke, blades, and spells being thrown around it was practically impossible for either of them to evade it all on their own…”

“So, how exactly did my father manage to survive from it all...?” Prym turned her gaze to ask, a hand gently resting onto Ivor’s as he felt himself getting shaken by the recollecting… only pressing on further for Prym’s sake, “-Through having to spend a good chunk of his aura energy on teleporting Meradyth away from safety, and the last of it to unleash one, devastating blast to ward off the remaining foes, they were defeated and got taken into custody… but at a grave cost to Luka, himself. Our troops, try as we did to bring him back to heal him up, just weren’t able to stop the plague-induced infections from slipping him into a deep sleep. Hours had turned to days, and days turned to weeks… and throughout it we were beginning to lose hope. Finally, at last he was able to wake up and face us again, b-but…”

It was here that Ivor had turned to look back at Prym, placing a hand to her shoulder as he delivered the news that had shattered the shred of hope she had earlier...

“Prym… h-he didn’t recognize us anymore, and… neither could he remember either you or your mother when we tried to tell him after waking up…”

“...W… What? No… n-no that can’t be right..!” the dark mage bitterly broke into a sobbing mess, shaking her head in near-denial, “-What kind of father would just up and forget his own loved ones, his own family?? P-Please tell me this isn’t true, Ivor! Please…!”

“...I-I’m sorry, Prym...” a guilt-ridden Ivor muttered, instinctively pulling Prym in for a tight hug despite her protesting sobs, “We tried all we could, believe me we did… but this plague proved to be the most resilient curse on our fellow comrade, even with the best medicinal help. Showing him pictures, records, and home videos did little to jog his memory… after awhile, he started refusing our help all together despite our protests…”

Soon, even as toughened as he usually was… even Ivor has begun to shed some tears as he held Prym close,

“He’s changed so much as time further passed, Prym.. not even going by his name anymore whether he’s off duty or not these days. To the point where eventually we just decided to never bring up the subject of Luka anymore, with the very few remaining soldiers from our old ranks swearing to silence never to speak of him either. As much as we wanted to reunite him with you both in the coming years, we just… w-we didn’t want to task the risk if anything were to… well, go wrong…”

To say that this did anything to soothe Prym’s heartbroken state would be a lie… as in the minutes that passed her furious sobs had silenced into mere whimpers, whilst Ivor continued to do his best to hold and comfort her as if she were his own child. In some ways, this news had devastated her even more than her initial thoughts of her father being deceased. To even imagine having to go through as much as he did, miraculously surviving but erased of his own memories like that… it was beyond crushing of a thought...

...Yet, the more she had paused to think on this info, the more she began to realize the implications of what exactly Ivor meant by Luka not going by his name anymore. Thinking back to the folder left next to her, she couldn’t help herself in pulling away from Ivor… desperately flipping through until her eyes caught sight of the last page. Her father’s medical file.

And this time, even Ivor didn’t move to stop her as he defeatedly looked away, accepting that she had to know this sooner than later...

...our current patient has been confirmed to have been inflicted with trauma-induced memory loss, and by royal order we have been requested to withhold further treatment by his end. Our staff has grown worried with his own past history of ongoing PTSD and Chronic Depression, but well… as our fellow staff had put it, an order’s an order.

With a heavy heart, this concludes our progress into looking after our patient of the past year and a half... Luka Grayle.

#the three mages #main storyline #my art #my fics #(at long last I finally returned to this oml-)#(again *mega* apologies in advance for the delay on this for anyone who's originally followed it more closely)#(as much fun as I had with developing lore and side casts I knew it was about time to get more back on the main story)#(soooo enjoy~)#(and stay tuned for the some upcoming chapters ahead cause BOI this was fun to get back into dljfkjk x33)

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nightwingmyboi · 4 years ago

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hi! i know you probably get a lot of questions and i’m really sorry for adding mine to the pile, but if it would be okay could you please explain what exactly is talon!dick about? i know in the court of owls storyline he was supposed to become one, but i thought it never actually happened? or is it just a fanon thing and i’m just dumb lmao i’m really sorry for bothering you

Not a bother! Enjoy getting asks. So, interestingly, the seeds for the Court of Owls storyline were kind of planted during Dick’s time as Batman. It seems that way to me at least, because we got this:

Batman (1940) #691

Where Dick discovers that Bruce was keeping some sort of mysterious secret concerning the circus and his parents...this seems to me to be a hint about the Court of Owls since it’s never explicitly cleared up Pre52. And in Gates of Gotham as well, Dick begins looking into Gotham’s colonial history with Alan Wayne and such...just as Bruce does in the Court of Owls storyline later. Dick and Bruce both even have the same underlying problem in these arcs:

Gates of Gotham #4

Batman (2011) #7

About not knowing Gotham as well as they think they do. So, it seems to me that we were originally supposed to get Dick!Bats in the Court of Owls storyline Pre52, and New52 snatched that storyline and gave it to Bruce instead. DC even haphazardly tried to give Bruce a family connection to the Court like the one Dick has lmao!

Batman (2011) #10

Wow, this isn’t totally coming out of nowhere and it makes complete sense! Whatever, this is not critical to know, it just kind of stinks that this arc that seems to be tailor made for Dick slipped through our fingers! Had to complain about it :/

But anyway, actually concerning your question lmao...the Court of Owls is a secret society run by of some of the richest, oldest families in Gotham. This society has been ruling Gotham from the shadows since colonial times, largely through their undead assassins, who are known as Talons. These Talons have incredible healing powers/regenerative capabilities; the only way to take them out is to freeze or decapitate them. Anything else and they’ll just heal. For quite a while, this group was thought to be a myth, known only through a nursery rhyme.

As Bruce begins investigating them further, he keeps finding clues that hint to Dick having a connection to the Court in some way. This culminates in Bruce being captured by the Court, and actually finding a coffin for Dick:

Batman (2011) #5

Can you imagine if Dick had been the one to discover his own coffin?! How fucking chilling would that have been?! Instead it’s basically a footnote. The sheer wasted potential here!!! But whatever! These coffins held the Court’s assassins, and with this last bit of proof, Bruce was able to confirm his suspicions about Dick’s role in the group. The Court of Owls had planned for Dick to become their Talon.

Initially, Bruce meant to keep this information to himself, but Dick, concerned for Bruce’s health, comes down to the cave to try to see if he can help with the case. Bruce breaks the news:

Batman (2011) #7

And he doesn’t do so with any tact. When Bruce continues to ignore Dick and not give him a straight answer, Dick gets pretty upset and starts shouting at him. But does Bruce explain himself or apologize for leaving Dick out of the loop? Nah. Instead:

Bruce punches Dick in the face. Some more completely unnecessary and gratuitous violence directed at Dick by his own father! And while he’s also delivering such terrible news! Just awesome! This punch was done in order to show Dick’s electrum tooth, proving without a doubt that Dick was meant to become a Talon. Could have just told him Bruce. Or done an x-ray? You have holograms man.

It turns out that Dick’s childhood home, the place Dick funded and maintained with his own savings even after living with Bruce, the place that he always returned to for comfort (in Pre52 at the very least, he went there in the aftermath of Bruce firing him, Jason dying, etc.)...was actually a freaking child slavery ring. And some of the people that Dick considers family were actually planning on selling him; he doesn’t know which ones were part of it and which ones were clean. If any were clean. Could he even know for sure that his parents weren’t in on the deal? So, all of Dick’s happy childhood memories, tainted by this horrible reality. This is a pretty huge deal. Kind of would have been amazing if Dick had any agency in discovering this life-shattering truth, but whatever. At least Dick will be able to reflect for a few moments on this revelation, right? Yeah, you know DC by now. That’s a no. It’s all about Bruce actually:

“...But they’re not Gotham City, Bruce. And neither are you.”

Bruce is focused on his issues; he talks about how he doesn’t know if Gotham is “his” city after all, because that’s the most important thing right now obviously. Meanwhile, Dick is having to pick himself up off the ground in the background. Maybe Bruce could take even a small moment to comfort Dick after dropping a bomb like that? But instead, it’s the reverse! Dick, blood dribbling down his chin, is actually having to give Bruce advice and direction here. As usual of New52 and Rebirth, issues that seriously effect Dick take back seat to Bruce’s problems. Joy.

So, fast forward a bit, and Dick is having to fight several Talons, including his great-grandfather, in order to protect the mayor. Ironically, during this fight, even Cobb was like “Wow, Batman sure was an ass when he hit you, huh? Bet that hurt loser.”

Nightwing (2011) #9

So even the undead assassin recognizes that Bruce was a jerk lmao. Bruce never actually apologizes for hitting Dick though, so he better just get over it I guess.

Moving on, you’re right anon. Dick doesn’t become a Talon here. Cobb's more interested in killing Nightwing for standing in his way, though there is a moment where Cobb does seem to try convincing Dick to join him and become a Talon:

So there is an inkling here that the Court wants Dick. But Dick refuses to take the offer (”screw destiny!!”) and ends up kicking Cobb’s butt. So, for a while, Talon!Dick was just a popular fanon AU.

Until the most recent arc with Ric that is. It turns out, Dick’s “amnesia” was actually the result of drugs, fake therapy treatments, and a magical hypnotic mind crystal (couldn’t decide on just one way to fuck Dick up I guess). His supposed therapist and doctor were actually members of the Court of Owls; they took advantage of Dick’s vulnerable state after he was shot in the head to try to make him their Talon. And, just because all of the above brainwashing wasn’t enough, Cobb tracked Dick down and also put him in “synaptic receiver” googles that implanted false memories of him being a Talon into his mind. So, because of all this, Dick briefly became a Talon for a single comic book.

Nightwing (2016) #66

Yeah, you read that right. All of this nonsense for one comic book of Dick being a Talon. Dick almost immediately breaks free because somebody nicks the googles. Not that I like the idea of Dick being a Talon all that much, but with this much buildup it was underwhelming to say the least!

Frankly, Talon!Dick is a concept oft underutilized or poorly executed by canon. It’s an intriguing AU with a lot of potential, but in canon, I’m kind of on the fence about it sometimes. The circus is so important and formative for Dick (“you can take the boy out of the circus, but you can’t take the circus out of the boy” and all that) and it’s really depressing to me to think that Dick would have negative associations with the place, especially since it taints every memory Dick has of his parents. And, as I said earlier, Dick often returned to the circus for comfort when he was upset, and now he can’t have that safe haven, because the childhood family that he so values actually tried to sell him into child slavery. After 70-something years of respecting Dick’s circus roots, it almost seems a little wrong for Dick’s origin to be tainted like this to me? Dick just can’t have nice things huh :/

Anyway, I hope this was helpful info, even with all my complaining lmao. Thanks for the ask! And for giving me an excuse to vent my frustrations lol ;)

#ask #dick grayson #nightwing #talon #Talon!Dick #batman #bruce wayne #court of owls #william cobb #meta #character analysis #negative #long post

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dbzebra · 4 years ago

Text

A Son Family Christmas

A/N: Ok so this was originally a secret santa present from years ago, that I recently rediscovered and made some new additions and cleaned up some things. As usual this takes place in the End of Z era, this time 9 years after Majin Buu. And lots of cute family+ship fluff. might need to go to the dentist afterwards lmao

Words: 3721 (i got carried away lol)

Pairings: little bits of Gochi, HanVi, MarTen and K18.

Mostly a Pan focused fic though!

enjoy :)

Christmas Eve; Age 783.

A blizzard howled and whistled from outside, covering the grassy mountain in a sparkling sheet of white snow.

Mt. Paozu was pitch-dark, except for the lights that came from a small cottage deep in the woods.

This was the home of Earth’s greatest hero.

The Son family decided to throw a Christmas party for themselves at their little mountain cottage. Goku invited Krillin and his family as well. The former monk was already pretty much family to Goku anyway, only more so when Goku and Krillin’s kids started dating each other the previous year.

It was the day everyone was looking forward to, but nobody was more excited than Son Pan.

Pan was three years old now, and could finally understand the concept of the holiday, as well as the magic and excitement behind waking up the next morning to find presents underneath the Christmas tree.

The toddler stared around at her grandparents’ fully decorated house in wide-eyed wonder. Garland wrapped around the railings and banisters; little models of Santa and reindeer on the countertops, a wreath on their front door, and so much more. Chi-Chi always loved going all out, it was her favorite holiday.

But what really had young Pan’s attention was the big, beautiful Christmas tree sitting in the foyer, filling the house with the strong but familiar scent of the forest. It dwarfed little Pan by several feet, but she wasn’t scared. She loved it. Lush green branches were adorned with ornaments of all shapes and colors. Rainbow lights twinkled in mesmerizing fashion. High above her head, at the very top of the tree, sat a big, shining golden star -- a decoration she got to add herself.

Every year, the Son family had a tradition to go out on Mt. Paozu and cut down the perfect tree. Goku knew the best spots. He always did -- even as far back as before Gohan was born. But nowadays they had to find two trees. One for Goku and Chi-Chi’s house, and the other for Gohan and Videl’s next door.

Pan sighed. She just wanted it to be bedtime so it could be tomorrow! She wanted presents! Every minute felt like an hour to her. The little girl tiptoed around, looking for any hidden presents but found no luck. She frowned. How was she even sure Santa would really come?! She had to keep her mind off that tree and the eventual presents somehow or she’d go crazy!

The three-year-old trotted into the kitchen to see what everyone else was up to.

The adults were all hard at work preparing the feast. Chi-Chi, Videl, 18, and Gohan busied back and forth to create the feast. Krillin and Goku did what they could, but usually ended up making things worse so they were ordered to stay put at the dining room table. If Goku was out in the wilderness, he could cook meat or fish just fine. But using a stove and all those utensils just wasn’t his thing.

Goku spotted his granddaughter looking around and called her over. “Pssst… Panny…”

The toddler tilted her head curiously to the side and went over to him, smiling as wide as could be. “Hi, Grandpa!”

Goku flashed one of his signature grins in response. He then put a finger to his mouth, still smiling, signaling the little one to be quiet. Pan covered her mouth to stop from giggling. Secrets were fun!

Pan blinked as Goku momentarily glanced to his wife to see if she was watching. Luckily, she was too preoccupied. When the coast was clear, he reached into his pockets.

“I got somethin’ for ya.”

Pan’s eyes sparkled with wonder. “What?”

“Don’t tell Grandma, okay? It’s a secret…” Goku grinned mischievously as he pulled out a small bag of cookies. He had stolen a few when Chi-Chi wasn’t looking; the wait for the food combined with how good everything smelled was too much for him. Krillin just shook his head with a smile.

She happily took them from her grandpa and stuffed them all in her mouth in one bite. With her full cheeks puffed out, she grinned back at her grandpa and Goku returned it.

The toddler hugged Goku and smiled before trotting over the counter where Chi-Chi was cutting food and occasionally stirring something in a pot. Pan tugged on her dress lightly, peering up at her. “Grandma?”

“Yes sweetie?” Chi-Chi cooed, stopping what she was doing to face her darling granddaughter.

“Can I helps you?”

Gohan ruffled his daughter’s hair as he helped make a dish. “Pan, don’t bother Grandma when she’s cooking; we’re all working really hard on this meal for everyone. Why don’t you see what Marron and Uncle Goten are doing?” He felt bad, and spoke calmly to not upset his young daughter, but he knew more than anyone that Goten was better equipped to preoccupy her right now.

Pan pouted. “Fine.”

“Oh hush, Gohan. Everything’s on schedule,” Chi-ChI replied, making her granddaughter smile again. “And of course you can help, Panny. You can help stir for me!”

Pan floated up and gently stirred the hotpot, happily singing ‘la la la’ like she had heard her grandmother do in the past. “How long does this take? All the food is in this big bucket?” As it turned out, this wasn’t nearly as fun as she thought.

“Should be all done in about thirty minutes.” Chi-Chi said, gently patting her head.

Pan’s mouth went into a small ‘o’ shape, trying to count how long that was on her fingers. It took her a bit to get to thirty “That takes too long. This is boring!” Pan replied.

Goku and Krillin tried not to laugh as she floated back down to the wooden floor. Their wives shot them a quick look and they both turned away, innocently whistling like they didn’t make a sound. Two peas in a pod, those two. 18 and Chi-Chi just giggled to themselves.

Pan shrugged her shoulders, scurrying back to the living room to see if she could find her uncle. Goten always had the best video games to play!

“Uncle Goten!! Where are ya!!?” Pan called out to him.

No answer. Pan frowned. “Is he hidin’ from me?” She noticed the television was still on, and his phone sat on the couch. But no Uncle Goten. But then, she caught something out of the corner of her eye from the other side of the Christmas tree.

Pan tiptoed around the tree, when she finally saw them right in the middle of a soft, tender kiss. Above their heads was a small mistletoe, hanging over the archway. In that moment nothing else mattered to them except each other.

Until...

CLICK

“Great shot, man.”

The sound of a camera shuttering followed by the voice of Krillin broke the two teens out of their tender embrace. Goten’s jaw dropped, and then he just facepalmed with both hands. Marron followed his line of sight to see his father standing there, camera in hand. She should’ve expected this...

“Dad!! W-What are you doing?!” Marron practically shrieked. The blonde’s whole face went red from ear to ear, shoulders shaking. Steam was practically coming off her face. It was embarrassing enough her parents were so lovey-dovey on a regular basis, but now she got caught in the middle of her most awaited special moment with her Goten of the holiday season!

“What does it look like? I’m capturing a special Christmas moment of my daughter!”

CLICK

Krillin got another picture at their flustered reactions. “But that one was just for fun.”

“Your mother will get a kick out of this!” Goku added, sporting a wide grin similar to his oldest friend.

“Grandpa! What’s that leaf over Uncle Goten’s head? Why were him and Aunt Marron playing kissy-face?” Pan asked eagerly. It looked like something she’d find on the ground before the snow came. She didn’t get why it was so special.

“It’s called a mistletoe, Pan. When two people get caught under it, they have to do that.”

“Misty Toe? That’s a dumb name!!” Pan broke into giggles again. “Uncle Goten is under a big toe!”

Eighteen came out to the living room, ignoring the two former Turtle School fighters who were still carrying on about their kids. Marron and Goten didn’t find it so funny!

“Marron, could you help me in here for a moment?”

“Sure!” Marron said, finally shaking off her flustered state and went to the kitchen. Any way to be away from this scenario.

Shrugging, Goten turned on the PlayStation to kill some time. The familiar start up sound soothed his ears and he sat down to play. He let Pan play on his phone in the meantime.

“Hey Uncle Goten…?” Pan climbed up on the other side of the couch after getting bored rather quickly.

“What’s up, squirt?”

“Is Santa Claus really comin’ tonight?”

“Definitely.” He grinned at her childlike innocence; it reminded Goten of himself at that age. “You gotta be asleep, though. He won’t come if you’re awake!”

“How does he know?”

Goten patted his niece’s head. “It’s ‘cause he’s magic, Panny.”

“Magic? Is that like how Grandma always knows when Grandpa does something bad?”

“Somethin’ like that.” Goten chuckled. For a three year old, Pan was much more aware of things than she let on.

Coming back to the living room, Marron plopped down next to Goten, leaning against his arm. Now that she was over the embarrassment of getting caught by her father and Goku, the blonde wanted to make up for lost time. She watched him play for a bit, and then turned to him with a sly smirk. “Bet I can beat you.”

“Yeah you probably can, cause you’re a big cheater.” Goten replied with a cheeky grin, not keeping his eyes off the screen.

“Hey! I am not a cheater!” Marron huffed, her bright blue eyes narrowing at him. “It’s not my fault you just get so easily distracted!”

“That’s why it’s cheating! You always play dirty by kissing me right when I’m about to win!!”

“You call it cheating, I call it strategy.”

Goten normally would never say no to a kiss from his beautiful girlfriend, but she’d always steal the win while he was still reeling from the kiss! It wasn’t fair! One time, Goten tried the same trick on her, but it didn’t quite work the way he intended. It backfired entirely, actually. As she just kissed him back and they both ended up completely forgetting about the video game soon after that.

Marron’s frown turned into a sly grin. If that’s how he wanted to play, fine. She knew exactly what buttons to push. “Fine. I just won’t kiss you ever again. How does that sound?”

“N-No, w-wait! I, uh...” Goten gulped. His mouth became dry, the words getting caught in his throat. He really did this time. Was this his worst fear coming true?!

The blonde giggled at his adorable panic-stricken face, satisfied with herself. “That’s what I thought, dummy. But still, lucky for you, I don’t think I could ever give this up~” Marron kissed his cheek again, leaving her boyfriend reeling as she went to the bathroom to freshen up before dinner.

Goten put his head in his hands and let out an audible sigh of relief. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand girls…”

From across the couch, Pan started giggling. “Uncle Goten did something bad!” She didn’t really get what the big deal about kissy kissy was to begin with, but seeing her uncle all flustered like that had the toddler tickled pink.

The next twenty minutes rolled by quicker than ever, and finally, it was time to eat.

The adults all came out carrying multiple trays and large bowls. The plates and silverware had already been set as the ever-growing Son family all took their seats around the table.

“Wait, Dad’s not here yet.” Chi-Chi said, looking worried. “Do you think he got stuck in the blizzard?”

“He’ll be here. I can sense his energy. Besides, he’s the Great Ox King! No way some storm is gonna stop him.” Goku confirmed, easing his wife’s worries. He winked at her and Chi-Chi smiled.

And like clockwork, a few minutes later the door swung open. The cold wind blew snow onto the floor of the house, when in came a giant, jolly looking man with a grayish beard. He wore a large red coat and carrying lots of presents. “Merry Christmas, everyone!”

Pan gasped, practically standing up in her chair. A large jolly man with a big belly. Red coat. A beard. And carrying presents. That could only mean one thing…

“Santa!!!?”

But she thought she had to be asleep!

Chi-Chi hurried to the door to greet the man. “Dad! You made it!”

“Hi, pumpkin!” Ox King hugged his daughter. “Am I late? Sorry I missed the cooking, it’s like a blizzard out there! Can’t see a thing.”

Goku grinned. “You’re just on time. ” He went up to his father-in-law who brought the Saiyan into a big bear hug, followed by doing the same with his two grandchildren.

Pan tilted her head to the side, more than a little confused. “...That’s not Santa?”

“No, honey. It’s your Great Grandpa Ox! You remember him, right?” Videl told her. Pan thought about it for a second, and the name was familiar! Her expression lightened when she remembered. Pan flew over to him and gave him a big hug.

As the adults got Ox King set up, Pan the conversation no mind as she stared at the pile of presents on the floor in awe. She gently tried to shake each box to try to guess what was inside but didn’t have much luck.

“Mama, Papa, can I open them now??” She asked, barely containing her joy.

Gohan and Videl exchanged a look and sighed. “You can open Grandma and Grandpa’s present after dinner. The rest will have to wait ‘till tomorrow morning.”

“Okay!” Pan replied. That was good enough for her!

And so with everyone in attendance, the feast could finally begin.

In typical Saiyan fashion, the Son boys filled their plates far above regular capacity. Little Pan tried to mimic her grandpa and uncle and put as much food on her plate as her little hands could grab.

Krillin did his impression of Yajirobe for the others, especially Pan who never heard it before. 18 spoke her new job as a school teacher, and Videl’s new case as Satan City’s top detective, with her right hand man Great Saiyaman.

Meanwhile, In record time, Goku finished his plate and went back for more. Goten wasn’t far behind him.

“More please!”

“Me too!”

Father and son respectively said.

“I wants more too!” Pan said, and then remembered the thing to say that her parents taught her. “Um, peas!!”

Chi-Chi smiled. “Of course, angel.” And then turned her gaze to her younger son. “Oh, and Goten, you really should behave yourself in front of your future wife. It’s not polite to eat like that!”

Gohan cracked a grin. “Yeah, Goten. Listen to Mom.”

“Not helping!”

Videl lightly slapped Gohan’s arm. “Oh stop. You’re one to talk, aren’t you? I distinctly remember a time when you were the one getting flustered whenever someone brought up our relationship.”

“Well that’s-”

“No excuses. You were a nervous wreck on our first date, remember? You wore your pants inside out!” Videl playfully poked his shoulder. She turned to Goten and winked.

At least somebody was on his side….

Chi-Chi suddenly gasped. “Oh, I forgot the wine! Excuse me for a second.” She got up and went into the kitchen. She returned a moment later with a large bottle. She poured a glass for each of the adults, minus Goku and Gohan. Goku didn’t like the taste, but Gohan wanted to try it.

“Mom, can I have some?” Gohan asked.

“Absolutely not, mister! You know what happened last time. You dressed up as Saiyaman and put a performance on for everyone! And you have Pan now, you need to be a better influence!” Chi-Chi scolded him, but the smile never left her face.

Gohan hung his head as Goku patted him on the back while Goten snickered. “I’m sorry. I got carried away last time because everyone was having so much fun.”

“I for one loved it.” Videl gushed. “It reminded me of when we were still teenagers~”

“R-Really?!” Gohan said, blushing.

“Oh fine, here.” Chi-Chi caved and handed her older son a glass. After a story like that, she couldn’t say no.

When Goten went to reach for the bottle afterward, Chi-Chi gave a stern look to her younger son that practically screamed ‘don’t even think about it!’

Goten frowned, dejected. Every time he tried that, and every time he failed. And now it was Gohan’s turn to snicker.

Chi-Chi couldn’t help but laugh. Even though they were grown, her sons still had that little brotherly competition.

“Boys will be boys...” Videl said and Chi-Chi nodded in affirmation. Especially her boys.

Krillin took the bottle next. He put too much in his glass and then downed it.

“Okay, lisssten up! I haaaave to make an announcement!!” Krillin declared and then burped.

Eighteen sighed. “Here we go…”

Everyone stopped to listen to him, with various degrees of amusement written all over their faces. Goku most of all. He put down his food to give his best friend his full attention. Oh, he had been waiting for this.

“Oh no, not again....” Marron said with a fearful expression, preparing for the worst. She was already embarrassed by him once. But twice? She’d rather bury her head in the snow outside.

“What’s the matter?”

“When my dad drinks, he gets a little too happy and starts blurting out embarrassing things.”

Krillin cleared his throat and began to speak. “I...I looove my wife!!”

“Huh?!” Eighteen was caught off guard by his confession as if it were the first time hearing it.

“She’s sooo pretty… And so n-nice… And so cool!” Krillin hiccuped, putting his empty glass on the table. He hiccuped again, his goofy smile only getting larger. “She acts real tough, but… she’s a.. She’s a biiiiig softie! Like a---”

Eighteen covered her husband’s mouth before he could finish, her face turning the same crimson as her daughters did earlier as everyone laughed. “Krillin, s-stop it you idiot! W-We’re in public!”

“S-Stooop what? The party’s just getting started.”

Eighteen handed him a glass of water to get him to sober up before he blurted out something else. It didn’t take much to get Krillin loosened up, but he sobered up quickly as well.

That big dork, blurting out something so embarrassing like that. She had a reputation to uphold! How was she supposed to freak Trunks and Goten out if they knew her ‘stone cold’ persona was just a big act?! In her own mind though, Eighteen swooned. But she wasn’t about to let anyone know! In public at least.

Dinner wrapped up soon after. Not a single morsel was left over.

“Time for presents!!” Pan said and then plopped down on the carpet in front of the tree,

At the sight of her daughter, Videl’s couldn’t help but feel giddy. She was the same way at Pan’s age, and Pan’s joy was absolutely infectious.

“This is a special present from me and Grandma.” Goku handed his granddaughter a large box. He wrapped his other arm around Chi-Chi and she rested her head on his shoulder as he kissed the top of her head. Nothing was better than being altogether as a family, watching her granddaughter open a present on Christmas Eve

Pan ripped off the wrapping to find a plain white box inside. She curiously stared at it, and even shook it to try to hear what was inside. It didn’t sound like a toy, for one. Hearing nothing, she slowly took off the lid.

Instantly Pan gasped.

It was a small, red colored martial arts gi with matching belt and wristbands, and small blue fighting boots.

Pan’s first gi.

“This is the bestest present ever!” Pan’s entire face lit up like a star. “Can I go try it on?”

Pan flew upstairs with her new gi, returning a few minutes later wearing it, still beaming. “Look at me, Papa! I look like Grandpa!”

Pan couldn’t be happier which made Gohan and Videl happy.

“Oh, Pan, look, there’s something else in here.” Gohan pointed to the red object poking up of extra wrapping paper.

Pan then came face to face with a small red pole inside a sheathe, tied with a fresh rope. “What is this?” She stared at the mysterious item, confused. She liked it; it felt familiar. “Is it a baseball bat?”

“No, sweetie, this is the Power Pole.”

“Power Pole?”

“It used to be my grandpa’s. He gave it to me when I was little. And I took it all over the world looking for the Dragon Balls. I almost lost it a few times, but it always found it’s way back to me. One way or another. It was only natural to pass it onto you.”

Pan put the Power Pole around her shoulder. With a puff of her cheeks, Pan flexed her muscles. For the first time, Pan felt like a true fighter.

“You look just like me!” Goku knelt down and held out his open hands. “Give it a shot.”

Pan looked to her father, who nodded. Smiling, the toddler punched Goku’s open palm.

“Yup, she's my granddaughter alright.” Goku grinned. “She’s got some serious power behind that punch.”

“Next present!” Pan exclaimed.

“Nope. Sorry, Pan. The rest have to wait till tomorrow, remember?” Gohan said.

“Aww, okay. But I bet those wont top this!” She waved the Power Pole around. It was best they didn't tell her it could grow just yet.

Throughout the night, the sound of laughter could be heard coming from a small house deep in the woods. It could still be heard echoing in the valley, late into the night. Inside, the room was aglow with the love that is shared between family and friends.

Pan’s first Christmas Eve was truly a night to remember for them all. And one she would never forget.

#dragon ball #son family #marten #pan #goku #chichi #goten #gohan #videl #krillin #18 #marron #ox king #fluff

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mary-tudor · 4 years ago

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~HENRY TUDOR: A SOCIOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION.~

Today, I'll be discussing a character who left his mark in History, fathering a dynasty whose most proeminent members were his (second) son Henry VIII and his granddaughter Elizabeth I. Often overshadowed by his descendants, Henry's own deeds as a king and as an individual of his own days have been neglected until recently, when efforts from British historians have been working hard to change that.

The reason why I decided to bring him here was not only due to personal affections, though they certainly helped it, but because there are aspects overlapped in social structures that shaped him. In other words: what's Henry Tudor as a sociological individual? Can we point him out as a constant foreigner or someone whose socialization process were strongly marked by the addition of two different societies?

Henry Tudor was born in Pembroke, located in Wales, in January 28th 1457. His mother was Margaret Beaufort, a proeminent lady whose grandfather John Beaufort was the son of John of Gaunt, son in turn of King Edward III of England. The duke of Lancaster fathered four ilegitimated children (who were legitimated in posterity) by his (third marriage to his then) lover Katheryn Swynford, amongst whom John Beaufort was the oldest. Therefore, Henry was 3x grandson. to the duke and, despite what some might argue when Henry IV became king, in great deal to inherite the throne. Well, it's not my intention to deepen the discussion as to Henry's legitimacy or the Beauforts.

Though his father's ancestry, Henry's blood led him to the royal house of Valois. His paternal grandmother, Katherine de Valois, was the sister of Isabella, who had been the second wife of the ill-fated king Richard II. She was also descended of Louis IX and his spanish wife, Blanche de Castille. Henry was also a royal man from the Welsh lands, as Owain Tudor, his grandfather, was related to several princes of Wales. By all these I said, the first thing one might think (considering 15th century and it’s nobility) Henry would receive a proper education due to his status. However, this would not happen in the strict sense of the word. Let us not forget that England was collapsing by the time of Henry Tudor's birth and his childhood. Why am I using the word 'collapse' to qualify the civil war we know named as wars of the roses?

Émile Durkheim, a french sociologist, would write several centuries later, about how a society is formed: he compared it to the working of a human body. If the head, the brain of our body does not work well, what happens? The body will not work well, certainly. Neither would the head work well if other parts hurt somehow. Although if you did break a leg, you could still make use of your brain, but as a whole how limited wouldn't you be? He'd also say that when the human body, or as he called, the society was sick, it was because of the social structures which imposed the human being to the point where there would be no individuality, no matter of choice.

Such created social facts that were completely external (althoug well internalized through means of a process we call socialization) but coercitive. If they are not working, what does this mean? That soon another social facts will be replacing the former one. But between one and another, we have a "very sickly" society. Taking this understanding back to England's 15th century, it is not difficult to see what Durkheim was talking about.

The king was the head of the English body. If we have here two kings fighting over one crown, fighting over the rule of an entire body... Well, then? We have the collapse, a civil war that lasted for the next 30 years. Here, it's less about discussing who started what but why they did what they did, and the explanation for it. Power is power. It's crystal clear, and a statement that, however simple might it sound, points to the obvious. Factions that fought for power intended to dominate others, using the concept very well developed by sociologists as Pierre Bourdieu and Norbert Elias. This domination is a large field, a concept that embrace all sorts of it. Looking back to England's latter half of the century, domination was peril. The head was about to explode. The society was ill... and dominated by it.

What were the values? What was the racionalization proccess of social action led by individuals that were not only individuals but a group? How would all of this affect Henry Tudor? It was not about merely blaming the capitalism, because such coercitive system wasn't present yet. But Henry was, directly or not, linked to the royal house of Plantagenets, whose eagerness for dominating one another and by extension the rest of the country would include him in the game.

"Game." For Durkheim, this would imply an agitation, like a wave of sea, from which no one could escape from. Let's not forget that Institutions created ideas, renewed them, shaped them to the practice whether to dominate the weaker or to defeat the stronger. Whatever the purpose, we here have the Church, not the religiosity, but the precursor of ideas would subdue individuals to share (or manipulate to their own goals anyways) values in order to keep determined mentality to it. But also, monarchy was too an institution which held control over the lives and deaths of thousands of people. A monarch, as we know, is never alone regardless of how "absolut" they could be in different times and contexts. They were not above the law, either. At least where the socialization process is concerned. For the monarch embodied the content which was the law back then. He was literally the law.

Furthermore, Henry's education would foresee this fighting, which I'm not merely referring to custody going from his mother to another, before finally staying under his uncle's responsibilities, as well as the civil war itself. (Anyone remembers Warwick executing Herbert before the boy?)

See, we all know and comprehend today what trauma are capable of doing to someone. Such experience is the main responsible for shaping ideas, values and even costumes. Now, a society which is very much sick by it's own values and moral costumes (a point here must be made: the public consciousness always preached for a warrior, strong king, but has no one thought how this "common sense", validated by a general expectation towards the head of society, was what led it to... well, for the lack of better word, suicide itself?

For it's widely accepted that weak kings do not last long. But that is when we deal with a good deal of expectations that, when turned to frustrations, bring awful results. If England's society was ill in it's very extreme sense of the word, was because the values they created turned against themselves and that would leave it's mark in a boy as Henry. And until the age of 14, he was still absorbing these concepts, these morals, values, costumes from institutions (let's not forget that a monarch shares such with the nobility that surrounds him, as was the case of House Lancaster,f.e) before he was casted out to Bretagne and, in posteriority, to France. Now, I believe you all know what was done whether in England or with our king during these 14 years spent outside his own country before he became king upon the victory settled on the battle of Bosworth field.

I am not interested in discussing historical facts. At least not now, as we are finally dealing with Henry Tudor as a social actor

----/-HENRY TUDOR: A FOREIGNER? AN EXILED? OR AN OUTCAST?--

These questions mobilized me as I came to read a text written by 19th century sociologist named Georg Simmel. He wrote an essay (pardon by any mistakes in translations done from here on) entitled "The Foreigner", in which he brings a sociological question at why foreigners are seen as strangers who are never entirely immersed in the society they attempt to be part in.

Here's an excerpt translated by me in which he explains it:

"Fixed within a determined social space, where it's constancy cross-border could be considered similar to the space, their position [the foreigner's] in it is largely determined by the fact of not belonging entirely to it, and their qualities cannot originate from it or come from it, nor even going in it." (SIMMEL, 2005: 1.)

Furthermore, he adds:

“The foreigner, however, is also an element of the group, no more different than the others and, at the same time, distincted from what we consider as the 'internal enemy'. They are an element in whose position imanent and of member comprehend, at the same time, one outsider and the other insider." (SIMMEL, 2005: 1).

Here's why Henry, as Earl of Richmond, was not well seen by the Britons and the French, in spite of being "accepted" by them. Never forget that he would still be seen as an outsider by his own fellows. As Richard III would call Henry a bastard, one could understand this accusation with sociological implications. English back then detested these foreigners and by the concept brought here by me from Simmel we can understand why. But we could also see being called a bastard as a way to point out Henry's localization. Where can the Earl of Richmond & soon-to-be king be located?

I have pointed this far the structures which were raised and caused a collapsed society to live broken in many, many ways and how this affected Henry this far. Seeing how foreigner he was, nonetheless, he did not belong neither to England (at first) nor to the Continent.

On that sense of word, says Simmel (2005: 3):

"A foreigner is seen and felt, then, from one side, as someone absolutely mobiled, a wanderer. As a subject who comes up every now and then through specific contacts and yet, singularly, does not find vinculated organically to anything or anyone, nominally, in regards to the established family, locals and profissionals”

Even though we find a dominant group of foreigners in France, as we are talking about of nobles displeased with the Yorkist cause and supporters of the Lancastrian House, they were not majority. Where can we locate Henry, then? We don't, because he was not a French and however well he could speak the language, it was not his birth language. The French culture was not passed nor naturalized by him through the teachings of a family or the church by the institutions: monarchy, church, family, parliament, etc; he would have been defeated a long time. But that he did manage to, using this popular expression, put things together and become the first king to die peacefully since Henry V, it tells us a lot. Not rarely an immigrant is accepted by a society whose demands are forced upon him, most of the times in aggressive ways. But it's not often either that we see a king occupying such place in society.

Indeed, one might say that kings as Henry II and the conquerors before him were too foreigners, but not in the sociological way I'm explaining. Because the social structures were different. Henry's government were settled in a more centralized ruling, far more just and peaceful, more economic and less concerned with waging wars than his antecessors. The need to migrate was not 'forced', neither 'imposed' and even back to the 11th and 12th centuries were motivated by different reasons. That's to accentuate how English society evolved throughout the centuries. And I used again and again Georg Simmel to prove my point about casting a sociological light towards Henry VII not as a historical character so distant of us and who remains an object of controversial discussions, but a man of his times who was forced to deal with expectations that placed him in social positions nearly opposed to one another to fulfill each role whether as king or as a man. For some reason, the broken society shaped Henry as an immigrant, but as history shows us, it was this immigrant who helped shape medieval society, directing it towards the age of Renaissance and in posteriority to Modern Age.

Finally, to close this thread I leave here another quote (translated to English by me) found in the text written by Simmel:

"The foreigner, strange to the group [he is in], is considered and seen as a non-belonging being, even if this individual is an organic member of the group whose uniform life comprehends every particular conditioning of this social [mean]. (...) [the foreigner] earns in certain groups of masses a proximity and distance that distinguishes quantities in each relationship, even in smaller portions. Where each marked relationship nduced to a mutual tension in specific relationships, strenghtening more formal relations out of respect to what's considered 'foreigner' of which are resulted." (SIMMEL, p 7).

Bibliography:

AMIN, Nathen. https://henrytudorsociety.com/

DURKHEIM, Émile. "The Division of Labor in Society”.

KANTOROWICZ, Ernst H.”The King’s Two Bodies: A Study in Medieavel Political Theology.”

PENN, Thomas. Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England.

SIMMEL, Georg. The Foreigner. In: Soziologie. Untersuchungen über die Formen der Vergesellschaftung. Berlin. 1908.

#Henry VII #King Henry VII #Henry VII of England #sociology #socio-history #historical sociology #immigration #sociology of immigration #Henry Tudor #Tudor dynasty

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plaguedquillfeathers · 4 years ago

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In the Aether: A Dream SMP Deity AU

❝ Even gods bleed. The issue is that, in the aether, they’ve chosen to bleed willingly.❞

So I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I’ve decided to post it regardless of if I actually go through with it completely!

Have a Dream SMP, but they’re all gods!

Basically, think of the dream smp, but instead of them just being members, they’re the gods that control how the world exists. Think about it: villagers being so fearful of which god decides to whisk them away for wars and creatures of the night trying to kill them for existing only to have themselves harvested for obviously magical properties? Fun as heck!

Anyway, here’s some notable deity titles (with more under the thread)!

Dream as the God of Desires -- of wishes, even dreams themselves. Nothing can be can be concrete without that spark to make it flare, but as his need to fulfil everyone's desires grew deeper, he fell into a dangerous loop. His own wish for things to "go back to normal", to have control, has thus corrupted what he thought he knew, poisoning the minds of all under his watch. The aether’s darling child, he is the reason the gods came together under one sky.

JSchlatt as the God of Conflict. Originally banished to maintain order, he returned with the sole purpose of creating friction -- of tipping the scales. In his death, he still won, for the friction is now more present than ever. They all need him to have a purpose, to have something to fight for. He knew that all along, and oh, would he do it again.

Philza as the God of Life and Death. Since both concepts can only be separated by a moment not noticed by many, he likes to only go by the god of life. Unfortunately, things don't work that way.

Technoblade as the God of Anarchy -- of that pesky thing that refuses to have an order. The voices are the lost essence of all forms of chaos, refusing to fade off into the aether. They fuel the Blood God, yes, but their chaos is addictive. It’s uncontainable.

Wilbur Soot as the God of Imagination (and budding god of music!). His idea of creation was corrupted beyond compare, leading to his demise. Ghostbur, however, is something else entirely...Or is he?

Tommy(Innit) as the presumed God of Mischief, but actually the God of Rebellion. Always pushing the envelope, he's young and slowly understanding himself. It's a slow process, but with control being a major factor in the deities’ realm, it’s a struggle.

Tubbo as the God of Loyalty, of keeping oaths. He’s still reeling from the greatest oath he had to break with his best friend, as well as the continuously broken loyalties of his allies. However, his oath to Tommy remains strong, despite the cracks in their armor.

Eret as the Deity of Fate, with eyes that mirror what life could be for a person if they stare into them. They maintain the museum as a way to show that things were always bound to happen. It was always meant to be. Hmm, but what if...

Nihachu being the Goddess of Freedom, scorned one too many times because her kindness was taken advantage of, not to mention her message being corrupted to further agendas that soon went against her very being.

Fundy being the God of “The Crossroads” -- of Choice. He is still too young and inexperienced to understand his own power, endlessly seeking others to make his choices for him

Ranboo as the God of Memory, lost in his own mind as he tries to recover what he has lost. He needs to find those shades of grey again, but as the realm continuously shifts, he can’t help but feel hopeless at times.

Awesamdude as the God of Knowledge, objective and impartial, emotions hidden for the sake of learning all there is to know. He is known far and wide for some of the most elaborate things, so it's no shock that feeds off the desire to create something greater; however, while Dream is willing to exploit this, Sam is highly aware that things are off(tm).

Quackity as the God of Transformation -- of change, really. Like fundy, he was soon manipulated into seeking out the meaning of his worth, which had disastrous (and lingering) results.

Karl Jacobs as the God of Time. People underestimate him because he’s so damn nice to everyone, but given that he sees so many timelines, he’s learned that being happy in the moment is the best action.

Callahan as the God of Silence, but actually the God of Intuition. In silence, one can truly hear their true intentions. He never speaks a word, for the gods know he already knows.

Sapnap as the self-proclaimed God of the Hunt, but officially known as the God of Passion. Having harnessed flame like a well loved pet, his skills (and determination) surpass even the most angry of blazes.

CaptainPuffy as the Goddess of Victory. She’s very good friends with a lot of people, but her competitiveness does cause some messy situations. Somehow, she’s managed to get into Dream’s radar, and she worries for him.

GeorgeNotFound as the God of Luck. Having avoided much conflict and stayed naïve to many things, it's not a surprise that his presence among Dream seems to boost the God's infallible air.

BadBoyHalo as the God of Protection. He's bound to skeppy by choice, but tends to focus more on keeping those he deems worthy safe. The fact that a mysterious egg has corrupted him of all people should be hella concerning...

Skeppy as the God of Mischief. Funnily enough, he gets along will with Techno despite their obvious differences, while being one of the few that manages to get Bad to loosen up without much effort.

Antfrost as the God of Healing, usually seen around the inherent healer that is nature itself. He’s a master of alchemy, and an animal lover.

Punz as the God of Strategy. He’s a seemingly close ally of dream, but willing to switch sides if the battlelines shift. He is well respected amongst many deities and uses that power to breeze through conflict with ease.

Alyssa the Goddess of Travel. A rather rare figure to see, but she's the reason gods have a safe journey into the lands they all inhabit.

Ponk as the God of Sacrifice. A callback to his cat killing days, he believes that one cannot take without giving. Sometimes, you must lose something to gain something in return.

JackManifoldTV is the God of Abundance, given his previous obsession with Manifoldland. He's constantly underestimated, but he realizes his worth when he cheats death. He's always been more than enough... it's time to prove it.

Purpled as the God of Courage. He's not afraid to stand by his thoughts, usually rubbing off on those he is currently protecting. An important ally to have in a fight.

ConnorEatsPants as the God of Charm. He utilises this to get out of bad situations, mostly. if he can avoid the more brutal gods, He's happy that way, even managing to get into Conflict’s good graces.

Hbomb as the God of Fun. He’s always trying to cut through the chaos that is the deities with something that brings them together, even if it’s for a little while.

Vikkstar as the God of Inspiration. As one of the oldest gods present, and a massive inspiration to a lot of them, he tries not to interfere, instead making his home with his friend and waiting for the younger ones to sort their shit out.

Lazarbeam as the God of Tradition. He remembers the days before these newer gods roamed, watching silently as they figure themselves out. Like Vikk, he doesn’t get involved.

FoolishGamers as the God of Rebirth. A recent addition, and actually an offshoot of Philza’s side of things, he’s still settling in. Perhaps, he can be of assistance...Hopefully he picks the right side.

Slimecicle & Hannahxxrose as the God/Goddess of -- Well, TBA.

And a Bonus:

MrBeast as the God of Charity! Everyone loves him. That is all.

#mcyt #dream smp #dream smp au #sleepy boys inc #dream team #LISTEN I LOVE DEITY AUS SO MUCH #// aus

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datheetjoella · 4 years ago

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Fantober 2020, Day 25: Enemy>Lover

Author: DatHeetJoella Fandom: Free! Pairing: MakoHaru Rating: T Part: 25/31 (read the full collection here) Word count: 3,006 Tags: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Developing Relationship, Strangers to Lovers, First Meeting, Prince!Haruka, Prince!Makoto, Prejudices Read at: AO3, FFn, or right here!

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If there was one thing Haruka had known since he was a child, it was that when he came of age, he would be married off to a member of royalty or nobility of some foreign realm. As the crown prince of Tobi, that was his destiny and he made peace with it years ago. But when the day for him to meet his spouse-to-be arrived, he was everything but okay.

“Come on, Haru,” Nagisa said as he poured more hot water into his bath. “Don’t get all sulky before you even meet him. Maybe he’s actually really nice!”

Haruka huffed and averted his head. Nagisa might’ve been bubbly and optimistic, but Haruka didn’t share his positivity. The biggest hurdle for him was not that he was being married off, but to whom and what this arrangement entailed.

The lucky bachelor was Prince Makoto Tachibana. He was the oldest child and heir of the Tachibana family and the crown prince of Iwa, a neighbouring kingdom that was relatively small but still twice as big as Tobi.

Although Haruka had never met the guy, his status and title were enough to determine what he’d be like. In years of mingling with those who shared his destiny, Haruka had learned that they were all the same: arrogant, snobby, disrespectful and insufferable. They’d snap their fingers and expect servants to kneel at their feet, holding up their shoes on a golden platter. Barked out orders like they were better than everyone else because of the simple fact they’d been born in a palace instead of a shack. That was exactly the kind of person Haruka couldn’t stand.

And to make matters worse, he was going to have to share his precious kingdom with him and rule over it by his side.

The main reason their engagement commenced was that Tobi was, to put it frankly, bankrupt. The sea levels were rising and a recent flood destroyed both houses and crops, leaving a large group of people homeless and starving and his parents were at their wits’ end, unable to solve the problems that had befallen their realm.

The kingdom of Iwa had offered their help in exchange for a formal alliance and a marriage. But there was one issue: Haruka was an only child and the daughter of the Tachibana family had not nearly reached a marital age yet. Instead, their eldest son had proposed an alternative. The marriage would take place between the two crown princes and the kingdoms of Iwa and Tobi would merge into Unified Iwatobi, which would be ruled over by both Haruka and himself. It was merely a political marriage, as the princes would be allowed to have their own families if they pleased, and in turn, their firstborns would rule over Iwatobi as a pair.

A kingdom with two kings, it was a revolutionary concept and an absolutely ridiculous one at that. The instant Haruka heard of it, he knew it was a scheme of this ‘Makoto’ to steal the land of Tobi to expand his own kingdom. He’d play the sympathetic prince for their subjects, but behind closed doors, he would enforce his dominance and undermine Haruka’s sovereignty, to eventually become the sole ruler of Iwatobi. While Haruka hadn’t cared about becoming king and leading the realm, he’d rather die than play in the hand of some power-hungry narcissist.

But his parents and their advisors hadn’t agreed with him. Out of desperation, they accepted Iwa’s proposition and no matter how much Haruka protested or how many counter-arguments he presented, they wouldn’t budge. His fate as Prince Makoto’s puppet was sealed and he was incredibly bitter about it.

Three overly polite knocks on the carved door pulled Haruka from his brooding thoughts. “Yes?”

The door was slowly pushed ajar and Rei poked his head around the corner. “Your Highness, I do not mean to disturb but,” he said, but when Haruka sent him a scowl, he sighed. “Prince Haruka, your parents are waiting for you in the throne room. Prince Makoto and his delegation arrived over half an hour ago and it would be… appreciated if you came down to greet them.”

“I will,” Haruka grumbled, “After I’m done with my bath.”

“Forgive me for intruding, but you’ve been in the bath for nearly three hours already. Your fingertips are pruned and the water must be freezing by now.”

“It’s not, come feel for yourself.” Haruka gestured toward the bath, trying his best to appear nonchalant.

Rei didn’t seem fazed. “How many times did you refill His Highness’ bath, Nagisa?”

“Hm.” Nagisa scratched at his chin in contemplation. “About seven times?”

“Nagisa! You need to be more responsible. You know this is a grand day for Prince Haruka.”

“I know. He’s just nervous and taking a bath relaxes him, so you shouldn’t be so hard on him.”

“I’m not nervous,” Haruka said defensively, facing away from his retainers with a pout. He knew that, in their own ways, they both had his best interest at heart. Rei wanted him to be punctual and presentable when meeting important people, while Nagisa enabled his evading behaviour because he knew Haruka struggled to come to terms with this ordeal and found solace in the water. This wasn’t worth the argument between them. In the end, Haruka was an adult and had to own up to his fate. “I’ll get out, so tell my parents I will be down shortly.”

“Thank you,” Rei said, adjusting the spectacles on his nose with a self-satisfied puff. “I shall tell them to look forward to your swift appearance.”

Nagisa rolled his eyes at his colleague’s formality; after years of friendship, Rei still felt conflicted calling Haruka by his preferred nickname, instead switching between his titles. That was very different from Nagisa, who'd been casual with him since they were kids. Although Haruka liked them both equally, he did prefer Nagisa's easy-going nature.

With the click of the door, Rei was gone and Nagisa and Haruka were alone again.

"I get that you're not happy about this situation, I wouldn't be either," Nagisa said as he held out Haruka's towel. "But you can't just make assumptions about Prince Makoto. Not every prince is stuck-up and spoiled, you're not like that either. So why don't you give him a fair chance? Who knows, maybe you'll end up liking him a lot."

Deep down, Haruka knew Nagisa was right. He highly doubted he would get chummy with Makoto, but perhaps he had to give him the benefit of the doubt. If he was every bit as awful as Haruka imagined, then he would find that out soon enough. No need to get ahead of business.

With a semi-renewed outlook on the predicament, Haruka got ready with Nagisa's help. He wasn't vain at all, but if he made a strong, confident impression, he might’ve been able to thwart Makoto's possible ploys before they could come to fruition.

Clad in his finest cobalt blue suit and with his crown on his neatly-combed hair, Haruka descended the stairs and walked towards the throne room. With his head held high, he swung open the doors and strolled in, graceful and in control.

And then, he laid eyes upon Prince Makoto and he had to pick his jawbone off the red carpet.

An elegant green jacket adorned his broad shoulders, white trousers hugged his legs and behind and tall boots supported his lean, muscular form. For a prince, he was dressed surprisingly modest, but if it weren't for the brilliant crown placed on his messy brown locks, then his aura would've been enough to betray his status. His back was straight, feet planted firmly on the ground like an unwavering oak tree, sturdy and assured. This was what a man who was prepared to lead a nation looked like.

But Haruka's heart didn't stop until Makoto peered back over his shoulder and revealed his face.

Ever since he was little, Haruka had been told by folks he encountered how beautiful he was and he hadn't found any reason to disagree with those comments. But Haruka's beauty paled in comparison to Prince Makoto. His jawline was sharp with a chiselled chin and rather round cheeks, but that added to his charm. His lips were full, his eyebrows slightly upturned and his nose complemented all his other features. But his eyes were the ones that took Haruka's breath away.

They were vibrant and green like he was wandering in a hedge maze with no exit. Mesmerising like he didn't even want to find a way out. But most of all, overwhelmingly kind.

When Haruka noticed he was staring at Prince Makoto while everyone else was staring at him, he quickly shut the doors behind him and stumbled over to his parents' side. If only he hadn't lost face yet; Prince Makoto might’ve been handsome, but that didn't mean he was trustworthy. Haruka shouldn't let his guard down.

"Haruka, I'm so happy you could finally join us," his mother said with a wide smile, but the daggers she shot at him through her gaze informed him he was in for an intense scolding later.

"Thank you for waiting for me," Haruka said with a feigned smile of his own. "I'm glad I got the opportunity to be here because it is an honour to meet you, Prince Makoto."

"I feel the same way, Your Highness," Prince Makoto said and damn, his voice sounded like violin music on a sunny afternoon. "The honour is entirely mine, as I feel grateful you were able to find the time in your undoubtedly busy schedule to come and greet me."

Prince Makoto ended his play with a deep bow and Haruka’s eyebrows furrowed. Was he mocking him? Usually, Haruka was pretty good at reading people and all the signs told him Makoto was being sincere, but he couldn't believe someone would seriously say that to him after the way he acted.

Perhaps Haruka was the obnoxious, entitled prince in the equation. "Of course, Prince Makoto, we are honoured to welcome you into our humble palace."

"Well then," his mother interrupted before this charade could drag on for hours. "Haruka, why don't you show His Highness around our… humble palace?"

"Certainly, Mother," Haruka said, "Prince Makoto, would you please follow after me?"

"It would be my pleasure," Makoto said and the smile on his face hadn't lessened; in fact, it was like it grew even softer, as though fondness twinkled in his eyes. Haruka must've been hallucinating. "Please lead the way, Prince Haruka."

With Makoto trailing behind him, Haruka took him via the sunroom straight outside to the gardens. There, he'd at least be able to catch some fresh air as he listened to the bragging and boasting that would probably stream out of Makoto's mouth like a polluted waterfall.

They walked down the steps onto the path between the tidy yet lively garden. Hydrangeas, begonias and geraniums were plentiful and not a single branch was out of line on the trimmed bushes. This was Haruka's favourite spot on the entire castle grounds for a reason.

"These gardens are beautiful," Makoto said, turning his head from left to right and back again as though his brain couldn't process what his eyes were registering. "Perhaps the most beautiful I've ever had the privilege to walk through. Your horticulturists must be very skilled."

"I guess so," Haruka shrugged, unsure of how to answer that. Of course their horticulturists were skilled, else they wouldn't employ them. But Haruka swallowed that comment because he felt himself becoming the villain he feared Makoto to be.

When he glanced to his side and didn't see Prince Makoto beside him, Haruka frowned. Had he scared him off already?

When he looked back, Makoto was standing several meters behind him, head downturned.

"Prince Makoto?"

"I… want to offer you my apologies."

Haruka's frown hardened. "Apologies? For what?"

"This arrangement, it was my idea," Makoto said, facing back up and for the first time since their meeting, his smile was gone. "I hope you understand that I only suggested it because I wanted to help. When I heard about the situation in Tobi, my heart broke and I wanted to do everything within my power to aid your people. I know it might not have been my place, but if something like that were to happen to my people, then I would appreciate all the help we could get. When human lives are at stake, I believe our pride as leaders should not stand in the way of doing what is right."

Those words surprised Haruka. Maybe he had judged Makoto too soon. In the very least, his morals seemed to be in check.

"I certainly don't want it to appear as though I find you and your family incapable of ruling over Tobi by yourselves, but this was the only possibility I saw to overcome this issue. After all, Iwa's resources are limited and I could not convince our advisors to come to Tobi's aid without expecting anything in return. They wanted concrete assurance that Tobi would have our backs if such a disaster were to occur within our borders and said I was naive if I trusted you without a formal arrangement. In that regard, I failed and I owe you an apology for that." Makoto bowed to him once more, even deeper than last time.

Haruka was at a loss for words. He kept staring at Makoto's folded back, mind blank and he didn’t know how to comfort him, if that was even the correct response.

When Makoto straightened his spine, he continued, "But I am not against this arrangement and the merging of our kingdoms. No matter how extreme the circumstances would get, I would never propose something so outlandish if I didn't believe it was beneficial to both of our kingdoms. Together, we'll be so much stronger in times of trouble, but I would be lying if I said part of the reason why I am in favour of this isn't selfish."

"Selfish?" Haruka asked. From what Makoto had told him, he acted out of pure selflessness.

"To be honest with you, the thought of becoming king and leading our realm has always been a bit frightening to me,” Makoto said, shuffling his feet as he averted his eyes. “Ever since it was decided I’d be crowned within a few months, I’ve had this tight knot in my stomach. Being the king is such a big responsibility, I’m afraid I won’t be able to fill my parents’ shoes, that I’ll make foolish decisions and that my people won’t like me. Of course, I know I’ll always have the support of my parents and my advisors but I just… I feel like I’m not ready at all.”

At that earnest confession, Haruka’s mouth fell open once again. Makoto appeared so reliable and certain, he never would’ve guessed he harboured such insecurities. Perhaps it was because he felt so lost that he hid it so well.

“I’ve never told anyone this before,” Makoto admitted as he scratched at his cheek, “But that’s why the thought of merging our kingdoms appealed to me; so I’d have you by my side. Carrying the weight of a whole kingdom seemed a bit lighter if I could share it with someone, that’s why I advocated for this particular arrangement. I realise now that’s very immature and egotistical of me, so I apologise again for wanting to push my burden onto you.”

If Makoto was being completely honest - which Haruka had no lingering doubts about at this point - then it wasn’t that he wanted to steal Haruka’s land and title, but wanted to push part of his own onto Haruka’s plate like they were vegetables he couldn’t stomach.

Haruka had never been extremely thrilled about his duties either, albeit for different reasons than Makoto, so it wasn’t like he didn’t understand him. While he hadn’t thought of this arrangement as being a shared burden, the idea didn’t sound all that unpleasant to him now he did ponder it over. Perhaps this wasn’t as ridiculous as it initially seemed.

“It’s okay,” he said after a moment of silence, “I suppose I don’t mind shouldering half of your weight as long as you shoulder half of mine.”

“Certainly,” Makoto said, nodding vehemently. “I do want you to know that I don’t expect anything of you. I mean, we’ll be getting married through this arrangement, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be obligated to do anything. I want you to continue to live your life the way you please, the way you always have or the way you envisioned, without minding me. I do hope we can become friends, but if you prefer for our contact to be strictly political, then I understand, Prince Haruka.”

“You shouldn’t be so insecure about everything, because you have no reason to,” Haruka said, turning around so Makoto wouldn’t see the blush he could feel burning on his cheeks. “And just Haru is fine. We’re getting married, aren’t we? There’s no need for such formalities.”

An audible gasp left Makoto’s lips. “You’re right, Haru,” he said with a warm, melodious chuckle.

“Are you coming? I’ll show you the rest of the garden,” Haruka said as he resumed walking. Before Makoto could ask something that forced him to unlock his heart, he changed the subject. “What are your favourite flowers?”

“Camellias,” Makoto said as he matched Haruka’s pace, “Do you have any bushes?”

“We do, I’ll take you to them.”

Together, Haruka and Makoto wandered through the vast and lavish gardens. During the short time since they met, Haruka’s opinion of Makoto shifted completely and now, he was convinced they would become the friends Makoto hoped they’d be.

At that point, he had no idea yet that when they got married a few weeks later, he’d say his ‘I do’ with a wide smile and that the ceremony would be ended with a true, tender kiss.

#i'm sorry i'm stupid #makoharu #makoharu fic #my fic #fantober2020 #colourful days with you #who would've guessed i'd ever write an enemies to lovers fic? not me #but i must admit i did walk on the line here because are they really enemies?? not really #it's basically just haru antagonising makoto over a false image he has in his head before meeting him #anyway haha #hope you enjoy

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