#like his parent supports the future past fates etc etc

[sieglinde-freud]

literally not a secret that chrom!inigo is my favorite inigo but also hes on my mind all the time. everyday i think why did intsys feel the need to clarify that inigo and ONLY inigo has a brand in his eye opposite lucina’s. why does he look exactly like chrom five years younger. why does his entire father support mean so much more (when its already like the best pc support in the entire game(am i biased? yes.)) when hes a prince and lucina’s brother. his dynamic with owain and severa also changing ever so slightly with the fact that he’s owain’s cousin and chrom’s son. the way he acts in the future past? the way that everyone in the bad timeline looked up to him and expected him to wear a brave face no matter what?? are you kidding me?? and in the lost concepts when he had blond and blue hair?? the colors of the royal family??? like. like. who at intsys made his entire character elevate with this one change. who did this to him and then made it locked behind the most annoying chrom pairing to get. i need answers!!

[bonewaryreblogs]

Clark Kent/Kal-El (Superman)

Saved by his parents essentially macgyver-ing a rocket stasis pod, kryptonian toddler Kal-El was launched into space as Krypton exploded, eventually crash landing on Earth, near Smallville, Kansas. He was found by Martha and Jon Kent, who were in their 30s and desperately wanted children but had just been told they would be unable to conceive naturally, and adopted as Clark Kent, named after Martha’s maiden name. They weren’t sure how old Clark was so they just started counting from when they found him, calling that his “birth” day in 1952. They never hid his origins from him but they also couldn’t tell him what they didn’t know about Krypton.

As the child of a scientist and an astronaut back on Krypton, Clark was naturally smart and excelled at school, when he wasn’t labeled a “problem child” as he struggled to control his wide variety of superpowers, though he was able to hide these powers from all but his parents and his two closest friends, Lana Lang and Pete Ross, who also agreed to keep the secret. Clark tried to keep a low profile but Jon and Martha instilled a strong sense of right, wrong, and justice into Clark so he could never turn a blind eye to those in need.

At one point, the Legion of Superheroes arrived from the future via time travel and Clark went with them for a while, dropped off mere minutes after initially leaving to maintain timeline integrity. While in the future, Clark received superhero training and is told certain things about himself (yellow vs red sun radiation, Kryptonite, the fate of Krypton, etc) but understood that some things he would have to learn on his own, in his own time period (like his Rogues Gallery). Clark had been debating what to do with himself  before this but felt good about fulfilling his destiny as a superhero by the time he returned. Since he was still (at least legally) 16 by this point, Clark began preparations to move to Metropolis, focusing on studying to be a reporter/journalist as his day job rather than trying to be a superhero just yet.

(I’m using this to set up a reboot of an old idea I had for Braniac 5 and my OC Batboy getting stuck in the past for a while. It was initially for Teen Titans, but I kinda wanna rework it to fit with Phantom Bat lol)

Graduating at 18, he goes to Metropolis University for a few years before debuting as Superman at 25, having already established himself at the Daily Planet. He is quickly inducted into the Justice Society of America but soon realized the superhero team had some major flaws and drawbacks, particularly as he realized these “heroes” had become little more than the American government’s attacks dogs rather than thinking for themselves and following an independent moral system. He stayed, though, so he could access their resources, network with other heroes, and learn what not to do as he began making plans to create his own superhero team.

After meeting Batman (a la “The Batman” Season 5), Superman approaches Bruce with his plan for the Justice League, asking if Wayne Enterprise would be its “secret” financial backer. Bruce says he’ll think about it, since he had a lot on his plate at the time. Superman meets Wonder Woman shortly after she stopped Ares from inciting World War III, and quickly gets her to support his Justice League idea. Together they recruit Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman (Orin of Atlantis), and Martian Manhunter (J’onn J’onzz) as their starting lineup by the time Bruce finally agrees to back the Justice League, debuting to the world shortly thereafter in 1994. Once established and proven to be stable (ie. not likely to disband like other independent superhero teams) the Justice League drew many new members from around the world, often as representatives of national teams.

[meefy]

2.,3.,5. and 14. for the roots game! any ans ocs but I would love to hear more about Xyvie :3

I'M SORRY THESE TOOK SO LONG i wanted to give as much detail as possible for all four of my AnS OCs and I hope you enjoy the Xyvie ones!

2. What was your OC's first job? Do they still work that job (or in that field), or do they do something else now?

Xyvie: she was too sick to work until she absolutely had to once her parents died, and they were no longer able to support her. She made and delivered cooked meals to the elderly, sick, or disabled residents of her small town. After moving to the royal palace in Tanbarun, she doesn't "work" so much as study (she wasn't able to go to school past what we'd consider late junior high) and she helps out the chefs once in a while!

Féanne: she wasn't allowed to work until she left home at the age of 24...she studied for two years and during that time in college worked as a scribe for extra money. Today she is Lata's trusty and beloved research assistant in the mineralogy department!

Feiran: he has been told all his life he needs to be a knight, and just sort of passively accepted it as his fate. Post-Féanne-fic, he goes to college and studies botany, and works with Yuzuri as her assistant in Lyrias.

Aleyan: a knight, like he was expected to be, then Vice Commander and finally Knight Commander of his knights circle. But,Feiran has been trying to get him to take charge of his life and decide what he truly wants to be.

3. How did your OC feel the first time they left home? Why did they leave?

Xyvie: afraid and overwhelmed mostly. She'd never been out of her village before except for shopping trips with her family. The circumstances of her leaving (going to the prince of her country to help solve her parents' murders) didn’t help matters either. She wasn’t used to such expensive, vast furnishings...

Féanne: elated and free. She left to pursue a higher education and make a career, rather than get married and help with the family business. She is very independent in that regard.

Feiran: he left for college both nervous but cautiously optimistic. He has a hard time settling in and thinking on his own without Féanne or Aleyan telling him what to do or believe; he doesn't settle in at Lyrias right away, as he is unused to seeing Féanne so independent and social. He ends up feeling a bit neglected and it takes some time for him to break out of his comfort zone and make his own acquaintances.

Aleyan: has never left home; as it stands, he will marry and live out the rest of his days in the family mansion - unless...

5. What did your OC think their life would be like when they grew up? Has it lived up to that expectation?

Xyvie: she had hope for a brighter future, and that the treatments and medical procedures her parents fought to pay for would grant her a new lease on life so she could work, go out, etc. Her parents' deaths and her failing health betrayed that hope. But she certainly never expected to marry the crown prince and move to the capital of Tanbarun...though once the shock of it all wore off, she's been settling in nicely.

Féanne: she dreaded her adult life, knowing she'd be destined to wed and stay put at her family's estate. Creating her own path, through studying and moving to Lyrias, has been her dream come true. And, meeting Lata (ie someone who loved and understood her for who she was) was an unexpected bonus to that.

Feiran: he looked forward to becoming a knight, until he realized it was not for him. But when he realized that, there was no going back, according to his father and elder brother - so he bowed his head and went along with it. But his sister encouraging him to leave gave him the motivation to try and forge his own journey towards happiness in Lyrias too. And though that move wasn't easy it did end up giving him the strength and independence he needed to succeed in his goals.

Aleyan: his life has played out exactly like how his family laid out for him...and though he'll never admit it, he wishes it hadn't. He’s never let himself think about what he actually wants vs. what others have told him he should want.

14. Who was your OC's first love? How do they remember that person now?

Note: where all of my OCs are aspec I am interpreting this question for both familial/platonic love.

Xyvie: she was very much a "daddy’s girl" as a young child so he’s likely who she’d consider her “first love”. Though as she got older they saw less of one another (he would work at the port town for weeks on end because travel was difficult), he continued to think of her often - he advocated for her strongly and vocally when she was unwell, and always brought her back treats and surprises from town when he returned home. She misses him dearly today and remembers, in fleeting and haunting images, how he tried to protect her when they were ambushed in the woods that night.

Féanne: her twin brother. He was the only person she could trust and rely on as a child; they were together since before they were born, so it only made sense. He remains her number-one person today.

Feiran: likewise, his twin sister Féanne…he is quite shy and reserved, and not overly demonstrative about it, but he cares for her more than anyone, enough that he chooses to shove aside his feelings of resentment and envy when she works up the courage to leave home for the first time.

Aleyan: he will tell you he loves his family above all else - that he wants nothing but the best for them. For Aleyan, the “best” is more materialistic - high status, great wealth, unlimited power. The way he shows it, however, is not really what one would consider love, and he feels mostly spite and resentment towards his twin siblings now…but that is mostly jealousy that they had the determination to stand up to their father and leave, and he did not.

15. What was comforting to your OC as a child? Do they still find comfort in that now?

Xyvie: she had a blanket her mother sewed for her as a baby that she slept with for quite a while. When she got older, the scraps of it became one of her favourite ponchos...so it continues to bring her comfort whenever she wears it.

Féanne: she'd stay up late at night, when her parents though she was asleep, with an oil lamp reading the books she'd secretly borrow from the kind elderly owner of a bookshop in town. She still loves to read, and doesn't have to hide away to do so anymore.

Feiran: counting his rock collection with his sister while hiding under his bed. Sometimes they'd play with them, building fortresses or sorting them by size, colour, etc. He gave his collection to Féanne when she moved out, but he takes comfort knowing she's putting it to good use in her studies.

Aleyan: cleaning his sword and doing reps. It made him feel special and important.

16. What does your OC's childhood bedroom look like?

Xyvie: she didn’t have one. Her family was poor and they shared the main living area as a “bedroom”, with an oversized futon that they’d roll up during the day or to receive guests. Xyvie got her own, smaller futon as an adult.

Féanne: what you’d expect in a high-end noble’s room: sheer curtains, queen-sized bed with a canopy and terribly-expensive linen and pillows, and a hand-carved desk to practice penmanship, with a few shelves for oil lamps and the occasional decorative plant or doll. The walls were otherwise painted a deep burgundy and had some oil portraits of herself and family on the walls. There was a dressing table with hair/skin products that she very rarely ever used (only when there were occasions she was forced to attend), and a walk-in closet with various fancy dresses that she also typically scorned. There was a small area with a canvas partition for bathing and changing. To her, it was very plain with no true personalization, and she hated it.

Feiran: very much like Féanne’s, except the walls were green, there was no dressing table (there was, however, a mirror and a few odds and ends), and there were hooks on the wall where he would rest his training sword. He also had a walk-in closet, with tunics and party attire. He was also permitted a shelf to display his rock collection, since it was considered an acceptable hobby for a young boy.

Aleyan: almost the same as Feiran’s, minus the rock collection. He also had a more varied assortment of training swords and shields, and a couple “real” metal ones, with some basic armour for training too. He also had a sewing kit on one of his shelves that one of the domestic workers (one of the ones who took a liking to Aleyan) let him borrow and showed him how to use thread and needle to hem one of his torn cloaks…and that eventually grew into his passion for sewing his own.

20. What were the most idyllic years of your OC's childhood? Does your OC miss those days?

Xyvie: riding in a coach with her parents and going into town to look at the marketplace down by the water. There was a baker’s stand she loved there, and her parents would set aside some money to buy her a lemon tart as it was her favourite. She misses those days greatly; she misses her parents and wishes she could spend that sort of day with them one more time.

Féanne: rolling around in the dirt with her twin brother, looking for rocks, bugs, cool sticks, etc. and overall ignoring her nannies’ demands that she keep her dresses neat and tidy. She especially loved seeing Feiran’s face light up when she was the one who found something particularly exciting. She misses that sort of innocence greatly, but she does not miss the sense of powerlessness she had when being scolded by adults for acting in “unladylike” ways.

Feiran: believing that he was going to be a strong, important knight like his brother and father, and that he'd earn their favour. He preferred spending time with Féanne growing up, but sometimes he liked to swing a stick or something around and pretend to be a warrior (like many children). He initially refused to start training until he was almost 13 (because he preferred to be with Féanne and she was not permitted to train as a knight) but he quickly realized he was not cut out for it…and by then he had been essentially threatened into continuing to train by his father and Aleyan, and it was too late. He prefers not to remember those days.

Aleyan: he was an only child until he was about five…and his parents took somewhat more interest in him then, taking him out to the knights training grounds to watch or for walks out on their family vineyard. But it was mostly nannies or domestic workers who looked after him; usually they'd bring him around the mansion to explore (as kids enjoy), and they'd let him help them sew, dust, bake, etc. Aleyan was much more curious and easygoing as a kid, and well-doted on as the firstborn son and only child. If he were to let himself reminisce on those days, he'd probably yearn for them quite strongly.

[jerzwriter]

What's happening...

So, the fandom is very small, and demand for content is extremely low, but I still wanted to put this together... perhaps it's more to wrap my own head around future projects. But in case anyone is interested, I figured I'd share.

Open Heart: Ethan World

I'm wrapping up A Different Fate and What Happened in Vegas. The former will be done very soon (I hope this week), and I intend for Vegas to be completed no later than August.

I'll be focusing on getting Ethan & Kaycee hitched this summer. They'll be having a "surprise wedding" and some other exploits along the way.

Dr. Eva Mendez (F!OC) will finally be introduced as an LI for Ethan in my Tobias x Casey world. I plan on concentrating more on that universe, so we'll be seeing more of her and Ethan there.

Open Heart: Tobias x Casey World

I've long wanted to close the gaps in their story and haven't been able to do it. So I plotted a way. This will be a series of stories that will fill in the gaps, starting with the end of the chemical attack, bringing us to how they finally ended up together (after all this time, I can't believe y'all still don't know how that happened! lol). This will be in sequential order, but since it's filling "gaps" it will be a little... unique.

Once this is completed, I'm wrapping up their long-abandoned wedding (and Ethan and Eva fit into that). Then we'll see a little more of their future.

My secondary focus for T/C will be the angsty alternate universe What's Forever For? There, they are recently divorced, even though neither truly wants to be. What obstacles will they face as they try to co-parent their son? Can they transition from husband and wife to friends? Will others step in to complicate things between them? Will they ever find their way back to each other, or will they determine love doesn't always mean you end up together?

Oh, nearly forgot! @choicesprompts is running a rewrite challenge to place our characters into scenes from other movies/books, etc. Well, I have a little something planned for Tobias & Casey, and it will be based on this...

Wake the Dead:

The conclusion of Eli's past story will be up within the week. It should have been done, but warning, it's sad... and I have had too much sad things going on IRL to concentrate on this, but now I want to wrap it up.

Once that's completed, I will focus more on Eli x Zoe, as opposed to Eli alone. There will also be more appearances from the other friends at Olympus. I know it's not a terribly popular pairing, but I adore them and these days, that's good enough!

Crimes of Passion:

I don't know exactly what lies ahead for Trystan & Carolina, but I assure you... there are things ahead for Trystan & Carolina. I adore these two and am having so much fun learning more about them. As CoP2 continues, I'll see where my HC for this dynamic duo goes.

One thing you may notice is missing is Reset. I've been back and forth on that, and honestly, I don't know where that stands right now. It would be a huge effort, and motivation is lacking. The most I can say is I'll keep you posted.

In lieu of what used to be Six Sentence Sunday - if you'd like to see snippets for any of the above, let me know via comment, reblog or ask, and I'll hook you up!

I know we're much smaller, and this is all fun and self-indulgent at his point - but for those of you who are still here and still support my work - I want to let you know just how much it means. Thank you... from the bottom of my heart.

Tagging all my lists separately. If you wish to be added/removed/or put on a different list - reach out to me via DM or comment here. Thank you!

[meatriarchived2]

okay odd kinda tangent ?? im about to go on re: the Grief of a Mother so like tossing it under a readmore for obvious reasons

( cw for grief loss death etc type talk so ignore if necessary! )

but just small Disclaimer that i am Not a parent and so my thoughts on this comes purely secondhand for virginia & mama flores but anyways,

the thing with loss is it manifests and changes and twists so varying across every individual person it touches. in some people it can fester and grow bitter and harsh, it grows teeth and it gnaws on them and rips them apart piece by piece, chunk by chunk, and when it manifests in that way its so very difficult to find a way to work through it. in some people it manifests in scooping out every little bit of them slowly until theres a hollow left between skin and bone. in others it drives them forward, pushes them to the future rather than dwelling on the past. it propels them into living life to the fullest in their loved ones' place, or pulls them to doing hobbies or going places or thinking differently than they did before that piece of their heart was ripped away. its all different in how it manifests.

a mother's grief is something so profound in so many ways because its not only losing a loved one but its quite literally losing someone who was once literally one with you for a time. and that time is so minuscule in comparison to the remainder of ones life.

" its unfair. its so terribly unfair that you, as a mother, end up outliving your own child. "

repeated sentiment.

mothers' grief manifests in carmen flores like shes' been torn open and her heart ripped out from her in the cruelest and most horrible of ways. her daughters are her life, her soul, her heart, and knowing that maria was taken from her, that she was stripped away from living out her life after all the turmoil they went through, all the responsibility she had to take on that took so much living from her - it completely crushes her. theres a guilt that never eases up that she caused her daughter so much pain, so much unnecessary suffering, so much back-burner plans and time with friends and good memories and she will never forgive herself. carmen becomes a shell of herself post-house. even though she tries her best to still be present and loving and attentive to ana, there's simply clearly a gaping, eternally bleeding wound in her chest that can never be sealed, never tended to, never healed. in cases where she loses ana, too? the grief is unbearable. and she follows after her daughters. her health deteriorates rapidly.

mothers' grief for virginia comes more melancholic and steeled, more subdued and harshly swallowed down. she represses alot of her grief. tries to keep forward, level-headed. of course early on when jesse went missing, emotions were higher and harder to pin down and keep under wraps. it was frustration after frustration, dead-end after dead-end. and there was loneliness in it all. with no support for anywhere. with red being overseas. with family at all other corners of the country. virginia, when talking about texas verses, leaves that house with that understanding that she will never fully get closure for what happened to jesse, while simultaneously, knowing - or assuming - what his fate actually had been. grief, for her, is opening the front door to her home and all the lights are still off. theres a stagnant chill in the air, because its gone so long without windows creating cross-breezes throughout its rooms. its the coldness of a folded flag sealed away atop of the mantle in what should be a family room, though that now hosts only a single soul in it. grief is only having known how to make meals for four - one extra to share among her favorite boys' and their family dog - and having to finalize every recipe to fit a single mouth, excluding bites for the pup. grief, for virginia, is desperately trying to keep straight-faced while you talk into the empty air hoping for a familiar voice to answer but getting suffocating silence in return.

mothers' grief is facing unrealistic pressure and guilt and anger in oneself for not protecting your baby. because that is what they always see them as - their babies. carmen sees her little maria, as a wobbly toddler making her way down stone paths into the arms of her abuela and abuelo. virginia sees the rounded, rosied, chubby cheeks of her only boy, made all the more fuller by the toothless grin spread across his face as his dad makes him heartily laugh with the silliest of methods.

and its the pain that comes with it of knowing just how distant those memories are. and that those little faces grew up, and the last time they saw those smiles on their faces they never could have imagined it being the very last time they ever would.

its the guilt of wondering if i told them not to go, would they have stayed?

for carmen, if she had told maria not to go on that trip, alone, at all - would her beautiful girl still be here? if virginia told jesse not to go to out that summer or that break, however that panned out, would he instead have gone back home instead?

its the what-ifs, the guilt-ridden voices in the back of the head that eat away them. answers to questions they will never get. and instead of seeing their kids' smiling, warm, beautiful faces again - they both bury empty caskets, and visit empty graves, and pretend that their kid is down below their feet. because that makes it easier than wondering if they are still out there, somewhere, alive - hurt - and crying out for their mothers.

[furuichis]

I don't think there is an "optimal" order to experience the story in 3 hopes but the best way to experience the Sylvain's Hell Time-lines if you liked him already in 3 houses is definitively AG>SB>GW, I think.

Because in AG you first see him act.. different from 3 Houses and you might go "huh ! I wonder what made him less of an apparent asshole and finally show off the skills he always had but chose to hide hehe", and then The Father comes in. And then The Miklan, Dimitri's decision to keep him, comes in. And you see how dysfunctional the Gautier are as a family. It's not that hard to see that Sylvain is not... utterly miserable either but is not doing very well. He seems to be dwelling on the past? Making comments about how his childhood with the f4 all the time. He's slowly dealing it with it though. Maybe. You learn a lot of new info about the Gautier (Miklan and him being half-brothers, Matthias apparently truly loving his first wife and changing completely after her death, Sylvain's parents confirmed to be Not Good in canon, just. Matthias. This a lot more than the original "angry jealous brother who was mad about being crestless" issue). You get whatever the hell is happening in his support with Yuri (the killing thing, not the bisexuality thing). So many people will say to him that he's like his father, and while the characters saying it usually mean well (Rodrigue lovingly comparing the new gen to him and his old friends, Ashe Yuri etc talking about how cunning Sylvain truly is), everytime it happens Sylvain is "😬.... thank you?". He is not eager to become the margrave. He knows he will have to one day, but he's not a fan of it. He does not like the idea of becoming like his father.

Sylvain says that he wanted to change to catch up on Felix and Dimitri. The game (especially Rodrigue) doesn't shy away from making parallels between these two and Rodrigue and Lambert, (in a good way). In this case, is Sylvain fated to become like his father?

The Sreng paralogue ( :/ ) suggests a kind of hopeful future for him, since Sylvain talks about the peace he wants to achieve with Sreng, what he would have achieved in another timeline, and Matthias admits that he can't think the same way Sylvain does after losing his first wife and Lambert, but that's on Him and His clouded vision. And then the game does not show us the father-son talk because it hates me personally.

This might be me reading too much into it, but I can see a parallel in the Rodrigue-Dimitri support too. Gautier men will cling to the sword of their dead loved ones, I guess. And if that's on purpose it's really fucked.

Not much to say in Scarlet Blaze, he sometimes appear on the war map but doesn't sound like he actually wants to fight. In the main story he just appears to... die pretty fast LOL if you're playing on normal. But what's notable is that he appears to cover to allow Felix to retreat, and is one of the mandatory Blue Lions deaths. He is there to avenge Ingrid (saying pretty violent things too) but while every other commandant unit Can Retreat (ie Seteth iirc) he Does Not. *I'm shaking and waving his "I'll still fight like I want to die" line right now.) It might be the Whole Knight Thing of Faerghus, it might be truly Sylvain truly giving his all, but everyone else but him on that map can flee and the kingdom is pretty much cornered. Maybe he knew he wouldn't come back... And, if you remember his dislikes, him dying in the Valley of Torment is a final "fuck you" to him.

And all of that? I think it was for nothing. If you recruit Byleth, Dimitri actually ends up in the hands of Edelgard AND Claude but she let's him go because ??? Whatever ??? If you dont recruit Byleth Dimitri does not die either. There is no cutscene of the characters mourning Sylvain's death (unlike Ingrid). Nothing. And the game "ends" in a stupid way but that's an issue on all routes. (What you can do though, is wonder how Matthias feels after losing his heir and Rodrigue. Most Miserable Man Ever.)

So. Golden Wildfire. Matthias showing up so that Rodrigue (and Felix too, but he calls for Rodrigue first) can retreat is just... it's just like how Sylvain sacrificied himself for Felix in SB. It has to be intentional. I Hate Fire Emblem. Anyway, with Matthias gone, Sylvain is officially the new margrave and he clearly does Not Like that. And the saddest thing in this is not that the only time Matthias "apologizes" for being a shitty father is when they both know Matthias won't come back, it's not that apparently the only time Sylvain saw his father this happy was when he knew he would not be coming back, it's that Sylvain is set on the path of becoming like Matthias. Matthias dying makes Sylvain a worse person. Sylvain, who usually strives to resolve conflict without violence (see: his hopes with Sreng) starts his Xenophobia arc against the Alliance, so much that even usually-oblivious Dimitri asks him to keep his cool. And Sylvain actually Stays Calm, not dying a stupid death in Fhirdiad this time, but from their point of view Claude... just shows up then leaves. In the end, Matthias' death was unecessary. Despite whatever the hell is happening with the Gautier, Sylvain does not seem to hate his father and is visibly shaken by his death. It's just history repeating in a cruel way.

By playing the game in that order, you see his worst fate coming true, step by step. Parallel after parallel. It's of course not the main point of the game, bu if you're looking for it, it's right there and it's ... so sad.

[quietsun5268]

Who's the Most Likely, Least Likely, or Maybe Fathers for Severa based on Classes, looks, supports, and/or mannerisms?

Most Child units inherit the hair color from their fathers (with the exception of Female Morgan, who inherited her mother's hair color, and Lucina). But some parents are more fitting for some child units then others based on Classes, looks, supports, mannerisms, etc. I'm not looking for who would make the kid stronger. Just a parent who would make sense for the Child Units.

Recap: Brady

Cynthia

Laurent

Noire

Yarne

Gerome

Nah

Kjelle

Lucina

Owain

Inigo

Morgan

Here's what I've gathered about Severa (or Selena in Fates)

1.) Severa's Class is Mercenary, which she could've gotten from Gregor, Donnel or Robin. Plus in Future Past Severa reveals that she follows in Gregor's footsteps to become a mercenary.

2.) One of Severa's interests is make-up. In Gregor/Cordelia's A Support it's mentioned that Gregor knows how to apply make-up. (I'm getting a cute image of Gregor teaching tiny Severa how to apply make-up)

3.) Severa is a decent strategist as shown in her supports with Robin (The Male Avatar), as well as her B Support with Yarne where she gives him a tactical lecture. She beats Leo in their A Support. Something she would have learned from Robin, and/or Virion (He plays chess which is considered a strategy game and He beats Robin at a strategy game in their supports).

4.) Many of Severa's supports highlight how seriously she takes combat and training. This could've been inherited from Lon'qu (He keeps challenging other men to training fights in their supports to find a worthy opponent and get stronger). Maybe Gregor (since age comes with experience, plus have you seen Gregor & Lon'qu's support?) and Frederick (he takes training seriously, if you see Frederick/Tharja's C Support its intense)

5.) In Severa's (or Selena) A Support with Corrin it's revealed she can sew. Which she could've been inspired by Gregor (in Gregor/Cordelia's B Support it's revealed he can sew), Gaius (Gaius/Lissa supports reveal that he's good at making embroidery), and Frederick (He also knits Chrom a blanket in their C Support. One of his solo barracks conversations allows you to catch him muttering to himself about knitting everyone matching gloves and wondering what color to make them.)

6.) In Severa's A Support with her father she says she burns everything she cooks, Robin can't cook either, the only one who likes it is Panne. But In Severa (or Selena) B Support with Subaki and in her Supports with Peri it's revealed she learned how to cook. Which she could've been inspired by Gregor (See Gregor/Olivia's Supports), Gaius (Gaius's support conversations with Olivia reveals that he enjoys baking his own sweets. Plus in other supports, he can do housework. In Gaius/Sumia's S Support he says he can do the cooking.), Vaike (See Vaike & Chrom's supports), and Ricken (Some barracks dialogue has Ricken mention that cooking is something all modern men should know how to do.)

7.) Selena/Subaki S Support reveals she learned to craft accessories. Gaius/Panne S Support reveals he can craft jewelry.

8.) Severa tends to overspend so much that her father said "Most royal houses couldn't afford to shop the way you just did…". Would that cross out anyone that noble, like Virion, and Ricken? Or would you say that she literally spends so MUCH that even nobles are surprised?

9.) In Severa's C Support with her father, she said He's not that much older than her and that she bets most people they were brother and sister seeing them side by side. This may conflict with Gregor possibly being her father BUT we know that Gregor doesn't like being called old, so Severa could be saying that to butter him up into buying her things.

Who do you think is the child's units mostly likely, maybe, and least likely parents based on Classes, looks, supports, mannerisms, etc?

I'm not sure if I got everything. There's always a chance I'm missing something but I'm willing to listen to any input and reasons why you think whatever father is suitable for Severa.

Voting is optional - Who's the Most Likely Father for Severa based on Classes, looks, supports, and/or mannerisms?: https://strawpoll.com/polls/e6Z2eK0QJgN

Who's the Least Likely Father for Severa based on Classes, looks, supports, and/or mannerisms?: https://strawpoll.com/polls/w4nWDBA45gA

Reddit (you can click here if you want to see what other people think in the comments but know that the polls aren't in Reddit)

[djarinsbeskar]

PREQUEL ARC: PART 3 - THE BOUNTY

A/N: Part 3 of Stitches has arrived! This chapter was difficult to write, I'll be honest. And I'd really appreciate any feedback if it doesn't read as well as the first two chapters or doesn't make sense or is boring etc. etc.

This is the penultimate prologue chapter, with the story very much shifting to surround the dynamic and growth of the readers relationship with Din so if you can hold out for me just a bit longer, I promise, I'll make it worth the wait. You know what I'm talking about friends.

Pairing: Din Djarin/Fem!Reader

Word Count: 7k

Rating: 18+ (NO Minors)

Warnings: None

Summary: You encounter Mando suffering one misfortune after another.

AO3 | Stitches Masterlist | Main Masterlist

9 ABY, on the Hydian Way.

Din prided himself on the strength of his principles. An unwavering certainty in everything he did that gave him a modicum of peace as he wandered throughout the galaxy amidst wars, rebellions and the chaos that ensued in their aftermath.

He was certain when he took the Creed, when he sacrificed a future for himself in service of the covert; something he had never regretted to this day. He had never regretted any bounty taken; unmoved by pleas, promises or threats. Neither tears nor anger could sway his resolve.

Truly, he could count on one hand the things he regretted in life; the job on Alzoc III, challenging a fully grown Mandalorian to a fight while still a hot blooded, angry teenager, and not trying to pull his parents into the bunker where they had hidden him from Separatist droids as Aq Vertina was invaded.

In his line of work, there was seldom room for self-doubt. Inner conflict led to hesitation, which could be a death sentence for a bounty hunter.

And yet, as he came out of hyperspace, that unfamiliar gnawing presence in the pit of his stomach began to rear its’ head again. The job he had accepted was… dubious, to say the least.

Din snorted in self-deprecation; most of his jobs were dubious in nature.

What brought on this unnatural doubt, however, was that this was a job for Imperial remnants. Din wasn’t a fool; he knew half the jobs he had taken in the past could have been traced to the Imps if he cared enough to look, but taking a job from them personally… well, he didn’t know how to feel about that just yet.

He pondered the feeling in his stomach again and frowned. Was it doubt… or instinct? Instinct was his most trusted companion as he travelled through space alone. A tickle at the back of his neck, a wary step forward, even a flash of electricity down his spine; those were only some of the ways that instinct spoke to him. And he always listened.

An uncomfortable feeling in his stomach though? Never that.

If it was instinct, then he was going against his very nature in ignoring it. If it was doubt, based on some misguided sense of morality in dealing with the empire… that he could deal with. He could smother doubt with control and consistency; going through the motions of a job brought security and familiarity. Sooner or later, that doubt would make way for a stoic acceptance, a state that had gotten Din through some of his roughest years.

His eyes were drawn to his shoulder, where the glint of newly crafted beskar shone in the gentle lights of the cockpit.

A down-payment…

“Makers Helmet…” he groaned, running a gloved thumb and forefinger across his tired eyes to pinch the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on as the pressure at the back of his skull increased due to the loop his thoughts were going in.

A job was a job. He circled back to his original thought that had led him to accept the clients offer. A job with a bounty greater than anything he could have ever hoped to receive in his lifetime, let alone in one go. It was mere sentimentality and conscience getting in the way of good business. That beskar could not only provide him with armor to reaffirm his loyalty to the covert, but assistance and support to the foundlings and those who raised them.

His resolved steeled. He had never regretted putting the covert before himself, and he wasn’t about to start now.

Turning his attention back to the navicomputer, he scanned the co-ordinates that his most recent lead had pointed to. He had hunted the trail of his latest bounty to the general direction of a vast area of space that straddled the outer reaches of the Outer Rim and halted as it reached Wild Space. There was nothing to stop the bounty from being in those unexplored parts of the galaxy, and if the tracking beacon led him that far, he would have to be ready. With no spaceport on any of the planets he had seen dotting the area on the navicomputer, he thought it wise to refuel and gather provisions should he be there for any prolonged period.

As he lazily assessed which planet to land on, his eyes were drawn to a familiar name. A memory brushed against his thoughts. Not necessarily a pleasant one, but not entirely unpleasant either. For the sake of fairness, Din scanned the planets surrounding the one he pondered; some were equally as well equipped for his needs but the majority he had not been on in years if ever. Somewhere he knew, even briefly, gave him more comfort than the unknown.

At least, that was what Din told himself as he punched in the co-ordinates of Dandoran, the flicker of warmth the memory brought him was something equally as unnatural as the doubt coiled in his stomach.

Bantha balls, maybe he had been poisoned again...

Din tossed a few credits to the human female who received the Razor Crest into the hanger she was managing.

“She needs to be refueled.” Was all he said as he made his way out of the hanger and into the not unfamiliar streets of Mynock. It didn’t look like much had changed in the several months since he was here last; the place was still crawling with a mixture of criminals, bounty hunters and people who just didn’t want to be found. All in all, a good example of most Outer Rim cities.

Mynock had two main pedestrian streets that ran for over two klicks and intersected at the middle. From what he could tell, all legitimate business ran from those two streets, the further into the alleyways and twisted lanes that branched off those two streets one ventured, the seedier the business.

From what he knew, the practice you worked at was on one of these main streets. He paused, causing a few disgruntled pedestrians to have to jerk to a halt and make their way around his imposing frame. He was not here socially. He was never anywhere socially. He shook his head; between self-doubt and sentimentality, the tight leash he usually kept himself on was looser than he remembered and he had no idea just when it had started to slack.

That could not continue. But being aware of a problem allowed him to deal with it. So, with a greater sense of fortitude, he mentally choked any distracting feelings beyond the determination to collect this bounty. That included the somewhat interesting possibility of seeing you again.

Thankfully, Din only needed to stick to the main streets. The road was flanked by stall upon stall of foodstuffs, clothing, trinkets, ammunition and what looked to be a husbandry of Massiff dogs. The large, reflective eyes turned to the Mandalorian; all bared fangs and hostile snarls. An understandable response by most non-sentients when a Mandalorian had no real physical cues they could read, being as covered as they were. Until he lifted his hand for the one closest to sniff, they could only assume he was a threat.

A sniff was usually all it took however, before the snarling stopped. Din brushed a hand over the scaly head as he continued on his way to collect what he came here for.

An hour later, and Din was feeling much more at ease as he picked up the last of the supplies he thought he may need; ration packs, bactapads, generic ammunition that he liked to keep well stocked on the ship and so on. He was once more mentally compiling the information he had gathered on the location of the bounty, running through various routes in his mind that would cover the most planets in the parsec in the shortest amount of time.

He nodded his thanks at the change the Rhodian merchant returned to him and began to make his way back to the Razor Crest. If it hadn’t been for the long flick of your hair in the tie you kept it up in when you turned your head to look at someone at a stall across the central walkway of the street, Din was certain he’d have walked on none the wiser. But alas, that same higher power that had gifted him with a keep perception of his surroundings cursed him in the same fell swoop as the movement attracted his attention.

He came up short, running a mental check on himself immediately. No, no injuries. His shoulder still ached on occasion from being dislocated six months earlier, but it was a phantom pain at most these days. He was fit as a mythosaur and he wasn’t about to have that good streak ruined by getting injured in your presence… again.

Din wondered if he could escape to his ship without you noticing; he didn’t want to tempt fate anymore than he already had. Plus, awkward interactions that left him feeling frustrated both mentally and physically were not high on the list of things he enjoyed, thank you very much.

As a Mandalorian, Din expected attention wherever he went. It was just something he chalked down to being a necessary evil to live by his Creed but he had never wanted to be more invisible than he did in that moment, thinking that at any moment he would be trip into a sarlacc pit or something equally unpleasant.

But you hadn’t seen him, thankfully; much more invested in the choices at the fishmonger’s stall.

Despite his better judgement however, he paused from slipping back to his ship silently.

He was taken by the slight pink flush that rose to your cheeks at something the woman behind the stall said, intrigued by the color and what caused it. Din tilted his head slightly. He had noticed you getting flushed in frustration or annoyance both times you had treated him. It was fascinating to see your cheeks flush for a reason other than irritation and anger.

That particular thought touched a dangerous part of Din’s mind, a part that made him wander into the realm of curiosity to ponder what else might make you blush like that.

Oh, but it was a delightful color on you, and he watched longer than he ought to, a small quirk lifting the corner of his lips. The image of domesticity as you adjusted the parcels of food already in your arms to accept the fish was so foreign to his eyes and certainly not one he ever associated with you until now. It spoke to a part of him that still slumbered but began to fidget in its sleep, on the verge of consciousness.

That tentative smile that he had unwittingly been giving into as he indulged his senses by watching you, dropped the moment three males approached you. The Twi’lek was standing too close for you to be comfortable and by the rigidity of your spine, he knew you were not.

You had taken a step away from the men easily, your body language read cautious but not fearful and he knew better than to underestimate your abilities to wrangle men into whatever position you wanted them in. He had first-hand experience in that department and honestly, it wasn’t nearly as fun as it sounded in his head.

Din relaxed the grip he had unknowingly tightened on the blaster at his hip when you made to leave the stall, away from the three. He shook his head at himself; you had lived here for years. You knew how to handle yourself perfectly fine.

Letting out a breath, he was about to continue back to the ship when that same cursed perception caught the Twi’leks arm shoot out to grip your upper arm tightly, preventing your exit.

Din was behind you before he even realized he had moved.

You examined the range of fish on offer, eyes skeptically crossing off anything that looked like it had been sitting out too long or anything with more than four eyes. You weren’t squeamish by nature, but the fewer dead eyes that were staring at you while you prepared dinner, the better.

One of the few perks of Mynock, was its proximity to the Great Basin of Dandoran that opened out to one of the many oceans to cover the planet. Fresh seafood was a staple in the city and after years of ration packs between the Rebellion and Klatooine, eating fresh was a luxury you would never take for granted again. Your own home planet was mostly covered in water too; the greater population spread over countless clusters of islands where seafood was also the meal of choice for most. It was a tenuous connection but being able to cook dishes somewhat like the ones your mother made when you and your brothers were younger made it feel like you weren’t so far away.

You smiled to yourself at the thought as you pointed to the light blue colored Berbersian crabs, knowing the trawlers had come in only this morning that carried them. The claws were meaty with the slightest sweetness to their flavor that complimented most dishes. Not to mention that when cooked, they turned the most vibrant blue that their shells alone could be used for decoration and craft.

You chatted aimlessly with the fishmonger as she cleaned and prepared the translucent peachy pink fish you had also chosen for good measure.

“Busy at Biran’s?”

“When are we not busy?”

“It’s all them fights between the gangs. Folk say since the Hutts were chased out that things are better but it’s even more dangerous with the others tryin’ to take their place.”

You only gave a non-committal hum to that; you didn’t get involved in politics of any kind. Gang or otherwise.

The mindless chatter continued on nonetheless to more safe topics.

“Did I tell ye, Drea had her baby not three days ago. Another girl.”

“Poor Nej will have his hands full when they all get older.”

“I’m sure they’re dying for a boy at this point. Great excuse to keep sowin’ the crops though, ain’t it?”

“I’m sure they don’t need any excu—”

“Ever think of havin’ any of yer own? Yer well into that time of yer life, I’d say no?”

You blinked, nearly missing the bag of produce as she handed it across the stall to you. You could feel your face heat up at the direction this conversation had turned, and you definitely never thought you would be discussing your biological clock with a fishmonger over Berbersian crab.

“Well I---”

Movement from the corner of your eye stole your attention from that progressively awkward conversation and the no doubt insufficient answer you would have given as three males came to stand at the same stall, facing you. Your eyes scanned the trio sideways, not prepared to give them your attention unless it became unavoidable. There were two humans and a Twi’lek and given the way the humans flanked the large blue male; you had a fair idea about who was in charge as he sneered at you in what you assumed was meant to be a disarming smile.

The blasters at each of their hips and the emerald green coloring on the right sleeve of their jackets told you they belonged to one of the gangs the fishmonger had been complaining about not a few minutes earlier. This gang in particular, the Quai-Kisu or Emerald Dagger in Basic, were a faction that splintered off from the main Hutt crime syndicate once their influence in Dandoran lessened. Their trademark was spice smuggling but anyone with two braincells knew that they accepted the lesser charge to hide the true wealth of their criminal activity, flesh trafficking.

Suffice to say, you didn’t want anything to do with them and you most certainly didn’t want them to want anything to do with you.

“Can I help you?” You kept your eyes on them as you handed the fishmonger what you owed her when it was clear they weren’t going to leave; the woman wisely remaining quiet as she accepted the credits.

None of them responded immediately, and you wondered if this was a new scare tactic they were employing to make people anxious. The crimson hue of the Twi’leks eyes glinted as he contemplated you, running down your figure lazily before meeting your eyes again when you frowned,

“Ol’ man Biran available for a house call?” He rumbled, the sun catching the points of the filed canines as he spoke.

“I’m afraid Biran doesn’t make house calls anymore. Besides, he’s been under the weather for the last few days unfortunately.”

You reeled the lie off effortlessly, having learned over the years who Biran would tend to and who he would rather see succumb to whatever ailed them. It was a steep and difficult learning curve for you, your initial training taught you that you must do your utmost to save every life. Biran had laughed in derision, saying that that mindset wouldn’t serve you well out here. These were gangs, not the flyboys of Corellia. Saving one of their lives might condemn countless others. So while you struggled, you accepted that it was his practice and he made the rules and after over two years on Dandoran, you had seen enough victims of the gang warfare to not feel any pity when one of them suffered an injury.

“C’mon beautiful. One of our pals was injured in a… terrible, terrible accident.” The taller of the two human males, a lanky man with a neck that looked much too long and eyes that took way too much liberty in running over your body.

“There are other doctors in Mynock.” You replied steadily, “I’m sure one of them can help.”

To humor them any longer would be to encourage trouble, so you cut the conversation short and turned quite deliberately to make the point that the conversation was over, flashing the fishmonger a wan smile before turning back the way you came.

“We weren’t done talkin’ to you.”

Your eyes widened marginally when an iron grip closed around your upper arm, your free hand dropping the items in your arm immediately to click the safety off your blaster and lift it in the time it took for the Twi’lek to yank you into facing him again.

“Did I say you could lay a hand on me?” You hissed, the blaster pointing upward from where you held it close to your body towards the underside of the Twi’lek’s chin.

“Quite the little spitfire, ain’t she lads?” He crowed, amused by your action. His laughter was like shattered glass on your ears, making you want to wince, but you kept your hand steady even as your heart pounded. You received as much training as anyone when they joined the Rebellion, but your experience in actual combat beyond treating people on the front line was limited. You knew your own limitations, and that there was no way you would be able to take on all three of them.

The hand around your arm squeezed painfully and you clocked the blaster, lifting it closer to sit under the Twi’lek’s chin, “Release me. Now.”

And like most men of his ilk, he ignored you in favor of his own voice,

“From what we’ve seen, you work with the good doctor. Shouldn’t be a bother for you to fix him up. Nicer to look at too, eh fellas?” He tossed over his shoulder to the snickers of his lackeys.

“Then you can go back to target practice with your toy gun.” He chuckled darkly, leaning in where the pungent smell of his breath made you turn your head away in distaste, “That is, if we let you go at all.”

You swallowed thickly at the threat, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as your mind scrambled to come up with a solution, a way out, something. You felt the familiar sting of tears at the back of your eyes when each avenue came up blank. You couldn’t think of anything and suddenly, you felt so terribly alone in this shithole of a town on a faraway planet far from anyone who gave a bantha crap who would actually be able to help you.

Their laughter only grated on your already frayed nerves and pissed you off even more. You had fought too hard and suffered too much to let these assholes take the one thing you owned, your freedom. Your eyes flashed with anger and snapped back to the Twi’lek, ready to pull the trigger because if you were going out, it would be on your terms.

Their laughter suddenly ceased then, and you blinked. Had they copped that you planned to take at least one, maybe two of them out with you? Before you could figure it out, your arm was shoved away. You raised your now free hand to steady the blaster as you aimed it at them, but they were backing away, eyes averted.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” You growled, hiding the waver in your voice.

They said nothing in reply as the Twi’lek bared his teeth and made towards you again. One of the humans grabbed his arm and hissed something to him. You couldn’t make it all out, but you swore you heard a name you never thought you’d hear again.

Teff.

With one last growl and glare, the Twi’lek conceded to the advice of the humans and all three of them melted back into the crowds of Mynock leaving you to release a heavy breath as you lowered your weapon, replacing the safety with ease as your eyes continued to scan the street. You wanted to be certain they had really left.

“Huh, maybe they were smart after all.” You muttered to yourself, proud that you had dealt with the situation somewhat and holstered your blaster against your hip again, “Still got it girl.” You commended yourself as you stooped to pick up your dropped groceries.

A snorted, “I beg to differ” had you blinking up over your shoulder at the familiar, cocksure figure of the Mandalorian; a hand only grazing the blaster at his hip as he stood casually behind you, his head tilted down to look at you and a resounding sigh leaving his helmet when you smiled.

“Mando?”

An incline of his head was the only greeting you received before he crossed his arms across the wise expanse of his armored chest.

“One sec.”

You got back to your feet and, as if by instinct, ran your eyes over his body, “You didn’t poison yourself again, did you?” You teased lightly, realizing that you were seeing him uninjured for the first time. Well, the second time. But walking into a cantina to do battle with a Houk didn’t could in your estimation.

It gave you pause to notice things about him that you didn’t usually; the way he stood, leaning his weight back on his left foot that gave him an air of lazy arrogance that wouldn’t be misplaced in a loth-wolf relaxing in the winter sun. The strength of his thighs seems to be accentuated by the posture; one hand placed securely at his blaster. If you didn’t know any better, his stance was like an open challenge to every male around him; submit or suffer. But you did know him somewhat, and you knew that he didn’t need to lay down any challenge. He had already won the second he stepped off his ship. The wide breadth of space given to him by passers-by only highlighted that fact.

Even with every patch of skin covered, you could feel the raw power rolling off of him, or was it testosterone? Whatever it was, it tugged at a more primal instinct and ignited a slow, steady heat inside of you that made you both embarrassed and intrigued.

Okay, so you were attracted to the way the man stood. That was fine, that was acceptable. You were a warm-blooded woman in her prime who knew her desires and embraced them. Finding how a Mandalorian… stood, was just another interesting thing to add to your list of things you found attractive.

Along with a raspy baritone and penchant for trouble…

You know what, it was probably just a fantastic indication that you hadn’t been laid in a while, so you made a mental note to deal with that particular issue later.

“I never poisoned myself.” That same low, gruff voice rose to your bait so easily and you had to bite your lip not to laugh, his hand fisting at his side before he unclenched it. Probably thinking about strangling you, honestly. Now there was a thought, for later. Nope, it was definitely the recent dry spell that had you like this. And the sun. The sun always had a part to play in these delusions.

Mando seemed to figure out your game of teasing him however, when you couldn’t fully mask your smile and responded in kind,

“You’re welcome, by the way.” His voice rumbled and you were certain that if you were only a few inches closer, you would be able to feel the vibrations brush against you.

“For what?” You laughed in disbelief, “I had everything under control before you decided to strut into the fray.”

You tried to prevent the frown from creasing between your brows when you thought a little more on the situation. You had a blaster literally pointed to the neck of one of those thugs and they didn’t care. It didn’t even seem like Mando had drawn his weapon and all three had scarpered? Was there any fairness in the galaxy? Obviously not.

The unpainted helmet tilted, the impassive T-visor giving away nothing of its wearers feelings beyond the sigh that left him, “What did you plan to do? Shoot the son of a mudscuffer and have an entire gang out for blood in less than an hour? Yeah, that’s smart.” He snorted.

Your mouth fell open in incredulity, “Talk about the Jawa calling the Ewok short, you’d have done the exact same thing!” You cursed your short temper, especially when it came to the stubborn mule of a man in front of you. The fact that his voice never once rose frustrated you. It remained gravelly but soft, like the sound of pebbles and stones being pushed and pulled by the ocean you could hear from your bedroom as a child.

You were a mature person; you were proud of how you dealt with most things. But in this instance, you allowed your immature side to rear her head momentarily as you began to stalk back to the practice. A piss poor option since the Mandalorian scoffed and kept up with you easily, obviously not content with you having the last word.

“But I wouldn’t be so reckless to not think it through before shooting them.” He tipped his helmet back a little, as if he dared to look down his nose at you. Frustration simmered in your blood as your eyes narrowed at him sideways.

“I was wrong, you obviously are injured. A blow to the head this time was it, Mando? Must be hidden under that kettle you call a helmet” You let out an exasperated breath, shaking your head, “I’ve no cure for that unfortunately.”

You could have sworn you heard a soft noise that sounded remarkably like a chuckle, but it was so quiet and the streets so noisy that you were certain you were wrong.

When the door to the practice-come-living quarters for yourself and Biran came into view, you stopped short. How did you get back here so quickly? Looking over your shoulder, you realized you had led the Mandalorian on a merry chase to nowhere he needed to be. He didn’t look particularly fazed, but the small voice of guilt that sounded an awful lot like your mother had you opening your mouth before you could think twice,

“Do you want to come in?”

What possessed you to invite him in?

It was obvious from both the stilted way you asked and the drawn out, deeply awkward silence that followed. You were about to tuck tail and run inside, slam the door, and pretend you weren’t as mortified as you knew you were when he cocked his head. The movement made you pause in your escape, opening your mouth to tell him to forget about it before the words got lodged in your throat.

“Sure.” Was all he said, and that was how you found yourself staring at a fully armed Mandalorian taking up two thirds of the small settee in the living room to the back of the practice, his hands placed on each thigh as they spread a bit when he sat.

Biran, bless him, took up the last third of the same settee, unfazed by the type of man in his living room and chatting merrily about the last Mandalorian he had met over fifteen years ago.

“And that wasn’t you?”

“No.”

“Ah maybe someone you know then!”

“Maybe.”

Mando’s conversation skills were abysmal.

You didn’t have very high expectations in the first place, but watching it without being a participant, was downright comical. You hid your smile behind the glass of water you had fetched for yourself but the slight tilt of his helmet in your direction told you he had caught your amusement. For someone whose face you couldn’t see, you could practically feel his eyes narrow at you. It made the giddiness from being equal parts anxious and entertained from watching Mando try make nice with the elderly Mirialan rise again and you had to physically bite your lip to stop.

Mando wasn’t listening to Biran anymore, that much was obvious. He wasn’t even looking in his direction, more comfortable blatantly glaring at you instead. Biran was unfazed. Truly, the Mirialan didn’t need a response to have a conversation. A listening ear was sometimes all he wanted. It was a characteristic that endeared you to the him in the first place. The elderly were so often overlooked and written off, but when one only cared enough to listen, they would find themselves enriched with experiences no history book could ever compete with.

“…So how do you two know each other?”

Your attention was dragged back into the conversation so fast you might have given yourself whiplash. You blinked a few times as the Mirialan watched Mando with a clueless smile on his face, completely ignorant to the stiff body beside him.

“Coercive medical attention.” You choked a bit on the sip of water you had taken to buy yourself some time to think; coercive? That rotten---

“Ah, you were a difficult patient, were you?” Biran chuckled, knowing your methods well, “Sweet as pie if you do as your told, but the minute you resist she’ll go for you like a sand panther. I can’t imagine there was much room for bedside manners in the Rebellion, but thankfully that attitude works well in cities like Mynock.” You spluttered again, putting the glass down since it was out to get you too apparently.

Of all the treacherous--, why were you so nice to this old sod again? You would show him a sand panther when you ‘forget’ to buy his favorite tea next time you went shopping.

You seethed to yourself, leaning back in the armchair you had perched yourself on earlier, flyaway hairs from the breeze outside falling into your face which you blew away with a frustrated breath.

“Hm, a panther?” Your eyes rose as the low baritone filled the air after Biran had finished having his laugh at your expense. Mando cocked his head pensively to the side as he looked at you briefly, “More like a kitten, I’d say.” And with that, he looked away.

He didn’t bother saying anything else after that, content with letting Biran’s laughter fill the room and smother the tense silence the two of you were sitting in.

You could feel your cheeks heating up once more as you glared daggers at the tin can in front of you. Why did it feel like you were being simultaneously insulted and flirted with? You couldn’t make the distinction, so you didn’t know how to respond.

Instead, you decided to poke at a different part of the conversation.

“For someone who was coerced, you sure do find yourself on my table quick enough when you need treatment.” Your eyes ran up and down the length of his body candidly when he looked back at you, “and when you don’t need treatment, evidently.”

You smirked when the Mandalorian clenched a fist on his thigh, the third occupant in the room seemingly forgotten as Mando hissed,

“I never asked for your help.”

You scoffed and decided not to deign that with a response.

“Besides, I only stopped over for supplies and fuel.” He admitted and a treacherous part of you sunk a bit at the honesty in his voice. Seeing you was just a coincidence, like always. The unspoken words hung heavy in the air and you fought the twinge of sadness that chased you because of them.

Biran looked between the two of you before standing shakily and patting the Mandalorian on the shoulder with no hesitation, “Allow us to provide you with something extra for your travels then.” He turned his wrinkled face towards you with a smile, the deep groves of his crow’s feet increasing as he nodded to the bags of forgotten groceries, “I think our guest should try the crab. Knowing you, you bought too much as usual.”

You flushed at being caught out, were you really that predicable?

“There’s no need. I got what I came for so, I’ll be going now.” Mando stood fluidly despite his armor, and you were once again struck with how different it was seeing him injured as opposed to healthy. You felt you needed to get used to his presence all over again, with how much it filled the room.

“Thank you, for your hospitality.” He tipped his helmet towards Biran, his voice still rather gruff but laced with a polite softness uncharacteristic to him. Biran waved him off and started making his way back out to the practice when he heard the binary from his medi-droid welcoming a new patient.

That left the two of you standing in a room that suddenly felt much too small for the tension that hung around you both like a blanket. You moved into the kitchen to separate the food you would keep and the food you would give to Mando on one of the countertops, tying the bag tightly by the straps so that it stayed clean and fresh when you were done. You couldn’t hear him move, but you could feel the slight disturbance of the air when he leaned his shoulder casually against the doorframe, arms crossed enticingly once more as he watched you.

“So… what did he call you again? A sand… kitten, was it?”

“Oh, shut up.” You growled over your shoulder at him before turning and shoving the bag with two of the Berbersian crabs and some herbs you knew went well with them, into his hands.

“I don’t need these.” He held the bag out, straightening his stance as he pushed himself from the doorframe. You wisely ignored him.

“All you need is a pan. And water. And heat. Boil them and actually give your body some proper nutrients, would you?”

You explained as you began leading him out towards the private entrance of the residence, through the small kitchen and out into an alleyway that gave you an immediate sense of déjà vu the moment Mando stepped outside. The sun was still beating down and it glinted across the helmet that was becoming as recognizable as a face to you.

“In case you didn’t realize, I’m perfectly healthy.” He replied smoothly, getting his bearings as he examined the alleyway and noted the sounds from the nearby street as the direction he needed to go.

“That’d be a first.” You griped at him, but there was no venom in your words, and he knew it.

You knew he was about to leave, and the suddenness of his departure was as jarring as his arrival. You didn’t know why you felt the need to stall, and you pushed that urge down rapidly in the face of the warrior when he looked back at you from assessing the street not a few feet away.

You sighed and let out a chuckle, wondering again how this man constantly came barreling into your life, disrupting the precarious peace you had brokered while here. You might have said it was a nuisance, but deep down, you knew that he brought a breath of life back into yours every time he crossed your path, reinvigorated the aimless routine you found yourself in. It was unsettling, the way this man had wormed his way into being such a… significant presence in your life. Even after only meeting him three times and always under less than pleasant circumstances.

Part of you wanted to tell him he could stay longer if he wanted; but you knew he would refuse.

Part of you wanted to tell him to be safe; but you knew he wouldn’t be.

Part of you wanted to tell him that you would see him around; but you knew that you probably wouldn’t.

So you settled on a lackluster, “good luck on your hunt” with a small smile as a peace offering for the fraught bickering you always seemed to fall into with him. A peace offering, he seemed to accept as he lifted the bag silently and looked inside,

“Pan. Water. Heat. Right?” His own attempt made your smile grow as you chuckled and nodded,

“You got it, sunshine.”

He nodded once in affirmation while you moved around him back towards the door of the practice. For some reason, you didn’t want to watch him walk away this time. It was easier for you to leave instead. A rumble of your name from the Mandalorian had you looking over your shoulder at him questioningly, the blush that had risen to your cheeks at the sound of your name on his lips not lost on Mando. He had turned back towards you when you moved and after a beat, spoke again.

“See you next time.”

And just like that, your chest hollowed, and a warmth filled you. The weight of his words were like an embrace, a reassurance you didn’t know you needed. Had needed, for longer than you probably knew. It was something secure and encouraging in these times of change and uncertainty, and you felt yourself cling to those words like a lifeline.

The placid nod you offered him with a gentle smile was all he stuck around for. Spinning on his heels, he took off towards the streets of Mynock once more, disappearing in a flash of beskar and steel and for once, you didn’t ponder about possibly seeing him again. You knew you would.

Din settled back into the pilots’ chair of the Razor Crest twenty minutes later, running through the familiar process of flying the ship out of the atmosphere and into the comfort of space, eager to escape into hyperdrive as soon as he was clear enough from Dandoran.

See you next time?

He groaned leaned his head back against the chair, staring up at the ceiling of the cockpit, his brows drawn low over his eyes as he frowned. What possessed him to offer that promise, he didn’t know. Maybe it was the way your eyes had dimmed slightly when he was about to leave, or when you had wished him luck on a job he was still so uncertain about. Maybe it was the way you blushed when he said your name.

Or maybe it was just because he wanted to see you again too.

And that was the most troubling reason of all.

Din didn’t do friends, he had acquaintances and colleagues even if the term was tenuous. He had the covert and the foundlings, but he didn’t have people he actually wished to see. Never trusted anyone beyond what they could each offer one another. You hadn’t looked for anything from him, and it was unsettling. He didn’t know if he could trust you, years of training and experience told him otherwise. But from the old memories of you pressing Raquor’daan poison from his wound to the teasing friendship you displayed with the old Mirialan, his resolve softened a little.

His eyes flicked to the rapidly shrinking planet he was leaving.

Trust was too strong a word right now, but respect… he could admit that he respected you. And that alone put you on a very short list of people, one he was sure you would never truly understand the importance of.

And he was right.

You would never know the significance of being on that very short list of people, but in that moment, Din’s grudging respect for you set both of your lives on a very different course than either of you ever anticipated; one that revolved around a very special, very small, green child.

Once Dandoran had faded sufficiently behind the Razor Crest, he keyed in the co-ordinates to the far reaches of the Outer Rim and entered hyperspace and after several days of travel, he finally struck beskar when the tracking fob starting beeping as he coasted through space. He smirked behind his helmet as he changed direction and noted the closest planet on his navicomputer where his bounty was hidden.

Arvala-7.

Gotcha.

Stitches Taglist:

@geannad @ayamenimthiriel��� @sarahjkl82-blog @gracie7209​ @nova646 @pychedelic-rainbow

[comiiical]

Thomas Jason “TJ”/”Jace” Halliwell-Ward

27

Witch

Biological son of former (in his time) agents of S HIELD, Stephen and Grant Halliwell-Ward. Born after occasional mistakes lead to a parenthood conversation and family permission and support on the ordeal. While they were out on mission and none could take care of their child, he would be cared by Fitz and Jemma or his uncles.

Like his parents, he followed a path of unchosen heroism, first as part of his witch fate, but later as the new agency of the government was built to monitor people with superpowers, a Company of sorts that reminded him of the evil guys that his parents talked about in tales. 

He was named after two of his uncles. 

Spatial telekinesis (extra perception, space manipulation (thermokinesis, cryokinesis), force fields, motion cancelation, hyperspeed, invisibility), telekinetic blasts, pyrokinesis, chronokinetic telekinesis (moving time forward or backwards, stopping it, etc, within a field around objects, temporal travel), psionic weaponry, teleportation, telepathy, electrokinesis, vector manipulation, plastic and skin manipulation, trajectory manipulation, healing. Skilled fighter trained by his father, master sniper.

Psyshot.

While he is a future set muse, he doesn’t need to as he can travel to the past and not really affect timeline much. This being said, if he does in fact travel to the past, he doesn’t join any group to not influence and instead works at what’s he’s best at: he runs a workship where he works synthetic leather skins for clothes, whipss, sex toys, etc. 

[shijiujun]

Hope everyone is partying (by yourself, spiritually, or with people, all are totally fine) well into the Christmas weekend! I am back with even more recs (I’ll prolly give it a rest at the 10th one sorry for the spam guys)! This one I just finished a few days ago, because CHINA BOOKSTORE PUBLISHED THIS ON CHRISTMAS WITH MANY GOODIES!! And I was like oh cute long-hair dude, let me read this.

Anyway this is a fengshui + supernatural + body-switching type of novel, with a heavy focus on fengshui! I don’t know if everyone knows what fengshui is (I will prolly do a list for Chinese New Year) and I am no expert, but it’s basically like Chinese geomancy where you can calculate a person’s fate, wealth, marriage suitability etc. with things in an individual’s environment. 

So a lot of Chinese people, for example businessmen when they have new offices or when couples renovate their homes, they may get a feng shui master to arrange furniture and add crystals or talismans or whatever to increase wealth/prosperity/happiness or harmonize bad energy etc., just an example. When you want to check the compatibility of yourself and your SO, some people do go to the fengshui master and calculate their 八字 (day, hour, time they were born + other things) to see when is an auspicious day to marry etc. 

My ex-editor really believes in feng shui masters because hers really predicted a year that her husband got into hugeee trouble like almost to the day itself apparently. And she always wear an accessory with a snake on it because the master said

Written by the same author (Xi Zi Xu) who wrote Kaleidoscope of Death!

- Part of Min’s ‘Why You Should Read’ Series -

Summary:

This book is set in the normal, regular, law-abiding modern city world where fengshui is heavily believed in, and skilled masters can see spirits, bad energies. Where dogs can be reincarnated as humans, and there are demonic pets that humans can keep, and paper dolls can come to life basically.

Zhou Jia Yu is a government office worker who dies in a car accident one day, and wakes up in the body of another Zhou Jia Yu - a handsome man whose name is the same as his. He’s brought back by this spirit bird in his head called Ji Ba (pun not intended), who says that Zhou Jia Yu is fated to save Lin Zhu Shui, the young, blind fengshui master who has caught him.

Unfortunately, this second Zhou Jia Yu is a con-artist who has cheated the money of several families via fraudulent fengshui schemes, and his scams have led to the death of several children in the process. Legendary fengshui master Lin Zhu Shui and his disciples have caught/imprisoned this Zhou Jia Yu, not knowing that original conman Zhou Jia Yu has died (and therefore his soul is gone), leaving good citizen Zhou Jia Yu in the body of a conman.

Lin Zhu Shui intends to kill conman Zhou Jia Yu (not really kill, kill but probably will do something to his soul, considering there are laws against murder you know) when good citizen Zhou Jia Yu wakes up in this body, but because he has come back from the dead, his body and soul is considered an extremely yin (cold) body, which allows him to attract more bad spirits and energy, giving him an extraordinary, gifted ability to excel in the fengshui line. Of course, being the master that he is, Lin Zhu Shui also realizes that this Zhou Jia Yu (and his soul, in particular) is not the one he caught, and as he has an extremely yang (hot) body, the both of them are compatible with each other. Lin Zhuo Shui realizes that he can train Zho Jia Yu and then takes him on as his disciple.

Cue Zhou Jia Yu being tossed into a dangerous fengshui competition as he figures out just what Ji Ba wants him to do about Lin Zhu Shui. In the meanwhile, he falls in love with amazingly handsome, cool and aloof Lin Zhu Shui (who threatens to murder him if he doesn’t come out first in the competition), who keeps him warm when he gets unbearably cold due to his body condition. They also have to deal with an evil person working behind the scenes, and how Zhou Jia Yu eventually returns back into his own body at the end.

Read:

Novel (Online) | Novel (Print) - Dec 2020 Print | Novel Translations 

Characters:

1. 周嘉鱼 Zhou Jia Yu (third from right) - A really cute government office worker whose soul was pulled into a conman’s body, who has the same name as he, when he got into a car accident. Has an extremely yin (cold) body which attracts spirits (good and bad), and allows him to see, smell or hear them more clearly than everyone else except for Lin Zhu Shui. He cooks extremely well too and is considered a treasure in the household by Lin Zhu Shui’s other disciples because none of them can cook for shit. They don’t initially know that this Zhou Jia Yu is not conman Zhou Jia Yu, although they suspect it, and once they fall in love with his cooking no one doubts him anymore HAHAHA.

He gets a feng shui tattoo personally done by Lin Zhu Shui who already knows that his soul was switched, a tattoo which is supposed to help him in feng shui matters. Gets a paper doll son halfway through the story, who he calls Xiao Zhi (little paper), which calls him Dad (and calls Lin Zhu Shui Big Dad - da baba) ;-; It’s the cutest shit ever.

There’s a mystical creature in the back of his head that speaks to him and helps him out on certain feng shui things, and helps him to explain what he’s seeing, but aside from telling Jia Yu that he’s supposed to save Lin Zhu Shui, the mystical bird thing is unable to tell him anything else. Within a few weeks of him waking up in this body, he’s sent by Lin Zhu Shui on an international feng shui competition without having any sort of basic knowledge, only innate talent, much to his panic XD As Lin Zhu Shui continues to protect him, teach him and tease/smile at him, Jia Yu, who is certified gay af, falls totally in love with the seemingly aloof and strict feng shui master.

They probably would have continued like this if not for Jia Yu’s body deteriorating because his body is technically not his and not compatible with his soul, and Lin Zhu Shui tries to find a way to save him, after seeing the future where Jia Yu’s body is rotting as he dies slowly over months and begging Lin Zhu Shui to kill him and let him die.

2. 林逐水 Lin Zhu Shui (third from left, right next to Jia Yu) - Long-haired, wears changshan perpetually and is blind, but can see more clearly than most people. He knows where everyone’s positions are exactly, and can see spirits etc. very well despite being blind. Considered a genius of the feng shui world and is the patriarch of one of the big feng shui families in the world - the Lin family. He’s a master at drawing talismans, carving crystals/gems and feng shui tattooing.

He’s so well-known that everyone wants to be his disciple, everyone wants to get a talisman/crystal/tattoo from him, everyone wants him to come and look at their houses, but he can’t be bothered with most people. He’s also super handsome? So a lot of girls (and guys) are always drooling over him.

He has an extremely yang (hot) body, which is supposed to naturally help to repel spirits and what not, but because of this he suffers a lot in the summer. His body condition is very rare and when he was younger, others said he would not live past 18 years old, and his parents gave up their lives to change his fate so he would survive. The feng shui master also predicted that Lin Zhu Shui would experience another calamity when he was 30 (thereabout), and that year, thankfully he has Jia Yu as his entire house caught on fire in the summer while he was in it (and cooling talismans and the house item placements meant to keep the house entirely cool in the summer were no longer working). Jia Yu helped him to cool down with his incredibly yin body.

Knows right off the bat that this is a different Jia Yu, and starts teaching him as one of his disciples. Can only eat the food hat Jia Yu cooks because his yin qualities transfer to the food he cooks as well, and Lin Zhu Shui usually cannot eat anything else that’s cooked outside. Gives Jia Yu a carved jade pendant he made himself that’s apparently worth thousands of dollars to keep him safe, and is a dumbass when it comes to confessing to Jia Yu hahahaha (although he’s successful at the end!)

3. 沈一穷 Shen Yi Qiong (second from right, dark skin tone) - Lin Zhu Shui’s youngest disciple and also Jia Yu’s best friend, technically. Brash but smart, and is always thirsting openly after his shifu Lin Zhu Shui, it’s hilarious! He’s a little jealous in the beginning because his shifu is showering Jia Yu with so much attention when he’s only been around for a week etc., but quickly gets used to it and supports Jia Yu. Jia Yu always makes fun of his tanned skin, then makes fun of his singlehood HAHA, while Shen Yi Qiong provides emotional support to Jia Yu, and by emotional support I mean when Jia Yu asks him what will happen to him if he loses the feng shui competition, Shen Yi Qiong pats him on the shoulder and asks him to choose a vase/pot pattern (like a ceramic pot where you put cremated ashes) = shifu will kill him if he loses the competition, so gets Jia Yu to choose a pot he likes so Shen Yi Qiong can help him put his ashes in HAHAHAHA. He is the last one to find a significant other, but the one he finds is like a legendary mystical creature who half deceives him into promising to marry him and then keeps chasing after Shen Yi Qiong so he can marry him XD

4. 林珏 Lin Jue (first from left) - Lin Zhu Shui’s cousin but technically his older sister because she brought him up after his parents died. Spends most of the novel being sad about her past lover who died because of an illness, and is wooed a few years later by a legendary golden dragon.

5. 小纸 Xiao Zhi (that little cute white thing on top of Jia Yu’s head) - A paper doll who’s given to Jia Yu after he helps out at the paper doll village/tribe, and grows up with Jia Yu and Lin Zhu Shui taking care of him. Is the cutest little shit ever, can speak, and calls Jia Yu ‘baba’ and Lin Zhu Shui ‘da baba’ i.e. dad and big dad. Very strong, and can protect Jia Yu very well.

Other Things I Like in the Novel:

Jia Yu basically goes to the feng shui competition and destroys everyone else because he’s just gifted in this aspect - When he wakes up, and in the days leading up to the competition, he doesn’t have a cellphone (Lin Zhu Shui and his disciples live in a remote part of town, a traditional-type house, one with nature) and after he wins the competition, other people want his phone number to contact him and he’s too embarrassed to say that he’s basically too poor to have a phone after rising from the dead, so he bluffs everyone and says “My shifu says that handphone signals and radiation will interfere with advanced feng shui readings so I don’t have one” and LITERALLY half of the feng shui training population gets rid of their phones on that day, gullible af

Everytime Jia Yu runs cold, he has to drink some of Lin Zhu Shui’s blood mixed with water/milk, and the man’s yang blood warms him up immediately

Jia Yu has to deal with four of Lin Zhu Shui’s disciples, all who are really suspicious of him because they think he’s the conman, and Jia Yu doesn’t realize they already know it’s not him until they defend him in front of other people, and he’s so touched

Shen Yi Qiong gets his marriage fortune told during one of the cases by accident. He asks when he’ll get married, and the thing replies “Seven Three” AND HE’S SO DEPRESSED BECAUSE he thinks that it means he’ll only get married when he’s 73. It’s a source of jokes between him, his other shixiongs and Jia Yu, but then towards the end he realizes what it means - His supposed match, a legendary mystical male weasel who’s 73 years old XD

Jia Yu keeps thirsting after Lin Zhu Shui, fully aware that he’s very gay himself, and he’s confessed to while he’s stuck in the haze of a high fever, so he thinks it’s a dream. Lin Zhu Shui doesn’t realize he forgot/thinks it’s a dream and is pissed that he’s rejected HAHAHA and then Lin Jue reminds him to not be a dumbass and confess properly, and so he does so again in an empty amusement park, after summoning evil spirits so they can fly in the air and make a heart shape just for Jia Yu while they’re on the ferris wheel XDDDD

[itsuki-minamy]

PROFILE: IWAFUNE TENKEI

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

Real name: Iwafune Tenkei

Terms of address: Iwa-san, Father Iwafune (Nickname in Jungle)

[PROFILE]

Birthday: March 12, Pisces

Blood type: O

Age: 42 years. (At the beginning of the second season.)

[APPEARANCE]

Physique: 1.85 cm in height. Skinny guy. Poor posture (height is the same as Munakata but he seems smaller than Munakata).

Face, hair: Stubble. Poorly maintained hair that has grown out.

Attire: Priest-style clothing is worn.

Personal effects: He often has beer cans. Shabby Pocket. Bible.

[HABITS, SKILLS]

· He drinks beer while doing housework.

· The defensive power that "protects, hides" everything with the absolute protection of the fog.

[IMPRESSION, OTHER NOTES]

· The image color is "gray".

· "Frustrated clergy". A middle-aged man who has broken his ideals and has matured quickly.

· "He was great in the past, but now he is not good."

· The position of "single parent" "bad parent" on the team.

[POSITION, OBJECTIVES]

An executive from "Jungle", but not exactly a member of the clan. He calls himself a "resident".

He is normally the housekeeper of the secret base and Nagare's caretaker. Other than that, it is easy to get rid of and it does not act aggressively.

In fact, he is Seigo Otori, the sixth king, the "Gray King". He lost everything and couldn't hope to protect anything in the Kagutsu incident, but decided to protect and nurture the surviving and new "King", Nagare. He takes over Nagare as Nagare's father and as a guardian watching over the "King".

The "Gray King" was said to be dead, and no one knew that his survival was even better than that of the "Green King".

[PERSONALITY, CONDUCT]

Before the Kagutsu Incident, he was a "King" who had the ideal of saving all the vulnerable, and he led the gray "Cathedral" clan with an aspect of religious organization, but he lost everything in the Kagutsu Incident. He is deeply disappointed as "King", who failed to protect anything, and "Golden King", who overlooked the situation where 700,000 humans were involved in the fall of Damocles and died. Meanwhile, the "King", who has a completely different idea of ​​himself or the "Golden King", is faced with Nagare's awakening and decides to raise and watch him. At that time, he abandoned the name of Seigo Otori, who was the "Gray King", and began to call himself "Iwafune Tenkei".

Today, he is a careless old man, but he is rooted in despair and takes little voluntary action. Nagare's personality is so good that he may feel uncomfortable with his behavior, but he has decided not to speak up and lend his hand only when he needs it. He believes that the future world is not for human like him, but for Nagare and other ambitious young people.

[FATE, ENDING]

He had decided to help Nagare and see him, but he lost to Munakata in the final battle after the Dresden Slate was destroyed. Despite being seriously injured, he escaped from the member of the Blue clan and exploits the secret base of "Jungle" to clean up the place where he lived. He embraces Nagare's remains and sinks to the bottom of the rubble.

[ABILITIES, TACTICS]

He implements a sanctuary of gray mist with the power of "absolute protection". When he fights, he attacks one-sidedly from the fog.

Although he mainly focuses on long-distance attacks with revolvers, he is also quite strong in close-range battles and overwhelms Munakata.

[POWER]

A (Medium to high in "King" class. Mainly guardian, but at a level where he can overwhelm Munakata even if he turns to attack.)

[LIKES]

Spirit. He especially likes beer.

[DISLIKE]

Problematic and responsible. "The misfortune that occurs in front of him."

He doesn't hate anything, including his enemies, but he doesn't like it and runs away.

[HOBBIES]

Horse racing, pachinko.

Homework. He's not particular about it, he does it properly. However, the food he cooks is delicious.

Drinking... he likes to be lazy. He is on the couch and drunk watching TV.

Also, he plays with children (games, radio control, etc.) playing with Sukuna, but he is tired of everything and his actions are difficult.

[FASHION]

A priest's suit.

He doesn't care too much about his appearance.

Every now and then, he tries to do a less sloppy style with half the style, but soon becomes sloppy as usual.

[BODY]

He's a healthy guy by nature, and even now, he doesn't get unhealthy.

In "Jungle", which has a lot of catastrophic and momentary people, he maintains a pretty sensible life.

Every now and then, he does muscle training saying "I'm sick.".

[INTELLIGENCE]

Contrary to his seemingly blunt demeanor, he is actually very thoughtful.

[BELIEFS]

He used to be an idealist trying to save everyone, but after being defeated in the Kagutsu Incident, he fell into a kind of nihilism, in which "everything can only be done".

For him, the existence of Nagare, a "King" born beyond his own wishes, and the salvation of humanity by that plan is the last hope and gamble.

[RELATIONSHIPS]

[EARLY YEARS]

In the past, he led the religiously organized “Cathedral” clan as a “King” who possessed power, ideality and cooperation, but could not prevent the outbreak of royalty during the Kagutsu Incident, and his clan and 700,000 lives from the general public were lost to him.

[TIMELINE]

· 1971, Seigo Otori is born.

· 1999, July, the “Cathedral” Clan was destroyed in the Kagutsu Incident. Nagare, was awakened as "Green King", and after that he became known as Iwafune Tenkei. He then disappears.

· 2013, December, he participated as "Gray King" in the second attack on the Mihashira Tower (decisive Christmas battle).

· 2014, January, Liberation of the Dresden Slate. After being defeated by Munakata, he sinks to the bottom of the rubble of the secret base of "Jungle" with Nagare.

[ATTITUDE AND THOUGHTS TOWARDS OTHERS]

[TERMS OF THE ADDRESS FOR HIMSELF]

The first person is "Ore".

He tries to make it all a joke, with a careless tone.

[TOWARDS HISUI NAGARE]

He calls him "Nagare" or "Omae".

Iwafune is his guardian, patron, and follower.

Iwafune recognizes this young man as a strange spirit that he cannot fully understand, and supports him with his relative love.

He thinks that he can "do what he cannot do" or "can cause disaster for all mankind", but believes that he has no choice but to make such a dangerous bet. He can be said to be desperate for "the salvation of mankind by ordinary means".

[TOWARDS GOJOU SUKUNA]

He calls him "Sukuna" or "Omae".

He has a comforting feeling that he is the only one among the rankers who thinks he is "just an old man" without seeing him as the "Gray King".

Since he is still a child, he teasingly often plays a bit.

Although he admits that he is a "Jungle" fighter, he doesn't want to see his son hurt, so he worries about it internally.

[TOWARDS MISHAKUJI YUKARI]

He calls him "Mishakuji-chan" or "Anta".

They fit together and have grown-up values. They usually play with each other with a little humor depending on their age.

Mishakuji understands Iwafune's despair, but when he occasionally mentions it, he becomes clumsy.

[TOWARDS REISI MUNAKATA]

He calls him "Munakata" or "Omae".

Munakata, who pursues his own ideals, is a presence that makes Iwafune feel bitter and remind of the "me that once smelled blue".

[frosteee]

Undertaker and the Dispatch Conspiracy Theory

@frederickabberline 

So I loved your discussion about UT and a possible conspiracy within the grim reaper dispatch that I went through the manga and found some bits and pieces which, I feel, support the theory.

[Long ass post under cut]

Background

For those who are unfamiliar, the theory is that UT had discovered something damning about the grim reaper organisation that caused him to defect. 

This discovery, we post, is that the forgiveness all reapers are promised is a lie, perhaps even extending to the idea of salvation in general, disillusioning UT and morphing him into the individual we know today. Full details can be found in the awesome ongoing discussion by @frederickabberline, @midnight-in-town​ et al. 

Because of this, UT is experimenting with creating a definite ‘after’ to the end that is death, because the ones he previously believed in, like the P4 did tradition, like the Watchdogs did duty, was fake and only fit to create a cycle of misery. He currently believes himself incapable of salvation, and so creating immortal Phantomhives is the only way he can possibly be with them.

I believe that several aspects of UT’s personality as we know it support this.

UT’s interest in breaking free of fixed, unchangeable fate.

We are shown as far back as Chapter 13 that UT has particular interest in the concept of destiny, commenting that the tie between O!Ciel (and the entire house of Phantomhive by extension) and Queen Victoria is like a ‘chain of fate’, and gets quite angry when O!Ciel declares that he put himself in that position willingly. 

Grabbing Ciel by the tie and holding him there is the most directly aggressive we’ve seen UT towards O!Ciel, besides the time on the Campania when UT used him to bait Sebastian, so it seems that comment irked him.

From this it appears he holds a bit of resentment towards O!Ciel for so willingly following the path towards death and damnation.

He also seems to hold similar frustration towards the rest of the Phantomhives for ignoring his warnings and following the cursed path of the Watchdog to the grave.

He is highly amused by twists, and takes great satisfaction in the unexpected, especially when it goes against the grain. Like, for example, when Undertaker is surrounded by enemies on the Campania and he wonders which of them is truly the hunted party.

This before rapidly changing things around and making it no longer a one-sided hunt of an outnumbered rabbit but a struggle to take down a powerful hunter. In this arc, everyone is second-guessing and while UT is the one with the most control over proceedings (with his element of surprise), even in that scenario there were events he could not see coming (e.g.: the iceberg) that he had to work with/around.

Essentially, he enjoyed the unpredictability of the situation, where multiple powerful forces were clashing to decide the end. Fate was in all their hands.

What UT finds amusing also seems to revolve around this idea. 

He is amused by two things:

Those who do terrible things to keep the status quo, like the P4 in their murders, which causes UT to burst out laughing after the full story is revealed. The P4 probably remind UT of who he used to be as a model grim reaper - the rigidness of their thinking, repeating the mantra that tradition and rules ‘are everything’ most definitely reminded him of his former life and the ‘grim reaper code’ he lived by. Hell, William is currently the ‘rule-abiding/spouting’ grim reaper of the bunch.

Those who go against the grain in unexpected but positive/game-changing ways. In the same arc, for example, UT comments on O!Ciel’s decision to save Harcourt from the attacking zombies, as such as a selfless act would never have occurred to his more selfish, pragmatic ancestors. 

In short, UT is pleased to see actions taken by people, most notably the Phantomhives, that break from the acts/mindset that killed those who came before, and scorns those who try to keep things the same no matter the cost and meet terrible fates.

This also extends to R!Ciel, who I talk about in this post in relation to the Evil Twin theory, where R!Ciel is a direct participant/accomplice to his parents’ murder. I theorised that to create a perfect record, while having only ‘future desires’ and a soulless body to work with, UT had to improvise by splicing what he knew of R!Ciel’s past onto the boy’s record, thus creating memories/knowledge of his past and the ability to function off that. 

However, this combined with R!Ciel’s ‘yearning for the future’ records also created a boy who was all too willing to replace O!Ciel as Watchdog and basically resume the terrible march towards danger and death that UT had worked so hard to avoid. His and Tanaka’s reaction to R!Ciel’s announcement that he will resume Watchdog/Earl duties reflects this, I think. 

As far as UT is concerned, R!Ciel is making the same mistake as O!Ciel by following the path set out for him from birth, like all Phantomhives.

Then, finally, there’s UT’s interest/obsession with the ‘predetermined end’ that death entails, screwing with which is the driving force of his actions so far, he claims.

It feels strange for a grim reaper to be so curious about that. After all, he has died himself, and entered a sort of limbo existence which, while a punishment, is basically an afterlife. 

Grim reapers are promised forgiveness, which can be paired with salvation and entry into Heaven. Demons also exist, which live in an alternate realm not (as far as I know) stated as Hell, but considering souls can be eaten by the demons who live there, so perhaps that is also a destination for souls when they die?

In any case, it would seem strange for a grim reaper to not have knowledge of some sort of afterlife, other than their own, to which souls can go to. 

Unless the reapers are simply told it exists, and that they can go there if they ‘serve their time’ - and that the reality is very different. 

With this idea in mind, it makes a lot of sense for UT to be a staunch advocate for breaking the chain of fate the Phantomhives are under, to the extent that death itself is overturned, because he never wants to lose another Phantomhive again, as he now believes that reuniting with them in the afterlife is impossible. 

UT is so dead set against the idea of following the status quo and one’s ‘fate’ that he is ready and willing to rock the very world ‘The Superior’ governs.

UT’s focus on lies/deception.

UT also appears to be quite focused on lies and deception, either to oneself or others. We first glimpse this in the Circus Arc, where he tells Ciel to take care of his soul, for he only has the one. When Ciel responds that he already knows that, UT questions that (’Boy I know you be talkin shiiiiit~!’). 

Then later in the arc, he confirms his own belief - that Ciel cannot/does not know the true weight of what he is losing by continuing down his cursed path, that Ciel is lying to himself in order to continue down it. This is clearly part of his frustration with the Phantomhives as a whole, that they keep lying to themselves in order to keep going towards a fate that only continues its destructive cycle.

Really, all of the people UT has laughed at are lying to others or themselves, or both, in order to justify destructive, morally bankrupt and questionable beliefs and actions. Ciel, the P4, Rian Stoker, etc., etc.

UT is also very concerned with the idea of people lying to others for their own benefit, as all reapers, according to the theory, are lied to.

The people who most reflect UT’s past situation are the Noah’s Arc circus troupe, who were deceived by their trusted elder, Kelvin, that in order to maintain/achieve happiness they had to dirty their hands and continue doing terrible things with no knowledge of when it will end.

Similarly, UT also continued to perform a (literally) punishing and emotionally traumatic task to the best of his ability on the orders of an overseer for the sake of eventual happiness that he discovered to be a false promise. While some of them may have believed Kelvin to be evil and perhaps lying to them, like Joker, they continued anyway because lying was the only way they could handle the weight of what they had done.

It might not be so much of a coincidence that UT begins and ends his role in that arc by pointing out the cost of self-deception/being deceived. He would know - he and all reapers are lied to and effectively kept as eternal slaves and then possibly either killed or damned in some way, but never actually ‘retired’ to Heaven.

Speaking of which, UT specifically notes that one of the most beautiful things about his bizarre dolls is the fact that they no longer have the capacity to tell lies. 

Of course, this is all said with the knowledge that UT himself has/had told plenty of lies himself, and is probably deceiving himself that his goal, which is probably impossible, is possible. It’s the only thing keeping him going, after all, and UT is not without hypocrisy. 

Hey, he never denied that he had a few screws loose!

UT and Sebastian’s differing views on death being ‘the end’.

Finally, the big one, UT and Seb’s very different views on death as an end. We don’t know Sebastian’s views on the afterlife, or if souls can be cast into his realm like Hell, or if there is a Heaven, but regardless Sebastian believes that a ‘definitive, hopeless end’ has beauty in it.

In response, UT only smiles, but says nothing in response, perhaps not wanting to give away too much personal information at this time. He does not agree, and his actions and words have proven just how much he disagrees.

UT, according to the theory, has entirely lost faith in forgiveness and salvation after death - at least for himself as a grim reaper. Why else would he go through so much trouble to extend life indefinitely? Why would he create a form of immortality for the living Phantomhives he could hope to see again...

Unless he believes he cannot.

Unless he believes he has lost the ones who have died forever, and that the only thing he can do for the ones he has lost is keep mementos of them (like the prayer lockets, which he treasures).

All reapers are promised forgiveness and, it’s implied, salvation in Heaven or something similar. If this was the case, if UT did not have reason to suspect otherwise, why would he bother defecting, when he could just be a model grim reaper for x amount of time and then join his loved ones once he has served his time?

Clearly, UT once believed that death was beautiful, but not because it was the end. Because there was an ‘after’ that he could aspire to and meet those he lost. He cannot agree with Sebastian’s ‘beauty in an end’ idea because to him, a hopeless end is just that - hopeless, miserable, lonely. 

The death Sebastian speaks of means only eternal slavery, loneliness, hoping for salvation that never comes. Maybe once he believed death being the end to one’s life was beautiful in its way, as Will discovered in the grim reaper OVA, but not anymore.

Hope this makes sense and gives some food for thought! 

[masterhandss]

Hamefura Idol AU! (part 2)

Here’s a completely unrelated Katarina idol art by @Sangotofura on twitter!

This is a continuation of my first post, the one that is more of an overview of the original FL game and the original descriptions of the characters. I don’t know if I want to write a story for this, since again this is just an excuse to draw, but I’m really having fun with expanding the alternate version of the world of hamefura.

It’s a lot of fun to rewrite hamefura’s story to fit in an idol setting, so I hope you guys don’t mind if I write a bit more for my dumb au dhjgfjs

More tidbits about the ‘Game’:

The game’s name, Fortune Lover: Cinderella Idol! or “Fortune Lover”, is read as “for-tune lover” by the fans (get it? tune?? pls laugh). The ‘F’ of the name is written as a fortissimo.

In the setting for Fortune Lover, the entertainment industry is the biggest industry of all time, with music being the most popular form. It has been like this for decades, and as time progressed, people’s tastes and expectations of music evolved, leading to the creation and popularity of idols.

Idol-Producers are a new project that is testing the capabilities of a idol teen, observing how their involvement in their own success can impact how they manage their time and how they can bring the absolute best out of themselves, on their own. Maria is the first idol who will be testing this new style. She is still a producer to herself, the boys, and even Sophia and Mary if you choose to have them join you. Despite being an idol, they still call Maria their “producer” and treats her like one. 

The characters in the game are in 3D CG, as the game includes the dance choreography or “MV Mode” if you perfect the score of the rhythm game. 

While Katarina’s bullying isn’t really death threatening, it’s more in line with the petty kind like verbal threats, sabotaging Maria’s idol clothes and stage equipment, paying someone to mess up her tracks during performances, badmouthing her infront of tv show producers and hosts, and stuff like that.

Katarina’s bullying isn’t as bad as it is in the original otome game, but she gets shunned by the public because behavior like that is only supposed to be done behind the curtains. The public has such a pure and honest perception of idols that they never think of the idea that the girls who smile and sing on stage actually try to stab each other in the back when the stage lights are off. Some people think that Katarina’s character is just a persona, so knowing that she is actually an ignorant and arrogant rich girl idol-wannabe, her fans lose respect for her. Katarina’s harassment of Maria is one of the few cases that are brought to light by the end of the game, and because of how much the public loves Maria by that point, they are enraged by Katarina’s behavior, making her lose support on all sides

Katarina had been in love with Gerald ever since they were children, and while Gerald has always been a popular boy among both his peers, when she found out Gerald was going to be an idol, she disliked the idea of sharing her beloved Gerald to a huge audience of people, so she became an idol to stand alongside him and to make herself worth of him by charming him as as an idol and gaining a large following herself. Despite this, Katarina didn’t strive too hard to be a talented idol, as she was too confident on herself due to the pampering of her parents.

Even if the player doesn’t desire to romance any of the four boys, given how the game is written and how it is programmed, the boy with the highest relationship points with Maria will confess to her by the end of the game. It would be impossible to not interact and gain points with the boys, as you gain relationship points in most areas of the games (when you “practice” your characters, when you “play” their songs, when you “give” them new clothes, when you “converse” with them in story mode, etc.). In the event that there are two characters with the exact same amount of points, the game will choose a boy for you.

Sorcier Pro.’s current president is Geoffrey Stuart (for reasons that will make sense someday) 

Katarina-Gerald and Mary-Alan aren’t engaged in this au, but are constantly in each other’s presence due to most powerful bussinessmen and celebrities being good friends with each other. 

Each girl has a specialty in a certain area: Katarina with dancing, Sophia with singing, Mary with acting/drama, and Maria (according to the official description of her in the box) with fashion coordination. Maria can be seen as more of a jack of all trades though, as she does represent the player. 

While any of the boys can trigger the condemnation event that will lead to Katarina’s social suicide, the event is specifically associated with Keith and Gerald due to the severity of her presence and bullying if you have high relationship points with the two. With Alan and Nicole, Katarina’s event only happens for a few lines, but for Keith and Gerald, it takes place in complete detail, with it’s own animated cutscene. 

Gerald’s route is also the most popular among the fans, with community surveys reporting that 53% of the game’s player base had Gerald as their final chosen love interest ( 25% with Keith, 12% with Nicol and 10% with Alan)

Monkey Girl/Past-Life Katarina

Since Maria’s name can’t be change in the game, but you can give her a “nickname” that represents the username of the player, Past-life Katarina’s name in the game is “SaruP” (or “Monkey producer” lol)

Saruchan (Monkey Girl) dies before she could finish her playthrough of the game, and all of her knowledge is based on her idol-expert best friend Acchan. She’s a bit tomboyish, and she loves to climb trees and move freely without a hint of poise or shyness, and is friendly to all genders. Her love for climbing, running, gardening with her grandma, and never ending amounts of energy gave her a pretty strong, flexible, agile and energetic body.

In Saruchan’s world, idols do exist, but aren’t portrayed in the cutesy and exaggerated manner that fiction does. Though it’s no surprise to know that in her world, almost every girl had dreamed to become an idol at one point, even herself. Acchan doesn’t find the idea interesting though, as she only lives for the idealized version of idols that exist in fiction. Acchan explains that girls their age are being brainwashed by the idealized version of idols that are presented in the media that they consume, and that they should wake up and learn to enjoy the fictional idols as they are. Despite Acchan’s realistic disapproval of idol fantasies, she does love playing idol rhythm games and gacha games, and spends her allowance on getting DLC costumes for Maria in FL. Acchan even pre-ordered tickets for herself and Saruchan for an idol concert featuring the VA of the characters, that they were supposed to attend to on the day that Saruchan dies. 

She dies the game way: on her way to school and being killed by a truck that runs her over. 

The last thing Saruchan sees before she loses consciousness forever is the wallpaper of the game’s boxart from her phone screen as it flies out of her hands. 

My Next Life as an ‘Idol’?? All Routes Lead to Doom!!!

As usual, Katarina ends up remembering her future as an 8 year old kid, and plans to prepare for her future “banishment” and humiliation. She learns to farm in order to provide for herself once she gets shunned and retreats to the countryside, and (unknowingly) meets all the characters in the game and gains their good favor before the events of the game begins. 

Her head bump still happens with Gerald, but their encounter happened in a party rather than an engagement meeting, with her tripping over a rock as she decides to run to the young man in order to introduce herself. Such introductions never got past beyond their names and few exchanges of dialogue, as the bump occurred and Katarina was immediately brought to the hospital after he called for help. 

Being a girl who wanted to be an idol at one point, Katarina wanted to use this chance to fulfill her dream of becoming one! But knowing the fate that will await her, (public humiliation, isolation, and banishment to some degree) she tries to figure out ways to avoid ruining her future.

While not as bad as death, Katarina is aware that the ending of the game implies that the blemished opinion that everyone will gain of her will lead to her leading a miserable life; one that will prevent her from gaining new allies and even studying in peace without being made fun of or called out for. It might even ruin her marriage prospects, for all she knows (it doesn’t but she’s too stupid to know that). The stakes of the bad ending aren’t life threatening, but it is personal, as Katarina always dreamed of becoming an idol as a teen and doesn’t like the idea of being able to enjoy it for a few months only to be dragged down to hell right afterwards.

The Claes is a wealthy family known for her father’s knowledge and skills when it comes to trades and business, and for her mother’s beautiful opera singing voice and celebrity presence. As usual, Katarina’s father adopts Keith for the purpose of gaining a direct heir for the business, in fear that Katarina’s future significant other might just to interested in her to gain it. 

Katarina’s plan is to learn how to farm in order to be able to support herself after her banishment, give Keith lots of love so he doesn’t end up becoming a playboy like in the game, and to train herself in dancing and singing in order to not embarrass herself like the original Katarina did. After meeting Gerald again and realizes his weakness, she eventually prepares (or buys, since the setting is modern) toy snakes that she can use to surprise him whenever the condemnation event occurs, using his shocked and panicked reaction as a way to distract the media from the claims that will surely fall upon her (since no one would have expected the calm and collected Gerald Stuart to scream like a girl at the sight of a toy snake, right? That would stay in the headlines for weeks! maybe).

As a kid, she has private singing tutors, and takes more general singing classes when she gets older. She doesn’t have dance training as a kid, but she does like to exercise and move her body around, so it slowly turned into the stamina-filled flexible body that she is used to. 

Katarina and Keith - Their meeting and impressions are mostly the same, which the difference being that Katarina used a display axe above a fireplace to break down the door, and Keith got her injured by accidentally pushing her off a pretty high cliff in the Claes grounds while they were both running and playing chase (rather than being isolated for dangerous Earth Magic, Keith as a child was a clutz who attracted danger to everyone around him, making his older brothers make fun of him for being “cursed”).

Katarina showers him with love, making him affectionate towards his step sister, in the same as he was in the original material.

When Keith finds out about Katarina’s desire to train to become an idol, he is very supportive of her, and decides to train with her in order to be able to stand by his sister on stage (as well as to generally gain the same interests as her in order to guarantee that they will stay close as they age). The contrast being that instead of becoming an idol to gain the adoration of millions of nameless faces, he now wants to become an idol to gain the love and attention of a single person, which is Katarina uwu. 

Katarina and Gerald - Gerald eventually attempts to visit Katarina to apologize for the incident, expecting her to blame him for what happened, given the personality she showed him. He was shocked to find a scar on her forehead, farming while wearing a farmer’s attire despite coming from a wealthy and esteemed family, singing and dancing to a song as she waters her vegetables. He watches for only a minute, unable to look away from the girl who danced like deflating balloon and sang off key while almost drowning her small vegetable in water. She looked weird, but she was having the time of her life, and he could see and hear it from where he stood.

 In a daze, thinking he might have entered the wrong house by accident or walked on the daughter of a maid doing chores. He walks out and leave the Claes estate without a word, and visits again after only a few days, as he couldn’t get his mind off of the oddity that he had witnessed. 

He eventually realizes that it was Katarina on his second visit, as he finds the scar of the odd farmer girl on the same girl who boasted about her family’s wealth in the party. After giving formal introductions, Gerald offers to walk around the garden to get to know each other better, in order to continue the conversation that she had originally forced on him back in the party (it was done to be polite and respectful, rather than any interest to continue). In the garden, they pass by the area that Katarina had planned to turn into her farm, and Gerald was in awe at how unorganized and messy everything looked (there was dirt everywhere, the tools were left on the floor because she had to prepare to meet him, there was more bags of manure than what was even needed etc! Katarina internally cursed at her 8 year old delicate rich girl body for not having the same arm strength as her 17 year old self). It was then that it sunk in that the adorable singing and dancing farming girl that he accidentally saw really was Katarina Claes. She wasn’t the very definition of abnormal, but she was nothing like the daughters of his father’s friends that cried when not attended to or complained when not given the best dresses and shoes. There was no shred of worry about her family’s expectations in her eyes, nor expectations of him to act like his perfect and matured self whenever they met in parties, movie premiers or social events, which made him yearn for her company. 

After finding out about Katarina’s desire to become an idol one day, Gerald secretly planned to do the same (and even have her recruited in his brother’s agency) in order to become closer to her through her love of entertainment and to have a chance to be constantly in her presence. When he found out about the charms that male idols have on their female fans, he also plans on using this as an opportunity to gain both her attention and romantic affection, by perfecting his (already maxed out) charms as male idol. 

Katarina and Mary - The two met during a part hosted by Mary’s mother in the Hunt Estate, inviting all of her mother’s old opera acquaintances, sponsors and co-workers for a formal reunion. Katarina and Keith accompanied their parents to the party, leading them to be introduced to the Hunt Family’s daughters. As usual, Katarina had the urge to “release the chocolate shark” during the party and takes an elegant leave. She eventually gets lost in the estate and finds herself in the garden. Katarina was in awe of the garden’s beauty, and stood still as she watched what seemed like beautiful siren sing by herself near a majestic fountain, with a single rose in hand. 

Mary was surprised to hear an aggressive applause after singing to herself. Katarina aggressively complimented Mary for her adorable yet elegant voice, and asked who she was seeing as a singing trainer. When Mary replied that she was not having any singing or vocal training, Katarina rains even more compliments down, claiming that “her voice was that of an angel!”. Mary denied it, so Katarina proceeded to sing the same song that she had sang, as a point of comparison to make her feel more confident in herself. Mary shyly and unexpectedly joins her, and they ended up having a small and quiet duet in the garden. Katarina’s voice sounded a bit rough and squeak-ish, but alongside Mary’s elegant and controlled singing, they didn’t sound bad at all. 

When Katarina finds out that Mary is also the one who tends to the flower garden, she proceeds to shower Mary with even more compliments, and asks her to visit and help with her own farm garden. Being complimented for having a beautiful voice and a green thumb made her feel validated and appreciated, so she often visits the Claes household in order to be in constant presence of her first and dearest friend. The rest is the same.

When Mary found out about Katarina’s dream of becoming an idol, she started taking intense vocal training as well as various exercises in order to be able to join her in her endeavor. She slowly built a more brazen and tough personality in order to be able to join and protect her friend from the rumored cold and intense reality of the idol world, as well as due to the antics of her friends. 

Katarina and Alan - From Mary, she eventually finds out that the event where Mary duets and falls in love with Alan occurred. Katarina realizes that duet must not have been that effective because she has done the same with Mary, but is confident that Mary is in love with him because Alan is a very talented and handsome individual. A few days later, the fourth Stuart son bursts into the doors of the Claes household, and demands to meet with Katarina. She learns that Alan had developed a small crush on Mary, and that he wants to challenge Katarina for her hand. Same shenanigans ensues, leading up to the piano duel where his talents in the piano was in full display to everyone in the manor. 

Katarina knew how to play the piano (just the basics though), so she was in awe listening to someone who almost sounded like a pro! Alan runs off after Gerald compliments him, Katarina chases after him, and they got to talk behind a bush. Alan wouldn’t take her compliments, but Katarina aggressively insisted that his talents are nothing to scoff at. 

When Alan says that he’s sure that his brother can play just as good, if not better than him, Katarina speculates that it wasn’t the case, because everyone had things that they are good and bad at. Not everyone is the same, no one learns at the same pace, and that she’s sure even if Gerald can play the piano better than him (and she doubts he can in the first place), no one can play the piano like Alan can. The scores in his heart are his alone, and that nothing is more beautiful than the melody that the heart enacts. Katarina knew that the score he played wasn’t an existing one, and knowing Alan’s character from the game, it’s probably either an impromptu score or one he had composed by himself. Her guess was correct, leading Alan to be caught off guard by her compliment, almost feeling emotional as no one had ever guessed and believed that the music he played was his own, until Katarina did. 

She shows off the power of the toy snake to Alan, making him laugh and see his brother in a different light. He still constantly visited Katarina for their duels, but as time progressed, he lost the affection for Mary (as he saw her as a little sister now after interacting with her in the Claes Household) that made him want to challenge Katarina. They still followed up on those challenges, for fun rather than for sport. 

When he finds out about Katarina’s dream to become an idol, he is determined to join her in order to be able to compose songs and melodies that she can sing, intending to bring out the absolute best of his muse’s voice with his own music. Someone his age might not be fit to compose songs for an idol, so he intends to become one as well in order to gain a reputation as a competent composer. 

Katarina and Sophia - The two meets at an afternoon party hosted by the Stuarts, as a celebration for the birthday of the twins. Katarina had to “powder her noes” after a few trips to the buffet table, and leaves Keith and Mary. She’s chased down by a dog, climbs up a tree, and accidentally watches a group of kids and older bully a small girl who sounded like she was about to cry. The same events occur, up to their second encounter in the party. Katarina accidentally quotes a line from a novel that she was reading, and after realizing that Sophia understood her reference, she asked for them to meet again in order to discuss their similar interests. 

Everything is pretty much the same, the difference being that somehow idols were brought as a topic of conversation, with Sophia revealing that she is actually a huge fan of idols. Katarina, feeling reminiscent of her idol-expert best friend Acchan, tells her that she actually wants to be an idol herself and insists that Sophia tell her about everything she loves about idols. Sophia, who is surprised to also find another idol fan who is as young as her, becomes even more excited and tells her all about her love for idols: how they are able to wear such adorable outfits onstage, how they sing songs that carry so much meaning, how they carry their fan’s dreams with them when they dance and sing, how amazing it is to be able to juggle so many occupations at once, and much more. 

With both love of novels and idols, Sophia constantly finds herself in the Claes Household in order to talk to Katarina about books, idols, song recommendations etc. 

When Sophia was first told that Katarina wanted to be an idol, she was very supportive of her and announced herself as Katarina’s number one fan. As time passed, she realized she wasn’t just satisfied with just watching Katarina from afar, she wanted to sing and dance alongside her! She wants to use her knowledge of romance novels and idols to help make herself and Katarina the best idols to ever exist! She wants to sing on stage about her feelings: about how much she loves Katarina, idols and their beloved novels!

Katarina and Nicol - When he found out that someone had invited his little sister to a small book club, he was very wary, thinking that she was one of the many other girls who tried to use Sophia in order to become closer with him. He was shocked to realize that that was not the case, and that Katarina had barely seen him at all, and had opened his timid little sister’s heart. When Sophia asked Katarina if she found her appearance creepy, Nicol proceeds to explain further, expecting to see a hint of guilt or displeasure from Katarina Claes, only for both of them to be met with unyielding determination to have Sophia as a close friend. Sophia went home that day in tears, thankful to have found a friend who truly wanted to stick by her side. 

The Claes siblings often visits their home so the girls can have their book club, even bringing Mary Hunt with them occasionally. Katarina, while looking a bit flustered, is capable of having a conversation with him without averting her eyes, which was a breath of fresh air to the countless camera crew, staff, visitors and even strangers who couldn’t look him in the eyes because how of how much of a beautiful child model he was. It all leads up to the moment where Katarina compliments him with how blessed he is to have such a beautiful and wonderful family, which contrasted against the ignorant adults who pitied him for having parents who refused to abuse the potential of his beautiful face and for not being as beautiful as their son, as well as for having a freakish looking sister. 

Nicol, just like his sister, desired to constantly be in Katarina’s positive presence, and visited her often, leading them to be acquainted and friends with the entire group that Katarina enraptured. 

When he found about his sister’s and Katarina’s desire to become idols, Nicol thought of doing the same, in order to be able to continue to watch over and protect both Sophia and Katarina, as well to be able to continue being close with Katarina (as their lack of similar interests and age gap might lead her away from him, but tbh that is never gonna be a problem with Katarina). He also plans to use his influence as a child model to propel Sophia and Katarina’s careers, as a way of supporting his two favorite girls. 

Notes

I’m not sure how I feel about Gerald’s backstory, I might rewrite that if anyone kindly wants to critique it.

Instead of Mary’s green thumb, it’s her voice that leads her to Katarina and Alan, but I still think Sophia would still have a better singing voice than her, so both her voice and green thumbs both play a part in her character. Mary’s high pitched voice gets a bit deeper as she ages, while Sophia’s voice stays very high.

I really like the idea that rather than the original ambitions and goals that leads the harem to become idols in Fortune Lover, now it’s the effect of Katarina’s constant insistence and declarations of becoming an idol that leads to everyone doing the same. In this timeline, the harem probably wouldn’t have thought of (or planned early) becoming an idol if Katarina never brought it up. 

I’m writing this at midnight again, lol, but yeah I’m not planning on writing a fanfiction for this, I guess, but I do want to have an established plot so rather than chapters, I’m just writing a full overview for fun haha

When I mentioned that Sophia loved idols, I didn’t realize that I might have accidentally implied that she was just as an idol fan as Acchan was, but with actual idols this time, so I went with :DD

I’ll touch up on Idol Katarina, Anne, Maria, Sirius/Raphael and Fortune Lover 2 in the next one.

I’m really happy that there are people who actually read my previous post and said that they liked it! Feedback and suggestions are appreciated! I still need a final name for the units so help me pls hahaha.

I’ll rewrite this post when I feel like adding/changing stuff.

[ambidextrousarcher]

Hi 😁, 10,16,17 and 24 for the unique writer asks

Hey, @starsailororastronaut!

10. What scene was the most fun to write for you and why?

Oh, this is easy! In Antraatman my first person Arjun PoV novel, the scenes which were the most fun to write for me are two. One is a canon scene, the other is a non canon scene. 

Note that each ‘I’ is Arjun, the narrator.

The non-canon scene occurs first.

Here it is: 

Can one person have two best friends? Mine are my parents, my Mata and Pitashree. But they are my parents, can they also be my friends? I file that question away, waiting to be asked, and instead think of my lesson, drawing the string past my ear as smoothly as I can. The arrow speeds unerringly toward the target, striking it dead center. I felt a hand ruffle my head and look up. It’s Pitashree! I grin, my hands automatically going around his waist. He’s seen my archery and likes it. “Good work, Arjun! My little boy is on his way to become a formidable warrior, hmm?” I nod as hard as I can. “Not so hard, little Krishna. Your head is like to fall off.” Pitashree says, a smile in his voice. And then I’m flying, the wind whooshing beneath me. I had missed seeing Pitashree’s quick hands as they throw me in the air, but I know he’d catch me. And he does. “Off to bed, Krishna,” says he. “I’ll teach you tomorrow’s archery lesson.” Oh, he is really pleased, then. Pitashree’s archery lessons are a special treat, just for me. How my brothers would be jealous! I was Pitashree’s favorite, and I reveled in it.

This is one of the first scenes of the book, a tie in to when Arjun calls Bhishma father later on. Note that Arjun’s father is canonically said to call him Krishna.

The canon scene is the Rangabhoomi scene. This is a longer scene. 

Here it is:

I expect the herald calling my name. Instead, I hear Gurudev’s voice. “Now you will see the skills of Arjun, dearer to me than my own son.” I hold my breath. “Parth is the son of Indra, and a master of every weapon, like Lord Vishnu’s younger brother himself!” Dearer to me than my own son. I am still in a state of absolute shock, when I actually hear my name called by the herald. “Rajkumar Arjun!” I step into the fray. The sand of the rangbhoomi is churned, clear evidence of a brutal fight. Surya Narayan’s bright rays fall on my head as I step out of the shadows. The cheers are deafening. I cannot make out what is being said, save for my name. There is a thrill in my blood, a thrill raw and radiant, as I pay my elders the customary respect, fingers itching to take the bow in hand. I shoot arrow after arrow with practiced ease. After the ritual shooting of the target, I move on to the easier divyastrs. The Agneyastr, Varunastr, Vayavayastr, the Parjannyastr, the Bhaumastr, the Parvayastr, and finally, the dispeller of the earlier illusions, the Antardhan. Slowly walking around the arena, I shoot arrows into every target in front of me. The cries of the people grow ever louder. This time, I understand them. “The Queen Kunti’s son, so graceful!” “The third Pandav, the middle one, such a great warrior!” I grin. Of course, there are empty words that follow, words of hollow praise, but I pay them no mind. I am my mother’s son, and my father’s. This is my first step towards being the warrior I was born to be. I smoothly shift stance, picking the sword, gently setting the longbow aside. I perform the stances by memory, followed by the intricacies of gaddha-yuddh. This would be better if one of my brothers were with me. There is a soothing hush around me as I bow to the crowd slightly, thankful for their acknowledgment. This day is perfect. Crash! All heads turn to the gates, where there is tall man standing in sunlight. Everyone stares at him, and he takes his time making an entrance. It is Vasusen. Well, it does not matter. After all, I can defeat him easily, as I have done scores of times in the Gurukul. He sketches a bow to Gurudev and Guru Kripacharya and turns to me. “Parth, I will better every feat of yours in front of this crowd, and you shall be as astonished as they.” I say nothing. I try arranging my face into inscrutability, but I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks. He nods at Gurudev, who looks at me with confidence, nodding back. I meet Gurudev’s eyes. He is of no consequence. Yet, there is a childish voice inside my head railing against the injustice of what happened, even as Vasusen copies me to near perfection. Why did he have to ruin even this perfect day? The crowd, fickle as ever, begins to cheer that hanger-on. I feel my triumph drain out of my hands. I take a step forward, but Bhraata Yudhisthir’s hand on my shoulder stops me. He shakes his head and I subside. Bhraata Duryodhan hugs his minion like some long-lost friend, applauding him loud and long. I try to tune the noise out. I snap back to attention when I hear the words “…challenge Arjun to a duel.”   “Victory is yours, old friend.” Bhraata Duryodhan, watch me prove your words wrong. I draw myself to my full height, managing to look down at the older man. I will not let you humiliate me, Vasusen. “Vasusen, yours will be the fate of unwelcome intruder and the uninvited speaker. Your death will be at my hands.” My voice takes myself by surprise. I am not used to feeling such rage, such hatred. I do not pay attention to what he says in reply; instead, I turn to my brothers. They file towards me. “Be careful, Arjun,” says Jyeshth Bhraata, low-voiced and worried. “You do not need to worry, Bhraatashree,” says Bhraata Bheem. “Arjun will prevail.” I smile at him, nodding at Jyeshth Bhraata. Head held high, I stride to the fore, pausing to pay my respects to Gurudev. Vasusen stands across me. Before either of us do anything, rainclouds gather around the horizon. Thunder rumbles, accompanied by flashes of lightning and the Indradhanush is above my head, defiantly sparkling. Surya Narayan makes a feeble effort to break through the barrier, but He is foiled by the Lord of Rain. I breath in the sharp scent of fresh rain, already present before the first drop has touched Prithvi. The twang of my bow feels almost like thunder itself, as I face off against my childhood irritant.

16. What motives do you give your original characters? What drives them? How much tragedy did you subject them to?

I haven’t used OC’s in Antraatman yet, but I plan to in the future, and motives they might have are their duties and oaths and their own vision of honour, their struggle to honour their friendship, etc. The OC’s I plan to bring in would be close to the protagonist, either as support or opposition. Based on that, what drives them will be decided. The world of the Mahabharata is one where everyone faces a lot of tragedy, so I’d say that they have a fair amount of tragedy coming up for them.

17. Are your protagonists always the “good guys” and your antagonists always the “bad guys” or do you like to do anti-heroes and grey morality?

Well, I believe that morality is subjective. No one is fully ‘good’ or ‘bad’. That said, I think I write my protagonist as someone who tries to be good, in spite of him having to choose between a rock and a hard place sometimes.

24. Do you let your story evolve as you write or do you meticulously plan everything prior to writing the first draft?

I generally have a good idea of the prologue before I start writing. A fair idea of the overall story, but the details are usually hammered out as I write. Inspiration strikes at random times, when I’m bathing, in bed, in the washroom, anywhere.

Thanks for this sweet ask!

[ruffiorocks]

Lena deserves better than being the only one to suffer for her faults

You know, I hope they don't make Lena go bad, even if she temporarily loses her way.

It would be such a waste of 3 seasons of character development and soooo cliche.

Plus I know Kara is the main character and the main hero, but this show has actually done a pretty good job of showing us that Kara is in no way perfect, she makes rash decisions, f**ks up, lies, has a lot of emotional issues, has been xenophobic (Mon El) makes poor choices sometimes, can be manipulative (using James against Lena), uses Lena quite a lot, has serious Jekell and Hyde issues, scoffs at authority even if those in authority are arseholes etc. She's even killed people/aliens, she killed Rudy/Parasite and she killed Reign, even if she did go back in time and reverse that.

Lena is in no way perfect either, but then she was never supposed to be a squeaky clean hero like we're supposed to see Kara as, although as I've mentioned she isn't squeaky clean at all! Lena has done dodgy stuff but because of her last name and the fact the show likes to 'tease' her going bad, she is the ONLY one that anyone is concerned about when it comes to being questionable, because that's how the show presents it. Even in the teasers or promos about her, they leave whatever she's doing as a question mark.

But Kara on the show, and even in promos is presented as the hero in the right no matter what. The only way we really get to see Kara as having done something wrong is if Lena or Kara herself points it out. People say this is the show Constantly making Kara apologize to Lena but I think it's great! Having Kara apologize for some of the nonsense she pulls, especially to Lena humanizes her and acknowledges that she isn't as perfect as she's usually presented to be.

The show does a horrible job of ignoring how dodgy the other Superfriends can be, because they are the 'heroes' and Lena is forever the question mark, even though without her they can't always save the day. They get round this by sometimes making Lena indirectly responsible for what goes on. But Lena isn't always the ONLY one involved in the issues that happen.

E.g. Rhea and the Daxamite invasion:

When Rhea first arrived with Mon Els dad and the Daxamite fleet, she had no interest whatsoever in Earth. ALL she wanted was for Mon El to go back with them. She threatened Earth because she thought they were holding Mon El hostage.

Mon El who had talked a big game about not being OK with slavery or anything else Daxam did and wanted to be a hero, took less than an hour to decide he had no interest in taking the colossal opportunity handed to him where he could make a difference. He thought his culture was dead, no way to make up for his past faults. But lo and behold he got a second chance to write Daxams wrongs. Yes his mum threatened to lock him in a cell until the reached Daxam but is 3 years in a cell really that big of a price to pay for the ability to make changes? He would have been king, he probably couldn't change things Immediately, but he could have built a support base, staged a coup, led a rebellion or at least tried!! But nope, he decided to leave the remaining Daxam Slaves and any future ones to their fates so he could have his girl. Don't forget as well that Mon El left it until he was beamed aboard his parents ship to let Kara know who he was. He let Kara think he was possibly going to his death when he knew it was just mum and dad and he was way past currew! Kara in tears because that jack ass was crying to thought he might die and risked her own neck to join him on the Daxamite ship.

Kara in this situation wasn't any better. She talked a big game about how sh*t Daxam was and how wrong slavery was. She even went to Slavers Bay with Mon El and rescued people. But when the time came for Mon El to possibly fix or at least begin to fix Daxams slave issues she had zero interest in it, she had a go at Rhea for it but made no attempt to convince Mon El that maybe going back and helping his people was a good idea, no Kara's concern for Daxamite slaves only goes as far as her not getting her man. The stupid thing was if it had been the other way round it would have been in character for Kara to take that 3 years in a cell and do the noble thing.

So yeah, Rhea only invaded because Mon El told her to get lost and she blamed Kara for it. Lena had absolutely nothing to do with that, Rhea had already made the decision to make Earth New Daxam because of Kara and Mon El, way before she ever set eyes on Lena.

But non of that is ever acknowledged, but Lena's part in helping an alien try to get home and in the process perhaps help third world countries get the aid they needed in mere minutes was heavily highlighted. We got to see Lena hating herself for that, while Kara/Supergirl mopped about like an emo ignoring Lena and not really acknowledging the part she played in the invasion. Because we're left to see it as purely Lena's fault.

We are shown Jonn as the fatherly papa bear who struggles with violence. We saw him try the path of peace and fail at it, his father shows up and tells him that's OK and we're all like "ahhh papa bear".

BUT

Whats glossed over is Jonn's serious anger issues and homicidal tendencies. He wanted to kill the White Martian that was impersonating the Senator, he had already knocked it out and subdued it. But that wasn't enough for Jonn, he wanted it dead because it was a white Martian, he was going to kill the unarmed, unconscious alien and even brought along Kryptonite cuffs so Kara wouldn't be able to stop him from slaughtering it. Thankfully Kara gave a hope speech and he snapped out of it.

Secondly Jonn actually DOES kill Manchester Black after he disarms him. Manchester who can no longer do any harm to him is brutally stabbed it the chest, all because he made Jonn see something traumatic. If Jonn can't handle the possibly of psychic attacks he shouldn't be out there fighting. He killed a human that couldn't harm him after he was disarmed. But is this highlighted or discussed in any way whatsover? No! Manchester is just gone and Jonn gets to be all 'well that's done and dusted, off to game night".

Kara's roll in this? Kara is shocked for all or 5 seconds before she is telling Jonn every one makes mistakes amd he can still be on his path of peace.....I mean....... What?! Who wrote that dialogue? But Kara's own super hero code shouldn't she have reported Jonn or had him arrested? No of course not because Jonn is one of the designated heroes and not deemed questionable by writer's or the audience even though his actions say something different.

People that call Lena a murderer for shooting an unarmed Lex don't seem to recall Kara killing Parasite rather than locking him up and getting the DEO to try and find a cure. They don't recall Jonn INTENDING to kill the White Martian. They don't remember Jonn MURDERING an unarmed Manchester Black in same F**king season as Lena shooting Lex! Why is this not acknowledged? Because the show chooses not to highlight it! They don't even have Kara bothered by Murder or Killing enemies if it's her or the super friends doing it.

But Lena? Ooh she shot an unarmed Lex, must be dodgy as f**k and deserves to be locked up, what an evil murderer!! Oh no, Lena shot the Arrowverses version of Hitler who was about to destroy an entire planet of Kryptonians who are only still here because of Lena!! How awful she must be.

Let's not forget as well that a lot of what Lena has done has been supported by the Superfriends at one point or another. I seem to recall a certain Alex Danvers and Brainy working on that Harun El serum!

Yes Adam was a terrible tragedy that shouldn't have happened. But is that worse than Jonn actually premeditating murder? Or out right Killing someone he had already disarmed? You talk about clinical trials etc but the show isnt going to waste precious air time going through that. Lena made a gigantic mistake, at least she owns the mistake and refused Haley when she wanted to use the Serum on DEO Agents.

Kara has zero issues telling Nia a girl she has known for 5 minutes her secret because she felt some solidarity and was missing Alex. She didn't know Nia at all, Nia could have been playing her or anything, but this isn't acknowledged because Nia is the new Hero (fyi love Nia). But Lenw, her best friend of 3 years and the girl who has been in the DEO kicking add and saving lives and the world apparently isn't Worthy of this secret. Why? Kara's bulls**t excuse is to keep Lena safe, yet she apparently gives zero f**ks about Winns of Nia's safety. The real reason is because Lena is q Luthor and the show just needed her to not know and although the keeping Lena safe reason isn't a bad one, it becomes null and void when they have Kara telling people she barely knowns who she is. That goes for the "Kara doesn't owe her identity to anyone" argument as well , that only works when she isn't telling everyone she meets after 5 minutes of knowing them.

Basically after that tangent I went in, if Lena becomes bad after saving the world and Kara's ass more times than many of the super friends have done purely so we can have Kara defeat her and come out as the shining heroine that defeats the bad Luthor (not cliche at all) whilst not acknowledging some of her own faults and the homicidal tendencies of Jonn and the actual murder he committed it would be beyond hypocritical.

Fyi, had Kara told Lena who she was, a lot of issues could have been avoided, especially the Rhea one and Reign/Kryptonite one.

[rottenbrew]

◈  Nyx Lovette ◈ Entry for @lunisims Mason’s Bachelorette Challenge. ( I hope you grow to love her as much as I did!  ♥)

❈────────────────────•✦•❅•✦•❈ ────────────────────❈

➽ She was born on February 24, 1843, making her 176 years of age. Also making her a Pisces!

➽  She is half Hispanic from her mother’s side, and half French from her father’s.

➽  If ever pushed past her boiling point, or if she ever gets super angry or upset, (which is super rare) Nyx tends to curse under her breath in French and unintentionally puffs her cheeks out because of her overwhelming frustration lol.

➽  Nyx is a nerd for astrology and science, however due to the duties and mannerisms that were begrudgingly expected of women during her time, she never got the chance to pursue her dream of studying the massive universe she admires outside of what her father taught her.

➽  Nyx’s father, Vincent Lovette, was a renowned scientist and inventor of the 19th century, and was also infatuated with Greek mythology, thus naming his daughter after the Greek Goddess of the Night, Nyx.

➽ Nyx’s “dark” form takes after the way she used to dress when she was still alive in the 1800′s. Elegant, yet bold due to her preference of predominantly dark colors.

➽  Due to her age, Nyx is relatively wise, however she never truly interacted or experienced worldly progressions starting from the late 1900′s - now. She remained in hiding, so now that she’s willingly returning to the “real” and open world, (because she gained enough power to develop an immunity to the sun) she always gets excited like a child when experiencing the small things that others would find irrelevant or common. (Phones, amusement parks, dishwashers, HD films, etc.)

➽ Despite the pain she endured in her past, Nyx is still a very kind and cheerful individual. She takes joy in the simplest of things and focuses on the good in everything despite how harsh the world and people may be sometimes.

➽  Nyx was on the brink of death after giving birth to her first and only child, Zocrates, and the doctor attending to her was actually Vladislaus Straud. Mercifully turning her just in time, Vlad took Nyx under his wing, but strictly demanded that she was to forget she even had a son, as she would be forced to resign from ever being in his life due to her new form, and to protect their secret.

➽ Remaining in despair due to never being able to interact with her son, Nyx has always had a strong yearning to have a family and kids to call her own once again. Having to long for such things from afar, Nyx would sometimes sneak away from Vlad’s careful eye to play with the children from her town in her bat form as she appeared less menacing and at the same time preserved her secret. The kids all decided to nickname her “Baby Bat” as her bat form is relatively petite and her eyes were big and round like a baby’s.

➽ I also like to imagine that maybe Nyx and Mason met in their bat forms, with Nyx being extremely surprised to run into another vampire as she’s never met another one before (at least in her experience in the outside world) besides Vlad, especially not under those circumstances either. She would probably fly and circle around him like an excited dog lol!

Private Download if Chosen!

Nyx’s Backstory under the cut.

Nyx, as mentioned before, was born to a French scientist and nobleman, and a Hispanic seamstress. Their names were Vincent and Ximena Lovette. For the majority of her childhood and adolescence, Nyx was raised with nothing but love and admiration from her parents. Her father prided himself in knowing that his daughter was being raised with a proper education and opportunities to keep learning due to his status and position as a scientist. Although her mother, who was a bit more traditional as she knew what the future had in store for her daughter despite her growing knowledge, somewhat disapproved of her husband’s teachings, supported and loved her to the fullest. In 1849 however, Ximena fell ill to tuberculosis, and passed away a few short months after. Nyx, 6 at the time, missed her mother deeply, but the loss hit Vincent the hardest. He was undoubtedly and madly in love with his wife, that her death devastated him so much so to the point that he refused to step out of his office for weeks on end. During this time, Nyx took it upon herself to take care of him, and despite her small stature and inability to do certain things, she’d always make sure that her father would eat in the morning, evening, and night. Leaving new fresh clothes on the edge of his bed everyday, and always making a hot pot of tea for him around noon. One fateful day though, when Vincent managed to drag himself up from the pit of depression for a brief moment, he wandered around the house, re-imagining all the times he’d see his loving wife go about her daily routine with a gentle smile on her face. On the dining room table though, was a piece of paper, with writing scribbled on it. A child’s writing. It read “ Things that might make daddy happy.” 1. The telescope! He always likes to look at the stars with it. 2. Leaving drawings on his desk! 3. Making him his favorite breakfast but I don’t really know how.. 4. Picking some flowers! I’m going to go do that now- The list ended there, but on the bottom was a raggedy, but adorable stick figure drawing of Nyx and her father, hand-in-hand, with an angel smiling from above. Her mother. Vincent, with tears flowing down his face, clenched the paper tightly, and from that moment on found the reason to keep fighting. To move on. And that was to make sure he could always provide for his daughter, his pride and joy, and make sure she would never have to worry about how to make her father happy. He had to be strong, for her.

Nyx, now reaching her adolescent years, was beginning to catch the eye of many suitors. By the time she was 17, she already had 5 men asking for her hand in marriage. Nyx was reluctant though, despising even the thought or proposition of marriage. She wanted to keep learning, to invent, to find out what secrets the unreachable heaven in the stars had to reveal. But her priority for education was short-lived, as she realized that in order to uphold her family’s status and honor..her father’s status and honor, she had to marry one of these men. Out of all of them though, the least gut-wrenching and well..insistent was a lad named Clarence. Like Nyx, Clarence showed solemn interest during their meeting, but was a collected person unlike her other abrasive suitors. He was also the youngest out of them all, being 23. After long hours of conversations, meetings, and dinners together, they both came to an agreement and understanding. They knew they weren’t in love with each other, and were both similar in the fact that they were doing it for their families, so they came to terms that although they were to be wed, their relationship was to mostly remain platonic and distant. Even though this upset Nyx, as she would need to succumb to all the stereotypical “housewife” duties, she felt relieved in knowing that this would at least bring her father a bit of joy, knowing that she would continue to be cared for and wouldn’t be left to struggle financially. She was happy..for now.

The wedding was set on the exact date of Nyx’s 18th birthday, and the ceremony was big, as every aunt, uncle, cousin, brother, sister, pretty much everyone and their mother attended. But Nyx felt nothing. She appreciated all the happy faces that came to watch her be given away, but she always dreamed that her wedding day would be less miserable. The day went by in a flash, and before she knew it, months had passed, and her “what was supposed to be a stoic relationship” with Clarence increasingly worsened. They did not have the same priorities or standards. Clarence always putting her down for her courage to speak up for herself, and refusing to let her continue her studies as she needed to “finally know her place as a woman.” That’s when he announced that soon she would need to bear him a child, to ensure that his legacy and fortune was to be guaranteed. Feeling disgraced and defeated, she knew there was no fighting this, as this was exactly what she knew she was getting herself into. Nyx got pregnant, giving birth to a beautiful baby boy a short nine months later. Holding onto him for the very first time, Nyx felt the strongest pang of genuine love as she held this tiny creature tightly, who was sleeping ever so peacefully. But she felt herself getting weaker and weaker..something was wrong.The nurses ran out in a panic to grab the head doctor, and she knew then and there that these passing moments were most likely going to be her last. Clarence walked into the room with a dangerously calm and unnerved expression, and with the very last strength she could muster, handed her baby over to his father. The moment she felt the weight off her arms, it felt like her entire body gave in and was ready to shut down. She sunk her head back into the pillow, and her vision began to blur. “His name.” She heard. “What do you want to name him? It’s the least I can do for you, since...” Clarence’s words trailed off, as his face finally began to give way to a sullen expression. Nyx thought for a moment, and the instant thought of her favorite philosopher popped into her fading mind. “..Socrates...” But it couldn’t be common like that, she thought. “With a Z...” She heard a soft chuckle from Clarence, and she smiled softly. “Alright then, Zocrates it is..I will make sure to give him a good life, do not worry about that.” Nyx relaxed at hearing that, as that’s all she wanted for him. She sighed, and closed her eyes. She heard the footsteps of Clarence exiting the room, but after a few minutes heard the approaching of a different set of footsteps. Too exhausted and weak to open her eyes, she felt a sharp pinching on her neck, and everything went black.

The rest is all self-explanatory, as she awoke as a blood-thirsty creature of the night. Devastated that she needed to sever all ties with her son and her father..All the things she’s ever cared for and loved. She appreciated Vlad and looked up to him, but watching the years go by without a hinge...watching her father grow old and pass on..and her son..At one point the pain was far too much for her to bear, and she wished that Vlad would have just let her pass away like those that she loved. To live forever was a gift, but at the same time it was the worst curse that can be bestowed upon someone. Due to this, she locked herself away for a number of years and hibernated, putting aside all her vampire training and morals. 

Bringing us to the present! Nyx is in better spirits, and is finally awake from her deep slumber. She began to put her training before everything else, and soon managed to become powerful enough to resist the sun’s deathly, yet beautiful rays. She’s never been more ready to put herself back out there, and to see all the wonderful new things the world has to offer. Nyx is ready to accept whatever experiences are coming her way with open arms.  ♡