#my morally corrupt pretty princess

[coinlockerrbaby]

Jarethposting because he needs to be shared with the world.

Two years ago I started Dragon Age; Origins,,, and my son Jareth was born.

He's an enigma, an elf mage destined to save the world... the hero nobody wanted or deserved, but the hero we got nonetheless. He lowkey just causes problems and kills people tbh, he makes everything worse but its okay cuz he still solo'ed the archdemon so it cancels out. Really his moral compass relies on whatever option is funniest (which is usually just murder)

Like, who cares if he let a child get possessed so he could learn a forbidden type of magic if he can now make blood puppets fr!!!

His main weapon is the Cold Stick (called wintersbreath in game ig Cold Stick better) which he whacks people with when hes out of mana, and his clothes he stole from Velanna so his man tits are out.

He also travels through the games so not only is he the Hero of Ferelden, he's the Champion of Kirkwall AND the Inquisitor (he will also solo Solas when dreadwolf comes out trust 🙏🙏)

He has a harem that includes zevran, fenris, merrill, morrigan, alistair, isabela, cassandra, dorian, bull, varric, bianca (crossbow and person), the arishok, tallis, jowin, arl eamon, isolds dress, slim couldry, anders, justice (and vengance), orsinos staff, meridith, corypheus, the architect, sten, cole, harding, josephine, the maker, bodhan, krem, and maevaris. (to be added onto post dreadwolf)

He's a bi king too of course

He always has an air of surprise to him, bro is always flabbergasted (images below). He hates the Circle because in all his years he always gets lost in those goddamn hallways </3

I love him he's my pookie here's the images of my guy

[rqnarok]

LATCH | pervy!old man!logan x fem!reader

summary: you come up at logan at night and he finally gives in to his desires. 

content warnings/tags: smut, mdni! little to no plot. old man!logan. unspecified age gap. soft dom!logan. sub!reader. pervy!logan. pet names (kid, kiddo, little girl, princess, etc). logan calls himself ‘old man’. fingering (f receiving). innocence kink. not proofread. wc: 1,5k

Logan Howlett is not a good man. 

“I’m not a good man, sweets.”

He has not been a good man in years. 

Still, when he scoops your sobbing figure in his arms on that day at the X-Mansion, he feels like a good man. 

“C’mon. Let’s go, kid. I’ll take care of you.”

Ever since then, you look up to him as if he is some kind of savior. A hero. A good man. 

And he starts to believe that. 

At first, it started oh, very casual—innocently. By working himself to death for the sake of your comfort. Earning money so that he could see that smile on your pretty face when he gives you gifts: new dresses, books, food—anything you want, really. He’d give it to you.

You walk up to him one Friday, showing your brand new sundress that you bought using his money, “Logan! It fits me so well, don’t cha think?”

The sight of you twirling around and giggling in front of him is enough to be his bad-day-cure, “Spin one more time, princess. Don’t have my glasses on.” 

He lies. He just wants to catch a glimpse of your cottoned panties in the process. 

Logan perceives himself as a sick fuck when he starts seeing you in that way. But hey, he did say that he is not a good man, right?  

He tried to control it, he really tried. Composing himself and creating some moral values in his head in an attempt to be in charge of his corrupted desires. 

But Logan forgot one simple thing: he can control himself all he wants, but he could never control you. 

You may be content but you are far from stupid.

It takes you months to perfect this mastermind plan—or so you call it. This mischief came into you when you decided that you had enough of Logan and his games. You know he yearns for you and you feel the same way, too. 

He peeks over you so… hungrily and thinks you wouldn’t notice? 

When you confront him about it one morning, he nonchalantly brushes it off by letting out a dry chuckle and mutters something around, “What ya’ talking ‘bout, kiddo? Go ‘head finish your breakfast.”  

But you know! You always catch his yearning gazes and… hear him over the shower one time. Moaning and grunting your name when he thought you were out buying the weekly groceries. It upsets you that he does not give in. 

So then, you concluded that you will determine to bring his temptation up to the surface and break his poor self-control through this little contemplation of yours. 

It takes a while to gain your courage and when you finally creep up into Logan’s room, the clock on the wall ticks at half past two in the morning. 2:30 AM. 

Logan said he’d take care of you, right? Said he’d do anything for you, right? Well, you need him now, “Logan? Logan? It hurts.” You whisper into the chilly air as you shake him up from his deep slumber.

And y’know, he’s a tired old man—so it takes him a while to wake up. He grabs his glasses from the nightstand beside him and slides them right on. When Logan sees you standing sleepily before him in your nightie gown, Good Lord. 

“Hey, hey—what’s goin’ on, princess?” You’re all teared up and your lips are bitten red. You look heavenly in the shaft of moonlight that slips through the window and into Logan’s bedroom. 

Your actions speak for themselves as you make your way onto his lap and nuzzle into his greying beard. “Tell your old man what’s got you so upset. C’mon.” He wants to take a good look at your face but you are so latched to him—snuffling into his broad shoulder all gloomy and wretched. 

“Hurts so bad.” You repeat yourself as your arms make their way around his neck. “Hurts, Logan.” 

“Hm? What hurts?” 

Pure silence as your little fingers wrap around Logan’s wrist and place it on your knee. Then, you’re guiding him up up up and he knows where this is going but he could not stop it. 

Fuck. He curses himself. Should’a know you’d pull some shit like this.

Finally, you stop his large calloused hand on top of your pussy. It’s heating up. Logan can feel the warmth of your cunt through your thin white cotton panties—his middle finger twitches with the urge to palm you. But no. That’s not what a good man should do. He tries to remember all the moral values he has created in his head while he sighs deeply and closes his eyes. 

“Kiddo-”

“Want to cum, please, Logan.” You take his face in your hands in the way that you always do and his hand is still on top of your clothed mound. “Please…! You said you’d help me, take care of me. I’ll be good, promise. Please.” His eyes open and he looks at your big eyes then your lips then your eyes again. That’s when you know you had him. “Hurts.” 

With half-lidded eyes, you watch Logan lose his composure, “Yeah? You’d be good f’me?” His head goes forward as he pampers your face with gentle kisses and you gulp because you don’t know what to do now. 

“Why don’t you lay down and let me take a look?” 

His scent combination of beer, whiskey, and cigars lingers around you as you rest your aching body on his bed. Looking up at him all mesmerized and lust-filled. 

Logan tries to soften his features for you. He thinks the heave of your chest moving up and down, up and down is one of the most beautiful things he has ever seen. He said he’d take care of you and that’s all he’s doin’ now. Taking care of his pretty baby. 

“C’mon. Open up to your old man.” He says, patting the sides of your thighs to part. And you did what you’re told, revealing the wet spot of your panties, and Logan curses. Mutters something under his breath. 

“You’ve been touching yourself here, Little Missy? That’s what got you dripping?” You throw your head back and huff a breathy ‘ah’ at the feel of his big fingers rubbing circles along the slick. Logan wants you to sing for him, “Use your big girl words, c’mon.” 

“Y-yes! Been touching myself…” Your red cheeks heat up at your own answer, suddenly feel so little. Logan hums deeply at your reply, hooking his fingers at one side of your panties and pulling them aside. Oh, he can tell. “Mhm.”

You were in a moment of bliss until he stopped his movement and brought your panties back to its original place, “Show me.” 

“L-Logan…” you respond by shaking your head erratically. Nononono— this isn’t a part of your plan. This becomes humiliating. No way. 

“What d’ya mean no, princess?” Logan grins—he knows you’re playing something and he is not going to lose so easily. “You want me to take care of you, yeah? Gotta show your old man what you were doin’ so he knows what he can do.” 

Well, he is not wrong. You let a huff defeatedly and roll yourself onto your front, shoving one of Logan’s pillows between your plushy thighs. And Logan is bewitched and hypnotized and fuck, so hard. His cock sticks up in his boxers briefs it hurts. 

Through his lens, he attentively watches every move you make: how your nightie gown hikes up to your chest and reveals a glimpse of your breasts, how you roll your hips in circles, how you throw your head back up facing the ceiling. The noises you make—sounds he not-so-accidentally heard when he passes your room at night when he comes home from work. This is what you've been doing? 

“Aight’. I know the problem is, sweets.” You slow down your movements as you gaze at him all doe-eyed. He places his palm on your back to still you. Your head lulls back and forth as you wait for his guidance. 

“You need something inside. Have you had something inside, baby?” He turns you to him oh, so delicately as if you are something fragile. 

You shake your head slightly at his question, suddenly embarrassed. Logan is so hard at this. He can't hold back anymore. “I see. ‘S alright, little girl. Lean on top of me. I’ll show you how it’s done. Y’ just need to trust your old man, yeah?” 

And you do. You always do. You love him. 

He smiles down at you, showing the wrinkles and scars on his face. “I love ya’. Give me some sugar first. Let me kiss ya’.” 

The kiss is more than just a distraction. It’s a repetition of him saying I love ya’ through his actions. What comes next is new to you, his large fingers probing at your entrance as you hiss and whimper and sob. Logan eases you open while kissing your inner thighs, letting you feel his scruffy beard. Raining you with his sweet praises, “Oh, that’s a good girl, alright. My sweet girl.” 

Then it leads you to it. The main purpose of your plan here in the first place. 

The clothes you both had on are thrown all over the floor as he hovers above you, taking off his glasses—placing kisses everywhere he can reach. “Y’want it?” And the tip of his cock finally nudges between your folds in an aching stretch and you mewl.

“Your old man’s gonna take care of you.” 

He always does.

[schoenpepper]

Signed

Intro: If you were going to go through all that trouble with hurting yourself, he might as well help you~

Warnings: bad writing, awful grammar, yandere, gore-ish, reader is yuu, mentions of self harm, blood, jade is a warning in and of himself, not proofread, kinda short

A/N: For @kiraiyugen on my event, that is finally DONE THANK FUCK. Alright, see you guys laterrrr

Masterlist

Jade adores you, truly.

There’s something about the way you mill about in this big new world; it draws him to you. Like a fish caught in a line. Like a mermaid trapped in a fisherman’s net. Like a shark smelling blood.

He adores you so, so very much, darling.

But you keep avoiding him.

He feels a bit hurt. Are you still not over the sea anemone incident? It was just a harmless little prank, and no real harm was done. Does he scare you? Are you afraid of him? His lips stretch into a wide grin, sharp teeth bared and glinting ominously under the cerulean-mauve lights of the lounge. 

You shouldn’t be afraid of your soulmate.

“Why’s the prefect your soulmate, Jade~?” Floyd asks nonchalantly, and he can feel even Azul’s eyes boring into him, one brow raised as if asking the same question. His smile reverts back to one of polite pleasantry as he folds his hands in front of his lap. “They have the scar, of course. Right on their nape,” a long and thin faded scar that Jade had carved into his own skin back when he was a child, oh so thoroughly enthralled by the idea of having someone made just for him, “it could’ve been quite hard to miss, but thankfully, I had caught quite the clear glimpse.”

The conversation comes to a close when you step into the lounge. Alone. All too helpless.

The three share a look.

Floyd grins lazily, Azul sighs and turns away, whereas Jade picks up the tea he’d prepared just for you, carrying it over to your table. “For you, my dear. It seems you’ve been quite stressed recently,” he says with a smile, placing the teacup before you, “it’s not often I see you without your friends.” The topic seems to be a sore spot by the way you pull back, glancing at him warily though your lashes.

“Thank you…but that seems to be none of your business.”

Perhaps he shouldn’t have mentioned your friends?

After all, it must be hard feeling isolated when all the people you’d gotten close to in this world have been scared off.

“I see. Then I’ll leave you to it.”

Jade walks off without ever losing his smile.

The night is quiet, and at some point, only you are left in the lounge, sleeping soundly with your head atop the table. He steps closer to see your pretty face all scrunched up from nightmare-filled dreams. Are you thinking of all the people that you believe have abandoned you? Are you thinking about the old world you can never go back to? Are you thinking of the too-frequent overblots in this school, or perhaps the fact that you’re never really out of danger?

He gently takes your body up into a princess carry, one arm tucked beneath your knees and the other cradling your back, his lips leaving a fleeting kiss between your brows. Floyd barely looks up from the video game on his phone. Azul sends him a warning glare before going back to his stack of contracts to read through and verify. The only one truly against his plan is the soft muted voice at the back of his mind. It’s probably his conscience, so he doesn’t really need to listen to it. Morals are disposable.

You are not.

You are beyond being an option to choose above mortal values; you are the better half of his long-corrupted soul. His caress is as cautious as it is vicious; laying you down onto the soft mattress of his bed when his plans indicate no salvation for you tonight. Only his. The warmth of your skin against his palms promises him that he can find his deliverance within you.

But all that Jade can give you in return is sin.

And thus, he will give it to you in gluttonous abundance.

He slips off your jacket and pulls up the long sleeves of your uniform shirt up to your elbows. As expected, you were the cause of his recent plight; of dozens of deep and shallow overlapping scars that decorated the insides of his arms down to his wrists. “So beautiful,” he murmurs, trailing his fingertips over the fresher wounds, “and yet, so unfair. It’s not just your skin darling, you ought to take better care of it.”

No one’s told you about the soulmate connection yet?

Such lovely ignorance.

Jade knows for a fact that you wouldn’t have done such a thing if you had known what it did to other people. You’ve always been a kind, generous soul, haven’t you? You would pity your soulmate for the wrongs you’ve carved into their skin, surely, crystalline tears running down your cheeks.

“If you want to mark yourself so much, let me help you~”

You wouldn’t be waking up for another few hours, so there are no fearful screams when Jade brandishes a small, thin knife.

“Where shall I put it, darling?”

Your friends have been restless again lately, refusing to heed his warnings. Then perhaps, he ought to mark you somewhere a little more prominent?

He digs the knife into your flesh.

The next time you wake up back in your own room, there’s a still-bleeding inscription right below your collarbone, etched into your skin like a signature; in elegant script as if written with a pen dipped in blood,

Jade Leech

[deconstructthesoup]

What's been in my head lately is a Fantasy High pirate AU. Not a Leviathan AU, an actual pirate AU.

Bear with me---

Adaine is a bookish princess of a kingdom by the sea, and while she has everything from an outsider's perspective, she's neglected by her parents as the second child and is incredibly lonely. Her only real friend is Kristen, who's a representative of the church of Helio and is kind of Adaine's unofficial lady-in-waiting, and both of them are fairly sheltered... until one fateful day, while the two are enjoying a small day of freedom, they get captured by a motley crew of pirates.

Fabian is the captain and the son of the fabled Old Bill, and he's been making his own mark on the seven seas via sheer charisma and chaos. He's trying to build up a reputation of being a ruthless thief and murderer like his father was, but it's pretty plain to see that he cares a lot more than he lets on... like, for instance, upon realizing that Adaine's parents don't care enough about her to pay for ransom, he immediately offers her a spot on his crew. And once Kristen has a very public crisis of faith, she's granted a spot, too.

The other members of Fabian's crew are as follows:

Riz, his first mate and best friend. He's a son of two prolific spies from the goblin kingdom, and he initially wanted to take down the vast network of pirates across the world, but quickly changed gears once he realized that working for the monarchy was a lot more morally corrupt. He kind of acts as the voice of reason, while simultaneously being one of the most feral members of the crew.

Ragh, the ship's chef and the other first mate---Fabian couldn't decide between him and Riz. His mom used to be a pretty prolific pirate herself, and he and Fabian have known each other since they were kids... and, yeah, their relationship has changed from "best friends forever" to "work husbands" over the years. They have some good times.

Gorgug, the ship's resident gunner. He grew up in a family of blacksmiths, couldn't find a lot of honest work, and eventually got a steady position on Fabian's ship. He's happy to be here, he's happy to show off the fact that he's a beast in combat situations, and he's one of the most technically savvy members of the crew. Also, he's a surprisingly good listener.

Fig, the musician and "dark sorceress" of the ship. She used to be a traveling singer-slash-songwriter and used an elven disguise to blend in, but eventually decided "fuck it" and took on her true form as a free-spirited tiefling pirate who kicks ass, takes names, and curses anybody who badmouths her. She's great.

Tracker, the ship's surgeon. She was raised in the church of Helio before being bitten by a werewolf, after which she promptly left to learn under her uncle, who was a prolific pirate himself before he retired. Nowadays, she's learned the secrets of both witchcraft and medicine and made a name for herself as a skilled healer and fighter, and is pretty happy where she is.

Gertie, the ship's other chef and resident wildlife expert. She's definitely one of the most friendly members of the crew, and even though she butts heads with Fabian a lot, she's a pretty core part of the crew. And yeah, between her and Tracker, Kristen is definitely getting a big lesbian awakening.

There is, of course, still a version of Leviathan out there, and Ayda still lives there as a librarian... which is the reason why the crew regularly makes stops there, though getting more supplies is also a plus. Garthy is also there, along with Sandralynn and Jawbone (and Hallariel and Gilear, much to Fabian's displeasure). The Seven are also around---they're a fierce crew of pirates who have a bit of a friendly rivalry with Fabian's crew, though it's never escalated into outright battle.

[arceus-insanity]

A Moral Scapegoat for who?

All For One is a shit character, he is presented as a massive threat, but we never see him get a win, similar to the dissonance between the All Might we see and the context in universe.

And in the end, he becomes a moral scapegoat... for the heroes.

What is a moral scapegoat?

A moral scapegoat is (usually) a character used to excuse the actions of other characters or a system. Character A may have done XYZ but Character B was the one manipulating them and/ or is so much worse, so we can excuse A's actions. Or helping defeat B acts as pence for their past actions. Etc. And to a degree it makes sense, getting people to believe a character has changed and should now be considered good both by the characters and the audience is hard. So having some bigger bad to blame takes the pressure off the desired character(s).

While the term is typically only brought up negatively, like the use of Mary&Gary Sues, there are good ones. Commander Zhao in Avatar of the Last Airbender is an early moral scapegoat, used to say yeah Prince Zuko may suck, but there are a lot worse out there. My Little Pony Friendship is Magic has a moral scapegoat, right in the pilot, Nightmare Moon for Princess Luna, sure Nightmare came from Luna but it is presented as a curse, something that was cured, fixed. The Hobbit uses Dragon Sickness as a way to both corrupt and excuse King Thorin's actions when they have retaken the mountain; he is not in his right mind, and shouldn't be considered solely responsible for his actions

In certain ways, Pink Diamond (due to the audience learning her arc in reverse, when it has such an effect on the plot of Steven Universe) is a scapegoat for the remaining Diamonds, even though it makes a lot less sense for her to be the scapegoat when considering the actual sequence of events in universe. And while most people don't think Pink/Rose's actions excuse the Diamonds (especially White), she does work with Spinel. Another rocky moral scapegoat is Horad Prime from She-ra & The Princesses of Power, he is the big bad of the show and is meant to be a scapegoat primarily for Horadak who was the previous big bad, and mildly a scapegoat for Catra. The big problems with his sacrificial slaughter is that there isn't enough time to really settle in that this is the true big bad, and both Horadak and Catra's issues were both way more on screen and show up well before we ever hear of Hoard Prime, with them operating separately.

And All For One is a worst example of all of them (that I mentioned)

For starters the more we saw of him the less ultimate intimidating evil he portrayed, nor did we get a satisfying he was actually pretty pathetic. Really trying to have your cake and eat it too. Looking back he's very cartoonishly evil, but lacks the presence, he's boring. I've seen many good portrayals of him in the fandom, but canon is just boring. His background of miscellaneous evil deeds, don't really go into how they were evil, just that Yoichi (& AFO) clearly believes them to be, both come across as very childish to me, seeing the world as black & white.

He lacks the moral complexity of complex villains (like Magneto), meant to be an ambitiously evil man, whose evil for the sack of being evil. But he lacks the presence found in Classic evil Disney characters like Jafar, Clayton, and Ursala. In a way he's like King Magnifico (from Wish, the only recent hated animated Disney movie, that I agree deserves to be shat on), trying to have both but failing to capture either

In the present, he has little involvement on screen, and once he's out of the picture, Shigaraki (& the League) really bloom as villains and characters. The story could have had a slow realization (for Shigaraki, the League and the audience) that he was holding the League back, and that meant either he was nowhere near as competent as he was portrayed, or he wasn't actually helping Shigaraki, setting up for the body suit plan

But my biggest issue is who he's the sacrificial goat for.

And who is he the scapegoat for? The fucking Heroes and their shit-ass society, including the H PSC crap.

The ending reveal that he was behind everything that happened to Tenko, from him being born, his name, the kids he chose to play with, the issues with his quirk, and only having him; fails. It doesn't work! Mainly because of what that scene ignored the walk, and the complicity of the family. It ignored that the family were directly ignoring that Tenko was being abused, trying to placate him after the fact. It ignores that Kotaro Shimura chose to follow his friends advice, over his wife too. It ignores that even though AFO would have killed anyone who tried to help Tenko, no one tried. It also doesn't make sense either, normal kids are shit actors, not to mention Tenko was the one to reach out to them, not the other way around. And with the sheer amount of heroes, and cops, and regular citizens, how was it literally no one tried to help him, it's not AFO.

What else does it ignore, oh yeah, Tenko isn't truly unique in having a tragic backstory. Sure he was planning on taking advantage of the Endeavor's awful legacy plan, but we never see that AFO has done anything before kidnapping Touya. It's implied that he helped stroked Heteromorphic discrimination for his own gain, but that doesn't change that Spinner had pesticides thrown in his face, by 'innocent' civilians, that Shoji was mutilated as a child, for saving a child, by 'innocent' civilians, that the Ordinary Lady was attacked and denied shelter in the middle of an active warzone, by 'innocent' civilians. Himiko's abuse was enabled and furthered by quirk counselling, we don't even get a he was secretly to blame all along for this one. The commission has assassins, ignore. The homeless have to resort to villainy to survive, ignore. Once someone is considered out they are abused by this society until they have to lash out, ignore. The big bad was taken down, so nothing has to be done about these systemic issues, cause the heroes say so

There's a pattern, he was only able to do this, because the society he was in was already doing it.

And AFO being a moral scapegoat could of worked.

IF the Hero Public Safety Commission was similarly a scapegoat.

To begin, AFO should have been the scapegoat for the League, and the villains as a whole. The heroes would instead have the HPSC as their scapegoat.

Hawks should not have been made president of the totally different PSC, not only is he a known murderer, he doesn't regret it, he has never criticized the Commission's (or any other hero's) actions. If he's not going to see the issues, and hypocrisy right in front of him, he shouldn't have any role at all in it, and a very small one if he does recognize them. Giving this to Hawks screams nothing is actually going to be fixed, any changes are going to be for the worse.

Going into the final Deku vs Shigaraki battle, as well as the dreamscape crap, I had hope in this series. I thought that Deku would finally be forced to have the long over reality check of the Villains are right, what are you going to do about it. So instead of hyper-focusing on one tiny moment that with any and I do mean any additional context would show that it's not just this tiny shit moment. Rather than murdering Tomura for not abandoning the League (the same reason Hawks murdered Twice), have Deku convince Tomura that they can make a better society. That Deku's peaceful(ish) method is what's better for the League we have seen he loves.

From there they could have come up with a deal where either (these are simplified) everyone is held accountable for their past actions (as in the villains, Endeavor, Hawks, the Commission, everyone responsible for the sky coffin, etc). Or the clock is restarted, and everyone is hence forth held to the same standard. The villains are around to make sure the actual issues to their problems are dealt with, hint; Himiko's problem wasn't lack of access to quirk counselling. Happy satisfying ending for everyone

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

we’ve already talked about the more blatant forms of ableism concerning entrapta, like the way the princesses treated her, but another thing i want to mention is how the narrative around entrapta is also a bit ableist. namely, i want to talk about the way entrapta’s reasons behind being a morally grey character.

entrapta is morally ambiguous, that’s pretty obvious and i have no complaints about it. i do like morally grey and complex characters. however, what rubs me the wrong way is the fact that entrapta’s moral greyness is a direct product of her autism, according to the narrative. she doesn’t join the horde just because catra manipulates her, she also does it because.. the horde has cool tech stuff and gadgets. basically, entrapta is okay with endangering thousands of innocent civilians, if it means that she gets to play with fun gadgets. she says it herself, that she’s “on the side of science”.

now as an autistic person myself, i get that neurodivergent people can be quite passionate and sometimes singleminded about their hyperfixations. but never to this point. if i was offered a job that involves my hyperfixation, but that job was corrupt or directly hurt other people, i wouldn’t accept it. same goes for most neurodivergent people that i know. especially for those who are more on the high-functioning side of the spectrum, like entrapta. we know how to differentiate good from bad. we use our critical thinking skills.

i saw a few spop critics say that they don’t blame entrapta for joining the horde, because the princesses treated her like shit. and i have to partially disagree with this take. yes, entrapta had all the right to be mad at the princesses. but the horde wasn’t just targeting the princesses. war isn’t, and has never been, a heroes vs villains conflict. if anything, the princesses are the ones who are least affected by the war. entrapta should at least have had a moment of epiphany where she realizes how terrible the horde truly is and the harm she has helped it to cause. but no, even though she gets “punished” (i.e. mistreated) in s5, it doesn’t really drive forward a good message. the princesses are only mad at entrapta because they feel personally betrayed by her, not because her actions were wrong on a larger level.

i guess it’s no surprise coming from the show that treats the war like a silly game, but i still resent the fact that the creators basically imply that autistic people are stupid and don’t have a moral compass. also if i’m not mistaken, i believe someone in the crew made a really distasteful joke about entrapta being a tr*mp supporter because “she doesn’t know any better”. again, all of this boils down to ableism and the trend of infantilizing neurodivergent people.

[npookie0]

could you explain how to write the kc li's? am having trouble writing ronin and such, and you are one of my friends so am requesting your help - ronins pretty princess

N "explaining" how they write the love interests :D

So for starters, I will do it in a form of small notes? I'm not that good at explaining and I will maybe try to show some examples. I had a hard time too so I can understand why it can be hard.

Also there's not really a one correct way to write them, you can always take artistic liberties so I will focus more on giving their personalities based on what we see in the game.

Spoilers for Killer Chat!

Ronin - The Devil's Butcher

Oh, Ronin, Ronin, Ronin.

He is actually the easiest one to write, for me at least.

Ronin has a strong sarcastic personality, he speaks in riddles and wants to fuck with the player's mind.

He's main goal when he's the person who you're trying to woo in the game is to corrupt you, so it's adviced to make the reader be in the middle of said corruption or be corrupted, when you're kissing him in his ending the reader is already corrupted enough to love him: "Oh, I love it when you're rotten and mine [...]" he tells you that you are his fallen angel so to speak.

Ronin hates monotony and boredom, so the reader has to be interesting for him, or he will get bored and either leave or kill them.

Oh yeah, killing the reader. Ronin sees us taking his life, or him taking ours as the most romantic thing ever. So would he see us murdering for him, we're killers, our hands are stained with blood and that's all for him. Isn't this romantic?

Ronin is possessive in a way, he won't show jealousy, he's ruined you why would you try to leave him for someone else? You're his, you and he are well aware of it. But it doesn't change the fact that he would mark you and keep you on your toes just to make sure that you wouldn't think about leaving him.

Our man is touch starved, maybe he won't cuddle with you for two hour straight, but he will poke you to annoy you, play with your hair, wrap an arm around your shoulders etc. Small touched are also a form of physical touch.

Of course, not everything has to be happy, Ronin also might experience dark times. Gender dysphoria might get its way into his head. He may think of Ther and be a little bit in despair because of it, but don't fret, you don't have to put that in EVERY fanfic.

Ronin as we all know loves to bastardise Shakespeare, or sometimes drop a line from the Bible for shits and giggles.

His brand is being the Devil so the reader could stroke his ego by calling him the Devil in some ways.

Ronin wouldn't want the reader to be completely obsessed with him, to the extend when they breathe and live for him. With no personality or interests. Not only would they be just plainly boring, he would probably be annoyed with and feel perhaps guilty for making them into this mess.

If the MC dies or breaks up with Ronin in bad blood, he would be in despair, maybe there wouldn't be any tears, but it would show. More murders, getting tense or angry when your name is mentioned etc.

V - The Vigilante

Ah, my favourite batman. Well that's one way to explain V. He is like him, but he actually kills the beasts that stain our world.

He has a strong moral code, of course there are some loose crews like the one time when the player actually told him not go sell Ronin to the police. So with his strong moral code, the reader has to be someone who will not kill people Ronin style, their murders have to be for a reason, or the reader may be someone who doesn't kill people and is "pure" in a sense.

He is a gentleman - the Brit in him i showing lol - so it is a good idea to write him as such. Gentle kisses on the back of readers hand, opening door of them etc.

V is an animal lover, but he would deny that of course, so it would be great if the reader was fond of animals too.

He would be protective of us, make sure to keep us safe from danger and keep a tab on the people who are in our life and seem too suspicious for his liking.

His love language is "acts of service" so maybe getting rid of someone dangerous for you, helping you with hard tasks or chores, he would do anything that would be help of you and wouldn't cross the lines of his morale.

He may appear cold and distant, but you can see his love in a soft and warm gaze, gentle smiles or small touches here and there. He's like a black cat basically.

V is supportive of the reader, with their hobbies or work. He would be ready to listen to the reader's yap about some ideas for a new book they want to write.

Misaki - The Assassin

Misaki, they are a silly goof most of the time. They would definitely use genz and gen alpha terms. Expect them to call the reader "Pookie" or something along the lines as their pet name.

Whenever they come to visit the reader or the reader visits them, they have a small gift prepared - their love language is gifts giving.

They are Asian so the reader shouldn't hate on their parents just because Misaki has to send them money to help them. Asian families are uh more complicated so mingling into that would be seen as crossing a line.

Misaki is anxious, they fear disappointing someone or get extremely stressed with their "jobs" so the reader should support them.

Misaki is open for anything, you want to become a cannibal? "Go for it babe, become the maneater!" They would be so hyper about it or maybe joke if the idea is too unhinged.

They are a very caring person, so if you are troubled they will go out of their way to help you, and be there for you.

It could take a while for them to open up 100%, but after opening themselves about their poor living situation and family issues, it definitely will be easier.

She seems like someone who would send you random memes or pics they took or found and say smh like 'it reminds me of you".

Maria de la Rosa - The Angel

Yes, the maneating perfectionist. She's married to her work, but the reader would be able to help her with this issue, like how they helped her with that motherfu- Finian! Just don't pressure her to change immediately, it takes time.

She loves quality time, it's very important to her. So just watch some movie with her, go on a date and be there with her. And maybe let her snuggle up to you when she needs it.

You have to accept Ronin as your supervisor and biggest enemy at the same time, if you fuck up something with Angel, she would let it slide, but Ronin? Hell no, that's his ex gf and bestie, if you hurt her, he will make sure that Angel get rid of you as a way to heal.

Angel would promote you on her social media, your book or your cafe? She left a honest - usually positive - opinion about it and her fans would just be your biggest donators.

Angel isn't possessive or obsessive, but she can be insecure. Are you okay with dating her when she has such a busy schedule? Are you fine with the paparazzi? Just be there for her and reassure her about everything.

She's the definition of "people pleaser". Her friend has a shitty menager? He's gone. Her fans didn't like her new video? She will never do something like that again, unless you convince her that it's really okay or that she should continue to do what she wants. She's stubborn that's for sure, but hey, small steps are important!

Ofc it's albit more complicated than this, most of the things I write are taken from my interpretation of the game, Rose's tumbrl posts or other fanfics, take inspo if you're unsure of something, or ask others for their opinions. :D

Hope it is helpful in some way T-T

Bye, love ya

-N<3

[gayest-classiclit]

Classic Literature Sexyperson Tournament; Round 1

propaganda:

Nemours:

I hate that damn book. It's rather short but it's terrible to read if you can't stand ingenues. Sadly, my teachers liked imagination and I had to study it three times in four years at school. It doesn't get more interesting in time, and you don't understand the titles and relationships better. The heroine is so pure of heart you're considering murdering her by page 10. Anyway, that was my vent against the book, which at least has the merit of being one of the first (the first ?) known French modern (the 17th century) novel -and was written by a woman, well known in her era's intellectual circles. Um. What was I saying ? Oh yes, the book's not all bad. It has exactly one highlight : the dashing and highly immoral womanizer known as Nemours. Our boring, sickeningly perfect and freshly married -to a man who loves her, isn't especially good looking but is good with her and not old- young heroine who has seen nothing of the world falls in love with the seductor. It shakes her deeply but she's well bred - it's not like she's going to do anything about it : she's a married woman. Nemours is quite amused and makes advances about every 5 pages but eventually falls for her -I mean, who wouldn't fall for that much goodness ? *eyeroll* Eventually, the Princess' husband dies because she doesn't love him -poor darling- and begs her not to marry Nemours on his deathbed. I'm not spoiling the rest because I get more and more annoyed as I vent about the rest of the book. Anyway, Nemours a good counterpart to the protag's naive ways and rakes are always interesting in books

Dorian and Basil:

(for Dorian) It’s Dorian Gray

(also for Dorian) Kinda makes a pact with the devil to stay pretty forever

(again, for Dorian) He deserves it bc it’d be the funniest thing ever given everything he’s done

(for Basil) basil is beautiful, eternally youthful, artistic, and dramatic. he’s the definition of a disaster gay (he literally murders his love interest because he’s deranged and morally complex and that’s so real of him) and he basks in the glory of all the finer things in life. he’s captivating to read about and his corruption arc is soooo sexy.

[dreamerwriternstargazer]

Something I like to note in my interaction with media is always “am I taking this as education, or inspiration?”

And that’s the important difference I believe.

If your worldview was opened and inspired by AT:LA, if you (assuming you’re a very privileged, sheltered adult I guess) learnt about say revolutions and genocide and imperialism and so on and so forth for the first time from AT;LA and it inspired you to read more articles and more reliable sources of media to gain a proper perspective, grounded in reality? That’s actually pretty great

If you refuse to interact with political content beyond a child’s show, beyond the very simplified representation of censorship in Ba Sing Se, beyond Zuko’s redemption arc/efforts in recovering from abuse, beyond the wipeout of the Airbenders and their culture, then we have a problem

Stories… are fiction, but they can teach a little, not a lot, a kernel of truth, and that is enough to serve their true purpose of inspiration.

Yes there’s such incredible skill in these stories, in Suzanne Collins’ biting and fiery allegory for the Hollywood machine (and reflection of the extremely corrupt class system + political empire of the US), in Princess Mononoke’s sincere heartfelt plea for environmentalism and balance between nature and humanity

But they are not the be all and end all. Miyazaki did not write Howl’s Moving Castle to teach you to lock yourselves out of the wider political environment around you, to passively call for pacifism as bombs are dropped by those you know, nor was it written to encourage you to condemn every leader or war started. It was written to present his perspective and personal anger over the Iraq War, writing a film he “felt would be poorly received in the US” (Wikipedia) Yes the story it’s telling you of pacifism and integrity is important, but as inspiration, it will not and should not be your guide to war. What is important here is what it could lead you to read, hell if you were as enchanted and interested as I was by this movie then it could lead you right back to the context, the reason for it being written. This could then lead you to researching the Iraq war, to learning why Miyazaki felt strongly, to look at further criticisms against the Bush administration.

That’s what it did for me. I didn’t know anything about American politics, but while studying the story for some other reasons (Heroine’s Journey related of course) I noticed why pacifism was an important theme. It wasn’t enough to get me interested, American politics weren’t necessarily linked to me (or at least that’s the default I submitted to thinking) but it opened my mind a bit. Okay huh that’s interesting, keep a note on that

It’s a note that then got added to when I read several Tumblr posts on issues with the Bush administration, then others on America and its founding. It got added to further when I learnt about Israel and Palestine, and then given some emotional, moral context as I learnt of Israel and Palestine and the atrocities occurring there and how many were likening it to what America did in Iraq and Afghanistan (since I really was too young to remember or think critically over them when they were going on)

There’s still so much I don’t know, I’m so young and even younger in my political knowledge.

What’s important is that as I grow the sources of information grow with me. Stories are important for so much, they are empowering and cathartic, a way to challenge you and inspire you, they are an expression, a call to arms, a hug around your shoulders on cold rainy days, but you cannot and should not live on a diet of fairytales and fantasies.

only reading ya or only watching kids shows is tremendously destructive to your ability to create or understand fiction (as any extremely narrow fiction intake is) but also ultimately that is not a super important skill in life or indicative of any deficiency of character

[thaoeatworld]

A Safe Place

TW/CW: Transphobia, Racism

As a child, my favourite book series was Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events." Across 13 books and a small collection of extra material, including a pseudo autobiography, Lemony Snicket (or Daniel Handler) detailed the struggles and triumphs of three, hyper-intelligent, orphans, trying to navigate a wicked world. As they end up in rather compromising situations, the children hold onto the hope that they will find, as Handler writes, "the last safe place".

This so called "safe place" was collectively imagined by the children as a santuary nestled away in nature, away from all the injustice and morally corrupt people they've been encountering. There, they would be at peace and protected. However, as they reach this location, they realise by ignoring the treacheries of the world, they would be also trapped. They would be forced to passify their interest in bettering th world and to accept falsehoods as fact. In the end, they acknowledge that nothing can be simply packed into neat boxes -- things are more complex than they appear is the take away.

For a series I started reading in elementary school, and occasional revisit as an adult, I now recognise that these were some intense themes I was dealing with. I bring them up now, because I find myself accidentally in a similar idealistic thought bubble when it comes to "safety". To some extent, like Violet, Klaus, and Sunny -- I flattened the realities of the world we're living in into binaries of "safe" and "not safe". And in doing so, I left myself in quite a vulnerable position and I suppose this essay is how I am processing it.

It's been almost 8 years since I've come out as non-binary. It happened in a quite cliche way as I often joke -- with a mental breakdown and shaving all my hair off during my year abroad. With a buzzcut, I struggled a lot with my image and understanding of self. I realised I hid a lot of my frustrations and confusions about performing womanhood, woman-ness, and everything in between behind my long hair.

Growing up, both my parents were very militant in this way about femininity. My mother's insights felt more like a typical assertion of either my sister or I being in her image. I also think, as I grow older, it had a lot to do with her experience under the Khmer Rouge regime where they cut all her hair cut as an attempt of standardisation under communism plus a detterent for lice. Either way, long hair, specifically on me, meant a lot to my mother.

On the otherhand, it meant a lot to my father as well -- though in a more annoyingly patriarchal sense. Some gems he said to me a sa child, which now I realise were a part of my gender unraveling of sorts, include: "You're a girl, you need to have pretty long hair." "You're a princess, you can't be anything else." "You can't skate because you'll mess up your legs and men won't like that." What a guy.

One of my cousins was equally as culpable in my gender-unraveling. She used to bully me, my sister, and my other cousin using nicknames meant to harm us. She used to call me "boy" because she felt that I wasn't "girl" enough. Simplistic, enough. Straight to the point. I was definitively not-girl.

Regardless, and expectedly, I resented all of that. It took me 12 years of being out of the closet (knew I was a little fruity at 10 years old, but who wouldn't be after doing so much theatre and being around so many virbrant human beings?) and a handful of gender studies courses to realise I was, well, a bit different. I had my "moment". I shaved off all my hair, focused on performing adrogyny, and updated all my social media account bits where you could add pronouns. I had a very underwhelming conversation with my family members, who still occasionally misgender me to this day. I embraced my perpetual struggle with gender quite openly.

Throughout my graduate studies, I met many wonderful queer people who nourished and celebrated the essence of me that I was still figuring it out. I am grateful for that. However, this journey was not without issues. Upon moving to Italy I faced an impossible struggle with a gendered language and way of life. I found solice in queer-coded spaces like roller derby and rollerskating. Somewhere along that assimilation into my "Italian" layer of myself, I stopped being andrognyous. I stopped thinking that I had to care, because people were already getting EVERYTHING wrong about me because I wasn't fluent in Italian. My appearance of being brown and a migrant (who sucked at Italian) superceded my priority to be acknowledged and identified by my queerness. It was just another confusing layer for most people who weren't that close to me anyway.

It's not to say I have no friends in Italy, because that is factually untrue. It is simply to say that I acknowledge that in the midst of my actual combatative moments of racism, ableism, and arguable emotional trauma from certain authority figures, that I was not experiencing myself, and therefore my gender, in full. I was a shell of a person. I often reflect on this in relation to my romantic break-up with my ex. I think "Well do I blame him? I was a shell of a person during my PhD so why would I want to stay together while he turns into a shell?" Perhaps that just something I tell myself to sleep at night, but to be clear: I am very happy and I wish him all the best in his personal journey.

Anyways, when I received my first academic position, I decided I was going to re-assert my claim towards my gender. I openly explained I was non-binary, to everyone. I was not going to be supressed by the social structures around me, and quite frankly I think the Netherlands was quite supportive of that (or so I thought). In my eyes, I was reclaiming control of myself, after years of well, not being myself.

So far so good I thought. Nothing egregious happened. Somehow I was expecting people to be very actively transphobic, I mean transphobes are EVERYWHERE. What transpired next, is a bit more slow burn, and harmful in its own minute ways.

In class and to my peers I always emphasise that I don't "keep score" for misgendering. I don't. However what I curiously noticed is that by being open about being non-binary, there was a shift in "carefulness" and emotional labour. More times than not, I ended up consoling people for misgendering me, despite me being very open that it was a joint learning process. I had more people looking at me for validation that I personally judged them to not be a shitty person. I had to tiptoe around conversations about LGBTQ+ and "gender stuff" because everyone's eyes were bulging in my direction whenever it came up. In some way, it felt like they were trying to gauge "how far" I am on the radical-queer-human-political-spectrum. Um yeah, okay, we're all a monolith I guess.

As a lecturer it's very public-facing and intimate. My whole job is being on display for students to stare at, contest, and pick at. I am the first point of contact when they're pissed at course work, methods, or anything relating to their learning. I'm not afraid of this -- of course. As a performer in cabaret, drag, and an avid science communicator. I'm used to being in the spotlight. Also, as someone who has fought very ruthlessly to escape my marginalising contexts, I'm used to it. However, this does not mean I'm fully equipped to handle every situation nor be capable of enduring long spans of pain and suffering.

And yet here we are. I have recently come to face with situations which have caused me to critically reflect on, and genuinely feel pain about the dual responsibility that comes with being out, and open, as "the queer lecturer". Much of the criticism from the "far right" (whatever that could mean) is that we're in an age where "everyone is queer". This always makes me laugh, naturally. We have always existed. LBGTQ+ people have always existed! We were just actively ignored, oppressed, and murdered throughout history. Do you know how terrible that is? Imagine having the capacity to just acknowledge that you have the opportunity to exist without thread of being senselessly harmed, outright murdered, or a focal point of distress and shame for loved ones. Imagine being able to just be, without having your guard up. Imagine. Imagine the toll this has on LGBTQ+ people every second. I'm not here to fetishise my own sadness nor other LGBTQ+ people. I'm just here to ruminate a bit on the weight which many of us, carry internally.

I feel that one of my responsibilities is to be an example to my students, but also a resource for those who relate to me and my identities. I am a safe place for people like me. That's so much work isn't it? Not only am I bound to be a good educator, I'm also entangled in the micro-politics of being a "good" person to so many kinds of people. I'm a "box-checker" for crying out loud. I'm first generation American and university student. I'm brown. I'm queer. I'm disabled. I'm an immigrant. I'm from a working class background. My parents are refugees. I'm probably some sick "progressives" wet dream. These are the pains I carry, histories which shape the very foundation with how I see, engage with, and experience the world. It's so much.

It's impossible to please everyone. I know that. I'm sure everyone knows that to some degree. But all I wish, genuinely, as I lay here very sick with the weight of the stress I am feeling on my entire being that I could stop apologising to everyone for being human. Even when I am physically sick from stress and pressure, it is impossible for me to tear myself away from "work". This just links back to my reflections on burning out doesn't it. Have I begun to burn out again? Is this the initiation of another unraveling? The GENDER edition?

I'm not sure. I hope not. Because I learned nothing before, so what can I learn this go around? Pedro in his attempts to console me these last few days remarked "I'm sure you'll learn something at the end of this." Will I? Will I learn to be "stronger" perhaps? Why must I be hard when I am so effortlessly soft? I enjoy my tenderness within the world, it allows me make such meaningful connections with ideas, people, and things.

In this moment of concern I wanted to shave my hair again. My mom always told me that in Khmer culture, we shave our heads when there has been a great pain. People often do it as a part of funeral rites, for close family members. I watched my aunts, uncles, and cousins shave their heads when my grandpa passed away. When my mom went through a fissure in her relationship with a sibling, she shaved her head. It is how I guess, "my people" and I mourn and grieve. If I shave my head, will people stop misgendering me? If I shave my head will my students see me as a "stronger" resource or "safe place"? These are some of the thoughts that rattled my brain. I haven't cut my hair yet, but I'm still thinking about it.

[alectology-archive]

what are your favorite sapphic books? (other than harrow the ninth)

Hi bestie!! here are a couple of my favourites

adult:

the priory of the orange tree - fantasy - bisexual queen x lesbian mage who struggle to carve their own path in societies and cultures that demand conformity. meanwhile there's an evil dragon starting to wake which wants to destroy the world. there's also a contagious disease that magically corrupts people who come in contact with it in case you want to avoid it. it explores how mythologies get skewed over time and is pretty fast paced even if it's ~800~ pages long

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo - romance - it essentially chronicles evelyn's life as an actress and her romances over the decades and her secret relationship with another actress. the characters are really complex and flawed which appealed to me a lot

gideon the ninth - horror + sci fi - I know you said not harrow the ninth but. lesbian necromancers in space is an overdone description but it's essentially that. candidates are summoned from each of the nine houses so that they can piece together a secret that'll enable them to become lyctors and serve the god-emperor. everyone's very gay. the writing style might require some patience on your part though

the traitor baru cormorant - fantasy - the poppy war if it was sapphic. check the content warnings before you get into it because it deals with colonialism, how it suffocates and destroys indigenous cultures, and features lots of economics, battle sequences and characters who're so morally grey that you're literally not going to have any idea about whose side they're on. this book will wreck you

this is how you lose the time war - sci fi - two assassins belonging to opposite sides of a war spending most of the book homoerotically thwarting each other

the luminous dead - horror + sci fi - this is your go to for toxic sapphic relationships. the protagonist descends into a cave system to find something for her employer but stuff starts going wrong soon - supplies go missing and she starts to think the cave system might be haunted. not recommended if you're claustrophobic

the long way to a small angry planet - sci fi - the sapphic relationship is not very prominent but the book is very queer and you'll like it a lot if you're looking for found families in space

a memory called empire - sci fi - the protagonist steps up as ambassador to the empire when her predecessor dies. she suspects that he was killed and tries to uncover the mysterious circumstances behind his death. it explores themes of alienation from the home and your culture and the love that one harbors for a culture that devours your own anyway as much as you hate it.

the empress of salt and fortune - fantasy - the second book is actually the sapphic one but this one also chronicles the life of an empress who was involved in a relationship with her servant. the protagonist is non binary!

she who became the sun - historical fantasy - kind of like the poppy war again. the protagonist is genderqueer and it chronicles her rise to the throne. the book’s based on historical events which are retold through a queer lens. lots of books punish their protagonists for being selfish but this book said fuck you to all of them and rewarded its characters for choosing their desires.

her body and other parties - short story collection - a couple of them are sapphic

the jasmine throne - fantasy - princess x bodyguard. it has major priory vibes in the sense that the princess struggles to deliver on what the society demands of her and the bodyguard secretly practices magic

nevernight - fantasy - it's jay kristoff and I'd usually not recommend him but I like ashlinn jarnheim so I'll make an exception for her :/

young adult:

queen of coin and whispers - fantasy/romance - I thought the first half of the book was very good as opposed to the second half and it did have its issues but it's generally a fun read if you're bored - it's another queen x sworn protector relationship

wilder girls - horror - girls on an island develop strange mutations and try to survive as best as the can as they hope for a cure from the government. the protagonist is vicious in her pursuit to achieve what she wants and I love that.

the language of thorns - fantasy - grishaverse short story collection! when water sang fire + little knife are sapphic

girls of paper and fire - fantasy - it could've featured a better progression from the sort of enemies to lovers part but it was otherwise nice. I heard that the second book was bad so I abandoned the series with the first book.

crier's war - fantasy - I abandoned this because the writing wasn't very good but everyone sings it praises so you might want to try it

[roydeezed]

Pretty much right after posting this, I had an idea that solidified my belief that Imu is Lili, but I wanted to let it marinate before I talked about it. Some time has passed and my thoughts are no clearer so I guess I'll just pull the trigger. I'll expand below the cut.

But first, I did see this theory that Imu is Lily's daughter, connecting it to the Donquixotes and Dressrosa. While I don't fully subscribe to it, it's probably more likely than Lili as not only have the Donquixotes resurfaced through Myosgard, but the concept of greed has been prevalent all throuughout, ever since we found out about York's betrayal. Also the childlike silhouette of Imu gives credence to this as well. In my eyes the piece of evidence that would support this the most would be the fact that Imu would then be considered a Princess, one of the most important repeated titles and motifs in the One Piece world. It would be an incredible reversal of the moments in the story where Luffy has saved Princesses such as Vivi, Rebecca and Shirahoshi.

While that is convincing, I see Lili being Imu as the more interesting choice thematically and thus I prefer it and believe in it a bit more. So if Lili was Imu then that would mean she would be over 800 years old. So quite obviously she would have gotten the Ope Ope No Mi operation done on her. That means there's a really great possibility that she was trusted and loved. And going back to Rayleigh's words earlier in the post, the truth might not be as black and white as they hoped, with the Ancient Kingdom that was ganged up on being the bad guy. Which I believe to be the case because what could be more interesting in an Immortal Villain than twisted dreams?

What do I mean by that? So this is a hypothetical, and purely based on the destructive powers of the Ancient Kingdom and Rayleigh's words, but walk with me a little bit into this highly speculative theory. Imagine, a Kingdom as powerful as the Ancient Kingdom. In the world of One Piece just as in our world, an institution with that much organized power inevitably becomes corrupt. And just like the Revolutionary Army is doing now, the 20 Kingdoms rose up and defeated the Ancient Kingdoms. And, in a bid to make sure the world stayed fair and just, outwardly they presented themselves as equals to one another, but inwardly trusted the rule and dream of a just world to one of their own, The Immortal Queen Lili Nefertari. But just like how the system continues if only the cogs get replaced, the 20 Kingdoms became as corrupt as the Ancient Kingdom. Not just as a result of continuing a broken system, but also having a broken dream. A dream that has no end. No goal. Functionally just a keeper of status quo. And in trying to honour her fallen comrades, Lili became more and more corrupt until she became the type of person who would erase a country off of the map for revolting.

We've seen corrupted dreams before. Traditions in the form of the trees of Shandora. Except now the rot is a moral one in Imu. I personally feel like this, though it borders on fanfiction, is a much more interesting take and more in line with Oda's ideals. And it would lead nicely into the last person Luffy saving basically being a princess. So yeah. A bit of a stretch and a bit of a walk but I think we'll find out quite soon what the truth really is.

One Piece-Chapter Round-Up(Chapter 1084)

Hai Hai! I’ve been a little MIA recently as I’d been a little busy finishing up a personal project of mine, but now I’m back in full force to do a whole lot of analysin’. But before we get to that I want to talk about how cool Luffy looks on the cover of Jump! That’s our Captain! Alright, see ya below the cut mateys!

Oda cuts to the chase right away and has Bonney and Sabo meet. I’d been wondering what their roles were going to be as the Revo’s were the main force behind freeing Kuma. And Sabo’s already got the keys. This shows how Oda’s going to bridge the gap narratively between the two stories of Egghead and the Reverie. It’s the perfect way to leave us on a cliffhanger and transition to the Strawhats at the same time.

If the theories of the “Shock” sent around the world from Egghead about it being a dissemination of information are true, Bonney could provide the context to Luffy and get him on her side through mentioning Sabo. Since they separated, they could get two different parts of the same puzzle that only we’ll be able to see. Though I do wonder what Sabo does after this since he’s accomplished his main mission. At the very least we know he goes to the throne room. 

Oda also casually drops another mystery through the mention of the Phantom Room. Some guards were disappeared because they saw it. We know it’s not the throne room, that has it’s own name and is also referred to as the Empty Throne. And this room is called the Room of Flowers.

So it could be one of these frozen rooms Imu was in while they played around with the posters of Vivi during the Reveries. But Imu seems to take a while to get down them, so how would a normal guard even get that far. 

I also want to take this moment to bring up some motifs around Imu. There’s a theory floating around that Im is a stuck in time queen of Alabasta. I like this theory because of the following ideas that seem to surround Im. One is the idea of things being frozen. They go into this vault that’s all cased over with Ice. And in the chapter they’re introduced in, there’s a heavy emphasis on the ever-lasting beauty of princesses through Vivi and Shirahoshi. With the way Oda connects ideas together, this lends a lot of credence to the Princess Lili theory. Not only that. But think about how the cyclical storytelling of One Piece has always surrounded the saving of Princesses. Nami was a blueprint (we can get to my crackpot theory on that one day) that was perfected through Vivi and Shirahoshi and Rebecca. 

And this perfectly leads into the discussion Cobra has with the Gorosei. First of all, let’s talk about how badass Cobra is, because he knows that death is on the line. People have been killed for saying much less and to the Gorosei no less. But focus on the contents of what Cobra is saying. Because if the Lili = Imu = Main Bad Guy theory is true, then Oda revealed the bad guy all the way back in Alabasta! If Lili didn’t join the Celestial Dragons then we all assumed she came back. Or back then we assumed the monarch of Alabasta just didn’t go up to Marejois. But we didn’t consider the possibility that instead of not joining them, the monarch actually ruled them!

The Straw Hat Grand Fleet Represent! And Mjosgard. Who’s development I love. He’s also of the Donquixote family so I wonder if there’s some inherent pattern with them not being able to keep their Celestial Dragon status. Also Charloss gets another deserved beating, first from Luffy and now from his subordinates. It’s so cathartic. Though unfortunately, as it was earlier referred to as an “Attempted Murder” we know he’s not dead. Ya almost had him Leo! Also I just briefly want to touch on how badass Morley is. Karasu is my favourite but Morley is probably the strongest out of the four commanders. Not only did she break out of Impel Down, possibly even before Shiki, but she lead the infiltration into the territories of the God’s and held her own against an admiral.

Okay so one more thing that I’m sure has been talked about but I haven’t seen talked about is the fact that Imu’s name backwards is Umi, which means Sea in Japanese (Thank You Yu-Gi-Oh!). With the mentions of the secret treasure of Marejois and Imu’s name being related to such a big force in the One Piece world, she has to command some all powerful power, maybe even a sea fruit or something like that. Or hold some relation to why Devil Fruit User’s can’t  swim. 

Arriving at the last page and basically all throughout mentions of the Void Century, I always have one panel flashing in front of my eyes. This one:

“The answers you will arrive at may be different from ours…” This statement always screamed to me that the answer of the true history will not be as clear cut as we wanted. As in the way that we see the Celestial Dragons to be villains might not be what’s actually reflected by history. While it is interesting Oda highlighted York’s greed right before this, I still think the Celestial Dragons could have had a good reason to take down the Ancient Kingdom. (If anyone’s watched TTGL, I’m thinking along the lines of the whole Spiral/Anti-Spiral thing if you know what I mean). And with the main bad guy having some relation to a sympathetic party, I feel like Oda is setting the stage for some real twists and turns. There are a few other options, such as Imu being in a love with Lili, and Lili leaving to start Amazon Lily (P.S. Imu could’ve totally done that in her down time and returned) or Imu being Lily’s child, but we still need more information. All this chapter leaves us with is more questions. And with a break week next, we’re just gonna have to wait. 

[sly-merlin]

S A C R I F I C E

SACRIFICE - A STORY OF LOVE, BETRAYAL, REVENGE AND BARGAINING

CHARACTERS : prince jaehyun x princess y/n

GENRE : fluff, angst.

WORD COUNT : 7k

TIME PERIOD : OF SHY GLANCES AND BLOOD BATHS. WHERE LOVE IS FORBIDDEN AND HATRED NOT.

WARNINGS : Includes dirt play, revenge. Major character deaths like MAJOR, mentions of blood, murder, killing, assassination and an explicit scene of killing.  Cw : food mentions  SMUT WARNING : kissing! mentions of undressing.

DISCLAIMER : THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. FICTION. FICTION. NO DESCRIPTION REPRESENTS OR GIVE ANY HINTS TO JAEHYUN'S REAL LIFE CHARACTER. 

a/n : part of heartbreakhotel monthly event by precious network @nct-writers

SUMMARY : heart in one hand, a blade in another. Which one goes down under the weight of other? Who is brave enough to sacrifice the other?

The shimmering, colourful, geometrical patterns of the bronze kaleidoscope motivated your heels to exultant jumps, simply sending tingles to your friend's mind who quietly stood beside you wondering what new pattern had caught your eye this time. She was equally excited yet waited for you to be absolutely gratified. After all, a pattern viewed once could never be seen twice or remembered long enough to be claimed to have hit our eyes.

The light hues of the unreachable sun coloured the small market in its natural glow making terrible winter evening walks a little more bearable .You loved it. You loved the scenery, all the more so because it was deemed to be yours. Every corner of this small kingdom had your father's crown engraved on it yet you weren't permitted to move around in a place you dared to call your own. Hence the poorly patched long cotton skirt and lazily stitched full sleeved shirt covered you like you were a fugitive in disguise or maybe belonged to some impoverished village. Same was the case with your pretty friend who, once averse to your youthful shenanigans, found the silver jewellery most fascinating in the whole market and not to omit the street food that turned the palace food to be flavourless.

 You had never been very keen on lying to your parents, popularly called the rulers of the kingdom and your poor attendants who thought you were busy with your evening naps that you had suddenly taken upon a liking towards since the past month. But it was a necessity for you. Roaming in the same humongous rooms no more satiated your travelling mind. You wanted to be out, to be free, to just breach all the restrictions you were placed under as a princess to satisfy the hollow rules. As much as your morals and conscience despised hiding truth, this little game you played harmed no soul. Your safety was their priority and you were safe and secure as long as you didn’t leave her side. And this excuse inadvertently spiralled you in this endless circle of hide and seek taking control over your better judgement, throwing the need to pause this rendezvous in the background. What once done out of curiosity and to experience the fanatic lives of your subjects, was now a sine qua non. From patiently performing and learning new tasks suiting your position to skillfully diverting your maids, you indeed had all the prerequisites to be the best queen of your future kingdom. Even though the praise of achievement always resided only in your head, you found yourself to be impressively regal.

"Let me have a look too, y/n" zara, your dear friend pleaded not so politely.

Reluctantly removing the device from your eyes, you pushed it onto her hands, backing away slightly, allowing her in the space.

"Why don't you go and look at some silver jewellery instead?" Huffing, you suggested to lure her.

“The new ones arrive next monday!” Not paying heed to your tender, she kept smiling, enthralled by the beauty captured between the pieces of mirrors.

You nudged her playfully, the action meant to drive her to the end of her patience but she dogged your efforts with continuous giggles. Relentless you were too and she was always reminded of that in a hard way. What your elbow failed to do, your fingers completed. As soon as your fingers in her ears, she bitterly pulled herself away to face you.

“This is unfair y/n. This hour of freedom is not for your pleasure only” puckering her lips, she said while her eyes squinted at you. 

Suddenly, her forehead was smeared with thoughtful lines, “y/n! It’s been twenty minutes already. Where is your lover?” surprise rained over her whole face, “Do you think he got caught?”

You were almost ready to refute her former statement that he certainly wasn’t your lover yet but her latter question of suspicion appalled you and there was no need for her to ask you any further as she noticed your face shrinking, distorting your pretty lips into a worrisome pout. She immediately left the metal device, focusing on you.

“hey! I am not serious. I was just trying to distract you” as she cupped your face, a pout of her own greeted you.

Her words were not reassuring at all. There was no unlikelihood of what she said. Jaehyun was, without any doubt, illustrious in the fouled game you both played but neither his family resided here nor was he allowed to enter the premises of your kingdom. The said man was corrupted by his youthful glow that granted him enough courage of frisking around the walls of the forbidden territory.

Inhaling sharply, you uncloaked your worry,

“do you think he real-

“no no absolutely not love. He’s too clever for that and he’s been doing since months, way longer than me and you! Let’s wait for a few more minutes.” Cupping your chin, she jested and cooed, “Also won't he perish without seeing your beautiful face. He would be here any minute!”

 Just when you responded to her with a grim nod, a well acquainted shoulder bumped into you, mitigating your distress with a familiar touch. eyes closed in relief, you looked at zara for approval which was given right away with a playful wink.

Giggling like a little child, you skipped to the back of the market where jaehyun waited for you every evening. Hiding your face in the silk grey scarf, you sneaked away avoiding everyone’s sight and waiting for your arrival, Jaehyun stood there with the lower half of his face concealed with a black cotton headcover. 

As soon as he saw you, the hand glueing the cloth to his face fell down and his face lit up with a smile worthy of putting stars to shame if compared. The wrinkles on his face and the dips in the cheeks had you wanting to hide in those spaces, away from everyone who had heralded this union to be forbidden.

 There you stood, staring into his dark eyes like he wasn't someone you were supposed to keep a good distance from. 

But the light in his eyes diminished on seeing your excited face.

"You did that again! Why don’t you follow anything I say to you? At least, look back and confirm my presence. What if someone had followed me?” deeply whispering, he frowned at you.

And fondly, you smiled at him, something that he never found fascinating but it still left him flustered.

"Don't smile at me like that. I won't melt this ti-

"I apologise?"

You blurted out taking him by surprise. His mouth opened and closed several times, body slightly rocking in confusion. Finally, he spoke, 

"I didn't mean it like that." His voice softened, "i just can't - 

Cleaning his muddy hands on his pajamas, he placed them on your cheeks, engulfing your whole face with his long fingers.

"I just can't see you in danger. If any of my uncle’s spies came wandering and recognised you at this hour, they'd not hesitate to slit your throat y/n" the way his face contorted as he recited the known truth,  it was evident how just the mention of it was painful to him. "Don't follow unless you see my face. I know there's no one harming you in your own country but you never know when odds might defeat you" 

"Do you-

You began but his questioning eyes stopped you. His eyes talked only in worry and love. Both for you. But even if you were content with what he showered you with, greed for little more was something you never deemed unnecessary.

"I what?" 

You wanted to continue but the perpetual worry planted on his face disturbed you as well.

"Jaehyun-'' your fingers brushed away the strand of hair on his face, “I mean don’t you find it tedious? Giving me the same instructions every other day, wasting the ten minutes of the limited time we get.”

He left your face and focused on cleaning the remaining dirt from his hand. To avoid suspicions and blend into the environment, he always covered his hands in mud, giving an impression of a forlorn daily worker. Nobody questioned a person who looked homeless and unhappy, even if he meandered near the barbed wires.

“I got in trouble.”

You hadn’t even sat down on the bench and he was already bombarding you apprehensions.

“how?” inaudibly, you asked.

He broke his eyes away before responding,

“they saw me leaving the palace yesterday. From tomorrow, I shall be accompanying my cousin to verify the supplies in the production department.” his chuckle forced you to let out one as well. his irresponsible behaviour had fables of its own, as jaehyun had told you once. the little penalties he was subjected to weren’t discomforting either but this time it involved you as well.

“for how long?”

 “my family’s care agenda would hopefully end within two weeks and then I shall be free again. but we might need a new place and new time too.”

His words were muffled in the back as your eyes remained transfixed on his hand sheepishly rubbing his neck. Under your inappropriate scrutiny, he found himself tinting and your strong gaze posed more problems for his already thumping heart.

He coughed you out of your daze, eyes wavering everywhere. Picking your lip, you suppressed your giggles.

Finger under your chin, you pretended contemplation. Your comical stance earned a groan from him,

“how about you get serious for once and I’ll buy you steamed food.”

Smiling widely, your greedy stomach took the offer immediately.

“not everyone lacks intelligence, prince jaehyun.”

He huffed and crossed his arms, feigning offence at your statement. “Now what are you implying princess y/n.”

“that I might already have a place decided. So hurry up now and feed me food while telling me about your day.”

“You are impressive, my lady! How am I going to live with your notorious self?”

“you plan on living with this notorious princess?” you clowned even though his question showed you more than just a hope.

“the inquiry hour is closed princess and so would be the shops if you choose to delay more. Soooo, shall we leave?”

Responding to your sharp gaze, he took your hand and pressed his plump lips onto them, disrupting the chain of your rational thoughts.

As the atmosphere tuned cooler and he bid adieu, you went back with a new assurance, ready to put your life on hold for the next few weeks.

lying on your back, you let out muffled giggles to celebrate another successful classified evening. clothes were changed, chess was out. You were prepared for any intrusion.

Zara's laughter soon died down, happy and heavy breaths replacing them. Seated on your bed, she faced you,

"So my courageous y/n, did you confess today?"

Abruptly you raised yourself, looking at her in bewilderment,

“Of course not!”

“What? Why not? What are you waiting for? Time is slipping away love.”

“I know. I just want to be a little more sure before taking this a step further. I do not want to misjudge his momentary affection for a promised future.The detestation our families share for each other has always proven to be deadly. Unless I’m sure that jaehyun’s feelings are indisputable, I shall not be proceeding." Mumbling out the last part, you began playing with the hem of your deep blue skirt to hide the disappointment that settled in within your heart. 

"Okay. I can't force you but do know that saving your heart from misery is better. Oh and does the poor boy have any hint about me." Zara advised lacing her words with a chuckle in the end. 

"Don't worry. You are just a maid friend whom I love and trust the most. He believes each of my pretty lies you know.”

"Oh my love. He truly fancies you. I wish your brother wasn't so incapable of harbouring feelings. How delightful life could have been only if he was like you." She wistfully spoke just like other times. Your heart hurt for her. She never got the love she was capable of giving yet the kindness never withered away. She was just like that. 

Soon your peace was interrupted and you were escorted to the dinner table. 

There sat your parents with their favourite child. You weren't loved any less yet it weakened your heart, watching them walking past your capabilities to applaud his undistinguished skills. His gender screamed for power when his capabilities barely had any knowledge of whispering about them. You abhorred it. Not your brother for he was raised with a rode in his neck but the stars that never aligned in your favour crushing your dream of wearing the crown for your own kingdom, under the grime rules made by those who were dead. Only god and zara knew how much hatred you held for your ruthless ancestors who never favoured women.

Sans any relish, you bit on the food which definitely tasted better for something you were not very fond of. but the almost good meal was ridden of all the salt as you felt conscious of their eyes on your face.

"Is there something you want to say to me?" you asked with a reluctantly polite voice.

That's when you noticed how their attention was divided to both you and zara.  Your brother Donghae’s serious eyes bored into her face as she tried to avoid him while sitting right across him on the dining table.

Finally your mother spoke.

“Donghae was looking for you throughout the whole evening, zara.”

Zara lowered her head, look on her face screaming help which only you understood so you took the charge on her behalf,

“We were in my room.”

“And what is so important in your room that you both chose to ignore constant calls from your maids?”

“After an exhausting and unentertaining day, we both play chess, share all the amusing stories of our respective days, details of which can be given to you if asked with some enthusiasm and then we sleep for an hour, in peace without anyone spitting orders on our faces and since when have my brother changed so much that he actually got some time to look for his wife?”

“May I know from where this disrespectful flow of words is coming through? Is this a way to talk to your elders?”

“I mean no disrespect, mother.”

“This ends today. From tomorrow you shall be spending those two hours with our bakery chef.”

Instead of your mother, you directed your next plead to your father, who was an expert in nodding at household matters

“No! This is the only time I get with zara. within a year or two i’ll be married off to some rude man who won’t even let me put my feet outside the threshold of his palace.” pouting, you said.

Waving his hand, he dismissed the matter that meant whoever got the last sentence was the conqueror of the discussion.

"Why are you here?" Counting and aligning the stars to form another shape, he interestingly asked.

"I wanted to explore this dead garden. What about you? What brings you here in the enemy land?" You jested.

"to meet a very beautiful enemy."

"a woman?"

"Yes yes. She's a woman. A very pretty one I must say but very feisty and dangerous to be around."

"Oh how so?" You asked now genuinely interested in his description of yours.

"I've heard she has a heart of stone."

"Huh? Have you seen her heart to be so sure of your accusation?"

"I've enough instances to prove that."

"Like?"

"She meets a handsome prince, spends an hour staring at his eyes with all but love and still chooses to stay silent. It's a dangerous game she's playing with him. It almost - it hurts him."his fatalistic expression left you stunned. The ancillary confession beleaguered your heart instead of calming the storm.

Nibbling on your bottom lip, you tried your best to focus on the constellations instead. you pulled the poor blade of grass harder in a futile attempt of breaking it apart but it was snatched from you.

“answer me.” He demanded the answer that was resting on the tip of your tongue.

"I love you."

He blurted out and you felt his fingers finding home in yours as he interlocked them. the moisture of the grass swamped your hands and you finally found your warmth within each other.

“the whole palace is under your charm y/n” you stopped the stirring at zara’s words.

“how so?”

“they haven’t seen your wrath in the past few weeks. You didn’t shout at minji for throwing your burnt cake either.”

Swatting her hand away from the pot, you replied, “let them enjoy their peace days.”

“may god bless jaehyun! The whole palace is saved until you are happy.” Bumping her shoulders into yours, she took the charge from you. “what about the haunted garden y/n. aren’t you afraid of going there. it’s been weeks and I haven’t heard you screaming about any ghost.”

You scoffed at her naive self, “the only ghost that haunts the garden is in ME!” dragging the last part, you successfully scared her into dropping the ladle in the hot pot. Resultantly, she chases you off in the whole kitchen until you agree to turn the muddle of vegetables into something edible.

Jaehyun’s presence generated so much happiness within your soul that you were afraid one unfortunate day would snatch him from you yet you never fought against the urge to drown in the love he poured on you. He mirrored the boy you met in your books, just as dreamy, if not more. His princely chiselled face was a sight to die for. He was a typical example of a lotus, a beautiful flower born in mud where it lived and died and you wanted to change that for him.

“What do you fear the most?”

Nestling your face in his neck, you couldn’t help but ask the question. He snuggled you closer to him, the sheet beneath you crumpling making the leaves and the grass it covered rustling under you. He shifted his head only to face your hair. Removing his one hand from your waist, he moved your chin to inspect you. He never understood how you came up with most bizzare and inquiring questions. But he was always more than happy to speak or in this case, express.

“that I will forever remain indebted to you.”

grasping his hand that held your chin, you saw him gulp down the words he hesitated to utter. 

"Love is not a debt jae. Just keep loving me like this, make me hap-

Abruptly your view of him changed as he floated over your figure. Resting your head on the sheet, his fingers traced the path along your face, feeling every inch of the skin he had learned to admire from afar. With adoration filled eyes, he drew nearer.

His lips were delicate against yours. Moving gently, he comforted your vulnerable ones, winning a pleased and dry whine from your throat. Hands dropping to your neck, his lips travelled down to your jaw where he sucked lightly at a candied spot and the little tickle kisses he gave you reaching your collarbones left you squealing in its wake. He hovered over your face again, this time to taste the bliss you felt and courageously, you pulled him closer and like it was designed, Mist of delight clouded your minds as  you forgot your fingers in his nape. If finding stars in his eyes was your expression of love then dancing against your pulsating lips, he perfectly found his interpretation as well. 

He drew back when he was done with bruising your skin. Staring into your eyes, he asked for something. With a blink of the same, you conveyed it. 

Curving your back, you allowed him to unzip the lavender dress you were wearing. As he uncovered your skin, he greeted it with beautiful, praiseworthy kisses, covering you with his undying love.

That night he resuscitated you, sending you into an oblivion. 

The reason being the incantations that he served you with.

I wish to give you a ring!

And the simple words resonated the promise that you could hardly wait for him to fulfill.

Sympathy combining some unknown feeling washed over you as you heard your father talking about the neighbouring kingdoms and the pitiful state they were in. you had always known about the lack of resources those people lived with but that was the end. It was just a topic of discussion and theory to learn about the blunders of their ancestors and the brutal history of their treason to an old ally, your father and grandfather.

With a contempt laced tongue, once again, your father recited the story of betrayal of the lees and the jungs. The story was religiously told to every child once they were old enough to understand the terms like loyalty, allegiance, infidelity and betrayal.

You had vowed to change that. a seed of hatred planted in a younger mind would only yield a crop of vengeance. you aspired to end it. Jaehyun, too, wanted to wash the stains of treachery from his family name.  

 To your dismay, the army was out to roam the small towns and villages, looking for trespasser enemies. 

One day, you were resting in jaehyun's arms and the next day, you were left to sulk as the guards had suddenly decided to reaffirm the reliability of all the hinges. The doors were smacked, locked and unlocked, leaving you with million suspicions and a heavy heart. 

The only assurance you had, was in Jaehyun's capability of fooling the security forces. Proud as you were, the unsettling feeling of a blurred future did not let you sleep. For three nights.

Jaehyun wrapped his arms around your waist, hugging you tightly from behind.

“easy jaehyun! it tickles!” you exclaimed while controlling your giggling.

“i thought you won’t be here tonight but yo-

“but i managed to sneak!” you finished, turning in his arms to see his beautiful face glistening in the moonlight. “and i don’t know for how much longer i can fool my attendants, what if one day they got in trouble for negligence. The security is doubled outside all the chambers. If I pulled anything, father would not hesitate to behead them.” your face dimmed with the mere thought of the fate of your precious maids and if anything happened to them, your soul would be forever encumbered with the guilt. 

your worried eyes didn’t escape jaehyun as he leaned forward to give you a small kiss, soothing your nerves. the small peck left you wanting for more as you bit your lower lip in anticipation of his further actions.

“nothing would happen. it’s been 2 months and nobody in the whole kingdom knows where and with whom their gorgeous princess spends her nights! and besides i’m here to ease the worries of your forever wandering mind. "

"Why do you always have to talk in riddles jae!"

He laughed through your smacks before circling your figure twice, leaving you staggered and dumbfounded.

"What are yo-

"I'm serious. I’m just here to fulfil my promise love.” he caught and pulled you again, keeping just a little distance between you both

“what promise? i don’t remember anything!” you asked genuinely perplexed by his words. as far as your memory too you, the only promise he made was-

your eyes widened at the realisation! jaehyun removed his one hand from your waist, putting it inside the pocket of his pants.

at this point, you could hear your own thumping heart whilst looking at him expectantly.

“let’s relieve you of a huge burden my princess!” he said with a smiling face but as you tried to mirror his expression, a sharp pain coursed through your abdomen.

you wobbled as he left your waist, the pain doubling when he pulled the small knife out of your body, a smirk adorning his features instead.

your body felt hotter than ever as the blood slowly oozed out of your abdomen. no scream left your lips as you pressed the wounded area in a try to lessen the ache.

The solemn tears falling down the cheeks were not for the physical damage but for the broken promise Jaehyun had bestowed upon you with.

“wh-why?” was the only word you could form before your other hand went to grab his arm but was only met with air.

jaehyun loomed closer and his knife met your stomach once again, this time a grievous shriek filled the silent garden. 

Your legs lost life, your body finding it harder to withstand the twist of the knife as you fell on the grass, darkness consuming your soul.

“because i couldn’t be on the throne as long as the heir of this kingdom was alive. but your death won’t be worthless love. I shall wear the crown of your sacrifice and reclaim all the lost honour.”

Instead of a deep breath as you had expected, a choked sob left your lips and the whole body convulsed with the painful effort.

Your eyes remained glued to him as he rubbed his face with this sleeve regarding you with the cruelty you never knew he was capable of.

contempt in his orbs served as his last offering towards you as he exited your sight, calling for someone.

After what felt like years, you heard a human voice again but your body gave up before you could comprehend anything. 

“you did it my boy!”

Jinyoung broke his hateful glare from the throne and patted a demented jaehyun on the back, congratulating his prime pawn for the successful acquisition. The so called disqualified heirs were now the rulers, a dream that was once broken by their backstabbing friend, the now murdered king of this kingdom.

“and you shall be rewarded for you have made your deceased father proud.” Hand caressing Jaehyun's shoulder, he pretended to wipe the few tears that escaped due to the bitter memory. Cleaning his eyes with the sleeve of his dusted robe, he took the gold crown from his younger brother, jinseok and ran his eyes from jaehyun to the majestic chair on the silver podium.

With pride clotted blood, Jaehyun bowed to him before taking his seat.

The crown was set atop his head, fitting him without any doubt.

It weighed more than he thought.

With a sinister smile, his uncle ordered the assassination of all the loyal members of court.

Guards were beheaded and bodies were counted.

The palace was foraged, to find and kill all the runaways.

A manhunt was announced for the one who wasn’t found.

Nobody knew there were more to be found.

The triumphant smile lit Jaehyun's face for he lost nothing.

Three weeks later.  

Donghae’s hands lost all the strength, the plastic bag filled with potatoes now rolling down the uneven and mud washed floor of the hut.

The day he had been anticipating with broken hope and glistening eyes was not a dream anymore.

Your fingers finally trembled against the hard, rugged and rough mattress.

You had decided to open your eyes after three weeks.

Finally he allowed himself to cry.

I'm going under and this time I fear there's no one to save me

Crown hanging between his fingers, his gaze pierced the ground.

You were lying there three weeks ago.

Were you taken away?

Were you no more?

There was no probability of inhaling after how perfectly he had spun his knife.

No man had ever survived his knife, not even his own teacher. There was no way you could have. All the odds were in his favour for all the cards being played with accuracy.

Did he hope for your life?

You were an enemy, just a play. Then why the thought of never beholding you again hurt him so much. 

why the weight of the crown crumbled on him with such intensity.

Why did he choose your chamber to stay in?

Yet Why was he unable to sleep?

He grew up seeking answers and  taking orders and this time there was no one to respond to his cries.

Neither did anyone care enough to ask him the reason for his quotidian visits to the garden.

I let my guard down and then you pulled the rug

It wasn’t home. But the eyes looking back at you undeniably reminded you of it. A day has passed since you saw the light of the world again but all you did was listen to the gut-wrenching fate your family had met with. Half of the family!

Your parents were murdered in the coup premeditated  by none other than the neighbouring jungs. What was equally agonising was the fact that your brother never got to give your parents a respectable farewell. The troops had charged upon their sleepy selves and the mere hanging crown on the naked and bloodied sword of jin young was enough of a proof of the successful attack. Their escape hadn't been easy either but with a little help from the general, they had managed to flee. Zara had led them to you. 

 Unknown fear consumed you as you read your surroundings. But it was time you admitted to your mistakes and faced the consequences. If there were any brutal ones left. There was nothing you would be unable to endure. So you began with the unanswered questions.

“what is this place?” you asked with a sore throat.

“this is jung’s territory. They are too blinded by their victory that this barren land is the last place they would send their troops to.” donghae replied, feeding you spoonfuls of the soup.

“But how did we reach here?"

"Through the underground war doors. They once joined both of our territories before the jungs were disqualified from trading. This end was opened by our general when we lost too much blood. Their bloody nephew is sitting on the throne, uniting this useless kingdome with ours." He seethed. 

You bit your lip to compose yourself. you knew you had to tell them about jaehyun and a broken trust was the last thing you wanted to inject in him but necessity clawed on your heart to reveal everything.

Caressing your face, he acidly began, 

"We'll take back everything. No one shall be spared. We are contacting our alliances. By next month, our kingdom would be in the state of siege. Every drop of blood shall be avenged. Jaehyun would pay for what he did."

At his mention, you withdrew your sight from him. Guilt crept up within you as you tried to affiliate every past event with the current one. It was clear as day you were a mere instrument to find a place for the entry of their troops. You were just a puppet. Unknowingly, you had allowed them to enter your parent's bedroom too. You had blood on your hands. Of countless people.

A single tear slipped and the lack of his expression on your face scared zara. She ran to occupy the other side of the bed and caught your head before you broke down in her arms. Jaehyun's lies and betrayal of your love was left somewhere in an old rusted chest of your mind and the pure anguish shattered you into millions of pieces.

You wailed yourself to sleep. 

Jaehyun visited you that night. In the form of dust. And he continued breaching your peace as if killing you once wasn't enough.

Now the day bleeds, into nightfall and you are not here, to get me through it all.

Jaehyun woke up in cold sweat. When was the last time he slept with an easy mind? 

Maybe the week before he was ordered to finish off what he had started. 

He changed rooms. 

He changed floors.

But his eyes never closed for even the minor chances of meeting you in the dreamland scared him to death. 

With a trembling hand, he picked up the crown and threw it away.

Amusingly, you were still dead.

Were you really that foolish?

Perhaps you resembled every other weak hearted person for whom a pinch of affection was a desperate call to sell their soul and rationality.

You had just wanted to walk down the markets without any constraints pulling you back in. Skipping in the shadows while hiding from the sun was the only desire you had. 

Why had he bumped his shoulder into yours? Why had he repeated it again and again until had grown to recognise his touch even through the thick layers of clothing and masked faces?

It's amusing how we end up finding each other in the same place at same time everyday

He had said with a sugary tone when you had questioned him sternly. 

You had believed him.

I'm prince Jaehyun, from the other side. I just came here to see the beauty that our place doesn't possess. It's all barren and discarded. No healthy vegetables. No dry fruits. I just enjoy myself every evening and buy some good food for some poor kids. You won't mention this to anyone right? I’ll leave right away if you want though!

How righteous had he sounded!

We'll propose unification and then everything will come to life again. No bloodshed. No backstabbing. No spy plays. We’ll never let history blemish our future.

How had he managed to contradict each and every word he had spoken. 

he just changed like the patterns in the kaleidoscope as if you had never reflected in the mirrors of his heart. 

Perhaps you never did.

You despised his way of fulfilling his Imperishable love for you! 

You were relieved Zara had been the one to inform your brother of this leading cause.

How ruthless he could have been!

You wanted to give his whole kingdom a new life and all he could give you in return was a knife. 

I was getting kinda used to being the someone you loved

Jaehyun's fingers turned green for how harshly he picked at the grass. Picking at those innocent blades didn't bring you back. 

His cries thundered in the air. He begged for the time to turn itself. He yearned for the love you had shown him. He missed your warmth. He missed your careless laughs. His heart shrieked for you. The only person he had ever loved. The only being who had ever loved him.

 Why he couldn't have saved himself from being the traitor of the heart he could've ruled!

You stared at the heavy corset that was made to safeguard you.

You were no expert with a blade but still one was handed over to you as precaution. 

The general read you the instructions, mainly focusing on the need to remain hidden underground until the war was over. You and Zara were to be kept away from the weapons. 

That was what the commandments directed you to follow.

Today, the wind blew harsher. Maybe he was the only one to feel the strange stillness in the disorder. Everything had been imprudently loud for him lately. Even the riots that shook the doors of the palace. How long could they have held onto something that never belonged to them! 

As he dismissed the servant who called him to take charge against your brother, his mind pressed upon bolting all the heavy doors to ignore the murderous stream. He had led one army before but now lacked the courage to pick up his knife and sword, the ones he buried right in the garden where you once laid.

You.

The broken look on your face was the image he wanted to delete from the depths of his mind so desperately yet your presence never left him alone. Maybe it was the sanction of the heavens that you were always there with him. In his days and in his dreams. He got all of your portraits removed yet here you were, standing in front of him with a smile on your face. A quiet rare sight. The radiant face, if not impossible to find, was still very infrequent even in his dreams. The air smelled of you. The atmosphere was enticing. Suddenly, he wanted to chase his dream, to go after you. 

So he followed his heart. 

Your illusion stayed still, with curved lips making you look ethereal. Even in the darkness, your face illuminated the way for him.

His hand rose, hoping to touch you even though the rational part of his head screamed that it was a lie created by him to save himself from another night of misery but he failed to listen and caved in. Like each time, he expected his hand to pass through you, breaking the charm of his fabrication of you. 

But here he was. 

Instead of passing through the smoke that you were supposed to be, his hand rested upon the gentle skin that your face had. Retracting his fingers immediately, he fell back in fear, eyes widening and chest heaving. 

You were anything but an illusion. 

His hand grazed against your cheek before he fell down, stumbling upon his own feet. The crown that decorated his head too withdrew its support, lying on the floor like it had recognised its lawful owner.

"My king." Solemnly, you addressed him. "I hope you are enjoying your new home and title."

As you talked, you watched him collecting himself. As he unclogged the blocks of his mind, awe transformed his face momentarily shaping itself into trepidation. To your disbelief, he brightened up once again. Had he not been liable for the ghastly crimes, you’d have sympathised with the deranged state of the always self possessed jaehyun. Alas! You had nothing to offer him.

Shuffling on his knees, with his head bowed lowly, he spoke with dead voice,

"Forgive me, please." He cried into his joined hands.

"Get up jaehyun. A mighty and worthy king like you doesn't look very honourable bowing to a mere woman like me." Your dangerously honeyed voice resembled the ominous dark clouds brooding atop his head. 

But you admired his valor for he kept apologising, burning himself with the false hope of undoing the indelible smudge he had left on you.

"I thought i never loved you y/n but i was utterly wron-

"You are a deceiver King jaehyun. Do not expect me to believe you." 

"Don't call me that please!" 

"Get up jaehyun." you barked. 

"I hate myself for doing that to you y/n." Getting up slowly, he repeated twice. You were yet to see his face and when he rose to his full height, you were met with his bloodshot eyes that could've ached you if your heart hadn't been damaged to the core.

"Don't hate yourself please. You made your family proud. That is what we kids should be aiming for right. I truly admire you for that King jaehyun." The emotionless stress on the end made him close his eyes in pain as he choked out another heart wrenching sob. 

"I'm truly sorry y/n, please. I can't take your hatred. I don't want this crown nor do i want to live here anymore."

Your stomach churned at his cries. You had truly underestimated his capability to surprise you but it only made you grip harder on the knife that was tucked in your waistband.

“How naive of you to think that I'll fall for your lies again, jaehyun.”

Rubbing his face with his palms, he looked heavenward,

"No no. I love you. I really really love you.I never realised this until now. I just can’t live without you” and continued as his glistened eyes met yours, “Why are you not listening to me?"

"Don't you think you are a bit late for a true confession."

"Yours was true right. Your love was conditionless. I swear on your love! Forgive me once please. Love is the strongest, you told me this right. I just need you y/n. not this crown. Not anyone else. Just you, Please." 

A mean scoff left your lips, "Yes, i was the one who told you about love being the most powerful but that was until you taught me the strength of hatred, jaehyun. You knifed me out of the fairytales i dreamt with you and i don't think i can ever thank you enough for that. The love you are so profoundly swearing to is lying under the debris of the hollow pride and the abhorrence you sheltered for my family. You never once heard my pleas of affection and now you expect me to listen to yours?how can you stoop so low?"

You watched him screaming into the air and crumbling down. You saw him going through the pain you would never recover from yourself and you wanted to end it. For him. It was rather painful to watch him so you mumbled his name. 

With newfound belief, he loomed closer with open arms, anticipating a change of heart from you. Maybe you weren't really as unconcerned to him as he had been with you. 

but the long blade mutilated his lungs and silent gasps of pain escaped his throat. His miserable eyes ruined the shield you wore and you screamed at him while repeating the thrusts of the sharp blade. Droplets of vengeance imbued the chilled air, drizzling down your neck in the form of sweat.

Somehow the hall was lit and you were forced to see what you had done to him. His grip on the ground faltered and the blade slipped through your fingers, the clink dangerously reverberating in the hall. 

Before your hand could reach for him, something pointed grazed your shoulder. You wanted to turn around but more and more spikes pierced through you; the heaviness and the pain that seeped through your back launched you forward and you fell down on another body that had been hosted by the marble a few moments ago. The ache of the arrows left you breathless. Once again, you struggled with your eyelids. within a few seconds, relief padded your back and you discontinued your wrestling. 

and perhaps your dead heart was finally at peace.

[listless-brainrot]

The Fire Nation + Zuko’s Redemption

alrighty people asked for this analysis so allow me to try and coherently put my thoughts into a post

let’s get the obvious out of the way- zuko has a pretty solid redemption arc.

from a character and writing standpoint, his redemption is really well fleshed out. there is the constant repetition of needing to actively work towards improvement, there are moments where he gets what he thinks he wants and is still unfulfilled, there is the fact that he doesn’t get better overnight and how severely his familial trauma affects him when it comes to steering him onto the right path. people have analyzed this over and over, and for good reason. it’s interesting to pick apart and watch his growth as the show progresses.

however, there is a small issue with it overall.

zuko’s redemption (as well as part of the show’s narrative) goes from humanizing a fire nation character to redeeming and humanizing the fire nation as a whole alongside the character.

this is an issue because it presents this underlying message of “if one fire nation character can be good, then the rest of the fire nation can be good as well!”, or “if one fire nation character can be redeemed, then all fire nation character can/should be redeemed!”

in the grand scheme of things, this really doesn’t hold up at all.

for one, zuko’s circumstances were way too specific to be applicable to every single fire nation character. he is the crown prince of the fire nation who suffered abuse under his father, was banished and sent to find the avatar at 13, had his uncle with him to guide him towards a better path, and his grandfather was the late avatar roku. you can’t copy and paste these very specific circumstances onto any fire nation character, nor does having these circumstances to begin with immediately qualify a character for redemption.

furthermore, the fire nation is imperialist, and is actively imperialist over the course of the show. there are not many characters, if any, who weren’t complicit with what the fire nation was doing at some point over the course of the show. 

zuko still: is the crown prince of the fire nation, called multiple people peasants, crashed a ship into the southern water tribe looking for the avatar, burned down kyoshi island, stole from various earth kingdom refugees both as and not as the blue spirit, hired a bounty hunter and an assassin when looking for aang, and more. azula still: is the princess of the fire nation, also called multiple people peasants, used power and manipulation to keep people in line, attacked and stole the identity of the kyoshi warriors, colonized ba sing se (which is much more serious than people realize), took over the dai li and brought them to the fire nation, murdered the avatar, and more. 

as the show progresses and we lose characters who are explicitly evil and one-sided (such as commander zhao) and move into moral ambiguity, it’s not just the morality of the characters with which we are presented that are called into question. it’s their very identity as fire nation, and the narrative, which begins to shift in favor of redeeming zuko, also shifts in favor of the fire nation, which is something explicitly stated by the creators.

think about how many episodes in season 2 and 3 are focused on the fn in some way, shape, or form. you develop sympathy for zuko, and, by proxy, the imperialist monarchist nation behind the war.

it isn’t wholly intentional, but the fact that the message of “not ALL fire nation” is still there really rubs me the wrong way, especially considering that the show ends with zuko as the new firelord, instead of abolishing the monarchy altogether. zuko is still the crown prince- it doesn’t matter if he’s “good” now, he’s still continuing the monarchy and benefitting from this system of power. zuko being the firelord instead of ozai won’t change what truly corrupted the fire nation at its core.

i’m aware that this is somewhat explored/deconstructed in the comics, but its handling of the politics regarding of the fire nation still enforce this underlying message, and also redeem other people who actively assisted in the imperialism and colonization, such as the rough rhinos.

bryke’s inherent favoritism of both zuko and the fire nation leaves the audience with a really skewed message regarding the severity of the fire nation’s crimes and impacts on the rest of the nations as a whole, and it’s really unfortunate how sympathetic the literal colonizers become as the show progresses. it’s humanizing, which is good to do with villains sometimes, and can be done right, but when the creators of the show are white, along with a large majority of the writing team, you really have to wonder why exactly said colonizers are humanized to the sharp degree they are in the show.

[erazonpo3]

Lost Legends

Okay so I read Lost Legends: The Rise of Flynn Rider and general thoughts? It was cute and fun, and I have gripes here and there but I can still recommend it. I don't want to compare it to WOWM because it's like apples and oranges but Lost Legends wins points for me by actually acknowledging the TTS storyline and characters, even though it's kinda brief and not quite as... entertaining.

And before I go into the in-depth spoiler review I'll jot down a few thoughts here: there's a lot to be said about tie-in media and 'canon', but where I think it becomes contentious is where two pieces contradict each other, and whether those contradictions necessitate a canonical hierarchy or cancel something out completely. And the reason I'm bringing this up is because while LL borrows TTS lore it also contradicts it? which is. ironic.

but i'll get into that. Spoilers ahead

Basic Summary of The Plot

Our story starts at the Dark Kingdom, with a short prologue. It's all stuff we already know from the series: King Edmund tries to grab the moonstone, his wife dies, Eugene gets sent away for his own safety. What's funny is that Ms Queen still doesn't get a name, but her Lady in Waiting/Handmaiden gets a name (Maeve), and it's Maeve who really drops the ball on dropping Eugene off at an orphanage instead of raising him as Prince Horace. Go girl give us nothing

And from here the LL timeline begins, as Eugene and Arnie are now twelve year olds (I think?) in an orphanage in Corona. Which is the first contradiction to 'canon' but shelve that thought for now. Eugene and Arnie are good little boys but they're getting too old to keep hanging around and the orphanage needs money for the evil Tax Man, so they decide they'll go off into the world and send some money back when they're rich off their famous adventuring. What happens instead is that The Baron's circus rolls into town (yes that Baron) and Eugene and Arnie decide to try their luck signing up for that gig.

To prove themselves to the Baron, Flynn and Lance have to perform a hazing ritual a heist. The heist is literally just to buy a key from the Weasel but it plays out as this huge dramatic thing with a guard chase which is eternally funny to me because two kids walk into a bar, buy a key and then leave, and it's treated like fucking ocean's eleven. The Stabbingtons try to betray them (those guys are here too) but Flynn and Lance outsmart them, beginning a rivalry for the ages. Also, the pub thugs are all part of the Baron's circus crew. Don't think about it too much.

Anyway, as this has all been going down, Eugene is really interested in getting to talk to this guy with a tattoo of (what we as the audience know is) the brotherhood symbol, which Eugene recognises from the note left with him as a baby. He wants to talk to this dude in the hopes he'll get a clue about who his parents are, but this dude keeps eluding him. He also hasn't had a chance to tell Lance about this yet, so when Lance finds out about it he assumes Eugene only tried to rope him into the circus so he could find his parents and ditch him. Cue an ongoing silent treatment.

Eugene eventually does talk to this guy and he learns that the Brotherhood symbol is from the Dark Kingdom but the Dark Kingdom is gone so he shouldn't bother looking for it. Bummer. And now the Baron is planning a huge heist of the reward money for the Lost Princess' return, and Eugene is getting cold feet. He's been okay with a little bit of thievery so far but this feels like too much for him, and he's not okay with pulling it off but Lance still won't talk to him.

As the plan unfolds, Lance and Eugene reconcile and then they work together to betray the Baron and return the stolen treasure that they stole back to the King and Queen. They get caught by the Baron, escape, then get caught by the guards, but it's okay because they're presented to the King and Queen and when Eugene explains that they felt really sorry about it and promise not to do it again they're let go. And so the story ends on a high note.

My Thots™

Okay so here are the thoughts

Canon Compliance?

The obvious takeaway here is that this story offers you a beautiful pie in the form of the characters you know and love and the established lore, then shoves the pie in your face with things like "Eugene already knows the Dark Kingdom and the Moonstone exist but he never brings this up" and "Eugene betrays the Baron in a very significant way but somehow they'll make up and he and Stalyan will get engaged". Which means that if the integrity of the series is important to you, you'll probably just mentally cross out Eugene knowing about the Brohood/DK/Moonstone.

And imo that's fine! My own approach to this story is a kind of general 'if it works it works, if it doesn't I'll leave it' thing to work my own headcanons around. Because there's a lot of fun things to pluck from, like a new ex-Brotherhood member and other characters that could pop up from Eugene's past and other worldbuilding details.

The Story

The story was pretty short and obviously very tailored towards a younger audience, but it still felt kind of... slow? Mostly because nothing particularly exciting is happening until the big heist and even that feels pretty underwhelming. And of course I don't expect a story like this to be particularly complex and can appreciate its simplicity, but I felt like if it had been longer there could have been more twists to keep things interesting.

For example, the Baron is set up as a character not unlike Gothel, who lavishes praise upon the boys and goes on about how they're 'family' but is obviously just manipulating them and would throw them to the wolves in a heartbeat. Eugene underestimates just how criminal the Baron is, but at no point in the story does the doubt we have in the Baron's sincerity ever amount to anything- Eugene only turns against him because he has a morality crisis, which I'll get to in a minute.

Misc. Thoughts

Okay so one thing I thought was really cute was that each chapter has a little 'quote' from a Flynnigan Rider book, and I wrote them all down so if you've read this far and want me to post those separately lemme know. Anyway I just thought it was a very cute touch.

An honourable mention goes to every time Stalyan shows up, she doesn't really do anything in the story yet still is somehow the only character holding the brain cell. Rapunzel gets an indirect cameo by Lance and Eugene stumbling upon her tower and going "Whoa that's Crazy. Anyway. " which is amazing, and Cassandra even gets a little mention by the Captain! And to answer the question nobody asked, there's a chameleon running around Corona because she's an escapee from the circus, and Pascal's mom's name is Amélie!

Characters - okay really just Eugene

Eugene/Flynn is the title character of the book and we get the story exclusively from his POV, so there isn't a lot to say about Lance. On the one hand while I can acknowledge that this is a story about Flynn, not Lance, there's a few choices that feel like a missed opportunity at best given that this book really was an opportunity to explore Lance's character in a way the series never really does.

And it feels extra egregious when the plot demands conflict between Eugene and Lance, because while the emotion between them is engaging when it's happening, at other times it just feels like a convenient way to shove Lance offscreen again. (As a side note, as contrived as the conflict is these are also two twelve year old boys so. Can't blame em too much).

Also, Eugene coming up with the name "Lance Strongbow" on Lance's behalf while he's unconscious is one of those backstory things I'm not going to be acknowledging, thank you.

The Robin Hood Dilemma

Something I touched on after reading What Once Was Mine is that Eugene's characterisation prior to the movie isn't something writers seem to really like... dealing with. And it kind of makes sense that the author received a lot of characterisation notes from Chris Sonnenburg, because little Flynn does feel very similar to the Eugene we know; only the Eugene we know is an adult man who has since grown out of his Flynn Rider persona. But the Flynn Rider persona he needed to grow out of isn't something that ought to be cast aside entirely!! Stop being cowards!!

Taking a step back, the whole premise of the book is kind of a paradox- because Eugene needs to become Flynn Rider before he can learn to embrace his authentic self, but Flynn Rider isn't hero material, he isn't a good guy, he's not the right protagonist for a story for kids. So what we get isn't Flynn Rider, it's really just Eugene trying on a new name. That works for the beginning of the story, because he is just Eugene trying on a new name, but he doesn't grow into it.

At the beginning of the story, Eugene is an orphan in a poor but still functional orphanage run by a kind old lady, and he is surrounded by nice little boys. Eugene is motivated to leave and get a job by a desire to send funds back to the orphanage, and when he joins the Baron's circus he's taken aback to learn he's among thieves. Here's where I thought: okay, this might get interesting. We might be getting a G-rated 'angel falls from heaven' story about Eugene being morally corrupted by the Baron, of learning that the world outside is tough and he needs to look out for himself first and foremost-

but no. The Baron shares his plan to steal the reward money for the Lost Princess, because all the people he's surrounded himself with are already criminals who don't give a shit, but Eugene thinks that this is going too far! What about that poor lost princess who people need an incentive to search for? (he's like, projecting about his own parent issues which is fair, but still). And so the story ends with Eugene turning on the Baron to return the money to the "right" people (aka the king and queen of a kingdom?? okay) but he takes a single golden egg for himself so he can send it to the orphanage.

Which is all sweet and nice but. He still has to become Flynn Rider, asshole extraordinaire. He still has to lose his morals to the point where he'd take an inexperienced young woman to a pub that he, in this book, recognises is a dangerous place in the hopes that he can ditch her. He still has to go and become a wanted thief and rejoin the Baron and then ditch Stalyan on their wedding night.

The reason I'm going on about this so much is that the appeal of Eugene to me is that he is this good guy who wants to be a better person for the people he loves, but that means recognising that he has behaviour he needs to change, and his development is meaningful for that. Watering him down to a righteous Robin Hood hero does him a disservice.

The Real Villain Was Capitalism All Along

I will not elaborate nor should I

[katsukikitten]

So like a paragraph or two of this was in my drafts and I found it today with no earthly idea of the direction I was goin in. So here is this lol. As usual 18+ warnings are corruption and I'll throw dubcon/ non con in there too just to be safe.

A wall of blue flame encircles you. His hands a vice around your waist, charred cloth and skin burn into your nose and cling your hero suit like incense. You fight the urge to gag, you knew this would happen if your party split up. Despite your pleads and warnings Denki and Kirishima agreed to "cover more ground" in an attempt to fight off and maybe capture a few infamous members of LOV.

But you knew that would never fucking work. The flames of his quirk call to yours, the small white flame the only thing keeping you from burning alive, still sweat rolls down your back

There are no plot twists for you,

You never let life surprise you. So surprise it for once, deviate from the plan.

In a swift motion you turn, pressing your breasts against your assailant. His two toned lips curl upwards in a taunting smile while blazing blue eyes burn into yours. Your mind formulates the plan as you go, knowing that if you did this one little thing, or maybe this one big thing, you'd be able to tilt the scales of fate into your favor.

But the question was did you have the stomach to so it?

Well, you'd have to. Your fire power being swallowed whole by his dancing blue flames, feeding the already intense heat. Sweat follows the length of your spine and dampens your hair as you force yourself onto your tiptoes.

It's just a kiss you remind yourself closing your eyes as your lips touch his. You brace yourself for dry, chapped skin.

Instead both lips are smooth, supple and the groan that escapes his throat sends an impossible shiver down your spine. Kissing him felt like Denki's million volt shot. With bodies acting on your own you shove him against the brick, kissing him hungrily as you become addicted to his taste.

Although he reeks of fresh burns he tastes much different. He tastes like campfire smoke and something sweet, like a marshmallow perfectly roasted. His hot hands trail up your sides and in an instant he has flipped the rolls, pinning you against the unforgiving brick wall. Forcing the breath out of you from the force, he kicks your feet apart to spread your legs before he keeps them separated with his knee. Dwarfing you as he crowds your personal space, eyes sparkling with a threat.

"Little hero, are you trying to seduce me?" His laugh echoes around the alley, hugging you close to him as flames lick at your sides. Your stomach flips from the sound, mouth dry from both the heat and his mouth too close to yours.

You lick your lips, fisting his black jacket as you slowly blink up at him.

"I don't know big bad villain, is it working?" A tease, your voice hushed and hinting at lust. He presses his knee against your sex, grinding it as you bite your lip. Trying not to get too into your act but he doesn't let up, somehow hitting that damned spot until you're starting too see stars and your lip begins to bleed. You try to tilt your hips away from him but his large hands push your hips back into place, he leans in close, voice warm and yet dark.

"We aren't leaving til you cum little hero slut. So if you want me to tell my friends to keep your friends alive, I advise you follow through with your half baked plan." He nips at your ear and when you don't respond he pins your hands above your head in one of his.

"I'd like an answer." He taunts, bumping his knee into you again.

"Okay, okay." You huff out, feeling exhilarated and yet a little slimy all at once.

The disgust dies in your stomach and burns like molten lava in your core as his hands explore your clothed body.

"You really picked the wrong one sweetheart. You wanna know why?" He asks, nervously you shake your head yes, "Because I love to play with my food."

He burns off the crotch of your tight hero suit and yet leaves your skin unmarred. His fingers, hot from his quirk, collect the slick from between your folds. He let's out a groan he hadn't meant to, only having thought of you since the first fight the two of you had, dreaming of white flames dancing with intense blue ones.

He wouldn't dare pass up this opportunity now.

"So wet and for a villain too." He slowly circles your puffy clit, "You're so naughty little hero."

"I- aaahh." He cuts you off by upping his speed, occasionally stopping to slip into your sex just so he can feel you clench around him. He shudders as his mouth finds your throat, sucking and biting at the tender flesh as you cry out into his ear. He strokes the spongy spot within you until you're bucking your hips against his hand.

"You're so desperate you've got to fuck yourself on my fingers huh Princess?" He coos in your ear and you cry out. Losing control on your quirk as his heat calls to you. Slowly white flames form at the base of his, sending his to unprecedented new heights without any effort or exertion of his own.

His skin tingles from the warmth, his cock twitching as he watches you losing the fight, holding back your release and for what?

"Because of status? His body wanted yours and yours his. And he sure as hell noticed how you squeezed him when he gave you that little pet name.

"Have you been neglected Princess?" You mewl at the name, and whine when he withdrawls his fingers from you only to set a deadly pace against your clit. Rubbing against you vigorously until you're clutching at him. Legs shaking as you lose the ability to stand as the coil in your stomach threatens to snap.

Should you, should you cum for a villain? What would your teammates say? Would they look at you less for actually enjoying this man toying with you? Like a cat would a mouse.

"Tell me who this pretty pussy belongs to."

Morals be fucking damned, you were doing what you set out to do when you were trapped.

You were surprising life for once. Silently you made a promise to yourself as you came. From this moment on you wouldn't bite back your venom to spare someone's feelings, you wouldn't hold back your quirk when your flames begged to consume, and you wouldn't let another person strike your ire without them tasting white hot flame. They would burn if the crossed you.

Just as you felt like you were burning now, your white flames licking up your frame and his as the two fired intermingled. Stoking your orgasm as he pushed you through one, no two, no you're beginning to lose count as he forces your legs open, fingers poised over an abused clit. And he does so while you shake, clenching around nothing and crying out his name as if it were a prayer.

"Dabi, Dabiiii, DABIIII. " You cry until a clear liquid splashes agaisnt his wrist and jacket as you helplessly convulse before your body begins to go limp. Dabi groans from the sight, damning the promise he kept himself to take you later. His weeping cock and your flames caressing his shoulders will not allow it. He unsheaths himself using his hand covered in your slick to pump from his tip to his shaft.

Without warning or tenderness he slams himself into you causing you to cry out again. Giving you a moment to adjust to him as he presses you against the scratching brick wall, totally holding up all of your weight. You cling to him with shaking arms as you wait for him to move, rasping out his name desperate for that godly friction.

"Da-Dabiii." Your cunt twitches at the sound of name and the own lust of your voice.

"No Princess, call me Touya."