#my son he has canonically terrible fashion sense

[vampiregeese]

continuing to post old art while i work on the ref. my curse of being a very slow artist

[2n2n]

I was doing some very unpleasant and grueling chores this morning, and somehow it made me contemplate Tsukasa. Having fun thinking about possibilities fitting within the boundaries of established canon + within the general themes of JSHK… its a flight of fancy, but it was so fun and distinct I want to try to summarize and describe it (: its fun to think "what if" ....

Tsukasa's outfit is so specific… we've got no idea where the get up originates from diegetically-- is this something Tsukasa wore in life, at all, or is it an invention, of Amane's boundary, something symbolic from Amane's heart? Why is it…. a meiji/taisho era, circumstantial uniform, not an era Amane himself would have lived through… ?

I guess I thought to myself, "well, their mom is very traditional (especially contrasting their very suit-wearing western-styled dad), and she would have ~ a little experienced the taisho era vibes possibly, depending on her age and family's upbringing… " if we say, imagine she's ~25 years old when she has her twins (the boys were born in 1955), that places her at sortof experiencing the ending of taisho era, where the look Tsukasa sports could be organically extant in her lifetime...

But… then, in what context would Tsukasa even be made to wear a … taisho era laborer's uniform? (from what I've read, that's what this specific fashion is seen doing? Errors possible... there aren't tons of sources accessible to me;;)

Doing my terrible chores, I thought, well, if Tsukasa isn't her 'son' anymore, what is he to her? If he's replaced with something 'different' and he can't be 'exorcised', maybe he can be recontextualized as a servant of the family, and be treated as that, by her (and I don't know, maybe dad is detached and checked out once mom is ~off her rocker, and can't be bothered to correct anything, and doesn't want her placed into a position to be institutionalized, if resistance escalates her). Allowed to stay in their household, but no longer seen/treated as her own child, but, an interloper, something lodging here.

It's a weird thought! But I guess, thematically with Jibaku Shounen, it tickled my brain to think of Tsukasa's transfiguration into a kaii, coming with soon being entered into servitude, and dehumanized, objectified. Much like Hakubo, who could only be allowed to exist if he was a slave to the Minamoto clan. At the whims of humans…

But you know. It's not as if Tsukasa was, beaten with a burlap sack filled with rocks daily or something (neither was Hakubo!), he's allowed to attend Tanabata with Amane, and he's even initially allowed to attend school with his brother, as we see them enter middle school together. I think being treated as a lesser, interloper, in the home, by mom, isn't incongruous with that. Or even, being pulled from school at a later point in the timeline.

I was thinking about Iro's love for fairy tales… they reimagine Snow White and, completely and utterly tear it asunder, flipping all of its symbols on their heads (Neige or Rasphard in certain routes are analogous to 'poisoning old hag', and it's Neige's step sister who is in fact kind and virtuous, while Neige is vain and cruel... and so much farther do we step from any of that in later routes!), and essentially the only thing kept in-tact is, this, poison motif. Jibaku Shounen touches on the Little Mermaid playfully, but in the most threadbare sense, much like Snow White. Little more than, some little bits and baubles borrowed.

For a moment I thought of Tsukasa as a 'Cinderella' figure, but, flipped on its head … a biological child reduced and othered into 'not my child' and deprived from mother's love. The 'true child', Amane, allied and in love with his deprived brother... not an enemy allied with mom.

Tsukasa reduced to a servant is tantalizing to imagine, and Amane continuing to enshroud him in this imagery in his heart (despite killing him in his school uniform) would be symbolically powerful; having stolen and overbeared on Tsukasa's autonomy, made him his property, taken him all for his own. Still a servant, to someone else… now Amane's source of power, in his boundary. 'Seeing him' as this, still... while Tsukasa, exists in a loaded get-up, keenly aware of its purpose in his life, and aware Amane 'sees him' or 'wants him' like this. Dying in his uniform, and reawakening in this garb, there would be plenty to dwell on...

While for Amane, Tsukasa back in a gakuran for vol4 and out of the laborer's uniform Amane had (SUBCONCIOUSLY???) imposed on him, I can't imagine what that would 'say' to him, on the roof. (but maybe they wore their gakuran, in the cold seasons, during some essential rooftop memory, and Tsukasa wanted to recall it visually....?)

Maybe Amane had pressures placed on him to support their family, to become the breadwinner, to make up for Tsukasa's faults, to become educated and live to support them in turn… taking care of your parents as they age is definitely a traditionalist mindset, and, Tsukasa certainly would not be trusted with it...

It's interesting to think of an Amane stuck in this position, placating the whole family, but desperate to prove his loyalty to Tsukasa, only Tsukasa… the only person he really cares about.

Sigh. With it all, even thinking of the rooftop of the school's significance, where Tsukasa chooses to reunite with his brother, where Amane goes to brood, where Amane wishes to recite his Antares speech, where Nene told him she liked him, and later, asked him to run away with her-- I always wonder, did Tsukasa ask Amane to run away with him, too? Is that a deja vu moment, for Amane? Is the roof significant between them? Did Amane fail to, at that moment, double down on only Tsukasa? Or did he promise something he couldn't commit to? Maybe he lied, or, maybe he didn't take Tsukasa seriously ... something....

Tsukasa's radio intrigues me. I always think, that perhaps he was in a position of being deprived of entertainment or resources, and in such a space, he only had the radio to listen to, so it became something precious to him, or influential... holding a place as important to him as Amane's knife. It must play some role....

He is fond enough of it to cuddle it as he naps, and give it its own plate of food at Mitsuba's party…

In a 'Cinderella' narrative, I enjoyed the mental image of Tsukasa in a laborer's uniform as enforced in the home by his mother, cordoned into a smaller, more barren room apart from Amane (their old toyroom?), with only his radio as company, if Amane was not present. Not allowed to leave the house on his own, perhaps ... perhaps Amane as his protector, always with him outside of the house, shepherding him, Tsukasa his ward in these moments.

And it's interesting to imagine Amane offering himself bound in ropes (自縛 lol) to a Tsukasa in such a state as a show of loyalty or passivity or acceptance, alright! What a visage it would be… and, I think the aesthetic of a hakama + kimono would have such a different impression and atmosphere to Amane, than it has to his mother, who would have her own upbringing influencing her.... Maybe to Amane, it, just, looked beautiful. Much like he sees the 'bottom of the middle' Yashiro as breathtakingly beautiful ... the camellia of modest beauty, etc...

... there is such an intriguing thing in JSHK, where both Amane (and by extension, Tsukasa) and Nene are ah, er, confirmed as unattractive by conventional canon beauty standards. Amane is a bug-eyed short scrawny boy, as far from handsome, tall, icey-eyed Teru or even fairly nice-with-it Natsuhiko as you can get. While Nene is scarcely given a second glance by anyone, gets no chocolates or love letters or even charitable rejections.... considered weirdly shaped and frumpy ... it's , then, really, charming how much Amane can fall into a starry-eyed tizzy seeing Nene or Tsukasa, at times, captivated by them. He's rude and defensive, but in his heart, he has some reverent feeling for them both. They are silly and clumsy and goober-y and fundamentally 'weird' ... but to Amane, everything, dangerous to stare at, scary to want so badly.

I kindof think a Cinderella thing would be so cute with all of that ... wwww... and I think Amane deserves two princesses... oh yeah, and 'wishes' and 'pure of heart/gracious' or, what have you, are 'Cinderella things' that fold nicely into Tsukasa's thing....

Maybe doing chores is a good and fun thing! How would I ever have all of these thoughts without lugging the compost through the snow...

[goldeneyedgirl]

Who’s ur favorite and least favorite twilight character and why?

LOL, oh man. Prepare for Discourse, Anon. 

My favourite character is Alice (that might be very obvious). I think she was wasted in Twilight, and that she has so much potential. 

She has no recollection of being human. She is a totally blank slate with a gift that is essentially an extra sense or limb. Like, this girl cannot be ‘okay’. I believe in my heart of hearts that Alice functions differently to other people. I mean, I infer from canon that her visions taught her everything that she needed to know - from how to feed, to how to convince Jasper, to how to join the Cullens. She’s going to get the wrong answer? She’ll change what she says!

And that is utterly fucking terrifying - especially if she was aware and doing it intentionally. But I do not think she is, in that sense. I just don’t think she would have any idea of how to live without her visions showing her what to do next. Alice is a hostage to her own gift, and always has been. 

Even her interactions with Bella and Edward in canon are really uncanny, like she’s playing a role - which is more reflective of SMeyer’s piss-poor writing ability than any sort of intention - but indicative that Alice is Not Okay, and kind of explains a lot about how the Cullen family is portrayed. 

A lot of what I love about Alice, and her relationship with Jasper, are things I’ve absorbed from fan-content - what we can infer from the information we’ve been given. Her conviction about her and Jasper, to me, is beautiful and both terribly childlike, and something someone who has suffered deeply would absolutely cling to as a lifeline. The idea that Jasper isn’t just her husband, but her very best friend and confidant as well, paints such a lovely picture of the symbiosis they have. I think that, whilst it’s normally Poised, Confident Alice to Rescue Struggling Depressed Jasper portrayed in fandom, that there is a distinctive possibility that two individuals who were both fucked over in the gift department and were holding onto reality by a strand found each other and rescued each other might be closer to the truth.

I also LOVE fashion, so I kind of get Alice on that level; and I treat Alice - when I write her - as someone with mental illness (like myself) because I find that very satisfying to write, and to explore. I can PROJECT, which is super fun.

Jasper’s a close second because holy moly, he has so much potential from a fic-writing perspective? This is a man who was not a good person as a human - like, there are Varying Reasons he would join the Confederate Army and be proud of being a Major, but that’s a TOTALLY different piece of discourse so we’ll put a pin in that because statistically, it meant he was a racist fighting for racist ideals. And THEN he is changed into a vampire and joins the Southern Wars, falling further into evil as far as violence, hate, and senseless death goes. 

Like this man was a full monster.

And it was eating him alive.

So he just walked away. Alice did not save him. Peter did not save him. Jasper walked away. Peter gave him the opportunity to do so. Alice offered him goals and a way to improve who he is. There’s nothing he can do about the evil he sowed, the legacy he has created. And he has to live with that every single day for eternity. Has to deal with the burn of his thirst, exacberated by years of gorging on human blood, every single day. There is no solution to/for Jasper. It’s one hell or another. And that is so much fun from a fic-writing perspective. 

Plus his dynamic with Maria is so crazy fun - Mother? Lover? General? What does ‘good terms’ even mean? I assume it’s code for ‘cold war’ or ‘not actively seeking the other’s destruction’, but who knows. I love that. 

Jessamine is also super fun and beloved by me, but that’s because she’s either Jasper-derivitive or my particular portrayal of a separate character, so she doesn’t count. 

As for my least favourite, that honour goes to Edward. Full disclosure, I have not read Midnight Sun, only skimmed parts, because the only thing worse than that would be reading EdBella fic. 

I think he’s an arrogant, misogynistic, controlling little brat, honestly. He’s above the rules and the laws when it suits him - at the cost to everyone - and he condemns Rosalie and Jasper so quickly and thoroughly with very little in-text justification. 

He says that Rosalie is vain - well, Captain Dipshit, maybe after being violently and fatally gang-raped by a group including her fiance Rosalie might deal with a lot of body issues - and copes with them the best way she can. Maybe after being raised with a priority of being beautiful above all else, and then harmed in such a grotesque way because of her beauty, and then becoming more beautiful might fuck with your mental health a little, Eddie.

Edward has a bad habit of classifying women in absolutes like Madonna/Whore, depending on his personal beliefs - which, as a frozen 17 year old from the 1900s, is fairly goddamn dubious. Rosalie and Tanya are both ‘bad’, Esme, Alice, and Bella are all ‘good’. But there are no women that Edward fully ‘trusts’ or allows to ‘win’/direct him. He prizes Bella because of her unreadable mind - she is a puzzle and something to possess. They are never partners. Edward uses Alice, Who Tries Her Very Best, as a weapon against Bella multiple times. I often wonder if it isn’t Edward who encourages Alice, off-page/off-screen, to play dress-ups, to make Bella into what Edward expects in a wife. 

Edward is over-indulged by both Esme and Carlisle; honestly, with his gift, I wouldn’t be surprised if he manipulates the family into their slightly toxic dynamic (it’s hard to tell because of SMeyer’s obvious bias, and the perspective of the novels) because it benefits him so much. It puts him second only to Carlisle - Jasper cannot be trusted despite his comprehensive understanding of vampires, especially when it comes to turf battles, and Emmett’s just a frat boy. Or is this the portrait Edward has painted so he gets to be #1 Son?

Edward is the goddamn architect of every disaster the Cullens face because what he wants is dangerous and illegal. Without Edward’s Volterra Tantrum, Aro never would have challenged the Cullens in Breaking Dawn. Victoria’s attack would have been neutralised before the Cullens even got wind of it. Bella never would have gone cliff-diving or solo-hiking if Edward hadn’t dumped her in the cruelest way possible. 

I honestly, truly believe that Edward shouldn’t have had a mate, let alone a wife and child. 

Also, movie!Edward looked like he needed a fucking shower and a flea dip in nearly every scene. 

Bella’s a close second because I have known girls like Bella and fuck me, they are deeply unpleasant to be friends with. She fucks over EVERYONE in pursuit of Edward. I understand that she doesn’t have the same interests as Alice, but not once just she make a suggestion for an alternative activity or a compromise (and that could be Bad Writing again, because Bella appears to have very few hobbies beyond ‘reading’ but it’s what we’re working with). 

In fact, I would argue that Alice tries her very best to be Bella’s friend, but it’s a futile attempt - Bella tolerates Alice because of Alice’s proximity to Edward. If Alice had been a human student at Forks High, you can bet that Bella would have dumped her as fast as possible. Bella has very few moments where she’s positive about the people around her outside of the Cullens (by association with Edward) or Jacob. Charlie gets mostly pity. Everyone else is looked upon with disapproval and judgement (which, again, reflects toxic writing tropes.) 

And Bella martyrs herself at every opportunity. There’s a lot of discourse where Bella’s neglectful childhood is examined, but Bella fucking lunges into the ‘victim’ role at every possibility. And ultimately, I really don’t see Bella maturing or learning anything at all through the series. It’s always about what she wants, above everything else. She succeeds because she and Edward are incredibly selfish individuals who are enabled by the parental figures around them. 

Second runner-up is Carlisle. 

[yozzers]

vexos hcs and random notes

ill update as i go, because yes i do update my masterlists every once in awhile, i should probably add them to my pinned... 

General

I sincerely hope they have a small living arrangement so I can inflict them with the pain of having to share almost everything with each other

I just want Shadow and Lync to share a bunk

Like to think that alongside Volt, Mylene and Lync were also recruited by Hydron

None of them officially joined until they were a bit older but probably trained to eventually join the Vexos; in the mean time they probably worked for Hydron or something like that

Volt recruited at 11; Lync a year later and Mylene following not long after (respectively 13, 8, 12 when they’re all gathered)

My reasoning to why Volt is patient with Lync’s antics and Mylene less so but doesn’t lash out as badly as you think she would around annoying little kids; grew up tgt moment

Spectra probably forced his way into the Vexos like “hiiii i see you dont have any Vexos members <3″ bcs obv he wasn’t using royal scientist dad privelages (i think, bcs Clay seems horrified abt Spectra being a Vexos and well, being Spectra) 

Shadow had an advantage of being a nobleman (in terms of him being accepted into the Vexos’ ranks)

the Vexos and their set of rules magent-ed on the fridge door or something and every time they go over a page they have to staple/tape a new page on

Joined in this order, Volt, Spectra, Shadow, Mylene, Lync, Gus 

Vexos being a “chance of death low but the chance is still there” type of job... they feel like idols girl help they are bakugan idol group who work for the government 

sorry the way the vestal kids talk about them... going to treat the Vexos like a kpop group now

Spectra Phantom / Keith Fermin 

[canon] son of a (royal?) scientist. definitely had it good and comfy

think it’d be REALLY funny if he already knew Shadow before he became Spectra, Shadow just doesn’t recognize him bcs of his stupid get up

throws childhood friends Shadow Spectra at you, just two weirdos 

Keith specifically keeps Shadow from ever meeting his sister which is why neither of them really recognize each other

Pre-Spectra; probably would’ve been really into bakugan biology and what not. Feels like the kind of person to talk w/ his dad about “do you think we could change their appearance if we messed w/ their mechanical ball form or would it not carry over to their released forms”

this mf looks like a biology major i feel it in my guts 

mom isn’t dead she just divorced Clay bcs he didn’t know how to balance family and work, good for her

probably lives in another city now, and it’s a bit more of a hassle to meet with her kids so they don’t see her as much but she is present in their lives (keep in contact in other ways) 

probably went a bit silent when Keith went missing

didn’t bleach his eyebrows bcs he didn’t want to harm the skin around there and he never thought he’d take the mask off around others, or about how stupid he’d look without the mask

please please please please draw him with his pink hair roots in his MS fit he should've grown out some of his bleached hair by then

daddy issues is truly the root of evil

Gus Grav

Just Some Gut background; middle class just living life

[canon?] was going on a route to being an “idol brawler”, because that’s kind of what their brawls felt like, since it was all purely for show with some competition. it felt less like a sport and more spectacle.

Gus wanting to be an idol brawler is actually such a funny string of words put together I’m making that a thing, if he didn’t join the Vexos he would’ve been an idol brawler

I like the Gus needs glasses hc (shoutout to @marmeladebois ‘s post on that) 

The hc of him being half human and Runo’s half brother is so good 

Cooks well but refuses to help cook fr the Vexos (unless Spectra specifically asks) --> that job is usually left to Volt

not related but reminds me heavily of yugioh vrain’s Spectre (or other way around... Gus was the blueprint) 

Shadow Prove

[handbook canon] a vestal nobleman 

has an older brother (oc; Lux- casual Haos brawler)

inferiority complex or whatever, the only thing he bested his brother in was Bakugan

the Prove family being typical prim proper noble family and forcing Shadow to be repressed is something, but the Proves having the same kind of wavelength as Shadow but in different variations is funnier. They’re just Like That.

Probably not a military family, does work closely with the government still; um im thinking somewhere under the Fermins but not by much

Considered running away from home several times 

Unwillingly has knowledge on Vestal classic literature/ music

hard clutching a wall whenever he wants to join in on discussions about it bcs he knows this stuff but no way is he going to make himself look like a nerd + hes not actually that interested

*debates you for fun and bcs i hate u <3* 

You know how he doesn’t take his job as a Vexos member super seriously, I wonder:

did his parents force him to be a Vexos since he wasn’t interested in the political side of his family and probably against taking up anything related to it, so they had him do something that’d still be beneficial to the family?  

joined to pursue a freedom he didn’t have as a nobleman and is now just taking it really easy?

has clowns > jesters debate with volt; obv he’s team clown, volt is team jester

incredibly irrelevant but if he was a human he’d be chinese, i’ve claimed him, prodigal son older brother and fail son dynamic is there 

Mylene Ferrow

While I like the idea of her being from a military family, I want to make her like Ling Wen (TGCF) in the sense she started from the bottom and climbed to the top... it fits her ambitious nature of grasping for more, she hasn’t reached what she considers the top just yet... 

[very Ling Wen specific but Mylene being put in jail fr crimes unknown to me and being recruited  by Hydron bcs she kicked serious ass is an entertaining thought] 

I like to think she’s closest to Shadow due to the fact he kind of forces his presence onto her so... not her choice in that matter. “annoying” to “endearingly annoying, you still aren’t getting special treatment though”

Ofc Volt and Lync are on the same level, but I think they all know when to give each other space so they’re more of a “we hold each other at a distance, but we’re aware of out closeness which is enough for us”

Then its Spectra and then Gus in the “closest to Mylene” scale; she just straight up hates Gus and it’s mutual

whoever made the “Mylene and Spectra were exes” hc I think it’s really funny so I’m adding it here 

terrible fashion, she’s the one who chose the outfits when she and Shadow went to earth; her fashionable armor look she usually has was designed with Volt’s help, she just voiced what she generally wanted 

Her red lipstick look was bcs she thought it’d make her look more serious/ intimidating (Volt and Lync approved, it rlly does work on her)

Shadow matches w/ her (via his red nails) after they get teamed up tgt several times bcs he thinks they’re basically the go-to duo matchup whenever they’re assigned work n it’d be cool

Very forthcoming about the fact she used to be considered a criminal and was from same rundown area Volt and Lync come from

She’s grateful she got out of jail but she still has no respect for Hydron and despite how much she tries to hide it she does make it pretty clear to him she doesn’t really like him

I wish I had more to say about her... but It’s all relationship esque, i think in general she’s enjoyable and good so what I want more out of her is character dynamics

Lync Volan

[eng dub] he has grandparents; whether they’re still alive or not is...? 

was part of the same area Volt is from

probably aware of each other but didn’t really know each other

you sound like you have mommy issues 

came from the same area as Volt, but lived further out and closer to those areas where there were some bits of nature left 

ill expand on why he got picked up by Hydron another day lazy rn

Volt Luster

[canon] he’s from an area that just straight up looks like yugioh 5ds’ Satellite, and Hydron was the one who pulled him out of there  

He says Hydron pulled him out of there when he was a kid? I’d assume at youngest it’d be like Hydron (8) and Volt (11)

has a neat collection of handmade jester dolls 

lot more artistic than he seems 

Had his guardian bakugan with him the longest; had Brontes even before he met Hydron

Would the others consider him weird fr having a talking Bakugan that acted friendly with him n cracked jokes? 

[nocturna-iv]

002 for Chad x Gil?

Hi luv!

Oh, I like this ship!

About this ask game

002 | send me a ship and I will tell you:

when of if I started shipping it: With  RebelPaisley. So good fics. And the dynamic between Chad and Gil? So cute! So... healer. Look, read this fic,  The Rules of Punishment, so good. Gil is so good! 

my thoughts: I know I've created my own version of Chad because what the canon did to him was unfair (not to mention that it doesn't make sense for Elle's son to be... like that without an explanation). I’m aware of my actions. But I like the idea of this ship. And for Chad to learn through Gil's heart of gold that the things Auradon taught him are terrible and that they aren’t really the heroes of history, but the cause of many people suffering. And I think Gil reflects well all the concept of being kind and brave. Something that would remind Chad of the important things. I don't know, I like the idea that Chad has a learning arc. On the other hand, Gil's heart is so big and he would see in Chad someone from whom to learn what a prince or an AK is like, so he would ask a lot of questions and... They would just be adorable. And my HC is that Chad is good at sewing and designing clothes. So Chad and Gil designing clothes would be a beautiful thing. I also like with polyships, like with Jay & Ben, Harry & Uma to give them more balance and control points.

What makes me happy about them: Gil giving Chad affection and asserting him as a person rather than just being a mockery of others. Chad validating Gil's emotional intelligence and abilities. A couple who by wanting to support the other learns to value themselves.

What makes me sad about them: I don't know many fics of them. I would like to read more about this ship.

things I look for in fanfic: Chad being a mess due to Gil's sincerity.

My kinks:

Chad:  Accidental stimulation, bitting (receiving), bondage (rope bunny), breath play, dirty talking (receiving), dom (soft dom), exhibitionism, frotting, hair pulling (receiving), impact play (receiving), masochism, nipple playing,  pet play (owner), submissive (little one), voyeurism.

Gil: Accidental stimulation, begging, chastity (cock cage), discipline (receiving, soft), dom (soft dom), exhibitionism (unintentionally at the beginning), orgasm control, orgasm denial, pet play (pet), primal (hunter), praise kink, restriction (giving), submissive, voyeur.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

Chad:  Audrey, Ben, Jay, Evie, Lonnie, Jane.

Gil:  Jay, Ben, Harry & Uma, Jane

My happily ever after for them: Two fools in love. Needing their friends to be the adults responsible for them. Chad leaving his princely title and starting a fashion design career with Gil.

[shmart-ash]

Spoilers for case 4 of Great Pretender, so if you haven’t finished it I recommend not reading!

While I loved the show, this was everything I found wrong with Case 4

•Edamura’s Dad

The previous cases show what kind of life Edamura lived up until he was recruited by Laurent. He grew up thinking his dad was a human trafficker, someone he respected and loved as a kid, and was someone who would not visit his dying wife. Edamura was abandoned in this indirect regard and was forced to take care of his mother. However, his mother ends up dying and now he has neither a mother or a father but it’s alright because his father was never really guilty in the first place right? Wrong. I absolutely can not get over the fact that his father chose to be a con-man over a father. This is where his father directly abandons him. I’m not even as upset that he chose to help Laurent get revenge for Dorothy, but that he chose a life where he KNEW there was a large chance there was going to be terrible repercussions for both him and his family. Edamura was just a kid and lawyers make plenty of money, there was no need for him to take on those cons. Also because of his father Edamura is forced to grow up with the label “son of a human trafficker”. Not only did that mentally effect Edamura, but it effected how other people saw him. It forced him to feel like the only way to live was by taking from others. I absolutely despised how Edamura’s father knowingly manipulated him. Imagine you are living your life and you are knowingly being manipulated. You can recognize people are pushing you a certain way, but it’s fine becasue really it’s not that big of a deal, such as Laurent manipulating Edamura to continue doing cons, but then you come to find out that a large portion of your life was planned out. That those little manipulations were nothing compared to what was happening behind the scenes. You had unknowingly been lead to someone else’s advantage and you never really had a life of your own. You have no idea what could have been because it was taken from you. Now imagine it’s your father, or someone else you looked up too, manipulating you. I don’t know about y’all but the idea that someone who was supposed to love me guided me through their own plans without my knowledge or consent is extremely upsetting and quite frankly a smidge unforgivable. I absolutely hate Edamura’s dad and can’t stand the way he was forgiven.

•Laurent

Idk why but Laurent really pissed me off in this case. At the beginning it was fine. The chemistry between him and Dorothy was meh, and I liked seeing his story, but when I realized he had been manipulating Edamura the entire time I was actually livid. The show lead me to believe that he was a good guy, but after this case I am rethinking my initial judgment. Laurent doesn’t kill, deal drungs, traffic humans, or anything that was addressed earlier in the show, but he has manipulated someone to a caliber I don’t think I get behind anymore. At first it was okay, that was just how their relationship was, Laurent dragging Edamura into the life of a con artist and Edamura grumpily being dragged along, but now? Laurent had taken away Edamuras choices and lead him on a path to bring closure to himself. I’m all for some good old fashioned revenge, but directing the life choices of someone who you barely know was a huge no-no for me. Edamura was mentally toyed with by a man who never really saw Edamura as just Edamura, but as a means to an end. His choice to put Edamura in a human trafficking business was also in horrendous fashion. Not only does Edamura have an indirect history with human trafficking, but like the show constantly says, he is emotionally sensitive. He put stress on Edamura to convince the chairwoman of his loyalty, and in response the only thing Edamura could do was sell kids despite not wanting too. Edamura really changed during this case (and I’m not talking about his looks) for the worse because of Laurent, and I honestly I don’t think Laurent is a good person anymore, which is sad because I used to love his character.

•The Resoultion

Okay so there might have been a logical reason for the previous cases antagonists to be involved in case 4, but honestly I hated it. To me there was legitimately no reason for them to come back. Their partnership didn’t make sense and it made it seem like the show was trying to throw in a bunch of random plot twists. However, I did kind of take their return as symbolism. As I said before, I don’t really like Luerant anymore because I feel like his manipulation was too much in this case. I feel like the return to these antagonists and their supossed turn to a better life drew a bridge between them and Laurant. They got better while he got worse and they kind of met each other in the middle if that makes sense. In all honesty I would have liked their return if Edamura really had gone dark, but that will be in my next point.

•Edamura’s Betrayal

When Edamura “betrayed” the team I was honestly excited. The show had established a good lead up to Edamura betraying them and honestly I felt like it’s what I would have done. I’m not gonna lie, Great Pretender had the perfect opportunity to establish Stockholm syndrome. A vile woman who comforts a man who lost his friends and even felt betrayed enough to “kill” his father. A man who felt abandoned by the world in both abandonment and death and only relied on himself until he was dragged into the world of being a con artist. I forget her name, but they both clearly felt strong familial bonds towards each other and I honestly don’t know that I would have had the strength to leave that safety despite the severity of her crimes. I genuinely believe the plot should have gone more in this direction rather than the “Let’s forgive everyone becasue they have issues”. Having trauma and issues is never an okay reason to abandon or manipulate someone. It’s a reason but should not be an excuse. Also dark Edamura was kind of a vibe and I’m going to miss it

Please keep in mind that these are freely up for discussion and do not fully reflect my feelings on the show. There were many things I enjoyed about it but I needed to get this off my chest. I’ve dealt with manipulative people in my life and it really bothers me when I see it in shows and no one acknowledges it or wants to address it. If you having anything you want to point out that needs fixed as it is canonicallyinaccurate, add, or want to discuss I’ll be more than happy to accommodate!

[loosesodamarble]

For the blorbo post, MHA if no one’s sent that yet! If they have, perhaps cinderella phenomenon? (Or perhaps both 👀)

Screw it. I'm doing both. No one has asked about MHA but I also need to let out some of my love for CinPhen because I've been replaying it as of late. It really is such a good game.

Since I'm covering two medias and I ramble the tiniest bit, I shall put the talking under the cut.

..........

My Hero Academia

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

Eijirou Kirishima, a.k.a. the Sturdy Hero: Red Riot. My son. He's got a ridiculous hairstyle and stupid sharp teeth. His sense of fashion is weird and ugly in a very "yeah, a fifteen year old would dress like that" way. He's tough and manly. But also friendly and understanding. It's great that he's confident in his masculinity and shows sensitivity. He doesn't have to do something blatantly "feminine" to show that gentler side. I mean, the word "gentleman" exists for a reason./j

Eijirou's backstory isn't especially tragic compared to someone like Shouto or Izuku but it's far more realistic. He has a dream but due to circumstances, there is some doubt in it. Then there's someone in his life "better suited" to the same goal that he can't help but compare himself to and he loses faith. Thankfully, Eijirou was able to be inspired once again and now he's on the road to becoming a Hero. An inspiring, feel-good story. And we get to see him grow from there. He becomes more extroverted assertive. He pushes himself and his Quirk to match his peers instead of wishing he could be them or have their abilities. He's not all the way there in terms of knowing his strength but he's getting there and that's what matters.

My instincts tell me to adopt this boy and dote on him like the most annoying mother ever.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

Eri. Literally my favorite fictional child in the whole entire universe. She's cute and precious and so eager to experience things. But she's also got a terribly tragic backstory that sent genuine shivers down my spine when I first read it. I'm so happy that she got rescued and that she found a safe haven with U.A.

I mean, the way she smiled during 1-A's concert and how she explained how she felt afterward. Learning about holidays and getting them confused (Santa Eri is literally so cute like seriously look her up and the little anime clip of it to have your heart stolen by her preciousness). There's even a chapter in one of the light novels about the U.A. teachers wanting to give Eri the most awesome Christmas. That's how powerful she is, she is a scrunkly in canon!

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

Hitoshi Shinsou, a.k.a. it's not brainwashing you morons, it's hypnotism. ... Sorry, that kinda just slipped out. I don't think Hitoshi is as underrated as other characters in the series but he's my underrated character. We don't get to see much of the training he had to do in order to begin bridging the gap between himself and the Hero Course students but it says a lot that even with a delayed start and constraints of his training having to be done outside of school hours, he still managed to keep up with his peers. His Quirk is also greatly misunderstood, see my earlier comment. It sucks because with just a name change it becomes much less sinister and while still not heroic sounding, it's now neutral. It's super awesome that he's being brought back, maybe not to be a frontline fighter but to be a lynchpin in the final battle.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

The children from the movies. Melissa, Mahoro, Katsuma, and Rody. They are movie exclusive as far as I know. And they're just... SO GOOD!

Melissa's determined and very brave in a situation where she cannot do much other than stay out of the fight. Mahoro is bold and protective of Katsuma who is soft-spoken but kind-hearted. Rody is a mess of a kid who needs a hug and a lot of money. Each one brings something to the films they feature in and have good moments that build on the series' theme of what it means to be a Hero. They are the heroes of their movies. Please watch the movies for these characters, people.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

Keigo Takami, a.k.a. the Wing Hero: Hawks. After killing Twice, there's really no going back from being a controversial character. He killed a man with mental health issues who was begging for his life because his Quirk posed a threat. I'm recalling a line from somewhere that went something like "they may be dangerous later is not reason to kill someone" (I know it's not that exactly but it was something like that). And Keigo just spat all over that idea.

Then there's the attitude. He's a smug jerk who takes things too lightly on the surface but is frighteningly cunning underneath his chill persona. He's one of those characters that's entertaining when they're behind the screen but if I knew him IRL, I'd probably hate his guts.

But he's just so... physically and aesthetically pleasing to me. He's not sexy evil but sexy morally ambiguous.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

Enji Todoroki, a.k.a the Flame Hero: Endeavor. He's an awful father and then some. At least he's a Hero who has benefitted society, sort of. And he's also realized he's been and still is a toxic presence in the life of his family. He just needs to be tormented more to make up for his sins.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Kai Chisaki, a.k.a Overhaul. This awful, evil, stupid, insane, monstrous man. He abused Eri and used her Quirk for evil. Literally cannot get worse than the guy that directly harmed my scrunkly for this fandom. Also, his ideology is just whack. Heroism as a disease from Quirks? Like, dude, people are going to be selfless and brave even without Quirks.

.....

Cinderella Phenomenon

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

Lucette. She really makes the game as the protagonist.

She's not some shy or awkward wilting flower. She's more like a cactus in the beginning. She sees feelings as a weakness and trusts no one, except her personal knight but only barely. I remember first playing this game and streaming it to friends and everyone was in agreement that Lucette was on the unpleasant side. And then she's cursed. Good for her.

From there it's struggling, a bit of humiliation, painful revelations, and lots of growth. Lucette never stops being brutally honest or a bit prickly. But she opens up, being freer with her emotions and helping others in ways she never would've at the game's beginning. My favorite moments with Lucette are often at route ends when the kingdom is thrown into strife and she insists on joining the battle. It's part duty as crown princess, part wanting to make up for how she's acted in the past, and part pure selflessness to protect innocents and loved ones.

Sometimes Lucette does take some backwards steps in character development but those are when she's at her lowest and her understanding of the world is thrown into turmoil so she can be forgiven.

Seriously, if you can, play the game (it's free) or watch a playthrough because Lucette is such a delight.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

Emelaigne Widdensov. The sweet stepsister that really doesn't deserve Lucette's initial cold attitude. But, being the strong and kind person she is, Em takes it in stride and never becomes discouraged. She's always smiling, not because she's a ditz but because she is genuinely positive. There are moments when her smile falls and Lucette (and the player) learn her troubles. But most of the time, she's able to face things with a smile and that's both powerful and endearing.

What really adds to her cuteness is the sequel. She has a romance with another character, Lance, and they're so smitten with each other. I really do feel like an older sister seeing her gush over Lance, like "yes, get that romance! You're so cute when you're in love!"

I just wish she had more of a presence outside of Rod's route though. Ugh.

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

Jurien Valiente. She is truly under-appreciated. A tough lady knight and level-head in the game's setting. She frequently has to play peacekeeper for Karma and Rumpel's squabbling. She's seen the most in Karma and Fritz's routes, where you do see her stern exterior break away. In very different ways (ugh, Fritz's route is a burden on the heart) but that's not the focus. There's not much to Jurien but I appreciate all that we see of her.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

I'm doing two characters here: Ophelia Widdensov and Sebastian.

Ophelia is the antithesis to the "evil stepmother" trope and I think the game avoids doing it in a heavy-handed manner. She does her best to be cordial with Lucette and never forces affection or even interaction because it's clear Lucette won't respond. We see her support her children in their endeavors, even if it's in an environment they're not used to, that being performing as royalty. And she has, by far, one of the best lines in both Cinderella Phenomenon and it's sequel: "Where there is love, there is hope." It's so simple and yet I can't get over it.

Sebastian, also called Sebby, is the adorable, enchanted plush that I want one of. He's mostly just Rod's voice but Sebby has his own conscience and tries to help Rod and Lucette with little observations and quips. He can't do much besides talk but his presence is still very nice.

The fact that they are only featured in Rod's route is a hate crime.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

Can I say all of the love interests in some capacity? But out of all of them, I believe Rumpel has it the worst. I've always gotten the vibe that he's not popular due to being the "obnoxious flirt" trope of otome. And, well, he is a little pathetic. He gets slapped quite frequently. Sometimes it's undeserved and other times it's kind of necessary (Lucette has to get him out of his trances somehow). His good ending is also rather sad as he has to break his moral code as a doctor to protect Lucette and he's unable to save Parfait. He's sad and pathetic, that's all.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

Mythros. The man just can't catch a break in any of the routes. He doesn't get to make his pitch in Rod's and he dies in every other route. And two of the four times it's by his own mentor! It's kind of hilarious how many Ls this guy takes and I would like to add to his torment.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Hildyr. Like. It's not even a question. She's killed two people, threatened the life of Ophelia, everything she did to Genero (they don't say anything directly but you know), and everything she did to Lucette. Evil, evil, evil. She's feared and hated for good reason. She had hit her breaking point, I get it but she didn't lose her mind. And that's what scary, she's calculating and manipulative while still being somewhat unhinged. She doesn't deserve just superhell. I'm inventing hyperhell for her.

[qqueenofhades]

I really don’t want to start a discourse™, but I want you to know that I really appreciate how you write joe and Nicky in deo volente. So many of the fics I’ve read have placed yusef in the role of more sexually experienced and less devoted to god, while Nicky is depicted as an inexperienced and virginal priest/knight/monk and so forth and so on. Your narrative of joe out there rescuing people and being faithful, while Nicky looks back on his life of gambling and pleasures of the flesh ...(1/?)

Not to say that there’s anything wrong with either, obviously. I love guilty priest Nicky and repressed Nicky and p much every Nicky. But in the vast array of fics out there, it’s rare to see the opposite. Not that you’re working in a binary morally good/religious vs. not way. Your writing in the fic is really subtle and and your characterizations reveal a lot of depth. I just think it’s cool to see Nicky, average second son of a duke, drinking and gambling and feeling terribly guilty (2/?)

Guilty about the crusades and the fucking horror of crusade 1 without being excessively devout. Just an average dude. Not some paragon of virtue (btw, I’m on chapter 2 of the fic, so I don’t know how much your characterization changes moving forward. You have a lovely ability to combine your incredible knowledge of history, your beautiful writing, and these intimate details of the characters that make them fit— fit the canon and fit the history. (3/? Shit I’m sorry this had gotten way too long)

I enjoy the way you’ve really inserted us into the quotidian aspect of history. Aaaaaanyway— the discourse that I was afraid of: I think that a lot of fans of the movie that are generating fan content (tysfm to all of you beauties, btw 🙏🙏♥️) are westerners (which is a whole nother kettle of fish) and that carries a sort of ignorance about the Muslim world in the Middle Ages and this desire to simplify Europe as “Christian” “fighters for faith” etc. (4/? Fuuuuck. One(??) more)

And when we do that, we end up as characterizing the brown people as “not that”. The thing I love about this fandom is that people are definitely down on the crusades. I feel like all the fic I’ve read has been particularly negative about those wars, but the thing I love about your fic is that you don’t just say war is bad because people died and it was despicable and this pious white dude says so and this one brown person agrees. (5/6, I see the end in sight I swear it)

Instead you give us a larger cast of Muslims and Arabs and really flesh them out and give them opinions and different interpretations of faith, and I really appreciate that. The crusades were terrible, and we know this because these regular dudes who struggle with their different faiths and lives say so. And I just. I think that’s really great. Also, I fucking love yusef’s mom. I feel like more people would be accepting of the gift in this fashion and I think she’s lovely and (god damn it 6/7)

Aaaaaaaand. The bit where yusef returns and she’s already gone breaks my fucking heart. Also the moment where he’s like “I’m not sure about Abraham’s god, but my mothers god is worth my faith”?? Just really fucking great. So. Excellent fic. Excellent characters. Excellent not-being-accidentally-biased-towards-white-Christians. That is what I came here to say. Thank you so much for your amazing stories. I love them and I love history. Sorry about the rambling. idek how I wrote so much. (7/7)

Epilogue: tl;dr: you’re great.

Oh man! What a huge and thoughtful comment (which will in turn provoke a long-ass response from me, so…) I absolutely agree that no matter what fandom, I don’t do Discourse TM; I just sit in my bubble and stay in my lane and do my own thing and create content I enjoy. And I don’t even think this is that so much as just… general commentary on character and background? So obviously all of this should be read as my own personal experience and choices in writing DVLA, and that alone. I really appreciate you for saying that you love a wide range of fan creators/fanworks and you’re not placing one over another, you understand that fans have diverse ranges of backgrounds/experience with history and other cultures when they create content, and that’s not the same for everyone. So I just think that’s a great and respectful way to start things off.

First, as a professional historian who has written a literal PhD thesis on the crusades, I absolutely understand that many people (and regular fans) will not have the same privilege/education/perspective that I do, and that’s fine! They should not be expected to get multiple advanced degrees to enjoy a Netflix movie! But since I DO have that background, and since I’ve been working on the intellectual genealogy of the crusades (and the associated Christian/Muslim component, whether racially or religiously) since I was a master’s student, I have a lot of academic training and personal feelings that inform how I write these characters. Aside from my research on all this, my sister lives in an Islamic country and her boyfriend is a Muslim man; I’ve known a lot of Muslims and Middle Easterners; and especially with the current political climate of Islamophobia and the reckoning with racism whether in reality or fandom, I have been thinking about all this a lot, and my impact on such.

Basically: I love Nicky dearly, but I ADORE Joe, and as such, I’m protective of him and certainly very mindful of how I write him. Especially when the obvious default for westerners in general, fandom-related or otherwise, is to write what you are familiar with (i.e. the European Christian white character) and be either less comfortable or less confident or sometimes less thoughtful about his opposing number. I have at times tangentially stumbled across takes on Joe that turn me into the “eeeeeeeh” emoji or Dubious Chrissy Teigen, but I honestly couldn’t tell you anything else about them because I was like, “nope not for me” and went elsewhere rather than do Discourse (which is pretty much a waste of time everywhere and always makes people feel bad). This is why I’m always selective about my fan content, but especially so with this ship, because I have SO much field-specific knowledge that I just have to make what I like and which suits my personal tastes. So that is what I do.

Obviously, there’s a troublesome history with the trope of “sexually liberate brown person seduces virginal white character into a world of Fleshly Decadence,” whether from the medieval correlation of “sodomite” and “Saracen,” or the nineteenth-century Orientalist depictions of the East as a land variously childishly simplistic, societally backward, darkly mysterious and Exotic, or “decadent” (read: code for sexually unlike Western Europe, including the spectrum of queer acts). So when I was writing DVLA, I absolutely did not want to do that and it’s not to my taste, but I’m not going to whip out a red pen on someone else writing a story that broadly follows those parameters (because as I said, I stay in my lane and don’t see it anyway). Joe to me is just such an intensely complex and lovely Muslim character that that’s the only way I feel like I can honestly write him, and I absolutely love that about him. So yeah, any depiction of hypersexualizing him or making him only available for the sexual use and education of the white character(s) is just... mmm, not for me.

For example, I stressed over whether it was appropriate to move his origin from “somewhere in the Maghreb” to Cairo specifically, since Egypt, while it IS in North Africa, is not technically part of the Maghreb. I realize that Marwan Kenzari’s family is Tunisian and that’s probably why they chose it, to honor the actor’s heritage, but on the flip side… “al-Kaysani” is also a specifically Ismai’li Shia name (it’s the name of a branch of it) and the Fatimids (the ruling dynasty in Jerusalem at the time of the First Crusade) were well-known for being the only Ismai’li Shia caliphate. (This is why the Shi’ites still ancestrally dislike Saladin for overthrowing it in 1174, even if Saladin is a huge hero to the rest of the Islamic world.) Plus I really wanted to use medieval Cairo as Joe’s homeland, and it just made more sense for an Ismai’li Shia Fatimid from Cairo (i.e. the actual Muslim denomination and caliphate that controlled Jerusalem) to be defending the Holy City because it was personal for him, rather than a Sunni Zirid from Ifriqiya just kind of turning up there. Especially due to the intense fragmentation and disorganization in the Islamic world at the time of the First Crusade (which was a big part of the reason it succeeded) and since the Zirids were a breakaway group from the Fatimids and therefore not very likely to be militarily allied with them. As with my personal gripes about Nicky being a priest, I decided to make that change because I felt, as a historian, that it made more sense for the character. But I SUPER recognize it as my own choices and tweaks, and obviously I’m not about to complain at anyone for writing what’s in graphic novel/bonus content canon!

That ties, however, into the fact that Nicky has a clearly defined city/region of origin (Genoa, which has a distinct history, culture, and tradition of crusading) and Joe is just said to be from “the Maghreb” which…. is obviously huge. (I.e. anywhere in North Africa west of Egypt all the way to Morocco.) And this isn’t a fandom thing, but from the official creators/writers of the comics and the movie. And I’m over here like: okay, which country? Which city? Which denomination of Islam? You’ve given him a Shia name but then point him to an origin in Sunni Ifriqiya. If he’s from there, why has he gone thousands of miles to Jerusalem in the middle of a dangerous war to help his religious/political rivals defend their territory? Just because he’s nice? Because it was an accident? Why is his motivation or reason for being there any less defined or any less religious (inasmuch as DVLA Nicky’s motive for being on the First Crusade is religious at all, which is not very) than the white character’s? In a sense, the Christians are the ones who have to work a lot harder to justify their presence in the Middle East in the eleventh century at all: the First Crusade was a specifically military and offensive invasion launched at the direct behest of the leader of the Western Roman church (Pope Urban II.) So the idea that they’re “fighting for the faith” or defending it bravely is…

Eeeeh. (Insert Dubious Chrissy Teigen.)

But of course, nobody teaches medieval history to anyone in America (except for Bad Game of Thrones History Tee Em), and they sure as hell don’t teach about the crusades (except for the Religious Violence Bad highlight reel) so people don’t KNOW about these things, and I wish they DID know, and that’s why I’m over here trying to be an academic so I can help them LEARN it, and I get very passionate about it. So once again, I entirely don’t blame people who have acquired this distorted cultural impression of the crusades and don’t want to do a book’s worth of research to write a fic about a Netflix movie. I do hope that they take the initiative to learn more about it because they’re interested and want to know more, since by nature the pairing involves a lot of complex religious, racial, and cultural dynamics that need to be handled thoughtfully, even if you don’t know everything about it. So like, basically all I want is for the Muslim character(s) to be given the same level of respect, attention to detail, background story, family context, and religious diversity as any of the white characters, and Imma do it myself if I have to. Dammit.

(I’m really excited to hear your thoughts on the second half of the fic, especially chapter 3 and chapter 6, but definitely all of it, since I think the characters they’re established as in the early part of the fic do remain true to themselves and both grow and struggle and go through a realistic journey with their faith over their very long lives, and it’s one of my favorite themes about DVLA.)

Anyway, about Nicky. I also made the specific choice to have him be an average guy, the ordinary second son of a nobleman who doesn’t really know what he’s doing with his life and isn’t the mouthpiece of Moral Virtue in the story, since as he himself realizes pretty quick, the crusades and especially the sack/massacre of Jerusalem are actually horrific. I’ve written in various posts about my nitpicking gripes with him being a priest, so he’s not, and as I said, I’m definitely avoiding any scenario where he has to Learn About The World from Joe. That is because I want to make the point that the people on the crusades were people, and they went for a lot of different reasons, not all of which were intense personal religious belief. The crusades were an institution and operated institutionally. Even on the First Crusade, where there were a lot of ordinary people who went because of sincere religious belief, there was the usual bad behavior by soldiers and secular noblemen and people who just went because it was the thing to do. James Brundage has an article about prostitution and miscegenation and other sexual activity on the First Crusade; even at the height of this first and holy expedition, it was happening. So Nicky obviously isn’t going to be the moral exemplar because a) the crusades are horrific, he himself realizes that, and b) it’s just as historically accurate that he wouldn’t be anyway. Since the idea is that medieval crusaders were all just zealots and ergo Not Like Us is dangerous, I didn’t want to do that either. If we think they all went because they were all personally fervent Catholics and thus clearly we couldn’t do the same, then we miss a lot of our own behavior and our parallel (and troubling) decisions, and yeah.

As well, I made a deliberate choice to have Nicky’s kindness (which I LOVE about him, it’s one of my favorite things, god how refreshing to have that be one of the central tenets of a male warrior character) not to be something that was just… always there and he was Meek and Good because a priest or whatever else. Especially as I’ve gotten older and we’ve all been living through these ridiculous hellyears (2020 is the worst, but it’s all been general shit for a while), I’ve thought more and more about how kindness is an active CHOICE and it’s as transgressive as anything else you can do and a whole lot more brave than just cynicism and nihilism and despair. As you’ll see in the second half of the fic, Nicky (and Joe) have been through some truly devastating things and it might be understandable if they gave into despair, but they DON’T. They choose to continue to be good people and to try and to actively BE kind, rather than it being some passive default setting. They struggle with it and it’s raw and painful and they’re not always saints, but they always come down on the side of wanting to keep doing what they’re doing, and I… have feelings about that.

Anyway, this is already SUPER long, so I’ll call it quits for now. But thank you so much for this, because I love these characters and I love the story I created for them in DVLA, since all this is personal to me in a lot of ways, and I’m so glad you picked up on that.

[juliandev0rak]

Cadmus Durand ⚔️

the charming assassin on the run

Introducing...

Full name: Comte Cadmus Orion François Durand

Meaning: the title Comte is the same as a count or an earl (Cadmus is specifically an earl) his first name comes from Greek mythology:

In Greek mythology Cadmus was the son of the Phoenician king Agenor. He was sent by his father to rescue his sister Europa, who had been abducted by Zeus, although he did not succeed in retrieving her. According to legend, Cadmus founded the city of Thebes and introduced the alphabet to Greece. He also famously slayed a dragon. 

source 1 source 2

Cadmus also translates to “one who excels” 

Gender: male, he/ him

Birthday: April 10th

Age (start of story): 29

Orientation: bisexual

Magic: illusions, light

Occupation: assassin

Familiar: Agatha the black mamba snake, named after Agathodaemon, a mythological personal companion spirit often pictured as a snake

Love interest: Julian Devorak, no canon route

Shippable?: very!

Theme song: Take Me Out- Franz Ferdinand

(the perfect song for him, lyrically and because the band is named after the famously assassinated Archduke)

full playlist

— ALIGNMENTS —

Zodiac signs: 

Sun: aries

Moon: aquarius

Rising: capricorn

MBTI: entj

Element: fire

Major Arcana: The Chariot

UPRIGHT: Control, willpower, success, action, determination

REVERSED: Self-discipline, opposition, lack of direction

Minor Arcana: 9 of Wands

UPRIGHT:  Resilience, courage, persistence, test of faith, boundaries

REVERSED: Inner resources, struggle, overwhelm, defensive, paranoia

Magic:

— Illusions: Can create minor illusions such as fake walls to hide behind or temporarily changing his appearance  (hair color, facial features etc)

— Light: Can create a ball of golden light, for flashlight or distraction purposes usually 

Other abilities: espionage, speaks multiple languages, skilled in various types of weapons including swords of all kinds and archery, skilled dancer

— PERSONALITY & PREFERENCES —

Personality: Cadmus is direct, confident, and decisive. He’s quick thinking and resourceful and always has a plan. He’s outwardly very charming, though he uses the information he learns from others to figure out the best way to take them down. Always vigilant and observant, Cadmus tends to see people in terms of how they can be of use to him.

He’s got a talent for making people feel like they know him, even though they don’t. He makes friends easily, though whether he would consider them friends is another matter. He also makes enemies easily, both through his job and family affiliation and through his boastful attitude. He has a bad temper and his pride is easily hurt. He likes to be the best at everything he does, and he usually is. Cadmus will rise to any challenge and has to hold himself back from fighting every battle. 

When he does genuinely care for someone he is loyal, protective, and can be kind. The only people to earn this treatment so far are his younger sister Daphne, and occasionally his best friend and Captain of the Guard, Alexander Garreau.

Mental health: Cadmus is very emotionally closed off, he deals with PTSD from his childhood and vocation but generally does a great job of never letting anyone know he’s upset. His attention ranges from hyperfocus to being completely unfocused with little in between. He also has very bad coping mechanisms and tends to be self destructive in his relationships 

Likes: dancing, sunny days, playing games (of any kind), sleeping in

Dislikes: indecision, lack of control, travelling by boat

Fears: small spaces (he’s claustrophobic), losing his sister

Quirks: walks with a bit of a limp from previous injuries

Favorite food: crème brûlée

Favorite drink: gin

Favorite flower: larkspur

Favorite color: black and gold

Most likely to: consider sword fighting first base

— APPEARANCE —

Height: 6’, 183 cm

Eyes: blue grey

Hair: honey blonde, curly, he often lets it grow to his shoulders

Other: has freckles everywhere, and a multitude of battle scars ranging from tiny ones on his arms to a large one on his torso, his left shoulder has a tattoo of a dragon that stretches onto his arm, he also has pierced ears

Color theme: black, gold, silver, royal blue

Fashion sense: described as “fancy goth prince / part time pirate”, his clothing is expensive, detailed, and always impeccably tailored, he comes from money and his wardrobe shows it. Cadmus wears mostly black, especially on missions, but at special events will branch into colors, usually blue or gold. He’s a fan of a classic puffy sleeve and tight pants combo. 

— FAMILY & BACKGROUND —

Family: 

The Durand Family Motto is “ex gladio vita” from the sword, life

Augustin Durand - father- alive | relationship: bad

Helene Durand - mother - alive | relationship: nearly nonexistent

Alastor Durand - younger brother - alive | relationship: bad, pretty much mortal enemies

Daphne Durand - younger sister - alive | relationship: best friends, slightly paternal 

History:

Born and raised in the city of Avronne, Cadmus was trained as an assassin from a young age to protect his family’s political and business ventures. He’s used as a weapon, a pawn to his father the Comte d'Avronne, and sent across the world on missions to take out anyone who could threaten the family. Cadmus never questioned the things he was asked to do, simply doing as he was told to protect his life and out of a sense of duty and loyalty to his family and city. 

He grew up in the luxury of the castle, going on missions as commanded until he was forced to reconsider his morals and family loyalty. He’s sent to assassinate the princess of a neighboring city to allow his family to control the line of succession in their favor. When he arrives, he finds that the princess is only 16 years old and reminds him too much of his own younger sister Daphne. When the time comes to kill, he chooses to spare her instead and faces his family’s wrath. 

On the run from his family and their army of trained assassins (some of them Cadmus’ own friends and relatives) he flees to Vesuvia, a city big enough to hide in. He plans to stay for a few weeks at most, but plans change when he meets an old friend (or enemy depending on who you ask) His stay in Vesuvia is cut short when he receives word that his sister is in terrible danger. 

Now Cadmus must choose whether to walk into his father’s trap to save his sister, perhaps at the cost of his own life. With the help of a certain red haired doctor he might just be able to pull it off- but sacrifices must be made.

Five facts:

he’s allergic to nuts which has nearly killed him on at least 2 occasions

he loves his horse, he’s the male equivalent of a horse girl but he’d never admit to it

he has a chipped front tooth and it gives him a slightly crooked looking smile

his familiar Agatha has deadly venom and has assisted him with taking down targets before

he fights with a sword left handed for the tactical advantage, even though he’s right handed

note: Hi hello here is my newest child, I’m very excited to share him! Special thanks to @leila-of-ravens​ because I stole her oc bio template lol, and thank you to all of my lovely mutuals who have listened to me gush about him  💗

[todaydreambelieversfic]

Author Spotlight: Coffeegleek Day 3

Author : @coffeegleek​

How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

At least a few revisions. Then multiple editing passes, and even with my spouse as my proofreader for the past 25+ years, and doing more editing passes before posting to AO3, I still find annoying little typos, sometimes large ones.

If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?

There was a crack fic I stopped writing years ago. It was a self-challenge during one of those tumblr trope challenges. I was trying to combine all of the tropes into the same fic as they were announced. It got zero traction though so I gave up. I'd love to go back and complete it, make it better. I had the whole thing outlined too.

What do you look for in a beta?

My spouse. We've been together for decades. He's been proofreading my original science fiction work and various fandoms' fanfics since before we were married. He even proofreads my Klaine smut and doesn't blink an eye. (He's a Glee fan too and on tumblr.) He knows what I'm trying to say when I can't find the right words and supplies them. He catches things I don't. What I love the most is for my original work, he's written his own fanfic. It's BAD. It truly is, but it's so heartfelt and earnest. He even came up with a soundtrack should I ever publish my sci-fi novel and the movie or show rights be bought. You really can't get a better beta than that. <3

There’s a number of friends on tumblr that I bounce ideas off of and who give me advice for topics they know far more about than me and google. I try to thank them in my fics.

If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

I’m going to steal another author’s recent answer and say that I could never do someone else’s work justice. However, I would love to see the author’s ideas for their fics even if they couldn’t write a prequel or sequel.

I suck at remembering titles and author names. There were two political fics that I would love to read more of should their authors ever decide to write in those verses again. One was where Kurt and Blaine's dads were running for president and Kurt and Blaine were along for the ride, staying in the same hotels at time (where they first met,) having to do school remotely, having to be the perfect sons for the press and Blaine being fed up because his parents were conservative Republicans. Then there was another fic where Burt was president and Kurt was the First Son living in the White House, along with Finn, and it was hard to date when your every move is watched by the press.

Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?

I write AU, so canon is only a word often misspelled by me. :) Seriously though, I try to incorporate as many canon elements and characters into my AU fics as I can. It's the kind of AU I like to read as well. What draws me to read and write AUs is taking canon characters, putting them into a different setting, and seeing how they'll react. At their core, they still need to remain the same in principle and have many of the same traits. Like Kurt will always love fashion and be headstrong no matter what. Blaine is always going to have that spark within himself, no matter how depressed or oppressed he gets. Burt and Carole are always going to be loving and nurturing parents at heart. Even in fics where Burt isn't woke, there's a part of him that means well. (Not one of my own fics, but one I read a long time ago.) Different circumstances will change the canon characters and make them react in different ways though. Like, Kurt could end up more withdrawn and hide his love of fashion as a matter of survival and self preservation. He or Blaine could turn into "bad boys." Coach Beiste will always have a heart of gold. Miss Pillsbury will always have a problem with messes. Things like that. I know canon. Give me all the alternate universe versions of it and I will be a happy camper.

Talk about a review that made your day.

I haven't checked for reviews on my fics in ages (because I'm an insecure chicken) so I don't remember any specifically. I do remember there were many that made my day. There are those who take the time to review every chapter. Ones who write only a short note to thank me for writing the fic - both the angsty ones and the cracky fun ones. I love it when someone mentions something that no one else has that I was hoping someone would notice because I was proud of it. I'm not a popular author and don't get a lot of kudos or comments or reblogs compared to many. So each comment and kudos means a lot to me and I'd like to publicly thank every single person who wrote one or hit that kudos button.

Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

I once got a troll who decided it was his job to complain that I had misspelled hors d'oeuvres in one sentence out of an entire verse where the word was written multiple times correctly. It was a series of Klaine Advent one shots for the Empty Nest verse. At first I was shocked and replied with an apology. Then I was, "F this. The person is a troll who didn't read any other part of the fic or verse, just this one quickly written one shot entry, and if all they had to say was that I'd misspelled a commonly misspelled word, then they aren't worth my time." I deleted the comment. There's concrit and trolling. It wasn't concrit.

What advice do you have for people just starting to write?

Have fun writing, even the hard stuff. Know that it's okay to take breaks. Try your best and know you'll get better the more you write and the more you read. Pronouns are your friend and free. Don't put, "I know this is going to suck, so whatever," in your fic description. We all suck at times. It's a part of writing. But if you want folks to read it, using that as your fic's summary isn't the way to go. Just my opinions, which won't even buy you a cup of coffee.

Which fic do you most like to discuss with other people? Why?  

I think it’s pretty obvious from all of my rambling that I enjoy talking about both of my series - Empty Nest verse and A Very Hallmark Christmas verse.  I'm not a popular author and I know my fics, especially the Empty Nest verse ones, aren’t everyone’s thing, so I never get to really discuss them except with friends that I bug to death in private and via long replies to comments on AO3. (You all are saints blessed by all of the good and patient gods.) I have so much to say about them - the process of writing them, the world building, research, and character decisions that went into every single one. I know they’re not perfect. I know the Empty Nest verse grew miles beyond the ficlette about Burt and Carole that it was meant to be. I know my sense of humor in the Hallmark verse isn’t everyone’s thing either. I still worked really hard on them and am glad that I did. Empty Nest let me release a lot of the fear and anxiety I had for my Hispanic and gay son after the 2016 election. The Hallmark ones were a needed break to put some humor into my life. If others enjoyed them, great. If folks want to know more, my inbox is always open.

What's one aspect of writing fic that gets you really excited?

Writing humor even if I'm the only one that finds it funny. As I said above, writing the Hallmark Christmas movie dialogue and plot and the actors as they were filming it was a blast. Writing the commercials was fun and exciting. In my angsty fics, knowing I wrote a good scene, line, or moment that brought out all the feels. That's more of “satisfaction of a job well done” than excited.

***

Check out Coffeegleek’s Fics

Humorous Spooky Drabbles -  Humorous drabbles to spookish type prompts based on a tumblr post called October Drabble Prompts #1 by hallofceleano. The parts in bold and italic are from those prompts. Characters include Kurt, Blaine, Burt, Carole, and Finn. All fun; only #4 has some mild angst. #4 is for snarkyhag and regarding #5 - I know next to nothing about Twilight and had to look up Taylor Lautner on imdb. The liberties I took are my own.

A Very Sloppy Christmas - lucy8675309 posted to tumblr a series of gifs with Kurt dressed up as an elf. It inspired me to write the following prompt, which CoffeeAddict80 encouraged me to write as a fic:

I now want a fic where real Santa’s elf!Kurt gets drunk and vents to Blaine about all the woes of working for Santa. He’s over 100 years old and the outfits are terrible. Why couldn’t they wear clothes like the elves did in that one movie? Drunk elf Kurt has no idea he’s venting to Santa’s son.

Bonus if he wakes up and realizes he just had a drunken one night stand. He isn’t sure who it was with. Only that he’s naked, the guy in the bed beside him is naked and showing off a really great ass. Then said guy turns over and after Kurt’s done staring at his dick, he looks at the guy’s face and realizes who it is.

It’s a Twisted World -  I decided to challenge myself by combining the posted 5 weekly Klaine AU Friday themes and adding another one of my own. So that means: Farm, Fairytale, Vintage (1900’s,) Super Powers, Zombie Apocalypse, and Harry Potter World Klaine with a splash of a fic idea I thought of while in the produce section of the grocery store. Each week, the story will continue, though each part stands alone. This is not a brilliant work of perfectly composed fan fiction. What it is, is fast-paced, cracky fun, with a large dose of innuendo. At least it had my son laughing his ass off. I hope y'all enjoy it too. :)

[clovis-enthusiast]

Lotsa Clovis headcanons that you can pry from my cold dead hands

Keep in mind that these are just MY HEADCANONS! None of this is canon unless specifically stated! Feel free to agree or disagree. I juts rlly love my boy and his cabin and will gush about them for hours if given the chance.

Since there is a lot, I’ll put them under the cut so as not to clutter ur feed with my rambling! So uh click ‘keep reading’ to see me babble about my all time favorite character! Hope u enjoy if u read em and always feel free to send me a message about ur own headcanons! (I’m always thinking of more, so this post might be updated every once in awhile!)

He is very French. He was born in France and lived there for a short while before he and his mother (the reason I say mother instead of parent is because it was hinted at in canon that he has a mother. my go to name for her is Camille) moved to the US due to monster related problems. (He has a French last name. Something like Valois is my go to.)

French is his first language but because he moved to the US when he was quite young, he is very fluent in English. He often switches between the two languages when he’s EXTRA sleepy without noticing leading to a lot of confusion (and you can bet that he DEFINITELY swears in French because not many people at camp can understand him when he does. Those who do have a newfound respect and fear for him.)

He was initially a longtime member of the Hermes cabin even though pretty much everyone could guess who his godly parent was.

Was DEFINITELY a part of Luke’s army at one point due to the fact that he looked up to Luke as the older demigod had always treated him like a little brother, AND his godly brother Morpheus was also on Kronos’s side of the war. However, Clovis did not stay with them for long once things began to get bad and returned to Camp Half Blood with time. (Morpheus and Clovis now have a strained relationship.)

Best friends with Lou Ellen Blackstone of the Hecate cabin. They were both temporarily on Luke’s side of the war and were held with suspicion and distrust when they returned to camp, so they tended to stick by each other while the other campers warmed back up to them. Because of this, they are now very close and are always goofing around (much to the annoyance of the other head counselors aside from the Stolls, of course.)

Definitely had a thing for Nico di Angelo in the past. As the two boys are both the sons of underworld gods, Clovis had already felt a certain tug towards him. When he heard Nico’s story from the camp’s rumor mill (thank Lacy and Mitchell for that one) he became utterly infatuated. Over time, his curiosity turned more into a little crush which then became a BIG crush, but as neither Clovis nor Nico are really all that great with normal human interaction, the son of Hypnos’s flirting techniques sort of went unnoticed. That’s why Nico seems to be the only one being pulled into Clovis’s dreams at any given time despite Clovis being a ‘very strong dreamer.’ The truth is that Clovis has full control over who enters HIS dreamscapes. He tries desperately to impress Nico and help him out wherever he can, but when Nico eventually chooses Will to be his boyfriend, Clovis, though a bit sad that his first crush in a long time didn’t share the feelings, is VERY supportive. He loves to tease Nico about how hopelessly head-over-heels the broody teenager is over his sunshiney boyfriend. And if the two were ever to break up for whatever reason in the future? Well, Clovis is definitely still up for a shot.

Clovis and Nico are still VERY close. Clovis is one of the only people that Nico feels comfortable enough to be himself around and often confides in him whenever his negative thinking gets the best of him. Clovis also plays a big part in Nico regaining the memories of his past when he’s ready which he will forever be thankful for. The two obviously spend a lot of time together in dreams and greet one another in a warm fashion whenever they come across each other by chance at camp. This confuses literally everyone because literally no one has ever seen them interact before?? How are they friends?? 

Has HISTORY with Drew. No one is really sure what kind of history (it seems as if there was a little bit of memory erasure throughout the camp on the situation... hm...) but most people speculate that the two shared a romantic relation at one point in time. Turns out, they were NOT compatible, and the whole thing went up in flames. Drew still holds a huge grudge against Clovis who acts as though he could honestly care less. He still treats her politely though there have definitely been some not-so-subtle nasty looks cast across the campfire towards her direction before.

Also very close with Lacy and Mitchell from the Aphrodite cabin. Lacy feels terrible about Drew’s trash-talking and rumor-spreading and eventually works up the courage to say hi. They became fast friends, and Lacy definitely has a bit of a puppy-dog crush on him, but she is much too young for Clovis. He sees her as a little sister and allows her to put makeup on him, do his hair, and even tries on dresses and such just to make her smile. Mitchell, on the other hand, became friends with Clovis out of spite in all honesty and ended up liking the sleepy blond a lot more than he thought he would. He might have a teeeeeny tiiiiiny crush on him. Don’t tell Lacy.

Close with Pollux of the Dionysus cabin. Pollux sees a lot of Castor when he looks at Clovis which is a huge comfort to him. The two counselors have a lot of deep talks late at night, and Clovis always makes sure that Pollux is sleeping well without being haunted by nightmares. Dionysus would never admit it, but he is very thankful that someone cares that much about his only son.

Good friends with Rachel Elizabeth Dare surprisingly! He helps her out often, and the two like to sit and chat about mythology, artwork, and prophecies in the big house and at the campfire.

Has allies and friends in high places. Due to his powerful dreaming, he’s been to quite a few strange places and met quite a few strange people... or you could call them the gods, I guess. He knows a lot of the gods and goddesses from all kinds of mythologies (though obviously more of the Greek ones than anything) and they seem to like him well enough for some reason. (Probably because he’s one of the only demigods who doesn’t want to strangle them and doesn’t mind listening to them complain about petty godly things.) He often has little chats with them where he keeps them updated with the going ons of Camp Half Blood and they keep him updated about... godly drama. He kinda lives for it tbh. It’s part of the reason why he’s so informed about the gods.(Annabeth is maybe just the tiniest bit jealous.)

He’s a year round camper because it would be much too dangerous for him to go back to living with his mother. He stays in contact with her via dreams, letters, and Iris messages though!

MUCH more powerful than he lets on. He just doesn’t like conflict. 

One of his most frightening abilities is the ability to summon terrible creatures from people’s nightmares and use them to fight. He doesn’t like to do this as it can be very traumatizing for the people he uses it against, AND it’s not always a guarantee that the nightmare creatures will obey him.

His other more battle-ready powers are the ability to put an entire battle field into a deep slumber and memory alteration/erasure. He can use his memory alteration/erasure on monsters of weaker defenses AND demigods (though he feels much more comfortable using it on monsters.) He uses these powers to alter how monsters/enemies perceive demigods. Because of this, there are quite a few friendly hellhounds and scythian dracanae wandering about the camp. All of his powers are VERY draining and take a lot of concentration in order to work as intended. He will often sleep for days after a battle because of this.

He is also capable of fighting whilst asleep. In fact, his senses are heightened, and he tends to perform better this way. He also heals much faster while he is asleep. 

It is speculated that he will either grow wings from his head or his back, but it will not happen until he grows older. It’s a rare trait that few Hypnos kids (and Thanatos kids) develop, but due to Clovis’s power level, everyone is pretty much waiting for it to happen.

He can change his appearance at will in his dreams, but his aura is still the same, so he can still be identified pretty easily by people who know him personally. (As a side note, his eyes pretty much change color on their own to reflect the mood of the dreamscape he’s currently in. Gold, emerald, and violet are the most common colors. His true eye color is blue.)

Doesn’t really care about gender all that much. He has absolutely no problem with people referring to him using any pronouns (she/he/they) and is quite comfortable with himself in general. Many demigods who are questioning their gender comes to talk to him about it, and he’s always open to hearing them out and giving them advice.

VERY bisexual. Likes girls, guys, literally anyone who can keep him awake and interested for more than five seconds.

The unofficial official camp therapist.The role used to belong to Will Solace, but the truth is that the son of Apollo is much more comfortable dealing with physical ailments and problems he can fix medically than he is with dealing with feelings and mental ailments. Clovis is a very good listener despite the popular belief that he’s too busy nodding off to actually hold a conversation with properly and has a very calming aura that helps people feel safe enough to be vulnerable with him.

The go to babysitter of camp. Due to his Hypnos kid vibes, he is able to keep even the most rambunctious demigod and satyr children under control. His nap times are legendary. 

VERY big on respecting people’s privacy and boundaries. He tries his best not to enter any dreams uninvited, and he never talks about what goes on in people’s dreams ever. He also NEVER looks into people’s memories without their permission. He makes sure his siblings follow these guidelines strictly.

He literally lets anyone come into the Hypnos cabin at any time to get a good rest. The cabin has an open door policy.

New campers are often allowed to stay with the Hypnos cabin if they’d rather not face the chaos of the Hermes cabin.

Contrary to popular belief, his cabin is actually NOT the messiest cabin. The Hermes cabin wins that one though they’re followed closely by the Ares and Hephaestus cabins.

He and his siblings are some of the closest in the camp. They meet up and hang out in each other’s dreamscapes and have family nights. Clovis is the oldest AND is a head counselor, so he is very protective and responsible when it comes to his siblings.

Gives AMAZING massages. Leo and the entirety of the Hephaestus and Ares cabins are regular customers. Fight me. 

Actually a very good strategist when it comes to battles and such given that he’s awake enough to actually communicate his ideas. If you get them on your Capture the Team game, you’re already doing good. Annabeth and the Athena cabin love the competition, and they’re nearly unstoppable when they work together with him.

Clovis suffers from TERRIBLE narcolepsy, even for a son of Hypnos. It’s gotten him into a lot of bad and dangerous situations such as falling asleep mid battle, mid conversation, and even in the bath once when he was little. He has developed a fear of heights and water due to his condition.

Holds a lot of frustrations towards himself. Frustrated that he ever turned against the camp that offered him a home, frustrated that he couldn’t help Jason restore his memories, frustrated that couldn’t help more in the war against Gaea, just... frustrated. He tries to sleep off these negative moods because he doesn’t like to bring people down.

Absolutely not opposed to cuddling with people who are okay with it (he always asks first!) It’s a surefire way to get a good night’s rest since you’re so close to him, plus he’s very soft and warm!

Has a good singing voice, but just isn’t confident enough with it. He pushes through his insecurities to sing lullabies to those who really need them though. His lullabies are unmatched. 

Adores cats with all of his heart due to their lazy and relaxed nature, but he knows that he could never be able to care for one well enough. 

ALWAYS wears pajamas. Like all the time. Chiron has given up on enforcing the dress code. He also made sure to have custom made camp bracelets instead of necklaces to be sure that none of the Hypnos kids are choked/strangled by them if they happen to fall asleep in a bad place or position.

Lives in the past. Old movies, old music, old slang, you name it. I mean, he practically sleeps for the majority of his life, so it’s not all that surprising that he’s a bit behind the times. He thinks the modern age moves much too fast for him to keep up with.

The demigods of camp take turns making sure Clovis and his siblings are taking care of themselves. Walking them to the showers and dining pavilion, making sure they get a little sunlight each day, and the bare minimum of training.

He is the best boy.That is the only FACT that I do not accept criticism on. Thank you.

[the-blue-phantom]

Please activate your Farseer brain again and share some headcanons for Fitz and Burrich

Okay, I have no idea if you’re asking for my modern au specifically because that’s when I said my farseer brain was activated or if you meant headcanons for canon, but I’m going to bank on modern au so I hope that’s fine with you! I think at least a fair amount will be more generally applicable, though, just in case you aren’t.

I’m a big fan of Burrich and Fitz’s dynamic, especially because they do have a father/son relationship but there’s also tension there that gets in the way. But for my ideal dynamic with them there are two traits: 1. “Fitz, I love you deeply and you remind me a lot of myself. But I also hate myself and this will affect our relationship for years to come. 2. That joke that goes “Have you ever kissed a guy?” “Of course” He then failed to elaborate.

I’ll try and keep this relatively organized but it’ll bounce around. Assume its all for the modern au and if anything seems applicable to canon, it probably is.

At no point ever in raising Fitz does Burrich ever look up how to raise a kid

Chivalry: Burrich, children are are like animals, right? Burrich: yes, in a cosmic sense, but not completely Chivalry: well I trust you to raise my son

Burrich does the best he can but sir you should google things

Altho the idea of burrich at a parenting class is hilarious to me

Honestly, I am obsessed with his and Chivalry’s relationship

Fellas, is it gay to leave your girlfriend for a man, because you want to devote yourself fully to him and also you tear up when talking about what a great man he is

Anyway, Burrich is telling Fitz about Chivalry while looking through a photo album and its like “Fitz, your father knew me better than any man had before” *turns page* “And here’s us getting drunk at a party when we were 22″

In my modern au, Chivalry doesn’t die, but I don’t think him and Fitz would have much of a father/son relationship. Maybe more uncle/nephew

Now I’m remembering how Fitz called Patience his mom. Fitz and his mom, his dad (burrich) and his father (chivalry)

I do wonder what Fitz and Burrich’s relationship would be like if the Wit wasn’t there or if the stigma was gone. I wonder about that a lot.

Burrich is an old fashioned guy and by that I mean he has a flip phone he keeps in a belt holster and drives a shitty old pickup that could and should be replaced

He has a wallet filled with pictures of Fitz and also his animals

You know, I think Fitz should have had his hair braided at least once. I think Burrich would be good at braiding, if that isn’t already canon.

I think any gifts Burrich gives Fitz are highly practical. New coat, new shoes, new hat, here are some gloves and socks I knitted with wool I got from the sheep we raised

My personal belief that Burrich is very very handy with fabric crafts for a variety of reasons

lmao Burrich in a quilting circle. he wouldn’t, but its funny to picture

I think if Fitz had had a more normal childhood he’d have done those drawings and projects kids do of their families except its primarily Burrich and the animals

Fitz first got to drive a car at age 10 because they were doing fence maintenance in the pasture and Burrich plopped him in the front seat and said “listen, inch the truck forward when I tell you to” and you know it didn’t go terribly

this is the only reason fitz doesn’t end up in a ditch the first time he tries to drive

Fitz, trying to get his license: “So I need my birth certificate, can you give it to me” Burrich: “Sure its right--hold on” Fitz: “Did you lose it?” Burrich: “Let me call the main house” Fitz: “You lost it didn’t you” Burrich: “You didn’t come with one”

Burrich at parent teacher conferences or helping Fitz with homework is funny to me, too. *insert mr incrediblt math is math scene here*

Fitz in canon never has to explain his familial relations to anyone because everyone already knows who he is but in this au its like “Oh that’s my dad, who isn’t my biological dad, but my biological dad dipped when I was born because my mom--who isn’t my biological mom--was upset because he cheated on her and she was upset because she couldn’t have kids but she’s fine now and she’s my mom and they’re all back and then there’s my uncles--” and the person is like uh huh sure that all definitely makes sense

Burrich is hot, does that make him a dilf?

I think Fitz is one of those kids that would get super super into something for a few months and know all about it and so Burrich is like “is this about your transformers?” and Fitz is like NO i’m talking about power rangers they’re totally different

Fitz but he has modern day teen romance drama

Fitz: Burrich, Molly didn’t like my instagram post, does that mean she hates me? :((( Burrich: what’s instagram

Man this isn’t a headcanon or anything but I’m just thinking about how baller the witness stones thing was with galen. and the end of book 2? when burrich was begging for fitz to stay alive and then it switches to relief over him actually being alive? gets me man

I wonder how much more he would have gone up to bat for fitz if there wasn’t the whole royalty or politics thing. like he goes up to bat for fitz all the time and defends him but sometimes he has to be careful with politics. what would he have been like if he didn’t have those constraints

I could keep going, but its already getting long so I’m going to stop there. Hope this was what you wanted!

[singofsolace]

I love it so much!! I love that you continue to give Zelda’s traumas and grief the attention they deserve! The way she tells the passage of time by how long it’s been since Sabrina died conveys how completely life altering her death is for Zelda. And I love that you address why the mortal fathers of Sabrina’s friends weren’t at the funeral. Mr Putnam is so kind and gentle, it makes sense that Hilda would feel moved by his visit and his words of condolence. When she allows herself to express some

(continued) grief and embraces Mr Putnam I was in tears myself. Zelda’s ‘overreaction’ is totally in character. She’s not only a grieving mother and her trauma from her marriage is still very fresh, so the outburst fits and reminds me of her outburst about not being called Lady Blackwood. Any acknowledgment that she was married would trigger her, considering how horrific that experience was. I’m glad Mr Putnam seemed to sense that her reaction wasn’t about him and that he was understanding. 

Zelda’s interaction with Reverend Walker was also so good! Her aversion to his touch and her anger at being called ‘fallen’ and his other assumptions about her family felt very Zelda. I also loved her defence of Rosalind. I can imagine that his lies and the hurt that would cause Roz would be difficult for someone who just lost her own daughter to bear. Zelda is always ready to defend children from their fathers, but especially now. 

Which leads us to Mr Kinkle. Theirs was the interaction I was most curious about and you did a brilliant job with it! I love that you staged their scene in the graveyard where they last interacted. She’s cordial and you can tell she feels a certain amount of empathy towards him. They’ve both lost children. But she also hasn’t forgiven or forgotten his treatment of his son (like the writers apparently did).The memories of her own father were heartbreaking and they make it clear why she was so hurt when Hilda accused her of being an alcoholic like their father in ‘even losing you’. His threat was absolutely terrifying and realistic considering that he surely noticed that she had used magic to stop him from hurting Harvey. It always bothered me so much that there was never any consequences for that. 

And finally, Dr Cee literally running to her rescue was the sweetest thing!! I love that he’s the one to see them and come to her aid and I also love the fact that Zelda still has agency and is the one to push Mr Kinkle to the ground. It’s a great blend of having her supported and cared for without making her a damsel in distress. I also love that she’s slowly learning to trust him and that she treats him with respect. Beautiful, beautiful fic! 

First of all, I’m so sorry this lovely message went unanswered for so long. I’m really terrible at answering comments in a timely fashion, and I’m very sorry for it. I tend to want to give a response worthy of the comment, so I put it to the side to wait while I think of something sufficiently brilliant to say in response, and then the messages collect dust. 

grief became a sword inside her heart feels different to some of the other stories I’ve written, and I think you’ve captured that in your response to it, that Zelda still has so much pain inside her, and through her interactions with these men, you can sort of plot her journey of wading through that pain. I’m so glad, too, that the moment Hilda has with Mr. Putnam registered as an equally important one. Sometimes, in my dogged focus on Zelda’s suffering, I neglect giving Hilda the space to wrestle with her own. But seeing as Hilda and Mr. Putnam took Theo and Sabrina to see Santa Claus together, I wanted there to be some acknowledgment that these two characters have more history together than the brief moments we get in canon.

The Reverend Walker section was a challenge, because CAOS itself seemed to forget he existed, which frustrates me to no end. Canon fails to address the fact that Roz’s dad lied to her all of her life, and blamed her grandma for her own disability...?!?! Like I feel like we don’t talk enough about the fact that Roz was raised to believe that Nana Ruth’s lack of faith was responsible for her own blindness, and that therefore blindness was a divine “punishment,” and not, you know, a common disability that neither Ruth nor Roz should be shamed for having. It was important to me that that conversation happen in this fic, and that it would happen publicly, because we’ve seen in the past that Zelda isn’t always as careful as she should be to protect her witch status when a child is being harmed by their father. The fixing of the suit moment was something I stole from both canon and the blooper reel, because there’s just something about the way that Zelda/Miranda preens suits that feels like both an ingrained gesture, and a weapon, if that makes sense? like it’s an excuse to publicly invade a man’s space without it necessarily reading on the surface as an aggressive or seductive move, despite being both of those things. Appearances are important to Zelda, in a way that can’t be dismissed as simply vanity or tradition--particularly after the Caligari spell. And while I’m not sure all of that “reads” in the fic, I’m so glad that you loved her defense of Rosalind. 

And thank you so much for noticing the fact that the “setting” of the third section is meant to directly parallel Tommy’s funeral scene! I wanted history to repeat itself, but with a slant, you know? And Mr. Kinkle is drunk again because the charm that Sabrina put on the eggnog was broken by her death. I have this theory that when a witch dies, any outstanding spells would be broken. I also just feel like it’s really offensive to anyone who struggles with alcohol abuse, or domestic violence, to then act like charmed eggnog would magically cure Mr. Kinkle of both his addiction AND his abusive nature, as if those things are something you can just flip a switch on, you know?

And when it comes to Dr. Cee, I just really love the idea that, for perhaps the first time in Zelda’s life, she has a solely positive male presence in her life. And slowly but surely, you can see that she’s starting to trust in his goodness, you know? I’m soft just thinking about it.

Anyway, this is getting extremely long. I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH and I’m sorry I take so long to answer these. I appreciate your feedback and support more than I can say.  

[ohmightydevviepuu]

our little life (rounded with a sleep) / chapter 3

our little life (rounded with a sleep) chapter three

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful detective. She had blonde hair, green eyes, no family, and she was good at finding people; in fact, she proclaimed this on her office door. “Swan and Humbert,” it said. “Private investigations, missing persons, and bail bonds.”

Only lately, she's been thinking that maybe it should say "Emma Swan: Loner, Loser, Complicated wreck."

Her partner's been killed on a case after she made a deal with her landlord to find what had been taken from him. But when she tracks a possible perp to a bar on the outskirts of town, Emma will find out exactly how deep the rabbit hole goes.

--

always, always, always because of @thisonesatellite​​ and @profdanglaisstuff​ thank you AGAIN to the amazing team at @captainswanbigbang​

cw: canonical character death rating: T/M (implied violence, language) AO3 chapter one | chapter two | chapter three

chapter summary:   Emma’s tracked down her suspect but then he looks into her eyes like he can see her, like he recognizes her--

And it’s a big fucking problem. She doesn’t trust him.  They are not a team.  No matter what he says or how blue his eyes are when he reads her like an open book.

--

“I’m sorry if I’ve kept you waiting,” James Hook said. “A woman such as yourself deserves my full and prompt attention.”

His voice was familiar; exactly as she had heard it in her dream down to the cadence of his accent.

“Does that line ever work?” Emma asked.

His eyes twinkled with appreciation. “I,” he said seriously, “will let you know, yeah?”

He was wearing eyeliner, kohl smudged around his eyes. Blue button-up shirt--partially undone, matched his eyes, would look even better on the floor--buttoned waistcoat, jeans that showed off his--

Fuck.

Emma needed a drink before she ended up like one of the co-eds.

“MacCutcheon,” she said simply.

“How do you like it?”

“In a glass,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“Tough lass,” he said with a laugh, pouring her a shot.

“Yeah, well,” she said, picking up the shot glass and downing it in one. The condensation left a ring on the cocktail napkin. “It’s been a long day, and I’m thirsty.” She looked around, taking in more of the place--anything to look at instead of staring at Hook and his partially-unbuttoned shirt. “What’s with all of the swords?” Emma asked, gesturing at a wall covered in weapons.

The Rabbit Hole fell on the upside of ‘dive’, but only just barely. Maybe it was the Edison bulbs. The soft yellow glow gave everything a patina of ‘vintage’ instead of ‘grimey’. 

“And what are those, boat hooks?”

“Aye,” he said.

“What are you, some kind of sailor?”

“In another life,” he said, the fake grin stretching across his face, “I served in the Royal Navy.”

“You’ve practically got an armory in here,” she said.

“That’s the idea,” he agreed.

“You don’t seem like the type of guy to collect old-fashioned weapons.”

“Aye,” he said again, the eyes twinkling--again. “I collect blondes from bottles, too.”

Emma was a natural blonde--probably another legacy from one of her parents. She returned his gaze and said only, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

There it was: the real smile. “Perhaps,” he said. “Perhaps I would. James Hook.” He held out his right hand to her, and Emma shook it, which was when she noticed that he only had the one.

“I know who you are,” she said.

“Ah,” he said. “So you’ve heard of me? Well, it’s always nice to leave an impression.”

“Oh,” Emma said. “You have. You’re handsome, and charming--”

“Do go on,” Hook said, shifting his weight against the back counter.

“The kind of guy who--now, stop me if I’ve got this wrong--steals a man’s wife and leaves a boy motherless, then keeps up the grudge by breaking into his home and stealing from him again.” Emma watched him during her recitation. This was her favorite part: skips always broke down when the hot piece of ass they’d been planning on nailing turned the tables and cuffed them.

Not in the fun way, either.

But Hook just looked at her, stepping forward again and bracing his elbow against the bar, his chin in his hand. His fingers curled against his upper lip, his eyes were wide and innocent, and the fake grin had returned; the change was so smoothly done it was--almost--imperceptible.

“Sounds like a lovely tale,” he said. “But I’m going to wager the truth is rather more gruesome.”

Emma was calm. She was focused. And he was not lying.

“Besides,” Hook said evenly, “I’m going to need you to be a mite more specific in your accusations; you see, I’ve had many a man’s wife.”

“And I need you,” Emma said, matching his tone, “to return what you’ve stolen.”

His smile--the fake smile--faltered. Just for a second. “Tell me something, love,” Hook said, leaning into her personal space, his eyes never leaving hers, “If a woman comes to you and begs you to take her away, is that theft?” He ran his tongue over his lower lip and winked at her.

“But--why would she leave him?” Emma asked before she could stop herself. The son, they had a son--

What were they even talking about?

“Because he was a coward,” Hook said easily. “Because she loved me.”

Emma pulled herself away from his gaze. Whatever was going on here--he wasn’t lying.

“So, lass,” he said, “you know who I am, but you won’t even tell me your name?”

“What fun would that be?” Emma said.

“If you’re helping Rump--Gold,” Hook said, with particular emphasis on the name, “I’m afraid you’re fighting for a lost cause.”

“I’m not fighting for anything,” Emma said, “except for my fee. Tell me what you know about Graham Humbert’s death.” She grabbed his wrist. “And I’m gonna let you in on a little secret--I’m pretty good at knowing when someone is lying to me.”

“He came in here the other evening, on the hunt,” Hook said, biting down hard on the ‘t’. “He often did. It’s rather a target-rich environment, as you can see.” He gestured at the crowded room and leered. “That’s the last time I saw him.”

Emma smiled, the kind that showed no teeth, that was small and controlled, and tightened her grip on his wrist. With her other hand, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, unlocked it and scrolled to David Nolan’s entry. “He came here looking for you the night he died,” she said. “A fact I think the sheriff--” Emma held up the phone to show him “--will find fascinating, don’t you?”

He started to pull away, but Emma twisted his wrist just enough to put pressure on it--enough that pulling away would make a scene and potentially force someone to call the sheriff anyway. The singer finished a song to a scattering of applause, and Emma kept her grip and her gaze on Hook.

“Well done, lass,” he said. Emma let go of him and his hand reached up to rub the back of his neck. He had rings on two of his fingers and his thumb, and a freaking earring, a black stud. “You’ll be Emma Swan, then.”

“There goes my air of mystery,” she deadpanned.

“On the contrary, love,” Hook said, licking his lips again. “You’ve bested me. I can count on one hand the number of times someone has done that.”

“Is that a joke?” Emma said drily. “Because you’re a terrible liar.”

“Ask me what you’ve really come here to ask, Swan,” he said, and something in his face had shifted, like he had dropped the act of whatever part he was trying to play. His eyes were serious and the tone of his voice had lowered.

“Did you kill him?”

“I did not,” Hook said.

Emma believed him. Shit.

--

“Now then,” Hook said. “Emma Swan. Bail bonds, private investigations. Twenty-eight years old?”

They weren’t in the bar anymore.

According to the paperwork Graham had pulled, Hook had owned The Rabbit Hole for more than twenty years--clearly a typo as the man appeared exactly as Gold had described him: mid-thirties, no more, no less. It was difficult to picture him running off with a woman Gold’s age.

He’s older than he looks, Gold smirked, and had looked at Emma in a way that made her want to shower. And rather partial, I’m afraid, to brunettes.

Emma had confirmation of this, at least, when Hook had called out to a beautiful brunette in a micromini, tights and an artfully ripped t-shirt. Lacey, my darling, cover for me here, will you?

She’d laughed and given him--and Emma--a wink, and it was obvious what she thought Hook and Emma were doing, and why they needed cover. I’ve got this, Jamie, she’d said.

And he’d taken Emma to a small but immaculate office, dimly lit, rimmed with books, and offered her a chair with a bow before taking a seat behind the desk. She’s new, Hook had said of Lacey, but she does the job like she’s been here for decades. Something about that had amused him; Hook seemed consistently to be amusing himself with jokes only he understood. Any man who kept a skull-and-crossbones on the wall was definitely a man with an unusual sense of humor--in fact, this room had a distinct nautical theme, with a red flag draped above the black one and an honest-to-goodness ship in a bottle on his desk, and it was all a far cry from the badly-curated murder-tinged whimsy that made up the decor of the main bar.

“That’s oddly specific,” Emma countered. “Do I, like, get a prize if you’re right?”

“An educated guess,” Hook answered, and said nothing else as his eyes settled over her. Emma felt like she was being evaluated; not the first time that had happened, and she had no idea what he thought he was looking for.

“So, then,” he said. “Your Graham Humbert came looking for me.”

“He wasn’t my anything,” Emma said quickly. Maybe too quickly.

“Aye,” Hook said. “Of that I’m well aware.” He twisted his thumb against the metal of one of his rings and broke eye contact, looking down and away from her. “We weren’t friends, you know. Barely even acquainted. But you might say that we had certain connections in common.” Hook looked at her quickly and looked away again. “I hadn’t seen him in as long as I can remember.”

There was something strange underlying the words. Not a lie, but not the truth. And something about the phrase tickled Emma’s memory, like she had heard it somewhere before.

“He was involved with Regina Mills,” Emma said, realizing it at the same moment she said it.

“Indeed he was.” Hook made a sound, almost like a bark, and it took Emma a moment to realize it was a laugh. There was no amusement in it. “You wouldn’t know it to look at him, but she rather held his heart in her hands.”

Emma winced.

“Apologies, love,” Hook said quickly, and with apparent sincerity. “That was in rather poor taste, I admit.”

“You were too, weren’t you?” Emma asked instead of acknowledging his half-assed apology. “Involved with her?”

Another harsh laugh escaped him. “Indeed I was,” he said, “though not in the way you’d think. I did some work for the family. A long time ago.”

Emma smirked. “A man who used to be a sailor and now owns a bar?”

“‘Used to be’ is right, Swan,” he said, “but one might consider the bar payment.” He did that thing again, where he over-emphasized the harsh consonants. “For services rendered.”

“You realize you are the only one in this entire neighborhood who owns their property outright instead of paying rent to Robert Gold?”

“Am I?” He examined his fingernails. “That’s fortuitous.” It was obscene, the way Hook made words sound, but Emma knew a distraction when she saw one. This man used words as deflections, armor not unlike her collection of leather jackets.

“She came to see me,” Emma said.

“Did she?” That got Hook’s attention. “And what did you think of Her Majesty the Queen?”

“Her what now?”

“Regina, love. Latin.”

“You speak Latin?” Emma’s eyebrows definitely went up.

“And Greek,” he pointed out, smirking.

“They teach you that in the Royal Navy?”

“Something like that,” he agreed.

Emma’s head was beginning to hurt. This was shaping up to be the world’s worst first draft of “Who’s on first”--she wasn’t getting anywhere, and she needed another drink.

“What did she want?” Hook asked, and for the first time, there was genuine curiosity in his tone. He twisted behind him, pulling out a bottle, then repeated the process and came up with two glasses pinched between his thumb and forefinger, placing one in front of her. He pulled the cork with his teeth, poured himself a shot, and then gestured at her with the bottle.

Emma gave him a look.

“You’re something of an open book, Swan,” Hook said, the picture of innocent hospitality, “or did you not want another drink?”

“Regina wanted to know,” Emma said, ignoring his outstretched hand, “what I was doing about Graham’s death.”

“Don’t make a man drink alone, love.”

“I don’t want a drink,” she lied. “Or a man.”

Hook pouted. “Now who’s not telling the truth?”

Emma took the bottle from his hand and poured herself three fingers’ worth.

“I do find that spirits can be an excellent solution to so many of life’s problems,” Hook said with false cheerfulness, “so I am glad to see that you are making progress.”

Emma left the glass on the desk and leveled a glare at him.

“Are you?” he said, raising his eyebrows, “making progress?”

There was a knock on the door at the same time as it opened, and a young man stepped in. Nearly as tall as Hook, he had long, dark blonde hair that he’d slicked back, leaving some fringe to fall messily at his temples.

“Alright, Liam?” Hook said.

The young man--Liam--coughed and ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, only Lacey said you were back here--”

“And you wanted to interrupt?” Hook asked, a mix of exasperation, fondness and something sharper in his voice.

Liam shrugged.

“Swan,” Hook said, “allow me to present my lit--younger brother, Liam, who was just leaving.”

Emma nodded at him, with his slightly-less-blue eyes and the curious way they watched her.

There was a look in Hook’s eyes as his brother walked out that Emma was not prepared to acknowledge. She pushed her untouched tumbler of rum back toward him and snapped, “Enough. Why did Graham come here to see you?” Emma demanded.

Hook shrugged.

“He tracked you down through property records,” Emma said. “Because the Mills Organization paid you in real estate for work you did for them a long time ago?”

“So it would seem,” he said.

“You know it says on the deed that you’ve been the owner here for as long as I’ve been alive?”

“Does it?” he smirked. “And yet I’ve retained my youthful glow.”

There it was again--not a lie, but not the truth.

He’s older than he looks.

Emma sat, toying with the tumbler she had pulled back toward her seat, running her forefinger around the ring of the glass and saying nothing.

“What can I say, Swan,” he said. “‘I contain multitudes.’ Not unlike your Graham Humbert.” He looked at her as though he was expecting a reaction; Emma stared at him.

“Is that supposed to mean something?”

“Ah,” he said, as though to himself. “Not a believer, then--well, surely that will stop you getting killed.”

Hook considered her for a moment before tossing back his shot, then said: “Walt Whitman, lass. American poet.”

“Didn’t study poetry at any of the high schools I got kicked out of,” Emma said. “What does my listening to you recite poetry and mutter to yourself have to do with Graham?”

Hook shook his head. “Absolutely nothing, love,” he said. “Merely pointing out that you might be surprised by what they teach you in the Royal Navy.”

“You don’t know anything about what I believe,” Emma said sharply.

His blue eyes blazed. “I know that everything you think you believe is wrong,” he said.

“A man is dead, Hook,” Emma said. “I need you to stop fucking around and give me back whatever it is you’ve taken.”

“She’s dead, Swan,” he said sadly, the fire gone just as quickly as it had come, “and whatever that bloody crocodile has you looking for, I don’t have it.”

He had that look again.

Crocodile.

“Just like Milah, when the crocodile took her from me.”

“His wife?” Emma said. “Look, I’m sorry she died, but Graham--Graham was murdered.”

“Died,” Hook snorted. “Like it was some kind of accident--”

“That’s not what I said,” Emma protested, feeling suddenly on the defensive.

“--lass, it was no more of an accident than Humbert laid out in the alley.” Hook poured himself another shot and held it. “And you, Swan, helping him? I fear we’re working at cross purposes.”

“I’m just here to retrieve something on behalf of my client,” Emma said, exasperated and confused, “and to get paid Same as Graham, only he ended up dead and I would prefer to avoid that.”

“It’s a shame, really, Emma,” he said, apparently not listening. “I think we could make quite the team.”

“And what,” Emma wanted to know, “would our objective be?”

Hook paused and looked at her before he drank the second shot, and Emma still had no idea what he was looking for. He took a breath and said: “To avenge your partner,” he said, as if it would be that simple. “To exact revenge on the man who took my hand, Rumplestiltskin.”

--

“Swan!” Hook called, rushing after her. “Swan, wait up!”

Emma was ten or fifteen feet out the door of The Rabbit Hole when she doubled back quickly and pushed herself against him. “Whoa!” she cried. “Whoa, whoa, whoa.”

Hook smiled at her and pulled them closer together. “It’s about bloody time.”

Emma hit him. “I seem to have a shadow,” she said, gesturing at the figure running into the darkness--the one that had lunged itself at her and forced her up against Hook.

“I suppose,” Hook said, pretending to consider it, “that’s a plausible excuse for grabbing me, but next time don’t stand on ceremony.”

Was the man insane? “Do you have any idea what you sound like right now? Who the fuck is Rumplestiltskin?”

Hook’s face fell. “I sound like a crazy person,” he said. “Apologies, love, I realize Humbert didn’t--” He paused, took a breath. “Would you settle for ‘dashing rapscallion’?”

“Excuse me?” Emma stuttered.

“As opposed to ‘crazy person’, Swan,” Hook pushed, and then leaned in closer at her continued silence, angling his head so their eyes were level. “Scoundrel, perhaps?”

He was close enough to--

He was very close.

“I think, Swan,” he said, very softly, his eyes boring into hers, “that you are not the only one with a shadow. Don’t turn,” he warned, “just look at me.”

The full focus of this man’s attention was nearly unbearable. Emma desperately needed to break eye contact and maintain her wits, which was how she noticed the red streak on his shoulder.

Where she’d grabbed him.

Unfortunately, that drew his eyes to the spot as well, and he knew immediately what it was.

“Swan,” he said, and he sounded disappointed. “You’re bleeding.”

“It’s nothing,” Emma insisted. “Just, the jerk who came after me must have had a knife or something.”

“Give me your hand,” Hook said.

“What?” Emma said, trying to pull away.

He wouldn’t let her. “It’s cut,” he said, getting impatient. “Let me help you.”

“No,” Emma said, taking a definitive step back. Hook countered by stepping forward, back into her personal space. “It’s fine.”

“Swan,” he sighed. “It’s not.”

And he ran his hand down her arm, curling his fingers around her wrist and lifting it for closer inspection, balancing her hand on his left wrist against his prosthetic.

“I’m not taking medical advice from a man who has named himself after a character in a fairy tale and who thinks my client can spin straw into gold,” Emma muttered. “Not even when he suddenly decides to be a gentleman.”

Hook’s face twisted, that already-familiar smirk pulling at his mouth as he took something out of his pocket. “I,” he said, and his tone was serious in spite of his expression, “am always a gentleman.” He looked at Emma through eyelashes that were thicker than hers were after several rounds of lash primer as he repeated his bit with the cork and moved to pour the contents over the small slash in her palm.

“What is that?” Emma asked suspiciously, then swore as the liquid hit her skin.

“It’s rum,” Hook said. “And a bloody waste of it.” He handed the flask to her before she could refuse and pulled out a handkerchief from his coat pocket, pressing it into her hand before Emma could try to pull away again and tying it off with his teeth.

Just--his teeth . Why?

His eyes never left hers, not even as he stepped away from her.

“He’s gone,” Hook whispered.

Emma sighed and took a swig of the rum in resignation. “Scoundrel it is, then,” she said, taking a definitive step backward and crossing her arms across her body in the universal signal for back off. Because she knew what he was doing, she had seen this movie before, and it hadn’t ended well.

They were not a team.

They could not be a team.

“Why were you following me?”

“I wanted to continue our conversation,” he said. “Is that so hard to believe?”

Emma shook her head slowly.

He grinned, shrugged. “And," he said, "I would like to see Regina Mills. I was hoping you would be so kind as to facilitate transportation.”

“You don’t drive?”

“I don’t drive a car,” Hook said. “It’s not by choice that I live here in the city, love, it’s by necessity.”

Emma felt her resistance wavering. “What makes you think I’d be willing to help you?”

“You seem,” Hook paused, as if searching for the correct word, “motivated.”

“What happened to cross purposes?”

“I look at this very simply,” Hook said. “I help you get what you want, and it gets me what I want. No more, no less. Besides, I find that I quite fancy you--when you’re not yelling at me, that is.”

“I don’t understand you,” Emma said.

“The mystique is part of my charm, I assure you,” Hook said, raising his eyebrows.

But she had already given in to whatever scheme this was, had given in the minute she pushed herself against him.

The minute he had held her arm and pushed into her space.

Emma gestured for him to go ahead, and they started walking to her car. Hook took in the careworn yellow Beetle with a grin on his face. “Quite a vessel you captain here, Swan,” he said, pulling the door open on the passenger side.

“It seemed like the best choice at the time,” Emma said softly, meaning it, momentarily hating herself for how wrong she had been--and how much this felt like the same beginning all over again. She ran a quick address search on her phone and came up with nothing; it was odd, given the extent of the Mills Organization’s influence.

“I know where she lives, lass,” Hook said. “I’ll navigate.”

Emma pulled out of her spot, the silence growing between them, interspersed at odd intervals with his muttered directions until he spoke. “You know, Swan, most people would find your silence off-putting, but I should warn you that I love a challenge.”

“No challenge,” Emma said. “I’m not looking for someone who’s gonna give his heart to the world, or some true love riding to my rescue.”

“But?” Hook prompted.

“I mean,” Emma said, dripping with sarcasm, “somewhere in the universe, there's gotta be a guy who'll keep me warm when I'm cold, feed me when I'm hungry and maybe, on occasion, take me dancing.”

“No,” he said. “That’s not it. You’re afraid--to talk, to reveal yourself.”

“Am I?” Emma said flatly. “What are we doing now? What happened to ‘a bit of an open book’?” She finished with a horrible imitation of his accent.

“You’re afraid to trust me.”

“Afraid to trust the guy who believes in fairy tales, Captain Hook?” Emma snorted. “However did you guess?”

“Bartender’s a sympathetic ear, love,” Hook said, “but I don’t need you to share. You have that look in your eyes.”

Emma’s entire body went still.

“The one,” Hook said, as if she didn’t already know--didn’t own a freaking mirror--hadn’t seen the look on his face that very night, “you get when you’ve been left alone.”

“Now I’m some kind of lost girl?” Emma forced herself to laugh. “Nice try, Hook, but my world ain’t Neverland.”

He made a noise, halfway between the unamused bark-laugh and a sigh, and said: “My point, Swan, is that an orphan’s an orphan.”

Emma said nothing, but Hook pressed on. “And True Love--well, that’s the rarest magic of all, or so they say. Have you ever even been in love?”

Emma narrowed her eyes at him, took a deep breath, and lied. “No,” she said simply. “I have never been in love.” She pulled the car against the curb and turned off the ignition. “We’re here,” she said.

“Who’s the guy, Swan?” he said, and his voice was almost free of affect. She could--almost--believe he meant it.

“What guy?” Emma said, because fuck him and his open-book bullshit.

“The one,” Hook said as if it was obvious, “who left you with such a high opinion of me.”

Emma got out of the car and slammed the door shut behind her.

--

@kmomof4​ @shireness-says​ @spartanguard​ @optomisticgirl​ @eirabach​ @winterbaby89​ @stahlop​ @teamhook @iamlaxdris71 @snowbellewells​ @carpedzem​ @scientificapricot​ @ultraluckycatnd @therealstartraveller776 @wyntereyez @nikkiemms @searchingwardrobes​ @courtorderedcake​

[thecodeisveronica]

Issy I don’t know if someone asked you but...Albert Wesker and Jake for the character ask? 👀👉🏻👈🏻

Hehe thanks Karen I’ve actually been wanting to do these two >:) 💕

How I feel about them:

Albert: Whew, where do I start. Ok, so I can honestly say without any shame that I LOVE ALBERT WESKER. Yeah, he’s a dick but that doesn’t mean I can’t love him 😔 Not even kidding but when I was 12 I wrote a whole story about his childhood because something about young Wesker interests me soooo much. Spencer was the one that fucked him up and I actually feel quite a bit of pity for him (I meant, the poor dude was brainwashed as a kid and forced to do terrible stuff ;-;) He’s badass, super hot, and he’s got that old-school villain personality which I just love so much. His calm and collectedness (obviously pre re5) has always been something I’ve gushed over because, I don’t know, there’s something about stoic villains that just sends me, ok? 💕 Also, his fashion sense is impeccable.

Jake: I’ll be honest with this one. At first I didn’t like him. I was pretty young when I first played 6 and didn’t really care about him (I was more into his dad lmao) Played 6 again and I can honestly say that I now love Jake Muller to pieces 🥺💓 He’s badass, he’s cool, he’s a jerk but super charming in his own way. I love the fact that his morals are very grey to begin with — being a mercenary, he’s only in it for the money and it was nice to watch him slowly develop as the story went on. Also the fact that he has hand-to-hand combat as one of his weapon selections just hhhhh omg he’s such a badass 😩 I just honestly love him and his character so much and I wanna know what the hell he’s been up to!!

Who I ship them with romantically:

Albert: Oh damn. Love is definitely a tricky thing to describe with Wesker. I think the closest he’d get is either respect or fascination (definitely obsession if he was ever with an SO). He was with Jake’s mum in what, the early 90s? So we definitely know he is or at least was capable of sexual attraction. I think there was possibly something with Excella (nothing he really cared about but just saw her there and perhaps used her as stress relief? He’s a selfish dude so he’d totally do it). Like I’ve said, I’m not a huge re shipper but there’s something about him and Chris back in their S.T.A.R.S. days 👀 maybe even Jill too.

Jake: No-brainer — Sherry. Not only does their dynamic work but they were clearly fated to be together or something. I mean, their dads worked together and created the virus/blood- types that they both carry in them. I loved watching them flourish over the course of the game and watch Jake slowly start caring for Sherry 🥺💞 (you CANNOT tell me that this man isn’t an awkward softie when he wants to show affection) Basically, I just love them together and the fact that their history is so closely related just makes it even more special.

My non-romantic OTP for them:

Albert: Hmm probably William. Mainly based hcs and the true canon but these two men clearly respected eachother. They were even described as rivals back at the training facility and given nicknames — scholar Will and practical Al (I love that hhhh). Especially in that manga with them together, I just love them 🥺 (I never stop thinking about Al with the juice box omg 💓) Maybe calling them friends is a push but Will was clearly the closest thing that Wesker ever had to one ;-; 💕 (high-key wanna hug him 😔)

Jake: Ooh I think him and Leon could work well. They both respect eachother thanks to Sherry and they have a lot in common. Jake kinda reminds me a bit of re4 Leon (cocky but caring) so maybe Leon sees a bit of his younger self in Jake? Jake and Piers are an interesting duo too. They hate eachother’s guts but it would’ve been nice to have them properly work together or something ;-;

Unpopular opinions on them:

Albert: I hate what they did to him in 5 😔 He went from being cool, calm and collected to a completely unhinged psychopath in a space of just years and it triggers me so much. Capcom basically turned him into a stereotypical villain that wanted to take over the world and went mad ajdjdjd. How could they massacre my boy like that? 😭😭😭

Jake: Not really unpopular but I wish we could’ve seen more about his mother :( I wanna know if she ever spoke to Jake about Wesker or if she genuinely loved him while they were “together”.

One thing I wish would happen:

Albert: I wish he didn’t die (a part of me thinks he maybe be alive thanks to Umbrella Corps soooo). His death was stupid, comical and just cheap. A volcano,,,with rocket launchers,,,really??? Wesker was the main villain of the franchise and deserved a WAYYYY better death smfh 😤 I ALSO WANT A PREQUEL ON HIM SO BAD!! Whether it’s in Umbrella or S.T.A.R.S. or both! Just something 😩 Omg just imagine a game where you can play as him and Birkin in the different facilities hhhhh 💕

Jake: I wanna see him with Chris again. I need to know if those can ever work together properly or smooth things over. I’m sure they’ll forever be love-hate but I just wanna see how they’d act together 👀 Another thing I wished we could’ve seen was Jake confront Albert!! Yeah his dad is dead (possibly 👁👁) but seeing the two interact would be so interesting, especially since Jake feels so conflicted about his dad. (Also imagine them doing normal father-son stuff 😔✌️)

I’ve always found pre-5 Wesker the hottest ngl hhh (he’s hot in general buttttt) 👀💞

[koala-otter]

the teacher and the scientist au: worldbuilding

I am writing some original stuff right now, and as a break where I can keep writing, I’m going to explain some of my worldbuilding/choices that I make when it comes to my modern “the teacher and the scientist” AU. The hope is that it will be fun for others to see what goes into a fic, or give people ideas for their own fics!

*a quick note: I am a white Latina! I have no East Asian heritage! I studied for a while in Beijing and speak Mandarin Chinese fluently, so I kind of defer to my experiences there when making worldbuilding choices in fic (because I believe strongly in writing what you know, especially given the damage you might cause by writing what you don’t know), but will also do research online or through friends on other countries and cultures that inspired the four nations in ATLA. But all of this is just to say that while I do put a lot of thought into this stuff, I am by no means the authority on any of it, and I am open to criticism and of course always want to make sure I’m not doing anything harmful with my writing. I promise to listen and adapt if you approach me about literally anything in my fic or in this post.

Ok now let’s get into it!

1. The setting: Ba Sing Se’s Natural History Museum This is based on a combination of the Beijing Museum of Natural History, the American Natural History Museum in New York, and Beijing’s Forbidden City/Gugong. Beijing I think is probably the biggest inspiration for Ba Sing Se with the ring system and centering of the palace (and I mean the Earth King’s palace is pretty directly based off of Tiananmen Square), so it seems like a pretty solid model for a modern Ba Sing Se to me.

2. The field trip I went on so many field trips to the Natural History Museum when I was little, and they were always the absolute most fun of the year. And I feel like we went to the planetarium basically every time? It was kind of fun to recall and try to capture the experience of being a little kid on this trip in this fic

3. The Lower Ring & the Middle Ring I put Zuko and his students as coming from the Lower Ring for a few reasons. Firstly, I couldn’t imagine Katara and Aang living in either the financial district that is the Middle Ring or the ostentatiousness of the Upper Ring. I think if they were in Ba Sing Se they’d work and raise their family in the Lower Ring (I will be getting into their jobs in later installments of this story, so I won’t explain them here!), which means Bumi goes to school in the Lower Ring, which then means Zuko has to work there in order to be his teacher and for this entire concept to work out (and also the reasons explained in the actual fic where he lived there with Iroh and wants to give back). And the museum is in the Middle Ring because I wanted it connected to the university, which canonically is in Ba Sing Se’s Middle Ring.

4. Sokka as an astrophysicist Because Sokka is a smart kid and a huge science nerd, okay??? And Yue and the space sword. It makes sense. Also, because Ba Sing Se = ATLA’s Beijing, I think of Ba Sing Se University as Beida （北大）or Peking University, which is China’s first national university and one of the most, if not the most, selective university in the country (disclaimer: I did not study at Beida!!). But yeah BSSU is the Earth Kingdom’s most illustrious university and one of the best research institutions in the world, and Sokka’s a tenured professor there. My boy’s world-class brilliant.

5. “Teacher Zuko” Ughhh I really struggled with this. Basically, I was taught in learning Chinese to address teachers as “Surname 老师 (lao3shi1),” which is “Surname Teacher.” But! I didn’t want to give Zuko a surname, because that seemed rife with opportunities for missteps (there’s a lot that goes into surnames of literally any country or culture, from geography to family history and occupations, and I didn’t want to co-opt anything that wasn’t mine to use). So I knew the kids would call him by his first name. But “Zuko Teacher” sounded off. And in Chinese, titles like Mr. or Miss or Mrs. go after one’s surname, while in English it’s the opposite, so I figured for this fic it was appropriate to implement the English convention. So! “Teacher Zuko.”

6. Sokka’s appearance Sokka’s one of those hot, young professors that appear only in popular media, or once in a blue moon. He finds out from Katara that white sneakers are an easy way to look in the fashion know while remaining marginally professional for class, and they become a staple of his uniform. I picture him in Stan Smiths. (And of course they’re a little beaten up! It’s Sokka!)

7. The gaang’s ages Okay, so, I can’t find the actual post where this is broken down, but I think canonically it makes sense that Katara and Aang were 22 and 20, respectively, when Bumi was born. I put them in this fic at being maybe a year or two older in this fic, so let’s say 23 and 21, when they have Bumi, in Katara’s second year of med school. So when this fic takes place, as Bumi is six years old, they are 29 and 27, and Sokka and Zuko are then 30 and 31.

oh my god we’re only 700 words into a 4,000-word fic why did I decide to do this to myself

8. Sokka looking at his watch and having a penchant for exact minutes He’s a master scheduler. That’s it. 

9. “My Uncle Mushi lives in Chin City” This was just kind of an opportunity to integrate more from the ATLA universe! Obvi “Mushi” is Iroh’s refugee alias, but whatever another kid can have it, and yeah Chin City is that terrible village with all of those wacky people from “Avatar Day.” So we know the kid’s uncle is wacky. Fat chance of going on a field trip to visit him.

10. Zuko calling Bumi talented There’s that scene in the episode where they go to the Sun Warriors that Zuko calls Aang “a talented kid.” Bumi’s Aang’s son, so I figure by the transitive property Zuko would describe him the same way.

11. Zuko’s scar  I don’t know why but I often forget to mention Zuko’s scar in other fics! Either way, I find kids usually respond to people’s differences better than most adults do. Kids just see things and comment on them, which, yeah, can be rude by societal standards, but I’d imagine it would be very refreshing for Zuko after going much of his life with people trying to avoid either staring at the left side of his face or talking about what happened. Also, I didn’t really want to get into the cause of the scar. Obviously Ozai did it. I don’t have an idea of how. Other fics have done that better. Explaining it within the fic the way Zuko would explain it to his class seemed like a good way to tell the reader, “Hey yeah it’s the same cause as in the show,” but then not have to get into it.

12. Sokka hates intro classes Ughhh no one likes intro classes, and I’d imagine it’s even worse for professors. Prerequisites are often too easy for the kids intending on majoring or too hard and meant to weed out the kids who can’t stick with the department’s program. College is funny.

13. Aang volunteers in Zuko’s class From what I can tell, parental involvement in schools is only getting bigger. And Aang is a great dad and I think he’d take any opportunity to get involved with Bumi’s school.

14. Zuko’s backstory I should probably take the time to explain this! Basically I think of this story existing in a universe where after they moved to Ba Sing Se under circumstances comparable to their being refugees in the show, Iroh and Zuko actually stayed in the city, and Zuko got his education there. And yeah! My boy went to BSSU, too!

15. Stargazing at the South Pole and seeing the moon at the North Pole Oh my god the pure amount of thought that went into this. I worked with the assumption that A:TLA takes place on Earth, and that then the rotations of Earth, and the rotation of the moon, are the same as what we experience now (I’ve thought about this extensively, especially as it pertains to the hemispheres and the seasons, but I don’t want to talk about it here, we simply do not have either the time or space). So the South Pole is essentially the same as our Antarctica/South Pole, except that it is capable of sustaining human life for an extended amount of time, and in theory has greater biodiversity (clearly I have also thought about this extensively, but again, we have neither the time nor the space for my theories). I had to read a NASA report on the phases of the moon as seen from the South Pole! And it turns out you can’t see much of the moon down there, and it is always in crescent form. but yeah, you see a lot of stars (but in the opposite rotation of what we see in the Northern Hemisphere), and I thought that was intriguing, especially given the importance of moon imagery throughout the show. Thus, Sokka’s first seeing the moon in the Northern Water Tribe, which ties in perfectly with his meeting Yue, his first love: “You could say the moon was my first love.” (Which someone pointed out in a comment on Ao3, and it absolutely delighted me that they noticed!)

16. Pipsqueak Just looking for more people from the show to serve as first graders in this fic. Someone commented that they pictured him the same size as he was in canon, and I laughed out loud.

17. Tuyanjing I was trying to think of constellations that look like badger-moles, and I honestly just thought, “Ursa Major. Badger-moles look like giant bears.” And “Tuyanjing” (土眼睛) is my own translation of “earth eye,” which was meant to be a nod to the animals’ connection to Toph and their blindness and earthbending. 

18. All the stars & mentioning the Fire Nation & Water Tribe navigation I was initially going to write something in this scene about ancient constructions, like the pyramids, that were built using the constellations, and then create some elaborate metaphor about them and Zukka. But the only coherent thought I had about it was that it was “Too Much Work.” Instead I realized okay sailors always use the stars for navigation, and the Water Tribes and Fire Nation are the only nations we’ve seen with boats, so let’s go for that, and it works out because if you squint maybe you’ll read something about the stars guiding them to each other. Maybe we’re evoking thoughts of star-crossed lovers. And then we mention the moon again, and Zuko’s really seeing it for the first time, kind of like Sokka did, so hey I don’t know maybe that’s a symbol of something. Maybe.  

And that’s really it I think! Hopefully this was at least entertaining if not entirely informative. I don’t normally write stuff out like this, but it is a good reflection of my thought process while writing most fics. Again, I am open to any kind of communication about the above as well as anything else I’ve posted! And I’d love to hear about any of your own ideas that help you with worldbuilding and writing your own fics :)