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five-and-dimes · 4 months

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Your Eyes Slay Me Suddenly

Finally get to share my fic for the Spring Exchange! I got assigned @im-not-corrupted, and it's my first time writing a knight au, but I'm really happy with how t turned out, so I hope you like it too! <3

AO3

If you had asked Sir Robert Gadling just a few years ago, he would have told you that he had no plans of settling in any kingdom. Ever since the loss of his dear Eleanor, he had found himself most content in traveling. A sword for hire making his way through the lands, throwing himself into new adventures before inevitably moving on. He escorted nobles and adventurers, he protected priceless treasures, he fought in tournaments for gold and glory, and then he carried on. Each new place brought their own unique experiences and joys, but none so great as to convince him to stay.

Then he entered the kingdom of the Endless.

He had heard rumors of the turmoil the kingdom had gone through in recent times. One of their main allies and trade partners had been brought low by their king’s death and near fatal wounding of the only prince, leaving the prince’s consort to struggle to hold the land together. The loss of protection and major imports left the Endless kingdom vulnerable, and they fell into a period of famine and darkness. However, a few years later saw one of the princes staging a coup, exiling the king and queen as well as a few other members of the royal family, taking the throne for himself.

And King Morpheus brought the realm back to prosperity.

Hob found the land intriguing in a way he hadn’t experienced before. The landscape was lush and vibrant, the kingdom built within the forest as opposed to clearing it away, and even the homes of the lower class were adorned with intricate artwork carved into the door and window frames. When he made his way into a boisterous tavern, he was greeted as though he was coming home, not a newcomer. As the ale flowed, he had tried to learn more about the history of the realm, especially the years when the crown had been taken. What he learned was that, for all the drama that a grab for power like that must have been, to those outside the palace, it had all been very quiet.

“Went to bed one night the same as ever. Next day we woke up, and there was an assembly being called,” An older man explained, leaning heavily on the table, “Standing on the balcony like some angel of death, there was King Morpheus, wearing the crown.” He shook his head, lost in the memory of his astonishment, “The King and Queen have so many kids I never could keep track of ‘em. But I coulda sworn that one was dead,” he shrugged, taking another long swig of his ale, “Guess I was wrong.”

Curiosity thoroughly piqued, Hob was more eager than ever to join an upcoming tournament. As always he enjoyed buddying up with the kingdom’s knights, sharing tales of his travels, learning more about the land he was visiting, placing bets and engaging in friendly banter. He was excited to join the festivities, and to get a closer look at the mysterious king.

As he entered the arena, looking up to the stands, he understood why his drinking companion had called the king an angel. King Morpheus was a spot of darkness amongst the colors of the crowd. The royals and advisors sitting beside him wore rich, deep colored fabrics that shone in the sunlight, but the king himself was garbed all in black. His robes flowed around him, draping over his form and concealing his figure. His collar was buttoned up his neck all the way to his chin, and gloves covered his hands where they lay primly in his lap. Long black hair was braided elegantly and made his face look even paler, as though he had never seen the sun before. The gold circlet with ruby accents on his head was the only color Hob could make out on his figure.

He was beautiful.

Hob was never one to deny his ego, and he always aimed to impress when he competed, but on this day he forgot about the crowd. There was only one person he hoped to impress with each swing of his weapon or shot of his bow. The days of the tournament passed, and he couldn’t help but glance up up up to the King after each success, hoping desperately to be noticed. And his pride clearly paid off, because when the tournament ended, as Hob collected his winnings and made his way towards the feast, he was approached by an elegant figure. Her waistcoat was perfectly tailored and a deep purple which made her dark skin seem to glow. But her poise and demeanor gave away her station far more than the richness of her clothing. Delicate spectacles sat on the bridge of her nose, and her posture was proud and sure, looking down on Hob without seeming to look down on him.

“You performed very admirably, Sir…” she stated, raising an eyebrow in question.

“Robert Gadling,” he bowed in greeting, grinning.

“You are new to these parts, yes?”

“Aye, I am a traveler.”

“Just passing through, then?”

“Unless I am given a reason to stay.”

She gave him a reason.

The King had in fact noticed him, had been pleased by his performance, and was looking to grow the order of knights protecting the castle grounds. Though a few years had passed, he was still new enough to the throne to be vulnerable to attempts to usurp him. And he wanted Hob to join. Hob had no intention of turning down an opportunity to be closer to the dark shadow of a king.

It did not occur to him until much later that he hadn’t even needed to think about it before deciding to settle here, in the Endless Kingdom. He moved onto the castle grounds, and he kneeled before King Morpheus and swore an oath, and the king looked down at him with glittering eyes. Hob felt like a madman for all the things he wanted, but he felt a little less mad when, before the season even had a chance to change, he was selected as the King’s personal guard.

“If I may ask,” Hob could not help but inquire, standing watch as the King worked in his study, “Why me? There must be knights whom you are more familiar with.” He was one of the newest in the order, and yet it was he who stood at the king’s side.

The King barely glanced at him, continuing his elegant penmanship, “I am interested.”

“In me?” Hob felt his traitorous heart flutter.

Here, King Morpheus did look at him, something sly and mischievous in his eyes, “In your experience.” Slowly and deliberately, he put his quill down, leaning back in his seat and folding his hands in his lap, “Tell me, sir Gadling,” Hob shivered every time he heard his name on those lips, “of your travels. Tell me of your life.”

And, well. Hob would never deny a command from his king.

Although he would not deny… editing, occasionally. Never lying, of course, he wouldn’t dare. But he saw no harm in skipping the less flattering parts- the years lost to drinking his grief away, the times he tripped over his own feet learning to charge in heavy armor- and only slightly embellishing his victories. Morpheus always listened with rapt attention, as though Hob’s tales were the most interesting things he had ever heard. Perhaps, Hob considered, they were.

“It seems you have always been a capable warrior, Sir Gadling,” Morpheus smiled as he delicately ate his breakfast, Hob leaning against the wall beside him as he finished the most recent recounting of his exploits.

“Had to learn fast,” he grinned, “Some of us have to get roughed up if we want to keep you royals so soft and pretty.”

At first, he thinks he has said something wrong, because Morpheus’ head snaps up to look at him, eyes sharp and calculating. But a moment later, his body softens, like an exhale, and there is a pleased smile on his face, and Hob knows that he has said something right.

“I do not remember that part of your oath,” he says teasingly, “a vow to keep me soft and pretty.”

“It was unspoken,” Hob replies immediately, “Took one look at you and knew a delicate thing like you needed a skilled sword and shield at your side.”

“And it seems I chose well,” he sits up a little straighter, almost preening, “I trust a knight of your strength and… stature,” Hob felt his cheeks warm as Morpheus blatantly looked him up and down, “will have no trouble protecting my integrity.”

“With my life, my lord,” he gives a half bow, and when their eyes meet he is certain that something is there.

It became a regular part of their time together, after that. Time passes with Hob telling his stories, and Morpheus fluttering his eyelashes at what a rough and adventurous life he’s led, and Hob gently teasing about the soft and cushioned life he’s led. The contrast between them was exhilarating, and each time the king leaned into it was a bolt of excitement to Hob’s bloodstream. If Hob had his way, King Morpheus would never have to lift a finger. As he accompanied him through the castle, from his chambers to the throne room to the dining hall and back again, he opened every door for him with a deep bow. He would lift the king’s fork to his lips if allowed.

Morpheus does not seem to mind. For all that he is known as a stoic and cold king to those outside of the palace, each day Hob sees his little smiles, and the laughter in his eyes as Hob bends over backwards for him.

On this day, Hob thinks he might be the first knight tasked to pick blackberries for his king. Morpheus sits on a stone bench in the shade of the garden as Hob diligently fills a bowl with the ripe fruit, occasionally glancing back to see Morpheus’ warm, amused smile.

“It would be a shame to stain such finary,” he had claimed, eyes crinkling slightly in restrained mirth, turning to show off the glimmer within the fabric of his clothes.

“Oh of course,” Hob teased in return, “We wouldn’t want our precious king to get his hands dirty.” He bowed, taking the king’s gloved hand to kiss his knuckles. His skin was covered by such fine leather, he could only imagine how butter soft the skin beneath it must be.

King Morpheus smirked down at him, “You earn your keep well, my knight.”

“Anything to be kept by you,” he winked.

The only response is a silent huff of laughter, but Hob cherishes it all the same. As he stands, he holds a berry out between his fingers, “Perhaps you should test them. Make sure they are up to your standards.”

His eyelashes flutter, a coy smile on his lips as he leans forward, and Hob may have started it but he was unprepared for the feeling of his king’s mouth wrapping around his fingers, plucking the fruit from his hand before pulling back with a soft swipe of his tongue. Hob feels himself shudder as Morpheus hums in pleasure.

“Yes,” he purrs, “delightful.”

“Is that so?” Hob feels his heart beating wildly in his chest, but he feels confident and daring as he leans in closer, “Perhaps I should get a taste myself.” He thinks that no fruit on earth would compare to being able to lick the taste from Morpheus’ lips.

But he will never know if he is right. Before he has a chance, he lays his hand on Morpheus’ waist, only to have his wrist gripped tightly and torn away.

“Do not-” The hissed words are cut off so abruptly that Hob can hear the click of Morpheus’ teeth as his mouth snaps shut. His eyes are steely, stepping back to put himself out of Hob’s reach. It is so far and away from any interaction they have had before that Hob feels as though he has whiplash.

There is a moment's pause where Morpheus seems to be waiting for him to speak, and it is only then that Hob remembers their respective ranks, “I apologize, my liege,” he bows deeply, the formality feeling wrong. This is not who they are to each other. Or so he thought.

He glances up just in time to catch the way Morpheus’ throat bobs as he swallows thickly, “I have been away from my work long enough. Deliver what you have harvested to the kitchens and then rejoin me in my study.” He leaves no room for a response, turning on his heels and stalking away, heedless of the fact that they are not meant to be separated this way. Hob’s job is to watch over him. But, after watching his king’s back disappear back into the castle, he does as he is told.

His thoughts are a storm as he passes the fruit off to the kitchen staff, dragging his feet to delay his return to Morpheus’ side. King Morpheus has always been vocal about fighting tradition- about making a better realm, even if it meant going against the “old ways”- and Hob had, foolishly perhaps, assumed that meant that Morpheus would not be against marrying outside his station.

Apparently he was wrong.

Arriving outside the study door, Hob feels his heart burn. With rejection, yes, and grief, certainly, but also with anger. Anger at the king’s hypocrisy, his arrogance and conceit, to think so lowly of Hob as to toy with his feelings and then snub his touch. As though Hob’s hands would somehow taint his royal figure.

Well, Hob refused to be ashamed. He was proud of his rank and status, he was proud of his life, and no man or king would make him feel lesser. So when he walked into the room, he held his head high, and kept his eyes cold.

Morpheus glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, but did not say anything.

The weeks following are tense. At first, Morpheus seemed to try to restart their flirtatious banter, but Hob refused to engage. He was not a toy for the king to play with as he pleased and then shove away when he got too bold. In another kingdom, Hob thinks he might have been executed for the glare he sent the lord’s way. But Morpheus only sighed and looked away, and eventually stopped trying. Their days were now filled with tense silences as they walked together.

Hob is seriously considering leaving Morpheus’ order to continue his travels on the day the assassination attempt happens. He is overseeing a trial between two nobles, something about one of them infringing on the other's land, Hob hadn’t really been paying attention. In hindsight, the two seem more amicable with each other than one would expect for a dispute to reach the point of coming before the king, but at the time Hob had just been grateful that it was a quiet day.

“My King, I have some evidence that I believe may sway you in my favor,” one of them announced.

Morpheus, with varying success, did try to keep from being too far above his people. As such, it was not unusual for him to stand and approach the noble when he gestured him forward, presumably to show or explain something to win his case. Hob, as usual, is only a step behind him. It is because of that that he catches the glint of metal in the noble’s hand within his robe.

With a wordless cry, Hob lunges forward, shoving Morpheus roughly to the ground to step in front of him. There is a loud clang as the noble’s dagger connects with Hob’s gauntlet. His eyes are wide at Hob’s speed, and he has no time to react before Hob’s fist makes contact with his nose, blood spraying as he collapses. Around them, the rest of the knights in the room rush into action, restraining both nobles and sweeping the room for any hidden danger.

With the threat so swiftly taken care of, Hob is free to look down at where the king was sprawled, dark fabric pooling around him as he pushes himself up, dark hair concealing half his face. They look at each other, the adrenalin of the moment still rushing through both of them.

“Are you alright, my liege?” Hob asks softly, holding a hand out.

Morpheus nods slowly, taking his hand and allowing Hob to pull him to his feet, “I am. Thanks to you.”

As they stand, hands still clasped for a moment longer than necessary, Hob realizes that he has missed Morpheus. Perhaps he cannot have everything that he wants so desperately. But if this is all he can have, well. At least he can have this.

“Of course,” he smirks, “I did swear to keep you soft and pretty, remember?”

He means it as an olive branch, a remembered joke between them to show that they can still be more than simply knight and king, even if they cannot be more. He does not mean to make Morpheus’ eyes fill with tears.

“Yes,” his voice cracks, “Of course.”

Hob is not given a chance to respond- not that he knows how to respond at all- before the king is turning away, calling for his advisor, Lady Lucienne, the one who had first approached Hob about his position within the court. The two convene quietly for a moment before Morpheus orders the knights present, including Hob, to take the two traitors away to be questioned and search the grounds for any other suspects.

It feels wrong to leave the king’s side. Hob feels a desperate need to watch over him, to keep him safe and protected, to wipe away the tears that look so perilously close to falling. But he has been given his orders, and the king and lady are already moving to sequester themselves somewhere private to discuss what to do with the situation. So, with one last look back, he goes to fulfill his duty.

Hours later, when the palace is confidently secure and the traitors are under lock and key, Hob feels no less anxious to be at his king’s side. He was told to return to his own quarters, to rest for the night, and he did try at first, setting his armor aside and laying in bed to try to calm the burning in his heart. But there is no rest to be found here, and soon he finds himself walking purposefully through the halls in his casual clothing, a decision he only regrets when he finds himself faced unexpectedly with the king’s advisor.

Lady Lucienne is exiting the room just as he approaches the king’s chambers. Still half in the doorway, she raises an eyebrow at the clearly off-duty knight before her, and Hob freezes, feeling like a child caught stealing sweets.

“Sir Gadling,” she greets cooly, “I did not expect to see you so late. I thought you were resting,” she raised an eyebrow at him pointedly.

“Yes, m’lady,” he bows his head, but tries to continue awkwardly, “I simply could not rest, and wished to check to ensure the king was well after the attack today.”

“He is well,” she answers shortly, “so you may-“

“Lucienne,” a deep voice calls out from within the room, “he may enter.”

Frowning, Lucienne gives Hob a quick narrow-eyed look before re-entering the room, closing the door behind her and leaving the knight alone in the hallway. He waits awkwardly as a hushed conversation happens behind the door. Finally, Lucienne emerges once more, still eying him warily, but opening the door wider to allow him entry into the king’s chamber. As he enters, he is surprised when she exits, closing the door again to leave him alone in the room with Morpheus.

The room is grand, as expected for a king, and Morpheus sits primly on the edge of the large, ornate bed in the center. He is no longer wearing the extravagant, heavy garb that he dons in public. His current night robe, while as dark and elegant as all of his attire, is also thinner and more lightweight. It is also… revealing. The silky fabric contrasts sharply with his pale, nearly white skin, and for the first time, Hob is granted the sight of his king’s forearms, his neck, the jut of his collar bones, his calves. And with it, he is granted the sight of countless scars.

Dark, rough scar tissue circles both his wrists like bracelets, a matching ring around his neck. There are some marks that Hob recognizes as blade wounds, and others that he thinks might be burns. They criss-cross over each other and dip below his robe, suggesting that what he is seeing is only a fraction of what exists. All of the marks look old. It does not make them look any less painful.

Hob feels his mouth open, the breath rushing out of him as though he has been struck. He can tell, he knows, that the scars are old enough to have been made long before Hob ever met Morpheus. Still, he feels a strange sense of failure. As though it is his fault for not meeting Morpheus in time to protect him.

When he finally raises his gaze, he finds Morpheus looking at him, patiently waiting for Hob to finish his inspection. Hob opens his mouth, but cannot find any words that might soften whatever is happening right now.

Finally, Morpheus speaks, “Once, I was a prince. And now, I am a king.” His voice holds the gravity of an execution, and the sorrow of bowing his own neck beneath the blade, “But there was a time, in between, when I was neither.”

Hob takes another shaking step into the room. There is something dreamlike in the situation, an anticipation, a feeling of falling. “What do you mean?” he asks.

Morpheus turns his eyes forward to stare at one of the large landscape paintings he’d commissioned from a local artist, “I was sixteen when I was taken,” he states plainly, as though his words don’t gut Hob to the core, “It was… easy. For them to steal me away. Far too easy, even for an unloved spare like myself. As if it had been allowed.” He pauses, but keeps his face carefully smooth and neutral, “I still do not know for certain. Whether I was stolen or given away.” His next words are spoken more to himself than to Hob, “Perhaps it does not matter.”

Everything in Hob wants to move closer, to hold his king and shield him with his body, as though the past was an arrow aimed for his heart that Hob could stand in the way of. And yet, he feels frozen. Feet rooted to the ground by a pain so great even his strong and stoic king cannot keep it from his voice.

“When my blindfold was removed, I found myself brought before King Burgess.”

And now, Hob gasps, a too-loud inhale in the heavy tension of the room. Morpheus looks at him, his body stiff and his face still carefully empty.

Hob feels like he can’t breathe, “How…” his voice cracks desperately, “How long were you there?” He might be making a mistake by asking, by speaking at all during this tale, but he has to know. He has to.

“I was kept as a secret treasure for ten years,” Morpheus reveals bluntly. “I escaped my imprisonment roughly six years ago.”

The timeline stretches before Hob’s eyes, and he wants to weep.

“I was there,” Hob exhales in horror. Morpheus’ blinks, eyes blank and not understanding. “I… Ten years ago, I…” his throat feels like it is closing, but he forces the words out, “Burgess’ kingdom was one of the first I traveled to after I lost Eleanor. I was raised in the land neighboring it. I was there for nearly a year, drinking and fighting and participating in tournaments to distract myself from grief. I was offered a place in his court but I. Declined.” He takes half a step back, and then a full step forward when he sees the way the motion makes his king’s face fall. “I was right there,” he whispers.

“I doubt you could have done much,” Morpheus replied, turning his face to look at the wall again, “I was not flaunted before his people, or even the rest of his court. Only a select few knew of my presence beneath his castle. He…” his voice trailed off, and his eyes glimmered as tears began to well. But he stubbornly blinked them back, “It does not matter,” he says again, even softer.

Hob wants to scream that it does matter, of course it matters. But his king looks so wounded right now, and it has nothing to do with the scars. So for now he waits, and lets Morpheus tell him no more than what he is ready to share.

“Eventually,” he continues, his voice steady once more, “the prince’s consort grew pitying. I am sure when he released me he expected me to simply run. But I had more than earned my right to vengeance.” His hands clenched into fists in his lap, “Burgess was almost too easy. He had grown old and careless. He was not so powerful as he thought himself when I was in chains. I spared his son the killing blow only out of gratitude to his consort.”

The stories of the fall of the Burgess Kingdom make much more sense now, with this information, and even the decline of the Endless kingdom who had for so long been allies with them.

“It took me some time to return to my home kingdom. I was weak, and needed to heal and regain my strength. I also gathered allies. Lady Lucienne, Sir Matthew, among others. My family was not expecting my return, and so it was easy to claim the throne for myself. My parents I exiled, along with their supporters. My siblings I allowed the freedom to do as they wished. And what they wished was to leave.”

A few of the king’s siblings had visited in Hob’s time at his side, but never for long. Hob ached at the pain he saw now. The pain of being abandoned so quickly after his return.

“And a few years later…” Morpheus’ gaze was heavy as he looked at Hob once more, “a traveling knight competed in a tournament, and caught my eye.”

Hob still remembers that day so vividly, the dark shadow of the king, the way he was too far for Hob to see his eyes and yet he fantasized about them looking at him. His heart swells in his chest to know that they were. And now he is here, stepping towards his king, his friend, the man he has stood beside for nearly two years now, and he cannot help but ask, “Why did you not tell me this before?”

When Morpheus sighs, it is heavy, and Hob thinks that a lesser man would have crumpled under the weight of the despair in that single breath.

“The parts of me that appeal to you…” he explains slowly, “being… soft. And pretty, and delicate, and pure…” he keeps his head high and shoulders back and it does not make him look any less ashamed, “they are all a fantasy. The reality is that I have long been. Damaged. And sullied.” Almost unconsciously, he brought one hand up to clutch at his robe, holding it closed just a little tighter, “Perhaps it was cruel of me to deceive you in such a way, but our games… brought me comfort. I could pretend, even if just for the briefest times, that it was true. That I was someone you could want.”

Eyes fluttering closed, he sighed, “I thought. If I could have nothing else. I could at least have that.”

His voice is so even, despite how soft it has grown, barely audible in the expansive room. He speaks as though reciting history- something that has already passed and cannot be altered. A tragedy that cannot be changed.

When Hob moves towards him, it is barely conscious. It is like floating down a river, like gravity, a force of nature that perhaps he could fight against if he wanted to. But he does not want to. And so he moves to his king and he kneels, and he did not know it was possible, but it feels even more right now than it has every time he has kneeled before. Morpheus looks at him, the slightest furrow in his brow, confused, surprised, strangely lost. Hob takes his hand, as he has countless times before, and for the first time feels the rough calluses on his fingers. He kisses his knuckles, and his lips brush his bare skin for the very first time. Morpheus gasps, silent, and Hob would have missed it had his eyes not been fixed on his king’s face.

And then he continues. He brings his lips to the ring of scar tissue around his bony wrist, kissing first the outside, then the inside, leaning forward to continue kissing up his arm. There is a part of him that is appalled at his daring- this is his king, he has no right to take such liberties. But there is a much larger part that is desperate to prove him wrong. He has sworn an oath to protect this man. In this moment, he wants to protect him from his own expectations.

And so he pushes himself up, still holding Morpheus’ hand as his lips trail over the landscape of texture across his skin. He kisses over the fabric of his robe, not pushing it aside, not asking Morpheus to reveal any more than he already has. He stands until he is, like blasphemy, looming over his king, leaning down to kiss along the rope of scarring along his neck. He feels, more than hears, the way Morpheus gasps as his lips caress his skin.

“No game could compare to the reality of you,” Hob breathes against his skin, letting his tongue lightly trace the texture of him, “You do not need to pretend that you are wanted.” Leaning back, he finds his king staring at him with wide, watery eyes, and Hob allows himself a moment to sweep his gaze down his figure in appreciation, “Look at you,” he whispers, “Look at how much you’ve survived.”

He brings his free hand up to cup Morpheus’ cheek, and his king still looks disbelieving, and so what can he do but lean in and kiss him. When their lips meet, it feels like the inevitability of dawn after a long dark night, like everything was meant to lead them here. They move their lips together slowly, softly, until the taste of salt blooms between them. Hob pulls back, and Morpheus drifts after him, tears streaming down his face. And for all that he has been through, he looks at Hob as though this, this love and wanting, is what will finally undo him.

“You’re so beautiful,” Hob kisses the tears from his cheeks, even as Morpheus shakes his head.

“I am not.”

Hob tuts softly, “You are.”

Feeling emboldened by his love, by a love he now understands is returned, he pushes gently at Morpheus’ shoulder, guiding him down to lay on the soft, rich fabric of his bed. Morpheus’ eyes are wide when he moves to straddle him, but he does not push him away. His hands hover over his hips hesitantly, and that is the moment Hob stops worrying about this being his king. Right now, this is just Morpheus, who has been torn apart, and pieced himself back together, and pushed Hob away because he was so certain he would not be wanted as he is. And Hob wants him, and so there is nothing more important than leaning down to kiss every inch of exposed skin.

“You are so strong,” Hob whispers, pressing his lips to the rough skin of his neck again, “but you have protected yourself for long enough. Let me, now.”

“Hob,” Morpheus’ voice is breathless, his hands finally come to clutch at his tunic, “I…”

“I have sworn an oath to you, my king,” he kisses the burns along his collar bones, “And I would swear another to you, my friend,” he kisses the raised scars on his chest, “and yet another for you, my love.”

Slowly he kisses down to his stomach, where he feels Morpheus tense and shudder even through his robe. Morpheus is breathing heavily beneath him, gasps and sobs and moans as Hob touches him all over. He tugs at Hob’s tunic and Hob obliges, tugging it over his head and reveling in the way Morpheus stares up at him, his tears slowing and his throat bobbing as he swallows at the sight of Hob’s muscled chest, his body hair broken up by ropes of scars from his years of knighthood.

Hob takes Morpheus’ hand, calluses caressing calluses, and leans down to settle his weight on top of him. He pressed their chests together, pale and scarred against tan and scarred. “See?” Hob whispered against his ear, “We match.”

Morpheus’ breath hitches, and his hand clings tighter to Hob’s. He does not let go for the rest of the night, even after they have finished their gentle rutting and have both stained the insides of their clothes. He allows Hob to use his own shirt to clean them both, and to wipe his tears away, and to curl around him beneath the covers, but he does not let go.

In the dark, Hob kisses each of his fingers, “Would that I could protect you from the things that have already happened,” he whispers, “But I swear to you, my beautiful Morpheus, that no new scars shall adorn your skin while I am here to prevent it.”

He feels fresh tears fall against his skin, and he knows it will take time for Morpheus to truly believe his words. Hob will slowly reveal the parts of his past that he had edited out, and Morpheus will do the same, and eventually they will lay together with no fabric between them, and Morpheus will still cry at the kindness and the love and the want in Hob’s eyes, and that will be okay. For now, they sleep in the safety of each other's arms.

And in the morning, Hob will help Morpheus dress, kissing up his body as he buttons his robe until he is once more fully covered, kissing his lips as he fastens the last button.

#the sandman #dreamling #my writing #spring exchange #knight au

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solecize · 5 months

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fic preview: save the date | san x reader

from middle school walls to lecture halls, choi san was your ultimate nemesis that, for most of your life, fought to do everything better than you. even worse, there was no escape from him when your older sister and his older brother were childhood sweethearts, disgustingly in love. years later, the inevitable wedding bells had now come around the corner for them and as her maid of honour, you had one goal: making sure nobody fucked up the wedding. specifically, you were not going to let san, the best man, fuck up the big day.

unfortunately, when the ring goes missing less than twenty hour hours before the wedding, you have no choice but to work with the said best man who you drunkenly slept with days before the wedding - yes, the same one that you hated for over a decade - to track down a ten thousand dollar ring. starting from midnight, it's a race against the clock for you and san to go on the wildest chase of your life to, well, save the date.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒: san/female reader 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄. non idol au, epic rom com, academic rivals, childhood enemies to lovers, fluff, slight angst 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒. foul language, violence, blood, mention of drugs and drug use, general substance use (smoking and drinking), y/n and san get stranded in a foreign city together after embarking on adventure where they almost get scammed, jumped, etc., assigned seats on an airplane trope, unrequited pining, san gets a glo up after coming back from the military, more to be added 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄. n/a 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓. tbd.

being entrusted with the role of maid of honour meant a lot of things to different people, but it was different for you. you happily accepted the title for your sister’s wedding with one main goal in mind: making sure that no one fucks up the big day. specifically, making sure that choi san did not fuck up the big day.

unfortunately, with less than twenty-four hours before the wedding due to ring for your sister and san’s older brother, you realized that you were the one that fucked up.

if someone were to tell you that you ended up dodging a robbery, lugging around a broken e-scooter, outrunning a rabid wild animal, and losing your phone the night before your sister’s wedding, you would have asked them what drugs they were on. and given a year’s worth of stress in anticipating and planning and fittings, you’d likely even ask them to share some. the worse part was that, you’d actually fucked up forty-eight hours before your sister’s wedding and the night you were currently having was just the cherry on top.

but, that is where you found yourself in a foreign city with no money and no idea how to get back to your hotel at four in the morning. the only thing you could do was stare at choi san, still in his clothes from the rehearsal dinner earlier that night and was preoccupied with nursing his bruised knuckles.

san was not a smoker, but he leaned against the wall of a closed coffee shop with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. “you think this is all my fault, don’t you?” he grumbled, finally meeting your sharp gaze.

this was not even the beginning of the story, though. the real beginning of the story begins in middle school circa 2012, when your first ever crush ruined everything before anything could even happen by simply opening his mouth.

choi san was the transfer student that all of the girls in your year whispered and giggled about. you only caught a glimpse of him on the first day of school when you could barely make out his face at the school assembly.

“he’s so freaking cute! did you get to see him, y/n?”

your best friend at the time jogged up to you at lunch and by this point in the day, you’d heard from nearly all your classmates about the mysterious new kid. you were a bit exasperated, feeling as though you were missing out.

you shook your head. “no. i think i saw the side of his face, but that’s it.”

“look at his instagram,” she swooned, tapping on her phone until his profile came up.

you would never admit it aloud, but you thought your heart skip a beat. “that’s what he looks like? oh my god, he plays basketball, too?”

that pretty much sealed the deal for you. without shame, you pulled out your own phone to follow san on social media, since it already looked like he was gaining mutuals from other people in your school. everyday from then on seemed to be a game of “can you spot your crush” at school and you got the closest when you lingered a little bit too long after gym class, long enough that you left as soon as basketball try-outs for the boys team began.

it was 2012 and nothing else mattered to you except crushing over choi san from respectable distance, gangnam style, one direction, and reading all of the hunger games books. it was like this for the first couple months at school, until you and san finally encountered one another.

you heard from others that san was incredibly bright and academically gifted, so you were hoping that, he too, would join robotics club. it felt like a dream when your wishes came true and san walked into the first meeting of the season.

“you’re totally staring at him,” whispered yeosang on this day, to which you elbowed him for. yes, you were definitely staring, but he could have just chose to keep his mouth shut.

you’d avoided directly speaking to san for the first few meetings, just out of nerves alone. eventually, the club’s first major competition was to come around the corner and the club had to brainstorm their plan.

as one of the returning members from the year prior, you expected to be met with respect and have your opinions be considered important. the faculty supervisor had even told you that he had hopes for you taking over as captain in the next year, after the current leader, hongjoong, graduates.

“i can take charge of the programming team,” you offered, as hongjoong went over the challenge announcement of the competition.

that was the moment everything went wrong.

it looked there was no opposition, until you heard a chuckle from the other side of a room. you were confused, not recognizing the voice. spinning around, you saw that it was san and your heart dropped.

“you? do you even know how to code?” his eyebrows were raised.

your jaw could have easily hit the floor, as you narrowed your eyes at him. “what?” was all you could say.

“you’re a girl, there’s no way you should be in charge of programming.”

that year, there were only three girls in robotics club, which was an improvement from the two the year before. it was you, who was the only female member with experience in the club, and then sunyoung and yena.

sunyoung never fucking spoke, she never even made eye contact with anyone. she kept to herself and was never going to speak up, but you knew that she was the highest ranking student in your year and had skipped an entire grade. you couldn’t believe sunyoung let that slide. meanwhile, yena always insisted that she was “one of the boys” and was the kind of girl to talk your head off about how she hates taylor swift. you might’ve even heard her murmur in agreement to what san said.

“are you a fucking idiot?” your thirteen year old self snapped at san, eliciting gasps from around the room.

of course, your foul mouth came from none other than your headstrong older sister and at the same moment you began forming a life-long hatred for choi san, she was a couple blocks away at the high school, falling in love with choi san’s older brother during chemistry class. it was a classic high school love story, meeting as lab partners and experiencing first love in between shelves at the library.

one day, when your sister happily skipped into your room and sang that she now had a boyfriend, it had been weeks since you already declared san your nemesis. from what you remember, she was so head over heels for her lab partner that it was nauseating - she had to have been, since she was now marrying him over ten years later.

“he has a little brother your age, you know,” she said, later the same night. “goes to your school, maybe you’ve met him.”

the two of you were relaxing on your bed, as your sister scooted closer to show you pictures of her new and first-ever boyfriend on her phone. you raised an eyebrow at her, wondering who she was talking about.

“maybe. what’s his name?” you asked.

“san. choi san.”

#choi san x reader #choi san fanfic #choi san scenarios #choi san imagine #choi san x oc #choi san x you #ateez fanfic #ateez x reader #ateez imagines #choi san fluff #choi san angst #ateez angst #ateez scenarios #kpop fanfic

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eveistdiepommes · 3 months

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REVERIE OF THE NORTH: We Were Tasked With Slaying the Demon Prince!

[Character Breakdown/Lore]

ROTN: We Were Tasked With Slaying the Demon Prince takes place in a medieval/fairytale/fantasy setting. Magic is ever present, beasts and creatures roam the forests, and while peace is happily maintained in the northern kingdoms, a new threat looms over the horizon. Word has spread of ferocious, terrifying armies of dark beings attacking kingdoms and leaving civilians fleeing their homes. The only kingdoms with enough time and resources to assemble a plan are the ones high up, the ones who haven’t been affected… yet. The Kingdoms of Frost, Shadows, Mystery, Isolation, and Life must band together and find the root of the issue. Good thing the princes from each kingdom are childhood best friends!

Character Descriptions!

-> Tino! Prince from the Kingdom of Frost! But, he has the most sunny and cheery disposition. His warm nature is so strong, that’s why he rules the coldest area, as only he could melt the ice away (all according to Berwald!) He is very anxious, cautious when things go awry, maybe a bit fearful at times. He’s gentle, soft, on the shyer side (not as shy as Emil, no one is as shy as Emil) and generally a very positive energy! He can also be quite the fierce warrior! Never judge a book!

-> Berwald! Prince from the Kingdom of Shadows! While they all live in the north and experience the darkness in some capacity, Berwald’s kingdom is the furthest north, bottom half connected to Tino’s. Berwald is silent, brooding, sturdy, strong. His face is unreadable to most. He is endearingly awkward, and somehow, his comedic timing is perfect, despite not trying or understanding when he says something funny… most times.

-> Berwald has had a crush on Tino since they’ve been kids. His love has never faltered, if anything, as he matured, it only got stronger. Tino very much reciprocates his feelings, but it’s one of those things where they don’t say anything in case they were just misreading each other (they never are and the other three are just waiting for them to do something about it before they take it into their chaotic hands)

-> Berwald asked Lukas to help him with transformation magic in order to transform himself into a weapon Tino could use. Berwald came upon a down Tino one night two months before the current story takes place. When asked what was wrong, Tino voiced that he didn’t feel strong enough to keep up with everyone. He was short, soft, his hands barely held callouses! He felt as if he was holding everyone back. Berwald grumbled lowly. He couldn’t stand that the strongest person he knew felt inferior just because of things like looks and perceptions. He wondered if he could do something to show Tino how he saw him, have Tino see himself through his eyes. Taking this extremely seriously, he began working on his transformation magic to become something useful for his dear Tino. He chose a sword, a weapon Tino is highly proficient with, to show him and the people around them how skillful and capable Tino truly is. He also made a vow of loyalty, meaning no one can use Berwald as a sword except for Tino. And this way, Berwald would always be by his side, looking out for him. Only recently did the magic stick and when the story starts, Tino does not know of Berwald’s new ability yet!

-> Lukas! Prince from the Kingdom of Mystery! Lukas is an extremely talented sorcerer. His magic comes from his bloodline, the royals of his kingdom/his family members all have magic in some capacity. He was appointed as a fellow leader at 20 because of his powerful magic. This made him the youngest of the rulers from where he comes from! His specialty is nature and healing magic.

-> Lukas’ brother is Emil. Emil also has magic, very powerful magic just like his brother. But his magic is dark, forbidden, hence why he was given his own “kingdom.” A neighboring island, land that is part of the Kingdom of Mystery. Lukas visits his brother often despite being advised not to.

-> Emil! Prince from the Kingdom of Isolation. Emil’s kingdom is small but mighty! He is quiet, avoidant, mostly locked in his castle to make sure he never reveals his magic to others. Spending most days indoors has led Emil to become incredibly creative. Not even the other princes know of his magic, despite their strong bonds. Only his brother Lukas knows. He is blunt, cold, but deep down, he is warm, fiery, and passionate. He is the youngest! (17, turning 18 soon) He gets embarrassed very easily!

-> Matthias! Prince from the Kingdom of Life! Just like his people, Matthias is outgoing, boisterous, and incredibly resilient! He is full of jokes, sometimes at others’ expenses, but he generally means well! He can be pretty demanding or bossy, even arrogant, but sometimes his outlandish ideas turn out to be the best course of action in the end! Much like Tino, he is optimistic and smiley, but his warm disposition is much more vigorous, while Tino’s is calming and comforting.

-> Matthias became a leader of the Kingdom of Life after executing the prior royal family for their unjust actions and plans (with the other kingdoms’ armies by his side as backup.) The Kingdom of Life was once a tyrannical government, now it is under better management with Matthias as its head.

-> Matthias actually formed the plan for takeover with Lukas. Matthias was once a guard for the former royal family, but had grown up close to the other princes since they were the only ones who saw him for who he really was. One night, when he felt all hope was lost, Matthias ran into the forest aimlessly. Coincidentally, he ran into Lukas, who he spilled his troubles to. And Lukas decided then and there, Matthias’ situation called for some healing magic first and foremost. He used magic to rid Matthias of his physical burdens, transforming him into who he truly was, how the rest of the princes saw him, how he wanted to see himself. With that taken care of, the Mystery Prince assured Matthias they’d form a plan to stage a coup.

Character Height Chart!

Character Age Chart!

Bonus! Pajamas!

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archer-antiope · 4 months

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ranking other fantasy high characters by the amount of grudge that kipperlilly must hold (and the reasons for those grudges)

jem peppercorn. 10/10. you had the chance to get in on killing kalvaxus and you just ate the buffet the entire time?! where is the drive?! where is the PASSION?!

ostentatia wallace. 18/10. chosen one of her god, probably insulted kipperlilly to her face like 20 times but kept forgetting who kipperlilly was

max durden. 5/10. mostly rulebreaking but also interrupting during the assembly that one time

antiope jones. 10/10. canonically comes from a family that's been super involved in public service and/or military. there's probably like 200 tragic backstories up in there. AND she keeps being voted leader by her party, but keeps TURNING IT DOWN?!

ficus. 2/10. probably accidentally threw a hackysack in her direction, went "oh shit, my b," then offered her a puff to puff-puff-pass. did not seem to care that it was in front of the druid teacher

katja cleaver. 10/10. canonically very rich old money horse girl with a parent who abandoned her and the other saves the world on an obnoxiously regular basis. prime tragic backstory stuff there!!!! why can't her rich parents be interesting like KATJA'S rich dad?!?!?!?

bud cubby. 9/10. somehow keeps getting himself involved in bad kids shenanigans???? you are supposed to just be the post man?!?!?!?!

ayda aguefort. 100/10. what the fuck. you grew up in a pirate city and made a library and are the daughter of the principal and also you're a hugely powerful wizard and also you're VOLUNTARILY dating one of the bad kids?! grow up?! kipperlilly would want ayda in her party so bad

penny luckstone. 1000/10. previously mostly-ordinary halfling girl whose greatest outstanding quality was the number of her siblings who got mysteriously kidnapped and was looped directly into riz's backstory and why the bad kids saved the world that first time, THEN was a straight-a student who nearly ran for student government, THEN got a super-special way to graduate herself and her party, THEN got an elite invitation to the secret society of rogues, THEN proceeded to wreck that society's whole shit??? kipperlilly HATES her ass. she wants to be penny SOOOOO bad!!!!!!

#fh #fhjy #i encourage you to add whoever else you can think of #if i don't beat you to it lol #my post #kipperlilly copperkettle

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rosewaterandivy · 8 months

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hit the lot and skate

summary: so, noted. eddie and first impressions do not mix.

a/n: for your consideration, enforcer and all around brawler, eddie “the reaper” munson. he’s my disgusting lil meow meow and i love him! big up to @jo-harrington for entertaining this headcanon and letting me spiral. 🥹

Eddie is late, again, like always, and shuffled unceremoniously to the press room by Hop, the team manager. He’s got one hand splayed against Eddie’s back, all but frog marching him through the double doors, grumbling all the while.

“You’ll be late to your own damn funeral, kid.” He mutters, shoving Eddie toward the single chair at the table. “Just, play nice, okay? It’s pre-season and I’d rather not have to pay a fine. Think you can swing that?”

“Aye, aye, Chief,” Eddie says with a wink and sarcastic two finger salute.

He leans back in the chair, idly sipping from his gatorade bottle every so often while barely answering the reporters questions. It’s mostly just shrugs and raised eyebrows from The Reaper, as they’ve come to expect.

“Munson, why are you here if you’re not gonna answer any of our questions?”

“Wow, wonderful delivery as always, Ace!” He cracks his knuckles and rests his elbows against he table, leaning forward toward the assembled mics, “And it’s simple, really. I’m just here so I don’t get fined again.”

The gathered press sigh and throw up their hands in dismay— couldn’t even get him to bite by mentioning Carver and the brawl last season. What was the fucking use?

Eddie, pleased with himself, sits back in the chair and takes a long pull from the bottle. Most people just assume it’s water or Gatorade. Maybe, on occasion, a nip of whiskey.

But the reality is so much worse than that.

The press begin to pack up, and Hop feels a migraine coming on already. He’s pinching between his brows and completely misses someone approaching Eddie.

The Reaper watches in interest. A mystery woman with a murder-strut beelining right for him. Probably one of the newer reporters in the rotation. Thinking she can corner him and get a quote— amateur.

But instead, she ignores him completely and grabs his bottle and squirts a stream of liquid into her mouth. Eddie’s eyes nearly fall out of his skull. Hop, looking up, is too late to warn her of the mistake she’s just unknowingly made.

His water bottle concoction is an open secret among the team— a lotta Mountain Dew cut with a bit of milk. Mountain Dilk, if you will.

The press, now wise to the situation, has already pulled out their phones to record the interaction. Voices murmuring under their breath, not loud enough for Eddie to make out what’s being said.

People seem to recognize her, whoever she is.

And the woman in question, simply sets the bottle back on the table and pauses to gargle that shit before spitting it right back into Eddie’s face.

“That is fucking vile.”

All he can do is cock his head and blink, milky green droplets clumping on his eye lashes.

“Not a swallower, huh?” He asks, wiping his upper lip. “Gotta say, not a good look for a WAG, sweetheart.”

A slow smile creeps across her face. She huffs a soft laugh, and then: “Y’know Munson, sense has chased you your entire life, but you’re faster.”

She crosses her arms casually beneath her breasts, inadvertently pushing them up and sending Eddie’s blood due south. Her mouth twists as she eyes him up and down, assessing.

“Uh, thanks?”

A scoff and roll of her eyes, “Coach.”

“What?”

She steps toward him, slow and steady. Her head grazing just beneath his chin, Eddie has to glance down to maintain eye contact.

“That’s Coach to you, Munson.” She pokes him in the chest, a filed nail directly to his sternum, nods to Hop and turns to leave. “On the rink in five,” She tosses over her shoulder, “Lace your skates and grab a bucket.”

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fanfic #hockey!eddie #fic: sots #Spotify

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whoblewboobear · 5 months

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I wonder how much the rage crystal changes someone. Ruben did a full 180 from what we know. Kip was always angry but now she’s vengeful too but jawbone didn’t say she had any other drastic changes outside of being angrier. A few people have speculated that Oisin essentially became an incel. Buddy seemed like he was in shock more than anything so I couldn’t get a good read on him. Mary Ann and Ivy are still complete mysteries to me though.

The most info we have comes from Jace I guess? In season one Jace is chill, kinda upbeat, and easy going, shocked when he sees the aftermath of the corn cuties fight, and then trying to get on good terms with Porter but points out that he can be cryptic and weird. Then this season he’s kinda overwhelmed when addressing the school during assemblies (could be a ruse) but rude and impatient when he confronted Henry in person and trg over text.

I’m begging on my hands and knees for us to get more info on what exactly the rage crystals are doing to everyone. Yeah they get pissed off a lot easier, but what else? Is it a complete personality swap or are the rage-centric parts of them just turned up to 11? Do they still have some kind of tether to who they were BEFORE getting rage crystal’d?? Like.. could the bad kids save people that have them like they did Lydia?

Low key rooting for Ruben to get reversed first. He seems pretty freaked out but he also helped during the Grix/frosty faire battle in rage crystal mode. He could be an even bigger help when he’s back to normal.

#free my boy Ruben I’m begging #the most he’s done is be a lil emo shit I love him #dimension 20 #fantasy high junior year #fhjy #d20 fhjy

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lynnlyrae · 1 month

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The Devil, the Scientist, and the Most Beautiful Creature

This is my attempt to analyze the connection between the Teacher, Faustina and Luna through the lenses of Goethe’s “Faust” and determine the origins of the “cursed moon twins”. There’s also alchemy.

This text will consist of four parts. And yes. It is long. Reader, you are warned.

Enjoy!

PART ONE: PARACELSUS, THE FATHER OF BABEL

What do we know about Paracelsus:

Lived in 15-16 centuries;

Was a scientist;

His actions led to the Babel Incident.

The real world Paracelsus was “the father of toxicology”, our Paracelsus is The Shapeless One. Alright, this is a bold statement, but why not.

The twin six-pointed stars above Paracelsus head (Ch. 7) have always stood out to me. Guess who else has exactly same two six-pointed stars as well? Teacher/Saint Germain (Ch. 55)!

Some other similar motives:

Paracelsus’ face is always obscured, we never see his eyes, only vague shadows. Teacher’s face was always drawn without eyes before the Big Reveal Moment in Ch. 55. He’s also known to frequently change his name and appearance, to the point where it’s not always possible to determine whether one’ve met him before (Vanitas has met him in another form, but has no idea when and how it happened).

Paracelsus wanted to save the world from sufferings and guide people to happiness (Ch. 7). He also assembled a team of scientists to conduct a research. Teacher/Saint Germain is referred to as savior by Misha, and he also saved Noé from human traffickers. He also claims his ultimate goal is world peace (Ch. 61). But the goal is shared with someone (he says “our” wish specifically).

And honestly, their vibes just fit so well. Paracelsus and Saint Germain, two mysterious figures who are renowned scientists and alchemists with ambiguous lore — why wouldn’t they be the same person?

Since I want to use “Faust” as base for analysis, let’s assign him a role – Mephistopheles. I mean, just look at this (Ch. 61). It’s as devilish as it can get! The free force in s shape of a fine gentleman that ultimately creates destruction.

Mephistopheles also claims to be an observer:

“I’m so involved with Man’s wretched ways,

I’ve even stopped plaguing them, myself, these days”.

And look how well it fits to Teacher, who left the Court to enjoy his little things in a secluded mansion (manipulating kids and raising pawns) and also claims to be an observer!

Alright, I’d like to keep this part short because my main focus here is Faustina-Luna situation, so let’s move on. We’ll get more bits of this manfailure there anyway.

PART TWO: FAUSTINA, THE QUEEN OF THE RED MOON

What do we know about Faustina:

she’s a Queen and the first vampire of red moon to ever exist, while Teacher was by her side the longest;

she has a special power to control other vampires as herself, not as Naenia;

she’s mostly active as Naenia and was likely cursed in 17 century;

there are two physical bodies that are stated or hinted to be her: one in her bedroom in Carbunclus castle and one in Ruthven’s lab.

Now let’s take a look at Faustina’s bodies (Ch. 13, Ch. 26). I briefly mentioned in one of my recent posts that I think Faustina changed bodies at least once, possibly due to them being damaged by curse. I believe these pics support this idea: the body in the castle looks like that of an adult person, with limbs and fingers much longer than those of the body that was seen in Ruthven’s lab and reacted to Naenia’s name (Chloe also summoned Faustina in the same body of a young girl).

Additionally, when Ruthven talks about her connection with Saint Germain, she is portrayed as having adult-like proportions (Ch. 19). And when Naenia takes more human-like shape, it also has adult-like proportions (Ch. 9). So I think she was cursed as an adult, and her original body is the one in the bedroom, but her soul went from one vessel to another, while her cursed form remained more like her original body.

While we are on the topic of bodies, I’m going to show you this. Thankfully, the moment when Luka stayed at Faustina’s bedside wasn’t omitted from the anime — and the queen’s skin looks quite the same color as Luna’s. I’m not sure what to do with this information yet, but it creates another link between them. It’s quite interesting that Faustina’s corrupted form looks a lot like Luna’s normal form.

Ok now that I’m done with this idea, let’s move on to something more interesting: Faustina’s role in the story.

Right now her position is not really active: she steals true names as part of the Charlatan, but it’s unlikely that she in control of the organisaton (at least in present time), and Ruthven leads it. She obviously can’t fulfill her duties as a Queen either: they’re taken over the Senate (which again includes Ruthven) and a puppet-on-the-throne Luka (who is, again, under Ruthven’s control. Ruthven, what kind of power play is that?).

But I think it’s wasn’t always like this. After all, she was an absolute monarch with magical power to make every vampire fall to her feet! And, well, she had to do something even before that, right?

I believe that prior to becoming a vampire she was involved in Paracelsus’ research, possibly even as an alchemist. While the majority of well-known alchemists were male, there were some cases of women conducting and publishing researches in this field as well. A notable example are Sophie Brahe (1559-1643), who studied astronomy and was also well-versed in Paracelsus’ medical texts, and Isabella Cortese(fl. 1561), who was the first woman to publish a book on alchemy, titled The Secrets of Lady Isabella Cortese. Tbh I just really hope that Paracelsus team (Ch. 7) will include women in general…

Of course, my desire to see Faustina as an alchemist is not enough to claim that this is a credible theory. So let me elaborate on that a bit more (and we’ll get to Luna right after that).

Her name derives from the name of a Ghoete’s character Faust, a man who makes a deal with the Devil to exchange his soul for fulfilling his desires of knowledge and pleasures. Faust is deeply dissatisfied with his life:

“He drives his spirit outwards, far,

Half-conscious of its maddened dart:

From Heaven demands the brightest star,

And from the Earth, Joy’s highest art,

And all the near and all the far,

Fails to release his throbbing heart”.

… And Mephistopheles offers him everything he wants.

I think she literally is Faust. And her Mephistopheles wanted to grant her wish that they probably shared (Ch. 61).

Faustina (well-educated person dissatisfied with reality) met Paracelsus (who offers a way to change the entire world). Perhaps he plays both the role of God and Devil in this version, since Paracelsus is described as someone who actually wanted to help people, but his action led to a literal apocalypse. Way to go, Paracelsus!

Anyway, in my theory, she joins the research and becomes the first vampire during the Babel incident. Perhaps all other scientists, except for her and Paracelsus, died during the incident (but the research itlsef survived and was later used by Chloe’s family). Faustina was reborn as the Queen and Paracelsus as the Teacher.

Why only Faustina is considered to be the first vampire and not both of them? Well, they didn’t necessarily fully awake as vampires at the same second of the same day. Or maybe the Teacher hides his identity and true powers this good… After all, he is known to mess with history (for example, he removed everything about Ruthven from his books, leading Noé to being completely oblivious about his existence). But honestly the parallel between vampires reacting to presence of Faustina (Ch. 38.5) and Teacher (Ch. 55) are interesting…

PART THREE: LUNA, VANITAS OF THE BLUE MOON

What do we know about Luna:

they’re the only known vampire of the blue moon and are considered abnormal and dangerous;

Naenia is the one who steals vampires’ true names, but it’s believed to be the fault of the first Vanitas;

they’re told to have created the Books of Vanitas (it may of may not be true);

they’re canonically agender, neither male nor female, and regret knowing what they are (Ch. 51).

I mentioned here that Luna is a Homunculus. Now it’s time to explain what led me to this idea.

Noé points out that Luna and Faustina look alike (Ch. 49) Is it connected to whatever knowledge Luna regretted having? Considering Luna’s unique blue skin, blue blood and their statement “I’m not like any other living thing in the world”, I don’t really think Luna could be Faustina’s human twin. Or rather, it’s not my first guess. I’m inclined to believe that Luna was an artificial being whose creation was connected with Faustina.

In “Faust II”, the theme of artificial human, the perfect creature that surpasses humanity and yet serves their creator, is also present. Faust’s student, Wagner, works on a project when Mephistopheles visits him. Wagner claims: “A Man is being made!”, Mephistopheles jokes about a “loving couple hidden up the chimney”, but Wagner pronounces this way of creating life “unfashionable” (🤝) and delivers a beautiful speech:

“The tender moment from which life emerged,

The charming power with which its inner urge,

Took and gave, and clearly stamped its seal,

First in a near, and then a further field,

We now divest of all that dignity:

Though the creatures still enjoy it, we,

As Men, with all our greater gifts, begin,

To have, as we should, a nobler origin”.

The interesting thing here is that Wagner’s creation is alluding to Paracelsus’ recipe of homunculus in Of the nature of things, 1537 (I found this in an article which referenced a publication by R.D. Gray Goethe the Alchemist. A study of Alchemical Symbolism in Goethe’s Literary and Scientofic Works.) Paracelsus called the creature “chemisch mensch”, but Goethe adapted that to Homunculus, an alchemical term.

The Homunculus desires to become fully created: “Since I exist, I must find things to do”. He (this character is referred to as a male in “Faust”) seeks “the beginnings of creations”, to “reach at last the human state”. In order to achieve it, he wants a connection with the sea goddess Galatea (here a version of Aphrodite), but his brittle flask hits her chariot-shell and breaks. He spills in the sea and dies, but he also merges with the sea itself.

Now that I’m thinking about it… Painfully familiar… Blink if you too were forever traumatized by “I won’t die, Noé. Even if I’m no longer here…” in Ch. 1…

Well, back to Luna. Just like Goethe’s Homunculus, Luna was created in a certainly unique way. Here it’s time to remember the fairytale about Vanitas, told by Noé to Amelia (Ch. 1). Granted, it’s something he learned while under Teacher’s care, and we know he isn’t above censoring of wildly retelling anything, but Amelia doesn’t correct him on anything, so let’s accept this fairytale as it is.

Perhaps the “birth” of the first Vanitas on the night of a blue moon refers to the artificiality of their creation? Artificiality can be equalized with “unnatural” birth of the Moon in the fairytale version. Even if the concept of homunculus will not be directly named in VnC, we already have the idea of an artificial being that differs from all living things in this world, is nonbinary and possibly agender and is able to perform unique functions — to control the book of Vanitas.

Interestingly, our Vanitas and Misha are also to some extent “artificially created” – without experiments of Moreau and Luna’s bite they wouldn’t have been able to control the Books. It’s possible the reasons for the existence of Luna and both their children were somewhat similar – it was merely an experiment conducted in order to change the design of the world. (Ch. 48)

Perhaps those “reasons to exist” are also the reason of Luna’s regrets and the reason to forbid Vanitas to allow Archivists to read his memories. We don’t know why it’s so. Maybe Vanitas learned something about Luna, and now those memories are meant to be hidden carefully. Maybe Luna just wanted to find out about themselves, asked an Archivist to read their memories (Machina, perhaps), and was so traumatized that simply wanted their children to never go through this kind of pain.

And the knowledge that traumatized Luna? It could have been knowledge about the purpose of Luna’s existence. I don’t think Luna was created by accident. They were meant to do something or to be something. The Books are said to be created by the Vampire of the Blue Moon, but they could have been created for them as a tool to rewrite the world once again.

In “Faust” Mephistopheles tells to the audience:

“In the end we’re dependent on

The creatures we’ve created”.

What if Paracelsus and Faustina needed someone else to fully realize their plan? And that someone was Luna, “the most beautiful creature in this world” (Ch. 55) (he’s so real for this).

Saint Germain, the president of Luna fan-club, everyone!

Oh, one more little thing. The “perfect creation” of alchemy is the Philosopher’s stone.

Carbunculus is one of many synonyms for Philosopher’s stone, which may be anything from a rock to a human-like being (waving at fellow FMA fans);

It’s also the name of Queen’s castle;

And Goethe uses this word to describe how Homunculus looks:

“The deep alembic now has passed,

And like a living coal at last

A fine carbuncular fire is glowing

Into the dark it’s brilliance throwing”.

No way it’s a coincidence. Just. No way. C’mon, it Jun. So… Luna is the “ultimate creation” of alchemy, VnC’s version of Philosopher’s stone and Homunculus at the same time.

PART FOUR: THE THRIAD

Now that we’ve assigned roles to all of them, let’s go deeper in another rabbit hole that is alchemy. This one is hella hard to research because of the amount of extremely different modern occult groups. But alchemy was my childhood hyperfixation, so… let’s do it.

Together, Faust, Mephistopheles and Homunculus form a triad. (Yes, Wagner created Homunculus, but he kinda diss appears from the plot afterwards and Homunculus goes on a journey with Faust and Mephistopheles). This is kinda relevant, because Goethe actually researched the topic and it’s not unreasonable to connect his characters (and their VnC analogues) to certain alchemical symbols.

The triad is Salt, Mercury, and Sulfur. Here we can see irl Paracelsus at work again, because he was among the alchemist who popularized this theory. In alchemy, the idea of “feminine meets masculine” is pretty common, but unfortunately, different sources assign these qualities to different elements in the triad. That being said, the common point is that one is “female principle”, one is “male principle” and one is “neither, or the spirit itself”. The most common division of that in the triad is:

Sulfur — the active male principle. Causes change. Brings an object to be changed. Associated with fire and sun. Red King.

Mercury – the passive female principle (it’s just medieval occult stuff is I’m sorry). Needs something to give it shape and change it. The chaos of creation. Associated with earth or water and moon. White Queen.

Salt – pure and undivided salt is the result of the interactions between mercury and sulfur. Such perfect things are the purpose of alchemy.

Here are illustrations from Splendor Solis, which was also written under the influence of Paracelsus. Really can’t get away from this man… The first one is the Chemical wedding, the second one is… also that. Just in a fusion way I guess. Here the result of the Weddking is portrayed as Hermaphrodite with two heads (like in the myth, where human souls were originally of dual nature, but got divided into two parts that are men and women), but sometimes it’s a child or a person with both male and female features. Hermaphrodite can also be called Rebis (which means “dual matter”, aka Philosopher’s stone) or Androgyne (hello Luna).

I don’t expect Faustina, Saint Germain and Luna to fulfill this specific roles just like that. Rather, I think their roles would be mixed a bit, like how Saint Germain is both God and Devil. Still, the idea of the first one providing an idea, the second one helping him work on it and a third one being born out of it all as a perfect creature is intriguing to me.

The three of them are the oldest, most ancient and perhaps the most mysterious vampires in VnC, and I’d love to them connected in such a way where one can’t exist without the others.

In conclusion: tragic ancient vampires own by brain.

#vanitas no carte #vnc meta #vnc #the case study of vanitas #vanitas no shuki #vnc teacher #vnc saint germain #vnc luna #vampire of the blue moon #vnc faustina #vnc naenia #vnc vanitas #the shapeless one #vnc theorie #mochizuki jun #vanitas no carte meta

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melancholic-fruit · 7 months

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honestly i think that kristen should hold some sort of assembly/ceremony at school for lucy’s passing

they were in the same cleric classes, so she could easily write it off as mourning the loss of a classmate, to celebrate her life and the things she believed in and recognizing that lucy fucking died

it would probably boost her reputation/popularity as this caring person who went out of their way to put together a little ceremony for lucy and to show the school that she hasn’t been forgotten, considering lucy died within the past few months and no one has said/done anything about it

and it would be a big “fuck you” to the rat grinders, shining a spotlight on the fact that they:

a) haven’t said anything about the mysterious passing of their party’s cleric

b) aren’t even willing to grieve her death publicly (which i assume one would do if you’ve been in the same adventuring party for ~2 years at that point), and

c) that even without a god (if the student body believes kelpbottle kinderegg after the salsa-hat incident) she can still care for those around her, even if it isn’t with magic or by healing a physical injury

not only would it boost kristen/the bad kids reputations as being genuinely good students who care about other parties well-being (this would work wonderfully with the lo-fi study sessions at seacastor manor), but it could also make students who might know something about lucy’s death to come forward and talk to them about it

anyways just a silly little thought

#d20 #dimension 20 #fantasy high junior year #fhjy spoilers #fhjy #brennan lee mulligan #emily axford #ally beardsley #brian murphy #zac oyama #siobhan thompson #lou wilson #kristen applebees #lucy frostblade #dimension 20 fantasy high

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bunnidid-reviews · 1 year

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Review for a DID… plushie?

Today I’m doing a very basic and important review on Plushie Dreadful’s Dissociative Identity Disorder Bunny

Which I bought because isnt it cute! Also I just had to, a bunny with DID? Sounds familiar.. 🤔

Price: $45 USD

Company: Mysterious

You can find the plush for sale >>here<<

~initial thoughts~

I think you and I must be thinking the same: what an absurd thing to buy! A plush based off a trauma disorder? This could be offensive even if its coming from a weird place of stigmatizing disorders

I looked a little into the company though and found that they make a lot of different disorder-based plushies, as well as based on chronic illnesses and queer identities.

There’s also this note on the DID bunny page itself:

IMPORTANT NOTE Regarding the design of our mental health-related Plushie Dreadfuls. We take the topics of mental health and mental health awareness seriously. That's why our design team only creates plushies related to mental health issues with which they have direct experience. In cases where our team does not have direct experience, we assemble an external team of experts to help guide our creative process. In addition, we use Crowd Design to engage a wide range of voices via platforms like Instagram and Facebook. We gather and respond to feedback from our audience - many of whom have direct experience with the mental health issues we're exploring. And while we strive to represent as many aspects of a particular mental health issue as possible while avoiding stereotypical symptoms, we hope you understand that plush toys as an artistic medium do limit the full expression of a particular issue to those things that can be crafted in fabric and stitching.

Obviously they go through a lot of widespread effort to have people with personal experience weigh in on their plush designs. Is it going to be suited to every person w a CDD’s tastes? Absolutely not, but I personally think they put a lot of care into it.

Heres some pics of the one I bought:

Its a fluffy white rabbit plush with wide, white eyes, and a grey bunny appliqué on the forehead. There’s the interlocking circles multiplicity pride symbol on the tummy. The arms are all white with grey paws, and the stubby legs are all white with pink paw pads. In the ears there’s soft fabric with the printed image of three bunnies stacked on top of eachother that are dark grey, reddish pink and white respectively. There’s a tote bag underneath the bunny plush with a design that matches the ears.

(Sorry idk how to do the image description thing help)

I think the plush design conveys the feelings of DID very well, actually. White eyes that could perhaps symbolize dissociating or looking frozen in terror. Black and red together are commonly associated with pain and trauma in art. White might be for the parts untouched by trauma, or healed.

They grey bunny stitched onto the forehead is..

Their Trauma Bunny

Its a grey rabbit plush thats small and has uneven limbs and ears. There are two red x’s on the tummy, a black x for the mouth, and downturned eyes depicting a pained expression.

Since this trauma bunny is literally stitched to the forehead if the DID bunny, it’s almost as if to say that trauma is a central feature of the DID itself; which I thought was a nice careful touch that could’ve easily been ignored and focused instead on the multiplicity aspect.

There’s obviously a lot of care and attention to detail put into this bunbun and I very much appreciate it

~How the Bun feels~

Texture: the main fur Soft with medium length, dense fur. It feels closer to the stuffed animals I had as a kid, compared to the super-soft and eventually pilly fur you get on buildabears and jellycat bashful bunnies. Only time will tell of course.

The fur on the ears is very soft with short, printed-on designs. I think its close to something like minky fabric, but shorter and thinner

Weight: idk, it doesn’t have any beanies in it so it’s lighter than I thought it would be. The ears don’t have stuffing/very little stuffing in them so they’re pretty weightless and floppy. Something I really like in bunny ears actually.

Ratings for…:

Playing with(moving the joints): 9/10 (the sewing is such that the arms and megs move easily yay!)

Holding the hand/paw of: 6/10 (the paws are a little small for me, the arms a little stubby for holding hands)

Sitting: 10/10 (the ears help it sit up on its own, the legs fold nicely and look very cute)

Standing: 3/10 (doesnt stand up very well)

Holding the ear of: 11/10 (super softie)

Holding like a hamburger: 9/10 (a smidge small but otherwise pleasent)

Snuggles against the chest: 8/10

Squishability: 5/10 (not a squishable but a very even amount of squishy and dense)

Appliqué: 10/10 (very neat stitching, unobtrusive)

Fur shedding: 10/10 (seems like its very stable and theres no shedding)

Here is my DID bunny compared to my medium Jellycat bashful bunny and the tiny version:

The previously described white DID bunny. There’s a grey small bashful bunny with multicolored flower print in the ears on the left. On the right, there’s a navy blue medium sized bashful bunny. The DID bunny is slightly smaller than the medium bashful bunny

(The blue bunnys name is April Showers, and the grey bunnys name is May Flowers btw)

~ Extra thoughts idk what to do with~

- I don’t know the history of the interlocking circles symbol or if its problematic in any way. I’m assuming its something the community decided on when contributing feedback on the initial design. Thoughts? It seems to have to do with the old DID forums from a time before I knew I had DID, so I’m intrigued by the history

- I don’t personally mind that theres a DID-themed plush out there. Might not be everyone’s cuppa tea but it makes me happy to have a little soft companion for watching movies and reading books with. Its a really neat aspect to my growing DID collection :D

- I’m so fond of the scenecore kinda design for these bunnies. As a kid I desprately wanted a bunny with that gothic lolita, stitched up aesthetic and this is just so cool and special to me now :>

- I’m super sorry if the image descriptions arent great! This is a personal just-for-fun blog so I dont think I can manage something like that for all my reviews, but since this ones very visual I thought I’d try. Just sorry if its not good :( if theres anyone who’s like to rewrite them to actually work I’d be willing to replace my descriptions

- she needs a name! If you have name ideas i would love to hear them. Something DID related perhaps! i might run a poll on this for fun :D

- ps. All this was written mostly by a small part so pls be nice thank u 💛🥰

#dissociative identity disorder #did in media #dissociative identity disorder media #plushie dreadfuls #plushie dreadfuls did #plush review #actuallydid #otherwise specified dissociative disorder #cdd #complex dissociative disorder #bunnidid reviews

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1poda · 1 year

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Island Visit

"Thank you for coming to Endroit Romantique, we'll see you next time!" you waved as a happy couple left your place of work arm in arm, none really taking the time to notice much other than each other, but that was the amazing effect of Endroit Romantique! The most romantic cafe in the New World, perhaps in the whole wide world! And there was nothing more satisfying than a job well done, the more they the made kissy noises and goo-goo eyes at each other, the better the reviews! Reviews that would draw celebrities from all levels of stardom!

Taking a moment to glance around the quiet room you thought it best to help out the waiting staff, leaving your place from behind a golden pedestal you grabbed at a cloth from your apron and threw it over your shoulder "Hm, left quite a mess today" you mentioned, picking up empty wine cups and sauce covered plates until a fellow worker came up with a question in her eyes "May, is everything all right?" you assembled the last of the plates into a neat stacks as the blue eyed girl held out a note to you "Some kid dropped this off at the front desk, he said to bring it to you right away"

"Since when did some kid know my name?" you thought, picking a folded note from May's long fingers. Though it didn't take long for you to recognize the handwriting "Oh um, May could you take this into the kitchen for me, please? I'm gonna head outside for a quick break" You smiled politely before leaving, not giving the poor girl a chance to deny your request but there wasn't much of a chance of that happening anyway.

Leaving the tinted glass door of your livelihood behind you glanced down each side of the street, perhaps the boy who delivered the note was still around, or... maybe he was in a nearby alley?

With that idea in mind, you sprinted across the busy road and headed into the mouth of the nearest narrow space in the middle of tall buildings, but even with such little time passing between the note being given to May and then delivered to you... no, Rosinante wouldn't tell you he's here just to up and vanish again.

Not unless he was in serious danger, but if there was an even slight chance of his dear elder brother or anymore in existamce finding out about you and the bond you two share... he wouldn't even be able to bring himself onto the island, but as you held the note in the sprinkles of rain that slipped between various clothing lines and balconies you couldn't help but wonder where on this lump of an island could your Rosinante be hiding?

'I'm Here'

The note reads simply and you couldn't help but chuckle at the mysteriousness of it all, raising your head to watch as the sky's droplets grew heavier and began to soften his short letter but as the pitter-patter of rain grew in noise footsteps echoed in their collision and you glanced behind you, further into the alley only to see a short boy with rather dead looking eyes but still his brows quirked with a curious narration from within "Are.. you... the Person Cora wants to see?"

"You.. know Corazon?"

The child thought about his next words but still, all the thought process and intelligents in the world couldn't save him from childish anticts "Yeeeeah I do, he's my Dad" he gave a mean grin as your jaw hung as if it were carrying the weight of a thousand bricks "A S O N? Since When?!"

The small stranger gave a loud laugh as he ran away, disappearing behind a nearby corner and you were quick to follow, a lie or not this kid might know where Rosinante could be but he was way faster than you thought should be possible and the youngster vanished into the mist building up in the empty brick hallway "No he's... gone" you whimpered, gripping the white sheet in your frustrated fist but you could only try to hold back the hot tears daring to slip past strained eyelids "Rosinante.."

It took a moment but you were able to pack away this awful trick and ready to leave this shitty adventure behind, aiming to make it back into the warm the embrace of routine and sustained income, away from all this nonsense Pirate-Mafia-Undercover tomfoolery! AND secret children too!!

A couple of steps more and you'd make it to the exit which would lead back into city life, but those couple of steps can wait. Perhaps if you hide away in this mist for a little longer you'd catch a glance at Rosinante's so-called 'Son'

"You didn't really believe him, did you?"

You held back a sob in your throat, swallowing the tumult of emotions down into a hard cold stone as sweaty palms were held tightly over your mouth as you attempted to hold back the questions and the crying, as if your hands were holding your very soul together. The large male stepped closer, looming over you like a kind tree who decided that your beautiful form shan't be disturb by the moisture in the air "Wouldn't want your uniform ruined, would we?" he smiled, baring his teeth in rejoice for finally being able to see you again. He couldn't wait to hold you close, tell you about Law and their plan to run away from the problems of all four seas and let his brother fight it out with the Marine's until the very end of time, he hopped you'd approve. And you ask to come along and you could all become one big happy family, at least- that's what he hoped for in his silly fanfic fluff filled mind.

"Gah!" you flinched and held your arms in the air from fright, that is- until a familiar clown-clad face grinned at his litrle prank "But, I guess if I were to have a son, I'd want him to turn out just to be just like that lill shit head. Ugly face 'nd all"

An eavesdropping Law growled at the insult.

The scruffy child watched from afar, peeking his beady eye through a hole in the wooden fence he hid behind, watching keenly as Cora slowly held a hand up to you though he couldn't tell if the wirdo was using his Devil Fruit abilities or not, but you seemed unresponsive either way until the very tips of Rosinante's fingers brushed your jaw, and every emotion came crashing like a downpour of the heaviest rainstorm you could ever find yourself in.

"I missed you... so much Rosi" You held onto his large palm and pressed his skin into your soft cheek, like lightning to the creation Frankenstin he brought a shine of life back in your eyes and the blonde's smile faded into a soft curve of his lips before he brought his damp head to rest on yours "I've.. missed you too" he confessed with a certain ooze in his eyes, a certain ooze the clever little Law gagged at before recalling hiw his parents would gaze at one another no matter the years passed or time they spent apart for work.

You couldn't help but fall further into the warmth of his palm, collapsing into his body Rosinante surrounded you with his long arms and black feathered coat and you wished to stay here forever, but with a hand at your back you raised your warmth-filled orbs to the flushing criminal who could only think about literally kidnapping you and taking you away with Law, but like, not in a toxic way.

"Rosi" you held his reddend between damp palms, rubbing at his cheekbones with your thumbs and laughed "Your makeup is smudging"

"It's fine" he dragged a finger through the dark blue makeup under his right eye "I can always repaint it!" he laughed throwing an arm around your shoulders and walking you down the alley.

"Let's get you back to work, and then!" Rosinante's grin seemed to try and leave the sides of his face "I can introduce you to my new best pal, LAW!"

"Oh, you mean your son?"

"Yeah sure, whatever" he nudged you, and you smiled up at the blonde till he slipped on the most smooth texture known to man; Concrete and his black feathers are surrounded by hot fire.

You scream, local pedestrians scream and then buckets of water are thrown over his crispy corpse in hopes he survived the unfortunate ordeal, you knelt down and reach to swipe away Corazon's burnt locks as he forces a smile and a peace sign "Check me out, I'm burnin' with passion for ya"

You shook your head pared with an eye roll and infectious chuckle, calling the spy a fool as you both stood from his trip.

#One piece #Law #Law as a child #donquixote rocinante #corazon #mi corazón #Rosinante #rosinante corazon #x reader #x OC #Corazon x reader #Corazon x OC #Rosinante x reader #Rosinante x OC

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kursedmayo · 4 months

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Sometimes I think about how Casey and Casey Jr have backgrounds that could parallel each other. Like, think about it. They're both very mysterious figures, and their backstory is kept in the dark with only clues to why they ended up that way, but if you look at their behavior and just theorize from there, you'd see how Casey Jr really is Casey's son.

First off. Casey seemed to have spent quite a while in a deeply hierarchical community, aka The Foot. If she's been a foot for as long as her behavior implies, she's probably been there since her early teens or tweens, hell, maybe she's even been there since she was a kid, but her reasons to join it doesn't actually align with the Foot Clans goals of course.

If you take her hesitance to continue the ritual in the the Season 1 finale though, it shows that she probably didn't even want to take over the world. She most likely just wanted a community to belong in that recognized her abilities and efforts, but unfortunately, she only met with dejection.

If we take the fact that she wasn't depicted to be with a parental figure/s, or any other people she talks to often, then you can only assume that she's a very lonely person that probably has distant parents and relatives or none at all. She's basically April if she didn't meet the turtles, they're very similar at their core. A high energy tomboy-ish girl that fails over and over yet persists, somehow, that's them. That's why Splinter went "Ohohoh you guys are pretty similar" in that one episode ("Always be Brownies" I think?) in the first place, it's because they are. However, the difference between them though is Casey is twice the outcast as April is. April couldn't fit in with her other peers, but at least has friends. Casey couldn't fit in with her fellow Foot Clan members AND couldn't fit in with her normal peers, so where else would she go?

She adapted to the Foot Clan lifestyle and changed to fit it, but she couldn't thrive in it, she couldn't get promoted even though she tried so hard. She couldn't adapt to the Normal lifestyle and change to behave more "normal", though she thrived in it considering she has more or less a successful brownie business, but at the same time, she's still divorced from the greater society. There wasn't any other choice for her but to build a space of her own, which is probably the best end for her, all things considered.

When she left, the first thing she did is that instead of integrating into the greater society and try to enroll in highschool or get a job somewhere she built a business on her own, with most likely a structure similar to the Foot Clan that she left, aiming for world domination with her as the leader, something she probably dreamed of while she was still in the cult. However this may mean that she doesn't have any other goals of her own besides what her superiors tells her to do, which is to do a bunch of things so they can assemble the Shredder and take over the world, so in order to not be aimless in life she most likely took on world domination in order to have something to strive for plus she already had somewhat of an idea on how to achieve it anyways.

Also, as you can see in that Brownie episode, most of the girls she's employed under her brownie business seem to be trained in combat, which is probably Casey trying to emulate the environment of the Foot Clan with its combat ready members, and it shows that despite leaving the cult, she's still trying to emulate the environment she has likely spent years in trying and failing to prove herself in.

Now, heading over to Casey Jr, he's having a similar issues with his mother. I'm actually kind of surprised this wasn't discussed with some of the fics I've read about Casey Jr? They're both people who are used to routine that involves fighting and danger to some extent that got thrown into a a world full of mostly peace. They're also people who strived for one goal seemingly most of their life and suddenly lost it, so they both ended up without a clear path ahead of them.

With Casey Juniors case, he probably grew up in a similar hierarchical environment as Casey, for a good reason though, since they are in an Apocalypse, managing limited resources and manpower was top priority. Most likely, the oldest and most capable manage everyone else, and like Casey, probably doesn't typically act unless told to, and he didn't need to, so most likely, for most of his life, he didn't need to manage most of his life as much since there are other people there to help decide what is best for everyone. Food? Armor? Weapon? Teammates? Shelter? There are people to help assign and give that to you so you can better focus on your job, which in Casey Jr's case is most likely field work and fighting Kraang since he has a weapon and armor, so he's probably more used to mainly needing to focus on combat and not having to worry as much about everything else, just like his Mother back when she was in the Foot Clan.

Their goals are quite different though. His goal wasn't helping bring world destruction, it was the exact opposite, then, he lost it. He has no life goal left besides the one he inherited from the people around him, which is to survive and defeat the Kraang, and now that he's in the present where virtually everything is in abundance, with no one else to rely on to help decide what best to eat, wear, sleep, etc, he's obviously going to struggle.

Also, one thing I've noticed between the two of them, they both still have their uniforms on. In the brownie episode, Casey still had her Foot Clan uniform, and Casey Jr still had his armor on at the end of the movie, probably a while after they stopped the Kraang since no one shows clear signs of injury anymore. Again, it shows that both of them struggle to let go of their past, and cannot fully adapt to the typical modern life.

But yeah, tldr I guess. Casey and Casey Jr are really similar man.

#text #kursed rambles #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt #rottmnt casey jones #rottmnt casey #rottmnt casey junior #rottmnt casey jr

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countmur · 4 months

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How Literate Arcane Characters Are - Headcanon Thread

(Vander, Silco, Benzo, Caitlyn, Vi, Mylo, Claggor, Powder, Ekko, Jayce, Viktor, Mel)

I’ve never used tumblr before so please be patient w me 🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️ some minor spoilers for arcane 1 ahead!!

Vander:

Barely literate. He gets by mostly but he reads increasingly slow and needs to read out loud. The undercity doesn’t have an actual school system so the kids usually have to teach themselves or have their parents teach them. Vander was just a little shit as a kid, thought it was useless then and now he’s trying to learn since he’s running a business and all that. He can write, but again, barely. Has to sound out every word and even then it’s not guaranteed to be spelled right. He doesn’t understand how people read for fun. You give him anything thicker than a pamphlet and he’ll look at you like you’re crazy

Rat bastard Silco 🥰

A lot more literate than his brother, he was always more of the brains than the brawn anyway. For his work the ability to write well is a must, and he was a little less of a shit in his childhood than Vander so he actually started learning early on. He does enjoy reading actually!! He’s a bit of an elitist though and thinks he’s better than everyone else for “enjoying” classics. Probably wrote some fanfics as a teen, If Vander could read then he would definitely bully Silco.

Benzo (off topic but he doesn’t get as much love as he deserves)

He’s around the same level of literacy as Silco. Read data sets and instructional pamphlets all the time as a kid. Probably stumbled upon an IKEA furniture assembling guide once as a kid and was so fascinated he just had to figure out what it meant. Vander always comes to Benzo for help when he gets an especially fancy message from Grayson. I think Benzo would actually have some nice handwriting and would be super proud of his signature. He’s used to tinkering with very small and complex machines so he’s got good control.

Caitlyn

Idk what you want me to say here she’s a piltie with a council member for a mom I don’t know how she could be anything less than that one kid in elementary who was reading at a 12th grade level in 3rd grade. Read fanfics as a kid. Still does occasionally. Probably figured out she was a lesbian from reading fanfics. Had a weird obsession with mystery novels back then which may or may not have led her to become an enforcer.

Yeah she’s obviously Vander’s kid. Didn’t see the need to read and Vander didn’t really push her to so she just kinda never learned to read. To her the most important thing is to be able to speak well and not die. Probably liked to flip through comic books and try and piece together the story from the pictures (that or she just made up her own). Being locked up in prison for several years also doesn’t really help with literacy so yeah. Vi is illiterate.

Mylo

Most literate of Vander’s kids. He’s not super advanced but he’s doing a LOT better than his siblings. Benzo probably gave him a book on lockpicking without telling Vander once and that’s probably where Mylo actually began to read a lot more. He enjoys the usual fantasy and adventure books but rarely has the time to read them. He’s probably around a 5th or 6th grade reading level. Likes to rub the fact that he can understand the comic books into Powders face.

Claggor (I couldn’t find any good gifs of just him sorry 😢😢)

A little less literate than Mylo but he can still read pretty well! Probably likes to flip through craft books and then never make any of the projects shown (cough cough I’m projecting cough). Same with cooking books except he actually MIGHT make a thing or two shown in the book. Likes Fantasy books as well.

Powder / Jinx

As a kid she definitely loved flipping through kids’ encyclopedias with different animals in them. That’s partly why she started reading, cuz she was so interested in what those animals were. She also had a lot of spare time since Mylo would always insist on leaving her behind and sometimes it was enough to convince Vi. Once she got older I think she stopped reading as much. She still knew how to read she just lost the love for it, reminded her too much of her past life. Silco didn’t push her to keep reading either.

Ekko 😢😢😢😭😢😭😢😢😢😭😢🥺😢

Benzo actually pushed him to read a ton, and Ekko absolutely loved and respected Benzo so he wasn’t a tough student. He loved loved loved learning from Benzo and just honestly enjoyed spending time with his mentor. Benzo wasn’t too bad of a teacher either so Ekko became very literate very quickly. Again, after the events of the first arc he also lost his love for reading. He’s a great letter writer tho especially when he needs to give instructions.

Jayce

He got into a university I think you gotta be pretty literate for that. Idk tho. Could be wrong. Again idk what you want me to say for him. Oh but! I think he speaks atleast one other language just not well. He’s highly literate in English but not in the language his mom speaks. He can understand it and can speak it but can’t read or write in it.

Viktor

Kinda like Jayce I think he speaks another language EXCEPT he can also read and write in the other language too! So he’s very literate in both of the languages he speaks. He may be from the undercity but from his accent I want to make the guess that he may have moved to the undercity when he was very young. Maybe the place he was from actually had a decent school system where he learned to read and write in both his mother tongue and English. Seems like a fan of French novels and poetry books. You give him Frankenstein and he gets excited as hell.

Mel She comes from Royalty so she is very very well educated. Speaks several languages that her mom made her learn and can probably read and write in atleast 4 different languages. Traumatized girlboss polyglot!!!

Once she was no longer living with her mother I think she really started to indulge in fiction while before her mom would rarely allow it, saying it was a waste of time or that it promoted degeneracy (off topic but if Ambessa was a politician irl she would 100% use woke unironically). Seems like she’d be a big fan of Jane Austen and Emily Dickenson.

End of thread!!

#Mel #Mel Medarda #Arcane #headcanon #Vander #Silco #Benzo #Vi #Powder #Caitlyn #Jinx #Viktor #jayce #Ekko #Claggor #Mylo #Vander’s kids #Language

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adracat · 1 year

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G Witch episode 16 thoughts

Or the episode where the real plot thickens. No offense to earth and Guel but these are the sort of stakes and drama I'm weak for. Truly a wonderful present to receive on this blessed of Sundays! Just in time for Walpurgisnacht too

And we start off strong with this heated Prospera and Bel confrontation! Cont. from last time, Bel just learned Eri Samaya is not Suletta Mercury or even alive anymore, but a mysterious 3rd thing-- her biometric code uploaded to the cloud aka Aerial. We learn her immature body couldn't handle it so she perished. Eri is now entirely composed of Permet particles, and without Aerial housing her consciousness she'll dissipate. The Gundam is literally possessed by a child's ghost.

And it seems with a permet score of 8, the datastorm can be extended with Quiet Zero and create a space for Eri to live. Or that's the implication, I gather. How exactly that would happen is a mystery though I suspect it would mean granting Eri a new physical body, perhaps by 'overwriting' Suletta's mind/soul. (Well this is sounding familiar, isn't it 3h fans?)

But amid all this, there's the matter of Benerit's leadership. Without Delling, they need someone to control the various corporate beasts so it's decided they'll hold an election. Awfully democratic of them tbh. Though I wager leadership might boil down to whoever can crush hardest in a Mobile Suit royale.

We know Shaddiq will be throwing his hat in the ring, as will our prodigal failson Guel by the looks of it. Speaking of, I wish he had a bigger moment with his brother but maybe later? Their surprise was pretty good, and I enjoyed Guel's talk with Petra. She's grown up quite a bit from the shallow bully/fangirl of the first season.

Moving on to Mio, I went nuts over this shot. Suletta is fulfilling all her promises!! Even cleaned her disaster area of a room and messaging three times per day. She's unnervingly good at following directions tbh.

Adored this so much too. Lauda is grateful to GUNDARM for their aid and subsequently clears them of suspicion in the terrorist attacks. He goes out of his way to say Mio is free from the dueling games too, but Mio could care less about that petty nonsense. Her heart and mind is set on Suletta.

Quick mention to Secilia for being the most relatable person in the show. She just wants to sit on this god forsaken couch, watch the drama, and see who'll be Miorine's husbando. She's so funny, I swear.

And ofc we get spacian/earthian hostility in the wake of the attacks. You can't blame these kids for being scared and lashing out at the nearest targets but also Earth House was clearly not involved and aiding students during. Even Lauda of all people can understand that. They are grieving for a friend apparently which just complicates the situation further. Sad for all tbh

Martin steps up to defend his housemates, which was nice to see, but it's Mio who is able to shut down their hostility with a clever bit of blackmail. She's so cool and taking no one's guff this season

Nika had a brief interaction with Sabina, but it was insightful. We understand Sabina's loyalty to Shaddiq now as she's an earthian who was taken in by Grassley. Like Nika, she wants to become a bridge for spacians and earthians. Their methods contrast Nika's but they're all coming from the same place. Sabina is anyway. Shaddiq is a bit more inscutable.

Detective Mio is exploring all avenues in her quest and the space assembly league are all too happy to collaborate. They all find Shin Sei and Prospera suspicious, it seems. Valid observation. She does manage to locate Nika, sorta, and brings that information back to the others.

Mio is so adorable when Earth House thanked her for everything. This is probably the first time in years people appreciate who she is on her own merits and formed bonds that aren't conditional or tied to her father. It was just a really wholesome moment. Ah I love her and Earth House! Especially after hearing that first drama cd sketch.

Shout out to Till for shipping these two like the rest of us. Solid wingman right there. Poor Suletta doesn't quite know where they stand after all this time and doesn't want to be a nuisance, but still desperate to show Mio her dedication.

Just look at this pathetic puppy face 🥺

Only a monster could say no to that look, and luckily for her Mio is an understanding and loving bride.

Prospera Jumpcare. Watch out y'all, this one has a mean bite. Her showing up suddenly was unnerving. For the love of all that is holy, never do this again lady. Creeping me out somethin fierce.

HOO BOOOY where to begin? So 5lan was rejected from Aerial immediately, unlike when Eri was humoring El4n and Mio. Is this a sign she's grown in power or just fed up with 5lan's gremlin antics? Could be a combo of both! I take this as confirmation there were multiple failed clones/instances of Eri and Suletta was the lone sucess. The others look Eri's age. 12 of them in total, making Suletta unlucky 13.

I kinda felt sorry for 5lan here, cause he has a right to want to live and not be a tool but also... I don't like him and wish him nothing but misery for being a creep + striking Bel, who I do love. Poor Bel is not having a good week in between Prospera's guilting and now 5lan's.

And we finally arrive at THE SCENES we've been waiting for. It's so wonderfully tense but also tentatively hopeful at the start. Suletta who wants nothing more than to bridge the gap and Mio who wants the same.

Mio starts off with an empathetic apology, stating she understands Suletta's choice in ep12 even if it was traumatic for her. But the reconciliation derailed the moment Suletta declares her mother was right after all. She did the right thing. Run gain one, move forward and gain two.

Mio is galvanized by this logic and hastens to ask Suletta how she can smile at something so terrible. She might understand why Suletta killed for her sake, but she doesn't get how Suletta can just blindly accept everything is ok; that murder was right. Then Mio goes directly in, striving to make Suletta understand. She presses her about her mother, asking if Suletta would do anything. Including giving up her dream for Mercury or killing again.

Her answer, while terrible, is yes. To all of it. Suletta would forfeit the school for Mercury. Would kill again at the behest of her mother. Would do anything so long as her mother said it was right.

Suletta only sees the positives. She got to go to school, have friends, and meet Miorine who she loves. All because she moved forward at her mother's demand. It's horrifying but it makes perfect sense why she would think this way. It's clear from her anxious gestures she's not wholly oblivious to the horror either, but deems her discomfort inconsequential when she gains so much from obeying.

Hearing this speech is the breaking point for Mio who dashes away, leaving a forlorn Suletta to gaze after her. And we're swiftly shown what exactly she has on her mind

This scene was electric from the start. Someone is finally calling out Prospera's manipulation and while she's unflappable as always you have to admire Mio's fire. She wants Suletta to be freed and doesn't care a whit what Prospera thinks.

GOOOOOD this quote. We know Mio loves Suletta genuinely but Prospera only sees her 'daughter' as a tool to be tossed around and used by others. Her phrasing is disgusting in this exchange. 'She's a good little girl, isn't she?' *shivers*

Prospera proceeds to lay her cards on the table and is amazingly forthright, declaring her intent. She reveals her hungry fixation for vengeance and 21 yr long grudge against Delling.

Ngl it's pretty hilarious that Mio doesn't mind the idea of these adults killing themselves fighting each other so long as she and Suletta are left alone. Mio in protective wife mode fr.

It's not that easy however, as Prospera coerces Miorine to help her with QZ. And the first step is to become president of the Benerit group. Miomio for President 2023!! Will she find a loophole from this dire situation? Cast your votes now as we await what becomes of our stellar cast until the next Suletta Sunday~

#gundam witch from mercury #g witch #sulemio #miorine rembran #suletta mercury #prospera mercury #belmeria winston #nika nanaura #g witch spoilers #g witch episode 16 #suletta x miorine #you can do it Mio!!#it's rough being the dueteragonist

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