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#or suspecting they were together but apparently in the comments so many of them did ???? crazy. absolutely crazy
phjlavtia · 1 year
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my brain literally cannot conceive cishets being in relationships anymore
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mxactivist · 10 months
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Support the BBC for having a trans character in recent episodes of 'Doctor Who'
Apparently the BBC (UK) has had 144 complaints about a recent episode of Doctor Who because it contained an openly trans character.
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I've made a complaint to the BBC that there weren't enough transgender characters in Doctor Who. I would love if 144 other people did the same thing. Here's the link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints/make-a-complaint/#/Complaint
(For your easy reference: "The Star Beast" aired on 25/11/2023 on BBC One, and the trans character is called Rose.)
Please note that the complaint form asks for your UK postcode, so only UK folks can join in with this - but if you suspect you might have any UK-based followers, maybe give us a reblog to boost the signal?
Edit: I'm told that you can fill in the form even if you're outside of the UK, because the BBC provide service to many countries other than the UK, including the USA! Go for it. :D
Reply to confirm that you've done it, so I can keep a count!
Here's my complaint:
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I recommend:
Avoid sarcasm or irony. Assume your post will be taken literally. If you are clearly joking or being mean you will be ignored or misunderstood.
Include some gratitude/appreciation. It's pretty great that they included a trans woman in a positive way, and they should know that they have explicit support for that.
~
Edit again: I'm seeing some concerns in the replies/reblogs that the BBC might not distinguish between "less trans people, please" complaints and "more trans people, please" complaints. Rest assured, this is nothing to worry about - the BBC publish fortnightly complaint reports, and they do pay enough attention to know when a complaint is in favour of or against trans inclusion. In fact, their 20 November – 3 December 2023 report is where the various news articles are getting the 144 complaints figure; that report says there were precisely 144 complaints that they have categorised as "Anti-male / inappropriate inclusion of transgender character".
That means the next complaints fortnight window is 4 December - 17 December. We have 8 more days to beat 144. By my count, over Tumblr, WhatsApp, the Fediverse and Telegram, we have 85 so far, which is well over halfway there.
Also, when you've done it, please reply to confirm you have done it, so that I can count us!
Thank you, everyone!
~
Edit, 2023-12-11, 1am UK time:
We did it! I've just been counting up responses, and it looks like sometime yesterday evening we hit 144 complaints/comments in favour of Rose Noble and more excellent trans characters in Doctor Who! (We're actually up to 157 now, fantastic.)
So, my next plan is to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to the BBC sometime in the next few days, asking for complaints and compliments figures. Then I'd ideally (energy and time permitting) like to put together a press release that I can send out to the publications that promoted the tiny "144 anti-trans complaints" figure, showing them that there has been far more feedback in favour of trans representation than against.
I'll keep you posted.
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xreader-writing · 2 months
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Still here | Lando Norris
Sumarry: Y/n comes to her ex-boyfriend Lando Norris' defense when he's being canceled, and Lando couldn't be happier about it.
Pairing: Ex!Lando Norris X Actress!Reader
A/n: So this will probably become a series lol English is not my first language, forgive me for any mistakes.
The next chapter will be WRITTEN, so tell me if you approve this for series or not, thanks :)
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Liked by user1 and 965,495 others
F1news Some internet users are questioning and disapproving of Lando Norris' behavior with Lewis Hamilton, and even pointing out other times when the driver acted rudely with other people around him. What do you think about this?
User1 Disrespectful, that's all.
User2 I think the fame went to his head.
User3 That's probably why Y/n broke up with him.
User4 I bet he was toxic to her.
User5 Y/n is so sweet, how did she put up with him for 2 years?
User6 Wow completely disappointed
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F1news Old photos of a fight between the former couple Lando and Y/n are circulating on the internet again after the cancellation of the pilot, some internet users are saying that he took out his frustrations on his partner.
User1 This is getting worse every day...
User2 Unfollowing Lando.
User3 I think the haters are taking advantage of this.
User4 I've always suspected this
user5 That's because he was born into a rich family and she wasn't.
User6 What does this have to do with anything?
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Youruser Okay, I wouldn't say anything about it, but I think things got a little out of hand, and that's not right, some people have been saying how bad and rude Lando is, and how apparently he "was terrible" to me during our relationship, those people couldn't be more wrong.
Lando is the kindest and most kind person I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, and the two years we spent together were nothing but magical and happy with him, the photos that are circulating say that he's taking his anger out on me, my dears... rest assured that on that day the one who was taking the risk was him lol we had a normal fight like any other couple, don't blow it up or make too many theories about it.
We ended our relationship for other reasons, but we remain friends, he has all my affection and love and I know I have his too, so please stop this gratuitous and completely unnecessary hatred towards him, it hurts me too.
Thank you for your attention, Y/n.
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F1news Actress Y/n came out in defense of her ex-boyfriend Lando Norris, after all the theories and the cancellation of the pilot, she wrote a very cute text clarifying some speculations about the life of the former couple "Lando is the kindest and most kind person I've ever had the pleasure of meeting" says the actress in a part of her text that was posted in a publication on the actress's Instagram.
User1 Oh my God, I miss them so much 😭😭😭
User2 I love this woman
User3 McLaren liked it, they may have paid her to post this
User4 Oh, fuck you
User5 We never found out why they broke up
User6 I still think what he did was disrespectful..
User7 I think Lando is happier than ever now lol
User8 Hadn't she been with Pierre before dating Lando?
User 9 They have only been seen together a few times, they might be friends.
User10 Yes, nothing was ever confirmed.
───────────────────────NEXT
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undying-love · 2 months
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Datalounge comments compilation
Remember to take everything here with a grain of salt:
“Ok guys someone told me about this site and i have been loving it so far. Anyway my great uncle who lived in Liverpool told me a story some years ago. He told me that John and Paul actually were living together at some point during the sixties (John even stated it in a 70’s interview) and he is invited by a friend of his to a party that John and Paul are having at their house. He said as he walked in he saw Paul, who was walking around in nothing but a white shorts and John some feet away playing pool. He said throughout the day John and Paul is behaving like a regular couple and he is shocked since so many other ppl are there. Later in the evening as he is getting ready to leave Paul casually walks over to him and thanks him for coming and he leaves. He told me this some years after John’s death because he was sure Paul would have admitted they were a couple, well it has not happened and I don’t think he ever will. I really don’t know what to make of this story since he was the first person I ever heard claiming John and Paul to be a couple but apparently he is not the only one! ”
“Since everyone is anonymous here, I guess I can give a bit of info I got from a female friend of mine who at one time was Paul worked as one of Paul’s assistants. According to her Macca is a bisexual, who makes no secret of this when he is around his inner circle. She does not know for certain if John and Paul were involved but she suspects it since to this day whenever John’s name is brought up he acts in her words ‘like a widow’ and he also addresses John in present tense. He would say things like, ‘John thinks that the music should be like this,’ and during his bitter divorce from Heather he was saying, ‘John says that this is getting nasty.’ Kind of creepy."
“Isn't it well known that Starting Over was written about Paul? At least I heard someone in the music industry mention it, and that Paul knows it. Also, it was reported that Paul locked himself in his music studio and listened to the song repeatedly after John died.”
“I worked in the music industry briefly from 67-70 and I have seen for myself some very revealing things but I don't find it appropriate to dish it out here. One day it will be revealed, definitely not while Paul or Yoko is alive maybe soon after. I'll return here to read all the threads. The most I can say for now, is Yoko gave a very watered down version of the names the Apples' staff gave to Paul, though they also gave a very derogatory name for John as well.”
“Actually the John and Paul rumours did not only emerge in our time. As early as the middle sixties rumours were beginning to spread in the music industry about what exactly the J/P relationship was involved. My grandfather was a entertainment journalist in the 60's and he stated that people were becoming suspicious about John and Paul as early as 1964. He also said that someone had made a comment about seeing John and Paul holding hands backstage during the music Lennon and McCartney tv special, though no one believed the person at the time. According to him the Beatles' camp began to go into panic mode and even went so far as to demand John and Paul no longer sit together in interviews. So believe me this John and Paul thing is nothing new. People have been creating stories about people's 'gayness' for years.”
“This John and Paul thing is so dated. I am from Liverpool and since the 60's rumours were swirling about John and Paul possibly being 'queers.' At the time I didn't think much of it, since it was guys who fought with them as kids who were spreading the rumours and so I assumed it was jealousy that fueled the rumours.”
“My uncle was a sound engineer for Granada tv studios in 60's and actually met the Beatles because he worked on 'the Music of Lennon and McCartney' special. He actually chatted with Ringo behind the scenes briefly but didn't speak with the others. I remember him telling me years ago that he was surprised by Paul's mannerisms because as he put it, it was overly 'swishy.' He also stated that John and Paul acted very strange throughout the evening. According to him they followed each other continuously even when it was not required, as one got up so did the other, as one sat so did the other, they would finish each sentences, and they were often seen staring at each other for excruciating periods of time (his exact words) he said behind the scenes people were joking about them being a couple because they seemed so close. My uncle told me this years ago but I always summed it up to their brotherly relationship. I am now reconsidering my position.”
"The one time I was ever actually in a room with Paul, zillion people between me and him (and no way I'm gonna bother him, all of us who travel in celeb circles have people we're fans of and all of us inexplicably try to hide it to seem "cooler"), he was hitting whiskey a little hard, and apparently it makes him confessional because he started talking loudly about himself and John, and how hard it was not to have him there. (Of course I paid attention and scooted a little closer; when a Beatle speaks about a Beatle, and you've heard rumors about both of them, you want the tea.) I remember him saying something along the lines of not a day passing that John's not still in it with him, but it's not like he can pick up a phone and say, "Hey, just needed to hear your voice today," and even when he got craggy responses, he still missed them. He misses it all, and it's bothering to him that he misses him more as time goes on -- it doesn't heal, he just learns new ways to bandage the wound. Went on and on, and stopped just short of saying too much. He was waxing rhapsodic about John's hands, and finally I think the people he was with noticed interlopers paying attention, and changed the topic".
“Saw this thread and decided I should post what I have heard. I can tell you that John and Paul never hid the fact that they were together in the 60's and they were referred to as music’s 'first official same sex couple' by those in their close music circles. I found this out from my mother who was a 'go for' for a music director in the 60's. She worked behind the scenes for the 'Help!' music video. She has seen John and Paul backstage and always refers to their behaviour around each other as cute, and claims after spending a few minutes with them it was obvious they were deeply in love. She said that George and Ringo would always excuse themselves whenever John and Paul began chatting up each other.”
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abybweisse · 5 months
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Aby, what do you make of the fact that we never once in the manga saw our earl and Sebastian do actual digging/investigation into possible Phantomhive murder suspects? It’s the whole premise of the story (a soul for a revenge), but so many years in, nothing was shown of our earl’s progress on finding those responsible. Do you think that our earl and Sebastian have already learned everything off-screen?
Plot device to delay the inevitable
That's basically what it is... that when they first make their contract, our earl decides that instead of searching out whoever attacked the Phantomhives, he's going to let them come after him in an attempt to finish the job.
He assumes that all the assassins sent to kill him on a somewhat regular basis are just pawns. He's waiting for the person or persons who ordered the attack(s) to show themself/selves.
Apparently, he and Sebastian realize it's not someone like Haku, either. Because he's out of the picture, replaced by Lau. And they don't seem to suspect Lau, since he's been so useful and helpful. Lau has made asides to himself (or perhaps they were just thoughts) that are very suspicious, but I don't think he could even possibly be the "big bad" here. He wouldn't be behind the original attack, anyway, all the way from China, before he had much power. He was already sending letters back and forth with our earl before leaving China, and it could simply be that our earl was planning to get Lau to England and in charge of the local branch of Qīng Bāng... specifically because Haku needed to be "dealt with". Our earl was trying to put together a loyal network of evil nobles and route out the disloyal members of the extended network, too -- like Haku and Vanel.
His father's network seems to have included some very disloyal members. I believe at least two of them were high-ranking members of the cult that bought the twins. And then Kelvin was in the extended network.
Personally, I think Sebastian has at least an idea about who the true culprits are -- the one who ordered it, at least -- and maybe even someone who was involved in her decision making process. Just like Sebastian figured out, before our earl did, that Jack the Ripper was likely Madam Red and Grelle working together, he might have already figured out the ones who plotted the attack were probably Queen Victoria and John Brown. With John prodding her to it, and then her ordering it. He wants his young master to figure out who Jack the Ripper is. Similarly, he might be waiting for our earl to put the pieces together about the "doting" queen and her odd master of horses... with that damned Prince Albert puppet of his.
Our earl suspects his own aunt Angelina of being Jack the Ripper, but it is some final timing clue presented by Sebastian that tips him off it has to be her and Grelle. Something should finally tip him off about the queen and John. Who knows?
Maybe he finally realizes the puppet serves John in a way that something similar would have served Sebastian... if our earl had agreed to the original offer for the demon to make him think his twin had returned. I wonder who might comment about the puppet and get our earl to thinking about it. 🤷🏻‍♀️
Or -- and this is more likely -- our earl thinks about the timeline and circumstances of the Tower Bridge project... and finally realizes how much the queen has gained from having control over the Phantomhive estate, coffers, and entire earldom for a few months. She would do anything for her "Prince Albert", and that bridge is historically dedicated to his memory.
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primojade · 2 years
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𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄.
𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐈𝐈: 𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐍𝐀 𝐈𝐔𝐕𝐀𝐓. ( fortune favours the bold )
𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈.𝐈𝐈 : 𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐔𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐌 𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐏𝐈𝐈
" fear not death for the hour of your doom is set and none may escape it. " - volunga saga, c.5
𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒' 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 | As a veteran AR60 player of Genshin Impact, you pride yourself as someone who knows the ins and outs of Teyvat, even studiously completing Spiral Abyss every reset, and having 100% exploration to some, if not all, of the released regions so far. Everything is fun and enjoyable, especially since Sumeru just recently debuted so you still have a lot to do!
All that ends though, when a mysterious passerby pushes you off the building of your university while playing Genshin. But instead of meeting your inevitable end, you find yourself waking up in the very world you were addicted to! 
It's supposed to be a fun dream, right? Something you could laugh at when you wake up? Right?! So, why is that you were back in AR1 with nothing but a dull blade in your inventory?!
…well, at least you still have those 700+ sunsettias and mints, Timmie's fowls…and surprisingly similar game mechanics you used to merely see on the screen before. But what should you do now? Flirt with the Genshin men??? Good lords...
"Welcome to Genshin Impact, Dreamer. Here, we can show you a happier ever after you've never had before…so, ready?"
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 | In which you somehow find yourself tangled in the start of a web of conspiracies and confusion as the threat of the crumple paper of fate led you to a strange path with two equally strange men.
𝐂𝐖 / 𝐓𝐖 | Cursing, possibly ooc Kaveh and Alhaitham, spoilers for Sumeru Archon Quest, let me know if I missed anything <3
𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 | This is a lot harder to write because I established a new plot lmao. And because of Kaveh and Alhaitham it was so hard to write them sjakahs. Also, this was supposed to be posted on Friday last night but I was so tired after a whole day doing god-knows-what outside so I wasn’t able to finish the chapter :( Reblogs and comments are appreciated!
masterlist | route 1: argumentum ad hominem | (alternate route) route 1.1: magister dixit
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Apparently, today was simply not your day.
Even before you get the chance to leave the blasted scene you found yourself in, you got stuck in the House of Daena together with two potential suspects of book robbery, one is known for being an academia lunatic and one for being a perfectionist architect. Not that you knew that they would do it, of all people, but at this point, you just did not want to give a damn.
Anyway, flashback almost a week prior after your arrival in Teyvat and before all this crazy fiasco happened, it's not everyday that your rationality won over your desire to earn and farm primogems, you know. It's also a near impossible feat to abandon the quest that could potentially help you advance your AR and even more so in pretending that Cyno is not outside, talking to Tighnari over something you wisely choose not to listen to–lest you might incur more suspicions from the both of them.
Which, in fact, is the last thing you wanted to do.
So, ignoring the questline and the angry red mark of the Paimon Menu, you closed the tab and let yourself fall on the soft bed once again with a dejected sigh. You repeatedly told yourself that this decision was the best course of action and you will have no regrets in this route. Still, you didn’t know how many hours had passed since then–all you somehow perceived is falling asleep, being lulled by the hushed whispers of the people outside and the quiet stillness of the Avidya Forest you grew accustomed to in the past months from behind the screen of your device. 
All dreams would soon end. Your hippocampus reminded you, and you agreed. No matter how much this bittersweet reality you found yourself in looks so believable, you couldn’t be far from your own reality…right? 
There has to be a way to go back.
That aside, the past four days you spent in Tighnari’s care was far from not being nerve-wrecking, if you were being honest. The fennec therianthrope seems to like hovering around you a lot, fussing like a distressed mother when you do something that he thought would strain your body and passionately lecturing you about the pros of staying in bed while you rest as if you were a poorly disciplined child.
While you admit that he was a great caregiver and it was endearing seeing a former 2D character worries about you despite literally knowing nothing about you, Tighnari’s inevitable tendencies to get lost in his lectures and fussing made your resolve to go back home hardening even more. 
Though when the sixth day had passed, you were finally allowed a bit more freedom to roam around. During that time, Tighnari had introduced you to Collei, his student and a trainee forest ranger, and it takes you a lot—and really, a lot—not to bawl your eyes out when you see the green-haired girl. You remember when you used to see Collei in the Genshin manga, she was still so small back then! And now, she is all grown up, cheerful despite her life experiences…and even kind-hearted enough to offer to take you to a visit in Sumeru City along with the other forest rangers to fetch some supplies to stock before the start of the heavy rainy season.
It was also on the sixth day when you found a crumpled paper with the word ᛚᚨᛖᚡᚨᛏᛖᛁᚾᚾ written in all bolds and italics using bright green ink in the folds of your clothes. Although you were weirded out and freaked out why, how and who slipped it there, you decided you did not give a damn about it.
Well, that was until you found another crumpled piece of paper under your pillow when you decided to get dinner with Tighnari and Collei outside. This time, ᚷᛚᛖᛁᛈᚾᛁᚱ was written on it using the same bright green ink. 
It doesn't even looked remotely similar to Teyvat's language, as what you've seen in passing when looking at the forest watcher's books on his study table. You have a vague idea what it means, but it was possible that it was one of their ancient languages, too. Since apparently, Alhaitham himself and any other scholars of his Darshan knows at least twenty languages, according to the lore.
But what the hell does it supposed to mean? It gives you the same level of anxiety when you are taking an exam in Foreign Languages. You started to question every motive, every reason why someone would send you, someone not even from this world, a crumpled paper with Earth's Runic inscriptions. Why would they send this to you? Who sent this to you? Do they even know you? A prank, maybe? What do they get from this? What do they want from you?
In any case, you don't want someone out there continuously bullying you, and you don’t have any lawyer here to sue them (unless you count on Yanfei, but that’s beside the point). So, as a last resort, you asked Tighnari if you could join the forest rangers going to Sumeru City because you planned to find your answers, and the possible prankster, in the House of Daena. Plus, you were really itching for a change in scenery!
So, yes, you won't get defeated by the Crumpled Papers of Fate before you could find a way back home!
"—oh, Collei…did I tell you how much I appreciate your existence? How could I cry in reverie for your benevolent acts? Just say the word, and I would do anything for you, you lovely human being."
Collei, probably used to your strange flare for dramatics, giggled in response and tugged your looped arms together. "I just think you need a change of scenery while recovering, and I know Master Tighnari's lectures could be too much sometimes, even if they come in good faith. Especially when you were recu…recu…um, what does he say again?"
"Recuperating?" You wrinkled your nose and Collei modded cheerfully. You can't really blame her for tripping over words, since most of the Genshin characters, especially those with super rich and scholarly background, used to speak formally and use deep words. The first time a curse slip passed your lips about two days ago, you remember seeing Tighnari's scandalous stare as if you offended his whole vocabulary.
It was also a fun way of teasing him. A small payback for all his lectures about flowers and taking care of yourself.
In any case, he begrudgingly allowed you to come see the Sumeru City along with the other forest rangers. It wasn't a long, arduous trek as you expected it to be, despite not using any Teleport Waypoints, maybe because the journey was an eye-opening one (especially when you saw chests and puzzles that you swore you already gotten before) and your group had tried your best from steering clear of any hilichurl or Eremite camps scattered around the forest.
After dropping you off at the Akademiya grounds, Collei and the other forest rangers told you that they will fetch you later after they're done restocking their supplies, you excitedly went inside, hoping to find some sort of lead or help in solving your crumpled paper predicament. 
Although Katayoun, the librarian, had adamantly asked for your credentials and permits before she let you borrow any books. Apparently, only students are allowed to have access here, but thankfully, Tighnari gave you a letter that he said would be enough for the librarian to let you inside, should you give it to her. 
“—what kind of book do you need, anyhow?” Katayoun finally relented.
“Uh, anything about Teyvat’s ancient language. The one with the alphabet similar to this one, if possible.”
The librarian peered into the two crumpled papers you presented to her, before shaking her head. “Most books about ancient language are strictly available only to students of Haravatat Darshan, and since your permit is from an alumni from Amurta, I apologise if I cannot comply with your request.” 
As she said with no room to complain, you had no choice but to pick other possible books to read that were available for you, stomping and frowning in defeat. But just as you sat on a chair in the farthest corner of the grandest library you ever saw in your life (it was even bigger than the one in-game!!), someone walked towards the seat across yours, waving his hand to you to get your attention.
"Hello! Do you mind if I sit here?" 
You felt as if you had a sudden epiphany, hearing a familiar voice that made your head snapped to him in surprise. You even almost knocked the pile of books you borrowed earlier when your eyes met a pair of sharp, mystic red irises and a tuft of fluffy-looking dirty blond hair. 
You resisted the urge to scream in both panic and excitement as you stiffly shook your head at him. IT'S KAVEH…?!
He coughed to gain your attention. "Ahem, I know it's very unbecoming for a gentleman such as myself but I couldn't help but to…overhear your conversation with our resident lovely librarian earlier. You were looking for books about ancient languages, correct?"
You blinked out of your reverie, slowly nodding at him. "Um, yes. I just need to find some references about…something. Unfortunately, I'm not a scholar from Haravatat to borrow the books I need."
His face lightened up, as if he, too, was hit by epiphany just like you. "Say, Mx…?"
"[Name]..."
"Mx. [Name], did you, perchance, recognise this?" Kaveh fished out something from his pocket and slid it across the table to you. Your eyes widened like saucers when you saw the familiar inscriptions of Runes written into three separate pieces of paper.
"The Crumpled Papers of Fate!" You hissed. "You have it, too?!"
"Yes!" He exclaimed in the same amount of enthusiasm as yours.
"But who the hell sent this?!" 
Kaveh shrugged his shoulders elegantly before resting his elbows on the table and leaning close to you. He playfully beckoned you to inch closer as if he's conspiring something with you. "That's what I want to know as well. All I realised is that the Crumpled Paper of Fate is some sort of code that gives us symbolism over something."
Your brows raised in curiosity. "Symbolism?" 
"It looks like you got two pieces. Though somehow, I got three." He tapped his gloveless finger on the table, the corner of his mouth turning downwards. "One in my pocket, the other was clipped together with my roommate's book in our living room, and the last was stuck in the door of my room. I even accidentally smack my head—"
"—which proves my point that your eyes are made of marbles if you didn't notice the door in your face."
Both you and Kaveh almost jumped from your seats when a deep voice spoke from behind you. Your jaw dropped when you caught sight of the Akademiya's Grand Scribe pulling the chair on your right side before getting himself comfortable on it, placing the books he held on his hands on the table with a soft thud.
WHAT IS ALHAITHAM DOING HERE THIS TIME?!
You were near hyperventilating near two handsome—and former 2D—dudes that was now glaring at each other. Well, more like Kaveh killing Alhaitham with his glares because the Scribe just leisurely opened his book and crossed his legs, seemingly adamant in ignoring his roommate.
And just like every playable character you met so far, and even the NPCs themselves, these two looked so human and real to someone from a game. The finer details from their designs and splash arts were more highlighted and even the contours in their faces are too detailed to be true.
Your eyes briefly glanced at the scribe's arm, and you inwardly whistled in amusement. Wow, those muscular arms could crush my skull. Lololol.
"Oi, Alhaitham! What in Teyvat are you doing here?" Kaveh asked in irritation, his former cool-ish aura vanishing in the instant.
He ignored Kaveh, his light turquoise eyes, highlighted with orange pupils, looked at you for a second and your breath hitched at its intensity. "...I overheard you two talking about the ancient scriptures and codes from the crumpled papers."
Your brows furrowed. "Huh…do you guys have something for eavesdropping or something?" 
He ignored you, too, and fished out three very familiar pieces of paper and slid it together with yours and Kaveh's. "....I suppose this is the reason why you want to borrow books of ancient languages, no? I will give you a hint. All of our papers are written in Runic inscriptions."
"Yeah, yeah, you the great scribe of the Akademiya from the Haravatat Darshan surely knows what it means." Kaveh said, sarcasm lacing his tone like a venom.
You grew more curious. "Where did you find yours?"
"Does it matter?"
You tried again. "And what does the Runic mean?" 
"Kaveh's Crumpled Paper of Fate means Ship, Blind, Light—which is rather suspicious, especially given that Kaveh found one of his papers in my book." Alhaitham said in a matter-of-fact tone, tapping his said book, that made Kaveh rolled his eyes in exasperation. 
"As a matter of fact, the only suspicious thing about that book," the architect scoffed. "...is that it's being held by a drama queen."
The last thing I remember, Kaveh's Vision is Dendro, not Pyro. Lol.
Alhaitham gave an unimpressed, humourless stare at his roommate's spiteful words and you tried suppressing your laughter, remembering Alhaitham's Oscar-like performance in the Archon Quest.
"Anyhow, back to the topic before someone rudely interrupted me. Mine was translated to Eye, Knowledge and Ravens." 
"But what does mine—"
You suddenly halted when a loud thump echoed across the library, and then there's screaming. Before you knew it, several Matra of the Akademiya flooded across the room, startling everyone who was inside.
"A book robbery took place in the library's restricted section. Everyone that stayed in the House of Daena between six in the morning until now, we are expecting your cooperation."
So, that's what happened to your supposedly peaceful morning. You were suddenly caught in the apparent book robbery in the restricted section, and you heard the General Mahamatra was going to interrogate every single person that the Matra caught.
This is not freaking good.
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The prospect of meeting Cyno should be wonderful, right? BUT NO. You were on the receiving end of his job right now. And it's not even close to thrilling at all knowing the side of Cyno working that you honestly, do not wish to know.
Well, at least Kaveh and Alhaitham were with you right now. Though with the way they were bickering nonstop, you suddenly wished you could tell them to shut up.
"Theory number ten," Alhaitham muttered to himself; he was sitting so comfortably beside you as if they weren't on your way to the interrogation room. 
"You seriously reached theory ten with your nonsense?" Kaveh bited.
The scribe fished out a notebook from who-knows-where, looking for something. You tried to peek a little, but his muscular arms were in the way and it's embarrassing to inch closer when they didn't even bother introducing themselves to you. "It's possible that whoever sent this has the connection with the three of us—or at least, knows us to some extent. Perhaps wanting to measure our intelligence? For what?"
"Isn't that already obvious?" His roommate impatiently said. "[Name] got their Crumpled Paper of Fate in their own home, we got ours in your dorm, which by the way, only the two of us have access to. Whoever did this surely knew us pretty well."
"This is the reason why you didn't pass in anything other than your courses in Kshahrewar." Alhaitham said. "You always assume things."
"Excuse me, I'm not assuming. I am concluding!" He defended, apparently offended.
"Then don't jump into conclusions even if that's the only workout you do."
"Why you—"
As much as their banter was so amusing to watch, there are more pressing matters you had to know. "But that's impossible. I don't know anyone in this place aside from the Forest Rangers in the Avidya Forest, you know. It's nearly impossible that Tighnari and Collei would do this just to prank us. Though, I always had someone with me, so it's not possible that someone I don't know snuck into my room either…"
"You seem like you always have a witness with you?" Kaveh turned to you.
Alhaitham paused for a second. He blinked slowly, before a subtle smirk slowly pulled from the corner of his lips. "That's it."
"Huh?"
He stood up from his seat. "A witness." He vaguely replied before he went through the door faster than you could blink.
You and Kaveh stared at the door.
Then you two realised what Alhaitham just did.
"Oi, he just ran off without us!" Kaveh exclaimed in anger before tugging your hand to follow his roommate outside. "[Name], let's go before the Matra catches us!"
What in the world did you got yourself into?
Route 1.2.1: Stop Kaveh from escaping. You had a feeling that escaping isn't a good thing, especially since Cyno would probably hunt you down later. What's there to fear when you're innocent, no?
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TAGLIST (open! Send a dm or ask to be added :3) | @xinii , @maehemthemisfit , @abvolat , @crazypriestess , @ghostsaysno , @kittence , @unabashedlyminiaturetyrant , @xiyanin , @toasterinabathtub , @sketcheeee , @fuoon , @luvwukong , @salty-salty , @rosebatsc , @inky8 , @thegeekact , @almighty-raiden-shogunate , @isuckat-avery-thing , @perhapsabitgirlypop , @2cuteforyourlies , @stxrgxzxr , @elsoleil , @tsukkinoyya , @mkaella , @celi-alika , @tiffthescales , @blurr3db3rry , @messyserver , @shadowmist0706 , @chin-chii , @observation-subject-753 , @clovers-anxiety , @shizunxie , @lleoll , @shoujishu , @uwu-panic , @forgotten-blues , @chaneylovesfangirling , @enma-reblogs , @cookielovingalien , @iruiji , @samarill , @definitionofsad , @spynerr , @bigcandlesmolbrain , @universal-rose , @feverish-dove , @inlovewithwaffles , @louise-rosita-leroux , @chocogi , @jar-03 , @swaggyb0ke ... (if ur username is bolded, it means i cant tagged u :(( maybe its in ur settings? Also lmk if i missed anyone cause im such an idiot sometimes shsh)
Route 1.2.2: Go with Kaveh to chase Alhaitham. If he escaped, you two would escape along with him! He's the grand scribe and Kaveh is an influential architect, they could get away with this mess with you…right?
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mewmckenna · 7 months
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Miss Scarlet
So, I am sure by now that everyone has seen the news that Stuart Martin will not be returning for season five of MSATD. I know a lot of people are super disappointed that William is leaving the show, as am I, but honestly, I kind of feel that this could be a new opportunity for the show. It is obvious that the writers did not know that Stuart was leaving the show for good as they were writing last season, but with him being gone it makes the ending of season four almost better to me. Eliza is no longer working for Patrick, and while he is coming back and will likely not end up in prison (though who knows), I imagine Eliza won't go back to Nash & Sons. She was finally able to change the sign above her door to say "Miss Eliza Scarlet," something that seemed impossible to her in earlier seasons. Also, while Eliza is certainly fine at working with a few friends, she will never be the kind of manager that Patrick is as she's simply too independent and stubborn. It is for the better that she is at her own agency, able to do her thing without too much interference.
In a roundabout way, I think William's departure kind of brings everything together. Eliza is truly alone, without William or her father. Everything that she does now will be entirely up to her; she has no father or childhood friend to fall back on. I think that this, plus the name of the show changing to be just Miss Scarlet is a kind of bookend to how the show began. The producers and writers of the show have already hinted at this being the start of a shift in direction, and while the story was largely focused on the romance between William and Eliza during the first four seasons, I think that this gives the creators an opportunity to do more. By calling the show Miss Scarlet and the Duke, they were limited in what they could write. I know I have seen many people comment on how the show seemed to drag because of the drawn out will-they-won't-they between Eliza and William, something I noticed myself after the first couple of seasons.
Now, since it is apparent that they are no longer going to be the endgame couple, there is more freedom in the storyline and what the writers can do with the personal relationships. At the end of season four, it felt to me as though the show had sort of written itself into a corner concerning the title relationship of the show. In another recent post I even commented on how the relationship between the two would remain unchanged unless some drastic action by one of them, probably William. Obviously, I did not know that Stuart was planning on leaving the show, but I think my criticism still stands. Both Eliza and William cared too much about their jobs to ever be able to be truly happy together as we last saw them.
This is exactly the reason that William leaves for New York, and it could be very possibly that the way that they write him out of the show is with him deciding to stay in America. William had been considering quitting his position at Scotland Yard, but this was due to the conditions of his job at the time and how overworked he was, plus the draw of finally being able to be with Eliza. It feels very possible to me that he might change his mind upon entering a less stressful environment and decide not to come back to London. After all, William went months, if not a year, suspecting or knowing Eliza's feelings towards him and vice versa but he was still unwilling to give up his career to be with her. I don't fault William for this as Eliza does the same thing, but it does make his staying in New York a bit more believable.
So even though the show is not going to go in the direction we have all thought it would, I think that this could be a good thing. While we won't know if that is the case for likely a year, I am not going to call any judgements until season five is released. Though I think that the show has definitely benefitted from William's presence, it has always been about Eliza first and foremost and so I am excited to see what she gets up to next.
(Also here's to hoping that Ansu Kabia is included in later casting announcements as we have gone far too long without Moses)
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murkystarlight · 9 days
Text
DREAMZZZ season2 (part 2) spoilers
(It's really just me making random comments on the episodes)
Episode 17
Yes, Izzie. We're going to the beast realm-
Dizzy apparently is still here- what. Are they buddies now? Or what
Wildoria- ooh
Z! Don't eat that-
Nova jumping behind Iz. (Nice to see Nova and Sneak more often)
Toss it our of the rift?? Ohh- I can already see this is a bad idea.
And Z spit it out. Good. And it's also something really important. Of course it is.
Beast master. Sounds like he would have the crown of control- cause he's the master. Y'know?
Make Nova dream about Wildoria? Wow- and she specifically said "I'm glad I'm.not going"
Ooh! So they didn't forget about the birthday. Good. And I guess Mateo isn't completely avoiding Jasmine of Jasmine chose to call Mateo instead of Izzie. Or maybe Izzie just didn't pick up-
Montage!!
Woah- okay Izzie. No more rad radioactive. Please- you had enough already
She's crafty too, isn't she
Mateo doesn't like change- he's accepting it. But he's taking his time... oh... this just like the Never Witch
It's Sneak's drink. Oh my god- you can't just steal other people's stuff
Zoey narrating. And does it well?? Really well-
Okay- what is that temple-(and yes. The animals definitely do look like they are under control
He came in through the rift! He isn't dreaming! Oh gos- I have so many questions now
Okay Claudius. He is wearing the crown as suspected-
Living the dream! (But literally)
I kind of like this Claudius guy
He seems lonely. And.. a freak kinda
...Izzie? Is.. is she okay? I don't think she is-
Wow. Sneak is great at voice acting
She won't be able to fall asleep. No sir. Definitely not
Now she's pissed. It's your own fault
At least the food is edible. I thought it be like.. bugs- but then again. They have bugs among them. So I guess that would be like.. cannibalism-
Why did you tell him that there's more powerful artifacts! No! He's the kind that's crazy for power isn't he!
Animal abuse-
Hm. Nevermind I hate this guy.
Good thinking Zoey
The tickling vines
"Inspiring him to take a shower"
Apparently he showers with his clothes on. Question. Do you need to shower in the dream realm?
Jumping rope?
Cooper keeps trying to do stuff- which.. is good. Yeah. And he's getting creative. Thinking outside the box and all that
Oh- you okay?...
Okay- the fly trap looks creepy. And how is Nova so peaceful- cute
Does he have that crown glued on his head?! The heck??
Ooh. Mind control??
Also- really? Scaring your friend in a dream? Really?? That's the plan?
Sack him? Oh gosh. Well it worked. But Zoey isn't being controlled. Welp- better luck next time(she dodged the darn thing?? How??)
Izzie- no- no oh my god.
C-rex looks amazing with all that lighting
Also, is Cooper holding a guy in a sack. Over his shoulder. With one hand- it's a dream but still
"WHERE IS THE RIFT"
Cooper!
Apparently controlling people isn't the only thing he can do. Or were they controlled to wake up
And the rift clised- and they got doom domed! And Logan is... really good at falling asleep (so sweet how he stays with her)
And Clause is really dumb
Episode 18
Power hungry dude. (With good hearing)
He is real trouble.
Oh no- Logans a giant panda! (...Izzie likes it?) Oh no- he isn't good.
Look at the four of them together- watching that tiny dome-
Suffering for Izzie
"Izzie's gone!"
"Logan isn't answering his phone, Mateo's freaking out, and Mr. Oz well.... he's not helping"
"Izzie's gone!!"
"I was such a jerk to Izzie last night! I'm her brother! I'm supposed to take care of her!"
"Izzie's gone-!"
The amount of stuff going on here- chaos. I love the chaos. And also, Mateo being a sweet brother-🥺
Mateo blaming himself😭😭 oh my goddd
Supportive friends
Omg! The party-!
"Izzie's gone?!"
Wait- aren't we in the waking world? How is Dizzy here?? (Also, my theory was- kind of right?? Yay!!)
I really wanted to see the clones out in the waking world. But working together... that's not what I expected. Still good though
Oh- the nightmare thing at school-
"Izzie's gone?"
"Oh Izzie's gone??"
Izzie's new outfit! So that's why it's animal themed...
"Maybe this will knock some sense into you!" *attempts to smash her friends head*
Mrs. Castillo notices that Dizzy looks different
"Are you crazy? I don't eat cobras! Some of my best friends are cobras!!"
Wow-
Cooper's a great actor (and Mateo's staring at him like he's crazy)
Ooh the gems are pretty
Oh- and she lost Bunchu
Logan! (His hair looks like Lance-)
"Oh Izzie! I'm so sorry-"
How did he wake up??
Dizzy... you're not even trying
And.. logan is a wolf now. Okay. Sure... makes... sense
"Oh, it's, uh, a new online challenge?"
He's great at lying now
"Uh.. not sure Logan's in control anymore"
"Was he ever?"
Mrs. Putnam- wow. He really fell asleep fast
The griffen is... sorta helping? Zinnia is a nice name
Oh- no she's not
She really has a lot of talents
Wow. She changes so darn much and people are just going "Oh. Okay. Well anyways-"
Middle-schoolers. Haha.
Karaoke~
"Dizzy! You're a genius"
"Wow-! I've never gotten a compliment before"
Ohhh I see it coming now~~
Oh- they still have resistance(way with animals)
Uh- what did she put in the punch? Pickle?? Oh-
Dizzy is really good at bad-
"Spicy! Hot! Hot!" (Her voice- unique)
Izzie is being smart
The party.. is going to shit
Mateo likes it. Well- of course. I mean this kind of stuff is fun-
She's motivational- dang..
The cake-
Can't feel my tongue no more- how bad is it?!
Food fight!!
Logan! Noooo
The nice conversation between Dizzy and Mateo
"Oh dang- uh, they're totally gonna eat him, arent they" Ohhh he's in for it now
"No one should use this crown!"
Yes ma'am! Yes! Good good. Very inspiring. She's good
And- the Never Witch is here now. Wait- she's taking it that easily??
She helping the dishes?
Chants in Latin?? Latin?!
So much stuff going on-
Episode 19
Their dad is so sweet-
Um- what the heck??
Cooper!
What is going on-
Alright- um.. let's go boys
Oh- look at that! Beautiful picture! I love how it looks-- all the dopples positioned
Ah- they... they're gone- they're good. And... coming together? Um... I'm kind of worried
Astrid! She's disappeared after getting her new clothes. Good to see ya!
How is she rolling up the stairs like th-
Logan is still a bit frenzy- I guess since the crown of control is with the Never Witch?
Oh- no. He's just racing with Iz
Oh! Never Witch backstory
Zoey really doesn't like bugs
Ooh- yeah the Never Witch didn't even try to design it well
King Albert! Yes operate him again
"Deja vu!"
"You- can say that again"
"Deja vu."
Yo- king Albert is amazing(while . He lasted)
Cooper is good at tech. Isn't he
Zoey! Cooper!! (The blast was beautiful tho)
Logan- be patient, and nice (the panda voice is so- cu)
"Greaat. Now the space car blows up on my watch too. Hah hah- Mr. Oz is never gonna let me drive his ships again"
(Oh right. I forgot to say this.
Sorry Mr. Oz-)
And um.. technically, he isn't allowed to drive. I know it's a dream. But still-
"What ships? Grab my hand!"
....my brain is hopeless (Cooper× Zoey?)
O0O
Pyewacket!!
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"Nothing"
"Let's rock and roll"
Okay- but the giant monstrosity of a thing is like... super creepy
The sand effects look so prettttyyyy
"Be careful Zoey! You can't miss"
"Ugh- no pressure"
Love these two.
Mateo! Good job- Astrid!(oh- she's gone)
"Pyewacket, do the cat thing and hassle the birds. But quietly!"
Cat on his head!
Eugh that does look gross- I'm so sorry for you Zoey
"Uh- sorry Mr. Oz. We're working on it"
He sounds.. really unenthusiastic- loo
Oh dear- Cooper....
And- you lost it. Good job Zoey. Now you have to get up close to the bugs!
Wow. Cooper really needs a prize for actjng- like.. try out for a school play. Sure you'll do well lol
"There were more. Two girls, another boy, and the green one" (Well- you just blasted the other boy)
...this is actually kind of creepy. Does good with the visual effects
Well- that was one heck of an episode. Also, what happened to Cooper? Did he get sucked in? Or..
Episode 20
Twentieth!! Last one!
"The way it was always meant to be"
Oh no- wait what? Oh- the green one!!
Oh... was not expecting that! The writers are good at writing twists-
Yes! Protect your sister!! (And logan of course-)
Zoey is having the worst nightmare ever. Like- I would scream myself awake
The spider does have pretty eyes tho-
The Never Witch made a really cool speech
Zoey is scared- like a lot. Which is reasonable
Woah- awesome
Question. How does the memory help with stopping the witch??
Hug
Jesus- how many pets does she have(a lot)
Cooperrrrr! Ahhhhhh (was he hanging there this whole time? What the-)
"Maybe she got tied up?"
Uh.. correct! 10/10 (what is this dude-)
Pye glowing! Glowing!what's gonna happen now~
"Can you figure out how to release the doom-domes?"
"Hm.. tricky.."
What- can he really do everything? Like- dude! What the-
Playing catch (going to be real dizzy for Izzie and Logan)
Cooper! (Again? Really? What is- What- huh?)
Oh no- he's fine
And now Z
Oh' what the- sound waves? Pye?
Pye!! Oh my god- music! Speakers oh~
Now we get to see the memory! Yess
Oh- the yellow flowers died. Crying. Oh
Ahhhh
"You can hate me. But I'll never hate you. I love you, sister. I want you to remember that"
Well. I heard that line a few times before-
Uh... bonding with the Never Witch?
Wow- cooper. You get into a lot of things
Oh... she- she wanted to- she didn't want her sister to think that she hated her- Oh my god- this lego show has no right to be this- this-! Ugh
......goodbye-
Hold hands! Yes. Wait what- hold on. No like seriously- is it necessary? And- Well- in..
"They're in the wrong places. This isn't right"
"But it's great. I mean, look at it. It doesn't have to be exactly the same as it was before. I learned a lot of new stuff. I'm better"
"How do we know it'll be better?"
Yes you are! YES YOU SO VERY ARE- AHHRGGRGHH
And Mateo? Please don't do that- you keep leaving trails of *I kind of agree with the villain. But you know, in a slightly different way*
"We don't. But we can hope for the best. You can't control everything. And that's okay"
Okay. Now, kiss.(no but seriously- come on! Ahhh-) (do they really have to do it together? Like that? Really? Oh my God- ahhhahahah)
She accepted it. Oh- this is... such a nice ending-
Sandman!! Burzerker! Camelion! Phil!!!
They're all back! Yesss ahhhhh
Awww-
Bye Dizzy
Woah- I feel
Oh it's not over yet-
Logan talking about his moms, date with Astrid-
Mateo's more open to Jasmine too it seems!
"Can we skip school today?!" (Worth a shot-)
Mr. Oz... that's so sweet of you to say... ....but did you say gift from Lunia?
And Zoey's binding with her dad more too-
I- oh god-
.......wait. is this the end of DREAMZZZ??
I mean... it would be like- a great ending. But... ....
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peachesancreams · 4 months
Text
Death of Angels and Devils
ok so i'm going to be going in the same order so pls bare with me, I am going to try to make it shorter then the last ones as they felt long
Nvm I’m splitting them up again, I tried to make this smaller an brain said no❣️
V to Vox, Stella to Strella
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When he died it was a regular day for Strella, the maid had left a while ago and the cook had left not minutes ago. Strella had been writing new songs, tapping out beats and humming vocals when the knock came. She'd pulled on a robe and headed to the door, simple silk and she tied it tight. God forbid V drank himself to oblivion again and had been brought home by his staff. Again.
Laughing and shaking her head she had opened the door to a pair of policemen standing at the door. Looking at them they'd both been remorseful but with a undercurrent of eagerness? She had first thought, 'Oh V why did you have to get caught?' to 'Oh god no' as they explained why they were knocking at her door.
She was a widow now. It was clear that someone had murdered him, his head had been put through a television set multiple times. They had a list of suspects but had wanted to know if their was anyone she could personally think of that could've done it. Strella rambled off a few names, knowing her husbands enemies but feeling like they we're speaking to her underwater.
Was he really gone? Her V? She touched the set of pearls he'd given her, a wedding present one among many from him but her personal favorite. It grounded her enough to finish answering their questions. Apparently having noticed her state, they had at one point directed her to the living room where she now stood looking at the fuzzy carpet they'd bought together. It started to hit her then and tears quickly fell.
She didn't fall to her knees but collapsed onto the couch, staring at the far wall. He....he was gone. She had to make so many plans now. Not even just plans on what to do with his body, but funeral arrangements. Its when a flash went off over her shoulder she'd felt a sense of apathy take over.
Of course the insects would swarm to get a look at the new widow, probably more flies had been sent to the scene of her husbands murder itself. Standing her summons her spine of steel and marches to the window, making sure to give those paparazzi the coldest look she could muster at the moment. It worked great given they didn't raise their cameras for a shot of her as she closed the bind.
Strella had gone through the motions, calling in a funeral home for him, arranging for more coworkers to come then any family members. Strella didn't really talk to her brothers so no one from her side came but a cousin of his had came. Then later had tried to pick the house clean of his items, claiming family should hold onto them.
She doesn't know what had pissed him off more in the end, the fact that V's will made it so she got everything or that she also got his life insurance. Not that she did anything with it really, she'd known a decent charity fund for gay people(i wanna say it lead to the funding of some organizations).
She sold the house, not wanting to be surrounded by memories of their life together. Downsized to a smaller space, kept the maid on payroll but needed her less frequently now. She drank more, wrote many songs but....they were sad. About heartbreak and despair, loss and grief, death and those left behind. She only did songs once in a while on the jubilee show he used to run.
Strella had been walking down a side street when it happened, she'd gone out and left earlier then usual. Friends trying to distract her grief with some parties, but even that had lost its charm.
No one made snide comments with her about other party goers, or drink themselves silly together laughing openly at others by then. It all hurt too much, and too little time has passed.
Strella was dragged into an alley as she'd past it, the person demanded her money, a gun digging into her side. She'd stammered out that it was in her purse, and they'd thrown her to the way side. Strella thought it was over, tried running away when she'd heard the bang.
She'd fallen onto that dirty alley floor, confused at first before the pain really hit her. It was also getting harder to breath too...coughing made blood come out and she knew then she was a goner. When had her pearls broken? She could see them glinting, shiny iridescent pearls. Strella had complained that they hadn't reached the 30th year mark and he had insisted she deserved them. That was what made tears come up, not the pain but knowing she won't be able to leave this world with her favorite item from V. Closing her eyes she gave into the blackness creeping in on her.
Ah...at least she'll be with V again....
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Opening her eyes to pearly gates had not been the plan. It wasn't even what she had wanted really. Nor was becoming fuzzy with ears and a tail but no one guessed heaven was so....furry. Apparently she should have horded her wealth instead of feeling like it was blood money, and maybe not have left a will donating anything left behind to charity. She didn't plan on having children, not without V at least and being he was dead well. She didn't want it to go to a bank or something, yes it could have gone to her family but they would have denied it. Pride can be detrimental sometimes.
Strella had taken a step back for a few years, mourning the loss a second time. The Head Seraphim, Sera had scolded her about it saying he had earned his place and so had she in heaven. Sera did not like it when she had told her the only reason she is here is because of her husbands money, if he hadn't died she wouldn't have donated a cent of her wealth. So really he had secured her place.
After that a questionnaire system had popped up, angels of lower ranks deal with the 'winners' inquiry about anything. Strella had to stop herself from laughing because all this because lil ol' her? She was just pointing out the flaws and hypocrisy that seemed to have flown under the radar. It had taken a few months to really see it, she'd been guessing mostly but when politicians started coming through the gates like posturing peacocks and none of her God fearing familia? She knew.
One thing she hadn't seen coming was fame. The songs she'd written in her heartbreak and a few originals she'd sung on the show V ran, got attention after she'd passed. Apparently when going through her things after her death, they'd found her songs. Unable to have them donated to anything, her old band got together once more and published her songs, playing the music with a strand-in for her. A stand-in, like she'd be able to sing on the mortal coil ever again.
More covers made, and really the gays won't let someone who have helped the community go unnoted. It was in the 80's that a producer approached her, they wanted her on their new show for entertaining heavens masses. A sort of jubilee show to be exact! When she'd asked about slots that is when he corrected her.
He was looking for a Host, and had the thought of having Estrella be that Host. Not only having a woman host would spice things up in the industry, but well Estrella always knew how to get peoples attention. When naming the show he had suggested Stellas Show, which had been Meh to her.
So she suggested another name. Strellas Spotlight.
She would have one performance and a small interview portion afterwards. However once a year, she'd pick a day to sing and do a full performance, sometimes inviting popular guests a second time, this time to conduct a interview on Estrella herself.
People started to note that the songs, while not her typical songs, were obviously for someone. One of her guests finally asked and she revealed herself, these songs were for V. Her demon husband.
Honestly she doesn't know what people found more scandalous, the fact she claimed they were still married or the fact she was so openly in love with him. She'd done a segment of just interviews after that, many winners had family and loved ones down in hell and nowhere to actually talk about them without literal heavenly judgement. Feelings are complicated, and even their wonderful afterlife they can mourn in some way for those not with them.
She actually had to stop running the show for a while, her producer under too much pressure from The Seraphim to cancel the show. The only reason it was a hiatus and not a full cancel is because of the roar of protest from winners, new and old. Apparently her bold claim to love got attention, but it was really the follow up of interviews, that softened a decent amount of winners. Not that demons are good of course, but some of them are still loved despite being in hell.
Now its the modern age and the show has adapted along with it, when it comes to music they still do live shows, they just made them more like a concert experience. Strella loves when they add her, like Christion Dior! Lovely man, she hosted him then they did a fashion show to show his new heavenly designs! He even let her keep the dress she wore to open his show with!
Strella does still do a song every year for V, but has a submission period where folks can dedicate songs to loved ones in hell. A way to grieve for them, she would bullshit to whomever would ask. Really she just needs to keep her show on the air and being a goo goo eyed Old Hollywood starlet has these kids eating out of her hands.
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The TV head man stared at the screen, the words reflected back on his face. Strellas Spotlight Hour. He didn't move, but the screen before him started to play a lively intro that went into more playful piano. You could hear the live audience start oooooing already, the Host entered through a false door walking down some steps and opening a false closet, taking off her coat and pulled out a cardigan sweater. It was cream with light pink edges and collar. Finally after placing her sweater on, curls cut short in this one so no need to fix them he noted, she turned towards the audience.
"Hello all neighbors!" Squeals of excitement, making the hostess laughing showing pearly fangs, "Yes yes no secret here folks, you loved him in life so please give a generous welcome to everyone's favorite neighbor! Mister Rogers!" An older man steps out of the fake door with steps. He’s an Irish wolfhound, in a red sweater? Sweetly smiling and waving. Strella shakes his hand then guides him over to her hosting area with the enthusiastic crowd following. As they started the introduction he leaned back in his chair, his digital grin dripping red.
In the room itself different screen light up around the room, all with Strella as the focus point. One had her dressed to the nines, singing with a sad expression. Another she’s leaning across her desk to hold someone’s hand, consoling them. Her figure on replay shimmying sensually out of a large coat to start Christian Diors fashion show. Her screaming but also laughing, climbing on top of her desk as some Australian brings in a live crocodile. Her slowly looking at the camera, eyes wide in shock, a secret revealed only in the afterlife.
Too bad he can't sit and watch her shows all the time, ok that’s a lie he had that shimmy on a loop in his processors. Thank whoever let heavens network occasionally send down a few episodes, like that stupid cherub commercial. They never got the newest stuff down here, that reserved for up top unfortunately. Standing and adjusting his coat he turned to the elevator platform, the screens all winking out but one. The audio plays as the elevator starts to move upwards.
“And I am Estrella Torres de Abbot and thank you for staying tuned! Have a wonderful day my dear-“ Vox sighs, pinching between his brows. Ugh. He has to fix that cut, too short, doesn't sound like her.
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goongiveusnothing · 2 years
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I'm so shocked that My Policeman isn't selling out everywhere and in the week that it's released his fans seem bored... never expected this.
It's kind of funny because I did wonder if this movie would unintentionally have this effect on certain things.
99% of the conversation about Harry is about his sexuality in some form or fashion and the whole thing resides on there needing to be mystery about it. The fans trying to piece together clues, trying to clock signs and codes, trying to claim they understand LGBT culture in some way so can interpret something in the most queer way possible. The impending future "coming out". When Harry walks at a premiere with his boyfriend. How active in the LGBT community he'll be when he comes out. How queer his fashion is. How queer his music and lyrics are. How queer some book or song he mentioned somewhere is.
It's always something they all have to interpret and feed back into themselves every day to keep themselves going. I remember how many fans said that Harry's flag waving means so much to them because of how queer and bi and proud he is. Not because he's an ally, but because they project how important it is for him. It needs to be important to him to be important to them. Otherwise it's just a dude waving a flag in their eyes.
But now you have it all out in the open. No more secrecy. He made dumb comments about his precious gay movie that made him seem so desperately out of touch with the LGBT community that Larries/Harries were saying he needs to hire actual gay people on his team to explain to him why these comments were offensive and what comments he should make. An apparent gay man needs to be coached on gayness. He got huge backlash from the gay community for it. His people seemingly shut the whole thing down after that, and he hasn't spoken about it all since, because they know anything he would say could ruin the movie's prospects even more. That's how shit at being gay he and his people think he is. That he'd blow it up by making more homophobic comments.
The sex scenes leaked. Those who wanted to obsess over them and get off on them finally could do that. All those years of waiting and they finally got the pay off. That can kill the passion and zeal in a lot of people. What else is there to wait for now? They already got it. They don't have to fantasize, it exists now.
But many would even admit that those scenes are pretty boring and blah. Even in them you can see there's no real chemistry or passion and Harry is not a convincing actor as a gay man.
The reviews are bad. He's still with Olivia. We've had exposure after exposure about the depths of his relationship with Olivia. If it's PR, Harry's essentially a psychopath pretending to have a relationship with a psychopath to try and sabotage his own movies.
Does his "queerness" even matter as much now? Or is now boring to them? Because it's not their big secret code anymore? It's all out in the open. If Harry wanted to come out, he had every opportunity this year to do it and capitalise on his movies. But they finally got partially what they wanted, Harry kissing and having sex with a man, so I think that killed off some of their passion, because it's no longer a dream for them. It was just okay. It didn't do for them what they needed. He's becoming just a dude waving a flag.
I suspect many Harry blogs/accounts/tik toks will start shifting to other fandoms in the coming months.
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neil-gaiman · 3 years
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How Did you come up with the first eve in the story about adams wives? I haven’t been able to find anything about her after I read it and I want to know if she’s an actual biblical character or just someone you made
She's from the Midrash. I learned about her as a 12 year old, from my barmitzvah teacher. There was a point in there, long after I'd put her into Sandman, where I was starting to think I'd imagined her, when I ran across her in Robert Graves's Hebrew Myths....
Excerpt from: The Hebrew Myths by Robert Graves and Raphael Patai (New York:  Doubleday, 1964), pp 65-69
Chapter 10: Adam's Helpmeets
(a) Having decided to give Adam a helpmeet lest he should be alone of his kind, God put him into a deep sleep, removed one of his ribs, formed it into a woman, and closed up the wound, Adam awoke and said: 'This being shall be named "Woman", because she has been taken out of man. A man and a woman shall be one flesh.' The title he gave her was Eve, 'the Mother of All Living''. [1]
(b) Some say that God created man and woman in His own image on the Sixth Day, giving them charge over the world; [2]  but that Eve did not yet exist. Now, God had set Adam to name every beast, bird and other living thing. When they passed before him in pairs, male and female, Adam-being already like a twenty-year-old man-felt jealous of their loves, and though he tried coupling with each female in turn, found no satisfaction in the act. He therefore cried: 'Every creature but I has a proper mate', and prayed God would remedy this injustice. [3]
(c) God then formed Lilith, the first woman, just as He had formed Adam, except that He used filth and sediment instead of pure dust. From Adam's union with this demoness, and with another like her named Naamah, Tubal Cain's sister, sprang Asmodeus and innumerable demons that still plague mankind. Many generations later, Lilith and Naamah came to Solomon's judgement seat, disguised as harlots of Jerusalem'. [4]
(d) Adam and Lilith never found peace together; for when he wished to lie with her, she took offence at the recumbent posture he demanded. 'Why must I lie beneath you?' she asked. 'I also was made from dust, and am therefore your equal.' Because Adam tried to compel her obedience by force, Lilith, in a rage, uttered the magic name of God, rose into the air and left him.
Adam complained to God: 'I have been deserted by my helpmeet' God at once sent the angels Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof to fetch Lilith back. They found her beside the Red Sea, a region abounding in lascivious demons, to whom she bore lilim at the rate of more than one hundred a day. 'Return to Adam without delay,' the angels said, `or we will drown you!' Lilith asked: `How can I return to Adam and live like an honest housewife, after my stay beside the Red Sea?? 'It will be death to refuse!' they answered. `How can I die,' Lilith asked again, `when God has ordered me to take charge of all newborn children: boys up to the eighth day of life, that of circumcision; girls up to the twentieth day. None the less, if ever I see your three names or likenesses displayed in an amulet above a newborn child, I promise to spare it.' To this they agreed; but God punished Lilith by making one hundred of her demon children perish daily; [5] and if she could not destroy a human infant, because of the angelic amulet, she would spitefully turn against her own. [6]
(e) Some say that Lilith ruled as queen in Zmargad, and again in Sheba; and was the demoness who destroyed job's sons. [7] Yet she escaped the curse of death which overtook Adam, since they had parted long before the Fall. Lilith and Naamah not only strangle infants but also seduce dreaming men, any one of whom, sleeping alone, may become their victim. [8]
(f) Undismayed by His failure to give Adam a suitable helpmeet, God tried again, and let him watch while he built up a woman's anatomy: using bones, tissues, muscles, blood and glandular secretions, then covering the whole with skin and adding tufts of hair in places. The sight caused Adam such disgust that even when this woman, the First Eve, stood there in her full beauty, he felt an invincible repugnance. God knew that He had failed once more, and took the First Eve away. Where she went, nobody knows for certain. [9]
(g) God tried a third time, and acted more circumspectly. Having taken a rib from Adam's side in his sleep, He formed it into a woman; then plaited her hair and adorned her, like a bride, with twenty-four pieces of jewellery, before waking him. Adam was entranced. [10]
(h) Some say that God created Eve not from Adam's rib, but from a tail ending in a sting which had been part of his body. God cut this off, and the stump-now a useless coccyx-is still carried by Adam's descendants. [11]
(i) Others say that God's original thought had been to create two human beings, male and female; but instead He designed a single one with a male face looking forward, and a female face looking back. Again He changed His mind, removed Adam's backward-looking face, and built a woman's body for it. [12]
(j) Still others hold that Adam was originally created as an androgyne of male and female bodies joined back to back. Since this posture made locomotion difficult, and conversation awkward, God divided the androgyne and gave each half a new rear. These separate beings He placed in Eden, forbidding them to couple. [13]
Notes on sources:
1. Genesis II. 18-25; III. 20.
2. Genesis I. 26-28.
3. Gen. Rab. 17.4; B. Yebamot 632.
4. Yalqut Reubeni ad. Gen. II. 21; IV. 8.
5. Alpha Beta diBen Sira, 47; Gaster, MGWJ, 29 (1880), 553 ff.
6. Num. Rab. 16.25.
7. Targum ad job 1. 15.
8. B. Shabbat 151b; Ginzberg, LJ, V. 147-48.
9. Gen. Rab. 158, 163-64; Mid. Abkir 133, 135; Abot diR. Nathan 24; B. Sanhedrin 39a.
10. Gen. II. 21-22; Gen. Rab. 161.
11. Gen. Rab. 134; B. Erubin 18a.
12. B. Erubin 18a.
13. Gen. Rab. 55; Lev. Rab. 14.1: Abot diR. Nathan 1.8; B. Berakhot 61a; B. Erubin 18a; Tanhuma Tazri'a 1; Yalchut Gen. 20; Tanh. Buber iii.33; Mid. Tehillim 139, 529.
Authors’ Comments on the Myth:
1. The tradition that man's first sexual intercourse was with animals, not women, may be due to the widely spread practice of bestiality among herdsmen of the Middle East, which is still condoned by custom, although figuring three times in the Pentateuch as a capital crime. In the Akkadian Gilgamesh Epic, Enkidu is said to have lived with gazelles and jostled other wild beasts at the watering place, until civilized by Aruru's priestess. Having enjoyed her embraces for six days and seven nights, he wished to rejoin the wild beasts but, to his surprise, they fled from him. Enkidu then knew that he had gained understanding, and the priestess said: 'Thou art wise, Enkidu, like unto a godl'
2. Primeval man was held by the Babylonians to have been androgynous. Thus the Gilgamesh Epic gives Enkidu androgynous features: `the hair of his head like a woman's, with locks that sprout like those of Nisaba, the Grain-goddess.' The Hebrew tradition evidently derives from Greek sources, because both terms used in a Tannaitic midrash to describe the bisexual Adam are Greek: androgynos, 'man-woman', and diprosopon, 'twofaced'. Philo of Alexandria, the Hellenistic philosopher and commentator on the Bible, contemporary with Jesus, held that man was at first bisexual; so did the Gnostics. This belief is clearly borrowed from Plato. Yet the myth of two bodies placed back to back may well have been founded on observation of Siamese twins, which are sometimes joined in this awkward manner. The two-faced Adam appears to be a fancy derived from coins or statues of Janus, the Roman New Year god.
3. Divergences between the Creation myths of Genesis r and n, which allow Lilith to be presumed as Adam's first mate, result from a careless weaving together of an early Judaean and a late priestly tradition. The older version contains the rib incident. Lilith typifies the Anath-worshipping Canaanite women, who were permitted pre-nuptial promiscuity. Time after time the prophets denounced Israelite women for following Canaanite practices; at first, apparently, with the priests' approval-since their habit of dedicating to God the fees thus earned is expressly forbidden in Deuteronomy xxIII. I8. Lilith's flight to the Red Sea recalls the ancient Hebrew view that water attracts demons. 'Tortured and rebellious demons' also found safe harbourage in Egypt. Thus Asmodeus, who had strangled Sarah's first six husbands, fled 'to the uttermost parts of Egypt' (Tobit viii. 3), when Tobias burned the heart and liver of a fish on their wedding night.
4. Lilith's bargain with the angels has its ritual counterpart in an apotropaic rite once performed in many Jewish communities. To protect the newborn child against Lilith-and especially a male, until he could be permanently safeguarded by circumcision-a ring was drawn with natron, or charcoal, on the wall of the birthroom, and inside it were written the words: 'Adam and Eve. Out, Lilith!' Also the names Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof (meanings uncertain) were inscribed on the door. If Lilith nevertheless succeeded in approaching the child and fondling him, he would laugh in his sleep. To avert danger, it was held wise to strike the sleeping child's lips with one finger-whereupon Lilith would vanish.
5. 'Lilith' is usually derived from the Babylonian-Assyrian word lilitu, ,a female demon, or wind-spirit'-one of a triad mentioned in Babylonian spells. But she appears earlier as 'Lillake' on a 2000 B.G. Sumerian tablet from Ur containing the tale of Gilgamesh and the Willow Tree. There she is a demoness dwelling in the trunk of a willow-tree tended by the Goddess Inanna (Anath) on the banks of the Euphrates. Popular Hebrew etymology seems to have derived 'Lilith' from layil, 'night'; and she therefore often appears as a hairy night-monster, as she also does in Arabian folklore. Solomon suspected the Queen of Sheba of being Lilith, because she had hairy legs. His judgement on the two harlots is recorded in I Kings III. 16 ff. According to Isaiah xxxiv. I4-I5, Lilith dwells among the desolate ruins in the Edomite Desert where satyrs (se'ir), reems, pelicans, owls, jackals, ostriches, arrow-snakes and kites keep her company.
6. Lilith's children are called lilim. In the Targum Yerushalmi, the priestly blessing of Numbers vi. 26 becomes: 'The Lord bless thee in all thy doings, and preserve thee from the Lilim!' The fourth-century A.D. commentator Hieronymus identified Lilith with the Greek Lamia, a Libyan queen deserted by Zeus, whom his wife Hera robbed of her children. She took revenge by robbing other women of theirs.
7. The Lamiae, who seduced sleeping men, sucked their blood and ate their flesh, as Lilith and her fellow-demonesses did, were also known as Empusae, 'forcers-in'; or Mormolyceia, 'frightening wolves'; and described as 'Children of Hecate'. A Hellenistic relief shows a naked Lamia straddling a traveller asleep on his back. It is characteristic of civilizations where women are treated as chattels that they must adopt the recumbent posture during intercourse, which Lilith refused. That Greek witches who worshipped Hecate favoured the superior posture, we know from Apuleius; and it occurs in early Sumerian representations of the sexual act, though not in the Hittite. Malinowski writes that Melanesian girls ridicule what they call `the missionary position', which demands that they should lie passive and recumbent.
8. Naamah, 'pleasant', is explained as meaning that 'the demoness sang pleasant songs to idols'. Zmargad suggest smaragdos, the semi-precious aquamarine; and may therefore be her submarine dwelling. A demon named Smaragos occurs in the Homeric Epigrams.
9. Eve's creation by God from Adam's rib-a myth establishing male supremacy and disguising Eve's divinity-lacks parallels in Mediterranean or early Middle-Eastern myth. The story perhaps derives iconotropically from an ancient relief, or painting, which showed the naked Goddess Anath poised in the air, watching her lover Mot murder his twin Aliyan; Mot (mistaken by the mythographer for Yahweh) was driving a curved dagger under Aliyan's fifth rib, not removing a sixth one. The familiar story is helped by a hidden pun on tsela, the Hebrew for 'rib': Eve, though designed to be Adam's helpmeet, proved to be a tsela, a 'stumbling', or 'misfortune'. Eve's formation from Adam's tail is an even more damaging myth; perhaps suggested by the birth of a child with a vestigial tail instead of a coccyx-a not infrequent occurrence.
10. The story of Lilith's escape to the East and of Adam's subsequent marriage to Eve may, however, record an early historical incident: nomad herdsmen, admitted into Lilith's Canaanite queendom as guests (see 16. 1), suddenly seize power and, when the royal household thereupon flees, occupy a second queendom which owes allegiance to the Hittite Goddess Heba.
The meaning of 'Eve' is disputed. Hawwah is explained in Genesis III. 20 as 'mother of all living'; but this may well be a Hebraicized form of the divine name Heba, Hebat, Khebat or Khiba. This goddess, wife of the Hittite Storm-god, is shown riding a lion in a rock-sculpture at Hattusaswhich equates her with Anath-and appears as a form of Ishtar in Hurrian texts. She was worshipped at Jerusalem (see 27. 6). Her Greek name was Hebe, Heracles's goddess-wife.
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anghraine · 2 years
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Darcy & Wickham backstory headcanon (1/?)
PART ONE, in which Mr Darcy (senior) meant well, but
I’ve always thought this quote from Elizabeth, about Wickham and Darcy, is really interesting:
“There certainly was some great mismanagement in the education of those two young men. One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it.”
Jane argues that this isn’t wholly accurate or just. Darcy did not ever seem devoid of goodness to her. But because the dialogue moves on without narrative comment, it’s not clear whether we should interpret this as Jane being Jane, or as a suggestion that Elizabeth has never really been fair to Darcy (which is how she takes it), or as something else.
The point about education is intriguing, though, given that this is a novel deeply concerned with the education of young people and parental failures, and that Darcy does end up attributing his flaws to his parents’ influences, but with very careful phrasing to avoid really blaming them for anything in particular, and no mention of Wickham.
This is more in the realm of headcanon than canon, but I think an interesting possibility is that ... Elizabeth is right. Maybe there was some pretty substantial mismanagement with both the younger Darcy and Wickham.
There’s no indication that Lady Anne, less amiable though she may have been, ever had much to do with Wickham. He mentions her name, but only to connect Lady Catherine to Darcy. The person who impacted both Darcy and Wickham was the late Mr Darcy, Wickham’s (allegedly) beloved godfather and Darcy’s father.
Mr Darcy was apparently a great guy: principled, upstanding, lovable, generous, kind, everything amiable. Nobody has a word to say against him apart from Darcy’s generalizations about “my parents” and their collective mistakes, and even then he stops to stress how great his father specifically was.
And yet, something went wrong.
It’s one thing with Darcy, who turned out basically okay even before his character growth. He was the heir, he was spoiled, there might be an implication that his parents taught him basic principles but kind of left him to do his own thing, insofar as that was possible. None of this is shocking for that kind of family and it doesn’t have to reflect that badly on any of them.
But there’s also Wickham, who did not turn out okay, and we don’t actually know why. According to him, he was raised at Pemberley in the mansion. He and Darcy were “objects of the same parental care” and they spent their boyhoods together. He even claims that he was often given preference over Darcy. Now, this is all coming from Wickham, who is a very dubious source, so it’s worth looking at what the other people involved have to say.
It turns out that Wickham was, indeed, raised by Mr Darcy at Pemberley (Mrs Reynolds says so). Mr Darcy had a miniature of Wickham painted, and treasured it with pictures of his own children so much that, five years after his death, Darcy still hasn’t had the heart to get rid of it despite everything Wickham has done. Darcy describes Wickham as the companion of his youth and “the acknowledged favourite of my father.” This doesn’t incontrovertibly back up Wickham’s account because “favourite” had multiple meanings and didn’t necessarily refer to parental favoritism, though it could and frequently does in P&P. At any rate, it’s not a contradiction.
That’s why this is ultimately a headcanon matter. There’s really no way to know if Wickham is lying about Mr Darcy’s favoritism because his story mixes truth, lies, and a bunch of deceptive omissions. He doesn’t tell many outright falsehoods in his story, but there are a couple, and Darcy is not clear on this point, so it’s basically up to the reader to decide which alternative they want to go with.
As for my own headcanon? I think Wickham actually is telling the truth about this, to a point.
Okay, I realize that my relentless Darcy stanning could make my judgment somewhat suspect. I do have reasons other than woobifying Darcy, though—I think that Wickham genuinely being the favorite actually fits really well into the overall backstory and explains quite a few things about them both.
So, jumping fully into headcanon land: let’s go back to 28 years before P&P. Mr Darcy and Lady Anne have been married for an unknown period of time. Her sister, Lady Catherine, is married to Sir Lewis de Bourgh, while Mr Darcy’s steward, Mr Wickham, is married to the extravagant Mrs Wickham. All three women are pregnant.
I speculated in a recent post that Lady Anne and Lady Catherine may have shared some kind of genetic issue that led to difficulties bringing pregnancies to term. We don’t know this, but we do know that Darcy was an only child for a long time (potentially the entire 12 years between him and Georgiana) and that Lady Catherine’s daughter is truly an only child. To go by the plot to unify Rosings and Pemberley through Darcy and Anne’s marriage—planned when both were infants—it doesn’t seem that the Fitzwilliam sisters expected Lady Catherine to ever have another child.
My headcanon is that both sisters had suffered multiple miscarriages by the time that Darcy and Anne were conceived, that few people around them expected these pregnancies to turn out any better, and the fact that they were able to carry both pregnancies to term, that they did so at around the same time, and that the children turned out to be a girl and a boy, looked a lot like Providence to them.
I don’t imagine either thought very much about the Wickhams’ baby at the time. But it was different for Mr Darcy.
Darcy says in his letter that he is nearly the same age as Wickham, which technically doesn’t have to mean Wickham is older, but IMO suggests it. There’s leeway here, but I imagine that Wickham is about six months older than Darcy. When he’s born, Lady Anne is already pregnant with Darcy, but neither Mr Darcy nor anybody else yet realizes she’s not going to miscarry this time.
So the birth of the Wickhams’ son is somewhat bittersweet—Mr Darcy is a genuinely kind-hearted man with considerable affection for his steward, so he’s happy for them, but doesn’t know if he himself will ever have any children. And he understands that a child will strain the Wickhams’ finances and that Mr Wickham certainly won’t be able to provide much in the way of formal education or career opportunities for this child. Mr Darcy is touched at the request to stand as godfather and eager to do whatever he can for the baby. Mr Darcy does have a lot of other things going on, but baby Wickham is extremely adorable and he wants to do more.
We don’t know when he took on responsibility for Wickham’s upbringing and it doesn’t seem like he tried to sever Wickham from his birth parents, since the Wickhams already lived at or near Pemberley. Nevertheless, Mr Darcy takes on a very big role even for a godfather, and it’s possible that he offered to raise Wickham and had significantly bonded with him before Darcy was even born.
All the while, Lady Anne’s pregnancy is progressing—perhaps with difficulties, but obviously, she makes it through and delivers a son. Mr Darcy is undoubtedly thrilled, he goes along with naming the baby after her family (I think Darcy owes his first name to Fitzwilliam pride, not Darcy tradition), and while Mr Darcy is not directly involved in the Darcy/Anne engagement plot, he’s okay with it (Wickham is actually the first to mention it in P&P, so it seems to have genuinely been accepted or at least under discussion at Pemberley). The arrival of their son is more complicated than it would otherwise have been because of baby Wickham, but obviously, Mr Darcy is capable of loving two different children and he does.
As the babies grow into young boys, though, things become even more complicated. Wickham is open, outgoing, and lively. I suspect he somewhat mimics Mr Darcy’s manners—not out of childish malevolent intent, but because that’s who his role model is as a child, and it comes to him easily. In any case, I think it’s possible that this is the sort of person that Mr Darcy prefers in general, given that at the end of his life, he ends up selecting Lady Anne’s 25-year-old younger nephew (who has a similar temperament if more intelligence and morals) to act as the executor of his will and co-guardian of his 11-year-old daughter.
But their own son is ... different.
If you’ve followed me for much time or run across many of my Darcy-centric posts, you probably already know that I am adamantly opposed to the idea that reducing all of Darcy’s social issues to his arrogance is the best reading of him, much less the only correct one. Additionally, my personal headcanon is that he isn’t shy but is neurodivergent—specifically, that he’s on the autism spectrum. This interacts with his later arrogance but does not contradict or diminish it. So that’s part of this headcanon, too.
We don’t know a whole lot about very young Darcy, but we do know that he’s four when Mrs Reynolds comes to Pemberley, and that she notices he never speaks crossly to her, even then. She seems to consider this pretty amazing in a child of that age. There seems an unspoken contrast going on there—perhaps just with other children in general, but possibly, circumstances offered a very obvious contrast in Wickham.
I’m not suggesting that four- or five-year-old Wickham was already monstrous, because that’s not the case. But given that Mrs Reynolds believes that children’s natures give a decent idea of what they’ll become as adults, and that she also believes Wickham is “wild,” I suspect that young Wickham and young Darcy struck her as very different personalities from the first, and that she preferred Darcy’s.
For Mrs Reynolds, Darcy never expressing irritation towards her, even as a tiny child, is a sign of his virtue and good nature. And certainly, that’s part of it. But it may not be the only part.
Adaptations tend to make Darcy into a visibly brooding and somber sort of person, but Elizabeth never really sees him that way. Her characterization of his usual demeanor in the first half of the book is “sedate.” Charlotte actively looks for signs of his interest in Elizabeth when they’re in Kent (interest which we know he feels), but can’t tell from his expression if he’s interested or just absent-minded. He admits that he has trouble looking interested in people he’s unfamiliar with and in catching their tone of conversation.
Even when he’s actively working to be as agreeable as is humanly possible for him at that point, with the Gardiners, there’s something about his air that strikes them as formal and lacking liveliness (though it’s not a big deal for them). He tries to compliment Mrs Bennet late in the book, and even to Elizabeth, his manner comes across as cold. Nobody guesses that something went on during his and Elizabeth’s multi-mile engagement walk, because Elizabeth’s feelings are complicated before talking to her parents and because Darcy is so inexpressive in company. Later, Elizabeth ends up shielding and guiding him through the social occasions around their engagement.
So, my headcanon is that part of the reason four-year-old Darcy doesn’t ever speak crossly to Mrs Reynolds is that he’s a sweetheart, yes, but part of it is that he has trouble translating what he feels into tone and expression anyway. Consequently, we’ve got Wickham, who is energetic and open and dramatic and charming, and then there’s Darcy, who is demonstrative through action more than demeanor.
He’s quiet, quick at his lessons, and if you’re in a position to notice, sweet and generous in a way that Wickham apparently never has been—but there’s something peculiarly stiff about Darcy’s mannerisms and how he talks (when he talks at all), even by the standards of the time. He’s off-putting to many of these eighteenth-century people around him. Towards his parents, his manner seems respectful but not all that affectionate, especially by contrast to Wickham (though in fact, Darcy idolizes his father, and loves his mother and extended family).
I think Darcy’s father may well have simply found young Wickham more endearing, more conventionally boyish, and easier to bond with. He wasn’t unkind to Darcy by any means, but he did have a stronger rapport with Wickham and this would only become more marked as they grew older and their personalities became more pronounced.
But I also headcanon that Mr Darcy felt pretty guilty about preferring Wickham to his own child—his only son and heir, no less, and at the time, his only biological child. He felt even guiltier because his preference didn’t really have anything to do with some clear misbehavior that could be addressed. And it’s not like he didn’t love him. So, far from being harsh as a father, his affection and guilt led him to over-correct his approach to his son. He indulged Darcy, and while he took care to teach him the things he considered important for Darcy to learn and carry on as his heir, he otherwise mostly gave him his way and left him to do whatever he wanted.
At the same time, he didn’t want to penalize Wickham for being more likable, so he also was indulgent towards him, and on top of that, didn’t take as many pains to impart his principles because a) Wickham seemed to have them naturally and b) Wickham wasn’t the heir.
I think B ended up being really important for the development of both of these boys in such radically different directions. Mr Darcy essentially treated Wickham like another son, but at the end of the day, Wickham was not his son. No matter how engaging, how personable, how endearing, how beloved Wickham might be, he was never going to be the heir. He’s the oldest, he’s the favorite, he’s the most likable, but Darcy is still going to get everything.
It’s not like Mr Darcy was planning on just treating his godson like another son and then leaving him out to dry. Wickham essentially gets the younger son treatment—a good education to prepare him for a career in the church that will socially make him a gentleman. I don’t think Wickham was seething with resentment over this at, you know, eight or nine years old, but it was old enough for him to understand that their expectations were very different, and all the favoritism in the world was not going to change that.
I think it’s additionally possible that Wickham’s very virtuous father, who was also in the picture in some capacity, was deeply grateful, and expected young Wickham to also be grateful. But for Wickham, the obvious point of comparison in terms of his expectations was not the children of other servants, it was Darcy.
Wickham claims in P&P that Darcy was jealous of his father’s preference for Wickham from early in life, despite their boyhood friendship. Darcy, on the other hand, says that it would have been a depravity to do nothing for Wickham because he was the favourite of Darcy’s father and had been brought up as a gentleman but was completely dependent on the Darcys. Even though Darcy thinks quite poorly of Wickham’s character by age 23, he feels obligated to do something for him and hopes, even if he can’t quite believe it, that it’ll turn out okay.
I don’t think Darcy’s reasoning here sounds at all like someone given to jealousy, honestly. I’ve seen it occasionally suggested that he is jealous of Wickham, actually, or that in some more nuanced earlier draft of P&P that he was jealous and Wickham was less awful and blahblah, but I don’t think so. I think this is where the deception on this issue lies. Wickham was indeed the favorite, but Darcy wasn’t that jealous of him. He was jealous of Darcy.
It wouldn’t be horrible if Darcy had been jealous, to be clear. It would be a very understandable emotion for a child in this situation to feel. Nevertheless, he doesn’t really seem to have been.
I think part of this is that he’s not a particularly jealous person by temperament (fandom sometimes assumes he is, but I disagree). Part is that he tends to process things in his own very particular way that doesn’t always follow the paths you would expect. But part, I think, is that while he was somewhat hurt by the situation, what jealousy he might have felt was headed off very early.
There was another important figure in all this, after all: Lady Anne.
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finelinevogue · 3 years
Note
Can you write something about when Harry and Y/N broke up but fans speculate that they got back together and they did get back together. They broke over something stupid, please. You don’t have to do this exactly it can be something like that.
let’s see how this turns out! hope it’s what you wished for?!
The last few months had been rough.
What had started as rumours of a breakup between everyones favourite couple, you and Harry, had turned into an actual breakup.
It had started by Harry spending more time with Olivia, due to press for Don’t Worry Darling. They were always hanging out with each other, even when there was no publicity stunt telling them to. You found it appropriate at first, wanting the movie to gain some form of reputation, but after a while you believed it turned South. It was becoming a definite friendship and not just because they had to. It was the way that Harry would bring Olivia over for dinner without checking with you first, or taking the dog for a walk with her not you, or even staying longer out on stunts than they needed to just because they wanted to.
So you challenged Harry on it. Hell, even the tabloids were challenging you both - claiming Harry had split from you for Olivia. You made him question whether he thought his actions were irresponsible and appropriate or not, to which he thought there was nothing wrong and thought you were being irrational. You didn’t speak to him for the rest of the day, only to find him later on the phone speaking to Olivia about how crazy you’d been acting about it all. So you showed him crazy and walked out.
Until today.
For over a half a year your sister had her wedding planned and Harry was supposed to be your guest. You were nervous about turning up without him, because your family were very judgy. Your sister couldnt help being the smarter and the prettier one, but she also didn’t have to parade it around so everyone knew of it. Your mum and dad thought you a disappointment for the longest time, but once you’d gotten a job and had moved out they were a bit more loving over you. Still didn’t hide the fact they desperately hoped for you to have a relationship. It wasn’t that you were bringing Harry along to prove that someone loved you, but more to prove that they would never fully be satisfied whether you had a boyfriend or not. There would always be a podium stand slightly lower for you to stand on.
However, they didn’t know about the breakup.
“Y/N, nice to see you. Where’s Harry?” Another guest asked you, relatives of your mum. It was the same question over and over again, no one really caring about how you are but instead whether you’re in a positive relationship.
“Oh um I think he’s just running a bit late.” Was your chosen answer to respond to said question. It was repetitive, but it kept people off your back.
The wedding was completely beautiful. It was in a beautiful church and was decorated to perfection. The theme was white and royal blue, something your sister had always dreamed of. Children played amongst the pews and family relatives mumbled to each other about gossip. There was still a heavy sadness to the event. Maybe it was because your sister hadn’t asked you to be a bridesmaid - instead, choosing her best friends instead - or maybe it was because you missed Harry so much.
He’d fucked up. He really had, but it didn’t take away that burning passion for him that spread like a wildfire in your belly. You missed him. You still loved him. Worst of all, you had to pretend everything was all alright in front of your family when actually you were breaking apart inside.
Harry hadn’t messaged saying that he was or wasn’t coming, but after everything that had happened you were confident he was going to be a no show, and you would be the embarrassment of the family once again. Your relationship had been very private and exclusive, but Harry’s fans were so investigative you wouldn’t be surprised if they knew that you’d broken up and were aware that you were at a wedding today without him. Neither of you had made a public statement about your breakup, but neither of your wanted to damage each other even more. Fans suspected though and rumours travel fast.
“Y/N how are you doing? How’s Harry?” Another aunt came and asked you, this time with your mother in tow.
“Oh he’s great, yes.” You smiled forcefully, not actually having a clue how your ex-boyfriend was doing. You didn’t keep up with his social media because you were afraid of what you might find.
“Where is he? Is he here?” Your aunt asked.
“He’s late, apparently.” Your mother answered for you, sneeringly. “You’ll be made a fool of if he’s a no show Y/N.”
“I know.”
“I hope everything goes well for you both.” Your aunt kindly said, before waiting for your mum to say something nice too. That was a mistake though.
“Well it’s unlikely she’ll find someone again!” Your mother laughed and pulled your aunt away from you. You furrowed your eyebrows and let your heart sink low.
What were you thinking, letting Harry go like that? Your mum was right, you were never going to find anyone else again. You were so lucky with Harry. He was so kind and so patient with you, but obviously he’d run out of steam towards the end. It doesn’t surprise you. You’ve always been told you’re a mighty handful and you need a lot of work put into looking after you, so you understand why you were probably too much for Harry. The showbiz life had never really been something you’d completely submerged yourself into, whereas you guess for Olivia it was rooted in her from birth. She understood Harry’s world the same way he did hers. They would match perfectly for each other, if that’s what they wanted.
You watched the room continue as usual, but you couldn’t keep yourself here. There was too much sadness welling deep within you that you wanted to just run and then keep running. So you did, only to get as far as the bench in the front courtyard. The outside felt calmer and more freeing than inside, you sat and absorbed it for a while, not realising that you were crying until your pretty multicoloured dress had grown darker with a pool of your tears.
“Shit.” You tried rubbing the tears out, but only made you cry a little harder. You thought about your makeup running and tried to compose yourself, fanning your face to calm it down from the heat now.
“And here I was thinking weddings were supposed to be happy.”
You stopped fanning your face to look at him. You couldn’t believe he was standing there, dressed in a beautiful white suit and salmon pink shirt underneath to compliment the colours of your dress - the outfit that you’d helped him pick out over a year ago. He’d remembered. He trusted that you’d still be wearing this dress. He was a sight alright. A vision of beauty and love.
“Harry?” You questioned, wiping your under eyes to clear away any running mascara, not quite believing he was standing there.
“So what was it? Bad music playing? No vodka? Or maybe there’s nowhere for you to escape to go read the book I know you have stuffed away in your clutch bag.” He stood at a distance from you, hands in his trouser pockets, to make sure you were comfortable.
“I brought vodka instead of the book.” You chuckled, reaching into your clutch to prove it to him.
“Lucky for you, i’ve come to save the day.” Harry reached to the inside of his blazer pocket and pulled out a Kindle. You’d always been debating whether or not to buy one, because the feeling of having a book to turn its’ physical pages is a feeling second to none. “Take it, it’s yours.”
Harry handed it out to you and you stood up to reach for it hesitantly. Harry assured you that it was okay and that you’d been reading too many books if you thought it was a trap of some sort.
“Thank you, Harry.” You spoke sincerely. You stroked your thumb over the cover and turned the case lid over to start up the screen. The screen lit up and it was set to a picture of your favourite quote, annotated just as you would have in your own book. You chuckled and let a few tears drop from the kindness of all of this.
“And then…” Harry unlocked the Kindle with your birthday as the password, before clicking on the library so you could discover what was waiting for you on your virtual shelves. Harry had downloaded all your most favourite books, whilst also downloading the ones he knew had been on your to-be-read list. He’d even added a few of his favourite books too, just because you liked reading his recommendations.
You smiled, but felt so lost.
“W-why are you here, H?” You asked, closing the lid and bravely looking up into his enchanting eyes. You had to control yourself not to comment on how wondrous they looked.
“To save the day.” He chuckled in repeat, until he knew you weren’t taking that for an answer. “Because I fucked up. Big league time.”
“Yeah.” You whispered, looking down at your shoes to see that they weren’t that far apart at all. He was so close to you, yet he wasn’t yours to catch.
“And i’ll never forgive myself for letting you walk out of that door. The promotion shit with Olivia? Done. I’ve finished. I explained that the movie isn’t as important to me as you. You,” Harry paused to breathe out, and took the risk of guiding your jaw up to meet your gaze with his soft hand, “you are real Y/N. You’re so important and key to my life and it bloody terrified me, still does actually, to think that you make me feel this way. I want everything with you. Marriage, kids, a home. A life. I was so worried I would screw it all up, though, to the point where I did screw it all up. I lost you and so I lost me. It’s selfish of me to ask whether any part of your heart still wants me, but—”
“Yes.” You quickly interjected before he could say something he’d later regret. “There is, yes.”
“R-really?” He stumbled over his response, not expecting you to react so soon but his words had got to you. His feelings were vulnerable and raw and it reminded you of how much you love him and feel safe with him.
“Why? Would you like me to say different.” You teased.
“No,” Harry rushed, stepping closer towards you, “God now. Stay, please. Forever, if you’ll have me?”
“I can deal with forever.” You leaned up to where his lips were, craving the taste of them against yours so badly. “Can I?” You looked between his lips and his eyes, watching his eyes coo in admiration of you. His arms snaked around your neck and cupped the back of your head, resting his ringed fingers against your skin delicately.
“You don’t have to ask, angel.” And with that you didn’t hesitate to reclaim your clips on his. He tasted as sweet and as soft as you could remember. The hint of mint sweets he kept in his car could be tasted all over his mouth, and he could no doubt taste the vodka on yours. He took no time in rushing to have his tongue exploring your mouth once mouth, biting on your lip when he got the chance to. He wanted you to remember this moment and how much love he has for you, and always will. Just as you do for him.
Hesitantly pulling away you smiled at him cheekily, feeling so much lighter and happier to have him here. With you in his arms so expertly.
“What?” He asked, leaving a quick kiss to your nose, inhaling his scent as he did.
“Just can’t believe you’re here.” You stroked his cheek with your thumb, and he leaned into your touch so comfortably. He had missed you so damn much, and it showed.
“Let you down once before and I wasn’t going to do it again.”
“So you’d have shown up even if I hadn’t?”
“Not happily, but yes.” He laughed thinking about it.
“Why?” You laughed with him.
“I’ve got to make my impression on your family somehow. Need to remind some of them how amazing and beautiful their special Y/N L/N is.”
“Some are going to need a lot more persuading than others.” You sighed, side-frowning over your words.
“No offence, but anyone who doesn’t treat you as a fucking diamond doesn’t deserve you and should watch out for kick up their backside from me.” You laughed over his empty threat and buried your head against his chest, listening to the heartbeat and rumble of laughter that came from within. This moment alone felt like home. Safe and warm.
“I love you, H.”
“Bloody love you too.”
Harry ended up returning to the wedding with you, much to your mothers surprise, and you both enjoyed the celebrations together. You shut yourselves out from everybody and just danced, talked and drank the night away.
You were so in love.
Later, photos got leaked of the wedding and it showed you and Harry dancing away in one of the backgrounds of the photos. It was supposed to be a shot of just the bride and groom, but you two have managed to get caught in it. You looked so caught up in each other that you still weren’t even aware the photo had been taken. You and Harry had determinedly avoided the camera all night, exactly for this reason, but a part of you was kind of happy that this one photo got leaked, because it showed the world that Harry was yours and you were his. It showed that you were together, or back-together as addressed by some FBI fans, and that you were stronger for it.
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doctorstethoscope · 3 years
Text
The Right Chapter 21 || Aaron Hotchner x Fem Reader
Helloooooo my friends!!! You are going to love this one. I am so excited to hear what you think about it. Hold on to the fluff my loves. 
Read previous chapters of this fic here! 
warnings: food mention, alcohol consumption, discussion of pregnancy (not reader), mild sexual content
wordcount: 1.9k
“Okay, be honest. How many nights have you actually spent here since you moved in?” Emily asked, perched on the couch in your apartment, a glass of wine in her hand, a few empty bottles scattered between you, her, JJ and Garcia throughout your living room.
“That’s not fair! We spend way more nights out on cases than I do at Aaron’s place,” you laughed from across the living room in a lounge chair. 
“You know that’s not what she meant, peach.” Garcia chastises you, and JJ lets out a snort. 
“It doesn’t matter. Her non-answer is answer enough,” she points out, and you all laugh together.
“It’s a good thing,” Garcia reminds you. 
“Oh, absolutely,” Emily concurs. “We’re all glad you finally figured it out. I didn’t know how much longer I was going to be able to stand you making googly-eyes at him during active hostage situations.” 
“I did not!” You defended yourself with a smile, hiding your grin behind your fourth-- or was it your fifth?--- glass of wine. 
“You weren’t that bad. That’s not to say you were good at hiding it, because you weren’t,” JJ assures you. “But you held it together in the field.” 
“See, guys? And JJ’s sober.” You reminded the group.
“Are you sure you don’t want a glass?” Garcia offered her. 
“No, I’m alright,” JJ denied. “Actually, I offered to drive because…. Will and I are expecting!” She announces, and your faces all light up in unison. 
“Jayje!” Emily squeals, practically diving across the couch to wrap her friend in a hug. Penelope is right behind her, and you all take a moment to fuss over her and feel her non-existent bump before settling back into your own seats. 
“Oh, that means you and Hotch are next!” Garcia asserts drunkenly, and you tense, although you doubt any of the ladies noticed. 
“You think you’d want that? Kids, I mean?” Emily asks you, reclining back in her chair. 
“I don’t really know what Aaron wants,” you shrug the question off, averting your gaze to your wine glass. 
“That’s not what we asked,” JJ redirects you, apparently unwilling to accept a non-answer this time around. “What do you want?”
“With Aaron? More kids, definitely more.” You confess. “But Aaron’s older than I am. I don’t know if he feels like he’s done with that part of his life, you know?” 
“There’s no way. He loves Jack more than anything.” Emily concludes. “He seems like the type of guy who’d love to keep you barefoot and pregnant, even if it’s only because he’d get to pull you out of the field and keep you safe at home.” 
You let out a real laugh at Emily’s assertion. “Well, if he ever asks me about it, I’ll be sure to include that in my supporting arguments.” 
“Trust me-- they never feel done with being a dad. How do you think Will and I ended up with baby number two?” JJ reminds you with a wink. 
“Oh, you guys would just have the cutest babies. That dark Hotchner hair and your pretty eyes!” Garcia gushes, her lower lip starting to quiver. 
“Okay, and that’s my cue to get her home,” JJ chuckles, rising from her place on the couch. “Drink some water before you go to bed, okay? And maybe eat something, and take some advil?” 
“Okay, mom,” you rolled your eyes, standing up and giving your friends hugs goodbye as you said goodnight. 
“Hey, someday you’ll understand,” JJ tells you. “It will be sooner than you think, I’d bet.” She winks, and you roll your eyes at her again, smiling as you walked the three of them to the door.
----------------
“We’re going on a date tonight,” Aaron tells you as the two of you leave the office a few nights later. “Jess agreed to take Jack.”
Your brow furrowed in confusion. “Am I forgetting something?” 
“Only that I love you, and as your boyfriend I reserve the right to take you out whenever I please,” He smirks, placing a hand on your back as he opens the door and helps you into the car. 
You roll your eyes, but you’re not quick enough to come up with some smart-ass comment, so you let him have the win as he drives you both home.
“Should I wear something specific?” You ask as the two of you walk into the house together.
“We’re gonna walk downtown a little, so something comfortable,” he advises. “Do you need to do anything other than change, or are you basically ready to go?” 
“I could use ten minutes to freshen up,” you tell him, and he nods with a smile. 
“Take your time, we’re not in any rush,” he says, kissing your temple and moving into the bedroom to change into something more comfortable as you step into the bathroom, adjusting your hair and makeup just a tad. When you come back into the bedroom, Aaron’s switched into jeans, so you do the same. You go to fish your wallet out of your work bag, and Aaron slaps at your wrist lightly. 
“Stop it. You don’t need that,” he tells you, and you roll your eyes with a playful smile. 
“You’re a neanderthal,” You tease him, letting him guide you out of the house and back towards the car. 
“No, I was raised right,” Aaron corrects you. 
“What if I want a drink and I get carded?” You smirked as you buckled your seatbelt. You were younger than Aaron, yes, but not by that much. 
“If you get denied because you don’t have an ID on you, I’ll stop at the gas station on our way home and buy you a six pack of bud light.” He assures you as he backs out of the parking lot.
“So romantic,” you cooed overdramatically, tossing your head back with a laugh. Aaron takes advantage of the opportunity to lean over the console and press a quick kiss to your jawline.
A few moments later, Aaron parks the car in front of a greasy spoon downtown that you’d never been to before, and you give him an inquisitive look. It’s not that you minded at all-- any time you spent with Aaron was perfect in every way. But his dates were usually a lot higher-key. 
“I’ve got to keep you on your toes,” he shrugged with a boyish grin as he took your hand in his on the sidewalk and walked you into the restaurant. He let go reluctantly as the two of you slid into opposite sides of a booth. 
“So, it’s safe to assume that there’s more to tonight’s date than burgers and milkshakes?” You ask Aaron after the two of you have placed your orders. 
“Oh, absolutely,” Aaron nods, smiling smugly. 
“And are you going to tell me what that might be?” You asked hopefully. 
“Absolutely not,” Aaron confirmed what you had already suspected.
“Not even a hint?” You asked. 
“You’ll find out in due time. Be patient, princess,” he encourages you. 
“I’m willing to beg,” you informed him. You were sure that whatever he had planned would be romantic and wonderful, but god did you want to know. 
“Darling, I’d really prefer if you saved that for our bedroom,” Aaron deadpanned, and you choked on your water. 
“Agent Hotchner!” You chastised, catching your breath. 
“Come on, now you’re just teasing me,” he winked, and you felt butterflies in your stomach. 
“Well, is it working?” You asked, wondering if you could flirt your way into some intel. 
“Not a chance,” he admonished you playfully as the waitress sat your meals down in front of you. 
After dinner, Aaron took your hand back in his and led you out of the restaurant. You started to head off towards the car, but he stopped you. 
“You did want to see what else I had planned, didn’t you?” He asks, facetiously. 
“Yes please,” you smiled shyly. 
“Take a walk with me,” Aaron says, tugging you back into him so he can wrap his arm around you.  It takes a couple of paces for him to find his metaphorical footing, but after a moment, he speaks up again. “I haven’t been clear with you about what my intentions are, and I wanted to apologize for that.”
“Aaron, you don’t have to--” you start, but he cuts you off. 
“Let me, first, please?” Aaron asks of you, looking you in the eyes, and you nod, giving him permission to continue. “I haven’t explained to you exactly how I feel, and because I didn’t do that, you’re having to worry about silly things, like whether or not you have the same amount of experience I do, or whether or not I’m going to run off with Jack’s teacher or one of his friends moms.” 
“Well, I’m less worried about Rhonda now that I’ve met her wife. But Ms. Meadows is still on my watch list.” You tell him, and he chuckles, taking your hand in his and kissing the back of it as he takes you down a side street. 
“Darling, you’ve got nothing to worry about. That’s what I needed to tell you. I’m all in, sweetheart. You, me, Jack, and anyone else we might add to our family-- that’s all I want. That’s my priority.” He tells you, and your breath catches. “So, I got you a little something, just to show you how serious I am,” He says, leading you into a jewelry store. You stop in the doorway. 
“Aaron Hotchner, please tell me you’re not proposing at the jewelers.” You whisper out, not wanting to cause a scene. You would have said yes, regardless, but you were struck by a little bit of shock. 
He chuckles and shakes his head. “No, dear. Come on in, and I’ll show you,” He takes your hand again, and you step into the jewelry store with trepidation. The man behind the counter seems to recognize Aaron, as he produces a bag from the back counter once they make eye contact. Aaron passes the bag to you, and you push through the pink tissue paper to uncover a box, in which you find a single diamond solitaire pendant.
“Aaron,” you start breathlessly, but he’s already taking the necklace out of your hands and maneuvering the clasp around your neck. 
“This is just a placeholder, until you’re ready for the real thing,” Aaron whispers, pressing a kiss behind your ear once the necklace is secure. “But since we’re here, would you want to try a few on? So I know what you like? You’re not allowed to take the real one off, once it’s on. So I want you to be happy with it.” 
You’re sure that you’re dreaming your way through the rest of the evening. You try on what feels like every ring in the store, including the ones you insist are too expensive, but Aaron refuses to listen. You’re practically floating on air during the walk back to the car, and you let out a sigh as you settle into the passenger seat. 
“I know I said you weren’t allowed to take the ring off, and I meant it,” Aaron tells you. “But if you’re not ready to start thinking that way, I understand. This is at your pace. You just let me know, and I’ll pump the breaks.” 
You practically launch yourself across the center console, taking his face in your hands and kissing him. “Does this thing go any faster, actually?” You ask, and he laughs as he kisses you again.
tagging:  @romanogersendgame @wanniiieeee      @zheezs14      @greeneyedblondie44 @angelic-kisses13  @baumarvel @ssamorganhotchner  @ijustwannaread2k19    @rexit-mo @shmaptainhotchnersmain @qtip-blog @averyhotchner  @the-modernmary @itsmytimetoodream @choppa-style @hotforhotchner11 @infinite-tides @isthatme-thatsme @g-l-pierce @bakugouswh0r3 @ssahotchie @sleepyreaderreads
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labarch · 3 years
Text
Attempt at a Witch Hat Atelier timeline
We are still missing a lot of backstory for our main cast, but I thought I’d try and write a timeline based on what we know so far, and explore where their storylines might intersect.
I am pulling these numbers out of my hat for convenience sake, but here are some approximate ages for the characters: at the start of the manga, let’s say Coco, Tetia and Agott are all 12, Riche is 11, and Qifrey and Olruggio are 28.
20-23 years ago: Olruggio leaves his birth town Godley and moves to the Great Hall, maybe as young as 5 years old.
While many witches are born in the Great Hall, Olruggio comes from a town called Godley in the North. Yet he doesn’t remember Utowin, who came from the same place. We know that young witches usually start their training between the age of 7 and 10, but since witch society is awfully elitist, Olruggio would have been sent there as soon as his talent for magic became apparent.
Being ripped from his home at an extremely young age could explain his fear of being unwanted and left behind: he overworks himself as a way to feel useful and validated, is defensive about his own feelings, and he gets agitated and sometimes aggressive whenever Qifrey hides things from him.
20 years ago: arrival of Qifrey at the Great Hall at age 8. Olruggio befriends him soon afterwards. The both of them start sneaking out at night to chase Brimhats.
8 year old Qifrey was one fierce little thing, you have to give him that. His abuse at the hands of the Brimhats was brutal enough to break a grown man, but he picks himself up and goes right after them like “Alright jerks, you’ve got some explaining to do and I want my eyeball back!”.
Also it cracks me up that Olruggio was carrying this massive book in their flashback. Gotta love that his reaction to Qifrey’s “Let’s go chase some terrorists!” was “Sure, let me just pack my homework =>”.
Finally, there might be a slightly more selfish motivation for Olruggio’s fast friendship and devotion to Qifrey. Olruggio’s self-esteem lies in his ability to help people, so he would naturally be drawn to someone helpless. It’s unclear how much of Qifrey’s memory was missing: apparently he didn’t know about birthdays. How many other basic concepts was he missing? Did he know how to read? Between that, his lack of knowledge about magic and his injury, he was probably completely dependent on Olruggio at the beginning. Given Olruggio’s wish that they go back to “the good old times” when they were always together, I am wondering whether some hidden part of him misses being essential to someone. It’s well-intentioned, but not entirely healthy, especially if he is using Qifrey as a coping mechanism for his own insecurities.
14 years ago: Olruggio and Qifrey make a pledge of (betrothal) friendship, exchange tassels and attempt the Librarian test at age 14. It is their last adventure together, but Qifrey will continue his investigations on his own, to Olruggio’s disappointment and betrayal. Qifrey starts wearing his half-tinted glasses.
In the pledge flashback, they are wearing their old tassels, but they have swapped them by the time they undertake the third test. Also, when he remembers that pledge, Olruggio says that Qifrey’s investigation “should have ended at the Tower of Books”. The tower is the last likely place where Qifrey could have found answers about his past and a non-forbidden way of getting his eye back. Olruggio probably made him promise that he would stop his search afterwards.
Beldaruit says that he thought Qifrey had given up on his search after the third test, but Olruggio tells a slightly different story. Apparently he thought Qifrey “finally stopped causing trouble” after taking in apprentices, which means he was still behaving suspiciously right up until he became a teacher. Alaira also comments on Qifrey’s interest in the Brimhats in the first volume, so clearly his investigations were common knowledge among his friends, even as an adult.
Olruggio’s anger whenever the Brimhats are mentioned would then be caused not just by his own fear of forbidden magic, but by the reminder that Qifrey broke his promise to him, and refused to leave his past behind. Naturally, Olruggio doesn’t know about Qifrey’s change in circumstances: he is no longer looking to retrieve what he lost, but trying to stop an impending threat.
Qifrey’s discoveries in the Tower of Books also seem to have renewed his disgust towards his own scar: he starts wearing glasses shortly afterwards, even though his eyesight hasn’t yet started deteriorating.
14-5 years ago: in that interval, Coco’s father dies of illness. Olruggio becomes more and more famous for his magical items, and is given the title “Shining Torch” / “Master of Lights”. His glowstone paths become widely popular, and are installed around the castle near Coco’s mom. Both Qifrey and Olruggio pass the fourth test and complete their training.
At this stage, I really doubt that Qifrey intended to become a teacher. Whatever information he found at the Tower of Books convinced him he had to stop the Brimhats’ plan. He was probably planning to complete his training and then go straight on to his quest, not really expecting to return alive.
There are also hints that this was a strained period for Qifrey and Olruggio: Olruggio mentions that he would like them to confide in each other “just like old times”, which implies that they grew more distant after the Librarian test. I’m suspecting that Qifrey was trying to slowly remove himself from Olruggio’s life, hoping Olruggio would be so famous and beloved by the time they graduated that he would forget about Qifrey and barely notice his disappearance. Qifrey’s self-esteem isn’t the best y’all.
5 years ago: Coco receives the magic picture book from Iguin at age 7 at the Silver Night Festival. The Brimhats stop showing signs of activity. Qifrey takes on his first apprentice (probably Tetia, age 7). He interrupts his investigation of the Brimhats and creates the atelier. Olruggio becomes his Watchful Eye.
We don’t know exactly how old Coco was when she got her book, but her tiny chubby face makes me think she was 6-7. Alaira also tells us in the first volume that the incident with Coco’s mother is the first sign of Brimhat activity in five years. I am thinking that after Iguin gave away the book, he instructed the other Brimhats to keep a low profile until his scheme could hatch.
I also wonder whether Coco getting her book might coincide with Qifrey becoming a teacher and creating his atelier. Given that Qifrey is probably tied to Iguin’s schemes, how coincidental is it that Qifrey wandered into Coco’s village and set her fate in motion? Perhaps Iguin contrived for them to live in the same area so that they would meet eventually. Either he somehow influenced Qifrey’s choice of location for his atelier, or he selected Coco as his “child of hope” because of her relative proximity as well as her love for magic.    
7 years old is when we could expect Tetia to have passed the first test. For now we know little about her backstory, but we can guess a few things: she is enthusiastic and ambitious, but gets easily side-tracked by pet projects and struggles to stick to the curriculum. She craves positive feedback and is worried her spells and interests will be condemned as frivolous. It makes me think that she passed her first test early, but was then mistreated by her first teachers for being too childish.
We’ve seen that Qifrey has a compulsive tendency to adopt children in distress. It would fit his character if he became a teacher on impulse. Maybe he had to pass the fifth test in a rush to be allowed to keep Tetia by his side. This also brought Olruggio back into his life, as he was the only one willing to follow him away from the atelier as Watchful Eye.
The complicity between Tetia and Qifrey, and Tetia taking on the role of a big sister for both Riche and Coco, also make me think she was Qifrey’s first apprentice. Tetia is often shown teasing Qifrey, quoting both Qifrey and Olruggio, and imitating Qifrey’s teaching style: I can totally see them as a little family of three at some point in the past.  
4 years ago: Riche starts training under her brother’s master, a creepy asshole, at age 7.
We actually have a clear timestamp for that one in chapter 25, woohoo! Riche’s old teacher can eat a brick.
3-2 years ago: Qifrey and Olruggio learn about Riche’s mistreatment in her old atelier and promptly adopt her. Beldaruit takes on Ririfin as an apprentice. Qifrey’s eyesight starts deteriorating. He adds the light protection glyph to his glasses.
Before that time, Qifrey might have intended to put his quest on hold until after Tetia’s graduation, but now his impending blindness puts him on a time limit. He can’t do a lot about it however, since the Brimhats have been keeping a low profile for years and are not leaving him any clue.
It’s unclear how long Riche stayed at her old atelier, and whether she joined Qifrey before or after Agott. I’m hoping she made it out as soon as possible.
2 years ago: Agott passes the first test at age 10. She gets accused of stealing someone else’s spell, is rejected from her prestigious family’s apprenticeship, and joins Qifrey’s atelier.
Agott has been treated harshly by her family for not being enough of a genius. She mentions passing the first test at 10, the upper end of the normal age range. She was probably given a hard time for starting her apprenticeship so “late”, which explains why she is now adamant about passing the other tests as quickly as possible.
I wonder whether she felt ambivalent about joining Qifrey’s atelier at first. On the one hand, Qifrey was taught by the Sage of Education himself and is clearly very powerful. On the other hand, he has only a couple students and lives in a weird little school in the middle of nowhere, a big fall from grace compared to her prestigious upbringing. I wonder whether Qifrey went to find her after he heard she was the object of nasty rumours (he knows a thing or two about those), and Agott didn’t feel like she had other options.
0 year ago: Coco and Qifrey meet. Iguin goes “F***ing finally, I thought I’d have to watch that humdrum one-eyed twink bake potatoes for another five years. It’s dragon-slaying time now baby!!!”  
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impulsivefanwriter · 3 years
Text
A Tiny Spark Leads to a Roaring Flame (But Flames Can Always be Doused by Water)
Heeyyyyy so y’all know the Reverse Thanos Snap AU for SPBNR? Basically everyone but Smith/S!Kai gets sent to the M!verse. Everyone. The entire population of S!verse Ninjago City & a few surrounding areas. Except poor Smith. Essentially it happens because S!Garmadon tries to send Smith to a place where he can't mess with his plans, and ends up sending everyone away from Smith to take him out of the equation. 
The second part to this AU is that the S!Ninja end up searching for Kai in the chaos and grab the Red Ninja before jetting out of there with the Bounty. Except... they didn’t grab Smith (who’s still home), but rather Red (M!Kai).
Red thinks the S!Ninja are babysitter clones created by Garmadon after he somehow turned Lloyd younger without his memories & is trying to raise him to be his new General #1. With this in mind, he pretends to be S!Kai, and waits for the moment he can rescue Lloyd.
What would happen in the S!Ninja discovered his deception/their mistake of grabbing a wrong Kai and mistake Red for a recreated Aki (aka Bizarro Evil Clone Kai) before he could enact his plan?
Well, this is that idea. (Title inspired by how a crack AU spiralled into a beautiful angst-fest)
Enjoy. :3
-----*-----
Red was going to get Lloyd out of here tonight. 
Away from these Not-Friends made by Garmadon to emulate the Ninjaforce. Away from this flying ship built to emulate Master Wu's ship, so familiar and yet so off. Away from this false reality and back to the real everything where they could hopefully get his memories back and his age back and everything back to the way it was before the city descended into chaos.
He just had to... bide his time. Be patient. 
FSM, he was bad at being patient. 
His hands itched to grab Lloyd and run now, but he was horribly outnumbered and without his mech. No matter how badly he wanted to, he couldn't rush this. If he did, he would make everything worse. Like he always did.
But fate- or rather, Lloyd- had other plans.
The little version of his younger brother- yes, they were roughly the same age normally, shut up, Lloyd was still his younger brother- had been... eying him weird all morning. Not like Not-Jay and Not-Cole and Not-Zane, but like Not-Nya. Like he actually knew instead of suspected. These babysitter clones seemed to think he was the Not-Kai, and if that was the opportunity the universe was going to give him, then by the flames of the departed world was he going to skip this chance to save Lloyd.
Currently he stood on the deck of the ship as they parked in the sky a few meters above the docks on the outskirts of the city. It wasn't the docks with the Bounty warehouse, curse his luck, but it wasn't the endless sky or the empty ocean (though it was still too close to that murky, haunting water for his liking. Water was his sister's domain for a reason). At least he could sneak Lloyd off in the cover of night, maybe find someone in the city who wouldn't recognize the Son of Garmadon this way and would be willing to help them hide until they could make it back to the real ninja.
"Kai," Not-Zane spoke suddenly next to him. 
Red would never get used to the way his voice... lacked the same effect the real Zane's had. The effect that Kai and the rest of his team had assured their friend over and over was unique, special, but in a good way. To embrace it. That it wasn't noticeable, but when it was, that it was so Zane that his friends didn't care that it was different. 
This 'Zane' sounded much too different than his own. He hadn't recognized Kai's tested line of 'road work ahead' when they passed one of the many construction signs littering the city (even more so since the chaos happened a week ago), and instead had responded with 'a great deal of work to fix in the city'. 
Seriously, Garmadon, do better research on your clones.
Not-Zane was also much too... calm. Too 'wise' compared to the wild teen that was Zane. And he walked without heelies or whatever Zane used to slide around like a boss, though he was still silent. And that meant, like now, he snuck up on Red fairly often- and Red was training to be a Ninja, so that took serious talent. 
"Kai," Not-Zane said again, and Red finally broke his gaze from where he'd been staring over the railing, planning tonight's escape route. "Lunch has been made for over an hour. Are you alright?"
Red forced his brightest smile. "Course I'm alright! Just trying to figure out what happened, as usual."
Why Lloyd was suddenly like, 8, and without his memories. Why the Not-Friends were on this Not-Ship and had mistaken him for Not-Kai. Why the city was in a state of disarray and chaos. 
Not-Zane studied him, then turned to give the city a sad look. "I'm not sure myself. My scanners can't seem to figure out what is happening. It is as if... blocked by some force."
Red winced, then expertly disguised the move by leaning against the rail. Zane never would use 'my scanners', despite how often Red and the others assured him it was okay. Yet another reason why this wasn't his friend.
"You know Ninjago City," Red said with a weak laugh. "Always one crisis or another. Always those annoying Garmadon Attacks"
This seemed to satisfy Not-Zane, who nodded thoughtfully. "This event definitely seems to have Garmadon's hand in the mess."
He patted Red on the back. "Well, don't worry yourself ragged, Kai. Come in for lunch soon, alright? We have training for Lloyd later."
Ah, right. Training. AKA what Red assumed was how Garmadon was planning to shape this impressionable version of his friend into his new General #1.  
"I'm ready for training now, Zane!"
Speaking of Lloyd- 
The little gremlin came up from the hull with the rest of the Not-Ninja. Red hated when the entire group was together; it was way more difficult to act as Not-Kai around them, especially around Not-Nya. 
For starters, Not-Jay had a notch in his eyebrow that the real Jay never had. He was missing the iconic freckles, and the scarf, and the fluffy hair, though you could always say it was just a wardrobe change. What you couldn't change was the personality differences. This couldn’t be Jay. Jay was anxious and quiet, his jokes (while plentiful) said more timidly and his newest ideas shared with hesitance that only shrank after years of encouragement. He would never be this loud, ever. 
Not-Cole was the leader, probably because Lloyd was so young. But even then, in Red's team, Nya would probably take second-command. Cole was their sturdy support, yes, but he was chill, laid-back. Ready to follow and support his friends to the ends of the earth with his tunes and occasional sarcastic wit, but not lead. Not like Not-Cole, who was more serious and commanding and didn't. listen. to. music. Red hadn't spotted a single record or boombox in the room in the hull. That was a tragic oversight on Garmadon's part. The members of his research team should be Fired.
And then there was Not-Nya. Who wore a dress with confidence that his sister would love but never publicly wear. Who had short hair- Nya had tried that style once, and decided it itched around her neck too much- and jewelry, and a giant flying Samurai mech suit. His sister had the Water Strider Mech, and Not-Nya had a flying combat suit. Sure. Close enough. Personality-wise they were similar. 
Similar at first glance. Nya was fluid and adaptable to whatever role she needed filling. She was spunky, and as fiery as him when it came to tempers, though she knew how to keep hers in check (she had to, right? No one called her hot-headed and impulsive and reckless and blamed her temper for mistakes or damage or whatever the news comments liked to say about the Fire Mech). Not-Nya was also adaptable and independent-minded, but she seemed more rigid. More doing her own thing. 
Point was, everyone wasn't actually his friends, despite how much they tried to prove they were. And they kept acting like he was this Not-Kai, who was just as hot-headed but apparently more mature and training-oriented and basically the better, cooler (or hotter, perhaps, for the fire theme of the red ninja) him, since his acting never seemed to fully convince them. Trying to impersonate a standard he couldn't seem to reach, some legendary hero he wasn't- er, wasn't yet! Yeah! He just needed to prove himself, be better, and he'd be fine. Just... fine. Yeah.
Mini-Lloyd (Red was tempted to call him L'ilyod in his head, but that felt wrong somehow, like he was infringing on some kind of copyright law) stared at him like a goddamn falcon, and he wasn't talking about the bird that circled the ship. He had this bowl-cut Red would tease him about endlessly after all this was over- seriously, how had Mr. Fabulous Hair started with this mess? Garmadon probably didn't even have hair, so there was no way the guy knew how to style it, and it was very evident based on Mini-Lloyd's hairdo. 
Red noticed that all of them were staring, actually. Despite his relaxed rest against the rails, his fingers behind his back clutched the cool bar with a dull shake. He didn't notice how the metal seemed to glow red under his touch. 
"Training, right, we should get onto that," Red tried. "What do you want to start with, Lloyd?" 
"How about a little game?" Lloyd asked with complete innocence. "What we were playing last week before we got interrupted."
Oh sh!t. 
"I-I don't know, shouldn't we start with stretches? Or how about some sparring, that's always more fun than a game!"
"But I wanted to continue our game..." Mini Lloyd said, and FSM's sake, he couldn't deal with that pouting look.
Okay. Okay, don't panic. Think logically. What kind of game would an 8-year-old Lloyd like to play with him? Something physical, so no board games- he liked to test his mettle against Zane on those, and sometimes he would almost not-lose. Logic puzzles also fell more on Jay's area. Trivia, especially music trivia, was a bubble between the anxious motormouth and Cole. Video games fell on team building, and wouldn't classify as a training warmup.
"Well," Red said, taking a hopeful stab in the dark. "There's not too much space on the deck for... tag..."
Lloyd nodded, looking satisfied. The Not-Ninja looked- well, their expressions were hard to read because of how different it was compared to his friends. But Red was a master of deception (well, fire, but eh, technicalities), and he had them fooled, and he just had to keep it up until nightfall so he could rescue Lloyd and explain in a safe location-
"HE'S NOT KAI!"
Orrrrr improvise. Okay, yep, he could improvise. 
Red lunged forward and grabbed Mini Lloyd's wrist from where he had his hand extended in an accusatory point. He ducked under Not-Jay's attempts to grab him- fast, but not as fast as his Jay, his Jay who could disappear from an awkward social interaction in the span of a flickering lightbulb- and dragged his younger brother with him as he vaulted over the railing. Not-Zane almost managed to yank him back onto the Not-ship, but his icy grip caught only empty air as Red pulled Lloyd into a tight hold and ducked.
He hit the dock below with a stumble, rolling back onto his feet and taking off with a very stubborn green ninja in tow. It took all his strength to drag Lloyd (kicking and screaming like he was being kidnapped or something when Red was just trying to rescue him, for FSM's sake. Lloyd didn't know that, but he could still try to be at least a little more considerate.)
The wooden docks creaked and shuddered underfoot and Red grimaced; whoever rebuilt them after the latest Garmadon attack had shredded them like newspaper clearly hadn't wasted any unnecessary change. It certainly didn't help that Lloyd packed quite the punch for someone so small. Red definitely would come out of this with bruised shins and arms from where Mini Lloyd tried to push him away, but it would be worth it to keep his teammate, his younger brother, safe.
Then green filled his vision and broke his hold on Lloyd's wrist, sending him skidding across the dock planks as he was sent flying. When he finally rolled to a stop, neck and shoulder stinging from where the blast had caught him (no burns, just jitters like he'd been shocked), he had to take a few seconds to re-orient himself. Did the Not-Ship have cannons or something? What hit him from behind, so close it could have hit Lloyd?
Lloyd. Was Lloyd okay?
Red pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the bleeding scrapes on his hands and legs from where he'd gotten banged up by the splintered docks. His gaze, sharp and frantic, searched for signs of green. The warning of more blasts, the flash of the fabric of a gi, anything.
He spotted his brother in the arms of Not-Cole. No, no, no-
And suddenly Not-Nya was there, given a boost by Not-Jay. Her grip was as if she were wearing the robotic mech suit, harsh and powerful and near in-human. She threw Red back to the dock floor as her face twisted with the fury of a storming ocean. A resounding crack rang out over the harbour.
Red couldn't tell if it came from the planks under him or his own shoulder.
She pinned him to the wood, barking accusations and threats in his face faster than Not-Jay could talk. Red blinked through a haze of pain, trying to focus on her face and words. She was missing the beauty mark on her face, he noticed. Yet another tell she wasn't his sister.
"-scar on the wrong side-" And it was hard to hear again over the ringing in his ears. He tried to throw her off, get back to Lloyd, anything, but he was-
Useless. 
Her hands suddenly got in his face, slamming his left cheek to the wood. She was close- close to his face, close to his eye, close to his scar- pushing and prying as she tried to do something. Red picked up in his struggling, his attempts to free himself turning to desperate shoves and wild clawing like a trapped animal. He wouldn't let this creation of Garmadon's finish the job that teen had started all those years ago. 
"Or better yet, he needs to shut his damn mouth."
The flash of a knife. His vision half-blurry. Blood- so much blood- and a lasting scar.
"-contacts-" "-red-" "-struggling-" "-we know what he- it- is already-" "-not the real Kai-" "-wish-" "-Garmadon-"
He had to get away. Get Lloyd away from them now.
In one surge of strength- and yep, his shoulder definitely wasn't okay after that move, as if he'd ripped it not just from its socket but from its very attachment to his body- he knocked Not-Nya aside. If he could’ve seen through the red haze, he might have noticed red embers dancing around his fingertips as his desperation and fear tapped into something deep in his soul.
He tried to shoot to his feet, tried to run for Lloyd (held so tight in Not-Cole's grip, surely they were hurting him, he couldn't let that happen-). He roared, "LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE!", but before he could take another step through Not-Jay and Not-Zane in his path, the docks gave one last ominous shudder  before deciding it had finally had enough.
The planks crumbled underfoot like charred firewood in a crackling campfire, and Red was sent tumbling into the frigid ocean water below.
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