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callmerainman · 7 months

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No Derogatory Nicknames | sinner!Adam x fem!sinner!Reader

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3

pairing. sinner!Adam x fem!sinner!Reader

plot. You're the one and only member of the Royal Family's official army, and you were given the first, vital mission in your lifetime as a bodyguard. Surveilling the First Man on Earth, Adam. Reincarnated in Hell. You and Adam agree on two things: you can't stand each other, and you would never sleep together.

word count. 3.3k

tags. Hazbin Hotel ep8 spoilers!, enemies to lovers, Adam reincarnated as a sinner in Hell.

tw! cursing, Adam being Adam, mentions of sex

part. 1/3

The Royal Family’s official army was a millennium-old institution, skillfully trained through the years to protect Lucifer’s family from potential threats. Except that the army has lost its prestige a long time ago, and you’re the last unit left. You joined the army a short time after your death. It was princess Charlie Morningstar who guided you towards that decision, after finding you lost and scared, wandering around Pentagram City. The infernal princess didn’t specify that the army was dismantled hundreds of year prior, and that it was just an excuse to convince Lucifer to give you hospitality in one of their mansion’s rooms. In the end, the King accepted to make you a bodyguard. You went through trainings, trials, impossible challenges. All of that to…guard Lucifer’s rubber ducks. Boredom wasn’t ignorable. So when Lucifer asked you if you could take on a really serious mission, you accepted immediately. And your task really was important.

Guarding Adam, the First Man on Earth. Reincarnated in Hell.

After wandering for days around Pentagram City, just like you did, he asked the Hotel for help. E promised that he would change. Charlie, being Charlie, couldn’t deny him a chance. But Lucifer didn’t trust him, and accepted his permanence at the Hotel only at the condition that you would be guarding him. And that’s how you arrived at the Hazbin Hotel, how you met Charlie’s friend and especially…Adam. You immediately regretted the rubber ducks. Adam accepted in turn the idea of being watched, but he detested it and didn’t hesitate to let you know. He was as old as the Earth but as immature as if he was born yesterday. Arrogant, hot-headed, presumptuous. He made your job impossible, but he was clever enough to not show it too much to still stay at the Hotel. You were the opposite of patient and dealing with him was troubling. Talking back to him corresponded to a reaction. For example he never spared himself from letting you know how much he did NOT want to sleep with you, because of how much he found you insufferable.

“I have other priorities, instead of being approached by your teeny-tiny thing” you said.

“Hey! You can only dream of having a taste of the original dick!” Adam said, pointing a finger to your face.

And Adam hated when you followed him around town, with your angelic spear always clenched in your fist. He would always mumble insults under his breath, to which you responded with the same medicine. For example when you accompanied him to the few music shops in the city to fix his electric guitar that he would always break out of frustration of being here.

“I’m here only because Lucifer asked me, ‘cause otherwise I would have already called Nifty to repeat the job” you hissed between your teeth, sticking your spear towards his face.

Adam would hunch forward in an attempt to intimidate you “Oh yeah, go get her, so you can show your Hell Daddy how efficient of a bodyguard you are!”.

And you couldn’t do nothing more than sighing, squeezing the spear in your fist because you knew that Adam was right and you couldn’t do anything about it. You always looked forward to nighttime so that you two could separate and go to your respective rooms in the Hotel. Even the guests were relieved, because your bickering was daily and their ears were filled with your insults thrown left and right. Adam, although he was the one who knocked on the Hotel’s door, wasn’t too fond on participating in its activities. He didn’t get the benefit of Charlie’s exercises, and that anguished him because it seemed like the road back to Heaven was far away. Even there, your duty was to encourage him in participating. And your patience with the First Man was running out, so you had to do so by growling between your teeth to be proactive.

“I get it, bitch” he would whisper, enough to be heard from you but not by Charlie. And then he would improvise some sort of low effort answer barely sufficient to make Charlie happy.

You started to get the feeling that some of Charlie’s exercises were specifically aimed at making you and Adam get along. You had your confirmation when once Charlie called only you and Adam, letting you sit together on the couch. Adam’s fists were clenching in correspondence with his knees.

“What are we doing?” he asked.

You crossed your arms on your chest, cocking an eyebrow. Charlie laughed nervously, feeling a growing tension.

“Uhm…see this as a sort of…couple therapy!”

You and Adam, in tandem, erupted in a disgusted groan. His new wings, now turned black, ruffled and pointed upwards in a synced motion with yours.

“WE’RE NOT A COUPLE!” you two shouted in unison.

“I know, but you’re always together and…”

“WE DIDN’T CHOOSE IT!”

Charlie agitated both her hands “But you need to stand by each other, and I would like for you to do so without fighting every time! There must be something you get along in, right?”

You protruded forward “The only thing we agree on is that we would much rather die for eternity than being close to each other”.

Adam raised his arms to emphasize your words “Exactly, I would rather be stabbed again by your filthy janitor than sleep with a pain in the ass like her”

“What did you just say?!”.

Charlie, seeing you two jump towards each other to fight, threw herself between you both to avoid it.

You couldn’t sleep that night. With your head plunged in your pillow, you smothered screams of frustration. Adam, Adam and again Adam. He fluttered in your head with hammering insistence, tormenting you even in moments of relax. Why was he always traveling in your head? Why did you keep visualizing his dumb fucking face when he insulted you in the most disparate ways? Fuck, he knew how to get on your nerves even in dreams.

———

“Adam!” Charlie stops the fallen angel in the Hotel kitchen. He was filling his bowl with milk and cereals.

“Yeah, brat?” he replied.

Charlie sighed “What did we say about nicknames?”

Adam rolls his eyes, bringing a spoonful of cereals to his mouth.

“No ferogafory nifnames” he slurs, his cheeks full.

“Exactly!” Charlie claps her hands “anyway, I need you to do me a favor. You should go grocery shopping for the Hotel”.

Adam raises a brow “Groceries? What am I, a-“

He interrupts himself when his eyes meet yours behind Charlie’s shoulder. Where did you come from? In any case, your gaze is as furious as always. He’s pretty sure that he never saw you peaceful in all his permanence in Hell. Your fuming look is enough to make him desist, so he sighs.

“Alright. And I suppose that Mrs. Spear-Up-My-Ass is going to come with me”.

“Of course (Y/N) will go with you, you’ll shop together” and Charlie adds a hopeful grin.

“How fortun-OH”.

Without noticing, you appear on Adam’s side, a reassuring look on your face but reserved only to Charlie.

“Don’t worry Charlie, I’ll keep an eye on him”.

“Can you not stick your shitty angelic spear in my fucking cereals?!” Adam cusses.

Nervously, Charlie smiles “Of course (Y/N), but I’m pretty positive that Adam won’t cause any trouble”.

You shrug your shoulders “I dunno, I don’t expect much from a dirtbag of his caliber”.

Adam drops the spoon in the bowl of milk, cereals spilling out of it and one of them hitting your cheek

“What, you old hag?!” he screams.

“Old, me?! You’re literally as old as the Earth!”

Charlie puts her hands in her head, desperate “Just go shopping for fucks sake!”.

Half an hour later you and Adam are walking down the streets of Pentagam City. He was bragging about the time he broke the record of bras thrown on stage during a gig he performed in Heaven. Now that you think about it, Adam played in a band when he was up in the skies. And he has an electric guitar that you always accompanied him to fix. By the way, you never stopped to ask yourself what kind of music he listened to, or what genre he played. That’s because you never thought there was something worth to know about Adam. You turn around to look at him in the eyes. When he talked nonstop, without insulting you, his face was more relaxed and in a certain sense a bit more pleasurable to look at. Two big, curled horns sprouted on his head when he reincarnated, you grabbed them so many times while fighting.

“And what did you play with your band-“

“We’re here”.

You stop. You look at Adam, you didn’t realize that you reached your destination. Maybe you’ll pick up the conversation later, maybe not. Why would you want to know more about the Exterminator? You shove a hand in your pants pocket and you take the list Charlie prepared. You put it in Adam’s hand, and you turn around.

“C’mon, go inside”.

Adam frowns, puzzled.

“Wait, you’re not going with me?”.

Adam plants himself in front of you, trying to read your face. He wants to know if you’re making fun of him or something like that. But he only finds embarrassment, as you try to avoid his analysis.

“Do you need me to hold your hand or you can handle it on your own?”.

For a second, Adam’s eyes widen, then a sly smirk crosses his face.

“You wanna hold my haaaa-“

“No” you stop him “and that’s why I’m telling you to go alone”.

Adam shrugs, he looks amused.

“Okay, I’ll treasure this opportunity to get away as far as I can from you”.

And so Adam goes. You realize that all the time you tried to avoid his eyes, your face was burning. You didn’t want him to see even a drop of trust in your eyes, not even the tiniest amount sufficient to let him go grocery shopping. So you stay still outside the supermarket, your angelic spear hidden between your wings to not catch passerby’s attention. Time goes by, and soon Adam will finish. But Adam doesn’t come back. You decide to wait a little more. Then you hear sounds of shouting inside the supermarket, an argument between two men. A carousel of possible scenarios displays in your mind. Adam who calls the cashier a bitch, Adam who yells to the staff because they’re out of ribs. You immediately dash inside, almost smashing through the automatic glass door. You follow the sound of screams, and you find Adam. It’s just not the scenario you had predicted. Adam has his hands raised in front of a bull-like demon, who has a fist directed towards him.

“I recognize you, you know? You’re that shithead from the Extermination”

Adam, visibly pissed off, still keeps his palms open “Hey asshole, I don’t know what you’re talking about”.

It’s when the other demon jumps onwards to attack Adam that you throw yourself between them, your spear pointed towards the bull.

“Don’t fucking touch him!” you yell.

Your chest rises and lowers wildly with every breath. You can’t see it, but Adam’s eyes are incredulous. He looks at his own chest, your free arm is pressed against it, pushing him back in protection. Your teeth are gritted, your horns grown exponentially. His cheek tickles because one of your wings is brushing against it with ruffled feathers, and his skin starts to warm up because your hair caught fire. Adam saw you enraged so many times, usually because of him, but never like this. In the end, the demon gives up, taking a step back from your tended spear. He grunts and takes his leave, fists still clenched but not a menace anymore. You finally relax, the fire in your hair suffocates, your wings recollect themselves and your horns shrink back to their original size.

“Ehm…what the fuck happened?” Adam asks, trying to find your eyes. You run away from them as always.

“Don’t ask questions”

“I thought you were supposed to protect others from me, not me from others”

You press your lips in a thin line, and walk towards the checkout with the shopping bags Adam dropped.

“It’s not like I can leave you moribund on the floor of a supermarket with the possibility of you respawning somewhere else in Hell where I can’t supervise you. Let’s get back to the Hotel now”.

Adam follows behind you, and you know he’s smirking. He steals one of the shopping bags from your hand, and takes your side.

“Well, what were you about to ask me outside? You wanted to know about my band in Heaven?”.

Back to the Hotel, you’re welcomed by a wide smile from Charlie. Just seeing you two walking close without fighting signs on your bodies means a lot to her.

“Sooooo, how did it go?” she asks, sliding in front of you.

You and Adam exchange a quick glance, then you shrug “He almost got jumped”.

“Oh c’mon!” Adam exclaims, raising his arms in protest.

“Why so?” Charlie asks.

“A total asshole almost recognized me” Adam says.

“It’s not a secret that you reside at the Hotel, and someone might not like you” Charlie adds.

“I don’t like him-“ you convene.

“We know, (Y/N)!” Charlie sighs “and because there are sinners like you who, rightfully so, don’t like Adam, we need you to be close to him. Even because we can’t risk Adam using his powers, it could be trouble”.

You stop to reflect, meanwhile Adam puts the grocery bags on the kitchen counter without saying a word. Now that you think about it, Adam didn’t use his powers. When he reappeared in Hell, although with less capacity, he still kept a great power. He was prohibited from using it at the Hazbin Hotel, but anyone would have used them in a situation like the one that unfolded at the supermarket. But Adam didn’t do nothing. He just raised his hands, limiting himself to only cuss at the potential aggressor, and then you intervened. Did he internalize a Hotel lesson?

“No, Adam didn’t use his powers. We gotta give him credit for that” you say.

Adam freezes as he opens the fridge to organize the groceries. You can’t see him, but he’s delicately blushing.

“That’s awesome!” Charlie chirps, happily “It’s a great step forward, Adam!”.

“Mh yeah whatever” Adam brushes it off.

“And you Adam, did you see any quality in (Y/N) that you previously ignored?” Charlie asks, full of hope.

Adam looks at you. You press your lips together and for a moment you hold each other’s gazes. You feel yourself palpitating, and it bothers you.

“She was cool I guess. Cool-ish. And she got interested in my band. But that’s natural, all bitches are interested in my band”.

“Adam, nicknames!”.

Adam raises his shoulders “If (Y/N) doesn’t mind, I’ll go to my room”.

“Me too” you assert.

You wave at all the guests in the lobby, Angel Dust has a weirdly wide smile on his face, almost amused. You go up the stairs, following behind Adam. His arms fall on his side.

“You wanna follow me to my bed?!” he says.

“I’m going to my own room which happens to be next to yours, asshole!”

“Yeah yeah, it’s more likely for Mr. Deer over there to cross the Pearly Gates than me letting you have a piece of this” Adam replies, pointing both fingers down to his groin.

“I don’t even want it!”.

Downstairs, Angel Dust looks at everyone with insistence. Husk is confused, Alastor simply disinterested, and Cherri Bomb appears to already know what the spider demon is about to say.

“Is it me or I sense a certain sexual tension?” he finally says.

Vaggie, Husk and Charlie sigh in resignation. Alastor decides that it’s time for him to get up and leave. Cherri Bomb, on her part, chuckles.

“Yeah I think it’s only you” she says.

“If you sense sexual tension between them I think you got a serious problem, Angel” Vaggie says.

Angel bursts out laughing, throwing himself back on the couch and crossing his numerous arms behind his neck “I bet good money that those two will end up going at it within a week”.

Before they could realize it, all of them were already placing a good amount of money on bets. All pointing towards a no. Angel Dust is the only one convinced of his vision. That between the Royal Guard and the First Man, climbing up the stairs next to each other with annoyance, there could be something that keeps you close in a different way.

———

Adam stops in front of his bedroom’s door. He opens it, and you walk towards the door next to it which is the one for your room. But Adam clears his throat, staring at an indefinite point in front of him.

“Uhm…can you come here a sec?”.

You raise a confused eyebrow, and you cautiously walk towards him. You should be holding your angelic spear, but you left it aside. You stand behind him, and Adam turns around to face you.

“Yeah?” you question.

Adam looks at you, and you raise your chin to hold up his golden eyes. This time you see the flushed red on his cheeks, and his embarrassed expression.

“Well…thanks for today…I guess? This is how Lucifer’s brat wants me to talk to you, right?”.

Your eyes widen in surprise, and your hands start to fidget. It’s not difficult to look at Adam when he’s being like this.

“Yeah, I don’t know, whatever. Don’t expect things to change” you reply.

Adam scowls, and moves closer to you.

“Of course not, you’re still a world-class pain in the ass”.

“And you’re still a fucking jerk”.

Your foreheads are almost touching, you can feel his breath on your face. You notice it too late. Why aren’t you backing up? Shouldn’t that be easy? Your heart is racing again.

“And you’re still a bi-“

“Hey” you interrupt “Charlie said…”.

Too close now. As always. You and Adam have always been close. In a different way. And you always wanted to leave. But not even Adam is moving and his gaze softens. He’s looking at you intently, he’s burning and doesn’t know what to do and at the same time he seems convinced on something.

“I know” he says, with half a tone “nicknames should not be um…”.

He stumbles on his own words, you’re now chest to chest, and you try to help him out “Nicknames shouldn’t be de…” you have trouble too.

“Deroga…tory…” he mumbles.

You lean in. And without premeditation, there’s a kiss. Strong, desperate. Your lips intertwined, your hands in his hair and grazing his horns, and his own hand placed on your waist. He doesn’t need to pull you closer, you already were. You don’t have time to breathe, your kisses are too persistent. A couple of moans escape you both, out of confusion and satisfaction. Now your arguments all look like a joke, because it’s obvious that the sexual tension Angel Dust envisioned is an undeniable reality. Despite spending months repeating that it was something that would never happen. And here you are, clinging to one another, making out. And it feels good.

When you separate you meet his eyes. You expect something terrible. Disgust, or that he stays true to his word and strays away. But you don’t see any of that. Only disbelief, and a sort of epiphany that encourages him to encapsulate the nape of your neck with a hand.

“Shit” he says.

“Shit” you convene.

And then you throw yourselves against each other’s lips again, and Adam drags you inside his room. You let yourself be taken away, and you shut the door close with a kick.

#hazbin hotel #reader insert #hazbin hotel adam #adam x reader #adam #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel adam x reader #enemies to lovers #sinner!adam #hazbin hotel fanfiction #adam hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel adam fanfiction #writers on tumblr #vivziepop

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poorlittleyaoyao · 4 months

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do you have any cdrama recs?

I haven't watched many! My attention span for just-for-fun reading is abysmal when school's in session, and that sadly includes subtitles.

HOWEVER. I HIGHLY recommend Story of Yanxi Palace, a historical drama that follows a young woman named Wei Yingluo who enters the Qianlong Emperor's court as an embroidery maid to avenge her older sister's murder. Yingluo is a FANTASTIC protagonist because she's a top-tier manipulator capable of being absolutely ruthless; however, for all that she's trying (and generally succeeding) at being a Gaslight Gatekeep Girlboss, she has an unshakeable sense of justice, and often undertakes personal risk to protect people dear to her. I always like it when a hero gets to scheme and lie unabashedly and the scheming and lying is acknowledged as such.

Beyond that--and what REALLY appealed to me coming off of The Untamed--is that the cast is overwhelmingly women. There are, like, four guys who matter in the entire 70-episode series. The other principals are the women of the palace complex: the empress, the concubines, the consorts in the harem, the maids. The series is first and foremost concerned with the relationships between these women and how the repressive environment of the Forbidden City (and the precariousness of their own positions) stifles their abilities to be themselves and encourages them to turn on each other. There's a lot of love! There's also a lot of mess!

And if you're like "hm, this sounds like a serious and depressing prestige drama," it also includes some BUCKWILD plot moments. At one point a character summons bats to murder someone. At another point, a character goads another into being struck by lightning.

(Also, because this made me very anxious: when a tiny dog shows up, DON'T WORRY, THE DOG IS FINE. THE DOG IS OKAY.)

I will admit that I haven't finished the series; there's a point around 2/3 in where some major plot threads are resolved and the ones intended to take their place come out of NOWHERE and involve what I feel is some genuinely OOC writing for the new antagonists. But it's just so ENJOYABLE to watch a historical drama that centers on women's experiences, isn't a romance (there are romances in it! but that is deeply secondary), and lets its characters be absolute disaster humans instead of Cardboard Picturesque Sad Historical Ladies(TM). I am grateful to @maester-of-spreadsheets and @tavina-writes for recommending it!

The whole thing is on YouTube with top-notch subtitles. (They translate terms of address! They translate the idioms and scientific/cultural/historical references verbatim and then add footnotes for context because they correctly assume that yOU ARE WATCHING THIS ONLINE, YOU CAN PAUSE TO READ IF YOU WANT. Netflix would NEVER.) There's also a remarkably thorough Wikipedia page if you lose track of the characters, since many of them undergo changes to their official titles and are referred to by those exclusively.

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queenvhagar · 2 months

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honestly I think the show runners are being genuinely stupid right now cuz a part of the reason got season 8 was a disaster was of course due to no proper buildup and bad writing but I honestly think it was the marketing and all the press tours of the actors like they all genuinely made it seem like daenerys wasn’t a very flawed individual and alot of scenes that should’ve been presented as oh that’s actually a very dark thing she’s doing we’re instead turned into girl boss moments. The majority of the audience wasn’t mentally prepared for the turn cuz in-universe practically no one had realistic reactions to her and called her out. This especially backfired cuz alot of people that were watching the show were not reading the books and making theories. ( like dude at the very least your actors shouldn’t be so horrified and shocked like forget following the marvel way of keeping scripts secret for months just follow the Alan Rickman snape thing and let them know so they perform accordingly )

Now instead of learning from that they want the love dany got before season 8 from the audience but it’s like now you know how this ends for rhaenyra this is not a secret but again alot of the audience watching this probably hasn’t read the books so you have to lay down the groundwork otherwise you’re going to end up in the same position once again cuz the book-blind audience will only see that oh rhaenyra has been making all the right decisions why is she also turning ‘mad’.

They should be thinking longterm right now and how to make sure the prestige of the show remains even after it’s over but that won’t happen if again you are purifying these characters and fundamentally changing who they are but still want the same plot beats to happen.

at this point I can’t easily picture the outrage for rhaenyra taking an evil turn later on and how the show runners are sabotaging her

I do hope they aren't planning on downplaying Rhaenyra's mad queen arc, because that would completely ruin her character (though what we've seen from this season so far, there's little hope of a book-accurate Rhaenyra arc happening).

How it's going now I can almost see it being the threat of Aemond and Vhagar and stories of their devastation in the Riverlands being the reason people rise up against the dragons and Targaryens as a whole (instead of it being Rhaenyra's paranoia and cruelty, as well as Helaena's death, that causes the people of King's Landing to turn against Rhaenyra, kill the dragons, and drive her out of the city). The way Aemond has treated the smallfolk so far, how he will in future episodes, according to the leaks, and this episode's highlighting of all the sheep being sent to Vhagar despite the lack of food in King's Landing, along with the smallfolk apparently loving Rhaenyra and the Blacks despite them causing the blockade and Meleys murdering hundreds... it seems to be conveniently setting up the blame of the fall of the dynasty to go towards the Greens completely.

I wouldn't be surprised if Rhaenyra continues to be absolved of wrongdoing... although it would clearly be a much more interesting show if the writing would start allowing Rhaenyra her fire and exploring her superiority complex and the impact it has on how she rules and others view her.

If they continue to present her as some flawless girlboss and somehow also want to include the mad queen arc though... they'll be in for a rough ride.

#asks

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atiny-for-life · 9 months

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Ateez's Full Storyline Explained - Part 20

( MAJOR LORE UPDATES - I'm really excited!)

Masterlist

Will - The World Ep. Fin Diary Entries:

The Intro provides us with a bit of backstory to the setting of 'Crazy Form':

The city is currently mid-Revolution: the people who left the system (now classified as Sense Offenders) are actively fighting against the ones still trapped within - tensions are mighty high to say the least.

Graffiti proclaiming "Wake up" and "Be free" covers the city walls, though it has been hidden by the suppressors under concealment screens (this is something we get to see in the MV).

Fed up with the Black Pirates' activities, the government is no longer satisfied with just denouncing them as a terrorist group and asking for them to be turned in - they now deem anyone who joins their cause to be a co-conspirator. Simply put: If you're caught inducing emotions in anyone, you'll be executed on the spot. You won't even be taken to the Disposal Site.

We cut to a scene right in the center of the city square where Guardians pull up in their cars and approach the display erected there for one clear purpose. A rope is lowered and pulled, hands are dusted off and the Guardians take off again. Words are no longer needed. They leave behind, hanging below the display, the corpses of multiple captured and executed Sense Offenders. A warning to all who dare to resist: the next one could be you.

Unbeknownst to them, it has the opposite effect. Tears and sobs fill the air, cries of sadness and anger. The loss of innocent life reinforced what they already knew: it can't go on like this. Their deaths won't be in vain. The system can be changed.

The aftermath of the raid on Prestige Academy had spread by word of mouth, getting past all attempts at censorship, and showed them a path of resistance.

We now rejoin Ateez and Black Pirates right after the Prestige Academy raid where Seonghwa had left with the leader of Thunder.

The boy's brother, exhausted from crying, is sleeping in the corner while the remaining Ateez members are freaking out over Seonghwa's disappearance. Though luckily, he isn't gone for long and rolls up to the bunker shortly after.

Hongjoong immediately pounces on him and is like: "Tell me you didn't run off with that girl because she looked like the 'Be Free' girl like Yeosang suggested." And Seonghwa's like: "It's not like that."

He pulls out an unfamiliar map and explains it was provided by the girl as the leader of Thunder, the students' version of the Black Pirates, aka fellow revolutionists.

They'd put a tracker on the boy before he was captured and believe he's being taken to the Disposal Site which is the place the map is of.

Still doubtful, Hongjoong questions the girl's and Thunder's motives - why not join the Black Pirates? Why act behind their backs? - but Seonghwa reassures him: as the elite of the elite, Thunder has access to information that can lead them directly to Z.

We now get more background information about the Z-World and Strictland's main oppressor 'Z' in particular (which has me personally very excited because we're tying in some more old plot threads; side note: the Glossary has been updated accordingly):

He's the Z-World's leader of Sciensalvar. However, unlike in the A-World, where this organization was founded in 1999, is still rather small and lead by Henry Jo (see Fever Epilogue Diary Version), this Sciensalvar is a pseudo-religious scientific organization spearheaded by 'Z'. They're behind the creation of the AI simulation for the 'best solution', aka the answer to their question of "What do I need to do to gain absolute, unchallengeable power?" To which the self-learning AI answered: get rid of all human emotions. With this knowledge, they created a political party under the catchphrase: "The pursuit of a peaceful world without religious conflict and terror through emotional control." Said party grew in size until they were powerful enough to pass the 'Emotional Regulation Act' which lead to the solidification of the class system to the point where 'defective' people are now being 'disposed of'. However, as they have not yet achieved total control, Z and his political subordinates stay exclusively in Z's hideout near the city center where only the elites reside. They never leave the building, only the elitest of the elites ever get to enter and once they exit, they remain under strict surveillance by the Android Guardians to prevent the spread of insider knowledge. Android Guardians, who are collectively referred to as the Imperial Watch, are the only ones allowed to freely come and ago since they're not human and thus immune to being corrupted by emotions if captured and interrogated.

The Black Pirates have never been able to obtain the precise location of Z's hideout despite past efforts to catch a hold of suspects who they then coaxed into spilling by utilizing their breakers to surface long suppressed emotions.

Working with Thunder, despite the risk, thus now seems like their best shot at finally eliminating the hideout and securing a massive leap forward in the revolution.

We cut to Z's office where the Prestige Academy principal was just executed by the Head Guardian of the Imperial Watch.

A new order is given by Z: "Now that we've set the bait, the Black Pirates will go to the Disposal Site to save the child. Take care that no mistakes like this are repeated at the Disposal Site. Or you'll be the one replaced this time."

With a troop of 100 Android Guardians, the Head Guardian enters the Disposal Site alongside a slew of blue butterflies who spread out among the workers with red, marred skin from the furnaces.

The Head Guardian refers to them as the 'Red Humans' who are 'so hideous' they 'resemble goblins more than people'.

The troop marches after a butterfly fluttering down a hallway toward the cells where the to-be-disposed-of people are kept - humans who've been classified as physically disabled or harboring feelings.

They appear enchanted by the sight of the butterfly, unlike the Guardians who took no note of them, which leaves this singular one to continue onward past the cells toward a boiling furnace filled with the remains of the disposed. 'Red Humans' are stirring the remains in the incinerator as the butterfly rises up past the executioner platform.

Upon closer inspection, the butterfly can be identified as an animatronic containing a camera.

The next entry informs us that it's Yeosang who's in charge of the tiny delicate butterfly drone and here, to me, everything regarding these blue little critters finally falls into place (which is why Part 5 - Deja Vu and Part 15 - Answer have now been updated accordingly):

Back in Deja Vu, Yeosang took note of the blue butterflies fluttering around Strictland and how they're so common and, despite their beauty, get fully ignored by the unfeeling Android Guardians. As a result, he studies their appearance and anatomy, creates a 3D rendering (which we catch a glimpse of in Deja Vu and its appearance is similar to the one of the pirate ship hologram we got to see in Crazy Form, leading me to believe this is their usual modus operandi when they develop tech). By the time Answer rolls around, the 3D model has been turned into a fully functional animatronic with a built-in camera - a drone. This explains why the butterfly in Answer looks more artificial than the one in Deja Vu - it's not organic, it's a delicate little machine. A spy gadget.

Moving on to Ateez who are parked outside in their van: they're utilizing the beautiful little butterfly drone to compare the map to what they're seeing.

Deeming it all good enough, they strap in and Mingi crashes through the gates. They storm inside, trap the workers with their burnt skin in side-rooms and split into two groups - one in charge of freeing the imprisoned, the other in charge of warding off the guards.

The first group was left with the Cromer since they'd need to transport all the imprisoned to the Black Pirates' Bunker as fast as possible, which left the others at a significant disadvantage in their fight against the Guardians, even with the weapons provided by Left Eye.

They quickly get overpowered and Hongjoong is left on the ground with a gun pointed straight at his head. Jongho is left to call for back-up.

Back at the hideout, however, things are also going south - a fellow pirate bursts through the doors and informs them their location had been leaked to the Guardians. He barely gets to finish his warning before a beam saber cuts down his back and leaves him coughing up blood before he drops dead.

Wooyoung's thoughts are racing as he questions how their location could've possibly gotten out before Mingi looks to Seonghwa: "Please tell me you didn't share the location of the bunker with the Thunder girl".

Seonghwa, previously extremely sure of where the girl's loyalties lie, begins to doubt.

Meanwhile at the Disposal Site, a scream rings out - the Prestige Academy boy's.

The Guardian still aiming at Hongjoong's head offers an ultimatum: "Tell the members with the Cromer to come over here. I'll give you 10 minutes. Or this kid- well, you know what'll happen."

The timer is set. Hongjoong relays the information to the four members at the bunker.

Unable to leave the bunker fully unprotected however, the four try to fight off the Android Guardians before they depart, only to be struck down. Left on the ground. Spitting up blood. Seonghwa. Mingi. Wooyoung. San. Four down.

At the same time, at the Disposal Site, the remaining four are dragged along the ground to the execution area.

All eight of them think about how much happened to them since they entered the Z World - how much it felt like fate. They realized how powerful music and performance can be, how it can stir emotions in other people, how it's powerful enough to be used as a weapon against oppressive forces in this world. It allowed them to feel emotions they'd almost forgotten about and gave them a goal to achieve. They'd been happy here. And now they might die here.

But just then: a zap. And a Guardian hit the ground in the bunker.

People wearing "ridiculous masks" (according to Wooyoung) and armed with modified electro shockers flooded the bunker and began to take down the Guardians before helping the four Ateez members to their feet.

With their identity hidden behind their masks and voice modifiers, they promise to take everyone to safety and ask the four to come back once they're done at the Disposal Site. Their leader also hands a note to Seonghwa.

With no other option, the four take off with the Cromer's help, though the boy's brother manages to leap on them quickly enough to be taken along.

They make it just in time and use the Cromer to zip across the room, disposing of the Guardians' weapons by throwing them in the incinerator, but the one clutching the boy is quick to raise the kid by his throat and threaten to toss him feet-first in after them.

Momentarily defeated, Ateez get tied up with rope, but the boy's brother, who'd remained hidden nearby, manages to slide a jackknife he'd been keeping in his pocket to Yunho. One by one, the knife gets handed around as they free themselves.

Meanwhile, the boy begins to talk to the Guardian who'd dropped him back to the ground - it's revealed he'd been working alongside them all along to obtain the location of the Black Pirates' bunker.

When the boy had first found out about his older brother's break, he'd fled Prestige Academy and posted a message on Black Link (the system set up by Left Eye in Movement Diary Version: The Revolution which pings the Black Pirates when a citizen's chip fails so they can reach out and contact them) after failing to find the Black Pirates and their bunker.

With no one to help him, he hid out at the Disposal Site in hopes of finding a way to safe his brother once he was dragged there by the Android Guardians.

While still there, he received a message from his brother, asking him why he hadn't come home last night. Relieved, he returned home and discovered a message from the Black Pirates who disclosed a rough location of their bunker and offered to help him if he still needed it, though they'd have to clear him first over their security system.

However, after seeing the reality and experiencing the horrors of the Disposal Site, the boy chose to return to Prestige Academy instead and beg for mercy for both himself and his brother.

The Guardians agreed but requested the exact location of the Black Pirates' bunker in return.

Upon hearing this, Ateez felt betrayed which the boy's brother openly voices. He tells his brother that, after experiencing emotions, he can't go back and pushes him to leave the wrong side and rejoin them while there's still time to make things right.

Yeosang manages to trip one of the Guardians with his newly freed legs which gives the boy a chance to take his brother's offered hand, but just before they can make contact, the Head Guardian grabs the brother by the collar and throws him off the execution platform down to the incinerator.

The members threw off their ropes and pushed the Head Guardian into the incinerator while the boy jumps after his brother and Mingi activates the Cromer.

Mingi catches the gaze of the boy's brother as his legs slip into the incinerator. His eyes close. Mingi grabs the boy's arm before he could share the same fate. The boy screams.

Newly traumatized, Mingi drops the boy in a safe place and rejoins his members who're actively fighting the Guardians and makes quick work of them by tossing them in the furnace one by one.

The boy breaks down in tears.

Only the Head Guardian was left. But unlike all the others, he was suddenly tackled from the back by the boy who was rushing at full speed and dragging them both toward the incinerator.

Hongjoong's hand shot forward, grabbing the boy's arm who mouthed "I'm sorry" right before the Head Guardian's weight dragged them over the edge and out of Hongjoong's hold.

Hongjoong had no choice but to sit by as they disappeared into the incinerator below.

The distant sound of an explosion. "I know how you feel but... We need to get out of here first. The bomb's about to go off," Seonghwa reminds Hongjoong.

San takes them away with the Cromer right before the blue butterflies spread throughout the building flash red and explode, collapsing the Disposal Site.

While all this was going down, the masked people who'd helped at the Bunker were revealed to be Thunder and the note handed to Seonghwa was revealed to be a map.

By the time the Disposal Site went down, Thunder managed to pack all the prisoners into a big bus and take them past all the security barricades into the city center thanks to their high ranking elite status.

Thunder's main base has a garden. It consists of trees and flowers bearing the names of the two brothers and all the fallen Black Pirate members lost in the battle.

Dressed in black, Ateez, the Black Pirates, and the Thunder members bow to the dead as fireflies circle over their heads. "I will not let your sacrifices be in vain. I promise." Yeosang's words echo everyone's thoughts.

The fireflies ascend above them as if they were carrying their wishes to the stars. They watch them rise for a long time.

The village is located in a forest away from all government surveillance. A small haven. Thunder's leader is showing Seonghwa around as she tells him her story:

She met the Grimes siblings in this place and when she heard them sing, she realized that something valuable had been taken from humanity. Taken by Z. Reminder: the Grimes siblings are the ones who first helped Ateez when they landed in the Z-World (see: Fever Part 2 Diary Entries). At that time, she was already recognized for her talents at Prestige Academy and put in the position of Thunder's leader. As a skilled actress, she managed to continue on undetected, even while she silently planned find a way to rise high enough to meet Z - an opportunity very few ever got. By using her status at the Academy, she managed to prevent students from getting taken to the Disposal Site: spewing empty threats instead of reporting them as 'defective'. Her time there also allowed her to carefully approach others who had awoken thanks to the Grimes siblings. Together, they held a funeral for them after their souls were taken (see: Fever Epilogue Diary Entries). They heard stories of the Black Pirates and Ateez but, as a smaller group, needed to be more careful and couldn't reach out to them.

Her story gives Seonghwa hope that there are more groups out there fighting for their cause.

When he voices the thought, the girl feels the same hope for the future.

After the raid at Prestige Academy, the school is shut down and repurposed while students are transferred to other schools in the area based on their performance.

Thanks to a heart rate controlling device provided by Left Eye, the girl passes the emotional detection checks and manages to excel in her studies and is deemed the superior candidate among all students - she earns the position of Z's protocol manager. A position which will take her to Z's hideout.

They take her to the city center and into the underground parking lot by the central bank's building. From there, she's guided through corridors until they reach Z's office.

Inside, he's already waiting for her and immediately addresses how closely she'd been paying attention to her surroundings the entire way there - from the car ride all the way up to now. As if she were curious. "Curiosity is also an emotion. Curiosity is dangerous, you know."

Ever the perfect student and actress, she replies with "What is 'Curiosity'?" and offers her chip to be checked - a chip that has been modified by her to switch on and off on her comment to avoid detection at school.

She passes the final test and is hired on the spot.

#ateez #ateez lore #hongjoong #seonghwa #yunho #yeosang #san #mingi #wooyoung #jongho #will - the world ep fin

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elejah-wonderland · 9 months

Text

_elejah au

Love is in the Air

_tvd fanfic_Part 1

a/n: this is a light-hearted, romantic little story.

New Orleans

"I am all packed" Elijah said to his sister Rebekah on the phone.

"Why Rome?" the blonde asked.

"I just had this idea for my next book. And I need to go there to get the feel of the city, do some research at the archives." Elijah said.

"So, it's going to be another murder mystery with historical background?!" Rebekah stated.

"Burning Wings was such a great success and now they want me to write a sequel," Elijah said, "and a couple of nights ago I had a dream that kind of set this idea in my head to put the plot in Rome."

"Well, I hope it will not all be work- after your divorce you have done nothing but work."

"I plan to take time off and enjoy the city. Stefan is gone with Valerie to visit his brother and his wife Rosalie in Amesterdam and I got his apartment for a whole month." Elijah explained.

Rebekah sighed a little as her brother mentioned her ex-boyfriend Stefan Salvatore.

"I am sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned him."

"It's ok. I just- it will always be hard cuz- you know - I messed ut up and now- ok- right. When is your flight?" Rebekah asked.

"Tomorrow morning. I will call you when I get there." Elijah replied.

"All right. Have a great time. And try not to just work." Rebekah said and with a little bye and Elijah's promise that he will also take time to enjoy his holiday, they hung up.

Pressing the search button, the latest articles with the news popped up. And the picture of the woman he had met ten years ago as he visited his sister, who was studying in the prestige old private Mystic Falls College for liberal arts, now stared at him.

His eyes smiled seeing the photo, which was clearly from one of her premieres as she was a famous actress.

And then he saw the article headline.

Elena Gilbert rumored to be secretly engaged to Mason Wood.

Elijah sighed a little and not reading further, swiped the page off and went to a subject he was interested in.

In Florence, Italy

Elena walked in her hotel room followed by her personal assistant and manager, Jo Parker.

"Thank God today was the last day of the shoot. Can you please reschedule everything for at least a week?!" Elena said."I am so going away and I don't want to know about anything. Please."

"All right. So, what shall I book you? Bali?"

"No. I already made my own arrangements." Elena said.

"What? I didn't want to ask - but - are you seeing Mason again?" Jo asked.

"No. Well, we hooked up again- and that's all" Elena replied waving away with an insignificant huff.

"Right. Do you want me to say something about the non-engagement? It's all over the internet"

"No. Just leave it. It will blow over. Especially when they soon see him with Erin." Elena explained.

"Erin Lindsay? Seriously?" Jo now asked.

"A couple of days after our hook up I saw him with her all lovey at the same hotel." Elena said followed by a little sigh.

"Oh, sweety - you still thought that -"

"Yeah- I kind of thought that maybe the hook up would be - but things were over with us ages ago- I don't know why I thought that there - and I am not even in love with him really - anyway, enough of it."

"Where are you going?" the manager asked.

"Rome." Elena replied.

"Rome?" Jo was surprised.

"Yes. And I am going incognito. I got Francesca's keys to her apartment. I need to get away from everything and everyone. Take a week off- maybe two." Elena replied.

"Ok. I have something for you to read. Liv is still negotiating to get the rights to do a movie, but it's nearly in the bag and Tristan is very interested in producing this," Jo now got a book out of her bag, adding,"it's a historical thriller and you would be playing Angel, she is a 15th century librarian, who investigates a murder involving an ancient curse. The book was No.1 everywhere!"

Elena took the book and looked at it, muttering,"Elijah Smith?" and then turned the book around. The face on the back now made her heart jump.

"Interested? The book is really good - there are so many twists and turns - I could not put it down till I finished it. There is a very ambiguous cliffhanger at the end - and apparently there is going to be Burning Wings 2- Elena?"

"Ha? What?" Elena now snapped out of her momentary daze.

"Interested?"

"Yeah" Elena said breathing in a gulp.

Jo smiled a little, gathering why Elena got a tad bit taken in.

"He is such an eye-candy, right?"

"Yeah" Elena said and put the book down on the table.

"What's up?"

"Nothing," Elena replied, "ahm- I want to go shower and I think I will hit the bed."

"All right. I will see you at breakfast? Shall I rent- a- car for you?"

"Yes, please. Thanks, Jo. Sorry, I am just so wasted."- Elena now said rubbing her neck a bit.

"I know. Don't worry. Ok. See you in the morning." Jo said and then taking her bag from the chair left the actress's room.

As the door clicked on the way out, Elena now shot a look at the book, flashing back to the past.

Flashback

Ten years back

"May I?" Elijah asked politely for the seat on the bench.

"Yes" Elena said removing the books so the man could sit down.

"Maybe it appears odd that I want to sit here though the other bench over there is empty, but it's too exposed on the sun and it's such a great shade here under this oak" Elijah said as he sat down.

"Yeah- it's crazy hot today," Elena replied,"and it's only May"

Elijah's eyes now descended on one of the books - "Roman Tragedy", and then a guide book on Rome. "Ah, Rome - such a great city."

Elena now swayed her look from her book she was reading.

"Have you been there?"

"Yes, last summer. With my sister Rebekah and my brother Kol." Elijah replied.

"Rebekah is your sister?"

"Yes. I am here to meet her. And she specificly said - to be at the White Oak Tree. She is running late. You know her?" Elijah explained.

"We are in the play together." Elena replied.

"Oh, really? She didn't say anything about it. Is she any good?"

Elena nodded a little.

"Not that great, ha?"

"She is, and she could be excellent, but she seems not to care that much. Ok, I shouldn't saybanything really."

"Oh, you're ok. She is my sister and I love her, but I know what she is like. She excels only at things she really is passionate about, and if she is not - well, she can be superficial."

"Yeah" Elena slipped.

"She wants to be a designer, she told me and I saw some of her designs - and they are amazing. Her show is the evening. But I guess, you know that?!" Elena said.

"Yes, that's why I am here." Elijah now said.

He then saw Rebekah approaching and he stood up. And just before he went to his sister, he turned to the brunette, introducing himself, "I'm Elijah."

"I'm Elena." the woman said.

_to be continued

#elejah #elena gilbert #elijah mikaelson #alternative universe #tvd au #elena and elijah #tvd imagines #fanfiction #part 1 #love is in the air #book cover designed by me #aka elijah smith

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aerysamultifandom · 2 years

Text

𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝,𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

plot: Since you arrived to the court, you were hated for a reason you didn't know, you ignored it until somoene tried to kill you. he thought he sucess, but he didn't seem to know that you were more strong that you seemed to be.

Type: Angst/fluff

Warning: Blood, description of death

Characters:The family of the dragon.

Numbers of words: 4.1k

You were not old, you were 15 years old, at most when you had been sent to the royal court a few months ago by your father so that you would receive a good education that he had not been able to give you. No sooner had you been introduced to the royal family than you felt an unamitity on the part of the other persons of the court, especially the women. Why? Because you seemed to catch the eye of several young men in the royal family. Yet you paid no attention, taking their expressions of affection for friendship, but, it only made them closer to you, This angered many young women in court who had tried to seduce them in order to marry them to bring prestige to their home. This is what brought you into this unfortunate situation, you had done nothing wrong and yet, you were going to pay dearly for your arrival in court.

┊

You were running through the dungeon corridors in the middle of the night, trying to escape your attacker while trying to slow the flow of blood coming out of a wound on your left side. Your eyes saw blurred and the only thing on which your mind could focus was the pain, which, like electricity, seemed to spread through your body quickly. The man who was chasing you, was entering through the window of your room while you were getting ready to sleep, he had surprised you and, even before you understood what was going on, you had felt a strong pain, After that act, the only thing your brain could focus on was surviving. So you started running away from him but you knew that this chase would not last forever, you were losing more and more blood and it was becoming more and more difficult to put one foot after another. You walked into the first room you came across, before trying to hide from the man who seemed to want to kill you.

┊

"Don’t try to hide." the man’s icy voice reached your ears and you curled up in your hiding place, you were too young to die, you still had a lot to do. What would your father say when he finds out you’re dead? and your friends? Aemond, Jacarhys and Lucerys will be sad, that’s for sure, but you doubted that you deserved their sadness, you were only there for 6 months. They couldn’t have become so attached to you, could they? When you heard a noise near where you were, you suddenly returned to reality and began to tremble, you were going to die. The fear paralyzed you when the man pushed the furniture you were hiding behind, and you felt a sudden pain before everything turned black before your eyes. The man stood in front of your inanimate body before leaving the room, leaving the knife on the floor, he had a smile on his face, and, proud as he was, he only wanted one thing, his money.

┊

But the man had not been very intelligent, indeed, he had not bothered to read the information that the commendators of the murder had given him, otherwise he would have known that you were very appreciated by the royal family. I mean, that’s another point, for now, let’s go back to you. When you woke up, you were always lying in the same room where you took refuge last night, the pain was still there and the only thing that came to your mind was to run away, you couldn’t stay there, Otherwise, he’d come back and you’d die for good this time. You got up as best as you could and limped in the dark halls, reaching the stable where you climbed on a horse already saddled. It wasn’t long before you galloped through the city gates, where were you going? You didn’t know it yet, but you knew you had to run away.

┊

What you didn’t know was that your room covered in blood had been discovered by a servant who was eager to run to the nearest royal apartments where the young servant knocked on the door frantically. When the door of the apartment finally opened, this was Rhaenyra who had to welcome the panicking maid who seemed unable to say two words in a row because of her panic. The heiress of the throne had her sit on her bed to try to calm her as best she could, it took some time but she succeeded. What’s going on to make you panic so much?" asked Rhaenyra gently to the young maid who although she seemed to calm down, she remained nervous. "Lady’s room y/n… There’s blood everywhere and she’s nowhere to be found, I’m afraid something will happen to her" the servant spoke in a nervous voice and suddenly, Rhaenyra’s expression changed, she seemed to panic too, even though she seemed to handle her emotions better.

┊

"Thank you for warning me, I’ll go right now, tell the other members of the royal family to join me. But don’t warn Aemond, Haelena, Jacarys, Aegon and Lucerys, understand?" Rhaenyra spoke quickly, taking the young woman by the shoulders. The servant shook her head quickly before turning her heels and leaving the room to warn the rest of the royal family. For her part, Rhaenyra also went out to go to your room, fortunately, he was still early and the sun was not rising so she met no one in the corridors except some servants who were raised earlier than usual. When she finally reached your room, she stopped by the door for a moment, her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. She had already seen blood, that’s not the problem, what was causing her was knowing that it was yours. Even if the heiress of the throne didn’t show it, she was fond of you.

┊

She was soon joined by Queen Alicent, her father and uncle, who were all somewhat upset that they had been awakened for something they were not told the reason for. The princess quickly explained to them what the servant had told her and why she had asked them to come here. All showed an intrigued and shocked expression, of course, for obvious reasons, this was Daemon who came first into your room, and, hardly had he set foot in your room that a horrible smell was felt. the smell of blood, the scene before his eyes was astounding, he seemed to have had a fight in that room, the duvet was ripped open, the mumps had fallen to the ground and were soaked with blood. Your personal belongings were also on the ground, as well as some books that Jacarhys had lent you. You seemed to have defended yourself for your life, but there was too much blood for anyone to think you had a chance to survive. He came out of the room with a calm step before inviting the others into the room, it took courage for Alicent not to vomit when she saw the amount of red on the floor and on the sheets.

┊

The woman turned to the other people in the room, all seemed suprised, some disgusted. Alicent cleared his throat before speaking softly "We…we must find the body" her words hid the horrible truth that no one dared to say." I doubt that we will find a body, the killers often recover it as proof that they did their mission" Daemon spoke, looking up at her. Alicent understood at that moment that no tribute can be paid to you, except by words, they will have nothing to console themselves. So they all left your room one after the other, each one went silently to their room. Just Alicent as Rhaenyra knew that she could not long hide your death from their children, indeed, you used to spend your days together, and you were one of the few people who could make Aemond smile, to his mother’s delight. I mean, as a mother, Alicent had to tell her son.

┊

When Aemond came out of his room, his mother was waiting for him and the young man frowned when he saw his mother’s sad expression. "What’s going on, mother? Are you all right?" The redheaded woman shook her head, and took her son’s hands in hers. " Something happened to y/n, please, before you panic, listen to what I have to say." said Alicent quickly as she saw her son start to panic, she started talking again as the young man opened his mouth to talk. His room is in a horrible state, there’s blood everywhere. "According to your uncle, someone was sent to…kill y/n, however, she didn’t survive, I’m sorry Aemond." Her face took on a softer expression when she saw that her son had understood what she was saying. With a maternal instinct, she came to hold her son against her even if he did not seem capable of crying, too shocked to answer. Nevertheless, after a few moments, the queen felt her son’s tears wet her neck. She thus remained for a period of time that no one could define.

┊

Everything was fuzzy in the blond prince’s head, how could you be dead? That wasn’t true? A lie. Last night, when you said good night to him, he had to hold you back, tell you to stay with him for the night but he didn’t have the courage, he regretted not forcing him to stay, not holding you back while he watched you go towards your room. And now you were dead. He regretted, but he could do nothing but hope that your death was not violent. As he cried against his mother, he hoped that the memories of you, which he had in his head, would not disappear too quickly, that he would not forget the sound of your voice. He thought about that time when you forced him to take a walk in the woods, pretending it would do him good to see something other than the walls of the dungeon. You had both spent the afternoon, chasing after you like children, you had even made wreaths of flowers for each other. But you were gone, he would never relive moments of joy like this again. Plunged into a sadness that seemed endless, he closed his eyes and let this memory appear before his eyes again and again.

┊

A similar scene was happening in one of the neighboring rooms, between Rhaenyra and her boys, except that Lycerys did not want to admit your death, it could not be true, what would happen now? Who would he be spending his days with now? It was thanks to the calm words of his older brother that the young man admitted your death, even if he did not like it. It was a dark day for the Targaryans, all the flags of the royal family were lowered and this worried the people, who of the powerful family of the dragon had died? They had no answer to this but the atmosphere inside the Red Keep was gloomy, where a few days earlier your laughter could be heard, there was only silence, there were no more people helping the servants in their tasks, The smile on Aemond’s face was no longer there, and the young princes were struggling to comfort themselves by spending the day together, telling stories about you.

┊

Stories like when you managed to go out at night to see the dragons because you could not sleep and the princes had accompanied you because, a lady should not go out alone during the night, it can be dangerous for her. You had to roll your eyes before you went ahead and say the last one that came in was a lannister, yeah, you didn’t hold this family in high esteem. But it had made the boys laugh, and they were eager to let you go, and in the end you were the last to arrive, complaining that it was because they were taller and older than you. Aemond was content to laugh gently with a friendly gesture before you returned to the dragon stable. An interesting fact about the family dragons was that they seemed to like you very much, like their master. When you arrived, you were greeted by the grunts of the winged cattle who seemed happy to see you, of course, you spent the night at their side until you fell asleep. When Rhaenyra and Alicent, panicked at not having found you or their children when they woke up, they found you huddled against each other and did not have the will to scold you. They just woke you up and you made up an apology before she assured you everything would be okay, that it wasn’t a big deal.

┊

It was still necessary to organize a funeral and make public your death before trying to find the one who had killed you. It was a few days later, a few miles from the city, that your belongings, what was left of you, were ignited by the mighty fire of Caraxes, the royal family knew that the mighty dragon, which many considered odd, was your favorite, and, From the day you arrived in the Dungeon, Daemon would occasionally ask you to fly with him to Caraxes. Other times, it was Syrax and Rhaenyra who brought you in. I mean, now you were gone and they had to try to move on, knowing that you would live in their hearts until they died. The first moIs were difficult for the whole family, especially the princes, who, despite the advances of the court ladies, refused them all, people said that with your death, their hearts were also dead. Their family helped them as best they could but they admitted that they had to continue to live, despite your death, that they should not let themselves be slaughtered and that they had to get up.

┊

As the months passed, you stayed with your father, you arrived on a cold, unconscious morning on your horse. Quickly, you had been treated but you remained for many months in your bed, unable to get up, in addition to the nightmares that the event had caused you. But little by little, you started to get better, you could start walking again and it didn’t take long for you to get back on the horse. Yet, you didn’t want to go back to the Red Dungeon for fear that your killer would still be there, if he tried once, why wouldn’t he do it again? Your father had informed you that he had received a letter from the royal family announcing your death and asking him to join them for your funeral, but the man did not come and stood by your side. Your father feared that something would happen to you again and you asked to stay with him for a while longer, and you accepted. But Aemon was starting to miss you and the days were getting long at your father’s castle, and you couldn’t stand to be locked up here. One evening, you came to tell your father that you would leave the next morning and the man simply shook his head with an amused air. "Be careful y/n , I can’t bear to receive a second letter informing me of your death, real this time"

┊

This was how you got on your horse and greeted your father in the early morning the next day. You never galloped your horse as fast as the night you ran away from being hurt. You hated to go back to the Dungeon and the trip took you several weeks even if in reality it was only a few days. As you approached the city, you could see the Red Keep in the distance and your heart began to beat faster. How would they react? You were supposed to be dead, but you were going to be in front of them. Aemond, you were going to see him again and it filled your heart with joy and, at the same time, it made you more and more stressed. Faster than you’d like, you’d go back into town and the Keep would get closer and closer. You slow down your horse before you enter the stables and you put your hood on your face, to make sure you’re not recognized by the waiters you knew and who might know who you are.

┊

You were slowly entering the dungeon, it was strange for you to come back here after so much time. Trembling, you continued to advance in the dark corridors, you wanted to cross one of the Targaryen and tell them that you were back, that this man had not killed you, that you had not died. You walked a few more meters before you suddenly stopped, you had just seen him. Aemond was there, but he seemed not to be well, as if he had not slept for long. His uncle was with him and the two men seemed to be in an important discussion about, you not knowing what. and they walked in your direction, you had two choices. Either you would pass by without turning around and maybe miss a chance to tell him you were there, or you would intercept them and awaken your presence. You waited silently for them to pass in front of you and you reached out your hand to grab the blond prince’s arm which appealed to him. "What are you doing?!" he spoke in an exasperated voice as he removed his arm from your grip.

┊

The tone of his voice and his look made you a little frightened but you knew you had to do it quickly and before he could ask you to answer him, you lowered your hood, revealing your face. The two blond men suddenly became livid, you could understand, they certainly thought they were in front of a ghost. You only smiled a little while they were waiting for one of them to speak, but they seemed to be made of stone, neither of them reacted until a time lapse. You looked down, moaned, but you were surprised to feel Aemond’s arms around you as he stood against you, and he came to bury his head in your neck and whispered, "I don’t care if you’re just an illusion, I’m glad to see you. I missed you, maybe I’m going crazy, but it doesn’t matter, you’re here" you smiled softly as you came to stroke his hair hesitantly, and Daemon continued to look at you, always so surprised. When Aemond finally receded, the one whom you considered your uncle approached you and came to hug you too, and you realized that you had found a family within the royal court. And you stayed in his arms, too, until he steps back, Aemond’s eyes were wet, as if he were about to cry as he was looking to you.

┊

The king’s brother, as if he could feel the tension between the two of you, quickly moved away, you didn’t know if he just wanted to leave you both or if he was going to warn the rest of the royal family. It didn’t matter to you, as long as you were with Aemond, you didn’t want to break that magical moment between you two. The blond man did not seem to believe that you were alive, he came to put his hand on your cheek, in a way so sweet that he seemed to be afraid that you were made of porcelain.You smiled tenderly, you had missed him, his smile too, He was certainly the prince you loved most and you couldn’t doubt your feelings, you loved him, but did he love you too? it was not sure. Then he leaned towards you and his lips rubbed against yours, you don’t know if it was because of the moment , but you answered his kiss and kissed him, pressing your lips against his. What surprised you is the passion this kiss seemed to have, as if Aemond had been waiting for you for years to get this kiss.

┊

As lips leaved yours, he smiled gently at you, you knew he wanted to say more and, as you wanted to start talking, you were interrupted when you saw Jacarhys and Lucerys running towards you, the two rushing towards you, And if Aemond had not held you back, you would have fallen, but the prince held you by the shoulders. "Where have you been? Why did you leave?" the two princes asked with one voice, they didn’t seem surprised to see you standing in front of them, despite the fact that you were declared dead. "It’s a bit long to explain…" you said in a hesitant voice. "Mom will be so happy to see you! she missed you a lot, you know!" said Lucerys in a joyful voice, you shook your head quickly but before the two boys could tell you anything else, Aemond intervened. "I think y/n is tired from her trip and would like to rest, she can see your mother at dinner." The man’s voice was calm but firm, leaving the two boys no choice but to greet you before running away. You thanked him quickly before he took your hand in his to guide you. "Your room stayed as you knew it, no one’s slept in it since you left."

┊

"Really? I’m glad to know that despite my "death" no one came here, you know how much I care about this room," you told him smiling as you pushed the door of your room. The first thing that surprised you was to see everything intact and that nothing had changed, as Aemond had promised you. You came to lie on the bed with a sigh of contentment, you were at home now, you had found your room and those you considered your family. "Don’t fall asleep, you have to attend the dinner, I think Alicent and Rhaenyra will have a lot of questions to ask you" Aemond said coming to sit on the bed next to you. You think they’ll ask me to tell you what happened that night?" you asked him, while you were still lying on your bed, with your eyes closed. Not right away, they’ll ask you where you’ve been, why you left." He tells you when he comes to take your hand in his hand, smiling tenderly at you, if he didn’t have dinner, Aemond would have spent the night hugging you, staying by your side, to make sure you won’t disappear so soon.

┊

But the responsibilities came first and the man helped you pick up a dress for dinner and was pleasantly surprised to see that you had finally chosen the green dress he had advised you to wear. He offered you his arm so that you would take it before heading to the dining room with a smile still in your face. You walked through the door that you felt everyone looking at you, most of them were surprised that you were there, but they all got up to greet you warmly and ask you how you were doing, and that sort of thing. The dinner went wonderfully and you answered the various questions, you told what had happened to you and Daemon assured you that the one who had attempted your life was no longer of this world and it was the same for those who had ordered the murder. After the dinner which lasted a long part of the night, you did not return alone to your room, but accompanied by Aemond who could thus show you all the passion and desire that he had for you.

┊

The months that followed were filled with joy for you, the royal family approved the relationship you had with Aemond and it was not long before you married him. The marriage was splendid, just like the wedding night, which, some months later, allowed the birth of twins, two boys, then came a girl the following year, so your life continued, in joy and this sad event disappeared soon from your mind.

Taglist:@joygirlmelii@tetgod@omgsuperstarg

So! i'm back with this new imagine, I hope you enjoyed it ! I whish you a happy new year and see you next weeks guys. and if you want to be in the taglist, tell me in comments

#Targaryen family #princess rhaenyra #aemond x fem!oc #aemond x reader #house of the dragon #hotd viserys #daemon targaryen x reader

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rum-punches · 2 months

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— WE CAN DRIVE IT HOME WITH ONE HEADLIGHT.

( manny jacinto. thirty-five. cis male. he/him ) benicio “ben” cristóbal muñoz has been spotted around the neighborhood, i think they’re a bartender at echelon. i heard from a friend of a friend that they’re gumptious, forthright & cold, non-committal. it’s no wonder they’ve made it this far in the city, they’ve been here for their whole life. now that i get a good look at them they kinda’ remind me of 1979 by smashing pumpkins. ( guppy. twenty-two. she/her. mst. )

— BASIC STATS

name: benicio "ben" cristóbal muñoz

age: 35 (b. january 5th, 1962)

location: new york city, new york, u.s.a.

traits: enigmatic, gumptious, forthright, non-committal, cold, stoic

— BACKSTORY

ben is a long islander. his parents were immigrants from manila in the 1950s, they settled down in massapequa and had him in 1962. he is an only child which heavily factors into the way that he acts (inability to share, highly competitive, expects respect). he also grew up as a catholic, and went through the whole process of first communion, confirmation, and being an altar boy through high school. he refuses to really talk about his upbringing because it is not the cool, mysterious backstory that he wishes he could present to the world.

as soon as he was a legal adult, he wanted a fresh start. it was '80s, the drinking age in new york was still eighteen, and he was sick of the cookie-cutter suburbs, and wanted to do something bigger and better with his life. he moved to a shitty little apartment above a pizza joint (you won't regret a slice from pasquino's at three in the morning), and started barbacking at infierno. it was his first "real" job after having summer gigs through high school slinging an ice cream scoop.

within the first two years at infierno, he worked his way up from barback to bartender, quickly picking up skills wherever he had a shot at upward mobility. he continued on that path for the next FIFTEEN years! ben became the head bartender for infierno, and was a kind face to some regulars, to others he was a hard-ass with a penchant for giving newbies a hard time.

ben stayed in his shitty little apartment putting away the money he made over the years towards some big, secret project. to this day, his friends make a game of guessing what the hell he's working on, and he just shakes his head with a sigh and a smug little smirk (is it a boat? a pilot's license? a house in los angeles? stay tuned!). a stray cat eventually became his, and he became hers. named meatball for her tortoise brown coloring, and what he fed her from pasquino's spot downstairs.

with the opening of echelon, ben, depending on who you speak to, was either poached by or defected to the new restaurant from infierno. this was a bittersweet move, out of his position of head bartender but for a better paycheck and the prestige of a new culinary hot-spot.

all you need to know is that happy hour ended at 7pm, and yes it costs extra for a double even when you bat those long, luscious eyelashes at him.

did i base a character off of a single instagram reel? yes, yes i did.

— PLOTTING CONCEPTS

i often prefer chemistry just through writing together, but here are some ideas to get started:

former infierno coworkers who are pissed at him jumping ship.

regulars following him from infierno to echelon.

meatball caretaker for when he goes out of town.

#ehq.intro #—* conversation #—* musing #—* radio #—* mirror

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alolanlan · 1 year

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ideas for a mdzs ATLA au

- the Lan as the air nomads except instead of a flowy, go-wherever lifestyle, they have rules to keep them “tethered to the earth”. the lan forehead ribbons work in the same way, with them only releasing their earthly tie to the one who they can trust to bring them back - spouse and family. the colors would swap to the typical cloud recesses colors instead of yellow, orange, and dark red.

- the Nie and Jin taking up the earth kingdom. ba sing se could be where the jins have walled themselves in to protect themselves from the war, while the rest can be nie territory.

- the Jiang as the water tribe except instead of replacing the north and south pole tribes, they replace the swampbenders. so yk how the tribes at the poles are seen as the main waterbending groups while swampbenders are seen as a subculture hidden away in the earth kingdom? yeah, switch the status of the groups. the Jiang sect can live in Lotus Pier and have the combined prestige as the canon north and south waterbending tribes and while there are waterbending tribes at the poles, they’re isolated and closed off from the rest of the world (intentionally; im thinking baoshan sanren is the leader of the southern water tribe in this au).

- the Wen as the Fire Nation, obv. that’s pretty much all I have to say.

- Cangse Sanren was the last avatar. Baoshan Sanren took her in to the Southern Water Tribe after finding Cangse living on the streets of an earth kingdom port city. Cangse Sanren was trained in waterbending first, then traveled around the world to master other forms of bending. She’s taught airbending by the Lans, earthbending by the Nie, and learns waterbending by the Jiangs (and falls in love with a nonbender Jiang sect servant, Wei Changze, in the process).

- Wei Wuxian is born a waterbender. When his parents die in a hunt for a resentful spirit, he grows up on the streets. He’s eventually found and taken in by the Jiang sect to teach him waterbending.

- Jiang Yanli is a nonbender and Jiang Cheng is a waterbender. Instead of becoming a whip, Zidian could send an electric charge thru the water and make his water whip extra dangerous?? idk if that would work scientifically but it would be neat

- Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen are airbenders that channel their bending thru musical instruments

- Nie Mingjue is the general of the earthbending army and he sends Nie Huaisang to the island of Kyoshi to keep him safe, unaware he’d become a Kyoshi Warrior (i think they’d make an exception for him gender wise??)

- Wen Qing is a nonbender in the Wen sect that found a new way of healing that focuses on chi points, similar to how waterbending healing works but using acupuncture needles instead. Wen Ning is a rather weak firebender but his aim with a bow and arrow is amazing

- the Jin are either a clan of metalbenders or nonbenders. Jin Zixuan and Meng Yao would both be nonbenders i think.

- anyway, onto the plot.

- the cloud recesses arc is pretty much the same except everyone is there to learn more about airbending culture and spirituality and see how it can be applied to their own bending.

- just like in mdzs canon, the Wen end up attacking the Lan sect first and it’s devastating. not to the point of total genocide like in atla canon, but a shit ton of people die. Lan Xichen flees with ancient airbending scrolls and Lan Wangji is captured at the temple he��d been defending.

- Xuanwu of slaughter is a rlly angry spirit creature kept prisoner in a cave, wangxian once again defeat it

- Lotus Pier is burned but there are more survivors considering they have waterbending to put out the fires. Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan are both killed in direct combat with the Wens and Jiang Cheng gets his bending taken away by Wen Zhuliu (a bloodbender like Amon in tlok that can block people’s bending abilities).

- Wen Qing and Wen Ning help the Yunmeng sibs escape Lotus Pier but there’s nothing anyone can do to help him. Wen Qing puts him in a medically induced coma to keep him from putting strain on his injuries but then she and her brother have to go, leaving Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian. When they hear Wen Chao is hunting them down, Wei Wuxian takes off to lead them away but is running on fumes to the point where he gets captured. Jiang Yanli, meanwhile, takes her brother to the Golden Carp Tower in Ba Sing Se, where her connections allow them to take refuge.

- He’s thrown in the Burial Mounds, a place where resentful spirits roam freely, devouring anyone who dares step foot in their territory. He spends a few days hiding for his life before he’s discovered by a spirit.

- the spirit looks deep into his heart and sees that all he truly desires is to help Jiang Cheng and everyone else. the spirit takes pity on him and makes an offer: it will teach him the bending technique needed to help his brother, but in return he has to gift the spirit his ability to waterbend normally. he accepts and the spirit teaches him bloodbending.

- through the spirit’s teachings, Wei Wuxian is able to master the art of bloodbending (Wen Zhuliu is a bloodbender already, but he’s no master). The cost, however, is high - bloodbending deteriorates the bender’s mind, body, and spirit and if he’s not careful it will consume him.

- three months after being thrown in, he leaves the Burial Mounds. first thing he does is find Jiang Cheng in Ba Sing Se and use his bloodbending to unblock his waterbending. he leaves before Jiang Cheng wakes up or Jiang Yanli spots him and the return of JC’s bending is seen as a miracle.

- Anyway. Sunshot Campaign happens!! Wei Wuxian is a BAMF that controls the blood in recently dead bodies to create a zombie army! Lan Wangji is Concerned but also uncomfortably turned on! Meng Yao goes undercover and kills Wen Ruohan!

- to be continued. probably

#mdzs #mdzs au #mdzs fanfic idea #atla au #bloodbender wei wuxian #waterbender jiang cheng #airbender lan wangji #mdzs atla au

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allthatglittersisnotgoldrush · 4 months

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The Road So Far: A Brief Summary of the Gold Rush AU (Part I, by TolkienGirl)

Recently a reader brought to our attention the need for a succinct narrative summary of the events of the AU. In addition to compiling that (please see Part I, covering the "pre-series" timeline through Maedhros' capture), we refer you to our Wordpress, which includes a timeline and an organization of our first four "Series"... that is, the order of chapter fics and one-shots, vignettes and flashbacks etc., into plot arcs that could roughly provide the basis for "All That Glitters," the prestige TV show.

EVENTS OCCURING PRE-1851

[Stories detailing these events are sprinkled throughout the chronological timeline]

The pre-canon timeline begins in the late 1700s/early 1800s when Finwe, a talented metalworker, emigrates from Ireland, settles in Philadelphia to work in the steel-business, and marries Miriel (whose mental and physical health are precarious). Feanor is born in 1807, when Miriel dies in childbirth. Finwe, a Catholic, marries Indis, an Anglican woman (whose family disapproves of the match) in 1808. Thereafter, Fingolfin (1809) and Finarfin (1810) are born.

When Feanor is going on eighteen, Finwe relocates to New York, where Manwe Sulimo is a rising politician. Finwe is interested in locally representing Irish interests. Feanor is apprenticed in Boston to Aule, a blacksmith, and meets Nerdanel (b. 1809), then a lonely girl in finishing school.

They are married in 1827, despite the disapproval of Nerdanel’s Scottish father (Mahtan), settle in the Hudson Valley on Formenos farm, and have seven sons: Maedhros (b. 1828), Maglor (b. 1829), Celegorm (b. 1832), Caranthir (b. 1835), Curufin (b. 1836), and twins Amrod and Amras (b. 1837).

Meanwhile, Finarfin elopes with Earwen in Ulmo’s Bridge (Missouri) in 1828, temporarily earning Finwe’s disapproval. Finrod is born in 1829, Angrod in 1833, Aegnor in 1834, and Galadriel in 1836.

Fingolfin marries Anaire (of French descent) in NYC in 1830. Fingon is born in 1831, Turgon in 1833, Aredhel in 1834, and Argon in 1837.

In 1832, Manwe’s older brother Melkor Bauglir (who inherited the family plantation in the antebellum South) visits New York, taking an interest in influencing politics. At a dinner hosted by Manwe, Finwe and Feanor encounter Melkor, and Feanor (being an abolitionist, naturally) helps Melkor’s slave Rumil, an accomplished mapmaker, escape.

Following his encounter with Melkor, Feanor’s paranoia increases, which leads him to be stricter with his children (especially Maedhros) and to secretly abuse Maedhros as a way of trying to teach him to endure pain. When Nerdanel discovers this, she puts a stop to it, but Maedhros develops an early understanding that he is to serve as a protector of his family, including his father, if need be.

In 1835, Finwe is elected to City Council in New York. In 1837, Feanor buys an additional home in the City to keep tabs on his half-family. In 1841, Rumil, who has relocated to California, has met a land-holder and cattle-rancher, Elu Thingol (a Spaniard, married to a Chinese woman, Melian). Rumil and Thingol have negotiated for Rumil to take over a property called Mithrim, which contains a diamond mine that Rumil thinks Feanor would be best able to help access and harvest. Feanor conducts a secret mission to California, reconnecting with Rumil, building the Mithrim bridge, and finding a large diamond. Suspicious of Feanor’s activity, Melkor visits Formenos in April (shortly after Feanor’s departure) and takes an interest in 13-year-old Maedhros. Without Feanor to manage the farm or provide for the family, Nerdanel and the boys endure a hard winter. Maedhros begins to develop a tendency towards disturbing premonitions.

Feanor returns in 1842, gifting the diamond to Finwe. Melkor, intrigued by the happenings out west, visits Doriath but is turned away after showing lecherous attentions to 13-year-old Luthien. He begins to explore the continental U.S. more broadly, and, in doing business with a former nautical mapmaker, takes an interest in his 18-year-old daughter Estrela (Arien). After Estrela refuses his proposal of marriage, Melkor has his protégé Mairon capture and torture her. Renamed “Belle,” she is then enslaved as part of a workforce that Melkor uses to advance his westward projects, supervised by a former plantation overseer of his, Cosomoco Gothmog.

In 1843, Morgoth’s steel manufacturing enterprise (one of his eastern ventures) is found to be corrupt and rife with worker abuse. He is recalled from his western travels and sanctioned. He is confined to house arrest rather than being imprisoned. Meanwhile, Feanor sends Maedhros and Maglor to be educated in the city, though he chooses not to send any of the younger boys, which negatively contributes to Celegorm’s self-perception. For the next several years, Maedhros struggles against the temptations of high society while Maglor begins a promising musical education/career. There is increasing unrest between Feanor and his half-family, but Fingon and Maedhros form a very strong mutual friendship.

In 1847, Finwe retires from City Council (with a ceili/party at Formenos). Maedhros meets Finrod’s friend Esther Landau, a young Jewish woman. Feanor and Finwe intend to have Maedhros fill Finwe’s seat on City Council, while Maedhros is more interested in proposing to Esther. In the end, neither event comes to pass: at the end of 1848, Maedhros rejects his grandfather and father’s plans, quarrels with Feanor, and privately breaks off his relationship with Esther without ever introducing her to his family. Just before this, Finrod departs on a solo western adventure.

Meanwhile, Melkor has been quietly released from his imprisonment. In addition to his frontier developments, which he has been remotely managing, he now advises Manwe and other council members. Feanor is aware enough of this to wish for Maedhros to help him investigate Melkor’s doings. By 1849, Maedhros has sunk into a debauched lifestyle, which Fingon (studying to be a doctor under Olorin the physician) is largely unaware of but which Fingolfin notices and is dismayed by. Increasingly paranoid, Feanor threatens Fingolfin’s life after a tense spring and growing conflicts. This creates a rift between Fingon and Maedhros for a time.

In 1850, Melkor has Finwe murdered on the front steps of his home and steals the diamond. Feanor is convinced that Melkor had a hand in the murder, but is unable to completely convince Fingolfin. Maedhros and Fingon reconcile to an increased degree, although both still feel uncertain.

EVENTS OCCURRING 1851 – mid-1852 (“SERIES ONE”)

The timeline for the story officially begins in 1851, in New York. Finrod has recently returned from his western exploration, during which he befriended Beren, whose (now-extinct) tribe is indigenous to the Pacific Northwest, and who, some years before, met and fell in love with Luthien in Doriath. Still unable to seek justice for Finwe’s death, Feanor now wishes to move out west and join Rumil at Fort Mithrim. Feanor and Maedhros gain information from Finrod about the gold prospects in California.

Manwe selects Melkor as the spearhead of the western railroad expansion. Disgusted by this assignment of power, Fingolfin agrees to join Feanor in relocating. Finrod intends to go as well. Finarfin and the rest of his family stays behind, but Galadriel (Artanis) secretly stows away with Fingolfin’s train. Feanor, who is leaving first, has been entrusted with the money to procure wagons at Ulmo’s Bridge in Missouri, where Finarfin’s father-in-law Olwe lives. Nerdanel initially opposes the plan to go west, but is persuaded by the inevitable.

On the road, Feanor and his family encounter Gothmog, who taunts them with Melkor’s rising power and the diamond taken from Finwe’s body. Gothmog injures Nerdanel, which increases Feanor’s resolve to move quickly and trust nobody. In early July 1851, Feanor double-crosses Fingolfin and the townspeople at Ulmo’s Bridge, stealing enough wagons for himself and destroying the res, then killing a number of the town’s militia. He then escapes by burning the titular bridge behind them, knocking Maedhros unconscious when he (Maedhros) refuses to cooperate. Nerdanel, having refused to join in this plan, remains behind.

Now wanted, Feanor, Maedhros, and the other boys continue west, collecting new allies along the way, largely through Maedhros’ recruiting efforts. Celegorm engages in a skirmish that ends with a man being killed and a new manhunt being launched. Maedhros also barters sex for information with a string of barmaids and prostitutes along the way, including Melkor’s spy Thuringwethil, who assaults and scars him by way of claiming a “trophy” for Bauglir.

Rumil tries and fails to communicate to Feanor that increased hostility in the vicinity of Mithrim means it is no longer a safe place for them to join forces. Mairon has insinuated himself as a spy within Mithrim, for a time, and then massacred several of Rumil’s best men. An increased number of militia-men of unknown allegiance are also patrolling the countryside and harassing Mithrim’s inhabitants (who include natives tribespeople and former slaves).

Meanwhile, Fingolfin and his family arrive at Ulmo’s Bridge to find themselves betrayed. After seeing Nerdanel, who intends to return east to Indis, Fingolfin chooses to advance his course with a northward river-crossing. Turgon’s wife Elenwe gives birth to their daughter Idril on the trail, which causes the family as a whole to stop for a time (as autumn closes in). After leaving Elenwe and Idril with a settler family, Fingolfin’s company continues onward. They encounter a posse seeking to revenge Celegorm’s kill, which results in Argon’s death. Fingolfin’s company flees farther north and is caught in a Nebraska blizzard which takes Anaire’s life. While the rest starve, snowbound, they are rescued by Haleth (a native leader who works cooperatively with Thingol, and, unbeknownst to Thingol, with Beren) and her company, which includes Beren and Wachiwi, another native woman who forms a close relationship with Fingon.

Shortly before arriving in Mithrim (between Christmas and New Year’s 1852), Feanor and company encounter Mairon spying on them. After being taunted and questioned by Maedhros, he escapes.

At Mithrim, Rumil is somewhat reluctant to assimilate Feanor’s company. It is revealed that Feanor’s interventions in Mithrim’s development a decade past led to a falling out with Thingol of Doriath, specifically with respect to the diamond mine and the diamond that Feanor gave Finwe. Feanor returns to mining, and also begins to launch attacks on the railroad. Maedhros and Celegorm, on an exploratory mission, discover that the nearby Mount Diablo is being excavated.

Amid growing tensions within Mithrim in the late spring of 1852, Amrod decides to write to Nerdanel. Rumil attempts to mail the letter for him, but returns seriously injured/poisoned. Amrod then rides out himself. Urged by Maedhros and Amras, Feanor and his sons go to find him, but end up embroiled in a standoff with Gothmog at the Utumno headquarters of the railroad project. Feanor is mortally wounded by Gothmog. Maedhros leads the return to Mithrim, but after Feanor dies, rides out without his brothers to attempt to track Amrod down. Mairon and then Gothmog surround and capture Maedhros. Gothmog reveals that Amrod’s horse slipped down a riverbank, and he is presumed dead.

Maedhros is delivered to Melkor in “Angband,” the fortress built within “Thangorodrim” (Mount Diablo).

#gold rush au #the silmarillion #maedhros #feanor #fingon #fingolfin #fanfic #housekeeping #summary

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redswaberkez · 10 months

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TELL ME ABOUT ERLICH PLEASE, i thought about just replying to your reply on my post, but i figure an ask is better for this kind of request >:)

OOOOFFFFF cultural oc exchange ehehehe

disclaimer: my ocs lore is hellaaaaa messy and unstable. Nobody knows their story. Me neither LMAOO. So i perfer to look at the story like at rpg game with diff endings and stuff like that

Ok lesssgoo

FIRST his name pronunciation IS A FUCKING MESS. Everyone struggling with it: and in the ocs story and in real life. By design Erlich's name is pronounced with ch on the end like küche. Now we can go on. He is from Germany, yeah

The setting is in 2060-2099 i.e. basic the nearest cyberpunk to us. Where its always raining, anti-utopian, where you live in a Big City but in a ditch eating ants drinking benzin and etc etc. you got it.

Erlich's early life was neither tough nor easy. On the edge between living and surviving. His mother (name's Agnia) is a scientist, so he spent most of his time in labs and watching how "progress being created" or at home, where he tried to create his own silly little machines and mechanisms. Maybe hes schizospec. Maybe im just projecting my shit onto him (yea i do). We Will Never Know KDSLJFLSDFJ

Ofc his mechanic skills was not that bad for someone who just graduated from school (17-18 yrs). *blah-blah* and ofc later corpos will notice Erlich and his mech skills (not w/o mothers help tho). "Wow, succeeded in life, working in a prestige corp, and not fucking around in the junk" seems fair for cyberpunk setting imo

time flies, Erlich now is 23-26 yrs, THEN BOOM 💥💥💥💥 the main introduction plot. Big Corporate Boss assault, corporation collapse, OFC BRAINWASHING, massive staff reduction (he and his mother werent fired, they are valuable personnel).

What the assault you say? How it affected him? He was one of the main gears in the assaultion, with Agnia in the lead of it. Erlich even installed spinal augmentation and evolved from twink to himbo for this measures. Assault was done with the precision of a jeweler in the most chaotic situation. Only few knew that it was caused by them. And nobody knew it was Agnia's mindgame and brainchild.

What the brainwashing??? 'ignorance is bliss' - Agnia thought and decided not to burden Erlich with knowledge of what they had done. So he can live his life without endless regret. She had her motive

(i support women's wrongs tho. nobody is perfect or only good or evil.)

Few days after the assault he meets Mirrow in the medical bay. She was a bodyguard of one buisnesswoman (doesnt matter for the lore anymore). Mirrow was seriously injured and lost her arms while protecting The Lady. Erlich and Agnia saved her, bc Mirrow basically innocent and they didn't need extra sacrifices. So they saved her, installed new arms for her and while she was being rehabilitated, she became very friendly with Erlich (clueless and brainwashed) and said that she would like to find the person responsible for the assault. Now Mirrow attracted Agnia's attention and she decided to keep Mirrow in her line of sight.

Then the long separation of Erlich (to finland to russia) from Agnia (to america) due to corpos collapse. And reunion later to find the "the evil one in the charge".

(LITERALLY HIIIM)

Agnia's mindgames arent over yet (unfortunately) and now she needs to remove the trace from herself by "leading the capture of the culprit". and here comes rpg-ish quests and etc

Erlich knows that he somehow involved in the assault but he doesnt remember ANYTHING. And he blames himself for it. Real hard. Thinks, that he useless

Later he secretly tries to create the machine that "will help retrieve the hidden memories". Everyone was stopping him from its creation but ykno.) Overvaluated idea)

Running its tests was frying his (already once fried) mind. And at one moment it just gives a power surge, and Erlich remembers everything for a moment, but burns out and dies. BIG UNLUCKY REST IN PEPE

#original character #ask #oc: erlich ronthertz

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teecupangel · 2 years

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I don't know if you know anything about ASOIAF, but I have a crossover idea with it and AC. Post Eye, Desmond ends up in the ASOIAF world, and ends up in one of the free cities and using his skills and eagle vision to get gold and have a place to stay while learning the language - when he sees two children glowing gold with importance. The boy is normal gold - but the girl is BLINDING. Its Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen, and Viserys is selling his mother's crown (the moment the last joy went out of him and he fell to madness). Desmond sees this merchant taking advantage of these two starving children by buying the crown for way less then it's worth and interrupts and gives them money and has them keep the crown, and also takes them in. Desmond now has two kids/new assassin recruits, and Vis and Dany get a parental figure who won't betray them or die to assassin's sent by Robert Baratheon, the Usurper, and teaches Dany self defence and Viaerys not to be an insane abusive asshole.

So, full disclosures, it’s been years since I last watched GoT and even longer since I read the books so I only remembered the big parts. Also, it’s in my backlog but I haven’t watched HotD as well but since this is based on Dany and Viserys’ side of the plot, we’ll probably be fine.

The thing about GoT is that its different hues of grays kind of world than what Desmond is used to. Back in his world, it was a matter of chaos versus order type of situation where either side sees the other’s negative aspects. The Assassins believe in free will and abhor the Templars’ desire to snuff it out. The Templars believe in order and believe that the Assassins’ protection of free will only leads to chaos and anarchy.

Of course, there are some Templars and Assassins who can be considered outliers to their causes.

For example: the Borgias want power and prestige and, among them, Rodrigo was the only one who tried to push for order and even he had been more interested in his delusion of being the ‘chosen one’. On the side of the Assassins, we have Abbas whose tenure as mentor had led to the Levantine Brotherhood’s downfall, being nothing more than delusional thugs.

In many ways, the ruling class of the world of ASOIAF is much more complicated but, at the same time, much more… self-centered. Desmond would have a problem with that and, in many cases, he would more inclined to answer any problem he has with something he’s used to using: death.

Now, I don’t think they actually said where Viserys sold his mother’s crown but, considering they were hiding in Braavos during that time, it is highly possible that it was in Braavos that he had to be forced to sell the crown.

The same Braavos that houses the House of Black and White, the main headquarters of the Faceless Men. Now, this guild of assassins would be curious about Desmond but Desmond would be quite reluctant to join them because they’re assassins but not his Brotherhood. There’s not really enough information for Desmond to find them trustworthy and anyone who had been interested in him had wanted something from him so Braavos is where a man running away from a guild of assassins bumps into two children simply trying to survive.

Desmond had been using his Eagle Vision frequently simply to keep an eye for the assassins sent after him (whether to kill him or not, he wasn’t sure but that mix of red and blue on each of their form wasn’t really helping his paranoia, that was for damn sure).

But no matter what face they wore, they always appeared on his Eagle Vision as a mix of red and blue. It was because of his constant usage of the Eagle Vision that he managed to see two children glowing gold.

He hadn’t been meaning to interfere, simply observe, but then he saw how that merchant had given the two children not even a fourth of what that crown was truly worth and he could not stand by anymore. But he wouldn’t make a scene. That’s not how an Assassin does things…

Usually, anyway.

So he waits until the merchant is too busy, perhaps even creating the distraction himself by paying a few people to do as he asks and, during the commotion, he nicked both the crown and the merchant’s money pouch.

Oh! And a pair of sweet-looking daggers because Desmond is a bit of a magpie and their blades were so sharp they were shining.

When he gets to the children to return their crown and give them the money pouch he had ‘liberated’ from that asshole merchant, he comes just in time to stop a clumsy assassination attempt by someone who wasn’t even employed by Robert Baratheon but had been an opportunist who thought delivering their heads to Westeros would grant him a reward.

From there on, he couldn’t in good conscience just let the two of them alone, not after he hears their predicament.

And that was the day Desmond took in two orphans, promising only to train them enough that they can defend themselves… not realizing that he had just inadvertently changed a very specific prophecy connected to Daenerys Targaryen.

Unorganized Notes:

Viserys would be quite suspicious of Desmond for a while but he would agree to his protection and tutelage simply because he had no other option.

Viserys would still grow up arrogant but it would be more to the line of Altaïr’s arrogance as he sees himself as the best of Desmond’s acolytes. His Targaryan-ness is more or less contained to being overly protective (and possessive) of Daenerys and Desmond.

Desmond is pretty much the reason why Viserys and Daenerys don’t think they need to marry one another. Desmond had Borgia flashbacks and went ‘nope, not on my watch’. Unfortunately, the side effect of this is that Viserys thinks Daenerys should marry Desmond.

Desmond just thinks that this is Viserys’ version of that ‘when I grow up, I wanna marry you, papa’ kind of thing he heard about. Yup. Absolutely just going to not think too deeply about it. At. All.

Daenerys would be more confident and outspoken, being the only person to be able to rein in her brother (although, it’s mostly by saying ‘Desmond won’t like this’). Being trained as an Assassin also makes her believe that she has no right for the Iron Throne and that Viserys is simply deluding himself into believing that he still wishes for the throne when, in reality, what he truly desires is revenge and to watch the entirety of Westeros burn.

They still make their way to Illyrio but, by the time that Illyrio sees them, Viserys and Daenerys were already around the Soldier rank in terms of skills and training, having already assassinated targets that Desmond had picked for them.

Illyrio is definitely spying for Varys and tries to get close to Desmond as he is seen as the two’s protector and ‘master’. Desmond prefers to be called mentor and he knows Illyrio has an agenda of his own.

Desmond would be against Illyrio’s proposal to wed Daenerys in exchange for an army. Viserys agrees because 1 Desmond is against it, 2 Daenerys doesn’t need anybody else but him and Desmond, and 3 they have no need for an army. They’re enough to take down Westeros on their own.

But Illyrio’s proposal is enough to fuel Viserys to finally do something about Westeros and Robert Baratheon (who is still sending assassins).

Daenerys seriously believed that Viserys plans to pull an Ezio (which can be summarized as one person destroying all his enemies on his own) and she’s right. So she follows Viserys to try and… less stop him and more to keep him from dying and helping him out.

Desmond is left chasing after his two acolytes/adopted children.

… maybe there will be dragons. Maybe not. I think the dragons would complicate things a bit but, if there are going to be dragons, one dragon for each of them. Do not let Desmond name them because he’s dumb enough to name them either “Altaïr, Ezio, Ratonhnhaké:ton (nickname Connor since only Daenerys can say Ratonhnhaké:ton without any problem but Viserys is trying) ” or “Shaun, Rebecca, Clay”.

Desmond’s influence on the two makes them believe that royalty and being a ruler are just too much trouble for their worth. Dany just wants to be an Assassin that their father could be proud of and keep her brother safe. Viserys just wants to see everything burn to the ground then he’ll do whatever Dany and Desmond want afterward.

This isn’t exactly a good plan because destroying the ruling class without any plans afterward means the usual pillage and all that bad shit being done by soldiers and bandits. Viserys doesn’t actually care that much for what happens afterward. Dany does though.

The whole ‘stallion who mounts the world’ prophecy may or may not be about Desmond now that Dany is most probably not going to get pregnant because wherever Desmond goes, he dismantles the ruling class. Viserys got his idea of destroying the ruling class of Westeros from Desmond after all.

The prophecy of ‘a song of fire and ice’ may or may not still be about the Targaryans and the Starks, which, in this case, Viserys and Dany would get to Westeros just as the Starks’ lives go from bad to oh-my-fucking-god-they-killed-Sean-Bean-AGAIN.

I think Dany and Sansa should be friends in an ‘I hate you why are you like this’ kind of way while Arya becomes the tagalong kid that annoys Viserys a lot. Viserys would be the loose cannon to the Starks’ bid for independence. Dany is the more reasonable one but she’s… well… she’s gonna side with her brother though.

I am seriously not going to push for the White Walkers setting right now. Although, Bran’s warg abilities are definitely similar to the Layla Trilogy’s ‘Eagle Sight’.

Oh. Desmond is definitely going to be called R'hllor for some reason. It’s not funny and many think it’s blasphemous, making Desmond a target of the followers of R'hllor. Desmond hates it.

#pairing wise… shrug #you do have to deal with the usual asoiaf incestual subtext and text though #but vis and dany got unborgia’ed by desmond which is nice #vis does still believe dany should marry desmond though #desmond is going to completely ignore that though #assassin's creed #desmond miles #ask and answer #teecup writes/has a plot #fic idea: assassin's creed #fic idea: crossover #fic idea: asoiaf #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #daenerys targeryan #viserys targaryen #okay talking about chaos and order made me think smt XD #vis and dany just going fuck the monarchy everything burns

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mdhwrites · 9 months

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I've seen a fair share of posts speculating about what Amphibia would be like if, instead of having strictly Anne as the main character, it made Anne, Sasha and Marcy all main characters. Specifically, the Calamity Trio being given equal screentime.

I've loved pondering over this myself, and I was wondering what you think would change if Amphibia was written this way. I know you said more screentime for Marcy in season one would be pointless, given her lack of a supporting cast or growth as a person, but what if the writers could make it work? e.g. Marcy making actual bonds with the newts in Newtopia and getting over some of her issues (while of course not getting over her biggest issue, that being her fear of losing her friends, until season three)

Do you think Amphibia would be better or worse for being the story of the Calamity Trio rather than the story of Anne? How much of what was set in stone in the original canon would have to be changed to make a more purposeful story? Sorry, this is kind of a handful of questions, I just get carried away thinking about this stuff.

In short, what kind of story would Amphibia be if the Calamity Trio were all main characters? And if it could be just as good or better than canon, how do you think that could work?

So this kind of like anytime someone asks for a major change to TOH's plot and why I assume the S3 we got is at least structurally the same to any sort of S3 we would have gotten for TOH (and why it's BS that a full S3 would have fixed the show). Writers, at least good ones, don't make decisions randomly. Who they decide to focus on, how they focus on them, the roles certain characters take, etc. like that is all important to how a story functions at a basic level. That doesn't mean we can't make unintentional mistakes or have unintended choices by how we frame things but that any truly major shift like this presents a very, VERY real problem.

Is this still recognizably the story that was being told in the first place?

This is why people have asked me how I might rewrite TOH to try and fix its split identity issue but I can't. Not in good faith at least. The split identity is still part of the story's identity and that combination of elements is still part of what people enjoy about the work. It was still a choice that makes the foundation of the work. Deciding to spread the focus is a lot like this for Amphibia.

The story is of a big city girl not just getting teleported to a different world but as different as is potentially possible. Not only are these not humans but they're farm folk. There is no way for Anne to properly have a foothold amongst them to begin with and that's part of why she has so much to learn from them and why it takes so much for her to connect with them properly. The contrast, both in magical and grounded ways, is part of what makes Wartwood work so much better as a setting than Newtopia where it's a little too close to what Anne is used to and you can feel that in the tales being told. Some of the wonder and friction is missing, especially as Anne treats it more as a comfortable place to be.

And comfort is a major driving force behind both Sasha and Marcy's places in the narrative. Marcy is still in the big city and actually gets a level of prestige and respect that she's never had before. She is quite literally friends with the most powerful man in Amphibia. Meanwhile, Sasha spends a while in a cell but she can roll out the red carpet for Anne because the toads ADORE HER. They may be less refined than the plebeians she's used to manipulating but they're still dumb and give into base desires, both traits she can exploit, just like she did with Anne.

These are stories that can be told mind you... But they're also the stories we got already. Marcy's flashbacks still give a good grasp on how easy of a time she had it in Newtopia. Sasha's two episodes in S1 are quite literally all we need to understand who she is, why she was able to take power so effectively and sell us on her being someone who's really good at manipulating others, especially the lazy and hedonistic. They could be expanded but...

With Sasha, anyone giving her friction actually starts harming Anne's character. The more unstoppable we think she is as a manipulator, the more we are allowed to fill in the minor gaps in our knowledge with Anne's beliefs, the more she comes across as a genuinely dangerous antagonist. The more we believe that she can control an army of toads, change things with their regime and be the one who knows how to potentially pull Anne back into her worst habits. That she could take what was earned and with one hard yank make it all come tumbling down. More time with her would very easily become detrimental. As a note: This is why big bads don't often get a lot of episodes where they're doing things, instead of their cronies, because the more they're challenged, the weaker they look.

So that's one character who's story being expanded can very easily damage the very foundation of the MC's character arc while also cheapening that character's skill set, what about Marcy? She is a bit more complicated. See, she is actually far less harmed by more time with her as she has plenty that she can learn and the like as a person... But Newtopia doesn't want a person. They want a mind. And not just the Core. Even Olivia makes it clear that she only treasures Marcy for her mind. The other advisors are friendly with her but not friends. They just... don't care about her.

Worse yet is that from the perspective of Marcy as a main character, Newtopia is a TERRIBLE setting for the sort of stories that Amphibia excels at or tries to tell. She is literally friends with the King. She is smarter than almost anyone else in the city and not pushed to really interact with its populace, just the city itself. She also shouldn't be actively seeking its populace because Marcy is not a people person. She wants Wartwood to like her because they like Anne and she doesn't want to be a weird outside compared to Anne there. She is still liked in Wartwood though so without someone ushering her out the door... What is Marcy doing?

And I can come up with things. I could tell you that the way to make Sasha's story work with more time is show different forms of her manipulation as she gains a band of loyal toads. You can give Marcy a non-royal friend who's interested in the oddity and come on, don't you want to see the non-shiny parts of Newtopia and Amphibia? But that's adding more and more to their stories while taking away from the core.

Because suddenly, you have one girl in their element just flexing on everyone around her while another big city girl is... In another big city. You are now spending much less time on the big city girl coming appreciate different, substantially different viewpoints, realize their way of life is just as valid as her lazy way of life, growing and changing into a better person who genuinely values those around her instead of just wanting someone who lets her have fun and do as little else as possible, etc. like that.

For the sake of the trio... You're losing Amphibia.

That is a big sticking point for me and why I still refuse to call Sasha and Marcy main characters. They're important supporting characters, don't get me wrong, but the story is about Anne and Amphibia. Anne and Wartwood. The choices to spend the VAST majority of our time with her and these settings is not an accident. It's not like Matt chose to just devalue the other two main characters. They were used incredibly effectively, they do a lot to help highlight Anne and her growth and act as milestones for it effectively, and Sasha has a LARGE impact on who Anne is at the beginning of the story.

But it doesn't make them main characters because this isn't their story and there is no way to tell the story of Amphibia with them as the main characters. Focusing purely on the friendship and needing to repair it, or destroy it, is likely going to reinforce different themes, or at least different elements of the themes. After all, you can still talk about change but paradoxically, focusing in on the trio like this, even if it means spending more time in different parts of Amphibia, excludes the community element that is so important to Amphibia. After all, now you're splitting focus between three communities and focusing the story on the arcs of these three human girls. That's going to require a lot less time fleshing out these side characters. Diminishes the impact any of them can have on any character. The Plantars do a lot for Anne after all but we understand that it is WARTWOOD that changes her, not just the Plantars. Would we get that if you now had to split the focus this much?

Also, we lose Reunion in any way it is right now because with Marcy taking a more prevalent role, S1 HAS to end with a confrontation of all three. The first time they meet together. To leave any one out would be to diminish their role. Marcy isn't as important, especially to Anne's character, as Sasha is in the version we got so it's fine for her not to be present for Reunion. But... How do you handle Sasha's arc if all three have to come back together at once?

And to justify having brought up TOH earlier, how likely does all of this start a split personality problem for Amphibia? With Anne as the focus, you only get a handful of episodes that aren't genuinely Amphibia. Capital letter Amphibia. You know know what to expect and you know what sort of story is going to happen and that creates a nice, fun, comfortable status quote you can enjoy from week to week. Now imagine if Marcy's writing is still weaker like it was in the show, or the toads fail to be compelling because in order to keep Sasha as the antagonist of the group, they keep just setting themselves up to be knocked over by her and by the third time, it's getting kind of boring? Suddenly, one third of the show is causing friction with someone, especially since all three, due to DRASTICALLY different settings, would cause inherently very different storytelling just because the sorts of issues are so different. This is part of why the vibe of S3B is so different because finally we are not at peace, we are at war. Even the shifts from a guard tower that exploits people, a big city where the MC is treated as effective royalty, and a small farm town is enough to cause some amount of friction to happen between settings.

I'm not saying that this story is literally impossible to tell well but... Man, it'd be INCREDIBLY hard. And, of course, it still wouldn't be Amphibia. It would look like Amphibia, some of the notes would sound like Amphibia, but it would just be a very, VERY different story.

Because like TOH found out after Yesterday's Lie, you can't just change who your character fundamentally is without MAJOR consequences to your storytelling. Splitting your main character three ways is going to yield similarly discordant results without writing the entire thing from the ground up.

But it's not the same story and as I LOVE the story we got, I would say trying to force Amphibia into this mold would only make it worse, if I could compare it at all.

======+++++======

This is by no means a comprehensive list btw of all that would potentially be lost, need to be changed, etc. like that so as to even make this sort of shift for Amphibia work. Like someone in my Discord when I mentioned this ask brought up how the impact of Sasha coming into Anne's life and the tension of Reunion would kind of be lost if we already know Sasha fairly well. It is... Complicated to put it mildly.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past.

I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead.

If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#amphibia

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samueldays · 6 months

Text

Wolf and Stone - a scenario outline for Princess:the Hopeful

This scenario is doubly unfinished, partly because PtH scenarios need more tailoring to a specific group, and partly because I have never played the game. This is sort of an exercise in learning PtH, and possibly an opportunity for @brazenautomaton that some of the corrections/advice given to me in response might also be useful hints to add in the Storytelling chapter.

The basic scenario is that there's a plot device at the local museum, there's a werewolf pack that wants to get it, there's a director who is militarizing the museum, there's museum guides who are caught in the middle, and there's the Darkness making everything worse with fear so the involved parties won't communicate until the Magical Girls do some befriending.

-Context-

In whatever city the PCs live, the Modisett Ancient History Museum is a small, second-rate museum founded in 1924 by John Modisett, a veteran of the First World War. Its focus is on the Fertile Crescent region and the early cities of the Bronze Age around 2-3 millennia before Christ. The M.A.H.M. is primarily financed by the Modisett Estate Trust (which Modisett left his fortune to) and subsidised by the city's culture ministry.

Change details as necessary for your chronicle, naturally.

While the M.A.H.M. doesn't have particularly glamorous exhibits, it also doesn't have any nearby competitors for its niche. Regional schools send students touring it on a regular basis, seeing some ancient pottery, masonry, clay tablets, replicas of weapons that have been repatriated to an Iraqi museum, diagrams of ancient cities, political maps of Ancient Egypt, Akkad, Sumer, and Elam, and almost every year there's a teenage boy who thinks the most interesting thing is learning the word "phallus" from the statuette display.

-Trigger-

The M.A.H.M. recently acquired a new exhibit, presenting as a nested pair of ancient stone chests with false bottoms covered in cryptic markings. The informational plaque on the display says they were "likely used for ritual purposes". This is how archaeologists say "I don't know". These were in fact made to contain and bury some cursed mcguffin that the occultists of the time couldn't get rid of, and by opening the chests for display, the museum has once again allowed the curse to influence the world.

A nearby pack of werewolves were the first to notice. Their first attempt at dealing with it was straightforward: Visit the museum, as humans, and discreetly close the chests again. The museum guides propped the chests open in response. Now the pair of cursed chests are once again releasing (summoning? creating?) dark spirits and baleful influences on the world, and the werewolves are considering how to escalate. They fear discovery and retaliation and persecution if they breach the masquerade and explain the real facts of the matter, so they are trying to sabotage the museum, having a half-assed plan of stealing the chests while the M.A.H.M. is closed for repairs or while the exhibit is being transported to another museum.

(They are physically strong enough to carry it, but it would be extremely blatant having to smash the case and carry out a pair of large heavy stone chests.)

Matthew Brown, the director, is having none of it. He fears sabotage and loss of prestige and position, and enjoys the petty factoid that the M.A.H.M. did not shut down for the Second World War, it is certainly not shutting down for anything less. He has responded by militarizing the museum with police patrols, reducing opening hours, and worsening the experience for visitors in the name of security. This may be considered a minor case of the Darkness Ultimatum.

Abigail and Henry, the experienced museum guides, are caught in the middle. They fear losing their jobs if the museum shuts down, they also fear loss of visitor interest if the police keep harassing visitors, they're in denial about the supernatural, trying to pretend everything is normal or will go back to normal soon, and they fear that they're getting old and seeing things when they notice manifestations of the cursed chests. Abigail is an amateur historian herself, a voracious reader, and really likes her job and talking to visitors. Henry is more of a handyman and is the one tapped for repairs when someone has cut a power cord again.

-Hook-

If some or all of the Princesses are still in school, the easy way to get them involved is for their class to go on a field trip to the M.A.H.M. (Adult Princesses can buy tickets and come along with their friends.)

Here, a museumgoer might be attacked by a Ravenous Darkspawn (Princess chapter 5) taking the form of a toothed book. It's not going to kill anyone on the first strike, the victim can run away and there will be police nearby to shoot the beast eventually, but the Princesses may want to handle it first in a way that doesn't involve the police and lets them influence the reporting.

Otherwise, the nakama might hear about it because one of them, or one of their parents, is a friend of Abigail or Henry who are discreetly lamenting their situation and their paranoia and their worry that they're seeing things, and did you hear that one of the guests thought she was attacked by a book!?

-Monster of the Week-

Depending on how the nakama learns about and approaches the situation, it is likely to run into one of either the werewolves or an Insidious Darkspawn first.

The werewolves are likely to be found if the nakama traces the source of the mysterious sabotage incidents at the M.A.H.M. Shapeshifting and Gifts and Spirit proxies are good for evading the notice of mortal police, less so a fellow supernatural splat. There might be a fight as a result of the nakama finding saboteurs who refuse to be dissuaded by a polite request, and mutual boneheaded escalation, but it shouldn't be to the death. The werewolves aren't genuine antagonists, they're more like a party of PCs who have spent quite a bit of brainpower on "How do we best use our superpowers to sabotage the museum without getting caught?" with less attention paid to whether sabotage was actually a good idea in the first place. They can be talked down, more easily so if the Princesses have a good idea for what to do about the cursed chests and its dark spirits instead.

(I have not statted them in any detail because I really have not kept up with that particular splat in a while, and I have the impression they are one of the most varies-by-GM splats.)

The Insidious is likely to be found if the nakama gets nosy at the museum itself. It pretends to be a CIA agent (see below), flashing an important-looking badge, telling museumgoers they saw nothing, telling the police to suppress the ludicrous rumor about a biting book, ordering the Princesses to go home or it'll call their parents.

America Note: The FBI handles domestic matters, the CIA foreign matters.

If playing in America, anyone going "don't you mean FBI?" counts against the creature's Bane and exposes its fraud. Substitute other wrong agency as desired, possibly wrong jurisdiction, wrong country, or perhaps it's waving the ID of a thaumaturgical organization while telling people there's no such thing as magic. The critter didn't put thought into its disguise, it's formed from abstract fears manifested by the Darkness. Thus it might take on the appearance of a more famous organization, even if that's not the correct one for the situation. Still, a badge from a famous organization is effective on bystanders looking to avoid trouble.

-The Chests-

The dark curse spirit thingy is able to affect the world and reach out of the nested chests while they're open, but it's still too stuck there to leave. If you could close the chests and keep them closed, one inside the other, that would solve the problem. At least until someone opened them again. Some other ways Princesses could resolve the situation include:

Magic Ward Charm. The Darkness here is weak, threatening mostly because it can build up (or bleed through) to spawn monsters over time. The penalty from a Magic Ward is enough to suppress it, as long as the Ward remains undisturbed. Everyday Ward helps with this, or perhaps explaining the situation to the museum.

Blow up the chests, setting the dark curse spirit loose, then blow up that too. The ancient occultists sealed it away because they couldn't blow it up hard enough, but they didn't know how to weaponize the Inner Light as GIGADRIVE EXCEED BUSTER! The director will have questions about why Magical Girls are blowing up his museum piece.

Decipher the markings on the false bottoms with an appropriately difficult Academics roll, describing the gribbly in detail. Report it to your Queen, and she'll tell you how to exorcise that specific flavor of gribbly and seal the chests for good. Alternatively, the markings make explicit the fact that GIGADRIVE EXCEED BUSTER! is sufficient as above.

Get the chests out of the museum yourself, somehow, and hand them over to the werewolves to perform Captain Planeteer Exorcism. You'll get the chests back in a few days.

And with that, you can be done, if all you want is a monster of the week and a threat to the Modisett Ancient History Museum.

-Escalation Options-

An Insidious or Traitorous Darkspawn is whispering in the ear of Director Brown, who keeps escalating security while the werewolves are escalating their supernatural sabotage.

Director Brown becomes a Defiler himself, with relevant Dread Powers to compel unreasonable amounts of funding and mandatory attendance and city advertisements for the museum and his own self-aggrandizement.

The M.A.H.M. shuts down, and Abigail or Henry suffer a Breaking Point and become the Prisoner of a Nightscape revolving around the psychodrama of "If I had done better, I would still have my old job" and scenes of patching up sabotage, covering up rumors, playing nice with guests, denying that anything is wrong, while increasing amounts of museum destruction and darkspawn attacks happen in the background.

#all #rpg #pthce

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