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devildom-drabbles · 3 years ago

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So you did stuff for everyone appreciatingteasing with a short mc, can I request the same thing with a really tall mc meaning taller than everyone? You don’t have to of course! Have a good rest of your day ^^⭐️

Oh how the tables have turned for our boys... How could I say no?

Thanks for the cute prompt! I hope I do it justice for you. It’s a little late, but may you have a good day as well. =)

What if MC was taller (even if it’s by just a few inches) than everyone?

Demons are used to seeing each other in varying heights, but boy does it throw them off when the human exchange student surpasses their height (even if it’s not by much). The demon brothers and dateables are no exception; they take note of this right away. Still, they each have their own ways of responding to MC’s taller stature.

We’ll start with Mammon, since he was put in charge of watching over MC and interacted with them the most at the start of the exchange program. In the beginning, when they weren’t close, Mammon liked to tease MC for being taller, with comments like, “Hey, is the Devildom weather any different from up there?” or “Didn’t ya hear what I said, or are your ears really that high up that you can only hear the crows?” Over time, however, Mammon teases them less and turns to using MC’s height to his advantage. If he’s strung up from a high place, he’ll praise MC’s taller stature and how it’s great for reaching up to untie the ropes around him, regardless of how high up he’s hanging (MC isn’t a giant, you know...). Mammon might also ask them for favors or to participate in his money-making schemes where MC’s height will be beneficial to him. Also, although he won’t openly admit it, he actually likes how much bigger MC is compared to him at times. They’re the perfect height for him to be the little spoon during cuddling, and he gets more attention from them when the two of them banter about their differing sizes. Ruffle his hair and call him “shortie” MC; do it for the blushing, pouty mess he becomes.

Lucifer is somewhat bothered at having to look up to speak to MC. He didn’t want the human exchange student to get into any mischief or become a thorn in his side, so he planned to assert his authority and power over them from Day 1. He’s still an intimidating force, whether or not he’s in his demon form, but it’s not as powerful when he can’t physically loom over them. Turned out that it didn’t matter anyway, as MC was going to do whatever they wanted no matter what their height differences were. Lucifer still wishes that he were taller than MC, but it’s not something he frets over. Though, he might avoid discussing the topic. If MC is feeling bold, they might put things Lucifer wants out of his reach and leave him to get it himself. However, MC better expect him to call them to his room or study often just to retrieve random items that are in strangely high locations, even if they weren’t the one to do it. Did he do it? No, of course not, MC. Well, can’t he use magic or fly in his demon form to get these things? Yes, but he’s busy with paperwork, and he’d rather not leave MC with too much free time on their hands. Is this just revenge for moving his things higher? Most likely, but maybe it’s also an excuse to have MC around him more often…

Leviathan can’t hide his envy of MC’s height in the beginning. If only he was taller like they were, then maybe he’d have more confidence in himself. But no, this random human is just taking their height for granted and rubbing it in his face every time he comes across them (MC is literally just standing there, Levi; they haven’t said anything). He gets over this once MC and him become closer. Rather, he becomes a flustered mess in their presence when they do anything with him that reminds him of couples in manga or anime. They fall asleep on his head while he’s gaming late at night? They trap him in a corner (seriously or jokingly)? They pat his head? They reach up to grab a book on a higher shelf from behind him? Levi will suddenly ramble on about what manga/anime they look like they’re referencing and then can barely function afterward (might even faint). MC will have to proceed cautiously until Levi can get used to their taller height, for the sake of his weak heart. Once he’s good, he’ll hope MC continues such actions with him, and he’ll try to work up the courage to do them back in his own way.

Satan is taken aback by MC’s taller stature, but he quickly accepts it. Perhaps he can trick ask them to get books from higher shelves in the library or bookstore? He’d rather not have to rely on them, but it soon becomes a frequent excuse to have them be with him. MC might place a book he wants on his head, just to see him pout with a huff (revenge for short!MC!!!). Anyway, while you’re here MC, want to read with him? MC will position their cheek on Satan’s head to follow along in the book he’s holding. It feels a little awkward to him, but it’s also cute somehow. If he rereads a sentence a few times, it’s because he’s gotten distracted from how close their face is to his. Fair warning, if MC is in that spot too long, he might stop reading to press a gentle kiss somewhere on their face before returning to the book. (He’s got to refocus somehow, and that’s what he came up with.) He once tried copying MC by resting his cheek on their shoulder when they were the one reading. It was surprisingly comfortable, especially as he listened to their calming voice read the story aloud. From then on, Satan and MC took turns reading together.

Asmodeus is actually jealous of MC’s height at first, but for a different reason than Levi. They’re the perfect height for modeling; what if they try to steal his gigs?! Oh, wait, he’s the most beautiful creation in all the three realms, so why would any modeling company choose a taller human over him? Crisis averted. But later on, it becomes a completely different story. Now that they’re close, he wants MC to model with him. No doubt the two of them would steal the show with every gig! If MC is against it, then Asmo will settle with having them model clothes he bought in the privacy of his room. He also finds something alluring about their height when he’s next to them; maybe it’s because their kissable face and neck are so close to him. He doesn’t mind if he has to stand on his tip-toes to grab their face and shower them with his love. Still, he’ll sometimes get MC’s attention and point somewhere on his face with his index finger, excited for them to lean down to return the affection.

Beelzebub is surprised to meet someone taller than him, considering he’s the tallest of his brothers and can rival Diavolo’s large stature. Still, he doesn’t mind it. In fact, one of his favorite things about MC is their hugs, and their height makes it better. He’s used to being the one to protect his family, but in their embrace, with their chin settled on his head, he feels safe somehow. He likes getting head pats from them, too. MC wants to be carried or can’t reach something? No problem; Beel is more than happy to hold them or give them a boost whenever they need it. The only thing he doesn’t like is when MC uses their differences in height against him, such as when they block him from the fridge or keep any food above his reach (even if the food isn’t his). They typically mean well, so he won’t hold a grudge against them.

Belphegor adds MC’s taller height as another thing to dislike about humans while he’s trapped in the attic. Ugh, do you realize how troublesome it is for him to have to look up at this human whenever they talk between the magic gate? Of course, once the whole Lesson 16 fiasco is over and he accepts MC for who they are, Belphie doesn’t have any qualms about their height. Well, it’s still kind of annoying to keep his head up when they’re talking… Ah, he’s got the perfect solution: They should talk together while laying down instead. MC should expect the Avatar of Sloth to pull them down next to him any chance he gets. Belphie also discovers that he likes how MC can embrace his whole body during cuddle and napping sessions; it’s especially soothing to him when he has a nightmare.

Diavolo is starry-eyed the moment they look up to see MC. Wow, humans can grow up to this height? Incredible! It’s also a rarity for him to be around someone taller than him, so it’s such a treat to him. He’ll try to engulf MC in hugs, but it ends up being the other way around (not that he minds). His favorite thing to do is high-five them; he enjoys getting to jump up to reach their hand (Demon Lord or an actual child? Local human claims there’s no difference). If anyone were to make a negative comment about MC’s height, Diavolo immediately will step in to counter the remark with praises of how great MC is, both in general and in terms of what he likes about their taller stature. He also feels at ease knowing that he doesn’t physically tower over MC, since his height tends to make him more intimidating to others.

Barbatos won’t say much about MC’s height; no teasing or sneaky remarks of any kind. Instead, he uses it to his advantage, calling on them more for their assistance in certain matters. For instance, he’ll ask MC to tag along with him to shop for groceries or other necessities for the Demon Lord Castle. They can retrieve items he’d normally have to use magic to reach. He also doesn’t have to worry as much about losing them in a crowd since he notices their head sticking out amongst the demons. In another instance, Barbatos will request MC’s aid with cleaning the hard-to-reach spots of the castle. Then, as thanks, he’ll make them tea or a dessert to enjoy with him while they both take a break. Sure, he could do these things himself (and he has been up to this point), but there’s something pleasant about having MC by his side during these everyday tasks. He’ll gradually call for them more often, not only because they’re a great help, but also because he misses their company.

Simeon has no issue with MC’s height, but he may throw in a teasing remark here and there in a friendly manner. For example, if MC bows their head slightly to enter through a doorway or avoid a tree branch, he might say, “Oh, dear, you didn’t bump your head, did you? It must be hard to have to watch out for those sorts of things all the time.” If he decides to create a taller character for his newest writing, Simeon will use it as an excuse to talk more with MC and even invite them over to Purgatory Hall, asking how they would respond to certain situations with their height in mind. Since they’re already there, he’d like to learn more about MC over a cup of tea. And now that it’s getting late, they may as well stay for dinner, right? Then, perhaps they’d be able to resume their discussion tomorrow at RAD? (Who knew this would be a great way to spend more time with MC?)

Solomon doesn’t mind the difference in height. They’re both human, and he’s had friends in the human world who were taller than him, so it feels normal to him. Still, that doesn’t mean he won’t tease MC about it every once in a while or request their help for the sake of using their height. By the way, someone keeps moving the cooking ingredients to these weird unreachable locations, so Solomon would appreciate your help in getting them, MC. He’ll cook you something in return! ...What do you mean you’re suddenly busy, MC? Oh, well, maybe next time. He’s never said it, but he has considered casting a spell on himself to be taller than MC the next time they visit Purgatory Hall, just to spook them (and maybe enjoy the experience of towering over them, if only for a day).

Luke has no observable changes in his behavior toward MC for being taller. Everyone here is bigger than him, so MC is just another addition. He does still feel a need to protect them from the demons, even if he is but a very smol bean in MC’s presence. Eventually, he’ll feel safest in the face of danger when hiding behind MC (Whoa, where’d he go? Is he invisible?). He also appreciates their height when he can’t reach things on the shelves when they’re baking together. Plus, despite his protests, he kind of likes when MC lifts him up or carries him; they’re great for watching fireworks or shows in the midst of large crowds.

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demonboyhalo · 4 years ago

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The Technoblade Conspiracy

Even before Dream claimed there was a traitor in Pogtopia, there's been a lot of...suspicious activities happening in Techno’s streams. Others on the SMP are already distrustful of him, and the fans are as well, but I believe that we’re focusing on the wrong thing here. This thread isn’t quite a traitor theory, but rather a dive into what Techno has been hiding at large. I can say with utter confidence that the extent of what Technoblade has accomplished on the Dream SMP is being greatly underestimated.

I recommend looking at the sus Techno moments thread by @piggytechnobarb on Twitter for some of the stream clips I'll be discussing.

This is going to be fairly in depth, so the rest is under the cut!

1. There is another room under what Techno calls his "secret base"

I won't talk too much on how strange his choice of "secret base" is for now, but please do keep in mind how out of character it is for man-who-tracked-down-Squid's-college to settle for a home base so unprotected and close to Pogtopia's very well known location.

So, for some reason, there is Polished Blackstone Brick under the floor of Techno’s wall. He accidentally reveals this when a donation asks him to mine the exposed redstone in his wall, acts a bit strange for a good 15 seconds, and then never mentions it again. Sight of the brick prompts him to silently zoom in, fill the hole with stone (not cobble), and say "Don't ask questions".

This is only so strange because there's no real reason for him to have stone at the ready, or any blackstone brick at all. Techno is NOT a builder, and if a creeper blew up down there, he'd fill it with cobble and not give a shit about aesthetics. He doesn't use smooth stone in his base, and has never built with blackstone on stream. Not only are they unusual items for him to have, it's unusual for him to make a point to not have the viewers question it. Yes, it could just be Techno being dramatic, but why did he go silent for a straight 5 seconds at the sight of the blackstone?

Considering who he is as a player, it is completely in character for Techno to build a second base. The lake he lives under is incredibly near Wilbur and Tommy, and he's well aware that all an enemy has to do is watch his stream to infiltrate his base. Techno goes to the extremes when they aren't even required (Ex. His insane skill in party games, beating Skeppy in as niche of a game as Grinch Simulator, etc.) So I don't think it's a stretch for him to go the extra mile, and hide a bunker/resources/extra armour and what have you from even his own viewers.

2. The overpowered illegal villager farm

For those of you who don't watch Ponk, he recently stumbled across an area that is supposedly banned on the Dream SMP - a villager farm. In the clip, his voice is astonished and his confusion is palpable, and he goes so far as to say "It's a full scale arms race" because of how many good trades there are. The location is laced with traps, though he doesn't mention what exactly he had to get past to find the farm. Ponk's reaction is far too genuine for the farm to be his, but then that begs the question, whose farm is it?

...Who is willing to risk Dream's wrath by breaking his rules? Or, alternatively, who is capable of making a secret pact with the server owner to allow such a farm? The answer could only be Technoblade.

Ponk says it himself in the video, he does not have the time to build this. Whoever made this had to have carved out a hidden cavern, lead at least 14 villagers down there, breed them until only the ones with the best trades were left - all off stream, and without another player catching them. Whoever made this had to spend hours of work with no content to show for it, and who do we know has been grinding for DAYS on the server? Technoblade. Not to mention, all the villagers are numbered, and all but one are fletchers.

The signs above each stall are so important, because going so far back as SMP Earth, Techno has a history of dispassionately breeding mobs to his benefit, and then killing any mob not performing well enough. For example, his horse farm: where the horses stay in numbered rooms rather than all being named. The villagers in the screenshot above are numbered rather than named.

Wanna hear a fun fact about Fletchers? They're well known for accepting sticks for emeralds, but will also take string for that trade as well! And guess who has been seen waiting at the spider spawner collecting string by Sapnap, Awesamdude, Quackity, and multiple other players? Technoblade.

Technoblade also has every reason to be breeding villagers for special arrows and crossbows, because he's said on stream that he wants to try spamming multi-shot crossbows in combat to take out huge groups of enemies. He said at a later point that he had run into trouble with getting multiple crossbows with the enchantment multi-shot, and implied it wasn't going to happen. But has he ever been the kind of person to be stopped by something being challenging? Absolutely not.

Think of literally anything Techno has done - his Bedwars win streak, beating MC with a steering wheel, the Potato Wars - what I believe is really happening, is that Techno is lying about how equipped he is so that no matter what side he ends up fighting for, his enemies will have no true way of knowing how powerful he is.

3. Dream might be his secret ally (AKA The Glowstone Incident)

This brings us to a...confusing moment in Techno's stream that sparked a lot of questions. It pointed me towards 2 different, but not necessarily exclusive, theories.

The Glowstone Incident precedes as follows: Techno needs glowstone but can't find any in his chests, so he puts on his BRB screen. He says that he is "hacking" and asking Dream to use game mode to give him the glowstone. Typing can be heard, and then multiple chests are opened. Techno takes off the BRB screen and he now has three stacks of glowstone dust. This was absolutely bewildering to watch live, and was one of the most blatantly suspicious things he has done in front of his viewers. (You can find the exact clip on the thread I mentioned, it is...so weird)

Theory A: Though unlikely, Techno could be Dream's secret ally, and Dream really did use creative to give him the stacks. Or, he potentially gave Techno OP permissions so that he could get the glow stone (and any other materials he’d want) himself.

We all remember their meet up on that ocean hill, where Dream gives Techno golden apples, diamonds, and other such materials for the battle against Schlatt. It seemed to be a one-off gift that was more for Wilbur's benefit than Techno's, but there's potentially the chance that Dream saw an alliance to Techno to be more beneficial than working only with Wilbur, and contacted him off screen to make deals.

Going back to the Village Farm - for a player to get the exact enchantment they want for a reasonable price, breeding them is the most logical option. It's the route Techno would take regardless of Dream's rules on the SMP too, as he tends to show little regard for what the creators want (Ex. Taking over SMP Earth, exploiting Hypixel Skyblock, etc.) However, it could also be possible that Dream gave Techno permission to do this, and so the reason Techno is keeping the farm secret is so that the viewers don't know of their alliance.

Theory B: Techno has hidden resources in his base that he doesn't want anyone to have even the chance to see. Whether it is to hide from enemies watching (or to hide from Dream in particular because Techno knows he's breaking the server's rules) there are secret chests that Techno has with extra resources that can be heard loud and clear in the video.

They could be simple ones hidden in the walls...or in the blackstone brick base hidden under his floors. Saying he’s “hacking” rather than the reality of him just checking all his chests again is on par for Techno’s usual dramatics - yet we can clearly see that there’s no glowstone in any of his chests. This is why I believe he got the glowstone from some unseen resource. With the BRB screen on, Techno prevents his viewers from actually seeing how he got the 3 stacks of powder, and it keeps the location of his hidden materials safe.

Personally, I feel theory B is more likely, but there have been moments where Dream has acted Sus so...be on the lookout y'all.

4. Techno not participating in MCC

For those of you who watched Techno during the Potato War, many will remember that MCC 6 had a stressful undertone. Because of how much effort and time Techno had been putting into farming on Skyblock, taking a break to compete in another event was distracting. It ultimately led to him losing time that, from his perspective, would have been better off spent farming.

Techno might not be as blatantly grinding on the Dream SMP as he did with the Potato War, but it's undeniable that other streamers have seen him online for stretches of 10 hours and more. When asked about why he wasn't participating in the next MCC, Techno didn't say he was taking a break - something that'd be entirely reasonable and honestly well earned - he said "I don't want to."

It could be awkward phrasing by virtue of Techno's personality, but what I think is more likely is that Techno has learned from his past mistakes. Rather than "waste" time competing in MCC, Techno might be planning to use the time everyone on the SMP is gone to his advantage. He could sneak into enemy territory, set traps in certain areas, or maybe even perform some illegal acts that Dream would never allow. Either way, I suspect Techno has something planned for the 14th.

Honorable Mentions:

Dream poking fun, or blatantly covering for Techno?

This clip of Techno's secret Something??? next to the spider spawner, undeniably suspicious

Techno had around 5 stacks of wool in his inventory at one point - he absolutely could be bed mining the nether not only so that he has multiple sets of OP netherite, but possibly because he's preparing the gear for another person (cough cough Philza) or people

Techno's collection of ghast tears. He's studied Crystal PvP and made plenty of 2b2t references in the past (Look up FitMC for more info on those things) So it could be possible that Techno is hiding stacks of end crystals so that he can decimate multiple players in an instant

All in all, I'm 100% convinced that Techno has some serious plans hidden behind the scenes that he's not going to share until it's time for him to unleash utter chaos. We know he's keeping secrets, we know he's had the time, and we know he's capable.

I hope you all enjoyed my research and feel terrified of what Techno could possibly have done off camera :D

If anyone else has different theories, corrections to what I wrote, or other moments where Pink was Sus, feel free to comment!

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dailycharacteroption · 2 years ago

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Disciple of the Forked Tongue (Bard Archetype)

(Art by Azurasstarr on Artstation)

The ability to communicate.

The word.

It’s easy to forget the power that this has, since most days, we communicate all the time. We share information, and it affects us, whether it be a rousing speech, a moving passage in a book, or malicious words spread online.

In a world of fantasy, words can go beyond being metaphorically magical to literally magical, and not just in the “I said a funny-sounding word and that affected reality” sense. The idea of words of power, that not only describe, but literally invoke a concept into being, is a common thread. (Heck, Pathfinder both has Power Word spells and an entire alternate magic system based around combining words, as well as guidelines for spontaneous curses placed by non-casters who feel strong enough negative feelings to invoke the forces of magic without realizing it.)

Today, we’re looking at a bardic tradition that revolves around using magic with a particularly vicious vocabulary, using magic to invoke curses, as well as bringing doubt, fear, and otherwise tear down their foes emotionally, or even twist their behavior to darker ends.

These are your cunning manipulators that sow dissent to bring their enemies low, often while presenting themselves as an ally to them, but they can also be found among insult comics, particularly vicious satirists, and instigators that either rile the rabble up against the leaders, or turn them against each other.

This archetype, commonly associated with vishkanya, but not necessarily exclusive to them, is by nature amoral, but not necessarily evil. Regardless, their power to cripple their foes emotionally, or even semi-permanently with magic, cannot be denied.

These disciples gain two new performances, both of which replace more benevolent ones. The first sows discord into the thoughts of their foes, causing their defenses against mental and curse-related effects to weaken, as well as disrupting their concentration.

The second allows them to sow discord and doubt into the mind of an individual, causing them to choose to not provide said allies with access to their beneficial abilities, and to resist the beneficial abilities of their own allies for fear of them being disguised treachery.

In addition to this, they also can learn curse spells from any tradition, not just those common to bards, giving them an arsenal of powerful and often hard to remove magic to debilitate their foes.

This archetype makes a great villain, but also can be useful to a player that wants to debuff and debilitate foes all day. In particular, they prove strong against spellcasters due to their performances that disrupt concentration or cripple their foes’ ability to work together. With that in mind, you can go with a build that focuses on debuffing and disrupting foes, or mix that with some more general-purpose abilities as well.

I feel like this archetype neatly straddles the line between “These bards could be actual performers” and “These are magically gifted individuals that just happen to use a similar power set to a bard” quite nicely, but it does beg the question: is there an actual group or following that these individuals are disciples of? If so, do members interact as an organization, or simply on a teacher/student basis, and in that case, do those that use it to perform interact with those that use it for political or power-focused machinations?

After centuries of dealing with malenti infiltrators, the aquatic elves of Shora’s Gulf have learned a thing or two about deceptive magics. Their Murkwater Cabal specializes in pinpointing potential spies and saboteurs, and using their magic to cut them off from their support networks in all manner of ways, even if said allies are right next to them. Just don’t ask them to go on a diplomatic assignment.

When the king learned that the infamous assassin called The Isolator would come after him, rather than despair, he commissioned the crafting of an animate waxwork body double, not only to throw the magical killer, but also surprise them with a target immune to his mental predations, hopefully just long enough to capture the killer. However, in a shocking turn of events, the king is injured in the process… and also revealed to be made of wax!

Many shop owners and businessfolk all suddenly end up being cursed, particularly with magic that compels them to repeat specific phrases when they would otherwise reveal information about the one that cursed them. If it hadn’t been for its rampant usage, nobody would have noticed aside from odd behavior, but the perpetrator is either an amateur with no concept of restraint, or something else is at work here.

#pathfinder #archetype #bard #disciple of the forked tongue #vishkanya #aquatic elf #sahuagin #malenti #waxwork creature #Potions and Poisons

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cqlfeels · 3 years ago

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Forever thinking about Wen Ruohan, Nie Mingjue, and Meng Yao.

It's very arguable whether you could say the same about the novel version, but in CQL, they really play up the shippy aspect of the throne room scene, and by they I mean Meng Yao. And what I find fascinating about that is that the whole thing is essentially a performance for Wen Ruohan. I can tell it is, not because I believe Meng Yao wouldn't hurt Nie Mingjue, but specifically because Meng Yao would never go for what amounts to a femme fetale act if he had other choices. That scene is literally the only time in his life he's portrayed as overtly flirty ("flirty" isn't quite the right word btw but I can't seem to come up with a better one) and there's a reason for that - the last thing he wants is to give credibility to all the whispers that follow someone who's famous for being the son of a sex worker.

What is interesting, though, is that the whole nieyao thing follows a well-established Chinese literary trope: the pretty and hypercompetent young man who becomes the favorite of a powerful man, and by "favorite" you should probably read "right-hand man ✨with benefits✨." And I mean, that one Nie commander who bullies Meng Yao not only fails to recognize Meng Yao's authority in any way, but also says to his face that instead of meddling in military matters he should be doing what essentially amounts to managing the household. Which is probably something that falls within Meng Yao's duties, but is also very much something a wife would be expected to do. So you know. I'm sure in-universe a pretty sizeable part of the population is gossiping about how exactly did this pretty boy go from a no one to second in command in a day - oh look did you hear he's actually the son of notable womanizer Jin Guangshan and a sex worker, that explains everything for sure.

Now, the "favorite" trope I mentioned rarely ends in "and they lived happily ever after." There are many variants for the ending, but one of them is that the favorite falls out of favor, often in a very "don't ever appear in front of me" way.

So all of this is to say... Did Meng Yao play up this trope for Wen Ruohan? The Nie are a threat to the Wen since Nie Mingjue hates the Wen so much more than all the other sects put together. It'd be so, so easy for Meng Yao to present himself to Wen Ruohan as a jilted favorite who's 100000% willing to share secrets to take down the Nie for revenge. More importantly, Wen Ruohan would assume Meng Yao has info on Nie Mingjue, not just on the sect as a whole. That, combined with Meng Yao's seemingly endless talents, would explain his meteoric rise to power and why Wen Ruohan trusts him so much. I don't think Wen Ruohan would like, trust Meng Yao unconditionally, but he probably doesn't really question the narrative that Meng Yao is in this war specifically to ruin Nie Mingjue's life.

This is all pretty interesting because given how gossip-prone the cultivation world seems to be, I'm sure whispers about Meng Yao going from being Nie Mingjue's favorite to (seemingly) Wen Ruohan's favorite would be plentiful, regardless of how true or untrue that was. Even if Meng Yao has never in his life been alone with either of them, that's not what the rumors will say. Of course there weren't really witnesses to the throne room scene in particular, but just the fact JGY quickly earned a high position both under the Nie and under the Wen would be enough gossip fuel.

In that context, it's interesting how immediately after Sunshot, you can practically FEEL the distance Jin Guangyao - not Meng Yao anymore, so a little more respectable, surname-wise, in this classist society - puts between himself and nielan. Which is counterintuitive! They've sworn brotherhood, you'd think it'd be beneficial to him to act close to them! But he doesn't. He's aggressively formal, more than he is before or long after Sunshot.

So anyway. Of course no one would openly badmouth the Chief Cultivator's son like they did with "this servant who's here in Gusu with Nie Huaisang" but at the same time... Can you imagine what was being said behind closed doors? What kind of reputation the son of a sex worker turned favorite turned evil guy's favorite turned spy would have? I'm sure it's the exact opposite of whatever image-conscious Jin Guangyao tries to project tbh.

There's a lot more to be said about this and I'm sure lots of people have talked about it much more eloquently than me, but nevertheless, I'm surprised it's not talked about more often because for me it seems like a pretty big deal, you know?

#watch me speculate based on Nothing

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skellebonez · 4 years ago

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Hear me out: Spider Macaque in the Spider Monkie AU with prompts 14 and 35?

I hear you and oh this was way too much fun... I took a great deal of liberty with exactly how Mac transforms into his Spider Monkie form and who says what and the TIMELINE because I... re-wrote this into a ship fic because of you. I call it ShadowCodingShipping because someone had to name MacaqueSyntax eventually! I guess you could say this is definitely a what-if story more than anything.

Warning for body horror because Mac is slowly turning half spider and that's kinda gross and painful. Also this is hurt/comfort but heavy on the HURT. This does not have a happy ending.

Am I scaring you?/I believe I can be of some help here.

"Am I scaring you?" Macaque asked with a smirk, pain clearly barely held at bay behind it. The monkey demon was a mess, fur tussled and miscolored splotches that hadn't yet grown in properly littered his torso. His torso that had gained a good inch in the last failed attempt at... what they were trying to accomplish. "... are you going to answer me, scientist?"

Syntax did not answer. Whether it was out of fear or knowing that regardless his answer would not make the demon leave him be even he didn't know.

"Queenie calls you Syntax," Macaque continued, moving around the computer to watch him over the screen. "That can't be your name, can it? I didn't give enough of a shit to ask before now. Hey. Hey. Hey. H-"

"No, it is not my birth name," the scientist snapped eventually, watching as Macaque smirked in victory. "Only a complete fool would agree to work with someone as infamous as the Spider Queen and use their legal name as if they were sending an unencrypted message containing confidential information across basic messaging applications without a VPN. What in the world are you trying to accomplish?"

"Ooooo, wordy," Macaque chuckled out as he leaned against the monitor and made it tilt at an awkward angle. "I'm. Bored. Entertain me, scientist, you're the most interesting person in this place. believe it or not."

Syntax raised a brow at the demon, sighing as he continued to type into the computer. "Do you want this to be finished any time soon? Because the more you bother me the longer it will take. I may be able to multitask but humans have limits."

Macaque scowled for a moment before shrugging, failing at hiding a grimace of pain. It must have made the new bones in his spine ache horribly. But he moved easily past Syntax without a word, only whipping his tail against his shoulder as he left.

It didn't hurt at all... he wondered what the point of the gesture even was.

The screaming rang through the entire hideout, Syntax's ears ringing even as he covered them. They'd tried twice more in their attempts at Macaque's twisted idea, Spider Queen slowly seeming to become less and less comfortable with not only their methods but with what they were even doing. It was working, sort of, but not correctly.

The changes were supposed to be immediate, so fast that the pain receptors wouldn't register properly. Not for the comfort of the converted, but so that it would happen so quickly they wouldn't be able to fight it. Less pain, less of a change for your body to try to fight off the transformation. Syntax had insisted on mechanical changes, nano-bots or something of the sort instead of organic growth. Macaque himself had vetoed this, saying something about how it wouldn't make him feel whole again.

This made the changes slow. Too slow, so much so that the mixture was fought off by his immortal monkey biology too quickly for it to take hold the way it was supposed to, requiring Syntax to make it stronger and stronger each time in the hopes it would finally kick in.

Now Macaque laid on the ground, holding his face and screaming so much Syntax feared his vocal cords would give out. The last two treatments had lengthened his torso even more and changed his fur consistency entirely. Once soft and thick black fur was a mixture of that and the coarse purple hair of a spider, not meshing together at all and instead forming an odd pattern on his body. At some points silver had begun to peak through, though if that was supposed to happen or if it was a reaction to the sheer stress of his body undergoing a change that should not be happening he was not sure. Syntax could see the red mark on his face warping, changing into the same purple on his torso around his eyes and moving up on his face as two more eyes grew above the ones he already had. It was fascinating to be sure, and he would have said that it was almost pretty had it not seen the build up of them forming in a fashion he wished to never see in slow build up ever again.

He was a scientist. He was supposed to be impartial to his work above all else, and he had agreed to help of... mostly his own volition. But this... This made him more uncomfortable than he was ready to admit.

"Help him up," Spider Queen said after Macaque collapsed onto the floor, screaming ceased as his body fought off the mixture for the fourth time. She looked... perturbed. Discomforted. "After his last treatment... move on to your idea. We are not doing this again."

She moved out of the room quickly, to fast to even tell her if he would or not, covering the side of her face with her hand to shield her from the sight of the collapse man on the floor. Yes... discomforted indeed.

Syntax didn't have that luxury. And he would not leave Macaque to lay on the floor regardless of orders. But the way he shook and covered his new eyes and the small amount of tears leaking from his normal eyes made a pang of pity shoot through him. He was a scientist... but he was still human.

"I believe I can be of some help here," he said softly, taking off his lab coat and folding it part way before shoving it under Macaque's head and laying the unfolded part over his face. The demon let out a half whimper, clearly bit back as he didn't want to show weakness, but eased ever so slightly as he realized the coat blocked out the light of the lab just as well as his hands had. "It's not a perfect solution, but it gets the job done.

"Th-thought Queenie s-said to help me u-up," Macaque stuttered out, moving his hands to grip the coat instead of his eyes.

"Yes, but that would be a bad idea," Syntax explained, sitting on the floor next to him with a sigh. He pulled his tablet down from a nearby table, there was no point in not getting at least some work done, and began scribbling away with the attached pen. "Your eyes are far too sensitive and with the other changes you have gone through your body will likely collapse again before we could get you to a cot. It's best you remain stationary for the time being until I am able to assess your pain tolerance properly, then I will move you to your quarters."

Macaque didn't say anything, just huffed in reply and seemed to relax. Syntax wondered if he was thankful he wouldn't have to move immediately this time, and he could have sworn he heard something... rumbling.

Maybe it was the machinery behind them.

He felt Macaque's tail hit his side after a while, thumping softly against him... but he didn't push it away.

He wondered if this would change anything at all.

Syntax saw more of Macaque than usual after that. Sometimes he would wander into his lab and just... stay there. Silent as the shadows he liked to hide in. Sometimes he would just watch him work, other times he would bring him plums or mangoes. Syntax never had much of a taste for fruit, not really enjoying any form of sweets, but he would not pass up free food when his stomach rumbled in protest from his long hours. One time Macaque had brought in a book, sat on his desk, and just read it.

That was bizarre, even for him. But Syntax found he didn't exactly mind the company. It was quite... lonely in the lab. He was the only human in the Spider Queen's entourage and her other two companions weren't exactly the best company. Oh, the big guy was nice and all and Syntax even enjoyed his presence well enough. But he would grow bored of the scientist's techno babble and science talk eventually and leave with a nod and a wave goodbye. He was grateful that he seemed to listen, however, even if he wasn't interested in the specifics.

The other one, however, was a pain in his ass. Constantly one upping him, trying to belittle him for being a human, just being an all around annoyance. He tried to act cool and suave but Syntax just found him obnoxious.

Macaque... Macaque stayed, listened even if Syntax ran out of things to talk about. And it was oddly nice. He felt himself growing excited for when the part-spider part-monkey would make his presence known.

He wondered, distantly... if Macaque was starting to mean something to him. To matter, in a way.

The day of the final treatment eventually arrived and Syntax actually dreaded what might happen. This was their last shot to make this work completely, there was a greater than 0% chance that this would cause irreparable damage to the monkey demon if they had to continue farther. But it seemed his worries were unfounded. He was smart, a genius even. He had done his job properly, even if it had taken far too long and was the least beneficial way to accomplish the goal.

Macaque screamed worse than with every other treatment, and understandably do. It would have shocked him if Macaque hadn't since he was growing two new arms.

The Spider Queen had taken her leave shortly after, disgusted by the sight before her. It was Syntax's job to watch as Macaque slowly changed before him, bones and muscle and sinew growing slowly and bit by until finally... finally it was finished.

They had learned from last time, placing a cot on the ground for him to sit on while this happened, and he collapsed onto his back. Two new arms limp against the floor as he shook and twitched and cried cold tears in agony. But it was finished.

Syntax couldn't stop himself. He rushed forward, kneeling beside Macaque's head, watching his eyes and expression for recognition and any sign that he was alright. It had only been two weeks since the last treatment, the time needed for him to recuperate, but in that short time... he had grown oddly fond of the man on the cot. He did not know what he felt for him, not yet, but he knew that he did not dislike him in the slightest.

"Ma-Macaque?" He asked softly after no response for nearly 15 minutes, waiting and watching and finally Macaque's eyes turned to him. "How do you feel?"

Macaque didn't say anything to him at first. Just blinked before a weak chuckle resounded from his throat.

"Whole."

The transformation was a mistake. Syntax had never felt guilt for any of his scientific achievement before, and he did not feel guilt for helping the Spider Queen in her endeavor, bit this? This he felt guilt for.

Macaque was in pain. Constantly. Sometimes it was just a dull ache, other times he almost collapsed as something moved the way it shouldn't and he had to bite back a scream. But there was no taking it back now and Macaque reveled in "feeling whole" again.

Syntax felt a mix of awe and wonder whenever he looked at the demon. He was... handsome, the purples and blacks and silvers of his fur blending together properly now. His eyes brilliant gold and green. And when he wasn't in pain his smile was nice, soft even if he could call it that. He was unsure of how much of it was true, he knew the Six-Eared Macaque to be a trickster. But he hoped some of it was, at least when directed at him.

But when he was in pain his face twisted in a way that made Syntax sick to his stomach to see it each time the agony rang true on his face. But Macaque brushed it off, not seeming to pay it much mind. Not when he had his eyes and arms "back".

The Spider Queen agreed with him, he could tell, but probably not for the same reasons. She seemed frightened of him. Goliath and Huntsman were just scared of him too. They avoided him like he would kill them on sight.

Syntax, despite his guilt, welcomes his presence still. He was not frightened of Macaque in the least. No, he just felt guilt that he was in pain. And he would never not want to help him through that now. The spider monkie had grown attached to him, almost a constant companion at his side. And he had grown fond of him as well.

He learned that Macaque had a flair for the theater. He made shadow puppets when the Spider Queen wasn't watching, though for what purpose and what audience Syntax had not asked. He liked to watch Syntax work, and eventually as he started to rest his head on the human's shoulder he learned the rumbling from the second to last treatment was a purr. He didn't know demons could purr, let alone to speed up recovery from injuries.

But the day of the Lunar New Year was coming and Syntax could tell he had something else... someone else on his mind.

The next day was to be the day. Syntax's last chance to get the new formula and tech right. It almost felt like a repeat of the past treatments but with less screaming. He was worried.

Macaque wasn't, however. He had never been worried, assuring the Spider Queen (sometimes through growls and bared teeth) that it would be done in time. He'd been a success after all. (Syntax said nothing each time.)

They'd never been this close before, but Macaque had eventually dragged the scientist away from his computer for rest. Taken him to his room, sat on the bed with him, and just. Held him. Purring loud and deep and eventually Syntax was lulled into slumber sitting up against the soft-coarse fur of Macaque.

He realized that Macaque mattered to him more than he cared to admit.

Syntax had failed. His formula and tech hadn't worked. They only had one shot left, and there was no time for him to fix his mistakes before the end of the celebration. Macaque had been in too much pain, on the other side of the room, to tell Spider Queen off this time. It was all over...

Until she came. The young woman in white and blue. She'd done something, added an ingredient he had not been able to calculate for, and then...

"Let's give it a spin," Spider Queen had said with a smirk as she turned toward her human scientist... her human guinea pig.

"Wait, no!" Syntax backed up, knowing that it was almost pointless to attempt escape. There was nowhere to run. "I helped you! You need me! Maca-AGH!"

Before the spider monkie could rush to his side the little spider drone had jumped on Syntax, adhering itself to his face before he fell backward over some machinery. It crawled around him, situating itself on his back and digging in it's injectors and

pain agony pain pain something came out of his back pain another painpainhescreamedandscreamed ANOTHER AGONYISTHISWHATMACAQUEFELTPAIN one more

And then it was over. Syntax felt... nothing. No pain. No agony.

No... guilt.

He stood straight, facing forward before kneeling. He knew what he had to do.

"My queen."

Yes. His queen. The Spider Queen.

She was the only one who mattered to him.

He heard his name spoken from the other side of the room but paid it no mind. That voice didn't matter to him.

That wasn't the voice of his queen.

"Syntax?" Macaque called, unable to stand from his spot as his arms throbbed in ghost pain. He had tried to stand before, when the drone had lunged at him, but the pain shot through him for a split second and send him to his knees too quickly.

His screams... his screams made his ears pull back not from the pain of the volume but from fear and something else.

Then Syntax stopped screaming and stood and knelt before the Queen.

"Syntax!"

... he never responded.

Macaque wondered if this is what guilt felt like.

#oops all SAD #monkie kid #lego monkie kid #ship fic #hurt/comfort #six eared macaque #syntax #shadowcodingshipping #fun fact: Shadow Code is when devs include third-party code without approval or any safety validation #considering the way this ship came about here I THINK THAT FITS

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fenristheorem · 4 years ago

Note

Hi!^^

Could you make a hc about Lance and Guardian first date? 👀

Hello! This ask turned into a bit of a headcanon / scenario hybrid, I hope you don’t mind! It’s was so tempting to write in-depth about so many things through this that I couldn’t stop myself lol.

Also, I put a couple of my own headcanons on Lance’s dragon form in here because we know basically nothing except how he looks.

~Under the cut~

Lance and Guardienne's first date:

Guardienne may have been the first one to show interest in advancing their relationship from friends to partners (since Lance was very hesitant to do that as he feels he doesn’t deserve it after everything he’s done), but Lance will take it upon himself to initiate the first date after she clearly has interest, and he won’t take it lightly.

His seriousness about this is due to two main reasons: the instinctual nature of being a dragon - which includes all the courtship instincts that are a part of his people’s culture - and the belief that she truly deserves to be taken seriously.

Lance may not have been raised by his people, but dragons are feral creatures by nature and, therefore, instincts are a prominent part of their life. The knowledge that she’s agreeing to date him will be translated into a very basic idea within those instincts: she’s allowing him to court her. There - of course - will be more to their relationship than just Lance trying to court her, but this idea merely shows what instincts will be active through the beginning of their relationship until they’re both sure they want to be together long-term. The point of having courtship instincts is to show a potential mate that said dragon is competent at providing, protecting, and caring for their love interest, so that’s exactly what Lance plans to do. These instincts - combined with knowing her personality and interests - will help him to think of things he can find, plan, or do for her that are specifically chosen because he believes she’ll like it. He wants to show her that he is an ideal mate for her, so he’ll keep trying to prove that relentlessly until they both have confirmed their affection for each other over and over again, in which case Lance will still keep providing and caring for her, but will be less aggressive about it. These instincts also act as a major impulse control for Lance, and this can be either harmful or beneficial for him. They can influence in-the-moment decisions, especially with physical touch, like whether or not he kisses her in one moment or how he chooses to hold her. This can be harmful in the manner where he may pressure her past her boundaries a bit by accident - unknowingly trying to prove how deep his want for her is and being caught up in the moment and his own physical feelings so he’s rendered unable to immediately realize her discomfort unless she makes a clear gesture that she’s not yet interested. The last thing Lance wants it to make her uncomfortable, so he’ll try to keep from doing something unless it’s relatively clear that she’ll react positively to it, but from that thought, this can also be greatly beneficial as it allows him to recognize things that he - or other men - may otherwise overlook. There may be a moment where she’s interested in possibly initiating something, but may be too shy to actually take the first step. He’s very detail orientated, so he’ll likely notice this subtle change in how she acts as she ponders a thought, and can instinctually recognize a few changes in her physical being - like glancing from his eyes to his lips, initiating a few kind but somewhat unnecessary touches, unknowingly accentuating a few attractive parts of her body, and even going as far as detecting a faint change in scent when she’s aroused (although, that last one will come a bit later in the relationship). Sometimes Lance will purposely tamp down any instinctual habits for the sake of proper self-control and not needing to second-guess any action that may actually make her uncomfortable, but usually when Lance detects a few signs that she’s heavily interested in him in the moment - and it’s clearly romantic interest, not interest in just the conversation topic - those instincts will unravel and he won’t be able to stop himself from immediately leaning forward to steal her lips in a kiss.

These instincts overall are very serious to him, and he doesn’t intend to take her courtship lightly - after all, his actions and his manner with her will influence how her feelings develop with him, and that’s influenced by how his instincts effect him in this situation. However, that doesn’t mean he’ll go out of his way to change for her or do things (that he may not like, especially) just because he thinks she’ll like it. If his instincts are continuously telling him to do things that she’s not liking, then perhaps they’re not as compatible as he’d like to think. He’s willing to give her things that are influenced by his instincts that she’ll surely like, but if he needs to think and act differently than who he is, then their relationship will be based off a lie, and he’s not about to base any part of his life - or someone else’s life that concerns him - off of a lie made solely to please.

He’s also taking this date seriously because he feels it would disrespectful of him to not take it seriously. This is a given regardless of who it is, but he feels it applies with her even more than it would with anyone else due to this reasoning: Lance has tried to kill her in the past - multiple times - and he tried to kill her friends and destroy the world that she loves so dearly. So not only would it be disrespectful in general to waste her time with a date that isn’t well planned or thought out, but it would be incredibly disrespectful to the point of being truly unforgivable if he did all of those horrible things and then tried to win her affections by thinking that a shallow, poorly thought out date would even begin to be acceptable in proving that he’s an ideal man for the savior of Eldarya. It takes the idea of wasting her time and thinking poorly of her intelligence and self-worth to a whole new level - and Lance is not about to risk that in any way. This is the woman who actually managed to put up a fight against him (hopeless, but he gives her credit for trying because she believed in her reasoning), who saved Eldarya, and is now moving past bitter old emotions to begin considering taking her past sworn enemy as her future lover. She has gained his respect in a multitude of ways, so there is no way that he’s going to take their first date lightly.

That being said, he struggles for a few days planning what he wants to do with her. He did ask her if there was anything in specific she’d like to do - only for her to say that there was nothing in particular, so all the planning was on him. Lance wants a good balance of including things she likes and would appreciate while also adding in his own interests. He believes that their first date should reflect how he thinks their relationship would manifest - and what he would like it to be and what he thinks she’d like it to be - while being conscious that this will be the first glimpse into a possible intimate life with each other, which can be off putting at first, so he thinks of everything that that would include and / or influence; food, entertainment, traveling, talking, etc. It was a good thing he told her prior to expect to be with him the whole day as he eventually finds himself needing to carefully manage and plan things to assure the date will go as he hopes, otherwise the rest of the day wouldn’t be very ideal. He’s sure to have a few back-up plans, though, just in case something does go awry so the date isn’t a total failure.

Guardienne knows absolutely nothing about what he’s planning, the only thing he told her is to take the whole day off and wear something comfortable yet functional that she isn’t afraid to get dirty. This almost scares her, and for a while she wonders what she got herself into by saying yes to his offer - after all, Lance has always had a creative mind with their “adventures” in the past - but she will admit that she does trust him now, and she follows his advice when the day of their date comes.

Lance is sure to give Huang Hua a few day’s warning about his day off and who he’s leaving in charge that day - she raises an eyebrow and grins the slightest bit when he mentions the exact day he needs to take off, but doesn’t ask any questions - and rises early on the day of their date to meet Guardienne in the Dinning Hall at the time they agreed on.

Now Karuto doesn’t like Lance at all much, and the dragon knows this, so when he originally asked the chef to prepare a few special meals he was turned down very quickly. But then he mentioned that it’s for Guardienne as well...

“Oh? You want me to prepare a special meal for her for you? Ha! Why?”

“Well... we intend to spend the day together so I want to be sure she has a nice time, and you’re cooking is excellent, Karuto. I know Guardienne really appreciates your food, and I don’t want to take any risks of things going wrong, so I was thinking that if we could have a breakfast and dinner at the dinning hall, and a lunch to go, that would be a definite way to begin to make sure she has a nice time.”

Karuto’s ladle clattered to the floor as the Satyr whipped his head around to look Lance dead in the eye, a dumbstruck expression on his face - almost looking as though he’s seen a ghost. Lance met his gaze evenly, expecting this reaction. He knew the chef didn’t like him that much, he didn’t blame him, but he hoped that Karuto could perhaps bless him with this favor for Guardienne’s sake.

“You mean... you have a date with her?” Karuto’s voice was faintly high pitched, reconfirming just how shocked he was. Lance shifted a bit, glancing to the ground as he did before meeting his gaze again.

“Ah, well... yes. So I’d really like things to go well. And try to keep this on the down-low. This is our first date and I think everything would go better overall if it didn’t spread like wildfire through the guard just yet.”

Karuto’s facial features softened a bit as he listened, picking up the ladle and shuffling to throw it in the sink before fishing another from one of the various hooks along the wall and returning to the pot on the stove.

“...Well, I suppose I can’t say no... and... - ahm - congrats? I’ll be sure to keep quiet about this, I guess, for her sake. Now what are you thinking of for the meals?” Karuto still looked quite surprised, but there was a sincerity in his expression and tone that Lance trusted, and he promptly thanked Karuto for doing him this favor. However, the Satyr also made sure to give him the full version of “if you try anything with her and I hear of it, I’ll personally make your life hell.” Lance quickly realizes that Karuto really likes her, and assures him he won’t do anything she doesn’t want. It doesn’t really seem to convince the chef, but he also probably realizes that there’s nothing he can do to stop this. Guardienne can be just as stubborn as the dragon, after all, and she’s already said yes to this.

Fortunately, Karuto kept his word and prepared a special breakfast for the both of them - Lance quickly noticed that his was prepared with quality as well, although the chef gave him a sharp look - and Guardienne soon realized that their breakfast was different than what was being served to others as they settled into a quiet corner of the hall. Lance - somewhat sheepishly - admitted that he’d asked a special favor from Karuto, and Guardienne grinned appreciatively at this.

When they were finished, Lance retrieved the lunches - nodding in thanks to Karuto as he did, the chef still giving him a meaningful look - and stored them in the small travel bag he packed, heading out of the guard with Guardienne to lead her to the open plains.

The next part of his plan was a bit shifty. It’s always possible that she could back out or become uncomfortable, but he feels - despite his anxiousness - that this should be how things are done. If Guardienne at any point became uncomfortable, then he would immediately yield to her wishes, but he really hoped she didn’t. He believes this is where their date can truly begin, and he hopes that she has enough faith in him to follow his plans.

He dropped the bag on the ground and turned to her, leveling a calm stare on her as she tilted her head in curiosity.

“You’ve never rode a dragon, correct?”

“I hope that’s not an innuendo.” She cracks a smile and raises a brow as she looks at him, he grins slyly in return.

“No - not this time at least.” He can play the game of wit. Guardienne’s smile grows before falling, a faint trace of wistful mourning crossing her expression.

“But, actually I have. Your brother, during the war...” Lance remembered that and his grin dropped, but this was something different. That was into war, when neither were paying attention to the actual experience and were focused on preserving their lives. He needed to know if she actually experienced seeing the world from a dragon’s eye view.

“Yes, I know that, but have you actually rode a dragon and been able to focus on the experience? Flying into war is very different than flying for leisure.”

“No, I haven’t experienced that...” She looked intently at him now, understanding where he was leading the topic.

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes... I trust you.” Her eyes met his steadily as she responds. Everything is going as he hoped so far.

Whisps of white and cerulean blue shifted around Lance as he began shifting into his dragon form, stretching his wings out and lifting his head towards the sky to adjust once fully transformed before taking a few steps towards her as Guardienne picked up the travel bag. She admired the beautiful rippling of crystalline blue and snow white scales as he sauntered towards her before crouching down and lowering his neck. Sudden nervousness swept over Guardienne - he was certainly big, easily close to 10 feet tall - if not taller - with a thick, muscular form, but she never actually had the chance to think about riding a dragon before doing so, and that realization seemed intimidating to her now. Will she just hang onto the ice-like horns that adorn his upper neck? Won’t her weight be tiring for him in time? What about her legs, where should she put them? Could he really lift her weight into the air as easily as he seems to think?

Lance took notice of her hesitance and tilted his head and neck to look at her with a piercing eye, watching her as she stared for a moment.

“I...”

“I understand this may seem daunting. If you feel you can trust this, I would recommend doing so - I have wonderful things planned for us - but I won’t force you. I have backup plans closer to the guard if you feel you’re not ready for this.” Lance’s heart twists a bit - he really wanted to do this with her. This was really the only possible hindrance, if she could just get past this and trust him...

“No, it’s fine. I just... how do I hold on?” Guardienne quickly snaps to and laughs a bit, securing the travel bag to her and lifting a leg to straddle his lower neck. She placed her hands on his neck for a moment before curiously running her hands along his scales. Such a wonderful texture...

A purr rumbles from the dragons chest as he relaxes, pleased that she was agreeing with this.

“Hang on to the horns around my neck and wrap your legs around me - be sure to dig your heels in, it’ll help stabilize you.”

Guardienne did as told and instinctively leaned forward on his neck, clinging close to dear life.

“When we’re up in the air you can re-adjust your grip a bit to be more comfortable. Are you ready?” Lance raised his neck from the ground and Guardienne braced herself, already feeling unsettlingly high in the air - but she knew she wanted this.

“Yea.”

Lance tilted his head towards the sky again and spread his wings wide, leaping from the ground to hover for a moment before his wings scored through the air with a loud, windy woosh. Guardienne watched as his wings folded a bit, his scales shimmering beautifully in the sunlight, before stretching out and falling upon the air again. With every down stroke of his wings, Lance’s head and neck raised into the air a bit, the rest of his body following the rippling motion as he climbed higher in the air and gained speed.

Guardienne dared not look down as they rose above the trees, instead hunkering down a bit to press herself closer to the ice dragon. They were heading higher than she’s ever been while riding another creature - and while she did trust Lance, it still unsettled her greatly knowing how far their drop would be if he were thrown off balance and unable to recover. But he has years of experience of flying, she reminded herself. It was unlikely for him to lose control of himself.

Lance could sense a bit of her anxiety and shifted his wing pattern, smoothing out his climb to be more steady and less aggressive in how he moved. Guardienne fortunately seemed to lose some of her worries as he climbed with more subtle movements, and just as she relaxed a bit he shifted his pattern again. They were high enough in the sky now to where Lance just needed to change direction to head towards their destination, so he leveled out in the sky, letting his wings glide through the air.

Guardienne shifted the slightest bit as he leveled out, making sure she had a good grip, and caught sight of the ground below while doing so - but contrary to how terrifying she thought it would feel when seeing it from this distance, it was actually beautiful.

Trees dotted the ground, forming into masses of liquid dark green forests against the pale green of soft grass while blue-silver rivers - the color of moondust - meandered through grass and forest alike, dipping to disappear among trees before emerging again at a very separate location. Dark grey boulders dotted along the rivers and streams, and the occasional creature bolted along the plains as it ran from the shadow of the mighty entity flying above it.

She remained entranced at the landscape below as Lance tilted slightly, gliding elegantly through the air as he banked into a turn. Something of a purr rumbled from his chest as Guardienne leaned against him more, faintly adjusting her grip to hold higher on his horns so she could lean closer to him while admiring the ground.

“The land is much nicer from the air, isn’t it?” Lance called out to her as he tilted his head to glance at her, relief welling in his chest when he noted the starry-eyed gaze Guardienne wore as she looked at the ground.

“It’s beautiful!” Her tone will filled with awe, no hint of nervousness appearing anywhere in her energy anymore. He knew she would love this, she just had to push past the fear.

As they flew, Guardienne became more and more comfortable with flying, eventually allowing herself to sit somewhat upright so she can get a wider view of the great expanse of land stretching endlessly beneath them rather than what’s directly below them. It reminded her a lot of when she flew on airplanes, but this was much more free and wild.

Mountain ranges dotted the distance one way - tall, grey and monumental in the face of all the specks of trees and strings of rivers - and thicker forest canopy darkened the forest in some deeper parts of the trees. Open plains flowed beneath them and, with a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw the deep blue of the ocean behind them, growing further and further away. She basked in the view as Lance glided through the air, and Guardienne came to realize that properly riding a dragon isn’t half as worrisome as she originally thought.

She looked ahead and saw a murky, grey-blue expanse approaching from among the trees and plains - immediately recognizing it as a large lake dotted with large, jutting boulders - and beyond that a small cliff. It was as though a small mountain once stood there, but half was taken and replaced by a lake, leaving the other half a jagged, rocky outcrop against the bright sky as it led further back to sloping plains.

Lance dived faintly, gliding softly downward as they approached the lake. For a moment Guardienne’s thoughts filled with alarm as he seemed to intend to send them straight into the water, and she was about to open her mouth to express her concerns when he tilted his wings a few feet away from the surface and stopped their decline just before the water.

Instead, Guardienne’s breath was taken away from her as she looked into the lake, their reflection mirrored beautifully in the deep blue as they glided mere feet away from the surface of the still water, wakes rippling through as they passed by from the airflow of the dragon she rode. Lance tilted himself just slightly, turning their path to allow the edge of his wing to just faintly brush the surface with a soft hiss as water sprayed out behind. However, left upon the surface in the wake from his wing was a long trail of glittering, cloudy ice - spiked along the edges as it froze the rippling water during it’s impact against the dragon’s wing. She watched in fascination the ice trail that followed them, suddenly wondering how the water felt, and pressed her front completely against Lance as she leaned down. Gripping him tightly with her hand and legs, she took a calming breath and leaned slightly to his side, reaching to the lake.

Lance tilted his head to look at her again and straightened out, letting them drop closer until he was a risk of sending them straight into the water if he glided any lower. Fortunately, this was all the decline Guardienne needed, and the tips of her fingers brushed through the surface; cold and grating against her skin at their speed - but spraying out in a similar fashion as the water that had sprayed from Lance’s wing - and leaving her breathless from the experience.

The start of an astonished laugh bubbled from her chest before she leaned completely back, readjusting her grip again as she looked across the water on both sides. Exhilaration flowed through her bones and veins as she took in their speed in comparison to the lake and trees along the bank, and she let out a full laugh as she threw her head back to the sky, letting the wind whip over her skin as she embraced the experience of truly riding a dragon.

Joy bubbled within Lance as he took in her chiming laugh, and as they began to near the occasional large boulder jutting from the lake water he pondered the next part of his plan again. Hopefully she was in the mood for an even more thrilling ride...

He came up upon the first boulder, emerging many feet above the water and shifted his wings again, tilting them to soar upwards and give a flap to keep their speed as he fluently arced above the boulder, letting himself glide slowly down again and targeting two boulders near to each other next. He arced over one again and dived safely above the water, spreading his wings and banking into a sharp, drifting turn to swerve around the second rock. Guardienne shifted on his lower neck as he moved, flattening herself to him and adjusting her balance slightly when needed. When they were level above the water again, approaching their last chance to safely fly away from the approaching cliff, Lance glanced back toward Guardienne to find her studying the immense, jagged rise. She locked her gaze with his one eye, giving a wild grin as she adjusted herself and held on tighter.

Lance knew that she knew his intent, and her grin and tightening grip was all he needed to know that she wanted in on this experience, so he rose slightly above the lake again to beat his wings and gain speed as he scanned the cliff for the best path.

“Have you ever done anything like this?” Guardienne called to him, leaning with him as he tilted to avoid a large rock with an overhanging arch. They passed under it and a crumbling sounded from behind them. She looked back in time to see a fair part of that arch crumble from where they just passed under and splash into the water. Suddenly she was harshly reminded that the landscape could shift due to the wind currents from the dragon, and they don’t have any control over it. Her gaze turned to look at Lance again as he looked back to her.

“If I can fight in the air then I can navigate through cliff sides, and this certainly isn’t the first time I’ve flown through rocky outcrops or forests. Be sure to keep a tight grip, though, this’ll require finessing.”

Guardienne trusted his experience with this, so she nodded her head and gave him a trusting grin - he wouldn’t be doing this if he felt he couldn’t execute it.

Lance turned back to study the sloping cliff and the rocky lake before it again, finding an ideal path upward, and steadied his wings to prepare for the sudden moment where he would enact his first movement.

Guardienne held onto him, anticipation making her heart race as she studied the rocks as well.

And then Lance banked harshly to the side, heading towards a large, thin ridge rising out of the water that was crumbling on one side.

He tilted back, rising into the air and closing quickly in on the ridge top before arcing himself tightly over it. Nearly immediately on the other side was another jutting formation, and - as he was gliding downward - his wings shifted and he rose his head and neck to the sky to begin to slow their descent and climb again, then tilted nearly vertical to the side to veer around the formation, bringing them closer to the immense cliff edge now nearly directly above them. Lance soared along the length of cliff for a moment, level with the water now as he spotted an arch adjoining the cliff. He glided to it and folded his wings safely in for a moment as they passed through before flicking his wings open on the other side and immediately banked upwards into the sky.

Guardienne held on tight, pressing herself close to Lance as he easily - gracefully - maneuvered around rocks and overhangs, climbing up the cliff at a soaring speed without bringing them too close to risk any harm, but still close enough to feel the humbleness of realizing how small they still are in comparison to the massive stones. Her head swung wildly around, watching the stones they drifted around and embracing the breathtaking view of the water receding below them. Lance dived and arced and rolled in the air, rising and falling as he maneuvered the cliff. Guardienne diligently held herself close to him, doing her best to adjust herself in subtle ways that might make his flying easier for him while embracing the beauty of the light reflecting off of water below and the shadows cast over them as they soared beneath rock formations.

Guardienne looked towards the sky again as Lance soared along the cliff - noticing that they were about rise over the crest - and leaned her head against his neck gently, silently thanking him for the wonderful, thrilling experience he gave her. They rushed past the peak and kept their fast incline upward to let the speed die out on its own, and Guardienne took the chance to look around as they gided. Light shimmered beautifully off streams through muted green grasslands and forests, similar to where they just came from, but large, silver-grey rock formations jutted out of the ground here, like the boulders in the lake. A feeling of calm content rolled through Guardienne as she surveyed the landscape and rested against the dragon, breathing in the fresh air around them as it breezed by her. She almost wanted to cry from the beauty of the landscape and the experience of freely riding a dragon, understanding completely now exactly why Lance wanted to share this with her. This was something that couldn’t possibly be rivaled by any other experience.

They flew peacefully for only a few minutes longer before Lance glided to a slow stop just a few feet above the top of a hill, reaching out with his hind legs to plant firmly on the grass and lean down so Guardienne could dismount. He checked in on her after shifting back to his human form, trying to get a read on her opinion of the ride, only to be pleasantly surprised when she smiled and laughed, rambling about the humbling feeling of rising above the great earth to dance around it’s formations and soar the skies above it. Fortunately, the flying part of the date was also the most questionable - the most likely thing that would make Guardienne regret her choice - but just as Lance expected and planned for, she enjoyed the thrill instead.

Lance didn’t really have much planned after that to be honest, despite the aggressive way he worried about the plans. He intended for a few specific things to come up during their date, but from here it was really just walking and talking until encountering the right scenario for it. However, he did know roughly where he was and where they needed to go for them to spend the next few hours, so he kindly took the travel bag from her and they headed off in the direction he set, keeping a relaxed pace as they trekked over the hills and rock formations towards the forests around them.

They talked about anything and everything as they walked - although Guardienne was particularly interested in his dragon powers after what she just experienced, and Lance was more than happy to give her all the information she wished for. He kept a close eye on her as they walked as well, darting out to stabilize her when she stumbled over a root or vine and making sure she had a clear path through any poisonous plants so they wouldn’t brush against her. He didn’t want their time together to end early because she had gotten hurt - of which she had a wonderful record of doing.

They came across a river after a while of walking - slow moving and clear enough that they could see the vibrant fish and other aquatic creatures scuffling around beneath the surface. Guardienne knelt next to the water’s edge to watch the display while Lance settled next to her, leaning forward to watch as well while thinking that he could have decided to hunt for her and cook his catch instead of just asking Karuto to create a lunch. However, this was their first date, and Lance was partially prepared for the possibility where she didn’t end up enjoying it as much as she was enjoying it currently. With that in mind, he let the thought pass over him without any regrets - Karuto’s cooking was a sure way to have her enjoy their lunch out here when her final opinions of everything else could still vary - and marked it down as a thought for a later date if she was interested.

“They’re so colorful.” Guardienne smiled and dipped a finger into the water. The creatures in the vicinity of her finger scattered, rushing up or downstream or crawling along the bottom of the stream. A small, regretful grimace came to her face at seeing the reaction, dejectedly pulling her finger out of the water.

“I guess they’re as skittish as the fish back on Earth.” A minor, guilty smile came to her face as she looked at Lance, who grinned gently back and let out an amused huff, leaning his shoulder against her’s softly. Guardienne leaned into him as well and turned back to the expanse of the river, watching as creatures slowly returned from their hiding places. She glanced down the length of the river, recalling what she learned about Lance’s abilities earlier.

“Could you freeze over this whole river? Turn the whole thing into ice?” She asked curiously, wondering exactly the extent of his powers. Lance smiled at her before taking her hand in his.

“Probably, but I much more enjoy doing things like this.” He took her hand in his, his larger palm over the back of her small hand, and dipped their fingers into the water. The creatures - ruffled again from the intrusion into their domain - spread out again, but Guardienne was more interested this time in the pure white, feathery substance that began to spread across the surface of the water, originating from their hands. It looked like frost that spiraled out onto the water in every which way. As the water grew slightly colder - a sharp contrast to the striking warmth of Lance’s hand on hers - a few of the tendrils branched back towards them and crawled along the bank of the river, slipping up to slink across a few plants in it’s path.

Guardienne found herself entranced by the beauty of the living frost, even reaching down to the water with her other hand to brush her fingertips along the thin, fragile swirls. They were cold and hard to the touch, but a small amount of pressure applied made the frost dip under her fingers before she backed away. It was definitely thin and fragile; something beautiful to look at but not to touch.

She leaned against Lance a bit more without speaking, enjoying the quiet, beautiful moment they were sharing. He ran the pad of his thumb over the outer side of hers kindly.

Some time later they were moving again, trekking through light forests that were shifting into rollings hills and flatland. Guardienne savored the light breeze and warm sun as it traveled across the land and brushed her skin. It was a good thing that the weather was nice, otherwise Lance would have needed to change his plans. Guardienne was truly enjoying the date so far - if she knew what this date would be like beforehand, only for it to be changed by the weather, she would have been severely disappointed. However, this brought the thought of what Lance would have done if they couldn’t have gotten this far into the date.

As they walked, they discussed Lance’s backup plans, revealing that he - in the event of bad weather or something else restricting his original plans - would have then opted to spend the day with her in one of their rooms, probably his, or possibly have spent time somewhere else. If the weather wasn’t too bad - just a small bit of rain or something - then he would have even considered taking her to sit underneath the Cherry Tree to spend time in silence together. Frankly, he had a lot of things in mind that they could have done, it just would have depended on her mood and the weather.

They talked for a while until they encountered a shallow ravine, and Lance put his arm out to stop her, staring intently at the pointy, vibrant colored plants that dusted the bottom. He grabbed a nearby branch and stuck one end into the ravine - sinking a few feet into the plants before hitting solid ground - and continued to do the same motion as he walked alongside the dip, poking the stick against the ground every few feet as it hit at a slowly quickening pace. Guardienne watched with interest as Lance continued to walk further before he turned to her with a faint grin and a raised eyebrow.

“I hope you don’t intend to stand there all day. It’ll be easier to cross when the dip is more shallow.”

He turned back to testing the depth and walking as Guardienne snapped out of her watching, a grin making it’s way to her face as she began to follow him. The stick reached only a foot or two deep into the ravine now.

“I don’t know, I was thinking I would stand there until you decided to carry me across like a princess. Add a new twist to the typical story of a princess being kidnapped by a fearsome dragon, you know?” She spoke in a humored tone, turning her gaze away for a moment to look at their surroundings, only to begin to turn her attention back to him when she heard the thump of the stick falling to the ground.

She let out a surprised squeak as she suddenly found herself off the ground, leaning back and being pulled to Lance’s chest as he picked her up with ease. Her hands found holds within his armor to cling to him as he began heading towards the ravine.

“Lance! What are you doing!?” She laughed as she clung to him, pleasantly shocked at his sudden actions.

“Well fortunately the kidnapping part is over, so now this age-old, horrifying tale can be continued in a lighter manner - per se with the beautiful princess being protected by said fearsome dragon from potentially poisonous plants. It’s better if only one of us trek through this instead of both.” He spoke in a light tone as well, a smirk on his face as he glanced over to meet her gaze quickly. The reminder of the kidnapping - and his past overall - weren’t a usually pleasant memory, yet somehow she made it easy to pass over, even joke about on occasion.

“Hey, I probably could have carried you.” Gaurdienne laughs as she says this, looking up at him with a humorous but fierce gaze. Lance found himself shaking with laughter as well.

“I’d like to see you try!”

He sets her down gently on the other side of the ravine, keeping a hand on her hip as she finds stable footing along the slope and rocks before they head off again, talking and joking with each other all the while.

Lance certainly begins to open up as they walk, and Guardienne’s time with him turns less from a date with the man who once tried to kill her - and who’s loyalty she questions sometimes - to an enjoyable hang-out with someone who might as well have been an old friend. They find themselves laughing about many different things and carrying witty conversations together, occasionally broken by Lance adding in small informational bits regarding things they pass by that Guardienne comments on.

Eventually the forest is left behind them and they start their hike across rolling, wide pastures, the wind breezing through the tall grass as they climbed their way up a sloping hill. A strong wind current hit Guardienne at the top before calming as she looked at the land around them.

A beautiful river curled around the base of the hill, and a small lake sat off not too far in the distance, leading further to forest again. Clouds still dotted the sky, with no storm in sight.

“Are you hungry?” Guardienne turned her attention back to Lance as he spoke, glancing up to note the sun’s position in the sky. It was high above them, but was noticeably starting it’s decline towards the horizon again.

“Yea. Now that you say it, I am starting to get hungry.”

They stopped on the hill and Lance began to scan the ground, fussing with the travel bag as he stared at one spot.

He slightly nervously pulled out a thin, soft blanket from within the small travel bag, letting the faint wind spread it out as he laid it on the ground.

“Wait, did you drag me all the way out here for a picnic?” Guardienne giggled as she watched his ministrations, and a faint dark red brushed Lance’s face as he paused and avoided her gaze.

“I suppose it does look like that.” He grinned broadly and breathed a laugh. Lance originally saw the date as a combination of many things that they’d both enjoy, but it did seem like the main highlight was their lunch now...

“Don’t worry, I’ve enjoyed the whole date so far. Unless the food sprouts wings I don’t think it’ll rival the thrilling ride you gave me.” Guardienne giggled as she approached the blanket he set down.

“Who said I was worried?” He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a sly grin now.

“Ugh, fine then Mr. Cool and Collected... That’s a nice look on you by the ways.” She brushed off his comment and internally laughed at the contradiction she pointed out, looking away before meeting his gaze again with a tinge of smugness.

“It would look better on you.” Lance quickly retorted. Guardienne couldn’t stop her shy grin and her heart from racing when he turned his sharp blue gaze on her, a blush faintly dusting his face as he grinned dangerously at her through narrowed eyes. Somehow, no matter what state he’s in, he always seems to manage to get her restless.

They settled onto the blanket - Lance resting his sword on the ground next to the cloth so it was out of the way - and began to unpack the food that Karuto cooked, placing it carefully on slightly uneven ground. They carried on conversations as they ate, enjoying the warmth of the day and the breeze that brushed by, even spotting a wild rabbit-like creature racing across the grassland.

Some time later, after their meal was finished and the scraps packed up tightly in the travel bag to take back, they laid back on the blanket, watching as snowy clouds passed overhead. Guardienne suggested that they stay there for a while and watch the clouds, and she began pointing out certain clouds that looked like shapes or companions to her. Lance quickly caught on to the idea and pointed out a few things as well. They even started debating what clouds looked like what, nipping lightly at each other with humorous words when they scuffled about whether a cloud looked like a Warrifang or a Gallytrot.

Eventually they continued their journey across the prairie, heading towards the small lake in the distance. When it was finally up close - the sun truly beginning it’s descent towards the horizon, casting a chilled breeze across the land and gorgeously highlighting the colors of grass and lake alike - she looked into the water. Small pebbles were scattered across the lake bottom, and she stopped at the edge to peer across the water as Lance walked a bit further. He took her hand gently, drawing her attention back to him to look at him in surprise.

Lance was standing on the water in front of her.

Guardienne looked at the surface of the water that he stood on to find it iced over - a circle that surrounded him by a few feet - thicker where he stood and thinning out until it crackled away at the edges. She looked up to meet his gaze with shock.

"Come on." He urged her to step out onto the ice with him with a humored smile, placing a foot in front of her path to summon another ice circle for her before backing off.

Really, she shouldn't have been so surprised - his abilities heavily vary in their use, so it makes complete sense that he could do this. However, she couldn’t shake the flutter in her chest as she looked at him. Was it his casualness that she was actually taking most attention to? Was she actually enjoying this date more than she realized?

Guardienne reached out with a tentative foot, placing it steadily on the ice. It shifted under her weight, slightly floating away as her foot pressed against it and continuing its journey away even after she took her foot off it. Lance placed a foot on the circle at it began to float away, holding it steady and adding more ice onto it to create a bigger circle for her. She looked back up at him with a grin.

"You're kidding me right? Why just little circles? Why not freeze over the whole lake?"

Her hesitance hid worry underneath the surface that Lance caught on to, and he gently grinned back.

"Freezing over the whole thing could have adverse effects to the environment. It's safer to freeze it in small sections. Now get on the ice before I pick you up and place you on it." His tone turned affectionately amused at the last sentence, and then added in a serious, gentle tone; "I won't let you fall in, I promise."

Guardienne looked back at the ice before gently placing her foot on it again, now a bit more confident that it would be stable with Lance holding it - it was his ice after all. It shifted again slightly under her weight, but she committed to her decision and lifted her other foot off the ground to place on the ice, gripping Lance's arm the whole time for support. He wouldn't let her fall, right?

Lance kept her hand in one of his while his other went to her waist to stabilize her as she grew closer, freezing over the small, thinly-iced gap between them so she could basically press herself against him as she looked at the water around them. Guardienne leaned against him slightly as she faintly caught his scent, feeling safe in his arms from the possibility of taking a lake bath.

"Have you never walked on ice before?" He asked gently. Guardienne looked up at him again.

"Well, I've slipped on ice multiple times, but I don’t think I’ve ever achieved the skillful feat of walking on ice." Her tone was humorous as she grinned. Lance smiled back.

"It's not that hard once you know how, you just need to be careful with how you place your feet. It should be easier since you're expecting to step on ice, too."

Lance took a step forward, heading further onto the lake as ice formed under his foot just before he touched the surface of the water. Guardienne took an awkward step forward as well, hesitantly placing her foot down as ice formed under her as well. A small laugh escaped the dragon next to her.

“You can walk normally, you don’t need to step where you think the ice will form. It’ll appear under you no matter where you step.”

“Why will it just appear under me? How do I know it’s not going to form somewhere else?” Guardienne joined his subtle laugh as she clung to him. The water beneath them was beautiful, but she really didn’t want to get wet at the moment.

“Because I’m watching you, it forms under you because I make it do so.”

“And what if you’re not watching me?”

“That’s impossible.” The response slipped out before he could stop it and Guardienne’s gaze shot back up to look at him with an affectionately amused smile. Lance averted his gaze with a minor blush again, grinning faintly as well. He didn’t mean to say that, but it was true all the same.

“Come on, you won’t slip or fall into the lake, I promise.”

They walked further out into the lake and Guardienne calmed down over time, eventually trusting the ice enough to walk by herself - although she still held Lance’s hand tightly - as she scanned the surface of the water and watched as ice formed under her no matter where she stepped. It was fascinating, really; it formed nearly instantly and immediately faded back to water after she moved further.

Lance managed to distract her a bit by sparking conversations, of which she happily took part in, her gaze shifting between him, the ice and water, and the trees off in the distance that they were heading towards. She squinted her eyes to see a certain tree a bit better. Was that a hint of blue?

A splash in the water stole her attention and she quickly looked down to see a large, scaly shape receding back to the depths of the lake. She continued to walk alongside Lance, but kept her eyes firmly on the water. Another large, scaly shape rushed by, almost translucent but with hints of colors dotting along it’s body. Guardienne froze in her steps with wide eyes - it was nearly half her size!

“Lance there are monsters in these waters.” She held tight to his hand as he stopped beside her, looking down into the water with her. Another creature arced in the water and Lance grinned at her amusing statement.

“Not monsters.” He spoke in a light tone, crouching down on the ice and opening the travel bag to fish out a few bread scraps.

A large chunk of bread landed in the water and floated for a moment. Guardienne crouched down next to Lance, sticking close to his side. After a few moments of waiting, a large, slightly translucent creature reared out of the water, opening a great maw to swallow the bread whole. Beady black eyes whirled around as it breached the surface, locking on the couple before it submerged again.

“Great Oracle, what is that!?” And so began another moment of Lance imparting some of his knowledge to her.

Guardienne eventually relaxed in the presence of the fish-like creatures, hesitantly taking a scrap of bread that Lance gifted her and placing it in the water, her hand hesitating to reel back as she considered pushing it further out. Lance reached out and gently took her hand in his to pull it back, and mere moments after he did so, another creature dashed out and closed it’s jaws around the bread with a snap. Guardienne basically threw herself back against Lance with a squeak.

“Note to self, don’t give them your hand!” She laughed as surprise and amusement fluttered through her being, clinging to him again for a moment.

“It nearly took my hand clean off!” Her gaze turned to meet Lance’s before turning back to where the creature disappeared as Lance shook with laughter.

“You would have been fine!”

“Are you kidding me? With a big mouth like that it would have taken my arm, too!”

“Suppose I should keep my hand away from your mouth in that case.”

“Oh, hush, you! You know that’s not true!”

Their laughter died down in time and they continued their walk across the water, Guardienne now being a lot more comfortable with the ice below their feet. They approached the shore and Lance let Guardienne step onto the ground first, following immediately after as the ice disappeared back into lake water. Standing at the shore, Guardienne could see the tree she was looking at earlier. It was tall, and it’s branches curved beautifully downward with thick, deep blue flowers stemming from the twigs. The sinking sun beautifully highlighted the deep colors on it and illuminated the grass around the trunk. She stared in awe and Lance turned to look as well.

“It’s beautiful... what type of tree is it?”

They began to approach it - not realizing that their hands were still clasped together - and stood beneath the draping branches.

“I’m not sure, I’ve seen this type of tree a few times but I don’t know anything of it.” Lance brushed his hand along a curved branch - the wood smooth to the touch - and peered at Guardienne to get a better read on her opinion of the tree.

Guardienne parted herself from Lance to look closer at the blue flowers, lightly touching the silken petals and bending closer to breathe in the faint, sweet scent. She closed her eyes and grinned before looking up at the higher branches, embracing the beautiful color of mixed brown and blue. Light scuffling broke her out of her trance and she looked to the trunk to find Lance on the first few branches above her, curiosity flooding her mind as she stepped a bit closer and watched him scale the tree. He nearly disappeared into the branches and flowers, standing for a few moments on a branch uncomfortably high above the ground before making his way down again, the broken side of a small twig with a beautiful array of sky blue flowers clamped between his teeth.

He landed softly on the ground and presented the twig to her, and Guardienne happily took it to admire the vibrant blue of the flowers compared to the softer cobalt blue of the flowers on branches closer to the ground.

“You know, you could have just picked a twig from one of the branches already in reach.” She joked lightly. Lance grinned.

“What fun would that be? Besides, the ones closer to the ground seem to be starting to wilt, the top of the tree has better flowers.”

He watched Guardienne as she smiled softly at the twig she held in her hand, raising it to breathe in the lighter scent and stroke a petal.

“I would almost think you’d change the tides of water for me.” She spoke softly, affectionately reflecting on everything he did for her today.

Lance heard her all the same, and a warmth bloomed in his chest as he watched the setting sun light her skin aglow with the flower branch. I would move the world for you, he thought. However, he held his tongue - it was too soon to be revealing how deep his affection for her ran, it would likely unsettle her - and instead glanced at the sun’s position on the horizon. It was nearly sunset.

“We should probably head back, it’s getting late and we have a dinner to attend.”

Guardienne glanced at the sun as well.

“Yea... no flying spectacles this time?” She turned her gentle gaze to him and smiled.

“No flying spectacles.” He grinned back with soft eyes and rested a hand on her lower back as they headed into the grassland again, Guardienne safely tucking the flower twig into a snug fold in her shirt so the wind wouldn’t steal it away.

“The flight back should be beautiful with the sunset.” She murmured, lightly nudging against Lance. This date turned out better than she originally hoped, and she reminded herself to thank him for the wonderful experience later.

“It will be.”

Lance shifted into his dragon form and they took to the skies again, Guardienne glancing back at the land that would forever hold a dear place in her heart.

That wasn’t the last time they visited that lake and tree.

I have absolutely no idea on if this is supposed to be a headcanon or a scenario, but I hope you like it regardless! I had so many ideas I wanted to add to this, but by then I’d be writing an actual short story just for their first date lol. Maybe I’ll write a part 2 to their first date (second date I suppose, that’ll be a bit more intimate than this one), or general date headcanons with those ideas.

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xiu21chen99 · 4 years ago

Text

hxh headcanon/imagine.

again... still about hisoillu but about their engagement instead of illu's influenced fashion choice.

also this is more of... idk it gave reason why they chose to marry instead of uh other ways i guess??

i've seen so many fanarts where illu would break the news to the zoldycks or how killu would react to having hisoka as his brother in law- like srsly it's meme worthy at this point- and lotsa ones that showed how hisoka proposed as a joke or smtg but... I've been overthinking abt it these past few days sO i present to you how i think "the big question aka the proposal" happened... (manga spoilers??)

it's after hisoka resurrected himself obviously, and def after he killed kortopi and shalnark (so he knew there was gonna be empty slots in the spiders' lineup)

i imagine illu went back to the zoldyck estate after the whole fiasco and only heard of hisoka's "death" from rumors while he was on a mission

and then when he was idk maybe contemplating on whether or not he should visit the body(?) to pay respects or something, he gets a text message from the devil himself

their text went like this probably:

hisoka: hey~ where are you right now?♠️ (and no u can't tell me hisoka doesn't text w card suits u just can't-)

illumi: who are you and how did you get the phone you are currently using?

hisoka: ooh~ illu~ i feel betrayed, did you delete my number?♣️

illumi: hisoka is dead

hisoka: *image attached*

illumi: oh

illumi: hello hisoka, how are you still alive?

hisoka: you sound disappointed~♦️

illumi: i kind of am...

hisoka: rude, just tell me where you are♥️

...and that's how they met up?? ngl i think illu has a know-it-all syndrome where he just has to,,, k n o w everything

he's curious so he agrees to the meetup ofc

he's also surprised when he sees hisoka is in good shape when they meet (idk at a bar in an unknown city?)

they drink whiskey on the rocks because... you know...

hisoka explains how he survived and his next plan of action (which is terminate the spiders)

illumi makes a mental note of nen after death bc he's heard and seen it all before but... not to this extent,

this is gonna be,,, bland but i think this is the logic behind why hisoka chose to get married/engaged instead of just paying up front (reference to the ten dons' commission to get chrollo killed and chrollo's commission to get the ten dons killed)--

anyways here's how their conversation goes:

i: "why did you want to talk in person?"

h: "oh y'know, for old times sake."

i: "...right"

hisoka laughs, "okay so maybe i want to ask you for a favor..?"

confused, illumi asks, "why could you not have just texted if you wanted me to kill someone for you?"

h: "no, no- wait, actually, you're not too far off."

i: ~mOrE cOnfUsiOn~ "huh?"

h: "how do contracts for assassination work in your... family business?"

i: "half the promised pay before, the remaining half afterwards. should the target be eliminated by a third party, the assigned zoldyck still gets the pay and should the employer die, then the contract is terminated and the zoldyck will report back immediately."

h: "and has anyone made a contract to have themselves terminated?"

i: "i beg your pardon?"

h: "what complications will arise should your employer's target be... themselves?"

i: "i believe... i have never encountered such circumstance before. the people who hire us are those who have enough money and resource to have their enemies killed quickly. no one's tried to test the zoldyck assassination prowess."

h: "so... how will that work?"

i: "are you implying this is the reason why you have contacted me today?"

h: "yes~ ♥️" (how he said a heart emoji out loud is up to you, reader)

i: "it will be a pointless paradox. logically, the zoldyck will only get the employment bill. and i, myself, do not find pleasure in going for the kill like you lest i get my reward, so you will not get a contract out of me, hisoka."

h: "is there no leeway?"

i: "a zoldyck stands up to their word. so no."

h: "even for a friend?~ ♦️"

i: "we are not friends, hisoka-"

hisoka raises his glass of whiskey along with his eyebrow.

i: "oh..."

h: "didn't you tell dear killua that a zoldyck didn't need friends?"

i: "you... are an associate, someone reliable in the killing world. it's different."

h: "hypocrite"

i: "i ask you for favors and you make me return them. it is not like we spend our time together leisurely like killu with that island boy..."

hisoka clinks their matching glasses of whiskey even though his is already empty, a shit-eating grin on his lips.

i: "you suggested we meet here."

h: "this isn't the first time we went out to drink, right illu?"

i: "regardless!! i will not kill you just for half the money. i do not like wasting efforts on fruitless missions."

h: "as i said, is there no exception, to make sure you get my money if you were to succeed in killing me?"

i: "are you doubting my skill, hisoka?"

h: "that's not the point right now~ ♠️"

i: "wait, why do you want me to get all of your money?"

h: "haven't we just gotten over this subject? because you're my friend, of course."

i: "i... we are not friends, hisoka."

hisoka claps, "that's it! illumi!! ♣️"

i: "eh?"

h: "marry me! that way in our prenup I'll make sure you get all of my money, and even without a prenup you'll still get it since you'll be my only relative! that solves it!"

i: "hisoka, are you sure death did not took a toll on your brain? you did say you used Bungee Gum only on your heart and lungs..."

h: "i'm being serious, illumi!! and doesn't this solve your earlier conflict? we don't have to be friends, we'll be husbands!"

i: "do not use that tactic with me, you manipulative bastard. stop joking."

h: "this is purely beneficial for you, honestly i don't get why you just won't accept it."

i: "then humor me this first, why now?"

h: "dear illu, i've been to literal hell and back. i think it's time to leave my mark in case i fail to escape death again."

i: "was it that bad?"

h: "you'll love it there, illu~ ♥️"

h: "on a more serious note, though, i do plan to marry you. out of everyone i've encountered, you're the most eligible candidate. you're powerful, fully capable and extremely pretty to boot! you're the ideal husband!"

(blushing obviously, illumi downs the remaining whiskey in his glass) i: "death has changed you, hisoka."

h: "so?"

i: "fine."

h: "excellent!"

and in one fell swoop, illumi has a pin against the curve of hisoka's jugular, wrist held tightly by hisoka- a card matching against his own neck.

"not yet, dear husband." hisoka whispered into his ear, "we have to manage the papers first. and i've a request before you do."

they let each other go at the same time, not even breathing an unnecessary breath in the other's personal space (well, they're nearly pressed thigh to thigh anyways, what's the point of personal space anymore-)

"a condition rather than a request, really."

"what?" hisoka orders them refills, and downs his when it arrives.

"join the ryodan first."

glass already pressed on thin lips, illumi's confused hum resonates softly into the concave utensil. "why?"

"so things can get more interesting. i assume you know of the dark continent expedition that's soon to take place?"

"father has advised i take part on it, since kalluto told me the ryodan plans to rob some cliches who'll join the expedition- to look after him. you want me to join them?"

"yes, and i plan to board as well, don't fret."

illumi's eyes turn to slits, "how should i know you would be there? i can't take your word when you might just disappear when we've all boarded."

hisoka grins, wide then wider, "you should know by now illu, i plan to avenge my wounded pride. that damned chrollo didn't even fight me properly."

tilting his head, illumi stared at the man beside him, "is that not contradictory? i thought you did not mind your opponent using whatever means necessary to win?"

"magicians use tricks and misdirection to awe the audience," hisoka says almost thoughtlessly, "chrollo's a narcissistic hypnotist who used the audience as a damned shield because he knew he couldn't handle me face-to-face."

he groans, tinged in regret. "i shouldn't have picked heaven's arena, if i'd chosen a more discreet location then maybe the damage won't be this bad."

"damage?" illumi rests his chin on his palm, facing his husband.

hisoka swipes a hand over his face, and the glamour comes off. the picture he sent illumi now present in front of him. he was missing a nose, his left hand didn't have any finger left and dried blood chipped on his white skin. "oh."

with another swipe, everything's made correct again. hisoka was grinning again. he downs the remaining alcohol and leaves jenny bills under the emptied glass.

"come, lovely husband. we're to elope and legalize our union!"

illumi follows suit after downing his own glass, "i think there might be another loop hole, if you were to join the family. zoldycks do not kill family."

"so if i were to wed you, here and now, you'd think me more of a family than alluka?"

"alluka is not family."

"are those your words, illumi? or silva's?"

"i..."

"wow, you're really just as fucked up as i am."

"where do you plan to take me? i've just said i cannot kill family."

hisoka chuckles, "then you're the one to take my name, of course."

"preposterous!"

"who the hell still uses that word?"

"i am and will always be a zoldyck-"

"exactly. it's just legal papers, if you kill me then you'll just be a widow and even get your name back! see how everything'll work out in the end?"

"hisoka-"

"are you doubting your skill of assassination, my dearest husband?"

"... i better get the most expensive ring in this damned city."

"that's the spirit! now let's go get married!"

"wait, hisoka. what is your last name?"

later that night, when they leave a chapel, something gold glimmers on hisoka's bungee gum/texture surprise ring finger. a matching one around illumi's finger.

unlike hisoka, though, illumi had an extra red glimmer right under that gold, in the dead center of a silver band of intricately designed pattern. hisoka had foregone the traditional diamond in favor of a 16 carat ruby engagement ring, such a curious choice but illumi accepted it all the same...

(much later on, hisoka took both rings as collateral and reminded illumi that he would get them back even if he died bc it was in their damn prenup- and bc it was technically bought under illumis name and that's how hisoka assured illu that he'd be on that black whale,,, bc he had the rings and planned to give them back to him there)

"I thought a red gemstone was better suited for the rather bloody and murderous ending that our relationship will inevitably come to, wouldn't you agree?"

-Hisoka Morow whenever someone mentions his preference of proposal ring...

"I disagree with most of his ideals, our relationship has always had a fragile foundation, and I knew from the start that we'd eventually end up killing each other."

-Illumi Morow, nee Zoldyck when asked about his thoughts on his husband...

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emmys-grimoire · 4 years ago

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Lesson 52 analysis + 53 predictions

Turning this into a routine thing now! They’re fun to write and they’re popular (moreso than my actual commentary posts lmao).

Y’all like my ramblings.

Things guessed correctly from prior lesson

The House of Lamentation was an illusion produced by the fairies

The arc culminated in the completion of the Trial of Patience (star received via Simeon)

The illusion did a number on Simeon's feelings as well due to his fondness for Lucifer and the brothers

They shoved Mammon and Luke off to the side and plopped them back in only after the Satan/Simeon arc was complete. There was no arc for Luke. To be fair, though, they did get more content than I expected even so.

Things guessed wrong

The banshee didn't show up at all. It was a red herring.

There was no significance to the geranium found in the mysterious book

Our adventure also completed the Trial of Generosity. (I incorrectly attributed this to Diavolo, who actually gave us the Star of Gratitude)

Still ???

Whether or not there is some kind of transfer of memories/experiences going on between the brothers' past selves and present selves due to our meddling in time. We've confirmed that past angel Beelzebub has turned into a glutton in between the time we last saw him and now, but we haven't confirmed if it *is* our meddling that has induced that. Currently, no change has manifested in the present brothers, nor has the timeline of events seemed to have significantly changed.

Whether or not present Lucifer becoming more "angelic" in season 2, in lieu of past angel Lucifer's growing doubt, will be a significant plot point. The parallels are getting stronger, though. (This is elaborated on further down)

It feels like 50/50? I’ll probably keep a list like this going for future analysis/prediction posts just so I can keep track of how right/mistaken I am throughout the playthrough. Might help me make less mistakes in my analysis!

As a general rule I try not to meander too far off into symbolism or out-of-game lore because what I write begins to sound like this:

And this is an otome game that is light on writing and plot. Nine times out of ten, it’s not going to be that deep. So I work with the details given and the plot points shown and try to draw connections within the framework of the story, in an attempt to try to deduce where the devs are taking the plot. Unfortunately for me, the devs like red herrings, and red herrings are designed to mislead you. With me, they are quite successful! I’d like to get better at spotting them.

The book was consequential -- it’s used to imprison Satan later -- but that’s the end of it’s meaning. Maybe the Bible verse had something to do with it, too -- those were some weird ass numbers to just throw in the title -- but maybe not. Either way, it doesn’t really matter.

But enough of that, onwards! We have a lot of points to go over that may be interesting to note, right or not.

Satan the Memory Thief

Back in 50-B we learn that it was Michael who taught the brothers the stories behind the human world constellations.

When we’re tossed back in time-dreamland (?) again, it is Satan who takes the opportunity to teach the brothers the human world constellations. The room had just been remodeled: Michael hasn’t had the opportunity to give them tours yet. Lucifer mosied into the room so he and the brothers can get the first glimpse.

Sooo if in a future lesson we ask them about where they learned the constellations in the present timeline and they say “oh a guy named Sully, who suspiciously looked just like Satan, taught us!” then we know our meddling is having significant consequences.

It IS worth noting that unlike the prior dream sequence, Satan and Simeon remember what they just went through. This particular time-dream could very well just be an illusion meant to give Satan/Simeon some kind of emotional resolution and nothing else. This is kind of why I hate that they’re bring time travel back into the story: it makes stuff like this confusing and borderline inconsistent. Some sequences may have effects and others may not.

The chat between Lucifer and Simeon could also be consequential.

“Do you *really* mean that?”

There is a parallel at play here!

After you wake up after dozing off, you go off to find Lucifer and Simeon conversing in a forest clearing, evidently unaware that you’re eavesdropping on them. Simeon says although he knows it is just an illusion, that he was glad to see angel Lucy once more. Angel Lucy is predictably confused, and reassures Simeon that they’ll remain like this forever.

Simeon, of course, knows better. He tells Lucifer that he knows he’s been meeting with Diavolo and he’s having doubts about his place in the Celestial Realm -- and if things really will remain the same. Lucy is caught off guard, and starts to explain with some clear hesitation... and of course we pass out before we could hear his answer.

There’s creepy loud heartbeats when it fades out. Normally I associate them with tense, pivotal decisions -- but it could also just be related to us waking up and returning to reality.

If Simeon ends up being wrong -- and there will be real world consequences to this conversation -- they could be very significant consequences. We’re not sure if the conversation continues for a bit longer after we pass out, but Simeon already woke up before we come to.

Obviously the brothers still fell (they’re still demons in the present), but I wouldn’t underestimate the potential of a butterfly effect changing the circumstances of the Great Celestial War. I kind of hope they don’t do that, though, because they haven’t even begun to explain the present details of that event. We know only the broad strokes. Suddenly changing them to make the resolution between the demons and angels more smooth will feel really forced.

And that parallel I mentioned: Diavolo expresses similar worries and doubt in Lucifer’s conviction in season 2.

I have no doubt Lucifer actually means what he says to Diavolo, unlike his dialogue with Simeon, but Diavolo is aware of just how far Lucifer will go for the sake of his family -- and he’s probably #2 on the priority list, when push comes to shove. Lucifer forsaking the Celestial Realm for Lilith was the thing that brought him to Diavolo in the first place.

Of course, this lesson has Simeon suggesting that Diavolo’s influence on Lucifer was significant prior to all that unfolding, and it may have eventually happened regardless. It was only a matter of when, not how.

Still, Lucifer be writing checks he may not be able to cash. We also get this foreboding warning from Barbatos in Season 2:

As I’ve said before, the inevitable conflict the story was hinting to at this point doesn’t happen in Season 2. Lucifer isn’t forced to make a choice like this. The Night Dagger didn’t demand it.

I’ve also expressed my belief that Season 2 and Season 3 were likely written back-to-back due to the small window of time between their releases, so I believe details overlooked in Season 2 may suddenly become more relevant in Season 3.

It’s worth remembering Diavolo’s growing feelings for MC -- and Lucifer’s inner conflict about it -- were hinted at early in Season 2, as well. It doesn’t really get going until the conclusion of Season 2, leading into Season 3.

Do I have any clue of what this is actually leading up to? Not at all! If it mirrors Season 2′s format, though, it’ll suddenly come to a head in the last 3-5 lessons. I remember feeling equally clueless then, and Season 2 had a lot more foreshadowing...

... a lot of which actually didn’t pan out! But it might now.

Guardian Angels

Another smaller, but interesting detail. Guardian Angels are indeed a thing.

I think they’re gonna become a thing soon. The devs very sneakily changed a small detail in Season 2, suggesting they might have realized that it may interfere with their plans for later seasons.

Old version.

New version.

I’m thinking they may have decided giving Michael guardianship of an entire swath of the population was cheating, and they may be individualizing the role of Guardian Angels.

Which leads me to who I think Michael’s chosen human squeeze is:

My man has been scoping him out long before we came around.

It makes sense, too. We know Michael gave his Ring of Wisdom to Solomon, which seems to have kickstarted his career as a demon-pacting sorcerer (though he clearly was a sorcerer before this).

This is a very powerful item, described as the Ring of Light’s counterpart, that would be very useful for a high-ranking angel to possess. I don’t think Michael would fork it over to just anyone, particularly when we remember how he felt compelled to interrogate us via dream hi-jack before the Ring of Light fully came into our possession.

Solomon also makes Michael angst in a way a well-meaning but misbehaving child would make their parent angst:

Solomon also really doesn’t seem to regard Michael like some distant, all-powerful alien being who could smite him out of existence.

Contrast this with how he responds when he’s forced to hang out with Diavolo for a day (he gets more comfortable, but he initially wants to punt the responsibility back to Lucifer ASAP).

And he knows a surprising amount of small details about the guy:

I think Solomon is a significant part of Michael’s long-term plans, but he may not even be fully aware of how. Or he is, and they’re in some kind of mutually beneficial agreement -- possibly related to cross-realm peace -- that we simply haven’t been made aware of yet.

Personally, I think Simeon should be made MC’s ‘official’ Guardian Angel if they’re gonna be a thing with official mechanics behind them. I know Michael is supposed to be the Big Cheese and ridiculously hot, so it may make sense to have him linked to the MC of an otome game because they’re super special too, but Michael may already have Solomon. He shouldn’t get to hog everything. It’s not like assigning Simeon to do job would really inconvenience him, either: MC is Solomon’s apprentice. He can easily work with the arrangement.

Luke may feel left out but he’s a kid so...

Seven Brothers Constellation

We learn there’s a constellation representing the brothers in the Celestial Realm. Everyone there knows the legend, but Luke doesn’t know what the three stars ‘watching over them’ represent.

He, Mammon, and Satan begin to theorize and Satan suggests they may represent the three realms. The other two like the idea, and Mammon insists the ‘human’ star represents MC.

He’s probably right, but I’m willing to take it a step further: it represents MC, Diavolo, and Michael. The three “guardians” of their respective realms, and the brothers. Season 3 has been repeatedly beating us over the head with how much Michael still cares for the brothers and his relevance to their upbringing, and likely their future.

It bears repeating: Diavolo and Michael are aiming towards the same goal, though their visions of what peace and harmony looks like may be very different.

Solomon could also qualify as a self-appointed guardian, but I think he lacks the connection to the brothers MC obviously has.

Still, he has the same resolve, and he’s not leaving the story any time soon.

Predictions

I sniff out even the smallest Michael details because he’s clearly the key to whatever is gonna blow up.

This might give us some insight on how the initial dealings with him may unfold:

It’s hard to deduce just what this actually means. Either Michael tends to overthink things that just aren’t that deep (can empathize) and that in itself leads to needless complications, or he’s apt to misread situations and as a result gives poor advice. Or a combination of both.

My initial read on him makes me think that he thinks the best of humans/angels but the worst of demons. He is very, very complimentary towards MC as soon as they start answering his questions.

Am I now? Really?

It could just be the game making characters butter up the MC to make the game more enjoyable for the player of a self-insert character, but dude we just met.

When you tell him you did what you did out of love for Lucifer:

That’s a very telling pause/ellipsis. It’s like his brain momentarily short-circuits and he needs to regain his composure before he continues, and he still doesn’t sound entirely sure of what you just said lol

He also just outright admits he initially thought you must be wicked just because the brothers liked you, and this is a guy who is still fond of them himself. I think he’s having a very hard time with it.

So the inevitable bumps in the roads ahead with him will likely be a result of this, and/or his dad being an asshole. Neither he or Diavolo are actually in charge of the realms they’re overseeing -- they’re both de facto leaders -- so maybe the parents will suddenly barge in and try to knock over their sand castles for whatever reason. It is kind of weird that the exchange program has been agreed to in the first place, particularly on the Celestial Realm’s part.

Regardless, I have no clue what the next arc will be. I know we still have three trials left, but they could combine two again to leave more room for the actual storyline to progress. The climax is going to be the last trial of our sorcerer’s exam, or something happening afterwards. Not sure which one I’m willing to bet on yet: I remember Simeon’s play and the silly Blood Moon contest in Season 2 were what kept use preoccupied for Season 2 until SUDDENLY LUCIFER GETS AMNESIA AND THE WORLD IS IN DANGER AND WE HAVE TO STAB HIM TO SAVE EVERYONE. But they did heavily foreshadow that in the very beginning lol. They just didn’t fill in the blanks until much later.

I wonder what the trial of chastity is gonna be like and how hard we’ll actually fail and the game will need to overcompensate for that

#obey me #obey me!#obey me lesson 52 #obey me spoilers #obey me lucifer #obey me diavolo #obey me solomon #obey me simeon #obey me michael #obey me barbatos #analysis #obey me lesson 53 #obey me season 3

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thedannyfinn · 5 years ago

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The Story of Absolute Power, Deceit, and Manipulation

This is going to be quite an interesting read for many. I encourage bookmarking and taking breaks. It is out of the request of those involved to bring awareness of the patterns of manipulation, deceit, and absolute power that I delve into my knowledge on this subject as supported by the words of Ashley Purdy, backed by my own experiences and opinions. This will be a very important lesson for many younger musicians as well. This is in part based on my own personal experiences, opinions, and recollection. The sources of the information that will be detailed in this post will be coming from myself alone as an individual and my personal observations with supporting relevant media links.

An Anonymous Warning

This story starts way back in 2012. I remember distinctly researching Black Veil Brides and the making of, when I came across a blog post from a third party detailing the band’s relocation to Los Angeles and its creation from a business perspective. This post which I cannot recall the source platform, nor whom had posted it, to my knowledge had been removed shortly after I had read it. In the post it detailed a young Andy Sixx, around the age of 16, visiting Los Angeles, most likely for acting / modeling where he first met Ashley Purdy. It was said that Andy and Ashley had remained in communication throughout Andy’s return home to Cincinnati, OH. Roughly two years later, shortly after turning 18 and relocating to Los Angeles, Andy had what was said to be a second run in with Ashley Purdy, who was around 31 at the time (yes, nearly twice Andy’s age). The Knives And Pens music video was already out and it had amassed an iconic acclaim overnight. During this time Ashley had used his tactics to manipulate the young Andy into signing away half of the rights to the name Black Veil Brides in a contract that he, and I would presume to be an attorney, had created behind the backs of the others involved. However, in this contract it was said that Ashley had made it so Black Veil were run more so like a business than a band, giving 50% of the creative direction and rights to the band name and brand as a whole to Ashley, but most importantly in this reallocation of power, it had made it near impossible for Andy Biersack to remove Ashley Purdy as a co-business owner for the band, regardless of circumstances. It was also said that this contract had a duration that was indefinite. What this means is that Ashley and Andy were both in equal power meaning no matter what, one could not remove the other and this contract would never expire. This contract were most likely signed by a young and naive Andy with false promises that Ashley had many resources that would help the band grow. At first I had considered this to be some strange fanfic from an anonymous source, nonetheless I had read this post myself and had always kept it in the back of my mind, questioning what level of validity it held.

Intent To Steal

In an interview (2014) with Ashley Purdy, he discusses how Andy Sixx and the Black Veil Brides already had debuted the Knives and Pens music video in 2009 (which had launched Andy and Sandra Alva into international fame nearly overnight) before Ashley had found out about Andy and the Black Veil Brides. Ashley discusses seeing an ad (most likely craigslist) where Andy had listed his influences and was looking to recruit more members. Here Ashley had noticed them being along similar to his and has verbatim said “I was actually looking to STEAL players from there to put in my band, you know?” His intentions most likely had changed into intent to infiltrate once he saw the success tied to Andy as a frontman as he admitted in this interview that he liked Andy as a frontman and was going to continue in the direction Andy and Black Veil Brides were currently on. In a conversation with an outside and anonymous individual whom was living with some of those involved at the time, I personally was told “Ashley didn’t play anything, it was just a given that he were to be in the band someway or another.” Another anonymous individual who was present around this time confirms this to be true.

The Victimizing Narrative of a Manipulator

Let’s fast forward to 2019. At the end of the year we see shockingly that Ashley Purdy and the Black Veil Brides have separated in a mutual agreement. It was said that this was beneficial for both parties and it was a positive thing. However, shortly after in the beginning of 2020 we start to see words from Ashley Purdy in an AltPress article saying “Technically, I didn’t leave; I’m just not in the band anymore. I have to talk in those terms right now” and “Black Veil Brides is a corporate business, and there are legal rules,” he explains. “It’s like a divorce, and we are working it all out.” What we know from this is that the terms of the separation are not yet 100% agreed upon and settled, however implying that there are legal rules and “having to talk in those terms” implies that there is indeed a nondisclosure agreement between the parties of Ashley Purdy and the Black Veil Brides. With that being said, he 100% admittedly shared that he was removed from the group as to be supported from the next time he goes on record with the press.

Following said AltPress article, we had seen a more honest article with the words of Ashley Purdy saying “I guess I can say this because it is the truth. On Feb. 26 [at] 1 p.m., I still currently own half of Black Veil Brides right now. The realization is like it’s a corporate buyout. It’s like me and Andy [Biersack] — 50% each. And they still have to compensate me for them wanting me to depart. But that hasn’t happened yet. And we’re still in negotiations about what that is. I don’t know how to approach it because it’s not finalized yet.” This right here is huge. This 100% backs the warning message that I had come across in 2012 in regards to a 50/50 corporate ownership split between Ashley Purdy and Andy Biersack. Here he also further admits. that not only was he removed from the group, but they actually wanted him to depart which in my opinion implies intent before the 2019 actions. This new narrative is 100% against the initial statements of a mutual parting by both parties and seems to be a direct violation of a rumored NDA as implied by Ashley and it also appears to be a blatant attempt of assuming the role of victim against Black Veil to any interested in the split.

Non-Disclosure / Non-Defamation Clause

During a controversial Crowdcast that Ashley Purdy had done himself on March 26, 2020 titled “Spring Fling” at the minute mark 31:59 Ashley discloses “It’s not like it’s a non-disclosure, it’s just a non-defamation clause..” Which both fall under the non-disparagement umbrella and are similar with a stark exception of non-defamation clauses protecting the entire history of the relationships in any way that could make either party look in any way negative. What this means is that in short, Andy nor anyone else in the band could make a single comment that would in any way show a lack of support of Ashley Purdy at any point in the entire relationship between Ashley Purdy and Black Veil Brides, regardless of validity. I would bet the one whom would want such a clause in place would be Ashley, protecting himself from Black Veil exposing him for his manipulative and deceitful ways which is assumed to have started since his days of first involvement.

At this point the truths according to statements made by Ashley Purdy goes as follows:

There had been a 50/50 split contract between Andy and Ashley

Black Veil had wanted Ashley out of the band

There is a NDA in place regarding the separation

There is a non-defamation clause regarding the relationship

Black Veil Memebers / Crew cannot legally comment in any way that would make Ashley look bad

Breaking The NDA / Non-Defamation Clause

Based on my own knowledge backed by research, in a similar scenario when a NDA or Non-Defamation Clause is broken, one party seeks grounds for lawsuit for the entire capital of the brand of the other party. What this means is that if Black Veil or any member of the Black Veil Brides Brand were to breach the NDA by sharing details of the separation or by making any statements that make Ashley Purdy appear in a negative light, whether true or false, Ashley Purdy would attempt to assume any and all financial capital of the brand and destroy the entire band as an entity. The band would completely cease to exist and Ashley would be in a financially advantages position to ruin the lives of all members under the Black Veil Brides umbrella, suing them for damages and voiding all future gains of profit from each member of involvement as well. This is what happens in cases similar to these where previous business owners insert on separation agreements of non-disclosure / non-defamation and when they are breached it is essentially a “Hail Mary” to reclaim future and previous profits made by the entire brand.

Ashley’s Intent to Manipulate, Groom, Profit

Now, at the time of the contract agreement as supported by the acknowledgement of its existence by Ashley’s statements in the press articles supplied above, it’s safe to assume that this contract were put in place back when the band first started their involvement with Ashley. Ashley would have been 31 years old and Andy would have been 18 at the time where the creative direction of the band would legally rest between two parties for the first time in the band’s history. As proud of a person as Andy is, I can’t help to believe wholeheartedly that Andy as a teen was persuaded and manipulated into signing away half of the rights of the name Black Veil Brides to a man nearly double his age. This is how corporate splits typically occur as to restrict of the brand at its sole genesis, the name. By extension, one could assume that this manipulation had stemmed back from Andy’s first rumored run in with Ashley back at the age of 16 years old. If you had been following this band for awhile, you would have seen an extremely different atmosphere of the band in its early days in regards to the relationship of Andy and Ashley from its later days. I follow this up later with my own personal experiences as I had toured with them multiple times. The TLDR is I never once saw Ashley in the same room as a single other member of the band to my own observation, and it had appeared to me that the majority of the band were not even on speaking terms, nor wanted to associate with Ashley in the slightest and it would not have shocked me if that had been the case for awhile. My first time touring with them was in 2014, which suggests the dichotomy between Andy and Ashley had become apparent in the years prior.

What a 50/50 split means is that no matter what, there would be no way for Andy to remove Ashley at all unless there were some discovered loophole. Andy had committed legally and indefinitely that even if the two parties had hated each other completely, it would be near impossible for Andy to reclaim 100% of the rights to the brand Black Veil Brides and rid the project of Ashley. I strongly speculate based on tonality in interviews, live performances etc that there was a specific time where the manipulation and deceit of a teenaged Andy Biersack had turned into a matrimonial nightmare with no means of an end. It is of my opinion that I trace the flip of naivety to suffering back in 2012. At this time it has become extremely rare to find interviews shared between Andy and Ashley both. Also, this is the time that it had appeared obvious that Andy was severely suffering from a multitude of psychologically destructive antics. Now I by NO means am implying that Andy at this time was a weak person, I am insinuating that he however was another human being who is victim of manipulation, abuse, and with no escape has found himself in a world of suffering.

Andy Black- a Project Born Under Pressured Circumstances

With the assumed unescapable borderline abusive relationship between Andy Biersack and Ashley Purdy, this would be the complete explanation for the existence of the side project, Andy Black and the side projects of the other members of the band. If Andy refused to continue working with Ashley Purdy, he could assume his own project and if the members were reliant on Andy to perform as Black Veil Brides the other members of the band hopefully would share the same ability without conflict of interest.

Why Was Ashley Not Removed?

This is highly speculative however, with an ownership balance of 50/50 split over the name Black Veil Brides, the only events by which Andy could separate ways from Ashley would be if Andy were to surrender all current and future financial capital of the brand and ownership of the name to Ashley, find a loophole to default ownership back to Andy, or drive the entire brand into bankruptcy along with an indefinite hiatus and find a means of separation. What the last event means is that if there were no current capital (money in the bank) that the band possessed and no speculated future profits by means of indefinite hiatus, Ashley could not sue to take what isn’t there. It’s my guess that this is exactly what had happened and that the band cared so much to remove Ashley that they had driven themselves financially bankrupt. My guess is that the band assumed indefinite hiatus, had absolutely no capital or perhaps was even in debt, had no speculative future profit, and it was on its last leg that a strategy or loophole was discovered that provided means of creating a case for separation where the band would most likely refuse to be active and Ashley would no longer have any income unless he were removed from the band, where the band would then continue and Ashley would be entitled to a cut of profits and for future profits. This is directly supported by Ashley saying “And they still have to compensate me for them wanting me to depart.”

I Am Your Boss

With a 50/50 split of power between Ashley and Andy, this event would then place Ashley and Andy both to be the literal bosses of every single member in the band and every single member of crew as well. Management, Tour Managers, Security Guards, Performing Members, etc all are employed by those in power of the band; Ashley and Andy. What this means is that at any time, Ashley could fire any given member under the Black Veil Brides employment umbrella on the spot at any point with the exception of Andy. This is very important to note as per one of the victim’s case having taken place on the last tour that the band had ever performed in alongside Ashley Purdy. His claims against a proven 17 year old minor walking off of the tour bus late at night that he assumed complete ownership of, were as follows:

There are many issues with this statement. Having toured with them, it is 100% false that Tour Managers and Security guards hold responsibility over band members for checking identification of the guests that the band members bring from the crowd, to back stage, and thusly on to the bus.

Even if in some arrangement Ashley claims that responsibility rests on the shoulders of Mr. Y**** (Andy’s long term personal security from threats of physical harm) and Mr. S******* (The tour manager of the resurrection tour whom held responsibility of resources, travel arrangements, finances etc) The Tour Manager and Security would be in employment positions UNDER Ashley Purdy, meaning they could be fired at any point for any reason and it would be absolutely likely that they would be removed on the spot had there been any confrontation at all for any reason. Based on this, I am absolutely confident that this deranged imposition of power would be held over the heads of all employees under Ashley Purdy which would speak as to the complete avoidance and disassociation that I had personally payed observation to on the multiple tours I had shared with Black Veil.

Another point of error in this statement, is that at this time Andy, head of Security Mr. Y**** and the Tour Manager Mr. S******* had all lived on a completely separate bus from Ashley Purdy at all times during this tour and all tours around this time. It would be extremely unlikely for Ashley Purdy to cross paths with any of these individuals with the exception of the show and sound check alone.

My Experiences

Below are a collection of experiences I had witnessed firsthand along with some backstory on my involvement and where the grounds for my opinions and speculation can be based on. I had only witnessed one event with Ashley that I consider to be inappropriate that took place before 3 years of hiatus from the band before they embarked on one final tour in 2018, the last tour before Ashley was removed from the band.

Black Mass Tour 2014

This is where my personal observations begin take place. I had been touring for a few years in many different roles and in 2014 I was invited to join alongside Black Veil brides mid-tour. When I had joined the tour, I was never approached to sign a NDA because the tour was already in progress, henceforth why I am able to come forth with my own observations.

During this tour I spent many nights hanging out with various members of Black Veil with the exception of Ashley Purdy. Every night that we had gone out to bars, clubs, restaurants etc several of us would formulate a plan before our early morning bus call (often 4:00 am). Often we would make a group event out of it and invite several other musicians from other bands and/or friends. However, I remember finding it odd that Ashley never once came up in conversation and never was present at a single night out which is why I don’t have many shared experiences between Ashley and myself. Most of the nights I spent socially out at bars with Jinxx and CC heading out with some friends from another band. Some nights Andy had joined us along with a few other crew members where we would sit at a table in a quiet bar or hang out in the front lounge of the bus and often talk about wrestling and/or movies. Or he and I would talk outside the bus late at night, in the venue about Batman, Misfits etc. It was quite clear that Andy was not drinking often at this time and neither was Jake due to health reasons. I remember whenever I were with Jake it was always just for one drink of vodka as it was a “healthier” option to whisky and we never got more than a social buzz to help with out anxiety / social awkwardness. It was also my impression that Ashley would be off doing his own thing away from everybody before the show, and it was almost as if he had vanished after every show until bus call. Honestly, I had never seen anyone in the band talk to or about Ashley at all. It had seemed to me as though no one in the band had associated with him in the slightest bit and they didn’t seem to be on speaking terms at all aside from business obviously. It also would not surprise me if this had been the case for awhile. The only time this tour that I had ever seen Ashley present with any other members was on Thanksgiving day where we had all gone to Hometown Buffet (lol) where Ashley sat away from Andy and Jake near the other end of the table with crew and band members between himself and Andy.

Los Vegas, NV 10/30/14 The first night that I had gone out with other members of Black Veil where Andy, Myself, CC, Jinxx and I believe Jake all went to the Foundation Room with the band’s merchandise manager, various crew members, most other musicians on the tour, and a few friends of the band as well. While we were there, Ashley was somewhere else completely on what he considers to be a “Spring Break” when he tweeted a picture of himself sucking on the chest of a girl at another bar and appeared to be on a multitude of different substances. We had taken an entire group photo where Ashley is not present which I believe was taken on a friend to the band’s phone by another friend whom is a video director.

Houston, TX 12/11/14 I watched this entire show side-stage. Earlier this Day Ashley was running around in his black boxer brief underwear mid afternoon clearly wasted throwing around a football. I was quite interested in how he were going to be able to perform. As the show were about to start, I stood side stage with Mr R**** (another musician present, not to drag you in my boy) when during the show, Ashley appeared immensely disheveled and sported stubble, no makeup, and a trucker hat and was having troubles walking about the stage. Throughout the show he slowly stumbled around, often missing his own bass when strumming. Early on my parter side stage pointed at Ashley and exclaimed “DUDE HE DOESN’T EVEN LOOK LIKE HE’S PLAYING!” by which I responded with a mere glare out of the corner of my eye. He then responded with “I know, I just wanted to see if you knew.”

Throughout this entire show Andy clearly was frustrated with Ashley and if I remember correctly, at one point Andy brought a barstool from side stage and sat in it during the performance, clearly frustrated. Towards the resolve of the show, Ashley could barely stand up on his own, where Andy held him upright for a moment.

Warped Tour 2015 - Second To Last Black Veil Tour Ever

I had caught a flight out last minute to start Warped Tour and was living with another band at the start. I believe, because of this I had also not been approached to sign an NDA. There was not one night that I recall Andy, Jake or Ashley in attendance to the Warped Tour BBQ, an event that happened every few evenings after the tour was broken down. Later on during the tour, it was 08-02 at the Denver show where the Warped Tour “Prom” was to be held. This is simply another Warped Tour BBQ except with a bit more festivities as usual and having a “date” is somewhat of a normal event.

It was this night where I was on another bus that Ashley was not living on where some important events occurred. I was inside the bathroom on the bus and our singer Zero was in the back lounge. The bus would have appeared empty and quiet to any outsiders. It was extremely unlikely that you would ever see any Black Veil crew member or band members on the bus unless I had brought CC on the bus to hang out with and play Superfight, a card game similar to Cards Against Humanity that Zero and I commonly played with other musicians. I was walking out of the bathroom when I saw Ashley walking on with two girls immediately making a reach for the alcohol on the bus until I had stepped in his way. Zero (whom was quietly working on his Macbook Pro in the back lounge) noticed the event and walked up to the front quickly. Zero who is bigger and older than I had yelled at Ashley to get off the bus and told me to stay back. It is my opinion that Ashley was attempting to sneak behind the backs of his own band and crew at this point.

Later that night I had heard from one of my crew guys that the girls were under the age of 21 and that Ashley had gotten in some serious trouble and the girls were sent home. There were only 4 days remaining on this tour.

This was also the second to last tour that Black Veil Brides had ever done. Between the dates of Warped Tour 2015 and today, Black Veil Brides had only embarked on The Resurrection Tour which had lasted a total of less than 5 months which is where the event’s regarding a minor on Ashley’s bus had taken place, very shortly before his removal from the band.

Closing Statement:

I consider this to be the most complete and detailed composition of relevant events and experiences and I truly believe this has been made in attempt to educate to the best of my ability. I have not posted here besides the typical share from IG in quite some time. This post by no means has been created with any aforementioned dialogue to any involved and is a collective of my sole efforts as an individual and my ability to research and speculate based on my own experiences. I believe with my given perspective, this is most accurate and I hope this can be referred to with intent to answer many questions regarding this troubling subject. I truly wish the best for all parties and victims along with the families affected by this decade long reign of manipulation and abuse. I hope the internal struggle of many that I’m seeing on various socials can be absolved. It is my intent that this will be my last public statement regarding these events and I truly hope I’ve done right by those I am attempting to answer to and have not belittled nor offended any in any way.

Suicide Prevention 800-273-8255

Substance Abuse/Mental Health Helpline 1-800-662-4357

Sexual Assault Hotline 800-656-4673

Domestic Violence Hotline 800−799−7233

Crisis Text Line: Text HELLO to 741741

Thank you kindly for reading my post. Feel free to redirect / share as necessary.

Danny Finn

#black veil brides #ashley purdy #andy biersack #andy sixx #bvb #andybvb #andy black #resurrection tour #black mass tour #warped tour

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amythedvdhoarder · 4 years ago

Text

Playing by the rules

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Word count: 4.5K

Warnings: Swearing, little bit of angst, pining and loads of fluff.

A/N: This is for the lovely @jennmurawski13 to celebrate reaching a 1000 followers and to celebrate her birthday. Congrats on the followers hun! It is so well deserved and I hope you enjoy this early birthday present! I took the wonderful prompt of ‘fake dating’ fingers crossed I have done it justice.

This is my return to Bucky fluff, it has been too long! Not beta read so any mistakes are mine (there is a reason I am a science teacher not and English teacher 😏). Hopefully you enjoy this, any comments and reblogs are always much appreciated x

Masterlist

xxx

The pale gold envelope was staring at you from the table, taunting you. You already knew what it contained; an old school friend had texted you to give you a heads up.

“You gonna open that?” Bucky sighed. He had been watching you for the last half an hour repeatedly pick up the envelope, turn it in your hands only to put it down again. Frowning at him, you tipped your head back, letting it rest against the cushion.

“I already know what it is. I don’t want to open it because then it’s definitely real,” you huffed.

Bucky walked over from his seat by the breakfast bar and perched on the arm of your chair. “Hate to break it to you doll, it’s real regardless of whether or not you open it or not.”

You rolled your eyes. “Trust you to actually act like a wise old man for once.”

He elbowed you gently in response to your comment. “Just get it over with Y/N, you’ll feel better after.”

Reluctantly you took the envelope, turned it in your hand and ripped it open. You pulled out the thick card within and glanced over the contents. “Yup. Exactly what I thought it was.”

Bucky took the card from your hands and studied it. “It’s a wedding invite, what’s so bad about that?”

A snort escaped your lips. “Because Bucky, this is an invite to my exes wedding. If that wasn’t bad enough, he is getting married to by ex-best friend. He cheated on me with her and now they’re getting married. Fuck!” Leaning forward you dropped your head into your hands. “It’s next weekend. If I don’t go I’m going to look like a coward, if I do go then I’m going to look sad and lonely as fuck. This is so messed up.”

Bucky was confused, he didn’t really see the problem. Either go or don’t go, it doesn’t matter what other people think. He realised though, that if he said that to you then you may well kill him right there and then. “Ah ok. You know you wouldn’t be a coward for not going nor would you look sad and lonely if you do go.”

You looked up at Bucky and smiled. “I would if I went on my own without a date.”

He thought about it and grinned at you. “What if you did have a date?”

You shot him an exasperated look. “Bucky, I don’t have one, that’s the whole problem.”

He was still grinning. “I know but what if you did?”

Audibly groaning you ran your hand though your hair. “Buck for the final time, I don’t have one and am not going to find one in a week.”

His grin faltered at your tone but he was still smiling at you. “Well I have a plan, it could be mutually beneficial.”

xxx

There was a quiet knock on the door as you checked over your outfit one last time. “Come in,” you shouted at the door as you smoothed your hand over your green strappy top and swivelled to check the fit of your black skinny jeans over the curve of your ass in the mirror.

“You ready doll?” Bucky asked as he walked into the room and perched on the end of your bed.

“I think so,” you turned to face him, pulling your hair over one shoulder. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Bucky patted the space next to him on your bed.

“Y/N, we’ve been over this several times. We go on a few dates-“he framed the word in air quotes “it gets bird brain off my back and you have someone to go to the wedding. No one needs to know it’s not real.”

In theory it was a good idea. Bucky was one of your best friends, you enjoyed spending time with him. Nothing would really change between you two apart from hanging out alone a little more and putting on a bit of an act around the others. “I know, I’m sorry. I really appreciate that you’re going to come to the wedding with me.”

He squeezed your thigh and smiled fondly at you. “And thank you for helping me get Sam off my back. He is obsessed with the idea of me finding a girl. I mean I would end up beating his ass soon if he didn’t give it a rest.”

“Well then, it’s a win-win for both of us,” you twiddled your fingers nervously in your lap, “should we come up with some rules? Just to make sure you know, it doesn’t get complicated or anything.”

Bucky chuckled at you. “Sure doll. I don’t understand why we need to have rules but if it’s what you want the that’s fine by me.”

“Because Bucky, we don’t want to do anything to ruin our friendship.” You paused to look at him, he inclined his head in agreement. “So obviously we can hold hands when we’re around people, hug and dance obviously. Small touches here or there, just enough to make it more believable you know.”

“Hate to break it to you doll, we do most of that already. May be easier to go over what we can’t do.”

“Fine. No kissing on the lips, no spending the night in each other’s bed. Also, what happens if either of us meet someone we actually like?”

“Well then our arrangement ends. Simple as. There are no romantic feelings involved here so no problem. We just carry on being friends, nothing changes.” Bucky pulled you to your feet, his arm draping over your shoulder. “We’ll be fine Y/N. Nothing to worry about.” He let you go and picked up your jacket, offering it to you.

“Ok, let’s do this.” You took his hand and let him guide you towards the common room, trying not to ask the question that was concerning you the most. What happens if one of you did develop feelings? Bucky seemed certain that wouldn’t be a problem but as he squeezed your hand and smiled at you with that lop-sided grin you weren’t feeling as confident.

xxx

During the lead up to the wedding you went out a couple of times. The main reasoning to keep up your end of the deal for Bucky’s sake, but also to test out how you were as a ‘couple’. The ‘dates’ themselves had been enjoyable; you had been to the movies one night and then out for a meal. Bucky was attentive, making you laugh and was always the perfect gentlemen. A waitress had started flirting with him at the restaurant, which you didn’t mind. But Bucky had reached out and taken your hand across the table, smiled sweetly, immediately shutting down the waitress. When you mentioned to him that he was well within his rights to get the waitresses number, he shrugged it off. “I’m here with you doll, it wouldn’t be right.”

Around the compound you hung out as normal. The only difference was when people were around Bucky would place a lingering hand on your hip, waist, shoulder and you reciprocated; little kisses on his cheek and pressing your thigh against him when you were sat on the sofa. There was a little bit of teasing from the team but no one seemed to question it. Sam had even muttered something along the lines of “about time” as the pair of you had walked back from one of your ‘dates’ leaning in to each other, Bucky’s arm wrapped around your waist, him whispering some joke in your ear making your giggle. To the outside world you really did look like a couple. The pair of you had fallen into a comfortable routine so much so that at times your forgot that it was all an act.

Bucky wasn’t finding this as easier as you were. He felt bad for lying to you. He had kept his feelings for you hidden for years for the exact reason you had questioned this whole arrangement; not wanting to risk your friendship. But when he saw you face when opening the wedding invitation, he couldn’t resist offering to help you. Sam really had been nagging him about getting a girl, he just neglected to tell you that Sam had only been nagging him about asking you out. According to Sam, Bucky looked like a lost puppy every time you were around. He thought he could manage a couple of weeks of fake dating. But every time you pulled away from him when the team disappeared, or the way you politely said goodbye to him when he walked you back to room after a ‘date’, his heart sank a little. A small part of him had hoped that spending time with him, acting as a couple might cause you to develop feelings for him but it was becoming quite clear you weren’t. After the wedding he was going to put an end to the arrangement, it wasn’t fair to deceive you. The only thing he couldn’t decide on was whether he should admit how he felt and risk losing you or just tell a little white lie about having feelings for someone and just leave out the details of who.

xxx

The morning of the wedding you woke feeling nauseous. Mostly due to having to sit through a ceremony for two people you really didn’t want to see happy but also you worried about spending the day with Bucky. Last night you two had just chilled out and watched movies. Instead of focussing on the movie you found your self watching Bucky, taking in how his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, how he held his chest when he laughed and how is face would snicker up when he stifled a yawn. About halfway through the second movie he had dozed off and ended up with his head resting on your thigh. You hadn’t even realised you were running your hand through his hair until you felt him shifting underneath your touch. In a state of panic, you eased yourself off the sofa, careful not to wake Bucky, and quietly crept to your room. You chalked your actions down to how much you cared about Bucky, as a friend. But somehow you didn’t really believe that. The realisation that perhaps you had feelings for him kept you awake most of the night. Well that and the guilt of running away from him, even if he didn’t know.

Bucky didn’t mention anything about the night before as he drove you to the wedding, so you didn’t either. The journey out state passed in relative silence, only interrupted by the occasional bit of small talk about the weather or passing comments about the scenery. Neither of you seemed willing to start a meaningful conversation worried about what you may end up revealing. As you looked across at him as he concentrated on the road you couldn’t help but stare a little. When you opened your door to greet him he had taken your breath away. Gone were his long locks, replaced with a short, stylish tussled look. His suit was well fitted, highlighting his muscular frame. You thought it was impossible for him to get more handsome but Bucky just loved to prove you wrong.

“What you looking at doll?” Bucky’s voice interrupting your train of thought.

“I just can’t believe you had a haircut, you look so different.”

Bucky glanced at you and raised an eyebrow. “Well it was starting to get annoying. I needed a change.” he paused and bit his lip, deliberating whether or not to tell you the truth. He opted for a censored version. “Plus, I had to make sure I looked good enough to be with you today.”

“You’re kidding right?” You said in disbelief.

Bucky pulled the car up in front of the lodge where the wedding was taking place and turned to face you. “Y/N believe me when I say you look incredible. No one is going to be paying attention to the bride because they’ll be looking at you. I couldn’t show up looking like a mess, you deserve more than that.” Your mouth hanging open as you let the weight of Bucky’s sink in, your cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

“I don’t know what to say Buck,” you mumbled, eyes falling to your hands where you were twisting at the ring Wanda had given you at Christmas.

“You don’t have to say anything doll. Come on let’s go.” Bucky walked around, helping you out of the car before linking your arm with his and leading you into the lodge. The small amount of contact sending a tiny shiver down your spine, one that didn’t go unnoticed by Bucky. You gripped Bucky’s forearm tightly as you approached the door, your ex there to greet you.

“Hi Y/N glad you could make it,” you mumbled a greeting as his gaze shifted to Bucky “Shit. You’re the winter soldier.” You were about to snap at Liam but Bucky beat you to it.

“Bucky’s fine,” he said politely, unlinking himself from you and offering his flesh hand to Liam to shake, metal arm falling your waist. “Do you know what, I should be saying thanks really. If you hadn’t, you know, I wouldn’t have got my girl. Good luck with the wedding.” Bucky guided you into the hall, leaving a stunned Liam stood at the door.

“That was mean,” you whispered “but amazing.”

“He deserved worse, he should consider himself lucky,” he smiled down at you and shrugged.

xxx

Bucky and you sat at the back during the wedding. Throughout the ceremony, Bucky made sure he always had a hand on you, stealing glances at you every now and again to check how you were doing. You knew it was all part of the act and it didn’t mean anything but it was setting your skin on fire. Everything he had said earlier replaying in your mind as you watched Liam and Leanne exchange their vows. You scolded yourself for reading anything into this, Bucky had said there were no romantic feelings involved. It was all fake, he was just acting.

Drinking seemed to be the only solution to managing the turmoil you were currently feeling. Bucky didn’t pass comment, realising that the day must be taking its toll on you. If only he knew. He stuck close to you throughout the reception, danced with you and made polite conversation. Nearly everyone you met commented on what a lovely couple you made. Liam’s parents even ventured over and introduced themselves to Bucky. You had been close with his parents, his mum had been devastated when you broke up and had even apologised to you for her sons behaviour. Whilst Bucky was keeping Liam’s dad entertained, his mum took the opportunity to lean in and tell you how glad she was that you had found someone who clearly loved you. Before you could comment, Bucky was back by your side and all you could do was politely say goodbye as they headed back towards their table. The whole encounter left you more confused than ever. The only thing that had become clear to you was that you definitely had feelings for Bucky, potentially ruining everything.

“Didn’t think you would actually show up,” Leanne sneered at you whilst Bucky had gone to the bar to get you another vodka and coke.

You turned and smiled sweetly. “I was invited.”

“Yeah well that’s Liam for you. Proper Mummy’s boy. She still talks about you, it’s quite annoying actually.”

“It’s your wedding day, don’t you have better things to be doing than trying to antagonise me?” You couldn’t believe that she was doing this right now.

“Yeah you’re right. I better get back to my husband,” Leanne’s eyes flickered towards Bucky briefly “He’ll leave as well you know, as soon as someone better comes along. Who knows he might have already met her?” With the final twist of the knife she sauntered away looking the picture of innocence.

You bit into your lip to try and keep the tears from falling. How could someone who had been your best friend say things like that. She had won, hadn’t she? But to make a joke about Bucky leaving you for someone else was uncalled for. Yes, you weren’t really together but the thought was still terrifying. You couldn’t lose him. Fear turned into anger as you watched her sidle up to Liam and kiss him before turning back to look at you. All you wanted to do was go and kick her ass, if Nat were here she would have encouraged you. You could see the headline now ‘Avenger assaults bride at her wedding’. Tony would kill you. Instead you marched right up to Bucky, took his whiskey, downed it before taking your own drink and downing that too.

“Whoa doll, slow down. What happened? I saw her coming to talk to you, what did she say?” He could tell you were angry by how your nostrils flared but the major worry for him was the look in your eyes. They looked watery and the way you were trying to avoid his eyes told him that whatever that woman had said was really bothering you.

“It doesn’t matter. I need another drink.” Sidestepping him you went to the bar and got a couple of double shots in an attempt to numb everything you were feeling.

xxx

Bucky watched you take a couple more shots before intervening. “Doll, let’s get out of here.” He wrapped his arm around you to hold you up, noticing the affects the alcohol had taken on you. He found your attempts to wriggle out his grip adorable. A cute little pout forming on your face as he steered you outside towards the car. You were loudly shouting your protestations even after Bucky had buckled you into the car making him thankful it was only a half an hour drive.

At some point during the journey back to the compound you fell asleep. Bucky tried to wake you up but you just grumbled at him leaving him no choice but to carry you up to your room. He deliberated putting you into your pyjamas but thought you wouldn’t be very impressed when you woke up. Instead he found a wipe to remove your makeup and took off your shoes before pulling a blanket over you.

The way you had looked today had driven him mad with desire. You had no idea how good you looked and he was right when he told you no one would be looking at the bride. Every man had run their eyes over you in your olive-green satin dress; the fine material hugging your curves deliciously and the split in the side hinted at the toned legs underneath. The women had also been staring enviously as well. The fact people thought you were with him filled him with a sense of pride. He had to fight every urge not to keep a protective arm on the whole time or even just sweep you up in his arms. But he couldn’t. You weren’t really his. As he looked at you sleeping peacefully he knew he was in trouble, there was no way he couldn’t tell you how he felt. He couldn’t keep it up, it was tearing him apart.

Knowing you were out for the count he risked it; he leaned down and quickly placed a kiss to your forehead.

“Bucky?” your eyes opened a fraction.

“I’m here doll.”

“Stay,” you sighed. Before he had chance to say anything your eyes fluttered closed and a soft snore emanated from you. He didn’t want to leave, he wanted to keep an eye on you; partly because of how drunk you were but also because he just didn’t want to be away from you for too long. But he also didn’t want to break one of the rules you had set before you began ‘dating’. He walked over to the chair on the other side of the room and sat down; it seemed like a fair compromise. When you mumbled his name again in your sleep he concluded that if he stuck to the other side of the bed then it would be ok. After all you had asked him to stay. He was only doing what you asked.

xxx

The pounding in your head woke you up, your throat felt dry and the light filtering into your room seemed blinding. You stretched out your arms and realised the other side of your bed felt warm beneath your fingertips. Groaning you tried to think back to what happened last night. Leanne had come and said some horrible things then you had a vague recollection of drinking and then it went blank.

“Hey, you’re awake much earlier than I thought you were going to be.” Bucky’s voice sounded as loud as a siren.

“Stop shouting,” you garbled against the pillow you had dragged over your head to block out the light and noise.

The bed dipped as Bucky sat down next to you. He pulled the pillow off you head and shook his head at your ridiculousness. “Here take these.” He offered you some paracetamol and a bottle of water. Manoeuvring yourself into a sitting position, you shot him a dirty look before gulped down a couple of tablets none the less.

You leaned your head back and let out a loud sigh. “Buck, I think we need to talk.”

This was it. Bucky took a deep breath and turned to look at you. Your eyes were sad again, just like they were last night after Leanne had spoken to you. “I’m sorry for breaking one of the rules Y/N. You were drunk I wanted to make sure you were ok. And-,” he stammered “you asked me to stay.”

He watched as your face scrunched up in confusion. “Oh, it’s alright. Um it’s not that.” Bucky waited patiently for the pain he knew was about to come. “I don’t think I can do this anymore.” You gestured between you and him.

“It’s ok, I understand,” he said softly.

“It’s not, we made an agreement. At least let me explain,” this wasn’t going to be easy. His damn face was so cute you were finding it hard to concentrate on what you needed to tell him.

“You don’t need to explain doll, we –.”

“No Buck I do. I can’t do this anymore,” you saw him grit his teeth “I can’t do this because I want more.”

“Yeah I get it,” he said quickly before fully processing what you had said. “Wait what do you mean more? Did you meet someone?”

You really wished you hadn’t drunk so much last night. This conversation would be so much better without an absolute banging headache. “Kind of. I don’t want to fake date you anymore because-.”

“Yeah, I get that Y/N you’ve said that already,” he grunted. Bucky climbed out of the bed, he looked ready to tear his hair out.

As he started to pace around the room you shouted “Fuck.”

“Y/N just tell me for the love of god. You’re killin’ me over here,” he pleaded. His Brooklyn accent slipping out.

“I’m trying to.” You felt his eyes on you and you had to close yours. Why did he have to make this so difficult? Taking another deep breath, you tried again. “I can’t do this because I want more with you. Shit. I think I love.” The string of words came out so fast Bucky thought he misheard. He looked across to see that you had tucked up your legs and buried your head against your knees.

“You love me?” He sounded unsure as he climbed back on the bed next to you.

“Uh huh.” You didn’t dare look at him.

“Thank god for that.” You slowly lifted up your head to look at him. Brow quirked in question.

“You’re not angry?”

“How an earth could I be angry that the woman I love actually loves me back?” His voice was soft

“Wait. You love me too? You asked still unsure whether or not you were imagining this.

“I love you Y/N. This last week as been torture, I wanted to tell you so many times how I really felt but I didn’t think –.” Bucky was interrupted by you softly pressing your lips to his and then snuggling into his chest.

You sat like this for a couple of minutes, neither of you saying anything just taking comfort in having each other. For real this time. Bucky traced his fingers over the exposed skin of your shoulder as you fiddled with the hem off his t-shirt.

“Do you think we should set some rules?” you whispered against his chest.

He looked down at you. “Well normally you don’t have rules for when you actually data someone Y/N.”

“Fine, let’s call it a condition.”

“I think that sounds worse,” Bucky teased.

You tilted your head up to look at him in the eyes. “If you meet someone better than me just tell me ok? I don’t think I can cope being cheated on again.”

“What?” Bucky couldn’t believe what you were saying. He understood you had been hurt before but still. “Where is this coming from?”

“It was something Leanne said to me. She told me you would leave me just like Liam did, that you had probably already found someone better,” your voice cracked as the tears started to roll down your cheeks.

“Those two deserve each other,” Bucky muttered. He caught the tears on your cheeks with his thumb. “Y/N look at me,” he tilted up your chin with his finger. “I’m not going anywhere. There is no one else.” He pressed his lips to your forehead. “How about we go on our first real date?” His lips tickled your skin as he spoke.

“Now?” He nodded at you. “Buck, it’s like – actually I don’t what time it is. I’m still in yesterday’s clothes,” to be honest you just wanted to stay in bed with him all day.

“Well luckily the place I’m thinking of doesn’t have a fancy-dress code.”

“Oh yeah, where’s that?” you rolled your eyes.

“Your sofa,” he watched as you shook your head, “hear me out. Whilst you have a shower I’ll go and make us breakfast/lunch. Then we can just chill and watch tv.”

“Sound good except for one thing. Can we make it the bed and not the sofa? That way I can have a nap and we can cuddle.”

Bucky cocked his head to one side as he deliberated over it. “Deal. You drive a hard bargain Y/N.”

“You’re ridiculous you know that?” You lightly elbowed him.

“Blame it on my age.” He bent down to kiss you. “Right come on Y/N you’ve got a hot date to get ready for.”

Taglist is open so let me know if you want in

Taglist: @stargazingfangirl18 , @silentcoyotesong, @queenofstarliqht, @buckys-henley, @lonelyheartsm @alexa-lightwood-blog

#jennmurawski13onethousandchallenge #bucky #bucky x reader #bucky imagine #bucky barnes #bucky angst #bucky fluff #james buchanan barnes #winter soldier #marvel #marvel fanfics #avengers #sebastian stan #writing challenge

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yukipri · 4 years ago

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On Koala and Fishman Karate - a One Piece Mermaid AU Story

Not an ask response, but here with another story which was posted last month on Patreon!

I never actually intended on writing this, because this was originally supposed to just be exposition leading up to Marco's Bauble 2, and kinda explaining why Luffy's being tutored in Fishman Karate. But, it ended up being too long and going off on WAY too many unrelated tangents, so I chopped it off and made it its own thing ^ ^;

Mostly introspective, with Koala x Luffy, mention of Sabo x Luffy, and some thoughts on Nami from Koala's perspective as well.

Koala gently nudges Luffy's hand a little higher, and the mermaid makes a tiny whine of frustration as she sways on her tail, trying her best to maintain the posture she's been taught. Luffy glares at her own fist with such adorable determined ferocity that Koala doesn't have the heart to tell her that she doesn't need to try so hard, and that if anything, staying relaxed is the point.

Koala's been trying to teach Luffy Fishman Karate during the few lulls between their adventures. She knows that the disciplined martial art is probably not Luffy's style, but Fishman Karate focusses fishmen and merfolks' innate sensitivity to water. It's honed for combat in this case, but it can be applied to daily life as well, which is why fishman karate is a regular part of grade school curriculum on Fishman Isand. When one lives surrounded entirely by water, ten thousand meters below sea level, it's remarkably beneficial to be in tune with it.

Even if Luffy never fully masters it, Koala's sure she can gain something of value to apply to her regular fighting style, and even if not, it's part of her heritage. It's why Koala had insisted on teaching her, and Sabo had grudgingly agreed (Koala knows the grudging part mostly comes from Sabo still being petty about being terrible at it himself. Which, shouldn't come as a surprise since fishmen arts are difficult for non fishmen and merfolk, but it gives Koala something to rub in his face, which is always wonderful).

It's nice, Koala thinks as she sings praises in Luffy's ear while fixing her posture once again. It's nice because even though Koala'll do any assignment thrown her way, and will do anything to further her primary goal of achieving justice for fishmen and merfolk, being an assistant Fishman Karate instructor is her actual formal position in the Revolutionary Army. It's so easy to forget, with the number of missions she's been on with her acting support for Sabo and others, and the increasing amount of time she spends away from Baltigo and her students. But suddenly, she's given an unexpected opportunity to actually practice and share her passion, and to someone who could really benefit from it too. It would be an utter waste for Luffy to not learn from Koala while they travel together.

(Even if it means Sabo sulks and stews with pathetically transparent jealousy over losing sibling bonding time. He can deal. He'll have plenty of time later.)

And well, Luffy's honestly a joy as a student too. Even if explanations mostly go over her head, she's got amazing physical intuition and picks things up fast. And she's so dedicated, staring at Koala with wide eyes like she holds the secrets to the universe when Koala shows her something new, always blurting out her awe exactly as she feels it and--it's endearing.

Luffy, everything about her, is honestly endearing.

The fishman karate tutoring sessions are honestly the only times Koala can have alone with the mermaid (or as alone as one can be, on the deck of a small vessel like Merry), especially without Mr. Nosy Possessive Big Bro butting in between them. So yes, maybe Koala enjoys spending time with Luffy for reasons other than just getting to do karate together, but she'll confess that to Sabo over her own dead body.

Not that Koala thinks it really matters; Sabo's already giving her the Suspicious Stink Eye (though to be fair, he gives that to everyone other than Ace). And yeah, in hindsight she honestly should have expected his suspicion, given how well her partner knows knows her dating history.

I'm warning you, Koala, Sabo'd grouched when they were alone, dropping his Cool Big Bro act to reveal the Shitty Little Dumpster Brat that Koala knows and grew up with. Don't even think about it with Luffy. Even if she's infinitely cuter than what were their names...Marinara and Cartwheels.

Their names were Marina and Kara. And I don't date every mermaid I meet!

Koala's honestly offended, but decides to let it go; Sabo's overwhelmed by his sudden wave of previously repressed Brotherly Love, and he's still not entirely rational (not that rational's a particularly good word to apply to him at any time). And she doesn't have a thing for fishgals and mermaids, she swears. She just happens to spend a disproportionate amount of time working with them, given her specific focus in the Revolutionary Army. It just makes sense.

Or fine, maybe she has a slight thing for them. And, well, maybe Luffy's her type. Just a little bit. On top of being, well, a super cute pupil. But Koala's not going to do anything, other than enjoy spending time together! Is she not allowed even that?

But, the point is, Sabo's being ridiculous! Koala's been his partner for years! Doesn't he trust Koala enough to know that she'd treasure Luffy, in the very hypothetical situation they ever dated?

(Koala knows the answer to that, knew it the moment she saw Sabo's expression melt as he cupped Luffy's face, and sighs. She never imagined she'd be love rivals against Sabo of all people, but well, shit happens.)

Anyway, Fishman Karate times are Koala's times with Luffy, and if Sabo comes poking his snooty little nose into their sessions, well, Koala's happy to volunteer him as a punching bag. Which he knows, hence why he's not here.

In fact, the deck is mostly empty, the other members of their limited crew occupying themselves elsewhere. Their sole observer is the navigator, sitting by the rail and marking up some maps, seemingly not paying attention.

But Koala knows that Nami's very much attuned to their lesson, her head jerking every time a particularly hard smack lands.

Koala doesn't blame her. She's aware of what Arlong did, had had to swallow bile when she accessed the full report when it came through, days before their fateful meeting with Luffy and the ASL pirates. She knows what Nami must think of fishmen, and to know that her impression came from former Sun Pirates leaves Koala feeling a special kind of numb.

Because that isn't what they're like at all, she wants to say. The Sun Pirates, to Koala, are a gleaming example of why fishmen deserve better, and are victims of human prejudice and ignorance. It's terrible that they mean the opposite to Nami. But given her experiences, Koala knows she has no right to preach at her. If anything, she just feels sad, and bitter, knowing that the cycle of hatred can come back to hurt those so very far away from where it started.

Koala guides Luffy's arms into position again, and despite Luffy struggling to remember everything mentally, the young mermaid's body easily accepts the form. It's an art designed for her kind after all, unlike the marine martial arts that Sabo said their grandfather had beaten into them. Koala's sure Luffy struggled with those, unable to fully copy moves that require certain feet positions, and an assumption of a more human perception of the world. But this, Fishman Karate, was made for her.

Nami twitches again, and Koala makes a note of it. She knows Nami has likely seen the form before; there were several martial artists in Arlong's group.

She knows it's difficult to watch, but admires Nami's stubborn determination in doing so. Koala's sure that part of Nami's reason for watching is to make sure Koala doesn't teach anything unsavory to Luffy, and she respects that wariness, because they haven't known each other long enough for Nami to open up to Koala and her history of friendship with fishmen.

But, and it's only a guess, but Koala thinks Nami also watches to try to learn and accept this part of her captain as well. Koala might not be important, but Luffy is the captain Nami's pledged to follow, for all that Ace is also her captain. And whether she likes it or not, Luffy's a mermaid, which, while not the exact same as fishmen, has plenty of things in common.

Now that she's no longer isolated on an island in East Blue, heading closer to Fishman Island which they'll inevitably have to cross in order to enter the New World, Luffy's learning more about herself. Specifically, the mer part of herself. And she'd be doing that, regardless of whether Koala's there to help her along.

Koala thinks it wise that Nami's forcing herself to learn alongside Luffy, so that there are no surprises, and that one day, she doesn't wake up and realize that her captain shares far too much with her tormentors for her to handle. Koala hopes that Nami's love and acceptance for Luffy will plant a seed of hope that eventually helps her accept other fishmen and merfolk, to see that they're not all Arlong--but Koala can wait.

Thanks so much for reading if you got through this~! <3 As always any comments/thoughts are super appreciated!

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~

#OnePieceMermaidAU #One Piece Mermaid AU #Koala #Monkey D. Luffy #KoaLu #SaboLu #text headcanons #longpost #long post #genderbend

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adamsvanrhijn · 4 years ago

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Lololol as if working class people in every place, in every time, are a monolith, as if they all behave and think and feel the same way, as if working class people do not sometimes enter into sugar daddy relationships (sometimes with other working class people!!!!) for fun and by mutual consent. That anon killed me. Maybe they do not know working class????

Yeah I mean like, as I said there are tons and tons of definitions/connotations of the phrase - I’m completely uninterested in and made uncomfortable by transactional sex, income linked to sexual availability, what have you, but the characters in question are two adult men with roofs over their heads and food on the table so that can be left out of the equation very easily so if they’re both Into one partner ~spoiling~ the other that’s not like, a harmful class dynamic imo in terms of, as you say, For Fun And Mutual Consent, which - has a huge history in gay relationships both across and within classes.

On that note, a lot of historical gay relationship similarities/archetypes are things modern people, especially who are not gay men, tend to shy from or find discomforting.... I think a big draw of Thomas and Richard is that they don’t really fit into any of those (and I say this as someone who, as we know, is deeply uncomfortable w/ the emphasis of the masculine/feminine and age gap thing that frequently comes up in Thomas/Jimmy content on top of the base reasons that ship makes me uncomfortable, I am not immune) but that isn’t to say that neither of them would want to lean into any of them at all. I think Thomas seems pretty comfortable slipping into a certain relationship role, which we see w/ both the Duke and Chris; it is entirely possible that as a couple they might want to try out things that have come up in other relationships or that they have observed in the community but specifically on equal terms, which could be a significant draw.

I don’t think that is/should be the default form of their relationship but like, I don’t feel it is Inherently classist nor agency-denying to joke about - which anon seems to disagree with. Which is fine! But I don’t get the impression they sent the ask in good faith either.

And as I have stated already I do think any kind of financial imbalance whether resulting in gift giving of not would actually make Thomas-circa-1927 really uncomfortable just in general and conceptually, part of which would be reasons other anon implied/mentioned, but that’s something that would have to be worked around regardless because again, historically speaking Richard is very likely making significantly more money than he is and it’s going to come up eventually... I mean Richard clearly has a protective streak and is into the idea of Men He Likes Thinking About Him Assisted By Tangible Objects, I can’t imagine he would e.g. want Thomas to like, pay for his own train ticket if it is To See Richard, nor that he would shy on gift giving in the future...

But as mentioned above, there may be something for the characters in terms of, in this case in particular - exploring this dynamic, leaning into it, and knowing that neither of them actually have power over each other, that this isn’t something that can be held against either of them... e.g. Thomas doesn’t have to be a kept man, he doesn’t have to entirely rely on Richard, Richard doesn’t have to worry about idk extortion or full responsibility, there is no transactional element or exchange for sex or holding material/financial goods hostage if behaviour isn’t as desired, and if they break up neither of them are left in dire straits. That could be romantically and psychologically beneficial as well as emotionally soothing in terms of any historical experiences for either of them that were indeed imbalanced - forging new experiences and keeping them in terms of mutual values and understanding.

I don’t want to rag on other anon for expressing discomfort because like, again! It makes me uncomfortable to think too hard about in terms of certain dynamics and there is a pretty wide range of associations w/ the phrase!

But I’m a little miffed about immediately being assumed to get off on a financial power imbalance and being unfamiliar w/ social class dynamics lol for giggling at a four word ask I got on Tumblr dot com (again, I am assuming that was the main motivation, given I made this post shortly after and I feel like it addresses some of anon’s concerns?)

Anyway I did lose a follower so I’m going to assume it was them and move on w/ my life.

#downton abbey tag

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hollenka99 · 4 years ago

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Henrik and Joline

Summary: Henrik and Joline spent many nights under the stars.

Warnings: Referenced death/infant death

After playing SoulScape last weekend, I really wanted to write something based on it. Please check out @power-of-friends-games on GameJolt because their games are really cool.

The night had been like any other. After clocking out, Henrik had walked down the road to his usual stargazing spot. Before long, he'd located both Hercules and Ophiuchus. It was as blissful as ever. Nothing could distract him from his time here, not even the sound of cars passing by. Or so he believed. "Excuse me. Do you mind if I join you?" Shooting upright in alarm, he momentarily forgets himself as their eyes meet. Oh. Well, he hadn't expected for her to look like that. While he can't see her eyes properly in this light, the waves in her hair are like the sea gently lapping along a beach. That three quarter length skirt she was wearing looked pretty on her as well. In years to come, he will swear this was the very moment he fell for her. "Oh, well sit, sit!" "Thanks." She drops down next to him. With a hand extended, she says "I'm Joline." "Henrik." They smile at each other as he returns the handshake. The two of them spend the night chatting and admiring the night sky. With no effort at all, 10 minutes become 100. The first time he hears her laugh, he knows he wants the chance to hear it as often as she'll allow him. And that smile... well, the sentiment remained the same. At one point, Joline begins talking about the sky, how she adores the amalgamation of swirling colours always present above. She's always had a soft spot she can't explain for the blue parts of it. He says nothing other than casual agreement. "You know, I've never seen you around. Was this your first time coming here?" "No, I am here a lot." Joline's brows furrow in thought. "Huh, that's odd. Would've thought I'd bump into you before tonight." "Well, we've met now. And I think I would like to keep meeting. What about you?" "Yeah. Yeah, I think I'd like that too." They go their separate ways soon after exchanging contact details. Henrik struggles to stop smiling slightly to himself the whole trip home. ---- Visiting their usual stargazing spot had become a practically daily affair by this point of their relationship. Henrik honestly wondered how he'd been able to be here on his own before meeting Joline. Some nights, they conversed on and off throughout their stay. Other times, silence would surround them comfortably. Tonight seemed to be one of intermittent chatter. It begins with Henrik and Joline laying on the grass. Their hands have effortlessly found each other with the sound of the breeze accompanying them. Their little contest to identify as many constellations as they could had concluded a while ago. Joline sighs contently. "I can't wait to be able to do this as a family." "That sounds lovely. I'm sure it will happen someday." "How about as soon as next year?" A beat passes. Henrik's face contorts into varying expressions before settling on amazed disbelief. Sitting up, Joline can do nothing but grin at her husband as he stares at her. "Henny, we're going to have a baby." She bursts into a fit of giggles as she falls back from the force of a body colliding into hers. Henrik seems not to take much notice of the playful warnings to be careful. Instead, he tightens his embrace. There comes a peck on her lips followed by a reminder that he loved her. It is a while before the joyful excitement dissipates enough for there to calm once more. "I didn't think anywhere else could have done this announcement justice. Just you, me and the stars above. They're responsible for bringing us together and now, well..." A few brief chuckles. "You know, you could say the stars ali-" His finger rapidly positions itself on her lips. "No, please. Being friends with Chase is bad enough. All those bad, bad jokes." The finger is gently removed. "But still, a baby." "A baby." He echoes in an exhale. "Our baby." "I can't wait." She gazes his way, grin firmly fixed on her face. He lets their eyes meet as fingers entwine. "Me neither." ---- Henrik double checks he had essential items such as his wallet and keys when Joline burst into the corridor. Odd, she'd been reading a magazine only a couple minutes ago when he kissed her goodbye. What on earth could be so urgent? "Henrik, wait." "What's wrong? I need to go to work right now. The clock is ticking." "I'm sure this is worth being a few minutes late." Joline beams as she grabs his wrist. His face lights up upon realising where his hand was being directed. Even more so when he feels the fluttering sensation she'd intended him to. If he had it his way, he'd spend all morning ensuring their daughter knew how excited they were to meet her. Joline regrettably cuts it short after a number of minutes. "Henny, you should probably leave." He grumbles. "But-" "Go! You don't want to be late for work, do you? We'll still be here when you get back." Despite the momentary reluctance at the door, Henrik begins his shift in a better mood than he was expecting. ---- It was clear Joline couldn't find comfort tonight. The larger her bump got, the more difficulty she had with finding a good position to relax in. This extended not only to their bed and sofa but also the ground at their favourite spot. Perhaps even more so. Either way, the manner she kept shifting worried him. Henrik is somewhat glad when she unexpectedly takes advantage of him lying back. "Have you ever considered a career as a pillow?" "Surprisingly, no." "Hmm. Maybe replace a couple of those ribs with whatever they stuff actual pillows with and you'd be good to go." "If you say so." He strokes the top of her head. In the night air, they revive the name discussion. For months, they'd thrown suggestions around but while a few had been decent contenders, none seemed to be quite right. There was still time, of course. However, the time that remained was growing ever shorter with each week that passed. Options such as Estelle were brought up without any real consideration. "No, I think I actually like the thought of an E name. How about... Emma? I like Emma." "Emma von Schneeplestein does sound nice." "We going with Emma?" "Hmm, maybe. Make sure we don't forget to write that down later." The two of them lie there with only the wind and the results of its influence to be heard around them. Joline drifts off with ease, head remaining on her husband's stomach. And for a good while, he doesn't dare disturb her. ---- Joline wasn't going to make it. Henrik had been there when she'd unexpectedly collapsed, doing everything he could think of to help save her in response. However, when all things were said and done, there was nothing more he could do for his beloved wife. Well, perhaps there was one thing. There was still Emma. Their little angel, as precious as she was small. If anything, Joline would want him to be with her. As if she had to ask. Their daughter shifts slightly in her incubator. Oh Emma. Don't worry, it was going to be okay. Daddy's right here and he's not going anywhere. They would go home together. Just without... without Mummy. They'd manage though. He promises he'll be there for her, regardless of the circumstance. Time slips by as he ensures his daughter knew how much he loved her, how much Joline loved her despite them never getting to truly meet. Emma becomes the sole audience to a multitude of stories featuring her parents. She learns of the day Joline had bought a light blue turtleneck to tease him, only for it to genuinely become one her favourite choices for the colder months. The anecdote revolving around how he knew he wanted to marry her is also told. Then there was obviously the time a beautiful woman had asked to sit beside him as they stargazed. They wouldn't be here today if the Mindscape hadn't been generous enough to allow their paths to coincide. As much as he wishes things could have gone differently today, at least there was one good thing coming out of it. Throughout the day, he monitors the baby's wellbeing. When his eyelids grow heavy without permission, his brain reacts by instinctively causing his head to jerk up. No, he couldn't rest yet. He needed to keep an eye on Emma. He could sleep once they were both cleared to return home. He's sure his little girl will like the crib Joline picked out. Being confused as to when he fell asleep is the least of his problems when he wakes. Emma is gone too. No, this couldn't be happening. He should have noticed the signs. Why didn't he spot the warnings? Surely this could have been prevented if he had been more observant. There must be something he'd missed due to his negligence. If only he hadn't been stupid enough to sit down and allow himself to pass out. He leaves reluctantly following several sympathetic prompts to head home. Supposedly, that was the best place for him right now, though he certainly disputes the notion. The issue is, he's not sure where he wants to end up. One thing is for sure. He doesn't want it to be home. Who would ever want their destination to be an empty house? ---- He avoids that particular spot. Their spot. It's not easy by any means. The damned place was to the side of the only road leading to the hospital. Despite every self protective effort, the day does eventually come when he finds himself standing where he'd spent countless evenings admiring the stars with his wife. Too long had he stood frozen on the other side of the road. He'd simply remained transfixed, mentally battling himself regarding whether this was a good idea. It wasn't but he doesn't believe sheer avoidance would be beneficial either. A particularly bright star catches his eye once he gains the courage to glance skyward. He knows it is most likely Venus or a similar celestial body. That doesn't prevent him from fooling himself enough to hear her voice for a short lived moment. From beyond the grave, she greets him with "Hi, Henny." And well, he supposes it was somewhat fitting she had used Venus just to say hello. Joline had been a display of utter beauty that he'd loved more than any other person in his life. As for desires? Ha! The one desire he had concerning her was to have her back by his side. Preferably with Emma in her arms. Not that he would deserve it, given how he'd betrayed their trust in failing to save them. "Good evening to you too, Joline." He brokenly mutters back. With another glance at the stars, it's almost as if she was beside him. He swears he can feel Joline sliding her fingers inbetween his and resting her head on his shoulder for a fleeting second. His fingers curl as his head leans sideways, both expecting to meet something solid. Instead all they find is air. No. No, sorry, he doesn't believe he can do this. Not tonight. Any remnants of Joline that had been anticipating his return here would have to be left disapprovingly watching him flee. ---- Henrik had travelled along this route so many times over the years it was practically second nature to him. The quantity of memories made here were innumerate. Granted, a great deal of them were filled with him and Joline not talking about much. He wouldn't take back a second of that time spent together. He certainly recalls getting through some rough shifts thanks to the promise of being able to relax with her at the end of it. A version of this location was the entry point to his worst memory. He's replayed that terrible day an unhealthy amount. Yet it was in the name of saving his son in everything but blood that he'd done it. He would force himself through it again if it could help Angus. He's so relieved the serum is being accepted by the hunter's soul. "Hellooo? Dad, are you there?" "Hmm, yes? Sorry, what did you say?" "I was just wondering what you thought about my idea. I know it's kind of a trek to get to my home from Attitude City and I should be focusing on letting the serum do its job but... I want to do this for Anti and the others. Especially after everything I did." "The party?" "Yes." "It is a great idea. I am proud of you for wanting to organise this. But let me help his friends first." "Dad, his birthday isn't until the 10th. I'm sure you'll have figured this stuff out before then." "Well, don't do anything too strenuous yet, okay? Until I am sure you are recovering, I want you to be careful." A chuckle is heard over the line. "Don't worry, Dad. I think I already feel a little better than yesterday." The call soon ends, leaving Henrik to sit in an all too familiar patch of grass. And for the first time in too long, there is no pain in coming here.

#jacksepticeye #henrik von schneeplestein #power of friends games #septiscape #soulscape #soulscape spoilers #my writing #tw death #tw infant death

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