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duhragonball · 4 years ago

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Hellsing Liveblog Ch. 68-69 (nice)

This is the “Castlevania” arc. It’s only two parts, but I want to slow down and take my time with this one.

Okay, so in the last chapter, Alucard was fighting Alexander Anderson, who used one of the nails from the True Cross to pierce his own heart, which transformed Anderson into some sort of miraculous creature made of thorny tendrils. Then he struck a heavy blow on Alucard’s head, and just sort of kept on going down his neck and chest.

And as far as we call tell, this is the most danger Alucard’s been in since the story began. Anderson lopped off his head in their first encounter, and even that didn’t stop him. Now, in this “holy monster” form, Anderson can grow back body parts just as easily as Alucard, and he seems to be able to hurt Alucard a lot more than ever before. The irony is that Alucard might have been honored to lose to Anderson, but only when he was a human foe. Now that Anderson has used the Nail of Helena to become something inhuman, Alucard feels that it diminishes their fight.

Regardless, Alucard is in serious danger, or so it seems. Even his horde of familiars are bursting into flames all around him, which I assume is a side-effect of Anderson’s attack. As this happens, Alucard appears to lose consciousness, and flashes back to his childhood.

This whole flashback seemed like a nonsequitur to me when I watched the Hellsing Ultimate OVA, but I think it makes a bit more sense this time around. As a boy in the 1440′s, Vlad Tepes was something of a religious fantatic, much like Father Anderson in 1999. He pledged to never ask God for anything, which I don’t think is theologically sound, but let’s run with it. The point here seems to be that Vlad felt it was more pious to endure hardship while keeping his faith in God.

For example, in this scene, we see Vlad being dragged away to be raped, and he grabs the cross he wears around his neck for solace. He doesn’t beg God for mercy or deliverance, but simply clings to his faith to see him through.

I’m assuming the man in shadow is Sultan Murad II of the Ottoman Empire. In 1442, Murad summoned Vlad’s father to Gallipoli, and he went there with Vlad and his brother Ruda. The Sultane then imprisoned all three of them, and eventually released Vlad’s father, but kep the boys as hostages to ensure the fahter’s loyalty. There was a period when Vlad’s father sided against the Ottomans, and he presumed his sons had been killed, but in fact they survived and eventually returned to Wallachia. So maybe Kouta Hirano is taking some creative license here, and suggesting that Murad II took out his anger on Vlad in other ways.

Eventually, Vlad became the Voivoide of Wallachia, and in this flashback we find that he considers fighting to be a form of prayer. Not for mercy, because Vlad refuses to ask for that. Instead, he seems to believe that if you just keep fighting hard enough, God will descend from the heavens. None of this made sense to me the first time around, but once you start interpreting this in the context of Vlad as a religious extremist, it starts to add up. Anderson’s fellows in the Iscariot Organization were literally blowing themselves up to help Anderson defeat Alucard, and they were happy to do it, because they saw it as a holy mission. Anderson himself was eager to use the Nail to make himself into a monster, because he craved to be a single-minded instrument of God’s will. A righteous bludgeon to smite the wicked. Vlad Tepes’ “bloodlust” seems to have been inspired by a similar zealotry, at least as Hirano sees it.

But in the end, did God descend to respond to Vlad’s “prayers”? The image of the modern Alucard is all the answer we need. Of course that didn’t happen.

I’m just cribbing from the Vlad the Impaler page on Wikipedia, but from what I gather about Vlad’s final years, he was fighting for the office of Voivoide of Wallachia against Basarab Laiotă , who had support from the Ottoman Empire. Vlad fought and lost, probably dying in battle in December 1476/Janury 1477. The story goes that his corpse was cut into pieces, and his head sent to Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II.

So Kouta Hirano depicts Vlad’s final moments with him being captured and executed. This is certainly plausible, and it gives Vlad a chance to reflect on his failure before he meets his fate. He fought and killed so many people, daring to resist the Ottomans even as he ruled a state that was basically controlled by the Ottomans, and I guess he must have known how impossible that would be, which is why he counted on God to deliver him, so long as he fought hard enough.

But in that final moment, just as the axe comes down on his neck, he still has his cross... but instead of taking solace in that, he reaches out instead for the puddle of blood in front of him. The axe comes down and shatters the cross, just as Vlad Tepes forsakes his humanity.

So maybe all of this is a way of Alucard accepting defeat. Defeated and humbled, no longer a servant of God or a leader of men, no longer even a man, he renounced his faith and became the vampire Dracula, and eventually Alucard. But now Anderson seems to have the upper hand, so maybe, after 523 years, Vlad Tepes is back where he started, facing an inevitable death.

And you know, maybe Anderson’s monster form represents the divine intervention he was waiting for back in the 15th Century. After all these centuries of battle, you might say that God finally did descend from heaven to respond to Alucard. So maybe this is a fitting swan song for the guy. He wanted to die at the hands of a human adversary, but maybe this works too, right?

But then he hears someone calling out to him, and...

Hey, it’s Seras!

So yeah, we’re back to the real world, and Anderson’s well on his way to chopping Alucard in half and burning him with holy fire or something...

And Alucard’s still out of it...

And then Seras jumps in to save his ass! Cool!

The only problem is that this was killing Alucard, and Seras is less powerful than Alucard, so she’s probably not going to be able to do a lot of good here. For that matter, this might just get both of them killed.

And this is why I think this moment is cool. When Team Four Star did their Abridged parody of Hellsing, they sort of skipped this whole “Seras jumps in” part of the fight. Instead, they did a whole thing where Alucard has a near-death experience and talks to God. Then he rejects God’s offer of forgiveness and goes on to defeat Anderson by himself. I don’t care much for that, because Seras is my favorite character, and I find the whole routine of “Well maybe I don’t need your forgiveness, God!” kind of stale and limp. Can something be stale and limp at the same time?

Like, I think I get that a lot of atheists are sore at the whole “organized religion” thing, but it seems kind of silly to write a whole bit where the premise is that God is real, but only so we can all tell him to get lost. Like, I’m a Christian, so I can’t really relate, but if I thought God didn’t exist, I wouldn’t spend all day writing angry text messages to God to remind him of how fake he is.

But mostly, I just really like Seras, and this is a cool Seras scene, and I think that deserves attention, so here we are.

The Alucard-Seras relationship is complex by design. With Integra and Alucard, there’s not much to it. She literally addresses him as “slave” at one point, and he repeatedly talks about himself like a weapon that she has to point at her target. There’s something kind of like that with Al and Seras. In one of their first missions together, he sends her to take out a bunch of ghouls just so he won’t be bothered, and it’s almost like he’s weilding her as a weapon. But he also never leans on that too hard. For one thing, there’s not a whole lot of thngs Seras can do for him that he can’t do more easily himself.

It feels a lot more like a Master/Apprentice relationship, which may not strictly be a vampire thing, because he’s teaching her how to hunt vampires and how to be a vampire at the same time. I think Seras has the same sort of devotion to her master as he does for Integra, but that’s mostly overshadowed by a more down-to-earth respect and admiration. She sees him like a superior officer and a mentor, but she also knows that he has this strange charm over her that she can’t explain or resist.

One of the things I can’t stand about he Gonzoverse Hellsing Anime is how after a while they just started having Seras say “Master...!” over and over. I get it, there’s some power in the way she says it. It means a lot of things to her. I wouldn’t be shocked to find out that “Castlevania part 2″ inspired some of that, but I don’t know what chapter of the manga was published when the anime wrapped up. But it annoyed me that they just used “Master...!” over and over again as a shorthand for Seras’s feelings. You have to do something with it. Demonstrate it, like we’re seeing here with Seras trying to remove a blessed bayonet from Alucard’s torso. She has to help him, even if it means risking her own neck, because he means so much to her, and she wouldn’t be here without him. And yeah, she’s his vampire servant, so this seems like something a loyal servant should be doing. Stickin’ together is what good waffles do.

Let me pause here to note that this marks the destruction of whatever remained of Dandyman and Rip van Winkle, the only “name” characters featured in Alucard’s menagerie of absorbed souls. Whatever Anderson is doing to Alucard, it’s destroying them, irrevocably.

So it occurred to me one day, what if Seras has to save Alucard, not out of slavish devotion or plucky heroism, or even righteous loyalty? Way back in Chapter 1, Integra explained vampires to the local authorities, and said that when you kill a vampire, you also destroy all the ghouls and servant vampires that were created by that first vampire. In other words, if Alucard were to be destroyed, Seras ought to die with him. So maybe her efforts here could be nothing more than self-preservation. I’m not wild about that idea. Maybe, after drinking Pip’s blood, Seras “graduated” from that lowly status, and she no longer depends upon Alucard in this way.

But I think the point remains either way. They’re in this together. Alucard called the two of them a family, and it wasn’t just creepy vampire talk. There’s a bond between them, and it matters to both of them. And that’s why Seras’ intervention here is what brings Alucard back from the brink. By rushing in to help him, Seras has placed herself in danger, and now they have to rescue each other.

I like this part where he puts his hand on hers as they pull out the bayonet together. It’s like the moment when Seras reached out to Alucard in Cheddar and he took her hand then. Well, that was only in the OVA, but still.

Alucard tells Anderson that he might have welcomed a death like this, maybe back when he was about to get beheaded in 1476, but now, he refuses to be defeated. 523 years ago, he was at his lowest ebb. He had nothing. Today, he has Seras.

And... yeah, he has Integra too. I don’t want to dismiss the importance of that relationship. But Integra could find a way to get by without him if she needed to. He has a responsibility to Seras, though, and Seras’s loyalty trumps whatever death-fantasies he might have on his mind.

Then Al turns into this form, which I guess is the same outfit he was wearing back in 1989, when Integra found him in the basement. Not sure if that’s supposed to mean anything, though.

Oh, and I guess there’s still a few familiars that didn’t burn up from before? This is the last time we see them though, so maybe this final attack finishes them off.

As Alucard strikes the final blow on Anderson, Integra flashes back to her father, who taught her about the vampires’ inner psyche. Arthur Hellsing suggested that vampires don’t have a whole lot to show for their immortality. They crave conflict, not for its own sake, but becuse they long for death. Not just any ol’ death, but a kind of death that they could take some solace in. We’ve already seen this in Alucard, as he seems to relish the idea of being killed by a human like Anderson, or van Helsing. If all he wanted was death, he could have let that Ottoman headsman finish the job 523 years ago. Instead, he lost everything, and he’s spent centuries with nothing to take comfort in. And that probably explains why Alucard is so happy with his service to Integra. At least she gives him a purpose, a duty, a cause to fight for.

And finally, Alucard rips out Anderson’s heart, with the Holy Nail still in it.

And he crushes it, which I guess it enough to neutralize the Nail’s effect? Well, cool enough then.

But Al takes no pleasure in this victory. He sees in Anderson a reflection of himself, back when he was a human. The fanaticism, the failure, the rejection of humanity to become a monster, and then failure again.

And then Anderson, or whats’ left of him, consoles Alucard before he dies.

#2021hellsingliveblog #hellsing #alucard #seras victoria #alexander anderson #sir integra hellsing #arthur hellsing #walter c dornez #murad ii

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cakelanguage · 4 years ago

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At long last, I bring an update for my “Dorian as a young boy” fic! This fic is the most intimidating to write because I want to do justice to the characters, but that makes me less excited to write which isn’t fantastic lol

I hope you enjoy this update!

First//Previous//Next

You can also read it on AO3 ----

For his time here, Dorian was supposed to be under the watchful eye of the Iron Bull and his Chargers. Despite this, the Iron Bull had given him a long look before slapping him on the back.

“Listen, Dorian,” the Iron Bull said, “I’m going to be making sure you don’t get into trouble, but I’m not going to prevent you from a bit of exploring.” He paused. “Actually, stay away from the advisors if you can, I doubt they’ve gotten over your eavesdropping.”

“In my defense, I needed to get them to understand,” Dorian replied.

Bull shook his head, a grin fighting to spread. “Don’t think they’ll care about that so much as it was a kid they don’t know they can trust yet.”

Well, Dorian supposed that was wise to consider before he upset the wrong person.

“Fine,” Dorian conceded, “I guess I’ll try to find this ‘chuckles’ Varric mentioned.”

“Solas? you’ll find him near the houses to the right of the Chantry. We don’t have a lot of elves around here so he should be pretty easy to find.”

He nodded. “Right, well I’ll be seeing you-”

“Wait, before you go bothering him, a word of advice,” the Iron Bull poked him in the center of his forehead, ignoring Dorian’s disgruntled huff. “Solas doesn’t like Tevinter. Actually, that’s an understatement; he hates Tevinter and their view on the slavery of the elves. Be prepared for him to question you.”

“About slavery?”

“Check if you have any ingrained prejudices, problematic thinking, that sort of thing.”

“Oh, so an interrogation?” Dorian’s face fell. “Lovely.”

The Iron Bull shrugged. “He’ll either like you or he won’t, it’s not more complicated than that.”

Dorian reluctantly nodded. “Well, thank you for warning me, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Just be back when the sun starts to set, alright?”

“Yes I hear you, can I go now?” He knew he was being impatient but he couldn’t bring himself to disguise the frustration in his voice.

Bull crossed his arms and gave him a sharp smile. “Stay out of trouble, Dorian.”

That was Dorian’s idea but he nodded along anyway. “See you by sunset.”

Trudging through the snow to the collection of homely cottages he started gathering the questions he wanted to ask Solas. What stories did he have from the Fade? Was he part of a clan? Why did he join the Inquisition?

Except he couldn’t see the elf anywhere amongst the cottages. There was just a woman carrying out linens to be washed, and a slightly cross looking man. The others had been so sure that Solas would be here but it was just Dorian’s luck that the elf had vanished.

“Have you seen an elf around here?” Dorian asked.

The man shrugged. “Solas sometimes takes a stroll to the pond outside of Haven,” the man informed, leaning back against his door. “Keeps to himself mostly, but if you get him started he’ll talk your ear off.”

“Speaking from experience?”

“I’m a healer, mostly I just tend to whoever comes back from a mission and make potions and elixirs for the Herald’s party.” A grin adds youth to his face. “It’s nice to have something to break up the monotony.”

“Well, I guess I’ll try the pond.”

“Good luck, you’ll know him when you see him,”: the healer sniggered and Dorian was reminded of Sera’s laughter at pointing out the other elf’s hair situation.

The walk to the pond was quiet and he easily dodged busy men and women whose faces were drawn and shoulders heavy. Dorian tried not to make eye contact with any of them lest he wanted to enter a conversation with him. He just needed to find Solas and then go about the rest of his day.

Just like the healer had said, he spotted Solas walking along the edge of the pond. His shoulders were broad and led to a tapered waist and Dorian couldn’t help but admire the elf’s silhouette.

He trotted up beside the elf with a hint of trepidation. “Solas?” Dorian called out as he reached him.

The man turned his attention towards him with a curious expression. “How can I help you?” Solas asked calmly.

“Aeren- The Herald told me you’re a mage.”

“I am.”

“And I was wondering if you could tell me about the Breach.”

“I can.”

The short answers had Dorian’s enthusiasm wilting. “What if I said please?”

Solas’ lips quirked upwards at that. “I’d say you have manners, at least when it comes to asking questions.” He examined him and Dorian fought the urge to squirm under the accessing gaze. “But you have not introduced yourself as of yet.”

He felt his cheeks pink. “Dorian of House Pavus, how do you do?” Dorian introduced with a bob of his head.

The quirk to the man’s lips disappeared. “You’re the one from Tevinter that everyone is up in arms about.”

“Surely not everyone.” Please let it not be everyone.

“Those of Tevinter rarely travel south of the Free Marches if they can help it, it is no surprise that people would be wary especially given that Tevinter mages have managed to ensnare the Rebel mages into indentured servitude.”

“Not officially, just yet.” It’s a weak protest and he knows it all too well.

Solas tilts his head in acknowledgment. “No, but Tevinter’s idea of indentured servitude is only a hair’s breadth away from slavery.” There’s a bitter tilt to his mouth now. “But I’m sure you’re aware of that.”

The silence stretches between them and for once Dorian is in no rush to fill the silence. Solas’ words echo heavily in his chest, an unfortunately familiar ache settling beneath his sternum.

Guilt.

Felix had told him many times that Dorian had a guilt complex that encompassed the stretch of Tevinter; convinced that he had somehow failed or neglected to do more to help in some way. Carrying the weight of his country’s wrongdoings on his shoulders like a mantle of culpability.

But maybe he could be doing more in some way. Been more outspoken, started the foundations of a revolution to put an end to slavery, aided in an exodus of elves to flee his homeland. Something. But he’s also still just a child no matter how much he wants to proclaim otherwise.

Despite his magical prowess, he has no power when it comes to his people just yet.

“Do not mistake my words as an attack on your character, da’len,” Solas said, letting his gaze refocus on Dorian. “I’m simply lamenting a world that was.” Solas’ voice is considerably softer, if not melancholic than it was moments prior.

Dorian gave him a shallow nod of acknowledgment. “For what it’s worth,” Dorian said, turning his gaze back to the pond. “I’m sorry for what my people have done to yours.”

Solas gave him a mirthless laugh. “Elves have hurt their own plenty all on our own.” Dorian wants to ask him what he means by that but the elf continued with nary a pause. “And although an apology can’t fix all that has been done by your people, I can say that you have a good heart, Dorian of House Pavus.”

He flushed at the comment and shook his head. “I’m just saying what’s right.”

“It’s sometimes easier to agree with a wrong than it is to stand up for a right.” Solas looked once more at the Breach before turning around. “I think it’d be best if I answered your questions at another time. If it’s alright with you, I’d like to be alone now.”

Dorian nodded, thanking his lucky stars for an excuse to leave the situation. “Of course, another time then.”

Another small smile was given to him before Solas continued his methodical stroll around the parameter. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Solas, but he’d seen something in the man’s eyes - a longing and melancholia that he’d only seen in the oldest of elves at his own home. What that longing was for he did not know.

For a moment he just stood there, taking in the sight of the snowy peaks and frozen surface of the pond. It was oddly peaceful, even with the Breach tinting everything an odd green that might’ve reminded him of a particularly early spring if he hadn’t been shivering as the bitter cold seeped through his clothes.

Distantly he could hear the soldiers training, the clang of their swords and grunts of exertion. He could hear the crackle of energy from the Breach from where he was standing, but he half thought that he was imagining the noise. It sounded just like the rifts from inside the Chantry, ripping the fabric of reality to pour forth demons.

But what bothered him the most is that he couldn’t hear the birds. Not a sweet song settled on the wind or the flap of wings fluttering amongst the trees. It was as if they had no sound like the Breach had swallowed them whole.

He turned away from the pond, quickly burying his train of thought with a renewed energy to find something to preoccupy himself with. He considered finding Aeren, but he knew the Herald would be pressed for time by his advisors and his other commitments to have time for Dorian’s brand of pestering.

Varric was a good choice as well but he still hadn’t apologized for giving him the slip and though he wouldn’t mean it, he should still apologize. And he wasn’t quite ready for that - being forgiven so easily when it’d been a breach of trust. The others were still strangers and he wasn’t sure where he stood with the group all things considered.

So really he only had one option left: The Iron Bull.

Dorian turned to look at the qunari that appeared to be lazily taking in his surroundings while talking to a man dressed in armor. One of his company perhaps, Dorian mused as he tentatively made his way over. It would probably help him get over his bloody paranoia about the qunari which he was determined to get over as soon as possible.

The Iron Bull noticed him first and tossed him a lazy wave. “Back already, Dorian?” The Iron Bull asked.

He threw up his hands in exasperation before letting them fold petulantly against his chest. “Solas wasn’t available for talking at the moment, predisposed to his own thoughts for the time being and I figured Aeren has things to do besides entertaining me.”

“I’m surprised I was your next choice.”

You weren’t, Dorian bit his tongue to hold back his comments. “Well,” Dorian paused to sort his thoughts as quickly as he could. “You didn’t seem to be preoccupied so I figured I’d just stay with you.”

The other man snorted and nudged his elbow against the Iron Bull’s side. “You gonna introduce me to the tiny ‘vint?” he asked, turning fully to look at Dorian.

It’s then that Dorian noticed the details of the man. The earthy, brown-gold complexion, sharp cheekbones, and strong jaw. The stitching of his clothes were the same ones in his own leathers. A stitching technique that Dorian knew was only used in one place as Maevaris was adamant he knew the nuances of fashion.

“You’re from Tevinter,” Dorian gasped. He never expected to see another of his people in Fereldan, let alone one who appeared to be part of a company led by a qunari.

The man nodded with a grimace. “I was,” he conceded. “But Tevinter is no home to me.”

Dorian’s shoulders drooped. “Oh." He couldn't hide how he felt like the wind was knocked from his sails nor the disappointment edging at the single word.

He shouldn’t have hoped. It was foolish. People didn’t like Tevinter, not most people that is. Tevinter wasn’t kind. It wasn’t full of happiness or pleasantry for the lower class. It was a constant game of masks and prejudice. He didn't blame anyone for fleeing its borders nor who resented the place.

Dorian never looked at his home through a rose-wine filter, but it was still his home. And he wished he had someone who understood a longing for that.

Not for the first time, he wished Felix was here.

“None of that,” the man nudged him with the back of his wrist. “Tevinter showed my family no kindness, but that doesn’t mean you can’t miss it.” The man shrugged and gave him a cursory look. "What gave me away? Most people don't notice if I don't mention it."

Dorian's cheeks heated at the question and he focused back on the man's armor. "The stitching in your leather," he said with a gesture, "I've only seen it in Tevinter."

The Iron Bull let out a low whistle. "Very observant of you," he praised offhandedly.

Dorian shuffled darting his eyes between the two before gesturing to his clothes. "Mine have the same stitching."

The man laughed and picked at a piece of his leather. "You'd think you were a tailor's son with that kind of observation," the statement was rhetorical as he kept talking. "The name's Krem."

No last name or title, just a name, and Dorian wasn't even sure if it was Krem's full name or not. "Dorian of House Pavus," he introduced.

"Didn't think pedigree 'Vints ventured this far south."

"Not usually," Dorian conceded, "But Felix asked for my help and I couldn’t let him down.”

“Felix is the other ‘Vint helping us in Redcliffe,” the Iron Bull explained.

Krem nodded his head with a smile. “Certainly loyal to this Felix.”

“Felix is my brother,” Dorian explained with a smile of his own. He didn’t explain himself further than that.

“What are your plans for the rest of the day?” the Iron Bull asked.

Dorian shrugged and kicked a bit of snow with his boot. “Whatever you’re doing I suppose.”

The grin that spread across the qunari’s face was positively excited. “Wanna meet my crew?”

The Chargers, with all their lack of manners and crude humor, were probably up there with Aeren and Varric as far as his favorite people he’d met so far. They took no shit and were unashamedly loud, boisterous in their tavern songs and stories. Dorian found himself listening intently too afraid he’d miss what would happen next to pay attention to Rocky sneaking bits from his plate.

“I think we were still finding feathers in our things after a week,” Krem finished with a laugh and a swig from his tankard.

Dalish shook her head, a sparkling of mischief dancing across her features. “Never really figured out how the feathers got into our supplies in the first place,” she mused.

“But it definitely worked in distracting those men in the woods near that one guy’s house,” Rocky said, tearing through his third roll.

The others nodded and Dorian couldn’t help but laugh at their attempt at serious faces. This was perhaps the most fun he’d had in a long while - since before Felix had gotten sick and things had started to unravel and chip around him.

And not once had he flinched away from the Iron Bull.

While he still wanted to ask Solas all the questions he could think of before he was inevitably ushered away, meeting the Bull’s Chargers was just as nice. And provided a wonderful distraction from the nerves that lit up his mind as he thought about the mission tomorrow.

Heading back to Redcliffe was both undeniably tense and laid back in a way Dorian wasn't expecting. For the first quarter of the journey, they traveled with a hoard of the Inquisition's soldiers. They were disciplined and traveled with a one-track mind as they eventually all passed their group. He wondered if all the soldiers had experience before this or if Cullen had managed to train them to be that way.

"They're going on ahead of us?" Dorian asked as the last soldier passed them.

Aeren nodded as he twirled one of his axes around. "They have to sneak into the castle after all," Aeren said. "Besides traveling with such a big group would only cause us trouble. Imagine what the Templars and Rebel mages would do if they saw such a gathering."

Dorian hadn't even thought about the warring groups that were still avidly fighting around the Hinterlands. "Makes sense."

"Course it does, the advisors came up with that one." Aeren grinned, tilting his head like some overgrown Mabari pup.

Varric snorted beside him. "You sure are proud about those advisors of yours having used their common knowledge."

"Varric, we all know that I'm not the brains in any of this." He pressed his lips together like he was holding back a laugh. "I'm just the man with the glowing hand."

Cassandra let out a disgruntled huff. “You could try to pick up on some of our tactics,” she said.

“And deprive you all of your advisings?” Aeren put a hand to his chest. “I wouldn’t dare.”

A large, meaty hand clapped Aeren on the back. “Don’t worry, you’ll pick up on things the more you work with them,” Bull reassured.

“There is one bit of advice I can offer,” Aeren turned his attention back to Dorian, “You’re going to have to remain hidden at least a little when we get there.” He pointed at Dorian’s robes and made a slouching motion. “Maybe fashion some of that drapey fabric to make a hood or something.”

Dorian tugged at his robes self-consciously. “I can, but…” And then it occurred to him: Alexius would recognize him instantly without something to shadow his face. The man had known Dorian for years and could easily pick him out in a crowd even if he wasn’t currently “peacock-ing” as his mentor liked to put it.

He shrugged his bag to one shoulder and pulled some of the extra fabric to the side and then maneuvered it to drape over the top of his head. With the hood as situated as it would get without taking off his bag, he repositioned his pack to its usual position.

“Now you look like chuckles,” Varric laughed.

Tilting his head and squinting for a moment at Dorian, Aeren too let out a snort. “I see it.”

Dorian frowned and crossed his arms. “‘Chuckles’ and I still haven’t really talked,” he said tartly. His conversation with Solas had yet to leave him alone.

Aeren gave him a wolfish grin. “Please call him chuckles to his face when I’m with you, I want to see that dread enter his eyes.”

“I thought you liked Solas,” the Iron Bull admitted, raising a scarred brow.

The Herald shrugged. “He’s a knowledgeable man and I’ve never met an elf that has such tales about our culture.” Aeren’s eyes had a far-off look to them before that gleam of mischief returned. “But that repressed look of disdainful horror that he gets if you say something stupid is more precious than all the Silverite in the Frostback Basin.”

The comment made them all laugh, not even Casandra was immune to Aeren’s statement even if she was desperately suppressing it to a simple quirk of her lips.

He could fulfill Aeren's one wish. "When we get back, set up a meeting with Solas and I'll make it happen," Dorian reassured.

"You're one of the good ones, Dorian," Aeren said with a smile.

If only he felt like one of the good ones.

Redcliffe was just as unnerving as it had been when he'd been here last, but now there was a quiet anxiety that permeated the air. The people stared at their small group, turning away to talk to each other in hushed words when they passed by.

It made the hairs on Dorian's neck stand on end and he gravitated closer towards Varric. He didn't know if the others had picked up on the stifling atmosphere, but Dorian felt like the air was getting thicker the closer they got to the castle.

The dwarf nudged him with his elbow. "Don't pay them any mind," Varric said. The frown Dorian made was only visible to Varric because of their height difference. "Pretty sure these folks just want something to talk about that isn't about the Rebel Mages and the Templars fighting on their doorstep."

It was by no means the first time Dorian was being watched with whispered slander falling from his "audience's" mouths, but this was different. Perhaps it was because Dorian knew that he was walking towards Alexius, who’d been not only his teacher but a pseudo-father to him as well. But he had to do this, especially since Alexius had allied himself with these Venatori.

Despite knowing that, it didn’t provide much comfort to his conscience.

Aeren didn’t seem to mind the stares at all, his gate sure and his face placid. “A warm welcome for us once again,” he said amiably. “With such hospitality, I really should’ve brought Alexius a fruit basket.”

“Herald, will you focus?” Cassandra huffed.

“I am focused,” Aeren turned to look at them as he kept walking. “But if I go in with a dour look everything will seem suspicious.”

The Iron Bull grinned and made a thoughtful hum. “He was jovial when we spoke with Alexius before, and to maintain the cover that the Inquisition is agreeing to ally themselves with Alexius’ goals, a pleasant demeanour seems to be the best idea,” Bull said.

The Herald gestured his hand at Bull. “Thank you, Bull, glad you realized what I’m doing.”

Dorian bobbed his head from side-to-side. “So keep up appearances?” Dorian mused aloud. “Yes, Alexius probably won’t even notice at first since people in Tevinter wear masks like that almost every day.”

Cassandra still didn’t look convinced. “It would still do some good to act a little more serious as we’re acting as diplomats and not just hearing an offer,” she said as they approached the hill that led to the castle entrance.

“You’re plenty serious for the rest of us, Seeker,” Varric remarked as they approached the guards at the door.

“For good reason.”

The guards squared their shoulders and gave them a once over. “State your business,” he said.

Aeren stepped forward with his arms spread. “Surely Alexius is expecting us, is he not?” Aeren asked.

The answer wasn’t sufficient as the guards didn’t move. “Is that your business?”

With a huff, Aeren nodded his head. “Yes, our business is to talk with Alexius about his offer.”

With synchronicity, the guards grabbed the door handles and pulled the heavy doors open. A guard stood waiting for them in the now open doorway.

“Follow me, I’ll take you to Alexius,” the guard said, pivoting on the spot as she began leading them down a series of corridors.

The architecture in Redcliffe Castle was beautiful in its simplicity. Whereas the majestic buildings in Tevinter had vaulted ceilings inscribed with detailed paintings of myths and their heritage, Redcliffe Castle seemed to have preserved much of its decorum to the church.

The castle wasn’t ugly, but there was a utilitarianism to its overall design. The walls were thick and the ceiling was high, and the sparse torches cast an ominous glow about the hallway making their shadows look like looming figures trailing behind them.

The castle was somehow more of an unnerving setting than those he’d been in when he’d studied with the Mortalitasi for a time.

They walked past a multitude of doors and side hallways and Dorian’s mental map of the place was practically nonexistent. Just how far was the throne room from the entrance?

His question became obsolete as they took a final set of stairs up to another grand set of double doors that were opened on their arrival to let them into the throne room.

Aeren strutted forward with his shoulders squared sparing their guard a look. “Announce us,” he said.

Another guard approached them. “The invitation was for Master Lavellan only,” he clarified as if they’d brought a whole group by mistake. “The rest of you must wait here.”

But Aeren didn’t pause. “They have to accompany me.” He sent the man a lazy grin. “I tend to fall into mischief as it were, and you wouldn’t deprive me of my attaché, would you?”

The man looked like he swallowed a lemon as he looked at their little group, finally nodding his head and turning back around to face Alexius, walking further into the room.

Anxiety clawed at Dorian’s stomach as he felt more mages follow up behind them to flank the group. He hoped that the soldiers got in okay and they’d have back up soon.

Dorian took a cursory peak from behind the Iron Bull to take it in his mentor and Felix. Felix looked about the same, but he was leaning himself against the stone pillar behind him that came off as relaxed as opposed to weak.

Alexius on the other hand looked terrible. Purpled bruises highlighted the folds underneath his eyes and there was a tightness to his mouth that almost had his lips pressed into a white line on his face. He could even spot a smattering of gray that now decorated the patch of hair underneath his bottom lip.

He shook his head and focused back on the conversation at hand.

“-I’m sure we can work out some arrangement that is equitable to all parties,” Alexius said.

A woman all but marched up to their group, a frown hardening her features, her attention directed solely at Alexius.

“Are we mages to have no voice in deciding our fate?” a heavily accented voice asked.

Alexius gave her a patronizing smile that Dorian hated. “Fiona, you would not have turned your followers over to my care if you did not trust me with their lives.”

Aeren gestured to the woman. “If the Grand Enchanter wants to be part of these talks, then I welcome her as a guest of the Inquisition,” he explained with that same easygoing smile.

The woman in question seemed surprised at his answer but nodded her head. “Thank you,” she replied.

“Well I wouldn’t stop you from having a say in your own lives, you mages aren’t bargaining chips.”

Except they were, at least to Alexius.

His mentor turned away from them to make his way back to the throne where he lounged confidently back into. “The Inquisition needs mages to close the Breach, and I have them,” Alexius explained. “So, what shall you offer in exchange?”

Dorian had seen plenty of these sorts of exchanges from his countrymen, his parents included, but this was the first time he’d seen Alexius handle a situation like this. He stated what the Inquisition wanted and then asked them to offer whatever they thought would be enough for the mages. Not only did Alexius have the power here to simply deny them the mages until he got exactly what he wanted, but it’d also tell Grand Enchanter Fiona how much the Inquisition valued her people.

“Actually, I hoped you could tell me about these ‘Venatori’ I’m hearing so much about,” Aeren countered, brushing aside Alexius’ question.

Alexius stiffened in his chair momentarily before he seemed to force himself to relax. “Now, where could you have heard that name?” He mused, tapping his fingers against the arm of the throne.

Felix stepped forward. “I told him,” he claimed proudly. For a moment, Felix was once more larger than life and Dorian was calmed by his interjection.

The other man sent Felix a disapproving glare. “Felix, what have you done?” He asked reproachfully. Felix didn’t falter under his stare instead looking all the more determined.

The standoff was broken by Aeren clearing his throat. “Your son is concerned that you’re involved in something terrible,” he said.

Alexius’ lips curled back into a snarl. “So speaks the thief.” A disdainful smile settled his features. “Do you think you can turn my own son against me?”

He already is against you, Dorian thought as his mentor pushed himself up from the throne with the energy of a predator.

“You walk into my stronghold with your stolen mark—a gift you don’t even understand—and think you’re in control?”

The Herald didn’t react to the Magister’s words. “And you walk into Fereldan with the iniquitous goal of practically enslaving an already ailing group of mages that had nowhere safe to turn,” Aeren argued.

“You’re nothing but a mistake,” Alexius hissed.

A scowl of his own finally graced Aeren’s face. “If I’m a mistake, what exactly was the Breach supposed to accomplish?”

“It was to be a triumphant moment for the Elder One, for the world.”

Fanaticism tinges his words but also a wariness like Alexius couldn’t pick whether to be awed or worried about what could have been.

Felix shook his head and took another step towards his father. “Father, listen to yourself!” Felix urged. “Do you know what you sound like?”

Dorian’s heart clenched at the searching look Felix gave Alexius as if he could no longer see his father when he looked at the man. It was time to step in. He took a steadying breath before stepping out from behind the Iron Bull.

“He sounds exactly like the villainous cliché everyone expects us to be,” Dorian replied.

Alexius’ head whipped around to stare at him, his eyes narrowing imperceptibly. “Dorian,” Alexius acknowledged. He looked less surprised than Dorian thought he’d be. “I gave you a chance to be a part of this. You turned me down.”

“As if this is the right choice to make at all,” Dorian snipped. The matter-of-fact way that Alexius explained his offer like it wasn’t the ravings of a desperate father when he’d first approached Dorian about using time magic in a real application.

The man shook his head. “The Elder One has power you would not believe. He will raise the Imperium from its own ashes.”

He wasn’t sure who Alexius was trying to convince, Dorian or himself.

“That’s who you serve?” Aeren cut-in. “The one who killed the Divine? Is he a mage?”

Alexius’ steps echoed through the hall as he took another few steps closer. “Soon he will become a god.” He raised his arms, gazing at all of them with bright eyes. “He will make the world bow to mages once more. We will rule from the Boeric Ocean to the Frozen Seas.”

For a moment Dorian wondered if perhaps Alexius had officially lost it or come into some sort of mind-altering spell. His mentor hadn’t mentioned wanting Tevinter to change or for mages to rule.

“You can’t involve my people in this!” Fiona yelled.

Dorian shook his head and took a small step forward. “Alexius, this is exactly what you and I talked about never wanting to happen!” Dorian reminded and gave his mentor a pleading look. Alexius turned away from him, but Dorian wasn’t deterred. “Why would you support this?”

“Stop it, Father,” Felix commanded. “Give up the Venatori. Let the southern mages fight the Breach,” he took a steadying breath, “and let’s go home.”

Alexius turns back around at that denial on his tongue before he can recenter himself. “No! It’s the only way, Felix.” He grabbed hold of one of Felix’s hands with two of his own. “He can save you.”

Felix gave him an incredulous look and took his hand back from his father’s grasp. “Save me?”

Alexius turned away again from prying eyes to stare into the fire. “There is a way.” He sounded relieved in a way that Dorian had only heard the cusp of when Alexius had first mentioned time magic. “The Elder One promised. If I undo the mistake at the Temple…”

“I’m going to die,” Felix stated, his face a resigned acceptance. “You need to accept that.”

The blunt response has a nail piercing Dorian’s heart because of course, he knows that Felix is dying but sometimes he just wants to push that reality away.

His son’s words fell on deaf ears as Alexius raised a hand towards their group. “Seize them, Venatori! The Elder One demands this man’s life.”

But then choking gasps and the wet sound of blades piercing flesh echo throughout the hall and Dorian knows that the Inquisition’s soldiers have arrived. They’re safe now. It’s over.

Aeren stepped up to stand beside Dorian, that cocky smile more serious than it usually is but no less smug. “Your men are dead, Alexius,” Aeren informed him.

An angry flush brightens Alexius’ face. “You…” the animosity in the hissed word is more obvious than Dorian has ever heard, “are a mistake! You never should have existed.”

A dark green static began to emanate from Alexius’ hand and an amulet rose from his palm to hang within the center of the aura of magic. The crackling of magic flickers ominously as they stare at what’s unfolding.

It took Dorian only a moment to realize what exactly was going on: time magic. He doesn’t even think when he casts a spell to knock the amulet from Alexius’ hand, trying to stop the man from casting. “No!” Dorian yelled.

As he predicted, the spell fizzled out when Alexius dropped the amulet. What he didn't expect was a swirling rift to open up in front of him and Aeren. He turned panicked eyes to Felix, who looked just as panicked.

He heard a cry of his name before darkness overtook him as he and Aeren were sucked into the rift.

#dragon age fic #dragon age inquisition #dragon age inquisition fic #fanfic #my fic #dorian pavus #BAMF!Dorian #solas #the iron bull #varric #krem #cremisius aclassi #male lavellan #in hushed whispers #dragon age #dragon age fanfiction #da:i #da:i fic #dragon age kink meme

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floorbed · 4 years ago

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3 7 14 36 55 58 for pen and agni please 😌

!!!!!! my kids thank you sm omg...... under the cut bc she’s long

3. Do they get jealous easily? If so, what usually causes it?

pen gets jealous v easily. lol. especially when it comes to like . Getting Attention. he wants to feel like a Special Boy. stupid

agni gets like. Professional Envy. she wants to be an accomplished academic so bad. but like socially i dont think she gets jealous easily. not saying she couldnt bc like . for the right person she definitely could i just dont think it has happened yet so if it Did happen she would not understand why or what she was feeling

7. What’s their “type”? What romantically attracts them to another person?

god. pens type is. h.m. it’s a lot. hes not smart about crushes, is the thing. he likes. okay not making this up but looking at his fucking track record alone He Likes P*werful S*rcerers (when juniper fucking deleted vargas’ existence.... yeah i dont need to say more.) someone who will spoil him and tell him how pretty he is. someone he can dote on and take care of . yeah. stupid boy

agni wld not know how to answer this question bc dumbass disorder but I Know. so first of all Woman. Stron.g. caring and gentle...... good at communication like someone she can listen to..... someone who wont mind her infodumping or spacing out..... understands shes not the best at like. traditionally showing affection and doesnt take it as an insult.... Is Named Se

14. Who do they go to in a crisis/emergency? Any particular reason why they choose that person?

pen goes to ori 👉👈he just genuinely really tr*sts her (we dont use that word around her but) and like. really just cannot wrap his head around why she tolerates him bc hes kind of a bitch 99% of the time but is extremely grateful for it all the same. he hadnt really existed in the world outside of a very controlled and specific environment before he met her and doesnt really know what the fuck hes doing in public at all Ever but ori always lets him know when hes fucking up and he really appreciates that. She Is Safe. Normal Soul Gang

agni goes to seras 👉👈👉👈 she is definitely like. the one person agni has felt truly vulnerable around like... agni has friendly acquaintances and is generally easy enough to get along with but she tends to keep social things surface level and seras is the first person shes been like. emotionally invested in. and the first person shes let herself admit she needs Brain Help with when things are Scary. Yeah. Platonic Reasons. if she had to pick someone in the party it would be cyrus though!! he is very nice to her. agni has Trusting Paladins Disease.

36. Do they trust easily? What would you have to do to earn their trust?

pen acts like he doesnt trust easily and really like. considering how many times his trust has been broken Shouldnt Trust Easily but he is a cancer moon boy w a big heart at the end of the day. Give Him Positive Attention And He Is Urs Forever. surprisingly this does not manifest in a healthy way all the time who wld have thought!!!

at a surface level agni doesnt necessarily Not Trust People!! she just tries to remain as neutral as possible on the People Front in general. it is hard for her to form like. Complex Thoughts about others (as well as herself) like. it takes being introduced to someone multiple times for her to actually remember ppls face + name and stuff. People Are Just Hard but she is not a Dick to people .

55. Choose a vine you think perfectly encapsulates their character.

pen is. this

this isnt a vine but agni is 100% visitor information

58. Which friend do they immediately become a zero-braincelled idiot around?

for pen it is alba!!!! alba 100%!!!!! they should not have roomed together. still thinking about the He Doesnt Care About You and then pen immediately being like Yeah Youre Completely Right even tho juni just listened to him bitch for like 15 mins getting nothing out of it but pens wellbeing. yeah

just off of last session alone i feel like for ags it is kai bc like. okay maybe it was the just having a lesbianism encounter 30 seconds ago but the fact that kai just walked right on into Fucked Up Lighthouse That Cant Wait To Hurt The Party after having just being beaten up by mercenaries that morning with absolutely no plan and agni just. following right behind him into said fucked up lighthouse. was some 0 braincell excellency. we blindly support this perfect little polar bear in this house

#dnd tag #mel talks #ask games #penance the jester #agni

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natsspammityspamspamham · 6 years ago

Text

Dino Rambles about their original story that’s kind of an Avatar ripoff

I decided to make this post just to get it out there to anyone who’s interested. This is a complex (I think) story so this might take more than one post to summarize.

It’s a running joke (with myself) that this is an Avatar ripoff because of the four elements, but this changes later on anyway. I created this story out of spite for Masashi Kishimoto who wrote Naruto with its main heroine Sakura Haruno. He confessed that he’s unable to draw good heroine characters and fashioned Sakura as a girl who could not understand men, the best example of a heroine he could come up with. [source] I still respect the guy, but I couldn’t understand how he couldn’t come up with a good female character and how Sakura was the best that he could do. That’s why this story has a female lead.

Where can I read the partially completed story?

https://betabooks.co/books/5772

I write for the sake of getting my ideas down on paper. Quality isn’t guaranteed.

What is this story about?

The name I have for it right now is: “The Manipulators”

It’s about a girl named Seraphina Konan who lives in a universe where children (at age 12) receive elemental (fire, water, air, and earth for now) powers based on a test that is instructed to them. Due to current events and crime rates rising amongst people with those powers, the classes (that were as large as thirty or so) before now dwindled down to eight. Seraphina has seven fellow classmates:

Characters:

Seraphina Konan: Element: Fire Sera is a caring person who is dependable and reliable when it comes down to it. She’s a hard worker, but she doesn’t overexert. She’s a bit quick to snap sometimes, and when she has her mindset on something, she won’t stop until she gets it.

Ayden Hakuryuu: Element: Water Ayden is a guy whose flaws sometimes overshadow his good sides. He’s not very open with his emotions and hates showing affection.

Hikari Chiba: Element: Fire Hikari is a very level-headed intelligent girl who is hardworking and tenacious, but despite what people think when they look at her stoic expression, she is sympathetic and does care about people she’s close to.

Celio Zaveri: Element: Earth Celio is laid-back and relaxed. He’s not easily angered besides the occasional annoyance. He sometimes feels inferior because of his blindness. He feels self-conscious towards the idea of holding back others because of his disability.

Eve Val: Element: Water Eve is very level-headed and relaxed unless peanut butter or sleep are in the mix. She is quite crafty when it comes to getting out of work, but she doesn’t like interacting with people when she’s tired.

Jayden Alphonse: Element: Air She’s extremely laid-back to the point where it might even be a fault. Unlike many of her classmates, she is very open emotionally. She is emotionally and sensibly smarter than the rest of the cast. She’s a bit transparent and ditzy though. She wears sunglasses all the time to the point where only Eve (her best friend) knows what she looks like without them (although it’s a faint memory).

Koa Danzer: Element: Earth Koa is a walking ball of anxiety that eventually opens up to his classmates. He always wants to help those he cares about even if he stutters when talking and trips over himself.

Matthias Xander: Element: Air Matthias is lively and energetic. He is often described as a bouncy ball that never stops, and he is always there to put a smile on people’s faces.

She also has two... eccentric teachers that teach her and her seven classmates.

Hiyoshi Kamiya: Hiyoshi is an apathetic sadistic trickster who loves playing jokes on people. He’s intelligent in terms of nature, environment, and spatial cognitive functioning, but he is just above average academically (but never tries). But he is very apathetic and almost ruthless. This is caused by his upbringing, but he can kill in cold blood without a second thought. He likes blueberry milk, but he’s scared of his cousin and his parents.

Edward Uchiyama: He’s a little similar to Hiyoshi except he prefers to laze around and is generally a lot more caring and sympathetic. He is rarely seen without a blue blanket which is “part of his person”. This character has a lot probably the most connections to one of the major antagonists to the story.

There are other side characters as well, but I think you can skip over this if you’re new:

Serene Kamiya (Hiyoshi’s cousin): She’s the one who keeps him in check as the school’s headmaster. She’s far more diligent than her cousin despite being younger by two years. She was raised by a single mother who is Hiyoshi’s father’s sister.

Amanda Franz (Hiyoshi’s girlfriend) She’s a very kind-hearted girl with a sense of justice. She is able to put on a charismatic front, and she possesses beauty unlike any other. In the past, she used to be quiet, shy, and withdrawn student until she met her best friend.

(Name is up to change) Antagonist: Edward’s former neighbour. He met him after always hitting his ball into the open window of his house on the outskirts of town. They eventually became very close friends. He is jaded by his past and believes that the destruction and rebirth of society are for the best. He knows societal secrets that no one else knows, but he lost his family at age sixteen.

General Overview (probably could’ve done a better job at this):

Chapter One:

Mind: People who are smart and value intelligence can manipulate the element of fire. Soul: People who are laid-back and relaxed can manipulate the element of water. Body: People who are ambitious and determined can manipulate the element of earth. Heart: People who are caring and compassionate can manipulate the element of air.

These are the faculties that you can fit in after taking your assessment.

Sera does the assessment and eventually finds out that she is an unconventional candidate of some sort since her results are undeterminable due to the fact that she fit into all the categories. You can get two or three, but it is strange to get all four.

Her backstory is revealed. She reveals that to her knowledge, her family was killed by a rogue manipulator (which is what you call a person with elemental powers). This includes her mother, father, and older brother. After, she is adopted by an ungrateful family who lost their daughter due to illness and takes their grief out on her.

The government requires you to live with a family (biological or adopted) until age twelve (which is when you are allowed to leave).

Chapter Two:

Sera meets some of the cast for the second time including Ayden who is a bit of a standoffish asshole who’s too tall for his age. She meets her teachers.

There are some demons that exist inside Sera since her power doesn’t fully resonate with her because of the fact that she didn’t officially fit into any faculty/group of any kind. They go home for the day and come back the next day to find out that they have to go through excruciating training. If you give up, your power will leave you unaccepted. This results in only eight students being left: Seraphina, Ayden, Matthias, Koa, Jayden, Eve, Hikari, and Celio.

Cue ice cream bonding trip, training montage, exposition, and Sera abandoning her abusive family.

Sera takes the paper test where they are supposed to use their power/element to affect a piece of paper. Sera fails and falls unconscious because what a loser.

Sera finds out she is neighbours with Ayden who is apprehensive about telling her the conditions of why he lives in such a rundown building (which will be explained much later). Hikari also lives a floor below.

Ayden and Sera do the paper test again. Repeat what happened with the demons coming back in denying her capabilities even though she’s a protagonist (so her success goes without saying).

Chapter Three:

School years start in January and end at the end of October (the 30th to be exact). The kids are two months away (more like three because they always forget that October is a full month) so exam season is coming up. A lot of the students (Ayden, Eve, and Jayden) worry because they’re stupid.

More exposition occurs where characters get more dialogue.

Students try to study last minute.

Exams occur, and some are successful while others aren’t exactly. The teachers finally mention (amongst themselves and just to the reader) that they have not graded any of their students’ assignments throughout the entire year. Jayden has never received a double-digit (meaning more than 10%) on anything. They realize that they need to call the headmaster to make arrangements. She threatens to tell Hiyoshi’s dad (who is named Rintarou).

Chapter Four:

The students now have to do some extra credit since quite a few of them didn’t pass their classes. All of them are roped in though. This is pretty much community service. They have to find a cat named Basura and a bunny named Annabelle. More development happens as they eventually do return the two animals (Basura is a raccoon and not a cat by the way).

Chapter Five:

They end up going on a short trip for the rest of the spare day they have. No teachers end up saying what’s the trip about, but once they arrive, they find a crime scene that shouldn’t have been seen. It turns out that their job was to protect those in that town, and since it wasn’t seen as a major threat, they figured they were safe. They ended up being ambushed where the kids now had to use their powers to do something.

Wow, it took five chapters for this and was an inserted fight because they eventually had to wait longer. They’re still quite weak though.

After arriving back home, nobody exactly wanted to talk about the fact that they had just seen places where people died and actually watched some people die. Sera ends up eventually snapping and asking why they were sent there in the first place and why they weren’t sent earlier to do their jobs and protect the people. It’s explained that it was originally a low-grade threat, but since they were there and saw those crime scenes that weren’t touched since it was generally towards the outskirts, the students were told that they would’ve been killed if they’d been there at that moment in time.

Their teachers explain further saying that it isn’t uncommon for things like that to happen, but it is rare for information of these attacks to surface since the government officials do their best to keep it under the carpet. Sera officially says (informing her classmates) that she could’ve been killed alongside her family. Her classmates comfort her because welp, how are you supposed to support a classmate whose family was a victim of mass murder?

Chapter Six:

Sera and the rest of the students may be approaching the end of the year, but that’s used for an excuse so that they can renovate the school before getting into the colder months. They are given a week off school.

Celio, Hikari, Sera, and Ayden hang out. They end up listening to someone trash Sera over the rumours of her test results from the assessment surfacing. They are quickly put down by her friends as they go to Celio’s house and end up meeting his dad Carter. The friends do stuff.

This chapter is about Celio’s story surfacing.

“His birth mother dropped him at the steps of a house that belonged to Carter Zaveri. He took the child in even after discovering that the child would never see. His wife at the time (Johanna May) insisted on abandoning the child at an orphanage, but Carter refused resulting in their split. He now works as a doctor. Celio did not discover his history with Johanna until Chapter Six where Ayden read a letter to him that Hikari may or may not have exposed while reading books on his shelf.”

Chapter Seven:

They have a year-end tournament with the threat of expulsion if they do not win their match. Spoiler Alert: Nobody gets expelled. Why would they? They have fights that go along like this (the first person in the bracket won): Koa vs Matthias Jayden vs Eve Hikari vs Celio Ayden vs Sera However, due to the overuse of her power, Sera falls unconscious during the battle resulting in her losing from that cause. She is rushed to the infirmary and wakes up a week later to find out that none of their classmates got expelled. They all go out to eat afterwards then vacation starts.

Chapter Eight:

October 31st is not Halloween but is instead a day to honour the dead. Sera and Ayden meet there coincidentally. Ayden opens up that his parents didn’t take care of him for the majority of his life because his mother murdered his father in a fit of rage caused by his infidelity. His aunt on his mother’s side raised him until the age of eleven because she died of leukemia. They end up walking home (partially because Ayden was temporarily banned from public transit until further notice), and they briefly complain about none of their classmates or them being able to get jobs.

Finally, on the last day of the year, they meet, and exchange presents.

Chapter Nine:

Elemental weapons are weapons that can be brought out by a manipulator by using their energy and the mastery of their given element. This is explained to them.

But first, the teachers inform the students that they’re going to be celebrating Ayden’s birthday. Unfortunately, they didn’t get around to any birthdays the previous year because it was their first year as teachers and any mistake (which leads to their firing) would result in them not getting around to all their birthdays. This seemed to be a large concern because they are both highly irresponsible and are both walking liabilities.

Ayden didn’t seem to celebrate his birthday which was seen as odd since he was the type of person to make things about himself in those kinds of circumstances. But it is later revealed that he hates his birthday because it’s the exact day that his aunt (the person he looked up to) died. He blames himself for her death because she had to support him with the little amount of money she had while trying to pay for healthcare. She ultimately pushed herself too hard making herself sicker than she was originally resulting in her early departure. His classmates try to reason with him saying that it isn’t his fault, and Sera ends up kicking him across the face to snap out of it. She says that friends don’t bottle their anguish internally and that being strong isn’t shown by keeping it under wraps. She tells him to hit her with all he’s got. The other students go outside to call their teachers about the cancelled occasion (and to keep other students out of the classroom due to the amount of noise they were creating from the fight). Sera doesn’t fight Ayden back and instead accepts his blows. Once the teachers return, they find that many things in the classroom were broken. Upset, they soon realize the circumstances since the students informed them about Ayden’s aunt’s death. They ask whether Ayden is okay and feeling better to which, he says yes and asks whether they can resume the pizza plans the following day. They ask whether Sera is okay as well, but she lies and says that she’s fine (even though she’s in a lot of pain). Her teachers sense this and decide to drive her home even though it’s an “equally deadly experience”.

They go out for pizza, and Ayden gets a new mattress to replace his old one. He finally happily celebrates being thirteen as he begins to realize that he might actually like his birthday now.

Chapter Ten:

The kids go to the blacksmith house for a weapon orientation (despite not needing physical weapons) with their teachers along with weapon expertise from two side characters that I don’t know will have much of a role later on. Their names are Zahra and Ramiro. Don’t ask. I used a random name generator. They each receive a weapon. There is some fluff written in, but it’s not necessary to the story.

The students’ weapons:

Sera: Sword with flames Ayden: Double-ended naginata with poison Jayden: Kunai fans (two) Eve: Wires (which are used in combination with water) Koa: Staff with a hammerhead on each side. Matthias: A giant shuriken Celio: Two dual axes that can fuse together Hikari: Bow and arrow (arrows are produced by the archer)

Chapter Eleven:

Sera celebrates her birthday.

The kids go back to the blacksmith house for a checkup. It has only been a few weeks, so they find that they are not good with their weapons at all. They stay at the blacksmith for a three-day trip with a two-day training camp. During the final morning of their stay, they are awoken by a man screaming for help at their doorstep. Sera, being the only one who’s awakened by the noise, goes and opens the door. The man bursts in despite her trying to close the door after seeing who it is (since he has a similar appearance to the rogues mentioned in another chapter). Half-asleep Sera has no logic. I relate. Chaos ensues. The man states that he would take the “future rogue of four colours” (regarding Sera’s test) the antagonist. Edward seems very angry about it and ends up killing the rogue before getting any information out of him. Can they get away with murder? Yes, because once you are proven a rogue, your life is worth no more than an ant’s. They ask Sera why she opened the door in the first place. She says that she has the instinct to help those in need which is met with great criticism.

Chapter Twelve:

Rumours of the four colours starts to deepen. With Sera’s results almost being public knowledge, individuals start approaching and harassing her about the details which she doesn’t want to disclose. She gets the crap beaten out of her, and she isn’t allowed to fight back due to manipulators being frowned upon by the public. It’s a manipulator’s job is to protect the citizens, and with the rogue population on the rise, there is more mistrust in the manipulators than ever. Any action taken against citizens can result in automatic expulsion.

She has to prove (with the eventual help of her classmates after they found out in bad circumstances) that she is defending herself when she finally decides to fight back. She succeeds.

Chapter Thirteen:

Eve’s backstory is revealed when Matthias brings in a cat. Basically, Eve meets Jayden after having her cat killed by a bunch of little kid assholes.

Chapter Fourteen:

Ship stuff happens. I don’t know. I wrote it until 5am because I couldn’t sleep.

The old lady from chapter one (not really important but she’s still old) is dying and needs a plant for her treatment. They’re subjected to go to the outskirts and get it. There’s a thunderstorm going on. Hiyoshi and Edward are stupid and split everyone up. The rain causes the ground to give in while Hikari is looking, so while Celio is having some guilt about being literally a waste of space in their search, he almost fails to realize this. He jumps into action and shields Hikari’s fall at the expense of his physical well-being. He’ll survive. He eventually falls unconscious, and when Hikari gets up, she realizes what had just happened. She carries him as far as she can until they reach a higher point of ground at which point she signals for help. They’re eventually found and carried back by Matthias and Koa who find the plant but end up giving some of it to Hikari and Celio so that they would get a lot of the credit for all they’ve gone through. There are other points of view here, but they’re not “crucial to the plot”.

Chapter Fifteen:

We needed a vacation arc sometime, and I thought that it would be good to see how the kids reacted to going to a lake. That’s right. I’m not going to do a bathhouse or a beach. You kind of learn a bit more about the characters I guess, but this arc has not too much relevance to the overarching plot.

Chapter Sixteen (not yet written):

They go in for partnership testing. If that sounds like forced shipping, you aren’t completely wrong.

I’m not sure what the whole process is (I’ve changed it about five times).

The final pairings are as followed: Sera & Ayden Hikari & Celio Eve & Jayden Koa & Matthias

Future Plans and Developments?

The truth behind Sera’s backstory is revealed

Edward’s connection to the antagonist is revealed

Other backstories are revealed

Sera eventually does get captured (kind of like Kacchan) because she is seen as a “loose link that can defect and join the opposing side”

Ayden meets Sera’s brother Yuki who was supposed to be dead but isn’t

“Test of Courage” arc because I always wanted to have one of those other classic anime filler arcs

The origins of the powers and where they come from eventually get revealed far later

New powers are introduced

#dino rambles #I worked hard on this #someone please read it #it's embarrassing though #*sigh*

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iwritekpopthings · 6 years ago

Text

You (Ch. 20 & 21)

Characters: You, Jung Daehyun, B.A.P, other side characters Genre/ Warnings: Romance, fluff, slow burn Word Count: 2375

Misun slowly woke up from the best night of sleep she had ever had. As she became more aware, she realized something was different. Her pillow seemed harder than usual and there was a comfortable weight on her waist. Misun opened her eyes and practically forgot how to breathe. Daehyun was lying right next to her. In her bed. She was lying her head on one of his arms while his other arm held her close in a loose, but comforting way.

Sensing the stirs next to him, Daehyun sighed and stretched slowly with his eyes closed. As he opened his eyes, he grinned at seeing Misun’s shocked expression. He closed his eyes again and cuddled closer to her, still feeling a little sleepy. “Good morning.” He said quietly, still smiling to himself.

“Uh.. Um… Good- good morning…” She was blushing heavily and could not form a sentence to save her life. “Uh, Daehyun oppa…?”

“Hmm?”

“What.. What are you doing in my bed?” Misun was so confused. She only remembered watching the movie last night. She didn’t remember even finishing the movie.

Daehyun sighed again as he pulled away and stretched, finally deciding he should wake up. “You fell asleep on me last night.”

“I did not...” Misun looked at him in shock.

He smiled and nodded. “You wouldn’t wake up, so I carried you in here. Then you just wouldn’t let go.” He paused and looked her in the eyes. “You begged me to stay with you. So after that I couldn’t just leave.”

Misun covered her face with both hands in embarrassment. “Oh no. Oppa, I am so sorry.”

Daehyun laughed and pulled at her wrists. “Wae? I actually kinda liked it. Waking up right next to you.” He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Misun tried to avoid looking at him, but he gently turned her face toward him. “But if it’s making you uncomfortable, I can go.”

He sat up and Misun panicked. “No, wait!” She grabbed his arm and held onto him. “I’m not uncomfortable. I just.. I’ve never…” She tried to articulate what she was thinking.

Daehyun looked at Misun curiously until understanding hit him and he smiled at her gently. “I know you’ve probably never slept next to anyone in your life, Misun-ah. You’ve probably never done a lot of things. It’s okay.” He laid back down and pulled her closer so that her head was resting comfortably on his chest. He stroked her hair as she slowly brought her arms around to hold him tightly.

“Why are you so patient with me?” She asked, not looking up at him. “You could have a girlfriend like Sooyeon, someone that knows more about relationships than I do.”

Daehyun thought about her questions seriously for a moment before sighing. “Okay, first of all, I don’t like Sooyeon. Secondly, I like you. Thirdly, I don’t need someone with experience, I need you. I don’t think you’ve realized how important you are to me yet, Misun.” He hugged her tighter as she considered what he had said.

“I guess I don’t..?” She picked her head up to meet his eyes.

He looked away, a light blush on his face. “Well… Um..” It was his turn to be at a loss for words and this made Misun smile. “I can’t really explain it very well. But I’m drawn to you. Like, a day without you is not something that I can get through easily.”

“So that’s why you text me every day?” She teased, poking his cheek lightly. He looked at her and stuck his tongue out.

“Yes, that’s why.” He leaned his head up and she moved in, kissing his lips with a smile on her face.

As they pulled away, Misun became alert. “Oh no, what time is it?!”

Daehyun’s eyes grew wide and they both sat up, looking around for their phones or a clock. He found his phone first. “It’s 8:30. When’s your first class?”

Misun jumped out of the bed. “In thirty minutes, apparently.”

“You get changed, I’ll go make breakfast.” Daehyun got untangled from the covers and left the room, closing the door behind him. He went down to the kitchen and began setting up some toast in the toaster as he looked through the fridge for something else to have with it.

By the time Misun came into the kitchen, Daehyun had put some scrambled eggs onto the toast, making a sandwich for her to eat. She took it from him with a smile. “Thank you~”

Daehyun smiled back at her and leaned in, kissing her on the forehead. “Of course~ I don’t have a class until 10, so I’m going to head back to my apartment to get changed and stuff. I’ll see you at club, though?” They talked as they made their way to the door, picking up their bookbags and slipping on their shoes.

“I’ll be there!” She munched on her sandwich as he opened the door for her.

“You better be.” He winked and kissed her quickly on the lips before running out the door. “I love you!” Daehyun practically yelled for the entire apartment complex to hear.

“Yah! Don’t yell so loud!” She blushed heavily as she watched him leave, a smile sneaking up onto her lips.

******

Sera walked through the halls quickly, on her way to find Misun. She needed to hurry up, talk to the girl, and get on with her plans for the day. As she rounded the last corner on her way to the theater clubroom she ran directly into Sooyeon.

“Ah, um, sorry…” Sooyeon looked odd and avoided any eye contact as she bowed and walked around Sera. The red haired girl looked back in confusion before shrugging; that wasn't really any of her business.

“Misun-ah~” Sera called out as she stepped inside the room.

Misun looked up from the design table in surprise. “Oh, unnie!” She waved the girl over.

However Sera stopped in her tracks when the other girl at the table turned around. Fae jumped up, knocking her chair over.

“YOU?!” Both girls practically yelled as they pointed at each other.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” Sera asked, eyes wide.

“ME? WHAT ABOUT YOU?!” Fae looked at the other girl in exasperation. Misun looked between the two girls with wide eyes.

“WHY IS EVERYONE YELLING?!” Daehyun came over with Youngjae to investigate what was going on.

But the two older girls ignored him. “I thought you were still in Busan! Why didn't you tell me you had moved here?!” Fae was no longer shouting, but there was a certain level of distress in her voice.

“I'm sorry…” Sera said, running her hand through her hair. “I had moved here, but then I left for a bit, and now I'm back for a little while. It's kind of hard to explain.”

“I was supposed to be your best friend. You think I wouldn't understand?!” Fae had her hands clenched in fists at her sides. “I was so damn worried about you, and here you are strolling around without a care in the world.”

That made Sera upset and she lashed out. “Listen, you don't know what's going on with me right now. I'm far from not having a care in the world. All I can say is that I'm sorry and I know I should have done a better job of contacting you.”

The two girls stood there, facing each other, as they caught their breath. Sera sighed and looked around awkwardly before walking forward to hug the girl in front of her.

“I'm still mad at you.” Fae grumbled against the girl’s shoulder as she brought her arms up to hug her back.

Sera smiled and pulled away. “I understand. Let's catch up later, okay?” Fae nodded and let go, sitting back down with a sigh. Sera then turned her attention to the other three that had been watching the whole fiasco. Youngjae, Daehyun, and Misun were just staring at her in surprise.

“What was that all about?” Youngjae asked, glancing between Fae and Sera.

“I'm sorry, but I don't really have much time to explain.” Sera gave them an apologetic smile before looking at Misun. “Anyway, I was looking for you to tell you that Yongguk oppa and I won't be able to come over tonight.”

Misun blinked before nodding. “Okay, but why?”

“Um, too much homework. I have to do some research for my senior project..” The elder girl looked away. “But anyway, we'll see you next week, okay?”

“Alright, good luck with the research and stuff!” Misun smiled up at her and got a smile back.

“Thanks! See you all later!” Sera exchanged one final look with everyone before turning and walking away.

It was quiet for a few moments before Daehyun spoke up. “Well that was weird.” Misun nodded with a frown, feeling a little concerned about her friend.

“Don't worry, she'll be fine~” Fae reassured them as she tied off the thread of a backdrop they had made.

As Misun was about to ask further questions, Sooyeon came back wearing Belle’s first dress. When she had arrived at the club, Misun was surprised to see the girl looking paler than normal with dark circles under her eyes.

“How does it look?” Sooyeon asked, not looking up to meet Misun's eyes.

The younger girl frowned as she walked around the actress. “Did you lose weight? It's not fitting like it used to.” She tugged at the sides and the collar, trying to readjust the material.

Sooyeon just shrugged and continued to avoid eye contact. Youngjae looked at her with concern, tilting his head to the side. “When was the last time you slept? You look so tired.”

“I'm not tired, I'm fine.” Sooyeon said in a monotonous voice.

This annoyed Daehyun. Here Misun was, trying to make the girl look good, but all she could muster was an apathetic expression?? As he opened his mouth to say something, Misun gave him a look and Youngjae covered the older boy’s mouth. Now was probably not the best time to harp on the girl.

Misun sighed and came around to the front of her. “Well, I can take the dress in, but we’ll probably have to alter the other one, too. That'll take some time…”

“No, please don't worry about it. I… I need to tell you something..” The girl took a deep breath and brought her gaze up. She briefly caught Misun's surprised eyes before she looked at the girl’s shoulder to talk. “I'm sorry.”

Everyone was quiet as they stared at the girl in front of them. “What..?” Daehyun managed to ask before Youngjae covered his mouth again.

“Let her talk, idiot.” The younger boy said.

“I've realized what an idiot I've been these past few months. My other friends have left me and I'm all by myself once again. So I've had some time to think and I just wanted to apologize.” Sooyeon finally held her gaze evenly with the girl in front of her. “You don't have to forgive me. Just know that I'm sorry.”

Misun considered the girl for a moment and then nodded. “Well… um thank you for saying that. I'll think about it.”

Sooyeon nodded and gave a slight half smile. “I'll try the other dress on now, if you want me to.”

Misun wordlessly handed the girl the dress. Sooyeon took it and left to go change again.

“That was weird.” Fae stated, looking up from her seat.

Daehyun walked over and hugged Misun. “Are you okay?” He asked, worried about how interacting with that girl would affect her.

“Huh? Oh.. Yeah, I'm alright…” Misun nodded and hugged him back. “I'm just a little surprised, I guess.”

“I think she meant what she said…” Youngjae mused, looking at the doorway she had gone through.

Daehyun’s eyebrows furrowed. “Just because she apologizes doesn’t mean what she did was okay. She locked Misun in a shed for crying out loud!”

“I’m not saying I excuse her actions, Daehyunnie, calm down.” Youngjae stuck his tongue out and casually walked away.

“Is that any way to talk to your hyung??” Daehyun called after him, but the sassy younger boy just kept walking. “Aish, that kid…”

Misun laughed and hugged Daehyun tightly in consolation. “You know he loves you, oppa.”

“He has a weird way of showing it.” Daehyun huffed but had a slight smile on his face. He looked down at the girl in his arms. “By the way, it’s Thursday. What are we doing tonight?”

Misun thought carefully. “I think Himchannie oppa said something about coming over to play video games. He also asked about bringing a certain person over…” She looked to the side and Fae’s head snapped up.

“Huh?”

“Oppa asked me if you could come join us at my apartment tonight. Do you want to come? There’ll be dinner and video games and stuff.” Misun offered a little shyly. She wanted the older girl to come, but she wasn’t sure how Fae felt. Maybe she just wanted their relationship to be strictly business.

Fae pushed her glasses up as she looked at Misun. “Are.. Are you sure you want me to come?”

“Yes!” Daehyun answered for his girlfriend with a big smile. “You definitely have to come.”

“Well…” She nervously looked around the room. “Okay, if you guys don’t mind.”

“Of course we don’t mind! I’ll text oppa right now and let him know that you’ll be there.” Misun finally let go of Daehyun to go find her phone. This left the boy a little lost, so he followed her around.

“Are you guys done with your work for the day? Can we leave yet?” Daehyun asked, looking at the materials covering their table.

“We’re pretty much done, yeah. We just need to see how the other dress fits Sooyeon, then we can go.” Misun told him. “Why, are you hungry?” Right on cue, Daehyun’s stomach rumbled loudly. The girls laughed at him as he ducked his head to hide the redness creeping up onto his cheeks.

“Good. I’ll go get Youngjae.” He turned and left quickly, making the girls chuckle again as they began to clean up.

★☆★☆★☆

CH. 21 Word Count: 1573

Misun walked into her living room with two bowls of chips and set them down on the coffee table. Jongup and Zelo were busy killing each other in a video game while Daehyun and Youngjae were sitting on one couch talking to each other. The other couch was taken up entirely by Himchan as he lay across it with his head on Fae’s lap. She brushed her hands through his hair as they talked quietly to each other in their own little world.

“Oppa, you're taking up the whole couch.” Misun whined, walking over to stand next to him.

He smiled up at her cheekily. “What are you going to do about it?”

Misun grinned back at him before turning and sitting on his thighs. “This.”

He yelled and tried to push her off while Fae just laughed at this pair. She really admired how well these two got along. “I'm getting too old for this!” Himchan complained when Misun wouldn't move.

“Ajusshi, be nice to my girlfriend.” Daehyun threatened, kicking out and hitting the older boy’s leg.

“ ‘Ajusshi’?!” Himchan sat up and Misun tumbled to the ground in surprise. “I'll show you to respect your hyungs.” He stood up and went to attack the boy aggressively.

“Himchan oppa, noooo!” Misun pulled him off of Daehyun and pushed him back onto his couch.

“Misun, if you need a space to sit, come over here.” Daehyun stood up, wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, and pulled her down to sit on his lap.

She blushed as she looked at him. “I'm heavy, let me up.” She requested, repeating what she had mentioned the previous night.

“You didn't seem to think that when you sat on hyung just now.” The boy pouted cutely to get what he wanted. “Besides, I like having you right here.” He smiled and leaned in, kissing her on the lips lightly.

“Aish, you're so clingy.” Youngjae teased, rolling his eyes.

Daehyun stuck his tongue out at the younger boy. “You're just jealous.”

Youngjae scoffed and rolled his eyes but looked away. Misun looked at him curiously, a little confused by his reaction. He happened to catch her gaze and smiled a little, telling her that he was fine and not to worry.

“No! I was so close!!” Zelo cried out as Jongup scored a winning kill against the younger boy.

“You have to be one with the game, Zelo.” Jongup said in a wise tone. “Maybe you should practice more.”

“Aigo you sound just like Yongguk hyung.” Zelo lied on his back and flailed his arms and body around. “Speaking of Yongguk hyung. Does anyone know where he and noona are?”

Misun looked at the boy and shook her head. “Unnie just said that they couldn't come and would just see us next week.”

“She did say something about research and homework.” Youngjae reminded her and Misun nodded after remembering that detail.

“Maybe they're on a secret mission.” Jongup suggested, taking one bowl of the chips for himself.

Himchan shook his head at the younger boy. “Where do you get these ideas??”

Jongup just shrugged before turning back to Misun and changing the topic completely. “Can we watch a movie, noona?”

“I want to see ‘Train to Busan’!” Zelo yelled, sitting up quickly.

Misun laughed at these two maknaes and nodded. “Go for it, you know where the movies are.” She vaguely pointed to the rack of movies as she snuggled back into Daehyun’s embrace. Himchan watched the pair with a small smile, remembering how they were when they first met.

Fae looked at Himchan and tilted her head. “What's that grin for?”

“Hmm? Oh, it's nothing~” He chuckled at being caught staring. Himchan then pulled Fae into his arms as everyone settled in to watch.

Misun really tried her best to stay awake this time. However, about two thirds of the way into the movie, she was out. Youngjae could see her face from his seat next to Daehyun and grinned. He gently nudged his friend and nodded at Misun.

“Again?” Daehyun chuckled quietly and shook his head. “She did this last night, too.”

“Is that why you didn't come home until this morning?” Youngjae wiggled his eyebrow suggestively to add to his sass while Daehyun glared at him.

Before Daehyun could reply, Himchan intervened. “You're really lucky, you know?” By now everyone else had pretty much lost interest in the movie and instead turned their attention to the oldest boy.

“How is that?” Daehyun asked. Misun snuggled closer to his neck and he felt so excited to have her so close.

“It only took you, what, a month? To get her to trust you, that is.” Himchan said looking at the girl in his friend's arms.

“Not even that.” Zelo suggested, adding his thoughts to the conversation. Then he grinned. “She would text me sometimes and ask about you. But don't tell her I told you!”

Daehyun raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Wait, really?” Zelo nodded in response.

“Aww, that's really cute.” Fae smiled at the pair, blushing at the sweetness unfolding before her.

“It took at least two months for her to trust me and I was spending almost every day with her. So just don't forget- I paved the way for this relationship.” Himchan continued with a cocky grin. “Anyway, having her trust you so much that she falls asleep on you is amazing. She doesn't do that with just anyone. So I think you're very lucky.”

Daehyun took a moment to think about Himchan’s words before nodding in agreement. “I don't know if it's luck, but I think you're right.” He smiled and kissed the top of her head.

They went back to watching the last few minutes of the movie. Once it was over, everyone but Daehyun slowly got to their feet.

“It's past 1am..” Youngjae commented, looking at his phone.

“We should get going.” Jongup suggested as he began to head toward the door.

“Wait, hyung.” Daehyun called out for Himchan and the older boy turned around. “You've known her longer. Do you know how to wake her up?”

Himchan laughed and nodded. “She can be a heavy sleeper, huh? You just have to know what to do.” He walked over and pinched the outside of her ear.

Misun jumped and looked around suddenly. “What?!” She relaxed as she saw Himchan standing next to her with a big grin on his face. She rubbed her ear and scowled at him. “You didn't have to pinch so hard, oppa…” Himchan stuck his tongue out at her and laughed before walking away.

Daehyun reached out and turned her head so that her pinched ear faced him. He leaned in and kissed it, making Misun giggle at the ticklish sensation. “The movie is over and everyone is going home now.” He told her when he pulled away.

She frowned and nodded before standing up. “I'll see you all out.”

Daehyun followed her and put his shoes on with the rest of them. He was the last one out the door when he turned and stopped to look at her. “Are you going to be okay by yourself?” He asked, reaching out to stroke her cheek.

“I'll be okay, oppa. I always get through the night somehow.” She gave him a small smile and nod.

Daehyun searched her eyes with his own. “You don't have to put up a brave front for me, Misunnie…”

She bit her bottom lip and looked down. “I…” she sighed and didn't meet his eyes. “I don't want to seem too clingy. I don't want you to get tired of me by spending too much time with me.”

He just stared at her for a second. This girl just did not understand him at all. “You've got it so backwards, dummy.” He pushed her back inside and shut the door behind him. Daehyun then pushed her up against the wall and kissed her. He desperately wanted her to understand his feelings; how much he loves and needs her.

Misun pulled away first and looked up at him in confusion. “What’s backwards?”

Daehyun sighed and cupped her face between his hands. “Your thought process. You don't seem to understand how I feel. I love you, Misun. I need you.” He felt her cheeks heat up even more as she blushed. “You're so important to me and that only grows stronger every day. I promise, I won't get tired of you.”

“But ‘promise' is-”

“A big word, I know.” He grinned at her. “Just let me prove it to you. Stay with me until you believe in me as strongly as I believe in you.”

She looked to be on the verge of tears, but she still nodded before crashing her body against his. She hugged him so tightly that it hurt. She put all of her fears and hopes into that hug and he returned it right back to her.

“Now. Do you want me to stay or go?” Daehyun asked without pulling away. He figured she would have an easier time if he wasn't looking directly at her.

Misun was quiet for several moments before he heard what he was wishing for. “...stay…?”

He smiled and kissed the top of her head before pulling away. “I was hoping you'd say that. Come on.” Daehyun winked at her and took her hand, leading her to her bedroom for the night.

★☆★☆★☆

#baplibrary #jung daehyun #b.a.p #oc x daehyun #kpop fanfic #fluff #'You' story tag

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allpowerfulspacevalkyrie · 7 years ago

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After just finishing Dragon Age Inquisition again, this time with all the DLC. I have new thoughts about elves. I doubt I'm the only one to think all this but I wanted to get my thoughts down on the world building I think is going on for personal future reference.

I strongly believe now that both the Dalish faith and the Andrastian faith are born from the opposing viewpoints of the ancient elves. The ones happy with the old gods rule and the ones who were not happy.

1. For the Dalish ancestors, they probably didn't see themselves as slaves to their gods and their tattoos were beloved symbols of pride. Their experience was more positive, kind of like how there are mages who see benefits with the circles. Fen'harel is an asshole who recklessly destroyed everything. This is like how there are mages who think Anders is an asshole for what he did. As a result, Bioware desperately needs to put a positive pro-Dalish companion character story in. Like how Bethany provides a positive example of mages.

We are only getting one side of the story at this point with the existing companion characters. Characters like Fenris and Sera are strongly opposed to the Dalish and general elven things, which makes for interesting complexity. However, the narrative of existing pro-Dalish characters like Merrill are negative. I thought Velanna was better, however incomplete due to the DLC format and as I recall, she was easily missed due to glitches and the story progression. A more solid pro-dalish companion character does not need to be perfect, they still need flaws, but it is needed to help strengthen the complexity of the dragon age world.

2. City elves are mostly descendant from the second group that opposed those Gods and followed Fen'harel, only to fall to slavery again this time under human rule and that led to the Dalish being enslaved as well. I wonder if they started the anti-magic ideas, or at least laid the ground work through their view of events both opposing the Dalish gods and getting away from the Imperium.

Then humans hijacked these stories to their own benefit after Andraste’s death. The Maker is clearly based on Fen'harel and Andraste's story is mixed up with Mythal. I think Andraste tried to bring the truth out in her fight against Tevinter and their old Gods, that are likely based on the Dalish gods that these non-dalish elves didn’t want to come back.

Either way, humans still changed the narrative at the expense of the elves no matter what they believed. What happened to Andraste is like what happened with the original Inquisitor and what can happen to our Inquisitor. You can play the entire DAI game denying everything, demanding the truth be told, but the world wants to cling to lies. Even the Inquisitor’s own circle of people keep spinning the story in favor of an Andrastian and pro-human narrative.

#dalish #dragon age #andraste #dragon age inquisition

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disneydreamlights · 7 years ago

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Alright, so I'd like to know about Sera (2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 15, 18, 20, 22, 25), Stella (2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 24, 25), Kat (1, 4, 8, 9, 13, 14, 16, 23, 25), Nina (4, 6, 8, 9, 13, 15, 18, 20, 23, 24, 25), and Terra (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 16, 20, 22, 25) cuz wainot. owo

So many questions Dustin whai? XD

Sera:

2: their smile

Sera’s smile is very similar to her sister’s but honestly a little bit more reserved. She tries not to be so reserved in it, but she doesn’t quite have the same willingness to share all her emotions.

3: their greatest achievement

So I’ve mentioned a lot of times how she’s really disappointed she can’t really wield a Keyblade because of the injuries she sustained with the darkness. The longer I’ve been thinking on this, the more I think her injuries are a lot more severe than just that and she probably had to go through some serious recovery, and to me I think there would be no greater achievement to her then starting to dance and being able to prove she’s physically fit to do things, even if it’s too late to learn how to wield a Keyblade.

5: their shortcomings

Her self confidence is always constantly in doubt, sure she acts super strong, but because she can’t be a Keyblade Master like her sister she honestly believes she’ll never be as good as her. This doubt and inferiority actually leads to her having a darkness issue too, one that she tries to ignore.

8: what they like to eat

Sugar, sugar, and more sugar, her sweet tooth is absolutely awful, as in it’s worse than mine.

13: their embarrassing memory from years ago

...Okay listen I’m not saying Sera actually got drunk before any of the rps but there was one time where Sera accidentally drank some alcohol while she was fifteen and remembering any of the time she was drunk and Sky had to watch over her like a two year old the entire time to keep herself from hurting herself.

15: how they react to a brainfreeze

She literally ignores it and keeps eating, this girl is crazy with her ice cream but if she gets a brain freeze she’ll like wince and keep eating and what the fuck Sera how???

18: how they sleep

Curled into a ball, hugging a small plush toy her sister bought her right before leaving to start for Keyblade training. She’s long since outgrown the toy, she shouldn’t keep hugging the small doll, but she does anyways just because she loves it so much.

20: their reaction to a mystery love letter

Honestly Sera’s really pretty and a famous dancer, she’s very used to receiving love letters and the stuff, so she doesn��t really give it a second glance unless she recognized the handwriting.

22: what they're like on two hours of sleep

Sleep drunk. She gets silly and loopy. She also loses all sense of balance so dancing becomes a pain in the ass for her to do. XD

25: why you enjoy them

I love Sera because she’s one of the most challenging to get a grip on, but she’s also incredibly good for interaction and I can’t say I’ve had a bad performance with her so long as she interacts with a few different characters. So I guess she’s my go to when I want an easy oc.

Stella:

2: their smile

She gives a lot of small, hesitant smiles. It’s not that Stella doesn’t like giving big smiles, she’s just had a pretty rough life, and that makes it fairly difficult for her to be willing to give bigger smiles.

6: how they deal with grief

Ahahahahahahahaha. One time Dustin and I were bored (and yes Dustin I know I’m answering for you shut up) and we did a PMRP.

Stella went off the rails and tried to take over the world with her primary motivation being that she lost a very good friend. (This rp was actually why I made Stella.) To say she is bad with grief is a very, very large understatement.

7: how they like to dress

Stella would wear a dress every day if they weren’t so much pains to clean. But since they are she just tries to do her best to stay stylish and look cute whenever she can. She wears a lot of long sleeves or some reason.

10: their fashion sense

I uh...Stella has real good fashion sense, just not good color theory. It’s part of the reason why she tries to stick with dresses or jeans since they go with anything, otherwise she’s real bad at picking matching colors.

15: how they react to a brainfreeze

Stella actually avoids ice creams and smoothies and stuff to avoid brain freeze, that’s how much she hates dealing with it. Poor thing.

16: their dreams

Stella wishes to live in a world where people don’t get hurt, and where she could avoid having to hide what she is from people without worrying about them freaking out and being like “Shit what the fuck a robot? AHHHHHHHH” Too bad that won’t be happening for a while.

17: their ambitions

To escape to safety. Stella’s backstory is she’s an android who developed emotions and therefore was considered a threat when she reacted incorrectly to the people who made her who attempted to reprogram her. She just wants to avoid being reprogrammed for the most part and live in hiding safely for the rest of her life.

18: how they sleep

While she’ll sleep in a bed to preserve her own safety (typically on her stomach) Stella actually prefers sleeping in chairs. They’re easier to get out of and she can react quickly to anybody who might try to hurt her and get out of the area.

24: what motivates them

She’s motivated by two things. Love for the people who make all the difference to her, and fear of being found by the people who want to reprogram or deactivate her. Both are equally important to her.

25: why you enjoy them

Stella is a lot of fun to rp, her cheerful disposition that hides a lot of anger and hate and fear is one of the more complex characters I’ve actually rped, and that in turn makes her a lot of fun to write, not to mention her moral ambiguity is also pretty fun.

Kat:

1: their voice

Kat is very soft spoken, she doesn’t have the loudest voice and it is possible to miss some of the things she says. Honestly I’m bad at describing voices.

4: their insecurities

Anything related to her family and the fact that they’re all heroes or accomplished such a major thing, like holy crap the idea that she might fail to be as good as them is honestly so horrifying to her that it makes her not try because she’s not like them.

8: what they like to eat

Anything made by her grandpa, he’s probably the best cook she’s ever had the pleasure of meeting.

13: their embarrassing memory from years ago

So a fun fact of the day. Since most of her siblings with Kat was little had her mother’s lavender hair, Kat really wanted lavender hair, so she bought some hair dye with money she snuck out of her mom’s purse and then proceeded to dye her hair purple, but because she didn’t bleach the hair first and she died her own hair at like age nine, it looked like a disaster and her face was colored in the purple dyes for like two weeks. None of her siblings ever let her live it down.

14: how they react to burning their tongue on food

Kat will actually drop the food on the floor if it happens, don’t give her scalding hot food ever.

16: their dreams

Her dreams are really complicated. On one hand, Kat wants to be normal and nothing like her family, but really deep down, she dreams of being a hero, and it’s the fear of not being one that causes her anxieties and the belief that if she wasn’t one she’d let her family down. This causes a bunch of confusion for her tbh.

23: how they act when they're sick

Pffffft, drama queen. She acts like she’s dying, but I guess she got that from her mom. XD

25: why you enjoy them

Because Kat got good character interactions with a lot of the characters she talked to, and that was always pretty fun to do.

Nina:

4: their insecurities

Her intelligence is a big one. Nina is not the brightest apple in the bunch when it comes to anything with a lick of practicality, and as such she gets easily embarrassed by her own mistakes.

6: how they deal with grief

Nina panics, and panics, and panics, and it’s really quite good at trigger a depressive state in her tbh. The idea of somebody she loves dying will honestly make her want to die. So needless to say she is really, really bad at handling grief.

8: what they like to eat

If I were to give you one long list that said chocolate would you believe me?

13: their embarrassing memory from years ago

Honestly her entire life is one giant embarrassing memory. The worst was when she was learning to summon Vulll with her dad and somehow managed to use a Fire spell...I’m still not quite sure how it happened but she was covered in soot and managed to burn down a chair.

15: how they react to a brainfreeze

“Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!” “Nina it’s just a brainfreeze” “Niiiiiick I don’t care it’s a brain freeze it huuuuuuuurts.”

What a baby.

18: how they sleep

Nina sleeps best curled into people. I have it in my head that even when she got older she would sometimes sneak into her parent’s beds to sleep at night, and she loved having friends over who were chill with it since she liked to cuddle like that.

20: their reaction to a mystery love letter

She gets so excited and spends hours puzzling out who sent it, and even if she didn’t have feelings for them she’d probably agree to the date. Unfortunately for her, not a lot of people have feelings for her.

23: how they act when they're sick

She’s such a baby when sick oh my god. She won’t leave her blankets and acts like she’s dying literally the entire time. Nina you’re not dying stop being so dramatic a cold won’t kill you.

24: what motivates them

Nina is motivated entirely by her goals of helping others and becoming great. She’s a loving person and anybody she loves becomes another motivation for her to keep going no matter how bad it may get.

25: why you enjoy them

Honestly, Nina is fun. She’s not one of my best ocs, in fact writing wise, she’s probably one of the worst I’ve gotten the chance to use, but who even cares because she’s just fun. Does she have a serious backstory? Nope, I don’t even know most of it myself beyond the necessary events, but I also don’t care.

Terra:

1: their voice

Deeper voice, very loud. She has a surprisingly overbearing presence.

2: their smile

Terra gives out toothy smiles, a lot of the time after she’s just finished laughing especially. They’re honestly big, but not like the best smiles ever I guess.

4: their insecurities

Terra’s biggest insecurity is her fear of failure, but in a different sense than her sisters. Where as Kat is so afraid of failure she doesn’t try, Terra’s so afraid of failure she works doubly hard at whatever the goal may be.

5: their shortcomings

Terra’s shortcomings come a lot from being too determined to keep track of one goal. In all honesty in SS if it wasn’t for Matt, Clary, and Kenshi all working with Terra, she might’ve been ten times more obsessed with figuring out how to bring back Nicole. And I mean...she was already pretty bad with that in the rp itself.

7: how they like to dress

For lack of a better descriptor, think of the most stereotypical adventurer’s clothing you can think of. Now put it in a pastel shade of blue or purple.

That’s how Terra’s style works. Dammit Terra. .-.

8: what they like to eat

Terra shares her sister’s love of their grandpa’s cooking...and also sour candies. She lives on those things tbh.

13: their embarrassing memory from years ago

Once upon a time Terra met Clary. This resulted in baby Terra flocking to her cousin and acting like a cat for a whole twenty minutes.

She may have been only like two and being silly, but her parents have never let her live this down.

16: their dreams

To bring her grandmother back to life and be a Storm wizard worthy of following in her footsteps.

20: their reaction to a mystery love letter

I’m really leaning towards making Terra ace/aro tbh, so in all honesty she just really doesn’t care much about this love letter that she gets.

22: what they're like on two hours of sleep

Not functioning. She literally will not function until she manages to get her hands on something caffeinated while running on that little amount of sleep.

25: why you enjoy them

She may be trash for trash’s sake, but I think that’s part of the reason why I like her, because she’s me acknowledging full out that yes I am and want to be trash, which is also kinda dumb, but meh.

I also like some of the stuff I came up with involving her being an older sister after I made Kat but shhhh.

#Heather RPs #key2destne #Heather Answers

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yes-these-obsessions-are-healthy · 6 years ago

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Ooh I made one of these :V

So this is the second character I ever made in Inquisition. My first one was me bumbling around not really understanding everything, and Folia became My First DA:I OC™ and the one I have put most of my gameplay and emotional energy into.

I’m not really good at these sorts of things, cuz I’ve never been someone who has their OCs all planned out or even knows “who” they are. They’re as much of a stranger that I’ve come to learn about as anyone else.

As you can see here, here, and here (taps indiscriminately against computer screen with lecture wand), my Folia is a very chill person who at the same time does not have much patience for Chantry dogma, stupidity, rudeness, or the holier-than-thou dribblings of Orlais.

Brief explanation of character relationships:

Solas caught her attention immediately, and while she was a bit confused by his snipes against her people and culture, she found his description of the Fade and the nature of spirits to be utterly entrancing. To speak “out of world” for a second, Folia is the character whose values most closely mirror my own, so the fact that Solas and Folia got along so easily has implications that I kind of cherish, you know? Folia was heartbroken and distraught when Solas told her that her vallaslin were slave markings and asked him to remove them. When he gently pushed her away, she was once more distraught and confused. She believed him when he said he would explain things later, and she carried that promise with her to the Exalted Council. When the revelation of who Solas was, his plan, and all that had happened to her was laid out before her, she was once again shocked but adamant in her love for him. All she wanted was to be with him and begged him to give up his plans, that she was heartbroken--but not angry--that he had deceived her. Really, all she wanted to know was if he truly, truly did love her. The aftermath involved a tearful kiss goodbye, a sharp rending pain of her arm being removed from existence, and a solemn declaration that the Inquisition had ended (Solas had only been the final hammer that convinced her that the corruption of the Inquisition was inevitable; she had similar convictions before the Exalted Council began).

Cole immediately became someone she doted on. The “red” in his bar is not romantic but familial love. She, Solas, and Varric dote on him constantly in their own way, and she is always encouraging Cole to tell her what he feels. She finds his mouthful of riddles to be intriguing rather than annoying, and is very protective of him because even before she discovered his true nature, she sensed that there was something special about him that not even Solas was able to identify. She ultimately made the decision to help him become more of a spirit because she believed that it was the Compassion spirit’s sorrow that drove him to take on Cole’s form, but that ultimately he was a spirit at his core and should return to that state.

Blackwall was someone she flirted with to the point that it became second nature to her. Unfortunately, her eyes were firmly set on Solas, and yet Blackwall and Folia ended up in a relationship that she herself didn’t realize she signed up for. She told Blackwall she would support him as he supports her and that they should remain good friends. Upon learning of his true identity, she was shocked more than anything but, in contrast to Solas, immediately acknowledged his attempts to make up for his past, hence why he has remained among her preferred party members.

Dorian was someone who immediately charmed her. He was everything her clan mentioned when railing against the upper echelons of far-off Tevinter, and yet he managed to make all those things a positive. His wit made her smile, his slightly ridiculous complaining made her laugh, his flirting was a fun distraction that she allowed herself to indulge in; Solas was an intellectual at heart, someone who chose his words carefully, and was thus not nearly as fond of playful ribbing and innuendo as Dorian. Before making her choice, Folia had seriously considered pursuing Dorian as a romantic partner. That is, until she learned he was, in fact, only interested in men. While slightly saddened that Dorian would never see her ‘in that way”, she warned him to never stop with his teasing or banter, ever, because in a way, it seemed almost safer to do so now that they knew they could never break each other’s hearts.

Sera proves especially trying for Folia, who tries to exemplifies politeness, courtesy, and understanding (things that Solas has often complimented her on), Folia is not a devout worshipper of the Elven gods but still gives them the same amount of respect as one would of any relic of their own culture. She does not particularly like Sera’s insistence on causing chaos without thought of the repercussions and most certainly does not like her badmouthing her peoples’ culture and beliefs: She took special offense to Sera calling the temple of Mythal a place of demon worship. Ultimately she does not appreciate Sera hiding her head in the sand when undeniable proof of the complex nature of spirits, the Fade, and magic are made plain as day. It’s one thing to be scared, Folia thinks, it’s another to be willfully ignorant and wave off actual truths because they don’t mesh with your static “comfortable” world view. The fact that she insults Cole a lot is also a strike against her in Folia’s mind.

Vivienne is someone Folia attempts to be civil to but much like how she feels about Sera, she does not like blunt rudeness towards the Dalish or Cole, at all. Honestly, Folia feels a bit pathetic because she tries her best to help Vivienne when she can, but just as she thinks Vivienne is coming around, the lady says something nasty about Cole or Blackwall’s attempts at redeeming himself and helping people. People who cut others down for their own self-esteem are tiresome to her. Honestly, she does not know why she recruited Vivienne in the first place, but she knows it would be rude to send her away.

#dragon age ocs #my dragon age ocs #will that even be a tag that i use a lot? idk #dragon age: inquisition #dragon age oc meme #folia lavellan

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otomemeup · 8 years ago

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The Charming Empire Review: SPOILER ZONE!

THIS IS A SPOILER INFESTED POST. IF YOU HATE SPOILERS DO NOT READ!

See my Spoiler Free Review here: https://otomemeup.tumblr.com/post/160038778713/the-charming-empire-otome-review-spoiler-free

Okay! So I’m going to go in the order that I have gone so far. My typical route picking routine is to start with the routes I am least interested in… If I do that, then I can actually finish an otome.. If I don’t, I lose interest after playing the routes I want.

I decided to start with Soshi Amazaki.

He is the older “brother” of the MC. Turns out he isn’t her brother.. Shocker. Anyways, his route is a little twisted in that we have a brother being abusive, rude, and bossy. He doesn’t explain anything and refuses to listen to MC. He announces that she is to be engaged and married off to some foreign country. He drops this news to the MC at a ball in front of tons of people. He doesn’t explain anything to her after that. The MC attempts to kill him twice even though she “loves” him. Then at the last chapter, she goes in to attempt to kill him for the second time only for him to tell her that everything was a trick and he is doing all of these terrible things to protect her and restart this country without his rule. Supposedly, he is the “rebel” leader, rebelling against his own authority and the current government system. He is determined to kill himself along with burning down and destroying the castle. MC convinces him to escape with her and then he stays the “rebel” leader and is still running the country anyway? At the end route, she still calls him brother. He gets on to her telling her not to call him brother. They kiss and that’s the end. There was no real love until the last chapter. Only a few moments of Soshi being nice through the 14-16 chapters. The CG’s were nice though. Overall, not my favorite route… It had so much potential… I get what they were aiming for with this route… But Soshi’s character just made me upset half the time.

Route Rating: 3/10

So then, tired of the mysterious bossy-britches, I decided to go for a sweetie pie.

Kagemitsu Togawa- The Childhood Friend

He is a total and complete sweetie pie in the beginning. He’s always there standing up for the princess, taking her out around the palace, and even convincing Soshi to let her go out into town with him. He is usually calm and collected, until something happens in which may place MC in danger. Throughout the route, he is MC’s teacher. He teaches her everything she needs to know to become a proper woman and dances with her. At the ball, (which has been in every route I have played so far) he saves her from men who are hitting on her then dances with her. His Lord Douchiness appears and breaks up their sweet moment to announce that MC is to be engaged. This comes as a shock to Kagemitsu, who immediately speaks up… However, doesn’t do anything more. He even starts planning her wedding without so much as blinking an eye! No ANGST! AGH!! I got so mad!! But I stick with it, a few more sweet moments entail… All pretty much like “Hey, before you leave to get married off to some guy you don’t know, a place you don’t know, and we both know literally nothing about, let’s make some sweet memories”. He takes her out one last time to go to the café they went to earlier in the route and MC overhears that he is planning a rebellion against Soshi. She hears something along the lines of Kagemitsu telling the café owner, “Once MC gets married and leaves, we will start our revolution.” THANKS KAGEMITSU! Glad to know you are willing to send her off to god-knows-where with god-knows-who… So I’m like doubting that he ever loved her by this point. Anyways, last chapter comes into play for the happy route and he admits that he is the leader of a rebellion. But his fellow “rebels” start attacking the day before (Ignoring his orders) but he’s like “even if they are ignoring my orders, we have a rule not to kill anybody so it’s all cool. They just lost their patience.” So I’m like (-_-).. Bro… and so is MC. Anyways, Soshi appears and tells Kagemitsu to protect MC and that everything he has done has been to protect her. In the last chapter, they all have a change of heart and want to leave together to keep their little trio going. Sadly, Soshi tells them all of this knowing he planted an explosion near the room. He refuses to move, ultimately killing himself in front of them....... (-_-)......... So he gets crushed by rocks in front of his sister, who already witnessed her mother’s passing and her father is dead as well… So yeah. Kagemitsu then takes her away and they escape. After that, Soshi’s body hasn’t been found by anyone. Kagemitsu says he is not going to look for him, cause if he is alive then he will be put on trial. That seems like a good enough answer for MC, because he then proposes to her and she agrees. Overall, one of the better routes I have played so far… But it still wasn’t that good.

Route Rating: 5/10

So at this point I’m like… Screw it.. I’ll just play these routes in reversed order. So I moved on to...

Koichiro Sera - The Bodyguard

At first he was like, “I’m not talking with you. I’m your bodyguard not your friend. Behave like a princess, don’t be friendly with the people under you.” Then like by chapter 3(?) Don’t quote me on that, he is all of a sudden nice. Like he has this change of heart, even though I don’t know why…. MC didn’t do anything different… Anyways then he is all like “Okay, I can be your friend since I’m your bodyguard, but you can’t be friends with any of the other staff.” Soshi is more relaxed in this route and allows her to go out with Sera into town two times. Cute moments shine in the outings. Turns out Soshi loves to read and that’s something that they are able to talk about. Their bond grows. They train together for like a day before Soshi forbids it due to her falling asleep during lecture. They dance together before the ball. In this route, MC knows why she is brought to the castle and has accepted the fact that she is to be engaged to a foreign prince…. By the time the ball comes, she is all dressed up and takes Sera’s breath away (She doesn’t get a compliment, but it is implied that he thinks she is gorgeous). He gets jealous, but when other men are hitting on her HARD CORE and ignoring her feelings, he just stands there and watches. Then Soshi comes out and announces she is to be engaged in 10 days and for some reason this shocks MC enough to make her faint? She wakes up crying in her room and cries herself back to sleep. Sera is in there with her the whole time and he doesn’t do anything!!!! AGH! No head strokes, no “I wish I could take you away”.. NOTHING! I got so upset. So as the wedding is getting closer, Sera tells MC that she is the rightful blood heir to the throne and that he is working with a rebel group to overthrow Soshi.. He wants her to be empress. He knew this from the beginning, before he even met her... Leaving me to be like... Why didn’t you say this sooner?! He gives her hardly anytime to make up her mind. Finally, a chapter before the end, she agrees and he saves her from the exploding building and then goes and saves Soshi. Soshi goes and lives in the countryside (In this route he was a puppet for the other leaders under him). After that, MC becomes empress and tells everyone Soshi died. Sera goes to leave the castle saying he is not needed, even though the people responsible for killing her father are still in the castle??? That’s when Kagemitsu comes in and is like “Dude, you can’t leave MC like this. She just became Empress… Plus the people responsible for her father’s death and the ruination of the kingdom are still here in the castle.. So if you leave they will try to kill her…” And the Sera is like “That’s true, but my feelings for you...” and MC is like “But Sera I am in love with you!” and then Sera gets all like “Stop! I’m a lowly servant who conveniently comes from an established Samurai family. I can’t love you, but I do… So I’m going to love you anyways!” They get together and he kisses her at a shrine. The end…… SIGH!

Route Rating: 4/10

Hopefully, Kei and Toki’s routes will be glorious jewels from heaven to make up for the other routes, but we will see!

Toki Tanba- The Bad A$$ Sweetheart

I LOVED HIS ROUTE! His character was sooo much more likable. He was charming, charismatic, loving.. He showed many more emotions and complexity than the other routes I have played so far. He is the owner of a Western Style Café in the village, he is also the leader of the rebels. He is a skilled shooter (Pistol and Gun) and is trusted and loved by many. In this route, MC finds a secret passageway in which she escapes to get a breather from her over-protective brother. She meets Toki in town, and they both hit it off from the start. Super cute moments unfold when she starts to help him at his cafe as a waitress. Many of the customers tease them, calling her Toki’s wife. Toki doesn’t mind this, even wishing that it was true. MC is so much more compassionate in this route. She helps in anyway possible. Most of the route takes place in the Cafe with cute moments and a few dates. He manages to sneak into the ball and dances with her. When her engagement is announced, Toki comes with his band of rebels and kidnaps her. At first, he claims it is to get her brother to give up the throne, but it’s obviously mainly because he loves her. They end up running the revolution together and escaping from the explosions. They try to save her brother, but everything collapses. In the end, no one could find him. It is implied that he managed to escape in time. They fall in love and kiss and live happily together. It was so Doki Doki!!!! Toki is such a sweetie pie! He stands beside MC through so many things and is really just an awesome character. He gets jealous easily (In the cutest way) and he always comes in to save the day when MC is in trouble. His story has more love in it too. It’s obvious that he loves her towards the middle of the story which makes it so much sweeter. Thanks to this route, I no longer regret my purchase. His CG’s are beautiful and look awesome! His voice actor is great! I am so glad that I didn’t give up on this game before reading his route.

Route Rating: 8/10

I have one last route to finish! Please don’t disappoint me Kei!

Kei Yoshimine- The Tutor/Foreign Prince

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, I can safely say that I actually really enjoyed these past two routes. They were super cute and the MC was enjoyable! Kei is such a cutie!! He is assigned the role of tutoring the Princess, but he is actually the Prince of a former kingdom that Soshi was talked into destroying many years ago. At the beginning, their conversations and interactions are all work. He doesn’t want her to get close to him, because everything that he ever considers a treasure gets taken away. He dislikes MC since she is the sister to the man who has him “prisoner”. However, after a little while, MC is able to slowly get him to open up. He always loves to talk about his homeland and seems so happy when talking about it. It’s clear that he falls in love with her pretty quickly after she asks about his homeland. Kei is also protective in that, he keeps a maid from poisoning her with tea by stepping in and making his own tea for her to drink. He loves showering her with gifts. In the CG above, he actually went into town and got countless gifts that filled his arms to the point that he couldn’t even open the door. It was super cute!!!! Their dates and moments are super cute and made me fan-girl on multiple occasions. They are just the cutest couple! We eventually learn that he was actually engaged to MC before MC’s Father passed away and Soshi took over. This turn of events causes both of them to love each other even more than before. In the end, Kei and Soshi end up fighting. Kei wins and Soshi tells them that he was planning on sending them off to marry each other anyways and keep that engagement. His kingdom is starting to be rebuilt and Kei goes back to become king, along with his future wife. It was super super cute!

Route Rating: 7/10

#otomemeup #the charming empire #otome game review #otome game

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