#she doesn’t even have a name yet but she has a full backstory

[i-can-not-art]

Who's your favorite oc?

EITHER THIS NERD OR HIS MOM

I’ve been failing to draw either as much as I want because I am so indecisive about every part of their designs, but I think of them a hell of a lot

[jemilyvsjeid]

First fic ever doesn’t have a name yet I have ideas but ugh guys this is the first time I ever wrote something lowkey nervous let me know if you have any suggestions my anons are open my DMs are open comments…be kind tho like I said this is the first time I wrote something 😭🤚

Pics for reference 💀

Guys …

Ughhh here you go 😭🤚

Tw: language?

Quick Backstory

Sasha Simmons: 22, 6'3", model with a slender build. Naturally blonde but dyes her hair black. She has high cheekbones and icy blue eyes. Growing up in Brooklyn, NY, she's a true city girl, unbothered by the chaos around her. After her father abandoned the family when she was just 7, her mother never remarried. A selfish alcoholic, her mother uses Sasha to maintain her own precarious position in life. Sasha is an only child, with two close friends: Natalia, her childhood "sister," and Emily, who introduced her to modeling back in high school. Girly pop has a hard time recognizing her beauty.

Paige Bueckers:You all know what Paige looks like, so there’s no need for me to describe her appearance or go into a detailed backstory — unless you want me to.

— -

Sasha

Your alarm blares, no, actually it screams at you to wake up. You've hit the snooze button seven times already.

sasha’s mom hurries through the room and throws the phone towards the back of her head

“FUCK YOU!” Sasha bolts upright, searching for the nearest object to throw back, but her mother rushes out the door before she can retaliate. Scanning the mess around her bed, she finally finds her phone, just in time to see the glaring screen flash 8:05 AM.

“Oh no! Oh no! Fuck! Why didn’t you wake me up earlier, Mom? I have that casting call for Nike today!” She races to the bathroom, all the while her mother rolls her eyes, inhaling the smoke from her Winston Reds, which have completely taken over their apartment.The apartment where she spent the last 22 exhausting, painful yet memorable years. The place where she learned to walk, where she learned about disappointments, where she realized being skinny could open more doors than being happy ever would. She never felt fulfilled. Despite winning every pageant she entered, graduating from NYU with a full ride, and traveling to cities in Europe that most couldn’t even name, it was never enough. Deep down, what she always truly desired was a townhouse filled with both parents, a dog, and siblings close to her age—maybe to actually celebrate holidays.

Her mother’s cough, loud enough to be heard from blocks away, snaps her out of her thoughts. The time now reads 8:20 AM. Has she really sat on the toilet for fifteen minutes? She’s got to be at the shoot in forty minutes — twenty on the train! In a frenzy, she jumps into the shower. Within fifteen minutes, she’s out the door, her hair still wet and half-dried, rushing to make it to the train just in time.

---

Paige

As I watch the stylist sort through outfits for my potential partner for this shoot, I can’t help but wonder what this person will look like. It’s strange they waited until today to find someone, but given my schedule, I can’t complain. I know my energy effortlessly charms those around me, making it easy for them to work with me, even if it's an inconvenience. While it feels good to receive such attention, I must admit it’s also awkward to have everything done for me. Glancing in the mirror, I remind myself that I truly earned this moment. The countless hours I spent on the court led to my recruitment by the best program in the country, paving the way for my success and growth as a leader. I’ve faced adversity over the past couple of years, but each challenge has helped me learn more about myself, and for that, I’m eternally grateful.

Robbie, the casting director, enters, enthusiastically explaining that he's looking for someone who's my complete opposite. We've gone over this several times, but his vision of this “dream girl” seems to intensify with each discussion. He hands me a piece of paper.

1.Jet black hair

2.Icy blue eyes

3.Sharp features

4.Tall

5.Shalom Harlow with a twist

With an incredulous expression, I ask, “How is this the opposite of me?” He chuckles and surveys me with a quick up-and-down glance (classic sassy gay man), saying, “Well, love, this dream girl will be the black cat to your golden retriever vibe. Sure, you both have similar eyes and features, but you're kind and sweet; this girl will walk into the room with a cold energy that’s anything but sunshine”.

“Oh wowww, you really have quite an imagination,” I reply, slightly annoyed by his specificity, as if such a person even exists. “Shalom Harlow with a twist?” I murmur again, baffled. She’s one of the hottest models out there, yet I can’t fathom meeting anyone close to that in real life.Let alone at a Nike shoot.Dropping the paper on the table, I walk over to the window, where the breathtaking views of New York City never fail to captivate me. So many experiences, so many stories. I can’t help but wonder what our “dream girl” is doing right.

---

Sasha

Glancing at my phone, I realize I should be right on time. My hair has fully dried, but it's slightly puffy now. If only I had a few extra minutes to fix myself! The casting call requested no makeup and natural hair—just blow-dried, nothing styled. They asked for jeans and a tee, preferably with sneakers, as they wanted to see how we “carry ourselves.” Silly, but I guess there’s a reason behind everything. I press the button for the 18th floor and take a deep breath to calm my nerves. Despite never feeling confident, I've mastered the act well enough that anyone who sees me is impressed. As the elevator doors slide open, I’m greeted by what seems to be at least seventy girls, most already clustered in little groups. Casting a glance around, I note several familiar faces from previous shoots, some of whom are friends of Emily's. As I approach, the only thing I can hear is the name “Paige” around me. Who’s Paige ?

“Hey, you guys!!” I say with the most artificial smile I can muster. “I’ve missed seeing you! How is everyone?” To be honest, I could hardly care less about any of them, but networking is crucial in this industry. As we chat, I mention the mysterious Paige, “So who is this Paige girl? Is she a new model we should be watching out for?” Dolia giggles, giving me a pointed look before saying, “How do you not know who you might be shooting with? At this point just forget about even being here.” She bursts out laughing obnoxiously, solidifying my reasons to not befriend any of these people ever. Hannah, grinning from ear to ear, chimes in, “It’s Paige Bueckers! The basketball player from UConn! How do you not know this?” This is the second time I’m hearing about her; the first was when Emily’s roommate lost her mind over some “talent show” she joined last spring on her live. I still don’t know who this girl is, and frankly, I don’t care. I’m here to work with a major brand, and this could be my ticket to fashion week — possibly an invitation to the upcoming shows. After being ghosted by brands I’d previously collaborated with, last year’s New York Fashion Week made me a recluse.

Just then, the casting director bursts into the room, announcing his last-minute requirements. I dread these moments. “If you don’t have jet black hair, you can leave,” he shouts. As most girls exit, that dwindles to at least twenty of us. Then he states, “Anyone under 6 feet tall can leave,” and that knocks out even more girls. Now there are only fourteen of us left, mere minutes ago there were so many. My thoughts wander as I scan the room and catch sight of a tall blonde just a few feet away from the other room. She’s beautiful—really beautiful—and her laughter makes her glow like… sunshine? “If you don’t have blue eyes, you may exit, and thank you for coming,” the director retorts, pulling me back into reality. We’re now down to just five girls, all looking like identical versions of each other. We're ushered into a room where we're given instructions about what’s to come. I’m the last to go, thankful I can drift for a moment. Hunger and fatigue creep in, but I push it aside.I can’t help but drift back to the girl I saw by the door. I wonder who she is…

—

Paige

Robbie steps into the room, informing me that the number of girls has drastically decreased, and it’s almost time for the shoot. He gestures for me to follow him to another room where I’ll essentially rate the remaining girls. It feels somewhat wrong to assess others this way, but I suppose it's necessary. The first girl walks in—gorgeous, resembling Lauren Jauregui in build and hair type. She’s asked to walk, but struggles to keep up with the beat; she doesn’t stand out. The next girl has shoulder-length hair, giving major Kendall Jenner vibes. Another pretty face, but again, nothing memorable. As I zone out I can hear Robbie buzzing in my ear that we have one last person, and then we are done. Rubbing my temples in frustration, I suddenly hear footsteps approaching.A raspy but sweet voice breaks the tension: “Good morning, I’m Sasha Simmons.” My focus shifts back to the door, and time seems to freeze. The girl walking in ticks off every box. She exudes a captivating energy that pulls me in like a magnet. Our eyes lock, and it feels as if we can't look away from each other. This girl is it. She’s the “dream girl” for both Robbie and, I think, for me too.

As I shift my body and quickly adjust my top, pushing my hair back, I break eye contact with a nudge from Robbie. “I think we found the one,” he whispers excitedly. But like everyone else, he asks her to walk, which she does effortlessly. The silence in the room deepens as Robbie thanks her and tells her to step outside. Confusion knots my stomach as I jerk my head back at him, questioning why he asked her to step out. He brushes it off, mentioning it’s part of a procedure. Filling out a couple of papers, he then directs me to step into another room.

“I’d like to stay,” I insist, but he gives me a sharp look, stating it wouldn't be very professional for me to witness the one-on-one rejection talk. Reluctantly, I accept it and walk to the other room, still in awe. I finally know who the dream girl is… Sasha Simmons.

Sasha

As I’m asked to walk into the room, my eyes are immediately drawn to the blonde girl I spotted at the door earlier. Our gazes lock, and I notice her fidgeting with her top and running her fingers through her hair. A surge of curiosity hits me—did I make her nervous?.... Why would she feel that way around someone like me? She must be used to receiving attention from all the girls surrounding her.

I shift my focus back to the director, who gestures for me to walk for him. With a few swift notes taken, he thanks me and asks me to step out. The whole encounter was alarmingly brief, leaving me lowkey panicked; maybe I wasn't what they were looking for. I can practically count the minutes I spent in that room on my fingers.I make my way to a nearby seat, trying to steady my breath. One by one, the other girls are called back in for the results.

As I sit in my corner, I feel my mind dissociate from the chaos around me—at least now I know who Paige Bueckers is...

••• if you got all the way here thank you so so much for reading like I said it my first time ever writing anything. I’m open to suggestions and comments.I only read over it a couple of times so there might be mistakes. Let me know what you guys want for the next part I kinda have an idea on what I wanna go off of but you’re the reader lol let me know anons DMs everything’s open.

[inbarfink]

So when I talk about how the Winter King is, on some level, far more removed from original-flavor Simon than Ice King ever was - Betty is the most obvious example. Ice King’s whole obsession with princesses and the kidnapping therefore and general romantic neediness has always been a Mad, Sad and Magical reflection of just how much Simon misses Betty.

Even when he was too far too gone to recognize Betty when she was standing right in front of his face

Ice King always carried the hole she left in his heart. Meanwhile, the Winter King has full access to his old memories, he just forgotten her because he doesn’t care anymore. 

Even while he was forcing Princess Bubblegum to dance along in a recreation of that same romantic grief.

But still, I feel like what happened Winterworld version of Marceline is an ever more poetic example, even if figuring out what exactly happened includes a lot of inferences and headcanons.

In “I Remember You”, during yet another emotional breakdown, Ice King accidentally shoved Marceline - and he was immediately absolutely overcome with regret and shame

Because although he didn’t consciously remember what Marceline meant to him, he still retained these feelings of fatherly care and affection. Some sort of core element of Simon’s being that persisted despite the effects of the Magic Crown. Because of that, he couldn't even stand the thought of hurting her, even slightly.

Ice King was capable of doing some fucked-up things in his desperation and madness - but hurting Marceline was the one line he never ever wanted to cross.

But the Winter King?

We only have hints of what went down between Winterworld Simon and Winterworld Marceline. All we know is: 

The Winter King and Winterworld Marceline had the same Simon and Marcy backstory as in the Mainworld, and the Winter King fully remembers it - since he conjures a vision of them during his song. 

Since Marceline’s Ax Bass still exists in its familiar form, it’s safe to say this version of Marceline did reach adulthood and probably had a pretty similar life to Mainworld Marceline.

The Winter King did something absolutely morally repugnant to the Candy Kingdom in general and Princess Bubblegum specifically. Although at the time the Winter King came to being, Marcy and Peebs were still reeling from that centuries-old breakup (assuming there are no other major divergences in the timeline) - I have no doubt that Marceline still had enough lingering feelings (and also maybe general human decency) that she would not stand for Simon’s actions.

And yet the real Marceline is 100% unaccounted for, only her Ax-Bass remains, in the Winter King’s possession. 

Or rather, in the possession of Ice Marcy, an icy duplicate of Marceline as a child living in a gilded cage in the Winter King’s palace - presumably just as lacking in Free Will as the Ice Scouts and any other creation of the Winter King.

The Winter King’s little conversation with Simon about Betty is the best hint we have to Winter King’s motivation for making Ice Marcy. Namely, he suggested making an ‘Ice Betty’ as a way for Simon to get over losing the love of his life. And he’s fully aware that this is unethical - he just doesn’t care.

I think it’s pretty reasonable to assume that Marceline and the Winter King would have some sort of confrontation about what he did to Bubblegum and since the Winter King implicitly compares it to the situation with ‘the dead one’ (Betty)… I honestly think it is not a stretch at all to assume the Winter King killed Marceline. 

And even if he didn’t straight-up kill her, I think most scenarios that fall under Occam’s Razor still involve the Winter King knowingly inflicting a great amount of emotional and potentially physical damage to Marceline. And it definitely involves the Winter King claiming Marceline’s most beloved posession as his own and giving it to a false icy duplicate of her child self he made to replace her. 

I mean, the fact that he even bothered implies that he at least misses her more than Betty. But his discussion with Simon still means he considers replacing her with a nonsapient magic ice construct that copies not the person she was when she was speaking out against him but the child who adored him to be more than a suitable solution. Which is a demonstration that whatever sort of love remained in the Winter King’s heart for Marceline was a very twisted and selfish kind of love. 

Even if you want to argue that the Winter King has nothing to do with Marceline’s disappearance - the fact that this is how he dealt with her being gone shows how much of the love Simon genuinely had for Marcy is now become a hollow and self-centered sort of thing. This is also a form of hurting her.  And again, with the way the Winter King is in general - I think it’s very likely he has a lot to do with what happened to Marceline.

Meanwhile in the Mainverse, the Ice King couldn’t even lightly shove her away in a fit of emotions without being overcome with pain and regret.

So which Ice Wizard really retains more of what made Simon Petrikov who has is? The one who kept his identity and memories but has lost all of the love and care that has once motivated him more than anything? Or the one who can’t remember his name or his old face most days but still retains this ever-persistent echo of his romantic love for Betty and his fatherly love for Marceline even if he doesn’t fully understand where it comes from? 

[howlett-n-morgan]

Take Me Home

2. Gunslinger

Arthur Morgan x Texas Red!Reader

A/n: thank you guys for the warm welcome back and for reading the first part! I hope to be getting the Joel series reposted soon, but for now, I'm just going to be uploading these.

Summary: With the newest outlaw settled into camp, Arthur takes on yet another role within the group: Teacher.

Warnings: canon typical violence, guns, talk of blood and brutality. Backstory mentions misogyny, and has detailed descriptions of arranged marriage. Mild language, some angst, mostly still just an introductory chapter.

WC: 3.3k

“I know what Dutch said,” he nodded, approaching closer and crossing his arms. “I still expect something in return for my services.”

You scoffed. “I ain’t got nothing you would want.”

“Sure, you do…” he trailed, standing right in front of you and reaching down towards your hip. Your breath hitched in the back of your throat, even just having him this close to you. When his hand met your gun, pulling it away from its holster, you relaxed just a bit more. “How is it you shoot so fast?”

You haven’t seen much of the nature of Agua Fria, but you’re glad you’re able to, now. You’d town hopped a few times within the city, letting new faces get a look at yours. But there was a sort of pressure in those crowded areas, and it doesn’t feel like that in the Van Der Linde campsite. 

The gang has taken well to you. It’s been a fortnight since you joined up, the ragtag gang of outlaws, thieves, and gunslingers had been welcoming, given your display on just the day after your arrival.

Dutch has yet to send you on any jobs, mainly because of something you revealed to everyone around the campfire a week ago. 

“How does one shoot a rifle?” you pondered curiously, the silence of the group making you anxious.

“Boy, you better be pulling my leg,” Dutch himself butted in, shaking his head in disbelief. A cigarette hung from his lips, but he pulled it away to stare you down. 

“Well, I just…” haven’t ever shot one before. You’d trailed off before any further mockery could be made, but it was too late.

“You mean to tell me, that in eighteen years of life, you never managed to fire a rifle?” Arthur chimed in, though he was in on your secret, this revelation still surprised him. What else were you hiding?

“If y’all are just gonna mock me, I’m turnin’ in.”

Dutch laughed, and everyone else in the circle made an attempt to undo the harm done. 

“Javier ain’t even played a damn note, and you’re gonna sleep?” John cut in, his gravelly voice full of resentment to your attitude. Maybe you were a bit touchy, but it’s not like you’d ever had close friends to joke around with before. Much less people who got away with poking so much fun to your name.

“Who cares if he can’t shoot a rifle? He’s got a faster shot than all of you with a pistol,” Tilly piped up, her sweet voice just about putting all the other men in their place. She looked at you with contrition. “I’m not very good with those big guns, either.” 

“Thank you, Miss Tilly,” you tipped your hat, sitting back down on the log next to her. 

That was another thing… You couldn’t bear to break the young girl’s heart, although she would have to find out eventually that you were not in fact the man she thought you were. 

Arthur chuckled under his breath watching the interaction, going back to the drink in his hand with a shake of his head. He wouldn’t say anything, he promised he wouldn’t… but some of these occurrences were just too amusing, he couldn’t help his genuine reactions. The slanted jokes about male anatomy towards you, usually coming from John, Sean, or even the calendar boys. The way that you nearly had a heart attack when Miss Grimshaw offered to help you out of your clothes to wash them. Even now, the sweet words from Tilly and the funny way you looked at your feet to avoid meeting her eyes. 

He’d been surprised, if he’s honest. He thought that with all her romantic notions and storybook thoughts that Mary-Beth would be the one to fancy a new gunslinger… but maybe you just weren’t her type. Perhaps it was the red hair that deterred her, he knows for sure that was the case when Sean tried his luck. Good thing Karen was there to catch his fall. But sweet Tilly had no idea what she was in for.

He’d teased you about it over the next week, and finally today, when it was time to show you the ropes of a rifle. Dutch insisted that running with them required knowledge of more than pistols and revolvers, and who better to teach than the enforcer himself.

“Like this?” you asked, trying to place the gun correctly. 

“Yeah sure, if you wanna blow your arm out of socket.” His low chuckle, followed by a drag of smoke was not helpful, and neither were his words, but your position was just too funny.

“I believe this is where you’re s’posed to be helpin’ me,” you replied, a fiery bite in your words. You’d been learning to warm up to people’s teasing, although it was still a long road to go. 

He stood to his feet from where he lounged by a tree, coming up beside you to kick your foot out a little. “Can’t stand like a tree, kid… you’ll tip over in the wind.”

He pulled the butt of the gun into your shoulder, making sure you wouldn’t give out when the gun fires. 

“Alright, the shootin’ part should be easy for you. Just hold strong, that thing’s gonna kick back a hell of a lot more than any handgun.” 

You pulled back the bolt, raising the barrel until you could aim properly. The glass bottle on the tree branch down the way looked like an easy enough target, but when you fired, you weren’t ready for how much pressure the gun would push on you, and you stumbled back into Arthur. 

“Mind your step, will ya?” he teased yet again, and it took everything in you to just ready your stance and try again without saying a word. 

You took a deep breath, pulling back on the bolt once more. You had a good idea as to how much you needed to push back this time. Finding the bottle again, you pulled the trigger, closing your eyes at the explosion and faintly hearing the sound of broken glass in the distance. 

“I did alright,” you turned to Arthur, a narrow gaze in his eyes as he looked from you then back to the tree. It was quite a distance away, and he was surprised you’d hit so accurately already. Then again, you were kind of known for your accuracy… but you’d never fired a rifle.

“Yeah, more than alright,” he reasoned, taking the gun from you and turning to take a shot for himself. “Now ya just gotta work on speed. This ain’t nothing you can keep on your hip.”

He fired one round after another, each bullet hitting the same branch on a tree until it fell from the trunk completely. Wow. 

He smirked over his shoulder, and your face probably gave him an even better reason to be smug. You were clearly in awe of almost everything this man did. Taking care of his horse? In awe. Carrying supplies from the wagon into camp without having to make several trips? In awe. Even now, his accuracy and reaction time. He was so skilled, and you wondered if you’d ever match him. 

“Now,” he said, setting the rifle by the tree. “I don’t just go about teachin’ folk how to shoot for free.”

“But Dutch said that-”

“I know what Dutch said,” he nodded, approaching closer and crossing his arms. “I still expect something in return for my services.”

You scoffed. “I ain’t got nothing you would want.”

“Sure, you do…” he trailed, standing right in front of you and reaching down towards your hip. Your breath hitched in the back of your throat, even just having him this close to you. When his hand met your gun, pulling it away from its holster, you relaxed just a bit more. “How is it you shoot so fast?” 

Honestly, you didn’t have a clue. Everything you did to get faster, you’re sure he’s already done, and a million times over. 

“Nerves, mostly. My hands start shakin’ whenever I get a challenger, they start itching to shoot real bad… guess that’s why.”

He nodded, but was unsatisfied. Your answer was vague and unconvincing.

“What’d you do to learn? You obviously ain’t shot another gun but this one here, tell me how it came along,” he raised the pistol in the air, his skilful hands spinning it over a finger with ease. 

“I guess s’a long story.”

“And since you learned your way around a rifle so well, we got nothin’ but time.”

You sighed, stepping into the shade of the tree closest to you. You leaned into it, crossing your arms and watching as he continued to handle your closest ally in his steady hands. 

How do you even start this story? How does it even get told? You’d never uttered a word about your past to a single person since it all unraveled. You weren’t sure he’d stick around to hear it all, or maybe if he did, he would think you to be foolish. 

But this Arthur Morgan, with his tough exterior and gruff voice had a soft spot. He was gentle when need be, kinder than most. You suppose he derives it from Hosea, given that the man practically raised him into manhood. 

“You know, I used to be a little rich girl,” you chuckled, watching for his reaction. It was surprising to him, but he waited, almost as if thinking you’d retract it as a joke. “Yeah… lived on a big orange grove in South Carolina.”

“You’re kiddin’ me,” he let out when he realized you weren’t messing around. 

“Had a rich daddy and a rich mama. My entire lineage has gotta be worth a couple million at least.”

“Then why on earth are you here? You’d have to be crazy to leave that behind,” he gripped your pistol tightly now, his entire stance leaning on his left leg as he narrowly watched you lounging against the tree. 

“Oh, I had a good reason,” you scoffed with wide eyes. 

“Good enough to leave behind a family fortune?” 

He’s a man. Every man you’ve ever met is the same. They pay no mind to you anymore because you look like one of them now. But before? It was practically a brawl at every public event you attended. You hope that Arthur does not prove to be like the rest. You’ve already been so sure that he stands out, it'll break your heart if you were wrong.

“I know it may not seem like it, but I used to be quite the stunner. I attracted quite a few suitors.”

He nodded, looking you up and down in one glance before coughing a bit and averting his eyes. You hid yourself well, but if he tried hard enough, he could imagine how you would look in more feminine apparel. He liked what he was imagining. 

“I don’t doubt it…”

“Well, my dad was in control of who would have my hand, and as you can imagine I wasn’t fond of that fact… He picked one of his old pals from Virginia, another big farmer like himself, wealthy beyond belief and probably thirty five years my senior.”

Arthur was still, blinking a few times. He doesn’t understand. Yes, you would have had to marry someone you were not interested in… but the situation seemed ideal otherwise. 

“You would have been well taken care of, wouldn’t you?”

“Oh sure,” you nodded, but there was a smirk on your lips. “I would have been just dandy until he found a reason to kill me like he did his first two wives. My father never believed the accusations, of course, and the evidence had been conveniently destroyed… but I knew better.”

He let out a low whistle, finally looking back to your gun and wondering if its origins were about to come to light. Yeah, he thought. That’s a pretty damn good reason.

“So you ran off?” 

You gave a small nod, remembering the last time you ever saw your home and family.

“When I was eighteen I was shipped off to Virginia with a caravan, but before I could be delivered to old Thomas Arlington’s doorstep, I hid overnight in a stable. I stole a horse and headed west a bit.”

“How far west?” 

“West Virginia,” you chuckled. “I got to lurk around there a while, I started dressing all boyish and helped a travelin’ musician with his shows. After he settled down I found that very gun on the ground of a saloon. No one ever claimed her, so I polished her up and started practicing draws. I got pretty good, made bets on shootin’ games to get by.”

“You just… picked her up and started shootin’?”

“It sounds quite dull when you put it that way,” you laughed, holding your hand out to take the gun back. You’re not expert with this thing, can’t even spin it half as well or efficiently as he does… but you might be the best in the world at drawing it from your holster. “I’d never shot anyone before, until one man got real upset that he lost a shooting game to me. It was my first duel… and I won. All because of a game. It was that can game we played after I got here.”

“I figured as much. I ain’t never believed anyone could shoot faster than me until I saw you that day. Paid close attention to those bullet holes.”

He was being far too kind. It’s not like you were anything like him. He had it all. Strength, skill, wits, and as you learned with every glance, the looks to kill.

“I ain’t any good beside the one shot I know how to take.” Your confession meant more to him than you realized.

Yeah, he thought. You can draw, but before today you’d never shot a rifle. You’d never used a knife. Likely never robbed a bank or a stage coach or anything of that sort. Aside from duels, you’re clean cut and inexperienced… your nickname holds far more weight than he’s sure you can actually hold. Ruthless killer? More like a hustler with a bit of blood dusting your fingers. You haven’t made any ground compared to him, yet you’re the one they know far and wide. 

“Let’s make a deal,” he started, his steps carrying him quite close to your form, nearly hovering over you. “I’m gonna make you one of us. Teach you everything you need to know. Fightin’, stealin’, sneakin’ round… all of it. And in return, you’re gonna teach me how to shoot faster than you.”

He knows it’s built on a prideful notion, but he reckons you don’t care, because he’s offering you far more than you can give him. Obviously you agree, because even if you try to teach him, you are almost positive that you don’t even know the secret to your speed.

“Alright, cowboy… I’ll shake on it.”

And you do, squeezing his hand tightly.

-

You find yourself settling into the camp a lot easier than the weeks before. The names of the people here just roll off your tongue, whenever you see them, a greeting is spoken. You’ve also been able to sleep soundly in your tent despite the fears of the animal sounds out in the distance. You’ve come to realize that you aren’t alone in the wilderness, and you have a sort of family to keep you safe, now. 

Arthur continues to show you the ropes, giving you tricks and quick witted thoughts for situations you would never have thought to put yourself in. They all are illegal situations, of course, but you listen intently, and learn each step with an absorbent state of mind. 

Even if he doesn’t outwardly show it, you think Dutch is happy about your progress, given that you are not only an asset to future jobs, but also because you seem to blend well with everyone. He definitely views his gang as a family of fugitives, and now that you’re one of them, he’s become warm with you, even calls you ‘son.’ 

There is one member of camp that to date, you haven’t gotten into conversation with. Hosea Matthews. The man seemed to be the fatherly type, and nearly everyone in the gang had a sort of paternal view of him in some way. You reckon Arthur has taken the man to be closer to him than actual blood. The great Mr. Morgan doesn’t often share details of his past, but you’ve heard here and there about the rascal that was his father, dead and gone when Arthur was a kid, but not soon enough. 

It was a Tuesday morning, after a round of stale coffee when he first sat down beside you for a friendly chat. You couldn't have possibly known the contents of the topics he had in mind, but you were about to be bombarded with them in the most gentle way you reckon a man can speak. 

“Mister Gunslinger,” he began, a gentle clap on your shoulder to garner your attention. “I’ve heard you’re getting to be the best man at camp.”

His friendly chuckle eased your nerves, but you brushed off his words anyway. 

“Not sure ‘bout that. Just learnin’ the ropes,” you nodded along to your own words, hoping they caught well with him. 

“Arthur told me you picked up a rifle for the first time a few days ago and blew him out of the water,” he mentioned, the tone in his voice suggesting he wanted his compliment to land. 

“He’s bein’ far kinder than I deserve,'' you scoffed, shaking your head this time. “Nearly took my shoulder out of socket on the first shot.”

“But you broke a bottle on the second,” he returned, likely quoting your dear mentor’s own words. “How did you learn to shoot that pistol of yours, anyhow?”  

Hosea knew everyone’s stories. He was the father of the camp, albeit not the leader. He knew everything about everyone, and he took care of them. You took one look at him and decided you could trust him from day one… but that didn’t mean he should know everything.

“Well, I found this gun a while ago, just started shootin’ it till I hit somethin’.”

He leaned forward in his seat, another chuckle rolling off his tongue, but the question went unanswered in the way he’d hoped for. He took a breath, turning to face you a bit more… He decided to be straight with you. 

“I’m sure you’ve probably got things in your past you’re not too proud of. I’ve heard the name ‘Texas Red’ in quite a few towns now. I guess I’m just curious about what you did before the gunslinging days.”

“Oh…” you trailed, completely unsure if elaborating on your past, even without context, could force you to accidentally spill something you didn’t intend to. So you took the safe route. “Not much to tell. Ran away from home, stole a horse and headed west. Found this gun in an old saloon and the rest is history.”

He saw through the act, but didn’t let on. He didn’t want you to feel like you needed to hide things, but similarly, he didn’t want you to feel pressured to talk. This camp was a safe place. As long as you kept to the rules and helped out, you didn’t need to do anything else. You could just live freely and have your being. 

“Listen, son… I know it’s probably hard to open up about things you’ve gone and left in the past. Every person here has a story, somewhere they came from or something they did. If you ever want to talk about yours, I’m always up for good conversation.”

You looked into his eyes, and they were full of contrition, full of compassion. You guessed there wasn’t a bad bone in this man’s body. 

“Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”

He nodded once before standing up and heading down to the river bank, likely to fish. 

You wonder if he has suspicion of you, or if he knows more already than he’s leading onto. But then you think, no. He’s just a kind older man that actually gives a damn about the younger folks here. He didn’t seem to have any biological sons or daughters, but this camp was full of family he could call his own.

You think you're starting to call them family, too.

Tags: @photo1030 @sheepdogchick @snoopysshark

[spirit-lanterns]

THE BOSS’ CHARACTER SHEET

A semi-detailed post about the Boss’ character information and personality. Certain pieces of information are REDACTED, but will be unlocked in the future.

All information available for the Boss, is under the cut:

BIO: 

FULL NAME: ??? “The Boss” {TO BE UNLOCKED}

GENDER: Female 

PRONOUNS: She/her 

AGE: 38 years old 

HEIGHT: 5’8

MODEL TYPE: Tall female 

TYPE: Playable character

FACTION(S): The Rabbit’s Foot

WORLD: Penacony

RARITY: 5 Star 

PATH: Harmony 

COMBAT TYPE: Imaginary 

OVERVIEW:

The Boss is a woman of mysterious origin. No one in Penacony recalls just how she set foot upon the elusive planet of festivities, yet The Rabbit’s Foot, her most prized casino, is quite popular amongst the people of Penacony for all the riches and Bunnies she has to offer…

A mature woman of high status and a slacker to boot, the Boss is quite a mixed bag as no one really knows what to expect when conversing with her for the first time. People expect her to be a lavish, elegant, and proper woman, yet if you ask the Bunnies of the casino, they’d all say their Boss is a well-known “lazy bones.” 

Besides sleeping at her office and lounging with her Bunnies, the Boss enjoys collecting intricate tea sets and watching Broadway shows. 

APPEARANCE:

The Boss is a tall woman with long, blonde hair, always pulled up in an intricate updo with multiple hairpins and clips, light blue eyes, fair skin, as well as a darkly colored kimono with floral patterns. On her “lazy days” however, the Boss likes to leave her hair down, her clothes often not worn properly as she has a habit of wearing her clothes in a way where it exposes her shoulders and other assets.

She has a detailed sleeve of tattoos on her right arm (your left) that depict a branch of colorfully pink sakura flowers. It can sometimes be shown when the Boss doesn’t wear her clothes properly. 

PERSONALITY:

The Boss is a lazy, yet mature woman that has a habit of napping in her office whenever she’s left alone. She’s a slacker through and through, and she never really does her paperwork unless her Bunnies force her to. 

She’s also quite into adult indulgences, such as alcohol, smoking, gambling and sex. Not afraid to show off her wants and desires, the Boss can also be quite straightforward whenever she wants something of her affection. Besides coming off as a lazy bum however, the Boss cares deeply for her Bunnies, as she’s always looking for ways to keep them satisfied. 

Sometimes when she’s left alone, the Boss can be seen frowning and immediately lighting her pipe for a smoke, before quickly changing her downcast expression to an aloof one.

BACKSTORY: 

{TO BE UNLOCKED}

VOICE-OVERS:

FIRST MEETING: “Ah…a pleasantry to meet you. My name? Hah…just call me Boss, sweetheart.”

GREETING: “You’re back! That was fast…did you want to rent out a Bunny? Or perhaps…you came back for me?”

PARTING: “Come back soon, the Bunnies always miss you, I know I do…”

ABOUT SELF: REAL NAME: “My real name is not of importance, people know me as Boss and I stick to it. The Bunnies never really asked, but you are the first person to push on this topic. Heh, what? Don’t look at me like that, I like being called Boss.”

ABOUT SELF: SMOKING: “Sorry, I know the smell of smoke isn’t pleasant, but I can’t help it whenever I’m stressed. I know, I know, it’s a bad habit, but…gambling is a bad habit too, right?”

CHAT: BUNNIES: “Ahhhh I just love my Bunnies so much! They’re so cute and bouncy, but goodness are they hyper. I had to build an indoor gym just for them in the casino, just so they could get their zoomies out.”

CHAT: NAPS: “I love napping. I hope it doesn’t show my age, but napping just replenishes my energy so much that sometimes I coax the Bunnies into napping with me in my office. They make the perfect cuddle buddies.”

HOBBIES: “I don’t drink tea, but I love collecting tea sets. I have an entire cabinet at home just filled with different sets from all over the galaxy. I even have one that has little bunny teacups!”

ANNOYANCES: “I hate drunk people. Why would you drink so much if you know your alcohol tolerance is low? (Sigh) At the very least, my Bouncer Bunnies are able to take care of it.”

SOMETHING TO SHARE: “If you scratch a Bunny’s ear at the base of their scalp, their foot will begin to tap rapidly against the floor. Hm? How do I know this? Aha…I like exploring with my hands.”

KNOWLEDGE: “When you drink alcohol, you have to do it fast. Slow, leisurely sips make the alcohol burn your throat longer, yet if you drink it in one go, you are able to enjoy the taste.”

ABOUT: (BUNNY READER): “Ah…(Bunny Reader)...why won’t she stay with me? Oh! How long have you been standing there?”

ABOUT: KAFKA: “She’s not a criminal under the casino, she’s a customer. However, I won’t lie and say that I am completely thrilled that a Stellaron Hunter is renting out one of my Golden Bunnies every week. I can’t imagine what she’s doing to my poor Bunny…”

ABOUT: HIMEKO: “I like Himeko, she’s a very sweet woman and her coffee recipe is divine. I’ll have to visit her on The Express one day and see her tea set collection myself.”

ABOUT: BLACK SWAN: “I never really know what’s going on with that woman, but she’s a very efficient dealer. She puts some of my Dealer Bunnies to shame with how quick her hands are, hehe.”

ABOUT: ACHERON: “The Galaxy Ranger, right? She’s not the best gambler, but her ambition is admirable.”

ABOUT: FIREFLY: “Ohhh, that poor girl. She’s been tackled in the casino sixteen times now by my Golden Bunny.”

ABOUT: ROBIN: “She’s probably the worst gambler I have ever seen, yet she seems to be a favorite of my Golden Bunny.”

ABOUT: TOPAZ: “She’s cheated in a gamble before, but thanks to Black Swan she was caught and punished accordingly. I would’ve kicked her out of the casino for this, but (Bunny Reader) loves to keep her around for some reason.”

ABOUT: SERVAL: “I hire her sometimes to play live music in my casino. The patrons and Bunnies love her very much, so she gets discounts sometimes if she wishes to rent out Golden Bunny.” 

ABOUT: CONSTANCE: “Logically she’s much more dangerous than Kafka, but I can’t help but trust her more. Maybe it’s just because I’m a little biased and we have wine together sometimes.” 

TRIVIA: 

The Boss’ real name translates directly to “Spring Princess.”

The Boss uses her smoking pipe as a weapon when in combat. The smoke from it can increase the stats of party members. 

Her alcohol tolerance is extremely high.

The Boss has talents in dancing and embroidery. 

She is bisexual. 

The Boss claims she is an ass woman because “everyone has an ass, therefore ass is the best part.”

The Boss is a criminal. For what exactly is a secret and will be revealed in her backstory.

GALLERY:

Left Art: @e-hibiscus on Tumblr

Right Art: @deadflyartlogs on Instagram

[juliasturnz]

“Your looking at me like I’m see through.”

🜸 - this fanfic is based of this song! I hope y’all like it! (I got it suggested♥️)

★ - summary:

Matt has been acting so weird lately you are trying to find out, but you find something you don’t wanna know. You leave right away from this terrible place.

༆- warnings!

Angst, cussing, mad!Matt, pushing (nothing more!), use of alcohol, a lot of crying and smoking

✫彡 - writers note:

there will be lyrics while reading, so if that annoys you I’m sorry, This fanfic might be not for you.

★ - other role!!

In this fanfic there is a best friend called Haley (when she talks her color is purple) - little backstory about Haley!

You have been friends with Hayley like since forever. Y’all got into pretty many fights but you two are still the same after, she always tells you that’s she’s here for you and that isn’t gonna change no matter what.

- I know you don’t care but can you listen? -

You have been in a fight with Matt that seems to happen more then 1 time a week. But every time y’all fought he didn’t listen at all of even look at you. ‘Matt can you fucking listen to me?’ He doesn’t even look up from his phone. To busy texting. When you call his name again all he does is rolls his eyes and you can hear the typing again, it makes you sick.

‘Matt!’ He looks up with a furious look. ‘Can’t you see I’m busy?’ ‘Can’t you fucking hear that I’m talking to you?’ And yet again he ignores you and goes on further with his fingers tapping rapidly across the screen. You walk up to him and grab his phone. He starts to freak out, ‘Y/N WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?’ He fully yells at you with his eyes widened. ‘So your texting another girl aren’t you?’ ‘Ugh fuck it, I don’t give a single shit about you.’ His words just randomly fall out of his mouth. ‘What did you say?’ Tears start to swell up in your eyes, have you really been that stupid, how didn’t you notice?

- so i think I better go, I just never know how to please you, your looking at me like I’m see through -

‘Im going to pack my bags I’m going to leave, I don’t deserve this.’ He walks back to the couch and quickly drinks the beer that was standing on the coffee table next to your glass with soda that is still fully filled. ‘Right.’ He just says while you watched him drinking his beer. You start waking down to the bedroom where you get all of your stuff and leave the vanity that he build with all love what makes you sick to look at. You plop on the bed and put your hand before your face and the tears start to fall down from your eyes what makes your hands soaked.

* about a hour passes *

‘What the fuck is taking you so long, get out of here bro.’ Matt is standing in the doorway and looking at you with a drunk look, wait have you been in here that long?

- Not thinkin' you would have left me gladly -

You are still surprised you get to see this side of Matt that you’ve never experienced, and now it’s happening all at once. You didn’t even pack your bags yet, you’ve just been sitting there crying. ‘You haven’t even packed your bags hurry the fuck up!’ His voice gets a little lower but even louder, you quickly stand up and get your stuff while Matt leaves the room.

When you finally get to the point where you have at least 3 bags full of clothes, makeup and more. you reach the hall way into the living room. You look at the couch where your ex-boyfriend is now fully drunk laying down. He turns his head from the movie he’s watching and immediately begins to start arguing with you. ‘So when are you going to fucking leave?’ ‘I’ll leave when I feel like it.’ He stands up from the couch and walks up to you while tripping over random stuff, ugh he’s so drunk. You roll your eyes and you put down your full and heavy bags down. He’s standing right in front of you. His eyes are not even fully open, and he can’t look at you straight. He pushes you, you fall back just a little, he doesn’t even have that much power to push you. ‘Get out!’ He’s fully yelling at you. You don’t look at him but look outside. Why does it have to be raining right now, this feels like a straight up movie scene. You turn your face to his drunk expression again. ‘Fuck you Matt! I fucking loved you, I really did.’ But in stead of lower his voice he starts laughing at you, ‘did you actually think I liked you?’ He just keeps on laughing, your legs are frozen. Your tears just keep on flowing from your eyes to your cheeks and your neck. ‘Yeah keep on crying that’s all you do, now don’t make me say it again.’ ‘But I-I’ ‘LEAVE. MY. FUCKING. HOUSE.’ you pick up your heavy bags and leave the apartment right away. While you leave his apartment, you call up the one and only real person in this fucked up world.

You tap on your best friend’s name and call her right away. ‘Hey girll I’- ‘can you just pick me up please.’ You are still sobbing from the things that happened this quick. ‘Oh my god my baby ofcourse, I’ll be on my way, Matt’s apartment right?’ ‘Mhm.’ She hangs up the phone and you stand outside already soaking wet from the rain that’s falling quick out of the starry sky.

When Haley reaches his apartment she quickly comes out of the car. ‘Oh my baby what happened.’ You were finally done crying and once again you start sobbing. ‘You can tell me everything just come in the car I brought some dry clothes.’ She has such a kind soul, I don’t deserve her.

You are now changed in her warm clothes trying to explain everything. ‘I’m going to fucking murder that guy.’ She already wants to step out the car when you stop her. ‘He’s drunk asf he doesn’t give a shit about what your gonna say. Can we please just go to your house.’ ‘Ofcourse we can.’ She gives you a warm smile and starts the car. The whole ride to her house it has been quiet in the car, only a little bit crying from you and her hand rubbing your back. When y’all are finally there she opens her door walks over to you and opens your door and helps you get out of the big car. ‘I’ll take your bags, wait for me at the front door okay?’ ‘Mhm’ you talk to the big front door and keep waiting there while just looking into your phone for a little bit. And end up texting nick and Chris about the situation. Haley comes to you with your big 3 bags. ‘Do you need some help?’ You giggle the slightest bit seeing her struggle with the big bags. ‘I do actually.’ She starts giggling with you.

You enter her big house that you remember easily. You turn around and look at her face with again that comforting smile on her face. ‘I’m so glad you could pick me up.’ ‘Always here like I promised.’ She walks up at you with a smile and hugs you, she slightly pets you on the head. ‘You’ll be okay ml.’ She is everything you could wish for.

After the most comforting hug you’ve ever had you help her with your bags and bringing them upstairs. When you let the bags fall on her bedroom floor. You walk over to her bed a fall down on it. Your now looking at her filled ceiling, but your not thinking about the filled ceiling your thinking about Matt and what the last thing he said was. You roll over, and start sobbing again. Haley comes into the room with the last 2 bags and quickly drops them on the floor, ‘hey hey! Come here.’ She sits down on the bed and picks you up to give you another hug. ‘Do you wanna smoke? It helps you forget your thoughts for a while.’ She says, you’ve never smoked before but you’re gonna do anything to forget him for a while. ‘I really do but I’ve never done it.’ ‘I’ll learn you.’

About 10 minutes later you’ve learned how to smoke and it really does helps to forget Matt. ‘I love this so much it’s really relaxing.’ You look at Hayley with a smile and she just simply smiles back, ‘Ofcourse anything for you.’

Suddenly you hear your phone buzz, your heart drops. ‘It’s Matt’ you say out loud, you haven’t blocked him yet. You just couldn’t, ‘come again?’ Hayley looks at you with a shocked face, ‘your not serious right?’ You can’t do anything, your just stuck in a sitting position with still a cigarette in your hand. ‘He’s saying sorry.’ You click on the notification and you type “it’s okay” even though you know it’s happy hour, (he always had one hour when he was drunk when he suddenly started to act affectionate) but someone is also looking at your phone. ‘Yeah no we’re not doing this he’s obviously not, give me your phone.’ You are still so in shock and still so in love, he has done everything for you. He was the one. ‘We are definitely gonna ignore this message till tomorrow, let’s see if he deletes it. That’s when we know when it’s real.’ ‘Okay.’ You look down at your legs, I think he really means it tho. ‘Hey it’s for the better okay?’ ‘Should we watch a movie?’ ‘Yes.’ Your face lightened up a little bit even though all you could think about is the “im sorry” text. ‘You can choose.’ You pick one of her favorites.

During the movie she suddenly asks, ‘not to rude or anything or bring it up like this but why did you choose him.’ She asks you with a curious but also with furrowed eyebrows. ‘I just kinda knew, he was always there for me. But he suddenly changed idk what happened.’ ‘I’m so sorry for asking about it.’ ‘No it’s okay.’ Your eyes are watering and she hugs you tight once again. Your still crying ‘I just want a good explanation idk I just still love him so much…’ ‘a-and im afraid I won’t let go.’ ‘I’ll help you through it all ml’ she’s a little taller then you so she looks down at you with a little smile.

Its finally the morning and you wake up with Haley smiling at you with a little breakfast table with all your favorite food on it. ‘Oh my god Hayley you’re the best!’ You just opened your eyes so your voice is raspy asf. A wide smile appears on your face. ‘Ofcourse my lady anything for you.’ She does a little bow what makes you giggle, ‘no but fr thank you.’ ‘Anytime. Alright I let you eat your breakfast and do your thing, I’m going to the store rq do you want me to bring you something?’ ‘No I’m good thank you.’ You both give each other another smile and she walks out of the door.

About three minutes later you hear the front door close with a bang. You immediately look at your phone, is this even a good idea? Yes I need fucking answers. You open your phone and the “I’m sorry” message is gone.

- I know your not sorry, why should you be? Cus who am I to be in love, when your love never is for me … me -

★ another little note:

I appreciate you so much for supporting me! Make sure to like this post if you want to see more from me🤭 comment if you wanna be tagged in the taglist🏷️

tags

@042502 @pepsiboyy @pepsiluvr0209 @sturnioloshacker @sturniolonmc @sturniolo-fann @sturnioz @sturniololvrrr @sturnzsblog @sturnzwrld @sturnzyolo @sturnzluv @sturnzsun @sturniololoverr @chrisslut333 @chris-slut @chrissv4mp @chrisshotdog @chrissfawn @mattsfavbitchhh @mattsturnswife @mattsgf @matts-k1tten @hollandsangel @hoeformatt @hoesformatt @heartmatt @strawberrysturniolo

[hamsterclaw]

hii! i just finished the vows and I really love it. love the mixture of smut, fluff, angst, and even comedy in it. the chemistry between yoongi who's patient and devoted husband and oc misunderstood yet sometimes really chaotic, is one of the best chemistry I've ever read. you've explained a lot of backstories of the couple, specifically oc through drabbles, yet you haven't really explained about her having a different name. like when yoongi brought her to the hospital after the allergic reaction and then found out that she actually has a different name. I wanna hear the backstory for it, and maybe the full reaction from yoongi, like him bringing it up again.

Ah the name thing — my take is this. It’s not the norm for them for a spouse to change their name when they get married and so Yoongi was surprised to find out reader had taken his surname.

His reaction under the cut!

Warnings: Sex, swearing, sulking Yoongi

Your husband is sulking, you’re sure of it.

It’s unlike him. He has a limited repertoire of emotions from indifferent to exasperated, and you’ve never seen him like this.

You’re getting changed into one of his old t-shirts, and he hasn’t so much as looked at your ass once.

You keep him in your peripheral vision as you smooth your hands over your ass, pretending to straighten your silky shorts, but he doesn’t even blink.

‘Yoongi, are you ok?’ you ask.

He’s staring into his section of the walk-in wardrobe you share, and he’s definitely not choosing what to wear because he only wears one of two t-shirts to sleep.

Oh shit, is that what the problem is? You’ve nicked his shirt?

You wander over to him.

‘Hey, you want this shirt back?’ you offer.

He flicks his gaze at you, gives your tits a cursory glance and shrugs.

You pull the t-shirt over your head to give him a better look.

‘Here, you have it. It looks better on you anyway.’

You’re bare underneath, and you see the flare of interest in his eyes before he looks away again, accepting the t-shirt.

He slips it over his head.

‘Thanks.’

You rifle through his t-shirts and pick one at random to wear.

Yoongi’s already in bed by the time you finish washing your face, flat on his back, staring at the ceiling.

‘Are you angry with me, Yoongi?’ you ask, perching on his side of the bed.

‘No,’ he mumbles, refusing to meet your gaze.

‘It seems like you are,’ you say.

He turns over, back to you. ‘I’m tired, are you going to turn the lights off?’

He sounds crankier than ever.

‘Sure,’ you say.

You get up and turn the lights off, trip over his slippers on the way back.

‘Shit!’

You sense movement in the dark, and a moment later Yoongi’s reaching for you.

‘Are you ok?’

You hit his side table with your head on the way down, but you think you’re all right.

‘I’m ok,’ you tell him cheerfully.

‘What was that bang?’ asks Yoongi.

‘Just my head.’

Yoongi curses. ‘Are you ok?’ he asks again. ‘I can’t see a thing.’

His hand finds your arm. ‘Let me have a look.’

You blink your eyes closed as he shines his phone light at you.

‘I’m fine, Yoongi, stop shining that thing at me!’ you complain.

He mutters something you don’t quite catch.

‘What was that?’ you ask.

You can’t see him rolling his eyes, but he definitely is. You can tell by the tone of his voice when he says, ‘Maybe the reason you keep forgetting to tell me things is because you keep hitting your head.’

You grab the front of his shirt.

‘Do we need to talk about something, Yoongi?’

Yoongi grumbles, ‘Just get into bed before you hit anything else.’

You climb in next to him, roll over the opposite end, shivering a little at the coolness of the sheets.

The bed’s so big you can starfish and still not touch your inexplicably grumpy husband.

Yoongi asks, ‘What are you doing?’

‘What do you care?’ you ask.

If your husband wants a fight, you’re more than willing to give him one.

He’s quiet, then he says, muffled, ‘your ass looks good in those shorts.’

‘Too bad you’re not getting near it tonight,’ you retort.

There’s the rustle of sheets, and a moment later your husband’s head hits your outstretched hand.

‘Why are you spread out like this?’ he asks.

You kick out your legs, and he huffs as your foot touches his.

‘What do you want, Yoongi?’ you ask.

‘I’m angry with you, but I want to fuck you.’

His bluntness startles a laugh out of you.

‘You should just say, I like angry sex too,’ you tell him.

Yoongi makes a sound very like a laugh that he quickly muffles.

‘Jagiya,’ he sighs.

‘Don’t jagiya me, Min Yoongi,’ you warn, rolling over into his arms.

He wraps an arm around your waist, buries his face in your neck, runs his hand over your hip, up the hem of his t-shirt, over your skin.

‘You make me so angry,’ he says, the gravel in his voice making your toes curl.

‘I always make you angry,’ you say, lips against his.

He turns his head a fraction, kisses you warm, deep. His hand’s stroking circles over your bare skin, inching up to touch your breasts.

‘Always,’ he agrees.

He cups a hand fully over your bare breast, and you shiver with delight as he thumbs your nipple.

He moves his hips, lets you feel how hard he is, nudging against you.

His lips are distracting you but you’re determined to finish your sentence. ‘Why are you always so mad at me, Yoongi?’

Yoongi’s busying himself pulling your t-shirt off, kissing a heated path down the valley between your breasts.

‘You make me crazy, jagiya,’ he mutters.

He runs his thumb over your nipple, follows it with a lash of his tongue. Rolls the pebbled flesh between his lips, sucks until you feel an answering pull, a tightness in your cunt.

‘Yoongi,’ you moan.

‘Shhh,’ he murmurs, popping off your nipple, soothing you with a lick.

The hand that was settled on the curve of your hip slides between your legs, against the strip of bunched cotton barely covering you now that you’re wet.

He hums, approving. ‘You like this, don’t you? You like me playing with these pretty tits, you always get so wet —-‘

He tugs his briefs down, nudges the blunt head of his cock against your slit, and the pressure of him against your panties makes you moan again.

‘Get inside, Yoongi,’ you plead, trying to push your panties off.

He touches along your folds, entering you shallowly with the tips of his fingers, teasing the pad of his thumb over your clit.

You cry out in frustration as he laps at your other nipple, rubs up over your clit.

‘Shit, I can feel you squeezing me,’ Yoongi taunts. ‘You want me?’

You’re fisting the sheets in frustration.

‘Yoongi please!’

Your maddening, infuriating husband has the audacity to smile.

He’s beautiful.

You want to punch him across his gorgeous face.

Instead, you ask, ‘Is this because I didn’t tell you I changed my name?’

There’s a flicker in his eyes that tells you that you’ve guessed correctly.

‘I’ve been L/N all my life, and it never meant a great deal to me,’ you say.

His hand stills between your legs, and his dark eyes are intent upon yours.

‘I thought taking your surname might give me a fresh start,’ you tell him.

It sounds stupid when you say it like that, naive.

You look away from Yoongi, curl a hand on his back. ‘Let’s get back to fucking,’ you say, unbearably self-conscious.

Yoongi’s still staring at you, you can feel the heat of his gaze.

Across the room at some social event, it gives you life to know your husband’s staring at you, usually with fury.

Here, in bed, where it’s just the two of you, it’s so searing and raw you can barely stand it.

Yoongi’s fingers curl under your chin, his thumb strokes your cheek, but he grants you the kindness of not forcing you to meet his eyes.

Instead, he tugs your panties down, enters you, sheathes himself to the hilt.

You let out a breath that’s halfway between a gasp and a moan.

You can’t help yourself, you sneak a glance at your husband.

You love when he looks like this, brow furrowed in concentration, eyes dark. He moves his hips in the way you love, and the drag of his cock inside you is exquisite.

Another moan spills from your lips, and Yoongi leans down, captures your lips with his.

‘You like this, jagiya?’

‘I like it,’ you say, breathless, and Yoongi kisses you again, intimate, slow.

‘Good, I want you to like it, you feel so good, fuck.’

He snaps his hips against yours, deep, slow, making you feel every inch of him, until your eyes are squeezed shut from the pleasure of it.

You come with a gasp of his name, and Yoongi breathes yours as he seeks his peak.

He curls his arms around you, tight, and seals his lips to yours as he comes.

Breathes you in.

Afterward, he reaches for his t-shirt, says, ‘put this on.’

He slips it over your head, grasps your hand against the cool sheets.

There’s quiet all around you now, no light save for the moon through the window.

‘Take it all,’ Yoongi says. He’s speaking softly, but his voice carries anyway.

‘You should take my name, my clothes, everything,’ he tells you.

You can’t see his face, even though it’s close to yours.

‘It’s all yours, jagiya.’

He seems to hesitate, an infinitesimal pause before he says, ‘all I have is yours. All of me is yours.’

You want to tease him about his phrasing but there’s a lump in your throat, and you can’t speak past it except to say his name.

Yoongi strokes his thumb over your hand, and his breathing slows, until you know he’s fallen asleep.

[thesharktanksdriver]

Dicentra D. Boa

Content warning going in: implied rape, human trafficking, slavery, implied sexual assault, implied Sa of children, and massacres. It’s not talked in length or in detail but it is alluded to due to the Boa sisters backstory and Dicentra’s conception. I wanted to be sure to give a warning just in case because of the nature of these topics. If any of these themes are triggering please skip past the section labeled “Josephine” and go to “childhood” instead

Also sorry if she’s cringe or Mary sue but she’s my little blorbo and I love her. Writing her is also my excuse to write (and rewrite) about Boa Hancock because I think she’s underrated and I think her character could’ve been handled better by oda (this is in regards to her liking Luffy which is really weird since she’s a grown adult who fell in love with a 17 year old after being victimized through a decent portion of her life by adults)

General information

Name: Dicentra D. Boa.

Following after the flower naming convention of the Amazon lily, Dicentra is the scientific name of the bleeding heart flower. Her name was chosen by Hancock since dicentra’s birth mother didn’t know what to choose

The D. Is gained to her by her birth mother Josephine D. Etheus. Though Dicentra is apart of “the will of D” she has no idea about it due to the fact Boa swore to Josephine that no traces from her would connect back to Dicentra.

Age: 13

Dicentra was born a few hours before the mass breakout of Mary geoise when Hancock was 16.

Race: half-lunarian

Dicentra’s motherJosephine was a full lunarian captured in the massacre of her people. Despite Saturns extermination efforts a few celestial dragons wanted a lunarian as apart of their collection and were able to accomplish this secretly

Being only half lunarain attributes to her white hair and darker toned skin. But along with this it also acts as a reason as to why her wings are so small and why she doesn’t have an eternal spark.

She can’t create fire because of this, but she could control already lit flames if she needed to. But she has not found this out yet

(Fun fact is that whenever in a room with some type of fire, she subconsciously pulls that flame slightly towards herself. Kinda like how sunflowers face the sun, flames direct themselves towards her)

Personality: curious, sometimes oblivious, good hearted, optimistic, overly eager and a bit chaotic

As a young sheltered girl Dicentra is naturally curious of the world and just about anything she can get her hands on. She enjoys soaking in all of the knowledge of the great world beyond the Amazon lily, whilst also secretly yearning to see it for herself.

Another side effect of her sheltered upbringing is the fact she’s very oblivious to things. Whether that be wandering into a bad situation due to curiosity of something that caught her eye or just being unaware of concepts like men not being hideous monsters that’ll kill her (Hancock taught her this lol). Despite her being oblivious to these environmental concerns she’s actually very observant of others emotions when needed.

Unlike her mother’s cold and dominating facade Dicentra is very openly warm to those around her. She often times is found conversing with others around her, joyfully asking about things and recounting new stuff she discovered.

Along with this she can be very eager about whatever catches her eye. Leading her to blindly and stubbornly pursue it even at her own detriment (much to her mother’s and Nightshade concern). This has lead to her acting without foresight and acting on the first thing that entered her mind which can have varied results…like biting someone’s hand

Interests and hobbies: journaling, exploration, drawing, dance and song

Once more due to her interest in the world beyond the Amazon lily Dicentra has taken to journaling all she’s learned. When her mother brings her gifts from far off places she enjoys documenting everything she can about it. Of all subjects she loves writing about the most she enjoys exotic Fish, birds and gemstones the most.

Due to her journaling she ends up exploring places quite a bit. From the city of her home to the jungles and mountains she’ll explore. Some of it from blind interest and from plain eager stubbornness

Something gained from her journaling is her hobby of drawing. Though years of practice she’s gotten decent at drawing, though it’s less out of passion and moreso just for proper documentation.

Her real hobbies are that of song and dance. As a princess Dicentra had taken up many hobbies but the two that stuck with her are dancing and song. She enjoys dancing since it’s an active activity and picking up new instruments to learn and play.

She’s particularly fond of the Erhu (I’m taking in some Chinese inspiration due to the Chinese influence of the Amazon lily)

Habits and quirks: Manners, stiff posture, back issues, lack of shoes, playing with her hands, love of berries/fruits and tendency to put others before her

Dicentra as princess (though that title is moreso just a title since the Amazon lily leadership is based on strength rather than bloodline) she was educated to have proper manners. While she’s a tough and tumble kind of girl she still implores these manners in most social situations until she finds something interesting and throws manners to the wind.

Due to these manners she can sometimes also have a stiff posture in mix with her back pains. Hiding her wings is a hassle for her so binding them along with keeping a certain posture as to be sure their hidden is important. When around those she trusts she lets up a bit and is more relaxed but that’s if they know of her wings. If not she keeps up the posture to be sure they won’t be found

As stated above she gets quite a lot of back pain and jolts of discomfort due to her hiding her wings. It’s an unfortunate thing she has to deal with, something all the boa sisters feels guilty about but know it’s for Dicentra’s best interest in the end.

Despite being taught manners Dicentra can’t stand wearing closed toe shoes. She doesn’t mind sandals but she loves being barefoot much to her mother’s ire. Dicentra loves the feeling of grass and sand beneath her feet.

A nervous quirk she has is that she plays with her hands quite a bit.

Also is a giant sweet tooth for things but especially loves Berries, Fruits and her favourite food of peach buns with a custard filling. It’s definitely due to the D trait.

Another tendency she has is for her to value others above herself. As princess though it’s more of a title she believes that her mom and the Amazon lily comes first. She’ll put down or put away her own feelings and ambitions if it means she can’t help others. It’s the reason as to why she stayed in the Amazon instead of exploring like she wanted, why she asks questions about the outside world and sees glimpses of it through stories and objects instead of pursing it herself.

Relationships: Hancock, Marigold, Sandersonia, Nightshade, Rayleigh and Shakuyaku, Gloriosa, Salome and Ouroboros

Hancock: Dicentra has a very strong relationship with her mom and looks up to her as her hero (for various reasons). She loves her mom deeply for both her kindness and dedication to protecting the Amazon lily. She knows deep down her mom is a lot more tender than she lets on but puts up a front to protect everyone else (and herself). Even though dicentra wishes to explore the world she follows her mom’s rules of staying in the Amazon Lily knowing there has to be some reason as to why her mom is so insistent on it. Along with this she follows her mom’s rules of hiding her back and binding her wings even if it’s uncomfortable (something Boa wishes she didn’t have to make Dicentra do but does it out of necessity). Her favourite activity with her mom is having her mom brush her hair

Marigold: Dicentra loves her aunt Marigold but is sometimes a little bit intimidated by her. Granted she knows her aunt would never do anything bad but Marigold is sometimes too stoic for Dicentra to read which makes her nervous she’s doing something wrong. Unbeknownst to her Marigold very much loves her but gets worried of messing up and internally panics because she overestimated herself. Dicentra’s favourite memory with Marigold is when she taught her how to make flower crowns

Sandersonia: Dicentra loves hanging out with her Aunt Sandersonia. Unlike with Marigold Sandersonia is more in tune with her emotions so Dicentra is able to read her better and therefore know if she’s bothering her. If Sandersonia isn’t busy with something she’ll often tag along with Dicentra’s exploring of the Amazon lily and play games together. Dicentra’s favorite thing to do with Sandersonia is petting her aunts zoan tail

Nightshade (another oc): Nightshade is Dicentra’s sworn guard and protector assigned by Hancock herself. Dicentra sees Nighshade as her closest companion and as a big sister to her. Though Nightshade sometimes gets frustrated at Dicentra throwing caution to the wind and running off she knows that Nightshade doesn’t typically get legitimately mad unless something really bad happened. Nightshade beside the Boa sisters is the only one who knows of Dicentra’s wings and origins, something the bodyguard takes in the upmost seriousness. Dicentra knows Nightshade isn’t her original name but hasn’t pushed about the subject. Her favourite thing to do with Nightshade is playing hide and seek.

Rayleigh and Shakuyaku: dicentra knows very little about these two but does hold them in high regard hearing they helped her mom and aunts. The most funny thing about this though is that she has no idea Rayleigh is a male (boa taught her men were ugly evil creatures lol) . She’s never met them but she hopes to one day do so.

Gloriosa: dicentra sometimes sneaks out to see the former empress of the Amazon despite being a “traitor” to learn more about the outside world. Though she doesn’t like how her mom and Gloriosa don’t get along well Dicentra holds respect for Gloriosa.

Salome and Ouroboros: Dicentra adores Salome and all the snakes of the Amazon. Her fight or flight instinct of bite first ask questions later was somewhat developed due to watching Salome when she was younger. Dicentra has a snake of the same species as Salome named Ouroboros, aptly named for its penchant for…eating its tail all the time. No one has any idea why boros does this but Dicentra loves her beloved snake even if all it does is act as a necklace for her half the time. Half the time people don’t notice they’re alive if not for their occasional blinking. She loves petting the scales of Salome and Ouroboros, absolutely loves the texture

(Meme break before getting to serious stuff. Nightshade is also included here)

Backstory

Prologue: Josephine

Dicentra’s birth mother Josephine was a lunarian born on the red line and raised with her people. She lived atop the red line in peace for many years, she was particularly gifted in being a graceful flyer amongst others her age but lacked control of her flames. Despite the peace at a young age she could tell something was coming somehow, she had a sixth sense for that thing (observation Haki). Eventually when her people were massacred to build Mary Geoise atop her ancestral home she was taken by a celestial dragon who wanted one of her kind as “apart of his collection” even though that wasn’t technically allowed. This all happened when she was 15.

For Years Josephine was kept in a cell, wings broken and unable to conjure flames even if she tried due to being underfed and weak. She’d spent so long being toyed with and abused with no relief but an empty cell to return to when she was finished being “useful”. Eventually though she got cellmate in the form of the young Boa sisters. For the first time in years Josephine felt something as she stared at the young girls, mirror showing her how much of a shell of her former self she was. She used to be young and free, used to be afraid and now she had felt nothing in years. And staring into the fearful tear stained eyes of these girls she swore to herself they wouldn’t end up like her. Broken and empty.

In that cell in the span of months turned to years Josephine would do her best to protect the sisters. Though she could not always protect them she was able to lessen their suffering. She cared for them, began to see them as her own just as they began to see her as a mother in this hell. Through her wings were broken she’d use them as blankets for them in the damp cold of the cell. Josephine would share the little food she had with them. She’d also tell them stories of her people who once proudly flew the skies, sang in hushed tones the songs passed on from generation to generation. Hell had at least become bareable

Eventually much to her own fear and horror Josephine became pregnant. It at some point was bound to happen but all the same it horrified her for the fact she knew her child would be killed. A bastard to celestial dragon was purged for the fact of “tainting” their holy blood, and that was just for normal cases. She was a lunarian, the people they purged and were still actively being hunting down from how that devil gloated about “owning such a rare species”. She had to hid this and hope for the best, and that’s what she did with the help of the Boa sisters.

Somehow hiding her pregnancy was a task in of itself but it had been somehow done, but with that came the actual delivery. Weak and Malnourished as she already was without proper medical care in a dark cell wasn’t a good mix. She’s left at deaths doorstep clinging barely to life after the deed was said and done. The only upside to it all was she felt that sixth sense again, things were changing and her daughters would be free. Before letting herself rest she makes the girls promise to never tell her daughter of her heritage, to protect her and love her as she loved them. Tearfully the girls agree, Hancock vowing she’d raise Dicentra as her own. With how Josephine falls asleep the girls believe her to be dead, and in a way she is…but not fully yet

The mass escape of slaves happens and her daughters flee, through this all Josephine laid on deaths door in her cell. She was ok with dying, had for so long dreamt of such a thing, but anger had let her from not dying quite yet. Half dead and powered only by the knowledge she’d die Josephine gets up. Broken wings crack and move, the pain so blinding it became numb. She had to protect her daughters, had to erase all trace of them here lest a trail is somehow left. And despite never knowing to master her flames she ignites because she herself is the kindling. The already aflame Mary geoise is lit with newer more intense fire that burned to the fire. Josephine burns with mother’s rage and a single wish. Cleanse her homeland with flame just as it was meant to be oh so long ago.

Josephine kills her tormentor and bastard of a man who’s father to her daughter, watches the flames bath him in agony as she holds his face in burning hands. Scarlet eyes glaring down at him as everything burned, her once small flickering flame behind her neck so intense and big it hurt to look at and consumed the background. Flesh melts and blood sizzles in her palms. Josephine dies kneeling on the red earth of her home, staring up to the smouldering sky with broken wings and an outstretched hand to the heavens she so loved. Her scream echoes out among flickering flames and chaos, echoes and reverberates into the sky before turning to nothingness. She burns so intensely that nothing of herself and twenty feet surrounding her body is left besides ash, soot and a trail of bloody feathers littering the ground just outside the crater as her scream of agony faded.

Chapter 1: Childhood from the eyes of a mother

Dicentra grows up on a lie just as everyone else of the Amazon lily does. From the time she could walk and speak she’s told of how her mother and aunts slayed a fierce-some gorgon that had killed her birth mother which led to her being adopted. That gorgon cursed her mom, aunts and herself with a curse bared on their backs. For her mom and her aunts it’s an odd symbol and for Dicentra it’s her wings. But all the same Dicentra knows that her mom is her hero (and though that story is a lie it’s still true she’s her hero) and the young princess stared at her mother in awe and such innocence. It’s something that eats Hancock up inside, that she’s lying to her daughter about everything. Of her wings, her lineage and birth mother and yet she made that vow and she won’t go back in it.

All this leads to though is Hancock being fiercely protective of her daughter, not just for the fact of her blood but because she wants better for Dicentra. She wants her daughter to live happy not plagued by the burden and shame that she and her sisters suffers daily. The memories, the pain, the loss of it all. She wants Dicentra to live the life Hancock wished she had, of never being ripped away from a safe and loving home to be hurt over and over again. It’s why she keeps a close eye on her, especially in the early years where everything is still fresh in her mind of the escape. Perhaps she’s a tad overbearing at times but knowing her daughter is happy and safe within the walls of her nation is all that matters. But as time progresses she does become more lenient towards letting Dicentra do things on her own with the only condition being a bodyguard accompanying her.

At 6 Dicentra has Nightshade assigned as her personal bodyguard and protector. Before then it was randomly assigned guards or Salome who took over watching over the already curious and slightly mischievous young girl. Much to Hancock’s displeasure her daughter takes to running off into the jungles of the Amazon but at the same time she can’t help but be happy her daughter takes her freedom in such strive and not forgranted. Dicentra talks of all range of things she came across once she comes home, from rocks she found to bird feathers pressed in pages. Nightshade with now wild tangled hair standing beside Dicentra posed and proper even with a few leaves and sticks lodged in once straight black hair.

By 7 Hancock decides to have Dicentra be taught proper manners and help her find some hobbies that aren’t just running off into the brush. It’s there that Dicentra finds her talent in Dance and playing instruments, she specifically likes playing the Erhu traditionally played in the Amazon lily. It’s a hobby especially Hancock enjoys because it quickly becomes a source of calm when old memories plague her mind. Perhaps a lifetime ago she would’ve picked up the instrument as well, but now she resides herself to listening to old tunes that would play before that fateful day on a ship leaving home. Whilst she listens she holds her daughter, time seems to slip away and for once all is well for those minutes playing song.

At 9 Dicentra begins to do more things around the Amazon lily. Knowing the jungles area and documenting the plants she finds ends up being useful to apothecaries and doctors on the island. Along with this she starts to also help in delivering things and having a hand in public events. It’s here that she begins to realize what being a princess means even if it’s more a title than anything. To the Amazon lily her mom is cold and respected, the citizens of the island fear and love her and Hancock knows this. They don’t see her compassion behind closed doors but Dicentra does. If her mom is the cold and cool leader that in secret cared, then Dicentra would be a sliver in that door for others to see that kindness. She tells the truth, that her mom asked her to try and find ways to help the other kuja women. As princess the women of the island love her and she notices she means something to everyone there. For the women of the island Dicentra is their kind princess in contrast to their lovely but cruel empress, to Hancock Dicentra is what little hope is left in the world.

At 10 the young princess starts asking Hancock more about the outside world and it leaves the empress silently terrified. They aren’t bad questions, moreso just innocent ones of if places she’d been to were like home. But to Hancock they signify the end. She knew from the moment her bright eyed daughter began to run before learning to walk, began looking out to the sea on the horizon and climbed to the tops of the snake statues overlooking the entire tribe she’d one day be curious enough to leave. That this island would become too small to satisfy her need to see and experience the world. A selfish part of her wished that the luxuries she spoiled her with and the nights in which she’d hug her close whilst promising she’d always be safe here would disway her, but Hancock always knew because of the spark in her eyes that she’d one day leave. It terrifies her and yet she knows one day she’ll have to because she can’t take away Dicentra’s freedom just as hers had been taken. But for now she was safe, leaving was in the future but now she was safe in her arms.

By 11 Dicentra waits by the docks as Hancock sets off to yet another warlord meeting that would go nowhere. Hancock when her daughter was younger would leave her with Sandersonia as she and Marigold would set off into the ocean. But Hancock decides that this time her daughter was old enough to last a few days on her own (despite how terror still grips her heart). Nightshade swears she’ll look after the young girl and none of the Boa’s doubt that. Not when the ex-assassin turned bodyguard has the same look Hancock does when the young girl does something as simple as gifting a flower. It’s a look of wanting to protect something so desperately because it was one of the last pieces of kindness in their world. None of the Boa sisters trust easily, especially not Hancock, and especially if it came to her daughter. But Hancock trusted Nightshade, and that was a feat in of itself. And so Hancock sets off on her ship, trusting her beloved daughter to her bodyguard and ex-empress of the Amazon. Though it’s only for a few days Dicentra helps keep things afloat alongside Gloriosa.

Chapter 2: where the story begins

By 13 Dicentra knows the Amazon lily like the back of her hand. She knows every trail, bend of the river and cove there’s to find in the lush landscape populated by snaking vines and flowers. Pollen coats the air in sweet smells as the distinct smell of rain coming sets in for the young princess and her shadow. But the Rowling black clouds did little to dismay the young girl, if anything it only made her more excited as she quickened her pace and hopped over twisting roots. Having a storm in the calm belt was a rare occurrence, the lack of wind and still waters kept for a stagnant environment but once in awhile a storm would drift from the grand line and breeze briefly through the still water and die off. It made for decent rainfall and any occasional change in weather from the hot climate was always something welcome to the young girl. Nightshade would agree in that retrospect, from the few moments she talked of times past was she talked of a place described as an eternal flowering spring, not cold but not yet summer (though apparently a northern area had snow). So Dicentra raced to the many hidden beaches and coves of the Amazon lily.

its towering cliffs her beloved home had many secret coves beside the main waterway into the heart of the city. Many laid forgotten to time, old boats used generations ago laying still in soft sand that crunched beneath her feet. Typically there was no tide at these hidden beaches and coves, just stagnant water lifting at a certain level against the sand. No white foam decorating its edges like lace if not for the storm stirring the waves. She can’t help but giggle at the sensation, even if her stockings got wet in the ordeal. A few feet away nightshade stood as the wind blew past, still and silent yet eased by now dropping of rain on warm skin.

The rain is cool and refreshing, trailing down and leaving hair damp.

But calm only lasts a moment.

Typically when a storm blew through the calm belt it was mild at worst and calm rain at its least. It was almost always that way with nothing to keep feeding its trajectory as it fizzled out and died.

But sometimes depending on how large the storm was prior it could survive long enough to be just as powerful as it was in the grand line.

One second Dicentra is standing at the waters edge basking in the cool rain, the other second she’s dragged in by once cerulean blue waves that became crashing cold darkness. The void encompasses the entirety of her as she’s choked from air and the cold grasping at her bones. Instinct sets in immediately but the shock of near icey waves and pulling current tossing her like a rag doll make it impossible to do so. Helplessly she floats in near darkness as storm clouds blocked out sun and made the waters a chilling void. The image of complete utter darkness as she reaches blindly engraved itself in her mind. Never once has she felt such a fear of the dark. When she was younger she hadn’t feared it, rather was intrigued to explore it instead. But now it grips and drags her down down, down into is abyss.

But then a hand appears from the dark, Nightshade.

Twitchy and icey fingers grasp the stronger hand that then pulls.

She lands on the old rickety boat with a thud and immediately sea water streams out in pained coughs. Wind blows wildly tussling hair as waves crash against the edges of the boat. She can barely see over wet hair clinging to her face but she feels Nightshade hold her for dear life and above the yelling waves her protector screams to hold onto her with all she can.

Dicentra does as says and feels a colossal pain hit her before a once friendly darkness consumes her vision.

Chapter 3: turning point

Waking up is typically a calming routine for Dicentra. If mom wasn’t on a warlord meeting she’d brush sit down with her and her mom would brush her hair. It was a daily tradition, on in which her mother would hum quietly and gently comb through her hair. Sometimes she’d check to see if the pink dye of her hair was loosing its pigment, if so she’d ask if she wanted to leave it natural or dye it once more. Dicentra always opted to dye it again. Crushed up flowers mixed with imported hair products then used to stain once lily White hair again. That was their tradition together alongside at night having mom look at her wings and care for them. Apologizing as she helped her wings molt or placing a soothing cream on the sore hurting appendages. So waking up one morning with sunlight streaming on her face on linen instead of the familiar feeling of silk is odd. Not bad but it doesn’t make sense for a few moments as her sleep plagued brain thought through what had happened.

She remembered a storm, darkness gripping her, coughing up slat water that burned her lungs and then clutching Nightshade for dear life.

Nightshade!

Despite her body feeling like wet bricks Dicentra finds herself dragging herself from the small bed she was laid on. Blindly she reaches out expecting to find her closest companion besides her family. Instead though she meets something else instead.

Nightshade was a lithe person. beautifully strong despite her lack of visible muscles. She used to ask her shadow of a bodyguard how she was able to be so strong without being as muscular as aunty Marigold. The quiet woman would simply hum, saying something about she isn’t strong but has good instincts and reflexes. Point being in all of this the arm she grabbed wasn’t that of Nightshade, it was muscular

“Oh yoi? You’re awake finally.” The voice is weirdly deep and as her eyes adjust Dicentra is faced with someone crouching down to her level. Blue eyes stare at her from behind glasses….this was a weird looking woman.

This is where things would come into motion

I’ll leave it at this for now. But rest assured she has more story

[bad-wingsoffire-ideas]

“Finally we have them all.” You fools… we forgot Darkstalker Legends.

-Darkstalker immediately starts off as this horrible dragon who kicks dogs and sets fire to Whiteout for no reason (because we need at least one major character death in these retellings.)

-Basically this makes him an unnaturally evil character that completely ruins any and all nuance of the original story.

-Don’t worry, Clearsight still falls head over heels for him. In fact, every single word and every single thought she has is about how hot Darkstalker is, even though he tries to kill her the moment they meet.

-When Fathom and Indigo arrive to the night kingdom, there’s this stupid love triangle between Darkstalker, Clearsight, and Fathom. Indigo is a loose end and, since she hates Darkstalker, becomes a villain who dies in the very next chapter where she’s fed to Albatross (he faces zero repercussions for the massacre and is the annoying comic relief for the book.)

-Obviously Arctic is made 100x worse, becoming an alcoholic whose only purpose is to be cruel towards Darkstalker. His backstory is changed where he was actually kidnapped from the Ice Kingdom, yet he’s seen as the worst dragon ever for wanting to leave.

-Oh yea, Foeslayer is also there, but she’s killed by Arctic when Darkstalker and Whiteout are born. We don’t even get her name, we only remember her as “Darkstalker’s mom.” Her death only serves as pity points towards Darkstalker.

-However, halfway in the book suddenly the entire narrative is flipped. Darkstalker is suddenly this uwu soft boy who can do no harm and is just misunderstood.

-Also Darkstalker x Clearsight does happen, but suddenly Clearsight is made the abuser for no reason. Like, she suddenly starts going off on how much she hates him and starts beating him up (despite the invincible scales.) This abuse is only seen as bad when Clearsight does it, not the countless times when Darkstalker beat her up.

-Fathom is heartbroken by Darkstalker choosing Clearsight over him. He says “Nice guys always finish last :((“ and Hyper Beams Darkstalker into the pavement.

-Oh yea the Arctic death scene. That doesn’t happen. Arctic disappears from the story until he just goes up to Fathom at the end and is suddenly the good guy. He tells Fathom that “violence against Darkstalker is not the answer” and freezes him so Fathom can make up (and make out) with Darkstalker in the far future.

-With Clearsight in Pantala, she enslaves the Beetlewings and Leafwings immediately as mentioned in the terrible arc 3. Like she’s suddenly the devil and even the breath of evil is scared of her. Actually you know what? Clearsight created the breath of evil. How? Who cares. Screw it, she starts dating Cottonmouth.

-Lastly, in the future when Peril is supposed to live, Fathom’s frozen corpse drops onto her and splatters her blood everywhere, which starts to melt his ice. Seeing this, Clay and Glory immediately start making out in the most graphic way possible and the whole story goes full circle.

That's still not all, though. We need the Winglets and Dragonslayer.

[vintagerivendel]

OF STARLIGHT AND MADNESS

Adar X oc (Silril )

Sindarin translation Silril: to shine white

warnings for this chapter: brief mentions of loss of life/ fallen people

sindarin translations in this chapter:

Melda: Beloved/ dear

Meleth-nin: My beloved

Word count: 1,500.

Chapter two has 4,000. This just is a start to get the ball rolling. Some backstory things that need to be laid out. because there is no where near enough Adar fics. My normal chapters will be much longer than this. ❤️

Feedback much appreciated so I know you guys want more 💕😅

synopsis: What happens when Adar is separated from the one he loved most in the world. When he thought she had been lost in battle many years ago. Long before he became the man he is today. How will he come to cope with the fact that she doesn’t entirely remember him? That she has all these memories of a man she once and still loves. Yet can not for the life of her put a name to him. He needs her just as much as she needs him. They’ve both changed since last they saw each other and yet? Is their love still as strong?

without further a due please enjoy the first chapter below the cut.

Adar, a man changed from the elf he once was, into something so much more. A change he wasn't entirely understanding of when it had initially happened. Elf t Uruk, there was one person who loved him no matter what he was. The man himself wasn't always cast into darkness.

 One might say. A part of his heart died the day a city fell, a city his own wife had been in when it went down. That day he was led to believe that his Meleda * had fallen. A body he had never found and yet for some reason he wished he had. His light, the one he never had the chance to show his children to. Their children, Adar wanted them to be their children and it pained him every day to know that it would never happen. The pair themselves always wanted children, tried forr them many times and yet? They always seemed to wind up with nothing. In the end for them it didnt matter. As long as he had her he had been happy.

—

The downfall of a city meant the loss of many lives, lost many to the faded memories of what that place used to be. Silril had been lost to time itself for a while, having sustained injuries that would kill a normal human and yet have no effect on a full blooded elven warrior or commoner. However she was neither. 

Having been born as one of the very first half elven half human the answers for her fate would for the most part be a mystery. A mystery to everyone, including herself. Though Silril was not lost entirely, some of her memories were. The injuries she sustained took time for her to heal. Injuries that left her memory in near shambles, leaving her to try and put the pieces back together as best she could.

 These memories haunted her day in and day out as there were many she couldn't always understand. As much as she desperately strived to, there were some that Silril could never finalize. Then there were others that were so vividly clear she could make out completely. A face of the one she loved most in all of middle earth., yet no name seemed to come along with it. No matter how hard she tried to dig for it. A face she so desperately wanted to get back to, no matter where he was or what that meant.

 Silril soon became a nomad. Doomed to roam the land alone in search of something she wasn't entirely guaranteed to find again. For all she  knew this face, the face that haunted her dreams could already be long gone. However the memories of him, of the two of them kept her going.Visiting lands, places and people she never even dreamed of doing her entire life up until now. Not quite knowing what to search for and still she went. It wasn't normal for an elf let alone a half elf to travel alone. Normally it was at the very least in pairs and yet? For Silril she traveled alone. Alone was the only thing she could do, seeing as how not many believed that what she was in search of was still alive, still standing. 

The doubt that others tried to cloud her mind with did at times leave her wondering, questioning, if he would even still want her after apparently all this time. However, time passed differently for elves and half elves. Something most humans wouldn’t even begin to understand. What seemed like years on end for a human, passed by much quicker for an elf as they were bound to middle earth far longer than most humans could ever dream of. Still because of their doubt it left her wondering, curious to know that after all this time, after the years of travel that had changed her. He still missed her as much as she missed him.

 It was life time after life time until now, unbeknownst to her, her luck would soon change. Everything she searched for and had been searching for was within arms reach and she just had to keep going. Moving in the direction she was already on now. Perhaps things happened for a reason. Perhaps some force kept them apart until now, until the moment they both absolutely needed one another. Until the both of them could no longer stand it.

 In her travels Silril soon found herself at the mercy of many orcs. Orc that for some reason, insisted upon her capture rather than her death even after she had tried to fight them off. A scratch here and there, but nothing detrimental to her health. The most harm that came to her was a small cut across her cheek. Killing one or two of them as she initially thought that, that was what they were trying to do with her.

Instead the only thing she could make out while they talked amongst themselves, was the fact that they kept insisting. No, demanding that she be taken to their Lord- father as they called him. Silril herself wasn't exactly paying all that much attention to any of them. Merily she was trying or rather attempting and failing to get out of the bonds they had put her in, in order to move her. That didnt stop her from squirming and arguing with them to let her go.

 It wasn't until after one had decided to shove her roughly to the ground that she stopped bothering. If they set her down in one place then she most definitely had no chance of fighting back and escaping alive. The best course of action was for her to wait this out, see what this all was all leading up to. Out of the corner of her eye she saw one scamper off and out of whatever makeshift tent they had stuck her in. Presumably to retrieve their master after informing him of whatever little story they could come up with considering it was them who had come across her path. Not the other way around, she had been brought here against her will.

 It wasn't long before a tall figure entered the makeshift tent that held what appeared to be a small throne they had set up. A throne room maybe? All of this was based on assumptions considering she didnt get a good look at the camp itself. The tent itself had no bedrolls so she didnt believe anyone would be sleeping there overnight.

 The figure of a man had entered quietly, assessing the situation at hand before him as he made his way towards the only seat in the room. Merily to get a better look at the person or rather woman his children had brought into their camp for him to make the final decision. Someone who he assumed had no clue of the lands she had just crossed into. Especially given the fact that she had crossed into them alone. A rather unusual thing to do if he was completely honest. 

Adar’s eyes widened in shock the second her face had come into view. A face he had not seen in quite some time, had now fallen before him once more. The face of a women he had thought was taken from him so cruelly long ago. Half elves could live long lives, could live just as long as any other elf. But Silril, he had always worried about her, to him she was as fragile as the fallen snow. She was his and he had vowed to always protect her. Now he felt as though he had failed her after all these years apart. It had him wondering what would have happened to her had he just looked for her a little while longer than he had the first time. 

“ Leave us. “ Adar was quick to dismiss every one of them. Not something he normally did but in this instance he had to. Having  to speak to her alone first was the only logical thing he could come up with in the moment. What he was going to say to her first  however, was a complete mystery to him. Especially now as she just sat there staring at him. As if Silril was having a hard time pinpointing who he was to her memories.

Adar had to say something, anything as he couldn’t just stand there staring her down for all of eternity. As much as he wanted to stand there and commit her to his memories all over again he knew he had to speak up. Let her know she was safe, secure under his protection now that he had her back within his grasp again. 

“ Meleth-nin… “

tsglist:

@zoya-olenko

@sheepeesh

@amusicfreak

@eowyn7023

@malanix81

@greengirl0509

[crazyk-imagine]

I Mean It

Pairing: Anthony Bridgerton x Fem!reader Characters: Fem!reader, Daphne Bridgerton, Anthony Bridgerton, Benedict Bridgerton, Colin Bridgerton, Simon Basset Warnings: Fluff, cringey content, this has been in my drafts for a while, it’s more modern than our classic Bridgerton time, I manage to write the most heartfelt sentences a man could say like five minutes before I have to go to work, no regrets for this bad boy, anthony and the reader denying their feelings, anthony breaks so he can have the reader, daphne and benedict are very proud of their plan, vague backstory for readers ex, the reader being the smartest when it comes to bridgerton sibling fights, I hope you all can find it in you to enjoy this  Word Count: 2,662

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“Another line left in yet another book for you, I see,” Daphne teases you. 

You roll your eyes. “Would it hurt you to quiet down.” 

“Yes, truthfully. It would.” 

“You exaggerate.” 

“I do but only because you don’t want to try and figure out who it is? Or even suspect that maybe it could be-” 

“It’s not him, stop trying to bring it up every time we’re here.” 

She opens the door, gesturing for you to go inside. “Chickens first.” 

You narrow your eyes at her, “rude.” 

“I am not rude. I merely, tell the truth.” 

“Like I believe that.” 

“Believe whatever you want but when your secret admirer comes to light. and it is A-” 

“Good morning, ladies,” her older brother greets with a smile, having some idea that he was interrupting but not seeming to care (or so he lets you believe). 

“Good morning to you too, Anthony,” she returns with the same upbeat he had in his tone, only stressing his name as she turns back to you. 

You ignore her and smile, nodding your head to greet him. 

“Daphne, you have five minutes before your shift.” 

Her head snaps in his direction. “What? Why? I have more than five minutes before I start.” 

“That was until you started showing up late and not staying to lock when I needed you to.” 

“But I had plans before coming in and you know that.” 

“I do, which is why your lucky mother doesn’t know about what’s going on right now. I ask that you start your shift now because I need you to take over, okay? I need to be able to focus and give my full attention to the next wave of customers to come in.” 

“Kind as ever, Anthony.” 

They give each sarcastic smiles before she runs off toward the back of their family’s shop. 

You’ve always loved coming here, not just because of the company but because it has each family member’s touch. 

You have Anthony as the head of everything, making sure everything runs smoothly. 

Benedict creating news pieces to put up for display or customers to buy. 

Colin... he’s not as much involved as a few of the older siblings, but he does help out when it comes to calming down a particularly angry customer. Now that you think about it, he’s more of a diffuser than anything. 

Daphne is basically a manager assistant but doesn’t work like it, she likes working in the book section of the store (not just because it gives her an excuse to have girl talk with Eloise and vice versa). 

None of the other siblings have yet to step into the role of working here, nor have they talked about it. None of the older siblings seem to mind, if they decided they don’t want to (maybe Eloise, but even then, she’s just teasing them). 

You realize you’ve been too lost in your thoughts. 

Daphne shakes her head, knowing that you have, in fact, gotten lost in your thoughts and Anthony could care less. 

With her other friends, he’d be grumpy and force them away from the door slash the edge of the register-counter combo but with you, it’s an entirely different story and she doesn’t know how you don’t see it. 

No matter how hard she tries to persuade you into knowing that he does, in fact, feel the same. It just means she has to try harder and open your eyes. 

Anthony moves you away from the doors, not wanting anyone to bump into you. He lightly shakes your shoulders, wanting you to stop looking dazed. 

You owlishly blink, “what?” 

He narrows his eyes, furrowing his brows in confusion. “You were thinking about something.” 

“Was I?” 

“Definitely.” 

“Sorry, I’ll just- I'm going to get out of your hair.” 

He opens his mouth to argue but you halfway away from him before he could. 

-

“How was your morning interaction with Anthony?” 

You shrug, “fine.” 

“He’s still staring.” 

“No, he’s not.” 

“He is.” 

“I don’t believe you.” 

She chuckles, restocking the bookshelf. “Then look for yourself.” 

You pout, furrowing your brows in annoyance. “I will.” 

Anthony turns away as fast as he can, immediately helping the next customer to walk through the door. 

“He wasn’t.” 

“He was.” 

You’ve never been one to give into her ideas, she thinks it’s because you don’t see it, but the truth is, you don’t want to give in and get hurt. 

Your previous boyfriend was a bit of a, what’s the right phrase... ah, right, a dick. 

He was nice in the beginning, treated you like you were a princess which included saying and doing all the right things. 

But things slowly took a turn, and he wasn’t as nice, he never laid a hand on you, but he ruined the mental image yourself and it took a while before you told Daphne about what happened... or even went over to the Bridgerton household after you two parted. 

None of her brothers know, you were barely brave enough to tell Violet what happened. 

Another reason Daphne feels you and Anthony would be good together, she knows he won’t treat you wrong; he’d take care of you and won’t let you down. 

“Do you want to have dinner tonight?” 

“What are you thinking?” You ask her. 

“Something filling but not too expensive.” 

“That could be anything,” you giggle. 

“I know.” 

-

Benedict nudges Anthony, as the latter’s lips curve upward as he watches you look happy. “Ask her out.” 

“I can’t.” 

“Chicken.” 

“Get back here you lit- hi, welcome to the B-Ton Store.” 

-

Daphne texts you that she can’t make it and sent you something better. 

A knock on the door pulls you away from the TV, you’re still unable to decide what you want to watch tonight. 

You look through the peephole and are surprised to see another Bridgerton at your door. “Anthony?” 

“Sorry, I just- Daphne told me you’d be here alone and I- mother told me to come over.” No, she didn’t. 

“Oh, okay. Come on, come on in.” 

“Or I could- I could leave?” 

“No, this is better than what I had planned.” 

“Not going out tonight?”

“Exactly.” 

“I see you have some bags with you,” you comment. 

“Observant, aren’t we?” 

“Don’t be mean, Anthony. I am starving and you interrupted me.” 

“Were you cooking?” 

“Not exactly.” 

“So, I didn’t interrupt.” 

“That’s rude of you to say.” 

“I brought your favorites.” 

“My favorites?” 

“Yes.” 

“And how would you know my favorites?” 

“Please, you’ve been to our family home so many times, I think it would be a crime if I didn’t know what you liked.” 

You resist the urge to smile. “Let’s go set these down in the kitchen.” You try to grab a bag from him, but he pulls away. 

“I know where it is and I am a gentleman, I won’t let you carry any of these.” 

“Anthony-” 

“No.” 

You sigh and follow him. 

“Go sit in the living room and find a movie or something I can tolerate because I know you were watching one of those romance movies, I can’t watch any tonight.” 

“Why not?” 

“Francesca and Hyacinth forced me to watch one too many this weekend.” 

“Oh, okay. So, I’m going to go and find all of mine.” 

He lets out a fake chuckle, secretly watching as you walk out of the kitchen. He shakes his head and starts setting up the plates. 

You click off the movie you were watching before and search for a comfort movie of yours. 

He enters, handing you your plate and setting his beside you while he runs into the kitchen to grab drinks before setting down beside you. 

“I told you; you don’t need to serve me here. You’re the guest.” 

“It’s okay. I got it.” He sits down beside you. “What are we watching?” 

“Something.” 

“Oh, I see. I feed you and you don’t tell me what we’re going to watch.” 

“Exactly.” You don’t think you’ve ever been alone with him before and it’s nice, usually you two are civil towards one another but this, this just feels different. 

You glance to the side when you hear his voice mumbling along to the words. “Do you-" You hesitate in the middle of the question, unsure how he'd react if you do. 

He doesn't move and before you know it, you're asking him. 

"Do you know the lyrics to this?” He pauses, not wanting to answer you but he knows you and you aren’t the kind to stop asking until you get an answer. “A few lines," he answers vaguely. 

“More like all of them.” 

You bounce in your seat. “When did you learn them?” 

He shrugs, pushing himself off the couch, taking your plates into the kitchen. The corner of his lips twitch at your excitement, suddenly his sister’s pestering doesn't seem like it was as torturous as he thought. 

You don’t care to pause the TV as you follow him. “You can’t just avoid the question. You know more than Daphne does and she’s seen this more times than I could count.” 

“I- I don’t know. I heard… you listen to it and it sort of... got stuck in my head.” 

“So, you played it until you somehow knew all the words, didn’t you?”

“I’m not going to answer you.” 

“Why not?” You whine. 

He shakes his head. 

You take a step closer, leaning against the counter. 

"You should go back and watch the rest of your movie." 

"But I want to know when you learned all the words." 

"Just," he sighs. "Go back into the living room and maybe we'll talk." 

"Anthony." 

He sets the plate in the dish drain before wiping his hands on the dish towel you keep beside the sink. "I will not ask you again." 

You don't know where this change in behavior came from, but you don't... not hate it. 

"Fine, you really want to know?" 

You nod even though he's not facing you. 

He spins around, setting the dish towel back in its place. "I learned because my sister's longest and closest friend always sounds so- there aren't enough words for me to use to even begin describing how lovely you sound while singing along." 

He takes a step forward. "You also have no idea how much you're in my head. It drives me insane almost because I wake up and think of you. I go to bed, and I think of you. Before I realized what I feel for you, I hated you." 

You furrow your brows and thin your lips as if you're in pain. 

"But when I talked to my mother about it." He leans against the counter with one hand close to you. "She told me it's not hate, it's love. She also told me to stop acting like a fool but here I am." 

Your brows shoot up in surprise, you turn to give him your undivided attention. "Anthony?" 

"I learned all the words to that musical that's still playing because I wanted us to have more in common. I wanted you to know that I can and will learn all that I can so that I may be closer to you because this- this relationship you have with my family is worth too much to lose." 

The warmth on your cheek isn't just from his confession, he cradles your cheek as if you'll break. "I don't want to scare you with how deep my feelings for you are, so I'll start with saying I like you more than a friend or family friend. I want to-" 

"To what?" 

"I told you I don't want to scare you." 

"What if," you gulp. "What if it won't? I mean, what if I actually like it and you just think I won't." 

"Is that what you truly feel?" 

"I-" 

"Because I think you're acting tough, and you don't mean it. I think you're pretending to want to know just so you can have an excuse to turn me down." 

"What do you take me for?" 

He leans in, "someone who denies themselves the right to be happy." 

"I- No. You're wrong. I am plenty happy." 

"But you can have more." 

"Why are you pushing this so much?" 

"So, you can stop being sad." 

That certainly surprised you. "You deserve nice things too. Even as much as finding the one you'd be able to spend the rest of your life with." He pulls away and you crumble. 

"What if I did find him and it took me a while to realize it?" 

"Do you think you'd be happy with me?" 

You nod. "I know I would." 

He stands in front of you, blocking you, evidently trapping you in between his arms as he leans in and smiles; not moving any further, not wanting to pressure you. 

You know that too which is why you're equally as shocked when you pull him in for a (long awaited) kiss. 

One of his hands slides away from the counter to hold onto your waist, keeping his other on the counter. He smiles at you. "Do you want to go back into the living room and finish your movie?" 

The corners of your lips twitch. "Maybe." 

"Come on," he mumbles, guiding you with one hand resting on your low back. 

You don't know why you're feeling so shy all of a sudden. 

You two sit back down and rewind to where you were before his confession, only this time, you’re not as far from the other. 

You curl into his side, mouthing along to the words as his voice travels through your ears. 

-

Daphne knocks on the door, arriving earlier than you expected, curious as to what happened between the two of you but also because you have plans for lunch before going to her family home. 

She groans and hangs up the phone again, her patience is wearing thin. She knocks on your door harder than before. “It’s me, open up before your neighbors think I’m a burglar.” 

The door swings open, her jaw drops at the sight of Anthony with you curled into his side. 

“Well, well. Now I know why you haven’t answered your phone.” She lets herself inside, leaving her brother to close the door. “We have plans, say goodbye to your girlfriend so we can get ready and then go out to lunch.” 

“Is it where I made your reservation for?” 

“Of course.” 

“I’m coming too.” 

She whines, “no you’re not.” 

“I’m hungry too and it’s under my name. You would have forced me to come sooner or later.” 

“But that was before last night.” 

He raises his brows. 

“You two are a couple now and I won’t have enough time to spend with my friend because you’ll be dragging her around with you.” 

“I won’t be dragging her-” 

“Fine, coupley things.” 

“You can do coupley things with Simon.” 

“It’s not the same.” 

“What if,” you interrupt the two. “What if we go out together?” 

They both are ready to object when you quickly add, “you, me, Anthony, and Simon? We’re going to your family’s home anyway, why not all four of us hangout?” 

Neither of them object, seemingly going along with your idea. “Good. Daphne and I will get ready while you go back to yours then we’ll meet at the restaurant?” 

He nods, pulling back into his grasp. “I’ll leave on one condition.” 

“What’s that?” You ask with a smile. 

“A simple kiss.” 

You peck his lips. 

“That’s not what I meant.” 

Daphne lets out a fake gag as the two of you make out. 

“Go away, Anthony. You’ll see her again soon.” 

Once he’s left, she drags you into your room. “Tell me everything.” 

“Daph!” You chuckle. 

“Spill.” 

“No.” 

“Come on,” she whines as you walk into the bathroom. 

“I don’t kiss and tell.” 

“Oh!” She chuckles, “fine. I’m just happy he stopped leaving you those notes.” 

“He what?” 

“Nothing. Nothing. Finish getting ready.” 

[citylighten]

My Pietro and Sal gameplay have both been interesting and led to me having so many different headcanons. I’ve always struggled playing Fallout 4 because my main gripe is that I can’t recreate ANY oc want due to them having a set backstory and dialogue that reinforces certain plot things, but Pietro has a pretty good Sole Survivor AU. He's canon divergent though. More undercut!

-Pietro Impellizzeri was an notorious and powerful gangster Pre-War. He’s similar to Vito Corleone of The Godfather in the sense that he immigrated to America as a child and rose to the top of his community’s underworld.

-He had crossed paths with the human Nick Valentine on numerous occasions over ‘missing people’ as well as a ‘dirty money trail,’ but Pietro always knew how to throw the detective off. They were neither enemies nor friends, just merely people who kept a tense eye on one another.

-As a Boss, in terms of his conduct, Pietro was a composed, fair man but he was also known to be ruthless when the situation called for it. Outside of public events, he was seldom seen. If his men saw him it meant something bad was going to happen. Despite having such affluence and respect, Pietro's over-indulgence in the finest things (liquor, media, women) kept him blind to the things going wrong in his personal life.

-Pietro was married to Jasmine, who was a pinup model before marrying him. Their marriage was based on sex, possession and material interests. Ultimately, Pietro was a largely inattentive husband due to the demanding nature of keeping things afloat in his criminal empire.

-As a nuclear war approached, Jasmine began a series of affairs with men. Some powerful, some were Pietro’s enemies. Her wrongdoings ranged from supplying large sums of money to her lovers, to telling inside secrets. There came a moment, days before the bomb dropped, when Pietro (at his limit) considered murdering his wife. However, this did not come to be as the bombs fell over America.

-Needless to say, when Kellogg shoots Jasmine, Pietro feels guilt. Yes, he was plotting to murder her, but he knew that line of thinking wasn’t right. He doesn’t come into the Wasteland in the pursuit of being a better, kinder man, instead his decent actions come largely from the need to survive and understand the world he’s in.

Whereas Sal comes out Vault 111 ready to murder and massacre anyone in Eve’s name, Pietro’s mentality is: “I need to understand what civilization is like now. I need to know who is in charge of things.” Especially because since Pietro has been at the top for so long, it’s been years since he was doing dirty work for himself, let alone personally killing others on a continuous basis.

-When Pietro meets Nick Valentine there’s tension. But, they recognize they need each other to find Shaun, however there isn’t full trust between the men. Gradually, as the two spend more time together, Nick believes that Pietro can become a good man in this new world and often pushes the idea that Pietro is kind. Pietro does not believe himself to be kind, because he’s not burying the man he used to be before the bombs fell.

-There are times when Nick and Pietro split and his companions become MacCready, who reminds him of a lackey he would’ve used Pre-War, and Preston, who is yet another character who believes there’s an inner goodness in him. As a result of Preston and Nick - plus an envy for the mayor of Diamond City, Pietro decides to invest time in building the Minutemen and building settlements to lead. Despite possessing aspirations to lead, Pietro is shifting morally. Often, Nick helps him on Minutemen quests which strengthens their relationship.

-While helping settlements, Pietro meets Rosaria at Covenant. The woman is a secretary for Jacob Orden, the town’s mayor. Even when Pietro seems like he could be trouble for the settlement, she helps him learn more about the Amelia Stockton case with her insider information. After that, she leaves Covenant to affiliate herself with the Minutemen, which allows Pietro to see her more often. Time with Rosaria [who enjoys farming] has Pietro nostalgic about Sicily and as a consequence, he grows to enjoy things about nature as well as treasure the present he gets to spend with her.

-And that’s all for now because I haven’t completed his run yet 😘

[randybutternubber]

Yippee!!! OC time! This is Angel!

(Art made with a Picrew)

She's a LN child, except due to the weird screwiness of The Nowhere, she has wings. She's 10 years old and isn't very good at flying, but she still can as a last resort. She likes helping other kids, usually by causing a distraction while using her wings to stay out of danger. She can still be knocked out of the air by ranged attacks tho, such as The Butlers telekinesis, The Hunters gun, The Viewers sonic screech attack, etc.

Backstory:

She was raised in a place called The Aviary, run by a monster called The Keeper. The Keeper had extremely long and thin arms and legs, paired with a tiny torso and very tall head. It would keep children contained in cages extremely high above the ground. Occasionally, it would take one and drop it from a massive height, seemingly trying to teach them to fly. Most children died on impact. Those who didn’t were taken and put into individual cages, closer to the center, where they were “cared for” more thoroughly by The Keeper, until they died from their injuries soon after. Angel, due to her wings, is the only one who survived without injury. She had tried to fly away, but had been caught by The Keeper, who seemed overjoyed at a true success. It had taken her and placed her in the pride of place, a golden cage in the middle of the Aviary. It always pays special attention to her, bringing her more food and little gifts, as well as taking the time to stroke her wings or head. Basically treating her like a beloved pet. She hates it. She doesn’t like being caged, she finds The Keeper revolting, and she is incredibly lonely. 

She often watches the other children grouped in the other cages, taking note of how they, while far from being happy, share a sense of companionship with one another. One of them talked to her once. He was close enough that they could speak to each other. He was the one who had given her her name, saying she reminded him of stories he’d heard about Guardian Angels. However, The Keeper had walked in while the two of them were mid-sentence, and upon witnessing their conversation, it had immediately “tested” the boy. Angel can still remember the screams as the boy fell, and the sickening crack as he hit the floor. She’d stared in shock as The Keeper had picked up his limp body off the floor, before opening its mouth and sliding the boy in. It was only when she felt The Keepers hand patting her wings that she fully processed what had happened, breaking down and crying. She never tried to speak to another kid again, and they never tried to speak to her either. She tells herself that it wasn’t her fault, that he would’ve died eventually anyway, but sometimes despair overwhelms her to the point that this isn’t enough. After The Keeper dies (TBD) and she and the others escape, she feels even worse about it, wondering if he would’ve lived long enough to escape if it weren’t for her.

This is all I've got rn! Feel free to ask questions! And thanks for reading this! :D

I LOVE THIS!!!

I like the idea of that sort of twisted affection the keeper has for angel, she’s his prized pet, not a person or his child, just a pet.

I also can’t imagine the sort of guilt and pain from that kind of self imposed isolation that she endured. In a way, I’m sure a lot of ln kids probably have similar experiences causing some to be very closed off to communication. Not to mention the idea of “being alone in a room full of life” that’s going on with her being surrounded with other children yet ultimately being forced to not interact with them for their own safety and still being forced to watch them to fall to their deaths.

She’s in a literal prison made of gold. I also love the irony of her having wings yet still being trapped. In a terrible way, the very thing that saved her from dying while falling was what led to her being not just imprisoned again, but special in a terrible, terrible way.

If you have any more refs for her I’d love to draw her some time. Feel free to visit my ask box or dm me any time I’m always open to talking

[bredrawz]

Which oc of yours has the most character lore?

(Also hiii I'm so glad you liked my artfight drawing 😋)

vikki and glume have the most lore out of my ocs (for all my current ocs)

even ocs within their universe arent as fleshed out! all the ocs and some of their spoiler-free info are on my art fight page, but all of my current ocs are linked into one universe so heres a ranking of how much lore each character has:

1 - Vikki

this girl definitely has more lore considering her ghost seeing abilities adding onto her character

1 - Glume

being the main protagonist of the universe she almost ties with vikki with how much lore she has. but since vikki has supernatural powers i think shed be considered to have more but these two are at a. lose equal tbh

3 - rose and edric

will not give any info on their roles in the story but they definitely have their own story i have thought out

4 - nancy and eleanor

youve seen nancy on my art fight but she has a supporting story as she was the previous wife of edric, but she doesn’t have too much lore and is just simply mentioned in the comic (thats as much as ill say regarding her). as for eleanor, you’re all just hearing about her today but to prevent spoiling my own comic before its even published… ill just say she has a backstory lol

5- eli

i hate him but think hes so silly at the same time. hes not spoken too much about in the comic but does have a few appearances, i’ll definitely make minicomics with him but despite not much being said about him in the book he actually has a history with glume and an entire profile on their equivalent to twitter where he posts about being an “alpha male” unironically. no, he cannot name 5 soap brands.

6- mark

hes a dead sassy asshole who has a backstory of his life that isnt really explored in the comics besides a small summary since he isnt too important plotwise. but again, along with the other characters with little appearances i might make minicomics oitside the book for him.

7- summer

little is explained about her life besides her occupation and a reference to how she died

8- violet and kevin

more character new to the public but they have a bit of lore and these kids wont be featured in the book but if theres a book two i might add them in. honestly they were made after i finished writing out the full story, i just wanted to expand the universe for funsies yk

9- anne

i feel bad this queen is so low on the list since i love her but i havent thought of a proper backstory for her. all i have is shes glumes sister and is used to kinda bring out glumes character more and is a supporting character. her backstory wouldnt even be relevant in the story as shes a background/sligh side character, but she still deserves one (all the characters that remain vague on lore do)

10- the bathroom ghost

no this is not hanako, in fact, this dude is not even close to being as cool. i cant say much but theyre bland and you only hear about their death. theyre yet another character that is new to the public.

if you actually listened through my ramblings about my ocs congrats, heres a cookie 🍪

if you’re interested in the comic tumblr is the place to be since i’ll probably talk about it most here

for those curious about the current state of Paranormal (my comic), i’ve decided to do all the bases traditionally. i filled two sketchbooks with a rough draft, but now im working on the actual comic itself on a new sketchbook. its fairly small so once i finish it, ill transfer that book to digital, then get new ones of the same size, and work on the comic segment by segment. honestly itll make the process seem smaller than it is so ill get done faster (i think idk). but so far im moving fast and the style changed again. i might post a sneak peak on here.

feel free to ask questions regarding Paranormal, the characters, or even specifically one character youre interested in.

okie bye :p

[chibivesicle]

Trigun Stampede - Episode 6 - Wolfwood’s tragic backstory, now? Eeeehh?

Episode 6 dropped yesterday and I had only enough time to watch but not anything else.  After watching it, I just felt meh wringing my hands about how when I first heard about the reboot at Anime Expo last summer I was so stoked for a more through Trigun anime.  And we get this version from Studio Orange which I really wanted to be an enjoyable watch - buuuuuut - meh.  You’re killing me Studio Orange.

Since I didn’t have time to get to it yesterday, I pestered my good meta friend Merdopseudo to see what she thought as well, so I’ll be highlighting some of her points here as well since she’s great at catching things I miss or summarizing well.  As indicated by my summary title, I’m quite confused why they decided to lead with Wolfwood’s even more tragic backstory in this version of Trigun than in the manga.

We start off the episode with a fleeing masked member of the Eye of Michael (though they haven’t been named yet) who tries to kill Wolfwood and fails as he destroys the man.

We get even red eyes as he lines up his aim before the man dies.  And he’s wearing his sunglasses even at night!  Wow, maximum badass.  Why? Wolfwood needs to be a maximum badass, that’s why. Furthermore, so many scenes in this anime seem to feature full moons all the time.  Just an observation.

After the opening we return to the quartet in the November News Bureau SUV.  In the backseat, Vash and Wolfwood are pouting over something and Meryl jokingly asks if they are having a spat over candy.

This line feels like it was delivered in poor taste.  I get she’s trying to defuse the situation but are we to think this is due to Wolfwood shooting Rollo - last night?  Or a few days prior?  What is our pacing? What day of the week is it?  How much time has passed?  Any clue would help us out here Studio Orange.  I’m going to take the easiest option and say that they are pouting about the fact that Wolfwood killed Rollo - last night.

Roberto then suggested that they need to finish their job.  This would mean abandoning the SUV and taking the Sandsteamer to July and I guess check in with a Bureau office there?

He’s clear that he wants Meryl to take the steamer but it was vague if he was going to go with her or if he wanted her to take it for safety. Uncle info dump isn’t info dumping this episode much.

They end up separating from Vash and Wolfwood who both board the Sandsteamer.   Wolfwood gives Vash shit for seeming to have no emotional connection to Meryl and Roberto - which really it a valid reply.  It hasn’t been that many days that Vash has known them.

It has been even less time for Wolfwood to know Vash and he’s sticking to him like crazy glue, again being an ass.  Honestly, there is NO chemistry between Vash and Wolfwood in this version, Vash runs and tries to not kill people and Wolfwood gives him shit and kills people.

Meanwhile, Meryl is working hard to convince Roberto that they need to continue to track the Humanoid Typhoon.  Interestingly, that she doesn’t call him Vash, but by his destructive nickname here.  She pulls out the photo with young Rollo asking Roberto if he’s scared.

We don’t get a clear answer from Roberto if he’s actually afraid - I felt he isn’t afraid of Vash per se, but instead realizes that his youthful appearance is some sort of indication that dangerous stuff surrounds him.  More that he wants to avoid Vash out of a sense of - I dunno - not dying.  This episode will frequently use the word monster to describe Wolfwood a lot and Vash as well.  This is the writers trying to get us to connect the two of them and make us feel that they should be friends and a dynamic duo - which they aren’t currently.

We see people at the Ferry Terminal waving to those on the steamer which in this version is called the Humpback.  Interesting shift, as in the original the Sandsteamer was known as the Flourish and was a Humpback class.

In other versions, children were excited when it came, being Sandsteamer nerds.  I’ve been following too many historical sewing/clothing youtubers for the past few years and I keep getting vibes that the clothing for normal people in this sci fi series is more 1910s-1920s and not late 19th century western dress.  The boater hats, suspenders, knickers, newsboy caps, lack of women with bustle action etc.  I know it is a future sci fi series, but it does seem that they tried to modernize the clothing to at least be early 20th century to fit the sci fi vibe more.

On the steamer there is a route map telling use they are leaving the Terminal - which literally is just a single terminal in the desert?  What?  Ports develop around such locations but this is just a terminal. 

It is also hilarious that the Terminal starts somewhere in ‘Central America’ crosses part of the Great Sand Ocean, there is the Hopeland Orphanage in ‘Africa’ stops West of ‘India’ and then loops around ‘Australia’ only to reach July in ‘Southern China’.  Really guys, you just took a world map and smooshed and distorted the proportions.  We also get to see a tall man with the modified Zia-Cross symbol of the Eye of Michael in Stampede. 

Back when I first saw the early previews, I caught a glimpse of what was his back in an action shot and my first thought was - what? Are they using a Zia in the anime when it has some important symbolic meanings?

Stampede has been clear it has shifted very far away from the Christian aspects of the original work.  Since this is based on a Western style anime/manga we get this mixed vague symbol which I’m certain is a visual hybrid with the Zia.  If one were to travel through the Southwest as a tourist, you would inevitably see a Zia in some form with the most obvious being that of the New Mexico state flag.  The flag is yellow with the red Zia in the center representing the Zia sun symbol.  This symbol originated from the Zia Pueblo but has come to include more Pueblo groups, Hispanic native New Mexicans to just New Mexicans.  You live in New Mexico?  Lots of government documents, logos and all sorts of stuff will have a Zia symbol.

A simple way to summarize it is that it captures New Mexico culture - for example a cycling racing team is known as Zia Velo and they represent southern New Mexico.  However, if the Zia is applied out of a New Mexico/Pueblo context things get stickier.  I also think with a Japanese audience, a symbol which is built on groups of four wouldn’t work for the viewers so they took elements of the Zia from a Southwest inspired image board and called it good.  Four is the number of death for East Asians versus for the Zia, four is a scared number that captures key elements of life.

Anyhoo, I got distracted by the interesting looking symbol for the religious group on our desert planet.

Vash finally gets around to directly asking Wolfwood what his job is and he replies that he’s babysitting him. From Wolfwood we can understand that it is his ‘job’ to make sure Vash gets somewhere.  Or at least those are the orders that Wolfwood has.

Their conversation doesn’t get very far since Livio appears on the scene almost immediately and shoots at both of them.  We have a much more clean cut and slick looking Livio with a slim build and his two smaller guns along with a modification on his face and a mechanical sounding eye.

Vash fights back and it able to get close enough to fire at point blank range, but of course doesn’t.    We know he doesn’t want to pull that trigger, but it seems none of his modified opponents could care if they are in a tight spot.

It takes a little bit of time for Wolfwood to recognize who this man is and it ends with him asking if he is Livio before the title screen flashes. 

The anime then takes a shift to a 2D style of animation with silent film style titles showing how Livio came to the orphanage and Wolfwood was the longer taking care of the ostriches.

As Livio settles in, Wolfwood becomes his friend trying to get the crybaby to stop feeling sad at missing his parents.  He gets him to help out in the bird pen, and there is a cute sequence of them becoming childhood friends.

Older Wolfwood, tries smoking like an adult all cool and shares it with Livio who coughs.  We get a close up of Wolfwood running off with Livio hand in hand where in this flashback Wolfwood has a much darker skin tone in contrast to Livio being exceptionally pale.

We get it, there was a time when Wolfwood was cute and he was friends with Livio.   The flashback goes back to the present and Meryl and Roberto chasing after the sandsteamer when the Bad Lads gang shows up on sand sail boats.

They are taking this idea of the Great Sand Ocean quite literally and I don’t know how I feel about this.  I’m still wondering why it even exists but this is a sci fi desert series paying homage to lots of other sci fi desert tropes.

Interestingly, we have no idea if the Bad Lads Gang have taken Meryl and Roberto hostage, just that they’ve been surrounded.  I also guess there will be no scene with Kaite, the son of the chief engineer of the original Flourish.

Wolfwood’s flashback continues that he’s been selected as a ‘Child of Blessing’ just like Rollo by mysterious church.

There is a weird psychedelic flashback were Wolfwood is a test subject and shows S+ levels of possibilities.  This is clearly a term added for the Japanese audience as the States does not have this type of ranking which is a trope specific to Japanese media.

The original Trigun did not make references to S+ and I honestly don’t remember the term coming up in Trimax either.  We get that Wolfwood is subjected to all sorts of crazy stuff and due to his response to the treatments he’s a good candidate for furthering efforts.  Just like the breakneck pace of the anime, his own physical development is rapidly accelerated - much more so than with the manga.

We still don’t have a clear timeline, but if he’s ten or eleven at the start, but he’s I dunno twelve now?  As the original anime put it, he was taken in as a child and trained by Chapel the Evergreen for ten years before striking out on his own for an unclear amount of time making his age over twenty.  The manga has the unclear timeline where you’d think he was around twenty at the end, but maybe seventeen.   Either way, manga and ‘98 anime Wolfwoods were more emotionally mature and had seen things.   This version of Wolfwood might be a super-powered twelve year old for all we know. Which I am not a huge fan of this angle.

For fun he’s stuck on an inverted cross examine room table and called a monster for emphasis. Yeah, let’s slap some basic Christian imagery down but it has no meaning since that’s been cut out in this version.

Of course, being likely only twelve, he tries to escape his now adult form declaring he’s returning to the orphanage before getting caught.

As I stated previously, I wasn’t a huge fan of younger Wolfwood in the manga since it has a character disconnect where he had this world weariness that did not match his age nor life experience.  But I could forgive that a little since we saw him as an older teen training under Chapel.  Now, he’s a man with a child’s mind.  Yeah.

With his attempted escape, he is only stopped by Legato.  This is another huge deviation from the anime and manga since Legato doesn’t even know what ‘Chapel’ looks like in the manga.

Their first encounter was at the Church at Jeneora Rock and the assembly of most of the Gung-ho Guns.  In contrast, he’s immediately on guard since Vash told him about the strange and dangerous man he’d encountered on the bus to May city/Augusta.

For the sake of oversimplifying the plot, something that Merdopseudo and I had been predicting, Legato is the one who reveals that all things lead to Knives.  The Eye of Michael is not an independent organization!  It is all a part of Knives noble plan for the the future.  This is lazy writing.  The whole regenerative capsules and religious assassin organization were independent of Knives and only worked with him due to a shared goal of sorts.  Legato tells Wolfwood he’s been signed up for the Eye of Michael.

And apparently, since Wolfwood still has willpower to fight Legato, it makes him unique and declares that he doesn’t believe in any god.

Wolfwood has gone from being a flawed, trapped principled man with some sort of religious core to an atheist.  Okaaaaaaay Studio Orange - not sure where you are going with this at all. 

Legato brings in Livio who wanted to join Wolfwood and it is clear at the moment that Livio’s backstory has been completely retconned and he’s the younger brother character for Wolfwood to worry about.

Legato comes off as bizarrely cold and unemotional in this version.  In the anime he was a man clearly bent on a dark and destructive agenda, but I would not call him unemotional.  If anything Legato had a huge amount of pretentious pride in his nihilism.  It was a defining feature of his character and in the manga his intense emotions and nihilistic tendencies were even more over the top. 

This Legato - just a cold blooded robot.  Conrad shows up with his own Project Seeds jacket in white, symbolic of his role as a staff scientist.  It also has me wondering how old he is in this version.  Our Doctor has to stop Legato from killing the promising young Nicholas for the greater goals.

The flashback ends and Vash and Wolfwood are arguing again as Vash is interfering wanting to help.

Vash managed to pin down Livio in a rather smooth action sequence with lots of empty shells bouncing around as he tries to figure out what is up when he calls out Wolfwood’s name.

This catches Livio’s attention who says that he needs to catch up [to Wolfwood] and easily launches Vash off into the air while Wolfwood randomly declares that he can’t let the two of them kill each other.

So, when did you become friends with Vash, Wolfwood?  You only showed up in episode four and here in six you are his friend?  You’ve had no bonding!  There was no foray into the desert to rescue a child or bus ride.  No tournament or situation with a runaway kid where your philosophies aligned and clashed.  You haven’t gotten drunk together.

But hey, we now have Wolfwood’s flashback and we know he cares about Livio his adoptive younger brother who can’t kill his other friend Vash. This. Does. Not. Work.  I see two random men in sunglasses who just argue with each other.

Zazie the Beast and Livio approach the Sandsteamer as Legato reads the ‘bible’ of the local religion and the two characters mock Wolfwood and his pinch.  Legato has decided emotions are for losers and Wolfwood has those pesky emotions!

We get it, Wolfwood is different and you are having fun watching him suffer.

They drive close enough to the Sandsteamer that Legato is able to stop an internal mechanism inside the the locomotive that causes it to veer off course.  It seems that Legato has leveled up in his own abilities instead of manipulating people to do things against their will.

I guess Legato is officially an ESPer instead to make him easier to understand.  I will miss that manga scene with the transport truck and the Calvary and the blood dripping onto the sand below. 

By diverting the steamer, it now is on a collision course with the Orphanage - which is apparently the entire town?  This is as confusing as the Terminal being a Terminal alone.

At the same time the Bad Lads Gang have appeared.  And with our simplified plot we know - they were brought here by Knives.

Why do Legato and Zazie the Beast care what Wolfwood does next?  If they see themselves above human emotions why do they care at all?

And with that the episode ends on a cliffhanger. 

We will learn in episode seven what happened to Meryl and Roberto and perhaps the man himself will appear.  B.D.N. that is!

My immediate reaction to this episode -

Wolfwood’s backstory was way too soooooon!  Far too soon!  Was this even earned Studio Orange?

For a few points, I’m going to tap some of my conversation from my good meta friend Merdopseudo.

1.) A good stand alone episode.  Technically, and by itself this was a good episode.  Merdo points out it is fine as an episode but its structure is also its weakness, indicative of the issues that have plagued the series.  Where does this fit in the overall structure of the story?  What purpose does it serve in advancing the plot?  The episode is fine.  You can watch it and be entertained.

2.) Wolfwood’s backstory is unearned.  We get Wolfwood’s tragic backstory far to early into the plot.  He appeared two episodes ago, seems to be a dude who is rude and will kill if necessary.  We don’t know what it at stake for him.  What does he do normally?  Where is his moral compass?  What is he doing in this whole mess.  Why do we even care?  Right now, Wolfwood is a kid with a big fucking gun and apparently had a friend named Livio.  The found brothers trope also falls flat despite the technically excellent 2D silent film flashback.  The backstory in this episode is just ‘put there’ in an attempt to humanize this version of Wolfwood.

3.) Vash and Wolfwood are not friends. Yep, I will continue to say this.  They are not friends.  Wolfwood is an annoying guy following Vash around because those are his orders.  They have not bonded in their adventures, nor have they argued about how to act.  They both jumped into save a girl, rode the bus to May city/Augusta.  They in the anime had more bonding at the competition and fought over the rights of the individual versus the rights of the collective.  In the manga the bonding is a bit later but still happens over several volumes and Wolfwood gets tied into Vash’s heroic antics from time to time.

4.) The pacing is paradoxical.  This is Merdopseudo’s best point.  With the predicted 12-13 episodes, this story needed tight-super tight plot beats.  Instead, individual episodes are slow while the combined episodes are rapid leading to this disconnect.  This is the best highlight of the writing problems that have plagued this series from the start.

This ties into what I have also been most critical of - the pacing.  There is no room to breathe between episodes yet, certain episodes linger and waste time on things which are unnecessary.  This is a lot of the CGI scenes of how E.G. drove his wheel or how Rollo was watching Vash dodge and stuff like that.  Or the man with the lights guiding the Sandsteamer out of port.  Just lots of strange shots that visually look cool but don’t help the story.

Which gets back to Merdo’s theory that this is all just a demo for Studio Orange for future projects and investors.

And as this continues, I become more pessimistic that this indeed is the purpose of Trigun Stampede.  Studio Orange took on Stampede because it was a low risk project.  They updated the look for a more modern audience and don’t have to worry about upsetting the original fans of the anime or manga since it was domestically a flop and obscure.  Clean it up with characters that are for the domestic audience, simplify the plot beyond recognition and make it dazzling to the eyes.  It is only 12-13 episodes, it will pull in better projects in the future.

Studio Orange isn’t going to care about the non-Japanese, specifically very likely vocal American fanbase.  We aren’t there buying the new merch at Animate. Hell, it is currently and annoyingly out of print with Darkhorse here in North America.  Why keep all the elements that made it a smash hit elsewhere?  It doesn’t help their bottom line.

Thus, Trigun Stampede is a product that does not take the elements of the original anime from Studio Madhouse and the lore of Trigun Maximum to deliver a cohesive product that gives us the magic sauce that made the original so good.  It was never their intention to present us with faithful adaptions of the original series and characters.  They clearly don’t care for the original themes, character morals, questions, struggles, successes, failures and sacrifices that made the original such an emotional high hitter.

Quick character notes:

1.) Our dud duo - Meryl and Roberto.  For once, Meryl sticks to her guns and is able to guilt Roberto into continuing.  Good for her, but doesn’t amount to much in terms of plot.  She stood up for herself and made a valid argument and her senior colleague agreed.  Wow.

2.) Vash.  Is more assertive with Meryl and Roberto away from him, and finally asks Wolfwood what his deal is.  He has some decent fight scenes with Livio but honestly, doesn’t do much else in the episode due to the Wolfwood heavy plot.

3.) Wolfwood’s premature backstory.  Fails his character greatly.  Wolfwood is a character of great nuance, moral struggles and lots of questioning in a good way.  We see none of that and get his backstory upfront almost as quickly as Vash’s.  This attempt to humanize him without knowing him does not serve his character.  This also doesn’t work with his previous religious associations which are why he was a more powerful character in the original versions.  We know he believes in God, though he’s not naive enough to believe that faith in God will solve his problems.  If anything he sees that humanity’s flaws and dark sides force humans to become devils at times (a line both used in the anime and manga).  The anime leans in much harder with the priest aspect of his character with his first and last confession in the church before he dies.  The manga instead has him die at peace sharing a drink with Vash as he’s ‘thanked’ by the younger children of the orphanage.  Either way, both of these endings for him show that he’s a man who has a moral code derived from a very Catholic theology and he struggles with balancing that with his own actions trapped between powers greater than him.  He has a clear line between acts of divine beings such as God and Angels and how it is impossible for a single individual to meet those and instead must learn to live with their actions and how painful it is to directly contradict your own moral code.

4.) Legato Bluesummers is a ‘robot’ with a bad haircut.  This version of Legato is not the nihilistic, self-destructive one of the anime and manga.  He mocks others and sees himself as superior to orphans like Wolfwood. He wants to watch a moral quandary but does Wolfwood really have a moral dilemma? Is he religious or is he reading a religious text to mock it due its emphasis of faith and emotions?  Like Wolfwood, his power is also much greater, if this were the original he would have made that random train engineer dude destroy the moving part while dying in the process.  Now, he just goes ‘whoosh’ and it breaks.  Boo - I miss his sadistic tendencies. 5.) Livio is another ‘robot’.  But with a hangup to be like Nicholas!  I bet.  Unless, he also gets a long flashback, his character has been likely completely retconned to the extreme.  Lazy writing would indicate that Razlo the Tri-punisher was a result of his mind splitting due to the experiments.  That’s my prediction if we do get his backstory.  Not due to other things . . .

6.) Zazie the Beast.  Is weird.  Look, I’m playing cat’s cradle and I made a spider web.  Humans are so dumb, mwahahahahahaha!  I’m also filling in for Leonof the Puppermaster with my insect spycams/drones.

My snark is coming out in my character responses here, but really are these characters with depth or characters checking boxes like a game of Bingo.  I’m curious to see how many of my predictions pan out in future episodes of if they will leave us in the dark. 

As far as themes, this episode doesn’t really have one that stands out. Other than adults treat children very poorly in this place and even if you are a masked religious woman, you have to have big tits.

[zwy01]

Arya doodles!!!

Aww my poor, poor girl. It’s her time to be given love and lots of hugs.

This is my OC, Arya K. Landegre! She is Regis and Rael’s daughter, and the former’s heir.

I haven’t gone in depth with her backstory yet, so I’m going to do that here. She’s one of my 15 “main” characters of my Millennium AU and her full bio is up in my pinned post.

I’ll be mentioning some other names in here too so to quickly recap, Arya is the younger one of the two Regis/Rael kids and her full-sibling and elder brother is Raegyn Kertia. (Arya has three half-siblings, with her elder half-brother Kaelestis Blerster on Rael’s side, and younger half-brother Garyth J. Loyard and younger half-sister Alethea J. Loyard on Regis’ side.) Arya has a pretty good relationship with her loving family, but it is a hard-earned one with a rocky beginning and a long, arduous journey. I’ll be explaining exactly why in a bit. Yay!!!

I love Arya for how dynamic she is and I’ve barely mentioned the more detailed stuff so here we are! My sweet Ari’s (almost) full backstory.

We already know that Arya is the odd one out in her generation. Among her fellow future Clan Leaders, Arya stands out as the one that is the least noble-like. She’s cringy, loud, fidgety, and most of all you just can’t get her to behave herself like a proper noble. If Lukedonia had yearbooks, she’d be nominated as the class clown. Hey, being so stiff all the time isn’t fun, right? I mean, just look at that freakishly long lifespan nobles have. You’re saying you’re gonna be around for at least a few more millennia, yet being uptight is the only way you know how, huh? Pfft, not in Arya’s watch. She’s gonna show you what real fun is, by ditching all formalities in favor of “you know, just winging it!”. After all, life is boring without a little improvisation every now and then. And if that means leaving your comfort zone, then Arya will be the one to hold your hand and guide you through your newfound fun. In a sense, Arya is the opposite of her big brother Raegyn Kertia. Raegyn loves to plan every little detail of his life, making sure to never go off track for even the tiniest of things, while Arya likes to live spontaneously. The past won’t hold her back, and the future does not concern her either. Any problems or consequences that arise, she will leave it to her “future self”. Duh. On many occasions, Raegyn had attempted to teach Arya the importance of planning things and the concept of delayed gratification, to no avail. Whatever he tells her seems to go in one ear and out the other. It’s Arya, what else did you expect from her? She’s just going to giggle and shrug it off. They are not too worried about her though, because she seems to be able to find a good balance in life despite her carefree nature, so they let her be. I mean, she is pretty wild, but it’s not like she’s going to burn down the forest or steal artifacts from the treasury for fun, right? Yeah, no way that’s going to happen. Mhm. Huh. Wait… hold up. Actually, forget it. She might. It’s unlikely though. Well, she doesn’t do that anymore. Anymore? What exactly does that mean? That’s where it gets interesting, so sit back and enjoy.

Remember in my last post about Raegyn where I said that Regis and Rael were super relieved that their Arya was a normal child with normal development, and not a “special” child like their difficult son? They were right about their daughter… at least partially. Regis and Rael waited for almost two centuries before having their second child. Their first child Raegyn gave them a hard time because he was too much of an outlier with his unmatched super intelligence. After Arya was born, and for some time in her early childhood, Regis and Rael had their eyes on her all the time, vigilantly watching for any signs that would show that she’s not an average child, and in turn they would give her the extra support she needs. And they waited. And waited. Thankfully, those signs never showed up. Whew. They could finally relax, as they only needed to deal to with Raegyn, and it seemed like they could raise Arya like they would with a normal child. Arya was average, in a good way. She was a bit too lively and feisty at times, but that’s not a big deal. She’s a kid, after all. Who doesn’t like an energetic kid? Regis and Rael had to discipline her occasionally, but other than that, they didn’t need to do much. They had a good time together as a family, and everyone was certain that Arya had a bright future ahead of her. Or, that’s what they thought. Uh oh.

Turns out her parents overlooked her feistiness, and there was a deeper underlying issue. This became more apparent as Arya grew a bit older, when she reached the human equivalent of a ten year old. At this point it wasn’t as simple as kiddie tantrums anymore. Regis and Rael found it increasingly difficult to discipline their daughter and calm her down when she got all worked up. Arya had a short fuse. A very short one. She was joyful and radiant, just as much as she had a big temper. She cried when she didn’t get what she wanted, she screamed when her parents gave Raegyn a millisecond more of attention than they did to her, and kicked and shoved and knocked things off tables when something simply wasn’t to her liking. And when she felt uneasy, she couldn’t stay still and was always pacing around, fidgeting, or both. And that’s when Regis and Rael finally understood what’s going on, when they realized that Arya may be even more difficult than their already difficult son.

If we’re being nice, then we can say that Arya has a… very strong personality. If we’re being honest, then Arya is a major pain in the ass. It’s as simple as that. She is only fun for as long as she doesn’t spiral into one of her tantrums, before her parents, Raegyn, or someone else needs to step in to physically restrain her until she calms down. And it’s worth noting that Regis and Rael were not neglectful or anything. They were attentive and loving parents who did their best to ensure that their daughter had everything she needed. It’s just that Arya happened to inherit several of her parents’ less desirable personality traits. Mix and match, boom. A recipe for disaster. Arya inherited Regis’ stubbornness, and Rael’s tendency to be possessive, jealous, and impulsive. Regis is more flexible now, and even Rael has shown massive improvement and growth, and doesn’t act like he did in his youth anymore. But Arya was only a child. She was still young, and she has yet to go through centuries of practice. Regis and Rael were really trying their hardest, but their daughter just didn’t seem to show any signs of improvement. For now, they’ll just keep trying in hopes that their little Ari would get better eventually. Maybe they were even in denial, as they didn’t like the possibility of Arya not being able to grow out of her “phase”, so to speak.

Despite the less positive aspects of her personality, kiddie Arya loved her parents very much, and she made sure to let them know. Raegyn’s situation was an entirely different case, as Regis and Rael parented him in a very unconventional way that didn’t quite resemble the dynamics of a typical parent-child relationship. On the other hand, Arya’s bond with her parents strongly resembled that of a typical parent-child relationship. She absolutely adored both her fathers, and loved being their baby. To little Arya, they were her everything. And they still are now. Regis and Rael are delighted with how their daughter loves them so much and how she never hesitates to express her love. The two of them didn’t really feel the same sentiment coming from their first child Raegyn during his childhood, and Raegyn still is kind of aloof as an adult. (They know that Raegyn loves them too, but Raegyn just never really bothered with the excessively sentimental stuff) To be honest, Raegyn is relieved that his sister is here to divert his parents’ attention so they don’t “loiter” around him all the time, and he can finally get some of that long desired freedom. And his sister being difficult doesn’t bother him because she is their parents’ kid, not his, so she’s not his problem. At most he’ll just step in when he needs to pretend to be a good big brother, or when his parents ask him to.

And Arya? She loves her brother dearly, and knows that he loves her too. Brother Rayray is nice. He reads books to Ari and gives Ari candies. He teaches Ari how to play games. He’s all good …until the very moment he gets more attention from their parents. Then she’s not so enthusiastic about him anymore. Do you see where I am getting at. As much as Arya adores Raegyn, she doesn’t actually mind how Raegyn is often absent during “family bonding time” because guess what? She can have her fathers alllll to herself. Maybe it’s even a good thing, even if it is one she can’t say out loud.

Arya is totally a daddy’s girl for both of her fathers. The two of them have different roles. Rael is the “fun” parent. Yes, Arya is his sweet little girl and he’s forever grateful for her very existence, but above all else, he sees himself in her. As difficult as Arya can be sometimes, she bears extreme resemblance to Rael and he loves her for that. Rael doesn’t mind Arya being a little feisty because he was like that in his youth too, and he turned out alright, didn’t he? Maybe he’s even proud of her for being so “lively”. That’s right, she’s his little girl! Arya is nearly identical to Rael in both looks and personality. If only she had the Kertia blonde as well, her parents joke. In addition, since the beginning, Rael had desperately wanted a child to pour all his love into, but Raegyn wasn’t quite what he had expected, so he didn’t get to experience the typical joy of parenting. Then Arya came along. Arya adored him, admired him, and stuck to him like a piece of gum. She practically glued herself onto her Kertia daddy.

Rael is of course absolutely overjoyed, and responded by showering her with every ounce of affection in his system. He often lets Arya indulge herself in things, and gives in to her begging. He spoils Arya by sneaking her out of class early, letting her stay past bedtime, slipping an extra cookie when Regis isn’t looking... etc. Anything to see his little girl put on a big, big smile and hear her say “thank you Daddy” with enthusiasm. Perhaps he went a little too overboard, and the spoiling became a bit excessive. But hey, Rael just can’t help it. In a way, whatever he wished he could’ve done but didn’t get to do with Raegyn, he fulfilled through Arya. Arya basically gets double of everything. And she’s just too cute. I mean, she’s a chip off the old block! Rael continues the spoiling well into Arya’s teen years. This does eventually snowball into a bigger problem, which will be addressed later.

On the other hand, Regis is the “strict” parent. For most of the time, he lets Rael have fun with Arya because he knows how deeply Rael cherishes that affectionate bond with their daughter. At the same time Regis never misses the chance to discipline Arya when she needs it. Kiddie Raegyn was very self-sufficient and preferred independence over being “parented”; Arya was not, and needed plenty of parental support and behavioral correction. Sorry kiddo, no more skipping classes for you, and whining won’t make demands come true. Jokes aside, other than being the rule enforcing parent, Regis is very, very affectionate with Arya and they have an extremely close father-daughter relationship. Lovely. Regis can be proud of himself. He used to get flustered at something as simple as getting his head patted by (his basically adopted sister) Seira, and now he is actually pretty comfortable with giving and receiving both physical and emotional affection. One of Arya’s favorite things to do as a kid was running her little fingers through Regis’ hair and playing with his black streaks, and then happily pointing at her own streaks while exclaiming “I’m a Landegre!” To which Regis would smile and respond, “yes, my little Ari”. Aww, how precious. Arya takes great pride in being Regis’ daughter and heir. She is her daddy’s successor, the great Regis K. Landegre!

While it’s true that Arya tends to go to her Kertia daddy when she wants to get the okays to break rules or have some relatively reckless fun, it is Regis who is her favorite. Sorry Rael. He doesn’t have to know Regis is Arya’s number one. Period. Has always been, and will always be. As soon as Arya could recognize her surroundings, Regis became the center of her world. If she admired Rael, then she idolized Regis. She loved him, she worshipped him, she put him on a pedestal. Yeah. That person over there. You see him? He’s Ari’s Landegre daddy! How sweet. It doesn’t matter if Regis didn’t let her overindulge in things, or that he’s less lenient with her misbehaving at times. Everything Regis believes in and does, is right. No arguments. Maybe she’d even get offended on his behalf if anyone tried to question him. Regis is her idol, and she’d follow in his footsteps even if she honestly doesn’t feel too much enthusiasm towards clan duties and whatnots. Young Arya actually had her parents taken by surprise when she showed that, after all, she was capable of sitting through an entire afternoon of Regis walking her through Landegre CL duties without fidgeting or complaining much. For a restless child like her, it’s an unusual and incredible feat, because she doesn’t display this extent of patience when it comes to other matters. Responsibilities and expectations, future Clan Leader, blah blah blah… even if these things didn’t really interest Arya, she’d do it for daddy dearest. Anything for Regis. She’s totally obsessed with him. Many even too obsessed. And this obsession is the catalyst for many unfortunate events to come. Remember how I said she inherited Rael’s tendency to be possessive, jealous, and impulsive? Yep, exactly that.

Fast forward to Arya’s teen years. When Arya was around the human equivalent of 13-14 year old, she “learned” about Regis’ drastically shortened lifespan. This was around the time her younger half-siblings Garyth and Alethea were born. Initially, Regis had intended to donate only one soul fragment to Seira for the birth of her heir, but their combined soul fragments unexpectedly split into two separate, unstable pieces and Regis didn’t have the heart to let the smaller piece perish. So in an attempt to save it, as it was dying, he extracted another soul fragment from himself and gave it to the smaller piece that would later become Alethea. He succeeded. They succeeded. But the unexpected extra soul fragment extraction shortened his lifespan even more. Three soul fragment extractions is already pushing the limits for noble standards. Four? That’s unheard of. Regis didn’t have much longer to live. Uh oh. Arya is definitely not going to take this well.

And this is not due to Arya previously being oblivious to the mechanism behind noble birth or anything. All nobles know that having children would shorten one’s lifespan. They understood how it worked, and that a noble’s lifespan would roughly halve for each child etc. Arya knew this as well. However, she only started to really think about it once her half-siblings were born, because she never really saw Regis that way. All this time she had been busy obsessing over him and putting him on a pedestal. She had been way too in love with the concept of him being her father to the point where she basically almost completely forgot about the fact that no, he indeed won’t be around forever. Regis is not immortal. To make matters worse, not only was Regis not immortal, he also doesn’t have much left. Time is ticking. Regis is dying. Her daddy, her idol, her world — he’s dying. The shock comes from the realization, perhaps one that is a little too late. It’s also important to note that Regis did not consult with either of his children regarding his decision to contribute what is essentially his lifespan to Seira’s heir. Regis had only spoken with his husband Rael regarding this matter and both of them agreed that his contribution to Seira would be a good idea. After all, Seira is family to Regis. Of course he would help her with her heir. By both Lukedonian law and common practice, neither juvenile nor adult children are entitled to any input when it comes to one or both of their parents’ decision to donate more soul fragments or just having more children in general. Parents don’t need to say anything to their existing children. No one owes anyone explanations. That’s just how things are.

Though, on a personal level, that’s where things get complicated. The Regis/Rael kids only learned about their half-siblings after their birth. Raegyn’s reaction upon hearing the news was just… nothing. He simply raised his eyebrows, shrugged, and gave a fake smile. Neat. Sure, more siblings, though they aren’t his problem, they’re Seira’s, so he doesn’t care. And while Raegyn loves Regis, he respects Regis’ decision (and his parents’ collective agreement) about what Regis wants to do with his lifespan. If he wanted to shave off more years for the sake of his family aka Seira, then go for it. To be honest, Raegyn probably isn’t even attached enough to Regis for him to care. Arya on the other hand… oh boy.

Unlike Raegyn, who was calm and supportive, Arya did not take it well. In fact, she took it quite personally. Very personally. Extremely personally. Upon the initial news delivery of her half-siblings’ birth, she was shocked. Arya went numb, and didn’t seem to have any reaction at all. It took her a whole day to process the information and then it hit her. She excused herself and locked herself in her room. Witnesses recalled how the horrific, explosive screams that seemed to have come from the Landegre manor did not stop for an entire week. There was some sobbing, some hysterical laughing, but mostly screams. Screams much, much worse than what you’d imagine would come from tortured souls from the depths of hell. Bystanders could feel the sheer force of anger and despair in the very core of those screams just by listening. And not once did Arya think of using her noble powers for noise canceling. It may have even been deliberate, as she wanted the whole world to know that she’s upset, even if she won’t actually say why. Even her own parents can’t seem to get her to talk. The screams only stopped when Arya grew too tired and passed out in exhaustion for another week. People eventually forgot that this had happened, and simply shrugged it off as one of her “usual tantrums”. It was only oddly timed, because it happened right after her half-siblings were born, but other than that, no big deal, right? Then they’re wrong. Very, very wrong. Raegyn knows why because he is more than smart enough to tell. He doesn’t care, though.

Arya felt betrayed. Regis betrayed her. He betrayed her by giving his lifespan away without even telling her. He never once asked for her opinion, and he didn’t even bother to notify her of the decision, as if it was never a big deal to start with. Rael betrayed her as well. He betrayed her by not stopping Regis, because he clearly had a part in the final decision, right? Arya knows she has no claim over how Regis plans to use his lifespan, but still… she is his daughter, their daughter, and she had every reason to be upset with Regis literally handing away his life, the very life which he was supposed to spend with her. Both Regis and Rael betrayed her. Her fathers, her daddies, the two of them — both of them — turned their backs on her just like that. Yet Arya could not bring this up to either of them. She just can’t. She can’t tell them she’s upset. She did not know how to approach this subject, neither did she have any clue on how to sort out her rampaging questions and feelings. The mere thought of this clutter of a mess makes her feel sick. Her stomach sinks, and her chest aches. A deep, pulsating ache that seems to spread to every corner of her body. When she thinks she has worked up the courage to say it out loud, the clutter lodges in her throat and she loses the ability to speak. She physically can’t say those words. Her muscles tense up, and she starts sweating. She tries to speak those words but nothing comes out despite her moving her mouth. Only an inaudible, croaky cry. And then she’ll tear up. It’s impossible. She just can’t. Arya can’t ask any questions, her one thousand why’s. Why, why, why, why, just… why. Ari knows that Seira is daddy’s family too, and daddy wants to help her and show her his support… but isn’t Ari also daddy’s family? She is his daughter and heir, and she should’ve been his top priority. Was she, in his eyes, not important enough for him to not give away a portion of his lifespan just like that? Did he even think of her when he extracted the soul fragments from himself?? Can he really bear the thought of leaving her behind, before she is ready to face this world by herself??? Does he even care…? These thoughts and questions would continue to torment her for the longest of times. You’d probably ask, why can’t Regis and Rael just read her mind? Well, they certainly tried. They failed. They couldn’t see anything when they attempted to read their distressed daughter’s mind. It probably had something to do with Arya’s defensive mechanism, where she had unconsciously formed some sort of intangible barrier that prevented people from reading her mind.

Regis and Rael did not know how to comfort their daughter, as she just wouldn’t tell them why she’s upset, and they see nothing when they read her mind. All they can do is give her hugs when she asks for them. Especially Regis. Arya would bury her face into his chest and cry for hours. He can only softly stroke her head and give her gentles pats on her back, hoping that it would ease whatever pain his daughter is experiencing. Not a word spoken from either one of them, with Arya’s occasional inaudible mumbles breaking the silence. And Raegyn? He’s completely out of the picture. He hates anything emotional, which includes dealing with the feelings of others, even when it comes to his sister. Raegyn nopes the hell out of their home as soon as Arya gets worked up, so he doesn’t have to pretend to be nice and comfort her. Every single time. Poof and he’s gone, and you can guarantee that you won’t be able to find him until Arya is finished with her business. Though Regis, Rael, and Arya herself are probably too busy to notice Raegyn is missing.

Arya’s impeding grief shouldn’t be taken lightly. All bottled up along with her grief is her anger, sadness and confusion. It will accumulate, and might as well kill her one day. All that energy has to be released somewhere right? Telling her family isn’t an option because she simply can’t. Her friends and acquaintances… they might react negatively. She can’t say for sure, but she is hesitant about opening up to them about this sensitive subject. And great-grandfather Gejutel is too busy, who knows if he’ll even care. And all the other adults aren’t trustworthy enough in Arya’s eyes. There was no one she could go to. Arya was alone. Arya was desperate. She once was the happiest girl on the planet. She had loving parents, and a nice big brother. There was nothing else she wished for. She only wanted life to stay as it is, with Regis as the center of her world. Regis, Regis, Regis. Her number one. And now he’s dying, by his own choice, albeit indirectly. He had about less than two thousand years left. Even then two thousand years by itself is a long time. Not for Arya. She could spend all eternity with Regis if she could. If Regis didn’t extract two more fragments from himself, he would have had around eight thousand years left. There’s nothing Regis can do, there’s nothing anyone can do. There’s nothing Arya can do. She’d give up part of her own lifespan and transfer it to her father if she could, if that means getting to spent more time with him, but that is impossible. Even if she could, she just knows Regis would never let one of his own children cut their lifespan short just so he could live for longer. It should be the other way, if any. Ugh. Regis is too kind and too generous for his own good. There was nothing left for Arya to do, except to accept the truth and deal with it. But Arya didn’t want to. There has to be another way. She felt cornered. And then she snapped.

The first obvious change was Arya’s newfound apathy regarding her clan. Arya completely lost interest in the Landegres. She stopped caring about her status as future Clan Leader. Clan duties, managing her future clan members, paperwork, leadership training… none of that mattered to her anymore. At first she only had occasional absences. Those grew into frequent absences, and in the end she skipped her lessons altogether. She just stopped showing up. She was never genuinely interested in these things to start with. She made herself sit through all that boring, repetitive nonsense for Regis’ sake, and if her daddy isn’t going to be around for much longer, then she doesn’t want to partake in this anymore. Arya is determined to just ditch it all. And she isn’t even bad at being future Clan Leader. She is pretty average at most things, but she is a hard worker. Without talent, she makes it up with effort. Now that Regis will be gone soon, none of this means anything to her anymore. We’re talking about almost two centuries of hard work that Arya is ready to abandon. If Regis can choose to leave her behind, then she can choose to leave all of this behind too. Her parents and Lukedonia’s general population are very worried about her sudden change in attitude, but all they could do is to hold their breath and hope that the passionate Arya would come back one day.

The second, and perhaps even worse than the first, is Arya turning towards causing trouble for the sake of trouble. Arya is already naturally prone to recklessness and impulsivity thanks to getting those personality traits from Rael. All these years she’s been trying her best to control herself, albeit with limited degrees of success. The point is at least she tried. Now take that, and actually give Arya a reason to not work hard to behave herself anymore. From her perspective, she is justified to do as she pleases because Regis betrayed her trust. The world betrayed her trust. Her acting out and being a menace made sense. She’s just responding accordingly. Yeah. Exactly that. Lukedonia can’t complain, no one can complain, because they gave her no choice. They forced her into this, and now they have to deal with her whether they like it or not. If they can’t handle her, it’s not her problem.

And I would like to mention a key difference between Raegyn and Arya. It is one that defines them and sets them apart, and that is the gap between their maximum capacity and potential when it comes their character. Raegyn is the outlier. His intelligence, flexibility, and social skills are all top tier. He is basically built for success. That’s just what he was born with. You can say he was blessed with everything he needs in this life. Not only is Raegyn academically gifted, he is also extremely smart with people. Raegyn knows how to order around, and his friends targets don’t even know that they’re being manipulated by him. He is also more than smart enough to get away with committing crime and being a real danger, if that is what he wishes to entertain himself with. Except he isn’t interested in that stuff. He has the potential to be dangerous, but he isn’t.

This is where Arya comes in. Arya is average. She is average compared to Raegyn, and she is average by herself. Her intelligence? Average. Her social skills? Average. Her fighting prowess? Better than most of Lukedonia, but when compared to her fellow future Clan Leaders, average. Arya is simply… average. She wasn’t spectacular at anything, nor was she severely lacking. She simply was. And depending on how you look at things, this could be both good and bad. In Arya’s case, it’s definitely bad. Why? Because now Arya wants to wreak havoc just because. Except she isn’t nearly as smart as she needs to be to execute it in the way that would keep herself out of trouble. Combine that with her impulsivity, and what you get is an unpredictable, unstable person who is reckless enough to get herself into trouble but isn’t smart enough to get herself out of it. Arya is also bossy like Rael. She likes to control people, except unlike Raegyn, she isn’t smart enough to know how to order around. If Raegyn uses brains, then Arya uses force. Raegyn gains control over people by being smart. Arya isn’t capable of mimicking even just a fraction of that. That is why Raegyn is popular while Arya has a debatable reputation among her people. And just like Rael, Arya isn’t the best at dealing with being told “no” by others. Yiiiiikes.

And here’s the deal. Arya is average. We know that. Is Arya aware? Perhaps. She isn’t dumb enough to not know that she is in fact average. She knows what her limits are. Does knowing that stop her from being a menace? No. Arya doesn’t care. Who cares if she isn’t smart enough. If she wants to cause trouble, then she will cause trouble. Consequences are for later. They do not concern her. Nothing is going to stop her, and nothing can stop her. The stubbornness she got from Regis is certainly running its gears here, for the worst.

What exactly does Arya do? The list could go on forever. A few of her more “notable” and favorite crimes to commit include arson, blackmail, bribery, forgery, theft, and vandalism. Out of those, arson, theft, and vandalism stand out the most.

Arson. Arya needed to let out all that bottled up anger, and she turned to setting things on fire. It didn’t involved anyone else, and she could do it without other people noticing. If she’s going to turn to crime, then she can start with something “simple” and ease her way into bigger, more satisfying ordeals. That’s why the very first spell Arya masters is an ignition spell. The Landegres aren’t a magic aligned clan, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t learn a few spells. It first started with smaller things that didn’t matter as much. Pages from her notebook, a childhood toy, old clothes, things that are going to the trash anyway, etc. Items she wouldn’t miss, that no one would miss. How cathartic. It didn’t numb her pain of Regis’ impeding passing, but it was better than nothing. She could imagine that she is watching the world burn. And when she got comfortable with burning smaller items, she moved onto bigger items. Burning less important items no longer gave her the satisfaction she needed. So she looked for more. A couch. A closet. A statue. An abandoned cabin. A small patch of forest in the Loyard territory. It goes exactly where you think. Things spiraled out of control. And the thing is Arya only bothered to learn an ignition spell, and not a counter-spell for it. Arya had to cry for help because she realized that the entire forest will burn down soon if no one intervened. The nobles who responded were able to put out the fire just in time before it reached the Loyard manor. And Arya? She was punished for it. Her Clan Leader issued the punishment himself. But she was still a juvenile, so she didn’t get what she arguably deserved, which is a punishment befitting of her crime if she were an adult. Will this stop Arya from committing more arson? No.

Theft. Arya also began to steal. At first it started with sneaking less valuable items out of people’s pockets. Things people wouldn’t immediately realize have disappeared, and by the time they wanted to looked for them, they were long gone. All in Arya’s possession. And, you guessed it, stealing smaller items was no longer enough for Arya. Then Arya moved onto stealing bigger things. She targeted items that potentially had high sentimental value. We’re talking diaries, jewelry, lockets, portraits, even old cooking pans. The mere thought of people breaking down and panicking over lost items was amusing to her. Sweet sweet. Of course the pain they would feel is not nearly enough to compare to what she has to go through when it comes to her dying daddy, but it’s better than nothing. They better cry. Be in pain, just like her. If she couldn’t be happy, then none of them should. Just like with Arya’s arson crimes, her stealing things got out of hand real quick and soon Arya was breaking into various clans’ treasuries and smuggling important statues and sculptures out of there and into her home. Except Arya isn’t exactly smart, like I mentioned earlier. She’s not at all an expert it comes to covering her tracks, and on her second break-in attempt in the Blerster territory, she got caught in the act by none other than Karias Blerster himself. Karias handed Arya to Regis and he had to punish her again. When he searched her room, they found many, many other stolen items and Regis made sure to make her return them to their respective owners before he grounded her. Again, like before, is this going to stop Arya from committing theft again? Haha, no.

Vandalism. At this point Arya didn’t even bother to be discreet anymore. If she’s not smart enough to get away with anything she does, then she might as well stop all attempt to cover her tracks. Committing crime was her outlet, and she needed it. No one was going to take that away from her. Hell, if she can’t give up committing crime as her primary coping mechanism, then she’s just going to accept that that’s her new life. She might even be petty enough to announce that she is behind whatever chaotic shit is going on. Smashed a window? She would smear “Arya was here” on the walls with her blood. Sabotaged a garden full of herbs and other important plants? She would rearrange the uprooted and trampled plants to spell “Haha losers” for garden’s owner to witness. Destroyed part of a building? She would stand on the roof and laugh and laugh and laugh, and scream “come catch me you suckers!”as she waves her arms around. Again, Regis would be the one to punish her. He doesn’t understand why Arya suddenly turned to delinquency. Does she really enjoy being a criminal? Is this Arya’s true nature…? Neither Regis nor Rael know that Arya is simply doing this to cope with Regis’ shortened lifespan. They are not aware of the fact that this is her coping mechanism. It isn’t a justified one, for sure, but still. They do not know her true motives, and she seems to be reluctant when questioned.

In no time, Arya became notorious for being criminal. Moods were ruined and atmospheres were spoiled as soon as her name was brought up. A rumor began to circulate, one that said that if you said Arya’s name, your home would light up in flames. There was a collective sentiment among the nobles where they all agreed that they couldn’t wait for Arya to come of age so she can be tried as an adult.

Raegyn is rather unhappy with his younger sister’s… newfound hobbies. She is indirectly affecting his social life because now people just want to ask about his “delinquent sister”. That’s all they want to talk about. Dammit, it’s not his fault his sister has a “underdeveloped prefrontal cortex”, as he puts it. Thankfully he is rational enough to not say that out loud. Arya doesn’t need to know.

And Regis? Regis tries everything he can to correct and put Arya’s behavior to a permanent stop. And he fails spectacularly. He tried being nice with the gentle approach. He also tried the stern and authoritarian approach. Him questioning Arya would usually result in two endings, with Arya either pretending she can’t hear him and covering her ears and singing lalala, or she’ll burst into tears and sob uncontrollably. Regis could tell that those tears were genuine, but he just couldn’t get Arya to talk. Her confessing to the motives behind her crimes wouldn’t lighten her punishments, but at least Regis could have an answer as to why she is acting like this. In the end, nothing works. Regis seems to begin to lose hope in his daughter. His patience and faith in Arya started to wane. As much as Regis still loves her, he couldn’t recognize his little girl anymore. Regis is heartbroken.

Things aren’t any better for Rael. Remember when I said that Rael is the parent who spoils Arya? Well, things took an even worse turn. Arya started to bring up Rael during verbal interrogations. She ran out of excuses to bullshit, and then… she recalls stories about Rael being a former criminal, like him blowing up a portion of the castle when Seira rejected his proposal. Aha. The perfect excuse. She can just say she’s just like Rael. Can’t help it, it’s in her blood. What can she do, she’s her Kertia daddy’s daughter. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Something like that. He can soften the blow for her. And then Rael inevitably gets roped into dealing with Arya’s destructive behaviors. Of course Arya is the perpetrator, and Rael is not part of it. But still, he does have some things from his old days on his criminal record, so… to say that people have zero suspicions, would be a lie. Surely he knows better than to prompt his daughter to indulge in crime for funsies. But who knows? Rael had to clear the common suspicions by punishing his little girl himself. Usually, he is not the one to issue her punishments as Arya is a Landegre and he is a Kertia, which leaves Regis as the ultimate decision maker. And Lord Raskreia too, but only if Arya’s crimes escalates to that level, which Rael hopes will never come true. In addition, Rael has a soft spot for Arya and her words aren’t complete nonsense. After all, he did blow things up because Seira rejected him, but he has learned from his mistakes and he’s a better person now, right…? Nevertheless, Rael is hurt by Arya doing this to him. At the same time, he also felt sorry for her, because it is true that she inherited certain traits from him, and it is partially his fault for spoiling her too much in her early days.

Arya wasn’t only a criminal. She was also a bully. And the targets of her actions? Her Loyard half-siblings. That’s right. Garyth and Alethea. Yup. The ones who stole Regis’ time from her, the time she is rightfully entitled to, and the very causes of his shortened lifespan. If Arya couldn’t blame Regis, she figured she could blame them instead. Just think about it. They’re younger than her, they’re weaker than her, and she is their older sister by blood. By that logic, they had to listen to her, right? Arya probably thinks she’s so smart for figuring that out.

To Arya, Garyth and Alethea are indebted her. They belong to her. Everything they’ve ever been, and everything they’ll ever be, they owed to her. If it weren’t for her father, her Regis, they wouldn’t even exist here. Even if they didn’t ask to exist, they are still indebted to her. Thanks to them, Arya doesn’t have much time left with her daddy dearest. First and foremost, he’s her father, they share the same surname, she should be his top priority! Except in Arya’s eyes, she wasn’t that to Regis. And to her, the Loyard siblings are living proof of that sentiment. They are just as guilty as him. Arya’s total obsession with Regis, and her wanting to have him all to herself, is driving her insane. She loves him as much as she is obsessed with him. And the truth is Arya doesn’t really have a reason to be mean to her Loyard siblings. They’re nice, well-behaved kids. They’re polite, and try to be patient around their elder half-sister.

But it didn’t matter. If Regis isn’t going to be around for much longer, then these two will love her in Regis’ place. If they don’t love her, then she will make them love her, even if that means doing so by using force. Arya bossed them around, and made them listen to her every request. They were her little workers basically. This led to a very unhappy Garyth. The Kertia bloodline is just terrible. His elder half-sister’s father Rael harassed his mother Seira, and now Arya herself is here harassing him! It runs in the family. It has to be. This just further cements little Garyth’s already boiling hatred for Rael’s guts. (Will explain this a bit more in Garyth’s own post) Meanwhile little Alethea is fine with being bossed around. She doesn’t really know what to do with her life anyway, so rather than coming up with her ideas, she could just listen to Arya. (Also explaining more in Alethea’s own post) Due to Alethea’s nature of not really having her own opinion on things, she often gets lugged around by Arya. Yes, this includes Arya’s criminal activities. Arya doesn’t fully explain things to Alethea and purposely leaves out details so Alethea would join in on her… adventures. Which is why poor Alethea is often seen following Arya as the latter’s unwitting accomplice.

Fortunately, the adults know better than to accuse Alethea along with Arya because they just know that Arya is the mastermind and Alethea simply got tricked into being a part of her shenanigans. At one point Arya got the equivalent of a restraining order and she wasn’t allowed to be within a five hundred meter radius of Alethea, until she made a written promise that she wouldn’t trick Alethea into doing illegal things again.

Ultimately, Arya’s destructive behavior is unsustainable. When she got out of being grounded, she would just commit crime again. Soon, her 200th birthday approached, and she could not do as she pleased anymore. If she were to commit the same crimes she had before, she would be tried as an adult and punishments would be much more severe, and she would have to deal with real consequences.

One faithful day, Arya was snooping around Regis’ office and she overheard a conversation between him and Rael. Regis was stressed. There was plenty of silence. And then she heard crying. It came from Regis. For all her life, she had never seen her father cry. And then it hit her. Regis weeped, and talked about how scared he is for Arya. He wasn’t angry; he wasn’t disappointed. He was scared. He didn’t know what Arya was capable of, and now that her birthday is nearing, she would get into serious trouble and he would no longer be able to save her. Her approaching coming-of-age was not one of joy nor celebration; it was one of fear. Pure fear. And then Regis started to sob. His biggest fear is having to watch Arya get executed if she really goes beyond the point of no return. Finally. The long needed moment of awakening for Arya. Her acts of rebellion wasn’t helping anyone, and it hurt her loved ones more than anyone else. Most of all, it hurt Regis. Her Regis. She needs to stop, for her own sake, and for everyone else’s sake.

Arya didn’t say anything, and quietly left before she could listen to the rest of her parents’ conversation. She stayed silent for the longest duration of time. And… she came clean to her parents. This took her parents by surprise, as they initially thought that was some prank. But she was serious. Arya walked into the center of the room, kneeled, and apologized to her parents. No tantrums, no whining, no bargaining. It was a deep, sincere apology. A heartfelt apology for everything she had done, and the worries she had caused. Arya also promised to never do those things again, and that she will make up to everyone she has wronged. Regis and Rael were moved. They could feel her sincerity, and Regis simply walked over slowly and kneeled down to Arya’s level and hugged her while rocking her gently. Just the two of them on the floor, both on their knees, in a deep embrace. One that they haven’t shared since Arya’s early teen years. Then Rael joined in, and the three of them couldn’t hold back their tears anymore, and they all sobbed together. It was messy. A good mess. Repentance leads to reconciliation, which leads to the start of a new beginning.

Arya first started by apologizing to everyone she has wronged in both writing and in person. She wrote to them first, because she wasn’t sure if they would even want to see her. After she got permission, she then went to them in person and knelt and apologized for her wrongdoings. And this went on for a long time just because of the sheer number of people she had offended. It was a long list. Arya is not going to come up with excuses this time. She is going to go through all of them, as she should. Or, the ones who are willing to accept an apology from her. Some did not want to see her, even for an apology. Many of them did not respond to her letters. Some of them even replied and basically told her to screw off and to never show her face in front of them again. This made sense. Reconciliation required the effort of both perpetrator and victim to happen, and some of her victims just weren’t having it. That is the hard truth Arya has to accept and live with. For those who did accept Arya’s apologies, they genuinely forgave her. With time, wounds healed, and Arya was ready to be back as a functional member of society. It took her a while to be able to lift her head around people again, but they accepted her back, and what position is she in to reject their kindness?

Garyth and Alethea forgave Arya too. Well, Alethea never held a grudge against Arya in the first place, Garyth just told her that she should be mad at their half-sister for manipulating them. It took a much longer time for Garyth to forgive Arya, but eventually he was able to find peace with her and move on from the past. Though, sometimes he still has a hard time looking at her face. She was a bully, even if she tries her hardest to make up to them now.

What about Arya’s duties? Well, Arya picked up her responsibilities as future Clan Leader once more. She had been neglecting them for the entire duration of her delinquency, and now she’s back at it, as she should. In fact, she’s working harder than ever before. And she’s also intensely training herself in spars. Her aim is to succeed Regis as Clan Leader as soon as possible, so he can be free to enjoy the rest of his remaining lifespan without being so busy with work and duties.

Arya’s stepping back into the light doesn’t mean that her issues have disappeared completely. In fact, they’re very much still there. The grief was real. The sadness was real. It’s a wound that will never heal in Arya’s heart, and it stings every time she thinks about her daddy dying. It’s just that her conscience has won for once and all, and she isn’t going to let the bad side of her personality to take over her anymore. She can keep it in. She has to. So what’s her new coping mechanism for her grief? Three… two… one… yep, ya guessed it. Acting like she’s happy. Too happy. Her fake cheerful personality that she puts on to trick Regis into thinking she is having a good time. The overly enthusiastic Arya who is cringy and spontaneous, but fun. She doesn’t want Regis to worry about her anymore, and wants him to be able to eventually pass knowing that she is happy and fulfilled. Yeahhhh, it’s coming together in a full circle! Woo! Is this a better alternative to her previous coping mechanism of being a delinquent? It’s debatable. Maybe this is just as unhealthy. Maybe even unhealthier. But for now… this’ll do. She has no other choice. She’ll keep up this fake cheerful persona for as long as she can. Until she breaks down again.

(Note that Arya still hasn’t told her parents that she is troubled with Regis’ impeding death. Nobody knows. They know she will never fall into crime again, but still don’t have any clue about why she was like that in first place.)

Well, the good news is, eventually Arya is able to communicate with her parents about her true thoughts a feelings. It does take a long time, and that is for a separate post. Yeeee saving that for later hehe. I will explain Arya’s relationship with her girlfriend Susanna in a separate post too!

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for the next long character post!

See you again!