#she's very duty focused and that's morally neutral to me

[dolores-slay]

I hope in Veilguard there's an option to roleplay a Lavellan Inquisitor who romanced Solas but doesn't want to be with him romantically anymore and sees him as a friend they want to help.

I think my current Inquisitor faces the Revelations and remembers all the stuff he said that she gave him benefit of doubt for cause to her he lived the life of a hounded, isolated apostate: the condescension towards qunari and dwarves (ESPECIALLY Varric whom she feels lifelong indebted to for leaving his friend in the Fade), his lack of patience with anyone even slightly different opinioned (like Sera whom she views as a little sister), him being dismissive towards the Dalish in the particular way he is...he comes around on a lot of things in his own stubborn way but I think at some point it becomes too much? To handle and the tangles of duty towards all her other friends, family, the organization she lead and the lives it touched for better or worse become too difficult to separate from continuing to try to be with somebody who kept so much from her. I think for her it's fatigue from trying to make everyone happy and safe and there's a guy who just so badly wants to be miserable, it tires a woman out.

She still would see him absolutely as a friend and try her darndest to bring out the best in him, would definitely believe in redeeming him and wouldn't support killing or harming him. Just let me do a friends to lovers to frenemies to friends again is what I'm saying!

[captainjimothy]

recently finished the first season of voyager i have thoughts about it. will continue to update with more thoughts as i get through the show. but so far, i think

Voyager and DS9 are both trying to make statements about heavy topics like racism, war, etc. But DS9 has the advantage of not taking place on a starship. Voyager's points fall flat (so far) because Starfleet HAS to win every argument because the ship HAS to function as close to standard as possible, because they cannot risk jeopardizing their chance of getting home. Whereas on DS9, there was room for starfleet to be wrong about things, and there was room for main cast members to exist totally outside of starfleet protocol. Part of the reason the Cardassian/Bajoran conflict was able to play such a compelling and longstanding role in the series is because Starfleet was only involved as a mediator--both groups were narratively permitted to have their own, non-starfleet feelings, arcs, etc about it. When the Dominion War started, Starfleet was on the front lines, but they still were not in control, they were allied with their peers. One of the best episodes (In the Pale Moonlight) is about the moral dilemma Sisko faces in attempting to manipulate the playing field. I'd also point out that DS9 had the advantage of Avery Brooks, who was not only a brilliant actor and director, but also played a non-alien black man. in contrast, Voyager's non-alien POC are Chakotay (whose racial writing has been VERY weak so far) and Harry Kim (whose background has not yet been explored at all--this is a neutral fact, but relevant).

honestly atp i think B'Elanna's position is the strongest, since she's a latina klingon and serves to facilitate conversations about racism as it affects latina women specifically, but i feel it's diluted by the fact that the text focuses exclusively on the fantasy racism instead of the real racism--and heavily plays into biological essentialism with their fantasy racism, which. is like. that's the opposite of the point you could be making here?. idk man

tangent to my original point, but genuinely to me the central tragedy of B'Elanna's life so far is that she has little/no connection to klingon community or peers. she's trying so hard to form a relationship with herself that isn't destructive and she's doing the best she possibly can in the circumstances but that pain of complete isolation is so, so loud to me. i love her so much i need her to be okay

anyway, i think they're really trying to do something with the integration of the Maquis crew, and I think the episode that focused on Tuvok's training was good in that regard--it did concede that starfleet needs the flexibility to be wrong sometimes--but i'd like to be seeing way, way more of that. I'd like to see more conversations about how militarized starfleet is (this was alluded to in Tuvok's training episode, but not addressed specifically), and how that is a weakness. i'd like to have seen some god damn nuance in the scene where janeway yells at b'elanna for stealing/using the space-folding transporter technology--they were capable of nuance, they gave tuvok nuance in that scene!

speaking of Tuvok. my man. i am dying to see some real character-study type episodes for him, he's clearly a very complex person with an interesting history. i loved the murder mystery episode where he played detective (<- me when i have a special interest in detective fiction), and the training episode was your classic "vulcans need to be told when it's okay to bend the rules" which may be overdone but it's not bad! also. let me just say for the record i think Tim Russ is doing a fucking incredible job with the role, vulcans are very difficult to play with depth and clarity, and he's knocking it out of the park.

another side note, but one of the many little things that bothers me SO much: in Tuvok's training episode, he tells the bajoran kid that his earring cannot be worn on duty, which (a) literally goes against starfleet protocol as it pertains to personal cultural items, and (b) contradicts everything we've seen so far about both bajorans and Tuvok himself. it may have been included as part of the "vulcan follows the rules to a fault" thing, but it just doesn't make sense. Tuvok would know exactly what the earrings mean, he would know that you don't just take that away from someone! it's another moment where starfleet HAS to be right about EVERYTHING or else the world will explode or whatever. very irritating.

[cryoglaze]

I Can’t Be Alone With All That’s On My Mind

Happy Holidays @by-nina​ ! I was your Secret Santa for @fmasecretsanta2020​! I really hope you enjoy it and have a lovely new year!

Rating: General

Categories: F/M, Gen

Relationships: Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang, Rebecca Catalina & Riza Hawkeye, Riza Hawkeye & Team Mustang, Maes Hughes & Roy Mustang, Roy Mustang & Team Mustang, Black Hayate & Riza Hawkeye

Additional Tags: hurt/comfort, light angst, fluff, pre-canon, POV multiple

Word Count: 8,169

Summary: When Black Hayate manages to get himself lost one morning, Colonel Mustang wastes no time in organising an effort to help Lieutenant Hawkeye track down her missing dog. Riza herself is attempting to appear calm and collected as usual, but as time goes on and the Shiba Inu still hasn't been found, keeping a handle on her emotions begins to prove difficult - and it's not just the Lieutenant's emotions that are becoming tricky to navigate.

Timeline Notes: Set when the members of the Mustang Unit are situated in East City headquarters, prior to the anime/manga introduction but after Ed has been recruited.

Read on AO3 here

It's no secret that Riza Hawkeye is basically the reason the Mustang Unit is still functioning.

Not to say that they're not capable of taking care of themselves - they are all grown men, even Fuery, baby-faced that he might be - but she is the one that pushes them to get paperwork done on time, keeps them from getting too rowdy or distracted, and keeps their Colonel in line.

So, when the Lieutenant is notably absent from her desk one morning without prior notice, there’s a clear sense of unease among the men. They go for half an hour purposefully not looking at her desk or the door before Jean takes it upon himself to break the silence.

“So do we start placing bets on why she’s not here?”

“She filed for time off months ago and the Colonel forgot about it,” Breda replies instantaneously, not looking up from the report he’s reading.

“Nope,” Jean responds, leaning back in his chair. “She would’ve anticipated that and reminded him one week before, and yesterday just in case he’d forgotten again.”

That earns him a glare from Mustang, but the Colonel doesn’t say anything, which Jean takes to mean he’s right.

“Do you think she’s alright?” Fuery asks. “I mean, the Lieutenant wouldn’t just not show up to work without saying anything.”

“It is unusual behaviour from her,” Falman adds. “Lieutenant Hawkeye is the most organised out of any of us.”

“She’s fine,” Mustang interjects, before Jean can start listing the possible reasons she’s late. “Any moment now, she’ll either walk through that door or she’ll call to explain her absence. There’s no point debating it.”

The words are spoken with confidence, but the way the Colonel’s gaze lingers on Hawkeye’s desk and he doesn’t move back into his own office suggests otherwise. Jean exchanges a look with Breda, and then they continue with their work.

Another half an hour passes before the phone inside Mustang’s office rings, at which the Colonel looks pointedly at them all as if to say ‘see?’ before going to answer it, finally leaving his spot of hovering in the door frame between their shared office and his own personal one. Jean waits a few seconds in the silence after Mustang answers the phone; it’s either Hawkeye, just as he predicted, or-

“Not now, Hughes.”

As Jean predicted, the phone is slammed down almost instantly.

“Careful with the phone, Sir,” he offers helpfully - in the Lieutenant’s absence, he might as well cover for her.

“Don’t get smart with me, Havoc,” is his only response, before the phone rings again.

“Hughes, I swear - oh. Yes, put her through.”

Paperwork forgotten, Jean and the rest of Team Mustang listen in to the following audible half of the conversation.

“Lieutenant. Are you alright? The men were getting worried about you… I see. No, no, it’s alright. I’ll see you in a few hours, then. Good luck.”

Mustang opens his mouth to say something else, then looks back at his subordinates - who aren’t even pretending not to listen, Jean included - as if debating whether or not to say what he wants in front of them. Making up his mind, he says one last thing before putting the phone down.

“I’m glad you’re alright, Lieutenant.”

Once the phone is on its hook, the Colonel turns to the four men eagerly awaiting an answer and offers them a smirk.

“The Lieutenant is fine. She’ll be with us in a few hours.”

“What happened?” Jean asks - because Riza Hawkeye being late is still a noteworthy occurrence that requires an explanation. Mustang sighs.

“Her dog went missing sometime in the early morning. He can’t have gone far, so as soon as she finds him and gets him back home safely she’ll be resuming her duties.”

“Black Hayate?” Fuery rises from his desk, concern in his voice and written on his features. “Shouldn’t we help the Lieutenant go look for him? He could be hurt, or lost!”

“If we go out and help her look, we’ll get Lieutenant Hawkeye back with us in no time,” Breda offers, which the Colonel appears to consider briefly before shaking his head.

“You’re all to resume your duties as usual in the Lieutenant’s absence,” he announces. “Skilled as she is, we can all survive without her for a number of hours.”

“I hope you’ll be able to get through all of that before she comes back then,” Havoc responds, nodding to the visible stack of paperwork piled on the Colonel’s desk. 

Havoc watches the Colonel briefly have a mental battle with himself as he weighs up his options, and evidently, his chronic procrastination wins out overall because he moves to grab his coat.

“I suppose it will boost morale. A team bonding exercise, if you will.”

***

The Colonel splits the group to look in different areas of East City, with Breda staying behind at HQ in case the Lieutenant calls (as they all agreed that him joining the Hayate Hunt would be a tremendously bad idea), Falman and Fuery taking the southern half of the city, and Havoc accompanying Mustang as they search through the northern half.

“Fuery and Falman will be covering several parks that the Lieutenant takes Hayate to during walks,” Mustang says, “but there’s a few other spots they frequent that we can try first.”

“You have Hawkeye’s dog walking route memorised, Sir?” Jean questions, allowing a hint of teasing to enter his voice. The only answer he’s graced with is a glare before the Colonel resolutely doesn’t look at him for a few minutes as they walk through the city. 

They search for roughly about half an hour - ducking into several alleyways that Jean would rather not be in, thank you very much, but Mustang reminds him that he’s not the only one with paperwork waiting for him on his desk, so he quits complaining - before Jean notices a familiar blonde a little farther down the street from them.

“Is that the Lieutenant?” He asks, drawing the Colonel’s attention.

“So it is,” Mustang responds, before purposefully stepping in her direction, leaving Jean to catch up.

“Lieutenant.”

The woman in question turns her head in Mustang’s direction, her eyes giving away surprised for just a moment before assuming her usual neutral expression - though there is a worried crease between her eyebrows that usually only appears by the 5th stack of paperwork in a day.

“Colonel. What are you doing here?”

“Assisting in the search for a missing officer,” Mustang grins.

“And procrastinating,” Jean chimes in cheerfully, to which Mustang elbows him in the ribs and Hawkeye levels him with a look.

“Thank you for the thought, but you have work to be doing,” Hawkeye says, eyes turning away from the Colonel. “I’m sure I’ll find him soon.”

It’s at this point that Jean realises this is the most dishevelled he’s seen the Lieutenant - meaning, of course, that she still looks professional and put-together to the untrained eye, but he can spy her hair is close to falling out of its usual barrette, and there are hints of dark shadows under her eyes that wouldn’t typically be there. 

“I’m sure you’ll find him sooner with people to help cover more ground,” Mustang insists. “I’ve already got Fuery and Falman on the case, too.”

Hawkeye sighs. “Sir-”

“When did Hayate go missing?” The Colonel asks.

“At around half six this morning,” the Lieutenant answers. “I always take him on a walk before I leave for work, but his leash must have unclipped, or - something. He’s a good boy, and he can’t have gone far, so please leave this to me and return to your duties, Colonel.”

“Your hair is loose,” is all Mustang remarks in response, and that gets him a glare. 

“Well, where have you checked already?” Jean intervenes as Hawkeye opens her mouth to speak again. “As you said, he can’t have gone far, so if we work from where you’ve already searched and head outwards…”

“Funnily enough, I’d thought of that myself,” Hawkeye answers tersely, eyes scanning the pavement opposite from the side of the road the three of them are standing on. “And I’m perfectly capable of -” A convenient - or inconvenient - gust of wind chooses then to cut the Lieutenant off, and the barrette keeping her hair in place completely gives up, leaving her hair to tumble down her shoulders. She hisses something - probably a curse - under her breath and reaches to redo it, but the Colonel already has the clip in one hand, gathering Hawkeye’s hair together with the other.

A faint but noticeable blush colours the Lieutenant’s cheeks, and Jean suddenly feels like he’s watching something personal. 

“I wasn’t aware you were an aspiring hairdresser, Sir,” he quips - if just to break the awkward silence that’s descended between them. Mustang chuckles, eyes focused.

“I grew up with sisters; I know how to do hair.”

True to his word, the Colonel fixes up the Lieutenant's hair with what looks like practised ease - in fact, Jean ponders, it just might be. Hawkeye steps away as soon as he's done.

"... Thank you, Sir," she says, the light red on her cheeks still not fading.

"You're welcome, Lieutenant," Mustang replies, and while the smirk on his face is the typical one he wears whenever he's flirting (or boasting), there's a warmth in his eyes that Jean's only ever seen directed at one woman. The Lieutenant turns to face him, and for a brief moment their eyes meet and they appear to get stuck there, smiling at each other. It's the most ridiculously romantic thing Jean's ever seen, and he can't stand it. He clears his throat, and both Hawkeye and Mustang jolt back to themselves. 

"Well, I suppose since you're here now you might as well help me look," Hawkeye concedes.

"We'll find him in no time," the Colonel assures.

 ***

They did not, in fact, find Hayate in no time.

Riza prides herself on being level-headed and in control of her emotions while chaos surrounds her; she’s well aware that she has a reputation around East City Command for being cold and relatively distant, which she’s not too fussed about. The people that know her well enough know that she has more of an emotional range than she might outwardly show, and that’s good enough for her.

A downside of that, though, is when the Colonel keeps giving her concerned glances throughout the morning when she’s perfectly content to appear collected as usual throughout this whole ordeal, despite becoming increasingly anxious as the day progresses.

Around midday she, Havoc and Roy end up reuniting with Falman and Fuery, the latter looking about as outwardly distressed as Riza feels.

“No luck at your end either, then?” Roy asks, and Fuery shakes his head forlornly.

“We checked all the parks I usually walk him through, and the ones on this side of the city that you take him to as well, Lieutenant,” he says, nodding to her, “but we haven’t found any sign of him so far.”

“We’ll find him,” Havoc says resolutely. “As Hawkeye said earlier, he can’t have gone far. He’s in this city somewhere .”

Riza looks to the Second Lieutenant to reply affirmatively but is momentarily taken aback by the same look of concern that Roy’s had the entire morning in his eyes too. 

In fact, when she looks fleetingly to Falman and Fuery, they’ve got the exact same expression.

It takes her off guard briefly; she was aware that the unit were some of the few who saw through the cool exterior she displays, but she didn’t think she was so transparent that they would all be looking at her like that. 

There’s an echoing of the feeling she’d gotten when she was assigned to her first unit in Ishval; she’d been the only woman in her unit, and the men amongst her had all looked at her like she was about to break at any minute. She knows this scenario isn’t the same - the men in this squad respect her and don’t treat her like glass - but the familiarity of being looked at like she’s something fragile makes something twist within her.

“It’s gone twelve; you should be returning to work.” 

The Colonel looks at her with something like surprise; why, she’s not too sure. 

“I thought we already agreed we could cover more ground with -”

“You can’t be absent from your desk all day, and I happen to know that you have at least three documents that need signing by the end of today and another seven by tomorrow,” she interrupts. “It’s really best that you return.”

Roy looks at her with confliction for a few seconds, then seems to find something in Riza’s eyes that makes him give in. 

“Alright,” he sighs. “Myself, Havoc and Falman will return to command, on the condition Fuery stays to help look. He’s the one who’ll know best after you where to find Hayate, after all.”

“Yes, Sir,” she and Fuery both chorus, and with that, the group makes to separate. She’s just about to start discussing the ground already covered with the Sergeant when a call from behind distracts her.

“Good luck, Lieutenant! We’ll have him back in no time!”

She and Fuery both turn to see Havoc, evidently the one who spoke, offering a thumbs up. The Colonel grabs his arm to make him continue walking, and Riza observes the interaction with a faint smile before focusing on the task at hand.

“Right,” Fuery says, pulling out a folded up map of the city from his pocket. “I’ve marked down everywhere Falman and I covered, so if you add where you checked with the Colonel and Havoc, we can go from there.”

After establishing the already visited spots on the map, and any places that Hayate might be more likely to return to so would be worth a double check, Riza and Fuery head in separate directions. Riza finds herself straying from parks and paths that she frequents on her morning and evening walks to slightly less conventional places, like the area surrounding the apartment complex she knows the owner of a particular labrador that Hayate likes lives in, or, more humiliatingly, the bin shed behind her local butcher’s, which is of course where a familiar voice calls out to her.

“Riza Hawkeye, I never thought you’d be one to be rifling through the bins,” the voice says, and Riza rolls her eyes before turning to face one Rebecca Catalina.

“Speak for yourself,” she returns. “I think I remember that one night during our second year of the Academy-”

“Not the same,” Rebecca counters, before she can finish. “Now, come on, out of the bin shed. I can’t believe my hunch was right.”

“What are you even doing here?” Riza asks.

“Looking for Hayate,” Rebecca answers. “And I have permission from Grumman to be assisting you - before you start protesting like you did with the Colonel.”

Of course.

Of course Roy went straight to Grumman - her grandfather, of all people, knowing he’d allow it - rather than leaving her to her own devices. It’s so typically him - his way of caring, making sure there’s someone with her even when she’s protested otherwise because he knows she’s bothered more than she wants to let on - in a way that makes her face burn and her teeth grit at the same time.

“Get that look off your face,” Rebecca remarks. “It’s a good thing I showed up when I did, otherwise I’d probably find you in the bin.”

Riza glares wordlessly, because while the notion was silly, it had crossed her mind.

A smooth hand slips into hers, and Rebecca gives Riza an encouraging smile.

“Come on,” she says, giving Riza’s hand a tug. “Let’s keep searching together before you lose it and start searching more bin sheds.” “I don’t know why you’re treating the idea so incredulously; it’s a reasonable place for a dog to be,” Riza mutters, letting herself be pulled along all the same.

As they search together, Riza realises why Roy had sent Rebecca to help rather than coming back himself (aside from the tower of paperwork she knows is on his desk); her brunette friend has the same bouncy energy as always surrounding her, as opposed to the Colonel’s looks of worry sent her way every five minutes. There’s no nervous silence between them, as Rebecca fills it with chatter about everything and nothing.

Also, Rebecca can shout louder than any of them.

“HAYATE!” she calls, startling several pigeons and a few people on the street opposite, as the sun begins to set below the skyline. Usually, Riza would care about the looks of judgement they garner from passers-by, but at this point she’s far beyond that - in fact, she fires back a couple of her own glares in return. Maybe it’s a little unnecessary, but now that the sun is beginning to set - being winter, it gets dark early, around the time she’d be leaving work on a normal day - she’s growing antsier about the whole situation. 

She almost doesn’t notice when they run into Fuery again.

“Still no luck for you?” Rebecca asks, which is what draws her attention. Fuery shakes his head, before seemingly noticing something.

“Are you alright, Lieutenant Catalina?”

Riza snaps to examine her friend at that; she’s fidgeting and glancing at her watch, and Riza remembers with a pang of guilt something that Rebecca hadn’t mentioned at all this afternoon, but during her lunch break last week.

“You have a date,” she realises.

Rebecca bites her lip. “They can wait.”

“No, go.”

“Seriously, Riza-”

“If you like the man, then go .”

Rebecca looks between Riza, to Fuery, to her watch, then back to Riza again.

“I’m sorry,” she says, grabbing Riza into a hug. “You’ll find him, I know you will. You’re the Hawk’s Eye!”

“That I am,” Riza responds, adding a smile she hopes is reassuring. Judging by Rebecca’s pained look, it wasn’t that effective. “Now go!”

“Fine!”

Trying to ignore the even more present worry in his eyes, Riza turns to Fuery.

“Shall we go over the map again?”

***

It’s hours after dark when Riza notices that Fuery is starting to shiver next to her. She hadn’t noticed that it had gotten cold.

“You should go home,” she advises, only to get a resolute head shake in turn. 

“Not until we find him,” the younger man replies, and Riza wants to accept his help, but she can’t let him stay out here in the cold all night when she was the one who lost her own dog in the first place.

A thought crosses her mind then, and another load of guilt adds itself to the writhing feeling of anxiety in her gut. 

“I’m sorry,” she blurts out. Fuery whips his head to look at her so fast it’s almost comical, with a look of such blatant confusion it warms and breaks Riza’s heart all at once.

“What for?”

“You were the one who found Black Hayate in the first place,” she explains. “I should have taken better care of him.”

“Don’t be silly,” Fuery admonishes. “Pets can get lost all the time. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad owner.”

“But if I’d been -”

“There’s no point in thinking things like that. All we can do is try and find him as soon as possible.”

Riza takes a breath, then smiles at Fuery. “Thank you, Kain,” she says, and he returns the smile. “Now go home.”

“Only if you do,” is his response this time, taking her aback.

“I can’t-”

“There’s only so much searching you can do in the dark,” he says. “If you search all night, then you’ll be too tired come morning to search for him effectively when there’s light on your side.”

She knows he’s right.

She knows he’s right, and yet it feels like a betrayal to give up now. 

“You can work on missing dog posters at home,” Fuery assures her. “And you can ask around your neighbours, too - see if they can keep a lookout for you.”

Riza nods, looking up at the stars and blinking rapidly because she will not cry in front of the youngest member of their unit.

“I can walk you home,” Fuery offers.

They walk together, allowing silence to fall between them again until they reach Riza’s apartment complex. 

“We’ll find him, Lieutenant,” Fuery says with the certainty of a promise, and Riza smiles at him again. 

“Of course,” she says. “Thank you, Sergeant.”

With that, they part ways, and Riza feels her heart sink further with every step up she takes in the stairwell towards her apartment before it plummets as she shuts the door and sits slumped against it.

Riza allows herself five minutes to sit there before getting to work with Fuery’s suggestions; she busies herself by making posters with ‘MISSING DOG’ blazoned across the top in bold letters before knocking on her neighbours’ doors and asking them to look out for Hayate if they can. That kills time for another couple of hours, at which point she realises she hasn’t actually eaten all day, so she makes herself something quick for dinner -

-And reaches for the dog food out of habit.

It takes her a moment to realise what she’s doing; she’s so used to this routine that she doesn’t notice until she’s facing Hayate’s food bowl and then freezes.

The quiet and emptiness of her apartment is suddenly so much more evident than before, and Riza feels it with a pang in her chest, sharp and painful. Black Hayate - her BraHa - is out there, probably cold and alone and scared, too, and the thought makes her eyes begin to prick with tears.

The phone rings.

Riza stares at it blankly for a second before moving to pick it up, blinking the yet unshed tears away before she answers.

“Hello?”

“Lieutenant,” a familiar voice responds, and of course - who else would it be?

“Colonel,” she says, “what is it?”

Hope flashes through her for a moment, and she asks before she loses it. “Do you have any news about Hayate?”

Roy winces on the other end of the line, and the hope dies before he even speaks. “Sorry, I haven’t heard anything,” he says apologetically. “I was just calling because, ah, well…”

She waits.

“I thought you might be lonely,” the Colonel says. “In the apartment, by yourself. So I thought… I’d call.”

He sounds embarrassed, like he’d had the idea and dialled her number on a whim before properly thinking it through - which, knowing him, was likely exactly the case. The thought makes her smile before she thinks of something else.

“Do you get lonely?”

“Sorry?”

“In an apartment by yourself,” Riza echoes his earlier words.

There’s a pause.

“Sometimes,” Roy admits, and the pang in Riza’s chest from earlier returns, though not as forceful as before. There’s another pause, filled with something raw that neither of them dares touch upon.

“Maybe you should get a dog, Sir,” she quips, letting the moment pass.

“I don’t think I’m a dog person.”

“You said you loved dogs, if I remember correctly.”

“And then I was deemed an unfit owner.”

“A cat, then.”

Just like that, they’re back on course to familiar banter.

“You might be on the right track there, Lieutenant. It would have to get on with Hayate, though…”

Riza blinks in surprise, and the pause leaves them off course once more.

Roy clears his throat. “Because we work together so often, of course. And - um - pet-sitting reasons. For favours. Favours that friends do for each other.”

“Right. Yes.”

The silence that follows is awkward this time.

“Anyway, uh - as I was saying, I just wanted to call to check in. So if you’re… okay…?”

“Yes. I am.” The lie is easy.

“You’re sure?”

This time she hesitates.

“We’ll find him,” Roy assures her.

“So everyone keeps telling me,” she replies shortly, then regrets it. He’s only tried to help her all day, after all. “Sorry. I’m just… worried.”

“It’s alright, I understand.”

The conversation lulls again, but this silence isn't uncomfortable. It's the kind of quiet that reminds Riza of their younger days when she and Roy would sit together while she focused on homework and Roy studied alchemy. There'd be evenings when they hardly spoke at all to each other, with just the wind and rain beating against the window making the only sound in the room. 

It's always been the case, Riza thinks, that they've always used more than words to talk to each other.

"Ah, I shouldn't keep you up late," the Colonel says, drawing Riza's attention to the clock above her on the wall. The hands read five to one. "Get a good night's sleep."

"You too, Colonel," she replies. "Good night."

Riza puts the phone down, and the apartment is empty of sound once more.

***

 The next morning Riza wakes up before sunrise and is out of the door by half-past five in the morning. She spends the next few hours searching for Hayate - retracing her steps from yesterday, checking anywhere she might have missed and taping her ‘missing dog’ posters to lampposts as she goes.

By 9 AM, she’s well into her search, but also has the nagging thought in the back of her mind of the five particular documents still sitting on her desk that need signing. While this situation is far farther up her list of priorities than work - she’d shoot the Fuhrer himself if he tried to get between her and her dog, probably - Riza supposes she can likely get to headquarters and deal with anything urgent and only lose half an hour.

When she enters the office, however, she’s greeted with the sight of a large chalkboard at one end of the room, a map of East City stuck to it, and Colonel Mustang marking off areas of said map with a marker - all the areas she, Rebecca and Fuery had covered yesterday.

“Havoc?”

“I checked through the south-west sector, mainly; the footpaths from Wayfield Way up through to Foxtail Street. One of my exes had a dog and she always took him there, so figured it was worth a try.”

“Good work,” Roy nods, adding a series of crosses to the map. “So if we add the areas I checked, and those checked by Falman - down to precise coordinates, I’ll give you a bonus for that - then we’ve got…”

“I’ve got a few more to add too, Sir,” Breda chimes in.

“But you’re terrified of dogs,” Riza says, drawing the attention of the men in the room. The Colonel straightens.

“Lieutenant,” he says, “We weren’t expecting you today.”

“I have some urgent paperwork I need to complete, then I’ll be on my way, if that’s alright.”

“Oh, any of your outstanding paperwork has been taken care of.”

Riza blinks.

“By who?”

Roy glances aside for a moment before returning her gaze. “By… me?”

Riza stares.

Colonel Roy Mustang, infamous procrastinator, the man that once decided to wash the windows of his office rather than start the paperwork he had due that afternoon, completed not only his own work (she sneaked a glance at his desk when she came in, and there was no tell-tale tower of paper) but her own too.

Roy’s cheeks start to turn red, and Riza realises she’s been staring and not saying anything. All that leaves her mouth when she opens it to speak, though, is a faint “Oh.”

“I had Officer Falman check over them this morning, too, so you don’t need to worry about -”

“I wasn’t-”

“Oh, well-”

The sharp tone of the phone ringing cuts into the conversation, and Riza is beyond relieved.

“I’ll - uh - I’ll get that now. Lieutenant, as you’re here, you can add any points to the map you’ve visited this morning, and then we’ll review.”

The Colonel hurries to his office and shuts the door, leaving Riza to wonder what on earth it is about such a simple act of completing paperwork that’s making her heart beat so fast.

 ***

Roy shuts the door to his office and answers the phone without really focusing on it, wondering why such a simple act of completing paperwork made the Lieutenant look at him like that. 

“Colonel Mustang speaking.”

“Roy!”

He doesn’t know who else he expected.

“Now is really not the time, Hughes.”

“You didn’t let me talk yesterday either,” Hughes whines, and Roy sighs.

“Lieutenant Hawkeye’s dog has gone missing,” he says, to hurry the conversation. At this point, he should start adding ‘able to cut short and/or derail a conversation with Maes Hughes’ to his list of applicable skills.

“Black Hayate?!” Hughes exclaims, “has he been missing since I last called? I’ll keep an eye out.”

“You live in Central.”

“And? Hayate’s a smart boy. Don’t doubt his ability to board a train.”

Usually, he'd slam the phone down, but a little voice in the back of his head - a familiar, Lieutenant-like voice - reminds him that if he breaks it one of these days he’ll probably have to pay for it, so he places it onto the receiver, disconnecting the call.

  Now he thinks about it, it’s probably a good thing that it was Hawkeye that took in Hayate and not anyone else in the unit - because Roy doesn’t think he’d be able to slip his entire unit conducting a search and rescue mission for a dog past Grumman if it wasn’t his granddaughter’s dog in particular. 

Especially as by the afternoon it’s beginning to look like the search may head into its third day.

Roy keeps a careful eye on the Lieutenant throughout the day - in the morning it seems like the night’s rest has refreshed her focus, but as the day progresses and he splits the team out further he can see the things he’s come to know as signs of anxiety in her; her hands keep fleeting from adjusting her hair to curling at her sides as if she’s itching to have a gun in her hands. Briefly, he considers taking her hand in his, but dismisses it quickly.

“Quit looking at me like that,” she hisses curtly, somewhen around the time when the sky starts to dim.

“Like what?”

“I’m fine.”

“Really? I wouldn’t be.” 

The Lieutenant regards him for a moment, the two of them walking side by side. “And if our places were reversed, you’d likely be acting as if you were perfectly fine, too.”

… Okay, well, she’s right there. But-

“So you admit it’s an act?”

That gets him one of the Lieutenant’s Looks - always with a capital L, in his mind - and he takes his cue to stop talking.

“Quit harassing the Lieutenant,” comes Havoc’s voice from behind them. “Still nothing?”

“Nothing,” Roy answers.

“It’s starting to get dark,” Havoc remarks, glancing upwards. “Should we-”

“I’m not going home,” Hawkeye interjects. “I did so last night, and I encourage you to do so now, but I’m not stopping until Hayate’s found.”

He can tell from the steel edge to her voice - and the slight shake in her shoulders - that she means it, and Roy’s not about to try and talk her down given the situation.

Still, he can always keep her company all the same.

“Go home, Havoc,” he instructs.

“Uh - are you sure?”

“I’ll keep on looking with the Lieutenant,” he reassures. “You head home, and I’ll let you know if we find anything.”

The Second Lieutenant leaves as dismissed, offering a “Hang in there, Hawkeye,” before he goes. That leaves Roy and Lieutenant Hawkeye together, with Roy bringing out the map once more.

“So, if I mark off the paths we’ve covered in the past hour or so… we can check the park near Commercial Heights again, or the western courtyard. Then if we don’t get any luck there, there’s that patch of forest near Langham Willows Road…” 

His eyes drift away from the map to find the Lieutenant’s watching him. “What is it?”

“Thank you,” Hawkeye murmurs.

Roy smiles. “Anytime, Lieutenant.”

They walk together, periodically calling for Hayate and searching any place they can think of. Roy cracks jokes here and there - knowing that his adjutant will see straight through them, but making the effort all the same to see if he can get her to relax. Eventually, they end up heading in the direction Roy aimed for.

He can tell the moment Hawkeye notices; she stops short and her face closes off.

“You’re leading me back to my apartment.”

There’s no point denying it. “Yes, I am.”

“I told you I wasn’t stopping.”

“And now I’m telling you that you need to rest.”

“No.” 

Over the years, Roy has grown familiar with all kinds of expression in Riza Hawkeye’s voice; he knows her cool and calm tone that she wears from day to day, the defeated hoarseness he remembers from some of their darkest days, the short irritation when they’ve been buried under week-old paperwork for days on end. 

Right now, her voice is cold but slipping into something hot and painful underneath, like ice cracking beneath a flame. 

As one would when navigating thin ice, Roy really should tread carefully.

Instead, he pushes.

“I’ll make it an order if I have to.”

The Lieutenant’s brown eyes burn into his own before they dull painfully into a resignation that makes Roy’s chest ache. He steps forward - 

And the Lieutenant steps back.

“Don’t!”

The volume of her voice makes him freeze; the Lieutenant herself looks surprised, too.

A light switches on in a window of the apartment block near them, and they both watch it carefully. Roy’s still focused on it when the Lieutenant’s voice pulls his gaze away.

“Sorry, Sir. You’re right, I should -” she coughs. “I should go home.”

The ice is even thinner now. 

“Lieutenant…” 

He trails off. He didn’t even know what he was going to say when he started.

“Let me walk you home.”

Apparently that’s what he was going to say.

Hawkeye nods, and they walk in solemn silence back to her apartment building. Once she enters through the lobby doorway, she doesn’t pause to bid him goodbye; rather, she leaves the door open for him to follow through. 

Roy pauses halfway through the entryway, unsure. It’s not as if it’s the first time he’s been to her apartment, but he feels weirdly off-kilter here. It reminds him vaguely of the first time the Lieutenant had allowed him into her bedroom to study together when they were young, and he’s stood carefully distant from any object without touching anything until she’d told him to sit down and get to work already.

He follows the Lieutenant up to her apartment door, where she turns back to face him. Both of them seem to fail to find any words for a few seconds.

“Tea?”

Roy short circuits for a second, staring dumbfoundedly at the woman in the doorway in front of him. While yes, he's been to her apartment before, it's never at this hour, and he's not sure whether he's reading too much into this interaction-

"You should make up your mind either way and move out of my doorway. Before the neighbours start to talk, ideally."

That startles him into moving through the threshold - and after a good look at his Lieutenant in decent light, he moves towards the kettle in the kitchen.

“You sit down; I’ll make it.”

Instead of arguing otherwise, the Lieutenant simply sits at her kitchen table as Roy goes about making tea for both of them. He’s partly distracted while he lets it steep when the Lieutenant speaks again.

“What if I never see him again?”

Roy turns. The Lieutenant’s eyes are fixed on the dog food bowl.

“If he’s dead? Or we just… never find him? What then?”

Setting the tea down in front of her, Roy takes the kitchen chair next to the Lieutenant.

“Don’t worry yourself with that now,” he says. “For now, just drink your tea, then go to sleep.”

The Lieutenant dutifully sips her tea, before smiling wistfully.

“Did I ever tell you about the time Hayate tried to dodge hail in a storm despite the door inside being about 10 feet away?”

Roy grins. “No, but I’ll definitely hear this one.”

He listens to the Lieutenant’s story - and a couple more - while they finish their tea, then stands up and extends his hand to hers once they’re done.

“Tea over, now sleep,” he says, and Hawkeye rolls her eyes.

“I am capable of putting myself to bed, you know,” she insists. “Sorry for keeping you - you should get home yourself.”

She shows him to the door, and just before he leaves, Roy stops. The Lieutenant’s eyebrows raise in question, and Roy hesitates before pressing a light kiss to her forehead.

“I promise,” he says lowly, “I promise you that we’ll bring him back home safe.”

Hawkeye nods, and with that, they part.

After leaving the apartment building, Roy takes out the map and resumes searching. It’s late and dark, so it’s hard to see, but he made a promise and he intends on seeing it through.

Several false hopes and two hours later, and after realising that he’s too tired to search effectively, Roy heads back towards his own apartment. 

He almost misses the glint that catches the light near his shoe.

Bending down, he makes out the shape of a dog collar to the right of the sidewalk, close to the road. He picks it up to examine - and, as he suspected, the glint that caught his eye was the tag on the collar with Black Hayate’s details inscribed. 

That’s not all, though - with a sinking feeling, Roy walks closer to the nearest lamppost to get a good look at the collar, and notices the dark red of blood.

Oh, no, he thinks. Please, no.

***

He’s outside her door the next morning, about to knock when she opens it - before standing back in surprise.

“Colonel? What are you doing here?”

Roy takes a breath before holding out the collar. “I found this on my way home last night,” he explains.

The Lieutenant takes the collar - clean of blood, because he’s not about to give Hawkeye a blood-covered collar belonging to her missing dog - from his hand gingerly, fingers brushing over the tag. “Where did you find it?” she asks.

“On the sidewalk, near my apartment.” 

In between examining the collar, the Lieutenant looks up and evidently notices something in Roy’s face that gives away his unease.

“... There’s something else,” she realises. 

He really doesn’t want to do this to her.

“There was blood on the collar when I found it,” Roy says carefully, watching the Lieutenant’s face to judge her reaction.

Her expression doesn’t change, but her face pales considerably.

“It could mean nothing,” he rushes to amend. “A small cut, something inconsequential.”

“Of course,” Hawkeye says, and the layer of ice in her tone is back.

“Lieutenant-”

“Thank you for returning this to me, Colonel. Are you continuing to headquarters after this?”

“I am, yes. Maybe you should come with me. We can regroup with the others and concentrate the search around the area where I found the collar.”

The Lieutenant appears to consider this briefly before nodding shortly. Without any further conversation, she shuts the front door behind her and starts walking.

When they enter the office at HQ, Havoc and Breda are already present, despite it being an hour earlier than any of the team would be there on any other day. 

“Morning,” Havoc greets, already making his way over to the map covered in marker pen. “I’ve marked off my and Breda’s locations from yesterday already. New day, new dawn, we’ll have Hayate back to his owner in no time.”

Breda, however, is eyeing the collar in Hawkeye’s hand. “Is that what I think it is?” 

After a glance towards the Lieutenant, Roy explains the situation himself. There’s a beat of silence after he finishes speaking before Havoc is practically tripping over himself to reassure Hawkeye, with Breda following suit. Roy leaves them to it, adding his own marks to the map from his search last night and circling the area surrounding the street he found the collar on. Falman enters not too long afterwards, and after they explain (again), they start to plan with their updated information. However, as time goes on, Roy notices the Lieutenant beginning to fiddle nervously with the collar.

Before he can ask, she voices her concerns.

"We shouldn't tell Fuery about the blood," she says suddenly, cutting the current conversation short.

"Are you sure…?" Falman asks hesitantly. Hawkeye nods. 

"All sorts of conclusions can be drawn from something like that," she states. "It would only worry him, and-"

The Lieutenant inhales, about to continue, but the breath catches in her throat. As she coughs to clear it, Roy notices her hands gripping the collar so hard her knuckles have turned white, and he realises that the ice is about to crack - and that the following few minutes aren't going to be anything that Hawkeye wants to be witnessed.

"Lieutenant," he says gently, "my office?"

She nods and ducks in, and he follows.

After shutting the door, he turns to the blonde, who has her face turned away from him. 

"I'm alright," she says quietly, after a moment. "I just needed a minute."

Roy studies her for a moment; although he can't see her face, he can see the Lieutenant's shoulders shake and guesses that she's repressing tears. 

Before he can say anything, he hears an "Oh, hey, Chief!" Through the door, and feels the urge to slam his head into a wall. He really doesn't want to deal with Fullmetal today.

"I'll be one minute," he assures the Lieutenant, then opens the door and steps out, letting the door close behind him.

"Hey, Bastard," Fullmetal says cheerfully. "Is the Lieutenant here?"

"She's busy," he replies flatly. "What do you need to see her for?"

"Well," Ed starts, and then Fuery enters the office, beaming ear to ear, closely followed by Alphonse.

Alphonse, who is holding a very familiar Shiba Inu in his arms.

Edward and Alphonse Elric suddenly become two of Roy's favourite people in this world. 

"I owe you about ten favours," he breathes, which he'll regret later, but right now he couldn't care less. 

He opens the door back to poke his head into the office and beams at the Lieutenant.

"Someone's here to see you," he grins, before opening the door wider to allow Ed, Al and Hayate into view.

Hayate jumps from Al's arms and bounds across the room to his master, who greets him with matching excitement, gathering up the Shiba Inu into her arms.

"Hayate!" The Lieutenant holds him tightly to her, before giving him a series of kisses atop his head. "Where have you been? Oh, BraHa, don't you ever run off like that again, I was so worried …"

She turns to the brothers then, eyes suspiciously red-rimmed. "Where did you find him?"

"Around the bins in the hotel near the station," Ed says. "We didn't even know he was missing."

"If Rebecca ever tells me I'm wrong again I'll remind her of this," Hawkeye mutters under her breath.

"Oh, he had a little scratch!" Al advises, "I think he might have gotten it trying to get through a fence or something like that. It doesn't look too bad, though!" 

Hawkeye smiles gratefully at the boys, while Hayate licks at her face gleefully. "Thank you, Edward, Alphonse." 

"A-Ah, it was no problem!"

"Yeah, anytime, Lieutenant!" 

The Lieutenant buries her face into Hayate's fur, trying (and failing) to disguise a sniffle. The look of panic that crosses Ed's face is quite something.

"Uh - a-are you -"

"The Lieutenant will be just fine," Roy interrupts, ushering the brothers out of the room. "We'll be with you in a few minutes. I'm sure the rest of the team can keep you entertained by catching you up on the past couple of days."

Once the door is shut once more, Roy approaches the Lieutenant. 

"Are you okay?" He asks softly, receiving a nod in return.

"I'm fine, really," Hawkeye says, somewhat muffled by Shiba Inu. "I'm not quite sure why I'm - all -"

"It's been a long few days," Roy says. "Don't be ashamed to cry." 

"I'm not crying," Hawkeye protests; at which moment Hayate decides he wants to be free from her arms and jumps down to run under Roy's desk, leaving her with no face shield. The Lieutenant attempts to hide her face within her elbow instead, but Roy catches her arm before she can. There are tear tracks on her cheeks and fresh tears welling in her eyes, but she's still attempting to contain them.

The ice doesn't have to crack. Not if it can thaw slowly first.

"Riza," he says. "It's-"

Before he can finish, Riza wraps her arms around his waist and buries her face into his shoulder. Roy completely seizes up for a moment, wondering what on earth to do or say and where does he put his hands?  before reminding himself that he's not seventeen anymore, quit blushing, and places his arms lightly around her. They remain like that for a few minutes, quiet except for the occasional sniff from the blonde head resting on his shoulder, until he opens his mouth to speak and is cut off.

"Don't," Riza says. "You'll ruin the moment." 

"Well, now the moment is over," Roy replies jauntily, "And it wasn't even me who broke it."

"Better I do it than you. You'd make some stupid remark about having damsels in distress crying in your arms."

Roy gasps. "I would never ."

"Everyone in the room next door can vouch for the fact that you would ."

"If you'd like to invite them in to watch us hug, then, by all means, be my guest."

"Nothing wrong with a hug between friends, Colonel."

"Right. Yes. Of course."

Friends.

Because they can't be anything more than that. No matter their history, or the way they're holding each other right now, or the longing, aching want that Roy has for more - there's too much at stake for them to risk anything more. That, and the notion of the two of them finding happiness in each other, after all they've done…

It's not something they can entertain. Not now, and maybe not ever. But a hug between friends… he'll settle for that. 

Or, he would, if Black Hayate didn't decide that he needed attention and needed it now, leaping up between them. Riza laughs - possibly the most beautiful sound Roy's ever heard - and scoops Hayate up into her arms again while Roy gives him head pets, and they dote after the runaway dog until he gets bored of them and seeks out the rest of the team for company.

 ***

Later on in the evening, as Roy is sitting alone in his apartment and starting to consider if getting a cat would be a good idea after all - maybe he could take in the next stray that Alphonse picks up - his phone rings.

"Hello?"

"Colonel," a familiar voice sounds through the phone. "Sorry for bothering you at this hour."

"That's alright, Lieutenant. Is everything alright? How's Hayate?"

"He's fine," Riza answers, "We're both okay. I just… wanted to call. And to thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me for anything,” Roy says. 

“I noticed, by the way.”

“Noticed what?”

“You marked off more areas on the map this morning than the part of the city that we covered last night,” Riza remarks. “You didn’t need to do that. So thank you.”

Of course she noticed - it would be stupid of him to think she wouldn’t, she is ‘The Hawk’s Eye’, after all - but that’s not why. Riza knows he’d stay out to look for Hayate for the same reason Roy knows how to do her hair, or how she likes her tea. They’ve been together long enough.

“You’re welcome, Lieutenant.”

The conversation moves on to other things then - old rumours recirculating around command, the last dramatic breakup between Havoc and another now-ex-girlfriend, stories from Roy’s sisters. They can only talk for so long, and the conversation comes to a natural end, but before he can hang up the phone a thought strikes Roy.

“Thank you,” he says suddenly, an echo of Riza’s words from earlier.

There’s a confused pause. “What are you thanking me for?”

“For calling,” he answers simply. “That’s all.”

There’s a tiny huff of amusement from Riza’s end of the line. “Anytime, Colonel.”

“Oh, anytime ?”

“Anytime before midnight .”

Even after he hangs up the phone, Roy notices the cold loneliness of the empty apartment around him doesn’t sink in as deeply. 

So, he thinks, between strictly platonic hugs, late nights with tea, and phone calls… yeah, he’ll settle for that fine.

That, and maybe a cat - so long as it doesn’t get lost.

[rawrienstein]

Some kind of Future Space AU with Sciset Flavors.

Big’ol in-universe Log below

Captain Twilight Sparkle’s Log:

Spike is a communications trainee and occasionally my personal research assistant. He is also my younger brother. He is intelligent and charming. We have a very close relationship as siblings, and he begged to be apart of the crew. With the blessing of Fleet Admiral Celestia, he was granted junior crew status and trains under Rarity to advance his knowledge of communications systems. We currently are unsure of Spike’s race. The planet on which he was discovered had been long abandoned by any forms of life. I was lucky to discover him as a mere child during an expedition. I remember his egg sparkling in that cave wall and making my first excavation...Ehm, but to continue with his log. Spike might seem similar to various reptilian-like species, but his genetics do not match any known ones. Hard mineral scales protect his outer body and we have learned completely by accident that it resists strong cutting tools. His diet consists mostly of usual food stuffs like pancakes and cupcakes, but he frequently consumes raw gemstones and other precious minerals and claims that they’re just as delicious. It’s hard to tell whether what he tells me is in jest or not, but his diet can be resource intensive. He is also very resistant to heat. I’m sorry that’s an understatement. He can swim in molten lava with minor discomfort. As incredible as he is, he is not perfect. Spike is normally a nice person, but has strange greedy streaks. His work ethic is to be expected of a child and I cannot fault him for desiring more time to play, however he really needs to clean his room. Which is strange considering how he enjoys cleaning and organizing other people’s things. Regardless, objectively as Captain Twilight Sparkle, I know Spike’s will be an important member of our exploration effort and I’m happy to have him as apart of our crew.

My name is Twilight Sparkle and I am the Captain of the Star Ship Amicitia. I graduated top of my class and a personal tutorship from Fleet Admiral Celestia. Through recommendation of Fleet Admiral Celestia, I was granted my own ship much earlier than my peers, and I am forever grateful for her blessing. Believe it or not, I am mostly just well practiced and trained. My intellect comes from perseverance rather than innate ability. I feel this is my greatest strength and what Celestia saw in me. I do have an analytical mind, but I feel that it has harmed more than helped. Celestia has shown me that building bonds between others is crucial, but it is very difficult for me. Sometimes I feel closer to the ship than my fellow crew. They say they enjoy my presence, but I can’t help but feel their resentment of such a young captain. I explain that I had toured with Celestia herself for two years, but I can understand that even that seems small compared to the normal 10 year process. Outside of my typical captain’s duties, I lead the research team on multiple projects. If exploring the stars wasn’t in my future, exploring the still vast unknowns of science would be a grand fallback. Of my heritage, I possess Ucor genetics thanks to my father, and it’s psionic manipulation abilities. The small horn on my forehead allows me manipulate my surroundings through telekinesis and barriers of force. Celestia explained to me that I held great potential in this field for combat, but I explained I abhor violence. The struggles my older brother had gone through was enough to show me that violence was never the answer. She respected my wishes, but encouraged me to meditate on it. I wish I’d understood her wisdom sooner. Even so, I am confident in my ability to Captain this star ship and lead our crew to safely explore the great unknowns in our universe.

Sunset Shimmer is a Space Pirate. Her tactical knowledge and combative skill is well above any of our crew. We’re fortunate as a research focused vessel we possess little of value to her so we have never been seen as a target. We have however flown into space she has claimed as her own and crossed paths during her raids of small space ports. Her forces are well trained and obedient to her. We estimate she possess a small fleet of four ships. Mostly stolen, though one is an original design focused on Star Ship raiding. She is also part Ucor and possesses refined psionic abilities. Her favorite seems to be summoning a sword of force. It’s very impressive in how it does not seem directly lethal. It could clearly cut through many dense materials, but she chooses to treat it as a blunt instrument against people. She says it’s easier to take prisoners when they’re still alive and reports show her raids have never resulted in a single fatality. She does not seem to fit the typical mold of other Space Pirates, who are much more ruthless and violent. She clearly possesses the power and skill to do much more damage, but has instead favored small precise strikes. I do not understand her, but I wonder if there is a heart that can be reached.

Personal Log:

Sunset Shimmer is so confusing. She saved my life, and then gave me a concussion. Then she held me prisoner in attempt to ransom me back to the fleet. During one of our leaves in a neutral zone, I encountered her and then she invited me for drinks at a local bar! I was taken a back, but felt compelled to agree to the offer. I don’t know what came over me, but our conversation was genuinely delightful. She’s bright and humorous, a little dark, but enjoyable. She apologized for giving me a concussion and the ransoming. She had no intent on harming me or my crew, but told me the funds and resources being distributed only to our star fleet should be shared. I’m not sure how true that is, but she seemed sincere. She is known around her regions as a Robin Hood figure of sorts. Though having seen her personal quarters, I think she keeps a larger cut of her thefts than a more benevolent person would. She was also quite generous in sharing other things with me. I apologize about the bed sheets. I hope we cross paths again soon, and I might have the chance to convince her of another way. She has been morally lucky with her use of violence against others, but I fear the day blood will finally mar her hands.

[seijch]

➣ the fate of a blade has (and always will be) to live and live and live. whether or not they retain their memories is optional.

kuroo tetsurou + gender neutral!reader (no pronouns mentioned)

high fantasy au, angst

2k

this fic is inspired by the video game xenoblade chronicles 2, but knowledge of that game is not needed to enjoy this fic :-) this fic also takes place in the same universe as my ushijima fic simple life, but the stories of both take place independently of each other !!

Wait.

Stop.

"Kuroo?"

You know him; of course you do. You'd recognize the sharp lines of his face from anywhere, any place, any time. You take his appearance in the same way one would thumb through the pages of their favorite book: with familiarity and all the care in the world.

He turns at the sound of his name, his gaze searching for a moment for the source of the sound. When it lands on you, your heart breaks.

He looks about the same as always, hair permanently disheveled and exactly as annoyingly attractive as you remember.

(He used to lord it over you when you'd admitted it to him. "Oh?" he'd asked, chin in his palm and a twinkle in his eye. You had wanted nothing more than for the ground beneath to swallow you whole.)

It's been almost a full year since you've seen him. You didn't think you'd get the chance to ever again.

"Do I know you?" he asks.

You did, you want to scream.

You did—

(Your eyes blink open for the first time. Well, not really; they've blinked thousands, millions of times before. This just marks the first time your eyes have opened to your current incarnation.

For a moment, you think you're seeing double, the girl you assume is responsible for awakening you shadowed by her doppelganger. Ah, you think. They must be identical twins.

Introductions are standard. They have to be, when all you've come into this life with is your name and the innate knowledge of your power. Such is the life of a blade, you suppose. You come into this world with one purpose, one goal: to serve your driver, the person who summons you. 

Thankfully, your driver and her sister look nice enough, but their company does not, all scarred faces and scowls.

"Tough crowd, right?" a voice asks, low in your ear. You startle, whipping around to strike your would-be assailant. It's another blade, judging by the gem embedded in his chest and the vaguely unhuman look in his eyes. He holds his hands up in surrender, a playful grin on his face. "What a way to greet someone you've just met," he drawls. When your body relaxes, he offers his hand for you to shake. "I'm Kuroo. And as for this," he nods to the grim atmosphere of the camp, "you get used to it."

Niceties, it seems, are few and far between when your trade is entirely underground. Both your driver—and Kuroo's, whose driver is the mirror image of your own—were involved with the illegal dealing of core crystals, the very thing blades are summoned from.

You voice these concerns to Kuroo on your second night. "It took me a while to get used to it, too. Turns out our drivers aren't as morally corrupt as the rest of the crew." Blades tended to take after their drivers, their personality overlaid over the blade's to make each incarnation unique. "But hey," he rations, tossing a deep orange gem with one hand, "money makes the world go 'round, doesn't it?")

You did—

("You've got to try harder than that," he teases, the tip of his katana kissing the gem on your chest. "I was just starting to have fun, too." You hiss, ignoring the sting as you get up from where Kuroo's knocked you on your ass.

"Oh, I'll show you fun," you growl. He only smiles, dropping into a fighting stance as you pick up your weapon, a cannon drawing its projectiles from the ether energy in the air. You've long since learned that Kuroo is an opponent you can't hope to beat; there were a select few blades that were lauded throughout history for their power. Kuroo Tetsurou, wielder of the Chaos Uchigatana, happens to be one of them.

But that sure as hell won't stop you from trying.)

You did—

(The sparring sessions become routine, and you end up playing into Kuroo's hands every time. Each blow landed is an uphill battle against his strength, his skill.

Out of all the mornings and nights spent butting heads, you can only remember one instance where you come out on top.

Your breathing is hard, the cannon focused at his head. You'd tumbled into his lap at some point, but your head is hazy with the fog of victory. "I did it," you pant, chest heaving.

"After what?" he asks, as though he wasn't pinned to the ground. "How many losses did it take you, hm? Fifty? Eighty?" The real number—not like anyone was counting—is closer to ninety-seven. You wisely choose not to tell him that.

"You're not going to take this from me," you tell him as your breathing evens out, crooking a finger at him. Only then do you notice the space—or lack thereof—between you. You scramble to get up, offering him a hand. It's warm. Calloused. Fits perfectly in your own.

You try not to think about it.)

You did—

("What is this, Kuroo?" You're the only two awake, up for the last shift of guard duty while the rest of camp snoozes under the night sky. The only light around is the campfire Yaku set up hours ago. It burns low, crackling enough to cut through the silence.

"What is what?"

"Don't play dumb with me," you mutter from his shoulder, a bit muffled. "We both know you're smarter than that." His shoulders rise a bit, like a wave cresting and falling as he exhales from his nose in a half-laugh.

"Let's say," he deflects, "one of our drivers dies tomorrow." 

“How morbid. Are you talking about my driver?”

“Why would I be talking about your driver? It could be either of us. That’s the point of a hypothetical situation. It’s not likely to happen.”

“You tell me, Mr. Ninety-Seven.” You’re sure he’ll take the compliment, say something about how his total number of wins against you has gone up into the hundreds, but he surprises you with what he says next.

“Don’t pretend like we’re not equals.” When you huff, he exhales, refocusing.

"Let me finish. Let's say one of our drivers dies tomorrow. One of us returns to our crystal. When they're reawakened," he does his best to crane his neck, trying to make eye contact, "we won't remember this. We won't remember us."

"Yeah." It's a fact of life; blades only live as long as their drivers do. They return to the conscious, corporeal plane once they're reawakened. It's something you know, something you'll always know, through this life and the next. You're sure there are countless people, blades and drivers alike, that have been wiped clean from the slate of your memory. "And?"

"Is it so bad," he says, barely audible, like he's trying to convince himself to believe it rather than persuade you into agreeing, "to be so selfish with your present because you'll never remember the past and aren't promised a future?")

You did—

(The next job ends in an ambush from some of the competition.

You're sure the exertion will weigh on you later, but right now, you relish in it. You've long since passed the point of being one with your driver. The ether bond between you causes you both to glow golden with the raw energy being used, and she handles your cannon with ease. They say that it's during battles that the lines that separate driver and blade are the most muddled, and right now, you know it to be true. You’re certain that you two can take on whatever comes, that you’re on top of the world and nothing will take you down.

So you do just that, the cannon's shots of ether echoing into the night, against the rock walls of the cliffs surrounding the valley.

The dust clears. The euphoria of battle begins to seep out of your bones.

Your driver's twin sister—Kuroo's driver—lies broken and bloody on the dry grass.

"No," your driver sobs, her eyes glassy in a way you've never seen in all your months together, "you said it was us against the world." Her voice cracks, "You said-"

"I know what I said." Kuroo's driver has always been the more rational twin, hasn’t she? When she smiles, her teeth and gums are stained red. "I meant it. Still do." Her words are punctuated with a gurgle bringing with it a bubble of blood that pops on her lips. "It always will be. Now run."

"What-"

"Reinforcements are coming!" Yaku shouts, out of breath as he runs in your direction. You're not sure if it's because of exhaustion or because his driver's life force is ebbing away, the ocean itself receding in time for low tide.

"I can't leave you behind," your driver cries, tears running down her cheeks unbidden. Kuroo is fighting them off by himself, a speck barely recognizable in the distance. He's winning, too—for now.

A blade with a driver on their last legs won't last. The realization is heavy as it drops to the pit of your stomach, like a pebble creating ripples in a pond.

"You have to. What's the first thing we learned on the job?"

It's one of the first things you learned about the job, too: when things go south, it’s time to bail out.

You're told to run and not look back.

You and your driver—you're sure it's a trait inherited from her—have never been good listeners.

When you chance a glance behind you, you're just in time to see Kuroo and Yaku's core crystals fall to the ground as their driver takes her last breath.)

You did.

(Life is dull after that. Colors are no longer as vibrant, the excitement that came with each day long gone. You wonder if that excitement was something that came with Kuroo alone.

Gone are the sparring sessions, the late nights spent on watch duty. You know your driver has it worse; she's despondent half the time, enough for the crew to leave her to fend for herself.

"We have enough money," you tell her one afternoon. The coins clink softly as you draw the strings of her purse closed. "Let's buy a place somewhere. I hear Uraya is nice this time of year. Would you like that?"

"Yeah," she replies. The firecracker you’d come to know and love has fizzled out. "I'd like that."

You pretend to not notice the locket she clutches close to her chest when the nightmares get the best of her. When you'd first awakened, Kuroo had been the one to tell you the story behind it: it was the first thing the two of them bought with the money from their first job.

You wonder where Kuroo and Yaku are now, eyes trained on the view of the sky from the window of the inn. You wonder if they've returned to the land of the living.

But thinking like that won't get you anywhere; after all, even if they were, it wouldn't be the Kuroo and Yaku you know.)

His eyes are guarded, entirely without recognition. In the end, he was right. (And you're sure that if Kuroo—your Kuroo, not this Kuroo that stands before you—was still around, this would be yet another victory held over your head. You find it a little annoying that he's still winning, even now.)

In the end, you are the one left with the memories. The weight of them is enough to bring you to your knees, to drag you into the depths with no chance of ever seeing the light again. Every fiber of your body wants to reach out to him, to ask "Don't you remember me?"

But you've had your share of selfishness.

Your driver is waiting for you to return with the groceries. (She's taken to cooking these days. She's no good at it, but the humming you hear from the kitchen on good days makes eating her awful dishes more than worth it.)

You swallow, but it does nothing to get rid of the lump in your throat.

"No," you smile up at him. The edges of it are a bit too strained to be genuine, and he notices. You’ve known him long enough that you can read his tells, the slight narrow of his eyes when he picks up on something poorly concealed. He’s perceptive, as always. You suppose some things never change.

(Your Kuroo knew you. He knew you well enough that the slightest change in mood would tip him off. But then again, that feels like ages and years and lifetimes ago.

Now, you’re just a stranger that’s stopped him in the middle of the street.)

"You don't."

[k7l4d4]

Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Cross Fic Episode 6 Part 3

Hello, and once again, welcome to the exciting world of Midnight Striga! Everybody Clap Your Hands!!

Eda easily slipped through the crowd, one of the benefits of being a skilled pickpocket, scanning the faces around her. Her eyes brightened when she finally spotted the girl she was looking for. “Luz!” She called out, signalling the girl over. As Luz spotted Eda in turn, she grinned, sauntering over.

“Hey Eda! How’d your conversation go?” Luz asked casually, hands tucked in her pockets.

Eda gave a confident smirk, expertly holding in the awkwardness she knew was trying to peek through. “Eh, as well as it was gonna go. Still, I think me and Gwen are gonna be fine.” She replied, giving an easy shrug. Things between her and her mother may still be rough, but they now had a starting point to build something healthy. Together.

Luz gave a wistful smile. “Man, that must be nice.” She said, an almost dreamy look to her face, much to Eda’s confusion. Shaking her head, Luz cleared her thoughts. “Anyway, I got to ask something.”

“Fire away.” Eda prompted.

Luz smirked, laughing lightly. “I overheard some kids talking, do you know what this whole Moonlight Conjuring thing is?” She asked, slightly cocking her head.

“Moonlight Conjuring? Pfft! It’s some baby magic ceremony where kids hold hands and try to use the power of the moon to bring something to life.” Eda said dismissively. She had honestly forgotten that it was around that time of year for it. Ugh. She raised an eyebrow at the look of shock Luz had. “What’s with the look?”

“Are you saying that parents WILLINGLY let their kids attempt a Lunar Ritual!? Annually!?” She demanded, a wild look in her eyes.

Eda reeled back at the intensity. “Whoa, kid! You’re gonna have to explain a little. What’s the big deal, the ritual never works!” She should know, all those times she and… anway, all those times she’d tried to do it as a kid, and it never worked, not even once!

“I can think of a few reasons why if my hunch is right.” Luz dryly stated, though Eda was mostly certain that wasn’t a jab at her. This time at least. Luz grew serious. “Eda, this is big stuff. Lunar Rituals, even minor ones, are insanely powerful, and can cause all kinds of chaos!” She huffed. “Man, this job just got tougher.”

That instantly caught Eda’s attention. “What job?” She asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. If this was a trap…

Luz snorted. “That Blight girl from the Covention is holding a Conjuring for her and some of her friends, and asked me to run Bodyguard duty so that they feel safe.” She shrugged. “I mean, usually I’m the one getting PAST bodyguards, not acting as one, but it seemed like something to do, you know?”

Eda paused, mulling it over. She knew the Blights, the parents that is, and she didn’t trust either of them, not really. Al was deceptively absent-minded, but was brilliant when it came to playing the game and getting the best results for him and his, whereas Dolly was… an experience in patience testing, even by Eda’s lofty standards of weaponized annoyance. Still, if it came from the kid, it probably wasn’t a trap. “Eh, I got no problem with it.” She finally said. “Just keep your eyes peeled around her parents. Al and Dolly aren’t the kind of people you should trust. Like, at all.” She finished, voice growing grave.

Luz lightly bit her lip, softly kicking at the ground. “Yeah, I understand.” She was intimately familiar with adults of those types. Eyes brightening, she added, “But hey, it’s still a party, right? I bet I can sneak out some snacks for you, King and Hooty after I’m done!” She winked, a cheeky grin on her face. Eda laughed at that. Chuckling, the two made their way home, Eda chugging the potion before she forgot about it again. When they got back, they encountered the honestly hilarious sight of King tied up to a pole over a pile of leaves, Hooty reading off a list of charges before a court of stuffed animals. After they finished laughing, and King stopped screaming in embarrassment, the group went inside, gathering supplies.

“I don’t care what you say, I AM GOING WITH YOU TO THE NIGHT MARKET!!” King shouted, stomping his foot. It almost looked bratty, were it not for the fact he was also stuffing supplies into a fanny pack from Eda’s junk piles. For all his attitude, he was serious about going with her.

“Ugh! Fine, fine! Just settle down already!” Eda groaned, relenting to his (annoying) insistence. She looked sideways at Luz’s chuckle. “Oh, like you’d be able to stand up to him when he’s like this, either!” She retorted.

Luz snorted. “Aw heck no! I am well aware when to fold’em, but that’s not gonna stop me from finding this hilarious!” She laughed, her stuff packed and ready for the trip. She calmed down, focusing. “But for real, this should be a good way to relax, you know?” She said, a soft smile on her face, one that Kind and Eda returned. A sharp knocking sounded at the door. “Coming!” Luz called out. As she walked up to the door, she was unsurprised to see Willow and Gus standing before her, wearing a mix of formal and casual clothing. What did surprise her, however, was their expressions. Willow had a look of stoic control, as if she was about to do something she really didn’t want to, but was resigned to it. Gus seemed to be oscillating between barely contained panic, and unfettered excitement.

“Uuuhh… you guys okay?” Luz hesitantly asked. She knew that they didn’t have the best history with Blight, but wasn’t this reaction a little much?

“Who, us!? Yeah! Totally fine! Definitely not panicking over going to the most popular girl in school’s Conjuring after she sent us a message over Penstagram and are totally freaking out over the idea of it being a horrible, awful, evil prank to humiliate and degrade us!! Nope, we are totally fine!” Gus rambled, eyes flicking around the area, visibly sweating. Luz cocked an eyebrow.

“Let’s just get this over with, can we?” Willow stoically stated, already moving to leave, and motioning for them to follow. Gus quickly followed suit. With a shrug, Luz gave one last wave goodbye to Eda and King, and followed them.

“The guard I acquired to supervise the safety of myself and my guests for the conjuring, along with the first of my guests, will be arriving shortly.” Amity informed her parents. Alador was still working on his latest Abomination experiment, almost obsessed with it ever since he had examined Willow’s from the incident as Amity thought of it. Her mother, Odalia, was frantically pacing, sipping at a cup of tea to try and settle her nerves. Amity admittedly derived some level of almost sadistic enjoyment from her mother’s current discomfort. For reasons unknown, Odalia had been in something of a tizzy all day, her normal paranoia kicked up a few notches.

“I don’t like it!” Odalia announced, stopping in front of Amity. “This entire venture is far too risky, with too little benefit! While a boost to public morale and that of the social links you’ve formed would most definitely be beneficial, we have no idea if those Oroboros Cravens would attempt to attack us! We ARE the Boiling Isles premiere source of Home Security equipment, after all!” She turned to Alador. “Is it too late to cancel?”

“I believe so.” Alador added his absent-minded consideration to the conversation. “If I recall correctly, the guests should all be currently in transit, and if Amity’s preparations are accurate, our first two guests and her mysterious guard should be arriving at any moment.” He concluded, never once glancing up from the Abomination before him, his arms buried deep in its inner workings.

“Curses!” Odalia bit out, glancing at the clock in frustration. Ultimately, she sighed. “Ugh, very well, I suppose this nonsensical event can continue.” Amity tacitly held her tongue on the fact that Odalia was the one who regularly encouraged her to hold them at all.

“Thank you, mother.” Amity said diplomatically. The doorbell screamed, signalling someone’s arrival. “I believe that would be my guard and two of the guests. Would you like to accompany me in greeting them?” She asked, internally begging for her mother not to, to make up some bull excuse about it being beneath her, that she had work to do, anything!

“Hmm, very well, I suppose.” Odalia replied, dashing Amity’s hopes. As the two walked toward the door, she once again internally begged, pleaded, for her mother not to make a scene, to just accept Amity’s decisions. Surprisingly, her hopes were answered! ...Though, the reason was in itself rather chilling.

Outside the door stood three figures, Willow, Augustus, and Luz, all ready for the night to begin. Seeing who was at the door, Amity expected a few different reactions from her mother: Shouting, summoning Abominations, derogatory remarks, and a few others. What she got was, in itself, surprising. A wide, intimately familiar smile appeared across Odalia’s face, the look she got when she made a highly advantageous deal. “Welcome, honored guests!” Odalia cried, ushering the bewildered group inside. “It is my pleasure, as Matriarch of the Blight Family, to welcome you to our humble home for my darling daughter’s Moonlight Conjuring!” Humble, right. Amity felt like scoffing at her mother’s hammy antics, but held her tongue, both to maintain her image, and to see why her mother was reacting as anticipated.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to be here, Miss Blight.” Luz cordially stated, a neutral look on her face.

“Oh, call me Odalia dear! You played quite the role in protecting my darling Mittens from harm!” She all but gushed, ruffling Amity’s hair, much to her frustration. She could see the three silently mouthing her nickname. Oh no. Odalia’s eyes sharpened, focusing on Luz’s face. “Judging by your presence here, I believe it’s safe to assume you are the guard my daughter acquired, is it not?”

“Uh, yeah.” Luz nodded, a little baffled at Odalia’s antics at the moment. “Pardon my confusion, but you are taking me being here a lot better than I expected.”

“Hmm? Oh, you mean about your association with those ruffians, don’t you?” Odalia rhetorically stated, chuckling lightly. “My dear, you swore an Unbreakable Vow on a live broadcast, someone would have to be a fool to find you suspect after that, you even pledged to fight against Oroboros while under it for Titan’s sake! No, you being here eliminates most of my worries about how this night will turn out.” She said, a pleased look on her face.

“Oh! Well, thank you, ma’am.” Luz said, a faint blush on her face at the praise. Amity resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow. While that was certainly a revelation as to her mother’s motives, in part, it still didn’t answer the biggest question as to why she hasn’t blown her top.

“And who might you be?” Odalia cordially stated, turning to Augustus.

“OH, uh, Augustus Porter, Miss Odalia Blight, Ma’am!! I’m in the same year as your daughter, in the Illusion Track at Hexside!” He quickly stated, standing stock still in nervousness. Amity almost face-palmed at his antics. “Most people call me Gus.” He rapidly added.

“Hmm, Gus Porter, son of Perry Porter, conductor of the interview and one of the Boiling Isles most acclaimed reporters, holding a great deal of public sway due to his accuracy, honesty, and minimal bias in his field.” Odalia rattled off, as if by memory. Amity assumed it was, as her mother did enjoy memorizing details of people with influence, even if only peripherally, like Mr. Porter. “Going by your age, I find it intriguing that you’re in the same year as my daughter. Did you skip a grade?” She mused.

“Uh, two actually.” Gus said, bashfully rubbing his shoulder.

“Well, well, well! Aren’t you the accomplished little intellectual!” She said enthusiastically. “My boy, if you ever desire, I believe I could find you quite a lucrative position at Blight Industries upon your graduation.” She said, pulling out one of her business cards, handing it to the now star-struck boy.

“Oh, wow! Uh, thank you?” He said, both excited and confused at the offer, tucking the card into his pocket.

“Oh, think nothing of it.” Odalia dismissed, turning to Willow, an assessing look in her eyes. “And you?”

“Willow Park, ma’am.” Willow said, her face a careful mask of iron-clad politeness.

“Willow Park, recent transfer to Hexside’s Plant Track, considered their rising star, and possessing a level of power and skill typically found only in adults.” Odalia once again rattled off, a calculating look in her eyes. “Miss Park, I daresay I owe you an apology for my daughter’s conduct.” Amity and Willow both went very still at that, certain theories sliding into place in both their minds.

“While I am unaware as to why, exactly, my daughter felt the need to distract herself with something as gauche as bullying of all things, I am pleased to inform you that she was appropriately reprimanded for her conduct.” Odalia continued, blissfully unaware of the thoughts raging through the minds of the two involved. “If you ever feel the need for further discussion on this topic, or if my daughter slips back into such… unsavory habits, feel free to contact me. But for the moment, I must bid the three of you farewell.” And with that, she turned on her heel, swiftly making her way back to her husband, hoping he was either finished… or hadn’t killed himself.

Amity felt sick. Her mind could only find one simple conclusion as to why, exactly, that had occurred, and by the look of mixed disgust and near-volcanic rage on Willow’s face, she had reached it as well. “She didn’t even remember me.” Willow breathed out, burning heat coloring her voice. “She didn’t even know who I was!”

Unbeknownst to the group, a figure was watching from the shadows outside, a group arrayed protectively around her. “I never expected to see you here, LuLu.” A childish voice giggled, a small pointed object glinting in their hands.

[jacksgreysays]

Determined Clairvoyant, Misguided Knight brainstorm, (2020-05-29)

A/N: So I had a weird sleepless brainstorming/outlining binge last night, passed out and woke up to this chunk of nonsense...

I’ve been reading a lot of DCMK (Detective Conan and Magic Kaito) fic but also I am always a little bit thinking of DoS so my brain went:

Hey, Shisui and Shikako have very similar personalities to Kaito and Shinichi...

But Shisui is the detective and Shikako the thief.

And on the one hand, I was considering just translating it into the in Friendship Is A (Mutual) Con 'verse, such that Shisui is Interpol/FBI and ends up helping the crew because what they do is morally right even if it's not legal...

But it just wouldn’t be the same!

Also, for those who don’t know anything about DCMK, I’m not really using the Detective Conan premise (in which a famous teenage detective gets shrunken into a 6 year old and has to keep his identity secret while finding/dismantling the criminal organization that did this to him. In their defense(?) they were trying to kill him but used an “experimental poison.” They’re not going out of their way to randomly turn teenagers into kids... although there is another teenager that got turned into a kid by that same poison) 

But it is interconnected to the Magic Kaito ‘verse (in which a teenager discovers that his dad didn’t die in an accident but was murdered by a mysterious criminal organization (possibly the same one as in Detective Conan? we’re not sure) because he used to be Phantom Thief KID who was searching for a magical jewel called Pandora that supposedly grants immortality because said mysterious criminal organization wants it for nefarious means. Also the teen and his dad are stage magicians and make their heists very flashy and fun)

Anyway, personality wise I was really feeling the Shikako = paranoid/logical Shinichi vs Shisui = flamboyant genius Kaito contrasting with their arguable respective roles as Shikako = chaotic neutral regular rule breaker and Shisui = lawful good believer of systems if not authority.

I was considering whether or not I wanted to transplant the characters into the DCMK setting, but seeing how that’s just (arguably) modern day Japan I was a little... the adapting would be more work than its worth when really all I wanted was thief!Shikako and detective!Shisui and I also, as previously mentioned, didn’t want to just insert Shisui into the Fia(M)C ‘verse.

So then I remembered this ficlet in which Danzo successfully became Hokage but a mysterious figure (ie Shikako) is working against him and I was like. Okay, but reluctant detective!Shisui having to try to capture insurrectionist thief!Shikako is hilarious. And I know Shisui isn’t actually KMP in canon, but Danzo is Hokage which means the situation is bleak and I kinda explain everything below anyway, so...

Enjoy?

~

shisui is one of the oldest uchiha in the village because everyone older than him was executed by danzo for their (supposed?) attempted coup

doesn't particularly want to be a detective, but he's the only one left

sharp-eyed shisui? it is both mocking his singular eye but also he does end up being pretty good at investigation

Itachi is clan head and also one of danzo’s busiest anbu (because danzo is creepy and weird) and he’s being run so ragged that shisui stepped up to do it since he vaguely remembers the KMP’s protocols and also, with one eye short, his combat effectiveness isn’t as reliable

He hates not being able to be back up for itachi, but until he figures out the depth perception thing, he’d be a liability

Itachi is the only one with both eyes (again, because danzo is creepy and weird)

every time one of his younger cousins activate their sharingan, they are forced to undergo surgery because danzo harvests one eye from each of them

sasuke is the next upcoming kid

hikaku/sai was the most recent

Shikako is working reverse chronologically to restore eyeballs because they’re not exactly labeled but she knows the newest eye goes to the most recent activator.

This is how she gets hikaku/sai’s immediate loyalty (he has both eyes, but still hides one under his eyepatch/headband because if you can’t passive aggressively use danzo’s tricks against him then what’s the point? )

((also, it’s a real good dramatic reveal of how shikako gets shisui to trust her because he’s like “you’re stealing my family’s eyeballs and turning my little cousin into your spy” and then hikaku/sai just flips up his eyepatch and blinks both eyes at shisui and he just. “well, that was literally the only argument i had”))

Oh, the age of graduation is lower in canon because danzo doesn’t believe in coddling kids and also “back in my day” nonsense, so sasuke is maybe around 8?

kakashi is, like, a weird sticking point. he's the only non-danzo adult that has a sharingan and, hey, he's also only got just the one, but shisui also remembers the elders being a little weird about him so :shrugs:

I should figure out what to do with him, tbh

i mean, i know Shikako helps Naruto escape/evade ANBU capture because Danzo was going to turn him into a “proper jinchuuriki weapon” so maybe she throws him at Kakashi and is like “BABY SITTING DUTY FOR YOU, SAD STRING BEAN”

and there’s also Tenzo/Yamato to consider here

at first the thefts are random but escalating: old mission reports, the sandaime's novelty(?) crystal ball, the hokage's hat, the sword of the thunder god, etc, etc

then it becomes directed: sharingan eyes

Shadow Thief Shikako is here to make things real difficult for danzo

while shisui is trying really hard not to get smitten (even though she’s stealing his family’s eyeballs! but he guesses better than in danzo’s possession? he’s very conflicted emotionally and very stressed and also a teenager), shikako is recruiting allies for her coup

She needs to make a deal with the devil… Kabuto? For the medical expertise in how to re-implant all the sharingan she’s stealing?

He does spy on behalf of who he thinks is the strongest, and shikako is v strong by this point

Although, the whole concept of “you were the first person i ever wanted to murder” “you flatter me” is kind of funny

What is going on with orochimaru in this timeline?

For that matter, what’s going on with the other sannin?

hyuuga have weird feelings about the whole one eye stolen thing, branch family in particular because on the one hand: DOJUTSU/BLOODLINE THEFT is literally their big nono. But they do like being the strongest clan in the village now.

Is neji’s dad still alive? When did danzo become hokage? Is it before or after Hinata’s near kidnapping?

Ibiki, anko, aoba -- gotta figure out what’s going on there

Does aoba not have the crow summons since shisui is still alive?

Is aoba a surprise half uchiha?

Unsure how bleak i want things to be for the Nara clan. They definitely don’t like things, but i’m not sure if they’re also largely killed off, just shikaku, or just yoshino…… unless Shikamaru has been taken as Danzo’s apprentice/ROOT?

Something also has to have happened to the akimichi and yamanaka tho, in order to justify/reflect it

Team 10 is essentially being held hostage. Shikako has to “steal” them from Danzo in order to get the ANY clans’ cooperation

they’re allowed to visit their family once a week in order to get clan training, but it’s on different days from each other so the other two are still within ROOT’s grasp and the one who is visiting their family knows not to step out of line

Shikamaru has been trying really hard to help him and his teammates escape, but he’s only eight years old. I’m but a boy. I’m just a boy

There is a war.

I’ve decided this.

It’s the only way to make sense of why danzo is still in charge without him having killed a ludicrous number of people (more than he’s already killed, that is)

There is a war and that’s where the majority of the loudest dissenters are sent (inuzuka, aburame, gai, etc) and because they are always out on the front lines they don’t know how bad it actually is at home

Mist rebellion peeps?

Zabuza and Haku are still alive at this time, i guess

Terumi Mei--is there even a mist rebellion at this time or are they too busy with the war, too?

… Gelel/Sand?

look, magical gems are the crux of Magic Kaito and I know I’ve replaced them with Sharingan eyes, but still. If there’s a magical gem I feel like I’m obligated to at least mention it

also, Shinichi in Detective Conan ends up with, like, the most ludicrous allies over the course of the series. He is a--as far as anyone else knows--a 6 year old Japanese boy with connections to the American FBI. That’s nuts! So Shikako having allies with Mist or Sand isn’t too far outside feasibility in comparison

~

A/N: So... in theory I would like to come back to this and actually write it--because as far as sleepless brainstorming sessions go, this one is fairly coherent--but just in case I don’t, I figure people would enjoy this mess of an outline anyway. And it’s nice to have notes for later.

Title is, unsurprisingly, my attempt to make the letters DCMK apply to Shikako and Shisui. On the one hand, I know the quote is “and angry Aburame, a focused Inuzuka, and a motivated Nara” but I kiiiinda misremembered wrong and thought it was “determined,” fell in love with Shisui as the “misguided knight” and then only after went back to check and realized that it should’ve been “motivated”

Ah well

[tibbinswrites]

Suptober Day 25 - Tattoos

“I want a tattoo,” Cas said one morning, completely out of the blue and while Dean was still dangerously in his first sips of his first coffee.

“You’ve got tattoos.” Dean bit back grumpily, though Cas knew better than to take his ire seriously before ten am.

“Yes. I want another one.”

“Okay...” Dean drew out the word like he was waiting for Cas’ point.

“Can I?”

Dean snorted and placed his mug down on the table, “I’m not your mother, Cas. You’re a grown ass practically immortal being. If you want a tattoo you don’t need my permission.”

“I know, but… would you help me? I don’t want to end up disappointed and I don’t know how to tell if a parlour is a good one or not.”

Dean squinted at him through the steam from his coffee, considering.

“Sure,” he said. Go grab my laptop, we can have a look around.”

Xxx

Dean was almost done with his mug and a lot more cheerful when Cas returned a few minutes later, he took the laptop and flipped it open, searching for nearby tattoo parlours and going onto their various websites.

“I don’t suppose sanitation really matters to you,” Dean said, flipping through some pictures of a studio before dismissing it. “Seeing as you can’t get infected and all, but it says a lot about how much a place cares about the art it makes. If you can stumble in there at three am and demand Bob Ross’ face on your ass then you’re not in the right place.”

“Why would anyone-?”

“People.” Dean answered with a shrug. “Those are the kind of places we went to get these,” he gestured at his chest, “but these are practical, they just had to be copied from a drawing we supplied, if you want an actual design, you need to find an actual artist, not just someone with a tattoo gun who can draw hearts and fancy swirls and a passable wolf.”

Cas wrinkled his nose at the thought. He did want a proper design, something beautiful, something meaningful, something his. But the task seemed monumental for him let alone a stranger.

“Here are the ones that look decent.” Dean said a few minutes later, showing Cas a set of six tabs. “What do you want to get anyway?”

“I don’t know.” Cas said, feeling touched that Dean was walking him through this but overwhelmed as he clicked on the first tab and a slew on images popped up. “How am I supposed to choose?”

Surprisingly, instead of mocking him, Dean smiled and shuffled his chair closer so he could see the screen too.

“Look through the artist portfolios,” he directed, pointing to the option at the top of the screen. “Most will have links to their own websites with more of their work. You’re not looking for the perfect design, just the perfect style. Some are better at portraits, others at more geometric stuff, some do different things with colour. You can narrow it down by crossing out the ones you don’t like.”

Cas nodded solemnly and turned his attention back to the screen. The first artist had lots of strong black lines and straight edges. The second a lot of portraits, neither of which really appealed to him.

He seemed to search for hours. Dean was refilling his coffee when Cas found what he was looking for.

“This one.” Cas said, looking up to see Dean jump at his voice. “I want her.” He tried to keep his tone neutral but from the slight crinkle at the edge of Dean’s eyes he hadn’t been able to hide the excitement in his voice.

“Alright, let’s take a look.” Dean said, leaving his mug at the machine and coming over to look at the screen over Cas’ shoulder. “Nice,” he agreed.

Castiel felt a warm buzzing in his stomach, he was glad that Dean liked it too. The image on the screen was a rose, not what Cas was looking for really, delicately done, with a fine outline, but it was the colours that were magical; midnight blue and deep, rich purples blended in the petals, with a shimmer that looked almost metallic, smudging across the lines slightly, not enough to ruin the image but just enough to be imperfect, to feel right.

Castiel booked a consultation for the following week.

Xxx

Cas sat in the waiting room of the tattoo parlour, tapping his foot nervously while Dean sat next to him. Dean had insisted on coming with him and Castiel hadn’t thought to object, the last time he’d gotten a tattoo he’d been alone, and although the pain was minimal compared to some of the torments he’d endured as an angel, experiencing it as human pain was different and he had wished for company, even if Dean only would have mocked him and compared him to an infant.

“What if it turns out bad?” He asked quietly, “I still have no idea what I want, what if I can’t think of anything? What if she doesn’t have the right colours, or-”

“Cas,” Dean interrupted patiently, “it’s just a consultation, no needle is getting near your skin without your say so. If she draws you something and you don’t like it, she’ll change it for you. If she doesn’t have the colours she’ll order them in and we can go back when she’s got ’em. If you don’t have any ideas we can talk it out. It’s gonna be fine”

Cas was grateful for the reassurance, but he was still nervous nonetheless. He just didn’t want to be disappointed. This felt important and he didn’t want to mess it up by choosing the wrong thing. The artist, Giva Chaudhary, was exceptionally talented, but none of the images in her portfolio had really spoken to him. He was worried that they would get there and she would be unable to produce the thing he wanted on his skin forever and he would either have to go home with nothing, or settle for something that was less than perfect.

“Mr Novak?”

Miss Chaudhary was a small woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties, her black hair was bound in a long plait and she had a smile that seemed almost too large for her face.

“Yes.” Castiel said, standing to shake her hand. “Miss Chaudhary, you work is beautiful.”

“Well thank you, but don’t bother with the ‘miss’, Giva is fine.”

“Cas,” Cas offered, and then, because Dean was leaning to shake her hand too. “This is Dean, a friend.”

“Moral support?” Giva asked, her dark eyes twinkling, “Understandable, a first tattoo can be a scary business.”

“It’s not his first,” Dean said immediately, “but this one’s important, he wants it to be right.”

Giva nodded and gestured them to sit, she did as well, laying a sketchbook and some pencils on the table in between them.

“So, Cas, do you know what you’d like?”

Cas felt himself flushing and stammered out an apology which Giva waved away, “Not a problem, that’s what these talks are for, yes? If we don’t figure it out today you can always come back another time. So what drew you to my work in particular?”

So Cas told her, he answered her questions and looked through her books. She made some further sketches as he talked, of nothing in particular, nothing important, and so her sketches, while lovely, were nothing like what he was looking for. Dean was quiet throughout, Cas kept glancing at him to gauge his reaction to each piece but he remained stubbornly neutral. This only added to his confusion, how was he supposed to decide if he didn’t know if Dean would like it or not?

“I wonder if I might ask your friend to go and get us some sandwiches from across the street.” Giva said after thirty minutes of light conversation and not much progress.

Dean was reluctant, but agreed when Cas nodded to him and left with a significant ‘call me if you need me’ look.

The second the door closed, Giva let out a long sigh. “Perhaps you can speak more easily now,” she said. “I notice you very much want his approval.”

“I trust his judgement,” Cas said, carefully.

“I don’t doubt his judgement, only that in this case, his opinion matters less than yours. He will approve the most if you’re happy.” Giva said with a kind smile, as though she saw this kind of thing all the time.

“You care for him deeply,” she said

“I-” there was no sense in denying it. “Yes. Dean and I… we’ve been through a lot.”

“Tell me,” Giva said, sitting back in her chair, sketchbook at the ready.

Cas cleared his throat.

“Err… Well… I suppose you could say I come from a very strict background,” he began, picking his words carefully. “When I first met Dean, more than a decade ago now, I pulled him from a dark place; it was a duty for me at the time, to keep an eye on him, look out for him and his brother, to try and keep them on the righteous path. Dean… Dean disliked being led.” He felt a small smile tugging at his lips. “I found myself admiring that, helping him more that I was supposed to and as I grew closer to Dean, I began to see my family for what they truly were. They tried to get me back, keep be under their control but I fought for my freedom because Dean showed me how.”

“Freedom is an important thing.” Giva said encouragingly as she sketched, “Worth fighting for. But it can be difficult if family disagrees with your choices.”

“I made many mistakes that I can never redeem.” Cas said, “A lot of bad decisions that got people hurt. Dean forgave me even when he had every right not to, while my family betrayed me, cast me out, hunted me.”

“A fall from grace, sounds like.” Giva muttered, Cas looked up sharply but the petite woman wasn’t even looking at him, she was focused on her sketch.

“That would be… incredibly accurate.”

“So why the tattoo now?” Giva asked, her pencil stilling for a moment, “This is your first important one, but you waited ten years?”

Cas tilted his head, formulating his answer before speaking, looking down at his own hands, “For years after I met Dean, my body didn’t feel like my own. Like it was someone else’s and I was just stealing his life. It has taken me a long time to… settle into my own skin, as it were. These clothes are his but they fit me now and so have become mine. My other tattoos are copies, but this will be the first thing about my body that isn’t inherited.”

Giva nodded again and asked nothing more, continuing to sketch in silence, she tore three separate pages from her notebook when she was done and laid them out one by one.

Cas didn’t even look at the third sketch, the second one was perfect.

Xxx

“So I drive all this way and I have to drive all the way back again in four days but you’re not gonna tell me what you’re getting?”

“I don’t want you to see it before it’s done.” Cas said, holding Giva’s sketch tightly to his chest. Before Dean had come back in with sandwiches, they had discussed minor tweaks and colours and Giva had given him the sketch to look over in case he wanted to change anything else before his appointment, she assured him that even the day of, if there was anything that he wasn’t certain of it could be changed to his liking as long as he told her before she got her needles out. In fact, all Dean knew about the piece was that it was going to be large and on his back, and that they would probably need more than one appointment to get it all done.

“If it’s Bob Ross’ face, I’m disowning you.” Dean griped.

“You don’t own me,” Cas pointed out. “So disowning me would be pointless.” And then, “and it’s nobody’s face.”

Xxx

It was worth the wait. That was all Dean could think a few weeks later when Cas dropped his shirt so that Dean could see the healed and completed piece. No wonder Giva had looked so pleased with herself after Cas’ last session, no wonder Cas had been beaming through red eyes.

Wings.

If Cas had asked his opinion he’d have said perhaps a little on the nose but he would have been eating those words.

They covered almost the entirety of Cas’ back with anatomically correct (he was assuming) detail but they were by no means static, the top half was full and thick with shimmering feathers, so dark they were almost black, but whatever ink Giva used caught the light, sending beautiful tones of blue, green, purple and magenta skittering across them. They swept down the curve of Cas’ spine where the feathers began to thin, hints of red and orange entered the mix, not enough to take away from the beauty of the above, just a subtle transition where some of the feathers were burning and curling into ash, then further down still those burnt and falling feathers twisted in the air, transforming into butterflies the same colour as the healthy feathers that weaved around the now bare bones of the wings.

“Holy shit,” he breathed. “Cas, they’re incredible.”

“I can’t manifest my wings,” Cas said quietly, “but I want you to see them as I see them. They are perhaps the thing I miss most about my old life; the symbol of what I was, powerful and grand and sure. But I’m not bound by their rules anymore. And what I am has changed into something more compressed, more human but infinitely more free. That transformation is largely because of you, Dean, and I can’t thank you enough.”

Dean barely realised he had reached forward to touch one of the burning feathers until Cas shivered under his touch, his fingers followed the wings in their progression, along their changes, they followed Cas’ story and he was the one who should be thanking Cas for letting him be a part of it. Without thinking, he dropped his lips to Cas’ shoulder and pressed them there. Cas turned to meet him and their mouths fitted together like they were made to, like they had done this before a thousand times, like, perhaps, they should have.

@winchester-reload

If you liked this, please consider buying me a coffee.

[chcfasher]

okay i am so excited to get to plotting & interacting with all u cuties ! bare with me though , im also trying to study for a quiz i gotta take later tonight . anyways , i’m mia aka your resident masshole reporting for duty . i’m 20 years old ... will be 21 in june ( fingers crossed my Sad ass will be out of q*arentine by then ) . i go by she / her / dumb bitch pronouns & am very much so done talking about myself already . so lets get to my boy asher here who is ... how do you say ? a asshole ? a dirt bag ? a soft baby boi ? if you wanna plot & discord is easier for you shoot me a mssg @ 𝖒𝖌𝖐'𝖘 𝖜𝖍𝖔𝖗𝖊#9789 . lets goooo 💛

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒

full name: asher james bennett nickname: ash , aj birthday: march 25 , 1996 zodiac: aries hometown: madison , wisconsin ( click here to see his parents house / childhood home ) current residence: los angeles , california ( although he lives in the villa with everyone , before the year away he lived on his own & still owns the home , both because he loves the place and because it gives his family somewhere to go when they come out click here to see his house ) vehicle: 2017 jeep wrangler rubicon in black ( click here ) , 2019 maserati granturismo in red ( click here ) gender: cismale orientation: heterosexual , heteromantic relationship status: single ( it’s complicated ) family: tamara marie bennett-abbott ( mother ) , harrison charles bennett ( father , deceased ) , mason billings abbott ( stepfather ) , bradford sawyer abbott ( brother ) , stephanie anne bennett ( sister )  education: vocational highschool graduating from the culinary program , graduated ucla with a bachelor in management with a minor in food studies occupation: celebrity chef , tv personality  net worth: 19.7m height: 5′11″ weight: 161lbs tattoos: left arm ( x , x ) , right arm ( x , x  , plus the butterfly tattoo jack has ) , right hand ( x ) , right thigh ( x ) , left leg ( x ) criminal record: arrested ( x6 ) - simple assault ( x2 ) , assault and battery ( x1 ) ,  disorderly conduct ( x2 ) , criminal mischief ( x1 ) , criminal trespassing ( x2 ) , minor in possession of alcohol ( x2 ) , drug possession ( x1 ) drugs / alochol / smoking: yes , mostly marijuana though / yes / no moral alignment: chaotic neutral hogwarts house: slytherin theme song: righteous by juice wrld (  a look at his mental health and the way it he attempts to cope ) & i am by james arthur ( deep dives into his view on himself and how outside opinions of him have effected the way he sees himself ) & empty space by james arthur ( instead of being about a girl this really encapsulates how the loss of his father has affected his life ) traits: charismatic , well-intentioned , affectionate , loyal , jocular , reckless , immature , flippant , short-tempered label: politicians son , miscreant , fuck boy , broken bird , mr. misunderstood , mama’s boy , epicure hidden talents: drawing , singing , master at rubiks cube , skilled card counter ( blackjack )

𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃

asher was born just eleven months after his sister stephanie , to at the time lobbyist harrison bennett &  prosecutor tamara bennett . a menace as a child , he made dennis the menace look like a saint , basically . at first his parents hoped this was simply just a phase but as time went on it became very clear that  if it were a phase it was going on for much longer than his parents had hoped . his sister immediately taking on the spot of prodigal daughter , while asher took on the spot of black sheep of the family . this didn’t mean that his parents didn’t absolutely adore both of their children , because they did . both taking on daddy’s little girl & mama’s boy respectively , early on . 

around the time asher was seven both of his parents were up for office , his mother for district attorney & his father for u.s representative from wisconsin . the influx of cameras / eyes on the bennett family mixed with the level of stress both his parents were under completely put asher off from the world of politics . despite being in a family that had generational ties to politics on both sides . during a family appearance asher was captured on camera ( both video & photo ) putting up a piece sign behind his sisters head during a speech his father was giving . 

[ tw: death , suicide , loss of a parent ] when asher was twelve his father went on a boating trip with friend , call it a boys trip if you will . two days into the trip news broke of his father being in a major boating accident where harrison was the only one on the boat & was dead upon being found . it later was confirmed by the coroner that his death was likely a suicide .  the loss of harrison was hard on the entire family , it was easy to say it affected asher heavily having locked himself away in his bedroom for nearly a week only leaving his room to go to the bathroom & grab food that he’d return to his room to eat . later , when he returned to school he was suspended just in that school year three times . it was genuinely the beginning to the incredibly reckless version of asher , that we seen since .

despite his antics he played varsity football as a cornerback & varsity soccer as a midfielder . taking up sports at an early age , it was clear he was a born athlete who genuinely enjoyed a little competition . he also took an interest in culinary , he was very much so that kid standing on a step stool as he helped his parents in the kitchen . this interest turned into him attending a vocational / trade highschool instead of an ordinary public school , like he had in elementary & middle . 

when he was fifteen he started a youtube channel where he posted cook with me videos weekly & vlogged his experience within the culinary program at school .

during highschool his mom started getting serious with a professor at the local university . asher , of course , hated the idea of his mom replacing his dad and it took nearly two years & an engagement for him to actually sit down & listen to his mom about the situation . it wasn’t until then that he realized , mason , was supposed to replace his father ... it was simply his mom not allowing herself to get stuck in one place in life & fall into a spiral . once he actually heard her side he gave the guy a chance . turns out the two have alot in common & get along very well . he’ll never replace his father but he respects him none the less .

before he’d even graduated highschool , asher amassed over 1m subscribers , made appearances on the ellen degeneres show & rachel ray show . this was around the time he realized he wanted to turn his hobby into something more than that & hell he was good enough to do so . when graduation came , he’d already committed to attending ucla as a business major with a minor in food studies . 

soon after graduation he went on the show master chef , finishing as runner up , which was one hell of a feat given he’d been the youngest chef on the show . he enjoyed the experience & recognition the show gave him . 

while at ucla he continued to play football he was so good he was receiving national attention to the point where nfl scouts were looking at him . obviously he was still too young to go into the draft but they let him know , this was something that was more than on the table . it was definitely something he loved hearing but at the end of the day , the nfl was never really the goal for asher . so toward the end of his sophomore season when he was suspended for the rest of the season for getting arrested & charged with drug possession & criminal trespassing he took that as the excuse not to return the sport the following season .

this was not the first time ( we know it was not the last *wink wonk* ) asher was arrested . from the end of his middle school days throughout highschool he’d racked up four arrests . his first one taking place in eighth grade & the only reason the misdemeanor charges actually went through were because his mom asked for them to in hopes that it would scare asher from acting out in such a fashion ever again . unfortunately , his actions were rooted in much more than teen rebellion having never accepting or being able to cope with his father’s passing . the charges & arrests that would follow his mom was able to cover up & kind of bury them . that way word didn’t spread like wildfire about her reckless son .

not even a full year removed from football & he’d accepted a tv show offer from food network . a show called asher’s kitchen a primetime half-hour show where a new chef would come on each week if they beat asher in making a 3-course meal they win bragging rights & $20,000 , if they don’t they go home empty handed . despite the shows constant high ratings asher grew bored of the show & left after only two seasons . the network tried to replace him but quickly learned asher’s personality was what really carried the show .

in 2018 , he went on to open his first ever restaurant the smoking goat an american bistro with an upscale vibe in the heart of los angeles . the place is literally his baby & if you can’t find him you can bet your bottom dollar you’ll find him there . whether it’s catching up with regulars or big name celebrities coming through the doors , or throwing on a chef coat and cooking up some of his very own specials . 

around the time of his restaurant opening he started to let up on the youtube channel & it’s now been nearly two years since he’s uploaded & honestly has no intent on returning to the platform . in asher’s eyes , everything has a term limit & his youtube channels time was up .

𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗 / 𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐎 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄

the timing of his amsterdam arrest was to say the least , horrific . not only was he in talks with several networks ( fox , cbs , netflix , etc ) to have his own daytime food-focused talk show but his mother was at the beginning stages of her 2020 presidential campaign , which she had since put a halt to and decided to continue on with her tenure as a u.s senator from wisconsin . with the headlines of his arrest spreading like wildfire , the internet resurfaced many of his earlier transgressions , the networks inevitably put a halt to going any further in negotiation & the political realm began to turn their attention to the kind of parent the senator was to have a son so ... out of control ? her opposition questioning how she could run a country if she couldn’t so much as raise a law abiding son .

upon his release from jail he took a jet straight home to wisconsin . with the realization of how much harm he’d done to the bennett reputation he made the personal promise to stay away from the media ( no social media , no tv , nothing ) & be the son the political world expected from a politician . his mother ( who is emulated mostly after laura baker from all american ) nearly begged him not to halt his life as a way of personal punishment for his actions . but after months back home & away from the limelight , asher could see the tides turning back in his moms favor & no big network offer ( and there were quite a few that came his way after the news of his arrest subsided ) could pull him back out into the forefront . 

instead opening his second restaurant bennett’s  , an upscale bar & grill in the capital city of wisconsin . he also began work on a cook book that’s kind of taken on a life of it’s own but he’s yet to be anywhere close to finishing that . 

he has inevitably decided to come back & reunite with the bling ring a year later after his family sat him down & kind of had an intervention with him over his persistence to punish himself . claiming they feel he’s matured & gotten a good grasp on himself & that they don’t think he’ll fall into his bad behaviors again . ( spoiler alert: they’re going to be very wrong about this ... just saying / he’s going to return with the intent of being a better guy , being on the “ right track “ but lets be real it’s going to quickly spiral out of control as per usual ) . 

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘

as you can probably tell this boy is no good . he’s the guy your parents warn you about , i swear , he will get you into so much trouble & bask in the glory of being the one to give you such an adrenaline rush . he’s big on being here for a good time & not a long time . he just wants to have fun , at any cost . he’s extremely goofy , the kind of guy to whip out some mediocre wrestling moves on you for the sake of getting attention . he doesn’t take much seriously ... until he does ? what im saying is homeboy has one hell of a short temper and once he’s flipped his fuse , he basically blacks out . the reason for this is because no matter how happy & full of life he’d like to come off he has this deep well of anger that swells in him ever since he lost his dad . also a topic that can get him clenching his jaw , do not under any circumstances bring up harrison bennett . very much so a mama’s boy , though , catch him facetiming his mom once a day to tell her how much he loves her & see how she’s doing . he can come off very uncaring at times , it’s easy to say he’s probably one of the most misunderstood people around . he comes off like a douchebag , like someone who has little regard for others & don’t get me wrong he often is both of those things but he isn’t heartless ? when he has time to sit back and think about the damage he does ... it hits him like a mack truck & he goes into a pretty dark place of feeling like he’s a villain but he wants to be the hero of the story ? not very big on apologizing , verbally . if he says sorry you can bet a smug grin is following behind the words . instead he’s big on buying things & even cooking to show he’s sorry . probably not the best way to go about things but this is asher we’re talking about here . he is a flirt & will fuck anything . that’s all i have to say about that . onto his friends ? whew are his friends his world . he is a big proponent of bros before hoes & is an extremely loyal guy - to his friends . a true ride or die type a guy , he’d help he hide a dead body without any explanation at so what happened . a big move now ask questions later kinda dude .

𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

BREATHE BY JAMES ARTHUR : he has a soft spot for her . he always has . she’s one of the only girls who doesn’t drool over him , they’ve never hooked up to any extent and that’s due in large part to her telling him from the beginning that the only way she’d give him a chance was if he straightened up his act & proved to her that he was worth her time . if there is a girl out there who can asher for the better , it’s her . but everytime she thinks she’s gotten him on the right path , she catches him either acting out or reverting to his fuck boy ways & getting with girl’s who he doesn’t have to put so much work into .

SAME SQUAD BY P-LO : let’s be real these three originated “saturdays are for the boys” . they’ve been boys for as long as they can remember . if you see one of them around you can rest assured the other two are in the vicinity . they’re the best of friends . they know everything there is to know about each other . all a bit reckless , but that’s what makes them such a fun trio . a very homiesexual bond takes place between these three & nothing & nobody could get between them .

CLOSE FRIENDS BY LIL BABY & GUNNA : they were once good friends , things spiraled past the point of their control , lines got blurred & then they were dating . the relationship as a whole was one no one thought would last . to give them credit things were good at first but after he cheated & she found out from a friend about it things started to go down hill . things only got worse when he was persistent in lying to her about the situation . she inevitably took him back & not too much later the arrest in amsterdam happened . before he was even released from jail , she was sent a video of him & one of his friends talking about sleeping with a prostitute . although it never happened the fact that was his intent was enough for her . his expectation was that because she forgave him before she’d wipe away the pain of him once again not having regard for their relationship & forgive him but she just couldn’t . when he came out to her forwarding the video to him , he decided to ignore the situation completely . the two have not had any contact for nearly a year & never really broke up or spoke about the situation . 

NO FRAUDS BY NICKI MINAJ & DRAKE & LIL WAYNE : the perfect ride or die squad . the media likes to say someone in the trio is dating at any point in time but , that’s just not the case . these three are always getting into something . the true depiction of always having your friends back . they will lie for each other , fight for each other , anything to prove their loyalty to each other .  

i also have some musing posts here , if you want to give that a look !

[codariidoescrimes]

Central Themes of Characters

Was thinking about this a bit and wanted to make like a masterpost of the kind of overarching themes of a few of my characters/their arcs. Imma just list them and then put my reasoning under a cut so this post doesn’t end up stupid long.

Crisis: duty vs morals with a side of expectation

Codarii: responsibility, legacy, and the avoidance of both

Aovrio: revenge, power and trust

Siveta: confidence

Tashi: rejection and belonging

Corin: pressure and identity

and because i’m curious about themes other people have behind their characters i’m gonna turn this into a tag game :P do this for as many or few OCs as you want!! tagging one person for each oc here @badsithnocookie @wolfboywarmachine @abyss-wolf @sith-shenanigans @forceritual @badviolets (welcome to swtorblr :P) and anyone who sees this and thinks it sounds interesting

Crisis I’ve talked a lot about before, but for anyone who doesn’t read my blog lmao the cliffnotes version is that she’s loyal to the ascendancy, they sent her to work for the empire. the empire conflicts a lot with her moral compass. one of the big reasons she’s so loyal is because both of her older brothers peaced out and she wants to remove that black mark on her family

Coda I’ve mentioned before, but both her parents are high ranking member of the Republic military/war heroes. coda is not.... the most responsible person she is HUGELY selfish as evidenced by her running out of basic training and stealing a ship to become a smuggler, but there is always that slight tug back that keeps her from being a truly neutral individual in the greater conflict.

Aovrio is my inquisitor which meant she experienced the inquisitor backstory of growing up as a slave in the empire, before developing force sensitivity. and as a result of her own mistreatment and abuse she has turned into a person who has gained power and is lashing out with it to protect herself. so her arc is very focused on being able to break out of that dark side indoctrination of “everyone is going to hurt you if you don’t hurt them first” and developing positive connections based on trust in her own life. 

Siveta is my jedi knight, which means she has the most traditional “hero” storyline. so i chose to give her massive issues with self worth and belief in herself as well as impostor syndrome because to me personally seeing a character work through those just feels super fulfilling.

Tashi was exiled from her people as a teenager for being force sensitive and got rescued by the jedi. butttt she’s still a chiss by appearance and chiss are generally aligned with the empire so she’s still kinda side-eyed by a lot of people she’s on the same side as. which is a big reason why i made her a consular, and a sage specifically because of the huge focus on healing and helping people present in that storyline as opposed to just fighting evil in a physical sense.

Corin was the golden child of his family while Crisis was still just a baby. yeah they weren’t anyone important, but he had so much potential, he was going places, he was going to move up the ranks... and he hated it. so he ran away to try and find his own place in life. which currently is with the mandalorians, but that may change in the future.

[bluebeetle]

Tell me about your dnd ocs

oroooook super late on this sorry, as i said, computer troubles have been plaguing me and continue to do so

oook so the last image i posted that prompted this was mostly of a friends character but mine from the same game was in the corner, who is also the guy in my header:

(Art by @herobrushreplica !!)

anyways his name is Nico (short for Nicolas) and he’s a dhampir since we use a lot of homebrew, and also a ranger. so yeah he uses dueling and has some healing spells bc we are dumb and didnt plan ahead and had like no healers..... and also can turn into a bat

also hes the poor neutral good in a sea of chaotics (and one lawful good) 

He was kind of pre-existing prior to this but i expanded a bit more. anyways im lazy so ill copy-paste what i had written up already:

backstory:

A half-vampire born to a vampire hunter who's love was turned into a creature of the night as an act of revenge from a powerful vampire lord. The couple did not part nor kill each other like expected, however, and Nicolas (Nico for short) was born from this union. Raised in the art of fighting monsters and other creatures of the night, Nico learned how to use both ranged and melee weapons. He was brought up learning how all monsters--including more humanoid creatures such as Orcs, Vampire and Tieflings--were evil and it was the duty of his family to protect those in need from them.

 However, he grew up battling with his vampiric side. His father telling Nico that he was to never reveal it to anyone unless necessary, while his mother assured him he was an amazing creature, and one of good rather than evil. His relationship with his father was rocky, made worse whenever any of Nico's traits showed. He grew up unsure of his destiny, instead focusing solely on the wishes of his parents, and keeping himself distant from other people. 

 However, this was not to last forever, as while Nico aged normally until he reached 25, it seem became clear that like his mother, he was ageless. After the death of his father, Nico's mother left to sleep away her grief, leaving him alone. Nico left to travel the land, hoping to help those in trouble--occasionally for a cost--and find his way. He has a hard time opening up and trusting people, but is quick to become attached and affectionate regardless. He is plagued by feelings of doubt and uncertainty over his heritage and morality, wondering if what his father has taught him about different races is true or not. He worries about his vampire side coming out and harming people--even if he can survive on normal food and animal blood. His heritage is not something he reveals easily--as he has experienced plenty of blacklash for being a dhampir in the past.

 When it comes to taking action, he either impulsively acts, emotion taking over (often his temper) or overthinks, leaving him hesitant and confused. He's easily flustered and confused, wanting to help people and be in their company while also pushing them away in fear of them hating him for being what he is. He is bad at confrontation with authority figures, often instead going behind their backs. His main goal is to find his place in life, to chase away his feelings of loneliness and abandonment and feel assured in his morality and existence, in his choices. Or, at the very least, better understand himself.

He can survive on normal foods and animal blood, but would die if unable to eat any meat. Human blood is still tempting to him. He works best with melee weapons but has skills with the bow and whip. proficiency: arcana,athletics, perception, investigation,  survival

Personality Traits

*I judge people by their actions, not their words.

* If someone is in trouble, I’m always ready to lend help. I don’t talk about the thing that torments me.

* I’d rather not burden others with my curse. I expect danger around every corner.

* I refuse to become a victim, and I will not allow others to be victimized. I put no trust in divine beings.

* I live for the thrill of the hunt.

 Ideals:

*I try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost. (Good) 

*I kill monsters to make the world a safer place, and to exorcise my own demons. (Good) 

 Bonds:

*I protect those who cannot protect themselves. 

*A terrible guilt consumes me. I hope that I can find redemption through my actions. 

*There’s evil in me, I can feel it. It must never be set free. 

 Flaws

*The people who knew me when I was young know my shameful secret, so I can never go home again.

* have trouble trusting in my allies. 

*I feel no compassion for the dead. They’re the lucky ones.

so yeah edgy vampire oc... but i love him. most of it ends up with everyone being well chaotic and him trying to keep some semblance of order so they can actually reach their goal but usually its. a mess. but its fun. 

my other one ive used once so i dont have anything for her but shes an aarakocra  monk named Zeera! and is Chaotic good and basically just a vehicle for me to be like “ahah what bird behaviour would be funny in this situation”. also her look is based on ornate hawk-eagles bc theyre pretty

Backstory:

Once part of the guardsmen for her tribe, Zeera has since decided she wants to see more of the world. She used to be a soldier, and has medical knowledge. She left the guardsmen, though, tired of horrible commanders. Just one problem: growing up so isolated from other races combined with general bird behaviour, means she tends to stick out as a ditsy trouble maker. 

She takes anything shiny and doesn’t really understand many social concepts such as ownership. But she does understand fighting, oh boy does she. Somewhat childish in personality, acts very birdlike. Aggressive.

Personality Traits

*I enjoy being strong and like breaking things. I face problems head-on. 

*A simple, direct solution is the best path to success.

Ideals

*Independence. When people follow orders blindly, they embrace a kind of tyranny. (Chaotic) 

*Greater Good. Our lot is to lay down our lives in defense of others. (Good)

Bonds

*Those who fight beside me are those worth dying for.

Flaws

*I have little respect for anyone who is not a proven warrior.

*I’d rather eat my armor than admit when I’m wrong.

[shytalia]

A Prince and a Pirate’s Fate - Chapter 12

— ♠ — ♠ — ♠ —

Chapter Twelve

Start at Chapter one here:https://shytalia.tumblr.com/post/611878754309079040/a-prince-and-a-pirates-fate-usuk-fanfic

Also available on my AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shytalia

— ♠ — ♠ — ♠ —

The next day, they left The King’s Grave and set sail into the open seas once more.

Alfred had been given the rest of the day to rest up but given he was as stubborn as he was, he grew restless. Instead, he decided to check on Peter and was thrilled to see the smaller Brit sitting up in bed. In fact, he even looked like he was already healing fairly quickly. He assumed Arthur’s spell really worked wonders.

He greeted the boy and sat beside his bed in the empty chair, glad to see that Peter was excited to see him too. Well, since they both had been given orders to rest and heal up, Alfred saw no point in having to do so separately.

“Here, I’ll show you how to play that card game like I promised.” The Prince smiled at the excited way Peter cheered as he brought out the cards.

--- ♠ --- ♠ --- ♠ ---

The next few days went rather well, all things considered. Alfred wasn’t healing as fast as Peter was since Arthur couldn’t perform the spell on him like he could his brother. But, the Brit’s efforts to help him sped up the process incredibly anyway.

Arthur was more or less acting like his usual self, never bringing up anything that had happened at the harbor. Alfred wasn’t sure if he liked that or not. After all, even if he was told not to develop feelings, he yearned to hold Arthur close to him. He would, he told himself, one day he would convince Arthur to be his. Not because of some mark, but because he could feel himself falling hard for the captain. He just wanted Arthur to feel the same.

For now, he would enjoy the small interactions he got with the grumpy Brit.

“Did you hear?” A crew member said within earshot. Alfred pulled at some ropes and tightened the ends as he eavesdropped, not very interested but it was hard not to when the men were so close. “Apparently the Spade prince has gone missing.”

Alfred froze.

“Missing?” The other man said.

“Yes. There’s no word on a ransom yet. You think he finally got offed?”

The two men laughed darkly, but Alfred was doing anything but. Cool sweat dripped down his brow but thankfully he had been sweating before so it was easy to mask.

“I hope not. Think of the money we would get returning the brat back to mommy and daddy.” They laughed more. “Or...I rather think Captain Kirkland would love to get his hands on him. That would be fun to watch, don’t you think?”

“I wouldn’t want to be the prince if Captain got a hold of me, that’s for sure.”

Alfred felt his stomach twist and fought the urge to puke. He should’ve realized that sooner or later his disappearance would become gossip throughout all the kingdoms. It wasn’t exactly every day a prince up and vanishes for weeks on end, after all.

“Hey! Stop idling and get back to work!” Gilbert yelled across the dock, causing the two gossiping crew mates to flinch and quickly return to their duties. “And you,”

Alfred flinched when he realized those red eyes were on him. They lingered on him uncomfortably and the prince could only wonder what the albino was thinking as he stared. Finally, the tension was broken when the other man opened his mouth for more orders.

“Just ‘cause you’re The Captain’s pet doesn’t mean you get to slack off either. Hurry the hell up!” The albino man barked, his thoughtful gaze replaced by a more stern one. Alfred quickly did as he was told.

Nearly an hour later, Lukas stalked onto the deck and quietly stood beside the commanding pirate.

“Gilbert.” He greeted lowly, though his gaze focused elsewhere. “I apologize for the interference, but I will be taking Alfred for just a short while.”

“Huh? What are you talking about now? He’s got work to do, Captain’s orders that he makes himself useful with the others unless he needs him.” Gilbert frowned.

“Don’t worry, it won’t be long. If The Captain asks, refer him to me. I assure you, I’ll take all the blame.” Lukas replied easily, noticing the look of thought crossing the other man’s face.

“Mn...I guess. But only ‘cause you helped us get The Captain back.” He settled, nodding for the Norwegian to take Alfred. He didn’t bother asking what he was needed for, it was no doubt some sort of ‘divine bidding’. Normally Gilbert would scoff at it, but having the religious figure around did sometimes help the morale of the crew. Who knew having a neutral party to spill all your sins out to could help a bunch of misfits?

“Thank you.” Was the basic reply before Lukas moved forward, walking quietly towards the sweating teen as he moved a heavy crate. “Alfred,”

“Gods!” Said man turned around with startled, wide eyes. He hadn’t even heard the other blonde come up behind him. “Oh man, it’s just you. Lukas, isn’t it? What’s up?”

“Follow me, I wish to talk to you for a bit. It’s alright, I’ve already spoken to Gilbert.” Lukas waved his hand in a welcoming motion before turning around and leading the way below the deck.

Alfred was hesitant to follow but a quick glance in the albino’s direction, and the nod he received from him, allowed his feet to move and follow. He trailed behind the shorter blonde curiously until they came to a small room covered in idols and trinkets. There were symbols of the gods all around and even a small statue of the goddess on a table. She was surrounded with candles and incense, obviously meant to replicate an actual temple and altar. For being on a pirate ship, Alfred had to give it some credit as it really wasn't half bad.

“So...what did you need to talk to me about?” He couldn’t help the edge in his voice. He was nervous, unsure about what Lukas could possibly want from him. He had never spoken to him before, after all, so why now all of a sudden?

Instead of answering, the Norwegian closed the door and motioned for his guest to sit in one of the chairs by a small table.

“There’s no need to be so nervous,” Lukas told him. “You’re Arthur’s now, so no one on this ship will harm you.” Not unless the British captain wanted them to, of course. But, he’d leave that part out. So far, their leader had shown no signs of wanting that. “Gilbert was rough on you today, please relax. Here, have some tea.”

A cup was placed in front of Alfred and steaming liquid poured into it. Alfred wasn’t the biggest fan of tea, but he did learn that Arthur absolutely adored the stuff. Plus, he guessed he shouldn’t be too picky considering what they had was limited until they reached their next port.

“Thanks. Yeah, Gilbert can be kind of an ass.” He said it before he could think better of it and bit his lip, hoping he wouldn’t be ratted out.

“Gilbert isn’t as bad as he seems.” Lukas countered quietly. “He is in a position of authority, after all. His job is to ensure the work is done and done well. But he is a nice enough man at the end of the day, the two of you may even get along rather well.” The shorter man took his place in the chair opposite of Alfred, sitting down and sipping his own drink.

The prince snorted at that. “Yeah, sure.”

“He’s much like Arthur in that aspect. You enjoy The Captain’s company, do you not?”

Alfred nearly spat out his tea at that. “H-Huh? Oh, well, I mean--” He stammered. He did enjoy being around Arthur, more than he probably should considering he was a pirate. This whole mission of his wasn’t just about convincing him to come back to the castle with him anymore. No, now it was even more. Alfred wanted Arthur to be happy and safe. He wanted to love him and for the Brit to love him back. “Yes, I do.” He croaked out.

“I thought so,” Lukas said evenly, as if the man across from him wasn’t a confused mess of nerves and emotions.

The silence between them was stale for a while. Lukas made no more efforts to make conversation and Alfred was swimming in his thoughts.

Was it really that obvious that he liked Arthur? Of course to the captain it would be more obvious, but they had so many moments in private together that would make it clear. But what about the other crew members? Did they know? They must, if Lukas did. Though the man was more observant than the others.

Maybe Arthur had told him? The two talked like good friends would, it wouldn’t be a leap in logic to think that he had simply been gossiped about. If that was the case...what had Arthur said? Had he made fun of him for his feelings? Did he confess some sort of attraction as well?

Alfred was nearly ready to explode from all these different scenarios playing through his head that he didn’t notice Lukas staring at him until he spoke.

“Arthur still doesn’t know who you are, does he?”

“What?” Alfred was snapped from his thoughts and his eyes met with Lukas’s.

“Excuse me for being blunt, your majesty.”

The Norwegian’s words chilled the prince to his bones. A rush of panic and fear washed over him like the tides, crashing into him and knocking the wind from his lungs. He had no time to recover before the other man continued.

“You’ve done very well to hide your mark from him for this long. But tell me, what is your plan when he does find out?”

Alfred’s throat went dry. Lukas knew who he was. Lukas knew and he could tell everyone, he could tell Arthur! How long had he known? Why hadn’t he told them yet?

“Please...don’t tell him.” Alfred’s voice was so quiet it was barely even a whisper.

Lukas seemed to ponder the words for a moment and nodded. “I haven’t told him yet, have I? But I suggest you figure out what you’re going to do when he does find out.” He told him pointedly. “Do not make it hurt worse for him than it already will.”

“I-I don’t want to hurt him!” Alfred exclaimed quickly. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Arthur. “H-He’s...he’s everything I could’ve wanted. No, no he’s more. Oh my gods,” He whispered, eyes staring in some mix between fear and hope as he looked to the statue of the goddess on the makeshift altar. Some sense of realization washed over him. “I’m falling in love with him. I want him to be my queen but I want him to be happy... to be happy with me.”

Lukas was characteristically quiet for a while before he spoke. “Do you know where we are headed now?”

Alfred looked back over to the man in front of him, eyes desperate for something he couldn’t touch. “No.” He answered, wondering why he would bring that up amidst everything that had just been said.

Lukas hummed softly. “We are sailing to Britannia.” He could tell by the look on the prince’s face that the name rang a bell, but he couldn’t quite place it. He took it upon himself to elaborate. “Britannia is the island Arthur is from. He is going home.” It was no doubt that almost losing Peter ruffled up some sort of homesickness for the Brit. “This will not be a simple visit. Prince Alfred,” he saw the way the title made the other man stiffen. “If you truly want Arthur to be happy, you will need to see why he despises you so much.”

Alfred nodded to show he was listening even though his voice was stuck in this throat. He swallowed and forced it out. “I don’t want him to hate me.”

“I know you don’t.”

“How?” He couldn’t help but ask. Everything in him was swirling in confusion, most of all why Lukas would help him and not tell Arthur who he really was. “Why are you doing this? Why not tell Arthur the truth about me?”

The smaller man seemed to ponder this for a moment, but he was quick to answer. “The Goddess has declared that the two of you are the rightful heirs of the Spade Kingdom. I heard her call and answered it. Those years ago when I assisted in freeing Arthur from your royal guards was because she requested me to.”

“What? But if Arthur was going to be brought to the castle, why free him? Shouldn’t the goddess want him to be there as soon as possible since she gave him the mark to begin with?” Alfred asked, bewildered. He never said he fully understood the gods and their ways, but giving Arthur the mark only to keep them apart was incomprehensible to him.

“I can’t speak for her,” Lukas admitted. “However, from where I stand, it seems like it was the best course of action at the time.” Seeing the confusion furrow deeper in Alfred, he continued. “Think. What would have happened had Arthur been dragged against his will to the castle then? There would be no hope of redemption for you in his eyes. Only hatred.”

“But I didn’t do anything! All I have is a mark that matches his, I don’t want to force him into anything.”

“That doesn’t matter because it isn’t your choice. Tradition would have been followed regardless of what you or he wanted. Arthur would have been crowned, but in doing so he would have lost his ship, his crew, his freedom, and most likely his brother.”

“Why would he lose Peter? He can come live in the castle with us!” He would love having the kid around.

Lukas didn’t reply for a while, sitting there quietly until Alfred shifted nervously in his seat. He chose not to answer the question and settled for something else. “If you want a chance at love with Arthur, you will have to delve into his darkness...and you may not like what you see.” His voice was low but clear, watching the reaction Alfred gave him carefully. The younger boy looked just as confused, if not now scared, as before. “The Goddess asked for my aid in this journey but in the end, it is up to you and Arthur to create your own fates.”

Alfred knew what he wanted, he wanted Arthur to be his but he also wanted him to be happy. He promised himself he would make sure it happened no matter what.

“Here, keep this.” Lukas pulled the necklace from his neck, offering it over to his guest who took it with hesitant hands. “You know what it is already, but for clarity’s sake, it’s the symbol of The Goddess. Keep it on you and let it remind you of what you want your fate to be. May She bless whatever path you choose to follow.”

--- ♠ --- ♠ --- ♠ ---

The conversation with Lukas left Alfred anxious and paranoid. Surely if one person recognized him then someone else would eventually too. There was also the overwhelming thought that his identity would get to Arthur somehow as well, which was the last thing he wanted. He would tell him the truth eventually, he had to, but he wanted to do it on his own terms. He wanted Arthur to be able to forgive him.

These worries plagued his thoughts for the rest of the trip. Over two weeks later they landed on the coast of a green island, by a small, sea-side town. Their large ship looked painfully out of place parked at the humble dock, surrounded only by small boats used for fishing.

The crew members were allowed off the ship, but were instructed specifically to be ‘well-behaved’. Alfred found the command a little humorous considering they were pirates, after all, but no one had complained and even acted as if they had expected it. They respected their captain enough to listen.

“Gilbert,” Arthur voiced after having sought out the man on the deck of the ship. “You’re in charge of The Siren’s Arrow until I return. I trust you’ll keep everything in order.”

“Of course, Cap. Leave it to the awesome me!”

“Good. Alfred, you’re coming with me. Here, carry this.” The Brit handed the younger man a bag to sling around his back before he looked to his brother. Thankfully he had healed up quite nicely and looked alright to go out for the day. “Peter, are you ready?”

“Yeah!” The boy cheered excitedly, basically jumping in anticipation. “I love when we get to come back home.”

Arthur offered the smaller blonde a slight smile before motioning them to follow, stepping off the ship and into the town. They spent little time there, however, as Arthur continued onward. He guided them on a small, dirt path out of the little village and through some trees, leading out to fields and fields of long, green grass.

Alfred held his breath seeing it. It was like a scene from a painting, where the grass gently licked the blue skyline. It was like stepping into a rural portrait in one of the castle halls. But actually being here was so much better than seeing it on a canvas. Here he could smell the salty air and feel the grass dance against his fingertips as he reached out to it. It was a kind of calm that he had never experienced before and suddenly, he found himself staring out in front of him to Arthur and Peter.

The two brothers walked side by side, Peter eagerly skipping along beside Arthur who, every so often, gave the boy a content smile. It was picture perfect. It looked right seeing them together here. Like they were meant to be here and nowhere else.

It wasn’t until the pirate turned his head and gave him a confused look that Alfred noticed he had stopped walking completely, too enraptured by the sight of Arthur being so blissfully happy to even move.

“What’s wrong, dear?”

The words were genuine, their concern and worry piercing Alfred’s heart and pulling him in deeper. He didn’t want this to end, he realized. He wanted to see that peaceful look in Arthur’s eyes every day of his life. He wanted to see Arthur be this happy every waking moment.

“Alfred?” Peter had stopped now too, confused as he turned around just as his older brother had. “Are you okay?”

Something caught in his throat and kept the words from coming out, but he managed to nod and continue onward. He caught the troubled glance Arthur gave him at that moment but the Brit didn’t voice his concerns, instead he turned and continued their pace up the shallow hills.

Eventually, Alfred saw a small building come into view. Sitting atop a hill, only a short distance away from the calm waters was a modest home. It was hardly anything to be proud of, not looking even big enough for a small family. Still, he had to admit, it had a certain charm to it that drew him in.

Peter cheered when the house came into view and he ran the rest of the way to it, bounding through the door without knocking. Alfred was worried he might be busting in on a kind family, but Arthur surprisingly didn’t mind, so he guessed his fears were misplaced.

Catching up to the boy, Alfred glanced around and found they were the only people there. The inside of the building was just as humble and simple as the outside. The rooms were small and decorated with only simple, wooden furniture, the only pops of color being handmade items like pillows and blankets. It was the stark opposite of the castle back home filled with gold and riches.

Yet, this didn’t seem to bother Arthur or Peter at all. The two of them making themselves at home as if they’d lived there their entire lives.

Then, it hit him. Lukas had said they were headed to The Island of Britannia, where Arthur had been born and raised. Could this really be where the extravagant captain had come from?

“Here, let me see the bag.” The Brit pulled at the sack still hung around the prince’s shoulders, easily pulling it off and setting it on the kitchen table. The wooden piece of furniture nearly took up the entire room, making it appear even smaller than it already did. He dug through it and pulled out a small box of tea leaves and a pot, setting them on the table before moving to the stove to start a fire. “Alfred, will you take that bucket and get some water? There’s a pump just outside, around back.”

The prince dutifully nodded, willing to do anything to keep Arthur this happy. “No problem, I’ll be back in no time, Cap!” He grabbed the bucket from its spot and went back outside, rounding the building and easily finding the pump Arthur had mentioned.

The water pump wasn’t the only thing behind the home, however, and Alfred couldn’t help but stop and stare. Resting, neatly cleaned and well cared for were four graves lined in a row, each marked by a slab of stone. They were shadowed by a large tree, its branches leaning over them as if to shield them from the sun.

He gripped the bucket a little tighter in his hand as he looked them over. It wasn’t a feeling of fear, despite the fact they were utterly alone and no one would hear him if he did scream. No, the stones carved with the names of those past sent a wave of heartache over him. He had no idea why, he didn’t know these people or how they had died. For all he knew, they were awful people or they had lived long, fulfilling lives. But something in him told him neither of those things were true.

“That’s our family.”

Alfred jumped, turning to see Peter standing beside him. Despite what he said, he still held a joyful grin on his young face.

“This one here is our mum,” The boy walked over and patted one of the stones under his small hand. He gave the name marker a wide smile before motioning the others beside it. “And these are our big brothers! This one’s Alistair, he is the oldest.” He pointed at each grave as he named them off, not bothered at all by the heart-rending act. Did Peter not feel the sense of gloom Alfred was feeling? He looked as happy as ever. “And this is Owen, he’s the next oldest. And this one’s Liam, he’s the third!”

The young boy grinned over at Alfred as he introduced each passed family member. The realization that Arthur didn’t have just one brother but four shook him to his core. How had he never heard these names before? Why was Arthur’s truth not being told to him? Did his parents really not think it was important to tell him about his future husband’s family?

Peter didn’t notice the forlorn in Alfred’s eyes and continued anyway.

“Next is Arthur, but you know him already. He’s mum’s fourth son, and then there's me! I’m the last!” He pointed at himself excitedly. “Arthur takes care of me now, but we like to come back and visit our mum and our brothers sometimes, when we can.” He explained, as if it were that easy. As if this was the same as a small walk down the road to visit your favorite neighbor.

The ease in which Peter talked about his family broke Alfred’s heart to pieces. He wondered, how did it make Arthur feel?

“It’s really pretty here and I miss it a lot sometimes. But, Arthur says we can’t stay too long. There’s a lot of royal ships around, I think they look for him here because they know we always come back.” Peter sat on the ground in front of the graves, bringing his knees up and resting his arms on them. “I don’t really understand why they want him so bad. I mean, if he doesn’t want to marry some prince then he shouldn’t have to, right? They can’t make him marry someone. That’s not how love works. You’re supposed to love the person you marry, aren’t you?”

Alfred felt his hands shaking. He wondered how a child no older than twelve could really be sitting there in front of his dead family and be so content with the chaos that surrounded him. The chaos that his family was causing.

“Alfred? Aren’t you supposed to be getting some water? Arthur will get cranky if you take too long and he doesn’t get his tea.” Peter warned, snapping the prince out of his emotions long enough to walk over to the pump and set the bucket in front of it. He pushed it until the water started to leak out of it, filling the container with clear liquid.

“Are you coming inside?” Alfred forced himself to ask, his voice strained from the emotional burden he was feeling.

“Nah, not yet. I want to sit out here a little longer. But I’ll come in once the tea is done.” The boy smiled warmly.

Alfred only nodded and carried the bucket back towards the house.

[alienduckpond]

Back in town - ch 7 - Wateland Rights

Ella gets sidetracked when she finds out the Wasteland is open again, and she wants to find out what's in there

1 - Good Day / 6 - Managing Debt

-~-

"Lolo,” Ella’s voice piped up behind him in a bouncy sing-song tone. “I need help please."

He finished scraping the mud from Spacer’s hoof and let go of his horse’s leg before looking up at Ella, draped over the stable bar and giving him kitten eyes.

"Right now, or can it wait until I'm finished here?"

"Oh, it can wait. I need you to come help me with some sea urchins. I need some spines."

Blinking at her a few times before he straightened up, he let his face settle into his blank Captain expression as he stared at her.

“So you’re fine with killing sea urchins, who are completely harmless unless you deliberately attack them, but not with killing bandirats who are a menace and were stealing from the town?”

“Yes,” she agreed, smirking when he scowled at her and lifting her fingers to tick off the same points she’d made every time the argument had come up. “Bandirats are clearly intelligent enough to have formed a complex society all of their own, communicate detailed ideas to each other, and use items and weapons. They’re basically the same as Papa Bear at this point. Whereas sea urchins are, you know.”

Rolling his eyes, he tried to make himself put aside his residual annoyance over the whole thing. He knew all about her dislike of sea urchins, better than she did he’d say, and while he would always be fine with helping her with them, he did want to help her get over her issues with them if he could. 

But with the bandirats? It didn’t matter if she had a point about their intelligence, or that there had been no more thefts since then. Nor did it matter that when he’d gone down into the tunnels, they’d all been cleared out, with the other stolen items piled up near the exit. None of that meant anything. It was all a giant coincidence. Because he’d been fighting bandirats for years now, and he knew what they were like. He shifted his hands to his lower back and started to twist side to side.

"Not the point. And Ella, we’ve been over this. If you want me to kill things you're meant to put in a commission."

"I didn’t say that!” she immediately countered, lifting her finger in a ‘one moment’ gesture. “I didn’t ask you to kill anything. I’m not asking Captain Arlo for a commission, I’m asking brother Lolo to come with me. For, erm, moral support?"

Smiling at him, eyes wide and obviously trying to look innocent and cute as she fluttered her lashes, he felt his already shaky resolve crumble further. 

“Please,” she whined, drawing it out. "Just this once? I’ll do your stable duties for a week!"

He groaned, tipping his head back and weighing up his options, then dropped his head forward and sighed again.

"You say ‘just this once’ as if you won’t be back the second you need some more killed,” he mimicked her, rolling his eyes before throwing his hands in the air. “But fine! Fine. Give me five minutes, and I'll meet you down in Central Plaza. We'll go after the ones by Bassanio Falls. But you’re going to kill at least one by yourself today! I'm serious. I don’t care how slimy and gross you think they are, I’m not doing this for you again, even if you post a commission! And I’ll tell the others not to either. Not unless you actually kill one without my help."

"Thank you thank you thank you! I’ll try, I promise! You’re the best!" she called, already perked back up and smiling again, and he half heartedly glared after her as she turned to jog across the open space to the slope.

"She won't, but we don't mind, do we boy," he told Spacer fondly, patting his side then turning to run his hand down his back leg. "C'mon, let's finish getting you clean so I can not go kill things for her.”

He started down the steps towards Central Plaza ten minutes later, sword and a loot bag slung over his shoulders, and frowned at the hubbub he heard. It sounded like someone was going to spar, but that was unusual for half past ten on a Tuesday morning. He scanned the plaza and almost missed the next step when he saw Sam and Ella standing opposite each other, both having taken off their outer layers and weapons, and the crowd of people surrounding the edge of the ring all looking amused.

Running down the remaining steps and drawing the attention of everyone gathered, he strode quickly to Sam, both brows raised in question.

"She saw the Wasteland is open again, and was heading towards the gate. So I told her she's got to last at least a minute against one of us to be allowed in, and she wants to give me a go."

His mouth worked silently as he tried to find words, and Sam shrugged helplessly at him. He knew the rules, she couldn't actually turn down a challenge like this, not for official Civil Corps matters. He turned to Ella, and his brows rose higher in disbelief.

Meeting his gaze calmly, she merely blinked at him, head tilting to the side as she shrugged.

"Sam said I gotta beat her to go in, and I’ve always wanted to see what's in there."

He opened his mouth to say something, remind her that Sam was tougher than she looked, but paused when he registered the carefully neutral tone she’d used, and the glint in her eyes.

“What else did Sam say?” he asked warily, and almost groaned at the smirk that sprung to her lips.

“Oh, she just thinks I shouldn’t even try, since I’ve got two left feet and no stomach for killing things.”

He winced, because damnit Sam, tact was a thing.

"Ella, Sam does have something of a point," he started, trying to quickly think of how to persuade her to withdraw without making things worse, but she cut him off with an eye roll and a groan, giving him an exasperated grin.

"Lolo, have a little faith in me, would you? If I lose I lose, and I'll know what to work on for next time."

“It’s a little difficult to have faith when I watched you trip over thin air and into a wall not two days ago,” he muttered flatly, earning a stuck out tongue. But he stood back, walking over to stand next to Mei and settling his hand on top of the BooBoo pouch to wait for Remy to start the match.

To be fair to her, she did seem to have some combat skills from the little bits he’d seen so far. Or more accurately, defensive skills. She hadn’t got a single scratch from fighting in the tunnels despite not using a proper weapon. And the giant corpse they’d found, which had been even larger than he’d expected despite her description, had shown signs of a proper fight. Then the way she’d dodged out of the way of Huss had been even smoother than he could sometimes manage when sparring. He’d seen her practically dance around the Mr Ladybugs without a problem while she gathered things from the trees they lived by, and she only ever had problems with the snaillobs and mudcrabs by the river when the sea urchins came too close. Plus she was strong and sturdy, carrying around those giant branches and beams, and one of Paulie’s sofas, like it was nothing.

But then none of those creatures or people were Sam. 

Hmm.

This was going to be a very interesting fight.

“Who do you think is going to win this one Captain?”

Glancing down at Mei, who was flipping her little notebook to a new page, her eyes fixed on the two women stretching their arms out before them, he let a tight smile settle on his lips and stood taller.

“You know that as the Captain of the Civil Corps I cannot condone betting Mei. I need to been seen setting a good example for the people in town,” he said, sparking quiet chuckles from those around them as he dug in his pocket. “So as Captain, I can’t possibly comment.”

Relaxing his shoulders as she groaned, he smiled properly down at her when she shifted closer to him.

“Ok ok. Who do you think is going to win, Arlo?”

He waited until Remy started the countdown, three short pips on a whistle before the harder one that marked the start of the match, before he slipped coins into Mei’s hand.

“Five gol on Ella winning, and another two on Sam not actually landing a hit,” he whispered quickly, leaning down towards her to avoid his voice carrying too far.

Ignoring the quiet murmurs around him as Mei took his money and wrote his bet down, he focused instead on the start of the fight. Neither of them had moved yet, both balancing on their toes and eyeing each other up, but then Sam burst into action.

She darted forward with her fist raised, aiming for Ella’s shoulder, but missed when Ella stepped back and to the side, hands lifted to guide Sam’s fist into the now empty space just like she had with Huss as she danced backwards out of range. Stumbling a step from momentum, Sam then whirled around to try again, eyes narrowing.

Moving in to swing out with a high kick, Ella dove to the side in a perfect roll. She came up in a crouch with her hand lifted to behind her shoulder, as if reaching for her sword, and her annoyed “tsk” sounded loud in the quiet plaza when she jumped to her feet, hands settling back in front of her chest in ready position.

The fight wasn’t really much of one from a technical point of view. Ella was quick on her feet, constantly dancing out of the way of Sam’s kicks and punches, deflecting the ones she couldn’t avoid completely to her sides, and at one point over her head as she rolled out of the way. Her skills were fairly impressive for a civilian he would admit, and he recognised some of his own techniques in the way she moved which made him smile. 

But then Remy was blowing the whistle to mark the end of the fight, and he nudged Mei’s arm. Because he’d been right, and Sam hadn’t landed even a single punch or kick on Ella. He was enjoying the look of utter shock on Mei’s face when Sam whirled round to face him.

“You cannot seriously be thinking of letting her go in there Arlo!”

“What? Why? I lasted didn’t I?” Ella yelled, hands going to her hips as she faced him too. He eyed her thoughtfully, noting how she looked just as fresh as when she’d started, baring her hair which had puffed out of the hair tie again. She wasn’t breathing any harder than normal either, which fit in with how fit he’d suspected she was, and her endurance levels. 

“Seriously kid, you won’t last five minutes in the wasteland if all you’re going to do is dodge. The monsters in there will have you for breakfast,” Sam told her bluntly before turning back to him with a pleading look, and Arlo winced because again, tact. And also he could see the change in Ella’s eyes as he looked at her.

“The rules were that I last a minute, not that I had to beat someone,” Ella said slowly, head tilting in question, and he rocked his head side to side while making a considering noise because yes, yes that was the rule. But Sam had a point. He shrugged at her, and she huffed in annoyance.

“Fine. You want to see me fight, I’ll fight. C’mon Sam, let’s go.”

“You’re on kid. Remy, count us down.”

Arlo watched carefully as they squared off again, and focused on Ella as Remy blew the whistle.

She was standing in a ready position, but seemed oddly relaxed still. She didn’t seem at all bothered when Sam lunged forward, much like she had the first time, with her fists raised and aimed at her shoulder. But unlike last time, when Sam was nearly on her she dropped to the floor, shifting out of the way and leaving one leg sticking out in Sam’s path with her other tucked under herself. She planted her hand firmly on the ground behind her as she twisted on her extended heel, before sweeping out and up with her other leg straight into the back of Sam’s thighs. 

With a loud yelp Sam tripped forward and rolled into a ball when she hit the ground, twisting herself out of it to finish on her knees facing Ella, staring in shock. Ella merely huffed as she pushed off with her foot, lifting herself up into a one handed cartwheel to land back on her feet again, and dusted her hands off. She looked at Sam, smirking, then held out her hand to wriggle her fingers in a ‘come on then' gesture, and Sam stood up with a soft huff.

Stepping towards her, Sam looked slightly warier this time as she lifted her fists up, which didn’t seem to be bothering Ella at all. She was actually holding her arms out in front of her, fingers linked together, and lifting them above her head in a stretch which tugged her top free of her waistband. He heard Sam tsk in annoyance, before she darted in close again.

Sam threw a fast punch directly at Ella’s face, and he winced, expecting to hear the sound of flesh meeting flesh. But when it came, it didn’t sound like he was expecting. Because Ella had instantly dropped her hand to catch Sam’s fist against her palm, then grip it, stopping it dead in the air in front of her face. Gritting her teeth, Sam tried a rib shot with her other hand, which Ella also caught. She leaned in to Sam, and, and-- 

And he would swear that Ella blew a kiss at Sam when she practically brushed the tips of their noses together, but that couldn’t be right, could it? He was still trying to work out if he’d actually seen what he thought he saw when Ella suddenly leant backwards and brought her leg up between them, before she planted her foot squarely in Sam’s stomach, and pushed.

He could only stare as Sam grunted and staggered backwards several steps, only to fall flat on her back with her arms wrapping around her stomach as she wheezed. And Ella, Ella was left standing on one leg, her other still stretched out all the way in front of her, perfectly balanced with her hands in the air from where she’d let go of Sam’s fists. She pulled her leg back in and tipped herself upright with deliberate slowness, then lowered her leg back to the floor to set herself in a ready position again. And at no point during any of it did she lose the small smirk on her lips.

“What’s the matter Sam, I thought you wanted a fight, not a nap,” Ella taunted as she walked over to his fallen friend, and Arlo had to lift his hand to his mouth to cover it. She sounded so sure of herself right now, and he was starting to understand why. 

But the laughs he was trying to hold in died away when Ella stepped over Sam as she struggled to sit up, then dropped down to squat over her so they were nose to nose again. And when Sam seemed to instinctively lean back away from Ella, his little sister took advantage and laid both her hands on Sam’s shoulders to push until Sam was flat on the floor again.

Something in his brain broke a little at the sight of Ella settling down on Sam’s hips, palms pressing into Sam’s shoulders, leaning down and smirking like that with her eyes all twinkling, and Sam all flushed and breathing heavily and holy crap did she just lick her lips and try to sit back up?!

“Time, Remy?” Ella called out, glancing away from Sam, and apparently not noticing her trying to get closer. “Or does Sam not being able to fight anymore count as a win for me?”

“You win. Well done, congrats, you can get off her now,” Arlo cut in before Remy could answer, quickly walking forward and reaching down to grab Ella’s forearm and pull her to her feet. He could hear the other townsfolk murmuring behind him, and Mei starting to work out payouts for people, but he’d deal with all that later.

He glanced at Sam, laying on the floor and staring at Ella in a dazed way, and shit. No. Damnit. He’d already had to warn Albert off, and was keeping an eye on Oaks. He was pretty sure he might need to talk to Alice soon too about her intentions. He did not need his colleague getting a crush on his Beany!

Glancing down at Ella, who was staring up at him all confused, he finished placing himself between her and his friend before letting go of her arm. Because of course she had no idea what she’d just done, or what it had looked like. Of course she didn’t.

“Yes. You won,” he made himself say in his bland professional tone. “You can go in the Wasteland whenever you want now.”

“Sweet! Thanks Lolo.”

Ella flashed him a bright happy smile as she turned to head towards the bench she’d left her things on. He looked down at Sam again when she spluttered, pushing herself up to sit and waving her hand around before pointing at Ella.

“But you can’t even fight sea urchins!” she yelled breathlessly, seeming torn between outraged and confused.

“Well yeah!” she said, her shoulders scrunching up as she shivered violently. She started to shake her arms out and dance on her toes. “They're just so wrong! Because they’re all slimy and squelchy and icky and weird and their eyes are so creepy and bleeergh.”

She danced on the spot, eyes squeezed shut and a look of disgust on her face, before she shook her arms out one last time and picked up her knotted string waistcoat thing. She threw it over her shoulder instead of putting it back on, and grabbed her bag and sword. "But that doesn’t mean I can’t fight everything else I want to just fine," she went on simply with a smirk, tilting her head to the side.

“Any more objections? I’m happy to go another round if you need me to.”

He would laugh at the dumbfounded look on Sam’s face while she shook her head, her mouth moving silently as she obviously struggled to process what had happened, if he couldn’t also see the other emotions playing behind her eyes. Or the way her eyes were darting all over Ella’s body as she spun round to face him, bouncing on her toes.

“Great,” Ella chirped, shooting Sam a slightly happier grin over her shoulder. “I’ll go check it out later! But now, sea urchins. C'mon Lolo, let's go!”

-~-

8 - Eviction

[fantroll-purgatory]

FIRST: Alternia or Beforus or some type of AU? Alternia, Hiveswap era

Name (preferably include how you came up with it and why): Regina (it means queen but I mainly picked it because of Regina George from Mean Girls) Budica (Boudica was a famous queen of ancient Britain who led a rebellion against the Roman occupiers, it was she who was able to unite the various warring tribes of Briton and lead them in revolt)

Oh I Love this. But Regina is also like, a real and immediately recognizable name, so we might have to move that slightly to make it fit the Troll Vibe more. Maybe Generi. It’s an anagram of Regine, which is the plural of Regina. Generi Budica. 

Age: around 7.5 sweeps

Strife Specibus: sawkind (I had no idea what to put here so I went with her weapon is a chainsaw in reference to Heather Chandler’s “Fuck me gently with a chainsaw” quote)

I mean I’m a big heathers fan and Mean 80′s Teen is super a Heather Chandler vibe, so that’s great. 

Fetch Modus: Oh I have no idea I’m terrible with these

It’s a BURNBOOK, OBVIOUSLY. She collects pieces of gossip inside when she captchalogues the item and if she wants to retrieve an item she has to pass that sick goss along.  

Blood color: Cerulean

Symbol and meaning: Scorus, sign of the Victorious

Trolltag: aristocraticCarouser (carouser as in person who drinks alcohol and enjoys oneself with others in a noisy, lively way)

Haha I love that, very both Regina George and Heather Chandler vibes. 

Quirk: She l^ke TOTALLY talks l^ke TH^S (replaces ‘I’ with ‘^’ and capitalizes words to emphasize them)

Special Abilities (if any): She has regular cerulean abilities, though she focuses more on developing her empath abilities and mind reading because she sees mind control as harmful and hates the idea of taking away someone’s free will

Most Ceruleans don’t actually have psychic abilities so she’ll be a rarity but that’s not to say she can’t have it anyways, it’s just a fun touch to add. I do like that she’s a Somewhat Moral Girl, though. Neutral, Not Evil. 

Lusus: Snakemom

I almost wanna say her lusus should be the Mythical Hoop Snake. Stinger tail for an extra joke about being TOXIC.

Personality: Regina is a master manipulator who is out for herself and no one else, she changes alliances and quadrants as it suits her. Although she’ll stop at nothing to get her way, she’s not pure evil, she’s just a kid having fun while she can and has no idea the impact her words or actions have. It doesn’t help that she’s volatile and that growing up feared by lower bloods and looked down upon by those higher up has made her quick to anger. Her most impressive quality is that she’s clearly a leader. You just can’t teach the kind of charisma, quick thinking and organization skills she has. She’s not the most admirable leader, but it’s definitely entertaining to follow her and she could develop into a great leader if she tried. She’d never this though, since she is desperately running from responsibility and duty. As a breath player she loves her freedom, letting loose and partying, she doesn’t let anything or anyone hold her down and stop her from enjoying her free spirited party hopping life. This can also be reflected in her hate towards the hemospectrum, she hates the expectations it enforces on her and everyone else and sees it as an easy way to the top for people who don’t deserve it. Yes, she does see herself as queen bee, but it’s because she goddamn made herself one.

I like genuinely love this whole personality build for her. Young teen who’s really just trying to give herself and the others around her a good time. Not the most responsible or loyal but she is a figure that people Look to and she does create a direction for them, even if it’s not necessarily the best direction. This is one of the better ways to classpect the Queen Bee archetype I’ve ever seen! 

Interests: Junk food, dancing and fashion, but most of all, Regina likes to talk trash about people. She keeps a huge “Burn Blog” on the side full of all the dirty secrets and juicy gossip collected about the people she encounters. Whether it be an ex quadrant or someone who’s mind she read at a party once if it’s funny or if you piss her off, she’ll post it. Other than that she has a huge social media presence and tons of followers on her personal accounts where she mainly posts your typical popular party girl things like ‘deep’ quotes, artsy pictures of herself, photos of her food and drinks and aesthetic pictures.

This is great, hell yeah.

Title: Sylph of Breath

Land: Idk I don’t really know how lands work

Lands usually function in conjunction with quests. Given her title and her personality, her land will probably test her- she will have a choice between exploiting the consorts for her own gain or starting a movement that can actually help everyone, and she can only succeed in her quest if she does the latter. 

Land of Stars and Burns, maybe.

Dream Planet: Prospit

Design time!: 

Really didn’t have a lot to change here. I edited the outlines to match the usual style/make her shirt look like it was Over the body rather than part of it. I also edited the outline on the pants to be her blood color. A few little bag edits, some edits to the jewelry to make it more visible at this scale… 

I also gave her a lil beauty mark because Regina George (well technically Rachel McAdams but still) has one and it’s such an iconic look to me.

And then I made her shoe lining pink because On Wednesdays We Wear Pink. 

-CD

[spell-cleaver]

Astrophilia

@star-wars-wlweek

Day 2: Fancy Dress Event & Soulmate AU

Also read it on AO3 or on FFN!

In another universe of many, Leia was finding that she had sorely missed fine parties.

She'd had to attend numerous ones growing up on Alderaan. Her parents always seemed so effortlessly regal and it was a chore to try to live up to their elegant, dignified image, but by her teenage years she'd grown to love it. Her mother had taught her how to braid her hair in various elaborate styles that set Alderaanians apart, and her maids had helped doll them up with pearls, crystals, nets that glittered under the lights of their ballroom. Choosing the right outfit had been equally as important and interesting. Different cultures associated cuts and colours with different things, and different occasions would call for different moods, so the preparation would always be as much work as the event itself. Ensuring it hit home every time was her duty as the Princess, and she'd learned to enjoy it.

She couldn't do any of that now.

The Rebels had limited reserves of necessities. Luxuries were even scarcer. No stunning ballgown or diamond necklace could be found on base. They'd ended up acquiring her a dark red gown secondhand from one of Han's contacts on Takodana. It fit her well enough after Luke turned out to have some tailoring skills taught to him by his aunt, but she was still uncomfortable as she squeezed into it.

Red was a colour of excitement, drama, passion on Alderaan. Violence, sometimes. She didn't want these talks to be exciting. She wanted them smooth.

Though, considering they were meeting with Crimson Dawn, a red dress with a sun-themed necklace may be appropriate, if a bit on the nose…

She'd done up her hair alone in her bunkroom, as she had since she'd lost all her maids on Alderaan. Han had flown her here, citing history with Crimson Dawn as the reason he couldn't stay, and Luke was at her elbow in neutral black clothing. They were only a few months out from Yavin; no one should recognise him yet.

Now, they were here.

"I don't think the drinks are tampered with," Luke murmured as he passed her a flute. She gave him a tight smile.

"The Force?"

"And a few chemical tests Han taught me."

She nearly laughed at that. Luke was trusting, and perhaps a little naïve, but he was cannier than most made of him. "I don't suppose any of those methods tell you which of these dazzling Dawn dignitaries is in charge, and which I should approach?"

Luke glanced over her shoulder and quirked a nervous smile. "The woman in red with the syndicate symbol in a gold necklace."

"How do you know?"

"She's approaching you right now."

Leia carefully didn't stiffen at the news, and instead gracefully turned her head to greet her. The woman had her hair up in a clean bun, attractive but not as intricate as Leia's. Chunky gold jewellery adorned her wrists—chunky enough to fit a poison, spike or datachip in, she noted—and neck, and her dress…

It had a tightly fitted bodice, gold constellations picked out at the hems and sleeves against the deep red velvet, with a low neckline to show off her necklace.

It was almost identical to Leia's.

The woman's eyebrows went up when she saw Leia's dress, her surprise so smooth and charming Leia had to wonder if it was genuine. Especially as it melted into a friendly smile and a teasing, "I like your outfit."

Luke snorted; he clearly found this funny. Leia shot him a look and he shut up, wandering away to give them some space while still being in earshot.

"Likewise," Leia said, her hard stare for Luke melting into a friendly, conversational expression. "Your jewellery is exquisite. And useful, I imagine."

The woman laughed at her blatant words and didn't deny it. "Indeed." She held out her hand. "I'm Qi'ra, the current public leader of Crimson Dawn."

Leia took a moment to assess if she had any bad feelings about her; she didn't. She shook her hand.

"Princess Leia Organa," she replied shortly.

"I know." Qi'ra dropped her hand. "We've been following you. You're a talented speaker and leader."

Leia smiled at that. "Talented enough to know when I'm being flattered." Qi'ra laughed. "But thank you. I find you very charming as well, and imagine you must be effective to have gained your position."

"Ruthless, you mean? I am. We have much to gain, but much to lose as well. Whatever bargain the Alliance wants," she warned, "I will not tolerate anything that threatens our interests."

Leia gritted her teeth. She'd had a lot of lose once, too. And she'd lost it.

"I have no intention of walking away from a good deal," she said. "And I think we have a common enemy in the Empire. As it sought to vanquish our power, so will it yours."

"Syndicates will survive. We always do. But we would prefer the bureaucracy of a Republic over the brutality of an Empire."

Leia kept her mouth shut. In another life she would have screamed at the prospect of bartering with syndicates like this, trading away morality and credibility for more fuel and credits. But they were desperate, and she was dedicated to her cause… even if her cause opposed this just as strongly as she did.

She did not want to promise an ineffectual Republic in order to dethrone an inhumane Empire.

"Then we have things we can offer each other," she lied gracefully.

Han had suggested they reach out to more distant Rebel cells—Nest's Cloud-Riders, or Syndulla's Free Ryloth movement. And, loathe as she was to agree with him, he'd been in the right. But they weren't the richest of their options.

She looked at Qi'ra's beautiful face, the clever, enticing twist of her words, and wondered why her instincts drew her to her so strongly while also screaming not to trust her.

Syndicates. Criminals. Gangs. Kidnappings. Backstabbing. Murder. Exploitation. Slavery.

"Excellent! Would you like to come with me and begin to negotiate the specifics? We can return to the party," she gestured around, at the Alliance guests, the Crimson Dawn guests, and everyone in between, "later. But it's always good to start with a good chat and a clear understanding of what can be sacrificed," she looked Leia up and down, clad in a syndicate's colours, "and what can be gained."

This wouldn't work.

Leia had lost enough already for her cause—her ideals. She wouldn't sacrifice them now. And Qi'ra, with her syndicate focused on profit, seemed too intent of defending what she had to ever take the risks Leia found so irrelevant.

Even as Qi'ra offered her a hand to lead her to the table.

Even as her smile and wit made Leia want to rise to the challenge, to smile and quip back.

Even as a powerful part of her wished that things could work out, anyway.

[abadpoetwithdreams]

Nirvana in Fire Episode 10 Reaction

At last! Double digits!

Last episode ended with the Emperor pausing to consider a name. Shen Zhui? he asks his minister. Shen Zhui of Princess Qinghe's family? He is the temp Minister of Revenue? Yes, replies his minister. Cut to Mei Chang Su still deep in conversation with Prince Jing; he still looks cold, poor man. He, also, is talking about this Shen Zhui, asking Jing if Jing knows him. You sent me a message that day to spend time in Cumulus Cloud Restaurant, says Jing. How would I dare not to go? Since I went there, how could I not have noticed Shen Zhui?

Shen Zhui is the Vice Minister of Revenue, the department in charge of managing the national treasury. Under Lou Zhi Jing's leadership it has become wholly corrupt (gee, wonder why), and according to Su, this Shen Zhui is the only man he knows of who could turn things around. Jing says he gets along well with Shen Zhui, so that is all well and good, but Shen Zhui also does not support either of the Jerk Princes, so there is no way he will be promoted to Minister of Revenue. Su just smirks. When the snipe and the clam grapple, it is the fisherman who profits, he says, which is just a show-offy way of saying Don't worry, my dude, I got this. In this adage, who is the snipe and who is the clam, I wonder? CP seems more clam-like to me lol. Regardless, we all know who the fisherman is.

The Emperor is meanwhile musing about how he knows Shen Zhui, and the man is apparently a really good worker. Why, if he has already been acting as the temp Minister of Revenue, has he not simply been given the position permanently? He is accomplished, virtuous, and managing well, so what gives, why has no one nominated his name to the Emperor? Aha, says the Emperor, with dawning delight on his face: I have suddenly realized why he has not been suggested to me! It is because he must support neither the Crown Prince nor Prince Yu! And here we really see the damage the Emperor's quarreling sons have done to themselves, because I am pretty sure this neutral (aka pro-Jing) official is about to be promoted on the basis of NOT being allied to either of them, lol. Oh, the irony.

Prince Jing tells Su that Shen Zhui is lucky to benefit from Su's amazing strategy. Oh, Shen Zhui is the lucky one? Okay, Jing, if you want to play it like that. Sure. Su produces a piece of paper from his sleeve because he is literally magic. Or at least that is what I want to believe. He tells a confused Jing that the Emperor will allow Jing to choose three officials to help him run the trial. He has, however, only picked one so far. Thus Su has prepared a list of good names to choose from (since Jing himself admits he has been so long away from the capitol he simply does not know who to pick).

Meanwhile, Shen Zhui himself (I think, since he introduces himself as the director of the Ministry of Justice) has gone to the Information Bureau and is talking with Xia Dong. He tells her he has been sent by Prince Jing to collect any and all evidence the Bureau possesses.

Prince Jing is giving himself airs? Xia Dong asks coldly. He doesn't even show up for such a huge case? And ohhhh, yeah, I am reminded that this woman sort of--more than sort of--hates Jing, because he is a sympathizer towards the people who she (wrongly) holds responsible for her husband's death during The Event™. I foresee this being a big issue just in general in future episodes. But shoot, I like them both, though! It's really frustrating because they are both laser focused on their responsibilities and they both have very strict codes of conduct and morality that they adhere to, so they would be SUCH good allies! As it is, Xia Dong has the potential to be a major obstacle for all Su's scheming. Ugh.

Anyway, Xia Dong chooses to interpret Jing's actions as being insulting towards her Bureau, insulting Shen Zhui himself by saying he is also too minor an official. Shen Zhui assures her that is not Jing's intent: Jing is in charge of the trial and therefore also has to manage three offices involved, and the handling of evidence has always been the Ministry of Justice's duty (which is something you would think Xia Dong would know, but I can't tell if this is a case of for-audience-benefit-only infodumping or if she is deliberately ignoring that. I would like to assume the latter, as this show is usually pretty good about couching infodumping in pertinent and rational character interactions). Shen Zhui also gives as good as he gets, reminding Xia Dong that he is only a half-rank below and anyway the question of his rank is irrelevant since even a junior official, if given the judge's seal, is entitled to collect evidence.

Shen Zhui continues to outsass Xia Dong until she says Well, what if I just don't give you the evidence? Oh, come on, woman, don't be petty. Shen Zhui says that question is moot because she won't refuse the evidence, that would be a move unbefitting of the Intelligence Bureau. True that.

Jing, meanwhile, has read Mei Chang Su's list of names and is smiling a little wryly. Strange, he says. He spoke truly when he said he does not really know people in the six ministries. But he has met a few people seemingly by chance since he came back to the capitol, and bizarrely enough most of those people are on this list! What a raaaaaandom coincidence, Mr. Divine Talent! Su looks a little pleased with himself. Okay, a lot pleased. Su also tells Jing he doesn't have to go out immediately to recruit these people to his side, and when Jing comments that that is an unusual thing for a strategist to say, Su pauses and replies that, well, the sooner Jing builds a group of loyal followers, the sooner Prince Yu and the Crown Prince will recognize him as a threat. Good point. Furthermore, Su says, what is most important isn't the speed of how Jing gathers his group, it is the quality of men these supporters are. If Jing really wants to remain true to himself--something that is obviously very important, we have already seen time and time again--then it will be easiest for both him and Su if the allies he recruits are similarly good people. It will mean less hurting people and less scheming, Su says, as a reminder I think of that promise Jing drew out of him in their previous meeting: that he will hurt as few people as he possibly can on his quest to give Jing the throne.

Jing considers this with that bitter smile he too often gets, and replies that it will be hard for people like that (eg. people who are virtuous/not corrupt/not supported by the Jerk Princes) to reach the top, though. True, Su answers, but he hopes that Prince Jing can help change that, as these people are perfectly capable of running things, all they need is an opportunity.

Your highness can feel at ease to make friends with them sincerely, Su tells Jing. Leave it to me when the time comes to make use of them if needed. Aaaaaand there it is, the sad gut punch feeling. It's back. Jing does not look exactly happy about this, but he does not argue, either. He just looks . . . like he is thinking. Hard.

(In fact, Jing seems constantly thrown off-balance during this conversation, obviously he has his preconceptions about what strategists are like, and therefore what Su is like, and we know he hates that sort of person. But Mei Chang Su keeps surprising him and you can see Jing repeatedly pausing to re-evaluate this man and try to figure him out. And, in last episode as well as in this one, he seems like he is relenting towards him just a teeeeny bit, maybe even unconsciously. You are not going to figure him out, Jing. He doesn't want you to, the self-sacrificing fool.)

We cut to after the Sad Boy meeting has concluded, with Jing and Su walking out side by side. One of Jing's men runs up yelling their names, and I'm immediately like HERE IT IS WHAT HAS FEI LIU DONE. Su looks amused. Jing looks a bit alarmed. All three head towards the training field. Oh, and Jing mentions there is a beast that has been bothering people near the east suburbs, which must be that beast that was mentioned last episode, and I'm so confused because what the heck is this about??? Officials have come to borrow some of Jing's soldiers to help catch it or kill it or whatever. Su asks why this matters, which I agree with (though I will just go ahead and assume he knows exactly what is going on because stuff like this is always his fault anyway), and Jing says the issue is that Zhan Ying (who?) wants to catch the creature alive to find out what it is. Oh, okay. So definitely catch it, then. Huh. Su says if Jing does manage to catch it, make sure to let him take a look because he is curious. Sure, says Jing. Seriously what is going on.

Out at the training grounds, Fei Liu has apparently worked his way up the ranks to duel the commander (Actually I forget his actual rank so I’ll just say commander and if I’m wrong then whatever I just remember he is higher up ish) that was so huffy at him to begin with. I like to think this means he has methodically defeated Jing's entire army bit by bit during the time it took Su to have a chat and drink some tea. They start fighting right when Su and Jing show up to watch, and Fei Liu immediately blocks and catches his opponent's attack but instead of just demolishing him then and there he just holds him still so he can admire his opponent's sword, lollllll he is still a baby troll yet but he is learning from the best. I loved this fight. Super humorous and the emoting of the actors throughout the choreography was great, the kid who plays Fei Liu was maybe the most animated I've seen him play the character so far. Su is enjoying watching: I rarely see Fei Liu enjoy himself this much, he tells Jing. Then the commander flicks a secret switch on his sword that makes it fling a batarang at Fei Liu basically lol but Fei Liu is NOT to be played with and he just catches it out of the air and looks really excited, like he has just found the best toy EVER. Watch out, man, he is totally gonna take your sword home with him.

But then the commander notices Su Zhe is watching, and so he pulls a dirty trick and shoots another small blade--but this time he is aiming at Su, not at Fei Liu. Booooooooooo. All Fei Liu's delight turns to panic in an instant, and he races through the air to catch up with the blade because physics? What physics???? I don't thiiiink he manages to catch it but also I lost track of the blade in the air so idk. I think it just missed. Su is fine, though, didn't even blink, because deep down he's a super awesome warrior with nerves of steel that's why.

Fei Liu whips a look of pure rage towards Jing's oblivious commander, who is laughing heartily as he cheekily calls out to the poor scholar who he thinks he just frightened: Sorry about that, it was a mistake! You must have been shocked, having never seen weapons before since you're just a feeble scholar chap, ohoho! Oh, bro. Bro, nooooo. Su is absolutely stonefaced, as is Jing, and slowwwwwwwly this commander realizes that what he just did wasn't a joke. It wasn't a joke at all. He tries to apologize for real this time, but it is too late. Also Fei Liu was totally going to break his neck but Su stopped him. 

Su icily tells Jing’s man that he doesn't owe Su an apology; he owes one to Jing, his commanding officer who he just shamed with his rash actions and lack of respect. I actually feel sorry for this soldier as he visibly shrinks during this whole scene, he only wanted to defend Jing's honor after all, but by doing so he gave into pride and ended up embarrassing him instead. Poor man. Su is absolutely merciless. It's kind of cool to see him being so relentless because usually he plays coy in his interactions with people. But I still feel bad for the commander because he obviously loves Jing, he was just sort of an idiot about it.

I have long looked up to Your Highness' disciplining of the army, Su tells a VERY upset-looking Jing, but I am greatly disappointed by what I have witnessed today. Army discipline is so lax. How could they be favoured by His Majesty? It seems that Your Highness' presence in the army isn't even that of a pugilistic lord like me.

Jing's general legit looks like he is about to cry by this point. He drops to his knees and begs for Jing to punish him, poor man. This has been eye-opening for me, Su tells Jing, and then he swans out like the troll he is. Su, shut upppp, they get it already. Fei Liu goes with him. I feel really bad for Ting Sheng who is still standing there just watching this all go down lol I hope he doesn’t feel any of it is his fault.

That guy who first told Jing and Su something was happening on the training grounds tries to intervene on the shamed general's behalf, telling Jing to calm down and not be so furious, because the men realize what they have done wrong. Heck yeah they do, Lin Shu chewed them out good. But he also sort of set them up so idk.

But Jing will NOT be calmed down. He is livid. Qi Meng disregarded military regulations and offended his superior, he says. He is to be beaten 50 strokes and demoted to centurion. DUDE, that is harsh. And then he storms away, with cute little Ting Sheng running after him like a puppy. I kind of want more scenes of the two of them together because I bet they would be adorable, I don't think we have ever seen Jing and Ting Sheng alone together yet? Poor Jing, what a bad day. First he embarrassed himself in front of the Divine Talent by yelling at him about touching the bow, and now he embarrassed himself further via his army misbehaving. Don't beat yourself up, Jing, you're trying. Why do you even care what Mei Chang Su thinks of you, anyway, hm? HMMMMMM???

Cut to some time later, probably the next day or so? Jing is receiving the official Imperial orders to judge the Duke of Qing's case. He is still accompanied by that soldier of his that we have seen a few times now, with the fabulous orange collar to his armor, but I don't know the guy's name, or at least don't remember? Jing has him call out the name of all the officials who are to help with the case, but they are all lower officers and he deliberately snubs Minister Qi, Yu's ally in the Ministry of Justice, by not naming him ahahaha. Qi looks outraged, but has to try to play nice because Yu told him to, remember. Ah, delicious. Furthermore, Jing is going to hold the actual trial in the Ministry of Justice. He knows exactly what he is doing. But he also doesn't look very happy about it; I can't imagine he is having much fun with this job.

Meanwhile, Shen Zhui has been officially called to audience with the Emperor, so he IS getting that job! Crown Prince isn't happy about it, complaining to the Marquis that Shen Zhui has been remarkably lucky, and that he guesses he has been too argumentative with Yu lately, since the Emperor went out of his way to pick someone neutral for the position. The Marquis muses in his slow and creepy way that yes, that is true, but also points out how Yu and CP's losses have been equally balanced (like we went over last ep). The Marquis is DANGEROUS, guys.

CP is surprised to hear this, but then admits that come to think of it Yu was uncharacteristically okay with throwing his ally under the bus, so to speak; it was strange that he didn't fight to save the Duke. He stops, eyes widening. Why do I think that it's Mei Chang Su who came up with this idea? he exclaims in rising anger. Oh CP, you are so obsessed with our MCS. He turns on the Marquis: Frankly speaking, why can't you even get rid of a frail and delicate man? LOL AIN'T THAT THE QUESTION.

Marquis finally lifts his gaze to look at CP. He tells CP that Su might be frail, but he is always surrounded by incredibly skilled warriors, so they haven't been able to get to him. Seriously, how many of his men has he lost to Fei Liu and the other guards Su has by now? CP is not appeased: Don't we have our own men in the pugilistic world?

Your Highness, the Marquis says, very flatly, Tian Quan Manor and East Yangtze Alliance are not quite exactly of the same status. Understatement of the year.

You see? Frets CP. This is also what makes me inferior to Yu. He has the East Yangtze Alliance and I only have Tian Quan Manor. The Marquis looks like he is deeeeeply considering something, and he certainly doesn't look happy to hear this, but I wonder if he suspects that Su is just playing Yu. He does seem suspicious, anyway. He is too smart.

And now we cut to . . . a farmer pulling a vegetable cart through the city streets? Eh? But lo and behold--the farmer is actually one of Su's men in disguise, a guy named Tong Lu. He goes undercover to Su's mansion and drops to his knees before our boy in utmost reverence. I love how everyone in the Alliance just absolutely worships Su??? It's so cute???? But also, like, relatable

Su tells him to get up and also that Mr. Shisan and I will rely on you to keep us in contact. Oh, cool, so undercover vegetable man is basically a telephone between Su and Shisan, the spymaster at that music house with the weird stalker girl. I remember him. Tong Lu says he won't fail. He'd better not, is all.

In gentler tones, Su informs Tong Lu that Lou Zhi Jing is imprisoned, and will definitely be executed. Write home to your mother to inform her of this news, he says. Tong Lu bows in thanks: You have avenged the death of my younger sister, he says. OH WAS HIS SISTER ONE OF THE MURDER WELL GIRLS? That would certainly explain his loyalty to Su!

Li Gang elaborates: Lou Zhi Jing had the Crown Prince backing him up. If Lord Mei had not made great effort to come up with this plan, those innocent souls would have been buried deep down in the well forever. Su looks sort of happy listening to this; he has done a Good Thing. No matter what Questionable Things he has done and will have to do to see his own vengeance realized, here at least he has done Good.

I guess this also answers my question from earlier about how the heck Su knew about the dead girls in the well! It's very cool when this show ties loose ends like that, it is so smooth about it. Tong Lu says he had not expected Lou Zhi Jing to be taken down so quickly, and Su actually apologizes for taking so long: we had to wait for the right time. I hope that your family won't blame me for doing so. Tong Lu kneels again, almost in tears: on the contrary, he and his family are sooooo grateful. Ugh, okay FINE I guess this was worth tricking Jing Rui and Yu Jin into that corpse well. Maybe. I still wish Su had somehow managed to make Yu the one who fell in and found them instead but I guess that is asking too much of even the Divine Talent, lololol

Cut to Mei Chang Su alone in his study later, poring over those wooden tiles we have seen once before, the ones with all the names of the ministers on them. He looks so TIRED :(

Li Gang comes in: You asked to see me? He says. Su looks up, a little more animated. We have already finished with the Orchid Garden case, he says, and the Metropolitan Government Office must be calm now. It's about time to send Gao Sheng another case, he says, LOL poor Gao Sheng. Su invites Li Gang to flip over a tile, as he has now arranged them all in a line facedown. Hesitantly, with a little impatient prodding from Su, Li Gang does: he has flipped the Ministry of Personnel. PRINCE YU’S Ministry of Personnel, he says, meaningfully. Ok so it seems to me like taking down another one of CP's Ministries would make more sense at this point, since CP is already convinced Su is out to get him and Yu right now thinks Su is on his side, but you do you, Mei Chang Su. You wanted to throw random chance into the mix of all your plotting? Fine, then. Su does look a bit troubled and immediately drops into Deep Thought. ALSO! His hand fidgeting is back again, so I guess that IS a tell for when he is thinking??? After a moment he signals Li Gang, still deep in thought, and tells him to Have Shisan and Gong Yu make some preparations. HMMMMMMM. I don't like getting Gong Yu more involved, she still bothers me for reasons unknown.

Cut to a montage of a couple of courtesan girls putting on their ancient Chinese makeup, which is pretty cool. I've watched a video about this makeup before and I like the lipstick papers. Theres some voiceover that makes it seem like they are out to get someone, and again they are motivated by vengeance. Su has gathered a lot of vengeance-seeking people on his team, which I guess makes sense but it's another level of cool to see how he is managing to give all these other people closure even as he seeks his own. One of the girls' voiceover says their younger brother was killed at the age of thirteen by some rich kid and since they were poor the family never got justice. Qiu Ze is the name of the murderer. Going by Su's track record, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Qiu Ze is about to get into a LOT of trouble.

The scene thus set, we drop back into the action as a new customer arrives at a pleasure house, where the lady in charge is trying to tell him the girls he wants--Xin Liu and Xin Yang, so I guess they are the sisters--are ill and therefore unavailable. Nonsense, this Master He says: If any of his wives or maids were to annoy him he would beat them to death! You want to try him by saying no now? Wow, what a charmer he is. And there is Gong Yu, intercepting him on the stairs seemingly by chance. He is astonished and asks her why she is in this brothel instead of Heavenly Music House. She replies that she was visiting the ill twins. The story the brothel madame was telling him being seemingly confirmed, He gives up on the twins and instead tries to persuade Gong Yu to drink with him. To his shock, she agrees, merely asking him to wait while she changes clothing.

While she changes, Gong Yu chats with the girl helping her. I heard that Miss Xin Liu and Miss Xin Yang were upstairs with Master Qiu right now, the girl says MOST innocently. Exactly, Gong Yu says, ALSO TOTALLY INNOCENTLY. Young Master Qiu is handsome and dashing. He is really compatible with both sisters. I'm so happy for them. The girl helping Gong Yu is like Wow, you must be a saint, saying you are happy for them while you have to put up with that AWFUL Master He, what a loser he is. Oh, yes, it is a trial, Gong Yu agrees, but sisters should help each other, after all. That Young Master He has been vying with Young Master Qiu for years. He thinks too highly of himself. Master Qiu should teach him a lesson. And while these girls are loudly, innocently gossiping, Gong Yu's got the most wonderfully calculating expression, as she keeps looking at the wall where she knows that Master He is eavesdropping and growing more and more enraged. At this point, he storms off, and YUP, HERE WE GO. Gao Sheng, I hope your calendar is clear because I have a Bad Feeling About This.

Sure enough, He grabs his men and starts tearing the brothel apart hunting for Qiu. The sight of him repeatedly busting down the doors of private rooms, yelling It's none of your business! at the startled people inside, and storming to the next one was hilarious to me. Gong Yu silently stalks after him, the only calm person in the entire brothel by this point. Oh, and this is a spectacular set, by the way, there's a few long tracking shots wherein people walk down halls and up stairs and things and so that is pretty cool. We don't get many long tracking shots in this show, so that stood out. How many of these sets did they build specifcally for this show and how many are reused from other productions a la BBC, I wonder? I also wonder about that about costumes. Hm.

Anyways, to get back to the actual plot, He finally smashes into a room where he finds Qiu and the twins who want Qiu dead all sitting together. Well, that does not bode well for either man. As both have been established as being scum of the earth, however, I do not feel very badly for either of them. He charges in and attacks the confused Qiu, and they start brawling while the twins implore them to stop in very convincing distress. At one point they beg He not to fight anymore and not to break anything, and he responds with I'll pay for it! and charges back towards Qiu, which made me laugh. What a loser.

He snatches up a very expensive and heavy-looking vase, and Gong Yu calmly steps into the doorway and flicks a small object of some kind--a disc or something--into the back of Qiu's leg as he tries to stagger up to meet the attack. The result is that Qiu falls down, and the enraged He, seizing his advantage, brings the vase down on He's head so hard the vase shatters. He freezes, shocked--he did not mean to kill Qiu! But that is definitely what he did, as Qiu slumps over with blood running down his face. The twins start screaming about how Master He killed him! and He runs out in a panic as an even greater uproar starts up. Gong Yu makes eye contact with the twins and just nods at them like there you go, and the twins nod back. Justice is done, and Su's plans move forward.

It is morning, and we move to Prince Yu's manor. Ohhhhh, dear. Yu is doing the Ancient Fantasy China version of rushing out of his bedroom with his robe hastily thrown on, asking his servant what on earth is the matter. He finds out soon enough: an old man is kneeling in supplication at his door, crying. This is old Master He, as opposed to young Master He who killed Qiu the night before. Master He instantly starts bawling, wailing almost incoherently about how he only has one heir, his only son, and help him help him help him. I feel sort of sorry for him. But he did raise his son to be a major tool, so you reap what you sow I suppose.

We cut to a little later, and Master He has managed to explain the situation to Yu but he is still crying. To his credit he does admit he raised his son badly, but then he also says that he needs Yu to help save him anyway because he is his only son, and furthermore old Master He's mother adores her grandson and spoils him rotten so if he were to be imprisoned or executed SHE might die of distress as well. Yu is cross. It would be fine if he killed a commoner, he exclaims exasperatedly and WOW, YU, JUST WOW, but he killed Baron Wen Yuan's son! This Baron Wen Yuan is an important man of important lineage and so Yu is saying he cannot cover up the murder. If he did, Baron Wen Yuan would have the right and the connections to report obstruction of justice to the Emperor himself, and no way is Yu about to let that happen to himself. Master He considers this and then just hurries to bow and beg some more (the way Yu is increasingly eager to stop this man begging and sobbing at him is so funny. Every time He starts sobbing Yu is just oh no, not again He can't take it), saying Wen Yuan isn't even a brave man, he probably wouldn't do anything. Oh no? Counters Yu. YOUR SON JUST KILLED HIS SON. That is enough to make even the timidest man wild for justice to be served. Master He, stumped, just starts crying again. He is very pathetic and sad. Also, when Yu tries to calm him by asking What's the hurry, he says Gao Sheng has already sent some men to arrest his son this morning.

Cut to those men standing awkwardly outside of He's manor because no one will let them in, lol. They don't have authority to break in to make the arrest since He is such an important official, so they are just stuck demanding that young He comes out. Which I'm just gonna go ahead and say will NEVER happen. But they keep calling out his arrest warrant VERY loudly and gather quite a crowd of spectators and it is all very uncomfortable.

Yu tells old He to give up his son to be arrested and tried for murder. Wait, what?? He explains that Gao Sheng is not going to want to spend a lot of time on this case (which, from what we know of him, I'm going to say is very true), so if He is cooperative with him instead of trying to make his life difficult, he will be grateful to He and close the case quickly. Meanwhile, Yu's team can make sure there is enough confusion of evidence and such that the closed case will be transferred to the Ministry of Justice for review, where of course Yu's ally Minister Qi holds power! And in the review process Qi can throw out the case or acquit or whatever. Problem solved. This was very intereresting, it reinforces the impression I have that Yu is more dangerous to play with than CP is; the Marquis might have come up with a similar long con plan to save He's son but there is no way under heaven that CP would have. Nope. Also such a patient plan with chess-like foresight reminds me of our Divine Talent's plotting, so you just KNOW he is aware this is what Yu should do, so I'm sure he has a contingency to sink their boat anyway. I just wonder what it is!

So Gao Sheng gets the report that He Wen Xin--young He--has in fact been arrested. Gao Sheng is not cheered by this, as he complains what is he supposed to do about this case? He only barely extricated himself from the case involving Lou Zhi Jing, one of CP's biggest supporters, and now he has to deal with a murder case involving the son of He Jing Zhong, one of Yu's important allies? Poor Gao Sheng, he just can't win! I have already offended the two most powerful princes in a row with two big cases, Gao Sheng says glumly. It seems that I might not stay Metropolitan Governer for long. His officer tries to tell him to cheer up beause New Year is soon and maybe his new year wiill be nicer. Yeah, I doubt it. Gao Sheng is not impressed by this attempt at comfort.

We now have a time jump! It is a few weeks later and dead Qiu's dad is hounding Minister Qi about why hasn't He Wen Xin been punished yet??? Qi tries to make the excuse that there is still a lot of paperwork for the Duke of Qing case, so they are trying to move as fast as they can on He's trial but they are unavoidably delayed. Wen Yuan is NOT having it. He immediately counters with how they somehow managed to close the Orchid Garden case really fast (hey there, Jing the efficient judge) and that was a very complicated and old case, but somehow this straightforward murder case with many witnesses from only a few weeks ago is taking them forever? It makes no sense. Qi blusters some nonsense about um your son's case isn't simple either bye and scuttles away as fast as he can, leaving behind a very irate baron.

Cut to: Mei Chang Su, looking as handsome as ever in his blue toned robes! He is being visited by the Good Boy Duo, Yu Jin and Jing Rui! YAYY WELCOME BACK BOYS. Yu Jin is admiring the zither in Su's room, while Jing Rui is pacing back and forth in the courtyard. He is clearly still very upset about the whole assassination attempt thing. Also Su is watching Jing Rui pace and I can't decide why but it makes me worry. Does he feel guilty, or is he just bracing for step two of whatever plan he has for Jing Rui?

Su suddenly asks Yu Jin Has Jing Rui been sulky lately? Yu Jin, usually so smiley, sobers a little as he comes to sit with Su. Yes, he has, he admits. And Jing Rui hasn't been able to get out to take his mind off whatever is bothering him because it is so cold and snowy. Oh, but that reminds him! Su, it is perfect weather for hot springs, do you wanna go? The best one belongs to Prince Supreme Ji. (Prince Supreme--so this means Ji is brother to the Emperor?) Anyway Prince Supreme told Yu Jin to come with friends whenever he likes, so Yu Jin is extending an invitation to Su because he is the Sweetest Soul. Su declines, but has some questions about the Prince Supreme. Is Ji the Emperor's youngest brother and uncle to the princes? That's him! Yu Jin says brightly. Oh cool, so I was right, he is a brother to the Emperor. Su looks amused while he listens to Yu Jin's analysis of Prince Supreme Ji's character. Brother Su, you really should get to know him, Yu Jin says cheerfully. Su just smiles.

Meanwhile, Jing has been summoned to the Emperor, along with the officials he had help him with the Duke of Qing's case. Jing tells his father that the case is concluded, wanting only the Emperor's final verdict. The findings are handed over: Jing has found the Duke and all accused guilty and they are to be executed, their properties confiscated, and their family lines basically ended. The Emperor reads through the report and is very impressed: *Who wrote this?* The director of the Ministry of Justice, Cai Quan, Jing replies.Cai Quan bows, and the Emperor compliments his work. Jingyan, you have also done quite well, the Emperor says, leaning forward: Aim to finish on a steady note. What is this??? Actual praise????? From the EMPEROR???? For JING????? Su's plans have just inched forward a bit. Prince Yu, who has been standing by and watching, chimes in to say Yep, good work Jing, great handling of the case! Jing doesn't even look at him, but the Emperor is pleased. You too have acted very maturely, he tells Yu. Among all my sons you are the most prudent one who places general interests first and oh come ON you have GOT to be joking. Yu? The most unselfish and the one who places general interests first? This Emperor is literally blind. He asks Yu if reports that Yu helped Jing with the trial are true? Well, Yu says oh so modestly, I was worried he was unused to working with the Ministry of Justice, so I helped him a bit, yes. You are such a saint, says this stupid Emperor, and then he gives freaking YU a load of gifts again JUST like when he stole Jing's credit for saving Ni Huang you guyyyyysssssss I'm so mad. This whole scene the camera keeps cutting to show Jing impassively watching this and it just isn't FAIR lol. But that is why we need Mei Chang Su. Jing really would be helpless on his own, scenes like this make it very obvious.

Yu makes a massive bow of thanks and Cai Quan steps forward looking like he wants to protest about how unfair this is, but a sharp look from Jing has him stepping back, looking unhappy but silent. And just like that, I love Cai Quan. Also just LOOK at Yu's robe, my gosh, he and Jing always have my favorite costumes and the gold embroidery on Yu's sleeves is out of this world beautiful. He is such a peacock.

As Jing and his team leave the palace, Cai Quan finally can speak his mind. He complains about how Jing worked hard day and night and concluded the case perfectly, and yet all he got was faint praise while Yu was showered with gifts and all he did was not meddle in [the case] LOL

Forget it, Jing says. It has always been so. Why bother getting angry? The inherent nobility of such an answer, as well as the blatant evidence of the unfair Imperial bias against Jing, is definitely going to leave an impression on Jing's team of officials here. Jing has just won some friends, whether or not he knows it. Su is so clever.

Jingyan! Wait! comes a call from back up the stairs. Oh great, it is Yu. He runs with mincing little steps down the stairs (and bravo to the actor for managing to run at all in those skirts, a fall would HURT and it looks very difficult lol) to meet Jing, who turns to meet him with a very longsuffering air. Yu is all smiles, almost puppyish in his eagerness to seize on the moment and work on befriending Jing like Su told him to LOL. Hey, don't be bothered by what happened, the Emperor totally means to give you presents AFTER the case is officially closed, is all, he tells Jing. And after a moment of slightly uncomfortable silence: Oh, and I didn't deserve the presents I got, either, I did nothing. Why don't I send the Emperor's gifts over to your manor instead? Jing's expression as he watches this fawning display is cold, cold, cold amusement. You're too polite, brother, he says. I only specialize in war. I have no need for those items. Surely my sisters-in-law would like them? Yu counters. Um, says Jing, I have only one wife, so nah. Now is there anything else you want to say or can I go?

I LOVE this. It is sooooo nice to see Jing have the upper hand in a conversation for once. Also! The camerawork! This talk is shot with the red carpet on the stairs cutting diagonally across the screen so Jing in his pale robe is backed by the stone steps, and peacock Yu in his ostentatious red and gold is backed by the royal red carpet. GORGEOUS. It's the pugilist vs the politician represented both in the characters and in their surroundings. I love it so much.

Yu looks a bit frustrated but rallies. Yeah, hey, since we are talking, I want to remind you about my New Year's party at my manor! You should come this year, instead of staying away like you always do! And Jing raises one of his perfect, perfect eyebrows: You invited me? he says, sarcasm absolutely dripping from his tone and expression. Ahaaahahahaha. Yu valiantly tries to cover: whaaaat, you never receieved your invitations? Wow, my servants are so inept. Wow. I’ll have to punish them for not delivering your definitely real invitations. How about this: I will deliver your invitation in PERSON this year. Please come, Jing, pleeeeease? Okay, fine, says Jing, and with that he makes his escape. Yu watches him go with an I sure hope all this hassle is worth it, Mei Chang Su look on his face.

Cut to Banruo enjoying some tea while a girl hurries in with news. News about He Wen Xin's brothel murder case. What information have Banruo's spies uncovered???

Cut to Yu Jin and Jing Rui out with Supreme Prince Ji, enjoying some women dancing and women playing musical instruments and women serving them tea and, yknow. All that good stuff. Yu Jin, at least, looks cheerful. Jing Rui still looks very pale and depressed, though he makes an effort to brighten up when Ji brings it up. Oh, poor boy. I love Jing Rui so much, and I know I say that about way too many characters, but it is still true. He is just so good and I want him to be happy and safe. I feel like this is a losing battle I am fighting, but I will keep wanting it anyway and the show will have to prise it from my emotions’ cold, dead fingers.

(Btw, shoutout to that girl who is smiling and gamely massaging one of Ji's arms throughout this entire scene. That would be really hard to keep up for multiple takes, lol, its little details like that and the depth even the extras provide to each scene that is part of why this show is so amazing. The show didn’t NEED a girl massaging his arm there, but her presence is the perfect Show Not Tell insight into Ji’s character. I see you, unsung heroine! Good job)

Ji comes across as jolly, sensual, and generally harmless, but I could be wrong on the last bit. Anyway he likes brothels and pleasure houses and whatever sooooo yay him? Yu Jin mentions how Gong Yu is an unparalleled musician so I guess she is famous. Ji gets melancholy as he remembers the ongoing murder trial about the death at the Willow Heart. Both Xin Liu and Xin Yang won't be able to perform dances anytime soon, he complains, and then he starts crying. Yep, he is a man-baby. And I thiiiiink those were the names of the twins, if I remember correctly.

Oh yes, speaking of that murder trial, says Yu Jin, hurriedly trying to move the conversation along, why hasn't He been sentenced or acquitted yet?? Is he guilty or isn't he?? Oh, he is definitely guilty, says Supreme Prince Ji. I witnessed it with my own eyes!

Yu Jin and Jing Rui look shocked, and that is the end of the episode! This was another setup episode mainly but there was a LOT of set up. I was so happy to see Yu Jin and Jing Rui again, even though I'm still majorly worried about Jing Rui. Missed Meng this episode--and Ni Huang! Where has she gotten to?! And Mu Qing! And basically ALL the women at the palace, and the Princess Supreme . . . UGH so many good characters, I don't even realize any are missing while the episode is playing, but after I am like heyyyy but what about my OTHER faves? I swore I wouldn't get attached, and now look at me. Pathetic.

On the other hand I am DELIGHTED Jing has stepped back into the forefront of the action. His friendship--or, well, partnership anyway but there is a weird tentative friendship mayyyybe starting there however cautiously--with Mei Chang Su has given him a position of power over the oblivious Prince Yu that is just so much fun. May it last a long time. Speaking of that potential friendship between Su and Jing, I'm fascinated to see it progress, because of course it is so imbalanced--Su knows exactly how to befriend Jing so he holds all the cards in their conversations together. As a master manipulator in general he must know how to manipulate his former best friend. But also Jing is a tough cookie. They are both so lonely, but I feel more for Jing's loneliness since at least Su has had an obsession to live for and focus on these past years; Jing has had nothing, and Su did manage to find allies while Jing has lived surrounded by people who hate him or look down on him. Bless Ni Huang for being there for him, I'm sure she has been vital in keeping him alive and sane.

Maybe the coolest thing about this episode, actually, was how it helped explain a little just how Su has gathered such a network of SUPER loyal secret friends. In plotting his own vengeance Su has recruited all these people who also seek impossible vengeance and he is using them and their wants to achieve his own. He is manipulating them like tools in his game, but at the same time he is working so hard to give them what they want, working to the point of exhaustion. He has seemed worryingly worn out these last couple of episodes. It is a very weird blend of compassion and cold self-interest, and ugh I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. I do beliieve, especially with this evidence, that he honestly does not want to use innocent people to hurt them. I just don't know if that is enough to save Jing Rui. Well, actually, all signs point to it definitely NOT being enough. Why, *Nirvana in Fire*, why.

Next up is episode 11! I can't WAIT to see how Su continues to ruin lives. And I also want Ni Huang back. And more Jing! Never leave me again, eyebrow prince.