#the casual rebels disrespect

[bikananjarrus]

actually dave how about you sit down and watch all of rebels again beginning to end and then try telling me that it’s not necessary to watch like be serious. put respect on her (rebels) name. i will make this show everyone’s jam. it’s required watching now. everyone who hasn’t seen rebels what are you doing here, go you all have homework.

[linlincharl0tte]

misogyny in nico robin’s character

disclaimer: i don’t read op manga, just anime

i wanna be clear: we all know how misogynist is one piece and anime/manga in general. sadly, it’s something deeply ingrained in the media, and we all can recognize it in plots, designs, whatever. but nico robin case is especially awful

first of all i wanna point out how two different clichés about women are portrayed with nami and robin; nami is not a pick me, but a very much digerible femenine character. nami prefers to hide in battle, nami is sweet, and we could say she is a tsundere, and u know how incels loves tsunderes! (ofc this is not something against her, my beloved child)

but robin is out of tune in the sexist frame. robin is strange, wise, scheming, and even her facial attributes are uncommon in the same-face-syndrome (thanks god her big nose is remarkable enough so she could keep it post timeskip), and god knows she got severely mistreated because of this

robin, same as other secondary character like franky or brook, has no much prominence. there are some episodes where she is in the action but she doesn’t even appear (thinking about it quickly, it comes to my mind fishman island battle, for example), so it’s so easy to remember her big moments on screen; there are two prominent events where robin is on the focus, and this two events are an excuse to punish her for being the woman she is

moments in question are the part in enies lobby where spandam is dragging her (i think to the gates of justice or whatever) and her battle against black maria. in both occasions robin is tortured and her body is severely threatened in a way never seen in one piece, deeply sexual and disrespectful. violence is pretty common in this series, but not this one

we had several episodes of pandam pulling her hair, throwing her against the ground and threatening to chop her body, over and over. nobody can tell me this is not a fetish: i remember feeling so fucking disgusted watching this, even violated. several chapters after, the same feeling came to me when black maria fighted robin through bondage, and it become hard to watch when black maria holds and punchs her agains the floor. again, several character have been punched along the series, but not like this. black maria spanks robin while screaming how beautiful she is now she is covered in blood, and we know this is a typical statement in domestic violence perpetrators

the girls’ fight getting this disturbing is not casual: fictional sexist violence between women is just a form of projection. scenes where a woman is the one mistreating an equal are desirable by the male gaze because a woman being misogynist is a triumph and a show. when robin uses demonio fleur and becomes a devil to reduce and crush black maria’s body she is not taking revenge as a woman, but continuing the cycle of sexist violence

maybe this post contains mistakes because i’m not a native english speaker and i saw this chapters time ago, but for me it's very clear how robin being a rebel is punished in a sexist and horrendous way. to be honest i don’t think this is on purpose, but a great example of how ingrained misogyny in our society to take this as “normal” in fiction, and how easy we accept a strong girl being penalized

[archiveikemen]

Abe no Yasuchika • Sutokuin/Akihito Main Story: Chapter 3

This is a fan-made translation solely for entertainment purposes with no guaranteed perfection; expect mistakes, grammatical errors, and some creative liberties. All original content and media used belongs to Cybird. Please support the game by buying their stories and playing their games. Reblogs appreciated.

Read this before interacting┊aikm’s Genjiden Glossary

Akihito: By the way, aren’t you afraid of talking to me like this?

Yuno: Huh?

Akihito-sama’s handsome face drew closer, sending my heart racing.

Akihito: I’m well aware that I was once a terrifying enemy to you.

Abysmal eyes stared intently at me, it was like they were staring right into the depths of my heart.

(Deception definitely won’t work on Akihito-sama.)

Yuno: … That’s true. You were indeed terrifying as an enemy.

I weaved my web of words while cautiously sounding my thoughts.

Yuno: But strangely, I no longer fear you.

Yuno: I also recently learned that you have a surprisingly awkward side to you.

(Both Yasuchika-san and Akihito-sama… the two of them were different from their usual elusive selves.)

(I feel like I’m starting to understand what kind of people they are, even just a little bit.)

Akihito: Awkward, huh. Was that supposed to be a compliment?

Yuno: Ah, I’m sorry, it was my mistake… but I didn’t mean it in a negative way at all!

(That was indeed disrespectful of me.)

Akihito: It’s fine. I don’t deny that I’ve shown you some rather disgraceful sides of me today.

Yasuchika: When I asked you to check on Yasuchika for me during the day for instance, and right now.

Yuno: No, I don’t think you’re acting disgraceful.

Yuno: … Instead, I think you’re the kind of person to treat what’s precious to you with a lot of care.

Akihito: You mean Yasuchika?

Yuno: Yes.

I nodded and Akihito-sama stared reminiscently into the distance..

Akihito: It’s because that boy and I met in a rather unique way.

(I really wonder what happened between them.)

However, I figured that it would be too inappropriate to casually ask such a personal question, so I perished the thought and watched his calm side profile.

Akihito-sama said nothing more, then he suddenly smiled at me.

Akihito: — Sorry. I made you listen to my rambling.

Yuno: It’s fine. Um…

When Akihito-sama tried to end the conversation, I spontaneously stopped him.

(I want to at least tell him this much.)

Yuno: You mentioned earlier that you feel confused about receiving the Hero’s Power…

Yuno: I believe there was surely a meaning behind specifically the two of you being chosen as heroes.

Akihito: A meaning…?

Yuno: Yes. The Yamata no Orochi said that we won’t be given a trial we can’t conquer.

Yuno: If both of you work together, there might be a way through this.

(I don’t know the relationship between Akihito-sama and Yasuchika-san very well, but—)

(I can see that they both care deeply about each other.)

Akihito-sama chuckled at my words.

Akihito: … You’re right. After hearing you say that, I’m starting to feel that way too.

Yuno: My apologies. That was impertinent of me…

Akihito: No, I thank you for saying that.

Akihito: Yasuchika and I are undeniably a little cowardly.

Akihito: That’s why it might be best to have someone straightforward like you as a medium of the underworld.

(Akihito-sama…)

(I still don’t know what I can contribute to this war… but at least, I hope to be a form of support to Akihito-sama and Yasuchika-san.)

…

Not long after, there were reportedly sightings of the undead in a province not far from Kamakura.

(According to the report submitted to the Shogunate, they should be around here.)

To avoid causing damage to the nearby village, we divided ourselves into teams to patrol the area.

(From the Shogunate, there’s Shigehira-kun, Rikka, and Tamamo; while the Rebel Army assigned Benkei to guard the other side of the village.)

(I’m patrolling this area alongside Akihito-sama, Yasuchika-san, and Ibuki, but—)

Signs of the undead were nowhere to be seen, so we decided to wait for a while.

Soldiers dispatched from the Shogunate were in the vicinity.

Soldier 1: Still, I never expected us to end up being under the lead of some suspicious person from the Imperial Court.

Soldier 2: Shh! He can hear you. You never know where Yasuchika-dono placed his shikigami.

(As expected, there’s still some distrust towards the Imperial Court.)

(Although it’s understandable if you think about what happened between us in the past, but I wonder if we’ll work together just fine.)

Rikka: Found you, Yuno.

Yuno: Rikka!

Yuno: What’s the matter? Did something happen to Shigehira-kun and the others?

Rikka: Nah, I was told to check on you. They’re doing fine over there.

(That’s a relief…)

Rikka: … In any case, Shigehira is really harsh when it comes to making use of ayakashi.

Rikka continued languidly.

Rikka: I only took a short break and he’s already back to get me to work, and he tells me to come check on you the moment I have any free time.

(That’s how hardworking Shigehira-kun is…)

In contrast to that, while Rikka has been cooperative with us so far, he still has the carefree nature of an ayakashi.

(Before we set out, he was making snow sculptures in the corner of the room during the war council.)

Rikka: Where are Akihito and Yasuchika?

Yuno: They’re checking on the situation over there with Ibuki. Should I call them over?

Rikka: Nah, no need. I’d rather you not.

Rikka firmly declined.

(What’s wrong?)

While I internally questioned the tone of his response, Rikka’s gaze shifted to something behind me.

Rikka: … Speak of the devil, Yasuchika’s here. Help me out, Yuno.

Yuno: Huh?

I thought I felt two hands on my shoulders and was immediately spun around.

A little distance from us, I spotted Yasuchika-san and Akihito-sama returning after completing their checks.

(Perfect timing.)

Yuno: Akihito-sama! Yasuchika-san! Rikka’s here to check on us.

The two of them noticed us and started walking in our direction.

But before they reached us, Rikka hastily leaned in and whispered in my ear.

Rikka: I’ve passed the message to you. I’ll get going now.

Yuno: Eh? Why…

I turned around to see that Rikka had already disappeared.

(When did he…!?)

Yasuchika: Aww, he escaped.

Yasuchika-san’s shoulders slumped while walking up to me.

Akihito: He’s quite a cunning ayakashi to use Yuno as a shield.

Yasuchika: It’s not like I’m going to do anything to him. Right, Yuno-san?

Yuno: It could be that you’ve already done something to him…

Yasuchika: Hmm… just a little bit!

(I knew it!)

Yasuchika: All I did was have him cooperate with me for a little experiment.

Yasuchika: Ri-chan always gets irritated quickly and escapes the moment I take my eyes off him, so the experiment failed.

Akihito: Attempting to force him into making a pact with you was a bad idea, I guess.

(H-he did WHAT…!?)

Yasuchika: It was worth a try! By nature, it’s impossible for an Onmyōji to make a pact with an ayakashi, however—

Yasuchika: I thought it might work given my current state whereby I can’t use my Onmyō magic like I usually do.

Yasuchika: If I were to make a pact with a powerful ayakashi, I could use its abilities in place of Onmyō magic alongside the Hero’s Power to fight.

Yuno: So you’re still having trouble using your Onmyō magic after all?

Yasuchika: It’s not completely unusable. I managed to develop a technique to control the power just in time.

Yasuchika: In fact, I’m actually using a shikigami to do the scouting right now.

(Thank goodness…)

I heaved a sigh of relief when I recalled how cornered Yasuchika looked the last time.

Yasuchika: … However, I have to suppress the Hero’s Power when using Onmyō magic; and I can’t use Onmyō magic when using the Hero’s Power.

Akihito: So that means it’s difficult to deal a fatal blow to the undead using Onmyō magic.

Yasuchika: That’s correct.

Yasuchika-san nodded at Akihito-sama and turned his gaze back onto me.

Yasuchika: Therefore, my weapon in this battle will be a sword infused with the Hero’s Power.

(I see…)

Yuno: It really is impossible to use Onmyō magic and the Hero’s Might together at the same time after all, huh.

Yasuchika: To put it bluntly, yes. Well, there are other methods, but—

Yasuchika: Attempting to forcibly use both powers simultaneously would cause them to go out of control.

Yuno: In other words, it’s dangerous?

Yasuchika: Yeah, I’d rather not do that. There’s a possibility of it affecting Akihito-sama too.

Akihito: …

The look on Akihito-sama’s face looked like he wanted to say something but decided not to.

(Could Akihito-sama also know about that other method?)

Yasuchika: However, it’s fine if we don’t use that method.

Yasuchika: I may not be as skilled a fighter as the warriors, my swordsmanship is decent enough.

(Everything will definitely be alright if Yasuchika-san says so… I guess.)

Akihito: By the way, what did Rikka come to tell us?

Yuno: He only said he was here to check on us. It looks like Shigehira-kun and the others haven’t encountered any undead either.

The moment I said that, Yasuchika-san looked up as though he just sensed something.

Yuno: Yasuchika-san?

Yasuchika: — They're here.

Soldier 1: AAAAAHHH! MONSTERS!

Yuno: …!

The soldiers could be heard screaming from the bushes.

The soldiers who were resting immediately stood up and drew their swords.

Akihito: Looks like this is where we’ll be fighting them.

Yasuchika: Akihito-sama, the sorcery tools.

The two put on their respective forehead ornaments.

(…!)

When the light faded away—

I gasped at the sight of their new appearances.

Yasuchika: …! This is…

Akihito: I’m assuming this is due to the cursed powers of the ayakashi.

(They look like… they have matching appearances.)

Their almost otherworldly mystical appearances had me gazing admiringly at them.

Yasuchika: Let’s go, Akihito-sama.

Akihito: Yuno, try not to leave our side.

Yuno: … Okay!

The instant they headed in the direction of the screaming—

Grotesque-looking creatures emerged from among the trees.

(T-those are the undead…)

Undead: Gyaaaa!

The undead let out ear-piercing cries as they approached us.

While everyone froze in fear from seeing those creatures for the first time, Akihito-sama stepped forward and removed his bracelet.

Akihito: Stop moving.

(Is that his kotodama…?)

The undead’s movements slowed for a brief moment before they quickly recovered and started running towards us.

Akihito: … I see. It’s just as I expected, kotodama is barely effective on them.

Akihito: In that case—

Akihito-sama raised his hand, and a bolt of lightning struck the undead.

Undead 2: Eeek…!

The undead that were burnt by the lightning turned into ashes.

However, a new wave of undead trampled over the ashes and rushed towards us.

(There’s more…!)

At the same time my body tensed up, another bolt of lightning struck the undead.

Ibuki: Looks like it started while I was away, huh.

Yuno: Ibuki…!

Ibuki: It’s still too early to relax.

The fallen undead rose again.

Undead 3: Kill the living! Kill them!

Undead 4: Kill them!

Newly spawned undead poured out from among the trees, increasing in number and attacking us relentlessly.

The horrifying scene was so repulsing, my legs nearly gave out due to my natural instincts.

Soldier 2: W-what the hell is that…

Soldier 3: Damn it! There’s no way we can fight those things.

(Oh no, some of the soldiers are entering a state of panic…!)

Some of the soldiers went into chaos and started running away from the undead instead of fighting them.

Ibuki: How disappointing that they’re abandoning their duties just because their own general isn’t here.

Ibuki: This battle is going to be a tough one, huh? Akihito.

Akihito: Unfortunately so, but we can’t do without them.

With a charming smile, Akihito-sama summoned a bolt of lightning in the path of the fleeing soldiers.

Soldier 1: Eek!

Akihito: There’s no running away. If all of you are truly that afraid, I can just use kotodama on you.

Akihito: However, wouldn’t you rather face the enemies with your own convictions than be controlled like puppets to fight against your wills?

Soldier 2: Ugh…

Soldiers: We have no other choice but to fight…! Damn it.

(… Akihito-sama is indeed terrifying on the battlefield.)

Yasuchika: Everyone’s looking motivated! Looks like I should keep up too.

He drew his sword that emitted an eerie glow.

Yasuchika: I won’t allow them to go near Akihito-sama again.

Yasuchika-san stood at the front and cut down the approaching undead, his movements graceful like he were dancing.

Akihito: As expected of you, Yasuchika. But you should leave me some opportunities to shine too.

Akihito-sama’s lightning ability burnt a wide range of enemies to ashes—

While Yasuchika-san finished off the undead that managed to survive Akihito-sama’s attacks.

Soldier 1: We might actually win if we keep this up! Chaaarrrgeee!

With a battle cry to boost their morale, the previously frightened soldiers charged at the undead all at once.

(I can’t believe the two of them aren’t at their fullest potential yet.)

Akihito: It seems that the Necromancer is continuously summoning the undead while hiding somewhere.

Yasuchika: I’ve made the necessary preparations for my shikigami to request for reinforcements if we get attacked.

Yasuchika: Therefore, if we could just hold on a little more, we might be able to find the Necromancer.

Yasuchika-san’s words sounded slightly reassuring.

However, more undead kept on appearing with every one we defeated…

Yasuchika: ggh…

Yasuchika-san let out a small groan and retreated to my side.

Beads of sweat could be seen on his forehead.

Yuno: Yasuchika-san, are you in pain—

Yasuchika: I’m fine. It’s just that fighting this violently isn’t something I’m used to doing.

His response was as nonchalant as usual, and yet…

I knew very well that Yasuchika-san was the type of person to push himself too far over the edge while pretending everything was fine.

(Whenever Yasuchika-san uses the Hero’s Power, he constantly has to suppress his Onmyō magic.)

(It’s definitely much more complicated than it looks.)

Akihito: Step back, Yasuchika. I can handle the rest.

Yasuchika: I can’t do that. Akihito-sama, your ability isn’t meant to be used repeatedly.

Yasuchika: If you push yourself any further than this, it’ll harm your body.

(T-that’s…)

(But we’ve already sent a request for reinforcements to Shigehira-kun and the others. If we could just hold out a little longer until they arrive…!)

I could feel their frustration from being unable to fight, I prayed hard for reinforcements to arrive sooner and that was when—

The trees rustled and a man came forward from amongst the undead.

(This one is different from the undead.)

Akihito: Looks like the mastermind has finally shown himself.

Yasuchika: That’s the Necromancer…

Necromancer: All you annoying heroes, how dare you despicably change the course of fate and cling to your lives so desperately.

Necromancer: Kill the heroes first! We can finish off the rest of them after.

More undead emerged from the ground in response to the Necromancer’s command.

(T-this is endless…!)

Despite being cut down, the undead rushed past the soldiers towards Yasuchika-san and Akihito-sama.

Yasuchika: Apparently it seems that they’ve locked onto us.

Akihito: Ibuki. I leave Yuno to you.

(Wha…)

Akihito-sama gave me a hard push on the back towards Ibuki who caught me.

Ibuki: Oof. You’re being unusually rough.

Akihito: I’ll apologise later.

I caught a brief glimpse of Akihito-sama’s smile directed at me before the newly emerged undead obstructed my view.

Before we knew it, Ibuki and I were outside the circle of undead.

Yuno: But the two of them…!

Ibuki: Be good and step back. Losing the medium of the underworld would be too big of a blow. c

The smile on Ibuki’s lips made him seem as though he were enjoying the situation.

Ibuki: For now, we can only attack from the outside to support them.

Ibuki: Also, this is as far as those two can go if they don’t make it out alive.

(What…!?)

Yasuchika: … This would’ve been a child’s play if I could effectively use Onmyō magic.

Akihito: Say, Yasuchika. What we’re doing right now looks really out of character for us, don’t you think?

Yasuchika: You’re right. Akihito-sama aside, I shudder at the thought of being called a hero.

Akihito: But we were chosen to be the holders of this power.

Yasuchika: …

Akihito: Like Yuno said, there must be a meaning behind specifically the two of us being chosen.

Akihito: When she puts it that way, I can’t help but to live up to the expectations of a hero. c

Akihito: But looking at our current situation, winning is impossible. So how about we make a bet?

Yasuchika: A bet…?

Akihito: You still have another trump card, don’t you? I’ve been thinking the same thing.

Yasuchika: We absolutely can’t do that. If it fails, you’ll be affected by it too.

Akihito: I don’t want to do it either. — I don’t want to curse you.

(… What on earth are they talking about?)

The disturbing conversation gave me the chills.

Akihito: But I still want to give it a try because we can’t afford to die here.

Yasuchika: …

Akihito: I believe you can succeed, Yasuchika.

Akihito: Do you not trust me?

Yasuchika: …! That’s not the case at all.

Yasuchika: Ahh fine, please hate me forever if I fail!

Seemingly having given in to despair, Yasuchika muttered something under his breath.

The hand he stretched out towards Akihito-sama contained a ball of light.

Yasuchika: — Let’s do this.

Akihito-sama nodded and held his hand out to the light.

Akihito: Two powers that devour each other. Tame them, accept them. The soul becomes a vessel, creating an even greater power.

Ibuki: … Heh, looks like they came up with something interesting.

The sides of Ibuki’s lips lifted into a grin while he attacked the undead from the outside.

(Could it be… Yasuchika-san is mixing his Onmyō magic with both of their Hero’s Power?)

As the ball of light in their hands glowed brighter, Yasuchika-san’s face twisted in agony for a moment.

Yasuchika: ugh…

Akihito: Yasuchika.

Yasuchika: … This level of power is nothing to me.

Yasuchika: — After all, I am THE prodigious Onmyōji!

The light focused between their hands.

Akihito: Well done.

Yasuchika: You too, Akihito-sama; for improvising on such a reckless plan.

Yasuchika: These powers normally wouldn’t merge with each other, but you made it possible to turn them into a new kind of power by cursing me.

Akihito: It feels good being praised by you.

Akihito: That said, your trust in me and non-resistance to my curse were crucial in leading to the success of our plan.

Yasuchika: Of course I have trust in you completely, Akihito-sama.

Akihito: — Well then, shall we finish this once and for all?

The ball of light burst and sent the surrounding undead flying before going on to engulf the Necromancer.

Yuno: Amazing…

Both the undead and the soldiers paused their fighting momentarily to stare in awe at the scene unfolding before their eyes.

After the light dispersed…

The Necromancer, dragging his body on the verge of collapsing, glared at the two men.

Necromancer: If I’m going to be defeated here… I’ll make sure to at least drag one of you down with me!

Several newly appeared undead emerged around the Necromancer.

Yasuchika: You don’t know when to give up, huh.

Yasuchika-san chanted something to activate another spell.

As though intending to take advantage of the opportunity, the Necromancer threw what appeared to be a dagger in Yasuchika-san’s direction.

Yuno: Watch out!

Yasuchika: …!

There was no way his Onmyō magic or special abilities would react in time.

In the moment I felt my stomach drop—

(Ah.)

Akihito-sama threw himself in front of Yasuchika-san, shielding him with his body.

Akihito: Ggh…

Akihito-sama took the dagger instead and fell to his knees.

Yasuchika: Akihito-sama…?

Yuno: A-are you alright?

Akihito: Just a scratch, it’s no big deal.

I ran over to Akihito-sama’s side.

His kimono was torn at the shoulder, revealing the wound caused by the dagger.

(The wound is indeed not deep enough to cause any serious problems. But in this condition…)

Akihito-sama’s breathing was laboured and he struggled to stand.

Yuno: Could the Hero’s Power be going out of control…?

Akihito: … It seems so. I can’t believe that out of all times, I’m rendered unable to move in a time like this.

Yasuchika: — How dare you injure Akihito-sama.

At the sound of Yasuchika-san’s chilling voice, I looked up to see him casting a spell towards the Necromancer.

The Necromancer didn’t even have the chance to cry out at his moment of death before turning into particles and disappearing into the wind.

Yasuchika: Yuno-san, let’s move Akihito-sama somewhere safe.

Yuno: Y-yes! If I’m not mistaken, there should be a small hut over there—

Undead: Kill both heroes!

Undead 2: Kill them…!

(Oh no, we must do something about the remaining undead…!)

The approaching undead were suddenly sent flying by a roaring bolt of lightning.

Ibuki: The soldiers and I will stall them until Shigehira arrives, he should be here soon.

Yuno: Ibuki…

Yasuchika: Akihito-sama, please hold onto me.

Akihito: Thanks. Sorry for the trouble.

Yasuchika: I should be the one apologising. Why did you shield me…?

Yasuchika: — Nevermind that. Most importantly, we should get you treated at once.

…

Yasuchika-san swallowed the words he wanted to say and carried Akihito-sama to a nearby hut with a pained expression.

Yasuchika: I have to leave to deal with the remaining undead.

Yasuchika: Just in case, I’ll station a few soldiers to stand guard outside the hut.

Yuno: Understood. You should be careful too, Yasuchika-san.

Yasuchika: I’ll be fine. More importantly—

Yasuchika-san looked at me with worried eyes.

Yasuchika: Please, I leave Akihito-sama in your care.

(Yasuchika-san… he must be feeling responsible for Akihito-sama’s injury.)

Wanting to give him even just a little bit of reassurance, I nodded firmly.

Yuno: It’s alright, I will. Please leave him to me.

[demonsfate]

i KNOW i've talked about this countless times where it's probs tiring now. BUT LIKE. jin's behavior towards hwoarang is the biggest proof he's just not the same character in tek6.

jin was somebody who took on the korean army for hwoarang. who, btw, seem to be far more dangerous than the zaibatsu soldiers he took on and lost to - as the zaibatsu solders just shot him with tranquilizers darts. these men are shown to have live ammunition and EXPLOSIVES. jin still risks rebelling against them to help hwoarang. (jin had no reason to, btw! he wasn't in trouble with the army! he could've just walked away! but he chose to stay. because jin is a good person and he cares about his friend)

also, first time we saw jin genuinely smile in the series was when hwoarang told him he'll let him have a rematch. this shows that jin does enjoy fighting with hwoarang - even if he's reluctant at first. this is important to what i'm about to talk about.

jin in the next game, apologizes to hwoarang... twice for not keeping a promise. like clearly, he was genuinely sorry here. (and as polite as he can be in this situation). he even denies that there's somebody stronger than hwoarang, he states he doesn't believe that - he just has personal drama to deal with. jin has only ever been polite and respectful towards hwoarang - even if he is a little reluctant on their fights at times.

then comes along 6...

all of a sudden, jin acts very disrespectful and downright hateful toward hwoarang. jin never questioned hwoarang's strength, why would he think he'd be a bad leader? jin never insulted hwoarang, and from what we've seen - was very polite toward him. he doesn't seem to ever express any ill will toward hwoarang for the draw they had before the events of tek3. and yes, the kof crossover isn't canon. but i still blame tek6 for it because its character damage came from it. if tek6 didn't happen - this kof game wouldn't have written jin this way.

jin may have been a punk before, but he was still a respectful man. it's why i can never accept tek6 as jin. casual fans may not notice. they may think "oh it makes sense since jin was a mishima and those mishimas are nooooo good." but when you love jin as much as i do... you definitely notice the difference and how it makes no sense. after tek5, the jin we all knew was practically no more.

[astriwilt]

RANDOM LORE FOR MY STORY CAUSE I CAN’T SLEEP!

Ok so you know how I said Morris and Lisa started the Tilley family legacy and stuff? For some reason I didn’t mention Morris’ father and Lisa’s mother yet (yeah just casually forget to mention your characters’ entire motivations; great characterizing there, Tressa). So first let’s talk about Cecil Sharman.

Ok so Cecil Sharman is this guy (woah that’s crazy) and he wants to be a Dark Red. Yay! He has his mind set on being an asshole; good for him! Problem is he comically sucks at it. Remember the Amoeba Boys from The Powerpuff Girls? Yeah that’s Cecil Sharman. So Cecil becomes this huge joke among the other Dark Reds. However through hard work, perseverance, and a mindset change; he still sucked.

One day; he has a son named Morris (I wonder if he’ll be important). Morris is getting tired of watching his father be disrespected. He loves his father, and only wants to see him succeed. “You will never mean anything” people said to him. Morris watched his father fall farther and farther into depression. (I mean maybe Cecil should have went and found a different skill that didn’t involve being a piece of shit, but I’m not here to morally judge my characters. That’s the Kri family’s job).

So Morris goes on to build a reputation among the Dark Reds. Knowing the ins and outs of Dark Red society; he slowly climbed to the top with the help of his wife, Lisa Tilley. Soon they become big names. Their names become so big, in fact that the Tilley name gets cemented as the biggest name in Dark Redism. A win for evil!!!!

Cecil had this Blue Middler enemy named Beverly Tilley (OMG THERE’S A BLUE MIDDLER IN THE TILLEY FAMILY; MAJOR PLOT TWIST!). And well….Beverly was kinda overbearing. She constantly expected perfection out of her kids. To the point where two out of three of those kids ended up hating her. Can you guess who these two are? Yeah it’s Lisa and Mason. Lisa rebelled by becoming the very thing Beverly hated: a Dark Red, and soon Mason followed suit. Lisa further rebelled by having a totally-not-serious romantic relationship with her mom’s enemy’s son that went and turned serious. ✨ Marriage ✨.

So basically team mommy issues and team daddy issues got married and started an evil family legacy. (Can you call it daddy issues if Morris loves his dad? I don’t think so but I’m going to anyway). The world is a worse place because of it, and Morris won’t stop yapping about it. Happy endings for all.

[xianyao-villainousquartet]

Ignoring my fanfictions by pretending to be a stylist when I don’t know anything? Yes. Yes I am.

Genderbend Villainous Quartet Fashion Choices (American)  

*I don’t know enough about Chinese modern fashion & its history, so the fashion choices are very Americanized. So this is more of if these 4 went to America for college and tried to blend into the pop culture.

Meng Yao’s fashion: Retro & Chic 

I think Meng Yao’s outfits would be heavily inspired by Audrey Hepburn where she wears very sophisticated and elegant minimalist muted outfits, but she’ll add just a small splash of color like warm reds or mustard yellow. She has all of her coats, a ton of boat neck or a-line dresses, and loose yet form flattering casual wear. She definitely has a collection of cloche hats as well as pillbox hats and gloves. She wears simple jewelry and barely any makeup. And once she starts making money, she’d wear Givenchy.

Xue Yang’s Fashion: Punk & Otaku

Obviously a rebel who’d put disrespect and cringe on her outfits. She’d be a punk rocker and otaku nerd. For the former, she’d wear typical ripped jeans, second-hand shoes or platform boots, and a leather sleeveless jacket. But her shirts would just have the progressive statements on them supporting abortion, lgbtq community, Defund the Police, etc. For makeup, she puts it on when she’s in the mood, and when she is, she goes all out with the drag queen look. For the latter, she’d cosplay as some of the most despicable people in anime and wear cringe clothing choices.

Mo Xuanyu’s Fashion: Pastel Gothic Lolita

Into the dark arts and cute feminine things, she combines these two to become a sweet demon of witchery. She’ll read your palm, slice a goat’s throat, and create herbal medicine, but will send you to the hospital if it’s bad because she’s not that crazy. And of course she has athletic wear choices.

Su She: Sporty & Artsy

Definitely the type to hit the gym a lot, so she doesn’t wear makeup or wear jewelry, and is in bland regular gym wear. But when she’s not in the gym and out socializing, she wears clothes she brought from small businesses, thrift stores or she makes it herself, so where the others’ look has a guidebook, her own is a mashup.

[hojichasunrise]

Finally finished NATLA. Thoughts:

They ruined Yue's character. Why would a princess be helping casually in the kitchen. Why would a princess display 0 manners around someone she just met. personality completely different.

They had Yue faint repeatedly just to magically sit back up when they needed an exposition dump, then faint again.

They made Hahn a good person? Why is Yue suddenly a waterbender and traipsing around the spirit world? It doesnt add anything and feels out of place.

The interactions between Pakku and Katara were stilted and forced. In the cartoon she had a training period and earned his trust, but here it was just instantly granted that she was the person to report to during battle, yet she doesnt know AQa's defense layout or anything else because she just arrived.

battle pacing in Agna Qel'a is weird. too much standing around talking.

The dialogue is so Marvelized. quip quip quip quip quip.

Aang is joyless and talking like Iron Man. (not the actor's fault.)

Zuko is perfect, 11/10. Every change they made is perfect.

Combining arc beats (e.g. Jet + mechanist) worked surprisingly well.

They made Bumi into an asshole and his dialogue was repetitive, that arc dragged out way too long.

Wasn't atmospheric enough. everything felt like a set.

How did Momo, half the size of a housecat, push that girl out of the way? physics are not mathing.

Why did they take Momo to the spirit oasis to heal but not any of the battle participants or injured civilians. Scene ate too much screen time and sapped urgency from the battle. Makes AQ'a look stupid.

Jet was perfect.

Multiple issues with logic, too long to post. Writing is shallow.

Azula is snarking to her father too much considering she just watched her brother get half his face melted off for one instance of disrespect.

Pecs. 🙏

not enough in-series justification for why Ozai wanted Zuko out of the way in favor of Azula. We know why, but they aren't standing on their own for this beat and have to lean on the cartoon.

Katara and Sokka getting btfo by Koh felt... really strange. they were just there to job and create stakes.

Kuruk and Kyoshi were great inclusions.

Jee/the 41st was a great detail, best part of series.

Azula being the puppetmaster behind Zhao is strange. She knows things by magic I guess, they made a 14 year old girl not just plausibly cunning but straight up omniscient. Logic breaking keikaku doori with her and Ozai.

Ozai using AQ'a as a distraction to take Omashu makes zero logical sense and I don't want to write an essay so just think about this for 5 minutes. I almost screamed.

bf's contribution: "this feels like it was written during the writer's strike."

Visually it was beautiful and the scenery and costumes were great. Other than Yue and Pakku the actors were all fine. Zuko's actor was beyond perfect and his firebending was next level gorgeous.

Sokka's new backstory was a good inclusion. Sokka got a lot of great scenes and the actor is a perfect fit.

Gyatso was also astonishingly perfect. chef's kiss to the actor, his performance was beautiful.

Very much noticing the Kataang scenes were all removed and we got some Zutara allusions. I ship that so yay.

The Sokka/Suki scenes were spicy. However she removed her makeup in 3 seconds flat and that broke my immersion. Please ask a woman next time. otherwise yes I ship that. Just kiss already!

I like the beautiful older lady they put in charge of Kyoshi Island. Nice to see more females in leadership positions.

The lack of the Azula chime is criminal. Her using feminine charm to lure rebels into a trap was a great scene to introduce her. Glad to see rebels, it makes it feel more politically realistic.

The opening scene in ep 1 had Mulan's opening scene vibes in a good way.

Overall: enjoyable with a few caveats but writing quality falls apart upon critical inspection. Much better than I expected, rewatch-worthy. 8/10.

[ms-nesbit]

Casa Blanca

(a sequel to Blink; part of the Read It and Weep jason todd x reader series)

summary: It is reader's first appearance at the Wayne Manor, let alone a Wayne gala. A game ensues, followed by an interaction with Jason in the garden.

warnings: mentions of racism and the KKK, brief jealousy from Jason, and flirty Dick Grayson

words: 4.5k

note: jason is 23 in this series; i'm probably gonna write a third part to this, but haven't decided. if i did, it would be an ode to one of my favorite dramatic novels of all time.

AO3

Littered with conceited figures, the Wayne family - with the exception of Duke and Damian - entertained the affluent and powerful guests, easing the pressure off of Alfred and Bruce.The adoptive siblings played a game of Heads, in which the player with the greatest number of entertained guests - and fewest complaints - wins.

Dick, as charmed as he was, submitted the winning crown to his younger sister, Cass, who, for a reason she refuses to admit, wears a bubbly, charismatic allure that ensnared the unknowing (albeit selfish) company.

Yet most eyes were on Jason, his taller figure standing out from the crowd of wealth, with his arm draped loosely around y/n’s shoulders. He wore his signature ensemble: a black tailored suit decorated with patchwork of deep rouge; he knew, however, that his body and regard, or lack thereof, of the gala was not the fruitful topic of the evening; rather, the person under his arm, sporting a currant sweater dress, its turtleneck layering over her sternum and lower neck, barely catching the ends of her casually-kept hair.

Their lax appearance carried through the Wayne Manor as they strolled, unbothered by the glances (and few glares) from the visitors; Jason pridefully smirked, knowing how pleased he was with y/n’s dismissal of the dress code — as, past her dress, she wore black stockings, torn asymmetrically throughout, and tall black combat boots. Her face (bare with all but the smudged eyeliner) - along with her entire outfit, rebelled against the unspoken rules of the galas, disrespecting (and disgusting) some of the guests.

“Jason has a girlfriend?” one said.

“Not surprised. So trashy.” another spat, rolling his eyes.

And almost simultaneously, the Wayne siblings’ phones chimed (or vibrated), the groupchat exploding with outwardly suppressed emotions.

Spoiler Alert!: DUDE SHES HOT

Red robin (yumm): ikr

Dickhead: don’t harass her, please! We all know how rare it is that Jay gets a girlfriend, so let’s please not scare her away.

Duke of earl: IM COMING DOWN RN STALL FOR ME

“Master Todd,” Alfred began, holding back a grin, “I see that you have a guest this evening. I do welcome you to Wayne Manor, Miss…”

“Y/n. You don’t need to call me Miss, Sir. It’s all good.” y/n smiled widely.

Alfred nodded. “Pleasure is mine, Miss y/n. I do hope that you enjoy your time here tonight, and if you have any questions about the lavatory, don’t hesitate - I know it can be easy to lose one’s self here.” he stepped out of Jason and y/n’s path, flashing a grin and approving nod at Jason.

As the crowd subsided its murmurs, the quartet’s music rose to the air, signaling y/n to offer Jason her hand. “May I have this dance?” her eyes glistened up at him.

“As you wish.” Jason replied, slipping an arm around y/n’s back as they began to sway together. They were unbothered by the occasional glances from nearby guests, staring at each other as the lights dimmed, chatter muted, and rouse subdued into a mere moment shared between them. Jason’s middle finger traced along some of the knit pattern on y/n’s back, humming along with the quartet’s tune.

“You know,” Jason smiled cheekily, to which y/n mirrored, “if you keep this up, they may kick you out of the mansion.” his brow twitched.

“Oh, my stars.” y/n rolled her eyes sarcastically, removing a hand from around Jason’s neck to press against her forehead dramatically. “What ever will I do without Bruce Wayne’s extravagencies?” As y/n finished her last word in a mocking Southern accent, Jason pressed his lips together to stifle laughter, his eyes shifting to look behind her.

“Jason, I see you have a guest with you tonight.” a male voice spoke seriously behind y/n, startling her as she jumped a bit and turned around to face the man.

Jason’s eyes flickered at y/n before quickly moving to Bruce. “Bruce, this is y/n, my…”

“Friend.” y/n innocently grinned, her eyes unmatching her overly warm tone. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” Bruce stated, voice unwavering. “I just wanted to introduce myself before Jason’s siblings do. Seems that they have met you before.”

Y/n shook her head, puzzled. “I don’t believe so…I talked with this guy Dick over the phone, but haven’t seen anyone. Though I met Alfred, who’s nice.”

“Alfred has been with us for decades.” Bruce replied matter-of-factly. “I hope you enjoy your time tonight, y/n. Nice meeting you.”

“You, too.” y/n barely spoke before whipping her head back at Jason, eyes bulging and face reddened with embarrassment.

Jason chuckled, throwing his head back. “That couldn’t have gone better, oh my god.”

“Stop laughing, you infant!” y/n teased, still blushing. “You could have told me!”

Rolling his eyes, Jason remarked, “Trust me: you are much better than the last person I brought home, who ended up stealing some of Bruce’s valuable items. And Dick’s underwear.”

Y/n gaped at the tall man, stunned. “You’ve gotta tell me that story later, there is no way—”

“Hi!” a voice interrupted y/n mid sentence, drawing the couple’s attention. “You must be y/n!”

It was Tim, wearing an all-black suit and tie, height drastic from Jason. He goofily grinned, eyes energetic. “Y/n, this is Tim, my younger brother.” sighed Jason.

Y/n grinned kindly. “Hey, Tim, nice to meet you!”

As y/n and Tim chatted, Jason checked his phone, which vibrated continuously in his suit pants pocket.

Cass: has anyone talked to her yet?

Dickhead: bruce told me he met her. Apparently, she was mocking the gala and pissing off some of the guests.

Red robin (yumm): LMAOOO why am i not surprised

Spoiler alert!: sounds like my new best friend

Duke of earl: alfred told me he met her, too. He approves

Spoiler alert!: red riding hood’s found his mate?????

Jason let out an exasperated sigh as he finished the string of messages, catching Tim’s attention from the conversation with y/n. “Everyone’s pretty excited to meet her, Jay, what can we say?” he shrugged awkwardly.

“I think the feeling’s mutual. Anyone play games here with all these fancy parties?” y/n asked, drawing a laugh and affirmative nod from Tim.

“All the time. Usually to see how many people we can distract with small talk, but we used to play other ones - Jay, remember the one you used to play with Dick to see how many ‘kick me’ signs you could stick on people’s backs?”

Jason smiled mischievously. “Sure do.” he chimed proudly. “And once I kicked Commissioner’s ass, too. Bruce wasn’t too pleased with that one.” he recounted to y/n, who snickered in response.

“Serves him right for not giving the joker the chair.” she muttered under her breath, causing Tim to nudge at Jason suggestively. “But yeah, I’m down to play. Where is the rest of your family?” y/n asked Jason and Tim.

“Letting them know now.” Tim replied, texting on his phone.

Within minutes, each of the siblings trickled into view, introducing themselves to y/n, including a timid Damian and an even more shy Duke, who barely pushed a word out before choking on his gum and abruptly leaving. While this occurred, Jason drew small, delicate circles on the small of y/n’s back, reminding her that she wasn’t alone, despite his face growing more impatient with each sibling’s eager self-introduction.

“Which one is your favorite so far?” Jason leaned in to whisper into y/n’s ear.

Y/n shrugged. “I like them all so far. Nobody’s a dick.”

Jay chortled. “Well, here he is.” as his eyes pointed to a tone man in a black and navy-embellished suit, brushing his hair back. “Y/n, this is the dickhead you spoke to on the phone.” Jay smiled boastfully, pleased with his words.

“I’m Dick, but yes, it is nice to meet you in person, y/n.” he flashed y/n a genuine grin. “I’ve gotta say that I like how you shook the dress code up a bit. It looks good on you.”

Jason sharply exhaled through his nose, jealousy bubbling in the center of his esophagus. “Oh, hi, Dick. Weird that I’d be meeting you last out of your big family.” y/n treaded her words carefully, distancing herself from the overwhelming subject. “Tim told me you guys play a game. Would you mind if we all played something a little different? I don’t want to impose or anything.”

The corner of Dick’s mouth twitched, wanting to express sympathy. “Not a problem. What kind were you thinking? I think I can let everyone know and we could meet in the back garden.” he motioned his head to the double-doors beside the throuple, leading to a display of shrubbery and distant (and mindfully placed) wildflowers.

Jason’s fingers moved to hold y/n’s hip, giving her a quick squeeze as his eyes never left Dick. “I was thinking we could try to find out who has the best gossip out of everyone?” Y/n spoke uncertainly, cocking her head to the side.

“That actually sounds—”

“Great!” Steph chimed from behind the throuple, interrupting their conversation. “Oh my god, why didn’t we think of that?” she added, rather loudly. “I’ll send the text now and let everyone know. We’re about to rile some shit up, girl.”

After Steph trotted off, phone in hand, y/n beamed up at Jason, who returned the smile. “I told you they’d like you, Baby.” he purred, pulling y/n closer to him with the hand on her hip. “Besides, even if they didn’t, that would mean more time alone for us.” He flashed her a suggestive look, emitting a wave of goosebumps on y/n’s neck and arms.

Dick noticed the coquettish attitude on Jason, along with y/n’s flushed giggle, and excused himself. “I’ve got some things I gotta do, but I’ll be meeting you both out in the gardens, yeah?”

Y/n and Jason nodded, eyes still fixated with each other.

After Dick disappeared into the crowd, Jay moved his hand to rest on y/n’s other hip, bringing her in front of him to dance; his grip remained firm on y/n, as if afraid to find out if he let go, or if she would slip from his reach; y/n noticed this, but said, with a step closer to the taller man, and a finger twisting in the hair behind his head, that there was no need to worry — his fears were fictional, and in this moment, only his desire (to be held for no reason other than to care; to be gazed at without a trick upon her sleeve, or acicular disloyalty to be soon displayed) should be realized.

Jason’s breath hitched as he realized, again, how comfortable y/n remained with him despite knowing his identity. Surely, he thought, self-doubt waltzing in his conscious, y/n doesn’t know how bad it was.

But…she did. In fact, in the period between their first exchange in the dark alley and the following at Gomez’s, y/n utilized her connections to seek more information about the hooded shadow. It seemed as if the media disliked him through and through, regardless of his obvious aversion to harming the vulnerable, the innocent. And in those police reports, eyewitness accounts, intentionally hidden in (poorly) encrypted files, y/n felt more in awe than ever that such a ‘woeful’ being had a heart, a beating one pumping compassion and morality in a reality that lacked such a necessity.

Love is a strong word for y/n, though one she glossed over in studies, or in the tales in which she’d drown herself; she felt the heavy syllable rolling from her tongue effortlessly, smooth like top-shelf scotch. But the word was silent, a secret she had yet to reveal to Jay, and she, too, danced in trepidation, watching her footwork along the grass of glass shards;

He was once a story to her, a protagonist with adventures and feats under his belt that y/n only read about; The Tales Of Red Hood were the stories she’d fall asleep to on those nights, and the ones she’d retell herself during the daytime, eyes scanning whatever building he may live in (if he did). And the nights that he would visit her, to validate her sanity (and even bring a bit of safe tidings, if he allowed her).

“They look surprisingly good together.” Cass was half surprised at her own observation as she stared at the pair dancing in the other end of the crowd.

Steph dreamily sighed and nodded. “Don’t they?”

Nearly rolling her eyes to the back of her head, Cass stuck her tongue out in disgust. “So weird.”

“Right?” Duke popped out from…somewhere, as always. “I mean, how is someone actually into him?”

“And I heard she knew about Hood, too. They’re relaxed with each other, though. Haven’t ever really seen him this comfortable with someone.” Cass sadly added, looking away from the pair to distract herself.

—-

The Wayne siblings each excused themselves from the party to congregate outside in the garden. They met before the gazebo, “just past the phallic shrubs,” as Tim put it. The eight of them gathered in a rugged circle, awkwardly standing in silence before Dick spoke up.

“I explained this to everyone in the groupchat, y/n, but you came up with this great idea for a little—”

“Tournament!” Tim completed, with more enthusiasm than usual. “This is gonna be great, guys. I think we should split up into teams—”

“No way should we do teams, Restaurant Company.” Jason argued.

“Yes! Every man for themself!” Damian chanted, fists clenched.

Barbara sighed. “And woman.”

The group snowballed into an incoherent string of arguments, y/n indecisive as to which she wanted to pay attention.

Jason, concerned for y/n’s confusion, had enough. “Okay!” The bickering stopped abruptly, followed by an exchange of glances between Steph and Cass. “How about we let y/n explain herself?”

“Thank you.” y/n whispered to Jason. “I think we should do two rounds: round one will be teams, with the losing team disqualified; round two will be the winning team broken into individuals to compete for the win.”

“How should we pick teams?” Barbara asked.

“That’s a good question.” y/n agreed, pondering for a moment before answering, “People wearing cool colors should be team one, and people wearing warm colors should be team two.”

“You only did that so you could be on a team with your boyfriend!” Steph teased, causing a ruckus of dramatic “oooh”s.

Y/n admitted, “Yes, that is true. Would you rather I be on the opposing team? I mean, one could argue that this shade of red is cool.”

Damian corrected, “Actually, it is cool, and Duke and Dick are neutral shades—”

“But I think I’m okay being cool while Duke is warm, right?” Dick commented, awaiting Duke’s hesitant nod. “So it’s settled: Duke, Jason, Damian, Tim, and Barbara are on team one; y/n, Cass, Steph, and I are on team two. Sound good, everyone?” Everybody nodded, some appearing more displeased with their assignment than others. “Cool. Any questions?”

Damian raised his hand. “How do we determine what ‘gossip’ is good? Is there a tier system we should follow, or could you give us examples?”

“I actually thought that it would be based off of what would be most surprising about each guest.” Barbara frankly answered. “I mean, if, for example, the mayor’s wife turns out to be supporting something very progressive, then that would be a medium shocker; however, if the mayor himself admits to having been a drag queen before his political uprising, then that would be top tier, at least.”

“Really? I don’t see it to be surprising at all.” Steph commented genuinely.

Dick sighed. “If we don’t decide something, then we’ll be here all night. Whoever gets the most information without the use of any devices or aid from others, wins.”

The group accorded well to the decision, immediately dividing to either group. Before Jason left y/n’s side, he snuck a peck on her cheek, and a low “Let me know if you need anything, Loser.”

It drew a gasp from y/n. “Mr. Todd, are you insinuating that I will be defeated?”

“You are going down.” Tim motioned, chest puffed out in competitiveness.

The gang of siblings returned to the gala, dispersing among the crowd of socialites. Barbara rolled to a trio of policemen, inserting herself in the conversation about pursuit expenditures; her body language was cool, but interested, her shoulders back and hands at her lap as she listened.

“Jefferson, I’m sure you’ve finished the report by now. Captain is gonna be pretty pissed if she found out that you spent most of your time at parties…”

“...and clubs.” another colleague finished, his eyes motioning to Barbara, who was still listening astutely. “Your wife won’t be too happy about the ‘investigations’ at the Gotham Lotus.” Bingo, Babs thought to herself before waving to a woman, rolling away to move toward her. 

Meanwhile, Cass and Dick attracted a crowd of guests, offering up stories while acting them out theatrically.

“...and Bruce told me we’re out of milk!” Dick finished, the crowd erupting in a cacophony of laughter.

As a few of the guests returned to their individual conversations, an older gentleman approached the pair, offering advice. “When I was your age, my mother was as rough as a storm. Now, she was around long before the great dust bowl, but she made sure she gave us a wallop if we were ungrateful.

“But on her deathbed,” the man looked down, eyes full of emotion, “she told me why she was the way she was.”

Dick nodded. “You guys had it hard during your time. My parents…before they passed, they told me stories. They had little snippets of the past like train tickets, ticket stubs, all that, but the truth really isn’t found as easily as it should be.” he crossed his arms, upset at his own words.

“And she wasn’t even mine. She took me in after the dust bowl.” the gentleman finished, voice wavering with age and remorse. He exchanged a brief moment with Dick and Cass, who both offered an embrace, before Dick walked him back over to his caretaker, the man still recounting tales to the taller aerialist. 

At the children’s territory, Duke and Damian entertained the kids using their individual tactics: Duke played tea party with the girls, awkwardly hunching in a child’s seat as he was fed plastic salmon and broccoli as the girls flaunted their knowledge about their parents, one alleging that she “has two mommies, one that daddy doesn’t tell my real mommy about”; Damian chose to pursue information directly, bribing the children with candy or chocolate. He handed a skittle for each ‘truth,’ one boy earning five skittles by revealing that his cousin was a henchman for Poison Ivy. 

As the grandfather clock struck ten o’clock, the Wayne siblings met back in the garden, as agreed upon, wearing broad smiles (or, in Jason’s case, a disgusted look, as one widow expressed her feelings for him). They naturally parted into their groups, facing each other as they waited for directions from Dick.

“So, we’ll all take turns talking. I have the noise level meter with me here - the higher the meter, the better the points. Who wants to go first?”

Placing the noise level meter directly between either group, Dick removed a notepad and pencil from his back pocket, drawing a t-chart and labeling one side ‘cool’ and another ‘warm’. He then turned his chin up at Damian, whose hand was raised, to begin.

Dick took notes as the LCD display of the meter counted the decibels of the group’s reaction, the static noise humming abrasively. He also, on a separate side of the pad, marked a tally for each time y/n and Jason exchanged glances. The tally was at fifteen before it was Jason’s turn to speak.

“So I found out a couple of things,” he began, blowing air from his teeth. “I don’t know how to really say this without sounding crass, but apparently Representative Smith had an uncle who was in the KKK.”

The meter shook with vibration as the group exploded at the bombshell. “What?!” Dick shouted, jaw dropping.

“And he invited me to lunch last year.” Duke huffed.

“I’m sorry. He apparently thinks that it was relevant in the conversation—”

Steph blurted, “What was it even about?!”

Jason, stoic, looked right at Steph. “Separation of church and state, which he’s apparently against in his coming political race.”

Again, the group bellowed, followed by a few iterations of curses. 

“The only other thing was that the old hag, Ms. Stevenson? The one whose husband, a firefighter, died while saving someone from one of Joker’s arson attempts? She hit on me, and said, and I quote, ‘she could offer a better price than y/n has.’”

The bunch fell silent, eyes wandering over to y/n for a reaction. She stood, covering her mouth with a hand as she attempted to stifle a laugh. Her focus lasered in on Jason, expression amused and harmless before she lost control and erupted into laughter, breaking the tension in the garden. “There ain’t no way this geriatric patient said that to you.”

Jason gawked, visibly offended as he placed his hands on his hips. “Excuse me, Bookgirl, but I have suitors too, y’know.”

Y/n straightened her dress, completely silent as she felt the Wayne family’s eyes on her. She stalled for a moment, staring up at the stars absentmindedly, before crossing her arms in front of her and resting her weight on her right leg, her boot toe facing out. She ran her lip along her bottom lip and bit down on it as she finally said, “That why you followed me for a month?” in a condescending manner, her nose wrinkling. The group broke out in loud commentaries, Tim and Duke patting Jason’s large back jokingly before he gave each of them quick but icy glares.

Dick jotted down the decibels, a smirk apparent on his face. He then motioned his hands up and down, suggesting the group subsided their cheers. As the emotion subdued, Dick focused on his notes, adding up each count for a total from either group. When he finished (and double checked his math), he said, “I have the totals.”

The group stared at him in anticipation, and he announced, “Duke, Damian, Tim, Jason, and Babs — you are the winners of this round. Unfortunately for us,” he turned to his own team, “we were shy just 11 points. But you all did an exceptional job.” he smiled at each of his mates individually, giving y/n a warmer grin than the others.

Noticing the glance, Jason spoke out. “Y’know, as much as I like gathering intel from these rich snobs, I think I wanna dip. Dickhead, wanna have anyone take my place?” he added.

“Cass, you wanna take his place?” Dick immediately questioned, which received a feverish nodding from Cass.

Jason offered y/n his elbow for her to take, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. “Wanna take a walk with me?” he asked.

Y/n obliged, and the pair saluted the group, most of whom were already shuffling back inside to compete against each other for the crown (whatever it may be).

As the two strolled on the pebbled path, the moon shone down on them; it reflected off of Jason in particular, allowing y/n to see his features in the otherwise dark night before she turned her head to look at the intricate landscaping. Her hands’ grip tightened around his forearm, instantly reminding him of their first encounter; she did not notice, however, that his focus was on her, appreciating the beacon of moonlight painting her skin; her grin shone far greater than the moon, and each smile wrinkle that appeared on her cheeks as she expressed herself sparked a heat underneath Jason’s tailored suit, in his beaten and scarred chest, underneath the cosmetic wear. He wanted to carry her, watch y/n’s hair as it floated against the gravity - wretched gravity - wearing her down, but her attention was so pure as she examined the array of rose bushes and jasmine vines, stopping briefly to smell them in their dream state. He watched her as she looked attentively, paying mind to their delicate condition.

Before she realized Jason left her side, y/n turned to lay eyes on a white lily, plucked from its stem, presented before her. With a momentary gesture, y/n stood still as Jason tucked the lily safely on her ear, kissing her forehead. “ Lilium Casa Blanca; a casa blanca lily. It has different names, but it is one of the only varieties in this garden that blooms at night.” Jason informed y/n, standing right in front of her, her eyes at level with his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her, closing the gap between them as he held her in a firm embrace.

“I begged Bruce to plant more of these when I lived here.” he stated, chin resting on y/n’s head. “I used to stay up here late at night, unaccustomed to the living arrangement, and, I dunno. Kind of bummed me out that there were no night flowers. Coming here would be my solace — other than in the kitchen with Alfred, or my alone time in the library. And when I met Poison Ivy, she told me about some of the other things we could grow here.” He felt y/n’s body relax in his arms, smiling at the reaction. He opened his mouth to continue, but closed it again, wanting to relish the moment with her instead. Y/n’s hands tucked between them, resting on the poplin material covering his broad chest.

She was his solace, Jay hoped, as she curled herself on him; she was brighter than the stars that dared try to shine brighter than she; y/n was the gardener tending to her duties, and Jason the rosebush with prickly thorns admonishing her away — it wasn’t his fault that he sported such needle-prick thorns on his skin, simply a mechanism he developed as he evolved into adulthood. And just as he turned his petals away, shielding himself from the painful jab he expected, he felt water trickling down from above, looking to see y/n replenishing him. She wore her thickly insulated gloves as she handled him, unbothered by the thorns he donned, and realized: y/n knew. She knew of his condition, his development, but chose to alleviate his troubles, becoming a sanctuary for him under her touch.

I love you bore such immense vulnerability he didn’t dare share to anyone before; Jason was a stranger to this comfort, this safety, and was terrified of her leaving. Too wrapped in his thoughts, he was unaware that he spoke them aloud, into the chilled and naked night, and to y/n.

“I love you too, Jason.” she responded, smiling into his chest as she melted in his arms.

[themarshyverse]

Thinking more abt Dally’s mom Betty (huge LONG rambling thought dump below)

The backstory I have for her is that she became a teen mom, got disowned by her family, and moved to the city to find work - although the more I think about this, the more I feel like it’s unrealistic that they would’ve made it through. There’s no way Betty and Dally would’ve survived without outside help, right? So maybe she was taken in by a relative who offered to help and had to suddenly inherit their bakery when they died prematurely.

It must’ve been hard for her, becoming a teen mom, cut off from most of her family - then suddenly the one family member that did support her died when Dally was less than a year old. I don’t even think she’d get a lot of support from other moms from Dally’s daycare/preschool either, at least the ones that aren’t in similar situations to her. Standing side by side, Dally and Betty look more like siblings rather than mother and son. Could you imagine the vicious gossip about her that might’ve been spread around?

But I don’t think she’d ever resent Dally for it because he keeps her engaged and busy. She figures that she’s rather be disowned with Dally by her side, rather than be disowned by herself or with her ex. But oh, could you imagine the really rough days though? Dally becoming more troublemaking and inconsiderate in his 2-3 year old era, and Betty jokingly thinks “oh man, they weren’t kidding when they said terrible 2’s! my life sucks!” but the more she dwells on it, the more upset she gets, and she just starts to cry. And her little boy gets worried, asks her why she’s crying, comes up to her and hugs her 😭😭 and that’s when Dally’s rebel era towards his mom completely ends. Even during his gang days, he could never disrespect, or tolerate disrespect, towards his mama. On a similar note about Betty’s parenting, Betty has never had issues with being weirdly possessive of Dally but when he gets older, a part of her fears that eventually after he leaves, he’ll just forget about her and not call… just like his dad… who happens to look so much like him… :(

I’ve debated there being a considerable gap btwn Dally’s mother and father (to add to how fucked up it already is) but I decided on this: they’re both young and grew up in a more conservative environment and their relationship progressed extremely fast. Once Dally was born, his dad moved away and has since then never contacted/visited Betty or his son ever again. If you were to ask Betty if she still loves him, she’d answer “no.” They were young and all the life experience she’s gained since then would really put into perspective how little time they spent together. So don’t really think she’d even have enough fondness to resent him - she’d just be indifferent/ignore him.

To be honest, I never once thought about giving a set face to Dally’s deadbeat dad. Logically he has to look a lot like his son, but for someone that isn’t so present in this story, all I can conjure up is a vague, blank face. Maybe that’s all Dally can imagine too.

Hmm, I wonder what Jake and Angel would think of her? Sometimes Dally casually drops tidbits about his life at home that makes them worry, but I don’t think they could ever put that against her. They’re still parents, they know how hard it is to raise a kid, and they know that she’s had it rough for a long time. Maybe they’d even help her out from time to time with her own issues too.

And an idea I’ve been working with is that she eventually helps out a friend of hers - another single mom - by letting her and her daughter move in. They have a close, healthy sisterhood! And Dally has a new baby sister :)

[bikananjarrus]

also sabine calling ahsoka “master” in the trailer mmmmmmm don’t know how i feel about that. don’t think i like it. it’s a trailer so things are obvs spliced together in a certain way, but implying that they’re trying to make sabine as a jedi??

now i love that at the end of rebels, ezra left his lightsaber with sabine and she still uses it. but introducing formal training for her?? idk it feels like they’re sidelining her mandalorian heritage, and if they make her force sensitive istg. like if they wanted to have ahsoka walk away from someone again, jacen or ezra was right there (ezra more in the sense of abandoning him in wild space, which still happened :/ ). idk trying to give ahsoka an apprentice and it being sabine is just meh. like reducing sabine to the role of an apprentice also just makes me feel like dave didn’t trust her to be interesting enough otherwise for more casual viewers, which is so disrespectful of the rebels source material

[zoey-angel]

You know what? As a tribute to my new friend, I'll share a post that isn't negative. Here it is, a soulmate au;

A soulmate AU wherein bonds are determined by hands:

The hands of soulmates fit perfectly together, like puzzle pieces. In all ways: form, warmth, palm and finger length, spacing and softness, even color, the hands of soulmates are the exact match for each other to hold- not identical, rather, perfectly complimentary.

When two soulmates touch hands, it feels like the perfect space, the perfect fit- the exact spot where their hand belongs. It's difficult to miss, like a sensory click.

the bond of soulmates isn't essentially sexual or romantic at all. The nature of it is that they provide whatever it is that the other needs most.

Considering the possible connotations of hand holding, it has become taboo to shake hands upon first meeting. In fact, many people avoid hand contact in all forms.

Gloves are quite a popular item. A large chunk of the population considers gloveless hands vulgar, similar to walking about without underwear.

Common flirts such as brushing your hand across someone else's are, in this world, very bold bordering on outrageous.

In this world, people often only casually hold the hands of their family and extremely close friends.

When dating, people take many different approaches. Some refuse to touch hands until their 5th date or later, since they either don't believe in the soulmate system, think soulmates are made rather than born, or they want to get closer organically.

In that case, they might get frightened before touching hands, knowing they might have to break up.

Some couples decide to never touch hands at all, living their lives ignoring the system.

On the opposite side are systems of quick dating, where rooms full of people take turns shaking hands to search for matches. These are considered desparate and looked down upon however.

Those who know they're not looking for a romantic soulmate experience this world much differently from others. They may never understand the necessity of gloves, rebelling by walking the streets with bare hands.

Some may expect a romantic soulmate at first, since that would be what they consider normal, until meeting their soulmate and realizing that maybe it didn't have to be.

One thing is for sure: a soulmate would never leave your heart. It is your person, your comfort and friend... And if the world tears you apart, then you will still belong together.

Some people have more than one soulmate, although it isn't common. It's rare for anyone to seek hand-to-hand touch with others after already meeting their soulmate. Not only is it considered disrespectful to the soulmate most times, it is also not something people often yearn for- after feeling their soulmate's touch, nothing compares, nothing could beat it. That is, if the third person isn't somehow also a soulmate.

And the story?

A story of grabbing one's hand as they're about to step into a busy road, too distracted by their phone to notice the heavy traffic. Saving the other was the moment of click, when tugging them back to save their life, their hands just fit.

Another story on the tall roof of an office building, a simple worker tries to talk down a stranger from taking their life- found them standing on the ledge, and couldn't leave them be, so as a last attempt they grab their hand, and it all clicks.

In another city, the hero mourns the loss of their finger. Working odd jobs, carpentry hadn't turned out to be the best idea, and what now? They'll never find a soulmate, would they? It would only be a matter of time, however, before they find their match, who also thought they'd never be accepted as a six fingered mutant.

As you go back in time, stories of royals would tell about the kind prince who was never allowed to take his gloves off, marrying the girl his father chose, only to take the offending garment off in secret, daring to hold the hand of his best mate.

Even in modern days, Disney would show the gloved princess Elsa who feared her own hands, and how she decided she didn't need gloves or a soulmate, only to find out hers was her sister all along.

Alone, where nobody can judge, they let this story inspire them- the closeted kids who always knew they were something, to take the last step and twine their fingers together.

And what of that barista? The one who spilled coffee all over their gloves right on their first day- they were burnt, their supervisor panicked and pulled their arm to the sink, to place under running water, when... oh, they're blushing now.

What about that couple with the unhappy story, five years together and now he wants to touch hands? It finally got to him, the thought of his wife meeting her real soulmate. What if it isn't him? Is she faithful? Could she be? What would they do once they find out they were never destined after all?

And then their kid, who grew to hate soulmate bonds... could they get over it? The way they make sure to keep their gloves on, how'd they ever recognize the touch of their soulmate, the hopeless romantic artist who swore off gloves years and years ago?

Much to think about.

Thank you for reading!

[transandersrights]

Vivienne, Fiona, and why their Redcliffe interaction SUCKS for Fiona

Currently thinking about: how Vivienne speaks to Fiona and what that looks like in the wider context of how we know people treat Fiona. 

Vivienne has two lines of dialogue that will come up when meeting with Fiona in ‘In Hushed Whispers’ - the first (at 0:15) is pretty reasonable (if Vivienne-standard levels of pointed/rude), commenting on how Fiona looks terrible, but the second (at 1:11) stands out to me.

Vivienne, when confronted with the knowledge that the rebel mages have sworn themselves into the service of the Tevinter Imperium, tells Fiona that her “dementia is showing.” Brushing aside everything I feel about casual, crude references to dementia (seriously, fuck non-serious depictions of or references to dementia), this is cruel, and especially so in Fiona’s specific context.

This line implies not only that Fiona has made a bad choice (which she has! One she doesn’t know the extent of and one she made in desperation, but that’s a whole other topic), but that she has forgotten why it’s not a good choice, that she is unsound to lead because she is unsound in mind.

This is immensely and monumentally disrespectful to Fiona. Now, I don’t know if Vivienne knows Fiona’s particular history (prior to the emergence of her magic, Fiona was a slave for seven years, from age 7-14. Fiona mentions in The Calling that she never tells anyone about it, but a lot of things have changed for her since then - it’s possible Vivienne is being either knowingly or unknowingly cruel here), but that’s not the point.

Fiona is smart. Vivienne might not think much of her, but Fiona is resourceful, intelligent, and a very quick thinker. She also has decades (likely at least one before she joined the Wardens, and then at least two and a half more after she left them) of Circle education and work, including making her way to the head of Circle politics. The point is: Fiona knows what the Tevinter Imperium is. She knows what slavery is. She knows exactly what that means for her as! An! Elf! Who has experienced slavery!!

Vivienne’s comment is therefore spiteful and incredibly cruel. Anyone with any sense (which Vivienne has in buckets) knows this isn’t a choice made lightly. She knows Fiona is perfectly, 100% aware of what this means - and she chooses to rub it in with something Fiona is intimately aware of (more on this momentarily): a suggestion that she has no idea what’s going on.

It’s possible to argue that Vivienne is referring to the Inquisitor having met Fiona in Val Royeaux, something Fiona likely experienced but has no memory of due to timeline fuckery (thanks, Alexius) - this makes the comment make more sense, but doesn’t minimise its cruelty, so bear with me as I explain why.

Fiona is referenced twice in DA2, in weapon descriptions that the vast majority of players will not read - Duncan’s axe, named after Fiona, and Kell’s bow (Kell is a Warden only in The Calling). The latter is pertinent here - the note left with the description of the Longbow of the Avvars, includes this section:

Her [Fiona’s] tales of this "darkspawn who speaks" must be a product of a fevered imagination.

The events of The Calling have three survivors: Maric (not a Grey Warden, and seemingly never asked to relay his version of events to the Wardens), Duncan (at the time of The Calling, the most junior Grey Warden in the Order in Orlais, but when the note was written in 9:20 he had been Commander in Ferelden for almost a decade), and Fiona. The Wardens, in the period between the final chapter and epilogue (~a year), get Duncan and Fiona’s testimony of a phenomenon that has never been known before (intelligent Darkspawn), send investigators… and later conclude that Fiona’s account specifically, with no mention of Duncan’s, is complete nonsense. She made it up, she dreamed it, she imagined it.

Fiona is shown, throughout The Calling (esp towards the beginning), to be sensitive to challenges to her knowledge, ability, and experiences. She’s particularly angry about the dismissal of her concerns about Maric (completely reasonable, given the combination of his less than stellar presence + her past experiences with nobility), her knowledge of the Fade (in response to Maric dismissing that dreams could ever mean anything), and others’ prejudice towards elves and mages.

She also refers, during Inquisition, to how she was glad to see the back of the Wardens because they began to resent her seemingly complete immunity to the taint. The Wardens didn’t like her. And they did the one thing she already hated most - dismissing her ability to actually know things.

When Vivienne speaks of how her “dementia is showing” in Redcliffe, it reads as an established jab. A trait Fiona has already been assigned, derogatorily, to suggest that her capacity to lead has faded and will only continue to do so. It is the kind of disparaging comment against her understanding of the world that Fiona has been enduring since at least her 20s (most likely, though her age is never stated beyond describing herself as old in Inquisition, by which point she’s probably at least in her 50s).

Tldr (I feel you, this is so long): Vivienne’s comment towards Fiona not only dismisses her personal experiences and knowledge but also forms a part of the consistent invalidation of Fiona’s mental capacity that has plagued her for most of her life.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Jin Guangyao isn't cruel because he is nice sometimes! No... no... just no. He pretends to be a nice, sweet person to get what he wants, it is exactly why he got away with the killings and plannings for the Yin Hu Fu, YEARS AFTER JIN GUANGSHAN IS OUT OF THE PICTURE. He's the only legitimate Jin left old enough to take over the Sect, who the hell was gonna argue that when all relevant Jins were dead and Nie Mingjue was killed by the happy smiling pretty boy?

First example, he was actively friends with Xue Yang, there is no saying he was coerced into that one since he recommended him as a guest disciple and made creepy little jokes with him.

Jin GuangYao sighed, “I only turned around for a second and you stirred up so much trouble for me. I only had to pay for a bowl of dumplings in the beginning, and now I have to pay for his table, chairs, pots and pans, and even bowls.”

Xue Yang, “You’ll miss the couple of coins?”

Jin GuangYao, “No.”

Xue Yang, “Then why are you sighing?”

Jin GuangYao, “I don’t think you’ll miss the couple of coins either. Why can’t you try being a normal customer once in a while?”

Xue Yang, “Back in Kuizhou I never paid for anything I wanted. Just like this.” As he spoke, he casually plucked off a stick of sugared haws off a vendor’s pole. It might be the first time the vendor saw such a shameless person. As he stared open-mouthed, Xue Yang took a bite, “Besides, you can deal with the trouble of me wrecking a tiny stall, can’t you?”

Jin GuangYao smiled, “You little delinquent. Wreck stalls however you want. I wouldn’t even care if you burned down the entire street. Just one thing—don’t wear the Stars Amidst Snow robes and cover up your face. Don’t let anyone know who did it, or it’d be trouble for me.”

He tossed the money to the vendor

A.K.A: haha you're funny and I don't care who you fuck over but be sly and

Next example:

And so, Jin GuangShan sought after all those who imitated Wei WuXian in cultivating the ghostly path and gathered them under his rule. He spent a great amount of money and resources on these people, ordering them to study and analyze the structure of the Tiger Seal in secrecy so that they could replicate and restore it. Among them, not many achieved anything, while the one who walked the furthest was the youngest Xue Yang, recommended by Jin GuangYao alone.

Jin GuangYao was overjoyed. He accepted him as a guest cultivator and gave him high rights and freedom. The corpse training ground was an area of land Jin GuangYao specially requested for Xue Yang for him to research in secrecy, which meant for him to fool around however he wanted to.

He gave a whole torture playground for Xue Yang to use, he specifically asked for this from his own mouth, for Xue Yang to use and he would check in on progress. As for his morals:

Jin GuangYao’s tone was somewhat reproachful, “He Su gongzi is a respected cultivator, after all. How could you refer to him in such a disrespectful way?”

The cultivator laughed coldly, “I’ve already fallen in your hands. What are you keeping up the pretense for?”

Jin GuangYao responded with a kind expression, “You don’t have to look at me like that. I also had no choice. To elect a chief cultivator is an irresistible trend. What was the use of stirring up trouble and seeking arguments everywhere? I’ve already warned you again and again, yet you were determined not to listen to me. Under these circumstances, things are already beyond redemption. From the bottom of my heart, I, too, feel utmost pain and regret.”

He Su, “What was the irresistible trend? What was stirring up trouble? Jin GuangShan wanted to establish the position of chief cultivator only to imitate the QishanWen Sect in being the only one at the top. Do you think all the world is ignorant? You frame me like this only because I spoke the truth!”

Jin GuangYao smiled, saying nothing. He Su continued, “When you really succeed, all of the world of cultivation would see the true face of the LanlingJin Sect. Do you think killing me alone would put you eternally at ease? How wrong you are! We, the TingshanHe Sect, teem with talent. From now on, we’ll unite and never surrender to you Wen-dogs of another skin!”

Hearing this, Jin GuangYao squinted slightly, the corners of his lips curving up. It was the usual kind, gentle expression. Seeing this, He Su felt his heart skip a beat. At the same time, commotion sounded outside the corpse training ground, among it the cries of women and children.

He Su spun around, only to see a group of LanlingJin Sect cultivators drag inside sixty or seventy people all wearing the same uniform. There were men and women, old and young. Every one of them was a cross between shock and fear, while some were already crying. Both tied up, a girl and a boy kneeled on the ground as they wailed at He Su, “Ge!”

He Su was shocked speechless, his face instantly as white as paper, “Jin GuangYao! What are you doing?! It’s enough if you kill me—why drag my entire sect along?!”

Jin GuangYao looked down and fixed his sleeves, still grinning, “Weren’t you yourself the one who reminded me just now? Even if I killed you, I wouldn’t be put eternally at ease. The TingshanHe Sect teems with talent, and from now on, you’d unite and never surrender—I was quite frightened. After much thought, this was the only thing I could come up with.”

Among the group are children. That he did see and stare at gleefully as he lets Xue Yang decide to use all of them for corpse experiments. What does that mean??? Maybe that Jin Guangyao is also not in fact best uncle as he similarly was willing to kill Jin Ling who he "loved" as bait to try running away and is more than willing to use his "friends" for his own rise to power or to run away.

Examples of him enjoying emotionally torturing others as much as Xue Yang as a tactic:

Example 1:

“That’s not the way to go about things, is it? The TingshanHe Sect rebelled and schemed to assassinate Sect Leader Jin with all its forces before it was caught red-handed. How could that be called without a reason?”

The ones overhead cried, “Ge! He’s lying! We didn’t, we didn’t!”

He Su, “Utter nonsense! Open your eyes and fucking look! There are nine-year-old children here! Old men who can’t even walk! How could they rebel against anything?! Why would they assassinate your dad out of nowhere?!”

Jin GuangYao, “Because you made a mistake and committed murder, Young Master He Su, while they refused to accept Koi Tower’s conviction of you, of course.”

He Su finally remembered the accusation for which he was transferred to such a creepy place, “It’s all made up! I never killed a cultivator of the LanlingJin Sect! I’ve never even seen the person who died! I don’t even know if he was really a cultivator from your sect! I… I…”

He stammered for a while before eventually caving in, “I… I don’t even know what happened, I don’t even know!”

Yet, at such a place, nobody would listen to his protests.

Example 2:

Just as he was about to move, Jin GuangYao smiled, “HanGuang-Jun, it’s best if you take five steps back.”

Wei WuXian suddenly felt a small, sharp sting come from his neck. Lan XiChen lowered his voice, “Be careful. Do not move!”

Lan WangJi’s gaze landed on Wei WuXian’s neck. His face paled slightly.

An almost invisible guqin string, light and golden, was tied around Wei WuXian’s neck.

The guqin string was extremely thin. It was covered in special paint as well, making it almost invisible to the eye. Along with how disoriented Wei WuXian was, unable to pay attention to anything else, he didn’t notice it when it wrapped around his throat.

“Lan Zhan, don’t! Don’t back away!”

But Lan WangJi immediately walked five steps back without any hesitation.

Jin GuangYao, “Wonderful. Now, please sheathe Bichen.”

With a clank, Lan WangJi obeyed again. Wei WuXian raged, “Don’t ask for too much!”

Jin GuangYao quipped, “This is already asking for too much? Next, I’m even going to ask HanGuang-Jun to seal away his spiritual powers. What would that be called?”

Wei WuXian seethed, “You…”

Before he could finish, the sharp pain of flesh being lacerated came from his throat. Something dripped down his neck. Lan WangJi’s face was pale. Jin GuangYao said, “How could he not listen to me? Just think about it, Wei gongzi, his life is in my hands.”

Lan WangJi spoke one word at a time, “Do. Not. Touch. Him.”

“Then you know what to do, HanGuang-Jun.”

A moment later, Lan WangJi responded, “Yes.”

Lan XiChen sighed. Lan WangJi raised his hands. With two strong taps, he locked his own spiritual powers.

Jin GuangYao smiled, his voice soft, “This really is…”

Lan WangJi’s eyes were locked on them, “Let him go.”

Example 3:

Wei WuXian wouldn’t have had to be responsible for a life as heavy as Jin ZiXuan’s, and the things that happened later wouldn’t have had to happen.

Yet now, he finally realized even the reason behind culprit’s curse wasn’t to frame him. Even the cause didn’t have anything to do with him!

Such a fact was truly difficult to accept.

As he laughed, Wei WuXian’s eyes reddened. He mocked, whether at himself or otherwise, “I can’t believe it’s because of someone like you… because of such a ridiculous reason!”

But Jin GuangYao seemed like he knew what he thought, “Wei gongzi, you really shouldn’t think like this.”

Wei WuXian, “Oh? You know what I think?”

Jin GuangYao, “Of course. It’s quite easy. You’re definitely thinking about how unfortunate you are. In reality, you’re not. Even if Su She didn’t curse Jin ZiXun, Mr. Wei, you’d receive a siege sooner or later, because of some other reason.” He smiled, “Because that’s what kind of a person you are. At best, you’re the untamed hero; at worst, you offend people wherever you go. Unless all those whom you’ve offended lived their lives safely, as soon as something happened to them or someone did something to them, the first person they suspect would be you and the first person they seek revenge on would also you. And this is something you have no control over.”

Somehow, Wei WuXian smiled, “What should I do? For some reason, I think you make a lot of sense.”

Jin GuangYao, “And even if you didn’t lose control at the Qiongqi Path, could you guarantee you didn’t lose control sometime in the rest of your life? Thus, someone like you is destined to have a short life. You see? Doesn’t it feel a lot better if you think about it this way?”

He takes little time in using others hurt or their protective instincts against them, and is just as gleeful to see others in powerless situations in comparison to him as it still gives him a form of control to worm his way out of everything that has caught up to him.

Jin GuangYao, “Ge, every word of what I say is true.”

His tone was more than earnest. Ever since he captured Lan XiChen, he’d indeed been treating him with respect. At this point, Lan XiChen wasn’t able to turn against him yet. He could only sigh, “Sect Leader Jin, I have already said, when you went your own way to scheme such havoc at Burial Mound, that there was no longer any need to call me ‘Brother.’”

Jin GuangYao, “What happened at Burial Mound was an accident, a mistake. But, I can’t go back anymore.”

Lan XiChen, “What do you mean you cannot go back?”

Lan WangJi frowned slightly, his voice cold, “Xiongzhang, do not engage in excessive conversation with him.”

Wei WuXian reminded him as well, “Sect Leader Lan, do you remember what you said to Sect Leader Jiang? Don’t spend too long talking to him.”

Jin GuangYao, “Ge, listen to me. I don’t deny that I did those things…”

Lan XiChen, “How could you deny them? There are both witnesses and proof!”

Jin GuangYao, “And so I said I don’t deny them! But to have killed my father, my wife, my son, ge—if not because I had no other choice, why would I have done those things? Could it be that I’m really so out of my mind in your eyes?!”

"Your… wife…” As though he couldn’t say it, he immediately changed his phrasing, "Your sister, Qin Su, did you really marry her while knowing what blood relationship you had with her?”

Jin GuangYao stared blankly at him. Suddenly, tears rolled down his eyes. He answered with pain, “… Yes.” Lan XiChen took in a deep breath. His face was almost ashen. Jin GuangYao whispered, "But I really had no choice.”

With a sigh, Lan XiChen continued, “Third, do not try to avoid it and answer me—did you plan the death of Jin ZiXuan on purpose?!”

Hearing his father’s name, Jin Ling, who’d been holding Jiang Cheng, widened his eyes.

Lan WangJi raised his voice somewhat, “Xiongzhang, you believe him?”

Lan XiChen’s expression was complicated, “Of course I do not believe that Jin ZiXuan ran into the attack at Qiongqi Path by accident, but… let him speak first.”

Jin GuangYao knew he wouldn’t be believed if he denied it no matter what. He clenched his teeth, “… I indeed didn’t run into Jin ZiXuan by accident.”

Jin Ling immediately clenched his fists.

Jin GuangYao continued, “But I’ve never thought of planning everything that happened afterward either. You don’t have to think of me as so clever and faultless. Many things can’t be controlled at all. How could I have known that he’d definitely die by Wei WuXian’s hands together with Jin ZiXun? How could I have predicted that Wei WuXian would definitely lose control and the Ghost General would definitely run a riot?”

Wei WuXian’s voice was harsh, “And you said you didn’t run into him by accident? Isn’t that self-contradiction?!”

Jin GuangYao, “I don’t deny that I told him about the attack at Qiongqi Path on purpose, but I only thought that he’d encounter some difficulties if he ran into you when you were being troubled by his cousin since he’d never been on good terms with you. How could I have known that you would simply kill everyone present, Wei gongzi?”

“Why was a sect leader who spent money like water unwilling to do the smallest favor and buy my mother’s freedom? Simple—it was too much trouble. My mother waited for so many years, weaving together so many difficult circumstances when she talked to me, imagining for his sake so many hardships. And the real reason was only a single word: trouble.

“This is what he said, ‘It’s especially women who’ve read some books who think they’re a level higher than other women. They’re the most troublesome, with so many demands and unrealistic thoughts. If I bought her freedom and took her back to Lanling, who knows how much fuss she’d make. It was best that I let her stay where she was just like that. With her conditions, she’d probably be popular for a few more years. She wouldn’t have to worry about her spendings for the rest of her life.’

“‘Son? Oh, forget it.’”

Jin GuangYao’s memory was extraordinary. With such a word-by-word repetition, one could even imagine that drunk expression of Jin GuangShan’s when he said these words, “Ge, look, those three words were all that I was worth to my father, ‘Oh, forget it.’ Hahahaha…”

Pain flashed before Lan XiChen’s face, “Even if your father… you…” He still couldn’t find an appropriate comment and gave up, sighing instead, “What is the use of saying all this now?”

Jin GuangYao shrugged as he smiled, “I can’t help it. To seek pity even after doing all these terrible things—that’s the kind of person I am.”

At the word ‘pity’, he suddenly flipped his wrist. A red guqin string wrapped around Jin Ling’s neck.

Tears still hung at the corners of Jin GuangYao’s eyes as he spoke, voice low, “Don’t move!”

"I had no choice", "I couldn't predict anyone would be killed" "He mocked and forgot my mother and I". He uses all of this as a try to convince a kind Lan Xichen to let him go. However,he contradicts his own defenses as he had said Wei Wuxian was always fated to die for his actions and lack of being to keep things under control. This empathy is faked on his end while he makes excuses all while he never extended the same courtesy to those he killed, innocent or not, and underhandedly still tries to get those sympathetic under his manipulations. When they are not working he resorts again to threatening lives. He uses his mother also as a reason for revenge, however his grab for power alone after Jin Guangshan and Nie Mingjue are killed was solely based on his own obsession of status at that point. His mother was no longer a goal to accomplish anything and his continued lies dragged in more than one innocent party to get what he wanted.

He never saw Jin Ling, Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji, or Wei Wuxian as anything but pawns despite his soft words to them that are really just a mockery within Guanyin Temple at that point. He has placed none of them before himself in terms of what he cares for and never had.

TL:DR: Jin Guangyao's "kindness" was always a mask and Nie Mingjue was right that he was irredeemable, genuinely unkind and cruel as a person.

(Edit: Jin Guangyao stans don't even try, I will block you if you dare to reply to this)

[thankskenpenders]

Why don't you like Persona?

Part of it is just the structure. I don't like the combination of a fairly hardcore JRPG with the visual novel style calendar. The time management aspect makes me feel like I always need to be following a guide to make good use of my days, because if I screw up my build or my social links or whatever it's a hundred fucking hour game and I can't just start over without losing literal entire days of my life. I'm sure Persona fans will tell me that it doesn't matter THAT much how you manage your time, but that ticking clock still stresses me out. It's the same reason why I've never been able to get into Majora's Mask. Yeah, there are tons of ways to mitigate the pressure of that ticking clock, but it's still always there

But the writing in 4 and 5 is also just... bad? It's bad. This has been discussed to death, so hopefully this isn't too shocking of a take. These games love to parade around the aesthetics of youthful rebellion and breaking free from society's expectations and fighting back against oppression, but so many of the character arcs end with "Actually society's expecations for me are fine. I should just conform to them." Yukiko hates that she's being forced to inherit her family's business against her will... until you finish her social link, at which point she decides she's fine with it, actually. Her shadow self is literally a bird in a fucking cage, the least subtle visual metaphor possible, and instead of breaking free of the cage she just decides to appreciate the cage better. So many of the character arcs play out like this. This problem intersects constantly with the horrible way the female characters are treated and the rampant in-your-face homophobia that everyone and their mom has been calling out for years. It plays with the aesthetics of rebelling against oppression while also disrespecting actual oppressed groups

The music's good, though. I listen to the P4 OST casually. I have to give the series that. And the UI and enemy designs are cool. But I just don't vibe with the writing or structure at all

Anyway here's my favorite tweet about Persona

[agentrouka-blog]

1) I don't think R was prophecy obsessed. Grrm deliberately gives only sufficient info and I've always read these characters having parallels & traits of characters that are still alive. I would believe jon has both rhaegar & ned in him- jon is dutiful, takes responsibilities of NW & showjon takes threat of WW seriously. But he also has romantic relationships, friendships- a life outside of work. J is brooding. R being melancholic & working on a looming threat doesn't make him depressed or

2) or unhinged or obsessed or someone who's incapable of love(especially romantic). Bran got the subliminal message & that's all that happens behind the scenes. He might have known everything along with the 'father generation'. I am sure R explained his action to elia & oberyn after the tourney & told them what the starks were upto. Why would he tell her family( after one warning) when they themselves have initiated an act of war by going along with wedding- B was going to marry cat & L was

3) was highly likely getting married to Bobby immediately after B/C wedding. He's wouldn't take her KL- A would kill her(for being mystery knight) & also he was crazy in any case. Remember R is indeed attracted to her at this point of time(not love) & he doesn't want her to die. Also he's good man. He just want her as a hostage. D is the only place he could take her as his in-laws(who knows about STAB) will understand. But they fall in love- it solves L 's want to get rid of bob, R's want

4)R's want of 3rd child,L's protect from king,Stark help in overthrowing A. It will successfully break the STAB alliance. Bob won't be N's BFF once he knows that R&L were consensual. Stark-baratheon friendship goes to gutter when bob knows L betrayed him. STAB is not only there to rid westeros of targs but also to put Bob & L as king & queen. with the candidate for queen being now preggers with R's child, the starks & by affiliation tullys would be out of the alliance. Sure they will be

5) angry but will have to accept it coz L has final say. Bob might rebel but starks won't. R will give concessions to both. The only problem here being the martells who i believe had their own political ambitions. I always thought sansa/jon/dany triangle having similiarities with cat/ned/ashara & lya/rhae/elia. with jonsa being equal to R/L. Maybe arthur was the father of 2 kids & R was setting them aside. Maybe not. Maybe R/L were walking away from the throne & they planned on living in essos.

Hi Rhaegar anon!

As promised, I am responding to your ask. But as warned, I do very much disagree with a number of things.

First up, this is not how politics or betrothals work.

Rhaegar has no right to dictate to the Starks who they can marry. (Not within the universe of ASOIAF.)  Even if he did - which he does not - he cannot do it by, essentially, flipping them all off at a big house party.

The Targs may be the monarchs, but the monarch owes proper procedure to his vassals. And Rhaegar is not even the monarch. He is the crown prince. He has absolutely no basis for demanding anything of them in this way.

The betrothal between Catelyn and Brandon, which has been public knowledge half a decade or more, and the one between Robert and Lyanna, do not constitute any kind of misconduct on behalf of the Warden of the North.

Rhaegar, may not like it, he may correctly surmise that a political block opposed to the Targs is forming up. But that doesn’t mean he can just dictate that they drop their plans out of nowhere. A betrothal is a holy, official commitment, and not subject to casual whims.

Second, handing a flower crown to Lyanna Stark is not communication. It’s the equivalent of mysteriously winking at someone in a crowded room and then walking away, expecting them to read your mind and simply obey. This is not politics. It is insanely entitled, arbitrary, tyrannical and disrespectful nonsense. Just assuming that Brandon is somehow supposed to even understand what Rhaegar supposedly meant by that is the height of folly, let alone the expectation that House Stark should now base their personal politics on this vague gesture. It is nonsense.

Consequently, not suddenly calling off the planned betrothals most certainly does not constitute an “act of war”. He has absolutely zero justification for any kind of “retaliation” because they have done absolutely nothing wrong.

Third, Aerys doesn’t know that Lyanna was the Knight of the Laughing Tree. No one officially knows, outside of Lyanna, those who helped her, Howland Reed, and presumably Rhaegar who found her. If Aerys finds out, it is because Rhaegar tells him, which would be his own choice. So, yes, he could absolutely have brought a kidnapped hostage as a “guest” to KL, and she would have been as safe as anyone else in the presence of Mad Aerys.Heck, he could have taken her to Dragonstone into his own household with his father’s consent if he wanted her extra safe. Less chance of escape (because island) and obviously he doesn’t care about insulting his own wife, so why not?

Fourth, the point of a hostage is leverage. Otherwise, it’s simply an abduction for unknown purposes. If Rhaegar wanted to keep Lyanna a hostage to keep the Starks in line, the absolute key is to communicate this. She becomes Theon Greyjoy, essentially. Except the Starks haven’t actually rebelled (yet), so it really is an act of tyranny on behalf of the monarchy. This makes Rhaegar the very opposite of a good man. Good men don’t kidnap teenagers to subjugate their vassals, who have done nothing wrong as of yet. But at least it would be logical. However, hiding her and not telling them what he took her for is illogical to the extreme. They are naturally angry, demand answers and escalate rather than diffuse any hostility toward the monarchy. Even if Aerys hadn’t murdered dozens of highborn nobles when confronted with Rhaegar’s actions (because Rhaegar wasn’t dealing with the fall-out), it would have created a big political stand-off with no easy solution. Because he failed to telegraph “Heads-up, I took your wolf maid hostage, so don’t rebel, kthxbye”.

Fifth, this erases who Lyanna is. The assumption that Lyanna would be fine with all this assumes she has absolutely zero loyalty to her family at all, and ignores why she did not want to marry Robert in the first place. (He is a philanderer who fathers bastards.). It also erases her dislike of abuse of power, and her sense of responsibility as a Stark, both of which made her the Knight of the Laughing Tree in the first place. That girl values honor and justice. Your theory reduces her to an empty-headed bag of hormones.

Sixth, it does nothing to dismantle the STAB alliance because it confirms all their fears of tyranny. I would say it is highly unlikely that the STAB alliance would falter in the face of Lyanna revealing that she is In Love with her kidnapper who took her in order to force obedience from four different Houses. He still demonstrated the very quality that makes the STAB alliance form in the first place! The Targaryen’s invaded Westeros and forced its kingdoms into submission with the threat of dragonfire. Now that the dragons are gone, unrest stirs. The best way to encourage that unrest is to act like a tyrant. Lyanna being an idiot doesn’t change that. It only makes her a hostage either way. And a girl despised by her countrymen.

Seventh, I sincerely doubt their main aim was to place Robert and Lyanna on the throne. That’s only what the rush-job of the Rebellion accomplished. But we know what the North truly wants, because that’s what happens the moment the Iron Throne is not occupied by Ned’s bestie: Independence. If Rickard, Hoster, and Jon had any sense of vision at all, they were going to work a long game for a much bigger reward than seating a hot-tempered stormlord and a Northern maiden on the spiky chair.

Eigth, ignoring all that, Dorne will absolutely hate all of this. They handed Elia to the Targaryens to be queen and mother of the royal heirs, and Rhaegar either placing his mistress and her (legitimized) bastard next to her, or - worse - making Lyanna his second wife, is a huge affront. It’s not like the Targs haven’t had a devastating civil war happening over the succession before. Rhaegar’s actions are an insult to the Throne’s biggest ally. This insult is not erased by headcanons about Elia/Arthur. If there was any doubt to the legitimacy of Aegon or Rhaenys, Elia’s head could be on a spike for treason. A much simpler way of getting a new wife and a passel of new “heads of the dragon” than kidnapping a girl and starting a war. It’s simply not happening. This problem is not a tiny problem. It’s another mark against thetrustworthiness of the entire Targaryen monarchy. Dorne can now join STAB and House Lannister in hating the Targs, and I am not sure the Reach is suddenly going to come down with a case of undying loyalty.

Ninth, if Rhaegar and Lyanna were just going to hop off to Essos together... why all the fuss over the STAB alliance in the first place? If Rhaegar doesn’t care, then he doesn’t care, right? No, this is out of the question.

Tenth, all of this still ignores that canonically, Rhaegar and the Targaryen monarchy very very very much cared about the prophecy. Just saying “he wasn’t prophecy-obsessed” doesn’t change that he cared about it. And likely a great deal. GRRM deliberately communicates this information in the books, and separately from the “love story” version of events as related by characters who don’t know about the prophecy. Aemon lets us know that Rhaegar clearly connected his children to the prophecy and it seamlessly fits with Dany’s “There must be one more” vision in the HOTU. Aemon is a much more credibly source than anyone else.

Faith in the prophecy provides an explanation for why he was hesitant to remove Aerys from power before lining up his three heads, because de-throning your insane king-father might get messy and distract Rhaegar from scattering his Very Important Dragon Sperm, and it also explains why he thought the Rebellion would somehow work out once Lyanna was pregnant, because obviously they were all chosen by prophecy and would prevail. Maybe he even thought he could get the STABs on his side somehow, if he explained himself and dethroned Aerys, or maybe he really thought simply defeating them in battle would restore enough order for him to assume power peacefully and make his War for the Dawn preparations in the aftermath of the Rebellion.

Either way, he acted in an irresponsible and entitled, uncommunicative and reckless way that betrays a disregard for the concerns of anyone else, or beyond anything but his own convictions. Even his own children. No matter his motivations, his actions very very predictably led to chaos and war. And that is not even counting the ways he publicly humiliated his wife, and likely kidnapped and even raped a teenager.

No matter what way you turn it, Rhaegar was not “a good man”.

[hypnomicimagines]

For Honor [Samurai!Yamada Ichiro/Reader] - Chapter 6

The silence is painful.

You can’t help but feel used, the romance having burned up so shortly after you’d gotten what you wanted. You expected more from someone like him, from someone you thought you had known though it was probably your naivety speaking now. You shouldn’t have made assumptions about a man that you had hardly known a week and you shouldn’t have pushed him to do something he was clearly having doubts about, no matter how enthusiastic he seemed in the moment. You’re left alone in the back to ponder your thoughts, only getting a word out of Ichiro when he asks if you’re hungry or if you need to stop to stretch your legs.

You just want this trip over with.

The castle loomed in the distance and though your journey had taken a turn, you almost wished you were back in the woods again. The future that was practically decided for you was now within reach when it had felt thousands of miles away just this morning. There’s a sinking feeling in your gut but you swallowed back your worry and instead presented yourself as you knew you should, standing tall and proud as you approached the royal family of this region with your chin held high. Pleasantries are exchanged while Ichiro stood off to the side to allow you some room, your eyes meeting his for a split second before you both whipped your heads in another direction. Thankfully this little action isn’t caught as the Queen is far too happy to see you, pointing you towards a room where you could change before officially meeting the prince.

You’re attended to by the lady-in-waiting who thankfully doesn’t force conversation, wiping the dirt from skin and helping you into a dress perfectly suited for you. She gave you a few compliments in an attempt to brighten your mood and things felt almost normal again, like your priorities hadn’t taken a total turn while out in the wilderness with a wild samurai. You almost wished you could tell this stranger about your journey but it was too dangerous, Ichiro might be acting like a bastard now but you’d never do something to endanger him and his brothers. Before she left the room she said to take a few more moments for yourself, giving an understanding smile before she exited.

You’re thankful to finally be alone with your thoughts yet at the same time having others around distracted you from the pain of a one-sided love. You had a difficult time falling asleep the night before with how coldly Ichiro had treated you, and the fact he woke up the very next morning acting as though nothing had happened… It set you on edge. You had never met a man like him and you had been smitten so quickly perhaps you hadn’t gotten a full sense of the reality of his situation.

You knew as well as he did that there truly wasn’t a chance, no way for this to work in your favor.

You took another deep breath, hoping the prince wasn’t a total bastard and that your marriage to him would be merciful. When you finally had your wedding night with him would he be gentle? Would he know what to do? Would he guide his hands along your body with such precision you would think he was made for making love with you? It felt wrong to think of Ichiro when you were going out to meet your husband but you supposed this was just the beginning of the challenges you’d face as royalty, being bound by duty rather than getting to live a free life.

Ichiro stood off to the side as he watched you exit the room, his duty still wasn’t over until he saw you home safely and if anything happened here under his careful watch… He didn’t want to think of the repercussions. You looked so beautiful in your new gown but then again, he thought you’d looked beautiful in anything, even a potato sack though he’s sure you’d never consider fitting in one just so he could double-check. He bit his tongue to stop himself from addressing you, knowing it would seem too casual and that there were listening ears everywhere now. He gave a slight bow and then followed behind you as you were led to a more open room, where the prince was waiting with bated breath.

Well, Ichiro thought he should be but he was rather unimpressed by the overall demeanor of this so-called royalty. He didn’t graciously kiss your hand or have a sparkle in his eye when he first saw you, instead he approached like you were any other person off the street and greeted you almost normally. You wouldn’t think this was a meeting between two people soon to be betrothed and there was lingering confusion on your part as well, a careful glance back at Ichiro for reassurance that this was indeed an odd situation

“My prince it’s-“

“Yeah, it’s nice to meet you. Just call me Samatoki if we’re gonna be doing this.” You’re even more confused, head tilted but you nodded; he was certainly unlike any other prince you met before, that was for sure. You’re fascinated by him almost immediately, wondering if this was just a test and they’d switched out the prince with some street urchin to test you. “I don’t like this at all. I want you to know that.”

“Uh, I’m… I’m sorry? Is there something I’ve done?”

“Get out.” You think he’s talking to you at first but he’s glaring at the guards at the entrance of the room, who looked rather wary but quickly ducked their heads and fled as Samatoki’s glare intensified. When his eyes trailed to Ichiro there was a moment of panic, suddenly feeling exposed and all too aware that you’d be completely at this man’s mercy should you be stuck alone with him. You gave Ichiro a pleading look and, despite the awkwardness between you, it was clear he still took his job seriously.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Ichiro’s voice is steady and calm, his arms crossed over his chest as he fixed the prince with a steady glare. “Anything you say to her can be said to me.”

“And what if I don’t want to fuckin’ talk to you?” Ichiro seemed taken aback by the curse, his wide eyes cluing you in that he hadn’t been aware of the prince’s unsavory personality. “Get lost, or I can have you thrown in the dungeons so you really can’t guard your sweet little princess.”

Ichiro seemed at a loss but you’d rather not have your only protection thrown somewhere unreachable, so you put your brave face on and address him yourself.

“Could you just…wait outside the door, please? I’ll scream if anything happens.” Ichiro wondered if that was really okay with you but he nodded, not willing to show you the same disrespect the prince had been. It was making his blood boil to think you’d be marrying someone so blatantly disrespectful but then again, he had violated you, stolen your virginity and that made him even guiltier of this crime.

“You think I’d give you a chance to do that?” Samatoki is smirking, and you rolled your eyes at the childish retort that was clearly meant just to get under Ichiro’s skin.

“As you can see the prince is nothing but a petulant child. I’ll be okay.”

Once you were alone, you felt the obligation to be proper slip away.

“What exactly is your problem?” You started off the conversation, cutting Samatoki off before he could get another word in. He regarded you with a raised eyebrow, allowing you to continue on. “I traveled for days in the most uncomfortable way possible to come here, to meet a prince who was worthy of marrying, and I’m met with a rude oaf who can’t even properly greet a lady? I’m not happy about this arrangement either but at least I know how to fake it!”

“You think I haven’t faked it my whole life? Think you’re the only one who’s ever struggled?” Samatoki shrugged his shoulders, turning away from you to look out a window that led to a garden area. You walked closer to see what he was staring at, noticing that the princess, his younger sister if you heard correctly, was outside with the same lady-in-waiting who had helped you get ready to meet him. You can’t tell which one of them he’s looking at but as soon as you open your mouth to ask Samatoki held his hand up.

“What is it?”

“Do you think you could fake being married to me for your entire life? Do you think that would make either one of us happy?” He’s regarding you with a serious expression. “Don’t bother answering now, I want you to really think about it. I’ve rebelled against my parents my entire life and don’t think I’ll stop now, but this is the last thing I want.”

“Are you one of those true romantics? The type that believes marriage should be between two people in love rather than arranged for the sake of money or territory?”

“And if I am?”

“I’d say you weren’t really the type.”

“That’s the thing then, isn’t it? You don’t know me.” Samatoki started to mess with his belt, a dagger safely harnessed to the side of his thigh. You were fascinated about why he would be carrying such a thing around but he seemed unwilling to answer your questions, at least for now, more focused on debating philosophical views that wouldn’t do either of you any good. “I’m willing to tell my parents it won’t work out.”

“You’ve hardly known me a day and you’ve already decided that?”

“It has nothing to do with you. I’m sure you’re a fine…princess.” He’s staring longingly outside again, such a vulnerable expression you wonder if he realized he was even making it. It was clear he wanted to be anywhere but here, anywhere but confined by the walls of a castle, bound to a royal duty he hadn’t asked for.

You felt a kinship with the prince, even if it wasn’t the romantic spark that had been hoped for.

“Shouldn’t we at least… Attempt a connection? I have no problem denying this proposal as well but to keep our parents on good terms I feel as though we should… pretend to get along?”

“I’ll take the blame when this heads south, you won’t have to worry about that. You’ll just have to figure out a plan on how to deal with the suitor who gets thrown your way.” You hated the truth behind his words but knew the reality was the same for him; even if you both found someone you loved, if they didn’t hold the proper title there would be no point. You wouldn’t be able to be together.

“I think I like talking to you, at least.”

Samatoki seemed baffled by that statement, but the grin on his face told you that your honesty was appreciated.

“You’re not half bad, either. Could be snootier, I’ve met plenty of uptight women in my life… Have you ever handled a blade?”

“Yes, actually.” In a very controlled environment, but still.

“Interesting. Come then, show me your skills. If we’re going to pretend, we might as well have some fun with how we spend our time together.”