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soyeahitsmiddleearth · 4 years ago

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hello! i was wondering if you could write the following request; you are a member of the Brotherhood, the most dangerous assassins league of Middle Earth. To say that the Company of Thorin Oakenshield is both impressed and intimidated is an understatement.

The Company/Reader: Killer Good Looks pt.1

Trigger Warnings: Referenced assault and child abuse, murder

----

To say you're an excellent fighter would be a gross understatement.

You're the very definition of a rogue; you like shiny things, you're stealthy, cunning, persuasive, what are we missing...? Oh! And you're also an infamous deadly assassin for hire, and you get hired alright.

You're wanted (in more ways than one), for people are always looking for someone to fulfill their dirty deeds for them.

Almost everything is on the table with you; you'll steal things for people (and yourself), kill if the price is right, infiltrate and lie, and many other things, however, there are some things off limits.

For example, you won't kill kids. You never have and you never will, you flat out refuse; you also don't sell yourself to others for pleasure or other things of inappropriate nature; and, most importantly of all, you don't kill those whom you have a relationship with (meaning you don't kill friends, though those are few and far between).

When you were but a child your parents sold you off to put bread on their table, and you knew nothing but torment from that moment on.

For months the lady's husband would sneak into your rooms at night, and she would always pretend not to notice; she took to releasing her frustrations out on you under the false pretense that you were an issue, beating you, berating you, yelling, abusing; they were horrible people taking advantage of a 10 year old child in every way imaginable.

You felt no remorse when you finally gathered the courage to slit their throats one night, and to this day you still don't.

The news of your deeds spread quickly, for they proved to be quite shocking and a wonderful topic for conversation.

A mere child servant manages to kill their masters unseen and unheard, escaping into the night never to be seen again? That would catch anyones attention. And it certainly caught the attention of The Brotherhood.

They found you, took you in, and honed your sloppy skills to make you into the perfect, lethal weapon.

You've killed more people than you can count, stolen more than even the richest man has, and lied to everyone you've ever met at least once.

It's safe to say that you're not exactly a stand up citizen.

Your name, as well as the name of the organization who taught you all you know, is well known throughout Middle Earth which is why you were, ultimately, employed to assist and protect the line of Durin in their journey to reclaim Erebor...

Except, unbeknownst to them, you have ulterior orders from The Brotherhood regarding the operation.

Once the dragon is either confirmed dead or slain and the mountain is reclaimed, you are to kill the Durin's (and anyone else who stands in your way) and claim the mountain for The Brotherhood.

When you were first given this assignment you had no qualms with it.

Yes, dwarfs are strong, brave, and resilient, but you are fast, intelligent, and one of the best fighters in the organization because of your early start and ability to disconnect yourself from almost every situation. Also, you don't know them, any of them, and you've never had trouble killing royal, powerful people before.

It was supposed to be easy.

You joined the group in a cute little place called The Shire in a hobbit hole belonging to one Bilbo Baggins, and when you met everyone you figured that killing them would be easy, but as time went on you began to forget about your mission.

Everything started out simple. You didn't talk much and they stayed away from you for the most part; partially out of intimidation, but also from reservations on disturbing you.

You're a private person, and they'd hate to make you dislike them by being nosy or prying.

Gandalf is the only one who knows of your past, but even knowing who you truly are, he never for a second suspected what your true purpose was.

It's around the time you all leave Rivendell and return to the road when things start to change.

Thorin wanted to keep a schedule and reach the Misty Mountains before the end of the 4th week, and halfway into the 4th, you're already there are the entrance to the mountain pass.

Because the group makes such excellent time Thorin chooses to reward the group with a day and night full of rest to spend restocking supplies, regrouping, and relaxing, which is something that benefits you all greatly.

By this point, you've worked up enough 'trust' to actually sleep in short bursts around them, and you take full advantage of this day of rest to regain your strength.

At some point during the night you manage to fall asleep, and hen you wake you find that you managed to pass out for a good 4 hours.

The very first thing you notice is Dwalin sitting not far from you, and the blanket draped over your resting form.

To say you're taken off guard would be an understatement, for you never expected to be treated with such tenderness (or at least, tenderness by your definition considering the life you've lead).

"Dwalin...?" You call after a time of looking ahead, wanting to find out his motivations.

His gaze snaps over to you and a small, greeting smile falls upon his lips, "Good evening. It is mid-night, I'm sure you'd like to know."

You glance briefly up at the sky and observe the position of the moon and stars and find that he's correct, then your gaze returns to his face. "I see. What are you doing over here, though?"

The balding dwarf looks a tad more sheepish when you ask your question, and his voice contains slight embarrassment, "Well, we know you don't much like sleeping around us, or in general, so I thought that keeping watch here may help you feel even a bit safer."

Those words shock you to your very core.

"You'll always be safe with us, you should know. You protect us in waking, so the least we can do is return the favor in sleeping."

Any and all responses that come to your mind in this moment seem inadequate in comparison to his declaration, so you're left sitting there looking at him with a blank, yet dumbfounded stare.

"You needn't say anything in response. I just thought you should know." Another smile graces upon his lips, and then his attention turns back out towards the darkened tree line surrounding the mini camp in a half circle. "Sleep more if the desire is to suddenly strike you."

And, for some odd reason, you do.

---

For the first time in what has to be years, you sleep through the night and do not wake again until the sun beckons you to do so.

When the first light shines through the trees and makes the forest sparkle with morning magic, you arise and find that a new dwarf, Ori, has taken the place of Dwalin.

A feeling, one that you can't identify, rises within you, and you find yourself unable to handle it.

"Ori." You greet curtly, "I am going to depart for a time. Expect me back in 20 minutes."

The young dwarf looks up at you and nods shallowly, not even entertaining the thought that you would need an escort. "Alright. Get back safely."

His words linger with you after you leave, for the act of being cared for is alien to you.

When was the last time someone genuinely cared for your well-being and not just what they would lose if you were to perish? When was the last time someone thought of you as a person who could be harmed instead of a weapon that maybe tarnished every-so-often?

These thoughts plague your mind as you go to search the game traps you lay around the camp the morning before, and you find that the prize is well worth the early journey.

3 rabbits, 2 squirrels, and a wild hog around 2 feet long and a foot wide. The hog you caught along the way, actually. It had been sniffing around one of the game traps you sent (the trap wouldn't have been strong enough to hold it anyways), and you wasted no time in throwing a dagger straight into its' head.

You string up the rabbits into a line of rope and carry the hog over your shoulders (it's really heavy, so you made sure to evenly distribute the weight), and then you head straight for the group with your prizes in hand.

When you enter the clearing you're noticed immediately, for the game hanging from your body draw a lot of attention.

"Odin's beard!" Gloin exclaims, jumping up from his spot once his eyes fall upon you, "Look at all of that!"

All eyes are on you as soon as the red-haired dwarf alerts them to your presence, but you maintain a mask of nothing even despite your discomfort with being the center of attention.

"Where did you get all that?" Fili calls, getting up and approaching you to help carry the load.

You shrug off the line of rabbits and squirrels to him when he begins to tug on it and bring the hog to the middle of the camp, dropping it down heavily.

Bombur looks up at you with a grand smile and praises you in his low, baritone voice, "Well will you look at that! Now that's a hog."

You dip your head in acknowledgement of his compliments and offer right after, "Do you want me to skin them?"

"Oh, no, no! You have done more enough for us, we can manage that at the very least." The older dwarf assures you, patting the fat belly of the swine, "Thank you, lass. We haven't had a commendable meal in months, so this will be a real treat."

You received so many compliments and acclimations that you almost began to blush, but that's an unconscious ability that had left you a long time ago.

Everyone traveled with full bellies that afternoon, and there was plenty of leftovers to last everyone well into the next day as well.

Things like this are seldom the topic of talk or praise in the organization you work for, and you can never rely on anyone. You're all thieves, after all. Liars, tricksters, murderers... how could you trust someone like that to have your back? But... somehow, they trust you to protect them and their precious royal friends.

You: the liar, trickster, and murderer.

They sleep in your presence as if you hadn't stolen millions in treasure, product, and money; as if you hadn't killed a quarter of the people you've met in your lifetime. They trust you, the real you (or at least the realest version of you that there is), and it's a truly foreign feeling.

Of course, even though these good feelings long since lost to you have returned for a time, you keep yourself in check with the thoughts of what they would do to you if they found about your true intentions.

The images of their betrayed, angry faces, the disgust that would shine in their eyes when they realize what you're truly capable of... you're always sure to not lose sight of your end goal; the Mountain of Erebor and its' lost treasure. If you're to fail, you're certain that you'll be killed (either by the dwarfs or The Brotherhood), so you don't even entertain the thought of abandoning your mission.

---

Later in the day, during the trek up those horrible, treacherous mountains, you're approached by Bofur, the hat wearing dwarf with a smile more contagious than any sickness.

"Hello." You greet curtly when he falls into step beside you, eyeing him in your peripherals. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Oh, no." He shakes his head no and reaches up to straighten his fur hat, "You just looked a little lonely, is all."

Lonely, huh?

You don't reply right away and look ahead with your usual blank expression and dull eyes, though you do feel an uncomfortable, appreciative feeling swell inside of you. "I am not lonely." You inform him matter-of-factly, though when you glance down at his face you see that your words have slightly hurt his feelings.

Your heart twists slightly painfully when you see his saddened countenance, and before you can even think about it you're blurting out, "But I welcome the company regardless."

His frown is immediately replaced with a brilliant smile and his eyes positively shine with enthusiasm; you never thought your acceptance would garner such a reaction from him (much less anyone for that matter).

The dwarf practically talks your ear off while the 15 of you travel up the Misty Mountains, telling you everything he possibly can about his homeland, family, and feelings regarding the journey (as well as other things), and while all this incessant blathering would normally irk you, you actually find that you quite like it.

Bofur's excited speech does eventually die down when it starts to rain, though, for he and yourself both think it safer to concentrate on the hike as its level of danger grows.

It isn't long before night falls, and once it does the rain becomes a much more dangerous obstacle.

There is lower visibility and the rocks become horribly slippery, though neither of these things could ever hope to top the giant stone beasts that begin to battle right in front of you all.

The stone giants don't seem notice any of you, and if they do then they simply don't care, and you all barely escape with your lives. They throw huge boulders bigger than any building you've ever seen, and their hand-to-hand combat leaves you all shaking against the mountainside, fearful of falling to your deaths as you sway every which way.

To your, and everyone else's luck and great joy, a little cave in the mountainside appears before you all (after a horrible death scare with half of the company), and it becomes your resting spot for the night.

You, like usual, choose a spot closest to the cave entrance with rock that covers both your back and left side and fall asleep effortlessly. You plan on only resting for four or so hours, hopefully until the rain passes, and then you can resume watch so the others may regain their strength (they're heavier and bigger than you, so they need more rest and food).

Those 4 hours (and an extra half!) pass by without issue and your internal clock eventually wakes you up.

One of the first things you see when your eyes flutter open is the stone ceiling of the cave hovering above you, and the next is Bofur who sits in the little watch spot right across from your sleeping area.

You sit up as soon as your sleep addled mind clears and your blurry eyes gain focus and call softly, "Bofur, go ahead and take a rest. I can resume your watch."

The dwarf jumps slightly when your soft voice breaks through the silence and reaches out to him, but he doesn't move to get up. Instead, a small smile upturns the corners of his lips and he whispers back, "No, you do a watch of your own every night and refuse to wake anyone else up often enough. Please, go back to sleep."

He noticed that?

You can't even keep the surprise from your face, for your eyes widen almost imperceptibly and your lips part slightly. "I..." You've been shocked speechless, something that you thought impossible.

"We have all noticed, in case you're wondering. Now, go ahead and resume sleep. I've still got another 30 minutes of watch."

And, for some reason, you don't protest.

Sleep calls to you and tugs at your eyelids, making them heavy and causing your eyes to burn. What spell have they put you under to make you tired again under a simple command, you wonder?

You fall back asleep despite yourself, but it doesn't last long, for within 20 minutes after Bilbo tries to leave and the storm begins to quiet, the floor opens beneath you all and swallows everyone whole.

#the company x reader #thorin oakenshield #bofur #dwalin #bilbo #fili #kili #assassin reader #reader insert #the hobbit fanfiction #the hobbit #bofur x reader #thorin oakenshield x reader #dwalin x reader #bilbo x reader #kili x reader #fili x reader

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omoi-no-hoka · 5 years ago

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Hello! I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but how do you become proficient at handling conversations in Japanese/handling grammar very well? I read your post on the JLPT, and it addressed issues I have been tip toe-ing around--indeed, passive actions such as listening or reading are easier than the active ones. How did you go about that? Did you write a bunch of sentences daily? Did you have a conversation partner? What would you rec. to someone who lives outside Japan? Thank you!

This is an excellent question, and one that I get asked a lot irl by Japanese people in particular. Let’s talk about gaining fluency and the ways we can go about it!

How to Gain Fluency in Japanese (and Other Languages)

Speaking Fluency versus Accuracy

Language proficiency is divided into two separate categories:

Fluency: Although there are no widely agreed-upon definitions or measures of language fluency, someone is typically said to be fluent if their use of the language appears fluid, or natural, coherent, and easy as opposed to slow, halting use. In other words, fluency is often described as the ability to produce language on demand and be understood.

Accuracy: Correctness of language use, especially grammatical correctness and word choice.

By the above definitions, a “fluent” speaker may make grammatical mistakes, but they can speak without having to stop and think too much about conjugations, word choice, etc.

An “accurate” speaker can speak with nearly zero grammatical/word choice mistakes. However, the speed of their utterances isn’t generally taken into account, so it could take an “accurate” person twice as long to articulate the same idea as a “fluent” person.

Ideally, you need to strike a good balance between these two qualities when speaking. I have a boss, God bless him, who is 100% fluency and 0% accuracy and…man is it hard to understand what he’s saying sometimes, but he can generally get his point across just barely. I have another coworker who is 100% accuracy and takes about 3 minutes to form a sentence because he wants it to be perfect.

How to Increase Speaking/Writing Accuracy

First, let’s talk about the easiest thing to improve, which is accuracy. It’s also (in my opinion) the least fun thing to improve, because it means grammar books and vocabulary memorization.

You can only use a language accurately if you know what is correct and what is incorrect, and you can only learn that by studying grammar and vocabulary (or if you’re a native speaker and picked it up innately, you lucky bastard).

So here’s some things you can do to increase your accuracy:

For example, if you’re having a hard time using the passive, you need to review that part of your textbook and find some exercises to drill it into your head.

Say the correct thing aloud. Lots. Sometimes I just walk around my apartment and narrate everything I see/do like a crazy person, but that’s good practice.

Write example sentences using the grammar you’re struggling with and say them aloud too.

There’s a bunch of cool apps that connect you with native speakers that can help correct you too! I used to use HelloTalk, I think.

If you’re a creative soul, when I was studying for the JLPT, I took 1 grammar point and 5 vocabulary words from my JLPT study books and used them to write a 2-page short story about the adventures of ネギ, a stray black cat that smelled like green onions because she napped in an onion field. Then I had a Japanese friend check it over for me and mark mistakes. I hand-wrote them to improve my abysmal handwriting at the same time. It was really fun! I sometimes think about doing it again just for funsies.

When someone corrects you, don’t feel like your entire life is over and you’re a failure and you’ll never get it right haha. I’ve seen people fall into that hopeless mindset, and that’s just nonsense. It’s a good opportunity for learning and nothing more! Say the correct thing you’ve just been taught out loud, then write it down if you can. And, if possible, find a chance to use it in conversation asap.

How to Increase Speaking/Writing Fluency

Now this is the hard one. Especially for those learners who do not have native speakers nearby.

I’m going to be dead honest with you. I started formally studying Japanese at uni, and I had a Japanese roommate/best friend since year one. I had a 4.0 GPA in my Japanese classes (and only my Japanese classes lol) because I was and still am a MEGA NERD about it.

...But it wasn’t until I studied abroad in Japan my 4th year of uni that I gained fluency.

There are a lot of things that can hold us back from fluency. An interesting thing I’ve noted is that Foreign Language is perhaps the only subject in which a student’s personality can directly affect their progress. To gain fluency, you have to go forth and speak, but if you are naturally a shy person, that is going to hinder you. If you are the kind of person who takes mistakes/failures poorly, you will be less likely to take risks and try to say harder sentences. In contrast, you can get full marks in math regardless of the above personality traits.

I’m not saying that you have to be an outgoing explosion of a human being in order to gain fluency. But what I am saying is that you have to be willing to seek out conversations, and you have to be willing to take chances. Get out of your comfort zone. Use that new word you picked up the other day. Try to explain something that is difficult for you.

My problem was that, while I lived with a native speaker who would have happily taught me anything I asked, her English proficiency was much higher than my Japanese proficiency. And when I struggled to say something in Japanese, I’d fall back onto English. And when she told me something I didn’t understand in Japanese, she’d repeat it in English instead of Japanese, because that was easier for us both. The same thing happened when I was in Japanese class as well. I always had the assurance that I could fall back on English.

But when I elected to study abroad in Japan for 3 months, I knew that this was my big chance. So on the host family form in the “other requests” area, I wrote that I specifically wanted a host family that could not speak English. I was setting fire to my crutches, and I was scared but excited to see them burn.

By the end of my three months in Japan, I had gone from ��Chotto matte kudasai” and needing a minute to form my reply, to “Okay, yeah I see that movie too and I liked the action scenes, but I didn’t care for the story little.” (I’ve underlined mistakes that I would have made in Japanese, to show you that I sacrificed some accuracy to obtain higher fluency.)

So, in short, the easiest and quickest way to increase your spoken fluency is to throw away all the crutches you can and use the language as much as possible. Every single day. Even if you’re just having an imaginary conversation with yourself! And like I said, there are a bunch of cool apps that connect you with Japanese people who want to learn English and you can do language exchanges with them. I had a lot of fun with those in the past.

As for increasing writing fluency...well. That’s a tough question with Japanese, because I can type Japanese at like 100 wpm, but my Japanese handwriting fluency is at a 10/100. I can read and type at the level of a native Japanese high school student, but I can only write the kanji that 7 year old can write. That’s no exaggeration.

The big reason for that dichotomy is that my work is paper-free. 100% of my work is done on screen, so about the only time I have to write out something is when I’m filling out a form, which includes my name (katakana), address, and maybe occupation.

If you want to increase your Japanese handwriting speed, just keep on writing. Write those little short stories about ネギ like I did, or find some writing prompts (I just started a side-blog with writing prompts yesterday btw) or keep a little diary. Make opportunities to write.

How to Have Nice Handwriting in Japanese

Okay, full disclaimer: I am the absolute LAST person qualified to talk about this, because I have awful handwriting in Japanese.

Unless you have prior experience with a different language that uses kanji, or you lack the keen eye of an artist, you will likely struggle to develop neat handwriting.

Personally, I really like using this app called Japanese Kanji Sensei. It’s on Android (not sure about iOS), and if you pay just a few bucks you can make your own kanji sets and stuff. Anyways, it will show you how to write the characters prettily. It gives you a good frame of reference for what nice, pencil/pen-written characters (versus calligraphy characters). It has hiragana and katakana on it too!

I get a stylus and write out the characters on this app for the muscle memory, so my hands remember the sensation of writing a certain character. (The muscle memory is different if you only use your fingertip.) This muscle memory and repetition is how Japanese people learn how to internalize kanji as well. I really enjoy and recommend this app. I’m sure that there are others out there like it too.

Summary

TL;DR: Review your textbooks, take risks, use every resource available or make your own, and just have fun with it! 💗

#Anonymous #ask me anything #Asks are open #study japanese #learn japanese #japanese language #nihongo #japanese fluency #second language acquisition #jlpt #studyblr #langblr #japanese langblr #japanese resources #kanji #study kanji #learn kanji

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16woodsequ · 3 years ago

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The Alternative Timeline; A Journey

If you don't know, I have spent the last two years writing a 2012-alternate timeline AU Marvel fanfic. (You can find it here).

It has grown way past anything that I could have ever imagined. In celebration of completing the final chapter of the fourth part, I thought I would make a post detailing this journey for anyone interested, because when I started this in 2019, I definitely did not expect to end up writing an epic of over 500,000 words.

Spoilers under the cut.

First off, I think it is important to note that before I started the first fic in this series, Alternatively, I had published a total of two (2) fics in the mcu universe. My very first Marvel fic Lessons Learned was posted January 2019. My second Marvel fic Never Again was posted March 2019. (Both of which combined have a total word count of 5,716.) And then, on May 4th, 2019, I watched Avengers: Endgame, and lost my mind.

Upon watching Endgame, I was struck immediately by the time-travel scene to 2012. The fact that 2023!Steve told 2012!Steve that Bucky was alive...and that he said 'Hail Hydra' to the STRIKE team in the elevator...never mind the fact that Loki got away with the Tesseract...

There was just so much potential there. I wanted to build an AU where Steve and Tony could be friends, and I was pumped to explore the consequences of 2023!Steve's 'Hail Hydra'. I thought this universe had the potential to right a lot of wrongs, and I just had to try it.

So first I had to start planning. This was right after Endgame was released, so there weren't a lot of posts going around about the alternate timeline. I had to come up with most of my theories and ideas myself.

Also, there were hardly any Youtube videos of the specific scenes I needed from Endgame, and there was no online script yet, because the movie was still in theatres. So I had to resort to shaky illegally filmed videos from people in theatre to get the dialogue I needed from the 2012 time-travel scene. It was a struggle. XD

Writing Alternatively

One big hurdle I had to figure out was how Steve would go undercover in Hydra. I knew I wanted him to, because that would be super interesting, and would allow him to find Bucky and take down Hydra from the inside, but I had to figure out how he convinced Hydra of his loyalty in the first place.

The path I chose (Steve claiming he is disillusioned with the modern world etc.) may seem rather obvious to the outside observer, but it might amuse you to learn I played around with the idea of Steve trying to claim he was secretly partial to Hydra even during the war. I honestly did spend a few days contemplating Steve somehow trying to say he was on Hydra's side even while he was actively fighting them. It makes me laugh to think about it now.

Obviously I went with a more believable lie, and eventually figured out everything I wanted to have happen in the story. At this point, I had no plans to write more than a single story.

Because Endgame had just come out, and I was so excited about this idea, I wanted to write it and get it out as fast as possible. For some reason I was worried that someone else would write the idea before I did. It felt like such an intriguing concept that I thought for sure other people would do it too. As such, I had several WIPs that I put on the back burner while I focused all my attention on writing Alternatively. (These WIPs still haven't been published, my writing has improved immensely over the last two years, so I think I might have to re-write them XD).

One thing that helped me a lot writing this story is I already had a lot of headcanons about the inner lives of the characters, and I was desperate for somewhere to put them. I hadn't had a chance yet to really write about Steve's PTSD, so that became a major theme in the story that helped push it along.

Alternatively was the longest story I had ever written when I first got started. Before writing Alternatively, the longest (published) word count I had was 7,544. And, I had only published one (1) multi-chapter fic, that had three chapters, and 4,621 words.

Looking at that, I doubt anyone could have imagined what I was about to undertake. Not even myself. But I really really wanted to write the story, so I ran with it.

I decided that I was going to write all the chapters first, before I published it. This is what I had been doing with my WIPs anyway (and I'm glad I did, or those things wouldn't have been updated for like, two years). I will admit that once I got to chapter 10 of Alternatively I was really tempted to just start posting it, because I was so excited and really wanted to start sharing it.

I managed to restrain myself though. It took my four months to write all twenty chapters of Alternatively. It was a frustrating process at times, because I had an idea in my head of what I wanted, but I felt like my writing skills were not on par with that ideal. I wanted this fic to be good, and it was hard to get it to where I wanted it. This got easier over time though, because one thing a project like this does is give you writing practice.

At the time, I didn't even have my own laptop, so I was writing on school computers, or my family computer. (I got a laptop once I started The Alternate Handler though, this story is actually part of what pushed me to get a laptop in the first place.)

Finally, I finished the last chapter, and I edited it for the final time, and then, on August 29th, 2019, I published the first chapter.

I was amazed at the response I received. Before this I had only written twelve stories, most of them oneshots. I'm not saying my story went viral or anything, but I got a lot more feedback than I was used to. This was super awesome, and made me even more excited to share what I had written.

Even as I was posting Alternatively, I didn't really expect to write any more in this universe. Except...there was so much about Bucky in this story that the reader didn't get to see. I knew all about it because I had to know what was going on in his head while Steve did his thing, but the readers wouldn't know more than Steve knew.

And so, as I posted Alternatively, a very determined plot-bunny began to work away at my brain. I actually gave into it at one point and wrote a little bit of what would become The Alternate Handler, but I stopped after the first four chapters for a while.

Fun fact: The first four chapters I wrote are actually the first two chapters of The Alternate Handler. Each chapter was only about 2,000 words long, so when I started writing the story in earnest, I combined the first four chapters into two.

I don't remember what exactly was the trigger that made me really want to write Bucky's side of things, but around the time that I posted chapter 10 of Alternatively, I started getting the same insane urge that had pushed me to write Alternatively in the first place, and I decided to go for a sequel.

Writing The Alternate Handler

I started posting this story Jan 2020.

I was excited to write this story, because of how interesting Bucky's thoughts were, but part of me was a little nervous that people would not be interested in reading the same fic from another pov. I knew it would be interesting, but I wasn't sure if people would give it a shot.

I decided to go for it anyways. I was pretty amazed at myself because I had just written something that was 100,000 words long, and people seemed to be liking it. (Of course, I never could have imagined that The Alternate Handler would double that. I definitely expected it to be about 20 chapters long like the first one.)

I decided that I wanted to get as much of The Alternate Handler finished before I finished posted Alternatively as I could, so that I could started posting The Alternate Handler right away. I felt that the best way to keep a steady readership was to make sure they could follow the next story right away.

That meant that I had only about 10 weeks to write as many chapters as I could. For all my stories, I had an outline of basic plot points, so I could keep track of everything I wanted to have happen. It was helpful, but also did not anticipate the scope of what would happen.

I had a general idea of what would happen, and I had vague ideas of scenes I wanted, but none of it was nailed down. As I wrote it felt like I was walking forward a few steps to illuminate the path I needed, and then snagging the right plot points out of the air.

Bucky's mindset also took some work to figure out. How do you write from the pov of someone who barely remembers anything? Does he know how to use metaphors? Does he know what a microwave is? How dependent is he? The first few chapters where Bucky is deep in his Winter Soldier programming took a lot of thought.

One of the fun things about writing this story was that I got to dive deeper into my headcanons of exactly how Hydra brainwashed Bucky. Before this I had some vague scenes and ideas, but this story really forced me to come up with a coherent timeline for Bucky's experience under Hydra, which is pretty cool. Once I had that, I could decide how and when I would reveal the pieces throughout the story.

Anyway, I managed to write 12 chapters of The Alternate Handler before I finished posting Alternatively. (Which is super impressive.) And somehow I managed to keep ahead of my posting schedule for twenty-eight more chapters.

I honestly can't believe it sometimes. I actually wrote a 40 chapter fic, and posted once a week for forty weeks, with only a head-start of 12 chapters. (And at the same time, I was like, finishing university and working. So no, I don't know how I survived.)

Reader influences: Unlike Alternatively, where I had everything written ahead of time, this story was still being written as I was posting, so the readership did have some influence on what I put out, which you may find interesting.

Bucky's arm: When I first started writing, I didn't have a concrete plan to replace Bucky's metal arm with something better. That may be a shocker, but that arc starts happening way later on into the story (around chap 32). Because of how long and intricate the plot and story is, there is simply no way I could plan every detail when I first got started. I didn't start offcially planning to have an arc around his arm until a reader mentioned in a comment that they hoped it would happen. (And I was like, 'oh yeah, that should definitely happen...eventually.' And made a note to work it in when it became appropriate.) The comment happened pretty early on in the story, so it was easy for me to start laying down the foundation for that arc.

Bucky's arm part two: Another thing a reader had a direct influence is the blue star Bucky has on his new arm. Originally I wasn't planning to have a star at all. I was going to have Bucky decide he didn't want one. But then I had a reader request that I keep the star, and I decided that keeping it would not upset any character development. I had already set up blue as an important colour in the story, so I decided to change Bucky's decision and have him request a blue star. I like it. It is a clear symbol of this Bucky, versus any other Bucky.

Surprises

One thing that surprised me while writing and posting this story, is the readership prediction for Bucky's choice of whether or not to fight. I posted a chapter that focused on Bucky watching himself react to being drafted, and then remembering himself choosing to follow Steve, and then cliffhangered on him having to decide if he wanted to join the Avengers.

I asked something in the author's notes about 'what do you think he will do?', and a surprising amount of people (to me anyways) thought that he would chose to fight. I had always planned to have Bucky retire from fighting, so I was a little shocked. I thought with a whole chapter about Bucky learning he never really wanted to fight at all, that people would think he would want to take a break.

I think the consensus came from the desire to see Bucky and Steve fight together like old times. I think Bucky joining Steve on missions is a common indication of him overcoming his past and avenging/revenging on Hydra, so in the end I am not surprised that a lot of people might expect that to happen.

Because of that response I was a little nervous people wouldn't be happy with Bucky's choice, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Bucky's arc and choosing not to fight is really important, and I think everyone is happy with how it went.

It took ten months to post all of The Alternate Handler. As I was writing, I was not planning to write anymore. I was mostly focused on finishing the story, and didn't expect to write a third part...

But, my traitorous mind whispered, this universe could fix everything. We can make Civil War less painful. We can keep them from fighting. We can do it properly.

To be honest, it didn't take a lot of convincing for me to give in and start planning An Alternate Approach.

Writing An Alternate Approach

I started posting this story Oct. 2020.

I started planning this with a lot of time to spare. I still had most of The Alternate Handler to write and finish posting when I decided to go for this fic too.

Some challenges were that I wanted to show the Avengers going through the same things as the original Avengers, but doing it better. I had already gotten rid of the Winter Soldier problem, and Tony knew about his parents, so we didn't have to deal with any of that, but I still wanted to do the UN bombing and that drama, because T'Chaka's death is very important to T'Challa's and Wakanda's development, so I felt it still needed to happen.

Of course...I had nipped Ultron in the bud, meaning Sokovia wasn't destroyed, and Zemo had no reason to go after Bucky.

Thankfully, I came up with the idea of having Rumlow do it in time to foreshadow it a little in The Alternate Handler (the fact that they never find him, even though they know he is out there etc.)

Like last time, I wanted to post The Alternate Approach as soon as I finished The Alternate Handler. It was a bit of a crunch time for me, but I managed to get all eight chapters finished in time. I basically finished writing The Alternate Handler and immediately started writing An Alternate Approach. I finished The Alternate Handler August 1st, and finished the last chapter of The Alternate Approach September 10th.

Originally I was expecting An Alternate Approach to be a bit longer, but things happened quicker than I thought they would.

A challenge for this story is that most of it happens during a movie. There was a lot of original stuff happening and interesting inner thoughts, but I was restricted in what I could do because of the script I still had to refer to. Also because this story was only eight chapters long, I didn't have as much space to work through character development.

Reader influences: Like with Alternatively, I managed to finish the story before I posted it, but the readers did have a little influence on the content.

Mostly it had to do with their reaction to Everette Ross. I think a challenge with this story is there is Everette Ross, and there is Thaddeus Ross. Thaddeus Ross is much worse than Everette Ross, but I think the readers mixed the two up sometimes because they share the same last name.

To top it off, I wanted to show Everette Ross' character arc a little, because he obviously changes from Civil War to Black Panther. There wasn't a lot of space to show the glimpse of his character and how he could be better than he seems. The readership really hated him at times, so I did edit his lines and facial expressions a little to try to make it clear that he thinks differently than Thaddeus Ross.

Actually, in chapter five, Steve has a nightmare about Hydra trying to wipe Bucky and trapping Steve in the SSR capsule he got the serum in. Originally, I was going to have the main villain in the dream be Thaddeus Ross, to symbolise how Steve was uneasy around him, and how Ross thought of Bucky. But the readership was already literally out for Ross' blood, and suspected him to be Hydra (which was not canon in the story). They really wanted something bad to happen to Ross, but I knew that wouldn't happen, so I decided to change Ross to Rumlow in the dream. This helped foreshadow Rumlow's later involvement, and it also didn't give the reader any more reasons to hate or suspect Ross.

If I were to write this again, I think I would try to make it more clear which Ross it which, since I think the same last names really didn't help the situation.

Writing The Alternate End

I started posting this story Nov 2020.

For a long time, I never intended to write The Alternate End. I had The Alternate Approach all planned out, but I was adamant that this time, I was 100% not going to write any more.

This not because I didn't like the series. I loved it, and my readers loved it too. But at the time, I hadn't finished The Alternate Handler yet, and I hadn't even started The Alternate Approach.

The thought of trying to write an Endgame fic felt a little overwhelming. I was worried I would run out of momentum at some point, and I would leave my readers hanging. I had been writing and posting a chapter a week for over a year at that point, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep it up for as long as I needed.

While I was trying to dodge plot-bunnies, I tried to convince myself that an Endgame fic wouldn't be interesting. I figured it would be just the same as any other Endgame fix-it fic. I was truly convinced that the readers would be satisfied by me bringing them all the way to Civil War, and then just, ending it there.

It makes me laugh to think about it now. I really thought I could just be like "The End! I'm sure you can imagine the rest" XD.

And then I was at work one day, thinking about the next chapter of The Alternate Handler, and thinking of how much I still had to write, including The Alternate Approach...and thinking pointedly that I was not going to write an Endgame fic...and then my traitorous brain decided to speak up again.

I had exactly two (2) thoughts that were my downfall. First my brain was like: What if we wrote it from Tony's pov? We've never written it from Tony's pov before.

And plot-bunny-brain was like "ooooh". But I was like, "No! It will still be a normal Endgame fix-it fic. People can read other fix-it fics if they want to know what happens."

And then my brain was like, What about the fact that they know about the time-travellers? What if they decide to leave a message about Thanos when they time-travel?

It makes me laugh to think that the simple warning message that Tony gives his alternate-self is the spark that got this story going. Once I started writing it, that scene was not what I looked forward to the most. But at the time, knowing about the time-travellers, and leaving a message behind was something completely unique to my AU, and so that is what I needed to jumpstart my desire to write this story.

As soon as I had those two thoughts, I knew I was done for. I actually stopped dead at work and stared ahead in betrayal and amusement. I was like, 'I really am going to write this, aren't I? I haven't even finished The Alternate Handler, but I'm going to plan out two whole stories to write after this, aren't I?'

And I did. I finished The Alternate Handler in the summer. Because I was already planning to write two more parts, I was able to set up some of what I needed for those parts in The Alternate Handler. (Such as Clint's family and Scott's introduction.)

I started writing The Alternate Approach as quickly as I could. I knew I only had a short window before school started again, and I wanted to get to The Alternate End as soon as possible so that I could get ahead on that.

Once I started posting The Alternate Approach, I had about eight weeks to write as many chapters of The Alternate End as I could. In the end, I managed to write ten chapters ahead of time, and I somehow managed to keep that lead for the rest of the twenty or so chapters.

I was a bit nervous about this fic, because it followed the movies for a while. I tried to keep at least one original scene in each chapter, and I thought Tony's pov was interesting, but I knew I wanted the Snap to happen. I also knew we had to start at the beginning of Infinity War, because we needed those scenes to establish character development and such.

Writing Tony was also its own challenge. Tony had already had a lot of character development, but we didn't see his side of it. He was in a better place than mcu!Tony, but I still needed him to be able to improve. It was a tricky balance trying to show the results of the character development he'd been having for three stories, while also making room for more.

Another thing about writing Tony is he has a lot more relationship dynamics to work with. In Steve's stories, his relationship dynamics are mostly between Bucky and Tony, and in Bucky's story the dynamics are mostly between him and Steve, and then eventually him and Tony, with a few snapshots of the other Avengers and his sister.

Tony has dynamics with Steve and Bucky, Rhodey, Pepper, and Peter. Plus any other Avengers who happen to be there. And then, Nebula and his relationship became unexpectedly important. It was a challenge to balance the relationships. I wanted to show Steve and Tony, because we had been watching it grow for ages now, but I also wanted to establish his relationship with Pepper, something we had only barely caught a glimpse of before.

On a different note, one thing I cursed Endgame for all the time was the sheer number of characters it has. In scenes with the whole cast I could be juggling 15-20 characters! It was a lot!

It took a lot of work, but I managed to finish The Alternate End three chapters ahead of time. It was a relief to finish, and I was excited for the approaching time I could start posting the oneshots I had planned for this universe.

Writing Alternative Options

I started posting this story May 2021.

I'm not sure exactly when I first got the idea to write oneshots within this universe. I think I had some readers suggest oneshots of different character's povs, and at that point I didn't even try to resist the plot-bunnies. I was just like, "why not?"

I had one reader request an alternate scene to chapter 10 of Alternatively waaaay back at the beginning of this adventure. It intrigued me, so I wrote it and shared it with them privately. I also had a scene I had to take out chapter 35 of The Alternate Handler, so since I already had those two documents sitting on my computer, it was nice to come up with somewhere to share them with everyone.

Also, like Bucky's pov in The Alternate Handler, I had a lot of extra content in my head of other character's motivations and povs that don't get spotlighted in the other stories. It's all in my head anyways, I might as well share it somewhere.

I wrote the first eight or so oneshots of Alternative Options whenever I felt particularly inspired. I wrote the very first chapter back in February 2021, but I actually wrote the second chapter way back in August 2020 (same with the onshot A Change in Protocol.) I rearranged the first eight chapters into what I thought would flow best.

Writing the oneshots was sometimes a nice break from my main project. I think the oneshots are a nice way to end off too, because there is less pressure on them. The story is done now, I can write and post the oneshots whenever I feel like it, but readers will always have a complete story to go back to.

Unexpected Things

Everything about this series was unexpected (even if most of the plot was pretty scripted), but some things still amuse me. As I got deeper into this universe, I was surprised at the amount of people who were concerned I would kill characters or end things angstily.

I remember when I announced I would be writing a Civil War inspired fic, many people were concerned that Steve and Tony would fight like they did in the movie. It didn't even occur to me to reassure people that this wouldn't happen, because it seemed so impossible to me.

To me it was obvious that I had fixed so many things already in this universe. It seemed so straightforward to me that certain things simply could not happen. (Of course, it would always seem obvious to the author.)

I think people were a lot more nervous for my Civil War story than I intended them to be.

And then, when we got to Endgame, people surprised me by hoping I wouldn't do the Snap at all. It had not occurred to me that people would hope that. I felt the Snap needed to happen. If it didn't happen, then we couldn't see any of the other painful things be fixed.

Then, people surprised me again because they were very worried that I would kill Tony and Natasha. I had basically spent the last two years writing a 500,000 word mcu fix-it series. I wasn't about to kill Tony and Natasha at the end.

Still, I am very good at pulling on angsty heartstrings, so I can see why people were concerned.

(That is another thing I did not expect, the amount of people who told my I made them cry with my writing. It touches me every time it happens.)

Take Away

If you made it to the end of this long post, congratulations!

What will I take away from this amazing experience? Well, first off, not to be intimidated by long story ideas. I probably wouldn't have written this if I had conceived how long it would be. Lucky for us, I dived head-first into this, and just kept swimming.

Another thing that I think is important, is you don't have to be a super experienced writer to write big things. I had written nothing even close to this when I started. And my writing improved a lot during this journey.

I think looking at the finished product it is easy to think that I am just naturally an awesome author, but two years ago that wouldn't have been the case. Don't be intimidated by the finished products of authors. That is the culmination of hours of work, and it does not mean you can't do the same thing if you feel a similarly insistent plot-bunny.

Finally, I would like to thank all my readers! If you've been around since I first started posting, then that is 94 weeks (plus whatever Alternative Options turns out to be) of reading a chapter a week from me! That is amazing!

If you joined later along the ride, that is just as awesome! Thank you for plunging into such a long series!

If you have any questions or want to chat with me about plot choices I made, or my thoughts behind certain scenes—or anything really—feel free!

I hope you enjoyed! :D

Tl;dr:

I never planned to write any of the stories after Alternatively, until about halfway through posting the preceding stories. Plot bunnies are really insistent, and I had stuff planned in the background anyways, so I had to share it. By the time I was about halfway through The Alternate Handler I had accepted that I was going to write two more stories in the universe.

It was a lot of work, and I had never written anything anywhere close to this giant project. It was a lot of fun though, and I'm glad I did it.

#fanfic #fanfiction #the alternative timeline #the alternate timeline #Alternatively #the alternate handler #an alternate approach #the alternate end #writing #writer #writers #long post #alternative options

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hetalia-nordic-trash · 4 years ago

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The Heart Gambit (Dennor): 4-Treat me like a Fool

Word count: 1,682

Summary: Mathias got hurt while he and Lukas were looking for Emil, so Lukas brings him back to his hotel room to patch him up a bit.

Author's Note: Finals are officially over!!! This means I can get back to doing weekly updates for both this story AND my original story on Wattpad (link at the end). I'm also thinking of starting a fanfic of Romano x Mexico OC but that would be like my 4th WIP so I don't think I'll start it any time soon unless there's a lot of interest in it for some reason. I have also come to the conclusion that I looovveee (and am way better at) writing dialogue! Much more than descriptions, unfortunately. I'm trying to get better but man it's hard! Anyways, hope you enjoy this part! Please interact and leave feedback! It goes such a long way!

Warning: Brief mention of injury

Previous: 3-One-Way Screen

Mathias kept his hand pressed to the cut on his head and watched eagerly as Lukas fiddled with the key to his room before finally throwing it open in a huff and stepping inside. Mathias hesitated, pondering the implications of being in another man's room.

"Don't just stand there! Hurry up before someone sees!" Lukas hissed. "I can't believe I'm even helping you."

"I think I figured that out the first 100 times you said that under your breath on the way here." Mathias stepped in and closed the door behind him. "Besides, you really should believe it considering who bit who."

"Sorry for the mess."

"It's fine."

Lukas made his way to the bathroom.

"I think the first aid kit is in here. Let's make this quick so you can leave-"

A scream rang out for the bathroom. It was quickly followed by Lukas's and Mathias's. Lukas slammed the door shut.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" Lukas shouted.

"...my business..." the voice replied meekly.

"You're dead."

Mathias perked up.

"Woah! There you are, Emil! We were looking all over for you! To be honest, I kinda thought you were dead."

A small click came from the door.

"Yeah...I've kinda been here this whole time. I set you and Lukas up because he wouldn't stop talking about you!" Emil teased.

Lukas flushed red and desperately jiggled to the door handle.

"shut up shut up shut up..."

"For real! All day and night! 'I wonder what Mathias is thinking about! He's ruining the sport but there's just something about him I wanna- '"

"Alright!" Lukas shouted again. "Just pass me the first aid kit and you get to live for 15 more minutes."

Some shuffling was heard in the bathroom. A single bandaid was pushed through the space under the door. This was followed by a single strip of gauze, then a small pouch of antibiotics, then wet wipe, then-

"You are so difficult sometimes."

"That's a funny way of saying 'you're welcome!'"

Mathias chuckled, but couldn't shake the feeling of his heart pounding in his chest. Did Lukas really talk about him? Did he really spare him a thought aside from hatred? He placed his hand to his chest, trying to calm himself.

Lukas made his way over with a handful of first aid supplies.

"Alright. Let's get this over with," Lukas sighed.

He opened a wet wipe and stood before Mathias. Lukas placed one hand on Mathias's head, by his wound.

"This might sting a little."

Mathias was at a loss for a moment. The warmth from Lukas's hand radiated through his whole body. He clung to this feeling, desperately wanting to remember his touch.

"It's fine. I can handle it." he managed.

He winced as Lukas began to clean the wound.

"Sorry..."

"N-no it's fine."

Mathias wasn't sure if he meant to do this, but Lukas began running his fingers through Mathias's hair. Mathias felt his cheeks flushing.

"Hey...pass me the antibiotic cream,"

Mathias met Lukas's eyes. Lukas quickly looked away, but he could still see that his cheeks, and more cutely his nose were lightly dusted pink. Mathias smiled.

"Can you pass me the antibiotic cream? Unless you WANT an infection!" Lukas repeated, finally meeting Mathias's gaze.

"You're pink." Mathias commented, trying to sound confident.

"You're a dumbass."

"You're cute..."

Mathias knew he could be impulsive, but if he was any more impulsive than he already was, he would've chosen to throw himself out of the hotel window. How could he just say that!? OUTLOUD!?

Lukas turned bright red and scoffed, looking away from Mathias again.

"Just...hand me the cream already...before I personally give you an infection," Lukas muttered.

Mathias was a bit relieved that Lukas didn't slap him or spit in his open wound. He passed Lukas the cream.

"You don't have to do it for me you know... I can do it myself," Mathias said, weaker than he was expecting.

Lukas shook his head, and Mathias felt the cool cream being applied to his injury.

"It's fine. I don't mind really. I want to do it. Well... 'want' is a strong word..."

Lukas cleaned his hands and put the bandaid on Mathias's injury and placed his hand there. Mathias felt his heart skip a beat as he took Lukas's hand and pressed it to his cheek. He waited for Lukas to pull his hand away, but instead, he felt Lukas rub his thumb on his cheek.

Lukas slowly pulled his hand away, and stiffened, realizing what had just happened.

"Well...you can go now...don't let anyone see you leave," Lukas huffed, still bright pink. He grabbed a book, sat down, and immediately started reading.

Mathias got up and slowly made his way to the door. He was still reeling, but his heart ached to be close to Lukas again.

"Heh, you know, if you promise not to injure me again, you should meet me at the park again tomorrow morning,". Mathias watched his words very carefully, trying not to sound desperate.

Lukas buried his head deeper into his book.

"...fine. Tomorrow morning."

"Yes!" Mathias mouthed.

He peaked his head out to make sure the hallway was clear, and slipped out, closing the door behind him.

---

"Is he gone yet!?" Emil called from the bathroom.

Lukas slammed his book closed.

"Yes. He's gone."

The bathroom door swung open and rolled into bed.

"Great. Goodnight."

"Wait you're going to bed right now!?"

"Yes. It's late."

"Are we not going to talk about this?" Lukas asked, sitting at the foot of Lukas's bed and yanking the covers off him.

"Hey! Come on I was just getting comfortable!"

"I can't believe you tried to set me up with him!"

Emil sat up.

"You really can't believe it? He's all you ever talk about these days! I figured talking to him would get him out of your system, but here you are... talking about him... again." Emil replied, rolling his eyes.

Lukas blushed.

"I don't talk about him all the time!"

"Oh my g- YES YOU DO!" Emil cried, yanking the covers back.

"The past few months it's been the same pattern! Every interview, update, news headline with his name in it you feel inclined to talk about it! You always scoff and say 'he has so much potential' or 'why is he doing this' and it's been that way for God knows how long!"

Emil turned over onto his side and turned off the lamp on the nightstand beside him.

"He's the first thing you think of when you wake up, and the last name on your lips before you pass out onto a pile of books. Admit you love him already and let me go to sleep!"

Lukas felt as though he'd been shot through the chest. He'd avoided that word for so long, haphazardly replacing it mentally with 'appreciate' or even 'admire' on the good days. It couldn't be love. The feeling of running his hands through Mathias's hair, letting him hold his hand to his cheek...those were just...

Those weren't things acquaintances did.

"I. Don't. Love. Him." Lukas spat. "I don't love anyone. Except you but that's different."

He stood up and started pacing by his bed.

"I don't care how I act around him or how much I think of him. I don't love him! I don't love anyone and I never will because there are more important things than him! Even if I did, it doesn't matter because I don't really know him and I never did! I can't believe you'd think I'd be in love with him! I'd never even met him before this!"

"Just say you love him!"

"NO!"

"But you do!"

Lukas slammed his hands on the table.

"You're wrong! I don't love Mathias! I don't love anyone! And I never will! Because love is a waste of time!" Lukas shouted, quickly turning to wipe the hot tears that dripped down his cheeks.

Emil let out a long sigh and turned over in the bed.

"You know, Mathias really likes you. But if you want to push everyone away for a stupid game, then go ahead. And I hope you win so that I won't have to hear you complain about him this time next week since that's all you care about right? Winning?"

Lukas could barely speak with the lump in his throat. Everything he screamed at Emil was something he's said himself every day. Every day he'd tell himself not to be distracted, to not need anyone, to not have a beating heart in his chest. And it had worked so far, but Mathias... Mathias was different. How? He couldn't understand how Mathias made his heart beat a little more or how when Mathias took his hand his heart skipped a beat. It wasn't fair. He wished deep down that he could hate Mathias with every fiber of his being. He wished he didn't need anyone else in his life. He wished that his heart didn't beat a little more whenever he looked into Mathias's striking blue eyes. But most of all, he wished he would be spared from the heartache to come. Win or lose, he that they'd want nothing to do with each other after the match.

Lukas still felt the tears coming and did his best to wipe them away and take a deep breath.

"Goodnight Emil," Lukas managed.

"Goodnight nerd."

---

Next: Chapter: 5-Too Clever by Half

a/n: OOOoooohhh things are definitely starting to happen now! I’m going to take this time to plug my non-hetalia work “ Intro to Love ” about a college student who struggles to keep her superpowers a secret and while making new friends. How much of her normal life will she give up to save her friends from a mysterious villain that drains students’ brains and turns them into zombies? The complete Chapter 1 is out NOW AND so is Chapter 2.1-'The last of the Good Days'! Go read them! Right now! They're waiting for you!

Thanks again for reading! Send some feedback my way! Can’t wait to continue this story!

Quotev link: here

#hetalia #hetalia nordics #hetalia norway #hetalia denmark #hetalia dennor #hetalia icealnd #hws #hws nordics #hws denmark #hws norway #hws dennor #hws iceland #hws chess #chess #hws fanfiction #hetalia fanficition #denmark x norway #norway x denmark

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cloviaglade · 4 years ago

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THE CRIMSON FLOWER ROUTE CORPORATE UNION AU

Yeah it came to me in a dream shared it with a friend and she said I should inflict it on the world so here we go

Warning: It's super long but I broke it up into chunks

(note not all members of the house fall into the categories listed also I'm not the best with corporate terms and positions. Also this was made for fun and isn't that serious)

The houses

The Black eagles generally were in accounting or sales. They dealt with a lot of the customers firsthand and were considered expendable

Blue lions where mostly in HR or IT

Golden deer mostly worked in maintenance and public relations.

Staff and church members are members of the board. Flayn has her position on the board despite her age because nepotism

The Seiros Co:

It's a large company that provide a large array of services and products that promote physical and emotional well-being. The company started out with good intentions but soon became a corporate monster

The company provides a host of benefits to its employees including on site housing, on site restraunts, on site pools gyms ect. They even have the best insurance on the planet. They even have horse therapy.

However they have to pay premiums on the health insurance, their rent is docted from their pay, they have to pay for on-site facilities, and those living on site are heavily encouraged to work overtime.

a lot of this is justified by cover every single health expense and days of for minor colds. Many employees seek mental health care more often than they seek physical care.

The on site living conditions vary heavily. Most are just a small white room with a single bed and a dresser. No visitors after certain hours and forget about outside visitors. However rumors are spreading that the board members have spacious luxury apartments.

The pay without all the benefits is not a wage you could live off of. But with the rent for these rooms doct from your pay you couldn't reasonably save up for different arrangements.

The strike begins:

Edelguard was finally fed up watching her team struggling. She hears constantly about how her workers are not making enough. How they have to scrape because they needed new clothes or shoes. Or worse how Petra wasn't able to support her sick grandfather

She hired a lawyer Hubert to look into information about their contracts and compare everything to labor laws. She needed to know how much of this was legal and if there was anything to be done about it.

Huberts lawfirm dealt with several lawsuits in the past. They are considered ruthless in court however media painted them out to be money hungry and demented

As expected, it was legal (mostly due to lack of regulation for these types of benefits) but really unfair, So Hubert suggested a strike. His firm would handle all the legal matters as they prepared a lawsuit and to unionize.

Edelguard was careful to organize it in private. Nothing was emailed. Nothing to tract them. Flyers were handwritten and posted in the dorms inviting members to secret meeting on slow hours.

Roles

What everyone did on the day of the strike/position they were in the office.

Black eagles

Edalguard: head of sales- she got everyone in her department and many others in different departments to simply stop working for the day when she commanded everyone to stop working via megaphone. She suck in hubert and went to a private meeting room to set up a list of demands.

Hubert: head of Vestra lawfirm- he snuck past security with the help of Edelguard. He brought a laptop and a phone with Hotspot so he could video call the rest of his attorneys from inside the conference room. Once the strike was in full swing he toured the place with Edelguard gathering evidence.

Ferdinand: senior sale manager has the highest customer satisfaction - when the strike was well underway he sent a mass email to everyone in every department including the CEO and founder herself in a very professional tone about how there is a strike. Lornez replied immediately and they when to the breakroom to enjoy tea while on the clock.

Lindhart: IT software specialist - first thing he did was turn off all the bans on websites. Everyone could go on whatever website they wanted to. He left the download blocker up and other safety precautions in place. Others could looks at memes and scroll through social media ect. He then returns to his dorm and takes a paid nap.

Caspar: manager in accounting slow but very accurate and a real team player - he hated the no pets policy with a burning passion so he let all the stray and feral cats that hang around the building in through one of the side doors. They stayed mostly on the ground floor and a few made a mess under the desks. He played with the strays with a few of his co-workers.

Bernadette: customer service rep. - she hated the calls filled with angry people. She clocked out, disconnected he phone, ran into her dorm and screamed into her pillow until calm. Once she calmed down enough she did some embroidery.

Dorothea: sales representative- has the highest upsale rate - she gets into her car and just leaves. She is still clocked in. Nobody knows where she went. Some say she met with a lover, others say she went on a binge. Nobody really knows.

Petra: bilingual sales rep. - she signed her phone off and immediately called up her family overseas. She proceeded to catch up and talk with her family for hours. She rarely got to speak with them due to the difference in timezones.

Blue lions

Dimitri: head of IT - he doesn't actually know much about IT and has little intrest in it. He got the job because his dad recommended him. With the outside website ban lifted and the lost of control of his department he frantically tried to get everything under control

Dedue: cyber security and protocol educator - although the bans are lifted he is still concerned about a cyber attack. He is frantically try to restore the ban but it seems like lindhart deleted the code.

Felix: hardware specialists - he was the one who should've been promoted into Dimitri's position and is a bit smug about how everything is falling apart in front of his boss. He bypasses the download blocker and plays minecraft on the company computer. Dimitri is too busy to notice that felix isn't helping.

Sylvain: HR rep. - he knew from the start that working conditions were shit. He was tired of trying to raise moral by doing everything but paying the employees more, giving them time off, and reasonable working hours. He went to the break room where Ferdinand and Lornez were having tea and ate a bunch of the snacks the company was reselling at super high prices then faxed a picture of his ass and balls to rhea herself as a letter of resignation.

Ashe: new hire in IT - was called down to the first floor to replace a keyboard a cat peed on. Found caspar was the reason the cats were let in. Caspar then persuaded him to play with the cats instead of shooing them out. 3 hours later he completely forgot about the strike and clocked out per usual. He completely forgot about the strike

Mercedes: head of HR - she meets with the board and discussed what to do about the strikers. They can't force them to go home since everyone striking lives on site and has every right to be there. No significant damages is being done to property. The only loss is from those not working (and a keyboard covered in cat piss and $35 worth of snacks) Mercedes is forced to find a way to get them to stop but in a way that doesn't really change anything. She leaves the meeting when it is over clocks out and returns to her modest house she calls out sick for the next couple of months.

Annette: HR rep - she tries to stop the chaos on the floor and to convince everyone to return to work. She is ignored. She wanted to ask for a megaphone to help gain attention but edelguard took the one from HR and the person with the key to one in the event closet is striking as well. She runs around in a paint trying to answer emails and settle everyone down.

Ingrid: IT helpline rep - helping Dimitri reset the ban on outside websites is above her pay grade. She at least know some of the terminology and the basics. She manages to set up a very basic blocker but it didn't block whole domains just the homepage of every website she could think of that's wasn't appropriate for work. Logging into the site allowed you to bypass the block. Ingrid feels like she will be fired for not being able to do more

Golden deer:

Claude: event planner - noticing that there was no work happening he finally decided it was time to actually do his job. He dipped into those sweet event funds and ordered as many pizza's as he could from every pizza join that could deliver. He busted out the sport balls and got employees to clear some room for flag football on the 3rd floor. He got Hilda to organize games of hide and go seek in floors 4 and 5. All games and activities were not officially approved but followed all guidelines.

Hilda: claudes assistant - organized games on the 4th and 5th floors. The cubicle although uniform made excellent hiding spaces and the food plaza just got rid of the old tables and chairs awaiting delivery of new ones so there was a ton of space to run around. Hidia had to jump between floors pretty often which was a workout all on its own but it was worth it to see everyone smile at work for once.

Lornez: head of advertising - he was tired of writing jingles and stupid commercials for the company. He wasn't aware of the strike until he got the email from Ferdinand. He offered to treat him to some tea he brought from home. They had a lovely talk and watched Sylvain stress eat. He tried to talk Sylvain out of resigning but failed.

Raphael: pizza delivery guy - he thought it was a joke at first since they never delivered pizza to the Serios Co but was persuaded by Claude. He got stopped at the front by the front desk clerk who was ordered not to allow any deliveries. Soon more pizza guys showed up and some of them where not as nice as Raphael. He eventually got in and successfully delivered his pizza.

Ignatz: accountant - he wanted no part of this and tried to work despite being on the 3rd floor. He doesn't have any PTO and is frantically trying to get his absence approved because he cannot work under these conditions. He got walled in with desks and chairs and hand to crawl his way out to try to find someone in HR to help him but found their office empty. Worst day of work ever.

Lysithia: Intern- hopes to join the advertising department - She needs this job for school credits so finding out that her boss told her to take the day off because of strike she immediately thought of her record. Lorenz assured her that she would get credit as long as he had any say in it. She played a round of hide and go seek before studying in Lornez's office

Marianne: customer service rep.- she heard the rumors and on the day of the strike she freaked out and when to have a panic attack in her car. She was on lunch technically but she took a 3 hour lunch. She came back in clocked out and decided to try that horse therapy.

Leonnie: pizza delivery guy (not nice) - she knows the customer didn't care that the order took so long to complete and was very understanding that the 30mins or less delivery time but seriously! 50 PIZZAS!! She had to stretch and press dough at top speed for like 45 mins then she burnt her hand while boxing some of the pizza's and she had to deliver all of it to this company just outside of town and now the person at the front door is insisting that the pizza was ordered by mistake oh no! Not today! You will take the pizza and you will pay for it and tip 25%.

Church

Rhea: CEO and founder - she honestly believes her practices are helping the community. She doesn't realize that she doesn't give her employees much choice. She thinks her employees are ungrateful.

Seteth: president - also believes the company is doing the best they can. He knows the dorms are small and brand but they house 78.364% of their employees and they all see a doctor at least 3 times a month. He hates that he has difficulty finding a balance between competitive prices, compensating workers, and turning a profit.

Flayn: secretary - she saw the fun going on in the 5th floor while on her lunch and thought it was organized by staff and didn't connect it as part of the strike.

Catherine: front desk - tried to turn away all the delivery drivers but more kept coming. She kept getting calls from upper management about the social media platforms and tried frantically to get in to make a statement but had little luck. She gave up when Leonnie demanded payment and let all the delivery people in.

Shamir: social media manager- she originally attended the meetings as a mole but soon learned that her fellow employees hardships. She drafted huge posts on every platform exposing the truth, changed all the passwords then took a vacation during the strike.

Hanneman: chief operational officer - he is calling and emailing the IT department about the bans every moment he can. He organized the meeting as soon as the strikers got rowdy.

Manuela: chief financial officer - although she is worried about the finances she has also been pressing about where to cut the budget first. Horse therapy is ridiculous! They own the whole ranch and are responsible for the upkeep of every horse. And all the horses are carefully hand selected and trained too. It's too much nobody uses the horse therapy because nobody has the time off to go to horse therapy!

Alois: Chairman - his title is mostly empty. He joined the strikers in a game of flag football scored a touchdown. Then went back to work as usual. Didn't check his emails about the strike since he only checks them in the morning when he first comes into work.

Gilbert: treasurer - he puts business first. Doesn't know his daughter works for the same company. Was friends with Dimitri's father. He is stressing about how the company will recover financially. He is the reason for the pay cuts so they can fund most of the benefits.

Cyrill: gopher - he gets paid minimum wage and lives on site. He considers himself lucky that he can drive the company car to go pick up office supplies from the store. He was homeless before he got a job at Seiros and feels like he is important.

Results

Since several members of the board were caught participating in strike activities the hubert and his firm counted them at strikers and used this in court.

The dorms were not considered responsible accommodations saying that prisoners in jail cells at least have their own toilet.

The news when crazy with the posts on social media. The account never replied to any dms or comments. When called they said a rogue employee posted them falsely because she was being fired.

Rhea was forced to pay a lawsuit that gave all dormitory workers an allowance of $1000 for rent for life. Even if they choose to leave the company.

Dimitri was fired for not actually having any training. Felix was promoted to the head of IT and everyone respects him.

Rhea looses her company. And most of her assets. She kept the therapy horse ranch and manages that for a living.

With the entire company now belonging to her since everyone above her resigned she made a ton of changes making the company more normal. She pays a fair livable wage to every employee. She repurposed the dorms into offices or solitary break rooms.

Huberts firm gets rebranded as a honest firm that wants to help the little guys. He later goes on to help other corporations unionize.

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peaches-writes · 4 years ago

Text

super random prompts for today bc im feeling nostalgic~

tw // death

at 1100 years of you fulfilling your punishment as a human turned grim reaper, no one could blame you when you confess that you don’t really know yourself now if the promise you swore to chan before he died by your sword in his first life is still serious or holds meaning to you. it was a long long time ago, already muddled in your failing memories, when you swore to the joseon era prince that you would ‘find and torture him in every life he gets’ because he invaded your village and branded you as a criminal (which ultimately led to you doing the things that got you landed with your current spiritual punishment). at present, having already met different versions of him in his subsequent lives and delivering him to the afterlife each time without fail, you’re not sure anymore if you can still hold onto this promise and cause him trouble. after all, every version of him that pops up on your radar throughout the centuries never remembers what he did in his first life, let alone remember you. plus, the only time he sees you now as a grim reaper is on his death bed, when you come to fetch him and confess to causing some of the misfortunes he’s experienced in the life that he’s lived.

so imagine your surprise when the gods inform you that chan only has one reincarnation left to spend and that he’ll spend it in the 21st century seoul, right where everything started. you’re then furthermore petrified when this version you meet not only has the ability to see and interact with ghosts by his 3rd eye but also finds the journal you unknowingly drop at his neighbor’s funeral: filled with notes on him and his previous lives as well as the confusing feelings you’ve unconsciously developed over the years. the final nail in the coffin, however, is that he’s not smug about it when he eventually finds you at the local graveyard, unlike how you expected of the chan from the joseon era. instead, he asks you all about his past lives, your punishment, and what he should expect in his next life if he has any. this time, with no means of escaping from his 3rd eye and his dangerously fast biking skills, you’re forced to confront the soul of the person you once called your enemy.

more of the kids under the cut!

minho receives a google form link from you at the strike of midnight on your 1st anniversary as a couple, initially opening it on the assumption that it’s the survey form you previously coerced him into agreeing to answer for your senior thesis. the computer science major is then thoroughly surprised when the link opens to a red and pink-themed form titled, “y/n’s boyfriend application!” with questions ranging from, “full name so i can flames it with my name” to “rate my annoying habits from ‘i love them dw’ to ‘this is probably going to be one of the future reasons why we’ll break-up.’” he messages you first before anything else, asking you just exactly ‘what the fuck is this application for, babe?’ to which you only reply with a spam of winking emojis. actually, you only reply with winking emojis and actual winks when he decides to videocall you into answering him, leading minho to answer the form while you’re peeking over on a small browser on his laptop screen. your boyfriend mainly answers the questions lightheartedly, even reading his answers aloud to you after (”what number on the fan do i like? four, of course!” “minho, you’re a monster.”). that is until the last question which he only smiles at before spending the last five minutes of your videocall typing continuously then ending the call after submitting, preventing you from interrogating him and his sudden change in behavior.

it’s only after the call that you see his answer to the last question (”why do you love me”), an entire eight paragraphs of him just mindlessly rambling about whatever comes at the top of his head to answer the question: ranging from his favourite and least favourite memories of you together, the things he loves about you coupled with the things he claims to not like about you (before shyly admitting towards the end that he still finds things to love about them), and an “overall there’s a lot of reasons why i love you: some i’ve mentioned, some i haven’t, some i’ve discovered, and some i will find out about in the future when we celebrate our 2nd year anniversary, 3rd, 4th, and the ones we’ll eventually forget what number they’re supposed to be because we’ll probably be married and busy with a lot of other things ;) there’s just no one definitive answer to this question, to be honest, but this is what comes at the top of my head. happy one year, baby <3″

when the fabric of reality that blankets seoul is reported to have been ripped at the seams, you start mysteriously losing some of your personal belongings to the parallel dimension’s version of your apartment. at first you blame it on your public enemy no. 1 and roommate, changbin, who does have a habit of borrowing things without permission and forgetting to return them. when you find a blue-haired and heavily tattooed changbin using your hair dryer in the bathroom one day (clearly looking very different from the roommate you’ve been living with for 6 months who has blonde hair and piercings only), however, only then do you realize that it’s been your roommate’s parallel version who’s been unknowingly receiving your things. what’s more surprising is him getting visibly confused at you initially throwing a fit at him when you mistook him as your real roommate, explaining to you later on that he and your parallel version are dating. you purposely avoid parallel dimension changbin for a few days in embarrassment from the latter, that is until he sits you down in the living room a week later (while your dimension’s changbin is out at his part-time job) and asks you, “so, what’s your problem with my parallel self? maybe i can help!”

only parallel dimension changbin proves himself to be unhelpful when all he comments on your subsequent ramblings is a cheesy grin and, “your roommate’s probably in love with you. god, i can’t believe that even in your reality i’m stupid.”

in a world where the person who doesn’t reciprocate an individual’s strong feelings instead of the other way around, hyunjin’s had his own fair share of sick days and pharmacy runs to suppress the flowers that bloom in him from admirers who fall way too deep into his charms. he’s slightly grown desensitized to it, having already memorized what to do and what to say to the people who are forced to confront and apologize to him each and every time. when it’s you who’s suddenly confessing your sudden feelings to him, promising that you’ll get over it in a month and even stay away for a while for his sake, only then does he feel a strange mix of dread, worry, and fear at the pit of his stomach. he doesn’t want you, his best friend, to ever leave his side but at the same time he can’t find it in himself to reciprocate your feelings for you to stay. for the first time, he doesn’t know what to do nor what to say to you, the daffodils suddenly feeling heavier in his lungs the more you try and distance yourself and see new people.

jisung, unlike how the cliche trope goes, always bets everything on him missing his shot at your subdivision’s basketball court. he always says something along the lines of, “if i miss this shot, let’s go the movies!” or “if the ball falls off the rim after 5 seconds, you’ll go to the beach party with me!” despite being the star player of your high school basketball team himself. he always purposely misses for fun and gets his reward, of course, even when you remind him to shoot properly through flustered expressions and feigned huffs. this has then caused you your entire summer time and allowance, all spent glued to jisung’s hip and buying him all sorts of things from ice cream, extended time to borrow surf boards at the beach, and even a ride ticket to the travelling carnival’s ferris wheel (where he stole a kiss from you at the top like the cheesy little shit that he is).

whenever you ask him why he bets in reverse each and every time, however, only then does his confident smirk disappears into his blush and he turns his entire face away from you; too shy to admit that you make him a little too nervous whenever it’s just you watching him shoot hoops. give him a rest, he just wants more full assurance that he’ll get to spend more time with you, as boyish as that sounds.

you probably should’ve known better than to provoke chenle and wooyoung when you told them over the student council meeting that a marriage booth probably wouldn’t give you a lot of revenue since your school festival this year doesn’t fall on valentine’s day week. you probably should’ve expected that the first thing they’d do after the student assembly, when the festival is formally opened, is to drag you into said marriage booth—your english classroom decorated from top to bottom in cheap white cloth, plastic flowers, and an edit of your senior alumni bang chan as jesus—and put you into one of the flower crown veils they probably got at someone’s baptism, explaining that they need someone to kickstart the booth and attract more customers. but most of all, you probably should’ve expected that these two troublemaking vice president and secretary of yours wouldn’t hesitate to take this opportunity to torment you even further because suddenly you’re getting fake married to felix, your chem lab partner and long-time crush, who also has his own ‘sins’ to atone to chenle and wooyoung (something about ditching them at a party because he saw an injured cat stuck up on a tree on the way to the venue). the two of you stand in front of the “bang chan altar” for 10 minutes with han jisung in a questionable pope costume, the two of you attracting passersby who are mostly your classmates murmuring “oh my god, y/n and felix?” or “i knew it! those two are so cute together!” as the two of you are forced into exchanging cereal box rings and saying impromptu vows.

what you didn’t expect from this experience, however, is felix suddenly confessing in his vows, clearing his throat awkwardly while sliding the purple plastic ring on your ring finger and saying, “this isn’t how i imagined it to go but we’re both here, all of our classmates are here, and you’re looking really pretty today so, uh...y/n, i just want to say that i’ve really liked you for a long time.”

your grandmother shows you her first look of disapproval over your weaved fabrics when you start creating pieces that seem to resemble the aura of a boy. as much as you don’t want to see her disappointed, tradition still stands that you have to design your fabrics according to how you would interpret your dreams and since you turned 18, all you’ve been dreaming about is your potential soulmate. of all 7 billion in the world, you just have to be one of the rare ones with the ability to interpret your dreams on textile and have these said dreams be your soulmate bond to someone else as well. instead of arbitrary colors or shapes resembling nature like your grandmother and everyone else, you’re trying to recreate the face of a boy your age with the kindest smile you’ve ever seen and the prettiest brown eyes; instead of putting the sounds of the ocean or the chirping of birds as they would be usually heard in dreams onto colorful fabric, you’re trying to mix red, orange, and yellow dyes on threads just to try and capture seungmin’s golden voice whenever he would sing to you in your dreams. your soulmate becomes your muse, the lasting impressions he makes on you in the 3 real-time seconds of dreaming that you spend with him embedding themselves into the blanket you’ve been tasked to make for the winter.

seungmin is more than flattered of course, finding genuine fascination in what you do and excitement to see you in person once university allows him. it’s only at the end of the year, however, right on christmas day, when he finally sees you on vacation in your town with his family—finding you at the beach party his new friend hyunjin invites him to where you dance around the bonfire with your own friends, wrapped in the blanket made of warm colors that just scream his very soul and aura. your eyes meet almost as soon as he arrives because of your soulmate pull, causing you to become flustered at realizing that you’re wearing the blanket design that’s been inspired by him, and before he knows it, kim seungmin is running to you and grabbing your arm. “hi.” he pants breathlessly, his relieved smile shining brightly against the orange glow of the fire to your side. “finally. it’s you!”

jeongin stares at his laptop for a solid 5 minutes in complete and utter confusion before his roommate seungmin pokes him on the side of his head and asks if he passed his dream university, snapping him out of reality. it’s not that he didn’t pass the entrance exam, definitely not because he’s still feeling confident from answering it from almost 6 months ago. rather, it’s that the acceptance e-mail sent to him by the university is for a completely different name, your name out of all applicants out there—that one person he sat next to at cram school and turned down at the end of the summer. logging into his social media accounts, he sees people voicing out their concerns for similar incidents, that they’re getting acceptance or rejection e-mails of other applicants instead of their own, and posts that aim to track down who’s gotten who to remedy this. when seungmin hears this, he simply shrugs and urges jeongin to simply message you and get over it since the two of you are connected on social media anyway. but still, jeongin takes another hour to message you with a simple, “hi, i got your e-mail. should i forward it to you?” even closing his laptop in a hurry and running back into the comfort of his blanket as soon as he hears the dreadful ping of the messenger app. he knows he shouldn’t be flustered to message you, especially with something as important as your acceptance letter, but he can’t help but feel weak in the knees at the thought of having to talk to you again after almost a year because all he can think about is that he really shouldn’t have rejected you in that offer to go to the movies in the first place.

what’s worse is that, since he sent the message over online, his thoughts can’t help but overthink your simple “really? here’s my e-mail” reply that comes not even a second after he sends his message—even more your follow-up reply of “i got yours too btw! i’ll forward it to you when you forward mine” when he doesn’t reply immediately. jeongin’s fingers uncontrollably shake as he musters up the courage to reply, face blushing red the entire time as he e-mails you your acceptance letter. all this time, considering how the two of you haven’t talked in a long time, he only thinks about one ambitious thought: “is it a bad time? to bring up that movie offer again?”

#stray kids #skz #chan #lee know #changbin #hyunjin #han #seungmin #i.n.

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thechosenburrito · 3 years ago

Text

The Heart Gambit (Dennor): 4-Treat me like a Fool

Word count: 1,682

Summary: Mathias got hurt while he and Lukas were looking for Emil, so Lukas brings him back to his hotel room to patch him up a bit.

Warning: Brief mention of injury

Previous: 3-One-Way Screen

"Don't just stand there! Hurry up before someone sees!" Lukas hissed. "I can't believe I'm even helping you."

Mathias sat on the bed, taking in the room around him. It was much simpler than he imagined. Two small beds were shoved up against the edge of the room, and the table had been away from the wall so that a chess board could be set up on it. The bed he was sitting on was still made, but the sheets were disturbed as if someone has been laying on it. The bed next to him was a bit more disheveled. It was piled high with books and yet another chessboard. Among the piles of books, a sweater and pants were neatly folded, waiting to be worn. "Sorry for the mess." "It's fine." Lukas made his way to the bathroom. "I think the first aid kit is in here. Let's make this quick so you can leave-" A scream rang out for the bathroom. It was quickly followed by Lukas's and Mathias's. Lukas slammed the door shut. "What the hell are you doing here!?" Lukas shouted. "...my business..." the voice replied meekly. "You're dead." Mathias perked up. "Woah! There you are, Emil! We were looking all over for you! To be honest, I kinda thought you were dead." A small click came from the door. "Yeah...I've kinda been here this whole time. I set you and Lukas up because he wouldn't stop talking about you!" Emil teased. Lukas flushed red and desperately jiggled to the door handle. "shut up shut up shut up..." "For real! All day and night! 'I wonder what Mathias is thinking about! He's ruining the sport but there's just something about him I wanna- '" "Alright!" Lukas shouted again. "Just pass me the first aid kit and you get to live for 15 more minutes." Some shuffling was heard in the bathroom. A single bandaid was pushed through the space under the door. This was followed by a single strip of gauze, then a small pouch of antibiotics, then wet wipe, then- "You are so difficult sometimes." "That's a funny way of saying 'you're welcome!'" Mathias chuckled, but couldn't shake the feeling of his heart pounding in his chest. Did Lukas really talk about him? Did he really spare him a thought aside from hatred? He placed his hand to his chest, trying to calm himself. Lukas made his way over with a handful of first aid supplies. "Alright. Let's get this over with," Lukas sighed. He opened a wet wipe and stood before Mathias. Lukas placed one hand on Mathias's head, by his wound. "This might sting a little." Mathias was at a loss for a moment. The warmth from Lukas's hand radiated through his whole body. He clung to this feeling, desperately wanting to remember his touch. "It's fine. I can handle it." he managed. He winced as Lukas began to clean the wound. "Sorry..." "N-no it's fine." Mathias wasn't sure if he meant to do this, but Lukas began running his fingers through Mathias's hair. Mathias felt his cheeks flushing. "Hey...pass me the antibiotic cream," Mathias met Lukas's eyes. Lukas quickly looked away, but he could still see that his cheeks, and more cutely his nose were lightly dusted pink. Mathias smiled. "Can you pass me the antibiotic cream? Unless you WANT an infection!" Lukas repeated, finally meeting Mathias's gaze. "You're pink." Mathias commented, trying to sound confident. "You're a dumbass." "You're cute..." Mathias knew he could be impulsive, but if he was any more impulsive than he already was, he would've chosen to throw himself out of the hotel window. How could he just say that!? OUT LOUD!? Lukas turned bright red and scoffed, looking away from Mathias again. "Just...hand me the cream already...before I personally give you an infection," Lukas muttered. Mathias was a bit relieved that Lukas didn't slap him or spit in his open wound. He passed Lukas the cream. "You don't have to do it for me you know... I can do it myself," Mathias said, weaker than he was expecting. Lukas shook his head, and Mathias felt the cool cream being applied to his injury. "It's fine. I don't mind really. I want to do it. Well... 'want' is a strong word..." Lukas cleaned his hands, put the bandaid on Mathias's injury, and placed his hand there. Mathias felt his heart skip a beat as he took Lukas's hand and pressed it to his cheek. He waited for Lukas to pull his hand away, but instead, he felt Lukas rub his thumb on his cheek. Lukas slowly pulled his hand away, and stiffened, realizing what had just happened. "Well...you can go now...don't let anyone see you leave," Lukas huffed, still bright pink. He grabbed a book, sat down, and immediately started reading. Mathias got up and slowly made his way to the door. He was still reeling, but his heart ached to be close to Lukas again. "Heh, you know, if you promise not to injure me again, you should meet me at the park again tomorrow morning,". Mathias watched his words very carefully, trying not to sound desperate. Lukas buried his head deeper into his book. "...fine. Tomorrow morning." "Yes!" Mathias mouthed. He peaked his head out to make sure the hallway was clear, and slipped out, closing the door behind him. --- "Is he gone yet!?" Emil called from the bathroom. Lukas slammed his book closed. "Yes. He's gone." The bathroom door swung open and rolled into bed. "Great. Goodnight." "Wait you're going to bed right now!?" "Yes. It's late." "Are we not going to talk about this?" Lukas asked, sitting at the foot of Lukas's bed and yanking the covers off him. "Hey! Come on I was just getting comfortable!" "I can't believe you tried to set me up with him!" Emil sat up. "You really can't believe it? He's all you ever talk about these days! I figured talking to him would get him out of your system, but here you are... talking about him... again." Emil replied, rolling his eyes. Lukas blushed. "I don't talk about him all the time!" "Oh my g- YES YOU DO!" Emil cried, yanking the covers back. "The past few months it's been the same pattern! Every interview, update, news headline with his name in it you feel inclined to talk about it! You always scoff and say 'he has so much potential' or 'why is he doing this' and it's been that way for God knows how long!" Emil turned over onto his side and turned off the lamp on the nightstand beside him. "He's the first thing you think of when you wake up, and the last name on your lips before you pass out onto a pile of books. Admit you love him already and let me go to sleep!" Lukas felt as though he'd been shot through the chest. He'd avoided that word for so long, haphazardly replacing it mentally with 'appreciate' or even 'admire' on the good days. It couldn't be love. The feeling of running his hands through Mathias's hair, letting him hold his hand to his cheek...those were just... Those weren't things acquaintances did. "I. Don't. Love. Him." Lukas spat. "I don't love anyone. Except you but that's different." He stood up and started pacing by his bed. "I don't care how I act around him or how much I think of him. I don't love him! I don't love anyone and I never will because there are more important things than him! Even if I did, it doesn't matter because I don't really know him and I never did! I can't believe you'd think I'd be in love with him! I'd never even met him before this!" "Just say you love him!" "NO!" "But you do!" Lukas slammed his hands on the table. "You're wrong! I don't love Mathias! I don't love anyone! And I never will! Because love is a waste of time!" Lukas shouted, quickly turning to wipe the hot tears that dripped down his cheeks. Emil let out a long sigh and turned over in the bed. "You know, Mathias really likes you. But if you want to push everyone away for a stupid game, then go ahead. And I hope you win so that I won't have to hear you complain about him this time next week since that's all you care about right? Winning?" Lukas could barely speak with the lump in his throat. Everything he screamed at Emil was something he's said himself every day. Every day he'd tell himself not to be distracted, to not need anyone, to not have a beating heart in his chest. And it had worked so far, but Mathias... Mathias was different. How? He couldn't understand how Mathias made his heart beat a little more or how when Mathias took

his hand his heart skipped a beat. It wasn't fair. He wished deep down that he could hate Mathias with every fiber of his being. He wished he didn't need anyone else in his life. He wished that his heart didn't beat a little more whenever he looked into Mathias's striking blue eyes. But most of all, he wished he would be spared from the heartache to come. Win or lose, he that they'd want nothing to do with each other after the match. Lukas still felt the tears coming and did his best to wipe them away and take a deep breath. "Goodnight Emil," Lukas managed. "Goodnight nerd." --- Next: Chapter: 5-On Mountains with You (Coming soon!) a/n: OOOoooohhh things are definitely starting to happen now! I’m going to take this time to plug my non-hetalia work “ Intro to Love ” about a college student who struggles to keep her superpowers a secret and while making new friends. How much of her normal life will she give up to save her friends from a mysterious villain that drains students’ brains and turns them into zombies? The complete Chapter 1 is out NOW AND so is Chapter 2.1-'The last of the Good Days'! Go read them! Right now! They're waiting for you! Thanks again for reading! Send some feedback my way! Can’t wait to continue this story! Quotev link: here

#hetalia nordics #hetalia denmark #hws norway #hetalia #hetalia dennor #dennor #hwang hyunjin #hws nordics #hws denmark #hws dennor #denmark x norway #norway x denmark #hetalia fanfiction #chess au

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drops-of-moonlights · 4 years ago

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WINX REDUX AU SUMMARIZED: Season 5 (The Rage of the Merfolk Prince)

Or, in which I give the basics of what I’ve changed about the story for the AU. It was originally way more descriptive but if I kept it in that style I would have finished in 2039 and I ain’t got time for that. Let’s cover Season 5 at last!

WINX REDUX AU SUMMARIZED: SEASON 5 (The Rage of the Merfolk Prince)

It’s been a few weeks since the adventure in Nevere and Zeisterna, and the Winx come back from Earth after having helped out with the preparations to fully join the Council of Magix.

Roxy and Selina come with them, both now soon to start classes in Alfea and Cloud Tower respectively. They all are tired, just having helped with an oil spill near Gardenia that took them by surprise.

Selina bids farewell after getting directions, and after finishing up Roxy’s remaining paperwork (most of everything else she filled out on Earth with Klaus and the Black Circle’s help), they also say goodbye - classes don’t start for another week, and the Winx have stuff to do.

A few hours later, on the Order of Mana’s Roccaluce base, Tecna, Musa and Flora are granted the title of Guardian Magi - now recognized as heroes of their realms thanks to their deeds, and able to directly interfere in any situation that proves dire.

After the ceremony and a lot of congratulations (as well as the girls meeting Tecna and Flora’s parents for the first time), Aisha is called by Tressa, who tells her that Tritannus has somehow escaped.

After a short panicked scream and her attempts to immediately go to Andros stopped by the rest, Aisha elaborates on who Tritannus is. (You can learn more about him here! for the rest of his fam, go here)

So far it seems Tritannus escaped with the help of a group of magi, but his actual whereabouts are unknown.

On Mareia, near the Highpeak Prison for Troublesome Merfolk, a merman is escaping, alongside three witches - Tritannus, aided by the Trix. The Trix had been relocated to that prison for the time being, and thanks to Earth’s recently-opened Ocean Gate, some of that spilt oil entered Mareia.

Tritannus, using his knowledge of toxins and the like and aided by the Trix, manages to poison the guards even with the magic limiter placed on him, regaining his trident (and the Trix their weapons), making a run for it.

The magic limiter is undone on Tritannus forcefully, making his aura and magic overflow, his eyes gaining the magic high light.

After forming an alliance with the Trix, he explains them his plan of revenge, and with how useful the oil proved, they decide to go to Earth and get more.

The Winx go back to Earth for three days right before classes start, wanting to actually spend time relaxing with Bloom’s parents, the guys tagging along to properly explore the city as the last time they visited it was to fight the White Circle.

Tritannus and the Trix make it to the Earth Gate, but are stopped by Lemmy and Phylla, the Selkies of Earth and Andros. After a short fight, the Selkies lose, and Tritannus takes the chance and steals one of the pearls in each of their necklaces - holding the power to freely traverse between the gates. Linking them to himself and the Trix, they make their trip at last.

While exploring the city, Sky pulls Nex aside and shows him a jewel necklace - the Heart of Arturia. He’s planning to give it to Riven as the official signifier that they’re dating, as they haven’t announced it to the general public yet and Samara’s pressuring him about it.

Sky is unsure about using the Heart for it as it can have the meaning of engagement and he doesn’t want to scare Riven off, and Brandon’s advice to give it to him as soon as possible has made him more nervous. Nex suggests to give it to him when an opportunity presents itself, and that he’ll know when to give Riven the pendant.

The day goes by without any major incidents until sunset, when a surge of oil seems to spout out of the ocean, coating the beach and mutated fish suddenly attacking.

Everyone transforms and starts fighting the monsters, the guys stay behind to protect the beach while the Winx advance into the sea trying to search for the source.

After a few minutes they find Tritannus and the Trix, and with Aisha recognizing her cousin the fight goes underwater. The girls struggle to fight well in Believix (so do the Trix), eventually both teams retreating to regroup and think about how they will progress. During the fight back at the beach, Sky loses the pendant after being forced out of his armor, falling into the seas. This sends Sky into a minor panic, due to the superstitions surrounding the Heart. Riven can pick up something’s wrong with him but doesn’t bring it up, knowing full well how his boyfriend works and that he needs to calm down first.

After helping to clean up the next morning, Bloom meets with Mitzi to give an actual goodbye, keeping a promise made with her after having disappeared for 3 years. Macy is also there, holding a small weak-looking flower in a pot. She reveals to Bloom that she seems to be developing magic, and somehow managed to make this flower sprout. She has called it a Lilo, as it was made using lily seeds.

After a short talk, both sisters leave to the park, a flower rally happening that day as an incentive for more people to go green after yesterday’s shenanigans.

From the shadows, the Trix can sense incredibly magic budding in that flower thanks to Macy’s inexperience, and conclude that if it blooms, it will release plenty of magic for them to absorb, which will hopefully fix their issues underwater.

After a few hours (since Mitzi had to run some errands and Macy wanted to tag along), the Trix take the chance to strike while the girls are distracted, attempting to steal the Lilo. They don’t foresee Mitzi immediately round kicking them all at once, grabbing Macy and going as fast as she can on her motorcycle, telling her sister to call Bloom for help.

They manage to elude the Trix for a bit and take refuge in the mall, hoping the increased amount of people will make them drop their pursuit. However, Mitzi only knows of them thanks to Bloom’s stories, and her expectations prove to be false when Icy casually covers the place in frost.

Macy tries to fire weak spells to try and delay them using the plants in the area, but her magic is still untrained and they’re quickly burnt by Stormy. However, the plants retaliate and immediately ensnare Darcy and Icy, Macy looking surprised.

The spell was Flora’s, who arrives with everyone else to protect the sisters. The Winx go confront the Trix directly, while the guys escort Mitzi and Macy out in the confusion. After a short battle, the Trix go after the Lilo again, the Winx following suit.

During the escape, they briefly go past the park, and Macy decides to simply plant the Lilo around the rest of the plants and then enchant them, hoping that will be enough to mask its signature and make the Trix take too long to find it. Seeing the logic behind that, the guys agree, and with help from Helia and Nabu the whole park is enchanted.

The Trix arrive at the park and are confused at all the magic in the area, and decide to simply go after Macy again and force her to talk, though she’s visibly less harsh than she would have been with Mitzi. She’s defended by the Specialists and the Winx again, but Icy finds an opening and grabs her, lifting her to the air. She starts to threaten her but Flora intervenes, managing to bring Macy back to the ground and starts to fight Icy one-on-one.

It’s an intense fight, as Flora’s very aggressive physical fighting style is starting to cut away at Icy’s defenses, and right when she’s about to strike the final blow, she is struck on the back by Stormy. She starts to fall but picks herself up, and realizes a sudden magic rush is starting to burst from the garden.

The Lilo blooms, left unattended during the fight and the extra magic from it feeding it, releasing a torrent of energy. The Trix move as fast as possible and manage to absorb the magic, sadly realizing that it was less than what they thought they would get. They try to retaliate against the Winx, but Flora and Macy manage to make a convergence spell, a torrent of petals, leaves and branches suddenly pelting them and hitting them, driving them away back with Tritannus - they got what they wanted.

Macy is sad about what happened but Flora commends her work, impressed at how someone as young as her made a flower as interesting as the Lilo. She suggests to train under Eldora if she has the chance, now that Selina’s at Cloud Tower she could use the help from time to time. Macy accepts, and after taking a while to relax among the flowers, everyone leaves for home, Mitzi and Bloom moving their hangout to tomorrow after the shenanigans of today.

The next day goes without incidents, and after bidding goodbye to her parents, Bloom and the rest go back to Magix, to start their 4th year of class properly. The guys outside of Helia and Nabu start their 6th and last year at Red Fountain, while Nabu signs up for the 2-year program at Alfea.

Bloom and Dia reunite after three months of not getting to see each other, and decide to catch up on lost time. Flora is approached by Krystal, recognizing her childhood friend, leaving Flora confused. She reveals she was Rosa, the girl that used to play with her and Helia on the woods, and also sit down to catch up.

Afterwards, the group goes to talk with Faragonda, explaining the situation with Tritannus and the Trix and how their mainly-underwater actions make it harder for the girls to confront. Faragonda doesn’t try to dissuade them from attempting this as Aisha having personal links to the case is not something she can dismiss, so she tells them they might need to obtain Sirenix to properly deal with Tritannus.

A few moments later, the Winx asks Daphne about Sirenix, and how they can get it bothering her about her own journey. The Princess is reluctant on letting them try it as its trial can be hard to deal with, but eventually relents and tells them what she did - one must get 3 pearls from the various seas of the system, and then bring them to one of the Springs of Sirenix to obtain the form.

However, they need to kickstart the quest properly, and for that they must find the Grimoire of Source Forms, that houses the riddles used to begin the quests for the elemental transformations. Daphne does mention that simply befriending a Guardian Selkie would be viable as well, as that’s what she did with Politea, but the Winx go with the book as that would be faster. A copy of it is guarded in the Magic Archive, and so the Winx begin their search.

They decide to call the guys to help with the search given the archive is massive, and Helia also reunites with Krystal. On their way to the archive, Sky talks with Flora about the pendant and his worries, and Flora advices to simply focus on finding the the Heart first, and then see what he does with it.

Nex and Krystal end up in a conversation after a while, and seem to hit it off nicely.

On the swamp of Melmamora, the Trix and Tritannus ponder what to do regarding the Trix’s inability to properly fight underwater - even going back to Enchantix is giving them trouble. Tritannus then remembers about Sirenix, and believing the Winx will try to get it as well, the Trix go to Alfea, expecting to get indirect answers from them.

On the Archive, everyone starts to help with the search of the Grimoire, and after a few hours, they manage to find it thanks to Concorda’s help. It’s at that point that the Trix strike, making a mess of the place and start to fight for the book. Krystal helps as support, her powers over healing proving helpful in short bursts and her small control over plants helping Flora from time to time.

However, while on the highest points of the Archive, a bad move and an attack by Stormy damage Sky’s wings, making him fall to the ground. The armor has a safe fall spell embedded that helps Sky to not die from the fall, but he still hits the ground hard.

Tecna, who currently has the Grimoire, takes advantage of the show to cast a duplication spell, keeping the original hidden. She throws the copy to the ground while rushing over with everyone else to Sky, and the Trix, believing it to be the real book, grab it and leave.

Krystal and Helia manage to undo most of the surface damage together, but when Sky wakes up, he seems to have lost his memories. This is bad for many reasons.

A few days pass, and not even the Winx’s and Faragonda’s Onyrix powers are enough to help him remember more than his name and role as prince - something inside him is keeping the memories blocked for some reason, and until they discover what it is they can’t do much. Flora, Brandon and Nex have an idea of what it could be, and both boys volunteer (alongside Riven and Dia) to help him recover his memories more gradually by recalling their relationships to each. The Winx are still worried about their friend (Bloom and Stella mainly), but Dia reassures them they’ll find a way to help him, and that they still need to start the Sirenix quest.

The girls then go back to their dorm and try to open the Grimoire, but to their surprise they can’t. After a few more attempts, the book itself seems to talk - saying that it needs a key to be opened before they attempt the quest. It says to look for it in the “lush place blessed by Aethernae”, before going silent again.

On the seas of Andros, Tritannus and the Trix manage to open their version of the book - and obtain the same results, though mentioning a place guarded by Voidoleire rather than Aethernae - Tecna’s copy of the book was good enough, and worked the same way. They realize that Sirenix would also grant them access to the Infinite Ocean, and that would be immensely helpful to their plans.

After a quick search by Tecna, they determine that the most likely place the Grimoire meant was the Shrine of Aethernae in Graynor. With Stella’s staff, they quickly teleport there, and find themselves face to face with a Pixie. Introducing themselves as Natalira, they then guides them to the altar, where they assign them a challenge - they must find the Creature of the Rainbow Mantle, and convince it to come to the altar without using magic or potions to enchant it.

The Winx then split in teams of 2, and after some contraptions and challenges (as well as some bonding moments), they reunite as they see a fight between a manticore and a griffin.

The fight starts to escalate to the point the girls start to feel in danger, and as such transform and look from a distance. The griffin manages to do very heavy damage and ends up kicking the manticore to a cliff, the beast hanging on a branch for dear life. The Winx realize it’s about to break, and with a convergence spell they manage to bring it back to safety. Stella and Aisha take care of its injuries, Tecna and Bloom try to calm it down, and Flora and Musa get it some food and water to replenish itself.

The manticore nuzzles them all, and then suddenly shifts color - its grey fur and mane suddenly turning rainbow. It was the Creature of the Rainbow Mantle all along.

The Winx then manage to bring it back to the shrine, and congratulating their kindness, Natalira gives them the key to the Grimoire - a key decorated with different-colored gems.

The Winx thank them, and as they open the book (as they brought it along with them), it asks one final question: are they completely, truly sure they want to start a Quest? Using the book method only gives a time limit of a full lunar cycle, and if they fail to finish in time they won’t be able to try the quest again in 3 years. The Winx agree wholeheartedly, knowing that Aisha’s family and the oceans of the system are in danger and this will be their best chance.

At this, the book flips to the page holding the first Sirenix riddle, and the Winx feel a sudden rush of magic - they have obtained Harmonix, as their minds, hearts and souls were perfectly aligned (“in full harmony”, so to speak) in their decision.

On Daumme, in an island near Oppositus, another Pixie gives the Trix and Tritannus the same Key. With the Trix and Tritannus also agreeing to the quest, thought out of a desire to be powerful, they are given Harmonix as well.

The first riddle speaks of Shimmering Shells and of subtle songs, both Aisha and Tritannus recognizing that as a place near Andros and Mareia.

The Winx then decide to do each riddle in different groups of three, so one team can advance the quest while the rest do research on Sirenix itself, as well as trying to help Sky recover his memories.

Stella, Aisha and Bloom go to Andros, and with Roy’s help, they arrive at the Shimmering Shells. However, once they do dive down there, they realize Tritannus and the Trix have already been there - and have taken the Pearl of Ingenuity for themselves. They have corrupted the Shells making them hostile, so the three Princesses try their Harmonix powers on them, healing them. As thanks, the Shells provide the next riddle. On the way, they meet Lemmy and Phylla.

During the trip back, Tritannus has paid a visit back home, and has managed to poison his father as well as Nereus, putting them out of commission and into the dungeons - Ligea and Tressa having escaped. He proclaims himself King of Mareia, and guards the palace with his mutant fish to delay a rescue.

They also run into Illiris and Sonna, stealing a pearl from each gaining access to the seas of Solenei and Daumme.

It’s then that he reveals his true plan to the Trix - the only way he can actually ensure a long reign is if he’s powerful enough for the other realms to try and not bother, and that’s only obtainable in Infimare. At the promise of further strength, the Trix keep their alliance, but do discuss in private that they’ve been through this song and dance before and having an escape route ready should be top priority.

The next riddle told by the shells spoke of the Azure Valley and of a gorgeous shield, Stella remembering that’s right in front of the coasts of Astrael, Solaria’s capital.

Stella, Flora and Aisha go to Solaria, while the rest stay back to try and help with Sky’s memory during a short trip to Roccalucce. Sky seems to be making slow progress, but something seems to still be plugging his memory. Nex and Brandon talk about what they could do about the pendant, and if they should tell the girls.

The other three reach the Valley (meeting Illiris, Solaria and Quarzis’s Selkie), but run into Tritannus and the Trix. After a short fight, he mutates a passerby jellyfish, and after realizing the place they’re in is gonna cave, he leaves the fight to the mutant.

The girls try and heal the thing but it’s too fast for them, and after Flora gets hit by its tentacles (slowly getting poisoned), Stella starts to panic. However, she notices a rusty shield on the floor, and after a second of hesitation she dives in to grab it, and bashes into the jellyfish with enough force to knock it down to the floor. She then uses the shield as a canalizer for her magic, firing a beam of light removing all the corruption.

As the jellyfish leaves and Aisha heals Flora, the Pearl of Self-Confidence manifests in front of Stella, a small seashell-like box appearing as well to store it - the Winx have their first pearl.

The next riddle speaks of a ruby reef and of a sweet memory, Musa immediately knowing it means Melodeus. She elaborates that the Reef is a popular tourist destination near a city called Famire, and it was her mom’s favorite place.

Musa, Stella and Tecna leave for Melodeus, while the rest start to do more research on Sirenix and on Tritannus with Daphne’s help. The name of Politea keeps popping up on searches, and Daphne feels a twinge building up.

on Famire, after a few minutes of searching, they find a massive harp made of coral, as well as Tritannus and the Trix. They fight again, but after a miss from Tritannus the Winx manage to defeat them, sending them back running. They meet Sonna during the fight as well.

Musa plays the harp, the memory of her mother fresh in her mind guiding her, aided by the other two thinking of how Musa might be feeling and trying to match her rhythm. After they finish, the Pearl of Empathy appears - only one pearl left for the Winx.

The next riddle mentions a sunken castle and a shining beacon, Tecna thinking of the legends of the Databridge Castle on Zenith.

Bloom, Aisha and Musa arrive with Roy, and meet Lithia, who acts as the Guardian of the Castle’s ruins as they’ve had issues with scavengers before. Roy wants to come with, having heard of how the building has remained in perfect condition after all these years and thinking this is his best chance - revealing to the girls as well that he’s a Sorcerer, transforming into Energix to go with them.

As they make their way, they’re ambushed by mutant fish sent by Tritannus, delaying them, the merman and the witches getting ahead.

The team has trouble coordinating and cooperating, one of the fish poisoning Aisha and Tecna making them argue. By the time they’re done and reach the castle, they find Tritannus and the Trix have already claimed the Pearl of Cooperation, having solved a challenge fairly easily.

Both teams are 2 for 2 now, and this worries the Winx, fearing they’ll get access to Infimare not knowing what their true goals are.

The next riddle speaks of the sea of flowers and of approach, Flora recalling the ancient Ocean of Blossoms near Lynphea and Dolona.

Flora, Tecna and Musa leave for Lynphea, as the three princesses are busy helping Daphne on Domino - a grand ball will be held to honor her achievements once more on Nevere and Zeisterna. Brandon and Nex finally tell the Winx about the pendant and how that might be linked to Sky’s repressed memories, and the Winx promise to help look for it if they have the chance - it’s probably still on Gardenia’s seas.

As they say this, Phylla and Lemmy find the pendant, and decide to keep it as a trinket for now - they now the Winx fought there a few days ago and they might be related.

On Lynphea, the girls find themselves in a sea covered in giant flowers - Flora explaining it was a result of the massive spell used during the Primaverian War. Diving deep, the girls face a massive flower, and also meet Desiryee, the Selkie of the area. She explains the flower is what will guide them to the pearl.

When they try to approach it they’re intercepted by Tritannus and the Trix. During the fight, Icy is ensnared by the plant, revealing its nature as carnivorous. The Winx try to take advantage of the distraction and search for the pearl, but are surprised at seeing Darcy, Stormy and Tritannus working together to save the witch.

They manage to sever some of its leaves, freeing Icy and obtaining the Pearl of Bonds. At this, the villains have all 3 pearls necessary, and decide to leave to look for a Source of Sirenix.

The Winx are in a panic, as they only have a week left to complete the Quest and they’re still missing the last pearl, while Tritannus and the Trix might already have Sirenix.

The book then gives them the last riddle, talking about a yellow reef, of bravery, and of a long-lost place. Thanks to Daphne, the Winx discover this means a reef on the northern coast of Domino, with Bloom, Stella and Aisha going, hoping to be back before the ceremony starts in a few hours.

Tritannus has found a Source of Sirenix near Salett, and as they go towards it Icy decides to stay back and dip for Domino for a bit - she has something to do in the country and the pearl’s magic should work even if she’s far away. The rest agree though Tritannus is confused as to why, and as Icy leaves, the other two explain to him that she has family on Domino and is still close to her little sister somehow.

The Winx arrive at the Yellow Reef and after meeting both Serena and Nissa, they find themselves as the prey of a massive shark. After a few rounds of eluding it and taking advantage of the place, the Winx realize the shark has the final pearl on its fin.

Bloom, not thinking once more, dives into the shark trying to approach it, and after three close calls she manages to get on its back, taking the Pearl of Courage.

The three princesses then come back, happy that they managed to obtain them all, and as they’re leaving they meet with Phylla. She shows them the pendant she found on Earth, and matching the description of the Heart of Arturia, the girls take it with them.

On Domino, the ceremony goes without much issue, and after showing the pendant to Sky (him then getting a severe headache), Nabu manages to finally “unplug” his memories, remembering everything.

At this, he takes the pendant and, with Daphne’s permission, takes a stand. He announces formally his relationship with Riven, and in front of everyone, gives him the pendant. Riven is just a tad confused, but is happy the relationship has been properly formalized, and kiss a bit on stage.

On a different part of the country, a young girl is walking around in the snow, taking a turn on an alleyway, at the edge of town. She meets a tall woman, and after a short hug, they catch up on how everything’s going for them - it’s Sapphire, meeting with Icy.

They try to catch up with what’s been happening (their parents are slowly rebuilding their business empire back to nobility, are trying to suck up to Bloom and Daphne as much as possible), and Sapphire questions her about what she will do if everything goes south. Icy tells her that she already has an escape plan ready and is surprised Sapphire is not trying to stop her.

Sapphire answers she has long since given up on that and as long as Icy doesn’t do something that directly affects her negatively she’ll be fine with whatever happens. After another hug, they both leave, and Icy starts to consider what will she and the Trix do if Tritannus fails.

Meeting up with the rest again (and sharing her concerns with her friends), they all reach the edges of the country of Salett in Antocea, where a Source of Sirenix resides. The source accepts their pearls, and a portal to Infimare opens.

The Winx, meanwhile, are told by Daphne that there’s a Source of Sirenix on Lake Roccaluce. The girls express confusion at this since it’s a freshwater lake, but Daphne tells them that Magix has been heavily terraformed the past few centuries and the lake is what’s left of an ancient sea, and that’s why the Source is still there.

The girls arrive and the source accepts their pearls, and a portal of Infimare opens.

A projection appears for both teams of a larger Selkie - Omnia, as she calls herself. She takes the pearls and dissolves them, dispersing their dust over their finders and sending them through the portal.

They can all feel the power of the oceans flowing through them, their forms changing and their magic adapting to a sudden pressure - they had all obtained Sirenix.

As they finally arrive, the Winx meet Omnia in person, who warns them that Tritannus and the Trix have also obtained the form, so they must be careful. The Winx explore a bit of the place and go back, wondering still what Tritannus’s goals are.

The Trix and Tritannus also arrive on Infimare, and at this Tritannus elaborates on what he meant by power - the Throne of the Oceans is a very magically-charged place, and if he can absorb the energy into his trident, he can keep the other realms at bay while he rules Mareia. He elaborates that to access the power they need to destabilize the three Pillars of the Ocean first, however, so they get on that.

A few days pass, and the Winx decide to spend a weekend on Earth with Roxy and Selina, as summer is close to ending and they want a nice sunny day on the beach. Even if Selina and Tecna might be turning into lobsters.

However, the beach is suddenly filled with jellyfish. This is not the most common of occurrences in Gardenia, but the jellyfish suddenly mutate and start attacking everyone. Everyone transforms to fight it.

The fight goes more or less fine for most of it but the jellyfish unmutated are still an issue, so Aisha and Flora end up dedicating most of their time to sending them back into water. Tecna, Musa and Stella focus on fighting the monsters while Bloom, Selina and Roxy try to protect the beachgoers and their families.

It’s during one of these attacks that Roxy defends her dad (who was also helping everyone), getting stung harshly on her side. She manages to recover fairly quickly from the hit, however - the act was enough to earn her Enchantix, and with her extra power she manages to mass un-mutate the jellyfish.

The Winx seem to suspect this was an attack from Tritannus, but Roxy informs them that’s not the case - from her readings gotten from the animals with her magic, the mutation seemed to just magically happen. This worries Flora, as the potential of Wild Magic suddenly running amok on Earth is a worrisome thing. The three Gardenians are confused at this, and Flora elaborates - it’s ambient magic gone haywire for some reason.

The girls are concerned but Roxy reassures them that she’ll get the Black Circle look into it further, and after an extra day to relax they get back to Alfea and back to chasing Tritannus.

On Infimare, the prince and the Trix have managed to find their first pillar - the Pillar of Light. With a convergence spell, they manage to slowly destabilize the pillar.

A sudden burst of energy seems to happen on Solaria, the Lantern of the Sun and the Mirror of the Moon alight and emitting strong waves. Radius and Alessandro go into the chambers housing the objects and try to figure out what’s wrong, but Radius is hit square-on by the energy and falls unconscious.

Chimera, now back on Solaria, reaches her dad and stepdad and manages to cast a barrier on the room, trying her hardest to contain it. She manages to hold it long enough, but she ends up detransforming from fatigue.

On Magix, the Staff of Stars also seems to be reacting to this unbalance, but Stella manages to calm it down enough simply by encasing it in a bubble of light. The Winx rush out to Faragonda’s office to consult her about this, and run into Griselda on the way who was fetching them.

Faragonda then explains that the Pillar of Light on Infimare has been attacked, which is directly linked to the three royal treasures of Solaria driving them haywire. The Staff was not as affected since it’s now linked to Stella herself rather than the pillar, but she does inform the Winx that it might be Tritannus’s work.

Stella, overcome with worry, teleports to Solaria, while the rest of the Winx go to Infimare to search for Tritannus.

On the desert country, she runs into her mom, as well as into Alessandro and Chimera. She initially questions Chimera’s presence but brushes it off and asks about her dad - Alessandro then tells her he’s very badly hurt by the waves of magic the Lantern and Mirror gave out, thought it can be healed with time. Stella herself then looks for him and tries a few of her healing spells, which seem to alleviate the situation.

The Winx managed to track down Tritannus right as he finished destabilizing the power, taking the seal with him. He claims that the seal is what he needs for his plans for the Throne of the Ocean, giving half-truths to throw off the girls as he leaves with the Trix. The girls do try to give chase but give up, prioritizing making the pillar stable again.

On her way out, she bumps into Chimera, and while she’s still not comfortable with the Beta fairy around, she does accept the girl’s request to talk. She apologizes about everything she did when allied with Valtor, and while she doesn’t expect forgiveness or like Stella still, she does want to be on at least cohabitating terms.

Stella tells her to try her best to control the items until she can get back, especially since she will inherit the Mirror when the marriage becomes formal. Chimera agrees and while they’re still on not good terms, they have achieved an understanding.

While Stella leaves, Chimera realizes finally confronting Stella and talking about the past was enough to grant her Glamourix.

Transforming into Sirenix, Stella reaches the girls, and realizing there might still be a link between her Staff and the Pillar, they all focus a convergence spell on the top of the staff, then using it as a direct path to the Pillar, Stella unlocking her Sirenix special spell: Light of the Abyss. This manages to stabilize it again, the Lantern and Mirror calming down.

Back on Solaria, Radius seems to have woken up and while still dizzy, Stella, Luna and Chimera’s spells (aided by Alessandro’s potions) managed to heal most of the damage. Stella is grateful and joyous, but realizes that Tritannus’s goals might start to affect the rest of the realms properly.

Faragonda seems to have realized this as well, as she has gone to the Order of Mana’s site in Lake Roccaluce, demanding a full assembly of the realms to deal with Tritannus now that his goal has moved past Mareia and Infimare. The Order tries to counter that he’s still not enough of a threat despite his goals with the Pillars, but Faragonda simply answers with the fact that similar inaction is what let Valtor do all the things he did 2 years ago. At this, the Order is forced to properly call a reunion.

After a few days (in which the girls get a tentative map of Infimare from Daphne, made when she made the quest herself, and spent training their Sirenix powers a bit more), an assembly involving all realms is called on Lake Roccaluce, all the royals attending alongside their parents. Tecna, Flora and Musa stay behind to keep training alongside Diaspro (who now has obtained a magic sword in an attempt to be better at physical fighting) and Codatorta. who makes them fight a dragon.

On the lake, all the royals are present, with the three headmasters alongside the current head of the Order of Mana officiating the meeting. Most of the non-Antocean realms oppose the idea of an Alliance as it has not concerned their zones yet, but a handful seem to favor the idea especially after hearing Ligea and Tressa’s story, while also bringing up the fact only Andros and Dolona were willing to help them during the Valtor Crisis.

Domino, Solaria, Serenia and most Antocean realms are in agreement with the alliance, most other realms will go with majority vote, but Eraklyon, Melodeus, Zenith and Quarzis oppose the idea, prioritizing their own realm’s safety over the rest. Bloom notices that Zenith’s leader seems uneasy, but can’t pinpoint why quite well.

The meeting ends in no decisions being made, so the Order schedules another meeting in a few more days in case Tritannus’s next moves influence the leaders. Bloom is sad that absolutely nothing was achieved, and the rest inform her that that’s just how politics are.

On the meantime, Tritannus and the Trix have located the Pillar of Balance, and start to destabilize it as well. This makes the Giant Diapason on Melody react, emitting a deafening sound and driving the Singing Whales berserk right as they reach their usual visit to the surface, suddenly disappearing to Infimare.

Everyone leaves for the Ocean planet while Musa dips to go check on her dad (who was at a place where the whales attacked), runs into Galatea on the way out.

They talk for a bit and Musa asks how the royal meeting went. Galatea sighs and confesses that she was too scared to talk all session, despite wanting to refute her father’s choice of isolating the country for protection as the alliance would be the best outcome. She feels useless thanks to her own insecurities, but Musa reassures her that she can do it next time she talks with her parents about the situation.

They arrive and realize the devastation that has been caused, as they attacked a harbor town and their sounds have destroyed many buildings. Both girls start to help in any way they can (with Musa reuniting with her dad finding him unharmed), but after a bit the Whales seem to return, starting to wreck more havoc.

Both fairies transform and manage to handle most of the damage, but the whales are relentless and the tides turn mid-battle literally. Galatea seems ready to give up, too enveloped in her fears, but Musa manages to push her spirits up again and, thanks to Musa unlocking the Song of the Siren, they manage to calm down the whales enough, with Galatea pushing her powers and managing to achieve Glamourix at last. With this, Musa finally leaves for Infimare, Galatea going back to helping those in the shore.

On Infimare, Tritannus has already left after claiming the second seal, the Winx starting to stabilize the Pillar. Musa arrives just in time, giving the final push for it and restoring it completely.

A few days pass, the girls and Daphne researching more about Infimare and the royal shitshow going down in the background. Around this time, Nex and Krystal start dating. Melodeus has been convinced and Sky and Dia have been making good advancements with Eraklyon and Quarzis, but Zenith remains stubborn.

Around this time, the Winx pinpoint the location of the Pillar of Weather, and alongside Daphne joining them just in case, they delve into Infimare to try and destroy the pillar. Daphne feels something when they arrive, as she hasn’t touched the place since coming back from the mirror, but ignores it for the moment and helps the Winx destroy the seal of the pillar, destabilizing it.

As it destabilizes, the Lightning Rod of Databridge on Zenith Primari Museum reacts in a more subtle way than the other two, slowly forming a massive thunderstorm over the capital city.

The Winx plus Daphne manage to stabilize the Pillar again, but as they do they feel a sudden rush of magic all around them.

The Throne of the Ocean has been activated by the last pillar’s reaction, and taking the chance, Tritannus absorbs as much energy as he can into his Trident, his own magic feeling the rush. He lets the Trix also channel said magic into an object, but rather than use their weapons the Trix instead link three stones to the Throne.

With newfound power, he then leaves with the Trix back to Mareia, and having heard that the other realms are planning an alliance, decides to prepare for an eventual siege.

When he arrives at the palace, he realizes most of the population has fled and that both Nereus and Neptune have somehow been rescued, but he pays no mind to it and announces that while he knows he has followers, if they do not plan to fight alongside him when the time comes to prioritize their own safety and evacuate.

He then, alongside the Trix, cast a massive barrier spell over the capital.

The Winx realize after that what they just did allowed the Throne to be activated and gave Tritannus exactly what he wanted. Everyone is incredibly bummed about this but keep going, the meetings for the Alliance still going.

Flora, Tecna and Musa request to be present at the next meeting using their status as Guardian Fairies to participate. Most of the realms have agreed to a full attack on Tritannus now that he has taken over Mareia (a recovering Neptune wishing to attack him himself), but Zenith remains stubborn despite Cryos looking particularly uncomfortable. Tecna then pushes harder for him to realize how dangerous Tritannus could be, when news from Zenith’s capital arrive talking of a massive thunderstorm wrecking the place, several injured already.

Both Cryos and the Winx then plead for a halt of the meeting, the troubles at the large country more pressing.

As they arrive, they see the thunderstorm is covering most of the area, even extending to the neighbouring cities, many places on fire. The Winx call the Order of Mana for help since they cannot deal with this alone, and Cryos looks even more frail than before. Tecna realizes most of the forces are focused on the hills, and she wonders if there’s something worse going down there than anyone else.

Cryos then informs her that’s where the 5 leaders of Datacorp reside, probably in their bunkers avoiding the storm. Tecna finds herself getting angry, but the rest are confused.

Tecna then reveals that Zenith, or at least the center of Zenith, is run by the Datacorp Council rather than by any actual government, the 5 richest CEOs of the land who dictate the lives of the place. She has heard tales of the true state of Primari, but didn’t know it was that bad.

Cryos then cracks and reveals he’s simply a puppet for them, acting as an informant for them and nothing else. He claims that the only reason they oppose the alliance is because Tritannus’s actions have made the demand for Zenithian products higher, and they hoped to strike a deal to increase their profit.

Everyone is visibly disgusted by this, but Tecna has become livid. The whole system is in peril,and they only think of their own gain. She then starts to walk towards their hiding place, but comes back to her senses and prioritizes the storm.

The Order of Mana’s paladins arrive en masse and with Tecna’s directions they start to help and deal with the chaos, while Tecna transforms and rises to the sky.

Everyone else is asking her what the fuck is she doing, but she tells them to not worry, she has a plan for all this. She does asks for backup, and the Winx alongside a couple more paladins rise with her.

Tecna starts to channel her magic around the origin of the storm, charging a large spell around her. She tells everyone to evacuate the area directly below the eye of the storm as she keeps charging, the Winx ensuring everyone’s safety.

She manages to unlock her Sirenix spell Perfect Tempest, and uses it to disrupt and undo most of the thunderstorm in the area, succeeding but getting drained in the process. The Winx manage to catch her and with the help of Water- and Electric-Source paladins they manage to destroy the rest of the storm completely, as well as clean up more of the rubble in the process.

It’s the next day when Tecna then makes an announcement (after talking it out with the Winx as well as consulting the high-ranking Paladin that commanded the support yesterday), and decries every single failing the Datacorp Council has done over the last years in their insatiable greed. The Council itself tries to stop her (having planned to make their own announcement before her), but Tecna uses her position as Guardian Fairy to call for a complete reform of Zenithian government, the Datacorp Council having lost all of their power.

Tecna then assigns Cryos as her assistant and current overseer of the country (as she still needs to deal with Tritannus personally), but promises the people that she will be there every step of the way. With this, Zenith is formally in the alliance, and the final attack on Tritannus can start.

The first wave of the war goes somewhat smoothly, Tritannus’s first line of defense being mutated creatures. Flora manages to unlock her Sirenix Spell Seafloor Blossom during this, managing to restore most of the flora and part of the fauna corrupted.

Tritannus is still strong thanks to the Throne’s energy, however, and his second wave is harder to deal with. A surprise attack thanks to Solarian and Melodian forces manage to push them back, however, and the massive barrier over the capital has been breached.

The next line of defense are Tritannus’s followers, who give a good fight but are ultimately beaten in numbers and are held captive. Nereus starts to lead the campaign from this point onward, having recovered well enough and wanting to confront his brother.

The forces have arrived to the Palace’s entrance, and the last wave of defense attacks, a mix of follower merfolk and mutated sharks. During this battle the Winx plus Nereus, Tressa and Neptune manage to enter the palace proper, and have the final battle with Tritannus.

Nereus keeps asking why has he done all of this, why has he hurt him and his family so much, and Tritannus is slightly regretful. However, Neptune’s decries of his failures and admitting his hatred for his son brings his anger back to full front and starts to attack in full, the energy in his trident starting to overflow and himself gaining the aura on his eyes.

The battle goes on for quite long but Tritannus manages to score a deep hit on Nereus trying to go for Neptune, knocking him down and, taking advantage of the shock, manages to impale Neptune, killing him. He then takes the chance to escape back to Infimare with the commotion. Aisha unlocks the Tide of Infinity and manages to heal Nereus with her Sirenix Spell, but Neptune is a lost cause.

Everyone follows him and the Trix into Infimare without the grieving Nereus or Tressa, and the fight resumes in full, both teams going all out. The Winx realize that the trident is his link with the Throne’s energy, and after a decent distraction they manage to destroy it thanks to Bloom unlocking the Burn of the Depths, melting it.

The stored energy is released violently, however, and flows into Tritannus, driving him mad with power. The aura on his eyes grows bigger and shinier, his own scales glowing a bright green, markings on his arms and tail forming. He continues to attack in full not caring if he gets hurt, damaging his own body in the process.

The Trix take advantage of this and bail, swimming deeper into Infimare to avoid the Winx.

After a long battle, a convergence spell manages to capture and subdue Tritannus, knocking him out and winning the war after an incredibly long three months.

A few more days pass before he wakes up, and a court case is determined on the Order of Mana’s headquarters in Mareia - he will continue his previous sentence of 55 years (with an added 20 thanks to the murder of Neptune) not on Mareia, but on Omega. Tritannus himself is oddly calm during the whole trial.

As he is carried away, Nereus and Tressa confront him, and he genuinely apologizes for what he made them go through, as well as Ligea. He does not regret taking out Neptune’s life, however, and if the price to pay is to be sentenced to Omega, then so be it.

A few more days pass after Tritannus’s case and Neptune’s funeral, and most things are starting to go back to normal. The Winx still have schoolwork to deal with (though thankfully it has been a lesser load this time), the Alliance is establishing itself more formally, and Zenith has a long road ahead of change and confusion.

Tecna has to go to Zenith every two weeks to oversee all the changes (since she called for the reform, she has to take part of it), and starts to consider the fact that she might actually have to act as Zenith’s leader in the future. Bloom has not heard of Selina for a while now, and is slightly worried, but reassures herself that she might be busy with starting school and is then focused on her own royal duties now that Diaspro wants to make their relationship fully official. Stella has started to entertain the idea of trying to actively get along with Chimera, but finds it difficult to go through. Flora gets a call from Miele very excitedly, announcing that she got admitted in the Linphea College of Magic at last and that she will start classes in two months. Aisha has frequently been visiting her family, wondering what will happen now that they’ve lost two people in such a short time. Ligea seems to still be grieving, but is still overseeing the restoration of Mareia’s capital. Tressa has seem to delve more into her sword fighting while Nereus keeps on the preparations to assume his role as king earlier than intended. They’re all hurting, but Aisha’s sure they will be able to heal soon.

On Infimare, as the Trix find a place to hide, they discuss the recent events and what they’ve managed to learn from stray selkie conversations, unaware that someone is listening, reacting to the name Daphne...

#Winx Club #Winx Redux AU #Winx AU Detailing #Winx Redux AU: Summarized #This one was also super long and it took me longer to do because of Life and Animal Crossing #It was STUPID fun to do tho even with all the changes I had to do #next will be my adaptation of MOTA but idk when I'll get to write it so you might need to wait a bit for it!

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aquaburst3 · 4 years ago

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Fic asks: 2, 5, 8, 11, 13 and 14.

Undercut, because long and spoilers...

2. What character(s) do you find the most difficult to write for? Why?

So far, I guess Grim (Twisted Wonderland). While he’s a fun character and I love how he’s one of the few mascot characters in anime who gets character development, he’s a bit of a handful. That’s an understatement. I have to try constantly think about how he would act in certain points in the story, and how my OC would react to him.

I also find it’s hard to incorporate Grim into scenes. Sometimes I want my OC to be alone talking with someone or be by herself. Since the MC dragged around Grim in the game so much, I have to think of a way to include him in or think of a reason for him to stay out of it.

Jamil and Kalim (Twisted Wonderland) are also hard to write for that similar reason. I want to make the Pomefiore arc happen earlier in the fic, so I have to constantly think of how to write them pre-character development in an arc that takes place after they grew as characters in the canon. But unlike with Grim, it’s in a fun challenge sort of way. Because it has a bit of a butterfly effect on the story.

(If you don’t play the game, the Pomefiore arc is the 5th one. But I decided for a few different reasons, which I don’t want to get into, that I want to make it the 3rd, make Octavinelle 4th that happens during December finals season and Sacrabia the 5th, which happens over Spring Break. So because it’s bumped up in the timeline, my OC knows those two a lot better compared to the canon, and spent a lot of time with them in the Pomefiore dorm over the month and half leading up to the competition. Their arc is gonna hurt a fuckton more.)

5. Do you listen to music when writing?

I enjoy listening to lyricless movie soundtracks or nothing at all. I find it’s easier to concentrate that way. Music with lyrics are way to distracting to me, since my mind latches onto them and I’m much slower at writing.

11. How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

Honestly, it depends on the story. Some of my fics can be fluffy while others have dark aspects to them and others are character driven.

How I would describe my writing in a general sense, both fics and original stories? I guess I would describe it as character driven with plot driven elements. I tend to focus on character first and foremost, because I think it’s important for readers to have a compelling character to get attached to push the story forward. (I had several people say that my biggest strength as a writer is character). But I have a lot of fun and engaging plots, mostly action/adventure, to have these character engage with. I also enjoy doing world building a lot as well.

The voice for my OCs (both in my TWST fic and in my OG works) is down to earth and witty. A lot of my characters tend to have a sense of snark to them as they try to process the insanity around them, but they still can still feel a wide range of emotions like fear, anger, etc. Though, there are some characters that go against that (like the MC in my reverse isekai original story).

13. When did you start writing fanfic?

Right in the middle of high school. I got into it, because one of my friends at the time had a FF.net account, and I thought it would be fun to write stories on there. Here I am almost a decade later.

It’s also how my love of creative writing started, too. My elementary, middle and high schools never taught creative writing in class, and I never took any for my diploma. So, yeah. I’m a self taught writer.

14. How do you feel about your older work?

Depends on how far back we’re talking as well. If it’s my stuff made during high school, I don’t like most of it outside of a couple expectations. But if we’re talking about my stuff from college and after, it depends on the story. There are some stories I’m pretty proud of years later, expect for how I phrased sentences (before I began learning how to start some sentences with things other than “I” or “Insert Character Name Here”) and odd word choices. Others I think are just weird or outright suck. I think regretting some choices in your past work is normal for any writer. I’m always trying to improve as a writer to create better stories in the future.

Bonus...since I really want to answer this one...

1. What’s your favorite character(s) to write for?

I love writing for Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls), Pacifica Northwest (Gravity Falls), Vil (Twisted Wonderland), Jamil (Twisted Wonderland) and Ace (Twisted Wonderland).

Bill Cipher is a chaotic ball of shit. Writing his wit and sass is a lot fun for me. Back in the day, I loved writing him interact with different fictional characters. Though, I only did it for Atem (Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters) and Judai (Yu-Gi-Oh GX) back when I was still into that franchise. (Because I’m certainly not as an adult in my mid 20s.) Might do it for other characters in other franchises if the idea strikes me.

Pacifica is a complex and interesting character. She started off as the stereotypical mean girl. But with the NWMM episode, we got to see a whole different side of her, which added a lot of layers to her character. I love writing characters who add more complexity to the popular mean girl trope, because I always found them a lot more interesting than the dull MC in bad rom coms.

Vil never showed up in any of my fics yet, but I’m writing parts with him in it thanks to writing some parts ahead of time. Vil is in a similar vein as Pacifica. In any other story, he would’ve been the one dimensional, vain pretty boy. But instead, he’s a hardworking guy, who wants everyone around him to shine their brightest. He hates lazy people. In that sense, he breaks a lot of tropes. Though, he has his fair share of faults as well, like his control freak tendencies, too harsh with his words and the way he treats Epel isn’t right. As a bi woman, I also love how he’s a guy who wears heels and makeup, but is never once mocked in the game for it. I do the same in my writing. Go, dude. Fuck those gender norms!

Jamil is a blast to write, because he seems like a layered character to me. He’s a calm guy and collected guy, who he loves wearing hoodies way too much. But he’s also an intelligent, sly, cunning and manipulative guy. He seems loyal at first, but in actuality, he has a trick up his sleeve and wants to take Kalim down. His reasoning for as to why he’s doing this, while doesn’t excuse his actions, are understandable due to his family being in servants to his and him taking out his anger for his situation at the one thing he possibly could. He also has a lot of elements that humanize him as well, like the fact that he enjoys dancing, basketball and watching parrot videos. Tackling a character like him is a lot of fun for me as a writer, just due to how complex and interesting he is.

Ace is probably the easiest character for me to write. He’s funny, mischievous and cheerful, but yet abrasive, bold, blunt, temperamental, willing to call out other’s bs and a bit of an ass. It’s pretty easy for me to get a handle on him, and understand how he would react in different situations. (As a side note, Ace reminds me of how I used to write Atem and Malik back in my YGO fics that I wrote in high school in that regard. Unlike those stories, he’s actually in character here, instead of extremely OOC like the YGO ones.)

#aqua answers #krazy-ky-sta-hatter

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jkfukufan · 5 years ago

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Strength, power and being a woman on the mats

**I still haven’t totally worked out my feelings here, so I apologize if this comes out as confusing.

First things first. I’m a 40-yo woman who practices aikido. I passed my shodan a few months ago. I train in Japan and while in the West, I’m average-to-small, here I’m on the bigger side of the scale in size and weight. Also, I’m stronger than average for a woman, Japanese or Western. Aikido doesn’t rely on strength. In fact, it is discouraged to use muscle power to execute a technique because it means you’re ‘powering it through’. Having said that, as a uke, you’re supposed to attack vigorously, and with higher ranking folks, it helps tori (the person who’s doing the aikido technique/defense) refining their skills if you block, becomes heavy, strike powerfully. Also, rolling over and over again, training with weapons, etc. requires good stamina and physical condition, so everybody does pumps, crunches, works on those abs, etc. So yeah, it’s not a slow dance and I have definitely gained muscles.

Then cue in the cultural and gender card. Women and men train together, and it is an etiquette rule that you adapt your strength (as uke) and power (as tori) in relation to your partner, their size, weight, and skills. I won’t hold back with a shorter and older woman who is a 4th dan, but for sure, I’m not going to throw down a 25yo white belt dude who started last week. I don’t care if their pride is hurt, they don’t know how to fold and fall yet.

But that’s me. Over the past months, I’ve realized some men are wary around me (higher or same rank). A sempai of mine who always takes great care to point out all the things that don’t work with my techniques and helps me improve begged me last week with a laugh to ‘take it slow’ with him, on suwari waza kokyu ho, and called me a ‘beast’. Yep, I can block this one pretty easily, and my technique is good so not many people can block me even when they’ve got 30 kg on me.

But you know what? A part of me thought, ‘uh, I should maybe back down a notch’. And I know it’s typically a woman’s reaction. I see those guys acting like sumo wrestlers for the same exercise and nobody tunes it down. So... no? Then yesterday, during our GM class, when doing a nikkyo ura, a (female) sempai pointed out I was using too much power when folding her wrist. It wasn’t working. She’s super strong and powerful herself. I realized I was indeed powering through the technique, and not doing it properly. It hurt but wasn’t debilitating. I didn’t need to squeeze and grab so much. The angle was wrong. It will take some time to correct myself, and she was totally right.

Now right behind, I ended up doing suwari waza yonkyo with two sempai - one young 2nd dan foreigner, and one of our highest ranking instructors, a 7th dan shihan (so you shut up and do what he says). After watching me rolling twice with the other sempai, he stopped me and said ‘what are you doing? you’re doing budo, stop being kind. He strikes, you bring him down right away with ikkyo, and then move to yonkyo. Slam him!’ It’s honestly the first time anyone told me that, and darn it felt good! I grinned, said ‘okay’, and then went full power, basically knocking the breath out of my sempai with my ikkyo.

When I turned uke, my sempai didn’t dare reciprocate and got an earful. He protested, ‘but she’s an angel!’. Wrong answer.

I honestly snorted (face against the mats, before grunting in pain when he almost snapped my wrist).

Then it was again my turn to defend, and I slammed him again. When we switched to suwari waza kokyu ho, he called me a ‘bull’ - his technique wasn’t good enough, and I could block him. I retorted - ‘yeah but with blond hair and wings, right?’

Anyway, I don’t know what my point even is, except maybe:

- strength matters but only when appropriate

- it’s fine to look like you came out of the hair salon, then drive them through the tatami.

- power and strength are two vastly different things

- To all women doing martial arts out there: *most* guys are intimidated and would like you to tune it down so that their ego doesn’t get as bruised as their ass, but those who know better will support you and train you so that you can become the weapon you were meant to be.

#aikido #women doing martial arts #female martial artists #budoblr #tw:gif

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thisyearingaming · 4 years ago

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1997 - This Year in Gaming

Muggins here was born in ‘97, and can’t really remember much of it, natch. But there were some good things released this year - I’ve played every one of these, and have missed so many more.

Diablo - Windows, January 3rd

We start with dungeon-crawl-em-up and well-loved out of season April Fool’s Joke, Diablo. I’ll be totally honest - I don’t like Diablo that much. It’s absolutely fine, I just can’t get into it. The writing, setting and characters are all very good especially since this year only marks the beginning of games being seen as a bit more adult and intelligent. Check out this gameplay from Hour of Oblivion on YouTube, and marvel at the faux-Scottish accent on Griswold the blacksmith.

youtube

Mario Kart 64 - Nintendo 64, February 10th

Compared to its more recent versions, Mario Kart 64 is a veritable bloody relic of the past - solid controls and a quirky style mean it’s still a crowd pleaser to this day, but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone right now that would die on the hill of it being their favourite single-player racing experience. It’s also got some of the deepest, impenetrable lore in any medium known to the human race - why exactly is Marty the Thwomp locked up here?

Blast Corps - Nintendo 64, February 28th

February’s position as most boring month of the year is shaken up a bit by having a uniquely designed Rare game slammed into its 28-day long face. Blast Corps is the puzzle-action game where you take control of several vehicles to destroy homes and buildings in order to prevent a nuclear warhead exploding in the coolest incarnation of Cold War politicking ever seen in a video game. Calling Blast Corps a “hidden gem” these days is like calling Celeste a hidden gem - it impresses nobody and makes you look like a dick.

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter - Nintendo 64, March 4th

The N64 was home to a surprisingly large number of above-average shooters despite its muddy graphics and small cartridge space - Turok is one of these, a great FPS game where you shoot the SHIT out of dinosaurs. Brett Atwood of Billboard said it was like Doom and Tomb Raider mixed - Doom Raider, if you will. I say it isn’t - there’s no demons, and there’s no polygonal breasts to poke dinosaurs’ eyes out with!

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Sony PlayStation, March 20th

What is a retrospective? A miserable little pile of opinions. I’ve only recently played through SotN for the very first time on a TOTALLY LEGITIMATE copy with a CRT filter. Bloody good (geddit?) game, that takes the repetition of its predecessors, improves on it in basically every conceivable way, and combines it with special effects and graphics that even 23 years later had me going “ooh, that looks quite good!” Symphony’s music and audio design are wonderfully paired with a deeply enjoyable experience that’ll have you saying “mm, maybe just one more room?”

Tekken 3 - Sony PlayStation, March 20th

Also releasing from the Land of the Rising Sun that day was Tekken 3, which many believe is still one of the best fighters ever made. Tekken 3′s combat is so fast and responsive that it’s better than some games made today. T3 is also the best and easiest way to knock seven shades of absolute shite out of your friends without risking a massive head injury or a trip to the headmaster’s office... where you could also challenge him, but only if he plays as my favourite Not-Guile-or-Ken character in gaming, Paul.

Sonic Jam - Sega Saturn, June 20th

The moment Sega realised that re-packaging old Mega Drive games would net them serious cash - although unlike later collections, this is a strictly Sonic affair, and has a neat little 3D world to run around in as a sort of hub world. Sonic X-Treme proved that Sonic Team would have to work hard at getting the fastest thing alive into 3D space properly: Jam is the sort of test ground for it too. It features some genuinely good emulation work for 1997, although it’s basically the gaming equivalent of going round to your grandparents at Christmas only for them to give you the exact same gifts you got in 1991, 1992 and 1994 but wrapped in a bow to make you think it’s different. What are you lookin’ at, you little blue devil?

Star Fox 64 - Nintendo 64, June 30th

So there’s this German company, right, called StarVox. Nintendo look at Europe and say “shit, we don’t want another lawsuit... after all, we’ve done three this year!”. So they give us in the PAL region the exciting title of Lylat Wars which as far as I know means absolutely fucking nothing in the context of the game. They’re still called Star Fox in-game too so what was the point? Anyway, fun 3D shooter with graphics that’ll make you do a barrel roll off the sofa and onto the power button to make the brown and green blurs a little easier on the eyes. Hello 2007, I’ve come back to make old references with you!

Carmageddon - Windows, July 30th

The game so scary it was BANNED in the UK! More like the game so fucking shit it was banned. Carmageddon is so deeply boring to play on PC that I can only imagine that Stainless Games made it tasteless by 90s standards simply to ramp up demand - much like another game we’ll be covering soon.

Herc’s Adventures - Sony PlayStation, July 31st

“And they said Kratos was the best hero? Shish... they got it wrong, sister! Hercules is clearly better... he even has a coconut weapon.” A surprisingly fun overhead action game that most people only know for... well, I’ll just embed it.

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Mega Man X4 - Sony Playstation, August 1st

A few years ago I tried playing every Mega Man game there is - I gave up at X3 because I was getting bored. Even still, Mega Man bores me - but at least the level design is good. Stay away from the Windows port. Pictured: me in the background yawning.

GoldenEye 007 - Nintendo 64, August 25th

The name’s Intro. Overused intro which I also managed to fuck up twice through the deeply editable medium of text. GoldenEye is like the Seinfeld of console shooters - playing it nowadays you’re unlikely to be amazed but holy shit there’s some absolute greatness in this game. Every sound and every piece of music in GoldenEye is permanently seared into my brain - sometimes I’ll just hear Facility or Frigate in my head alongside the door opening sound and the gentle PEW of the PP7. I mean come on, fucking listen to this and tell me Grant Kirkhope isn’t cool as all hell.

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LEGO Island - Windows, September 26th

The first open world experience I ever had was LEGO Island. It’s still quite good today, utterly deranged animation from the likes of the Infomaniac and Brickster - a cautionary tale for children that giving pizza to high-profile criminals is disastrous for the human LEGO race.

Fallout - Windows, October 10th

War never changes, but franchises do. Fallout’s legendary status in the industry is exemplified in how different it feels. Yes, we had the game Wasteland nine years prior, but until September 97 there was nothing quite like Fallout. From the chilling introduction sequence showing the ruins of the United States to the tragic ending, Fallout is an exercise in pure human misery with the brightest spots of hope it can possibly muster thrown in for good measure. What begins as a tedious isometric point-and-click RPG ends as a minigun-wielding power fantasy, before your entire worth is stripped from you at the finish line. You have 500 days to find a water chip before it’s too late, but you’re constantly being fought by terrifying Super Mutants, irradiated animals, and the biggest monster of all - humanity. See what I did there? If anything, humanity in Fallout’s setting would be the greatest unifying force possible against the horror of the outside world. But how is it? It’s dull, it’s sluggish, and it’s really hard to get into even if you’re already a fan - but push through that and it’s worthwhile to see exactly how far the series got before Todd Howard said “eh fuck it” and had the whole thing dipped into an FEV vat.

Grand Theft Auto - Sony PlayStation, October 21st

To put it simply, the first in the GTA series is now nothing but a novelty. It has an irritating camera, wonky controls, poor graphics and deeply repetitive gameplay. But thank fuck it exists, because without it the Rockstar story may have been very different indeed. It’s quintessential cops and robbers gameplay, spanning across Liberty City, Vice City and San Andreas in one game, but with maps so far removed from their modern incarnations they may as well be named “Not New York, Possibly Bristol and Orange Town”. People really fucking hated Hare Krishnas in the 20th Century, didn’t they?

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back - Sony PlayStation, October 31

A hard one to talk about, honestly - it’s more Crash and better than the first one. It looks great, and Crash controls so well compared to his first outing. It’ll also keep you playing for 100%, fiendishly addictive and unashamedly difficult. Had a weird cover that moved with your head.

PaRappa the Rapper - Sony PlayStation, November 17th

Type type type the words into the box! (Type, type, type - uh oh - the box?)

PaRappa is a gorgeously stylised rhythm game about rapping to steal the heart of the girl of your dreams - which involves learning karate, getting your driver’s license, selling bottle caps and frogs, making a cake, desperately trying not to shit yourself, and finally performing live on stage. Every one of its segments is so well-produced that they’d genuinely sell like ghost cookies in this era of shite rap. Notable for producing the greatest Jay-Z backing track ever made.

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Sonic R - Sega Saturn, November 18th

Sonic R is absolutely FINE with vibrant textures, interesting levels, neat gimmicks and decent controls. But I’m gonna talk about its fucking AWESOME soundtrack by Richard Jacques and T.J. Davis, an eclectic mix of Europop and New Jack Swing - even thinking about it is bringing tears of absolute joy to my eyes hearing Super Sonic Racing in my head. You’ve got the main theme, Living in the City, Can You Feel the Sunshine, Back in Time, Diamond in the Sky, Work It Out and Number One - all of these are absolute club bangers and genuinely wouldn’t be out of place in a 90s disco.

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Tomb Raider II - Sony PlayStation, November 18th

Lara Croft returns to single-handedly endanger every species on Earth. TR2 is really good, the exploration and puzzle-solving aspects of the first game expanded upon here and the gunplay remaining just as punchy. Lara’s got a fully-functioning ponytail which absolutely boggles the fucking mind - a lot of work went into Lara’s hair for the 2013 reboot, so I can’t imagine the amount of man hours it took to get fluid(ish, come on, it’s the PS1 we’re talking about) hair movements in 1997.

And really, that’s all I played from 1997. I’ve left out big hitters like Quake II, Gran Turismo and Diddy Kong Racing, but I simply haven’t formed an opinion on them yet. Maybe in a future post.

Thanks for reading.

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