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princess-of-the-worlds · 4 years ago

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tldr: As of this October, it has officially been one year since I first watched Torchwood and started reading fics. Although I didn’t start writing my own fics until March 2020, I have written...like a lot of fics in the past seven months. But I wanted to celebrate my favorite fics by other people. So here is Part 1 of probably several eventual fic rec posts. These are what I consider fandom staples.

To The Sticking Place by zephyras13

The end justifies the means. Failure is not an option. There is always a choice, except when there isn't. These are the phrases Ianto Jones lives by and he refuses to allow anyone, even Captain Jack Harkness, to change that. Jack/Ianto, AU, Torchwood One Agent!Ianto.

(janto & others | complete | mature | 96K)

Nik: I legitimately cannot explain why I love this fic so much other than the fact it is so great! It was one of the first fics I read, and I still adore it. It follows canon so well while making you feel very range of the emotion spectrum. The author’s take on Ianto is so complexly-written but still feels true to the canonical Ianto. Literally one of the first fics I’d rec to anyone new to fandom. A must read.

only fools fall by transjackianto

“Oh my god,” he gasps out when his laughter has died down to softer chuckles, “I am so glad I stuck around to hear that. Thank you Jack, I needed to laugh today. Now if you’ll excuse me,” he pushes back from the table for the third time but Jack stops him again with a hand over his own. It is a softer touch than before and that unnerves Ianto more than anything.

He looks up, terrified he’s going to see some kind of earnest emotion on Jack’s face. When he finds Jack looking instead like he swallowed a handful of pins he relaxes. He’s not sure he could handle finding out Jack had some kind of ridiculous unrequited crush on him.

“I know,” Jack groans, dropping Ianto’s hand and letting his head thunk against where his arms are crossed on the table, “I want to punch myself just for saying it, but I mean it Ianto. I need you to be my boyfriend.”

Aka, Ianto just wants to make it through his summer as a newly single sixth form graduate and eagerly await the end when his ex comes back from her summer trip and they can reunite.

His ex-friend Jack Harkness throws a wrench into the works.

(janto, lisaianto, & others | complete | mature | 182K)

Nik: Okay, so I’m a tiny bit biased with this one considering that the author is my friend whom I adore and also one of my favorite people in this fandom. And I...also betaed this entire fic. But take it from me! It’s so, so well-written and the shift from enemies to lover is so perfect. There is angst, oh so much angst, but it is worth it. Plus, it’s incredibly hot! And I know the author has eventual plans for a sequel, although no promises when it’s coming. Another must read!

Halfway Back by Sholio (@sholiofic)

Team Torchwood run a sanctuary for magical creatures, and this time they've got a basilisk on their hands.

(gen | complete | teen | 13K)

Nik: Okay, so literally anything by Sholio is perfect. They have an incredible grasp of the team dynamic that still blows my mind, and their fics have topnotch Owen-Ianto interactions. But I chose this fic because the premise felt like almost nothing I’d read in this fandom before. Plus, there is still the requisite amount of Owen angst in this. (Also check out The Cartography of Feeling, which is another personal favorite.)

Conversational Japanese, Plus Frogs by james

Tosh and Ianto have been taken prisoner. They cope.

(janto | complete | teen | 6K)

Nik: One of the older, shorter recs on this list but still a classic. A fascinating in-depth character study of Ianto and Tosh and their friendship in confined quarters that also explores the trauma that follows some of Torchwood’s misadventures. I don’t think I can say much else besides urging you to read it!

Sharkreef (Or, Why Torchwood Was Set in Cardiff and Not the Bermuda Triangle) by queenfanfiction

There is the story of a team who tried to save Earth from aliens. This is not that story.

(janto & many, many others | complete | teen | 2K)

Nik: Look, I know that some will actually despise that I included this rec, but this fic is ICONIC. It’s cracky, yes. Cracky crack. Very crack. But it’s also legitimately one of the strangest/whackiest/what-the-fuck fics I’ve ever read. It always startles a genuine laugh out of me. It has all of our favorite tropes...coupled with some lobsters. (Sidenote: This reminds me of John Mulaney/SNL’s Diner Lobster sketch, which I also encourage you to watch.)

Insignificant Other by parachutewoman

Ianto is tasked with telling Rhys that his newly wedded wife has ditched him to go to London with Jack on a “very important mission”. Refusing to have his day ruined, Rhys drags Ianto along to the Six Nations final and the two ‘other halves’ try to make sense of their place in the world and their partners’ lives.

(janto & gwenrhys | complete | mature | 6K)

Nik: Ianto-Rhys friendship content is something that is severely lacking in this fandom, which is a damn shame. You can see from COE that Rhys seems to genuinely care about Jack and Ianto, which I presume is from post-Exit Wounds bonding with his wife’s coworkers. And I know that the audiobook Ghost Train has a lot of good Ianto-Rhys bonding, although I just haven’t had the time to listen to it yet. Either way, this fic, and the other fics by this author, are very well-written and beautiful. This one, set circa S2, has just the right amount of angst mixed in as well as you watched Ianto go from reluctantly accompanying Rhys to actually enjoying himself. I definitely enjoyed this fic.

Beast Inside by Flamingbluepanda (@flamingbluepanda)

"Argue with anything else, but don’t argue with your own nature.” - Phillip Pullman

Inside us all, there is an animal that expresses our soul. How would the world change were those animals outside?

(janto & others | complete | mature | 26K)

Nik: Admittedly, this one is also a bit biased because the author is my friend and I am their loyal occasional beta, but I started reading it before I met the author. Although daemons do come from His Dark Materials, they have become a sort of AU on their own, and thus, you do not need to have read HDM to read this excellent fic. I definitely have not. There is angst, there is fluff, there is canon compliance. And there is Dai. Dai, Rhys’s corgi daemon, is probably not the one you would expect to steal the show, but he stole my heart. (I mean, Navi and Emma, Jack’s bear daemon and Ianto’s terrier daemon, adorable respectively...but Dai!) Expect to fall in love with Dai by ths end of this fic!

To Let by Amand_r

Ianto Jones is a good housemate.

(janto & lisaianto | complete | not rated | 12K)

Nik: Now this fic is a little bit different from the rest because it is not only second person POV but is also outside POV, which makes it slightly odd to read at first. But I can assure you, it is most definitely worth it. Ianto’s unnamed housemate makes for an interesting perspective into Ianto’s personal and domestic life as well as exploring his relationship with Jack. His housemate, of course, doesn’t remain one-sided, with loss and love and life of his own, but you can tell that his bond with Ianto is genuine. This fic provides a nice break from the explicit canon while still exploring familiar events.

Your Job Knows What It Is by ShastaFirecracker

Torchwood Three, 2045. Bram Hudson's just been recruited by Jack Harkness, it's xir first day of work, and orientation is being handled by some old man named Jones.

(janto | complete | gen | 9K)

Nik: Okay, I lied. This fic is outsider POV as well, but Bram is so well-written and complex even from the short while we have with xem. As an alternate to the previous fic, this one provides great, interesting exploration into a future, slightly different Torchwood while also serving as a COE fix-it fic. Older Ianto is just as badass as when he was younger, and the insights into his relationship with Jack are sweet and will leave you craving more.

Worrisome Heart by thepsychicclam

It's 1922. Ianto accidentally stumbles upon a speakeasy owned by Captain Jack Harkness. When Ianto becomes a bartender, he quickly learns how dangerous everything around him truly is, and more importantly, how dangerous Jack is. But the longer he knows Jack, the more he doesn't care.

(janto | complete | explicit | 42K)

Nik: This fic, this series in fact, is one of the only complete Historical AUs I have found in this fandom. Set in 1922 New York, it features all our beloved characters as completely human and sans Torchwood and aliens, which - of course - means that they can feel a bit OOC at first. Still, as you read on through this fic and its three sequels, you will realize just how well adopted the events and characterization from canon are. If you going in thinking of this as original work rather than fic, it might help you adjust to the differences. Quite well-written!

Intersecting Geodesics by NancyBrown

Stuck in a time with a Jack who hasn't met him yet, all Ianto wants is a way home.

(janto & jackjohn | complete | mature | 37K)

Nik: There are numerous “Ianto gets sent into the future by the Rift or an artifact and meets past!Jack” fics existing in this fandom, but this is one of my favorites. For one, it’s written by the incomparable author who has many, many excellent fics that I like. (Their smut is seriously topnotch, especially for some of your kinkier tastes if said tastes exist.) The distanced younger Jack provides just the right amount of angst, and his eventual fall for Ianto is built-up just enough to work believably. The resolution is satisfying enough, and the author has a few other fics in this series to keep you going!

For Captain and Cardiff by blackhemlock

"At midnight, a nationwide security alert was sent out... Torchwood London, demands all agencies' cooperation in issuing an arrest warrant for Ianto Merric Jones, 24, of Cardiff."

Torchwood Three's Archivist has gone rogue. But, he does have a very good reason, and he looks stunning in his new suit.

(janto & tenjack | complete | gen | 42K)

Nik: Admittedly, I will often be picky in my fics featuring the Tenth Doctor because of how he mistreated Jack, but this fic features a true-to-canon portrayal of Ianto and the Doctor that I adore. It does well in building up your expectations of Ianto and the Doctor’s encountering and then subverting it. There is also good room for Jack-Ianto angst, which only adds to my enjoyment of the fic. I don’t necessarily know how to explain it, but this fic also feels sleek and modern despite its timey-wimey elements.

What Dreams May Come by AVAAntares (@avaantares)

It's bad enough that a plague of alien parasites have fallen through the rift and are preying on Cardiff's citizens. It's worse that someone from Jack's past has come from the future to confront him on Earth. But when Jack himself is taken by the rift, Ianto and Gwen are forced to rely on the most unlikely of allies to keep Torchwood running without him.

Stranded in another century on a distant planet, Jack has only one hope of returning to Earth. But time travel with the Doctor has never been an exact science, and when he returns to Cardiff, things are not at all as he expects to find them...

(janto | complete | teen | 88K)

Nik: Honestly, I think one of my favorite parts of this fic may be the inclusion of an OC, Jamiya Thane, AKA Jack’s mother. I’m just a sucker for fandom’s takes on Jack’s canonical family and past as Javic Thane from Boeshane, and this plays into it well. It’s endearing to watch Jack’s found family, especially Ianto, interact with his mother. Also included is a rather brilliant time-travel mystery that will tug at your heartstrings on many levels. Excellent soft Jack-Ianto content in chapters and a creepy use of a one-off Doctor Who creature.

Ghost Story by Mad_Maudlin

I called out. "Would you like to hear a ghost story?"

For a moment Jack didn't move, and I knew he'd recognized my voice. After a moment he said, flatly, "I don't believe in ghosts."

"It's a complicated story," I admitted, and pulled the watch from my pocket by the chain. "And it starts with 'Long ago and far away.'"

(janto | complete | teen | 70K)

Nik: This fic! I passed this fic many times on my search for new fics to read, and the summary always threw me a bit, but when I decided to take a chance on it, I realized what I’d been missing out on. There’s so many fics in this fandom, and on this list, that take familiar tropes but twist them into something new, just like this fic. Without giving too much away, I can say that this fic features Time Lords, pocket watches, shifting POVs, and a COE fix-it, all packed with a brow-raising plot twist. It’s enough to make me forgive the first person POV, which I can usually not stand but actually works quite well for this fic! A fic worth reading at least once, if not many times. It feels so utterly unique!

Time Tracks by Cyborgtamaki (@cyborgtamaki) and thirteeninafez (@thirteeninafez)

It took him a second to realise what had happened; what had felt like hours while travelling through the rift shrunk itself in his head to a mere instant of searing gold. That’s when the flicker of the fire in front of him finally registered through his confused daze. In his haste to get away from the flames around him, he slipped and fell, scrambling back until he was a safe distance away from the smoke and the heat. It was only then that he took notice of the voices behind him. He turned towards the noise of a deep, northern voice spluttering and saying, confused and almost angry: “Who the hell are you?” The man rolled over onto his knees and stood up, looking around like he’d never seen a street before. “Jones.” He sounded uncertain but then spoke again with more confidence. “Ianto Jones.”

(janto & ninerose | complete | teen | 174K)

Nik: There’s many “Ianto travels with the Ninth Doctor and Rose” fics in this fandom, but this one is the longest, most recent, and one of the most excellent that I’ve read. The authors have written in-depth chapters of the Doctor Who Season 1 episodes we already know and adore as well as adding their own unique “episodes,” all of which are deeply enjoyable. There is excellent character interactions, specifically a wonderful Rose-Ianto friendship, and so much soft Jack-Ianto. The authors have, personally, promised several more installments coming by the end of the year or later, and they are sure to be worth the wait!

Club Wales by pocky_slash

In the wake of Jack's disappearance, Gwen finds comfort in a new friendship with Ianto. Gossip, bonding, and other hijinks of understanding ensue.

(gwenrhys & janto | complete | teen | 19K)

Nik: This author is single-handedly a Gwen-Ianto dynamic icon. Their grasp on Gwen and Ianto’s respective characterization is brilliant, and their friendship in this fic, and any fic the author writes, is well-fleshed out and believable enough for the moments we only really see on-screen briefly in the show. This fic, and overall series, serves as a compelling insight into how the team originally views Jack and how Gwen and Ianto grow closer. Gwen truly was one of Ianto’s big sister figures, which is excellently reflected in this fic. A must read!

Just this once by Beleriandings (@ultraviolet-eucatastrophe)

(Everybody lives.)

(Or: when a certain Doctor arrives to save Owen Harper from a stricken nuclear power station, it begins a chain of events that will lead Torchwood Three down a very different path. From time locks and telepathy to tea and coffee, high-speed chases to unresolved sibling issues, their new lives (and new and old loves) may be different, but their bonds of friendship and family grow stronger every day. But when every child on earth starts speaking with one voice, the team are torn apart again as they’re forced to fight for their lives, and to confront monsters they’d thought they’d left behind in the past. But with all of them working together – along with some allies they’ve made along the way – Torchwood Three will stop at nothing to save their friends and set the world to rights. The consequences will ripple out across the universe and into the distant future. But they have to start somewhere, and the present is as good a place as any.)

(janto & others | complete | teen | 239K)

Nik: Many fics are post-Exit Wounds and COE fix-its, at the same time, but dare I say that this one is the best? (Or one of the best at least.) The Tenth Doctor receives his own iconic “Everybody lives” moment, but that is only where this fic BEGINS. This beautiful monster, which I mean in the very best sense considering its length, traverses Exit Wounds, COE, and slightly Miracle Day and gives everyone a happy ending. In addition, the author, another friend of mine, I’ll be honest, manages to redeem and humanize Gray in a way I didn’t think possible, but I actually found myself liking him. This is definitely a must, must read, especially if you’re new to the fandom or just finished having your heart thrown out.

The Stars Might Stick You Where You Stand by methylethyl

Following the fall of Torchwood One, Jack Harkness went to ask Torchwood Three for a job. He didn’t expect to fall a little bit in love with its director, the practical and ever-calm Ianto Jones. He also probably didn’t expect that Ianto Jones would end up holding the answers to his most precious secret.

(janto | complete | explicit | 20K)

Nik: I’ll be honestly - I’m a sucker for role reversal AUs in any fandom, and this is one fic I see rarely mentioned or recced, which I think is a damn shame. It is definitely in my top five fics; I adore it so much. Jack is cast in the role of Ianto, gunning for a job at Torchwood Three after the fall of Canary Wharf. His “Lisa” is his desperate, life-long search for his brother Gray who was taken by Torchwood when they were both children. Ianto is, obviously, the immortal director of Torchwood Three, but what makes him even more compelling is the lack of direct reference to his AU past. We don’t know who this Ianto Jones was before he, like Jack, arrived in Cardiff in the 1800s, newly-immortal and ensnared into working for Torchwood. Instead, this fic, and series, focuses on a stretch of episodes from Season 1 intermingled with elements from Season 2, as well as subverting the expected team relationships. Jack and Ianto are believably different but still realistic in their characterization, and look, I adore this AU, which I’ve already said. A personal favorite and must read!

Cling to the Ways of My Name by engagemythrusters ( @iianto-jones)

If Ianto Jones thought his legacy would die out with him in Thames House, he was dead wrong.

(janto & gwenrhys | complete | teen | 37K)

Nik: Hopefully, you’ve already read this fic by now. If not, may I dare ask what you’ve been doing with your life? This is one of my favorite fics of all-time in this fandom, as well as my favorite kidfic ever. It’s so well-written and just so damn unique. I cannot capture in words what makes it so special, although I will try. Ioan Jones is the sweetest janto baby ever, and I love him with all my heart. Jack’s adventures raising Ioan are just so endearing, and later installments, which feature Ianto, serve to satisfy the domestic Jack-Ianto as parents craving you might not even have known you had. There’s just so many little details about this fic I love, including but not limited to - Jack’s found family in the Joneses, Ioan-Anwen friendship, and Ioan loving blue. A definite must read fic to give you the serotonin you need.

Waking Gods by toldthestars

Why are Ianto's dreams coming true? What's in the box with the symbol on it? Oh, and while we're at it, what's the meaning of the life?

(janto | complete | not rated | 7K)

Nik: This fic is another one with a completely unique premise in this fandom. In fact, there is only one other fic I’ve read that even gives me similar “vibes” for this fic. Here, Ianto suddenly finds himself gaining powerful, unexplainable abilities, essentially becoming a god, and oh my, this is excellent. Ianto is just trying to do good in the world, and the team’s growing fear and distrust of him and his power really sucker-punches you straight in the heart. It’s all so beautifully-written, with powerful imagery that left me awe-struck. The janto angst is oh-so-excellent. Reading this fic for the first time is an experience that I don’t believe can be replicated.

fool me once, fool me twice by princessoftheworlds (aka me)

When, after the events at the House of the Dead, the Rift spits Ianto out on an alien planet a thousand years later, so begins a goose chase that will take him across the universe and across time until he finds Jack again.

(janto & others | complete | explicit | 52K)

Nik: What kind of fic writer would I be if I created a list of fic recs for Torchwood and did not include one of my own? I consider this fic my masterpiece. The House of the Dead!Ianto get sucked through the Rift and spat out across time and space, turned into another fixed point, as he begins his search for Jack. I don’t know if I can say much else without it sounding like bragging, but it features - in no particular order - a happy ending for one, Ianto getting some badass adventures of his own, a sorta redemption arc for John Hart, numerous references to Big Finish, and too many spinoffs with more to come! Give it a shot, why don’t you?

#torchwood #torchwood fic recs #janto #jack harkness #ianto jones #gwen cooper #toshiko sato #owen harper #nik's fic recs #nik's torchwood fic recs #i'll figure out an actual tag later tbh #i wrote this all out in three hours #so i spent TIME on it #hope this doesn't flop lmao cause i could have and should have been studying #three upcoming midterms #and now i'm rambling

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vampiresuns · 4 years ago

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Anatole’s Family Tree

this is Anatole’s family tree down to it’s basics, and you can have some info about everyone under the cut. I apologise for the intersecting lines, but family colours will help distinguish Florentino and Matilda from the Radošević they married.

hexagon is for he/him, circle for she/her, rounded edges for they/them

Vitale Cassano

Aquarius sun, Scorpio moon, Capricorn rising, Leo Mercury, Scorpio Mars, do NOT fuck with this man.

Former Consul of Vesuvia, responsible for the biggest (to date) expansions in the Vesuvian public space, the reason why Vesuvia was an attractive, rich location with solid public funding which ended up going to hell with Lucio’s administration, but that’s another story.

If he knew that his hard work would go to hell like it did, he would’ve made a coup to change the course of history.

Fuck around and find out in human form. His entire energy is condensed in this post.

Had the art of delivering insults diplomatically down to an art, however. “You’re tacky and I hate you” would destroy a diplomatic relation; “I believe a less heterodox decision which might hold the weight of this agreement with less attached risk” doesn’t.

Friends with Dragoslav Radošević parents, as in those friends you call uncle when they’re not really related to you, but kind of are by default of closeness anyway. Befriended him because he was the most eccentric person in the room and he was bored.

Amparo Mediavilla

Is that even her actual family name? Who the hell are the Mediavilla? Where does her money come from? She says she’s from Karnassos but literally no one knows (she does, she just won’t tell). Has a brother named Seraphim Mediavilla, and that’s all you need to know.

Vitale was well aware she was probably a smuggler, but he likes her surprisingly present honour code anyway. Plus, she was fun, she was different, she was efficient. We stan.

She’s half the reason why the Cassano’s library in the Vesuvian Palazzo they inhabit in the Heart District is basically an open research centre for all of those travellers who seek knowledge. The Cassano have almost always have an open doors policy — the Consul acts in behalf of the people, and the people are allowed to go to the Consul. Amparo expanded and bettered that system, to the point it acted as Vesuvia’s public library and the biggest reason why the Palace didn’t quite have one — it was an understanding that it wasn’t needed. The only time the Consul’s Palazzo has been closed to the people of Vesuvia is during the plague.

Longest lashes ever seen in a person.

Somehow already knew the Radošević, they liked her honest opinions and her distaste for explaining herself.

Luciano “Lucenzo” Cassano

Vitale’s baby brother, they had a significant age difference.

Known later as ‘Great Uncle Lucenzo’, literally no one called him Luciano but Vitale when he wanted him to stop doing something stupid. Not that Lucenzo thought his ideas were stupid, after all, this man was an architect and patron of the arts, and Goldgrave’s favourite loose canon ball.

He was not allowed to set a foot in Firent. When you asked him why, he kept changing the story.

Met his wife at an orgy. Yes, you read that right.

Octavia Cassano

Sweet lady, do no harm, take no shit, appreciates a good laugh in life.

Met Lucenzo at an orgy. She made a joke, and the person she was focusing on didn’t find it funny, but Lucenzo did.

Came from another prominent Vesuvian family. Worked with her BIL, Vitale, in developing social policy plans and judicial reforms in Veusuvia. Which also went to hell. If she was alive today, Portia would be her favourite and would literally fight to have her work with her.

Greenest eyes this side of the straight of seals.

Agrippina & Iovanus Cassano

Amparo’s and Vitale’s children, Agrippina is two years older than Iovanus.

Agrippina stepped down from becoming the Consul out of personal preference. They were a scholar and proficient historian, very talented in the art of mixing a good drink as well. Closest to the Prakran intellectual circles and is one of the notable alumni of the Prakran University. One of her later acquaintances, Rosario Aster, would eventually become Anatole’s tutor in History and Politics before he went to university himself.

Agrippina partly worked as a diplomat attaché, wasn’t a full on freedom fighter simply because there wasn’t an uprising to be one in. If Vitale is the MO of the Cassano, Lucenzo their spark, and Amparo their zest, Agrippina is, surprisingly, their political compass. Agrippina and Lucio weren’t on the best terms, they were in awful terms actually. The Cassano and him are simply like oil and water, it just doesn’t mix.

Iovanus took after Vitale and became the Consul. He was less of a surprise stew than the father, though, and inevitably, his best focus became damage control.

His entire vibe is moomin going on a murderous rage and then holding back. He’s folding the knife. For now. Iovanus was a pain in the ass to have as a predecessor in the position of Consul because this man constantly had his patience tested and his city funds used in things he didn’t want to do. Responsible, along with Agrippina, with the current functioning of the Council of Vesuvia and it’s final opening before Anatole’s times. What that composition and functioning is, is something I might, one day, decide to write down, but not today for the sake of staying on topic.

They’re the closest thing to the “spirit” of a tribune of the plebs I can think of, without like, either of them ending up dead like the Gracci brothers.

Cassandra Cassano

Finally some fucking scientist/mathematician. Mathematician wife of Agrippina. Did some political economy, but that hadn’t been invented yet, mostly liked numbers for the sake of numbers and finding out what she could do with them.

Having in mind that when I say ‘Vesuvian’ I mean solely location and original seat, not ethnicity, comes from a Vesuvian Family which settled in Venterre. Studied in Zadith and Prakra, but met Agrippina during some diplomatic function.

She was someone else’s date, and Agrippina was working with Iovanus is some diplomatic relations, and Agrippina literally said they were happy and willing to stay to seal the negotiations if Cassandra would go out with them. Cassandra was bored off her skin, and said yes.

They married by the end of the year.

Valerian Cassano

Iovanus’ husband. Renaissance man in the humanities department, very savant, a virtuoso, but his true passion was the performing arts. Darling of Vesuvian opera and theatre.

Met Iovanus through Lucenzo (patron of the arts, remember?). Iovanus went to every single of his plays for a year, made some very light advances as a “fan”, until Valerian asked him what his deal was. Iovanus was disarmed by gorgeous light amber eyes and witty snark, having no option but to admit his feelings.

Cemented the Cassano-Radošević relationship with Goldgrave. Most of the family thought it healthy for a dose of ‘get of your high-horse’ check.

Hated the Colosseum with a black tar vitriol.

He was Elysian Radošević’s (Anatole’s great grandmother on the Radošević side) best friend.

Matilda Cassano & Krešmir Radošević

Here’s where the story gets a bit sad. Inherited all of the snark of Valerian, but wanted nothing to do with her family’s ventures.

They just didn’t click. She always thought her fathers were very dedicated men, but needed to let loose a little. She was here for a fun time, not a long time. Which was sadly, literal.

For the longest time, it was an understanding that her cousin Cassiopeia would inherit the consulship from Iovanus, which Matilda didn’t love. She didn’t want the Consulship, but thought she was entitled to it. She could be the Consul and Cassiopeia do the job.

Cassiopeia did not like the idea, specially because within the Cassano it’s an open rule that the title falls on whomever willingly wants to take the mantel, number one. Number two, it came with an awareness of your social position and what good you could do with it, having in mind you weren’t really necessary for society. Someone else could be the Consul, the people, if given a chance, would govern themselves. It’s part of the Cassano mythos that surrounds them that they’re a protective line between misused political power and the people of Vesuvia. So, no, Matilda shouldn’t be the Consul.

Honestly, did Iovanus and Valerian spoil her too much? They have no clue. They just think she might be wired that way, because she always disliked it.

She married the fourth of the equivalent generation of the Radošević siblings, Krešmir Radošević.

Krešmir was a bit of a loose shot, doing “useful” things because he had to, not because he wanted to, so they took to each other like fish to water. They both wanted to have fun, the problem was they wanted to have fun with no respect of the world around them. Krešmir had middle child syndrome, which became worse after his youngest sibling, Ilnya, died at 27.

They had two children: Vladislav Radošević and Valeriy “Valerius” Radoševic.

Sadly, they passed away when Vlad was 14 and Val 4. They went on a holiday, leaving the kids with Mircea Radošević (Krešmir older brother) and Florentino Cassano (Matilda’s cousin and Mircea’s husband), as Iovanus and Valerian were in no place (out of grief) to take care of the children, and Mircea and Florentino were their de facto care takers already.

Now, onto the Radošević, so mind you, we’re going back a couple of generations.

Dragoslav Radošević

PRIME recipient of the Radošević tradition of breeding polymaths/”renaissance people”. This man spoke 6 languages, knew astronomy, economy, mathematics, accountancy, a bit of law and a whole lot of history. Excellent chess player.

No one’s exactly sure what the hell he did, he did too many things. Some sort of diplomacy was clearly his most usual job. Big friends with Agrippina, Cassandra and Iovanus. Everyone thought he’d marry Agrippina but both of them dry heaved at the possibility.

He was a bit of a character though. Very conspicuous man with particular rituals. Taciturn man, too, but overall amicable.

Had a very long, stable marriage with Elysian, his wife. Survived the death of two of their children. The death of Ilnya hit Dragoslav more than anyone would expect, but he had a very “let me grief in private” stance. The key to understand a Radošević is that their mentality is “whatever happens to you, whatever life throws at you, you find a way to survive it.”

His is a family of eccentrics, inventors, patron of the arts, humanists and scientists; when he says his family, he means the Cassano too.

No rumour ever mattered to any of them, and Dragoslav & Elysian were a prime example of it. Theirs is a family of academics full of anxieties about the world surrounding them, whose sorrows were scars they rarely showed. Private yet with an extensive, and international, circle of acquaintances who deemed them all charmingly strange on their best days; prideful, analytic, often with a drink in hand.

Had a sister who had three partners, all of them women, too.

Elysian Radošević, nee Juriša

Wallachian by birth, first person in her family (aside from one aunt the Juriša did NOT speak about) to marry someone who wasn’t a Wallachian in a couple of generations. Not that she minded, everything I said about Drago, applies to Elysian.

She was a child of high society, bonded with Valerian, her best friend, out of their love for Operettas, though while Valerian went pro, she was an amateur — still, very good at it.

Excellent piano player, loved a well crafted, ingenious garden.

Beacon of the Radošević righteous rage. The Radošević are meant to be from a place called Balkovia, which is modelled after Yugoslavia, with many of the “bumps” in actual history colliding (A/N: Anatole is a latine-slav like me, for a reason). Elysian was the friend of artists and partisans, and had absolutely zero respect for certain kinds of leeches in political power. Zero national pride in this one, but at least, she came from a place were partisans stood (or used to) stand up to injustice.

In her dignified clothes with her amiable smile, she will bite ankles. Try her, you just try Elysian Radošević and she’ll remind you of all those people who ever said: They shall not pass.

Ambrozije Radošević

Diplomat, politician, eldest of Dragos and Ely’s children.

Inherited his father’s temperance but also had Elysian’s "Excuse Me, What The Fuck Is This Shit” attitude. Still, many times when he talked about his job, he had to stop his mother to go out and bite ankles.

Was the Radošević rage an answer against the grief of living and growing, against the cycle of dying and rebirth, and a cry of this is not enough, what I get is not enough? Maybe. Ambrozije liked to theorise about it.

Married Eloise Isaković and had two children: Kuzma and Lucija.

Best fencer of his generation.

Eloise Isaković

Didn’t take the Radošević surname solely to spite her family. She was disinherited for wanting to marry a Radošević. Her father said “if you want to marry then be a housewife for those freaks and I’ll take you out of University.”

The Radošević were like not in my fucking watch.

You bet Elysian and Dragoslav had words about that.

Percy Shelley, if Percy had been a woman, and also an anthropologist.

Will make femur jokes.

Kuzma & Lucija Radošević

Less in the centre of things than the rest of the family, out of virtue of “dear God, I get they’re my family but these people are fucking weird.”

The Addams energy was too much for them.

Kuzma is an alchemist and an inventor, moved to Zadith to study, never came back. He has two daughters and a wife, though.

Lucija became a diplomat for Balkovia, has a seat beyond the straight of seals. More traditional for diplomacy than Ambrozije by all means.

Very Dad please not now, but she does love the old man.

Married, never had children.

Neuma Radošević

Painter, a gay who can do maths, so that’ll have you knowing she’s stronger than you already. Perspective does not scare her.

Little does.

(Moths do, for some reason).

Claimed to have zero magical ability, but it was heavily disputed because how the hell did she paint like that.

Travelled a lot with her bohemian artist found family.

Never married.

Anatole loved watching her paint as a kid, she taught Valeriy to paint and about art as well. Big difference was Valeriy had a better hand for it than Anatole did, who literally can’t draw to save his skin.

Mircea’s favourite.

Mircea Radošević

Distinguished man, owns my heart.

“That was nOT POLITE”

Pretty level headed, has a big heart and a lot of will to help people. Just don’t be impolite, or he won’t like you.

Yes, he’s a libra.

An Architect, got to meet the other Architect in the family Lucenzo Cassano. That’s, in fact, how he met Florentino. Of course Lucenzo had an apprenticeship for Dragoslav son, but of course. The rest is history. Longest lasting marriage in both the Cassano and the Radošević tree by virtue of them gaving gotten together fairly young, and in the furture dying of a very, very old age.

He enjoyed travelling and the finer, beautiful things in life. If you want to equate his views to anyone in the real world, think about William Morris saying “I do not want art for a few; any more than education for a few; or freedom for a few.”

Aristically, somewhere between Gaudi and Morris.

Worked in several restoration projects both in Balkovia and Vesuvia.

Lived in Vesuvia on and off with Florentino and the children, which meant Vlad and Val were raised right between the vortex of everything that is the Cassano and the Radošević.

As polite and diplomatic that he is, he isn’t really a doormat, and if there’s anyone he would throw hands for it’s for his children (yes, he sees them as his children), and Anatole. Disrispect tha boy in front of him and he will throtle you and say you did it to yourself.

Florentino Cassano

Nicknamed Floren, Florence, Florens, Flolo, Tino, Tinino, Antonino.

Very responsible, big sense of family. Closest in personality to Vitale Cassano, his grandather.

Son of Agrippina and Cassandra, took after Cassandra’s love for numbers, but mixed it with Agrippina’s eye for politics and his Aunt Octavia’s knack for political economy (even if it had’t been invented yet).

Financier and investor worked in the public sector, ran the coffer of the Council of Vesuvia for a while, but quitted out of management differences with certain people in Court and up. Still very willing to help people of all backgrounds manage their assets though.

A bit of a hardass, when Matilda and Krešmir died he said of course they would, as it was very in the likes of them to get so lost in the moment and their ideal world where they had no earhtly responsibilities to forget they had two young sons.

Still, when Vlad and Val first called him “Dad” or “Father”, respectively, he kinda cried big tears. Freaked Vlad out because he thought he had done something wrong. Florentino was quick to tell him he hadn’t.

Ilnya Radošević & Blasio Abadzić

Ilnya was another one of those Radošević that you weren’t exactly sure what the hell was it that they did, because they seemed to have a lot of eggs in different baskets. Was an astronomer, though.

Strongest intuition/six senth in the Radošević. Another of those cases where it was definitely magic (Ilnya was clairvoyant) but they all passed it off as having another explanation.

Was the most joyful, had the most contagious laughter and the quickest, most wicked sense of humour.

I’m not entire sure how Blasio and them met, they haven’t told me yet, but it was one of those meetings which changes your life forever.

Blasio is equally irreverent, if not more. This one post of a man playing the guitar and an old man dancing to it is the exact vibe Blasio had (he’s the old man dancing, the man playing the guitar would be his grandson Milenko — who’s Anatole’s cousin however many times removed).

They lived in Vesuvia. Ilnya was a court scientist. The Cassano library has a try globe map that was their work with a court cartographer. It has a map of the region, of the world, and of the stars for navigation purposes.

Ilnya died of sepsis at the age of 27, going on 28. To this day, no one knows exactly what took them out.

After Ilnya died, the Cassano offered to take Blasio and their twins Atanasie (pronounced Ah-ta-na-SY) and Violeta in with them to ease of the expences of raising two kids as a single father. He accepted.

Blasio was a composer and dramaturg. He took it as a personal goal not to let the joy escape from his life after becoming a widower. Said carrying on with joy and irreverence was his job, as if to preserve his spouse’s legacy.

Vladislav Radošević

Whatever name theme you sense with him and his wife, don’t @ me about it!!! I remade this entire family on a whim, I will take my headcanons about other things and build from them.

Eldest of the V² brothers, if people had soulmate marks, his soulmate would be his brother. Vlad has always felt responsible for him and, unlike him, remembers much of how they parents actually were or how carelessly negligent they could be. His defence against grief was becoming taciturn and “distancing” himself from things. It didn’t always really work for him, but he sure did try.

Grew up with the mistaken feeling that the rest of their families were taking care of him and his brother as a favour. He eventually wrapped his head around the idea that it wasn’t a favour.

Called Mircea and Florentino “Father”/”Dad” for the first time when he was 16, never went back. It wasn’t like he didn’t spent a lot of time being brought up by them due to his own parents absences.

Taciturn, remarkably inventive and intelligent, has a bit of trouble coming out of his shell. Prefers to observe, then pounce. Other than this, his main personality trait is “I love my wife, I love my son.”

An alchemist, works in what would be closest to biochemical engineering.

Mircea and Florens discovered he would be very suited for that field because when he was a kid he kept designing buildings to show Mircea. They clearly showed he had not a predisposition to become an architect, but whatever weird, inexplicable mazes he created always came with solutions attached and clever mechanisms.

He’s a problem solver, he’s just shaking years of bad mental health habits of his shoulders.

A scorpio and a cat person. Has two cats with Louisa, Kiki and Keke (their actual names are Cyrila and Cecilia).

Yes, his brother is also a scorpio, yes his son is also a scorpio. They get along, however.

Met Louisa in some sort of medical-alchemy conference/symposium (whatever that would be aplicable to the time, what matters to me is that you get the idea). Louisa didn’t like his attitude, called him out, and Vlad simply blinked, apologised, and did better.

A second apology and further conversations ended up with them falling in love.

If Vlad knows what allowing himself to love and live feels like, it is because of Louisa and Anatole.

He gets pegged.

Speaks five languages and won a regional fencing championship when he was in his early 20s. Still thinks his brother is better at fencing than he is.

Louisa De Silva

Latin American, eldest of three sisters (Paris and Alma being the other two De Silva sisters). She emmigrated from her native country to a. study medicine b. because there was a Dictatorship at the time, and her parents suspected Louisa would not keep quiet enough to guarantee her safety.

She personally swore never to go back until there were no active traces of said dictatorship left in her country. Nothing, not even the war that eventually rose up in Balkovia has made her change her mind, and probably nothing will. Once she is set on what is right, she is set.

Met Vlad as mentioned above. She didn’t appreciate his initial “careful” cynicism, but also didn’t believe he was as insufferable as most people thought he was. Someone with attention to detail, determination and who prefers to stand back from social situations, who hasn’t actually done anything nefarious, offensive or in bad taste isn’t a bad person.

Once she paid him a visit and he opened the door shirtless because he thought it was his brother, and Louisa almost wheezed in front of him.

“I’m going to sleep with Radošević” “But you don’t have to?” “No, no, I’m gonna.”

Speaks five languages.

Speaking of the war I mentioned: there was a war in Balkovia which began little before Anatole was born, and therefore around 29 years before the events of the game. At the time, Vlad and Louisa were already together, and planning to move to Vesuvia. However, the war began, Vlad felt torn about leaving and not helping, not that he wanted to admit it, and Louisa said “well, I did not leave a country ridden with injustice to passively see war crimes being committed.” As soon as she could after Anatole was born she volunteered as a field doctor.

And she is good. “Louisa De Silva” would absolutely resonate in Nazali’s or Julian’s fellow doctor knowledge level of notoriously good.

Aquarius sun, Saggitarius moon, she’s active, independent, unconventional, friendly, very understanding and highly humanitarian. Louisa loves people and cannot stand injustice. Loves and craves learning and is very sincere. She can be a bit impulsive, but she’s good at coming back from it.

Much of Anatole’s sense of social duty and sometimes even social fight is due to Louisa.

Vlad and Val call her Lulu. Anatole always calls her Mamá. Always. It doesn’t matter what language he’s speaking, she is his Mamá.

Louisa De Silva, santa patrona del pueblo que lucha.

Often dragged Vlad and Val into some of her schemes. Val loves to complain about it, but he actually adores his SIL.

Valeriy “Valerius” Radošević of the Cassano of Vesuvia, former Consul of Vesuvia and Court Advisor.

Here is where I would like to clarify and remind the (very patient) reader that this is my own interpretation of Canon, and I’ve triedto build with it from what little we were told of this specific character, Vesuvian lore, and the story I wanted to tell. I tried to do my best with the interpretation of the character, but know you’re in no obligation to adhere to my ideas.

Some people can call him Val, namely, his parents, his nephew, his SIL and his brother. Literally anyone else he will bite your head.

Inherited his mother’s and his namesakes witty snark, even if it’s not always witty.

I have the personal hc that Lucio cannot, for the life of him, pronounce slavic names, so Valeriy became Valerius, though his family already called him Valerius because it was the one nickname he accepted.

However, for the most part, his family calls him Valeriy, in contrast to Vesuvian citizens, who call him Valerius.

Doesn’t remeber his parents, and doesn’t like to think about them. It is very tragic that they died, but they left him, and he has no time for people like that. His brother, however, had always been there. So have been Mircea and Florentino.

I’ve always hc he had one big love in his youth, but couldn’t actually stand the idea of an empty marriage based on status and decided to never marry.

Wasn’t always this high and mighty. He has always been a complicated man, with complicated tastes and even a snob, but he was raised in two multicultural families, based in two multicultural cities. What I personally hc happening here is that he truly hates his job. He does like the sense of status and the power that comes with it, but the responsibility? The state of things when he took over from Iovanus? The paperwork? The staleness of it all? And to do it for a city that ate itself up?

He would’ve given his cousin Cassiopeia his left arm to take the position for him, but in the end, he was subject of what he thought everyone expectations were. He feared more not being enough in the eyes of his grandfather, who did not want to repeat the same mistakes he did with Matilda, than saying “Nono Iovanus I actually hate this job with all my soul.”

But then again, the power attached to it.

I fully believe that if you had given Valerius a position that was, say, a cultural authority of sorts? Where he could focus on the arts, theatre, food and those sort of things? He would’ve thrived. The city would’ve been leagues away from where it was if he would’ve been allowed to solely focus on art.

Instead, he has to fix people’s problems, and he doesn’t want to. It isn’t that he doesn’t care in the slightest — he does, in the distant sense of people should not be dying left and right, and cities should be ran by competent Statespeople. Of course he believes that! He’s a Radošević and a Cassano of Vesuvia, who do you take him for. It was his family that 500 years ago stepped up into the position due to their sheer excellence, of course he believes that.

Just for the love of everything you deem holy, do not fucking leave that fixing to him. He’s begging you, and he doesn’t actually beg

(At least that’s what he says in public)

While he doesn’t quite like magic, or rather, doesn’t quite understand it and takes a lot of self proclaimed magicians as frauds (and an insult to good peope’s intelligence), he’s never had a judgamanetal attitude towards Anatole’s magical sensitivies. Most of what he sees about it is his inordinate aptitude for languages. He tends to take it as his nephew being simply Better, because if this man is something, that thing is proud.

He eases off after the events of the game where he can simply be a court advisor and give himself a chance. Not that it excuses or ammends any mistake that he committed, but it’s a place to start. He can do that, he thinks.

His was the decision to close during the Plague, and for the first time, the Palazzo the Cassano inhabit in the Heart District to the City.

His grandafther Valerian was (is) still alive while he’s the Consul, and tried to reach out to help him when he began to do deals with the Devil many times, but Valerius sucks at letting people help him. Officially worse than his brother at it.

He is, however, the best fencer in the family, and he is one of the best singers, he just doesn’t do any of both much in front of people. What he does when he’s at home is none of your business.

While I could feel pages of headcanons about this man, but I will try to stay on topic, and mostly address my previous post about the subject of Valerius’ and Anatole’s relationship, which, now that I’ve reworked the families into a story I do feel excited to tell most of it no longer applies.

The timeline is p much the same, both with Valerius, and with Anatole travelling with tutors to study and visiting whenever he could.

His feelings when Anatole dies stay the same. The difference is Anatole's family does know he dies when he stands as the Apprentice (normally, he doesn’t, he just stands as an Arcana OC). During the time of the plague, Vlad and Louisa travelled to Vesuvia to help, so they do know their son died.

What ends up breaking Val is not only losing his nephew (and again for what) but also seeing his brother and his SIL completely break. It was his job to protect him, and he didn't do it. He wasn’t enough.

I headcanon that when Anatole doesn’t die, one of his deals with the Devil is that no harm comes (from the Court) to Anatole. I also hc that for someone who has such pride in his intellect (which is there, he is pretty smart) he did rather unsuitable dealings with the Devil, by which I mean he dealt in really awful terms that he, himself, would’ve berated anyone else to have done out of their sheer idiocy of not fully using their leverage.

The main difference with the post is that Anatole and Valerius do not suffer their family anymore. The Radošević and the Cassano are opinionated and very "If something happens to one of us, it happens to all of us" but they're good, eccentric, people-leaning people, albeit wealthy. Hence, why I personally hc that what happens here is that he hates the job but loves the status, but the status carries the responsibility of people asking him for things, and he doesn’t want to be asked for things. He will be in his room if you need him, and please do not need him.

(In Anatole’s case, it's finding his place in the world. It’s a journey of diaspora and of becoming. To win, you must first know yourself)

Vlad and Louisa adore him to bits still, complicated as he is.

Anatole and Valerius do fight in some of the LI routes and during those three years before the game begins.

Everything else stands.

Atanasie and Violeta Radošević, and Aurora Radošević

Thank you with bearing with me so far, I love you.

Atanasie and Violeta are twins, cousins of Vlad and Valeriy, children of Ilnya and Blasio, the happy eccentric duo.

Grew up right amid the Radošević and the Cassano, and it really goddamn shows. They’re en aunt and uncle/counsins saying criptic things with a drink in hand, and you’re not entirely sure if they’re portetns of doom or not, but good for them!

Best violinists in the family though. Play the most instruments as well, as Blasio was a composer and multi-instrumentalist. Neither of them are professional musicians though.

Atanasie is a traveller and explorer, think of the eccentric explorer archetype without the Colonialism nor the grave robbing. Would, objectively, get along the best with Julian. He’s another of those people who knows a lot of things about different topics, but now like cursed/forbidden/borderline illegal things.

If Amparo Mediavilla had been alive to know him, she would’ve been really proud.

Violeta is a botanist and garden designer. The palace did ask her to work with them, but she went No ❤️. She, however, is responsible for the current design of the Palazzo’s winter garden, which in her biased yet correct opinion is the best room in it.

High femme eccentric queen, married Aurora who used to travel around with Atanasie. She’s an archeologist.

They have one son, Milenko, who is... an entire party.

Aelius Anatole Radoševic De Silva, of the Cassano of Vesuvia, former secretary of the Council of Vesuvia, and Consul of Vesuvia

Good ol’ Nana

Technically, that would be his entire ass title (which he correctly insists it’s a public office, not a nobiliary title, because a Consul is a public servant, and people just got mad with power for to long)

He hates it.

Please just call him Anatole, or Aelius if you’re not that daring.

I’m going to use this to talk a bit about Consul Anatole: along with Nadia, he introduced a series of social reforms, solidified them, and changed a lot of aspects of the way in which the City was run, in order to make corruption harder (Nana’s pride and joy are his Anti-Corruption directives) and to protect the reform on themsleves.

Adamantly against having a statue of him. Which was respected while he was alive, but a couple of generations down, they eventually built one, near the main square.

It points east, which is where the sun rises. It’s a metaphor for hope, and for Vesuvia to have the resilence to await for the dawn.

Milenko Radošević

His vibe is this picture of Javier Botet, meeting this meme, and the video of the old man and the younger man playing guitar, where he would be playing guitar. Oh, also, this picture of a guy floating in the Zadar floods of 2017, from this post. If this was a modern AU rest assured that WOULD be Milenko, and he doesn’t even live in Zadar.

When you see internet memes about how Slavs/people from the Adriatic are kind of weird, I want you to think of Milenko.

So yes, you would see him on a floatie down the canals of Vesuvia.

He’s a journalist and a writer, which has nothing to do with him being a character.

Tried to summon the Devil to show the Devil isn’t real. After the events of the game, if Anatole is involved in defeating the devil, he’s always offended he didn’t bring him along, he had points to prove.

Plays the guitar and the double bass.

Looks like an 80s goth, and we will not question how that’s mildly anachronistic. His favourite band would be The Cure. Also would have a soft spot for The Cranberries which he definitely took from Anatole.

When Belle and Sebastian wrote “colour my life with the chaos of trouble” in the Boy With The Arab Strap they were talking specifically about Milenko.

Chugs respect women juice harder than most people. If he chokes on it, then that’s how he dies.

Not allowed in several bars, has at least one sworn enemy in the Vesuvian nobility.

Him, Amparo Cassano (she’s down below) and Anatole are all in the same age range, and they’re a force to be reckon with.

Thank you for staying with me up to this point! We’re about to make another jump back. We’re following Lucenzo Cassano’s line now.

Atilia Cassano & Anzano Ventura

Atilia is the child of Lucenzo and Octavia. Closest thing to a community organiser. Need someone to organise a party? Atilia. A meeting? Atilia. To allocate human resources to enact some policy? Atilia.

Anzano is the son of two High Priests in Vesuvia from one of the temples in the Temple District, which is how they met Atilia.

Anzano doesn’t have a fixed profession, and takes things up according to their interests. Which are varied.

Cares more about their cat than they do about some people, both of them. Neither of them are the kind to wish ill on other people, but if ill falls on you as consequences of your actions, then that’s on you buddy.

Some of the things Anzano Ventura has said, without context: “My heart is green with hope.”

“Figure out what fortune has to hand you and spit twice in the face of the Gods.” It’s a saying from where they’re originally from. They’ve never properly explained what it means.

“These are not gentle waters we are sailing.” There is context for this one. They said this when the Plague began to surface in Vesuvia.

Atilia died a couple years before Anzano, who died of Plague.

This is how Anzano would’ve looked like in his early twenties.

Cassiopeia Cassano & Iris Ravella

If Valerius had not become the Consul, it would’ve fell on Cassiopeia. She was a Vesuvian diplomat and politician, member of the Council. Would’ve become the Consul anyway, but, respecting Iovanus’ wishes and trusting (correctly or not, it’s up to you) Valeriy’s potential, stepped aside.

Truly did not resent Matilda for harbouring peculiar feelings against her because Iovanus didn’t want to let her have the Consulship. Nor she did on Valeriy for his mistakes.

Iris comes from another prominent Vesuvian family. Theirs is a family of merchants, based in Centre City, who weren’t particularly thrilled about Iris marrying a Cassano.

Iris cared very little. They did it anyway.

Amparo Cassano

Last but not ever least.

Ballet dancer, fencer, deeply invested in politics. Amparo takes after the OG Amparo, her great aunt Amparo Mediavilla, in her daring, often without explanation ways, as she does in her honour code.

Sarcastic wit, a little bit petty. Would be one of those people who go “I licked it, so it’s mine.”

Takes up an interest in languages, as well as runes and tarot, though she’s not as good with languages as Anatole is. She says life gave him a magical advantage or otherwise she would’ve bested him. Anatole doesn’t doubt it.

Would climb to your window to impress you, with a sword to her hip. She’s that kind of bi.

Would definitely dance to Caramelldansen, and so would Milenko. Anatole would Not, but would look at Amparo dead in the eye and dance it when they’re alone, because he knows no one will believe her.

She calls him a ‘motherfucker’, to which he replies: “Do I LOOK like Oedipus to you.”

Loud mouthed, but with a good heart.

While her an Milenko are, technically, not actually related, they act like they are. They don’t care that’s not how it works.

Comrade Cassano? Comrade Cassano.

The world is her oyster and she’s about to slurp it.

Thank you so much for sticking with me to the end of this list. Means the world to me, as I’m happy to share the Radošević-Cassano with anyone who is willing to listen.

#aelius anatole #the radosevic-cassano #this? this is Deep Lore #i'm finally done holy shit

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emisfritish · 4 years ago

Text

Our gift to the world - Episode 2

Pairing: Pang/Wave (The Gifted/The Gifted Graduation)

Summary: Episode codas of an established Pang/Wave in The Gifted Graduation.These can all be read as standalones, but they fit into the same canon-compliant universe. Episode 2 - Scene set at the end of the episode after the whole talk with Time.

Previous parts : Ep 1.

Next parts : Ep.3 / Ep.4 / Ep.5 / Ep.6 / Ep. 7 / Ep. 8

Series on Ao3

Notes : Okay, and that’s the coda for episode 2 ! Enjoy this weird mix of angst and fluff, all into one fic.

Later in the evening, once The Gifted students have answered all of Time’s questions and after Wave’s continuous monitoring of school cameras to make sure that the group of Anti-Gifted students were found and picked up by school staff for what they hope will be severe disciplinary actions, Pang finds himself back in his bedroom, sitting on his bed.

Today has been exhausting, he thinks to himself, as he lets his head fall backwards until it hits gently against the wall behind him and closes his eyes, trying to hold off the migraine he can feel building within him. The evening definitely hadn’t gone down like they planned, and although the mission had been a success and no one had gotten hurt in the end, Pang still feels uneasy with how close a call it had been, and the many thoughts and questions still plaguing him.

First, this was all his fault. Sure, he disagrees with everything the Anti-Gifted stand for right now and he hates the way they go at things, but he’d also been the one to bring them into the fold, to impress upon the other Gifted students that it was a good idea. Blinded by his ideals, he inadvertently created them, and every single action they do now indirectly falls back on him.

Which leads him to the second thought that is currently so imposing it almost paralyzes him in fear… Was he repeating the same mistake with Time ?

Sure, Time looks like his heart in his the right place and he only wants to help make things better too, but that’s exactly what Pang thought when he first introduced the non-gifted students to his friends, and one only has to look at the situation today to see how bad that particular decision had been.

Pang hates the idea of potentially putting even more people in danger by bringing Time into the fold. The idea that the decision he took by not forcing Time to forget everything that’s happened recently could ultimately harm his friends, could harm Wave… he doesn’t think that’s something he could live with. Not again.

“I can hear you overthinking things from all the way over here,” a voice suddenly cuts into his thoughts.

“You don’t read mind, that’s not what your gift is,” Pang says as he lifts his head to look towards his boyfriend who is currently leaning against the doorframe of his bedroom, studying him.

“Trust me, I don’t need it to be my gift to be able to read you like an open book right now,” the other boy answers, before he pushes his way forward to make his way into the bedroom.

“Move over,” he orders once he reaches the bed, prompting Pang to scoot to the side to leave enough room for Wave to sit next to him, which he does instantly. The immediate comfort coming from the warmth of their sides being pressed loosens Pang’s shoulders a bit.

Neither of them say anything for a couple minutes, and Pang can feel Wave’s stare burning into the side of his face, his boyfriend studying him intently before he finally breaks the silence.

“Are you okay ?”

Wave’s voice when he asks the question is low and soft, in a way it so rarely is, and even in the midst of everything going on, Pang takes a second to appreciate that he’s one that gets to see this Wave, and appreciate this softer side of him.

He shrugs in answer, not quite knowing how to put all of his feelings into words, and Wave nods back, as if that reaction was to be expected.

“Talking about her never gets easier,” Wave confesses, looking away from Pang to look at the cupboard sitting in front of the bed, where they both know a picture of Ohm, Pang and Namtarn is hidden from view, safely taped on the inside of the door.

Namtarn.

His discussion with Time and the rehashing of the past has left a sour taste in his mouth, and even after all these months, talking about her and what she’s been through never gets easier. The fact that most of the school seem to think that him and his friends are to blame for hurting her, for hurting one of their own… well, that just makes it even more painful.

Of course Wave would know that Pang’s head has been filled with memories and thoughts about her ever since his talk with Time earlier. If anyone outside of him and Ohm understands the feelings of loss, it would be Wave. Both because he loved her as much as Pang himself did, and because he feels the same sense of guilt at what happened to her.

They rarely talk about it, but the fact that they were the ones to ask her to go back into the room where they knew a bomb was, the room where she got hurt, is something they’ll both have to live with for the rest of their lives. In that way, no one understands him the same way Wave does.

“She’s okay by the way,” Wave says, pressing his thigh a little closer to Pang’s, his own version of physical comfort.

“You texted her ?” Pang asks his boyfriend hopefully, turning towards him, and he sees Wave nod in answer.

Because they were paranoïd about their phones being tapped and about people finding out Pang had regained his memories, they’ve set a rule that Pang isn’t allowed to contact her directly, not unless he was sending a message through Wave’s secure phone, for both of their safety.

And of course Wave, knowing Pang the way he does, he would have known the only way to ease Pang’s mind a little tonight would be to hear from their friend. Trust his boyfriend to cut right to the root of the issue and find a pragmatic way to fix it.

“You can text her later, if you want. She said she likes her new school, and that she’s met some nice people,” Wave continues, and a little bit of the sadness that had been weighing on Pang for the last hour chips away at the words.

“Of course, I’m fairly certain they’ll never hold a candle to us, but you can’t have everything. Not everyone is as great as I am,” Wave says with a cocky smirk, and Pang can’t hold the small snort that escapes him in the face of his boyfriend’s arrogance.

“Thank you,” he says after a second, appreciating the fact that Wave took the time to reach out to her to ease both of their minds, which causes Wave to shrug in response.

“Well, this night certainly turned out differently than I expected.”

There’s no judgement in the words, but Pang still feels guilt and doubt swim at the bottom of his stomach.

“Do you think I made a mistake telling him all of this instead of forcing him to forget and stay away from us ?” he finally asks the question that has been lingering on his mind all night.

Wave stays silent for a couple seconds, thinking over his answer, before he turns towards Pang and shrugs again.

“I think you did what you thought was right,” he ends up answering.

“That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a mistake though.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Wave tells him, direct as ever. “It doesn’t mean it was a mistake either though.”

“If you were me, you would have used my gift to make him forget,” Pang affirms, knowing his boyfriend enough to know it to be the truth.

“I would have,” he answers back, not denying the words. “But I’m not you.”

Simple as that.

Because he’s right, it is an answer. In many ways, Wave and him are nothing alike and have very different ways of solving problems, but that was also their strength. That was why they worked so well together to begin with, both when it came to shutting down a corrupt system, and in their personal relationship.

“I know you think I’m an idiot for trusting him,” Pang continues, and Wave turns towards him and frowns.

“I don’t think you’re an idiot,” he replies, and Pang raises an eyebrow in disbelief.

“Okay, I think you’re an idiot sometimes,” he amends, which makes Pang smile, very used to being an idiot on many subjects when compared with his math and technology genius of a boyfriend. “But I don’t think it’s the case right now.”

Pang nods at his words, thinking them over. If there’s one thing he could trust Wave with, it was brutal honesty, even when it came to things Pang didn’t necessarily want to hear. Knowing that Wave doesn’t think him trusting Time was totally stupid eases his mind a little.

“It’s just… I truly think he could help,” Pang explains. “I know you think he’s a liability.”

“Oh, he definitely is a liability,” Wave cuts him off. “He’s a naïve idiot, he believes what everyone tells him too easily, and we can’t predict where he’ll go and what he’ll do, which makes him dangerous. But that doesn’t mean I don’t understand why you wouldn’t use your gift on him.”

Of course. Wave is the only one in their group who knows just how scared Pang is of one day turning into someone he doesn’t recognize anymore. Of one day being so power hungry with his ability to control people, that he becomes just like the director, if not worse.

“Plus… he may turn out to be more useful than I initially thought he would be,” Wave continues, and Pang feels another weight being lifted off of his shoulders.

“So you don’t blame me for not forcing him away ?” Pang asks in a small voice, and Wave turns towards him again.

“How could I blame you when you being this way is precisely the reason I lo…” he stops mid-sentence and swallows nervously, which makes Pang smile, before he nudges his shoulder against his boyfriend’s.

He knows Wave won’t finish the sentence, the words being difficult enough for him that he very rarely says them out loud. It doesn’t make it any less true though, and Pang doesn’t need to hear the words to know that he means them with every fiber of his being.

Seeing the way Wave has changed and opened up since they got together, the way he’s sometimes softer and kinder, while remaining the same Wave that drove him absolutely insane last year, is enough proof for Pang to know exactly how his boyfriend feels.

“My boyfriend is a softie, I got used to it,” Wave ends up saying with a shrug instead of the words that had started to come out.

Pang turns towards him and smiles brightly, which he didn’t think would be possible after the evening they’ve had.

“You convinced him to trust me tonight,” Pang reminds him, remembering the words Wave told Time earlier and how they warmed his heart.

Trust isn’t an easy thing for Wave to give away, not after everything he’s been through when he was younger. So for him to choose to put his trust in Pang, over and over again… let’s just say the significance isn’t lost on him.

“Don’t let it get to your head,” Wave says dismissively with a roll of his eyes, which causes Pang to snort again.

God, his boyfriend could be so dramatic when he was trying to keep up his cold front.

“I trusted you, and it turned out pretty well for me,” he continues his thought, prompting Pang to turn towards him, fake outrage written all over his face even as the words warm his heart again.

“Pretty well ? Pretty well ? I’m the best thing that’s ever happened to you, don’t even try to pretend otherwise,” he teases him, only to stop when Wave turns towards him and looks at him seriously.

“You are,” he says simply, and Pang feels his breath catch in his throat at the words.

Before he has the time to say anything in response, a grin lights up Wave’s face.

“What is that Mr.Sermrittirong ? Is that you blushing I’m seeing right in front of my eyes ? What, the king of cheesy lines himself can’t take a little flirting ? I guess I win again,” Wave teases back, cocky smirk in place.

God, Pang had clearly been a terrible influence on him if this is what Wave uses his newly found confidence in their relationship to do.

“Are you seriously trying to win at flirting ?” he asks deadpan, which only causes Wave to laugh.

“Oh, I’m not just trying. I think I’m succeeding. Quite easily actually.”

It’s funny how things change, Pang thinks to himself. How Wave, of all people, had managed to steal his heart when Pang was expecting it the least, and how easily they fit together.

This boy that can go from being cold and calculating, to cocky, flirty and yet sweet the very next minute. This boy that can be so very arrogant, and yet so insecure at the same time, always keeping Pang on his toes.

Yet, as Pang looks at his boyfriend now and sees the cocky grin the boy is wearing, he can remember that particular expression from the very first day he met Wave, and the predominant thought in his mind right now, is a very familiar one. He would like nothing more than for Wave to shut up.

Some things do change, but others remain exactly the same. He just has way more enjoyable ways of shutting Wave up now, which he puts to use right this second, pushing forward to kiss Wave and get him to stop talking for a while.

“Maybe everything with Time will turn out okay and he won’t cause any issues,” Pang ends up saying wistfully a while later, after shutting up Wave for a few good minutes.

“Oh, he’ll definitely cause us trouble. Mark my words,” he boyfriend negates the thought, and Pang turns towards him.

“And even knowing that, you don’t blame me for not using my gift on him ?”

Wave bumps their foreheads together before reaching forward to grab Pang’s hand in his.

“I trust your judgement,” he ends up saying, causing Pang’s heart to beat double time in his chest, before he looks up at his boyfriend gratefully.

“Besides… I kind of have a thing for naïve idiots anyway.”

#pang x wave #PangWave #the gifted graduation #tgg #the gifted #the gifted graduation the series #tgg the series #emi's writing #our gift to the world

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europeanguy · 6 years ago

Text

Gotta Gogh [Part 1: Tour-guiding for Dummies]

Pairing: Nadia x Maxwell

Genre: Fluff (?)

Words: 1,684

Tags: Canon Divergence, Crossovers, Curse words probably, The Riot Club!AU sort of

- an accompanying fic for this drawing

There were two people looking at the Cordonian Ruby — Nadia assumed they were a couple by the way that they stood a little too close together and the magnetic energy that seemed to spark between them. Like she couldn’t have pulled them apart if she tried.

Two girls. Well, women. One was tall, tan, and toned to the gods. She probably modeled, or played sports professionally. The other one was shorter, medium blonde hair done in a side-braid, pretty enough to be an actress. Neither was Nadia’s type of course. She looked at them the way she looked at Picasso’s paintings — she likes what she sees. It was a nice sight.

The tall one snakes an arm around the blonde’s waist as they walk away and once again, Nadia was alone. Like something in this museum would come alive any second now. Nadia swore that one time that the portrait of the late Queen Kenna Rys blinked at her, but that was probably the result of caffeine withdrawals.

“Welcome home,” – the letter said. Nadia could never forget the feeling when she received her acceptance letter — it was like getting accepted to Hogwarts — if Hogwarts had exchange programs that would only last for one semester.

The University of Cordonia had a thriving student population of 5,000 (they were very selective) — composed of the country’s finest minds or filthy rich. You could be either or both. They offered an amazing Fine Arts program, given the country’s own rich history and deep love for the arts. Not to mention the white sand beaches, castles, princes she could bring home and make Kai so jealous with — but the truth is, it’s been two weeks and Nadia had been nothing but lonely. She hasn’t so much as dipped one toe into the ocean, visited a castle, nor met a prince (this one was unrealistic, even Nadia would admit so). So far her only friend would be Otis — the museum custodian — who happens to be sixty-eight and hard of hearing.

The next day Nadia is greeted by a boatload (literally a boatload – well, cruise ship) of tourists. She was advised by the financial aid admin through a phone call to be prepared with extra research this time as to not repeat the Cordonian Ruby incident.

“Look, I know you try your best, but please be more careful this time,” Nadia could hear the anxiety radiating off of Helena’s voice. “I was advised that the Pierce moneybags would be present today.”

“...moneybags?”

“Yes! They’re looking to invest in the museum.”

Nadia looks around the empty entrance hall from her chair. If there was a speck of dust anywhere she wouldn’t be able to spot it (care of Otis). The rooms were individually temperature-controlled. They even had wifi.

“Do we even need it?”

Helena heaves a sigh so loud that Nadia could almost feel her exasperation herself. “Yes, Nadia, we need it! It can give us access to public collections, long-term maintenance,”

Nadia’s mouth forms into a small “o”.

“And think about Otis, he can retire right now and be at home, not worrying about anything because the museum WILL generously pay for his retirement plus pension!”

“I think Otis wants to live here until he dies.” Nadia whispers.

“Bottomline is, Nadia, you have to know what you’re talking about this time.”

“Yes, I know you’re referring to the Cordonian Ruby incident-“

“Don’t call it that.”

“Anyway, the incident — well, it’s not gonna happen again. Don’t worry.” In hindsight, Nadia’s first lesson should have been The Significance of Apples in Cordonian Culture 101. It would explain so much.

“Right. I trust you,” Helena says. “They’ll be arriving at around eleven in the morning.”

The tourists arrive right on the clock, they had a tour guide of their own (a giant 6’5 guy who looked like he could bench press three of her, plus Otis) but apparently the boss-man Bartholomew Pierce wanted someone who was more familiar with Cordonian art scene. Nadia was hardly a local, but she had been studying nothing but the country’s art everyday since she got here – she lived and breathed it. Well, for two weeks anyway.

Chaz – the tour guide – hands Nadia a blue flag with “EOS” on it. “You can take it from here,”

The crowd was pretty small, more or less forty people, she wouldn’t need a flag. It’s not like the museum had other people aside from the group. “EOS?” Nadia gingerly takes the goofy flag.

“Ember of the Sea.”

“Shouldn’t it be EOTS?”

Chaz snorts. “No that sounds stupid, now go.”

Nadia takes her place in front of the group, holding the blue flag above her head. “Hi everyone, I’m Nadia, on behalf of the University of Cordonia, I’d like to welcome you all to the museum,” She takes a deep breath before continuing. God, public-speaking never gets easier. “Firstly, I ask that you do not touch anything, and please do not deviate from the group-“

The tour goes surprisingly well. Nadia studied up on the Cordonian Ruby (the country’s Mona Lisa – in terms of notoriety). Oil on canvas, commissioned by King Fabian – a direct ancestor of the current royal family, painted by an anonymous artist in 1816. The artist was rumored to be a mixed English noblewoman who became a lover of the young King, resulting into her painting the Cordonian Ruby, a gift to symbolize her love. However, she died of heartbreak since the late King loved his Lythikos Moscato and other mistresses more than her.

Nadia leads the group to the portraits section – or as she secretly calls it stuffy-rich-people-paintings – and with this she gets to relax a bit. She tells them a few facts, lands one or two (Helena-approved, non-offensive) jokes, and lets the group disperse across the room to let them look at the art without her spewing random information about how Luther Nevrakis from The Crown and The Flame is actually based off of a real Luther Nevrakis who wasn’t a super-villain. Well, an obvious super-villain.

“Nadia?” A pre-teen girl approaches her, followed by a… twin? Except the second one wore glasses and a slightly embarrassed look on her face. “Who do you think is hotter?”

“We’re trying to settle an argument.” Glasses explained. They gesture to a family portrait of stoic looking parents – the mother’s expression a little warmer than the father’s – and two starkly different brothers. One with black hair and fierce gaze, and a younger one with brown hair and the tiniest smile on his face.

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable talking about boys your age…” Nadia laughs awkwardly.

“Well, they’re dead so it doesn’t matter… right?” The first twin looks at Glasses. She simply shrugs.

“I don’t care I don’t even like boys.” Glasses pushes up her specs on the bridge of her nose as-a-matter-of-factly. “But now that she said it, it is really weird to ask her that.”

Nadia checks the information plate beneath the family portrait. Beaumont, 2004. “Well, this was seven years ago, so I don’t think they’re dead.”

A small, and sudden racket at the other end of the room captures Nadia’s and the twins’ attention. A group of boys (students, probably) were speed-walking through the room, laughing in a way that disturbed the peaceful vibe – and Nadia realizes that they were walking towards the one place that only Otis is allowed in. He explicitly told her to never go there or let anyone in. It was a tall and narrow arch-way that leads to a grand curving staircase, but that was only as far as Nadia saw. She wasn’t the type to break rules anyway.

The first guy jumps over the velvet rope, followed by a second guy who merely steps over it. Before the last one could lift his feet, Nadia’s onto their heels.

“Sir, you can’t go through there!”

The first one is long gone, already shooting up the staircase like a man child on a sugar-rush. The other two turn around looking like they just became aware of her presence – along with the other tourists. The middle one looks snooty – expensive coat, slicked back hair. He doesn’t acknowledge Nadia, instead he turns to his friend. “Handle this.” With one last judging look at Nadia, Slick turns around to follow the first one up the staircase. “Leo, wait up!”

“Um-!” Nadia could feel the heat rising up her cheeks. Oh, she would follow them up the stairs, damn Otis’ rules, she would like to give these entitled boys a piece of her mind-

Someone clears their throat. Nadia looks up at him, the only guy left, – he was tall and broad-shouldered, brown wind-blown hair, and an amused expression in his eyes. He doesn’t say anything, instead he lifts his gaze from Nadia to a painting on her right. Nadia turns to where he’s looking and it registers on her. Same brown hair as the kid, same smile, only this time he was alone in the portrait and older. The plate said 2010. One year ago, and the man on the portrait was standing right next to her.

Shit.

A small part of Nadia still wanted to climb up the stairs and kick them out the window, but a bigger, smarter, part of her knew that if this guy was important enough to have his portrait hung in the same room as a prince – let alone the fact that he even had a portrait, in this case two – she had better start apologizing.

“I… am so, SO, sorry.” I’ve been here two weeks please don’t have me kicked out of Cordonia or assassinated I’m still young I still have dreams-

“Hey,” he flashes her an embarrassed smile and Nadia’s cheeks heat up. “It’s fine, honestly.”

“Max!!” Someone calls from upstairs. Probably Slick.

“Sorry, I gotta go.” He looks apologetic as he turns around to walk away, but not without looking at Nadia over his shoulder.

“Whoa, he is hot,” Glasses and her twin suddenly appear beside her. “Okay, Jess, you win I guess.” Glasses shrugs, but Jess’s jaw is still dropped.

“That was… the Beaumont guy…” she says, looking at his solo portrait.

And sure enough, when Nadia reads the plate under his painting, it says Maxwell Percival Beaumont (2010), oil on canvas.

to be continued

FUN FACTS that you don’t have to read but the story will make more sense if you do lol and honestly I just really like fun facts pls read... please?

Title:

- I literally chose “Gotta Gogh” on a whim

Canon divergence:

- This takes place in 2011. Maxwell is 21 (1990) and Nadia is 19 (1992).

- This is inspired by that one scene in the riot club. There WILL be a version of the riot club in later parts, but it will be small since its mostly about Nads and Max.

Names:

- Otis means “keen of hearing”

- Helena the financial aid administrator is just a Cordonian parody of Helen Twombly. Points for creativity lmao honestly i just imagined helen twombly but it wouldnt make sense for her to be in cordonia

The Cordonian Ruby:

- The anonymous artist is the D&D MC and her death is based on the actual wife of the Prince Regent (George IV), Princess Caroline who “died of a heartbreak” - a cold hard fact. Jk, no, but she was in a toxic marriage and it was just a Bad Situation. George IV had several mistresses, fathered illegitimate children, and apparently was a Party Boy and he was an immensely unpopular ruler. This is all based off of my art history professor telling us Georgian Era gossip instead of sticking to the syllabus.

- The mystery of what the Cordonian Ruby Incident will never be solved. That is, until I actually know what happened during the “incident” HAHAHA

Progress:

- I wasn’t gonna post this originally, I just wrote it on my phone during a 3-hour trip (I got inspired by my own drawing LMAO) and I kept updating it during the week every night before I slept and suddenly it just blossomed into something that I kept thinking about so now it’s a fic!

- I will be posting more art and updates on max and nadia’s story in the near future lol I already know how it ends so dw I’ll come thru and finish this! (probably around 4-5 parts)

#europeanguy #gotta gogh #part 1 #maxwell x nadia #maxwell beaumont #nadia park #trr #the royal romance #pm #perfect match #fan fiction #fluff #au #canon divergence #multiple crossovers #im not a writer lol #i just draw and this happened #europeanguy fic #long post

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fiercyy · 7 years ago

Text

Till Death: Chapter 3

Co-authored by @holyfuckabear

Summary: A canon rewrite fic. Seventeen-year-old Ichigo Kurosaki has become a superhero overnight. This entails a lot more oversight than he was lead to believe there would be. Is this his life now? Being stalked by some tiny woman, hell-bent on bossing him around? (For the record: yes.)

He was five years old when his mother moved the family to Karakura, so he has very few memories of the time before.

His life changed swiftly. His new preschool was, in a word, monochromatic. There were at least a couple other mixed kids at the other one, but he was the only one here. His mom was happier, that was good. Yuzu wasn’t sick as often, Mom said that being out of the city smog helped. One day he suddenly had a father.

Or maybe that’s just the blur of young memories.

It’s been a really long week. He hasn’t been sleeping much, what with his new Soul Reaper duties. Weirdly, Mizuiro’s been getting on his nerves, but he has no idea why. And he’s not really getting this section in Maths, so he’s going to have to do some extra legwork to figure it out. Plus Tatsuki’s been going through something so it’s not like he can ask her, like he usually would.

Also, he lives with a raging maniac.

Well… another raging maniac, but this one lives in his closet, not down the hall, so it’s twice as annoying and he gets zero respite.

It’s only Wednesday and he feels like he’s counting down the seconds until the weekend. All he wants is some quiet time to himself. He wants to sleep, finish his homework and maybe read something for fun instead of class for a change.

Ichigo’s already reached his threshold for social interactions and he has two days to go.

He’s not going to survive this week.

One moment she’s sweetly feigning interest in Keigo’s prattle, the next she’s shouting for Ichigo to pull himself together after having his arm nearly ripped from its socket.

Such is the duality of Rukia.

The former freaks him out more than the latter.

Ichigo gets used to her. Rukia’s around all the time, she is inconveniently, loudly present. She doesn’t have to say anything. Her existence is loud. He was studying on his bed instead of his desk the other day. She appropriated his desk chair, wheeled it close to the bed and used his spine as a footrest as she blew through his collection of manga. When he complained, she actually shushed him. “I’m at a really good part and you’re distracting!”

“...!”

He’s used to the real her; the pushy, stubborn drill sergeant. He acts on her say-so. It’s the sparkly, girly princess that freaks him out. He has no idea what to do with that. Every day it’s like stepping into the twilight zone and how has nobody noticed how fake it all sounds? He’s the only guy who’s made it out of Plato’s cave. He wants to physically shake his classmates and shout “Don’t you realize it’s all just bullshit shadows on the wall?!”

He doesn’t, but he really feels like it.

This is what his life has come to.

Normalcy is running around the city in the dead of night, searching for monsters to slay. Normalcy has become acting on orders delivered by text-message and bunny-shaped shadows.

Normally Rukia wouldn’t fraternize with the humans, but Orihime makes it very hard to keep her distance. She invites her into the inner sanctum of high school girl-dom, a complex set of social systems that Rukia has zero experience with. It’s surprisingly lovely.

She can be completely genuine with exactly none of them, but it’s still nice.

They eat lunches on the roof, tangential to the boys. They stand at each other’s desks between classes. They escort each other on routine errands, simply for the pleasure of each other’s company.

????

It’s baffling, but fascinating (she’ll never admit it, but it makes her feel warm inside). And mimicking the girls does wonders for the authenticity of her acting.

Orihime looks at her askance every once in awhile, but she seems to understand the principle. She never addresses it in private anyway.

The boys and girls occasionally drift together. This is in part due to Tatsuki and Ichigo’s friendship and in part due to the conventional social mores of the human world that dictate that genders must interact, but never fully integrate.

She likes Chad, he’s sweet and quiet, clearly very intelligent and has a sparse way with words that she finds refreshing. Keigo is a massive idiot, but there are worse things to be. Mizuiro seems very sweet, but he’s always asking her to help him with schoolwork and tends to sit very close as she badly explains grammar structure.

Ichigo is Ichigo.

“Rukia, I made cookies for everyone!” Orihime jolts her from her contemplations to remind her that there are worse casts of characters to be among.

Then she takes a bite and valiantly tries not to spit out the edamame chip cookie.

Chad’s a very large young man. He’s also Mexican. He tends to stand out in crowds, particularly in a population like Japan. He’s quiet, so people tend to forget he’s even around. They’ll say things in front of him, thinking he’s not listening. Or worse, they think he’s too stupid to understand what they’re saying.

He speaks three languages, but whatever.

So when Ichigo and Rukia run off together for the third time in a week and the guys immediately turn to gossiping hens, he figures no one’s expecting a response from him. He sighs. People should really learn to mind their own business… then again he’s a hypocrite, he’s just not asking his questions out loud.

Whatever.

Maybe his mind’s just under occupied these days, but he’s been contemplating the mysterious case of the delinquent and the new girl. Specifically, with respect to the ghost problem that Ichigo’s been dealing with for as long as he’s known him. It’s not that he’s seen them do anything suspicious, but the Kurosaki clinic was destroyed and the next day Rukia Kuchiki shows up at school? A prissy, perky, pretty girl appears and suddenly Ichigo’s asking her how high he should jump? Chad sees her for what she is, because they’re the same. She’s quiet because she is always listening, her attention is eerily laser focused.

After school he goes to his part-time job at the library. Today is Wednesday so it’s Reading Circle for the daycare kids whose parents work late. Chad has been slowly making his way through Howl’s Moving Castle, chapter by chapter. It’s taking him twice as long because he reads the chapters in Japanese, then English, but he thinks it’s worth it. He likes Sophie, she’s very sensible. That is a girl for whom words have weight and meaning.

After that he meets up with some of the guys he’s played a couple gigs with.

“Give him to Chad,” says one, of a supposedly cursed Cockatiel.

Chad sighs, “what’s your name?” he is awfully cute.

“Yuichi Shibata, what’s your name mister?” And then a metal beam falls on his head.

He’s nothing if not polite though, so he introduces himself.

“Pleased to meet you, I’m Sado Yasutora.”

Rukia is always flexing. She’s always testing her limbs and joints, stretching and pulling at them, trying to find their limits. She feels too big for her skin, too strong for her fragile bird bones. This body is not real but it’s her reality.

The human boy took her powers. She’d only meant to give him a little, just enough to end the fight. Turns out, she miscalculated. And now she’s living on dwindled reserves and the foreseeable future looks like a long, winding wait for her powers to return.

But they will return. Little by little.

At first, she could feel herself getting stronger by the day. She has recovered enough that she can do the most basic kidou: mild restraints and minimal healing. It’ll probably be months until she’s recovered! Months in the human world, with a boy left to do her work.

So she flexes, she tests the limits of her strength and gains micrometers where she can.

In the meantime, at least she’s learning leadership skills.

There’s an adjustment period. They aren’t quite working like a well oiled machine yet. That’s the thing with new partnerships, they have to learn their roles. They’re treading new ground together and some growing pains are to be expected. And then there are some details that turn into unexpected issues.

The can rattles as she shakes it in her hand, the sound makes her heart race. Tatsuki bites her lip, planning her first stroke. The side of the bare building is a blank canvas, her canvas. She wears gloves while she does it. Intent on keeping the evidence off her fingers. A bright splash of orange against white stucco.

Her mother thought painting classes would be a good enough creative outlet. Don’t get her wrong, it did give her the skills to pull this off.

A big, orange asterisk. The start of a dandelion. She shakes her can of yellow, setting the orange down. It tips onto its side and rolls deeper into the alley.

“Shit.” Tatsuki mutters, following the can.

It stops against the sole of a shoe. Tatsuki’s eyes trail up from the shoe to some legs, then a torso. Her mouth goes dry and she chokes when she sees the face.

Ichigo, slumped against a dumpster. His eyes are open and glassy. She doesn’t see his chest moving.

She stands there for who knows how long before her brain gets her body to react. She presses her thumb to his pulse, but all she can feel is her own heart hammering against her thumb.

“Ichigo.” She quavers, grabbing him by the arms and shaking him. He’s warm, but not very.

“Ichigo!” Tatsuki slaps him across the face. His head flops, limp.

She covers her mouth with her hand, swallowing the whimper that lets loose her tears.

He’s dead. Oh god, he’s dead just like Masaki.

She was supposed to protect him.

Her hands shake as she reaches for her cellphone. There’s a splash of orange paint on her glove and she stares at it for longer than she should.

She dials, but before it can ring, she hears approaching footsteps.

“Come on and get in there then.” The voice sounds familiar but Tatsuki’s ears are still ringing.

“Hello, what is your emergency?”

Tatsuki opens her mouth to speak when she hears Ichigo groan.

“Ugh, why does my face sting?”

“Ichigo!” She scrambles to check his eyes and throat.

“Get off me, wouldja.” He pushes her off.

“You were collapsed! I thought you were dead!”

“Ma’am, are you still on the line?”

“Thanks, we’re good. Bye.” Tatsuki hangs up. Her gaze skips between Ichigo, who is sitting slumped against the alley wall, and Rukia, who is standing off to his right. “Rukia, when did you get here?”

Rukia swallows, “Oh, I was just passing by!”

If Tatsuki had less adrenaline coursing through her system she might have questioned the validity of Rukia walking around alone at night and just happening to stumble upon them.

“I heard you yelling and I came running!”

“See, that’s a good samaritan,” Ichigo means for this to sound sincere but it comes off sarcastic. Which is actually how he means it.

“Why don’t I help you bring him home to the clinic,” Rukia suggests, an ounce too chipper.

Tatsuki nods numbly and each of them grab one of his arms to sling over their shoulders. They make a comical trio, lumbering along the Karakura streets. Ichigo is utterly fine and has never felt more emasculated.

He tries to protest, but Rukia shuts him down. “Oh dear, you shouldn’t strain yourself Kurosaki! I’m not very strong, but Tatsuki is. We’ll help you get home safe!”

When he gets home and his father starts gushing over his non-existent injuries, Ichigo honestly contemplates quitting. Being a superhero isn’t worth this.

From there, things go from annoying to maddening.

Everyone seems to have something to say about the ‘hot new transfer student’ and the ginger thug who always seems to be hanging around her.

Keigo is very proud.

Mizuiro is overly solicitous with his promises that he’s not flirting with her, that he’s into older women.

For Ichigo’s part, he’s sure that Rukia is way older than even Mizuiro’d prefer but would happily step aside in favor of their future bliss.

On Thursday Chad brings his new pet to school. None of his teachers bother him about it and at lunch, his friends clamor over the strange bird with the expansive vocabulary.

Everyone, that is, except for Ichigo and Rukia.

“Chad,” asks Ichigo, tentatively, “where’d you get the bird.”

“A guy…”

This seems like a perfectly reasonable response to Chad, but Keigo is unsatisfied. “Why are you always too lazy to tell the actual story?! Some guy?! What guy? Where? Does it have to do with the car that hit you yesterday? Come on!”

And so it goes.

Ichigo continues to stare at the bird through lunch.

“Do you need some help with that?” Mizuiro asks, startling Ichigo out of his revery. But he wasn’t addressing him.

“It’s this infernal juice box!” Rukia exclaims, sounding uncomfortably too like her demanding self.

Ichigo sighs and takes it from her, pokes a hole with the straw and never lets his eyes stray from the bird.

Mizuiro throws up his hands in mock defensiveness and shoots Ichigo a sly look before turning back to the one-sided conversation Keigo and Chad are still having.

“You’re right you know,” Rukia says around the straw. “There is something odd about that bird, but it’s not evil. It’s just lonely.”

Rukia knows how it feels. Lately she’s been feeling homesick for the 13th Division.

“We’ll take care of it tonight.”

“Awesome, I didn’t need to study anyway.”

“Is that sarcasm?”

“No ma’am,” he replies, sarcastically.

“Your friend… is he like you?”

“What do you mean? Mixed?”

“No, you idiot. Can he see spirits?”

“Not… that I know of.”

“Do you know him well?”

“Sure,” Ichigo scratches his nose and contemplates Chad, “Back in middle school I was already attracting a lot of… negative attention ‘cause of my hair. One day I ran into these guys who really meant business. They were gonna mess me up. Then Chad showed up. Ever since, we’ve watched each other’s backs.”

Rukia turns to look at the giant too.

“He never fights back, just stands there, puts himself between bad guys and whoever they’re trying to hurt. So-”

“So you fight for him,” Rukia finishes.

Ichigo glances at her out of the corner of his eye. “Yeah.”

“You’re a good friend, Ichigo.”

“Yeah, I come in handy.” He wouldn’t admit it, but her esteem feeds something inside him. It feels suspiciously like pride.

“What can I do?”

“Assume the fetal position and stay out of the way!”

And so it goes. Everyone in the Kurosaki household has a role to play. Ichigo gets the shit kicked out of him, Karin and Yuzu get first aid certified and help dad out in the clinic. One of these things may or may not be more useful than the other.

Chad comes into the clinic clutching Yuichi’s cage in a tight fist and slumping against Karin and Yuzu’s shorter statures.

There’s a bruise like a clawed footprint spanning Chad’s entire back, but Karin is staring at the bird.

Friday morning, Karin’s not at the breakfast table. Yuzu says she’s sick, but Karin’s never been ill a day in her life. There’s a sick feeling that makes him short on breath and nauseated. Worry and suspicion cloud his thoughts.

He knocks on her bedroom door and enters.

Karin is curled up on her side, sweating and clutching the blankets.

“Karin?”

“ICHIGO!” Isshin shouts from downstairs. “Chad is missing!”

Torn, Ichigo glances from Karin to the door and back again.

“Go,” she grits. “Go.”

He does.

He sprints out of the house and soon finds Rukia at his side.

“Any idea where he would go?”

“Not yet.”

“Ichigo.”

“Yeah?”

“Listen to your heart.”

“What?!”

“Like we practiced, feel for the bird’s soul.”

“...Right.”

He tries, he really does. He’s not so good with the sensing yet. He knows something’s wrong when he grasps at a thread, only to find himself running in circles. And then, across the way he spots Karin, slumped against the fence, struggling to remain upright. “Karin, what are you-?”

“Ichigo, I need- I need to tell you something.”

“Karin, you should go back to bed.”

He’s so afraid for her. Something is very very wrong. But one crisis at a time please.

And Rukia’s looking at his sister in that contemplative way that frightens him, like she’s a specimen for study, a code she can crack. He cannot let her dig too deep here, or else-

“Ichigo, take her back now,” Rukia commands. “I’ll go on and find Chad myself.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re in no condition to fight a hollow on your own. I can’t just leave you!”

Rukia purses her lips and says very seriously, “Worry about your sister for now, I can handle everything until you get there. Go, go on, the faster you get her home, the faster you can come help.” She’s about to take off before he stops her.

“Wait. Don’t risk yourself for my sake.”

She smiles at him, “A veteran soul reaper never takes unnecessary chances.”

This would be more reassuring if she hadn’t nearly died saving his life on the day they met.

Karin is living someone else’s nightmare. She keeps seeing things in flashes. Blood, murder, screams of terror. A red stain soaking the brightness of the morning and dripping in streaks like sunlight. There’s a little boy, a lot like her, trapped in the body of a bird. He doesn’t want to be free either.

He just wants his mom.

“You have to tell him,” she rasps, clutching her brother’s shirt. “Tell him that if he crosses over he can be with her again. His mom. Don’t let him be alone anymore.”

Loneliness so crushing, it stretches out into infinity and throws dust covers over every possibility.

Whatever senses Rukia has are dulled either by the gigai or her weakened state, so parsing out the soul ribbon belonging to Yuichi is difficult, but eventually she finds the thread.

She ends up on an empty side street when she feels a cold lick of fear slide up the back of her neck. A hollow.

“Mmm, I ordered chicken and I get a steak as well. How fortunate for me. Hello little Shinigami.”

Rukia leaps out of the way just in time to avoid the hands that strike out to trap her.

Well, now or never.

She dodges again and lands on top of it. Mustering every ounce of power she has, she fires a kidou cannon at it’s hunched back.

It works!

Giddy and triumphant she whoops. And ducks out of the way again. He misses her by a hair. She fires another cannon.

Suddenly, the surges of blue light emanating from her palms are joined by fists. And the roars and blasting noises joined by a chorus of cries.

Chad punches the hollow square in the mask and Yuichi screams for him to run away. Can he see it? She wonders, before he breaks out a combo aimed at thin air. That’s a no... He shouldn’t be fighting anyway.

The hollow sets it’s sights on Chad. Rukia acts fast, running at him full tilt and body-checking the young man out of the way of the oncoming attack.

“Thanks,” Chad grunts.

The hollow flails in pain. She took out huge chunks of its hide with her spells, but it soon regains its faculties.

It laughs, “Try as much as you want, you can’t save the boy. He makes pretty good bait, don’t you think?”

Rukia assesses the situation. She’s weaker than she’s ever been, her only allies are a bird in a cage and a blind human who does not want to fight. She doesn’t know his reasons but she can understand that. She just needs to get behind it again, it’ll be vulnerable from the back. She also needs to get some high ground so its mask will be in her sights.

“Chad!” she calls, “Give me a boost!” She doesn’t give him a chance to process or respond before getting a running start at him. Fortunately, he’s a smart young man. She plants her feet in his cupped hands, “2 o’clock!” and vaults into the air.

Rukia sails above the hollow’s head in an arc. She twists in mid-air and at the precise angle where she can see the base of it’s skull she fires the strongest cannon she can muster.

Ichigo’s arms curl under Karin’s knees and shoulders, he presses her nose into his collarbone so hard she thinks it’ll bend. She sweats and swears. Over his shoulder, like a pin of light in the encroaching darkness, she sees a woman in white. She presses a pale finger to her lips and fixes her in a steely gaze.

There is a ghost that Ichigo cannot see, lurking behind him.

Karin is no longer afraid.

She’s terrified.

The hollow twists at the last second but it’s a critical hit. It staggers forward and drops to its knees, giving Rukia and Chad time to regroup.

Rukia’s breath is ragged from exertion. She doesn’t have the energy reserves necessary to end this fight, but she can stall long enough for Ichigo to arrive.

They make a good team, Chad and Rukia, it takes very little verbal communication to effectively coordinate their attacks. He tosses, she twists, they deal blow after blow. She wonders if it will be enough.

The trapped spirit cries in his cage. He pleads with the hollow, even as they have him on the ropes. His fear has solidified into an unyielding thing. It grips at him, drags him down, prevents him from making a single move.

All the while the hollow takes advantage. This one likes to talk. He brags about the night they all died. He croons that Yuichi’s mother looked so beautiful with scarlet in her hair. He tells them that in her final moments she did not beg for her son, but for him to stop. He’d known many women like her, but nothing tastes as good as your last meal.

Chad’s stomach roils at the implications. He burns to shut him up.

So Chad throws all of himself into one final punch. The white mask cracks.

Karin does not know why it’s this spirit with whom she feels this strong a kinship. She doesn’t know why the last vestiges of her denial are being ripped away from her and shredded before her eyes.

What she knows is this:

Her life is wrong.

How did she get here?

Ichigo considers his begging sister.

They’re almost home.

He turns around.

The hollow shatters into pieces, flying apart and dissolving into nothing.

Chad has become fixated on his fist. He can’t look away. He is both intoxicated and frightened of his own strength. He just slayed a dragon. He just conquered an army. He summited a mountain. He has done the impossible with just this hand. Once, he swore to his Abuelo that he would never raise it.

He wonders if Abuelo would consider this his own defense.

Never raise a hand until you have extended it.

But a monster cannot reach back.

He’s made the right decision, but it does not feel like a victory.

“Are you alright?” he asks both Yuichi and Rukia. The latter stares at him in shock, then calculation.

‘I’m sorry,’ she says with her eyes. He nods.

Moments later, Ichigo arrives on the scene with Karin still in his arms. He sets her on her feet and looks around, searching for impending danger.

“It’s over,” Karin assures him breathily.

He looks to Rukia for confirmation, she nods too.

Karin approaches Yuichi and Ichigo follows close behind, at the ready in case of a fall. She kneels in front of the bird and Ichigo falls over himself trying to keep her upright.

“I’m fine,” improbably, Karin laughs and pushes his hands away. “Hi,” she greets the bird, more politely and patiently than she’s ever greeted a living human.

“Hello,” perhaps Yuichi senses their kinship too.

“My brother is going to take care of you now, okay?”

“Can I… Can I stay with Chad? He’s nice.”

Karin agrees, “if you want to stay, you can.” Rukia opens her mouth to argue, but at Ichigo’s quelling look, she silences herself. “I understand, I’d want to stay too. But if you move on, you can see your mom again. And there’s a whole other world waiting for you. You won’t have to be a bird anymore.”

“I don’t mind being a bird…”

“I know you’re scared,” Chad joins Karin on the curb. They make a strange picture: a giant and a tiny tomboy kneeling and conversing with a cockatiel on the side of the road, flanked by two schoolkids with grim expressions. “But everything will be okay.”

“And I’ll get to see her again?”

“Yeah,” Karin smiles and thinks of Masaki. “I’m sure she’s been waiting for you all this time.”

“Okay,” Yuichi agrees, “I’m ready then.”

Rukia pulls on her glove. Ichigo braces himself for a blow that doesn’t come. Instead, she places her hand above his heart and gives him a gentle push.

Ichigo falls out of his body gracefully. Chad catches him before he falls.

“Yo.”

“Hi.”

“...Hey.” Karin says breathlessly, looking not at his body, but at his soul. For the very first time.

Ichigo has five konsos under his belt, but each time is just as brilliant as the last. He gently presses the hilt of his sword to Yuuichi’s forehead (or whatever a bird has?). Aquamarine light guilds the cage and the next moment Yuuichi is gone. The bird is just a bird.

It’s Friday night and Ichigo just wants to sleep.

But he’s got homework.

He’s mentally exhausted, he’s hit his threshold, he just wants to be alone. Monday looms out in front of him like a spectre. It’s so far away but he knows he’ll blink and the reset button will be hit.

He taps his pencil against his notebook as he fixates on the next problem. Three more and then he can get back to the half-read novel lying cover-side down on the corner of his desk.

Rukia is sitting on his bed, reading Volume 2 of Super Kaiju Maids (“Maids who transform into giant monsters to fight EVIL!”), her back against the wall, feet peeking over the edge. Her head tilts sideways and eyes widen at a particularly suspenseful part. She squeaks and gasps with the twists of the plot.

Ichigo sighs, he’ll finish tomorrow.

He grabs his novel and rolls his desk chair closer to the bed. He leans back and puts his feet up, his left ankle, brushing Rukia’s thigh.

They read side by side well into the night.

#Ichiruki #deathberry #ichigo x rukia #ichiruki fanfiction #ichigorukia #bleach #my fic #till death #till death verse #chapter 3

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resbang-bookclub · 8 years ago

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AMA Transcript: I got 99 problems and Medusa is all of them

This weekend, @adulterclavis (Bones) and @eisschirmchen dropped by to talk about their 2016 Resbang, I got 99 problems and Medusa is all of them. Here's some of what went down:

Q: Was this the ending you planned or was it just a result of 'omg I need to finish'?

Bones: Kind of both. The epilogue thing was the result of everyone on my server yelling at me. Also I forgot to include "who here has felt personally victimized by Medusa Gorgon," so I took that opportunity.

Q: I think you said that originally this was just a Mean Girls inspired AU right? Please explain where the other aspect came from!

Bones: The other aspect came from the fact that I watched Jennifer's Body and went: THAT is what my Resbang needs to jazz it up. It definitely was originally just Mean Girls.

Q: Wanna talk about your creative process a little, Bones? How you work, maybe how music is involved?

Bones: Ha.. hahaha. Hold on, let me try to find my outline. There was a lot of stuff like this:

Bones: I had a more detailed outline, but the last chunk got mostly ignored. I had a lot of this preplanned just for the sake of sanity. You can't wing 45k over the course of a few weeks and not hate everything in the universe.

Q: Eis, what was your artistic process like?

Eis: Lots of sweating and crying to be honest. To stress whenever I can because I know my butt needs a lot of kicks lol.

Q: What was your favourite piece, Eis?

Eis: My favorite piece... hmmmmm. Certainly this. This is my favorite drawing:

Q for Eis: I've always been curious what program you use!

Eis: I use Paint Tool SAI. :)

Q: Dark Eis, could you maybe show us Wes?

Eis: I CAN. Here is the super fancy, super secret Wes I drew after posting date:

Bones: Wes Evans: vampire hunter.

Q for Bones: My fave scene is when Medusa is singing Monster while eating Noah... did that just happen or were you listening to Monster one day and thought "ya know this is how Medusa eats a guy I swear"?

Bones: Oh THAT SHIT. That shit is the only reason I wrote this Resbang I think. Somehow early on I started talking about Medusa and Nicki's Monster verse and, unimportantly, realized that it's in meter, but the point is: there was no way I wasn't writing that in. Then the opportunity presented itself and I was like well, this is how I include it. Poor Noah.

Q: I just rememebr staring at my phone screen, unsure whether to laugh or be like ewww XD.

Bones: That was the goal. Writing it I was like 'wow this is horrible' but I neither stopped writing or stopped laughing.

Eis: Bones sitting in her chair, a birb on each shoulder and top of her head and laughing like a maniac while typing.

Q: Do you want to talk about the metal covers segment of your process? Or the tacky houses?

Bones: The metal covers portion of my life sure was a time. Please enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmzz516cAnw.

Q: Tell us about your late night bode epiphany.

Bones: I can't even freaking remember it. Let's be real about this. I needed there to be a slang term that B* was trying to make happen. I'd actually been lowkey trying to figure it out for months, and then bode... happened, and I was like THAT. THAT IS THE THING.

Q: Bones, what was the hardest scene to write and Eis, what was the hardest thing to draw?

Bones: I want to say probably the last bit there, where Medusa rolls back up. I may have been a little delirious.

Eis: Drawing the car was the hardest part, made me legit cry.

Bones: Poor Eis and the car. I gave her a reference.

Eis: YES AND I'M FOREVER GRATEFUL FOR SAID REFERENCE. Bones has like a reference or link for everything. It's awesome.

Bones: For some reason I always sit around and pick out cars for people, so thankfully I had something ready for her.

Q: Okay so question re: something that was NOT in the Resbang but that I felt was implied. Was Arachne doing some hokey pokey shit to Giriko's dad?

Bones: Yeah, that was something I didn't have a chance to elaborate on. She was definitely slowly poisoning him to get his money. Or eat his soul. Maybe both. Oh right, I should show them Chainsaw. For your listening pleasure, Giriko's theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdJicpjitMM. I make playlists for everything and they are a travesty.

Q: You're a master at making us feel things for characters who, in canon, are dicks. Wanna talk a little about how you characterize people when you write? Or your approach to it?

Bones: You may have noticed I write AUs like it is my job. So the deal is, I have this basic idea of the characteristics of a given character, like how they are at base level, and then I just take that and go okay, how would this mix with or be affected by a life in x world, or by x set of experiences? And that's how you get Fire and Light Maka, or 99 problems Giriko and/or Justin. Like Giriko is still a dick but... Reasons. Giriko just wanted to run away with Justin and save him from his shitty home life.

Q for Eis: Do you listen to any mood-setting music as well?

Eis: My music taste is pretty much all over the place... but I did try to pick some music that would fit the situation. It didn't work all the time, so I was listening to some love songs while drawing everyone in the car. :D Needed some love songs to not completely lose it with drawing the freaking car!

Q: Eis, I love your Maka with a topbun.

Eisdorable: Thank you! Maka with the topbun is the best, but she rocks all hair styles tbh.

Q for the both of you: LET'S GET MUSHY, what was your fav part about working with the other?

Bones: Eis is the most cinnamon bun to ever cinnamon bun.

Eis: lfgkjdölfhjfglhkjflghkjskfj

Bones: Also, that. Umlaut keysmashes.

Eis: AHAHAHAHHA here for you öäü

Bones: But on a slightly more serious note, Eis worked super hard even if she didn't think she did. I spent the whole time going 'I have to not do all this at the last minute so I'm not a dick to Eis.'

Eis: I really feel like I slacked a lot, but maybe this was just because I had school and was away for two weeks during the time. ;n; Or four weeks in total? idk.

Bones: Yeah okay so like Eis went to school and worked and then came home and drew me stuff. Consistently.

Q: Same question for you Eis, what was your fav part about working with Bones?

Bones: Eis is probably trying to think of a polite way to tell you all that I'm insane.

Eis: I enjoyed everything to be honest, I loved the talking that wasn't about Resbang, then enjoyed talking about Resbang, loved to show Bones my art and get approval, and read her fic and cry laughing. And ask her all of the questions and have everything answered, most times even with a link. HAHAHAHAH YOU'RE NOT INSANE. Or not much more than me. :)

Bones: Oh wait my other favorite thing was Eis, the ultimate cinnamon bun, being like 'I can't wait to draw some blood."

Eis: AND THEN I NEVER DID DRAW BLOOD WHAAT. Or not as much as I wanted. :c

Bones: No one is stopping you, Eis.

Eis: *wiggles eyebrows*

Q: What was the most fun to write, Bones? And the most fun to draw, Eis?

Bones: Most fun to write had to be the archive bit - not JUST Medusa quoting Monster, but the setup. I liked having an opportunity to truthfully indicate how weird archives are. The tar coming up from the cracks in the floor thing was not a fabrication, but something I have personally experienced. Plus then they got to play Assassin's Creed for a minute there, creeping around.

Eisdorable: The most fun to draw were certainly the chibis. :)

Q: Eis did you learn anything new about drawing during this Resbang?

Eis: YES! Yes I got to know how to make gifs with Photoshop! To create the little cheerleader Soul lol. And I learned that I hopefully never have to draw a car again :)

Q: Can there be a 99 problems SoMa art in the future?????

Eis: I could try, because I would love to draw them in a romantic set up, even though romantic would be handholding in this case :) But I would love to do the thing. I'm currently studying for my final exams in May, have one art trade and a big commission due the end of next month, so I have to push that romantic drawing towards the future sadly.

Q: Do you have a couple fav beta comments?

Bones: Maybe this chain re: warblr:

Bones: Okay so, story time. One day fab tried to type 'warbler' as in a bird but typed 'warblr' instead, and that's how that happened.

Bones:

Eis: Marsh is the best. Her comments made me laugh ugly.

Bones: This... entire thing:

Eis: "This outfit is Gucci" still makes me crack up so much. IT'S THE FREAKING BEST.

Bones: Remember all the Gucci shoes I looked up, that all had snakes on them?

Bones:

Bones: I knew they were all at the end. When things got SUPER CRAZY was when the comment game got fun. By the end I had pretty much lost my mind.

Eis: I was with you Bones. Freaked out of having too little art. I was young and stupid.

Bones: I did better this year, in terms of not writing everything at the last second. My main goal is not to have a repeat of Bad Romance.

Eis: *proud pat on shoulder*

Bones: Do not write 22k in two days guys. Don't. The last two thirds of Bad Romance I wrote in two days.

Q: If you could be friends with anyone in the fic, who would you wanna befriend?

Bones: Kid.

Eis: I would love to be befriend Soul to be honest, most times he was the poor little cinnamon roll and I love him forever.

Q: What advice would you give to new Resbang participants now that both of you have done many Resbangs?

Bones: Oh my god, you monster. "Don't be me" is my advice. To elaborate: make yourself an outline ASAP, and a daily writing goal. And stick to it, so you don't have to do what I did. It's MUCH EASIER to write like 500 words or 1k a day for a month or two. And as a bonus you don't end up wanting to throw youself out a window. It's also a lot easier to get that 1k a day down if you have at least a partial plan. Plus, when you're in the middle of writing something it's much more difficult to set up a convincing plot, i.e. be objective. Though that problem is much more pronounced when you're 75k through a 120k novel.

Eis: Yeah, I agree with Bones. Time management is super important. Don't underrestimate this. I mean, probably no problem when you do one drawing. It's no competition [for] who gets the most done or something. But if you plan on doing a lot of things, time management/an outline is important to keep your head above water.

Q: What was the latest both of you were up to working on parts of this?

Bones: Idk, probably like 3 a.m.

Eis: I was up until 4:50am that one time. *sweats*

Bones: ...Eis.

Eis: SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK I DONT NEED IT. Except a lot. I need sleep. I love sleep.

Q: Did you guys learn anything from each other during this partnership?

Bones: I learned that Eis is a million times more adorbs than I realized.

Eis: Oh yes, Bones taught me a lot about American politics :) And [I learned] that Bones is the most collected and calmest person I've ever met.

Bones: Also I won't lie, when they told me Eis picked me I felt like I had won the lottery. I was also confused. Did you read my summary?

Eis: Yes and it was love at first sight. I was squeaking and capslocking a lot about how much I wanted your fic Bones.

Q: What are you guys working on next?

Bones: I am working on ten thousand years of worldbuilding for my original stuff, and hopefully Fire and Light. That and sorting out this 950 song playlist that is really out of hand. And getting like 60 pages of handwritten notes sorted out. I wish 60 pages was an exaggeration but sadly it is not.

Eis: [I'm working] on fandom stuff, for an art trade with ahshesgone and a commission for a user next month which I don't want to name yet, I don't want to ruin the surprise ;u; and lots of studies for my final exams orz. Finals are ewww and I'm 100% terrified that I'm gonna mess up :D

Q: What did the process look like to pick and choose which bits you pulled from each movie?

Bones: I don't think I really have a process for that.

Q: Was there anything that you wanted to include that you didn't get to?

Bones: there were a lot of things I kind of meant to address, like the thing with Arachne and Giriko's dad. I just forget them in the process of writing, which is why I advocate lists and outlines. I also kind of meant to go into more detail with a lot of things like Justin's home situation but seriously, it would have been 100k.

Q: What would you have done with the Arachne bit?

Bones: It was a tossup. I think I was gonna have her be slowly poisoning him so she could use him to achieve ultimate power, since she and Medusa were feuding. So I mean if I ever write more of this, it'll probably be about that.

Q: Eis how did you pick what you wanted to draw?

Bones: I think she was a little freaked out that I didn't have a list of stuff I wanted.

Eis: Honestly, I was freaking out. Like whaaaat, you have no certain wishes??? How even??? I'm so used to people telling me their wish and I work with that. :)

Bones: I'm not used to ever getting art. I thought it might be more fun for you to pick stuff you liked.

Eis: So yeah, how did I pick the things.... I usually stick with the things that inspire me, to be honest. So some scenes turned out different than the ones in the story, but it always worked out with no problems. I pick things that inspire me, may it be a fun scene or something that makes me think of it. It was super fun to pick the scenes I liked, gave me lots of room to be creative. :) [I] stick with things that make me linger there longer. There were quite a few, I actually had a lot more scenes I wished to draw but I haven't had the chance yet. It's also scenes that I'm curious about [what] they would look like as a drawing sometimes.

Q: Ooo do you remember what they were?

Eis: Oh yeah! I would have loved to draw the scene with Giriko, Justin and Soul in Giriko's car, in which Justin was all tired and Giriko tried to get school stuff done, because tired Justin seems like the most adorable thing??? And I would have loved to draw the scene in Soul's house, when everyone gathers there to plan what they do, after Soul and Maka saw Medusa eating Noah.

Bones: Soul crying into a pizza box.

Eis: And Giriko, Justin and Soul eating pizza and was it Kid that made tea for them??? And I would love to draw Soul in a lot [of] embarassing old clothes. AND THE HAND HOLDING SCENE BETWEEN MAKA AND SOUL OF COURSE.

---

Thanks to our creators for stopping by! More transcripts coming soon!

#AMA transcripts #resbang book club #rbbc #resbang

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callunavulgari · 8 years ago

Text

Year-In-Fic

Total fics written this year?

Another Love (The Flash; Barry/E2Wells, Barry/Thawne; 4,586 words) “I want you,” Barry confesses unhappily, a charming pucker between his brows. His eyes dart back up, not shying away for once, to meet Eobard’s. A little bit of steel creeps into his expression again, and Eobard wants to applaud him all over again. What a beautiful creature he’s created.

time in a bottle (The Flash; Eobarry; 2,961 words) “If I didn’t exist,” Thawne says, quietly, moving to slide his fingers up Barry’s jaw; they leave goosebumps in their wake. “Then neither would you. And if you didn’t exist… well. We won’t get into that mess. So the universe — the, hah, Speed Force — sent me here. A paradox, clinging to the cracks between time. Just… waiting.”

nothing's gonna harm you (not while i'm around) (SW; Gen, Reylo; 1,167 words) Ben and Rey Organa are born ten years and five hundred parsecs apart, but Ben can feel it in the Force the moment she comes into being. He can feel her every second of her way home, a bright star that outshines even the familiar intensity of his parents.

we dream in the dark (for the most part) (DA; Gen; 806 words) “Will it go away?” Bethany asks, her voice quiet as a whisper.

Ramble On (The Flash; Eobarry; 2,695 words) Thawne playfully hums a few bars of something vaguely familiar. Barry looks back at him, and when Thawne sees him looking, he smiles wider and gleefully stomps his way through a puddle. Sings, “If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I’d like to do…”

D.C. al Coda (The Flash; Barrison; Harrison edges closer, until Barry is close enough to touch, and reaches out to take Barry’s jaw in hand. It’s tacky and cool against his palm, from sweat, tears, or both. He tilts Barry’s chin up in a testing sort of way, willing him to open his eyes. “Barry,” he says, gently. “Look at me.”)

it began with stones (DA; Fenhawke; Everyone knows that the blight started in Ferelden.)

darling, you gotta let me know (Stranger Things; Nancy/Steve/Jonathan; 6,120 words) Jonathan’s room is messy the same way that Steve’s is. There are dirty socks and shirts and underwear strewn across the floor. Cassette tapes litter the desk like miniature landmines. There’s a notebook open on his bed, a textbook and a pencil beside it. He must have been studying when Steve knocked.

Binary Sunset (SW; Reylo; 1,747 words) Center stage, Rey holds herself as still as a statue. Spine straight, toes pointed, already in first position. They’ve done something to her eyelashes, softened all her hard edges, from the jut of her jaw to the point of her nose. She glitters, from her feathered bodice to her flowing skirts, a bright glint of white in the dark.He doesn’t think that anyone else has noticed that she’s trembling.

Nine fics. I don’t even want to know how many words.

Best story I wrote this year: darling, you gotta let me know. It was the first fic that I was proud of from the get go this year.

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest. Ramble On. It had all of the weird dreaminess of Time In a Bottle without the Inception feel. I ended up rereading it on the plane back to Ohio and liked it so much more than I did when I was writing it.

Okay, NOW your most popular story. darling, you gotta let me know, hands down. It’s the first fic to get over a 1000 kudos since I stopped writing Teen Wolf. I mean, of the nine fics that I wrote this year pretty much every one of them is from a smaller fandom. I think the only reason this one got as popular as it did was because I published it right after Stranger Things got big and I was one of the three people who had written for the pairing. Story of mine most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion: it began with stones, probably? I usually have a definite answer for this question, but this one was strange as it is. Dragon Age/In the Flesh fusion with Hawke as a zombie? Kinda weird. I don’t mind that it got a small reception, but it fits the most.

Most fun story to write: Another Love. I had a ton of fun playing with that whole concept. Barry going back in time to when Eobard was playing at being Wells was a fucking gift.

Story that could have been better? All of them? Technically? I’m still not entirely pleased with how time in a bottle turned out, but I ramped that one up in my head for so long that I’ll probably never be satisfied with it.

Story I wrote to fix things: Pretty much all of my Flash fics were written to make something better. Ramble On and time in a bottle were both written to satisfy my need for there to be a current-timeline paradox Thawne still out there, tucked away in the speedforce, just biding his time. Hell, all of the God Complex series were written because I wanted to rewrite or add bits to an episode to suit my shipper heart.

Oddest story: it began with stones. In the Flesh. Dragon Age. Kind of weird. But my brain went, what would Jen like for her birthday? Okay, she likes Dragon Age. And she likes zombies. How can I write zombies in a way that I haven’t written them yet? Oh, I know! Hardest story to do: Okay, so it isn’t on here, but the Sabriel AU is what I’ve really been suffering through. I hit a point and wasn’t able to overcome it, which is why it still isn’t done. I’m hoping to read Goldenhand and the rest of the Like Young Gods series sometime this month and we’ll see if it inspires anything. Easiest story to write? I struggled with pretty much everything I wrote this year except for Another Love. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it just so happens to be the only fic I wrote before I gave up smoking.

Most mining of your own history in one story: Pretty much none of them. D.C. al Coda has a lot of my experiences with grief, but that’s about it.

Themes, or absence thereof: Pretty much ‘heroes and villains make out’. Or in the case of Hawke and Fenris... rivalmancy. Where did you publish/archive your stories? Ao3, as per usual. Story I haven’t yet written, but intend to: I have nixed pretty much all of my Teen Wolf projects. I would like to say that at some point I’ll finish the Bioshock Infinite AU and the Carmilla one, just because I have so much written of it already, but I don’t know. I do know that I want to finish the Sabriel AU and I currently have a weirdly one-sided Julian/Barry fic, a Prompto/Noctis pining fic, and several Stargate Atlantis fics that I want to finish. Oh, and maybe the Yuri on Ice soulmate AU if I can make the idea hang around long enough to get to.

Sexiest moment (excerpt): He slides the palms of his hands up her sides, ghosting them up and over her ribs, framing them, feeling where the softness of skin and muscle gives way to hard bone where her rib cage starts, how each breath she takes pushes her body more firmly into his hands. She makes a noise when he reaches her breasts, shuddering when he cups them, even through the fabric.

“Please,” she breathes, and Jonathan hesitates, unsure of what she wants.

“Here,” Steve murmurs, taking hold of Jonathan’s hands once more. He guides them to the buttons of Nancy’s blouse and pauses, waiting, as Jonathan undoes them himself, his touch sliding down Jonathan’s forearms then back up again.

Jonathan pushes the blouse from Nancy’s shoulders, watching the blush that blooms under his eyes, going from her throat clear to her navel. Her cheeks are flushed too, her eyes black and wanting.

Steve lets go of him, maybe realizing that Jonathan won’t be of much help at this moment, and his hands vanish around Nancy’s sides, quick and darting. It isn’t until he’s helping her pull her bra loose that Jonathan even realizes what he’s done.

Steve’s hands go back to his, guiding them to Nancy’s breasts. The skin is firm and supple, and so very warm. Her nipples pull tight when his hand brushes them. Steve leans close to Jonathan’s ear, and whispers, “Touch her.”

Crackiest moment (excerpt): Outside, it’s raining. The air is heavy with humidity, heat pressing down on his back like something alive. Barry walks down the street, feet bare against the wet asphalt. Thunder rumbles threateningly in the distance. A bird sings, and a street over, another joins it. Everything is green and damp. It smells real. Would a dream smell real?

Halfway down the street, a second pair of feet join his. The person they belong to is silent, doggedly following him down the road. Barry doesn’t have to turn to know who his newest phantom is.

“Are you going to sing at me too?”

“Do you want me to sing to you?” Thawne asks.

Barry glances at him, frowning unhappily. He’s wearing Wells’ face again, a familiar little half-smile playing around his lips. His suit is wet. It isn’t the suit — not the yellow one — just a regular one. Plain. Black. The fabric clings to his shoulders and his hair is dripping in his eyes. His feet are bare too, and somehow it feels wrong to see them, the fine slender bones gleaming wetly. Too intimate.

Barry swallows and looks away, but even when he concentrates, it refuses to change. Figures, that even in a dream Thawne would cause him grief. When Barry doesn’t reply, Thawne playfully hums a few bars of something vaguely familiar.

Barry looks back at him, and when Thawne sees him looking, he smiles wider and gleefully stomps his way through a puddle. Sings, “If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I’d like to do…”

Favorite dialogue (excerpt): “At least,” Eobard interrupts, thoughtfully tapping his finger against his lips. Slowly, he starts to grin. “Not everything. So, Mr. Allen, I’ll ask you again. What do you want?”

The answer is written all over Barry’s face. There’s a story there, behind the pain, the grief, the hopeless lust, and it’s one that Eobard knows he’ll get to live out himself over the course of the next year. He wonders just how many times he fucked this boy before the truth came out. The boy — his Barry — already loves him. Not like this, of course, not yet, but a hero worshiping kind that he’s had since day one.

“Well?” He coaxes, eyes widening. “I’m waiting.”

Barry wets his lips convulsively and swallows, his adam’s apple working. He tugs on the cuff, halfheartedly, mouth turned downwards. He didn’t expect this. Maybe he’d expected closure. Or maybe he’d convinced himself that all he really needed was the formula. But he wants this. And Eobard’s going to make him say it.

“I want you,” he confesses unhappily, a charming pucker between his brows. His eyes dart back up, not shying away for once, to meet Eobard’s. A little bit of steel creeps into his expression again, and Eobard wants to applaud him all over again. What a beautiful creature he’s created.

“Just you,” he adds, just as quiet and unhappy, but with a dawning comprehension. “Eobard Thawne.”

A shiver crawls down his spine, dick twitching in his pants. God, it’s good to hear that name again. “Oh, Mr. Allen,” he breathes. “Say it again, won’t you?”

Favorite lines (excerpt):

Jonathan had known that they’d done this before. After all, he was sort of a witness to it. But up close it’s something else, it’s poetry in motion, the way that Nancy’s head tips back, the bead of sweat that slides down the tip of Steve’s nose, how her legs wrap around his waist, her small feet locking at the dip of Steve’s spine.

It’s beautiful, and his fingers itch for his camera, so he fumbles around beside him, stretching his arm out to his desk until he catches the strap and can tug it into his hands. He watches them through the lens of his camera for a moment before he gets up the courage to touch, tapping Steve with his foot and then gesturing with the camera, head cocked.

Can I?

Steve’s entire face transforms when he laughs, going bright with emotion. He nudges Nancy until she glances over and then she’s laughing too, and they’re both nodding.

He catches them both mid laugh, naked limbs flung around each other. And then he catches the moment that the laughter turns to something else, mouths half-parted in breathless pleasure. He catches the curve of Nancy’s breast and the freckle behind Steve’s ear, and then he waits, breathless, for the right moment.

He waits and waits, and the moment that they both go still, bodies shaking with pleasure, mouth caught on soundless moans-

Click.

He swallows, lowering the camera as it spits the picture out with a hiss, and holds it in his hand, watching them. Their eyes are closed, breathless little smiles across their faces, sweat on their brows. Steve hasn’t even pulled out of her.

Click.

Fic goals: Finish Sabriel AU. That’s it. My only other writing-related goal is to get out of this funk, write something big (which will hopefully be the Sabriel AU) and something original. Fingers crossed.

#heather writes #new year's memes #heather says what

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bluejanuarysky · 6 years ago

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