#where are her friends. i'm curious about the book and how similar or different it is from the movie. i'm curious how much the author knew

[foxcassius]

i think it is silly when people act like studio ghibli is the end all be all of animated filmmaking and writing when in fact every film will have a different combo of writers and directors and when marnie was there is a movie that cannot execute the basic tenets of "show dont tell"

[thisgirlnamedblusy]

Hallo!!

may i ask for a little spronkle of fluff? Donna goes out to town to buy fabrics, the neewww (oh, wow!) cleric selling it to her, Reader, has almost the exact same scar on their face (except for it not being unnaturally deformed, -- reader got it from like, an encounter with a rabid animal, or something),

Donna gets curious and asks about it, leading to a casual conversation, which led to Donna wanting to come back and chat with the new hire, seeing as how, unbeknownst to Reader (because, obviously, Donna wears the veil, Reader wouldnt know she had the same mutation) they had something in common, their scarring

Make it so that Reader (very slowly) catches on ?? And they develop feelings overtime ?? But, doesnt know if 'big-lady-Donna' feels the same way, so they just.. shaddap? (i had to use that 'big-lady' reference, or it wouldve haunted me, forgive, forget)

Reader asks to see Donnas face (although, very nervously, because of, yknow, Angie staring down Readers soul, aswell as Donnas rank/title), Donna complies, although hesitantly, and Reader is just so entranced by how similar the size/placement/colour of their scarring is, that theyre just so hyped, and cant help to call Donna beautiful, to call her newly-revealed, singular eye 'enchanting' and whatnot (make Reader a nervous sap, i beg and i plead, i need this prompt to rot my teeth),

Donna gets fed up from how clueless Reader is to how much Donna appreciates them -- leading to, very reluctant, and/or peeved (take that as you will, im unsure how to topic Donnas nerves, tremors, mood-swings and whatnot) confession, coming from Donnas side. (Meaning: Donna confesses first, very awkwardly, and shyly, and Reader obviously accepts, because, .. They're girlfriends, your honor!)

Angie, meanwhile, is hurling in the background because of how cheesy, and forced, Donnas confession was, (although, secretely, Angie is over the moon that her Donsie made a new (girl)friend). Maybe add a little bit of like, restless, over-thinking rambling in Italian to that mix. (Ex: Donna just going over about how cool it is that they have matching scars, maybe Reader could come over to her estate and see her portrait without it. *Mumble mumble, something nervy in italian*, do you wanna come over? Do you wanna see my workshop? Do you wanna see my dolls? I can have one resemble you. Do you sew? We can make dolls -- *Mumble, trips over words, Italian*)

Make it from Donnas prospective, Please and thanks!!

No smut, just wholesome wholesomeness, and ofcourse, happy, diabetes-inducing ending, where Reader does agree to come and hang out with her -- make them Girlfriends with your writers-magic from that point on, because i have no idea what else to add to explain how overtime THEY FALL INLOVESIES!!! (AGHH! SUCH ROMANCE! THEYRE SO INLOVE!!!)

No mention of G!P or just, like, any arousal in general (since ive seen it mentioned on other posts, by other people, when asked for no smut, i just wanted to clarify)

hope i explained this okay?? Sometimes im pretty vague/too specific while typing and add too many '()'s and '/'s (overthinking autism brain -- HEY! LOOK! I JUST DID IT AGAIN!)

wish ya the best of luck, aswell as the best of day, may Angie bite your fingers (not really.. aha.. joking! Or am i?), Ciao, Blusy!

Yesss!!! Wow, it was a curious request! Thank you!!! I hope you like it and sorry about the language mistakes!!!! :))))

Two broken faces

Pairing: Donna Beneviento x Fem! Reader

Warnings:¡ fluff, Donna being Donna, Donna's POV

Word count: 9,376

Summary: She's so simliar, but so different...

N/A: Sorry about the language mistakes!!! Requests are open!!! I'm waiting yours!!! I love you all!!! :))

I thought I had everything I needed.

I had my dolls, my books, the peace that solitude offers a woman like me… Always afraid of people, always hiding, I found in my isolated world a peaceful place to live, for all eternity.

I didn't ask for this, I never asked the Black Gods to have mercy on my soul, I didn't ask Mother Miranda to adopt me, I never asked anyone for that second chance, I just wanted to die.

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if my family hadn't been noble, if my ancestors hadn't been part of the founding of this village. Maybe I would have had the chance to live in a different way or maybe my wish to disappear would have simply been fulfilled.

Donna Beneviento, a young woman who stopped fighting. Yes, surely they would put something similar on my grave. I would have become a legend, that woman who lost everything, who was cursed with an illness, who was condemned to watch how little by little, the world around me faded away behind that horrible waterfall.

But… After all, after that mercy that I didn't ask for, the result wasn't very different. To think that I was no longer alone would be to deceive myself. Angie was already speaking before I insisted on giving her life with my new gifts. Angie was me, I was Angie.

Maybe she's still me, even if I don't realize it, maybe I’m not even a Lord, maybe I wasn't even alive anymore. It was hard to know. That position of power that the Gods granted me only served to make my horrible thoughts to take shape, to find in cruelty a way to relieve the pain of my soul, the rage I felt at having been unjustly deprived of a normal life.

Josef was the first, but not the last.

What was the fault of the man who took care of me after the death of my family? None. Why did I do it? Because I could.

I try to look in the mirror and not see that reflection, the reflection of my horrible appearance, of that punishment for the sins I didn’t commit, but I only see a monster, a monster on the outside, a monster on the inside.

Surely that was what Miranda expected of me: another terrifying being to keep the flock under control. I cannot deny that she succeeded. I myself became the fear, the terror.

That legend that I thought I would become by ending my life became a dark tale, a nightmare story, the story of the terrible doll maker, Donna Beneviento.

I could not say when she stopped mattering to me, I cannot even say that one day she stopped. Loneliness was my fear, until it became my refuge. You did not love me before, when I was just a girl with a scar, now that I am a monster your punishment would be to fear me.

None of that matters, not even my brothers, nor this cursed village. I only care about Angie, my dolls, those that do not judge, that do not laugh at me, that do not fear me, that do not feel anything. The flesh deceives, lies, harms, porcelain does not. Porcelain is malleable, it looks the way I want, it is beautiful, soft and does not hate me.

I wish I could have been a doll, I wish I could free myself from the hatred that was inside me…

“Grigio,” I said in a whisper, while I was devoting my soul to making my dolls, to creating those emotionless beings that I envied.

Angie nodded, walking around the work table, looking for the fabric I asked for.

“Grey again, Donna?” the doll asked, in a mocking tone. I nodded without looking at her, finishing correcting the imperfections of that new companion.

“What's your problem with grey?” I asked, cleaning the smooth porcelain, with my gaze fixed on it, trying not to let Angie distract me, as she usually did.

“It's boring,” the doll said, handing me a too small piece of fabric, making me frown.

“It's not enough, I need much more,” I said focused, shaking my head. The doll shrugged, walking over to her new friend.

“There is no more grey fabric,” Angie mocked, hands on her hips.

I sighed, snapping out of my concentration, searching through the drawers. I would never trust Angie, I would never trust myself.

“There isn’t?” I asked confused, searching the workshop for the desired fabric. The doll growled angrily at my distrust, crossing her arms.

“I already told you, silly Donna,” she mocked, getting down from the table. I sighed, rubbing my eye. I had been in the workshop for hours, I couldn’t say how many.

“Angie…” I sighed tiredly, shaking my head and finally abandoning my dolls, walking through the dark basement hallway, through that comforting darkness. “I'm not in the mood for your nonsense.”

“Are you ever in the mood?” the puppet asked, with a mocking tone.

I didn't answer. I simply walked towards the phone, looking in a address book for the number of the village merchant, the Duke.

“Oh, oh, oh, ask the fat guy if he has yellow wool balls,” Angie said, tugging at my dress.

 I looked at her, unable to help but smile. Who it was didn't matter, my position as a Lord didn't matter, I was sure that, without Angie, I would have given up a long time ago.

“What do you want yellow wool balls for?” I asked amused, picking up the phone and dialing the number slowly, indicating to Angie that she should let herself be picked up. I still needed her to speak for me.

“I don't know, they're funny,” she commented, taking the phone while I lovingly put her old clothes on. “Hello, hello? Fatty?”

Nothing, no one seemed to answer.

“He doesn't pick up,” Angie whispered so I frowned, snatching the phone from her and checking she was telling the truth.

“Maybe he's not in the village,” I sighed, hanging up and shaking my head. “How convenient, I need that damn fabric.”

“He might be in his warehouse,” Angie commented, going back down to the floor. “Although I doubt he will fit through the door,” she mocked amused, making me smile again.

“What do we do now?” I asked, looking at the crumbling ceiling.

“Why don't we go to the village?” Angie suggested. “We can look for the Duke there.”

“No,” I said dryly, hardening my expression.

“Silly Donna... I want my wool balls!” the doll protested, in a childish way, irritating me again. “Let's go to the village, to the village!”

“Madonna… I said no, Angie,” I snorted, in a brusque tone.

No, I didn't want to go to the village, I didn't want to see anyone, I didn't want to see fear in people's eyes, I didn't want to see it again.

“Silly, you stupid pasta thing,” the doll hissed. “Stupid Donna”

“Are you done yet?” I asked with irony, with a dangerous look. As expected, the doll shook her head.

“Donna, you coward, I want my wool balls!” she shrieked irritatingly again, making me lose my patience.

“Chuidi quella cazzo di bocca!” I shouted furiously, completely out of my mind, causing the puppet to flee in terror, hiding behind a table.

Once again, I had lost control for no reason. I would never be able to escape my sentence.

I tried to relax, to make the trembling in my body disappear. I breathed deeply, lowering my head.

“Perdonami, Angie…” I sighed in a calmer tone, walking slowly to the doll's hiding place. She, timidly, peeked out. “I shouldn't have yelled at you.”

“You're very tense,” the doll whispered. “You have to relax...”

“I know, forgive me, please,” I said with my voice broken by the rage of my behavior, extending my arms towards her, who timidly approached, letting me pick her up from the floor.

 “Of course I forgive you, silly,” the doll said, hugging me in a childish way, bringing the smile back to my face.

“Fine… W-we'll go to the village to get the fabrics, what do you think?” I finally said, trying to compensate my only friend for having to put up with me day after day, for having to live… With a monster.

“Yay!” the puppet celebrated as I carried her in my arms, leaving the comfort of that dark basement.

I never liked going out, feeling the cold on my body, feeling insecure, outside the safety of the cracked walls. Maybe no one had the misfortune of seeing my face, but my mere presence was already uncomfortable enough for anyone.

Just think about it, a woman in black clothes, with her face hidden by a black veil, a lifeless figure which comes walking slowly towards you. It was terrifying.

Luckily, there didn't seem to be many people in the village, it was a cold morning. I also didn't want to notice if there were eyes watching me, if there was a child trembling in its mother's arms when it saw me walking.

The Duke's warehouse wasn't far away, and I headed there as quickly as possible. My breathing was uncontrolled, my anxieties were already starting to make me too nervous. I wanted to go home.

“Duuuuke!” Angie called when we entered the cabin. “Duuuuke! Where are you?”

There didn't seem to be anyone there and we both looked at each other, shrugging our shoulders. Not wanting to wait for that vermin to appear, I approached the place where he kept the fabrics, looking for that desired grey tone my doll needed.

“What do you think, Angie?” I asked the puppet, who was curiously rummaging through the merchant's things, nodding disinterestedly. “Where are the grey ones...?”

“Hello,” an unknown voice startled me, a female voice that was not familiar to me.

From among the boxes, a girl appeared, a young girl with a splendid smile. I didn’t recognize her, I would remember that face. Near her left eye there was a horrible scar. I couldn’t help but bring my hand to my face when I found a similarity between that deformity and mine.

The girl shook her hands, with an elegant gesture, without that smile disappearing.

“Lady Beneviento,” she said softly, lowering her head. “Surely the Duke would spend the whole morning flattering your presence but I believe in naturalness, do you need something?”

“Where is the fatty? Who are you?” Angie asked, letting me pick her up again while pointing at that unknown girl.

“Oh, the Duke is on a business trip, or so he told me,” she said, amused, shaking her head. “But I'm sure I can help you, or try, at least.”

I looked at her curiously, unable to take my eyes off her scar, one that didn’t hide her beauty at all. I couldn't say why, but my cheeks began to blush.

I didn't say anything. I just looked at her confused, just like the doll did with me, waiting for me to react.

“Oh, sorry, I haven't introduced myself,” the girl said with an apologetic look, extending her hand towards me, a hand that seemed very soft… “I'm (Y/N), the Duke hired me to be his assistant when he wasn't around. I manage the warehouse too.”

I hesitated for a moment. My instincts pushed me to reject that greeting, to ignore that smiling young woman, but, for some reason, I didn't. I slowly extended my hand towards hers, shaking it briefly, feeling for myself that I wasn't wrong, her skin was very soft, warm.

“It’s, it's a pleasure to meet you too,” she joked, confused by my shy greeting, with a natural, beautiful smile... “I never thought I'd have the honor of having one of you here.”

“Shut up, you stupid village girl! We've come for...” Angie said, interrupted by a sudden movement of my arms, letting her fall to the floor. “Hey!”

“I ne-ne-need fabrics,” I whispered with a hoarse, timid, barely audible voice. The girl frowned, coming a little closer to me.

“Excuse me, but I didn't hear you,” she said amused but with a kind look.

“Fabrics, stupid! Fabrics!” Angie shrieked, startling the young woman, who, surprisingly, kept her composure masterfully.

“Oh, fabrics, of course,” (Y/N) said, nodding and passing by me, letting me get a closer look at that scar so similar to mine, one that had me quite interested. “If you would be so kind as to come with me…”

I nodded slowly, following the young assistant through the warehouse.

“Are you looking for something in particular?” she asked naturally, rummaging through a pile of fabrics.

“G-Grey fabric…” I murmured, clearing my throat, with Angie looking at me strangely. I couldn't blame her for it, I was very nervous.

“Grey…” (Y/N) commented, searching with her eyes. “Oh, yes, here,” she said amused, pointing at several fabrics of that same color.

“Wool balls, we want wool balls,” Angie said with a haughty tone while I touched those fabrics with curiosity, unable to avoid looking at that girl out of the corner of my eye.

“Wool balls?” she asked confused, scratching her head. “Mm, yes, this way,” she said, gesturing for the puppet to follow her.

I paused for a moment to look at her again, my heart beating fast and my eye unable to stop studying each of her movements. She was a really beautiful young woman, who surely hid some terrible story, maybe one as horrible as mine, maybe… Oh, I didn’t know why I was thinking about it.

“Do you see anything you like?” she asked me when finished attending to Angie, getting closer to me, maybe too close, allowing me to look at her more closely again.

“Um, yes… I…” I stammered nervously, clearing my throat again and pointing at a random roll of fabric. Luckily, it was a grey one.

“This one? Good…” the young woman commented, taking the roll and heading to a small counter. “How much do you want?”

“No, I… I’ll take the entire roll,” I said, nodding, putting my hands together in front of my body, playing with them discreetly to try to stop shaking.

“The entire roll?” (Y/N) asked, frowning. The Duke never questioned me, why did she?

“Is there a problem, silly?” Angie asked mockingly, comically wrapped in a wool ball.

“No, there’s no problem but… I don’t know if you can handle it, it’s quite heavy,” the girl said amused, leaning on the counter and looking at that large roll of fabric. “I mean, I’m not saying you can’t… I mean, I…”

I laughed at that shy side, that nervous side my presence provoked in her. Normally I would have groaned or sighed at the sight of her body trembling, but on that occasion, I didn't. Even when she was nervous, she couldn't lose that bright smile.

“Calm down, I know what you mean,” I said in a different tone, louder and noticeable, as if my own voice was eager to talk to her.

“Uff, okay...” she sighed, running a hand over her forehead in a playful way. “Sorry, my lady, I'm not used to dealing with... Lords, you know.”

I laughed again, shaking my head. I could feel Angie's eyes looking at me inquisitively, but I didn't pay attention to them. Not wanting to look stupid, I took out a bag of coins, leaving them on the counter. (Y/N) picked them up, writing something down in a notebook.

“Fine...” the girl murmured, leaving the pen on top of the notebook. “Do you need anything else, my lady?” she asked kindly.

I shook my head, turning to leave, picking up my doll again, who was still staring at me.

“No, thank you,” I muttered before walking out the door. Something, something made me stop and turn around. “Uh, actually, I do.”

“Mm?” (Y/N) hummed, with that same kind smile, following me with her gaze as I approached the counter again.

“I don't remember seeing you before,” I said with a dry voice, with an indifferent tone. I didn't want to show her how nervous I was, besides, I didn't even know why I was that nervous.

“I'm elusive,” she answered amused, leaning on the counter in a casual manner. “But the truth is that I've been here all my life.”

“Working for the fat guy?” Angie asked, with a curious tone, shifting in my arms.

“No, no,” (Y/N) said, shaking her head, laughing amused. “I mean, I've been in the village all my life.”

“Really? It's funny, you don't sound familiar to me,” I commented, with a slightly dark tone, analyzing her expressions. The girl shrugged, as if it wasn't the most comfortable question for her.

“Well... I'm not very fond of masses...” she murmured in a cautious tone. “Don't get me wrong, I adore Mother Miranda, and you, and of course I pray to the Black Gods every day and...”

“Mmm…” Angie got out of my arms, walking along the counter until she was very close to her. “She's lying.”

“What? Oh, no, no, I’m not,” the assistant said, now a little more scared. “No, my lady, no, I'm not lying.”

“I don't care if you are, (Y/N),” I commented, moving the doll away from her, laughing shyly again. “I'm not judging you.”

“Oh, okay…” the girl sighed, with an exaggerated gesture of relief. “Well, to be honest, I've never had a particular interest in… All that stuff about the Gods.”

I nodded nervously, wanting to ask a thousand questions, without knowing why, without knowing what exactly was keeping me in that warehouse.

“But, but I go to masses,” she said with a more relaxed tone, pretending sincerity. “Um… Um…Do you want… Do you want something else?”

“No,” I answered abruptly, turning around again and walking towards the door.

When I arrived, I realized that my legs weren't moving, that my head wanted to turn towards that girl again. My behavior was strange, but I couldn't help it.

“Yes,” I said, entering again, causing her to laugh amusedly and look at me in amazement, probably because of my pathetic attitude. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Lycans,” she answered, relaxing her expression. I frowned and shook my head, confused.

“Cosa?”

“My scar, I know you were going to ask me about it,” she said with a relaxed tone, pretending to read the notes in that account book.

“No, I…” I stammered, embarrassed to know that it was really what I wanted to know, what had caught my attention.

“Don’t worry, my lady, nothing is wrong. I’m not ashamed of it,” she said with a sincere look, one that made me see that her left eye had a slightly whiter tone, as if it had no life.

That was how I was like when I was a child, when everyone laughed at me.

“What…? What happened to you?” I asked in a cautious, strangely curious tone.

“When I was 10 I made the stupid mistake of going into the forest at dusk, you know, I wanted to be the bravest girl and blah blah blah…” (Y/N) commented casually, gesturing with her hands. I nodded for her to continue. “How was I supposed to know that there were lycans in the woods? It seems unlikely in a place like this, right? Um, sorry, it was, it was a joke.”

“Uh-huh,” I whispered, frowning. “A joke?”

“Yeah, well… I've learned that, in order to be happy, you must learn to laugh at yourself,” (Y/N) explained, with a smile adorning her beauty again.

“Do you find that some lycans hurt you funny? You could have died,” I said annoyed by that attitude. No, that wasn't funny, it couldn't be.

“I know, but… Here I’m,” she said sighing, spreading her arms in a playful way. “I lost the vision of my left eye, but… I'm still alive, and that's the important thing.”

“You seem like a very optimistic girl,” I commented, with an amused laugh, inadvertently getting a little closer to her.

“Mm, well, it can't be any other way,” the girl said in a relaxed tone, tilting her head.

“It must have… It must have been… difficult for you, you know…” I said stuttering, raising my hand to discreetly point out the deformity of her face. “Children can be very cruel.”

“Oh, not at all,” she said with a wider smile, shaking her head. “There hasn't been anyone brave enough to mess with me.”

I laughed again, incredulous at that attitude, one so different from mine. So similar and so different at the same time… Like the two sides of the same coin.

“Why you say so?” I asked curiously, with Angie starting to get impatient, tugging at my dress probably wanting to go back home.

“Because if they did… Well, they were very likely to go home with a black eye,” she whispered in a lower voice, as if she wanted to tell me a secret. “You know what they say: an eye for an eye, right?”

She was a mysterious girl, one who, with every thing she said, brought a soft laugh to my lips. It had been a long time since I laughed so many times, that the smile refused to leave my face.

“Um, I…” I murmured after a moment of awkward silence, holding Angie's hands, which pulled at my dress harder and harder. “I'll leave you alone, I've already stolen too much of your time.”

“You can steal all the time you want, my lady, as you see, there's no one around here,” the merchant said amused, looking around.

“Um, yes, well, I… I'm, I'm leaving, th-thanks,” I stammered, closing my eye because of my pathetic stammering, ready this time to really leave, to control my desire to stay and chat with that girl.

“Wait,” she said, leaving me pinned to the ground, walking out the counter. “Wait, I…”

“Mm?”

“Um, hey, you're not as scary as they say,” (Y/N) said nervously, biting her lip to contain her words, words that, apparently, came out of her mouth on their own. “I mean, I, I liked meeting you, Lady Beneviento.”

“Oh, I…” I stammered, struggling between joy and anger. I couldn't blame her for fearing me, everyone did and everyone would, forever. “Me… Me too, (Y/N)…”

It could have been just another day, but it wasn't. Meeting (Y/N) made me start to smile. It didn't matter what I was doing: cooking, reading, working with my dolls... The beauty of her face was always present in my thoughts.

Chance is a capricious God, one that made me suddenly find myself with my distorted reflection. Yes, a scar identical to the one I had as a child, a face deformed by misfortune, just like me.

But, even though we had that in common, we were very different. (Y/N) was cheerful, outgoing and didn't let anyone make fun of her. I was the opposite, like an evil double, like the negative of a photograph. It might seem silly, but, as the days went by, that urge to want to go back to the warehouse became more and more intense.

Sewing in my workshop, as always, I searched in my head for a logical explanation for my sudden interest in that young woman, like every time I did, without finding an answer.

“Angie,” I said, frowning, looking at the old sewing machine. The doll, having fun with her new wool balls, walked towards me comically getting tangled in the yellow thread.

“I hope it's not something to do with the girl from the warehouse,” the puppet hissed. Poor thing, she was sick of hearing me talk about her.

“No, no,” I said with a look that gave away my lie. “Look,” I helped the doll to get on my lap while pointing at the old machine.

“What's wrong?” she asked, looking at the machine and then at me, confused.

“Don't you see it?” I asked with a frown, picking up a piece of freshly sewn fabric. “Look at these seams, they're not right.”

“They’re just like always,” the doll commented, playing with the piece of fabric in her hands.

“No, no, not at all,” I said, shaking my head again, blinking, giving away my lie. “There's something wrong with the machine.”

“Do you know what's wrong? Your brain,” the doll mocked, causing me to grunt. “There's nothing wrong with the machine, Donna.”

“I'm telling you, it's broken,” I insisted, pretending to look for the fault that old machine didn't have. “I think there's something stuck… I should take it to (Y/N). Maybe she can take a look at it.”

“Oh, of course, of course…” the doll sighed, moving her arms in an exaggerated way. “You just want to see her again.”

“No, I… Non è vero…” I muttered, stumbling over my words. “It's, it's the machine…”

“There's nothing wrong with the machine, silly Donna, stop making stupid excuses. If you want to see (Y/N), why don't you just go?” Angie said, putting a wooden finger on my nose, which I wrinkled in displeasure, determined to deny the evidence.

“It’s not about that, Angie,” I protested, pounding my fists on the table but relaxing instantly. “I want her to take a look at it.”

“A look?” the doll scolded me. “Oh, yes, what a great idea… What are you going to tell her when she realizes that the machine is perfectly fine?”

I tried to fight back, but I couldn’t. I huffed angrily, gritting my teeth. Angie was right. My legs trembled nervously as my gaze wandered to the old machine. I didn’t even think about it.

With a quick gesture, I pushed the sewing machine to the floor, crashing against it with a dull sound, indicating that something had broken. It was a pathetic, almost desperate plan. I still didn’t know what I was doing, why I was doing it, or rather, I didn’t want to know.

“Silly Donna! Nonna’s machine!” Angie shrieked, getting down to the floor to check the condition of the machine. I remained serious, but I adopted a haughty pose.

“What do you say now? Diamo un’occhiata?” I asked mockingly, bending down to pick up the broken machine from the floor, ignoring the insults and protests of the doll.

It was too easy for me to put the veil back on and leave my house. I had a fixed destination. I had her beauty waiting for me. I think I was starting to get too nervous. Breaking my grandmother’s machine so I could see that girl… It sounded crazy, but I didn’t want to think about it.

“Oh, my lady, what a surprise,” (Y/N) said, coming down a ladder, with a, as always, beautiful smile. “The Duke has already returned from his trip, he should have brought you the fabrics.”

“Yes, I…” I murmured nervously, holding the box under Angie’s fierce gaze. “I wanted, I wanted to see you.”

“Me?” the girl asked, approaching curiously, brushing the dust off her dress.

I could only nod, leaving the box on the counter.

“I thought you could help me with this,” I muttered, with a broken voice, much more nervous than in our first meeting.

“Wow…” the young woman commented, taking the broken machine out of the box, observing every detail. “A Singer 66k, from 1917… What happened to it? It's in pieces…”

“Angie threw it,” I lied cowardly, earning a furious gasp from the doll.

“What are you talking about?!” the doll shrieked unpleasantly. “Liar, Donna liar, Donna…!”

I silenced the puppet with a subtle movement of my hands, making it stop screaming and move away, unable to stop it from glaring at me as it did so.

“Oh, that was a nasty fall…” (Y/N) joked, studying the machine. “It's a shame, it's a beauty.”

“C-Can you fix it?” I asked timidly, starting to regret what I had done. Her smile showed me that I shouldn't do it.

“Mm, I think so,” she said nodding, moving the machine to a small table with tools. I followed closely, watching her curiously. “Let's see…”

“I can, I can leave you alone if you are more comfortable,” I murmured when she started working, checking the pieces with a frown. She stopped and looked at me, shaking her head, with that wonderful smile…

“Oh, no, well… It's good to have some company, besides, that way I can prove that I'm not scamming you,” the assistant said amused, carefully unscrewing the machine.

“I trust you,” I said without thinking, playing with my hands again, trying not to look at her face, not to notice that scar that told me we had something in common, even if she couldn't know it.

“You must be the only one,” she commented sighing, searching for something in a box of spare parts. I tilted my head curiously. “Normally the people of this village are quite distrustful… I can't blame them, my boss is not exactly a… reliable man…” she said smiling, making the gesture of quotation marks with her fingers.

“You are not like him,” I said, stating a truth of which I was completely sure.

“Mm no, I hope so,” the girl joked amused, struggling with the machine. “Okay…”

Silence reigned again in the warehouse. She worked on the machine with surprising skill while I watched her, memorizing each of her movements. If she had noticed how I looked at her… Well, she would surely be terribly uncomfortable.

“So… Do you use this machine to you make clothes for your dolls?” (Y/N) asked, taking me out of my thoughts. “Y-you made dolls, right?”

“Cosa?” I said distractedly, thinking about her past, about how she had to live through that attack, about her courage when facing mockery and offensive comments, how did she do it? “Oh, I… Yes, yes of course…”

She smiled, nodding, without stopping working.

“You know? You can tell the quality of a handmade product…” she commented distractedly. “I mean, there are modern machines now but… If you ask me, I prefer the old ones, like this beauty”

“Y-Yes, I… I think the same,” I said with a smile that she couldn't see, luckily.

“I think… I think it's done,” she said, moving the crank to check that it worked correctly. “Just like new.”

I didn't expect it to end so quickly. I got nervous, like every time something didn't turn out the way I had thought.

“You are… You are skilled,” I flattered her, taking the machine and checking that, indeed, it was already fixed.

She shrugged, with an amused smile.

“There had to be something good about me, right?” she joked, getting up from the table and passing by me, allowing me to look even more at her beauty.

“Uh… Tell me how much I owe you,” I said, putting the machine back in the box, searching in my head for an absurd excuse to stay a little longer, just a little longer…

“Oh, nothing,” she said, looking at me amused, shaking her head. “It’s not necessary.”

“W-Wait, I have, I have to pay you,” I said, with my hands starting to sweat again. You relaxed your expression, sighing and shaking your head again.

“No, that it’s not necessary,” the girl said with a confused smile, surely due to the trembling of my body. “I’m happy to help you, my lady.”

“No, don't be condescending to me for who I am, I beg you to let me pay you,” I insisted with a darker, almost angry voice. Her smile was worth more than all the gold in the world...

“I'm not condescending, I'm just doing you a favor, I like you,” she murmured, frowning, as if she was trying to meet my gaze.

I pointed at myself in surprise. The words refused to come out of my mouth.

“Do you... do you like me?” I asked stammering, puzzled by that phrase, one that couldn't be true.

“Yes, you're kind,” she said, looking away. “It's not something that's especially common in this place.”

“Oh, well, I... I...” I said nervously, having the imperative need to run out of there to hide my embarrassment, the invisible blush on my cheeks. “Grazie, (Y/N)…”

“Prego,” (Y/N) said, with a wider smile, as if she knew the reaction that hearing her speak that way would provoke in my body, paralyzing it completely.

“D-Do you know Italian?” I asked curiously, with my voice shaking at the same time as my body. She laughed amused, with a clueless expression.

“Nope,” she whispered in an ironic tone. “I know the basics.”

“Oh, of course…” I said, even more nervous, looking for Angie with my gaze. “I… I'm, I'm leaving now and… Well, we'll see each other, and…”

“Whenever you want,” (Y/N) said, sitting on the counter casually, swinging her legs and picking up what looked like a cup of coffee. “Um, my lady,” she said suddenly, when I had already turned around. My blood froze again. “I hope your doll doesn't break any more things.”

“Hey!” Angie protested, rummaging through the counter. “Shut up, you idiot!”

“Angie…” I sighed, gesturing with my head so the puppet would stop stirring everything up.

“She seems to be funny,” (Y/N) commented, looking curiously at Angie.

“Yes… W-Well… She's… I don't know how to describe her…” I said, more and more nervous. “I guess she's one of a kind.”

“I see, she's like you then,” the girl said in a low tone, one that betrayed nervousness. The doll was making her nervous.

“Angie, basta,” I growled at the puppet, who was staring indiscreetly at the cup of coffee.

“Do you like coffee?” the saleswoman asked in a kind tone, looking at Angie, letting me see her beautiful, damaged face. It was so similar to mine…

“I don't know,” Angie said, in a petulant tone. “What I know is that calling this thing coffee is blasphemy, how disgusting.”

“Angie…” I protested, losing my nerves, kicking the floor pathetically.

“Hey, it's not that bad, is it?” (Y/N) asked, bringing the cup to her lips and making a face of disgust. “Well, maybe it is.”

“Don't mind her, (Y/N)…” I sighed, noticing how the sweat ran down my forehead, how my nerves kept increasing. “Angie, dai!”

“Don't be mad at her, my lady, she's right,” (Y/N) said, pouring another coffee into a different cup. “Maybe you can give me your opinion… You, you Italians are good with coffee, aren't you?”

“Me?” I asked, leaving the box on the counter, timidly reaching out my hand for the cup she offered me. “W-Well, I wouldn't know how to answer that… Actually my, my family was Italian, I… I was born here.”

“Well, but I'm sure you have better taste than me,” the girl commented, leaning on the table, frowning suddenly. “Oh, it's not mandatory, I'm sure you have a lot of things to do instead of wasting time with me.”

“Not really,” I whispered, breathing heavily at her apparent nervousness. Not wanting to think, not wanting to feel the things I felt when looking at her, I brought that steaming coffee to my lips, moving my veil aside.

(Y/N) looked away, not wanting to be indiscreet, respecting my decision, but fighting with herself to do so. I could see her confused face, her desire to look at me.

The bitter taste filled my throat. It was really horrible, I hate having to agree with Angie.

“How is it?” the young woman asked, with a fearful look. I shook my head, pushing the disgusting coffee away from my sight and smell.

“È orribile…” I murmured, trying to sound amused. I never knew how to do it.

“I thought so…” the girl sighed, making a face of disgust at that cup. “No matter how hard I try, I can't handle that thing,” she said amused, pointing to an old coffee maker.

“Do you want me to show you how to do it?” I asked without thinking, I asked without wanting to, without being able to help it. She looked at me curiously, then at the coffee maker, and finally at me again, nodding with a shy smile.

“Well, it's not necessary,” she murmured, scratching the back of her neck, downplaying it.

“Please, consider it… A favor,” I said, mysteriously sure of myself. “Because, because of the machine.”

“Mm, well, okay,” she said quickly, gesturing for me to follow her.

As calmly as I could, I taught the young woman how to make a real coffee and how to handle that coffee maker properly. She listened to me attentively, looking at me from time to time and writing down my advice in a notebook.

She was so close to me, her bright eyes were so close to mine… I don't know at what moment I was stuck in her gaze, in her almost perfect face, no, no, in her perfect face.

“It smells so good…” she commented, inhaling the intense aroma of coffee, closing her eyes, granting me the blessing of contemplating her relaxed face, her tender gaze. “I was definitely doing everything wrong.”

I laughed shyly, pouring some coffee into a cup, offering it to her kindly, praying that she wouldn't notice my shaking hands.

“Try not to fill it with too much water,” I said with a serious tone, pretending disinterest while she tasted my creation, with a look of satisfaction. “Always pay attention to the valve.”

“Yes, this is wonderful…” (Y/N) sighed. “Oh, sure, um… Let me pour you one cup.”

“I… Okay…” I stammered, accepting the offer to sit next to her in a couple of chairs.

Without having thought about it, we were together, enjoying a quiet coffee.

I couldn't remember when I felt so calm, so relaxed and at the same time, so nervous, with my heart beating too fast. I guess it was the coffee…

“And then I told him: I don't need to see with both eyes to notice that you're a complete idiot,” (Y/N) said, chatting with me in a friendly way, as if she had known me all my life. I wish it were like that.

“Did you tell him that?” I asked amused, unable to stop smiling. She nodded with a serious look.

“He wanted to go on a date with me to give me a chance, can you believe it? A chance, as if I couldn't choose...” she asked ironically, shaking her head.

I didn't answer, I just listened attentively. Her anecdotes were funny, but hearing them through her lips... That was out of this world.

“Bah, I don't need a stupid boy to tell me nice things... I know he would only do it out of pity,” she said with a slightly sadder tone.

“Mm,” I murmured, playing with my hands in my lap.

“Every morning I look at myself in the mirror and think: what would my life be like if I didn't have this thing on my face?” she commented distractedly again, stirring her coffee with her spoon erratically. “I always come to the same conclusion: Here I am, this is me, and if you don't like it, fuck you... Oh, I mean, sorry... Go to hell?”

I laughed again, a bit sadly. I saw so many things about myself in her, things she didn't consider a problem. She was brave, I was a coward.

“I wish I could think the same way,” I murmured with a broken voice, attracting her attention, drawing a confused look towards me.

“Why do you say so?” she asked in a different tone, with a more discreet smile, with the glint of caution in her eyes.

I suppressed a sob. (Y/N)'s attitude was admirable, enviable. I was never able to accept reality, to look at myself in the mirror in the same way. I was a monster, and she wasn't.

“Forget it, it's nonsense,” I sighed, getting up, wanting to go home, wanting to cry for being unable to recognize the meaning of my heartbeat, wanting to scream, to curse the Black Gods for being unfair to me.

“Oh, have I, have I said something wrong, my lady?” (Y/N) asked, suddenly standing up, putting a hand on my wrist, making my whole body shudder.

“No,” I said in a cold tone, moving away from her grip, perhaps too abruptly. “Dai, Angie,” I whispered to my doll, who was playing with the junk in that warehouse.

“W-Wait, I'm, I'm sorry,” the girl said, stopping me from continuing, standing in front of me with a pleading look.

“Why are you sorry?” I asked, with an involuntary resentment in my voice.

“Well, I, I didn't want to offend you… If I’ve said something I shouldn't have… Oh, of course, it's because of the: fuck you… I don't usually swear, really… Not always…” the young woman stammered nervously, with her gaze traveling everywhere, unable to focus on mine.

“You haven't offended me,” I said, trying to sound softer so my demons wouldn't overwhelm me again, not at that moment, not with her. “I have to go.”

“Sure, I…” she stammered, helping me to pick up the box again, with a fake smile. “Um, if you're not mad at me… Maybe you'd like to come tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” I asked, surprised by that offer.

“Yes, you know, I, I'd like you to check if I've learned anything about coffee,” she said nervously, with a strange blush on her cheeks.

“Do you want me to come here tomorrow?” I asked again, unable to believe her words.

“Yes, well… Yes, if you want,” she whispered, biting her lip and looking away.

“Mm, maybe I will,” I murmured, smiling, taking advantage of the fact she couldn't see me, my smile was hidden from her, as my monstrous face was.

That was the beginning, just the beginning of my constant visits to that old warehouse.

Funny conversations, exploits and experiences of (Y/N)… Any reason was good to hear her voice, to look at her beauty under the aroma of coffee. I could no longer deny myself my feelings. I couldn’t stop thinking about her, every minute, every second.

“Donna and (Y/N) under a tree …” Angie sang, jumping around while I, like every day, walked towards the village. I growled angrily at the doll, wishing she would shut up.

“Angie, per favore…” I sighed, shaking my head. “Don’t, don't talk that loud…”

“Oh, come on, there's no one here,” the puppet protested. “Besides, you're offended because you would like to be with (Y/N) under a tree.”

“Yes, it's true,” I said with a murmur, taking the doll in my arms so she wouldn't entertain me any longer. “(Y/N) is wonderful, don't you think?”

“(Y/N) is wonderful, beautiful, good, kind, fantastic, the best… Yes, yes, you've been repeating it constantly for weeks,” the doll mocked.

I smiled embarrassed.

“I've never felt this way about anyone,” I sighed, walking slower. “Angie, I'm… I'm in love with (Y/N)…”

“I know!” she complained, crossing her arms. “You're so annoying, Donna…”

“I'm not annoying, I'm talking about my feelings,” I said with a frown. “Hey, do you think, do you think she…?”

“Oh, no, no… Don't try to make me believe that I'm a fortune teller or something, I've already told you that I don't know if she feels the same. I can't read minds,” Angie said, shaking her head.

“But you're always with us,” I said, stopping before crossing the door. “Maybe, maybe you saw something that…”

“Oh, yeah… She doesn't take her eye off you,” the doll mocked with an evil laugh. “You get it? her eye.”

“Cazzo… I'm serious,” I said with a stern tone, starting to breathe hard.

“Me too,” Angie said, defensively.

I sighed, frustrated for not knowing, for not being able to read her thoughts, to decipher her smiles, to know if in any of them, she expressed something else than friendship…

“Oh, but that's not what I'm looking for,” the voice of an unknown woman made me stop in front of the warehouse door. (Y/N) was not alone.

“Who is that witch?” Angie asked, peeking through the door. I covered her mouth, hiding behind a wall.

“Mrs. Gravic…” (Y/N) sighed with a tired voice. “If you would be so kind as to tell me what you are looking for…”

“How rude, girl,” the woman protested, with a tone that made me burn with rage. “I don't know why the Duke hired you…”

“Donna… What do you think?” Angie whispered, rubbing her hands in a playful manner. I nodded, concentrating and gently reaching out my hand towards that unpleasant woman.

“Let's see… What do you say about this?” (Y/N) said, leaving something on the counter, something I couldn't see.

“Mm… Well, it could be that… Oh, Black Gods… Grandpa Igor…” the woman sighed and I smiled in satisfaction.

“Excuse me?” the girl asked, confused.

“Oh, I didn't mean to steal Grandma's jewels, don't chase me, leave me alone… No!” the woman screamed, running out of the warehouse in horror.

I nodded to the doll, high-fiving her. Mission accomplished.

“Hey, Mrs. Gravic?” (Y/N) said, looking at her confused, smiling when she saw me walk through the door. “Oh, Donna.”

“Ciao, (Y/N),” I said with the tone I always used for her, a calm one, increasingly sweeter, increasingly obvious.

“You came early today,” she commented, closing the door, like every time we were together, as if she wanted to save that moment just for the two of us. I shouldn't mistake that kindness, but at the same time, I couldn't help but do so.

“Well…” I said disinterestedly, leaving Angie on the floor, sitting on my usual chair. “I hadn’t anything better to do… I mean… Ugh…”

She laughed amused, shyly looking away, pouring the usual coffee.

It seemed like any other conversation. My words lost their fear. They became bold, even funny. All conversations developed the same way, all except that one.

“Um, forgive me for asking you but…” (Y/N) murmured, with a serious, different tone, with a look far from usual. “You probably think I'm stupid or… Well, that I'm butting in where I shouldn't but… I'm, I'm curious.”

“What are you curious about?” I asked, confused by her different attitude, by the fear I began to see in her hands.

“That,” she said with a sigh pointing at my covered face, one to which I brought my hand, with my breath frozen, lacking air.

 No, not that, my love…

“Um… What?” I asked nervously, diverting the conversation, saying with my gestures that this was the wrong path, that it would only bring her problems.

 “Well, you know, your veil… Why…? Why are you wearing it?” she asked again, her voice increasingly blurred by nervousness.

“Hey! Don't dare to say that to my Donna!” Angie shouted, staring at her, as if she was trying to do me a favor by deciphering her expressions.

“I…” I muttered. My hand was shaking so much that I dropped the coffee cup, breaking it into a thousand pieces on the floor. “Oh, porca miseria!”

“No, it's okay!” she exclaimed, putting her hands in front of her body. “It, it was my fault, I shouldn't have asked that… I, I… I'm, I'm sorry, shit, oh, no, no, I mean, dammit! I'll go to get a broom.”

I stood up, looking at the mess beneath me, nervous, seeking Angie's comfort, one that always brought me back to my senses. I couldn't find her, but I made a decision, the last decision, one last act of stupid bravery.

“Wait,” I said in a whisper, grabbing (Y/N) by the wrist as she swept the floor. “Wait, (Y/N)...”

She looked at me scared, guided by the movement of my hand, which forced her to keep her eyes on mine. Slowly, letting her go, I brought my hand to the black fabric, removing it from my face, revealing my deformed face to her.

Neither of us said anything. (Y/N) blinked in confusion, staring at me, getting a little closer, squinting, mouth agape. I looked away, suppressing my desire to put the veil back on, to run away and never come back.

“Wow...” she sighed, reaching out her hand to my face. I breathed nervously, holding her wrist tightly so it wouldn't reach its destination. I was about to lose my mind, in front of the love of my life… “Donna, wait, let me do it, please.”

I closed my already wet eye, holding back my tears, letting the softness of her hand caress my horrible scar, touch my hair with a rapt look.

“It's, it's incredible...” she murmured again, without stopping caressing me while I, nervous, unable to move, let that tear run down my cheek.

(Y/N) took her hand away, bringing it to her own scar, shaking her head. I couldn't speak, I couldn't even move.

“Donna, you are, you are... You are such a beautiful woman...” she said, smiling in a nervous but sincere way, illuminating me with the light of her beauty, returning her hand to my deformity, as if she herself were as nervous as I was.

“What are you talking about?” I said with great effort, almost furious, clenching my teeth. “N-N-non mi mentire…”

“I'm not lying…” she sighed, touching her own scar again, with a look of astonishment. “Wow, it's… Incredible… We have almost the same scar… Wow… Forgive me, it's just… What a coincidence, isn't it?”

“No, you're beautiful and I'm horrible,” I said sobbing, not believing her words, not even for a second.

“Oh, you must be joking,” (Y/N) said in a calmer tone, almost amused. “You have… You have a beautiful face… And well, what about that eye? It's, it's the most beautiful eye I've ever seen in my entire life.”

“What? Have you gone crazy?” I asked nervously, letting the veil fall to the floor. “Are you laughing at me?”

“Do you really think I'm laughing at you? Really?” she joked, pointing out her defect with a smug pose. I shook my head, trying to control my thoughts. “No, Donna, I'm telling you, I'm telling you the truth… Wait, what did you say?”

“Mm?” I muttered confused, running my hand through my hair, feeling unable to handle the situation any longer.

“That, that thing you said before…” she said, gesturing with her hand, accidentally stepping on the remains of that cup. “You know, that I'm…”

“You're beautiful,” I said with my head down, clenching my fists tightly.

“Mm, and how do I know you're not lying to me? You're my friend, there's no need to be accommodating,” she joked with an amused face, completely ignoring my subtle statement.

“Friend? Are you stupid?” Angie asked. “Donna, please… Tell her now.”

“Tell me what?” (Y/N) asked, curious. I cursed my doll. I was becoming more and more nervous.

“I don't know what she's talking about,” I stammered, having to stop my legs from running away right then and there.

“Hey, you can tell me anything, Donna…” the girl said, whispering in a tender voice, lowering her hands to mine, caressing them in a way that I thought was friendly, that I didn't think was romantic. “Really…”

“No, I…” I said, blinking nervously.

“Is there something worrying you?” she asked again, getting closer to me. “Come on, you can trust me.”

“(Y/N), I…” I stammered again, becoming almost hysterical as I looked at her peaceful gaze.

I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it was so difficult for her to understand my feelings. I had taken a definitive step, I couldn't go back. I couldn't turn back now that I had come that far.

“Cazzo! I, I like you, (Y/N)!” I squealed disproportionately, making her widen her eyes and frown.

“Oh, is that it?” she said, still smiling, not getting the not-so-indirect hint. “Oh, Donna, I like you too.”

“Angie’s right,” I hissed angrily, shaking my head. “Are you stupid? I’m telling that I like you, damn it!”

Her face immediately changed to a confused look. I growled again, kicking the chair roughly.

“What do you mean?” she asked again. I froze, turning to her slowly and dangerously. A thunderous laugh filled the warehouse. Angie seemed to be enjoying that.

“Porca puttana!” I squealed again, kicking the floor in rage. “I love you, (Y/N)! I’m fucking in love with you! I can't stop thinking about you day and night, counting the hours until I can see you again! I love you, ti amo! You're the woman of my life!” I squealed abruptly, making her blink comically.

“Oh…” she sighed, with an amused look.

“Is it clear now? Or do you need me to write it down for you?” I said, losing control of my emotions.

(Y/N) shook her head, but didn't say anything, so I growled furiously again, grabbing the notebook from the counter.

“I…Love…You. That's it, you still don't understand?” I said furiously, tearing off the paper and angrily putting it on her chest. “Taci, Angie or I'll deactivate you!”

“Hey… Come on… calm down…”(Y/N) said, putting a hand on my trembling shoulder, turning me around slowly. “Calm down…”

Her soft voice relaxed me, but the tears were already traveling freely down my horrible face.

“Shh…” you whispered in a tender voice, taking my hands again while I, desperate, shook my head.

“I-I'm in love with you, (Y/N)… Ti amo…” I whispered more timidly, coming back to my senses little by little, dying of embarrassment for my nervous outburst.

“Yes, I've already realized,” she said amused, bringing one of her hands to my intact cheek, wiping away one of my tears. “Donna… Listen to me… I… I feel the same way about you…”

“What?” I asked nervously, startling myself.

“The truth is that I didn't expect to fall in love with a Lord but… Well, I guess life has brought us together for a reason, don't you think? And I'm not just saying that just because... Well, you know," she said in a pleasant voice, pointing at her scar.

“You... You have feelings for me...” I said, not knowing if it was a question or a statement.

(Y/N), still caressing me, nodded.

“Please! I'm going to get diabetes!” Angie shrieked, breaking the magic of the moment. “Yuck...”

“Angie...” I lamented, just when I was starting to enjoy that moment.

“It doesn't matter, Donna...” she said, amused, still looking at me, still piercing my heart with her gaze. “You can tell she’s happy...”

“Well...” I said, laughing nervously.

“Hey... I thought about closing the store for today,” (Y/N) said, moving away. “Maybe you'd like to do something together...”

“Vu-Vuoli... Vuoli...fare qualcosa... in-insieme?” I stammered awkwardly, not keeping control of my own language.

“If you told me what I think… Yes,” she joked playfully. “Let’s do something together…”

“Oh, okay, I… Io… We can, go… You can… You can… You can come to my house if you want… I, you… you liked sewing, right?” I said nervously.

She nodded with a funny look.

“I can, I can show you my workshop, and… I can, I can… We can sew together… se… se hai voglia… E… And, I can, I can show you my bam… My dolls, and… I can, I can make one like you if you want, and we can, we can…”

“Donna,” she said, interrupting my pathetic attempt at conversation, relaxing my nerves with a soft caress, one to which I also joined my hand. “I would love to go to your house…”

“Really?” I asked, nodding, with a sincere smile, far from my usual nervous look. “Would you like to?”

“Yes…” she sighed, getting dangerously close to me. “But first, I'd like to do something…”

“Oh, okay, wh…?” I said nervously, interrupted by her lips, which kissed mine, caressed them in a tender way, in a way I never expected to feel. I don't know what her first kiss had been, but mine… I would never forget mine.

“Much better, don't you think?” she sighed still on my lips, letting the rhythm increase on its own, so I could kiss her without fear.

“Ugh, they’re kissing!” Angie protested.

We both smiled, resting our foreheads on each other.

“Come on, honey… I'm looking forward to see your dolls…”

[fun-k-board]

Hello how are you? I would like to know if you still receive orders. If yes, fantastic. First I apologize for my horrible English, I'm still learning.

Could it be about Hort from School of Good and Evil? Where the reader or y/n has a similar relationship with Gomez and Morticia Addams. Thank you for your attention, kisses from Brazil.(⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

-

Yes of course! And don't worry, your English is really good! <3 apologies for taking so long! Also, this is Hort from the movie, which I haven't watched in awhile so it may be very inaccurate, I know he's a lot different in the book but I haven't read it yet.

Hort X Gn!Reader with a relationship like Morticia and Gomez Addams

If you're an ever, I imagine your darker taste in clothing got him interested in your straight away, especially if you're the beauty standard, if not, the fact you're an ever not as 'beautiful' as the rest with a dislike of what being an ever essentially is got him curious about you.

I imagine him approaching you, if you don't notice him / he doesn't notice you, then I imagine you and Agatha being friends, and so meeting Sophie which ends in meeting Hort.

Your first impression was shaking his hand, which he begrudgingly done given you're an ever, but he jumped when your hand fell off, no, it was thing! He jumped back onto your shoulder while you hid your mouth with your hand and laughed. Hort felt a grin spread across his face while Sophie gagged, he done that with her when they first met.

You complimented him, genuinely, with a menacing smile and flirting of how he's disgusting and filthy, but you like that. It made him blush and fall harder. All thoughts of Sophie are completely gone whenever your wide and unblinking eyes stare into him.

Hort and you 'insult' each other in public, yet still gently kiss eachother and even with your mouth not wide and bright, a gentle smile held a thousand emotions as you nuzzled into one another's chest in happiness.

You, obviously, only say things because you know he likes them, especially when you're dating and vice versa. Although, it would take him a LONG time to say something about your appearance that wasn't a conventional compliment. To him, you're hot no matter if you have warts, deformaties, etc, etc. Anything 'ugly' to regular society is not only useful but essentially the standard for what he's grown up on, you're familiar, and he loves you for it.

If you're a never, you met when everybody was being thrown into the ocean upon first arriving, he somehow saw you perfectly dry by the guards. It caught his eye, so did your appearance. Elegenatly dressed with a teasing smile thrown his way. You noticed him and he immediately swam out, complimenting you and probably coming off a bit too strong.

It's sweet though, he gets pretty dirty a lot and although you may be strange, it's clear you do appreciate a form of hygiene and will wipe his face if it gets too gross.

You gave him a sword on your first week of dating, which he greatly appreciated, especially how you took the time to carve his name and yours. Hort asked how you managed to get it, to which you cut the petals off the roses in your dorm and told him you wouldn't reveal your secrets.

It took him a while to fully realise, simply believing it to be a trick of the light, but your eyes were always illuminated. No matter what a strip of light accompanied you with everything else shrouded in darkness. He even put a hand over your eyes and it was still somehow light.

You were somehow extremely rich, gifting him mass amounts of things and assisting him in class with your devious charm and schemes to get him good grades. Refusing to allow a fail for him.

He's a very insecure guy, and so your constant array of compliments and physical affection had him remembering it late at night blushing and hiding his face in a pillow.

[buffyfan145]

So glad "The War of the Rohirrim" NYCC panel had a live stream today as I was able to watch it and I'm even more excited to see it!!! 😀 Stephen Colbert moderated and revealed he got to see the movie already and loved it. Am tagging as spoilers but from what the writers, director, producers, and cast talked about today mostly does match what is in the LOTR appendices. Also tagging "Rings of Power" as they actually mentioned it when talking about Héra.

First off the creative team talked about the movie and how they wanted to expand of Helm's daughter Héra, as she was unnamed in the books but the story does revolve so much around her since the war all starts because of the rejected marriage proposal from Wulf's father to unite her and Wulf and their people.

Brian Cox, who voices Helm Hammerhand, said Helm and Héra's relationship is a very loving father/daughter one and sets up things that happen later in the story. Brian also told some funny stories too and loved being able to be part of a LOTR movie.

The producers want us to love Wulf before we hate him and he's very different at the beginning of the movie before his father's death. Sounded very similar to the "ROP" creatives about how they made Sauron/Halbrand on the show. Stephen also said he was impressed with how amazing Wulf's hair is the whole movie. LOL

Gaia Wise and Luke Pasqualino then both talked about Héra and Wulf's relationship and confirmed there is a whole "What if?" situation with them as it's hinted at they likely would've married anyway if what happened between their fathers never happened. They teased about it being similar to childhood friends growing up and falling in love if the worst hadn't happened. I had also seen from a preview of the upcoming artwork book that Wulf is in love with Héra, but for her character only teased that she never realized it and till that point never thought of it. I'm very curious where this is going to go as I've also seen she tries to use their friendship to get him to stop the war. This is also why I keep tagging my posts about this movie as Haladriel as it does feel similar to them on "ROP" and even some of our AU fics where we kept him as human.

Gaia also confirmed she used a few LOTR characters as inspirations for Héra including her descendant Éowyn (Miranda Otto also narrates this movie as her too), but she also named Galadriel. I've noticed this too not just from "ROP" but from the books and how younger Galadriel is described to be.

The producers also said they are thinking of other LOTR anime movies after this. Depends on how successful this movie is and they will be making live-action movies like "The Hunt for Gollum" too.

They also showed some clips but us watching the live stream couldn't see. One of these clips showed that there is a Ring of Power involved. I don't think it's the One Ring but very curious what that means, especially since Wulf usually does end up recruiting some of the Easterlings that work for Sauron.

There was a motion tapestry of scenes from the movie released and a new song by a well known singer called "The Rider" will be released in November.

[gallusrostromegalus]

So now that we're getting into the nitty-gritty about the zanpakuto, I'm immensely curious about what you're gonna do with Kaname's zanpakuto. Cuz if I remember canon right, he "inherited" (graverobbed?) the sword from his deceased friend, who we are told is the impetus for his whole crusade and made it his own to honor her. I'm interested to see your thoughts :))

You are remembering canon correctly! Suzumushi is NOT Kaname Tousen's Sword! It's the Sword of his friend/unrequited love interest Kakyo NoSurnameInCanon, who was fridged murdered, and when the central 46 refused to prosecute her killer because of his Noble status, that's when Kaname's crusade began, carrying Suzumushi.

...yeah.

In AEIWAM, it's similar, but instead of a friend/unrequited love interest-

Kaname is twelve when he dies suddenly, and reincarnates in the Soul society as a Tween. He is unceremoniously dumped on a country back road in West 51 with only the clothes he died in and no memory of his previous life besides his given name. Kakyo is also about twelve when she dies, and is dumped about four feet away from Kaname five seconds later, and sprains her ankle on the fall. She remembers her past life ("It Sucked"), and reassures Kaname that the guy that left her here said there was a 50-50 chance she'd lose her entire memory. That must be what happened to him. Kakyo can't walk on her injured ankle, but she can see where she's going. Kaname is a strong lad with great balance, and offers to carry her on his back if she can navigate him towards a village. It takes several freezing cold nights, scavenging for food and a terrifying encounter with a rabid dog before they finally reach the village.

Since neither actually knows their birthday, but were both 'reborn' on November 13th, and because they look extremely different, they decide that they are now brother and sister. And ever since then, Kakyo and Kaname regarded each other as twins.

They actually stumble into a library at the edge of a fairly large river trading port, run by Tomoko Tousen, a retired Gotei-13 Archivist, and her husband Yasuke, a retired shinigami, who gained a surname when they married. They never had children of their own, and it's nice having the young things about, so they adopt the 'twins', and they become Kakyo Tousen and Kaname Tousen. Fortunate, as it rapidly becomes apparent the twins have spiritual powers of their own.

Kaname is the gentler and shyer twin, and closer to his godmother, who figures out how to enchant a pair of glasses so they can 'read' text he looks at and speaks it to him, and he takes to books and archiving and data science like a duck to water.

Kakyo is a litter rougher and more gung-ho twin and takes after her adopted godfather, and dreams of leaving home and becoming a Shinigami herself... but their godparents are elderly, and can't run the library on their own, and she doesn't want to leave Kaname completely on his own.

Still, when she wakes up one morning from fitful dreams to discover she's holding a sword of her own, the whole family rejoices. Suzumushi is a not very powerful Zanpaktou, and strangely eager to avoid conflict for a weapon, and is content to stay in the river town, practicing Katas with Yasuke and occasionally lightly Harassing her weilder's brother- but before the year is out, Kaname has gotten used to sometimes having what feels like a clockwork cicada climb up his back or sit on his head, chiming and chittering while he works.

One day though, Kaname is talking with Yasuke, about how neither of them remembers their previous lives. Yasuke confides that while he doesn't remember who he was or where he lived, there are some memories that not even death can erase, like how his body remembered exactly what to do the first time he picked up a sword.

Kaname has nightmares after that, of picking up Suzumushi and knowing exactly how to wield her.

Time passes, Their godparents pass. And Kakyo stays with Kaname. Neither one really wants the other to be alone.

Then one day, A komuso monk comes to the library, body covered in robes and face hidden by his Tengai. ... A Really Big Monk. His name is Komamora Sajin, and from the way he acts around Kaname, Kakyo can tell he's taken care of people who are frail and missing senses before. Kaname is very fond of him- they have similar natures, and the actually-nine-foot-tall Sajin is very good at getting things off of high shelves and convincing difficult patrons to behave themselves. Eventually, he asks to stay on a more permanent basis, and Kakyo begs him to do so- she needs to become a Shinigami, but she can't abandon Kaname. They agree, and when she tells Kaname "Stay here, and stay gentle." it her telling her how much she loves him, and wants him to be happy.

...So you can imagine how devastating her death was for him.

Doubly so when he arrives in Seireitei to handle her funeral arrangements and touches Suzumushi's hilt for the first time- the rage, the grief of the sword spirit courses through him, baying for vengeance- and worse still, so does his body's memory of how to weild a sword.

He and Kakyo were about as close as humans can get, and Suzumushi knew him for as long as the spirit had known Kakyo- if there's someone who'd be willing to avenge her master's death, it's her beloved 'twin' brother.

...but this implies a lot of WIERD stuff about Kaname and his relationship with Suzumushi.

Sometimes Zanpaktou can be passed from one person to another, incarnating a bit differently each time (like how Senbonsakura is the Kuchiki Family Sword), but other Zanpaktou will die if thier wielder does. Suzumushi is not a particularly powerful zanpaktou- Tousen and Suzumushi are regularly ranked last in the "most powerful captains" fan-polls and rightly so I think. Rightly so, because I think Kaname's power is significantly nerfed by carrying a sword that is not his. Even if he and Suzumushi are particularly close, that's different than his own, and I don't think Suzumushi ever intended to be a heritable sword. Actually using her probably takes a ton more energy for Kaname that it ever did for Kakyo. Futhermore, Kaname might also be spending a ton of energy keeping Suzumushi alive past her time.

Suzumushi only has one potentially-lethal maneuver and that's an alternate form of her shikai. The regular forms are "Spell of take a nap and stop rioting" and "Spell of no for real you're losing your sensory privileges until you calm down". Both are way more crowd control abilities rather than Deuling ones, which fits with both his and Kakyo's characterization of wanting Soul Society to be a better place- Suzumushi is a sword that's practically built to get in the middle of a major battle and get everyone to STOP. And I gotta wonder- were these the original abilities of Suzumushi, or something she crafted for Kaname? Especially his Bankai- That's a weird Banaki for a sighted person like Kakyo to have. Or is it the original, drawn from Kakyo's experiences living with Kaname? Either way, he's either using tools not intended for him, or Suzumushi is heavily deviating from what she was meant to do, as a weapon.

My point is, as good as Kaname was- and he was good, he made Captain (and not just because they were... out of officers after the Turn Back The Pendulum Incident), but he did apparently hold his own in battle against everyone but fucking Kenpachi.

In AEIWAM, he does this by focusing on his technical skill as a swordsman- what he lacks in power or Zanpaktou abilities that are actually useful in Duels, he makes up for in learning really advanced, high-level Kido* and getting damn good at actually using his sword as a sword. In the fic, Kenpachi is a huge admirer and actually kind of Jealous of Kaname's technique- he declares that of all the captains, Kaname is the strongest, because he's the one punching highest above his weight class, while eveyone else (including him) is coasting by on their enormous power reserves or more duel-adept Zanpaktou, yet Kaname can go toe-to-toe with all

"It's like watching a little bitty Bat beat up a Tiger!" He says.

So, if Suzumushi is not Kaname's Zanpaktou, what is?

For that, I think we need to look at what happened to him after his hollowfication.

After dinner. this takes up a lot of brainpower.

[bonefall]

How do you feel about "character joins bloodclan" aus? Im curious about ur thoughts since youre really in tune with the themes of the series but personally i just hate them bc its ALWAYS aimed at 'unfortunate' characters and always ALWAYS ignores the fact that bloodclan is a horrible place in-canon and that they're just reflavoring the abuse and trauma the characters qent through to be more emo or goth themed.

Ravenpaw is ALWAYS a prime target for this and its like. Great. You took the character being abused by their mentor figure and is being harmed from the violent culture the clan has generated... and giving them an EMO mentor figure who will inevitably abuse them and harm them as a result of the violent culture the emo clan has generated. Sasha is another one I've noticed- you've put the woman who lost her kit and is struggling to survive with the others while being controlled and abused by someone who sees her as an outsider (aka alone and easy to isolate), and are gonna put her in a faction who specifically separates kin from one another to easily control them and who have canonically tried murdering those who stick with their family. What was gained here.

Like i know bloodclan is revamped in ur au (thank god for it) but in canon bloodclan is HORRIBLE. People ignore that in favor of putting their favs into bloodclan bc bloodclan is cool and killed tigerstar that one time bc of revenge. Ravenpaw becomes Scourge AUS are SO SO SO much worse bc of this too- sure you manage to point out how scourge and raven has roughly similar stories in their youth but you could also do something interesting and make an au where raven and scourge are FOILS and do a firestar/scourge thing, while pointing this comparison out!! Instead you just went "Ravenpaw emo now and is sad about beating up Firestar his friend" and basically kept everything the same.

Sorry im basically venting here but i just dont like how people forget that scourge in canon does NOT look out for the 'little guy', he's a murderer and abuser who wants to keep his subjects afraid and separated so that he alone has power over them. Bloodclan is not the cool strong goth group, its the group where two cats slaughter eachother over a piece of twoleg scraps, only for the survivor to die bc the food was poisonous to cats and no one knew bc theres no cohesive group that can pass that knowledge around. its a fucking horrible place to live. Im not saying that you cant do interesting "character in bloodclan" aus (a Rusty who lives in bloodclan who STILL wants to do good but is shaped by the horrid reality of bloodclan would be fun imo) but its so often used with already traumatized characters as a 'solution' or 'fix-it with some emotional issues involved' that i just foam at the mouth and howl like a rabid animal on principle at this point.

Hmm... I think for me, it doesn't tend to read that way for me when the fandom makes AUs for it. I'm coming at BloodClan from a point of really deep critique and frustration.

BloodClan's not a REAL place, and what that means is, every speck of how horrible it was is a choice the writers made to justify its treatment. It was something they actively decided, because, BloodClan was a tool to suddenly invalidate the previous 5 books of TPB so that the series could comfortably conclude there was no need to upset the status quo.

If you haven't read it before, I recommend this post I made on how Darkest Hour Is A Personal Disappointment, but anyway;

We spend a whole series on how Fireheart challenges a broken society, because he is different. Their xenophobia, how isolationism and glory get people killed, the way that Tigerstar's greatest asset is how respected he is... these are bad things. They're things that Fireheart fights for several books.

But then, in the LAST book, in the 11th inning, they introduce BloodClan. They're just evil. They have no nuance. The narrative bends over backwards to stress that this group of evil foreigners LOVES murder, hates friendship, and doesn't believe in our good god.

Suddenly, the Clan cats have to be EXTRA xenophobic and glorious to kill these filthy, murderous foreign hordes. Clan cat belief in their good god makes them stronger than the bloodthirsty barbarians. Firestar kills Scourge and we can feel happy and triumphant about it, when Tigerstar was killed a few chapters ago and given a tragic sendoff.

So, I encourage you to step back from an emotional response to how Filthy and Murderous this group was portrayed, and look at it as a writing choice.

When Tigerstar, known cat-racist and murderer of mixed-race people, is killed by Scourge in self-defense, he is grieved by Firestar and commended for his "good qualities". (and then they retconned in that it was actually secretly revenge all along, not just self defense, so this killing is extra evil)

When Scourge is killed, Firestar just thinks about how it's cool he's not going to heaven, and how all of the previously ferocious BloodClan warriors look so inferior to the forest Clans.

And so, with all that said,

I'm 100% in favor of how the fandom widely looks at this, says, "fuck that" and just makes them the Cool Goth Group. I'd argue pretty strongly that the least nuanced idea of that is still infinitely better than canon.

There was nothing there. It was literally just Xenophobia-Is-JustifiedClan. They literally hated love and friendship and banned families so that Clan cats would look good in comparison. Banned families. You don't get this level of stupid evil from anything else but an 80s cartoon.

Maybe I just don't see the AUs you tend to see (I curate my Tumblr experience very well and generally hang out in more adult-oriented spaces, I can imagine a place like Amino being mostly kids who tend to be immature. Edgelord Angstpiddle is just a normal part of growing up), but every project I see that gives me a glimpse of BloodClan Ravenpaws and Sashas come with such tweaks already assumed.

Like, these are examples I've seen,

They'll have Raven be involved with the formation of BloodClan

Scourge will actually be a character with some pity and mercy, like how he was in Rise of Scourge when his abusive siblings begged him for food, and he fed them before sending them away.

no ban on love and friendship. Lol. Lmao, even.

More of the social structure will be based around acquiring food for people in a 'harsh' environment, leading to that battle, instead of just Evil Foreign Greed (which canon!scourge only had after being almost killed by tigerstar, because he said "actually, in light of new information that you are a murderer, i need to reconsider our deal.")

BloodClan will be overhauled completely. I've seen this a few ways. Connecting them to SkyClan, or the Oakstar raids on Chelford, or even as a positive entity; a surprise ally. (VERY common with BloodClan Ravenpaw AUs I've seen).

Anyways... (Shrug), I dunno dude, it doesn't bother me that much.

[baiwu-jinji]

danmei reading update

Long time no see Tumblr friends! Some update about the danmei I've been reading - I was reading Liu Yao by Priest a while ago and was only able to finish Book 1 before I somewhat lost interest. While I recognize that it's objectively well-written and I love Priest's wit, I sometimes feel emotionally thwarted and alienated when reading it and I think it's because Priest doesn't always allow emotions to flow freely in her writing, as if every surge of emotion must be held back behind a shield of sarcasm, derision and dry humour. This takes away the catharsis of the reading experience - and emotional catharsis is what I'm usually looking for when reading popular online literature that's meant to be gobbled down instead of pored over. I might give Liu Yao another try when I'm less busy and feeling more patient though.

Right now I'm reading Yuwu by Meatbun and on chapter 66. So far the plot offers a lot of delicious pain, which is obviously Meatbun's strength, but there's also not a lot of surprises as Meatbun is operating in safe territory. I'm looking forward to finding out if Yuwu is able to surprise me in any way that 2ha couldn't, and since I find Mo Xi and Gu Mang's dynamic similar to Wangxian's from MDZS, I'm also curious to find out differences between the two in subsequent reading. What I've found most interesting so far is how (spoilers) Mo Xi tormented Gu Mang at one point with almost the same level of malice and bitterness that Gu Mang's real enemies would have, out of sheer frustration with not being able to get closure - I find this part of the plot realistically and insightfully written, and it reminds me of a thought I had that you can't truly hate someone if you've never loved them.

Yuwu lets the readers know very early on that both Gu Mang and Mo Xi are parentless. And it makes me think that a lot of the danmei I've read that're set in ancient China work in the same way - the main couple either don't have parents anymore or their parents are out of the picture. I think it's because in the rigid hierchical family structure in ancient China dictated by Confucianism, where children should unconditionally obey their parents, parents are the presence that kills romance - they arrange marriages for you, they act as your passionless superego, and they're a reminder that marriage isn't about love but about responsibility and carrying on the family line. This might be why it's simply more convenient to omit the parents altogether as they're bound to bring the romanticism of danmei down to some unpalatable historical reality.

[pascaloverx]

Hit The Road

Chapter Seven

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Summary: You are a hunter of supernatural beings who is forced to experience a new reality: being a vampire. The only thing stronger than your thirst for blood is your thirst for revenge.

Author's note: the characters mentioned here were created by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name by author L. J. Smith. They don't belong to me. That said, this fanfic will be short. This fanfic may address scenes of violence, inappropriate language and adult content. Minors should not interact with this story. In this chapter there will be some flashbacks, whenever the lettering style is different; it will be a memory. Also some information here is not in the order of the series or the same way it happened in the series. I'm changing some things to fit the fanfic story. Hope you like it!

You're standing in front of Stefan's car while he's talking to Caroline on the phone. It took about twenty minutes for him to convince her to go get the cure for werewolf. The name Klaus Mikaelson is said a few times during the conversation between Caroline and Stefan. It seems that she finds it curious that Stefan wants her to go after Klaus when she was involved only a short time ago romantically with Stefan. You can't help but think that if Caroline didn't seem to like you when she thought you was involved with Damon, imagine when she finds out that you slept with her ex?

"Caroline, this is much bigger than you and me. It's about saving the lives of two people, one of them is my brother and your best friend's ex. If you can soften Klaus' heart, I would appreciate it." Stefan speaks softly, like he's not nervous but his hands have been shaking since he rescued me and saw the werewolf bite. You are curious about why your imminent death disturbs this Salvatore's mind so much. Maybe he is remembering you, and the past you lived together.

"Thank you so much for agreeing to help, I owe you one. And tell Tyler that I'm in the middle of the highway where I found Damon's car and Y/N. " Stefan speaks seconds before ending the call, while you are standing outside the car admiring the bite mark becomes increasingly ugly on your arm. Your arm hurts like you're burning inside, and it doesn't look the best. You're trying to stay strong, you want to find Damon and help Stefan.

"Do you think she'll be able to talk this guy Mikaelson into helping us?" You ask a little suspicious that someone so powerful would help you in exchange for nothing.

"He will probably ask for something in return, you must be prepared. I don't know if he doesn't know you, if he does You'll probably owe him. But don't worry, I'll do my best to cover you in this." Stefan says, with a confidence that you admire. Maybe his brother and you will end up dying today but he seems to really believe we're going to get out of this.

"Listen, if we don't have another chance... I want you to know that I remembered you. I actually remembered us." You say with a little hope that he will remember you. You don't know how, or why you want him to look at you and say he recognizes you, but you deeply desire that Stefan remember what you felt for each other.

"What exactly did you remember?" Stefan asks, not seeming confused or lost. It appears he wants to know what you recalled because he's curious. Could he have started to believe that you both shared a romance?

"I remembered that you and I had a passion. Something somewhat forbidden because we got involved after I had been with your brother, but I feel like I truly wanted you. My heart seems to remember you more than my memory can convey." You respond hesitantly. You fear he may not have felt the same way or that he may never remember you.

"I also remembered something. You and I in a forest, bathing in a waterfall or something similar. It was like I could feel that moment, as if being with you made me feel alive." Stefan speaks, looking directly at you while he's crouched on the ground, checking the tire, and you're standing with your arms crossed in front of the car.

"I would really like to die knowing how much you meant to me..." You say softly, almost as if speaking to yourself. However, Stefan stands up immediately, facing you. You try to avoid Stefan's gaze by looking away, but he places both hands on your face, directing your gaze back to him.

Stefan doesn't wait another second and passionately kisses you, as if he wants this moment to be unforgettable. You respond to the kiss, running your hands through Stefan's hair. You end up climbing on top of the car, with your legs wrapped around Stefan's waist. At that moment you realized that you missed him, you missed his body close to yours, you missed feeling like he wanted you. The kiss is only interrupted when you hear the sound of a car approaching. Stefan looks over his head and sees someone he knows, as he waves at the person to come closer.

"What's the plan to find your bloodsucking brother?" A man speaks coming towards the two of us as we compose ourselves. When you are about to say something, you feel a weakness take over you, while your conscience drifts away. You lose your breath as you feel your body fall to the ground.

"Love is not something we choose, Stefan. Obviously, I didn't choose to love you and your brother. So don't you dare call me confused." you shout as you angrily walk into the cabin. Stefan is right behind you, trying to hold you back. You slam the cabin door in his face. He follows you into the cabin and you regret the day you let him into it.

"You didn't let me finish talking, but between you and me, it's at least strange that you're in love with me and him. You said yourself that you would never do that." Stefan says while holding your arm, trying to turn you towards him. But you take the wooden stake and it almost sticks in his chest.

"You compared me to the doppelgangers, and then what do you want me to do, suck you under a tree to celebrate the fact that you think I like all this?" You speak furiously but Stefan doesn't take you seriously. He smiles maybe because you mentioned a blowjob or maybe because he likes to irritate you.

"I love it when you get angry and say something dirty like it's nothing. It's just that you don't know what it's like to know that you'll hardly be loved by a woman without her loving your brother." Stefan says, his tone revealing a mix of frustration and vulnerability.

"I love you. Even though it would be easier not to. It would be easier to love your brother and stick to the agreement you and I made to sleep together without getting attached. I'll love you even while loving your brother. Because you're worth the risk. I'm sorry if this isn't ideal for you." You finish speaking with such intensity that you don't feel the tears streaming down your face, but you know you're crying.

"You didn't understand. As bad as it might be, even in hell, your love would be one of the best things that ever happened to me." Stefan says, wiping away your tears. You look at him with such sincerity that you get lost in Stefan's gaze. You then lean in to kiss him. You want him, and even though it's wrong, you want to keep making this mistake.

You wake up again in Stefan's car, in the passenger seat. You're on a dark road that seems to be in the middle of nowhere. You slowly lift your head, feeling a pain coursing through your entire body. Stefan looks apprehensive, even though he's focused on the road. You finally turn fully towards him to let him know that you've regained consciousness.

"You blacked out for an hour, which is quite impressive for a vampire. You also mumbled things, as if dreaming about me, and seemed really upset, so I thought it best to let you rest." Stefan says, glancing sideways at you. His gaze carries a mix of concern and relief as he continues driving along the dark road.

"These visions, when mixed with a bite that's slowly killing me, can be incredibly intense. I almost feel like I'm human again." You say, adjusting yourself in the car seat, while a strange taste lingers in your mouth, as if someone fed you blood while you were unconscious.

"They must have been really intense; you were thrashing against the car seat. I told you it was better for you to stay home." Stefan says, sounding concerned. You find it a bit overprotective but romantic. He keeps driving, maintaining a watchful gaze on the dark road ahead, the worry lingering in his eyes.

"And who will protect you while you play the hero? If I'm going to die, let it be helping what might have been the great loves of my life." You add, the weight of the situation evident in your words. Stefan's expression softens, realizing the gravity of your sacrifice.

The car comes to a sudden stop, startling you. Stefan, who was following the car in front of you, seems to brace for the worst. You realize the warehouse in front of you must be the place where Damon is. Stefan prepares to get out of the car, while you struggle unsuccessfully to exit.

"Stefan, the door is locked. I hope you're not planning on leaving me here." You almost shout, using all the strength you have to try and exit the car with your vampire abilities. Whether it's weakness from the bite or not fully recovering from your fall, you seem unable to get out.

Stefan looks at you, murmuring a "sorry" as if it could make a difference. The humiliation fuels your anger, giving you the willpower to make another attempt at escaping the car. This guy Tyler seems to be helping Stefan with this situation. But something in you says you need to go there. Maybe it's death warning you that you need to go to the Salvatore brothers. You concentrate enough to kick Stefan's car door away. You feel like your strength is fading but you resist. Damon and Stefan need you, that's what your conscience says.

When you enter the warehouse Stefan is holding a werewolf by the neck and breaking its neck. Tyler is beating up two other werewolves, while Damon...

Damon is bleeding, trapped in what appears to be two bear traps, he has blood marks all over his body. His expression is one of pain, you feel like your heart would break just looking at him. One werewolf continues to torture him, using a wooden weapon and piercing Damon. You don't see anything in front of you, you just kill what appears in front of you. When you finally get to Damon, stick the gun that the werewolf was using it to hurt Damon and shoves it down the werewolf's throat. Damon looks at you with passion, and for the first time since you rediscovered him after losing your memory, you feel that Damon truly loves you.

"You kept your promise..." Damon murmurs, almost breathless. You release him from the trap, and he roars in pain. Offering your shoulder for support, you help him lean on you.

"What promise?" Is all you manage to say before seeing an arrow pierce Damon's abdomen.A werewolf shot that arrow to hit you but Damon got in front. He fell to the ground as blood came out of his mouth. You fear that Damon will die, you don't want to lose his love. When you kneel on the floor and see Damon agonizing in pain, you feel like your world is rocked. You knock the arrow out of Damon and shout to Stefan, who can give Damon his blood to drink. You look at Damon, who seems to be recovering from the arrow. You got the feeling as if a weight is leaving your shoulder. And then in the midst of it all you feel something warm come out of your nose when you touch it; see blood. And then you loses consciousness.

"Marry me?" Damon suggests, as you stand there waiting for him to explain why he's standing in front of your cabin in the middle of the night.

"You just came from a date with your girlfriend, and now you want to marry your second option?" You say, still recovering from your interrupted sleep.

"I was with my EX-girlfriend at a ball that I committed to attend long before breaking up with her, but that's not the point. I can't get you out of my head and my heart. So, marry me." Damon says, his voice holding a mix of sincerity and urgency as he awaits your response.

"Marriage for what reason? You're not even a human, for God's sake." You say, finding it hard to believe that this is happening now.

"Because you're human, and I want that commitment with you. I'll repeat, marry me?" Damon insists, his gaze fixed on you with a sense of determination.

"I do, Damon. If you want me to say I accept you in sickness and in health, even though you won't get sick. I promise to be by your side in richness and in poorness, but as you're a vampire, you must be rich. And all of this until death do us part. But death has already parted us, so..." Before you can finish, he interrupts you with a kiss.

"Do you promise to sacrifice your life if I need help?" Damon adds, as if he's truly conducting a wedding ceremony.

"I promise. Do you promise to protect me from anything that tries to harm me?" You say, looking at him, totally enchanted.

"I promise. I guess we're husband and wife now. You're a Salvatore and I am your husband." Damon says, kissing you intensely and entering the cabin with you.

[missmaywemeetagain]

you mentioned you love june and i'm curious how you feel about the other women in elvis' life? do you like priscilla and the relationship she had with him? and anita? linda? sheila? ginger?

Hello, dearest Nonnie! What a question! I think it's safe to give a huge disclaimer here that I am jealous of any woman who was loved by Elvis (lol), but for some reason, inexplicable or not, I find some of them delightful while others just rub me the wrong way. I will also say I can only imagine how insanely complicated, wonderful, and frustrating a relationship with that man could be and that all these women probably just did their best in the moment. My personal opinion is just that and is mainly based on my own ✨vibes.✨

And yes, it's no secret June is my favorite! I love her tenacity and spunk, how she didn't take a lot of shit, and while it breaks my heart, I respect the hell outta her for sticking to her values and letting him go when Elvis was being a dick and ignored her for months. Her book is beautifully written and such a great glimpse into a pivotal time in his life.

I also really like Kathy Westmoreland. I think spiritually and musically they connected on a wonderful level, and even though their affair didn't last super long, she was in his life longer than most women as a friend/colleague, and there is something telling and lovely about that. She was loyal to him until the very end and long after.

Shelia seems lovely and gave us some of the juiciest tidbits about him, and I'll always love her for that! 🤭 Their relationship was interesting, especially concerning how he seemed to play her against Linda and she didn't really give a care. I get the impression she just went with the flow, they enjoyed each other's company, and she knew it wasn't going to be long term. I like her.

Now the others...now keep in mind this is just my personal opinion, and I know others feel differently and that is totally fine! I'm not looking to war with anyone LOL.

Linda drives me bonkers as a person. Maybe it's the whole "beauty queen" mentality or her attitude on social media, but the woman is just not for me. Reading her book did give me more insight, and I really do think she and Elvis loved each other and that she was there for him during some really difficult times. But I just don't like her and hate how she seems to capitalize on her relationship with him to this day in a very "me me me!" manner. She's my least fave of them all.

In a similar matter, I find his relationship with Priscilla very complicated and her relationship to his legacy even more so. I don't fall staunchly into either the "hate" or "love" camps for her, but do take everything she says or does related to him with a grain of salt because she seems to drift back and forth in her stories in a way that suits her in the moment. I don't love how she constantly seems to ride the coattails of his legacy. I hate that she was so young when they met and how he seemed to be okay with that (but that's another discussion entirely), and I think her youth plays a huge role in why the relationship played out the way it did. While I think they had love for each other, I feel like that love was based on idealized images of the other and what they wanted them to be vs. who they really were. I'm sure I could wax on and on about them but I'm not going to do that here. I don't love her, and I don't hate her totally, either. But I one hundred percent don't buy the weird Camelot-esque picture Graceland, EPE, and she tries to sell about their relationship a lot of the time.

Now Ginger...poor Ginger gets a bad rap and don't think she deserves it in the least. There is no scenario in my mind where I think she could've "saved" him and I don't feel she was negligent or conspiratorial in any way. However, I do think she was young and in way over her head. She wanted to maintain some semblance of her normal life and Elvis was just not having that, and it caused some major dissonance. He was very much not in a good space and she got swept up in the madness. The stuff with her parents and the money is a bit suspicious, but I don't necessarily think that was on Ginger. I think she loved him (though maybe not quite the way he loved her?) and I absolutely feel devastated for her that she was the one who found him. Talk about traumatic. I also respect the hell out of her for waiting until her children were grown to write her book and that she is a defender of him and Lisa to this day.

I don't know a ton about Anita (I haven't read her book yet), but the vibe of them together just feels weird to me. I feel like he really led her on and get the impression he had a sort of idealized version of this "pretty little Southern Belle wife" that his mama approved of and then mama died and he went into the army and he clung to that image like crazy. Not to say they didn't love each other! But the chemistry doesn't quite hit for me and I think it got pretty toxic. (And I've listened to that recorded call between them too many times and her voice annoys me LOL.) But she put up with a LOT of shit (I mean they all did, tbh...). I'm a bit amazed she stuck it out as long as she did.

Of course, there are so many other women who were in his life and it would be a novel to talk about them all! One thing I always try to remind myself is all of them seemed to really love him and he cared about them, too, and no one can take that away from them. So even if I don't personally like some of them, they were still a fixture in his life and it matters. My opinion, in the scheme of things, means nothing! I also don't love ragging on women, especially when at the end of the day, I know nothing about what truly went on between those two people in their relationship. And god knows that man could be difficult, so I try not to fault any of them for his sometimes very shitty behavior.

Anyway, thank you for the question, Non, and I hope my answer wasn't too rambly! 💋 I do miss doing these asks!

[alaydabug2]

Ok ok ok

Many people I've seen don't like Keefe because he's "taking all the spotlight" and "this is Sophie's story not his"

Let me have one chance to change your mind

One

And this is purely based off theories ive got and the story itself

If you don't like Keefe just cause you don't like him (while that is a perfectly valid opinion you're allowed to have) that is not the argument against this

It's just based on the actual plots of the book (if you have points against this I'd love to hear them I'm always up for some friendly debate)

Ok time to begin

I'm am about 90% sure that Keefe's plot line is intertwined with Sophie's

Ok so

To begin let's start with Sophie

I'm pretty sure the end goal for Sophie's story is to (out of many things) bring humans back as an intelligent species (keep that in mind its very important)

Sophie was raised with them for a reason and she can see the worth in them that not many elves do (including out of her own friends)

I also believe that Amy being able to keep her memory was no coincidence on Shannon's part

I think that Amy will be one of the first humans to integrate back to the Lost Cities as maybe even a spokesperson

The islands lady Giselle stole for the trolls also plays into this

Stuff like that happening in the human world is going to shake the balance of everything

Humans will get suspicious when things like that keep happening

Sophie also sees the value in humans and believes they don't deserve to have been shunned away and wants to make it right

Well why were the humans shunned away?

That's where Keefe's story plays into this (hang in there its about to get messy but stick with me)

They we're shunned away for "trying to uprise against the elves" and not sign the treaties

But they only did that because it's revealed that Vespera was experimenting and kidnapping their people

Vespera was experimenting for as she said "finding out how they can be so ruthless"

Cause elves and humans aren't all that different really

Mainly just the special abilities and skills

Vespera is also connected to stellarlune

And Giselle said that stellarlune is supposed to "bring out someone's potential"

Well what if the humans potential is to be like the elves

What if Elysian was a human that was experimented on by Vespera and the ancient council then locked her away because she was too powerful

Vespera in turn was locked up to hide the evidence from it and nearly all record of it was destroyed

But if that's what stellarlune did to a human what's that have to do with Keefe?

Hang in there

Vespera said her and lady Giselle's philosophies were exact opposites

Giselle said they were similar than she thought

Well I doubt Giselle would use stellarlune to make Keefe human

BUT

What she could do is give him those freaky abilities like Elysian to MAKE elves like humans

Think of what Elysian did at the end of stellarlune

She turned off everyone's abilities

Well in unlocked while in Keefe's pov

While having a breakdown in his inner monologue because he was scared he could just STOP people from manifesting or even take away abilities(I can get pages later if anyone is curious)

Here's where Sophie comes back in

I think Sophie was created to correct all of that

Even though the black swan didn't know how big exactly what they were dealing with back when they created her

She was still created to fix those issues all of that caused

So YES they were supposed to be nemesises

Without Keefe's end of the story and all of that stuff he's wrapped up in Sophie wouldn't exist

Yes this is Sophie's story

Without a doubt

But HER story wouldn't exist without all the stuff HE was wrapped up in

And that's why I love this story

It's extremely complex and has many sides to the same story to create one big intertwining plot with lots of branches and reasonings

Thann you for your time

[sneverussape]

bringing back a not-so-new take on why snape was in the DE:

because he wanted to be, marauders be damned.

yes, the main reason for him being pushed towards the DE due to Circumstances, i.e. marauders bullying him, is a vary valid take. but also, i'm getting really bored of it so here's an additional take:

he would probably still have been in the DE even without the marauders bullying him. why? personality-wise, severus was very ambitious and was never going to be content to stay where he was. he also lacked the social status to be among the Haves, so he would have naturally gravitated towards a group that could have promised a chance for him to rise above his station, with their connections to the upper echelons of society and everything that entailed.

now i say could have because i'm never too sure how the DEs were officially formed in the first place. we don't know what tom told a bunch of uppity purebloods (and halfbloods, for that matter, but he's one himself so i would guess he'd know exactly what would make them tick) in order to get them to back his cause. my working theory is he capitalized on their fear of muggles and the fact that they know so little about them (unlike him, who actually spent time with them) and twisted it into a goal of keeping them (the purebloods, and anyone who associated with them) 'safe'. this isn't too hard to imagine because this kind of thing happens so much in the real world, where people are radicalized by anyone who feeds on their hidden fears. this is also why i don't automatically write off DEs as 'bad' and the Order as 'good'. the logic works for a children's book, where everything is boiled down to simple polarized concepts. but it's so so so boring to me because people are complex. people are affected by their past and present situations, their goals for the future, their friends and families, and so the decision of joining a cult should always beg the question why and what could have been done to stop it, and how the situation could have been different.

in snape's case, i maintain that due to his upbringing (poor halfblood in less-than-ideal family situations), House (slytherin, which houses many landed and traditionalist students, like the blacks and the malfoys), and personality (curious, hungry for knowledge, ambitious, tests limits), he still would have been a DE even without the marauders' unwanted attentions, especially since tom was heavily recruiting at the time. hell, lily probably would have joined too if she had been in slytherin and given her similarities with snape and his upbringing.

would snape have been in the DE had he been in a different House? maybe not, but who's to say lucius malfoy wouldn't have singled him out even then, an intelligent loner, especially with him as prefect then eventually Head Boy? would he have been in the Order instead if he had been in, say, gryffindor? i honestly think he'd have had an even tougher time in gryffindor with the 4 around since james had already disliked him prior to sorting. if snape had been a wealthy muggleborn with a strong support system maybe he'd have stood a chance to say no to all of these offers, but who knows really.

as himself, as he was, severus would have been attracted to the DE or any similar groups with cultish personalities - like the Order, one way or another, depending on who was a stronger influence during his formative years.

[markantonys]

I am so curious how RandAvi relationship is gonna develop in the show and what their dynamic will be like. I imagine it to be at least a bit different considering they're both in different places at the end of season 2 (both literally and potentially emotionally).

yeah i can't wait to see what the vibes are like!!!!! finally getting to see avirand (& finally getting a true sense of the show's polycule adaptational direction in general) is my third most anticipated thing for season 3 (first most anticipated is gawyn and second most anticipated is cauthor cpr djkfgjh)

there are a couple significant book avirand elements that i'm skeptical will make the show: 1) rand is already involved with elayne and aviendha feels guilty about liking her friend's man, 2) aviendha saw in the silver rings that she is fated to love rand. but i believe the overall vibes of the relationship could still be preserved without those!

as i was talking about the other day, i think #1 is almost certainly out seeing as timeline-wise it just doesn't work to make randlayne happen before avirand in the show. and i will be thrilled to see this element removed! i adore avirand both as a ship and as individuals, but this element was Not a good look for them (rand & elayne's official relationship status is neither here nor there - the fact that avi KNOWS elayne has current feelings for rand and will be hurt by avi sleeping with him is the issue (which avi herself rightfully acknowledges & feels incredibly guilty about & works to make amends with elayne), and as for rand, i suppose elayne's plot device conflicting letters give him plausible deniability, but, well, if you really have to get into the weeds of proving why something isn't TECHNICALLY cheating, then you're already on shaky ground haha). and ESPECIALLY in a poly situation i think it would be a very very good move for the show to stay away from anything like "rand hooks up with a new woman because he thinks of himself as single even though his previous woman still considers herself attached to him in some way, unbeknownst to him" because as we know, "it's just cheating" is the biggest negative stereotype against polyamory, so the show would do well to steer as clear from that as possible imo, and i have faith it will do so since i doubt it will share RJ's strange insistence on getting rand into a polycule without him having any idea he's getting into a polycule until the last possible second lmao and will instead let rand participate in the poly negotiations directly. with luck, we will avoid most instances of Forced Miscommunication where WOT romances are concerned! (but believable miscommunication would be a-okay with me.)

so let's say all of the elayne-related conflicts for avirand are out. what might replace them? the obvious thing is that aviendha instead feels conflicted for egwene's sake, since she's aviendha's friend as well and also has involvement with rand. this would be a very similar vibe as the elayne-related conflicts, but would work better and not stray so much into questionable territory because egwene's relationship with rand is fully in the past and both parties are in agreement on that, and because egwene is there with avirand in person and can give them her blessing right off the bat.

so that's one possibility. but at the end of the day, the core of avirand is simply "they clash at first and resist their feelings for each other, but eventually give in" and there's any number of things baked into the story that could accomplish this same vibe - it doesn't strictly need to be related to aviendha feeling conflict over rand's relationships with others. some other possibilities include but are not limited to: culture clashes, personality clashes, rand is resistant to get close to a new person romantically after lanfear (for his own sake bc it gave him trust issues and/or for the other person's sake bc he's afraid it'd make lanfear target them), aviendha's going through a major unwanted life change in her transition from maiden to wise one and has gotten the other life change of falling in love tangled up with that in her mind, aviendha has complicated feelings towards the car'a'carn and/or resents rand for being the prophesied destroyer of her people's way of life, etc etc etc.

there's a TON of juicy stuff to choose from, so i would imagine we do still get some degree of an enemies-to-lovers, push-and-pull tension between show!avirand! it's a really fun vibe, and the show can easily capture it, even if it needs to change some of the specifics (and that would be in keeping with the show's general approach of "different details, same vibe"). however, there's always a chance they might go for a different vibe! one thing i found noteworthy is that aviendha seemed much more easygoing and lighthearted in s2 than she is in TSR-TFOH, so maybe the vibes of the relationship will be adjusted accordingly. on the other hand, in s2 we see aviendha as a maiden, we see her at peak self-confidence and we see her interacting largely with someone she's decided she likes (perrin), so naturally she's in a good mood! in s3 when she learns she has to become a wise one, her self-confidence will be shaken and she'll be feeling pretty adrift and unhappy, and on top of that if she and rand get off on the wrong foot and she decides she doesn't like him, then we might see Grumpy Aviendha emerge more strongly, which would bring us back to our book vibes of avirand bickering and needling each other. (which would be really fun to see in the show bc it's such a different vibe than the High School Sweethearts & FWB-To-Lovers we've seen with rand's show romances so far. and the show's emphasized how rand has a soft gooey core but can get very stubborn and lash out when pushed, so i think he would vibe really well in an Irritants-To-Lovers arc!)

okay finally making my way back to potentially-cut-element #2, the silver rings. the only real reason that's needed in the books is so that RJ could force aviendha to Give In and sleep with someone she considers her friend's boyfriend. but if her obstacles towards giving into her feelings for rand are more just "he's annoying" than "it would majorly violate my personal code of honor", then she doesn't need to be given a Huge Inevitable Reason about why she must sleep with him, and thus there's no real reason to include Fated Romance angle imo (especially since avirand has a ton going on even without it, and we already will have 2 Fated Romances in rand/min & mat/tuon where the Fated Romance portion is actually a key element - so for avirand where it is not a key element, the show may as well cut it out so as not to overdo Fated Romances since we know how much RJ loved that trope). not to say that aviendha won't still go to rhuidean or that the silver rings would be cut, of course! just that the specific element of her learning she's fated to love rand may not feature (or it may! there's also no huge reason why it SHOULD be cut, besides just cutting down on the number of Fated Romances IF they even decide they want to cut down on that. maybe they won't want to!)

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Wait, now I'm curious about Elizabeth and Hermione. How are they different people?

Reference to this post.

The short answer, read the book.

The slightly longer but still short answer in ways that I as the nitpicky author say "it's totally significant". (A note, also, this is Hermione of the fic versus Hermione of canon who is herself a different beast).

Elizabeth's much more competitive than Hermione of the fic. Hermione of the fic is competitive, she wants to be the best, but she doesn't have the same unholy drive that Elizabeth has where she will crush all opponents in her path. Lily seems to be better than her? ALL COMPETITION MUST DIE! Where Hermione, somewhat, relents on bothering to ask Lily how she does what she does beyond nit picky "you're doing it wrong" lectures, Elizabeth never lets go and it's less of a "you're doing it wrong" and more resentment that Lily doesn't play by the rules Elizabeth knows so well and is amazing at.

We also see this come into play briefly at the party. Elizabeth immediately goes to greet Lily and then beelines off to remind people who hate her that she's here and is better than them in every possible way. She's extremely assertive in a way that Hermione of the fic just isn't quite (Hermione of the fic appreciated being appreciated, and being the smartest, but even she isn't rubbing her essays in Draco's face saying, "Look what grade I got. Look, Draco, look at my deeeeeeeeliiiiiiicioooooooous perfect score. Look at it, yes, cry, Draco, cry".

It's also there in the relationship to Theyn as well as Lily in regards to Theyn. Elizabeth makes it very clear that Lily's second fiddle to Elizabeth when it comes to Theyn. Lily's... neat and all (but mostly an idiot in Elizabeth's eyes) but Elizabeth's the one who has been friends with Theyn longer, is a real mage, and was invited on this quest thing. Elizabeth's also very possessive in general of her friendship with Theyn as well as her firm position as being more talented than him (though she's respectful of him being royalty). Lily, on the other hand, due to being more talented/a threat is um not "Your Highness". Hermione of the fic, while she doesn't get Lily and she's frustrated by her, doesn't do this same power move with her other acquaintances.

Elizabeth's also... I don't know if more stubborn but more something. She genuinely would have read those tomes down there in the pit until she died had Lily not insisted, multiple times, that they can get out. (And even then Lily kind of had to just do it because Elizabeth wasn't buying it). Hermione of the fic is stubborn but a little less strong-willed/not that ridiculous in "death or surrender? I CHOOSE DEATH!"

She's also very concerned about image, which is part of the competitiveness. Elizabeth goes out of her way to look perfect, be perfect, and make sure that everyone knows it. There's not a hair out of place, her clothes are pressed, and she is every student body president who has ever lived on steroids who is also Valedictorian. Hermione, while she prided herself on being the smartest, prided herself on not being the most put together/well made-up girl and hyper focused on being an intellectual. Elizabeth is the intellectual and everything else too, she wins at everything, you worm.

There's also things about Elizabeth's background that are very different from Hermione's that informed some of the above differences. Elizabeth, for various reasons, doesn't have a home to go back to and did not have a good home life when she was on Earth. She also doesn't see the academy as the end all be all but her path to the top of the military/society, where Hermione had no real goals beyond going to Hogwarts at a young age and doing well in her classes.

She's also not quite as authority respecting as Hermione. She has a great appreciation for them/listens to them but it's not quite Hermione's need to please teachers as it is the need to be proven right in every moment of every day.

She plays a similar role to Hermione of the original fic but there were a number of things about her that changed in the transition both to suit the story better and make her her own character.

[cloysauce]

The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho

it's not every day your favorite fantasy author writes a novel inspired by your favorite drama.

i've been a fan of @zenaldehyde for 8 years now, so to see her venturing into a romance birthed by crash landing on you itself signals an immediate purchase for me.

[official book website]

going into the novel, it's easy to see why the main characters could pass as au versions of seri and jeong-hyeok, so much that the similarities can be too on the nose. renee goh owns a successful fashion company and in the line of succession of a powerful conglomerate family (from whom she is also estranged), add to that two toxic brothers and a string of exes. yap ket siong is a gifted (tall, broad, gentle, handsome) pianist who is close to his brother. there was a point where i worried too much about parallels but eventually as the world building progresses, the characters would stand on their own merits and unique backstories, and diverge from the cookie dough from whence they have come from.

i imagine it like the author trying to fill in a coloring book, instead of say writing from scratch. but she doesn't necessarily use yellow for the sun or green for the trees or blue for sky. she colors in the scenery in her own way, and in the manner she sees the world and in this case, an intermingling of malaysian, singaporean, and british cultures. this has always been one of her trademarks in her books. she takes something to a different spin like say how she puts Malaysian witches in magical English polite society in Sorcerer to the Crown.

admittedly, i'm very biased for Zen's writing, i love it, it's fun, it's springy, it's colorful. while there's no actual abracadabra magic in this book, she's weaving her spells just the same, in creating sparks between characters. you can trust her to create characters with depth and purpose, like this isn't just about one relationship, but also adult friendships, families, female camaraderie, and many of these rooted to a distinct heritage that me as a southeast asian girl can relate with.

the story is also framed according to real-life events with a touch of fantasy (coz rich people) but the tone and plot perfectly balances between the grim and light (as characteristic of the romance genre). i think it's a balance that's hard to pull off and to justify, but Zen is no stranger to combining two different worlds and making it gel nicely and firmly.

the novel shines its brightest when everything comes together and you chew right into the sweet center. but perhaps as all sweet centers go, it runs out quickly. i'd have wanted to relish it longer.

i've seen some of the mixed reviews and i feel there's something being lost in translation (and possibly marketing?) the book is inspired by the themes, feels, and plot structure of a kdrama, and many of the readers aren't exactly familiar of the genre still. instead they compare it to the first thing people think about when it comes to asians and rich people (yeah that book) which is a rather myopic view imho. that KK book was written with a tabloid sensibility in mind. The Friend Zone Experiment offers so much more to the table (though the title could do much better to communicate that).

but as a kdrama viewer, and a Zen Cho reader, i can say it's a treat for me. will i read it if i were not a kdrama viewer? i'm not sure. but i'm gonna lift a page straight out of cloy and say it's fate that i got to know about this book just when i'm also kneedeep into kdramas.

who will enjoy this? people who liked cloy, people curious about southeast asian affairs and living in diasporic situations, people who love strong women and green flag men, people who want well-written asian characters, people who love a good plot in their romances, and yes, people who love kdramas!

owing to their superior storytelling techniques, kdrama interest is growing and i've been seeing more blogs and readers looking for books with the literary equivalent of watching a kdrama episode. i can recommend this one, especially for the holidays. it's the best time to slurp up a book and feel warm and fuzzy inside.

[cipheramnesia]

hey I'm curious about the switch to Pathfinder! could you go into how your group decided to change & what the process of switching over is like?

(I've started running 5e for my friends last year and the idea intrigues me. I'd love to hear your thoughts)

Just a quick summary up top because I've been thinking about this post awhile: Pathfinder 2e has the most readily available free system content and the Pathbuilder 2e app helped all our players with an easy creation process.

In what probably comes as no shock, the Wizards of the Coast open gaming license controversy was the prompt to change. We have a game that's been recording with the goal of being a podcast, and after we all talked it out we decided we couldn't stay with D&D for that specific game.

The choice to go with Pathfinder was ultimately convenience and availability. Because the majority of the resources for Pathfinder are free online with the blessing of the company owning the system, it meant everyone could access the basics. The similarities also made it easier to transition over for most of us, and our DM had the books already available. The majority of the group also wanted to do more with the characters which meant the move had to be something where we could preserve them as best as possible.

I think what really cemented it for the whole group were two apps:

Second Edition Character Sheet - This is a simplified Pathfinder 2e character sheet that does not have many features or all the options in the game, but gives a great feel for how the creation system works. Most descriptions of it I find labyrinthine or counterintuitive, and this app made it much easier to see how various skills and stats are assigned in the game.

Pathbuilder 2e - I think everyone is using this app now because it has basically every single option in Pathfinder 2e you can consider for a character, and a very easy to use system for editing and tweaking your concepts, or just playing around to see how the system works. My nonbinary wife who generally hates mechanics and stats jumped right in and made a super good character almost immediately, so it's very new user friendly too. We do end up needing to use the Pathfinder website in conjunction for a lot of the process, but realistically it's no different than being new to 5e and using DnD Beyond, other than that it's not trying to get you to shell out extra money all the time.

So far all we've done is the character creation process, although as I understand it the main difference in game play is critical roles are more common in 2e. However, as creation goes, Pathfinder is very difficult to create outside the box compared to 5e. For example, in 5e I was able to make my orcish sprite as a Ranger with negative strength and intelligence but thanks to high dexterity and some judicious use of spells allow her to be the party tank with the capacity to immediately charge into danger further and faster than anyone else.

This is more or less impossible in 2e until higher levels, which I don't like because I need my character to be both ignorant and irresponsible because I think that's hilarious. Fortunately I was able to more or less jury rig something, but in general I find the creation process a bit less diverse - despite the fact that 2e has a huge number of background and class options compared to 5e.

Additionally, while 2e has a reputation as having more rules, many of the specific features have not been as well defined as 5e. This means you'll need to somewhat define functionality between yourself and your DM in some situations.

Something everyone noticed during creation, even our DM, was that 2e offers a great deal more options for building a campaign around intrigue, politics, crime, science fiction, or basically any other number of options that aren't combat focused. I think our campaign may end up more city oriented just to take advantage of those options, and because some of us love that style of story.

Overall, I think I like Pathfinder just a bit more for the point distribution and character design. If you're planning to start fresh, it's a very exciting system, either if you want a stand up knock down slugfest or if you want to play a scheming vizier plotting the king's downfall. However, the base characters lack some variety and if you plan to move a 5e character over expect some tradeoffs or potentially for it to be flat out impossible.

[anhttydbookfan]

Just found your Rest Stop AU and I’m OBSESSED

I’m so curious tho of what movie hiccup thinks of book hiccup when he gets to know him better. Also, what sorts of things do the dreamworld dragons crew do with book hiccup once he’s more settled in?

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Movie Hiccup and Book Hiccup are dragon-nerd buddies (Along with Fishlegs Ingerman)! Book Hiccup gets to infodump all about the kinds of dragons "back home" (and possibly also start working on the (in)complete book of Dragons) and Movie Hiccup gets to show him all the cool dragons they've got on and around Berk.

I feel like Book Hiccup would get a little bit starry-eyed at how great Movie Hiccup is at making things, and maybe he'd try apprenticing under him and Gobber for a day, to... rather disastrous results. Unfortunately, the skills involved in breaking and undoing dragon-traps do not translate to creating things of similar complexity. Thankfully nothing irreplaceable got destroyed, and all the fires got put out incredibly quickly, but "Rider the Red's" apprenticeship would not continue to the following day.

DreamWorks Hiccup, meanwhile, is just really fond of this kid and the way he cares so much about everyone from his dragon friends to people he's only just met to the dragons he hadn't met but who are trapped inside these new extra-vicious dragon traps.

They bond about being the sons of Fierce Viking Chiefs (Rider the Red calls his father Boundless the Hairy). He listens to the sparing amount of stories he tells about his home and the far more frequent Concerning Tidbits Rider lets slip when he's talking about the dragons he's used to. He notices that every time he talks about finding his way back, he always says "I have to" and never "I want to", unless it's in the context of seeing his two human friends again.

Well, one human friend.

("She probably wants to see me again too. I hope she wants to see me again. I know she didn't mean it, she was just shocked to see..." he absently started moving his hand to touch his Slavemark, but stopped as soon as he realized. Hopefully before Other-Hiccup noticed where his hand was going. "Well, she was just shocked. And I don't blame her! I'd be shocked too. And a little betrayed, to be honest. Like she didn't trust me not to turn my back on her if I knew. Sure, I didn't tell Fishlegs — my Fishlegs — either, but they're different people from different circumstances. And anyway, it was more of a half-turn really.")

(DW Hiccup noted that he never once said what this big friendship-destroying secret was, or what the "it" was that this Camicazi girl didn't mean.)

All this to say, Dreamworks Hiccup isn't particularly keen on finding a way to send Rider the Red back to whatever archipelago he came from.

Then, he gets kidnapped by Thuggory the Meathead, and suddenly things make a lot less sense.

At least now he knows why Rider always looks like he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.