#yes the colour scheme is deliberate

[eimearkuopio]

Angelica, thank God!

Someone who understands what I'm

Struggling here to do!

I'm not here for you. (ooh!)

[pinkestmenace]

i cant believe i forgot to ask this but does ur gala change eye color depending on mood? seeing how he sometimes has redder eyes... 😳😳

Good catch! (b ᵔ▽ᵔ)ﻭ Yes, I do change his eyes based on his emotions. Or rather, I add colours to his default magenta.

Generally speaking:

+ Yellow = Happy/Excited

+ Blue = Sad/Scared

+ Bright pink = Curious/Emotional/Hopeful

+ Red = Serious/Angry

+ Green = ??? but probably bad

Fading to grey = Hollow and lost

Eye shape:

Crescent eyes ◠ ◠ = Usually neutral to positive, or if he's being mean/scheming/petty he's at least only teasing.

Sickle eyes ◟◞ = Ohh, you goofed up! Run.

====================

Now, because I'm THAT kind of person (*ahem* obsessed with him), I actually have an entire reference note about the eye colours I've written him with. (You will notice several of them involve fruits. This is, uhh, semi-deliberate. I always end up following a theme somehow. Because he's a fruit basket. Nah. He just feels like a 'fruits' person to me.)

Magenta = Neutral

Black = Asleep or has given up

Apricot (++Y –R –B) = Happy

Salmon (+Y –B) = Excited

Peach (+Y) = Content/Nostalgic

Bright flaring/shimmering pink (+P –R –B) = Curious/Hopeful/Positively surprised. He briefly gets some childlike wonder back.

Raspberry (+R +B –Y) = Sceptical/Suspicious

Purple (++B) = Discouraged/Sad

Desaturated purple (+B –R –Y) = Scared

Plum purple (+R ++B –Y) = Weirded out

Ruby red (++R –Y) = Serious/Becoming angry

Crimson sickles (++R –B –Y) = Angry enough to inflict harm, lucid enough to do it on purpose. If he attacks it will be laser-focused 'Smite this guy/thing in particular.' violence.

Blazing red/scarlet (+R +Y –B) = Uncontrollable rage/blood knight. Manic. Is he grinning? Is he angry? Who knows, but you'd better run. 'Blow up the whole house with everyone in it.' type of violence.

Blazing green (???) = Uh-oh. Something went terribly wrong. And it's about to become everyone's problem.

Anyway. The guy has big emotions. Too big for one person to contain forever.

ଘ(੭ ꈍ▽ꈍ)φ__(♬♩~Completely innocent things~♪♫)__

[arcanemadman]

The Castlevania franchise feels like it's getting more and more divided since Netflixvania started and it's getting really bloody frustrating to the point that while watching Nocturne I've felt disquieted, and I think I've realised why that is.

It's the fucking DmC:Devil May Cry white hair fiasco all over again.

For those that don't know, when the DmC reboot was revealed people had a lot of criticism, including turning Dante from a cool but likeable hero into a foul mouthed smoker, the dumbing down of the gameplay, the antagonism towards the fanbase, and turning his iconic white hair black. Of all these criticism, only the hair colour change was given any attention, painting the fan base in a very negative light and side stepping the real issues people had by only focusing on the cherry rather than the whole sundae.

All this attention directed towards something that in the grand scheme of things is very minor but it gets all the attention while the bigger stuff is ignore.

Yes, there are people mad about the show for racist reasons and they shouldn't be listened to, but there are genuine complaints that are being swept up with that.

The character changes have a sort of domino effect on everything. Maria being a serious revolutionary is interesting, but I saw someone put it best that what made her special was the fact that she was a little girl in a world of classic horror that believed she was in a fairy tale and had the power to force that reality on everyone else. Netflix Maria is good, but lacks the charm of Maria.

The second example is Juste. When I saw him I was very excited, but that was mainly because it was acknowledgement of the original canon than anything else. His magical prowess, the thing that makes him stand out among the Belmont linage, is mentioned and then brushed aside, and the worst ending of his game is what is taken as canon. And once Richter gets his magic back, Juste is gone. He feels like a plot point rather than the character. I sympathise with people who's favourite game was Harmony of Dissonance.

Annette was a compelling character with a well developed story, but anyone that says her original characterisation would never work are being disingenuous because they literally did that, except that did so with Tera. The connections to Richter and Maria, the damsel elements, the fact she gets turned into a vampire, all from Annette. Swapping them around wouldn't work for multiple reasons and I'm not going to say I can do better than people you get paid to write when I don't, but I feel I can say that if they had wanted to they could have done something closer to the original while still touching on the themes and narratives they wanted to.

Olrox... honestly the only criticism I can really think of is the removal of any reference to Count Orlock.

There's an elitism with both sides of the fanbase here. On the Netflix side, there's the feeling that since theirs is more popular that any criticism is because people are just nostalgic, and game fans feel that since theirs is the original foundation that anyone that doesn't agree with them is just a new fair-weather fan. And honestly, I'm more sympathetic to the game fans.

I've seen Netflixvania fans look at people complaining that the character have changed and go "yeah well the version you like sucks so you should just grow up" As if that's going to make everything better. And all the people complaining about the race changes or posting "WOKE?!?!?!" have poisoned the well for any actual discussion about this, not helped by the social media accounts deliberately stoking the flames in the mistaken belief that all publicity is good publicity, which raised the ire of nexflixvania creators. Unfortunately marketing can often be removed from the intentions of the creators.

Yes, Netflixvania is a great show, with beautiful animation and great storytelling, but it's not perfect and as an adaptation is leaves a lot to be desired. And that's the crux of it! The show is good, really good! But it doesn't feel like an adaptation of Castlevania. It's just a bunch of little details that pile up to make it less of what the game fans liked about the series. It's more grimdark horror than classic horror. It's more crude than it is philosophical. It's more hopeless than it is hopeful. And regardless of what you individually think, that's what people have liked about Castlevania for almost 40 years.

Ultimately I just have to ask, why do people seem to assume that you can't make a faithful adaptation while also making it interesting? They're not mutually exclusive.

[crusherthedoctor]

Eggman's design in Stellar

As you may know by now, Eggman looks a little different as described in Sonic Stellar. His design and anatomy are the same Modern Eggman we all know and love or pretend to love, in the case of those that deliberately misrepresent his character, but he's got a new outfit. Naturally I made sure to describe it in the fic proper, because it'd be weird if I didn't, but I wanted to go a little more in-depth here to give some insight on the thought process behind it. This won't take too long, since it's honestly not that complicated.

So what motivated this? Well, it was actually a late addition. Originally, as was the case in BtS, he was in his regular Modern attire, and even when I began to brainstorm it into existence, I hesitated on it for the longest time because I was concerned as to whether it'd be seen as leaving a piss mark on SEGA's design out of the arrogant belief that it needs to be improved... like what those in charge of certain adaptations tend to do with the characters and universe in general. However, after remembering that there is precedence for one-off shifts in the games proper - see Rouge in Heroes, or Sonic's soap shoes in SA2 - I considered it fair game.

That said, don't assume it's a change for the sake of change: there's a plot reason for it. Since Eggman is attempting to convince the locals of Viridonia (aside from Trudy) that he's a changed man, he switches his appearance to symbolize this... but since he can't help himself, he still has to stylize it so that it's as him as possible.

Now it's time to talk about the actual look. The basic gist is simple enough. Just a nice debonair suit, like this for example:

...but in the distinctive Rrrrrobotnik style, and with the waistcoat unbuttoned, because this man does not operate like most gentlemen. I tried to balance out the doctor's usual colour scheme for it, so you have black for the shirt and pants, red for the waistcoat, yellow for the golden lining within said waistcoat, and white for the shoes (with black tips, like Swanky here), as well as the gauntlets (see below). The Modern jacket may not be present, but I paid tribute to it in spirit.

Instead of having those goggles on his head that he only uses during leap years, I transferred anything they could do to his glasses, reminiscent of how they worked in '06. Yes, there was some '06 inspiration among all this. That's how you know the doctor is officially off his gourd by the time of Stellar.

Of course, the most striking aspect of his new attire are his aforementioned gauntlets, complete with a selection of nifty abilities that allow him to be even more hands-on than he already was... and some clawed tips, cause he felt like it. This was inspired by his control glove in the movies, as I figured that by this point in Game Eggman's career, after all that he's had to put up with, it was a logical next step for such an infamous control freak. Plus, I just think it's neat for him. :D Note that they're not cluttered compared to the rest of his design, they'd have a simplistic look despite some buttons and the like.

Why did I make them gauntlets, instead of just gloves like normal? I found an appeal in how they contrast with the rest of his otherwise low-key dress sense (for his standards). It felt like the sort of thing he would do, as an extra way of commanding your attention. And yes, I'm aware that some readers might assume he has actual robotic hands now, and declare it a brilliant SatAM JoJoke, but I hope repeated use of the word gauntlet should clarify that's not the case... >_>

Fun Fact: Originally, he was only going to have only one gauntlet, for a little bit of asymmetry. However, I realised that Starline already has a similar thing going on, and since I brought him into the story, it might be redundant. So Eggman has them for both hands. Think of it as his unspoken way of one-upping his #1 simp.

[shopcat]

oh yeah the way in atsv gwen's coming out was deliberately meant in every way to mirror in a 1:1 way coming out as lgbt (AND miles's as well to be honest) and maybe even specifically as trans and people decided to make it into this thing with trying to pretend they care about the Filmmakers Intention ONLY so far as "which colours are where on the screen that happen to form a trans flag" is so frustrating like 😭 this is a film where teams of people worked tirelessly FOR YEARS to make sure every detail fits their vision to the very utmost. art at its core is a vehicle and a delivery to meaning so even seemingly benign details are well thought out and worked back and forth on and can be incredibly deliberate. the filmmaker's intention is what's on the screen AND what we the audience are able to pick up and it is not anything to do with something going over anyone's head or not fitting what YOU as an individual did or did not pick up on either. art has meaning and intention and death of the author works to kill the artist in order to find a new, fresher or more transcendent intention and meaning this is literally the entire reason we have media and analysis of it .. !

that being said i don't think i actually saw ANYONE try and state that the colours in gwen's world matched up with the colour scheme of a pride flag as an intention by any of these teams of artists to say "yes she is 100% trans" in a deliberate way. the entire point TO ME at least is that it can easily translate into something people know intimately about and it can also just be meaningless colours in a random order of an emotionally charged scene. i do think it's also very juvenile to insist that something like this doesn't matter or that you actually care about an artist's integrity or something as if people are defending them against something actually bad as well. like being trans somehow betrays the story being told when the entire intention OF these movies is you are meant to be able to see yourself in them 😭.

i think gwen's story paralleling being trans is an incredibly meaningful and beautiful thing and i think that her world having colour and its societal lens superimposed onto it is NOT insignificant either!!! i think it's incredibly significant that the colours in these emotionally intense scenes were both the colour of her suit AND of the flag and i honestly don't give a fuck either way if it was DELIBERATE or not (mostly considering people are gunning for "not"). and i also think her having a protect trans kids flag is also obviously on purpose and is a set design detail that was meant to be picked up on for any number of reasons. end of the day it's incredibly fucking weird of people to insist a character cannot possibly be trans let alone intentionally meant to be and as much as i just said it like Doesn't matter as far as audience interpretation goes bc we're going to do it anyway it's also incredibly cruel and kind of culturally CONCERNING that people need to have their hands held through basic metaphors and stepping around things and the art of delicacy and graceful depictions of meaningful things Like this in order to accept them fully. like not everything literally has to be "canon" vs "not canon" to you goddamn dweebs as much as i think confirmed unarguable trans rep is vital that's just sometimes not the point man. sometimes the interpretation has more meaning 😭 "the curtains are just blue" has Dire consequences even today i am afraid ..

[rainintheevening]

For Broken Promises: 2, 4, 5, and 19

Broken Constellations, you mean? Lol.

*excited screeching*

From these asks.

2 - Summarize this au in 5 sentences

Palpatine gets defeated, and a broken and confused (but unburned) Anakin goes on the run, torn between darkness and light, and unable to face what he's done. Even as Obi-Wan works to rebuild the Jedi, and assist Padmé with the twins, he is desperate to find Anakin.

In his travels Anakin struggles to put himself back together, and finds help in surprising places, from both old friends and new family. 12 years after he fell, a surprise encounter with Obi-Wan and Luke, now Obi-Wan’s padawan, finally brings Anakin to the point of return.

It’s not all roses, and Anakin does face a trial of sorts, but I promise there's a happy ending.

(Yes, I'm cheating slightly, because that is the summary I wrote ages ago for this thing, and it's too much work to try for another one.)

4 - What is a major change you made?

Uh, well, this whole thing happens because I have Yoda and Obi-Wan switch places in RotS (confronting Anakin and Palpatine), and a lot of the resulting changes were just dominoes. (Padmé living and raising the twins, the surviving Jedi rebuilding the Order, Republic crashing and burning) Others were deliberate work, like arranging the Emperor's death, or having Mace Windu survive.

5 - What is something you kept the same?

Everything in the movies leading up to Yoda and Obi-Wan's conversation in the Temple still happened. After that... a lot changes. Let's see, Yoda survives, and lives to the same 900 years of age. That counts.

19 - Share a headcanon!

One headcanon?!

Uh, I love talking about Anakin’s star ships during the war. He painted his first one (a Delta-7) blue and white (the colours of his pod in the fateful race) and called it the Azure Angel, as a tribute to Padmé. When that one got destroyed, he called the new one Azure Angel II. After that one crashed he got a new colour scheme, black and yellow, and called it the Golden Light, a thinly-veiled reference to Obi-Wan and his call-sign 'Guiding Light'. His last ship of the war was the new Eta-2 Interceptor, and called the Golden Light II. That ship is destroyed in a crash on Tatooine. Anakin’s next ship is a custom job he builds entirely himself, and he names it Emerald Star.

I love talking about this story SO MUCH. Thanks for the questions!!!!!

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Tár (Field, 2022)

This review contains mild spoilers.

I think what hooked me right away was the look of the movie. I do not always do well with movies that can be described as aesthetically austere (at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I think modern arthouse cinema has a tendency of mistaking austerity for artfulness and is too often afraid of raising the audience's pulse), but I think there's a clear sense of purpose here behind the movie's visual strategy. The colour palette here can be described as pallid and glum, heavy on damp greys, a coldness creeping into the images. The interiors are orderly, defined by clean lines and sparse furnishings, like we've stepped into a morose IKEA commercial. If we get warmer colours, they're from the dimmed lights in hotel rooms or in dramatically structured concert hall, which don't always feel like friendly settings. There's a sense of deliberate curation here, not unlike the persona the protagonist has manufactured for herself or the precision with which she purportedly engages in her art, and the breaks from this aesthetic (the crumbling ghetto she ventures into in one scene, her neighbour's unkempt home, the spectral non sequiturs, the oaken tones of her childhood home, the tropical greens of the Philippines) perhaps find cracks in her psyche. Maybe this is pat visual metaphor, but I was engaged by the forcefulness of the execution.

I suppose social media and smartphones are still a new phenomenon in the grand scheme of things, but this movie bridges the gap between the personal and the digital more compellingly than I've seen elsewhere. Computer and cell phone screens are not inherently cinematic, and what I think this movie does wisely is tie a sense of perspective to them. We see the protagonist pore over and react to questionable emails to and from a figure in her past. We observe her through a smartphone camera, as texts are exchanged deriding her. The movie does not fully reveal the entire context around these communications. We do not get a definitive answer on the protagonist's role in that figure's fate, nor do we see who exactly the exchanges are between, although in both cases we can make educated guesses. But that ambiguity enhances a certain isolating quality inherent in the digital, the way that negative feelings tied to online activity exist partially in a void. And between the early scene where she chews out a student for not wanting to study Bach for half baked social justice reasons and her eventual cancellation, the movie observes how the online world can spill over into the physical world.

I also found the movie pretty compelling for its ability to resist the usual cliches about portraying difficult artists, in that it refuses to conflate her personal failings with her artistry. The movie repeatedly brings up other artists with personal failings (like the aforementioned Bach scene), as if to goad you into making that conclusion, but the cruelty we see her mete out here is much more covert and almost adjacent to her success as an artist. (One of the funnier examples is the pettiness with which she undermines her neighbour's efforts to sell her apartment. "Apartment for sale! Your sister's in jail! We're all going to hell!") And of course it helps when you have a performance both as controlled and as physical as Cate Blanchett's here, especially as the control seems to be the point. It's not a coincidence that we see her getting a bespoke suit and shirt made, and I must take a moment to commend her good taste with respect to the height of her collar, the rise of her pants, and the slouchy silhouette of her jacket. Yes, yes, I'm talking about clothes again.

I am still chewing this one over and suspect I will have smarter (or at least more) thoughts on this later, perhaps on an eventual rewatch that I will very likely be doing at some point. But what I can say was that I was enrapt for the entirety of its two and a half hour runtime, despite the very real possibility that I could have fallen asleep.

[creatiview]

[ad_1] When I was a child, my mother would take me to see a friend of hers who lived in an old house riddled with cubby holes and secret spaces. Each time, as we left, the friend would reach into a drawer and press something into my hand as a parting gift: a piece of blue glass, a single pine cone. Once, a white plaster elephant. These, I was meant to understand, were great treasures.Today that friend might be regarded as a good candidate to appear on the kind of TV show in which a “decluttering professional” arrives, Mary Poppins-style, on the doorstep of a chaotic family home and restores peace and order with the aid of some wicker baskets and a label printer.We were set on this path by organiser-in-chief Marie Kondo, whose bestselling books evangelised the “life-changing magic of tidying up”. A ceremonial purge, she promised, would purify our souls as well as the cupboard under the stairs. It sounded extremely good. So much so that there was uproar last week at the news that Kondo has relaxed her standards now that she has three kids to look after. “My home is messy, but the way I am spending my time is the right way for me . . . at this stage of my life,” she said. The reaction ranged from schadenfreude to fury: had all those hours of meticulously folding our underwear really been for nothing? If Kondo was ready to give up on tidying then perhaps it did not hold life-changing magic after all — perhaps it was just a massive, self-inflicted pain in the arse. When did we get so organised? Since Covid-19 forced us to spend long days at home contemplating our clutter at close range, the maxim “a place for everything and everything in its place” has become almost a moral imperative. The popularity of decluttering TV programmes — with titles like Sort Your Life Out, Hot Mess House and The Minimalists: Less is Now (yes, really) — suggests considerable interest in the fantasy of a hyper-organised home. Not just a tidy one, but the kind in which individual crisp packets hang on alligator clips from a rail, in colour order. Sales of home organisation products (all those stacking boxes, hangers, drawer dividers and labelling devices) are now estimated to be in the tens of billions in the US and rising. Professional organisers even have their own industry bodies.But we should give Kondo a break. It’s not her fault that the craze she helped popularise has begun to feel oppressive. As her methods gained traction, a new generation of organising gurus emerged, with ever more outlandish philosophies. Consider the Netflix series, Get Organised With The Home Edit, whose relentless mantra “edit, categorise, contain, maintain” sounds suspiciously like a shopping list for what the show’s hosts refer to flintily as “product” — the accessories required to realise their Rainbow Method (and which are helpfully sold on their website). These women transform jumbled kitchen cabinets and overstuffed bedside drawers into perspex vitrines to display each pasta shell, teabag and artfully arranged cotton bud. The resulting aesthetic has a cold, pristine quality, a little like a modernist gallery, a little like a morgue. This punitive style is deliberate, as one host explains. “One of the main purposes of ‘product’ is to hold people accountable,” she chirps. The implication is that once installed, this Benthamite organising scheme might constantly spy on us in case we stuff some kitchen roll into the bin labelled “healthy snacks”.Of course there are benefits to a good clear out. There’s evidence to show that decluttering can destress us. Studies attempting to measure the effect of domestic disorder on our cortisol levels suggest that the owner of a very messy house lives under its cloud all day. I was more convinced by the mum of two featured on the BBC’s superlative Sort Your Life Out who confessed to sitting in her car after work, gathering the strength to go inside and face the tottering piles. Her family’s purge not only removed that dread but

turfed up nearly £2,000 in lost cash and unbanked cheques — a bounty that brought the couple to tears of gratitude. The freedom from anxiety, guilt and shame that comes with tidying up is a goal in itself. But the brutal solutions proffered by the extreme organisers are a distraction. We should be able to ditch the junk without excavating the mystery from our homes. There is wonder in a dusky corner — no one would believe a door to Narnia existed in the back of The Home Edit’s clinical wardrobes. Nor would the magic drawer belonging to my mother’s friend have survived a visit from the professionals. After all, how do you categorise the great treasure that is a pine cone?cordelia.jenkins@ft.com [ad_2] Source link

[autisticsimonlewis]

Simon Lewis + @autistic-culture-is

[tsp-invisible-narrator]

I have so many questions! Feel free to ignore this ask if it’s too much.

1. What exactly do you think is going to happen if you can reach the Freedom Ending with Sockley?

2. How did you make him anyway? Did you deliberately make him look like you?

3. Did the original Narrator make you or were you an ordinary human, who existed before the story and then became the main character?

4. You can verbally talk!? Do you know how rare that is among Stanleys? Most of them communicate through sign language.

5. Do you love your original Narrator, either romantically or non-romantically? A lot of Stanleys have a love/hate relationship with their Narrators. Sometimes it swings more towards hate, other times it’s love. I’ve seen Stanleys who would utterly destroy their Narrators if they could and I’ve seen Stanleys who want nothing more than to give their Narrators a hug/possibly take them to bed.

6. What’s the deal with the cube? You said, that it might be blue and starry because Stanley wears blue and he’s the star of the story. That’s clearly not why it’s blue and starry so… what is the deal with it?

"Well, here's what I'm sure will happen: Stanley opens the last door, the story ends, I am finally free and get my old job back. The story resets, the real narrator is back and I can finally be with him again, listen to his smooth voice and try out the new pranks I've come up with so far, heheheh." Invis shows his true prankster self for a moment. "U-uh, I apologise."

"I said in the narrator's voice that he would stand in the room. That's all there is to it."

"I'm not quite sure. The narrator has sometimes claimed this and sometimes that. Personally, I think I'm just a normal person who has an invisible magical friend who likes to tell stories."

"Normally I prefer to be a listener and avoid talking. But when the narrator suddenly stopped coming back, I felt so lonely, I had to talk to myself to prevent myself from going crazy."

"Hm, I love to prank the narrator, to disrupt his story, but also to cuddle with him and listen to his voice. But I would never go to bed with him, I mean, he's some kind of cloud creature, how would that work? Besides… I don't have the desire for it. Romantic stuff yes, but anything above that is really not my thing. Pressing buttons and pranks are way cooler."

The old narrator has a blue colour scheme, glitters all over his body like a sea of stars and has blue eyes.

He is a shapeshifting cloudlike being who draws his energy from creativity. Due to the events that happened because of the skip button, the narrator was about to die. But because Stanley sacrificed himself and became the new narrator thanks to 432, the story and the old narrator were saved from destruction.

And because the cube was the last thing the old narrator had created, the last remnant of his essence got stuck in it and changed its color to a weak light blue.

But because Stanley is terrified of creating and consequently shows no creativity, the old narrator is trapped in a weak state and cannot recover.

[sokkastyles]

No, women don’t prefer Zutara because we’re shallow and think that Zuko is hotter than Aang. Women prefer Zutara because it’s a relationship where Katara gets to talk to Zuko like a friend, confidant, and equal instead of talking down to him like a child. It’s a relationship where Zuko takes care of Katara instead of her constantly having to coddle and take care of him and getting nothing in return. It’s a relationship where Katara gets to be her full, authentic self at all times and Zuko absolutely loves her for it instead of having to censor herself to make him more comfortable. It’s a relationship where Zuko respects Katara’s personal beliefs instead of trying to force his own on her. It’s a relationship where Katara gets to be crowned an actual queen instead of being reduced to a healer and “the Avatar’s wife.”

And yeah, maybe a beautiful teenage girl looks a little more natural standing beside a handsome teenage boy than she does standing next to a prepubescent middle schooler who’s at least a head shorter than her. Maybe red/blue is an attractive colour scheme. Sue me.

instead of talking down to him like a child

See, this is the thing that really gets me, and part of what really turned me off Kataang when I was watching. I love hurt/comfort stuff so I don't mind it when Katara comforts Aang, I actually initially found those scenes sweet (although it does annoy me when it's one-sided and Katara is expected to both mother Aang and be available as a romantic partner), I don't care at all about age gaps or the La Pieta thing. I grew up Catholic, sign me up, baby!

But stuff like this...

Katara: [Slightly annoyed.] Stop rubbing your eye and speak clearly when you talk!

Aang: [He and Sokka sit straight.] Yes, ma'am.

and

Katara: We've been through so many things together, and I've seen you grow up so much. You're not that little goofy kid I found in the iceberg anymore. [Aang blushes.] I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm really proud of you.

Err...

It's like they were deliberately trying to kill my investment in these two characters' relationship. How did "you're not that goofy little kid anymore, I'm proud of you" lead to French kissing?

[gleekto]

Fic: Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You (4/?)

Short Summary: Blaine coming of age in 1969. Columbia University. Hippie!Kurt. Elliott and Sebastian as Blaine’s mentor-friends. Unironic use of ‘groovy’. Coming out and fitting in and falling in love.

Amazing Poster by @caramelcoffeeaddict

For @slayediest who gave an inspired prompt for this way back when.

Day One, Day Two, Day Three

Day Four: Organization

Blaine has a skip in his step as he walks into music history on Tuesday. He's wearing his new purple-blue slacks with his colorful vertical striped shirt - classic but fun and he doesn't even let himself think about impressions. He surveys the room and decides to bite the bullet - He walks confidently into his row. The cute hippie who he now knows is Kurt, and sits himself down. Two seats away. But it's almost beside him. And he doesn't want to seem too desperate. To make friends of course.

Blaine has been so busy with work and with preparing for their dorm rap tomorrow that he almost forgets about Kurt. But apparently he remembers enough to chance sitting with him today.

Professor Cohen starts the lecture as soon as Blaine sits down which is maybe fortunate because Blaine doesn't have a chance to get nervous trying to figure out how to make casual conversation - which is usually his strong suit but apparently not when he thinks the guy is attractive and has a biting sense of humour.

Kurt is just sitting in his spot like he does every class, looking too perfectly coiffed for a true hippie but he certainly has the colour scheme - orange bell bottoms today with a silk cream, mustard and orange button down to match. And Blaine tells himself that he should stop noticing that Kurt's pants hug his thighs if he actually wants to be able to talk to him. In his experience, guys do not appreciate being appreciated by other guys. Lucky for him, Kurt doesn't turn to notice him looking.

"So as you can see, music here, and jazz specifically, is used as a rebellion against-" Professor Cohen, always animated. It's a good class.

"Excuse me, Professor." The class turns back to none other than Roger Smith interrupting the lecture. Blaine rolls his eyes - the guy just does not know when to listen and when to speak.

"Roger," Professor Cohen sighs.

"Yes, um. It's Roger Smith, here. And I just had a question."

Why does he always do this? Blaine mumbles under his breath. And that is what gets Kurt's attention. Well, at least Kurt turns to look at him and smirks. Not at him, but with him. Conspiratorily. Blaine smirks back. Blaine knows that he and Kurt and likely most of the rest of the class are sharing this smirk, at least in their heads - Roger Smith is not a difficult target - but still, he considers this progress. A shared moment. And a boost for his gut feeling that the two of them would get along - music history, different styles but deliberate fashion, a little bit of judgement, and well, that thing that makes Blaine wonder if maybe Kurt is- He knows he shouldn't be thinking that way. He has the Homophile League, anyways. Even if most of them see him as a little brother to mentor rather than a boyfriend.

Ten minutes later, Roger Smith has his hand up again and the Professor shakes his head. "Hold that until the end of class, okay Roger?"

Finally stops him, Kurt says under his breath and turns to look at Blaine. No prompting.

Blaine makes a mental note that he will have to thank dear Roger Smith.

... (Kurt POV)

"What are you doing, Kurt?" Rachel sticks her head into his dorm room where he is sitting at his desk and prepping his typewriter to write his Shakespeare essay.

"Clearly I'm taking a shower, Rachel," Kurt stares blankly at her. "What does it look like?" He gestures to the typewriter.

"Kurt, the dorm rap session starts in five minutes and you look like you're about to set in for an exhilirating night of essay writing? Did you forget?"

"No." Kurt hadn't forgotten. The Student Homophile League was coming to his dorm floor for a "rap". How cute. He couldn't get his mind off of it all day, actually. The organization prides itself on being a group of very nice "regular" homosexuals who just want to promote tolerance and kindness to others. Kurt scoffs at the idea. He's never been regular, could never be regular, and why should he have to fit into a box acceptable to others anyways?

Kurt had been waiting for college so he could finally leave Lima, Ohio for New York City and Columbia. His whole life he had heard the whispers behind his back and to his face - that people say that he’s a homo, a pansy. They say they see it in his walk, in the way he talks. Frankly, he’s sure it’s because he has a far better fashion sense than any of them, but anyways. He was exhausted by the whispers, by the never quite fitting in, of slow dancing at his prom with his best friend Mercedes instead of with a matching suit or bow tie. He was also tired of the self preservation, holding it all in, never saying a thing, pretending he was reading Vogue for the pretty girls (when obviously it's for the fashion). He knows it's not easy to be an open homosexual at college but Columbia is in New York with hippies and more black people than just his best friend, and people who aren’t afraid to be different. So he took his chances. And those chances led him to Rachel Berry, who welcomed him into their anti-war, hippie dorm living. In this hippie world, he feels like he can relax for the first time. And not just because of the weed.

“Do you actually think I need to be convinced to be tolerant of homosexuals?” Kurt dismisses.

"Come on, Kurt," Jesse St. James, their floor don and Rachel's new boyfriend, pokes his head over her shoulder. "You know you want to go." It's not entirely untrue. "I, for one, think it's a great thing they're doing. I've had guys think I'm attractive. Girls too, of course," Rachel smiles up at him. It's nauseating. "But I'm cool with that. Love for everybody, you know?" How hippie of him.

“Maybe you’ll meet someone," Rachel adds in. And that is exactly why he doesn't want to go.

“We homosexuals," Kurt emphasizes the word, "Also have taste, you know? We don’t just want to date anything that moves. So please, don’t try to set me up with the only other homosexual you've met here. Or the one you'll meet tonight. Because I know you don’t know any others.”

"Well neither do you," Jesse adds - a fact that is unfortunately true. "So I expect you to at least come tonight to get some free looove," Jesse sing songs. Idiot.

Kurt decides it's easier to just go and sit there silently rather than deal with these fools who wouldn't let him hear the end of it if he stayed back to work. Which he really needs to do, by the way. Anyways, it's only an hour of his life.

"I'll be down in a bit," He says. "But I won't be enthusiastic about it."

[uniquevocashark]

A Good Servant

Part 1 of ?

Summary: You would do anything to keep her happy: be it keeping her pet healthy, running her house or making her wine. Everything but for what you both want.

Some content warnings for this part: there's heavily referenced sex/sexual activity, pet play (not with the reader, this is an angsty prologue fic), brief mention of adultery, casual contemplation of murder, brief mention of whipping and a joke made about catholics. If I missed anything that you think should be tagged, dm me and I'll add it.

--

You start down the hallway before you can stop to think, holding the tray aloft in one hand. It's very easy to hear the strangled sounds of Lady Dimitrescu's most recent pet, some twenty something woman from the village, which only makes your job that much harder.

As you had been here for quite some time, you knew one of the most taboo acts was to interrupt her during 'training'. As you got closer you could hear her voice clear as day, offering soothing encouragements before the snap of a crop reached your ears.

You stop just before the door, wondering briefly if she'd use it on you for interrupting. But you couldn't send the heads of the other families away, so you steal yourself, rebalanced the tray and knock thrice.

There's a shuffle and her pet screams louder than before, followed by a half slurred string of begging and moans.

You purse your lips. You knock again, thrice, harder this time. You finally hear the Lady curse, some Romanian word you can't quite grasp yet, followed by quick shushing of her pet. You hold the tray carefully and take a precautionary step back.

She slams the door open and you catch a fleeting look at her black silk underwear before you shift your gaze into the room. Her pet, whose name you don't know and dotn care to learn, sits uncomfortably on the floor beside her masters bed.

"What is it?" Lady Dimitrescu snarls down at you, and you look up at the filigree decorating the wall beside her head.

"The Heisenbergs and Moreau are here to see you, Madame. They bear a seal from Mother Miranda." You handover the letter one of them gave you and fill her glass while she reads it.

You drop a bit of her special wine into it and hand it over. She eyes you carefully, taking a lemon slice. "Help me dress." She says and walks back into her room.

The hallway beckons but you follow her in anyway. She won't kill you, not while Mother Miranda has need of you, but you know she forgets how fragile people are sometimes. Her pet is a keen example; she clearly hasn't slept much due to her servicing, she's bruised all over and the way her lips wobble stirs some momentary pity in you.

Unfortunately for her, any stronger feelings have long since been cut away and seeing her in such a state only brings up questions of how you can improve. Still, you try to put on some faux sympathy for her.

You fill the smaller glass and hand it to her pet with a small platter of apple slices. When you look over to Lady Dimitrescu her brows are raised.

"She hasn't eaten for two days, Madame." You say instead of explaining. It had been one of the cooks ideas, someone that knew her.

Clearly, Lady Dimitrescu didn't realise that, "Of course," she replies crisply, her tone too sharp, "You may eat, pet."

Without waiting, you walk over to her closet to pick a dress. They are the same style and differ in their colour scheme; three are the same shade of light cream, twelve are pure white and three more are tinged grey. You pick out a light cream one with matching undergarments when she calls you over.

You've been working for her a long time, excess of seven years, so you know how she prefers to be dressed after stringent activity. You slip her bra on and her underwear. Slowly, you put her stockings on, as to not rip the expensive fabric, and clip them to her garter belt.

Lady Dimitrescu choses which garter she wears each day rather than have you or her personal amod do so, today it is the one that tangles easily. Its notorious among the staff for how difficult it is to put on. You know your way around it, though, fastening it quickly about her hips and thighs. "Have you put any thought into what I asked earlier, Madame?"

Lady Dimitrescu scoffs, sipping her water, "I have a personal maid." She jerks her chin to her pet, who has been munching as quietly as possible on the apple slices.

"Yes," you say lightly, helping her step through into her dress, "I merely doubt she will have time to deal with any duties other than those of a pet."

She eyes you dangerously and sets her cup down. You ignore the passive aggressive ploy to retrieve the step ladder in the closet. You flick it open and climb it as you pull her dress up, admiring the muscles of her back when she flexes subtly, then guide her arms into the sleeves.

"Who do you recommend, my gracious head of staff?" She croons when you work your way up the buttons of her dress.

You overexargerate your sigh at her playful tone. You catch her smile in the mirror and go back to buttoning. It is much harder to accept some days that this cannot last forever.

"Jessica is a cheery and dedicated worker with a strong back for lashings should she ever disappoint," her pet looks at you with mild horror that you file away and you try to strain your voice a little more towards reluctance, "Mihaela may suit your temper better, she has a quiet nature, has little care for material things and does her best to avoid punishment." That and her aggressive asides about the Lady would stop if she wanted to live.

Lady Dimitrescu moves over to her vanity, and you follow, grabbing the scissors attached to your chatelain and three roses from the vase on her desk. "Who else?" She asks, flicking the cap off her lipstick.

"Louise may suit as well," You say as you clip the stalks, "but Miss Daniela has taken a fancy to her. It would not be the wisest choice. There is also Rachel but she is pregnant with the gardeners child."

"Leave it to humans to rut like base animals on my property," she taps her lips thoughtfully,  "Wasn't Rachel married?"

"She is, Madame."

"Do you remember to whom?"

You pause in your arranging of the flowers on her breast and she catches your eye with a smile that burns you, "It was to the southern most butcher. One of the Bradleys, I believe."

She clicks her tongue, breaking eye contact, and you move to brush her silky hair out before she repins it. "Tell Heisenbergs retainer to have her husband brought here. It may be time to cull that wretched family," she paused, sipping again at her water, "Also, Mihaela will do, inform her after the meeting."

"Of course, Madame." You set the brush down, and grab her powder, dusting it onto her cheeks as she fixes the curls back into her hair. She is most beautiful like this, when her face turns delicately pensive and she stills almost completely. You almost wonder what it would be like, with her, and have to take an extra second to cool your heating face.

When she turns to you, with that deliberate, unabashed affection stealing the faux indifference from her face, it makes your heart quake in a way you haven't felt before. You have to look away before you both do something stupid. Deliberately, you plant your hand on her shoulder to keep her at a distance and stare intently at her ear as you put her earrings on.

Her pet has come to sit at your feet, Lady Dimitrescu running her fingers through her hair and you vaguely wonder what it would be like. What if you were there instead and what if this and that and everything else you could want but can't have. Neither of you will cross Mother Miranda.

Her pet gives you the dishes, the glass and plate empty. You move away from them, so that you're not tempting anything again and refill the glass.

"Shall I also have inquiries made about a new gardener, madame?" You ask as you hand the glass back, then move to gather together a suitable outfit for her pet.

The softness is gone from her face and you tell yourself you're glad of it. "Yes, someone more appropriate."

"Not a Catholic then?" You ask innocently. She chuckles warmly and you go about dressing her pet with a little smile. "And would you prefer the current one be brought to your daughters or sent straight to the cellar?"

She regards you seriously in the mirror, and you stare back into her golden eyes before returning to fixing the bow on the back of her pets dress, "Bring him to me when I'm next available."

You usher her pet back to her seat, putting the cups back on the tray, "That would be after dinner for today, or at three tomorrow evening."

"After dinner will be fine." She replies, eating the rest of her lemon. She hands you the skin, her fingers brushing yours deliberately, and you take longer than needed to deposit it on the plate.

"The families are gathered in the dining hall, Madame. I had the kitchen staff prepare a light brunch."

"Tell them I'll be there momentarily."

"As you say, my Lady." You curtsy as you leave. You make a note to have Rachel serve dinner and to watch the Lady's pet while she's busy. You may even go so far as to ask the cook to make a broth; this pet seems to make her happy and you are determined that her pet remains able to do so.

It's all you can do, after all.

Hey, little note:

This is a multi chapter fic with a planned unhappy ending because Courtly Love Trope doesn't usually end well. There will also be references to Resident Evil lore from previous games. Do I care if its accurate? No, not at all. Resi purists beware this fic. And thanks for reading!

[fakeikemen]

The "Cave of Two Lovers" foreshadows the Zutara interactions in "Crossroads of Destiny"

[And maybe after that too; (yeah this part will be purely based on speculation)]

(See also: A meta that everybody has already written but I haven't because I was living under a rock and watched Avatar very recently)

Like seriously, it is so obvious? I see people try to interpret "The Legend Of Oma and Shu" in so many other ways; like yeah, you're free to interpret it however you want but— most people try to make sense of it while thinking that the tale is just a random occurrence? But it's not.

And here's why:

(I'm so sorry, I tried to add the "keep reading" link here because this gets kinda long but it just won't work) (Also click on the pictures if you want better resolution).

The tale of Oma and Shu is about two lovers who belonged to villages that were at war against each other. To continue meeting each other, they learnt earthbending to create caves in the mountain that divides the two villages. But one day Shu didn't come to the caves. He'd died in the war. So Oma unleashed a terrifying display of her power. And then when people were willing to listen to her, she called off the war and strived for peace between both the villages. As a result the city of Omashu was created— as a monument in remembrance of their love.

So in comparison:

1. Two people belonging to the opposite sides of the war

(Other than the 100 year old war that has been going on, Zuko and Katara are involved in a very fundamental conflict: Capture the Avatar Vs. Protect the Avatar.)

2. With the same colour scheme:

3. Share intimate moments in a cave lit by green crystals:

A popular argument for this comparison is that; Oma and Shu had a positive impressions of each other when they first met. Unlike Zuko and Katara where Katara's first impression of Zuko was pretty negative because he invaded her village.

Zuko and Katara's first proper conversation happens in "Crossroads of Destiny" i.e.; the scene I'm talking about here. After this interaction that they have, I think it's safe to say that they did have positive impressions of each other. (Until Zuko made the wrong choice.)

Other than that, about the colour scheme being a coincidence: Here and here are posts by @marsreds about how the colours are definitely not a coincidence.

But seriously guys? Oma and Shu were the FIRST EARTHBENDERS and yet, instead of greens and yellows they were designed with RED and BLUE?!? (I'll take about Oma's green dress below.)

And on that note, why were Zuko and Katara the only ones who were thrown into the catacombs when everybody else was being held at the dungeons? The dungeons wouldn't have been easy to escape, neither for Zuko nor for Katara.

It's because Zuko and Katara were meant to share an intimate moment in a cave that was supposed to jog our visual memory to remind us of the caves built by Oma and Shu.

(Seriously though, I wasn't really paying attention during CoTL and thought that the Omashu legend was just put in to consume screen time, so I missed the red/blue thing. But then I watched CoD and saw the catacombs and I was like: "Isn't this like that cave made by the lovers?" And then I proceeded to have an oh shit moment because, I knew that Zutara was not canon so I never even considered the possibility of the narrative hinting at anything between them but then this happened. I mean, it's pretty darn obvious).

The colour of the crystals being the same in both caves is no coincidence either— if they just wanted two random caves with crystals, then they could've used a different colour because crystals of different colours exist:

Moving on,

The Visual Cues:

According to the colour coding Zuko = Oma (red) and Katara = Shu (blue).

So,

EXHIBIT A:

I feel like this one speaks for itself.

(I personally think that in this parallel Oma is in red because Katara at this point still sees Zuko as the face of the Fire Nation.)

EXHIBIT B:

This sequence of frames show Oma (dressed in green, like Zuko was in the catacombs) and Shu (dressed in his usual blue), standing on neutral territory and reaching out to each other and then being torn apart by the war.

Pretty much like:

The first time they are in each other's presence without the cause of their conflict (i.e. the Avatar), Zuko and Katara reach out to each other empathetically and attain bone deep understanding of each other within a matter of minutes. This whole encounter is in Ba Sing Se, which counts for the neutral territory because it hadn't been completely taken over by Fire Nation at that point.

And honestly? The raw vulnerability and intimacy of this scene and the high emotional energy of their powerful dynamic is just— wow. (I put off my binging spree for a whole day because I didn't have the heart to see Zutara not become canon after all of this.)

And soon after, Zuko and Katara face each other in battle, their tentative friendship torn apart, as they fight from their respective sides of the war.

EXHIBIT C:

Whenever Oma and Shu appear in the same frame during the visualization of the legend, Oma is always on the left half of the frame and Shu is on the right.

Similarly, throughout all their interactions in the Catacombs, whenever the frame exclusively includes Zuko and Katara, Zuko (like Oma) is on the left half of the frame and Katara (like Shu) is on the right.

The parallels (or foils rather):

#1

In CoTL, we see Song who is a healer (cures Iroh of his poisoning). She mentions that she hasn't seen her father since a Fire Nation raid took place in her village. Zuko empathises with her and says that he too hasn't seen his father in a long while. But then he refuses to say anything else about it.

Later Song tries to reach out to Zuko and tries to touch his scar— which Zuko prevents her from. She shows Zuko her own scars to show that she understood him.

And yet, Zuko doesn't open up to her.

After a while of life-changing and eye-opening experiences, in CoD, when Katara has her meltdown and cries while saying that her mother was snatched away from her by the Fire Nation; Zuko sees an opening to offer an olive branch and he takes it, he empathises with her and tells her that how his mother was snatched away by the Fire Nation as well.

Then Zuko opens up to Katara in a show of complete vulnerability. He openly talks about his scar and what he feels about it. In response, Katara offers to heal his scar and then Zuko lets her touch his scar.

It was nothing but a deliberate choice to make Song slightly parallel Katara (a healer, lost a parent because of the war) and then making Zuko not open up to her and not let her touch the scar, only for Katara to be the one he opened up to and allowed to touch the scar.

#2

After being trapped with Aang in the cave in CoTL and sharing an intimate moment with him, as soon as they find their way out, Katara runs straight ahead without looking back.

But after her time with Zuko, trapped in the Catacombs in CoD, while leaving she turns back to look at Zuko.

Judging by the amount of time the animation puts into showing us Aang's disappointment at Katara running off and into making it clear that Katara did look back at Zuko and that Zuko looked right back at her, to me, it feels like the choice to show this was pretty deliberate.

(Turning back to look at a person while leaving is a romantic trope that has been overused to death? Or is it just bollywood?)

Also I wouldn't have paid this much attention to this small detail if not for the fact that just a hint of the Omashu legend theme is played here?

No, I swear I'm not making it up.

The Omashu legend theme is used in CoD:

The Omashu legend theme is largely dominated by the music of a stringed instrument (forgive me, I don't know what it's called) alongwith a steady melody playing in the background.

In CoD, when Katara and Zuko start conversing for real, (i.e.; when Katara says: "I'm sorry I yelled at you.") what sounds like a variation of the background melody in the Omashu legend theme, starts its subtle ascent as the background score, but sans the music of the stringed instrument.

It is when Katara says: "Maybe you could be free of it." [About Zuko's scar], when then first hint of the stringed instrument is heard. It is only a single note of the strings but it's there. And this "single note" sound keeps on repeating at regular intervals with the melody building up until Aang and Iroh burst into the catacombs.

But then, when Katara is leaving with Aang and she turns back to look at Zuko, this time the music that plays for a few seconds at best, is dominated by the stringed instrument again and this time it's unmistakable.

Also I don't think this music is used anywhere else in the course of the whole show? So it can't really be a coincidence? But I don't really know. I'm saying this on the basis of as far as my memory can reach.

And this is as far as canon stands testimony to what I am trying to say here.

But what about the second half of the story yk, the dying thing, you say?

Well this is where the speculations come in.

Speculation Time:

#1

As a thumb rule, a romance foreshadowed by a tragic tale is meant to have a happy ending.

So this time when Katara's (Shu) life is in danger (Azula's lightning bolt), Zuko (Oma) steps in at the nick of time to save her life (by jumping infront of Katara to intercept the lightning).

(Since I have crossed the limit of images in a post, here is a post by @araeph which illustrates this point.)

Yes, I am completely aware that Zuko taking the lightning bolt for Katara is not his declaration of love for her. What I mean to say is that the whole scene was so very painfully obviously romantically framed (the immediate change in music when Zuko realises where the lightning bolt was headed, both of their expressions, Zuko's agonized "Nooooo", the slow-mo throughout the shot).

I am also aware that Zuko would've taken the lightning bolt for anyone. But it is the narrative that demands that Zuko take the lightning bolt for Katara and Katara only. Because this has atleast 10 different payoffs (a direct callback to the Book 2 finale where Azula had shot Aang with the lightning; the grief of which was for Katara to bear but this time Zuko himself stands between the lightning and Katara instead of being the silent spectator, the culmination of both Zuko and Katara's personal character arcs, Zuko's scar would parallel Aang's: Aang got it because he chose Katara over the world and Zuko got it because he was willing to give up the world to save Katara, etc, etc).

Tl;dr: The lightning scene wouldn't hold all that much weight if it wasn't Zuko taking the hit for Katara because the narrative literally demands it.

#2

This is where we start wading into really murky waters.

From mucking around on Tumblr due to Zutara feels™, I came across this post where some of the ideas for Book 4 were written:

• The Southern Water Tribe experienced the longest series of attacks from the Fire Nation. Zuko and Katara become political partners and work together to help end the animosity and repair relations between their two nations.

• Just like how Zuko learned to appreciate the Earth Kingdom, he would learn to appreciate the Water Tribes. Katara also learns to respect the complexity of Fire Nation culture. There is no such thing as an “evil” nation.

And that basically means that Zuko and Katara would've been working together to de-escalate the hostility between their respective nations and improve the relations between the two nations, while learning about each other's cultures simultaneously as the world would be in the process of being rebuilt after the war and they would be major role-players in shaping the new world.

Which is quite similar to how Oma strived for peace between the two villages and then as a result of the improved relations between the villages, the city of Omashu was built as a monument to the love story of Oma and Shu; which might just be symbolic of building a new world where both the villages could live in peace due to the initiative taken by Oma on behalf of herself and Shu.

The story would've come a full circle; that's all I'm saying.

If you've stuck around for this long, thank you for taking the time to read this long ass post with points that you may already have read ♥️

[jokertrap-ran]

(光与夜之恋 Light and Night) Osborn’s 5✩ Inspiration: Sleepless Starry Sea [星海无眠] Date Translation (Prologue)

“So, are you covering my ears now because it's thundering in the exhibition hall?”

*Light and Night Master-list | Osborn’s Personal Masterlist *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Join the Light & Night Discord (＾▽＾)~ ♪ *This 5✩ Inspiration has 5 Endings!! *Osborn’s tag will be #For Night, For Freedom *Requested by a friend, reblogs and likes appreciated! *This Date comes after this Event! Please read it first~

I've heard many stories about the ocean, but I've never actually gone and understood the ocean.

And now, as I mulled over my new design that had "the ocean" as the theme, Osborn had suggested bringing me to the Oceanarium.

❖☆———————————★❖

Standing in front of the long, winding corridors, it was only then that I realized… that the very ocean had been slowly unravelled before our very eyes.

Clear and bright blue light encased the entire area as huge fishes swam past overhead. Their scales glinted faintly in the light, reflecting a multitude of colour down below. And beneath our feet was the ocean, deeper, darker…

My footsteps faltered as an instinctive terror gripped me. For a moment, I didn't quite know what to do.

Osborn: Why aren't you walking?

MC: Oh… The corridor's too attractive, so I'm walking slower because I want to look at it longer.

The corners of his lips curved upwards as he headed towards me.

Osborn: Sorry, but I can't wait for you.

He then smoothly took my hand, balled into a fist from my nervousness, into his own.

He tugged gently, dragging me alongside him as we traversed the deep sea together.

MC: Thanks.

Osborn: Mm.

Then, I felt his long, slender, fingers slide between my fingers, domineering and powerfully intertwining our hands together.

Osborn: I much prefer this method of showing gratitude.

MC: …...

I gripped back, feeling the warm response from his palm.

❖☆———————————★❖

It was only after I passed the transparent corridor that my "leisurely stroll through the sea" really started.

My vision became brighter as colourful tropical fishes endlessly swirled around. It was almost as if we'd been pulled into a fantasy; of the wondrous Oceans in Fairytales

MC: The colour schemes of these tropical fish are really bold…

MC: Looks like I won't be going back empty-handed this time!

A faint smile played at the corner of his lips as he turned around to ruffle my hair.

Osborn: I hope the same goes for me too.

Before I could react, Osborn tugged me along, moving deeper into the depths of the oceanarium.

After a while, we strolled into a vast, open and bright area.

The ceiling in this area was inlaid with a huge transparent sheet of glass. The afternoon light shone in, spilling into the waters. There were a couple of huge fishes leisurely “lying” at the surface, basking in the rays of the sun.

MC: Fishes sun tan? But this one’s so huge and it looks really strange… What kind of fish is this?

Puzzled, I suddenly noticed the explanatory board that was partially obscured in the dark.

MC: Lemme see… this fish is called Hoo-

The words “Hoodwinker” came into view. I jolted, subconsciously letting go of Osborn’s hand as I darted in front of the explanation display board, physically blocking it.

MC: H-Headfish! This fish can play cat's cradle; can you believe it? Aha, it's really amazing!

Osborn raised his now empty hands, arched an eyebrow, and looked at me with a playful expression.

Osborn: It's pretty amazing, yes.

MC: Haha, there's nothing worth looking at here. How about we go somewhere else?

Osborn: Not gonna wait for this fish to do some cat's cradle thing for us?

MC: No need. What's so nice about watching a fish play cat's cradle? I'll do it for you next time if you want to see it that badly!

Brushing it off with a laugh, I pushed Osborn into another direction, unable to help feeling a little miffed.

MC: Why’s this fish called “Hoodwinker” of all things? Osborn has a competition tomorrow; that’s way too inauspicious!

In order to prevent Osborn from noticing anything amiss, I could only do one thing: Keep “self-sacrificing” till I divert his attention elsewhere… I purposely stepped on his shoelaces, telling him that fishes were flying above as I held onto the explanation display board, feigning dizziness.

My acting was clearly over the top and forced, but fortunately enough, Osborn didn’t seem all too interested in the “Headfish”, so everything proceeded smoothly enough.

We were just about to leave this area for good when a little boy suddenly exclaimed from behind.

Kid In Passing:  Mommy! This fish has such a weird name! Hood-

MC: Wait a minute-!

❖☆———————————★❖

A cacophony of alarm bells went off in my head! As quick as wildfire, I quickly rushed before Osborn,  jumped up, and tugged him downwards by the neck

Osborn was pulled down, his frame bent over mine in surprise as he was caught off-guard, my hands tightly pressed against his faintly red ears.

Osborn: …!?

It wasn’t till the little boy walked off with his mother that I slowly lightened up.

Osborn: You…

Raising my eyes, I collided with the depths of Osborn's clear and bright orbs.

He stared at me for a fleeting moment, his warm breath hitting the top of my nose, brushing against my cheeks in a ticklish manner.

I blushed, attempting to withdraw my hands that were still covering his ears, only for him to hold it firmly back down.

Osborn: So, are you covering my ears now because it's thundering in the exhibition hall?

❖☆———————————★❖

MC: Y-Yes! How smart!

MC: The equipment up in the broadcasting room collapsed earlier! It sounded way more terrifying than thunder, it frightened me...*Coughs*

The words came out in such a rush that I accidentally choked on them.

Osborn chuckled, helping me pat my back before taking out a bottle of mineral water, unscrewing it before handing it to me.

Osborn: Have a drink. No rush.

Osborn: Must be hard putting up an act the entire way through, no?

MC: ...Huh!?

As I looked at him in astonishment, Osborn held my shoulder and turned me to face the other side.

Osborn: Look.

I glanced in the direction he was pointing at.

There was a lazy hoodwinker basking leisurely in the sun in one of the glass tanks of the exhibition area.

MC: Oh! It's a Hood...

Osborn: Yeah. Hoodwinker.

Osborn: But you can always call it a “Sunfish” if you don’t like the name that’s been put onto the display board.

MC: You…

Osborn: D'you think I'm similar to that dumb-looking fish?

MC: Of course not!

Osborn: Then, what are you so panicky about?

Osborn raised his fingers and gently flicked them against my forehead.

Osborn: There's no need to let your thoughts run wild. The one standing here right next to you now is none other than Osborn himself.

Rubbing my head, I stared at his usual devilish smile in slight disbelief.

MC: You already knew what it was called?

Looking at the unfazed smile on his face, I then realized that all my blatant efforts to cover it up were all for nought, and that I must have looked exceedingly stupid in his eyes.

MC: If you already knew it, then why didn't you tell me?

Osborn: Because…

Osborn: Letting you be all considerate about me like that feels rather nice.

The magnetic and deliberately lowered tone of his voice graced my ears, and I could suddenly feel my heartbeat pick up.

Osborn: Shall we continue?

Osborn instantly took my hand into his again, and the previous embarrassment I felt melted away, giving way to the faintly growing sweetness that started to well up from the bottom of my heart.

Where do I want to go next?

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

✥ Choose your Ending:

END 1 | Choice: Do Nothing [都不做]

END 2 + 3 | Choice: Approach [亲近] ⊹Touch⊹

END 4 | Choice: Listen [倾听] ❖ASMR

END 5 | Choice: Heart-throb [心动] ★Night★

❖☆————— ⊹ For Night, For Freedom⊹ —————★❖

[galeforged]

Virgilia: Ashen Apothecary

Abyss’s self-appointed medic and the stolid apothecary of the Ashen Wolves. She holds a deep grudge against the Church of Seiros. Appears in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

“A new world presents new scientific opportunities. Greetings, Summoner. Just call me Vi.”

—

Virgilia: Heretic Medic

A phlegmatic healer from Leicester whose family once worked for the Eastern Church. She swore off pursuing magic after her sisters’ deaths. Appears in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

“My name is Vi. If you have injured, you can count on me to assist at a moment’s notice.”

—

{ ooc } MY ASHEN WOLF DAUGHTER NOW HAS A FACE! Once again courtesy of @pulchramusae​​ for pulling through with another from-scratch design based off of my ramblings! 🥺

(Re)Presenting Virgilia Februs! A second (yes, second) Fire Emblem: Three Houses OC, this time based on the Apothecary class from Fire Emblem Fates. You can read all about her story and so on in the provided link, since I’m just going to take a moment to ramble about my doot’s looks.

Pre-timeskip! Just like her peers among the Ashen Wolves, her Academy uniform is tailor-made to her preferences. I thought to have it based off of that of a modern lab worker, meaning no open skin, long sleeves and an additional layer to protect her legs. Hailey made the suggestion of having her chain—like other Wolves have—draped around her shoulders, subtly mimicking the stole of your typical priest! As for the purple accent to the silvers and greys, these come in the form of her gloves (representing her hands-on approach in healing and scientific pursuits), as well as her eyes (representing the dark side she witnessed from the Church).

Post-timeskip! Her clothing here is based off of those I’ve seen apothecaries wear in a lot of artwork depicting them back in the medieval era, with the headpiece and the shawls and what not. I also knew I wanted yellow/gold for her main colour, setting herself apart from the colour schemes of the other Wolves (including Forwin), but I was kinda stuck from there... before Hailey proposed the brilliant idea of having blue and white in her palette - adds to some sort of holy imagery, you know?

And yes, unlike the other ladies in 3H, I deliberately asked for her to be stouter. She is also the shortest among the Wolves thus far (unless other OCs I knew of are shorter still)!

Once again, Hails, thank you for bringing doot to life!!! Everyone go commission her before I do it again.

And I just might, because now I need to think of both Forwin and Virgilia’s Three Hopes looks...