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undermine-the-instinct · 7 months

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↳ Nanami x Tiana

↳ After Nanami's return to jujutsu society, he is tasked with an overseas mission, one smack dab in the center of New Orleans, a place with magic, curses, culture...And a woman who mirrors him far too closely, but with enough spitfire to challenge him and a smile sweeter than the beignets she makes. With an eleven day countdown and the safety of New Orleans on the brink, can Nanami differentiate between magic and voodoo, curse and love?

↳ Genre: Romance, Slight pining, Modern AU

↳ Warnings: None ↳ Word count: 4K

↳ Notes: Tiana's story occurs in the 1920's, but I took the liberty of bringing the timeline to the present, aka the 2010's. This also means that Nanami is in his early twenties, when he just quit being a salaryman and went back to jujutsu society.

| Series masterpost | Next chapter. . . |

This place reminded Nanami of Tokyo a lot. Loud, crowded, hot and humid. Human.

The air was more muggy here than in Tokyo actually. It was more dense, hanging in the air and weighing down the suit that now seemed too unnecessary and cumbersome.

‘No’ , he adjusted his tie, and weaved his way through the outskirts of the crowd. He was a sorcerer, and wherever he went he had an image to maintain.

A sorcerer. It felt strange to call himself that again, after four years as a salary-man. Strange but right. It was the only path that seemed right to him, the only one where he felt he could make the smallest differences. It was the only reason he came back.

It was the only reason he was here, six thousand nine hundred and five miles away from Tokyo, in the heart of New Orleans, creeping up on mardi gras season. Music blared from the balconies and in the streets, and Nanami sighed, sticking to the edge of the crowd, as best as he could.

He wouldn't be here exactly if he wanted to. But he hated owing debts, to anyone, much less the insufferable Gojo Satoru.

_ _ _ _ _

“It's a yearly mission for grade 1 and above sorcerers,” Gojo Satoru laid on the couch, his too long legs dangling off the edge. “There aren't many sorcerers in America, but there are plenty of curse users.”

“Then why aren’t we sent to get rid of the curse users and then the curses? It seems like we’re attacking a symptom rather than the root cause.”

“Ah, my dear junior, see? This is where you need my expert knowledge and guidance,” He shot up like a cartoon character, lanky and exuberant.

“Curse users are identified as anyone who uses cursed energy against civilians, with the intent to cause harm. Or, are able to use cursed energy but are not labeled as sorcerers by jujutsu society. But, in the port city of New Orleans there's a special phenomenon. Almost the entire populace are labeled as curse users.”

Nanami's eyes widened behind his glasses. “How does that make any sense? People who are able to use cursed energy are already rare as it is, but an entire populace ?”

“Crazy, right? Even ordinary folks who stay there for an extended period of time are able to see cursed spirits, a general skill that's been lost to most people since the time of the Heian era,” Gojo supplied.

“Maybe it's due to the rich history of the land and the people that came before it. Maybe it's their longstanding voodoo and spiritual practice; though to call voodoo cursed energy is not really accurate, and kinda racist, you know? Anyways, your job is to take care of all the cursed spirits that arrive during the mardi gras season.”

“...And that's all?”

“Now don't think this will be easy kohai!” The idiot grins.

“Due to the highly superstitious and spiritual beliefs of the people, the curses grow strong and unnatural. Due to varying cultures and influences we don't know what kind of curse it'll be, just that it’ll be strong.” He points to Nanami.

“You will take care of all the curses, and the semi special grade that will appear sometime during the end of the season.”

“...This is going to be a very long term mission, isn't it?”

“Oh, don't be like that, Nanamin!” in a blink Gojo is draped over his shoulders like an annoying shawl.

“You just came back to us after four years of no contact, you have to prove yourself! And anyways, it's a very famous tourist attraction so you’ll have lots of fun there, a full week and a half of leisure, pretty much!” he sighs, frowning under that blindfold.

“Honestly, besides the curses it's a very fun, relaxing trip, you should be grateful I'm handing it off to you. Anyways, who else besides you can speak English so well? We need you Nanamin!”

That at least had some weight, a long term mission in America would need a sorcerer who had at least an intermediate level in english. He’d take the job, it seemed simple enough.

_ _ _ _ _

He understood exactly what Gojo meant when he entered the city, a peculiar wave of cursed energy flowing over his senses. It shocked him, how potent it was- the only times he felt energy this vivid and strong was when he was surrounded by other sorcerers, particularly in battle with other cursed users, both spilling cursed energy like blood, giving it their all.

But this was not a place of gloom–it was bright and cheerful and loud and colorful, there was the scent of something delicious in the air, and the people all around him looked self assured and content. The problem lay deeper into the city, and would show itself soon enough.

For now, he needs to find the place he's going to stay. Lodgings had been provided for him at a decent hotel, and after a long plane ride and bus, a full twenty hours of traveling, he was tired and irritated.

The crowd jostled along as he tried making his way, so that he could get to the hotel and rest already. He thought to ask for directions, but the was still getting used to the sounds here.

The language was thicker, richer; the accents ranged vibrantly and almost seemed like its own separate lingo, which he supposes it could be. He could make it out if he focused, so this was good practice for him.

His maternal grandfather had been Dutch, and insisted Nanami learn to speak it, as well as English, as he had with his mother. And just like the heritage he passed down, so too did he pass down the cursed energy; a carrier like his mother, curling softly in their core like the blonde shade of their hair until it at once bloomed in him. He was the only sorcerer in the entire family. They still think that he's a salary man.

There was a loud commotion further down the street, a large crowd of people moving his way, and he sighed hard, moving off the curb so he could let the crowd pass.

A lady suddenly fell not too far from him, landing right on the edge of the curb. And while people stopped to help her up, it was much too crowded, and they kept being accosted and jostled.

Nanami moved, forming a barrier between himself and the crowd so the lady could be helped. She was an older woman, and fixed her skewed hat as she was helped to her feet and the crowd started to thin.

“Oh goodness, If only I was young again to go charging through a crowd and carry on my way, yeah?” He held out his arm so she could straighten herself. She was tiny, brown eyes and a wide mouth, set in a warm smile. Her skin was dark and weathered; she looked kind, but also tired.

“Are you a tourist? Here to enjoy the last of the mardi gras season are you?”

“Something of the sort.” The words felt clunky on his tongue, but manageable. She patted his arm and smiled wider.

“You're not from around here are you? You must have come a long way.”

“From Tokyo ma’am. Are you alright? Are you heading somewhere?”

“Oh my lord, that's a long ways away. Are you-oh!” she took a step and stumbled, wincing as she leaned on his arm.

“Goodness, must of hurt my ankle in the scuffle.”

“Are you going anywhere? Let me escort you.” He couldn't leave this lady injured in the midst of this crowd. He could get her to sit somewhere, and phone someone to come to her aid.

“I’m heading over to that restaurant a couple streets down, my daughter works there and imma pay her a visit. She is always so busy, and never has any time to visit her poor ma.” He helped the lady, letting her lean onto his side he went down the street she gestured towards.

“So what brought you all the way here from your Tokyo young man?”

“I’m taking a vacation from work; I decided to go somewhere far away.”

“Well you certainly got the far part down. Did you just arrive? Forgive an old woman but you look a fright.” He's sure he does. After quitting his job he was finally able to get some decent sleep, before his missions started up again in earnest. He hasn't felt this tired in weeks.

“I’ll be going to my hotel after I drop you off ma’am.” She chuckled, and Nanami could smell her perfume, floral and powdery fresh.

“Well, thank you for helping out a frail lady. My name is Eudora. Eudora Breaux, it's a pleasure to meet you.”

“Nanami Kento. Likewise ma'am.”

She led him to the street and pointed him inside a bustling restaurant; despite the amount of people inside the servers and waitresses shouted out greetings to the lady as they stepped in, obviously familiar. Immediately a waiter ushered them to a table, where a large robust man sat with a pink clad lady, both the same shade of blonde.

They all greeted each other warmly, and Nanami was ready to leave, until they managed to drag a seat and pull him down, setting a plate of powdered beignets in front of him.

“Another tourist for the mardi gras season, huh? Welcome to New orleans! I'm the mayor of this town, you can call me Big Daddy La Bouff.” He wasn't going to call him that, ever. Mayor La Bouff hooked the lady next to him under his arm, near suffocating her in his affection.

“And this princess right here is my daughter, Charlotte La Bouff.” She was an elegant woman with bright eyes and a cheeky smile, as she introduced herself and held out a hand for him to shake. Her grip was surprisingly strong, for those dainty hands.

“Nice to meet you Sir, how's your stay been so far?”

“I just got off the bus, so I couldn't tell you, miss.”

“Oh!” She covered her mouth, her hands covered in delicate lace.

“You just got here? Goodness, do you have a place to stay?”

“This young man was on his way to his hotel when he stopped to help me, after I hurt my ankle,” Breaux cut in, wiping the powdered sugar from her lips.

“And what hotel are you staying at son?”

“The Peter and Paul hotel. If you could give me directions I could be on my way.”

“Nonsense!” La Bouff waved his hand.

“Guess what, I own that hotel! Its near booked with tourists now, so I'm not sure if you’d be able to get a room any time soon, son.”

“A colleague of mine booked me a room there, so I should be fine.”

“Well that's well and dandy then. And, you already met the owner,’ Miss La Bouff said conspiratorially, with a sneaky grin, “So if you have any problems or want a better room just speak up, ‘kay? I'm sure we can hook ya right up.”

“Charlotte! Just what are you saying? Is this how I taught you to do business?”

“'Buy cheap sell high', I know Daddy! But look at him, he seems like an honest, hardworking gentleman; I only want him to enjoy the last few days of Mardi gras in comfort! As a thank you for helping Mrs. Breaux, of course.”

He’d be comfortable if he could leave and get some rest before working tonight, but it would be rude if he just got up and left. He would have done it to anyone else, said his polite farewells and left, but he was in the presence of the mayor and his daughter, so it was best not to.

He reached out and took up one of the beignets in a napkin, biting into it. Immediately, the texture of the treat stunned him, and he swallowed. It was good. The slight crisp on the outside, the soft buttery layers of the inside, the sweetness of the powdered sugar. Like, really good.

“Are these the best darn Beignets you've ever had or what?” Mrs. Breaux rested her chin on her hand. “They’re made fresh here everyday and sell out fast, so lucky we came in to a fresh batch.”

He had to admit, these were incredibly good. Almost like they came from an actual bakery, and not a dime a dozen restaurant in this port city. And he’s traveled a bit and gone to some truly extraordinary bakeries. These were on par.

Memories of a brunnette baker flooded his mind, a heartfelt thank you, but he let it slip away to the back of his mind.

“Who made these? They’re delicious.”

“My baby girl, Tiana! I tell you, she's the best cook in this whole spot, and when she gets her own restaurant, people are gonna come here from everywhere .” It was easy to see how proud she was of her daughter, pride and love gleaming in her eyes.

“Ever since her daddy handed her a cooking spoon when she was five, she's been in love ever since.”

Hm, perhaps then…Maybe it’ll be alright to stay for a meal, if the beignets were this good.

“Then I’ll have to give my compliments to the chef.”

“That you will, and I’d like to see you fed before you go off your way. Look at how sharp and gaunt your cheekbones are!” His face was not gaunt, he just had a shaped face. Nevertheless, Mayor La Bouff chuckled jauntily.

“Those eastern types don't put on weight that easily miss Breaux. Strong and lean types I tell you. But I agree, let's get some food in this man's belly! Where is your daughter Breaux?”

“Right here folks, can I take your order?” Nanami turned and a young woman stood behind him. Her skin was dark, covered in a layer of sweat from all the humidity, a dark curl of hair escaping from her hair net. Nanami could recognize her, she had the same face as the woman he brought in here.

“Tiana!!” Miss la Bouffe shot up from her seat, rushing around the table to throw her arms around her friend. She quickly let go after noticing the sweat sheening her skin. She smiled bright at the lady, before taking stock of her mother, the way she kept her injured ankle raised.

"Oh, ma! Are you alright?!” She set down her notepad and came around to her mother, who raised her hands to wave her away.

“I’m fine, I'm fine girl. I fell and hurt my ankle a little but this man right here helped me.” She turned to him, and Nanami met her gaze.

His eyes were still covered by his glasses, but it seemed that didn't matter because her eyes immediately knew where to look. Her gaze was direct and scrutinizing, and he felt himself being evaluated. For a moment, he felt a fluctation of cursed energy, a slight waning, like opening a window to let in a breeze; But before he could really remark on that it slipped from his grasp. It was for no more than a second or two, and La Bouffe spoke up.

“We wanna get him a nice meal before we send him on his way, so give us the best you have to offer. Can you do that for us, Tiana?”

“Who do you think you're talking to?” She hadn't drawn her gaze away from his face as she took back her notepad. but she smiled at Nanami, analyzing him for a moment more and nodding.

“It can be a little hard to know what you want, but I got just the thing for you, A perfect taste of New Orleans. Don’t worry, you helped my mama so it's on the house.”

“I couldn’t possibly accept. I’m fine with paying.” Despite the trouble with changing currencies and how expensive things were in America. Damn their economy. But she shook her head, scribbling in her notepad.

“It’s fine, I insist. And I already know what you folks would like. I'll be out in just a minute.” She turned and left, disappearing past a door leading to the kitchens.

“Your daughter works as a waitress here as well?”

“Waitress and cook, when they’re short staffed like this, honestly she does it all,” Miss La Bouff sighed, fond and tired.

“She's trying to save up for her dream, owning her own restaurant. That girl’s a heck of a cook, and she's got a great head on her shoulders.”

“Which she all gets from her mama.” Mrs. Breaux flushed a little, bashful.

“It’s been hard on that girl. The towns never fully recovered from Hurricane Katrina, so there's been less jobs and less money to make. Still, she doesnt stop.” Mrs. Breuax sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Seriously, even if she's got free time she's either budgeting or meeting with realtors or cooking up new recipes; Charlotte girl, why don't you take her dancing or something?”

“I’ve tried Mrs. Breaux! We all have! She never wants to go!” The table burst into loud, playful conversation that only those close could, and Nanami zoned out.

He’ll go to his hotel and rest for a few hours, before he heads back out again to go curse hunting. There was another foreign sorcerer that he could meet up with, in case anything went wrong. They were ranked as a special grade, and according to the report, kept to themselves in the swamp, only leaving to help if the situation was dire. Introverted, but not unfriendly.

But he could deal with things for now, the way they were. In the meantime, he’ll dig for intel on this town, to help him parse out what kinds of curses he’ll be dealing with. It’ll take a few days to get an idea of what this semi special grade will be, since he doesn't know what kind of cursed energy surrounds this place.

Even now, he can feel it like a second skin, a film that won't dissolve on his tongue. There was something strange about this town, and it wasn't the strange amount of cursed energy either. Despite being in such a large crowd of people, he hasn't seen a single curse. Not even a single third grade, or flyhead or anything.

It was suspicious.

Miss Charlotte tapped on the table to get his attention, and he slipped out of his thoughts.

“Yes?”

“Oh, you looked like you were lost in thought. I was asking what it's like up there in Tokyo? How different is it compared to here?

“...Not much, it's just as crowded, though not nearly this loud. And it's only ever this hot in the summers, which unfortunately is when I'm at my busiest.” Summers were notorious in jujustu society, people were hot and agitated, and it was an apt time for those with seasonal depression to have those feelings flare up, birthing more curses.

Miss Charlotte tilted her head. “Huh. What kind of salaryman is busy in the summer?”

“The kind that are in tokyo.”

“Hm, you dont look like a typical salaryman. I tell you though, that white suit is snazzy! Though you could have chosen a different tie. Was that one a gift maybe?” His tie was custom made, so it could match the wrapping around his blunt sword. It was perfectly fine.

He opened his mouth to maybe tell her that, but in a rush the young miss Breaux came bearing a platter of dishes, setting them around the table to their respective peoples.

“And for the mister, a plate of creole gumbo, it doesn't get more authentic than that,” She grinned at him, the same warm smile as her mother.

"I hope you enjoy.”

“It's your cooking Tiana, who wouldn't like it?” Charlotte rolled her eyes, already starting to dig in.

“If anything, you're gonna ruin him for any restaurant in this city!“

“Don’t be silly Charlotte.” She shook her head. “I’m pretty sure there are other restaurants he will want to try. It’s Mardi Gras season, everyone is creating new specials for the people to try out.” As they were talking he spooned some of the gumbo and rice, with an Itadakimasu, tasting it for himself.

Onion, bell pepper and okra simmered in a light roux, with spiced ham and shrimp mixed in, and served over white rice.

It was amazing.

“It's amazing. It tastes delicious.” The best thing he’s had since the airplane food, and the rushed onigiri he had on his way to the terminal. And honestly, it was the perfect first meal in this city. Maybe he didn't really need to visit another restaurant if this one here already seemed like the best one. The flavors weren't too heavy and everything was balanced--fresh and savory and a hint of spice.

‘Oh, I'm so glad you like it, Mister! Remember, it's on the house so no worries.”

“I’m going to pay for my food, it’d be rude otherwise.” He took a spoon and spoke again when he swallowed.

“This reminds me of a home dish, Hayashi rice. It's more of a beef stew though, served beside short grain rice.”

“There's no better compliment to a chef than when their food reminds someone of home. A beef stew, hm? What kind of beef? Could you make that with Wagyu beef, maybe?”

“If you’re feeling especially decadent, yes. Though it's more of a home meal.” He fed himself another spoon of the gumbo, the flavors delightfully balanced and rich. He had heard the food was good here, but this exceeded his expectations.

“Sir, might I ask where you'll be staying? I had heard that you might need directions.”

“He’s staying at one of Daddy’s hotels–The Paul and Peter Hotel specifically.”

“Oh, that's just northeast of the french quarter right? Well sir if you’d just head…” The directions were actually simple enough, and the food was also gone quickly. He wiped his mouth with a napkin , and as Mrs. Breaux gathered his plate, he stood and slipped a few bills into the side pocket of her apron.

“Hey, sir?! I told you said–”

“And I appreciate the sentiment, but there's no need. You're working hard and I simply want to pay my fair share. I left you a tip as well.” He set his napkin down, and before he remembered his manners he bowed his head towards the people at the table. Oh well, a mishap.

They didn’t seem too perturbed though, having charmed smiles on his face when he rose.

Miss Breaux had too many platters to hand the money back to him, so she just sighed and shook her head.

“I can see you’re a man of principle. Oh well, I’ll just have to owe you a meal then.’

“And you’re a rather stubborn woman. I assure you, there is no need.”

“Well, I said I'd like to repay you for helping my mama; foreign stranger from a strange land. I’ll pay you back before you leave this town, I promise you.” A playful challenge lit up her eyes, and he shrugged.

“You can certainly try. Anyways, the directions seem easy enough to follow, so thank you for your meal and time.”

“Come back again sometime, before you leave! We’d be glad to see you.” Miss La Bouffe waved enthusiastically, nearly tipping her father’s glass over. Mrs.Breaux set it right before it could fall.

“Preferably when it's less crowded. Early mornings are best, when the coffee and the bread is freshest. Have a good day young sir.” They waved him off, and he left the restaurant. It was hot outside, but compared to the restaurant it was just the slightest bit cooler.

He wasted a lot of time, but he didn’t feel it was a complete waste. Knowing the mayor and being on cordial terms with him could prove useful; He didn't forget the importance of building connections from his old job. It was an important thing not just for work but for life as well.

And the food was actually really good. He heard food was one of the many reasons people traveled so far to get here, and honestly, his hopes were lifted a little. It would at least get rid of some irritation over taking on this mission.

The restaurant was loud, crowded and hot, but quaint. And if Miss Breaux was a frequent cook there, it would be worth it to make another visit sometime soon. As long as she didn’t insist on giving him a free meal again.

Now if he could find a decent bar somewhere in his time here this mission might just become bearable.

#tianami #nanami x tiana #jjk nanami #princess tiana #jujutsu kaisen #princess and the frog #my stuff #my writing #Spellbound!

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genericpuff · 7 months

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Sorry but I think you’re being super negative about the whole “Rachel Presents” announcement.

Rick Riordan is a white author who is passionate about mythology. After Greek mythology and briefly going into egyptology, he used his influence to give People of color a chance to write modern mythology stories from their own culture and experiences—and most importantly he stayed in his lane.

I think Rachel choosing to step back and give other people a voice is a great outcome, considering you guys all joked about how horrific it would be if she tried to appropriate another culture in her next series.

You also said she should have given LO to another creator who had the passion and dicipline to finish for her. That’s ESSENTIALLY what she’s going to be doing with RP. Maybe her true calling is just…being an Idea guy. She has wonderful concepts and cool ideas, but lacks commitment. In this scenario, we could end up with super amazing stories, with proper editing from Random house and proper commitment from new creators. I don’t really see the issue here, everyone wins.

(And lots of authors do the whole “___ presents” format. I don’t think she deliberately copied RR. Most likely her books sales did well and Penguin House approached her with this offer.)

lmao what? I was against the folks saying she should give it to another creator. I don't think not liking the series should mean she's obligated to "give it to someone else." The series is hers and so it's her responsibility to finish it. I do think she should have ended it a long time ago or if she was really miserable making it then she should step away, but she shouldn't be giving it to someone else to finish for her just because "boo you suck at writing your own comic". She started this, she should finish it.

And this is literally her doing exactly that - appropriating other cultures - with extra steps. Just instead of being on the front lines with her own work, she's sponsoring other works based on her own bar for quality (which we know is EXTREMELY low) and slapping her name on them so she can take a "backseat". It's really icky to see from a creator who practically failed upwards and is now using "herself" as a selling point, when she has no real legitimacy outside of LO, which was only as successful as it was because of WT constantly sinking money into it and advertising it over other series on the platform (and because it's based off a story that was VERY popular to romanticize at the time, the H x P myth. Like it was literally what was popular on Tumblr when it started as a hobby comic on Tumblr.)

I'm outlining all of these posts with "speculation" because obviously I don't know what's really going on behind the scenes here, but I think it's really disingenuous of Rachel to sell herself as some top tier brand name for mythological works as a whole when she's caused so much actual harm to the Greek myth community and its sources. It's furthering the notion that she has any credibility as a "folklorist" when really she just pulls whatever comes off the front page of Google. And the similarities between herself and Rick Riordan do matter here because of how commonplace it is these days for Rachel to rip off other works rather than take inspiration and make it into something that's organically her own.

That's my two cents. It's not me trying to be "negative", it's me being genuinely concerned over the blatant appropriation from a white woman gaining even more control over the depictions of cultures and mythologies that she claims she's educated on and isn't. Unlike Rick Riordan, Rachel does not have any formal education in the subject she's claiming to be educated about. Unlike Rick Riordan, Rachel allows her fanbase to use her work as a source on Greek myth and she obfuscates the line between "fiction" and "fact". Rick Riordan started Rick Riordan Presents after he had multiple hits under his belt that were celebrated and loved. Rachel is starting Rachel Smythe Presents after a one hit wonder that could be chalked up to a total fluke that wasn't even able to go out with a bang.

Rick Riordan writes fictional stories inspired by Greek myth for children. Rachel is writing fictional stories claiming to be "retellings" of Greek myth - and now other mythologies if the implications of this project follow through - for adults. It's disingenuous and it frankly deserves to be paid attention to and called out.

I do genuinely want to see creators given an avenue to monetize their work and that's why I think the thought of it is nice, but any amount of further digging just makes this feel like a grift that will lead young and inexperienced creators down a path that won't benefit them (or take advantage of them) due to the blatant lack of care and management exhibited by Rachel over the past 5 years. Just because Rachel had one massive hit that lined her pockets for years does NOT qualify her to be a titan of the industry. Not by a long shot.

To quote Super Eyepatch Wolf,

"Let's say you decide you want to become a carpenter, and particularly, how to build a nice chair. Think about the kind of person you'd want to learn that skill from - would it be from someone who's built nice chairs every day for 30 years, or would it be the guy who built ONE nice chair 5 years ago out of a special kind of wood that doesn't exist anymore, who has NO experience with the kind of wood available to you now?"

EDIT to add: it was more likely Rachel's representative, Britt Seiss who landed this deal for her, not Penguin House themselves. That's what agents are for.

EDIT EDIT: this is ALL assuming she even FOLLOWS THROUGH with this project, because god knows the only reason LO has even gone on as long as it has was because she was being held responsible via a contract, she's NOTORIOUSLY bad for committing to things and has even admitted to it in interviews. She barely even works on LO as it is. Spring of 2024 could roll around and this project could entirely fizzle out. Again, not me trying to be a negative nancy here, I'm just stating my own concerns based on what we all know about Rachel at this point and how she operates.

#ask me anything #ama #antiloreolympus #anon ama #lore olympus critical #lo critical #anti lore olympus #anon ask me anything

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honestly-oceanie · 9 months

Text

My heart's ripped into pieces, I'm just trying to keep it together || TWTPTFLOB, TVIAM

Synopsis: a salvation they seek, the salvation they received. But is it a sin to dream and wish of you?

CW: hallucinations, self-harm, suicide ideation, refusal to eat, depression, alcoholism, (in Rezef) the reader is not real, (in Jeremy) the reader is real but dead so he imagines her alive.

Requested by: @pinky-kittys-world

《Jeremy Agriche, Rezef Hill | gn!reader》

{Angst◇ | ●headcanons●}

A/N: I'm so sorry it took long૮(˶╥︿╥)ა I lost motivation for the past few weeks.

The Way To Protect The Female Lead's Older Brother

Jeremy Agriche

🦋Jeremy is completely aware of how, when, and where you had died. He was there after all when it happened.

🦋 But despite all that, he'd rather live the rest of his life with his delusions of you—alive and unharmed, just patiently waiting for him in his room like the good pet that you are—than face the reality of you gone.

🦋 It is probably his unconscious guilt eating him up, whispering to him how he was weak resulting to him losing you. Both reasons are upsetting to him making Jeremy lose his mind more and more; his hallucinations kept winning.

🦋 Jeremy's denial of the situation have made the other members of the Agriche feeling either amused or bewildered. They never expected him to be so attached to this extent.

🦋 During the times Jeremy faces the reality he had tried everything he could: completely stopped eating, poisoned himself, injuries causing him blood loss, tries to get himself killed in missions, hell he even tried to end his life by himself just to be with you. Yet fate decides to play sick games with him just to make him suffer more and worst.

🦋 The servants are even more creeped out of him now, but why should he care when all he needs to bother himself about is if you'll love the new surprise gift he got for you.

The Villainess Is A Marionette

Rezef Hill

"Prince of Eldyme Empire"

🦋Rezef was never an alcoholic but ever since he "met" you he became worse.

🦋 When his day was terrible or he feels lonely, all he needs to do is go to his room, drink, then talk to you. Really. Just that simple lifestyle with his beloved:)

🦋 Even when he was slap with the harsh truth by his dear sister, his love for you and how he sees you will never change, not even to the day he dies.

🦋 You had been there for him when he was at his lowest point. You were the only one who saw Rezef's vulnerable side, you are the only one he's ever felt so comfortable with that he can just be himself when around you. So why should he believe those damn filthy lies those peasants are trying to contaminate to him, right? He can't believe that even his sister is siding with the dirt when she should be adoring you too like he does.

🦋 Even with the fight he has to put up with, for you he will do anything to defend your honor and dignity cause that's just what a depressed drunk man in love would do for his love.

🦋 Rezef knows that with all that's happening around you may have cause you some stress, to make it up to you, he'll give you anything that you wish for. Just say the word and Rezef present it to you with that prince charming smile of his. Even though he's actually just smiling all by himself at his room.

Feel free to give feedback!!

|＾▽＾)ノ

╔══ ≪ °❈° ≫ ══╗

Honestly, Oceanie

╚══ ≪ °❈° ≫ ══╝

#manhwa #manhwa x reader #jeremy agriche x reader #jeremy agrece #rezef hill x reader #regef hill x reader #the villainess is a marionette #the way to protect the heroine's brother #the way to protect the female lead's older brother #gn reader #oceanie writing φ(ﾟｪﾟ♡)#oceanie (✿◠‿◠)

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toomanyplotbunnies-sendhelp · 3 months

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Hello and welcome to Day 26 of "Let's Explore My Plot Bunnies"

I still feel awful 😷

Today, I wanna present to you a kind of long idea that I had a while back. It's a Lout of the Count's Family and Pokemon (Crossover-ish?) idea.

It titled it:

"Into the Unknown: Cale Henituse's new life as a Pokemon Trainer"

The idea centers around the original! Cale Henituse, rather than KRS! Cale. And it's really long - both as in "explaining the idea" long, as well as series of book long because I have prepared Cale's Pokemon Teams for 8 Regions, but story wise I only have about 5 or 6 planned.

Basically, imagine that the Sealed God got wind that Cale's existence (together with Raon's, Ohn, and Hong's) will be his downfall from some Hunter that just wanted to cause chaos around. The Sealed God gets into his head to kill the 4 entities that would pose the most problems to his plans, but the God of Death intercepts the spells send towards Cale, Raon (not named yet), Ohn and Hong and instead of killing them, the spell send the four into another dimension - the Pokemon Dimension. (Arceus basically becomes father to a new child and grandfather to his new three grandchildren)

Cale Henituse is 17 here, Raon is 3 years old, and Ohn and Hong are 9 and 7, respectively.

The four appear in Kalos, near the place that Professor Sycamore was exploring. All of them are unconscious and injured - Cale has more negligible injuries, but Raon, Ohn, and Hong are malnourished and have big injuries.

Sycamore takes them back to his lab and nurses them back to health. Cale is the first one to wake up, and he is very much weary of everything and everyone around him. Professor Sycamore is the one who explains what this world is and that people coming from different worlds are somewhat common here. Although speaking and understanding what others say comes relatively easy for Cale, reading and writing are not as easy. Professor Sycamore takes upon himself to teach Cale how to read and write the alphabet of this world - and basically adopts him as well. (Sycamore already has a child, why not two?)

While Cale is fascinated with the creatures known as Pokemon, Ohn and Hong wake up. They are very much scared of everything and everyone around. The one that calms them down is Cale because he speaks to them in the language of their original world, which is way easier for them to understand.

When Sycamore mentions that there is another one left to wake up, Cale asks who. When Cale sees the baby black dragon, he is very much horrified. His mother, Jour Thames, always said that dragons are creatures that should never be bound, nor treated with disrespect. She taught Cale whatever she knew about these powerful creatures, so when Cale sees the harness on the small black dragon, he immediately tells Sycamore they should remove it since it is actually harming the dragon, rather than helping him or being a normal occurrence for such a creature - like Sycamore thought. (Cut him some slack; Sycamore didn't know if the harness is akin to clothes for humans since different worlds mean different costoms)

Turns out that the little dragon has some severe wounds around his wings, so he shouldn't try to fly anytime soon before he heals. Cale is somewhat worried about that, but the fact that he is in seemingly another world takes precedence in his mind at the moment.

Cale, even after Raon wakes up, still finds no way of getting back to his world. The only clue he has for getting back is the fact that "Legendary Pokemon" - as Sycamore calls them - exist and that they have powers beyond the imagination of humans.

While staying with Sycamore, Cale helps with things such as feeding the Pokemon under Sycamore's care or arranging some files with Alain, Sycamore's adoptive son. (Alain proves to be very much like his father and takes a liking to Cale very quickly, declaring Cale - at least in his mind - his younger brother.) This is how Cale meets an injured Absol with whom he connects during the months he spends at the lab.

The turning point in Cale's stay at the lab is when Sycamore's Garchomp - who is gentle and caring - suddenly turns aggressive. Cale notices there is something attached to her neck, so he and Absol, who wants to help, give chase to Grachomp. Unbeknownst to them, the little black dragon, despite his wing injuries, follows them. The chase stops at the top of Lumiose Tower, where not only do they realize they have a small injured dragon following them, but also Cale has his first taste of a Pokemon Battle together with Absol. Absol's Iron Tail manages to shatter whatever is on Grachomp's neck, and everything seems fine, but the black dragon falls off the tower when the small part of structure he is standing on crumbles. Cale dives after him, knowing that the dragon's wings were injured and they are saved by a Mega Blaziken.

Once this ordeal is over, Cale decides he should try and find a way back to his world. His best bet at the moment is going on a Pokemon journey and trying to find one of the Legendary Pokemon to ask for help. The black dragon is interested in Cale since he is not like all the other humans he has met and decides to follow him around. Ohn and Hong are also quite attached to Cale at this point, and they want to follow.

Cale's Pokemon Partner ends up being Absol, who likes Cale a lot and wants to help him.

And so Cale's adventure in Kalos begins. And many more adventures will follow.

Other things to note:

I have Kalos planned out from what is going to happen to Cale's entire pokemon team. The same goes for like the next 5 or so regions.

In Kalos, Cale will have two companions who remind him of Amiru and Eric. I haven't decided on a name for them yet, but I do know I wanna make them siblings. I want the girl to have a Pachirisu as a Pokemon Partner, while her brother has a Corphish.

Cale's Team for Kalos will be: Absol (who will mega evolve); Fletchling -> Talonflame (1st Pokemon caught); Honedge -> Aegislash (reminds Cale a lot of Beacrox; Caught when Cale explores the Parfum Palace); Croagunk -> Toxicroack (Remind Cale of Ron; saved Cale at one point in the story and decided to go with him cause and I quote "the kid needs protection since he ends up hurt all the time"); Slowpoke -> Slowbro (Slowpoke caught himself when Cale was at Azure Bay and helped move the Slowpoke away from the crowd; loves to lay on Cale's head and nap); Mareep -> Ampharos (caught around Route 12; evolves from Flaffy to Ampharos during the Team Flare take over of the Power Plant)

In this au, the gym leaders of Kalos have a small little test to dwindle the numbers of challengers they get at once. Viola will put kids to take pictures of some bug Pokemon without telling them that said Pokemon are very skittish and don't like loud noises all that much; Grant will make them climb up a wall till they get to its highest point (where the battle platform is) and he will battle them in the order they arrive there; etc.

I am throwing the Pokemon canon into the trash can here. There will be characters that shouldn't be as young as they are here. The reason I am doing this is because I like giving Cale tons of unhinged children to look after.

After Kalos, Cale becomes a researcher assistant and helps Sycamore and Alain with their work. Because of this, Cale is sent to other regions pretty often.

After Kalos, Cale goes to Hoenn, accompanied by Raon, Ohn, Hong and Absol only. There, he will travel the region with Steven Stone, a 16 years old teenager. Steven pretty much loves Cale like a younger brother, and he is kinda unhinged should Cale ever be hurt. In Hoenn, Cale is introduced for the 1st time to Pokemon Contests and participates in them, too. He goes so far as to get into the Grand Festival.

After Hoenn comes Unova, where Cale meets Steven again (Steven basically tricked his father into agreeing with him and letting him leave Hoenn). Cale and Steven also meet the mysterious N, a 15 years old teenager, with whom they end up traveling around. In Unova, Cale is chosen by Reshiram, while N is chosen by Zekrom. The main reason is that during this specific journey, Cale starts accepting that there might not be any way for him to go home - accepting the truth of his situation.

After Unova, Cale goes to Alola to teach at the Pokemon School with Professor Kukui. This was mainly something planned by Sycamore as a way for Cale to relax and not have to get into dangerous situations. Alain is also a helping as a teacher for Professor Rowan's summer camp in Sinnoh at the same time. During this journey, Cale will meet both new and old friends as he is trying to teach the kids at the school about pokemon. They even have a school trip to Hoenn for the Wallace Contest, a pokemon contest that Cale was invited to perform as the opening act of the 3-day-long contest.

After Alola, Cale goes to Sinnoh. Here, he will travel around with Riley and frequently meet with Reggie, a Pokemon Trainer who wants to challenge the Sinnoh League and his younger brother Paul, who is a year shy of getting his own pokemon starter. Cale and the others will have to deal with Team Galactic and their nefarious plans as well as Cale's own fears and doubts about his new life in this world.

Next up, we have Kanto where Cale re-encounters Reggie, who is setting his eyes on the Battle Frontier this time around. Reggie is accompanied by his little brother Paul, who just became a Pokemon Trainer not too long ago and chose Turtwig as his starter. Paul ends up admiring Cale a lot during the journey, while Reggie struggles with whether he wants to continue as a Pokemon Trainer or become a Pokemon Breeder. Cale, on the other hand, has his hand full with some of the revelations from his journey through Sinnoh, as well as the knowledge that a god wants him dead.

Cale got a necklace from his mother when he was young. The necklace was made from an unknown stone that no one in his world could identify. Lo and behold, that necklace was a Key Stone for Mega Evolution. How did Jour get her hands on that? Cale doesn't know yet.

I am very tempted to have Chou Jung Soo and Kim Rok Soo just plop into the Pokemon World at one point and Cale to have to take care of these two. Meanwhile, Lee Soo Hyuk has already reincarnated in the Pokemon World as Sui Khan, a trainer from Hoenn. His first meeting with Cale doesn't go all that well, and they both start on the wrong foot with each other. They do become friends later, tho.

Having Raon, Ohn, and Hong have a more... war-free experience would be good in my eyes. Let the children be children, if not in the canon, then at least here. Just let them enjoy going around the regions with Cale.

Alain is also like Cale. He is someone who appeared as a child from another world. The world in question was KRS's world, and Alain was pretty heavily traumatized by all that went down there. So Sycamore has a lot of hard won experience on how to deal with traumatized children - and he uses it to help Cale too because the kid might not be traumatized like Alain was, but he still shows signs of trauma at the beginning.

I headcannon that Og! Cale learned how to cook from Beacrox when he was little. He is now the resident cook every time he explores a region with other companions.

Trust me, the Sealed God will get his ass handed to him by Cale in the future. As a matter of fact, Cale does grow up during his travels: he is 17 when he goes through Kalos; 18 during Hoenn; turns 19 during Unova; 20 when he teaches in Alola; turns 21 during Sinnoh and is almost 22 when he is in Kanto.

Everything happened because a Hunter wanted to cause as much chaos as possible.

Raon learns to mimic dragon-type moves in this AU. Ohn and Hong also train to be strong too. They just don't get as many opportunities to show off at the moment.

To me, Og! Cale is a cinnamon roll that someone dropped in bitter coffee and forgot about. Which translates to "I wanna cherish him and wrap him in bubble wrap."

And this is about everything I have for this one.

So what do you think? Good? Bad? Let me know!

I know this is a bit late, but I am still sick, so my brain is lagging quite a lot. I also wanna say that all the days until Day 31 will cover very long fic ideas. Also, I have memes prepared for this idea that I will post later today.

Regardless, hope you enjoyed my ramblings. Have a great day/night and take care!

See you next time,

-TooManyPlotBunnies-Send Help

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emhasthoughts · 6 months

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Gertrude and the cat-avatars, pt 4

Summary: The old-cat-crew has finally made their home at Gertrude. There's some darkness, worms and ants involved

Warning: Some very mild Corruption content (nothing in detail)

A/N: Heyyy it's been awhile, huh? Yeah, so I had trouble actually getting these four written down, which is why there's some bonus content and like.... 10 days of nothing.

Thanks to @dcartcorner for getting me to actually finish this thing

As always, not beta read, just me, the document and 3 hours of break between lessons...

Pt 1, Simon, Peter, Elias and Mike / Pt 2, Michael and Helen Distortion, Agnes / Pt 3, Annabelle, Jude, Oliver / Pt 4, You're here! / Pt 5, Jon, Martin, Sasha, Tim / Pt 6, Melanie, Daisy, Basira, Georgie / Pt 7, Jared, Gerry, Nikola / Bonus, a visit to the vet / Halloween bonus!

Simon really had a bad habit of getting older cats to Gertrude’s doorstep. Was it just because she was old? She had no real idea but there she was. In front of an older cat that Simon was proudly standing right next to. The cat was black, the first time she looked at him it felt like watching the void. The eyes watching her were rather dark too. She had named him Maxwell and moved on. Knowing she would not get rid of him easily if Simon had any say in it and Simon had a lot to say.

She got a similar cat two years later. She had been mostly lurking around. Gertrude had first seen her when Maxwell went out on a walk, she had looked outside and seen two nearly identical cats. Though the new one seemed to have a bit more fur on than Maxwell did. Afterwards the cat would spend her time in Gertrude's garden. Causing her to nearly trip over the cat on the darker nights. In the end she let the cat in. Deciding it would be better than harming the cat due to the dark nights approaching. Gertrude had named her Manuela. It fit well enough with Maxwell.

Despite them both being rather calm Gertrude tried her best to never enter whatever room they were in. Sometimes the room would go completely dark, no matter how many lights she had on. It never lasted for long, but Gertrude really preferred having sight.

The last of the older cats that had been making their home in Gertrude’s home was a rather odd one. Though how someone could be more odd than Simon she did not know. (A thought she would later regret ever thinking.) He was similar to Simon in looks, though he was more brown than grey and also bigger than Simon’s tiny body. There was an ill-fitting collar though it did not indicate a name or previous owner. By the smell of him it seemed like he had been alone for a while.

His name was John and would be healthy according to the veterinarian. She was given some medicine to give the cat and hopefully with a better bath John would stop smelling like he was dying.

Gertrude ended up with a similar cat. Which was not really ideal as John would bring with ants for her to kill. Similar to him, the new one would bring in worms. Which was why Gertrude had started to hate when it rained, it just meant that the cat would run outside and bring back as many worms as she possibly could.

The cat was grey with black spots on her body. Most of the time she would spend time outside, mostly in Gertrude’s garden. Something that was not great as she tried to at least take some care of it. Sometimes the cat would wander inside, putting a worm in a flowerpot or as a horrible present. The cat had gotten the name Jane. Figuring out that she probably was the owner of the cat by now.

She was not sure if bringing worms was better than bringing birds or mice to her home.

#gertrude robinson #simon fairchild #john amherst #jane prentiss #maxwell rayner #manuela dominguez #cat avatars #the magnus archives #Said this would be posted tomorrow but I got it done earlier than I thought

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mnemyo · 2 days

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a VERY long essay on V’s Day 7 Visual Novels as a Rika lover

while rika is an extreme version of this, to many mentally ill people “unconditional love” comes off as very burdening, especially for a character like rika who everyone who ever “loved” her before always had a lot of expectations for her to fufill. On a less character defined level,

V’s “unconditional love” is also a trap of sorts, in his story rika describes the “darkness” in herself. you see, if you dont show rika affection whatsoever she doesn’t tell you the root of her ideology, however, if you side with her in the rika vn sequences she tells you the story of her darkness and light (im aware she explains some of it even if you reject her but there is more when you embrace and sympathize with her) basically her analogy is

her darkness is not inherently born in her, her darkness is the trauma and negative feelings others inflicted onto her in her upbringing.

the darkness used to externally present as tears (sadness) until people responded to that, too, with more darkness.

In response to that darkness, she developed severe anthropophobia (fear of humans) until she was able to suppress her phobia by finding a way to suppress her crying. her tears stopped coming out but they were still there behind her smile, just welling up on the inside until she was so full of tears. the body needed to expel tears because there was no more space

unfortunately, the way the excess tears came out wasn’t by the physical tears coming out, rather, through extinguishing her own darkness (harming others, abused becomes the abuser) she lists these things that would expel tears: cry, yell, and do something others would hate.

(at this point you can comment on how you think she’d be pretty when she’s finally able to cry and notably rika is grateful but comments that the mc, too, looks like shes going to cry, this shows the scene is meant to be in a sympathetic lens)

continuing her ideology she says one day she found a devil swimming in the tears inside her.

the devil whispered to her her incecurities: that she was unlovable, that her fiancée secretly hated her, that she was worthless.

This caused her to cling further to V (her fiancée) because the ‘devil’ was sustained by her tears, and she desperately wanted to kill that devil by drying her tears. V has an obsessive ideology with loving someone like the sun, drying all of someone’s tears and vanquishing the devil inside them, an unconditional all encompassing love.

while V encompassed her in this love, she had a realization that this devil that kept telling her she was worthless and unlovable, was actually herself, the herself that was deeply hurt in her childhood and was alone for so long. immediately she became terrified, terrified of this man who so devotedly wanted to kill her devil she asked him to spare the devil, to stop this sun like love that would one day reduce her to nothingness but he refused, so she ran away to start a cult of people, like her, so filled with darkness.

she actually comments at this point that she wont save those in agony through freedom and charity (the way she tried to get mentally better before, by starting a charity organization) and that not everyone can be saved by freedom and charity, rather need fear and salvation.

another interesting thing is that she says V will never be right in rejecting her ideology UNLESS he sacrifices himself to blind her with his light, in which case she would lose everything (this happens in another route where he dies for her and she permanently enters a catatonic hollow-to-life state where she can’t even talk and is sent to a mental hospital abroad because no one can take care of her other than a specialist) she ends this conversation by posing the mc a question. when she one day has to make the decision (this conversation happens during v’s route where you get together with him) the decision being independence (what she chose) or stableness (v’s all consuming light)

there within hides the reason why the game says v’s all consuming, sun like love is negative. theres 2 reasons

1. his all consuming unconditional love is self-sacrifical and is thusly even more burdensome

2. this also expands on part 1, this love is stable but also causes a deep codependency, even if V did “fix her” who would she be? she only knew herself as consumed by darkness before but who would she be after? a product of v? v’s wife? she wouldn’t be able to recognize herself

she also states that to her love is both light and devil, love being described by her as the duality of trust + healing but also obsession and possession. she then states that v’s love doesn’t contain any obsession (while sounding negative a light version of obsession in a relationship is a good thing, think your thoughts being filled by your loved one and with possession theres jealousy and a desire for them to stay with you) without those two aspects the love is only light and endless undeserved trust is a bad thing and too much healing doesn’t let one take time to process each stage of a deep set wound, healing is meant to be a full process and sometimes there needs to be pauses in the process to *be able* to mentally process

another thing rika comments is that v wants her to torture herself which is what starts her explaining her darkness ideology, even commenting that no one ever asked her about her darkness before

this is concerning because if no one asked her about this before that includes v that means v knew next to nothing about all her trauma (theres a lot)

non conclusive list of rikas trauma:

- shes an orphan abandoned by her parents

- she was adopted by a abusive religious family and was abused and even implied sa by their priest (i’ll get back to this in a second)

- when she ran away from her adoptive family she went to a lot of trouble to find her biological family, not her parents rather her step-parents (this doesn’t really make sense as a statement but thats what she states, probably makes more sense in og korean) and said step parents also abused her!

- she was also bullied in school for being a not cheerful girl

she states to all this trauma that she didn’t even know there was light in the world, since all she’s known was darkness, that she thought she was born to be tormented and tortured or she wouldn’t have a purpose to live

now going back to the catholic priest abuse, this is most likely why she sees herself as the devil and why devil isn’t an inherently bad thing to her.

all this really to say that while a lot of what rika did is inexcusable like man after that whole life she lived + when she ran away to start a cult V instead of telling her friends and cousin she was mentally ill the entire time she’s known them he tell them that she killed herself! because he is so dead set on “shouldering the pain he caused on his own” he socially isolates the only other people who can show her light, ESPECIALLY since rika comments that the RFA all have their own darkness.

Thank you if you’ve read this far! I have a lot of thoughts about Rika my friends are sick of me. This is not to say any of rikas actions aren’t bad by any means but I think she’s a wonderfully complex character that i find easy to sympathize with and for any fellow Rika lovers (or someone who just wants to understand rika more) I would recommend reading the day 7 vn’s in her own words, she says more details if you side with her more.

#mystic messenger #rika mystic messenger #rika mysme #mysmes #mysme #rika kim #please give rika more love #this woman consumes my every waking moment

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bug-the-chicken-nug · 1 year

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At the risk of sounding egotistical, I just had what strikes me as a relatively small but still pretty poggers, perhaps even galaxy brain rwby idea:

Oscar now being Ruby's one actual pre-existing friend, an underclassmen from Signal, so that there's actually someone she's talking about when she brings up Signal friends early on, and so that we get some idea of who Oscar is and why he matters without Ozpin inside of him.

He hardly even needs to literally show up at first, just have Ruby writing and calling him periodically, especially when she needs advice and wants someone more level-headed than Yang to chime in.

Establishing that even though he's younger than Ruby, Ruby still thinks of him as responsible, down-to-earth, and wise beyond his years, drawing an early comparison between him and Ozpin.

(Especially funny if you don't reveal him beyond his writing for a bit, and Ruby's regard for him builds up an expectation in you that he's her wise senpai, or perhaps some sort of teacher's aide she was on good terms with... And then reveal this person who is apparently so smart and insightful and helpful to her is fucking 13.)

On his end though, this is largely because he just has a big case of Forced To Grow Up Too Fastitis, because he's only lived in Patch since he was 10, before that living in the canonical farm with his aunt AND his actual, still-living parents before an attack not by Grimm, but bandits. (Which then CAUSED a followup Grimm attack due to the commotion, but still.)

Leading to him and his aunt being the only survivors and fleeing to stay with a different relative in Patch. Except his relative lowkey kinda thinks he and his aunt are a burden, and his aunt's grief has made her emotionally unavailable and somewhat neglectful, and so Oscar's new home life.... kinda fuckin sucks tbh!!!!

So now you've got this sullen, grieving boy who doesn't want to deal with other people, wanders off into the woods alone, and nearly becomes Grimm chow (with an uncomfortable implication that this wasn't quite an accident and he sort of had a death wish).

But Ruby happens to be out there because she ALSO likes running off to be alone sometimes (and also sometimes she likes to secretly run experiments with the kinds of weapons tests so risky that neither Signal or her father ever actually approved of them)

So she saves Oscar and his eyes go from dull and lifeless to big and sparkly as he pretty much just kinda. Metaphorically stuffs Ruby (and the whole ideal of Hunting she now represents to him) into the gaping hole in his heart and makes it basically his purpose in life to be like her (his idealized version of her) now. (He is soooo normal and mentally healthy. This is such a normal and mentally healthy thing to do. Please believe him.)

The specific fact that his main tragedy was really caused by bandits is something I did because I also wanted him to develop trust issues (Oh would you look at that, Ozpin parallel again), and also to like. More quickly and strongly establish that bandits are like. A tangible and threatening phenomenon in their world that harms people the viewer actually cares about, rather than just relying on a sudden plot with Weiss being kidnapped for that.

So Oscar kind of has to balance his having seen the worst in people and his underlying misanthropy with "I don't want anyone to suffer like I did" and his desire to be a True Hunter, which in his mind should involve Loving And Protecting Everybody.

And then in v3 he actually like shows up in the present day, having Absolutely Fucking Not been content to watch the Vytal Festival from home if Ruby would Actually Be There

Which is all well and good and Ruby is glad to see him and he seems like kinda just a fun little guy to have around, but then Shit Goes Down and Oscar, full of a Perfect Cocktail of Survivor's Guilt, Hero Complex, and The Need To Impress Senpai, goes "DON'T WORRY. I CAN HELP."

Ruby, eyes going cartoonishly huge and popping out of her skull: DO NOT!!!!

Which he fortunately disobeys, giving him time to show off his own self-made weapon and his fighting style and his other little quirks, and luckily he actually does manage to be decently helpful!

But then he eats shit and gets in trouble so uh. Not yay.

Also not to be an edgelord but I feel like it could be interesting here if Oscar specifically eats shit because of Roman... And then...

It REALLY IS Ruby's fault Roman dies?

Like it is still kind of an accident, he has Oscar in a chokehold and Ruby really just wants him to let go, but he gets cocky, does a villain monologue, lets his guard down, forgets just *how* super Ruby's super speed can really be when you piss her off, and-

She pulls a flawless *teleports behind you* and then, she just swings her scythe as fast as she can in a single-minded adrenaline-and-Semblance-fueled fugue state, and because his guard is down, uh,

OOPS.

So then Ruby and Oscar gotta unpack all this at some point, but NOT NOW, cause Oscar passes out from injury, shock, and exhaustion, and the next time he wakes up, our good ol' Ozzed Pin is in his head now.

Also I like the other edgy idea I have where this Oscar got a Semblance, only for it to turn out that when Ozpin gets into your head, he involuntarily "eats" your Semblance, and/or part of your Aura, to help stabilize and restore his own soul, because dying and transferring hosts is a traumatic process that causes him to accrue spiritual/metaphysical "damage" and "wear" over time. As not every host can offer enough to fully offset the wear, this is another reason why his magic keeps weakening over time.

Basically just to make it more immediately and obviously a serious and uncomfortable conflict to be emotionally invested in. (And to be something to contribute to stoking the fires of a more believable anti-Ozpin uproar from the other characters, who wouldn't immediately know or all initially believe that Ozpin doesn't absorb part of your power on purpose, and literally can't give it back.)

#rwby #rwde #oscar pine

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zeldahime · 3 months

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Highway to Pail Day 22

[Day 1] [Prev] [Next] @do-it-with-style-events

February 22: What kind of cigarettes do angels have? Holy Smokes!

Aziraphale was having a miserable time trying to kick the habit. He didn't even want to, really, but unlike his other vices, this one apparently managed to cause cancer in humans just by their being around it, and he wanted to avoid unnecessary harm more than he wanted to indulge in the pleasure of a good long smoke.

Unfortunately for him, Aziraphale had seen enough of his neighbors in Soho quit tobacco over the centuries, and especially the last three decades, to know what to expect*. Irritability, cravings, increased appetite, restlessness: all common symptoms. All symptoms the angel was experiencing right now.

He glowered at a young woman who had entered his shop with her eyes on his first-edition Milne, handbag at the ready, until she gave up her nerve and left to threaten some other bookseller with buying their precious books. He paced behind his desk, unable to focus on any the new novels crowding his desk or on any of his favorites. He thought about dinner at the Ritz with Crowley with unusual fervor, his stomach actually grumbling in the way it usually didn't.

He really wanted a damned cigarette.

By the time Crowley swung in his blasted automobile, Aziraphale was three days clean and quite ready to bite his head off (or someone's head, anyway).

"Must you make such a racket?" he demanded in lieu of greeting, having bustled out of the bookshop as soon as he heard Crowley lay down his horn outside. (He'd forgotten to flip the sign and lock the door, but the bookshop knew to do that itself anyway.) Crowley's answering smirk and wink—and how did he always make sure it was clear he was winking through those dratted glasses, anyway—only irritated him further. "You may not care what your neighbors think of you, but I actually live with mine."

"I care!" Crowley protested. "I make sure they're good and frightened of that terrifying stranger who haunts the top floor, don't I?"

Aziraphale gave Crowley a once-over and sniffed.

"Yes, the terrifying stranger who dresses like a junior MP; I'm sure they're all quaking in their boots."

"I'll show you boots," Crowley grumbled, and turned the radio to bebop to get out of this conversation. Aziraphale took the forfeit as a win, restoring his mood slightly.

Eating also helped. Aziraphale's conversational snipes subsided somewhat once they were served and generally changed target from Crowley himself to the ideas presented. By dessert, Aziraphale felt nearly himself again, though his lungs still craved the bright grassy smoke of his Sweet Aftons.

Not that he had Sweet Aftons anymore. He'd smoked his last pack before quitting, to make sure that temptation did not lurk in his bookshop. He knew well how temptation worked, and would not fall prey to it unless he really wanted to (see: exhibit Crowley).

"So what bee's gotten into your bonnet today, angel?" Crowley asked as Aziraphale finished his pudding and dabbed at his face with a napkin, a gentle smile on his face. "That Thompson bloke try to buy your Wildes again?"

"Edmund Thompson will never get his hands on my Dorian Gray, no matter how many times he bats his eyelashes at me," Aziraphale said primly, "and he should jolly well know it by now." Crowley's suppressed laughter at his irritation was at least as sweet as any Virginia blend, Aziraphale thought.

He still rather badly wanted a cigarette, but it wouldn't be so bad; he was used to wanting things he wasn't allowed to have, and the pleasure of Crowley's company was always a balm to it.

*Crowley, who would quit smoking in two years because he'd be assigned to working some Phillip Morris executives in America before realizing exactly how evil they already were on their own, did not know what the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal were, and therefore would not experience any of them.

Author's note:

I would like to thank people on this pipe-smoking forum for actually talking about what tobacco tastes like instead of delivering a lecture on why I shouldn't start smoking. I know that already, Reddit! That's why I'm Googling it instead of smoking it myself!

I mentally set this in the mid-to-late 90s, since it seemed like that was about when the dangers of second-hand smoke began to percolate out to the public. Smoking bans in the UK seem to have begun in 1987, but they also seem to have been primarily fire-safety bans, not public health bans, until 2006. The 90s seemed like a good compromise position.

I chose Sweet Aftons for Aziraphale for a couple reasons: 1) they had a literary name and history; 2) they were unfiltered and single-source, which seems like an especially Aziraphale way to smoke; and 3) I liked the way the name sounds and looks!

#my writing #do it with style events #highway to pail #good omens #good omens fanfiction #aziraphale #aziracrow #azicrow #ineffable husbands

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wildissylupus · 10 months

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Ashe, Lucio and Kiriko, Leaders in they're own right

I kind of want to talk about Ashe, Kiriko and Lucio's possible dynamic cause I think they're a lot of interesting things to talk about there. Specifically they've been doing the vigilante/freedom fighter/illegal group thing a lot longer than most of the other Overwatch affiliated characters. They're leaders of they're own groups and often stand up in the face of corrupt authority, Lucio with Vishkar, Kiriko with the Hashimoto, and Ashe with the Diamondbacks.

I think them having this in common would be interesting especially in the regard of leadership, especially considering Ashe has been the leader of Deadlock for decades at this point. Both Kiriko and Lucio are rather new to the leader scene (as far as I know) and the fact that what they're doing is less than legal has been pointed out by multiple characters (mostly Pharah and Symetra). So Ashe taking a mentor role could be a possibility cause as we've seen, Ashe has made mistakes but unlike with other leader characters we've seen, that didn't stop her from moving forward, she learnt, pulled herself up, and continued with a new perspective, unlike with Jack and Reyes, once she was called out on her bullshit by her team, she instantly listened and learned.

In the mentor side of things I think she'd more take to Kiriko than with Lucio, but I will get into how I think she could be an influence in his arc. Kiriko in her short story shows a lot of concern for the Yokai, she appears to be the only adult in a group of ragtag teenagers. Similar to Ashe when she started out, other than Frankie than later Benz, Ashe was the eldest member of the initial group and she was immediately in the leader position. I could defiantly see Kiriko worrying about making the right choice in certain situations or questioning her ability as a leader and Ashe telling her about the founding days of Deadlock, how a lot of things went to shit but she continued to push forward.

There's also the fact that the Diamondbacks and the Hashimoto do have a lot of similarities. Both are highly aggressive groups that even other similar groups disapprove of or are against, both abuse the power they have and both solely benefit off the suffering of their communities.

Now with Lucio I think Ashe would be an influence in one specific way, getting him to trust Symetra and Lifeweaver. Ashe made the mistake of questioning Frankie, someone who was previously associated with the Diamonbacks, and almost paid a severe price for it. Not only that but a majority of early Deadlock members were ex-Diamondback members. I think Ashe would be a character to greatly help Lucio in talking about her experience with that. Even if that isn't the case I do still see her, if Lucio starts to get petty with Symetra specifically, telling him that maybe he shouldn't hold grudges against teammates during the middle of a global crisis.

Now with all that said I do think that these two would help Ashe's arc, to clarify, one of my theories is that due to this new Omnic Crisis, Deadlock is going to change from an arms dealing gang, to a vigilante group. This is because if Ashe were to keeping doing arms dealing during the Crisis, she'd just be following in her parents footsteps. Taking advantage of a situation where everyone else around you is suffering. She's shown multiple times both in the present and in the novel that she doesn't want to be like her parents, that unlike them, she understands the harm and tragedy of the Crisis.

All this being said I think her interactions with Overwatch, specifically Kiriko and Lucio (and other character but this ain't about them), will be a big influence in that direction. Do I think Ashe is going to become lawful, absolutely not, but I do see Deadlock taking the Blackwatch role, in a less extreme way but still taking that role. Taking care of the things that this New Overwatch can't really handle, and with Ashe. with what I said before, actually listening to her crew, it leads to a more hopeful outcome then what happened to the actual Blackwatch and with Deadlock actually being a separate organization to Overwatch it gives Deadlock the freedom Blackwatch lacked.

Honestly I just think Ashe is an interesting character to explore in the possible dynamics, cause unlike a lot of the New Bloods, Ashe has a shit tone of experience with post-crisis dealings, how the criminal underworld works and the effect the Crisis had on a lot of people, both positive and negative.

#overwatch #overwatch 2 #overwatch lore #overwatch headcanons #analysis #ashe overwatch #overwatch theories #elizabeth caledonia ashe #ashe joins overwatch #elizabeth caledonia calamity ashe #kiriko ow #kiriko yamagami #kiriko kamori #kiriko #lucio ow #Lucio Correia dos Santos

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archivalofsins · 3 months

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It will forever be wild to me that everyone else in Milgram had to stand on their own merit, but Kazui and Amane just teamed up for a fucking bit voting wise. Kazui was over there suffering until Purge March came out. Then Amane was just suffering in general. They're both the lowest innocent percentage.

They're just in here, "Yeah, that's good, I guess." We both got fucked over by a majority of the audience just wanting us to get worse at the end of the day so it's whatever. I hope they're both petty enough to go, "Oh, you wanted worse huh let me give you that real quick."

Both of their trials were like objectively the funniest in hindsight. Because it boiled down to a bunch of people for Kazui going what's worse, causing direct and purposeful harm to someone or telling a person the truth. Telling the person the truth, he should've kept lying if he started off that way.

Which is literally what he said when he fucking got here-

Q.18 Do you regret your “murder”?

Kazui: I regret it. I wish I could’ve just kept lying.

Then, he reiterated that throughout his second voice drama. So, anyone who was using that logic to find him guilty was just agreeing with a mindset he already had. Which wouldn't have made him worse it more than likely would have made him go,

"So you've finally saw through all the nonsense. I guess I didn't overestimate Milgram after all."

Since he's paired with Amane because, in contrast to her, he wants a guilty verdict while Amane wants to be found innocent. They both admit to being disappointed with Es and Milgram in their second voice dramas. Because they can't see how a system like this isn't coming to what they believe is the right conclusion.

But Kazui is unlike the other prisoners in the fact that he's not really committed to either verdict. He's literally half in half out. If he's innocent, he's just as willing to sit back and enjoy the ride rather than complain like Yuno does.

Then, with Amane it's literally like okay she's gonna get worse regardless. Milgram isn't going to become a safer environment because this one person is guilty. Definitely didn't make it safer last intermission. So, what do individuals personally want their impact to be?

Is it about the crime like with Kazui? He just did something bad, so it suddenly doesn't matter that he's guarding people in the prison. Or is it about the impact the character can have presently? Amane may attack Shidou, which would not only negatively impact Shidou but Mahiru and anyone else who happens to get injured later as well.

The double standards in reasoning when it came to both of their trials really emphasizes what Yuno, Futa, and Mu implied in their second trial songs. That the audience actually doesn't have any morals, and most people are just doing this for fun because they're bored. When really they should be minding their own business if they don't want to think about it that deeply.

It takes absolutely zero energy to not engage in something that one does not want to engage with. All of trial two can be summed up as either mind your business or keep enabling me. Kazui and Amane's second trials highlight this the most, in my opinion.

Something that won't stop being funny to me.

#gunsli rambles

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meganlpie · 2 years

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After Azkaban

Based on this request: Hey Meg!! I was wondering if you could write an emotional reunion with Post Azkaban Sirius Black?? Maybe female reader being kinda upset that he didnt come to her when he escaped so that she could help him?? (She knew that he couldnt have done what he was accused of, not with the way he loved james) maybe something angsty with a happy ending (like them picking up where they left off before he was shipped off to azkaban??) I know it’s a lot and I’ll understand if you pass on it💙💙💙 by @gollyderek

Here you are!! It’s Ducky’s bday and y’all are getting a present too! *I do not own ANY HP characters. They are, unfortunately, the property of Rowling.*

Warnings: mentions of Azkaban, angsty-fluff, it’s a bit short.

Pairings: Sirius Black x fem!reader

Your heart nearly broke into a million pieces as you read the paper. Sirius had escaped from Azkaban. No one had ever done that before, but he managed. So why hadn't he come to you? Why, after all these years, did he not come to you first? Did he think you believed the lies you'd been told? You knew he was innocent. He'd loved James and you far too much to be responsible for James and Lily's deaths as well as all those Muggles.

You fought back your tears, rose from your seat, and Apparated back to 12 Grimmauld Place. You spent time there on occasion, usually only to check up on Kreacher. And now, you hoped Sirius would end up there, though you knew it was unlikely. It would be the first place the Ministry would look for him. You didn't know where else would he go, but you only hoped you could see him again sooner rather than later.

Once inside, you ignored the portrait of Sirius and Regulus' mother as she screamed at you. You did smile at Kreacher and thanked him before you made your way to the room you'd once shared with Sirius. You were pleased to see that it was still clean despite Kreacher still being loyal to the late Mrs. Black. The room had lost all of the scent of your lover, but the memories came unbidden. Without even meaning to you sank down on the bed, hugging what had been Sirius' pillow to your chest. You missed him still. Twelve years had passed and you couldn't stop missing him. Couldn't stop loving him.

*time skip*

Months. It had been months since Sirius had escaped and you had yet to see him. Sometimes, if you looked quickly enough you swore you saw a large black dog watching you but when you looked again, it was gone. You really hoped it was Sirius but you were beginning to lose that hope with every passing day. Just when it seemed you would never see the man you loved again, he finally appeared.

You Apparated to 12 Grimmauld Place again to check on Kreacher only to pull to a stop when you saw him. His hair was much longer and his eyes held a bit of madness to them. His wand was pointed at you in a defensive manner. You figured he hadn't guessed that you charmed the house against anyone wishing him or you harm.

"S-Sirius? Is that really you?" His eyes widened and for a moment, he looked like the younger man you remembered. "Y/N? I must be dreaming. You wouldn't be here otherwise." Tears pricked your eyes, causing him to lower his wand slightly. "It's me, Sirius. I swear. I-I put a charm on the house to protect myself and you when I heard you'd escaped." At that, Sirius lowered his wand completely, actually dropping it to the floor.

In an instant, he was right in front of you. His hands were shaking as he reached up to hold your face. Rough, calloused thumbs wiped the tears now falling down your cheeks. "I'm real," you whispered as his deep eyes stared into yours. "Y/N. My Y/N." Sirius voice was still so soft and he looked as if he couldn't believe it. "I dreamed of you. Every night. It was the only thing that kept me from going well and truly mad," he admitted.

"I dreamed of you too. I never thought I'd see you again." Sirius began crying tears of his own as he continued to cup your face. For a few moments, the two of you simply stood there, lost in each others' gaze. Those dark eyes of his were swimming with emotion and you swore you were about to drown in them.

"Sirius?" He hummed a bit in response, his thumb still stroking your cheek. You let yourself smile. "No offense, love, but you stink. Horribly so." Sirius merely stared at you in disbelief for a moment before laughter burst from his lips, deep and clear. Your own giggles join in a second later.

"Shall we continue this later then? After a bath?" You gave a nod as you continued to smile at him. Sirius pulled away from you a bit and placed a chaste kiss to your forehead. "I love you," he whispered. "I love you, too. Now go on." He laughed once more then walked away. You shook your head fondly at the man you loved. You knew your troubles were far from over unless and until the Ministry exonerated him, but you were determined to enjoy the time you had with him now. And you hoped that, one day, the two of you could finally have your happily ever after.

(a/n: I hope this is what you were looking for!)

Forever Tags: @fizzyxcustard @brewsthespirit-blog @sirkekselord @aikibriarrose @lady-of-lies @esoltis280 @stories-by-shanna-p @motleymoose @dark-angel-is-back @supernatural4life2022

Sirius Black Tags: @evyiione

All Tag lists are OPEN!

#rowling #golden trio era #sirius black #sirius black x reader #sirius x reader

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utilitycaster · 2 years

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genuine question: why do you think the bells hells (and fandom at-large) keep including fearne in their “going to explode and kill us some day” group? like objectively laudna, imogen, fcg and chet have attacked others, but fearne hasn’t?

is it just her general fey morality issues? do they think she’s just too reckless and it’ll affect them? i guess i just don’t understand why they keep making a point to reinforce that she could?

This is a very good question, and I think it comes down to the nature of Bells Hells as a group and some valid observations from Orym in particular; and also, as with many things, is unwittingly reflected, warped, and magnified in fandom perception.

It's worth noting that Imogen hasn't attacked others - notably, her loss of control preserved the statuses of all of her party members while leveling a city block. She's done splash AOE damage to others but that's just the nature of AOE for any spellcaster. Similarly, any harm Ashton has done has been to FCG and Imogen while they were delving into their mind, and was unwitting and is easy to avoid. Chetney, Laudna, and FCG are the only party members who are actual, proven powder kegs, and all three are looking into solutions, with varying degrees of commitment and success.

So: Imogen, Ashton, and Fearne all fall into a category of "have somewhat unpredictable powers, and/or a penchant for causing problems on purpose", rather than "might kill us". It's worth noting that in the first conversation covering this territory, following FCG's murder spree, Orym specifically does just cite Fearne's thievery causing problems, so yes, it is an issue of recklessness rather than actual loss of control. (Also worth noting that, while Orym was interrupted, he does not include Imogen on the list of people who might freak out, along with himself). Meanwhile, in this episode, it's a case of Imogen and Ashton both feeling that their own powers are a problem even though that might not be the case, and believing the same of Fearne.

Now, the interesting parts:

First, Orym has in fact seen Dark Fearne in EXU attack him, and so I think he is in fact aware that there is a future, however unlikely, where Fearne does snap. I suspect, out of game, this future is no longer really an option since Fearne met her parents and learned that the postcards were a lie from Morri, and handled it fairly maturely; but it is something she and Orym have both seen.

I also think that Bells Hells, a group that is best defined as "fences make good neighbors, but also the conflict avoidance is consistently getting in the way of deeper bonding", are very invested in-universe in trying to smooth over the uncomfortable truth that actually, yeah, Chetney, Laudna, and FCG could fully lose control in a way that isn't true of anyone else. This is a whole other post about like, fandom and stories and D&D in general but Brennan's line in the EXU Calamity wrap-up about not everyone getting the same number of Christmas presents constantly echoes in my mind and I think that Imogen and Orym, two of the more tactful members of the party, are really reluctant to say "no, this really is mostly a Chet, Laudna, and FCG problem." And when you add that Imogen and Ashton do legitimately have powers they don't totally understand and have manifested in strange ways, just haven't caused them to snap in the same way the top table has, then yeah, it's easy to throw Fearne into that category. In short, the ambiguity of snapping meaning like, a mechanical loss of will and control over one's self vs. losing one's temper is also playing a big part here.

Finally, it's worth noting that after episode 3x31 it was very common for people to say that they suspect Orym is a powder keg himself, even though I think that's absolutely not true. Orym is someone entirely dedicated to service of others, and I think in his own way needs to be needed and useful just as much as Laudna does. And so while Ashton understandably tells him that he needs to have an outlet and take care of himself, and that they would personally hate being "the good one", Orym is perfectly content to be the good one. But the fandom did not think this, and I think that ties back into the "everyone gets the same number of Christmas presents" mentality, which, again, separate post, but is even stronger as a fandom perception than as Bells Hells' philosophy.

#answered #megabees #critical role spoilers #cr meta #long post #critical role

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childlikegoblinqueen · 1 year

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Writing Notes! Boscha is Extremely Petty.

When writing both Boscha present and flashbacks, I wondered for a bit if I was going too hard on her, but she's pretty terrible in canon.

Thinking about the episode where she begins her day by looking in the mirror and saying,

"You are talented. You are a star. You may be hated, so long as you are feared. Most important of all, you are a winner."

A lot of the themes I love in TOH is how showing/having kindness can change hearts ... but there are limits *cough*Belos*cough*.

Boscha hadn't seemed to learn from any of her actions even after she lost Amity (and presumably Skara? I wish we got to see more Skara redemption.)

More below and a POSSIBLE track for the next chapter.

Lemme know if you want any writing notes for the current short side story.

In flashbacks, Hunter ends up winning over a few of his classmates without really trying. Rather he wins them over just by being his regular weirdo self. He's smart, and genuinely happy to (info-dump) talk about all the stuff he is passionate about, especially wild magic, and Flier Derby.

He's also a loyal friend, which endears him to some of his classmates. Unfortunately, his general trauma, mixed with the trauma caused by the constant gaze of the tabloids and the paparazzo drive him further inward, and continue to trigger him in addition to his actual triggers.

Boscha craves power and notoriety. She thrives on fear and is happy to stomp on whomever she considers "weak". While Hunter is NOT actually weak, Boscha sees him as a target for a bunch of reasons. First, Amity willingly chooses to sit with him in potions class, a stark reminder that Amity chose Luz over Boscha herself.

Because Hunter is eager to mix wild magic, something he knows a great deal about into his classwork, he is surpassing her in potions class, which should be Boscha's sweet spot. As Professor Elixiria mentioned in the last flashback, Boscha is very good, but she lacks finesse. She is thinking backward, which Hunter (and Luz) are thinking forward and it is attracting the attention of those Boscha had once held power over.

Then there is Hunter's relationship to Willow both as a boyfriend, and a Teammate on the Emerald Entrails (something that helped her gain confidence and respect.) As well the fact that Skara seems to have left Boscha for this crowd as well.

Then there is the grimwalker stigma.

Technically, Hunter could beat her in combat. Boscha realizes this. But she knows that he wants to put violence behind him, and she's chosen to exploit the things that trigger him as a way to get to punish those who love him. Mainly those Boscha sees as traitors and weaker classmates who are now better liked than she is -- without using fear as a driver.

In the present, when we meet Boscha, she has lost her status as a pro grudgeby player and has taken a tabloid job to professionally bully people. So what better target than those she blames for the downfall of her social status who are living their best lives.

In both present and future, the image of the Golden Guard is deeply upsetting to Hunter, because it represents a lie that was meant to kill him and remind him of a time that he caused harm and didn’t like who he was.

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burnwater13 · 2 months

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Cad Bane firing his blaster at an unseen target on the streets of Mos Espa, on Tatooine, during the Pyke attack against Boba Fett. Image from The Book of Boba Fett, Season 1, Episode 7, In the Name of Honor. Calendar by DataWorks.

Tatooine didn’t get storms very often, but when they did, they were loud, long, and annoying. At least that’s how Grogu viewed them. His dad wouldn’t let him go outside and try to use the Force to stop them. Fennec wouldn’t let him explore the palace, for he didn’t know what good reason. Thank goodness, Daimyo Fett was willing to tell him a story.

“I know most of your stories start out ‘It was a dark and stormy night’ or ‘Once upon a time’, or ‘Three Mandalorians walked into a tavern’, but this story starts out on a bright, sunny day, here on Tatooine.”

The Daimyo seemed rather serious, but then maybe he was worried about the storm outside. Grogu settled in and grabbed a gorg on a stick to eat and listened.

“I had not planned on making Tatooine my home. I have lived many places, none really better than the others. Certainly they each have their own special features. The plains of Lothal. The beaches of Cantonica. The rolling hills of Kashyyyk. But they all have their problems too. Corporations taking over. The Empire trying to destroy the place. Syndicates trying to take over and destroy the place. Take your pick, most planets have problems that are too hard for one person to fix. But not Tatooine. Here a single person can make their mark.”

Grogu heard Fennec cough sharply in the background and wondered if she was coming down with a cold.

“Of course, it helps to have friends, something I was sorely lacking as a youngling. I had ‘Associates’… ‘Mentors’… ‘Bosses’. Let me assure you, they were all the same. They wanted me to use my skills to make them wealthy or powerful or both. But when you are young you are too excited. Its all new and wonderful. You think you have the power and that is exhilarating. Like piloting a starship for the very first time. It’s fun and purposeful. If you are lucky, you grow older and you realize that it’s boring. It’s a routine. And no matter what any planet looks like, they are actually all the same. There are people in charge and deals to made and people who benefit from those deals and people who are harmed by them. Eventually, you either become complacent or you become disgusted. I became disgusted.”

Grogu was surprised to find that Fennec was now sitting right next to him and she was also eating a gorg on a stick.

“So when I survived that sarlacc pit, I promised myself I would work for no one but myself. Whatever goals or choices were presented would be ones I wanted and cared about and not what anyone else put in front of me. So, as you know, I became Daimyo of Mos Espa and the de facto leader of Tatooine itself.

I like this work, mostly. I get to help people. I get to spend my time on things that I care about. And, I get to remove the people from this planet who cause it problems. That is a grave responsibility.”

“Just like the shallow pit I have the Gamorreans push them into.”

Fennec joked softly. Grogu hoped it was a joke. If you wanted things to stay where you put them, the pit couldn’t be shallow. Even on Tatooine. Or maybe especially on Tatooine.

“Fennec, don’t give the child the wrong impression. I am trying to be a force of good here. Yes, we make a certain amount of profit, but then we use that to improve our access to water or the safety of our starship ports and cities. Things that make life more pleasant here, despite our ongoing dispute with Nature.”

“Sure, Boss. I forgot. This is a bedtime story.”

Grogu would have pinched Fennec for that, but he knew that she would just pinch him back.

“Thank you Fennec. That is how I found myself, on the streets of Mos Espa, standing against Cad Bane, while you and your dad were dealing with the Scorpenek annihilator droids, and Fennec was taking care of other problems. I don’t think I’ve ever told you that Bane was once my mentor and I thought, my friend. But I should have known that Cad Bane’s only friend was himself and the only lesson he cared about was how to take care of himself.

Bane was the one helping the Pykes secure the spice trade here after Jabba the Hutt was gone. Which meant that Bane was the one who put the Pykes up to killing the Sandpeople who saved me and made me part of their family. He was also the one who tried to kill your friend the marshal, Cobb Vanth. Learning that was not easy. To realize that he had no regard for me at all or the work we had done together… it helped me come to terms with who I wanted to be. The Daimyo of Mos Espa and Tatooine would never let a mercenary like Bane have free run of their planet.”

Daimyo Fett paused and Grogu and Fennec both reached for the same Gorg on a stick and then let go, each wanting the other to have it.

“So like that storm out there, I felt my ancestors call for me to make things right. If Tatooine was to be my home then Cad Bane could not exist upon it, nor could he foul any other place with his selfish disregard for everyone else. And so he was ended, with the tool the Sandpeople had gifted me, my own Gaffi stick, on the streets of Mos Espa, in the dirt, where such criminals belong.”

They were all silent for a moment, thinking about the Daimyo’s words.

“I suppose it would have been fitting if we had collected any bounty that had been on his head.”

The Daimyo spoke softly and broke the tension in the room. Grogu nodded his head and considered the Daimyo’s words. Fennec, on the other hand, disappeared as she so often did. Grogu wondered what she was up to, and then he remembered seeing Fennec discussing something with the Majordomo and Peli. Did she ask them to bring Cad Bane in cold? Or to arrange it? Hmmm. His dad had stowed something strange in the N-1. Grogu thought it was just a bag of black melons. But maybe? No. Who would do that? Not a Mandalorian. Nope. Never.

“Come along Grogu. Let’s visit the rancor. He doesn’t like these storms either and if Fennec is feeding him something or someone, I want to know about it.”

With that Grogu followed the Daimyo on their next adventure, the mystery of what happened to Can Bane ignored at least for a little while longer.

#calendar prompt a day #grogu #the book of boba fett #din djarin #boba fett #fennec shand

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