#for those curious yes they are canon siblings

[soup--champ]

the siblings!

#soup’s art #ranboo #aimsey #con!aimsey #o!ranboo #conclusions smp #osmp #aimsey fanart #ranboo fanart #it brings me such joy that they’re siblings #also i’m not changing my con!aimsey design because i have become endeared to it #they look like a little paperboy #con!aimsey has also not yet learned that you need to wear shoes in the overworld #he has much to learn #for those curious yes they are canon siblings

[heavencanbeaprisontoo]

Strip Me to My Bones

Slowburn!Tommy x autistic!fem!reader

Chapter One: The Mentalist of Minster

Prologue

Summary: You came to Birmingham for liberation, for freedom. To live. It was never your intention to attract the interest of a man with a red right hand. Yet you have, and for two years after meeting his cold gaze you were allowed to enjoy that freedom. But that cage may soon be closing on you again.

Warnings: Blackmail, period-typical sexism, contextual use of g-slur, Canon-typical violence, author is autistic, spoilers for series one possibly, slow burn. WC: 4.3k words

Like a Bengal tiger in the London Zoo. She doesn’t belong there, walking behind iron bars as the pads of her paws crease loose straw peppered on top of cold concrete. Onlookers gawk at a creature who has no way of hiding from their judgment. The handlers feed her, yes, but she is never fully satisfied.

For as long as you can remember, you have felt like a beast in a small cage. There are faded treads along the floorboards of your childhood bedroom. All caused by the pacing of the beast your family put into itchy dresses and floppy bows. You would tear at the vestiges of girlhood with vigor, but they would only grow tighter. Verbal language came late to you, a fact that your mother would hide by calling you “shy.” When the beast did speak, they were still not pleased, for she said precisely what she thought. You had a keen eye all your life, and to study your fellow man was what your mother had told you that you must do. Watch and observe those around you, so that you may one day learn how a lady must act. Unfortunately, you cared little for replicating what you saw. It was far more interesting to observe, analyze, and report. Which got you into trouble. Truthfulness and rudeness were twin siblings that you could not tell apart. Silence was forced back upon you.

The little things you did as a child that most adults found endearing became rude and unsightly. Rocking oneself back and forth was sweet for a child and unsettling for a teenager. You must stop that. Tracing the wood grain of your desk at school seemed creative until it wasn’t. You must stop that. Flapping your hands as you listen to your father’s records charmed many before you grew to about twelve. You must stop that. A caged beast can only pace, and so you did. You paced, and paced, and paced, and paced—

As you grew into adolescence, the cage stayed the same. Brother was allowed to journey off for his business and leisure. Sister attended school far from home. You remained caged, for, like all odd creatures, it was for your own good. It did not matter how curious or clever you were. The world was too wild for you now, so said your parents. Father was seldom home, and when he was, you were never certain which version of him would greet you. There was the gentle Mr. Hargreaves, who would talk with you about patterns in history and compliment your keen insight. Then there was Father. The one who berated you for your awkwardness and kept to his study with a bottle of scotch that seemed to fill itself every other day. He was brilliant, your father. A man of meager means used his ability to identify patterns to predict the market and make a fortune through investing. He was intelligent, successful, charismatic, and deeply troubled. He fought forever with himself until one day he lost the fight.

You were in your early twenties when your father died. Unwed and still living in the family home, this was the greatest change you faced in your entire life. His death was hard to accept for many. Tears were still falling as his last will and testament were read before the family. All his fortune was to be split in four. A portion to your mother, brother, sister, and you. The amount was read. It was a lot. Enough money that your cage now has a door. One with a handle on the inside.

For the first time in years, you stood perfectly still as you had your thoughts on it all. If you were to leave this cage, it would be for good.

When you announced to your family that you intended to use your piece of inheritance to buy a flat, your mother was horrified. It took you six months to find a flat in a city that you found agreeable. For all six of those months, your mother tried and tried to talk you out of it. She reminded you of how overwhelming change could be for you, how you knew no one outside of the family, and how you had never known such loneliness. She cried over how you would be living like a widow in a world that would see you as a harlot for being young, unwed, and without a male figure. You answered with a smile, “I have never cared for the thoughts of onlookers, and I will not begin that habit today.”

That was the last time you had seen your mother. Three, no, five years ago. Now you were the resident of Flat B10, Minster Drive, at the heart of Small Heath. All under her maiden name, just to add that healthy bit of distance between you and the Hargreaves name.

You were quite content buying necessities (bread, milk, butter, and Belgian chocolates) and had no need to work the first year of your independence due to your inherited fortune. On days with fair weather, you would walk about Birmingham for hours. Journeying to museums, libraries, gardens, and occasionally the Cut. During one of your long walks along the canal, you encountered a weeping woman. Feeling compelled to comfort her, you went to her and inquired as to why she was upset. Over the course of an hour, you learned much about her life and gave her some thoughts on her various struggles. Despite your lack of worldly experience, something in the way you spoke moved her. She thanked you with wide eyes and both hands gripping yours tightly. You went on with your day.

The following week, she found you as you walked to your favorite reading spot. She had a friend with her who also needed your advice. So, you gave it. The two women put money into your hands. Oddly, they wouldn’t take it back when you tried to return it. This happened again three days later. To avoid being interrupted on your walks, you gave them your address and times of the day when you would not be occupied. Sure enough, the two women came to your home for your advice. Only this time, they were referring to you as though your observations were metaphysical or supernatural in nature. They referred a young man to you after this, an ex-soldier with a fractured mind. He left your home convinced that you had seen the innards of his soul. You merely asked him questions and made valid inferences. This mattered not to him or your rapidly growing list of interested customers. Thus began your strange occupation as a “mentalist.” Such a strange thing, you thought, to be sought out and paid to do that which polite society shunned you for. Observe, analyze, and report. Summon details from your mental filing cabinet to illuminate that which is not obvious to those around you.

It took some adjusting, but within a year, the random visitors became routine. Your earnings were unneeded, but not without their use. And your clients seemed so in need of an unjudging ear. It felt as if you were engaging in some sort of public service. So, you carried on. They started to call you The Mentalist on Minster.

On a rainy morning in late 1919, with your popularity on the rise, a man came to your door.

He stood tall in a long gray coat. Sharp gray suit underneath with a pinstripe shirt and a thick, white collar. The cap on his head combined with the collar told you straight away that he was one of those men the old lady next door complained about. Search the files behind your eyes, Peaky Blinder. It occurred to you quickly that there may be a problem. You thought it best to be direct. “Can I help you?”

His eyes move left, then right, taking in the surroundings. You knew that meant he didn’t want to be seen here. Interesting. He stared back at you with the bluest eyes you had ever seen, and he answered your question as lightly as possible. “You see the future, I hear.”

His face was somewhat tanned on the cheeks. Where would a gangster get a tan in Small Heath? The Cut. They get supplies from there, you once heard. Supplies for what mattered little to you.

“I see people, for a price. Not the future. Nobody can do that. It’s rather early, so I hope you’ve got money in that big coat.” You step aside to let him in. Slowly, he entered your home. The stranger had full lips and high cheekbones, almost womanly in his beauty. Your mind raced to identify who he was and why he was there. The women in town talked about a family of pretty gypsies; they are the ones running the gang. The name, the name... Search the files...

“I normally have tea prepared, but you don’t drink tea anyway, so I won’t bother with the kettle this time.” You took a seat on your favorite sofa and tried to look relaxed. You heard that the criminal sort would take advantage of those who seemed rattled and disorganized. Maybe you should have changed out of your robe. That was hardly on your mind; you were still trying to find the bloody name.

The stranger threaded his fingers together on his lap. “They say you can see inside of people; tell them things about them that even they don’t know.” His voice was low, but not deep. Smooth. Cold. There was an accusation in the way he spoke to you. A challenge. It was odd that he would come to you for services he himself didn’t seem to believe in.

You played glib, “My, that’s a lovely review of my services! I should put that on a sign outside my doorway.” His face doesn’t give away humor or irritation. The name comes to you. “Though I would rather know why you came to see me, Mr. Shelby, You are Mr. Shelby, yes?”

“That I am,” he seemed amused, “and I am not entirely sure why I came to see you either.”

He told you most of what you needed to know without saying a word. People in great stress and desperation tend to do that. What you heard from his eyes irritated you. This Mr. Shelby was trying to use you as a coin flip. Tip the scales in a direction so it will be easier for him to make a decision. As politely as you could, you told him to make his choice and move on. He seemed satisfied. You got your payment. He left.

Days turned to weeks and weeks to months. You found out his first name was Thomas, and that he went on to overthrow the track king of Birmingham, Billy Kimber. The Shelby family’s infamy grew rapidly in the following months. Not that it mattered to you, as you have a steady flow of clients now. You were never sure if it had to do with Mr. Shelby’s visit. Years passed, and a week after 1921 was hailed in, there was a knocking at your door.

You open it while holding your cup of tea in your right hand. When you saw his face, you sighed. You had a feeling your cup would go cold.

He stares at you as he had two years ago. Focused. Incredulous. Still waters. His face isn’t kissed by the sun anymore. Colder. He looks colder.

“You came back,” you say, taking a sip of tea, “and in a better suit, Mr. Thomas Shelby.”

Meeting your statement of the obvious with one of his own, he says, “And you’re dressed this time.” He gestured to your white blouse and mulberry skirt. “Might I come in?”

Just as you did the first time, you step aside and let the devil into your home. His head swivels around as he lurks through your home. Past the walls of shadowboxes, the bookshelves of ancient histories, and your various taxidermized creatures.

You take him right back to your sitting room. He starts to lower himself as you remember something and fish out a small stack of cards from your skirt pocket. “Ah, Mr. Shelby. Here.” Carefully, you hand him one plain business card with your new moniker, ‘The Mentalist on Minster,’ and your phone number. Mr. Shelby takes it and turns it over in his hand with a hum. “Moving forward, you’ll need to call ahead. I’m quite busy these days, and I simply can’t take any walk-ins. You’re fine for today, however.”

He pockets it, chuckling to himself. Upon sitting down on the client’s sofa, his mood seems to darken. “It’s strange, isn’t it? The things that change and the things that stay the same?"

You don’t sit, not right away. His deep blue eyes find you standing in the doorway. “Is that a comment on my decorating or an opening for this second unscheduled visit?" Thomas puts his eyes back on your vine-covered window. They're thicker now, the vines. Some might call it growth. Others might call it a sign of decay. You wonder in which category you could place this man in your home. 

Mr. Shelby takes out a cigarette, lighting it. He doesn't ask permission. Mr. Shelby puts his cigarette on his lips, but he only holds it there. You can see his eyes flick at you briefly. All his motions are smooth and slow, even the small ones. “How did all this start? This business of yours.”

This conversation is irritating you, and it's only just begun. What sort of person arrives unannounced at someone's home just to waste their time? You cross your arms and say, “People tell me things; I listen, and then they give me money.” 

He takes a drag. Exhales. “They pay you to tell you things.”

Leaning against the doorway separating your sitting room from the dining room, you sigh, “I’m a very good listener, Mr. Shelby. So good, in fact, that people tell me things without even speaking.”

“Quite the ear you must have.” He's back to looking out the vine-covered window. 

You slip into the room and sit across from him with barely a thought to the cup in your hand. Tea might've dripped on your skirt, but it was worth it to finally see him move faster than a molasses drip to meet your eyes. “There are other ways to listen, of course. The way people move, speak, and shift in their seats It says more than anyone is willing to say.”

His lips purse as he nods thoughtfully. It didn’t seem terribly genuine, though. He clicks his tongue and asks, “Would you need to be in front of someone to ‘listen,’ to them?”

“Not always, but it can be difficult unless I can see the way they move. And to hear too much about someone can make it difficult because then my reading is tainted by the opinions of whoever informed me of the person. Bias is a powerful thing, you know.” You wait for him to respond. He just sits there, looking out your window. Unimpressed. “I am becoming irritated, Mr. Shelby. If you cannot explain your purpose in coming to my door, I will ask you to walk back out of it.”

Mr. Shelby doesn’t move; he doesn’t even blink. You set down your cup on the table that separates you and say, “It’s a woman. Again. A woman and your family, most likely. It certainly can’t be the law because you’ve come to me at a sensible hour. It can’t be money because, my God, you drove here. The only thing a man like you cannot control is love and family. When you lose your grasp on either one, you’re helpless. It’s too soft for you. It’s all the things you try to lock up so you can think clearly with bloodied fingers. Stop me if this starts to feel like a biography, Mr. Shelby.”

His eye stays on you, and his lips are parted around that blasted cigarette like a lover. Eyebrows raised just barely. The lion has been interrupted as he takes his drink at the watering hole. A beast recognizes one of its own kind, even in this place of concrete and smoke. You answer his question before he asks it: “I told you, people tell me things without even speaking.”

Finally, he says, “There’s a woman on my mind, and there she stays. No matter what I do,” he says, taking a long drag of his cigarette. Slow and deep.

“A bit pathetic to have the same problem twice you paused.“ Don’t repeat that; most of my repeat clients have repeat problems. Which shouldn’t bother me, as I do love to study patterns, but it is indeed pathetic. The woman isn’t dead, is she?”

A twitch at the corner of his lips hints at humor. You couldn't know that for Thomas Shelby, that was as close to a smile as many had gotten in several months. He exhales smoke from his nose; it curls around his head in a loose halo. “As far as I know, she is alive and well."

“Did she leave on her own, or did you shoo her away to try to be kind?”

A short, humorless chuckle escapes his lips. Either at being called ‘kind,’ or at your bluntness. It is hard to say. The halo dissipates in his loss of composure: “She was smart. She left.”

He seems to avoid meeting your gaze. It's not entirely unwelcome. Sometimes, when people look at you for too long, it feels like something is being asked of you that you cannot give. “It must be hard for you to be so arrogant and self-loathing all at once,” you state with sincerity.

He looked at you and gave you a nod of affirmation. "Whiskey helps."

"It clearly doesn't."

"It's a joke."

"It isn't funny,” you say, leaning forward with your elbows on your knees, “and it still isn’t everything. The first time you were here, you weren’t sure why you were here. This time is different. I knew it when I saw you. This was planned; you are here for a reason. Why don’t you just say it so that I don’t have to say it for you?”

The light that slips from between the vines lights his eyes. It’s a strange thing that a man so pretty would have a life like his. If you were truly a reader of minds and lives, maybe you could make better sense of him. Right now, you’re trying to play the game the way you think he might. Bluffing, just a little. Truthfully, you aren’t sure if there’s a real reason for his being here outside of interpersonal woes.

“Normally, I’m not fond of your type. Posh, educated, clean girl with soft hands that have never known labor... living among the working class by choice,” he leans back in his seat. The conversation has changed somehow. His posture has shifted slightly, head titled to the side as he stares down at your hunched-over body. You remain still, remain silent, and wait. He continues, “But I would like to hire you.”

“Hire me?” you scoff. “What would you need of someone like me? Surely you have people to gather information if that’s what you so desire.”

Mr. Shelby’s lips pull back in a self-satisfied smirk. “Finding papers and connecting them to people is a simpler task than one might think. Now, reading people—that’s an art. And I will be in need of an artist in the foreseeable future.”

A chortle leaves you before you say, “This has been fun, Mr. Shelby, but I think it’s time you left. I have no desire in being commissioned to be a consultant for an active criminal. Throw whatever numbers you like at me, but as you know, I’m posh. Money doesn’t concern me terribly.”

His next words are complimentary, but devastating “Yes, you’ve made a legitimate business for yourself, Miss Hargreaves. You must be proud.”

Heart into the stomach, plummeting. He had not been the first to correctly assume you were from the upper class. Anyone could guess you weren’t from Birmingham based only on your accent, but certainly not your name. “Hargreaves? Why did you call me Hargreaves?”

He only stares, silence fills the room and it’s not helping you at all. Your mind is racing. How could he know that name? How many people know who you are? All the money you have hidden away? 

You scoff and move to stand. Before you can order him to explain his intelligence, he says, “Trying to distance yourself from your conman father, are we?”

You could’ve struck him for that. But you don’t. Body tight, you spit “Did my words sting you so badly that you had to come back here to hurt me with lies?” No point in denying relation.

The slow blink he gives you is not at all encouraging for your case. He seems so bloody pleased with himself. You could swear he was smiling as he said, “I couldn’t help but want to learn more about you. And after some digging, I met someone who recognized you by description alone. They had so much to say about you, and so much more to say about Mr. Bertram Hargreaves.”

Leaning forward, you grip your knees to keep from grabbing this man by the throat. Father was never an entirely kind man, but he was brilliant. He made his fortune honestly. Brutally.

Light from the midday sun beams through the vines of your window, painting you both in slithering shadows. Chest rising and falling deeply, you say “That person spoke lies wrapped in truths to keep your attention, Mr. Shelby. I am indeed Mr. Bertram Hargreaves’ daughter, but he is no con-artist. I merely concealed my name for privacy. My father’s hands were clean in death.”

The sofa he sits upon groans softly as Thomas moves forward, slipping out of his casual posture and imitating your own “My source provided evidence. Would you like to see a piece of it?”

A piece of it? “Show me,” you bark.

Sighing, he shifts to the side and produces a thin folder from his inner coat pocket. The emblem on the side has your blood running cold immediately. He places it on the table between you and opens it. There, right in front of you, is a folder baring the Hargreaves family emblem with three pages of… payment records. With your father’s signature at the bottom. You’re able to read that an organization called Western Investment Liaisons was being paid hundreds—no, thousands of pounds by a variety of individuals and organizations. Before you could examine it closer, Thomas closed the folded and pulled it back. 

Wildly, you reach for it, “Let me see that! If you mean to accuse my father, I—"

“Miss Hargreaves,” his hand takes your wrist to stop you. Fingers slide just beneath the sleeve of your blouse. The touch of his fingertips is rough on your bare flesh. Mr. Shelby’s skin feels cool. Cool, not warm. You force your gaze down to where your hands meet. The sound if him moving closer makes you hold your breath. The space you crafted between yourself, and your clients has never felt so thin. You can feel the smoke of his exhale ghosting your hairline as his right hand reaches down. The lit end of his cigarette catches your eye. “I understand this is distressing. If this were ever to get out, I imagine your family would suffer under the harsh scrutiny of the upper class. They already looked down upon you and your family, the Hargreaves might as well be new money in their eyes. They’re all waiting for an excuse to discount all that your father did to put your family where they are now.”

“You are a starved, godless creature,” comes from between gritted teeth.

He carries on, as if he hadn’t heard you, “I know money doesn’t drive you. So, I think proper payment is this: in exchange of your cooperation, Things like this can just… go away.”

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you croak, “And what of the person who told you these things?”

The angry red tip of his cigarette hangs over your cup. He flecks the ashes of his cigarette into the tea. Gray ashes land on top of the murky water, collecting into small piles of soot before like a sinking to the bottom. You close your eyes as he says into your ear, “With time and money, people can go away too.”

Your head shoots up and you blurt out “Mr. Shelby! That’s— that isn’t what I meant, I just…”

With one last puff of his cigarette, Mr. Shelby drops it into your cup, “Do we have an agreement? Your services, on call, and in exchange the family reputation remains intact?”

All you can do is nod, dumbly. He rises from his seat and regards you with one last smirk: “And please, call me Tommy. We know so much about each other now; it’s only right to forgo the formalities, eh?”

Driven only by societal convention, you walk him to the door and usher him out. My mind was racing with all that had just transpired. Tommy holds up your business card and says, “Expect a phone call by next weekend. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

You close your door and push your back against it, fighting to control your breathing. Shaking hands start to flap as the urge to pace rises. Such a strange thing happened. So strange. You cannot force away the feeling that you’ve been caged yet again.

----

Taglist:

@eclectic-trash @weaponizedvirtue @girlwith-thepearlearring @perseny

#peaky blinders #peaky blinders x reader #thomas shelby #thomas shelby x reader #tommy shelby #peaky blinder fanfic #peaky blinders fanfiction #thomas shelby x you #thomas shelby x y/n #Thomas Shelby x autistic!reader #enemies to friends to lovers

[shallyouobeyme]

Wander

Platonic!Yandere Wanderer x Reader (GN)

Summary: It wasn't just his mother who betrayed him fairly early on in his life, it was also his sibling - the only person he had been close to at that point in his life. At least that was what he thought. But once he had changed into the wanderer, some new information came to the light...

! Minors Do Not Interact !

TW: Probably not canon compliant with Wanderer's backstory since I don't have his character (sadly), Lumine is the Traveller in this one, kidnapping, dark content, obsession, kind of dying (but like not really), I do not condone this - this is all fantasy

As the story is told the archon of Inazuma, Goddess of Eternity, created a puppet which later became the feared Fatui Scaramouche - but that story isn't quite complete. One fateful fact that the story omitted was that the 'betrayed' puppet wasn't the Raiden's first attempt. Before him, she had breathed life into her very first puppet, a prototype of sorts, which had many faults from which the archon learnt. With the knowledge gained from them, she successfully created the wanderer and later the puppet she still uses to this day.

After his creation, the wanderer was left in the care of his predecessor as the archon attended to her duties and the two grew close due to their shared nature. In fact, the wanded soon realized that his sibling - as humans would probably call them - meant more to him than anything else in the world and he looked forward to spending eternity together with them and their mother. But Destiny had something else planned for him.

And so the story continued, but it wasn't just his mother who betrayed him, no his sibling stood by her side when he was cast out, ignoring his pleas to come with him, to stay by his side. So all throughout his travels, through joining the Fatui, through trying to achieve Godhood, his anger at those he had considered family stayed constant. He had to admit to himself that somewhere very deep inside of him he still felt a longing to be by his sibling's side and even though he would never admit it, he knew that once he'd become the god he was always meant to be he would give them another chance. A chance to leave behind the woman who had created them to join him, to stand by his side as they were always meant to.

While during his time as a Fatui, the wanderer heard many things about Raiden through the many spies in Inazuma or just general news, he never heard any news about his sibling, not even from the most dedicated spies. And so their fate eluded him which was the reason that after his defeat by Lumine and Nahida, and after he changed into who he was now - the wanderer, looking for a new purpose - he was especially curious when Paimon started talking about Inazuma and local affairs.

Especially when you were mentioned. His sibling. The person who had not left his mind for the entire time he had been gone. And what he heard Paimon say changed everything for him.

"We met up with Ei recently - I hope you don't mind us talking about her, we know you're still bitter about that whole deal - and she brought one of her puppets along. They kind of reminded Paimon of you, they didn't look like the Shogun at all and they had their own personality, just like you. I think Ei said their name was Y/N-" Paimon rambled on, Lumine walking beside them, used to Paimon's constant chattering by now and not needing to pay much attention anymore. Usually at the first mention of his mother, Wanderer would have interrupted her snarkily to stop her talking, but at the slight chance of hearing news of you, he had to let her keep talking, "-They were really, really nice. They even told us about when they were made. Paimon wonders if that's similar to how you were made."

Paimon did not wait for him to respond, instead happily continuing talking the aspect of not being interrupted for once: "What did they say again? Oh, yes, they were also made to hold the Shogun's Gnosis, but they weren't strong enough, Ei said that she gave them consciousness so that they could help care for future Puppets. So they even took care of you, right?" Wanderer didn't bother replying, instead working through the fact he had just heard. His mother had given you consciousness? Somehow he had always assumed you were just like him, that you had gained consciousness when your mother had attempted to place her gnosis in you.

"Oh well, seems like they grew on the shogun because even after they made their successful puppet they kept them around. It's all the better for it though, knowing what would happen when Ei'd leave them behind," Paimon sighed and for the first time, Wanderer intercepted.

"What do you mean? What would happen?"

"You don't know?" Paimon looked at him surprised, she must've expected him to know all about your time before he was made, "Because Ei was the one who gave them life, she also became the source of their life, if they ever leave Ei's surroundings, they'll turn back into a puppet. At least that's what Y/N told us, but they're so nice, I don't think they'd lie."

That changed everything for the Wanderer. If what the little flying Imp was saying was true, then you had never betrayed him. You had no choice. You were bound to your mother, unable to leave even if you wanted to - which you must have. Suddenly his life had a new meaning. He'd free you, so that you'd finally be able to spend eternity by his side, under his protection. You'd finally be siblings again, just like you were always meant to.

Without giving any care for his companions, Wanderer took off in a different direction. More specifically, the direction of Sumeru's harbour. He'd do whatever he had to to get to you, to free you, to save you. He stole a boat - may or may not hurting the owner in the process - and made his way towards his old home, a place he had sworn only to return to once he had become a god, but now there were new priorities in place. He still knew many secret spots surrounding the Archon's home and luckily for him, given his mother's personality, not a lot had changed in the past years.

It was easy for him to secretly make his way into the chambers you and him had shared after your creation - it was only now that he realized that the reason you had shared was that Ei hadn't bothered to give you your own since you were already a failure in her eyes. And what a sight to behold he found there, you were sitting in the window nook you had already loved when he had still lived there, reading a book. You hadn't changed at all, time had not touched you.

As he stepped closer, a shadow was cast over you that made you look up. Your eyes widened, but he saw the happiness in them. Had you missed him as much as he had missed you?

"You're back!" you shouted happily as you jumped up and ran towards him, embracing him in a hug that he gladly reciprocated. Oh, how he'd missed that - but now he'd never have to go without this happiness again. But as quick as the happiness had set in, it diminished when you turned back and looked at him worriedly. "You-You can't be here, Mother will- She can't know you're here, you have to leave."

Anger built up in him - of course, even when he was here to save you, his mother had to make things difficult for him. But he wouldn't let her ruin this, not as long as he had to fight for you.

"She will never find out, we will leave right now and we'll be off this island before she'll be any wiser. Don't worry," he told you to calm you down as he took your hand in his and pulled you with him - he was always the stronger of you (for reasons that were now obvious) so even though you tried to get him to stop, he just pulled you harder.

"We? I can't leave Inazuma, I need to be close to Mother," you tried to reason with him, but he just shook his head and disagreed with you. "She only makes you believe that, you don't need her, I can be your new source of life, we only need each other."

"But that's not how this works-" you tried again, but then there were guards shouting and running after the two of you. But because of your resistance, you were slower than usual - if it kept on like that, they'd catch up to you and you knew that if they were to try to capture your brother, something horrible would happen - either to him or to them - and you couldn't allow that to happen. So, even though you knew that it would mean your end, you took up the pace and ran along with Wanderer.

The two of you quickly arrived at his boat and he hoisted you into it before using his vision to bring quite some distance between the boat and the shore. He didn't notice you sitting on the other side of the boat looking back at the island with a sad kind of desperation. You knew that your life would end any second now, but you didn't mind all that much, after all, you had already extended the span of life you should have had. And now your life would end protecting someone you love, so you could die without any regrets.

"Brother, I want you to know that what will happen now isn't your fault, nor is it Mothers. Please, just be free, live your life in peace, and be happy," you called out to him, causing him to turn to you in confusion. He wanted to ask what you meant, but before the word could leave his lips, your body fell limp. Quickly, he rushed towards you, hoping you had just fallen unconscious, but as he turned your body to lie in his lap, he realized that the worst had come to pass. What he turned wasn't his sibling, it was a puppet of wood and wires. Gone was the animation in your face or the faux skin on your body, instead it was all just wood and paint. A puppet.

As Inazuma disappeared behind the horizon, he found a new reason for his existence. You had asked him to be happy, but how could he ever be happy if you weren't by his side? He'd move Celestia and the abyss if he had to, would make deals with whatever creature was out there and willing to help, if all else failed he would even return to his mother - everything to bring you back...

A/N: Thank you for reading the eleventh entry into my Yandere Writetober - I hope you enjoyed and you may want to comment and reblog, who knows. Tomorrow's word is 'Spicey' so I hope I'll see you again in my notifications

#yandere #writetober #x reader #dark content #tw: yandere #platonic yandere #tw: kidnapping #platonic #yandere genshin impact #platonic yandere genshin impact #genshin imapct #scaramouche #yandere scaramouche #scaramouche x reader #wanderer x reader #yandere wanderer x reader #yandere wanderer #wanderer #platonic yandere wanderer #raiden shogun #ei #reader is a puppet

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

I’ve been curious about your input.

If Chase had gotten the chance to know First Ninja’s siblings before their deaths do you think that he would’ve obsessed over them like he does over First Ninja? Or do you think Chase only has focus on First?

Oof, okay this is a hard question to ask for a person who now ships FirstxChase somewhat hardcore, because my knee-jerk reaction is like 'First would always be his instant focus', but it prooooooobably would be more complicated.

Okay, first of all, if we are talking in 'general' terms of canon 'unknown' Norisu Clan, I think Chase's interest would not reach the obsessive levels. Sure, they would be of great interest to him, and he certainly wouldn't mind adding a whole Clan of powerful Ninjutsu Warriors to his Fallen Warriors/Jungle Cats harem.

But would he actively, obsessivily pursue them? Eh, it would depend I guess, but probably not. Too much hassle to get all 9, lol, he would fight every single one and just get the last one standing

Which sorta leads to my personal take on one of the reasons I portray Chase as obsessive about First: he is the last Norisu left. It would hold a certain appeal for Chase to have this last warrior, the survivor and thus the strongest (since everyone else had gone and got 'ultimate sacrificied' or whatever, such a waste of fighters, in Chase's opinion). You can say, having all 9 devalues them and thus it would hold less appeal to Chase (First is like a rare collectable hah).

BUT if we are talking about my own headcanons/characterizations of Norisu Clan, it would be something like this:

If Chase met Norisu Clan Siblings before they 'made the Ultimate Sacrifice', he probably would be very curious about them (perhaps not yet to obsessive level but definitily more than just 'ill keep an eye on them from afar' type of attention). As a whole, the Clan would present 1) a challenge to Chase's own ego and abilities and 2) a possible present/future threat if they ever focus on him and his evils, after the Sorcerer.

The Norisu Clan, while full of powerful warriors are not just general ninja fighters (they have the same 'basic' training so to say), but also highly specialized in their own fields/abilities/preferences/interests. So while the Siblings are all fascinating in their own right, individually would be of various interest to Chase himself, also depending on what sort of person they are. For example, Chase would be more interested to engage with a warrior than a courtier, or a weapon's master than a monk/holy person (and yes its a subtle peek at some of my hc for Norisu siblings lol). So, while his interest certainly wouldn't wane, his regards/preferences to certain siblings would be obvious.

The ones who would interest him the most would be the Oldest Sibling (arguebly the most powerful of Norisu) and the Youngest (the one with the most uncovered/hidden potential) aka First.

The Oldest is not only powerful, accomplished warrior in all of the fields the Norisu Clan is famous for, but also is The Head of the Clan, so already, Chase who respects power and leadership would be greatly tempted, but in my opinion he would also be intimidated in some sense.

The thing is, I believe that Chase while seeking and respecting powerful people, does not like it when someone is more powerful than him. They present a threat and reduces his chances of getting them under his influence/control.

Because while Chase loves being powerful, (he sold his soul for it after all), what he grew to love even more is to have those with power under his control. After all why else would he start collecting powerful warriors in his Fallen Warriors harem? He defeated those people and added their strength to his own. Same with Wuya, who was a powerful witch, and who he essentially crippled in order to keep her close, under his influence and less of threat. Same with Omi, whose potential he saw and wanted to have as his own, to nurture and direct.

So the Oldest Sibling would be a powerful temptation, but also a more obvious threat. The Youngest aka First, on the other hand? Would be an even bigger temptation with much less threat.

There is something special about First, after all he was the one who faced Sorcerer in the end. Perhaps his specialness only became obvious after a life changing tragedy of loosing his Siblings, but even under protective shadows of his Clan, he would be noticeable.

Chase would probably see that hidden potential and it will invoke this need for him to have this potential under his control and by his side. Perhaps he would try to manipulate First into joining him (like he did Omi), by using his siblings. Or even try to make him join by making them join? (Well, that's certainly some AUs to consider for later, lol.)

So, in short, would Chase obsess over the whole Clan in general? A little bit, but they would also be a greater threat to him as a whole so the obsession would be much more cautious I think. But would he obsess over them as means for him to manipulate one of them, First, into joining him? Much more likely IMO.

(it also segways into my hc about the overprotectiveness Norisu Siblings would feel when they realize Chase's attention to First and his desire to manipulate him, which would make them all go ballistic because NO CREEPY IMMORTAL PRINCE OF EVIL SHALL TRY TO MANIPULATE THEIR BABY BRO)

(of couse they do not need to worry, First's strength of character wouldn't waver under Chase's dubious attention. He is also too busy thinking about kicking Sorcerer's butt.)

#que? #ninja showdown #chase young #rc9gn first ninja #first ninja #also sorry for a little rant and i hope i explained myself ok??? lol i am not a wordsmith by any means #i have never said variations of 'power' so many times in one post hah #also ty for a ninjashowdown ask ive been drowning myself in thoughts about them. having a little outlet in this helped lol

[miscellaneoussmp]

Did Bad and Bagi interactions inspire this? Yes. Do I expect this to be anywhere close to Canon? Nope. Anyway, here's the story of The Grim Reaper meeting a set of twins (cw/tw: blood/violence/death mentions, general Cellbit fuckery):

In war, a lot of horrible things happen. That's just how it is. People die, and it's a tragedy, as it always is. Bad always finds himself on the battlefields. His duty to the world beyond demands it of him. Reaping the souls of those who have unfortunately passed on during battle is as simple as it's always been. It's just more time-consuming than usual. Bad can't find the energy to mourn every single soul he takes. He mourns for souls he's yet to take, instead.

Bad likes to believe he's seen everything in this world. He's just as old as it, if not even older. This world shouldn't hold many surprises. As always, he's proven wrong. In the woods not incredibly far from a main battlefield, Bad finds two people. They look young, really young. One sits next a body that is ripped to shreds, and the other sits further from the body. The one closer to the body wipes blood from his mouth as he looks up at Bad. His brown hair was held out of his face with a set of goggles. The one farther is chewing on what looks to be stale bread. She looks between the other and Bad, through her ash blonde hair. They look like siblings, twins maybe. These two are the types of souls that Bad mourns. He can feel they're destined for greatness, yet they're stuck here.

The young duo looks absolutely terrified as Bad approaches them, two sets of wide bright blue eyes stare at him. The one next to the body stands, holding his knife in a shakey white knuckle grip. The one farther grabs a sword in an equally shakey grip. Bad points to the body, and he tries his best to explain that he's just here for the soul. The young brunette nods before turning to his companion, his sister Bad assumes, and translates. Bad recognizes the language as Portuguese, but he doesn't have any hope in understanding what was actually said. Both lower their weapons, the closer sits back down, and both look in amazement as Bad tears the soul from the body. Simple as that. He jokes about soul, luckily, being left in tact. Neither one of the younger two laugh.

Bad stays after his job is complete. He's curious about siblings. He's still guessing at that fact. He wants to know more about the young soldiers. He wants to know more about the young souls he's mourning for. Bad asks about their names. The demon wants to know what names he needs to plead cases for in front of Death, herself. The brunette looks to his sister, a guess still, before turning back to Bad shaking his head. Neither has a name. Bad didn't have one for a while either, so he doesn't push. Next, he asks about their ages. How young are they truly? They can't be much older than eighteen. Bad hates the answer he receives. Quinze, the blonde, speaks finally, her voice shakes. Fifteen, the brunette translates in unsure tone. Was Bad ever that young? He can't remember. Finally, he asks if they're actually siblings. There wasn't any hesitation, both nod.

Bad is taken a back when they question him in return. He really shouldn't have been. They ask–the brother mostly asks, but the sister speaks, as well, in their native tongue–about his name. He shares with them his name and a few nicknames he's gotten over the years. There's a hint of recognition in their expressions with a few of his names. After a few more questions, some of which Bad doesn't answer, he offers the siblings non-stale bread. The brunette doesn't take it, instead licking his lips that are still covered in blood. Bad gets it. He really does. The blonde cautiously takes it with her hands still shaking as she does so. She examines the bread for any tampering. Bad gets that, too. He really does.

The Grim Reaper takes his leave after the siblings fall asleep, it was hours of a futile struggle to stay awake. He knows they sleep light and fearful. Bad mourns for their souls before he ever needs to reap them. The demon curses whoever or whatever has forced these nameless teens to fight. He mourns for the day he'll take their souls. At least they'll know peace then.

After nearly eleven years, Bad meets one of the young souls he mourned for, once again. He took the name Cellbit, and Bad thinks it's a fitting one. Cellbit is a investigator now, and his face holds a relaxed smile. He thanks Bad for being kind to him all those years ago. He doesn't mention his sister.

After nearly eleven years, Bad meets the other young soul he mourned for, once again. She took the name Bagi, and Bad thinks it's a fitting one. Bagi is a pacifist now, and her bright eyes are full of curiosity and determination. She thanks him for being kind to her now. She doesn't mention her brother.

#qsmp #qsmp lore #qsmp fanfiction (sorta) #qsmp drabble #qsmp badboyhalo #qsmp cellbit #qsmp bagi #theyre siblings your honor #no theme this time around just hit shuffle on one of my playlist #this is a bit longer than a drabble huh? #i hope yall like i had a lot of fun with it

[autumndory]

thank you, tuesday...

Summary: The Ackermans have hosted all kinds of students from around the world and they came and went, hardly ever leaving a mark. Though none of them rivaled the curious and quirky character of Zoë Hange.

Read thank you, tuesday... on AO3

Read Fue un martes... in Spanish on Wattapad.

Let's start with the lovely cover of this fanfic. It was made by the talented @catyypss. She was the sweetest and I'm truly obsessed with it. I added the title to it and yes, the little paper plane I placed it there as a symbolism. I love it so much, I could cry. Follow Catyyps on her platforms and if you can, place a commission.

Also, this fic has been beta read by @dontatmethanks. Follow the amazing Ro and read all of her works on AO3. You'll not regret it.

Having that said, this work has been collecting dust for a while and even though I started writing the first chapter back in May, I finally got the courage to release it now because you know, lack of time. because I procrastinate a lot and I am a chicken too.

Now, onto the fic.

Let's start by saying/informing that I used she/her pronouns for Hange in this fic. Second, I have many head canons about Hange's past, since Isayama was SO kind of NOT giving us a backstory way to love the fourteenth commander. I have good head canons but I also have bad and heavy ones.

And I decided to explore the bad ones.

I do believe Hange talks a lot because her parents didn't pay attention to her growing up. Hange would be the type to overshare and then regret it because you know... trauma. I tried to explore that shattered relationship between Hange and her parents but also a life away from them.

We also have Levi, who suffers from older sibling syndrome. Protector, with an obsession in his case for cleaning, desire for perfection, and pressure to meet his parents' expectations; something that his little sister, Mikasa yes, they're siblings here is tired of experiencing.

A slice of life, like they say on the streets. You can place two fucked up people in a room and they can bond over trauma, right? Those are the topics I TRIED to explore in this fic. It has a little angst, but I incorporated some fluff too.

Anyway, I hope you you enjoy the first chapter of:

thank you, tuesday...

#levihan #levi x hange #hange x levi #levi ackerman #hange zoe #attack on titan #aot #shingeki no kyojin #snk #fanfiction #fanfic #aot fanfic #snk fanfic #fluff and angst #foreign exchange student #levi and mikasa are siblings #mikasa ackerman #kuchel ackerman #kenny ackerman #autumndorytriestowrite

[lukkabloom]

Fun facts abt residents according to Ikevamp Radio (ヴァンなま) Part 2

Continuing with the Ikevamp radio findings (& some stuff w/the VAs) I have episodes 4-7 this time!!! (also pls take this with a grain of salt bc idk how much of this is canon according to Cybird)

Episode 4: It’s just Vincent and Sebas’s VAs!!

Morishi emphasizes that he’s a special guest, not a permanent part of the show, Makki says that there should prob be only one MC. They settle on Morishi being a guest-regular

ANYWAYS ONTO THE BATH SEGMENT

Vincent’s learning to sing the song Sebas taught Leo in episode 1 & 3 (for anyone curious, the original song is called Ii yu dana [いい湯だな] by the Drifters [ザドリフターズ] and it was a song the group sung at the end of their TV show/stage from the 70s–late 90s. Sebas knowing that song would mean he was alive during this time period)

Sebas hears him hum, Vincent is embarrassed, telling him to forget he ever saw him singing

During the day, Vincent saw Sebas cutting and sorting the gardens, to which Sebas references Nippon Mukashi Banashi (Folktales of Japan) where so many Japanese folktales start with a character cutting grass/weeds

Vincent recalls that Theo called MC “hondje” and “dog”, worries that she might be offended at those names

Sebas reassures him that MC has a strong spirit, and shouldn’t worry abt her much

Sebas comments that while Vincent and Theo are siblings, they have completely different personalities

Vincent answers that many people have stated this, wonders what he has to do to make others believe that they are brothers

Sebas has Vincent do impressions of Theo, starting w/Vincent calling Sebas “hondje” but Vincent just calls him “wanchan” (doggy/puppy) instead

Sebas makes a weird/loud noise, saying that that’s just an angel playing with a puppy (the part where Sebas loses his sanity. Actually he’s losing more of it as the episodes continue)

Vincent relents, quietly mumbling “hey, hondje” to Sebas

Sebas says he’s so close, just needs to be a bit more intimidating

Vincent repeats “hey, hondje” with more determination, Sebas replies “I have received Master Vincent’s ‘hey hondje!!!!’” (Sebas is crazy I swear)

Sebas pressures Vincent to say “I will make you my dog,” like Theo, to which Vincent questions if Theo has ever said that

Sebas quickly answers yes, forcing Vincent to say the phrase but worded more respectfully “I will make you my dog, okay?” (peer pressure is never okay, ESPECIALLY concerning Vincent)

Sebas is satisfied with the result, saying that the two brothers are really related

(I LEGIT DON’T KNOW WHAT’S WITH THIS EPISODE)

Sebas confesses that he just wants to see Vincent as a sadist and Vincent just sweat-drops

In this episode’s “Can you tell me… your name?” segment… (aka my fav part of the livestream—lol it’s not even the skit in the thermae) 

Sebas’s chosen line was “I’ve boiled the pumpkin” (this was done during Halloween, that’s what’s with the pumpkin). There were a lot of food-related names, so Sebas would say “Cucumber, I’ve boiled the pumpkin” or “Miso soup, I’ve boiled the pumpkin” and many others (mushroom, pig, tomato, sweet potato, radish, shiitake, hanpen)

There was also one in which Morishi said “Aramaki, I’ve boiled the pumpkin” to which Makki replied “thank you,” and another with “Vincent, I’ve boiled the pumpkin”

Episode 5: feat. Theo’s VA Sato Hisanori & Earl Rose (ローズ伯爵)

First episode where there is video in the livestream (it was previously just audio)

(I love watching VAs play their roles so this episode is prob one of my favs)

Sato realizes what kind of crazy show this is when he has to say “konvampire” instead of “konbanwa” (good evening) as a greeting. I feel like every guest other than Tsuda has said this (at least implied) but Sato just straight up says this

Sato calls Makki “nii-san” (big brother) when they first greet each other, referencing their roles as Vincent and Theo (also, fun fact, the two VAs are born in the same month of the same year)

Sato asks the viewers who they like the most out of Vincent, Theo, and Sebas. The viewers overwhelm them with calls of “Vincent!!!”

Sato asks for them to stop, changing questions, asking the viewers who wears the best clothes out of three (Makki, Morishi, and Sato). The viewers still say Makki, though there are some saying Sato

Earl Rose is a guest for this episode. He is the lord (read: owner) of the vampire cafe in Ginza. (he’s basically here to promote the ikevamp collab w/his Vampire Cafe) Sato looks freaked out/uncomfortable by the earl. The three eat the collab foods and drinks provided (it looks pretty good tbh)

NOW ONTO THE “I LOVE YU” SEGMENT

Vincent sinks down to his shoulders in the waters, Theo can’t find him for a bit

Theo and Vincent enjoy spending time w/each other

Sebas can hold his breath underwater (in a hot bath) for 5 min. He did so to not interrupt the two brothers’ conversation (Sebas becoming more and more ooc)

Vincent stated that his previous record was 3 min 46 sec. Sebas said that “as a butler of this mansion, I shall keep on improving” (Theo doesn’t know what the heck is happening, but Vincent seems to be enjoying himself so he let’s go)

Vincent & Theo have never fought (as expected of such bros. Now that I’m rereading this I’m sure this is reinforced in various routes so maybe I don’t need this info)

Sebas (who tries to create some tea---figuratively) asks Vincent what he would do if his pancakes were covered by tons of syrup by Theo, to which Vincent replies “I will give those pancakes to Theo.”

Sebas switches over to Theo, asking him what he will do if Vincent steals his syrup before he can eat the pancakes. Theo answers “Easy. I’ll give the pancakes to my brother. It would mean that he wanted to eat pancakes so badly that he would steal the syrup”

There’s around 2-3 times where Theo almost gets angry at Sebas and Vincent has to stop him (pats his head and stuff)

Theo asks why Sebas is acting weird, to which Vincent believes its bc he’s working too hard, so they should help him out & fulfill his hopes/wishes

Sebas has a voice recorder??? Theo doesn’t know what it is

Theo doesn’t approve being recorded, but Sebas goes to Vincent for protection, who calms Theo

OK I don't talk about this segment much but for the first time since the episodes’ release, there was a tie in the votes in the drawing segment (van Gogh’s drawing section) between Morishi and Makki. Usually, they’ll give the best voted piece to a randomly selected winner w/the VA’s signature, but instead of giving out both pictures, they gave out Makki’s art piece (bc he’s van Gogh lol)

(they didn’t do the “Can you tell me…your name?” segment this episode, but this episode is legendary in my mind!!! So funny and entertaining)

Episode 6: No special guests!! Just Sebas and Vincent

Makki finally lets the viewers choose the official position of Morishi (guest, regular-guest, regular, or dyungyun). He’s officially the dyungyun (でゅんぎゅん) It’s an exclamatory phrase meaning exciting/heart-beating I think… I’ve been watching 6 episodes of the radio but I still don’t know what that phrase means exactly

Welcome to another episode of Sebas slowly losing his sanity! In today’s “I love yu” segment, Sebas makes his appearance by jumping into the baths!!!

Apparently Sebas has an urge to swim when he sees the large baths, and even is a first-class swimmer (スイミング一級) I think it’s a scale on how great he is at swimming, and it would mean he’s pretty good

Vincent has also seen him swim butterfly (idk if it's in the baths or in a pool but imagining Sebas swimming butterfly in the hot baths is amusing)

Vincent likes eating the motsunabe (もつ鍋), a type of hotpot that Sebas made

As an adult, Vincent spends his Christmas season painting, but as a child, he would spend time w/Theo baking cakes, decorating trees, or playing in the snow

One time, Theo cried when a snowball hit him in the face

The two decide to do yaminabe (闇鍋) w/the residents. It is when you darken the room, and anyone can put anything in the hot pot. Vincent’s curious what the others will decide to put in the hot pot.

They created a new segment in the show called “Vanmana Involuntary Awards 2017” (ヴァンなま勝手にアワード) where they review the year 2017 with things related to Ikevamp and the radio. The first award is the most popular phrase which ended up being voted as “dyungyun”. The second is deciding on the best artwork produced in the “van Gogh’s drawing section” with the winning piece being a drawing by Makki titled “A woman being kabedon’d by an Ikemen in a dark room” (yes that’s the title). The third is voting on what the viewers want ikevamp to do in the future (ex. Voice drama CDs, more livestreams, raiding Ikesen, etc.) with the winning choice being to raid Ikesen. And in turn, it is implied that Ikesen would raid Ikevamp. The last is asking the viewers if there has been any change (physically, mentally, emotionally) ever since they started watching the radio, with the most votes on the viewers being more interested in Morishin and Makki.

AND of course, my fav segment “Can you tell me… your name?” Vincent’s chosen line was very nice “Christmas? I don’t need anything. All I want is (y/n) alone.” 

BUT Sebas’s chosen line is (drumroll please…) “(y/n), did you write your New Year’s greeting card?” and the first name he called out was “Santa-san, did you write your New Year’s greeting card?” AND I CAN’T STOP LAUGHING

Other names used were reindeer, postbox, and dyungyun (most were legit names tho)

They also did a third phrase where after saying (y/n), Sebas and Vincent will say a line, and I guess the staff felt bad for Sebas or smth bc he has legit lines in all of the available options. It was decided that Vincent would say “(y/n), I love you,” (大好きだよ) and Sebas would say “I love you” (愛していますよ) after Vincent (Both mean the same thing, just worded differently. Vincent's "Daisukidayo" would prob be closer to "I like you" meanwhile Sebas's "Aishitemasuyo" would be "I love you" if I were to be very specific)

I thought people would submit serious names (many did) but there were names like ice, carbonara, butter, napolitan (many varieties of pasta). There was also Rose and the two VAs were like “Earl Rose??? You watch this???"

Episode 7: feat. Comte’s VA Horie Kazuma

OMG Comte’s VA has such a sexy cool voice I can’t

So I didn’t know this, but you can talk to Vincent on Amazon Alexa?? I don’t have one so idk if it still works but apparently it’s called “Vincent’s time” (フィンセントの時間) and Vincent can tell you the time of day and you can talk to him and stuff??

Video showing Vincent's Time here part 1 part 2 part 3

It’s so funny how similar Horie is to Comte bc Makki and Morishin will be loud and talkative while Horie just watches over the scene like a parent

ANYWAYS for the thermae skit…

It’s rare for the others to meet Comte in the thermae since Comte baths at a later time than the others

The topic of today’s thermae episode is mainly about the construction they have in the baths (prob in another part of it??) Sebas came back running after looking at it, Comte and Sebas told Vincent not to worry about it (WHAT IS HAPPENING OVER THERE??? we'll never know...)

Vincent wants to paint scenes he’s never seen so he’d like to go out to various places

After living for so long, Comte said he’s starting to lose the concept on the importance of New Year’s and New Year’s resolutions (this episode was broadcast on Jan of 2018)

Vincent says that Comte’s like a father, to which he replies, “Haha, I’m not like a father. When you call me something as young as a ‘father,’ it makes me feel embarrassed. I’m probably way older than you two think I am”

Sebas replies, “Oh, of course. None of us know how old Comte actually is”

Comte continues, “It’s rude to ask a vampire their age. Besides, men like to keep their secrets hidden.” To which Sebas is like “As expected of le Comte. That is admirable.”

According to Sebas, Jean has a breast fetish?? Sebas apparently knows nothing else abt Jean other than that single fact

So… the “Can you tell me… your name?” is *chef’s kiss* amazing as usual

Comte’s line was “(y/n), I won’t let you go” and for one of the names, he said “Aramaki, I won’t let you go” & you can tell the staff were laughing. 

So Sebas… his chosen line was “(y/n), isn’t this bed a bit hard?”

There was “Comte, isn’t this bed a bit hard?” and Horie replies “No,” in his Comte voice & it’s amazing. There’s also “Aramaki, isn’t this bed a bit hard?” and Makki replies “Yup.”

Other notable names include bed, obachan (Auntie), Morishima (yes the VA’s asking himself) and employee (店員さん)

Also Morishi does voice-percussion at the end of the stream and… I’ll just say it’s interesting :))

(Also the updates will prob be daily since I've watched & have the next couple parts written already. I just have to watch the last couple & write about it, which should be done soon)

#i feel like im gonna die of laughter before I finish this #ikevamp #ikemen vampire #ikevamp vincent #ikevamp sebastian #ikevamp theo #ikevamp comte #ikevamp radio #rough translation #lukka talks

[light-of-the-two-trees]

A draft scene from a long, daunting AU that I hope to one day fully write, in which Miriel survives to give birth to all five of Finwe's children (meaning they are full siblings), and Feanor is also the third of five children rather than the eldest, younger than Fingolfin.

(The happier timeline of two even for this AU, in which I don't make things play out just as they do in canon regardless of the changes as I want to in the sadder timeline. The birth order for the Finweans here is Findis (not so named), Fingolfin, Feanor, Lalwen and Finarfin, if anyone's curious). Scene features Feanor and Fingolfin reconciling after Fingolfin sails to Beleriand.

It was a shock seeing him standing there, despite expecting it fully. His brother was still dressed in all his royal finery like a stray piece of Aman that had neglected to blend into the grim darkness of Endórë. He looked every inch the High King of the Ñoldor — which Fëanáro distantly realised he was now — right from his swept-back hair to his impossibly clean boots. No blood stained his clothes, and the salt and sea-spray seemed to have marred them not — in fact, it seemed he'd even fixed his hair. Upon his gleaming dark hair sat Atar's crown, the silver circlet sparkling there as if it belonged nowhere else, and right then Fëanáro wanted nothing more than to rip it off, any damage to Ñolofinwë's perfectly styled hair be damned, and toss it into the ocean because it was just another reminder that their father was gone, and never going to return.

In stark contrast of course, Fëanáro was soot-stained, shivering, bleary-eyed from having stared at too many maps and records with nothing but lamplight, and not at all fit to be meeting any person, let alone a King — just like everyone else except for His Most Royal and Exalted Highness, so it did not bother him very much.

He stared at Ñolofinwë, waiting for him to announce his business.

'Should I sit?'

Fëanáro pointed to a chair, and Ñolofinwë sat. Then, without asking, he reached out for a metal cup and jug by the chair, filled the cup with water from the jug, and took a long swig from it.

After that, he sat there and did nothing but stare the cup or into the middle distance for some time.

'Why are you here?' Fëanáro asked at last, when the silence and expectant staring grew unbearable. Ñolofinwë looked up from his long-since-emptied cup, and sighed.

'I was here to ask if you're alright.'

Was he alright? Fëanáro did not know, nor did he understand why Ñolofinwë might have been asking. But he wasn't not alright, as far as he knew, so he said, 'Yes, I'm alright.'

Ñolofinwë nodded, and turned back to the cup.

Fëanáro decided to pretend that his brother was no longer there, and went back to the map that Círdan's people had given him.

Some more time passed.

Then, at last, Ñolofinwë broke the silence. 'Why were you going to burn the ships?'

It wasn't at all a considered movement when Fëanáro turned around. snatched the cup from Ñolofinwë's unresisting hands, and threw it to the ground furiously. He even took a moment to stare at the cup and then his hand in bewilderment before crying, 'Why did you conspire to have me killed, then, brother? Answer this first!'

Ñolofinwë had gone very still again. After a moment, he breathed, stood up slowly, and picked the cup up from where it lay before placing it down gently upon Fëanáro's desk. His face looked hard and cold. 'Who told you that?' he asked evenly.

'It takes no Loremaster to figure out your designs,' Fëanáro snapped back. 'You wanted to have me sent to Lórien. Your intentions could not be any clearer.'

Ñolofinwë let out one of his long, beleaguered sighs. 'I will admit, Fëanáro, that I was asking Atar to convince you to visit Lórien. But my aim was never to kill you — I can't see how you would even imagine that from such an innocuous suggestion.'

'You do not send people to Lórien simply for a holiday.'

'But what of comfort, and counsel? Those are the reasons for which most people visit Lórien!' Ñolofinwë's voice rose a little, and he pushed it back down into his courtly, even tones. 'You were...I am not sure how to put it, Fëanáro, but you scared us during those last days. We did not wish for you to be suffering.'

Fëanáro shook his head. 'I was quite well all throughout,' he insisted, though his mind flashed back traitorously to the awful headaches, the exhaustion, the constant worry at the back of his mind as to whether the Silmarilli were safe and well. 'If you wished for me to depart for Mandos, you need not have arranged a route via Lórien. A knife to the heart would have—'

'Stop!' Ñolofinwë cut in sharply. 'Do not speak of killing, Fëanáro — I do not care to hear it, and especially not so callously. And tell me, please tell me, why do you think sending — not even sending, but suggesting you to go to Lórien, would be anything other than a suggestion for seeking advice and rest? Why would it ever be done to kill you? I don't understand!'

Another heavy, oppressive silence hung in the air.

Then Fëanáro cleared his throat and whispered, 'Ammë went to Lórien.'

Ñolofinwë's face went ashen, and he fell back into his chair. 'Oh. Oh, Fëanáro...'

'It was the only way you would know to kill.'

As suddenly as he'd sat down, Ñolofinwë stood up again and pulled Fëanáro into a tight embrace.

Fëanáro let him pull him close, unresisting — it felt like being young again, when being held by a parent or sibling was enough to drive away any fear, no matter how awful. 'I had never meant it that way, Fëanáro,' murmured Ñolofinwë. 'Lórien does not...I didn't know you thought...I wouldn't...'

'Truly?' asked Fëanáro, moving away. His mind went back to the overheard conversation, the rumours about something dark in Lórien. Where had he heard it? From his sons? Who'd heard it from...whom? Had he asked them, or simply believed it, since it had made good sense at the time?

Moringotto... of course. Curse Moringotto a thousand times over!

'Yes, truly,' said Ñolofinwë, earnestly. 'And I am sure the business with the swords was much the same, wasn't it? I'd heard whispers of your 'madness', though I do not remember where they came from...'

'I was wearing two swords that day, you know. I'd brought one for you,' Fëanáro admitted quietly. 'A gift of reconciliation.' That sword was still unbloodied, unlike his own, lying under this very desk, in fact. 'You must have heard the same sorts of things — that I hated you enough, was mad enough, as they put it, to wish you dead.' He'd never wished it, he knew, never had. Even with the flaming torch in his hands, ready to toss, he'd only hoped his brother would turn back and go home, as Arafinwë had.

He did not want to think about what might have happened had he set the ships aflame.

'Moringotto,' said Ñolofinwë, having drawn the same conclusions. 'I'm going to kill him.'

'I am,' Fëanáro retorted. It felt so wonderfully banal, nothing but a pointless, teasing argument with his elder brother only for the sake of it, that his lips stretched into a smile, after what must have been months.

'We could do it together,' Ñolofinwë suggested. The ice had already melted from his eyes and face. 'With both of us, I doubt he'd stand a chance.'

Fëanáro snorted. 'You're right, but you don't even — wait, no, you do.' He crouched down upon the floor, and felt around in the dark recesses under the travelling desk before pulling out an intricate scabbard, from which a silvery-dark hilt gleamed. He stood up, and handed the sheathed blade hilt-first to Ñolofinwë.

'Is it the one you were going to...'

'The very same,' replied Fëanáro. 'I'll make better ones once we have the proper facilities, of course. Some of the people around — I'll tell you all about them soon enough, and their highly fascinating language — mentioned all sorts of interesting metals that might be made into useful alloys. But until then, you'll at least have an actual weapon apart from your formidable anger to go against Moringotto with.'

Ñolofinwë smiled, and pulled the sword from its sheath, admiring the gleam of the pale blue-white lamplight upon its sharp blade. 'Thank you.'

'Don't...don't thank me like that.' Fëanáro took a deep breath, and gathered his thoughts. 'Should we try to put this behind us, if we can? Please?'

His brother nodded at once, and Fëanáro felt a crushing weight lift from his shoulders. His back straightened, and for the first time in so long that he could not quite pinpoint when and where it had begun, the gaping wound between Fëanáro and his brother felt like it was coming a little closer to healing over.

#i'm starting to try and tackle the task of *writing* this AU that's been rattling around in my head since like august last year #so prepare to hear about it lol #the silmarillion #silm #legendarium tag #feanor #fingolfin #children of miriel au #<- tentative au tag #and it was not void #my fic

[anevilbunnyinthehat]

Could you tell us more about Nahtaviel? What is her story? What is the au youre referring to? Does she have any interactions with other characters?

Ohhhhhh!!! Sure!! Let me explain it to you in parts💖💖

To start, when I say "AU" I mean an alternate universe where my ocs are part of the story (such as a game, an anime, a novel, etc.).

I do this mainly so that there are no problems with those people in the fandoms who like the story to be followed 100%, which is why I say that it is AU and therefore the canon story will not be affected.

In the case of Nahtaivel she is part of the Genshin AU (which I share with my friends) where she is part of the story along with other ocs and therefore there are certain changes in the lore with respect to the original story to the game.

Now that we have clarified that point, let's go to the next one, where I will talk about this lady dragon.

Nahtaivel is part of my oldest ocs, I created her during 2014-2016 and she is based on Leviathan. Her name is basically Leviathan said backwards (Leviathan=Nahtaivel).

And in 2021 I adapted Nahtaivel for the lore of Genshin, which at that time her story was simpler compared to now, in addition to the fact that in 2021 the fandom didn't know about the existence of Sovereign dragons in the game, info would be revealed some time later.

Then in 2023 when the Fontaine arc came out, I decided to revamp Nahtaivel by giving her a more solid story that involved some parts of the game's story.

Many Genshin fans know that Neuvillette is the reincarnation of the sovereign dragon Hydro and that he is based on Leviathan.

Well this is where things get interesting.

In some myths and biblical stories about Leviathan, they say that there was not a single Leviathan but two Leviathans, a male and a female. And then God would kill the female because these sea beasts were a danger.

So at that moment I said "Hey, what if Sovereign Hydro reincarnated into not one but two new entities?"👀. Added to that I was also inspired by the lore of Zekrom and Reshiram from pokemon.

So basically Nahtaivel and Neuvillete are re-incarnations of the sovereign dragon Hydro and basically they consider each other as siblings (Naht being the older sister, for breaking the egg first before Neuvi). Although Neuvillette is the one who has control over the hydro element, obviously.

How crazy that there are also two Hydro archons(???.

Regarding the history of Nahtaivel I will try to summarize it a little:

Nahtaivel, the first moment she came to the surface from the depths of the ocean, she was curious about the world of land and humans (Yes, the little mermaid). So little by little she learned about this new world and its inhabitants, even interacting with humans and learning different languages ​​of those times.

So in exchange for that, Nahtaivel would teach humans the secrets of navigation and encourage them to explore beyond the limits of the Teyvat's seas.

The humans of Liyue and Inazuma would begin to treat her as a goddess, calling her by the names of Gran Mare and Mother Sea. She was the one who maintained order and balance in the seas of Liyue and Inazuma.

In addition, Nahtaivel would form a good relationship with other deities and beasts of the sea, among them Osial, who would become her right hand.

But things would change with of the archon war, Nahtaivel tried to ensure peace between the deities of the sea and the inhabitants of the mainland because she did not want lives to be lost (And because she knew this was a twisted plan on Celestia's part). Which was one of the reasons Osial and the other sea deities saw her as someone "weak" besides that they envied the good relationship she had with humans.

And that is why one day they betrayed her, plotting to try to eliminate her and take her power to keep it for themselves. But that was their biggest and last mistake. Because they only caused the beast that slept in her finally to wake up.

Nahtaivel massacred the traitors who tried to kill her, her wrath was on the surface and few sea deities were able to escape, including Osial.

Two hundred years later, Nahtaivel would agree to help Morax seal Osial and, in the process, take revenge on him for his betrayal.

What she didn't expect is that she and Morax would end up in a romantic relationship, learning about each other and after sealing the vortex god, they would get married and have a 2000 year old marriage. They even had a daughter.

Currently Nahtaivel leads a peaceful life as a "mortal" with her husband in Liyue.

As for her relationship with the Genshin characters, it's still a work in progress but I have some here: Zhongli/Morax (husband), Neuvillette (younger brother), Beidou (ex-pupil, partner in crime 1),Venti/Barbatos (friend), Traveler (acquaintance), Xiao (her husband's pupil and she wants the poor boy to relax a little once in his life) and Hu Tao (Her husband's boss, partner in crime 2).

And regarding Nahtaivel's personality, she is quite motherly. She seems intimidating at first but the truth is that Naht is calm and depending on who she is with, she can be more open or not. Being that with her closest ones she has a softer attitude and likes to play some little joke.

She is honest with her words, and sometimes she can even be too direct with what she thinks, she doesn't like lies or betrayals. Naht is only aggressive when she feels threatened or is in combat with someone else.

Ahhh...I hope this wasn't too long haha TwT)💦 ​​and thanks for asking!!💖💖💖

#nahtaivel #genshin oc

[gamerbearmira]

Giant mermaid au

Yo...For the giant mermaid au can we pls see more of Antonio with his human buddies, maybe they're like giving him a piggy back ride lol and trying to feed him without him biting.

I hope it's not too much but can we also see giant mermaid isa, agustine and Bruno haven't seen them yet lol

Questions

So Agustin being the one to talk to humans, is he sorta the expert on them is he asked questions about them?

What do the sirens do? What's their routine, guppies sometimes go to the groto daycare and most adults go hunting or defending the area. I'm just curious how the community runs or just what it's like lol. What do the madrigals family do everyday?

Do Mirabel and Isa still have beef?

Tiny madrigals au

High fives 🥹

Heh quite alot, hopefully not too much of a bother I love your stories and your drawings 😎

OF COURSE‼️‼️‼️

Also I never explained or said it but. Antonio, along with other guppies, really only like one human from the ship they encounter. You know Milo, from Atlantis. Yeah, the human is basically like that dude, a linguist. He can understand the guppies, to an extent, so they like him. The guppies simply tolerate the other humans. They can’t get close or. They will get bit 💀💀

And yes. I have yet to draw the other siren Madrigals shhhhhh

Agustín isn’t an expert, but he definitely knows a whole lot more than the others in the community. He often will debunk the things that just straight up aren’t true. He is bombarded by guppies and younger sirens on a daily basis. They’re always asking him questions about human, but he doesn’t mind. He thinks it’s funny how interested they are, seeing that he in no major way, is he against humans entirely.

As for the sirens???? I guess it depends on the family. Guppies do go to the daycare though. They actually sleep in there most of the time, they rarely are in their family cave to sleep, because of how small they are compared to grown sirens. They’re picked up n the morning, go back in the afternoon, then they can free roam, and then their parents usually drop them off at night. Hence why there are always the caretakers at the Grotto.

The adults, most of the time, are hunting for some kind of food. Defending surprisingly isn’t a major priority. That job is typically left to jellyfish, you know like box jellyfish, considering how close jellyfish and giant sirens have been for decades. Some adults are farming, but it’s not for like sea animals; it’s for those giant shells that are used for guppies. They’re cultured and selectively breaded specifically so they can be used for guppies. And it’s not just like clams, it’s oysters, mussels, any kind of shell like that. Humans actually try and find these farm, because sometimes, though it’s rare, giant pearls can form within the shells. Pearls mean nothing to giant sirens, they hold no particular value, so they’re kind of just put into the family’s treasury and they move on with their lives.

Madrigals is very similar to what they do in canon. Just going around helping whoever needs it. Gifts??? I never really decided if they were a thing, but I’m leaning towards no??? Honestly them helping around is enough, and since they’re underwater, a lot of the gifts serve no real useful purposes to giant sirens. They!re very capable, and have no need for anything special.

And no! They don’t have beef. It’s more like a friendly sibling rivalry. You know, play fighting, talking smack, stuff like that. Alma doesn’t really play favorites in this AU. So nothing driving them apart. Isabela was actually the one who carried Luisa and Mirabel around in their shells when they were little, so she’s quite close with Mirabel.

Tiny Madrigals, but it’s just these two

AND I’M GLAD YOU LIKE MY STUFF‼️‼️ I LOVE MAKING IT 👹👹👹

#my asks #my asks are open #encanto #encanto au #au #encanto antonio #encanto isabela #encanto agustín #encanto bruno #giant siren AU

[ask-duotale-b2fc]

✨️Duotale FAQ✨️

Just in case peeps ask questions a lot lol. Will add more as we go.

•What exactly is this AU about?

Its just a funny little AU where not all monsters were locked underground and some went into hiding instead. Some species of monster in this AU can take on human form with their magic, hence why this is possible. Of course, this doesnt stop kiddos, human or monster, from climbing that darn mountain though.

•When is the next page?

Duotale updates every Friday. Time varies but I try to keep it between 10am and 12pm EST. If either day falls on a holiday, the page will be posted the following day.

•Why is this AU called Duotale?

Because the two main characters are twins, hence the Duo in Duotale. Ok they aren't twins, but they are siblings, born a few months apart. Yes, Strawberry is the Older one.

•Is the player a thing in this AU?

Maybe, maybe not. Depends on the AUs in the Citadel. No one is controlling the Duotale cast though. They've had their own mind and actions from the start. Underplayer is in the Citadel though, if you count them as a player.

●Can my AU be featured in your comic?

Why yes. Just refer to the link in the Masterpost labeled "how to get your AU into the comic". Follow the rules, answer the questions, and you'll be in where we can fit you! Do note that we will try to spread everyone out through different MVC visits, so please, don't be upset if your appearance isn't automatic! You will be seen eventually before the story's end! Scene art and asks are a different story though.

•Will Kris make an appearance?

Yes :3. I'll leave it at that. Ralsei will make an appearance in asks or art, Susie may or may not be in the comic itself. Here's the boi. During the comic he's a lil toddler. (Gender explaination is below btw for those that care.)

•Is Kris gonna be Frisk or Luci's counterpart?

No. Neither. They will be their own person.

●Is Clover gonna make an appearance?

Like Kris, the cowboy ghost will be there, but unlike Kris, you won't see him in comic til the end. He will (and has already) pop up on our blog, like Dalv or Star sherrif boi, but in comic, sorry, hes in Asgore's castle and that's so far away right now lmao. But here's how he looks. Yes, he knows the fox stole his hat. He does not know where his gun is, though.

●Will xxx color soul child also be in this AU?

Depends. We already have the Yellow soul decided (obvi). If There's another colored child you wanna see pop up as a canon-to-duotale ghost at the end of the comic you can ask, but so far only Clover and MAYBE Marine(Patience soul) but the lore is off that comic might contradict yellow or ours so that's undecided. Any other kids so far would be only seen in the MVC. We're trying not to pick kids in full existing sets so thats why Clover and maybe Marine are our only choices so far. We are more likely to make up the rest tbh. No more red souls though beyond cameos. Red souls work a special way in our AU and there's not a lot (if any) that can fit that requirement.

•Can other ghosts see Chara/Luci?

Yes. And she can see said other ghosts. Strawberry can only see those that she summons and Blackberry can see ghosts as well. Frisky can sense spirits near him but obviously cannot see them.

●Why do some characters have rings around them?

That just means they're dead. Ghosts. Spirits that didn't move on to heven or hell. The ring color matches the color of their soul and doesn't change. Luci, Blackberry, Dalv, and Kris have special rings though. They change color based on emotions. This color changing mood ring is only available to one species and it starts becoming visible around puberty. Luci is fullblooded, hence why her ring is always visible and changing like a rainbow, though Blackie and Kris aren't fullblooded, so their rings might be a bit faultly ha. If you're every curious what the colors mean, you can refer to the link labeled "Luci's mood ring" on the master post. Or a more simplified list ca be found on her teen ref.

•What exactly are the main cast's species?

Blackie is is a halfbreed kitsune vampire, Luci is a purebreed vampire with demonic powers, Strawberry is a tanuki who practices witch magic, and Frisky is a human. He just has a magical scarf to give him wings like redbull. As for Kris... you'll figure it out. No spoilers, sorry lol.

•How did you come up with the idea of Duotale?

Originally this story was gonna be a comic of our own runs in Undertale, showing how they clash and would effect each other. Kinda like thise PMD comics and Nuzlocke animations people make. But somewhere between writing the script and making the first cover art, we changed our minds and made a whole AU instead.

•Is fanart allowed?

Yes uwu. You can find character info and all current ref sheets in the Masterpost, last section at the bottom :3 If ya tag me, I can reblog it in my main account so peeps can see it, and an account I have specifically for or art made by others so I wont lose it. Main account is @oatmealkitty . That is where all non ask/comic art goes.

•What ships are in this comic/blog?

Oh boy a hard question to answer. Ignoring any cameos, out of our own and JUST our own characters this is the list. I'm probably missing a LOT though as these are off the top of my mind.

☆Friskyberry (Frisk x Blackie) | ☆Charaberry (Luci x Strawberry) | ☆Charisk (Sugartale) | ☆Chariel (Luci x Cristal; in the past before adoption, though nothing comes of this.) | ☆Pappyton | ☆Soriel (They break up post story on mutual terms) | ☆Torgore (They break up before the story and never get back together.) | ☆Kingdings (Asgore's relationship post comic) | ☆Sansby (After Sans and Tori split) | ☆Alphyne | ☆Kris x Ralsei

•What are the pronouns of each character?

You will find all information on the masterpost, last section. If someone is missing we just didnt finish the refs yet. Apologies. Since I know MK, MTT and Blooky will be asked about due to lack of refs, they are all he/him here but Blooky and MK accept They/Them. Remember that this is an Alternate Universe, as in not sticking to the game's lore to a T. So please dont start a fuss over this. If canon versions of the characters ever speak or are spoken to in the Citadel, they will be referred to by the genders Toby (NOT THE FANDOM) placed on them, so be happy with that smh.

A note to avoid confusion since I KNOW this will cause issues if I don't give a bible explanation: WITHIN the comic, Kris' pronouns will be he/him, hence me calling the younger one he/him. Personally, I can't see a literal 3 year old toddler changing his gender or even caring about that. I know I sure didn't back then lol. I didn't care till damn near the end of highschool tbh. Soo, He starts requesting people use they/them (if possible) in his late teens as thats what I personally experienced. Sorry to anyone who wants out of the womb non binary/trans babies. Oh and when he's spoken to or about in another language, regaurdless of age, it will be male pronouns bc languages. Sorry, can't fix that either. That's just how languages work. So yeah, Tldr: In comic=he/him. In asks=they/them (he/him if non english language).

𖤐~~~~~~𖤐~~~~~~𖤐

✨️Asks✨️

•You can ask LITERALLY anything to ANYONE. Even the mods. All suggestive/sexual questions will be filtered with a label if need be.

•All questions will go to the post comic adult versions of the cast unless specified in the question, or unless we allow asks for the kiddos for some reason.

•You can ask spoiler based questions, but they will either be heavily censored or answered in a joking manner as to not give away everything that happens in the story.

•All asks that seem like spam will be ignored. I know we answered them before jokingly but after a while it becomes too much. Also! We will ignore asks about religion (offensive/forcing), racism, sexism, stuff like that.

#Duotale #FAQ #undertale #deltarune #undertale au #undertale blog #undertale ask blog #undertale art #undertale community #undertale askblog #undertale alternate timeline #undertale yellow #uty clover #utmv fanart #utdr fanart #utau fanart #ut yellow

[ravs6709]

An X-Ray Ain't Needed To See Within- Dex Study (ish), Minor Fedex

Word count: 7.9k words

Ao3 link here.

Aaaaaaaand here I am, nearly a whole month late, but my kotlc secret santa gift from @song-tam 's exchange is finally done!

@an-ungraceful-swan I'm your secret santa!!! So sorry for being as late as I am (the shit going on in my personal life was unreal) but I hope this near 8k fic will make up for the wait!

Because I was told to just "surprise you", I let the brain pick out a concept and spun it around in my head until this fic was made

That is, I took the vague premise of a fic from a different fandom -> the idea that every person is to be entrusted with taking care of someone else's heart—quite literally. Other than that, it's basically a canon rewrite of books 1-4 (ish, not all through 4) from dex pov with minor (pre-relationship) fedex

Warnings: depiction of the kidnapping/torture scene from book 1, bug stab Fitz scene from book 4, descriptions of heart anatomy (not too graphic but still fair warning), brief mention of vomit

Hope you enjoy!

•~•~•~•~•~•

"What's that?" A young Dex asked his mom. He'd barged into his parents' room without warning them, and saw Juline holding a heart in her hands, singing softly while Kesler held her hand with one hand, holding a different heart in the other.

"They're hearts," Juline said, but Dex knew that much.

"Why?" There were a whole slew of questions, like why the hearts were beating despite not being connected to a body, or why they were coloured in different shades of blue and green and yellow even though they should have been red, or where they even got a heart from. Dex was just barely older than a toddler, and while elves were born with some understanding of the world around them from birth, he’d never seen this before.

Kesler and Juline shared a look, and Dex didn't like that his mom was starting to frown. Was this supposed to be a secret?

"I don't want him to know everything yet," Juline said.

"He'll have to know eventually," Kesler said, "and it's not that bad."

Juline raised an eyebrow. "Tell me you weren't terrified when you first held a heart in your hand. I know I was."

"Fine, yes, but we'll help him adjust. The risk is minimal, very few have--"

"But she was one of them. Kesler, please," Juline said, her voice quiet, "We'll wait until he's older, okay? He’ll already have enough on his plate as is."

Kesler closed his eyes and took a breath, then squeezed her hand. "Sorry, I didn't think of her--okay. We’ll wait."

"Wait until I'm old enough for what?" Dex asked.

His parents both startled, turning to look at him, as if they'd forgotten he was right there.

Juline hummed, letting go of Kesler's hand so that she could trace gentle lines across Dex's face. "I'll tell you a little bit, but I won't tell you the rest until you're older, okay? Once it’s relevant to you."

"How much older?"

"Three years," Kesler answered.

For Dex, that sounded like a really long time. But as young as he knew he was, he was old enough to be able to tell when there were certain topics that made his parents upset. Abilities were one of them. Discussing the triplets with the other elves was another. He didn't know all the details, but he knew that the other elves didn't like his parents and they thought his siblings were wrong, and he knew they didn't like talking about those things in front of him.

Dex nodded. "Okay."

Juline held the heart out to him. "When you grow older, you'll have a heart to take care of."

The heart in her hand was a myriad of colours, it reminded him of Slurps and Burps with all the random splotches of colours all over it.

"Does it bleed?" Dex asked.

Juline smiled at him. "No, it doesn't. Do you want to touch it?"

He nodded, curious. When she held the heart out to him, he gently traced a finger along an artery. It was warm. It really was beating, and he didn’t imagine it. 

“It represents the heart of another elf."

"Another elf?"

"It represents your dad's heart. It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Dad's heart?" Dex looked at Kesler, who had a fond look on his face. He was cradling a heart of his own in his hands, this one lacked the same colourful whimsy, but the various shades of blue with hints of colour had Dex thinking that it suited his mother. He opened his mouth to ask if elves always married the person who held their heart, then realized that was a stupid question because the elves didn't like his parents' marriage.

"Will I get a heart to hold too?" Dex asked.

"Yeah. You will."

•~•~•~•~•~•

What Dex assumed to be "several years later," Dex woke up and found a teal heart on the nightstand beside his bed. Blue-green, with hints of navy and gold that seemed to trace along where the blood would have flowed had the heart been in an actual body.

He'd had full intention of just lazing in bed for the entire morning, but he knew he had to tell his parents. He took the heart in his hands, beating softly, a rhythm unfamiliar to him. He walked to his parents room--they were already awake, Kesler preparing for work, while Juline was gently carrying her husband’s heart.

"Dex?" Kesler asked, "what's up--oh."

"It's about time he received his heart to hold," Juline said. "Dex, come sit down on the bed."

He sat down. Despite how he'd seen them direct plenty of fond looks towards their own hearts, neither of them seemed particularly excited to talk about his heart.

"To have a heart means to take care of it. But there's more to it than that, isn't there?" Dex asked.

"Let me be blunt with you," Juline said. She looked pained, her turquoise eyes slightly dull. "You must take care of your heart. If you do not take care of it well, the person who that heart belongs to will die."

To the average elf, it would probably have an initial shock. Elves lived forever, as far as they all knew. Elvin deaths were rare, a few wanderlings planted, but still, only a few.

To Dex, he himself had never witnessed a death. He had never known, never had been in this world long enough to know, but still, he knew, he knew that his family was haunted by a death from before he was born, and that because of it, he rarely ever got to see his aunt and uncle because they isolated themselves from everyone else. He'd never be able to grow up knowing her.

"Did cousin Jolie's heart..?"

"Her body was in a condition where she could have lived," Juline said, looking away. "But her heart–her heart had been burnt too much in the fire."

"Oh," he said, because what else could he say?

"To take care of that heart, you must keep it physically safe. But not just that, you also need to keep it emotionally safe too. An emotional or mental issue can be just as severe as a physical one."

"So I'll need to keep it around me often," Dex understood.

Kesler nodded, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "It'll be fine. Elf hearts aren't too fragile, so don't stress too much, okay?" Then looked down at his heart that was Juline's, the blues looking slightly pale. "You'll be able to recognize signs beforehand." He traced along an artery, and Dex watched as his mother closed her eyes, the tension releasing from her shoulders. Vibrancy flowed through like blood, painting it. "I know you'll take care of it well."

•~•~•~•~•~•

On occasion, Dex noticed how the heart would react differently. It wasn't at any regular occurrence, though it always seemed to last a few hours at a time. When that happened, he held the heart closer, turning it over in his palm. It tended to have a slow, steady pulse; the beat of a drum, the tick of a clock. Slow, steady, controlled, but during the odd moments the heartbeat would grow faster and weaker, like panic seeping into his bloodstream sometimes, when it made his skin all clammy and pale. It was the gold of the heart that would fade first, then the navy, though the teal always seemed to stay intact. At least though, the heart didn't get clammy like his hands would. No gross sweat or blood, just a beating heart.

He wasn't sure why, but sometimes he got the feeling that the elf the heart belonged to was kind of lonely. He'd seen Kesler's heart, bright and vibrant. Even Juline's had its own sort of uniqueness to it. The heart he held was beautiful, a piece of art, but distant. A painting that was not allowed to be touched after having been made.

Dex wondered how old the other elf was. The heart in his hands was smaller compared to his Kesler's or Juline's, so maybe it was possible that they were around Dex's age? He'd hope so. He'd be starting Foxfire at some point, it'd be nice if he had a friend there. One that wouldn't mind Dex being the son of a bad match, one who wouldn't be too judgmental.

•~•~•~•~•~•

When Dex started Foxfire, he had high hopes. Hopes that were quickly crushed. As he walked in the hallways, he could sense gazes following his path. No table ever wanted to let him sit there, so he tried finding random corners in the hallways to eat by himself, until one of his mentors noticed and took pity on him, allowing him to eat in that classroom. There was Stina, who openly insulted his family, so he got his revenge only for the situation between them to escalate.

And then there was Fitz Vacker. His first meeting with Fitz wasn't special, he happened to be with his dad and sister as customers for Slurps and Burps, and just like all the stuffy nobles, both him and Biana Vacker cringed at the sight of his family's apothecary. Maybe he wouldn't even have remembered him if he wasn't a Vacker. There were tons of people who shopped at the apothecary only to never acknowledge him in Foxfire. But then he saw Fitz again. And again. And again. In the hallway on his way to class. In the cafeteria as they waited in line to get the same food. The winner of the splotching tournament--had been, for years, if the screaming was to be believed.

Fitz was everywhere, popular, so many of the girls had a crush on him. He heard non-stop mooning about whether the heart they held would belong to him. Top marks, perfect looks. Dex was sick of it. Fitz wasn't special.

It made him almost want to hate the heart that he held, that teal heart that matched his eyes. He scoffed at the thought that the person whose heart he held was Fitz, or even Biana. Yet it was still a beating heart, his to nurture, and no matter how much the colour irritated him. Somewhere out there, there was someone who was relying on him. The thought alone pushed him forward.

•~•~•~•~•~•

During his next year at Foxfire, a new elf named Sophie Foster came out of nowhere. She lived with Aunt Edaline and Uncle Grady, she was an elf that once lived with humans. If that weren't cool enough, she didn't seem to care about his family and their status. Yeah, sure, it was because she didn't really know anything, period, but she still took the information in stride and chose to be friends with him.

And she was kind of cute. And smart, and totally fun--she'd gotten on Stina's bad side and destroyed Lady Galvin's cape. And...

And of course she liked Fitz. Because of course she did. Why wouldn't she? The perfect guy.

•~•~•~•~•~•

"Is that a--is that a heart?" Sophie asked.

They were taking a break in between one of Sophie's alchemy tutoring sessions, and Dex had grabbed his heart to unwind.

"Yeah? Why do you sound surprised? Don't you have one of your own?"

"No???"

Huh. That was weird. "Wonderboy didn't mention it to you or anything?"

"No??? Is this a normal elf thing?"

"Each elf gets a heart to take care of, it represents the heart of another elf. It's important, because breaking the heart means killing the elf."

"Oh. Am I exempt from this, because I don't remember a heart? Or did I accidentally kill an elf?"

"You're probably fine. While the elf who holds your heart isn't the only elf who can take care of your heart," he began, "the fact that you haven't died yourself says something. Besides, elvin deaths are super rare, remember? I can't remember the last time there was a Wanderling--Wylie Endal's mother, maybe?"

There had been a change in her facial expression, but Dex decided not to press. The Council actually explored that, ensuring there was no risk of attachment. Besides, the elf that Jolie loved--Brant, if Dex recalled his name correctly--was still alive as he proceeded to take care of his own scarred heart. That's what his mom had told him when he'd asked.

"Huh," Sophie said. "Well, whoever's heart I was supposed to take care of, I hope they're doing well."

"Yeah," Dex murmured, "me too."

•~•~•~•~•~•

Sophie started hanging out with Fitz and Biana, much to his annoyance. Like, going to his house on a constant basis hanging out. She even had him promise to keep the Wonderboy bashing to a minimum.

(But she also considered him her best friend, so he supposed he could take it as a win.)

•~•~•~•~•~•

Sophie. A Vacker. Or, potentially a Vacker. Grady and Edaline had cancelled her adoption, and she could be adopted by the Vackers. Siblings with Fitz and Biana? Gross.

Maybe he was too harsh on Sophie when he'd told her not to trust them. But she didn't understand—they didn't look at people below them and view them as equals. And it was proven as such, when Stina, of all people, exposed Biana for only having befriended Sophie because her dad told her to.

I told you so, he wanted to tell her so badly, but they were in Study Hall. Do you see what they're truly like—

"Dex?" A voice called out, and he nearly jolted as he realized that Fitz was talking to him. Ugh.

"What?" he asked, the acid in his voice so strong even Fitz flinched as if he’d been burned.

"You need to be with her."

"You two are the ones who caused this mess—"

"She won't talk to us. She needs you."

Dex almost started screaming at him for cutting him off, but the words made him freeze. He paused, took a deep breath. "Am I supposed to put in a good word for you? Newsflash, Wonderboy, I'm not doing that."

Fitz sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Just be there. I don't-- I don't want her to be alone."

And that got Dex standing up, immediately grabbing his stuff. Damn it, leave it to Wonderboy to get him to realize that Sophie's comfort meant more than his own petty sense of righteousness.

When he made it to the cave at Havenfield, something felt off. He took a few tentative steps forward. Another few steps, and a voice that sounded like Sophie's rang out in his head, telling him to run. Before he could even think, someone grabbed him from behind, shoving a cloth over his mouth.

No, he thought. Sophie. He fought against his captor and...

•~•~•~•~•~•

He woke up, restrained. Everything was dark and he could barely breathe and it was burning it was burning—

In the off moments where he was awake and not burning until he fell unconscious again, he would barely be able to muster worried thoughts. His parents, how were they doing? The triplets.

Sophie. Sophie, who must be somewhere close and was also in the same situation and she was being tortured too. His heart. The one he normally held wasn't with him since he kept it at his house when he attended Foxfire, but what about the elf who held his heart? Did the elf care?

He fought against his restraints, managed to break free of them.

He'd barely made it two steps before a voice said, "One more step, and the girl dies."

"We should just kill him anyway," another voice said. "He's useless to us. A hindrance."

Dex sank back onto the chair, feeling absolutely useless for not being able to do anything.

•~•~•~•~•~•

When he woke up, he was in some unfamiliar area with Sophie, no kidnappers in sight. Turned out that they were in the Forbidden Cities. But that was fine, they were safe. Well, for now. Apparently there were a lot of secrets that Sophie had kept hidden from everyone. A telepath.

He'd also at some point manifested as a technopath. Huh. He was relieved that he had an ability, but ugh, did it have to be technopathy? It wasn't nearly as cool as telepathy.

The kidnappers had come again, one of them wielding a fucking melder, and as he was shot by it once, twice, and he was incapacitated on the floor, he could vaguely see Sophie trembling in rage as they all fell over. He couldn’t move, talk, or even see, but he knew when Sophie had picked him up to leap despite them being too injured and—

•~•~•~•~•~•

When Dex woke up again, he was laying in a bed. He had half a mind to just sink into the soft comfort of the bed, but as he woke up, all his senses awakened: the burns on his skin, the sting from the melder.

"Sophie," he gasped.

"Hey, relax," a voice said, and Dex opened his eyes to see Keefe staring at him. "You can't get out of bed yet."

"But Sophie--"

"Foster's alive," Keefe said, "she's alive, and Elwin's going to see her before he comes to see you."

Dex tried to pull himself into a sitting position, but it hurt too much, and Keefe had to help him out. "Is she okay?"

Dex watched as Keefe paused. His eyes closed, as he took a deep breath. He turned away, then back at him, and Dex had a feeling that he wasn't going to like what his answer was going to be. As if delaying to increase the weight of impact, turning to the desk next to him and picking up a heart.

"This is the heart I hold, it belongs to Foster," Keefe said. "I realized it when... well. You'll see."

Dex sucked in a breath. The heart, brown and gold and red looked so frail in his hands, just barely beating. The entire left side was nearly transparent, from ventricle all the way up to the aorta. He could actually see the red flow of blood, slow but not steady.

"The light leap," he realized. He remembered being carried, remembered being leaped. All of him was intact, not a single cell faded away, and he wasn't conscious enough to provide his own concentration to leap them. Sophie she-- she put everything into him.

"Foster's alive," Keefe repeated, "and Elwin's going to see her."

Dex stared at the heart that Keefe had, desperately hoping that she'd be okay. Looked at every heartbeat, to see if each pulse would become slower paced. So when the heart was still faded and Elwin had walked into this room, he was worried.

"Sophie's sedated, and I can't lie and say that she's okay right now," he explained before Dex could start rapid-fire asking questions, "but I can't do much else for now without waiting to see if what I've done for now will let her heal. So for now, I'll work with you."

Dex had been to Elwin once or twice for minor incidents at Foxfire for his elementalism class, and while getting healed wasn't bad, it wasn't really something he liked per se. However, there was no trace of discomfort as he could only focus on Sophie. His eyes couldn't leave the half-faded heart.

Elwin's gaze followed his own. "That's... a weird heart. Sophie's, I'm guessing?"

Dex nodded.

"That's probably good to keep close, given Sophie's already high attendance at the Healing Centre."

Elwin had said it as a joke, but neither him, Dex, nor Keefe felt like laughing.

"Are you going to tell her about the heart?" Dex asked.

Keefe paused, surprisingly hesitant considering what he knew of him. "You two are close, have you seen the heart she has yet? Would you say it reflects me well?"

"Sophie doesn't have one with her," Dex said. "She's got no memory of ever seeing a heart like that."

Though, now knowing what he knew, Dex guessed that the Black Swan probably had her heart? Since no human would be so accepting of a living, beating heart.

Keefe blinked. "Oh. Then... I guess I won't tell her yet. Don't tell anyone else either? At least-- not until she gets her own." He looked back up at Elwin, and Dex had forgotten that he was even there. Elwin nodded.

After the worst of Dex's injuries were healed, Keefe and Elwin left to go see Sophie, while he was ordered to rest for a bit. He knew that sleep wouldn't come easy, but the stress of everything had kicked in and eventually he was knocked out. At some point, the door had opened, quiet but enough to rouse him into consciousness. He was too tired to open his eyes. Footsteps approached the bed, close, stopping a few steps away. There was the sound of a heart beating, maybe. He could feel his own heart in his chest beating in time to the sound.

"It’s you..." A whisper sounded out. Quiet, low, familiar.

He wanted to open his eyes and see who was there, to see if it was who he thought it was (not that it made any sense at all for him to be here), but it was nice and warm in bed, his heart feeling warmer than ever as he drifted back to sleep.

•~•~•~•~•~•

"Dex!" Bex called, running up to him and hugging him. His two brothers joined the call, all of them shoving to hold him close. Dex wrapped his arms around them.

His parents stood slightly off to the side, their skin paler than he remembered. Both of their hair was messy, and he could see as they clung to each other's hands.

"Don't leave us ever again," Rex cried, smearing his tears on his shirt. Neither of the other two triplets made fun of him for crying as they both fought back their own tears.

Dex could only nod, his throat too choked up to speak. He could only hope that would be true.

•~•~•~•~•~•

Weeks passed, and slowly, Sophie recovered from having almost fading away. He'd spent his fair share of the time alternating between hanging near Keefe to stare at Sophie's heart, and taking care of the heart that he had.

His own heart... during the kidnapping, what had it looked like? Did it mirror his state too? Had there been burns all over it? He could vaguely picture someone cradling it, oh so confused as to what was going on. Did they panic? He supposed that no one had been able to connect the timing of it all back to his disappearance, given that nobody came in rushing to tell him.

Then again, who would have wanted to admit that they held Dex Dizznee's heart?

•~•~•~•~•~•

For the next few weeks, everything went back to normal. Sort of. He visited Sophie to help her with the animals at Havenfield, helped his dad at the store, sat in his room and tinkered with gadgets—this time using his ability.

He'd tried working on a variety of inventions, his major priority having been a device that would somewhat replicate telepathy.

He also had a side project, he wondered if it was possible to be able to know the heartbeats when he was not with the heart.

His parents were concerned, rightfully, but they were getting way too on his case. Between them and looking after his siblings, he felt suffocated.

But other than that, things were back to normal-ish (if he ignored the nightmares and the constant dread he felt).

...until Sophie found an alicorn, then suddenly she had a whole bunch of secrets she couldn't tell him, and she was so busy that he could barely even see her. Both Fitz and Biana weren't coming to Foxfire.

The heart he had, it was doing something weird, and it had him panicking. It was slightly swollen, the arteries and veins bulging a faint red, not unlike the way the veins in his hands would when he clenched his fists trying to hold back his anger at the triplets for breaking yet another thing of his. But that kind of anger was situational, just a brief moment. Maybe at worst, lasting a day, if he was having a really bad day.

The heart represented an elf's physical and mental state. He didn't know much about how hearts worked physically, but Dex had the feeling that the problem with the other elf wasn't physical. Obviously though, everyone would go through a variety of feelings, and not every feeling could be reflected from moment to moment.

So the problem was clearly mental, and it was clearly huge. The weird bulging persisted for one, two, three, more days.

"So, just the three of us?" Marella asked during lunch. "Again?"

Sophie and Keefe had ended up in detention, so the group at the lunch table was the smallest it'd been in a while.

"Something's clearly up," Dex said.

Marella rolled her eyes. "Obviously. The Vackers not being here is proof of that."

The group fell into an awkward silence, and not even Jensi's generally uplifting demeanor could ease it.

"The heart I have has been acting weird," Dex said suddenly.

Matters of the heart were generally kept private, but he didn't want to keep it to himself, and he didn't really want to tell his parents yet, even though they'd probably have some kind of solution.

"Weird how?" Jensi asked.

"It's getting all bulge-y, it's kinda gross."

"Mine's been paler than normal lately," Marella said. "Not quite shrinking in on itself, but curling weirdly. It almost feels like it wants to hide away. Been like that for a few days now."

Nobody said anything else after that, and they went back to eating their lunches in silence.

•~•~•~•~•~•

The whole elf heart scare had him working harder on his invention. He couldn't keep the heart on him at all times, it was too fragile to do so. But he needed to know. Needed to know if the heart would burst.

When it was revealed that Alden's mind had broken, when his wanderling had been planted and he'd learned that Fitz was blaming Sophie, he almost thought that it'd be another thing for Dex to hate Fitz for.

He thought back to the heart, ready to burst, and Fitz's explosive anger. This much... this much he didn't think he could hate Fitz for, even if he was being an ass. He thought of his parents trying to keep him in his house, the triplets telling him what they'd been like while he'd been proclaimed dead.

Fitz's own manifestation was a stranger to him in the sense that Dex had never been in that state before, but understandable nonetheless. If he didn't dislike Fitz, if they'd became friends, maybe Dex would comfort him.

But Dex did dislike him, and they weren't friends, and so Dex turned all his attention towards the heart. It was the only thing he could really do, while Sophie had her own things to do and Keefe was helping her.

Nothing he did seemed to work, but whether the other elf had gotten over it or if circumstances had changed, the swelling had eventually gone down and the heart looked normal again. The beats were slightly unsteady, but the heart didn't look like it was ready to burst.

(He tried to not think about the timing of it all.)

•~•~•~•~•~•

Someone decided to be a snitch and tell Dame Alina that he'd manifested as a technopath. Ugh. He blew up on Sophie a bit, and then learned from Dame Alina that the Council had told her.

The Council.

The Council? They cared about his ability? Enough to have his mentor be Lady Iskra? The most famous technology who invented like... everything cool.  Sure, his ability wouldn't do much, but he got to work with Lady Iskra.

•~•~•~•~•~•

He finished the heart monitor, and then began to work on a panic switch for Sophie, because the kidnappers would come again. He knew it. He made them both into rings, and he gave Sophie the panic switch ring. And yeah, he knew that a ring wasn't the greatest, but it was the best option he had.

He could see it on her face though, that she wanted nothing to do with it. Half of Foxfire were talking about their matching rings, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Sophie needed other ways to be able to reach out. Not just to Fitz via telepathy, but also to him.

Because he was important too. She was his best friend. He was her best friend, as she'd called him. But lately, he didn't feel like that was the case.

•~•~•~•~•~•

His next invention was an ability enhancer. Sophie was going to heal Fintan, which was definitely going to be dangerous, and she needed to be able to have every card in her favour. An Ancient's mind wouldn't be easy to penetrate.

But when he told her about his invention, she didn't want it. She didn't seem to trust him. But she trusted Fitz, enough to let him past her blocking apparently. Because they had a "connection."

What about her connection with him? Did they not matter?

"Seriously?" Fitz asked, staring at the circlet. He couldn't for the life of him tell if that was curiosity or disgust, but when Keefe grabbed it out of his hands, he forgot all about that.

Dame Alina told him to put it away and for them to all be quiet, and he was hurt that Sophie didn't even consider using it.

I think... A voice said in his head, and he jolted when he realized it was Wonderboy. I think it's cool, but it's too risky.

Seriously?

This entire task is risky, he thought, carefully trying to not think of anything too awful.

I know. But that's exactly why we can't use it yet.

Was that Fitz's way of comforting him, or what?

We can't rely on technology to replace telepathy in this situation.

Wonderboy, get out of my head, he thought bitterly, turning his gaze down to his notebook as reread all his notes on the circlet.

...surprisingly, Fitz left without another word.

What was even the point of that? He didn't understand, he would never understand. What would someone as privileged as him know what Dex was feeling, to be able to even attempt comforting him?

•~•~•~•~•~•

As the healing proceeded and Dex was just stuck at home, he couldn't just sit and rest. His siblings were running around screaming as though everything were normal, but everything was not normal.

He alternated between holding the heart, fidgeting with the ability enhancer and looking at his panic switch. When the heart started beating fast, somehow Dex knew that something was wrong. And even though he knew he wasn't capable of helping at all, he rushed out to see his parents—

—only to find his dad just as distressed as he was.

"Dad, what's wrong?" He asked, trying to swallow his panic.

Kesler only said one word, but that was enough: "Everblaze."

He started rushing out, grabbing all his alchemy supplies and Dex followed after him.

"No," Kesler grabbed his shoulders, and Dex froze. "You can't come."

No no no absolutely not. "You'll need every alchemist."

"I said you can't come, Dex. And that's final."

They're in danger, he wanted to say, and he had no idea if he was talking about Sophie and the others, or the elf whose heart he held.

When Kesler left, Dex didn't even take off his shoes. He kept staring at his ring, wondering if Sophie would call for him.

...of course, she didn't.

The next few hours passed by in a blur, even though he was just holed up in his room. He kept himself busy, and was surprised when his dad came back, Councilor Terik accompanying him. What was a Councilor doing in his house--his room? It was even weirder when Kesler nodded at him and left the two of them alone.

"Dex Dizznee, the technopath. I see you've got quite the workstation here."

Dex bowed, flushing at his words. Was that supposed to be a compliment? An insult?

"Dame Alina mentioned that you were working on an ability enhancer?"

"Y–yeah. I am. It's untested, and—"

"Can I test it?"

"Um," Dex said, not knowing how to reply to that. "I designed it with telepathy in mind specifically, so it wouldn't work on you."

"I see. I think your inventions have great potential, Mister Dizznee."

"Really?" Dex asked, beaming. A Councilor thought he showed potential? "You think it'll work?"

Councilor Terik smiled at him, a thin, wan smile. "Maybe not an enhancer. But... an ability restrictor, possibly."

Dex could tell what he was talking about. If Fintan didn't have his pyrokinesis, he wouldn't have set Everblaze.

"But that's not what I wanted to ask you about. The Council would like your help in the creation of weapons."

He mouthed the word, hating how it felt on his tongue. Weapons. Elves didn't usually use weapons.

...but Dex had a weapon used on him, and he could still remember the shock of the melder—

"I'll do it," he said.

His own inventions, needed by the Council. To think the Council would want help from a Dizznee. If only Stina could hear this, see that Councilor asked for his help specifically, had thought he displayed potential in his talents. No one would talk bad about him or his family again.

"I'll get back to you on what kind of weapons that we will want soon. I'll also be bringing up the restrictor with the others, so it may be possible that we'll ask you to create one."

Dex nodded, and Councilor Terik left.

•~•~•~•~•~•

No. No no no, it couldn't be like this. They'd told him that the restrictor would be used on people who needed their abilities taken away, and Dex had imagined those black-cloaked figures, those murderers.

He didn't think it'd be used on Sophie.

He watched as she convulsed in pain, falling to the floor, curling up. A few cries had escaped her, and nothing could be more haunting than that.

Apologies spilled from his lips, and when Sophie looked at him, she looked so broken.

"I'm not having anything more to do with this," he said to the Council, "I'm not helping you with that."

"And need I remind you that disobeying a direct order from the Council is an exile-able offense?" Councilor Emery asked.

He didn't care if he went to Exile. Not if it meant this.

"It's okay, Dex," Sophie said, "Just do what they're saying."

"How can you say that?" He asked, his voice cracking.

How could she bear that pain? Bear her abilities being taken away, becoming Talentless, and knowing it was due to the hands of someone who proclaimed to consider her his best friend? How could he live like this? It was a betrayal. And he couldn't do anything, he couldn't fix it, because they threatened to exile his family.

He thought... he truly thought he was helping. Making a difference. Being useful.

But never in his life did he feel more useless than he did now.

•~•~•~•~•~•

Sophie drank slumberry tea. A sedative. Something he knew she refused to use. He visited Sophie, apologizing uselessly, and he came across the others--her friends. They were Sophie's friends, not his.

Unsurprisingly, none of them were able to meet his eye. None of them jumped him, beat him or anything like that, and he supposed that was the best he could ask for. For a moment, he thought he'd felt Fitz's gaze on him, and he wondered if Fitz was going to transmit in his brain again like he did earlier. When he looked at Fitz, he turned away, and his mind remained silent.

...he wasn't sure why that hurt, considering he didn't like Fitz, and Fitz sure as hell wouldn't like him. It's not like anything he could have said would make things better.

(But anything, anything, would feel better than the ashamed glances directed at him.)

•~•~•~•~•~•

He had Sophie promise to use her panic switch if she needed anything, but he didn't think she'd use it so soon. She wasn't at Havenfield. He leaped there as soon as he could, and saw Everblaze burning.

A pyrokinetic, holding a ball of fire ready to be thrown at Sophie and Grady. Dex didn't think, he ran and tackled the elf. It bought Sophie a few seconds, but the elf had grabbed him by the throat, his voice that had haunted his nightmares. Fingertips searing his skin just like his memories.

With the help of another invention he made, he was able to send Brant--he was pretty sure he was Brant, based on the little he'd heard--reeling, and they restrained him. He was ready to make sure Brant was captured, but Brant knew about the Black Swan's ambush.

He didn't hesitate to take off that circlet from her head, throwing it into the Everblaze. The Council could exile him, that's fine with him. But he refused to let anything happen to his friends.

•~•~•~•~•~•

After everything, the Council would be after them. Sophie was planning to run away to the Black Swan, and he knew that he wouldn't let her go without him. They left for there, Keefe, Fitz, Biana too. It was weird, being roommates with Fitz and Keefe. He hadn't exactly been friends with them--eating lunch together at Foxfire had always been more about their mutual friendship with Sophie.

The riddles unfortunately did not stop, but at least they were assigned a mission. Of course, that didn't stop them from doing their own snooping.

•~•~•~•~•~•

"Did Mr. Forkle ever give you your heart?" Dex asked Sophie.

"I did try asking once," Sophie replied. Her face scrunched in annoyance. "He said it'd be a distraction. I mean, come on, I get to be the freaky brown-eyed elf with lots of abilities, and they think I can't take care of a heart? I feel bad for whoever's heart that is, I'm sure the Black Swan's too busy to notice every detail."

"I'd feel bad for them too," Dex said, trying not to think about how Keefe's mom was a part of the Neverseen. That heart would definitely need a lot of comfort.

"Are you two talking about hearts?" Fitz asked, walking into the room, holding a heart in his hand.

Huh. He never thought he'd actually see Wonderboy holding one. It was on the smaller end, blue and rusty copper and bits of green.

"Oh, that's cool, can I touch it?" Sophie asked.

Fitz's eyes flitted to him for a moment, then nodded.

"Is it hard to find out whose heart belongs to who?"

"Depends," Dex shrugged. "If the elves are already close with each other, then they're more likely to figure it out."

"It's not a documented system like Matchmaking is, so there are plenty of elves near ancient who probably have no idea who their heart belongs to," Fitz added.

"So I'm guessing it'd be stupid to ask if you knew who your heart belonged to?" Sophie asked.

Surprisingly, Fitz tensed. Both him and Sophie started staring into each other's eyes. Probably having a telepathic conversation. Gross. He waited a minute before he pretended to gag, and the two jolted.

"You should... tell them," Sophie said quietly.

"I know," Fitz replied, his voice just as soft, "but they won't be ready to hear it. I don't want them to feel obligated."

Ew, they were still ignoring that he was there. And what was that about what Fitz said? Feel obligated? People would give the world to be able to brag about holding Fitz's heart, even if it wasn't romantic. But like everyone had a crush on him anyway, so how on earth would it be an obligation?

He was surprisingly loyal, got angry and spiteful like everyone else, that golden image just a coverup. Not as perfect as what they all thought him to be, but he was a good friend. He was willing to run away from his perfect life and perfect family, to side with Sophie. To do everything in his power to help his world.

And that, Dex could respect.

•~•~•~•~•~•

Dex had spent days practicing working on the lock from Exile so that they could rescue Prentice. He was a little worried when Sophie's directions were apparently taking them to the surface. Even more so when the lock was changed, and they couldn't even access the inside of the cell.

The Council even showed up, trapping them. Things were escalating, and Mr. Forkle was ready to turn himself in. But not if Dex could help it. He'd brought several different small cubes with him, in case anything happened. The first filled the room with burning green mist, the second squawked and served as further distraction.

The third was zapped by Councilor Zarina, and--

It was going to explode.

"Everybody get down!" He screamed, but the room was too loud and no one could hear him.

No one but Fitz, who grabbed it and flung it away from them all. But not in time for the explosion to send him flying, landing right on the sharp horn of an arthropleura.

He was running before Sophie could even scream stop, was already kneeling at his side. Dex reached for his chest to stop the bleeding, only to see that one of his hands had already been stained with blood without having even touched him yet. It dripped down his palm, originating from one of his rings.

No.

He hadn't known his ring could do such a thing, but he knew what it meant.

Fitz got sent flying because of his own gadget. And he wasn't stupid to not realize why his ring that monitored the heart would suddenly start streaming blood staining his hands. He hated that he couldn't tell which of the blood came from Fitz, and which came from the monitor of his heart as it all mixed together. He just knew he had to fix this. He had to, because he couldn't let Fitz die like this. The blood was thickening from the venom, and it didn't look good.

Dex took his chance and leapt out of Exile with Fitz, where an elf with a sparkly mask was waiting.

"You're back quicker than I thought, where—oh." She froze when she saw Fitz in his arms, and they both carried him to the medical room. "Are the others still there?"

He nodded. "He needs a physician, can you get them?"

The other elf was hunting through cabinets, pulling out several vials and bottles and salves. "Physic, resident physician. I'll take care of him from here. It'll be really messy."

He opened his mouth to protect that nothing that he could see could be messier, she repeated that he should go, and she'd give updates.

He reluctantly agreed, and went to wash his hands dry of the blood. But the ring was still bleeding, and when he picked up the heart, it wasn't in great condition either. The gold lines were black with venom, and it had left a bloody mess on the nightstand. He grabbed a basic first aid kit and a bunch of towels and sat on the floor by the fireplace, carefully tending to the wounds on the heart. He hoped that bandaging the heart would help slow down the bleeding in Fitz's body. If nothing else, he could do this much.

Now that he looked back at the heart, wasn't it obvious that it belonged to Fitz? Teal like his eyes--something which had long bothered him, but he'd grown used to, gold like his image he always portrayed.

Fitz's heart, huh. That's whose heart he held.

When the others arrived back, they all stared at the bloody heart in his hands, but they said nothing. He didn't say anything either, taking comfort in every beat, because every heartbeat was proof that Fitz was still living.

Mr. Forkle told them that Fitz had stabilized, and they all rushed to his room. And oh. He looked even worse than Dex had thought. Black spiderwebs painted his chest. It looked even worse than it had on his heart earlier. Maybe his heart would've reflected it too, if it weren't currently bandaged.

"Oh, you have his heart?" Physic asked, turning to Dex. "That'll make his recovery from near death go smoother. You should've told me earlier."

"I only just found out," he mumbled, reluctantly handing her Fitz's heart.

"Good thinking for bandaging it. I had thought that the bleeding had gone down easier than expected."

She went back to treating Fitz, and it was messy and the vomit was disgusting, but he couldn't bring himself to leave. He had to stay. Once Physic was no longer needed in the room, he decided that he and Fitz should probably talk.

Fitz looked at him, and Dex didn't know if he wanted to meet his gaze or look away. He settled for looking at his neck.

"How long did you know?" he asked after a few seconds.

"Know what?"

"Don't play dumb." He picked Fitz's heart off the table from when Physic left it there. "This."

"A while... your kidnapping."

Dex tensed. Since then? He knew since then? Though, with the burns, maybe it wasn't hard to figure out.

"And you never told me?"

"Would you have wanted to hear it?"

He let out a breath. It wouldn't. He would've hated it. He would've hated the irony that the elf he'd hated most held his heart.

His silence must have been enough of an answer, as Fitz didn't say anything else.

"I'm sorry," Dex said, trying to keep his voice from cracking. The heart in his hand both comforted him and pissed him off at the same time. "I almost got you killed."

"You were trying to get us out of there," Fitz said, smiling weakly at him, "and we made it out. You don't have to blame yourself for this, you wouldn't predict Councilor Zarina's electricity."

"Not just that. I'm sorry for hating you so much. I'll try to hate you less."

Fitz blinked. "Why do you hate me?"

He almost wanted to roll his eyes, it felt like such a stupid question. But it wasn't like he had a good reason to hate Fitz at this point either.

"You're everything I'm not. I hated it."

Those few words couldn't represent the waves of emotions that had flooded him for years, but he didn't know how to say it.

"I..." He said, knowing he was going to sound stupid for saying it, "I wanted you to notice me."

The heart in his hands skipped a beat.

"Do you-- do you want to try being friends?"

Friends. With Fitz Vacker. If the Dex from a few years ago heard that, he would've laughed.

"I'll try," he mumbled. "I don't promise anything more. If nothing else, your heart is in my hands."

Fitz's weak smile turned bright, blinding him. Dex turned away, not knowing how to react to that. He wasn't sure how to react to the twitch of Fitz's arms either, as if he wanted to ask for a hug.

"Rest well, Wonderboy," he whispered, as he rushed out of the room.

Thump. Thump-thump.

Fitz's heart beat steadily in his hands, and Dex thought that his reluctant words would probably end up a reality.

•~•~•~•~•~•

Kotlc taglist: @my-swan-song, @stellarune, @impostertamsong, @subrosasteath

Want to be added/removed from the kotlc taglist? Just let me know!

#the way i wanted more fedex interactions only to realize they like never talked books 1-4 and that so much happened in 2-3 that they couldnt #can you believe i reread books 1-4 ish i havent touched those books in like 5 years #dex dizznee #fitz vacker #fedex #kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #kotlc fanfic #ravi writes a thing #DO feel free to ask me about other heart pairs or dynamics in general. while centered on fedex i have a decent idea of who some hearts #belong to with other characters

[trollsedits]

I saw your posts requesting ideas! I am curious, what are you head canons on the Trolls and their relationship with Velvet and Veneer? Let’s say this is based on a redemption arc for them where they slowly befriend the Trolls :3

Thank you so much for this request!!! I love the idea of Velvet and Veneer becoming friends w the trolls reminds me a lot when Bergens befriend the trolls ahahah 😩🫶🏻 Honestly I’m hoping to see velvet and veneer redemption arc in the next movie cuz they reminds me so much of my two close friends who are siblings anyways yes I’ll do my own headcanon on their relationship is w befriended with the trolls I hope you like this again this is my headcanon! 🩷

So this redemption arc takes place after the events of Trolls band together! And also Velvet & Veneer got out of prison and the trolls (mostly poppy or Floyd ideas to help them become a better person and befriend the trolls)

———————-

John Dory:

-I would say that although he’s willing to help the siblings be a better person he still hold some grudges against them

(mostly at velvet THEY LITERALLY ALMOST KILLED HIS BABY BRO!)

-Jonh Dory won’t be as good as the other trolls when helping the twins to befriend w the trolls cuz that Amazon box looking dude I mean John has been living alone for 20+ years with no good social skills

-he will definitely help teach them survival skills Venner will most likely take that lessons from him and Velvet on the other hand will think is dumb and useless but she’s actually listening she won’t admit that she likes these lessons until she had to build a tent and do survival stuff cause John made them spend a night in the woods

-over time Veneer will have a good relationship with Amazon Box Uh I mean John Dory John would even be comfortable enough to show veneer embarrassing pictures of Floyd and others brozone brother

-Velvet and John relationship became rocky because like I’ve mentioned Jonh holds grudges towards velvet the most he knows that veneer wants no part in this troll-napping but he still gives velvet a chance to be friends with him and fix her past mistakes they would argue 24/7

-Venner would be the one to stop velvet from trying to troll-nap Jonh because he feels like he’s so annoying

Venner: Don’t You dare try to capture him again Vels, He’s trying to help us be a better person and be friends with him give him a chance!

Velvet: Ugh! Fine you’re lucky Amazon square box that veneer save your little *** I’ll do what ever you ask *rolls her eyes at John an cross her arms*

-Over time velvet and Jonh will warm up with each other eventually those two will share embarrassing stories about their younger siblings isn’t that great 😌

——————————

Sorry if John Dory one was a bit bad but I honestly feel like velvet and Venner relationship w square face will be like a mix feeling for this dude like I believe that Venner will automatically become friends with the trolls and velvet would take a while :]

——————————

Bruce:

-As soon as they both got out of jail Bruce and brandy offered to let the twins worked at his restaurant as waiters and waitresses

-They were both bad at their jobs at first rude to the customers mostly velvet she would even scared his poor 13 kids they would have nightmares about her and veneer would just sass the customers

-unlike John Bruce dose not hold grunges against them b/c they were just teenagers and they didn’t know any better so he gave them a 2nd chance

-Bruce relationship with Venner reminds Bruce of him and his 3 younger brother who would often sass him mostly clay and Floyd would sass him but Bruce would treat Venner like a literal child if Venner give him attitude

Bruce: I won’t let you go on break until you tell that customer that you’re sorry for being rude to them come on now say it that you mean it

-once the restaurant was closed Bruce would help the twins with training and how to treat the customers with kindness

-Bruce and velvet won’t get along at first because you will hear Bruce yelling at velvet for being rude to a customer (she once threw a bowl is galss nachos at a customer which made Bruce apologize to that customer and offered them free meals and drink due to velvet behavior)

-he will not give up on teaching the twins how to be nice around others not just trolls but other people especially his wife and children

-Overtime Venner would become less sassy and he actually improving he was much nicer to them and he also was becoming super nice that Bruce promoted him to the kitchen w his wife she would teach veneer how to cook which got him excited

-Venner almost burned the place down he apologized to Bruce and brandy and he means it he was crying and begging Bruce not to send him back to prison

Venner: I’m so sorry that I almost burned the place down please don’t send me away 😭

Bruce: *Pats his head* is okay Venner we all make mistakes and hey don’t worry is a learning process you have been improving a lot unlike your sister who needs a bit more work :)

-Bruce will continue to work with velvet to get her to change her attitude meaning that he will stand by her shoulders when she’s taking orders to make sure she’s won’t say anything rude to them

-Soon velvet will also become less rude to the customers and she and brandy built up a friendship and she will soon stop scaring Bruce kids they will soon to love her and Venner and ask Bruce and brandy if they could baby sit them while these two go on their date night

-velvet and Venner would be pretty good friends/ babysitter for the kids if they continue to change their attitude meaning no more sass and being rude)

-Bruce would automatically become friends with them overtime because of how much they change and he’s proud of them for changing their attitude

———————————

I feel like clay would be short cuz that dude just like John hold grunges against them but he’ll make a offer to let them befriend him but he’s careful he still doesn’t trust them

—————-

Clay:

-Just like JD he holds grudges against them because he almost lost Floyd cuz of them

-Would let them join his book club velvet thinks is stupid cuz you just sit there and cry and hug

-Venner on the other hand would actually cry holding clay and the others putt-Putt trolls and squeezing them a little too tight he wanted to let his tears out til he has no tears left to cry

Venner: you trolls are so huggable I could squeeze you forever <3 :D

-By hearing Venner say that clay immediately jumps off aswell the other putt-putt trolls

-Clay relationship with the siblings would be a struggle at first but he soon noticed how Venner got along with the others trolls and joining clays sad book club and Venner over time slowly is very careful not to squeeze the trolls when hugging and crying… (I need a fanart of Venner hugging clay or the other trolls crying tag me if you drew it I wanna see it 😩)

-Clay would give velvet a book on “How to treat others people with kindness” velvet wouldn’t read it at first but after Clay convincing her to she then read it

-later she would ask clay to help her how to be friends with other trolls cause she see how well Venner got along with clay and the other trolls

-Overtime, she and clay would be friends just like him and Venner but clay still doesn’t trust them clays always ready just in case they turn their backs on him

———————————

I’m so sorry if clay was super short I know clay relationship w the twins is kinda like Okay we can be friends but I don’t trust you enough type of friend ship I believe Bruce would convince clay to trust them but clay won’t trust them 100%

——————-

Floyd:

-There’s no need for him to hold grudges against those two especially velvet who has been very mean to him during the band together events

-Venner would be the frist one to apologize to Floyd for his sister behavior aswell his 🥺 and he promised that he has change

-He easily forgave Venner as for velvet he’s slowly getting there but he’s still do anything to help velvet and Venner be friends with other trolls

-Venner and Floyd would quickly becomes friends because Floyd saw how much Venner has change over the past years

-Floyd would have a day where he spend times with each of the siblings separately he had no problem with Venner they bonded and all but when it came to velvet he had much harder time cuz she would give him that look as if she was gonna lock him up in a diamonds prison again but he still made and effort to help velvet

-He’s very calm when velvet would have one of her meltdown in public where every trolls is looking at her having a break down and Floyd was just telling her to calm down

-Overtime velvet would slowly open up to Floyd being a sensitive understanding troll he understands velvet pain and the reason why she did what she did he felt bad so…

-He offered to help velvet and Venner find their true voice by giving them voice lessons and he would make them sing happy birthday and the alphabet every single day velvet often complain but she slowly realizes that her voice is becoming better with out any trolls

-Floyd would even adopt these siblings as his kids because he knows their struggles and he could help them through this and he’s understand them like no other trolls would ever not even homegirl crimp know them like Floyd dose despite him being locked up in a diamond prison

-Overtime velvet would be comfortable enough to apologize to Floyd for imprisoning him and she will grow soft on Floyd meaning that she will be protective of Floyd she’s like a cat who’s follow their owners everywhere

-Velvet begs Floyd not to tell anyone that she’s grown soft on him but eventually everyone knows even branch was worried and he has his gear ready but poppy threw them away

——————————

I honestly think Floyd and the twins relationship would be like father and kids cuz I have high hope that if any trolls beside poppy who would help these former superstars be friends with trolls is Floyd and they would actually become 100% nicer even velvet despite her lack of empathy and showing any signs of emotion towards others I honestly loved Floyd and their relationship for the redemption arc 🫶🏻

——————————-

Branch:

-Just like John and clay but expect poor branch holds the biggest grudges against them because they almost killed his favorite brother

-He would give them a cold look

-Poppy and Floyd would often hold him back because we all know he wants to attack these twins so badly

-Poppy would tell branch to give them a chance and think positively and that they will change just like the Bergens

Poppy: come on branch give them a change branch I’m sure they have learn their lesson and they are ready to become friends with the trolls

Branch: okay, poppy I’m positive that they will betray us and kidnap us and locked us up in a diamond prison :^)

Poppy: come on branch I’m trying here -_-

-still can’t convince branch to forgive them but poppy made him and the twins bonds together at first it was a struggle usually branch would be yelling at them to the point where when poppy came to check on them velvet and Venner were just shaking and crying cuz out of all the brozone brothers branch would hate them that much T-T

—————————

Okay, I’m sorry if branch was short cuz I feel like branch holds grunge’s against them so his relationship with them isn’t going anywhere else despite they have a redemption arc and are trying to be friends trolls and become a better person so they will slowly have to earn branch trust then 🤷🏻‍♀️

———————-

I would write poppy but you all already know that she will easily forgive the twins. And their relationship with her would be similar to Floyd so I didn’t write a poppy headcanon for that cuz that trolls easily forgives anyone she’ll probably even forgive Creek for selling them out aswell which made branch a bit tick off of how easily his girlfriend easily forgave someone especially the superstar twins who almost killed his brother…

———————-

As for viva she wasn’t there beside helping rescue brozone but just like her sister poppy she would forgive the twins and they would easily become friends from her braiding their hair and so much more…

———————-

Anyways, I hope you liked this sorry if it not exactly what you were looking for but I still hope you do like it <3 this took me one whole day well I had to take breaks in between cuz I have homework but anyways I hope you liked it 🥺

———————-

Anyways if you want to request me anything just click under my profile “Ask me anything!” And request me some content cuz I’m running out of ideas rn

In the meantime I’m going to be super busy for the next couple of weeks due to school and real life stuff but I will absolutely get back to you so it will take me a while I enjoy writing headcanon and stuff I appreciate being here you guys keep me motivated to post more trolls content anyways moving forward I like I’ve mentioned I will be busy for the next couples of weeks so please be patient 🫶🏻…..

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Like + Follow are very much appreciated! ✨

#dreamworks #trolls #trolls band together #trolls fandom #trolls movie #dreamworks trolls #brozone #dreamworks trolls headcanon #velvet and veneer #trolls fanfic #trolls branch #trolls john dory #trolls floyd #trolls clay #trolls bruce #trolls poppy #trolls viva #x reader #trolls velvet and veneer #headcanon #trolls headcanons #trolls 3 #redemption arc

[suffarustuffaru]

ram for the ask thing

YOO RAM :O i gotchu anon. and yes this is gonna be kind of long again bc i have a lot of thoughts (yes i wrote a whole essay on ram/roswaal alone).

Sexuality Headcanon: SHE SWINGS HOWEVER SHE LIKES.

A ship I have with said character: ramilia and ram x fred are so cute 🥺🥺🥺 ramilia has their moments in canon already and ram x fred have their canon sickfic side story akdndn (its cute!!! fred takes care of ram!!) and i love the like mix of emilia and fred’s sweet personalities with ram’s sharper one pfft. that and ram x fred would be so fucking funny when you factor in garfiel. like yeah garfiels ultimately a good kid and he’ll get over the fact that his childhood crush is now dating his older sister eventually. and he’ll be very happy for both of them and he trusts ram with his sister too!! BUT LIKE the hilarity of garf wailing in despair (metaphorical and literal) over their new relationship is gonna be so fucking good. ottos just there awkwardly patting garf on the back and going “hey its not so bad seeing your sibling get together with someone you potentially couldve been with” and garfs like N O O O O O. O O O. i just. the comedic potential of it all. ram gets otto and subaru to babysit garf while she goes on dates with fred.

also. ram x fred comes with the benefit of BOTH OF THEM GETTING OVER THEIR TERRIBLE TASTE IN MEN…. (roswaal and clind)

as for ramilia—can you imagine how unhinged and messy it would get if you factor in wrath if… the same person (natsuki subaru) trapped and betrayed them… and in the aftermath of ram killing him, emilia goes to kill her in retaliation for that. ram, the girl who despises subaru with her whole being but has depended on him to live bc he’s locked her up all alone in a dark room. emilia, the girl who’s grown to have stockholm syndrome for subaru and has been locked up in a complete white room bc of her father figure and subaru agreeing to do that to her. i just think wrath if ramilia would be so fucked up and im so curious about it….

A BROTP I have with said character: this one tends to be a little overlooked but like. ram and otto are great. and like in general ram CARES about more people than just roswaal okay. like she DOES give a shit i dont understand all those people who think she doesnt. like with otto she GOES OUT OF HER WAY to make him tea and bring it to his room when hes working. and then theres the fact that ram and fred and otto are the only ones who drink alcohol in the mansion (other than. roswaal.) but ram-fred-otto drinking buddies moment when…???? also ram and fred of course 1000% know otto and subaru are garf’s older brother figures now. theyre all in the garf protection squad.

also. of course. ram and rem’s complicated relationship with its ups and downs all the way from their backstory to (SPOILER IG??) them reuniting in arc 8…… good shit. i enjoy seeing them together.

A NOTP I have with said character: ram/roswaal for obvious reasons but i will explain in Depth. because okay they have potential in the sense that there is a time and a place to show toxic unhealthy relationships in fiction with nuance and complexity between both characters. like roswaal has So Much influence on who ram is and also they have all that history together. there is So Much to explore there. like its fascinating with how roswaal plays a role in the destruction of the oni village, and then roswaal brings rem and ram to his mansion and roswaal threatens rem's life in order to put ram into a contract to serve him iirc? and ram LOATHES him bc of all that until. until gluttony erases rem and now ram has no reason to hate roswaal as much. now shes got like an Increased Complex Obsession with him thats now significantly less hate-love. like it is a full on cycle of abuse (in a Romantic lense) from echidna to roswaal to ram complete with Significant Age Differences??? like this is ALL so fascinating. and it sure would be in line with rezero's self improvement themes if ram grew to move away from her roswaal obsession and learn that she deserves Way Better than him.........

EXCEPT. EXCEPT IM GONNA BE REAL. most of the time it really feels like ram and roswaal's relationship isnt taken as Seriously as it should??? or theres like just not as much weight to it EVEN THOUGH we see shit like. ram in season one of the anime bringing roswaal's clothes and his goddamn underwear to the baths so she can DRESS HIM??? like i know shes a maid but its like fucking creepy when roswaal practically raised her after he brought her and her sister home after standing by and letting their village get destroyed. like are we not gonna talk about that bc even Without knowing all the context i winced seeing that shit in the anime when i first watched it. and then theres ram's insert song in season two which IS beautiful ngl. it very wonderfully shows all of ram's affections for roswaal and the reasoning behind her burning the book of wisdom. BUT ITS LIKE.... with the way ram/ros are now that song makes ram/ros feel just a tad bit romanticized. and like logically, i know theyre not bc so many characters comment on how bad ros is and how ram shouldnt be so affectionate for him, AND ALSO HE LITERALLY PUNCHES A HOLE THROUGH HER TO KILL HER, etc etc but LIKE. ARE WE.... ARE WE NOT GONNA INTERVENE WITH THIS... ARE WE NOT GONNA ADDRESS THIS SOME MORE... RAM/ROS IN CANON FEELS LIKE WATCHING YOUR FRIEND BE STUCK IN AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP AND NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TELL THEM THAT ITS BAD THEY JUST. DONT SEE IT. THEY WONT LEAVE :(((( like at this rate i have doubts on whether ram is gonna develop out of this shit. when will roswaal face more consequences than just being punched by everyone in the camp.

i am so sorry anon my rage flowed out just then lajsldfj but like im serious. like. and then theres all the people in this fandom that think that roswaal giving ram her mana treatment is sexual in nature. im so tired. LIKE YEAH thats what i thought too when i watched the damn anime. but it is NOT SEXUAL. GOD.... and the fact that its depicted in a way that vaguely makes it look sexual kills me inside. friendly reminder that she is SEVENTEEN/EIGHTEEN. EVEN IF YOU REMOVE ROSWAAL'S 400 YEARS OF BEING ALIVE HES STILL LIKE. WAY TOO FUCKING OLD FOR HER. ON TOP OF BEING A PIECE OF SHIT. LIKE IM NEVER GONNA FORGET ALL THE SHIT HE'S DONE. AND I AM TIRED, TAPPEI. T^TTTTTTTT i think i heard somewhere that tappei said that he doesnt intend to develop ram that much. which. idk how true that is but either way ram is more of a static character compared to say rem. and its like. tappei. she NEEDS development out of her relationship with roswaal in some way shape or form. we need closure for this. and I WILL punch tappei (metaphorical) if the closure isnt ram saying bye bye to roswaal's bitch ass in some way. (also quick disclaimer i do like stories with darker themes and exploring dark characters and relationships and showing their nuance While Condemning them. and its like yes roswaal is interesting. but ram/ros as of rn in the story feels very. glossed over. as ive said earlier hah)

anyway. my other ram notps are ram/subaru and ram/garf. the first one is bc i feel like its just. stale. bland. and also theyre more like siblings to me. ill make an exception for wrath if ramsuba though bc the TOXICITY and TRAGEDY of it all fascinates me…. and also ram/garf bc. yeah shes literally too old for him. and garf/mimi is SO MUCH BETTER GUYS…

A random headcanon: so like… we barely know shit about wrath if. like at all. but we do know iirc that ram and subaru disappear from the mathers mansion at the same or around the same time. and ram tried to kill him and then he managed to smash a rock on her head. and then when we see them like Later in wrath if, ram’s been locked up all alone, subaru is the only one who knows shes there, and subarus been gathering mana crystals all this time just to keep her alive. like???? how did ram and subaru go from point a to point b, you may ask???? HONESTLY i have no fucking clue but the two options i liked to go with are:

option 1. subaru ran away from the mansion out of fear and paranoia after smashing rams head with a rock. and then ram followed him in order to kill him.

option 2. subaru, still afraid and paranoid, smashes ram’s head with a rock in self-defense. and then he immediately feels absolutely terrible and decides to bring ram with him in an attempt to help (or “help”, depending on how you see it) her bc hes still too afraid to actually go back to the mansion.

ANYWAY i have a many thoughts on wrath if ramsuba. bc its like…. ram was growing a tiny bit fond of subaru in arc 2, u know? and then from her pov subaru goes and KILLS HER SISTER…. meanwhile subarus been betrayed and rams trying to kill him and then subarus punished for trying to defend himself. and then subaru takes it too far and becomes purge king and kills a ton of people while imprisoning ram and emilia. wrath if drives me insane man. rams been locked up and subaru being the only one that knows shes there, along with the fact that ram and subaru disappear from the mansion at the same time, imply that ramsubas had a lot of time in private with just each other. subaru depends on her bc shes in color. rams life hangs in his hands. ram went from being trapped with roswaal to being trapped with subaru. its a whole MESS. i am fascinated.

General Opinion over said character: RAM IS GREAT AND ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO SAY SHE DOESNT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT ANYONE ARE SO SO WRONG. I LOVE HOW SHE IS AN ASS (I SAY THIS AFFECTIONATELY) BUT ALSO SHE CAN BE SO KIND AND SOFT, ACTUALLY. she also is so fucking funny i adore her. her insert song is so so beautiful like GENUINELY like her voice and then the lyrics are so wonderful ;-;;; BUT ITS ALL WASTED ON ROSWAAL…… GRRR…. anyway she is an absolute queen in my eyes. i love her so much. i hope she gets away from roswaal fr. she deserves everything ;-;;;;;; i still havent read all her side stories but i gotta!!! esp the ones on her backstory!!!!!!! and i would love to explore her and roswaal’s relationship in a fic someday bc it is So Interesting to me….. and i NEED closure on those damn plot points….

OK ALSO ADDITIONALLY several several months ago i bought a blind bag rezero keychain irl and GOT RAM so like she is proudly going on all my adventures with me. ram my beloved.

here she is

and also. i cant fully articulate all my feelings on how her backstory has shaped her (and i want to make sure i am AN EXPERT on her backstory first akdndn) but like it is very very interesting. and she IS a strong person in fact!!!!!!

#re:zero #ram #ask

[wolame-o-ccx]

High&Low character dynamics I greatly enjoy

( but canonically they don't exist/have enough screen time/something along those lines )

Had this in my drafts for a while but took a while in getting around to actually posting it.

1 - Rocky + Hyuga

I'm throwing out the fact I ship them away from this analysis so it's like a more general thing.

Vague + indifferent is so interesting and not a popular trope but it works, and it works with them. It's also how they're so different and yet so similar at the same time. Had they become friends, I think they'd both try and sort of uncover things about each other, Hyuga because Rocky is mysterious in general and he isn't usually curious, but he is about Rocky and Rocky because Hyuga is just interesting (crazy) to him. They would have this dynamic where they're sort of mature? Around each other? If that makes sense IDK. They're serious, but casual at the same time.

When they're together, here'd be some kind of warm silence and it's quiet but not because they dont know how to talk to each other, but because they're simply comfortable with each other, like they trust each other.

Rocky accepts Hyuga's insanity (or passion, he calls it) and Hyuga enjoys Rocky's mellow sort of demeanor and finds comfort in him that way.

2 - Cobra + Rocky/Hyuga/Murayama

Cobra has touched all three of their lives some way or another. With Rocky, he was persistent and helped out in fighting against Doubt. Rocky must've gained a large amount of trust in Cobra after that. He even tells Cobra that he appreciated his help, and when does Rocky ever really compliment people, especially men? With Hyuga, I think he would think Cobra is tough and likes how stubborn he is and he respects that. After everything he's seen and experienced, he probably respects Cobra himself on a different level, and maybe even trusts him. And Murayama, we all know the story. Cobra made Murayama question and find himself. In the end, Murayama went to Cobra to talk after deciding that, oh, I'm done with fighting. I'm tired and I need to talk to a friend. I could honestly write a whole novel about them and I can understand why people ship them (though I don't myself). It's also the way all three of these guys were so worried about Cobra when he went missing and how they were looking for him so restlessly. Who needs therapy when you have Cobra?

3 - Hyuga + Murayama

I'm aware of them being a ship, and I somewhat enjoy it because I can see and understand why although I still prefer them platonically.

They're what you expect would be a loud duo, but they're not (not exactly) and it's interesting. Like, they'd totally bicker with one another and have dumb arguments and call each other stupid like siblings, but I also think they'd have those quiet moments where they're genuinely talking about serious stuff. Cobra had changed their perspectives in things they had problems with, Murayama and his immaturity (?) and Hyuga with his thirst for revenge, both ending up moving on from that and changing their views. I can see them casually hanging out and catching up with each other and giving each other life advice (yes, life advice from Hyuga, believe it or not) while simultaneously berating each other. They have a fun dynamic to think about and honestly wished they explored more on them because they're really interesting and equally complex.

4 - Hyuga + Sakyo + Ukyo + Kato

God Daruma makes me so UGH. These four are so silly. They're like.. genuinely such great friends I don't know how else to put it. I want them to have more screen time but I know I'll never get it. I can't put into words just how great of friends they are because they're so perfect, like, they're just.. great friends. They are so extremely loyal to each other and dedicated to each other that they make me want to explode into a million pieces. How even after “exacting their revenge on former Mugen members” mission, they stuck together because they found this sort of family with each other.

5 - Koo + SMG

I've seen the very miniscule part of the fandom somewhere talking about how Koo is like SMG’s mom and I love the idea so much 😭 just Koo taking care of these four guys like they're his kids. I like to think in DTC Rocky and Koo packed the lollipops they ate in the movie as if they were parents packing their kids’ lunch bags. I DONT KNOW ITS SO CUTE. SMG probably causes a lot of trouble for Koo so they'd kill anyone for him and Koo is just naturally protective, but especially for SMG.

#high&low #high and low #look i cant be bothered with character tags

[atopvisenyashill]

So I came upon your blog while looking through the asoiaf tag and explored it a bit. Would you please explain to me how are you against Targaryen incest, but find Jonsa fine? I’m genuinely curious, as I’ve just started reading the books (I’m half-way through a storm of swords) and find nothing fine about any form of incest, whether it is or not considered as such in-universe. I also find little to no Jonsa moments. Could you help me? Thank you!

okay so first of all i got sent an ask forever ago about what the appeal of jonsa is and i’ve been working on explaining basically where i see the plot going and why it’s thematically relevant and is2g i’m still actually putting it together it’s just doing that in a middle of a reread is tough bc my ideas are kinda all over the place lmao (just like this ask is about to be sorry!) (also once again, sorry if my tone comes across very weird, i swear i reread like twelve times to make sure i don’t sound too snarky and wasn't just vomitting up a thousand words of nonsense lmao!!).

BUT. Well there’s three points to this: what the characters may feel, what i feel about jonsa, and what i feel about targ incest. so first the characters:

I think it’s important to point out that first cousin marriage (and auncle/nibling marriage, esp if it’s a “half” relation) are not considered true incest in westeros and in many parts of our world. rickard and lyra, ned’s parents, are cousins. joanna and tywin lannister are first cousins. jonnel and sansa and edric and serena are uncle/nieces, and you’ll note that when alys karstark comes to jon for help, he is disgusted that her uncle is trying to steal her inheritance and not that he’s her uncle attempting to marry her. i point this out because not only is there nothing legally stopping a jonsa marriage, the characters themselves may also see it that way (as not incest). and if your next point is “well they grew up thinking they’re siblings” my answer is - yes and? One of the influences on this series is Mervyn Peake, who wrote gothic medieval stories, and both incest and pseudo-incest is very much a big part of gothic stories! A lot of the storylines in this world are dedicated to exploring incest as a force of socialization and romanticism, from Naerys pleading to live “as brother and sister” and Aegon insisting “we already are” to Alysanne’s “Alyssa is meant for Baelon” to Jaime’s “he heard none of it" in the sept. I don’t think it’s that far of a stretch to posit that two characters we have POVs for will fall in love and grapple with what that love says about them, about society, about their role in the world - and in fact, about half of Jon’s most popular ships are between him and a female relative. Sansa makes more sense to me because she’s closer to his age than Arya, has a more troubled relationship with him, is involved in the political aspects of the story just as much as he is, and isn’t likely to immediately start setting people on fire after they meet.

Now as for me, basically - i think both types of incest are the result of socialization + extreme trauma, and I fully expect that if Jonsa goes canon it will have a tragic ending. I think Jonsa takes some of the inherent misogyny of targ incest and plays around with it - Jon having significantly less societal privilege than basically every other Targaryen and what that means for Sansa as an heiress - but just because I think an exploration of that dynamic will be interesting, doesn’t mean I don’t expect it to be rife with problems.

because the problem with incest is the power dynamic ultimately, and you cannot escape that power dynamic bc people don’t exist in a vacuum. For all the Starks have some fucked up skeletons in their closet, Lyanna doesn’t show up in Ned’s bed naked and ask him to stop her betrothal to Robert, does she? This is the fundamental difference between targ incest and Jonsa or even Lannicest; Lannicest is rampant with toxicity from both of those deranged weirdos but they feel entitled to each other's bodies because of their own trauma surrounding their tumultuous childhoods (and probably some normalization of incest from their parents and proximity to Aerys/Rhaella/Rhaegar), but no one is saying "Jaime you are owed Cersei's body" or "Cersei your womb belongs to your brother and your brother alone." So I don't feel the need to sit here and go "Lannicest is toxic" like yeah? Clearly, lmao, these two feel like they are so damaged, and made so special by that damage, that they can only love one another, that's not what anyone would call healthy. I don't think it's necessary to sit here and explain that dynamic has abuse problems; it's right there in the text!

"well what about the power dynamic between jon and sansa?" YES WHAT ABOUT IT. that's the point! i'm interested in how a dynamic that is inherently abusive will play out between two people who were raised to believe some types of incest are okay but not others, who are victims of abuse and societal alienation themselves. because at the same time that i condemn targ incest, there are obviously real feelings and genuine care in these relationships and in these people, because again, people don't exist in a vacuum. daemon backs rhaenyra into this corner and then crucially does not kill any of her children because he realizes that's a step too far, she'd never forgive it, perhaps even because he grew to love them (i mean, Lucerys and Joffrey likely barely remember any other father but Daemon!). maegor is a monster who very specifically never harms rhaena's daughters! aemon is a useless pos but it seems likely he had a hand in raising naerys' son to be better than aegon because he could see the harm he and his brother were doing to naerys even if aemon was too much of a coward to actually stop that harm in any meaningful way! the difference, to me, is that jon will see that this relationship built on trauma and grief may be the only love he and sansa will ever allow themselves to feel but it is not healthy for them, and jon will leave! and sansa will realize she is not the impassive, frozen, detached symbol that the men around her want her to be, but a living, breathing person with her own wants and desires and agency, and will let him go!

Ultimately, while i think romanticizing and sexualizing the taboo is fine and even healthy, for me, there has to be some acknowledgement that you are in fact romanticizing the taboo. This is why the shitty dudes in asoiaf work for me in a way shitty dudes outside of asoiaf don’t usually - my general bitching about parts of the narrative that don’t click for me aside, there’s firm condemnation of the people engaging in these behaviors, from cersei sexually abusing lancel to sandor creeping on sansa. just because the narrative also shows us and wants us to feel empathy for sandor and cersei and why they’ve become bad people doesn’t mean what they’re doing isn’t bad. that’s what i like! i don’t want a story that holds my hand and drags me to the moral nor do i want a story that presents a god awful person who is supposed to be morally upright and not mean for us to dig deeper into them!

(this is why i like the pt but not the st of star wars, if you want an example - for all the prequels are um. flawed. lucas has an overreaching story about the effects of war, slavery, and interpersonal abuse that he’s dedicated to, and we are meant to be horrified by anakin choking padme just as surely as we’re meant to mourn their relationship and love for each other when palpatine gleefully tells anakin she’s dead and ani destroys the room in grief. vs like. what were the sequels even fucking doing man).

So the thing here is that I actually do in fact find Targaryen incest interesting while being morally repugnant as a practice, and I'm positive Jonsa will play around with both the morality of incest and the romanticism of it in a way that I find just as interesting, varied, romantic, and fulfilling as like, the Jaime/Cersei(/Brienne/Tyrion) mess or the Daemon/Rhaenyra/Laena/Harwin debacle! I like incest and I also hate it! I contain multitudes!

#asks #anti targaryen #jonsa #stone and snow remains #AND CAVEAT. I LOVE AND RESPECT MY JONSA MOOTS WHO BELIEVE IN HAPPY JONSA. i am not about to play these fandom games #of 'well i'm not like those bad jonsas who only care about their ship' absolutely not. i think happy jonsa atp doesn't make narrative sense #TO ME. but i GET the people who see the path. i'm not about to posit myself as the 'rational jonsa' bc that's stupid. #(not saying anon is doing that but i am saying i see that happen a lot and i think it's annoying!!) #this is just a rant. i am so sorry. i cannot figure out how to cut it down.