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#i mean there's a ''city'' for each type but i'm not sure if there's characters that would claim elite 4 status
gastlyarts · 5 months
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i need to make, like, a modern AU of pokemon conquest haaha
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fallinfl0wers · 1 year
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i love you more than you'll ever know
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fandom: genshin impact characters: albedo, venti, zhongli, xiao, wanderer reader type: gender neutral summary: yearning for someone came hand in hand with heartache. genre: angst and fluff, hurt/comfort. warnings: implied reader's death, also implied character death (xiao and wanderer kinda uh want to unlive themselves but not explicitly? i think?), mourning, slight sumeru spoilers for wanderer's. written as of 3.2 update. notes: inspired by hikaru utada's one last kiss. might do a part two, not sure when it'll be ready haha. xiao's and wanderer's are longer because i love them and i was feeling sadder as i wrote them so lol there they are. i'm sleepy but i wanted to finish these... i'll see if theres anything i need to edit tomorrow.
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The meaning of this world, the truth of this world, Albedo thinks, is held within your hands. It is perhaps not the one he was looking for, or the one he had been expected to find, but personally? He would take this as the truth of the world.
Love is the truth of this world, the meaning of all sentient existence. The love one takes and gives, selflessly yet selfish al the same. The kind of love one feels from friends and family and lovers. Love is what really gives the world a meaning for those who live in it.
And for him, it is your love that fills his life with a new meaning.
Love that made him step away from experiments and investigation to take a stroll through the city, love that made him blush and giggle, love that brought a foreign yet sweet warm sensation to his chest, love that you held within your hands every time your fingers intertwined.
Love that somehow, with no reasoning or explanation, survived through all the uncertainty of fate, and the undeniable, unescapable cycle of life and death.
When your and Albedo's story is forced to come to a stop, he won't deny he felt his whole world came crashing down. Yet, more than anything, he feels grateful.
Perhaps at that time, he still would not find the truth of the world his master wanted him to. But one thing is for sure, and that's because of you, and everything you taught him.
If time and chance allow it, his love for you will be immortalized in paintings exhibited in museums; depictions of you and him, and you, you, you and you. Even when he, himself, has long since disappeared, that last trace of your love, of the truth of his world, will be preserved.
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For Venti, freedom is everything. He would never tie you down so you could stay with him, even if that is what he would want the most. However, that also means he will not stop you if you, of your own free will, decide to spend the rest of your life with him.
He is selfish, just not selfish enough to decide what is best for you in your stead. This is why, he wholeheartedly decides to love you back without holding anything back, living each day like it is the last, enjoying the present doing anything and everything and nothing all at the same time.
It's ballads and tales, it's drinking and laughing at his silly shenanigans when he gets drunk, it's enjoying the breezes as you glide together and resting on the green hills and valleys of Mondstadt together, every day something new, every day a new memory to keep.
But, he knows, this won't last.
He is very well acquainted with loss, and the fragility of human life.
That is why he insisted on spending so much time together, it is why he was always clingy whenever the timing was right, why he insisted on making you laugh and smile every single day you were together.
The years spent together may seem long to you, even as you took your final breath. Yet, for him, it truly felt like it had been merely the blink of an eye. A momentary sigh, a brief instant of happiness.
Venti will sing ballads of you, for an audience of people or the always reliable, always present audience of the winds. And he knows that, even once his days come to an end, and until the end of this world, your love will be preserved, for eternities to come.
There is, after all, no world where the wind doesn't blow, even if it has come to an stop.
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For Zhongli, contracts are everything. In his eyes, promises made are promises kept, and that is precisely what he does.
To you, he promised his love. For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, in life and death. In his own experience and words, everything must come to an end and every journey has its final day, but there is no need to rush. This is why, he never makes it a point to consciously think about the clock mercilessly ticking by as you spend your life with him.
Zhongli, the human, lives with you and shares countless experiences after experiences with you. From the simplest glance to the longest conversation to the harshest of arguments to the sweetest of kisses, Zhongli makes sure to live it with you, in the present moment, mind focused on here and now, carving each memory into his heart with the same precision an artist would carve a statue out of the finest jade.
The former god understands and accepts your mortality, and accepts it as a part of what makes you be who you are. He accepts it, and holds your hand, ever so resilient, as you take your last breaths, and bids you goodbye with a grateful smile and teary eyes.
Perhaps the legends of the mighty God of Contracts will never talk about your love, but even if there is no one left to share your memories with him, until erosion eventually claims him too, his heart won't stop beating for you.
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Xiao would be lying if he said he never once doubted your sanity in the time he's known you. After all, why would you do something so terrible to yourself like willingly spending time with him? You must've been insane, he thought.
But, in reality, he was glad you were that little bit insane enough to open a space for him in your life.
From the very start, he's known you wouldn't be there forever. He is all too aware of how fragile life is, of how ephemeral you truly are. Like the sweetest of dreams, you feel like a fragile illusion of happiness that will be gone in the blink of an eye. Oh, but you are real, you are oh so real, and he knows it when you cradle his face with your hands and gently wipe the tears that silently fall down from his tired eyes that stare ahead, filled with complicated emotions, on a face far too unused to emoting, on a body far too small for the true amount of feelings that resided within it.
And he is quiet but his mind is loud, keeps him hyper aware of how short these moments of joy and peace are with you. And, although he would've never blamed you if you ever decided to leave him of your own will, he is glad you never did, he is glad that you would never do so. He is glad that you decided to spend your days with him, glad you were patient enough to wait for him to learn how to properly love you, glad you let him love you.
The days spent with you are easily the best fragment of Xiao's life. Short-lived, ephemeral, dreamlike, everything. Unforgettable.
He would like to keep you forever. His most selfish, impossible dream is for you to stay forever by his side. Greedy he is, but never enough to burden you with such thoughts. Instead, he took every opportunity he had to spend time with you, no matter what you were doing, he wanted to be there, even if it was in a place he didn't like, he didn't want to waste a single second of your life.
When you depart from the world of the living, a part of him leaves with you.
And, Xiao knew when he fell in love. You would be the death of him.
He won't last long after you leave.
He'll do his best to live, because he knows you would want him to live, but he truly won't be able to do so for long.
Legends will speak of the tragically beautiful love that Liyue's last Yaksha had towards a human, speak of how he learned how to be human for love, of how his love was so intense and pure it was the only thing that kept him tied to the world of the living for years to come.
And when Xiao's time comes, he smiles as he sheds tears and looks up at the infinite blue sky.
When the light leaves his eyes, and his last breath is a sweet proclamation of his everlasting love for you, he knows.
He will see you in another life, in another world.
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It took him three betrayals to finally understand: the world is an elaborated tapestry of lies.
It took him pain and humiliation, having his one purpose taken away, for him to understand: just because you want something, that does not mean you will get it. No matter what you do, if the world decides you won't have it, then you won't.
Receiving kindness from the dendro archon was and the blessing of an anemo vision were some of the things that set him on the right path to find his true wishes on his own, but most importantly, your existence in his life made something inside him turn and twist. You filled him with an achingly bittersweet yearning to love and be loved, you made him want to trust, made him willing to endure pain and betrayal if it meant he could spend eternity with you.
Eternity, the concept that his creator was (or still is, he wouldn't know) so obsessed with, obsessed with enough to discard him like worthless dross and abandon him to fend for himself with no instructions or expectations. Now, Wanderer felt as though he could understand her just a bit.
Or maybe a lot.
Eternity stretches things over a long time, but each moment within it becomes all the more fragile.
Nevertheless, when he had you, when you loved him, he finally understood why his mother was so desperate back then to attain eternity. He, too, when affronted with the harsh reality that you and your comforting warmth would not be around for long, desperately wished for a miracle to happen so he could stay forever with you. You living forever or him going with you once you left, he cared not, he only wanted you you you you and nothing else.
But, as he discovered, after long periods of anger and denial over painful feelings, acceptance is sure to come.
You are not like him in the slightest. Born human, with a heart of your own, knowing kindness and happiness from people around you, while his body was just a mere imitation of human flesh, an empty husk unfit for the only task he was created to perform. Yet, you still loved him as though he was not an easily replaceable abomination, but a human.
After you're gone, he cries the most he's ever cried. Rests his head on your chest that has long since stopped moving up and down with your breathing while his ears are met with silence when before he would listen to your comforting heartbeat, and he cries.
It will be long before the life of the Wanderer comes to an end- after all, he was created to endure an eternity functioning. Every dawn and every sunset, every passing breeze and station, he will remind the days you were together, and smile, as the empty space in his chest weeps silently, waiting, longing, hoping there exists a day in which he can meet you again.
For now, now that you're not with him anymore, he would simply keep walking, chasing the breeze that blows on a bright afternoon.
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fallinfl0wers. 2022.
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sixofcrowdaydreams · 2 months
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Six of Crows Russian Edition
Today I found this gorgeous gem at the bookstore!
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So a few years ago I moved overseas to live in a Russian speaking country. I am not in Russia, for the record. The national language here is not Russian, but it is commonly spoken in my city.
Today at the bookstore I looked for a copy of Crooked Kingdom for the cast of Shadow and Bone to sign this May when I go to A Storm of Shadows and Crows convention in Paris. I don't own a copy of SOC or KC in English and there's no chance of finding one where I live. The next best option was getting a book in the local language and calling it a souvenir of my time abroad. To my delight I found this lovely Russian edition of Six of Crows!
More stunning artwork below.
There were multiple versions of the books to choose from. The original art and the Netflix artwork were available too. The most impressive part was finding copies of the original covers WITHOUT the Netflix sticker. (Haha, suck it Netflix.) To the right, not pictured were King of Scars and Rule of Wolves.
I've never seen this cover variation before. It was an exciting find!
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The Russian version I bought is illustrated by (I assume Russian?) artist Eva Eller.
I didn't see a copy of Crooked Kingdom with illustrations by the same artist at this bookstore, but it must exist. Mine was the last copy of SOC with the Russian artwork. Maybe it was sold out?
Google Translate titles the book Six of Ravens, lol. But that's just a translation error because a little google-foo showed that ворона (pronounced vorona) means crow. Interestingly, while typing the title, I learned that вор (pronounced vor) means thief. Interesting how similar the words crow and thief are in Russian. Checks out.
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Above is the art printed on the side of the pages. Love how it still includes the side of the pages colored, just like the original books.
The hardcover underneath the jacket is a crow. It's not the same as pictured on the original CK cover, but it is similar. Love the messy, broken, bent feathers, yet the crow is still able to fly. Metaphor for our six characters? Absolutely!
The book was wrapped in cellophane so I didn't realize there was even more art inside! Here is the inner cover. IT'S BEAUTIFUL! The back is the same. It captures the foggy haze of Ketterdam so well.
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The flaps of the book jacket are images from the inner cover. But there's a cracked texture over them that gives it a gorgeous grittiness.
The candle is the left side of the inner book jacket. Sorry the image isn't flat, I didn't want to damage the jacket by straightening it out.
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The right side of the book jacket shows all the Crows!
Let's appreciate how Matthias looks snow pale and serious. Inej is taller than Nina -- she must be standing on a step stool. No clue why both of their eyes are closed, especially when Nina is the one pointing to the paper. They are lovely. Kaz has on his scheming face. Jesper is as handsome as every version of him should be. And Wylan looks bored AF because A.) he's already memorized the map he drew or B.) he can't read whatever document Kaz has in front of them. Wait, no, Wylan is making heart eyes at Jesper. All of the above can be true.
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Inside is a small illustration at the beginning of each chapter, which changes with each section.
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You can also see the Crow's names written in Cyrillic. Inej, Kaz, Nina, and Matthias translate easily. Jesper uses the д (letter D) and ж (pronounced like zhe) letter combination that makes his name sound like Zhesper since there is no J in Cyrillic. It's worth pointing out (again) that Wylan's name does not translate perfectly. There is no W in the Cyrillic alphabet. (As someone who also has a W in their name, I sympathize with Wylan here.) I'm no expert in Russian, but I'm pretty sure -- with the help of google translate -- that Wylan is pronounced as Oo-ai-len. Poor boy can't catch a break.
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Each of the five section of the book use different chapter art. They all do an excellent job capturing the atmosphere.
The paper is so thin that you can easily see the printing on the opposite side. Not ideal for an edition that's otherwise this lovely. Oh well.
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Given that Ravka is fantasy Russia, it's not a surprise to find the Grisha Verse books in Russian.
I am so excited to bring this book to Paris for the cast to sign!
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starb3rrys · 10 months
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Hiii I'm kinda new to Tumblr so idk how stuff really works here😭 but anyway are your requests open? If so, then I'd like to make a req but if not just ignore this!!
Umm so basically an nsfw oneshot(idk what you call it) or headcanons of how bsd men would react/deal the situation when you two are hiding in a very tight space and your crotches accidentally rub together? RHRHHT it's kinda weird describing it but let's just say [character] pushed you along with him into a locker/box with you sitting on top of his lap OR with you too close ttp that you two could feel each other with every inch you move
Uhhh and yeah that's it and feel free to add some touches and changes on the scenario, and I'd greatly appreciate it if maybe you add Nikolai in it😁🙏AND AGAIN IF U DON'T FEEL LIKE DOING MY REQ OR ISN'T ACCEPTING REQS RN THEN FEEL FREE TO IGNORE I HONESTLY DON'T MIND!!/lh /srs
OMG YES?! Ugh, I love this request! I wanted to add some more characters as well, So I picked the DOA (sorry) \(٥⁀▽⁀ )/
If y’all want a part 2 with different characters just let me know, Im at your service! <3
₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ゚. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ゚. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ゚. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ゚. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ゚.
A Tight Fit~
Ft. Nikolai, Sigma, Fyodor
₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ゚. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ゚. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ゚. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ゚. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ゚.
Nikolai
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Scenario: You were out on a mission with Nikolai, it should’ve been an easy “break in and grab important documents” type mission. But now, you two were squeezed together in a small closet, fearing that any small movement would get you two caught.
“Stay quiet...” Nikolai said as he listened closely, his face looked concentrated and serious, a change from his usual happy and calm face
You quietly nod, as you press against the wall behind you to try and get some more space in between you two
The closet is pretty small, hence why nikolai is leaning down, his hands are pressed firmly on each side of your head, inevitably pinning you in place
Nikolai thinks of a way for both of you to escape this situation without being spotted, “maybe I can teleport something”, he thought to himself
He reaches for his cape, unintentionally pressing against you
Your eyes widen as you feel something press against your area, you slowly look up to see if Nikolai noticed
His cheeks are flushed, hes frozen in place and there is an obvious smirk forming on his face
Yeah he definitely noticed.
You start to speak “Niko-… you’re so clo-“, he cuts you off as he places his hand over your lips
“Shh...” He says as he places a finger against his own lips with a small smirk
Moments later you hear the door of the office close, you two are now alone
“They’re gone now...” Nikolai says in a quiet gentle tone, he turns to you “But, i mean…we could just stay in here~” he says with a mischievous grin
Even after you two get out of that closet, he would keep on teasing and reminding you of the “incident”, he will make sure you never forget!~
Sigma
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Scenario: You really don’t know how you got in this situation, one second you and Sigma were walking the streets of the city at night, after your wonderful date. The next, you were hiding in a small dark alley, your body pressed tightly against sigmas as you both hid from a certain jester.
“Damn it.” Sigma cursed under his breath as he kept his guard up, looking around frantically with a worried yet annoyed look
You looked up at Sigma, “Why are we hiding?” You whispered
Sigma looked down at you as he let out a sigh “I saw Nikolai roaming the streets, We can’t be seen together by anyone in the decay, if they were to find out about us...I’m sure horrible consequences would follow” he explained
You nod in agreement, “I understand..but um, why did we have to hide in such a...tight space.” You say as you look away, you can feel his body pressed tightly against yours, you can feel his every breath, his every shuffle and every slight movement
Sigma realizes this and blushes as his eyes widen, “I’m sorry, I didn’t even notice our position in the heat of the moment”
As he says this, you hear a slight noise come from the alley which causes you to slightly jump in a fright
Sigma let’s out a small grunt as he feels your crotch roughly brush against his, he grips your shoulders and holds you in place “Love please…try and stay still…at least for now” he pleads as his face flushes
Your eyes widen as you feel something slightly poke you “Sigm-“ you’re cut off as his hand covers your mouth, “Keep quiet..” he whispers as you hear footsteps around the corner
You feel him press more onto you, trying to hide your body from view as he lays his head against you shoulder, next to your ear
You slightly shuffle which causes sigma to groan in response, he quickly grips your hips with slight force
“Keep still..” he says in a low tone
Once you two finally get out of the alley way…let’s just say- his head was full of scenarios that caused him to blush profusely, as he practically dragged you to your apartment…
Fyodor
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Scenario: Work has been so busy lately, new mission reports coming in everyday. Piles of finished and unfinished documents decorate your desk. All of this caused you to become stressed and overwhelmed, which caused you to become clumsy. So clumsy that you didn’t even seem to notice Fyodor turning the corner, not until it was too late.
**THUD**, is all that can be heard as your bodies crash together and fall to the floor
You feel extreme pain on your head as you let out a small groan of pain
You soothe your head and begin to slowly open your eyes, you try and comprehend what just happened as you hear a soft pained groan come from under you
You slowly begin to look down, your face flushes when you and Fyodor’s eyes meet
His eyes show slight shock as they quickly return to their neutral state, he just stares up at you…not uttering a word
You take a minute to process what is currently happening…and thats when you feel it, you feel something pressing against your area
You quickly get off Fyodor as you begin to apologize, “I’m so sorry! I should’ve been paying more attention!”, you ramble on apologies as you quickly stand up
He lets out a small chuckle as he stands up and brushes himself off , “No worries, more importantly…are you alright?” He asks with a bit of concern present in his tone
You nod as your face grows red, you begin to remember what you felt under you as you pray to god he didn’t notice
But, its like he can read you like a book, he smirks as he reaches for your chin, making you look at him “Yes,…I did notice and feel it” he says with a sly tone
You freeze in place as he says this, he then pulls away and softly smiles “Just be more careful and aware in the future, alright?”
He narrows his eyes as his tone changes to a more stern one, “Next time I won’t be so forgiving…~” he says as he begins to walk off
You’re left standing there shocked and frozen in place
He definitely enjoyed it, especially your cute reaction when you thought he didn’t notice. But for your sake he won’t bring it up, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t think about it constantly…~
₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ゚. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ゚. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ゚. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ゚. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ゚.
Hi Hi! Sorry for the delay, work has been getting in the way but no worries im clearing out my requests!
I changed the scenario up a bit for Fyodor! (Sorry)
I appreciate everyone sending in requests! Love yall! <3
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pshenyasstuff · 5 months
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Headcanons for relationships with Billy Kid
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This is my purely subjective opinion, you may disagree with me. I don't have enough content on this guy (i obsessed with him), so I decided to make it myself.
He's definitely the type of guy who is always ready to support his girlfriend like some kind of cheerleader like "THIS IS MY GIRLFRIEND!! TEAR THEM ALL UP, BEAUTY!"
Expect a lot of talk about his favorite show, he will show you absolutely every poster and figurine, tell you how he acquired it and the like
And of course he will call himself your Starlight Knight
His gifts are often like this.. random. You never expect what he can give. One time it's some kind of cute trinket, and the next time it's a weapon 😨 (of course so that his beloved can stand up for herself)
But he doesn't really mind if you're a pacifist or just don't want to hurt someone. He is always happy to protect you, while of course showing off in all sorts of ways. "Babe, are you watching? I did a great job on them, didn't I??"
He's as clingy as possible, I'm serious. He loves hugging so much that hugging at every meeting with him will be something ordinary for you. It's just one of his ways of expressing sympathy
I'm 100% sure he's styling his hair. Or they are always like that. In any case, they are as soft as possible.
I'm not sure if he feels the touch. Let's assume that he feels it quite a bit
Despite this, he always tries to count the power to touch you
Oh yes, he definitely likes to carry his beloved on his arms, back and shoulders. He especially likes to walk around the city like this or run away from enemies with you, because he is an cyborg, much faster than your human legs, just let him treat you like his lady :D
The poor guy is sometimes so upset because he doesn't have lips. I mean, how can he then give his beloved more love?? In any case, he finds a way out of the situation and just rests his faceplate on the place where he wants to kiss you. Too cute
He definitely giggles stupidly when you initiate all this romantic stuff. Did you kiss him yourself? I swear, he lifts one leg like a girl and can't stop giggling in love
His nicknames are so sweet to you, sometimes banal, but it's cute. (Lady, sweetheart, princess, love of my life, beloved)
Each of your mornings together will begin with his speech. He will absolutely always wake up earlier, if he is sleeping at all, of course. Let's say it goes into sleep mode for a set time. "Yo, yo, yo, wake up, sleepyhead!"
Cooking? No, and again no, bro does not know how to cook, he buys you ready-made food, because he does not need it himself
He always likes to make you laugh, he is infinitely glad to see you happy :)
He definitely likes the idea of paired things. Even the bracelet you gave him will always be worn (until he loses it)
You rarely quarrel, I think, but if it happens, he always apologizes first
Don't give him a plant or a pet, they'll just die 😭
He likes to sing for you, even if it's not quite perfect and the ears of others wither from his singing
He will immediately ask to exchange numbers or social networks. What for? To send you his photos and silly messages if you are not around, of course. He definitely uses a lot of emojis
He likes to arrange a movie night with you. Of course, you'll be watching mostly his favorite show. He watches it so often that at one point he will just say lines along with the characters
He likes to lie on your lap at such moments or just hold hands, because it's romantic in his understanding
Thanks for reading <3
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blacknedsoul-blog · 4 months
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Annabel Lee Whitlock: The Hypocrite, the Vampire and the Femme Fatale. A review of archetypes
Good news: I'm on vacation. Bad news: I'm on vacation.
And that means rest. A positive externality. But on the other hand, it also means that my brain, which is constantly thirsting for stimulation, has lost eight hours of activity a day that it has to fill with something. You know what happens to orange tabbies who suddenly become quiet and behave as if possessed by all the demons of Ars Goetia? Well, sort of.
So my brain in need of stimulation decided to dust off my college notes and talk about archetypes, because it's a thorough enough job to keep me away from climbing walls or checking random stuff on the Internet for 10 hours a day.
What is an archetype?
Just to make sure we're all on the same page, an archetype (a "type character") is a writing model that describes a role and has certain characteristics.
The term was coined by Honoré de Balzac, a French writer obsessed with what he called "micro-history. His life's work, "La Comédie humaine", is a massive collection of more than 80 novels, which, when read, will give you more information about that historical period than any theoretical book on the subject.
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You may not know this sir or the protagonist of "Illusions perdues", but you do know the archetype that Lucien Rumempré represents: a young from the provinces, full of dreams, who moves to the city only to discover that the lights are there to dazzle and distract from the misery.
But at the same time, the characters that come to mind are likely to be very different from the good Lucien. This is because the archetype is a different construct from the cliché.
If I had to explain the difference, I would say that the cliché is a recipe, while the archetype is a mold.
If you follow a recipe, you will always get results that are very similar, even if you make small variations in the recipe. But if you have a star cookie cutter, the contents of the cookies can be quite different: no one would dare say that a chocolate chip cookie tastes the same as an oatmeal cookie or a gingerbread cookie. Even if all three are cut in the shape of a star.
So I'm going to do a little review of the archetypes that Annabel notices. The differences, the similarities, and let's see what comes out.
The Hypocrite
Not "hypocrite" in the sense of a personality, but in the sense of a way of behaving in the world: The Hypocrite is a character whose way of relating to the world is a pantomime, whose role is to build themselves up to fit into a system (which, by the way, they despise). If they don't have what you want, they will at least pretend enough to make you think they do. Usually for personal gain.
The founder of this archetype is Julien Sorel, the protagonist of "Le Rogue et Le Noir", the most famous work of Stendhal, one of the most prominent writers of the literary realism founded by Balzac.
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Julien is this poor boy, but smart enough to memorize the Bible, which makes him seem educated enough to get him a job as a tutor in a rich house, and eventually a priest's cassock.
A more modern example is Nick Wilde from Zootopia. This fox has decided that if he alone can be a con man, he will be one, though he desperately wants someone to see him as an individual beyond that. He hates the system that condemns him, but he wants to be a part of it and will play by the rules he is given in order to profit.
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Annabel, like Julien and Nick, has built her entire identity around being what is expected of her, in her case a perfect Victorian high society lady. Something that has given her a tremendous amount of knowledge about how people move in such circles. And from her point of view, people are the same everywhere (Miss Marple would be proud of her).
And in this oppressive context that fosters an environment where people kill each other, she knows what currency to give in return for loyalty: people will look for a leader, someone competent, someone who knows what they're doing.
Annabel has no idea what's going on, what awaits them outside the Nevermore gate, or even if there's a way to escape. But she can pretend to know. The quietest person in the room wins, and she's the one who takes the prizes to achieve her goal. The performance is justified as a means to an end.
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Another thing that characterizes stories with a Hypocrite as a relevant character is the exploration of the consequences of this lifestyle: identity is consumed by the role, the line between actor and character is lost, and the Hypocrite is often faced with the reality that they have put so much of themselves into the character they are playing that once it is exposed, there is nothing underneath, or at least nothing worth saving.
In Annabel's case, this is expressed in her utter horror at not being trusted by Lenore. She puts her hypocrisy at the disposal of her lover and comforts herself with the reward of her affection, but Lenore's love for her is the only thread that binds her own identity: that Lenore does not trust her means that the role has completely consumed her, the complete confirmation that she, as an individual, is no longer a disturbed poseur.
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Related to this point, we have the final transversal line in the conflicts that Hypocrites tend to have: loneliness. When all their relationships are based on a carefully rehearsed performance, the Hypocrite knows that they are alone in the world, that no one really knows them, and they are usually so deep in the role by this point that they don't want to (or can't) leave it. The longing for honest relationships overlaps with their self-destructive tendencies.
As much as Annabel insists that it's her and Lenore against the world, that her life is meaningless without Lenore, and that she is enough, these phrases indicate that Annabel is painfully aware of how she is perceived by others, and though she tells herself that Lenore's love is all she needs, it seems more like a mantra to keep her sane than a reality.
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As you may have noticed, the main difference from the usual Hypocrite is that Annabel has Lenore. A bit like Nick has Judy. But Nevermore is a story that takes the psychology of its characters much more seriously, so while Nick just needs someone to reach out to in order to form honest relationships, Annabel passes because she has no fucking idea how to form an honest, healthy bond.
That Annabel is extraordinarily self-destructive, emotionally dependent, and so afraid to step outside the box she knows so well are, in this light, natural consequences of the Hypocrite lifestyle.
The Vampire
Here we must make a leap to another movement: during the Romantic period, the Gothic novel was at its best, and it was Edgar Allan Poe who squeezed out the last drops of what this genre had to offer.
Now, looking at the bibliography, Annabel does not have much in common with the gothic heroine (that is something Lenore takes care of), neither on an aesthetic level nor on a value level. To find her in the works that inspire her, one must look in a slightly different direction: the female vampires of gothic fiction.
Aurelia ("Vampirismus" by E.T.A. Hoffmann), Carmilla ("Carmilla" by Sheridan Le Fanu), Clarimonde ("The death woman in love" by Théophile Gautier), the vampire in the poem "The Metamorphosis of the Vampire" by Baudelaire, the three vampire women, and Lucy ("Dracula" by Bram Stoker).
All these characters have something more in common than their fangs: they are beautiful women capable of making anyone who sees them fall completely into their arms, as opposed to their role of making the one they have chosen as their prey "fall".
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The Gothic vampire is practically a succubus, but much less sexualized than one might think. Although many of these works, with the exception of the poem by the good Baudelaire (an author who should be fed separately on these matters), spare no pages in describing how beautiful they are, neither do they overly sexualize them, nor are they particularly flirtatious: even Clarimonde is dedicated to simply being there and letting her presence alone do the work.
This is something Annabel shares with the gothic vampire: though physically gorgeous, the framing in the comic doesn't tend to focus on her as an object of sexual desire, her beauty is highlighted, but in a way that is more akin to an ethereal or unattainable entity.
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This is due to a mixture of two things: the Gothic novel is steeped in Catholic puritanism, and even if it is to present a villain who uses her attractiveness as a weapon, the erotic component is subtly exposed, and the vampire's angelic beauty offers a contrast to her status as an antagonist: beautiful on the outside, insidious on the inside.
This is another thing Annabel has in common with the gothic vampire: she is aware that her appearance gives her a haughty, elegant, and dignified air, identifiable enough to earn nicknames like "Queen" or "Queenie," and she knows how to capitalize on it. This contrasts with the darker parts of her personality.
Another thing that terrifies romantics about vampires is that these fangirl succubi possess a quality that makes us 21st-century readers raise an eyebrow because it's supposed to make us uncomfortable: a deep, honest, and sincere willingness to be affectionate.
In context, this makes sense: the vampire is a representation of sin, temptation, and lust. So their affection is something that leads the object of it away from the path of morality (this is the 19th century, this is really important).
I understand that because of the vampire's role in all of this, she is a devoted lover. Incredibly devoted, in fact: Clarimonde is Romuald's sugar mommy (no, I'm not kidding, I'm not exaggerating either), and Carmilla never stops showering Laura with affection and attention, satisfying this girl's craving for companionship after living in isolation.
Annabel does something similar: there is a genuine interest on her part to reach out and connect with Lenore, and in scenes like this, she goes out of her way to show her that she is an amazing person in her own right, rather than being her brother's shadow.
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All kidding aside, I think of the archetypes I could find to analyze Annabel, this is the one that fits her best, even though she is not, well, literally a vampire. She seems to have several things in common with Carmilla in particular.
The Femme Fatale
We all have a more or less clear idea of what a femme fatale is: this extremely attractive, sexually active, badass woman who is there to make the male character's life miserable and has a 50% chance of smoking fine cigarettes with a cigarette holder. This is…partially true, but also highly inaccurate.
Although these characters can be traced back much further in mythology, this archetype gets its name and very specific form from Raymond Chandler, the founder of the noir novel. I'm not going to go into too much detail on this topic, as entire books could be written about it, so let's just focus on what's important.
The thing to understand about the context to understand the Femme Fatale is that we are in the 30-40's and although she has many more rights than 19th century women, the decadence shown in these works emphasizes that she is in a macho context where every single rule of the game is stacked against her. This is something that Femme Fatale is acutely aware of: no matter how well she plays the game, she will always lose.
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This is something that Annabel shares with this archetype: she is very aware of the rules of the game, she knows backwards and forwards how the world works, so she is also aware that they are too heavily stacked against her to ever win. All she can do is resign herself, play the role as best she can, and find small distractions to cling to like a burning nail so as not to lose her head altogether.
Therefore, the Femme Fatale's approach to life is this: if the rules are stacked against her, that means she has the right to do whatever it takes to survive. These tactics usually include manipulation, deception, exploitation, and, of course, making the most of her sexual attractiveness because, unlike the vampire, she knows how to flirt and use sex as a weapon. What needs to be kept in mind here is that for this character archetype, the use of these wiles comes not because she is factory evil, but as a coping mechanism within a system she cannot win against. If this ultimately makes her a villain, it's more about her role within the story in which it plays out than anything about the archetype itself.
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Here's an interesting difference between the Annabel we see in Lenore's memories and the one we see in the present day of the comic: Annabel used to be willing to play by the rules, but the thing she learned from Lenore is that cheating is more than possible. As a result, her attitude has become much closer to that of a Femme Fatale, using her extensive knowledge of the rules to her advantage, going with the flow for personal gain. Her methods are much closer to those of the Hypocrite (especially since we haven't seen Annabel use her body or affection as currency yet), but there are definitely similarities.
Another thing about the Femme Fatale (when she is NOT a villain) is that, like the Vampire, she operates within a duality: an exterior built to be sexy in a somewhat intimidating way (which is why the aesthetics of many of these characters can be interpreted within BDSM culture), but with some goodness in her heart. A really clear example of this is Vivian Sternwood from The Big Sleep (the first novel on the subject published by Raymond Chandler): her own father describes her as "rude, demanding, clever, and quite ruthless," and Marlow, our detective, will have a long series of uncomfortable encounters with her. But by the end of the novel, when he is faced with the same choice Vivian must have made in the past, he cannot help but realize that despite everything, this woman would rather keep painful secrets than harm her family, whom she loves dearly.
So if you're wondering why the framing of scenes like this looks familiar, that's why.
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Add to that the three layers of how her aesthetic works: an angelic appearance for when she needs to play dumb, her gaslighting, gatekeeping, girlboss bullshit face for when she needs to demonstrate authority, and framing where it should make you directly uncomfortable.
Looks are one of the strengths of Femmel Fatale's performance. And it's one of the strengths of Annabel's performance.
Conclusions
One interesting thing about looking at Annabel in this light is to realize two things: first, that many of the archetypes her character seems to take notes from are often in the role of antagonists or, for that matter, villains. 
The other is that these archetypes are quite well ordered and connected: the gothic vampire is the inspiration for the Femme Fatale of Noir (her beta version, if you can call it that), and the Hypocrite shares a historical writing period with many female vampires. From her conception, Annabel is constructed in a fairly orderly fashion, and believe me, that's a huge contrast to what's going to happen with Lenore (which I'll get to soon, but I need to brush up on my picaresque novel notes). 
The last thing I want to point out in this review is this: unless you're a Nick Wilde-style Hypocrite, Hypocrites and Vampires in general tend to have utter destruction in store for them. The Noir, for its part, puts us in a situation where the Femme Fatale, even if she wants to change, is generally too deep in this tangle to get out. 
So what I find interesting about Annabel in this regard is:
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This is actually THE scene that shows us Annabel timidly stepping out of the scheme of things. She doesn't seem to want to change, in fact I'd bet she's terrified to change, but even though she's repeating her father's toxic pattern here, she's also breaking it without realizing it. 
It's too early to tell if we'll see Annabel have some sort of redemption towards less harmful behavior, or if we'll end up seeing her become a villain altogether. But I'm really curious to see where this story goes with all of these elements.
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imtrashraccoon · 4 months
Text
It's here! I don't have a name for these series of connected prompts just yet but I'm sure I'll think of one! I was originally going to write the characters doing more in this chapter but it didn't work out. Still, I'm happy with this narrative I'm creating. By the way, I am planning on posting this to AO3 like all my other works if you want to check it out!
@owl-bones Please let me know if you don't want me to tag you for each prompt. Thanks for making the list!
Next Day.
Bad Sansuary: Horror - Hot Drinks
Word Count: 2,914
It was a dreary day today, yet despite the overcast sky and brisk breeze that often whipped snow into your face, it was the nicest it had been in days. You'd practically gone stir crazy after a freak snow storm had blown in several days ago and so now you were getting some much needed fresh air.
It had been an incredibly spontaneous decision to come out to this barely traveled trail. You'd been meaning to check out the area for ages but had been too busy in the fall. While your winter gear was generally enough to keep you warm on most days, it seemed like you should've worn an extra layer or two with how chilly it was out here in the woods in comparison to the city.
Regardless, you were moving at a steady enough pace to keep your blood pumping. So long as you weren't out here for longer than a few hours and got home before it got dark, you should be alright.
The walk had been every bit as beautiful as you'd expected it to be. While the forest was mostly made up of deciduous trees, you were now walking through a large grove of mature cedar trees, which just so happened to be your favorite type of conifers. The dense shrubbery served to insulate this part of the trail from both the wind and the sounds of the wild, not to mention that they smelled lovely as well.
The path made a sharp turn to the left up ahead, although right in front of you was a natural gap in the treeline, possibly made by animals as they passed through this grove. Feeling a tad curious, you ducked under the branches and emerged in a small clearing on the other side.
The clearing seemed to be natural as you couldn't see any signs of tree cutting, even with all the snow. It was framed on all sides by cedar trees whose boughs were blanketed in a thick layer of the white powder. It was strange though. You couldn't see anything that looked special about this little clearing and yet it was so peaceful here.
You'd only walked a few paces into the open space when you felt the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
Something was very wrong.
Some sort of primal instinct deep inside your soul screamed for you to duck and your body responded without even thinking about it.
You heard the unmistakable sound of an object whizzing through the air where you'd been standing moments prior.
You barely had time to register what happened before someone roughly grasped your shoulder and flung you into the snow.
You landed hard on your right side. The cold snow stung your face. There was pressure on your abdomen.
It took a moment for you to catch your breath. When you did though, you shifted slightly to see what had just attacked you, but as soon as you did so, the pressure on your side increased sharply.
A low rumbling growl was the only warning you got to stay put.
Now your mind was racing. This wasn't a random animal and no human could possibly sound like that. So could it be a monster? They'd been on the surface for a couple years now and were pretty commonplace in the city. In fact, you didn't know of any that would willingly choose to live out in the middle of nowhere after being trapped underground for centuries.
"Uh... H-hey, can...can we talk about this...?" Your voice came out much hoarser than you'd expected it to but you didn't know what else you could do right now.
Nothing happened for what felt like ages. You continued to stay as still as you possibly could, save for the pounding of your heart and how badly you were trembling. The snow was cold and your clothes were rapidly becoming soaked, but you barely registered it.
Your attacker suddenly shifted their body and the pressure on your abdomen eased, although it didn't go away entirely.
You chanced turning your head in their direction this time, rather than trying to move your entire body.
Your gaze immediately locked onto a singular glowing red eyelight. It belonged to a hulking figure of a skeleton monster who was currently pinning you to the ground. The eyelight itself took up almost the entirety of his socket and there was a thin line through the center, likely acting as a pupil. The only other details you could make out from this angle was that he was breathing rather heavily and he had a large hole on the top of the left side of his skull.
You didn't dare break eye contact for fear the monster would lash out suddenly if you did so. Whether it was how blown out his single pinprick looked or the tight smile that seemed much too wide for the current situation, but you could tell something was very wrong him right now.
Taking a shaky breath, you tried to speak to the skeleton again. "H-hey... Big guy... Are you...? Is something wrong?" you asked. Although to your frustration, your tongue betrayed how nervous you really were right now.
He said nothing and just continued to stare down at you, or maybe through you was more accurate. If looks could kill, you'd be dead at least a hundred times over.
For whatever reason, he wasn't actively restraining your arms, just preventing you from getting up. So against your better judgement, you slowly raised your left hand and reached for his face. Although you quickly discovered he was at least several inches out of range and you couldn't actually touch him.
His eyelight tracked your movements and seemed to focus on your outstretched fingers. He still said nothing though and just sat in silence.
"It's okay... Did I startle you earlier?" Your voice was becoming stronger the more you spoke and while you were still rather nervous, you were feeling a bit more confident than before.
He seemed to be acting pretty distant. The lights were on, pun unintended, but nobody was home. So what had stopped him from actually hurting you earlier? The only thing you could think of was when you tried to talk to him and since it seemed to be having a positive effect, you decided to keep doing that.
"Hey... Um, you scared me pretty bad, you know...?" No response. "But it's okay! I'm... I'm not mad or anything..."
People said you tended to ramble when nervous but you'd never believed them until now. Not that you'd been in many life or death situations before now to know, or at least none where talking your way out had been an option.
"Okay... I'm not going to hurt you, but... I'm going to try doing something." With a nervous chuckle, you added, "Just...don't take my hand off, okay...?"
You waited a moment to see if he'd try to respond but shocker, he still didn't react. So against your better judgement, you attempted to sit up so you could reach him. You moved slowly while keeping a close eye on him, but thankfully, he didn't show any signs of further aggression.
He startled when your mittened hand met the right side of his face. His red eyelight wobbled and flicked between your outstretched hand and your face. The corners of his painfully wide smile fell a fraction as he seemed to properly take in the current situation.
"Ah, that's better," you murmured. "You seemed far away so I was wondering if you could actually hear me. Are you...? Are you okay?"
He said nothing and continued to stare at you. Then his gaze flicked back to your hand and his bonebrows furrowed slightly. Before you could protest, he grasped your wrist and with some hesitation, jerked it away.
Crap... His hand is like twice the size of mine.
He let go of you and managed to stand up, staggering away from you. Complete shock was practically written across his skull and you could see how desperately his mind was scrambling to make sense of this awkward situation.
Although your muscles were a bit numb from the cold, you slowly crawled to your feet and attempted to dust yourself off. Although the snow had completely soaked through your pants and coat so your efforts were futile.
"..."
The mysterious skeleton muttered something that was so quiet, you almost didn't realize he'd said anything in the first place.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that..."
He blinked, somehow, and actually made eye contact with you this time before trying again. "...sorry..."
His tone was about as deep as you'd expected a guy of his size to sound, although it was also rather subdued. You couldn't be sure if that was just how he spoke or if he was feeling ashamed about what had just happened.
Speaking of his height though, this monster was much taller than you'd initially thought. He was easily more than a foot taller than you were, even with the way he was purposely hunching his shoulders. Was he trying to make himself look smaller?
"It's alright, you didn't actually hurt me," you responded.
He gave you a strange look but didn't say anything else, instead he started looking around in the snow.
Feeling rather awkward, you chewed your lower lip and kicked a small clump of snow. He didn't seem like much of a conversationalist and you didn't blame him right now.
After a moment of searching, he seemed to find what he'd been looking for a couple paces ahead and to the left of where you were currently standing - a large axe with a rather sharp blade. The way it was stuck in the snow suggested he'd actually hurled it at you and the thought of how close your brush with death had really been, sent chills down your spine.
But, if he had intended to kill you from the beginning, how come he'd hesitated to follow through?
You watched as he hefted the axe onto his shoulder with minimal effort. There was one more question on your mind now though.
Who was he?
Taking a step forward, you cleared your throat to get his attention. "Do you need me to call someone?"
He straightened up a bit more but remained facing away from you. "...no."
You frowned and pressed again, "Then...do you live nearby? Do you need help getting home?"
"...no," he responded in that same quiet tone. He turned to look at you again but this time his expression seemed more perplexed than anything.
You didn't know what to say next. You wanted to do something, anything, to help him, but he'd denied each of your attempts to do so. You couldn't just walk away now, not when he was so clearly struggling with something.
"what's with you?"
His question was a bit surprising and it took a second for you to come up with an answer. "You're hurting... I just want to make sure you'll be okay..."
He threw his skull back and laughed. It was a slow, bitter sounding laugh that nearly broke your heart to hear. After what felt like several long minutes, his laughter finally calmed down and he fixed you with a scrutinizing look once again.
"i just about killed ya."
You nodded solemnly, "But you didn't..."
He cut you off with a harsh glare. "and you're incredibly lucky right now..." he growled. "...i'm a dangerous person and you're pretty foolish for stickin' around this long."
You crossed your arms in annoyance. "Yeah, I guess I am foolish..." you huffed. "I don't know how to leave people be, I'm too nice for my own good, and I can't say no to people even if I really don't want to do what they ask me to. So yeah, I know I'm foolish!"
He raised a bonebrow as your voice got louder and louder but let you keep ranting until you'd gotten everything out. Running his free hand over his skull, he chuckled quietly. "wow...sounds like you've had a lot of experience, huh?"
"No kidding..." you muttered.
His footsteps crunched through the snow as he moved closer and you looked up at him again when he stopped about a foot away. He seemed to size you up for a moment before his permanent grin widened slightly.
"you're a funny human..."
You balked and took a step back. "Wha...? What's that supposed to mean?" you stammered.
He chuckled again and placed his free hand on your left shoulder. His touch was much gentler this time, even with the tips of his phalanges being rather sharp like claws.
"just that. ya got spunk to look at a guy like me an' think 'i can help him'." He hummed thoughtfully and then asked, "so how'd ya do it?"
"Do what?"
"shake me out of it..." He trailed off and a confused frown flickered across his face for a moment. "you were talkin' but i don't remember what you said until you touched me..."
"I don't understand. I didn't do anything more than that though. I just... You seemed...like you were somewhere else and not fully aware of what was happening? I guess I thought that maybe physical contact might help?"
"huh, interestin'..." he murmured thoughtfully. "so you've never heard of intent?"
You frowned slightly. The way he'd specifically put emphasis on that word made you think it meant something different than what you'd initially thought. "I can't say I have," you said with a shrug.
He started to respond when a sudden gust of wind blew through the small clearing and caused you to shudder as the cold air went right through your soaked clothing. You clutched your coat closer and stamped your feet in an effort to warm up.
Changing the subject, he made a quiet tisk sound and commented, "you'll catch your death if ya stay out here much longer, human."
A little voice in the back of your head wanted to retort that you wouldn't be this cold if it weren't for him, but that would be cruel, so you didn't. Instead, you gave a little laugh and tried to smile, but it wasn't exactly easy with how badly your teeth were chattering.
"Um, my car's not that far from here and before I left the house this morning I made a thermos of hot coffee... If you'd like some...?"
He laughed, much more genuinely this time by the way, and shook his skull. "crazy human... do ya have no self-preservation instincts or somethin' ?" he asked in a tone that practically screamed "ya can't be serious?".
You nodded, "Compared to some men I've met, you've been downright pleasant to make conversation with." Turning to head back to the trail, you added, "It's probably a good thing you took me by surprise though, because I definitely would've tried to fight you if I'd seen you coming."
"you'd definitely be dead then," he muttered bitterly.
You chose not to continue this morbid train of thought and walked on in silence. It was a bit surprising that he'd decided to actually take you up on your offer, considering he'd rejected every other one, but you didn't mind in the slightest.
After a few minutes of travel, you asked, "Do you have a name?"
He made a low humming sound before answering. "axe..." He grinned when you shot him a confused look and nodded his skull towards the weapon he had slung over his shoulder.
"I see... It's kind of...fitting? If I can say that?"
"mhm. what about you?"
"Oh! How rude of me... It's..." you gave him your name, "Sorry, I guess I completely forgot my manners in the heat of the moment..." You rubbed the back of your neck awkwardly.
Axe repeated your name out loud a few times like he was trying to commit it to memory. You paid him no mind as you knew all too well how annoying it was to forget someone's name. You didn't think you'd ever forget his though, not with how crazy today had been.
You caught him typing something into his phone out of the corner of your eye before he slipped it back into the pocket of his shorts again. He really hadn't needed to borrow your phone afterall it seemed.
"i am sorry for scarin' ya that badly...and for nearly killin' ya too," Axe muttered. He looked rather sheepish all of the sudden, like his previous apology wasn't nearly good enough now that you'd talked a little.
You waved him off and smiled warmly. "Hey, it's fine now. I'm not mad at you for something you couldn't help."
"i'm surprised you're not askin' more questions about me or why that happened in the first place..."
"Do you want to tell me?"
He shook his skull silently and glanced away.
"That's fine then... If you're gonna be okay now, then that's all I care about."
You hummed happily as your little car came into view at the side of the road where you'd parked it earlier. That coffee sounded absolutely divine right about now and you were so glad you'd decided to make it. Thank your lucky stars you'd thought ahead today.
Your companion had grown rather silent all of the sudden and when you glanced at him, you saw his bonebrows seemed to be knit together in deep thought. While you definitely were curious about him and where he came from, you didn't want to pry into something that wasn't your business.
Besides, the less you knew, the better...
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blood-orange-juice · 4 months
Note
ok so ive never properly played genshin and don’t plan to but i know a bit about it’s lore and characters and i think it’s really neat. however i have thousands of hours on ffxiv. on that note please explain why graha and childe are similar. i only have very basic knowledge on childe and i gotta know
Fellow ffxiv enjoyer. <3
(anyone asking me about G'raha has a 100% chance of getting a wall of text and I'm not apologising for that. enjoy your wall of text)
I'm not entirely sure I'm not a case of a person with a hammer to whom everything resembles a nail, but I do think they are the same archetype.
Sweet characters who could have been perfect sidekicks (who still are perfect sidekicks) but listened to too many epic tales as kids and found themselves in a wrong place at a wrong time and now have to play a key role in some universe-changing story.
Both are defined mostly by their stubborness, they are not very suitable for the roles they've chosen and fail over and over again until they do it somewhat right (barely).
No matter how badass they look, their power is not their own, G'raha is a glorified technician of someone else's miracle and little else than a living key, Childe wields an art of old Khaenri'ah without fully understanding it. It's all borrowed from someone else who needed them to achieve a goal.
They do look badass, but mostly because they larp. I'm honestly not sure which one enjoys theatrics more.
Civilisations that created the magic they use specialised in perversion of the natural order of things. They try to use it in relatively noble ways and mostly hurt themselves but the flavour is there.
Both are unbelievably tragic and both somehow make their stories seem almost lighthearted. Complete absense of self-pity. I think that's what makes them both so charming, it's a rare trait.
Both have an incredible capacity for loyalty and love and an incredibly twisted view of what relationships look like. "I'll cross time and space for you, I'll die for you, I'll build a city for you, I'll live for you but please don't ask me to share my plans." "I'll sacrfice my own health and respect of my subordinates to keep my brother's happyness, probably my humanity too, but don't expect me to actually interact with him."
Both have something that looks like self-sacrificial tendencies bordering on suicidality while being, if we are honest, a self-serving trait (partially born out of low self-esteem but still self-serving). They want to live in an old myth and sacrificing oneself is a perfectly reasonable price for that.
Huge egos. And I mean Huge Egos. It's a bit less obvious in Graha's case but I know the type, you see guys like that in PhD programs a lot.
Huge dorks. Both of them.
Both are stuck somewhere between human and non-human and, hmm... their ability to remain human is the most astonishing quality of both. By all accounts, neither should have. They somehow did.
Both are incapable of lying to the point where a third of each fandom headcanons them as autistic. Both are somewhat all right with tricking people without technically lying (although Childe had more practice).
Both are secretive because no one would understand anyway.
FF XIV is a kinder story, so it's easy to overlook, but technically G'raha is a case of body horror, accepts the role of a villain for a while and hides from the player way too much. Hmmm... Where else have I seen it. Hmm. Oh right. That ginger guy from Genshin.
Minor things:
Both are little shits and enjoy annoying the hell out of people they dislike.
Abysmally bad fashion sense. There should be a name for this particular type and level of bad. I don't think I've seen this anywhere else.
And then there's the colour scheme. Red+black+white+blue and red+black+light grey+blue (it's an "anime magician" color profile, I think. black-red-white as alchemy colours + blue as pure magic/something elemental). Childe doesn't quite fit but still the combination is rare.
They way they talk. Dear gods. Who the hell talks like that.
Here's where the similarities end.
One is morally grey but ultimately a good guy (technically. I think the point of ShB was that Emet and G'raha are almost the same), another is a morally grey but still (kind of) a bad buy.
At every step of his story Graha is surrounded by people who love or at least appreciate him, Childe is pretty much on his own and surrounded by people who are either shitty or clueless.
G'raha is kind. Truly and astonishingly kind, in a doomed world he chooses to love everything he touches. Silly little priest of hope. Of all the things he has done this is the most wondrous, I think. Not the time travel, not the city he founded, just being able to remain kind after everything that happened to him.
Childe is... well, Childe. I think he is a deeply decent person (to the point of having a visceral distaste for any kind of unfairness) and he's idealistic but he's indifferent more than he is kind. Empathy usually develops only when someone has shown the person empathy first and, as far as we know, he didn't have much of that in his life.
Also G'raha builds things. Childe breaks things. Childe breaks pretty much everything he touches.
One is an archeologist and a mage and another is a warrior.
I think these differences are caused mostly by the settings they were put into. Childe raised in Sharlayan would have been a very different person. G'raha trained by a voidsent and shipped off to Garlean military would look very much like Childe.
G'raha also has a beautiful character development arc. I love his ShB role. He has this huge ego in the raids and is insufferable and then we see an older and wiser him with a bunch of actual achievements and a bad case of impostor syndrome (trying to do anything real always humbles a person, we all know that real world is held together by sticks and scotch tape. honestly, this change alone is beautiful). And he gets to be an actual hero when he abandons all hope to be Important and resigns to die as a nameless villain if it saves everyone and spares his loved ones from heartbreak.
Childe's character development is yet to happen and I'm not hoping for much but we'll see.
The only difference that definitely isn't created by setting is that G'raha is naturally manipulative. In a kind-hearted way and mostly for the sake of better larp but he isn't that straightforward. Childe is spectacularly blunt for all his mysteriousness.
As a bonus, they both compare main characters to stars, but in completely different ways.
"No doubt your heroism will be the star by which I chart my course," says G'raha to the WoL.
Childe mentions the morning star, which is, of course, pretty and a good companion to a lonely traveler, but also it's not a celestial body you can chart your course by.
It's a guy whose signature weapon is called "Polar Star" and his first artifact set was full of nautical themes, so I think he fully understands what he's saying. "You are my friend but I won't change anything in my life for you."
So I don't think his story will be anything like G'raha's, his life took a different turn very long ago. I do think they used to be similar as kids, bookish boys who dreamed of adventure and being special. So it's fun to compare.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk. <3
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mikeila-iriell · 5 months
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More Graves headcanons (sorry I love this man)
-He is approximately 40 years old
-He give me that vibes like he was born at lates 70's or earlys 80's
-The scar on his face looks like a bullet (or maybe a knife) but because of the depth I think whatever it was was a hand-to-hand combat or at very close range
-He is not married, and no, I am not just saying this because he doesn't have a ring but, think about it, he lives in the combat field and enjoys the adrenaline. Knowing that it is a full-time job, could I really have time for a marriage? I don't believe it. He is a workaholic who has had sporadic relationships but nothing more, he is not looking for a serious commitment.
-I feel that being from Texas (BTW I'm not from Texas but from a city and province in Argentina that is quite similar) he could have an apartment in the city but also a country house/farm where he would actually spend more time
-He enjoys country music a lot but more rock. And he loves band's or music from 80s (queen, guns and roses, kiss, that type you know what I mean)
-He drinks but he doesn't smoke (or don't do it at long time ago)
-Likes to ride a motorcycle, car or horse
-Knows how to cook although he doesn't consider himself a chef
-Eat whatever, doesn't matter. Not a picky eater
-He has his own collection of guns but he doesn't use them to hunt or kill but rather they are "in case" of emergency"
-Beyond his character and arrogance, he is actually someone who is quite calm, although he always makes jokes or comments that are funny (or that he thinks are funny)
-He likes to read, the type that when he is calm before going to sleep he has a book in his table next to the bed. Night reading you now.
-He likes to exercise of all kinds but most of all he goes to the gym, weights and goes running for many kilometers and for hours (daily and strict exercise routine) (Me parece que esto es bastante real por como se le marcan las venas en los brazos ufff🔥🔥)
-He is a dog man (big dogs like German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Dobermans, Rottweilers, those types of dogs) but he doesn't dislike cats. In general he likes most animals.
-After the missions he makes sure to ask all his men how they are back at the base AND ASKS THEM ONE BY ONE TO EACH SHADOW
-He is a very available person, whenever a shadow has a problem or something urgent he will make sure to address the matter as soon as possible.
-Takes good care of and trains the younger shadows, whether for the reasons they have decided to join, he will make sure that they know what they are doing and he will keep a little more eye on them or put someone he trusts in to keep an extra eye on them you know if they are young or more inexperienced
-It is not about having long-term relationships, it is more about casual relationships if there is time left after a mission
-THIS MAN definitely LIKES WOMEN MUCH YOUNGER THAN HIM
-I would be more like a sugar daddy
-He's not much of a social media person, he tries to understand it and trends or those things, but sometimes he doesn't understand the most modern jokes. But if you explain it to him he'll do his best to understand the joke (and he'll laugh if that makes you feel better)
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unrequitedloveletter · 6 months
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I think I might have fallen in love- realization fics! Fics with this prompt can be the realization of anything--a characters imminent death, the moment wherein someone realizes they've been betrayed, or they can be super fluffy and detail the moment a character realizes they're in love, the moment where they realize they can see a future with the reader--perhaps one that entails settling down or one that involves leaving the past behind--, the moment where they realize that they want to marry them! Anything goes with this prompt, and I'll write 1-5k words using it!
OKAY- what about nikolai x reader. and it's where he realizes he wants to marry her. maybe r thinks of a solution to some matter of state and he watches in awe how she handles the questions and gets the other's attention. and he's just like "yep. i'm gonna make her my bride" or something like that :)
Motion- N.L x fem! reader
okay, hi! This came out a bit later than I meant for it to--I decided a few weeks ago to plan out a duology to try to complete during NaNoWriMo and that took up a lot of my headspace, where trying to make sure my mental health was on track and I was breathing in something other than stale apartment air took up the rest of it. However, I am so sorry for how late this is coming out regardless!
On another note, my requests close next friday! They close at 11:30 pm AST (which is around 7:30 PST) and hopefully, what remains of my requests will be done by that point. Fall event requests are open until the second and my holiday event will come out sometime between the 24th of November and the 1st of December.
Fic type- fluff
Warnings- none
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You and Nikolai were sitting in a meeting, debating with the Grisha triumvirate and several other relevant court members who sat in on Ravkas ever growing list of issues. You'd thrummed your way from matters of inter-palace discontent through matters of civilian discontent and you were up to matters of state.
Nikolai was getting bored watching everyone bicker, each of them trying to stop one another from getting a word in, but you looked as though you'd just gotten started. Nikolai could've sworn you were smirking slightly as you watched Zoya snap at a general, ready to throw a gust of wind at him--one so powerful that it knocked him through the meeting room wall--and barely managing to restrain herself. You looked as though, despite the fact that you weren't Grisha, you were ready to do the same thing.
Genya looked ready to tailor someone into a very ugly version of themself and David simply looked as though he wanted to go back to his work, like he was mad at the fact of his obligations as a member of the triumvirate for pulling him away from it.
"And before you start, Novikov," you started. Nikolai turned his attention to you, smile on his face. "Let me talk my way through this, yeah? You start talking and you might find yourself unable to fill your britches because you simply don't know enough. It's not a matter of the people--it's a matter of the funds we're able to allocate to the cities. If we can allocate enough to cities both big and small then we're setting ourselves up for an economic boom that starts at the big cities, moves to the small ones. It moves to the towns, and from the towns it moves back to us."
"How do you expect Ravka of all places to be able to do such a thing?" Novikov asks, bushy eyebrows furrowed at your suggestion.
"We can get tourists in," you said. "Ravka is broke--that is absolutely not a surprise to anyone in this room. However, to appeal to those who can only afford to take one vacation a year we advertise the cities. The ones with good-quality but still cheap hotels, honest working parents and saintstales as old as the country itself."
"And what of the rich folks?" David asked. "I mean--we can't advertise Ravka for tourism without aiming somewhere that will actually make a difference one trip on, can we?"
"Palace tours," you said. "The Grand Palace--we can make it a tourist spot Friday through Monday, twelve hours, with options for individual touring, group touring, or guided versions of the same. I'll be a bloody guide if I need to, but I know that there are people somewhere who are passionate about Ravkas history to be willing to volunteer their time."
'And how long is this going to take to pay off our debts?" Novikov asked. "I mean--nobody will go for it if it takes us longer than a decade."
"If it takes us longer than a decade, the youngest of us in the room have a chance at seeing it in the last year or two before we hit forty," Genya said. "Nikolai is twenty-four at the current, which means it would take sixteen years if it were to be such a strenuous plan."
"It's not," You said. "Tours of the palace will take two hours going at a slow pace if my walks of the Grand Palace are to have proved anything. If we get six volunteers, then that's one to cover every tour everyday. Ticket prices can be set at 20 coin for a general admission, 10 for children and fifteen for seniors. Max the group allowance at groups of ten and that ranges from 100-200 coin just off the gate. Take that and multiply it by six, and we have 600-1200 coin going back into the coffers of those to whom Ravka is indebted. It'll be volunteer based because the saints know we cannot afford to pay the guides but I would do a twelve hour workday just to prove that my idea is the right move."
"And what benefits could we offer in place of wages?"
"A hot meal when shifts are done, a room at the Little Palace and food by an irrefutable line of direction. We could also put them on palace staffing lists officially so they'd at least be making the minimum wage, but I think that such would constitute as fraudulent somewhere."
Nikolai was deep in thought when you brought up that last point, but with one squeeze from your hand he was back to reality.
"If they would be willing to take a room in the Little Palace for the duration of time during which tours take place, then it wouldn't violate any laws--they'd be working within the palaces, allowing their placement onto the palace staff."
"What is your estimate on how long it would take?" Novikov asked. "On how long the combination of marketing the cities and the palace tours would take to pay off our debts and refill the war treasury?"
Nikolai had been looking at you how he always did--like you were the love of his life. As he watched you answer what both of you had hoped tto be Novikovs last question, he came to a realization.
"A minimum of five years," you said. "And that is with the tours going all year round. If we could have the tours going daily it would probably still be the same such estimate--we're more than one million kruge in debt with Kerch, double that with Novyi Zem, Novikov. The process for clearing Ravka of it's debts is not something that will be instantaneous unless you're willing to sell your home and give the funds to the cause? According to reports I've seen, your home could have us reasonably jumped forward if you sell it for it's maximum monetary value?"
Nikolai could see it right in front of him--two years from then, a ceremony. Watching you walk down the isle, a coronation where you were crowned as queen. A life as your husband, a life with you as his wife.
He glanced at the ring finger on his left hand--it was looking awfully bare, but if you said yes when Nikolai proposed, which he decided he would do right then, it would not look bare for the rest of his life.
"All in favor?" Nikolai asks, giving your hand a squeeze as the thought solidifies itself fully in his mind.
I am going to make her my bride.
Everyone, including a rather embarrassed Novikov, said "I" and you grinned victoriously.
Your plan was barely in motion, but it was starting to gain traction still. As Nikolai pressed a kiss to your cheekbone and the two of you moved to leave the meeting room, the same could be said of his.
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einsatzzz · 16 days
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[Project] (KH)Re:born!!!
I've been wanting to do a pinned post talking/rambling about my projects, so I'll do it now while I've still got some free time!
Anyway, for various reasons including wanting to keep it simple (for goldfish brain reasons), @amiahoshi and I decided to call this project "Katekyo Hitman Re:born!!!". We call it either Re:born!!! or KHRe for short. I also tried editing a title logo out of it some time ago (inspired from the og logo) for whenever it will be necessary!
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Actually, I've just been tagging posts under this project under #khre (since mid-2023) because when I type #khr, I'll immediately remember to also type #khre. Anyway, more info below! (Ein from the future: it will be long)
Note: For any typos/grammatical mistakes, sorry not sorry this is just me rambling, so no beta we die like Tsuna did every time Reborn shoots him in Daily Life Arc.
TLDR: This project has become like my creative sandbox playground. The KHR brainrot is still going VERY STRONG, and has been for the past two years. I can't believe I didn't discover this series earlier. I am so normal about KHR.
It's also inspired from T//oky//o Gh//oul's title, where it had "T//G:re". And it really just emphasizes the "Re" on "Reborn", meaning "again, do over".
In KHR, besides being named after our fave baby hitman Reborn, this concept also connects to a lot of the themes in the show, especially with Tsuna and his Dying Will Mode. Then there's also the whole Vongola 10th generation, who seem like the reincarnation or the "second coming" of the Vongola 1st generation. I'm sure there are others I haven't noticed yet or just forgot to mention here!
Anyway, KHRe is sort of a similar universe to canon, but not exactly the same. There will be additional characters, which are mostly our OCs from the Oniyanagi yakuza family for now, then there will also be modifications/additions to the story/lore as well (e.g. certain arcs/chapters will be rearranged, certain events will happen earlier). Tsuna retains his protagonist role in KHRe as well (im so fond of him), but he will also be joined in this role by the twin bosses from Oniyanagi, Kana and Kurumi.
Kana and Kurumi's addition here really puts the emphasis on the "Re", because their individual overarching stories provide more interpretations to the word itself "Reborn", which adds onto Tsuna's.
The tldr of the premise so far is that Oniyanagi and Vongola are business partners, so shortly after Tsuna met Reborn and Gokudera, the twins and Yui (their right-hand man) transferred to Namimori. This is so that they can help each other to grow and with their respective training as well to become future bosses of their Family (Tsuna doesn't want to become one of course! lol).
Along with Kana & Kurumi, three of their guardians (incldg Yui) tagged along with their move to Namimori, while two of them remained in their previous city of residence (Tokyo). In their guardian line-up, they currently have an empty seat for the Sun Guardian and they're still actively looking for the one fit for it. Perhaps they'll find them in Namimori? (Spoilers: Yes, they will. Their full line-up is here.)
So far, the major ambitious projects I have under this one are as follows:
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Oniyanagi Wiki: This is a wiki site I made in Miraheze. I'll put it in public mode once I finish cleaning up Kurumi's character profile. We plan on compiling all character/group/story infos here for KHRe, which will also include AUs and alternate timelines. If there will be a lot of story divergence with certain canon characters, we'll also make a page for them there too (from the top of my head, so far, it will be Tsuna, Hibari, Enma, Kyoko & Haru). This is the project I've made most progress on so far, I learned a fair amount about making wiki pages hahaha.
KHRe Webcomic: A webcomic that features KHRe's story. Just like canon, it starts with Daily Life Arc. Right now, I'm just thinking of drawing intro chapters for Kurumi, Yui and then Kana for it. But I'm also tempted to just go full-fledged webcomic retelling of majority of KHRe lol like just for deadass committing to the bit. I just really think it will help me improve my art a lot because it will force me to draw other stuff I haven't tried to seriously learn how to draw before (like have you seen the improvement in TOG Webtoon's art style??! Damn...I want that too.) KHRe also has stories that continue past KHR's final arc. I want that high school, TYL and alternate future timeline content too y'know! I think I want to finish drawing at least one chapter by Q4 2024, I'll have a lot of time to focus on this after my exam on June.
Into the Looking Glass: This is a Horror RPGMaker game in the planning stage and it features a prequel story for Kurumi's childhood (around 8-9 years old). Long story short, it does follow the classic formula of a small kid exploring a scary/creepy place by themselves. Don't worry, she will also have a companion or two here! (So...just like Ib.) The title is very much still subject to change, but I referenced Alice in Wonderland for it. Because it's Baby Kurumi (Alice) stumbling in an otherworldly place (Wonderland) and the events that take place moving forward changes her life. I already have a plot and ending(s) in mind, just need to write a script. This will take a very long time to complete, but I wanna finish it eventually because I'm also a big fan of Horror RPGMaker games and I've always wanted to make one (this is my chance! I alr have a story! Just need to write and execute it!). Here's a very old concept art of the baby! I'll draw a new updated one when I get the time (the only biggest change here will probably just be the eye pupils, which really isn't much).
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KHRe Test Game (no title yet): Less ambitious than previous three. This will be a very short RPGMaker Game with Tsuna as MC. This is just me testing and learning the features of RPGMaker before I go do more work for Into the Looking Glass. The game is just about Tsuna being invited to the Ninomiya Estate by Kurumi and he has a very "fun" time there 😂👍✨ (just like a normal Daily Life Arc episode~). It won't be horror, but maybe for Tsuna it will be 😀 So far, I managed to make a map for Tsuna's room (and some other parts of the Sawada Residence) for the intro scene hehe
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As for other projects that are less ambitious and more doable in a shorter time, I do have MV Projects for KHRe plus a few shorts (like this one) I plan on drawing them in. I listed my priorities here (along with the major projects) and will try to update when I can (ideally, at least monthly...but definitely not for June 💀).
That's all for now! THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK!! (seriously...because this turned out so much longer than I thought it would be 🗿...I will now proceed to hide under the rock again).
Any questions are always welcome and very very appreciated! 👀✨I really just love talking about this series, OCs (mine and others') and my projects!
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dabisearpiercings · 1 year
Note
I saw that you asked for some requests so so I have a suggestion!
Perhaps some soft, lovey Dabi headcanons?
Dabi being just a big ol baby when it comes to his lover?
Dabi just being adorable as always?
Thank you 💙
Yess soft Dabi, thank you so much for your request!! My inbox is open so please feel free to leave your guys suggestions in my inbox or just message me!!
Characters/Pairing: Dabi (Touya Todoroki) x GN Reader
Word Count: 633
Warnings: Swearing, little suggestive comment
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♡ Ok so I think that it would take Dabi a LONG ass time to get to the point where he is openly affectionate with his partner
♡ But when he does it’s over for you, like there is no escape from his grasp 
♡ Dabi is the type to pretend like he isn't interested in cuddles but in reality he loves your hugs, so much so that he will even pout like a child if you don't cuddle him enough each day
♡ He runs on a schedule too, morning cuddles for at LEAST 30 minutes every morning (often making you late for work)
♡ If you work from home you better believe he's whining and complaining about how you should be in his arms instead of at your "stupid" desk
♡ Nighttime is when he reaches his peak cuddle bug form, clutching onto you like a koala from the moment you or him gets home and he down right refuses to let go
♡ Hell, he'll even follow you into the shower sometimes (not always in that kinda way but occasionally sometimes ;)) or he sits on the sink and chats with you while you shower
♡ Oh and when he's sick he's the absolute worst, basically making sure you don't leave his side by either laying on you with all his weight or fake crying to make you stay
♡ Dabi is also the type to whisper sweet nothings into your ear when he thinks you're asleep (key word: thinks)
♡ Whispers of "You'll never know how much you truly mean to me babe.." and "I'd never tell you this while you're awake but one day I'm gonna marry you and we can run away from this dammed city!" will sound in your head while you fall asleep
♡ All around he's secretly a big baby and please just give in and love on him-
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jackfrombaskinrobbins · 10 months
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baking contest w/ the avengers!!
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type of writing: headcanons / scenario
word count: 1k
request: yes / no
original request: OMG CAN U PLS DO THE AVENGERS IF THEY HAD LIKE A COOKING OR BAKING CONTEST?
dynamic: avengers x teen!reader (teenage avenger series)
characters: reader, scott lang, nick fury, clint barton, harley keener, peter parker, miles morales, tony stark, pietro maximoff etc
a/n: HECK YEAH I CAN!!!! i loved this idea sm i was so excited to get this request :D i'm getting back into writing so sorry if it's a lil bad lol. also guys i'm gonna open requests again so feel free to submit!! i have a lot of muse for spiderverse stuff atm hehe so i may post again today!! tysm, hope u enjoy!!!
taglist: @shefollowedthestars @thecloudedmind @ayohitmanddaeng
(fill out this form to be on my taglist!)
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so there’s this thing that the avengers do
in order to do team bonding
they’ll assign partners in the beginning of the year
& each month, a new set of partners will choose something to do
and it’s always super fun
like that’s how u ended up at the trampoline park last month
& how scott ended up with a broken arm rip king
so this month had to be something a little less dangerous
kinda funny when u think about it like it’s literally the avengers they’re in dangerous situations all the time
and while you wanted to do something different, certain ~forces~ kept preventing that
like y’all were watching a movie a couple weeks ago
and fury came on the screen 
how he could hack into it idk hes nick fury dude he can do anything
but he just looked at the camera and said “no more dumbass trampoline parks”
HAH
so yeah it had to be something tame 
anyway so this month was you and scott!!!!
best duo ever!!!!!!
so you had to plan what to do
& scott refused to go skydiving bc that was your first choice
smh scott it would be so fun!!!!
his arm was still broken & he said that was why he wouldn’t go but like…. scott we know ur a scaredy-cat
anyway you were trying to decide when suddenly he was like
“y/n!!!! i totally forgot! the great british baking show just premiered and i promised clint we could watch it together!”
and that gave you an idea
scott LOVED it
but y’all needed a couple things before 
first of all, u needed baking supplies
when i say baking supplies i mean BAKING SUPPLIES
there’s like a thousand avengers at this point bruh :’)
scott almost got one of those instacart orders for it but u hated the thought of an instacart person getting ur crazy order
so it was store time :D 
let’s just say tony’s credit card was used very well that day 😛
then it was time to pick teams
not everyone had to participate
wanda said she wanted in
so pietro joined too which was slightly concerning
the man literally burnt a bowl of cereal once
and ur probably thinking “how—”
EXACTLY
only you and harley saw it and honestly it rendered u both speechless
tony joined too
but you and scott made sure he knew that there could be NO robots 
vision asked to be a judge
scott said “vis, we really appreciate that but… uh… don’t you like not eat?”
“ah! you are correct, scott. i do not consume food in the traditional way. however, given my vast knowledge & global database, i do believe that i would be a very good judge of presentation and overall ingredient chemistry.”
“alright, you do that buddy!”
also off topic but why do i just know that tony would give vision the nickname “chat gpt”
 sorry i had to get that out ANYWAYY
you got a few more people to participate 
sam and bucky wanted to be a team, and harley peter & miles wanted to be a team too
yknow what that was fine by you
so the day came.
you had turned one of the empty conference rooms into a crazy kitchen setup
thx party city for the confetti & balloons!!! ;)
in came your loyal hosts, scott & clint
(clint begged you and scott to let him host, he kept using a british accent until you said yes & just trust me it was good that he finally stopped)
you, natasha, and vision were the taste & presentation judges
you surveyed scott’s & your work, pretty proud of how it turned out
“ALRIGHTY THEN, READY, SET, OFF THE BLIMEY!!”
vision shot you a quizzical look, but you just shook your head.
scott & clint rly were a…. hosting duo
yep, the most… hosting duo of all time
the hostiest hosters to ever host
omg the funniest thing was that they kept eating the cookie dough from harley peter & miles’ station
they literally had to push them away
peter & miles webbed their hands shut HAHA
everyone else seemed to be doing pretty well though
aside from their usual arguing, bucky & sam seemed to actually be making something good
wanda was perfect as per usual
and pietro was zipping around the kitchen, causing tony’s flour to rise up in his face
steve came over, blowing a whistle and pointed at pietro
you and scott had enlisted him to be the referee
yes, cooking shows don’t normally have referees, but think abt the ppl we’re dealing with here 😀
anyways finally time was up!!!
but you and scott still had a trick up your sleeves.
“and now presenting our special guest judge… GIVE IT UP FOR NICK FURY!!”
yes that’s right, he had said yes to this
after you promised to finish a mission report for him
and bought him some new eyepatches
which was why he was wearing a navy blue one complete with rhinestones
pietro was up first, and he placed four slices of chocolate cake in front of all the judges.
“i gotta say p, this actually looks really good!” you spoke, and he beamed.
natasha didn’t look so sure
“as y/n says, it does look alright on the outside. however, it does seem like there’s some sort of… strange ingredient in the chemical makeup… i am going to analyze for a moment.” said vision
“aw, let’s just eat the damn thing already!” fury spoke, and so you all did.
“mm, it’s good!!” you said, and natasha nodded in agreement.
but did not have the same reaction. 
he had stopped chewing, and his eye had narrowed. he was giving pietro a death stare.
“uhm… fury? what is … jolly wrong with you?” scott asked, his british accent wavering.
“yeah… guv’nr?” said clint.
“who the hell puts hot sauce in a damn chocolate cake. you better start runnin’ maximoff, because i’m comin’ for you!!” fury spoke, getting progressively louder.
“that one was supposed to be for y/n- i mean vision! yeah! oops. um…” pietro spoke, before disappearing from the room in a quick streak.
after that, fury left. 
and that's why now cooking/baking competitions are banned on the premises of SHIELD!!
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the-fiction-witch · 8 months
Text
Mademoiselle
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Media The Queens Gambit
Character Benny Watts
Couple Benny X Reader
Rating Flirty
Requested: Anonymous asked:
Ahhhhh okay okay!! So hear me out but hear me out  So imagine Bennys dating a famous singer, Think like Jessica rabbit aesthetic type dresses performing in clubs or at some of his chess matches as a way to entertain the people who aren't there to watch and she's french (sue me lol) so calls her stuff like Mademoiselle, Ma cherie and she calls him Monsieur or something like "Perverted American!" as a joke but they're really really in love with each other and everyone totally knows bennys dating this Famous French singer and he just gets a kick out of watching her perform and she has this this Audrey Hepburn type vibe and song voice, So like a TONNNNN OF FLUFF BUT WITH SOME SMUT AT THE END I BEG OF YOUUUU FICTION WITCHH🎶 TO LET THIS HAPPPENNNN POR FAVORRRR
I sat on the small stool with my elbows against the bar, a blue ribbon in hand watching people mill about the hotel lounge. Little light came through the windows now as it was getting late but the city of Vegas outside was still lit with its flashing colours. The lounge is busy with competitors and press for the tournament as well as the typical Vegas hotel guests. Many of the chess boys were nursing their egos with whiskey and martinis. The small stage across from the bar where a band is playing some gentle jazz is barely even audible over the muttering of people in the lounge. Even if I couldn't help but check my watch for the time knowing how soon it would change. I noticed a familiar sight saunter over sitting on the stool beside me setting his pad and pencil on the bar top as he ordered himself a drink
"Watts"
"Towns"
"Do I really need to ask or should I just copy and paste your usual stick?"
I chuckled "Beautiful venue, impressive crowd, the fourth round was a struggle but nothing I can't deal with." I explained and he noted that down "What do for you?"
"That's fine, you okay?'
"Fine, thinking what to spend my prize money on"
"You know what I mean"
"I'm fine," I shrug
"How's that girl you were talking about?"
"Girl?"
"That girl you were… seeing?"
"Ah, you mean y/n."
"Yeah that girl"
"Ah ah, woman. She's not a girl." I corrected
"You actually brought her this time?"
"Ohh she'll be around here somewhere" I smirked
The moment I uttered those words a woman drifted in right on time, from the long corridor leading to the front desk and casino floor through the glass doors into the lounge as if in slow motion. Her black dagger pumps with a strap around her ankle stepped onto the carpet skin tone stockings without a single ladder blood red seams up the back of her legs the left slightly crooked, She wore a skin-tight red dress with a sweetheart neckline and the hem sitting just above her knees even from here I could see every curve of her body in that dress, around her waist a black belt perhaps an inch thick tied in a small bow at her back three buttons from her waist to her neckline and then off the shoulder black straps that caressed her breasts and settled so perfectly across her arms, she wore black gloves that reached her elbows, in the crook of her elbow a small black leather channel handbag with a golden chain. Her lipstick was perfectly highlighting her Cupid's now the colour matching her dress perfectly, a dagger-like flick of eyeliner and I'm sure more that I couldn't see or name, her long y/c/h sat hovering above her shoulders where it has been tightly curled likely sat on rollers for hours giving her this sculpted but still fluffy curls of hair. Many turned as she entered the room a few conversations stopping short even more so as she stepped to the stage walking up setting her bag down and whispering instructions to the band. She walked to the mic giving the stand an adjustment. The room silenced as people found seats to watch as the band began their music and the moment she opened her lips it was like time froze.
I smiled no matter how many times I'd heard her she still sounded like an angel, Everyone watched her but even in this crowded lounge I still felt as if she was just singing to me, My heart fluttered unable to prevent my smiles, people had even now gathered at the door from elsewhere in the hotel many who were walking past but so captivated by her they had to stop. After a few songs, her set was over and she ended it the way she always does blowing a sweet kiss.
Immediately applause erupted and she began getting set to leave
"So? Where is your lady then?" Towns asked
I saw her grab her back so I set my beer down "Do excuse me a moment towns" I told him getting up fixing my jacket and heading over to the edge of the stage I wasn't alone several boys lingering there She went to step down the stairs but I offered her my hand which she smiled at and happily took sliding her hand into my own I guided her down the steps
"Mademoiselle" I smirked
"Monsieur" she smirked back giving my cheek a kiss and fixing my hair before she headed to the bar on her own I smirked and followed her as she took my seat at the bar
"My my I never thought I'd be in the presence, miss y/n y/l/n" Towns smiled taking her hand to give it a kiss "I've a lot about you"
"Humm all terrible I hope" she smiled
"No, no All remarkable. Mostly from Benny"
"Awww, my sweet little promoter" she smiled 
"Really though I think half the hotel's just here to see you" Towns explained 
"You flatter me too much really" she smirked "Monsieur Watts? Mind fetching me something"
"You're usual?"
"Yes please" she smiled 
so I ordered her, her usual drink a Black rose having to explain to the barman how to make it as it's not a common drink here, Once he handed it over I paid and sat down beside her "You're drink mademoiselle" I smirked
"Why thank you" she smiled happily taking it and giving it a test sip immediately grabbing the rosemary sprig to stir it a little more 
"Don't I get a tip?" I asked her 
She smiled and gave my cheek another kiss "Thank you Ma cherie"
"I would love to know how in all the wide world you two ended up near each other let alone actually together?"
"Come on Towns you all don't care how, you're all just jealous I got her" I smirked wrapping my arm around her waist 
"Still, very interested in the how," He says glancing between me and her 
"You want to tell the story or shall I?" 
"Go ahead" she smiled "You so enjoy it" she smirked getting her handbag open and plucking out her square matt black Chanel compact mirror that matched her handbag, and the small golden tube clicked open the compact holding it in her palm as she twisted the tube to reveal the red bullet lipstick inside so she could begin to touch up her make up 
"Alright" I smiled "Well I headed over to Paris for the tournament as usual, and after the tournament, I went to the hotel bar and met up with a friend of mine, Clio. We sat and had a drink and a chat same as usual and she told me her sister was doing a performance at a bar a few blocks away. So we headed down and got a table and a couple of drinks. And there she was." I explained resting my hand on her thigh "She started her set and even if I could barely understand any of it, I was smitten. Never been so captivated in my life"
She put her mirror away and smiled "I came to sit with them but never even bothered to get a drink, I talked his little ear off." 
"Well I wasn't exactly going to stop your beautiful voice was I, Ma cherie?"
"We talked so much Clio went home and we hadn't even noticed. We were in there all night the owner kicking us out when he wanted to go home,"
"I even ended up staying in pairs an extra three days just to spend more time with her, But when I went home I missed her badly, I kept calling you every other night because I missed you so much" I smiled taking her hand 
"So I had a little word with my manager at the time as I was due to start a North American tour in a few weeks anyway, added an extra week in New York" she smiled squeezing my hand "We spent every day of that week together he showed me all the lovely new york spots, we went out for dinner every night, even took me to the king and I on broadway"
"That cost me an arm and a leg I can tell you, but it was worth it a thousand times over to see how happy it made you, and to hear your own rendition in the car on the way back to your hotel you were twice as good as her" 
"Don't over-flatter me Monsieur" she smiled 
"She was fantastic, I half told her to go audition herself. we had a lovely week but It was almost too nice"
"I had a little tag-along for my tour, from New York to San Francisco. My the loudest applause at every show. One could say I've had a little tag-along ever since" 
"Or maybe you've tagged along with me ever since" 
"Well that's certainly up for debate" she laughs "But I just found it all so perfect here, wasn't a month or so later I packed up my things and came to New York to stay"
"You left Paris? for that grey basement?" Towns asked 
"It's not that bad" I argued
"I like it, very nice acoustics. Now if you'll excuse us Monsieur Watts and I need to get up to our room if we're going to be on time tomorrow" 
"Of course, you two have a good evening" Towns nodded 
We finished our drinks, and she offered her hand "Monsieur" so I happily took it 
"Mademoiselle" I gave her hand a kiss as I helped her up from the barstool and we headed out hand in hand. I couldn't help but smirk keeping her on my arm always kinda felt like showing off as we headed out and up to our hotel room. 
"Quiet a show tonight" I smirked as I locked the hotel door 
"I think it went alright, but I think my second song wasn't the best," she says immediately kicking off her heels and bag, sitting at the small vanity in the hotel room pulling her hair up into a bun and slowly removing her make up 
"Don't be stupid you were perfect Ma cherie" I smiled throwing my jacket and hat, sitting on the bed to kick off my own shoes and getting up to give her head a kiss as she worked "Same as you always are"
"Nothing is ever perfect, we can always improve. Would you say any of your games were perfect?"
"No, but you should see you sing from this side" I smiled wrapping my arms around her shoulders
"And you should see you play from this side" She smiled leaning back to give my lips a little kiss I went and continued to get changed for bed grabbing a book to read as I got comfy, but I never even opened it as I merely watched her stripping away the makeup and beauty that she had worked so hard to create leaving her as this sweet little face that she so often hid, all the little parts of her face that she hid with her makeup and glamourous clothes and watching it all peel away made me so happy seeing her in this way that only I got to see. and I suppose as I glanced down at myself without my intense clothes, and attitudes that frighten the chess boys. I suppose she too saw me in ways only she ever gets too. That and our shower is in our living room, she has definitely seen me in ways no one else has. Once she was done slipping on her little black nightie and climbing into bed "Hi"
"Hi," I smiled wrapping my arms around her "Ready for bed?"
"Ummm not quiet"
"No?"
"No, I figured as we're surrounded by your chess colleagues, I thought you might... want to show off a little" she cooes nuzzling into my neck
"I think I did enough of that in the lounge I was getting daggers stared into my back" 
"True, but wouldn't you like to annoy them even more" she cooes "Je veux que tu me fasses crier, toute la nuit. Monsieur" 
It took me a moment as I was still not that great with French, "ooh, yeah?"
"Umm,"
"To uhh gardez tout le Monde eveille Ma cherie?"
"Most definitely, so shall we?"
"Absolutely Mademoiselle" I smirked pushing her down onto our bed
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corruptimles · 1 year
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What pokemon would your favorites of the mob psycho cast have, in your opinion?
anon I hope you're alright with how long this answers going to get because I sat down and went:
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because I LOVE assigning pokemon to characters
We all know Mob and Espurr are pretty much made for each other but I'm putting a read-more because this answer is embarassingly long
I deleted it earlier because I wasn’t sure if it was the correct idiom, but my friend warns that you've "opened a can of worms" here
A little context/worldbuilding before I get into the lists:
These answers are in the context of a Pokemon/MP100 crossover in which Seasoning City is an existing city in new region, or is expanded into its own region entirely. Other countries are not brought up that often in MP100 so those could be replaced with existing Pokemon regions instead. (I think only America is mentioned, which could be replaced with Unova)
(this is as opposed to, an isekai AU, or if you decided the characters are from Kanto or something)
I won't be creating Seasoning's pokedex by any means, but this means I won't be limiting Pokemon geographically (like I assigned TSV characters with mostly Unovan Pokemon because they're from New York)
There's still the exception of the type of environment/region being very significant to that Pokemon (aka some regionals, legends/mythicals, endangered, etc))
Regarding Psychics/Espers
Psychics or Espers already exist in the Pokemon world, but the actual differences between them and Psychic-type pokemon is not widely explored, nor the fact there are non-psychic types that can technically use psychic-type moves, or abilities associated with psychics (telekinesis, telepathy, whatever it is empaths got going on, clairvoyance, etc)
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There's also an unexplored difference between ghost-types and ghosts
but the point I want to make here is that I don't think psychic pokemon are absolutely necessary for an exorcism business like Spirits & Such, especially when psychic-types are weak to ghost-types in the Pokemon world, and MP100 espers usually have a natural shield against, like, possessions specifically
So we're going with Psychics/Espers being able to be exorcists, mediums, etc, with their wide variety of psychic abilities at their disposal compared to specific Pokemon with specific skillsets.
There's also more apparent leniency with the fact that Psychics post-gen III use both psychic-type and ghost-type pokemon on their teams, and you can debatably include hex maniacs and channelers as psychics or espers to a degree
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A human Esper could possibly perform exorcisms themself or with the aid of a psychic, ghost, maybe even fairy pokemon, or pokemon with those moves
This means that I'm wont be assigning MP100 espers with psychic pokemon just because they're both psychic, but I acknowledge they'd likely be drawn to each other eventually, and it's up to the character if they'd interact with ghost types
There's also if the city/regions's general consensus on ghosts is similar enough to MP100 originally, which mean they're not as normal to see around as other regions for one reason or another
Personal Preferences / Headcanons
It's Very fun to match Pokemon to a character in how similar they are but other times I also like to try avoiding literal matches like that, or ones that are too on the nose
(what pokemon a character would be could be very different to what they would have!)
Often times I don't use the more popular pokemon either (like eeveelutions, sorry) unless it feels like that pokemon really works out for the character
It gives Pokemon ppl might not have thought of nor remembered a chance to shine
I also imagine if a character doesn't seem the type for competitive battling, they wouldn't have a 6-pokemon team, unless maybe they're the type for appearing strong, or under specific circumstances. Like petsitting or gifting. NPCs often have 1-3 pokemon if they're not strong league trainers. People with more would probably have lower maintenance pokemon
What pokemon could they have in their daily lives? What are they willing to take care of? If they do stumble upon a very specific Pokemon, how do I imagine they meet and how this influences their character? (for situations like this MP100 scenario, I like to impact the main storyline or characterization as little as possible if I'm not doing some in-depth canon-divergence or post-canon stories)
anyway
"What pokemon would your favorites of the mob psycho cast have, in your opinion?"
These answers may be tossed around or changed in the future but
Reigen
Lurantis I deleted the post saying why, but trust me on this Helps with the everyday life. Got terrified when it was a Fomantis thinking it was a bug-type but turns out they're both scared of bugs
Nacli whether he found it by accident or actively sought it, he kept it thinking it'd help w the business (it... kinda does? but not really)
Greavard (temporarily) (a la Uu-chan)
Nickit, maybe I prefer this as a pokemon he could be instead of have; it's very on-the-nose so I'm fine either or
I specifically imagine that in this world, like in canon, Reigen didn't know that espers were real, or didn't take them too seriously, especially when Pokemon could be doing all the stuff on TV
Serizawa
Hatterene (temporarily) "gifted" by Toichiro, but returns to Toichiro after Serizawa's fight with Mob (you know why)
Wimpod been with him since his years in isolation, evolves during World Domination Arc (you know why)
After Hatterene is gone, he probably only has Golisopod with him during the adjustment period with S&S but I do think he might take in another Pokemon by the time of the spin-off
(Swadloon -> Leavanny evolution via friendship is very reminiscent to Seri's character development and fight with Mob but idk if it's too much for two Pokemon to evolve back-to-back for him. It could also be what he takes in later on instead. )
Tome
Hoothoot I have my reasons
Elgyem her first encounter with the extraterrestrial, sparking her drive to know more about aliens and alien pokemon
looks up stuff like Deoxys and Ultra Beasts stuffs
Mob
Espurr evolves after confession arc?
Poliwag, maybe someone helps him evolve to Politoed over the course of the series?
okay I referenced Espurr multiple times so this might be redundant at this point, but I don't actually imagine him with more than maybe two pokemon? He's a middle schooler who might not be up for the responsibility of multiple pokemon, especially with the stress of his own and Espurr's explosions. Maybe he tries training more later in the same way he tried the marathon?
I just looked up the Poliwag line and I love that the lines' shinies do not look that different to the original but shiny Politoed has Mob's aura colours lol
He's not part of the cast but
Yoshioka
Herdier, or Watchog
yeah that's it
and they're not my favourites but some others I thought about:
Teru would have a full team, probably half left by his parents, which match his initial personality. He wouldn't be that close to them, but they're strong or rare and that's what's important until he's humbled later and actually learns to talk to them as companions He might not keep all the Pokemon by the end because he doesn't need to keep a reputation like that anymore, but has a select few strong ones that are strong because he actually trained together with them ^ the pokemon he'd have would still be very extravagent/gaudy in appearance though, like a Bruxish
Shou, and maybe Toichirou, may have Pokemon specifically from Unova or other farther regions because of Toichiro's travelling ^ Toichiro returning to Seasoning City is very Giovanni revealing to be the absent gym leader to me ^^Shou and Toichirou's teams could be styled in opposition to each other like Ghetsis and N. Shou spent so long preparing to be the protagonist against his father's plans, so
I firmly believe that Mob and Ritsu's parents would still be blasé about Pokemon like everything else that if either brother did come home with a legendary, they'd still be like "just make sure to clean after it. no battling in the kitchen"
it's not Reigen's, but there's a Fidough in the cafe above the office that he adores
Organizations like Claw, or the Rising Sun Spiritual Union would definitely employ a lot of psychic- and ghost-types for their needs
Dimple is either exactly the same, or the ugliest Gastly you've ever seen. I'd love to make a reference to the LOL cult and Yamask, but a fart cloud is a fart cloud
.
I have more but this list is too long so ppl can send another ask if they're curious about anything
final words: typing this was a nightmare because of how often I mistyped 'region' and 'reigen'
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watchmakermori · 2 years
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the sumeru archon quest popped off. I started the second act and I just HAD to finish it today because I was so engrossed. this feels like a big step up from inazuma's wobbly writing, and it's also a more interesting and ambitious plot than mondstadt and liyue had. I particularly like that the traveller feels a bit more...engaged? Like an actual character? In the other nations, the traveller has kind of been a bystander. while I wish they would commit to giving them more voiced lines, the sumeru storyline feels more geared around them. With the other nations, it often felt like the plotlines could progress in almost the same way whether the traveller was there or not. this time, they have clearer and more specific motivations: it's obvious why they want to find the dendro archon - specifically the god of wisdom - and ask her questions about their sibling. their relationship with dunyarzad is also developed enough to provide secondary motivation, too - she feels like a much more successful, developed npc in comparison to teppei, who we actually get enough time with to care about.
all of the characters are introduced at a nice pace, as is a lot of the worldbuilding. I like that we meet new characters with each new area - collei and tighnari for the forest, dehya, nilou, dunyarzad and nahida for sumeru city, alhaitham and dori for port ormos. it breaks it up well and stops it from feeling overwhelming. the fact that the first act lays the groundwork for how sumeru works - the eremites, the akademiya, canned knowledge, the akasha, etc. - means that second act can delve into these concepts more thoroughly without being too confusing. I love how creative and weird the second act was, too! I wasn't expecting them to go with a weird, time-loop type thing, and I love that a genshin storyline actually managed to throw me off and do something unexpected for a change
it's a much stronger start than sumeru had, and the fact that the archon quest may not actually be wrapped up until 3.2 gives me a lot of hope for the rest. I can't wait to see how scaramouche ends up involved. my guess is that the fatui will have some hand in the dream-harvesting that the akademiya is doing, but beyond that, I'm not sure what to expect. I'm very excited, though
also alhaitham is a sussy bastard. I could fix him but whatever's wrong with him is much hotter
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