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#just enough to impress harrow
dutybcrne · 13 days
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Sometimes Diluc does wonder if the Delusion left a lasting impact on him, outside the never-fading scars on his arm. That if every time his temper flares or he deals a particularly cruel blow upon his opponent, it’s due to the Delusion’s lingering influence, that it may have altered him to be a crueler person as a result of his near half a decade-long dependence on it.
#hc; diluc#//Sometimes; he even goes as far as to wonder if the Delusion in fact only ENHANCED what was already there#//He’d damn near slain Kae out of anger as it was; anger he’d NEVER once thrown at Anyone before; much less HIM#//Who’s to say he didn’t already have that darkness within him; even considering the circumstances of that moment#//And him continuously—deliberately CHOOSING—using the Delusion only CEMENTED it deep into his self and soul#//He’s had plenty of his share of nightmares where he longs for the Delusion; regretting having Shattered it after its final use#//It was for the best; yes; but now he’ll forever be Haunted by the lack of it; like an addict in withdrawal#//There were times he DID try and cast it away during his years in Snezhnaya; but inevitably put it back on after harrowing nightmares#//He wishes he’d tried harder to get rid of it then; before it left such a lasting impression on him#//Even now; his body is still SO used to & wanting of it; he gets so RESTLESS#//Wanting to reach for and mess with it; only to find it gone and Remember why#//Or the marks it had branded him with start aching and acting up so bad; as though he were Burning from its fire#//Feeling utterly Exhilarated in the face of destruction his flames bring; in dreams or in reality then be Horrified at how much he’d done#//bc he SHOULDNT be proud of that; SHOULDNT delight in such cruel feelings and sights#//Especially when it comes to dealing w Fatui in Mond—the sick delight he feels in fighting/destroying them genuinely scares him at times#//He’s less inclined to feel it when dealing with the Abyss creatures—they aren’t HUMAN after all; but it still sets him at unease at times#//Sometimes particularly scathing remarks toward Kae during their bouts have even him balking#//Not quite rushing to take it back; esp not when Kae hits back harder or brushes it off w his irritating little posturing#//But still enough to make him mull it over afterwards & wonder just how much more resentment he holds for him#//And if he should watch out and make sure it doesn’t get so bad he tries to hurt him again#//He would NEVER willingly want to draw his sword on him ever again; not if he could help it#//no matter what’s become of their bond and how irreparable it must surely be; after all’s said and done#//But if the Delusion had truly sunk its cruel influence so deep into himself…who’s to say how well he can keep up this oath?#//Or smth idk lol
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fidelishaereticus · 1 year
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so, old news obvious news blah blah, but i keep seeing people not getting this about my girl gideon nav so have to say: i think at first blush, people get the impression that Harrow’s got all the convolutions and layers and hidden vulnerability whereas gideon wears her heart on her sleeve and is just brazenly herself (a loveable rowdy himbo) & that’s the contrast. and yes, that’s there, but that’s not all. that dynamic itself is a part of their mutual (codependent) front, and like everything else in this book, it gets peeled back. 
i think the real contrast is that they’ve both got masks, and those masks are complimentary. they’re both kids who never got a childhood. they grew up tortured in the same place from very different angles with no one but each other to butt heads against. they both had to play-act grown up versions of themselves with few models for what a well-adjusted adult even looked like. so it’s cartoonish. gideon is the plucky hero of her own adventure story that will totally have a happy ending some day, far far away from her nemesis whom she’s totally not in love with. harrow meanwhile (to grossly oversimplify) has to imagine herself as someone cruel and cold enough to cope with being alive at the price of 200 other people. these two things fit very well together. gideon can play the hero to harrow’s villain, and harrow can enact cruelty toward gideon to make herself feel strong and mean (and generally just to vent anguish). the way they hate one another is a kind of mutual protection - it re-enforces the self-image that each of them needs to get through the day. but that’s the coping mechanism. harrow the ruthless bones overlord. gideon the hapless swords idiot, who thinks of nothing but tiddies & sweet sweet vengence (harrow’s corpse in various states of disgrace ) all day. and behind that they’re both tearing apart at the seems beneath caricatures of themselves that are deeply unsustainable and neither of them feels safe letting on the extent to which that’s the case. their hearts are a goddamned mess. neither of them is wearing that shit on their sleeve.   so yeah, there’s a lot more to gideon than being a swords himbo but that’s not the wild thing. the wild thing is she’s so convincing that she somehow manages to sell people on her no braincells act while being the pov character of entire first novel.
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poisonousgirlie · 11 days
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Sparks (Luke Castellan x Daughter of Zeus! Reader)
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A/N: This is my first writing post on here, so I hope you like it. In a HEAVY Luke kick right now, and I ran out of fics to read, so I decided to write one.
Word count: 1,515
Summary: Luke can't get the new girl at camp out of his head.
part II
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Luke was just shy of 16 when you arrived at camp. He vividly remembered that day. He and Chris had been scheduled for an extra patrol shift because they got caught pranking the Ares cabin. More accurately, Chris got caught, and Luke got roped into it. Regardless, Chiron had appointed both of them to the border patrol shift that evening, even though they had been on the same duty just the day before. It was dusk, the shift was about to change, and Luke was looking forward to making his way down the hill for dinner when a disturbance in the woods caught the attention of the group. The 6 other half-bloods on patrol with him all reached simultaneously for their weapons as they heard a scream in the distance, and spotted the trees just down the hill from you shaking left and right as if something massive was pushing through them. Your figure came into view, distant and limping, dragging what appeared to be the semi-conscious body of your satyr protector behind you. You reached the top of the hill, just to the right of Thalia’s tree, and somewhat unceremoniously discarded the body of your companion against a tree. You turned back towards the woods, only a long dagger in your hand as you faced off the threat emerging from the woods. Luke and the others had begun running towards you as soon as you came into view, but the patrol had been nearly a quarter mile away when they spotted you, and to everyone’s horror the massive cyclops chasing you was moving much faster than they could. Luke watched, his heart in his throat, as you visibly steeled yourself before launching towards the monster. You agilely dodged its attempts to grab you before basically vaulting up its large form and burying your dagger deep into the monster’s chest. The move was smooth, not flawless but fluid enough to prove that you had done it before. Fortunately, the Cyclops disintegrated, leaving you panting and bleeding. You retrieved your protector and dragged the both of you the last few feet across the barrier just as the patrol reached you, seconds too late to be helpful. Somebody must have alerted Chiron to the arrival of a new camper because his form crested the hill and ushered you and your protector to the big house for medical treatment and your introduction to camp. That night, as he lay in his bunk in the corded Hermes cabin, Luke could not shake the image of you from his mind. You were stunningly beautiful, uncannily so, making him question if Aphrodite was your mother before he even got a good look at you. This wasn’t what left your image imprinted behind his eyelids however, it was the steely determination on your face and the impressive way you battled the cyclops that had you lingering in his mind. There was something curious about you, and he resolved to find out what it was.
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In the time following your harrowing arrival at camp, Luke made a concerted effort to get to know you. Two days after your battle by the barrier, Luke was the first to volunteer to show you around camp when Chiron showed you to the Hermes Cabin. He toured you around, pointing out various cabins, training grounds, and important buildings as the two of you wound through the camp. You were polite and somewhat reserved as he showed you the ropes, not letting much slip about yourself or your past. Camp suited you. You settled in well to the routine, adoring the training and enjoying the novelty of having a warm bed to crawl into each night. Your hand-to-hand combat and blade-wielding skills were already impressive for a demigod with no training, and you improved drastically with even minor instruction. Luke took it upon himself to help with your sword and dagger training, partially as an excuse to get close to you and partially because he wanted a new sparring partner who could keep up with him. He discovered that the long dagger you had carried into camp was celestial bronze; you had found it mysteriously wrapped in your backpack a few years before you arrived at camp and had defended yourself with it ever since. As you became more comfortable with Luke, you slowly revealed more about yourself and your past. You had been alone for a long time, an orphan traveling around the country and battling monsters for years before your satyr protector had found you and escorted you back to camp. Despite being alone for so long, you fit right in with the busy nature of camp. Sometimes you would get slightly overwhelmed, but your quick-witted humor, dry sarcasm, and warm heart endeared you to most of camp almost immediately. Everyone had heard about your arrival at camp, not only saving your injured protector but also killing a 15-foot cyclops alone, with nothing but a dagger. Most campers had impressive stories, but your reputation grew before you even emerged from the big house on your first real day. You had spent barely a week in the Hermes cabin before you were claimed. Luke had been trying to guess who your parent could be. You were beautiful enough to be Aphrodite’s daughter, fierce enough to be a child of Ares, clever enough to belong to the Athena cabin. He even questioned if you could be a child of Hecate, even though she had no cabin at camp; something about the sparks that swirled in your eyes was distinctly magical. Despite having all these attributes, it felt clear that none of those options were the correct one. Not even Luke, however, was ready for the shock that your claiming would send through the world of Greek gods and heroes.
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Your very first Friday at camp, capture the flag took place as usual. You fought well, aiding Luke and the Blue Team to victory. People were gathering together after the horn signaling the end of the games, congratulating teammates, and throwing bribes at the sore losers of the red team. Luke was helping a young camper tend to a minor wound when every hair on his body stood straight up, his nostrils burned, and he felt more than heard the deafening crack that shattered through the trees. He spun around to find you, a bright glow dimming in your eyes, hand extended towards the smoking form of a dead giant scorpion. The monster’s body was poised to strike, positioned just behind a completely shell-shocked Annabeth. The scorpion had managed to sneak up on her (a rare occurrence), and would almost certainly have killed her if it weren’t for your intervention. It was kind of impossible for Zeus to ignore you after you had literally wielded lightning, and the lightning bolt that shined over your head honestly seemed a bit redundant. Murmurs of shock and disbelief spread through the crowd; however, the campers made a path when Chiron appeared. The centaur stared pensively at the fading symbol above your head before bowing his head, and loudly calling out, “All hail y/n, daughter of Zeus, King of the Heavens.”
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Chaos enveloped the hours and days after the incident in the woods. Nobody knew what to do or think. Zeus was not supposed to have children, Thalia was supposed to have been the only one. Chiron and Mr. D worried about your safety. Technically, both Poseidon and Hades were within their rights to strike you down, according to their agreement, as you were not supposed to exist. This seemed unlikely, as nobody wanted to anger the King of the Universe, but it was a very real possibility. Nothing seemed to be happening right away though, so the next day you moved into Cabin 1. Luke warned you that it wasn’t the most pleasant of spaces, big, cold, and empty. However, when you cracked open the door to the cabin, you found it to be much different than he described. The domed ceiling was made of glass, allowing for a gorgeous view of the sky, which seemed fitting for the sky god’s cabin. A huge statue of Zeus stood at the center of the marble room. However, there was an alcove to the right that held a comfortable-looking double bed, lamps that seemed to be lit from within with tiny little lighting bolts fixed at intervals throughout the room, and even the rest of the cabin had been magically populated with things you may need. Bookshelves now lined one wall, a small sitting area in one corner, the bathroom in another. The cabin still had a bit of a high and mighty air to it, but it looked like a livable space, rather than a cold stone box as it had been for years. Chiron had been flabbergasted when you showed him the changes. It seemed Zeus felt badly that you lived on the streets for so long and decided to bestow you with a gift. (a/n: pretend this would ever happen and is not wildly out of character please want my girl to have a nice living space okay). You settled your few belongings into your new home and prepared to truly begin your life at Camp Half-blood.
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Luke had a difficult time for the first little while after you were claimed, the suddenly obvious parallels between you and Thalia sending his mind spinning. Both fighters, daughters of Zeus who had learned to survive on their own. Both battled a cyclops at the edge of camp while trying to protect their protectors. The likenesses were unnerving. His first instinct was to feel that it was unfair that you got to survive when Thalia did not, but he pushed that feeling down when he realized that you could not help that, and had nothing to do with the events that took place last year when he arrived at camp. You were your own person, situationally you may have been similar to Thalia, but you were not her, and deserved a fresh start just like everybody else, daughter of Zeus or not. Luke had been avoiding you since showing you to the Zeus Cabin, he needed a moment to process everything. In hindsight, you being a daughter of Zeus made perfect sense. There was something about your eyes, they seemed to spark with life, each emotion was mirrored within your eyes, and they seemed to truly light up when you smiled. You also always seemed to be accompanied by a slight breeze, the wind flowing through your hair, and giving you an air of floating as you moved. He also could have sworn that the other day as he taught you a new sword technique the wind had kicked up, pushing him backwards and aiding you in the mock fight. The grace and confidence you moved with made sense too, even bleeding, dirty, and scared you had managed to give off an impressive air of confidence and poise, fitting for the child of the King of the Gods. After a while though, his mind strayed from your parentage to just you. He had only known you for a few days, but he found himself captivated with you, you were surprisingly funny, able to joke with him and Chris on your first day. You were sarcastic, and he would not want to get on the wrong side of your quick wit, but he also saw the sweetness you displayed when interacting with the young campers in the Hermes cabin. Your residence there had been brief, but quarters were tight and the little ones seemed to like you, something that did not slip by Luke’s notice. He knew you were an anomaly, one he was determined to understand.
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Over the next year, the friendship between you and Luke grew, along with your friendships with the other campers. You fit into camp as if you had always been there, despite the unusual nature of your parentage. Being on the older side of the campers, and also the only member of your cabin, you were made a counselor pretty much immediately. Before long, you switched from participating in activities to leading them. Your natural talent for both leadership and the activities you engaged in made the transition smooth. Despite your newfound duties as a counselor, you still poured your heart and soul into becoming a better warrior every day. You studied with Annabeth weekly, practiced archery with your friend Jasmine from the Apollo Cabin, and questioned Chiron endlessly about his past experiences with battle and about the heroes he trained over the years. Most important to you, though, were your daily training sessions with Luke. The two of you seldom missed a day, spending several hours drilling each other, sparring, and practicing fighting techniques each day. When things got busy during the day, you would sneak out to the arena after lights out, slinking back through camp side by side hours later in the middle of the night. Luke always dropped you off at your cabin when you did this, not wanting you to be out alone at night. The camp was safe, and you could more than handle yourself, but it was the principle of it. At least that’s what he told himself; he was just being a gentleman. He definitely didn’t just want a few more minutes of having you all to himself. In the time you two spent together, both during your training sessions and outside them, you became very close. Some people found it somewhat unnerving, the way your brains seemed to link together. You could communicate perfectly without words, a skill you developed after only a few months of knowing each other, and made your teamwork while fighting terrifyingly formidable. Something just clicked, you had never felt so comfortable and safe with another person before, having spent most of your life alone on the run. Luke was more or less infatuated with you, and it was quite plain for anybody to see. He always listened when you spoke and made sure everyone else did as well. He always found some way to be close to you, a hand hovering over your lower back as he ushered you out of the dining pavilion, stubbornly forcing his lanky body into the space next to you at the campfire even though there was more room elsewhere. Whatever the example, Luke stuck to you like glue. Annabeth would tease him when you weren’t around, saying that he looked at you like you hung the stars in the sky. His pride had him vehemently denying this, but he knew that her words rang more true than he was ready to accept. He admired you as a person, as a warrior, he liked you as a friend, and deep down he knew he cared for you as much more than that. Even in such a short time, you had become his other half, Luke and y/n, y/n and Luke. It seemed to just work, like in the way puzzle pieces fit together, or like watching one of Annabeth’s battle strategies fall into place. For now, though, he did nothing, not yet ready to disrupt the precious relationship he had built with you.
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A/N: I apologize for any formatting or any other issues, things are still a work in progress over here. I hope you enjoyed!!
xx posionousgirlie
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sim0nril3y · 7 months
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Driving Worries
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Pairing: Simon 'Ghost' Riley x Civilian!Reader Scenario: Simon gets a first hand experience at your driving and is less than impressed Note: Set in 2014 Warnings: No mask Simon (It's my personal headcanon in his regular life he probably wouldn't wear it), teasing, canon-typical swearing, very bad driving, very British driving.
Simon had begrudgingly agreed to joining you at a drink out over your friend’s house for the evening. In your own words it was one of your nicer friends, which made him a little worried about the rest of your friends. Regardless, if it would make you happy then Simon would join. Plus, you’d offered to drive so at least he could sit back and relax on the journey, or at least that was what he had thought…
The beginning of the journey was harrowing. There were multiple times that Simon had to remind you the speed limit, wave his hand apologetically to other vehicles you had pulled out on. All this whilst you happily sat beside him, either chatting away or humming along to the music. His sunshine girl. Fuck, she was gonna kill them both.
The way that Simon gripped at the handle above him as you drove a little too close to a parked car. His eyes flickered over as you continued to hum along happily to the radio seemingly unaware that you’d almost written-off your car along with the poor idiot who’d parked on the curb. “Turn this down a bit…” His fingers diligently rolled the sound down on your stereo as you frowned in his direction. “Eyes on the road.” He commanded, now that the radio was low, he could hear the gears churning, it made him visibly wince, allowing for it to continue thinking that maybe you might right the error before needing to be told, but it didn’t happen. “Think you’re in the wrong gear, love…” “Oh yeah…” You laughed with ease, changing the gear with a heavy sound.
As they approached a busy roundabout Simon wondered if he should just stare straight ahead and pray for the best, but the moment he glanced to his right and saw you about to pull out into two cars he had to stop it. Yanking up the hand break furiously you looked at him suddenly. “Who the fuck let you pass your test? Are you having a laugh? You could have killed us both.”
“What are you talking about?” Taking your foot off the clutch without taking it out of gear lead it to stall and you huffed. “Bloody hell. Look what you’ve made me do now…” “Good. Fuckin’ hell. Swap with me. Now.” He commanded in a rough voice. Unplugging his seat belt Simon rounded the car, angrily glaring at anyone backed-up behind them who dared to think about honking. You climbed over the centre console and took the passenger seat. “Kid, you fuckin’ terrify me…” Simon took a moment to roll back the seat from where it was uncomfortably close to the steering wheel.
You had the gall to laugh, pinching your brows together and saying. “I have no idea what I did wrong.” His hands gripped at the steering wheel and looked over to you for a second. “That is the most worrying thing…” A second later pulling out safely onto the roundabout and continuing the journey. “I always thought it would be going to war that would kill me, but I think it might actually be your driving that does it.”
Leaning over she pushed his shoulder gently. “Don’t say that.” She commanded softly, clearly the idea of him not being around was something she certainly wasn’t comfortable joking about. “Sorry.” He huffed, reaching over and squeezing her knee. “You scared me.” You scoffed and shook your head. “I’m serious. You fuckin’ really scared me. I can cope with being in danger, but not… not you.” He said, squeezing your knee again, feeling terror bubbling at the base of his spine.
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The night with your friend and her partner hadn’t been as bad as Simon had been expecting, it was a nice evening so you’d had a little BBQ whilst sat in their back garden. They both seemed nice enough and Simon was just happy to get a little insight into your life outside of him.
A few paces in front of him you approached your call, pulling your keys from your purse and said. “I’ll drive-” In a second Simon snatched then from your hands and wrapped his arm around your waist to yank you firmly back against his warm body. “Absolutely fuckin’ not.” You laughed as he walked you forward pressed you against the car. “I value my life, but more important I value your life.” He pressed a kiss to the side of your face. “Get in.” He smacked your rear as he moved to the other side of the car.
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Masterlist | Ask | 09-09-2023
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If you're currently taking requests, can you please do yandere dorm leaders + Jamil with a demigod reader like from Percy Jackson the readers godly parent can be your choice. If you're not currently taking requests feel free to ignore this
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Percy Jackson Reader | Yandere Twisted Wonderland
Child of one of the big three, water bends to your will. And in the oddest moments, your father gives his two senses. Nonetheless, your power earns you a lot of respect and a lot of scorn from the average student. Of course, those interested don’t mind all that much until your powers seem to be an obstacle to your love for them: 
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Malleus Draconia
“I see. Your mastery of the sea is impressive. I wonder if we spar who would fare best?”
He wants to engage with your power because it gets him an excuse to take your time 
This also helps him gauge your power against his own
He doesn’t cease his repeated sniping of people that hang around you 
Even if you actually challenge him seriously
He thinks you’re just the cutest
“Fine, my love. If you wish to challenge me let's have a wager. If you win I’ll stop my…warnings. But if I win you will forfeit all rights to speak to others. This is more than fair.”
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Idia Shroud
“I feel we’re connected in some odd way…”
“Yeah….”
“Do you want to play COD?”
There’s a weird synergy that has you both respecting one another
He thinks its cool how you can heal up with magic
But his excuse for prying creepily into your privacy+ is justified by his constant experimentation to measure your powers
“W-what this camera? Ha, it’s only to track what you’d do in such a harrowing situation! I-it w-wasn’t b-because your wearing j-just a white shirt.”
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Jamil Viper
“You’re a lot like Kalim, I’m sure your just as susceptible.”
“...I uh…get the feeling you’re capable of something…manipulative.”
“Wow, how insightful.”
Your dear old dad is probably the only help your getting with him
He’s often finding himself befriending you 
Despite being caught trying to hypnotize you
He makes a point to use his usual tactic to leave you alone
With plenty of time to come and hang out with him
“Scarabia’s the perfect setting, not a whole lot of water for their father to stay anything.”
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Kalim Al Asim
“Yay! Twinsies!”
He’s so happy that you have an affinity for water just like him
He can’t make weapons like you do or heal yourself with it
But he thinks it's pretty cool
It's even cooler that you get really cuddly weak if you stay in Scarabia long enough
“Awww why don’t you stay! I promise I’ll bring the water as soon as we finish our carpet ride!”
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Vil Schoenheit
“I doubt that. If you really were the child of Poseidon I doubt he’d let you walk around with skin as dehydrated as yours.”
“Gee thanks, Vil.”
“Yup that’s what I’m here for.”
He knows he’d never be able to overpower you
But he’s not all that hurt
Where you can pride yourself on your strength it doesn’t do anything against his finesse and intellect
Which he prefers
because what power couple doesn’t complement one another with their flaws and strengths
And while you may be willing to entertain these invasive welps bold suitors
He’s not so lenient
“Where you wish to merely scare them off, I wish to punish them. It’s only a given that we mirror one another, in the method.” 
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Leona Kingscholar
“Join Savvannaclaw, you herbivore. You still have some evolving you can do.”
Strong mates are always fought for in life
And to make his mark he has to sand fight off the competition
The next part will be winning your heart or successfully taming you
Just give him time, he’ll make it happen
One way or another
“Ha let’s exercise I want to see how far you’re willing to go.”
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Azul Ashengrotto
“With your kind of power…you could overthrow the entire empire within the coral sea!”
“Uh, I guess.”
“You guess? (Y/n), we could bring all of those who laughed at me to their knees. Metaphorically speaking.”
“They…bullied you?”
“...”
“Aww Azul…”
“S-shut up! Let’s just put them all in their place beneath you”
He loves you immensely 
And while he may seem that he’s always aiming to slip you into a contract for ‘sea conquering’ 
He’s after something more
He’s after you
His pearl, his angelfish, he wants to be your plus one as you right the world
“Ho ho what a predicament. Why don’t we negotiate the subject of payment, after the broken china incident with Grim, we wouldn’t want you to fall into debt.”
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Riddle Rosehearts
“I hardly believe your dyslexia is attributed to such a trait.”
“Bet. Write something in Greek I can do it.”
“...I stand corrected.”
“Ha see?!”
“Nonetheless you’re in desperate need of my studying prowess. Come to Heartslabyul.”
He is enamored by you 
The powers and heritage just add another layer
But he finds you are lacking for someone so kind
Or rather that you don’t have conviction
In your studies or in your boundaries
You don’t need to worry he’ll do that for you
Collaring anyone who gives threatening looks  and any look in general
“Off with your head! I decree that you will be punished for the breaking of the Queen’s law: that no one touches the Ramshackle prefect but you’re queen!”
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lemon-natalia · 1 month
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Gideon the Ninth Reaction - Chapter 20
i just wanna apologise in advance for how long these posts are getting lol, i have a lot of Thoughts about this book
oh wait nope they are going back to the creepy lab where two people just got murdered. great plan guys
Dulcinea wanting to team up surprised me a little, but it really shouldn't have. she's been paying a lot of attention to the Ninth, and especially Gideon.
'thousands of years after you're gone ... is when you really live' this is such a different, almost warmer, perspective on death and necromancy, and i can see why it appeals to Dulcinea specifically, who's clearly had to come to terms with her mortality pretty early on in life. but its also part of the more disturbing theme that the past never really goes away, and can't help but view this line along the same lines of discovering the ancient study last chapter, and the ancient laboratory, and Canaan House in general, which are only just now having their secrets revealed, and the terrible consequences of those secrets becoming apparent, after thousands of years
'she grasped a railing, leaned over, and proffered her hand' well this is getting very courtly romance
ah yes lets go through the door decorated with a swirl of human teeth, i'm sure there's happy fun times to be had in there. harrow, resident goth interior designer who specialises in bone decor, is probably taking notes as we speak
even after hurting her hand twice, Harrow really just can't resist experimenting even further huh. she's so very reluctant to accept that her existing powers aren't enough by themselves for this
ooohhhh, having to literally suck the life force out of your cavalier to win?? thats so sick and twisted and i love it. these challenges are, again, clearly relying on this intense relationship between the pair, both in trusting them absolutely and in this literal soul-siphoning/melding link thing.
however, it feels like Gideon's really getting the brunt of it in these challenges. Harrow's absolutely putting in an awful lot of effort and power, but it's the cavalier who has to fight the bone amalgamation, the cavalier who has to have their life literally siphoned out. they're about trust and a bond between them, but also seemingly about a willingness to sacrifice your cavalier to achieve that goal, and i have a really bad feeling about where exactly this is going in terms of how exactly one achieves lyctorhood
'under no circumstances will i ever desire your juice' Harrow you may wish to revisit this sentiment when you guys (to my limited knowledge) eventually become girlfriends
'none of this is worth it, at all [...] i'm sorry. We take so much' i'm like 90% sure the voice talking to Gideon throughout all this was Dulcinea, largely because it doesn't really make sense for it to be anyone else, but there were certain lines, specifically these ones, that made me suspicious at first it might be some(one? thing?) else. but it also feels fitting that its Dulcinea coaching her through this.
wow, just wow, i'm really impressed with the writing in this chapter, and how the pain Gideon is feeling is expressed. its such an abstract experience/feeling to describe, but i think its done incredibly well
'Ha-ha, said Gideon, first time you didn't call me Griddle, and died' ok i know she didn't but THANKS for giving me an absolute heart attack with that sentence Tamsyn Muir
Harrow i get understand u are protective of Gideon but let Dulcinea comfort her plz
'you can't just ask someone why they want to be a Lyctor'. ahh the duality of Gideon the Ninth. this just evocative prose about how it feels to be on the brink of death, and then immediately afterwards hits you in the face with a mean girls reference. beautiful, iconic, effervescent.
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vickysaurus · 1 year
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I’m thinking of reading Gideon the Ninth, because you lot seem to be having fun with it. Here’s what I know about it based on tumblr osmosis:
Gideon the Ninth is the first book of the series, which is called The Locked Tomb. It is about lesbian necromancers in outer space.
Gideon the Ninth is the main character. She has some sort of cool skeleton look. I don’t know if it’s facepaint, a tattoo, or her actual bones showing through her skin (with the necromancy and all). However, other characters have the same thing going on, so I imagine it’s something necromancer-related and not just a personal choice.
She also wears dorky sunglasses. I think she thinks she’s a lot cooler than she is.
This is probably a spoiler, but her father is George Washington and her mother did 9/11. I think that’s a metaphor and not the literal case, but then again this series seems kind of bazonkers so maybe it is literally true.
One time, Gideon fit a huge Zweihänder into a suitcase, and it is not elaborated upon how she did this.
According to at least one of you there is ‘not enough fanart of Gideon’s tits’
Harrow or Harrowhark is another important character. She is bald and also has the skeleton thing going on. I get the impression she and Gideon have a rivals-to-lovers arc.
The first book is generally well beloved. I think it is about Gideon getting hired to raid a derelict spaceship of some sort. Maybe Harrow is there for the same reason and they have beef over it?
The second book is mostly written in second person and tries to gaslight you about the first book. It is considered a bit of a challenging read.
There is a new book called Nona the Ninth. I think it’s at least the third book in the series, but maybe there are more in between.
Everyone in this universe seems to have regnal numbers, but I don’t know why. I don’t think they are nobility. Maybe, given the necromancy, it is some sort of counter to keep track of how often they’ve come back from the dead. ‘The ninth’ seems to be particularly common though, which leads me to suspect it may in fact not be a numbering but a last name or clan name of some sort.
I have no clue about any of the actual plots, but apparently that’s pretty normal and people default to the ‘lesbian necromancers in space’ explanation because the plot is wild and impossible to summarise.
Whiny clownbabies have left some very silly one star reviews on it that are basically recommendations.
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robot-horde · 7 months
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i absolutely NEED a part 2 to totally not conjux it was so fluffy i love it sm
Totally Not My Conjunx Pt.2
Megatron x Cybertronian!Reader
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1k
Pt.1
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The thought of returning to headquarters made you miserable. Running into Megatron at one point or another was inevitable, but the idea of having to face him after today's events had you cringing in embarrassment. Avoiding Megatron on purpose would do nothing but prolong your anxiety, so you decided to suck it up and act like nothing was wrong. Sometimes ‘fake it ‘till you make it’ really is the best option, so when you passed him in the hallway, you simply gave him a polite smile and wished him goodnight like you often did. Megatron gave you a knowing smile in return and you could feel your frame warming in embarrassment as you walked away.
While you were staring at the ceiling, thinking too hard about his grin, the Malto household was having a very exciting dinner.
“Hey mom,” Mo smiled, “guess what?”
“Oh-oh! Are you gonna tell her?” Twitch eagerly asked.
“Tell me what, exactly?” Dot questioned, shooting Mo a suspicious look.
“Is it really our secret to tell?” Nightshade asked, worried they may be stepping too far.
“It’s cute! It’ll be fine,” Hashtag waved off their concern.
“Alright guys, what is it you have to tell us?” Alex asked, prompting his kids to explain all that had happened from defining what a conjunx was to you chasing Mo around for her phone. 
Dot couldn’t help but laugh at her children’s lively retelling of events, but she had trouble calming them down and interrupting their scheming. Their plans to get you and Megatron together were elaborate and not particularly feasible, but Dorothy had a much better idea. Once she ensured the table she’d try to work some magic, they relented and headed off to bed with only a little reluctance.
The next time Dot had the opportunity to speak with Megatron alone, she decided to keep her promise and dig for information.
“I heard about what happened last week,” Dot said.
“About what?” Megatron asked, confused.
“The phone call from Mo.”
“Oh, yes,” Megatron chuckled, “That was a nice surprise.”
“A nice surprise?” Dot asked. “You can’t be that surprised.”
“I’ve known their feelings long before the children’s game,” Megatron admitted, “But it’s still nice to know how they think of me.”
“When are you gonna tell them, hm?” Dot asked, crossing her arms.
“Ah, well that question is-”
“It’s been over a decade Megs,” Dot interrupted, raising her brow, “I think you know this little  confession of yours is long overdue.”
“I know, I know,” Megatron sighed, “It’s just difficult, Dorothy.”
“I’ve been through it before, I’m sure you can get through it just fine,” Dot laughed.
“No, not telling them,” Megatron shook his helm. “I’ve replayed the scene in my mind enough times that it's second nature by now. No, what’s difficult is accepting their affection.” Dot hummed in acknowledgment and Megatron looked down at her. “Do not give me another speech on the matter.”
“I’m sure you could quote every word of it at this point,” Dorothy smiled. “But I'm just saying, accepting their affection will only get easier if you let them actually be affectionate. All this soul searching is great, but the real work doesn’t come from thinking, it comes from doing.”
Megatron sighed and looked away from Dot. He’d run helmfirst into harrowing danger before; faced so many terrifying situations without a shred of hesitation. Yet it was allowing himself to love and be loved that lit fear in his spark. Still, he knew Dot was right. Megatron was only wasting precious time by pushing things off.
“Tomorrow,” Megatron nodded.
“Tomorrow?”
“I’ll tell them tomorrow.”
“Wow,” Dorothy laughed, “I didn’t expect you to switch gears so soon Megs. But I’m impressed,” she smiled at him. “This is a good thing,” Dot reaffirmed. Her assuredness helped ease Megatron’s fears.
He was committed now. There would never be a perfect time to tell you and there would never be a perfect version of himself to give to you. He’d just have to settle with confessing now and giving you himself, flaws and all, to care for as you saw fit. Megatron knew where to find you, and when you saw him enter the room your optics went wide. Your expression didn’t go unnoticed and for a moment Megatron thought you were going to leave, so he called your name and asked for a moment of your time.
“Is everything alright?” you asked with a nervous smile.
“Simply perfect,” Megatron smiled back. “I just wanted to speak with you about that phone call with Mo.”
“Oh no,” you furrowed your brow and turned away from him, “Listen, I’m sorry-”
“No, no,” Megatron urged, reaching for your servos, “There is no need to be sorry my dear.” You felt your spark flutter at the affectionate name as you looked at his servos holding your own. “It brought something to my attention and I must share it with you.”
Your anxiety mixed with excitement as he spoke. There were very few things you could think of that would prompt Megatron to act like this, holding your servos and watching you with such soft optics.
“You should know your affections are returned,” he gently squeezed your servo, “They have been since the beginning. I’d gotten swept up in feeling unworthy, but it’s unfair to you to disregard my love for you out of guilt.”
Love?
You felt a deep sense of relief wash over you as he spoke. You knew Megatron cared for you, but knowing he loved you satisfied a longing you’d been harboring for years.
“Megs,” you smiled, lifting one servo up to the side of his helm, “I was starting to think I’d never hear you say that.”
“What else have you been hoping to hear me say?” he asked before turning his helm to kiss your palm, “That I’d be your conjunx?”
“Ah- well, I’ve certainly thought about that,” you started to look away from him, but he caught you before you could.
“Because I would. I’d do it in a sparkbeat,” Megatron confessed, “I have no intention of ever leaving you.”
“So that’s a yes?” you asked, holding back tears and half laughing.
“If that’s your idea of a proposal,” he kissed the back of your servo and smiled, “then I accept.”
You thought back to when the children said he wasn’t your conjunx ‘yet’ and you were sure they’d be very proud of themselves after finding out they were right.
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mellori · 6 months
Text
Another thing about The Unwanted Guest:
I bet Naberius is leaking into Ianthe faster than any of the original lyctors' cavaliers ever did. The original lyctors created the eightfold word with painstaking scientific-style experimentation accompanied by practical tests that afforded them ample opportunity to practice (and likely master) each individual aspect of the eightfold word before eventually combining them.
Ianthe looked at the tests and reverse engineered the concepts behind them from what she decided they were meant to be teaching the participants.
Which is an incredibly impressive feat, obviously, she understood what they were trying to do just by looking at how they'd practiced doing it. Harrow did, after all, judge her to be brilliant.
But she also judged her to be overly reliant on shortcuts and tricks.
I would bet anything she invented her own shortcut-laden cheap and easy version of lyctorhood, just like Pal was forced to invent his own take on the process to circumvent the slightest of inconveniences he was experiencing (i.e. having morals, being dead).
There's no way Ianthe is burning clean fuel at maximum efficiency. She's huffing the fumes from a slap-dash wood stove she knocked together because she has to sit close enough to it to keep warm... this metaphor has gotten away from me a little, but you get the jist.
She was so convinced she'd side-stepped any and every consequence of her ascension to lyctorhood, but that's impossible. Lyctorhood runs on consequences.
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yurimother · 8 months
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The 2023 Yuri Guide - Light Novels
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Your ultimate guide to the best Yuri content with over 200 curated titles from every genre and medium.
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Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka
• School • Drama • Romance
Saeki Sayaka has always been an old soul—serious and reserved, preferring to focus on her studies rather than make friends. Until, that is, a romantic confession from another girl in middle school turns her carefully ordered world upside down. Though none of her classes have prepared her for this, Saeki must now come to terms with her sexuality in this gentle, coming-of-age novel about grappling with first love, growing up, and relating to other people.
~Written by Hitoma Iruma, Illustrated and Created by Nakatani Nio~ Licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment
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The Executioner and Her Way of Life
• Action • Fantasy • Isekai • Enemies to Lovers
When Menou, an Executioner of deadly interdimensional “Lost Ones,” encounters a Lost One named Akari who can cheat death, she sets out on a mission to kill the unkillable girl — but her newly stirring feelings might get in the way of her blade.
~Created by Mato Sato, Illustrated by nilitsu~ Licensed by Yen Press
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Girls Kingdom
• School • Romance • Comedy • Master/Servant
All Misaki wanted was a free education. Instead, she accidentally lands an exclusive contract with the most prestigious girl in school... to serve as her personal maid! Misaki soon discovers that Amanotsuka Academy for Girls is no ordinary school—her classes are all about how to be a maid, too! Students who impress the school’s elite young ladies with their domestic service skills might be lucky enough to become a “Seraph,” guaranteeing them a job with an upper-class household after they graduate.
~Created  by Nayo, Illustrated by Shio Sakura~ Licensed by J-Novel Club
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Girls’ Love of the Dead
• Horror • Mystery
When Mitsuki’s best friend suddenly dies, she decides to seek out the old abandoned building of their school, the Romero Private Academy for Girls. But when she meets her dear Rin again, there are quite a lot of reasons why the other girl doesn’t remember her…
~Created by Nanaoku Hoshii, Illustrated by Akiko Morishima~ Licensed by Manga Planet
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I’m in Love with the Villainess: She’s so Cheeky for a Commoner
• Isekai • School • Comedy • Action • Fantasy • Romance • Enemies to Lovers
Claire François has it all: beauty, brains, and the blood of nobility. As the daughter of a high-ranking noble, she takes her status and the according responsibilities with utmost seriousness—even as the king threatens to undermine his realm’s stability with his visions of “meritocracy.” Claire is nevertheless prepared to take this societal change in stride, until one of the new commoner students at her elite academy, Rae Taylor, turns her life upside down. Everything about Rae confounds Claire, from her behavior to her intellect to her bizarre fixation on Claire herself. Little does she realize just how much Rae will change her world, and how much she’ll change Rae in turn.
~Created  by Inori, Illustrated by Hanagata~ Licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment
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Last and First Idol
• Horror • Sci-Fi • Anthology
"Bye-bye, Earth! My idol activities here were so much fun!” A wannabe idol turned reality-shattering entity, existential isekai organisms, and a space opera about murderous voice actors… Award-winning author Gengen Kusano presenting an astounding collection of three harrowing existential widescreen yuri baroque proletariat hard sci-fi idol story has carved out a new legend in science fiction history! These high-concept stories are crammed full of horrific imagery and exceptionally detailed science that will leave your mind reeling.
~Created by Gengen Kusano~ Licensed by J-Novel Club
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A Lily Blooms in Another World
• Isekai • Romance • Fantasy • Enemies to Lovers
Miyako Florence isn’t sad when her fiancé breaks off their engagement after two years. It’s all according to plan! Whisked into the world of her favorite otome game, Miyako frees herself from a dull noble to pursue her true soulmate: the game’s villainess Fuuka Hamilton. Proud Fuuka only has eyes for their mutual ex-fiancé! Miyako confesses her love to Fuuka and proposes that they run away together. Fuuka agrees on one condition: Miyako must make her say “I’m happy” in 14 days. With conniving nobles, strange diseases, and magical rituals pulling them apart, can Miyako win the villainess’s heart?
~Created by Ameko Kaeruda, Illustrated by Shio Sakura~ Licensed by J-Novel Club
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Lily Clairet
• School • Slice of Life • Weak Yuri
A young girl is arguing with a cherry tree. That's a new one for Lily, who's managed to reach the end of her first year at high school without too much weirdness. Unfortunately for her, it's not long after solving this odd mystery that her untroubled life begins to unravel. Discovering an abandoned room at the end of the music department corridor, she finds that aside from it being utterly run-down, it's also devoid of its sole occupant: Sonata Sonoda, the missing journalism club president.
~Created by Kaye Ng, Illustrated by Rumikuu~ Independently Published
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LOVELY! My Adorable Mamecchi
• School • Romance • Friends to Lovers
Everyone may have their eyes on the charming, prince-like Hikaru, but there's only one person Hikaru's got her eyes on - her darling childhood friend Mamecchi! But between Mamecchi's hot-and-cold personality and Hikaru's subconscious denials, this sure doesn't look like a recipe for success...when a certain repeat customer gets into Mamecchi's good graces, will Hikaru finally muster up the courage to confess to her first love?
~Kumako Nanbu, Hiromi Takashima~ Licensed by Manga Planet
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The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady
• Fantasy • Romance • Comedy • Isekai
Despite her supposed ineptitude with regular magic, Princess Anisphia defies the aristocracy's expectations by developing "magicology," a unique magical theory based on memories from her past life. One day, she witnesses the brilliant noblewoman Euphyllia unjustly stripped of her title as the kingdom's next monarch. That's when Anisphia concocts a plan to help Euphyllia regain her good name-which somehow involves them living together and researching magic! Little do these two ladies know, however, that their chance encounter will alter not only their own futures, but those of the kingdom...and the entire world!
~Created by Piero Karasu, Illustrated by Yuri Kisaragi~ Licensed by Yen Press
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ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword!
• Fantasy • Action • Horror • Master/Servant • Slow Burn
Flum Apricot was never meant to be a hero. Despite zero stats across the board and a power she can’t even use, she somehow finds herself included in a party of heroes. But Flum’s life hits rock bottom when the party’s renowned sage, Jean Inteige, decides that the useless girl is dead weight, and arranges to have her sold into slavery. Tossed to monsters to be feasted upon for her master’s entertainment, Flum makes the desperate choice to reach for a cursed weapon…and something new awakens within her. A grimdark tale about one woman’s blood-soaked quest to reclaim her life!
~Created by kiki, Illustrated by kinta~ Licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment
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Sasayaki no Kiss -Read my lips.-
• School • Romance • Drama
Haruka has always lived in a soundless world. But not in her dreams, where she can hear her own voice - and the voice of the only other person in the dream with her, a beautiful high school student wearing an adorable, unfamiliar school uniform. Haruka knows this is just a dream, but why does a part of her think it's more than that? Is this girl she finds falling asleep in the park really the literal girl of her dreams?
~Created by Kumako Nambu, Illustrated by Akiko Morishima~ Licensed by Manga Planet
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Seriously Seeking Sister! Ultimate Vampire Princess Just Wants Little Sister
• Comedy • Fantasy • Yuri Harem
Long ago, on the continent of Ephenia, there existed the feared tribe of vampires called “True Bloods,” whose great strength allowed them to reign supreme over all other tribes. However, a millennium has passed, and any trace of them has vanished off the face of the planet. That is, until the youngest and most talented royal daughter of the True Bloods awakens in the modern day.
~Created by Hiironoame, Illustrated by Siso~ Licensed by J-Novel Club
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Sexiled: My Sexist Party Leader Kicked Me Out, So I Teamed Up With a Mythical Sorceress!
• Fantasy • Comedy • Action
Tanya Artemiciov is a talented Mage-class adventurer who just got kicked out of her party by a sexist scumbag. So what's a girl to do? Go to the wasteland and blow stuff up of course! One small problem though: she inadvertently frees a mythical Sorceress named Laplace who was sealed away for the past 300 years… Surprise! Turns out this so-called "wicked" Sorceress is actually pretty cool. Laplace wants to start a party of her own, Tanya wants revenge, and the solution is obvious: team up. It's time to kick ass, kiss girls, and dismantle the patriarchy!
~Created by Ameko Kaeruda, Illustrated by Kazutomo Miya~ Licensed by J-Novel Club
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Side-By-Side Dreamers
• Sci-Fi • Supernatural • Action • Fated Lovers • Love at First Sight
Unbeknownst to the common citizens, a battle has been unfolding between the Suiju, beings that possess people's spirits in the land of sleep, and the Sleepwalkers, who have the power to move about freely in their dreams. Saya Hokage, a high school girl who is unable to sleep due to insomnia, encounters Hitsuji Konparu, a girl who can put anyone to sleep as a “lover” in a dream. When Hitsuji's senpai sees potential in Saya, she ends up joining them and their group of Sleepwalkers on their mission.
~Created by Iori Miyazawa~ Licensed by J-Novel Club
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Two Guns Under the Sheet
• Action • Drama • Enemies to Lovers • Shakaijin • Love at First Sight
All Aya wanted was a one-night stand that could take her mind off her lost love, but with Sakura, she may have finally gotten more than a one-night stand - she may have finally found "The One"! But before she rushes into imagining their future together, there's one uncomfortable question Aya has to face first - could it be possible that her beautiful new love is somehow related to the same organization she's bound by duty to destroy?
~Created by Kumako Nambu, Illustrated by Akiko Morishima~ Licensed by Manga Planet
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Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel to Trifecta 
• School • Romance • comedy
Yuna Momose and Rinka Aiba were made for each other, and their whole school knows it. Between Yuna's princess-like elegance and Rinka's prince-like charm, all their classmates see them as the ideal couple. Yotsuba Hazama is no exception to that, but she is exceptional in another way: she's somehow managed to become fast friends with both of them! Having the whole school's favorite ship as her two best friends isn't exactly easy, though. Not only does it make everyone treat Yotsuba like a particularly obnoxious third wheel, it makes her feel like one too! Or at least it does, until one day, Yuna asks her out. And then Rinka asks her out too! And Yotsuba, whose social anxiety never seems to kick in until after she's already messed something up...says yes to both of them, without sparing so much as a single thought for the consequences. Oops! Now Yotsuba only has one choice: keep her accidental two-timing under wraps and make both of her new girlfriends as happy as she possibly can!
~Created by toshizou, Illustrated by Kuro Shina~ Licensed by J-Novel Club
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Yuri Will Not Blossom at Work!
• Drama • Romance • Enemies to Lovers • Shakaijin
Just as Rikka thinks the matchmaking event she grudgingly signed up for can’t get any more dreadful, she runs into her colleague-slash-rival Yuri Kisugi. Using Rikka’s embarrassment as leverage, Yuri compels Rikka into helping her find the perfect candidate to marry. Rikka goes along with Yuri’s antics with the hopes it will lead her rival away while she climbs up the company ranks. But what happens when Rikka’s nurturing tendencies coincide with Yuri’s secret vulnerabilities?…
~Created by Mai Yanagawa, Illustrated by Ruri Hazuki~ Licensed by Manga Planet
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Yurizen! Salon -Shirayuri’s Comforting Food Therapy-
• Shakaijin • Romance • Slow Burn
Was it fate that led to Miiko meeting Doctor Shirayuri that one rainy day…or was it just her cramps? Pâtissier Miiko works through little pains like the rest of us, but when her ailments begin to affect her work, there’s got to be something she can do about it. Enter beautiful, mysterious herbal medicine doctor Shirayuri, who might be the solution to Miiko’s problems – in more ways than one!
~Created by Kumako Nambu, Illustrated by Miso Higashikawa~ Licensed by Manga Planet
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m4rs-ex3 · 7 months
Text
people always make silly little lists of characters' crimes which i love but i'm gonna do smth a lillllll different
tdp character trauma log 🫶✨
callum
lost his father at a Baby age (the perfect age actually; young enough to be very emotional and impressionable but old enough to have to process it)
was thrown into a drastically different + high-key terrifying environment at Baby Age
lost his mother--his comfort person, his only connection to his og life (besides amaya), and also just an amazing individual--leaving him alone in said environment
was constantly belittled for being bad at the thing he never asked to be
lost his stepfather aka his only parent left and experienced an array of regret over what he didn't do while harrow was alive
almost watched his little brother down/freeze to death
was betrayed by his childhood friend
endured a severe dark magic sickness + traumatizing fever dream
almost choked to death
watched his whole world jump off of the highest point in the world
almost died plummeting off of the highest point in the world
was abandoned by Love of His Life for several depressed years
was literally fucking possessed
was taxed with the decision between becoming a vessel for the most dangerous individual in the world to destroy everything and hurt everyone he loves OR essentially ending his life (a conclusion he himself had to come to)
was under the impression that Love of His Life was dead (and he never got to tell her what he wanted to)
almost died pt 3
almost died pt 4-5
bound and brutally beaten + electrocuted (?)
watched the most important person in the world to him mercilessly tortured within an inch of her life
almost lost her AGAIN and had to destroy his entire moral compass in order to save her
tortured
almost died 6: choked pt 2
rayla
where do i begin
well first off grew up in the silvergrove and hey moonshadow elves i love ya but oh dear god -promotes "strength" and stoicism over discussing your feelings and admitting to your weaknesses -so bound (literally) by duty and oaths that faltering results in either being good as dead or dead as dead -ETC
equipped with a debilitating phobia of water--a fear most would see as bizarre and silly and exceptionally irrational--in a culture that as previously mentioned shuns fear to all hell
was left by her parents and (despite them having a perfectly good reason) never really healed
almost drowned which was not helped by the phobia
almost ravaged by an ancient vampire
an ASSASSIN who has to KILL PEOPLE but is a WHOLESOME SWEETHEART
haunted by her "constant" mistakes; her strengths get wholly overshadowed by her weaknesses
told by the father figure she revered that she is a stupid baby useless idiot (roughly)
was flatly told by Father Figure he expected to kill her (to which she's just like "fr prolly" good god girl you are fucked)
had to not only sit and listen to, but conform to horrid stereotypes she's been haunted by since she was a kid
nearly slowly lost a hand (and just straight up accepted like ik this isn't the point but i feel the need to address when she does some insanely broken shit)
saw a person wither to dust before her eyes i feel like we forget about this
almost died like pt 4 ish i literally cannot keep track what counts and whats too minor a near death experience and why do i have to ask these questions
watched the love of her life (shut up harry styles) suffocate in his sleep in her arms
almost died pt 5-8 ?
i once again don't even know where to begin this time with her ghosting. linking this post again but tldr she didn't do anything wrong, she believed she did, her society not only confirmed these suspicions but god they pinned her with so much more, and she was told that actually no and what the fuck is she supposed to do with that u just told her everything she knows is wrong and that she actually has worth and she is not keen on that mindset
almost died 9? i include this one bc soulfangs are terrifying
cooly came to the conclusion that she deserved to die for her parents mistakes (and fully intended on doing so)
almost died jumping off the highest point in the world
suffered from persistent nightmares
almost drowned (the phobia once again did not help)
was nearly killed by the dead former co-workers she feels responsible for killing
forced herself to leave behind Love of Her Life and if you don't think that was the hardest fucking thing in the world for her
spent two, miserable years alone, getting beaten down again and again (mentally and physically,) plagued by her vendetta, haunted by all she lost, never knowing comfort, never knowing love, and probably so much worse that we don't even know woohoo!
thought that, after years of painful wondering, the parents she desperately wanted back were killed right in front of her
almost died pt who even fucking knows
almost died
almost died
almost died
almost died
almost died
was absolutely fucking brutally tortured (within an inch of her life) 😚✌🌸✨✨
almost died horrendously (she rlly couldnt catch a break that day)
had to choose between pushing her trauma to the absolute limit or hating herself for not protecting her friends
almost died
ez
motherless
couldn't make friends (for a reason no one would believe)
that's why yo [daddy] dead. dead as hell. what shoes [he] got on what shoes [he] got on in [his] casket
almost drowned/froze
had the pressure of surviving as an orphan ANDD being a fucking king forced upon him at the same time
felt responsible for thousands of lives
was imprisoned
was almost motherfucking impaled by scary adult
all that? yea he was like 10
therefore
grew up weird like his brother and rayla
probably almost died a lot of times
imprisoned again & was threatened and bared witness to his brother + his closest friend tortured (+ almost murdered)
almost murdered by someone he once trusted
prolly a lot more idk i was gonna include soren n claudia but i am so fucking exhausted THESE KIDS ARE SO FUCKED OML 😭😭
178 notes · View notes
treysimp · 1 year
Text
Trick Or Treat! (Part 3)
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(GN!Reader/Ruggie / Jack / Leona)
Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 (This one!)
Rating: T
Introduction: After the Ramshackle ghosts had whipped you and Grim up some intensely cute wizard costumes, you decided that you were going to go hunt down all of your friends and offer them a trick or a treat! Which one will they choose?
Tags: Reader’s body not described nor are pronouns used, fluff, kissing the homies good morning, friends to flirting heavily, sorry for all of you that are good cooks I decided that Reader-chan is not for this one (you can blame the Ramshackle kitchen if you want), eating baked goods (food and food consumption warning)
Words: 2k
Author’s notes: We getting hella smoochies in this fic folks.
Want more TWST? Here’s my masterlist!
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Now that you had finally escaped the heart-pounding grip of your Heartslabyul besties, you were making your way to the Savannahclaw booth at Grim’s request.
It was an almost shockingly impressive sight. 
While you loved the graveyard that the previous location was at, the shimmering shipwreck felt so mysterious and surreal. You recalled that they had a pirate theme, and looking upon the stranded vessel on the shore you felt almost hypnotized with the curiosity of wanting to see what treasures lay hidden inside.
It wasn’t all that crowded, but making your way to the stamp location was a bit more harrowing than expected. Due to the plethora of Savannahclaw pirates who were ready to try and jump-scare you around every turn, your voice was getting a bit more hoarse by the minute.
You felt a little more pathetic with each yelp of surprise, but since Grim was already bawling comical tears, you were trying your best to not have both of you sobbing in fear.
Much to your chagrin though, the sudden grip of a hand around your wrist startles you into another undignified scream as you feel yourself being pulled inside a hidden door with a snap.
It was completely dark, and you couldn't see a thing. Other than the fact that you could tell someone else was in here with you, you were completely clueless. 
Well, that was until you heard the laughter anyway.
“Shyee-hee-hee you should see the look on your face! Priceless!” Giggles your fluffy-eared captor, eyes watering from breathless laughter.
“Ruggie!” You exclaimed, slapping him across the chest. “You scared the shit out of me! I was about to start swinging, you know!” 
You huffed, crossing your arms and glaring at the ground to try and obscure the embarrassment at both the shrillness of your screaming and how close this little broom closet had pressed the two of you together. 
You could feel every minty breath of Ruggie’s wash over your skin with his unending giggles, it was an overwhelming sensation.
“Hit me again, maybe you’ll feel better?” Ruggie said teasingly, leaning his head against the wall that your shoulders were pressed so firmly against. 
What was with everyone invading your personal bubble today? Did Twisted Wonderland have some weird Halloween tradition you were unaware of?
“I think you should give me that bag with my name on it first though,” Ruggie added, bringing his face dangerously close to your own.
You looked down at your pail only to see that the plastic bag was already in Ruggie’s hands.
“What’s the point of stealing it when it was for you in the first place?” You said with a frown.
“Aww, come on. Seeing the faces you make is reward enough.” He laughed, eyes sparking at the glare you gave him.
You bit back a retort at that one. Ruggie clearly was just trying to tease you and it wasn’t worth playing into it.
“Fine. You got cookies and got to see me scream. Happy?” You huffed.
“Hmm… I can think of one more thing I’d like?” Ruggie said, playfully tapping his chin in thought. 
“Such as?”
“I’ve read that a kiss from a cute wizard can give you good luck?” 
For the nth time today, you could feel the blood rush and settle on top of your cheekbones. What in the world had gotten into these boys?
“Fine.”
“…if that doesn’t work, then-!” Ruggie’s eyes got almost circular in surprise.
“Fine?”
“Fine.” You repeated. 
“Oh ah… I wasn’t expecting you to say yes.” Ruggie flustered. You took a bit of joy in being the cause of someone else’s embarrassment today for once.
You pinched your nose as the awkward silence grew. At this point, you just wanted out of this closet.
Taking a step forward, you placed a palm on either side of Ruggie’s head and planted a kiss on his soft hair. As you removed a hand, you took the opportunity to stroke the base of his hyena ears, which caused him to lean into your touch ever so slightly.
Throat dry, eyes wide, Ruggie stared at you for a moment. 
With a heady swallow and a cough to clear his throat, he muttered a quiet ‘thank you for the luck’ and reached behind you, pushing a near-invisible hinge that re-opened the door that he had snapped you up from.
Grim, who was seconds away from burning the wall down to get you back out from the trap door, was very relieved.
After Ruggie’s devious detour, you felt incredibly relieved to see Jack waiting at the booth for visitors.
Eyes bright, Jack cutely put up his hands into claws and gave you and Grim an enthusiastic, “Happy Halloween!”
You were delighted to see how cool his costume looked on him and also incredibly relieved to spot a large bowl of candy on the stamp table. 
That got rid of one possible problem.
“Jack! You look so awesome!” You exclaimed, delighting in the way that your friend visibly puffed up at the compliment.
“You look great too, Prefect. You really should see Leona though, out of all of us he looks like he could be the real pirate.” Jack said modestly, clearly trying to change the subject rather than take the compliment. 
His bashfulness was always so cute for such a tough-looking guy.
Shuffling up to make pointed eye contact with the candy bowl, Grim hollered out his new favorite words:
“TRICK OR TREAT!” 
Jack's face split into a sweet smile, grabbing a handful of candy and dropping it into Grim’s bucket.
Grim was ecstatic upon seeing the haul and immediately sat down to begin cataloging his newly acquired loot like a crow with its collection of sparkly garbage.
Well, he did eat like garbage sometimes, you supposed.
“Prefect?” Jack called quietly, extending a candy you hadn’t seen before out to you in his palm.
“I saved this one for you. You mentioned how you liked the one I gave you before, so…”
Oh! That sparked a memory. Jack had shared a small sweet from the Sunset Savannah with you the other day, this must be another one of those.
Taking the piece of candy carefully in your hand and cradling it like a treasure, your heart felt a little warmth that Jack had remembered something you had said so off-handedly.
“Thank you. I brought you something too.” You said, handing him his cookie bag.
An emotion you couldn’t quite place flickered over Jack's face for a fraction of a moment.
“For me?” He asked, eyes darting back and forth between the cookies and your face. You couldn’t know what this means, right? He bit his lip. 
No, even other non-beastmen Twisted Wonderland inhabitants probably didn’t know. The tips of his fingers were tingling at the thought. 
Maybe he would have to tell you someday. 
What would you think if you knew?
Unluckily for Jack, you took his extended silence as displeasure.
“You like cookies, right? Um... if you don’t, I can also make you something else?” You offered, hand reaching to grab back the bag you had given him.
Jack shook his head so fast you were worried that he might get dizzy, protectively holding your cookies to his chest and then quickly stuffing them in a hidden pocket of his frock coat.
“I love yo-them. I love cookies.” He said affirmatively. 
You were curious just what he was about to say before he corrected himself, but if you knew anything about Jack it was that he was good at keeping his mouth shut when he was done talking.
“I’m glad.” You said with a laugh. “I’m sorry we both took so much time. I’m sure you have other people to help." Walking over to scoop the candy your buddy had laid out on the ground, you helped Grim to his feet.
"Grim, let’s get to the next place, okay?” You said, extending your hand to hold the paw of the feline.
Grim looked at you puzzled, and then over your shoulder at Jack meaningfully.
“You ain’t gonna kiss him too? Everyone keeps asking for you to kiss ‘em today…” Grim asked curiously, feigning innocence with the question. 
He knew exactly what he was doing though, as evidenced by the soft gasp that escaped Jack behind you and Grim’s innocent expression curled into a devious grin.
‘You little jerk’ you mouthed at him, before turning on your heel to look back at Jack.
He seemed exceedingly flustered, eyes wide in shock.
“You’re um… giving out..?” Jack couldn’t even get himself to finish his sentence.
“People keep either asking for or giving me kisses for some reason,” you say with an awkward laugh, “If you…”
“Yes! I mean-! I don’t want to be left out? No! Um…” Jack seemed deeply conflicted, switching between a volley of emotions between stammers.
It did seem like he wanted the kiss though. Well, you could do that much, right?
Slowly stepping closer to the handsome wolfman, you reach for his chin in hopes of coaxing him within kissing distance.
His skin is burning hot, and for a moment you thought he might not have been realizing what you were trying to do, his unfocused eyes scanning over your face. 
It seemed like the message got through to him after a moment though, as he hesitantly got his face close enough to yours to touch.
Leaning forward, you planted a kiss on the tip of his nose, quickly separating from him with a giggle.
Jack’s hand shot up to touch the spot your lips had brushed against, but you could swear that he had visibly brightened from the contact.
“What’s this I hear about you going around smooching the student body, herbivore? You lost a bet or something?” A familiar voice laughed from behind you.
Spinning around to see the sudden company you had gained, you spotted Leona casually leaning against a wooden beam. His white teeth were practically glistening with each sardonic laugh that escaped his perfect lips as he tilted his head curiously at you.
How did Leona always seem to find the exact time to show up in order to ruin the moment?
“What, are you jealous?” You counter, eyebrow raised and fists planting onto your hips. “Better ask fast if you want one, me and Grim were just about to leave.”
Leona was silent, staring off at something on the wall behind you rather than making eye contact. He seemed to be thinking uncharacteristically hard about something.
“Y’know… I was considering going sightseeing to scope out the competition. The ah… Stamp Rally competition, that is. Should I tag along with you? I do love seeing all the weird trouble you can stir up.” Leona said, his grin growing impossibly wider.
You weren’t sure exactly what Leona was expecting you to say when he had the whole conversation with himself just now.
To his credit, Leona seemed to have done a great job convincing himself of his proposal by the end of the last sentence, because his hand had made it around the crook of your elbow and was dragging you off of the ship.
“Jack, you’re in charge while I’m gone. Don’t let Ruggie sell off too many of the props, alright?”
“Aye, aye captain!”
You sighed. Here we go again.
“So where exactly were you goin’?” Leona drawled, his grip on your arm one degree away from discomfort.
“Diasomnia's booth. So, Ramshackle. I guess.” You replied, hoping that the prospect of seeing Leona’s least favorite fellow dorm leader might dissuade him from whatever this weird whim was.
“Ugh, really? Fine, but you owe me.”
“I didn’t ask you to come along, you know.”
“You didn’t have to. Not with you looking like a helpless sheep in the middle of my den of wolves. Keep that up and we’ll have a problem.” Leona groused, pulling you to walk faster.
“Ugh, I don’t get you.” You complained, shooting Leona a weak glare.
“That makes two of us, sheepy.”
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Leona is gonna get more time to shine next chapter, I just wanted an excuse for him to argue with Malleus, haha.
What do y'all wanna see happen? Any guesses?
Love you, reader!
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revletter · 3 months
Note
How does Geno sleep?
GASP. An inbox ask about something I already can't shut up about? AND an excuse to glow-up some more old art?! 🤩
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In my headcanon:
Badassery notwithstanding, Geno often just sleeps like a sweet little doll. It feels natural and comfortable - after all, long before he ever borrowed it, it spent almost every night sitting like this.
Also, lying down felt a bit too vulnerable for a while. Especially at the beginning of his adventure. In fact, he got a TERRIBLE first impression of anything resembling unconsciousness - so terrible that for his entire first week on the planet, he didn't sleep at all.
And then he discovered sleep is actually… lovely.
Here's a little bullet point story about that! 😊 [oops, it actually got pretty long, haha... hope you enjoy it!]
Geno Versus Sleep
During that first big fight, Bowyer sent a wall of electricity crashing toward ♡♪!? and the two people who had shown up out of the blue to fight by his side. Before it even hit, he knew it would be too much. He heard Mario's shout, Bowyer's mocking laugh, then dimly felt the impact of his borrowed form against the ground.
The next instant, he found himself alone in a blank, dark, starless void. This was new. And… not good. ♡♪!?'s mind was still very much aware, but he couldn't see, hear, feel, perceive anything. All he knew was that he was still in the doll's body.
Then a harrowing realization dawned on him. With almost all of his magic tethered to a body that wasn't working, he didn't have enough left to escape it…
[Continued under the cut]
Seconds later, there came a feeling almost as jarring: a sudden, wild, violent propulsion back into his senses. The first sense to return was a gaggingly sour taste. Then the unmistakable pain of his injuries knitting back together. Then a voice saying "Good morning! You okay?" - then the blurry sight of Mallow's face. Geno was just as disoriented as he had been when he'd first commandeered the doll.
He quickly learned this feeling was a Pick-Me-Up.
Cool.
He inwardly decided to avoid all of that mess involved in being less than conscious - at least when he had a choice in it.
His first full night on the planet, he kept watch all night long. And the second, and the third. Mario and Mallow became increasingly concerned, which Geno only found endearing. Patiently, repeatedly, he put them at ease about his lack of need for sleep.
(He did not mention any other reasons he might be avoiding it. These people had saved him and his mission; no way was he going to get picky about their methods. Besides, even the child could clearly handle these things without complaint. He resolved to do the same.)
He did, however, often feel a specific exhaustion: being low on magic left him dim inside, almost too depleted to maintain his hard-won motor control over his feet and fingers. On any normal day, the Star Road would restore him directly and abundantly, but now he felt this exhaustion more than he ever had. And it was work and expense to use physical consumables to keep himself going.
When he mentioned this inner conflict in passing - masked as appreciation for how much they spent on him - he was quite surprised to learn that for Mario and Mallow, sleep restored their magic. Intriguing.
Resolving to try and save his friends some resources, he finally decided to give sleep a shot on purpose.
Mario and Mallow were both amused to see Geno flop to the floor between their beds like a toy. After several days of watching the serious, otherworldly warrior wreck things ten times his size on the battlefield, it was easy to forget that part - but his limp doll slump against the wall was a clear reminder that his form was still every bit the silly oversized plaything.
"You sure you don't want to lie down?" asked Mallow.
"It's alright. I don't think it makes a difference to this body," said Geno. "Besides… if something happens, I can be on my feet faster."
In his own bed, Mario rolled onto his side toward him and offered a reassuring smile. "If anything happens, we're right here. We'll be in it together."
They turned out the lamp, and Geno tried to relax. He could do this. Piece of cake. He'd been here a week; he'd been able to tolerate feeling trapped in an unconscious body several times. If he had to face that for several hours in one go… well, he'd experienced worse things.
Hadn't he?
What? Yes, of course he had. Stars, what a silly thought. People down here did this every night. Surely he was blowing this way out of proportion. Surely it couldn't possibly be such a -
Geno felt something fluffy brush against him. It was Mallow's hand, wrapping around his. "S'gonna be okay," the kid said, sounding already half in a dream.
Of course. Mallow seemed to have a sixth sense for these things. Geno chuckled softly into the dark, feeling equal parts sheepish and glad for a friend like this. "That's what I'm here to make sure of, my little friend," he redirected anyway, but Mallow was already asleep.
On his other side, he heard his other friend shift. Mario looked quite awake, the shine of his eyes just visible in the starlight through the window. Mario didn't always pick up on Mallow's reactions and what they meant. Had he this time?
Confirming his suspicions, Mario quietly slipped out of his bed and sat next to Geno on the floor.
"Let me guess," Mario whispered conspiratorially, "where you're from, there's always someone alert and guarding, yeah?"
"Yeah," Geno whispered back. "It's what I do."
"Well, who does it for you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Up there, who guards you when you need it?"
Geno was quiet. Mario clearly didn't know his real source of trepidation, but… he'd never specifically considered this question. His unspoken answer was, of course, 'Still me.'
Mario seemed to take his silence as an answer. "Hey, you know what? I'll sit watch tonight."
Geno blinked. "Mario, you really don't have to do that."
"I'm gonna."
"But... you need nightly sleep."
Mario leaned closer to whisper in his ear. "Wanna know how little rest I got when it was just'a me and Mallow? And how much I've gotten for the past week with another actual adult around? It's like having my brother here, but you actually stay awake all night, like - I dunno, almost like you're some kinda star watching over us or something."
Mario's eyes were glistening with humor in the dark. Geno couldn't help a soft chuckle in return, and stopped trying to dissuade his determined friend from his new side mission.
"I can handle one all-nighter. Get some rest… stella dalla testa dura," Mario added under his breath as he got up, a good-natured tease he probably didn't realize Geno understood just fine.
Nice projection there, hard-headed human, Geno thought with affection as his friend sat in the same chair he would have chosen himself, the one next to the window and in full view of the door. He knew it was far from the first time Mario had done any of this… including the unnecessary and probably futile gesture of support at his own expense.
But he was surprised at how much it helped.
Before he even asked it to again, Geno felt his body relax. His eyes drifted closed; his head and shoulders drooped more deeply. The ever-present restlessness in his feet and fingers departed as he realized that, for tonight, he could at least withdraw from the most complicated joints and actually give himself a bit of a break.
Through the wood of his eyelids and chest, ♡♪!? could still see a dreamy, unfocused version of the room. He still had all of his senses. He could still feel Mallow's fluffy hand. The little guy had pulled Geno's entire forearm close to him in his sleep, as if his arm were a doll itself.
Some time later, he heard Mario softly snoring. Geno noticed that he was slumped backward in his chair, his neck at an angle even he recognized as uncomfortable. He sorted himself back into his body. As he got up, Mallow made a little sound and clutched his arm more tightly; Geno carefully detached it at the elbow.
By this point he knew that, if woken, Mario would only be embarrassed and more doggedly committed to staying awake. So instead, he tucked a pillow behind his friend's head, and covered him with his bed's left-behind blanket. Then he quietly sank to the floor next to Mallow again, plugging his arm back into his socket so the little guy wouldn't get a scare when he next awoke.
He relaxed his head and limbs again, letting the sounds of his sleeping companions soothe him, until… finally… he felt it. The magic of this world, barely perceptible. It was always there in the living things, the trees and flowers and mushrooms and people, so strong in his friends, and now it was slowly suffusing every part of him that he'd allowed to relax.
He knew that at its deepest root it was the same old, deep source of magic as that of the stars. But down here it was slower, gentler; less of a fiery focused precision, more of a flowing peace just out of sight.
Feeling at ease at last, he surrendered control, for the first time head to toe, purposefully, completely. The gentle flow of magic coursed like water through his cooling chest… pleasantly ran through the starlight fringe of his spirit like a caring hand through hair.
What a gift of an experience sleep is... he thought contentedly. Yes, I think I'll be able to handle this indeed.
Bonus headcanons:
With his action figure joints, Geno can technically lock his knees and sleep standing up like some kind of weird horse. He doesn't, though. That would freak people out.
At some point in their adventure, Geno somehow acquires the ability to snore. It sounds like creaking. Because it IS creaking. Geno somehow cannot hear himself do this, and genuinely thinks they're all making a joke he doesn't quite get. Finally, Mario, with his assortment of handyman skills that include carpentry, does the rest of the party a favor and gets some graphite and wax into Old Man Geno's joints.
The first time Princess Peach uses star magic (Come Back) to revive Geno, he's absolutely awestruck. He wonders if she has the slightest idea how much sheer potential she has. Here's a big long headcanon of mine about that, with some art!
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xerith-42 · 2 days
Text
Why Blaze is MyStreet's Most Failed Character
Blame the big bang discord for this post, I wasn't gonna write it until those fucks encouraged me.
Anyways here's an entire essay about why Blaze is the most wasted character in the entirety of MyStreet and I will literally fight Jessica and Jason Bravura with my bare hands.
To get us started on our harrowing tale of wasted potential and the best improviser Jessica ever hired, we need to go back a little. Back to Phoenix Drop High Season 2. We won't stay here long, I promise, I hate it more than you can possibly know. But the single saving grace of this absolute mess of a season is ya boi, Blaze. Introduced in the 18th episode of the season, airing on April 12, 2017, with the airing of Phoenix Drop High Season 2 Episode 18, Blaze was a character who started his brief tenure series with a bang!
Literally dude showed up and the first thing he ever did on screen as a character in a piece of media we can engage with is throw someone out of a window. We do not know this mans name yet and he's already left a lasting impression. Sure throwing people out of a window is common in werewolf culture, which I don't care what you say that's objectively funny, but it is bold to start a characters entire introduction with that. Blaze comes out of the gate swinging before he's said a single line.
And then after introducing himself he throws a dead bird at Aphmau to show off his hunting skills?? Okay so he's just that fucking weird and overly enthusiastic about things I guess! That's amazing! MyStreet always shines when it just lets it's characters be fucking weird without making a big deal out of it or talking them down for it. Dottie even says that it's romantic which is again just a great showing of Blaze's enthusiasm and lack of what might appear to be common social decorum because of said enthusiasm.
This is all punctuated and brought to a hilarious breaking point when Blaze's final showing of why he should be the new top dog at his school is when the crazy mother fucker rips his shirt off to literally flex about how he's one of the hottest guys in the school. And I'm going to be real with you, given Blaze's later characterization as a himbo, I'm pretty sure he doesn't actually care about this. He just says it because he thinks it'll boost his chances. Blaze is later shown to be a character willing to throw away his reputation for the things he cares about, but he does get a rather sincere moment with Aphmau, even if she's blushing the entire time.
It shows that Blaze is not only physically affectionate, but also weirdly comfortable with his shirt off. Because this is purely objective character analysis I will not be shoving my Blaze is autistic and has sensory problems with things touching his chest propaganda down your throats, but now that I've mentioned it once you won't stop thinking about it when this comes up.
The show admittedly fumbles the bag a little by having Blaze say in his internal monologue that he thinks Aphmau is cute and acts kind of like a tsundere, but this is Jesson writing so there's always bound to be a bit of That Shit. But in spite of that, Blaze is a character who has an instant impression that leaves a lot of room for comedy potential, and just good ol' fashion silliness. And while the werewolf plot of Season 2 is... bad, Blaze and the Werewolf Pups are stand out characters in the sense that their characterization leaves a lot of potential if they're in a different, better written story.
And even if the arc is bad, Blaze still is a quality part of it. His shallow but hilarious initial characterization gets built on in some really solid ways. Namely in how he acts as a force for good in Aphmau's life even if she doesn't realize or give him permission to do it. This entire season is about how the different men in Aphmau's life handle helping her in a crisis, and funnily enough, in a season centered around Aaron literally overthrowing Aphmau's new love interest, Blaze is the one who was consistently doing what was best for Aphmau.
Aaron fumbles the ball more than a few times, Ein is shown to be actively malicious, and Kai gets hate crimed. But Blaze, who's barely even a contender in this ship war, is constantly working to actually make things better while everyone else is pulling Aphmau away from what actively matters about her position. While Ein is manipulating her and Aaron is trying to prove that, Blaze throws caution to the wind and just does what he thinks is best to restore order.
But more important than that end conclusion is his true goal of standing up for Daniel. A wolf it is established he barely knew before this year, that Blaze is willing to throw his reputation and standing in a bull shit hierarchy because he's seeing how this hierarchy is hurting someone who doesn't deserve it. Blaze is the one who is baring his fangs and willing to throw hands when Daniel cowers away from bullies. By the end of the season Blaze has been given adequate screen time to not only show off his fun and maybe a tad out of touch side, but he's been given a real level of sincerity that's tied into the things he's enthusiastic about. He loves being a werewolf, and he extends that love to all the werewolves around him, until they start being dicks to other werewolves who are literally just sitting there.
At the center of Blaze is that inherent goofiness though. He's always cracking jokes, or the joke when he's on screen, and in a series that was originally pitched as a light hearted slice of life comedy in contrast to MCD's general misery, that sort of character is needed to keep the tone. Such is show in episode 22 when Blaze is reading a book on the Scientific Method to just learn more about science, but realizes the book is upside down.
But he actually understood it enough to properly apply the scientific method to this situation?? Iconic. It's played off as a joke of Blaze exploiting a loophole to get out of class, but even that's pretty smart honestly. Blaze may be a dumb ass but he's always willing to cheat an unfair system.
Episode 22 is basically a Blaze centric episode, which I did not expect, but now that I'm rewatching it for this post it might be the reason I love this character so dearly. It's not only the episode where Blaze manages to learn the Scientific Method upside down, but also stands up for Daniel in a really substantial way. Blaze is loud, enthusiastic, and strong, all traits that are celebrated by werewolf culture, and whether he realizes it or not, him just being around Daniel can do a lot to get bullies to back off. Everyone has seen Blaze toss a mother fucker through a window, they do not want to be on the receiving end of that.
He spends the rest of the episode trying to figure out what Ein's deal is when he hears that Ein went behind Aphmau's back on werewolf matters, landing Daniel in this situation. He hears Ein actively plotting against Daniel, but that is normal werewolf behavior. He concludes that he'll keep an eye on Ein. And this through line of "normal werewolf behavior" informs a lot of Blaze's decisions once he comes to the conclusion that Ein sucks and deserves to be undermined. He resorts to letting his actions speak louder than words and goes to violence after realizing that the wolves aren't listening to reason, they're listening to instinct.
He fights fire with fire, and while Aphmau might not approve, it's more effective than her soft rhetoric has been in getting people to be less of jackasses. This eventually lands him in hot water where he steps in for Daniel after Ein tries to get his goons to beat him up, and even if Blaze is fighting in a five v one, he still goes down swinging. And I'll say it, I think it's sweet that he calls Aaron after this happens. While it's clearly meant to be a thing of Blaze calling the last alpha because he's probably the only person who anyone will listen to, there's an important detail I think is easily overlooked.
He has Aaron's number.
He says he got it from the werewolf pups, but that means that Blaze went out of his way to make sure he could contact Aaron. He's the reason that Aaron even realizes Ein is playing all of them. Blaze is the catalyst for his undoing because unlike Aaron who's nearly imprisoned, heartbroken, and been hesitant to act in the plot as a result, Blaze doesn't actually care that much if Aphmau currently likes him because he's more worried about her physical and mental well being than whether she wants to kiss him or someone else.
How many Aphmau love interests can say that?
Can any of them say that?
Blaze can.
Blaze actually consistently shows a level of selflessness that's unfitting of how I've seen some people characterize him. He gives up his real chance to be Alpha because Daniel is so compassionate and earnest and genuinely deserves it. Blaze wants to believe in a future lead by people like Daniel and Aphmau where he might not have to keep fighting people to keep things sane. Blaze constantly gives up his pride, his power, his safety just to make sure that his friends are taken care of, or to effect real change in a school he's about to leave.
It wouldn't be long after Phoenix Drop High Season 2 ended that Blaze would make his debut in the main series My Street in the second episode of Season 5, airing only a few days after the end of Phoenix Drop High Season 2. Just like before he really shows up with a bang, literally throwing himself through the air between Lucinda and Kim just to catch a frisbee because Blaze is the most extra mother fucker ever, and then immediately proceeds to flirt with them. Iconic as ever. Short but sweet.
It's in episode 3 that it's revealed that Blaze and the werewolf pups kept Aaron company during his rehabilitation year. But from the way it's worded it sounds like Blaze was called in before anyone else by Aaron's parents. Based on the way they talked and actively planned together before, I wouldn't be surprised if Blaze was the first person who came to his mind when Aaron thought of a werewolf friend.
I think Aaron reached out to Blaze when he needed it.
And even though I've previously stated that I don't think Aaron's parents initially liked Blaze because by this era he's old enough to fully take on his persona as the cool stoner friend who's also a little insane in the most charming way possible, he has a good impact on Aaron. Aaron likes being around him, and maybe they smoke weed to help Aaron relieve some of the lasting pain when no one's looking.
Regardless of his methods, Blaze does an ultimate good in Aaron's life as a result of being there for him when he needed it. So much so that he was invited out to Starlight and is shown to be one of Aaron's main pillars of support. We are given scarcely little of this actual friendship, which is where the problem lies. While before Blaze was a surprisingly engaging part of an other wise terrible story, at least in season 5 the story is a lot slower and character focused. And Blaze can work in these moments, we saw him have real moments of sincerity before.
He gets some of it, but the issue is that Blaze isn't allowed to be alone anymore. The cast of MyStreet is huge, and Blaze is a character who is making his second major appearance, while some characters in the cast have been present since literally episode one. It's hard to justify giving him solo screen time when he's been in the series for such little time and we barely have enough time for certain significant characters to really have arcs (Lucinda). Most of Blaze's scenes are scenes with at least four other characters on screen, he's never allowed screen time without at least two other werewolf characters attached to him.
I don't object to Blaze hanging out with his friends, or even making new ones though out the season but... Would it kill the writers to let him have a scene with Aaron? Like. A single scene. Where it's just Blaze and Aaron. I mean just Blaze and Aaron without Aphmau there. They've done this before. They did it in the season Blaze showed up in. Just one scene where the two of them get to talk about literally anything would do so much. Even if they talk about Aphmau, it's better than nothing. It would strengthen both of their characters so much to be able to get a scene where they talk to each other not as conspirators who kinda know each other, but as real friends supporting one another.
Show that even though Blaze said Daniel was more compassionate than he was, Blaze still is a compassionate and even empathetic person. Show why Aaron was grateful to have him during his recovery. They have those scenes of Aaron at physical therapy, right? Why not have Blaze take him one time and just show how they interact then? The possibilities with this unrealized idea are endless, and that's genuinely upsetting. Opportunities like this present themselves every time Blaze makes an appearance, they even tease me by giving me scenes where Aaron is alone with a character he has little to no connection with, Maria.
Maria was a foil for Aphmau. And Ein was a foil for Aaron. And Blaze was a foil for Ein. There is no reason for Maria to really have a rapor that matters with Aaron. He doesn't really know her that well, she's clearly a friend by association, and it seems like an odd thing to focus on when Blaze is LITERALLY RIGHT THERE IN THE BACKGROUND OF THIS SCENE.
Why won't they let Blaze talk to Aaron? It's so infuriating. The closest we get is in episode 7 when Blaze attempts to calm down Aaron, but he's shown to be ineffective and it comes down to, of course, Aphmau being the one to talk him down. I swear to Hatsune the writers are making fun of me at this point. They're going "Oooooh you want Blaze to be an actually helpful and supportive figure in Aaron's life soooo bad." AND I DO!
I'm serious when I say the show is teasing me. I've been skimming through Season 5 and only watching the episodes when Blaze is on screen, and so far he has never been in a scene with less than 4 people in it. Never. And even in scenes where he gets to be at least a focal point, he's always limited because he has to share that moment in the spotlight with FOUR OTHER CHARACTERS.
Episode 14 is a great example of this. When the werewolf gang gets told they aren't allowed to eat at a restaurant because they're werewolves, Blaze makes it abundantly obvious that he's put up with this before and really doesn't feel like being hate crimed on his vacation. And he knows that actions speak louder than words and therefore joins Maria in saying they should "teach this establishment a lesson." Personally I think Blaze would've just thrown the manager through a window only to realize it's an outdoor establishment and throw him into the ocean. Which would be objectively funny and deserved because that owner was being cringe and racist.
I love the conversation that happens because it shows the unique way that Aaron sees things from passing as a human for most of his life. This has never happened, but he knows that further acts of violence as a result will only make it happen again. This is a great scene for Aaron. Not really good for Blaze, and the next scene makes him worse. I love the detail that Blaze is an instinctual person more than a planner, but it feels wrong that he doesn't even let Aaron consider planning. I know he wants Aaron to be more spontaneous but he should have more awareness of his friend and his habits and be able to accommodate it, not talk over it.
But it's Jesson, so misunderstanding even their simplest character is par for the course. At least episode 15 gives me Garroth and Blaze talking in the background, and I'm starved for good Blaze content, so I was eating this shit up. The problem with watching MyStreet this way is that Blaze... Just doesn't get a lot of moments... At all. There are some episodes where he doesn't even speak at all, and when he does get to talk in episodes, he gets a few lines in one giant ensemble scene.
I don't object to a show having an ensemble cast, or even a lot of characters with a few central ones, but it really is a detriment to the show that Aaron never gets a scene alone with any werewolf he isn't related to. Nana gets to talk to Blaze when she's having a crisis of her relationship history and experience, but it's just so Blaze can tell her the opposite of what she wants to hear. It's not a scene that feels like it was written for Blaze, because it wasn't. It was written for Nana.
And before some jack ass says it "Blaze is a side character he's not supposed to get a lot of focus" and I'm not asking for a lot. I watched every scene he's in in PDH to prove that it works
BECAUSE IT DID.
Blaze showed up officially in episode 18 out of 30, and he wasn't in every episode after his introduction. But the writers gave him a solid introduction, one good episode that spent most of its run time with him, and really good moments throughout the rest of his time in the series. All I'm asking is that Season 5 at least give me one of those things. Either a good episode where he and his relationship with Aaron is brought into focus, even if it's used as a vector to study Aaron's character, or just more sincere moments for him.
It feels like Blaze is a joke character now when he previously made it very clear he's far more than that.
And then they just forget about him. During the first part of the 3 part finale Blaze is there. He's the one who got everyone to gather at the docks because an mf wants to eat some scrumptious food. But when Aaron sees Ein and starts freaking out, Blaze is literally just not in the scene. At all. Not even as like a throwaway of someone who could've helped but failed, he just is not in the scene at all. It legitimately feels like the writers forgot about him entirely.
Blaze the minute the plot shows up:
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He's there after Garroth gets turned and was apparently at Garroth's bedside trying to calm him down which I will be thinking about. A lot. I'll be thinking about how we deserved to see or at least hear some of it, about how the writers continue to tease me with an interesting scene that involves my favorite little fucker, about how heartbreaking it would have been to see Blaze and Melissa try to calm Garroth only for him to scream in pain and try to push them away only to reveal that Zane and Nana are able to hear the entire ordeal downstairs and Zane is panicking when he hears his brother screaming in pain. Just thinking about what we could've had if the writers actually cared about any of these characters.
And then after that he dies.
I'm not watching any of When Angels Fall because I know what's good for my health. I know what happens in Season 6 Episode 9 and that's all I need to know. It doesn't matter if the writers may have finally given Blaze an emotional scene, it doesn't matter if they finally gave him even a hint of character development, it doesn't matter if he made a connection in a real way. Because no matter what he did the result is the same. No matter what quality the writers might've pulled out of their ass, it would ultimately be in service of one end. From the start of this season these writers knew what they wanted to do. They wanted to up the stakes and add more drama to the show, and they wanted to do it by killing Blaze.
And I think I know why.
This is 100% a limited view, but I was on Aphmau Instagram at the time that this season was airing. And I ran a Blaze fan account. I talked to a lot of MyStreet fans during this time and I was constantly upset and disappointed that people didn't understand Blaze's character, or just didn't appreciate it as much as I do. Most people liked Blaze on a very surface level, or because he was attached to another character they liked. I found very few people who genuinely cared about him as an individual, probably because Blaze stopped getting scenes alone by the end of PDH, and because the Aphmau fandom (at the time) had more of a focus on shipping than character work and quality. Blaze was easily shippable with a number of characters, canonically shipped with Dottie a little, and had enough characterization that people cared about him, but not enough to get a large dedicated fanbase.
He was the perfect one to kill.
Enough people liked him because he was hard to hate, he was stapled onto Aaron's character with little regard for a story of his own, and his death could be eventually inconsequential. And it was! Blaze's method of dying is so bad it makes me physically angry!
I know the whole story for the last few seasons has been all about Forever Potions and turning people against each other, but just mind controlling Blaze and having him die while under mind control is such such a missed opportunity. There's been a disappointing lack of proper Aaron and Blaze friendship content, but they could have made up for it in this scene with just a few tweaks. Just have Blaze not be mind controlled at the end. He can still go on that rant about Aaron being the cause of all the bad that's happened, but then the words start to become... disjointed. Jilted. As if Blaze is struggling to say them because he knows that they're wrong. Aaron's his friend, there's no way he'd say that about him.
Have it break.
Have him look at his friend in a worse state than he's ever been in, and instead of approaching him with intent to harm, it's intent to heal. A final attempt at getting through to Aaron. And like the times before, it doesn't work. Aaron's angrier than ever and he isn't seeing or thinking straight thanks to Ein's bull shit. All he can see is an enemy in his way. Maybe he sees Blaze's eyes but Blaze's green eye is still Emerald Green, even if the control broke for a moment. Whatever reason, Aaron still attacks.
He doesn't realize that Blaze wasn't trying to hurt him until it's too late. Aaron's anger already ruined a friend's life, it already pulled all of them into the hell they're in, and now it's killed one of his best friends.
ONE CHANGE. THAT'S ALL IT TOOK. ONE SINGLE CHANGE TO MAKE BLAZE'S DEATH ACTUALLY MEAN SOMETHING.
Ideally I'd like it Blaze just didn't die at all, least of all before the finale, but if you're going to kill him off unceremoniously at least make it have some emotional weight. You've been neglecting him for an entire season and now you just kill him off? Just like that? Oh he gets to show up in heaven? How nice. Is it a scene where he gets to express regrets, remorse, or even give any insight into his feelings?
Of course it fucking isn't! Are you kidding me, that's not even close to what happens. I said i wouldn't watch When Angels Fall but
I LIED!!
I watched Blaze's death scene and his scene in heaven to make sure I knew well and good how badly they failed to kill off my favorite character! And man, the scene in heaven is just the worst! Blaze does a genuinely kind thing for Aphmau and decides to stay with her when she's alone because he doesn't want her to hurt. He saw how much pain Aaron was in without her. He just wants to fucking help her.
But Aphmau's too self absorbed to realize that and instead goes on a whole rant about how she always needs other people to take care of or protect her and how everyone else would be better off yadda yadda. What she doesn't realize and what Blaze eventually gets to tell her is that people were around her and took care of her because they just wanted to. Because she was nice to be around. And they never expected anything else, and never saw her as a burden.
And that's actually a really nice moment. Sort of. There's two major problems. First, Blaze gets cut off from telling Aphmau this at first because Irene has to go on a whole rant about Aphmau being selfish. And she is right in everything that she says, but it feels weird for Irene, who literally doesn't know her, to be making this judgement. This scene should have been Irene observing a conversation between Blaze and Aphmau were Blaze just tries to make her feel better.
And that would hopefully solve problem number two. Which is that what Blaze says is very genuine and heartfelt, but severely handicapped by the fact that he and Aphmau were only friends for a short period of time in High School, and an equally short period of time within the last few months. What Blaze says about why he likes being around her is true, but it would have a lot more weight if there was a chance for Blaze to have been around her as a friend more.
Fuck it, if you need Blaze to be on screen with at least two other characters, why was there never a scene of Blaze, Aaron and Aphmau just talking? Would a single scene of that fucking killed you? Just one scene would have made their friendships a lot more solid and therefore heartbreaking to lose when it gets torn apart.
Third problem, the scene ends with a focus on Irene. Blaze's words echo in her ears, and remind her of her friends. And I like that idea because I'm an absolute sucker for MCD, but it takes the scene away from the focus. This should be a scene about one of Aphmau's friends encouraging her to not give up even if it all seems lost. At least don't let her death be in vain by saying such awful things about her friends while they may be grieving. But Irene is brought into focus again because the show isn't about Blaze, or Aphmau apparently, I guess her Aphmau Main Character Powers overrides Aphmau's. She has more experience with them.
Blaze and Aphmau's very heartfelt dialogue is brought down by the fact that these two characters lives didn't intersect very directly out of high school. Through the course of Season 5 I never got the idea that Blaze was Aphmau's friend. Not to say they weren't friendly, I think Blaze adored her just as much as he did in high school, but as a viewer I was never shown that they cared particularly for one another. I believe that Blaze sincerely cared about her even after all this time, but that's not because of anything the writers did with him in these seasons. It's just because that's the kind of person Blaze is.
But their friendship not being strong really weakens the scene. This is a scene that I know for a fact worked as intended when I watched it as it was coming out. I was an overemotional mess of a 15 year old who hated how this series was going but kept watching it because it was almost over and I might as well get it done with. It pulled on my heartstrings and they sang and I cried. I cried a lot. This scene made me incredibly emotional, and it still got to me as an adult, but the devil is in the details.
Blaze and his arc might work on the surface. They work if you don't pay that close of attention to it. They work if you care more about the characters he's constantly around more than Blaze. And when I first watched Seasons 5&6, I still had a very deep attachment to a lot of these characters, especially Melissa, who he shares a lot of scenes with. So I felt... satisfied? I would've liked more, but I probably wouldn't have complained about what I got (his death scene not withstanding I always thought that was bad).
My my, how the times have changed.
If it wasn't obvious from the four thousand or so words you just read, Blaze is a rather unique case of these writers failing as writers. A rather unique case where the perfect character to fix a lot of problems with their show practically jumped up in the air waving his arms around and they still brushed past him to focus on a predetermined story he was shoved into. I don't think the writers ever really had a plan for where Blaze would go or what he would do.
A lot of Blaze's best character moments are when he isn't being written by Jesson. The reason I love the minigames so much is because there, Blaze's incredibly talented voice actor Jason Lord is actually really funny and pretty good at improv. Obviously some bits of the mini games are scripted, but a lot of them are just seeing how much voice actors can get into their characters, which he's fantastic at. A lot of Blaze's funniest moments come from this too, which is great when the writers turn him into a comedy character but the characters voice actor is funnier than they both are and is only a funny character when they don't have direct control of him. Lord is able to bring life to a character who may have been lacking it due to the simultaneously focused and unfocused way the series was written.
Blaze is proof of what happens when writers don't bother to develop their characters beyond the outline. The draft notes for PDH Season 2 said "there's going to be a wolf character who tries to become Alpha and instead stands up for Daniel when he's bullied." and then Blaze was born. The writers gave him some characterization as a treat to make the story work better, and then were done with it then and there. We fleshed him out enough, good character, time to put him in season 5 so people stop criticizing us for not giving Aaron enough friends.
But the problem wasn't a lack of quantity in friends, it was a lack of quality. It was a lack of scenes that let Aaron interact with other characters without Aphmau present. It was a lack of characters to point to that were real emotional connections Aaron had that weren't his last minute family or his girlfriend. It was a lack of attention given to the few characters that could've filled that role. Dante almost filled it in season 2, and Aaron and Garroth could have arguably become closer after everything in season 4, but at that point Aaron's entire arc became centered around Aphmau.
It was the fact that Blaze was one of the few people who ever directly reached out to Aaron and then was never given a scene alone again. It was because the writers wrote too many characters, tried to give the series a more direct focus, and then failed to account for the characters that were dragged along even if they didn't necessarily know what to do with them.
So when Season 6 came around and they decided to make the show super serious no really stop laughing, they needed characters to kill off to up the stakes. It's not like Blaze's character was going anywhere. It's not like they had a plan for him. Nothing was really being lost.
It's not like Blaze was one of the most sincere and dedicated characters in the series. It's not like he had one of the biggest potentials in regards to his relationship with Aphmau or Aaron. It's not like there was time spent proving that he could be a solid pillar of support in both of their lives even under dire circumstances. It's not like he was set up that way through individual scenes where he got to talk to each of them on a personal level. That definitely didn't happen.
TLDR: MyStreet peaked at season 2 and they fumbled the bag with the best chance to make it peak even higher and I'm forever bitter about it. Now get out of my house.
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lemon-natalia · 13 days
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Gideon the Ninth Reaction - Chapter 32
ok i was joking about the whole picking the lock thing but they’re actually doing it wow. i can foresee absolutely no way breaking the one rule you were given could possibly go wrong 
oh now they’re doing the whole mind melding thing with Palamedes and Harrow. good thing he doesn’t have aphantasia i guess
‘that’s what she said’ Gideon is making shitty puns again, all is right with the world
each place they’ve uncovered, the facility then the study, now the tower seems to have been more and more in disarray and left in more of a hurry each time.
wait the skeletons are revenants?!? and of course, Harrow literally mentioned ages back about how impressed she was by them and that she couldn’t copy them. 
not ghosts, not skeletons, but a secret third thing (ghost skeletons)
‘five hundred into fifty’ …no idea what that's about, but i do notice that the note says ‘Ask E.J.G’ - could the G stand for the Gideon mentioned on the piece of paper in the study?
oh and creepy old photo contains a picture of a young Teacher! this just got very The Shining 
wait they’re all revenants?! including Teacher!! holy crap, i know i joked about him being an imposter but i did not see that coming
at least the fire alarm gave them enough time to exposit about revenants and find Teacher’s creepy photo before going off. i guess all the skeletons stopped working as soon as they opened the door then
rip salt and pepper priest not only were you never named you were dead all along. also Teacher said he had to go lock a door… that’s ominous as fuck
i feel very bad about leaving Dulcinea alone rn but it’s not like they have any other choice 
the Second thought Teacher was the killer, attacked him, so Teacher killed the Second House with inhuman strength?!?! holy crap. i really thought he was a sweet old guy this whole time 😭😭
wow Harrow your bedside manner to the dying is just oh-so-comforting 
and Teacher provides one last cryptic, unhelpful message that the Emperor is coming!! well he’s not going to be much of a non-entity now. this whole chapter was just insane from start to finish
‘nobody should ever have to watch their cavalier die’ what with this and the end of the last chapter where Harrow asked Gideon to outlast her … i am desperately hoping this is not more ominous foreshadowing 🙃
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feyhunter78 · 1 year
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Hey it’s me El! I have an apprentice one shot for Aemond. The reader is the apprentice painter who paints the portraits for them. The reader just finds Aemond to be a masterpiece and paints them all day in the too they were given. Aemond gets the wrong impression of them looking at him constantly and goes into their room when they aren’t there but finds their paintings of him. She walks in and explains saying she thinks he’s her muse and he’s beautiful. He gets flustered and doesn’t know what to do. Awkward flirting happens cause she hasn’t done everyone’s paintings yet. He visits her while she’s doing aegons and he teases the two of them saying of just kiss or fuck and get it over with! And stuff like that. They get awkward but later aemond kisses her and they agree to court
This is super cuteeee, and I decided to go soft with this one!!! To give everyone a break from the smut XD
The Painter and her Muse
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Aemond didn’t understand why the court painter’s apprentice kept staring at him. His portrait was one of the first to be finished, mainly because he was the only one that could sit still for that long. But no matter what, if she and him were in the same room together he would always catch her staring at him, almost observing him.
At first, he wondered if perhaps she was an assassin. Then she tripped on the edge of the rug and dropped all her paintbrushes, not managing to catch a single one. So, he ruled that theory out quite quickly.
He soon came to the conclusion that she found him revolting, and could not stop herself from gazing upon the horror that was his disfigured face. After he caught her watching him outside in the garden, her eyes trailing over his form, he’d had enough.
He stormed into the painting studio, ready for a fight.
“Lady y/n, you must cease your staring, it is an insult. If you wish to gawk at the misfortune of others, I suggest the depth of the Fleabottom.”
Instead of a stammering, frightened woman, he finds canvas after canvas of his face staring back at him.
He walks around the room slowly, admiring the time and detail put into each one.
The door swings open, and he hears a shocked, “my prince?”
You’ve walked in on your worst nightmare. Prince Aemond, in the painting studio, looking at the portraits you painted of him, without his knowledge. “I—I can explain.” You stuttered out, rushing to pull the drapes over the paintings.
Aemond grabs your elbow. “Explain then.”
You keep your eyes on the floor as you begin. “You have inspired me, your beauty has breathed new life into my art, I know I should have asked, but I could not waste this burst of inspiration.”
Aemond tilted your chin up with one bent finger. “Are you implying that I am your…muse?”
You forced yourself to meet his eyes. “Yes, my prince. I am so sorry, if I’ve offended you, I will cease at once.”
Aemond’s good eye narrowed for a moment before he released you. “No, I am flattered actually, you have done a wonderful job of capturing my likeness.”
You smile brightly at him. “Truly? I worried that perhaps I had not captured the sharpness of your cheekbones well enough.”
Aemond looked at the nearest painting, it was one of him reading in the library, a calm and contented expression on his face. “They look quite sharp to me.”
You were beaming, and he had a hard time keeping his own smile from emerging.
“And then I told her, she could keep the tunic if she wanted it so badly, but I wanted an extra round in return. She got angry and kicked me out of the brothel, I was not even able to retrieve my tunic.” Aegon groaned, recounting you with his latest adventures.
You giggled as you continued painting. Aegon was your third to last portrait after him, you needed to paint ones of his children.
“That sounds quite harrowing, my prince.” You said, leaning to the side to glance at him again.
“Brother—oh, and Lady y/n.” Aemond’s voice filled the room and you turned instantly.
“Yes, Aemond?” Aegon said, taking this chance to stretch his arms.
“I came to ask you when the twins will have their portraits done. Mother wishes to get them new garments beforehand.”
Aegon tilted his head towards you. “Ask the painter.”
Aemond looked to you.
“The children’s portraits will be done after I finish Prince Aegon’s.” You told him.
“Hear that? Now leave, you are distracting her from her work.” Aegon said, as he resumed the position they’d agreed on.
Aemond stepped closer to you, admiring your work. “For having such a difficult subject, you have managed to create something quite magnificent.”
“I love you too, Aemond.” Aegon called, sticking his tongue out at him.
“The prince is not ugly, so it was not difficult.” You said.
Aegon let out a victorious laugh. “Perhaps she can paint you with both eyes. We’ll send that out and lure a bride here with it.”
You felt Aemond stiffen behind you.
“I think Prince Aemond is already very handsome with one eye, if he had two we might all die from the radiance of his beauty.” You said without thinking, cheeks heating up as the words slipped out.
“That’s very kind Lady y/n, especially from someone so beautiful herself.”
Aegon groaned. “Just fuck already, I do not wish to hear this drivel.”
You stepped away from Aemond, and he did the same. “My—my prince, it is not like that, I can assure you.” You said quickly, already fearing that rumors would spread. This was the death sentence of any court painter. Once you have been accused of an affair, your career was over.
“Aegon that is not the language to use in front of a lady.” Aemond chastised.
“So you do wish to fuck her?” Aegon prodded.
“No, because I am a man of honor who is able to curb his desires, unlike you.” Aemond shot back.
You didn’t let the thought of he did not say he would not bed you if honor was not an obstacle, linger in your mind. “Prince Aegon, please cease talking, I must finish this painting, and you move your whole body when you speak.”
Aegon did as you asked, but shot Aemond one more teasing look.
“I will leave you to your work then.” Aemond said, before leaving the room.
You bid him goodbye, and continued painting, your stomach in knots.
Later, you rushed to your door to answer the frantic knocking. Swinging it open, you took a step back in surprise to see Aemond standing before you.
“Prince Aemond?” You asked.
Aemond said nothing, his eye roaming your face.
“Is everything alright?” You tried again, hand still on the doorknob.
In a swift motion, Aemond bent down, cupped your face and kissed you. It was a staggering kiss, all your thoughts derailed as your senses focused in on him. Your hand gripped his tunic, using it and the door for support when he pulled away and brushed the pad of his thumb along your bottom lips.
“There are no rules that say a muse cannot kiss his artist, are there?”
You shook your head, stunned.
He chuckled and released your chin. “I wish to court you.”
“Okay…” You said, still returning to reality, the smell of parchment and leather still overwhelming your senses.
“Unless that is not your wish?” He asked hesitantly.
That brought you back into your body. “No, no, it is my wish, I would be honored if you were to court me. I would…very much like that.”
Aemond gave you one of his rare, true smiles. “Then I shall come collect you after breakfast?”
“That would be nice.” You said, still gripping his tunic.
“I shall see you then.” He said, as he gently unfurled your fingers and pressed a kiss to each one before he disappeared into the shadows. Leaving you standing there breathless and giddy.
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