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cybersvoid · 2 years

Text

❥ Cursed

──⇌••⇋──

♡ Pairings: Shigaraki x Reader

Summary: You've always thought you had a curse that has followed you since your mother's death, never able to make friends your own age due to the tight hold your father has on you until you meet a prince who is also cursed, but with a more literal one than your own. Everything he touches turns to dust, except for you. The little girl who shares a similar pain in her heart to his own. He quickly develops an attachment to you. An almost unhealthy obsession with the one thing in this world he can hold with his own two hands.

CW: Royal AU, Prince Shigaraki, Abuse, Mentions of Death, Flogging (your dads a dick), Neglect, etc.

──⇌••⇋──

“Y/N, straighten your posture.”

“Yes, father. I’m sorry.” You directed your attention away from the window and sat up a bit straighter. You just couldn’t help yourself. You have never seen a building so big before in your entire life. Captivated by its many windows and beauty, but still, not wanting to upset your father, you tore your eyes away and settled them on the carriage floor. You could feel your nannies look of pity, but more prominent than that was your father’s glare piercing through your soul.

“Do I need to remind you of the rules while we’re here?” His voice was stern, it always was. Ever since you were young he’s always been hard on you. You had figured it was due to your mother’s passing. You never met her before, only seeing a photograph of her once when you were playing in the basement. You had never seen your father smile before, but in that picture, he had a grin from ear to ear, with eyes so bright and full of… happiness. You wanted so desperately to see that smile for yourself, so with your child naivety getting the better of you, you brought the picture to him asking about your mother, hoping he would offer any sort of praise. Hoping that he would smile. But he didn’t. You were severely scolded for snooping and had ended up bedridden until your injuries had fully healed. You never asked about your mother or went into that basement again.

“No father, I know the rules. I’ll behave. I promise.”

“Words mean nothing if they are not followed by actions. The king is a very important man. Do not disappoint me.”

“... Yes, father.”

The rest of the carriage ride passed in an uncomfortable silence between the two of you. Neither of you said a word as you arrived at your destination. Your father being the first one out, he didn’t even bother to lend you a hand as you stepped out onto the steps, instead, the driver took his place, but this was something you were used to by now.

“My lady.” He bowed, helping you onto the pavement in front of the grandiose building that was somehow even more magical from up close. You bowed at the kind man helping you, too afraid to speak up for fear of saying something out of place, trailing behind your father as your nanny, Emi, followed close by.

Her presence made you feel at ease. It always had ever since you first met her around the age of five. She was like the mother you never had growing up and was as close as you could get to the motherly love that all the other kids had. You were a bit of a sickly child, always swaying in and out of health, but luckily Emi was always there to make you a little less miserable. Or as much as the duke would allow her to without it being labeled as spoiling you. She was in charge of your homeschooling, as well as extracurricular activities within the mansion, and had been a beacon of light in your dreary life. Since most of your time is spent indoors, she’s also the closest you could get to having an actual friend, despite the age difference. Even though she’s only been in your life for a couple of years now, she was a well-needed addition.

Emi remained outside as you entered a room with your father where the king was awaiting your arrival, standing tall with an intimidating aura that nearly had you shaking where you stood. But regardless of your personal feelings, you had no choice other than to keep your composure, grabbing the ends of your dress and offering a quick curtsey as you and your father spoke your greetings at the same time.

“Greetings to our sun, his majesty”

“My dear duke, why she is a beauty just like her mother. What a spitting image,” the king spoke, with a voice that left chills down your back. He gracefully made his way over, grabbing your cheeks and tilting your head from side to side as if inspecting a piece of jewelry he just bought.

The mention of your late mother left a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach, scared by how your father might react to his words. Knowing that she’s a sensitive topic for him. But to your surprise, he didn’t even flinch, simply agreeing as the king continued. “Is she of marrying age yet?” He continued to talk as if you didn’t have a voice of your own. Directing every question to your father rather than to you.

“No, she’s only seven.”

“Ahh, I see. That is very interesting,” he smirked. Dropping his grip on your face and turning his attention fully onto your father. “Shall we get down to business, old friend? You can send the child out. My curiosity has been quenched for the time being.” Your father nodded, not saying a word to you, simply giving you a look that told you to leave.

“Then, please excuse me, your majesty,” you bowed. Already placing your hand on the doorknob before he decided to speak up again. Finally communicating with you directly for the first time today instead of through your father.

“Feel free to explore the garden. I have some little ones myself and they tend to favor it in comparison to the rest of the castle. Lots of room to play.”

“Thank you, your majesty. I think I’ll do just that.” You grinned, trying to compose your excitement. You didn’t get a good view from inside the carriage so you were thrilled you were going to get to experience the blossoming flowers first hand.

“It’s so beautiful!” You grinned, as Emi chuckled behind you, “I wish I could explore all of it.”

“Hmm, well my lady, if you wish to explore the entire garden. What about a game of hide and seek?”

On paper that sounded delightful, but you weren’t sure it was the best idea considering you had no clue of when your father’s meeting would be over. You really didn’t want to upset him. Possibly sensing your hesitation, Emi did her best to ease your nerves. “It’ll just be a quick game. I’ll count to sixty, and then I’ll go find you. We’ll come up with a word, that way if your father comes looking for you, I’ll call it, and you’ll know to come out. Does that sound fair?”

You frantically nodded your head, “Okay, what’s our word?”

“Well, how about daisy?”

“Okay, daisy it is!”

Right as she turned her back and started counting, you immediately ran off as fast you could. Your small legs carried you around corners as you frantically looked for somewhere to hide. In your haste, you ended up in a deeper area of the garden than you meant to go. Having found yourself surrounded by various unidentifiable trees and plants. You were sure that even if Emi did shout, you probably wouldn't be able to hear her from where you were. It just seemed like no matter which way you turned, you just ended up more lost until you finally saw someone you hadn’t noticed before. A small boy, hunched over on the ground looking down at something in front of him.

“Oh, hello?” You question curiously, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know anyone else would be here.” The boy whipped his head around, at the sound of your voice, obviously as taken back by your presence as you were by his. He was giving you a weird look. Making you feel like you were somewhere you shouldn’t be and causing your nerves to spike. The last thing you wanted was for your incompetence to cause any trouble for your father. “Um, I’m sorry, I didn-”

“You already said that.”

“...I’m sorry.” He sent you a glare. His red eyes transmitted a slight annoyance that had you biting your tongue to prevent any more apologies from slipping out. The boy’s hair was a bit wild, despite his expensive clothes. He must be one of the king’s kids you thought. Leaving you wanting to groan in frustration. You just spoke informally to, and annoyed one of the king’s children, so, desperate to save your appearance, you quickly bowed your head and tried to compose yourself. “Please, your highness. I’ll excuse myself. I really didn-”

“Enough! Raise your head, that’s even more annoying than the apologizing.” He grumbles, turning his attention back to whatever was in front of him. You weren’t sure what he was doing, but he was surrounded by a pile of what looked like ashes, only it didn’t smell smokey, so you assumed that maybe it was sand.

Since you never went out much, you don’t know much about the king’s firstborn. Other than the rumors that you’ve heard the maids in your own home say, which is that he’s a bit antisocial. He’s never gone to a royal event, despite being next in line for the throne, but maybe he was shy. Maybe he needed a friend just like you.

“What are you doing?” You questioned curiously while walking a bit closer from behind him.

“The only thing I know how to do.”

You didn’t know what he meant by that. You had no idea that when the boy said ‘the only thing I know how to do,’ he meant to destroy. This was a common hobby of his, going into the garden and decaying trees, stones, and leaves that he deemed a nuisance to keep around. How would you have any way of knowing that was what he meant. All you wanted was to grow closer to the young boy, so you foolishly asked, “Can I help?” Only seeming to annoy him further.

“No, why won’t you just go away? I don’t need the help of some ignorant girl who doesn’t know anything.” He shouted, standing from his crouched position and turning to face you.

“I'm not ignorant. I'm not useless, and I can help." You countered, the boy's bad attitude wearing thin on your patience. You hated being talked down to. You had to deal with it every day from your father. You just had to deal with it from the king, but you refuse to let this little boy treat you the same. So you approached him despite his refusal.

“Get away from me! Don’t you know I’m cursed,” he cried out, his emotions boiling over as his hands grabbed your shoulders and pushed you back. Caught off guard and unable to catch your balance in time, you stumbled onto the ground with a thud. He waited, waited for you to disappear into a pile of dust like everyone else before you. But you didn’t. You sat there on the ground completely stunned, and instead of disappearing, you cried, as the young prince stood above you, his gaze shifting back and forth between you and his hand.

“Sometimes…” You began, taking a deep breath in an attempt to compose yourself and stop the tears from flowing. They were less from the pain in your palms, and more from your heart. The idea of possibly making a friend was just shattered to pieces the second he shoved you away, and it hurt more than you thought. “Sometimes, I think I’m cursed too. Because no one ever wants anything to do with me. They all blame me for my mother’s death. They ignore me and act as if I’m nothing. As if I killed her on purpose, but I didn’t! Sometimes I wish I was never born, I think everyone would be a lot happier then. I’ve never even had so much as a friend my own age. That’s why I thought… Well, I was hoping that maybe…” At this point, you couldn’t stop the flow of tears from your eyes, not even able to finish your sentence.

You weren’t even sure where that all came from. You had been keeping it inside for so long, and you guess seeing someone with the same look in your eyes as yourself made you feel not so alone. Maybe that’s why you wanted to be his friend so desperately. Maybe that’s why when he rejected you, you felt so crushed. The little hope you had crumbled almost as soon as it formed, leaving you even more broken than before. And as you continued to sit there crying, attempting to pull yourself together, Shigaraki’s body began moving closer without him even realizing it himself. His hands once again came to make contact with your skin, but this time much more gently, using his palms to wipe your tears away. His hands were cold, but against your heated skin, it actually felt nice.

Shigaraki couldn’t believe it, somehow, you were immune to his curse. His touch did absolutely nothing to you. He’s never been able to touch anyone or anything before without his gloves on. They were a gift from his father, he had some of the most powerful mages in the entire kingdom work together to design them. They only allowed him to grab and hold, but not feel. You, however, he could feel. He could feel the hot tears from your cheeks against the palm of his hands. He could feel your soft skin underneath his fingers. It was quite literally like nothing he has ever felt before.

Here he was, holding your face in his bare hands and you remained completely unharmed. Not only were you immune, but you also held the same pain in your heart that is so similar to his own. He can’t help but feel a bit empathetic to your grief, an emotion he thought he grew numb to a long time ago. Everything you just described was something that he too had felt at one point or another, and it made him feel almost connected to you. Like you were meant to find him, and he was meant to find you. He too lost his mother at a young age due to his curse. His father soon after, but his uncle took him in and raised him as his own. He taught him that this power could be used as a blessing instead of a curse, to destroy those who looked down on him and strengthen himself to soon take over the kingdom.

“Are you hurt?” He questioned, guiltily offering you a hand to help you off the ground which you cautiously accepted. You shook your head, but he still looked you up and down just to make sure. “I lost my mother too,” he admitted, gripping your hand at the memory of when his curse first developed, “I know how it feels, so… so I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you either I’m just not used to people getting so close to me. Can we just start over?”

You felt your sadness slowly start to disappear as he revealed more about his reasoning. Maybe you did come on a bit strong in your eagerness, but as long as you both put it behind you would be happy to start over. “Okay,” you smiled, offering a slight bow, “Greetings your highness, my name is Y/N.

“My name is Tomura Shigaraki, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The two of you talked for a bit after that, and you found out he was nine, only two years older than yourself, but despite the age difference, you both had a lot in common. You were both homeschooled and alone without a friend, Shigaraki explained that despite growing up with siblings that he often felt disconnected from them since they didn’t share much in common and any of the family rarely connected, and after chatting for what felt like hours, he even helped you find your way out of the garden, but not before having you promise that you would return.

“Come back soon.” He stated, but it came off as more of a command, before guiding you to the entrance where a frantic-looking Emi was searching for you. When she spotted you, Shigaraki was already gone.

“My lady! I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Your father… he came back an-”

Emi’s rant slowly started to fade as it reached your ears. You figured you would be in trouble, it was only a matter of how much. When you both walked over to your father who was waiting by the carriage, he said nothing leaving you to ride in silence. He would never discipline you outside of the home. Leaving your anxiety to grow until you arrived, but you tried not to focus on that. Instead opting to keep your thoughts fixated on your new friend. But you could only ride in the carriage for so long until it reached your destination, and you were left with nothing but your father’s wrath.

“You’ve embarrassed me!” He growled, tossing you onto the floor of his office, “You disappear and keep me waiting for far too long, all because of some petty childish game?” You say nothing. You know that when he gets like this it’s better to just stay quiet and take your punishment. It gets it over with quicker and with fewer lashings than if you argue. “Fifteen minutes. You left me waiting for fifteen minutes! So one hit for every minute, does that sound fair?”

You nod.

“Then get my rod and stand on your stool. I’ll be kind today since I’m in a good mood from my meeting, so I’ll do your back today instead of your feet or thighs.” He stated before he began rolling up his sleeves, as you ran to his drawer to get his rod, repeating to yourself that it was going to be okay.

Once you found the rod, you handed it off to your father and stood on top of your step stool, trying your best to calm your nerves. It was going to be okay. Today was a good day. You made a friend. Your very first friend, and nothing would ruin that for you. This will be over fast.

“Count off, or I’ll start all over again.”

“... Yes, father.”

—

Your back stung as Emi gently rubbed ointment on the cuts surrounding your back, the new markings covering up a bit of the older scars. It was a pain that you never got used to no matter how many mistakes you made resulting in the punishment. In a strange way, getting punished was probably about the only time you and your father spent together. Other than that, you never saw him unless in passing where he wouldn’t even spare so much of a glance your way. You truly wondered why he bothered to keep you around at all.

“I’m so sorry, my lady. Hide and seek was a terrible idea, I should’ve shouted our secret word louder, or I should’ve just told the duke it was my idea so I would’ve been punished instead,” Emi quivered, her voice cracking as if she was on the verge of tears herself. Ironic how she was the one crying despite you being the one in pain.

“No, Emi, if father knew it was your idea he could easily fire you. I can’t lose you. Without you here with me in the lonesome house, I would truly go mad. It’s better this way. Plus I’ll be healed up in no time. I’m tough, you know.”

“Yes, my lady. I’m well aware of how much you can take, but I just wish you were allowed to be a child every now and again. Maybe even go to school with the other kids your age. Someplace far away from here.”

“Well,” you grinned, leaning up despite Emi’s protests and the stinging telling you to remain flat on your chest. You couldn’t continue laying when you help so much excitement you wanted to tell her about. “I actually made a friend today.”

“My lady!” She gasped, hands coming to her mouth to cover her growing smile, “Is it true?”

“It is! His name is Tomura Shigaraki, he’s the firstborn son of his majesty. I met him when I was lost. He actually helped me find my way back to the entrance of the garden. He’s very kind and we have a lot in common. We both are homeschooled, we both lost our mother, and we bot-... what’s wrong, Emi?” You questioned, your excitement vanishing upon noticing the strange look she was giving you.

“My lady… I cherish you deeply, so I only have your best intentions at heart, so please forgive me if I’m too forward, but that boy is dangerous. There are many rumors surrounding him. They say that he’s even killed some of his own servants, and that’s why his majesty keeps him locked away in the Deika castle, far away from others. There’s something wrong with that boy, he’s cursed.”

Your heart sunk at her words. You wanted Emi to be as excited about this as you were, so why was she saying such mean things about a boy she’s never even met.

“Emi, he’s very kind maybe if you just met him you would understand.”

“No, I think you need to stay away from him. Can you please promise me that?”

You remained silent.

“Y/N!” She only called you by your name when she was worried or scolding you, so you knew she must’ve been scared, but still, you couldn’t bring yourself to promise something you knew you were going to break. So you just avoided the question altogether.

“Nanny Emi, I’m tired. I think I’m going to rest now. Thank you for treating my wounds, but you’re dismissed for the remainder of the night.” You laid down flat on your chest, careful not to disturb your wounds before turning your head so you didn’t have to face her, not sure you could handle the look on her face at your dismissal of her.

A few moments of silence passed before you heard some shuffling, and a faint whisper of ‘yes, my lady,’ before your bedroom door closed, leaving you completely alone. No matter the rumors surrounding him, he was kind. You knew him, and he knew you. That was all that mattered.

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Taglist: @could-be-gayer21

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asmosmainhoe · 3 years

Note

Okay so

I would like to request the reaction of Barbatos, Dia, Simeon, Luci, Asmo, Mammon and Solomon to finding out that the MC (most likely a teen or Child is both ok) is Barbatos child. No one knew. Barb himself doesn't know it too (let's just pretend it is like that because this man really has to much work sadly)

Maybe they find it out when the MC is slowing down/pausing the Time because of something. Or because of other similarities

I hope you'll have a good day or Night^^

MC is Barbatos' child

I didn't do it exactly as you requested it, because I couldn't come up with any ideas so I did some general headcanons like how the others would treat the MC if they were his child. Hope that's alright! Honestly I had so much fun writing this, especially with Diavolo's part

Gender neutral MC

Warnings: none

Lucifer

Treats you with the utmost respect

Way softer towards you than he is with the others if I'm being honest here

You're the child of a very good friend of his and punishing you like the rest is the last thing he considers

Lets you get away with so many things holy shit

His brothers are a bit jealous honestly

If you need his help with something he literally drops everything to rush over to you

Even takes his time to give you private tutoring lessons if you need any

Actually a very proud uncle and doesn't make much effort in hiding it

Mammon

Extremely careful with his shenanigans around you

Doesn't want you to get involved in the dangerous ones, because Barbatos would most definitely come for his ass if anything would happen to you

Still does some pranks with you. Small ones though

The reason is because a) you're fun to hang out with and b) Lucifer has, as I already mentioned, a soft spot for you so his punishments aren't as harsh as usually

Obviously you're not one the same level as Barbatos with your powers, but still know some tricks

Tricks that come in handy for his pranks

Asmodeus

You two are so close honestly

Has called you "mini-Barbaros" or "tiny Barbatos" before

If you have your father's looks then expect him to do your makeup, hair etc

Okay, he does it even if you don't look similar to the royal butler, but oh well it's definitely a bit more fun

Barbatos usually doesn't let him do makeovers on him

Since you live in the demon Lord's castle you must know all the juicy gossip and he wants you to tell him all the details

Also if Diavolo organizes yet another ball or something Asmo personally comes over to prepare you for it

Diavolo

THE PROUDEST UNCLE IN ALL THREE REALMS

Spoils you rotten

You just have to look at something and he instantly buys it for you

Like Lucifer he drops everything when you need his help with something

When you were little you couldn't say his name so you just called him Dia

His heart melted

The nickname also kinda stuck so you still call him like that and he wouldn't want it any other way

"Dia?"

"YES, MY BEAUTIFUL MAGNIFICENT AMAZING WONDERFUL SUNSHINE?"

Definitely goes over the top with everything he does for you

Barbatos has already politely told him many times that it's not necessary, but do you think the prince listens? As if

Barbatos

The stoic and polite behavior immediately stops when you're around

Does control himself though when Diavolo has important guests over

Calls you "dear" a lot

Has the brightest smile when he thinks of you or talks about you with someone

Teaches you all his secret baking recipes

So. Many. Headpats.

"I need your help with something, but if you're busy I can go ask Dia."

Immediately stops with his work to help you out because of two reasons

The first one: of course he takes his time for you

The second one: Dia's extra ass is going to go completely over the top for you and it often ends up in chaos

Also teaches you how to control your powers

Simeon

Loves seeing you and Barbatos interact with each other

It reminds him of Luke and himself kinda

Wants to get to know you some more so he spends a lot of time with you during the exchange program

Chuckles at all the similarities he notices between you and your father

He sees it all, from the way your lips curl up into a small smile to the graceful and elegant way you're holding the kettle to pour tea in a cup

Doesn't like to admit it, but he's a bit curious about how Barbatos is raising and treating you

Asks you some questions about it and even goes to the butler

It's not because of gossipy reasons like Asmo. He just seeks for advice for Luke

Solomon

You two know each other for quite some time now, because well he has made a pact with your father

Has even considered to make one with you

Decided against it though out of respect for Barbatos

The demon wouldn't like the idea of someone giving his child orders and using their power for their own benefits

But all in all he gets along with you just perfect

Regularly brings you souvenirs from the human world

He's your best human friend

It's almost impossible to separate you two during the exchange program

---

Masterlist

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toujourspur13 · 3 years

Text

The Black family / Walburga Black / canon.

As I said before I do not care that much about canon/fanon/headcanon because transformative works by definition include a wide variety of different interpretations. However, I am forever perplexed when I see uncompromising opinions on the Black family - particularly the unwavering certainty that Sirius Black’s parents were psychotic abusers. All personal opinions aside - why is this so popular?

I mean - it’s absolutely ok to headcanon this version and to play with it - but saying 'don’t you dare say they did not physically and emotionally abuse Sirius' is a little strong, isn’t it?

This is a mystery to me. So…let’s discuss my favourite subject…Again.

Let’s stick to the facts. The frequently cited things proving the abuse in the Black family are as follows:

Sirius said his parents were awful maniacs (pureblood ideology)

he ran away from home

he was severely depressed in OoTP

Kreacher

Portrait

So…when you say that Sirius’s parents were abusive…you mean exactly what? These people got cold feet when they saw the real nature of Voldemort - I guess it somehow implies that they did not share his methods…that they were against violence as a tool to get purebloods in charge.

But then it usually goes this way: ‘well at least he was verbally and emotionally abused by his family’ - but is it so? Is this based on the portrait of Sirius's mother? She insulted strangers who took over her house and her runaway son - how does this prove anything about how Sirius and Regulus were raised and treated when they were kids? I agree it’s rather impolite - jkr did a good job showing how purebloods perceived others ( those below them) -but in all honesty, this has very little to do with Sirius and his childhood.

Why to make Sirius a victim at all? - c’mon he was tougher than this, he spent 12 years in Azkaban; are you actually saying that a portrait throwing insults at everyone is worse? I doubt that. And is it such a surprise that a mother who lost her son (that said son actually ran away and abandoned his duty) would be that furious at him when seeing him again...even if it’s only a portrait...I believe it to be a rather unpleasant experience for a parent when a child runs away.

We already talked about the portrait a lot - I don’t even want to mention it here- - I feel we should rather pay more attention to the fact that Sirius himself was not an angel.

I am not saying the colourful vocabulary of Walburga Black should be used…but Sirius himself upon seeing Snape immediately recognised his weakness and went for it without any hesitation …we are talking about Sirius who in fact was quite a renowned bully ( I mean - we know for a fact that from time to time Sirius and James got carried away)…

And it was Sirius who sent Snape to meet and chat with a real werewolf (yes, I agree - he was not thinking this through - he probably was just vexed and fed up with Snape and thought he wouldn’t go there, would get cold feet or idk run away…But it actually changes nothing. If a drunken driver hits someone it will be 100% his fault whether he means it or not. Whether he is in a fragile mental state or not - such situations are definite. It’s the same with Sirius - even if he did not mean anything bad he should have understood the cost of his mistake - all teenagers make silly things but not all of them send their classmate to meet a werewolf - James thought it not a very good idea as I recall… -

So we see that Sirius was not an angel from the start and I can hardly believe he was a victim by nature. His behaviour loudly manifested that he used to get what he wanted with no thought of the consequences.

And all those pictures of bikini-clad girls on the walls in his room prove that he was quite a spoiled boy who had nothing to fear from mum and dad. Harry himself noticed «Sirius seemed to have gone out of his way to annoy his parents». All this shows that Sirius was not afraid of his parents at all. What kind of masochist would suffer for motorbike posters? That would be ridiculous.

Let’s move to Kreacher: If Sirius’s mother had been a monster why even mention her heart? JKR wrote this for a purpose and this heavily implies that Sirius's situation was never meant to be ‘the abusive heartless parents vs the poor helpless victim’.

The fact that Sirius ran away and hence broke his mother’s heart says against the popular idea that he was not loved by his family, that he was always the second one, that they abused him. I’m 100% certain that Kreacher told the truth in that scene. Why would he say something like this if it were not the truth - something like…that his beloved mistress having been so upset over Sirius running away that it broke her heart. Just tell me one reason that would have justified such a lie - why to say this at all?

Then this: “Leave?” Sirius smiled bitterly and ran a hand through his long, unkempt hair. “Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal … my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them … that’s him.”…. “He was younger than me,” said Sirius, “and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded.”

I’ve already said it before - this ‘better son than me’ is exactly what insecure 14-year old kids like to say. Well...he’s a bit older but it’s not as if he had a life and a chance to mature. Moreover, I don’t know if it comes as a great shock but a lot of teenagers like to badmouth their parents…usually, it involves something like ‘those bloody uptight retrogrades know nothing of the real world’ (it fades away when they get closer to thirty).

To be serious, I find that it’s just another example of similarities between Sirius and his mother. They clearly did not know what it means to be composed, polite, and respectful. Yeah…I think that, on the whole, parents are owed their children’s respect (unless they are completely inadequate - somehow I don’t believe this was the case). Someone should teach both of them what mutual respect means. Anyway, there is nothing in this quote that says that Sirius was subjected to any forms of abuse - it’s about how Sirius justified his running away, how he saw the situation.

There’s also the fact that Sirius was incredibly unhappy because he was back at his childhood home and having to spend time around anything that reminded him of his family: “Hasn’t anyone told you? This was my parents’ house,” said Sirius. “But I’m the last Black left, so it’s mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for headquarters — about the only useful thing I’ve been able to do.” Harry, who had expected a better welcome, noted how hard and bitter Sirius’s voice sounded”.

Here it comes…the severe depression that makes people question the severity of his abuse… I have thought a lot about this because it is the reason why some consider ‘the abusive blacks' canon while others believe it was more of a tragedy of the family rather than the banal brutality.

Of course, Sirius was upset in that house - but I don’t think he suffered the memories of his unhappy childhood - I think he suffered from the strong feeling of guilt. Being in that house meant an everyday reminder that he was a failure. And it’s not even a lie. If you look at his whole life you’ll see that he literally failed everyone in his life: he failed James and Lily - they were dead and he unwillingly became the reason. It was his plan that turned everything into a tragedy.

And, to some extent, he failed Harry- he was not around him like James and Lily would have wanted. Sirius did not give him the real family - he only promised they'd be the one «when it’s all over».

And finally - he failed his parents, his brother, his own family.

Is it possible to live with so much guilt in your heart?

I don't think that Sirius completely forgot who he was born to be. If the family keeps traditions and can trace its existence back in centuries you can't shake it off even if you want. I doubt Sirius switched it off just because he had griffindor friends. He was the last Black - it is tragically poetic that he was once the hope of his family and then this family died with him. If Sirius had heart (and I truly believe he had a heart) he knew exactly what it meant to be trapped in the house that represented the death of his family. A constant reminder that he was the last one.

“The others’ hushed voices were giving Harry an odd feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just entered the house of a dying person”.

I think that the scene when he threw his father's ring away - he threw it away because it was all over for his family. It was the end of the dynasty - and for him it was all over long before he met Bellatrix for the last time.

Well, I admit Sirius' situation is open for wide interpretation but I don’t think the abusive black household is a canon thing - of course, it’s fanon. It makes Sirius a hero who broke the chains when in fact he ended up being a victim of his own life.

You know, it always seems strange to me that fandom when discussing Walburga usually overlooks the simple truth of life - that even if you are clever enough and mean good for your loved ones it is still possible to end up on the losing side, on the dark side. However, mistakes don't automatically turn humans into monsters.

To some extent Sirius’s story represents the consequences of war. No-one is protected; the whole families could be wiped off the face of the earth. It’s a simple yet profound idea. It correlates with the main idea of hp books far better than the ‘abusive psychopaths’ (there are already Voldemort and Bellatrix - there is no-one who can beat them in this department).

All I say - it’s okay to imagine them bad if you want- your right - but don’t write everywhere that it’s canon because it is not.There is no need for such inflexibility especially when it comes to the fandom - a place where everyone should be welcomed and their views on the books be respected.

#the noble and most ancient house of black #hp meta #harry potter #sirius black meta #walburga black #orion black #regulus black #harry potter meta #Order of the Phoenix #Sirius Black

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volgdemagischewinx · 3 years

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I love your Riven headcanon! Also the Sky analysis seems to be on point. Sky hate train is so fun for me but it's nice to kind of give him some credit and appreciation. Speaking of which, since you mentioned before he could have a neat arch overcoming his classicism (or like, coming to terms with his privilege) do you see him using his title for good, on behalf of his friends? This is heavy headcanon territory here but I think classicism is a big deal in Winx universe, way more obvious than on Earth. I'm mostly going by Diaspro because can you imagine say Kate or Megal calling someone a peasant? It seems socially... not condemnable in Magix. So if someone did something like that to his friends (cough riven cough) and he's trying to do better, do you see him pulling rank to help? Because from what I see, yes he thinks he's better than Riven, but he's also the unofficial leader of the squad and he's supposed to be, well, princely. So he should be assertive when it comes to treatment his friends get. (Which he already kind of did by inviting them all to that ball thingy at Eraklion although it was an exclusive event and most of them aren't nobility).

Also I think it's fun how people rarely have a similar discussion for Stella, although she's very materialistic. And I think that's fair. I think her "problem" is being tone deaf and not really knowing to read the room, but she's fully aware of how privileged she is- and given her insecurities she clearly doesn't consider herself better than her peers, if anything she at times felt her privileges were needed to help her just keep up with them.

Thank you😊Yeah, I love being on the Sky hate train. All day every day. It’s my favorite thing, but when I dunk on him it’s generally with the intention of giving him more depth? The perfect prince charming thing the show goes for is boring as hell, but completely demonizing the guy is pretty lame too imo. To me, Sky early on sucks but he’s by no means an irredeemable character, and if I were to actually rewrite the show he would be on good terms with the rest of the cast by the end of his arc

And yes! I do see him using his rank to help his friends once he accepts that running away from his status isn’t the answer to all of his problems. I agree classism is for sure a pretty big thing in the Winx universe depending on the planet(Eraklyon is way uptight while Solaria is pretty much just like “this is our princess. She’s fun and likes to party we love her”) So one aspect of his character would absolutely be to start standing up to other royals in defense of his friends. Other aspects would be owning up to his mistakes, facing consequences for his actions, recognizing his privilege played a large part in getting him where he is, etc.

Same about Stella lmao. I may have mentioned this before but I think she’s basically the anti-Sky in a lot of ways? She can come across as spoiled and shallow at times, but she’s never once looked down on others for even a second. She makes no effort to divorce herself from her royal status like Sky does, but she doesn’t hold her title over anyone either. Plus accepting that privilege as a part of her also means that she’s a lot more likely to acknowledge it and keep it in check. One thing that I especially appreciate about how she handles it is the way she knows when to just drop it. Like in 1x03 when she wanted to pay for Bloom’s dress but dropped it the instant Flora made clear this would actually make Bloom feel worse, or in the comics how she respected it when Bloom told her she wanted to support herself even though Stella would have been happy to take care of it. I’m not sure she totally understands why her friends wouldn’t want her to do these things for them, but she’s respectful enough not to push it. That’s the kind of thing where I think Sky could really take a page out of her book

#this turned into a lot of stella gushing oops #not my fault she's so great #that contrast between the 2 is also why i'm in favor of a stella/bloom/sky love triangle btw #i think it could be really interesting for both sky and stella's characters to kind of put them against each other in that way #(not talking about overdramatic fighting over the love interest of course more exploring the differences between the 2 through Bloom)#winx club #winx sky #winx stella #winx meta #ask wave #anon

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floxalopex · 3 years

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I don't know if somebody already did this specifically. But yh the heck let's go.

WARNING 1: THIS IS NOT A POST FOR SENSITIVE PEOPLE AND/OR MINORS. (it contains gore and sexual themes and more).

And yes, SALT. Lots of salt.

WARNING 2: this has nothing to do with Christianity specifically. Atheism isn't hate towards your god(s) and/or its believers. Although there are many forms of atheism (some of which are so strong and violent they make me furious) think about mine as a general form of indifference. I hate the Church state, yes, but sorry I have that "at home" so please don't blame me. I don't like Abrahamic religions in general, but I've grown up with one.

I'm thankfully not a cult survivor, but I can understand some things.

WARNING 3: living in a very religious contest I have many beloved friends and relatives (starting with my mother) who believe in their god a lot. So if my words are too disrespectful tell me, I really don't want to hurt anybody.

Okay.

So.

I've seen many similarities between the cult Horde Prime put his clones in and your very average, very white, very western idea of Christianity.

1) Theophagy:

First of all, I really don't know much how this thing is lived in other Christian countries, but in mine they put a lot of emphasis on the Eucharist.

As far as I've seen I think it's pretty obvious how much in ancient cultures there's a very carnal and very grounded idea of the spirit. That can result in believing the soul to be the "psyche", so literally "the breath of life", the coordination of your sinapsis togheter (to me a very poetic definition of how our whole being ourselves is just us being our central nervous system) or it can lead to you eating the ashes of your granpa so you get his good qualities (something some cultures still do today). They said that the head of Orpheus was buried in the island of Lesbo and that's why its land was filled with amazing poets like Sappho. There's this very, sorry, brutal idea of the embodyment of the soul, the talents of a person, that even a piece of corpse is considered a magic thingy.

This is no different in the very old, very ancient, very rural Christian religion (at least in the most common version of it, we have many flavours of one truth apperentely).

When I was in High School we studied a lot Bacchus and the Baccanalia, because there are several commedies about it. My teacher, being very religious, was almost ashamed to admit that a lot of acts of those festivities (let's say that the most normal thing was for women to give their milk to animal cubs) were actually not very dissimilar in their rawness to certain habits of the religion.

So, what about Horde Prime? (me *yh, what about it, stupid ADHD?*). I have seen a post in the past explaining that yes, even though spacebats have the dentition of a frugivore bat and not haematophagus bat, the scene of Prime recharging in his throne with all those disgusting cables filled with green liquid referred as "the life force" of his clones...well, it's surely something.

Looks like a sort of sci-fi vampire thing. Which is very cool and I love this headcanon. So again I kept thinking...what is THAT amniotic fluid? I am a student, so correct me if I say something wrong.

Amniotic fluid is a combination of water 99%, proteins, glucids, fats and some salts (...it's even effective for electric conduction...the heck is that pool).

The most similar body fluid is plasma, so blood less cells. Even the serum, so plasma less proteins, is very similar.

Now, stated that Prime is a manipulative jerk, stated that I don't know much about aliens' physiology, stated that that fluid can come from blood potentially, in Church they say this:

*and Jesus said: "This is my body/blood which I offer in sacrifice for you"*

Apart from it being very creepy, there's this idea in the whole religion-thingy: if you are human you are a selfish monster, so monstrous you made our Lord and Savior die for your sins for how messed up you were.

So basically you don't become a sinner, you are concived as one. Humanity is sin itself, it can never lead to something good.

So are the clones. That's why Prime, in his benevolence, feeds them with himself. To make them pure, to protect them from the outside world. To make them remember who their strenght comes from.

If you don't want to read all of this just go for the Futurama soda episode, it's basically the same thing. Bleah.

2) Corpse feticism and more.

Again, don't know you guys, but here we are filled with mummies. I went in a place in Palermo and ...my gosh why did I do that.

We have everything here, hands, heads, feet, teeth so many of them, dead babies, dead virgins, dead popes, dead elders, all of them for half the prize, but only if you call today.

We are. Filled. With these atrocities. At least we don't touch them anymore.

Sometimes I wonder if, apart from the "hygene", people in Middle Ages used to die at the honorable age of 13 also because they kissed those... thingies there.

So, can we please talk about Horde Prime collection of "previous selves"?

This man has a whole room filled with corpses of himself. In the Vatican you can find corpses of dead popes as well, preserved and even dressed in a very good way. In Italy in general we have these, I remember a whole room in a town near my city filled with skeletons of "saints". Personally I find it very disturbing because you are basically not allowing that body to rest and serve its last biological purpose, especially if you consider that most of these "saints" were mentally impared young kids who were killed brutally and died as "martyrs". In ancient Greece the WORST thing you could do to a corpse was to leave it unburied, without dignity.

It's getting darker now.

I like both headcanons for Prime, that of a spoiled (maybe even sexist) royal of a lost culture who wanted to conquer the universe and that of him being a sort of ancient evil spirit, but I personally like to stick with the latter.

Imagine the old bodies of the clones Prime used for himself. Pushed to their limits. Clones dying young is horrific as well, but like these people were forced to go on. Not to die. Not to age as much as possible. And now that they are dead they can't even rest. They are a show off for anyone to see. Their brains preserved and their literal dead flesh still tormented for reading.

One may ask me, then what about corpses in formalin for medical use? Well, one thing is a donor or a dead fetus or a corpse nobody claims. That's the story of the skeleton in my university, a young male who didn't eat much. A very lonely man. Well at least now he is well loved and appreciated, ah if only he knew that.

The point is, we respect them. We are grateful for the informations they give us. Gosh, I know I'm creepy, but I even cuddled one bone once. We know they probably suffered. Like, search for HeLa cells. That lady has my highest respect.

But Prime? Those are. Vessels. Just that.

Anyways, apart for the "respect the deads thing" I found Hordak's behaviour in that room that of high distress. Like, ehm, any normal person? Search for "Convento Dei Cappuccini", that place I was talking about in Palermo. The fact that I heard kids cry and "MEMENTO MORI" everywhere.

Everyone and everything is afraid of death, I just accepted that fear because it's normal. That doesn't mean I want to be reminded of it every week, especially if I'm a 7 yo kid.

Honorable mentions: that horrible art collection.

3) Double standards

When I went to catechism my teacher used a very feather hand on males and an iron fist on us ladies. We weren't allowed to wear trousers, to play football, to raise our voice. We were forced to be very clean, to sit with our legs as closed as possible. I heard it was worse before, at least we could play volleyball and weren't forced to knit.

We were however "encouraged" to sing and bake stupid cakes for Sundays. Mind you, I'm very feminine, but one thing is liking ribbons one thing is being a slave.

The boys...well, they could literally do anything. They broke things, used petards, beat each other. They were NEVER reproached, the teachers would say "oh, they are just boys". Like once I was so engrossed. I remember I had to sit behind a guy with his butt almost uncovered (because the lower you put the helm of your trousers the cooler you were) while I had to stay still with my head high, chest out, belly in and legs closed for 2h. The problem was: I almost pitied him. I was like "poor thing he doesn't know how to behave properly". That's so crazy, I was piting a free soul while I had my hands handcuffed because I truly believed the bullshit they put into my mind.

Now, imagine how did Horde Prime's clones feel about Catra and Glimmer.

They can dress as they please. Eat non amniotic fluid. Catra can even go wherever she wants.

To me, they didn't feel envious. As they should! That's how far an indoctrination can go.

Take Yudi interaction with Catra, he believes everything he is saying.

But I think deep down he knows, they all know, the truth, juding by his bitter reaction after being possesed. He knows he is the slave here, not the free man. But he wants to believe the other way round.

I think that yes, of course Prime kept Glimmer and Catra (and Hordak) because he needed them to conquer Etheria. But that is also a good way to show to the poor clones of how lost people far away from Prime's light can be. Slaves of their bodly needs and slaves of their individuality.

4) Sexual abuse

Do I need to explain this? Plus all those sick touches Prime gives not only to Hordak, but to Glimmer, Catra and Adora as well?

I don't know much about other countries, again, but here the Church is a real cancer. If a priest gets accoused of raping children he just gets put into another Church far away, and generally he keeps being a pedo even there and the game goes on.

I wouldn't exately say that Prime is a pedophile but clones are pretty innocent and neotenic to me so...idk.

Of course, Prime is his own state and his own rules, so yh. Raping all day. That's why I don't like to ship him with anything rather than a 100 m fall. Not even with his clones, sorry I know its kinky maybe but he is a monster.

Also, the way the clones feel like...honored to be raped. That's so sad. Maybe he convinced them this is the only right way they could experience sex and intimacy. I really don't know.

One thing I'm sure of is that Christian religion likes to often put shame on some "impure" acts. That's the name. The most impure of all is masturbation. If you are a male ...mmm well it's okay dear, it's not your fault you are male and so a sex starved animal. But if you are a girl? Ihhh oh dare you bitch.

Mind you, I fall in the ace spectrum but I did too have puberty and needs, and these thoughts in my head made me only conflicted.

Last thing. More of an asking. And more irriverent, so please stay away if you don't want to read.

So basically I understood I was atheist at 5 yo, just because I read two different versions of the birth of the Universe, one in my science book and one in my Bible (MY Bible, I still have it, was a gift of my aunt) and preferred the science version. I still felt conflicted, like once during a religion lesson at School (well...I don't blame Mussolini much in this case, I mean the Vatican wasn't still recognizing country indipendence and we needed a compromise) the teacher told me to stop drawing dinosaurs with Adam and Eve because they never existed. I mean...yes that's anachronistic but still I felt very sad, dinosaurs were cooler than that story. I remember I even made an experiment "if I say I don't believe in god will I get thunderstruck?". It didn't happen so I was like "oh cool, science wins". But then CATECHISM ecc ecc. The fun fact is that they think atheists are those who don't study religion, while I was the most zelous of the class.

So.

I just wonder...my baby boy Hordak is a man of science, what were his thoughts after his separation from Prime. I mean of course he still believed, but also not as much after some time. Entrapta is a support system for him of course, but he accepts her affection quite easily on canon. Which is amazing, still... maybe he was already doubting his devotion?

#Horde prime #horde clones #spacebats #Hordak #Yudi #atheism

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takirasu · 4 years

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Why I cannot understand how a huge majority of the Persona 5 fandom ships Akira/Protagonist with Akechi if you’ve played the game and what is possibly wrong about it

First and foremost: I do not mean to offend or hurt anyone personally with this. This is purely analytical from the viewpoint of someone who is interested in analysing characters and character dynamics. The group of people mentioned that I dislike regarding this ship is targeted to certain types of people in the fandom that will be explained at the end, meaning if you ship this No, I don’t automatically dislike you and even if I would, who cares? It’s just me. I don’t know you and it shouldn’t matter to you. I also want to mention that obviously Persona 5 will get spoiled in this analysis as well as slight mentions and spoilers of Royal, especially the third semester. Read at your own risk! Without further ado, let’s jump into a very interesting dynamic between two characters that had potential, but – in my opinion – leaves a bitter aftertaste in my mouth due to what fans did and do with it most of the time and how Atlus ends it in both Orginal and Royal. I will try to be about this as neutral as possible, since an analysis shouldn’t take a side and then put my opinion about it at the end, because the aspects and whys about this matter more than one person’s opinion alone. Also, the analysis will help form an opinion and back it up. There is nothing worse to me than giving an opinion, but not having anything to back it up with.

To analyse the relationship between the two I will be taking important parts of the story in this dynamic and analyse it as well as analyse the characters briefly according to the situation and towards each other. I will be taking the Anime and Manga into this for certain parts as well. I would like to do a whole character analysis one day if I find the time and fans are interested, but since the main focus of this is a ship and what is up with it I will only analyse the moments that they either have together or that further underlines the topic.

Starting with Akira, it is clear from the very first hour on that he has a strong want of helping other people – in need or not - and cannot stand injustice. To underline how important it is to him you have to understand that in Japan’s society it is considered incredibly rude to interfere between two adults in whatever situation given. It is not your business, like Sojiro Sakura – his guardian in Tokyo during his probation – explains to him and much more the player at the beginning of the game. In short, Akira knew what he might possibly get himself into. Even if Shido wouldn’t have tripped and hurt himself. Even if Shido wouldn’t have threatened the women to tell the upcoming police Akira apparently assaulted him. The only thing important to those who found out about the incident and know that he did not push him was still this: You do not interfere between two adults, keep your business. People who do that are considered delinquents and you really do not want this stamp on your forehead in Japan. Further, I assume Akira might be suffering from a Saviour complex. In all three media – game, manga and anime – he puts other people’s needs over himself and gets incredibly upset if he is not able to help someone or better, in Akechi’s case, save them. As helpful and kind a someone can be by nature, you have to understand that not everyone will either want your help or will be able to accept it. Not everyone can be saved and you do not have to save everyone. People who have trouble with accepting this suffer from a Saviour complex. A moment to justify both this and my first point is during the beginning of Madarame’s Palace, with one of my favourite quotes of Akira being,

“I want to help. I just want to be sure what we're doing is right. Trust me I'm not saying we should turn a blind eye and do nothing...”

After this event, Ann and Ryuji call him out for being both too timid and yet in haste at the same time. They’re barely out of the Metaverse and obviously have a private life that they need to care about when he already wants everyone to gather information on if Yusuke is really being abused and used by his teacher as fast as possible; on the same day. Again, he puts others over himself. While of course Ryuji and Ann aren’t any less concerned, to him someone might be getting hurt and there is no time to waste on matters like this. When they do find out through Nakanohara, a former student of Madarame, that he steals his pupil’s art, threatens everyone that leaves him and makes students even hurt themselves, Akira as the Phantom Thieves leader decide on saving Yusuke. Said complex also feeds his need of wanting to protect others, shown and explored more in two major scenes in the anime. When Phantom Thieves meet Akechi for their finale encounter they captured it very well. Akechi reveals he has the power of the Wild card, being able to handle more than one Persona, like Akira does. When the Thieves try to either talk to Akechi or attempt to walk up to him and handle it, Akira as Joker takes his role seriously. He tells the others, “He’s mine. Hold. Don’t worry, I’ve got this.” knowing full well that nobody else would be able to take him on other than another Wild card. Another scene is when he protects Sojiro from a few police men. He knows he shouldn’t step in between two adults and he is still on probation, but the want of protecting the person that offers him shelter and that warms up to him is stronger than his own desires. He stands in front of Sojiro and shields him.

Akechi on the other hand is one of the most interesting and misunderstood characters I have seen in a long time. While not outright admitting it himself, Akechi has this immense and unfulfilled need of being loved since his past was pretty much empty of it. His resentment towards Akira is fuelled by this since he sees how said one has a lot of supportive friends when he’s nothing special in particular. This possibly means that in Akechi’s eyes you have to have a certain standard to achieve to be special and lovable, which would explain the way he made himself for the public. He further insults Akira as a criminal who lives in an attic during their last meeting and asks himself what he has that Akechi lacks, not knowing that it is something he never grew up learning. He hates Akira, but deep down he does not. It pains him to see the exact opposite of himself and how out of place it is for him. Akira is nothing yet loved, while Akechi build up this perfect self that is special, but not actually loved. It messes with him whenever Akira is in front of him and does better than him. He is the reason he gets reminded of the things he hates the most about himself. Similar to Akira he is an outcast to society – just carefully sealed and hidden behind his Ace detective mask. Shido, who is actually his father and he only works with to get revenge on, did not care that he got someone pregnant and left, which lead to Akechi’s mother giving him away and committing suicide. In Japan these kind of families are frowned upon on, being the kid of a possible one-night stand gives no meaning to your life and only tarnishes the mother, which is most probably the reason why the women took her life. It wasn’t bearable for her in this society and she couldn’t life with Akechi’s existence. He was given from foster home to foster home, never had any parents that would give him love and that he could look up to as well as forming actual bonds with people. You see him both struggling to form an actual friendship with Sae, an adult, as well as adapt to people his age, for example the Phantom Thieves. He feels odd and has this unpleasant aura of superiority around him, since he has never learned anything regarding love and how to work and be with other people. So Akechi decides he needs to build his mask to be lovable to the public since his actual self, in his eyes, is not. He’s smart and basically reforms himself completely new for the public. His public self is near to perfect for the role of a student detective. Justice driven, charming, funny and smart. During the game while he is on stage it slips his thoughts during the moment everyone cheers for him and adores him, that none of these people know he’s an unwanted bastard child, which means that he does not think as highly of himself as the player tends to think at the beginning of the game. He is sure nobody would like him and he would never be able to become a detective if it was him as his true self that is worthy of nothing. These two things lead to him being able to be cold-blooded and cause the mental shutdowns, as well as try to kill Akira. First, he has never gotten love and affection. These things are needed for a child to grow and learn empathy, which Akechi lacks. It might almost sound mean, but from a neutral viewpoint this is why it was so easy for him. He does not feel for other people as openly as others do. Also, you have to keep in mind that every shutdown being demanded by Shido would eventually bring him closer to his goal. His father to acknowledged his existence in the perfect moment, the apex of his power, and to take revenge on him for the life he has to live and most possibly for his mother to be driven to suicide. Lastly important for this analysis, Akechi knew what he did when he decided to let himself get killed by his cognitive self, Shido’s so-called security system. First, it would have either been him and the Phantom Thieves who were the only ones able to use the Metaverse next to him and change Shido’s heart, or only him which means that there was a possibility to at least ruin his life and not make him the new Prime minister of Japan. He knows that they won’t kill Shido, but taking everything from him that is important to him, his only desire, and the reason Akechi had to live life like this to begin with seems enough in the moment he faces death. Second, he does not believe in second chances and he does not believe in forgiveness. Akechi’s believes that are present during the whole game aren’t just towards others, but also himself. He hates his true self the same way he dislikes Akira. Both his true self and Akira are nothing in society therefore neither worthy of love or forgiveness. To him, there is no other way to atone for his sins. When the Phantom Thieves defeat Akechi he states,

“You (Akira) are so lucky to be surrounded by teammates who acknowledge you. Once Shido confesses his crimes, you’ll all be heroes. As for me, people will find out my past deductions were just charade. My fame and trust will vanish. In the end, I couldn’t be special…”

The only place he could eventually feel loved was when he faked those crimes and fake investigated them, since they were his own the public didn’t know about. He could feel important and respected, have a place in Japan’s society while working on his goal of his father’s downfall. The moment the Phantom Thieves won over him, he knew this would be taken away from him since to him the only possible outcome of this is the Phantom Thieves winning over Shido and either turning Akechi in or Shido spilling during his change of heart. People relying on him and trusting him, people acknowledging him. That is what the trust and fame was about to him. The moment they meet in Shido’s palace and Akechi is defeated, it would all be taken away from him. Putting this together is the reason he decides to trap himself with the summoned shadows and his cognitive self. His father would lose everything that was important to him if he saves the Phantom Thieves and he has no reason to live in a world where he has no fame and trust from the public, since in his distorted mind he will not be worth of love and worth of existence. He wouldn’t be special. When the Phantom Thieves do reach out and tell him all the things they admire about him and give him a chance to join them against Shido, he laughs about them. His true self is out and to him, it is not lovable or special no matter what they say.

From the reasons shippers bring up for these two, Akira being devastated about Akechi’s death and wanting it revoked is a big one and the first one I want to analyse and explain. As analysed earlier, it is important to Akira to save others and help them, especially when they cannot help themselves. In certain parts, the two aren’t far from each other yet polar opposites. Akira knows that and despite everything feels empathy for Akechi after said ones tells the whole story. Witnessing someone’s death whether it is hearing or seeing it is traumatizing and it’s normal to think about it later back at home in the real world how Akira does, but taking his character analysis into consideration it probably messed with him more than it would with other people, like the other Phantom Thieves. In the anime, Akechi throws a chess piece with Akira catching it. Akira, who is not someone to have emotional outbursts, gets so worked up and angry that he hits the wall that came down in front of them with his fist before he quickly catches himself back in the role as the leader who always had and has to stay calm and collected. If you look at it, Akechi is the only one Akira couldn’t save when he knew he needed it and, to Akira, deserved it. Because throughout the whole game with so many different cases of people not being able to save themselves or being in unjust situations not once does he care about how the people are or if there is any certain character trait etc. to them in particular. Akira probably shares the same belief like his friends. Everyone is special in their own way and so was Akechi deserving of a better life like everyone else is. It messes with him so much, that in Persona 5: Royal, a game that came out 3 years after the original game and it is still tightly being fought about if it is canon or an alternative reality to which the developers have yet to make an official statement to, he tells Maruki, the school’s therapist who is interested in cognitive science, that if he could change reality, his wish wouldn’t be that all of this had never happened, but that Akechi would still be alive. While this is the number one situation people who ship the two use ever since Royal has come out, it just further underlines Akira’s character and my suggestion of him having a Saviour complex. He cannot live with the fact that he couldn’t save Akechi, when this is what the Phantom Thieves stood for. It pains him so much that his wish is actually beneficial to someone else. We know nothing about Akira’s past, but it is impossible that there isn’t something he wishes wouldn’t have happened that is outside of the game. Instead, he chose something that helps someone else and puts himself back to ease. He knows, this is what pains him the most and will for quite some time. Having Akechi back would ease his complex and give a person he thinks that deserve a second chance another tries. This is once more better shown in the anime during the last confrontation when Akira tries to talk to Akechi multiple times during Akechi’s small monologue, but eventually realizes it will be of no use. Akechi is too far gone and Akira tells the group to finish it.

Second are the moments we got early in the anime. While the game doesn’t allow this, the anime explores Akechi’s detective side a bit earlier and more for the viewer. In game, we only see Akechi working on the cases he created while he is actually really good at “real” cases as well and able to solve them. During Yusuke’s arc, Akira and Akechi work together on a few of those and Akechi teaches him how not to be fooled by rotten adults. This all goes quite wholesome, but at that point the interrogation nor the black mask reveal had happened yet. The story is early and fresh, not even having picked up the pace. It almost feels like Akechi either tried learning how Akira’s mind works, or honestly just wanted to spend time with someone he felt like was similar to him. All of this gets revoked though when he massively insults him at the end of the game, making it hard to put this in canon. It might be that Akechi was trying to give himself a chance, because Akira was probably the first person who could handle Akechi just like how he is and also accepted him just like that - since that is what Akira does with everyone throughout the game and also gets complimented and aknowleged for - but instead Akechi couldn’t stop himself and pulled through with the rest of his plans. Looking at it from another side, taking this from the anime into consideration makes the next thing and points even worse.

Last is the interrogation, probably one of the most well-known scenes in the whole game, that I want to analyse further. To begin with, Akira finds himself getting arrested due to Akechi’s betrayal. While it is not exactly explained how, it is obvious that Akechi lead the police in since only Metaverse app users can enter the Metaverse. If you have a non-user nearby, you can pull them into it. Akechi probably did this beforehand, told them to hide and gave them either a time limit or symbol. After the fight against Sae Futaba picks up enemy readings, so many that they’re being surrounded. Akira and the Phantom Thieves part ways and the leader makes all the attention go to himself so that the others can escape. In the end he gets ambushed, cuffed up and knocked out by drugs. What the player does not know is that the group had known about Akechi’s plan all along and they had to play along. All throughout Sae’s palace, Akira knew he would most probably be cuffed up by the end, but it was necessary to let it happen. Otherwise they would never be able to defeat Akechi. I would like to add that this in particular sounds pretty traumatizing and stressful as well. Moving forward and the Phantom Thieves’ plan succeeding, Akechi is unknowingly being dragged into the Metaverse. He outright plans to kill Akira, which reveals his true motive on why he worked with them on Sae’s palace in the first place. The Phantom Thieves are blocking his path of the mental shutdowns and destroying his father. It is so soon that he cannot lose due to them. He is smart about it and wants to kill their leader. Once again and as stated earlier, Akechi doesn’t feel empathy and he has killed before. He gets things done so that they are beneficial to what he needs to do further, just like how it was beneficial for him to work with the Thieves together for at least a while. Be that figuring out how they work, or just messing with them. What he doesn’t know is the person in the interrogation room is the cognitive version of Akira. He is only in there, because he just entered Sae’s palace and in her cognition Akira is in the interrogation room, which she does not have much control of. Therefore, it keeps being the interrogation room instead of anything Casino related. Akechi proceeds to shoot an innocent guard and then Akira. While doing so, he seems like on a high, fully enjoying it getting rid of him and it is almost uncomfortable to watch that is how good it is made. It is Akechi’s first time he kills someone in the real world, but it doesn’t seem to be much different for him. He shoots Akira right in the head when he has nowhere to go, tied up and completely drugged to a point that both in the game and anime he can’t talk properly and even passes out. The state Akira is in is portrayed very well and just underlines the atmosphere further. A murderer just aiming at their helpless victim. Akechi puts the gun in his hand to report it as a suicide and leaves. He never shows any remorse when they meet again, only throwing in that the two might possibly would have become friends if having met earlier. He does not mention the faked death, because there is nothing to say. It might be, because both know Akechi wanted to do it. It was necessary for his path and nobody, especially not someone like Akira, would be standing in his way. Shippers defend this situation, saying Akechi had to kill Akira. To some extent, I would analysis this as true and say that it was a possibly way of getting rid of the Phantom Thieves and continuing his plan, but is your first idea really murder to this? In such a special way? Concealing it as a suicide and not have any respect to the person you just killed? It is unlikely as smart as Akechi is that this was the only possible option he had regarding on how he would get rid of the Phantom Thieves or their leader. Killing the person is just probably the most convenient one to Akechi and again, he does not feel for others properly, since he has never learned how to. This is why he is able to plan this, kill someone he acted like a friend with, saw multiple times for weeks and just walk away. In conclusion that means it is not because he had to and also not because he wanted to in particular, but because Akechi did not care and therefore made it possible to just shot him and continue with his life. It is one of the most important scenes in the whole game and does a lot to the development for all three characters involved (Sae, Akechi and Akira) yet shippers throw it under a bus with the sole statement that he had to.

Putting everything above together, the major moments these two had, shipping Akira and Akechi is complicated and probably not the best.

To finally conclude my opinion to this. In another world, Akechi could learn a lot from Akira. He has a lot of empathy for others and wants to help, which Akechi lacks. It would have been good for him and the part where Akechi mentioned that they might have become friends if met earlier made me emotional as someone who does not support it in a romantic way. In this moment, I thought of them as friends. I thought myself thinking of what would have been if they had met one or two years earlier. Two people who get better through each other and learn from each other. As much as I love this character trait from Akira, I have had my personal fair shares that having this can be negative at times. It would be good for him to have someone that shows him the opposite or at least a middle path. Both characters go All-Out on this. It is either full on empathy or complete lack of empathy. Either you want to save everyone or you’re okay with killing whoever as long as you obtain your ultimate goals.

Many people have stated already that the ship is quite abusive. Anything that comes out of Akechi’s mouth towards Akira in both game and anime (I’m only referencing the anime since the last two times because the manga is barely at Futaba’s arc yet) after revealing his true motives, is negative. Either he insults him directly or the way he lives, just because he found someone that reminds him of himself deep inside if he wants to or not. That gives him no right to act like this, even when psychology is complex. And if you want to defend this, it gives him no right to shoot him and actually visibly enjoy it – which you cannot deny and a lot of people in the fandom stated as well. He didn’t have to, but he did. He wasn’t forced to, but he did it. I wonder if Akechi tells Akira he hates him for the fact that he did make him feel something. Not in a romantic way, again, but more in a way of empathy and this feeling of friendship and he knew he had to stop this.

There are a lot of good people in the fandom fan of his complex character. I don’t necessary like Akechi as a character, but I find him interesting and good to talk about. As for liking or hating him…the interrogation scene happened the way it happened let’s just leave it at that. Sadly, there are also a lot of people in the fandom who will shove this ship down your throat. Somehow, it is superior to them and it should be canon. I have seen so many tweets and Tumblr posts, especially with Royal and its’ third semester that genuinely leave me concerned. What started as 3AM ramble to my friend ended up being this 5000 words essay on why the situations and character traits stated above get taken out of context or misunderstood by shippers. It goes further when you find out that some people ship it because it is abusive to begin with. They acknowledge it and love it and while there are more important things in life than this, I just found it too concerning and also very annoying at one point, I had to make an analysis about it and clear some things up. I have blocked a lot of tags regarding this ship and I still see it every day in the fandom and get attacked if I say something against it, so I just made this post, knowing that people will eventually get mad at it. But, I honestly really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed writing about Akechi’s character. He is interesting, complex and there is so much to talk about him, but do I ship him with my favourite video game character? Hell nah.

If you want to add something to this, feel free to. I also enjoy respectful and normal discussion about this! I researched a lot for this, re-watched a few anime and game scenes and wrote for a total of 7 hours. If you enjoyed it or it made you think a little, it would be kind to let me know. I haven’t written anything in a while and my last character analysis was years ago, so this was quite a challenge, but knowing how popular this ship is and how much worse it got with Royal’s existence, I had to put this out. I’m going to be honest here. If they would’ve met a few years earlier, who knows if this wouldn’t have become one of my ships (I don’t interact in a lot of shipping to begin with so), because the basis of it is nice. But then the actual plot happens. All this stuff from the interrogation until the end happens and shippers just dismiss it or try to make it sound less bad. Like it’s the actual plot. It’s there. This is how P5 goes down. Akira’s one of the most traumatized characters I’ve come across in fiction and Akechi does a fair share to that. Don’t just dismiss that so your ship can be cute. It won’t, I’m sorry. And if you want to come at me for shipping in general, I as well ship something with complex and interesting dynamics within this game. It’s appealing, but not like this.

Thank you for reading this if you got through all of it! I seriously appreciate it and my non-existent sleep does to! - May

#persona 5 #p5 #persona #akira kurusu #ren amamiya #goro akechi #video game #analysis #persona 5 analysis

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abloomntime · 3 years

Text

A Bloom In Time Ch6 A Tale Of A Prince,Queen,And Princess Of Flowers

(Warning: Death scene in this chapter. I do not know Snatcher's or The Florist's real names so Im making my own headcannon names for the two. Also mentioning of Death near the end of the chapter.)

You may have heard this story but not in the correct version you might've thought. Gather around children and I'll tell you the story of a Prince of Shadows, A Queen of Golden Hair, and an honorary Princess of Flowers. And it all took place one thousand years ago. Way before you or I was born.

Once upon a time there was a planet called Subconia and there are many different cultures and people who live on this world, but the two kingdoms we shall explore was two kingdoms that don't exist anymore. A thousand years ago there lived two kingdoms who lived side by side. The MUCH larger Kingdom Of Subcon, and the tinier Kingdom of Subconette. Though these two kingdoms shared similar names and people, they were worlds apart. A lone Queen ruled over Subconette while a kind King and Queen ruled over Subcon. Years passed as the kingdoms continued to stand, until one fateful day three children were born. A beautiful little princess with hair of the sun was born to the lone queen and a handsome baby boy of equal beauty was born to the Subcon kingdom. Their names? Princess Vanessa and Prince Philip of the Subcon Kingdoms.

Did you all remember me mentioning a third child born? Ah! Good. You're paying attention to my old tale.

Yes. A third child was born, but not of royal blood. A young girl, with hair of rose red and eyes of ocean blue was born to a small farming family just on the outskirts of the kingdom of Subcon, but it was fate that decided her role in the future. Her name? Poppy Rose Bloomington...But I'm getting a little ahead of myself aren't I? Let us proceed with the two lives of the royals before the three intertwined.

As months went by, the Prince and Princess's parents deemed it so that the two would be betrothed in holy matrimony, a union to bring the two kingdoms together at last and bring peace to them all. As the amount of years grew, so did the beauty of the princess. Her skin, was very fair and her hair a beautiful yellow rivalling any gold treasure, with a voice as tender and soft as velvet. Not a woman in the kingdoms could rival her own beauty....Or so she thought. Ever since she was small her mother always made sure Vanessa could have anything a young lady wanted. Servants, good food, exotic jewelry, expensive dresses, anything was hers at a moment's demand and she relished in the fact of being a perfect princess like in those fairytales her mother always read her, always fantasizing about her perfect fairytale like with her Prince Charming and having that perfect white wedding. And that spoiled thinking would ultimately lead this girl to doom. Her mother building her up so and giving in to every request only made her want what was truly a fantasy. An actual fairytale perfect life, whether anybody liked it or not. She fell hard for the handsome young prince of brown hair and handsome features. From the time she could understand to speak, her mother always told her Prince Philip was her betrothed, and were to her married when they grew. Her betrothed.....Her Prince. ALL HERS AND NO ONE ELSE'S!!! She would always be the kind Princess her Prince deserved and he WOULD be the Prince she knew he could be.

Prince Philip was more clear minded than given credit for. The young prince was a kind hearted young boy who cared for his people greatly and wanted to better himself and his country. Therefore it would only make sense for him to want to study the laws governing his kingdom so he may better them. And so his studies began. From a young age the boy studied laws enough to make his parents proud he was taking his studies seriously and at the same time was often taken on visits to meet his future beloved. It was love at first sight....at least at first it was. She was so beautiful and kind and wanted to spend time with him all the time. It was a kinda god send for someone who had no siblings or other children to play with. Having someone your age around you could play and talk to with was exciting. And her beauty only grew over time as well as his love for her, how couldn't he love someone as beautiful and kind as Vanessa? She was perfect.....Too perfect. Things couldn't last forever unfortunately. Vanessa's poor mother had started coming down with an illness that slowly started to make her waste away as her daughter grew and so he tried to be there of course and help console his future beloved, which is where fate intertwined these fated lovers. You see, if there was one thing that Vanessa loved more than anything was attention. Whether it be from her servants telling her how beautiful she was, or compliments....She LOVED attention from her Prince and ...'lightly suggested' it would be nice to receive things. And things she received, flowers mostly.

Did you notice how I pointed out flowers? Good eye.

You see, Poppy was always born with a green thumb, being from a long line of farmers of course helped. She could grow anything from potatoes to peach trees, but ever since she was small, she had always had one love. Flowers! Didn't matter what kind, she always loved growing them just as much as Vanessa loved receiving beautiful flowers from her prince. Which lead us to the fated meeting of the Florist. Poppy worked her whole life to build up her own flower stand and by the age of fifteen she had achieved it. A small flower stand within the Subcon Village, filled with lots of Merry children and near the famous vacation home of the famous Princess Vanessa. Sometimes she'd be lucky enough to see the beautiful princess walking around the village talking to the children but one fateful day to Poppy's surprise a young handsome man with brown hair and a golden crown on his head came to visit the small stand of flowers. Buying the most beautiful roses Poppy had before leaving. And this young ones is how a friendship began. Almost everyday of the week the prince would stop by the Florist's stands and pick out a new bundle of pretty flowers for his mourning and beautiful princess and everyday she would smile and talk to the prince. Business sales went up and she was giddy a well known man had taken interest in her flowers. Then he started asking what she'd recommend he'd get a lady since she was one, she proudly pointed to daises, and tulips, and tigerlillies. So many to choose from, so many to give. Gradually their conversations turned more business like and an unlikely bond began to weave with them. A friendship he had never had beyond any personal life or otherwise. He learnt her name too. Poppy. Named after those cute red poppy flowers she loved so much, with a spark and feisty temper to match. Made him laugh a couple times when she pointed out something snarky he liked. Slowly melting his heart with her passion and tales of hard work she had to do to get where she was know. And he admired her for that.

Unfortunately fairytales don't last beyond pages, and the Prince learnt that the hard way when Vanessa convinced her still ill mother to make a new law. Telling him he's become fat and shouldn't eat bacon anymore to watch his health. Poppy was confused at such a ridiculous law and her friend was obviously upset about it, but he passed it off as Vanessa wanting to make sure he was healthy as her mother was still dying slowly. Then slowly by surely things only began to get worse. Vanessa wanting attention was fine and he vowed to give her all the attention she deserved, but now she demanded ALL his attention ever and always began scrutinizing him for not being Princely enough now that he began his advanced studies and would go back home within a few months time to finish his more difficult studies under one of the kingdom's best tutors. His only escape was when Vanessa was discussing her future duties with her mother and also taking her Princess classes with her tutors. He was then free to walk around and do as he pleased if only for a few hours a day, those were spent reading or walking around the village, but he learnt pretty quickly to bring some kind of gift or trinket back for her as an excuse for why he'd been out. Vanessa's jealousy could rival that of a child. He never intended for it to happen of course but the strain of the relationship getting to him and the way he looked so tired all the time. Barely smiling when he came in to get Vanessa more flowers. Against her better judgement, Poppy asked why he wasn't smiling anymore and let him rant about his day. Which was a daily thing for them after that. Him coming in, Poppy letting him rant, then he'd buy flowers and leave. Rinse and repeat for the next two years to a few weeks before their twentieth birthdays with Poppy cracking jokes and trying to be helpful and the prince slowly growing more and more fond over her unlady-like snorts and giggles, to her bold statements, to her bright smile always trying to cheer up her friend. All the while Vanessa continued to go down this rabbithole of perfection. He still made excuses for her. Her mother was dying, she was going to be Queen soon, she wasn't ready-.....Well for being Queen that is. Vanessa had already planned out their lives together and even built a BLOODY nursery for their future child that wasn't even born yet. One in her castle and one in the mansion he was staying at, but Vanessa would visit very often. Even stay a few days.

But what really concerned his friend was the hair incident. When he came in with his usual shoulder length brown hair was chopped up and a bad bleached blonde color, with brown patches here and there. He claimed he was alright. Vanessa just wanted to surprise him by doing his hair while he slept. He could tell his friend was concerned and told him as much. He smiled knowing at least someone cared about his well being. Then came the last month he stayed and then off he went back home he went. To spend his final year of tutoring under the wonderful Lady Winchester. She was a kind old lady who taught his father before him and knew the laws better than anyone. He bid his last day there to his beloved Vanessa who cried and begged him not too, and once he fled her clutches......uh Hugged her good bye, he couldn't help but feel very releived he'd get to spend a whole year away from her as hash as it may be. But he did make sure to bid his friend good bye as well. Having one last conversation and sharing a couple jokes before he finally left.

That year would be the hardest for our ill fated lovers and the florist friend. While the Prince was able to breath and see his loved ones again, he couldn't help but miss her. Not Vanessa surprisingly but with all the serious laws and classes he missed their little visits when she always cheered him up and her beautiful smile and that passion she always had for anything she set her mind too.....It wasn't very long before he came to the sudden realization. The prince had slowly but surely fallen in love with the young red headed gal. So many emotions hit him at once. Happiness and guilt being the biggest two. For one, he was engaged to Vanessa, betrothed to be married a few months after all his studies are over. He couldn't go against his parents or break Vanessa's heart after so many years of being together, and she needed him. They had been exchanging letters and learnt her mother had sadly passed during an accident. While he couldn't attend her coronation or her mother's funeral, he still sent her many letters. There was still a piece of him that loved and cared about the young kind girl he grew up with, but not the lady she had become....But his heart was tugging towards the Princess of Flowers as he nicknamed her. The sweet scent always following her around. He often found himself happily thinking about his friend....But that's all they could ever be....Just friends. Vanessa was still his priority as glum as that made him and he had a duty to be there for his future wife. Besides. He was only delaying the inevitable by studying, soon they'd be wed and he would be together with her always.......Though that thought did NOT put him at ease at all. Vanessa in the mean time only drove further into her perfect fairytale madness. WIth her mother passing and her Prince not being able to call her his princess anymore, she was determined to then make her prince her King Instead and keep him all to herself. Jealousy spiking whenever he mentioned this Lady Winchester teaching him, he spoke so fondly and highly of his teacher. What did SHE have Vanessa didn't?! Vanessa was perfect. She made sure every INCH of her was, he just didn't put in enough effort on his part. All he needed was her back so he could know where his true place lied.

When the prince ultimately returned to spend just a holiday week at the summer house before their wedding within a few months time.....It was worse than ever. Vanessa demanded more attention of him. Accused him of liking the lady in the letters he had sent her. Said she would be staying in the summer house with him until their wedding to make sure he wasn't getting cold feet. Still despite all this and him trying to calm her down, he still made poor excuses for her and justified his betrothes's behavior towards him. Falling deeper and deeper into his now rare visits to his friend and falling more and more in love with her as the drew on. Knowing he could never really tell her how he really felt about her. Until one fateful day, the end of that week was the royals anniversary, the prince wanted to appease his beloved by getting her a beautiful bracelet and flowers for their anniversary as a gift to her. She deserved something special for the occasion before he went back, and soon his lonely self went on to that same little stand to but some flowers for his beautiful bride to be. Unfortunately he had used all his remaining pons to pay the jeweler for the bracelet .....but it-....He-......He gave the florist the bracelet as payment. One last gift from him he'd ever get to give her sadly.

For you see, the princess's jealousy had reached a boiling point. Delusionly thinking that her prince was courting another woman. In her range when he returned to the castle, a grim fate awaited him in the form of a curse and becoming locked within the cellar death did they part. Their kingdoms both in ruins from the curse. Anyone who didn't fall ill to the curse, fled the country never to return again. Vanessa now trapped within her own home, and the prince becoming a spirit of malice no one dares to challenge.

But what of the Florist you ask? Was she frozen by the Jealous Queen, or escaped with many other people? Well, we're about to find out.

***********************************************************************************************

Cold. Darkness. All of it came rushed over so suddenly. Just like the two heavily armored guards carrying her kicking and screaming self towards the dreaded summer house that housed the royals deep in the snowed up world. That winter suddenly came that year unexpectedly with the freezing winds suddenly whipping around her when she just closed up her stand for the day, pocketing the expensive bracelet she was given as payment and what coins she received as payment, ready to go home. She didn't make much from her flower stand she always wanted, but that was always fine and dandy. She loved the smiles on the children's faces when they'd buy single flowers for their parents, or if she'd sell them flowers in exchange for small things like food. It was one way to get to eat around here. But the chills filling the air that after noon followed by the loud thumping sounds coming towards her were new. Especially when all of a sudden two giant armored men stood over her and seized her without warning. So naturally she resisted and fought against her captors as they took her away.

"LET THE PECK GO OF ME!! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!!"

The farther down the path they went the more horrified she became. There was ...snow. IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER!! Harsh white and cold wind glared all around her as she gawked around wildly....and then shrieked at the sight of a frozen person as they passed. Their feared expression forever frozen on their face. The poor girl went silent from the numb cold as those blue eyes widened in horror at all the suurounding frozen people as they walked past, never easing up on her grip, or giving any emotion to anything around them as the horrified woman went limp in their arms from shock as they approached the black gates and beyond that was the manor. Her blue eyes flicked up to it. It looked more menacing than it usually did as the entire house loomed over them the closer they got and a sudden feeling of dread filled her up to the very core of her soul as they were swallowed by the shadows and even more coldness bearing down on her. The guards didn't stop until they were going up the stairs and into the home. It was as dark and cold as the outside. Even more so if that was possible. She was still frozen and scared in the grip of the guards when the doors opened and they forced her inside. The inside of the manor was colder than the outside is that was even possible, and if she wasn't already in shock, she would've shrieked at what was awaiting them just a few feet away from the door.

In the darkness of cold and shadows, a hunched over monster made it's way over to them but dared not come further than five feet giving a hiss. Like she was a skunk and this red eyed thing was afraid of her. How strange, but that didn't stop her stop pointing a hand at her, and in possibly the most scariest, raspy voice Poppy had ever heard. Said:

"Take her to the room and lock her away. ...I can't to look at her for as my prince had done. Perhaps locking away her forever will teach her a lesson about gazing into another man's eyes who belong TO ME!!"

"...WAIT!! WHAT?!" She attempted to struggle again but their strength was too much.

Sadly be the fate of the innocent florist wasn't a pleasant one. As she was marched up the stairs to the very third floor of the manor, the coldness and shadows started to become too much to the point of her screaming and struggling body starting to be overcome by them all. the long hallway they were taking her down ended in a single pair of double doors, the doors suurounded by locks that haven't been locked yet. As her weakly numbing body was pushed into the empty room, she looked up just in time to see the two heavily armored guards slam the doors behind her. She struggled to stand with the cold seeping through all her body but wobbled to the door, vision blurring with nothing but darkness. Even as all the clicks and locks of the locks were put into place and the floor jostling with the heavy footsteps of the guards stopping away, she fell to her knees against the door and banged her fist against it. Screaming to be let out as the coldness and blackness seeped more into the room and still overtook her form.

Until it completely consumed her and upon the floor she laid. Beautiful red hair and blue eyes preserved by frost. Until a thousand years later. .....when a miracle happened...

And she once again got to take a breath.

#flowercrown #A Hat In Time #a hat in time snatcher #a hat in time florist #The Florist #Florist #snatcher x florist #Snatcher

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msjr0119 · 3 years

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Birthday One Shot

A/N1: So it’s my girls birthday today. My favourite drunk partner. Hope you have had a fabulous day @drakexwillow !!! I can’t wait to have an alcoholic drink with you and fall asleep again 😆

A/N2: Some of the dialogue used was actually texts between us. I’ve rushed this as I’ve been busy passing out all weekend - bypass any stupid grammar mistakes 🤣

A/N3: Thank you to your other half, ‘Beany’ for helping me out with some things- I hope he didn’t spoil it for you ❤️👍🏼

Book: The Royal Romance (A/U)

Pairing: Drake Walker (Michiel Huisman) x Willow Downing (Jessica Lowndes)

Song inspirations:

Gun Machine Kelly- Drunk Face

Gun Machine Kelly- Hangover Cure

Mood- 24kGoldn and Ian Dior

Warnings: Adult language, mention of sex, mention of being drunk.

Tags: Thinking of those who like Drake x MC especially Willow- don’t feel obliged to read if you don’t want to 😊

@drakexwillow @burnsoslow @axwalker @annekebbphotography @kingliam2019 @kimmiedoo5 @i-bloody-love-drake-walker @bascmve01 @yukinagato2012 @lodberg @cordonianroyalty @texaskitten30 @nomadics-stuff

****

Drake Walker had been dating Willow Downing for many years now. Every birthday that came around he always struggled with new ideas about what to do for the love of his life. At times he was tempted to ask for advise from his closest friends Maxwell and Sophie- however, if he did that he knew that it would just end in a disaster. A big drunken mess. He would usually impersonate a babysitter for the three of them, especially Willow. Thinking back to past birthdays, she wasn’t a bad drunk. Or was she? There had been times when she would get the ‘munchies’- gather food everywhere then not clean up after herself. Rice. That was the worse time for this common food reoccurrence. If it wasn’t the issue of food, there was the spilt drinks residue surrounding the place instead. Which Drake had to clean up. One of the worse ‘Willow moments’ since they had began dating had been when she vomited in their bed- and all down herself, Drake had turned into a domesticated goddess for the night. Stripping the bed, before assisting her in the shower. Oh, then there was the time when Maxwell and Willow had gotten matching tattoos of a peacock with the words ‘House Beaumont Rules’ sprawled underneath it. That night was karma in Drake’s eyes. Regardless of her drunk past antics, he loved her with all of his heart and wouldn’t change it for anything. She was the one.

****

🎶Why you always in a mood?

Fuckin' 'round, actin' brand new

I ain't tryna tell you what to do

But try to play it cool

Baby, I ain't playing by your rules

Everything look better with a view🎶

“I’m not in a mood!” Drake defended himself- as his other half entered the kitchen singing. Yes, he was known to be the moody one. The one that always wore a scowl. But for once he wasn’t ‘in a mood’. Not for now anyway.

“Sometimes you are. But no, it’s a song. You really need to get down with the kids Drake and watch TikTok.” Snuggling behind him, it was the best option as she knew exactly what his expression would be like. Hearing a heavy sigh escape from him- soon she felt him relax, both feeling content.

Fucking TikTok. He muttered to himself. The social media app had become his worse nightmare recently. When they laid in bed on a night, she would promise him that she was only watching it for five minutes. That five minutes soon turned into an hour, which then elaborated into sometimes three or four hours. By that time he had fallen asleep. No intimacy. It’s a phase- she will soon get bored. Again, he wouldn’t change his relationship with her.

****

Later on that night after they had eaten, Drake had put one of Willow’s favourite TV series on. Usually she would be ‘glued’ to it- no matter how many times she had seen this specific episode.

“I thought that you’d want to watch The Office? But instead you’re just listening to that garbage. Can’t we just have one night with no TikTok or listening to him?” After his original snappy attitude, that turned eventually into a plead- Drake attempted to make eye contact with her. Knowing full well that she wasn’t fully listening to him.

“But, he’s amazing. Gorgeous. Sexy.....” Swooning deep down inside as she expressed this, Willow eventually locked eyes with a now pissed off boyfriend. Before TikTok became a ‘thing’, she was in a similar situation whenever a new game for the PlayStation was released. Karma at its best.

“Obviously not as sexy as you though Mr Walker.” Attempting to redeem her previous words, Drake responded with only an eye roll. Maybe she was slightly addicted to Machine Gun Kelly and TikTok. In all honesty, lockdown was to blame for this ‘addiction’. Being stuck in the house. With nothing to do. Well, there was other things to do. Most time spent to begin with was the two of them entangled in each other.

“I’m sorry, Drake. Allow me to listen to one song, then we will watch this- no phones. Just Drillow time.” A smile finally crept upon his face. Finally she was cooperating with him in his mind.

“Sounds like a good deal. Which song are you going to choose?” He asked, not that he was bothered or interested. Just eager to spend time without any distractions.

“I like too many songs- I’ll try and pick a favourite...’Drunk face’. It’s off his new album. ‘Hangover cure’ is also a good one by him.” I bet it is.

“I wouldn’t know. I haven’t listened to it.” Faking a sincere yet interested tone of voice, Willow was still debating which song to hum and listen along too. Just hurry up and chose one.

“I can’t believe he’s with Megan Fox and he keeps using her in his music videos it’s so cute.” Getting easily distracted again, Drake bit his lip as she did this in a silent frustration.

“I thought that Megan Fox was still with Brian Austin what’s his face?” Surprisingly, he wasn’t aware of their unexpected split when it was breaking news in the show business world.

“No they split up the start of the year I think it was....I didn’t think they’d look that cute together and pictures of them together he towers over her and it makes them look adorable.” Like us, Drake compared the celebrity couple to themselves as he always towered over a ‘shorter’ Willow.

🎶Wake up, still drunk from last night

The first dates are always uncomfortable

Stayed up, I couldn't sleep last night

I'll admit, I'm a little dysfunctional

Are you okay with the fact I'm a little off track, to be honest

I've been through relationships, I've never been in love, but I want this 🎶

“Anyway, let’s finish watching this before my birthday tomorrow.” Finally placing her phone out of reach, Drake couldn’t quite believe that she had detached herself from it. Almost hallucinating due to the fact.

****

The two of them didn’t quite finish watching the episode. One thing led to another. Clothes were scattered all over the floor, before Drake had carried Willow bridal style to their bedroom. The rest of the night was bliss, an early gift for the birthday girl. Walker style.

Knowing that it was now officially her birthday, she snuggled into the soft warm sheets with a content feeling. Subconsciously she had dreamt about how Drake would make her day special. As he always did. Rolling over, there was no sign of him. Blinking her eyes she believed that she could possibly still be half asleep- that was until the realisation of the sun peeping through the cracks of the blinds. Forcing herself out of bed, she searched the house for Drake with no avail. Wondering what he was upto, she put those thoughts to the side for now and got ready for the day. Her day. A day that she had planned to be filled with fun and laughter with the people closest to her. He will be back before I’m finished.

An hour later, the wanderer still hadn’t returned. Willow had become slight panic stricken before the banging on the door distracted her pondering any further.

“Happy birthday!” The two friends shouted enthusiastically before pulling her in for a group hug. A hug that could have potentially suffocated her. “Where’s Drake?”

“I... I don’t know. It’s not like him to leave without saying goodbye at least, Soph.”

“Well it’s eleven o’clock. Never too early for a birthday cocktail. It’s the evening somewhere in the world. Maxwell sort the birthday girl out with a drink.”

“Yes ma’am. Come on, Lo.” Sophie watched the two of them disappear out of sight before dialling the number on her phone.

“Drake. Where are you?”

“I’m just getting Lo a present, I’ll be back soon Soph. I promise.”

“A present? How long have you been together? You should be more prepared Drake! You know it’s her birthday. This is not the time to go awol, Walker. Or at least explain to her where you are going!”

“Sophie, just please.... just distract her with some shit off of TikTok. I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

An hour or so later after Sophie’s and Drake’s brief conversation- there was a quiet knock at the door, which made them all question who it could be. They had arranged to have a quiet time together as a foursome. Threesome at the moment. As far as they was concerned in the morning; the three of them didn’t want to wake up still drunk from last night. They were still young, wasting their youth. Promising to grow up next summer. They didn’t want Drake to always be in a mood.

“You girls carry on drinking, I’ll get the door.” Maxwell suggested as he leapt off of the bar stool.

“May I help you?” Maxwell questioned as he peered through the peep hole with one eye shut and the other attempting to examine the mystery person. In all honesty, it didn’t help that he was already slightly tipsy. He would be useless as an eye witness.

“It’s me you idiot! Are you going to open MY door?”

“You sound like Drake, but you don’t look like him. How do I not know that you’re here to rob us by impersonating my bestie?”

“One. Do you think that I’d dress like this if I was going to rob you? Two... you are not my bestie Beaumont!”

“Wow! You’re really good at this whole Drake Walker act.”

“Just fucking let me in Maxwell, before I throttle you!”

“How much is Drake paying you? He would actually say something like that to me... okay, I’ll ask you a couple of questions. If you get them right you can come in Drake.” Empathising the name, Maxwell still wasn’t convinced that it really was Drake. His drunk mind wondered why he wouldn’t just use his key and allow himself in.

“What’s my middle name?”

“Percival.”

“Lucky guess. What’s my peacocks name back home?”

“Petunia. Now get the chain off and let me in!” Oh that’s why he couldn’t get in. I forgot that I put the chain on when me and Sophie first arrived. Doh! Safety first!

“Drake it is you!” No shit Sherlock. “You look a complete knobhead by the way. Welcome to Chateau A La Walker.”

“Leave the French talking to someone who can actually express the language, Max.”

“Colson?” Drake sighed looking at Willow. Knowing how ridiculous this whole situation was. “Drake?”

“Tonight Matthew I’m going to be Colson Baker- Machine Gun Kelly. I’ve even got some nail varnish so you can do what Megan does to him in that music video. I’ve got red, pink, purple, black........”

“Drake... I like him and his music. But I love you. I love you for you... why are you doing this?”

“Do you love me more than him and TikTok?” Now that is a predicament to be in. Hmmm...

“Of course I do, you idiot.”

“Thank fuck for that! This wig was itching me too much.” Relieved to finally take it off, he flung it onto the floor- not caring how much it had cost him to recreate somebody else’s look.

“You don’t suit blonde hair anyway. These tattoos are so realistic.” Willow smiled softly towards him.

“Erm....”

“Erm?”

“Well... the reason... that... they look so realistic.....”

“Oh my god you didn’t!”

“Well these ones are just stick on ones. I did have one done this morning- hence why I’m late. I’m sorry.”

“I NEED TO SEE THIS!”

“You will later..... I promise.”

“He’s probably had it done on his arsehole or something? Can’t be as bad as Maxwell’s ‘Turn Back Now’ Pennywise balloon tattoo above his ass.” Sophie suggested and explained with an oblivious Maxwell not understanding why suddenly he was the clown of the group. Drake couldn’t help but blush thinking about his surprise tattoo, in his mind it was ridiculous- he had regretted it as soon as it had began.

“Drake? Are you going to show me? It is my birthday after all...” Fluttering her eyelashes, he was done for. Simple gestures such as these turned him into a big ball of mush.

“Follow me to the bathroom. I’ll show you....” Stripping off out of the ‘rapper’ clothes that he had borrowed to complete his MGK look- he wrapped a towel around him in a flash. Not wanting to spoil the surprise immediately.

“So... don’t laugh, Lo. On the count of three- okay?” She couldn’t contain her excitment, being too eager and intrigued about the tattoo- she quickly whipped the towel away.

“Oh my god. You had a tattoo in honour of me.... Don’t you ever, criticise me for getting a tattoo. The peacock one- I was drunk. You had no excuse to get this. I might actually cry- with laughter. I love you, Drake Walker. Best birthday present EVER! I’ll get us both a drink. Come back into the kitchen when you’re ready.”

Not so little Walker- property of Willow ⬇️

Those words would now be permanently written across his pubic bone. Yes, it would be humiliating if anybody other than Willow found out the true extent of this tattoo. But what would be more embarrassing was if she was to reject his second surprise of the day now her name was on him for life.

#choices trr #theroyalromance #the Royal Romance a/u #drake walker #michiel huisman #drake walker x mc #drake x Willow #drakexwillow #birthday girl #birthday one shot #tw adult language #tw mention of sex #tw drunk #maxwell beaumont #oc Sophie #Maxwell x Sophie

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cartoonfangirl1218 · 3 years

Text

Give them what they want ch. 2

Jordan leaned against the gym lockers as she admired the swim team leaving the pool from their meet especially a cute boy that she suspected to be the son of Merida considering his wild curly red hair.

”Hey" Dina poked her side, "What are you looking at?" "Him" Jordan pointed at the red head and Dina mock-gasped "Are you trying to make your girlfriend jealous?"

"Girlfriend?" Jordan stuttered uncertainly. Ever since her break up with Pierce she had been determined to move on. Aziz kept telling her it was a bad idea to repress the event like it never happened.

But Jordan knew she was right. She had to deal that those kind of things would always happen to her so she might as well continue on with her life. After all her parents were able to do that just fine after centuries of abusive masters.

So she just tried to keep her mind occupied enough as not to let unsavory thoughts remind her. And that included dating. Few dates here and there, one night stands at the most. Then she met Dina.

Dina was bubbly and fun, a nymph and follower of Dionysus whose partying had disturbing similarities to her parents. (Not that she wanted to explore any more of that. She would leave those complexes to Oedipus.)

Her go with the flow attitude was so refreshing compared to the other classmates who were so concerned with their reputation. Royal or popularity-wise. So far, Dina had been casual during their dates so for her to mention that she was her girlfriend all of a sudden was surprising.

"Did I stutter?" Dina laughed, "I want you all to myself, babe."

"O-okay" Jordan pressed a kiss to her cheek. "So do you wanna go out tonight? I was thinking going to this new club run by Calix. You know, Circe's son. He said he would get us into the VIP room."

"Sure" Dina twirled a strand of her purple hair, "You know that dress you gave me yesterday would look so good on the dance floor."

Jordan bit her lip to keep from grimacing. As sweet as Dina was, she was about as subtle as a brick to the head in what she wanted. When Jordan had asked her out she saw Dina's eyes light up with the all so familiar gleam of a person that won the lottery and was thinking of all the things she could buy.

All through their date Dina kept mentioning how "cool" it would be to have her genie powers. Hinting at things she would like but didn't have money to buy. How nice Jordan was, that she was probably so generous.

Usually Jordan would have shut those hints down right away and ditch her date but that day she was tired of it. She was tired of fighting with people about getting wishes. Making a scene as she explained why she hated being objectified and how used she felt while the other person just yelled at how selfish she was. She was tired of people's nice acts stopping in a second flat when she refused. So she granted her wish. And the wish after that.

And the wish after that.

Okay, Dina may not be dating her because she had actual feelings or any interest of starting a romantic attraction. She wanted wishes like everybody else. But Jordan reasoned to herself it was better this way. She didn't have to have any high expectations or heartbreak that Dina only was sticking around for more wishes.

She knew what Dina really wanted and she was fine with it. In return she got some semblance of romance as Dina pretended she was dating her for any reason but wishes. She just gave the wish quickly and moved on.

"But.." Dina started "I was thinking I would look really cute in that kind of dress only in teal and possibly while in a limo. I mean I just got my license and I would really love to drive a limo first."

"Done" Jordan said quickly trying to make the whole talk of the wish of the day go as fast as possible. "I'll see you at your dorm later."

"You are the best girlfriend ever!" Dina squealed, kissing her passionately on the lips. Jordan gave a thin smile in return. Dina, she tried. She tried to play off hee wishes as nothing and then would start piling on the compliments and affection the rest of the day. Jordan secretly hated it. It was so fake. It made her feel cheap and undeserving.

"Jordan don't overthink it. Just let her do it." She told herself as Dina strutted away.

Sometimes it was okay when Dina did that even though she tried waaay too hard. The focus was always on how generous she was with her wishes, that she "spoiled" her, she was too good. If Jordan had a wish, she would wish that Dina's compliments would be based on something like her personality, maybe how hot she was. Yeah, how attractive she was, that would be nice.

"Jordan?" She heard the familiar huse, slightly nervous tone of Jane.

"Yeah" Jordan snapped out of her mental reverie.

"I saw what you did for Dina. Why?" Jane sidled closer to her so the few left in the deserted gym hallway would hear. Not that they would bother. If wishes and magic weren't being offered, students generally tend to ignore them.

Jordan decided to go for the usual direct approched. She didn't usually sugar-coat things but with Jae she was more honest than usual. At least she didn't have to lie through her teeth about how totally fine she was with the magic ban. Besides Jane had a way that seemed to see through your soul or at least pester you until she heard the truth. "She's dating me for wishes. I give them to her. Then she tells me how amazing and great I am."

Jane looked absolutely befuddled at her blunt answer. "But but you always said you hated that. People dating you for wishes I mean."

"Yeah, I still do." Jordan said simply, "But I can't stop that. So I decided to go with it. I mean at least I have the choice of who I give wishes too."

"But..but that's so unfulfilling." Jane murmered

Jordan was surprised that Jane hit what she had been feeling on the spot. She had been feeling unfulfilled. All the bitterness and hatred she felt with her failed relationships had transferred to this relationship. Instead of hating herself for being stupid enough to believe someone would date her for her. She hated herself for giving in juse so she could be "loved."

"Sometimes but you know, we do have some nice moments." Which was true. In between the complimenting for wishes, and giving wishes they did have fun together. They did danced and partied and acted like a couple before the moment was ruined by Dina's sudden need for a wish.

"You don't need a relationship to be happy. Especially since you don't even have feelings for each other." Jane said

"I know that. I know that I should live myself and be happy. But you of all people should know how hard it is to take your mom's advice to heart." Jane shrank a little and blushed in remembrance of her actions during Coronation.

Jordan crossed her arms, thinking to herself. It was hard to be happy with her when she sometimes wondered if the fact no one seemed to see past her powers was that there was nothing there. She was nothing special or pretty or interesting. Maybe even a horrible person. A horrible, slefish, bitchy person no would hang out with. That her powers were the only thing at all redeeming of her. That kept people from shunning her or from snubbing her. That maybe..she dared to think that even her own adopted family kept her around as an friend for just that reason.

"And I don't need a friendship to be happy either. It should all be myself. But know what? I want someone else. I actually want to have that fairy tale romance that this whole place I built on with dreams and rainbows but I know I will never have it. So Dina and I may not love each other. She may be totally usng me but at least in the way she is using me I can pretend she likes me."

"But" Jane stammered

"Yes pretend. In reality I will never get it but at least if I let my mind drift I can pretend that she actually means what she is saying. Pretend she loves me. It's just so simple. It is so small. Everyone seems to have it but me."

"You can't substitute reality." Jane protested, eve the voice of reason.

"Jane, why are you being so unreasonable about this? Let me be! Let me be in my lying illusional bubble of happiness and pretend." Jordan hissed "Let me be happy for once."

"Jordan I don't think this will help at all in the long run. You'll just be unhappy and bitter."

"I'm already unhappy and bitter!" She snapped "I've stopped being truely content a long time ago. It's all lies but trust me, it is better."

"Nothing could be better than this. I understand what it's like that no one seems to see you beyond.." Jane began but Jordan put a hand up to interrupt her.

"You. Don't. Understand." Jordan annunciated, a habit when seething. "You barely knew or used you your powers since the VKs came. I've been dealing with this my whole life. And I am going to deal with it for the rest of eternity. We are not at all on the same level. You never will understand what it feels like when everyone asks for a wish before asking my name. You will never understand the pain of people insulting and rejecting and abandoning you at every turn that I don't give them what they want.“

“You don't understand how much I hate myself for giving in. How much I hate being needy enough to want to be complimented and kissed. You don't understand the exhaustion that no matter what other accomplishments I do no will see past my powers. And you especially don't understand the nightmares and the pain of someone using your own powers against you. And you should pray that you never will because I will tell you. It feels like they are trying to rip out your powers and mesh them for their own use. You will never feel that utter despair and brokenness and know that it will not be the only or the last time you'll feel it. Nor the haunting thoughts of when and who might do it next.”

So my reality is bitter. My reality is unhappy. I know my relationship is a utter lie. That it will be short and end with another one testifying my selfishness and how unreasonable I am about one simple wish. Those "teensy weensy" wishes that just only further prove that I am nothing. I'm just an wishing credit card to be desired and objectified. I'm not human. I don't have feelings."

"Jordan.. I.. maybe you should talk to.." Jane attempted to say something else. Perhaps take her to the guidance counselor or her mom.

"Spare me. I'm fully aware of what's happening and the state of our relationship and my own desperation. Don't pity me. And don't bother trying to fix it. There is no use. Accept it. I have."

All there was left to do was listen to Dina's sweet nothings and pretend that there was a possibility for her to live happily ever after.

#disney descendants #jane #daughter of fairy godmother #jordan #my fanfic #my fanfiction #give them what they want #chapter two

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cybersvoid · 2 years

Text

❥ Cursed [Sneak Peak]

──⇌••⇋──

♡ Pairings: Shigaraki x Reader

CW: Royal AU, Prince Shigaraki, Mentions of Abuse, Mentions of Death, etc.

──⇌••⇋──

Note: Here's a quick sneak peek at my upcoming piece. You guys voted, and Shigaraki won, but I might make Dabi a love interest later. Who knows, but here's a little of what I have so far.

──⇌••⇋──

“Y/N, straighten your posture.”

“Do I need to remind you of the rules while we’re here?” His voice was stern, it always was. Ever since you were young, he’s always been hard on you. You had figured it was due to your mother’s passing. You never met her before, only seeing a photograph of her once when you were playing in the basement. You hadn't seen your father smile before, but in that picture, he had a grin from ear to ear, with eyes so bright and full of… happiness. You wanted so desperately to see that smile for yourself, so with your child naivety getting the better of you, you brought the picture to him asking about your mother, hoping he would offer any sort of praise. Hoping that he would smile. But he didn’t. You were severely scolded for snooping and had ended up bedridden until your injuries had fully healed. You never asked about your mother or went into that basement again.

“No father, I know the rules. I’ll behave. I promise.”

“Words mean nothing if they are not followed by actions. The king is a very important man. Do not disappoint me.”

“... Yes, father.”

“Greetings to our sun, his majesty”

“No, she’s only seven.”

“Feel free to explore the garden. I have some little ones myself and they tend to favor it in comparison to the rest of the castle. Lots of room to play.”

“It’s so beautiful!” You grinned, as Emi chuckled behind you, “I wish I could explore all of it.”

“Hmm, well my lady, if you wish to explore the entire garden. What about a game of hide and seek?”

You frantically nodded your head, “Okay, what’s our word?”

“Well, how about daisy?”

“Okay, daisy it is!”

“Ah, hello?” You question curiously.

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not-majestic-bluenicorn · 4 years

Note

pirate!ateez what every member would do in the ship? their positions, how did they entered in the crew, etc, use your imagination!

Pirate!Ateez

Fandom: ATEEZ || Genre: Pirates AU || Relationship: None || Language: English || WC: 754 || Warnings: Mentions of injuries, death, and labor. || Author’s Note: Okay so, this is from an AU I’m working on, but I changed a few things so I don’t completely spoil the whole thing sksnsksn I’ll start with Hongjoong and then go in age order~

Hongjoong

Hongjoong is the youngest prince of a wealthy and wide kingdom. He really admires his oldest brother, who’s an expert in combat and navigation, and learns everything from him. After his oldest brother dies in battle, he decides to break ties with the rest of his family whom he doesn’t trust and go in search of a legendary treasure that his brother had tried to find while he was alive. This is how becomes captain of a ship and starts looking for a tribulation that’ll help him. (Keeping this one short cause I really don’t wanna spoil it).

Seonghwa

Seonghwa is the youngest son of a noble family of merchants. His parents are nice but absent, and his older brother is an asshole who likes to remind him that he’ll never achieve anything in life because well, Seonghwa can’t read. The crew found him after liberating a slave ship and decided to keep him; Seonghwa had chosen to escape his home after a particular fight with his brother, and he was captured. He is very skilled in sword fighting and is an expert in doing business. Seonghwa is charming and has a way of getting around with the locals in all of the places they visit, plus he has all of the contacts from his family’s business.

Yunho

Yunho is the ship’s quartermaster and Hongjoong’s childhood friend as well as his second in command back when they fought for the kingdom. He’s an expert in navigation and strategic planning, as well as an excellent fighter. Yunho grew up along with Hongjoong in the castle as an orphan; Hongjoong’s favoritism for him was what earned him a special place in the royal family as a protege, and he was allowed to receive the same education as the prince. He has sworn to himself that he will protect Hongjoong with his life.

Yeosang

Yeosang is the son of a middle class family and the ship’s Sailing Master. His father was a sailor and taught Yeosang everything he knew about navigating the waters before abandoning him and his mother, taking most of their fortune with him. This left them in a difficult situation of debt, so Yeosang decided to join the crew to get a part of the treasure and help his mother and free them from the debt and poverty his father left them in.

San

San’s backstory is perhaps the most complicated. He deserted from his country’s military because he didn’t like what they were doing anymore and joined the ship as the surgeon. He’s very serious and quiet until he starts getting along with the others better. Yet, everyone is certain there’s something he’s hiding, even if no one can quite pinpoint what it is.

Mingi

Mingi comes from a very small mining town from a small country. He’s an orphan, like many of the kids who lose their parents to the depths of the earths. Mingi never received an education and he can’t read or write, however he’s an expert with explosives an artillery, and has saved the lives of many people at the mines, which is what gains him the position of Master Gunner. He lost the lower half of his left leg in an explosion, but doesn’t think much of it and is just thankful of being alive. He joined the crew with the mission to earn money and help the kids at his town have a better life.

Wooyoung

Wooyoung is the ship’s Cook. He comes from a pacific and spiritual country that focuses on living in tune with nature. He helps San by providing diverse remedies and keeps the crew well fed with the recipient he inherited through his family. Wooyoung joined the crew because of a dream. His country believes in fortune and destiny, so when his town’s Interpreter told him it was his destiny to find a ship, he packed his bags and left his family.

Jongho

Jongho’s story is the one that I have the least developed, sorry about that. His situation is similar to Mingi’s, in a sense. He was kidnapped as a child from his family and forced into child labor in an industrial country. He did all sorts of jobs and became really strong; he knows how to repair and build almost anything and is in charge of keeping the ship in good shape and making sure to asses any sort of damage. He joined the crew to leave his country after successfully escaping the place where he was forced to work.

I hoped you liked my “headcannons”, this are a part of an actual fanfic that is in the works and that I hope to start writing soon!

#kwritersworldnet #ateez #ateez fic #pirate!ateez #ateez headcanons #hongjoong #seonghwa #yunho #yeosang #san #wooyoung #mingi #jongho #pirate!au #bluenicorn writes #requests #asks #toppklassik asks

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kathyprior4200 · 4 years

Text

Velvety Rich and Sickly Sweet

Once there was an African American girl who lived in a big city. Her name was Venessa. As a little girl, she loved playing with dolls and getting dressed up. Tea parties with her friends were a favorite pastime. She adored candy, cake and anything sweet, a craving that lasted for the rest of her life. She dreamed of becoming a famous celebrity.

As Venessa got older, computers and phones started to arrive. It wasn’t long before she got into social media. She pursued a career in fashion and posted videos of herself in velvet dresses baking cakes and seductively sucking on candies for the males. Her videos went viral and she basked in the online limelight.

But the more well-known she got, the more she distanced herself from her former family and friends. Venessa soon partook in gossip, laughing at other women and being a self-centered bully. She enjoyed the reactions of hurt people less well-off than her. This was especially true when she became a risqué model and dancer.

Soon enough, all of Venessa’s actions came back full circle. Venessa soon found herself as a target of bullying and racism. She received one hate comment after another…from the n word, to bad things about her black curly ponytails. Some even called her fat and fake.

Venessa was furious…so furious that she began to track down the bullies and kill them with knives. Childish laughter could be heard among the screaming victims. Venessa covered her tracks well…after all, no one suspected famous model to be a killer. However, she kept pictures of herself posing with her victims holding her knife.

But she was soon found out, and almost got arrested. Venessa soon spiraled down into madness, having a crazed breakdown. Distraught over the mean comments, she overdosed on skinny creating drugs. Her body couldn’t take the amount and she died before she was discovered by the police. A mirror was in one hand while a headless doll was in another. Venessa died at age 22 in 2012, the same year as Vaggie.

Venessa soon arrived in Hell and became known as Velvet. Velvet was a fitting name, due to both her wealth and her fondness for red velvet cakes. She even made an Instagram account called radvelvetcakes. Rad was a word meaning “cool” and “trendy,” the things she always aspired to be. With her status as an overlord, it was…well, a piece of cake.

Velvet would’ve been demon food if not for two Overlords who decided to take her in. Velvet soon had two friends and fellow Overlords: “Daddy” Vox and “Daddy” Valentino. The former was a wealthy TV demon, who owned all the TV stations in Hell. The latter was a moth pimp, who owned Hell’s number one porn studio. Together, the three Overlords made a near unstoppable fearsome force to be reckoned with. They become known as the Triple Vs. The three of them often hosted lavish parties on yachts and in fancy soirees, electronic music and dubstep pulsing through the air. All three of them controlled the “stimulants” of Hell: TV, drugs, porn, social media and food.

Vox had a flat screen TV for a head and wore a black suit with a large red bow tie and blue stripes going down the suit. He wore a black top hat with antennas and a teal Wi-Fi symbol on it, the same symbol on his chest. When he first came down to Hell in the 1950s, he had an old boxy TV head. But thanks to his power over electricity, he upgraded himself as the years went on. In his full demon form, the red eyed, sharp blue-toothed man could cause entire blackouts. Formerly a white man named Vincent, with black hair and icy blue eyes, Vox died from a TV falling and crushing his face. In Hell, he continued his sinful actions he did when he was alive: hooking up, doing drugs, and hosting gruesome TV shows for entertainment. TV towers were everywhere, looming like impenetrable metal fortresses. With his showman personality, he stood equal to Alastor in power, if not more.

Valentino was a light purple moth pimp with antennas and fancy coats. He had a ring of fluff around his neck with small red hearts on it. His glasses were pink and heart-shaped. He was often found lounging on couches with female “clients’ in his lap, smoking red smoke from a cigarette. The smoke itself could drug demons and make them doped up. Cruel and greedy, he enjoyed using and abusing people for his own pleasure, in particular, his porn star and worker Angel Dust. He promised love and pleasure, both of them illusions in the long run. His victims would be helpless and obedient, unable to leave and think for themselves. Valentino was originally Vasilis, a dark-skinned man from Brooklyn who also did drugs, smoked and participated in human trafficking. Valentino had died in the 1970s…and his distant relative was none other than fellow moth demon Vaggie!

And then there was Velvet herself. She was a black-skinned doll demon, short but very deadly. One of her favorite outfits was a velvet laced white dress with small hearts around it and black shapes. She wore black stockings and pink shoes with white puff balls on it. Her hair was dark pink and in two thick pigtails. She had red sclera and white irises with black pupils. Although she looked and acted like a child, she was in her twenties. Velvet was the Overlord of sweets and social media. If Harley Quinn turned into an animated doll who loved gossiping and tea parties, then that would adequately describe what Velvet was like. Velvet once sat with Vox and Valentino safe in the porn studio during the Extermination. She eagerly checked her phone and took selfies while sitting next to Vox.

Velvet could go full demon form like the other Overlords, but her power was laced with an extra dose of insanity. For in her most powerful form, she could make deadly potions to use against her enemies. Velvet was skilled enough making regular potion for perfume and to use as beauty products. But she could also make poisons and noxious gas to defeat any demon who dared disobey her and her fellow Overlords. In her most extreme form, she could magically turn her victims into sweets, absorbing their souls as she ate them! Even Vox and Valentino steered clear from her when she was in that form.

Like a doll, Velvet was doted on by Vox and Valentino, as well as her many followers. All three of them went back and forth from doting their workers to abusing them with deadly threats. Although Velvet enjoyed being spoiled, she often felt like she was treated like a child too much. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, even meeting up with Rosie and other wealthy ladies to eat demons in the streets. Velvet was also infamous for sometimes using demons’ blood and organs in her baking.

Yes, Velvet was living a life of luxury, perhaps second to the royal Magne family and the Eldritch family. Imagine her surprise when she found out that the princess was running a hotel to redeem sinners. She laughed it off, calling Charlie absurd. In many ways, she was similar to Seviathan, Helsa and Katie Killjoy: self-centered individuals who lived on gossip, trends, fashion and putting others down.

Velvet was frequently seen on and searched many media platforms in Hell: Voxtube, Voxflix, Voxbook, and Voxtagram. The movie and social media sites were all run by Vox, of course. His dimensional monopoly was getting closer to becoming permanent.

There was her Instagram account: “radvelvetcakes. Fun with the Overlords! Follow and comment to keep up on moth-pimp, voxtagram 8k and me!”

On July 6, 2020, Velvet posted a selfie of herself smiling on what appeared to be a dance floor decorated with green neon candy tiles.

“This is my newest account! Be sure to tell your friends! Ain’t I a cutie?”

On the same day, Velvet posted a selfie of her and Vox. Vox didn’t look very happy.

Vox said, “Chillin in the studio. Rad photo by my girl radvelvetcakes.”

On July 7, 2020, Velvet posted a picture of Valentino and Vox eating hamburgers at Hell’s version of McDonalds. Vox had his TV mouth open, a hamburger and French fries on his lap.

“Lol. Voxtagram8k is one to talk. He’s hardly as cool as he thinks he is.”

A later picture showed Valentino eating a giant chicken sandwich messily.

Valentino posted, “Picking up the goods,” as Vox and a smiling Velvet got into their limo after going to McDonalds. Vox had a bag in his hand, while Velvet carried two drinks. The McDonald’s M logo was upside down.

On July 9, 2020, Velvet posted a picture of herself showing off her manicured nails. Her sharp nails were decorated with sparkles, diamonds and little bows. The nails were extended ones. In the background, it looked like Vox’s leg was breaking down a door.

Later, Valentino mentioned that he would fuck up Velvet for posting bad pictures of him and Vox.

“Bored and missing the boys so I decided to do my nails up pretty!”

On July 10, 2020, Valentino posted a picture of Vox letting his pet shark loose on a tripping Velvet.

Valentino said, “Got her. This is the only time I’ll say this, but Vox having a giant demon pet shark actually comes in handy.”

On July 13, 2020, Velvet was seen beaming in a picture along with Vox, Valentino and their blue pet hammerhead shark.

On July 20, 2020, Valentino posted a selfie at his new club.

Valentino: “New club, new pole, anyone else wanna give it a whirl?”

Stolas: “No thank you. I’m sure even if things are new, the same slime is still around.”

When asked if Blitzo would do a dance on the pole for Valentino…

Blitzo: “No, no that won’t happen. I’m too busy with my horses and business.

Stola: It would be quite the sight. But I wouldn’t wish to see Blitzy working in Mr. Valentino’s establishment.

Stolas: Why would I ever want the rat to want such an excellent business venture?

Valentino: Watch yourself, bird.

Stolas: That’s a lot of talk for an insect.

Velvet laughed out loud as she read the comments.

On July 21, 2020, Velvet posted a selfie of herself about to eat a dirty green lollipop with a fly on it. Valentino stared in horror with wide pink eyes under his heart glasses.

“Val stopped me from eating a lollipop I found on the ground. But what he doesn’t know is that I grabbed it after he tossed it in the bin! #FreeCandy. #LivingFree. #RatsEatShitOffTheGroundAllTheTime.”

Valentino replied, “Stop, we have money! We can get you another one!”

Velvet: “It’s mystery flavored! We can do what we want!”

Vox said to Valentino: “I will not be the one cleaning the toilet tonight.”

Stolas said, “Wonderful parenting there,” and added a thumbs down.

Moxxie the imp added, “Why would anyone eat something that was on the ground?”

On July 23, 2020, Valentino posted a selfie of himself smoking, his eyes glowing pink under his shades.

Valentino said, “Dealing with Angel always puts me in a bad mood. Gonna go have some fucked up fun.”

Velvet eagerly asked, “Oooh, oooh, can I join?”

Valentino replied, “Sure, why the fuck not?”

On July 25th, Velvet went on a killing mission with Vox and Valentino. Velvet was seen in a picture, beaming while holding a knife in her hands. The blade was stained with purple cake frosting.

Valentino said, “Thanks for the backup today, baby doll.”

Velvet responded, “It was so much fun! Wish we could do it more often.”

Valentino added, “Always up for a little messy fun.”

On July 26th, Velvet posted a picture of herself doing a “duck” face while holding a piece of pink and teal cake on a plate. The rest of the cake was on a plate on a table, with suspicious bloodstains in the frosting. Nearby, a blue demon stood holding a piece while his right shoulder had a bloody bandage on it.

“So it turned out it was cake!” Velvet posted. Apparently, Velvet had thought that the demon was made of cake, so she had used a knife to slice his shoulder. Then she sliced up the cake and to her delight, it was, indeed, cake. Velvet had gleefully watched videos on VoxTube that showed artistically made cakes that looked like ordinary objects. This led to a meme or an online joke that everything was secretly cake. Velvet briefly wondered if she was cake herself.

On August 4, 2020, Velvet posted a video of a blue Vox writing down notes and a red Valentino screaming at him. Vox remained unfazed.

Velvet said: “Laughing my fucking ass off!”

Valentino wasn’t happy and said, “The fuck? You were supposed to advertise my company, not, whatever the fuck this is. Cute drawings, though.”

Velvet: “Thank you.”

Valentino: “Lucky you’re a crazy cute bitch.”

Vox said, “Ur lucky I have a built in mute button. Also, this is perfect! <3.” Vox was the more easygoing, “dad” type individual in comparison to Valentino.

On August 5, 2020, Velvet happily posed in a picture, holding a pink balloon she was about to pop with a pin. In front of her was an illuminated cake that read “Happy Birthday Gasu,” in reference to an artist who made character art for the show. Valentino had a scowl on his face as his red jacket got messy, the hearts on his fluff turning into broken hearts.

“Celebrated Gasuguma’s birthday with cake! Love his amazing pictures of Vox, Valentino and me! Happy Birthday!”

Valentino complained, “Yeah some celebration, stained my fucking jacket. Cake was good, though.”

On August 6, 2020, valentine posted a picture of Vox in a dark room with two cups of soda in his hands.

Valentino: “5:30 am. I asked Vox to get me a strawberry iced coffee several hours ago. The fucker shows up now with half a finished diet soda! Do I kill him, yes or no?”

Velvet was annoyed. “So that’s where my fucking diet soda went.”

Valentino: “Oh my fucking god, he didn’t even buy it for me.”

Vox: “I’ll send Vark the Shark to deliver your drink next time.”

Valentino: “You just wanted to see me.”

On August 7, 2020, Vox’s picture showed his TV screen cracked and one of his antennas crooked. Vox’s screen turned to colored bars and Valentino was grinning in the picture.

Valentino: “Thanks for the soda, Voxy. Don’t fuck up my order next time.”

Velvet sadly says: “My dads are fighting.”

Valentino: “Don’t worry baby doll, not my fault, Vox is a dumbass.”

Vox: “Velvet, you’re literally the same age as us, wtf?”

Sir Pentious: “Ha ha ha, that’s hilariously evil, Valentino. Or may I call you Val, we should “hang” soon?”

Stolas: “You can do better.”

Vox: “Time to get a new screen. Ungrateful rat. #notmyboyfriend.”

Valentino: “You woke me up. Sorry not sorry.”

Stolas said to Vox: “I would say you could do better, but I’m not entirely sure you can.”

Valentino: “Go fuck an imp.”

Stolas: Gladly.

Valentino: Sad.

Stolas: What’s sad is traipsing around in a giant tacky coat trying too hard to be intimidating.

Valentino: What’s sadder is watching you thirst over a tiny-dicked imp 24/7.

Stolas: From what I’ve heard, he has a bigger dick than whatever you have between your legs.

Valentino: From who? Lol. You obviously don’t have anyone, I don’t see nothing on your insta other than a thirsty dried old man.

Stolas: …

Stolas: You only like Vox because he can display glowing lamps on his screen, dirty moth.

Velvet laughed out loud, this was the most fun she had in a while.

On August 17 2020, Valentino posted another selfie.

Valentino: “Got some business to take care of.”

Stolas: I knew disco was dead, but I didn’t know it went to Hell.” Another successful roast.

Velvet said: “Looking pretty dapper, Val. Don’t worry, I know Vox will see it!”

Valentino said to Stolas, “Don’t hate me ‘cause you ain’t me, imp fucker.”

Stolas replied, “Why would I want to be a rat?”

Valentino: “Why are you so obsessed with me, baby cake? Want me to stop by? Help remove the stick from your ass.”

Stolas: The stuck up my ass would be more pleasurable than anything you’ve got.

Velvet was laughing so hard, tears came from her eyes.

Valentino: Don’t knock it till you try it, baby. You know what they say about moths.

Stolas: That they’re little pests obsessed with light bulbs? Owls eat insects, you know.

Valentino: They can go all night.

Stolas: Well owls eat rats. Wait this came out from the wrong particular situation…

Valentino made an erotic face.

Stolas: No.

Sir Pentious to Valentino: “I own the same shirt, maybe we can do business and hang.”

#velvet #vox #valentino #hazbin hotel #overlords

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solacefruit · 4 years

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Hello! Been reflecting on the feedback you gave and there’s something that struck my mind. In regards to what you mentioned about over-using epithets, I was wondering about how to strike a better balance; I feel like constantly using just names and he/she/etc would get too repetitive for my liking, but how do I avoid leaning on epithets too much? What even is too much? I know you might not have a real answer, but I thought I should ask anyway just in case. Also, thank you for the feedback!

Hello there! Firstly, you’re very welcome, and secondly, good news: I do actually have an answer for this issue of epithets. Epithets themselves aren’t actually good or bad, but–like anything–over-use or misuse of them can spoil writing. What makes the difference is almost always context.

The mistake that fandom writers often make is that they slap just any old epithet any-old-where, thinking it’s better than repeating a name too many times, which is how you get “the taller man,” “the blonde boy.” These writers fundamentally misunderstand what an epithet can (and should) do, which is describe character. That’s not the same as telling you their height or appearance. I literally mean you should strive to reveal meaningful characterisation with your choices. Otherwise, you’re better served just using a pronoun or name.

So, things to consider when figuring out whether to use epithets or not:

Point-of-view: I bring this up first because it’ll impact everything else. If you are writing in third-person limited, epithets can be great friends to you, because whenever you use them, you are telling your reader what your focal character thinks of the person they are describing. It does not need to be accurate or true! In fact, in third-person limited, everything you write is told through the perspective of the character who is seeing and thinking about the world, so everything is biased on account of being seen through their lens. Because of that, using an epithet can be a great way to reveal your focal character’s perspective and personality by how they think of other people.

For example, “Oakheart prowled over” versus “the handsome warrior prowled over.” This second example tells you what a third-person limited narrator thinks of the character, and the first one doesn’t. As you can imagine, this is a lot of power! Use it wisely. (More on this later).

By comparison, third-person omniscient narration is told by an unseen, usually unknown and unnamed disembodied voice who is describing the protagonist and the rest of the world equally. The narrator can know and see things the protagonist cannot, including the protagonist! That means you can use epithets for anyone, protagonist included–but it’s a good idea to figure out how honest your narrator is first. Do they see the world the way it is, and report it “truthfully”?

If so, you need to be careful about subjectivity: “the handsome warrior” is going to make the reader think of what they think of as handsome, and if that doesn’t line up with what your narrator later describes physically, your narrator–or worse, you, which some readers conflate with narrator–is going to seem biased or opinionated and that’s going to have ramifications. I can advise sticking to objective facts when using epithets in this narration style, and keep in mind that the epithets you choose to apply to any character is going to reflect your narrator’s implicit thoughts and opinions. This can be used to fantastic effect when your narrator does have a strong voice and set of opinions (essentially, when they are a character in their own right), such as in A Series of Unfortunate Events or Pride and Prejudice. But if you’re trying to keep your narrator invisible to the reader, proceed with caution when using epithets.

Unfamiliarity: epithets are most commonly used before people get to know each other, before learning names. That’s when it’s appropriate to describe someone by their looks, because often that’s all there is to go on: “the dark-haired man,” “the sharp-eyed woman,” “the boy in the blue cloak.” However, once a name is known, these kinds of epithets tend to lose their usefulness, because (see above: third-person limited) why would your focal character keep thinking of them like this once they know their name? Do you think of your friends by their name, or their hair colour? Would you think “the tall person” when thinking of a partner, instead of their name? Probably not! Your characters are the same.

Social distance, respect, and/or role: epithets include titles, such as Her Majesty or the emperor, and often it is not appropriate to call the king just “George,” even in private narration. Because of that, characters who are royal, divine, or otherwise upper class in some significant way often are referred to primarily by epithets.

This can also be true of characters performing a business role, such as a postal worker or shopkeeper, or a parental one, like mum or dad. “The mailman dropped off the package, wished her a good day, and continued down the road” is a perfectly reasonable use of an epithet. You can even do something like: “George!” she said, waving down the mailman. And what that tells you is that the mailman is named George, and clearly the focal character knows him pretty well. That’s a lot of information in one sentence!

Defamiliarisation: similar to above, you can use epithets specifically to obfuscate a name or to imply that a person (or creature) does not have one. In that context, a repeated epithet (or collection of epithets) essentially becomes a name in the mind of the reader and serves the same function. Perhaps the most famous (or infamous?) example of this is Frankenstein’s monster. It is often referred to as the creature, wretch, demon, fiend, being, and so on, because it was never given a name and the absence of a name is significant. These epithets tell you a lot about the characters of both the creature and the creator.

Revealing character detail: this is the one that a lot of people slip on, as I mentioned before, because it’s not always immediately clear when an epithet adds or detracts to an interaction. My rule of thumb is to ask yourself when unsure, “in this moment, what does this reveal?” or “in this moment, what does this highlight?” If a satisfactory answer springs to mind, it’s probably fine. So, for example:

“I told you not to take the patrol past the forest,” said Nightstar. “You disobeyed me.” Mousetail looked away in shame.

There’s nothing wrong with this passage! However, you can also do this:

“I told you not to take the patrol past the forest,” said Nightstar. “You disobeyed me.” The deputy looked away in shame.

What does this highlight? By using this epithet, the reader is reminded of the relationship between these two characters, which in this moment is heavily laden with emotion and tension. You would not achieve that same result with only names. You would also not receive the same result with:

“I told you not to take the patrol past the forest,” said Nightstar. “You disobeyed me.” The brown cat looked away in shame.

You don’t get anything from the use of this epithet, because being a brown cat is totally irrelevant to this exchange. It doesn’t change anything about the dynamic, or the emotional tone, or the dialogue. It’s empty words, thrown in just to avoid saying a name. That is not a choice that serves your story well and when people say using epithets is bad, this is almost invariably the kind of thing they’re referring to.

For the thrill of it: sometimes epithets are fun! Sometimes it’s fun to throw in an unusual description detail, or a particularly choice combination of words in a more poetic style. Sometimes it just sounds good. However, it can be risky–for all the above reasons. Weigh them all up carefully before you throw in your “the moonlight-eyed cat” or “the boy with sun-soaked hair” type thing, but don’t not put these sorts of things in if you feel your story needs it!

I hope this helps! When it doubt, interrogate your choice and see if it is actually adding to what you’re trying to achieve. If it’s not, cut it and replace it with a name or pronoun. There’s no formula to what’s too much or not enough, so you’ve got to judge it on a case-by-case basis. Good luck with your writing!

#advice #reply #this got Very long but i hope it's helpful to you!

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marryat92 · 4 years

Text

The Marryats: a "Happy Family"

The naval historian Tom Pocock's biography of Frederick Marryat, Captain Marryat: Seaman, Writer and Adventurer, draws heavily on previous works (especially Oliver Warner's Captain Marryat: A Rediscovery) and does not reveal much new information. The charm is mostly in the way Pocock weaves together old material.

Perhaps the most interesting part of his book is the inclusion of this previously unpublished drawing by Frank (Samuel Francis) Marryat, one of Captain Marryat's many children. It’s an anthropomorphic caricature of the Marryat brood, and the centerpiece is Frederick Marryat vs. his wife Kate Marryat. Marryat is drawn as a dog, and his wife is an angry cat with her back arched for an obvious “fighting like cats and dogs” joke that gives Frank’s title a snarky edge.

This is hardly a flattering image of Frederick Marryat (even if he’s still sporting a magnificent cravat in his canine form), but it reveals many things — from Marryat’s appearance as a fifty-something man in the 1840s to the company he was keeping in his home.

Florence Marryat wrote of her father, “As a young man, dark crisp curls covered his head; but later in life, when, having exchanged the sword for the pen and the ploughshare, he affected a soberer and more patriarchal style of dress and manner, he wore his grey hair long, and almost down to his shoulders.” (The Life and Letters of Captain Frederick Marryat) This “long hair” is actually a fairly typical 1840s male style; I want to say that decade had some of the longest hair on men in the 19th century.

Then there is the tantalizing glimpse of the Marryat home that was published anonymously in The Cornhill Magazine in 1867 (Pocock plausibly suggests an old friend of Marryat’s, fellow Royal Navy captain and novelist Frederick Chamier, as the author). This article, “Captain Marryat at Langham,” was clearly referenced by Florence Marryat, who was only 15 years old when her father died. Visiting the Marryat home at Langham, Norfolk in the 1840s, the writer describes Captain Marryat’s appearance:

At the time I now speak of him he was fifty-two years of age; but looked considerably younger. His face was clean shaved; and his hair so long that it reached almost to his shoulders, curling in light loose locks like those of a woman. It was slightly grey. He was dressed in anything but evening costume on the present occasion, having on a short velveteen shooting-jacket and coloured trousers. I could not help smiling as I glanced at his dress —recalling to my mind what a dandy he had been as a young man.

If you have studied pictures of fashionable English women of the 1840s, their hair is often styled into bunches of curls at the temples, and Marryat indeed has this look. The figures grouped around him, labeled “Capt. Marryat + family” by Frank, are possibly his eldest daughters Blanche (Charlotte Blanche), Augusta, and Emily (Emilia.) The male figure with a cigarillo might be Captain Marryat’s son Frederick, who tragically drowned on HMS Avenger in 1847. His portrait in the National Maritime Museum depicts him with a similar hairstyle (but no beard), and his hair is dark blond. I suspect that Frank Marryat is the monkey.

Aunt Ellen and Aunt Maria are Captain Marryat’s sisters (Aunt Maria’s husband Henry Lindsay also makes it into the picture). Ellen seems to have been a favourite of her brother, from the amount of correspondence that mentions her in Life and Letters, and she helped care for Frederick in his last days (Warner, Captain Marryat). The presence of Mrs. Marryat in this picture is probably more of a wry joke to Frank than anything else. The complete deed of separation for Frederick and his wife is reproduced in Alan Buster’s Captain Marryat: Sea-Officer Novelist Country Squire and it includes very specific language that both husband and wife will leave each other alone and not interfere with each other’s lives.

I’m unclear who is supposed to be “Horace” in the drawing (the bird facing the monkey?), but that’s the name of Frederick Marryat’s youngest sibling. There was an astonishing 26-year age gap between second-born Frederick and Horace, which is a thing that can happen when your parents have fifteen children, but by the 1840s Horace would be a young adult and possibly spending time with his famous brother.

The balding man next to Henry Lindsay is labeled “Joe” —could this be Joseph Marryat II?! He appears to have a snub-nosed profile similar to Frederick. There was no love lost between Joseph and Frederick, going by the number of times hated older brothers are killed off in Marryat’s novels, but this “Happy Family” tableau obviously includes an antagonist.

Most amusing to me is the scurrying little dog wearing a cocked hat:

That’s Sir Edward Belcher, most famous for leading the huge Admiralty expedition with a squadron of ships in search of the lost Franklin expedition, and Frederick Marryat’s first cousin. Belcher was close to Frederick, and there’s an anecdote in Robert McCormick’s memoirs about meeting Belcher and Marryat together on shore, at the time Belcher was HMS Terror’s commander in 1836. (Thanks to @handfuloftime for bringing that to my attention!) The “Kate Belcher” dog may be his sister Catherine, who married Frederick Marryat’s brother Charles.

Between Frederick Marryat being depicted as a dog by his son, and his receiving the title “Great Water Dog” from a Burmese leader in the First Anglo-Burmese War (”which pleased his simple tastes,” according to Warner), I think it’s possible to conclude that his fursona was a dog that he struck others as having a dog-like nature. He was, in fact, a dog person who loved his spoiled pets. Florence Marryat describes Zinny the King Charles spaniel and Juno the Italian greyhound in Life and Letters: “two very beautiful, but utterly useless, creatures” who are allowed to scamper over Captain Marryat’s papers and flop around without much rebuke.

#frederick marryat #captain marryat #sir edward belcher #marryat family #1840s #portrait #biography #frank marryat #florence marryat #tom pocock #oliver warner #alan buster #life and letters #captain marryat at langham

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