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loneduet · 6 months

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Secrets - Part 1

Summary: You love Sokka and it scares you. You don't know what he'll do if he finds out. (Your a firebender)

A/N - ngl I wrote this for myself because of my recurring obsession with this lovable boy.

warnings: kissing, kinda short sorry

Hope you enjoy!

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It all started when I met aang.

I ran way from my home not too long before i met them. Growing up in the fire nation was rough, especially being the emperors daughter. After zuko left to search for the airebender, i soon followed suit and left my status behind. All I ever was to my father was a dissapointment and I couldn't deal with Azula alone.

I was left with few options of where to go. I ended up living undercover in ba sing se where I soon met three kids my age. They were strangers at first, but now I don't know how I lived life without them. They have become my friends. My family.

While I know they are the exact people my brother is hunting down, I couldn't help but join them on their journey. I don't know what I'll do if I have to face my brother, but I know that I will never betray them.

Each of them showed me a kindness I have never known or deserved. Katara immediately accepted me, she loved having another girl be on the conquest and she insisted on braiding my hair everyday. Aang was kind and understanding. Deep down I know that he is aware of the secrets I keep, but he respects my boundaries and he shows me the fun to be had of everyday things. And than theres sokka. He is a completely different story.

When I met him my whole world was changed. At first he was wary of me and my additional presence to the group, but we soon started to get along. Really get along. He was protective and caring. At first glance, i immediantly respected the way that he treated his sister. While they fought like all siblings do, it's obvious that they truly love each other and I know that sokka will take care of her until the end.

I can see that all sokka wants to accomplish is to be a good leader and brother. He doesn't have bending abilities and he has admitted to me that this is one of his greatest insecurities, but it is far from a flaw. He hides a lot of his fear through his stupid jokes and ridiculous attitude, but I have learned to see through his disguise.

I have fallen so incredibly fast for this water tribe boy and he is completely unaware. Knowing his story, I can't let him find out about my past. He will never love me especially if he knows that im fire nation scum.

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"Y/N, do you want to share with me?"

I looked over to see Sokka and his adorable puppy dog eyes looking at me.

"Of course." I giggle, helping him set up the tent.

Due to our constant travels and relocations, we had very few supplies which resulted in only three tents between the four of us. I wasn't complaining though.

"Goodnight Y/N." Aang said, giving me a friendly kiss on the cheek before heading to his tent.

"Yeah, goodnight!" Katara said with a wink. To her, it was obvious that I liked her older brother. She immediantly approved when she found out about it. If only she knew who I was.

I climbed into our shared tent and zipped it up behind me. Sokka was already laying down opening up the covers for me.

It was a normal thing for sokka and I to fall asleep in each other's embrace. Ever since we accidently fell asleep during one of aangs stories we have been inseparable. Sokka claims that he sleeps better because of how warm I naturally am and frankly he helps me keep the nightmares of my dad at bay.

From an outside perspective, our relationship is definitely weird. It's not normal for 'just friends' to cuddle up to each other every night. Deep down though, we both knew that their are feelings, but neither of us wanted to ruin what we have. What we could have.

I slipped under the covers next to him, his water nation blankets being especially fluffy and comfortable. Naturally his arms wrapped around my smaller frame and I tucked my head against his chest. His slow heart beat helped lull me to sleep.

"Y/N?" Sokka asked right before I dozed off.

"Yea?" I softly replied.

He than looks me straight in the eye. "I'm really glad I met you."

The statement takes me aback and I look maintain his eye contact, sitting up.

"Can I kiss you?" I whisper, not being able to help myself any longer.

He doesn't reply but leans forward and captures my lips with his. His body radiates warmth as he scoops me into his lap. I slide my hands into his soft hair that is let out of his usual ponytail. He grunts softly and let's go of my lips and puts his forehead against mine.

"Y/N, I think I love you."

Before he could return to kissing me my entire body freezes. He notices when I tense and looks at me questionably.

"I cant." I reply, leaving the tent in haste. The boy of my dreams watches my figure go, wondering what he did wrong. I cant do this to him. It has to stop.

#sokka atla #sokka #atla #fanfic #avatar the last airbender #sokka x reader #fluff #oneshot #firebender #Sokka x firebender #Firebenderreader

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greenerteacups · 8 months

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What’s your watsonian and doylist explanation for why Draco doesn’t end up with Pansy in the epilogue, and not even Daphne who was in his hear, but Astoria :) ?

It's really interesting! I think there are two different decisions being made here: the first, "why not Pansy," and the second, "why Astoria." The first is much easier to answer, at least from the Doylist perspective, so I'll tackle that one first: JKR hates Pansy Parkinson, and she didn't want to reward Pansy by having her end up with the man of her dreams. She based Pansy on the girls who used to bully her in school, and Pansy never, ever escapes that one-dimensional article of characterization — in the final battle, Pansy's the one who stands up and tells everyone to sell out Harry (which, uhhh, for a scared seventeen-year-old terrified of being killed in a major battle, is a wholly understandable move, even if it's a certifiably bitchy thing to do). So she ends the series on the same note where she began: selfish, cowardly, cruel. In that respect, for her to end up with her crush would be a sort of "kindness" that Rowling was loathe to pay her. I also think that Rowling wanted to hint at the possibility of late-stage redemption for Draco: a lot of the extracanonical info we get about Astoria suggests that she was a genuinely kind person who "softened" him, which, while I don't count it for canon purposes, does tell us what Rowling's vision of their marriage was. I don't think Pansy would have "softened" Draco in any universe, and I say this as someone who likes her.

The Watsonian explanation is, I suspect, that Draco didn't actually like Pansy all that much. We don't see him show a great deal of affection for her, or at least no more than he shows for any of his other cronies in Slytherin. He does put his head in her lap at one point during HBP, and they go to the Yule Ball together in GOF, but that relationship reads more to me like a teenage-family-friends-dating-because-it's-convenient pairing than something that both of them really want. Pansy definitely has a crush on Draco, but I don't know how much of that is real affection versus the (correct) perception that he's the leader of their social pack, and confers a lot of status on whatever girl he's with. I also think that social-climbing element of their dynamic might turn Draco off, because he's pretty irritated by Pansy whenever they're not canoodling or peacocking together. That said, Pansy (my beloved) is a kind of irritating person in general.

Why Astoria instead of Daphne I have absolutely no clue; we don't get characterization for either of them. The only reason we know Daphne exists is because it's mentioned that she takes her O.W.L.s at the same time as Harry. It's unclear to me what choosing the younger sister is supposed to do except (possibly) explain why Harry doesn't recognize her by name at King's Cross (though after nineteen years, he'd be forgiven for forgetting a few names). I wonder if JKR hadn't just realized that a surprising number of her couples had ended up with someone from their own house, year, or both — and there are a lot in "both," e.g. Ron and Hermione, George and Angelina, James and Lily, Molly and Arthur — and she wanted to mix it up a little by pairing off one of the core cast with a total unknown, i.e., someone who wasn't even mentioned in the series. We can furnish post-facto reasons that Draco might have been drawn to someone younger: Astoria would have been only in fourth year when he joined the Death Eaters, so she wouldn't have known him as well, and he might like that she doesn't have a preconceived notion of who he is. That gap separates her from his life at Hogwarts and allows him to connect with her on different terms. But at the end of the day, we don't know her well enough to say much more than that.

#greenteacup asks

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veilkeeper · 6 months

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inspired by that tav as a companion ask game, i realized that roz would be a really interesting companion, so i wanted to get my thoughts out while they're on my brain

they'd probably be encountered shortly outside the nautiloid - or, as i discussed in my ask, on the risen road. as a githyanki, shadowheart isn't into them, but its whatever, theyre chill, and it becomes apparent very quickly that while they take the tadpole business very seriously, they have identified the PC as the Leader, and they are following.

they're not very outspoken. they dont have a lot of ambient dialogue, they're blunt (in a sort of funny way), they answer questions that you or other party members ask, but they don't really offer up anything freely, even when the PC talks to them in camp.

however, if the PC keeps them in the party, they will occasionally make comments about the environemnt. maybe they mention recognizing the area or they seem weirdly knowledgeable about faerun for a githyanki, so back at camp the PC can ask them questions about it. sort of like sten in DA:O. and they'll tell the PC about how they were forced to leave their creche as a child. if the player changes them out of their camp clothes (or once you reach a certain approval threshold) it triggers a cutscene where you see their (extensive) burn scars and the PC can ask about them, and they would explain that they were badly injured when their creche burned and they were taken in by a woman in elturel.

if the PC takes them to the creche (established after their own creche was destroyed), particularly if they're taken to the monastery above it, they would have a lot of commentary about lathander and seem really... sorrowful about the state of disrepair, and if asked about it later they would say that the woman who took them in was a healer dedicated to lathander, that they spent a lot of time in the temple in elturel, they would even ask about your gods if you have any.

none of this is offered. it would always be the PC approaching them and asking. the more time invested in them, the more they're willing to give.

after both roz and lae'zel are declared Hshar'lak (because they both would be), and if the PC has talked to them enough, they would ask for help tracking down the woman who took them in, mauna. they express a desire to right a wrong, that perhaps they had been hasty in leaving her behind to return to their people, and that they'd like to make amends with her. this properly starts their personal quest.

as their questline progresses, it starts to become clear that mauna's relationship with roz was... pretty bad, actually. mauna leveraged the fact that she saved their life to make them feel like they owed her, so that they would do a lot of dirty work to help her in her aspirations to climb the ladder and become a political powerhouse in the temple of lathander. and eventually, with or without the PC's help, they track down mauna in baldur's gate.

but theres never one moment where the PC can dissuade them from going back to her. saying "she used you and you deserve better" doesn't change their mind, they already know she was using them (and likely will again). that's the status quo for them: they are a soldier and spy, and have always just been a tool for others. instead, it's the culmination of the time the PC has spent with them, the way they've been treated, that might change their mind: if the PC failed to talk to them enough, disregarded their thoughts, or encouraged them to simply follow the PC's lead without question, they practically beg mauna to take them back and will leave the party then and there to retake their place as mauna's hand. however, if the PC took the time to get to know them (maybe even romance them), they were treated like a person worthy of time and respect, if the PC asked for their opinion and took it seriously, they would on their own decide to denounce mauna in a confrontation that is them, for the first time, sticking up for themself and demanding better.

#just.... ugh i love them so much #the idea of a companion that you really have to work for #you have to approach them and encourage them to speak up and *be there* for them #*prove* that you care about what they have to say #and people who dont take that time? never even know what theyre missing #theyd wonder if roz is bugged because they never seem to get dialogue for them #but the real roz enjoyers would know the TRUTH #idk i just think itd be neat and i love roz so much so i put too much thought into this #roz #finally unleashing this on the public. it's been cooking for long enough. feast.

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tatjana-fantasy · 1 year

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Why Rachel King from House of Ashes is actually an amazing character

First off: It's completely okay if you don't like Rachel! Different people are drawn to different characters. Nobody is forced to like a character they simply don't vibe with. This is just my view of a character who I personally think is both overhated and underrated. More under the cut.

I want to preface this by saying that I believe every choice a character can make is, in at least one universe, canon for that character. This often hurts to think about, since there are a lot of choices that feel very ooc, but in my opinion, they wouldn't even be an option if they truly didn't fit at least one tiny part in a character's personality. But now let's talk about Rachel.

Many people see her as the "Queen Bitch" and nothing more. And to be fair, that's definitely what she's going for. She wears this nickname "like a fucking badge of honor," as she can reveal to Clarice. But why? Why would she like to be known as the Queen Bitch?

The reason is simple and revealed in the same conversation: "You think I got where I am with a soft word and a warm smile?" (No. Of course not.) "I had to graft to get here. [...] They have no idea the shithill I've climbed to just get where I am right now."

I can't even begin to explain how incredibely sad this actually is. Rachel had to become the Queen Bitch because she wouldn't have been taken seriously otherwise. As a woman in the military, being soft and warm simply wasn't an option. Characters like Merwin already make sexist jokes about women – imagine how he would've treated Rachel if she wouldn't have established her status, but tried to treat him nicely instead. The only way Rachel could find respect was by becoming the Queen Bitch. She put on a mask (quite similar to Jason, actually) and eventually, the mask became a crucial part of her personality.

But that's not all. The "shithill" she climbed? This is likely the amount of knowledge she had to gather in order to become the leader of her group. She can speak Arabic, which is one of the most difficult languages to learn. She possesses great historical knowledge, being able to easily recognize stuff like Pagan effigies, a Pazuzu statue and Sumerian cuneiform. Eric sums it up nicely: She's quite an expert on history.

But do you know what's the most baffling thing about all of this? Rachel is the only character who possesses these abilities. No one else in her team can speak or understand Arabic. Nick flat-out admits that he fluked history in school. And the very noteworthy thing about this is the fact that the rest of Rachel's group are all men. To me, it seems like Rachel, because she's a woman, had to prove herself more than the men had to, and gather a lot more knowledge in a lot more areas. This also explains why she's so protective over her status, since she worked her ass off in order to earn it.

"But," I hear some of you say, "she cheated on Eric! And she can shoot Salim! And she says bullshit like 'I was stronger than them all'!"

Okay, let's start with the cheating first. You know, on the one hand, I absolutely hate cheating (I mean, if you get together with someone who cheats on their partner, how can you expect them to be loyal to you?), but on the other hand, Rachel's situation is a little different than a lot of other cheating scenarios I've encountered. She didn't see Eric for a full year, their marriage basically only existed on paper. Rachel was ready to move on. And your heart doesn't choose whom to fall in love with. To Rachel, it probably didn't even feel like cheating, considering how long she has been separated from Eric. Out of sight, out of mind. No, it does not excuse her actions, but for me, it does make it more understandable. Plus, it's something she eventually overcomes, choosing either Eric, Nick, or neither, so I can't be too mad at her about that.

I'm always surprised when people bring up Rachel shooting Salim though, since it takes a lot of set-up. If you dislike a character for doing something in a super obscure path that requires multiple specific choices across the entire game, shouldn't you also dislike a character like Jason, who is only two choices away from leaving Salim behind to die? Not to mention, this path also requires Jason to shoot an innocent shepherd who did absolutely nothing to him. Yet, I haven't seen anyone hating him for that. Personally, I can totally understand why Rachel, after she lost her husband to an enemy soldier, would want to avenge him; even in the path where she and Eric didn't get along, Salim robbed them of the chance of changing that. And in the path where they did get along ... she just lost the love of her life. I think a lot of people would be pretty vengeful after that. Not to mention, Salim's situation does look very shady, first killing Eric and then returning without Jason. Who wouldn't suspect that he had something to do with his death?

Some people also complain that Rachel doesn't want to give Salim a gun even if you make the best choices. But I think many people forget that Rachel and Salim almost had no interactions with each other, and certainly didn't have time to establish a trustworthy bond. Jason himself doesn't trust Salim with a gun in their determinant second-ish meeting, after Salim surrenders to him when Eric is already dead. Unlike Rachel, he can change his opinion, but only because he actually got to know Salim - Rachel, however, didn't. Of course she doesn't trust him with a gun. In the midst of war, you probably wouldn't want to give your enemy a weapon, either.

Rachel's line how she was "stronger than them all" is ... quite awful, tbh. No matter if she means her fellow comrades or the vampires, she definitely didn't do as much as the others. But while I do think that the line is pretty bad and while I do wish it wouldn't be the last thing we ever heard from her, here's the thing: I don't want to judge characters by a single line they said. People say questionable stuff all the time, both in real life and in fictional stories. But judging them solely based on one weak moment? Not something I want to do, so that line didn't influence my opinion on her character.

This brings me to Rachel's compassionate, heroic side – a side of hers that is frequently forgotten. In general, she can show her nicer side to people that are on the same level as her - most notably, Clarice and Eric. They are people where Rachel doesn't have to worry that they'll suddenly start to treat her like a lesser being for being more than the "Queen Bitch", so she feels more comfortable opening up to them.

Her compassionate side is shown first during the raid, I believe, where it's very important to her that Jason doesn't kill any innocent civilians. She herself can shoot one of them, but she doesn't do it out of fun, but to protect Jason from an attacking shepherd.

A few chapters later, there's the Rope Scene. Originally, Rachel was supposed to cut herself free in the Theatrical Cut if her relationship with Eric was high enough, but due to an earlier scene being cut, this is not possible anymore; instead, she can cut the rope in the Curator's Cut regardless of relationship. This is the first difficult choice she has to make: Potentially sacrificing her life in order to save Eric. It's an action that takes an incredible amount of courage, so I really appreciate that it is a choice that Rachel can make.

The next time we see Rachel, she's in the bloody pit, escaping from a vampire and meeting Clarice. I already talked about how Rachel can show her compassionate side here, potentially opening up to Clarice. But what I love the most is the fact that Rachel is very firm when it comes to helping her. Of course, she can also choose to leave Clarice behind, but it's very notable that once she was brought back, Rachel constantly insists that she needs help and shouldn't be abandoned. I really appreciate her loyalty here, since she's pretty much the only character who is on Clarice's side, the only one who doesn't want to give up on her. While helping her sadly doesn't work (which Rachel eventually realizes), I love Rachel for being the only one who at least wants to try.

When it comes to awesome scenes, Rachel and the machine gun come to mind, but my actual favorite scene takes place a few chapters later. When Rachel's infection threatens to overwhelm her and she has the option to kill herself with WP. She's only the second character in the anthology who can make the intentional decision to kill herself. In her case, she does it to protect the others – which is such a heroic choice that I'm surprised not more people mention it. Jason can also sort-of get infected, but he never seems to be worried about turning into a vampire; Rachel however does worry, and can choose a rather horrifying death to stop herself from potentially harming the others.

And it doesn't stop there. If she doesn't use WP (or simply doesn't have it), she can still beg Jason to shoot her in order to avoid turning. And if he doesn't shoot her, she can still volunteer to be cocooned, not knowing if the others will actually come back for her. Of course, she can also choose the opposite of these decisions - but I think that's more than understandable. Who would want to die a horrible death or live forever in a cocoon? Hopefully nobody. Which makes it even more awesome that Rachel has the choice to do so.

I wouldn't say that Rachel is my favorite character, btw. She can be a little too abrasive at times and her character revolves a little too much around finding a love interest. But she's still a brave, strong woman – and, in my opinion, one of the most underrated characters in the anthology.

#supermassive games #the dark pictures anthology #house of ashes #rachel king #dpa essay

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