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alwaysmychoices · 4 years

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So, I wrote a HC that was pretty angsty and messy about what would have happened if Ethan and MC started dating after Miami. I still think that would have happened, but I started wondering, “what would I have written if I was writing a cute HC about that?” Next thing I knew, it was 2 am and I was writing this on my phone from my bed.

So, here are all the cuter details about what I think would have happened if they started dating in Book 1.

Ethan & MC Dating after Miami - Cute Moments HC 💖

When Ethan and MC started a relationship in Miami, neither of them had any idea how hard those first six months would be. Between the fights and miscommunications, they were just trying to get to know each other while their personal lives went to hell.

There were breakups, makeups, passive aggressions, avoidance, and even a few rounds of silent treatments.

But there was a reason they always came back. Because, late at night, when they mulled over their loss, it wasn’t the bad things that they thought of - it was the good, the pure, and the four letter word on the tip of their tongue that brought them back to each other’s doorstep time and time again.

Because, when they were good, they were amazing.

Ethan loved to send MC flowers.

Before MC, he had never been the kind of man who sent flowers. They were messy, impermanent, and hard to enjoy when you spent all your time at work.

But one time, MC said she mentioned that she liked buying flowers because they allowed her to enjoy a piece of nature, even when she spent her whole day inside the hospital.

The first time he sent them, Ethan had made a real ass out of himself. He said something stupid at dinner, which lead to a fight. He had already worked it out with MC, and though she assured him it was alright, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he needed to do something to prove that he wasn’t such a jerk. On impulse, he ordered 2 dozen roses to be sent to her apartment.

When she got home to her roommates crowding around the prettiest rose bouquet she had ever seen, it didn’t even cross her mind that it could be for her - not until Elijah supplied the card addressed to her from a secret admirer.

Once she was alone, MC called Ethan to make sure it was really him. She couldn’t imagine him willingly ordering such a romantic gift, but she also couldn’t picture someone else giving it to her.

When she asked him if he bought the flowers, he tensed, afraid he’d accidentally risked their secrecy by sending it to her home, but he anxiously admitted that he did and asked if she liked them.

And when she said she loved them... he felt a feeling so unfamiliar he couldn’t classify it. He was so proud to be the one who sent them and so happy that he found a way to make her smile when he so often felt like he was always messing up with her. Right then, he knew this wouldn’t be the last time he sent her flowers.

And it wasn’t. He regularly sent her bouquets and only let up a little when her roommates became suspicious. Once, when MC was alone in his apartment dog sitting Jenner, he had a massive flower arrangement delivered to her with just the message “I miss you.”

To accommodate their busy schedules, date night usually meant going back to Ethan’s apartment with takeout, but after one too many nights of Thai delivery, Ethan decided to teach MC how to cook.

He was startled to realize she had absolutely no idea how to cook. How had she gotten this far into adulthood without this basic skill? Every week, he had a new recipe for them to try, and he would walk her through all the steps.

When Ethan concentrated on cooking, he got these little lines between his eyebrows. MC thought they were cute. Sometimes, she would smooth them out with her thumb to remind him to relax. Other times, she would kiss them. When she did that, he always became distracted. Once, he almost cut his hand because he was so wrapped up in her.

Ethan pretended to find this annoying, but whenever she did it, he showed a small smile that gave him away.

Their fights were usually brutal. They were both so smart and so stubborn that the fights became unwinnable.

And probably because of that, their debates were practically a force of nature.

More than once, they spent a whole Saturday afternoon half naked in Ethan’s apartment and debating the finer points of medical ethics or treatments for patients. They usually could reach an agreement, except when they debated pineapple on pizza.

They pushed each other.

They made each other better doctors for having worked together and better people for having known each other.

Perhaps more importantly, they cared about each other. Even when they were locked in a disagreement or feigning disinterest, they cared. If the other needed them, they were there.

They needed each other more than they would admit. Very quickly, MC became Ethan's rock as they treated Naveen. She was the only one who could understand what he was going through.

MC was nervous to tell Ethan about being sabotaged at work. She didn't want him to think of her as the kind of person who blamed someone else for her mistakes, but when Landry was exposed as a traitor, she was devastated and just wanted Ethan to comfort her.

When he found out all that Landry did, Ethan was furious. Beyond hurting his girlfriend, he had endangered dozens of patients and the stability of the whole hospital.

But he was also hurt that MC hadn't told him.

Ethan realized that he wanted to be the person she shared her problems with. He wanted to be her person, just like she was his.

MC was surprised that, when it came to someone insulting or hurting her, Ethan was always on her side - even when she was equally as guilty. Once, MC complained that an attending made a sexist, offhand comment during rounds. Ethan never liked that attending again. When someone hit on MC and made her uncomfortable when they were at a bar together, Ethan told him off and forced him to leave.

Ethan was equally surprised by how jealous MC could get. He rarely noticed when women flirted with him, so it took him a few months to detect MC's jealousy. The first time he saw it, they were having a drink at a bar. A woman was very shamelessly coming onto him, though she didn't get much of Ethan's attention, but MC looked furious. Every time the woman came over to talk to them, MC moved just a little bit closer until she was almost in his lap.

When he took MC home, he commented on it, assuring her that he was only there for her, but MC grumbled that it happened all the time and that he didn't notice.

So, he started paying attention, and wow, it happened way more often than he thought. Even patients flirted with him, earning a glare from MC.

Once, when Ethan and MC were in the middle of a really big fight, Ethan caught MC staring at him at Donahue’s. To get a rise out of her, Ethan started flirting with the woman sitting a few seats down at the bar. MC was outraged. Thirty minutes later, when he got up to leave, MC followed him out, and they yelled at each other in the ally. And then they made out in the ally and had sex in the back of his car.

The next morning, they acted like nothing happened at work.

In fact, that was usually how they acted at work.

But at the beginning of their relationship, there were plenty of cute moments to be had at Edenbrook.

Like when their hands would accidentally brush when looking over a chart. Or when Ethan's breath hit her neck when he looked over her shoulder to see if she was doing something right. Or secret meetings in his office under the guise of needing to talk about a patient.

But MC thought the sweetest moments where the ones when he would see her coming down the hall, and just for a second, his face soften and warm to her. Almost immediately after, his face would harden again as he got back to work. But in that short little moment, MC knew she made him happy.

Keeping the secret was so hard, especially when MC was always under the watchful eyes of her roommates and friends.

They were all convinced she was in love with someone and joked that she had a secret boyfriend. MC laughed along, but they never actually thought it was Dr. Ramsey.

To make it a little less obvious, she always joined in when they complained about him.

Ethan noticed and rolled his eyes, but he didn’t stop her.

The only person who noticed in Ethan’s life was Naveen, but Ethan skillfully dodged the question whenever he could.

However, they had almost been caught so many times, in and out of the hospital. Even at the farmer’s market, they weren’t safe from a coworker finding them and innocently approaching.

MC always looked around before she kissed him, and Ethan had to be at least 5 miles from the hospital to show any display of affection, not that he particularly liked public displays of affection in the first place.

MC knew that she loved Ethan before she even really knew him, which was terrifying. She worried that, one day, she would learn some horrible fact or realize some unforgiveable trait. Ethan, on the other hand, never imagined that MC would become ruined in his eyes. He didn't think she could. No, he worried that he would be the one to make the mistake.

Both them harbored a lot of insecurities in their relationship - insecurities that held them back.

When they shed them, even just for the night, it was incredible.

Some of the best nights were spent wine-drunk, oversharing hundreds of little details that shaped who they were. MC liked hearing about Ethan's childhood, and she frequently needled him about his mysterious past relationship with Harper. Ethan wanted to know everything about her adult life before him, even when it included ex-boyfriends he instinctively hated.

When their relationship settled into comfortable, stable commitment, they still had nights like that.

Even when they moved in together, they sometimes picked out a bottle of wine, finished the whole thing, and spent the second bottle of wine sharing stories and experiences.

That was when it felt real. That was what reminded them that this was magic - that this was love.

@stateofgracious I think this was kinda cute, so maybe I can do some cute ones 🤞

#Ethan Ramsey #Ethan Ramsey x mc #Open Heart #Open heart 2 #choices #choices stories you play #pixelberry

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clansayeed · 3 years

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Bound by Destiny II, part 2 ― Chapter 7: The Hierophant

PAIRING: Kamilah Sayeed x MC (Nadya Al Jamil) RATING: Mature

⥼ MASTERLIST ⥽

⥼ Bound by Destiny II, part 2 ⥽

They fled New York with one purpose. Find, hunt down, and return with a way to kill a vampire god. They abandoned their loved ones and survived the City of Shadows; had their trust broken and darkest secrets brought to light. All that... and Gaius still won anyway. But now that they have nothing to lose, Nadya and her friends are finally ready to do whatever it takes to see the King of Vampires overthrown.

They just have to avoid a vampire population eager to gain favor with their new monarch, the ruthless Order of the Dawn, and whatever plans Gaius has that involve Nadya captured and brought to him alive. So... easy-peasy, right? The worlds of both dark and light hang in the balance. The time has come for the Bloodkeeper to embrace her destiny. So if anyone wants to clue her in on whatever that means, now would be great!

Bound by Destiny II and the rest of the Oblivion Bound series is an ongoing reimagining project of the Bloodbound series and spin-off Nightbound. Find out more [HERE].

TAG LIST: @googlesentmehere, @cess02, @hellyeah90sbaby, @tayab12, @saratustra4, @imnotdonewiththeelementalists, @thepotatobleh

*join the Tag List here!

⥼ Summary ⥽

In Prague, Nadya and the others seek the audience of the most famous name in histories both mortal and vampire. It's probably for the best that she doesn't get her hopes up.

content warnings: language

[READ IT ON AO3]

Prague is cramped roads and buildings of all sizes and heights all mostly the same four or five different earthy, rusty tones. Cobblestone streets and narrow alleys she can’t help but look at even in passing and think, with the hairs on the back of her neck standing to attention, there goes another hiding place for something wicked and foul.

That isn’t to say Prague isn’t beautiful. Because it is. One of Nadya’s favorite things about living abroad in college (and only in the very smallest back of her mind in Paris and the other cities they’ve hopped to and from here while on the run for their lives and the very fate of the human race) was all the old architecture she got to walk past every day like it was the most natural thing in the world. And Prague is full of opportunities like that.

In her most Nadya-esque fashion, she chooses to focus on that instead of what may or may not lurk in the shadows. She chooses to look at the beauty and history around her because you don’t see stuff like this every day.

That, and because she knows it doesn’t matter what hiding place she might spot — doesn’t matter whether that alleyway or this abandoned road is empty or not. There are things out to get them — out to stop them — regardless of whether or not she’s lucky enough to catch a glimpse.

That’s just their new reality.

Prague is chillier; a fact not made any better by the fact none of the bodies she can cling to in the cold have an ounce of warmth for her to leech. Prague is also kinda rainy; and more often than not when she has the chance to push back the curtains of their modest hotel room the sky is the same shade of grey it was the day before. That’s totally fine — just add some snow and it’s almost like home.

Prague is also the long-time home of Vlad Tepes, the vampire more popularly known around the world as Dracula.

Don’t forget that bit.

Lily certainly hasn’t.

“C’mon,” she’s brought this up half a dozen times now and it always ends the same way but when has that ever stopped her before, “he can’t really be that bad.” Because she’s convinced herself that Kamilah, Serafine, and Adrian are all being a touch too dramatic when it comes to their biased opinions on the most (in)famous vampire in history.

And part of Nadya is inclined to agree… but it wouldn’t be fair not to take into account how literally none of the aforementioned vampires are prone to excessive hyperbole. So maybe he can really be, well, that bad.

Kamilah simply sighs and continues sipping her wine in idle silence. She stopped entering the discussion early on; probably of the mindset that Lily will see exactly what they all mean when the time comes. Whatever that means.

At this point the only one who will actively engage with her is Adrian. Which says a lot — that’s really out of character for him. “I thought much the same before I met him in person, but the truth is much stranger than the fiction when it comes to Vlad.” He’s said something to this effect every single time, too.

And don’t think Nadya hasn’t noticed how he usually ends up shifting where he sits and-slash-or stands. Or how Serafine is usually there to offer him an affectionate touch in some form or another. There’s a story there, she’s certain of it. But she trusts him to bring it up if or when it becomes relevant to their current dilemma — and if it isn’t then she looks forward to teasing him when the world is safe and Gaius is dust in the wind.

Because it’s important to note that truth and fiction are as different as oil and water when it comes to the man, the myth, the legend. Who apparently did his fair share of noteworthy conquests in his human years and even his first couple of decades as a vampire; but somewhere down the line wound up going from famed ‘impaler’ to something that — based on Serafine’s general description anyway — is shaping in Nadya’s mind’s eye to look something like a cross between Vegas-sensation Mario Bautista and KISS without the face paint.

“There’s something to be said for the measure of success Vlad has been able to attain while living in the heart of the Order’s battleground,” says Serafine almost absently, “but any praise for him should live and die there — even that I find myself questioning from time to time.

“He has been widely reviled from the moment he brought that ridiculous novel to light. Not only for placing us in the public eye but for doing so with such utter… disregard for our truths.”

Jax raises an eyebrow. “You’d think spreading a bunch of lies that humans end up believing wouldn’t be such a bad thing.” But everything on Serafine’s face disagrees.

“One might think, perhaps. But if anyone was less suited to such an ill-fitting ego…”

“So he’s got a big head,” Lily shrugs, “what’s the big deal?”

The Big Deal is, apparently, how Vlad Tepes has gone from boasting ass to full-on diva in the centuries that followed. Something Serafine seems to take more than a little personally. “And one could suffer his endless tales when they revolved around little more than himself. When he shifted his focus to the Church of the First things became… complicated.”

Needless to say the entire premise of ‘Vlad Tepes—the Dracula—considers himself to be a prophet for the First Vampire in all but official theophany, and serves as Europe’s go-to for all things related to the devotion of Rheya Herself’ is something Nadya has been struggling to wrap her head around for… this whole time.

Maybe seeing it all with her own eyes will do something about that, she thinks, if only so Lily will finally stop trying to poke and prod for answers their friends don’t seem eager to provide.

Unlikely, but, you know.

“How a person takes in faith is unique to them, and a deeply personal experience. Regardless of their…” Serafine purses her lips for the right words. Or at least ones that are a little more in English and a little less like curses. “… unchecked vanity.

“While I cannot speak with certainty as to whether or not Vlad was a true believer in the ideals of the Goddess, whatever he did feel was enough to earn him a place at Gaius’ side during the pivotal years he spent spreading Her belief.

“What he lacks in all else he makes up for in his ability to sensationalize anything that comes tumbling out of that vacant head of his.”

Which explains the whole ‘singing Gaius’ praises’ thing; the largest source of disagreement when it finally came down to whether or not they were willing to risk it all for what Vlad might know.

And while it was unanimous that they would have preferred to wait and see what more concrete information they could dig up, time isn’t on their side. “Still an awful lot to risk on a mere hunch,” comments Cadence — whose natural affinity for research has made spontaneously vanishing away to Prague more than a little stressful for him.

“I just can’t understand how anyone would even consider believing his claims to have seen the Eternal Tree for himself when there’s literal published proof he’s a pathological liar.”

But this is something they’ve been over, too. Not that Nadya doesn’t totally understand venting the same frustrations in the wake of inaction. But it’s not faith in Vlad Tepes that she has.

Her faith lies in Kamilah. That is more than enough.

“Time and time again I witnessed retribution served by Gaius unto those who claimed to have been touched by the First in some divine form or another. He would not suffer anyone speaking falsely of Her — for good or for ill. Vlad’s claim to have seen the Tree with his own eyes wasn’t exactly kept quiet, yet he remained untouched and, unfortunately, very much alive.”

Which pretty much confirms it’s the one impossible thing he’s actually telling the truth about. This is a good thing!

“And you’re sure you are up to the task, petit?”

Nadya knows Serafine only asks because this is something they can’t do without her. Serafine could try to suss out the truth from him on her own but it would only waste more time.

For once though, Nadya feels… not-as-uncertain as she usually does about these things. She wouldn’t be so bold as to call it confidence, but how hard can one ordinary (fame aside) vampire be after she literally pulled Gaius’ oldest memory out of thin air?

“I am.”

“And if your way doesn’t work, we can always go my route.”

And perhaps the most disconcerting thing of all is how those who would normally oppose Jax’s methods of sword-related threats and violence remain pointedly and purposefully silent. Not that anyone is particularly inclined to draw attention to it.

Just like they don’t draw attention to the way Kamilah tactfully uses the rim of her wine glass to conceal the barest twitch of her lips.

Though none of them are surprised at his offer however, Serafine seems to have outright expected it. She throws him a coy smile across the table; a devious glint in her eye.

“Actually Jax, I’m glad to hear you are up to the task. As what I have in mind will not be possible without your help.”

Sometimes the best plans are the ones that take the most direct route to get to where you’re going. And there’s really nothing more direct than what Serafine has in mind.

The estate is a little under an hour away from Prague itself; swathed in lush and vibrant countryside — or that’s what Nadya imagines. It’s kind of hard for her to see out of the tinted limousine windows as they venture on their lonely road after dark.

Not that the place itself is hard to see. Like a beacon in the night the Tepes manor and surrounding land is lit up in the night. Even with the moon hidden behind roiling clouds the moment their car pulls in and begins ambling up the long gravel pathway they are met with what’s practically a battalion of lamp-posts to show them the way.

All she can think about is how long it must take someone to travel the grounds and light up every single one.

The rest of Vlad Tepes’ lands are hard to see properly. On account of the towering and neatly-trimmed hedge walls that flank their path. “Vlad’s labyrinth is somewhat of a popular novelty,” Serafine explains quietly, “though our heightened senses take most of the intrigue and mystery from the search from start to finish.”

But some well-manicured bushes are nothing compared to the splendor of the actual castle itself. With its sprawling Gothic architecture in spires and buttresses it’s truly everything one would expect when they hear something like ‘the Castle of Vlad Tepes.’

Flickering flames in old stained-glass windows somehow both perfectly preserved and still allowed to age with grace. Not unlike vampires themselves, Nadya thinks fleetingly, and lets herself drink in the passive appreciation of it while she can.

Before something inevitably goes wrong and, much like in the way of Marcel’s castle back home, has her thinking back on it with a sour taste in her mouth.

“I still can’t believe you just called the guy up.”

Jax has barely paid any of it a second glance; not the journey or the destination. He’s stayed in pretty much the same position the entire drive; arms never uncrossing from his chest and, to literally no one’s surprise, with his sword never leaving his lap.

“How would you rather I have gone about arranging this little parley then, hm?”

The two vampires stare one another down in silence. Suddenly the cabin feels a lot more cramped and heated than it did just a moment ago. Nadya tugs at the collar of her shirt in discomfort.

“I’m not saying I had a plan, but if I’d had time to make one it wouldn’t be walking through his front door.”

But the younger’s irritation only seems to amuse Serafine, who purses her lips into a thin line to keep from smirking at him too obviously.

“Ah, oui. I suspect you would have gone looking for a secret entrance of some kind… perhaps a sewage tunnel by which to secret yourself in and out undetected?”

Jax just shrugs. “Can’t say I wouldn’t.”

“I can.”

Two words and just like that all the mirth is sapped from the air around them. Nothing fills the void left behind; it stays hollow and empty with foreboding.

“If such a passage did exist, which I can assure you it does not, would the Order not have used it long ago in much the same way?” She raises a single eyebrow at Jax, continuing before he has a chance to answer her.

“While your modern methods are indeed a fresh eye on an old war, Jax, they seem to blind you to the full scope of the kind of life we have lived here for all these centuries. Safety is but a fleeting dream to us. No shadow goes undisturbed for signs of the enemy. Every shelter — from a boarded-up chapel on the wayside to a sprawling manor house such as this — has been deemed safe only after proceeding with the utmost caution.

“Even someone as brazen as Vlad would not dare risk his own life by doing anything else.”

Nadya swears she can hear Jax’s teeth grind in his set jaw. That may be the gravel under the tires though.

The limo starts to slow down as they pass through a break in the hedges to reveal a wide arcing roundabout that stops just shy of the castle’s imposing front doors.

“So what you’re saying is if this goes to shit tonight there’s really no escape plan, huh?” Jax finally asks, and with a much softer voice than either Serafine or Nadya would have expected.

It makes the vampiress throw him a sympathetic look. One he pointedly ignores, but when has that ever stopped her before?

“Have you such little faith in my charming disposition?”

It’s a meager attempt to lighten the somber mood at best, but it’s enough to at least ease his suddenly white-knuckled grip on the sheath of his katana.

“More like a lack of faith in your judgment.”

“Inspired by?”

“Whatever the hell you see in Raines.”

It’s as though the driver has been taking his sweet time waiting for a break in their tension to finally get there. Which can’t possibly be the case; since the partition has been up from the moment they pulled away from the hotel and the ones they left behind… can it?

He cuts the engine abruptly. Something about the reigning silence makes Nadya’s heart start to inch its way up into her throat. Jax, sitting closest to her and no doubt hearing the spike in her pulse, reaches out and squeezes her shoulder.

“You okay there?”

She gives a noncommittal shrug, glad when he doesn’t drop his hand. “Situationally or existentially?” The joke, unfortunately, doesn’t quite land.

“At least this one is above ground.” He tries to reassure her. But apparently neither of them are allowed the luxury.

“The parts you can see…” Serafine says; her last words before the door opens to signal their arrival.

The night air is cold and makes Nadya’s eyes water as she steps out between her companions. She would have rather had Kamilah or Adrian at her side but that just wasn’t possible.

Serafine had made a point that couldn’t be denied. Between Kamilah’s assumed death and Gaius’ known ability to hold a grudge longer than most modern civilizations had been around, those two were pretty much screwed if anyone just so happened to recognize them.

With Antony and Isseya off the radar since Kamilah’s return and none of them having any hint or clue as to whether or not Gaius had started extending his reach overseas yet, they were better off housebound (metaphorically speaking) for the time being.

As it is they’re risking enough bringing Jax along, but apparently the fact he hadn’t made “much of an impression” on Gaius, to put it in Kamilah’s own words, was to their benefit. They were playing safe over sorry with Lily and her newly-acquired quirks too.

It was easy to write off the fact that Serafine hadn’t even allowed Cadence to volunteer before shooting him down as being, well, Serafine and Cadence being Serafine and Cadence. But there’s still a lot they don’t know about whatever had happened to their friends when the group split up — whatever it was though was enough to ease that tension in ways nobody would have expected.

“The intention is to meet with Vlad as quickly as possible, and ideally without arousing suspicion from him or any who might be in his entourage.” Serafine had explained. “Seeing as Cynbel of the Trinity has been famously dead for over a century now, seeing him suddenly reappear in the midst of Gaius’ ascension might as well be the definition of suspicious.”

The argument was fair and valid and lucky for them to have that kind of forethought, honestly. But when Nadya thinks back to the vague air of their talk back at Ahmanet in London and pairs it almost absentmindedly with the way Serafine and Kamilah exchanged a long and almost nervous glance at one another when Cadence’s back is turned…

Let’s just say at this point she’s just waiting around for the other shoe to drop. Or the other-other shoe. Like the kind of shoe an octopus might wear or something.

All of that and only Nadya is left; always the odd one out. But the Bloodkeeper can’t not do this, so what choice does she have?

They just have to hope Kamilah was right when she assumed Gaius would want to do everything in his power not to let Nadya’s name and face spread too far or wide. That he wouldn’t dare run the risk of someone else getting to her before he could.

Neither option appeals, for the record. But at least she’s not the only one risking her neck.

The driver gestures for them to wait at the base of the castle steps, letting them know they will be shown in shortly. He doesn’t linger, job completed, and soon Nadya is throwing a glance over her shoulder to catch the bright red tail lights before the car disappears back around the hedge line and out of sight.

Serafine’s hand comes down in between her shoulder blades somehow both heavy and comforting. A simple touch that eases the tension beginning to knot there that Nadya hadn’t even realized existed.

“Your heart is racing, Nadya,” she states the obvious with a gentle smile of her own, “we may be able to account his notoriety for your nerves but please… try to control your breathing.”

She nods, wide eyed, and swallows through her dry throat before inhaling deeply through her nostrils, holding, and letting it out as a warm breath on her lips. In, and hold, and out, and in, and hold, and out several times before she glances and sees the tiniest nod of approval from the vampiress.

“You’re pretty calm, given everything.”

“Why would I not be?” asks Serafine in obvious surprise. A little too sincere, in Nadya’s opinion.

“The way you’ve been talking about him sounds a lot like you guys aren’t old friends.”

Her rouge-tinted lips purse wryly. “No, I would not associate myself with him so plainly.”

“Then why did he agree to meet with you?”

A fair question, too. One that has Jax listening attentively even if he doesn’t look away from the doors still not yet opened to greet them.

Given the gravity of the situation, Nadya’s grateful that the woman doesn’t seem to need the time to carefully choose her words on this. Hopefully that means she isn’t sugarcoating it.

“The truth is that I did not reach out to him, but rather chose to finally accept a long-standing invitation.”

“Invitation to what?”

Serafine’s answer is drowned out by the sudden opening of the front doors; old heavy wood on ornate hinges designed more with the aesthetic in mind. Their harsh squeal cuts into the trio’s ears and makes Nadya flinch violently.

Soft yellowing light spills out into the night. A haze that stretches down the stone steps and all the way to where they stand gathered on the gravel. Nadya quickly throws the back of her hand over her eyes as she blinks away hazy colorless dots in front of her sight.

It’s just one big gaping hole of uninterrupted brightness… until a shadow starts to cut a long path through the din. It stretches longer and longer until it nearly reaches all the way back near the break in the hedges; a towering figure that, once her eyes adjust to the new lighting, doesn’t quite match the reality that stands before them.

“As I live and breathe — what be this vision before me? It could not be the captivating sight of one Serafine Dupont, surely!”

There’s so much to unpack there but Nadya’s brain is already frozen and buffering on account of the singular thought that consumes her entire being.

Those are some tight leather pants.

The fact that Vlad is wearing all black only adds to the formidable, if shapely, shadow he cuts across the front path. He gestures widely and exuberantly and with no small amount of purpose; the kind of motion that makes sure his large billowing sleeves move in precisely the right way and give him the perfect amount of flair.

Even without the combined warnings from Kamilah and Serafine prior to this exact moment, Nadya’s certain this first impression is all it would take for her to know exactly the kind of man Dracula is.

A one-hundred percent unrepentant drama queen.

Neither Jax or Nadya miss the sight of Serafine quickly steeling herself. How she tucks away any lingering distaste (though maybe it’s the whole psychic-connection thing but Nadya swears it’s not that hidden if she can still feel the remnants of it) and slips on what could very well pass as a genuinely sincere smile for how natural it looks.

Oh, she’s good.

“Vlad,” she coos, somehow both a greeting and an endearment both with one meager syllable. “I see the years have remained kind.”

With his hands on his cocked hips Vlad lets out his own rich bellowing laugh. The kind that has Nadya looking subtle as she can over her shoulders to see if there really is anyone able to hear him waiting in the shadows; witnessing them all like a permanent audience for his constant theatrics. Her senses may be perilously human but Jax doesn’t seem to notice anything off… hopefully he’s got a better grasp on their surroundings while their host holds Serafine captive with a gaze.

“Whereas you, my exquisite creature, look absolutely radiant. Perhaps even glowing as much as I am!”

The ‘Count’ is definitely younger than Serafine, which makes his comment more than a little suspect. About as suspect as the fact that he hasn’t moved from his place at the top of the steps… nor has she moved from her place here below.

They’re having a good old-fashioned stand off. Each one waiting for the other to yield their ground and move things along. But it’s different between the pair of them, that much is obvious.

Vlad shifts on the heels of his boots with an expectant lilt to his smile. He’s used to being greeted with respect and reverence — which Serafine isn’t not giving him — but it means he makes others come to him.

And everyone (Vlad included) knows quite well that Serafine only does what she wishes and nothing more. Hence the way she stands graceful, calm, and poised. Hands folded lightly over the bodice tight against her blouse.

She tilts her head to the side so gently her hair falls around her shoulder in a dark pillowing cloud.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” she asks bemusedly, “aren’t you going to come give us a kiss?”

With his hand forced and no time to find a reasonable way to turn the tables Vlad has no choice but to acquiesce. “Of course, of course!” Then he’s skipping down the worn stone steps two at a time, the rhythm of his heels following him all the way down. “I just needed a moment to take all of you in, darling. Alive and well and vibrant as ever.”

He embraces his fellow survivor with open arms and a kiss to each of her cheeks.

Another good reason Adrian didn’t come with, Nadya finds herself thinking — the only distraction she can muster to keep from cringing at how he gets a little too friendly on her face with his lips, we need Vlad alive after all.

And after that display… that might have been something up in the air.

Vlad coaxes Serafine back to hold her at arms’ length; only he doesn’t actually let her go. Some small attempt to reconcile his failed power play, maybe.

It doesn’t matter. Just as she did before Serafine breezes her way through anything he might do to her — a simple gesture and roll of her shoulders to adjust her hair has Vlad all but staggering back like she’s thrown him backwards with all of her strength.

“You say such things as though they may have been in doubt.”

His recovery is a meager and tight-lipped smile. “My ears on the ground have a lot to say about changes abound on your side of the continent. Absolute chaos, from what I’m told.”

Tension ripples through Jax and has his hand drifting to the sword affixed to his belt. Nadya throws him a worried look; all wide eyes and silent pleas, but from the looks of it she didn’t need to bother.

They might as well be invisible for all the attention the famed vampire gives them. Not when he has whatever old grudge fuels the calculated exchange between himself and Serafine to put his energy into. But never in her life has Nadya been more glad to be considered chopped liver.

Serafine doesn’t immediately answer. The inaction makes Vlad’s eyes flicker in ruby shades of delight; makes his smile grow wider and a little more meaningful — he thinks he’s won somehow.

“Surely you know of what I speak,” hand over his heart and eyes downcast in cheap, tacky grief, “as I can’t begin to imagine why you wouldn’t have been in Paris during the Dark Solstice. A morbid affair, from what I’ve heard. Almost no survivors to speak of.

“Save yourself, of course.”

Tension crackles between the vampires like electricity. It amps up the long pause that lets his words settle in like a rot; one he’s content to let spread so long as he can’t see it, or as long as nothing of his is damaged by it. Though if he lets it fester everyone’s gonna succumb eventually… or some other metaphor like that.

“You’ve always given credence to such boisterous tales, Vlad.” The woman replies a mite too calmly.

“You deny the Order has reared its fearsome head on your side of the continent?”

“Did I say that?”

“You did not say otherwise.”

“No…” Her voice trails into something soft; hand coming up the brush the back of her knuckles over the high arch of Vlad’s almost alabaster cheekbone. He could bat her hand away, step out of her immediate reach; anything to abate the way he’s shaking very obviously now in his boots. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t move an inch.

He just takes it.

Topped with the cherry pink of Serafine’s angelic smile.

“No I did not.”

And just like that she’s restored some sort of hierarchy between them. One that existed long ago and that Vlad Tepes had apparently forgotten in the intermission that followed. There’s less fear in him when he finally relaxes, when she lowers her hand to clasp his with a gentle little squeeze. But there’s a difference between showing fear and being afraid.

Serafine continues with a newfound confidence. “But your concern warms my heart, old friend. Such as my heart warms to know that with our differences aside we can remember the one thing that binds us. That which is more important than anything else.

“By the Will of the Goddess.”

She takes their joined hands and twists them gently. The darkened copper of her skin in stark contrast to his as she coaxes his palm facing upwards.

Nadya watches intently. She wonders for a moment if Serafine intends to draw blood from the bright vein under her thumb… but it passes over like a kiss and nothing more.

“By the Will of the Goddess,” Vlad repeats — far more winded than he had been mere moments ago.

To Serafine’s left Jax shifts on his boots restlessly. Not that anybody asked but Nadya’s seriously impressed with him right now; given his track record with these kinds of things the fact that he can resist rolling his eyes and looking for all the world as though he’d rather take his way through this in favor of the bare minimum of neutrality is worthy of some serious accolades.

Not that he gets any. But Serafine can take a hint.

“Vlad, ma puce, let us move this inside, shall we? I’ve yet to introduce my delightfully stoic American friend here; and he’s been so patient with us hasn’t he?”

It isn’t hard for Jax to pretend to be utterly disinterested in Vlad as the man finally seems to acknowledge his presence — simply because he’s not even pretending. But Vlad had been; that much is obvious. As he looks the younger vampire over with a lazy enough eye.

One that makes it abundantly clear that he had noticed Serafine was not alone; but that he simply didn’t see why he ought to make the effort to care.

“American you say,” — oh of course he says it like that; snooty upper crusty and like he’s actively trying to get Jax to put him at the top of his hit list; maybe even higher up than Gaius at this point — “how… bold of you.”

But his attitude aside, it’s impossible to miss the shift in the way Vlad’s eyes rake over Jax to take him in fully and as a person, less like a piece of Serafine’s luggage left aside.

His eyelids lower a fraction, likes like smoldering embers as he drags his gaze up to finally take in Jax’s handsome features through thick lashes. If there was any doubt left as to what the man’s mind conjures up with the sight before him — there really isn’t though — that’s pretty much dashed the moment he swipes a hint of his tongue out to wet his lower lip.

“Yes, bold indeed…”

Before he can say anything else there’s a loud noise from just beyond the castle doors. A heavy thud that sounds an awful lot like heavy furniture or something else being dragged across a floor.

Jax’s shoulders sag in visible relief as the sound jostles Vlad out of his thoughts and back to the present. He turns back to Serafine.

“Yes yes, do come inside! The American too, I suppose… You can even bring your little snack.”

It takes Nadya entirely too long for her to realize she is the snack. That doesn’t sit well, to be honest.

But it’s the first time Vlad’s even acknowledged her existence and… it’s a little underwhelming if she’s being honest. Not that she wants to earn Vlad’s attention in any form — especially with how touchy-feely he’d been with Serafine — but maybe by this point she’s just gotten so used to strange reactions from vampires that being completely and utterly ignored is… a whole lot of strange for its own reasons? If that makes sense?

It does make sense, if Serafine’s face is anything to go by. How she darts a quick look between Vlad and Nadya and just barely manages to wipe the confusion from her face before it becomes something worth noting.

It could be worse… so she counts her blessings.

Without further pleasantries the man takes long strides back up the steps. He assumes they will follow right at his heels, and they do. Though if the looks shared between the three of them are any indication nobody is feeling as confident about this whole mess as they did before they exited the car.

And they can’t even mention it. What with the whole vampires having supersense-hearing and all.

Vlad doesn’t stop at the top of the stairs. He continues striding right on through the doorway and immediately he’s met by an attendant on either side. Each face is pretty in the way model runways are pretty; with a sharpness to their features that makes them look almost feline and, these two at least, with some kind of gold-colored highlighter that accentuates the sharpness of their umber skin in the distant candlelight.

One steps behind him to catch the suit jacket he shrugs off of his shoulders, while the other who places a fresh glass of a brown liquor in his waiting hand.

“I hope you can forgive the mess of the place,” Vlad pauses to sip his drink and thanks one of the pretty faces with a knuckle stroked along their long throat. They remain impassive to the act but the intimacy can’t be denied.

“You know how crazy things can get when planning the social event of the year and all that.”

Only it’s not a mess so much as it is just a bit… bustling. From the front walk Nadya’s human hearing hadn’t caught onto the noises coming from inside the place but seeing it all now she’s considering getting her hearing checked.

One would expect an estate that looks like that on the outside would be no less decorated within, but decorated is pretty much an understatement. Though if anyone were to make sure any place they lived was decorated to the nines regardless of the time of year it would be Vlad.

Despite knowing that, the hectic bustle of bodies between propped open grand doors and up and down a staircase that branches off on three of the castle’s main floors, though the staggering height of the place from afar tells her there are more levels than what she sees here.

Everything is decorated with the kind of taste that comes from old and inherited wealth and is topped off with a modern edge.

Banisters roped with thick twines of velvet in various shades of reds and golds and what look like real diamonds acting as little more than baubles dangling from the tassels at the hems; furniture scattered around the large foyer in plush cushions and couches that look at first like the genuine antique but on second glance are gold-inlaid replicas built with modern crafting techniques and with longevity in mind.

Another thud comes from a handful of attendants moving a large chaise from one side of the hall through another doorway.

On the ground floor there’s a giant ladder propped up against the far left wall and an attendant balancing atop it. They hold themselves perfectly still, almost delicate, while they secure dark nearly blood-red ribbons around the bottom rungs of a chandelier. They must be nearly done, judging by the same material already wrapped around the chain securing it to the ceiling, and the dark color of the fabric dulls the light and leaves the room hazy both from the continuous heat of the flames that don’t quite permeate the thick texturing.

By the time this place — or this space at the very least — is done being decorated it will certainly be beautiful. But it will be a dark kind of beauty — gothic in a way.

Exactly the kind of event decorations you would expect from Count Dracula; but there’s a respect to be had for the fact he leans into the aesthetic with gusto.

“You’ve outdone yourself, Tepes,” praises Serafine through a hitch in her throat. She’s looking around the foyer with a wistful kind of wanting; a small sparkle held in her eyes that has nothing to do with the lavish decor and everything to do with the invisible hand squeezing her heart up into her throat.

Given recent events especially, the vampiress is no stranger to grief and longing.

And Vlad beams like the way she speaks is more of a compliment than the words themselves.

“Only the best for the best of us, as I’m sure you remember.”

“All your earlier words about the Order, yet you insist on throwing your bal masqué.”

“It is specifically because of these troubling times that we must continue with our most important traditions, Serafine!” He feigns shock with a hand on his chest. The ice in his tumbler tinks together delicately in his grasp. “I thought you, of anyone, would agree.”

He’s goading her and getting more obvious in how he does it by the second. She’s taken it with grace up until now but there’s a tight edge to her tone starting to chip through her armor.

“Tradition, in times of war, can be put aside if that’s what ensures it has chance to be continued.”

“When are we not at war? The Order is no less vicious now than it was before…” He stops and sips his drink again. Casting a passive appraisal around the continued decorating.

“Unless,” with a click of his tongue, “there is a different war you speak of.”

Nadya doesn’t know what’s scaring her more right now; the fact that Serafine had let something that dangerous slip to begin with or the fact that Vlad had caught on so easily. She risks a look at him out of the corner of her eye… much to her relief his sights are still set on Serafine.

An easy grin curls his mouth. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment; let me make sure the parlor’s been made to greet us.” And when he takes his leave of them off to the right and around a set of double doors there’s a saunter to his gait that wasn’t there before. His smugness lingers in the air like a bad perfume.

The moment he’s out of earshot Jax rounds on Serafine with barely-restrained frustration.

“What the hell are we playing his games for? We don’t need to do any of this to find out what he knows.”

With pursed lips Serafine continues to watch the preparations taking place around them. Jax’s frown deepens.

“Serafine.”

“I heard you Jax, don’t worry.”

But that’s still not an answer. Before he ends up raising his voice even more, Nadya reaches out and lays her hand over Serafine’s where she wrings her fingers together at her waist.

“Serafine…” If only she didn’t sound as worried as she is; as the woman’s continued silence makes grow inside her. Serafine doesn’t push her away, but she doesn’t seem welcome to the touch either.

She finally lets her head hang with a weary sigh. “I had thought that given all that transpires around us, Vlad might have chosen to postpone this for the sake of his own safety.

“If not because of Gaius, then because of the Order.”

“Because they’ve been attacking more often, you mean.”

She nods. “But that’s assuming far too much of him. Cunning though Vlad may be, he isn’t very bright.”

“He’s certainly…” Jax’s growl drips with venom, “something.” Nothing good.

“So are we keeping with the plan?”

Squeezing the woman’s hand is enough to finally wrench Serafine’s attention back to Nadya. “No, we are not.”

Jax tenses. “Why the hell not?”

“Because this —” Nadya’s hand falls to let her offer a sweeping gesture to the foyer’s decorations, “— his bal masqué? It changes things. It changes everything.”

She says it in a way that has Nadya feeling like she’s missing a few key facts. She and Jax exchange equally confused glances, and make Serafine sigh heavily for it.

“There’s too much to be explained here. We must leave while we still are able.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that he knows who you are, Nadya.”

It’s like a large gust of wind blows out every candle in the room. Not literally — but the warmth of them is sucked from her bones easily enough. It leaves Nadya feeling hollow as much as she is cold; makes her wrap her arms around herself like that will somehow protect her. She shakes her head slowly… but the disbelief isn’t as intense as she would have hoped it to be.

“But he —”

“— is a performer before he is anything else,” interrupts Serafine; and she’s not wrong. “While he may not have guessed you would be at my side tonight, he has likely known your face and who you are for as long as Isseya and Antony have.”

“So Gaius has been in contact with him then.”

Serafine doesn’t even have to give Jax a verbal response.

“Then we need to go. We need to leave the city; regroup somewhere else.”

“We’ll take our leave of him tonight, yes… but—” —there shouldn’t be any ‘buts’— “—we will be back. We’ll be here for the bal masqué, with the others; and, Goddess-willing, better prepared.”

Uhm… what?

“Why the hell would we do that?” And Jax just barely manages to check his volume, though he’s no less angry. “It’s a party for fucks’ sakes. What’s the big deal?”

“Not here.”

The swordsman throws a look over his shoulder towards the doors Vlad should be coming back through any minute now. “He’s not just gonna let us leave. Especially if —”

Especially if he knows.

But Serafine seems to think otherwise.

“He will. He knows we’ll return; I would even hazard to say he is counting on it.”

“You’re not making any sense.”

“Unsurprising.”

Before he can try and push the issue Serafine wraps a strong arm around Nadya’s shoulders and all but shoves her towards Jax. “Take her and go. I will deal with Vlad and give you what time I can.”

He just barely manages to catch Nadya before she falls into him. Reaching out to steady her and make sure she has her feet before rounding on their companion. “What the he—”

But he’s too late. Serafine is already five long strides away — far enough that he’d need to raise his voice to catch her. And they both know he won’t take the risk in alerting Vlad’s house staff. They’ve all been dutifully working this entire time, but if the woman dusting picture frames or the couple laying down ornate Persian rugs are anywhere as deceptive as their boss they may be ready to strike at any time.

That thought does not sit well with Nadya’s meager dinner.

“We should try and leave.” While we still can.

His jaw visibly tenses, but already he’s starting to slowly nudge the pair of them back through the open doors. “Fine. But she and I aren’t done with this.”

They catch the distant sound of Serafine’s laugh just as they walk through the doorway. The cold bites Nadya’s hands and face harder than before but sheer panic is more than enough to keep her putting one foot in front of the other. When they’re out of the building and back in the darkness, Nadya and Jax don’t hesitate to pick up the pace. Any faster when they hit the gravel and they’ll be full-on running into the night.

Well… they are running into the night. That’s the point.

“What’s with all the vampires on this freaking continent and the fact they can’t give a straight answer to save their lives?”

“Well they can’t all be like you.”

At the glower he gives her Nadya just barely manages a smile through chattering teeth. It definitely helps her feel less panicky.

“And that means what exactly?”

“They can’t all be bold Americans, obviously.”

Jax groans, fully under-appreciating her brand of awkward humor, and takes Nadya’s hand to bring her along as he speeds away.

#bloodbound #playchoices #playchoices fanfiction #kamilah x mc #jax matsuo #bloodbound mc #mc: nadya al jamil #serafine dupont #vlad tepes #fic: oblivion bound #oblv: bound by destiny ii #oblv: new chapter #; my fics

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wlw-lovestruck-fiction · 4 years

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Vivienne Tang (Angst)

Anon Request #1: “since you’re so good at angst, how would vivi react to mc either dying or getting seriously injured? do your worst xo”

Anon Request #2: “vivienne after her mc dies in her arms either during a heist or after one of her old enemies attack her”

Anon Request #3: “Have you ever watched Grey’s Anatomy? If so, you probably will have seen Lexie Grey’s death and Mark Sloan talking to her as she died. Is there any way you could write a fic inspired by what he said to her, but for Vivienne/MC after MC gets fatally injured? For some reason I keep imagining everything Mark said leaving Vivienne’s mouth as she says goodbye to her MC…🌹”

Anon Request #3: “Break up headanons for viv”

Anon Request #4: “How about MC waking up after a month of coma just to find out that Vivienne has not left her side not once? Yes, give me the angst but with lots of fluff pls ✊😩”

Anon Request #5: “What if Vivienne’s MC fought cancer as a teen and she recently found out that it had come back rather aggressively? How would she tell Vivi and what would her reaction be as she got sicker and sicker? Headcanons please ~ from a teenage cancer survivor who is glad she made it through, and found this blog more helpful in dark times than you’ll ever know xx”

Anon Request #6: “What if Inez had kidnapped MC instead of Vivienne? Please tell us all about Vivienne’s reaction (I personally don’t know how calm she’d be able to remain knowing that someone so predatory has the love of her life in her clutches) and what happens when/after she saves MC. Angst to Fluff, obviously, and can either be a fic or some of your amazing headcanons 😘”

Anon Request #7: “Can any of you guys write a angsty fic where mc and vivi get separated for years and they finally find eachother after searching all those years? xoxo Anon Request #8: “I’m lowkey freaking out at the lockdowns in my country because of the Coronavirus. Is it in any way possible for you to write a fic where germaphobe Vivienne is high key panicking about it and MC has to calm her down?”

Anon Request #9: “fic/hc about vivienne walking in on mc crying on the shower floor after an argument, she’ll become so distressed by the sight that she’ll walk into the shower fully clothed just so she can hold her and tell her she loves her (bonus points if this is the first time she’s actually seen her cry/the first time she realises that mc always cries in the shower because she knows seeing her uncharacteristically sad will break vivi’s heart)…do your worst x”

Anon Request #10: “Vivienne cheats on MC with Nadia and tries to make up to her. The end is up to you😊” Anon Request #11: “HIII, I SAW THAT YOU WROTE SOME HC FOR THE OTHER ANON WHO IS MY AGE & TOLD YOU GUYS A LITTLE ABOUT HER CANCER. I’VE BEEN FIGHTING TYPE 1 DIABETES SINCE I WAS FIVE AND RARELY FIND CHARACTERS WITH THE SAME CONDITION. WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE FOR SOME HC WHERE VIVIENNE’S MC IS A T1 DIABETIC? (: (:” Anon Request #12: “VIVIENNE FINDING MC CRYING AFTER THEIR DISAGREEMENT/THE NADIA SITUATION IN HER LAST CHAPTERS. BONUS POINTS IF SHE’S NEVER SEEN HER CRY BEFORE.“ Anon Request #13: “ANGST, AFTER VIVIENNE’S COMPLACENT ATTITUDE TOWARDS NADIA SOMEHOW RESULTS IN MC’S DEATH — THAT WOULD’VE BEEN PREVENTED IF SHE’D BEEN A GOOD GF AND ACTUALLY LISTENED INSTEAD OF THROWING A TANTRUM AND GASLIGHTING HER — SHE STRUGGLES TO LIVE WITH THE GUILT AND THE POPPY HAVE A HARD TIME FORGIVING HER FOR IT TOO.“

Anon Request #14: “i love angst so much SO CAN YOU WRITE ABOUT VIVIENNE CRYING IN FRONT OF MC FOR THE FIRST TIME?? Break my heart please 😌✌️”

Anon Request #15: “NADIA KIDNAPS VIVI’S MC AND WHEN SHE FINDS HER, SHE’S HURT. NOT FATALLY, BUT SERIOUSLY. THERES A LARGE STAB WOUND IN HER SIDE AND LOTS OF BLOOD AND THE BLOOD LOSS IS HAVING SYMPTOMS; SHE’S COLD, CONFUSED, VERY ANXIOUS ETC. HC OF VIVIENNE CARING FOR HER/COMFORTING HER… MAJOR ANGST BUT END WITH LOTS OF FLUFF PLEASE.”

Anon Request #16: “QUEEN OF THIEVES MC GOES OUT TO DINNER CLUB WITH THE POPPY. DRINKS A GLASS OF WINE, CLUTCHES HER THROAT BEFORE PASSING OUT SINCE ITS POISONED.”

Anon Request #17: “Nadia pushes MC from the rooftop and she is very seriously injured. She spends weeks in the hospital on a ventilator despite being declared brain dead because no one can bear to let her go, her family fly to Paris and Vivienne doesn’t leave her side, but there’s no option but to switch off her life support. Vivi holds her hand as her heartbeat fades, crying and begging her to come back to her, but it’s no use. Fic or HC about this scenario please.”

Anon Request #18: “Vivienne comforting MC after a nightmare (also later MC returning the favor?)”

Anon Request #19: “f it’s possible, can I get Vivienne dying while protecting protecting MC??? Please and Thank You =)”

Anon Request #20:“I’d like to see a story where QOT MC ends up going blind and Vivienne has to help her adapt, she believes its her fault when it isn’t.”

Anon Request #21: “this might be waaaaaaay too dark and twisty but what if the police caught up with the gilded poppy & rather than go to prison & be separated from each other they decide to ingest some of nikolai & vivienne’s poisons? Pairing for this would be Vivi x Mc if you’re up for doing your absolute worst 🥀🍷

Anon Request #22: “Can you write what happens next in that angst story of Vivenne's MC being poisoned by wine at dinner? The more angst the better.”

Anon Request #23: “It’s been a month since MC left the poppy and returned to NYC, and Vivienne has finally plucked up the courage to win back her woman. When she gets there and tracks her down she finds her dead in her apartment in a murder that’s identical down to the finest detail to Inez Serrano’s. What happens next?”

Anon Request #24: “Ahh, after reading that fic where mc faints from toxic paint, can you guys write a part two of that? If you guys have time since you probably have a dozen requests. Thanks in advance”

Anon Request #25: “Vivienne and MC break up, a couple of years later Vivi goes to New York to win her back. She spots her from across a crowded museum, hides in the shadows, and notices a wedding ring on her finger, a baby with her eyes held in her arms, and another woman on her arm. She looks happier than Vivi can ever recall her being, and that’s when she realises that “hilst MC may be the love of her life, she is not the love of MC’s. ❤️ Do your worst, make us cry, mods xo”

Anon Request #26: “May i request a hc or fic of Vivienne finding out that her girlfriend has been psychologically/emotionally abused by their parents.”

Anon Request #27: “I’m sure I’m not the only one who needs to know more about an awkward ghost’s series about MC w her own crew!!! Perhaps for an eventual finale - MC finally gets cornered and isn’t able to run. She has to confront her feelings and she decides once and for all whether she can forgive Vivienne and move on or if she just can’t.”

Anon Request #28: “Can you write QOT MC betraying Glided Poppy by selling them out to FBI and stealing everything they earned and also joining Flashpoint to work with Nadia. This broke Vivienne’s heart as she gets arrested along the crew. Make it angsty as possible lol and thanks!”

Anon Request #29: “Hi! Long time lurker, big fan of this blog. Can I request either a headcannon or a fic of Viv Tang?Basically, it goes like this, it's an AU of some sort, where Viv and the Poppy leave MC.

Anon Request #30: Can I request a Vivienne x MC, MC died giving birth to their baby😭🥺Advance Thank you for all of your hard work🤗

Anon Request #31: Hello, I loved your fics on Vivienne. So I want to request a Vivienne fic where MC is pregnant, and she with the Poppy is having dinner in a restaurant. But, she got served with spoiled food, so she got food poisoning. Make it a bit angsty and end it in fluff as possible. Thank you!!

Request #1: “oh my poor heart, could you go on, when MC finds vivienne crying on the beach 😭”

Request #2: “could there be a continuation of mc going to steal something from vivienne? like a vivienne point of view when she learned that mc was there and took something from her and maybe she swears to herself not to give up on mc (sorry my english, i'm brazilian i'm still learning)”

Request #3: May i request vivienne x mc where mc leaves vivienne after a huge fight and doesn’t come back, only to have her find mc not only living in Japan but also finds her figure skating her heart out during after hours because mc’s best friend owns the skating rink facility. Vivienne stays and watches mc skate but when mc sees her, she ignores her because mc is tired of empty promises and dancing around everything that goes on between them. Especially their feelings. Little bit angst but fluffy ending

Combined Request #1: “Vivienne x Mc, where Mc gets injured and falls unconscious and later Vivienne taking care?“ + QOT MC gets caught up in the blast from one of Jett’s explosives, and now has severe burns acrros her face and other parts of her body along with slight deafness. Could I get a fic of Vivienne comforting her, and telling her she’s still beautiful? Thanks!

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cloveroctobers · 4 years

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HENRIK LILJENQUIST—

IG info/Bio: @/adventuresbyhenrik | 53.1k followers — “imma wild boi🌿🌏🧗 | happily taken👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨

23 (24) years old

Parents are both Swedish and only speak Swedish, leaving henrik to also become fluent

His father Halvi is a pilot

His mother Lova is a race car driver

Siblings? Probably a brother, named Jahan & younger by two or three years + they get along quite well

Born & raised in Isle of Wight, England + loves it there & thinks it’s the best place for him to live, it’s his own private island in his mind plus he’s always finding something to do. He stays active

Climbing & wilderness survival instructor, he gets to talk as much as he wants while also teaching people AND all while being active! Sounds like the perfect job for him

Probably developed ADHD around his pre-teen age, leaving his parents to find him something he enjoys + can slow down and focus on

used to be on meds for it

Was well-known in high school, probably in the yearbook club since he was able to run around & get to know people but was kinda shit at knowing the functions of a camera

His selfie game has gotten a lot better now but he mostly posts anything but his face. You’ll see more of his face on his stories & location shots on his feed

Feels his hair is his best physical feature & his prized possession, would never THINK about cutting it. Even just a trim is a bit much for him

Always tries to be positive but at the same time can be condescending since he sometimes won’t pick his words wisely ex.) when he gave MC a backhanded “compliment” about makeup, being active, + wanting them to “think of others ” feelings — just because someone is opposite from you doesn’t mean you have to shit on the way they carry themselves...that’s my issue with him

maybe he’s a Taurus?

Loves fall & spring, more so fall since that’s when the weather feels nicest to him plus allergy season is a REAL bitch

The guy’s real Adventurous & always managing to find something to do. If you’re ever bored just hit him up, he has plenty of recommendations

Family owns a cottage & he’s the one who goes out there more than his own family does! “You should just sell it to me at this point!” He tells his parents over dinner often & it is strongly considered

Has five birds & a husky, when he goes on road trips they’re always with him. Which can get a little hectic at times but they’re his family, he’s a, “birdog dad”

BLAKE secretly dislikes them all, feeling like they take up space sometimes (especially when she wants to cuddle) but she deals with it since she cares for the guy — yes, they’re still dating

She’s been convincing him to cut a few inches off of his hair which he took like a slap in the face, “that’s like me asking you to quit speaking up for humans!” “No, no it’s not.”

They’re polar opposites with flaws which causes disagreements between the two of them by putting each other in their places but they learn to compromise? (*insert eartha Kitt gif laughing here*] if they want this to work

His mother seems to be the only one who dislikes blake (she strongly feels he should have bought MC back home...that’s right she watched the show from time to time. Not always since she doesn’t care for reality tv but her friends encouraged her to watch bits and pieces) while his dad and brother approve

It is tense when Blake and his mom are in the same room which makes Henrik sad since he believes Blake deserves a chance. He took a chance on her and it seems to be going pretty well so why couldn’t his mother just be happy for him like the rest of the family is?

Henrik loves his low-maintenance girls who are open to trying new things with him, Blake is usually down most of the time but she likes her personal space too..which henrik struggles to understand

He wants her to live with him, he’s sure his parents will let him have the cottage if Blake decides to live with him but Blake loves her freedom in Kingston

It’s hidden but I feel like he might be one of those guys that feels like “a woman should follow a man” since that’s what his father installed into his boys— which failed because his wife isn’t just a housewife, she has goals and went after them

I feel like Blake turns to social media almost always to post about her feelings (I can’t remember what I picked the first time around as my occupation but as I’m currently playing I picked human rights campaigner so) but it’s mostly subtle shade & it always goes recognized by fans which brings drama between her, mc x Bobby

Henrik jumps in because what kind of guy would he be if he didn’t have his gf’s back? Doesn’t care for the drama but he & Bobby usually said slick shit to each other in the villa, it’s safe to say they’re not really friends but they’re not enemies either that’s mostly between their gf/wife

Henrik doesn’t care enough about Bobby to dislike him but he won’t put up with his shit any longer and what easier way to do that than online? He feels like they can settle this with a phone call but Blake & MC aren’t with the shits and don’t want their men speaking to each other

Henrik & Bobby eventually have a chat in secret anyways

Henrik warns Blake that this can effect her job status if she doesn’t calm down since she uses social media for her cause

She usually knows when to stop but can’t help it if it slips out sometimes

They talk it out and move on usually with whatever fun idea henrik may have

Owns a ford bronco from the 90’s that used to be his uncle’s who builds tree houses for a living and is still running, a jeep gladitor, or some sort of pickup truck

Knows how to make the best apricot jam

All about saving the bees

Loves animals, probably on his journey to veganism if he’s not already there

We all know this fucking guy likes eating M0sS

“Embarrassing fact” but uh big fan of twilight, feels like Seth Clearwater and him are meant to be best buds but he also stans the Volturi 😷

Him and Lucas of course remained the best of mates, since they live 2 hrs away from each other and are always busy living their lives they always have to plan out when they can hangout but that fails 60% of the time when henrik pops up at Lucas’ job or at his flat not giving him a choice but to hang out

They’re always vacationing together too? Sure Henrik is his own version of low-key while Lucas likes a bit of luxury...they still find a balance to just have a good time regardless if they live different lifestyles...they’re basically married

Always texting if they’re not hanging out, henrik with his memes that Lucas doesn’t understand & Lucas just checking in on henrik’s well being which leads the conversation to many topics

He’s actually cool with Gary now? They like/comment on each other’s posts & even text here and there

Even ran into Rocco once on a road trip, that was interesting but when life gives you lemons...we’ll just say that

Even him and Ibrahim share recommendations through text or DM’s which is nice! Henrik is always down for friends even tho they’re not like his personal friends (except for Lucas, he fits into his criteria)

Most of his work is physical and talking but he goes the extra mile by hiking every Sunday either with his friends, Blake, or family — he’s genuinely likes being one with nature

If he’s at the cottage, he’s always outside, chopping extra wood, making sure the yard looks like it belongs on a magazine, or takes the boat out on lake to nap since he doesn’t like to fish as much anymore

Currently trying to grow strawberries but some animal keeps eating them :/

Adores adventure time, the x-files, bobs burgers + animal planet, and travel channels—like he’s a real dad

If he could shower outside everyday, he would, it’s such a freeing experience to him

His outings consist of being in the woods 24/7 so in his mind when he brings Blake out there with him, it’s a version of a date, whenever they spend time together is a date to him, which she has to remind him that she wants to do something different like getting dressed up every now and then + go out to dinner which he HATES but he’ll do his best to please her, as long as the restaurant is more earthy than snobby he’s okay

100% would survive the apocalypse, he knows how to make due with what he’s got, he’s always been that way

Enjoys rom-com’s so he’ll laugh at how cringe they are but still enjoy it, indie films, ALITA was the best film of 2019 to him & currently his fav film is, “the call of the wild” with Harrison Ford

His favorite films ever are Indiana Jones, Lara Coft: Tomb raider, Terminator, and I am legend

Aliens ARE real, they’re out there and he’ll be part of the reason they’ve been exposed

I feel like he wanted to be an astronaut growing up but then realized he’d be a confined space for long periods of time and said cancel that shit lol + he isn’t the greatest at science. History? He did real well in that subject

I think he loves Lorde, listens to Bon Iver—especially on early morning commutes to work, Rex Orange County, Omar Apollo, Joji, the nbhd, the driver era, kid cudi...yktfv

Celeb crushes?/types: The main girls from Charlie’s angels 2019, Alexa PenaVega... “you know Carmen from spy kids?” Diana silvers, Dove Cameron, JAMIE CHUNG, & VANESSA HUDGENS

Anthem = Wallows, “OK”

#litg #litg2 #litg s2 #litg henrik #litg au #litg headcanon #litg headcanons #litg Blake #litg Lucas #litg bobby #litg mc #edited cause I wasn’t aware the mans was actually Swedish oops

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angrylizardjacket · 4 years

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the deadliest game // charlotte&lola

Summary: Motley Crue, Lola, Charlotte, Peach, and Eileen play Knife Monopoly. It goes about as well as you could expect.

A/N: BIG WARNING THERE’S SO MANY KNIVES. KNIVES, INJURY, MENTIONS OF BLOOD, CUTTING AND STABBING BUT NOT IN A SERIOUS WAY, JUST LIKE A FUN LITTLE STAB, BUT STILL THERE’S SERIOUS KNIFE PLAY. it’s not sexual but i still don’t think its sfw. @lemonadexmouth and @misscharlottelee i hope i did your girls at least a little bit proud haha. MC might be a bit oc, sorry!

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When Charlotte hears the words Knife Monopoly leave Tommy’s mouth one unassuming Friday afternoon in the Motley House, she’s instantly sent back a whole five years, to the Bass family garage, and Athena, all of thirteen years old, screeching in triumph while Tommy, barely fifteen, swore a blue streak, amid begging Charlotte not to tell his dad. They’d ignored her warnings, her jousting with steak knives is not a better alternative to regular auctions, and as such, Tommy had underestimated his vicious and competitive little sister, and ended up with a knife half an inch deep in the heel of his palm.

“You’re so fucking stupid,” Charlotte, sixteen, tells him.

“Get fucked!” Athena had crowed, knife still a little bloody as she raised it in triumph.

“Language, ‘Thena,” Charlotte reminded her, searching amid Tommy’s various musical supplies for any sort of cloth to stem the bleeding.

“I just won Knife Monopoly I can do whatever I want!” Athena responded, looking a little bit crazy, brandishing her knife at Charlotte, who just regarded her with flat unamusement.

“Go get me bandages,” she instructed the younger girl, cutting her off before she can even begin to protest, “or I’ll tell your mom it was your idea.”

“She won’t -”

“You stabbed Tommy!”

“It was his suggestion! It’s his fault he got stabbed!” But she complies anyways, and sulks the whole time. Tommy doesn’t play Knife Monopoly with his little sister after that, or around Charlotte either, though according to some of his friends at school, he hasn’t exactly quit the game cold turkey.

“Absolutely fucking not,” Charlotte calls from the bathroom where she’s helping dye the ends of Lola’s hair bright red, the moment the memory passes. It’s all over her hands, it already looks like blood; this all feels too familiar.

“Char-lee,” Tommy practically whines, and Charlotte steps out of the bathroom to scowl at him, even as Lola protests.

“Okay but what is Knife Monopoly?” Nikki is far too intrigued for his own good -

“No.” Charlotte says, firmer this time, “it’s dumb as hell. And it always ends with Tommy getting stabbed.”

“Not always!” Tommy protests, “I’ve stabbed Vince a few times,” like that makes it any better.

“Sign me up!” Nikki’s eyes are always alight with some terrible and dangerous enthusiasm, and Charlotte regrets ever meeting him, and proceeds to, in great and embarrassing detail, retell the story of the first ever game of Knife Monopoly. Tommy looks like he’s bitten a lemon by the time she’s finished. Nikki is clearly not swayed.

“I got better at it,” Tommy actually pouts.

“I’d hope so; your sister was thirteen,” Nikki points out. Tommy’s expression, defying all expectations, gets even more bitter.

“She’s vicious,” he says in his own defense, “go get Vince, he’ll tell you I’m good at it.”

“What does being good at Knife Monopoly mean?” Lola finally steps into the conversation, hands also dyed a bright, eye-catching red to match the ends of her hair currently in a messy bun atop her head. Unfortunately, she seems onboard with the whole idea.

“It means Vince got stabbed a lot,” Charlotte fills in, and Tommy’s back to grinning and nodding.

“How about it, Lo?” He’s all enthusiasm, and Lola shrugs, which he takes as a yes. He then proceeds to ask each of them if they’re in, without waiting for an answer, and practically bolts into the spare room where Vince was desperately trying to sleep off a hangover.

“Knife Monopoly!” He announces at the top of his lungs, hanging off the doorframe. It’s like he’s fifteen again. Charlotte, whole body heavy with resignation, makes her way to the phone to call up Peach and Eileen. From the other room, the other three all hear Vince groan loudly.

“No rib stabbing,” is his only groggy stipulation, and Tommy literally cheers.

Peach and Eileen show up within the hour, with a bemused Mick in tow, both women wearing near-identical disapproving scowls.

“We don’t have enough knives,” Nikki muses, looking at them, but Tommy’s acting as if their arrival means the end of the world.

“Charlie -” he tries again.

“Moral support, Thomas.” She doesn’t leave any room for argument, and then apologizes to both redheads. After a beat, the anger cracks away to resignation from Eileen, who Eileen opens her bag to reveal a swathe of gauze tape and a bottle of vodka, “just be glad I didn’t call your sister.” Charlotte adds for good measure, but Tommy just flips her off.

Peach, on the other hand, realizing that the game hadn’t even started, turns from disapproving to excited.

“Wait, so I get to actually play this time?”

“Peach!” Eileen groans, but Tommy’s offering her a place in the game. She’d always had to help clean up the aftermath; it’s easy to be disapproving when bandaging your not-boyfriend’s sliced up bicep, it’s another to be able to get drunk and play for yourself.

Lola gets out of the shower drying her freshly dyed hair, only for the body count in the apartment to have almost doubled; she takes it in stride, and actually parrots Nikki’s concern about a lack of knives almost word for word.

“If someone can drive me to my motel I can borrow some steak knives from the kitchen,” she offers, much to Charlotte and Eileen’s growing horror. Someone suggests making a night of it, of ordering pizza, getting booze, and collecting more knives before they start, and it seems almost everyone else is in agreement, even Mick, who, as Lola points out, would take any opportunity to stab the rest of the band, even a little bit.

“I hate them,” Eileen mutters to Charlotte, the two of them sharing vodka with Mick in the kitchen. Charlotte hums in agreement, watching as Nikki and Lola went to collect knives, while Vince and Peach went to pick up pizza and booze, which left Tommy to find the Monopoly board.

“Fuckin’ teenagers, the lot of them,” Mick chimes in, but there’s something amused in his gaze, and Charlotte sighs deeply and tells him not to indulge them. He shrugs, as if he can’t help himself, as if the damage is already done, and it is.

There’s actual knife wounds in the board, holes of considerable size.

Charlotte doesn’t know why now, of all the time she’s known them, that she’s finally hit with the realization that her closest friends might be the absolute dumbest people she knows.

The premise of Knife Monopoly is simple; any and all disagreements are settled with a knife fight. Disagreements can range from establishing rules - yes, that early on; there’s been several times where he’s never even made a roll and the game is over - to disputes about rent, about whose turn it is, and most famously, substituting auctions for knife fights. Usually Tommy’s only played it with one opponent, so it’s elated to maybe not get stabbed for a few rounds. The knife fights aren’t serious, no-one’s allowed to go in for the kill or anything dramatic, and if someone quits, you have to respect that and stop going after them, but once they’re out, they’re not allowed to rejoin.

Peach and Vince get back first, loaded up with food for the whole pack, and Charlotte watches through narrowed eyes as Tommy pulls Vince to the side after he’s set down all the pizzas. They’re plotting something, judging by the conspiratorial whispering, and their suddenly shifty gazes.

“Charlie,” this time her name is a question when Tommy asks it, and Charlotte turns her full attention to him and the blonde crowded together in the corner of the room, “do you think Nikki and Lola...” he hesitated, “what do you think their pain tolerance is?” He decides on, none too subtly. Charlotte, when she considers his question, can’t help the way her lips twitch in amusement, understanding exactly what was happening.

“You’re both going to lose.”

“Ye of little faith,” Vince clicks his tongue, nose in the air, and Charlotte suppresses the sudden murderous intent that surges forth in her. Probably not the best situation to be feeling murderous in.

“You’re knife fighting Nikki and Lola,” Charlotte smirks instead, “you’re going to lose.”

Neither of them like that she kind of has a point.

The two in question finally get back, a canvas bag full of steak knives in tow, which are quickly passed out, and dinner and drinks are distributed and eaten as the rules are explain. Mick’s balancing the tip of his knife against his knee where he’s sitting in the armchair, a single finger keeping the utensil aloft, regarding them all like he’s wondering who he should go for first. In contrast, Tommy and Lola are already being absolute idiots, and trying to balance their knives on their noses, thankfully handle first.

Charlotte picks up her knife.

“I want it noted that this is a absolutely terrible idea,” she’s points the knife at Tommy, and he cheerily tells her ‘then quit’. She stays in the game to prove a point to him, and takes another shot.

They roll the little plastic dice to see who goes first, and when Nikki and Vince both roll a ten, instead of rolling again, they’re both already down to fight. Except that Nikki’s got this gleam in his eyes that can mean nothing good, and is holding his knife like he knows exactly what to do with it.

There’s a moment of jousting, of metal against metal, then plastic, then Nikki’s blade slips past too quick for Vince to catch, and there’s a cut on his bicep. Tommy calls out that the fight is over, and Nikki boos him, but Lola pulls him back.

“Calm down, Jason Voorhees,” she rolled her eyes, and pokes him with her own knife. Nikki, obligingly sat back, and devoured another slice of pizza as he rolled his first turn.

The first turn goes smoothly, probably too smoothly, though Charlotte wouldn’t lie that her heart was in her throat the whole time she was moving her piece. Any objection would be met with someone’s injury, as says the rules.

When Lola takes her second roll, these rules are exploited.

“No.” Nikki tells her as soon as she totals the numbers on the dice. Lola checks her math. Eight. Two fours.

“Yes? Eight.” She answers slowly, with a frown. Tommy can already see where this is leading, and watches with wide eyes and baited breath. Nikki flips his knife, and points it at Lola.

“No.”

“How high are you?” Lola does not yet realise, it seems, and Nikki raises his eyebrows, claiming that that’s not the issue, “are you starting a fight because you’re bored?” Lola snickers, finally, and the way Nikki’s lips twitch at the corners betrays his intentions. There’s no way he would have started this over something so ridiculous with anyone else.

“I like this game,” Nikki turns to Tommy, and the moment his attention is pulled away, Lola lashes out with her knife, tearing his pants and leaving a thankfully shallow wound against his thigh. Nikki, surprised by the altercation, goes wide-eyed with shock, clutching his leg, mouth agape as he watches Lola smugly move her piece eight places forward.

“Yes, eight,” she says simply.

It was a dirty move, but Nikki’s expression turns to a disbelieving grin. Eileen hands over a roll of tissue paper. Everyone else is quiet, can’t quite believe what they’d just witnessed.

“Fucking knew you guys would be killer at this,” Tommy exclaims with a breathless grin, picking up the dice. Lola leans over and presses a sweet kiss to Nikki’s shoulder, and he, in turn, pets her head with the hand that’s not holding tissues to his fresh wound.

Alcohol goes a long way to dulling the pain, but everyone now seems to be playing strategically; Eileen’s not playing, just watching with amusement, while her little sister uses Vince’s fondness against him. Peach gives him a doe-eyed pleading look, and when he starts to lower his weapon, she gives him a considerable cut by his collar. It’s not his first of the night, and after both the cut, and her underhanded tactics, he’s the first to bail out. Eileen takes him to the bathroom to be properly cleaned and bandaged, while Peach wears a smile so oddly reminiscent of thirteen-year-old Athena, triumphant.

Mick appears to be biding his time, not challenging anyone, and no-one appears to want to challenge him, considering how unnerving he’s been acting for most of the game. Tommy and Charlotte end up challenging each other surprisingly often, and though he goes easy on her when he gets the upper hand, Charlotte still ends up with a collection of little wounds littering her skin; she can’t deny the adrenaline rush the arsenene game grants it’s players, maybe it’s why she hasn’t quit yet.

Tommy’s holding his own against Lola and Nikki surprisingly well, and there’s no denying that the three of them are the worst off of the lot; Nikki and Lola challenge each other like it’s not a game involving knives, like it’s just a normal Friday, and Charlotte quietly thinks that there’s something deeply wrong with both of them. At least they go much easier on everyone else.

“Alright, pay up, geezer, that’s four hundred you owe me,” Lola’s grin is all teeth when she turns to Mick, marking up the price for rent on her hotels, expecting him not to fight back. She’s been extorting him all game, and somehow he’s still playing.

“I think you owe me four hundred,” Mick answers with a sharp little smile, sitting forward in the chair, finally holding his knife like a weapon.

“Is that a challenge?” Lola should not be this excited at the prospect. Mick raises his eyebrows at her, holding out his hand.

“Unless you’re willing to just hand over that four hundred without a fight.”

Lola’s on her feet in a flash, bouncing on the balls of her feet, ready and waiting for Mick to stand and face her. She’s passing her knife from hand to hand, far too eager, but Mick simply takes in her stance, and throws his knife at her, aiming for her arm, as to not hit anything too vital. There’s not enough force behind the throw to leave the knife actually in her, but it leaves a considerable gash in her shoulder.

“I quit,” Mick announces, while Lola marvels at the wound with what seems to border on excitement, “I already know I can’t win,” he shrugged easily. Lola and Tommy both boo at him.

“Drummer, you’re not gonna win when two of the five remaining players get off on shit like this,” Mick says bluntly, “and it’s not you or your cousin.” Vince crows with laughter, but doesn’t disagree.

When Tommy looks to Lola, she’s glaring at Mick while Nikki dresses her wound.

“I can try,” Tommy musters all his strength, only for Charlotte to cut him down.

“No you can’t,” she practically orders, “yes that’s a challenge,” and she reaches over and cuts his palm before he can even react. It’s a dirty, underhanded move, but technically it’s not against the rules. “This game is stupid and dangerous.”

“No fair!” Tommy frowns, plucking tissues out of the quickly depleting box.

“Is that a challenge?” Charlotte raises her eyebrows at him, and Tommy sulks, but finally quits, cradling his hand to his chest, and concedes defeat.

It’s a stalemate; Peach is relatively unscathed, Charlotte has collected a handful of scrapes, while Nikki and Lola look like they’ve rolled through broken glass and loved it.

“You know what?” Peach announces, looking between Nikki and Lola, and Charlotte, like she’s interrupted a standoff, before anyone else rolls, “I don’t need to be stabbed anymore today, ‘specially not by you guys.” And she puts her knife down, raising her hands in surrender.

And then there was three.

Charlotte looks to the other two, leaning into each other and smiling in a way that was more than a little sinister, looking a little like a pair of serial killers sizing up their next victim. If it were anyone else looking at her like that, she’s pretty sure she’d be overwhelmingly intimidated, but the only thing Nikki and Lola do better than give off a ‘don’t fuck with me’ vibe to everyone else, is self destruct together. Which Charlotte is far too aware of to let it go unmentioned.

“If I quit, will you two promise not to kill each other, and to never play this game again?” Charlotte asks, leveling her knife at the two of them. They share a look; Nikki shrugs.

“We do this shit for fun anyways,” Lola admitted, finally looking back at Charlotte, conceding, “we don’t need a game.” Vince groans like he’s just now realising the game was rigged from the start. Charlotte doesn’t really want to think about that too hard, instead focusing on the first half of her initial question.

“But if I quit -”

“We both win, we’re a team,” Lola snorted.

“You stabbed each other more than anyone else!” Eileen looks like she wants to hurl them both through the window, but is kind of afraid they’d enjoy it.

“I hate you both so much,” Charlotte sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose with her free hand. She deliberately sets down her knife, “I quit. Knife Monopoly is officially banned.”

#nikki sixx x oc #nikki sixx #tommy lee #vince neil #mick mars #motley crue #Lola&Charlotte #charlotte & lola #the dirt #knives tw #knifeplay tw #knife play tw #blood tw #injury tw #wound tw #the angry lizard writes

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scgdoeswhat · 5 years

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Unpacking The Elementalists Finale

I’d like to dedicate this to my dear Kane anon (and other TE anons) who have been hitting my ask box up for the last several months. I’m sorry this took forever to get out and I know it doesn’t ease the fact that they ixnayed Kane, but hopefully this makes a little more sense of TE’s abrupt ending.

Without further ado...

I’ve been wanting to make this post since Book 2 Chapter 10, but life has been hectic. TE’s finale finally forced my hand and so here I am, with a bunch of theories, points, and thoughts I've had noted since the book came back from its hiatus. First off, now that TE is officially over (😭) we now know that the hiatus was primarily used to tie up all the loose story lines and to give us a tidy ending. The writing in the second half of the book was more solid, concise, and had a clear cut vision of what the writers wanted and where the plot was headed. As much as I hate to say it, the first half of the book may have been overly ambitious. They introduced the Moral Compass, potentially two villains in Kane and Alma, and a plethora of different storylines. I had a number of people tell me through the first five/six chapters of Book 2 that they were confused with the plot because it became too convoluted and hard to follow along. I think they introduced too many elements into the story, which dragged down the arc. Let’s break down some of these individually: The Moral Compass was something we were all excited to see implemented, because it gave us the potential to be an evil MC. In the end, we know it didn’t make much of a difference, save for dialogue and/or violent options. I think this was originally something intended to be greater than what it amounted to, and part of it is the limitations of the medium that the app is and simply, resources. This also ties into…. The plot involving Kane and Alma. I don’t believe having Kane as the Big Bad was supposed to be as defined as it ended up being. The two Sources were written far more ambiguous in the beginning, with the chance that depending on your choices, you could side with either one by the end of the book and/or series. The hiatus streamlined the plot, discarding elements that were difficult to pull off, including multiple MC point of views that may have held the possibility of being evil or choosing Kane, therefore placing Alma as the antagonist. In a narrative story app such as Choices (as opposed to Lovestruck, where the routes have the same players but different stories altogether), I just don’t think this advanced storytelling would have been doable. These plots are primarily linear, and MC being evil/with Kane/etc, it would present a different set of problems, including the fact that this becomes an entirely different story while there is supposed to be one solid ending. (For what it's worth, I enjoy the MC customizability of Choices more.) Looking at the group of friends, obviously Beckett was incredibly fleshed out while the others were not as much. I wanted to delve further into our friends’ backgrounds a bit more, and I think at the beginning of the book, we were on that path. Aster and her wood nymph family was a perfect example of table setting. We had two or three scenes before the hiatus to go to the forest, and I thought the Wand Wars and their involvement against Kane was slated to be more prominent. I think the writers had something bigger planned, but how would it all tie in if players started choosing the evil choices? Again, having too many choices causes a domino effect that makes it nearly impossible to navigate when the story is supposed to end with a particular goal in mind. The chapter where we can receive the wand was a symptom of ending the book early and I think the execution of the actual Wand Wars scene was lacking the emotional punch the initial introduction of it warranted. This is unfortunate because the setup they had in Book 1 made it seem much more violent, disastrous, and full of hate compared to what was shown (i.e. Attuned just being greedy bastards). We were introduced to Shreya's Serene & Sublime business and the potential of family disapproval and lack of support in the beginning, but everything was tied up with the gala chapter. Looking back, I was curious why it was so easy to get so many financial backers this early into the series, but knowing that TE only went for two books makes much more sense why we knew whether S&S succeeded or failed. (Tangent - for anyone who didn't secure backing, is S&S successful at the end of the book?) I think Griffin, his scholarship, and his decision between Natural Sciences and Thief was also slated to be a bigger subplot. We never met his parents, despite them being brought up very early in Book 1. If TE had gone the originally planned three or four books, I have no doubt his family would've been introduced and MC would have needed to help sway his parents (and the committee for the scholarship) whether Griffin continued on the NS or professional Thief path. Doing the Griffin scenes (even as platonic friends) influenced his standing for the scholarship and not doing them made him lose out to Amy, if I'm not mistaken. Question for everyone regarding Zeph and the Thief captaincy: Does he get it in everyone's playthrough? I wonder if the writers always planned for Zeph to get the captaincy or if Griff would have kept it depending on your playthrough if they had all four books to use. Another big plot point that resolved itself out of nowhere was Atlas and MC butting heads over their Sun Source mother. I was not a fan of this storyline at all. I felt like the disagreements between the siblings was unnecessary drama that came off as forced. They tried to explain Atlas' position, and I understood where they were coming from, but Atlas was very unreasonable with their constant “who cares about mom” shtick.

I think this was something that could have been more impactful if there weren't so many plotlines happening and more focus could have been given to it instead of a few screens of Atlas saying they were pissed off before storming away from MC. This was also a plotline that was directly influenced by the Kane/Alma decisions. If MC sides with Kane, it makes much more sense for MC and Atlas to be against each other as opposed to MC being good/siding with Alma.

Five major subplots were opened, but how do you seamlessly weave these elements into a 17-19 chapter book? In my opinion, you can't. Each time something new was introduced, I felt things were glossed over, despite big chunks of chapters being focused on whichever subplot the chapter was about. Throw in the romance and I think it is nearly impossible to resolve each aspect in a complete manner.

What also hurt was the pacing of the series. This was also seen in Book 1, where sometimes a chapter would span one or two days, only for a huge time jump to occur in the next chapter.

So many ideas could have been explored through the course of four books (which is what I believe they had planned), but all the different elements should have been introduced at different times. Instead, Book 2 was an amalgamation of so many ideas but not enough time, space, or resources to thoroughly hash out and have a satisfactory resolution. For what it’s worth, I don’t think it was having too much Beckett that hurt the series. He obviously kept the series afloat and was one of PB's biggest moneymakers in recent history. Despite the constant complaints on tumblr, people fail to realize that the ENTIRE online fandom (FB, IG, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, Wiki) comprises maybe 0.5% - 2% of the ENTIRE player fan base. It only made sense that PB capitalized on him because their numbers dictated that the resources should be spent in that manner. The fallout from this was that Beckett was the only one who had his storyline relatively complete, and that was due to the spending power of everyone who romanced him. I think what hurt them the most was the multiple storylines and the indecision of which direction they wanted to go. They had a grand idea of the direction through Book 2 (and Book 3, let’s not lie here) but in-game mechanics and the type of game Choices is made it difficult to pull off. The app wasn’t the correct medium for what they envisioned. In my opinion, the overall story arc had the potential to be brilliant, but again, the app wasn't designed for the type of story the writers wanted to tell.

I also think the timing and having a very short turnaround hurt, as well. Players had high expectations and when you factor in the hype around the other books that were also released on Fridays, TE lost some of its sparkle. Most players didn’t get a chance to miss it for the regular 2-3 months we’ve been trained to wait for sequels. (I recognize that I’m an anomaly and the previous three sentences do not apply to me at all.)

Even with all this, I applaud the writing team for wanting to deliver a story that was worthy of a magical world. I love all the Pend Pals (‘Motley Crue’ for me), the familiars, the side characters, loved to hate the villains, and from someone who is not into Harry Potter lore at all, I was absolutely sucked into the magick universe that the writers built. (Metal Att for life ⚙!)

If TE does return in the future (and I REALLY hope it does), I think it will be even stronger than the first two books because the world building is complete. We know almost everything we need to know now. Instead of using a Book 3 to search for Sun Mama, the family is complete, MC and Atlas are attuned to all the elements, and there are so many open-ended questions that Book 2 left us.

If they implement a time jump where MC and the Pend Pals are all post grad/mid 20s, it also gives the writers a chance to move the story from the Young Adult genre to a more mature setting. We saw this in the later diamond scenes, where the writing appeared similar in their vividness (and coding in the final scene - THANK YOU, glorious writing team) to Open Heart, Bloodbound, and A Courtesan of Rome. This removes the restrictions placed on the group of being college kids, and therefore are almost fully developed with their magick, giving the possibility of moving the story out of a university setting.

If you've made it all the way here to the bottom, thank you for sticking with me and apologies for spelling/grammar since this has all been on my phone 😂 I think this comprises almost all my notes I've been keeping for the last 2 months. Feel free to agree or disagree; I just wanted to post my thoughts on this book and series that I love so much.

Now, I'm going to go back to my holiday (don't worry, I didn't write all of this while on vacay lol) and I'll try to answer asks when I have downtime.

#the elementalists #beckett harrington #shreya mistry #griffin langley #aster d'yew #playchoices #choices #beckett x mc #griffin x mc #shreya x mc #aster x mc #zeph hernandez #atlas ernhardt #te

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yukidragon · 1 year

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Hi! I've just read through all your SDJ headcanons and I've read your fics, and can I just say how AMAZING your content is?! I truly love how in depth your headcanons are and how they stay true to the SDJ lore that (as far as we know) is canon.

It's just -chef's kiss-

I also have a potential headcanon questions for you: in your headcanons Jack and MC/Alice (love her btw) have more or less a fairly healthy relationship (Jack's yandere habits notwithstanding). But even the healthiest and most harmonious relationships can hit rough patches.

What would a fight between Jack and MC/Alice look like?

Not a fight between friends, but a fight between lovers. It could be small disagreement or it could be a huge fight where things are said/done that hurt and aren't easy to take back. A fight that while painful, can help them come back stronger, or destroy them completely.

And what would be a potential subject that they would fight about? Jack's possessiveness and aggression to any potential threats? MC/Alice's hesitation to let go of past relationships and letting Jack in? Or something else entirely?

What would the reconciliation look like, if they could reconcile at all?

Gosh I... you really make me feel flustered with such lovely praise. Thank you so much. I’m really glad that you enjoy my headcanons and stories! I’m happy you like Alice too.

That’s a really interesting question you’ve asked there. Honestly, I have planned some minor conflicts for Sunshine in Hell between them, mostly because, well, Jack does have manipulative yandere tendencies. Though I intend to give them a happy ending, such behavior needs a good metaphorical bop to the nose with a rolled up newspaper, you know?

Of course no one is perfect, and Alice is going to frustrate Jack in some ways. As you pointed out, her difficulty in letting go of her love for Ian is going to be a conflict between them. How it’s resolved is... going to be in a way that I’m not going to spoiler here since it’s going to be an example of Jack using of those powers of his for questionable things... and facing the consequences of it afterwards.

I’d argue that a bigger point of concern for Jack when it comes to Alice is her overly kind nature. Anything, even kindness, can be bad in excess. Though she’s resolved herself to give up on Ian, she can’t bring herself to hurt him by blocking him. Despite showing some hesitation and suspicion towards Jack, she’s already showing concern towards his wellbeing on day one because she feels sorry for his unfortunate situation.

Let’s face it, just because we know that Jack won’t hurt Alice doesn’t mean she knows it. He might have the ability to share his emotions, and his genuine feelings might help ease her concern, but most anyone would be a lot more guarded and a lot less moved by his sad puppy dog eyes in this situation.

Imagine if Jack didn’t have the best intentions for Alice and was like one of the more extreme yanderes who didn’t care at all if they hurt the person they “love” as long as they possessed them. Imagine if he didn’t love her at all and just wanted to use her for his own ends. Imagine if everything was just a sick game by a supernatural entity because she got in contact with a cursed object, and the goal was to ruin her life like a twisted genie granting all of her “wishes” in the worst possible way imaginable.

Jack is grateful for Alice’s kindness and compassion, and he knows he benefits the most from her having an abundance of it, but she is also putting herself at risk when she gives so much of herself. The world is so big with such cruel people, as he experienced himself in the past. She has faced cruelty as well, but she can’t help but care about how others feel, even to her own detriment. The situation with Ian is one such example of how she suffers from giving too much of herself because she worries about hurting him... even though it means that she suffers immensely.

I plan to have more instances of this appear in the story, and it gives Jack a lot to worry about, especially in the beginning when his powers are very weak when it comes to affecting other people. It’s going to leave him with some feelings of frustration and helplessness, even as he does his best to gently guide Alice into caring for herself more.

By the time they become lovers, Jack will be stronger. As I’ve mentioned in past headcanons, I believe that he gets stronger and gains more power the more MC loves/trusts/needs him. It takes a while before he and Alice become lovers in Sunshine in Hell, and by that time his abilities are going to be stronger. With this, he’ll be able to have more of an affect on other people and the world, and thus have less reasons to feel helpless... except when it comes to more internal conflicts like dealing with his own traumas and sense of identity.

I don’t have ideas yet for a huge fight between Alice and Jack in general, mostly just some minor conflicts that generate drama and angst. Something big would have to have happened that one or both of them can’t overlook and really shakes them up and leads to an outburst of emotion. I don’t intend for things to get to the point of, say, Jack convincing someone to kill themselves like we’ve seen in some teaser images. I’m sticking with the softer side of this yandere story for the most part.

As I’ve said in a past post, I think Jack would struggle with any anger or negative feelings he might have towards his sunshine, which means that any argument with him and MC would - unless he was pushed to the brink - be more like a teacher’s lecture, sometimes a firm one if he’s really agitated. Between being yandere, his gratitude for MC saving him from hell, and self-preservation, I can see it being a real struggle for him to reconcile with feelings of anger directed at MC.

Likewise, as I’ve stated above, Alice cares about other peoples’ feelings to an extent that it can be harmful to her. Instead of lashing out at Ian for cheating and telling him to fuck off like a lot of MCs would, she forgave him and reconciled because he said he was sorry and felt bad for the betrayal. She was figuratively and literally scarred by what he did, but she still tried to accept his apology as being enough to make up for how much pain he put her through.

A fight between Alice and Jack would be one where both parties would immediately be distressed about hurting the other. It would carry this quiet sense of frustration when they just want what’s best for the other person, but their partner can’t quite see that. This is doubly true when they’ve grown close enough to be lovers.

Alice has a tendency to go nonverbal when extremely stressed. When upset or thoughtful, she goes a bit quieter than usual. Not talking can cause trouble due to lack of communication.

It’s fortunate then that Jack has the powers he does and can pick up on the more “out loud” thoughts Alice has. Though, if her mind is more chaotic, it’ll just come across as confusing noise. I doubt mind reading is an easy thing to do after all. Emotions are easier to read relatively.

An example of a minor fight I have in mind for the pair after they become lovers is after Jack seduces Alice while Shaun is over. Being overheard during such an intimate moment is humiliating for her, and she can’t help but feel ashamed for making her friend uncomfortable and for being so brazen as to have sex while he was there. It’s hard for her not to feel irritated at Jack for convincing her to do it, and she isn’t quite convinced that it wasn’t intentional, especially since he promised to help her keep quiet, only for him to get especially intense at the end. She’s as much angry with herself as she is him and mortified as well.

Jack absolutely did intend for Shaun to hear them going at it. He won’t tell Alice a lie directly (just lies by omission), so he’s not going to be able to directly refute her if she accuses him. Rather, he would coo over her, trying to soothe her ire, and convince her that it’s not as big of a deal as she’s feeling like it is right now. She herself told Shaun they were together, so it really shouldn’t be a surprise to him. These things happen after all.

Jack would apologize for upsetting Alice, but he just couldn’t help himself. He just loves her so much, and she looked so beautiful in that moment that it was difficult to hold himself back. He just needed to hear her say his name while he filled her with his love.

The praise would certainly fluster Alice, especially since Jack would find gently touching her and pressing soft kisses onto her face would make it hard for her not to melt from his affection. When he apologizes for upsetting her, she can tell he means it, but she tries to remain stubborn and huffy even as she softens under his sweet words and touches. It’s only when he offers to do anything she wants to make it up to her does she finally relent. She says she’ll forgive him but only on three conditions - first, he can’t ever do that again. She doesn’t want to have to worry about people catching them when she wants to just focus on, well, loving each other. The second is that Jack will need to apologize to Shaun too. The third is he has to make her some chocolate chip cookies for dessert tonight.

Jack easily agrees to all these conditions and the two of them have cuddle time to soothe out any hard feelings. Even having to apologize to Shaun would be worth it (though how he goes about it is definitely going to sound more like bragging).

Alice being the one to irritate Jack would result in a bit more of a stern teacher vibe from Jack. I’ve shown a very brief instance of this in part of the vampire AU smut teaser.

For a moment, Alice just breathed as she tried to slow her racing pulse, allowing Jack’s reassurances flow over her like cool water on a burn. He… really wasn’t upset? He wasn’t disgusted by what she just did, by having to taste his own blood, by being kissed by a blood sucking parasite?

“Alice,” Jack said. His voice was still gentle, but there was an undercurrent of steel beneath the silk tones. “You did nothing wrong. You were perfect. You are perfect. Every inch of you is perfect.” He slid his hand up to her cheek and stroked it with his thumb as he gazed deeply into her eyes that were the same shade of pale blue as the sky at dawn. “I love you, all of you, including the part of you that enjoyed drinking my blood.”

A small gasp escaped Alice. Jack pinned her in place with the unwavering conviction in his dark brown eyes, the certainty of his words. He left no gap for doubt to squeeze into, making it impossible for her not to believe him. She drew in a shaky breath as he dragged his thumb along her lips, not caring that he stained the yellow fabric red.

Jack allowed his voice to soften, but he remained resolute as he peered deeply into his sunshine’s eyes. “Did it feel good?”

Jack heard Alice insulting herself and was upset by it. That’s why he got firm with her here. He can’t stand anyone hurting his sunshine, not even herself. This is another example of minor conflicts/arguments between them. While this is an AU, it’s likely instances like this will appear in Sunshine in Hell as well.

It’s unlikely fights between the pair are going to get much bigger than these examples. The idea of hurting the one they love is painful to consider. If they did unintentionally do something that caused real harm to the other... Well, I imagine they’d both have a similar need to apologize immediately. It would likely cause a feeling of insecurity and fear that would lead to the need for reassurance that they still love each other before they could completely talk through what happened.

In a lot of ways, their pasts have given them a similar need to please the one they love even if it means giving too much of themselves. Jack’s situation makes it pretty apparent why he would think that way. With Alice, a big part of the problem was her relationship with Ian and how it had a negative affect on her over time, particularly when it comes to communication.

Ian has issues with his mother. Because of her, he feels constantly at fault and is constantly apologizing for any real or perceived slight on his part. I can see there being a cycle of Alice gets upset or hurt by something, and because of his mother making him feel like anything negative happening in her life is his fault, instinctively he apologizes and feels bad when anyone shows such negative feelings even tangentially related to him.

Imagine venting about an awful day at school to your boyfriend, only for him to apologize and feel bad that he didn’t do more to make things better for you. After all, you both spent a lot of the day together... Then imagine this happening a lot... to the point that it feels like you can never complain about anything for fear that it might hurt the one you love.

Ian had a very hard life, and he more or less only had Alice to support him and make him happy. He depended on her. Over time as they got closer and cared for each other more deeply, it became harder to see him upset, especially if she was the cause of it. This led to her complaining about things less and less, depending on him for support less. She needed to be the strong one for both their sakes because she loved him, and he needed her.

Alice was carrying the bulk of the emotional burden in her relationship with Ian. If he did anything to upset or hurt her, he would apologize and feel awful to the point where it was like it hurt him more than it did her. Even if you love someone deeply, you can’t become their emotional crutch because eventually you’re going to break under the weight.

When you’re caught in a cycle of trying too hard to please your partner, especially if you’re not truly communicating, the relationship is going to break down. This is why things between Ian and Alice turned so toxic that there was no hope of repairing their relationship after he cheated.

This plays a big part in why Alice struggles to let Jack take care of her. This also plays a part in why she wants to take care of him when they first met. She’s used to taking care of others. She’s gotten into the habit of not being a burden on others. She dismisses her own pain, suffering, and discomfort because over time she learned that causes harm to those she cares about.

The key difference in the two relationships is communication. Jack and Alice have this connection that allows them to feel each other’s emotions, and they can even catch thoughts from one another. A lot of unspoken things come across better, allowing them to get across what they mean even when words don’t convey everything.

What also helps is that Jack doesn’t take everything negative that happens in Alice’s life in his vicinity as something that’s his fault that he needs to apologize for. Apologies tend to become worthless when they’re applied to every situation... especially if things just keep happening to require another apology again, and again, and again...

Alice and Jack are fortunate to have found each other and to have the connection they do. They can recognize when the other is giving too much and call them on it kindly. They can understand what it’s like to feel like they have to be constantly pleasant and not show their unpleasant or weaker sides. Chapter 5 of Sunshine in Hell gave a glimpse of this when Jack slipped up by showing some of his trauma, only for Alice to comfort him and tell him he doesn’t have to pretend to be okay.

Ultimately, between their personalities and the situation they’re in, it’s unlikely that Jack and Alice will ever have a large fight. The conflicts they have will be relatively minor, and ironically it’s when they feel more confident that they’ll be able to show their more unpleasant sides without being afraid that it’s going to do harm to each other and their relationship.

By that point, they might wind up having more playful disagreements that are more for show and to tease each other than anything else. Their more legitimate fights will mostly be small enough to be resolved with a lot of cuddles, cooing, and maybe some cookies.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars

#Sunny Day Jack #Something's Wrong With Sunny Day Jack #SunnyDayJack #sdj #swwsdj #Headcanon Ramblings #Ask

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cedarmoons · 5 years

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reversed nadia & tragic heroism

aka, stop dismissing complex female characters as bitches you heathens

to preface this meta: i’ve included screenshots where i can, but as tumblr only allows 10 images, i’ll also include transcripts of scenes i want to discuss. screenshots have been cropped to only include the text, and should be read from left to right. i have left out some filler text, and “blank” boxes are only meant to keep the image even. all mentions of “Nadia,” unless otherwise stated, refers to Nadia in her Reversed route.

tldr: Nadia is Textbook Tragic Hero, it wasn’t animal abuse, Nadia did not sell MC to Satan for one corn chip, and it certainly wasn’t “bad writing.”

Long ass character meta under the cut! obviously contains spoilers for Book XX, Judgement - Reversed.

So. I originally had no intention of playing any of the reversed routes, but there were some claims about Nadia (i.e., she abused Mercedes & Melchior, she killed Lucio in cold blood, and she sold out MC for her own power) that made me think HMST and play it myself. Unsurprisingly, every single one of the above takes does not provide any greater context whatever.

I changed four (4) things to get Nadia’s reversed route: I never encouraged her to talk to her sisters or ask them for help; I told her to send Portia away; I did not allow the Flooded District partygoer to talk to her in Temperance; I told her to kill Lucio in The Devil.

And playing Nadia’s route seemed incredibly familiar to me, though it took a little while for me to realize why: Nadia, in her reversed route, is the textbook Tragic Hero. The Tragic Hero has a “fatal flaw,” which leads them to commit catastrophic errors in judgement, which leads to their allies, family, and friends abandoning them and their own isolation, which leads to the Tragic Hero realizing (too late) the gravity of their own errors.

I can’t believe I’m busting out my degree for a mobile game because some people like to twist things, but here we are. Someone has to go to bat for Nadia when the narrative surrounding her the past 48 hours has been doing her so dirty.

Part 1: The Lucio Problem

Now, let’s get straight to the first bout of character analysis: Lucio’s death. Nadia does not, in fact, cut Lucio down in cold blood. Lucio actually gets her to stop, and she allows him to explain why he should be allowed to live, which essentially is “because then I can help you overthrow the Devil.” The following is a transcript of their conversation, starting with Lucio explaining how he was supposed to be the Devil (instead of the ghost goat form we see in early-to-midgame), up to and including his death:

LUCIO: “It should have worked too! It was supposed to work! It wasn’t my fault. The Devil played dirty, he cheated me out of my chance to win! But together, we can defeat him. We can do it right this time!”

Nadia stares at him for a very long time, then throws her head back and laughs.

NADIA: “Yes, because you’ve been so trustworthy in the past.”

NADIA: “You would become the Devil and spread your treachery further than even Vesuvia. You would do the same thing he is attempting. You would cause death and destruction. Neither of you deserve the title. If you want something done right... do it yourself.”

LUCIO: “I won’t lose here! I don’t lose!”

Lucio lurches forward, anger flashing in his eyes. He reaches forward with a gold-gauntleted glove - And stops, as blood gurgles up from his mouth, trailing down his chin. Nadia’s blade is plunged deep in the center of his chest, the blade finally finding its mark.

LUCIO: “...”

She pulls the sword out and he crumples, his last words lost.

It should be noted Lucio’s sprite isn’t bloodied during his “...” dialogue. It’s interesting that no one mentioned Lucio lunged for Nadia first, isn’t it? Of course, one can always say he sensed his incoming death, and only attacked in self-defense: this is a reasonable and valid argument. But he unquestionably moved first, and Nadia also killed him in self defense: hardly the cold-blooded murder I had expected going in.

It is not Lucio’s death itself that struck me in the writing, but the aftermath. After he is dead, MC can respond with either “Why did you do that?!” or “He had it coming.” I chose the former, and the following is the transcript:

MC: “Why’d you do that?!”

My head is still spinning. Nadia just killed someone in front of me... and she doesn’t seem to be bothered by it at all.

NADIA: “We knew it would come to this, MC. I couldn’t risk him causing more chaos and destruction. He would have always remained a threat.”

She pauses, reaching out slowly toward me.

NADIA: “You understand, don’t you?”

I’m interpreting MC’s “Why’d you do that?!” as a horrified growing realization of how far Nadia has fallen. They were the primary influence over the course of 20 books in shaping Nadia this way, but the way Nadia kills Lucio really cements her fall from grace for them. And Nadia, when she “reach[es] out slowly” toward MC, seems to know that MC has realized this. She says “You understand, don’t you?” — words that can easily be considered a plea.

You understand why I did what I did, don’t you? You understand I had no choice, don’t you? You understand there was no other way, don’t you? You understand I am not a monster, don’t you? You understand I do not want to lose you, don’t you?

I take a deep breath, still staring at where Lucio’s body was, then nod slowly. Nadia lets out a soft sigh of relief, and strokes my cheek affectionately.

NADIA: “Good. I couldn’t handle you turning from me, MC. It had to be done. I had no choice.”

Nadia already considers herself alone against the world. The MC is the closest thing she has to an ally; the MC is the closest thing she has to a confidant(e). Yet her anxieties and trust issues keep her from truly allowing MC to be as close as they are in her Upright route. This is seen as early as Book 9, when in the carriage ride (and immediately after discovering Portia’s betrayal), she wonders if MC will betray her, too, and whether she is destined to stand alone in the world.

Over the course of the 11 books from Book 9 to Book 20, she has come to realize that if she loses MC, she is truly, truly alone in the world. Thus, her hesitation (“slowly”) to reach for MC. Thus, her blatant relief in MC staying with her. Thus, her admission that she would be unable to handle MC turning away from her.

Part 2: Becoming the Devil

In any heroic story, the hero must achieve a seemingly impossible feat: saving the world; defeating the unstoppable Big Bad; et cetera. Tragic heroes also seek to achieve impossible feats, but their “feats” straddle the line between good and evil, or their reasons — why they want to achieve the impossible heroic feat — are not grounded in conventional morality. Tragic heroes attempt to achieve their impossible feats, but their efforts, whether successful or not, always have catastrophic consequences.

Hamlet’s impossible feat is to avenge his father: his efforts to do so result in the deaths of his (debatable) love interest, his mother, his step-father, his friends, and himself.

Solas in Dragon Age: Inquisition’s impossible feat was to stop the Evanuris: his efforts to do so created the Veil, stripping elves of their immortality and power, leaving them open to exploitation, enslavement, and death (and opening the way for him to undertake a second impossible feat: destroying the Veil to restore the elven people’s power).

Clarke Griffin in the TV show The 100 had the impossible feat of saving her people from having their bone marrow harvested by Mount Weather: her efforts to do so saved her people, but killed hundreds of innocent people who had nothing to do with the cruelties inflicted on Clarke’s friends; gave her and another major character PTSD; and led to Clarke’s self-imposed exile from her people.

Nadia’s impossible feat is to defeat the Devil Arcana.

Where in her Upright route she believes MC is powerful enough to bind the Devil’s powers, essentially limiting him to his own realm, in her Reversed route she does not believe this: she thinks it is too risky to MC’s safety, and she is unwilling to lose MC after they “nearly died binding Vlastomil.” Instead, she will replace the Devil Arcana herself, as it is the only way to guarantee that the Devil’s threat would end.

VALERIUS: “It’s a terrible idea [to replace the Devil Arcana]. You want to be trapped here, forever?”

NADIA: “I see no other option. The Devil cannot be allowed to continue his machinations.”

THE HIEROPHANT: “Interesting. I hold no love for the current Devil. He oversteps his bounds. ... Yes. I believe you’d make a lovely Arcana. At the very least, you’d mind your own business.”

The Hierophant tarot is all about tradition, convention, authority, “staying within your own bounds.” The Devil’s attempt to escape his realm and merge the magical and mortal realms certainly disrupts the accepted status quo. If Nadia replaces the Devil, then the status quo is maintained (“at the very least, you’d mind your own business”). Of course the Hierophant is going to encourage her to do this.

VALERIUS: “And give up your own humanity in exchange! I’ve been there, Countess, it’s no way to live.”

Nadia shakes her head, looking out the window to the vineyard beyond.

Nadia looking out the window the vineyard beyond is not only a description but symbolic of her own reasoning. Her attention is diverted by looking out the window, so she is not fully attentive to what Valerius is saying. She is unwilling to look at, and thus give attention to, those who disagree with her; she has turned her face away from reason and disagreement.

NADIA: “What choice do I have, really?”

MC: “There’s always a choice!”

NADIA: “Not this time, MC. You’ve been with me through it all... but this last thing I must do alone. I won’t risk you.”

MC then has the choice to say “I’m with you” or say “I won’t risk YOU!” here. I chose the latter option for thematic relevance: MC is panicking, now, fully understanding what Nadia intends to do — and fully understanding that they might lose Nadia forever. They are trying to undo the damage they have done in the earlier parts of the route, but it is too late. Nadia’s heart has hardened.

MC: “I won’t risk YOU!”

NADIA: “MC... That’s my duty. As Countess of Vesuvia, as Princess of Prakra... as your lover. I will do what no one else can. I will drag this world, kicking, screaming, and ungrateful, to safety.”

Again, Nadia is the only one who can do this. She will drag this world “kicking, screaming, and ungrateful, to safety” — she knows she will not be thanked, or praised, but it is necessary. It is for their own good. Nadia knows best, and Nadia can only trust herself to get things done.

MC: “We’re in this together, Nadia. I’m coming with you.”

NADIA: “You cannot follow me into the darkness, MC.”

(It should be noted that Kevin MacLeod’s “Wounded” is playing during this. This is the tragic piano that is also heard in Asra’s route on the Lazaret. I mention this because the tragic piano always fucks me up emotionally, so y’all have to suffer too.)

Nadia’s line — “You cannot follow me into the darkness” — is typical of a Tragic Hero who wishes to protect others, especially their love interest. Using my prior two examples from Dragon Age: Inquisition and The 100:

When a Lavellan Inquisitor who romanced Solas tells him, “let me help you, Solas,” Solas says: “I cannot do that to you, vhenan.”

When Bellamy Blake asks Clarke to stay at her home, instead of impose self-exile, Clarke says: “I bear it so they [her people] don’t have to.”

The point of these kinds of statements is this: This terrible undertaking is my responsibility alone; only I can accomplish this impossible feat; I do not want you to be hurt; I would rather something happen to me than you.

But where the Tragic Hero usually succeeds in isolating themself from their love interest, MC inverts this aspect of the archetype: they convince Nadia to let them accompany her to the Devil’s realm. If MC had told Nadia in earlier books, “I’d follow you anywhere,” this is truly an echo of that sentiment: MC is willing to go to Hell for Nadia Satrinava.

THE HIEROPHANT: “If you go down this path, you cannot hesitate. If you lose your nerve, he will come back. If you waver, he will see it. If you do this, you need to mean it.”

NADIA: “To keep the world safe. To keep MC safe... I’ll do anything. I won’t lose.”

It’s important to state Nadia does not want to become the Devil on her own merits. It’s not a power grab (at least, not consciously). She realizes it is dangerous. She genuinely sees no other option to end the Devil’s threat, and thus save the world, that does not risk harm to MC. As stated before, MC is the closest thing Nadia has to an ally: it makes sense she is unwilling to consider any options that have even the slightest chance of her losing MC. It makes sense that she is willing to do “anything” to keep MC safe.

She is constantly stating there is “no other choice,” even though the other characters (Valerius and the High Priestess) offer alternatives, namely binding the Devil in his own realm (what happens in the Upright end). It is not that she is not hearing these alternatives, or unwilling to listen to reason: it is that they are unacceptable to her, by virtue of the danger posed to MC. It is that [Solas voice] every alternative was worse. It is that [Solas voice] terrible choices are all that remain. If you have to kill Stranger A to save 100,000 lives, and someone offers Stranger B to kill instead of Stranger A, it is an unacceptable alternative.

An essential aspect of the Tragic Hero is colossal mistakes in judgement. In Nadia’s case, this would obviously be her decision to replace the Devil’s Arcana. But this has been reinforced to her over the course of 20 books through critical decisions made earlier in her route:

Not talking to Nadia’s sisters, which accomplishes two things: 1) reinforces to Nadia that you are on her side; 2) reinforces to Nadia that she is right to maintain her grudge against her sisters. Her first instinct is to resent her sisters. There is no challenge to Nadia to change her mind, or move past old hurts. She remains static, stubborn, and seeking to prove herself - not only to her sisters, but to herself.

Encouraging Nadia to cast out Portia, which reinforces to Nadia that she cannot trust, confide in, or believe others: she will always be betrayed. Nadia’s first instinct is to send Portia away. Agreeing with her reinforces that she is right to distrust everyone, and only believe in her own competence and ability. She remains static and closed off from others.

Encouraging Nadia to kill Lucio. Nadia’s first instinct is to kill him, as she sees “no other way”. MC agreeing with her reinforces to her that her decisions are best, and that sometimes there are no other choices, or at least [Solas voice] terrible choices are all that remain. She remains static and unchallenged in her viewpoint(s).

Part 2.1: Trusting Nadia

Nadia’s “betrayal” is framed as random, coming out of nowhere, and only for her own power. I was suspicious of this framing from the moment I saw it, because characters like Reversed Nadia — straddling the line between good and evil, isolated, pursuing their impossible feat — tend to place high priority on the people they love, to the point of over-protectiveness, obsession, and/or obsessive devotion. An excellent example would be Victor Fries/Dr. Freeze in the Batman comics, who is willing to commit evil acts in pursuance of his impossible feat to save his wife.

I never doubted Nadia’s love for MC, even in the reversed route. As stated before, Nadia thinks that MC is not like the others in her life, who are incompetent fools, or simpering power-seekers, or her detested sisters. They are unique. They are special. While she may not be able to trust them fully (again! everyone can betray her! she is the only one she can trust!), she certainly loves them for what they mean to her.

Working under the assumption that Nadia truly loves MC, then, following the precedents of other tragic characters who came before her, she would be utterly unwilling to allow any harm to come to MC. This would extend to her allegedly offering MC to the Devil without any remorse. I was more inclined to believe (even before I played the Reversed route) that it was some ruse of Nadia’s to trick the Devil.

And so imagine my surprise when Nadia and MC left the Hierophant’s realm to go to Nadia’s gate, and the book provided the following scene:

NADIA: “I have a plan, MC. Lucio failed to defeat the Devil. But that does not mean it cannot be done. Unfortunately... I cannot risk telling you. I need your reaction to be genuine. Will you be loyal to me, MC? Will you trust I want what’s best for you?”

MC: “Yes.”

NADIA: “Good. Everything that happens is for you, do you understand? Promise me you’ll remember I’ll always keep you safe.”

Boy, it would’ve been nice if someone mentioned this when discussing Nadia selling out MC!

This is such obvious foreshadowing of Nadia playing the long con it’s painful. She cannot tell MC her plan about how to deal with the Devil, because she needs MC’s reaction to be genuine; she needs MC to be surprised. If the Devil realizes he is being played, everything is over, and her efforts will have been for nothing.

For Nadia, the stakes are high. She either:

Tells her lover what her plan is, i.e. to use MC as a bargaining chip, which could have backfire in multiple ways: MC could be uncooperative, or MC could play their part unconvincingly to the Devil, and tip him off. She might stay with MC, but risk the world.

Or, she withholds it from MC, so that their surprise and shock (and, yes, feelings of betrayal) are genuine, and thus more convincing to the Devil. She loses MC, but saves the world.

Her decision is pragmatic: she will sacrifice MC, even if it means she loses MC’s love, for the greater good (saving the world). She understands that the healer has the bloodiest hands. She is accepting the blood to make things better. By choosing the second option, she is choosing to trust herself and her plan instead of trusting MC to pull off a successful deception. (In a similar vein: remember how much she enjoyed deceiving Valerius in Book 6, The Lovers.)

Still, she does not want to sacrifice MC, but sees no other way. It is painful, but for the greater good. Thus why she emphasizes why Her Decision Is Best, and In MC’s Best Interest: “Everything that happens is for you, do you understand? Promise me you’ll remember I’ll always keep you safe.”

You may be hurt, but it is for the greater good, don’t you understand? Don’t you trust me to do the right thing? Don’t you see that I have your best interests in mind? Don’t you see that you can trust me? That you should trust me?

She even goes so far as to test MC when MC promises her that they will know she’ll always keep MC safe. I call it a test, because that is what it undoubtedly is: she holds MC’s throat, and asks, “Even now?”

This is a lead-in for a premium scene, but it goes deeper than that. Implicitly, she is saying: Even when I have you so vulnerable, even with my hand around your throat, do you trust that I will keep you safe? Can I let myself believe you when you tell me that yes, you do trust me; that yes, you know I have your best interests at heart?

MC has the option of proving it to her (premium choice), or simply saying “yes”. I chose the latter. It is simple, and honest, and depending on people’s MCs, undoubtedly true. MC is willing to go to Hell at Nadia’s side; this is a minor thing, by comparison.

MC makes the interesting observation that Nadia looks at them “like a pet.” Sure, it could be a reference to Nadia’s obvious petplay kink, but I think it’s indicative of their deeper relationship: Nadia may love MC, but she does not consider them her true partner as she does in her Upright route. Again, she can only trust herself, no matter how important MC is to her, because MC, too, might end up disappointing her. They are lovers, and they are partners, but Nadia and MC are not equals (unlike in Upright). Nadia sees MC like a pet (to cherish, love, and care for, but not treat as equal) and I fully expect she will continue to do so in the next update.

Whether or not Nadia is aware that this isn’t the healthiest way to love someone is up in the air, but I’m inclined to believe that she is not aware, and she is demonstrating her love in the best way she knows how: protecting MC (which leads to making MC’s decisions for them), providing for them (which extends into petplay and spoiling), and praising them (you are special, you are unique, you are not like everyone else in my life, who disappoints me).

Later, approaching the Devil’s realm, she reminds MC of the conversation they had in her gate:

MC: “You have a plan. One you can’t tell me about.”

NADIA: “Yes. And I need you to trust me for it to work. Do you still trust me?”

MC: “I do.”

NADIA: “Good. Remember that when we’re in there.”

NADIA: “... I love you.”

(Edit March 22: Nadia’s sprite during her “I love you” line is her embarrassed/uncertain face. A subtle signal that she, too, has doubts, even if she’s trying to hide them.)

The whole point of the cliffhanger was to shock people, but I think that people who are saying that Nadia sold MC out for her own power are misguided. Nadia spent the entire book talking about how she had no choice but to do this and foreshadowing that she was going to do something that would be unpleasant but necessary. To say that Nadia sold MC to the Devil for her own power is to completely ignore everything that’s been set up throughout the book.

Also, if you still don’t trust her / consider her a bitch after I’ve gone through this whole section talking about how Reversed Nadia is a character type that would never let someone important to her (i.e., MC) come to harm (though she may use them for her own gains) and that it’s 99% likely she has no intention of actually following through on this “deal”... that says more about you than it does Nadia.

Part 2.2: The Dogs

The way the dogs were framed made me think that Nadia was straight up cruel to them. I thought the dogs were physically there, and Nadia was actually abusive to them (though I was inclined to believe it was neglect, not abuse. again, quibbling).

Considering Nadia’s treatment of the cheetah, and even the vampire leeches, I should not have taken these accounts at face value, because they are flat-out misleading (at best!).

For context, Nadia and MC have left Nadia’s Gate to go to the Devil’s realm. The Hierophant has just warned them of a perilous journey. They leave the Hierophant’s realm, go to Nadia’s Gate where they have the discussion about trust, and then enter the frozen forest background. What happens is the following:

MC: “Where are we?”

NADIA: “There are many roads connecting the realms. Lost paths in the dark. The forest is an illusion. It is likely our minds cannot comprehend the true shape of these spaces. Instead, the world changes into metaphors we can understand. But you must remember they are only metaphors, MC. Keep your wits about you.”

We continue walking, wary of every strange noise that flickers off the narrow path we follow. Every step we take causes more fog to swirl from the ground, until we can barely see in front of us once more. I hear a snarl behind us, close enough that I can feel the breath. Without thinking, I turn around to face it —

Two figures emerge from the fog, their mouths dripping red. Mercedes and Melchior. Everywhere the blood from their mouths drips onto the ground, a cluster of flowers sprout. When I look closer, I realize... they’re all poisonous.

NADIA: “They must have gone mad with Lucio’s death.”

She tugs me closer behind her, but the dogs don’t try to approach. They just haunt our steps like specters, snarling and howling.

(Edit March 22: I just realized Nadia tugs MC closer behind her after seeing the dogs. She’s putting herself between MC and perceived danger, i.e. the dogs, further reinforcing her fear of losing MC and determination to protect them against anything. But sure, she doesn’t care about MC at all and is only using them for her own power.)

None of the posts I saw discussing Nadia’s treatment of the dogs ever mentioned that this happens in the magical realms, or that Nadia and MC discuss the forest’s visions being metaphorical immediately before the dogs’ appearance. Which is a shame, because it completely removes any context of the scene and does the double whammy of demonizing Nadia.

I guess it’s easier and faster to type out “Nadia abused Mercedes and Melchior!” over “The magical forest in the Arcana realms manifested a bloody Mercedes and Melchior [whose sprites are their pomegranate juice sprites with a little bit of blood added] as a metaphor for the line that Nadia has crossed, i.e. killing Lucio, and the possible guilt that she is either not feeling at all or is feeling and is simply pushing away so she will not have to acknowledge it.”

But the dogs’ mere presence — they follow always at a distance, like ghosts — is enough to force her to recognize it. She remarks that they must have gone mad, and moves on. She has come too far now to doubt herself. If she looks back, if she doubts herself, she is lost, and everything will have been for naught.

Part 2.3: The High Priestess

Leaving the icy forest, Nadia and MC come upon an old pavilion, where the High Priestess and Chandra await them. MC notes that “the dogs wait [behind us], never coming closer.” Further evidence that the dogs are metaphorical visions, not actually Mercedes & Melchior.

THE HIGH PRIESTESS: “You’ve strayed far from the path, child.”

NADIA: “High Priestess. What are you doing here?”

THE HIGH PRIESTESS: “I was calling to you. Did you not hear?”

NADIA: “I have been quite busy, High Priestess. I did not have time to answer.”

Nadia’s personal card is The High Priestess. Reversed, the High Priestess means one is ignoring their own intuition and/or subconscious, to their detriment. In Asra’s Book X, Nadia states that her intuition is more like a curse than a gift, which certainly echoes here in the meaning of the High Priestess, Reversed: “Perhaps you doubt yourself or feel silly or guilty for listening to your intuition, and as a result, you deny your ability to tune in and receive this potent information.”

This conversation also echoes Judgement, Reversed: “The Judgement reversed often appears when the Universe is trying to send you a message and invite you to something bigger, but you’re not listening. You are doing your best to pretend you didn’t receive it and are [...] hoping it will go away.”

The conversation continues:

THE HIGH PRIESTESS: “And so I come to you. These are words you cannot ignore. If you continue down this path, Nadia, all will be lost to you. Your family. Your intuition. Your humanity.”

NADIA: “If I do nothing, I will lose it just the same.”

THE HIGH PRIESTESS: “You know there is another option. You can bind the Devil instead.”

NADIA: “What, and lose MC instead? Slap the Devil on the wrist and throw him in jail? He’ll break free eventually. What’s a thousand years to an immortal being? This is the only way. The only permanent way.”

Note she corrects herself: the only permanent way. She understands there are other alternatives, but hers is best. When the High Priestess offers a solution, binding the Devil, Nadia angrily rejects it because of the risk it poses to MC, and she is unwilling to lose MC again.

It’s important to note that, within the course of a few hours:

Nadia went with MC to confront Lucio in the in-between realms, only to watch (helplessly! a thing she detests!) as Lucio stole MC’s body. (The Devil)

Nadia woke up without MC beside her in her Contemplation Tower, not knowing what Lucio had done or what had happened to MC until she went to the ballroom. (The Devil / The Tower).

Nadia had to send MC to the magical realms for their own protection, alone, where she could not protect them or ensure their welfare (The Tower).

Nadia watched MC struggle to unbind Vlastomil, suffering in the process. MC passes out, and reversed Nadia states that MC “almost died” unbinding Vlastomil (The Moon).

That is four experiences of Nadia being unwillingly parted from MC, either through separation or through a near death experience. That is why she refused to let MC go through the maze alone in The Star. That is why she is so set on not risking MC once again with the plan to bind the Devil. The scene continues:

THE HIGH PRIESTESS: “In a thousand years there will be another like you to step up again. Why must you do everything yourself? Why must you alone fight this threat?”

NADIA: “Because I am the only one I can trust.”

Nadia turns away, anger flashing in her eyes.

NADIA: “You have wasted your time in coming here, High Priestess.”

me 24 hours ago, blissfully unaware of this conversation: mc has spent 20 chapters reinforcing that nadia is the only one nadia can trust me now: wow i hate being right :(

An essential component of the Tragic Hero’s cycle is the hero’s isolation: disgusted by or despairing of the hero’s choices, their family, friends, and allies abandon them, or the hero themself abandons their family, friends, and allies to self-isolate. In Nadia’s case, it is both. She rejects the High Priestess’s wisdom, confident in her own choices (or, at least, unwilling to show the High Priestess that she is anything but 100% confident). In doing so, she pushes the High Priestess away.

And then there’s Chandra, who lands on Nadia’s shoulder and “nips at her ear sadly.” (The tragic piano is still going strong in the background!) The High Priestess, seeing this, says that Chandra “mourns [Nadia’s] loss already.” MC notes that Nadia “swallows hard, stroking Chandra’s neck gently,” and then the following exchange happens:

NADIA: “Must I lose you too, Chandra?”

The owl chirps and flies off her shoulder, going to land next to the High Priestess instead.

NADIA: “... I see. You will come around in time. You will see how necessary this is. Until then... goodbye, my friends.”

Like the dogs, I’m inclined to believe that Chandra is a metaphor, and not the actual owl. Chandra has been with Nadia since her childhood; she is the only thing Nadia took with her, from Prakra to Vesuvia. Chandra abandoning her is another metaphor for how far Nadia has fallen: she is utterly separated from who she once was. She is now, completely, a new person, unrecognizable to her closest and longest friend.

NADIA: “I know I’m right. I know this is the only path to victory... So why won’t anyone listen to me? It feels like I’m speaking to a wall. Do they think me foolish? I’ve considered every possibility. I’ve examined every other avenue. This is the only course of action left. They think I cannot do this. They think me incompetent.”

This is after Nadia leaves the High Priestess, and before the Hierophant informs them that Valdemar and Vulgora are attacking the palace. Note the progression of her thoughts: frustration and certainty in her own decision; questioning why other people think her choice is the wrong one; re-affirming her certainty; assuming that people who do not support her plan are like that not because of any concern for her welfare, but because they doubt her capabilities. I know I am right, but no one listens to me; thus, they are not truly concerned for me — they only think I cannot do this.

Implicitly, her thoughts that follow: Well, I am going to prove them wrong.

MC can either tell Nadia that they listen to her (to which Nadia praises MC, once again: You are special; you have always been by my side; I know I can trust you, unlike everyone else in the world), or that people who don’t listen are foolish. If the latter, Nadia agrees, saying that people who don’t listen to her end up not doing well, and cites Lucio as an example.

In either case, the exchange reinforces Nadia’s mindset, which has been shown through Nadia’s small vent: She feels as if no one is listening to her, and she is stubbornly convinced that her choice is the best one. She is frustrated that her friends and allies have turned against her, and she does not understand why, because clearly Her Choice Is Best.

If MC says they are listening, it reinforces that MC is the only one Nadia can keep close (as close as she can allow; trust no one but yourself, after all, is her modus operandi). If MC says the others are the foolish ones, it reinforces that Nadia is Always Right, because when people don’t listen to Nadia, they end up going astray or being worse-off, which just feeds into the cycle of Nadia is Right >> People Who Don’t Listen To Her Are Wrong >> Those People Suffer or Fail >> Thus Proving Nadia Right.

Part 3: Her Sisters

For me, this was easily the most heartbreaking aspect of the book. Nadia leaves the High Priestess angry, and she and MC arrive in a vision of Lucio’s wing. Nadia remains unswayed, telling MC they must keep going (if she looks back, if she falters, she is lost!), but MC, if selecting “I think this is real,” convinces Nadia to go to the ballroom, because Nadia wonders about why her sisters and guards are not stopping the chaos. (Implied in this statement: Why are they incompetent? Why are they useless? Why does everything fall apart without me?) The music is played sped up and backwards, symbolic of how wrong things are without Nadia’s presence.

In the ballroom, MC and Nadia find Natiqa, Nasmira, and Nahara attempting to get the crowds to safety, but the crowd isn’t listening to the Satrinavas. Then Nafizah sees MC and Nadia, and the following absolutely gut-wrenching exchange occurs:

Suddenly Nafizah, who is standing off to the side of her sisters, turns her head and looks straight at us.

NAFIZAH: “Like looking through a mirror into the fog... Why are you so far from us, sister mine?”

NADIA: “You can see us? Of course you can. Why should I be surprised?”

NAFIZAH: “The others need you here. They flounder without your guidance.”

NADIA: “Need me? NEED ME?”

Nadia’s sprite when she says “Need me? NEED ME?” is not an angry sprite. It’s her laughing sprite. You can just hear the angry disbelief. NEED ME? What are you talking about? Immediately with her next line, her sprite transitions into anger.

NADIA: “Since when have any of you needed me for anything? Perfect Nafizah, always looking down your nose at me. All of you did!”

NAFIZAH: “We have only ever loved you, Nadia. As much as you have allowed. The people are in a panic. They will not listen to us. They do not respect us. You must return.”

NADIA: “I will not! All my life, none of you have ever listened to me! You always thought you knew best! I’m doing what has to be done. If I returned, it would give the true villain time to escape. I’m striking now. You will see. And don’t you dare die before I’ve proven myself.”

And don’t you dare die before I’ve proven myself. Holy shit. Cold, but understandable, when taken into the context surrounding Nadia’s relationship with her sisters.

The youngest of seven, Nadia has always felt inadequate to the rest of her sisters. That is clear even in the early route, when she worries that Nasmira will take MC away from her. She is obsessed with proving herself to her sisters. It’s why she married Lucio, to prove to her sisters that she could pull Vesuvia up by its bootstraps. Reversed, that obsession is maintained, and she has no reason to change because MC does not challenge her.

When asking for her sisters for help in Book XIII Death, she blames the servants for the Masquerade troubles: “I have everything under control, of course. But the servants, they’ve made a mess of things.” It is not her fault that the Masquerade is not ready, it is the servants’; she has everything under control, she is perfectly adequate at hosting a party on such a grand scale. Do not blame me for these failures, sisters, blame others, it is they who are incompetent and untrustworthy, not me.

Now we have even more context for Nadia’s choice to replace the Devil. Not only does Nadia feel the need to achieve her impossible feat — defeating the Devil — for the sake of saving the world and her lover, but as the ultimate way to prove herself to her sisters. They can never consider her a vulnerable baby sister to be coddled and over-protected if she literally defeats the actual Devil.

In her Reversed route, she is still pressured to show both her sisters and herself that she is not the “baby” of the family, which she resents (see the bonus scene about Nadia’s birthday). Considering Nadia is the oldest of the cast, this is obviously a deep, deep wound that stretches back decades, if not her entire life. And MC’s choices did nothing to heal that wound, only keep it open.

Part 4: Wrap Up

Nadia in her Reversed route is a textbook tragic hero. She is a character of royalty (fulfilling antiquity’s requirement that tragic heroes be noble of some sort, because nobility’s fall is always more tragic than a commoner’s); she seeks to accomplish an impossible feat; she isolates herself from her allies, friends, and family; she has a fatal flaw, which is her hubris, aka her conviction that she is in the right no matter what. We have had 20 books of buildup leading to this: the climax of her negative character development. All that remains is the denouement (aka, defeating and replacing the Devil.)

I have every expectation that she will succeed in her impossible feat, but the consequences will be catastrophic. Perhaps she will have to (however unwillingly) isolate herself from MC forever. MC might even become the Fool Arcana to join her, but that is no guarantee that they could actually be together. The Arcana are meant to stay in their separate realms, after all.

The devs promised a bittersweet ending, or a tragic romance. Nadia’s route fulfills both, because the ending is focused on MC and their relationship to their LI, not necessarily the reader’s favorite character, which may hypothetically be a relatively minor antagonist relative to the rest of the route.

Part 5: Last Thoughts

thanks for coming to my ted talk

#nadia satrinava #the arcana #my meta #the arcana spoilers #if u liked this pls reblog i worked v hard umu

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shepherds-of-haven · 4 years

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What does Briony think of each of the Shepherds?? So excited to meet her!!

Yay, I’m so excited for you guys to meet her!! ❤

How Briony Perceives Other Shepherds:

Blade: he acts big, bad, tough, and mean, but she can tell he’s a softie underneath. You can bully the shit out of him and he’ll go along with it… no one believes her, but it’s true! She likes being around him, it’s calming~ And it’s fun to spar with him because he’s one of the only people who she can go all-out with without worrying about hurting him!

Trouble: he’s so much fun but so dumb! Typical boy who’s clueless about others’ emotions… She loves him to death (brother-sister relationship) but finds she has to mother him and tell him to reign it back (and why) if he inadvertently hurts Shery’s feelings or annoys Lavinet with a comment or whatever… she’s the one he goes to for advice on things like that!

Shery: LOVE LOVE LOVE. MUST PROTECT. If you don’t treat her with respect and kindness Briony will scratch your eyes out!! She’s very in tune to Shery’s emotions because Shery doesn’t often stand up for herself, so Briony feels like she has to do it instead! They have a very close relationship and consider each other best friends.

Tallys: respectful but uneasy relationship? Tallys is very intimidating to Briony and it’s sort of awkward talking to her because Briony is aware of the dynamic of their being somewhat kindred spirits (Elvish blood) but Tallys also having this huge connection to the past and her heritage and history, which Briony lacks because… she has no memories. It’s a complicated dynamic, and although Briony would like to get closer to her, she doesn’t really know how or where to start, so she acts kind of awkward around Tallys without really knowing why!

Riel: she likes Riel, and in general, he likes her, too, but most of what he says just goes over her head and every time she walks in the room, he’s watching her like a hawk because she’s liable to break one of his inventions or manhandle his books and stress him out. She’s carefree and he’s very methodical, so sometimes their styles clash, but never in outright disagreements. She views him as an uptight friend who needs help loosening up and he tolerantly views her as a particularly-destructive part of the League of Chaos (i.e. Ayla, Trouble, Chase, and sometimes Lavinet), who are all his friends but who all drive him up the wall sometimes…

Chase: she really likes him and he really likes her: I’d say Chase is closest to her out of all of the female Shepherds but, like with Trouble, Briony sort of takes the position of wrangling Chase into some semblance of sensitivity and consideration when she has to, so when she shows up looking mad, he knows the fun is over. (Ayla and Lavinet just yell at him, Shery never brings up any grievances, and Tallys mainly just ignores him–but if he pisses off Briony, she’ll punch him into the stratosphere, so he somewhat behaves). In general, they have a lightly-teasing relationship and great banter, but sometimes he says things that hurt her feelings (joking about her amnesia) and it’s… not fun like when he trolls Blade or Riel, because he actually feels bad (she’ll cry). Then he has to make it up to her, so he has to remind himself often that she’s more emotional than Trouble or Red and has to be treated more gently.

Red: on the flip-side from Riel, Red thinks Briony is part of the Coalition for Reason because she has much more empathy, social awareness, and emotional intelligence than Chase or Trouble do. He likes her very much–and she him–and her natural curiosity and sort of child-like wonder and enthusiasm means they can spend hours talking about the finer points of magic, whereas Ayla (the other Mage in the party besides MC) doesn’t really care. He is very interested in Briony’s lost past and amnesia but doesn’t want to pry. On Briony’s end, she’s in total awe of him because he knows so much about things–not just magic, but how the stars turn, and why the sea is blue–and he can explain it all in terms that are easy for her to understand. They like to sit and gossip together in the courtyard on nice days!

Ayla: they get along well and are actually quite similar in some ways–protective, emotional, hot-tempered–so sometimes Briony is a voice of reason for Ayla, and sometimes she’s right alongside her brawling it out. However, Ayla tends to be more blunt whereas Briony tries to be more diplomatic, and this can lead to them fighting sometimes; on the whole, though, they’re very close and have a sister-like relationship (sisters who fight with each other but who have each other’s backs no matter what). Sometimes Ayla feels left out if Briony and Lavinet go and do girly things together, but sometimes Lavinet feels the same way if Ayla and Briony go and train together, but on the whole all three of them have a good balanced friendship!

Lavinet: Briony loves Lavinet and openly envies her for her beauty and refinement (something that definitely stokes Lavi’s ego). She doesn’t treat Lavinet like she’s a noble, which is really refreshing for Lavinet, so they get along very well and are essentially stuck together at the hip (Shery is stuck at the other one). Sometimes Lavinet is a little suspicious about Briony’s story about losing her memories, purely because she acts so… cheerful or unconcerned about it? There’s no urgency for her to reclaim her past, which is the total opposite of how Lavinet would react, so Lavinet wonders if Briony never lost her memories at all, but is simply running away from something and doesn’t want to talk about it…

Halek: Briony doesn’t really interact with Halek all that much–he is the Sleepy One–but thinks he’s, like, fine, if a little boring to talk to (his food is delicious, though!) This suits Halek just fine, as it gives him more peace and quiet!

#Shepherds of Haven #Briony #Briony Stormbreaker #feelings about others #feelings about...#feelings about

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fortheheavenssake · 5 years

Text

PG MM Anon Interpretation Collection- 12

77: Oct. 6

💜💜🙏🏻🙏🏻PG INTERPRETATION OF MM ANON🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜

💜💜🙏🏻🙏🏻THANK YOU MM ANON🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜

October 6,2019 1407 hrs CST

MM Anon

MM ANON … the Queen …… “ one can’t choose ones family “…… “ Philip loves me doing Melania” …… “I rather liked Donald “ …… “ l frightening Vlad…… “ on our day together she never stopped yapping “ … “Harry ‘ we all make mistakes “… “ the little one, she’s a fireball “ …… “Camilla says she’s illiterate “ … “ what sort of name was that!!!!!”…” What!! Christmas ‘she’ll be lucky “ … “LG ‘ that’s why it’s called the Queens speech ‘ so f#@ck them!!

Oh this is going to be fun!!😄😁😁😁

the Queen

This is a fun riddle, call it HMTQ Greatest Hits DVD 🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂 An assortment of HMTQ comments!

“ one can’t choose ones family “

The old saying you can choose your friends but you cannot choose your family! In processing, strategizing, meetings etc etc, things have been on overload with madam, Harry, and BOJO, that whole political situation. There has got to be some angry frustrated emotions regarding PA, Harry having been caught up in this mess and how things have dragged on and out! All the hacking, invasion of privacy and just generally very poor choices in life by family members.

“ Philip loves me doing Melania”

I hear HMTQ has a wicked sense of humour and loves riddles and mimicry. I can only imagine her trying to do an impression of Melania Trump, her accent, everything. This is hilarious, PP Is reportedly also having that wicked British wry self deprecating or mimicking others too. Oh how l would LOVE to be a fly on the wall!!😁

“I rather liked Donald “

HMTQ gave President Trump and his huge family a real Royal welcome literally! The time spent the Formal dinner, the dinner apt the U.S. Embassy that PC and Camilla attended. It sounds like she got on well with DT, We know he takes such pride and joy in his Scottish heritage from his mum. We also know that he has great respect for HMTQ, so much so he brought his entire family with him. We also know he brought some intel/evidence with him. Thank you sir! HMTQ enjoyed him and the time they spent together!

“ l frightening Vlad

Vlad is not the vampire, it’s Vladimir Putin. I am a bit confused by this because it seems a word is missing, like l am frightening, or l like frightening, hmmm. I think l will go with, he concerns her greatly.

“ on our day together she never stopped yapping “

This is madam and their train overnight trip together. It was seen as such an honour because HMTQ is rare to invite others along on the train and/or an overnight trip. We know from the videos and photos, how hyper madam was, she cut in front of the Queen and entered the car first. During the performance she looked hypomanic, laughing non-stop yapping according to HMTQ’s words. Poor your Majesty, you were able to endure that trip!

“Harry ‘ we all make mistakes “

As a reassuring loving granny, she took his hand in hers and spoke with him. No one is perfect, yeah he screwed up a few times in life, who hasn’t? He was ensnared in a plot that had done years of planning, reconnaissance, and he had absolutely no idea what he was in, until it was too late. Kind of like quicksand, you slowly get sucked in, and the more you move and wrestle trying to get yourself out the quicker you sink and drown. God bless you, your Majesty!

“ the little one, she’s a fireball “

She is talking about Lottie, our beloved Princess Charlotte! She was trending worldwide with her hairflip her first day of school. She is a real ham for the camera, ham meaning like to have fun when her photo is taken. She has a fantastic personality and watching her grow up will be joyous. I also think Savannah Phillips, Princess Anne’s granddaughter, fits this for sure she and Prince George 🤣🤣🤣😂!

“Camilla says she’s illiterate “

We all know Camilla loathes madam, love the video where she repeatedly asks for help🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂. Sounds like her opinion of madam is in line with many others about madams skills in the writing, reading, and language usage and comprehension!

“ what sort of name was that!!!!!”

Arche🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣😂😂. I cannot believe to this day, that name, amw!! I know some think LG played a trick with this name being the same as the last Duke of Sussex eons ago!

” What!! Christmas ‘she’ll be lucky “

Madam is assuming another Christmas with the family she never had. Also that she will still be free and easy, sounds like HMTQ suggesting if she’s still free at Christmas she will be lucky. Lordy please let the handcuffs come soon, let them have their ducks all in a row and clang clang slam, locked cell, orange jumpsuit!

“LG ‘ that’s why it’s called the Queens speech ‘ so f#@ck them!!”

This whole issue of BOJO manipulating HMTQ, now today’s paper saying he didn’t really apologize he just said regret. He is willing to squat in No. 10 if there is a non-confidence vote and he is ousted as Prime Minister. He said they will have to take him in handcuffs! They are trying to sort out who would be the new PM, Brexit deadline, and if an election it would need at least five weeks. So John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons could be interim PM. It’s all up in the air. The Queens speech to the House is to take place October 14,2019. This is her telling LG in no uncertain terms she is duty bound to do this and refuse to be dragged any further into swaying politics on either side. Her job in weekly meetings with PM , is to be informed what’s happening, offer advice but never ever tell what’s to be done!No one else will be giving her speech except her. In a previous riddle we had something about someone else delivering her speech due to health or stress issues, l can’t recall exactly.

💜💜💜MM ANON💜💜💜 I HAVE HAD AN AWESOME FUN TIME DOING THIS RIDDLE💜💜💜

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦

October 6,2019 1445 hrs CST

This is great PG such fun for us all! Love it….and love your personality shining through!😊💜💜💜💜💜

Ask Skippy submission

Oct 6th, 2019

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78: oct. 7

💜💜🙏🏻🙏🏻THANK YOU MM ANON🙏🏻🙏🏻💜

MM Anon

MM ANON … Calapornia Dreem-in…… “ To be ‘ or Not to be…” …… “ I made a bit of a boob”……… “ the real Mc- COY darlings “…… “ artistic lie- sense …… “ not my best work”

October 7, 2019 1305 hrs CST

Well MM ANON , This riddle looks short but very unsweeten, the usual saying is short and sweet!

Calapornia Dreem-in

We had Calipornia in a riddle the other day. Today it’s Cala pornia .It seems that alleged tape has risen like a Phoenix from the ashes, online, but lots of disagreement on who the female is. I have ABSOLUTELY NO INTENTION of exposing myself to that. Reminds me of my old Sunday school song, be careful little eyes what you see, ears what you hear, mouth what you say..does anyone else remember that song? Dreem -in, a play on the song California Dreaming by The Mamas and The Papas, it was redone by Wilson Phillips, daughter of Michelle Phillips, Carnie Wilson daughter of Brian Wilson, l cannot recall the third member. They were great, remember Hold On! Great music. Anyhow, l digressed, Dreem,from wiki , is a sleep device that monitors, analyzes, and claims to enhance quality of sleep. It’s a miniaturized and autonomous headband that monitors the quality of sleep and then uses sound to help fall asleep faster, get deeper sleep, and wake up at the optimal time through smart alarm. End wiki.

So we have Calapornia Dreem-in, note California is spelt Cala, either way, the sirens currently flashing loudly is this alleged sex tape online. As l speculated the meaning the other day, is she doing a runner to Cali or Cala?? There are definite spelling alterations to confuse, MM ANON🤨🧐🤔.

Is someone having great difficulty sleeping from hobbies, stress, being picked on by the big bad royal reporters? Might the sleep aid device Dreem being in use, hence the addition of in after the hyphen? To clarify a hyphen is the sign here. - It is used to connect words together so they combine their meanings.

Alternatively perhaps Harry is using this sleep aid to help him sleep. We know all the things we have noticed, weight loss, scruffy clothes/shoes, look very sleep deprived, l am sure he is suffering tremendously as he serves this tour of duty for HMTQ.

“ To be ‘ or Not to be…”

MM ANON is taking us back to Shakespeare, Hamlet’s soliloquy on suicide to deal with all that has happened in his life. Has there been suicidal ideation on part of madam or Harry? Madam l highly doubt, a narcissist never goes there except by accident. We have see a slow descent in our Harry over the last two years, Wright loss, hair loss, scruffy clothes, looks sleep deprived etc etc, adding to that, the pain he appeared to be in, stepping onto that stage in SA and her grinning like a Cheshire Cat, sorry Cheshire, at his agony. I have said numerous times now but l hope upon immediate return to London he was given medical assessment and care, as well as emotional assessment and care. I pray to God l am wrong on this, but l have been concerned. He has been under stress like l have never seen, for over two years!

“ I made a bit of a boob”

A boob, slang wise has had different meanings over the generations. A boob can be a dopey goofy person, it can be a blunder or a boo boo, meaning error or mistake, it can be a term for breast. So who made a bit of a boob? I see the usage here being an error or mistake. I would say the first boob was a bootycall and then underestimating who the attacker was.

I think this could also be a cheeky reference to an alleged video online.

“ the real Mc- COY darlings

The saying the Real McCoy, goes back, at least for me, in the old western movies, not sure if McCoy was a brand of saddle, shotgun, something anyhow. So when someone says, it’s the real McCoy it means it’s 100% real or accurate. Here MM ANON has hyphenated the word McCoy, and elevated the word COY. Coys definition is, according to google, especially with reference to a woman) making a pretense of shyness or modesty that is intended to be alluring. Ok, interpretation, MM ANON is clearly telling us that any alleged sex/porn video is 109% accurate, correct and the actress in it, is her acting role, is acting very coyly. Yuck, l need a shower!🤮🤮🤮🤮

“ artistic lie- sense

To take artistic license is a common phrase meaning , again l will use google, as l want everyone to be able to understand who may not be familiar, “Artistic license (also known as poetic license, historical license, dramatic license, narrative license, or creative license) refers to deviation from fact or form for artistic purposes. It can include alteration of the conventions of grammar or language, or the rewording of pre-existing text.”

I have had a number of comments of appreciation from anons for being more elaborative as we have readers from all around the 🌎 🌍 world.

So example, a movie about Invention of the light bulb, let’s say, they add a romance to it, or drama , l hope l am explaining this clearly.

So here MM ANON says Artistic lie-sense, another hyphenated word. So madam as we well know has exaggerated EVERYTHING about herself, some may say lies. Her age, her number of marriages, not knowing anything about the BRF, fake pregnancy etc etc etc.

So , since this alleged sex video is the hot topic, l am thinking the acting would be very fake over dramatic moaning groaning etc etc, likely a person would, to cover past sins, would be inclined to lie about it, say it never happened or the great song by Shaggy, It Wasn’t Me!

“ not my best work”

Again another commonly used phrase especially, like me, l am so self-critical about how I type my interpretations of the riddles, typing, thinking of something after l have submitted it, or just having a bad day at it , l think l might have even wrote this here, this is not my best work.

Artists, musicians, creative people, common phrase!

So if there were an alleged tape, that proved real, one might use that phrase. A tv show might have been the pinnacle or the height of greatest work!

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦

October 7,2019 1355 hrs CST

Fantastic, thank you so much PG! You make it seem so easy, yet we know there is nothing easy in doing these interpretations! Hats off to you! 😁💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

gstqaobc

Thank you MM ANON 💜💜🙏🏻💜💜 This was quite challenging, l find it’s extremely important to me, as this blog of our dear 🐼, has a worldwide readership and l am trying very hard to explain phrases, words, slang etc, as l take this work very seriously, and l want everyone to be able to understand! Also l am, by character, a very verbally elaborative individual 🤣🤣🤣😂😂. Thank you dear 💜🐼💜 for posting this. GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦

Source: skippyv20

12 notes

Oct 7th, 2019

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79: Oct. 7

💜💜🙏🏻🙏🏻THANK YOU MM ANON, THE FIRST ONE WAS TOUGH ENOUGH, THE SECOND RIDDLE IN ONE DAY MEANS SOMETHING BUG🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜

MM Anon

MM ANON … lets move on!!!!…… fab unfore-tunate…… pre tour panic… …a fleet-ing vengeance …… “ don’t take this personally”…… “ you have TWO choices”…… “ get your bloody head out the sand”…… “it’s crumbling around your feet”……… “ baby ‘ what baby?”…… “we’re gonna need a bigger Bank”…… 🎼” if I was a rich man”🎼

Riddle Number Two on October 7, 2019 1735 CST

lets move on!!!!

Time to move on and restart life. Put this information out, let the chips fall where they may. I am certain, based on the FIRST riddle today, that Harry is done, he can take no more. Oh my , how will this be handled, l for one would NOT want to , after several years of being a horrible person, want to be on the receiving end of Fleet streets vengeance! How will details , hundreds of them be told or explained to the public, all the things that have been kept secret, the public will perceive being lied to and paying for that wedding, her clothes etc etc etc. Never mind that, the bigger picture of the plot, the backers!

fab unfore-tunate

Fab Four, the original was the Beatles. When madam came on the scene, and video of them, working on a Heads Together, the media, not sure which, dubbed them the Fab Four. As we know their offices have separated as well as their charities also.Rumours of dodgy money being missing from the charity. They are completely separate in every way now, at least publicly, this has caused an uproar because of madam spending and the varied rumours surrounding merching, and hobbies, and other things that have been on fire today! So much beloved was Harry , everyone wanted him to have the dream of family come true. His madam is loathed, that’s putting it mildly. There is so much public distress at seeing the boys, l will forever call them the boys, break up, fight and publicly sever ties.

pre tour panic

Have unexpected security issues arisen on the upcoming tour to Pakistan of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge scheduled for October 14-18/2019?

We know security is a major issue, as in the memo it stated this is their most complex Royal tour to date. I will keep them in prayer. This tour is essential in continuing relationships building.

a fleet-ing vengeance

Remember Fleet Street, how l explained that in a riddle the other day. MM ANON, l take this as the sh** is going to hit the fan imminently, l have felt an agitation inside for several days. Will they lay bare, pun intended, EVERYTHING they have in the dossier. OH PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PULL THE HANDLE LET IT ALL SPILL OUT!! It’s time! Harry is at the end of what he can take! SO ARE WE! How this will all be done and handled l have no clue but it’s going to be earth shattering across the U.K., the Commonwealth, the EU, whilstBrexit is so precarious, and the world too. I cannot fathom how HMTQ is feeling and how and when to proceed!

“ don’t take this personally”

So who is not to take this personally? This clue mystifies me. My head is so full, is this relating to BOJO non-apology, in that he regrets what happened with Parliament? That HMTQ being tricked, she shouldn’t take that personally because he was trying to get his own agenda through, the Courts over-ruled him. Of course she is going to take this personally! She needs to be able to trust the PM! BOJO , according to the paper, if there is a noncon vote and he is ousted as PM, he will refuse to leave No. 10 unless in handcuffs. So, yes, BOJO HMTQ is taking it bloody personally!

“ you have TWO choices”…

Two choices, go quietly or a fight will ensue. l remember professionally saying this many times. Cooperate or things will be enforced. In this case confess, plead guilty or not guilty. Is arrest imminent, are these two choices?? Oh please , make it so, to quote Captain Jean-Luc Picard! Are the choices, leave the U.K. of face charges. I can’t see that totally but then again a lot of money laundering trials have brought down mob bosses.That song should l stay or should l go now? Is blaring through my head!!

“ get your bloody head out the sand”

Whose got their head in the sand on this? This is definitely PP, might he be taking a stern tone with HMTQ? Action needs to be taken imminently, the press are on the precipice of unloading a ton of very very bad things. It would be easier, although none of this will be easier, but it would be easier if HMTQ gave a public video, like Christmas Day, and as she did with Diana. If they can publicly get ahead of the media, might soften the blow. Perhaps announce a separation, then the press can go hog wild. Either way it’s going to be Annus Horibilus on steroids!!!

“it’s crumbling around your feet”…

The love and loyalty towards Harry is doing exactly that, crumbling around him. If things continue and madam resumes appearances in the U.K. or joint appearances , PARDON THE PUN🤣🤣🤣😂 joint🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂 sorry, l need a laugh, this is a tough riddle and the second one of the day!the reception will be vile, also possibly dangerous, such is the loathing at this point. This is having an effect on the entire BRF . The continuing question, why doesn’t HMTQ do something. Thank God for the Cambridges.

“ baby ‘ what baby?”

Oh are we going to play ignorant know?use those fabulous acting skills. I never had a baby, never was pregnant what are you talking about all innocent? Whose baby was that in SA? His or her photo will go down in history as being passed off as a royal baby.This could also be read, as to a lover, baby( name for lover), what baby? Many many people knew it was a fake pregnancy, surrogate used but whose egg and whose male DNA was used? Was it done in SA. Or was that a rent-a-baby? This is all so seedy makes my skin crawl with disgust!

“we’re gonna need a bigger Bank”

Again with the Jaws reference🤨. MM ANON DO I GET A TREAT FIR WORKING OVERTIME DIING TWO RIDDLES IN ONE DAY?🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂This hacking lawsuit is going to cost tens of millions, however it may well possibly reveal the identities, the length of time, what they did with the information they gathered,and was it a bad actor or actors who did this. Now when l use the term bad actor, it has nothing to do with movies or tv. A bad actor has become the term used when talking about individuals who betray their country, spy, commit crimes etc, it cal also be a foreign national also. . Has that decision been rescinded, just to pay her off, she can leave go back to U.S. I don’t know, there are alleged crimes, the British people and Commonwealth who haven’t taken the time to look below for the facts still loathe her. How this will all play out without totally destroying the Monarchy l do not know.

As far as paying madam to go, there was a one time deal offered before the wedding, it was allegedly accepted but changed her mind and went ahead with the unhappy day. Is there a chance they have decided to offer again just to leave, the legal case she filed is her problem. Any potential legal problems, or illegal acts that may have been committed and money owed on taxes, all her problem. I can hardly think after all this they would cave in, I HOPE NOT!

… 🎼” if I was a rich man”🎼

I have been singing since l saw this clue. This is from the musical Fiddler on The Roof! The entire song, sang and performed by a poor beggar man living on the slums but he had a fiddle AKA a violin. The whole entirety of the lyrics are him imagining being a man of fantastic wealth and the houses he would build, the life he would live, endless time to do whatever you want, buy whatever you want, just completely unencumbered. This is how many see the royals. Harry especially has taken unbelievable backlash for his spouses extravagant clothes spending, repeated use of private jet, the perception of being preached at regarding climate change . The last straw for the media was that blasting furiously letter , that accompanied the information that he had filed in court, directed at the media after what had by and part, in comparison with the other behaviour was a positively reported visit to various countries in Africa! The last snap though, was his perceived treatment of Rhiannon Mills of Sky News when he scolded her, as some saw things, watch the video, decide for yourself!

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦

October 7,2019 1850 hrs

Great job PG! Wow! If I could, one scenario has been they let MM go, and she is taken care of back in the US….so that might be the reference to two choices…she will NOT walk…she will face justice..in UK or in US! Thank you for doing these riddles today! So appreciated!😊💜💜💜💜💜💜

gstqaobc

It could be any, l am exhausted after two riddles, the last one being extremely difficult in how to word things without opening oneself up to legal issues and to not offend etc etc etc. As for Fiddler on the Roof, l deliberately not bring up his ethnicity because sometimes people do not like that, l bend over backwards, metaphorically, TO NOT UPSET ANYONE or be perceived as judgemental etc. My brain 🧠 is tired, my words aren’t flowing right. GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦 I do my best, give my all, we all work together. 💜💜🐼🙏🏻🙏🏻🐼💜💜 Thank you 🐼 for creating this wonderful place💜💜💜🐼🙏🏻🙏🏻🐼💜💜🐼😊😊🐼👋🐼💜

Source: skippyv20

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80: oct 9

💜💜🙏🏻🙏🏻THANK YOU MM ANON🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜

MM Anon

skippyv20

MM ANON … fab two ‘ future Queen……future king …… also rans …… three weddings and a refusal …… Archie-bargy …… a dog with no name …… silent screaming past…… 🎼” there may be trouble ahead “🎼…… “ if I tell you ‘ I’d have to…… “…… everyone is scarfing …… (another private flight)…… Branson island … Mail on payday… … “ please boo the buggers”

October 9/2019 0105 hrs CST

SORRY l am so late, l had a rest day😊💜

fab two ‘ future Queen

Well who on earth could this possibly be referencing 🤣🤣🤣? Of course it is our beloved Cambridge’s, Their HRH Duke and Duchess! Who needs a Fab Four, when we have the FAB TWO? They are brilliant. The Royal tour to Pakistan (unless something happened whilst l slept the day away, haven’t read the news) will be a Master Class in how a Royal, representing HMTQ, conducts oneself. Catherine, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge has fully come into her own, in this role and it’s been marvellous to watch her bloom. I think some of us kind of took her for granted until we saw the horrors of the other one. She will make a brilliant Queen Consort, once the time comes.

future king

This could be referencing Prince Charles, Prince William or Prince George. Are we not blessed to live in a time with three future kings? Amazing! Given the pending Royal tour representing HMTQ in Pakistan 🇵🇰, l believe this is referencing HRH Prince William. He too, has come into his own, fabulous, loving supportive wife, they have a beautiful healthy family. Their minds are sound and are raising well rounded children. We will se William, on this tour, conducting himself above reproach, and can envision him well in his penultimate role as His Majesty, when the time comes.

also rans

Let’s head to our favourite friend google for a few definitions, a loser in a race or other contest, especially by a large margin, OR, PAY ATTENTION KIDS😁an undistinguished or unsuccessful person or thing. Now let’s just skip past the first one and jump on the second definition. Undistinguished person, BOJO fits, only because he manipulated HMTQ, but we’re not political. I know without a lot of explaining or elaboration because you have all been passengers on the Skipoy🐼 train, you know of many undistinguished deeds that are public, just you wait Henry Higgins, just you wait, sorry l jumped into a My Fair Lady song 🤣🤣😂😂, can’t help myself!

three weddings and a refusal

Three wedding and a Funeral, the write of that film, Richard Curtis, is working with Catherine on a mental health campaign, l can’t recall what it’s called just now. Anyhow this is three weddings and a refusal. William and Catherine, Harry and her, Eugene’s and Jack, whose the refusal? Are we referencing CD? She goes way back, but …..but…..but…… l am saying no more!

Archie-bargy

Is this boss Prince Louis’ name for Archie or the other Cambridge children? We know twitter calls a baby bubs 🤮🤮Or is it LG? Not joking at all about a real child but at the persona created for this infamous fauxmegnancy, fauxmegbirth, fauxmegworld, etc etc etc etc.

a dog with no name

I know , my friend, rescued greyhounds from the racetracks in America where they were , can’t say it, but used and abused, and brought them to Canada. This is a well known animal/humanitarian organization that rescues a variety of animals. The title literally, it means they want no dog to not have a name. When an animal has a name, it gives them meaning, they’re smart they know what their name is and respond to it, maybe not always the way we want🤣🤣😂😂, but they do? So who is the dog with no name in the human form , is it the victims of JE? The ones that have come forth have a name. I know there has to be many more, unnamed to us at this time. Or worse will never be known. When you see and hear VRG speak and tell of her experience it adds the real humanity factor, it takes it from words on paper or hidden abstract to literal, in your face truth! I pray for all the victims of human trafficking known and unknown 🙏🏻.

silent screaming past

Does anyone recall the documentary The Silent Scream? I most certainly do, its about abortion. I wonder who this might be about? I have long suspected there might have been several of those in the past of someone.

🎼” there may be trouble ahead “🎼

But music and dancing, MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE PAUR , THANK YOU MM ANON FOR THIS CLUE. Memories, Fred Estaire singing this, dancing with the unbelievablly gorgeous Ginger Rogers. Fred used to say, or was it Ginger, no, matter, he was talented, but she was amazing because she had to do everything backwards and in heels🤣🤣😂😂.Now interpretation, let’s face the music, it means face your reward but more often it’s face your punishment and own up to what you have done wrong. Here we have it, PA, it’s time for him to not dance but face the music. Sounding like an order from up top has been given, he must comply with authorities, be interviewed, be truthful! Face the music!

“ if I tell you ‘ I’d have to…… “

This is an old saying, does anyone remember the spoof spy show Get Smart? Hilarious, l grew up watching that, about spy who goofed up, had a phone in the sole of his shoe?🤣🤣😂😂 Anyone, the saying is, if l tell you, I will have to kill you. My oh my oh my, what secrets are held, l certainly wouldn’t want to be in this position! But who is!

everyone is scarfing

William adjusting his scarf to avoid interacting with madam, has taken on a life of its own online🤣🤣🤣😂😂. We know, the entire BRF, to the public, is scarfing, the Harry, and her, l believe 100% behind the scenes, there is plenty of love and support for Harry to get through this horror!

(another private flight)

Have they taken another private flight? And to where? Necker Island?? Or points beyond? I think they any public appearance in the U.K. now would be disastrous especially for a narcissist. I wonder how Prince Harry’s appearances on the 10th for International Mental Health Day will go? I do so hope that he is well received 🙏🏻🙏🏻.

Branson island

Sir Kenneth Branson owns his own island as well in the Caribbean, he calls it Necker Island. Do you recall the horrible fire that occurred there a few years back? Kate Winslett, the actress literally went in and rescued either his mum or grandmother. No matter, this island has been a getaway for many celebrities and royals for years. Is there a connection with JE and his island?

Mail on payday

Ha ha, when the storms blows in, they will get a massive payday, of that l am certain. In public opinion, the DM comments are full of loathing and anger, they sometimes have comments that things are not appearing ie comments or they vanish. When the story(or stories, truth) are published ad revenues and sales will skyrocket!!

“ please boo the buggers”

PP voicing his approval for this to happen when a certain couple or individual appears in an official capacity or not, just do as he said!!! Now that would be above Camilla’s video begging help! Help! 🙃🤣🤣🤣

Submitted October 9/2019 0204 hrs CST

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦

Thank you dear PG! This again looks interesting…oh what fun lies ahead! Thank you, much appreciated!😊💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

Ask Skippy submission

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81: Oct. 9

💜💜🙏🏻🙏🏻THANK YOU MM ANON🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜

October 9/2019 1500 hrs CST

MM Anon

MM ANON …… “ sorry, not today thank you “…… never EVER explain …… “what happens in house, stays in-house”. ……a special briefing …… another cover-up?…… … glowing anticipation …… special forces …… “unprecedented care”…… a very tired PR …… public appearance nerves …… “we’ll pay you handsomely”…… “she’ll do it or suffer the consequences”

“ sorry, not today thank you “

Jeremy Corbyn, Labour leader, has said today, that the Queen should appoint him as PM if BOJO loses a non-confidence vote. Firstly HMTQ does not appoint leaders, they are elected by the public. So sorry, Mr. Corbyn, not today, thank you.

never EVER explain

Since the Queen mum was Queen, it has been the motto of the way the Royal family has dealt with any rumours or gossip about themselves or their work. Never complain, never explain. This has an extra ever, all caps. So MM ANON is telling us , when this happen, as things unfold legally or with the marriage, there will be a considerable amount of things that will not ever EVER be explained to us. We must prepare for that. They have been playing this game a long time and are champions, the Crown never loses. So we ask ourselves how will things come out, what will happen to madam or Archie, lots of things will remain classified, this is a big thump warning us!

“what happens in house, stays in-house”.

The saying what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. In other words, confidentiality and discretion are key. So whatever may be observed or noted by staff they cannot talk about outside of the house they work in, be it KP, BP, Windsor Castle etc etc. I think LG is running a tight ship, we are nearing the destination of an endpoint in this masquerade and he wants no leaks out , no warning at all of their plans, lest their attackers use that information. Perhaps in reference to Richard Palmer?

a special briefing

Did the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge receive a special briefing regarding their upcoming Royal tour? It would be very important that they be aware of exactly everything that is planned, possible changes and security issues.

another cover-up?

What on earth could this be referencing? Is this related to PA and his connection with JE? There are some conflicting facts that l have read in different articles. The latest l read, was that New York visit, when he was at JE mansion, the purpose of that visit was to end his friendship due to JE arrests and crimes/pedophelia in Florida. Now one would think a simple phone call would suffice. At the time this first arose he denied having been intimate with VRG, the Palace statement reflected that, Met case closed. Many people feel that was washed away. Now it’s come back, he is still denying having been intimate, VRG is sticking firm with her story. And then there is that pesky photograph!!! Is there something else being cleverly hidden? I surely hope not and for HMTQ sake, l wish PA would do the right thing and cooperate. He will drag his feet l am sure, he’s done so thus far.

glowing anticipation

They say women who are pregnant have a special glow about them. Are we anticipating an announcement?? Who could it be? Princess Eugenie, to me, is the most likely candidate. That would be simply marvellous news!

special forces

Is this related to the Pakistan 🇵🇰 Royal tour? I very well think it might be, the security risk is high, we have high ranking royals, and ongoing assessment, along with tightly kept destinations and places they will visit. Safety first!

“unprecedented care”

Is this medical/emotional care for Harry after returning from Africa? Is that the type of care meant here? Or is there unprecedented care and concern expressed for HMTQ and PP through this incredibly stressful time, adding Her Speech to the House this Monday, October 14/2019. Or more concerning yet is this regarding HMTQ or PP health? I think ultimately this means, the Pakistan 🇵🇰 tour, they are undertaking their most complex tour, as per statement on the tour stated, and security and their staff are taking unprecedented care and implementing measures to ensure safety, security and a very successful Royal tour and relationship building.

a very tired PR

I am sure the Palace PR staff are beyond exhausted as madams numerous PR firms are at it, and being well paid. Tired can also mean blah, sedate, uninteresting, repetitive, and that’s what her PR is, the same fantastical stories, fabricated and dull.

public appearance nerves …

Harry will make his first official day of events tomorrow, to recognize October 10/2019 International Mental Health Day. I imagine he is a bundle of nerves given all that has happened on and since his last day in Africa. Not scheduled but l wonder if madam will gatecrash or attempt to.

“we’ll pay you handsomely”

Are they purchasing a video, l thought certain they already had it. Perhaps there is more information from past or lost years on offer, l am certain there would be no doubt if it was authentic and verifiable it would be purchased. Usually when the term pay you handsomely is used, it’s kind of like someone keeps your secret or in tv/film, it’s a private detective digging up dirt and gets rewarded handsomely for his work. MM ANON, l would love to know where some of these clues come from,,they can go many ways and some l can’t figure out!!

“she’ll do it or suffer the consequences”

They need madam to do something or appear at some royal event, but she’s terrified of the crowd, if there is a crowd, of whomever is there, what their response will be. There is to be no discussion, she must do this! I just wish l had a clue what ‘this’ was!

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦

Submitted October 9/2019 1605 hrs CST

Thank you dear PG! Things are sure getting interesting. Again…in awe of your riddle skills! So appreciated😊💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

Ask Skippy submission

Oct 9th, 2019

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82: Oct. 10

💜💜🙏🏻🙏🏻PLEASE PRAY I HAVE NO MORE POWER OUTAGES!

It’s Thanksgiving weekend, we have a massive snowstorm that is supposed to go until Saturday 🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜

💜💜🙏🏻🙏🏻THANK YOU MM ANON🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜

MM Anon

MM ANON ……corespondents under the radar …… “MA to MM”…… 🎼” gimme a ticket for an aeroplane”🎼…… “ my baby wrote me a letter” “ I’ve seen the contents of several”…… ‘ thank you LG.”…… “were in need of another f#@ing hole”…… Sheeran a common problem ……” drag her along ‘ your joking”… not seen’ not heard, GOOD!!!!…… Christmas 🧣 scarfs …… 🎼Back in the USA”🎼…… “friends thou hast and their adoption tried ”…(very trying!!!)

October 10/2019

1430 hrs CST

corespondents under the radar

Oh dear oh my, madam, and creepy eyes guy have kept in touch. I can only imagine the level of filth, schemings and depravity in those conversations, emails, snail mails, after all she is a calligrapher, roll eyes now. Well this is very interesting!

“MA to MM”

Hmmmm sound abbreviated, oh they’re so clever those kids, surely no one would recognize those initials and connect them back to those two!! I truly wonder what he has been up to, was he the last guest at Misha NoNoo wedding who arrived in big car, huge hat and coat, immediately surrounded by guards protecting him. Where has he been? Good gracious l have a zillion questions needing answered!!

🎼” gimme a ticket for an aeroplane”🎼

Old song, l know the song, looked on google for the performer, never heard before but they are called the Box Tops. The lyrics are all about someone desperately longing to be with their baby again, because a letter was received. l think baby is lover, not a baby baby🤣🤣. I think she’s begging him to send her a ticket to leave London !! Anyway anyhow before next week!! To avoid that public appearance? Running scare are we Rachel?

“ my baby wrote me a letter” “ I’ve seen the contents of several”

It’s lyrics from the same song as previous clue . Letters, plural, the plot thickens. I shall, out of respect for LG, assume that all of their contacts and interactions in every way shape or form, have been well monitored and documented. LG, were l wearing a 🎩 hat, l would take it off to you sir! You played her brilliantly!!

‘ thank you LG.”

Just what l was thinking and just typed. I am sure many have been thanking him, he has played the long game and has won. The timer isn’t out yet, but there is no way for her to win. I think this may be HMTQ speaking to LG. He has returned to serve HMTQ, serving her until the end!

“were in need of another f#@ing hole”

Oh dear, oh dear, how much more horrible trash about madam are they having to bury because it’s so extreme? I know there is so much that will need to be kept classified , buried if you like, for the BRF to recover. What on earth is all going on? There is so much unknown and the British people, all of us who care, are at the end.

Sheeran a common problem

Ed Sheehan, who has massive problems with his neighbors and his building things, that’s a whole other topic. Ed Sheehan , the musician, did a clever bit of humour, GINGERS UNITE🤣🤣😂😂. But in all seriousness, today is International Mental Health Day, Sheehan is a play on the word sharing a common problem. They both have experienced times of depression and feel the strong need to destigmatize it. Whilst here it’s a massive winter storm, as l type this, my power has been out for a good hour, good thing l saved the riddle and charged the iPad. BUT I AM FREEZING 🥶!

I just called the power, they said so many outages they have no idea when it will return😩😩😫😫😖😖I AM 🥶 COLD!!!

” drag her along ‘ your joking”

Prince Harry and madam are due to attend the Well Child benefit October 15/2019. I assume madam has zero or less than zero, great film by the way, l digress, interest in doing anything remotely public for fear of what could happen. Booing, throwing rotten tomatoes? This was referred to in yesterday’s riddle. Harry has been told to drag her along if she refuses to go. He is being given firm order on what he is to do. In no way, shape or form, will she be allowed to NOT attend!

not seen’ not heard, GOOD!!!!

There is an old saying, children should be seen and not heard. With madam, who doesn’t posses a gram of maternal instinct, this is her delight, she can do whatever she wants, a doll can be ignored. However l truly believe this is how the British people and people around the Commonwealth and the world are elated not to see or hear her word salad speeches. Hence the all caps, exclamation marks GOOD!!!

Christmas 🧣 scarfs

I wonder if this is going to be a gag gift, l know it has taken a life of its own online! This truly, l believe means, if madam is still around at Christmas, she will be “scarfed” from any Royal family Christmas dinners etc. A general, familywide scarfing, the ultimate! 🧣

🎼Back in the USA”🎼

Old song, classic Chuck Berry, fabulous when no computers for instruments, guitars were needed. This song is entirely about someone returning home to America, describing the sites and sounds of various places. Madam is deeply homesick and wants to go home. Yet she wants a massive celebrity life and fame. She has become infamous, history will tell of this. I think l have said this before but she may just end up in a massive, massive very expensive fully staffed home. However, the home may have locks but she gets no key to it!

“friends thou hast and their adoption tried ”

Shakespeare again MM ANON , again to my favourite , Hamlet. I will share the entire piece.

“Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,

Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;

But do not dull thy palm with entertainment

Of each new-hatch’d, unfledg’d comrade.”

Loyal friends, keep them as close as you can. Hold onto them, deeply in your very soul. This can be healthy or a very sick relationship. This is mm and ma, they are interwoven in each other, evil purpose, money, lust, filth, disgust. The hoops of steel MM ANON has challenged us with this before. My, my, my , are these two, who have been bound by this sick relationship going to be bound by hoops of steel aka handcuffs at the end of the day?? Oh l hope so. I want all this filth gone!! Banished!

(very trying!!!)

INDEED, DISGUSTINGLY SO!!!

October 10/2019 1700 hrs CST

SORRY SO LATE WE HAD A TWO HOUR POWER OUTAGE!

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦

Thank you dear PG….so sorry about the power outage….the west suffer through these often…….Then again so does the east! The joys of Canada fall/winter. I’m just sorry you are so cold. We too have snow. This riddle is now tying the connection to MA and MM….as is our new Anon…Emails, sexting, and videos. So, we can expect more on the pair! Thank you dear PG, I know it’s been a battle for you today, so much appreciated!🙏🏻💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

Ask Skippy submission

————-

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alwaysmychoices · 4 years

Note

Are you still doing HC requests? I’ve been thinking if Ethan didn’t back out in Miami and didn’t push MC away and they started their relationship then?

I know there are a few series about this kind of thing, and I used to be obsessed with them but apparently can’t remember any of their names to tag them. If anyone has some recommendations, please drop them below.

Also, I wanted to make this fluffy, but the more time I thought about it, the messier it got… I think that their relationship works in Book 2 because they’ve grown so much, but Book 1 Ethan and MC are just so chaotic. I basically just rewrote Book 1, so I may not have really delivered on this HC… If you want more fluffy stuff, feel free to hmu again, and I’ll see what I can do, lol.

Ethan & MC Dating after Miami 🔥 💖

⚪ Kissing each other in Miami was arguably the best and worst thing MC and Ethan had ever done.

⚪ Even in the moment, it felt monumental. It felt dangerous. But it also felt… right. Unsettlingly right. Like, no matter how hard they tried, they wouldn’t forget it.

⚪ There was a moment when Ethan almost backed out – when they were walking back to the hotel room and he was suddenly devoid of MC’s close proximity. There was a wave of clarity where he recognized that, no matter how right this felt, it was wrong.

⚪ But then she looked back at him… That soft smile, those shining eyes. And he realized he recognized the look. She had always looked at him like that. She had always wanted this.

⚪ Ethan wasn’t sure what changed in him, but he didn’t stop himself. Instead, he gently whispered, “You might just be worth the risk, Rookie.”

⚪ The next morning, MC was afraid he would change his mind again and push her away, but he didn’t.

⚪ When they got back to Boston, things were strange.

⚪ They didn’t know what they were doing. Those first days were made up of awkward exchanges, clumsy hookups when they absolutely couldn’t stop themselves, and a quiet understanding that whatever they had was stronger than they originally thought.

⚪ They didn’t say it, but it never felt like casual sex. In fact, nothing about it felt casual.

⚪ They didn’t know how to talk to each other at work, and worse than that, they didn’t know how to talk to each other when they were alone. The transition was clumsy and terrifying.

⚪ It didn’t help that their lives were slowly falling apart.

⚪ Miami wasn’t the night when everything changed. That was just the night they acknowledged what they felt.

⚪ No, the night that changed everything started as a normal Thursday. Naveen’s illness was getting worse, and MC’s career was being sabotaged by some unknown force. But those weren’t the things they kinds of things they shared – not yet.

⚪ MC came over to Ethan’s apartment late after work. And after they had sex, it was just silent.

⚪ None of this felt right. This wasn’t what they hoped for. The magic wasn’t gone, but it was stifled.

⚪ Maybe they were wrong to even start this thing.

⚪ Ethan was the one to say it, and when he was done, MC didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t want this to be the end, but what else were they supposed to do?

⚪ She left without saying anything.

⚪ And it felt wrong.

Both of them knew it.

⚪ Ethan took a long, hot shower trying to drown out the thoughts. He made a mistake, and he knew he had. He went over all the arguments against their relationship, but none of them were able to overpower his need to get her back.

⚪ When he called, MC didn’t answer.

⚪ So, at one in the morning, Ethan took a cab to her apartment.

⚪ He felt a little ridiculous when he did it. People don’t do this for the person they’re just having sex with.

⚪ But when was he ever “just” having sex with MC?

⚪ She answered his third call, and to his surprise, she came to the door to hear him out.

⚪ Ethan apologized, which was enough to startle MC. He said that he wanted to see this through, even if it was complicated (and a little unethical).

⚪ When he stopped talking, he realized she was smiling the same smile she gave him in Miami. That was enough for him to know he made the right decision.

⚪ After that, things were different. They had rules and expectations. And they both knew that this was something real. Even if they didn’t put a label on it, they knew they were together now.

⚪ The next few months were hard, but it was a little bit easier having the other with them.

⚪ They both had a lot of growing to do. Ethan’s conscience and sense of propriety remained a looming threat. MC thought she could everything, often to the detriment of what really mattered. Secrecy just added a new element to an already tricky relationship.

⚪ They fought.

⚪ The fights were always different. Sometimes, they were screaming in his apartment. Others, they were passive aggressive for hours on end. Often, it ended with them making up in spectacular fashion that night.

⚪ But a few times, the fights turned ugly.

⚪ Because, as much as they adored each other, they weren’t always sure if they were ready for this relationship.

⚪ They disagreed on so many things. Like if you should be nice at work. Or if MC expected to much of herself or if Ethan expected too much of everyone. They even disagreed on whether or not they even knew each other or if they were just building fantasies around the other person. Most annoyingly, Ethan viewed MC as naïve, a charge directly attributed to her youth. She thought he was just a cynical asshole.

⚪ But the big disagreement was the diagnostic team.

⚪ Ethan didn’t think it would be ethical for her to join. MC thought that was ridiculous. When they started dating, Ethan assured her that he didn’t want to harm her career or her reputation. He respected her as a physician, and he had great expectations of what she could achieve.

⚪ So, who did he think he was to hold her back now?

⚪ In the middle of one of their screaming fights, MC decided to remove his ethical dilemma and broke up with him.

⚪ It wasn’t the first time one of them threatened to end their relationship, but surprisingly, this one stuck.

⚪ And neither of them particularly liked that.

⚪ But they were stubborn – far too stubborn to accept defeat and ask for forgiveness.

⚪ They kept working together, and their coworkers politely pretended not to notice that their demeanor had changed. Naveen was the only one to call them out on it, but they never confirmed anything.

⚪ And then… Naveen checked out of the hospital, Ethan resigned, Mrs. Martinez died, and MC was suspended under ethical charges.

⚪ It was different after that.

⚪ The fight felt silly.

⚪ They missed each other so much…

⚪ MC called to see how Ethan was doing after Naveen decided to embrace his illness and accept his death. Ethan wanted to know if she was okay, too.

⚪ The call lasted two hours.

⚪ Just minutes after they hung up, MC went over to his apartment.

⚪ The second he saw her, he swept her up in a tight hug, and they both apologized.

⚪ The night that MC won the ethics trial, she celebrated with her friends and ended the night in Ethan’s bed.

⚪ Ethan told her that he wanted to go back to Edenbrook but that he wouldn’t return if that meant losing her. She agreed that he needed to go back, even if she was sad that meant going back to secrecy.

⚪ She was almost asleep when he whispered that he loved her.

⚪ He didn’t know she heard until she said it back.

⚪ The next morning, Naveen appointed MC to the diagnostics team, and their fragile relationship was under stress once again.

⚪ But this time, things were different.

⚪ They made their rules, and they openly discussed their concerns without yelling. They decided what they were comfortable with, and they vowed to communicate the entire time.

⚪ That summer was amazing.

⚪ They went on dates in the park, and Ethan spent a whole Saturday teaching MC how to sail. They kissed under the moonlight, and Ethan even introduced MC to his father. They never said they were dating, but after dinner, Alan made of point of telling his son how much he liked MC.

⚪ They actually got to know each other – the good, the bad, and the messy parts.

⚪ They grew as individuals and as a couple.

⚪ And then, things were almost easy.

⚪ There were messy moments, of course. They were both extremely stubborn, and working together, they had ample opportunities to disagree. But the disagreements were less dangerous now.

⚪ They were the worst kept secret in Edenbrook, and eventually, they dropped the pretense all together. They were never explicit about their relationship, but since everyone already knew, they didn’t go out of their way to keep it a secret either.

⚪ The second time Ethan said he loved MC, there was no life-changing event to prompt it. He just looked over at her one night and realized he was in love. He considered holding on to that information and making his declaration romantic and bold. But instead, he told her right there, right then.

⚪ She asked, “So, was I worth the risk in the end?”

⚪ “Definitely,” he replied.

⚪ “You, were, too,” MC paused for a moment, and just to be sure, she added, “Oh, and I love you, too. In case you weren’t sure.”

⚪ The amazing thing was Ethan actually was sure before she said it. And Ethan was hardly the kind of person to trust something that that.

⚪ In Miami, they had a feeling that this was right, and they were correct.

⚪ In fact, it was even better than they thought.

#ethan ramsey #open heart #choices #choices stories you play #ethan ramsey x mc #open heart 2

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