#then you will dismiss all the ‘’good’’ people in your life who have done horrible things with ‘’but she donated to charity once’’

[yuridovewing]

Feel like one of the best ways you can convince someone that no, villains with compelling motives that have sad backstories are not terrible writing compared to straight up born evil villains who just want to kill everyone and be done with it, is to tell them that Warrior Cats writes born evil villains constantly while literally preaching “That’s how evil works, you can’t CHANGE, you’re either touched by demons at birth or you aren’t!” and it blows chunks

#brokenstar tigerstar hawkfrost darktail one eye etc etc would all be so much more interesting if they werent so one note #and just had ‘’born evil’’ slapped on as their explanation for being evil #‘’ew why are you woobifying tigerstar’’ because i think a villain who feels emotion besides ‘’evil’’ and ‘’angry’’ and actually does care #about his clanmates but is also a bigot that deserves to be beaten down is more interesting than canon #to get like real world political here… abusive people and bigots like. are not one note born evil demons #they have loved ones and reasons for turning out the way they did. and im not saying that to go ‘’so you need to give them grace!’’ #im saying that because the line of thinking that every bad person is a super obvious mustache twirling villain with no soul #makes it so that people justify abuse and crimes from REAL people. like ‘’oh my friend says some racist things but he isnt BAD! he loves me! #would an abusive person be nice to his wife in public? of course not!’’ #and its rhetoric like that that lets abuse and bigotry thrive. if you put the world in categories of born evil and born good #then you will dismiss all the ‘’good’’ people in your life who have done horrible things with ‘’but she donated to charity once’’ #i mean. hell this LITERALLY happens in wc where the ‘’born good’’ characters are abusive and murderously xenophobic #where characters like clear sky and blackstar just get a sticker like ‘’oh you cant be TOO mad at them! theyre good at heart!’’ #‘’ignore all the times they killed vulnerable people for the crime of being born somewhere they didnt like! they were nice to a kid once!’’ #the message there is literally ‘’bad people cant REALLY be bad if theyre nice to people sometimes’’ #like. im not even mad at clear sky being motivated by witnessing his loved ones starve to death for why hes such an abusive control freak #thats an interesting reason to become a villain especially since the change happened when he was put in a position of power #the problem is not him having a sad backstory. the problem is the erins think his sad backstory means he was never that bad #and anyone who’s upset at him can go eat shit and die cause he looked sad #like. i get this line of thinking often comes from writers doing this for abuse apologism and just wanting to see abusers be held accountabl #accountable #but how exactly does it help victims of abuse to portray abusers and bigots in a christian ‘’touched by the devil’’ light

[ikozen]

NEVER TRUST A FOX

pairing: hybrid!fox choi jiung x innocent!hybrid bunny fem reader

word count: 2.8k words

synopsis: the universe has unexpected ways of bringing you things you never thought you’d need in your life, one of them being a conniving hybrid fox named choi jiung who could devour you at any moment.

warnings: fluff, dom!choi jiung, sub!fem reader, marking/biting, oral(f.receiving), face riding, fingering, pet names(baby, little one, bad bunny, little bunny), mentions of blood and patching up a wound, mentions of jiung in rut, breeding kink, making out, unprotected sex, slight dirty talking, intense orgasm, slight hand job

a/n: i saw a picture of orange-haired jiung with fox ears from piwon fan sign event that was held for their recent comeback and I’ve just been so obsessed that I needed to write this!!

hybrids weren’t a common thing in your area. after all, you lived in the woods which were very secluded, so there weren't many of your species around.

your home was surrounded by the smell of cookies. god you couldn’t wait till they were done to indulge on cookies with ice cream. out of the corner of your eye you saw a figure zoom past your kitchen window. maybe it was a bird you thought. they did surround your house a lot.

just as you were about to dismiss the thought your ears picked up on groaning outside of your window. someone being in the middle of the woods was strange as you lived by yourself and not many people would venture out where you lived.

taking off your apron and throwing it on the counter, you rush towards your door to see who or what made that sound. you were shocked, it was a fox hybrid who had a puncture wound on his leg with blood seeping onto your flowers. you would be mad about the blood and damage done to your flowers, but it didn’t matter when you had someone hurt near your house.

his ragged breath only made you come closer to him, reaching your hand out in his direction. the hybrid fox bared his fangs as a sign for you not to step any closer, heeding his warning. you were hesitant, but you would feel horrible if you left him here to bleed on your delicate flowers.

“I’m only trying to h-help you.” you voiced with slight fear in your voice.

“don’t you know I could eat you right now, little one? don’t test my limits.” the fox warned you hoping you would back down

“I can’t leave you here. it's not right.”

before the fox could even have a chance to protest, you walked towards him, lifting his body slightly and draping his arm around your neck while your other arm held onto his waist to keep him secure. as soon as you were in your house you gently placed him on your floor with his back propped up against your couch. you couldn’t have him staining anything else. running to your bathroom you wash your hands and grab your first aid kit and run back, crouching down in front of the man.

“this might hurt. please stay still.” you saw his ears perk up as he glanced at you

you gently applied pressure on the wound, the fox hissing at the pain of the pressure being applied. you walked to your sink, filling up a cup with water ever so often as you rinsed to wound for 5 minutes making sure to not run the risk of an infection. after you were done you applied the ointment and dressed the wound, making sure that it wasn’t too tight to hurt the poor fox.

as you were putting back everything in your first aid kit and cleaning up, you noticed the fox taking little glances at you.

“haven’t your parents ever taught you to never let a stranger get into your house?” the fox hybrid asked, staring into your black orbs as he came close to your face.

he was close. too close. his orange hair that matched his tail and his fox-like ears with his green orbs piercing into you made you intimidated. his breath fanned your face, making you unable to utter a word.

“you smell good.” the fox closed his eyes inhaling your scent, then later opening them back up to stare back in your black orbs, reaching up and cupping your cheek

“i-it must be my cookies.” you shyed away from the fox’s touch.

“hmm, i don’t think it’s the cookies. what are you” the later demanded.

you didn’t want to tell a predatory animal that you were a bunny. if there was any other reason to be afraid of helping the fox, it’s that he can devour you in any instance.

“so you’re not gonna open that pretty little mouth of yours?” the fox asked, giving you a devilish grin showing off his fangs.

“i’m just someone who can’t turn a blind eye to someone bleeding on my flowers. you’re welcome by the way.”

“thank you.” the fox uttered

“what’s your name? it’s only right i know the name of the person i saved.”

“jiung.”

“so jiung, how did you get a-”

“you know you ask too many questions.” you were cut off as the fox looked at you judgingly

you raised both your hands up as if you were caught, saying sorry for the many questions. you had offered for the fox to stay with you for as long as he needed to recover, but he kept protesting saying he’s able to go home. making an injured person walk back on the same leg that is wounded would eat you up at night. so you demanded for jiung to stay, bargaining that you would do anything if he were to stay and let his wound heal. of course he accepted your request.

living with jiung was fun. you never knew you needed company in your house to make your life even more brighter than it already was. you never really had anyone to talk to as you lived in the woods alone, but jiung made up for the company that you never had.

“ji, do you want cupcakes?” you yelled hoping jiung would hear you from the kitchen.

apparently he didn’t. you did hear him yell back. opening the cupboard, you grabbed white icing and red and pink sprinkles. you felt a presence behind you as you were caged in by jiung.

“I called your name asking if you wanted cupcakes, but you didn’t answer and take it easy on the foot.”

“foxes heal fast. I’m able to walk around properly.” the fox said rest his chin on your head.

the hybrid fox was keen on helping you out but you should have known his term of helping out would be to keep sticking his fingers in the icing as you tried to decorate the cupcakes.

“ji, you keep sticking the finger that you licked back in the icing. that’s nasty.” scrunching up your face at his nasty behavior.

“it’s only us eating so that shouldn’t matter.” jiung licked his finger while staring at your brown orbs.

jiung has been really touchy lately. you couldn’t tell if this is how he normally is, as you really don’t know him that well, but he’s been leaving light touches on your skin and teasing you a lot. it’s better having him around than having no company at all.

cleaning up the mess that was made in the kitchen, mostly by jiung, you suggested if you two could watch a movie together. it then turned into a full blown argument as you argued that watching the bratz series was better than watching the whole marvel series. jiung hated your horrible take and grabbed the remote out of your hand putting on deadpool. you didn’t hate the idea of watching any marvel movies with jiung, but you wished he watched the bratz series with you. there wasn’t a point in arguing anymore.

you grabbed the blanket on the side of the couch, wrapping yourself up to keep warm. maybe you did have a horrible take as you realized that the marvel series was better than the bratz series. you could see in the corner of your eyes jiung smiling at the screen. he looked so handsome to you. but baking all day was making you tired. you hated how your eyes were betraying you, slowly closing as you went to sleep.

“hmm?” you heard groaning and heavy panting as you woke up from your sleep. you forgot you fell asleep on the couch next to jiung.

“ji?” you turned your head towards the direction you heard the panting, darkness only welcoming you.

“ji..” it was silent.

you could have sworn that you heard a noise. pulling the covers off you you you walk towards the light, immediately turning it on only to be shown with an anxious jiung.

“ji are you okay? is it your leg?” examining his leg to see if his wound might have been infected or bleeding, but jiung grabs your hand telling you through gritted teeth it’s not his leg.

“t-then what’s wrong..”

“you know,” he said, grabbing your hand and bringing it to his lips. “you smell really good.”

jiung’s sudden act and compliment caught you off guard, turning your head away to hide your flustered state.

“jiung it’s late. let’s go to sleep.”

“but i’m not tired.” jiung grinned.

motioning for you to come closer, you walk towards jiung only to be pulled on his lap with his hands wrapped around your frame. light kisses were pressed on the back of your neck making you squirm in his grasp. there was something different about jiung. he has never crossed the line like this. then it clicked. it must have been his rut

“ji, we can’t do this. you’re in your rut.” you attempted to loosen his grip off of you.

“why?” placing open mouth kisses on the back of your neck. “i’ll make you feel good.” he continued his kisses while using his thumb to circle your exposed stomach.

the little sentence made your arousal pool between your legs. the kisses on your soft skin made you aroused as your light brown tail and bunny ears popped out, no longer hiding your true identity.

“so you’re a bunny. no wonder why you smelled so good.” jiung said, kissing behind your ear. “you’re so wet just from me kissing you. you’re such a bad bunny, little one.”

“I wonder if you taste as good as you smell. you’ll let me have a little taste won’t you?” jiung asked behind your back, licking your bare neck like he wanted to mark you.

only soft whimpers could be heard in the room. you never wanted someone as bad as you wanted jiung.

“I need words baby.” jiung turned you around, grabbing your face, turning you to look at him. his eyes became darker as lust casted over them.

“y-yes” you whispered

the confirmation was all jiung needed as he dove in kissing your lips. the kiss felt needy as if jiung was going to lose you. deepening the kiss, jiungs tongue danced around in your mouth, asserting his dominance. he imagined that your sweet mouth tasted just as good as your pussy, only making him want you more. pulling back from the kiss you’re a panting and flustered mess.

jiung proceeded to leave open mouth kisses on your shoulder and neck, biting down every once in a while as his fangs slightly tore into your skin, drawing blood. you looked so beautiful whining under him. he only wanted to make you a mess. trailing open mouth kisses down to your core, jiung looked at you through his lashes as he licked a long stripe of your cloth pussy.

he could taste your arousal on your panties, the sudden contact making you slightly jump. it only made him more needy for you. the cloth that separated him and your pussy only caused his patience to run thin. he needed to have his mouth on your pussy. you heard a tearing sound and to your shock jiung had torn off your panties, muttering that it was in the way as he bent back down, flattening his tongue on your pussy and taking a long stripe, savoring your taste.

“ji-jiung, fuck! mhmm” you moaned out at the pleasurable feeling. jiung was hooked on how you tasted. your sweet scent continually filled his nose ever since he met you, but now, he can’t get enough of how your sweet pussy tasted.

“baby you taste so good. be a good little bunny and ride my face for me, hmm?” jiung looked up to you through hooded eyes as he sucked on your clit.

you watched jiung lay down on the couch waiting for you. scooting close to his face, you were hesitant to sit down on his face.

“is this good jiu-” a loud moan escaped your lips. jiung continued to eat you out while wrapping his lips around your clit once a while. your pretty moans filled the room making jiung even harder, as the bulge in his pants wanted to be released. you wanted more friction and you were desperate for it, rocking your hips back and forth. it didn’t matter to jiung if you used his face to get off, he was having fun seeing you desperate for him.

“o-oh jiung, i’m gonna, mhmm cum.”

“be a good little bunny and cum for me.” jiung told you through muffled groans.

instering 2 fingers in your sopping wet pussy, jiung continued to fuck you with his fingers until you came and to his surprise your legs were shaking as you had just came on his fingers with a loud moan exiting your lips. taking his fingers out, jiung licked at your hole tasting the rest of your release.

“you taste just as good as you smell”

“taste yourself baby.” opening your mouth, you comply with jiungs request, closing your mouth around his digits and twirling your tongue on his fingers. jiung dove right back into your lips, licking your lips for permission. you denied it causing him to growl against your lips and bite, tearing your skin slightly and releasing blood.

you hissed from the pain slightly opening your lips to tell jiung it hurts, but he took the opportunity to slide his tongue in your mouth tasting your release on your tongue. you tasted sweet, more than he could have. jiung wanted more of you until your love was unbearable for him to take.

“baby you see how hard you're making me and all I did was eat your pretty little pussy.” all you could do was moan back into the kiss.

jiung pulled away from the kiss, pulling his pants down with his boxers as his dick sprang out with precum leaking from his tip.

“it’s so..” your breath hitched “its so pretty.” you were in amazement with jiung’s pretty dick.

you wrapped your hand around jiung’s dick pumping him. you watched his face contour in pleasure with your hands working a steady pace on his dick. running the tip of your finger on his tip, a hiss escapes his lip. his green sharp eyes looking at you making you feel intimidated.

“you’ll be a good little bunny and take me won’t you?” jiung pushed your back on the plush couch, towering over you.

“yes.” you whimpered

grabbing his dick, jiung teased your entrance earning a whimper for you. you pushed your hips against jiung’s dick hoping that you could insert him in yourself.

“since you’re so desperate for my dick i’ll fuck you real good.” jiung pushed down on your hips to keep you in place. you looked so cute to him, desperate to have his dick buried inside of you.

a loud moan erupted from you as you grasped on jiung’s arms for support. the intrusion of jiung’s dick caught you off guard, his fat dick making your feel so full. “ouu, jiung you’re so.. so big!” pleasure overwhelming you as jiung pounded into you at an insane rate. your moans were music to his ears, but jiung wanted to taste you again, dipping his head down and eating your moans.

“you shouldn’t have taken me in when you first saw me. you should have known not to trust a fox. now your pretty pussy is wrapped around the dick of the same man who wanted to devour you.” you could only moan out in response due to jiung relentless attack at your g-spot.

jiung took your clit in between his fingers, rubbing it in a fast circular motion, watching as your tongue lolled out of your mouth from the pleasure. his animalistic urges wanted to devour you, mark your skin and make you his mate. he wanted to fuck you all day and see your cry from pleasure, bringing you orgasm after orgasm while you struggled to take him. he wanted to make you his.

“f-fuck, jiung please.”

“You’ll take my cum as I breed your pussy right?”

“yes, yes i nghh will ji.”

rubbing your clit faster, you came on jiung’s dick, screaming out his name at your intense orgasm. soon after, jiung came in you muttering curses under his breath, riding out his high with a few more thrust. he pulled out watching his cum drip from your pussy and onto the couch, grinning from the mess he made.

“come on baby, let’s go wash up.” jiung peppered your face with kisses and picked you up, carrying you to the bathroom.

“so does this mean we’re together?” you fidgeted with your fingers. a laugh erupted from jiung, telling you that he couldn’t be more than happy to be with you.

tags: @scarfac3 @miucries @yeagersex @ilwonuu @thestarry-nights @haechansbbg + comment if you want to be added♡

#. 𖦹 ikozen ݁ ˖ #piwon #p1harmony #jiung #choi jiung #p1h jiung #jiung smut #choi jiung smut #fluff #smut #p1harmony x reader #choi jiung x fem reader #kpop x fem reader #kpop smut #hybrid #hybrid fox #hybrid bunny

[animentality]

It's tough because I hate the Astarion haters on Reddit, who are just misogynistic and homophobic and dismissive of the character because they hate how gay he acts and also how many women love him.

but I also hate BookTok Astarion fangirls who feel the need to assert how superior Astarion is on every fucking Gale, Wyll, Halsin, Shadowheart, Minthara, Lae'zel, Karlach or pretty much any BG3 video at all. Like we get it. He's white.

And then I'm ambivalent on the Tumblr Astarion fans because there are the people who simply like him and make fun art and fun meta analysis about him, and then there are the people in my inbox currently telling me that Astarion's Ascended ending is morally correct and it's not a bad ending for the character, and if I disagree, then I hate women.

You're correct that I hate women, but it has nothing to do with Astarion.

Also, I once again point out, that your own husbando literally tells you outright in both endings that being Ascended ruins/ruined who he used to be and also your love for one another.

Your man literally says that your love would have been corrupted by becoming his spawn, and you still cling to the idea that your character is living happily ever after.

He's not making you a vampire queen, he's making you a vampire pet. And it's fine to like that ending. I don't care if you LIKE bad, unhappy endings. That is your prerogative. But you are simply incorrect if you say that it's the "happy" ending for the character, when it clearly is not.

No one ever said you had to use your skull for anything other than cold cut storage, I just don't see why it's even necessary to argue your point to me.

Stay in your Astarion echo chamber, and block me. I don't have time or energy to block all of you.

Anyway.

It sucks because I really like Astarion, he's my favorite love interest.

I really enjoy his storyline and his growth as a person and how sweet he is. He's also very funny. All the companions have great voice acting behind them, but Neil really knocked it out of the park, and I honestly think the character would be far less popular if they'd picked any other actor.

But the fandom around him is just...awful.

It's a mixed bag of normal, unnormal in a fun way, and unnormal in a "you need to fucking step off in this Walmart bitch" way.

It's why I'd rather interact with Dark Urge and Gortash fans.

Much smaller subset of the fandom, so I don't have to deal with the generic crazies, and we're all such freaks that we don't feel the need to go around acting like Gortash is a good person.

I also only ever see people saying these two are fucking disgusting and horrible and I'd murder them in real life and honestly, true and based.

No happy endings for those two, and that's fine for me. In fact, it's great.

See, Astarion girlies, this is called...knowing your ship doesn't deserve a happy ending after all they have done, and knowing it wouldn't be a happy ending if they got together, but being able to acknowledge that and not get bent out of shape trying to justify it.

Stop tying your irl morality to your tastes in fiction.

I never said that liking the ascended ending made you a bad person in real life.

I just said that pretending it's good and happy and great and not continuing the cycle of abuse, is factually incorrect.

And it is.

Every single bad ending for all the love interests is literally continuing the cycle of abuse. Why would Astarion's be any different?

But maybe I'm being bold in assuming you even know the other love interests exist or have stories. Maybe you don't even know the general story of baldur's gate 3, because it is, as you say, the vampire dating sim, and it's definitely not about anything other than banging the sexy vampire.

Media literacy weeps.

Anyway.

Not ruining my enjoyment of the game.

Just my general tolerance for the fandom that is not Durge and Gortash obsessed.

#baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #astarion #dark urge #enver gortash

[distort-opia]

you know i often see people throwing around the claim "joker r*ped/sa'd barbara in tkj" (mainly to shame people for liking the joker or batjokes) even though alan moore has dedunked it at some point. like the only piece of media i can think of with joker as a rapist is the azzarello graphic novel which is shit and doesn't need to be accepted as canon. i know it's kinda of a touchy subject but i'd be interested to hear your thoughts

Well. You've pretty much said it, to be honest.

Even a cursory Google search will reveal that Azzarello's Joker (2008) is a one-off, non-canon story. The just as much stand-alone sequel, Batman: Damned has a grieving Harley Quinn almost force herself on Bruce, and yet I haven't heard people say Harley is a rapist. Hell, didn't Batman and Harley Quinn (2017) have Harley and Nightwing sleep together... with pretty dubious consent on Dick's side? And yet fans are able to acknowledge that these are not canon storylines and that the writer matters a lot-- in the case of the latter, it's co-written by Bruce Timm, who is infamous for his shitty portrayal of female characters (also see the animation Batman: The Killing Joke, in which Barbara very assertively has sex with Batman, because that's of course the only way a woman can exercise power). Actually, Barbara's character has suffered so much... there's even Batman Beyond 2.0 #28, in which Bruce apparently got Barbara pregnant, Dick's girlfriend at the time.

But we all dismiss these storytelling choices because we know they're idiotic. They go against the core of the characters, simple as that. Why is Joker not allowed the same? While what he canonically did to Barbara in TKJ was horrible, rape did not happen, and that's a fact. Any other implications of sexual assault can only be connected to Frank Miller's writing in the TDKR series (not canon), or that horrible (and again, not canon) book adaptation of TKJ by Christa Faust and Gary Phillips. Unfortunately, there are always some writers who think that it's just darker and grittier and cooler, more shocking to have Joker attempt rape or resort to sexual means of intimidation; though it's funny how it happens that these are also generally controversial writers for their sexist depictions of women.

But we do know why Joker is not afforded the same kind of treatment as other characters who got butchered by out-of-character stories, canon or otherwise. He's become the punching bag of the DC fandom; it's so easy to proclaim loud and proud these days how much you hate the Joker and want him dead. If you're an anti and looking to feel morally righteous and signal to your echo chamber how good and pure you are, it's a low hanging fruit to latch onto Joker and criticize him for all he's done. The problem, of course, is when these people start attacking actual, real-life fans over their fictional preferences, shipping or otherwise.

But to give a more general conclusion, and my actual opinion on the matter: Joker is a master manipulator. His main schtick is literally getting Batman to kill him by orchestrating all manner of situations; he manipulates his doctors, his henchmen, he manipulates Gotham itself through the media on countless occasions. The very reason why he did what he did to Barbara in TKJ was to manipulate her father into having a mental breakdown. Joker picks people to break and then breaks them psychologically, that is his MO. What he wants is to expose the people around him, he wants to show that deep down, everyone is rotten.

It probably becomes obvious why rape is inconsistent with this mindset. Joker isn't the kind of monster to make things happen by brute force, he's the kind of monster to manipulate people into the worst versions of themselves and then laugh at them as they hate themselves for it. He'll murder and torture and imply any manner of atrocity to make that happen, but the source of his glee is seeing people fall into the same dark pit, devoid of humanity, he's chosen to live in. (And don't even get me started on the fact that Joker was canonically shown to have been a victim of sexual assault himself as a child, in Batman: Streets of Gotham. As an adult, he's depicted as gruesomely taking revenge on the man who did it. Something tells me there's more than one reason why Joker would not resort to rape, and it goes beyond MOs or agendas.)

#I got a bit long but alas #this was prompted by whatever twitter meltdown is currently happening wasn't it #heard about it and heaved a long sigh. this is why I stay away from that hell hole #asks #long post #joker #rape mention #discussion of rape #fandom negativity

[spriteofmushrooms]

Gonna be honest, I just saw a SJ Stan bitching about JC being a horrible person and I can’t help but wonder if they have them flipped? I love SJ, but he was definitely a horrible person and all the traits they’re describing are ones JC actually has. But they were also saying LWJ should cut LXC out of his life because he allowed genocide and complaining that YQY was a bad person so I think I can safely dismiss their opinion.

First, you're always allowed to ignore people who hate Jiang Cheng and feel, for whatever reason, that you need to know this. (Unless they're your friend, in which case you should be like me pawing at my friend Salem's chat window, saying please please please be niceys to Yue Qingyuan, he has a whole entire brain damage cave!! while Salem rolls his eyes.)

Second, I think a lot of people want their favorites to not be complicit in the various war crimes of mdzs. Wen Qing ruled a territory during the occupation; Wei Wuxian tortured dozens and killed hundreds, if not thousands. Lan Wangji didn't speak up for the Wen remnants, but he was perfectly capable of saying Wei Wuxian wasn't disrespectful of Jiang Cheng (lmao) in the same meeting. Lan Xichen, head of a weakened GusuLan, at best deferred to Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangshan about placing the Wen survivors in the camp; yet he at least seemed willing to be persuaded about Wen Ning and Wen Qing before the avalanche that was post-Sunshot Chifeng-zun descended and Jin Guangshan took back the advantage.

Other than Mu Qing who has never done anything wrong ever in his life, every character in MXTX novels is fairly gray. Which is why I propose that each character must battle all of the others to prove once and for all who is the morally superior gay representation. Here is the scoring rubric:

killed nameless cultivators: 1 point/dozen

hurt Jiang Cheng's feelings: 100 points

torture (regular): 1 point

torture (misogynistic): 20 points

bullied Jin Ling: 20 points

be Jin Zixun: 1,000 points

ruined Nie Huaisang's treasured nonsense: 10 points

killed your dad: nil

killed kitties: 50 points

kept Nie Mingjue's head around (regular): 10 points

kept Nie Mingjue's head around (romantic): minus infinity points

participate in or benefit from a society that reinforces harmful hierarchies, unlike our modern societies which are all so good: 1,000,000 points

#pallas.rtf #mdzs #hi anon

[opis-writing-nook]

Characters:

Diluc Ragnvindr, Gn!Reader, mentions of oth

Pairings:

Gn!Reader/Diluc Ragnvindr, Gn!Reader x Diluc Ragnvindr

Warnings:

Canon divergence, reader has a vision and can heal, very mild talks/descriptions of injuries (this means blood and bruising), light banter, reader's a little bit more blunt in terms of personality, kept reader's home location vague, use of warp points for plot convenience, vague spoilers for his backstory, undressing, nonsexual intimacy, hair washing, hair brushing, literally sharing a bed together, heavily implied that both parties are aware of the other's feelings and are sort of a thing but never put a label on it

A/N:

All of this was inspired by @danijaci lovely art!(tw for blood and injuries)

I also haven't written a fic in at least a year, I hope it's ok. I did this all in one sitting so it's unedited af

__

"...seems like I overdid it tonight." Was his immediate thought as he caught his reflection in the mirror near the front door. He looked ghastly if he was being kind, he hadn't realized he'd taken such a beating.

Diluc Ragnvindr liked to believe that he was aware of what his limits were, to know what extent he could push himself, but that would be a horrible lie that he didn't want to acknowledge let alone humor the idea of. He had, once again, bitten off more than he could chew but he also hadn't anticipated the extra abyss mages to be present during his usual patrol.

With a heavy sigh he leaves the winery silently, he doesn't need to cause a fuss this late at night, and muscle memory takes over as he uses the warp point to go to the one near your home.

He isn't surprised that he saw you waiting there for him, yet his heart flutters at the idea of you staying up and waiting for him to possibly show up, and doesn't even have a chance to speak as you lead him inside your home. Despite the look of annoyance you had, your touch was gentle as ever when it came to handling him.

A house he's become very familiar with over the years, he notices subtle changes with decor as you lead him into your dining area, and sighs softly as you usher him to sit down.

"C'mon, outta your clothes so I can assess the damage." You click your tongue as you help him out of his clothes until he's in his underwear, this was just the norm for you both at this point. "You look like shit, Luc."

"Feel like it," he gave a small laugh as you began wiping the dried blood off his skin with a warm washrag, wincing whenever you pressed a little bit too firmly on a bruise. "So, how much do I owe you this time?"

"Hold still, I have to place my hand over that bruised eye of yours to heal it since it's a deep bruise." You roll your eyes as you use your vision, ignoring his question, slowly watching his wounds mend themselves over the course of several minutes. "It'll take a while to do, so get comfortable."

"Alright, I know I'm in good hands." He leaned back in the chair, eyes closed as he took a moment as exhaustion seemed to seep into his bones. "Let me know when you're done."

Diluc's mind began thinking about how this partnership has been going on for a little over four years now, how if fate hadn't been so cruel that your lives wouldn't have been so deeply interwoven together. The idea of not having you in his life made him feel hollow, just like that day where everything went wrong, and he quickly dismissed such thoughts.

He thought about all the times he came to you after being seriously injured, at first it was because you didn't ask questions but over time a friendship bloomed and so on, and every time you'd handle him with care.

You weren't starstruck like most people were when you learned who he was, you just treated him like anyone else and he hadn't realized that that was something he needed. While your words were rather blunt and at times a bit cutting, it was always what he needed to hear when he wasn't sure what to do during those four years away from home.

It's the feeling of your lips pressed against his hairline that pulls him out of his deep thoughts, a lazy smile curls on his lips as you usher him into the bathroom and help him wash his hair before leaving him to wash up while you fetch some clothes for him.

Diluc sits between your legs on the floor as you carefully brush his hair, dressed in a loose shirt and pants, humming softly in content as he enjoys the sensation. Once you finish brushing out his hair he styles it into a loose braid to minimize tangling, getting into bed with you like he's done for 3 years now.

Tired murmurs of goodnights are exchanged as exhaustion takes over, both of you cuddled up under the blankets.

#.opis writing #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact diluc ragnvindr x reader #diluc x gn reader #diluc x gender neutral reader #genshin diluc x reader #genshin impact diluc x reader

[facelessoldgargoyle]

Worm has released its stranglehold on me long enough for me to sneak in a cannibal movie, so we are temporarily back to our regular programming, folks!

Bones and All (2022) fucks. Going in, I thought it was going to be something like she was a girl, he was a member of the texas chainsaw massacre clan, can I make it anymore obvious? But it turns out NO! this is a vampire movie!! I mean, they definitely eat people. Chomp right into their flesh. But like, other than that, basically the same as vampires. They can smell each other out and everything.

There’s a lot to love about this movie. Here’s a numbered list. I do recommend watching this movie without being spoiled for it, which the below will do.

1. The movie looks great. The scenery is beautiful, the people are beautiful, and the houses are gorgeously rumpled. The paint is peeling and there are dishes in the sink. The movie feels lived in. Moreover, there’s consistently really interesting, unusual shots being framed. POV’s of a car on the road, wide shots of conversations you cant hear because of the background noise, sudden cuts to the exterior during a fight.

2. The movie shows you, over and over, people biting into people’s bodies. The act is not softened by cooking, like Hannibal, or elided with the metaphor of blood drinking, like Interview with a Vampire. Skin stretches. Blood oozes. It rocks, because a lot of the movie is dedicated to the question, “Am I good?” And you can’t shield your eyes from the horrible thing that they’re doing. You have to evaluate whether they’re good while knowing how gruesome their lives are.

3. The movie spends a lot of time asking “Am I good?” I feel like a lot of the vampire media I’ve read and watched dismisses or avoids that question, by getting blood from animals, or donors, or willing participants, or by saying “yes, because I’m different, superior species than humans.” Bones and All lays out the three options: eat, kill yourself, or commit yourself to an institution that will keep you locked and drugged up. The protagonist’s mom decided on the latter. The protagonist decides on the former.

One answer to “Am I good,” is “no, and you disgust me, because you eat people without having a compulsion to.” Maren is just as much a cannibal as the normal human, but if she tries to resist eating, eventually her hunger takes over and she bites her friend’s fingers off.

Another answer to “Am I good” is “no, and I’m leaving you over it,” when Lee accidentally chooses a man to kill who has a wife and kids. It didn’t matter to Maren when she thought he was single, it only mattered to her when she saw the people who would be impacted. It’s reminiscent of their conversation in the slaughterhouse, about how pigs have parents, children, and friends. Maren was hungry, so Lee found someone for them to eat.

Another answer to “Am I a good person,” is “I would have done what you done, and the only thing I know is I love you.” That’s a goddamn good answer, because like…they are murderers. The question, in this case, is a relative one. Lee isn’t asking whether it’s ok to kill and eat people, he’s asking whether it was ok to kill and eat his dad. Maren feels guiltier about killing and eating people in general, and so she gives him the real answer.

Since Maren has decided to live, she has to make her peace with cannibalism, but she definitely think that there is better and worse cannibalism. Compulsion, mitigating the impact, protecting the people you love. That’s what it all comes down to for her: love.

4. That’s what everyone in this movie is looking for, love. Marten’s dad leaves her, and she goes looking for her mom. Lee’s dad and Maren’s mom try to kill each of them, and they find each other. Sully’s been alone all his life, and goes after Maren. Cannibalism is very real in this movie, but it’s also a metaphor for loneliness. Being a cannibal drives you apart from normal people, and most other cannibals. Either your violence drives them away or your differing views on what the rules are drives them away. Lee’s final wish as he’s dying is to be eaten, bones and all, by Maren. It’s a way for him to be with her forever, as a part of this once-in-a-lifetime euphoric experience. It’s her reentry to loneliness, but it’s also a consummation. Compulsion, impact, love. The perfect meal.

10/10 absolutely delicious, I already want to watch it again.

#horror reviews #bones and all #bones and all spoilers #10/10 #long post #op

[furiousgoldfish]

I have avpd due to traumatic incidents and emotional neglect in my childhood. And now that I'm finally working on getting back up out of the pit I'm in, I've reached a wall. And that wall is: I am so horribly hungry for positive affirmation (there is a hole in my chest for it) but everytime I ask for support, I'm so dismissive of it and it doesn't reach me or succeed to comfort me. if you have any kind of advice for it, I would really appreciate it.

ive also been suicidal for almost a decade now and it really is hard to find hope. right now it's like living from moment to moment because I catastrophize so easily...

Hmm I guess I can relate to being dismissive of people who say positive things about me. I don't accept it because I don't believe that these people really know me, I don't share their value system, and who are they anyway to tell me how things are, I like to decide for myself. Unless I already trust someone and understand how they think, I will dismiss affirmations or praise, assuming they come from ignorance.

I don't know if these are the reasons you reject it, or if you have some other reasoning behind it, or it happens automatically. Could you be rejecting them because you don't believe any of them to be true, and you feel the urge to keep a more negative view of yourself, for safety (safety=not to be proven wrong later)? Because if that's the case, then it could help for you to evaluate your life based on hard facts, all that you've done, all that you've achieved, all people you've been kind to, all people you've helped, all the kind intentions you had and all of the things you survived. Write it all down, and then say what would you call a person who's managed to do all that. You'll see there's a lot of good you've done, and a lot of things you deserve to be proud of.

I can't say I share your desire for affirmation, so I'm unable to relate - hopefully someone else reading this feels the same, and can give you some advice.

I'm so sorry about your life being so difficult and painful that suicidal thought hold over you, that is not your fault, and it's true that hope is difficult to find. I used to catastrophize extremely badly, and it helped me to read 'Complex PTSD by Pete Walker', because it described in detail that other people have the exact same thoughts, and they're generated by abuse, and there's no reality or truthfulness in it. Once I knew for sure that my catastrophic thoughts were fake, I was able to dismiss them, I only obsessed over them when I thought there was some reality to it.

I hope you find something that reassures you of all of your catastrophic thoughts, you're certainly not the only one to experience them, and they're very disconnected from reality. Sometimes it can help to list all the things that would surely prevent the worst-case scenario to happen, as well as all of the evidence you know to be true, against those scenarios even starting.

#rejecting affirmations #rejecting positive opinions #catastrophizing #reassurance #comfort #mention of suicidal thoughts #mention of suicidal state #tw mention of suicidal thoughts #complex ptsd #if you need a link for the book just dm me #pete walker

[zalrb]

the summer i turned pretty 2x03 review -- belly is legit terrible, tho.

I'm sorry, he's the best actor on the show?

This should be angsty and painful

The tension between Conrad and Belly should be like

and Conrad should be Chuck where even if his expression is a mask, his eyes tell the real story

and Belly, your expressions are the same, your tone of voice is the same

"Man, Susannah used to have this place filled to the brim before we got here" "Mom used to have the [beds] ready before we got here" WELL YEAH. She got it ready for the summer. Did you all forget that this was an impromptu visit?

"Kick ass or whatever you're supposed to do at these things." "Your guess is as good as mine." Ma'am, aren't you a professional author? This isn't your first rodeo.

Taylor, why do you need to go to Cousins. Why do either of you need to go to Cousins. For drama that won't happen.

Lol at prom I forgot my boyfriend's ... the flower thingy you put in his suit pocket.

OK she wants to have fun at her junior prom which is valid but it's also so clear that my guy doesn't want to be there so her being like "I thought you were going to spend the night" sis, does it LOOK like he wants to spend the night?

Sooooooooo are you going to talk?

for the love of god

can i have some chair energy please?

with their very undramatic, contained version of promicide, which i don't even think is warranted tbh, conrad wasn't great here but his mother is dying, belly.

"conrad just pushes people away when he needs them the most" HE ASKED YOU TO LEAVE WITH HIM AND YOU WERE LIKE BUT PROM! Lol ok.

He told you he was worried about his mom being on new meds and you were like oh pfft, she's probably fine,

which was supposed to be trying to stay positive but comes across as dismissive. You're actually pretty bad at being there for ... anyone it seems, belly.

"i didn't have the best year" the weird/funny thing about tsitp is that they keep mentioning susannah over and over and over again and how different life is without her or how different the house is without her, like they talk about it a lot but it doesn't feel like they've actually lost her, like i don't feel like i'm watching two sons whose mother died, the grief isn't done well enough because belly is over here babbling about how she lost a volleyball captaincy when jeremiah literally lost his mother. and it's like they're saying her pain about susannah is equal to his and conrad's pain and it isn't?

"i really missed you, jere." DID YOU?

oh, how i don't care about taylor and whatshisface. skipping.

like are you frenzied to keep this house or not? because you're fucking surfing, man. like??

"we'll use our trusts to buy this house" is that enough to also pay the mortgage, is it enough for insurance, is it enough for property taxes, is it enough for repairs...? how much is this trust?

I'm just watching them at this funeral and I'm like ... when I had Buffy?

when I had FNL?

I've had conversations about users about appreciating something for what it is or liking something for what it is and I can understand that but when I've something done better, I can't help but contextualize what I'm watching with what I've watched before or what I'm watching at the same time.

You are a literally at a WAKE, Belly, this couldn't wait?

I don't care how old you are you're old enough to know better, this is RIDICULOUS. And I thought Lorelai interrupting Sookie's kid's baptism because Rory was there was horrible.

You are not NEARLY embarrassed and/or ashamed enough about how you acted here.

Oh no, she fell after telling the son of a mother who DIED to go to hell because he was resting his head on another girl's lap.

Nah, I am a grudge person, I am never speaking to her again after pulling THAT at my mother's WAKE? You are dead to me, sis.

Oh, a panic attack on the beach because he bottles everything up and doesn't let anyone help him except he kind of does and everyone knows he's upset anyway because he doesn't try to hide it, which is the thing, he should be constantly acting like everything is normal and/or he's adjusting super well and then do something like break up with Belly out of the blue because he's actually not fine and he actually is shutting her out by pretending everything's fine and does things like go to the beach to have panic attacks.

[angelasscribbles]

Eidolon Chapter 10: Sacrifice

Series: Eidolon

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Kind of Liam x Rezna

Rating: MA

Warnings: HORROR

Word Count: 2,550

A/N: This is the last chapter. There will be an epilogue.

My other stuff: Master List.

Liam sat quietly digesting the story Lucretia had just told him. After several minutes, he broke the silence, “You said there might be a way to break the spell.”

Liam had called Lucretia and Olivia to meet him in his private study. Drake was still recovering, and Max was playing nursemaid. They had left Tariq out of the loop, realizing that he would never believe everything that had transpired.

Something had to change. Liam had steadfastly refused to take the elixir since he had learned that her access to him saved lives. No one else had died, but he was growing weaker by the day.

“We should be focused on how to stop her, Liam.” Olivia admonished, “Kill her or trap her again. You heard the story. You know what she’s capable of.”

“No.” He dismissed her out of hand, “You heard the story too. You know she did what she did in a fit of rage and grief. After everything else she had endured, they murdered the man she loved.”

Olivia sighed. Liam would always see the good in everyone. While she agreed that the girl had been innocent and what happened to her was atrocious, she was dangerous. Olivia could not let a threat to the people she loved stand. Something had to be done.

Liam turned his attention back to the other Nevrakis, “Lucretia, you said there might be a way to break the spell.”

“Yes.” The older witch replied, “Merida didn’t specify that I couldn’t add a way to break it, so I did. It was all I could do for her really.”

“Well, that’s debatable.” Liam intoned skeptically. Lucretia could have simply said no.

“It wasn’t debatable to me, the woman who was locked in a palace cell for two years on unsubstantiated charges.” She replied sharply.

“Fine.” Liam raised a hand in acquiescence, “There’s no need to rehash what is now ancient history. We need to move forward, and I appreciate your presence here and your willingness to help with this matter. Thank you, Lady Lucretia.”

She inclined her head slightly, “You’re welcome Your Majesty.”

“So, please, tell me what this loophole is.”

“She must be loved by someone.”

Liam looked at her in surprise, “Gawain loved her!”

“Yes.” Lucretia agreed, “But he doesn’t count. He loved her before. Someone has to fall in love with her as she is now, a monster.”

“She’s not a monster.” He replied quietly.

“Nevertheless. Someone has to fall in love with her, as she is, and be willing to give his life for hers.”

“What?”

“Liam…no!” Olivia’s voice held a warning tone. She knew he was far too noble for his own good.

Liam hesitated as his eyes tracked back and forth between the two women. “What happens if the spell isn’t broken?”

“Then she stays as she is…a succubus, immortal, hunting and preying on men for eternity. Or, more likely, she gets captured and locked away again.”

“That….that’s horrible!” Liam felt his heart constrict in his chest.

“Would you prefer that innocent men continue to die to feed her?” Lucretia countered.

Olivia interjected, “And before you say it, Liam, you being her on call buffet is not an option! You won’t live forever for starters, and for another, as I’ve said before, you can’t persist in this weakened state forever! It’s not fair to you and it’s not fair to Cordonia!”

Turning back to her aunt, Olivia asked, “Is there a way to actually kill her?”

Liam jolted upright in his seat, “No, Liv! We can save her!”

“How?” She demanded.

“I love her.” He responded quietly.

“What?” The blood drained from Olivia’s face, “Surely, you can’t be suggesting-“

Ignoring Olivia, he directed his question to Lucretia, “What happens if the spell is broken?”

“She will revert to human form. No more magical powers of seduction. No more killing to live. She’ll be mortal again, able to be hurt, to die.”

Liam’s mind was spinning, “And to grow old, to form relationships, to have children, to have a normal life!”

“Yes.” Lucretia agreed, “All of that.”

He didn’t hesitate, “I’ll do it!”

“Really?” Lucretia tipped her head to the side in interest.

“No!” Olivia exploded, “Absolutely not! No way, Liam! There has to be another way!”

Spinning on the older woman she insisted, “Tell him there’s another way!”

“There’s not.” She answered.

“It’s ok, Liv, I want to do this!”

Olivia spun back to Liam in desperation, “Are you out of your mind? Did you miss the part where you have to die?”

“I understand the implications, Liv. I’ll do it. It will give her back her life. The one that was taken unjustly by my ancestor!”

“Oh, you sweet, noble fool!” Olivia couldn’t help the tears that streamed down her face, “What Queen Merida did isn’t your fault nor is it your debt to repay!”

“That’s not it, Liv.” He took her hands in his, “I mean, it’s part of it. But I told you, I love her. I’m willing to die to give her back her life. Lucretia already said it, great magic requires great sacrifice. I’m the only one that can do it, because I’m the only one in love with her. If not me, then who?”

“Liam, no! You can’t do this! I won’t let you!”

Lucretia touched her arm, “Remember what I taught you about dealing with mortals, my dear.”

Olivia stared into Lucretia’s eyes while fighting back her own tears. She glanced at Liam’s determination filled face then finally nodded her head, “Okay.”

“Okay?” Liam asked, “Does that mean you’ll stop fighting me on this?”

She threw herself into his arms, “I love you, you stupid, noble, sweet, idiot!”

His arms went around her, “I love you too, Liv. You’re like a sister to me, you know that.”

“I do.” She sniffed as she stepped back, “What can I do to help?”

“First of all, you can’t tell the guys, please. They’ll try to stop it. Promise me.”

“Fine, Liam. But they will never forgive me for not telling them.”

“They will. You’re doing the right thing by helping me, I’m doing the right thing, we’re doing the right thing. I promise.”

“I don’t see how. You don’t even know anything about this girl! You’ve had sex with her. Magically compelled sex, that would have killed you if not for the protection spell that makes you immune! That doesn’t seem like a basis for giving up your life to me!”

Liam smiled sadly, “She’s gained enough strength now to stay solid for longer periods of time. I’ve spoken to her, Liv. She’s listened to me talk about my father, my fears about ruling. I’ve listened to her talk about her life, her real life, before the curse…and what happened after. I’ve seen her pain and I’ve seen her soul! I’ve seen her true nature, not the one that was foisted upon her by magic.”

“You’re still a self sacrificing noble idiot, but I love you for it.”

“So…how is this going to work?” He asked.

“Meet me in the old throne room tonight, if you’re still resolved to do this.” Lucretia said.

“What time?”

“Nine o’clock should give me plenty of time to get everything set up. Make sure you clear that wing. We don’t want to be interrupted.”

“Done and done. See you at nine.”

He made his way thoughtfully back to his room where Drake was still recuperating.

“Liam. Listen. I am fine! I can go back to my own room now!” Drake protested the minute  Liam was through the door.

“Humor me, please. Just one more night?” Liam thought it might make things easier on Drake if he was in his room when he found out. The room where they had shared so many moments, from impromptu campouts with sheet forts in the floor when they were children, to late night movie marathons with pizza and his father’s stolen liquor when they were teenagers, to their prebedtime nightcaps and long conversations on his balcony as adults.

“Fine!” Drake huffed, flinging his body back to lean against the headboard, “But I swear I’m fine and there’s no reason for you to be sleeping in a guest room!”

“I don’t mind. Where’s Max?”

“He went down to the kitchen. Something about needing six meals a day.”

Liam laughed, “That sounds like him.”

Drake cracked a grin, “It does. So….any progress on how to stop the succubus?”

“She’s not a succubus, you know. She’s a human being who was cursed with succubus like abilities and powers.”

“Whatever.” Drake waved a hand in the air, “Same difference.”

“Not really.” Liam sucked in a breath, “I think we’ll have an answer soon.”

“Ok. That’s good. Just don’t do anything stupid. Let me in on the plan when there is one, okay? I want to help.”

“Of course.” Liam felt bad for lying, but Drake wouldn’t understand why he had to do it.

“Hey, Drake.”

“Yeah?”

“If I haven’t told you before, I want you to know how much you mean to me. You’ve been the best friend anyone could have asked for. Probably better than I deserve most days.”

Drake scoffed, “Whatever. Everyone knows I’m getting the better end of this deal. You’re an amazing friend. The best brother I could have asked for.”

“Glad you think so.”

“Why are you getting all sentimental on me?”

“No reason. Just wanted to say it, in case I hadn’t.”

“Okay….why you being weird, man?” Drake asked suspiciously.

“I’m not being weird. I just almost lost you and it made me a little sappy, okay?”

“Yeah, ok.” That made sense, “But don’t worry. I’m going to be around for a long time. Long enough to be best man at your wedding, long enough to be godfather to your children, long enough to fight you with my cane when we’re old!”

Liam laughed ruefully, “That would have been amazing.”

“What?”                   

“That will be amazing, Drake. I can’t wait.”

~~~~~~~~

At nine o’clock Liam, Olivia and Lucretia gathered in the empty throne room.

Lucretia had everything ready. Olivia’s eyes sparkled with unshed tears.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Olivia asked. “It’s not too late to change your mind.”

“The spell won’t work if you’re not sure.” Lucretia said.

“I’m sure.” Liam said with steadfast determination.

“Then let’s begin.” Lucretia began murmuring words in ancient Cordonian as she moved her hands over each candle spread around the room. A black one, a white one, a red one, a blue one. Flames flickered to life under her hand.

She crumbled leaves into an earthen bowl then held out her hand for his.

Liam extended his arm to her.

She held the gleaming silver blade to his wrist as she asked, “Do you, Liam Rys, give your life willingly and knowingly for Rezna Patakis so that the curse laid upon her may be broken and her rightful mortal life restored to her?”

“I do.” Not the situation in which he thought he’d be saying those words.

The blade pressed into his flesh, blood, red and thick fell in a rivulet into the bowl to mix with the other ingredients. A thick tendril of smoke rose from the container as the spell was kindled.

Rezna appeared in the room, “What are you doing?”

“Giving you back your life.” Liam told her.

Rezna shook her head, “No! Not again! I don’t want you to die, Liam! I love you!”

“Too late, the spell is done.” Lucretia said.

“It’s ok, love.” Liam caressed her face, “It was worth it. You can honor me by living your life. Make it worth it.”

His body dropped to the floor.

“Noooooo!” Rezna’s screams filled the room as she threw herself on him.  

A cloud of mist developed out of nowhere and enveloped them both. Gold and sliver sparks swirled through the mist. Popping noises filled the room.

The cloud lit up a bright, pale blue, the glow growing brighter and brighter, illuminating the throne room like midday.

Olivia shielded her eyes until it passed.

As the glow dimmed, she cracked her eyes open. The mist dissipated as she watched.

Rezna was gone.

Liam lay on the bare, stone floor.

Olivia rushed to his side and dropped down next to him. “Liam! Liam!”

Relief rushed through her body as he groaned.

Liam blinked in confusion as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head, “What happened?”

“Ah…you were just showing me your plans for the throne room when you passed out. Have you eaten today?”

“I…can’t remember…”

“Well, come on,” She offered her hand to help him up, “Let’s get you up to your room and I’ll have the kitchen send some food up. Then perhaps a nap would be in order. You really should start taking care of yourself better.”

“I…will.”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Olivia asked him carefully as she drew him out the door before he noticed the candles and other spell related detritus. She threw a quick glance over her shoulder to nod a quick goodbye and thank you to Lucretia.

Liam could not remember much about the past two weeks. The royal doctor cited stress and prescribed some antianxiety medication along with plenty of rest, healthy food and daily exercise.

Olivia gently pressed Liam, Drake and Max over the next couple of days, but neither of them remembered anything about Rezna or her being a witch.

~~~~~~~~~

“I hope to never set foot in that palace again.” Lucretia pushed the food across her plate with a fork as she glanced around the restaurant to ensure she wasn’t overheard.

“It’s not so bad once you get used to it.” Olivia shrugged, “Most of the people I love are there, so there’s that.”

“How is the young prince?” Lucretia had been impressed by him. He was nothing like his ancestors.

“Fine. He remembers nothing. None of them do.” Olivia was a little sad that she could no longer share her secret with them.

“Good. It’s for the best.” Lucretia said, as if reading her mind, “Nothing good ever comes of mortals knowing about us.”

“Maybe.” Olivia said as she stared into her glass thoughtfully, “I still can’t believe he was willing to give up his life for her.”

“Willing being the operative word.” Lucretia smiled. She was fond of her loopholes.

Liam never had to die to break the spell, he’d just had to believe that he would and be willing to do it.

“Yes.” Olivia mused, “Thanks for reminding me of that. I was about to tie his ass up if that’s what I had to do to prevent him from sacrificing himself!”

“I don’t know why you were so emotional about the whole thing. You knew he wasn’t going to be harmed in any way.” She regarded her great granddaughter curiously.

“But he thought he was, and I had to stand there and let him believe he was going to die!”

“Because the spell wouldn’t have worked otherwise! You know this, Livvie.” She admonished.

Olivia wanted to change the subject, so she asked, “What happened to the girl?”

“She resumed her human form, but also without a memory. It’s probably for the best, all things considered.”

“Yes.” Olivia agreed, “All’s well that ends well I suppose.”

#eidolon #writeblr #gothic #ghost #the royal romance #angelasscribbles #spooktober #spooky #creepy #haunted #drake walker #olivia nevrakis #trr #choices trr #trr fanfic #trr fanfiction #the royal romance fanfic #liam rys #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week

[cassynite]

2, 7 and 12 for sparrow?

Thank you so much for the ask ❤️

2. What is your KCs alignment? Did it change?

Sparrow starts as a True Neutral character and ends the game as Neutral Good! Her motivations at the beginning of the game are very much centered around self-preservation and escape from the life she had before the game, but as she gains power and settles into the authority placed on her she begins to focus her attentions on problems that she sees and the people who need help. When given space and safety so as to have the luxury not to be focused solely on her own survival, she focuses on the betterment of others.

7. How did they react to/feel about Galfrey stripping them of their rank?

Sparrow ended up on angel path, so Galfrey didn't strip her of rank; however her feelings around the entire situation--and Galfrey in general--are pretty complicated. While Sparrow's made some gains and done an ostensibly good job as Knight Commander by the end of act 3, she took on the position with the understanding that she had not been chosen because of any kind of capacity to lead but because some glowing sword chose her and she'd make a decent figurehead.

The fact that she's done well has felt like an accident the entire time, so Galfrey telling her that actually she's been awful at the job and she's stripping her of rank rings true at first. It's easy, after all, for Sparrow to come to the worst conclusions. Galfrey is the warrior queen who's been leading the charge since the Worldwound opened after all, and Sparrow had up to this point respected her for her efforts. Sparrow really only argues Galfrey on Arueshalae and takes the exile to the Abyss with some extreme grace, with only concerns about her companions being brought up.

When she's actually IN the Abyss for like, a hot minute she starts to think about the whole situation. But even then she's second guessing herself--Galfrey had made a good point about finding the source of the overpowered demons and the crystals, this is an important mission. Maybe she's just reacting too much to the perceived rejection of Galfrey almost stripping her of rank; after all, she didn't actually do it. But then, why did she try to begin with? Was Sparrow's acceptance of a reforming demon really enough to justify the almost-demotion?

It's not until Sparrow saves Galfrey and Galfrey is openly like "yeah I did it at least partially out of jealousy" that Sparrow finally allows herself to feel what her instincts had been telling her to feel the entire time--furious at what turned out to be a deeply foolhardy and unfair decision made not out of necessity but pettiness. She's kind of disgusted that this century-old war leader let something so meaningless as glory nearly destroy the Crusade; regardless of how important the mission into the abyss was, the way the entire situation was handled was ridiculous and led to an absurd loss of life, not to mention the risk to Sparrow's companions and herself.

Sparrow's spent a lot of her life ignoring, dismissing, or rationalizing feelings of hurt or anger that come from people's treatment toward her.  It's a moment of growth for her that she allows herself to be unapologetically angry at what Galfrey did, not just on behalf of her companions or the soldiers who suffered but just on her own behalf as well.

12. What were the hardest choices your KC made?

There were a few!

The conclusion to Wintersun was actually very difficult for Sparrow. Realizing that the village was full of people who had been controlled and made to kill their own had been horrible, but Jerribeth had made a compelling point about how traumatizing revealing the truth to them would be. Her solution of just adjusting the illusion to make Wintersun harmless to travelers was a compelling one for Sparrow, who didn't want to cause harm to people who ultimately had their ability to make their own choices taken from them. How could they have done any differently if they had their entire worldview warped?

What would showing them that they were actually horrible murderers accomplish? Maybe the easy lie was kinder than the truth. Ultimately, though, Sparrow rejects Jerribeth's offer, because agreeing to it would keep Wintersun under her thrall in one way or another--and even if they weren't in full control of their actions, they still did it. There's still culpability there. There's no way to move forward without looking at what you did in the face. But she did feel horrible about how badly the people of Wintersun reacted to the truth, and wondered after the fact if she made the wrong choice.

Daeran's quest resolution was easily one of the most painful choices Sparrow ever had to make. On one hand, Daeran had become the most important person in her life at this point in the story. She did a lot to remove the threat of the Other and ensure his safety, and the idea of him being sent to an asylum and lobotomized would be intolerable to her even if Daeran hadn't specifically told her it was a fate worse than death for him. So much of her life had been spent trying to find freedom. She knew just how desolate a life without it was; she understood why Daeran told her to kill him rather than submit him to the trial.

On the other hand...Liotr has a point. The Other killed a lot of people, and even after finding a way to trap it there's still no real understanding of what had inhabited Daeran's mind or how it used him as a conduit into the material plane. Liotr's theories don't have any proof, but they also don't have anything to refute them. And is the life of one person worth more than the safety of the public?

In the end though, Sparrow wasn't willing to sacrifice Daeran's safety and freedom for hypotheticals, or for the half-promises of possibly avoiding the asylum. She wouldn't have done it even if another interplanar attack through Daeran was guaranteed. She kills Liotr.

#cassy answers #angrygoatwoman #oc: sparrow

[glorf1ndel]

Fic prompt

Celebrimbor x happiness!!!!

Ahh, thank you for this prompt! He deserves all the happiness! Here is your fic. <3

Happiness, Deserved (700 words, gen)

Narvi does his best to comfort a stressed Celebrimbor.

On Ao3 and below!

Recently, Celebrimbor has taken to worrying. His friend Narvi is the first person to notice, and he grows concerned. The Lord of Eregion is the type to dismiss his anxieties with a wave of the hand – or worse, he claims that he has none when Narvi can see the lines of worry on his forehead, as clear as the designs chiseled into the columns that hold up Khazad-dûm. Of all people, Celebrimbor can’t fool Narvi, who has known him for almost fifty years. That may not be much in the lifetime of an Elf, but it is not insignificant for a Dwarf. Narvi expects Celebrimbor to outlive him, but what good is a long life if it is frittered away in distress?

Well, Narvi is not the type to keep his thoughts to himself. He has had many conversations with Celebrimbor about this, and some have gone better than others. But when Celebrimbor nearly drops an anvil on his foot in the smithy, Narvi decides he needs to take a firmer approach.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” he says, once the workday is over. “You’ve been frazzled lately, and I don’t know why.”

Celebrimbor sticks his tongue out at Narvi, like a dwarfling.

“Do you need to know why?”

“I’m not falling for that,” Narvi says. “You play at being easygoing, but you’re so high-strung, it’s unbearable. Your stress is making me stressed.”

“I–I’m sorry,” Celebrimbor mutters. “I’ve just been thinking a lot lately. About my… History. You know what my family has done; there’s a lot to think about.”

Narvi nods. Frankly, this is more than he was expecting to hear. When he replies, the words come out softly.

“You deserve happiness, Tyelpë.”

“Sometimes I feel like I don’t,” Celebrimbor admits. Narvi restrains the urge to roll his eyes and goes to his side. They stand in front of the forge, whose embers are still flickering.

“Why? Because you’re the grandson of Fëanor? That doesn’t make you a killer, Tyelpë. You didn’t swear that oath. You didn’t take anyone’s life. You didn’t do anything.”

“That’s the point!” Celebrimbor whirls toward him. “I did nothing!”

Crossing his arms, Narvi clears his throat and says,

“Weren’t you a child when this kinslaying thing happened?”

“There was more than one kinslaying,” Celebrimbor says impatiently. “The point is, my family – my father – did many cruel things. I wasn’t a child for all of it. But I certainly behaved like one, because I was blind to his faults. When my father and uncle tried to take over Nargothrond, I should have realized. Instead, I only found out when they were exiled from the city. And do you know what I did?”

“What?”

“I cut ties.”

“Nobody could blame you for that.”

“Don’t you see? I should have stayed with him! If I had, maybe he wouldn’t have gone on to do even more horrible things–“

“Maybe,” Narvi echoes, “And maybe not. Who can know for certain? You should not blame yourself for what your father chose to do. You aren’t him.”

“I suppose that’s true –“

“It is certainly true,” Narvi insists. “Listen, Tyelpë, this is what the mind-advisors of Khazad-dûm call “generational trauma.” Now, this may not be the usual version of it, but keep in mind that your father and grandfather underwent great stress in their lives. It is understandable that some of that stress should pass down to you. But it’s not something you should blame yourself for, just as you can’t blame yourself for your father’s deeds–“

Celebrimbor blinks in surprise, then manages something between a laugh and a sob. Narvi welcomes the hug that follows. Wrapping his arms around Celebrimbor, he can feel the tension drain out of the Elf’s body. Narvi believes that a person’s happiness ultimately depends on what is in one’s own heart, not on what other people do. But a dear friend? That is a boon in difficult times.

Perhaps Celebrimbor’s thoughts mirror his own in that moment, because he says,

“You’re a good friend, Narvi.”

“Of course I am,” the Dwarf huffs. “I’m your best friend. Now, can I go on?”

“You certainly can,” says Celebrimbor, and together, they leave the forge.

****

Thank you for reading! If you'd like, leave kudos and a comment on Ao3, or like and reblog this post!

#silm #silmarillion #celebrimbor #narvi #tolkien #tolkien fic #silm fic #queenmeriadoc

[finalmoment]

also (apparently I'm not done talking about this) people bring up the fact that he's an incel constantly because they think somehow that being traumatized by having toxic masculinity imposed on him by both men and women in his life, and responding to that in a way that is clearly very much shaped by that toxic masculinity even though it's (again, in the text) not his primary response, makes him an incel. i wrote about this before when i watched the show but here's the thing: Shinji is a 14 year old boy. he is alone and hurting and he wants to make friends and he wants a hug. unfortunately for him, his only friends his own age are 1. a clone of his mother that seems to hate him and stonewalls his attempts at conversation for reasons he doesn't know, who is dealing with her own trauma in a way that leaves her unable to connect with people either 2. another girl who is dealing with her own trauma and takes out her rage at not being fuckable to a man several years her senior by trying to force Shinji to be masculine. his adult options for friends are the sex pest he lives with, who is trying to flirt with him and projects her own daddy issues onto him (A LITERAL 14 YEAR OLD BOY) while also being taken care of by him because she can't cook or clean for herself, while at the same time she is his BOSS. if your landlord was your boss at your job where you are a child soldier you would be fucked up beyond belief by that alone but this isn't even about that. and his other adult options for friends are 2 emotionally and largely physically absent men who only appear when absolutely necessary to coerce Shinji into saving the world at the low cost of permanent trauma and quite possibly death. so from the start Shinji tries to reach out in the few ways he knows, starting conversations and trying to help people, and he's shut down + his opinions are dismissed + he is traumatized violently every time he admits to weakness in order to beat that weakness out of him, but naturally this only succeeds in traumatizing him further. he's also taught by the adults around him that the only viable avenue for men to seek comfort at all is through fucking women. he does not want to fuck women before this message is delivered to him. he's curious about it, which is normal, but he only becomes obsessed with it when he starts feeling like there's no other way for him to be comforted. and you can't call him an incel for that if it's literally materially TRUE in his story that no one will touch him or hug him except to hurt him for the entire duration of time he is being actively and horribly traumatized by people. he fixates on sex because he wants to be touched gently and every other door to that gets slammed shut in his face. and this isn't even contending with the fact that he's gay and his lover dies at his hands, further cementing the idea that Shinji is never allowed to have good things. you can't blame him for not reaching out to people when you can SEE what happens to him when he reaches out. how much can you feasibly expect a child to keep doing when no one will meet him in the middle or try to understand where he's coming from and why he's in pain? they won't even admit that they hurt him.

#notes #nge #i made myself cry at 8:30am thinking about him

[phantasmaw]

I think to elaborate on the objectively normal to objectively horrible sapphic spectrum that you can find on phantasmaw dot gov it's like

Rosalie sits as close to the end of objectively normal as I can provide. She's a #girl in the world. She loves writing with glittery pens and she likes stomping around in the woods and all she wants to do is make friendly contact with aliens or any other "unnatural" life form. She also just casually happens to be friends with primordial ooze that possesses and puppeteers a spliced-up corpse that has, over time, become more and more horrific via the ooze's influence (the ooze being Amby). But she's a healthy and spunky sort of weird I wouldn't categorically call unwell. Canonically she does go through a few horrors but her morals are as stand up as any other person. She wants to show the type of understanding and acceptance only a certified weird girl can.

And on the objectively horrible end there's Imelda and Annabel. Now listen I could list Etoile here too very easily but surprisingly she is not as objectively horrible as Imelda or Annabel but that's only by a margin so she really shouldn't celebrate it (and she wouldn't, she'd act like my words are a bullet that just shot through her heart). Imelda's all about the fester and the obsession and the infatuation and letting love consume you until it's not love anymore but a parasite leeching off every aspect of your personhood. Also she eats people pretty regularly. Annabel was a very sweet and naive but dedicated and well-learned girl but she went through the negative character development wiggler after starting college and letting her unchecked victim complex run wild. She does not care what she has to do she WILL be the best. Also she eats people pretty regularly too. This is the part where I say they should kiss but they honestly shouldn't. They don't both need to lose their lips at the same time, I think?

Etoile, for her part, does not eat people pretty regularly and in fact has never done so. I have good reason to doubt she ever would. She's just awful in the sense that she has to be so incredibly insufferable or else she wouldn't be much of anything at all on account of the internal crystallization, and also she believes that's the only good way to get to know people, by seeing their anger and dismissal and perturbed avoidance first. I hesitate to say with my full chest that her life path has led her to assisting in perpetuating the same cyclical pains she suffered through because canonically speaking, and in the right plots/threads, she's very actively dismantling it. But I can say with my full chest that she's still incredibly manipulative and a womanizer and will take the worst route to get to where she's going because she's here for A Time not a long time.

Then there are the ones more solidly in the middle. Chaewon in truth is only in the middle because he respects the history of life too much to have dalliances with destructive tendencies and such. He is however quite knowingly selfish and possessive and the kind of person who will at least partially turn his back on good common sense for a little while if it means getting to continue to be selfish. By his clan's standards he's one of the worst children to ever be born because of taking a more individualistic approach to solve a group problem. Tough love that's sometimes not entirely just love kind of vibe. Chaewon also would eat a person but hasn't yet. I don't know if I should emphasize yet. But I mean, probably would if it was a shared meal with a loved one because why would he pass up that opportunity. Edelweiss is a little less in the middle and more on Rosalie's end. Milf I think? Or in that zone because she doesn't have children. Hypothetical milf. Long history of cowardice and then compromise with no real plan and now she lets people run away to her and her inn so they can sort their shit before she scoots them back out the door to face their problems.

Lenore is Lenore I don't know how to unpack that one. I think the most succinct way is 'my dick has led me to places I wouldn't go with a gun' if you get involved with them because they're like Silent Hill: The Person(thing).

#〈♢*〉 the horrors are incomprehensible to you; im in their dms ╲ ooc #not putting this under a read more. Read About My Sapphics Boy. #about : rosalie #about : imelda #about : annabel #about : chaewon #about : edelweiss #about : lenore

[sweetspecterz]

Getting to talk about my version of VT was so fun that it would be wrong of me not to ask you about yours 👁👁

Only if you want to share, but I’m endlessly interested in other peoples take on these characters and their story

-dehliman

I'm a bit sad to say that I currently don't have much! I'm in the very early stages of thinking about it seriously! I will share a bit of what I do have for sure though!! it's the beginning of everything. The most I have is about Ghost, because for a good while I set out to make his life make sense which it probably still doesnt lol, its very centered around the Johnnys at the moment.... but i am currently working on Chris and Spooker >:3 no info on them until later unfortunately!! this ended up being so much longer than expected! warning this is a LONG READ. I MEAN IT. I REACHED CHARACTER LIMIT AND IM NOT DONE.

So getting right into it! Johnny Ghost, previously named [REDACTED] or Gregory Casket, was raised in West Virginia on a large property to which he was regularly left alone by both of his parents due to his mother being busy with a full-time job and his father being frequently away on 'business trips' and practically being non-existent in Gregory's life and dismissive of the kid when he was around. Unknown to all residents of the house, the house was built on land previously used to summon something otherworldly. The results remained to be unseen until the Casket family moved in. The results? A demon Gregory would unknowingly not only attach to himself for life but give power by calling it his friend. This demon would feed him false truths with no one there to correct him with the real truth, muddying what he knew about himself and where he came from later in life. One thing he was sure of was that in the tail end of elementary school he met Johnny Toast, who had an instant and strong impact in Ghost's life. The first REAL friend he ever had. Also around the tail end of elementary school is when the spirit attached to Ghost's 'imaginary friend' gimmick would stop working. It would lay low for years to come, thinking of what to do next. Jonathan Toast and his unexpected twin Gavin, were originally born in Brighton but temporarily moved to WV for a period of time after their father's death for a change of scenery. Johnny took his father's death surprisingly well especially for how young he was, Gavin did not and it was something that would effect him for the rest of his life leading to some not so great behavior out of emotional distress heard by barely anyone. I'm still working out exactly what's going on with their family tree so excuse the lack of information! Through the course of middle school Ghost and Toast would study the paranormal together on top of their actual school work which is an interest they bonded over from the beginning, going on 'investigations' that were really just the pair going to rumored to be haunted locations with a crappy voice recorder that rarely ended with anything being found. This is when the idea of P.I.E was pitched by Ghost, an at the time silly dream of a paranormal investigation agency that both of them only hoped would become reality in the future. This is also when Gregory started going by the name Johnny very suddenly for unknown reasons, but considering being called Gregory would make him completely breakdown barely anyone dared to question or protest. He didn't yet change his last name. During high school the entity attached to Ghost would decide to create a name for itself, using Ghost's real last name and entirely copying Ghost's appearance almost detail for detail to start on its planned path of Ghost's destruction and eventual use as a vessel for horrible things. It didn't know how resilient and strong Ghost could be at times. In the last few years of highschool, Toast and his family would move back to Brighton to be near their grandmother after her husband passed away. Both Johnnys kept in contact through letters and over the phone, Ghost became increasingly ambitious about the plans for P.I.E and insisted they would be reality which was an idea Toast was thrilled with and started to make a plan to move back to West Virginia when he finished college. He ended up graduating college early and moving back as soon as he was able. While in Brighton Johnny Toast would have many arguments with Gavin due to Gavin's uncaring nature toward their grieving grandmother, leading to Gavin not exactly being the most fond of his brother. Although in the time that Toast was gone, Ghost would meet Katrina Galloway. Katrina and Ghost quickly became friends, their similarly loud and in your face personalities just feeding off of each other. Ghost and Katrina would get in a large disagreement about 6 months into their friendship, a disagreement that would end in Ghost having his first blackout because of Jimmy. I LITERALLY CAN'T ADD ANYMORE THAN THIS WTF.

#johnny ghost #jimmy casket #johnny toast #gavin toast #p.i.e #taleblr #WARNING THIS IS A LONG READ #I MEAN IT #I HIT CHARACTER LIMIT #and i havent even covered the start of p.i.e #then again i dont have much thought out in detail for it #this is mostly me making jimmy make sense maybe #who knows #i should write fanfiction /hj #i dont know how to make a shortened version of this i am so very sorry to everyone

[jtavington]

Believe it or not I’ve been writing. I’m not stuck so much as I just don’t want to write this chapter. Below is the entire scene so far in hope it sparks something.

Blood thundered in Dimitri’s ears. Ten, no hundreds, of children, tortured and murdered in some sick experiment. And for what? So the ministers could have some superior warrior? Any who survived should have their head cleared from the shoulders. His own sister had been brutalized. Justice demanded that every single person who had known of her suffering feel the bite of his lance!

A firm hand squeezed his shoulder. “Easy, Dimitri, easy.” Felix’s voice cut through the haze. You’re sitting in a pew. Focus on how the wood feels.”

Dimitri exhaled with effort. He was in a church, scarcely an hour away from the hamlet where Sylvain’s daughter awaited. The wood was hard and rough. The statues of Saints and Heroes were worn almost past recognition. He was here. And he could control the boar within.

The priestess rolled up the letter in shaking hands. “So speaks Archbishop Byleth to her children.”

She continued on with the traditional words of praise and dismissal, but Dimitri scarcely heard them. Regardless of his inner beast, the truth was that the Hresvelgs had been murdered in a way he would not wish on the foulest monster. Edelgard had been starved, slashed, left in filth, and forced to watch her brothers and sisters die one by one. All so she might bear a Crest. While his world was being destroyed at Duscir, hers was being no less destroyed in a dungeon.

He buried his face in his hands. This was why she had started her war to remake the continent. She had believed the only way to prevent such atrocities from happening again was fire and steel. Why hadn’t she told him any of that before it was too late instead of hiding behind platitudes? The boy he had been at the Academy would have done everything in his power to bring justice to those reprobates and anyone who so much had thought of emulating them. Instead, Goddess forgive him, he had succumbed to delusion and blamed a girl scarcely older than he was for his life falling apart. He had much to atone for when he saw Edelgard next.

Such thoughts consumed him as they exited and mounted their horses to continue. Peasants knelt and gave thanks to the Goddess for the Savior King, as they often did these days, but Dimitri couldn’t manage even the expected awkward smile and pleasantries. He rode on at a walk, not trusting himself to go faster in the state he was in. This part of Gautier had seen some of the worst fighting in the war. Farmhouses had been reduced to husks. Fields had grown over. The few people he did see looked haggard. Sylvain’s daughter lived very near here. Her mother was a peasant with no family and, as far as Dimitri knew, no other means of support. He would confirm Sylvain’s child as the rightful heir of Gautier even if she were an idiot or an invalid. She would be provided for. Sylvain was many things, but he wouldn’t have wanted his daughter to starve.

“Your Majesty? Begging your pardon, but do you think the Archbishop meant everything in that letter?”

Dimitri shifted in the saddle so that he could look at the speaker with his good eye. It was Rickard Elliot Charon, a distant cousin of the count, his heir, freshly knighted and inducted into royal service—and the latest wielder of Thunderbrand. The sword seemed almost as large as the boy himself. It was a wonder he didn’t fall off his horse from the weight.

“I’ve never known her to say anything she didn’t mean in all these years. And I promise you that she and I are both furious about what happened in those dungeons. If Ludwig von Aegir wasn’t already dead, he would have to answer for his crimes in an ecclesiastical court.”

“Yes, it was horrible.” Rickard looked down at his reins. “But I meant the other things she said. I was always taught that Fodlan was a land beloved by the Goddess, and that people with Crests were especially beloved? The way the new Archbishop talks, you would think we were no more special than anyone else.”

“The Goddess did not give us our Crests so that we could puff up our pride, but so that we could better serve those in our care. If we use our blessings for self-enrichment, then we have squandered them. If we try to steal that blessing by torturing children, we’ve committed the worst crime imaginable. That is all Byleth meant.”

Rickard frowned. “Still…some of what she said sounded like the Emperor.”

Edelgard probably had had a hand in the writing of that speech. She had always had more of a talent for such things than he had. But Byleth’s vision was far less radical than hers. The last five years had disrupted so much that it was all they could do to rebuild. The world would not be as it was. It couldn’t be, nor should it. Duscurites had already returned to their homes, and the crown would extinguish any remaining interest in their lands within the year. Those blessed by Crests would learn from the ordinary people they protected instead of arrogantly lording over them. He and Byleth had agreed upon that. But the change would be slow, so as not to disrupt the daily lives of people who had already lost too much. An actual peasant must not suffer so that a theoretical peasant could be equal to a lord in a century.

“Don’t fret.” Dimitri smiled what he hoped was an encouraging smile. “Concentrate on being the finest knight that you are capable of being. A true knight mind you, not a seeker of vengeance or a man who throws himself upon his sword for every failure. Protect the weak and strive to do good.

“Yes your Majesty!” Rickard leaned forward in the saddle, the best he could do for a bow under the circumstances.

Slowly but surely they crept toward Sylvain’s daughter. The cold grew sharper, the wind higher, with every step until it bit through his furs and left Dimitri shivering. A cottage of wood sat beside a trickling stream. It was the home of one Millicent Alger, whose family had been cotters on these lands since before the Kingdom’s founding. She had “gone to nurse a sick aunt” four years ago and come back with a “cousin” with a shock of bright red hair.

Gustave motioned to stop and rode back to Dimitri. “This is the place, Your Majesty. I will send a man to announce your presence.”

“No. From the way the margrave spoke of her, this poor woman desires anonymity. A troop of knights swarming in well only frighten her.” He removed his signet ring and handed it to Dedue. “I’d rather speak to her alone, as an old friend of Sylvain”

Dedue took the ring, but a frown crossed his face. “I can’t let you go alone.”

Dimitri dismounted. “I promise that I can look after myself for a quarter of an hour.”

“You misunderstand, Your Majesty.” His face softened to something Dimitri had seen only rarely. “I didn’t know him as long as you or Duke Fraldarius, but Sylvain was my classmate as well. He believed Duscur was innocent when few did. I should like to meet his daughter.”

Wings beat overhead. “If you think I’m going to miss out on meeting that troublemakers daughter, you are very much mistaken.”

“I have to go as well.” Felix scowled, but there was no irritation behind it. “Someone has to keep you from getting all sentimental or Ingrid from lecturing the poor kid to death.”

Dimitri chuckled. Even after all this time, sometimes it was easy to forget that they were a group of friends, not atomized pairs. His friends would be no less eager to meet the little girl. “All of us storming in at once would be as alarming as a group of knights. No more than two of us at a time. Margrave Gautier was insistent I meet and confirm the girl as quickly as possible. I’d rather not spend the rest of the day getting lectured like a schoolboy, so why don’t you three drawl lots to come with me? The other two can come later if Millicent is amenable.”

“Fine.” Ingrid thought for a moment. “Tinker, tailor, soldier sailor…”

A minute of children’s rhymes and another three minutes of Felix and Ingrid arguing about cheating, Ingrid was proclaimed the winner. A chill that had nothing to do with the weather settled in Dimitri’s chest. This was no different than meeting children at the monastery. He had always had a way with them, even at his most savage. Granted that Millicent seemed to be keeping her daughter a secret, but there were many reasons for that so soon after a war. This was only a simple conversation and offering the family and life where they would never want for anything again.

He knocked. The door cracked open, a little head with brilliant red hair poked out, and Dimitri forgot how to breathe. Memories cascaded through his mind: Sylvain insisting that he should be “it” in tag since he was the oldest, Sylvain laughing at him for giving a girl a dagger, yelling at Sylvain for womanizing, hiding in his room to avoid girls, seeing his broken body at Gronder and another stab of guilt piercing through the blood haze.

Ingrid swallowed hard and stood ramrod straight. “Hello. I’m Ingrid. We need to talk to your mother.” She barked as if she were issuing orders on the field of battle.

The little girl squeaked and closed the door.

“Let me try.” Dimitri knelt and tapped on the door. It cracked and the little girl peaked out with one eye. “Hello there,” he said in the softest voice he could muster. “We’re sorry for scaring you. Where’s your mama?”

“Baking,” she said. “You’re big. And what’s that thing on your face?”

“My eyepatch? A bandage for my eye, like what your mama puts on your knee when you fall.” He felt very stiff, suddenly. When he had dealt with children before, he had had his skill with a lance or sword to enthrall them. Nobody dared to talk to the crown prince or king about how large he was or that he had lost an eye, except Felix when he was feeling combative.

“Pardon me.” Dedue trotted towards them and pressed something warm and thrust something warm and crumbly toward Dimitri. “You forgot your sweetroll, sir knight.”

At the word sweetroll, the girl’s eyes grew huge. “Can I have one?”

“Of course you can.” Dedue’s smile was warm in a way Dimitri had never seen, not even in private. “But they are getting cold. May we come inside so that the food will still be warm?”

The door swung open.

“Thank you,” Dimitri whispered.

“I had a sister once. And thank Duke Fraldarius. He insisted that I go to you.”

The cottage was cramped, but for cleaner than many of the places he had stayed in his five years of exile. There was no furniture in the central room, but reeds had been placed on the ground near the hearth so that the occupants could be halfway clean when they huddled near the fire. The roof, however, was more worrying, with visible splintering in the supports. The timbering was likely decades-old, susceptible to rot and the vagaries of a Northern winter. To think I once believed that this way of life was romantic. I will give them a better life.

“What’s your name?” Dedue asked as he handed her the sweetroll.

“Abigail,” she said between wolfish bites. “Are you knights?”

The three of them nodded. It was technically the truth. He had been knighted before the Western Rebellion and had knighted Dedue in turn after re-taking Fhirdiad. They were knights visiting the daughter of a fellow classmate.

“Mama doesn’t like knights, but I do. One let me ride on his shoulders. He said I was a charmer. I don’t know what that means.”

“It means people like you.” Like your father. “I can carry you around on my shoulders if you like.”

And Dimitri did, even though Dedue’s lips twitched and Ingrid hid her smile behind her hand. He remembered when he was very small, years before he met Edelgard, asking his stepmother if he might have a little brother or sister to play with. She had told him it was a silly request in a tone of such pain that he hadn’t dared raise the subject again. It would, he thought, still be nice to have a child around to give piggyback rides and read to. To have a family without lies or betrayal.