The way Shawn and Henry both have major Control issues is so interesting. They both need to be In Control almost all the time, and they usually go about it very differently, but there's absolutely overlap.

Henry usually maintains control in a very clear, plain way. He has something, be it advice or information or connections, that someone else needs. He is, in this way, in control as much as possible.

Shawn maintains control in more underhanded or manipulative ways. He pretends not to hear Gus when he's Literally Kidnapping Him by driving The Blueberry somewhere else, he manipulates that oil rig heiress into giving him the gun by claiming he understands and supports what she did, even when what he's doing isn't harmful or can easily be done by just asking he feels a need to control and coerce. He withholds information from Gus for no reason other than to surprise him.

But then, sometimes, Shawn and Henry use each other's main methods.

In Nip and Suck It, Henry totally manipulates Shawn and Gus into bringing him a lead and pumping him up- he's even wearing his normal clothes carefully hidden under his robe. He feigns giving up specifically so his son will feel bad and hand over exactly what he was incapable of connecting.

I am currently at a loss for specific examples of Shawn using more Traditionally And Outright Controlling Methods the way Henry does but I know they exist. It's just almost 5 am and I'm sleepy.

Anyway, I think it's pretty Undebatable that Shawn inherited this trait from Henry, but what I think is interesting is... I don't think Shawn realizes he inherited this trait. I don't think Shawn knows he has such incredibly severe control issues. Mostly because he often seems genuinely perplexed when they're viewed as, well, issues.

uh, ma'am? I just caught up with 15 & 16 and I'm making incoherent noises? is that normal? Web MD doesn't know what to say.

I am so so sad for Honey. She has snapped and the final scene from chapter 16 felt entirely like she was punishing both herself and Peter. I don't even know what to say!! My skin was crawling with those descriptions of what she went through with john (I refuse to capitalize his name. that is an executive decision I made after these two chapters) and the overlap of him and Peter. The images of them switched. Like she didn't know anymore. Everyone is a danger. Everyone will hurt her. No safety, no mercy.

Oof, the absolute heartbreaking parallel of the description of her wedding night and the dom scene with Peter. She was confused. Violated. Hurt and humiliated. And then she snaps from that daze and inflicts a semblance of the same on Peter. He is hurt and ashamed and confused. It's super heavy and I'm not sure I'm in the best mental state to really grasp everything, but just know that I'm speechless and so saaad for them both. I don't think that Peter doesn't deserve some or even all of this, and on some level, he would be incapable of accepting anything good in the state he's in. Honey helps him despite herself and what he's done to her, and he can't find it in himself to be anything but suspicious. I got the feeling that in this last chapter, Honey has grasped some power back and is immediately using it to inflict similar hurt on Peter, like what she went through. It's like she's feeling relief by proving to herself that she can do the same as the people that hurt her. She can dominate and subjugate and humiliate also. And it leaves her heartbroken. But I can hardly blame or judge her? I'm also scared that Honey made a connection between john violating her during sex and Peter fucking "that silver whore until she was covered in blood". I'm actually really scared of what she even thinks of him now.

I think I need a support group to talk about this story with, it's so addictive and maddening and I cannot stop readinggg

And as a little final thing: I wonder if Honey has any scars from all of the stitches it's implied she's given herself. And what a dumb fuck Peter is for realizing she's done that before and not questioning whether it might've been for herself ohmygod see? Maddening, I tell you!

^me seeing that you've caught up!

Oof, yes yes yes - first of all, I deeply apologize for the heavy angst. I promise it's going to be worth it in the end.

I totally understand anyone's hesitation to shy away from this story from time-to-time. Simultaneously, I want to keep reassuring people that as far down as I bring you, I'm gonna build you back up.

Hey, also - thank you for analyzing the content without being overly critical. It's okay to be worried for these characters! It's okay to be appalled! I don't think I've ever worked as hard at character building than I have on this story. Sometimes I step back and I'm like - is it too much? But I appreciate the feedback loop because it helps me steer the ship when I'm going off course.

Spoilers ahead (as well as heavy triggering topics) - I love what you pointed out about Honey mirroring the abuse that she's suffered. I've done a lot of research on how victims process trauma, and I wanted to really portray that. There's a victim-offender overlap, where victims of violence without proper support are statistically likely to gain traits of their offenders.

One of the things I wanted to establish early on is that Honey doesn't lash out. She shuts down. She doesn't typically respond with violence and isn't used to it. And each time she does with Peter, she tastes a little bit of how good it feels to be able to expend that anger somehow. Only afterwards she eventually feels guilt, like the lines between herself and John are blurry.

Also I think to an extent, the lines being blurred between John and Peter in her mind are both beneficial and harmful. On the one hand, she doesn't fully trust Peter (or anyone or anything, for that matter), so much so that she needs to feel a separation between them. She is willing to lie to him (and lie to herself about him). On the other hand, more controversially, imagining that Peter is assaulting her is the thing that pushes her over the edge and makes her orgasm. The way I see it, Peter is the monster she can control. Peter is her monster. Fantasizing about him as the perpetrator is a coping mechanism and is gratifying in the sense that she can have power over the situation.

anyway lots to think about! hope you enjoy the next chapter sometime soon!

Lady Cobra

I realized I put out a lot of starter calls for Urbosa's Lady Cobra verse, but I've never really gotten into the mechanics of it. Until Queen Zelda's assassination, it's actually fairly standard Urbosa fare, since Urbosa has always had a bit of a vain streak and was extremely headstrong as a teen and young woman. Essentially, the main point that changes is Zelda's mother is killed a bit earlier than usual, and it caught Urbosa at an even worse time to hear the news. The fact that Hyrule absolutely flailed in the aftermath did not help, and seeing baby Zelda put through so much pain for what was, in Urbosa's mind, absolutely no reason made her believe that the kingdom was utterly incapable of governing itself and would be better off tucked under the wing of the Gerudo.

The decision was driven by grief, by anger, and by some good will, but the mind games she played eventually were applied to herself, and her vanity, greed, and ego took over any good intent she may have first had. The only thing that kept her from striking earlier was the knowledge that she wouldn't be able to attack the calamity alone.

Though the being that became the Calamity was originally a Gerudo, she had no illusions that the Calamity would not spare the Gerudo. It had not left them unscathed the first time, and the dread King Ganondorf hadn't been kind to his own people even when he was conscious. The only thing that would stave it off, for better and worse, was Zelda's sealing power. She boded her time, even serving as champion when asked, but began sowing the seeds of discord that she would later harvest. She planted fear in the minds of the Zora, that the outside world was clearly too dangerous for their kind, the notion that the Gorons would be better off without Hylians dragging behind them, regulating their industry and meddling in their affairs, and planted the idea that Hyrule would ultimately betray the Rito if it meant saving the others. She was able to seed these rumors in the hearts of the leaders she spoke with, a cunning, charismatic woman until the end. The Calamity came to pass and, miraculously, the champions were able to find it off long enough for the princess to seal the darkness back for another ten thousand years.

Finally, it was Urbosa's time to strike. Pulling on all the strings she had woven at once, she took advantage of the damage the Calamity had done to Hyrule and took out communication between the principalities and their mother kingdom. Many of them were already willing to turn on Hyrule, and by the time Urbosa began launching war rumors, it was clear everyone was at everybody else's throat.

It was then that she made her mistake.

Throughout all of this, Urbosa had retained an almost obsessive devotion to keeping princess Zelda safe from harm. She would have abandoned any other to achieve this end, perhaps even endangering herself. As such, Zelda became her blind spot, an assumed vote of confidence for her scheming (though still a subject of Urbosa's manipulation). So, when it came to offer the Gerudo nation's protection in exchange for Hyrule's sovereignty, she was entirely taken aback by the newly crowned Queen's refusal. While Urbosa scrambled to another plan, Zelda was able to piece together what had happened. Though she was heartbroken by the betrayal, she was able to once again gather Hyrule and get in contact with Urbosa's daughter, Etanna, who had been forced to watch her mother without recourse. A coup was swiftly enacted, with Etanna replacing Urbosa after an honor fight between the daughter and mother.

As a note, I'm open to a lot of ways in which urbosa loses in this verse (or maybe wins idk sldfjks) but that's the basic template.

This one's gonna take two asks, I'm incapable of making it more succinct. In Accurate description NHS said "I’m taking you back with me to the Nie sect when all this is over. If your parents want you back, they can come ask nicely.” Could we get that AU? And the Jiangs HAVE to ask nicely, because with the war on the horizon they can't risk alienating the Nies, but they are so bad at it? NHS's half assed plan to poach JC gets more and more solid the longer he has to watch this train wreck.(1/2)

How hard can it be to love your own flesh and blood? Even NMJ has stopped admonishing him for wanting to poach another sect's heir. What a political nightmare that would be. But JC is so relaxed with NHS's birds? And keeping up longer and longer when training with da-ge? And smiling more? And JYL said, she's never seen him so loose in the shoulders? NHS can make this work. JFM and YZY never valued JC anyway 

Part 2 of Accurate Description (necessary to read that first)

-

“Absolutely not,” was the first thing Nie Huaisang’s brother said when Nie Huaisang first raised the idea of kidnapping Jiang Cheng for his own good. “Absolutely fucking not.”

“Nie sect principle three,” Nie Huaisang said.

“Well, shit,” his brother said.

This was because Nie Huaisang’s brother is the best.

“I’ve gotten other people involved in this,” Nie Huaisang added helpfully.

“You’d better have,” his brother said. “I am not dealing with the fallout from this on my own.”

Nie Huaisang nodded happily. That was about what he’d expected.

A few moments later, his brother asked, “Why are we kidnapping him, anyway?”

-

“This is temporary,” Nie Mingjue said gruffly.

“Very temporary,” Jiang Cheng agreed, sounding stiff and awkward. “I don’t even know why I’m here.”

“You know exactly why you’re here,” Nie Huaisang objected. “I told you why!”

Jiang Cheng gave him a dirty look.

“Also I have no idea how da-ge got you here, but you’re staying,” Nie Huaisang said firmly. “For as long as it takes for your parents to show that they deserve you returning to them. You’re not getting a choice.”

Jiang Cheng’s face was turning red.

“That’s not the deal, Huaisang,” Nie Mingjue interjected. “Jiang Wanyin can return home at any time he wishes.”

Nie Huaisang glared, but his brother ignored him.

“He can also stay as long as he wishes,” he said, and this time it was Jiang Cheng’s turn to stare. “If you want others to respect him, you must first pay him the respect he deserves yourself. Now, I have to go, but Jiang Wanyin – know that our home is always open to you.”

He put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it, then ruffled Nie Huaisang’s hair, and left.

Jiang Cheng looked dazed.

Nie Huaisang smirked.

“…you said something about him giving out hugs?”

“Oh yeah,” Nie Huaisang said. “Great hugs.”

-

“I can’t believe you would betray me like this,” Nie Huaisang whined. “And after all I’ve done for you!”

“A little training’s not going to kill you,” Jiang Cheng said. “Come on already.”

“My brother put you up to this, didn’t he? You sold me out for a hug.”

“I sold you out for the opportunity to go on a proper night-hunt,” Jiang Cheng said. “Also, he said he was proud of the progress I’ve been making on my cultivation and sword training since I got here. And gave me a hug.”

Nie Huaisang grumbled but conceded that his brother was especially difficult to resist when he was in full big brother mode. If he wasn’t, Nie Huaisang wouldn’t have been nearly so willing to give up the neat new sword he’d found in the Xuanwu’s cave and store it down in their saber halls until his brother and Baxia could figure out how to suppress it - he hadn’t even realized it was full of resentful energy at first, and he still thought it was especially aesthetic.

“Besides, if you don’t practice something soon, he’ll come after you himself,” Jiang Cheng said. “Wouldn’t you rather train with me?”

“No. You’re just as crazy as he is.”

Jiang Cheng looked disturbingly complimented.

“I’ll come look at your birds later,” he offered.

“You’d do that anyway,” Nie Huaisang said. “You love my birds.”

Jiang Cheng did, too. Nearly as much as he loved all the feral cats that roamed the walls of the Unclean Realm, every single one of which seemed to have immediately pegged him as a soft touch and come nosing around for treats – Nie Huaisang had never seen Jiang Cheng look so calm and peaceful as when he had a cat under his palm.

It really put into perspective how stressed he looked the rest of the time.

“Oh, all right,” he groaned, and Jiang Cheng beamed. “Just know that I hate you.”

“Same to you, Nie-gongzi,” Jiang Cheng said, completely insincere. “Same to you.”

-

“You know, I’m surprised my parents haven’t shown up to demand me back yet,” Jiang Cheng said over lunch one day. “It’s not – it’s not a problem. It’s only – I thought – Mother at least –”

“Oh, they’re demanding all right,” Nie Huaisang sniggered.

“…Nie Huaisang, what have you done,” Jiang Cheng said.

“Conspired, that’s what,” Nie Mingjue said. “I don’t know if I should thank you for discovering my brother’s sole talent, namely for scheming and conspiracies, or to blame you for it, Wanyin – but you do have very loyal friends.”

Jiang Cheng blinked.

“Well, first your parents went to Lanling,” Nie Huaisang explained. “On account of Jin Zixuan and Mianmian very obviously sneaking food around and buying all sorts of things that you would like before smuggling them – very poorly and obviously, mind you – into Jinlin Tower, and of course they were also overheard talking about something that sounded an awful lot like ‘Wanyin’; everyone assumed they were hiding you. Turns out they weren’t, of course; it was just a stray dog they’d named something with similar tones. Not their fault everyone got the wrong idea!”

Jiang Cheng’s eye twitched.

“And then, of course, they went to Gusu, on account of Lan Wangji telling everyone you were his sworn brother –”

“His what?!”

“Well, close enough. On account of how you saved his life.”

“I did not!”

“I thought I heard something about how you carried him on your back as you fled from the Xuanwu’s cave and the Wen sect’s ambushes, when he was exhausted and could not walk,” Nie Mingjue said mildly, and Jiang Cheng spluttered. “Had I heard wrongly?”

“…well, no…but...”

“Of course, you weren’t at Gusu,” Nie Huaisang continued, ignoring them both. “Though there were some heavy implications for a little while that you’d gone off with Lan-gongzi –”

“Isn’t he missing?”

Nie Mingjue coughed and looked down at his plate.

“And none of you said anything?” Jiang Cheng asked, looking between them. “At any point? Did you just, what, not talk to them?”

“I have spoken with your parents several times since they have started looking for you,” Nie Mingjue said, and his voice was suddenly hot with roiling anger. “I have concluded that Huaisang had a point regarding the necessity of their learning how to ask for your return.”

Jiang Cheng blinked.

“Your parents are jerks,” Nie Huaisang volunteered. “And you deserve better.”

“Yes, thank you,” Jiang Cheng said, a little strangled. “I think I – got that.”

“Good.”

-

“It’s just, my jiejie –”

“Supports you being here. She sent you a care package. It’s in your room.”

“…Wei Wuxian –”

“Sent a note along with the package. Says to keep up the good work.”

“How did you even get something like that?!”

“I have my ways.”

-

Nie Huaisang was staring blankly at the wall when Jiang Cheng walked in and did a double take.

“Okay,” he said to Nie Mingjue, sitting patiently nearby with a letter in his hands. “You broke him. How?”

“He just discovered that he inadvertently saved a great deal of lives,” Nie Mingjue said. “As did you, by agreeing to come here.”

“I only agreed to come here because you lied and told me it was necessary to help defend my sect,” Jiang Cheng grumbled, clearly not meaning it.

Nie Huaisang let out a high-pitched and somewhat hysterical giggle.

“It was,” Nie MIngjue said solemnly, offering him the letter. “It appears that Wen Chao was given permission to attack and crush the Jiang sect, but has been delaying in anticipation of your return on account of wanting to deal with all of you at once. The delay allowed our spies time to discover his plans, and to carry warnings to your parents. They were thus able to fortify the Lotus Pier’s defenses against invasion, and to hold it off until aid could arrive – which they wouldn’t have managed if he’d attacked at once, as he would have if you’d been there.”

Jiang Cheng stared.

“Would you like to sit down and stare at the wall?” Nie Mingjue offered kindly.

“…yes please.”

-

“How’d you convince him to let me come here, anyway?” Jiang Cheng asked Nie Huaisang as he packed up his things. He was finally heading back to the Lotus Pier, albeit only long enough to collect soldiers and come back to join what they’d started calling the Sunshot Campaign – his parents had finally figured out where he was and sent word that had, in the view of the Nie, just barely qualified as sufficient to get some leeway.

Lan Wangji was waiting in the hallway to escort him there, and he’d sworn to Nie Huaisang that he would not allow either of Jiang Cheng’s parents to say anything untoward while they were there. He’d looked very serious while he said it, too, which pleased Nie Huaisang to no end and made Jiang Cheng look more than a bit nervous.

“You’re only asking that now?” Nie Huaisang asked, amused.

Jiang Cheng shrugged. “You going to tell me or not?”

“It was easy,” he said. “I just invoked Nie sect principle three.”

“…what’s that?”

“‘A fire burns all the same’,” Nie Huaisang said. “Variously interpreted as: ‘Treat your neighbor’s harm as your own’, ‘Do not stand idly by as your neighbor bleeds’, or ‘Indifference to evil is equivalent to evil’.”

Jiang Cheng stared.

“How about ‘if you see someone who needs you, you have an obligation to act’?”

Jiang Cheng blinked. “Okay,” he said. “And?”

“And what?”

“And what else did you say? You convinced him to literally kidnap the heir of another Great Sect; I can’t believe that you accomplished that simply by saying ‘hey principle three applies here, let’s do this’.”

“Maybe I did,” Nie Huaisang sniffed.

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “Fine, keep your secrets. I’ll get them out of you one day.”

“Maybe you will,” Nie Huaisang said.

-

“Da-ge,” Nie Huaisang said. “If I wanted to keep Jiang Cheng permanently, what principle would I have to invoke for that?”

“Nineteen.”

“Nineteen?” Nie Huaisang frowned. “But, da-ge, principle nineteen is the one about marriage – oooooooh.”

Can I request a Thorin piece where she’s a part of the company and one night they’re sitting on watch together and she kills an orc scout or something and he’s just like omg I love her? Please and thank you

Here it is, I hope you like it! Sorry for the delay, I’ve been in a little bit of a slump lately :( But I’m back now!

Notes: Italics are thoughts and emphasis

This ended up being longer than I thought it would lol

——————————————————————————

Pledging your loyalty to Thorin Oakenshield’s Company came easy to you. Fending off groups of orcs and dealing with the dwarf himself’s moodiness, however, proved to be not as easy.

While you admired Thorin’s mission and determination, you found yourself skirting around him in order to avoid his scathing remarks. You were convinced the king-to-be loathed your entire being, with his mutterings of how you needed to be protected and his tendency to force you into the middle of the group when danger arrived.

It was simple, to you, really. He didn’t think you worthy of being a member of his company. He thought you weak and unskilled, so weak, in fact, that he believed the other dwarfs had to be your protectors.

You were sick of it. After all, Gandalf wouldn’t have encouraged Thorin to allow you to join him in his journey if you weren’t an asset. Gandalf believed in you, and you believed in yourself.

Now if only Thorin could.

You were pulled from your thoughts by the sound of raucous laughter. Blinking your eyes rapidly, you zoned in on the joyful dwarfs sitting around the fire. You couldn’t help but smile at the sight of their happiness, as it was quite contagious. Your smile dimmed quickly, though, when your gaze landed on striking blue. Tearing your eyes from his, you continued eating your dinner.

Thorin frowned as he watched you avoid his line of sight. Truthfully, he didn’t know how he felt about you. You were constantly defying his orders and putting yourself in the line of fire, which irritated him to no end. He admired your bravery, but yet, for reasons unknown to him, he found himself wishing to keep you out of harm’s way.

“Remind me, lads, who’s on watch tonight?” Balin questioned.

“I believe it’s our dear Y/N, here,” Glóin replied.

You chimed in: “Aye, it’s my turn tonight.”

You heard a scoff sound from the group. You weren’t shocked to find the sound came from the King under the Mountain.

“Absolutely not.”

A bolt of annoyance shot down your spine. Steeling yourself, you made eye contact with the grumpy dwarf. “I joined this company to be helpful. I will serve my turn on watch just as everyone else has. It is only fair.”

Thorin grunted. “It’s completely unnecessary.”

You were, frankly, fed up with his behavior. You found him to be condescending and rude. Clenching your jaw, you growled: “Tell me, Thorin Oakenshield, do you think me incapable? Do you think me too weak or, perhaps, too stupid to fulfill my duty to this company? To your company?”

You knew your questions were bold, and maybe even disrespectful to the dwarf king, but you couldn’t help it. For months, you dealt with his strange, and sometimes even offensive, conduct. He never allowed you to prove yourself or to show off your combat skills. It felt as if you served no purpose in his company, only to be protected like some child.

Thorin Oakenshield, for once in his life, found himself speechless. He grasped for an answer, and finally settled on: “I never said that.”

You gave a bitter laugh. “You might as well have.”

You didn’t give him a chance to reply. Instead, you stalked off into the forest, as you needed to cool off.

Who does he think he is? Well, minus the whole ‘king’ thing. I’ve trained for years in combat, and I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself and others, including Mr. Grumpy himself!

You sighed, and plopped down heavily on a log. You just wanted to sleep and forget the past 30 minutes of your life, as they only proved what you already knew: Thorin didn’t believe in you and your abilities.

You don’t know why that hurt so bad.

You groaned. Sleep wouldn’t be coming any time soon, as you still had the night watch.

You groaned again when another realization came to mind: I’m going to have to see Thorin again. Ugh, it’s totally too soon to have to face him.

It was unspoken knowledge that Thorin, no matter who’s turn it was, sat in on night watch. Any night that he wasn’t completely exhausted, any member of the company could find him sitting awake, piercing eyes looking for any sign of danger.

The other dwarfs, minus Balin of course (for the most part), joked that he had to ‘make sure it was getting done right.”

But you saw it for what it really was.

Thorin cared.

He cared so much, in fact, that he put his own health on the line to ensure everyone’s safety.

You found his concern endearing, though that didn’t make it any easier to face him at the moment. You huffed and pulled yourself off of the log.

Well, let’s get this over with.

—————————————————————

Thorin’s face was settled into what seemed to be a permanent scowl as he scanned the darkness before him. He had angered you, that much was clear. What wasn’t clear, however, was how you came to such outrageous conclusions. He didn’t think you weak or unintelligent at all. In fact, your quick thinking had gotten all of them out of trouble more than once.

But he had made you feel that way. He had made you feel unworthy. And he hated himself for it. He never wanted to hurt you. All he ever wanted was to keep you safe.

Thorin was so caught up in his self-hatred that he failed to notice your arrival.

Flopping down next to him, you intended to ignore his presence for the entirety of the night.

Thorin, however, had other plans.

“You truly believe I see you in such a way? That I think you weak and stupid?”

“I have no reason to believe otherwise.”

“How can you say that? I have done nothing to make you come to such conclusions!” He growled angrily.

You took a steadying breath. “Have you not? You refuse to let me fight. Instead, you and the others act as if I’m a child in need of protecting.”

Thorin lowered his gaze to the ground. “We-I- never intended to make you feel that way.”

You softened a little at this. It appeared as if his hardened exterior form earlier was falling to pieces. “Thorin, it’s oka-“

“No, no it’s not. I apologize, Y/N.”

You smiled. “I appreciate that, Thorin.”

“I mean it, lass. I-“

“Thorin, be quiet.” You whispered hurriedly.

“What? I’m trying to apologize to you and you’re telling me to be quiet?”

You gave an annoyed sigh. “Yes, Thorin, I’m telling you to be quiet.”

“I don’t underst-.” He was cut off by a sharp gust of air flowing past his ear.

Locking eyes with you, he realized that your axe was no longer in your hand. Looking behind him, he saw an orc corpse laying on the ground.

Thorin, twice now in a span of a few hours, was speechless. He hadn’t even realized that there was an orc behind him, and yet you had. Not only that, but you had managed to kill said orc scout quickly and efficiently.

“That was amazing. You’re amazing.”

Blushing, you said: “It wasn’t that big of a deal. He was coming up behind you. Anybody would have done the same.”

He shook his head. “It is a big deal. You’re right, I was being unfair to you by keeping you from the fight. Clearly, as you said, you can handle yourself and others, since you just saved my life.”

You gave a shy chuckle. “You’re making it a bigger deal than it is. I wouldn’t say I saved your life.”

Reaching over to grasp your hand, he said: “I would. I had no clue that orc scout was there. But you did. I-“

He cut himself off and seemed almost shy, avoiding your eyes. You could even swear there was a slight pink tint to his face.

“Thorin, what were you going to say?”

He hummed. “I just want to keep you safe, Y/N. I know it came off as me doubting your abilities, but I truly just never want to see you hurt.”

Realizing where this was going, you moved closer to the soon-to-be king, grasping his hand tighter in yours. “And why is that?”

He seemed to steel himself, spine straightening and confidence building. “I am quite fond of you, Y/N. I thought I made that clear. “

You giggled. “Not so much in the beginning, your highness. But, I can forgive that under one condition.”

He raised one thick eyebrow at you. “Oh? And pray tell, dearest, what is that?”

A blinding smile overtook your face as you came nose to nose to the dwarf. “Kiss me.”

He returned your smile. “I think I can do that.”

Your lips met his, and in between, only whispered ‘I love you’s’ existed.

-Admin Cheyenne :)

On Agartha

Been a while since I’ve written a long text post, most of all one about Fate. It honestly inspires a lot of rambling in me, after all. But I don’t think, this time, it’s due to its good writing, the emotions it makes me feel, or anything good. This, my friend, is about Agartha. I should probably prelude that this contains a metric shit ton of Agartha spoilers. If you haven’t seen Agartha, and you’re actually wanting to see the story -- scroll past. But, having played through Agartha completely and rested on the story for a bit, I think I want to repeat what everyone else has for ages lol.

Agartha, on paper, is incredible. A subterranean world built off fantastical story off fantastical story, made by a woman known for her ability to weave story after story, within stories, on the fly, and from a database of every possible Arabian Nights tale. Where the fear Scheherazade has due to Shahryar's endless abuse and fearmongering has stretched even to men as a whole due to literal years of having to survive Shahryar. Where the only leaders were queens, where the only rebellion force was a man so horrifically corrupt that he'd easily fall for the tricks she played. Her intent -- to reveal magecraft forever, removing any power magecraft has, saving her from ever having to fight and face kings -- and die -- ever again. That... sounds pretty good when I describe it that way, huh? Now if only it were executed with any modicum of sense.

From the beginning, Agartha's writing struck me as remarkably odd. It was like I was watching someone desperately try to emulate Nasu's writing style -- but had absolutely no idea what made Nasu's writing so good. Its exposition dumps, rather than being interesting, ended up being thoroughly boring -- as they focused on the mundane, like the fact that moss glows to light up the landscape -- instead of the magical implications of a world like Agartha even existing to begin with. Albeit, with the mystery of Agartha at that time, we can safely assume that there wasn't much to focus on, but then why spend so damned long talking about this stuff?

The worldbuilding, while passable, feels fairly flawed in execution. The idea of a world made the way Agartha was could've made for some interesting commentary about the way men treated (and still do treat) women in modern society, but Agartha not only misses the point, but tumbles head-over-ass into the uncanny valley and makes the whole thing sound like a continent-wide BDSM session. There's barely any actual subtle or well-done symbolism to showcase misogyny in this way -- and while hyperbole can serve a good point at times, the hyperbole combined with the strangely sexual writing of these segments makes it feel less like commentary and more like a badly-done doujin.

For example -- El Dorado was as simple as it gets. Men are slaves/breeding machines/whatever. The whole 'breeding machine' thing is played off extensively, even with Penth -- a minor at this stage, mind you -- comments on using the protagonists as such breeding machines. I'll come back to this later, because this serves as another point.

Ys was a fucking cool concept -- a world ruled entirely by rampant consumerism and chaos. Men, in this world, are still second-class citizens, pretty much the playthings of the women around them. I say that Ys is the best kingdom comparatively, as it was at least more bearable than its other kingdoms, but it still felt weirdly sexual in its writing tone. Of course, following tone, Dahut (who I'll get back to later) smashes men constantly, and is very keen on fucking Guda as well, following a trend. It's played for comedy, mostly, but it's still uncomfortable as all hell. Even so, I note it's more bearable because it's a very slightly more subtle take on the whole 'misogyny' allegory -- these people are using men for basically whatever they want, and tossing them away after. I'd compare it to a few true crime cases of people who murdered, or assaulted women for no good reason at all, purely out of a want that was either denied (for good reason), or that the want itself was to inflict harm. While the allegory still does feel unintentional here, it's at least slightly less unintentional. It was probably mostly just by accident due to Agartha's generally uncomfortable writing style, but the allegory here feels a little more potent when it's not so blatantly a BDSM fic.

I hate the Nightless City, despite it again being a cool concept. A 'utopia' where speaking out at all means death -- where men are in concept free citizens, but in practice fall victim to the law if they look at someone funny. Again, in concept, great allegory. The law does not treat men and women the same -- and while it differs depending on the case which is preferred, the vast majority of the time, women are pretty much shafted by the legal system (see Brock Turner), especially in very conservative areas. Cases can be made for both genders being shafted, of course -- but for the purpose of this allegory, picking out the prejudices of the legal system against gender is a fair critique. But, like everything else Agartha does, these neat ideas fall flat in practice.

They barely touch at all on the allegory, and nobody seems to even realize it in the cast, making me further believe the allegories aren't intentional at all. In due fact, it's as if the writer didn't even realize that this could be read as an allegory. The men's plights make some sense, as they were yoinked out of nowhere into a world that hates them. But the Servants and Guda don't think about it at all past the 'wow men are slaves that sucks' -- barely even considering that this could be an allegory the world's creator made due to their own horrific circumstances. They do point this out, but to my knowledge, it's very late -- when Scheherazade's called on her bluff, only then is it ever mentioned, and only in passing at that. If anything, the fact they point this out so close to the ending makes the ending itself that much more insulting. But before I get to the ending, I think there's something else about Agartha that sets the scene for just how awful it is -- and that's the way the characters are written, and the dialogue that comes of it. For this, I'll split it up into the characters who portray this the most. I'll even describe their personalities in Agartha's context.

Guda: Crouching pervert, hidden Mash stan. A few non-sequiturs of Guda complimenting Mash despite the mood being completely broken by it. Guda's incapable of taking a situation seriously in Agartha, even when the world's basically due to be changed forever. They keep cracking jokes, creeping on Astolfo/d'Eon, and other such things even when people are literally dying all around him. For that matter, I clearly recall the scene where -- for no real reason -- Guda just changes gears with Mash in tow, and starts trying to decipher d'Eon's gender. There's absolutely no real context to this, nor any reason for Guda to do this. Further noted is the fact Guda has worked with d'Eon before, and should've probably realized d'Eon's situation by this point. The Nasuverse has always been a bit, er, behind on gender norms and such, but it's so prevalent in any scene with d'Eon it hurts -- especially in that particular scene.

Astolfo: Oddly enough, the most tolerable person here (sans one other person). Agartha's refusal to take itself seriously works remarkably well for Astolfo. And while Astolfo isn't exactly written well here either, the fact that Astolfo's always been a bit loopy makes them seem, well, more in character. They're responsible for some of the funnier moments in Agartha, with their input composing approximately 3/4 of the, like, seven or eight funny moments in Agartha proper. Even so, Astolfo's appearance sometimes hurts Agartha as much as they help it, probably since Astolfo is a bit of the reason Agartha won't take itself seriously.

d'Eon: Deserved fucking better. The previously mentioned scene was the worst offender by far in my eyes, with it coming out of fucking nowhere. d'Eon's paired with Astolfo as a buddy and fighting partner, which itself could've made for good material -- instead, d'Eon is constantly dragged into Astolfo's fanservice-y gimmicks, and d'Eon themselves are pretty often creeped on by Guda. I'd go out on a limb to say that d'Eon's implied dislike of gendered clothing (see the maid outfit) made their scenes wearing such outfits far more uncomfortable, especially with how distinctly sexual the Agartha humour is. I just hated it.

Columbus: I can't fucking believe I'm saying this, but Columbus was the funniest character in Agartha. And I don't even think that was intentional. Something about how unabashedly horrible he was caught me completely off guard -- I thought he'd end up sort of like Napoleon at a glance, someone whose Spirit Origin was completely changed due to Europe's collective worship of the dude -- but holy FUCK was I wrong. Something about the hilariously cursed faces Columbus pulls, combined with his loud-and-proud irredeemable evilness, made him a blast to watch -- and an even bigger blast to beat the shit out of. His, uh, toothy grin still cracks me up even a few weeks after playing it.

Penthesilea: One of a very large amount of people who really deserved better. She barely ever shows up -- and when she does, she voices her desire to turn Guda and co. into a breeding machine/slave (recall she's like. 16?), and pretty much throws the whole 'reasonable-ish zerk' thing out the window instantly, because Agartha decided to forego decent writing in favour of 'funny berserker hates achilles haha brrrrrr,' therefore losing pretty much all the characterization they could've given her. The lack of 'alternate views' that show her in greater detail make this far worse, which I'll go into later.

Dahut: God, wasted potential out the asshole! A woman who made an entire world that fucked around and needlessly consumed stuff, she's the epitome of such a belief. But that's all she is. I'd be able to forgive this awful writing if Scheherazade, who 'implanted' Drake onto Dahut, was a bad writer -- but she's fucking Scheherazade! Dahut's a completely flat character, who constantly tries to bed (and kill) Guda, and generally likes the idea of needless consumption. That's literally it. Again, could be explained if Dahut had difficulty keeping control of Drake's body and conscience -- but this isn't explored either! She's just a walking, talking missed opportunity.

Wu: God, look at her design. Do I even need to say more?! She falls under the same problem that the other rulers do -- shallow characterization, no opportunities to flesh them out, etc.

Scheherazade: She could've been so fucking amazing. Scheherazade's story is one ripe with interpretations the Fate series so loves to utilize -- and on paper, her character is amazing. It'd only be natural for someone like Schez to be this deeply traumatized after so many days on death's door -- not many could really get through that okay. The incredible storyteller who fears death, kings, and unconsciously, men as a whole -- creating Agartha as a subtle way of ensuring none of them harm her while she prepares her ultimate plan of revealing magecraft to the entire world. However, as with the other Agartha characters, she becomes cripplingly one-note. Bringing her fear of death above all else, she comes off as an unreasonable asshole, constantly freaking out about death and preserving exclusively herself to a fault. While one could argue it's partially due to a Pillar's influence, Phenex doesn't seem to have a hold on her at all -- it's a basic alliance, and nothing more, as the ending shows us. It just leaves her as a one-note death avoider, with no other character traits at all. I'd go into further detail, but I'm saving that for later.

Fergus: God fucking damnit, man. A literal child version of Fergus, who the entire cast constantly expects to sexually harass every woman in sight. He's a one-note flanderization of Fergus, just without the one character trait Agartha gave Fergus. It just makes him... boring, a character whose only character trait is his refusal to hit a woman. Like... Come on. The fact the entire team is so sure this literal child will start trying to hit on women is just uncomfortable to witness, and the fact he slowly starts gaining these traits feels less like him 'meeting his fate' as Fergus, and more like Agartha wants an excuse to sexually harass more of the cast.

The Fucking Ending I'm giving this its own category, because of just how much of a punch to the face it was. In short -- the plan to reveal magecraft is revealed, more jokes are made, bla bla bla. Agartha can't keep a serious mood at all. ...But the final few scenes take it to a whole other extreme.

Wu Zetian comes out of nowhere despite being squashed by Megalos earlier, stuffing Phenex into a pit of her weird water shit, placing Phenex in a state of 'life and death.' Child Fergus then sac's his own Spirit Origin to summon Fergus inside himself(???), thus gaining the power of Caladbolg to weaken Phenex enough for the player to destroy. ...However, Child Fergus just summoned Fergus inside his own body. So, what happens when you put Agartha!Fergus, a one-note sexual harasser, into the body of a child? You get the final scene of Agartha. For some reason, I guess you need more help from others to take out Phenex. To this end, Fergus decides to convince Schez to join their side. I'd like you to recall that FGO!Scheherazade is implied to have the trauma of Shahryar's abuse, sexual and physical, burned into her memory -- not just the whole death thing. In every form of the story, Shahryar abuses her in such a fashion almost nightly. It's to the point where Schez' first line of defence, and much of her skills, are as much oriented around storytelling as they are charm and seduction (moreso the former than the latter, albeit), because her defence mechanism was that as much as it was storytelling, to keep her abuser happy. This is a part of why Agartha is the way it is -- to keep such men away from her. Hell, there's not a single King in sight, save technically Fergus, and Chaldea's d'Eon and Astolfo. Fergus knows this. Hell, he heard this being called out. He's well aware how terrified she is. So, what does he do?

SEXUALLY HARASS HER. He claims she has to live to have kids. That men and women have to live to have kids. He claims that she should live, because he'd smash her. ...Now, that's insulting enough -- moreso, that it's played dead serious. Nobody even as much as calls him on such a shitty persuasion tactic, and nobody even mentions how awful it is to sexually harass a woman who'd been sexually assaulted at best for the better part of almost three straight years. AND IT. FUCKING. WORKS.

SCHEHERAZADE. IS IMPLIED. TO BE INTO IT.

And because of this, she's swayed to join the heroes and seal Phenex away for good -- giggling about how Fergus' worldview was partially correct even as she fades away. The epilogue features Fergus, sexually harassing Scheherazade ON SIGHT -- calling out 'tits on my 12:00' or whatever, as Scheherazade darts off. However, Schez isn't avoiding him due to trauma. She's avoiding it because, while she's into it, she doesn't want to 'die' so fast. This fucking ending highlights among the biggest issues with this damned Singularity. Even Blavatsky coming out of fucking nowhere to Deus Ex Machina a grail and help into Guda's hands -- despite seemingly being slaughtered by Columbus in a (admittedly a bit funny) way to get the base of the Resistance -- means nothing to me compared to the blatant slaughter of two characters at once. Fergus is a total horndog even outside of Agartha's reach, but he even notes he respects his partners' consent, and doesn't overstep his bounds if he makes them uncomfortable. Scheherazade isn't exactly trusting in the slightest, least of all in Agartha - she barely even begins trusting Guda due to Guda treating her with actual respect. Even then, she isn't actively prostrating herself for Guda in that sense, very likely due to the fact that's more of a defence mechanism to her rather than something she'd enjoy, due to extreme trauma. Albeit, Fate writing does leave the possibility in the air for Guda specifically, but that's very likely just due to Guda being Guda and being careful to treat her properly and help her than anything else (and also the whole 'self insert harem' thing, I guess, but that's a hell of a lot easier to ignore esp in contrast to Agartha) And yet, we see that epilogue, that butchers both of them in one fell swoop so badly that I almost ended up hating both of them. Agartha's biggest problem is that it tried to be deep and intriguing, while having the writing quality of the goddamned Valentine's events. It picked all the right characters to have an incredibly intriguing storyline, and fell flat because the author decided that playing sexual harassment, d'Eon's everything, and even the most serious scenes for comedy was more important than telling a story even half as meaningful as the chapters before it. Lo and behold -- to my knowledge, Minase wrote it. Of course he did. He chose the best, the most interesting characters he could find, and made them so fucking one-note that the story lost all its charm in moments. He chose to emulate Nasu without understanding what made Nasu's writing so good. He chose to make Agartha a laugh fest despite simultaneously trying to make it 'deep.' He chose to fall head-over-ass over a possibly interesting allegory into misogyny and fall right into sexualizing it to the point of feeling like a femdom BDSM fic. And go figure the only character he did decently was Christopher fucking Columbus. I have a hatred for Agartha I can't reasonably place anywhere else. Prillya was just as shitty, but I ignored it, because Prillya itself wasn't great, so of course the crossover sucks too. Valentine's events written by him weren't great, but whatever, it's a Valentine's event. Septem, written by someone else, was similarly not great. But it wasn't insulting. It simply wasn't great, and had a lot of wasted potential. But its ending wasn't out of character to the point of being insulting. Its story didn't make incredible mythological and historical figures too infuriating to like anymore. It didn't almost ruin entire Fate characters for me. Not the way Agartha did. I should probably contextualize that Scheherazade is among my favourite mythological figures. I introduced myself to her through Magi (lmao) due to further research into the base stories -- as well as a favourite Magic: The Gathering card, Shahrazad, which forced you to play a game within your game, like how Arabian Nights featured stories within stories.

Even in Fate outside of Agartha, I liked her. Her design didn't make much sense to me considering her character, but whatever, I didn't need to think too hard of it. It's just a design, and despite my hatred of Penth's design, I still love Penth as a character, so I can handle Schez. But Agartha painted her in such a way that all the subtlety and interesting parts of Schez went completely out the window. No longer was there any hidden references to the aftereffects of her life beyond 'i dun wan die,' and there was hardly an ounce of sympathy or kindness in her bones at all. While her being an anti-hero made some sense, especially as she was only a normal person with far above-average storytelling prowess, there was a point when she stopped being a 'good, but terrified person' and started being a complete asshole. And Agartha was that time. If it weren't for her Interlude, which redeemed her considerably, and Ooku, which did wonders for her character despite being written by Minase (as I believe Nasu was overseeing him at that point), I very likely would've never gone for her at all, despite my love of the myth. In Conclusion This rant is just to say that Agartha is bad. Horrific. Insulting, even. At every step where it could've been good, it tumbled head-over-ass into the most insulting, uncomfortable shit you could imagine. It failed to take itself seriously, and paced itself like a comedy event, but simultaneously acted as if it expected its audience to take it seriously. Like a clown brigade deciding to take on Les Mis, it loses all of its punch when every few lines is interrupted by a jab at Fergus, sexual harassment, or something that comes close to being cool before suddenly turning into a badly-timed joke, or suddenly becoming laden with dialogue so sexual it feels straight out of a porno. It's aggravating, awful, and with only brief reprieves of bareable comedy in between long, long lengths of hellish text and awful characterization. The only good part was the gameplay -- which, laden with interesting mechanics not seen elsewhere, was legitimately fun. My take? Avoid all Agartha cutscenes and plot, and just play the gameplay. The gameplay's fun, and if enjoyed on its own, would probably make for a far better experience than observing the story surrounding it. But good gameplay doesn't make up for a horrible story, especially in a game where plot is as important as it is in F/GO. Agartha's a pile of shit in my eyes, but that's ultimately only my opinion, and nothing more. If others have an opinion counter to mine, that's completely fine -- and don't let this analysis ruin your fun with Agartha if you enjoyed its plot. To be frank, I'd be happy if you enjoyed it where I could not. And if you think my takes are misinformed, or if I missed a spot (or overreacted to a spot), that's what the reblogs and comments are for! I'm definitely not the kind of dude who has the final say in matters like this -- this is only what I picked up. Thank you for reading!

Hello! I know you’ve left grishaverse behind. But the news of the second season has me comparing books vs show again. If you feel like it: what were your thoughts on the different characterization choices with Alina and the Darkling between both?

They just seemed like very different characters even though they were ostensibly doing the same stuff. And frankly I was pretty bummed out about it. I feel like they tried to make the Darkling more palatable, which kind of ended up seeming like they didn’t understand why he sucks? (like the discourse about making the winter fete scene more consensual when alllll the false pretenses kind of makes that consent pointless, she doesn’t know who she’s actually dealing with).

And just idk the whole thing with Alina being the cause for a bunch of people dying on the fold because she destroyed the reconnaissance/maps they had so she could be with Mal and the army. And… never addressing it or feeling bad about it lol.

Sorry I realize this is more me talking at you and if you have no opinions either way, no worries. I just got annoyed about how much potential both the books and show had all over again.

is anything ever truly left behind? aka i am incapable of letting go of the things i loved once even if i have a complicated relationship with them now that really isn't love but more nostalgia for the love i once had that has long since expired--

yeah lol the characterisation in the show was: silly. on multiple fronts! definitely the ones you have mentioned!

Alina: didn't like, have a character in the show? you get such a sense of her personality in the book (grumpy cat) and she's defensive and self conscious and unconvinced of her own worth, and the whole point is that she grows into her powers? you get none of that work in the show, and none of the meaner/ruder sides of her personality. there's no...indication of what she wants or what she's working for (which tbf could come from the book, but the book has its first person pov to support her personality in a way that a show just can't do. we'll never get in her head the way a book can, so the show needed to give us SOMETHING).

the show really just felt like 'things happen to alina so much and she reacts like :O each time and sometimes makes a concentrating face'.

and the darkling LOL honestly they so aggressively missed the point of his character that he is simply a different person. like, they made a fundamental change to his motives and made it seem as though he's really in love with Alina at this point, which just categorically doesn't make any sense? the whole deal with the darkling in the first point is that he's using her, and that's a part of the tension in their relationship. this is an older man intentionally seducing a teenager lol it's Problematique and that's the point! it's supposed to be a problem! you haven't fixed anything by making it more ~genuine~ you've just made it weirder actually.

and yeah the absolute nonsense of trying to add consent to a scene that is non-consensual by its nature?? having the darkling like, ask more permission or having alina girlboss her way through the kiss like - it does nothing to change the fundamental issue with the scene, which is that the darkling is actively lying to alina and keeping things from her that would mean she would not make the choice to kiss him if she knew about them! you don't get points for asking politely when you're actively grooming someone to be obsessed with you lol

(and also, the darkling telling her his real name at his stage in their story? again, it's supposed to sell the fact that he has real affect for her, which i guess the show thinks makes everything more palatable, but it's senseless - what reason does this powerful ancient man have to be really affected by alina at this point? he tells her his name in the books as a manipulation tactic, but also not until a point where they've done real harm to each other and are caught in this mutual obsession like, it has weight and meaning at that point! in the show it just comes up as a random Thing like ok darkles)

the tHING WHERE ALINA GETS ALL HER FRIENDS KILLED like oh man that would have been a really good and interesting change to the books and to making alina more of an active participant in her own story if! it had ever! been addressed again! but we get no indication that this has any effect on her or the world state or the story beyond the episode it takes place in, it's silly.

i also think they did mal a real disservice in the show, and i adored show mal. but like, the whole point of mal in the first book is that he's just a dude, you know? he's a dude that alina loves, and who loves alina, but he has to learn that he'd do anything for her, you know? that's why his second book arc is important and interesting the way it is, and why his third book arc makes sense at all. they've taken all the teeth out of his story by making him adoringly devoted to alina without questioning her choices or decisions or doubting her in anyway. and it feels like they did that in order to counter the book fandom tendency to just virulently hate him without basis, which i get, but it does make for a less nuanced and interesting character for him.

but yeah overall i found the show a slog lol, i only got through it because i was watching with friends, and i don't know if we're going to do the second season to ourselves or not. we'll see i spose!

“The Dragon’s Cry” Magic Series

Prologue. One

Summary: In a world where everyone uses magic Baekhyun, a dragon, finds himself falling deeper in love with someone he isn’t supposed to be near and her biggest secret could crush Baekhyun and his heart.

This is imperative to the main story and cannot be skipped.

Mentions of: Fighting, Lovers to Enemies, Enemies to Lovers, Abuse, Magic, Fictional Themes, Original Character, Cursing, Angst.

Words:1059

“Look into my eyes and tell me, tell me what you are!” He spat, his fiery fist slamming against the wall next to the woman’s head, “Stop keeping so silent, I can see it in your eyes, I can feel it radiating from your soul; just stop lying to me Alice.” Dropping her head she cried out, something she seemed to be doing more often, Baekhyun felt the betrayal seeping from her pores, her soul longing to do what it was created for and it forced him back away from her and what her emotions could cause her to do. “Your tears mean nothing to me, your hands have blood on them, you’ve looked me in my eyes and lied to me for years knowing what you’ve done. You’ve watched me suffer at the hands of your people, you’ve sympathized with me when I came home in tears, you heard me swear to kill those responsible when you knew the entire time; pathetic, I’m fucking pathetic, so blinded by your sex, your touch that I didn’t even realize I had been sleeping next to the enemy.”

His words sliced through her chest like silver, the pain slithering through her blood stream and slowly stopping her already slow beating heart. “I should have known, I should have fucking known, your heart beats like one of those beast. Did you think I was some game? Did you think you could just ride this shit out until it was my name on the chopping block? You looked at me every day and told me you loved me and I believed you.”

“Because I do love you”

“Bull-fucking-shit,” He’d cut Alice off with a scorching finger pressed against her forehead, “Your people are incapable of love, you’ve killed my family, you’ve watched me mourn and been there to comfort me.” She knew he was right, there was nothing she could say to defend herself, her hands did have blood on them, she did kill, she did do all of those things but she truly did love Baekhyun and he’d changed her life for something she thought she was incapable of. “B, I don’t know what I can say to make you understand that in the five years I’ve been with you all I’ve done is love you, I haven’t done any jobs, I h-,” Alice’s mouth closed quickly as Baekhyun turned to face her, the soft brown eyes that were previously filled with hurt and tears now red and filled with heat and anger. She could feel the rage seeping out of his skin as he crept towards her, scales slowly forming  against his temple and cheeks, red eyes burning holes through her soul.

“Killing my family, my friends, my people is a fucking job; that’s what you see me as, what you see the others as, your friends, the people closes to you; you see them a fucking jobs Alice?” Upon instinct as Baekhyun closed in on her, her magic activated, “see, you see that, you’re built to kill, you fucking dragon slayer.” He spat the term with absolute filth on the tongue as Alice fought back tears, the disgust he held panging her heart. She’d left her life behind when she learned the truth of outside world, she hadn’t killed a dragon in over eight years and vowed to never harm another when she met Baekhyun. “You think I had a choice in what I am? You think I woke up one day and chose the magic I was given? I didn’t even go through the trials to find out my true magic, I was born for this, I was made to be this, you think I like it? You think I enjoyed looking into the eyes of the man I love and lying to him about my identity when I truly don’t even know myself who I really am?” She screamed, her magic casing around her in protection as she knew Baekhyun would attack her at any moment if she left the space available.

“For ten years they kept me in a locked room and beat me, my own fucking family Baekhyun, they beat me and trained me daily for this. All I know is this, this is all my body knows. Do you know how difficult it is to suppress ones true magic? I was in pain for years, they forced my true life out of me and made me to be one of them why do you think I ran away Baekhyun, you think I enjoyed seeing creatures I was so fascinated in die by my hands? You think I enjoyed hearing you cry and scream over lost friends and family? I didn’t ask to be a dragon slayer; I was created to be one. Being a dragon is the destiny the Gods chose for you, being a slayer is the destiny a council chose for me.”

He smacked his lips at her outrage, simply not believing a word that came from her mouth, “You don’t have to keep lying for me Alice, you can deny your destiny from the Gods all you want but you’re a fucking dragon slayer and the bane of existence and I suggest you start running because home isn’t so fucking safe anymore.” She could feel the heat radiating as he walked past her, “I will kill you with my own two hands when you least expect it, dragon slayer.” 

With a harsh slam of the door, Baekhyun was gone, the air and the harsh backlash of the wind as he’d spread his wings and gone into his true form informed her that he’d left the premises. She knew from the look in his eyes that he’d kill her and she knew that he still had some sort of love for her to even warn her of the coming events; he was most likely on his way to tell the community where he was from of Alice’s true identity and all the crimes her family had committed; she had at most an hour to leave the house and find safe haven somewhere.

She was banned from ever returning to her village without the fresh blood of a dragon on her hands and she had no friends that weren’t friends on Baekhyun’s so she was completely and totally on her own in this fight.

Xena Coffee Shop A/U Idea

So Gabrielle works in coffee shop, maybe Starbucks, but more likely a smaller more niche store that is soft and quiet with big squishy couches where all the regulars know and love her. She’s exhausted from managing the place without being an official manager (or maybe she is idk) but she smiles often and the place remains busy despite a Starbucks having moved in just around the block because (although she would absolutely deny this) the patrons look forward to her positivity and advice. But people know not to mess with her or try to cause trouble for her or any of her fellow employees because although she is sweet she’ll kick you out if you even THINK about being rude to any of the employees.

Xena founded a karate/jujitsu/something hybrid gym SOMETHING where her primary focus is helping people (in particular, women or marginalized people who feel weak or unsafe or feel incapable of protecting themselves), but she doesn’t turn away people if they come to her for the right reasons. She hosts daily fighting lessons using different techniques (jujitsu, weapons, hand to hand, p much everything) and had reached an almost legendary status to those who have come to her in their time of need. It is well known in many circles that Xena used to the be the head of a....gang? Crime syndicate? Mob? I’m not sure, but something HUGE and something that made her a lot of money and a LOT of enemies before she left the life for good. I kind of like the idea of her being some kind of crime boss for some huge underground syndicate because that gives some room for some kidnappings and crazy stuff but also that’s hot as hell.

Joxer DEFINITELY becomes an employee by simple virtue of being in the store so much and bugging her so much that he may as well be being paid for it (but also he is...surprisingly good at creating new roasts and making cool new drinks so why not). He thinks he’s suave (like Ares) but deep down knows he’s not.

Ares is the obnoxious rude ass businessman who treads the line of being banned from the store but is accepted only because he buys ENORMOUS amounts of their coffee for his meetings or whatever. He’s buff as hell and has reflexes that put a cat to shame. I’m not sure if he’s officially into martial arts but he knows a lot of things from a lot of places. OH MAYBE HE IS LIKE BIG BOSS OF CRIME SYNDICATE THAT HAD BEEN PARTNERED WITH XENA’S IDK.

Ephiny is a student of Xena’s; she’s amazing but struggles with trusting partners after the loss of her husband (Phantes). Her son is just getting to the point of toddling and she already has him INVOLVED with Xena as much as is physically possible. She also works with Gabrielle in the coffee shop and is the eventual link that brings Gab and Xena together.

Callisto was Xena’s top student and top pain in the ass until the loss of her family. She now trains at a “rival” dojo. She’s constantly proclaiming herself better than Xena and trying to take Xena down a notch or two despite the fact that that’s not how any of this works. She lost her mom and sister in a fire and blames Xena (she was 8 or 9 and a student at Xena’s dojo; Xena took her home one evening with nobody came to pick her up after practice. she tried to run into the burning building but it was too far gone. she claims Xena kept her from saving her family but deep down thinks that if she hadn’t been at practice she might have been able to save them). She will probably have some kind of redemption arc because I feel bad for her even though she is irredeemable (from what I’ve seen so far in the show).

Perdicus worked at the coffee shop but left to figure out how he could win Gabby’s heart (they grew up together and he’s loved her since he knew what love was but she’s always been...unsure). He’s gonna be in the thing as like...some kind of friend at the very least because Callisto did him dirty in the show and I liked him.

Iolus and Hercules MAY run the “rival” gym. “Rival” continues to be in quotes because although everyone in the town sees them (Xena and Herc) as rivals, they have nothing but respect for one another. Herc is in love with Xena (she thought she loved him too..once.) and Iolus THINKS he’s in love with Xena and then thinks he loves Gabby but realizes he loves Hercules; this may be a uniting factor for Xena and Gabby as they work to try and help Iolus overcome his insecurities and confess his feelings to Hercules (who will be startled but is bi as hell and will be really excited because he thought Iolus was SUPER into Gabby/straight as could be).

Autolycus is an art thief a la Cary Grant in Psych. He has a lot of money but lives relatively modestly and donate a fair amount to charities and to Gabby’s coffee shop, all under a pseudonym of course because it could never get out that he secretly wants to be Robin Hood more than anything in the world. Perhaps at some point the coffee shop has gone broke (maybe Krykus runs the shop and he’s an asshole who doesn’t care and ends up stealing a ton of money and running off into the night?????) and Autolycus (and Xena) band together to purchase the shop and put it to Gabby’s name (which upsets Gabby at first until she realizes that they were helped by the ENTIRE STAFF and a lot of the loyal customers because they love her and they love the changes she’s made to the shop).

I’m thinking...maybe one night, late, after Gabby had to stay to do inventory and order stock, she’s mugged. They have a gun and although she’s willing to give them what’s in her wallet, she fights back when they threaten to physically assault her and she ends up punched a few times. Now, depending on how dark I want this to be...she’s either beat up BAD and ends up joining the gym after Ephiny finds her and takes her to the hospital and demands she take better care of herself....but more likely (because it’s HOTTER), Gabby is saved by Xena, who had also been at her gym late doing an inventory and stock of the small pre-packaged bars and shakes she sells or something, important because maybe Gabby will start providing some kind of healthy snack as a thank you to Xena??? Anyway, Xena busts in after Gabby’s beat up and saves the damn day. Now!!! Either Xena falls in love INSTANTLY but keeps it way down because that’s who she is, or she simply thinks Gabby is cute (’m not decided) and is delighted at first when she sees Gabby show up to her gym. Gabby is enraged and frustrated that she wasn’t able to protect herself and Xena shows her how to redirect and channel her anger away from doing harm and into protecting herself.

This will EVENTUALLY and ultimately be a Xena x Gabby fic but I think it’s gonna take a while for Gabby to get there. When she realizes she loves Xena it will hit her like a sack of bricks and she won’t be able to breathe for a few moments as she takes in the woman who has become her best friend in the entire world and realizes that she absolutely loves her.

And that’s more writing or thinking about writing than I’ve done in eons but I wanted to get it down somewhere.

I didn’t want to hijack @lamekit‘s really good post on the topic (go read it) but wanted to share some thoughts about why I don’t think it would have made any sense for Kaito and Kokichi to team up earlier and why a partnership between them wouldn’t make sense or work out before the situation forced their hand..

Kaito reaching out to Shuichi works because Shuichi wants that, he needs the reassurance and validation that Kaito gives out in spades. And so does Maki. Despite acting like she doesn’t. She is receptive to his advances even if she is cold and distant about it. She agrees to join the group in Chapter 1 (something Kokichi would not have agreed to even if Kaito asked probably). Despite being physically strong and very capable of not giving in to Kaito trying to pull her into the group and into training, she does it. She wants that acceptance and inclusion despite not being able to verbalize it or handle it. Her backstory is part of the main story to give us this context in her character for a reason- it’s important. Kaito tries somewhat to reach out to Kokichi as stated in the post but gets deterred because of the way Kokichi acts. Maki wants to be reached out for and doesn’t really have any other purpose or drive in the game (beyond keeping her secret early on). Kokichi did have a very clear purpose and goal in mind unlike Maki- he wasn’t lost like she was or Shuichi was and so Kaito extending a hand isn’t as appealing to him. 

Also, Kokichi simply would not accept Kaito reaching out. As pointed out in the post. He runs away when Kaito tries and level with him (with violence of course which doesn’t help but I don’t think he’d be all that receptive either way). And there’s multiple reasons beyond just general paranoia. So even if Kaito had been more stubborn about reaching out, Kokichi would never have accepted. Because that could ruin his plan and get people killed. And he’s not totally wrong. 

They have very different viewpoints. Kokichi recognizes it and points it out. Kokichi quickly realizes the game will punish them for working together and will retaliate against those who try and mess with it. So he knows just general teamwork won’t work out. Kaito is stubborn and believes in teamwork and they would not be a good fit at all in the earlier parts of the game. Clashing and arguing would be counterproductive and could harm his plan and get people killed which Kokichi doesn’t want. 

Also I think its important to see how Kaito is willing to work with and trust people with absolutely no proof. The people he picks in chapter 1 to fight are all based on just gut feelings (esp Maki, Himiko, and Angie who really hadn’t done anything that showed them to be particularly strong or useful). Kokichi however, only approached people after noting their use. Gonta he points out being useful when he lifts the metal plate and Miu shows how useful she is in CH1 with her inventions. There is a lot of intent in who he approached. They are useful. Kaito... doesn’t really offer much in the Killing Game situation. The only thing he really brings to the table in trials is emotional support to Shuichi which... isn’t something Kokichi is looking for. Kokichi clearly put a lot of consideration into who he approached. Kaito is more intelligent and capable than the cast gives him credit for of course but his usefulness would not make up for just how risky he is. Kaito isn’t what Kokichi is looking for in an ally when his goal is to figure out the mastermind and stop the game- something that requires him to doubt the others constantly. 

Kaito also would question anything Kokichi does. Which is something the two people he works with notably do NOT do. Gonta is naive and trusting and all he needs is the assertion that it’s beneficial to the group and he will help (although, because he is nice and desperate to be useful to the group- not because he’s an idiot incapable of making his own decisions). He isn’t going to doubt and question Kokichi’s plans once he knows that. And Miu... remember how its a major point that she straight up doesn’t even ask why Shuichi wanted the cameras? She just likes making stuff and if it’s seems useful enough she will do it. 

Neither of them are going to try and pry into Kokichi’s plans. Something he isn’t willing to reveal and could put a giant target on his back or anyone working with him because he KNOWS they are being watched. Kaito wouldn’t just accept Kokichi’s plan without wanting to know more and butting in. Shuichi and Kaito both have lots of moments where they question what Kokichi says unlike the others who tend to brush it off. Gonta and Miu will work with him without him having to reveal all his cards. And not really the point of this post but it’s why him not approaching Shuichi until it’s literally too late makes sense (and in such a way there was no way he’d actually accept). Even if he recognizes that Shuichi is useful and very much could be the person who could solve what he couldn’t... he isn’t willing to fully trust someone he doesn’t totally understand and would definitely question him. Working with Kaito and Shuichi may have been beneficial earlier but it makes sense why Kokichi wouldn’t try (and vice versa- Shuichi is too wary of Kokichi and Kaito approaches him with violence which is not effective at all)

As I said in this post, the three of them can clearly find common ground and have similar goals but at the end of the day it never would work. And not just because no one reached out to Kokichi like Kaito did for Maki and Shuichi. Nor is it just because of Kokichi’s stubborn and paranoid nature. It’s a combination of all of that and the outside forces working against them. All three of them have major flaws that impede them from understanding and cooperating with each other fully (in addition to the fact they are in a killing game and can’t act freely). It’s what makes chapter five so interesting in my opinion.

Kaito simply doesn’t have the right approach to get to Kokichi in a meaningful way at all. And Kokichi isn’t looking for that either like Maki and Shuichi were. Kokichi purposefully made himself unapproachable so I don’t blame the cast for not reaching out. Plus I think people forget that Kokichi operated under the idea that Monokuma/the mastermind would go after him if he did allow himself to be reached and worked with any more people than he absolutely had to. And I feel like that would be the case and a safe assumption based on what Kokichi is shown to know in the game. That gets more into personal views of how Tsumugi and the game operates territory but the main point is I don’t think it would have made any sense for Kokichi and Kaito to collaborate until their hands were forced and I also don’t think it would have necessarily been the solution to stopping the game either. Probably a bit rambly and not a totally coherent analysis but I agree with the post I linked that I don’t think it really makes sense for them to work together earlier at all and wouldn’t really fix anything unfortunately and oversimplifies the characters and the situation. 

Owl House AU Ideas, ZA FIRST!!

Hello all, this has been a long time coming on my part. After procrastinating on the subject, I have decided to upload my personal AU ideas for the Owl House. Here’s hoping ya’ll like them, and feel free to make your own stuff based on them as you please!!

Tough Love: This AU is my own twist on the classic Siblings AU, in which I fleshed it out into my own little niche using whatever I had available in my brain.

Victoria Noceda: My name for Beta Luz, who in this Idea is the oldest of the three Noceda sisters. Brash, belligerent, always ready with a smart remark, Victoria is a tough girl who takes no crap from anyone, with her weapon of choice being a metal bat carved with glyphs. A short temper mixed with both a strict demeanor and a flippant attitude has earned her a reputation as a thug, one which she has done nothing to reject or deny. Growing up, Victoria quickly grew familiar with the uglier side of humanity, and when her sisters were born vowed to shield them from the harshness of the world, by any means necessary. She is highly cynical, yet being around Luz chips away at this persona of hers. Despite her attitude and behavior, she is highly intelligent, graduating from school as valedictorian to the shock of everyone bar her teachers. Victoria first ended up in the Isles by chasing down Owlbert after the Palisman tried (and failed) to pickpocket her. She and Eda, to their mutual surprise, hit it off rather well, with Victoria often acting as her Stall Manager, Gopher, Muscle, etc., and has amassed a large quantity of glyphic spells, which she keeps as tattoos climbing up both arms (she actually has enough to cover nearly her whole torso and part of her neck, but uses illusion glyphs to hide them so Eda doesn't ask how she discovered them... some of them were highly unpleasant for lack of a better word). Using her work with Eda to avoid getting a job on Earth, Victoria has a LOT of money, mostly due to Eda paying her with whatever bills and coins Owlbert brings her without consideration for how much they actually are worth. Offered to house her sisters so they could "branch out and get some real world experience," really an excuse to get her sibs away from the toxic environment at school. Convinced (threatened) Principal Hal to have Luz sent to stay with her for the summer. Her aggressive tendencies and willingness to use incredible violence to solve her problems has resulted in her relationship with her sisters partially atrophying, though she is unaware of it herself. Her first encounter with Boscha, in the body swap episode, is meant to illustrate this as she very clearly and deliberately tormented and ridiculed the girl for bullying Luz, refusing to let up even when Luz begged her to stop until Boscha apologized and begged for forgiveness; Luz rushing off to help bandage Boscha's nearly broken hands implies this isn't the first time she has done this, or at least something like this. Victoria has a bad temper when roused and often resorts to extreme verbal haranguing when she's cross with Luz, not knowing that this reinforces the idea that she doesn't like or care for her youngest sister, as she can't bring herself to raise a hand to her sisters. Finds Amaryllis hot and enjoys teasing her. Will answer to Victoria, Tori, or Ria, NEVER to Vic or Vicky, which will result in her threatening to break the offender's legs, THIS IS NOT A BLUFF SHE HAS DONE IT TWICE BEFORE. Mari Noceda: My name for Pilot!Luz, the middle child. Easily the most well-behaved of her siblings, though that isn't saying much. Unlike her hyper-impulsive younger, and her super aggressive elder, Mari is calm, logical, and significantly more easy going. However, she is an absolute snoop with a very poor understanding of personal privacy, resulting in her being sent to the principal for breaking into other students' lockers, on multiple occasions. After Victoria basically dropped off the map, she became hellbent on tracker her down, resulting in her discovering the Boiling Isles and magic. As is her usual, she quickly got over whatever shock she felt and proceeded to brow beat her mom, Victoria, AND EDA to let her stay in the Isles by homeschooling (Camila doesn't know she went to the Isles, just that she wanted to move in with her sister... it hurt her more than Mari thought it would), she soon set herself to studying everything the Isles has to offer, to Eda's chagrin. While her repertoire is much smaller than Tori's, she knows quite a few spells herself, all of which she has studied to a ludicrous degree. After reading up on some of Luz's fantasy novels, she has started viewing herself as an artificer, blending magic and technology together. Is VERY GOOD FRIENDS with Vela Blight (they are dating but don't want anyone to know). Often puts down Luz's fantasies as ridiculous. Luz Noceda: Canon cinnamon roll, sorta. Plucky, sweet, optimistic, and, oh yeah, Kinda mental. Was introduced to the Boiling Isles and Eda via Victoria picking her up and driving through a portal that opened up in Eda's living room. When she asked her sisters' to share what they know about magic with her, they both laughed and told her they would teach her how to use any spells she figured out on her own, and no more. Basically the same as canon, she is somewhat more fragile emotionally as a result of Mari's unintended put-downs, and Victoria's angry rants. She is convinced that part of the reason she didn't have friends was due to everyone being afraid of Victoria beating them silly, or Mari invading their privacy. While very similar to her original self, this version of Luz has a lot of repressed anger, which manifests as a slight twitch in her left eye and a compulsive hiccup when stressed. Eda: Due to taking in Victoria and Mari, she is much more in touch with her caring side earlier on than Canon, welcoming Luz easily and more willing to play the mentor role. Quickly picks up on the warning signs in the sisters' interactions but is repeatedly shut out, to her frustration and concern. King: Mellower than in canon due to having Mari, who considers him a fount of demonic knowledge, and Victoria, who appreciates his street wise wisdom when it peeks through his megalomania, to talk and interact with. Clings to Luz as a "new general in my Army! Rejoice, Mr. Ducky, REJOICE!!" Amaryllis Blight: My name for Beta!Amity, and the eldest sibling. Ruthless, ferocious, and feral, Amaryllis always possessed the hallmarks of a problem child, bucking her parents authority at every turn, which she got away with due to her immense magical power even as a toddler. Wears green hair dye to spite her parents after they virtually disowned her. Regularly forgets any and all information that she deems useless, which includes her parents' names, resulting in her always referring to them as Mr. and Mrs. Blight at all times, even in her head. Leads the Predators, an elite section of the Emperor's Coven tasked with locating and sealing dimensional breaches, as well as purging anything that crosses through. Has a severe survival of the fittest mindset; if you don't have the strength and will to survive and succeed, you are nothing. Ironically, she hates bullies, claiming them as weaklings who tear down those with true potential for greatness, and often curses herself for being too weak to separate from Belos. Her sheer power and accomplishments have forced the Blight parents to recognize her as their child, if only to capitalize on her success and prevent difficult questions being aimed their way, yet none are comfortable with the arrangement. Strongly admires Eda, genuinely believing her to be the greatest Witch of all time, which leads to her verbally, and sometimes physically, tearing a new one in anyone who speaks ill of her in Amaryllis' presence. The biggest inspirations for Amaryllis were Katsuki Bakugo from My Hero Academia, and Esdeath from Akame Ga Kill, being strangely friendly and amicable to her fellow Predators and anyone who she finds sufficiently impressive in terms of combat, though she has no ability to register those she thinks of as weak, often being incapable of recalling any real information about them beyond whatever part of their appearance stuck out most to her. She has no respect or regard for Emira and Edric, regarding them as fools and cowards, and is genuinely incapable of telling them apart, despite the fact that they are different genders, and often needs a moment to remember who they are. Often verbally scolds Vela for being weak, with the first "kind" thing she has ever said to her since graduating was congratulating her for taking the first steps to realizing her true potential. Admires Amity's dedication to be the best, but detests her kowtowing to their parents. Has a huge crush on Victoria, but is both better at hiding it than Amity, by a mile, and severely conflicted over it, due to regarding humans as "the weakest existence on the whole of the Isles." Amaryllis' animalistic mentality is considered extremely unusual, even by the standards of the Boiling Isles and results in everyone being incredibly wary of her. Amaryllis is insanely loyal to those she holds regard to and works with, viciously destroying anything that dares bring harm to her comrades, or "pack" as she insists on calling them, and has a win by any means necessary mindset, being genuinely puzzled by the crowd and Amity's distress at Lilith's cheating during the Covention, seeing the power glyph as a perfectly acceptable tactic and applauding Luz and Eda's mines to circumvent the Human's lack of spells, however even she disapproves of cheating that can result in permanent injury, which is her sole complaint about the duel. Vela Blight: My name for Pilot!Amity, and the Middle child of the Blight Triplets. Timid, meek, and polite to a fault, Vela is near totally lacking in confidence. Is hopelessly mediocre in every form of magic, despite her higher than average power, and regarded as a failure to the Blight name. Her parents disowned her shortly before Canon, but allow her to stay in the Manor as her siblings' attendant, even Amaryllis is better regarded than she is by the Blight parents. Is good friends with the Detention Track kids, and eagerly jumped on the bandwagon when they became multi-track students, joining Luz as an All-Tracker, which also exposed her immense talent for magic mixing, allowing her to merge different forms of Magic with ease and fluidity. Vela's sheer passion for learning magic exceeds both Amity and Luz combined, and is genuinely puzzled why more witches weren't trying to multi-track too. Is something of a teacher's pet, to her own embarrassment, as even with her poor abilities her sheer passion for learning has caused many of the Teachers and Bump himself to develop a soft spot for her. Has a complicated relationship with Ed and Em, as while she loves them, she envies their talent, and despises their pranks, as she is often punished for them whether she had a hand or not, and often when she tried to stop them. When her trip-mates decided to prank Amity, she lividly tore into them with a brutal "The Reason You Suck" Speech before storming off in tears, resulting in Ed and Em chasing after her and leaving Amity and Luz alone in the library. During the trip to the Knee, she was still bitter, and went out of her way to be as difficult for Ed and Em as possible, only forgiving them after took on the Slitherbeast. Vela is very close to Amity, as well as the Nocedas. Vela regards Amity as a treasure and has the healthiest relationship with her out of all their siblings, instantly pegging to Amity's crush on Luz (She ships them so hard), though she doesn't call her out on it. Vela is scared of Amaryllis. Ed and Em: Are wilder than in Canon, willing to resort to harsher pranks to meet their goals. They adore Vela, and assumed she adored them; having her verbally tear them a new one served as a massive wake-up call to how jerky they could be, and often were, provoking them to be better siblings and people all around, still tricksters though. Are jealous of Amaryllis due to her being unshackled from their parents, and are often rendered livid by her casual dismissal of them. Amity Blight: Mostly the same, but a bit more assertive against the toxic influences in her life. Idolizes Amaryllis due to her power and freedom, and trusts Vela with the same secrets as her diary. Sallix Park: Name for Beta!Willow. A maverick and an agitator, she enjoys stirring up trouble for the heck of it, but only when she's the one to cause it. Adores her little sister, but insists on her fighting her own battles, and enjoys training Willow through random plant attacks. Has been secretly gaslighting Boscha, in the hopes of the brat having some kind of epiphany and cleaning up her act, not knowing that her actions were causing the triclops to develop conflicting impulses and feelings regarding Willow, as well as an unhealthy fixation. Is good friends with both Victoria and Amaryllis, resulting in her serving as referee whenever they fight, which is often. Willow Park: Same as canon, but more assertive over her behaviors.

Let me know if any of you have any questions or opinions on it.

The constant devaluing of Arya’s point of view and the narrative that if we could only see things from the viewpoint of other characters, the readers would get a totally different picture and see that Sansa was actually a good sister and Jeyne was a good friend and the North was actually a great place for non-conforming little girls makes no sense.  No, we don’t need a POV from the Septa instead of Arya to shown us the other side and made us sympathize with the ladies of Westeros because Arya is the main character here and we would rather get to know her and understand her as a character.

So it’s not that nine year old Arya had a very warped view of the world, but rather the world she lived in was very warped and she saw it for what it was because she personally experienced the consequences of that world and it affected her more negatively than her other true born siblings.

Arya’s POV and take on all this is corroborated again and again by other POVs, but all this is often dismissed just like Arya’s feelings of low self-worth are dismissed because the perpetrator is seen as being incapable of doing wrong.

We can accept Arya’s viewpoint in the first few chapters as being absolute, because we get corroboration about her experience from characters like Sansa, Brienne and Theon.

Take Sansa’s POV for example.

When Arya talks about being mocked for being horse-faced and ugly and other girls making horsey noises near her:

One day she came back grinning her horsey grin, her hair all tangled and her clothes covered in mud, clutching a raggedy bunch of purple and green flowers for Father. Sansa kept hoping he would tell Arya to behave herself and act like the highborn lady she was supposed to be, but he never did, he only hugged her and thanked her for the flowers. That just made her worse. (Sansa, AGoT)  

Her long horsey face got the stubborn look that meant she was going to do something willful. (Sansa, AGoT)    

“Hodor!” Sansa yelled. “You ought to marry Hodor, you’re just like him, stupid and hairy and ugly!” (Sansa, AGoT)   

Her name, she had to know her name. “Arya Underfoot. Your sister used to call you Arya Horseface.”  “It was me made up that name. Her face was long and horsey. Mine isn’t. I was pretty.” (The Prince of Winterfell, ADwD)

Here is Sansa being generally angry at and disgusted by Arya and blaming her for everything wrong:

Arya had a way of ruining everything..

She hates that I’m going to marry the prince. She tries to spoil everything, Father, she can’t stand for anything to be beautiful or nice or splendid.” 

Arya was chewing at her lip in that disgusting way she had

Here is Sansa blaming Arya for Lady’s death after siding with Joffrey against Arya despite seeing Joffrey try to harm/injure her sister at the trident:

At first she thought she hated him for what they’d done to Lady, but after Sansa had wept her eyes dry, she told herself that it had not been Joffrey’s doing, not truly. The queen had done it; she was the one to hate, her and Arya. Nothing bad would have happened except for Arya. (Sansa, A GoT)

“You’re horrible,” she screamed at her sister. “They should have killed you instead of Lady!” (Sansa, AGoT)

Here is Sansa wishing for her younger sister to suffer as a bastard because she was ugly and behaviorally deficient:

Why couldn’t Arya be sweet and delicate and kind, like Princess Myrcella? She would have liked a sister like that. Sansa could never understand how two sisters, born only two years apart, could be so different. It would have been easier if Arya had been a bastard, like their half brother Jon. She even looked like Jon, with the long face and brown hair of the Starks, and nothing of their lady mother in her face or her coloring. And Jon’s mother had been common, or so people whispered.

Despite complaining about how Arya was not sweet and kind like Myrcella, here is Sansa’s classism peeking through as she derides Arya’s low born friends. It’s clear that Sansa’s ‘kindness’ only extends to those of her group:

Sansa knew all about the sorts of people Arya liked to talk to: squires and grooms and serving girls, old men and naked children, rough-spoken freeriders of uncertain birth. Arya would make friends with anybody.

Here is Sansa wishing that girls like Margaery were her sister instead of Arya because they were more beautiful and graceful (This is while she thinks Arya is dead in book two)

Sansa had once dreamt of having a sister like Margaery; beautiful and gentle, with all the world’s graces at her command. Arya had been entirely unsatisfactory as sisters went. (Sansa, ACoK) 

Here is Sansa throwing Arya under the bus because she considers Arya to be bad:

'I'm not like Arya... She has the traitor's blood, not me. I'm good, ask Septa Mordane, she'll tell you'

In many ways, Sansa’s POV regarding Sansa is even worse than Arya’s. It’s even more cruel. So how does reading all this from Sansa’s POV make one feel sorry for and sympathize with Sansa instead of Arya? That’s why the defense squad for Sansa’s actions in book one is so weird. It’s basically cheering for the popular mean girl in high school who bullies other kids for being ugly and for not excelling in the things the popular girl is good at.

Here is Brienne’s POV showing us how Catelyn compares Arya unfavorably to Sansa:

The girl was too young and too plain to be Sansa Stark, but she was of the right age to be the younger sister, and even Lady Catelyn had said that Arya lacked her sister’s beauty.  - Brienne, AFfC 

Which basically shows us why Arya thinks this:

“��my hair’s messy and my nails are dirty and my feet are all hard.” Robb wouldn’t care about that, probably, but her mother would. Lady Catelyn always wanted her to be like Sansa, to sing and dance and sew and mind her courtesies. Just thinking of it made Arya try to comb her hair with her fingers, but it was all tangles and mats, and all she did was tear some out.“  - Arya, ASoS

So this idea, that if we had gotten Jeyne’s, Septa Mordane’s, Sansa’s or  Myrcella’s POV instead of Arya I at the start of AGoT, we would have sympathized more with the ladies of Westeros and realized that it was only Arya’s viewpoint that was warped, makes no sense.

Arya was the outcast. The outsider. We are meant to sympathize with her because the author sympathizes with her and not with Sansa.

It’s not some narrative trick that GRRM is employing where once we switch to another POV, we find out that Arya is wrong and it was Sansa all along who was the misunderstood girl feeling like an outcast because of patriarchal ideals about femininity and the role of women in Westeros society.

The reader is only reading and feeling what the author wants them to read and feel.  So maybe give readers some credit for identifying and comprehending what the writer is trying to say in his books instead of coming up with excuses like ‘sexism’ and ‘misogyny’ and Arya’s ‘warped view of the world’ to justify Sansa’s behavior towards her younger sibling and negate any criticism about the character. 

Alright, Hello again! 👋 I would like to know more about this OC of yours that you mentioned to me a few days ago... what's her name perchance & going from there with whatever you'd like to share... like her past & etc.??👀 And also the "How do do they realize they're in love?" question just because 😉

AJDJVKFJG OMG okay brace yourself 'cause this is gonna get wild.

The girl's name is Tanaven, or Tana for short. She is an elven equivalent of late twenties, which varies depending on the setting (started as a TES character, then I proceeded to drag her everywhere). Speaking DnD, she's a wood elf, a rogue and an archer. While her skill in using a bow, sneaking around, swiping everything that isn't nailed down and getting rid of unwanted people is unquestionable, her personality leaves much to be desired. Tana is very abrasive, cold and rude - a total jerkass through and through. The only thing she ever cared about is herself: her survival, her well-being, her future, damned be everyone else. This self-centered mindset is a direct result of her rather unfortunate fate as a child.

Ya see, her parents were merchants - caravaneers to be precise. They never really had a patch of land they could call home, so the caravan was their everything, and of course Tana travelled with them. One day they were attacked by bandits - classic story, right? Kill the parents, rob the wagons, take a scared child with you as a prisoner. So they did. Tana spent quite some time as the bandits' prisoner, and during that time she was essentially their slave. She was frequently abused in every sense, and her defiance didn't help. It all ended one night when the bandits raided some big shot and got shitfaced celebrating. Tana used this opportunity to steal a short sword and finish off as many of the sleeping drunks as she could before escapind their stronghold and running for the surrounding wilderness. After some time surviving the wilds, learning the art of providing for herself while you have no one to back you up and growing progressively more antisocial, Tana returned to civilization - a teen then. She joined the local gang of young criminals (by intimidating her way in) and uncovered her shady talents. As an adult, she lives off solo robberies, odd jobs, killer contracts, etc.

Tana is a lean and lanky woman with unhealthy pallor, quick, fidgety movements and a heavy gaze. She is not a team player - only having absolutely no other choice will force her to team up with someone. Even then, odds are that should the opportunity arise, she'll stab them in the back and run. Even when she tries to be nice, it comes off as extremelly insincere. All of this is because she is scared of people, most of all of them touching her. She asserts dominance to make sure no one will harm her. Even her weapon of choice, a longbow, reflects her mentality to not let anyone close.

That said, when forced to cooperate, she is very uncomfortable with that at first and tries to distance herself from her companions - to the point where she will literally sleep on a tree. Surprisingly, she's great with teamwork, having a sharp eye for strengths and weaknesses of both her enemies and allies, so she uses everything to win. That, and she is good, really good with that bow. She also has a large ego so complimenting her skills is a sure way to make her somewhat ease up. She is very quiet, preferring to observe and listen, and when she talks, it sounds like it's coming out of a crow: her voise is hoarse and low, not something you'd expect from a female elf.

That said, she does sometimes crave companionship, which is why she can make a pass on you in hopes for a tryst, no strings attached of course, do you wanna be strangled with them or something?? She's not a gentle lover and won't let you take charge. She loses herself in the moment, as if the other person isn't even there, and doesn't stay for long after the deed is done.

And that brings us to the question about love, and honestly, I'm not sure about the answer. While not incapable of affection, Tana pushes the feeling away with solid determination. And if she does find herself falling for someone, it'll happen in the moment of connection. A touch, an eye contact even, that she doesn't want to break. Or rather, that she doesn't break immediately, on reflex. And the realisation that she doesn't want to run from that person will scare her so much that she'll do just that. She'll run, she'll hide, she'll push them away, but at the same time she'll act as their guardian angel. She'll be torn between fear and attraction, desperation and yearning for safety at last. Because of that, she'll be even more jumpy and abrasive, but believe me when I say there will be a lot of sad puppy eyes staring at her beloved from a distance. Pining. Lots of pining.

Of course if her SO wants to snap her out of it, if her feelings are returned, then they'll have to provide rock solid proof that she's safe with them. Save her from a potentially fatal attack? Or embrace her and her faults in the moment of vulnerability? Who knows.

Anyway that's Tanaven for you.

3x3

So, thanks to some A+++ enabling from the discord server, I've decided to post my BNHA self insert fanfic. I haven't really talked about my insert, but I plan to sometime in the future, but for now I"ll leave ya'll in the dark.

This whole thing was made just to make me and my friends feel good and give us some much needed self indulgence.

Word Count- 1,550

Hypnotica- My S/I

Grafight- @fictional-characters-are-hot's S/I

Slasher- @alwayslovestruck's S/I

It's been 3 hours.

4 hours since the hero team Discorded was asked to help out with a capturing some drug smugglers.

3 1/2 hours since they found the drug den.

3 hours since Hypnotica sent in Grafight and Slasher to covertly search the place.

3 hours since he's heard a response.

It was a loud, shrill scream that made his blood go cold. Expecting the worst, he decided to find some loiters and use his quirk to get some backup.

After being only able to scour up 2 shadows for his mask alts to posses, he realized the longer he spends time looking for people, the more harm could come to his friends...*family*. Dolly, taking the form of a Harpy, and Dylan taking a shape of a Lion man, will have to do for backup. Hoping that it won't be needed, he finds an open window and heads into the den.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Look! They're opening the crates. That must be how they ship the quirk enhancing drugs."

"Slasher. I can't see shit, it's too dark in here and I don't have dope cat eyes like yo-....wait a sec..."

The younger of the heroes takes out a sketch book and quickly draws our some night vision binoculars and they suddenly 'pop' out into a physical object. After giving a thumbs up, in order to stay quite, Grafight uses the goggles.

"Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiit....that's a lot of powder. How the hell do they sell it all?"

Slasher just shrugs it off and continues watching the group of men, tail swaying as they do.

All of a sudden, all of the men stop moving. A few moments later they all turn to the gurder that the hero duo were perched on.

"Hey! Lookey here fellas, some new 'test subjects' to try the new mix on."

"Oh as if you'd even come close to touching us! You won't even get a chance to lay a finger on us. Right Grafight?"

"Right! Good luck fuckers!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Slasher! Grafight! What's going o-...."

"We won!'

Hypnotica was greeted by the sight of Slasher triumphantly standing with one foot on top of a human mound of passed out thugs while Grafight was looking over the crate of drugs, kicking one of the thugs that started move on the ground.

"Wha- Then who the hell screamed?!"

Grafight, grabbing the thug she kicked by his collar and threatening to punch him again.

"This guy did. I think he's like...the kingpin or something. Screams like a little bitch though."

"We managed to take these guys out super easily, like it was nothing! Can't believe they were talkin' smack like they could beat us..."

Still a bit shaken up from his worry, Hypnotica headed over to check out the crate. Noticing a strange metal box buried slightly underneath some of the drugs, he pulls it out and begins to question the kingpin about it.

"This your tracker? Is this the thing that you use to keep an eye on your 'supplies'?"

"You better answer. Grafight is pretty liberal with bodily harm."

Slasher says as she walks over to look at the box better, poking it with one of her claws.

"...it....it...he.....hehaha..."

"Punching time?" Grafight asks looking up at Hypnotica.

"Not yet. He needs to be conscious to answer our questions."

"Talk then, asshat."

"...doesn't matter....we....we were gunna..."

"Gunna what, idiot?!"

"d....die...die anways..."

"...Punch him Grafight."

Hypnotica grumbles while Dolly pried open the box with her talons.

"Gladly!"

"...I don't think he meant, like, *80 times Grafight...*"

Slasher now worriedly watches as the kingpin get's absolutely destroyed by fists.

"..."

Hypnotica seems frozen as he looks down at the box, unmoving, and holding his breath. Cocking her head, Slasher notices that somethings wrong with him.

"Hey....you alright big bro?"

"..."

Finally stopping her onslaught on the kingpin, Grafight looks over to Hypnotica.

"Cat got your tongue or something?"

Still not saying a word, Hypnotica turns the box so the others can see. In the box is a small glowing green tube with wires attached to it, there's also a countdown screen slightly below it. It's only got 3 seconds left on it.

As her tail drops, so does her heart, with only a few second to accept her fate Slasher meekly gasps as she starts to speak.

'Oh..'

'Shit'

Grafight finishes Slasher's thought, right before everything goes white.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sirens are blaring as the green mist clears from the rubble of what's left of the warehouse. Various bodies are strewn all about, policemen and EMTs were able to arrive on the scene fairly quickly. Not that it mattered, the damage was done. From the looks of everything, there was no survivors, all thugs and kingpin were either crushed by the rubble or suffered from some strange type of asphyxiation. Death seemed to encompass the area, until one of the EMTs discovered a lion like shadowy figure seemingly protecting a group of still breathing bodies. The figure soon dissipated leaving a strange mask in it's place.

The bodies were still alive, but barely, and they needed medical attention and fast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"-Sources say that the 'hero' team were incapable of apprehending the group and had to resort to extreme measures to stop the-"

"Horseshit! Why would we set off a bomb? We had it covered already, it wouldn't kill them to get their facts straight..."

"Calm down Gummybear, the doc said you shouldn't strain yourself..."

It's been 4 days since Grafight was released from the hospital, suffering from 2 broken arms, rendering her unable to use her quirk...among other things. Fatgum, her partner, had insisted to stay by her side until things healed, neglecting his own hero duties in the process.

"The doc can shove it as far I care! These newscasters have no right to spew out garbage lies like that! It's gunna hurt our rep.... Sure we might not be the nicest, safest, smartest heroes in the game, but we aren't villainous either!"

"...You...you do have a point, but don't worry about it, I"m sure one of the others will give them a piece of their mind and sort things out. Right now you and I have dinner to eat!"

Grumbling as she rose from the couch, Grafight followed her partner to the kitchen, sitting down at the small round dinning table that the family usually shared. This dinner was different though. The table had a nice white satin cloth draped over it, with 2 light candles on top. It seemed that this time these two will be dinning alone.

"Take a seat baby, I'll go grab our meal."

"It better be something good, the meals at the hospital were utter shit..."

She lets her sentence trail on as a covered plate is placed ever so gently in front of her.

"Oh? Did you plan on surprising me? ....Babe, my arms, I can't open it."

"Yeah, my bad, here ya go my sweet Gummy."

Fatgum slowly removes the cover for maximum surprise effect. Once it's off, Grafight can't help but smiley widely as she notices one of her favorite meals, but with a culinary twist. Hotdogs sliced up into star shapes, surrounded by a circle of mashed potatoes, topped with melted cheese, a dash or salt, and a glob of ketchup in the middle of it all.

"So? Ya like?"

"..."

Grafight's eye's start to tear up, but her smile still stays plastered on her face. Fatgum notices right away and goes to quickly grab some tissues.

"Oh Gummy, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to upset you! I just...I just thought I could do something special for ya...I...I-"

"Oh baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabe! I love it! Omg, I love it so much, you're the best, you know that right?"

"I...yeah....no. Wait. YOU'RE the best, you're so strong and special to me, I...I"m just so happy that I didn't lose you...you mean the universe to me."

"Stop...I'm already crying, let's just...let's just enjoy this meal together, okay?"

"Okay. I"m starving anyways..."

Fatgum takes his place across from Grafight, and starts to devour his meal.

"Uh....Ahem...."

"Oh! Yeah, my bad, let me help ya."

The two enjoy their meal together, never breaking their love filled eye contact.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Slow down Mochi, you shouldn't be over-exerting yourself."

"But Kano, I want to dance! I really like this song...cough cough...it's a total....total banger, and I deserve to have some.....fun after what happened. Everyone else has been so....gloomy since then....I just....want to bring some life.....back into the house is all...."

"I know, I know...but, you won't be able to do much joy-spreading if you can barely walk to the mailbox without getting winded halfway there."

"Hmph, stupid bomb chemicals getting.....getting into my lungs...fucking up my whole system...did they ever figure out what...what was in that tube...anyways?"

"They still haven't called us back about the results yet, but they said the inhaler they gave you was working well enough for us not to worry. So we won't, right Mochi?"

"...Yeah...I guess...I just hate...feeling weak like this...I wanna cry but.... I don't want the others to...to see....they've been through enough....I don't wan them to worry about me...me too..."

Kano takes a moment to think, after a moment he takes Slasher's paw and leads her into the living room.

"Sweety...what are you doing?"

After he gets Slasher to relax on the couch, he walks over the Hypnotica's advance sound system and grabs a homemade looking CD. Putting it in he looks to Slasher.

"The good doctor said YOU shouldn't exert yourself, but....he never said anything about me."

As soon as the music starts, Kano begins to dance in a way that's all to familiar to Slasher. It's a dance they've grown to call the 'Humpty Dance', and no one else in the house can quite get it right like these two.

"Oh Kano! This....this makes me so....happy! Keep...keep going! Maybe...maybe you could...put in some...Slipknot next? Pwetty Pwease?"

"Anything for you my Mochi."

Slasher enjoys the show Kano puts on for almost 2 hours, by the time he gets done, Kano is just about as winded as Slasher has been recently. The two then cuddle on the couch, just taking in each other's slow and labored breathes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You will most certainly not."

Sir Nighteye slams his hand down on the counter to emphasize his point, making Hypntoica jump a little.

"And why the fuck not? The need to get their facts straight. I will not stand for all of this fucking slander."

Sir sighs and pushes his glasses up, trying to calm himself down.

"I understand that, but 'kidnapping the newsroom executive' is not the most ideal way to go about it. You can barely walk, even with the crutches!"

Motioning to Hypnotica's broken left leg, and the sprain in his other. Hypnotica just huffs and looks off to the side, still with an angered expression plastered on his face.

"So. Fucking. What? Okay, maybe kidnapping is a bit extreme, but..."

Sir's own angry expression starts to soften as he notices the tears that begin to fall from his partner's face. Wondering how long he's been holding it in.

"...I can't let my family take the blame for a stupid mistake that I made!"

Hypnotica's body begins to shudder as more tears fall, Sir walks over to him and embraces him in a way to try to calm him down.

"It's not your fault...all of you did what you could to try and handle the situation."

"That doesn't excuse all of the death and destruction that happened, and not to mention all the hurt my family is going through because of it!"

"No. It doesn't. But how is any of that your doing, hmm?"

"...I...I..."

"Shh, just stay, and relax. I'll make up a fully detailed report and send out a few copies to some of the stations. They'll most likely use those facts since my name does carry some weight..."

While still holding him with his right hand, Sir uses his left to tilt Hypnotica's chin up to meet his eyes. After a few seconds go by, he rests his head on his partner's.

"...Trust me dear. Everything will turn out just fine."

"Promise?"

"I promise. I saw it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A trusted source, who has decided to stay anonymous, has confirmed that the deaths in the Discorded Warehouse accident were not the before mentioned teams fault, but the fault of-"

"Thank you! Finally, a news channel that checks their facts. Even though I'm fine with a few deaths under my belt, but whatever I guess."

"Oh! Look Gummy! That's me! Saving all of those orphans was quite the task, I'll have to tell you all about it later."

"Kano my love! Let me help you with those dishes, there is far to many for one man to clean."

"Thank you Mochi! I kinda went all out with the meal this time, it was a celebration for everyone recovering so quickly....well, mostly everyone..."

"I call bullshit. Of course right after I get healed I trip down the stairs and end up right back to square one."

"Guess that means I'll have play nurse bit longer my dear."

~~*Cue Laugh Track*~~

Come and Lay the Roses 22- Before I Lose Faith- [Ivar x OC]

Summary: Ivar has a conversation with Ives. Aaline expresses her displeasure.

Characters: Ivar x OC, Bjorn x Torvi, Ubbe x Margrethe, Hvitserk x Thora, Sigurd x OC, Lagertha, Ragnar

Warnings: arranged marriage, violence, sex, torture, language, mentions of rape/sexual assault

Ch. 21

Word Count: 2324

AN: Wow. To say a lot has happened since I last posted is a gross understatement. I hope everyone is staying safe out there and I hope my story can bring you a little bit of joy during these difficult days. Stay safe, everyone. Thanks for reading. 

“No one ever fell in love gracefully.”

~Connie Brockway

Ivar looked up when a knock sounded on his office door. His secretary, Idunn, poked her head in. “Mr. Lothbrok, Ives Jensen is here.” Ivar’s smile was downright sharklike and he pushed back from his desk. 

“Thank you, Idunn. Please hold all of my calls until I return. I should be back in an hour, 90 minutes at most.” She nodded at him, standing back as he passed her. Ives was sitting next to Idunn’s desk, his leg bouncing. Ivar could see the sweat beading his brow and his eyes shifted from side to side. Good. Ivar wanted him on edge. 

“Ives! How wonderful to see you! Thank you for agreeing to meet me for lunch on such short notice.” Ivar extended his hand to his father-in-law and gripped tight, reveling in the wince that crossed Ives’ face. He swept his free hand out in front of him and let Ives lead them to the elevator. 

Once inside, Ivar pressed the button to take them down to the lobby. A town car was waiting for them at the front entrance. Ivar waved Ives forward and the man hesitated for only a second before he got into the car. As soon as Ivar was inside, the car began to move.

Ivar wasn’t taking him far. He didn’t even really plan on Ives staying long. His motive was simple. 

“Did you enjoy the party?” Ivar adjusts his shirt sleeves, tugging them down past his blazer. He looked up. Ives was still sweating, his hands clasped tight in his lap. He kept glancing from Ivar to the window and back. Ivar smiled, baring his teeth. 

“Ives,” The man looked at Ivar, his eyes staring somewhere between his forehead and his chin. “Did you enjoy the party last weekend?” Ivar asked again. 

Ives cleared his throat and wiped his palms down the tops of his thighs. “It was very...eventful.” Ives said, avoiding Ivar’s gaze. Ivar hummed and looked out the window, watching the cityscape pass by. 

“I saw you had to be escorted out.” He turned his icy gaze towards Ives. The man had gone pale, the circles around his eyes standing stark against his face. He shifted against the leather beneath him, his sweaty palms squeaking against the seat. 

“Was that what you meant by...eventful?” Ivar said. He kept his tone light on purpose. He wanted to keep Ives on edge. He wanted the man to sweat. 

This man had caused harm to his wife, a woman he had recently admitted he loved.

Ivar was a possessive man. Things, people that he cared about were important to him. If they were hurt or damaged in any capacity, Ivar saw fit to take action. He’d broken bones, bought properties, demolished houses, even killed for lesser crimes than what Ives had done to Aaline. He felt it was his husbandly duty to remind Ives of what he was capable of. 

“My wife hasn’t divulged to me the details of your conversation last weekend but I do know this.” Ivar readjusted in his seat, leaning forward. He lowered his voice and stared at Ives with an impenetrable gaze. 

“I know that she has sworn never to speak to you again. I know that is a difficult promise to keep but she’s done a reasonable job at accomplishing that goal.” Ivar took a deep breath and sighed, twisting the band on his left hand around his fingers. 

“I know that my wife refused to have you walk her down the aisle. I know that she wouldn’t dance with you at our wedding. I know that you have been invited to social gatherings as a courtesy, strictly because you are on the board of Jensen Construction. If I made up the guest list, you would forever be removed from attending such functions.

“My wife has told me what you’ve done.” He looked up at the trembling man before him. Ives had tears in his eyes. Excellent.

“The pain and suffering you have caused her. Now, the only reason you are not dead is because of the deal you made with my father. Our marriage in exchange for your life and your company. A reasonable trade, in Ragnar’s eyes. But not in mine.”

Ivar studied Ives for several seconds. The man was vibrating against the seat, his body ready to hurl itself out of the moving vehicle at a moment's notice. Ivar suspected the only thing keeping him contained was the very real threat in Ivar’s eyes. The man would stay seated until Ivar had expressed himself. 

“If it were up to me, you would die slowly and painfully so that you may know just an ounce of the pain my wife has felt because of you. Your body would never be found and no one, absolutely no one, would miss you.” 

Ivar sat back and cleared his throat, rubbing his hand over his mouth, collecting himself. Ives was crying now, tears streaming down his face freely. Ivar rolled his eyes and pressed a button on the console next to him. The car came to stop. He looked at Ives. 

“My driver has been instructed to take you home. And you will be returned home.” Ivar could see the man relax just enough to no longer appear pale. He couldn’t have that. 

“But know this, Ives Jensen.” The man looked up and met Ivar’s eyes with an astounding amount of courage. “If you ever speak to my wife again, if you even think about speaking to her, looking at her, visiting her, I will find you, I will hurt you, and I will kill you.”

Ives looked like he was going to vomit so Ivar jerked his head once and the man leaped from the car and onto the sidewalk. As soon as the door was closed, Ivar felt the car move beneath him and he pressed the button to roll down the partition. “Cafe Italia, please. I’m craving something red.”           

.

She had been at lunch, enjoying a nice outing with Torvi and Lagertha when her phone started to ring. It was her father so she sent him to voicemail. On her way back into the office, she listened to it and was surprised to find a long, detailed message about how Ivar had threatened his life if he so much as looked at her again. 

She wasn’t sure how to feel, at first. Astonishment at her father’s bravery, for one. Not many people were threatened by Ivar and then blatantly disregarded his threats. It was a surprising amount of bravery from Ives. 

Then she felt a steady heat that began to simmer in her belly. It started in her stomach and steadily moved down between her legs. She felt her face and chest flush and ringing began in her ears. It wasn’t until she felt a dampness between her legs that she realized she was aroused. 

Ivar had defended her. He had threatened her own father with bodily harm if he tried to see her. For a man to go to such lengths, he had to possess some kind of feelings for her. She had to take a steadying breath to control her heartbeat. 

Rage was the next thing she felt. How dare he! Did he think she was incapable of taking care of herself? He watched her train. Even trained her himself. He saw her physically subdue Ives at the party last weekend and he had the nerve to threaten her father? After everything he knew?

She hardly remembered asking her driver to turn around and head to Ivar’s office. She didn’t even remember getting there. The next thing she knew, she was stalking up to Idunn’s desk. Idunn stood up at her sudden approach. “Is he in there?” She spat. She didn’t wait for Idunn to reply before she shoved the doors open. “Did you threaten my father?” She pointed an accusing finger at him, ignoring the stunned faces of the two men seated in front of him.

Ivar was in the middle of a business meeting when his wife slammed through his office and started shouting at him. Her long hair flowed behind her like a cape and her eyes were ablaze with anger. Her face was flushed in her ire and he could see the snarl forming on her lips. 

She had never looked more beautiful than she did right at that moment. He could feel his own anger rising to the surface and he stood carefully from his chair. “Gentlemen, I apologize for the interruption. If you wouldn’t mind stepping outside for a moment.” Ivar ushered the two men around his seething wife and locked the door behind them. He turned back towards Aaline, his mouth drawn down in a thin line and glared at her. 

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? I’m conducting an important business meeting with high-value clients and you just storm in here demanding things. Who do you think you are?” He stalked towards her and invaded her space. They were nose to nose and Ivar could feel the anger seeping out of her. If she were a cartoon character there’d be steam coming out of her ears.

She narrowed her eyes at him and huffed. “I’m your wife, Ivar. Did you, or did you not, threaten my father with bodily harm if he tried to contact me again?” Ivar glared down at her just as fiercely. He sneered and moved around her body, leaning against the edge of his desk before he answered her. 

“I did. As you stated, you’re my wife, anything that displeases you displeases me. I didn’t like the way he touched you the other day and I felt that he needed to know it. Besides, you’re not on speaking terms with him anyway so I don’t see how it matters what I did or didn’t say to him.” 

Aaline marched towards him. “He’s still my father, Ivar. It doesn’t matter if I’m speaking to him or not. I’m the only one who gets to threaten him.” Ivar snorted and rolled his eyes, folding his arms across his chest. Aaline eyed the way his biceps stretched the fabric of his jacket. “I mean it, Ivar. Don’t speak to him again.” 

Ivar straightened and stared her down, the fire in her eyes igniting something deep in his gut. He felt the blood rush from his head down to his groin and he nearly moaned at the heat reflected in her eyes. 

“I don’t remember asking you who I can and can’t speak to. I can threaten him as many times as I want. I could even kill him if I wanted to.” Her hand snapped out faster than he could catch it. His head swung sharply to the side and he could feel the sting up through his temple. 

He jerked back around to stare at her and opened his mouth to retort when she was on him. Her lips smashed against his and he tasted blood. Whether it was his or hers, he wasn’t sure, but the taste lit something inside him and he moaned. 

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself fully against him, aligning her body with his. She could feel him hard against her and she whimpered. Ivar knotted one hand in her hair, gathering it in his fist and pulled. She gasped and arched back over his arm. He moaned against her lips, driving his tongue against hers and memorizing her taste. She dragged her leg up the outside of his and rested her knee on the edge of his desk. 

Ivar groaned and released her hair, bunching her skirt up in his fingers and exposing her core. She pushed against him, knocking him back against his desk. There was a clatter as something spilled out over the desktop. 

Ivar licked deeper into her mouth, exploring her. He felt drunk, his movements were stilted and slow like he was moving through molasses. Her skirt was pushed up to her waist and he trailed his fingers up the inside of her thigh. He groaned when he felt the heat of her. She was already soaked through her panties.

Aaline shivered as Ivar traced his fingers up her leg, dancing over the sensitive flesh. She gasped when his fingers met her core. She rocked forward, pushing his fingers harder against her and Ivar moaned. She threaded her fingers through his thick hair and felt him shiver. She smiled against his lips and felt his answering grin.

She brought her hands down to his shoulders and pulled on the labels of his jacket. Ivar dipped his fingers past the line of her panties and groaned at the wetness he felt. He stroked his fingers over the slick dripping from her. She clung tightly to his shoulders, whining low against his lips. 

She jerked away from him at once and rubbed the back of her hand against her lips. Ivar glared at her, infuriated, when he heard a knock on his door. He rolled his eyes.

He stalked forward and yanked it open, the hinges squealing dangerously. Idunn jumped when he snarled at her. “What?” She pointed shakily towards the two men standing behind her. 

“They said they have another meeting at 3:30 and it’s 2:30 now. They said there’s still a lot to discuss and they’d like to be on their way.” Ivar turned when he felt Aaline press gentle hands to his back. He shifted and watched her squeeze around him and the door. 

She turned back to him and stood on her toes, pressing a quick kiss to his lips before disappearing back the way she’d come. He stared after her before turning his eyes back to his clients. He huffed and pushed the door open, letting them pass. 

He’d never been so sexually frustrated in his life.

@dreamlesswonder @youbloodymadgenius @inforapound @bcarolinablr @khiraeth @funmadnessandbadassvikings @jay-bel @feyrearcheron44 @londongal2810 @didiintheblog @jeremyrennerfanxxxx123

I swear, WHY are these people harassing MINORS. The atla fandom is mostly adults at this point, that they're SEARCHING KIDS OUT is just so absolutely disgusting. Those kids got to miss the initial ship wars, let them go through 2020 in peace.

Anon I feel you. Full disclosure, I have had a bottle of wine and spent four hours talking to my family on zoom so I’m heated. Okay, here we go. Let me say this. I am 29 and neurodivergent/ADHD so I prefer explicitly-stated social rules of engagement. Like I don’t always pick up on social cues and that has gotten me into interpersonal conflicts in the past with my peers.

BUT. I am 29 so I also understand that I am in a different place than I was when I was 15 or 12 or 17. I have different needs, different expectations, from those who interact with me than I did when I was a kid. Fuck, I know how it might have felt back 15 years ago to hear adults say “she’s a kid, she doesn’t know what she needs, her brain isn’t fully developed and she can’t legally consent” yeah that pissed me off and in some ways it wasn’t true but with regard to consent it was. Of course it was. But what I’m hearing from these minors, these teenagers who I don’t know if they’re 12 or 17, but they’re not asking to be treated like adults - they’re asking to be treated with respect.

Now all of what I am about to say is not me excusing this behavior, but analyzing why it happens. And yes, I am about to say that all of these anons are white I can smell the entitlement in the air.

I know why these fools are targeting minors and poc zutara shippers. I know why. You know why. We all know. They are EASY fucking targets. It’s sick, picking on kids. Absolutely sick. Harassment, predatory. And they are also acting in bad faith - if they were working in good faith, they would come off anon and say, “hey x I truly believe that zutara is harmful and I am confused as to why a poc would be cool with something that other poc say is harmful to them, can we have a discourse?” now granted, this is fucked up and essentialist garbage, and no one is entitled to discourse~ with random people on social media.

Now I want to make something clear before I get to my next bit: the zutara fandom is not the r*ylo fandom. First off, the zutara fandom has experienced hateful shit from TPTB since early on in fandom; we don’t have a lot of support from the creators. In fact, the creators have been outwardly misogynistic and hostile to us. Okay, Dante Basco and some of the writers MIGHT ship zutara but that’s like, not institutional support. And also there is a history of SOME fan creations being really fucking racist. That shit, the “dark enemies hate sex” shit that zutara is stereotyped as being about, is almost completely purged from fandom. Not that it doesn’t exist still. And not that it shouldn’t be corrected and that we shouldn’t try to grow as a fandom. Have I seen shitty politics from zutara shippers? Yes. And I cringe every time, but like I don’t expect every person to agree with my politics. We have grown so much as a fandom - and you can tell by the fan creations. Fanworks are not about non-consensual domination anymore (like they often were in the early days of atla), they are about respect and reconciliation. And they have been for YEARS, like I’m talking s2 onward, when zutara took off. *sips wine*

‘cause here’s the thing. Fandoms are groups of people. People, as a result of centuries-old imperialist/racist constructs, are racist. We have to actively unlearn so fucking much. And any fandom is going to have its shitty elements. This is not something non-zutara shippers are exempt from. Actually, the zutara fandom has done a lot of work to make the fandom safe for poc and minors over the years and I am so proud of it. I have never seen that in a fandom. Ever. It’s not to say it’s perfect, of course not.

We did that on our own. Not because kataangers or sokka/zuko shippers were like WTF RACIST lol no because poc in the fandom were like, HEYYY before you write capture fic please learn about x, y and z, and the white parts of fandom were like, oh shit let’s get educated, this ship is about reconciliation and growth, let’s live up to that. I mean honestly from what I’ve seen from the larger atla fandom, which has a hard time dealing with the criticisms about why atla is racist (lol shocking that bryke appropriating cultures for their financial benefit would be considered racist but /s) could learn from the zutara fandom. js.

Honestly I assume most of these anons are just fuckin white asshole anti-zutara trolls who have never actually interacted with the zutara fandom. As a white person I do think that we white people have a certain level of entitlement to spaces that are not ours. Like, I don’t see poc who have had to be in more collectivist or communal settings as a result of colonialism and white supremacy invading spaces they don’t belong to in the same way that white people do. This is a LEARNED behavior, not an essence or in our DNA. Like, many white people get pissy about not being allowed by social contract to say certain slurs, but like... A) it’s not a legally enforced LAW lmfao and B) those white people only get annoyed when they realize they aren’t allowed to say it. That’s an extreme example, but I think it’s emblematic of a larger problem - because of colonialist ideology, white people feel entitled to ALL spaces and ALL things. We get annoyed when things don’t work how we feel they should. I grew up expecting things to change when my social class put pressure on those things, so it is always going to be somewhat jarring for me to know that that isn’t the case for marginalized communities.

I know some of my friends who are black have said things like, “lol cait why are you so shocked and appalled that x is the way it is, that’s how it always has been.” Not always, and not all of my friends, but like it happens. In those instances it’s like, I see something happen that is racist or fucked up, and they’re like... yeah. Obviously. But for someone who is not exposed to something, they might find it hard to swallow. When it comes to fascists and capitalists, I don’t have any sympathy left to offer - just get fucking educated or have a fist to the nose. But ships are not at that level. And like people work with political bubbles, where they often get isolated to what discourse is happening in other bubbles, fandoms and subfandoms (like ship fandoms) also exist in bubbles. (I am not saying that fascists/capitalists are soul searching in their bubbles, but they do exist in clear bubbles on and offline and that is terrifying to me; their discourse cannot be GOOD and I hate not knowing what they are plotting).

Example. I don’t interact with r*ylo unless it interacts with ME, and what I see, I don’t like. (let me be clear, I am not comparing zutara with r*ylo because they are NOT equivalent; I would not be a zutara shipper if I thought they were similar). But I don’t go into shipper tags and harass children who support r*ylo. I hate it, I really do it fucking sends me up a wall, but I only ever interact with anti-r*ylo content. and in that way, I don’t know what discourse the r*ylo fandom is doing to correct its horseshit. I only know what I see, and I see r*ylo shippers being toxic and racist.

So I hate fucking r*ylo but you don’t see me going out of my way to interact with r*ylos about their ship. I can’t begin to tell you how much I am ANTI-r*ylo. It is antithetical to everything I believe. But again, I am not going into the tags, searching for r*ylos to harass. Maybe the r*ylo fandom is working on its toxic shit, maybe it isn’t. I have no idea, and I am not going to harass r*ylos about it in their inboxes unless they come into my inbox and harass me. And by the way, even then I am not going to have private conversations with shitty people - that’s all gonna be public, bitch.

Wow... IDK if this is coherent because like I said, wine. At best, these anons are racist white people who think that they are helping the anti-racist cause by attacking people who they think are pushing racist narratives... but are not challenging their implicit biases and so are picking on the most vulnerable people, who because of essentialist garbage, they feel like are traitors of the Cause or whatever, and also are minors so they assume are incapable of fighting back.

It’s racism, my friend. I’m drunk, but it’s racism. Hopefully I don’t have much to edit in this tomorrow morning lmfao. Please tell me if anything doesn’t make sense.