#has more loyalty to his country and soldiers fighting in war
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Iroh's "I looked away"
“The Storm” [s01e12] provided us a great insight into Zuko’s character, one that undoubtedly helps to understand his motives and anger but also how Ozai’s physical and psychological abuse influenced the banished prince. There are plenty of things to talk about, many little details that build layers of a complicated relationship between Zuko and his father, uncle, or even his crew and how perception of Zuko changes once we learn the truth behind the scar. But the episode also shows us a great deal of insight into Iroh’s character and though I do love how “The Storm” challenged our perception of those characters, rewatching ALTA makes Iroh’s “I looked away” much more devastating to me.
Because it is not just about his guilt over abuse Zuko was forced to endure. A guilt that won’t disappear no matter if he could or couldn’t do anything to prevent it, but… Iroh truly looked away from Fire Nation as a whole, didn’t he? Understandably, he was grief-struck after Lu Ten’s death and he did not fight back Ozai for the throne, as I suspect he either did not care anymore for it or did not want a civil war to destroy Fire Nation from inside. But he still was The Dragon of West, a very respected general and powerful political figure that others weren’t willing to openly challenge, including Ozai himself.
And no, I’m not wondering why Iroh did not interference with Agni Kai before Zuko’s face was burned to “teach him respect” but about the fact that he did not say anything at all against using the division of new recruits as a bait - and from the episode alone, we know he agreed with Zuko on that matter. It wasn't the right strategy - even if it has merit from a military standpoint, it definitely wasn’t moral or good for Fire Nation’s wellbeing. Beside Zuko, who openly challenged the strategy and called it betrayal, the only person that questioned it at all was an old unnamed general (“But the 41st is entirely new recruits. How do you expect them to defeat a powerful Earth Kingdom battalion?) while Iroh simply kept quiet and this detail makes me think the “I looked away” is as much about Iroh looking away from Ozai’s cruel abuse toward Zuko as about Iroh’s passivity during the war meeting, and in greater scheme, Fire Nation’s politics. I doubt Iroh could change Ozai’s mind and sure, I do not have an idea how the relationship between Fire Lord and ex-Crown Prince looked like, but the point is, Iroh did not even try to question the strategy and choose to sit quietly and dunno, it makes me wonder, did Iroh give up at this point of his life? Was he so afraid of the consequences for speaking his mind that he allowed Ozai and Fire Lord’s court to subdue him so much? Because if he did, his words to Zuko “[...] But you must promise not to speak. Those old folks are a bit sensitive, you know?” is as much warning to Zuko as to himself.
Iroh said to the crew that Zuko was right but it wasn’t his place to criticize the strategy, but who else was supposed to speak against this plan, if Iroh himself chose to stay quiet on the matter? If all generals - then and three years later - didn’t have any respect for life, whatever for their own subjects or civilians of other nations? And I think this is what truly kills me about this situation, that 13 years old boy had courage to speak against this dehumanization of Fire Nation’s citizens when Iroh, our good uncle Iroh, kept quiet and looked away again and again from what was happening until he couldn’t do that anymore because too great damage was already done.
(And isn’t it ironic that Iroh gave little Zuko a knife with the description never give up without a fight - words Zuko adapted as his life motto - but Iroh himself gave up? First at Ba Sing Sai, after Lu Ten’s death, now here during a war meeting and maybe, just maybe it is Zuko that unexpectedly pushed him back on the right track to actually do something, to make a choice and fight for what he believed was right instead of passively watching all the abuse done to an innocent child and young soldiers serving loyalty to their country. Was Iroh already a White Lotus then or did the travel with Zuko give him an opportunity to join it because he couldn’t anymore look away from how messed up Fire Nation became?)
#avatar: the last airbender#uncle iroh#prince zuko#zuko#zuko and iroh#i'm thinking a lot about this episode#even if i hate rewatching how ozai burned zuko's face#and sure iroh warned him and zuko spoke without thinking first#but it really says a lot about fire nation if 13 years old boy#who went to war meeting so he could learn as much as he could to be a good fire lord one day#has more loyalty to his country and soldiers fighting in war#than any military leader#including iroh showed during that day#iroh looked away from how zuko was burned#and he looked away from how fire nation's soldiers were treated by not speaking at all#even if ozai couldn't challenge him as i doubt he had guts to do so#look i have too much feelings for zuko iroh and atla right now okay? too much#no bashing iroh i'm only curious about his state of mind during the war meeting and about his position in court
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Through the Eras
Natasha Romanoff x Fem(Stylist)!Reader
Natasha was a master of disguise, she didn’t need any help in that department, but Fury had a different plan, and she didn’t feel a need to push back when she saw it unfolding. Aka, Natasha is a simp for R, and this is them falling in love over a decades time.
2011-IM2, 2012-OG Avengers, 2014-Winter Soldier, 2016-Civil War, 2018-IW, 2023-EG
All Canon besides EG.
Warnings: Violence, Death, Grief, but like mostly happy/fluffy.
Smut: Bottom!Nat, Oral/Strap(N), Praising.
2002
Natasha was hesitant about being in America, the land where a donut could be bigger than the size of someone's head, and where majority of experiences were rooted in fake niceties. Nothing about the foreign country felt like home to her, not that she knew much about such a feeling, but she knew it was best to get acclimated seeing as how she hadn't been given much of a choice. Either she give her life away to this organization, or she die at their hands.
Upon entering the SHIELD base her green eyes were tracking any and all movements as she trailed behind Agent Barton, the man she swears fealty to for sparing a wretch such as herself from a perceivably deserved death.
The agency is like nothing Natasha had ever seen before, majority of the agents here wore basic black suits with ties like you'd see on an individual working a 9-5, not so much at a government agency full of professional spies and assassins as she knew it to be.
Back in the Red Room the men employed by General Dreykov were almost always sporting full tactical suits like the cowards that they were to keep the little girls in line, and to surround the man for safety purposes. Here though, as Clint escorts her to the man in charge she doesn't see him with a team, no, it's simply a man in a trench coat, wearing an eye patch with a raven haired woman to his right.
"Romanoff.," the odd man with the eye patch nods at her stoically., "Barton here has decided to take a chance on you, don't make us here at Shield regret honoring that choice.," his hand reached for hers, she observed the gesture with hesitation, but eventually she met his attempt.
"Welcome to Shield Agent Romanoff, Hill here will escort you to your quarters, good luck."
—
2011
After nine years Natasha had yet to find the people of New York bearable, but she's learned to make due, and has acclimated very well as a good spy is trained to do, but moreover she had found she began to crave the perceived American dream. Over time she proved her expressed loyalty to the Director, as well as her mission partner turned family, and successfully crawled up ranks until she reached a Level 6.
With climbing ranks came more respect and then with that came new responsibilities. For years now she'd listened to Nick drone on about his determination to build a group of remarkable people to fight the battles that the bulk of your everyday people never could.
"Seriously Fury?," she scoffed while looking over the many files., "This guy is remarkable?"
"Stark is many things: a billionaire, arrogant, even a pompous asshole, but if you can look beyond the overly jelled back hair, and childish antics you'll see he's untouchably intelligent."
"Is that why he's letting himself die then?"
"Listen, Romanoff, I did not assign you this case for you to question my judgment.," he groaned, and ran his hand over his face., "You're here because I need eyes on the inside, and someone who can break him down until he accepts our help, and joins the good fight."
"So I'm your eye candy?," she scoffs, arms now folded across her chest as she glares at him., "Look, it's not ideal, but in part, yes you are."
"I don't appreciate such a deduction, I'm a skilled agent.," he nods., "Yeah, which is why you'll be gathering me intel, and helping the pitiful man who's too weak to help himself."
Natasha continued to glare, but Nick just moved passed it as he's grown used to her pushback over the years., "You're on your own in the field, but Coulson's on standby, and I've assigned Y/L/N to assist you when need be."
"The agency's hairdresser?"
"Now who's deducing?," you snarked from the door as you strolled into the room., "I also do your makeup, pick out your clothing, and keep your mind stimulated when you're bored."
Natasha glared at you for your interruption, but it was in vain, she always found your presence rather pleasant, even if she's only ever been able to experience you in passing thus far.
"I take it the two of you got it from here then?"
After you both nodded at the director he left the room smiling, and Maria smiled back., "Playing matchmaker now, are we Nick?"
—
Natasha's face never wavered when you made decisions for her, she was not one to push back outwardly if she didn't know you well, but you could detect the faux indifference in her eyes.
"Well, you seem to not be down for the bob, or the fringe look.," you called her bluff., "What about if I were to make you bald, super sexy.," she unexpectedly smirked at your teasing.
"Not sure Stark's into the bald type, have you even thought about that?," you grimaced., "Now Natasha, why would I ever care about a mans opinion? I don't usually think of men, let alone their opinions on a clients appearance."
Natasha's stoic expression returned as you spoke of her so professionally, she wanted to frown, but she knew it wasn't right since you were also here for a job. Now she's starting to understand the whole eye candy trope, as she's essentially procured you here as her very own.
"How about we darken your natural shade a little bit, and add extensions?" you held up the desired shade, and the glint in her eyes had you sold, even if all she did was shrug indifferently.
—
Natasha's body stiffened when your hands fell on her hips to turn her., "Something is off.," she frowned., "Gee, thanks Y/L/N.," you smirked, then made a 'aha' noise, spinning her back around before dropping your hold on her.
"Well?"
"Oh, sorry.," you smiled sheepishly., "Tuck the shirt into the pants, it'll be more form fitting."
"That was your big save?," she chuckled while doing exactly what you said, a smile on her face as she silently agreed with your judgment call.
"Don't mock me Romanoff, or I'll make sure to give your nose extra attention with my blush."
Natasha smirked cockily, a snide joke on the tip of her tongue, but instead of speaking, her breath was hitching when you straddled her lap, and nonchalantly began her makeup.
"Uh, Y/L/N.," you hummed, makeup sponge in hand as you prepared to apply her concealer., "Is there a reason you're sat in my lap?"
"There are no other places to sit in this tiny bathroom work space Romanoff, and there's no way I'm standing on my feet for over an hour.," your answer was playfully spoken, but serious.
"An hour?," you stifled a laugh at the sight of her scrunched features., "It's just make up."
"Do I question your fighting process?"
"I guess not.," she softly replied, her mind was a bit too focused on how you were so close she could feel your breaths to really push back, plus, she didn't really mind the proximity.
She became so distracted by you that she failed to hear the way your breath hitched after her arms unconsciously moved from dangling by her uncomfortably to wrapped around you.
"Done.," you swiped the stick over her lips, and stood up, much to Natasha's disappointment.
"How do I look?," she asked, and you turned to her with a playful smile., "Like a million bucks, you can say thank you now like a civilized person, or later after you wow the billionaire."
Natasha smirked, it excited her a bit to hear a tinge of jealousy in your tone, it told her this whole connection wasn't exactly one sided.
"Thank you krasivaya.," she left a soft kiss to your cheek, your knees nearly buckled, and you were praying for your sake she didn't see that., "Natasha, your lips weren't dry yet.," you chose to scold her to take the heat off of your bodies previous betrayal just before catching her off guard as you gripped her chin, and reapplied.
"Good luck."
"Why would I need luck when I apparently look like a million bucks?" she mused., "The money hungry fool will be under my spell in seconds." a playful wink was thrown your way as she left, but you were smart enough to know she was telling the truth, she had the kind of effortless beauty that could be used to topple regimes, and to your misfortune, your sensitive heart.
—
"What's your name lady?," Tony Stark, her op, immediately shouted at her as she entered, and she turned to him with a neutral expression., "Rushman. Natalie Rushman."
You giggled., "James Bond, really? You're such a cliche Romanoff," you could just feel the eye roll she was likely being forced to internalize all the while wondering why she agreed to your unhelpful proposal of wearing ear pieces.
Natasha wanted to smirk at your comment, because she was very much a cliche in this moment, but she had to remain in character as the "hot woman" from legal, and to get in Tony's good graces she agreed to a sparring match with his security guard, Happy Gilmore.
"You ever boxed before?"
"I have, yes."
"Oh boy, is he in for a treat.," you giggle, and Natasha smiled at the sound, and fortunately for her it seemed to fit in the moment anyways.
"What, like the Tae Bo? Booty Boot Camp? Crunch? Something like that?"
"Oh, no the fuck he didn't.," you verbalized aloud what her very expression did, you heard her clear her throat, and frowned, the woman you knew would've given him what for, but you knew she was forced to remain cordial here.
Tony called out to her, causing her to deviate her attention momentarily, and for Happy to believe that this was a teaching moment.
"Rule number one, never take your eye off your opponent."
"Rule number one, don't be a misogynistic douche.," you grumbled, and to your extreme delight you could hear Natasha grunt, and all other parties either shrieking or groaning.
"Atta girl."
Natasha rushed out shortly after the incident, and after dropping off the paperwork in her hand she made her way back to your hotel.
"I took the liberty of ordering room service.," you said as soon as she plopped beside you on the bed in her casual clothes., "I also used the company card to rent Moonraker for you."
Natasha slapped your arm lightly., "You're going to hold this against me for life, huh?"
"Ooh, I'm a for lifer?," she smiled softly at your tease, it was too soon to know really, but her heart fluttered at the idea of a forever with you.
"Who else will do my hair and makeup? Me?" she scoffs playfully. "I'm too high ranked to be expected to do such mundane, easy things."
"For that cruel dig I am eating the bonus chocolate covered strawberry!" you grumbled, she cackled as she swiped it from the tray and was met with your glare. "No, I don't think so."
Instead of chasing her down you laid out like a starfish on the mattress. "I heard the couch is comfortable, I hope you find that true," she gasped at your insinuation, then if only to show off she lifted you effortlessly, laid down beside you, and pressed play. "I'm sorry Y/L/N."
"I won't hold it against you Rushman," you rolled to your side, then faced the screen just the same. "Good, I kinda need you on my side."
——
The following day you were expected to make her look fancy, so you set her up in a red dress, and did a simple makeup look. "Have fun."
"Oh my, did I forget to tell you that you're coming with me," she looked at you innocently, but the glint in her eye screamed of mischief.
Your voice expectedly cracked, "What?"
"Pepper said I could bring a plus one, and Fury said I could bring you, so go get ready toots."
Natasha waited patiently on the edge of your shared bed on her phone, hardly listening as you grumbled from behind the closed bathroom door. "This is so uncool, I didn't bring anything fancy to wear," you peaked your sopping wet head out to pout at her in the hopes that you'd be spared going, but she held up a garment bag while smirking tauntingly, "Hurry up now malysh, we can't be late."
—
Natasha's hand settled over your hip as the two of you entered the venue together, you were in a black suit with a red dress shirt to match her dress, you looked like a couple, and the thought of the possibility made your skin burn, and it had your heart skipping with a doomed hope.
"Oh, who's this beauty?" Tony grasped your hand without asking, pulling it to his lips, and you grimaced as he pressed them to your hand. Natasha saw the disgusted look on your face, and instantly spoke. "This is Zoe Rushman."
"So beauty runs in the family then?" she shook her head, and pulled you even closer to her side. "No, it's a bit premature on the name, but she's my fiancé, and if the laws pass in our favor we'll be tying the knot next Spring."
Tony nodded, then took his leave to God knows where, and to be clear you surely didn't care.
"We're engaged?" Natasha spun you in front of her and leaned into your ear. "Yes, I will not subject you to Tony's flirting if I can avoid it."
"I thought you were meant to entice him."
"Not anymore, I already secured my spot, so really this is mutually beneficial." she mused, and you chuckled. "So I'm your arm candy?"
"Precisely," she kissed the corner of your lips, it felt real, but you reasoned it was for the sake of your story, so you shoved the feelings down.
"Natalie?!" you both turned to see a distraught blonde, you peered up at the small screen she was gawking at, you saw Tony racing in a car, then you saw a man with electricity tentacles also on the track. "Well that can't be good."
Natasha tended to a frantic Pepper, then she escorted you out of the venue. "Take her to the hotel," she instructed a shield agent, and you realized he must've already been on standby.
"Be careful Nat." She smirked. "I always am."
—
After working tirelessly to save Tony's image, she returned to the hotel at ten at night in desperate need of a shower, and some sleep. When she entered your shared space it was dark, and she made quiet work of tending to her needs before slipping in bed besides you.
"You're back.," you slurred, one eye flying open to confirm it was indeed the redhead., "I am."
"Did you get your dinner?"
Natasha smiled appreciatively, "I ate already, Pepper ordered us takeout, but thank you honey, I put it in the fridge for tomorrow."
You hummed, too tired to really respond, and Natasha watched you slowly fall back to sleep with a smile of pure adoration. A gasp left her lips only moments later though, her smile never dissipated, it morphed into a shocked one as you'd unconsciously scooted across the mattress and threw an arm around her waist.
"Good grief, you're going to kill me," she slid her arm underneath your neck, and allowed her other to lay over your body protectively., "And I'd die happy if you did," she whispered before allowing the unfamiliar comfort you brought her to help her fall asleep with ease.
A full nights rest was something incredibly foreign to her, but it consumed her tonight.
——
Natasha just left you downstairs, even with the last event ending in chaos she wanted you at this party with her, but first she had to assist Stark as was her job, "Do you know which watch you'd like to wear tonight Mr. Stark?"
"I'll give them a look," he sighed while fixing his shirt. "I should cancel the party, huh?"
"Probably," she turned to look at him, and brought him over a martini she'd prepared.
"Yeah, because it's uh—," he paused, and she promptly finished his thought, "Ill timed."
"Sends the wrong message."
"Inappropriate," Nat confirms with a sly smirk., "Is that dirty enough for you?"
He sipped it, then immediately deflected back to the watches, and you grimaced at the way she flirted so easily, a little reminder that this was all a ruse, and she wasn't yours to have.
Natasha sat besides him, not because she was interested in the man, but because she wanted to have a closer look at his declining state as collecting intel was part of her overall mission.
"It's hard to get a read on you, where are you from?" Tony asked while she applied some concealer to his marred up face. "Legal."
You snorted, and the redhead heard it, and could picture your eyes rolling right now.
"Can I ask you a question, hypothetically?" Natasha only stared at him, but he went for it anyways. "It's a bit odd, but if this was your last birthday party you were ever gonna have, how would you celebrate it?"
"I'd do whatever I wanted to do, with whoever I wanted to do it with," she followed her answer up with the clicking of her heels, but stopped as he asked a follow up question. "Like Zoe?"
"Precisely," she hoped you could hear the truth in her tone, but if you didn't she'd find a way to make it clear to you after this whole mission.
Before you could wipe away the hopeful smile Natasha was at your side, slipping your near empty glass from your hand to down it all. "Drinking on the job Natalie?" she smirked over your glass, "Have you met my boss?"
Natasha beamed as you giggled, because not only does the sound illicit a warmth within her, but she knew you understood that she meant Director Fury just as much as she did Tony.
With an elegance in her movements the redhead settled your glass down, and brought you onto the dance floor as a slow song played. There was a comfortability that you were shocked to find yourself feeling with her in such a short time frame. Natasha was always an enigma back at Shield headquarters, but now, out in the field she was easier to read.
Just like you she craved exhilaration, you found it out in the wilderness on off days, and in the salon mixing up products to transform people into whatever they wanted to become. Natasha found it on stealthy missions, where she was able to kick peoples asses, and make the world a safer place for all that inhabit it.
There was still an air of mystery to her, which you expect being so new to this undefined dynamic with her. You didn't expect all her walls to drop at once, but the fact that any have dropped tells you that she trusts you enough.
Before you could make an honest move, like kissing her as you dreamed, an actual wall fell.
Natasha quickly pulled your face to her chest, shielding you from the glass, and as soon as Rhodey said to get out, she was pulling you both to another room, and softly cupping your cheeks, "We need to get you out of here."
"I don't break that easily Nata-."
"Natalie!" you grimaced at the shrill voice of the angry blonde, and Nat softly groaned before turning to her cordially, "Miss Potts."
Before she could say much to Nat about her speculations, she was dragged away by Happy, and you were much the same by Natasha.
"I think I'm your bad luck charm," you mused from the passenger seat, and Natasha softly sighed as she parked the car, "No, I actually think you're much to the opposite Y/N."
The both of you entered the hotel, taking turns slipping out of your dresses, and when you sat down on the bed Natasha's eyes widened., "You're hurt?" you shrugged. "Occupational hazard," you turned to face her, heart melting at the show of genuine concern on her face, but the happy faded fast when her eyes hardened.
"No, you're the all around stylist, not an agent."
"I'm more than that," your voice was small, and she immediately regretted her choice of words. "I-I know, but you still had no business being out in the field, and it's my fault you were."
"I'm okay Nat, it's only a scratch, and if it were to have been more I have combat training."
The redhead left the room, and your shoulders deflated, but then she came back with a couple wine coolers, a soft smile and a first aid kit.
"Let's get you all patched up soldier."
—
Natasha frowned as you entered the Stark expo hand in hand, "I don't have a good feeling about this," she groaned, and you squeezed her hand. "Nat, we already committed to this whole fiancés facade, so until we're through with the mission here I'm coming along."
"I could've told Pepper you're sick."
"Who's sick?"
"I thought I had a cold, but turns out it's just allergies," you answered, and held your hand out for her to shake as you'd yet to introduce yourself yet even after seeing each other.
"Zoe right?," you nodded convincingly, "It's lovely to finally meet you, Natalie here speaks of you so fondly, I'm almost kinda jealous."
"Aww, baby, you talk to your boss about me?" Natasha's face tinted a light shade of pink at the painful, exposing moment, and you did all that you could to stifle your teasing laughter. "You're just a total sweetheart," you mused and followed your teasing words with a gentle kiss to the already blushing woman's cheek.
"Well, shall we get seated?" Natasha managed to pull it together enough to brush right passed the moment, and escort Pepper to her seat.
It doesn't take long after the exchange for shit to hit the fan, and after Natasha roughed up Tony's business rival the two of you were in a car with Happy on the way to save the day.
"When we arrive I need you to watch the perimeter, I'm gonna enter the facility and take down the target," Natasha instructs, and you go to glare at her but are shockingly met with her undressing, and then you felt the car swerving.
"Watch the road," you growled at the man in the drivers seat, then you lifted your suit jacket up to shield Natasha as she changed out of the black dress and into her body defining catsuit.
Natasha softly smiled, an intense wave of emotion filled her as you remained respectful, and didn't intentionally ogle her like she's used to, but a secret part of her wished for you to. However, she has no time to dwell on it as the car comes to a stop outside Hammer's base.
"Stay in the car," Nat barked at both of you.
"I'm not staying in the car."
"Dude. You should really listen to her," you mused, but in direct contrast you followed her into the building, and Happy trailed behind.
"Y/N what are you doing?" she asks in a huff while knocking two guys out at once. "You can't be in here, I don't want you getting hurt."
You rush passed her with an eye roll, taking out a man who was fast approaching with a punch to his throat, then another with your lipstick that she now knows is a high voltage taser.
"I was going to retouch my lips with that," she gasps with a lopsided smile directed at you.
"Good thing you didn't you little thief.," you tease back as you both pass the last remaining guy, and she just uses her pepper spray on him.
Natasha is quick to help Tony with the drones, then while they fight she shifts her attention over to you, "You trained with who exactly?"
"Hill."
Natasha nodded, "Makes sense then."
Her arms that were folded over her chest move to around your waist., "Thanks for the help," you hug her back, and she basically melts into you., "Anytime Nat, I'll do your hair, makeup, I'll dress you up, whatever you want, really."
"How about you undress me?” she teased, using a deep sultry tone on you, you shoved her away playfully, and she cackled while following you out of the room. "Y/L/N, come back!"
"Thank God you girls are okay," Happy shouts as the both of you approach unscathed, he himself in a state of disarray, and you scoff. “It's not us you should be worried about."
He glares at you, then shifts his attention to the redhead approaching from behind you. "Hey, Natalie, what you did here was impressive,” he gestures to the pile of bodies with a shy smile.
"Would you be interested in getting dinner?"
Natasha watched as your jaw and fists clenched in unison, and it inspired her to make a move. Her callous hand was gentle as it found yours, she unfurled your fingers, then slipped hers between yours. "No thanks, I'm spoken for."
A wide smile befell your face as she spoke, and in a swift switch of events it was you making a move, your hand dropped hers to grab her by the waist, and as you spun her to face you the other slid behind her neck. "Yeah, she is."
Happy cleared his throat before scurrying off, the tension in the room thick at the glare you sent his way right before you pulled Natasha into you for a heady kiss. A soft hmph left you when she spun you around and into a wall.
Natasha pulled away from you at the sound of another's pained groan, she smirked at the sight of you so flustered; blissfully unaware, and as beautiful as the first time she saw you.
"We should get out of here krasivaya," Nat grabbed your hand again, squeezing it softly to better get your attention. "Lead the way Nat.," you smiled dreamily, she pulled you along, and guided you into the back of an awaiting car.
—
Fury shook your hand, then sent you off with a wink that you failed to understand as you were finally moving to leave Shields headquarters.
"Wait!” Natasha took off after you, and her hand settled on your shoulder. "Would you like to get coffee with me sometime?” you smiled at the redhead as you turned to face her properly, she was uncharacteristically nervous, and that made you feel extra confident. "I just made out with you over many unconscious men, and now you're nervous to talk to me—how adorable."
Natasha's mouth opened, but then it closed as she tried to remember how to formulate actual words. "I-I'm not adorable Y/N/N, you are."
"You're even more adorable now that you've said that," you snickered, then reached out to softly move a stray hair behind her ear. "I'd love to get coffee with you Natasha, feel free to pick me up tomorrow morning before work."
"I don't have your address.," she called out as you already started walking off again, and you didn't even turn around as you shouted., "We both know that's not true Agent Romanoff."
2012
You weren't a super spy yourself, but you didn't need to be to know the loud ding of your locked doors opening was because of a certain beauty.
"Natasha, I can get my own breakfast you know," you set the broom stick against the counter, and met her at the desk in your office. "Yeah, you can, but you shouldn't have to."
You shook your head with a fond smile, then accepted the warm beverage and croissant. "Thank you baby," you murmured over a bite of the buttery goodness, then you approached the pouting redhead as she reached for you.
"Are you excited to open the shop tomorrow detka?" she quickly pulled you into her warm embrace, and you nuzzled into her, knowing that she craved these reassuring affections. "Mostly," you admitted. "I'm kinda nervous."
"Why would you be nervous?"
"What if I open my doors and the sky falls?"
"Y/N, what's really going on, hm?" she softly swayed you, and placed a kiss to your forehead.
"What if I am not good enough to succeed?"
"Detka, now that's just ridiculous," your lover sighs softly as she works to pull you closer.
"You're plenty good enough, there's nobody else I'd ever let touch my hair," she confessed, "Nick knew that by the way, when he played matchmaker, and I went along of course because you were the woman of my dreams, and how else would I have gotten that close."
"Nat," she cut you off with a dizzying kiss, it was so intense that she was able to walk you back into your chair. "I'm dead serious detka."
"You're being honest?" she nodded, and you smiled widely. "I can't believe I was your first."
Natasha smirked, her dimple prominent as she absorbed your words, there were areas of truth to them, yes, you were her first hair stylist, but moreover, you were her first, and only love.
"Up until that mission I'd handled all of my own disguises, and yes, even as a level 6 agent I was able to work my own makeup brushes."
Your belly laughter filled the room, and your lover smiled as soon as it left you, if she were to only be made to hear your joy for the rest of her life she knows she'd die a happy woman.
"Hey, I have an idea," Natasha nudged your shoulder, then her hand gripped yours to pull you up to your feet without any explanation. Natasha settled herself down in one of your leather chairs with a lopsided grin as she met your gaze through the mirror and ran a hand through her unruly maine, "Have a ball."
It honestly surprised you how willing she was to be your guinea pig, her appearance really did mean a lot to her, but she seemingly trusted you enough to give you free reign with it.
Her current hair was a little passed shoulder length, and quite frankly overdue for a trim, but what you had in mind went beyond that.
Natasha followed your every instruction, and she did so happily, her sighs of gratitude proof that the way you scratched at her scalp as you washed and conditioned her hair was pleasing.
After you settled her down in the salon chair you practiced your customer service on her, "Ma'am, would you," she cut you off with a hand to the face. "Ma'am? Detka please..."
"Oh, my apologies, Miss picture perfect image of youth, would you care for a refreshment?"
Natasha smirked, "Much better, yes please."
Natasha graciously accepted the can of soda by pulling you in for an appreciative kiss, "Now don't you be letting the customers do that too."
You gasped, "Shit baby, do you think I should take off my 'Please kiss your stylist' apron?" She looked up at you unamused, her eyes were briefly casted down at your apron to ensure you were joking, and when she discovered you were she settled into the chair. "Chop, chop."
A roll of your eyes followed her play on words, you complied of course, but to make it more fun you spun her to face away from the mirror.
After you did the sizable chop you began to add layers to give it more volume, then you used your specialty scissors to give the ends texture. It took you about an hour to get her hair where you wanted, and from the back it looked great.
A long breath still left you when your hands no longer had something to manipulate, you were honestly nervous because it was far shorter than when she had walked in. Natasha had the fortune of being so beautiful that nothing could change that, but an outward opinion on her appearance didn't matter here, only hers did.
"Detka, you're making me nervous," she joked, and after a tense moment of silence she sighed, "I'm going to love it, I already feel tons lighter."
When you still refrained from spinning her around she stood from her seat, leaving you unable to face her reaction as she turned around. You still managed to do it though as you shut your eyes tightly to avoid the potential of a disappointed, and likely frowning Nat.
"It's perfect," she gasped, her hands were gentle as they moved you over a smidge so that she could see better. "Honey, open your eyes, and look at the smoke show that is on display," she shook your body like it was a limp noodle by her grip on your shoulders to emphasize the joy you should feel, and it actually paid off.
"Wow," you were genuinely elated as you opened your eyes, what you envisioned was so beautifully brought to life right before you. You didn't hesitate to run your hand through the much shorter red locks, appreciating the way that her natural wave showed through more prominently at this length. "You're beautiful."
Natasha surged forward, capturing your lips with hers, something she always did when she felt overwhelmed by you complimenting her. There was just something different about the way you said beautiful, your tone was always soft, and your eyes were even softer, as if you were seeing her for more than her physicality.
Which you were...
Just as you moved to deepen the affection, your tongue slowly sliding over hers, you were rudely interrupted by Natasha's obnoxious pager, and corresponding ringing of her cell. When combined that always meant she had to go, because Fury needed her for a mission.
"Absolutely not," she groaned, "What is it?"
"Agent Romanoff, always such a pleasure."
"Nick, I am unavailable, Y/N's opening day is tomorrow, can't you send someone else?"
"Unfortunately not Romanoff, it's connected to your mission in limbo, and if you don't seize the moment now you'll likely miss it entirely."
Natasha hung up on the director, it was her angered way of relenting on her stance, even if it was actually breaking her heart to say it.
"It's okay Natasha, it's just a salon opening."
"No, don't do that," she turned to face you, cupping your cheeks in her calloused hands. "You're so special Y/N/N, and the way you transform looks is amazing, it's life changing."
"Yeah, and the way you save the world is too," you leaned in to kiss her again, and the both of you made sure to savor the fleeting moment.
"I'll be back in time for a celebratory dinner."
"I'll be looking forward to it," you pressed your lips to hers for a chaste kiss. "Give them hell."
Natasha smirked against you, "I always do."
——
The world was a crazy place really, the general populous moves around in a state of blissful ignorance while atrocities happen under their noses. Rumors fly, but without any evidence they act as if the evil only exists in the stories. It's only in moments like now that they are able to get a glimpse through the cracks, and see that fables of other worlds are based in reality.
Natasha stared up at the gigantic black hole in the sky in a disgusted sort of awe, it was a sight to marvel at—sure, but she wonders more how she got here in a matter of twenty four hours.
Yesterday morning she was being pampered by you, and by that evening she was tied to a chair with men who actually thought they had the upper hand on her, the notorious Black Widow.
Then after a panicked call from Coulson over Clint's well being she was exchanging her idiot Russian henchmen out for a ship full of equally as idiotic American men, with an aloof God in tow who couldn't set their egos aside long enough to see the bigger picture until it had to be blown up in front of their once smug faces.
After fighting her best friend, being chased by the monstrosity that is The Hulk, and losing Coulson, a dear friend of the redheads, she was already beyond exhausted, but rest was nary an option with aliens flying through a portal.
If they didn't pull it together soon the entire state of New York would likely meet the same fate as many other peculiar cities in the past.
Natasha wouldn't be letting that happen though, no matter what she would never let anything happen to you. Which is why she was first to offer finding out how to close the portal, effectively neutralizing the core threat here.
"Natasha, you seem distracted," the captain observed, and Natasha sighed in frustration. "My girlfriend," she paused as the man out of time dropped his shield out of shock. "Go on."
"Today was the day her shop was supposed to open, and I'm fucking terrified that she was in it as the fight broke out," she struggled to hold back her tears, "She didn't answer her phone, and I had no time to check on her." At the odd show of emotions from the reclusive spy Steve realized he needed to offer his support here.
"Listen, you make it to the top as planned, and I promise to go collect," he paused, and she smiled at just the thought of you. "Y/N."
"Please, don't let anything happen to her." he nodded, and with that she was off in the sky, chasing down the alien scum while the super soldier sprinted towards your quaint shop.
The bell rung out, and you jumped onto the intruder's back in an instant, ready to fight, but then you saw the patriotic get up, and knew he was not the enemy in this current predicament.
"Y/N?"
You slowly fell from his back, then rounded the man to face him. "Depends, what's it to you?"
"Natasha sent me after you," he relayed, and you rolled your eyes. "That woman, I swear, it's like she forgets I'm trained for this shit."
"You're an agent?" you shrugged. "Something more in between trained agent and stylist."
"I saw her tough resolve crumbling only a few minutes ago," he admits. "I honestly haven't known her more than a few hours, but she doesn't strike me as the type to break easily."
"She isn't," you whisper, then meet the man with a frown. "Take me to safety I guess."
He escorts you out, and it's when an alien runs by with its razor sharp talons ready to strike that he realizes you were safer indoors. "Uh," he turns you back around, then puts you in your office, using your bookshelf he blocks the window, then from outside your door he moves another shelf full of products in front of it.
"We'll come collect you shortly, Natasha is currently working on closing the blackhole."
"Okay!" you shout back amusedly, then you pull up Scandal on your laptop, and hope Nat forgives you for watching the next episode without her on account of emotional distress.
——
Natasha took the elevator down Stark's ginormous tower, then she ran to your shop without taking a moment to catch her breath after she had successfully closed the portal. Once she arrived she barged through the doors only to groan at her newfound obstacle.
"Are you watching Scandal without me?" she grunted through the blocked door as she heard the familiar start up tune while she was trying to use her remaining strength to move the hefty, fully stocked set of shelves. Once she's successful she barges in with a deep scowl.
"The sky was falling..." you shut your laptop guiltily, then slowly made your away around your desk to pull the dirtied woman into you.
"Yeah, it certainly was," she melted into you, honestly she was too tired to further scold you over something so mundane, especially after she already spent the entire day bickering with egotistical men, then as if it was a cherry atop of a shit sundae, she had to fight ugly aliens.
"Sit down love, I'm gonna clean you up."
"Detka," you hummed while maneuvering around the shop to collect your hair products and first aid kit. "Would you like to meet the team today? We're going to get Shawarma."
"Who's really left to meet?" you teased, and she lowered her voice to imitate the men, "Bruce, the Hulk, and Thor, the God of Thunder."
"I'd love to go with you Nat, thank you," you lightly kissed her split lips. "Just maybe after I rinse your hair and disinfect these cuts."
"Fair enough."
—
Natasha was fatigued beyond recognition, so you had her hop onto your back, she protested softly, but the second her feet left the ground you felt her sigh against your back. "Comfy?"
The redhead nodded, then to further prove your suspicions she yawned, "It's just up the street detka, they're probably already eating."
Natasha rested as best she could on your trek to the family owned restaurant that managed to remain unscathed unlike the neighboring stores surrounding it that laid in ruins. Once you got to the door though she dropped from your back, then like the gentlewoman she was she opened the door for you, and escorted you to the table where she took her rightful seat.
There wasn't another open for you since they weren't expecting a plus one, but that didn't matter much, because to make the message clear to the unknowing men gawking at the both of you, Nat pulled you into her lap and kissed you oh so tenderly. Steve blushed at the unfamiliar sight, Tony smirked, and Clint was expectedly unbothered as he stuffed his face.
Thor too seemed unbothered as he asked for someone to pass him the 'sauce that burns his tongue in ways he enjoys.' Bruce, the reserved one looked a bit taken aback, and almost hurt if you cared to look at him, but he shook off his unfair jealousy, then politely shook your hand.
"Lovely to see you again Zoe."
"Zoe?" Steve looked between the three of you, and you and your lover knowingly chuckled. "Tony, and everyone else I guess, this is Y/N, my girlfriend of a years time, and that's all I will be disclosing, so avert your eyes and eat."
Tony didn't care about her disinterest, he was too busy having an epiphany, and so he gasped obnoxiously loudly, "You two got together because of me? Wow! You're both welcome."
—
"Your little team of superheroes seemed," you paused to mull it over while ripping the sheet back, slipping under the cool fabric, and opening your arms wide for the cuddle fiend that was your girlfriend to crawl right on into.
"Insufferable? Pig headed? Inept besides Clint, and even then I might be being too nice?"
Natasha smiled against your neck as you tried to temper your exhausted cackle. "I was going to say potentially incorrigible, but for the sake of mankind's survival I hope they're not."
"Yeah, me too, because as of right now it's an overload on testosterone, and I think if history has taught us anything, it's that that's usually the greatest indicator for eventual disaster"
You snorted at your lovers tired grumbling, "Yeah, but with you there to lead, it'll be fine."
"I sure hope so," she yawned, "Goodnight Y/N, I love you." Your body tensed, but when you looked into her murky eyes you could see that the exhaustion brought it on, but it was the truth nonetheless. "I love you too Natasha."
A smile wider than the state of Texas spread against your skin, followed by a smattering of tired, soft kisses as she nuzzled further into you., "YA sobirayus' khranit' tebya vechno."
(I'm going to keep you forever.)
"What was that?"
"You're a dead woman walking for watching Scandal without me, you better sleep with one eye open," she nipped your skin teasingly and you slapped her butt warningly. "Mhm, sure..."
As you both slipped away into a state of bliss Natasha couldn't fathom how she got so lucky to have found you, and you pondered learning Russian, because you loved her enough to.
2014
"Natasha, sit still," you commanded, the ability to straighten her hair as she asked of you was almost nonexistent with the way she moved.
"I'm sorry detka, I-I," she paused, her thoughts were jumbled with all the anxiety she's been feeling since her mission with Steve yesterday.
"What is it?" you settled the straightener down, then spun her around to face you, and in the cutest way possible she reached for you then pulled you into her lap so she could bury her face in your chest. "My favorite stress balls."
"Natasha," you warned, but the bite in your tone was nonexistent, and you found yourself laughing lightly along with her. "What? The world is an absolute garbage fire, but when I'm here, with my face in your breasts it's alright."
"I can't stand you," you groaned, and she shifted to look at you with a quirked brow., "Good thing you're sitting down then, huh?"
"Natasha, I swear to God!" her face smushed back into your breasts, but this time she was blowing raspberries, and you were aghast, “You’re a fucking pervert,” she laughed wildly as the words left you in a near shriek.
“I’m a pervert for only you,“ she pecked your lips, a sigh of relief brushing across your face as she feels her anxieties melting away so easily when she’s touching you—you’re her peace.
The sound of her pager going off like crazy ruined the whole vibe, “What now? Was me commandeering an entire ship not enough?”
Natasha’s face fell though as she read the tiny script: ‘Fury’s been compromised—hurry.’
—
The drive to the hospital was fast, you held on to the handle tightly as she swerved between lanes. Even in her frenzied state she settled a hand over your thigh to offer comfort, and in the moment when she had nothing but time to think she curses herself for letting you come.
If someone is after Fury, and they see her in the hospital she’s going to be a follow up target, and by bringing you she’s made you one too.
With your hand in hers you both entered the hospital, Maria and Steve were there to greet you both, and as they brought you to a window you saw the elder man in a state of disarray. Then before any words could be muttered his heart monitor went haywire, then he flatlined.
Natasha cried into your shoulder for all of two seconds before she was pulling it together. Her jaw clenched at the thought of leaving you, but she had no choice, so she kissed the corner of your lips, “I have to go,” Natasha held her hand up when you tried to follow her, “I’m okay,” she tossed Maria the keys, then soon disappeared.
You went to chase your girlfriend down but Maria stopped you, “Come with me, Nat’s not going to stop until she has answers, and you’re not safe if you go home since you came here.”
“Oh,” you nodded, then followed her instead.
—
Natasha entered the facility you were being held at with a deep scowl on her face, it didn’t exactly melt away at the sight of you, but it definitely lessened when you embraced her. Maria’s hold on her was nonexistent now as you took over escorting her to a chair for the doctor. Her subtle wince caused you to let go, and you made quick work of her jacket so you could see what happened, and you gasped.
The doctors rushed you aside, then fixed her up remarkably fast, and once they moved you tried to lean in for a kiss, but Natasha evaded your affection with ease, it was so subtle the way she leaned her forehead to yours, but you still felt the sting of her rejecting affection. It terrified you to think that after everything you have overcome together that she’d retreat now.
“I’m okay detka, I’ve experienced worse,” she tried to play down the wound, her voice wasn’t much above a whisper as she tried to keep the moment specifically between the two of you, but she didn’t succeed because you were on your feet, and slamming a fist into Steve.
“How could you let this happen to her?” You glared at the man, but you could see the guilt on his face ran deeper than her being wounded, “Why do you look so guilty Steve? What is it?”
Natasha glared at the super soldier, she told him that what happened on the escalator was self preservation, and that she’d tell you, but he was about to blurt it out, and humiliate you.
“Natasha kissed me,” he squeaked, blue eyes widening as he saw the murderous redhead jump to her feet, “I-It was only—,” you shook your head, a sign that the man took as your disinterest in his blubbering explanations.
Instead you turned to look at Natasha, who was quick to soften her gaze as your eyes locked, a tense silence befell the room because no one knew what was about to happen. Natasha did though, she knew you were silently assessing, and when you smiled softly at her she relaxed.
“I’m sorry you had to do that my beloved,” you coo, then entered into her good arms embrace, “It must’ve been a hardship for you to kiss a man seeing as how you’re not into them.”
Maria smirked, but then upon seeing Fury’s expression she cleared her throat, and began to debrief the room about Hydra’s infiltration. You sat in Nat’s lap while they discussed the miracle of Fury’s survival, and you hardly paid attention, your eyes transfixed on Nat instead.
Which is why when Fury muttered, “Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust.” You watched as Natasha’s eyes glazed over, and that had you seeing red.
“She took a bullet trying to avenge you, and you don’t know who you can trust?” You made your way over to the man, and slapped him across the face, and Nat tried to pull you away, “Detka, calm down.” But it was of no use.
“No? Absolutely not,” you brushed her off, then turned to point a finger at everyone present, “You all disgust me with how you treat her. Like Natasha is just an expendable asset, but she isn’t, she has a family to come home to and I’d appreciate it if she came back to us alive.”
The room was silent besides everyone’s varying breaths, yours being the loudest as you were feeling rather irate by the audacity in the room. Natasha took tentative steps, her hand turning you by your shoulder so she could look at you.
“I promise I’ll return to you tonight, and I’ll have Maria here take you back home so you’re comfy. She’ll stay with you until I get there,” you pouted, and she desperately wanted to kiss it away, but she simply refused to until her mouth was cleaned of Steve’s existence.
“What do you want for dinner?” Natasha laughed at your sweet question, “You pick.”
You nodded, then placed a kiss to her cheek before shifting to face the others, “Keep her safe, or I swear to God you will all regret it.”
—
Natasha entered your house in a stagger, her heart was nervous for a whole great deal of things, most importantly being you leaving.
“Welcome home Romanoff, I’ll be going.”
“Thanks Maria,” she squeezed the redhead’s shoulder, then yelled her goodbye to you.
This prompted you to race into the living room to see Natasha stood there in one piece, but her eyes spoke of a separate form of shattering. When she fell to her knees a second later you were right by her with no regard to your knees.
“Natasha, what is it?”
“Please don’t leave me,” she sobbed, “I can’t do this without you, I won’t survive—I won’t!”
“Hey, hey,” you settled on your butt then yanked her trembling form into you, “I’m not going anywhere, where is this coming from?”
“I had to air out all of Shield’s dirty laundry,” she started, her hand shaking as you clasped yours over it and you sent her a reassuring smile, “That included all the darkest parts about my past, once you see it you’ll leave.”
“Natasha, your past doesn’t define you, no one is free of skeletons in their closet, and yours were never yours to bare the reprimand for,” you cupped her cheek, and brought her gaze back to yours, “I know your heart Natasha, and whatever those files say doesn’t change that.”
“Matter of fact, they don’t matter, and I won’t even be reading them,” you announced, and her tears finally spilled over, “Thank you…”
“Don’t thank me Nat, you deserve to tell me whatever you want, when you’re ready, not when the world forces you to.”
“I love you Y/N,” she jolted up and caught your lips in a kiss, her mouth tasted of mint, and you smiled at the thought of her probably having brushed her teeth in some drug store just so she could kiss you when she got home.
“I love you too Natasha, you’re stuck with me.”
She smiled against your lips, “Really?” and when you nodded she smiled even wider.
“Marry me then,” she blurted the hopeful words against your lips, then she pulled back with pinched brows as she awaited an answer.
“Seriously?” she nodded, and watched how your eyes now filed with tears, “Of course.”
Natasha kissed you even harder this time, a symbolic sealing of the deal she reasoned.
“Is that borscht I smell?” you nodded with a breathless sigh to follow, and she smiled in pure adoration, “Might as well marry you now, my pretty little housewife in the making.”
“Do it,” you challenged, and she met that with a bruising kiss to which she instantly deepened, her silent promise that she’d be keeping you here until the ready borscht likely went cold.
2016
Natasha woke up next to you this morning, and for a few moments everything just felt right. Then she was called into work only to be met with a scraggly old man in a suit, who laid out a packet thicker than her arms all in the name of containing the Avengers. Tony's argument felt right, it seemed the only option that kept the team safe, but more importantly all together.
Steve didn't agree though, and in a few short hours he became a wanted man, alongside his old pal Bucky, his new pal Sam, her best friend Clint, a shrinking man she'd never met named Scott, and the rightfully terrified witch, Wanda.
Nothing felt right anymore, and as the lot of them fought against one another she knew it wasn't going to end well. Her plans to marry you this Fall would have to wait as she attacked TChalla, and allowed Steve and Bucky to flee.
In less than an hour she was back at the compound collecting her arsenal of weapons, and ignoring Tony's venomous words only spat to hurt her as she rushed off to be on the run.
This life wasn't new to her, being on the run was second nature for the reformed assassin, but now, at this stage of her life it was cruel. There was no easy way to tell you, the love of her life, that she had to leave, but as she raced up the stairs to your shared bedroom she found you sat on the edge of the bed in a fit of tears.
You knew...
"Malysh." you lunged into her open arms, sending the both of you tumbling into the carpeted floor where she held you very tightly. "It'll be okay, I promise, I'll find my way back."
"Back?," you croaked, head shaking rapidly as you refused to accept this., "I'm coming with."
"Not this time Agent.," you sobbed even harder as she cupped the back of your head while sitting you both back up so she could look into your eyes, even if the sight broke her in two., "Liho, and Tabby need you moya lyubov'."
"I need you," your voice cracked, and the tears she managed to keep at bay began to stain her cheeks at the dire situation at hand., "I know detka, I need you just as much as I do oxygen."
"Please, let me come with," you pleaded, hands clinging to her jacket in desperation, and you pulled her in for an equally as desperate kiss.
"This is going to test us," she panted after she managed to pull away from the liplock, her usual sparkling green eyes were dull as she looked into yours now. "But please, don't tell me that if I leave that you won't be here when I get back, because I promise you I'll be back."
"Be careful," you relent, and lean in to kiss her far more gently now, her hands that were sat on your hips gripped you tighter, she needed to feel you, because there was no telling when she would have an opportunity to do so again.
"I always am," she whispered, a soft smile pulling her at lips as she looked into your eyes. "My love for you is all the inspiration I need to make it back to you in one piece," she pecked your lips, then lifted both of you to stand.
"I love you Natasha Romanoff," she brought your entwined hands up to her lips where she pecked each knuckle until she reached your pitifully bare ring finger, where her soft lips lingered., "And I you, Y/N Romanoff."
The sound of sirens in the distance put a rush on your goodbye. "Until we meet again," you smiled sadly as she hopped onto her bike with two ill prepared duffles. "Until then my love."
2018
"Natasha, where are you going?" she peered over to Steve with a sad smile. "I'll be back, I just need to see someone first," and before anyone could protest she was leaving the room.
She was still on the run, so she had to be cautious about how she went about her route. Ross wouldn't have trouble getting her if she walked right into your establishment, and she would never put you in such a position. So she texted you from a burner phone instead, and that's how you found yourself in a quaint diner.
"Natasha, please tell me you didn't," your eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as the now blonde approached you with a mischievous grin. "What, you don't like the new hair?"
"I-I," you were thrown, because of course you did, she could pull anything off, but you also knew her resources were limited, so this was likely a very cheap dye job and it made you sad for all the progress you made keeping her hair healthy over the years. "You're beautiful Nat."
"It'll grow back out my love, and then I'll leave it for only you to handle, I promise."
"So I can go with you on the run this time?"
Natasha shook her head, and pulled you in for a hug that nearly crippled her after so long without your body flush to hers. "I'd never let you do that, you're undeserving of such a life."
"All I want is you Natasha, I don't care." she smiled sadly, "I know, but it doesn't matter, because there's no more being on the run."
"Really?" she nodded with a bright smile. "After we win, I'll be back for good malysh."
"Good, I can't stand another two years Nat."
"You won't have to," she smiled as you leaned into her, and she unexpectedly sobbed as you pressed your lips to hers, "I missed you Y/N."
"I missed you too Natty.," you reached up to wipe away her tears, then pecked her lips once more knowing she had to go, "I'll be waiting."
—
They lost, half of everyone turned to dust, and you weren't answering your fucking phone.
You always answered your phone.
No matter what.
Natasha felt waves of pure panic, the contents of her stomach were emptied on the jet, and even though her limbs ached she ran to you.
She had to get to you, there was nothing else she needed more right now than your love.
The doors of your shop flew open, causing her to cough as clouds of dust swirled at the action.
"No...," She fell to her knees besides the chair, your phone laid shattered on the floor in a pile of dust and various hair clippings with an unsent message: "I don't feel good Natasha."
Natasha didn't feel good either, and she would never again if she had to live without you..
2023
“Hey Nat,” Steve greeted as he stepped into the meeting room to find her quietly sulking over a halved peanut butter sandwich. “You okay?”
“Your friend is fine,” she answered almost too quickly for the words to be true, and the older man sighed with the truth weighing on his mind. “Don’t you think it’s time to move on?”
“If I move on, who does this?”
“Maybe nobody, threats have been almost nonexistent Natasha, the oceans are more clear, the grass is real, and the sky is bluer.”
“If you think there’s a bright side to half of the population being dusted you’re honestly not the righteous man I thought you to be Steve.”
“I’ve become a realist in my old age Nat, you deserve to be happy, Y/N wouldn’t want this.”
“Don’t you ever bring her up to push your agenda Rogers,” she growls through gritted teeth, and the man yields upon seeing her eyes of fury paired with a clenched jaw and fists.
“There’s no moving on without her Steve. I’ll search until I’m old and grey for a way to get her back because she’s worth fighting for.”
Steve sighs, “I understand, I was just trying to help is all, I hate seeing you so down.”
“You can’t help me Steve, it seems no one can.”
Natasha slumped back in her chair, and just as her eyes went to close she got a notification from Friday that someone was at the gate.
“Hello?”
Natasha immediately turned to see that the man she knows as ‘Antman’ was stood outside, which made her jolt up because he was presumed dusted, and upon letting him in she realizes that she was l wrong, someone can help her, she just has to l pay the arrogant billionaire a visit and hope he’s down to help.
—
Tony was reluctant to help, but at the thought of Peter, his prodigy, he was in, and Natasha was elated at the promise of undoing the mess. Having you back in her arms was all she needs, and after a few days it’s looking promising.
Clint returned with a baseball glove, showing the mission would succeed as long as all parties did their part. For the most part that was true, but someone had to pay the ultimate price, and then some cosmic fluke, one that Tony himself predicted, occurred as a past Thanos emerged.
It was a gruesome battle, it seemed like the loss of Steve on Vormir was all for not, but then the fruits of their labors came to light as loads of portals opened and all those dusted emerged.
“Avengers Assemble!” Natasha aired out the war cry, a new wave of adrenaline fueling her aching body as she charged at the enemies with the knowledge that you were back to fight for.
—
Natasha sprinted from the battle field as soon as Thanos's army became nothing but dust, her legs were nearly out of commission, weighing as heavy as her heart did with the losses of the unforeseen battle, but she refused to stop until she had you, this time she knew she would.
All her friends were back, so you would be too.
Five years she'd been deprived of you, and she refused to go another minute, she promised you it wouldn't be two like before, but she never realized in doing so she sealed herself to a far more daunting, and lengthier fate.
Much like before the doors to your shop fly open, but this time you're there to look up at the sound of the familiar ding, and you don't have time to ask questions before the love of your life is sobbing loudly against your chest.
"You're here," you hear the pain in her words, to you it had only been an hour since you last felt her touch, but the sight of her changed look told you that it had to have been longer for her.
"I'm here," she gripped your shirt as you went to move, her inability to let you go actually broke your heart in two. "I'm not going anywhere love, just going to sit us down."
Natasha let you go rather briefly, allowing you to settle into the reclining lounge chair in your office, and she straddled you just as soon as your butt made contact with the plush fabric.
"You weren't waiting," she sobbed, fists now clutching your shirts collar while her hazy eyes met your soft pair. "We lost, so you were gone."
The words were enough for you to understand something magically mysterious took place, and that was good because the redhead wasn't able to elaborate, her body racking with more sobs as she reflects on her forced solitude.
With a gentle hand on the back of her head you guided her face into the crook of you neck, you felt as she took in a sharp, deep breath, and how her lip subsequently quivered right after. Her arms then forced their way between your back and the soft material of the recliner so that she could hold you impossibly closer, in direct response you copied her embracement.
After a half hour her sobs faded into hiccups, but your hand rubbing random shapes over her suit continued, even if she could barely feel it. The motion still brought her comfort, and that's all you could try to do here, there was no relating to her pain, you understood the forced solitude, but you can tell hers was far crueler.
"How long?" You started simple, but she still struggled to answer you, it hurt too much to verbalize her former reality. "F-five years."
"Oh my love," you brought her face out to look in her eyes, hands cupping her cheeks so softly as if she were made of glass. The red rimming of her eyes, and tinting of her nose broke your heart, knowing that she was likely in a state of perpetual disarray while you were gone hurt. "I'm so sorry I wasn't waiting," you kissed away the new tears as they fell. "I'm here now baby."
"I need to feel you, please, show me it's real," she pleaded, her hands already tugging at the hem of your shirt, so you sat forward to help her remove it, then you moved a hand to the front zipper of her suit, "Take it off, please!"
It'd been seven years since Natasha felt you like this, with your skin on hers it felt like a dream, like one she frequently had while on the run, but couldn’t bring herself to with you gone.
Natasha whimpered when she felt you shifting so you could set her on the chair, but she was quick to settle when she realized you were going to undress completely for her, her eyes were trained on you without ever wavering. When you slid your pants off, along with your underwear she was gasping in pure shock.
“Fuck, detka,” you smirked in amusement when catching her eyes curiously staring at the strap, “I told you baby, I’d be waiting for you.”
It clicked, and as it did she was pleading with you to give her all of you with lust burning behind her eyes, pupils darkened to the point that they seemed like a black hole ready to consume you whole, and that had you on her in no time at all, soft lips exploring her bareness.
"My sweet Natasha, you've been through so much," you acknowledge, lips pressing to scars you'd never seen before, and your heart ached. "I'm sorry you were alone for so long, but I'm here, and I'm going to take good care of you."
Natasha's entire body shivered as you ran the hard silicone through her folds, collecting her arousal so that you could enter her with ease.
“I know you want my cock baby, but please, can I taste you first?” she nodded vigorously, her hands quick to push you lower, and you snorted, “Thank you angel,” you took a deep breath in, feeling yourself salivating as you smelled her arousal, “Oh fuck, you smell heavenly, you’re still my sweet girl, right?”
“Mhm,” Natasha hummed softly, need too heavily clouding her mind to answer properly. Then she was too busy moaning as your tongue expertly swirled around her clit before it was prodding at her entrance in a teasing manner.
Mewls of pornographic proportions tumbled passed her lips as you worked her up to the edge, she hadn’t been turned on in actual years, so this was not going to be a long fuck.
You were just too good with that tongue of yours for her to hold back much of anything; her hips were frantic as they fucked her cunt into your mouth to help her get off faster; her walls fluttering around your thick pink muscle, leaving it without much wiggle room but you sure made it move; and those screams of hers were uncontainable as you sent her crashing head first into the most intense orgasm ever.
“Fuck, oh my god, please don’t ever stop!”
“I never plan to,” you murmured against her bundle of nerves causing her body to writhe as the pleasure only further coursed through her.
Natasha was panting like she’d just run a marathon, and quite honestly she’d done just about that to get to you from the intense battle. Regardless of her inability to breathe though she yanked you up and into her for a kiss that was nothing short of messy, and thrilling.
While your tongue explored her pliant mouth you reached down to line yourself up with her needy entrance, “Going to fuck you so good,” you pulled away from her lips to catch sight of her face as you thrusted completely into her.
Natasha didn’t disappoint you either, her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she was so overwhelmed by your intrusion that she was choking on the air she’s gasped in, her mouth was agape but she was too dumbed to breathe.
“Breath for me baby,” you pulled out, just to shallowly thrust back in, teasing her back down to earth, “Please, I-I need you inside so bad.”
“I know you do baby,” you smiled down at her, then watched as she involuntarily bit back a moan when you refilled her to the brim, “None of that now, I want to hear how good you feel.”
With your arms now hooked underneath her thighs as your hands reached up to fondle her breasts your thrusts were hitting even deeper. Natasha was cursing lowly in Russian, a sure way to let you know she was going to cum any second now, and you knew just what to do.
Natasha loved the idea of being yours, and she loved it even more when it came with marks.
It was an earth shattering occurrence really, you kept your pace pleasurably slow, as you began to nibble over the skin of her jaw, one of your hands continued tweaking her nipples in dizzying oscillations, as the other ventured down to rub tentative circles against her enlarged clit, “You’re close, aren’t you baby?”
Natasha whimpered with her head thrown back into the pillow, her ability to answer was lost on her as your mouth suctioned against the sensitive expanse of her throat, leaving behind marks she would never dream of covering up.
“Let go baby, drench my cock,” you bit into her pulse point, and Natasha couldn’t refrain from screaming your name in a sequence of praises.
Everything about you made her lose every ounce of composure she’s ever been trained to keep. Your smiles melt her stoney heart, and yours giggles basically annihilated her chance at ever wanting to be an Avenger ever again.
All she wants now is to retire with you, and start a family, because you’re her endgame. Nothing else will ever matter more than you.
While buried deep inside her, here you hover over her with a warm smile, you just recked her but still you manage to lean down to whisper sweet nothings in her ear as she comes down.
“How are you feeling my love?”
Natasha smiled up at you with glistening eyes, “Like I can finally breathe again, I missed you tremendously detka,” her lip wobbled slightly as you whispered against her, “Let’s go home.”
—
Natasha happily took you home on her bike as soon as she calmed down from her high, the trek was short, but meaningful as she felt you clinging to her the entire way home, the tight embrace was healing her tattered soul with every second she was able to experience it.
The two of you shared a sweet kiss as soon as you got off the bike, your lover was reluctant to let up, but she had no choice as you swept her off her feet. Natasha squealed with laughter as she settled into your arms, she admired you fondly, heart fluttering with hope as you carry her over the threshold as if you’d finally wed.
“Welcome home my beloved,” you kissed her lovingly, then let her legs drop softly, while swiftly wrapping your arms around her waist.
“I should be saying that to you,” she whispers, and you can hear the sadness in her tone, so you just pull her even closer, and kiss her deeper. “We both deserved to say it Natty.”
“I love the hair Natty,” you twirled the end of her braid in your hand, admiring the growth and dual tone, while your other ran up and down her back in soothing strokes. “Yeah?”
“Mhm,” you continued to play with her hair, slowly but surely you unraveled the braid, and admired the way her hair fell around her face, framing it beautifully and making you smile.
“You’re very beautiful,” you smiled wider as she blushed deeply, even in the darkness of your house you could see the red tinge of her cheeks, and how it steadily rose from her neck.
More than a decade of loving one another, and she still felt nervous whenever you spoke so tenderly to her. Treating her like a dainty flower instead of the venomous spider that hides in the petals, the one she herself feels a kinship with. You saw her for more than the world ever would. To you, she was just Natty.
“I was thinking of cutting it, but I made a promise to my favorite person, so I didn’t.”
“Oh Natty, my precious angel,” you pulled her face to yours, nuzzling your noses before you closed the minuscule gap, “You waited for me?”
The truth was right there for you to see, her eyes having returned to their natural green shone through with so much love, it was the purist kind, and you knew she meant it wholly. Nobody else would ever interest the redhead again, not when she has you as the blueprint.
“Of course I did, I’d have waited a lifetime.”
You smirked, “Yeah? I can just picture it now, grey roots, with a rich red that ombre’s to the blonde tips,” she slapped your arm, then played with you, “I’ll never go grey detka.”
“Maybe not with me here to dye your hair,” you teased while escorting your fiancée up to your bedroom so the both of you could shower.
Loud meows reverberated off the walls, and your heart cracked when you saw your not so little babies stretching on the mattress, “Oh my have you two grown,” you dropped to your knees and nuzzled your face with theirs.
Natasha stood in the bathroom doorway with a sad smile, she’d started the water already, and now she’s taken to watching you reacquainting with your felines. “They missed you just as much as I did detka, they meowed at the front door for a whole year before they gave up.”
“You never gave up,” you whispered, overcome with so many emotions as you stroke over a new to you patch of grey fur on Liho’s back.
“I never would’ve detka, you’re my world.”
“Time is so precious,” you choked out before rising to your feet, and meeting Natasha with a wobbling lip and tight embrace, “I don’t want to wait anymore Nat, I want to be your wife, move to Norway and start the rest of our lives.”
“Can Norway become Ohio?”
You quirked a brow, but nodded without any hesitation, “Wherever with you works for me.”
Natasha beamed at your words, “Perfect, we’ll leave tomorrow then, I have a house in our name, and someone special I want you to meet, and after you meet Yelena we’ll get married at the local courthouse with her as our witness.”
“Yelena?!”
“Yeah, I found her when I was on the run,” she smiled while pulling you under the hot stream, “But enough about all that, how about you give me a sneak preview of our wedding night?”
Natasha moaned when you pushed her against the marbled wall, “You’re going to regret that.”
——
13,049 Words
❤️ Kaitlyn 🥰
#natasha romanoff#natasha romanoff imagine#natasha romanoff fluff#natasha romanoff fic#natasha romanoff oneshot#natasha romanoff angst#natasha romanoff smut#natasha romanoff fanfiction#natasha romanoff x reader#natasha romanoff x you#natasha romanoff x y/n#natasha romanoff x female reader#natasha x reader#natasha x y/n#natasha x you#natasha x fem!reader#gxg#soft natasha romanoff
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Monstrous Regiment II
Some people have asked for more thoughts, and I can’t help it. I went to see if there were discussion posts on this but couldn’t really find any. SPOILER for Monstrous Regiment.
Polly has a complicated relationship with her mother from the small snippets we get of her past, which transfers to that of the Duchess. The Duchess is the highest noblewoman and the leader of the country. She lost her husband when she was young and had no children. Due to this, she kept herself locked away, and no one has seen her in years. If she has died, then the country belongs to a neighboring prince who is currently fighting to take over the country regardless. The Duchess exists as long as no one opens the box to check her quantum state. Everyone prays to the Duchess, and there are pictures of her everywhere—at least one in every house.
Polly’s parent's bar and inn is even called “The Duchess.” The sign has a picture of the Duchess on it, and after her mother's death, her father can’t be bothered to keep up with cleaning the sign. The sign now has bird poop on it, which don’t even get me started on the birds. That is a whole other thing. It is a sign that belief is dying. The feeling of losing the war is settling in but hasn’t been spoken aloud. To join the army, you must kiss the Duchess and swear loyalty. Even the soldiers who hold no love for the Duchess have to do this. People are dying in the Duchess’ name. Polly is followed and can’t help but always think of the Duchess.
This is the start of the book. This is the very beginning. She thinks of her mother and how she gave rites to the Duchess every night, and she can’t take the glaring judgment. Is this the judgment of the Duchess or her mother? It doesn’t matter. She knows what she has to do. She has to rescue her brother; she has to care for her brother as she has always done. Her Mother is absent unless it is to hand out punishment or to lecture, much like their god and his abominations.
Then we are introduced to Wazzer, who Sir Terry Pratchett treats as a Joan of Arc character. Wazzer can converse with the Duchess. Wazzer can hear the Duchess; the most heartbreaking moment comes when she says she mostly hears the Duchess crying.
At the end of the day, the Duchess is only a woman. She is not a god; her people have been praying and begging for her help, and she can only change things in small ways. She cannot stop the river from moving, which changes the borders and causes most of their battles; she can’t cure the sick and can’t be there. She is an absent parent damned to hear about her children, like the Christian God. The Christian god sent his son to be sacrificed to save those who called out to them. The Duchess is sending this pack of women in to attempt the same. She is attempting to give them a chance.
She uses her command one more time to rally her people in a way she never did when living. She is passing on the mantle to the children of Borogravia. The line ‘Find yourself a worthier god’ chills. Polly attempts to do this after the war. She has outgrown the Duchess and small beliefs. She is finally letting go of it. There is still a need for belief, though, and what that is is a bit of a mystery, at least to myself. You can think that Polly is more confident now and has become her own belief. Or it could be the belief that there is no one thing or idol to believe in. I would love to know what people think. What is large enough to care for?
I am tittering on rambling, so I am going to end this one here, but PLEASE tell me your thoughts.
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i may or may not want more Matthias info. For science, of course. drop the lore pls
You asked and you shall receive!
Jung grew up in a small village close to the Drachman border, as the middle child of a rural family. Since his childhood he had learned about the looming threat that comes from Drachma, which is why he joined the military once he was old enough. He wanted to protect the country, but also prove himself and get out of the village as quickly as possible. His military academy years were rather uneventful and he didn’t really stand out with his skills, which were relatively average at that time. After his graduation, he was transferred to Fort Briggs.
Briggs back then was completely different from what it is during canon time. Disputes between Drachma and Briggs were a constant problem and truces were impossible to achieve. On top of that the Fort was in a bad shape, literally and metaphorically. Between the soldiers there was nothing of the loyalty and cohesion that we see in Brotherhood and in the military Briggs was seen as the last stop of one's military career.
When Jung came to Briggs, he quickly understood how crucial Briggs was for the safety of the country and that something needed to change for it to stay stable. Because of that, Jung decided to climb up the military ladder to get more and more commanding authority. And he was very successful at it: There were little people at that time that actually put an effort in their work and Jung was smart. On top of that he seemed to be a naturally effective leader. After honing his skills through years of practice, he eventually became a respected soldier whom many people looked up to.
Jung shaped Fort Briggs quite a lot, he managed to improve its fighting force and people began to get loyal to the Fort and actually started to put effort and meaning into their work. Because of his own success, Jung’s goal started to change: He didn’t just want to shape the Fort, but also climb to its top and take the seat of commanding officer. And he had good odds at that!
Briggs’ current general was growing close to retirement and would name a successor from within the Fort. It was very unlikely someone from Central city was eager to take his place, after all Briggs was still seen as someone’s end of their career. On top of that the Ishvalan Civil war had just started and everyone in Central was eager to prove themselves in the war.
With his standing at the Fort and a big group of loyal soldiers siding with him, Jung is more than certain that he would take the seat as commanding officer. However, there is still another young soldier that climbed Briggs ranks and is ready to take the command: Olivier
And this is we’re he ties into the story: Jung is Olivier’s rival in becoming Briggs’ commanding officer. Both of them are highly skilled, smart and have loyalties within the Fort. Olivier is determined to beat him, whereas Jung doesn’t really see her as a proper threat. While he sees her skills in fighting and leadership, he doesn’t think she has what it takes to command to Fort (plus she’s four years younger than him).
To him, Olivier’s strategic steps are more than apparent and she’s easy to anticipate. However she managed to puzzle him with her latest move. Jung doesn’t understand why she brought the two young men to the Fort, after all none of them are soldiers. He does see potential in the young doctor, even if he just finished his medical training. However Jung just can’t understand why she would bring the other man here. Though if Jung is certain of something, it’s that the grey haired man is hiding something.
#I’m glad you’re interested in him!! he’s such a complex character and so much fun to write#tried my best to give some info without spoiling too much#I Hope it’s not confusing but feel free to ask more if it is#writing this kinda made me want to restart the comic I began#oc Matthias Jung#fma oc#ask#fullmetaleditor#oc story#oc art#oc lore
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FE OC Week - Day 5/6 - Joy/Supports @fe-oc-week
I'm a bit behind but I will get there eventually.
Name: Regulus
Other Details:
Regulus has Supports with 10 individuals, many having different focuses from explaining parts of his personality and upbringing to questioning his ideals and beliefs. His prejudice shows up more than once, he is a flawed being but he learns that his conduct and thoughts are wrong (if this is triggering in any way skip any support that means prejudice in its summery).
There are also more tame ones where he makes friends and does hobbies. These supports would be where Regulus finds most of his joy doing things he loves with those he appreciates or well loves.
As a character, Regulus is neurodivergent coded, he hyper-focuses, has fixations and often struggles with things and I hope throughout his supports this would be noticed or addressed and others learn this part about him.
Supports
Alear
Focus - Regulus’ convoluted plans and obsession with schedules. How they can sometimes be a hindrance and that to live in the moment. Alear learns why they are so important to him and they find a compromise.
(Below is the wake up events so I have done them instead of support dialogue)
Lindon
Focus – Shared love of magic and experiments. Accidents happen. Lindon acts as a fatherly figure and explains things about this life and that Regulus reminds him of his children.
Lindon: "Let’s say we go back to the drawing board. Maybe a new hypothesis... Green didn’t work. How about pink, my boy?"
Regulus: "If anyone asks... I was in the Ring Room this afternoon. I certainly was not helping you try to change the colour of Elthunder... Or setting two trees on fire in the process."
L: "I won’t say a word if you don’t, young Regulus."
(Vandar chasing after them in the background)
R: "My Father never accepted the magic part of me... I don't know what he would say if he saw me now..."
L: "He would see a great Mage in the making... And if he wasn't proud of that fact then he is a fool."
Ivy
Focus – Sharing opinions on Elusia, Sombron and King Hyacinth. Regulus giving his unwavering loyalty to Ivy and Elusia once the War is over.
Regulus: (talking very fast) "Princess Ivy. Princess Ivy... I am so happy and proud you are here with us. That the crown Princess dines to battle with such commoners and with rival nations. I got to fight by your side in the last battle. I cannot believe it..."
Ivy: "Regulus! It is Regulus, correct? I may be a Princess but in this Army I am just another soldier fighting this war. There are other Royalty amongst us."
R: "But you are the Princess of my country. Is there anything I can do to help? Or improve your stay. I could plan out your days and-"
I: "That's enough. Please. Treat me as you would any other. When you have calmed down and prepared to do as such, you can speak to me again."
R: "Ivy, I would like to talk to you, if I may?"
I: "Yes, Regulus?"
R: "My conduct was unfitting last we spoke. So, I would like to start again. I was over-excited. But I have had time to sit and think."
I: "Oh? Then you may."
R: "I am proud to be an Elusian. To have walked the streets of the Capital... But I worry there is so little left of the soul of our country. I wanted to talk to someone about it... I'm at a loss. I thought you may understand that."
I: "Oh... That is something I deeply think about. When the War is over how much of Elusia will be left. Will I even have any subjects to try to help after all this."
R: "If I may... I would like to help you rebuild. I have skills that could be useful... I want the country that accepted me to know I will do anything to help it."
I: "Then, I will rely on your help to see Elusia into a new dawn."
Zelkov
Focus – Discussing the need to always be busy. He helps make Zelkov a hobby schedule and organises his hobby sanctum. Zelkov and Regulus learn to respect one another and hang around Zelkov's sanctum.
Regulus: "I've noticed you always keep busy, Zelkov. Your name is usually one of the most present on the chore schedules... Yet, you don't seem the most helpful of individuals. You don't do it out the Goodness of your own heart... So, why is that?"
Zelkov: "My mind never sleeps. I keep busy, least my mind wanders into *dangerous* territory."
R: "Huh... That's kind of familiar. If I don't have my plans... My thoughts can get overwhelming. But you know you should schedule in sleep. I have a feeling you don't sleep much."
Z: "Sleep doesn't come *easy* to me... Maybe I should tell you the same thing. I do not believe you *schedule* yourself enough yourself."
R: "Maybe you're right... Maybe we both need to optimise our schedules to help ourselves."
R: "This place is amazing. So many things. So much to do... It's a little overwhelming honestly."
Z: "That is a word... I've never *thought* to describe it as."
R: "But would you mind terribly if I could organise it for you? At least a little bit?"
Z: "Would you damage or throw away my things?"
R: "No. 'Course not, Zelkov. This place should be treasured. I just think it needs a system."
Z: "Would it make you *happy* to do so?"
R: "Immensely."
Z: "Then you may."
Hortensia
Focus – Telling Regulus’ need to “lighten up” and take a moment for himself to not plan. They spend an evening causing none planned trouble.
Hortensia: "Hey Regulus. Why you so obsessed with all these organising things? You can't organise every second of your life!"
Regulus: "Ah, hello Princess Hortensia... Can I help you?"
H: "Yeah, by putting down the notebooks and schedules and living a li'l. You can't have all that ruling your life."
R: "Oh... I find they give structure and are helpful to myself and others. Say, maybe I could help you use your time more efficiently?"
H: "Ugh, no. I live my life minute by minute. I don't need a plan to tell me what to do next."
Gregory
Focus – Gregory’s bad experiences of Elusia vs Regulus’ good ones and they both come to a compromise that there are good and bad things about their homeland.
Regulus: "Hey Gregory... Fellow Mage and Elusian. Look, we have so much in common. We should be friends!"
Gregory: "Ah! Ermm... Hello, Regulus... I don't really know if we do have that much in common."
R: "What? Really? I thought they were good building blocks. Do you not want to speak to me?"
G: "No, no. It's not that but you seem to like 'love' Elusia. But... It has not been kind to me. I don't think we have similar experiences, so..."
R: "Oh... If you don't mind, naybe you could tell me about the bad... And when the War is over I can help change Elusia for the better. I could tell you the good things it has done too? Maybe make you more proud of your Home."
G: "Huh... I donno. But it's worth a shot. Maybe... You could dail down the enthusiasm, it's making me a little nervous."
Citrinne
Focus – Discussion on magic and the need to always be better. Also, Brodia’s vs Elusia’s stance on magic. Regulus' experience with magic when he was younger. Regulus'' mild prejudice comes up again.
Regulus: "Competent with magic and Brodian. You must be a Noble."
Citrinne: "Yes, I am. What gave it away?"
R: "Commoners don't learn magic in Brodia. They don't get the privilege."
C: "I never thought about it that way... But I have met a few mages in the Army, so I think you may be wrong."
R: "Well, I was never given the choice when Brodia came knocking on my doorstop. I had to hide trying to learn magic. I bet you never had that problem!"
R: "Citrinne, that spell you did last battle... It was impressive. You got many out of a bad situation."
C: "Why thank you. Oh, it is you, Regulus. I thought I was just a 'privileged priss' that only got everything due to my status."
R: "Well... I can still recognise someone who has talent. I thought to give credit where credit is due."
C: "Hmm... I think we need a proper conversation. I need an apology from you and then maybe we can try this all again. If that apology is good enough I could even tell you how I came up with that spell."
R: "I... I misjudged you, Citrinne. I have noticed your insecurities in your position. That for a Brodian you feel weak. That is not true though. You are strong. And... I am so very sorry for my past words."
C: "You are much more perceptive than I thought you were. I accept your apology should you stay civil."
R: "That is all I ask."
Alcryst
Focus – Regulus' mistrust and prejudice of Brodia and it's Royal line. Alcryst helps him in a battle with the Corrupted and shows him he is just a normal person, and Regulus changes his mind.
Regulus: "Why are you trying to speak to me? Why even look at me? You’re a Prince of Brodia and I’m from a rival nation. I want nothing to do with you or your people."
Alcryst: "Oh... Sorry. I won’t look at you... Or talk, if you don't want me to. Would you rather you spoke to Diamant? He’s better at this stuff. What do you mean rival nation? I... I don’t know what you want. Sorry."
R: "Did you not hear...huh? Why are you apologising?"
A: "Because I’m obviously not good or powerful enough to be able to talk to you... So sorry. I don't meet your standards."
R: "I don’t understand you, Prince Alcryst."
R: (on the battlefield) "This is looking bad. Where did that Firenese knight go? I'm not getting out of this easily."
A: "Uh, Regulus, look out." (Shoots a Corrupted that got too close)
R: "Is that? Prince Alcryst, why are you helping me?"
A: "As you are someone in need. I did what I could, as little as that is."
R: "But I'm Elusian...?"
A: "That doesn't matter right now... We need to get out alive first."
R: (After battle) "You saved my life, Prince. I never thought a Brodian would help me."
A: "I did it as you're an ally, and you don't deserve to be killed just because you are from Elusia."
"You didn't kill my Father or invade my Home. Why would I... Well, hate you?"
R: "Because well... Wait? You don't hate me when I treated you poorly."
A: "No... I thought I must of done something to deserve it anyway."
R: "I wronged you... I am sorry, Alcryst. You didn't deserve my scorn. And you really shouldn''t sell yourself so short. That was a good shot out there. It saved my life."
A: "Oh... Thank you. It was, wasn't it?"
R: "Oh, yes. You should be proud of your skills."
Clanne
Focus– Regulus helps Clanne implement a better schedule and talks about siblings. Mainly Framme’s very disorganised lifestyle. Framme shows up in the supports.
Regulus: "I have noticed that you, Clanne, are one of the most organised people on this island. However, your twin, is frankly terrible. You are polar opposites..."
C: "Haha, yeah. She gets distracted a lot. I pick up a lot of the slack."
R: "Hmm... You shouldn’t have to. I have an idea: What if we were to say... Try improve her productivity? Experiment a little: try some new schedules, give her some different tasks and test her progress. It would be less work for you and the others."
C: "I guess it couldn’t hurt. I have been really busy since Framme forgot to do some chores yesterday."
R: "Then it’s settled. Operation: 'Improve Framme’s Productivity' starts tomorrow! It’s a working title."
Boucheron
Focus – Regulus is sent to find a lost Boucheron. They discover a shared love of reading and start a book club.
Regulus: "Ah, Boucheron. There you are. Everyone has been looking for you."
Boucheron: "Oh... Hey there, Regulus. I got lost again."
R: "But we are simply a 5 minutes walk in that direction. You can see and hear us? How did you manage to get this lost?!"
B: "I’ve just never been very good with directions. I get lost really easily. I get lost on the Somniel still."
R: "You couldn’t find yourself out of a wet paper bag, could you, poor dear? Fine. I will make you a series of maps. We can’t have you getting lost every 5 minutes."
B: "Oh... (Sniffling) this bit of the story always gets me."
R: "Hey. Don't spoil it! I haven't read it before. Let me catch up. Your crying gives it away!"
B: "Oh no. I'm spoiling your fun. But the book is really good."
R: (laughing, affectionate) "Oh, you sensitive oaf. A few tears won't spoil the story but don't announce it. I want the intrigue. The surprise."
B: "Yeah. It's nice I get to share this with you. Alfred and Etie well, they don't sit still long enough to appreciate a good story."
R: "I'll always put some time aside for a good read and company. Don't you worry."
Wake-Up Events:
C1:
“Divine One, I’ve been added to your numerous waking up assistants... Sir Vander seems to have recruited the whole Army for the task. Surely it would be easier just to have a set select few.”
“Do you not think it’s inefficient as well? Oh, you weren’t listening... Well, we can table it for now. Good morning.”
Awakened Early – “You awakened easily now... Why do you even need someone to help you? I’ll leave you to it.”
C2:
“Ah, Divine Dragon. Time is wasting, you know? I have things to do myself. Oh, do wake up already!”
“Ah, there you are. I will take my leave then... Actually, would making you an improved schedule help? I can do that for you.”
Awakened Early – “Oh. You’ve awoken early? Perfect. Now stick to it.”
B1:
Divine One, I made that schedule you wanted?! Ah, still asleep I see. Maybe we need to develop a spell or something... Maybe to zap you at the appropiate time. It would save you needing a person to awaken you each day.”
“Ah, you do not look impressed with my wonderful idea. I’ll be leaving then...”
Awakened Early – “What do you think, a zappy wake up spell? No? I thought it was a good idea.”
B2:
“Divine One, I have been in your library and I must say it’s... Divine One? How are you asleep at this moment?”
“Napping will only affect your sleep schedule, you know. Now, about the library...”
Awakened Early – “Divine One, just daydreaming I see. Now.... I was on about the library... You have so many tombs and magical knowledge...”
A1:
“I’ve been thinking about what you said: That I cannot plan every single thing in my life. That no one can... It is correct, I know this... But I would like have my plans to fall back on nevertheless. For if the worst ever happens, I need structure or I'll... Nevermind.”
“Oh... You heard all that...? Well, I’m going to leave. Good morning, Divine Dragon.”
Awakened Early – “Hmm...? Was I saying something important? No, nothing to worry about. Now you are awake, I will take my leave.”
A2:
“You slept for so long and still you sleep alike the dead, unending yet peaceful... So silent. If you were to never awaken again. The world would crumble. My plans would crumble... We all would crumble.”
“Ah... You were listening all along? What a sneak, you are. No, no... I’m not going to elaberate. Good day.”
Awakened Early – “Good morning, Divine One. Forgive the commentry, I just feel today is an interesting day.”
Gift Dialogue:
(I very much enjoy writing dialogue or options that could be in the game so...)
Favourite – “Absolutely wonderful. How long have you spent planning this gift? Thank you, Divine One.” (Philosophy Book, Fairy-Tale Book)
Liked – “For me? Thank you, I will use it well.” (Utility knife, History of Elyos)
Disliked – “Such an distinguished gift... Better for someone else.” (Training weights, Spooky Scroll)
Manure – “What are your plans with that? I see no reason to have it... Wait? I do not want it!”
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Please please please can you explain the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy of it all I need your thoughts
sorryyyy for taking so long to reply i've been trying to do it justice without making it too long (lol). hope this is sufficient x
good omens is an espionage drama written and published at the very end of the cold war when a story about two ideologically opposed superpowers fighting the war to end all wars can only ever be about one thing, whether intentional or not, and thematically it pulls from the genre in several places: loyalty, betrayal, repression. i know a lot of people like to interpret it as a metaphor for (leaving) organised religion but i prefer coming at it from this angle, not only because im terminally ttsspilled but because i think it ties aziraphale and crowley's relationship dynamic and characterisations in better with the wider themes of the book and tv show.
beyond the overt references and meetings in st james' park, the foremost le carreism in good omens is the choice to make crowley and aziraphale (posh) british. not just as a default of the writers being british, but as a means to establish them as everymen. it's a running theme in western spy lit (despite. obviously not being true) that britain is caught in the middle of the cold war and is often used as the neutral mediator: consider something more tonally similar to good omens than ttss, the man from uncle, which makes their american and soviet agents' shared handler british. this position evokes a more dry, detached commentary heaped in nostalgia
the cold war is something that happens TO britain, not because of it. earth is britain in this context and aziraphale and crowley, two very different but recognisably british caricatures who don't drive the conflict as much as get swept up in it, adopt this role perfectly.
that leaves the opposing sides, which are left faceless in tinker tailor as they (largely) are in the good omens novel. the main characters in tinker tailor are disillusioned with their respective ideologies. "only the particular in life [has] value": friends, lovers, pleasures. we get the we're-not-so different-you-and-i speech from smiley to karla:
of course the novel is still vehemently anti-communist, but this too is swept up in the cynicism of its outlook. haydon is not even a foolish idealist or a envious socialist: he is driven by the empty whim of aesthetics
so there is no substantial moral drive to either the protagonists (smiley, prideaux) or antagonists (karla, haydon): it is simply the way of things. this same lack of genuine belief is also present in good omens - it's the comedic core of the presences of heaven and hell, and that's not even getting into the way that they are both portrayed as civil service departments. going back to the britishness of it all, the mundaneity of bureaucracy is used in both stories to convey very different styles of the same tweeness.
crowley and haydon are the characters i want to compare the most here: crowley's "defection" is similarly obscured in its motivation ("sauntered vaguely downwards") but his attitude towards it is conflicted and ultimately repressed. their eccentricities (which flag them as queer, if anything else) are emboldened and threatening to other characters, compared to those of their foils who are presented as largely harmless oddities. the major difference of course is that haydon, as a selfish traitor of his country and lover, is presented as an antagonist; whereas crowley, as a mere questioner of authority, is presented at worst as an anti-hero.
tinker tailor as a romance story has been discussed for ages, usually in the context of ann and smiley but also regarding haydon and prideaux: the relationship underlying the entire plot of the novel.
they are two halves of an "inseparable" whole, though we're only ever shown their implied romance in retrospect and always with the threat of this ideological conflict - already established as meaningless - coming between them.
following the beats of this subplot, aziraphale and crowley were always going to end up separated as long as their narratives were tied up in the wider conflict between heaven and hell, and as long as - by extension - both of them remained obligated to uphold their political roles: blindly loyal or spitefully treacherous (note this is how each views the other, not necessarily their sincere positions). in this sense, it is not just aziraphale who remains tied to heaven but crowley too: even if they did run away together, his very identity can't be divorced from his defection so long as heaven and the (potential of) conflict between it and hell exist.
another thing to mention is how both being gay and being a communist (or ideologically treacherous more generally) are portrayed in ttss. both require such discretion & illicit action that makes their practise indistinguishable. every mention of haydon and prideaux being in a relationship, for example, is sandwiched in with one or both of them being "pink" (not an accidental choice of euphemism):
existing repression, whether a general cultural emotional repression or specifically with regard to homsexuality, makes for a good spy. not only do they have practise in discretion, it's also a useful tool to wield over them to ensure that they remain discreet. this understanding is played upon extensively throughout good omens, particularly when aziraphale and crowley are trying to hide their relationship with one another from their superiors. their straying from their respective sides is indistinguishable from pursuing their relationship.
so here we have a story taking place in a (purported) neutral ground between two superpowers, on the brink of armageddon, centred around the historic relationship between two men - one of whom defects to the other side and another who remains steadfastly loyal to a side that mistreats him. BOTH men are betrayed, though not necessarily just by each other...
...but the betrayal between them is the ultimate driving force behind the entire novel. we even have the loyal holding out a doomed olive branch to the traitor at the last minute, even when they know that their path is set
the only huge difference between these two narratives is which betrayal we are invited to be sympathetic towards. haydon's betrayal through defection is condemned by obfuscating and trivialising his motivations, but from the opposite perspective, that of the defector, crowley is the one who is betrayed by an inability to exist outside of the conflict in which he has no stake.
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𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖑
Trigger warning!: mentions of death and blood. Angst with little comfort
Note: when I said angst I meant angst 👀 also I already said Nohr in the last one so I threw in the whole cast 💜
Part 1: I trust you more than anyone
Au: diffrent royalty time line
Fandom(s): DachaBo, ft Nohr royalty from fire emblem fates
Character(s): Bo
War was stressful especially since it was on your kingdom's doorstep. It scared you to no end even with Bo at your side. You weren't blind to the odds of you winning this war, but you could let your people fall into the hands of King Garon. There was no telling what he would do with your subjects. So you fought.
You prepared your armor for the battlefield before giving your sword a couple of swings. You had never been in an actual battle before, but that wasn't going to stop you.
"A ruler's place isn't on the battlefield your highness."
Know that voice anywhere you turned to face your most trusted Knight Bo "Yes well it's neither a farmer's place either, and yet they are still out there."
Bo shook his head disapprovingly as he stepped closer to you. "The people know what they are fighting for."
"As Do I"
Bo sighed frustrated "Yes, but if you were to die on the battlefield who is to rule the kingdom? You have no heir to speak of."
You glared at him "Yes but if all my people are slaughtered then what kingdom do I have?"
"Once the war is over people looking for homes will come." He crossed his arms over his chest, his disapproving look never leaving his face.
"I'm worried about the people now, Bo."
Bo lets out another sigh but never says a word. He turns to leave, clearly upset by your decision, but you stood your ground. You will defend your people to death if that's what it came to.
.
That argument happened days ago or so you think. The enemy troops you've been fighting have kept you occupied to the point that you lost track of the days. Bo has been by your side, but never spoke to you or even looked your way. He kept the soldier off of you nothing more nothing less.
It hurt you but never had time to talk with him again. Now here the two of you were in the pouring rain cutting down one enemy after the other. Bo ended up a ways from you trying to stop cavalry coming your way.
When you were finally able to look up you were mortified. Bo was clashing with the very king you were afraid of.
"You are a traitor to the people of Nohr!" He thrust his sword towards Bo.
Bo blocked the attack with a shield before swinging his sword at the king "I am a traitor to no one! My loyalties lie with their highness!"
The fight was brutal each side taking a hit. Until finally the King's sword finally pierced through Bo's armor. The blade comes out of his back, blood and rain dripping down the blade.
"BO!" You ran as fast as you could to his before you were struck in the chest with an arrow. "...bo" yet despite the wound, you kept making your way to his body that was now laying in the mud with King Garon above him.
"You would live if you only followed your orders…" without another word he plunged his sword through Box again, and again till no more sounds came from the Knight.
"....no….please." Another arrow to your left shoulder as your right hand reached out for him.
The king stood up noticing weakly making your way to him. Garon scoffed as he swung his sword to his side flicking off what remains of Bo's blood to mix with the rain and mud. "Pathetic just like this dog." He stopped on the wounds he just inflicted on Bo before making his way to his sword at the ready. "It's Time for me to save this poor country that is under such a weak rule."
Your only focus was on Bo as you tried to make your way to him before it all went dark. Thus ending your rule over your kingdom.
.
That battle had been days ago now people were scouring the dead for any survivors or family members. This also included the young royalty of Nohr upon their father's request.
Elise didn't understand why she had to be out here. She wasn't like her other siblings; she didn't think she could take another person's life, not even out of mercy. It scared her. It did not matter to her father anyway as she was still out here looking at the dead ally and foe alike.
What made her stop was the body of the once ruler of this kingdom, and their knight. The state their corpses were in made Elise cringe and turn away. Did her father do this?
Elise took a deep breath before turning back to the bodies. She was sure they were no longer living, but she had to be sure. It was what her father wanted.
The closer she got the sadder the scene became. It seemed they were reaching for their already dead Knight before their death.
"He must have meant something to them…….I'm so sorry" Elise knew if anyone heard the way she was speaking about the enemy she would be in trouble, but she couldn't help it. "I Pray that you find each other again. Safe and happy…"
"Elise! Is everything okay?" She knew that was her older brother Xander, but she never turned to him as she began to think.
Worried when she didn't respond Xander got closer to his younger sister "Elise?" The closer he got the easier it got to see what she was looking at. Xander stops himself from grimacing at the bodies of the ruler and their Knight. He knew of the brutality of war, but it never stopped him from being disgusted by it.
"A sad sight…..if only they surrendered…..maybe father would have spared them…" Xander shook hisnhead as he turned to leave "Come Elise let's finish this task and head home."
"Can we bury them big brother?"
Xander stopped and turned back to Elise with a sigh "You know we can't do that. Father wouldn't allow it."
She turned back to him, upset. "Come on big brother we can bury them in their own kingdom father won't go there! He will most likely send one of us or his retainers to stay here. No one will know, but us."
Xander shook his head "your big heart is gonna get us in trouble Elise.." He look back at your bodies. He didn't like it either, but if father was to find out they would be in trouble.
Unless he never did "Fine we will bury then just outside of their kingdom."
Elise gasped then smiled at her brother "Thank you brother."
Xander nodded before turning away from her once more "now let's hurry and finish father's task so we can bury them before anyone notices."
Elise nodded catching up to brother being careful where she stepped. She knew her big brother would be a better ruler then her father.
#dachabo bo x reader#dachabo x reader#dachabo#dachabo bo#bo x reader#x reader#yandere x reader#royalty au
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Charlie Boy
Charlie boy, don't go to war
Firstborn in '44
And Kennedy made him believe
We could do much more
Hawkeye remembers growing up during the war. The way the president's voice blared from the radio, the photos plastered in the newspaper. The soldiers looked so heroic. To a young boy, the war seemed like a great adventure.
He knows now that war is nothing but pain and death. The news handpicks what to share. They don't show the reality of war. He's sure there are children back home who think that this war is an adventure, the way he did in his childhood. He can only hope there is no next war for them to join.
Lillian, don't hang your head
Love should make you feel good
In uniform, you raised a man
Who volunteered to stand
He often wonders if his mother would be proud. She would love him, sure, but would she be proud? Would she be grateful that he's fighting for his country? Would she be ashamed that he's a part of this horrible moment in history?
Play the bugle, play the taps
Make your mothers proud
Raise your rifles to the sky, boys
Fire that volley loud
The sound of gunfire doesn't bother Hawkeye anymore. When he first arrived, he would jump each time. Now it's simply another noise in the cacophony of daily life.
Radar's bugle echoes across the camp. He's gotten better at it since he's been here. He's been here too long. They all have. But Radar especially should be home. He should be experiencing his youth, not running an entire army hospital. He's too young to be here.
News was bad on Upland Ave
Metuchen mourn our loss
Sons rebelled, while fathers yelled
And mothers clutched the cross
Hawkeye comes from a small town. News travels fast. His father keeps him updated on everything in his letters. When Tommy Gillis died, Hawkeye was the first to know. He witnessed it with his own eyes. He's grateful he wasn't there to witness the aftermath.
His father wrote to him about it. Tommy's father stayed silent. Then he began to yell. He shouted, cried, slammed his fist against the wooden table. His mother silently sobbed. She held a cross in her hand. She didn't speak for three days after.
Play the bugle, play the taps
Make your fathers proud
Raise your rifles to the sky, boys
Fire that volley loud
He's part of the army in name. But he has no loyalty to it, no loyalty to a country that sends young boys to die. They die in the name of freedom, without any freedom of their own.
Hawkeye just wants this all to end.
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huh maybe i just didn't tag it, it was probably before i started collecting my batman headcanons under the #random headcanon tag, but I have always had a very specific noncanon vision for Ra's Al Ghul., one that i do understand a lot of people don't really like, but obviously that I consider pretty defensible, if not an improvement over the existing canon's mishandling of Ra's and the League in general.
See my beef is that the League of Assassins is just a cluster fuck of problems to begin with, both stylistically and internal continuity wise... For one, Ra's as written is just kind of an idiot and it's ridiculous to have to reconcile the idea that he is in fact this unquestioned ruler of this ancient order of assassins that's been operating for over a thousand years. On the one hand we can sort of blame the pit madness for some of it, but it's also clear that for all his scheming and seemingly improbable resources, he has literally never actually accomplished any of his organization's goals.
Secondary to this is that the league itself is just this massive stupid fucking hodgepodge of bad racist cliches. Why the fuck are they ninjas? Why do they use katanas and wear the stupid americanized ninja pajamas? Why do they keep showing up in like Buddhst temples deep in the mountains of Tibet? Also, in a bunch of his earliest appearances, why is he just a guy in a three piece suit and a cape? Also why would the leader of an ancient organization like the league of assassins have such a stupid, blatantly fake, and "i looked at an english to arabic dictionary once" name like Ra's Al-Ghul. (obvious answer is that it should be a title not a name, but then his stupid kids all take it as a surname)
My answer to all this(other than just ignoring a few of the dumber details) is that Ra's is not an ancient leader of the League of Assassins at all, he's a "modern" era usurper. A dark inversion of the white savior narrative and all it's inherent problems, a kind of supervillain Lawrence of Arabia(yeah yeah i know Tom King already did this with Adam Strange, but I've had this kicking around in my head for longer, shush) where he was sent to the Middle East as a British soldier in WWI to fight the Ottomans and much in the style of Lawrence parallel to him, rallied the locals to help in his efforts. While there he'd gain a certain appreciation and indeed a love of the local culture, but never fully forget his role as a foreign power come to exploit those people to his country's own ends. In that way his personal turning point becomes that he is unwittingly allied with the actual League of Assassins, and as the war begins to wind down, and he is forced to reckon with the idea of going home to England a nobody, or staying a war hero in the middle east, he goes full Heart of Darkness, and instead uses his military position and resources to seize control of the League for himself.
In this version of events, Talia would make the most sense as a daughter of the last of the actual blood line of rulers of the original League of Assassins, her mother being the daughter of the man Ra's overthrew. This impels her to her eventual take over, and her loyalty to the League over her father specifically. It also motivates her interest in raising Damian as an heir, as he has a more legitimate claim to the League via her than Ra's ever did or than Bruce would as Ra's' handpicked heir.
It would also give room for the original League to have been a force of relative good, developing their assassination and government destabilization tactics like their real world counterparts, the Order of Assassins, as the defensive measures of a smaller kingdom against the overwhelming forces of the neighboring rivals but more pressingly The Crusades. This creates a kind of golden age of righteous fury, where the League were noble just defenders of the middle east, and their destabilization tactics a safeguard against corruption rather than the comic's preferred route of 1970s era orientalist boogeymen where "OoOoooOo uncivilized brown people want to destroy americka!" Because the megalomaniacal world conquest horseshit is Ra's' doing, and a direct off shoot of Western imperialism, not something inherent to the League's actual founding history or culture.(and more importantly not just a recycled and displaced Fu Man Chu)
It does also conveniently make a slightly more sensible motive to the league's particular brand of generic super villainy: Where as their historical purpose would be to balance out power in their local region, that same balance left them open to destabilization at the hands of men like "Ra's" and Lawrence. So Ra's' plan is just to destabilize countries in places other than the middle east in the same way, to prime them for conquest. This makes his global network of assassins make more sense as they're all the in-progress cells of his would-be warlords gone "native" trying to blend in.
This all just making Ra's basically a giant Islamophilic orientalist weeaboo cosplaying this ridiculous caricature of an illustrious ancient warlord, aligning him and his delusions more with the writers who made him in the 70s, rather than the misguided fantasy they were tapping into. All the while his daughter sitting there in the background plotting revenge for a family she never even got to know, Lady Snowblood style.
Oh it also sort of helps rectify the goofy idea that Ra's otherwise would have had what like EIGHT HUNDRED years from the 70s, or over 900 from the current day as supreme ruler of the League of Assassins and only ever had like kids? Where as if he's only been at it since WWI, then it makes WAY more sense that he's only got a handful of kids. (I have the same issue with the idea that Vandal Savage has been loitering around since the dawn of human history but his only notable kid is Scandal and she's like what in her 20s?)
Also unrelated to the rest of this but goddamnitall give them a bitter centuries long rivalry with the Order of St.Dumas. They're an islamic kingdom of assassins and a secret society of crusader knights ffs
#random headcanon#honest i didnt even feel especially motivated to post this#in its own right#so much as it gave me something else to throw onto the pile#slowly building up my personal gotham rogues gallery
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*I AM NO CHEAP THIEF / IT'S THE WORLD OR NOTHING AT ALL.
*NAME: Delphine Baudelaire.
*TITLE: The Oracle.
*AGE: 29.
*PINTEREST: here
»» the flourish of hands married to the drama of words; action as distraction so the discretion of your thievery can commence; the shadows on the wall, shapes created only in others' illumination, shifting with the faintest breath; a deck of cards as both shield and spectacle; a tightrope fraying at both ends; delusive creation as an act not just of godhood, but girlhood — something known in the very fibers of your being.
BASICS, HISTORY, SECRETS & WANTED CONNECTIONS UNDER THE CUT !!
*BASICS.
BIRTH NAME: Delphine Baudelaire
NICKNAMES: Delphi
TITLE: The Oracle
AGE: 29
D.O.B.: tbd (i'm feeling gemini or sag energy for this one <3)
BIRTHPLACE: Tomasina, Madagascar
LANGUAGES SPOKEN: French (native), Malagasy (native), English
ORIENTATION: Bisexual biromantic
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single ?? (possibly has some fwbs, see history below)
CHILDREN: none
POSITIVE TRAITS: alluring, witty, adaptable
NEUTRAL TRAITS: flirtatious, inventive, coy
NEGATIVE TRAITS: delusive, dishonest, mercurial
INSP: Holly Golightly, Selina Kyle / Catwoman, Anna Karenina, Margaery Tyrell
*TLDR. (APP + SOME EXTRA DETAILS)
We are so glad to see you safe, FORTUNE-TELLER (SPY FOR MADAGASCAR) DELPHINE BAUDELAIRE of FRANCE! It’s dangerous out in the world these days, but I hear that you are ALLURING and COY enough to handle it. Just don’t let your MERCURIAL NATURE bring you down! Stay on your guard, because with your secret being at risk for exposure, you wouldn’t want everyone to find out THAT YOUR LOYALTIES HAVE BEGUN TO SHIFT FROM THE COUNTRY EMPLOYING YOU TO THE COUNTRY ON WHICH YOU SPY.
For Delphine, time has been rendered thick with the hauntings of her past. Born in Madagascar to a poor, criminally-inclined family, she learned quickly to steal in order to survive, and to charm as a means of disarm. As punishment for her and her father's treasonous acts at the start of Madagascar's solidification as a standalone nation, she acts as a spy on the French, with her cover being half-socialite, half-court entertainer. Now, with political revolution spilling over the hallowed halls Delphine has grown accustomed to, she contends with the promise and purpose for something greater than herself, the temptation of her nature, and the hauntings of her past.
*HISTORY.
[ trigger warnings for: mentions/descriptions of blood, war, implications of sex work, more tbd ]
I. EMBER IN THE ASH
»» Delphine's childhood was littered not with toys and pretty things, but stoney streets lined with more bloodshed than blossoms, soldiers fighting over territory disputes as the country itself clamored for independence. Her family was not made of fighters but of thieves. She quickly followed suit, roaming the reddened streets to pick the pockets of the fallen for any trinket to pawn, unbothered by the sights or sounds of the dying.
»» Once too young to know the difference between polish and peril, Delphine used the shell casing of a musket as a hard candy. A gnawing pain in the mouth of a two-year old brought her mother's attention to the hollowed-out bullet between the young Delphine's gums. But, before taking it out, her mother first brandished the moment to her father, a chorus of look at your daughter less a call for reprimand and more an affectionate coo — all for putting a killing thing in her young little mouth.
II. BEAUTY & BETRAYAL.
»» It wasn't the metal that poisoned her, but the so-called love she was weaned on, love which taught little of the closeness of kin in exchange for all manner of thievery, conning, and swindling. Beyond just the apple of her father’s eye, she was fruit bowl and orchard to him — a perfect creature whose particular talents were rarely seen, to set upon the masses in a firestorm of charisma and chaos, blinding the world with her unquestionable beauty.
»» However, he bet on the wrong grand scheme, believing that his wife's homeland could never separate from the 'greater' nation of France. The betrayal of secrets slipped from Delphine's mouth to the ears of a war-hungry general of a neighboring tribe — only for both the general and her father to be put to death for treason, once the nation formalized.
III. GAME, SET, MATCH.
»» Delphine, only nineteen, found her fate left in the hands of a country eager to cement its standing. They saw promise in her, but rejected the leniency of a pardon, too fearful of the girl to grow into her father's shadow, and too wary of the ease in treating the chaotic birth of a nation as ladder rungs upon which to ascend. What better use for a girl whose talents lay in dishonesty and charm than to set her on the world at large?
»» A bag, a few memories, and the crumbs of her birthplace were the only things she carried with her on the journey to the nation on which she was tasked to spy, her mother left in the clutches of Madagascar's government as collateral. It was her father's native country, but it bore no similarities to the man she knew — where he was shadowy but strong, France was a weakened country clinging to the notion of its more glorious past.
»» To the French court, Delphine presented herself as both refugee and gift, escaping the fray as the new country solidified itself, with a talent for supposed divination. To the court, she was no great threat: less a girl who knew the nature of their newfound enemy, and more a pretty young thing they could use to entertain the court from time to time — a distraction.
»» Their attention, however, was grasped entirely when she 'predicted' the location and outcome of a battle, one which supposedly gained France a different African ally. The truth of the matter rested in Madagascar's own carefully planned instructions, sewing seeds of certain belief for the French while Madagascar went on to harvest. A long game, to be sure, but one which garnered secret strides while France was none the wiser.
IV. SHIFTING TIDES.
»» Nearly ten years into her employ, Delphine has become a bourgeoning young socialite, a favorite in the court if only for her entertaining charm and talents as a so-called oracle. Privately, a few nobles have taken to indulging her mercurial fancies in exchange for a nights sharing a warm bed and the divined assurances of their success. The woman enjoys the life to be certain, but still finds herself practicing her old thieving ways from time to time, playing with fire less for excitement, but more so as a means of keeping her core warm.
»» It is not for those reasons, however, that her loyalties have begun to shift. Instead, as a means of gathering information on all facets of the French people, Delphine has taken to associating with more of the common folk, finding in them a certain kinship that simply doesn't exist amidst the lacquered halls and gilded glory of the upper-crust. With a political revolution tinting the rosiness of France in shades of democracy, Delphine has found herself utterly captivated by what seems to be a purpose greater than herself — but the temptation of her nature still lingers, and the hauntings of her past may loom too heavily to ever truly escape.
*WANTED CONNECTIONS.
my brain hurts but i'll add these soon i promise <33 hmu in the meantime pls!!!
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pathaan thoughts
(spoilers under the cut)
man bun.... man bun srk.... srk with long hair... srk hair bun.....
some of the lighting and shots were genuinely so beautiful! the moscow hotel room scene was on my gif list instantly it was just incredible
deepika padukone is so dangerously hot.................. she was fantastic in the action bits too like genuinely
i really like that you could feel the interest that all of the characters had in each other, either as people or as figures or whatever
srk was charming as all hell!!! action is not what i associate with him but he pulled it off, and his more charming moments were absolutely fantastic. the bit where rubina was beating people up and he was just like oooh! ah! delightful. 10/10
i did not really care about the boss woman lol. or her boss dude. who cares. give me back the sexually charged action scenes and taunting and staring and-
actually srk and deepika always have such fantastic chemistry and this really capitalised on it. but also gave me a moment of realising OSO was 15 years ago. what the Fuck.
deepika short hair......... deepika fighting........ ma'am your arms.... deepika machine gun.....
one of my friends was like 'do you really like action movies???' and all i could think was 'i don't watch action movies for the action i watch them for the eye candy' and GOD this one delivered
they would've gone for the pathaan/jim to round out the film if they weren't cowards. however jim doesnt give a single fuck about rubina. as it should be probably
the orb thing was straight out of a mission impossible movie wasnt it ??? the one with henry cavill ??????
also what was that falcon and the winter soldier moment lmaoooooo. srk even has the hair
i was genuinely surprised when tiger showed up ????? like i saw people talking about spyverse or w/e but i thought it was fans fucking around ??? and they kept bringing up kabir from war???? hi hello what.
ive complained about multiverses before but like.....i am only a simple woman. and i would deeply enjoy seeing some of these guys work together again. how long has it been since srk and hrithik were onscreen together? salman at least had his cameo in OSO . no complaints from me. until i think of some complaints to make.
also if this means deepika and katrina acting together i will literally asceeeeeeend
my cat says 87u768. he has not yet seen the film
ive said it before and i'll say it again: rip jim too sexy to live. i fully don't think he died actually like bollywood movies keep killing john abraham's sexy villain via falling off cliffs and i refuse to believe he's dead every time. no death until the body is burned baby. hope his next plot is even MORE evil <3
eta: AND the background music they played around jim was VERY good. i'd love to get my hands on that actually
serious serious thoughts time now:
the politics of this movie were genuinely atrocious - probably no worse than every other spy movie, but i don't watch most of them, so it's just kind of . what the fuck . what the hell. like i think at some point it's so dramatised there's nothing to say about it but "this is full of shit" but ...i don't even know. everything about the pakistan / kashmir thing was so deeply awful
it's even worse when it's like "oh our people will also do terrible things but that's for THE CAUSE" or whatever. fuck off. you were torturing one agent who helped you, left another for dead, and would've killed a third if not for personal loyalty. and when agents or spies or whatever remain all "oh ask what you can do for your country" it's like. jesus fucking christ. the answer is nothing.
this is why raazi is the only movie ever
#jui speaks#bollywood#pathaan#pathaan spoilers#serious thoughts aside i had a blast the film was supremely watchable and the cast killed#thats all I needed from it anyway
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Hi! I noticed that some unfounded criticism was being sent to you... I just want to write to you that your posts are very interesting. Special thanks for the fact that they are traditional. Don't pay attention to the negative! Keep writing in the same style, and write more and more. I wish you tons of inspiration! :) May I ask why you love the topic of clones and Mandalorians so much? It would seem that there was little about both of them in the history of Star Wars. Anyway, I wonder why...
Thank you very much for the kind words! 💜
In general I like cool armors and the military feeling (settling) so the warrior/soldier/assassin type of characters draws my attention immediately but as for my Star Wars interests, the funny thing is that everything always starts and ends with Anakin/Vader and both Mandalorians and clone troopers fall into that monothematic obsession of mine.
For Mandalorians the passion of course started with Boba Fett, partially due to the cool armor and no-nonsense attitude and partially because he was Vader’s favorite bounty hunter - although I won’t lie, it took some time for my uncle to actually convince the kid!me in that matter because Boba’s performance in RotJ kinda left much to be desired. My uncle literally brought me the first novel (The Mandalorian Armor) from The Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy to change my mind and to this day I’m truly grateful for his dedication because it did the job. Of course, twenty years ago there wasn’t that much star wars tie-in materials in my country, even less about Mandalorians so everyone latched at anything that was available and the great work of fans who shared for free all the translated scanlations of comics or articles and so on still warms my heart at the mere thought how awesome fandom can be. Again, thanks to the courtesy of my uncle, I got my hands on Jango Fett: Open Seasons and I absolutely fell in love with Mandalorians, especially with Tor Vizsla - and by extension, with Death Watch even though I know most fans despite this character. It is the black armor (my weakness!) and ruthless cleverness, battle skills but also underrated (or outright ignored?) little aspects of his personality that makes Tor Vizsla a very compelling character for me. That and also the fan translation that presented Death Watch as “Wataha Śmierci” in which Wataha in Polish may means a dangerous group but is also a Polish term for wolf-pack (while Death translated accurately) that I will admit, shaped my image of Mandalorians way more strongly than anything else. Ya’ know, the wild, dangerous predators tightly knit together as the clan and all the wolf symbolic for freedom, hard life, honor, majesty, nightmares and so on. Oops, sorry for the digression. Anyway, I like Mandalorians because they aren’t the holier-than-thou group and they can be - and are - ruthless bastards but also the loyalty to clan, the brotherhood in arms and honor sense is what I’m here for.
(I like Jango and think he was one of the best aspect of AotC and in general True Mandalorians vs Death Watch and the Fenn Shysa’s Protectors fight against Imperial occupation are great stories but thanks to The Sith Wars, I will always favor the original Mandalorians (Taungs) and KotOR era Mandalorians. Mainly because the Mandalore Indomitable is both awesome and hilarious when interacting with Exar Kun and Ulic Qel Droma.)
As for clones, well, I watched AotC in hope to see young Anakin the great battle (sadly battle of Geonosis didn’t take that much movie time overall) and I was truly touched and impressed with the little scenes they got then. In general I like to watch competent soldiers/specialists at their job - and Revenge of the Sith for sure provided more joy in that regard - but also I love the complexity of Star Wars that has this whole subplot of exploiting humans literally “breed for war” while Republic (the symbol of democracy) and Jedi Order (the legendary good guys from Original Trilogy) doesn’t blink an eye on slavery that is technically forbidden by their own laws. Of course, the potential was never truly used, even more so with Anakin’s backstory of being born in slavery. Anyway, Clone Wars is one of my absolute favorite star wars eras, exactly for heroic Anakin and his slow, tragic path to Dark Side but also for his relationship with clone troopers (an interesting mirror to Vader’s specific relationship with common troopers in contrast to the “military elites” and oh boy, even with so little focus on clones, there is so many moments to see how Skywalker cares for his men). So the more I explored source material in that regard, the more I came to love Legends!clones, like Alpha-17 and his sarcasm or Nate who took the name of Jangotat for himself or the most awesome Delta Squad or commander Faie who definitely wanted to kill his Jedi General during Order 66 or those few commandos who refused to kill their Jedi comrades. The spectrum of experiences that shaped the supposedly same people is thrilling to watch how those men develop into their own persona, how they break from dehumanization or not, while all are so competent and no-nonsense humans always ready to die for a system that doesn’t care about them in the first place. Clones and their place in the story is really heartbreaking and I do think all the time about this complexity. However I wholeheartedly hate the chip-in-brain nonsense and I’m tired of the weird (TCW?) fandom tendencies to present clones as some kind of dumb idiots who either love their Jedi generals *so much* they can't function like normal human beings or can’t be left without supervision because again, dumb idiots… Uh. Sorry, ranting again.
In summary, I love Mandalorian and clone troopers because they lack special powers in a universe that is all about special powers (Force) while being still pretty good at their job and generally neutral on the scale of good and evil. They are all a bit of both which gives a great possibilities to explore star wars universe, both from in-universe perspective and our real life. I love them because both groups provide me a lot of interesting stuff in regard to Anakin/Vader. Because yes, I’m that monotonic when it comes to star wars. And well, again, brotherhood in arms and cool armors are my thing.
#my replies#ooops sorry for the rambling#there is so much things i love about clone troopers and mandalorians
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When Wagner Group paramilitaries marched into Rostov-on-Don on Saturday, many residents responded by offering food and water. In one video, a young woman offers a soldier masked in a balaclava and wielding an assault rifle a packet of crackers. When asked why, she answers, “It’s a humane thing. They look tired.”
Those soldiers must be tired, and now their future is even more uncertain. The ones who participated in Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed coup will escape prosecution because of their “heroic deeds on the front,” according to the Kremlin, while those Wagner paramilitaries who didn’t participate will be offered Russian Defence Ministry contracts. Although Prigozhin was able to negotiate a safe exit from Russia (at least for now), an early casualty of this coup seems to be the Wagner Group itself; Vladimir Putin is unlikely to keep it intact.
Over the course of a single weekend, Prigozhin and Putin have jointly done what the Ukrainian military and its NATO allies have failed to achieve in 18 months of war: They’ve removed Russia’s single most effective fighting force from the battlefield. Wagner Group fighters have, since 2014, combatted a long line of adversaries including the Ukrainian armed forces, the Free Syrian Army, the Libyan army, and even elements of the U.S. armed forces. Although many of those Wagner Group fighters may now be folded into the regular Russian military, their power will be forever diluted.
Wagner’s potency was derived both from its experience as a fighting organization and from its status as a private entity, one that has operated apart from the state. The grief of a mother mourning the death of her mercenary son doesn’t resonate politically the same as the grief of a mother mourning the death of her conscripted son. One is an employee in a private enterprise; the other is the responsibility of the nation. Outsourcing dirty wars to mercenaries is a practice as old as war itself. If it checks political costs at home in the short term, it increases long-term political risk. When loyalty to a commander eclipses loyalty to the side for which the soldiers are fighting, the result is a mercenary army that marches on its capital—as Putin has just seen.
Up to this point, Putin’s pathway to victory in Ukraine has relied on a strategy of attrition, both of Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield and of the political will of Ukraine’s allies. The most effective tool Putin had for the former has now ceased to exist. When it comes to the latter, before this weekend, Putin seemed to have a chance at sustaining his war in Ukraine longer than the West could sustain its interest; this was a strategy he pursued effectively in Syria. But the loss of the Wagner Group necessitates that Putin rely wholly on the Russian military. This reduces his ability to insulate the Russian population from the costs of war, diminishing the political space for such an approach.
Authoritarians aren’t the only heads of state fixated on the costs of war. We’ve all heard the term boots on the ground. It’s a fixation among American leaders in times of war. The Pentagon even bestowed an acronym on this concept, BOG, pronounced “bog,” as if it correlates with getting “bogged down” in a war. American presidents have long relied on special-operations forces, CIA paramilitary forces, and mercenary forces like Blackwater to reduce the U.S. military’s footprint in countries where we’ve been at war. But the stakes are different for democratically elected leaders. Unlike in authoritarian nations, the cost of a lost war for a president is likely a lost election, not the loss of his life.
We live in an age of rising authoritarianism. Those authoritarians have little respect for international order, and wish to redraw maps. This has made Ukraine a global, not a regional, concern. The greatest current authoritarian regime is China, and the ease or difficulty that Russia faces in Ukraine today informs the decisions that President Xi Jinping might make tomorrow in Taiwan. The biggest threat to any authoritarian is one from within. An autocrat considers his decision to wage war alongside his appreciation for whether that war will consolidate or weaken his power. Putin’s troubles in Ukraine are already a cautionary tale for autocrats the world over. This latest chapter highlights the existential threat from within that hired armies pose. Strategists in Beijing, Tehran, and elsewhere will likely be redrafting aspects of their war plans.
But there’s still an actual war going on in Ukraine, and it isn’t over because Putin is facing a political crisis. Ukraine is in the middle of a summer offensive. It’s still early, but gains in that offensive have thus far proved underwhelming. Even if Ukraine hasn’t yet retaken meaningful swaths of territory, it’s taken back something every bit as important: the strategic initiative. The strain Ukrainians placed on Prigozhin’s forces in Bakhmut, Kherson, and a host of other places contributed to this rebellion, and this rebellion is again placing the Ukrainians in the driver’s seat of the war.
Prigozhin ostensibly turned against Putin and marched on Moscow because of the insufficient support of the Russian military. In the opening hours of the coup, he said, “Those who destroyed our lads, who destroyed the lives of many tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, will be punished.” The coup attempt we’ve just witnessed was a profound punishment for Putin and Russia. In this regard, Prigozhin was successful. The question we should all be asking now is how to capitalize on Prigozhin’s success.
#current events#politics#russian politics#russo-ukrainian war#2022 russian invasion of ukraine#russia#yevgeny prigozhin#vladimir putin#wagner group
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📓🫶
I love these so much!! Thank you for sending me it!!
This is another one I’ve been seriously considering writing after my current fic is done, it’s kinda a high fantasy omegaverse thing?
Less about heats/ruts more about giving Steve a Mulan moment lol.
In this one Steve is the oldest prince of the the glorious __ empire. He has always been assumed to be an alpha, but he was a super late bloomer and didn’t present until he’s 18-20
Nancy and Mike are his younger half-siblings (no romance ever with stancy in this one. More sibling/ascension politics.) Steve and Nancy don’t really get along. Once they were close, even friends, but Nancy’s ambition for the throne has put a damper on it.
Background, there is a war going on with the barbaric people of the west, who have teamed up with the last of an ancient race of monsters that were vanquished by The Gods of Light decades ago.
There is a lot of lore in this idea I won’t get into here.
Unfortunately for Steve, when he does present finally, he presents as an omega. This means he will be expected to mate with Duke Hargrove’s son, in order to secure their loyalty and armies. He isn’t eager, given he knows Billy’s character. And if Billy is on the throne (which he would be) then the people would suffer. But they can’t afford to jeopardize their goodwill.
However, his advisor (Murray) offers him a way out. If Steve joined the war before an engagement offer is made and dies, then the Hargrove’s will have nothing to complain about. Nancy will be able to take the throne when the time comes and she will be a much better ruler.
Murray says Steve doesn’t even have to actually die. Just put the royal seal on a dead body.
Btw it is possible to pretend to be an omega in battle where no one is looking for it, than as a noble where people ARE looking for it, and have eyes for details.
So Steve decided to join the war and die a hero rather than fail his country by marrying Billy. He won’t let another person die for him, he’s going to war as a common soldier
However, war is messy. At one point, the army attacks a barbarian village and everyone is given orders to let none survive. But Steve can’t do that, and he fights another soldier in order to allow a mother and her child escape.
He faces punishment and is ripped of all his clothes but his underwear, whipped, and left tied to a stake for the whole time the army is camped there.
But THEN the barbarian army comes to get revenge on the soldiers for destroying the village, and all the soldiers in Steve’s company are killed.
The 2nd in command (effectively the general) is actually the husband of the woman Steve saved (surprise it’s hopper and Joyce)
So they actually spare steve as long as he joins their army.
The 1st in command is against this initially. He is one of the monstrous people and he hates everyone in Steve’s country for the horrors they wrought against his people. He hates Steve and wants him gone. But Hopper convinces him to let Steve stay.
Steve ends up teaching the youngest soldiers to fight (Dustin, max dressed up as a boy, Lucas, Ericka dressed up as a boy, etc).
Things are complicated when Mike arrives with his wizard friend and servant, looking for his brother.
And then again as Steve and the 1st in command (it’s Eddie of course it’s Eddie) begin to become closer.
Steve isn’t sure who’s on the right side and who’s not. As stuff progresses, he becomes increasingly more conflicted.
Eddie isn’t anything like the monster he was raised to believe, and Steve’s country has secrets they’re not telling anyone about.
In the end, will he choose to follow his heart or his family?
And does he even have a choice at all?
Yeah so pretty much I’m going have to decide between this one and the other idea…as you can see, I’m definitely in a high fantasy mood lol. It’s tough!! I love both ideas so much 😭 let me know what you guys think so I can decide!
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For WBW I'd like to know more about the geopolitical situation of heroic epic AU. Why are Hirocean and Arius' countries at war and what made Arius' king decide to despise him for being such an accomplished warrior? And what do they hope to accomplish through this team up?
Those are great questions, thank you for asking. Season of my enemy has been on mind a lot these days. :D
Enemy Kings AU
Arius's king is an emperor and has been collecting little kingdoms for years now, making other kings submit to him and his army. He leaves them be as along as they always come when he calls them and do battles for him.
Arius's country Wisteria is very large and very empty. They need almost everything from somewhere else, so they build themselves up through wars and conquering others. Their access to sea and big numbers make them control the waters now as well.
Hirocean's kingdom Alfea is one of the only ones with sea cost not conquered yet, so Arius's king is very eager to get to them. Besides the riches and good climate and vegetation, Alfea is known for progressive politics and celebration of sciences and arts, inviting philosophers and scholars all over the continent to study, lecture and present themselves. It's also renown for great safety, with all the big cities with high walls and castles in between deserts, and for accepting refugees and prominent rebels.
Wisteria's army is famous for their numbers and bloodthirsty ruthless ways. They always offer the kingdom to join and submit or burn it to the ground, no honours, mercy or sparing civilians, often enslaving women and killing all the men and children.
Part of Wisteria's army's fame is not just the sheer number, but also its general and his division who always fight on the front lines with amazing results. Arius's men aren't even that many, around 100 of the main force aside the other forces he commands, but they are endlessly loyal, hyped and trained by him. They are send on the front lines for the glory and biggest treasures and the acknowledgement, all the things they wouldn't get being low born. War achievements are the only way for people in Wisteria to climb up if they aren't born noble.
Arius arrival to battlefields breaks enemy soldiers will, boosts and recovers their own, many kinds now give up just hearing he will be fighting. Lots of wars have been cut short by one on one champion battles Arius likes to fight - it's quick and effective.
Said shortly, Arius has become too powerful and famous for his king to tolerate. He is a sore spot, the name on everyone's lips, driven by his own ambition more than any other ideal or loyalty gods or higher authority and sticks out as a threat to Wisteria's emperor.
Arius knows this. He would find it amusing, except his life is in danger and now has to tiptoe a fine line between being useful and being too threatening. He was send to fight Alfea now, and at this point he really doesn't care. So many kings swearing to his emperor and kissing his feet in fear of him and what he could do to them, the whole dying for your country and countrymen got old for him, old people decide the fates and young people throw themselves against enemy swords for them...it all becamse rather meaningless to him.
Alfean general is the first time in eternity that gave Arius trouble while fighting. And it's a prince who seems to care about honour, deals, his soldiers, wanting deals but refusing any sumbitting, who is devoted to his king (his father) like he is a good man...and Arius just thinks about why he should fight, plot and kill this prince for a king he doesn't care about and even worse, that wants to kill him afterwards anyway?
So Arius knocks at the gates if he and his division could join forces with Alfea against Wisteria and their enslaved kings...Arius doesn't really care how it turns out. He would like his men to be free, but he can't save them from their own power hungry blinded war obsession, he wants to protect his brother who is too young and naive to listen to him, and he would like to meet a king that doesn't inspire immediate disgust in him.
Hirozean allows this because just Arius's name is a big win. This already breaks Wistria's moral, even if there aren't that many men coming along. Maybe they could still force Wisteria's emperor home or have better chances fighting reluctant confused soldiers. Arius is also a risk cause he can turn against him, infiltrate, spy, kill or open their gates or who knows what, but he takes it upon himself to guard those possibilities.
It would actually be possible for Arius to recruit more of Wisteria's men to his side, being also friends with many of their kings and generals. He would have to want to get involved in that though.
Thanks for asking, this was fun to write all down!
#writeblr#writers on tumblr#worldbuilding wednesday#worldbuilding#wip: season of my enemy#enemy kings au#my writing#wip: tears of iron aus
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What do you see?
Rating: T
Warnings: None.
Characters & Pairing: Dahlia Wintersnow, Ulfric Stormcloak
AO3 Link
On the tops of the parapets of the Palace of the Kings, Dahlia Wintersnow stands, barefoot and in her nightgown, watching the waxing moons’ soft glow through the dusky snow clouds which constantly seem to plague her home city. A frigid wind blows over her casually, causing the hairs on her arms to stand on end, but otherwise, she appears unbothered by the temperature. This is due to the blood of her Nordic heritage, and actually, if you would ask her, she would probably say that she feels most at home in the cold and snow…or in her lover’s arms.
What brought her from her slumber this night is not simply to stargaze; she has had a lot of things on her mind lately which have been eating away at her conscience. Normally, getting some air clears her head, but at the same time, as she looks up at the sparce stars dotting the night sky, she can’t help but wonder…how will everything turn out, and what is her place in all of this?
She has been pushed to where she is ever since she found out that she was the Dragonborn—the hero and supposed savior of all of her country and all of her world. However, the more she thinks about her destiny and the things she has done, the more she wonders about where the path of her life is taking her and if she is worthy of where it will lead. Sure, she originally set out to study Restoration magic at the College, and later she defeated a world-eating dragon god with little more than her sword and her sheer determination—but this, the Civil War, possibly becoming High Queen and what comes after…it is enough to make herself doubt.
Is this what her creator, the Dragon God of Time Akatosh, wanted for her? Is it what she wants? Is she capable of doing this?
Dahlia shivers a little—not from the cold, but rather from the unknown of own contemplations— and pulls the black bear cloak slung over her shoulders tighter against her.
What would Ulfric say if he could see her now?
It is not that she has doubts about him or that she wants to be with him. No, she would never doubt him. Since she has known the Jarl, he has always been so self-assured, and he has always held the strongest of convictions in what he believes in. It is something that she has often admired about him. And despite the fact that others might mistake his ruthlessness in the Civil War as an egotistical power grab, she knows that he only wants what is best for Skyrim.
She can see it in his eyes as he gives impassioned speeches from his throne to his soldiers. It is also in the way he carries himself and moves through a room. Ulfric was born for this, after all he is a Jarl. He has roused the hearts of hundreds—no, thousands—of citizens to fight for him and swear their loyalty to him. He can command an audience of snappish, squabbling nobles to silence with a single word. There is something about him—no matter what others might say about him—which makes people gravitate towards him and want to listen.
And who is she but a lowly, common-born girl who just happened to be blessed with the soul of a dragon? There is nothing special about her.
Unbeknownst to Dahlia, someone is watching her from the doorway leading back into the Palace. His imposing figure is carefully hidden from her so that he can observe her from a distance.
What is she doing out here at this hour?
Half-silhouetted in the moonlight, her pale skin glows, and she has left her normally-braided hair unbound. While she would tell you that it is nothing special—mid-length and dull brown—, Ulfric would say her hair is one of her most beautiful features, after her eyes, of course. Her hair reminds him of the color of earth after a rainstorm; it is a rich, deep brown.
He would even go so far as to argue that her nature can at times be much the same as a storm: strong, beautiful, and wild.
She does not let others influence her nor tell her what to do. She knows what she fights for and gives herself to what she believes is right—not just for herself—but for anyone and everyone she meets in her path who is suffering. Perhaps, that is her best quality, and also her greatest curse because she feels too much. He can see it in her eyes.
The rains of her emotions follow her and drench everyone in their path. The most stunning part of this is when she looks at you. Who she is and what she feels is reflected completely in those hazel eyes of hers. It soaks into you, catching you off guard. Perhaps, this is how he became so swept up in her. Caught in the shifting green-brown of her irises, he saw the sparkle of mirth and mischief, as well as selflessness and conviction—and promises of things Ulfric never thought he’d ever be lucky enough to have.
As much as he finds her captivating, she is so much more than her appearance, and if he had any sense, he’d take the Amulet of Mara burning a hole in his pocket and give it to her right here and now and marry her. Instead, he simply walks towards her, catching her by surprise, before pulling her into a kiss. There will be time enough for marriage proposals later.
#skyrim#skyrim fanfiction#late night contemplations#dahlia wintersnow#ulfric stormcloak#winter writes
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