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u-iona · 3 years

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After seeing the last episode on the YouTube channel GrandLineReview, I wanted to comment about a thing I hate about One Piece, but it was too long (as all my writtings tend to be), so I’m posting it here.

I apologise for all gramatical mistakes that will inevitabely appear.

I hate how female characters either don’t appear as much as males or are left as background characters while the males duke it out.

Marines: I can remember about three female characters from the top of my head (Tashigi, Tsuru and Hina) and even though there are more (Tsuru’s crew) there is nowhere near enough to counter the males. Additionally, we know of two former Fleet Admirals (Sengoku and Kong), one current (Sakazuki), and five Admirals (Akainu [former], Aokiji [former], Kizaru, Fujitora and Ryokugyu). Notice a trend? All males.

Cipher Pol: While writting about the Marines, I thought that maybe the reason for the lack of females was that the society at large expected women to not fight and simply take care of the house. With that being the case, it would make sense for Marines to promote the idea, since it would fit with the world at large. It would also make sense for the lack of female characters in CP1-8, since those are known to public (maybe even CP0, since they work mainly for the World Nobles and need to keep up the appearances). But it would not explain CP9, which is an allegedly assassination organisation unknown to the world. In that case a female would be more inconspicuous and thus better at assassination. So, either my idea is wrong and the Marines and CP0-8 have no real explanation for their lack of females or CP9 has no good explanation for only having Kalifa out of at least 8 known characters.

Pirates: Even if theory of misogyny mentioned above is true, pirates, who rebel against the World Government should have a better track record.

Shichibukai (including former, but not Blackbeard, since he’ll be a bit down with the Yonko): Admitedly, Shichibukai work for the World Government, but they’re more of independant contractors than actual employees. So, from all the know Shichibukai Mihawk, Kuma and Weevil get a pass, since they don’t have a crew. Boa Hancock gets one as well, since she does have an all female crew, but her whole crew (present, past and future, since Kija Pirates just seem to pass from generation to generation) is made of Kuja women only and doesn’t seem inclined to recruit out of her island. Which kind of makes sense, but is also discriminatory of every non-Kuja woman. Now to the rest. Crocodile had a bounty hunter organisation that employed both males and females, most notably current Straw Hat Nico Robin, who, once they got up high enough on the ladder worked in male-female duos. That sounds good, but (while I am not going to go back to manga/anime) I remember that, when explaining the structure of Baroque Works to Straw Hats, Vivi said that the number agents are the strongest men in the organisation, who then get a female partner with complementary skill set. Enough said. Next, Moria. But, there’s not much to say, since he basically had 3 living crew members and with that number it’s either man-man-woman or man-woman-woman, so it’s good enough that he didn’t have three men. Jinbei and honestly Fisher Tiger (who I still love and cry when I see him die) did a terrible job at gender equality, since there are no fishwomen or mermaids on the crew of Sun Pirates (there’s Praline, but she’s Aladins wife and joins during time-skip as a part of alliance with Big Mom, so I’m not really counting her). And we have no evidence that fishwomen or mermaids would be any worse at fighting than mermen or fishmen. Trafalgar Law does a bit better, but with one woman out of 20 crew members it’s still not much. Buggy (a guy I totally forgot was a part of this group, sorry Buggy fans) has a huge crew, but out of the well known ones, I’m pretty sure that only Alvida is female, but I cannot be certain that he doesn’t have more. And lastly, Doflamingo. Here I only count the Donquixote Family, since counting every minion would take too long. Out of his Elite Officers (the guys that stood for heart, club, diamond and spade) there were five (Roscinante and Vergo both standing for heart) and all male. Each of them could have subordinates which were: Giolla, Sugar, Violet, Lao G, Senor Pink, Dellinger, Machvise, Gladius, Buffalo, Baby 5. Then there was Monet, who was part of the family, but neither as an elite officer or an official subordinate of one. In total, out of 16 there are 5 females. Like with Moria, it is roughly one third, but better than some other and Doflamingo could have had more females. My main concern nere were the Elite Officers, but they were in general much harder to defeat than the other. Those that jump out would be Sugar (as being hard to defeat, but we need to take into consideration that she was being actively protected by Trebol), Vergo (being easier to defeat than other Elite Officers [in my oppinion], but that took Laws genuinly OP Devil Fruit] and Roscinante (since he didn’t seem to do much and his Devil Fruit was kind of useless, so he either had hidden skill we didn’t see or nepotism).

Yonko: Since this is much lower on the list, I actually thought through the order of writting (from most women inclusive to least) and am not winging it like the rest. Firstly, Big Mom (Charlotte Linlin). She is a female and her crew is greatly inclusive to both genders and all races (species?), though the higher ups (Sweet Commanders, Ministers) seem to be ONLY her children. That means that unless a blood relative of hers a character has little to no chance of mattering. But that could be due to both her and her children, in general, being stronger than at least humans, as well as most of her crew being made up of Homies (if I remember correctly). Out of her three (formerly four) Sweet Commanders one, Smoothie, is female and, while she is weaker than Katakuri (like most of her family), her bounty is higher than Crackers, so she presents a bigger threat according to the World Government. Taking her and Crackers Devil Fruits into consideration, it is likely that Smoothie is more powerful than Cracker (without Devil Fruit), since Cracker can use his whenever he feels like but Smoothie seems to need to get close up, making her fruit harder to use against many enemies at once and thus needing to rely on other abilities. Like Big Mom, Kaido does employ many females, but not as much where it counts. For me, the characters from the Beast Pirates that I remember are Kaido, the All Stars and the Tobiroppo and from those 9, 2 are female (only Ulti and Black Maria). Not to say that those two aren’t awsome, I love both, especially Ulti, but I don’t think that it’s enough. On top of that, the All Stars (which are basically the Beast Pirates version of the Sweet Comanders) are all male, so not even the one third. Then we get onto Blackbeard, from who’s crew we know only the 10 Titanic Captains, where only one (Catarina Devon) is female. That could certainly be better and I will not comment much further, since the 10 Captains themselves show that Blackbeard has a gigant crew, most of who we don’t know, but having a few more females there would be better, since any Blackbeard female shown from now on will most likely be weaker than any of the captains. Next is Whitebeard, whose crew I genuinely hate. I honestly think that Whitebeard is cool and I support the idea of blood not making a family, but any and all females on his crew are nurses. No fighters, let alone a female being one of the 16 Divison Commanders (I checked and Haruta is male. I also heard some people mention Whity Bay, but she’s an ally and a captain of her own crew, not a Whitebeard pirate). So, while there are females, it showes them as damsels in distres rather than foghters. Nothing more to say. Lastly, the worst offender, Shanks. No females. That’s it. There is not a single female character that would be a known member of the Red Haired pirates, not even as a nurse. Grantes, we still don’t know much about Shanks or the Red Haired pirates, but we’ve seen them at Marinefort and I think that if at least one female from the crew was an important fighter, she would be there. So, there could be some, but either not strong or not a fighter at all.

Straw Hats: Let’s be honest, we all love Straw Hats, but they’ve got problems. There are females, but it’s still only two out of then, neither of the two is part of the three strongest (until the time skip Nami was actually seen as one of the weaker members and before Alabasta she didn’t even fight) and even their fighting styles show a problem. This is something I wanted to also point out (before this rant became longer than some of my essays [and I didn’t even research here, just checked to make sure some of the things I wrote were actually true and to check the names]), but another thing I don’t like is how even when female characters are shown, they are not fighters, not GOOD fighters (or in general tend to be weaker than men) or are long distance fighters. Nami and Robin are a great mple of the last. Both of them attack from a distance, which makes sense with their weapon/Devil Fruit, but all the other Straw Hats (excluding Usopp) fight at close or mid distance. That makes the Straw Hats balances, but it doesn’t make sense that neither of them are close combat (at least statistically), especially since Nami DIDN’T FIGHT until Alabasta (and even there her combat with Miss Doublefinger was pretty close range) so her fighting style could have been thought of for a long time. And Robin DOES have some close ranged attacks (shown in Alabasta and Skypiea arcs) but just doesn’t use them (especially post time-skip). And that’s not even talking about Haki. Logicaly speaking, it would make all sense in the world for Robin to have at least Arnament, since it would give her already OP (if used correctly) Devil Fruit a way to more effectively attack other Devil Fruit users and even normal enemies (since Arnament also seems to make attacks stronger, not only allow Devil Fruit users to be hurt) and, unlike basicaly all the other Straw Hats, who didn’t learn Haki during the time-skip, Robin was surrounded by people who knew Haki and could have taught her.

Thank you, for reading my rant. I hope you enjoyed. Additionally, I suck at tagging, so please let me know, if you can think of any.

#one piece #grandlinereview

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samatheia229 · 4 years

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PJO Mortal AU (Solangelo-centric)

The Olympia Family

(AKA the family with so much chaos and drama, they would have made an even more popular reality TV show than Keeping Up with the Kardashians)

Thalia Grace - 24

An ambassador of the Artemis Foundation

Badass

Won't hesitate to throw hands at anyone who messes with her family.

Very protective of her little brother and cousins.

Not afraid to speak her mind and fight for what she thinks is right.

Has a kind of love-hate relationship with her stepmother Hera. While Thalia respects and acknowledges Hera as her stepmother, she is a free spirit, and hates being chained down by the old-fashioned rules Hera imposes.

Briefly dated Luke Castellan for 2 years, but broke up due to reasons. The break up was mutual and Luke still remains as one of Thalia's closest friends.

Deadly with a bow and arrow (she'd be hunting down hunters like they hunt animals for living if it weren't for the fact that murder is unfortunately illegal).

Jason Grace - 19

Sophomore at Uni (double majors in Management and Aerodynamic Engineering)

Flight school graduate

Heir to Jupiter Airlines (given that his father doesn't plan to retire anytime soon, Jason is considering becoming a pilot in the meantime)

Hera's favourite child since he actually follows her rules (He bends them slightly every now and then, but she doesn't need to know that).

Regular at the Manhattan Chess Club

Has an intense rivalry with his older cousin Percy that's been going on for like 10 years now... (his life goal is to beat Percy. They're currently at a stalemate of 3795 wins each.)

Very protective of Nico. He almost had an aneurysm when he heard that grumpy, little stay-away-or-I’ll-death-glare-you Nico had a boyfriend. A boyfriend.

Has a best friend Leo Valdez who is an engineer student with an eccentric personality and is a mischievous menace. His childhood friend, Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, is an athlete in javelin-throwing and currently resides in her hometown in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but they still keep in touch.

Dating Piper McLean, the 19-year-old founder of the Beautifully Imperfect Foundation

Zeus Olympia

CEO of Jupiter Airlines

Drama Queen TM

Favours Thalia more despite Jason being his heir and enables most of her rebellious antics, much to Hera's chagrin.

Can be rather childish and petty ("It's been 43 years, and I've long since given up on expecting him to change," Hades deadpanned.)

As the youngest child of the Olympia family and with his father on Death's doorstep, Zeus was given a lot of free reign, hence his playboy tendencies. He eventually did settle down with Hera Junos, the single daughter of one of the oldest families in Greece. Hera was fond of children but was unable to sire her own due to medical issues, which led to Zeus getting a mistress (with Hera's begrudged consent), Beryl Grace, the daughter of Hera's family chef. Beryl has always had a rather strange personality and an unhealthy obsession with alcohol. A few years after giving birth to Thalia and Jason Grace respectively, her liver gave way and she died before they could find a solution.

Hera Olympia (formerly Junos)

Zeus' wife

The kids call her ‘Aunt Ra’

Jason is her favourite child because he actually listens to her

Coming from both a high-class and old family, Hera was raised to be a perfect lady (a lady should not wear pants or speak out of turn etc. etc.) and has a rather old-fashioned way of thinking, enforcing strict rules in her household.

She still loves Thalia, but because the way Thalia acts goes against everything Hera was taught, her relationship with her stepdaughter is a bit strained. Hera now mostly lets Thalia do her own thing, but every now and then might still be a bit controlling. She's trying, okay?

Bianca di Angelo - 19

Sophomore at Uni (majors in Journalism and English Literature)

Works part-time at the Artemis Foundation

Generally quiet and shy, but has a tendency to fuss over small details.

Very responsible and possibly the only one with a brain cell among the cousins. (Proteus and Triton don’t even live in the same continent half of the time; Kym doesn't give a damn; Thesi is too nice to reprimand them; Ro‘s too busy fawning over her fiancé; Hero is more likely to fan the flames than quell them; Thalia, Jason, Percy and Nico are always either competing against each other or breaking the Internet with their antics again; Hazel is pretty innocent but has a slight vindictive streak so caution must be exercised; and Tyson and Estelle are innocent beans of sunshine that must be protected).

She can be bold when she wants to be, as well as reckless.

Has her father's habit of gesturing with her hands while talking and when she is on edge.

Ace

Nico di Angelo - 17

High school Senior

Heir to Pluto Corp.

Resident Emo in the family (“I'm not emo!” “Your only-dark-clothing phase says otherwise.” “It's not a phase, Persephone!” “Like father, like son.”)

Stubborn AF

Can't deal with all his overprotective sisters and cousins

Currently pining over William Solace ("Shut up!")

Avid gamer, plays digital games, card games (his childhood and to-this-day favourite is Myth-o-magic, which is one of the reasons he approves of Hazel's boyfriend, Frank) and all games in general (he visits the arcade monthly to make sure he's still 1st place in every game there)

Has a tendency to hold grudges and gestures with his hands while talking or when on edge, a habit he shares with his father and older sister.

Plays the violin (Persephone had introduced him to it, and he'd taken a liking to it)

Hazel Olympia (formerly Levesque) - 14

High school Freshman

Aspiring artist (she’s won thirty different art competitions locally in the span of three years and placed silver last year in the Chelsea International Fine Art Competition under an anonymous name because she wanted to win by her own merit rather than rely on the Olympia name. Hades plans to surprise her by giving her own exhibition hall for her next birthday.)

Regular at the Manhattan Riding Club

Has a bit of a vindictive streak in her that was probably born out of spite due to her upbringing

Exudes a powerful aura of passive aggressiveness, but is also incredibly kind and magnanimous

Has the ability is summon, manipulate and detect precious minerals, as well as the ability to place curses on them. (This knowledge is confidential and hidden from the public)

Loves her family with all her heart, and literally no one is more protective of Nico than she is

She was the first but also last person to know about Nico's boyfriend (First because she goes to the same school and is not dense, thank you very much, but technically last because she was the last person that Nico officially told since Will is terrified of her for some reason, something about her being 'the FINAL BOSS'; this amuses Hazel to no end).

Has a very cute crush on Frank Zhang, a HS Junior who’s an archer and animal lover (it’s mutual, by the way).

Hades Olympia

CEO of Pluto Corp., one of the largest companies in the mining industry.

#DONE with life and all the people in it, particularly his crazy family

Functions solely on his children, Persephone and caffeine, usually caffeine because the other two are often the cause of his high blood pressure

Broods a lot (”I don’t brood.” “Yes, you do.”)

Deadpan 200% of the time and takes no shit

Loves all his children equally and definitely does not have a favourite (it’s Hazel, in case you’re wondering)

As the eldest son of the three brothers, Hades was betrothed and wed to his childhood best friend Persephone Terrafield by their fathers in an attempt at a business partnership (Spoiler Alert: It didn’t work out in end). Admittedly, Hades and Persephone did have a small infatuation with each other when they were younger, but it never grew into anything serious, and as they grew older he saw her as more of a sibling than a lover and vice versa. After the inevitable death of his father, Hades and Persephone divorced but literally nothing in their relationship changed since they’d never loved each other romantically in the first place. When Hades decided to court their mutual friend, Italian diplomat Maria di Angelo, Persephone supported both of them wholeheartedly. In the span of the seventeen years they were together, Maria gave Hades two beautiful children, Bianca and Nico. Unfortunately, Maria passed away after being on life support for two years in result of a plane crash when Nico was 6.

In the two years when Maria was hospitalized, Hades was so desperate to find his beloved a cure that he sought out a witch doctor that was rumoured to be in New Orleans. Marie Levesque, the aforementioned witch, was a greedy, manipulative person with a deluded and unstable mind, who drugged Hades and essentially raped him because she thought his spawn would have the perfect blood for experimenting magic on. She used magic to wipe his memory of the previous night’s events and handed him an ‘antidote’ that was actually just water dyed a milky white. After ten years, Marie finally revealed to Hades a 12-year-old Hazel, who looked miserable, was suffering from malnutrition, wounds, burns etc. and had a supernatural ability which Marie proudly said she had bestowed to her via dark magic. Hades was absolutely mortified, revolted and a bunch of other things. He filed a lawsuit against Marie, charging her for rape, child neglect, child abuse and human experimentation, as well as taking permanent custody over Hazel Levesque (now Hazel Olympia).

Persephone Terrafield

CEO of jewelry enterprise The Red Pomegranate which was a sub-branch of Pluto Corps. The enterprise has the highest production rate in the US.

Self-designated matchmaker for Hades (Hades always tells her she should focus on her own love life first, but he’s just an ungrateful brat)

Current life goal is to fulfill Maria di Angelo’s dying wish: help Hades find love again. (Mission status: still at Square 1 because Hades has some trust issues after the Levesque Incident)

The kids all call her ‘Aunt Seph’, but she loves the children as though they were her own

She and Hades often joke that they would totally still be married if they didn’t see each other as siblings and platonic soulmates and she hadn’t had her sexual awakening of being lesbian.

She lives with Hades and the children as she finds it too much of a hassle to move into her own place, not to mention lonely (with the kids at school and doing club activities, someone needs to make sure Hades gets exposure to the sun anyway).

Persephone is the daughter of an unnamed businessman and Demeter Terrafield, an agricultural revolutionist and healthy-cereal-obssessed woman.

Her mother and Hades have this sort of weird rivalry going on whenever Demeter visits; Demeter hates Hades because he hates healthy cereal, and apparently anyone who hates healthy cereal isn’t good enough to be hanging around her daughter, so she always replaces all his coffee with decaf and puts the healthiest cereal she can find on his bedside table every morning; in retaliation, Hades will deliberately eat the most sugary sweets he can find in front of her and locks her out of their personal greenhouse. (The glass walls are made of the strongest glass he could find and the door is locked by multiple manual and digital locks.)

Hestia Olympia

CEO of WarmHearth Interior Design Agency (WHIDA)

Everyone's favourite person, indefinitely

Has the infinite patience of a goddess

Gentle, kind, very wise, gives great advice

The kids call her ‘Aunt Tia’

Often fondly exasperated by her younger brothers' antics (because no, just because they’re grown men now does not mean they are going to stop their childhood feuds since despite their protests, they are all petty AF), but once she snaps, they all line up like toy soldiers and behave nicely.

Knits a lot. Most of her carpets, quilts, bags, scarves etc. are handmade.

She looks relatively innocent, but don't be fooled. There's a hidden arsonist in her that is always ready to come out when she's angry.

Hestia has a 'I'm not mad, just extremely disappointed and upset' Mom Look that has sent people bawling their eyes out and begging for her forgiveness with just one glance

She is the oldest of the Olympia siblings, but as a child had a frail and weak body. Kronos wanted to get rid of her since she was 'useless and couldn't be wed off', but Rhea, their mother, begged and pleaded Kronos to let her live. For some unknown reason, Kronos complied.

Her brothers are all very protective of her

YOU DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, MAKE HER ANGRY

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myrecompense · 5 years

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A hybrid subjected to experimentation through his childhood in the underground laboratory of The Order of the Sword. When Valdis escapes, he seeks that which can cease the endless cravings of his demonic nature while destroying whatever remnants of cult he finds in his wake.

Unknown to him, he is twin to Nero and a son to Vergil.

More about this verse here. || #v Valdis (Not Vergil Verse)

(Read More for Thread Wish-list of interaction ideas.)

Thread Wish-list:

Random Encounter Threads || Always accepting Working Valdis into one of your Verses || Interested, message me

If a Timeline tag is not present in a Valdis thread, the verse has been used as an origin but is not part of the timelines/plots listed below.

Timeline 1: #tl Restoration (Valdis)

Goal: Reconciliation and Restoration

Through encounters with those formerly connected the order (Think the likes of Nero/Kyrie/Nico) Valdis learns of its destruction and that things have changed.

Focus is on restoration (Tracking down Vergil. V’s could potentially play into this, Verse dependant.)

Gradual familiar discovery. (Twin to Nero, Son of Vergil.)

Timeline 2: #tl Conquest (Valdis)

Goal: Conquest of The Order and Fortuna

Req. Character death: Kyrie - This will either be implied, or if someone wishes to thread this with me, please hmu for some murder. Actively seeking a juicy aggressive Nero Feud.

If Valdis encounters:

Dante: Neutral. While Valdis wished he could kill Agnus himself, he holds no grudge with Dante.

Vergil: Of Interest. Having seen him in a vision resulting from the shards of Nelo Angelo, Valdis seeks Vergil to learn what became of him, if he cured his corruption, and if where’s any way Valdis could as well.

Nero: Hostile. Valdis knows of Nero being connected to the Order by reference as a Holy Knight.

V: Neutral. If encountered, he would suspect the other of resulting from the Orders experiments. If he were to learn of V’s connection to Vergil, he would be most intrigued.

Trish: Neutral. To Valdis, she is simply a devil hunter. He would try to avoid or escape her if encountered.

Lady: Neutral. To Valdis, she is simply a devil hunter. He would try to avoid or escape her if encountered.

Kyrie: Hostile. Being both sibling of Credo and close with Nero, as well as her former involvement in the church, she is on Valdis’s hit list. In this timeline, she will die. (Sorry Kyrie.)

Nico: Neutral/Hostile. While Nico wasn’t part fo the order, she was related to Agnus. How this encounter goes is fairly flexible.

Sparda: Hostile. While Sparda did not create The Order, his legacy was used to gain support enough which allowed them to do what they did to Valdis.

Mundus: Neutral/Hostile. If Mundus simply tried to take him for his own schemes, Valdis would resist. However, if Mundus offered aid re Valdis’s plans seeing mutual benefit, Valdis would go into Mundus’s service willingly.

Message me if you’re interested in any of the above.

#v Valdis (Not Vergil Verse)

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royal-babey · 5 years

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Lily

I wrote angst and it hurts like hell and oh god I cried whilst writing it.

Featuring my OC’s Nico and Dima Mahariel, and their father Revas Mahariel.

TW’s for blood, death, slavery, and just a shitton of angst.

In the forests of Antiva, walked three Dalish Elves.

Keeper of Clan Mahariel, Revas Mahariel, accompanied his young twin sons into the wild woodlands to show them the foundations of survival. This was something the family did often, at least twice a week if possible, and it was valuable time together for them. Revas’s Keeper duties often kept him busy, and sometimes unable to spend time with his sons at all.

He had a son walking on either side of him, both clutching his significantly larger hands tightly. Dmitri Mahariel chatted away happily to his Father, rambling on about anything that caught his interest or something exciting that had happened to him earlier that week. His younger brother, Nikolai Mahariel, was quite happy to walk in silence, allowing his brother to do the talking for the both of them.

Revas couldn’t be happier. Of course if his ex-wife could be here, that would make things even better. Revas regularly mourned the fact that the twins would not grow up without a motherly influence in their lives, but they seemed to be doing just fine.

‘’-and then and then!!! Nini made a scary face and said ‘You pee the bed Daerian.’ Daerian went running crying back to his Mamae and I got my stick sword back!!!’’

Revas was snapped out of his thoughts as Dima’s excitable voice raised in pitch as he told his Father his story, and there was a very indignant ‘Dima!’ from Nico as Revas let out a chuckle in amusement. He then looked down to his left to see a very sheepish Nico kicking a small rock across the grassy forest floor.

‘’Is that true, da’fen?’’

Nico just shrugged as a response, then muttered ‘’He was being mean…’’

Revas couldn’t argue with that.

Every now and then, the elder Elf would stop beside a bush, either with oddly coloured berries or flowers, and attempt to tell the twins the properties of them. It was important they knew these things in case of emergencies. They were useful after all.

The twins genuinely did try their best to pay attention, but it was a struggle. And by the time they were an hour and a bit into their fathers lessons, they had all but given up on trying to listen.

Revas could see this, and figured he should give the twins something to enjoy instead. He sat them down on the abnormally gigantic roots of an ancient oak tree, that spiralled and gnarled in on itself both above and below the ground, and shielded them from the hot sun with its tall branches and large leaves. After he had gotten their attention, he held up a clenched fist, and smiled.

‘’Watch this, boys.’’

The boys watched in wonder as their Father’s fist glowed green, and gasped quietly when he opened it to reveal two stark white flowers where there had been nothing before. The twins recognised them to be lilies, and Dima bounced on the spot excitedly where as Nico was still staring, though he did have a small smile on his lips.

Revas reached forward, braiding the lilies into the boys long black hair one by one. They reached up to gently feel them at the same time, before lunging forward to hug their Father.

‘’That was so cool, Baban!!!’’

‘’Thank you, Baban…’’

Revas just grinned and hugged his boys back, laughing quietly to himself at their reactions. He loved making them smile.

And with a lily, he hoped to pass on their mother’s love. For that was her name, after all…

They were a happy family despite everything. A close knit and loving family.

Though like Revas had described to the twins once before, when a beloved Clan Halla passed away, the Creators often liked to pick the most beautiful things from this earth that they belovedly created.

Revas could not help the twitching of his pointed ears as he picked up on an abnormal sound coming from the east. They were outside of Clan hunting territory, so no one should be here…

That’s when he heard it. The sound of men laughing uproariously. They were no voices the Keeper recognised, and he froze to the spot, arms tensing around his children.

Humans. Human hunters had come to these woods.

Revas knew how much danger they were in instantly, and leapt to his feet. He easily picked up the twins, one in each arm, and took off running deeper into the forest. He knew these woods well, expertly avoiding upturned routes or particularly sharp rocks, taking almost completely hidden turns, getting past the more dangerous wildlife without getting so much as a second glance.

Nico and Dima were terrified, but knew to be quiet when their Father seemed to sense danger. They had not heard the humans, therefore having no idea what was wrong.

The Shemlen had heard Revas taking off though, footfalls much too heavy in his panic to get his children to safety to attempt stealth. They assumed he was a deer, having been spooked by their loudness. Revas could hear the beating of the horses hooves getting closer, and realised even if he were to make it back to the Clan in time, he would surely doom them.

So he did the only thing he could think of.

Sliding to a stop in front of a particularly large bush, he kneeled down, and placed his children behind it. He signaled for them to be quiet, and they agreed without question, nodding their heads to show they understood.

Revas knew that what he was about to do...May not turn out how he hoped.

So he hugged them both tightly, and whilst pulling away, slipped his necklace off over his head. It was made of shedded Halla antler, with intricate Elven symbols and words carved into it. He handed it to Dima, his lips trembling despite his trying to keep everything under control. He gripped Dima’s shoulders tightly, tight enough to make him wince involuntarily, and spoke in a panicked but hushed tone to his son, who had, as well as his brother, barely seen their tenth summer.

‘’I need you to promise me, Dima...Promise that no matter what, you will protect your brother. You will protect the clan. You will grow strong, and always protect those you love. Do you understand? Be strong.’’

Dima didn’t hesitate in answering, whispering a very determined ‘’Of course I promise Baban.’’ But also; ‘’What’s wrong though? You’re coming back, right?’’

Revas let out a shuddered breath, and gave his sons the best smile he could muster.

‘’Ar lath ma, ma len. I love you both so much...Be strong.’’

Before they could even question, Revas was taking off running into the clearing not far from them. Where the twins could see what was going on...Revas forced himself to stand his ground despite his fear as the humans approached, pulling his staff from his back and gripping it tightly as they pulled their horses to a stop and dismounted.

One human, with pale skin and a bald head, paired with a horribly patchy beard, was the first to approach Revas. Behind him were two more humans, dressed head to toe in armour. Revas couldn’t see their faces, though he could feel their stares.

He forced himself to greet the men in perfect trade with a smile, as wary as it may look, and a short bow.

‘’Greetings, outsiders.’’

He didn’t even get a greeting back, instead, the man in front of him just snarled, looking him up and down.

‘’Lookie here, boys. A knife ear, right here. Looks like we may not need to look for their damned camp so hard after all.’’

Revas tensed, knowing instantly who these men must be. Slavers, probably for the black market in the main city of Antiva. He reached back with his free hand to scratch nervously at his ear lobe, needing something to do as he answer, even if he wasn’t exactly asked a question.

‘’I-I beg your pardon? You can’t-’’

Revas was cut off by a sharp sword pointing directly at his neck, causing him to go stock still, too afraid to even breathe.

The man growled, pressing the blade against Revas’s neck. Enough to draw blood, for the moment, and make the Elf hiss slightly in pain.

‘’Shut your mouth, knife ear. Now listen closely. We know it isn’t just you here. We saw a stuffed toy on the ground. And you were quite happy to run just a moment ago...Who are you protecting? Your knife eared kid? Kids? Oh, the Crows would pay a pretty sum for some young Elves to train up.’’

Revas felt sick to his stomach. He wasn’t about to negotiate with some slavers, just so they could go hunt some other people.

So that left him one choice.

Carefully, he took a step back, and twirled his staff in hand.

‘’I’m not telling you anything, Shemlen!’’

He inhaled, ready to shout a spell, one powerful enough to knock them down and give him

time to run with the boys-

When instead it turned into a breathless gasp of pain, and he looked down to see a sword running right through his gut.

From behind the bush, there was a whimper, the leaves rustling as Nico attempts to get up to run to his Father. He’s stopped by Dima however, who yanks him down by the back of his shirt, and straddles him to keep him from trying again. Nico tries to yell for Revas, but Dima covers his younger brothers mouth and despite the tears forming in his own eyes as Nico writhes and struggles, whispers harshly for him to quit it.

Nico doesn’t see what Dima sees. Doesn’t see as the men kick Revas down onto his back. Doesn’t witness them sneering and taunting Revas as he bleeds out, amethyst eyes formerly shining with life beginning to go dull as he stares up at the sky. His lips barely moving as he words a silent prayer to Falon’din to guide his soul to the Beyond, the Creator who’s Vallaslin he has proudly worn since seventeen years of age.

He doesn’t see as Revas’s throat is slit easily by a spear tossed to the man who had also stabbed him, then thrust through the Keepers exposed chest.

Eventually, the humans get sick of mutilating the now dead Elf’s form. The murderer declaring Revas must have left the twins at the great oak tree and had instead tried to lure them away and distract them.

They mount their horses, and ride off. As soon as their horses beating hooves can no longer be heard, Dima and Nico get up, running over to their father’s unmoving form. He couldn’t be dead. Surely he was just badly injured, would still be breathing.

But there’s blood. Too much blood for any mortal man to surely survive. His dark skin is now an ashen colour, and his eyes are glazed over and lifeless. His expression is slack, and his chest…

It certainly isn’t moving.

Dima stands staring, completely frozen. He can’t tear his eyes off of their Fathers, their Babans, corpse. Nico however, collapses to his knees.

And he screams. A scream so heart wrenching it scares off any animals in the immediate vicinity. A scream filled with such unimaginable grief and fear and anger that it doesn’t sound human at all.

Dima can only drop down beside him, tears rolling silently down his cheeks as he reaches for Revas’s hand. Earlier it was warm, warm as Dima clung to it, warm as he pulled his Father behind him and swung and laughed and...Warm as Dima thought about how much he trusted that warmth to always be there...But now it was cold, and Dima could feel the remnants of Revas’s body heat slowly fading away.

‘’Papa…’’

He could barely mutter it. Beside him, Nico had begun to sob, clothing beginning to turn red with their Father’s blood soaking into it. He rested his head on Revas’s chest, hair mostly obscuring his face from his elder twins view.

And from his hair fell the lily Revas had left in it just twenty minutes ago. It landed in the puddle of blood just beside Revas’s body, and Dima could have sworn he heard his Father whispering the word- No. The name, Lily, in the small breeze that blew past them all.

Dima could only pull Nico to him, trying to find some comfort in his brothers still warm body despite the chilling aura that had settled in the area.

They only had each other now, meaning Dima was determined more than ever before now to keep his promise to their Father.

He would protect Nico with his life.

#dragon age #dragon age origins #pre-blight #angst #tw blood #tw death #tw slavery #I’m not crying you’re cring #writing #my writing #ocs #my ocs #Revas Mahariel #Nico Mahariel #Dima Mahariel #Antiva #Clan Mahariel

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lonelypond · 6 years

Text

Casual Lunacy, Ch 28

Love Live, NicoMaki, 2k, 28/?

SCREAM

Electricity practically buzzed in the stank, stifled air, starting when you entered from the alley leading to the Tech Sub-Basement’s door. Anju would occasionally hold the ends of her hair up, watching as they danced in the static from a bank of server racks, pressurized testing chambers and miscellaneous equipment. A different wind than she’d grown up with. No one to keep her company yet this afternoon so Anju sat behind the desk, examining her nails. She was very pleased with the way her new manicurist swirled red and blue polish together to create practically hypnotic purple spirals. She then turned her attention to the window up on the main screen. Tsubasa had been here last and lazy. With a disdainful tap, Anju closed the "Taser" search. A small shake of her head was the most she let herself react, even with no one else there, but werewolves? A waste of time. What use were they? Not even residual magic could be gathered from them. So what good was that?

Anju zoomed out another window, the one the camera Erena had deployed unnoticed on the light board fed into. Fangs was in rehearsal and Kashima and Nico were onstage, Nico’s head gripped against Dracula’s half bared, bloody breast, Kashima’s fanged scowl a gloating triumph. Anju delicately opened the thin silver cover of what everyone assumed was a watch at her wrist. Inside a small, polished shard of blue-red gemstone pulsed. Anju opened another window on the computer, the one tracking the feedback from the backstage meter. As the numbers jumped higher the gem gleamed brighter. That was what Anju was here for. Tsubasa could distract herself ineptly hunting useless werewolves all she wanted. But Anju was here to see if an audience would let Kashima and Nico unleash the levels of power she needed.

The theatre was silent, shocked. Kashima, having fled the vampire hunters, had paused on the other side of the window, staring back at Nico. The actors playing Seward, Van Helsing, Holmwood and Morris surrounded the bed, stock still. Nico’s mouth had dropped open, nothing coming out. Micah stirred in the bed next to her, considering if he should “wake up” and startle Nico. Nico never froze. Her ability to improvise a line was legend. Micah wondered briefly what was going on to interfere with Nico’s formerly rock solid work habits. Then Nico snapped back in, with a scream that shook the walls.

“Feel guilty yet?” Eli whispered. She was leaning against the foot of Nozomi’s stool, waiting until The Three Sisters scene came back around. This rehearsal was to lock in the Dracula effects they were using so tech would go easier. Nozomi had her deck out and her boots off and was considering the latest message from the cards while her foot stroked Eli’s back.

Nozomi muttered, unhappily, before meeting concerned blue eyes, “The cards agree with you.”

“Really?” Eli bounced up to stand behind Nozomi, arms pulling the other woman into her chest.

Nozomi snapped fingers at them as she frowned. All reversed. Eli got that right off. Four Of Swords. The Sun. Queen of Swords.

“They don’t look bad?” Eli ventured, still unsure about meanings. “What do they tell you?”

Nozomi clucked at herself, fingers tracing the Queen of Swords’ profile. “Don’t be a bitch.”

Eli didn’t reply, she just held Nozomi closer.

The scene couldn’t be over soon enough for Nico. Her blanking on lines kept getting worse and worse, which pulled everyone even more out of character. Ben Thani, playing Arthur Holmwood, came down with a fit of nervous giggles, bringing everything to a complete stop until he recovered. Kashima stayed in the wings, watching, eyes full of sympathy. Nico had never had a rehearsal like that. Echoes of Nozomi’s voice kept taunting her, memories of Maki kept tempting her and Mina Murray wasn’t locked in enough to give Nico an escape. So she froze and stuttered and failed. And wanted to SCREAM. Again. Out of character. But before Nico could get offstage to vent some of her frustration, Professor Asuka’s voice stopped her.

“Ms. Yazawa, we will be in much better shape this weekend, if you start to take this seriously.” The director’s tone of voice wasn’t snarky, just considered, professional appraisal. It lashed Nico, who was feeling like a complete amateur, someone who thought you could just make lines up. Pained, Nico bit back a chirpy response. She knew the director was right. She had a head full of werewolf danger and an ear full of shrill teasing. Nico needed to focus on Fangs, opening night was next week. She had obviously not cleared enough room in her schedule for practically a starring role, love interest, two solos, her regular work and class schedule AND a sexy, clingy, werewolf girlfriend. But there was nothing Nico would quit. Nor could she continue to perform this badly. Too much was at stake.

Nico nodded at the director, heading backstage to change out of her nightdress. Vampire hunting outfit. Anju and Kotori had found her costume jewelry, a lovely silver brooch inset with blue-red stones.

Nozomi was waiting at the rack. Nico really didn’t have time for any of this and attempted to ignore her current nemesis, but unsurprisingly, Nozomi refused to acknowledge Nico’s obvious rancor.

“Nico has to change. Privacy please.” Nico glared, whacking Nozomi with the end of a hanger.

Nozomi shrugged, expression smug.

“Nico is not telling you anything.” Nico stepped into her skirt, then pulled the nightdress over her head.

“The cards are worried about our relationship.” A teasing moue from Nozomi pushed Nico to almost her limit, but backstage was a quiet, sacred zone. “I might have been rude, Nico-chi.”

Nico stopped, arms still trapped in the nightdress, staring at Nozomi in disbelief. “We don’t have a relationship. Nico tolerated your company but now we both have better things to do…”

Nozomi giggled, Nico groaned internally hearing her own phrasing. “Such a crass and impersonal way to refer to...”

Nico bared her teeth as she buttoned herself into her blouse.

Nozomi changed tacks, without apologizing, smoothing out the nightdress on its hanger, “Oh, Nico-chi. We’re not through yet. We’ve been friends for two years and we will continue.”

The less Nico responded, in any way, the sooner Nozomi would disappear.

“I’m serious about you leaving Maki alone.” Nico gritted.

“I know.” Nozomi paused. “I shouldn’t have baited you like that.”

Nico shrugged.

“No response? But I’m being sincere.” Nozomi sounded puzzled.

Nico was fed up and just wanted to be somewhere with her script and no one demanding she have a reaction to their drama, so her response shredded any belief in Nozomi’s sincerity. “Should I thank your girlfriend or the cards for your change of heart?”

“Eli.” Nozomi giggled, “The cards just agreed with her. But she’s my fiancée now.”

Fiancée. Of course Nozomi, who spends her time harassing everyone she knows and ruining their peace of mind, if not their lives, gets a girlfriend, now a fiancée out of it. While Nico got gray hairs from werewolf worries. The next time Umi started in on her litany of complaints against Nozomi, Nico would just pull an endless series of double espressos and cheer her on, rather than try to defend the psychic blunder.

“Nico has to go.” She pulled on her jacket, “Congratulations. You don’t deserve her.” The look in Nozomi’s eye as she shrugged was so self deprecating that Nico softened slightly. Not that she’d let on, “As long as we’re clear on that.”

Nozomi headed for the exit. Nico headed to the other side of the stage, where the rest of the vampire hunters were waiting for their next entrance. She felt weary again as her anger drained. More rehearsal, then work. The thought of Maki’s bright, amethyst eyes glowing with joy at seeing her was the only thing keeping Nico from crying, overcome by exhausted frustration.

Maki slid her arm into her flannel shirt. Her father had just finished prodding her ribcage through her tank top.

“All healed up as far as I can tell without an x-ray.” Her father announced. Then he put an arm around his daughter’s shoulders, “I’m glad you decided to stop by. Your mother and I were worried.”

Maki shrugged. She didn’t really want to start a Nico related conversation with either of her parents. Pretty much ever. On cue, her mother returned, carrying a tray with a pot and three cups.

“How’s your paper coming?”

“I’ve been busy.” Maki sat on the couch, crossing her arms over her chest. Her mother raised an eyebrow at Maki’s curt response, but held back her own retort, taking a moment to pour the tea out. “So when are you bringing Nico home to dinner to officially meet us?”

“Tomorrow.” Maki, sighed, letting a minor note of apology color her voice, “So she can work on her lines while I work on my paper.” Maki stared into her tea, nervous, “Then she wants to stay over, if that’s okay.”

The Doctors Nishikino exchanged a quick glance, before Maki looked up, voice earnest. “Nico’s very serious about her…” studies didn’t seem a serious enough word, considering Nico’s views on Nico’s future in theatre, “career.” Maki sipped, satisfied at that phrasing.

“Ambition is a laudable quality,” Maki’s mother sat next to her daughter, smiling. “As is effective planning. We’d be happy to have Nico here with us tomorrow. Or any day.”

Maki was suddenly suspicious of parental intent, head full of Nico in performance mode and parents in inquisitive mode. “Don’t make a fuss, please.”

Dr. Nishikino winked at her husband and laughed at her daughter, “No promises, Maki, dear. Meeting prospective spouses is like a full moon to a parent.”

“Mama.” Maki whined, covering her blush with a pillow, trying not to imagine Nico’s reaction to being called a “prospective spouse.”

N: ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡ Hi, pretty girl. Nico’s had a crazy night and the Cup o’ is slammed ＝(￣□￣;)⇒ Not a spare seat. Can you just wait at my apartment, if you still want to see Nico?

Maki was helping her mom finish the dishes when her phone went off. Her mother leaned over her shoulder, shamelessly snooping. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with Nico, haven’t you.”

Maki nodded, biting her lip as she considered her response.

“Sometimes, spending every minute together isn’t a positive thing in a relationship, Maki.” Maternal nudging wasn’t going to stop.

Maki closed her eyes, trying to clear out thoughts of what she’d been hoping Nico would be wanting to do after work before she tried to have this conversation with her mother. Her mother. Take a deep breath, think wolf on the couch watching a movie cuddled next to Nico thoughts. “Nico gets cold.”

Dr. Nishikino nearly pulled off the refrigerator door as holding in the laughter at the earnest sincerity in her daughter’s voice tried to double her over. Dr. Nishikino the taller wandered in, curious as to what had amused his wife. She was holding a hand to her forehead, eyes closed, attempting to regain control as Maki started to back away. She’d shoved her phone in her pocket and was nearly out the door when her mother spoke again, “S...sorry, Maki. We were just having a discussion, dear, about not needing to be with someone every minute.”

Maki was feeling increasingly besieged as her parents exchanged another look, although her father was remembering the recent night she’d gone missing, “I think Maki and Nico are both responsible enough to set their own boundaries.”

“Thank you, Papa.” Maki kissed her father on his cheek and ducked into the living room to reply to Nico’s text.

“You know I’m right.” Dr. Nishikino frowned at her husband.

“I’d rather know she was at Nico’s than wake up in the morning and find her missing.”

“Oh.”

M: If you want me to, I’ll wait for you at your apartment.

Maki paused before typing the next sentence, remembering what her mother said and wondering if Nico would be too tired after a long day for company.

M: Unless you need some alone time.

Instant response.

N: Nico was looking forward to the the gleam in your eyes when you see Nico ♡ඩ⌔ඩ♡ It was a rough rehearsal. Cuddling while Nico runs over her lines sounds perfect.

M: I’ll bring coffee and donuts (*^◇^)_旦

N: Maki is the best girlfriend (*￣▽￣)d

M: Nico is the best (っ´▽｀)っ

N: See you soon, Pretty Girl (~￣³￣)~

M: (ﾉ∀`♥)

Nico blew a kiss at her phone, before picking up the pot for refills. Maki was adorably goofy in a naively thoughtful way. Only Maki would offer to bring coffee over when Nico had just spent her entire night at the Cup o’, without thinking maybe Nico could bring home her own if she wanted. Or make it. But Nico wouldn’t mind the donuts. Or the company. Or the coffee, for that matter. Nico leaned in closer to Jens than she intended as she poured his refill, but he’d recover. It was a comforting feeling, knowing that there was someone out there, someone smart and gorgeous and sexy and cuddly and caring, who wanted to do something to make Nico smile. Nico had never expected that.

#nicomaki #Casual Lunacy #werewolf #nishikino maki #yazawa nico #love live #theatre #fanfic #coffeeshop #college #nozoeli

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