#or did i just want to reference both spirits with the title
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“silly boy, come find me when you’re older!” • a. artlert
synopsis: two lovers realize their relationship isn’t meant to be but that doesn’t mean they have to part ways forever..
content + themes: fem!reader (black coded), age gap (2-3 years, armin is 19, reader is 21-22) college au-ish (armin is going to nursing school + reader is a business grad), star-crossed lovers trope, angst + comfort, missionary, riding, hand holding, heavy kissing, crying (not dacryphila), accidental creampie, pet names (baby, mama, baby boy, angel), drug mentions, he gets possessive for like .2 seconds.
word count: 3.1K
📝: I have been so in love with fluff and the idea of soft smut lately (maybe it’s the holidays, maybe it’s my hormones..who knows!) but this is a part of a new au I’m starting! A new story that’ll be coming out soon and I can’t wait. For now, enjoy one of several side fics to accompany it! Also, please tell me y’all know this title reference 😭
───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰───────✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰────
“I really wish you wouldn’t look at me like that…”
the phrase seemed to have alluded him yet again..slipping through one ear and out the next. Almost as if only his body was present and his mind and spirit were elsewhere. It was to be expected though..
“..armie..? Aren’t you going to say something, baby? Anything?..”
you had just confided in him quite possibly the worst thing ever. In truth, his heart was breaking and there wasn’t a single thing that either of you could do to mend it. Although, you felt solely responsible..that the reason for his pain was entirely your fault. But it was a necessary confession nonetheless. One that you truly believed would benefit you both. Distance. Distance between the two of you so that he could properly pursue his education. A long sought after dream of becoming a nurse. Following directly in his mother’s footsteps and making her proud..it was all Armin ever wanted. As it stood, that was a mere concept and it was thanks to the girl lying next to him. His sweet, beloved (y/n). The (y/n) he reunited with at a house party one night and had been wildly entangled with ever since. Hooking up, drinking and smoking…what most peers your age was doing but you also had bigger aspirations for both Armin and yourself. He wanted to become a registered nurse, working with children and you were already two years deep into your collegiate journey as a business major. Laser focused and ambitious..ready to conquer your goals. You couldn’t waste your lives away in the back of his car, hotboxing and having sex. As fun as this little whirlwind romance was, you had to cut things off. At least for the foreseeable future..for both of your sakes. It wasn’t an easy decision in the slightest and you were far more torn up by the situation than what you were letting on but it had to be done. Regardless of your emotions..
“..I just don’t understand..I mean, is there someone else? Why don’t you want me anymore?…”
there it was..underneath all of those newly etched tattoos, shaggy blonde locks and suave charm lied that sweet, gentle boy. The same nerdy kid you’d first encountered whilst attending the same high school. Although two years apart, you found him to be adorable and couldn’t help but to grace the awkward brainiac with a smile every morning on his visits to the library. A beautiful goddess like you even acknowledging him? He was grateful for that alone! But it wasn’t until his senior year did the two of you reconnect. By that time, he had shed his thick, wire framed glasses for icy blue contacts to match his own..grew out his blonde bowl cut to a curly shag and had even acquired a couple of art pieces on his arm. Not to mention, gained some muscle from playing basketball. Some say you were the catalyst for his sudden change. Although this appearance was new, deep down, he was still that wide eyed genius with unbelievable intelligence. And best believe, your kindness wasn’t lost on him. So it came as no surprise, when you happened to cross paths with him at a graduation party that your younger sister, who happened to be in the same class with him, was attending..he found the courage to finally talk to you face to face. All of his newfound confidence flew out of the window when he saw you..that ethereal skin, deity like features and of course, that smile. That smile that made his heart flutter. “You haven’t changed a bit, baby boy…”
certainly his looks had, but you saw through all of that. You saw Armin for who he truly was and for that, he couldn’t allow you to slip away without confessing his true feelings. So that night, with liquor in his veins, he charmed you with sweet words and told you that he’d always had the biggest crush on you. It didn’t take long for you guys to get involved..days after that party, you began seeing one another. Both romantically and intimately. However, your relationship wasn’t exactly conventional or ideal..you were good for each other, perhaps a little too well. Because every moment that presented itself, you’d find yourself in every bed, couch, bathroom or backseat..going at it like rabid animals. The sex was insane and you couldn’t get enough of each other. It was only coupled by the sensation of the drugs coursing your veins..stimulants that sent your mind to places you didn’t need to be. Although there was never a single fight between you two, you knew the relationship wasn’t a healthy one. You encouraged each other’s worst habits. He had gotten a full ride scholarship to his dream school and you had obtained several as well for your ideal program. But you both stood to lose those if you didn’t make some changes. Ditching class to go smoke and then fucking him in every square inch of your off campus apartment. Sending him nudes and salacious messages during class, along with always being underneath each other. He’d never be able to focus and stay on track at this rate! Hence why you had to be the mature one and break things off. Even if it brought you to tears as well. So with a shaky palm, as you lay in bed next to one another, you’d bring a hand to his face and quell his doubts.
“You couldn’t possibly think that..you're the only one I want, Armin. I swear on everything..but..we can’t keep doing this. I love you so much but we’re no good for each other. At least not right now..”
but he’d attest, almost immediately. Insisting that he could buckle down and focus on his goals at hand. However, your mind was made up. That blind obsession and adoration for you would never allow him his room for growth. It wasn’t fair. Here you were only another year shy of receiving your degree and he was barely even started. You had to give him a fair shot, even if it meant removing yourself from the equation. You had even found an internship. He’d try to talk you out of it, convince you that he could juggle both college and you but regardless of how smart he was, nursing school was an entirely different beast in and of itself. It would require his full attention and dedication if he wanted to be an exceptional caregiver. No drugs, no distractions…no you. His studies deserved all of his time.
“So why can’t we make it work then? Isn’t that what couples do or was I nothing more than a joke?”
“Armin…”
in that moment, he’d tug away and roll over onto his side, giving you the proverbial cold shoulder and it stung like hell. The last thing you wanted to do was fight the man you loved. If anything, you wished things could stay like this forever. But you both had growing up to do and until that happened, it was best you parted ways.
“..I have an idea..”
But it wasn’t something that had to be permanent..for now though, there was no need to be upset with one another when you could spend your remaining time enjoying yourselves. Gently pulling him back towards you, you’d maneuver your legs until you were able to crawl on top of him. Those long acrylics scaled his freshly tattooed chest as you gently straddled his waist..at that moment, his little cheeks flushed red and you’d feel his breathing becoming slightly heavier. You’d lean down and begin peppering light kisses to his temple and all around his face..all while slowly rolling your hips against his crotch. With you, he was vulnerable..at his softest and would undoubtedly listen to whatever you said. “I’m all ears..”
that’s when you’d devise a plan that you believed that both of you could agree upon. An agreement of sorts.. “..two years..in two years, we can see each other again, just like this. We’ll work hard and reach our goals. You’ll be in your senior year, doing clinicals and I’ll be at my new job. We can find a place and finally start our lives together. Armin, I love you so much and I don’t want to see you throw your life away. Please..promise me you’ll find your way back to me when you’re ready. When we’re both in a better place..” once he spotted your tearful plea and heard the tone in your voice, he knew what had to be done. Personal feelings aside..you were absolutely right. He knew if he stood any chance of keeping you in his life, he had to blossom into a grown man that you could be proud of. One that was worthy of being called yours. Reaching up, Armin would grasp your hand and bring it to his lips for a gentle kiss, holding it close. He wanted to remember that feeling..savor it and savor you as well. God, he didn’t want you to leave, he wasn’t ready to say goodbye!..but this was the only way. The only way he could ensure that he got to have you in the long run. He wanted you two to grow old together so he’d make this temporary sacrifice to be able to share an eternity with you.
“..you have my word, angel. I promise..I promise I’ll come back to you a better man than what I’ve been..”
“Then take me…right here.”
just then, you’d feel his hand snake up your spine and tug you down towards his chest..not another word was exchanged. Just slow, tender pecks and breathy moans..immersed in the covers and in one another, you’d allow the moment to take you both. Your palms cupping his cheek and his gripping your ass, you’d tousle around underneath the sheets. It didn’t take long for the endearing moment to become rather heated but it was a true testament of the passion between you two. In a moment of haste, his nails would gently dig into the curvature of your back as you leaned up. In a matter of minutes, you’d feel his once flaccid erect growing harder underneath you. The sensation of your dripping heat making direct contact with him..and it was driving him crazy! He needed you so badly right now and you were just the same.
“Armieeee..”
calling out with a high pitched whimper as you ground yourself against him. You couldn’t stop either..almost as if you’d simply combust if you were to be pulled away from him right now. Frail cries would escape his lips as well but he’d find a semblance of control to satisfy your desires, which took precedence over everything else.
“Yes, baby? Tell me what you need..”
cooing to you in that sweet, loving tone that always managed to turn you to meet putty in his hands every time. You were still hopelessly rutting yourself against him; arousal overflowing from between your thighs that quickly. He knew what you wanted but he needed to hear you say the fateful words..give him instruction and guidance the way you had always done. “Hey, look at me, mama..” gently snatching your head forward and forcing eye contact as your chest heaved. “N-need you. Need you so bad, baby..please. Make love to me..” and with that whiny declaration, he’d make haste in fulfilling your wish. With a cocked smile, Armin would reign you in tighter, reaching for you. “Then here..take my hands, angel..” on his command, your hands would join in a gentle clasp, combining as one as you adjusted your lower half to align with his. He’d buck his hips upward and you’d lower yourself down as your bodies became one… meeting in an instant. “Fuck…” the word escaping your mouths simultaneously along with gentle moans. That seemed to be the theme for the night. A stark comparison to the wild nights you shared together previously. Perhaps.. it was the realization that this was really the last time you’d get to do this for a while. That he wouldn’t be able to feel the comfort of your body, to smell your intoxicating scent..to clash with your plump lips..to taste the sticky gloss that coated them. To stare into those gorgeous brown eyes. So as he lie underneath you, being rode to kingdom come as your tightness constricted around him once more, Armin would close his eyes and absorb every memory, every fiber of you..ensuring that he’d never forget his first and true love.
“There you go, baby. Right there..ride me—fuck!”
and he couldn’t possibly forget how you made him feel. How you set him ablaze with your overwhelming passion..still bound hand in hand, heart to heart, you’d keep going. Throwing your head to the wind and calling out your lover’s name, lifting it to the heavens as you bounced up and down. Taking him to your hilt; allowing that swollen tip to prod your most sensitive area. “Armin, baby! Yes..oh my gosh, you feel so good.” For the first time, you didn’t just fuck him. His flesh was more than a mere vessel of pleasure..it was your soul becoming one with his own. You were experiencing true pleasure in its purest form..and neither of you wanted it to end. Finally opening his eyes, he’d be greeted by the ethereal view of your breasts swaying and your beautiful face throwed in ecstasy filled bliss. “Aw, baby..you’re so beautiful. My favorite view in the entire world.” Smiling as tears streamed generously down your cheeks. “Oh my God—I love you, Armin! I love you so much.” Confessing with all that you could muster. And that warm, gushing sensation derived from your sex wasn’t lost on Armin either. He’d find himself in a fit of heaving as your walls closed in around his cock. Squeezing him as if to never let go. “Ahh!-shit..I love you too, baby!—“
in that moment, he could no longer hold back his urges. His need to claim full dominion over you..hastily, he’d bring you to a cease before maneuvering and flipping you over onto your back. It was then that he’d mount you. Diving between your legs as he held each in place. He didn’t even take a moment to adjust. It was mere seconds before you’d find yourself filled with him yet again and he’d begin his descent into your mix. Sloshing and drumming up slick as your thighs collided in a fiery haze. The bed..the one that you’d messed around in so many times before served as the place of consummation for your devotion tonight..ricocheting and colliding with the wall as thunderous slams erupted. Your limbs entangled as your legs found home around his waist and your arms on his back. His entire frame lay bare and pressed to your own as those hips crashed into you. It felt unreal..so unbelievably unreal. But this was the present..your reality for the time being so you’d savor every last moment you got together. Drilling further into your body, his pace sped to a barrage of more steady, consistent strokes. Ones that he would accompany with sloppy tongue kisses. Filling your mouth with them as he pounded you gently. You couldn’t keep your hands off of each other. Regardless of how many times you slept together, something about this moment was starkly different. “Look at me, (y/n)!…” once again, snatching your head forward to meet his gaze. “You’re mine..you’re mine and I don’t give a damn where you go. I belong to you, you hear me? Don’t forget that..” those tears that had been brimming in his eyes finally fell and you’d affirm his sentiment with a fierce nod of your head, assuring him that no amount of distance or time could ever dissipate the love you shared for one another. “Yes baby! And I’m all yours, forever. I won’t ever leave you.” Sealing your promises with one final act..
“Yeah? You mean that?” “Every word, baby. I want you to always be with me..” Vocalizing back and forth as he continually thrashed around inside of your pussy until he sensed the urge that you were close. Upholding one another’s heads in a passionate fury, you’d exchange breathy words amid your love making. Telling him you’re near your peak and him telling you to let go. “Come for me, baby. You can come all over—“ but alas, before he could grant you permission, it would seem that he’d reach his climax first; glaring with a wide eyed expression as his seed filled you to the brim..something he’d never done before! Cursing himself and apologizing as he shook violently, draining every drop of himself into you. Perhaps he took your words a bit too literal but it was far too late to turn back now and shortly after, you’d follow. Showering him with a splatter of sticky rain. Squeezing and dripping all down his shaft. You’d convulse and flail around the mattress until he was able to quell you with gentle kisses. “I’m right here, mama. Let it out, it’s okay..” but once you were back into consciousness, you still wouldn’t let go and you remained entangled like this minutes afterwards. Exchanging “I love you’s” and sweet nothings. Along with tears..shedding them not for what would be lost but the time you had together and the comfort in knowing that you’d reunite soon enough. This time as more than friends with benefits or even mere freshmen sweethearts. But as an entity, an item that could never be separated because your bond was forged on a stronger foundation than one made of pure lust. It was love that would drive you to be better versions of yourselves, to work hard and it was love..that would bring you right back to one another when the time was truly right!
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@citysweet @greenieweeniesworld @hoohoohope @c0pkiller @bey0nseh @violetxxvenom @dragonmaiden79 @fuck-your-chickenstrips-hoe @saiki-enthusiast
#armin arlert#armin arlet smut#armin artlert#armin x black reader#armin arlet x reader#armin arlet x black reader#aot x black reader#black reader#aot au#black reader smut#aot drabbles#armin drabble#armin x reader#armin aot#armin smut#armin arlet headcanons#snk armin#armin attack on titan#armin arlet imagines#armin x you#black fem reader#college au#aot armin#attack on titan#attack on titan au#cw drugs#cw angst#armin fluff#angst and comfort#aot smut
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Goredolf insists on meeting every new servant summoned to Chaldea.
First of all, he is literally the director; he wants people to at least have a vague idea of who he is and why he’s important here. Second of all, he almost had a heart attack the first time he walked into the cafeteria and ran into three different people wearing Koyanskaya’s face, so he wants the head’s up in case someone like Limbo or Rasputin gets summoned one day.
Unfortunately, that also means that sometimes, he gets in situations like this one.
“Hello!” The new servant makes a little wave of the hand. “I was told to come meet you after my summoning. Happy to meet you!”
They’re wearing white, loose clothes, with black streaks here and there. He is pretty sure it’s a mystic code of sorts. They have black gloves and thick boots, the kind one brings for mountain climbing.
What they do not have, however, is a head.
It’s not even a Hessian situation. There is no black hole, no void, no fog to hide the deed. The servant has legs, a stomach, a chest, a neck, and then suddenly it gets cut off part a certain point. Goredolf can see the bare flesh on the cut, the blood pumping beneath, and even a bit of spinal cord. Needless to say, it’s quite disturbing.
“My eyes are up there, director.” The servant says with a laugh, pointing at the empty space above the that definitely does not have eyes. “You shouldn’t be staring too much. It’ll make you sick.”
Goredolf coughs into his fist. “Apologies. I did not mean to be rude. It is merely a surprising sight, as you can imagine.” Still, he can’t help sneaking another glance at that neck. “Did you die of beheading?”
“Bit of a personal question, don’t you think?” Goredolf hears a laugh at the end of their sentence, though, so they’re probably? Not offended? Where is their voice even coming from? Goredolf genuinely can’t tell. “Mostly though, I forgot what I looked like. Don’t worry too much about it. I’m sure I’ll remember eventually.”
This is either a very obvious lie, or an incredibly sad fact, so Goredolf decides not to push it. “Anyways. I am Goredolf Musik, the director of Chaldea. As they probably already told you.” He adds hastily, remembering how the servant referred to him by title earlier.
The servant’s neck bobs forward. It takes Goredolf a second to realize this is meant to be a nod. “And I am Caster of Antartica.”
Ooh. It’s one of those. Circumstances being as they are, Goredolf often finds himself forgetting that knowing a servant’s true name is kind of A Big Deal. Rare are those who stick to anonymity- and even then, Goredolf is certain they’ve already disclosed their name to the Master specifically.
Goredolf’s gaze rakes the servant up and down once more. Caster of Antartica… Someone from an expedition to the poles, perhaps? A survivor of The Terror?
He’ll have to do some research later. For now, he extends a hand to them. “Glad to have you on board.”
“Likewise.” The servant says cheerfully. They grab Goredolf’s offered palm, shake it, and-
Their hand.
Their hand
Is
Trembling.
The clothes can be changed. The face can be hidden. The voice can be tweaked. But the hands. The hands. The hands. Trembling hands, scarred hands, damaged hands. Goredolf would recognize them anywhere. No glove on this earth, no matter how thick, would be enough to hide this tremble.
Goredolf pales. “You are-”
The servant suddenly pulls on his arm, and Goredolf tumbles right into their embrace, cut mid-sentence. They wrap both arms around him into a hug, rubbing circles against his back.
“My, Director. Don’t you know it’s rude to use the wrong name when someone introduce themself as something else?”
Their voice is friendly. Their hands are warm. Goredolf feels so, so deathly cold. “But- you-”
“Am merely a heroic spirit who heard a call for help, and decided to lend a hand. That is all there is to it.” They part from him with a tap on his shoulder. If they had a face, Goredolf just know they would be smiling, with that annoying fucking smile they always use when they are profoundly sad. “Now I believe my presence is upsetting you, so I will take my leave. Hopefully our paths will never cross again.”
They turn to leave, but Goredolf grabs onto the hem of their shirt. (He doesn’t recognize this uniform. Is this what they wore, prior to the lostbelts? Is it what they will wear, in the future?) “Wait! Does… does the Master know?”
The servant pauses, and Goredolf realizes how stupid of a question that was. Of course they do. The Master is many thing- lacking in common sense, way too friendly, garbage at magecraft- but if there’s one thing they have figured out, it’s servants. Of course they would know. Of course.
“… Don’t tell them.” The servant says eventually. “To say it out loud would be to speak it into existence. So long as no one says it, we can pretend. You can grant us that small mercy, can't you? Let us pretend?”
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@puppys-teeth You said you wanted Au's and silly thoughts in this post. I'm finally getting around to responding like I wanted to. I made it it's own post cause it got long and this is basically just gonna be a list of my WIP's with some general information and thoughts with some links to some snippets I've shared previously.
Longfics:
Knowing Spirit Albarn is a Drag
Current WC about 14k
This is the current longfic I'm trying working on. Spirit ends up doing drag at chupa cabras, Stein comes looking for Spirit and finds out his secret and is thoroughly amused. Stein keeps coming back cause he finds it entertaining and is trying to understand why Spirit's doing it. But Spirit's double life takes a toll on him.
A few snippets I've posted so far:
Here, Here, Here, and Here
Graves/Fountains (a Wip title)
Current WC about 3k (not counting notes that are just dialog spread around my note taking locations)
Stein and Spirit go on a mission and things go wrong, they're both left unable to resonate with anyone, as they're both ignored their problems for so long their souls have gone into what is basically a perpetual state of self defense, so LD puts them both on mandatory leave until they can fix their shit. They end up working at Deathbucks to pay the bills when its been a while with no progress and LD is like 'we can't keep paying you'. They eventually are going to have to go into each others mindscapes and help each other deal with all these things they've buried deep. The wip title is in reference to the imagery in their respective mindscapes.
Pacts Writ in Flesh and Blood
Current WC about 27k
A resbang I was unable to finish, as it got a bit too depressing at the time. I will come back to it eventually, but it might yet be awhile. It's present stein/marie and past stein/spirit. It's a supernatural horror au, that started from the idea of Faustian deals, if you know 'the magnus archives' there's also some inspiration taken from there for this one. The promo from resbang will give you a better idea what it's about and has some excerpts:
promo
P.I. AU
Currently just notes
More like a very long fic. Its ensemble cast and its scope scares me, it'll probably be a while before I tackle this one, simply cause juggling an ensemble cast this large, and having to make sure the murder mystery makes sense is going to be a lot balls in the air. When it was first conceived it was intended to be Stein/Marie but I'm likely to pivot it slightly to make it still that to and extent but likely end game Stein/Spirit. Idk it's not currently very fleshed out besides some general beats I want to hit with things. Stein is Frank Stone (I think it's hilarious and this choice of mine will never stop amusing me) private investigator who's investigating his buddy Sid's death. also did I mention its the 1920's? cause its the 1920's.
Oneshots:
none of these titles are finalized and are more just ways for me to tell them apart from each other
Carnival
Currently just notes
Based off that one ending image of Stein making Spirit puke on the teacups, Spirit is there to chaperone the kids, and asks Stein to come a long. Marie upon learning this implies its a date, which worms its way into Stein's head, leading to something of a disappointing experience when they go.
GD
Current WC 2.5k
(I don't want to say the title of this one as it gives away something small that I haven't decided if I want the reader to go into the fic knowing about yet)
Current oneshot I'm working on, after a mission Spirit convinces Stein to visit his parents when he learns they're in the area. It is a bit awkward for all involved but Spirit is learning things about Stein he never knew.
A snippet of this one can be found here and here.
Two fucked up little guys
Current WC 1.6K
This one admittedly is almost done, but I haven't felt up for finishing it. Set after Stein and Spirit stopped being partners and after Maka is born, but before the anime. Neither have good coping mechanisms for their stress and end up instinctually reaching out for each others wavelengths, and connect while half way across the city. It's angsty, there's some hurt/comfort but it's not got a happy end coming for it. Though this one is also one that after I post it and people are interested I might end up coming back to and expanding the story on later (and giving it a happier ending most likely)
Misc:
These are things that are minimally fleshed out and tend to be more prompts then actual Wips atm
Gay Pirates:
Spirit used to be steins first mate, now they both have their own crews, and spirit keeps boasting about his getting them into trouble. Maka mutinies her dad stranding him on an island but still kinda feels bad about it so sends Stein a letter addressed as if from Spirit for a duel to the death, and Stein ends up getting stranded on the island with him cause his crew get drove off while he's off board by the navy.
Road Trip:
Been sitting on this one for awhile, but @bcbdrums reminded me it was in my wips by mentioning her own road trip ideas on some posts. I was gonna work on this on the side of my long fic but it grew past oneshot territory and is likely gonna be a medium length fic so it went back on the backburner. It's normal world au and is a last road trip before Stein leaves for med school. But there's gonna be a time skip after the trip to after med school
Verbatim from my notes:
"You've got mail Au but with more dicks and its grindr, cause its 2022 my dude" (can you tell how long these idiots have been plaguing me? The ideas and wips are constantly stacking up)
Theater kids au:
Stein is a teacher, Spirit is parent who wont fucking go home
Some Stein/Spirit/Marie poly thing
Doesn't have much to it currently besides my thoughts about similarities between Marie and Spirit
Incubus Au
Likely to be a longish fic, Spirit is a incubus that's hanging around Stein for reasons (one of those not sure if i want readers to know going into it things) and Stein is a kind of John Constantine type
#soul eater#my writing#wips#franken stein#stein#dr stein#spirit albarn#professor stein#steinspirit#crossstitch#marie mjolnir#stein/marie#stein/spirit#god I have a lot of wips someone send help
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With Spirit being a serial dater, what kind of exes does he have? What were his breakups like? If he was attracted to Jean for his stability, what else was he attracted to in his partners? And who is this Warriors-like exe? 👀
Ooooooh boy. Strap in because I am ready to info-dump so much about Spirit's horrendous love life.
Spirit's serial dating didn't start until a couple of years after he returned back to New Hyrule. His relationship with Zelda had a slow, painful death. He lashed out at her a lot because he felt like he wasn't being heard. Zelda was upset that he betrayed her trust while feeling terrible that she was making his pain about herself. When Zelda had to start thinking about political marriages, Spirit finally decided to put them both out of their miseries and end things.
They're still friends. Spirit still loved her. But the moment the relationship ended, Zelda seemed to brighten up and become her old self again. She was so much happier, and that hurt.
Spirit tried moving on too, but he really couldn't get over Zelda. This was also around the time that his lashing out and moodiness was starting to reap consequences. Alfonzo fired him. A lot of his friends lost contact. He was gaining a reputation for being hard to work with. He was as famous as ever, and no one liked him.
He didn't set out to date a lot. There were plenty of people who wanted to date the famous Link Macaryll, so he was never short of options. He was looking for a partner, but in the sense that a partner was going to fix him. He felt abandoned. Unlovable. He just wanted to find someone who would stay by him.
If you asked him what his ideal partner was like, he list generic traits like humor or kindness. In reality, his ideal partner was someone who liked him. He would mold himself to be whatever they wanted so that they would stay and never abandon him.
But of course, that's a terrible foundation for a relationship. Nothing progressed past the first date because it was so obvious that Spirit didn't really like the people he was going out with. This was a chore, and he didn't really enjoy himself. It hurt every time he was refused a second date.
Jean was probably the first person he dated because he actually liked them.
At this point, Spirit had been weaving in and out of Jean's life. Spirit was friends with Linebeck, who was friends with Jean. They ended up getting drinks together sometimes. They probably first met on the day of Jean's accident, the one that led to his leg being amputated. They got closer after Linebeck and Spirit opened their own garage in Trading Post, with Jean being one of the first employees. This is where they started to become friends, albeit with the occasional discomfort whenever they realized that Spirit was Jean's boss.
Before Spirit dated Jean, he was in a pretty terrible situationship with a character I have not named yet (vote now on your phones).
This character was the son set to inherit his father's lucrative trading company. Until he did, he captained a prominent trading vessel. In New Hyrule, job titles are used in place of names when possible (ie: engineer) (somewhere in CTB, Spirit has a line about being used to just being called the engineer vs his name...). So this character is often just referred to as the Captain.
So when Spirit meets this handsome asshole called the Captain, he's first more than a little weary. But the Captain loved the hunt, and pursed him endlessly. And, well, Spirit wanted to be loved. That this guy resembled Warriors quickly went from disquieting to kinda attractive.
They never officially dated, but they did hook up and spend a lot of time together. That the Captain was a terrible person and was terrible to Spirit was an added bonus. Spirit liked how familiar it was. A part of him wanted to bring some part of his experiences in the war to New Hyrule so that people would understand him. Another part was so lost as to why his life wasn't fixing itself the way he wanted to that he wanted a problem he knew how to cope with. He even insisted on calling him by his job title as much as he could, because he wanted to be fighting Warriors again.
Everyone who knew Spirit was worried about him, but no one could get through to him. Zelda, Niko, Linebeck-- they all tried to sit Spirit down and gently tell him that he needed to cut this guy off, but Spirit would only dig his heels in deeper.
Which takes us back to Jean. One thing about Jean is that he never looked down at Spirit. For all his intelligence, Spirit was infamously terrible with people. When it came to social cues, his friends and family tended to get a little condescending about it. Not Jean. After a couple of months of this bullshit and reaching his breaking point, he sat Spirit down and talked to him about it.
Jean wasn't condescending, so Spirit didn't throw his defenses up. Jean's questions forced Spirit to actually reflect, and he had a moment when he realized that he didn't want to put himself through this anymore. Finally, he cut off the Captain.
That was a turning point. They became closer friends and, after a few weeks, Spirit realized he had a crush. He tried to hide it, but wasn't too subtle. Jean tried to ignore him for as long as possible, but Spirit eventually did ask him out. Jean ended up agreeing, and they dated for six months.
As a character, Jean is the pinnacle of stability. He's calm and even headed. He wasn't prone to getting upset. He was thoughtful, hardworking, and a grade A older brother. He's the type who asked a lot of questions before making a judgement, which gelled well of Spirit's irrational behavior-- by asking Spirit why he was upset, he would accidentally deescalate. If he had a flaw, it's that he's not the most romantic guy. Rituals like buying flowers and going out to dinner seemed a bit pointless to him. He'd rather stay at home and not waste the money. But over all, he was a real catch.
Spirit wasn't used to stability. He couldn't shake the feeling that everything was going to go wrong again. Jean was going to hurt him because everyone hurt him. Subconsciously, he believed that if everything was going to go wrong anyway, he might as well do it himself; he'd rather be the problem than be another victim.
On top of that, Spirit was a terrible person to get into a disagreement with. Everything had to turn into a high stakes argument. He was defensive, and often got mean when he was upset.
They lasted six months. Jean couldn't handle Spirit anymore. He broke up as gently as he could, but Spirit was still crushed. He had half the idea to apologize and try to win Jean back, but Jean started dating someone else-- someone a little older and as steady as Jean was.
Spirit was only 2-3 months out from the break up when he was pulled back into Warriors's era. It's still fairly fresh, and he was in the middle of lapsing back into his worst self when he wound up in the Temple of Souls.
Bonus Facts:
Spirit realized he liked Jean when he saw Jean playing with his younger siblings on the beach. Was watching him build sandcastles and was like "aw, fuck"
Jean got Spirit to quit smoking, which lasted up until Spirit ended up in Warriors's era
Jean didn't have a crush on Spirit when they started dating, but Linebeck swore that Jean was so bothered by the whole Captain thing because he was a little jealous (Jean's reoccuring complaint was that Spirit deserved better)
Linebeck didn't know they started dating until a couple of weeks in. Then he sat them both down and did a joint shovel talk that amounted to: a) Jean if you hurt Link, I will kill you, b) Link if you hurt Jean, I will kill you, c) Jean if your boss takes advantage of you I will stop it, d) Link if your love affair endangers this business I will kill you
Spirit liked that Jean was older, both because he felt better understood and that Jean was someone who he could depend on to take care of him; but Spirit was also constantly anxious that Jean thought he was immature
The last straw in the Captain situationship was Spirit getting a black eye
Spirit probably met the Captain at a royal function, while he was moonlighting as Zelda's guard
Zelda didn't know anything about the Jean relationship until it was over; Spirit didn't trust her after how badly she reacted to the Captain stuff
Even when he was with Jean, Spirit never really got over Zelda; while he does sincerely love her, she also symbolizes a point in his life when he was sincerely happy that he aches to go back to
#you have no idea how much thought i put into the jean stuff#Spean will always be iconic to me even if it will never show up in CTB itself#bonus bonus fact is that Jean was gearing up to take the royal engineering test again when he was injured; he took awhile off#to recuperate and adapt to his new way of life and was studying for the test again when they broke up#also jean's new boo is a widower with two young children. the widower is probably only 2-3 years older than him#this makes spirit even more insecure#me rambling#lu ctb#ask#linked universe#candlestar#ctb lore#spean#ctb spoilers#god i wrote so much
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Febuwhump Day 23: Presumed Dead
Summary: Cia's tricks have left Chief fragile and Wind on the brink of death. Will either of them be able to recover?
Warnings: what's on the box, references to Cia's creep factor, panic attacks, trauma responses
Crossover between Linked Universe and @thatbrokenpromise
Part 1 ~ Part 2 (written by @batrogers) ~ Part 3
What Cia had done to him didn’t matter, not here, not now. The only thing Chief cared about was seeing for himself that Wind was okay. Prince couldn’t bring them to rendezvous with Kokiri fast enough.
They found each other at the entrance of the maze, Chief nearly tripping in his haste to check on Wind. Kokiri was holding the boy, and stood still as Chief grabbed for him.
He had a pulse. Thank all the spirits, Wind was unconscious but he had a pulse. Chief blinked away tears and asked, “So- so the fairy worked?”
Kokiri shifted Wind in his arms and made a cross noise. Chief bit his lip, remembering too late that Kokiri couldn’t sign while he was holding the boy. Warriors joined them, just as worried, and Kokiri handed Wind off to him.
“The fairy closed his wounds,” Kokiri signed. “That’s all I can say. He hasn’t woken up.”
Chief choked and reached to feel Wind’s pulse again, weak as it was. “So… there’s still the chance that he won’t make it.”
“There’s nothing you can do?” Warriors asked anxiously.
“Not without another fairy, I… all we can do is wait,” Chief admitted.
Prince tapped his shoulder, and Chief let the taller man pick him up in turn. Miserable and exhausted, Chief rested his head on Prince’s shoulder, not letting Wind out of his sight as they returned to their camp.
“Not only will he die here, he must be alone and afraid until his last breath. So you see why I can’t let you go to him, my dear.”
Cia’s words rang in Chief’s head until all he could hear were his own sobs.
He was in a blurry state of half-awareness by the time they reached their camps. Later, he would learn that Warriors had brought Wind to his own companions, letting them watch over his sleep. Chief remained with Prince, trying (and failing) not to dwell on everything that had gone so terribly wrong.
It didn’t take long for Legend to gravitate to them. Chief felt Prince explain, heard Legend’s quiet words. He tried not to listen. He didn’t want to think about it.
Prince kissed his hair before standing, gently setting Chief aside. Chief didn’t want to let go, but he relented when Prince signed, “Wars is dealing with her. I’m going to help.”
Chief remembered again what Cia had done to both of them, and Legend quickly took his brother’s place as he cried.
“I can’t do anything for Wind,” Chief whispered a few minutes later. “He lost so much blood and he doesn’t heal over time like we do… a-and she wouldn’t even let me see him. She said he had to die.”
“You did everything you could,” Legend said, hugging him tight in the only way he knew how. How much was the title of Veteran just a front for an awkward, anxious kid? Chief knew that Legend was doing his best, and he would’ve felt more grateful if he wasn’t so tired.
Prince came back eventually, checking in with Chief before promising to bring over food and tea. He was clean, now. Too clean. There had been blood on his face before he left to confront Cia once more.
Chief was well-practiced at making himself eat when he felt like doing nothing at all. He brewed his own tea, too impatient to let it cool before drinking it. It burned his tongue, but it was strong, and that was all he needed.
Prince wordlessly held him again, and let Legend curl up against Chief’s side. Kokiri was nearby, keeping guard. Chief closed his eyes and let the exhaustion win.
A nightmare, instantly forgotten, woke him screaming. Prince was hugging him tight with one arm, frantically signing something one-handed. Distantly, Chief was aware of Legend talking to him, trying to calm him down.
“-okay, you’re safe, she’s gone, nobody’s gonna hurt you or Wind or anyone,” Legend said over and over again as Chief came back to himself.
“I need- I need to see him,” Chief gasped, shaking with the fear that something had happened to Wind while he was asleep.
Legend was silent for a moment, then, “Kokiri says you can, if Prince brings you there.”
Chief didn’t have to determine if he could walk himself, as his brother was still too protective to have Chief anywhere but in his arms. He was carried to the neighboring camp, where Wind had been settled on his bedroll. Time was there, and a few others but Chief only saw Wind.
Wind, laying as if asleep, pale and still as death itself.
Chief couldn’t move, couldn’t think.
How could he, when they had been too late?
When he had let Wind die?
Hands and voices. Pressing, pleading. He didn’t want to listen, couldn’t hear their words anyway (he was screaming again, he knew). He just wanted to hide in Prince’s shoulder, where he didn’t have to look at Wind (see his body) but they wouldn’t leave him alone. Prince lowered them to the ground, and Chief struggled against something being forced into his hand.
Something flickered under his fingers.
Chief froze.
It happened again, almost too light to feel.
He was afraid to look, but he did. He stared at the pale wrist and squeezed it gently.
A pulse.
Wind still had a pulse.
Wind was alive.
More- Wind’s hand twitched, then flexed, and nothing in Chief’s power could stop him from crying again.
The boy’s face twisted, his eyes cracking open and focusing on Chief after a moment. “Why… why are you crying on me?” Wind rasped. “Ew…”
“Because you almost-” Chief stopped himself and remembered with a jolt that he still had a job to do. Desperate, he hurried to check Wind’s pulse again, his breathing, his wound (completely healed and gone). Wind made sounds of displeasure, too tired to squirm away.
Prince caught Chief’s wrists before he could continue, and only then did Chief realize how much he was shaking.
“He’s fine,” Prince signed. “Breathe. You both need it.”
Chief allowed himself a deep breath, more tears falling on Wind’s hand as he clutched it tight.
Not without some grumbling, Wind was transferred to Chief’s lap. Every complaint was more precious than anything, a sign of surviving near-impossible odds. Every breath, every heartbeat was proof that Cia hadn’t managed to break them.
Only fierce protectiveness prevented Chief from crumbling with relief around the boy in his arms. He had to stay strong, for Wind.
#linked universe#lu#that broken promise#tbp#tbp chief#lu wind#lu legend#tbp prince#febuwhump 2024#tw panic attack#tw trauma#fable writes
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The Wanderer
So I wrote this about 1-2 years ago now, but I thought it was cute, so I wanted to share it on here :)
A man, or more accurately a spirit who is said to have walked the earth for thousands upon thousands of years. A spirit that is claimed to be as tall as the mountains. He is said to possess the ability to produce life and to transform into all kinds of living creatures. It is said he protects small isolated villages within the big vast forest. His backstory is completely unknown. There are theories on how he had come to be, but they are nothing more than that, theories. However, his story has been told in a variety of ways. Many portray him as a malevolent being, someone to be feared for his power and size. Others view him as a deity, someone to be worshiped in order to receive protection from other evils. And some just view him as nothing more than just a myth. Though, despite everyone’s stand on this unknown entity, he is referred to by all as “The Wanderer”. A fitting title if you ask me.
I personally can assure you he is very much real, and I myself have seen this great being with my very own eyes. Though, at the time, I didn’t realize who or what he was. It was an interesting experience to say the least. To meet the being that so many put on a pedestal, for reasons both good and bad.
Not everything in this will be word for word because this encounter happened years ago, when I was only a girl, barely nine at that. Possibly even younger. Or maybe even a bit older. Now, I’m all old and wrinkly and my memory is a bit foggy. I guess old age is finally catching up with me. Might as well write this down before I finally kick the bucket…
A little girl laid in the middle of the forest floor, the grass lightly tickling her face. The trees surrounded the area. It was a small clearing filled with many different plants and insects, the sun's beams gently touched her skin. Her hair was spread out all around her. She stared up into the sky, making shapes out of all the different clouds.
She was relatively far away from her home village. All because she had seen a cool looking butterfly, one that she had never seen before and had decided to chase after it out of curiosity. You can figure out what happened next. She of course, like what was mentioned earlier, ended up far from the village and now she has to make the long trek back. After wandering around for what felt to have been an hour, she had started to recognize the nature around her.
Her mother had previously warned her to not stray too far from the village, but it’s obviously too late for that now. Now, here she laid, taking a break from walking in order to rest her legs from all of the constant movement.
After laying there for a solid five minutes, she felt a sudden wave of tiredness hit her like a slap to the face. It felt almost random. She was perfectly fine a second ago, but now, she could barely keep her eyes open. The energy that forced her to keep moving must’ve finally worn off.
I’ll just close my eyes for one second, she thought to herself. She didn’t want to keep her eyes closed for too long or else she feared she would fall asleep. She had to stay awake or there was a chance that her nap would last way longer than intended. She wanted to get back home before supper or her parents would be worried. And stay awake she does, or at least what she thought she did, until she opened her eyes.
As her eyelids slowly parted, she wondered why they felt a lot less heavier than they did earlier. Then, she noticed the dark night sky above her. She quickly sat up in a panic. When she closed her eyes and opened them, it had felt like any other blink, but clearly she had fallen asleep. The one thing she was trying to avoid. Now, it was night and her parents must’ve been worried sick. They’re probably looking for her as we speak.
She closed her eyes and breathed in and out to clear her mind, like she was taught. After steadying herself, she opened her eyes and focused on her dilemma, or at least tried to. She stood up and started to pace around in a small circular motion. She was thankfully able to think more clearly now due to that technique. Though, through the corner of her eye, she noticed a silhouette of a giant laying down only a few feet away from her. The girl stopped in her tracks. It somehow hadn’t seemed to notice her yet. Or maybe, it was pretending it hadn’t noticed her for whatever reason. Then again, it seemed to be facing the sky so maybe it really had yet to see her.
Well, either way she wanted to get away from it. She slowly moved back, trying to keep her footsteps as silent as possible, when she heard a loud “Crack” echo throughout the silent area. She slowly lifted up her foot to notice a stick now broken in half where her foot just was. Gulping, she then looked up to see the thing staring right at her through its pure white eyes. It was now laying on its side, most likely to properly face her.
She didn’t know what to refer to it as because frankly, the little girl had never seen anything like it before. Its skin seemed to be more grayish and its dark colored hair was all matted. The girl couldn’t tell if it was black or dark blue, or maybe it was some other color. Maybe it’s skin wasn’t even gray. It was hard to tell in the dark. Nevertheless, it’s hair or skin color didn’t matter. She just wanted to go home, back to her parents where she would be safe, or at least as safe as she could be.
The two beings stared at each other for a few seconds, one with supposed curiosity and the other petrified with fear. Breaking out of the trance, the girl turned around and started running like her life depended on it. Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. She was scared. She didn’t know what it was nor its intentions and she wasn’t going to risk her life to find out. She just wanted to get away.
While running, she tripped on a rock. She mentally scolded herself for her own stupid clumsiness. Temporarily putting that aside for now, she quickly braced herself for the fall. That was, until she unexpectedly landed on something smooth, yet cold. She looked down to see nothing but dark gray underneath her upper body. She felt herself shiver at its touch. The little girl looked over her shoulder to see the thing not even fully stretching out its elbow to catch her. She guessed it really was foolish to try to run from something as big as that. For crying out loud she was already breathing pretty heavily from that little run while all that creature had to do was move its arm a little bit to catch up to her.
It slightly lifted its hand up, bringing her upper body with it. Once she was balanced, it removed its hand from in front of her and started speaking to her in some foreign language.
“Wszystko w porzÄ…dku, maleÅ„ka? (Are you okay little one?)” It had asked in an unfamiliar tongue. Its voice was somehow calming in a weird way, peaceful even, like just listening to it speak sent all your troubles away. Yet, weirdly enough, it somehow wasn’t loud, at least not too loud. It’s voice didn’t echo throughout the forest like she had expected, instead, it was much quieter than that.
The girl looked at the giant quizzically, not understanding what it was saying. While she felt calmer, yes, she was still confused. What was it trying to say to her?
“Ach, nie rozumiesz mnie? (Ah, do you not understand me?) Sso é melhor? Não tenho certeza do que as pessoas nesta área falam. (Is this better? I’m not sure what people around this area speak.)” After a minute of awkward silence, the girl decided to finally say something to break the tension.
“I-I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.” Her voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, yet somehow that thing was still able to hear her.
“Ah, so you’re an English speaker. I was asking if you were okay.” It smiled. It was a friendly smile. Not malicious nor evil, just a happy smile. Somehow, that small gesture had made all that fear just melt away. She still didn’t trust it though.
“Y-Yeah, I’m fine.” She quietly answered, avoiding its gaze and fidgeting with her hands. She supposed she owed it a thanks for stopping her fall. She was about to say a small ‘thank you’ before it started speaking again.
“That’s good to hear. Now what are you doing out here in the forest so late at night? It can get dangerous, especially for someone your age.” ‘More dangerous than a giant whose hand is three times bigger than me,’ she wanted to retort, but bit her tongue before she could. She still had to be careful of what she says around it. She didn’t want to accidentally upset it in fear of what it could do to her if she did. So, she might as well answer it. It may seem friendly, but you never know.
“I- um, well I was chasing a butterfly when I got lost. I mean, not exactly lost, but I just ended up pretty far from my village and I fell asleep when I took a break from walking. And, that’s how I got here.”
“Hmmm, I see. Do you need any help getting back?” It paused, silently waiting for her response.
Feeling panicked by the two options, she replied with the first thing that came into her mind which happened to be a small ‘yes.’
It gave her a nod before the thing rose up from its laying position into more of a sitting position. It wasn’t until it moved that she noticed its legs were somehow phasing through the trees the entire time, like a ghost phasing through a wall. It now sat on its knees and placed its hand palm up right in front of her. The little girl instinctively took a step back. She looked up, trying to make eye contact, but it was too tall for that to be possible. She then looked back at the unmoving hand. She felt that she had to do something, but she was afraid, afraid of how much more vulnerable she would be, literally putting her life in the hands of a stranger. ‘Well,'' she figured, ‘if it wanted to hurt her, it would have done so already.’ And with that, she finally mustered up enough confidence to approach the giant hand and to climb onto it, making her feel smaller than she already was. She took a deep breath as she adjusted herself to get comfortable.
“You ready?” It asked. She let out a meek yes. The thing placed its thumb near her waist. She was confused why until it started to lift her into the air. She ended up grabbing onto its thumb without thinking. She was taken aback by how quickly she was lifted up and the amount of air hitting her. After all was said and done, she let go of its thumb and opened her eyes. She must’ve closed them at some point without realizing.
The first thing she had noticed was how clearly she could see its face now. Granted, she still couldn’t tell the specific colors because of the dark sky, but it was easier to guess. The second thing she had noticed was how high up they were now. They towered above the trees by several feet.
“Where to?” It’s voice broke her out of her trance. “I-Inerstra village.” She said with a quiver in her voice.
“Ah yes, I’ve been there before.” He said as he started to walk. “It shouldn’t take too long to get there.” The girl looked up at him in surprise.
“You’ve been to my village before? How come I didn’t see you?”
“It was about fifty years ago so I don’t think you were born yet.”
“Oh…” there was a few minutes of silence before the girl suddenly spoke in a whisper.
“What….are you?” She blurted out. She could feel her heart beating in her chest. She had been wanting to ask this for a while, but she didn’t really know how to phrase it, so she held it in.
“I was wondering when you were gonna ask that.” It said in a lighter tone. “I am actually a spirit believe it or not.” It started. “One that has been roaming the earth for hundreds of thousands of years now, but I’m pretty sure you humans commonly refer to me as ‘The Wanderer.’” The girl furrowed her brows before once again widening her eyes in surprise, like something had finally clicked inside of her brain.
“Wait! Y-You’re The Wanderer? I thought you were just a myth! You’re real!?” The girl took a deep breath. “Is it true that you can create life and can bring the dead back to life? And do you really go around protecting villages?” He gave out a hearty chuckle before responding.
“One question at a time. And to answer your questions so far, yes, I’m real. No, I can’t create life, or at least from scratch. I can bring the dead back to life but it takes quite a bit of effort to do so and I’d rather not mess with the dead. And I don’t really go out of my way to search for villages that need help. If I do spot a physical issue though like I don’t know, a hurricane or a blizzard, I’ll do my best to help, but in the end, there is only so much I can do. I can’t exactly help with issues within the village like discrimination and such. Besides, I don’t really like to reveal myself to humans in the first place.”
She was confused. “Why?”
“Well, for many reasons. The first being they scare easily. Back when I was more careless, I would interact with all sorts of living creatures, including humans. Though, more times than not, I would be chased out with torches. Fire couldn’t hurt me, but I felt bad for them. They were so scared they thought they had to threaten my life to get rid of me. So eventually, I stopped appearing to them. I also stopped appearing to a few other species as well, but that doesn’t matter too much.” It said with a sigh.
“Then why did you show yourself to me?” She hugged her knees to her chest. “And how were you able to visit my village without being seen?”
“I honestly didn’t even notice you at first, it wasn’t until you stepped on that stick that I finally saw you. And by then, it was too late. Course I got curious and, well, you know the rest. Though, I do apologize for talking to you when you clearly just wanted to get away from me. You’re probably the first human I interacted with in thousands of years, so like I said, I got curious. As fo-“
“Wait, you can read my mind?” She interrupted.
“Hmm? Oh, no. I can sense emotions, kind of like how animals can. I can only tell what you’re feeling, not what you’re thinking. Like I can tell if you’re happy or sad.”
“That’s…kinda cool. So then how were you able to visit my village without being seen?“
“I actually have an ability sort of similar to invisibility. I can make myself invisible to others, though it has its exceptions. I try to keep that ability activated when there are humans around or a chance of them being around. Hence how I was able to keep myself hidden.” The little girl nodded as a response. Another comfortable silence washed over them.
“So, I’ve been meaning to ask for sometime now, but what is your name?” He asked. His eyes traveled to her small form before going back to facing the direction they were walking.
“Avera.” She said in a more confident tone.
“Avera.” He tried out the name on his tongue. “It’s a beautiful name.” He spoke. The little girl smiled at the compliment.
“Do you have a name? Well, ya know, other than The Wanderer?” She asked.
“No, I have never been given a name.”
“Really? Not even by your parents?” He gave her a soft smile.
“I’ve never met my parents. I’m honestly not even sure if I had parents to begin with.” She pursed her lips. And then, an idea suddenly came to her mind.
“I-I could give you a name if you want.” He stopped and looked at her in surprise before giving another gentle smile.
“I think I would like that.” So, she started to list a few names, and that list turned longer the more he turned down. Until, they had finally landed on a name he was content with.
“Okay, okay. How about…Dorian?”
“Dorian…” he tried out. “I think I like the sound of that.” They continued to make small talk for a few more minutes before they finally spotted a few humans. He stopped. They looked at each other, both knowing their time together was up. He gently placed his hand onto the forest floor. The girl looked at him with sadness.
“I promise I’ll visit.” He said in reassurance. The girl nodded her head. She was going to miss her giant companion, and by all means he was going to miss her.
She ran to the mini search party and told them what happened, obviously leaving out Dorian. The said party brought her back to her parents. They lightly scolded her for being so careless. She was of course punished for disobeying orders, but eventually it had passed over and people continued on like nothing ever happened. As she got older, she saw him less and less. The most she ever got to see in general was him watching over her in the distance. On the bright side, she finally knew his hair color.
In the end, we lived in two separate worlds. I lived in a world he couldn’t touch in fear of well…being feared. I, on the other hand, continued to grow old. I was upset at him for a while, angry at him for not visiting me in years, and then I was melancholy. I thought he was upset with me, but eventually I understood. Our lives as humans are fleeting while this is infinite. He didn’t want to get attached because I would die someday while he would be forced to continue living, living with the pain of the loss of a friend. So, I forgave him. And now I still have yet to see him, but whatever he’s doing now, I hope he is happy and well. And I guess this marks the end of my story.
“Grandma!” A little boy shouted as he ran over to her and shook the old woman’s shoulder. He watched as her body went limp. Her head lay slumped over on her desk.
“I’ll tell mom and dad! You stay here and watch over her!” A slightly older girl, presumably his sister, called out.
“Will grandma be okay?” He asked, tears welling up in his eyes. The girl looked at him with pity, tears starting to form on her own.
“I’m not sure, Jeremy, but I hope so.” The little girl said, her voice quivering as she spoke.
“You never told me you helped the dead pass on too,” the old woman- now in the form of the little girl she once looked at the giant sternly. She flew up to be at face level with him.
“Well, you never asked.” He spoke with a smile. His expression then turned into a face filled with regret. And Avera…” he looked at her. “I’m… sorry for not visiting you as much as I should’ve.” She gave him a playful glare.
“Well you better be! Do you know how upset I was when you stopped visiting me!? I thought I did something wrong and you were mad at me for some reason! But at the same time…” she looked at him, stared into his eyes. It was like she could truly see into his soul, like she could tell what he felt and what he was thinking. She let out a sigh. “I guess I understand. You didn’t want to get too attached in fear of the pain that came along with it.” He avoided her gaze. She sighed again.
“Well, either way, the past is behind us and it’s too late to change it now.”
“That it is.” he agreed. An awkward silence fell between the two.
The little girl then suddenly spoke up. “Well, I have a proposition for you.” Avera started. Dorian looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“And that is…?”
“Why don’t I accompany you on your journey?”
“What?” He stared at her, flabbergasted.
“So instead of being alone for the rest of your miserable life, you can finally have someone to accompany you!”
“I- what do you mean miserable?! And anyway, what about your parents?” Then, she laughed.
“I can still visit them right? It’s not like I’m bound to you.” She said, refusing to answer his first question. Temporarily ignoring her earlier comment, he took a few seconds to land on a decision.
“Well, I guess it’ll be better than being alone for the rest of my life. And, I guess we do both have a lot to catch up on.”
“That’s the spirit!”
“And how exactly is my life miserable?”
“Do you really not know? Well, to start off…”
Some say they can see a little girl with the creature as tall as the mountains, either floating beside him, or sitting on his shoulder, just laughing and giggling with not a care in the world. Sometimes she’s there and sometimes she’s not. No one truly knows where she came from, she just suddenly appeared one day. Some claim that the two knew each other back in their previous life. Others say the little girl was a lost spirit who was helped by The Wanderer. There are many more theories of where she came from, but no one knows which is the truth and which is nothing but fiction, if any of them are true at all. Though, no matter how she came to be, one thing is certain, and that is she is here to stay. To forever be a part of the myth known as ‘The Wanderer.’
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no idea what timezone you exist in, so this may be somewhat late, but hey, it's still clanmew day for me, so have some oc name translations that i did my best on!
coyotesong - uruooyanaya - wolf song-present-tense (no translation for coyote)
star sightstalker - shai pipohhass - star sight sneaky (no translation for stalk as in to stalk prey)
spiralstrike - lyyfkubo - daydream strike-hit (spiral in this context refers to its habit of confusing enemies before attacking, sometimes lulling them into a false sense of security, as well as how it tricked its entire clan into believing it was Normal and Well-Adjusted, despite being a murderer, so i thought “daydream” was a suitable translation)
bonus: “the enemy-eater” - mwrriumyrgna (dark forest name; dark forest names are given to code-breakers post-mortem if what they have done is bad enough that they are considered to not deserve a name. technically, a starclan cat could have one of these names, however it is unlikely. these names can warp the appearance and even memories of the ones they are given to; a spirit may eventually forget its original name and even cats it knew in life. this dark forest name was given after it was discovered that spiralstrike had started eating cats post-exile from the clan to sustain itself and to intimidate other rogues and the clans.)
cometblaze - yookepkafyar - shooting-star wildfire (comet is in-universe a post-mortem honor title referring to how he came quickly, shook up the world and then returned to the stars. out of universe it’s because his outsider name was halley as in halley’s comet, and also because i thought “comet tail” would make a cute name for the series he’s in)
bonus: gingerblaze - raporkafyar - reddish-brown wildfire (refers to his ginger pelt and his fiery personality, the name he had in life)
bryonyheart - oskpeskebabun - white tiny-flower-cluster heart (no word for bryony, but it has white flowers)
bonus: bryonyblaze (same cat, renamed to honor his fallen mate) - oskpeskekeya (white tiny-flower-cluster ash) (his suffix means ash rather than wildfire despite translating to english the same to symbolize how his mate has “burned out” but that his name lives on despite this?? i dunno if that even works but the Symbolism, y’know?)
nightslash - yoshomkachkubo - midnight claw-strike (no direct word for slash, name refers to his habit of hunting/patrolling at night and his ferocity in battle)
BONUS ROUND:
warriors-sona: mothmalice - ffyynyryr - moth/butterfly bad/rotting (no direct translation for malice/evil)
EXCELLENT use of symbolism, I also want to commend your additions to Clan culture here. I like that your Clans do postmortem changes, that's not something I do for BB but I think that SLAPS as a cultural difference that another Clan might pick up.
Let me get you some new words;
On Bryony
There are TWO types of bryony in this region-- Black and White. Both of these are extremely poisonous, but black is so toxic it's topically corrosive. It can cause blistering, it's that bad. You've described white bryony, the less bad type.
Black Bryony (Dioscorea communis), also called Lady's Seal and Black Bindweed = Awgahor
(Sunburn + Bryony + Contraction)
With dark green leaves, bright red berries, and greenish-yellow flowers, this is a detested and feared plant by Clan cats. Though it won't burn just by brushing against it, It can be made into a torturous poultice that causes intense pain to its victim.
Because it's full of saponins (the lily chemical), it can't be licked off, either. A cat exposed to this has to find water and wash it off.
In humans it's been used to treat bruises, but its side effect of causing that blistering makes it dangerous as a folk remedy.
White Bryony (Bryonia dioica), also called false mandrake, tetterbury, and wild vine = Horoma
(Comes from a corruption of Green + White + Flower)
Much less actively dangerous, but not less deadly. All parts of this plant, from its greenish-white flowers to its shiny berries, are highly poisonous. It can sometimes kill prey that takes a bite of it.
FUNFACT: White Bryony was used as a medieval knockoff of mandrake! Its tubers would be carved in a way to resemble the bizarre human likeness of real mandrake and sold to people who couldn't tell the difference. Mandrake does not grow in England, it is a Mediterranean plant.
White Bryony is also an example of a neep, a climbing vine, that isn't ivy. It can be particularly aggressive outside of its home range, too! But thankfully they are native to this area and don't cause a threat.
Slashes
Time to expand out some cutting-words.
Gash = Aar
A long, straight cut.
Gouge = Moar
A deep, rounded score
Cutted = Kishgurk/Kishgur/Kishgu
Implies unskilled cutting or a cut that needed effort, more like if you were cutting grass or skinning an animal than in the middle of a furious fight.
Slashed = Ashasar/Ashasa/Ashas
Skillful, long-cutting. Used in combat contexts.
Crushed = Kraobur/Kraobu/Kraob
Translates directly.
Ripped Open = Churr'rrich/Churr'rri/Churr'rrr
To land a vicious attack of fatal intention.
Lastly, below the cut is the other combat words that exist currently.
Disembowl/Grallocking/Taking the guts out = Hgrrarl/Hgrrar/Hgrra
Mauling/ripping chunks out = Ygrraga/Ygrrag/Ygrra
For fur chunks flying around. VERY violent.
To slice something off = Sassge'shss/Sassge'sh/sassge'
Unsheathing = Yskatchka/Yskatch/Yskat
Strike/hit (With Claw) = Kachkubo/Kachkub/Kachku
Swipe = Syyamyar/Syyamya/Syyam
Pummel/batter/rapid batting = Pabrpabrpabr/pabrpabr/pabr
Grab/Grapple = Akichkar/Akichka/akich
Fought/Fight/Will Fight = Arrlkatchyam/Arrlkatchya/Arrlkatch
Comes from Arrl + Claw, fusing together as a single word from an older phrase "Compelled to Claws," reflecting how combat was not a desired thing in Classic Tribemew.
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Strength ~ Part 2/2 (Ser Harwin Strong x Reader)
᯽ Please note that this is an overall part 11 of the series “Growing Strong”. The masterlist, and part 1, can be found HERE. ᯽
Pairing: Ser Harwin Strong x Tyrell! Female Reader
Warnings: Character death, fire, mentions of burns (descriptive), death of unnamed background characters, mentions of someone unaliving themselves, GOT typical sexism, canon divergence, references to past character death, very suggestive themes, and a back-stabbing brother... heck, let’s throw kinslaying on there too while we’re at it.
Summary: Was there strength in honor? … Or could honor come from strength?
A/N: this chapter starts with a bit of spicy🔥 (nothing too wild or anything, but still pretty obvious what’s going on), and then ends up with actual 🔥🔥🔥, so... reader beware.
i don’t think I want to say anything else right now except thank you guys for the all of the support. i’ll put more of a blurb at the end of this.🖤🖤🖤
Deft hands untied the laces of your dress later in the evening.
You sighed from the immediate relief and leaned backwards calmly. As your head came to rest on Harwin’s broad chest, you closed your eyes and smiled in contentment.
Harwin chuckled amusedly at your antics. “Perhaps we should have retired sooner, My Love.”
The merriment of the family dinner continued well into the night. After supper had concluded, Lord Lyonel called for some musicians, which resulted in several singers and lute players providing a few additional hours of entertainment. Only when Derrik and Selwin started to nod off at the table and your own eyes began to feel heavy did you dare to suggest that it was time to retreat to your respective chambers. The Lord Hand tipped the troubadours generously, and everyone retired. The high spirits and mirth elated by the wine shared over dinner was still fresh on everyone’s minds as they departed from the dining hall.
By now, your sons were most likely fast asleep in their own beds.
You had dismissed your handmaiden for the evening, opting for a quiet night alone with your husband instead. Like your sons, the clutches of sleep were calling to you, but now, as Harwin’s hands skimmed across your back in feather light touches, your mind kept drifting to that of another, more tempting, venture.
“That was quite an eventful dinner this evening,” Harwin commented nonchalantly, seemingly unaware of the effects he had upon you.
You opened your eyes and stood straight once more. The pair of you stood in front of a mirror in your shared chambers. You watched him dutifully as his eyes narrowed at your as he concentrated on his efforts.
“That was quite the toast you made as well, Dearest.”
The subject of Princess Rhaenyra, and the Princes, was one seldom addressed between you over the past month. It was almost as though you were mutually afraid of shattering the newfound reverie that life at Harrenhal had come to provide. But Harwin’s offhanded suggestion to the topic during the niceties of the evening meal left you wondering what his intent had been.
“My father was in a good mood this evening,” Harwin prefaced, his focus still on the work that his hands were carrying out. “But… He is still disappointed in me.”
As you watched your husband’s crestfallen look in the mirror, your heart ached on his behalf.
“I am not a fool. I did not think he would simply forget…” Harwin admitted defeatedly. “But I had hoped, if I worked hard enough, and if I proved how dedicated I am to learning about all of the responsibilities and duties of the family seat and title, I might have given my father something else to focus on instead.”
You felt sympathy for Harwin. How could you not? Just as you had carried shame that was not yours to bear, Harwin had been forced to shoulder disappointment from Lord Lyonel. Disappointment that Harwin had not, at least not truly, warranted.
But there was little that could be done about it, for reasons that both of you had delved deeply many, many times before.
You turned away from the mirror slowly. Abandoning his work, Harwin’s hands fell to his sides, and he watched you somewhat apprehensively, as though fearing he had done or said something to offend.
“You are correct,” you agreed, earning a somewhat surprised reaction from your husband. “Your father will not forget the ‘truth’ that he believes in. But he will return to King’s Landing soon, and we will remain here. He will take that shadow of disapproval with him, and you shall feel free of this burden soon, Dearest.”
A small kindness. But, given the circumstances, it was the only one that could be offered. Harwin nodded understandingly.
“Now… are we done speaking of your father?” you pivoted then, your tone light and teasing. You placed your hands on Harwin’s chest, and your fingers settled dangerously close to the buttons of his doublet. “I wish to speak of something else.”
“Ah,” Harwin mused complacently, his eyes lighting up with mischievousness at once. “And what might that be, My Love?”
You slowly undid one button at a time, your eyes never leaving Harwin’s as you did so. Once they were all unfastened, you took the lapels in your hands, and pushed them upwards. Harwin smirked as he assisted you by shrugging the garment up and off his shoulders. The fabric fell down the length of his arms and landed on the floor with a soft thud.
“You’ve caught me,” you whispered coquettishly. “... Perhaps I do not wish to speak much at all.”
Since leaving the Red Keep, all aspects of your relationship with Harwin had improved greatly. A bit of time and distance from the issues that had caused a strain on your marriage had given it a new life.
To put it bluntly- it’d been hard to keep your hands off one another.
“I hope you do not mean you intend to be quiet,” Harwin admitted, his hands reaching up to cradle your face. “For that would not be very enjoyable… and, to be honest, My Love, I do not think that is something you are capable of achieving.”
“Is that so?” you challenged flirtatiously, standing on your toes to put your face closer to his. He drew you nearer, and one of his hands fell to rest on your waist. “Would you care to make a bet then, Dearest?”
“A bet?” Harwin laughed. The sound sent pleasant shivers down your spine. “What do I earn if I win?”
In the blink of an eye, Harwin tucked his chin and leaned down to press a few open mouthed kisses at your neck. The hand on your waist pulled you closer, pressing you tightly against his chest.
You fought to keep your voice level as his ministrations made your legs feel unsteady. Despite the upperhand your husband had, you smirked. “Perhaps I shall only tell you if you are victorious.”
“Hm,” Harwin mumbled into your neck. He tore himself away, looking rather reluctant to do so. His eyes were dark with desire, but you knew you were in no safer hands than his. “I believe that leaves me but with one choice.”
“And what is that?” You kissed him chastly on the lips, relishing in teasing him.
“I must ensure that you are unable to keep quiet.”
You were swept away with pleasant dreams when something stirred you.
As you slowly came to consciousness, you looked around. You were still in the safety of your bed; you’d deduced that much upon your eyes meeting Harwin’s bare chest.
… Perhaps it was nothing.
You sighed tiredly, burrowed further into the sheets, and scooted closer to your husband.
But a moment later, you were roused again.
This time, you could tell it had been Harwin. His whole chest rumbled as he coughed lightly, making him a rather poor makeshift pillow. His eyes were still shut tight; he’d yet to awake from the fit. You decided to wait it out, not wishing to part yourself from him, nor the warmth that he provided.
Although, it was a bit warm in the room already…
However, Harwin’s occasional coughing did not cease. In fact, it yanked him from his own slumber a few moments later.
Your eyes widened, and you leaned back, attempting to give him some space. “Gods, are you alright?”
Harwin cleared his throat and shook his head; a wordless way of dismissing your concern. But when his coughing did not cease, you sat up.
“Let me get you some water-”
Your blood ran cold as your eyes were met with the eerie glow underneath the door across the room.
Flickering lights of reds, oranges, and yellows. Crackling noises too loud and a heat too warm have been caused by the flames in the hearth that would have long since simmered.
Fire.
“Harwin!” you exclaimed frightfully, pointing across the room.
At the sound of your alarm, Harwin shot up straight, and his head whipped over towards the direction you gestured to. You watched as his body tensed with stark realization.
The pair of you scrambled out of bed, finding your night attire with a haste in which neither of you knew you possessed. Harwin looked to make sure you were beside him before hurrying over to the door. Once there, his hand lingered over the handle for a moment, and he touched it lightly, cautiously. He drew his hand back and hissed.
You looked about the room, looking for something, anything. Your eyes landed on Harwin’s discarded doublet. You swept it up and tossed it to him.
Harwin caught it with ease, and placed it over top of the door handle. Now armored with additional fabric, he had a much better time of trying the handle.
The door took a solid few yanks, but eventually, it gave way. The pair of you squinted as the light emitting from the flames hit your eyes immediately. Once you recovered, Harwin stepped out into the hallway first, mindful of his step, and you were right behind him.
Fire lined the walls, and the decor that had adorned them was already reduced to ashes. Flames littered the ground, dancing about your bare feet. But none of that mattered when the pair of you were hit with a moment of dread at the same time.
Derrik. Selwin.
…
“What are children, but a weakness?”
…
Harwin grabbed your hand at once and began to lead you through the fire-kissed corridors.
The chambers that your sons shared- fortunately, they had chosen to share the same rooms for now- were not but a few halls over. But the time it took to reach the door felt far too long.
With the doublet still in hand, Harwin attempted to turn the door handle.
It was to no avail.
Harwin tried again.
Unsuccessful.
…
“A folly, a futility?”
…
Panic settled into your bones more harshly than it had already had. With the nearby flames, the gods only knew how easy it would have been for the metal fixture to start giving way under the sheer heat of the surroundings.
Harwin turned, pressed his shoulder against the wood, and began to throw his entire weight forcefully against the door.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The door would not budge.
Feeling desperate, you joined him in his efforts. Although, a cynical part of you knew that if a man nicknamed Breakbones was unable to force open a door, any additional help from your own strength was not likely to make much of a difference.
…
“Through them you imagine you cheat the Great Darkness of its victory.”
…
But you’d heard the musings of a parent’s strength when their children were in danger. You shouldn’t have doubted them.
After a few more tandem attempts, the door to your sons’ chambers flew open under yours and Harwin’s forces.
Derrick and Selwin were awake, but as their hair was disheveled, sleep lingered in their eyes, and their faces had yet to display anything but utter confusion, you realized they did not understand the extent of what was occurring just on the other side of the door.
“Mother, Father?” Derrik asked with a scrunched nose, wiping at his eyes absent-mindedly. You rushed over to him, throwing the covers off of him and helping him out of bed.
Meanwhile, Harwin dropped the doublet and plucked Selwin up and out of his bed with little effort at all, as if your youngest son was still a babe, and not a boy of almost eight years of age.
…
“You persist forever in some form or another, as if they would keep you from the dust.”
…
The four of you made your way through the brightly lit hallways as fast as you could. Heat weighed heavily down upon you, stray flames danced around your feet, and smoke stole the breath of your lungs. You and Harwin kept Derrik and Selwin between you in an attempt to keep them as secure as possible, and you refused to let either of the boys dawdle. Thankfully, your sons gave you little opposition to this.
When you reached the staircase that would lead you to the bottom of the tower, and more importantly, your subsequent freedom, you were relieved. You took a step towards the stairs, but Harwin halted beside you.
“Go on. Take the boys with you.”
You looked at Harwin like he was mad. Maybe he was. “What?”
“My father,” Harwin recalled gravely. “I have to go back for him.”
…
“But for them, you surrender what you should not.”
…
Perhaps the Lord Hand had already discovered the fire, and fled. Perhaps he was a lost cause already. Perhaps Harwin himself would meet a grim fate in his effort to save his father from the scorching flames.
All of these were extremely valid and persuasive arguments, and yet, none of them came to your tongue. As Derrik and Selwin looked frantically between the two of you with fear and confusion plain upon their face, and as Harwin gave you a look of firm resolve, you found yourself at a loss for words.
“Go, Y/N!” Harwin ordered in response to your inaction. His stern tone left no room for argument.
But still, you hesitated, and looked at him with complete dismay. You couldn’t leave him, not like this… And yet, your children could not remain here either.
The look on Harwin’s face was oddly mournful. …Did he know something you did not?
You searched his face despairingly, frantically trying to commit it to memory, despite the precious time ticking away with every passing second.
“Go, My Love,” Harwin commanded again, his voice softer, but no less commanding. “I shall be right behind you, I swear it.”
…
“You may know what is the right thing to be done, but love stays the hand.”
…
Your eyes filled with tears of unknown cause as you ushered Derrik and Selwin out of the castle and into the scene of utter chaos that was the courtyard.
The entire picture before you was grim and chaotic. People were running about- some carried buckets of water, others drew attention to their wounds to anyone who would listen. Some of the more seriously injured sat down wherever they could find, drawing in upon themselves.
A few of the less fortunate laid on the ground, stiff and unmoving.
The sounds of Derrik and Selwin coughing as fresh air finally blessed their lungs garnered your attention. You grabbed them by the hands and led them away, attempting to put as much distance between yourselves and the chaos behind you as was possible.
As you hurried across the courtyard, several of Lord Lyonel’s men rushed past you.
“The Lord Hand!” you plead to them desperately. “He is still inside, as is my husband!”
“We’ll find them, My Lady.”
You wanted to believe that was true, but the tone of the man who responded to you did not sound entirely reassuring. You trudged on.
On the periphery of the courtyard, Maester Briden was in the midst of attempting to triage. Once he saw the three of you approaching, the elderly man beckoned you over hurriedly. You released your sons’ hands, and let him look over Derrik and Selwin to swiftly assess for any significant injuries. As the Maester worked, you turned around, looking back at the tragedy that was unfolding before your very eyes.
Flame covering stone already blackened by previous damage. Dark smoke billowed upwards towards the sky, reaching higher than the towers themselves.
History had repeated itself; Harrenhal was aflame once again.
The gods had a cruel sense of humor.
“The smoke has gotten to them, but otherwise, they seem to be alright, My Lady,” Maester Briden decided thoughtfully. He turned, directing his next order to an assisting servant girl. “Let’s fetch them some water.”
Your eyes remained affixed to the flames as you offered a level reply. “Thank you, Maester.”
You swallowed thickly. The action caused you to flinch at the dryness of your throat. Every passing second that neither Harwin nor his father emerged from the castle wretched your heart tighter and tighter, until it felt almost impossible to breathe.
A loud rumbling echoed through the air as part of the Kingspyre Tower, where the Strong family’s chambers were located, and where all of you had just been a short while ago, collapsed upon itself. Shouts and screams echoed through the courtyard and as the ground trembled.
Now that they’d been given some water, Derrik and Selwin’s coughing had begun to lighten. You watched them keenly, desperately needing to focus on something else other than your breaking heart.
…
“Love is a downfall.”
…
You sat on the ground beside Derrik and Selwin, feeling helpless and completely numb. You had tried to keep them distracted from the madness around you, even though it was futile.
Amidst the chaos, passerbys looked at the three of you curiously, pitfully even. You could practically read their thoughts as they eyed you before their gaze drifted over to Derrik.
Is this Lord of Harrenhal, now?
…
But then, a sudden struggle across the courtyard immediately roused your attention. Your head whipped over in that direction.
Three of Lord Lyonel’s were emerging from their castle. They wrestled a madly writhing figure in their arms.
“Let me go!” the thrashing man shouted at them viciously. “I have to go back!”
“We’re sorry, My Lord, but you know we cannot do that!”
You almost choked on your relief as the man the soldiers struggled to contain threw his upper body upwards in a vain attempt to break free of their hold. The man’s curls flared wildly outwards, revealing his soot covered face.
Harwin.
Harwin. Harwin. Harwin!
The three men marched across the courtyard, and your husband continued to fight them verbally and physically as they did so. When the men were satisfied with the distance they’d put between themselves and the castle, they deposited Harwin unceremoniously at the feet of Maester Briden.
“Stay here,” you instructed Derrik and Selwin hastily as you rose to your feet. The boys still looked ready to run over to their father at a moment’s notice, but thankfully, they heeded your order.
You scurried over to Harwin instead. When you reached him, you ignored his shouts, which continued to throw impassioned verbal insults at the men who had saved his life. You fell to your knees exhaustedly, so that you could be at his level. Then, you grabbed his face in your hands and forced him to look at you.
Upon your touch, Harwin’s shouting ceased immediately. His eyes shot up to meet yours, and your heart broke for the second time that evening when you saw the tears in his eyes. That’s when you knew.
Lord Lyonel of House Strong, Hand of King Viserys, First of His Name, was dead.
“Y/N,” Harwin breathed brokenly, still struggling for air. Despite being restrained in your hold, he shook his head as he tried to find the words. “My father… I could not-”
You shushed him softly and pulled his head to your chest. Tears fell down your face as the front of your nightgown began to be littered with Harwin’s own. You ran a soothing hand through Harwin’s sweaty curls, knowing through personal experience that no words, no gesture, nothing at all would be able to compensate for the loss he was experiencing.
Come the dawn, the scene was just as grim.
Harwin had taken some time to compose himself, and he swallowed down his grief to be dealt with at a later time. Once he was refocused, the pair of you worked together. Water was directed to the strongest points of the fire. There was an accounting of everyone believed to have been in the fire-affected areas of the castle. Maester Briden was assisted with tending to the wounded. Comfort was given in the last few moments to those who were already lost. Those who were gone were moved, clearing additional room for the other wounded to be seen to.
Despite the brokenness you knew Harwin had to be feeling, he stepped up in the time of desperate need. The people of Harrenhal, who were now his people, looked to him for guidance, and he did not fail them. ‘Proud’ wasn’t a world you felt was apt to describe what you thought of him anymore. As you watched Harwin assist the people of his home, which, now, officially was his, with dried tears staining his otherwise smoky complexion, you recalled House Strong’s words.
Strength in Honor…
Was there strength in honor? … Or could honor come from strength?
Only when the final embers began to simmer did Harwin allow Maester Briden to tend to him.
Harwin had some nasty burns on his arms and legs, which were undoubtedly the result of exposure to flames that he’d endured in his attempt to save his father. As the Maester tended to the wounds, Derrik and Selwin sat closely nearby, not wishing to be parted from either of you.
You felt for them all. In the span of a few hours, Harwin had lost his father, and inherited the duties of the family lordship; your sons had lost their grandsire, and had lived through a terrifying ordeal at such a tender age. You grieved the loss of Lord Lyonel as well; your Good Father had come to be a secondary father figure for you. The painful loss of such a presence felt all too familiar.
“Lord Strong?”
The previous Lord of Harrenhal’s steward had approached them.
It took Harwin a moment to realize he’d been addressed, but when he did, he looked to his father’s steward expectantly. It felt like a punch to the gut when you realized it was likely to be a while for him to make that sort of adjustment.
The steward delivered his report solemnly. “After the fire started, a stable boy noticed someone suspicious lingering about. The man was cloaked, and when the cry for help rang out, he did not rise to the call, and instead, retreated to the shadows. When this matter was brought to me, I decided it was best to apprehend him, with the intention of questioning him once things had settled. I sent a few men to find him, and, as of a few hours ago, they were successful, but… I think it is best if you see him for yourself.”
Harwin moved to rise, but before he could get to his feet, he grimaced in pain.
Maester Briden tsked at him in protest and disapproval. However, the elder man was not affected in the slightest, and he continued tending to your husband’s burns dedicatedly.
“I will go,” you volunteered, looking at Lord Lyonel’s- well, now Harwin’s- steward. “Take me to him. My husb- Lord Strong- still needs to be tended to at this time.”
The steward nodded understandingly. “As you wish, My Lady.”
Harwin gave you a grateful look, but it was not needed. He’d always been a pillar of strength for you when you’d needed him to be. The least you could do was to be the same for him.
“Stay here with your father,” you instructed Derrik and Selwin. It was redundant; you knew it would be hard to tear either of them from you or Harwin’s side for quite some time.
“It appears as though his tongue has been cut out, My Lady.”
You scowled at the scene of the deceased man before you.
After the man had been apprehended, the steward had confined him in one of the cells beneath the castle, which had, fortunately, been spared from the fire. In the morning, the guards found the man dead. There were no physical wounds upon him, but an empty vial, which had held a liquid you could only guess the origin of, was resting in his limp hand.
Staring hard at the man’s face, you raked through the many faces you’d come across in your time at Harrenhal. But nothing, and no one, came to mind. You questioned, “And no one else recognizes him?”
“No, My Lady,” the steward confirmed. He nudged the leg of the body with his foot in disgust. “Whoever he was before, he was a coward when the Stranger took him.” He spat on the ground.
That was easy to agree to. Even though the questioning would have been difficult, given his incapability of speaking, the deceased man had robbed you of the opportunity altogether by quenching his thirst with poison.
“Bury him with the others,” you decided after a moment. “Whether he knew something about this travesty or not, I will not have the gods frown upon us even more for mistreating his body.”
“If that is your command, My Lady, then it shall be done.”
You turned to leave, but you stopped when the rising sun caught the glimmer of something on the man’s cloak.
The steward watched you curiously as turned back to face the deceased man. After crouching down, you leaned forward as closed as you dared, and attempted to get a proper look at what had caught your eye.
It was a pin, affixed to the front of the fabric of the cloak. But it wasn’t just any pin- a small jewel embedded in the metal was the culprit that had caught the sun’s rays. You squinted analytically.
The pin was a firefly. How odd, you thought queerly to yourself. You stared at the pin for a few long moments, before the realization struck you.
You had seen something very similar to the pin before. You were absolutely certain of it.
… But where?
“... Best to make your way through life unencumbered, if you ask me.”
Back in the Red Keep, Queen Alicent Hightower was still reeling from the atrocious suggestions that the now presumed Lord Larys Strong had just conveyed to her.
“They’re dead?”
“You’ve heard the stories of Harrenhal, Your Grace,” Larys danced around her question. “Built in hubris by Harren the Black as a monument to his own greatness. Blood, mixed into the mortar…”
Deeply troubled at the man’s apathy, Queen Alicent clawed at her own throat.
“It is said to be a cursed place, that it passes judgment beneath all who pass beneath its gates.”
“You,” Queen Alicent corrected, appalled. “You passed judgment.”
“The Queen makes a wish… what servant of the realm would not strive to fulfill it?” Larys posed flippantly, as if the answer was simple. “I assume you will write to your father now?”
“Larys,” she hissed despondently, not giving a damn at that moment about who was to fill the suddenly empty post of Hand of the King. “I did not wish for this!”
Her own opinion of Ser Harwin Strong, Princess Rhaenyra, and even Lady Y/N Tyrell aside, there had been the couple’s trueborn children to consider. The children!
“Gods, what of the boys? Your nephews? Your own blood?!” As if his father and brother had not been bad enough.
“Ah, yes, what a pity,” Larys feigned regret. “It is rather tragic when the gods decide to snuff out the light of young lives… But, unfortunately, it would not be the first time in history that children pay for the sins of their parents, would it?”
She was shocked speechless.
“I feel certain you will reward me,” Larys informed her as he plucked a flower he’d been toying with from the vase on the table beside him, “when the time is right.”
Queen Alicent clenched her eyes shut tightly in horror, until a rapt of knocks on her chamber doors forced her to open them once more. She was certain her voice was unsteady, but still, she called out, “Come in!”
Her handmaiden, Talia, entered her chambers. “It is a raven for the King, Your Grace. I would have brought it to him directly, but-”
Queen Alicent recomposed herself. “No, no. You were right to bring it to me. Thank you, Talia.”
The girl handed her the scroll of parchment, and then excused herself.
Larys watched with an amused twinkle in his eye as she read the contents of the correspondence. Redundantly, he inquired, “Has something happened, My Queen?”
“There was a fire at Harrenhal,” Queen Alicent relayed numbly, voice still rough with emotion. “... The Lord Hand is dead.”
Larys’ face was neutral. “Truly? That is most… unfortunate. My father was a good, honorable man… But alas, it would appear that the curse of Harrenhal has claimed yet another victim.”
Queen Alicent’s eyes never left the parchment in her trembling hands. Part of her wanted to desperately cling to every word before her eyes; the other part of her wanted to avoid acknowledging the monster across the room.
When she failed to say anything further, Larys decided she needed some encouragement. “And, what else does it say, My Queen?”
Suddenly, Queen Alicent exhaled a watery sigh of relief, and placed a hand on her chest. She read to him, “Your brother, Ser Harwin, his wife, Lady Y/N Tyrell, and their sons are said to have survived… and Harwin has been named as Lord of Harrenhal… Thank the gods!”
Queen Alicent finally lifted her eyes from the parchment.
The smile on Lord Larys’ face was an extremely unsettling one. His eyes were alive and present, but they contained not a single morsel of joy at the revelation.
“I see…” he commented plainly, clearly at a loss for other words.
Larys idly twirled the flower he’d plucked several times. One, two, three, four spins. Then he suddenly crushed the petals in a tightly-clenched fist. The skin on his fingers turned ghost white from the pressure.
“What splendid news, My Queen.”
A/N: I’m so sorry you guys😢🖤 like previous deaths in this fic, Lord Lyonel’s was a necessary evil. at least I spared Harwin and the boys?😰
Anyways, thank you guys for all the love🖤 I’m going to get working on the next part, which I’d like to have out sometime next week, but I may need some extra time to get it prepared. We’re going to do a time jump once again, to the time span of episode 8. Andddddd, since we lost a character this part, I think it’s time we introduce another on this next one...😉
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend🖤🖤🖤
#harwin strong#harwin strong x reader#house of the dragon#ser harwin strong#ser harwin strong x reader#ser harwin strong x y/n#ser harwin strong x you#harwin strong x y/n#harwin strong x you#hbo#ryan corr#hotd#got#house of the dragon fanfiction#house of the dragon fanfic#game of thrones fanfiction#game of thrones fanfic#harwin strong fanfic#harwin strong fanfiction#ser harwin strong fanfic#ser harwin strong fanfiction
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I'm curious to know if the official naming of the songs in SLARPG's soundtrack was you, Bobby, or both of you - also, were there any names you had a hard time deciding on? some that were practically decided before you named them?
I just wanna also add that I really enjoy the names of the songs, they add just that little bit of Oomph to the power of many of them knowing their titles, and how a lot of them connect to dialogue
thanks wingu! that's very kind ^^
i personally named all the tracks, but i ran them by bobby first to get make sure they fit the bill. which once or twice they didn't! for example, way back before the demo had even been released my working title for greenridge's music was "More Like GAYridge" — i meant it in a silly and "(affectionate)" kind of way, but bobby expressed concern that it might read as mean spirited. i'm inclined to agree! i'm glad we went with the quote instead.
there were definitely some tracks that i struggled to name. i think the biggest of these was actually "homecoming." i was reluctant to land on that one at first, because here in the US, public schools have "homecoming week" — which is obviously something very different from what i wanted to communicate! but nothing else felt right the way "homecoming" did, so i stuck with it! if i could do it again now, maybe i'd call it "homeward." i'm pretty happy with it though. :)
"steadfast stripe" was a tricky one too. it was almost "stalwart stripe," since jodie's a knight, and i flip-flopped between those a bunch. in the end steadfast won out for being a bit smoother to say, and also for referring to jodie not only as a knight, but as a friend.
on the other extreme, there were certainly titles that came naturally! "Don't Be a Narc" was the only thing i could have ever called that track. "TRANS // FORM" was a name idea that i had kicking around for years, so that track felt like the perfect place to finally use it. and like "Scrombled" is just a meme reference lmao
most i'd say fell somewhere between those extremes though. it took a bit of workshopping to land on "B.A.D." and "VisHisS" and "BEAST BASH." but once i landed on them there was no going back. i think i'm happiest with the titles that worked out that way!
that's about all the interesting bits i think. thanks for asking! 💓
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If Elsa is the fifth spirit then why her official title is now the snow queen? Doesn't quite make sense. Not to mention it complicates F3 even further. She can't be called both since it will confuse the viewers.
Jennifer Lee says that her intention was for both Elsa and Anna to be the Fifth Spirit. Elsa makes this pretty clear when she tells Anna, "Well, actually, a bridge has two sides. And mother had two daughters. We did this together." Elsa is The Snow Queen. Anna is the Queen of Arendelle. Together, they are The Fifth Spirit.
However, she doesn't have Elsa doesn't say it directly because she wanted fans to come to their own conclusion. Jennifer Lee has always had this mindset of letting fans have a bit of freedom with the narrative. Maybe she thought that some fans wouldn't want this for Anna because she was always described as an underdog with only love as a power. Directly giving her a special "Fifth Spirit" title might negate this aspect of her character for some fans.
In terms of the title showing up in F3, I don't think "The Fifth Spirit" will actually show up again. It hasn't really shown up in side content or any other meta (at least, from what I can remember, I could be wrong). Elsa has always been referred to as The Snow Queen in most side content. Why? Probably because of Jennifer Lee's comments. The intention is that both Anna and Elsa are the Fifth Spirit. If they bring this up in F3, and call them both this, then it gets rid of that narrative freedom.
Of course, they could just say "f@ck narrative freedom" and give them both the title in the next film. I would be all for that. I'm honestly tired of people denying that Anna is the Fifth Spirit because the narrative supposedly didn't spoon feed it to the audience. As if Anna's actions and Elsa's words are not enough to tell you that they both are the Fifth Spirit.
Like come on people. The film establishes that Elsa's powers were a gift because of Iduna's sacrifice. It describes that the Fifth Spirit is a bridge. Elsa says that Iduna had two daughters and that a bridge has two sides. 2 + 2 = 4. Or better yet, Elsa + Anna = Fifth Spirit. Can you tell that I'm salty about this? Haha.
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In this chapter, Merrill, Tamlen and Mahariel go on tour... and decide to stop by Lothering after all. Huge thanks to @storybookhawke for this lovely art – original artwork post (without text) is here.
Title: A Chance Engagement
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Chapters: 57/?
Pairings: Eventual Carver/Merrill, background F!Mahariel/Tamlen and F!Hawke/Isabela; other pairings not revealed yet
Other characters: Marian Hawke, Bethany Hawke, Leandra Hawke, Isabela, Tamlen, Fenarel, Female Mahariel, Keeper Marethari, Sabrae Clan, Arishok, Pol, Dragon Age: Redemption Characters (Chapters 51 to 53)
Other tags: Alternative Universe – Regency, Pride & Prejudice References, Bethany and Carver Hawke Live, Pride & Prejudice AU, Fluff and Humour, Ballroom Dancing, Secret Relationships, Comedy of Errors, Jane Austen References, Pining, Rejected Marriage Proposals
Summary:
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, Lady Leandra Amell tried to impress upon her three children, that a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife. However she hoped this wisdom would be received by her offspring, Lady Amell was dismayed to find that it had not had the effect she intended.”
Regency AU. When Miss Merrill attends the Kirkwall public assembly ball, the last man she expects to engage in a dance is Carver Hawke – a single man who has just come into possession of a large fortune. This chance meeting, however, sets them both on a path they never expected.
READ FROM THE BEGINNING ON ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN
———
The weeks passed away quickly; and the period of Merrill’s much-anticipated travels arrived. The night before, Merrill had been so excited she thought she would not sleep; and on the morning itself she flitted about so happily and exuberantly, that Keeper Marethari could not temper her high spirits if she tried. Merrill believed that even Tamlen and Mahariel were not as happy as she was, even though they themselves were clearly excited and cheerful that morning, given they were setting off in pursuit of novelty and amusement with her.
Tamlen himself was in such good humour that he even agreed to accompany Merrill and Mahariel in calling on the Hawke sisters before they went – although he insisted that their visit was as brief as possible, for he wanted to cross the Waking Sea and reach Ferelden well before nightfall – and this they did, although Miss Bethany was out again with her mother, and they found Miss Hawke all alone and writing a letter.
‘Bethany will be so disappointed to have missed you,’ Miss Hawke told them, as she folded up her letter to seal it, ‘but I am thankful you decided to take leave of us before you depart for the countryside. And it is an honour, Mr Sabrae,’ she continued politely to Tamlen, ‘that you decided to accompany your wife and cousin. I bid you all safe travels and adieu, and look forward to hearing all about them when you eventually return to Kirkwall.’
‘I will miss you!’ Merrill cried as she hugged her friend, taking Miss Hawke so much by surprise that the latter dropped the folded letter she had been holding. ‘Oh! I am so sorry, Miss Hawke – let me get that for you—’ and here Merrill bent down to pick up the parchment that had floated to the floor; Miss Hawke had bent down for it too; but, in her nervousness at having done something wrong again, Merrill was quicker.
As she picked up the sheet of paper, which was full with Miss Hawke’s handwriting, Merrill caught sight of the words:
I will submit to any thing you may command me—but cease to respect, to love and adore you, I never can or will.
Read more on AO3...
#carver hawke#merrill#carver x merrill#merrill x carver#tamlen#dragon age#mahariel#warden mahariel#f!mahariel#dragon age 2#a chance engagement#Regency AU#fanfic by hollyand#Regency!AU#my fanfic#fanfic update#carver/merrill#merrill/carver#hawke#marian hawke#f!hawke
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Tsukasa Will Be in Chapter 99
How is that for a gripping title?! Now watch as I try to explain myself for a title only tangentially related to the point I'm making.
At the end of Chapter 98, Mitsuba's body starts to deteriorate: his hand comes off, and we start to see the supernaturals that make up his body.
This is a pretty great way to end the chapter, outside of being a shocking cliffhanger in itself. Last chapter, Mitsuba approached Kou in the street at nightーdespite not having been shown to leave the school before.
This chapter picked up right where the last one left off, with Kou and Mitsuba roaming around Kamome city at night. However, we got no explanation for thisーand Kou isn't even that bothered by it! What he cares about is that Mitsuba appears to be okay, and why Mitsuba says he isn't okay.
I don't think Kou isn't bothered by Mitsuba being there; it's possible he thinks it's strange, too. He just has a bunch of other things to think about right now.
Mitsuba... is a ghost! Hanako-kun is also a ghost. Ghosts have been said to be unable to leave the school.
But... who is this guy, anyway!? He was never actually Mitsuba, was he?
In the Hell of Mirrors, Tsukasa says he always wanted to make an artificial humanーbut he amends that what he actually made was more like an artificial ghost. The artificial part being important! This Mitsuba is not a true ghost; he has always been a supernatural.
Mitsuba is see-through and can float, like a ghost, and can't be seen by most humans... but neither can Mokke. It is natural he shares a few traits with ghosts, because he's an artificial one, but that doesn't mean he has to share all of his traitsーsuch as being stuck in school.
The issue is that Mitsuba has never been shown to leave the school before, and you would think he'd want to. He could accompany Kou home, or go peep on his mom.
But as we can see at the end of the chapter, Mitsuba falls apart! And for seemingly no reason! Nobody attacked him, he just began to deteriorate. And I think it's possible it's related to him leaving the school.
I have seen a few theorize that Tsukasa maintains Mitsuba's body and allows him to persist as Mitsuba, and I quite like that idea. Leaving the school would mean Mitsuba missing his scheduled maintenance. But either way, Mitsuba's body was created by Tsukasa in the first place. The next chapter must touch upon this, either through a flashback...
...or Tsukasa appearing himself!?
Now, this is starting to get silly. How can I argue an artificial ghost could leave the school unlike a ghost, and then start arguing about a ghost leaving the school anyway!?
Well... the big question is... why can't they leave?
There are superstitions that a ghost will haunt the place they died, or the place their body was buried. The Japanese title even references this; "jibaku shonen" is a play on the word "jibakurei", meaning a land-bound spirit: a spirit who was bound somewhere in their death.
It is frankly strange that Mitsuba and the Yugi Twins were bound to the school when they both died in separate locations (car crash for Mitsuba, murder suicide at their house for the twins) but I think it's because Kamome Academy is hella haunted. To be fair, the whole city of Kamome is basically hella haunted, but Kamome Academy moreso.
Of note, however, is this bit of info in Chapter 98.
We discover that the aquarium Kou and Mitsuba entered is also hella haunted! It is absolutely littered with ghosts! Spirits! Souls of the dead!!
Now, the aquarium is a bit different from the school. It seems to have appeared out of nowhere; it will probably disappear soon after our heroes leave it, too. Kamome Academy has not been shown to disappear, and neither has the Red House, another supernatural and ghost hotspot. It did burst into flame though.
I think it's possible that stray spirits may wind up in these types of areas, similar to Mitsuba and the Twins at the school. I do think something about Kamome Academy must have drawn them to that location in particular (Mitsuba had lingering regrets related to making friends, after all) but what if some more unlucky spirits got dragged into this hellish aquarium instead?
Pursuing that idea further, what if other ghosts could move around between hotspots? This is genuinely when I start making some very outlandish claims and theories, but I like the idea that a ghost could possibly move around like that. A little spooky loophole!
But even if that's not enough, we have to consider Tsukasa himself. He seems to have a powerful being inside of him that allowed him to grant wishes as child, and what he claims to be a god. This god could indeed give him special powers, and elevate him past being a simple ghost. I could easily see the god allowing Tsukasa to appear at the aquarium, another supernatural location.
One other thing I'd like to point out is that the aquarium... is full of water.
This is getting even more silly, but you've all noticed how water is linked to Tsukasa's god friend, right? Kannagi sacrificed to it jump down a cliff into water, and are pulled along an underground river until they drift ashore at a location presumably underneath the Red House. The Red House itself was built upon a well that connects to the water cave where the spirits of the kannagi stayed.
Again, I could very easily see this god being capable of connecting itself to an aquarium. Perhaps this supernatural aquarium even gets its water from that some underground water!? That would be fascinating!
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Anywho! That was a lot of rambling. I hope that was mildly interesting. Claiming Tsukasa will appear in a chapter is really not a very exciting prediction, but I am going to be more than a little surprised if he isn't at least mentioned.
I mean, how rude would that be!? He's the one that made Mitsuba! Artists are never properly credited for their work, it seems...
Cya later!
#地縛少年花子くん#toilet bound hanako kun#hanako kun spoilers#sousuke mitsuba#tsukasa yugi#pit god#jshk#tbhk
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Somewhere we can be alone
AN: They really got my man out here being an ethereal thot. I don't pretend to be well-versed in Greek mythology, but I tried lol. Strongly considering making this into a series. Let me know if you'd be interested, I have some ideas in mind. Honestly, I didn't even expect to work on this until much later (because I have 600 other works in the drafts), but inspiration struck. Also, yes, I got the title from Love Story by Taylor Swift.
Note: a satyr is the male counter part of a nymph. A dryad is the specific name used to refer to a nature nymph. There's no specific name given to water satyrs, which is why I referred to Soobin just as a water satyr.
Synopsis: As soon as your eyes met those of the blonde spirit, you should've known you were a goner.
Heads up: Choi Soobin x Fem! Reader, Greek mythology AU, Water Satyr! Soobin, Dryad! Reader, star-crossed lovers AU, this is mostly fluff and world building, honestly.
I will block you if you are a minor and have no easily visible indication of your age on your blog if you interact with me in any way.
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
When your eyes meet with those of the blonde man, you feel as though Kronos himself had stopped time.
You'd never seen him before.
Was he a new satyr? Because surely you'd never forget someone so beautiful if you'd seen him before.
"Is everything okay?" One of your friends asks when they notice you'd halted in your footsteps.
"Who's that?" You ask the group, gesturing towards the blonde man who still had his eyes on you as well.
"Oh, that's Soobin. He's new. I heard the other dryads talking about there being a new satyr in the area. Too bad he's a water satyr," one of your other friends responds.
Of course.
Just your luck.
You just had to become infatuated with a water satyr.
While unions between nature and water spirits weren't exactly immoral, they were heavily frowned upon by not only both groups but even a few of the gods and goddesses as well.
It takes everything in you to finally look away from his warm eyes and continue on your stroll with your friends. It's not as though there was a chance for you two anyways.
The universe is funny, you think, when you bump into that same blonde satyr once more. Soobin. That's his name.
"Hello," he says to you tentatively, and you don't remember the last time you felt this nervous.
"Hi," you respond shyly, looking at everything around you instead of the man right infront of you.
"I-my name is Soobin," he stammers out, and you hate the way affection bubbles up inside of you at how endearing you find his nervousness.
"Y/n," is all you offer in response, but you know you're already treading a dangerous line here just by continuing to talk to him.
"That's a pretty name," was he...flirting with you? Did he not realise the trouble you two could get into if anyone saw you? Or did he just not care?
"Do you not know I'm a dryad?" You blurt out, completely perplexed by this strange, beautiful man.
He does seem taken aback by that. Oh, it seems he didn't know. You know it's completely illogical, and he's a total stranger, but you can't help the sting of disappointment you feel.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I just saw you the other day and I really wanted to talk to you. If you're uncomfortable around water spirits in general, I understand. Again, I'm sorry," he rushes out, an appealing flush colouring his cheeks.
Wait, he thought he was making you uncomfortable? He wasn't put off by you being a dryad?
"You're not...disgusted to find out I'm a dryad?" You ask tentatively, hands gripping the fabric of your robe tighter than you care to admit as you wait for his answer.
"Are you disgusted that I'm a water satyr?" He fires back at you.
"No," you whisper, and you're being truthful. Frankly, you never understood why there was so much animosity between the two peoples.
"Well, there's your answer," he says with a smile that softens his face in a way that tempts your heart to beat out of your chest.
"Why? Our people despise each other. We'd probably be shunned if they even saw us talking," you ask, genuinely curious. You'd never met a water spirit that hadn't immediately been hostile towards you. You have a suspicion that his experiences have likely been similar.
"Why would I hate people for no reason? Some centuries old feud has nothing to do with me," he says so casually as if that wouldn't get him murdered by his people.
This man, Soobin, was going to be an issue.
"What about you? What's compelled you to continue to keep talking to me?" He asks, his gaze turning curious.
You hesitate for a brief moment. Was this a trick? Could you trust this man you knew virtually nothing about? Either you were an imbecile or he was being genuine, so you answered, "I feel the same way you do. I've never understood the hostility between our peoples."
The smile he shoots you feels like lightning has struck you.
Yes, this man was definitely going to be an issue.
"That's a relief to hear. I'd rather not lose my head for wanting to talk to you," he jokes but, you both knew that was a very real possibility.
"You're very different to other satyrs I've come across. Less...crass," you observe, your expression turning pensive.
That adorable blush rises to his cheeks once more. You've never seen a spirit flush as commonly as a human. It suits him.
"Oh uh, I've been told that. I guess I just don't feel the need to be?" He answers a little unsure, his hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck nervously.
"It's refreshing," you say candidly. Not as though there's much worse you could say or admit to him now.
"Oh, thank you," he says with another one of this lightning inducing smiles.
"I should probably head back. The Sun will be up soon, and I don't want the other nature spirits wondering where I've been," you say, turning away from him and preparing to leave this entire interaction behind you.
"Wait! Sorry, I just-can I see you again?" Though your back is turned to him, the earnestness is clear as day in his voice.
You shut your eyes for a moment before responding,
"Okay."
#choi soobin fic#txt fic#soobin fic#choi soobin fluff#txt fluff#soobin fluff#choi soobin#soobin#txt#somewhere we can be alone
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Just a little rant on Llorumi
I feel like the controversy and arguments on llorumi have died down now (or maybe i'm just a social recluse who knows) but anyways, though people say that the ship is problematic and toxic and abusive etc., i truly think that the two of them as characters have incredible compelling parallels.
As Harumi said, they are truly "kindred spirits" because both are essentially two sides of the same coin. Let me explain:
Both have experienced a loss of parent(s) - Harumi her parents and Lloyd his father (who's been a more active parental figure in his life compared to Misako let's be real).
Both know how it feels to be abandoned, though this one is complicated one - from what I gather, Harumi feels as she was abandoned by her heroes, because they failed to save her parents (I'll go through this in further detail below) while Lloyd was left in a boarding school by his mother.
Both have been thrust into high standard titles and thus, hold lots of responsibilty on their shoulders. - Lloyd being the Green Ninja and Harumi becoming Princess of Ninjago.
However, the one thing that sets them apart is the way that they percieve these life experiences.
For example, Lloyd grieved that he had to banish his own father and he felt his father's absence for a few seasons but he moved on in a way, yet he still loved his father, up until, well, you know. Harumi on the other hand, while she did grieve, she was overcome with the rage of "betrayal" and she held onto this rage, leading her to desire revenge. Lloyd could've taken the same route as well, he could've exact revenge on Chen, since it was Chen's war that lead to Garmadon deciding to sacrifice himself.
Crystalized and March of Oni does a great job of conveying Lloyd's anger, because while both of them hold onto their anger for a while, Lloyd doesn't lash out and ressurect one of Ninjago's most well known villains in an attempt to "save" the city. While obviously everyone has different opinions on Lloyd's arc in Crystalized, it makes sense that Lloyd's anger is what they decide to put focus on. Dude's literally having to work with his technically-evil dad, and has to fight his ex-gf again and kind of relive certain bits of trauma. On top of that, he has to tap into a darker side of his heritage, while trying to prevent himself from becoming his father (his overall fear). I'll rant about Crystalized in another post.
Anyways, returning back to topic, the dynamic and parallels between the two of them is what makes their scene in Game of Masks (Harumi's reveal episode) so compelling and thrilling, not just because Lloyd is going through the worst kind of heartbreak (my poor boi :(( ) but also because on a deeper level, these two are the literal representation of like calls to like.
Yes I made a Shadow and Bone reference in a Ninjago post - fight me.
Another example is the fact that both found a home of some sorts, yet while Lloyd found a family that built and raised him to be a hero, Harumi was taken into a family that has strict and heavy traditions, and its obvious from the way that Harumi doesn't consider the Emperor and Empress her parents that she hates them, so she is raised under a negative perspective and thus, turns to her revenge plans as a sort of method to treat her grief and pain.
However, it isnt healthy for either of them in their current stages of character development (post-Crystalized) to be in a romantic relationship. Harumi's short "redemption" isnt enough for them to canonically be in a relationship. Both need immense therapy and they have to confront their issues if either even want to be in a relationship together. If writers plan on putting them together, I would hope that they first confront the issues and history these two have, and then slowly build their relationship.
Or even, they don't need a relationship to heal. All I ask is that writers give them both the healing they deserve.
But that doesnt mean that people should be attacked for shipping them. A ship is just a ship, canon or not.
Still, I admire the parallels in the writing of both their backstories and the fact that both have a certain "love" for Garmadon (in my opinion, Harumi has an obsession but that's a discussion for another time).
It is quite funny though, that their sort of relationship is a kind of lovers to enemies to...allies? Honestly idk, but I love that the Ninjago writers gave us these kinds of parallels in characters. But these two greenies are not the only ones! The amount I could write on parallels in Ninjago...oof.
(Also, I'm not tagging this as a ship post, but idm if anyone reblogs this as the ship).
#ninjago#ninjago lloyd#ninjago harumi#lloyd ninjago#ninjago rants#idk why i felt the need to write this today#but here u go anyways
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TTNBD BLOG: PART THREE
Welcome back; as always, spoilers for this week’s installment. Sorry this post is a few days late- I had my hands full with some real-life stuff but it’s the morning of New Year’s Eve and I finally have a day off to sit and write some commentary!
Let’s talk face casts! I don’t normally do real-life face-casts for fictional characters that already exist, but for my OCs it’s kind of necessary, since no one other than me really has a concrete frame of reference for how they look. I tried to draw them of course, but that doesn’t really always translate for me into how they look in my brain. Except for Sybil. My drawing of Sybil was perfect, and the one of her mom as well, that’s exactly how I imagined those two characters, but you can and should disregard the other drawings I did lol. So, if you’re really wondering what Simeon Montrose and Madame LaChance look like, I have good news! I have face casts for them!!
In chapter two, I described Madame LaChance as “the most beautiful woman Lizzy had ever seen” and that’s because I imagined her as the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, or at least one of them, and an actress I’m obsessed with- Carla Gugino. There’s just something about her face and her body and her energy on screen that just makes me feel insane. She has this hypnotic charming quality that is exactly how I wanted characters and readers to feel when they interact with Madame. Incidentally, if you’ve never watched the Haunting of Hill House or The Fall of the House of Usher, I HIGHLY recommend that you do so. Two incredible horror series, both of them are on Netflix and they’re 8 episodes each. She is in both of them. Madame’s hair and eyes are different colours of course but like. That’s the face.
I always had a face cast for Simeon without realising it. When I described him, I had this fac in mind, and then when I actually sat down and thought “who does he look like irl?” my brain was like “Luke Evans. You were thinking of Luke Evans this whole time.” Specifically, these pictures, because his facial hair and age is similar to Simeon’s, even though Simeon’s hair and eyes are a different colour.
Perhaps now that I’ve actually nailed down my face casts, I can do proper portraits of these characters. On top of the rapidly growing pile of other sketches I want to do OOF.
CHAPTER THREE: WAIT AND HOPE
I thought it was time to have some Sybil backstory/POV. The fact that she’s half-demon and has some abilities from that is going to be a much more significant part of the story as we continue, and as a minor spoiler/teaser I will tell you that she had no idea what her dad actually is or what that makes her. Shhhh it’s a surprise for later. Obviously I’ve revealed that she’s able to see the spirits of the dead, but I’m gonna keep her other abilities hush-hush for the time being, she doesn’t even realise she has some of them, and I’ll get into the mythology of half-demon children a bit later. I promise I won’t leave you hanging.
We have a literary reference as a title again! This time it’s from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, which is a story about faking your death and getting revenge, among other things. A little on the nose maybe- but it amused me, so I included it. I liked the idea of Ciel having read it in English and having this visceral reaction to it, and then seeing if the context of the line “all human wisdom is contained in these two words- wait and hope” had a different context or meaning that made it less stupid (to him) in French, since he lives in France now, and the book was originally written in French, and things sometime get lost in translation.
Also, I’m half-accidentally half-intentionally mirroring his and Lizzy’s narratives in this story, and she was reading in the last chapter, so it just fell into place when I was trying to give him something to chew on with his angst in this chapter. Don’t worry, that’s the last literary reference I have planned for now, lol.
Let’s talk about the ring!! Ciel’s ring from the series is based on the Hope Diamond, an actual diamond that was owned by many famous people who all ended up suffering horrible deaths/trauma. Life is funny that way, but of course, people decided that it must be the diamond that was cursed. In Ciel’s case, it was a Phantomhive family heirloom, and all of his ancestors who wore the ring ended up dying horrible deaths. Including him.
So, naturally, Sebastian had to take that and turn it on its head. I already reblogged the post on my blog (scroll down a little), but Tumblr users noirserviteur and azuresins designed, 3D printed and then cast in sterling silver (with real stones I think) a replica/depiction of Ciel’s ring, which I used as reference images for my design. I changed the stone, since it is a different, but similar, diamond- the stone in my version is circular, to fit the engraving of the contract seal.
Sebastian giving Ciel a ring is another way to like, show possession, because this motherfucker is possessive. Also, the original ring was a symbol of a curse that was haunted Ciel in his mortal life. This new ring is sort of Sebastian’s way of saying “no one gets to curse/haunt you forever except me” which is super romantic. Not that either of them sees their bond as a curse, but like, it’s an eternal, unbreakable attachment, which is sort of like a curse in some ways I guess. A Super fun, romantic curse.
And they’re dancing! The song they’re dancing to is Waltz no. 19 in A Minor, b.150, OP- Posth (1860) by Frederic Chopin. It’s always a fun writing exercise to describe music as the characters are hearing it, and I hope I did a good job nailing down the vibe. These two are very Chopin-coded to me, whatever that means. I listen to a lot of classical/instrumental music when I write, and while I haven’t made any playlists, I’m partial to these ones on Spotify when I work on this story specifically. This one is one I find to be specific to Lizzy & Sybil. I am a huge music person; I can’t do anything without my tunes.
There… was not supposed to be a sex scene in this chapter. I honestly hadn’t planned on writing one, but oh boy howdy did this thing want to be written. It’s probably the fastest I’ve ever finished a sex scene (it normally takes me AGES to write porn). And it ended up being super hot (if I do say so myself). I guess these two just really wanted to fuck lmao.
Now that the contract is over (or not over, now that it has morphed into something else), Ciel and Sebastian aren’t really master and servant anymore. So, I love flip-flopping on the power dynamics between them, especially when it comes to sex. When Ciel “orders” Sebastian around in this scene, Sebastian doesn’t have to obey, but he chooses to. What would have once been a tangible command is now just role-play and it’s still so fun to write!
The Christmas stuff was fun to write too. As I said, I’m (sort of) intentionally mirroring Ciel and Lizzy’s story lines here, so I wanted Lizzy to get some jewellery too. I browsed through listings for necklaces of the time and found this one, which I thought was just perfect. I would 100% buy it if I had 1,450 US dollars lying around. I think blondes look really great in green, and Lizzy’s eyes are green, so despite her colour scheme in the anime being super pink and girly I’m putting her in a lot green in this story *glances at the next upcoming chapter). I have multiple party-type events lined up in this one so for you purists out there, don’t worry, she’ll be back in pink eventually.
I grew up in Canada, so ice skating on ponds and lakes local rinks, be it for figure skating or hockey or just for fun was a big part of my childhood. I have a lot of fond memories of ice skating with my family and I thought hey, they probably skate on the Thames and the Sienne rivers, right? We Ontarians do that in Ottawa when the Ottawa river freezes up in the winter. I didn’t even bother looking it up to see if they did it/do it in Europe, I just decided that I was going to make it happen. I did, however, make sure I was referencing ice skates as they existed in that time period. I’m not a complete lunatic.
And of course, Lizzy having to teach Sybil how to skate means they’re going to be put in Physical Proximity mwahahaha. The image of Lizzy getting kissed on the cheek by a pretty girl and falling over was burned in my brain and refused to leave me alone until I wrote it. Their romantic relationship is a slower burn but it’s starting to burn brighter from here on out.
I’ll leave the commentary sparse for the last couple of scenes- I don’t want to accidentally give anything away by talking too much about the crime scene or the coalition meeting. Have you figured out who the victim is?? Do you think you might know who’s leading the coalition cult since Sir Arthur kicked it four years ago? Much to think about… until next week xoxo gossip girl
lord_is_it_mine
#lord speaks#kuroshitsuji#fanfiction#black butler#sebaciel#writing#my writing#behind the scenes#ttnbd#tteoe series#ttnbd blog#commentary
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Spirited Away: Live Stage
I watched the Spirited Away Live Stage in theaters on Sunday AND Thursday because there’s two sets of casts for some of the major characters~ just wanted to write my thoughts down. This is me trying to be organized but gets a bit rambly later.
Prior to watching: I already learned about some of the cast. TBH, the only names I knew right away were Hashimoto Kanna and Kamishiraishi Mone--both of them playing Chihiro on separate shows. I’ll just refer to them as Show A/Cast A (Hashimoto) and Show B/Cast B (Kamishiraishi) when talking about them~ Another name was Paku Romi who was part of Cast B. I was familiar with both actresses from different movies: Hashimoto as Kagura in Gintama and also Kamishiraishi as Kana in Chihayafuru (and voice of Mitsuha in Your Name) so I really wanted to watch both shows because I was really excited to see how both actresses would interpret the role of Chihiro.
Thoughts: I love the use of the projections and stage mechanisms that they used to depict movement, and changing of scenes. I think a lot of it was very very very cleverly used.
+Stage projections: I especially loved the part where they projected the Japanese title 「 千と千尋の神隠し 」(literal translation is something like “Sen and Chihiro’s Spiriting Away”) on screen, and they took the kanji 千 from both Sen and Chihiro to form the little torii ⛩ (gate commonly seen in shinto shrines that separate the mundane and sacred worlds) that they drive right through (in the movie they pass by one that’s just leaning there), kind of to represent the moment when the Ogino family entered a different realm.
+Stage mechanisms: The very obvious ones was how they just rotate some big parts to show different scenes, like Kamaji’s boiler room, Chihiro’s room, the inside/outside of the bathhouse, Yubaba’s office, etc. I liked how they made use of ladders, walkways, and doors/entrances. The whole train scene was amazing too~
+Stage hands: So many things were definitely made possible thanks to all the stage hands!!! It’s interesting that instead of black, they went for a brownish color, but I think it fits very well. I know some people might feel a little distracted by them, but I learned to really ignore them lol. It’s thanks to them that we have Kamaji’s arms/hands, the really cool scene of Haku grabbing Chihiro and running through/past many doors (that one part where they purposely did a “slow-mo” moment during their run when running past the pigs was really cool), the elevator scene, as well as the movement for the soot sprites, mouse-Bo, fly-bird, dragon Haku, and many other things. Oh yeah, and major props to them for the part where they lifted Chihiro and Haku up in the final scene where they reveal Haku’s name.
+Funny oopsies caught: Because it’s a stage play, not everything is full-proof and completely “perfect.” Although I tried to ignore the stage hands, there were some moments that made me giggle a bit. One of the earlier ones (Show A) was the scene where Chihiro is eating the onigiri from Haku and the camera just happened to show Chihiro handing off the onigiri to one of the tree stage-hands to hold onto. Another funny moment was (Show B) where a hurt Haku turns back into his human form, and again, the camera just so happened to show an angle where Haku’s actor sneaks onto the set and tries to quickly hide into the little doorway in Kamaji’s boiler where he waits to “roll out” when his dragon form disperses.
+Unique moments: There were def things that I noticed were unique and great specifically for the live stage play. I loved all the extra singing that was added. I absolutely love the sung version of 神々さま with the whole bathhouse cast. I know this song actually exists but every now and then I wonder if I dreamed that a sung version of this song exists because there’s no full version online. My Googling skills only helped me find the lyrics and clip of it. I also liked that they expanded the scene of everyone cheering/dancing when they freed the River Spirit, and for the play, they had everyone dance and Chihiro was dancing along with them. I loved that they added a (new?? pretty sure it is) theme song for No Face/Kaonashi, and there’s always that same musical motif that plays when he appears. NGL I felt like Kaonashi was extra creepy/scary in the live stage play >< There’s also a song that Kamaji sings and a sung version for The Sixth Station with the ladies which I found were quite nice additions too. Definitely appreciate all the music that was added.
I actually teared up both times during that scene when Chihiro goes back to her parents in the beginning and sees that they got turned into pigs and she was screaming in a panick as they were getting hit and those strange things started to appear around her. I think they were amazing at depicting how scary of a situation it is when a kid finds themselves in such a situation and seeing all these strange apparitions too. I personally felt that the parting scene for Haku and Chihiro more sad and bittersweet in the live stage version, especially when Haku is telling Chihiro to not look back, and in the live stage play, you can see that initial hesitation she had. My favorite added tidbit was the part at the very end where you see Haku standing at the entry of the tunnel. THERE IS HOPE IN THEIR PROMISE!!
+Additional thoughts: I really loved Hashimoto Kanna’s depiction of Chihiro. I really think she was the perfect Chihiro. There was that one scene where she was just about to cry when eating the onigiri and I think the camera angle was perfect because you see her eyes getting shiny just as she starts crying and I was just kinda wow’ed by that (angle wasn’t quite the same for Show B at that scene). I was kinda on the fence on how I would feel about seeing Show B with Kamishiraishi Mone, but she exceeded my expectations~! I still love Hashimoto’s Kanna more though. As for Haku, I’m a bit partial towards Cast B’s Haku, but I appreciated that Cast A’s Haku appeared to be the better dancer??? I liked that he had a little dance thing in the play. I was also really excited to see Paku Romi in Show B, but tbh I got a BIIIIIT distracted by her voice because I can’t help but go “kyaaa it’s Paku Romi!!” Oh yeah, small thing but I loved that they had Chihiro trying to read her new name and went “Chi” and Yubaba was like “CHIGAU (wrong!) it’s Sen!”--it made me giggle.
Overall, I think the stage play did such an amazing job at being true to the original movie, and even expanding a little more on some scenes. I was skimming through the original movie and soundtrack while writing this, so there were some things that made me go “wow, they actually were able to include this and this and this into the stage play”??!” They even copied some of the same guests/patrons of the bathhouse, but I was a bit disappointed that Ootori-sama was only mentioned but didn’t actually appear in the play (unless I was blind both times)?? Not sure what else I missed out on but will edit this post if I remember something important later~
tl;dr Spirited Away Live Stage is an excellent adaptation for the original movie. 100 out of 10 recommended! Also Blu-ray has been announced for July as well as return/rerun of the play in August with both Hashimoto and Kamishiraishi reprising their roles!! So exciting!!
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