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revolutionarywig · 5 months

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Frev locations compile

Thought of compiling a list of frev significant locations so it can help with recommendations for anyone who happens to be travelling/visiting! This is only done to my knowledge and not a complete list, please feel free to suggest if you happen to know more locations that I completely missed!

so here is the frev pilgrimage list! Long post warning.

(Note: The items are not in any particular order)

(Note: I typed this post up a long time ago but couldn't finish, a lot of thanks to the people who helped out on contributing information and your patience with me.)

Musée Carnavalet (Paris)

This one is very obvious, it is a must go for seeing a collection of frev related artifacts and paintings, including Couthon’s wheelchair, Robespierre’s hair, the most iconic portraits etc. Also its FREE.

Panthéon (Paris)

You can see the statue of the National Convention deputies. It doesnt have too much related to frev directly, but Rousseau and Voltaire (and Carnot…..) are interred there

La Conciergerie (Paris)

If you want to see the Deseine bust of Robespierre, but cant go to Vizille, there is a copy of it here within Paris at the conciergerie. It is the place where most frev figures as well as Antoinette spent their last monents.

Musée des archives nationales (Paris)

(June 2023) There is a temporary exhibit featuring frev rn which I highly recommend (also its free to go so like GO)

But beyond the temporary exhibit, I believe there are still a few things in permanent collection (Robespierre’s note book page, Antoinette’s last letter in prison, Comte d’Artois’ letter etc), including the famous 9 thermidor table that Robespierre supposedly lied on. the museum is free to visit.

Père la Chaise (Paris)

@robespapier wrote a better post on navigating the cemetery. It helped me so much with finding the graves of Lebas, Elisabeth and Eleonore Duplay! Thank you so much for the guide!

Rue Saint Honoré (Paris)

the current address of the Duplays household is 398 rue saint-honoré, which is now next to a louboutin store…. There is a commemorative plaque there indicating Robespierre’s residence there. Im not sure about going inside the residence….There was construction when I visited and the door was open, heres how it looks on the inside.

SJ’s bust (Paris & Angers)

I have not visited either of the two locations yet, but you can find that white bust of Saint-Just (that seemed to be modelled after the pastel portrait in the Carnavalet) in either Petit Palais (Paris) or Galerie David d’Angers (Angers). @orpheusmori has posted some Petit Palais pictures here @robespapier has posted some Galerie David d'Angers pictures here

Marat sign (Paris)

i have an image of this plaque sitting on my phone, I forgot where it was located until @orpheusmori helped me track the location of it! It is in the Odéon area and should be in the small narrow street with the back side of Le Procope. It commemorates the location as an important area during the French Revolution as well as the place where Marat established his printing shop.

The front of the same building also has another Marat plaque! I didnt know about it before thank you @orpheusmori for finding and contributing the photo! This one is above an Jewellery store (Amour de Pierres) https://maps.app.goo.gl/8X9zgKYpMiLJcULq7

Olympe de Gouges sign (Paris)

Once again, i have a photo of the plaque proving its existence, but I took it years ago and i dont remember where it was exactly.... It was all in the Odéon area, it shouldn’t be too far from the other….

Danton statue (Paris)

there is a Danton statue! Right outside the Odéon metro! You cant miss it. Also the placement of the statue is where he once lived.

Procope (Paris)

Its a really old cafe frequented by a lot of philosophes as well as many frev figures. There is also a bicorn from Napoleon inside. Right now its still a restaurant establishment, and its difficult to visit unless you eat inside….which is expensive…. However ! This whole general Odéon area is full of other frev landmarks (some more mentioned below). Including the metro station which has a bust of Danton.

Versailles revolutionary room (Versailles)

Beyond the royal family, there is a room dedicated to a lot of major Revolutionary Army generals and battles. Theres that one painting of Lafayette if u into that

Musée des armes/Invalides (Paris)

It has a significant collection of military artefacts from the French Revolution and its a really good resource for armory researches. The museum also has a sword that belonged to Lafayette, as well as a sword belonging to Carnot during the Directoire (image below)

Louvre

The Louvre does not have a lot relating to the French Revolution but it has a few significant paintings and a lot of David’s work. One of the Death of Marat copies produced by David’s studio should be in the museum, as well as a painting featuring the battke of fleurus (with SJ cameo)

Tennis court (Versailles)

Near the palace of Versailles you can find the room where the deputies swore the famous oaths. It is free to enter, although last time I went it was undergoing construction, hopefully it should have finished by now.

Musée de la Révolution Française (Vizille)

If you can go to Vizille… GO TO VIZILLE! The easiest way by transport would be to stay at Grenoble then take one of the buses that runs between Grenoble and Vizille. It is a whole museum dedicated to the revolution (and it is free) and the park is really pretty. This is where you can find the statue of Marat,

The Deseine busts including dear Bonbon,

And DJ Saint-Just.

Also special thank you to @citizentaleo for taking me there, I would’ve otherwise been lost in the French mountains lol, thank you!

Maison Robespierre (Arras)

You can visit Robespierre’s residence in Arras. It is possible to visit the inside, but it has a very specific and short opening hours.

I wasn’t able to go in since I was only in Arras for a few hours….But I got to attend a conference by Hervé Leuwers aaa (He is very sweet and I learned quite few new things from the presentation, but thats post for another day)

Robespierre metro stop (Paris suburb)

There is in fact, a Robespierre metro station on line 9! Not much beyond name but at least some credit to him! Alas it is not exactly within Paris and just on the outskirt. (Oh and there is also Voltaire)

Cordeliers club (Paris)

I dont have much information on what happened to the original location of the Cordeliers club and how it was modified, but the location is part of the sorbonne campus now i believe. I'd be very curious if anyone knows more information on this.

Place de la Bastille (Paris)

The Bastille is of course not there anymore, but the ground around the square and including the metro stations near by have traces/marks of where the old prison would have stood.

(and yea the picture was taken during a manif)

Pavillon de flore (Paris)

The pavillon attached to the Louvre and next to the Pont Royale is the Pavillon de Flore, which is where the Committee de Salut Publique worked.

Jacobin club (Paris) Alas the original convent in which the Jacobin gathered is no more and replaced by a commercial centre instead (Passage de Jacobins) . There is a sign however recognizing the place for what it was.

Place de la Concorde (Paris) Originally Place de la Révolution, there is a plaque remembering the executions that took place here near the obelisk.

Maison SJ (Blérancourt) I have not been to Saint-Just's house yet, because it is very hard to commute there without a car. But it certainly is still there and (I believe) maintained by the Saint-Just Association.

Catacombs (Paris) According to wikipedia....The bone remains of many revolutionaries buried in Cimitière Errancis (which has a plaque indicating it in the 8th arrondissement, according to wikipedia) are transferred to the catacombs, including Robespierre, Danton, etc. The catacomb is roughly organized chronologically but there is obviously no sign indicating which bone it actually is.

Cluny La Sorbonne station (Paris) It is on metro line 10 and the waiting tunnel is decorated with signatures of prominent French figures. It doesn't have any actual frev artifacts, but it looks cool and you can spot Robespierre, Danton, and Camille Desmoulins' signatures on the ceiling.

Louis le Grand (Paris) The school that Robespierre attended is still under the same name and still in use as a school! (i've reached the image maximum alas i cannot add more images...)

And that is all I can think of so far! There is surely a lot more that are out there (including outside of France). Once again, please feel free to mention if you know more frev landmarks that I missed out on. And to whoever happens to be travelling I hope you find this list helpful to start with.

#french revolution #frev pilgrimage #frev list #resource

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russellsppttemplates · 1 year

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If you let me show you (Charles Leclerc)

Years later, your's and Charles' hearts are still longing for eachother and, perhaps, it was meant to be all along

Note: english is not my first language.

Thank you so much to everyone who likes and reblogs, your feedback is appreciated, and while I'm not actively taking requests, I am writing some blurbs when I can so if you have any ideas or concepts that can be written in a small amount of sentences and you want to share, feel free to do so!

Tw: past breakup

"As usual, thank you for listening to the podcast", you began closing off the recording for you newest episode of your podcast, taking your headphones off once you were done and your editor gave you her thumbs up, "That was really good, Y/N. I think people will enjoy it a lot", she said as you smiled, proud of how far you got. The idea of creating your own podcast while you finished your degree was just something to keep your mind off of school, despite it being about what you studied since it was something you enjoyed, but it had quickly grown to join other people who, like you, enjoyed the topic. You had gathered a small community that you were very grateful for, especially when it allowed to go to bigger events like TedTalks and sit and talk, as well as meeting them.

Checking your phone for your e-mails, you noticed a new one from someone you had never received anything from before, "what is this...?", you muttered under your breath before letting your finger tap the screen to open it, revealing what looked like an invite to an event, looking at the top to see that you had been sent it a few days ago and, scrolling down, finding out that you had to confirm your attendance until that afternoon, "did you get this?", you showed it to your editor, "nope, but I've heard of other people who come here to record that they've been invited too", she smiled. "Are you plann-", she was interrupted by the sound of your phone ringing, an unknown number calling, "yes?", you said, "Hi, this is from Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco. How have you been, Y/N?", a seemingly kind man on the other side of the line, "Hello, I've been good, and you?", you said as you looked at your editor, "sorry to bother you during the day, but we've had some issues with our communication channels and are not receiving the confirmation from the people who are attending, and we just wanted to confirm wether or not you are joining us for the evening", he said as you panicked opened the e-mail again, checking for more details about this event, "Oh, you're also allowed a plus one, I don't think your e-mail said that due to the glitch we had", he offered as you looked at your editor one last time, her showing you a dinner she had with family on that night, "yes, I can confirm my presence. Just me, no plus one", you said as you heard him type, "Good, thank you! Since our communication channels are not working properly, is it okay if, in case of any new information, I contact you through here?", he asked before you confirmed, bidding eachother a good day and goodbye before ending the call, "this is a very surreal thing", you heard your editor said, now propped by your laptop as she look at the e-mail, telling you all about why they had decided to invite you, your contribution to spreading scientific knowledge in a simple way and accessible to everyone bring the number one reason, "who knew, hm? My weird little podcast about academia getting me t-, oh, wait, this is a red carpet?", you looked further, noticing their dress code advice section, "what did you expect from the Fondation? Some burgers and fries?", she teased you, "I thought it was, like, an intimate thing, small thing. If I'm going to this, who else is?", you mused while your editor only snickered.

After having your friend help you pick a dress worthy of the event, you dropped it at the dry cleaners, which is where you found yourself in the morning of the event, ready to pick it up while the lovely lady went to get it outback when a younger employee asked "I'm sorry, but you are Y/N, from the podcast, right?", she asked as you nodded, "I've heard your voice through these so many times I recognised it almost immediately", she said as she pointed to her earbuds, "I'm very happy that you listen to it", you said as you noticed your dress, clean and ironed being set on the counter, "may I ask what this is for?", she said curiously before who you figured was her grandmother set the bill for you too, "dear, that's not nice for the costumers, sorry about my granddaughter", she half scolded her, "no, don't worry. I'm going to an event tonight because of the podcast", you explained as you paid, smiling before leaving the store and bidding goodbye.

Arriving at home, you tried your best to remember and replicate how Pascale taught you to do your hair, the curls coming out looking like you were from a different era, silently praying they would drop while you fid your makeup. You put one the dress and added your accessories before shaking your curls, moving to put on your shoes and coat just in time for the car they had sent to pick you up and go to the event, "is this your first time?", the driver asked, "yes. Do you notice it that much?", you giggled, "not at all. Just I know I would have recognised you otherwise", he explained, "do you know anyone who is going to be there? It is a big help, so I've heard over the years", he offered, "I don't think so", you mused, "I'm not sure who's invited to be honest", you giggled again, nervous that you should have done your research, "usually actresses and actors, singers too usually, people from non profits, other members of TV shows. Oh, and how could I forget, some drivers usually go too", and it hit you. How did it not hit you before? Charles could be there too, and you not seen him in person in the longest time. Last time you saw him was a few months after you broke up, and it pained you to be in the same room as him, and while you did nothing but be polite to eachother, you couldn't deal with that, somehow always managing to avoid any gathering where he would be. Did you watch his races? Yes, every weekend one had been on you'd take your time no watch it, never breaking your promise and supporting him whenever you could, however you could. Knowing how it would bother you stayed out of anything related to his personal life, only knowing little bits you picked up from interviews and, since he was pretty private, there hadn't been anything related to his relationships, so were you about to know something more? Was he bringing a plus one with him? "Don't need to get nervous, dear, from all my years of this, people are usually very friendly and before you know it, you're already friends", he smiled sweetly, oblivious to the actual relationship you were worried about.

A woman dressed in black guided you on what to to once you arrived, telling you when to stop and pose for some pictures, despite your insistence that 'I'm here for my voice, I don't think people will need to see my face really", giggling and comforting you until you felt comfortable enough, "See?! Stunning, chérie", she smiled before her phone beeped, prompting her to tell her colleague, "Charles is arriving just now, could you go to him, please?", before helping you to the other spot where you would do an interview with someone who also had a podcast that, despite being a bigger creator, treated you with the utmost kindness, "thank you so much for taking some time and giving us your story on getting to where you are today", he said as you shook his hand one last time, thanking him before walking back to the carpet, spotting Charles posing too. And then your heart started doing somersaults, almost like it never stopped doing then anyway.

Charles followed the woman in a black suit as she told him where to stand, smiling in almost all the directions someone called him from before he noticed you, sitting in a high chair with a pair of headphones on your head. Were you here? Your podcast was successful, he knew that much since he contributed, but he did not expect you to be here. How long had it been? Two, maybe three years? You had managed to go to his F2 celebration, just as friends, before, as he now recalled, never setting his eyes on you in another form other than pictures on Instagram or your voice from the podcast episodes.

He was about to head to you when a young fan, who happened to be attending with his parents, asked for his autograph and a picture, "whenever we are home, me and mama and papa watch all your races, you're one of Monaco's pride!", the boy who was no older than ten said excitedly, prompting Charles to open his blazer's button before crouching down to pose with him. Getting up and wishing everyone a good night and event, his eyes looked for you in your emerald green dress, now finding a gentleman in the chair you were sitting previously. Heading inside the venue, he greeted some people before he noticed you looking at something on your phone and confirming it on the indicating plaques, looking a but confused before you looked around and your eyes locked in his, "h- Hi, Charles, Hi!", you said as you greeted him, your movement so automatic that you didn't even think about hugging and pressing a kiss on each cheek of your ex-boyfriend, thankful that he seemed to want to do the same, "Hi, Y/N, how are you?", he said as he looked at you properly. And you looked even more beautiful, despite looking like the same girl he had fallen in love with all those years ago."Are you here alone, too?", you said and immediately wanted to take it back, feeling like you had nothing to do with it, "I'm on my own, yes. C'mon, let's go through here", he said as he guided you on the other way you were thinking of going, leading you to the big room where all the tables were and finding out that the table you'd be sitting in was next to his, "if you need anything, call for me, yes?", he said as he looked for reassurance, "you're going to do great, I just know it".

The evening was beautiful, getting the opportunity to listen to all the projects and ideas people were developing and over all having a good time, and while you enjoyed it, you needed to get some air, excusing yourself from the group and heading to one of the outside gardens, a glass in hand as you took in all that had happened for you to get here. You had never dreamt of this opportunity to come from something as simple as you sharing your thoughts outloud, finding people on the receiving end interested in what you had to say, and to be here was something you still couldn't make out, "may I?", you heard a familiar voice you could recognise anywhere, seeing Charles coming to sit next to you on the stone bench, "it's amazing how many inspiring people are here today, no?", he began, really not knowing how to approach you. You were here alone, so it wasn't like he was crossing a line, he hoped, remembering some conversations he heard in the last group gathering where one of your close friends admitted that you were single still, "and somehow I ended up here, too", you mused before looking at him, his eyes never failing to calm you down and rile your heart up at the same time, "of course you did. Your work is amazing, it's only fair they recognised it", he let slip, "how do you know that?", you quirked your brow as you took a sip from your glass, "I listen to it. Every Thursday I go and look for the new episode", he admitted, "I still don't understand half of the things you defend and explain, but you make it so engaging and, and I miss your voice. I miss you", he said as he looked up at the starry sky before he let his hand crawl along the light stone and nudge yours, your pinkies lacing eachother. You looked at him, a small blush on your cheeks, "thank you, I- I watch all your races too, even the ones that are broadcasted at daft o'clock in Europe", you said before sighing "you know why we did it that way it was", you said, remembering the day you and Charles decided it was for the best that you should go your separate ways.

"I love you so much", Charles said as he held your hands in his, "I love you so much and it is why I think we should do this", he reasoned, although the tears in his eyes, matching your own, reflected the genuine hurt you both knew was dawning on each of you, "I never want to be the one making you hurt, not in a short time or not in a long time", you sniffed, squeezing your eyes further to slow down the tears, "I love you with my whole heart and I'd never want you to hurt, either of us to hurt", you finished as you gave him one last hug, relishing in the feeling of having his arms around you, "you'll always have my heart, Y/N Y/L/N", he said kissing the top of your head, "and it will always be yours to keep".

"Was it really though?", he said, snuffling closer to you while still not touching you more than before even though his skin longed to feel yours, "I don't know, Charles, I really don't know", you said. You didn't like to admit it, but every now and again, you would entertain the thought of what could have been if you had stayed together. How your days could have been if you had him to come home to, or having to travel to races to see him, hear his laughs in person instead of through a screen. It would have been like you had predicted, crazy schedules, long periods away from eachother, but the effort to make it work would have been worth it to have him with you. As you were about to say that to him, you heard heels clicking on the floor, "sorry to interrupt, but the fireworks are going to go off now, I thought you might like to see them", one of the ladies that had helped you in the red carpet said as you both got up, "thanks for letting us know, we'll be up shortly", Charles offered before she walked away while you two followed her, "Would you be willing to come to my place tomorrow?", he asked as he finally laced his fingers in yours for a few seconds, parting when you reached the door, "okay", you said before you were ushered to different places in the crowd.

Arriving home later that evening, you were taking all your makeup off when your phone pinged, seeing a text from Charles, surprised that after all these years he, like you, had kept your number, "Even though we did not spend that much time together today, I know for a fact that I missed having you around and being near you. I hope you have a goodnight's rest", could be read on your screen.

"Thank you for coming here. I would've gone to your place but I didn't know if you wanted me there, and besides, I don't want all the attention that it could draw that way around to you", he said nervously, "No need to rub it in that you're more famous than me, Charles", you teased slightly, wanting to clear up the tension in the room that your nerves were not exactly helping, "I mean it. Thank you for agreeing to come and talk", he said before taking a big breath, "yesterday sparked something in me, and I'm not sure it was a spark again moment, I think this has always been here", he admitted, looking qt you in the hopes of getting you to speak about your take on it, "I-, I felt the same", you gulped, "but can we do this? I think so b-", you were interrupted by him, "all those years ago, we said we wanted to focus on our careers, grow and not have to worry about it. And, while I think it could've been good, there's no way to know that the success we have it due to that. Can you imagine having me next to you on your graduation? Signing your contracts? Because every weekend I imagine you sitting in that hospitality, working on your laptop before coming to watch me race and congratulate me, or be the only person in my driver's room to calm me down after a bad race", he admitted, "I know you don't owe me any of that and if this is one sided then I don't want to make you feel guilty about it, but I needed to let you know", he finished as he looked at you. Sighing, you launched your hand to meet his, "I miss you, and I want to have you with me, to get home and see you there, even if it is only every now and then. But I don't want you to feel guilty that you're not here, or that I feel like I'm not enough", you said and he giggled, "Mon ange, you are more than enough. And I'll be the luckiest man alive if you let me have you in my life again. We'll take things slowly, but please, let us go back to how we were", he pleaded as he saw you smile, "mon coeur, we are going to be better than ever".

#charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc fic #charles leclerc fluff #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic #f1 x reader

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tenabrye · 1 year

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Hi! I’m so glad that I’ve stumbled upon your blog! I’ve read everything and I loved it soooooo much 💖💖 can I please ask for headcanons on Wolfwood and Vash (reboot versions) noticing that the reader has crush on them (can be if they afterwards reciprocate reader’s crush or decline or ignore or whatever you feel like writing)

Thank you so much! 🥰

I'm so glad you've enjoyed everything so far. This is a very niche fandom, so there's not a whole lot, yet, but hopefully my contributions help. ☺️

Vash

It's not that he's dumb, but he's just the type to accidentally think that their extra niceness to him is just them being extremely friendly, to which he is happy about. But when he actually learns that it's all because of their little crush on him? The man is ecstatic. Immediately accepts their feelings with open arms that are quick to envelope them, picking them up and gently swaying them around with a smile on his face.

He'd be curious as to when it all started. Very curious. What made them fall for him? It's the most common question on his mind, to which he immediately grins at the answer they give him. Oh, so it wasn't just his good looks? He kids, he kids. He actually likes the fact that they love his personality before his appearance. It shows what kind of person they are. He'd be lying if he said he didn't feel the same, but the man is the definition of CONSENT. He's not doing anything until, I do mean until, he knows they feel the same AND they're okay with it. That being said, they better prepare for what comes next.

Cue the hand holding, lots of it, the onslaught of hugs, face peppered with soft kisses, etc. Oh man, and don't get me started on the loving glances he sends their way. If people thought he was soft before, oh boy, just wait until they catch him looking at his crush turned significant other. If they ever catch him looking at him with such softness in his eyes, he just casually smiles at them before letting a little "I love you" slip out.

To be fair, he most likely would have had a crush on them first, but due to not knowing if they felt the same, or having already decided early on that they didn't feel the same, he would have tried to push his feelings down. At least as best as he could. Except they just come out after the little realization of his crush's feelings. They really don't know how happy they've made him with their confession.

Wolfwood

Luckily for him, he can tell when someone likes him, and I mean really likes him. He's quiet about it, though, observing them, making sure his eyes aren't deceiving him. He doesn't trust himself at times and often second guesses things, hence his actual look of surprise when he realizes that everything he's been noticing about them and their own feelings towards him are real.

He's very different when it comes to someone liking him and vice versa. See, when someone likes him, he wonders about the reason. Why do they like him? What about him draws them to him? Considering who he really is and what he really does as opposed to his side gig, yeah, it's only right he'd think such things. BUT, it's a relief when they confess to him, because he now knows that he was right. His eyes didn't deceive him this time. He doesn't grin, but boy does he have such a cute smirk on his face, the cigarette in his mouth having been moved to one corner of his mouth.

He has DEFINITELY thought about doing stuff, but it's not like he would without consent. The only thing he has ever done without his little admirer's knowledge was steal glances at them. But when they confessed their feelings to him, it was as if that was really all the consent he needed. Of course, he'll have them pulled close to him, eyes half lidded and staring intently into their own as he asks, "Can I kiss you?"

In all honesty, the man probably felt something for them after some short time travelling together with them. Hence the extra niceties and protectiveness, but y'know, that's about all it was from him. And stolen glances. It's a big relief when they confess to him, it really is. He doesn't have to hold himself back anymore, and he hopes they won't tell him to.

#trigun wolfwood #trigun stampede wolfwood #trigun vash #trigun stampede vash #nicolas d wolfwood #vash the stampede #trigun stampede #trigun #trigun headcanons #trigun stampede headcanons #vash x reader #wolfwood x reader #vash x you #wolfwood x you

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painted-bees · 5 months

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Hey, I've been obsessing over Hi-Note for the past two days, and I was reading meet cute part two and I noticed your tag. "I'm not a very good writer I don't paint very well with words."

I want to establish credibility for the praise I am about to heap on you: I've written a fair more than most people. There's over a million words in my Ao3, and yet more hundreds of thousands that never saw the light of day. I've friends in the editing trade who tell me I write at a publishable level. I like to think I know the craft very well.

So here's the praise: while you do have some of the marks of inexperienced writers I will absolutely contradict your self-deprecation. You are a good writer, and you have the makings of a great one.

Telling compelling stories are about so much more than mere mastery of prose. Your characters and your stories have real heart. Refined prose is far easier to learn than verisimilitude (there's a ten dollar word) in portraying the human condition.

I adore what I've read so far of Raf and Magritte, they are a charmingly tragic little duo, partially because I relate to them and partially because I am the biggest sap about that kind of dynamic of broken people initially hiding their cracks, gradually turning one another into kintsugi through affection, devotion, (and optionally, hot sex.)

If at any point you want some pointers, gently given, about how to improve your prose quality, absolutely hit me up, I am on this hellsite way too much.

Thanks for drawing and writing. You've given me much joy.

this is a lot to process haha thank you so much Q vQ♡♡♡

With all the kindness I have received about my writing, I will take care not to pre-empt future prose-y posts with apologetic sentiments regarding the quality. Self-deprecation doesn't contribute to anyone's enjoyment of the writing--and with all compliments I have received thus far, I feel it would be an insult to you guys if I were to continue insisting that the quality of my work requires tempering reader expectations upfront in order for it to be well received. I feel wholly encouraged and unstoppabley emboldened, haha!

That said, yes! I am very shiny and new to the whole writing thing! I would be very pleased to get an occasional DM or private message with any observations or tips regarding consistent/recourring mistakes or apparent gaps in knowledge that my work would benefit from having pointed out. I'll probably never revist old works to edit them, but I am keen on absorbing your wisdoms and applying the new things I learn to my future writing doodles!

Thank you so much for your kindly enthusiasm!! and for enjoying Hi-Note with me while I wallow gleefully in my self-dug little obsession pit haha♡♡♡!! Genuinely, it means a ton to me!!

#this is such a nice ask to cap my day with♡♡♡ aaa I feel so fortunate

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isa-ghost · 3 months

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Btw I am affectionately squeezing everyone who's given me Pomme, Missa, Pac, and other characterization tips for AMFMN to death for their help. I hope they know they've contributed to making the fic the best it can be and if Tumblr doesn't fuck me over, I'll definitely at some point in the future find the URLs on the posts I made and make a sappy af post thanking everyone who helped me do research to write things accurately.

I'm determined to make sure every single character that appears in the fic is done right no matter how brief their appearance is, even if it's not a flawless reflection. I'm very confident in Most of my characterizations so far (I've been told I've got Phil and Fit's mannerisms down PERFECTLY and that means SO MUCH to me ;-;), but I've been super conscious abt doing everyone justice throughout the entire planning & writing process. I'm determined for there not to be a single He Would Not Fucking Say That moment in the fic about ANYONE.

And despite being a little antsy about the characters I'm writing who I haven't seen tons of in streams, I'm having so much fun turning the compensation I'm doing to make up for lacking the knowledge into a group effort. To me THAT is peak QSMP.

The fact that I've had community members talk to me in Spanish abt characters, then consulting a completely different person to translate those things for me, then passing on those translations to other people who need a good reference for characterization. Getting to let people infodump about their faves in general but esp in their language. Asking someone to work with me throughout the process of writing the fic to translate the Spanish correctly rather than lazily relying on shitty translations from Google. Hell, my translator for Spanish dialogue taught me a Spanish culture thing and I deadass changed a conversation in Chapter 3 to include it!! The fic, a FANMADE THING, is LITERALLY doing what Actual QSMP's entire goal is: bringing groups together and sharing bits of their cultures!! That's fucking awesome!!

AMFMN has been a community effort FROM THE BEGINNING, honestly. Someone asked me for certain qPhil headcanons, then those sparked me to make other qPhil headcanons, then someone else asked me to elaborate on one I made, then I saw an entire group of people voicing a desire for more Phil-centric fics, then THAT all spiraled from there.

I never was like "Hm. Me want write Phil fic." I got inspired from the fandom and the people I interacted with. I'M NOT A FIC WRITER. I HAVE NEVER WRITTEN A FANFIC BEFORE NOW. I only ever wrote short OC things. And here I am writing a 20 FUCKING CHAPTER longfic for a fandom!! And I'm consulting people for Spanish translations for Missa, and I 100% intend on consulting a native French speaker I know and a native Portuguese speaker I know if Etoiles or Bagi have dialogue in their languages too (I plan to fit it in where I can, I've been focused more on Missa speaking Spanish bc he/Phil use the translations more together while Etoiles & Bagi tend to just speak English if they're not on their own or with other FR/PT speakers so I haven't been as focused on them lmao)!! And I'm so fucking hyped that I get to make that happen because of something I created, the same way Quackity gets to watch collaboration and sharing through something he's created.

TLDR I fucking love this community and I'm so thankful for the people who have been involved no matter how briefly.

#qsmp #AMFMN things

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mae-i-scribble · 7 months

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Hi, I hope you're having a nice day - in your author's notes for chapter 2 of The Long Way Home, you mentioned the idea that the story HSY wrote is different from the ORV that we know. I wanted to ask if you've ever written any posts expanding on that? I would love to read more about your thoughts on this (KDJ in your story's last memory being about reading that instead of WoS. Gutted me.)

Hello there! I have unfortunately not written a post detailing this (if you are the very nice anon who has asked me to elaborate on this i am very sorry, if you're not anon i am still very sorry), in large part because doing so in a way that I would be happy with would involve combing through the last 1/3rd or so of the novel. Since the major thematics about authors and characters and readers as one aren't really gotten into until that point. To be honest, I just haven't had the energy for that.

The idea that the novel HSY wrote not being ORV is one that I've always had since first finishing ORV- I can't say where exactly it originated from. Now to be clear, it's an undisputed fact that HSY and kimcom *are* writing about the events they lived through, and I do 100% both understand how and why HSY writing ORV is the more widely accepted theory (them including lines from early orv scenes, the way that it loops right back around into ORV's very meta theming, the way it would match up with the ideas of loop of fate, etc.) I just don't agree with it.

One of the greatest takeaways for me on the author/character theming in ORV is that an author will never fully understand a character they write. HSY and YJH live this out in real time, alongside HSY learning the origins of WoS vs the YJH she has come to know as a companion. In writing WoS she straight up admits that she fudges her memories of him because it isn't as if she could know everything about him- she just wrote the story she thought KDJ needed to hear. (I swear I have a point I promise). HSY as intimate knowledge in how while writing someone, you both grow to understand them intimately while simultaneously remaining clueless. With the experiences she goes through, combined with the fact that KDJ's narration in ORV is so specifically *him* with all its unreliability and the glimpses we get into his past/bits of him on his own without kimcom around, I just don't think ORV is something HSY would have written. To me, she wouldn't have tried to write from KDJ's perspective, already having far too much entanglement in obscuring people and characters with KDJ (and possily from that one scenario where she's almost taken over by the character she's incarnated into, but again, i would need to reread).

Then we reach the point where she writes this novel for the KDJ's across worldlines- or rather, kimcom does. Which I think is another very relevant point, HSY is compiling and spinning this into a narrative, but *everyone* is contributing to it and writing bits and pieces. Now that I type it out, I think that might be part of what makes me so happy with the thought that instead of ORV, HSY is writing that same story but told from kimcom's perspective, not KDJ's like ORV is. The image of everyone coming together to give their own perspective and accounts while HSY compiles and sorts those varying viewpoints into a narrative with KDJ as the focus just warms my heart. In a post I made about the epilogues, I brought up that with this interpretation, you can see it as kimcom writing KDJ as they see him, so that he can understand just why they love him so dearly- which I think is especially poignant considering this novel's true purpose isn't even to bring KDJ back, its to help everyone else heal from the trauma of losing him.

So basically, I can't really give you much of a textual basis for my argument besides for the fact that ORV doesn't straight up say HSY is writing ORV, it's more just was my first takeaway that has forever stuck with me as my preferred interpretation.

(P.S. thank you for taking the time to read my fic, I also loved writing the bit where KDJ remembers that story.)

#orv #orv spoilers #post epilogue #kim dokja #han sooyoung #this has been orv meta with mae #well wannabe meta it doesnt really count without evidence #but still i am just never letting go of this interpretation #sorry if its not exactly the answer you were looking for #but it is the only one i have to give #until the day i do a full reread of orv and go absolutely mcfucking insane dissecting it like a lab rat

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offtorivendell · 2 years

Text

She was … doing something, learning something.

Elain stood between Nuala and Cerridwen at the long worktable. All three of them covered in flour. Some sort of doughy mess on the surface before them.

The two handmaiden-spies instantly bowed to Rhys, and Elain—

There was a slight sparkle in her brown eyes.

As if she’d been enjoying herself with them.

Nuala swallowed hard. “The lady said she was hungry, so we went to make her something. But—she said she wanted to learn how, so …” Hands wreathed in shadows lifted in a helpless gesture, flour drifting off them like veils of snow. “We’re making bread.”

Elain was glancing between all of us, and as her eyes began to shutter, I gave her a broad smile and said, “I hope it’ll be done soon—I’m starved.”

Elain offered a faint smile in return and nodded.

She was hungry. She was … doing something. Learning something.

-🌸-

Working with theclever.crow was an absolute joy, and something I've been wanting to do for a while. Thank you, Katie, from the bottom of my heart; for taking my ideas, adding your own, and then bringing our vision of Elain and her (as yet hypothetical) powers to life in this gorgeous piece of art. Your passion for both Elain and your work is clear as Night. Please show Katie some love on IG! 🖤

Characters belong to @sjmaas ACOTAR series.

This piece is for Day 1 of @elainarcheronweek - Powers.

-🌸-

Throughout the ACOTAR series, Elain Archeron has demonstrated a love of learning. Beginning in book one, Feyre noted both her love of gardening - it made her come alive - and intention to learn how to grow vegetables, which continued in book three, where learning to cook and bake brought a sparkle to her eye, all the way through to book four, where - though she spent a lot of time in the background - Elain showed her desire to contribute to the search for the Dread Trove by dusting off the powers she hasn't used since ACOWAR (as far as we know).

I've always thought that Elain becoming either a potions mistress or apothecary would neatly marry her desire for knowledge with her love of gardening and baking/cooking. We already know Elain is a Seer - and Amren suggested the possibility of at least one other power in ACOSF - so, given her strong associations with life/rebirth and light, as well as her status as a Cauldron-Made faerie, I wouldn't be surprised if she could give her plants and potions a bit of a boost when required, and that her brews may be highly sought after from all around Prythian.

As a bonus, there are some Easter Eggs hidden in this art - as nods to both Elain's potential powers and future plot - and I'll reblog with all the details once people have had a chance to have a guess themselves. Katie outdid herself here, so please look carefully, and let us know what you can See!

-🌸-

This piece of art is dedicated to everyone who loves Elain, and who values her different sort of strength, whether you see yourself in her or not. 🖤

Please do not repost this art! If you want to find it on Instagram or Twitter, check out theclever.crow and the Elain Week accounts respectively.

-🌸-

Easter Egg Spoilers... coming soon.

-🌸-

Further reading on Elain and her possible future with potions or witchy powers if you're interested...

Elain has a secret garden full of useful plants that she uses for potions (a headcanon).

Can Elain Make plants/have powers of growth, or does she have a link to the Mother?

Could Elain be a witch?

#elain archeron #elain archeron art #elain art #pro elain archeron #pro elain #elain archeron week 2022 #elainarcheronweek2022 #elain's powers #acotar #acotar art #sjm #sjmaas #sjm books #elain vibes

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river-in-the-woods · 4 months

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greetings! i'm new to buddhism and i would be curious to know if you have any tips for westerners regarding the practice. i see a lot of people online aggravated by western attitudes at times and as new convert, i would like to avoid contributing to that. thank you!

Hi there :)

I suppose one of the greater issues is that there is a mindset of... shall we say, pioneering and innovation that can be unhelpful when approaching Asian traditions.

Western practitioners like to experiment, change the rules, "fuck around and find out" as they so often say. This works out well enough for them – in fact I think Western practitioners often thrive on their enthusiasm to explore, when it is balanced by discernment – but it is not an attitude that will get them far if they decide to train properly in an Asian tradition.

What we have in Asia that is lacking in Western traditions, are culture, history and esoteric lineages spanning thousands of years, and techniques that have been refined through trial and error with each passing generation. European traditions don't have this kind of unbroken lineage, which creates some distinct differences in mindset.

A Western practitioner might consider themself 'advanced' after 5-10 years of practice. But to become a Buddhist monk, guru/lama or Daoist method master, in that time you might only have just completed basic training (depending on tradition; I'm making broad generalisations here).

There is such a thing as spiritual authority, and Westerners sometimes don't like to hear this. After all, for many, becoming a witch/sorcerer/magician/spiritualist is all about taking fate into your own hands, claiming the universe's power, the church be damned, etc. Asian witchcraft and malefica does exist, however it is not treated as the path of self-liberation and sovereignty as it is in the West, so please do not mistake it as such.

(Diasporic Asians like to claim titles such as 'witch', and this is fine, but just bear in mind this has a decidedly negative connotation when you visit countries in East Asia).

The line between laypeople and ordained monks and priests is very clearly defined, and one is expected to show deference. This does not mean any sort of self-deprecation, rather, to understand one's own limits and keep an open and curious mind. Just as a layperson would not presume to know better than a trained doctor or surgeon.

Therefore, having ample patience will serve you well. You should expect to repeat the same basic practices 100s and 1000s of times, because cultivation is grueling and the path to Buddhahood, Immortality, or what have you, is something that takes lifetimes to achieve.

Now, that may not be your goal. You might simply want to live well in this life, and that is fine. The above message is more for those who aspire for mastery, importance or greatness, but do not yet understand what the journey requires. (I don't claim to understand it myself either).

This might be obvious, but in case it is not... be discerning about who you trust to guide you. There are genuine European/white practitioners who have entered their respective traditions the correct way, and there are Asian frauds and charlatans who have no qualms about using their cultural traditions to con people out of their money. You should respect what people have to say about their cultures and experiences, naturally, but don't use someone's ethnic background as a validation of their skill or character.

Most of all, maintain humility. Humility is the virtue that supports all other virtues. One that I think all of humanity struggles with the most, perhaps because we don’t understand it very well, and our survival has so often required its opposite.

Beyond that, I advise you not to place too much emphasis on seeking knowledge in books or written texts. The main reason for this: published texts on Buddhist practices come from oral traditions that may require empowerment and transmission. The people who publish these texts might not understand this, or they are relying on the good faith of spiritual seekers. One does themself a great disservice if they believe they can bypass the guidance of a teacher from a long-standing lineage.

The other reason is that the wisdom, capacity and personal growth one gains through cultivation is experiential. It can only be gained through consistent practice. A skillful teacher can guide you on the path, but ultimately, the real thing cannot be taught, and all words fail to capture its true majesty.

I hope this helps, and doesn't come across as too intimidating. Take it slow, let the path unfold before you, and enjoy each day as it comes. Keep a green bough in your heart, and the singing bird will come 💚

#cultivation #buddhism #asian witchcraft #daoism #taoism #asian spirituality #inbox #anonymous #resources

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hyperbolicreverie · 3 months

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Hello! If you don’t mind me asking, what is everyone’s aspect in the deification au? Law is death and Robin is knowledge, and I’m assuming Luffy is freedom, but I’m having trouble pinning down the others. It’s such a fun au, and so far I’m absolutely loving it! Thank you so much, have a great day!

It's a fun little AU, especially since it's so collaborative. Other people who have contributed to it have slightly different or more established takes on the characters than I do, which I think is appropriate given how real life mythologies tend to blur interpretations of gods and what they stand for.

Law is death, Robin is knowledge, and Luffy is freedom, that's all correct. Sabo is also freedom, but of a different flavor than Luffy. Zoro is strength, Sanji is a hearth deity, Nami is associated with weather and sea navigation, Kid and Killer are slightly different kinds of vengeance/revenge. Usopp is associated with truth and lies and storytelling, and Chopper is medicine and healing.

#rev speaks #deification au

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old-school-butch · 6 months

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What factors do you think contribute to Islamists forming the majority of the world's extremists right now? Do you think there’s anything that can be done to stop or reverse this trend?

Thank you as always for sharing your knowledge and insights. I appreciate you taking the time to do so for us internet randos :)

Ya know... I'm not sure. I feel like ideals bring people together in ways we don't entirely understand. There's a theory that some universal rules are found in every culture:

help your family

help your group

return favors

be brave / willing to sacrifice the self for the greater good

defer to superiors/leaders

divide resources fairly

respect others’ property

There are many different interpretations about, for example, what a fair division of resources is, and who is the superior, but these rules form the basis of fundamental human society. Other ideals flesh these rules out to help create a story people can rally around. Us and them is pretty basic, how we define 'us' depends on the morals of society. For much of human history, that was tribal/extended family. But religion makes a great story and that quickly grew from being a reason things were the way they were (the divine right of kings for example) to a story that demanded loyalty and society in itself, part of how humans decided who was us and them. The oldest prohibitions about slavery, for example, was that Christians shouldn't enslave Christians and Muslims shouldn't enslave Muslims. (It sounds nice when I say it like that, but it was actually part of colonial conquest - convert to my religion or be killed/enslaved. Oh, and being part of my religion means you have to obey me.).

Anyway, in the last few hundred years the star of the West has been shining bright, often at the expense of other groups subjugated in conquest. Capitalism is its child that has catapulted whole societies into unimaginable amounts of wealth, and what is there for those left behind? Communism was the second child of the West, meant to restrain its elder beast, but it misunderstands human nature and can't work on its own. There are many former Empires around the world who sullenly remember their own glory days and want to recreate them - China, Russia, Persia, the Caliphates all come to mind. But new stories are needed to breathe life into these ideas. For a while it was nationalism, which was evident in the numerous declarations of independence after World War 2 and the 'third world, third way' movement. But nationalism alone can't answer the West, and joining in the West's prosperity has proven difficult to replicate. Many countries that experimented with a variety of economic theories ended up stuck in poverty. Meanwhile, capitalism is spinning out the wealth of king's to entire nations. What's that quote from Marx (that Jenny probably actually wrote)?. Something about a house in the countryside is a house, a house next to a castle is a hat. Income inequality is more absolute when it's the difference between starving and living and the dead can't complain, so it paradoxically breeds far more resentment when it's the difference between subsistence farming and going on space voyages.

Enter religion as a new, galvanizing force. The secular West, and young people living in our society, simply cannot fathom how profound, energetic and deeply personal a comprehensive religious society can be. It's everything. It's your life and afterlife too. It's your soul. You have wealth, spiritual wealth, that the decadent West can never understand. You can hold your head up high again. It is the only answer to the West that people can hold onto with any real hope. Christianity has moderated in the West but accepted its fall from secular power. Other religions have not, and perhaps don't need to. I look at some countries sitting on incredible wealth, that isn't developed because they are too corrupt, or simply don't care to improve the lives of their people. Becoming a suicide bomber is much less appealing when you have a happy, comfortable life. And I'm not going to just pick on Islam here, for centuries the Catholic church argued - with a straight face - that regular tithes to the Church helped keep people too poor to indulge in sinfulness. Anyway, for people who want something else beyond individualism or materialism, that they might not get anyway, religion gives them purpose and principle.

I'm open to hearing other theories, especially around what can be done to extend the principles of democracy, secular statehood and religious freedom around the globe.

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signoraviolettavalery · 10 months

Text

My and @touchyourblood's vampire AU has now started spawning AUs of its own, and I think it's about time for a post about one of the storylines we've been spitballing over chat for the past few weeks (the following is a combination of my writing and hers).

In this one, Bojan is a vampire, Jan comes from a family of hunters and especially hates vampires/thinks they're monsters because when he was young a vampire fed on and almost killed his brother/mother/best friend/whoever. He originally joins the band to spy on Bojan, learn more about vampires, and then, once he finds proof that he's a monster (he's sure it's a question of if, not when), kill him. (For this to work Martin would have to be a guitar player who leaves to be replaced by Jan, just go with it). But, of course, things don't unfold as predicted...

Jan is wary at first, of course. He's entirely convinced that if Kris, Jure, and Nace know about the vampire thing and stick around, it's because Bojan has kept them around with promises of immortality, fame, or threats. As far as he's concerned, Martin has "escaped." And he wants to badly to make a contribution to hunter knowledge, to discover something new and useful, before ridding the world of this monster.

So he watches every interaction carefully. He tries to provoke Bojan sometimes, seeing if it might make him snap and reveal his true nature. He sees the camaraderie and trust between the other band members and doesn't understand it. They playfully insult him, disagree with him, and he never loses his temper or tries to assert his dominance. Instead, he's always there for his friends, supporting them, comforting them - and extending the same courtesy to Jan.

One time, one of them tosses Bojan over his shoulder to "force" him to go somewhere (boring interview?) and Jan expects him to turn violent or at least aggressive in some way, but Bojan just whines and pouts. He waits and waits for there to be some repercussions but nothing ever comes, Bojan seems to forget all about it like it was just some typical thing (it was).

Bojan, dramatic and brooding, often goes out late at night and wanders Ljubljana. Unable to sleep, trying to come to terms with his vampire reality, or just lost in thought. Jan follows him, expecting to catch him feeding at least once. After all, there are plenty of people on the streets late at night that no one would miss. It'd be very easy for Bojan to just take. But he never does.

One night, they come across a couple of super drunk girls stumbling home from a club. A perfect target, and when Bojan comes up to them Jan is on his guard, ready to defend them, thinking he finally has proof, but Bojan just gets them a cab because they're too drunk to get home.

At one point, he walks backstage and finds Bojan with an unconscious female fan. He's ready to spring into action, but no, the girl was just feeling unwell so Bojan took her backstage so she could lie down. He's fetching her water and helping her drink it, comforting her, asking if she's here alone, if there's anyone he can call, brushing her off when she bats her eyelashes and asks "whatever can I do to thank you?" "Oh good," he says when he sees Jan. "Can you get Kris and help find her friend? She should be somewhere in the audience." Stunned, Jan does.

He spies on one of Bojan's calls with Martin, who expresses concern that he's not feeding enough and that having to hide his secret from "the new guy" when they're basically together 24/7 isn't healthy for him. And he spies on Bojan feeding on Kris (the three other band members take turns). Bojan is resisting, hating hurting his friend, even if his friend is willing, while Kris tries to convince him he needs to feed. Bojan is careful as he bites a wrist, and stops....rather quickly, and on his own. That can't have been enough sustenance, and Kris seems to agree. "You didn't take enough," he reproaches.

"It's enough for now," Bojan says. "Here, rest." He binds his wrist oh-so-carefully, brings him some juice and a high-calorie snack.

And slowly, Jan comes to realize that Bojan is completely different from what he thought. That his first encounter with a vampire may have been with a monstrous predator, but that not every vampire is like that. He comes to think of him as a friend, even, and to trust him.

And so, one night, when Bojan is out, wandering the city, Jan follows him and Bojan finally lets Jan know that he knows he's being followed. He's sitting on top of a fountain, feet in the water, looking up at the Ljubljana castle and the moon and thinking.

"How long are you gonna keep following me?" he asks.

"Until I figure out what you're actually up to" Jan says, which isn't untrue. He hasn't seen Bojan feed once, but there must be a reason he's wandering the town almost very night.

Bojan shrugs. "Insomnia. worries. Thought that keep me up"

"about what?" jan pushes, wondering if bojan has killed. if that's what keeps him up at night. if he's fleeing from bad memories

"letting people down. failing at the things that are important to me. being alone."

All of which feels very familiar to Jan. In this moment, more than any other, he sees Bojan as painfully human. Flawed and scared and not an all-powerful predator. And this is when he drops the truth bomb that he knows what Bojan is. He explains it away as "I saw a vampire feed on a family member when I was young so I believe in them," which isn't untrue. And then he comes up to join Bojan where he's sitting.

"You sure you want to get so close to someone so deadly?" Bojan says. "No one around to hear you scream."

"I think I'm in the safest place in Ljubljana, actually," Jan replies, leaning his head on Bojan's shoulder and dangling his feet in the same fountain.

"how's that?" Bojan asks.

"well, you are the deadliest thing around, but you also strike me as someone who'd never let someone hurt those he cares about," Jan says.

Bojan nods. "No one but me," he says sadly. "I get to hurt them regularly."

"They agreed to it, didn't they?" Jan points out. "It's their choice."

"Yeah," Bojan says. "Even convinced me to complete the transformation, when I was turned."

"Huh?" This is a part of vampire lore Jan isn't familiar with.

"Oh, right." Bojan seems to remember that. "When you get turned, you have a day to feed and complete your transformation, or you die. I wasn't sure I wanted to do it. Be a predator, hurt people for the rest of my existence. But Kris and Jure and Martin were there. They convinced me, told me we'd figure it out together. Helped me learn to control myself."

And - oh. Jan had never realized it was a choice. A choice between life and death, granted, but a choice nonetheless. And Bojan hadn't wanted to choose this.

He feels like he seems both vampires and Bojan in a new light. How could he ever have considered that this man is a monster, a predator? It's not a boon, it's a curse that was forced on him, this half-life or death.

But Bojan doesn't know Jan is a hunter, or why he joined the band. So many secrets between them...

#vampire!bojan #more parts to come at some point obviously #joker out AU

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9r7g5h · 7 months

Text

Terrors of the Cubical World

Fandom: My Hero Academia, Boku no Hero Academia

Rating: T

Genre: Humor

Summary: All Dairoji wanted was a job. He didn't mean to fall in love with his perfect angel of a superior who was dating the most volaille pro hero in the rankings.

Words: 4,823

Dairoji had known, the moment he read the job description, that this one had to be his.

While sure, the support courses at UA hadn't had anything like "The Big Three" that the hero courses had, he would have certainly qualified for being in the running for the top ten if they had, and his work ever since he had graduated and done his internship had just continued to prove it. He had been instrumental in helping Mei Hatsumi figure out the dissolving compound to clean the city of Grape Daddy's balls before he had mysteriously disappeared on the job, thus rendering their work unnecessary, though it was still used in multiple manufacturing plants. His work spoke for itself, really.

So, a job at a nice, safe office, away from the crazy woman who often forgot mortality was a thing? One that he was more than qualified for, where he would be designing support equipment to be produced en masse, like headsets and night vision goggles and the like? Where the chances of explosions were minimal?

That job had to be his.

And, after a grueling two months of interviews, background checks, submitting proofs of concept, proving he could build prototypes of said proofs of concepts, proving said prototypes of said proofs of concepts actually worked, and answering a strange questionnaire about his knowledge of Silver Age All Might trivia, it was. He was offered the job, full pay, full benefits, and fuck if it didn’t feel good. It felt even better to give his notice to Mei (though his glee was a bit trodden by her questions of “Who are you? Why are you here? Can you hand me that screwdriver?" Thank god for automatic payroll). His first day working for a major corporation, about to contribute to hero society on a grand scale instead of making "babies" for single customers.

And the heavens blessed him, because put in charge of his training and orientation was the most beautiful man he had ever met.

"Hi," the angel said with a beaming smile, his hand held out to shake. "I'm Izuku Midoriya. You must be Dairoji Imai. Welcome to the team!"

He knew, in theory, what happened in the following hours. Izuku walked him through getting his computer set up, showed him his cube and the lab, helped him fill out the forms to order safety gear, all with that smile that kept his heart hovering just on this side of overloading. He knew Izuku had introduced him to some of the people he would be working with on a regular basis, all lovely, friendly people he immediately forgot. Knew Izuku took him to HR to get the packet they were now settling down with, their lunches in front of them, so they could go over the papers he needed to sign. But if anyone asked him any questions about anything besides how bright his smile was, or how his eyes crinkled when he did to hide some of the green, or how his curls shone in the sun and almost seemed to take on a whole new level of color he had never imagined possible, well, Dairoji couldn’t answer them.

Even his homemade bento was perfect. Healthy, obviously delicious from just the smell, and the rice and eggs had been shaped to look like a sleeping bear - far, far too cute.

It didn’t matter that Izuku was his superior, that he had known him for all of four hours, that he didn’t even know if Izuku liked men. Dairoji was in love, and he would marry this man one day.

His daydream about their wedding and future children and Izuku’s explanation of their record keeping system was interrupted by a firm knock on the door. Without waiting for an explanation the door opened, a woman sticking her head in. Her face was grim, even as Izuku perked up in his chair. "I'm so sorry to bother you two," she started, looking the exact opposite of sorry, "but he's here."

If Dairoji thought Izuku's smile was bright before, for a moment it legitimately felt like he had gone blind. He was immediately up and out of his chair, thanking the woman as he passed by her with a quick shimmy that got him out of the room without her having to move, despite the door still only being semi-open. For the first time since he walked in, Dairoji was curious about something besides how Izuku liked his breakfast.

"Come on, kid," the woman said dryly, jerking her head towards where Izuku had disappeared. "Better you get used to this now."

They quickly caught up to Izuku, who had been forced to pause in his run by a trail of carts traveling from one of the labs to a testing room. He adorably shifted from foot to foot, smiling and greeting each employee as they passed, even though it was clear he was impatient for them to pass. The moment they did he continued on, though just slow enough for Dairoji and the woman to keep up with him. Approaching what he vaguely realized was the cube section of the building, where the various employees could sit at their desks and fill out paperwork or draw, Dairoji was surprised as the woman grabbed his arm - he had been focused on Izuku, specifically the fact that he was walking in front of him, and wasn’t that a beautiful sight to see.

“Look,” the woman said, “just don’t freak out when you see him. He really doesn’t like the attention, and gets pissy when people fawn over him. That’s a sure fire way to set something on fire. Don’t ask for his autograph - ask Izuku to ask him to sign something for you, because if you ask him yourself it will get blown up. Honestly, the only other person here who can talk to him besides Izuku is Ms. Honey, and that’s only because she’s been bribing him with caramels for the last seven years. If you don’t have to do otherwise, keep it to the bare minimum of ‘Excuse me,’ ‘please,’ ‘thank you,’ and ‘sorry.’ Otherwise, anything that happens is your fault, and HR won’t help you. Izuku is the best employee we have here, they’ll choose him over you anyday.”

Her words made very little sense until they took that last turn, and Dairoji watched as the angel he'd been following flew directly into the arms of the current number nine hero - Lord Explosion Murder God Dynamight.

What the fuck?

If there was anyone in the world he would have placed as the exact opposite of Izuku, it would have been the prohero standing next to Izuku's desk, hugging the green-haired man tight to his chest. He was well known for being loud, angry, abrasive, for cursing too much even in front of cameras and children. The only reason he had broken top 10 was because he was strong and had an even stronger sense of justice, leading to an impressive record that, even with his off putting personality, couldn't be ignored. That, and, Dairoji had to admit, he was hot too. The few times he had managed to be forced into a photo shoot had shot his rankings right on up there, landing him quite a comfortable position amongst the elites.

But apparently this walking angry ball of TNT was friends with Izuku, friends enough to get an ecstatic hug and a smile that put all the ones Dairoji had seen so far to shame.

"Kacchan! You're here early!"

And apparently a nickname?

"Patrols been quiet. Figured I'd stop in and see how you were." His words were barely more than grunts, the usual Dynamight - or, rather, Kacchan? - signature response. But his hands didn't move from Izuku's waist, and he didn't seem to notice as Izuku's rested on his chest.

"It's been great! I've been training our new employee, Dairoji!" Dairoji's heart swelled at the sound of his name in Izuku's voice, the best sound he ever could have heard. He immediately took a step forward - wrong move, as Dynamight immediately clocked him, his red eyes narrowing, examining, judging. It felt like he was being sized up by a shark, or maybe a lion, some kind of predator that found him wanting as, with no acknowledgment at all, Dynamight's gaze returned to Izuku. "I think he's going to be a great addition to the team, once he's done with the paperwork. I was thinking of getting him started on the more flexible fabrics we've been developing, see if he can figure out the tensile issue-"

"Yeah, sure, sounds great nerd," Dynamight cut him off, and Dairoji had to bite his tongue. Number nine pro hero or not, how dare he talk to Izuku like that? It was so disrespectful! "You get the bento I left you in the fridge?"

"I did! It was great, Kacchan, just like all your cooking is! Kacchan is always the best!"

"Did you actually eat it, or am I going to find out you ate nothing but Ms. Honey's snacks all day?"

"Don't worry, dear," a little old lady's voice said, "I haven't given him any yet. Not that he hasn't tried to weedle some out of me. Speaking of..." From the same cube the two stood by, a lady that perfectly matched her voice appeared, old spotted hand holding out what, as she dropped it into Dynamight's palm, seemed to be a perfectly wrapped square of caramel. "You enjoy that now, you hear?"

"I'll enjoy the cavities and the extra mile I have to run, don't you worry, Grandma."

"And I'll make sure our little Izuku here doesn't get up to trouble, just like always."

Like that it was clear - Izuku had to be Dynamight's younger brother, or some kind of cousin, since that would explain the closeness, the cutesy nickname, everything. He'd never read about the hero having any family besides his parents, but he was exceptionally private about his day to day life. It was only commonly known he was gay because of a support interview he had done a few years ago with some of his classmates, something never discussed again, so it wasn't surprising that he'd wanted to keep such a cute younger brother/cousin a secret. Besides, it was well known that the families of heroes were often targeted by villains with long standing grudges - Dairoji could respect Dynamight, even if he did leave a bad taste in his mouth on a day to day basis.

"Do you have to go back to your patrol?" Izuku asked, his almost pout far too cute.

"Not like I can stay. Just had to get what I came for." Dynamight's grin was, if Dairoji was paying attention, far too wide for brotherly affection, but he was thinking too hard about how he would get the destructive hero's permission to court Izuku to catch it. So, when Dynamight made his move, Dairoji was very much caught off guard.

Caught off guard as Dynamight's hand moved to Izuku's hair, pulling him up into a very much not brotherly kiss, his other moving down to grab and squeeze a handful of Izuku's ass, forcing out a noise that had no place in coming from the throat of an angel like Izuku but that Dairoji immediately wanted to hear again. Ms. Honey, not even looking up from whatever she was working out, let out a yip of excitement, and even the woman standing next to him struggled to fight back a snicker. "Youth is wasted on the young," Ms. Honey said with absolutely no shame as Izuku and Dynamight pulled apart. "I don't know how you two function, when if I was either one of you I wouldn't be able to leave the bed."

"Why do you think I come here everyday, Grandma," Katsuki asked, finally freeing Izuku from his hold. "Not for your shitty sugar, that's for sure. Gotta have something to keep me going until I get home." He gave what could have been a sly wink at Izuku, if not for stupidly happy grin on his face. "Later, nerd. I'm working late tonight, so don't eat anything too shitty for dinner. I'll kick your ass if you do."

"Spank it, more like it." Ms. Honey let out a cackle as Izuku flushed and sputtered at her hypocritically about "decorum," while Dynamight just laughed as he started to walk away.

"Kacchan," Izuku called out, ignoring his cube mate for a moment. "HR wanted me to remind you to please take a few steps away from the building before you fly off. You burned another entrance mat." Without turning around Dynamight just gave a two fingered salute in acknowledgment, disappearing around a corner.

Ok, what the actual fuck?

Looking over at Izuku, Dairoji's heart broke a little bit, because it was clear as Izuku's smile that he was a man too far gone. Even as Ms. Honey continued to tease him from the cube, his face flushed a perfect pretty pink, the grin on his slightly kiss swollen lips was too real. If he thought he had seen Izuku happy throughout the day so far, well, the sight before him, with his curls a mess as he tried to shake himself back into work mode had put it all to shame.

"Izuku, is it ok if I steal Dairoji for a moment?" The woman next to him, previously forgotten, asked, her arm curling around his own. "You can take the time to let the Endeavor Agency know that their order of thermal arm braces will be delayed by a week - they'll be fine with it, if the info comes from you."

"Yeah, of course, I'm sure Shoto will understand," Izuku said. "Just bring Dairoji back when you're done, please, Sakura."

Without waiting, the woman - Sakura - pulled Dairoji along, immediately muttering under her breath the moment they were out of earshot. "I'm sure Shoto is only so understanding because he's waiting for you to drop Blasty so he can tap that ass himself. Perfect sunshine bastard." A couple of turns had them at a different group of conference rooms, these much larger than the ones he and Izuku had been using previously. Opening the door, Sakura pushed him in before her, announcing their entrance to the group. "We got another one."

In front of Dairoji were perhaps a dozen or so people, all wearing the company lanyard he had been given earlier. One of the women waved, though most just shook their heads in a pitying, understanding way. Sakura wrapped her arm around his shoulders and gestured to the others. "Welcome to the 'hopelessly in love with their coworker Izuku' club." Ignoring his sputters of denial, Sakura let him go and flopped into a seat. A blue haired man cleared his throat, at least having the decency to look embarrassed.

"As you can see, your predicament isn't uncommon, and we will do our best to support you as you get used to your affections being unrequited. I know you might have a lot of questions about us and our involvement with Mr. Midoriya, but-"

"He already saw Blasty come by for his daily make out session," Sakura cut him off, a series of grumbles following her words. "Even got in a pretty good grope before Izuku became too embarrassed. Give it another 10 years of him working here and we might actually get a free show."

While the blue haired man looked right about ready to die, a neon red, human sized blob spoke up, wiggling as they spoke. "Get used to that quickly, kid," they said, their voice somewhere between amused and upset. "The media would have a field day if they found out that the great 'Lord Explosion Murder God Dynamight' can't go twelve hours without a kiss from his boyfriend. And he'll spend the better part of an hour pouting at Izuku's desk or scaring interns if he's unavailable to give it to him right away."

"You'd never think such a scary pro hero was such a needy fucker, that's for sure." Dairoji couldn't see the person who said it, but it was clear everyone else, on one level or another, agreed. “Interrupts the rest of us, the day would go a lot better if he could just leave us alone for once.”

“Why doesn’t the company just ask him to stop coming,” Dairoji asked. It was clear enough people had an issue with the situation, one way or the other, so it shouldn’t be hard to put an end to it. And if this was a daily thing, well, Dairoji would be more than happy to avoid watching that. He didn’t want to see Izuku make out with anyone, especially his least favorite top ten hero. The look he received, however, made him wonder if he was still speaking Japanese or not. Going off just their faces, he could have just asked them to lick his feet.

“You want the company to ask the hero most well known for his anger management issues and propentesy for blowing shit up to not come visit his boyfriend when our building is literally in the middle of his patrol route?” The gray cat person who spoke up spoke slowly, as if Dairoji was a small child. “He doesn’t even need to do anything himself; he can just wait for the next villain attack and “get here late.”” Their paws flexed weirdly as they put air quotes around the phrase before licking at the back of their paw.

“Same if they try to fire Izuku,” Sakura added. “Not that they would. Izuku joined this place when it was still a startup, and I’m pretty sure he’s the entire reason it’s still standing. Add in the fact that half of Blasty’s old classmates are head over heels for the guy and just circling the waters waiting for blood, and he brings in a shit ton of business from them? Yeah, no, the company wouldn’t care if Izuku did nothing but ride Dyna’s dick all day at this point. He’s still made of gold as far as they’re concerned. Not that he would, the guy works hard and is great at the job too. It's like, six wins, at the cost of a kiss break each day.”

“He’s pur-fect,” the cat person purred, resting their chin on their paws. “And we get him so long as the company stays on top.”

Sakura kicked lightly at his leg from her chair. "So if you want to work here, kid, get used to it. And welcome to the club of broken hearts."

*~*

Dairoji did not, in fact, get used to it.

In fact, the more he worked with Izuku and the more he saw of Dynamight on the news, the more he was sure the couple just wasn't meant to be. Even if Izuku always seemed so excited to see his "Kacchan" at some point during the afternoon, it had to be some kind of act. A plea for help.

There was no way sweet, beautiful, wonderful Izuku could actually be in love and want to be with the arrogant, self centered, two seconds away from commiting murder brute that was Dynamight. So, in perhaps his best idea yet, Dairoji decided to confess, and help his beloved Izuku get away from the man obviously keeping him captive.

He waited until Ms. Honey was at a meeting - he still wasn't sure if he could trust her yet. She seemed close to both Izuku and Dynamight, but who her loyalties were with was unclear. Once the coast was clear, he knocked on the side of the soft panel, the noise just enough to get Izuku's attention from the design he'd been going over. "Izuku, can I talk to you for a sec?"

A brilliant smile, but only a fraction of the one he showed when around Dynamight. But now he was wondering how real it was, in comparison to the one Dairoji saw now. "Of course! Come in. How's the fabric coming along? Are you having any problems?"

"No, the project's going great. That new sample Creati sent over really helped, though there's still a few more tests we have to do to make sure it can stand up to high enough temperatures. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." Dairoji shifted in the cube, glancing around to really take in Izuku's half for the first time. Everywhere was covered in either equipment designs or hero merch, an overwhelming amount of it All Might and Dynamight themed. "No, I wanted to talk to you about something more...personal."

Concern on Izuku's face, he slid a cover over the design he had been tweaking and turned his chair fully towards Dairoji. For the first time he was frowning, a sight that sent pain into Dairoji's heart, though he forced himself to remain strong. This was for both of them. "Of course. I'm always available to listen, whatever you need."

A deep breath. A slow, slightly trembling exhale as he forced himself to be ready. Dairoji bowed forward as he spoke, perhaps a bit too quickly, his ass bumping into something behind him. But he couldn't stop, he had to get the words out, not even bothering to check the thump of something falling. "Izuku, I love you, and I-"

"Kacchan!"

The cry was so heartbreakingly devastated that, for a moment, Dairoji thought something had happened to the hero. Some news bulletin had popped up on Izuku's computer, and his love confession had been interrupted by Dynamight being in the hospital or dead. But no, Izuku brushed past him and knelt on the floor, large tears falling from his beautiful eyes as he gently retrieved the figure that Dairoji had apparently knocked from its stand on a little shelf behind him.

He couldn't help the small jolt of satisfaction at seeing the hero's body in one of Izuku's hands, the toy's head in the other.

“I’m so sorry Izuku,” Dairoji said, quickly covering any offensive feelings as he knelt next to his angelic coworker. “I didn’t realize I was so close to your shelf. I can try to fix-” Dairoji froze under the acidic glare, his blood freezing as the soft green eyes he had fallen in love with almost seemed to glow with anger and malice. He didn’t know his coworker’s quirk, didn’t know what exactly Izuku was going to do to him, but he could feel just how much danger he was in.

“...HR won’t help you. Izuku is the best employee we have here, they’ll choose him over you anyday.”

Sakura’s words, while in a different context, circled through his mind as they crouched there, as he was examined and found so, so wanting in the eyes of the man he had thought he had loved. But now he knew it was a lie, he was only in love with the siren mask that hid whatever this drowning depth was, this pit that wasn’t threatening but just explaining exactly how it would be pulling him under, dismembering and destroying him so nothing would ever be found. And if a trace ever did show up, well, that’s what the boyfriend was for.

“Oi, Deku, Extra, what are you two doing down there?”

Speak of the devil with all his saving grace, the sight of Dynamight sent Dairoji into a frantic crawl, hiding behind the hero’s legs as he looked back at Izuku. The hero was an asshole, and this was his boyfriend, but he still had to save people, right? Even the people who pissed off said boyfriend? He couldn’t just stand by and let Izuku kill him, that wouldn’t be very heroic of him. But it was Dynamight, did he really care?

Izuku looked up, kneeling on the ground, his broken toy in his hands and his eyes wide and glimmering with unshed tears, and Dairoji wasn’t sure he would survive.

“He broke you, Kacchan.” The words were wobbly, his voice cracking, the first tear slowly trickling down his cheek, making the most pitiful scene Dairoji had ever seen. Even knowing his hide was on the line he still wanted to reach out, to comfort him, the fury that had scared him before now replaced with such a deep, beautiful sorrow it hurt. He wiped at his own cheeks, something to keep his hands from reaching out, knowing his touch might not be welcomed.

Dynamight snorted. “Really, Deku? Over that piece of shit? It’s not even official merch; I can get you a dozen better ones by tonight. Just pitch it.”

“Really? They’ll all be different designs and poses? And you’ll sign all of them?” The switch from almost sobbing to overly excited - in any other context - would have been adorable. Now, however, it was terrifying, keeping Dairoji tied to the spot behind Dynamight he had retreated to. How did the hero deal with Izuku’s changes, especially such drastic ones over something as small as a toy?

“Of course, nerd. Now hand it over.” Izuku held out the remains of his beloved figure, allowing the hero to take the pieces from his palms. Dynamight scoffed as Izuku wiped his face clean, examining the figure up close to see just how bad it was. “I’ll never understand why you’d waste your money on this crap when it’s not even that good. Shitty knockoff bullshit.” A small explosion, and the trash can now held a smoldering, melted, ashy mess the janitorial staff wouldn’t be pleased to find.

Izuku just rubbed the back of his head. “They got your eyes right. I love your eyes.”

A long moment where none of them moved, Izuku looking up from his spot on the floor at Dynamight, Dynamight looking down at Izuku, Dairoji looking between them. Finally Dynamight just groaned and shook his head, pulling out a phone from his belt.

“Yeah, it’s me.” The phone hadn’t even rung before it had been picked up, meaning it was probably some kind of direct line. “Yeah, no, it’s about what we talked about. I have the time. That good?” A moment of quiet. “Thanks, I’ll catch you up later.” That phone back into his belt, Dynamight reached over Izuku’s head for his desk phone. It didn’t take long for him to find the number he wanted, dialing it in and listening to the wait tones. “No, it’s Dynamight,” he replied when the other end picked up. “I’m just letting you know that Izuku’s taking a half day today. I don’t know if he’ll be coming in tomorrow either. I’ll let you know.”

“K-kacchan, what do you mean I’m taking a half day? I have work an-”

His protests were cut off as Dynamight scooped Izuku into his arms, a quick princess hold as he pressed a kiss to his lips to quiet him before shifting him over his shoulder, smacking his ass as Izuku squeaked and squirmed upside down. “You can’t say shit like that and expect me to not take you home to wreck you. This is your fault, Deku. Take responsibility.”

Izuku finally stopped resisting and went limp in Dynamight’s arms, laughing hysterically as the pro-hero carted him out of the cube. They took up talking as Dynamight walked, Izuku holding on to his belt to give him arms something to do besides swing wildly, demanding to know exactly what pieces of official Dynamight merch he was going to get later.

Not once did either of them even acknowledge Dairoji existed, as if he had stopped being part of the physical realm the moment they became aware of each other.

“I’m surprised,” Ms. Honey said with a shake of her head, leaning over him to look at the mess in the trash can. “Last time someone broke one of Izuku’s figures, they needed Recovery Girl to pull the pieces out of their ass. Looks like you got off light, especially since you were going after a taken man.” She looked at him over the rims of her glasses, the disapproval clear in her eyes and voice, if not her words. “Just don’t let it happen again.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

That day he put in a transfer request to a different department. There were plenty of projects that he could work on, plenty of projects that would keep him far away from the beautiful, perfect, terrifying Izuku Midoriya and his explosive boyfriend.

Or, well, fiance, as he found out when Izuku returned a few days later with a limp and a ring, the company grape vine (aka the lunch drunk 'hopelessly in love with their coworker Izuku' club) informing him. A fiance that gave him a look he realized he recognized, had seen before in the scariest moment of his life, a look from Dynamight that now meant almost nothing.

He really should have stayed with Mei.

[END]

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#the 9 one queues it #mha #BkDk #BakuDeku #KtDk #KatsuDeku #bakugou katsuki #izuku midoriya #Fanfic #my hero academia #pro hero bakugou #quirkless midoriya izuku #BkDk fanfic #MHA Fanfic

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sidesteppostinghours · 6 months

Note

For the seven forms of love, ludus 5 - Caine, philia 5 - Cyrus, eros 4 - Cythia, and a free ticket if you want :)

good evening! thank you for the ask wonda :)

Ludus 5. What seduction techniques are most likely to be effective when it comes to your OC? Are there some things guaranteed to get them going? Or are they immune to such things?

see, heres the thing about caine. on top of being demisexual and dense as a brick, they also just. dont believe things like that apply to them. he was never made to be attractive(i hc that they used to map infiltration routes + carry out the occasional assasination or two), and his demisexuality made him assume that regenes weren't capable of sexual attraction. the first time he felt sexual attraction to his boyfriends he basically went "????? THIS ISNT EXCLUSIVE TO HUMANS????" and had a crisis about it the whole afternoon. the idea that people can feel that way towards them and act on it has never once crossed their mind. so good luck on getting them to realize youre flirting. chen barely made it. ortega failed. however. once the initial barriers have been breached, even if the seduction doesnt technically work, the knowledge that theyre trying to flirt is enough to get him embarrassed; so, technically speaking, anything would work as long as it comes with a flashing neon sign prefacing what theyre trying to do. hes very awkward with these kinds of things. its very cute watching him flounder.

Philia 5. What is their most fervent wish for their best friend(s)? How far would they go to make it happen?

to keep them safe. and whatever it takes.

Eros 4. Do they believe in love at first sight? Have they ever developed a crush or romantic (or erotic) fixation upon a stranger based on their appearance alone?

oh yeah, absolutely. shed say thats what happened to her with ortega. shes wrong about that, it was only a crush at the time, but she did hold a strong admiration thats easy to confuse when looking back. as for whether or not she had a crush based on looks alone, i dont think so?? she's not the type to put too much stock in appearance– even with ortega it was a mix of how she held herself and her perceived nobility– but then again, its also easy for her to see the pretty in people, and itd be a lie to say looks arent a contributing factor for if she likes them or not. for her, how a person looks just highlights the way they are as a person. its easy for her to develop crushes, though. be friendly with the other person long enough, and its pretty much inevitable. shes very Very lucky shes got all eyes on ortega at the moment, otherwise her love life would be the most embarrassing and inconvenient thing ever.

oooo, free reign. hmmmmm. well i gotta do this with ceci now to complete the group

Ludus 1. Does your OC have any particular favourite chat up lines? If not for themselves then perhaps ones they have suggested to a friend? How effective do these tend to be?

ceci always comes up with a new pick up line. always. and its always the corniest thing in the world. she loves the creative outlet, and loves throwing her enemies off even more. now that she has a consistent target, shes more motivated to come up with something new. she wants to see what makes argent tick. what makes her roll her eyes, play along, or in rare cases, actually fluster her. whether theyre effective or not depends on who shes using them on, some are more responsive to flirting than others, but the end result doesnt really matter. as long as she gets to do her thing, its a good time.

questions are from here!

#caine is a himbo and i love him for that but by god do they make any attempt at romance 10x harder than it should be #cyrus stop getting an unhealthy obsession with the people you care about challenge #whether cyrus can actually protect the people he loves is a bit of a hat toss #and ortega is an exception #that old man can take care of himself #cynthia is like “im in love with everyone! people please talk to me :(” and then she gives anybody this 👁_👁 stare whenever they try #-talking to her #cynthia i swear i love you but you need to stop looking like a cornered animal whenever anybody other than ortega tries talking to you #sometimes argent will find one of cecis pickup lines funny enough to go to ortega about it #“she comes up with better pickup lines than you do” “ok but why are you encouraging it???”#“are /you/ seriously asking me that”#caine lynzal #cyrus becker #cecilia rider #cynthia garcia #ask game #pulp answers

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jacksgreysays · 1 year

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the bleak primadonna au brainrot is real

I have loved your posts on characters' thoughts so far, but I haven't really seen Kakashi mentioned? How does he feel about the whole ordeal? How is he reacting to the fallout? What would he do if there was a civil war over it?

AHHHHHH, anon, thank you for validating bleak primadonna AU brainrot is real. I’m patient zero and it is wild how much I keep thinking about it, lol.

To be fair I hadn’t really considered Kakashi much in this AU until you asked. Except for the canonical “had he still been Hokage this wouldn’t have happened” type thing. But as a person also affected by the Incident and, again, living with the knowledge that he could have prevented this, there’s all that good classic Kakashi Guilt™

BECAUSE I do still stand by the idea that he would have given Shikako her justified revenge. BUT ALSO, another part of the reason for the brewing civil war is that some people think Shikako is the better Hokage candidate so there must be a part of Kakashi that is wondering what if he had chosen Shikako as his successor.

And, like, we have to imagine that when it came time for Kakashi to pass down the hat he did know that objectively Shikako is the better leader, administrator, mentor/guide, general, etc. etc. Of course as of canon DoS, Naruto is still out on his time skip training trip, but Shikako has gone full jounin with SQ’s world building of peace time jounin requirements and even before then we see the difference between Shikako taking the lead on missions versus Naruto being mission leader.

Although, again, haven’t consumed Boruto, so I don’t know if they ever explained what happens between teen Naruto to Hokage Naruto. He could still be genin ranked for all I know, although I would think that whatever powers that be that decide the next Hokage would want him to prove himself as a jounin. And while, arguably, wartime promotions are a thing (obviously child Kakashi didn’t have a civic leadership project considering his almost literal lone wolf vibe and also being a child) the whole point of a Hokage Naruto is that he wants/brought about a world of peace. Which is to say that we don’t necessarily know what Naruto will end up doing for his jounin civic leadership project or even if one is required of him, but I can’t imagine it’s more impressive/significant than the, essentially, multiple jounin civic leadership projects that Shikako has done/contributed to, etc.

All of that to say, if Kakashi were to be logical about his successor he would definitely consider/ask Shikako first—privately so as not to rub it in Naruto and Sasuke’s faces--then ask for her opinion on who it should be after she says no. Because obviously he knows about being a reluctant Hokage forced into a position he doesn’t want (he probably tried to pass down the hat even earlier, but it’s not until a certain age when his students are a more acceptable option that it becomes reasonable) and he would never want to do the same thing to his students. And of course at this point in time—post war/all threats dealt with—Shikako just wants to relax and come up with cool seals and not worry about any oncoming tragedy so she certainly doesn’t want to be Hokage. And moreover of course she wouldn’t want to steal Naruto’s dream. So she turns Kakashi down.

(And this is maybe something she thinks about, too. After everything. The hubris she had that even if she didn’t become Hokage that she could still guide/influence her friends into doing what she wanted/thought was correct. And how galling it must have been when Naruto refused her. O_O)

But back to Kakashi.

He wonders, maybe, if he should have… not MADE her take the hat per se, but been a little more convincing. Encouraged her toward it in a way that said, “Hey, I was the best option Konoha had at the time and I stepped up. I think you’re the best option Konoha has now and I want you to step up, too.” Because it’s not always about who WANTS it the most but who is BEST for the role.

(And also, for all that Naruto is arguably not great in the bleak primadonna AU, I don’t think he’d be resentful towards Shikako had she become Hokage. He would have been a little heart broken for a little bit, maybe, and always think about it wistfully, but I think he would have eventually come to terms with it and, like, re-contextualize his desire to be Hokage for what it really was (to be publicly respected and liked which he achieved before becoming Hokage anyway))

But, let’s move beyond Kakashi’s Guilt and Regrets™

If Sasuke is conflicted to the point of being neutral and staying in the village, I would want to do something different with Kakashi. In classic Kakashi fashion, he does turn the blame inwards, but he also has to never show it because now—with the exception of Gai—the only people he can be vulnerable about these types of things are his students who are at the heart of the issue (and also Sasuke who is already SO conflicted)

It’s a very fine line he is walking and I’m not sure if I’m even articulating it right, but basically I think he is a big Kako Heijo fan but also never acknowledges who Kako Heijo really is. Like, whenever possible, he goes to the midnight premieres of her movies but never reaches out to use his obvious connections to get merch or autographs or special seating or anything like that. Why would he? He’s just a fan of Kako Heijo. He has no other connection to her. Of course he never taught her, you must be confused, Kako Heijo is a civilian actress not a shinobi. Why are you being so weird. Oh, you must be thinking of my student Shikako Nara. I suppose they have similar names, but I don’t see how you’d get them confused.

Extreme denial is the way he’d go.

I also think, in order to prevent… hm… there’s probably another faction in the village who want Kakashi to be Hokage again instead. Like, a neutral faction or a faction who is also trying to prevent a civil war by seeking a third option or, like, the older generation who see both Shikako and Naruto as overdramatic upstarts because Kakashi shouldn’t have even given up the hat anyway. You keep it until you die (or are unable to fight. Actually, DOES something happen to Kakashi that would make him unable to fight? I did not read much of Shippuden.) But even if Kakashi thought it would work (it wouldn’t) I don’t think he’d want to be Hokage again. And if anything that would just be kicking the problem further down the line because he’d have to retire again eventually and his successors would still be Naruto and Shikako… and maybe Sasuke, although I feel like he’d want it even less?

Anyways… in order to prevent that, I think Kakashi really is leaning into the whole… I’m just a silly old man. Yes I used to be Hokage and one of the deadliest S-rank shinobi on the planet, but now I like to watch movies and play with my dogs, nothing to see here.

And so as not to seem one-sided in his personal but not professional support, I do think Kakashi gets closer to the Uzumaki family as, like, a strange uncle figure (which adds to Boruto’s weird double prince privilege vibe) so its not just them and the Hyuuga clan. But understandably it gets fraught when Naruto neglects his fatherly duties to be Hokage—which both Boruto and Himawari are sad about and only adds to the guilt that Kakashi points inward—and Kakashi doesn’t help him with that because 1) that’s not his job anymore, 2) he’s just a silly old man, and 3) if Kakashi helps Naruto professionally then what was the point of even passing the hat down, if he’s going to advise Naruto then he should have just kept it and maybe the Incident wouldn’t have happened and he wou—

Things get cyclical with Kakashi and his Guilt/Regret Spiraling™

When I say civil war, I don’t actually think there will be outright war and fighting. Most of the movement would be led by the ANY clans and most of that would be a peaceful secession from Konoha, possibly citing the original clan laws of why they joined Konoha in the first place, and sort of implying that there were contracts in place about clan responsibilities to the village and vice versa when Konoha was founded.

Now whether or not the other side accepts the secession peacefully is up in the air, but the ANY clans have been PLANNING and PREPARING for this for a long time so i would think that if it did come to actual battle, the ANY clans would have the foresight to have already evacuated all their noncombatants which puts more risk for the other side. And, sure, Naruto would kick Chouji’s ass—especially since, without Shikamaru, he and Ino aren’t as effective in battle as they were before and no way is Ino going to be able to mind jump a jinchuuriki—but by that point it gets kinda dicey since like… Naruto’s whole stance is that he brought peace to the Elemental Nations and also that Shikako straight up murdered who she wanted… so obviously it’s not hypocrisy per se, but it doesn’t look great in either direction for Naruto if he lets a third of his village leave or if he forces(?) a third of his village to stay under threat of imprisonment(?)

Kakashi knows this. And this is the one case where he is being proactive, competent Hound/former Hokage in that he is trying to reintegrate the ANY clans into the village without tipping anyone off about the plan to secede and also that he knows about the plan to secede. Or maybe he doesn’t really KNOW it per se, but I think he gets the vibe that something is happening to the ANY clans similar to what happened to the Uchiha clan and he’s trying to fix the problem the same way he would have fixed that without realizing that the ANY clans are isolating/diminishing their presence themselves rather than it being done to them by other people.

(Because if it comes to actual war, Kakashi knows what he’ll do. It’s what he’s always done. He’ll fight for Konoha. He’ll kill for Konoha. He doesn’t want to, but he will if it comes to that. But it won’t. Because the Hokage is Naruto and that’s what got them into this situation in the first place)

That being said, it really does depend on the Hyuuga Branch House on whether or not things turn to violence. Because if the ANY clans are able to recruit the Branch House they get that moral victory AND the majority of Konoha’s current most powerful bloodline which means that even if the other clans are willing to stay with Naruto’s village, much less fight for it, odds are not in their favor. But, if the ANY clans CAN’T recruit the Branch House, it then depends on whether they are willing to fight against their current best chance at removing the seal (because even if Shikako is currently off being Kako Heijo that doesn’t mean she won’t at some point go back to sealing. And she won’t look favorably on them if they mess with her clans) and even if they do fight, I can’t imagine they’re going to go all out. (And, also, I have to wonder if Akimichi physiology is at all a deterrent to the Hyuuga’s style? Like… does their bulk mean that more effort is required to hit the tenketsu?)

And, like, even if the ANY clans lose, at worst Naruto is going to imprison them (specifically Chouji and Ino and maybe Kinokawa as the leaders) because the whole situation even started because he doesn’t believe in capital punishment. And then, what, their clans are just supposed to fall back in line without being resentful? And then as if Kako Heijo won’t come out of retirement to prison break her childhood friends and her little brother. AND THEN! THAT JUST FURTHER PROVES THE FUTILITY OF NARUTO’S STANCE (but also does maybe now turn Shikako into an official S-rank nuke nin like the many Konoha S-rank nuke nin before her, but who’s going to go up against her, really, lol)

Oh Kakashi, so little of this is your fault, and yet I know he’s going to internalize all of it and just destroy himself emotionally while still being cool and casual externally.

Sorry for ranting, thank you for indulging me.

#jacksgreyson #anonymous #review response #asks #answers #primadonna girl (says no thank you)#kakashi hatake #shikako nara #naruto uzumaki #brainstorm

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