![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
narcasseOf course this is entirely the fault of serendipity ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
herit.
474 words. AU. PG? for mention of mutilation and hints at Radu/Helga.
Based on the premise of Isaak being Radu’s direct superior rather than Dietrich.
Future Perfect
Disclaimer: Trinity Blood belongs to Sunao Yoshida, Gonzo and others.
++++++++++
It was a farce really, Marionettenspieler’s private little control room where all he did was stare in horror at his own face in a handmirror.
“Live fast, die young and leave a great looking corpse?” Flammenschwert had enquired once, loitering in the doorway, cigarette hanging from his lips and with a fresh bandage over his left eye. Dietrich had thrown the mirror at him.
Maybe that had been ten years ago, maybe twenty when the terran had finally begun to realise that his looks wouldn’t last forever and that realisation had brought about a profound change in him. In public there was no noticeable difference but in private he fretted over a growing abundance of grey hair, the fine lines developing at the corner of his eyes and what was looking more and more like early-onset arthritis. Later, he’d taken to dying his hair and sleeping covered in a whole selection of supposedly anti-aging products.
It was something Radu might have understood if he’d had any vague comprehension of his own looks before one too many failures had disfigured him. Not that he’d been injured on missions but rather than Isaak only had so much tolerance for what he saw as avoidable failures. Radu still preferred to hold his cigarette with his right hand even though it was missing two and a half fingers. His left hand was only missing half a finger at least and while one of his ribs had been broken and allowed to heal in a particularly awkward fashion he’d learnt to move without it causing him trouble. And when he thought about it, it wasn’t as if his left eye was all that necessary either. That had been the mark of his last mistake and afterwards, surprisingly he’d learnt to produce infallible results.
Isaak had been both pleased and disappointed which Radu had taken to mean that the old mage really had nothing else to do.
“Damage report.” He’d dropped the manila folder unceremoniously onto Isaak’s desk.
Isaak had made that odd faint clicking noise with his teeth that he occasionally did when preoccupied as he glanced over the report and Radu had felt certain that he could feel his missing fingers curl in trepidation. At length Isaak had looked up and readjusted the monocle that looked like he’d stolen it from a very specific corpse.
“Well done, Flammenschwert. Well done.” And it hadn’t sounded congratulatory at all.
Disabled and disfigured, he should have been odd man out in the Orden but strangely enough Eix Hexe had suddenly become quite fond of him, which wasn’t without its own pitfalls. Eventually, Radu had given up on ever managing to drink his tea when Helga proposed that they do so together because it was really quite difficult to manage that sort of thing with an ice goddess sat in his lap.
++++++++++
The title is more of my barmy referencing since Future Perfect Tense describes an action that happened at an indefinite time in the past or that began in the past and continues in the present. ’Balmy’ is really up there with phrases like ‘limy fruitcake’ now that I think about it.
There may also be more of this in the future since the idea of Radu Bernadotte-Barvon is growing on me. Isaak’s starting to sound like he’s having a harddrive crash though.
345 words. G. A sort of character death. Unrequited Esther/Dietrich. Post-series.
The possibility of AI.
Perfidious Albion
Disclaimer: Trinity Blood belongs to Sunao Yoshida, Gonzo and others.
++++++++++
It was the eyes that terrified Esther. Those dull, lifeless eyes that didn’t look like the man she had once loved. She’d loved him, she could admit that now. Loved him for all his insanity, his passion, his fire. She’d loved him for all the wrong reasons, the same reasons that girls always liked unsuitable boys. But it was too late now that this thing that was no longer a man knelt before her.
Perfidious Albion, so that phrase went, faithless, treacherous, forsaken. The progenitor of the Project Hermes. A technology so advanced that it had made the Mars settlement of later years seem almost primitive in comparison.
“I am the bird of Hermes; I have devoured my own wings…” She murmured the lines softly as she reached out to gently cup his face in her hands.
“Majesty.”
“You’ve done well. All of Albion will be blessed by your progress.” She leaned forwards to kiss his forehead. Taking a moment to brush his black hair aside with a hand, she blinked back unexpected tears.
She’d never really get over it, she supposed. Even now. So she shouldn’t be surprised at the sorrow that stirred in her heart every time she laid eyes on him. This man, this shell that was simply the casing for an advanced AI.
“Why him?”
The question would go unanswered. Why Dietrich? Why before him Isaac Butler who’d been just another promising young student in Londinium. Why so many before that?
“Because the control mechanism requires a human neural network to facilitate-“
She’d held up a hand to halt the Count of Manchester’s explanation. It wasn’t what she was asking anyway.
L'Angleterre, ah, la perfide Angleterre, que le rempart de ses mers rendait inaccessible aux Romains, la foi du Sauveur y est abordee.
What else was there to do but laugh, when a Catholic nun sat on the Protestant throne, when Albion assured its neutrality by plunging the rest of the world into war? When an AI sometimes called her “Esther” in a tone that reminded her of a mortal man…
+++++++++++
"England, ah, faithless England, which was rendered inaccessible to the Romans by rampart of her seas, the faith of the Saviour spread even there." - phrase used by Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet in a 17th century sermon. Though the main sentiment itself was later applied to a different sort of perfidy.
Esther quotes Hellsing with the bird of Hermes line because I’ve a tendency to cross the two series over in places.
herit.474 words. AU. PG? for mention of mutilation and hints at Radu/Helga.
Based on the premise of Isaak being Radu’s direct superior rather than Dietrich.
Future Perfect
Disclaimer: Trinity Blood belongs to Sunao Yoshida, Gonzo and others.
++++++++++
It was a farce really, Marionettenspieler’s private little control room where all he did was stare in horror at his own face in a handmirror.
“Live fast, die young and leave a great looking corpse?” Flammenschwert had enquired once, loitering in the doorway, cigarette hanging from his lips and with a fresh bandage over his left eye. Dietrich had thrown the mirror at him.
Maybe that had been ten years ago, maybe twenty when the terran had finally begun to realise that his looks wouldn’t last forever and that realisation had brought about a profound change in him. In public there was no noticeable difference but in private he fretted over a growing abundance of grey hair, the fine lines developing at the corner of his eyes and what was looking more and more like early-onset arthritis. Later, he’d taken to dying his hair and sleeping covered in a whole selection of supposedly anti-aging products.
It was something Radu might have understood if he’d had any vague comprehension of his own looks before one too many failures had disfigured him. Not that he’d been injured on missions but rather than Isaak only had so much tolerance for what he saw as avoidable failures. Radu still preferred to hold his cigarette with his right hand even though it was missing two and a half fingers. His left hand was only missing half a finger at least and while one of his ribs had been broken and allowed to heal in a particularly awkward fashion he’d learnt to move without it causing him trouble. And when he thought about it, it wasn’t as if his left eye was all that necessary either. That had been the mark of his last mistake and afterwards, surprisingly he’d learnt to produce infallible results.
Isaak had been both pleased and disappointed which Radu had taken to mean that the old mage really had nothing else to do.
“Damage report.” He’d dropped the manila folder unceremoniously onto Isaak’s desk.
Isaak had made that odd faint clicking noise with his teeth that he occasionally did when preoccupied as he glanced over the report and Radu had felt certain that he could feel his missing fingers curl in trepidation. At length Isaak had looked up and readjusted the monocle that looked like he’d stolen it from a very specific corpse.
“Well done, Flammenschwert. Well done.” And it hadn’t sounded congratulatory at all.
Disabled and disfigured, he should have been odd man out in the Orden but strangely enough Eix Hexe had suddenly become quite fond of him, which wasn’t without its own pitfalls. Eventually, Radu had given up on ever managing to drink his tea when Helga proposed that they do so together because it was really quite difficult to manage that sort of thing with an ice goddess sat in his lap.
++++++++++
The title is more of my barmy referencing since Future Perfect Tense describes an action that happened at an indefinite time in the past or that began in the past and continues in the present. ’Balmy’ is really up there with phrases like ‘limy fruitcake’ now that I think about it.
There may also be more of this in the future since the idea of Radu Bernadotte-Barvon is growing on me. Isaak’s starting to sound like he’s having a harddrive crash though.
345 words. G. A sort of character death. Unrequited Esther/Dietrich. Post-series.
The possibility of AI.
Perfidious Albion
Disclaimer: Trinity Blood belongs to Sunao Yoshida, Gonzo and others.
++++++++++
It was the eyes that terrified Esther. Those dull, lifeless eyes that didn’t look like the man she had once loved. She’d loved him, she could admit that now. Loved him for all his insanity, his passion, his fire. She’d loved him for all the wrong reasons, the same reasons that girls always liked unsuitable boys. But it was too late now that this thing that was no longer a man knelt before her.
Perfidious Albion, so that phrase went, faithless, treacherous, forsaken. The progenitor of the Project Hermes. A technology so advanced that it had made the Mars settlement of later years seem almost primitive in comparison.
“I am the bird of Hermes; I have devoured my own wings…” She murmured the lines softly as she reached out to gently cup his face in her hands.
“Majesty.”
“You’ve done well. All of Albion will be blessed by your progress.” She leaned forwards to kiss his forehead. Taking a moment to brush his black hair aside with a hand, she blinked back unexpected tears.
She’d never really get over it, she supposed. Even now. So she shouldn’t be surprised at the sorrow that stirred in her heart every time she laid eyes on him. This man, this shell that was simply the casing for an advanced AI.
“Why him?”
The question would go unanswered. Why Dietrich? Why before him Isaac Butler who’d been just another promising young student in Londinium. Why so many before that?
“Because the control mechanism requires a human neural network to facilitate-“
She’d held up a hand to halt the Count of Manchester’s explanation. It wasn’t what she was asking anyway.
L'Angleterre, ah, la perfide Angleterre, que le rempart de ses mers rendait inaccessible aux Romains, la foi du Sauveur y est abordee.
What else was there to do but laugh, when a Catholic nun sat on the Protestant throne, when Albion assured its neutrality by plunging the rest of the world into war? When an AI sometimes called her “Esther” in a tone that reminded her of a mortal man…
+++++++++++
"England, ah, faithless England, which was rendered inaccessible to the Romans by rampart of her seas, the faith of the Saviour spread even there." - phrase used by Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet in a 17th century sermon. Though the main sentiment itself was later applied to a different sort of perfidy.
Esther quotes Hellsing with the bird of Hermes line because I’ve a tendency to cross the two series over in places.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-10 11:07 pm (UTC)On the Esther story, I really don't know what to say. It's dark and somewhat sick, and I love the way it deals with the AI. I wonder what sort of progress Esther meant, though?
And I love the last line, that seriously is just beautiful. I take every blame gladly, though I think you flatter me too much with that.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-11 08:23 pm (UTC)I was wondering if they were capable of regenerating limbs and so on which really might be possible considering things like Radu’s already confirmed flame-retardant status. Still, missing fingers and all, I agree that Helga has the right idea about things in regards to Radu.
I have no idea what the AI is up to yet other than running around and stirring up trouble in all the right places; presumably whenever it looks like another nation might begin to surpass Albion’s technological advantages. Its prime directive is probably something along the lines of “For God, England & St George.” Now all it needs is an opposing AI who follows the maxim “Deus vult.”
Though maybe all the Empire are waiting for is a certain Prince of Wallacha to get reincarnated again and get on with the job of striking a definitive blow against Christendom.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-12 10:18 am (UTC)Hmmm, that sounds quite promising as an ally, really. And that gives me another clichéed OTP in this scenario, but not really that strong (Cain and Isaak just can't be beaten; they're the acme of drama and really every clichée ever worth reading).
Gah, Vlad gets too much attention. Give me Mehmed anytime.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-13 04:42 pm (UTC)Do you want me to start attempting to suggest Baybars as Murad and Süleyman as Mehmed now? Do I even have that the right way round?(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-13 05:41 pm (UTC)Oh please no Mehmed = Süleyman, or I'll scream. >< And I'm so sick of the (child) rapist image that man has. The two couldn't be more different. Though now you got me to think. Somehow, Süleyman does not really have that much in common with his historical example, but he kind of reminds me of a sort of Selim I. trying to be Osman. Though... if you can back it up, I'd be curious to hear it.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-14 07:32 am (UTC)Maybe the reanimation of dead tissue is- no, he’s actually done that, hasn’t he?I suppose he could be collecting body parts in so far as silver axes might damage the bacillus so that he can’t just stick spare parts onto things and have the bacillus do the job of welding it all together for him. And now I’m starting to wonder if Isaak isn’t the only big fake in the Orden because if Dietrich is relying on the bacillus to weld flesh together then he’s no more a great re-animator than Isaak is a Magieror a Panzer for that matter, but I’m guessing he’s never quite claimed he’s that at least.And alas, I can’t actually back that up as yet though perhaps eventually I’ll find a reasonable comparison, even if it’s to another fictional character rather than a historical figure. Nothing strikes me as a particularly good comparison currently though.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-14 04:37 pm (UTC)Well... to a certain degree, yes. Now he just has to master the art of... wait. He even managed to make corpses look good again. Okay, I think he's completed this project. Nothing more within his grasp.That's true, now that you say it. He hasn't yet brought a human back to life after all. God, this magician really taught him everything, even posing as if he can actually do something. So that seriously happens? Ouch. Probably not worse than what Dietrich can do, but - and here we are again at the body/mind thing - most likely a completely different feeling knowing that there's somebody doing stuff to your body at the moment, while you can't fight back. Isaak as Alucard? Way too many fangirls for my liking for that, though all their squeeing aside it'd be another explanation for why Isaak would disfigure him so.Isaak, upon meeting Radu in the Orden for the first time: "Still betraying your countries?"
Radu: "???"
Isaak: "... you don't recognize me? ... Then nevermind." >)
Too bad. Though now I have a reason to call you serendipity for once. This is a genius point you brought me at. On Mehmed's behalf, I'm still hoping he just hasen't appeared yet but will be the one taking over the Empire after Seth's death and starting a war against Europe, taking over all except Albion and Germanicus. He was, from all I know, the only sultan who got this far, except for Süleyman - who's dead already.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-16 12:45 pm (UTC)I’m still rooting for the entire world to be destroyed or at least rendered uninhabitable just so that people finally can’t misconstrue the meaning of the Orden motto.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-17 12:08 pm (UTC)Yes, I've seen those Hellsing/Trinity Blood (or rather Alucard/Isaak) fangirls going that way, and though I thought it was just a joke once, this whole "that guy's hot and has black hair, so let's make them one person by force"! stuff is just annoying. I answered it by declaring that Isaak does not look like a mix of Integra and Alucard as much as he looks (and acts) like a mix of Sevothtarte/Layla and Zaphkiel from Angel Sanctuary. Then it started getting funny. But I guess it's the fanbase; Alucard being Dracula and all is just drawing fangirls too much, even though the Hellsing plot doesn't really work with the TB one. But well, as long as those fangirls stay away and don't see it, I'd even like to see you doing this.
Incest? oo *imagines* ... ow ... OW... oh shit, that's gonna hurt. ... do it. <3 Just to be a little mean to the fangirls. Not much; just a little.Absolutely agreed. Though I've always been wondering who takes over once Augusta is killed and beheaded by Cain. Mirka would be unlikely as she loves humans and is just too benevolent. Also, she knows Esther, and I am not sure if she'd wage war against her. Maybe Baybars, but I am not sure. That's why I still have the (not all serious of course) hope Mehmed will become a character, too.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-20 12:39 pm (UTC)There’s a good question. What happens to Mirka? Since surely she’d put a stop to all out war. I’d almost wonder if they’re going to pull a General Darius out from somewhere but then they’ve got Baybars already. I suppose Darius could start a militaristic conquest of the known world and then die while planning part of his campaign leaving whoever is left in charge to escalate the conflict.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-24 12:37 pm (UTC)Never underestimate the 25%, though. In my family, pale complexion, blue eyes, and blonde hair pwned reddish/tanner complexion, brown eyes, and brown hair in three of three cases.And thanks for the part on genetics. That really never ceases to amaze me. It's a pity I had a horrible teacher in biology classes, as the topic is really fascinating. Then again, I've seen darker types (Persian to be exact) with bright blue eyes before. Is that a mutation/anomaly of sorts or can that happen?*waiting desperately for that blasphemy*
History can kiss my ass. ... well, people are doing worse things to history than this. And after all poor Mehy had to take, Vlad can take some damage, too. It's only fair.
Sadly, no idea here. I can only guess that she died, too. As a matter of fact, Mirka's always been fond of humans. That war is definitively not like her, especially as she knew about the Orden and its influence. Baybars I don't know enough to judge, but he could take this job, considering his high rank. Then again, he's not involved in politics directly. Which doesn't necessarily mean that he cannot just take the state over, but if he does that or not, I cannot judge. His character is too obscure so far. Darius? That might be interesting, too. And it'd make sense to take him in, although I still hope they keep the cast pretty renaissance and choose Mehy instead. What, I'm a fangirl.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-24 03:41 pm (UTC)I suppose it’s possible that Cain may have killed Mirka first if she was masquerading as Seth at the time and then having realised his mistake, gone on to kill the real Seth too. Or if she died of natural causes beforehand then what happens to the Fortunas? Since two of the most powerful families are gone it doesn’t look like a particularly stable situation at all. After all, Shahrazad runs off so it’s not as if she could do anything anyway. Unless the war with the terrans is in part not only to avenge their Empress but also to consolidate the Empire under their new ruler. Nothing brings people together like a common enemy after all.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-25 11:32 am (UTC)Never heard of that Sonic Hedgehog thing, though. What... is that? ooEh. Right. Maybe I should try and finish it at some point. I've been hanging at the last 50 pages for weeks now.
That's both possible. Else, maybe she was assassinated in the following power struggles between the nobles. There are more families of the highest rank, I think (there was a short mentioning of a "Faron Lynn" or something like that, the Marchioness of Damascus if I'm not mistaken), but we don't know anything of them as of yet. Though it really should be some member of the ruling families taking over; else, if there was a complete revolution in the Empire, that'd first have needed more time, and second Yoshida would have taken a note, I suppose.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-25 10:49 pm (UTC)I should really look to see what information there is on this Faron Lynn if she’s the matriarch of some other powerful family. And yes, I doubt that a sudden ‘revolution’ would end in anything but anarchy if that were to happen. I like the idea on principle but dislike it in the sense that it would just damage their capacity to wage war on a larger scale.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-26 10:48 pm (UTC)Oh God. I knew a guy with that once. It's... weird to look at, really. Though it's one of the "better" fates still.I'm already poking a Chinese friend about her, but there doesn't seem to be more info on her - except, that she is that hot, Asian-looking woman from the Methuselah meetings in the manga, apparently. And here I must admit, he makes sense.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-28 08:41 am (UTC)Faron Lynn: *objects to something in a meeting*Süleyman: *smiles indulgently*
Faron Lynn: *frowns*
Süleyman: *is picturing her naked in his mind*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-28 11:57 pm (UTC)Priceless. So it was fitting that a friend of mine turned him into the "hot, rich foreign lady-killer" in a crack-AU-university fic.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-29 03:04 pm (UTC)I still owe you university AU, don’t I? I just need to sort out what I’ve written really.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-30 10:39 am (UTC)Don't worry about that, you've been writing a lot lately, and I enjoy every piece.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-10 11:39 pm (UTC)@.@ You have no idea how much these two ficlets(?) sate me, I guess? I've never thought about Dietrich getting old or Radu getting all disfigured and the like. It was very interesting.
The second one I wish you had written a bit more on >< Dietrich/Esther is one of my favorite pairings, and I would love to see this ficlet expanded? *can only hope*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-11 09:45 pm (UTC)I rather like disfigured Radu for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on which is probably stranger than expected since I didn’t even know I was going to write that till I did.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-11 11:39 pm (UTC)>< You do that too?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-12 12:36 am (UTC)It’s terrible really. Radu gets in on everything and more often than not; Dietrich gets pwned as a result.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-12 02:40 am (UTC);_; Awww poor Diet *huggles*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-12 10:11 am (UTC)Was that me by any chance? <<
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-12 04:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-12 04:32 pm (UTC)Was it or not???
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-12 04:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-12 04:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-12 04:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-12 04:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-12 04:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-14 01:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-14 02:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-14 03:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-14 04:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-15 10:11 am (UTC)As for everything else now that I’ve completely derailed anything else I was going to say; I agree completely. The anime-style art is just… well.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-16 10:53 am (UTC)