#(shockingly well-done btw)

[shoutsindwarvish]

i’m not christian anymore and haven’t been in years but simon peter is always going to be important to me

like that post about putting a character in your back pocket when leaving a fandom

[some-pers0n]

Demoman is one of the characters in the fandom I feel most people straight up ignore or don't know how to write. Blunt, sure, but I do stand by it. Demoman is such a fascinating, intriguing character with the most fleshed-out backstories, yet is oftentimes relegated to being Soldier 2.0, only now with poorly written phonetics.

In other words, hey! I'm a fanfic writer who has a ton of opinions as well as a neurotic need to analyze every character they come into contact with. Pleased to see you're reading this. I've already done a little doohickey essay like this with Medic a while back. The purpose of these long rambles is half of me combing through every instance of the character and pulling them apart to see how their character works...and also me not-so-subtly venting and complaining about mischaracterization. Shocking how a fandom where the main characters are all very clear-cut stereotypes with some slight subversions here and there can't seem to get them.

This essay will go through Demo's beginning and all the way to his latest appearance in the 6th comic. I'll touch on how his character shifts and is expanded upon. I doubt he changes as much as Medic has over the years, but I think it will be interesting to see. I'll just go over bits of characterization, try to rationalize it, and then try my best to sum up all of the traits by the end and try to describe his character in the most canon-compliant way.

With that preamble out of the way, let's begin. This is also 7k words btw just...be aware of that, okay?

Before we actually get into proper character stuff, I wanna lay the groundwork first by exploring the types of characterization I see from Demo. Pick them apart. See what they're really like.

So, of course, there's the popular Redditor opinion of Demo that's mainly shaped by the way people play him in the game. There, people will describe Demo as being generally a bumbling drunkard. It's not too uncommon to see people say that he's an angry drunk. A man who is more concerned with alcohol and drinking himself into a stupor than anything else. I've also seen people say that Demo straight up can't read, which...euhhhhggg. He feels more like an alternative version of Soldier at times, which, again, isn't accurate to his character.

I don't care at all for this characterization. I do think a good chunk is rooted in racism and it's generally very uncomfortable for me to look at for too long. This characterization is pretty shallow and empty, which makes for a boring and offensive caricature. Reddit moment.

The second one is more interesting and the version you'll see more on Tumblr. It's this...odd version of him. I can't exactly put my tongue on what is off about it. It seems more accurate to his character. He's a foil for Soldier a lot of the time (Boots n' Bombs is his most popular ship let's be real) and generally isn't exactly seen on his own. Sure yeah there's the oddball art of him and him only, but let's be real most of his tag is mainly just him being in the background or saying a jokey-joke.

I actually fell back into Ao3 for a bit to skim over some fics to see what kind of characterization there was of Demo there to refresh my memory, and some of the common throughlines was shockingly that he doesn't drink a lot. "He rarely drinks!" I remember reading once. That's not right, no. He's an alcoholic. Like that's a core part of his character. Another fic had him being called "Cyclops" as a pet name. Ew. Anywho, other than that it's Demo being pretty into cryptids, having the Eyelander as a buddy guy, etc and etc. It's fun, but also it's missing...something.

Then, it hit me: Demo rarely is seen as an individual. He reminds me of Heavy in that regard, where most of his appearances have him be the straight-man to another character. Most of the time he's secondary and just a folly for the other characters. It's disappointing in that regard. Like you see a lot more stuff for characters like Scout, Medic, etc and etc with their own unique characterization stuff and getting their own attention.

So...then what is Demoman's character, exactly? Well, that's what we're here to see. It'll be pretty interesting, no?

----

So, funny thing is that Demo didn't change nearly as much as Medic has over the years. Sure yeah, the concept art of Demo was more of the generic stereotypical Scotsman. White, ginger, sideburns, that whole thing. Cartoony and fun design, but eventually they went with the Demo we all know and love today.

Looking at the concept art, it all seems pretty standard for the tone that Invasion was going for at the time. Nothing really to note there other than Demo's face being a stock angry grr grr expression. It is interesting to see how the idea of him wearing an eye was a constant even from the beginning though.

This then brings us to the voicelines. Ahh, good ol' characterization. Demo here is characterized as being jovial and having fun. He's throwing out insults left and right, damning them to hell and laughing at them as they die. Usual typical mercenary stuff. This is just personal headcanon material, but I always rationalize the way the mercs act on the battlefield as being a result from adrenaline and generally being drunk on blood. They aren't as mean when off the clock, but it's worth noting that these are how these characters act when a gun's in their hands and they're exploding people left and right.

TF2 really likes basing the characters off of the class they play as and how they act. Scout is fast moving and his gameplay is oftentimes getting right in someone's face and bolting, which is reflective in his hotshot personality. It's only reasonable that Demo is an explosive, fun, and generally cocky guy when out and battling. He's lobbing grenades and sticky bombs left and right. He isn't afraid to yell to the Medic he just blew up that he's been shagging his wife and calling the Scout he just chopped the head off "twinkle-toes". He teases and such when it comes to the other team.

However, the voicelines also very curiously give us a really fascinating look into his character. He's an alcoholic. He loves his scrumpy, which is not whiskey, shockingly. I thought it was whiskey for the longest time, but no! It's a cider! His stock melee is the bottle he uses to drink, now turning it into a quick weapon. His model in the main menu is him holding up the bottle itself. His default melee taunt is him taking a swig from the scrumpy bottle. It's a core part of his identity, let's be real. It's a part of the whole Scottish stereotype he has going on.

The game of course follows this. There's a lot of lines where he's slurring and babbling in a cartoony drunken way. A good portion of it is just him making vague threats...but a lot of it is also sad. He calls himself a one-eyed bloody monster. He weeps and cries. When jeering, he says he's hit rock bottom here. Interesting new development.

Apologizes for pausing to ramble, but I don't get why people try and sand down the edges to Demoman's character by making him out as though he isn't an addict. He is. That's something that is made abundantly clear. The iconography of alcohol follows him like his own damn shadow. I dunno. It bothers me.

I digress. There's some other bonus stuff I think is quite interesting. Most of his battle charges involve the other team. "Let's gettem lads!" and all. I think it's neat how he views his teammates as just that. Teammates. Those he fights alongside with. Another thing of note is how he occasionally has lines that are...odd in a way. Poetic and dramatic. Something that subverts the typical characterization. When he loses at rock paper scissors, there's a chance he'll say "Oh, 'tis a dark day", which. well then okay buddy.

So to recap: for characterization in-game, Demo is an alcoholic Scotsman who is generally pretty witty and functioning despite the incredible amounts of booze he drinks. He is energetic, bombastic, and generally hearty and having fun. He's not taking things terribly seriously and is generally just going about and blowing stuff up. However, there is a very noticeable streak of sadness to his character. When drinking, he reveals undertones of self-deprecation and hatred. Why? How?

...well, you just need to take a gander at his character card.

Erm excuse me what the fuck.

I honestly do not understand the logic behind this backstory. Like in a practical sense. Like, yeah!! obviously this backstory is sad and such! I really actually like this backstory and honestly I love writing him in the context that this happened to him. It's just that...I can't wrap my head around the idea of this being Demo's backstory given that everyone else has pretty silly little blurbs here. I think the darkest it gets is Soldier going to Germany years after WWII ended to kill people.

This??? Sure yeah TF2 gets a lot sillier and more cartoony comedic as time goes on, but even with the current tone where is the funny? I ain't complaining, I love me my angst, but this is so jarring to see. I suppose that explains why they retcon it later, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Hey, at least it gives us an explanation to why Demo is sad. We can pretty easily gleam a reason for his current behaviour in the game from this: his messed up childhood. To begin, Tavish Finnegan DeGroot was abandoned by his parents and left to live in an orphanage. Eventually, he was adopted and brought up by some foster parents, who he then murdered in an attempt to blow up the Loch Ness monster. This was when he was six years old. Actual child. 

He then went back into the orphanage, where he would tinker with bombs. Why? Insert whatever headcanon here, but for me I think it's a feeling of fascination, yet also heavy guilt. Perhaps revenge. Either way, he loses his eye from these experiments. Eventually however, he's brought back into the family when word spreads of his excellence when it comes to manufacturing bombs. The use of the word "lovingly" feels exceptionally sarcastic, but that could be in part to how his parents are later characterized. Either way, this is a result of the DeGroot tradition, which, and I quote, is wholly unnecessary and cruel. It even cites it as him being reintroduced into his family as the "end of his unhappy childhood".

...so yeah. Pretty safe to say the reason for his alcoholism is to cope with that. He feels the guilt over that and will breakdown into sobs over it even. Yikeesss... It can also mean that he feels as though he's held up to incredibly high expectations, having the entire DeGroot family lineage to live up to. Again, later on he's being nagged at for not being as hard-working as his father, who, in good ol' TF2 fashion, blew up the Queen for a nickel. It does certainly feel that way, no?

So this introduces a new wrinkle to Demoman's current characterization: he's an alcoholic who is happy and has an upbeat and fun personality (at least on the battlefield), but underneath it he's hurting and feels ashamed of who he is. He drinks to cope and manage it, yet it only seems to exasperate problems at times.

Can I safely say that Demo is the merc with the most fascinating and intriguing backstory and personality thus far? Sure yeah I love Engie a lot as well, but Demo's character actually feels like it is a result of the backstory written for him. Like all of the other mercs sure you can go on and on about stuff with them, like Scout and Spy and their whole deal, Sniper and his parents, everything with Heavy, etc. Demo?? Right off the bat there's something to chew on in terms of actual character writing.

What an interesting character! I sure hope later installations of the story will follow through on this and give him ample screentime!

Anywho, time for the Meet the Demo video. Again, a departure from the Meet the Medic video and how I rambled on and on about that one, but it was mainly due to MtM being something to mark a drastic shift in Medic's character from serious and angry to more silly and mad scientist-esque. Meet the Demo, due to it being one of the Meet the Team videos made so early on, doesn't really get the benefit of a short with a story, but I digress.

This one is stylized more like an interview, which, in canon, means he's telling this all to The Director and all. It opens with the title screen before the horns section seep in, cutting to a clip of Demo running while explosions go off behind him. A freeze frame cut before a voice-over of Demo comes on with the iconic line "What makes me a good Demoman? If I were a bad Demoman, I wouldn't be here discussing it with you, now would I!?"

Okay so just more confirmation and all of Demo's personality in-game. According to his bio, he has a short temper and all, which could explain him getting louder when asked that question. I don't think it's a joke or him exaggerating, since he seems genuinely pretty upset by the suggestion. He would have to be good at his job in order to be telling you this, yeah? Why even bother asking? It's an interesting bit of characterization that somewhat expands on that short temper.

More generic footage of him running about while explosions go off before coming back to the interview of him explaining a bomb in its simplest form. "One crossed wire, a wayward pinch of potassium chlorate, one errant twitch... and kablewie!!" Seems like filler dialogue, but I always like taking note of the fact he uses the chemical compound term as opposed to something more colloquial. It's just headcanons, but I really enjoy thinking that Demo is pretty damn smart and really gifted when it comes to making bombs and general chemistry. It's a clear passion and love of his and I like touching on it when I can.

The next couple seconds are shots between him taking a good swig of his scrumpy and then blowing up a level three sentry. It's just showing off his capabilities as a class. Nothing special (other than being cool and showing he's competent at his job). The real interesting part is his breakdown where he's on the verge of tears, exasperatingly telling the camera that he's...off. He knows it. There's not too many black Scotsmen, especially ones with a busted eye. "They've got more fucking sea monsters in the great Loch Ness than they got the likes of me" he says.

But, he perks up! He talks over a clip of him baiting a group of BLU mercs into a sticky trap. The voiceover is also really fascinating here. The way Demo talks reminds me something out of an Aesop fable. It's a very curious and fascinating way of talking. I wish this bit of characterization stuck around since it's pretty fun. "Come and get me I say! I'll be waiting on ya with a whiff of the ol' brimstone. I'm a grim bloody fable...with an unhappy bloody end!" is really cool.

The video ends with him taunting the mangled corpses followed by a rendition of the main theme with bagpipes. I should probably also mention Drunken Pipe Bomb, his theme song. It's an upbeat and fun piece with a mixture of the typical TF2 sounds (funky jazzy drums and bass guitar) as well as a Celtic flair, what with bagpipes, whistles, etc and etc. There's also a kickass surf rock section. It's quite the battle theme and definitely reflects a lot of Demo's character as being an energetic, explosive type of character who is proud of his Scottish roots.

So that's pretty much it for SFM bits for now. How about we take a step back and look at the first-ever actual TF2 comic: WAR!, where Demo really gets a big break for his characterization. We don't care about the Saxton Hale or Jarate ones. WAR! my beloved...

But first, the actual WAR! update. It was the sixth major content update released back in 2009. Remember when this game got actual content updates? Me neither. The update was based around the rivalry between the RED Demo and the BLU Soldier to excuse why they were adding new items for the both of them, with Soldier in the end winning the little contest and getting the Gunboats.

For canon lore, the update serves to introduce the idea that the RED Demo and BLU Soldier had a comradery at first. Friends! Interesting piece of characterization to have Demo explicitly go against RED and become friends with Soldier. The two of them do bounce off of each other quite well when they're paired up, I will say. They're both heavy-hitters in terms of gameplay and their personalities are quite loud at times.

For added voicelines, there's a bunch of the Administrator denouncing their friendship as well as domination lines for both Solly and Demo whenever they kill each other. Demo pretends he hates Soldier, but asks if he's okay, tells him that he loves him, and generally is like "but we're still friends though, aye? :]" He does care a lot about their friendship, which is pretty sweet and cute. Sure hope that lasts.

In the WAR! comic, we see Demo in a mansion. He's loaded! It's also confirmation that the mercs are given quite a lot of money, but apparently not enough for Demo's mother. She's nagging him about not working and saying that he should be ashamed for being so lazy, to which he rebuttals, saying he has three jobs and has made millions annually. Apparently not enough for his mother, since Demo's father worked twenty-six jobs.

She also brings up an interesting piece of information. "No demoman worth his sulfur ever had an eye in his head past thirty!" which implies that missing an eye is a family tradition to lose your eyes when working this job. Would this also imply that Demo is not thirty by this point, since he still has the one eye? Eh, whatever. 

Demo taking care of his mom in this old, nagging state is pretty neat characterization, as well as him holding down two other jobs besides mercenary work for RED. He's very capable and talented! He's also extremely caring and sweet. Even when his mum is complaining and griping about him not living up to his father, he gets her tea and takes care of her. He does respond with a lot of "I know mum" when it comes to that. He's heard it all before. She keeps saying the same stuff. I like thinking he knows fully well he can't live up to the extreme work ethic his father had or truly impress his parents and is pretty bummed out about it, but that's just headcanons.

Anywho, Pauling's there. She's there because the Administrator wants to break up the friendship between Demo and the BLU Soldier and instead have them be pitted against each other. While Soldier needs to be tricked and insulted by Demo and told that he's a civilian (something that he hates apparently), Demo is more coerced and convinced.

He's still loyal to their friendship, but, aye, there's something different about that sword there. Here's an interesting bit of characterization: Demo being a sword guy. There's a lot of medieval stuff relating to Demo, what with DeGroot's Keep, the Eyelander, his general way of speaking at times, etc and etc. It's fun and I think he takes great interest in medieval-period stuff, but, again, headcanons.

Demo feels conflicted. How could she make him choose between his best friend and this cool ass sword?? He doesn't give an answer, but Miss Pauling further pushes him to choose violence when leaving even more stuff for him as well as telling him that Soldier said that he'll join the fight. It's then assumed that Demo agrees by that point.

It's interesting to compare and contrast Demo and Soldier. Soldier, despite hearing all of these mean things, still wants to be friends with Demo. It's until "Demo" calls him a civilian, something personal and sensitive to him, is when he decides to betray him. Demo meanwhile is more swayed by things that he loves, but the final push is that betrayal. He only acts when he's finally told that their friendship has been severed. Curious how their loyalty is strong in those ways.

...I should probably sometime mention the actual retconning of his backstory however. Hoouhhh boy let's go. So, for the 2011 Halloween update, there was a comic alongside it. This comic had some cute gags, like Heavy giving a little boy he scared seven grand. However, the main attraction is the rewritten backstory for Demo.

I mentioned earlier, but I honestly can't blame them for maybe trying another crack at a Demo backstory that isn't as bleak and miserable. I do really like the original one because I'm a sucker for angst, but this backstory does work a lot better tonally when you're just trying to write some goofy stuff, especially if it involves Merasmus at some point.

The story retcons the whole thing and seemingly makes it so that Demo has always been with his parents and the reason he lost his eye was not because of some brutal accident but rather a currrseeee ooohhhh spookyyy. He's hired by Merasmus to sweep up the place a bit, with him being exceptionally clear to young Tav to not touch any of the accursed tomes. He does, of course. Nothing too much in terms of characterization. It's more just saying "Hey Demo's eye is cursed and that's why he lost it but! hey! it comes back once every Halloween!!"

Again, I can't really knock this version of events. They're simple, but goofy and fun. It's all up to whatever you're trying to accomplish with Demo methinks. If you want silly and whimsical stories, you can have that backstory. If you want gut-wrenching angst, probably should take the initial one.

Aanndd that's virtually it for Demo being important. Demo doesn't get too much plot relevance later on. He's just kinda done with. He shows up in Expiration Date for a quick gag where he returns with a bunch of beer, shouting and cheering while being unaware of how they all just learned they're going to die in three days. He then shows up again during the bucket scene and doesn't do much other than mouthing somethin' (I can't tell you want tbh). A new thing is that he plays piano! That's fun! He then kinda watches Scout try and ask out Pauling and he yells for him to describe what she looks like, which is just what Demo currently sees her as (drunk, blurry, etc). He then fights in the big battle yada yada and shows up at the end with the beer again.

The MVM trailer I suppose is a thing to be noted. Here, he's a BLU Soldier and is playing cards with the Soldier of the same team. Seems like regardless of teams, there's some sort of bond between the two of them. All that happens is that Demo is down to bust up robots with the rest of the RED mercs. Pretty much it.

It is quite unfortunate to see Demo relegated to a role so passive in the story and comics. I've mentioned it before, but I do have an ever so slight grudge against Soldier for taking up the majority of the screentime when it comes to the comics. Yeah, he's really fun to write about, I can't blame the writers for doing so, but also like...c'mon... In the end, we're left with a good chunk of the mercs being underdeveloped in exchange for a ton of Soldier trivia. Props if you like Solly though; your fave got the best treatment.

Ah, but still! Demo has some moments in the comics! Let's go through them! 

Uh. Upon checking most of the comics before the mainline ones, it appears he does not say even a single word. Or even show up in a good portion. Well that's disappointing. I thought he at least said like...one thing. The most he does in terms of characterization is put on a crown in A Fate Worse Than Chess, and even then that's just a silly cosmetic. Damn.

It's fine though! Because now we have the mainline comics! Hot damn finally some actual casual Demoman TF2 writing! Let's get a look and see what his normal usual personality is like! I wonder what fun shenanigans he's been up to.

The first time we see Demo he's babbling about his job being replaced by robots and looking utterly dishevelled and depressed.

Okay. That's...yeah pretty in line for his character thus far. An alcoholic who is struggling with some stuff and oftentimes will have a very vocal breakdown in front of others.

The way that he's characterized here is rather fascinating though, I'll say. He's depressed. From what we can glean, this is what his life has been like since the layoffs. He's gained weight (what with Soldier's very blunt "Hello fat Demoman!"), hasn't shaved, his clothes are dirty, and beer bottles are scattered in the living room. Even the Eyelander is like "dude you need to let it go" when Demo mumbles about robots replacing jobs. He's presumably lost his two other jobs and has just been laying on this couch, drinking booze and watching TV and nothing more, despite his mum's nagging.

This is a side of Demo we don't really see. Sure, yeah, we see the hot and tempered side (ex: Meet the Demoman and the general game) as well as the sad and weepy side, but it's never to this degree. Like full on depressive episode. Yikes. Sure yeah he gets dragged back into the plot and instantly gets back to himself (albeit more orange than actually black)(I keep forgetting how whitewashed Demo was in these first few comics), but it's played for laughs and gags.

What an interesting piece of characterization, no? I've seen a fair amount of major depressive disorder, BPD, PTSD, and or bipolar headcanons slapped onto Demo and tbh I can't blame them. I'd be really interested to see some fic explore that in greater detail. I'm too busy writing Engiemedic yaoi to do anything for now though. Womp womp.

The ending bit of the comic has Demo and Pauling mainly chat with each other. Oh yeah!! Demo and Pauling! They've got a couple pretty neat lines. For the usual contract it's just jokes about his alcoholism, his eye, and a couple about his mom and just general gags. In the Tough Break update, she's out drinking with Demo and nearly spills the beans about her job. Fun. I really like the Miss Pauling characterization where she regularly hangs out with the mercs. It's cute.

In the comics, she talks to Demo more like an actual equal than, say, Pyro or Soldier. She talks to them like they're children roughhousing in the backseat. Demo sits up front and the two go back and forth. Demo is the more mature and reasonable one here. Another thing that's a common bit of characterization in the comics is that Demo isn't...drunk. He's not slurring nor acting in a way that makes it immediately clear he's inebriated. He's pretty lucid. This can be from the fact that he's a very high-functioning alcoholic, but it also makes him out to be actually pretty all-there for most of the time. I've seen far too many fics where Demo is in a perpetual state of shitface drunk so that was a nice refresher.

Demo reappears in the second comic, where we get some pretty neat characterization. He's out on the town in disguise. I keep forgetting about that "What do you see?" "Not a damn thing. Let's switch places" gag that's so funny. Whatever. He is the voice of reason when it comes to Soldier. The straight-man character. He's not really...drunk here. He's not slurring his words nor is he exactly doing anything. He steps in front when Soldier starts yelling at an elderly woman, instead approaching her with a calm and kind demeanour. He holds Soldier back when he goes to strangle Scout for. I guess just being there.

So there's Demo when he's just doing stuff normally, I suppose. He's generally pretty level-headed, albeit because he's up there with Soldier. He's the Normal One when posed next to a guy like Solly. A little disappointing, but there's probably more in comic 4.

Ah the Swordvan comic. Demo and Pauling head over to Sniper's house to retrieve him. An odd bit of characterization is that Demo just takes one look at Snipes' house and goes "Welp, nobody's here. Let's get out". He doesn't seem terribly thrilled to be here, further backed up by him saying that there's just gonna be fingernails and jars of piss and he straight up says "good riddance" like what is his issue with the bushman??

Now that's kinda interesting. Demo sees Snipes as being kinda just gross and a raving lunatic. He could easily be in-place for the audience and just saying what we're thinking, but I think it's interesting to see that Demo, the guy often portrayed as being the weirdo party guy, being very straight-forward. He think Sniper is some sadistic madman and just wants out. Unfortunately, he's given a neckfull of Sniper's homemade family moonshine, so he can't get out quite yet.

A very common thing in these comics it seems is Demo being the voice of reason, which is pretty interesting. The straight man to everyone. When he wakes up to Pauling spitting on him to wake him up, he goes "eughhh gross, but, hey, it worked!!" before then is knocked out. He then stays quiet for the rest of the scene, unless of course you're counting the deleted pages. There's no dialogue, but Demo breaks free from the ropes binding him, yells at Sniper, then pushes past before then inserting three syringes-worth of the moonshine into himself and passing out. Alcoholism joke as per usual. Shockingly the first one we've gotten so far.

In the submarine ride down, Demo's passed out with his scrumpy in hand. Again just a gag about him drinking a lot. He then kinda stays in the background for the rest of the comic, only appearing really once to hold a vat of liquor, before then coming to in the final shot where he holds Sniper's dead body. Heyyyy Demo I thought you thought Sniper was a weirdo freak.

Nothing too much to say from this comic then. It's just establishing more and more that Demo plays a very...straight-man character role when it comes to the comics at least. He's reasonable, level-headed, and often just says whatever comes to mind. He's kind and will instantly rush to someone's aid when they're hurt as well as just generally being pretty good-hearted. Nice!

Comic 5 mainly just features a gag with Demo's liver being so overworked that he starts turning his other organs into alcohol distilleries. The whimsy. The line that I find most fascinating from this comic is from Spy.

Like oh okay so he straight up doesn't eat anything other than alcohol and aspirin. Water literally poisons him. Probably just a throwaway gag, but geez. It does say that he is kinda in pain all the time, at least to the point where aspirin is one of the few things his body can handle. Someone out there can probably work with that and make it angsty. Other than that, not much else for Demo.

Comic 6! The final one! Home stretch here folks before I can wrap this up and give a thesis on whatever the heck Demo's character is. Demo, again, is mainly just here for gags. It's the one thing I do really wish that the comics did more: explore Demo's backstory. Like you don't even need to keep the original one, but it's still fascinating to bring up the fact he has a family lineage at all. Instead, he's mainly just a straight-man character. But, hey, whatever. I'm just the one analyzing these silly comics and jokey joke characters for gay melodramatic yaoi fanfiction.

There's a gag about Demo's liver coming back to him after leaving. These soap opera drama scene could parallel the type of shows that he was watching when having that depressive episode, but that's maybe a bit of a stretch. He then gets included in that fun group shot, where his pose mimics that from the Meet the Demo, before then gets a one-on-one scene with Medic. 

These two are such a fun duo I wish Jaggerbombs was a more common pairing. Ah well. Medic catches Demo up on everything whilst he's stitching up wounds. The medi-gun is broken so they're doing this the old-fashioned way. Demo has a gag where he's still drinking, only that it's hydrogen peroxide instead. This then leads to a scene where Demo asks why Medic never gave him an eye. Reasonable methinks. Medic responds saying he did.

Demo gets upset. He raises his voice for the first (official) time in the comics. Again, his temperament. I think it's a reasonable thing to be upset about tbh. Like imagine being told after all this time you could've had your eye back. He then learns that, no, the procedure has been done before, but rather that it never sticks because of how his eye socket is cursed. Demo asks how he can't remember this, to which Medic goes "Hooh :] It's because I scooped out a part of your brain" because of course he did. He then forgets the entire conversation + probably Medic entirely.

Aaannnddd that's pretty much it for Demo. That's his last speaking role. Just a quick, simple gag about his eye being cursed, his alcoholism, and generally being the straight-man for others, even if he does have a couple silly gags too. Seems like a culmination of everything he is in the comics.

To conclude: Demo is a character I feel can take on two main roles depending on what kind of tone you're going for. If you want angst, you've got a character who carries the guilt of murdering his foster parents as well as the burden of being a DeGroot, turning to alcohol to cope with his sadness and general inability to deal with it all. If you want silly goofy stuff, you have Demo being a straight-man or a neat party guy if you like the bit from Expiration Date where he brings back beer and such. Of course there's nuance. I find it best to try and find a balance between these two opposing sides. It just takes time and practice to really get a hold of his personality methinks.

I do wish he was more in the comics though as his own person, y'know? He's very reliant on others in order for his character to function, whilst most others have scenes where it's just them doing something. I wish he was used more than being the guy who drags the others back to reality. Damn it sucks to see that the fics where he's mainly just the straight-man are kinda right in that regard.

But for character traits? Hm, let's see. I find it's just trying to make sense of what's given to you and seeing what best fits for the tone of story you're trying to go for. However, for me trying to write him? Well...

His alcoholism is a central character trait. He is definitely 100% an alcoholic, regardless of however people try and sand him down. I personally really like sticking to the idea that he straight up can't eat anything but booze and aspirin because I think it's funny but also sad, but that's me. I think him having a flask of scrumpy on his person at all times is a neat headcanon as well.

Another big trait with Demo is his frequently shifting mood when drunk. He can swing from loud to weeping in a couple moments. I wouldn't say he's particularly angry nor aggressive, no more than any other character at least. He's most volatile on the battlefield, but otherwise at the base I feel it wouldn't be an uncommon sight to see Demo partying until dawn or holed up in the living room and sobbing. Poor guy.

In spite of what many think, Demo is certainly not lazy. He's a workaholic is anything. He holds down three jobs and rakes in a lot of money in order to live up to his name as a DeGroot. It could be because he likes working that much or that his mother just nags him to push himself that far. That also ties into his self-deprecation, another core trait of his, but that's pretty obvious to see.

His heart is another big trait. The guy loves. He cares for his mother even when she nags at him. He sticks by Soldier's side until he feels as though he's been betrayed. He takes care of the Eyelander and treats it like a pal. He generally cares a whole heck of a lot about people and other things. He wears his heart on his sleeve and says what he means. He doesn't feel a need to really hide who he is as a person. He's loud, fun, and just naturally pretty sweet and kind. I don't think he's ever really "mean" outside of the game stuff. There's also the whole "being hired to explode people" part but ehhh that's just the silliness in him :]

Demo also being generally pretty...normalish. He's a guy who's really just going through it when you take the angst option. He oftentimes will try and hold back others from doing something stupid when sober. I feel like when he's drunk he's more willing to get in on dumb shit, but still. However, this doesn't mean he's wholly a normal person. I think you can do a lot of headcanons here where you bring out some traits that are otherwise not talked about too much.

There are a lot of liberties to be taken with Demo's character as per usual. A ton of writing a character to be, well, in-character is just getting down their voice and mannerisms. Understanding their personality and motives is just half the battle. Demo sometimes speaks like an old-timey medieval knight or poet or whatever. He's generally pretty well-spoken and whatever. For the love of god if you want to write him, you don't need to include phonetics constantly. Please. It's so much better that tu'try toh spell everay whurd like tis. Oftentimes people will just know what the character sounds like regardless. Just try and mimic his way of speaking more and you'll do wonders for actually making that character sound like, well, that character.

I've neglected to mention Demo being a black man a lot because, well, it never really pops up a lot in canon. I think the most recognition we get for Demo being black is him just saying that he's black. He's a black Scotsman and that's about it. It's curious since I've seen a number of fics where it's all period-typical racism angst and whatever, with Demo being used as a way for the author to get up and proudly say that they think that racism is bad by having Demo being called a slur and getting upset. How progressive. 

I dunno. I never really personally touch on period-typical bigotry stuff myself due to the fact that this is Team Fortress 2. Rocket jumping was invented before stairs. Besides, this is the late 60s/early 70s. The civil rights movement happened by this point. Not everyone walking the streets is gonna be some abrasive bigot. I don't know why people want to try and make it "historically accurate" to begin with since this series has never been period-accurate to begin with. I don't particularly think TF2 is a great series to go on about tackling period-typical bigotry either. Literally if you want Demo angst you've got the actual mountain load of angst with his backstory right there. Obviously of course people are allowed to write what they want and I do fully believe that sharing stories and portraying bigotry is important, but why with TF2??? Do people just really look at a POC and think their existence is inherently political and they need to make it clear they think Racism Bad, even though the tone of canon really doesn't match that?? Ah well. I'm just rambling.

Regardless, Demo is just a character where you can take a lot of different avenues with. Maybe you can explore his trauma and try and write about how he feels trying to live up to his family name. What about his issues with his now-deceased father? Maybe you can forgo that and have him be a partner in crime to Solly or whomever else, with the occasional glimpse into his more sensitive self. Really, it all just depends on the story you're trying to tell. Ultimately, writing Demo with a healthy mix of comedy and angst is probably what is best done if you just want a pretty in-character version. He can be out on some grand adventure to take down Nessie with a merc or two AND have it be a story about him coming to terms with his past. That's just a me thing though lol.

Demo, like the rest of the cast, is an easily moldable piece of clay. All of the mercs at their very core are just funny character archetypes. They can be whatever you want them to be. It's just best to work with their original characterization and personality in mind, y'know? Fanfic writing is mainly about having fun anyway.

Speaking of which, enough procrastinating for me. I need to get back to writing my yaoi...

[rawliverandgoronspice]

Ok so weird thing: Puppet Zelda. I mean, it was pretty obvious as a player Imo? But what I don't get: The tears show her ONCE! and it's the scene right before Ganondorf gives Sonia a backbreaking back massage. It's alluded to that she (he) did some other weird stuff to mess up for Sonia and Rauru, and it's not expanded upon at all. I was so put off by that, because it feels like that would have been a big chance for ACTUAL character development for ALL the characters from the past. What did P-Z do? Where was Ganondorf? Was he hidden, or was he inside the castle? How did Sonia react to it? How did Rauru react to it? How did Sonia catch on? Why was it only Sonia and Zelda confronting P-Z? Why wasn't Rauru somewhere hidden as well? I doubt Rauru would have dismissed such a serious accusation. Sonia confronts P-Z, Zelda comes out, then Rauru lies in wait to check for extra danger. The time it takes for Rauru to arrive also kinda makes me think he wasn't that far away? P-Z is a cool concept, but I'm still just so baffled by the absolute "non-story" they built by alluding to her bullshit.

Okay so. Yeah. I completely, 100% agree, and I want to use the opportunity to air out a very particular complaint I have not really seen a lot of people talk about, because I just rewatched that scene and I am shocked all over again.

The teacup scene, after Ganondorf submits, is, in my opinion, horrendous. Like not because of secret Problematisms (though yes also this, we just saw them asking their enemies to kneel and the very next scene they're having a little tea party with cake between royals while armed guards protect them and it's not supposed to be a red flag and it's wild to me), but because the actual writing, at a craft level, reads like a first draft at best. There are three narrative information beats that matter in this entire scene:

The war has stopped

Zelda wants to help her ancestors and not only return to her own era (??? okay, she already did and the problems are technically over already as far as they know??? and it's not a choice she's making since she still can't master her powers and never learn to btw)

Rauru learns Link's name

I'd argue the only real important thing is that Rauru learns Link's name, and it could have been done in a much more interesting and dynamic way.

Instead the scene just goes on and on with lore dumps that never go anywhere, reiterations of the bond between Zelda and Sonia we had already established, dialogue that is... shockingly bad...

Actually, let's examine just one case: "Ah. I can see that you have absolute faith in him."

Like, just, general pro-tip: if you use "I can see that X" in dialogue and it's not ironic or used as de-escalation and just there to reiterate what we have just immediately established, cut that line. It's doing nothing, it's dead weight, it's just grinding the pace of a scene to a halt for no reason (unless you want it to be about stagnation, like I could see a David Lynch dinner scene where every character restate each other's actions by saying "I can see that you really like the gravy." over and over but it's not.... very applicable to more generic situations). This is writing 101, and the scene is full of these nothing sentences that go nowhere and establish nothing about the characters or the world and set up nothing and pay off nothing and it's driving me wild!

(also it does my least favorite thing in game writing aka the game praising the player character for an unreasonable amount of time, but I realize this is a pet peeve and not as important but it always makes me roll my eyes incredibly hard when it's not earned and it wasn't earned or useful here, the fact that the scene ends on everyone being like yaaay link!!! is... completely disconnected from the actual story happening in the past and shouldn't be the focus of the characters at that moment --it would be more powerful if Zelda used Link as an image of strength to inspire Rauru after Sonia's death later, for example)

It's a scene that completely undermines the tension built in the previous memory, makes the timeline of events confusing, and it leaves a ton of questions open, like: where the hell is Ganondorf? What is he doing? What did Rauru mean by "keeping him close", if he isn't actually close? Do they think he returned to the gerudo lands while he actually stayed hidden in their palace to do his Puppet Zelda shenanigans? I don't know! There is no way to know, because we're being told about teacups and how Link is amazing instead of anything relevant to the plot!

So yeah. Would have *gladly* done away with that teacup scene and focused more on a very tense moment of Sonia and Puppet Zelda where she acts very suspiciously and maybe aborts a first attempt at stealing the stone that goes nowhere, and this is when Sonia catches on that something is off? Honestly, I would also have killed for an actual scene of tension between Zelda and Ganondorf where they, like. Talk to each other. Instead of this actual current version of the story where they never do. And maybe this is how he realizes that she has a special connection with Sonia and it's how he tries to get her.

But yeah. Sorry, I kind of hijacked the ask into a "this damn teacup scene!!!" *shakes my first at clouds*, but I think it mirrors the thought that priorities were not given to the actual tension points laid down in the story. Puppet Zelda inherently calls upon ideas of fear of imposture, of abuse of power, of insecurity, of a twisted version of what Hyrule *could* be, which is so interesting and ripe with conflict and counterpoints.

I would have done unruly things for a Zelda arc where she is struggling to be a ruler and she's still very insecure and wrecked by guilt over the Calamity thing and feel disconnected from the land because of the whole "being locked 100 years away fighting a demon" thing and her daddy issues, and this is this insecurity that Ganondorf picks up on and preys on by trying to dismantle Hyrule using her very image as he plans his Big Comeback, and our role is to unite all of Hyrule against this weird nasty caricature of her created by an envious man who was furious to see his rule rejected and his rebellion considered less important than peace, then go to her acknowledging the immense and unjust sacrifice she made becoming a dragon and being like "hey Zelda we all love you and we will all fight for you because we made the choice to believe in the future you want to build" and it would have been soososo powerful and I would have perhaps shed a tear or two or ten. ;_;

[missmungoe]

Can I just say every fic, chapter and every scene? If not, then Mnemosyne Makino singing her own shanty (which he thought she will never listen let alone sing) while Shanks and crew watching. Amazing shanty btw.

And his proposal in that fic. It really broke my heart. Showing Rowan's cabin, his hope and his efforts not hope that much, his longing to all these years spend without his family. And his respect to Makino's choices. "I will help you to take your place back in Kuja but choose me." lines. "You want me to join your crew." "I want you to be my wife"

Oh, and that sparring bit which Makino punched him in the face he is like super amazed.

Skdfjkdg well I love you for all of this first of all<3 I also hadn't thought about that last scene in a hot minute, but I remember wanting to include the 'person A and B are sparring, and one of them sexily wipes the blood from their nose' moment. (Also, rereading it, I realise all their sparring scenes are basically just foreplay):

She was beginning to feel the need for a break, but he wasn’t slowing down, and a familiar stubbornness filled her, wanting to keep going―to show him, if only to keep that delighted grin on his face. And gathering her focus, she was about to aim a swift jab to his ribs, but changed her mind at the last second, doing a feint before she pulled her hand back, certain he was going to block it anyway as she made a bareknuckled sweep straight for his nose.

To her shock, it connected, and she felt how it snapped his head sideways.

They both froze, along with the whole deck. For a tense second, nobody did anything.

Scrambling to push the blindfold up, she ignored the light where it pierced her eyes, wide where they'd fixed on him. She saw him touch his nose with his fingers, only to have them come away bloody. When his eyes found hers he was gaping. “What happened to not the face?”

Makino just stared at him, so surprised she’d landed such a direct hit it took her a moment to realise what she’d even done, before she blurted, “I thought you would dodge it!”

Shanks just stared at his fingers, looking as surprised as she felt.

Then his eyes darkened, and seizing hers, she watched as he wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand, a gesture so shockingly erotic, she wasn’t prepared for her own reaction.

“Alright,” Shanks said. His voice had a curious inflection, sounding deeper than usual. There was blood in his beard along his upper lip, although his nose didn’t look like it was broken.

“You want to play dirty, do you?”

[the-missann]

I've never had the chance to share this so ig I'll do it here.

So, I have a speech impediment. Yay.

Specifically a stutter and I've suffered bullying centered around my stuttering for years on end. (For some reason it was always by girls. Guys used to think my stutter was cute for some reason it's not btw).

My sutter is the prolongation of words and the block

I.e How areeeee you and I'm fin____

I wanted to share this for anyone else who's living with a stutter. I've noticed a few things.

I actually only stutter on vowels (lovely that every word has a vowel in it huh?)

I pretty much stop breathing when I talk (it's like my brain can only focus on one thing at a time)

Reading does not increase or decrease my stuttering.

I sometimes add extra words or pronounce words differently to avoid stuttering.

My stutter decreases dramatically when speaking to people who don't cut me off.

Now, I'll go through and explain them to help anyone who may have similar issues.

For 1, I noticed around four years ago that I actually only stutter on words that have a vowel sound. I sat down with myself and talked for a bit and found that every word I stuttered on, it was at the vowel sound.

Shockingly, even words that begin with a vowel sound I stutter over, I'll give details on that later.

So, the best way I've learn to handle this is to stop when I know a word has a vowel and I stutter on that word, so I'll say something like:

Everything is all ready done.

Separating them into two words seems to prevent me from stuttering.

2 might also just be my anxiety, but for the sake of this post, let's say it's not. I noticed I'm usually out of breath when I talk. I do talk fast, but I mean like I just ran a marathon out of breath from just saying a simple sentense.

The best way I can describe it is like when you're singing a song. You try and sing the full line as the singer does, but most of us haven't trained our lungs so we end up breathless by the end of it.

I still do this, but it's gotten better as I've learned to breathe from my diaphragm when I talk instead of my chest.

3 I'm really saying for anyone trying to help someone with a stutter. This does not help someone to calm their stutter. As a kid, my parents sat me down and assumed if I read aloud I would learn not to stutter, but it makes no difference.

My advice is to just be patient. That person knows they stutter, let them take their time and they'll eventually get out what they need to say. You're in no rush to hear what they say, so just let tham go at their own pace.

One last thing about this. DO NOT try and finish a sentence for them. It's bad enough we have a stutter, but if someone tries to fill in the sentence for us, our self esteem goes 📉📉.

For 4 (lol) this is a thing I developed and it works pretty well. This is the detail I was going to get into. So, sometimes I stutter over the word it, no Pennywise.

So, to stop that from happening since it is used a lot, I started saying "I T is like." Now, I don't say that in public, but I do with my family and the word is simple enough that no one is thinking too hard on what I spelled out.

But this is why I usually don't refer to things by their proper name (so if anyone here ever becomes my real friend, please know I'm not saying things wrong, I'll just stutter otherwise).

Lastly, 5. I would assume this is the same for everyone regardless if they have a stutter or not. When someone is cutting you off, it makes you rush your words, cut your words off, and stutter. So it gets worse for someone with a stutter.

I have very rarely encountered people who didn't try and cut me off because I paused to take a breath or held out a word. It's true that the anticipation of someone cutting you off sometimes makes you stutter.

I have my stutter under control a lot now, but it did take me a while to get to this point. So, for anyone out there who has a stutter, try and find out what makes your stutter tick and go from there to find ways around it.

This has been a PSA about stuttering, thank you for reading 🍂

Sorry, but last thing, since I'm a writwblr, I wanted to add how to properly write a character with a stutter.

We know t-the (repeating sound) stutter is a real one, but it's normally used for someone who's simply nervous. Someone who actually stutters would stutter at any point in time and sometimes in different ways (eg me having two versions of a stutter).

Also, know where your character's stutter comes from. Mines happens to be hereditary and environmental as I frequently get cut off and thus rush my words to get them out faster. It's also just kind of the way I am since I'm very fast paced and have a hard time "taking things slow"

It's also good to detail a tick or habit your stuttering character may have, like they stop talking and shake their head when pausing their stutter.

Oh, and it's true, cursing eliminates stuttering. There needs to be some testing done on that.

[therobishow]

Saw your post and who am I to deny an opportunity to rant about terrible terrible twilight knock offs?

Okay so ever since twilight came out in 2005, there's been a load of knock offs inspired by the "vampire=hot and sexy/mysterious" and while some of them are, this author P.C cast and Kristen Cast saw the idea and cranked it up more than was necessary because what the hell.

The book is called House of Night and there are lots of books. And the idea of being a vampire was that you had to be marked/chosen in order to undergo it's transformation which. If you were chosen, you had to be with a fully fledged vampire until you were fully fledged yourself which is a long process (around four years) and what is a better place than being with a bunch of fully grown vampires than a academy with other chosen with the fledglings as the teachers?

I'm not gonna lie, it's a great concept but it's terrible what the authors done with it. Transformations don't always work and the chosen sometimes die, but in order to prevent this- you had to be pretty and not fat. Shockingly this isn't the worst thing on the list of how many messed up things this book had done

Then the authors worsen the book more by having the characters be problematic. (They sl#t shame a lot and this doesn't make sense since it's common knowledge that drinking human blood /blood in general is sexual in the story)

Examples include saying the r word, fetishizing queer characters, making a white character "twins" with a black character because they're just so alike like using aave as an example (and the black character she's twinning with is terribly written as well so it just ends up more terrible)

And absolutely terribly horrendous relationships!!

The main character is the "not like other girls tm" and so she gets the bad boy, some sort of thousand year old grandpa boyfriend, a TEACHER boyfriend, and a human boyfriend 😭 (for the amount of shaming this book has, the main character is getting busy with every boy she meets)

AND WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK MORE WORSE is that they thought it was cool to use Indigenous culture but strip everything about said culture so they can fit use what they thought was cool to use in the story. Im happy for any type of indigenous reputation as an indigenous person myself but WHY

They just made the main character (who was named Zoey redbird btw, cool last name tbh but absolutely shitty character) have op powers and call her a "Cherokee princess" with no respectful mention of Cherokee culture at all. They just made their own thing and slapped the word Cherokee on it and shipped it as representation.

For a character that's supposed to be non-white, she was acting the opposite despite being close with her grandma who was Indigenous (+ being stereotypical) and inheriting op powers that were meant to be from her "culture"

PISSES ME OFF SO MUCH

I don't even know how I saw past the red flags as a kid reading this book but now that I have, I'm just so angry just thinking about it 😭

I hope this rant of mine was entertaining

I was just on the right side of too old to hear about this series back when it came out. So let me tell you, it was an absolute trip to see what was in these books when my friends started raving about them a few years later.

Like, this? This is what they were so hyped about? I'd rather them tell me how much they love 50 Shades - well, okay, that's a little too far, but still.

I truly don't understand how any woman survived the absolute peak of fatphobia that we hit in the 2000s. And I'm including myself in that. No idea how I lived through it. These were the days when people were calling Britney Spears fat for being a size 4 instead of a 0. How did women not just collectively die off? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that we made it through, but holy hell it was by the skin of our teeth.

So someone really needs to tell me what the actual hell was going on in the 2000s that made every piece of teen media present teacher/student relationships like a totally cool and not abusive and traumatizing thing. Remember how grossed out everyone was by the Archie/Grundy relationship in Riverdale? In the 2000s, no one would have batted an eye at that. It would have fit right in with every other teen show at the time. I can't watch hardly any of my favorite high school shows anymore because of that. Ugh, so gross.

And holy shit I forgot she was indigenous! Well, in heavy quotes at least. That Cherokee Princess nonsense is such a White People move and I just can't. I don't know what's worse regarding indigenous rep, House of Night or Twilight. My man Charles de Lint isn't perfect and he's fucked it up a few times, but at least he actually tries and shows respect (um, hey, if he's actually far worse than I think, please let me know).

But, hey, in maybe possibly good news, apparently the writers are trying to convince the publishers to let them rewrite the series so they can do something about all the problematic stuff. That at least has the potential of growth for them

[mamamittens]

Well, didn't get as much done today but I'm on track to finish the first comm this week at least. Would have helped if we didn't have a +1 today but tomorrow is looking to be the same so idk how much progress I'll make after a shower and dinner.

Not going to lie, I fell into a bit of a slump the past two weeks which was... Interesting. Stress, burnout, anxiety, or whatever really said "make time or it'll make you" huh? Mostly with inexplicable exhaustion. Anyone in my DMS probably noticed I was spacy as fuck and honestly, it was a bit embarrassing. Is embarrassing.

Got a discord group I've basically not interacted with (sorry Franky bro) cause I've been so spacey and tired. Hopefully I'll clear my plate enough to chime in soon without losing the plot.

I'm still tired. But it's not quite soul deep this week so far. Still not quite Tuesday though so we'll have to wait and see on that front. Helped I slept 14 hours and then spent the day with my brother and his friend who treated us to dinner and a movie (The First Omen, I liked it but kept forgetting it was a prequel. Did NOT expect to see full pussy in a nightmare/hallucination scene so warning to the dam that was wanting to watch it.) and saw the biggest fucking parmesan chicken in my life.

They brought that bitch out on a pizza stone and I legit thought he changed his mind and ordered pizza. A pound of chicken the size of a personal pizza COVERED IN SAUCE AND CHEESE ENOUGH TO PASS AS A LITTLE CEASERS.

Mad lads.

And I also started thinking about Nikia in Wano again! Shockingly, it's been a minute. Seems like pouring out my hyperfixation has helped me focus on other things instead of being consumed by pokemon while in the middle of One Piece shit lol

This is about the end of the useful updates btw, the rest will just be me rambling about Wano thoughts

So, I suddenly had the thought about what little dramatic plot would go nicely in the middle of this for the bois to do while the Straw Hats are fucking shit up.

And clearly, Izou is gathering Intel while keeping Thatch from blowing their cover. Nikia taking advantage of her anonymity to do some sight seeing and maybe take some eyes off of them cause who wouldn't investigate this new woman with giant ass wings?!?

(she's not a fan of the nosy bitches but we tolerate things for the people we love. They'll make it up to her later lol)

Had the hilarious mental image of Thatch disguising himself, specifically his hair. Very upset to part from the pompadour and gets a topknot that has a suspiciously shaped bundle up top. Izou hates it but picks his damn battles at this point.

So! The cheap trope drama I figured I'd give a little spin was!!!

Amnesia!

Manufacture to be specific. As maybe a follow up once King clarifies that Nikia is absolutely NOT Lunarian. Maybe to keep her in check so she doesn't run off before they do DNA tests to see wtf she is. No idea she can fly, so they (I feel like Kaido is the one suggesting it first cause he's a bitch with Big Mom seeing no issue and King just going along with it cause Nikia may not be like him but she's close enough he doesn't feel alone so whatever works, right?) go with a bit of a caged bird thing.

She's a 'guest' while she 'recovers' with King 'looking after her'.

And even with no memory of who she is, she doesn't trust this set up at all. Like, more in an awkward way cause it's clear she's meant to be displayed in a way so she can't 'repay' her 'hosts' like she'd traditionally want to via chores or cooking. She doesn't know what she's supposed to do at all and hates it. Her aloof expression just barely masking the 'someone give me a social clue about wtf is going on already'.

Gets on well enough with King, especially once he stops wearing the damn mask cause it really freaked her out. Pretends to be amicable with the others, can't erase the 'hostess' mask that easily. So it's a legit surprise when she finally admits she doesn't like or trust anyone there at all and has smelled the bullshit from the start and just didn't say anything.

Runs into Yamamoto at some point and likes his spunk even if he's a little weird. Has a hard time keeping up the act under his insistent investigation about why she's there cause honestly, same fam. Why am I here? WTF is going on?!?

I feel like Big Mom tries to touch her wings at some point out of curiosity and King stops her cause I can't imagine that's not a pretty intimate gesture for even Lunarians. Wins brownie points. Thanks for being a bro and all that.

On the night of the throw down the Bois finally manage to get into the palace and shit and Nikia immediately recognizes Thatch from his silhouette despite still not remembering shit.

A hilariously awkward "oh, hey, what are u doing here? Trying to steal shit? I heard it was bad out there but this is pretty risky don't you think?" And Thatch is staring at her in full Wano gear, makeup and all like

(⁠｡⁠ŏ⁠﹏⁠ŏ⁠)

"I'm looking for my lover"

"OUR lover"

"ye that. Uhm. U seen her?"

Nikia just stares at them.

"... Ya gonna describe her or am I supposed to vibe check everyone I've seen here?"

They do recognize her btw, it's just painfully clear she doesn't so they're wondering if she's the real deal or something.

Cue Thatch trying to come up with a noteworthy detail she'd realize is her own feature but her hair has been changed up and he doesn't even think about her wings. Trying to be smooth and razz her up a little to knock some memories loose.

Notices the lipstick.

"Oh! She has a freckle on her lip! Right here!" He's so proud of himself, Izou ready to smack him as he continues "It's my s--one of my favorite places to kiss!"

It takes a moment before she blushes, realizing the obvious implications.

"ah... Why do I get the feeling you were about to say something else? Are u sure your lover would like you talking about that with a stranger?" She's flustered horribly as Izou smacks him.

"Ignore him. He's being an idiot. May we have your name?"

Honestly didn't have an alt name planned, thought it would be funny briefly if it was Nika but idk. Not committed to that but yet.

Anyway! She does remember on her own as she considers how compelled she feels to trust the two and how familiar they are. Comforting, dare she say. And, without remembering she can fly either deliberately does her 'clearing exercise' or is tossed up in a fight.

The clearing exercise is a rather dangerous, borderline suicidal act she does every so often when she feels conflicted or uncertain.

Usually, she'd go to the practice cliffs with updrafts. And then she'd fall down. The idea is that the threat of death would help clear her mind and what really matters to her. Is it really that important if it's not the first thing she thinks of when faced with the threat of death? And then she uses her wings to glide out of danger. She never does this injured, but the awareness that inaction will kill her is part of the process. She tends to overthink so this really streamlines the process in a way that can't be argued with.

She did NOT mention this habit to anyone before so the bois bout shit themselves when it looks like she's free falling to her death. Maybe Marco is there and goes to help only to end up banking with her as she recovers instinctively at the last moment, memories flooding back.

She's a little too good at faking an uncontrolled fall as part of her 'fighting style' to throw people off and it's steadily giving the bois gray hairs. Mostly because she's lost control while flying a lot due to the chaotic up/down drafts on the mountain.

Anyway, thats about all I thought of while spiritually ascending from this plane of existence for this scenario. Who knows if I'll use it or scrap the whole damn thing.

[punchitime]

So... Lucid dreaming huh?

So I've had... Multiple lucid dreams of Punch Out so I'm deciding to share headcanons/moments that have happened

So for context on my end: when lucid dreaming i can feel whenever someone touches me. Let's just say that someone tested their arm on my shoulder for example, yeah i can feel the arm on my shoulder in my dream. Same deal with any kind of pain. Though i can't smell or taste anything that i haven't smelled/tasted before.

Anyways let's get into this

Bear Hugger, unsurprisingly, does give the best hugs... Though he accidentally popped my back with a hug and instantly panicked (i was fine btw)

^ His bear does sometimes show up in the WVBA, which i wouldn't mind... But coming around a corner to be face to face with a full sized bear is TERRIFYING

^^ The squirrel on the other hand was cute actually, very active lil fella...s. yeah there was multiple and they ambushed me once. Had to stay where i was for a bit until Bear Hugger came over to help

Soda is intimidating.... But shockingly friendly. Somehow befriended him and now he likes to just randomly pick me up like a cat (he has randomly picked me up Lion King style before too. Why? I have no idea but it scared the hell outta me)

^ He did give me his soda once actually. If you've ever had Mug Root Beer it tasted like that but a few notches sweeter than that brand (idk if this is because my brain decided to should tastes this way but that's what it reminded me of)

Bald Bull... Is actually surprisingly nice, quiet for the most part but nice... if he's not in a bad mood or if you're not acting like a crazy fan/interviewer.

^ The guy just wants his privacy and time to himself, and i don't judge him because wtf with these interviewers-

Mad Clown is actually sassy as hell but to the point his comments are equally as funny with the timing. He's gotten a few good surprised wheezes out of me with his timing.

^ somehow befriended him too. Probably because i was the only one reacting to his comments

Mad Clown does have a clown car (and I'm... Assuming a regular one for everyday use), found that out because i went to see a boxing match and he deadass pulled up to the ring in the clown car-

^ how tf it worked i have no idea don't ask me.

Accidentally met Carmen actually, she's very sweet and bubbly

^ Don on the other hand... My god he was cocky af. Me and him didn't mix well since I'm very much a humble kinda person.

Sandman was... Scary actually. More scary than i thought with how tall he is and his facial expression always seeming angry (he wasn't btw, apparently it's just his resting face which... Yeah fair enough)

^ He's also nice, just not social which i related to. Didn't get to talk to him for long sadly but still was pleasant

Did meet Super Macho Man ... Had the same kinda deal with Don, we didn't mix well. Though SMM was trying to showoff his merch/money just because i was new around, and HATED the fact that I was looking at him like he was insane. Low-key his offended face is funny tho

Aran was, unsurprisingly, chaotic as hell. I was a victim of a few pranks, shockingly none too harmful, i just ran nearly close lined into some plastic wrap because he tied to to a doorframe and he put sone of my stuff on high places so i can't reach them without climbing up whatever he put it on... And was shocked seeing me literally climb up it because i refused to ask for help. I think he gives the more harmful pranks to the other boxers.

Aran really likes to point out how short i am (im 5"3'... That mf is 6"1') compared to him by putting his arm casually on my head... Yeah long story short i bit his arm in response and he hasn't done it again

There's something in Hoy's staff (i was handing Hoy his staff for context of how i know this). The top like swirly part is hollow, the rest isn't just that top part and something rattles in it. I don't know if it's just a broken piece of wood or what.

Dragon and Birdie do have a rivalry. Found that out because Dragon nearly nailed me with a shoe somehow- he got Birdie tho

^ note to self: Dragon has good aim when throwing objects because wtf-

Interacting with Hondo was kinda like Sandman, intimidating but nice, and not too social

[hansolosyou]

It’s about time I make an intro post ‼️

Hallo! I’m Lola.

She/her

Minor!!!

I have severe ADHD so if I explain things (you’ll see that in the DNI section) I drag it on a lot to specify things …….. sorry dyslexic ppl I’ll leave a TLDR at the bottom

DNI ↓

NSFW particularly fnaf because I’m one of those ill children who found the series at the start when I was shockingly young so those characters have become comfort characters for me

(not to mention I’m even more ill for the fact that springtrap is like a fatherly comfort character for me BUT DONT WORRY I HATE HIM AND I WOULD RUN AWAY SCREAMING AND CRYING IF I SAW HIM IRL I AM SELF AWARE I PROMISE THE ONLY ART OF HIM I LIKE IS THE RLLY FUCKED UP KIND THAT REALISTICALLY PORTRAYS HIM with the occasional silly art)

Honestly that’s it for DNI’s I just don’t like NSFW and I’m a minor so that’s weird either way

TLDR; no nsfw especially of fnaf ^_^

Now here’s the fun stuff

~Interests~ *squeals*

FNaF (the movie was amazing btw)

Portal/portal 2

Star Wars (has been a big one lately)

Over the Garden Wall (is more seasonal but I always love it)

Ricky, Steve, and Karl (particularly Steve. Also I didn’t say specifically the XFM stuff and the Ricky Gervais Show because I mean anything that those lads have done with each other)

My oc’s story (I have/had some ocs, but the only huge story I’ve been developing that is my own solo project is Machiavellian, featuring my oc Virgil as well as many other characters. You’ve definitely seen Virgil here before. He looks like Stephen Merchant with pink eye in one eye /J)

THERES MORE. IF I REMEMBER I WILL UPDATE THIS ASAP!!!!

Annndddd that’s it I think !!! I’ll definitely fix this up and make it prettier eventually. The only thing you rlly need to know is my name, age, and the DNI list.

[rubyleaf]

Went through my blog again for the funsies and discovered an old, old tag game from 2016. And boy, am I shaking my head at it. Not only is 17-year-old me hilariously and stubbornly convinced she's straight, she's also very self-deprecating and generally not in a good place.

So I thought: why not answer these questions again, over seven years later, just to see how things have changed?

So here goes. The update.

MOST RECENT:

Drink: Water! I have a glass next to me right now and I'm staying nice and hydrated :) Phone call: Mom, earlier this afternoon, to make sure I'm still healthy and haven't died from acute Moved Out And Living Unsupervised Disease. Shockingly, I'm alive and well. Text: Dad, joking about the Berlin lioness boar thing. I still refuse to believe it was a boar BTW. I don't know what it was, but those pictures do NOT look like a boar.

Song you listened to: Saosin – "You're Not Alone" Time you cried: You know, I genuinely don't remember. Might've been weeks ago. I barely cry anymore these days, except from laughter or the occasional tearing up over a heartwarming scene in a show.

Dated someone twice: No, and unless the circumstances were very special, I wouldn't. If the ship has sailed, it has sailed for a reason. Been cheated on: Single, thriving, in my lane, cannot be cheated on if I don't have a partner. Peace and love on Planet Earth. Lost someone special: Lost touch with many friends over the years. Staying in touch is still hard. But honestly, some of them turned out to not be that special after all in the first place and a lot have stayed too, so really, it's fine. Been depressed: Nah. Been drunk and thrown up: Still don't like alcohol, still don't drink ✌️ Your three favourite colours: Purple! And pink, and the third one…maybe red!

IN THE LAST YEAR, HAVE YOU:

Made a new friend: So many. So so many. Fallen out of love: Yep! Laughed until you cried: Just this week alone! Met someone who changed you: I think so! Found out who your true friends are: Yes. And to the people who turned out not to be—thanks for making it easier to watch you leave right now. Found out someone’s talking about you: In the "bringing up my existence" way? Yes. Badly? No—someone probably did, but not my problem.

EXTRAS

How many people from your fb list do you know irl: What Facebook? Do you have any pets: Not at the moment. Hard to keep any in a dorm room. I'd like to maybe get a small dog someday though! Do you want to change your name: Not anymore. When I was little I used to hate my name because everyone kept misspelling or mispronouncing it, but now I like it even if people still get it wrong all the time. Sometimes it still feels weird and othering, in an irrational sort of way, but I can't imagine myself being called anything else. What did you do for your last birthday: Had drinks with some people from my orientation group in one guy's dorm apartment. Casually came out as bi over a game of Never Have I Ever. Wound up at a party even though I had an 8:30 AM class the next morning. Zero regrets. What were you doing last night at midnight? Sitting on my bed and hitting play on the brand-new Meet Me @ the Altar song that dropped last night!!! Name something you can’t wait for: MM@TA EU tour in October! I've been obsessed with them for two years and finally they come here to play some shows and the first time I saw the announcement I legit busted a lip in my excitement. Unfortunately not a hyperbole.

Last time you saw your mum: Last time I visited home—early May I think? What is one thing you wish you could change about your life: Better executive functions so I struggle less with getting stuff done, especially uni stuff and household chores. Currently trying to do something about that, actually! If I'm really lucky I might get an ADHD diagnosis in the foreseeable future and maybe meds…? What are you listening to rn: Fall Out Boy – "We Didn't Start the Fire" Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Often. It's quite a common name where I live! What’s getting on your nerves rn: One word: THESIS. Which I for some reason struggle to do anything about. Blood type: Still unknown! Nickname: Several shorter forms of my civilian name. On here, Ruby. Zodiac Sign: Aquarius Pronouns: she/her Favourite tv show: At the moment: ATLA (and Legend of Korra), Ted Lasso, Good Omens. Probably more I'm forgetting. High school: Graduated in 2016! College: In my Masters! I have an undergraduate degree in law now :D Long or short hair: Long, down to my hips. I used to have short hair as a kid, but I’ve always wanted long hair. Height: 159 cm or 5′2.5′’. Do you have a crush on someone: I try to tell myself that no, I'm just very fond of the person. Platonically. What do you like about yourself: I'm creative and adaptable! I'm good at winging it when the situation requires it, and I usually get things figured out one way or another. I'm a hype woman for my friends, and I like the way I can find joy and excitement in all corners of life. Also, not to toot my own horn but I'm really proud of my style right now! Right or left handed: Right-handed. First surgery: None. Piercing: None. First best friend: Probably Rebecca, in first grade. It’s a shame I moved away, I wonder what she’s doing now. First sport you joined: Ballet, when I was five or six. Kept doing it until early fifth grade, then changed to horseback riding. First vacation: Probably to my grandparents’ vacation home somewhere at the North Sea. Don’t remember a thing though, I was one or something.

RIGHT NOW:

Eating: Nothing. Drinking: Water, still! I’m about to: Hopefully write a bit more for the mystery project 👀 Listening to: Meet Me @ the Altar – "Give It Up"

WANT:

Kids: Yes, eventually. I'd like a stable partner first (although if push comes to shove I wouldn't mind raising my kids solo), and most importantly I'd like to be my own person for a couple of years and not be bound by duty to everyone else. Travel, explore the world and myself, get all that out of my system so I can truly go into motherhood with no regrets. Get married: Yes, if I find the right person to do it with. Career: Study law and work for the EU or an NGO.

WHICH IS BETTER:

Lips or eyes: Eyes. I don't pay much attention to lips outside of someone having a cute smile! Hugs or kisses: Kisses are nice, but I still prefer hugs! Taller or shorter: IDGAF. I still love my tall lanky noodle men, but I'm not picky. With women, even less so. Girl is taller than me? Awesome, great for being held. Shorter than me? CUTE. Older or younger: Around my age, rest doesn't matter. I'm at an age where anything between 20-30 is fair game, but any younger or older and it gets creepy. Romantic or spontaneous: A mixture of both. Nice stomach or nice arms: If the person is nice, their body will be nice too. It's an automatic process. I don't make the rules. Sensitive or loud: A combination of both! Troublemaker or hesitant: Secret third thing where they're chaotic but also too shy to really make a move.

HAVE YOU EVER

Kissed a stranger: Does "someone I talked to all evening but didn't know before that and didn't meet again afterwards" count? Drank liquor: Tried a bit, same as everybody. Found it nasty. Didn't try again. Lost glasses/contacts: Don't have any to lose. (Given the way I've been treating my eyes: yet?) Had sex on the first date: I'm asexual and I refuse. Broke someone’s heart: Yes, and let's leave it at that. Turned someone down: I'm a woman existing in public. Having to turn down random men is a recurring part of my experience. Cried when someone died: Not really—I seem to shut down and go blank more than anything else. I used to feel guilty about it, but now I've learned that everyone processes grief and loss differently and it doesn't mean I care less. Fallen for a friend: Yes, repeatedly, it has yet to end well, and it will probably happen again.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN

Yourself: Mostly yes. There are some things I need help with before I can unlock my full potential, but one thing I've learned is that I always manage in the end. And once I get proper help, I have no doubt I'll be just fine. Miracles: I don't like to rely on them, but I do believe that unlikely good things can and do happen. Love at first sight: Not for myself, I need to get to know a person before I fall for them. I do believe in attraction at first sight though. Heaven: It's a nice thought, but whether or not it exists doesn't matter to me. Our task in life is the same regardless: try to be kind and treat others well and hopefully leave the world a slightly better place. Santa Claus: No, and never really have. My parents never claimed he was real; my Christmas presents always came from the family that visited on Christmas Eve. Kissing on a first date: Did it once, it was okay. I think it's one of those "take it or leave it" things—if the chemistry is right, sure, go for it, but it's definitely not for everyone in every situation.

[savebatsfromscratch]

Running on Broken Legs

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42517470

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Summary: Koya is having a hard time in the Giratina battle, but he HAS to keep running.

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Note: WOE ‘RARE’ FANDOM ANGST BE UPON THEE. Koya may no longer be my favorite DPA character (sad I know) but I still love him a lot so take this.  

Also I took Charon out of the scene. (Sorry Charon fans.) I can't deal with the emotions he would create right now lol.  

It gets REALLY weird btw, I was writing it in German class. It kinda stinks.

Cws and Tws: Injury, broken bone

Words: 754

Prompt: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH | Knees Buckling | Repeatedly Passing Out | Head Lolling

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Fic (under cut):

Koya panted. His knees were numb with pain as he and the other two boys leaped haphazardly between the chunks of rock. They floated suspended by nothing in the sickly purple glow of the distortion world (distantly sparking like stars against the unexplained light of infinity). Such a setting made the race even more terrifying. 

As if it wasn’t scary enough, with the gigantic monster that was after them. The horrible beast that not even Hareta could befriend, after its heart had been betrayed and shattered into pieces so many times.

Koya felt something in his leg snap, but he could not slow, not even for a moment. Jun was behind him, but even if he wasn’t the slowest person there, Koya still had to put literally all of his muscle into keeping up with Hareta. He shook his head to get some flyaway hairs out of his eyes. (He didn’t need the little twinges of pain as further distraction, he had enough pain based distraction as it was.)

Without warning, Hareta skidded to a stop, yelping in surprise as Giratina reared its head from the area where they had been running to. Koya (doing literally anything to keep him from paying attention to the quickly-beginning-to-be-debilitating pain in his leg) similarly forced himself to stop as Hareta failed to turn and run the other way. It was clear that he wanted to do something to help the distortion Pokemon, but the anger and fear that he clearly saw in his eyes was clearly acting as a deterrent.

Koya forced himself to try and see the anger for himself, but found it impossible. All he saw was sadness. Maybe it was that he was really that unabsurvent, but something told him (especially as he found it shockingly difficult to hold himself up any longer) that it had something to do with his leg. What had he even done to it?

“What are you two doing?!” Jun shrieked, grabbing both his and Hareta’s shoulders and attempting to yank them backward, “We need to get away from it!” Hareta might have said something in response, but before he had the chance an unexplained wave of agony washed over Koya. 

He didn’t make a sound, but his eyes widened as he collapsed onto the ground. He hurt, so bad. His breaths came out harsh and fast as his leg snapped under him. He couldn’t feel it, but he could absolutely feel it. His eyes were unfocused, but they grabbed onto Giratina’s as it moved semi curiously closer. 

Hareta yelped, jumping back as Koya crashed to the ground at his feet. (He felt as limp as a knitted doll…) Jun, who was obviously focusing more on the danger of the situation than Koya, reached for a Pokeball as Giratina began to loom over them. Its eyes glowed the most beautiful red, and Koya felt as though it was the only thing he could focus on in the entire world. It was like the brightness of those eyes were the only light that kept him from the darkness of the pain that shocked through him.

“Giratina,” he murmured, distantly feeling Hareta crouch down at his sides, his stance one of defense rather than his usual friendly demeanor. 

The monster loomed ever nearer as Jun released his Staraptor. (A pathetic try at defense. There was no way they were beating this thing.) But Koya still could not see anger. His body hurt all over, and somehow, though he had never felt this connection to a Pokemon before, he could tell that Giratina’s did as well.

They were the same.

The same pain, the same fear of things going wrong, the same glow in their eyes. Koya inhaled softly and Hareta looked up at the monster, and it became clear that he saw it too. Jun was shaking, and his Staraptor hung worried in the air, clearly unsure of what to do. They all knew, they were the same.

This wasn’t a monster who had gotten someone’s leg broken! This was a caring creature who was just scared and sad from its previous experiences with men who were less like it. They all knew it. 

Somehow they always had.

Koya’s leg twinged with pain, but it no longer mattered to him. This creature was strong and horrible, and he could be strong too. (He already had the horrible down.)

Giratina leaned forward, and its gigantic face was only a few feet away. But no one was afraid anymore. They understood each other.

End of chapter notes: It's funny to me that the last fic I wrote was about sharks having trouble swimming and this one is about humans having trouble running.

[baileyjane3769]

Original Copy is on Quotev, for a better viewing experience and chapter by chapter reading head on over to my Quotev page @BobbyWolf3769 or click the link here

***

When a game is over and all hidden things have been found, what is there left to do? Move on. That's what you would have liked to have done after finishing the disappointing secret ending of a popular otome game. But when the story is over, and all things were said and done, you find yourself trapped in that very game. Faced with the task to keep everyone alive, can you make it to the end without falling in love?

Long read ahead

Chapter Ten

Saturday Hangout

You didn’t realize that your phone was dead until you went to lay down in bed that Friday night. Having just exited the bathroom after completing your night time routine, you step into your room ready to get some much needed sleep, but it was your phone, that laid abandoned on your bedside table, that momentarily stopped you from doing so. ‘Oh, I guess I forgot about it.’ Picking up the device, you try and power it on but nothing happens. Assuming that it was dead, you plugged it into its power cord, and you were just gonna leave it at that but you had a feeling that you should power it on first.

Listlessly, you sat on your bed and waited for the device to power on, so that you could check your notifications. That only took a brief moment before your phone lit up with life, and slowly it rebooted. When the phone finally settled, and finished its reboot, you were shockingly overwhelmed with the number of notifications that you got. Most, if not all, of the texts were from Yuki; your entire notification bar was practically filled with them. She seemed to be going through various stages in her emotional state. Her first few messages were frantic and filled with concern, text after text expressing her worries and about why you weren’t responding, but comically enough, after her little concerned filled rant, she sent a message reading: “Wait, your phone is in the classroom. A teacher just came to collect it and your bag.”

The next text she sent wasn’t until hours later, after school ended, and you were in the hospital. She seemed calmer now, talking about how Akui said that you were probably busy in the hospital; her mother said not to bother you too much, and to leave you alone with your family. Basically the same things they said the last time you got hospitalized, but this time Yuki said she wanted to prepare a get well soon present for you. You felt bad because she was asking about what kind of candy you liked, as well as other things, and when you didn’t reply she said it was fine and that she would pick a few things that hopefully you liked. You didn’t mean to leave her hanging like that, but your phone became the least of your worries after everything that happened yesterday.

Feeling remorseful, you send her a quick text.

Sorry for not responding, my phone died at some point and I didn’t get your messages.

You were gonna leave it at that and go to bed, but the light ding sound that sounded from your phone notified you of a new text message. Yuki’s quick response surprised you.

It’s no worries!

I figured you would be busy after everything that you went through yesterday. I’m just glad you’re feeling better

You are feeling better, right?

Reading the words on the screen, you chuckled softly to yourself and wrote back.

Yes, I am doing better now. I feel sore all over but, hey, at least I am alive.

I got your present btw, that was really sweet of you. I can’t wait to try out some of the things you got me.

A few seconds after you responded your phone seemed to chirp alive with Yuki’s string of replies.

That’s great to hear!

I was super worried that I would pick something out that wasn’t to your liking 

But I figured you could use a little present to feel better

And besides, who doesn’t like chocolate

Unless of course you don’t like chocolate, which is totally fine!

If you don’t like what I picked out then I can always get you something else

You couldn’t help but to lightheartedly laugh at Yuki’s long string of replies. Clearly, she was thinking too hard about this, if the continuous back and forth between her own messages had anything to do with it. Taking pity on her, you interrupt her rambolings with a quick text of your own.

Do you want to hang out tomorrow?

And thus you had plans to hang out with Yuki, and by extension Akui, the following day. It would be the first time you actually get to hangout with a friend, in this game, that wasn’t during school hours. Even though you knew you shouldn’t get too close with Yuki, in fear of provoking Akui’s wrath, you figured that it wouldn't hurt to be normal friends. 

The next morning you didn’t sleep in for as long as you did the day before, you had plans for the day after all. After going through your regular morning routine, you made your way to the kitchen where you knew your mother would most likely be. As you predicted, your mother was in the kitchen plating three trays of food; looks like she was back to cooking a more traditional Japanese breakfast. 

“Hey, Mom,” you said, impishly drawing out your words.

Unamused, your mother, not even bothering to look up, replied saying, “What do you want, Y/n?”

Fainting hurt, you squeezed your shirt over the area where you heart was, pretending as if you had a pang go through it. “Oof! My own mother, accusing me of having an agenda! I am wounded, hurt, betrayed even!” You dramatically lead against the door frame, hand over your forehead. “I think I might faint.”

Your mother either scoffed or laughed, maybe in between of both, and turned to you, crossing her arms over her chest. “Mmhm, well if you really don’t have an agenda, what can I help you with?” she said with a playful quirk of her lips.

Straightening up, you go up to your mother with the best puppy-dog eyes you could muster up and ask, “Can I go out into town to hang out with my friend…s” You dragged out having to add the ‘s’ at the end of ‘friends’ because you didn’t necessarily feel comfortable counting Akui as a friend, and you doubt you ever will, but you mother needed to know that you were hanging out with more than one person.

The playful look dropped from your mother’s face. “Go out? But it’s only been a day since your attack, maybe you should give it a bit more time before you try and go out,” she said, voice laced with concern.

‘Ack, this is why I tried playing it off. I knew she would be hesitant to let me go,’ you thought to yourself. ‘But I already made plans with Yuki, I can’t just let this day go to waste.’ “I feel better now, I promise, and we aren’t doing anything crazy, just walking around the park,” you said, trying to persuade her.

“I understand that you might feel better now, but that can always change later in the day,” your mother countered. “I don’t want you overdoing it.”

“The park is not that far away, and there are plenty of benches to rest on.”

“What if you get hungry later on? What will you eat? And I don’t mean that convenience store junk.”

“I can use my allowance money to pay for a nicer meal at a cafe or something.”

“Wha-what if someone tries to snatch you!”

“Mom, my friend has a black belt in judo.”

Your mother huffed bitterly, leaning against the counter. “You really want to go?” she finally said, apprehensively rubbing the nape of her neck.

Leaning against the same counter alongside her, you said, “Yeah, I really do.”

She hung her head and sighed. “All right,” she said, lifting her head back up. “You can go, but, please, please, promise me that you will be careful.”

Looking her dead in the eye, you replied, “I promise.”

She huffed again, realizing that you were dead serious, and turned back to the food. “Well, okay then. Go get your father, he’s out back in the garden, and be quick. I don’t want the food to get cold.”

“I’m on it.”

The plans you had made for the park weren’t until later on in the day, between twelve and one p.m. is what you both agreed on. So after breakfast you spent most of the time getting ready, packing the most essential things that you would need, including sunscreen, a reusable water bottle, a first aid kit, your wallet, sunglasses, a small sunhat, a portable phone charger, and of course your phone. You also had a smaller handbag that held your brush, deodorant, lotion, hair ties, and hand sanitizer. All of it was packed neatly into a small backpack along with a thin jacket, and with that you were ready to go. “Wait, I need to get dressed.” Scratch that, you still had one more thing to do.

Rummaging through your closet, you needed to pick out an outfit that was appropriate for both the weather for today and for doing a lot of walking. You took a quick glance at your alarm clock and noted that you had less than an hour left before the appointed time. “Maybe I should match it with my cast,” you ponder out loud after taking a quick look at your green cast. It took you longer than you expected to find an outfit that you were happy with. The bright, almost neon, color of your cast would stand out against almost anything you wore, so you ended up wearing a lighter color of green overall shorts with an airy white blouse under it, pairing it with a pair of slightly bulky sneakers and long socks. Your favorite part of the whole look was the embroidered sunflower on the center pocket of the overalls.

Your head was still feeling a little tender, but you didn’t want to leave it all messy, so you did the barest minimum to tame it. “Hair is done, now do I want to put on makeup?” you said to yourself. You were sitting in front of your vanity mirror now. “Probably not,” you said after considering your forehead injury. It would be difficult working around it. You were about to call it done but a quick glance at your throat made you reconsider not putting on makeup. There was still a rather noticeable bruise that wrapped around your throat. It had yellowed a bit since yesterday, meaning it was healing, but you still felt self conscious about it. 

Grabbing your concealer and foundation, you gently applied the products; doing your best to cover the blemish. After that was applied, you then patted on a setting powder to reduce the risk of it rubbing off. That was the last thing you needed to do, and then you were done.

Not long after you got done getting ready, the doorbell rang, and your mother yelled from downstairs that she would get it. Knowing that your parents weren’t expecting any guests, your first assumption was that Yuki was already here. With that in mind you rushed to grab all your belongings that you planned to take with you and hurriedly made your way down the stairs.

The first sight to greet you as you did so was your mother cheerfully chatting it up with Yuki and Akui. The outfit that Yuki decided on was a slightly oversized steel blue t-shirt, brown shorts, and brown hiking boots. You would have thought that you were the only one who looked overdressed, but then you looked over at Akui. He had on slim dark jeans, a black v-neck shirt, a denim jacket, and his honey brown hair was neatly combed down. 

Now all of this isn’t to say that the two of you were wearing anything fancy, honestly, both of your outfits were pretty casual for an outing in the park, and if anything Yuki was the one who looked out of place with how underdressed she was, but despite her overly simplistic way of dressing she still found some way look radiant. Either way, the three of you were, hopefully, going to have a good time.

At your entrance, Yuki was quick to notice you and hurriedly made her way over. “L/n-chan, hi! Are you ready to go?” she asked excitedly.

While you couldn’t exactly mirror Yuki’s excitement, you still happily nodded your head along with her. “Of course, I am all packed and ready to go.”

“Wonderful! I was just telling your Mom all about what we have planned for today.”

At her words, your mother lightly laughed from her place by the door. “Yes, she has. I think it’s wonderful that my Y/n has such an enthusiastic friend.” Turning to Akui, she added, “And of course it was also nice to meet Akui-san, too. A lovely gentleman, who someone conveniently forgot to tell me was a boy.” She spoke that last part quietly through tight lips, giving you a slightly pointed look. At her expression, you seemed to have found something interesting on the opposite wall. “Anyways, I best not keep you for long. I wouldn't want to waste away your day,” your mother spoke again, holding the door open for your group.

“We’ll be on our way then. It was lovely meeting you, L/n-san,” Akui says as he bows politely to your mother. A bow Yuki hurriedly replicated before she and Akui exited from your house.

As you were about to follow them, your mother stopped you. “Now remember,” she began. “You promised me that you would be careful. I don’t want you wonder off on your own, don’t forget to take your medicine, don’t forget to change your bandage, and make sure--”

“Make sure I call you every hour, I know Mom,” you said, cutting your mother off. “Please don’t worry, Mom, I’ll be fine. I gotta go now, love you,” you say, walking out of the door.

“I love you too.”

“Bye Dad! I love you!” You shout into the house before you actually leave.

“Love you too, be safe!” You hear your father call back, poking his head out from the kitchen where he was making lunch for him and your mother.

“I will!” you call back before making your way outside.

Yuki and Akui were patiently waiting for you at the end of the driveway. When you caught up with them, the three of you began the relatively short trek to the park. The whole way there, Yuki was constantly talking about anything and everything she could think of with the main goal in mind being to get to know you better. Conversations about: favorite colors, are you a dog person or a cat person, the shows that you are watching. Funny enough, at one point there was a rather ‘heated’ conversation about whether pineapple belongs on pizza. 

Maybe it was Yuki’s extroverted influence, but you found yourself enjoying the conversations that you had and began to discover things about the two that you didn’t know of before. Like how Yuki and Akui have known each other since the second grade, how Yuki loved the smell of rain, and that Akui used to play the cello. You took most of what Akui said about himself with a grain of salt, knowing full well that he could be lying to you about several things, but there were some things that Yuki was able to testify for, the cello playing being one of them.

It didn’t feel like it took that long to arrive at the park, the joyful conversations that the three of you shared had managed to serve as a good distraction. In the game there were many instances when Yuki would go to the park either to look for clues or to hang out with a love interest, but the tiny picture on a phone screen does not do the actual thing any justice. The park was way bigger than you expected with a large lake off to the side, a children's playground in another corner, and several paths that led all around the area and into the surrounding forest.

“Oh wow, we’re here already!” Yuki happily exclaimed, practically jumping with joy. “It looks the same as I remember. Oh! Minato-kun, look, look!” She gently grabbed his forearm and leaned over to point at the children’s playground, unaware of his red tinted face. “That’s where we used to play as kids! Ah, I have so many fond memories,” Yuki said while staring blissfully at the playground.

“Yeah, I remember…” Akui quietly spoke. It looked like he was about to reach up and put his hand over hers, but before he could do so she retracted her and went up to you.

“You grew up here, too, right? It’s such a shame we didn’t know each other as kids.”

You were caught off guard by the sudden statement, forgetting for a moment that technically you were born here. “Yeah, it is a shame. I was a very quiet kid, and I didn’t go out much,” you said, nervously stretching your cheek.

“You must have been really introverted then, L/n-san, I don’t think I really noticed you until we entered high school,” Akui suddenly spoke up. “It was almost like you were completely invisible.” It was meant to be a light hearted joke, but something about the way he said it unnerved you.

You laughed nervously, trying to seem unfazed. “Heh, yeah, I guess I kind of was.” ‘Come to think of it,’ you thought to yourself. ‘My classmates have yet to give me the impression that I was friends with any of them. All sorts of classmates have voiced their concerns for me since my accident, but none of them acted like we were in any way close friends. Do I really not have any friends here?’

“Oh hey! Check that out,” Yuki’s sudden exclamation quickly brought you out of your daze. “They’re selling bug boxes over there, we should go buy some,” she said, pointing in the direction of a nearby store that seemed to sell many warm weather commodities. “It would be just like when we were kids.”

Seeing no problem with it, you and Akui agreed with the idea which is how your little group found yourselves rummaging through the forest, looking for any bugs that might be cool to look at. Yuki seemed happy to act like a kid again, running around and aweing at many things. With her she carried a small bug box with a blue lid and wielded a short butterfly net. Akui seemed content just watching Yuki happily prance around, as well as occasionally stopping to point out any new finds. He had a small bug box with a green lid, but he did not carry a net with him. You didn’t really know what to do so you just followed the other two around. The most interesting thing to you was the many varieties of flowers that you have never seen before. You didn’t really plan on using it much, but you did have a bug box in your favorite color slinged over your chest.

It took maybe thirty minutes or so before the three of you actually found a bug of interest. “Look guys!” Yuki eagerly said, holding up her box. “Look what I found.” Inside the small plastic box was a decent sized stag beetle, sitting atop of a few leaves that Yuki threw in there. “Isn’t he cool looking?”

“Yeah, he is,” said Akui.

“Oh, cool. I’ve never seen one up close before,” you say with a twinkle of wonder in your eyes.

“What’re you gonna name him, Yuki?”

Seemingly taking the question very seriously, Yuki looked to be pondering very hard with her eyes closed and everything. “I got it!” she suddenly said. “His name shall be Fuji. Fuji the stag beetle.”

“Why Fuji?” Akui asked.

“Because he is the biggest stag beetle I have ever seen. It only makes sense to name him after the tallest mountain I have ever seen.”

“But isn’t Mt. Everest technically the tallest mountain?”

“Hush, Minato-kun, let me have this.”

You leaned over with your hands on your knees to get a better look at Fuji. “What are you gonna do with him?”

“Huh,” Yuki hummed in thought. “I don’t know, maybe I’ll keep him in my bedroom.”

“Keep him?” You asked, perplexed. “You can’t keep him, Kobayashi-chan.”

“What? Why not?” Yuki asked in bewilderment.

“Because he belongs out here, this is his home,” you replied.

“But my home could also become his home,” Yuki said, with a pleading look.

You took a moment to think about what you were gonna say next, remembering a similar situation happening when you were younger. “Do you know how to take care of a stag beetle?”

“No…”

“Do you have the right materials that the beetle needs?”

“No…”

“Then do you really think it’s a good idea to take little Fuji home?”

“Bu-but, but Mom I love him!” Yuki comedically cried, holding the little box closer to her person.

You released a sigh of relief, glad she wasn’t actually upset. “I know you love him, but sometimes if you love something you have to let it go,” you say, playing along with her. ‘I was afraid I was being mean there.’

After the bug was set free, and Yuki said her tearful goodbyes, the three decided it was time to have lunch, all that talking and exploring made you all hungry. As promised, you ended up stopping at a little hole in the wall restaurant. There was a small ramen stand that Yuki first suggested, but you knew that your mother wouldn’t be too pleased to hear that, so you kept looking until you all came across this place. The restaurant was quaint, with its entrance being in an alleyway, but also had a homely feel to it.

You ended up ordering the tonkatsu sandwich, which was basically a fried and breaded pork cutlet sandwich. Akui got a simple curry rice while Yuki got a fruit parfait, saying how she didn’t feel like eating anything savory right now. You also got a dessert for yourself as well, the vendor said that it was cherry blossom season, and sakura mochi was very popular, so you ordered some for yourself.

You had just finished eating and paid for your meal when Yuki said that she was hungrier than she thought and wanted to order something small. The thing is, the restaurant here had a policy against people sticking around after their meal was finished and paid for, which meant that you couldn’t stay in the building, understandable. The restaurant was pretty small.

It was Akui who suggested that he would wait for Yuki, seeing as he hasn’t paid yet, and you would be waiting outside by the door. The arrangement left you feeling uneasy, and wondering why Yuki even needed to be babysat, but you chalked it up to Akui always wanting to be near Yuki, like the creep he was.

After collecting your belongings, with Yuki assuring you that she would be quick, you went to push aside the curtain that temporarily acted as a door to the establishment, so that you could leave. As you did so, you wordlessly locked eyes for a brief moment with those of a familiar scuffed up looking boy, as he and his group of friends, also looking beaten up, quickly fled past the door to leave the alley. All the while cursing the name ‘Matsumura.’

‘Wait, wasn’t that Akira?’ you thought to yourself as you leaned around the corner to try and catch another glimpse of his fleeing figure. ‘If that really was him then doesn’t that mean…’ Momentarily forgetting the promise you made to your mother, you quietly walked to the other end of the alley where that group of boys, delinquents, came from. 

That end led out into another back alley, this one more dark and secluded than where you came from. It seemed like the perfect place for a bunch of delinquent boys to get into trouble.

Peaking around the corner, you had to quickly cover your mouth in order to prevent a loud gasp from escaping. Hunched over and leaning against a wall was a heaving Matsumura Ryōta, looking worse for wear. Clearly, he had just gotten into a scrimmage with that group of boys, and from the looks of it he had won. He didn’t come out unscathed, however. The blood and newly forming bruises on his knuckles were clear to see, even from your distance. He was half way turned away from you, so you were only able to see the left side of his face and didn’t know the full extent of his injuries, but you could clearly see a bloodied lip and a bruise forming by his eye.

As far as you could tell he hasn’t noticed you yet, which gives you time to decide on your next course of action. ‘Should I go up to him? I mean, I do have a first aid kit in my bag, but would he think that’s weird? We haven’t even met--’ you paused. ‘Wait no, we did meet. He saved my life, and I never got the chance to thank him properly. I should at least offer him the same courtesy.’ Thinking you have your mind made up, you were about to enter the alleyway but paused again. ‘But wait, I promised Mom that I wouldn’t wander off and get into trouble. If I go over there then I am doing exactly that.’ You were now stuck debating with your own inhibitions. ‘But he’s not a bad person, I know that for a fact, so technically I’m not getting into trouble, but I would still be wandering off on my own.’

Before you could make up your mind, Ryōta heaved out an exhausted sigh and stood up. He wiped away the blood from his lip with the back of his hand and started to walk away, taking with him your opportunity to thank him. ‘It’s now or never,’ you panicky think to yourself before fully stepping into the alley.

“Uhm, excuse me, uh--”

Ryōta pauses mid step with his back facing you.

“Matsumura-kun, right?”

Turning around to fully face you, you were immediately captivated by his ruby red eyes and left speechless.

“What do you want?”

[8one6]

Road Trip 2k24: Part 2: Roswell - part 2

After some much needed sleep I started bright an early (well, early-ish) by visiting Spaceport Roswell and trying out one of the VR experience.

(I forgot to take pictures of the inside.) it's a well done area, with a big sliding scifi airlock door, only undercut a little by the "crew" wearing uniforms from Star Trek Discovery.

The VR movie is... Fine. It's fine. It's amateur writing, amateur voice acting, and amateur directing, using a lot of unity store assets, but there is a certain charm to it and it was only $15 so I can't hate it.

In through the front of the store is both Bricktown, a kids Lego experience and the waiting area for the Roswell UFO Tour.

The tour is... Look, I don't want to be mean and say it's bad, because it was somewhat enjoyable, but it's a tour of things that aren't there anymore. It's been almost 80 years since a military officer made a sarcastic joke about capturing a UFO and almost all of the buildings from that time are either gone or have been turned into Mexican restaurants. (Roswell has great food btw, more on that in a later post.)

The tour also goes pretty hard on the government conspiracy narrative, and as someone who isn't a moron can actually think critically doesn't believe the Earth has been visited by extraterrestrials I was fighting through most of the tour to not roll my eyes.

That's pretty much it as far as UFO stuff there in town,unless you count the dozen or so shops on main street selling generic alien merch.

The other tourist draw for the city are some shockingly nice museums for a city of this size. Roswell has both The Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art (forgot to get pictures) and the Roswell Museum, which features a ton of art from local artists as well as an exhibit on local rocket scientist Emmitt L. Brown Robert H. Goddard, including a recreation of his workshop!

That's about it as far as local tourism opportunities.

[boxofbonesfic]

Hello! I saw your requests were open…could you write a dark!thor x reader. Where you are best friends with steve and he does not like that at all so he manipulates you into thinking that steve’s intentions towards you are not nice and that he’s the only one who care about you. you can ignore this if you want btw when is the next chapter of pattycakes coming? I am obsessed with it!

Title: Yuletide

Pairing: Dark!Thor x Naive!Reader

Warnings: Dubcon, Obsessive behavior, Possessive behavior, Manipulation, Kidnapping, Overstimulation, rough sex, SMUT

summary: You find out the hard way that your Asgardian boyfriend has some jealousy issues.

A/N: OMG i’m so sorry this sat in my inbox for so long! i hope you like what i came up with for your request! this ended up getting away from me a bit at over 4k words, but hopefully it’s still a good read for you all! thanks for the request! This is a work of FICTION, and it is Dark, so I assume once you’ve clicked through the link that you are comfortable with that. I do not give consent for my work to be copied, translated, or posted elsewhere, even if I am credited. This work is entirely mine, and unbeta’d, so read at your own risk! MINORS, DNI!

Enjoy 😘

🎄

“And you’ll be safe, my dove?” Thor asks you, his massive hands cupping your face as his thumbs smooth over your cheeks. His shockingly blue eyes are intent on yours as he delivers further instructions. “Only one drink, yes?”

“Thor, you don’t have to worry.” you say convincingly, though you can tell from the set of his jaw he feels less than reassured. He’s needed in Vanaheim, and you can tell that were it only slightly less urgent, he would probably ignore the call altogether in favor of staying plastered to your side for the duration of Tony’s Christmas party. “Besides, Steve will be there. He’ll look out for me.”

His face tightens, as does his grip on your chin. “Now I am even less certain of my departure,” he mutters darkly, a pout forming on his attractive face. He sighs, releasing you only to cross his arms irritatedly as he leans against the door. You’re not used to him being displeased with you—you don’t like it. Thor is always so easy with his smiles, with his affection; and come to think of it, this is the only thing the two of you don’t agree on.

“Steve will look out for me,” you declared confidently. You were a lightweight, it was true. Any more than two drinks and they’d have to peel you off of the floor. And while Tony did have a few…iffy people on the guest list, you were more than confident in your friend’s ability to keep an eye out for you. He’d done it long before you and the Thunder God were even remotely an item, and if the relationship fizzled to an end, you were sure he would do it after as well.

“I do not wish for you to keep… questionable company in my absence, dove. Is my love not enough for you?” he looks genuinely crestfallen, and you rush to comfort him.

“Of course it is! I promise I won’t do anything unsafe.” you kiss his cheek, and he turns to capture your lips instead. Despite the rough beard around them, his lips are full and soft, and when he presses them to yours, you open with a pleased sigh. He sucks your bottom lip into his mouth worrying it gently with his teeth until you moan softly. He releases you reluctantly, though he strokes your kiss swollen mouth with an affectionate finger and heated eyes.

“I worry for you in my absence, dove.” his hands travel down to your shoulders, and then your waist as he tugs you against him. You brace yourself against his chest, and he hums. “I worry that your friend has…other intentions.” shocked, you push yourself away from him, fixing him with a frown.

“We’ve talked about this.” you sigh. “Steve and I are just friends.” You’d been friends with Steve for years, jokingly relying on one another to get through charity dinners, costume parties, and other mandated group events that made you question whether or not humans were really meant to be social creatures. This Christmas party would be no different.

“And were we not just friends, my pet?” he reminds you with a quirk of his brow. “It is so easy for the bonds of camaraderie to become something more.” Thor loomed over you, pressing you against the wall. You liked his size, how massive he was compared to you. It made you feel safe—but now you felt small. “I do not expect you to understand the workings of a man’s mind, my dove, but do not doubt me when I assure you that there are those who covet you, my sweet, and he is one of them.”

“Thor—”

“I see how he looks at you, dove.” his voice is hard. “I see the desire for you written plainly on him, and I will not share you.” you’re not sure why you’re nervous, Thor has never hurt you, never even made you feel like he would, but your skin prickles with your anxiety anyway. He’s just worried about me, you assure yourself. Just wants me to be safe. “Say you won’t be alone with him. Promise me, dove.” you have nowhere to go, nowhere to look but up at his handsome face, into the cold clarity of his eyes. “Promise me.” he repeats it, and you nod jerkily.

“Okay, I promise.”

He licks his lips before kissing you again, and it’s entirely different from how he normally claims your mouth. Thor is the epitome of soft and slow, but this time his kiss is hard and possessive, leaving you panting against the wall as he makes for the door.

“I shall return as soon as my responsibilities allow.”

It takes a few minutes for you to compose yourself when he leaves, and even when you straighten your clothes, you can still feel his touch, hot and demanding on your skin. Even after you’re showered and changed, putting on a light layer of makeup in your bathroom mirror, you can feel the electricity running down your spine. Thor’s words repeat themselves in your head as you slip your shoes on and don your coat, waiting for your uber to arrive.

You’ve only been dating Thor a few months, and though at first you were unimpressed by his good looks and charm, he’d won you over. Steve had cautioned you of course, he’s not human, be careful—but he’d been nothing but sweet, if a little overly possessive. You shoulder your bag, careful not to jostle it too much—it wouldn’t do for the gift to get crushed. Perhaps it was childish, but Tony had insisted on Secret Santa. You weren’t sure what to get Sam, but you hoped he’d be pleased with the stuffed falcon and the chili-spiced hot chocolate you’d finally settled on.

When you finally arrive, you set your gift down with the others, and go to mill around the punch bowl with everyone else. Only one drink, yes? You can hear Thor’s stipulation as you poured yourself a glass. Better make it count, then. The sound of your own name makes you turn sharply, and you grin at Steve—dressed in an exceptionally tacky Christmas sweater, flanked by Sam and Bucky.

“Better late than never!” he says, waving at you. “No Thor?” somehow, Steve manages not to look disappointed. In fact, he looks… pleased. A spring of discomfort wells in your belly, but you ignore it, shaking your head.

“No, he had something to take care of,” you reply. You’re not sure what to do with the feelings rolling around in your gut, so you shrug instead. “I thought there was supposed to be food at this thing? I’m starving.”

All night, you notice things. The way Steve stays close to you—he’s just looking out for me—the way he laughs when you say you’re not drinking tonight, and has Sam get you a second and third glass of Tony’s ridiculously spiked punch—he knows I’m nervous, just trying to help me have fun. It’s only when you’re halfway through twister and only an inch from beating Natasha that you realize how drunk you are. Her elbow is digging into your side as you reach for the green spot—only to collapse on top of her.

“Now that victory has been achieved for team Stark,” he gloats as you roll your eyes and rub your sore bottom, “what say we open some presents?” A murmur of agreement passes over the room, and you watch patiently as Vision and Wanda begin passing out gifts. Pressure in your bladder makes itself known, and reluctantly you tear yourself away from the exchange. You stumble down the hallway to the bathroom, and take a moment to rest your head against the cool tile of the wall before drying your hands and exiting.

You pull open the door and step out—straight into Steve’s chest. Your breath catches, and your heart begins hammering. “Oh, hey. Sorry, didn’t know you were in there.” I see the desire for you written plainly on him. “You okay? Did you have too much to drink again?” he jokes, laughing. The most you can manage is a small smile.

“Y-yeah. I think so. Listen, I’m going to head back—” you’ve never felt nervous to be alone with Steve, not once; but now though…your stomach curls in on itself. Thor wouldn’t lie to you, right?

“Wait! Since we’re here, I might as well. I um, I didn’t know what to get you, so I hope you like it.” the box he hands you is small, and you can tell by the feel of it that it’s a jewelry box. Your heart sinks. Oh no.

“I didn’t… I didn’t get you anything.” you mumble, trying to hand it back. Steve refuses it, holding his palms up as he shakes his head.

“I didn’t give it in the hope that I would get something in return.”

You’re about to tell him to take it back, tell him that you’re sorry, but the electricity crackling in the air makes both of you still. “Dove.” you turn slowly, reluctantly, to see Thor, his face tight with anger.

“Thor, I—” he silences you with a look.

“Captain.” he plucks the little silver wrapped box from your hands. He presses himself to your back, and you can feel his hand curl possessively around your hip. Steve sees it too, you can tell by the way his jaw tightens as his eyes travel concernedly from Thor’s hand up to your worried face. “Dove, I believe you should say goodnight to the Captain.” his voice brokers no room for argument, and you don’t fancy having one, not in front of Steve.

“I’ll see you at work, Steve.”

“Are you okay?” he asks, a facsimile of his friendly, golden boy persona affixing itself to his face. It doesn’t reach his concerned gaze however.

“She’s fine. We’ll take our leave now,” Thor replies, and his hand on your hip becomes insistent as he directs you up to the roof. You don’t like flying, never have, and you let out a little whine, pushing against his iron grip as he tugs you up the stairs.

“Thor, where are we—”

“You promised, dove.” his voice is tight and angry. “You promised me you would not be alone with him. And yet what do I find?” he hisses, pushing you up against the railing in the stairwell. Hot tears are forming in your eyes, and you sniffle. He takes in your glassy eyes and clumsy movements and sneers. “And more than enough to drink, as well.” he’s sneering at you, his displeasure apparent in the roughness with which he’s handling you. You’re ashamed of yourself now, ashamed you let your friend talk you into drinking more. “Come, dove. We’re going home.” you’re confused, but you go obediently as he herds you up the steps. You’re afraid of heights and he knows it, and you hope his intention isn’t to get you there by the force of his hammer.

“Heimdall. The bridge.”you gasp.

“Thor, what? I can’t go to Asgard with you!” you pull frantically at your wrist, attempting to dislodge his grip but failing. He peers at you quizzically, as though confused you would have any objections. “I-I have work in the morning!” he chuckles at you, tapping your nose as if you were a child.

“You needn’t worry about that, pet.” he tugs you forward and you collide with his chest as light envelops you. It’s cold—icy cold and burning at the same time, and your shriek of terror is lost as you hurtle through space. And then…it’s over. You’re standing, panting in a large room. A man almost as large as the one that holds you wields a golden sword, and as he turns it, the light behind you fades.

“My king.”

“Heimdall, thank you.” he greets him before tugging you forward. You wonder what a picture you make, but Heimdall doesn’t react, his golden eyes resting on you with indifference. He doesn’t give you time to make conversation, walking out of the domed structure and onto the rainbow bridge outside. It was as beautiful as he’d described, but you had little space to acknowledge it as Thor threw you over his shoulder. You yelped as he took off, his firm grip around your waist keeping you grounded as he made for his destination.

You landed moments later, and he deposited you onto a balcony. You pressed a trembling hand to your pounding heart, reveling in the feel of solid ground under your feet. You were missing a shoe, so you kicked the other one off, the stone cool against your toes. “Thor why… why did you bring me here?”

“Because I cannot trust you in my absence, pet.” the sound of buckles makes you turn, and you see him unstrapping his armor to reveal his broad chest. “I…” he clenched his fist. “I will not share your affections with another.” he looks at you angrily then, bright white electricity sparking in his eyes and running down his jaw.

“Thor, I didn’t—” he’s on you faster than you can blink, and his hands lock around your elbows.

“Only because I intervened!” you cower in front of him, wincing as the static flows easily across your skin. “Inside, pet. Now.” you scamper through the archway and into the ornate bedroom, Thor’s footsteps heavy behind you. “I know you think me harsh, dove. But I assure you,” his voice drops low as his breath caresses the back of your neck. “I know what’s best for you.”

He tilts your head back to capture your lips in a searing kiss as his large hand slides between your breasts to pull at the neckline of your dress. He cups them through the fabric, and you can feel him hardening against your back. Thor lets out a pleased grunt, tugging down on your dress. You hear the ripping of fabric, and cool air assails you as you watch him discard the ruined clothing on the floor in front of the dark fireplace. “I like black on you, dove.” he sucks the skin of your throat between his lips, only releasing it when you mewl and squirm. “But I like red much better.”

This isn’t like the other times you’ve had sex—he’s pushier, rougher, less caring when he touches you. You know you’ll be littered with bruises tomorrow. “Thor, please, I-I’m sorry. You don’t have to—”

“I will accept your apology after you’ve learned your lesson, dove.” his fingers pluck at your nipples, and you whine, unsure of what lesson exactly he’s trying to teach. As if in answer to your thoughts, his lips ghost against the shell of your ear as he speaks again. “Only I know what’s best for you, sweet dove. Just me. And when you have learnt that, all will be forgiven. You want to be forgiven, don’t you my love?”

“I—yes,” you say quickly, unsure if you really mean it or not. This is your first major fight, and you don’t want it to ruin your future with him. You know how good he can be, and you did break your promise, even if it was unintentionally. Is that right? You’re not sure, but Thor beams at you, releasing you from his hold as he steps around in front of you.

“Good girl. We shall make Yule festivities all our own this year, pet.” you watch as he strides over to the small table by the fireplace, and picks up a goblet and a jug. He sniffs at it, before pouring a copious amount of what looks like wine into the goblet, filling it to the brim. He beckons for you to come closer, before tipping it up to your lips. You sputtered at the taste of it, coughing.

“Thor, stop—“

“You wanted to drink, pet. So drink.” his hold is unyielding, and you choke down a few gulps of the burning, tart alcohol before you cough again as it dribbles out of the corners of your mouth and down your chin. It’s stronger than anything you’ve tasted before, and it’s effect is almost instantaneous. You wobble on your feet and try to push the goblet away again, and this time Thor lets you, spilling deep crimson down your chest. Your head is spinning, and you try to steady yourself on the lounge as Thor chuckles behind you. “See pet? See what drinking gets you?”

Everything is spinning, and you collapse onto the chair with an oof. You moan unhappily. “I want to go home,” you sniffle, watching as he kneels between your thighs, squeezing them in his massive hands.

“Until you can be trusted, dove, this is your home.” he leans down to run his tongue between your breasts, swirling it around your belly button. “Even a God could get drunk on you, my sweet.” he slides your thighs further apart. “It’s no wonder others want to taste what is mine.” Thor hoists your hips up, sweeping your legs over his shoulders as mouth attaches to your center. You cry out, thrashing in his hold as his tongue slides through your folds. He groans at the taste of you, parting you noisily as he grazes your clit with his teeth.

“Oh—oh God, Thor,” you whine pathetically. Wrong. This is wrong, he shouldn’t be touching you like this—but it’s so good, and your vision is still swimming, and the words won’t form because he keeps flicking his tongue against your clit so good and—“Fu-uck,” you groan, writhing. Your head is pressed against the seat of the couch, your body tilted upward as he feasts on your core mercilessly. The pleasure is white hot, almost too intense as he draws it from you with cold precision.

“I know, dove.” his lips wrap around your clit and he sucks hard. Your body jerks and jackknifes as your mouth opens in a silent scream. He always builds you up so slow and sweet, but this orgasm is fierce, ripping through you and leaving you trembling. There’s no reprieve in it, though—he continues as though you didn’t just cum, convulsing against his face. You’re bucking against him, unsure of whether you’re trying to free yourself, or force him closer. “Another, pet. You can give me another.” he releases one of your hips to run his fingers along your sensitive, throbbing folds

“Ahn!” you cry out, sinking your teeth into your lip as your hands claw at the pillows. He sinks one finger into the tightness of your cunt, cursing under his breath.

“So sweet, dove. I long to sink into this tight cunt as often as I’m able.” he drops a kiss against your inner thigh, before nipping the flesh sharply. Thor crooks his finger inside you as if beckoning, and you whine brokenly. “Would you let the Captain between these perfect thighs if he begged sweetly enough, dove? I wonder.”

You can barely formulate a response. “N-no, Thor, promise!”

“You promised me tonight, pet.” he adds a second finger to the first and you groan at the stretch. “I think we both know the weight your word carries right now, my love.” He scissors his fingers, rolling his tongue against your clit as you cry out hoarsely. “Do not worry, dove. I shall make an honest woman of you once more.”

You want to protest that you already are, but it dies on your tongue as he hooks his fingers behind your pubic bone, flicking his tongue rapidly against your clit until you cum again, shaking and crying. You’re boneless now, and he wipes his chin with a free hand, glaring at you down the line of your body.

“Were I not so eager to be inside you, I would have you know more pleasure by my mouth, but I think my cock would burst if I denied it a moment longer.” Thor removes your thighs from his shoulders. You’re still trembling, your body unable to hold you up as you slide to the floor. You watch, dazed, as he undoes his trousers, the bulge of his cock clearly visible and throbbing beneath the fabric. Normally, this is a moment you await with baited breath, after all, he’s so huge he always has to work you open—but this time, you swallow nervously. He looks almost bigger, the head of his cock glistening wetly as he taps it against your cheek.

You open your mouth without thinking, and he rests it on the tip of your tongue. “Oh pet. So sweet for me.” He thrusts shallowly against your tongue, the taste of him musky and salty on your palate. “It’s no wonder the Captain lusts for you—this mouth.” you shouldn’t be enjoying this mocking domination, but your cunt clenches anyway. He pulls away to seat himself on the sofa behind you, before he leans down to tug you up into his lap easily. His cock, wet with his own precum and your saliva, slides against your ass. “I’m going to split you in two, dove.” his voice is a harsh growl against the back of your throat. You know you weigh nothing at all to him, and he lifts you easily, sliding the tip of his cock through the sloppy mess he’s made of your cunt.

“Oh fuck, fuck, I—“ you’re babbling, wriggling in his hold as you seek more, less, everything, and he’s laughing cruelly against your skin. He gives you the tip, sliding it into the sucking warmth of your cunt as you pant.

“So slick and tight for me, dove,” he’s wrapped his arms around you, holding your thighs apart as his hands rest on your shoulders. You feel his head fall away as he curses loudly. “Like my own personal virgin. Every. Fucking. Time.” he snaps his hips up into yours, sheathing his cock fully inside you. The burning stretch makes you cry out and throw your head back against his chest. You can feel him so far in, so deep, it’s maddening. “I know, pet,” he groans, and you realize you spoke aloud. “You feel me all the way inside, don’t you pet?”

You’re crying out, your voice bouncing off of the walls as he thrusts up into you. Without missing a beat, Thor stands. His cock still lodged firmly in your weeping core, he strides back over to the balcony. “I do so love your voice, dove,” he crosses it in large strides. “I think I should like the kingdom to hear it as well.” his thrusts become more punishing, and as you try to hold them in, the cries escape you anyway. You’re not sure if anyone else can hear you, though that ship has sailed. Thor is grunting against you, his cock carving out it’s space in your aching cunt.

You can’t believe you’re going to cum again, that he’s managed to wring even more pleasure from your exhausted body, but he is. You are. He’s lowered you to lean against the stone bannister, holding your hips as he drills his cock deeply into you. The pleasure is sharp, to sharp and as it begins to crest over you, you try to resist it.

“No, no, pet. Don’t do that.” he spanks your ass hard and you moan, tightening around him. “Show me you’ve learnt your lesson. Take what I—ugh—fucking give you!” it’s like he’s peeled away all of the layers that make you, and stoked a raw, needy fire at your core, consuming every thought in it’s wake. You’re drunk on the wine and on him, and then you’re cumming again, your wails echoing in the night.

He follows behind you, the hot ropes of his seed painting your abused insides as he holds your hips tight to his. You can barely hear him groaning over the static in your head as you float back down. His fingers are too tight on your hips, and you know you’ll ache when this is all said and done. He doesn’t soften in you, though, and when you twist awkwardly to look at him, Thor rolls his hips into yours once more.

“Now. Let us review.”

Fin

[offbranddrpepsi]

how do you think the agents reacted to their dossier's being leaked? love your writings btw!

The first time i answered this tumblr DELETED my response so here we go half is gonna be under a read more to see if that makes it like me and if not it will be in a part 2!

Brim: We got to see a bit of how he reacted which was very clearly shutting himself away and as many agents as he could out. I imagine he felt guilty that they were at risk and blamed himself if they got lost OR if the info got released to the public. He certainly saw it as him failing yet another team 

Viper: She as composed but reasonably irritated. She kept Brim in check as well as worked on catching the dossiers as they were released so that none of the other agents got to see the others, ensuring everyone's fears as well as secrets stayed private. The mocking did eat at her some as she holds her failure close to her heart and silently beats her self up for it but she pushed aside the dossier as senseless mocking/antagonizing

Sage: Was shaken by the invasion of her privacy as well at the taunting but kept her calm, she had to be otherwise the other agents may fall apart. She worked with Viper to contain the others information and also made it incredibly clear she was a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen. 

Omen: Saw the dossier as knowing as little as he does and also being entirely correct that he is a monster. If anything it gave more credit to how he already feels about himself which may in the end be a bad thing despite him not admitting it

Breach: entirely pissed so much so he basically got drunk and went on a week of chaos to blow off steam. When Brim called him back for the mission he was more than happy to take down the blackmailer and practically jumped at the chance to

Sova: Like Sage he stayed shockingly calm as well, he had to otherwise the other agents may fall apart. He knows his short comings, he knows his faults, the already eat at him and put pressure on him so the blackmailer flaunting her knowledge of them only made him more determined to capture her. 

Kay/o: Became incredibly protective of the team as well as Brim. He shoved it off verbally by saying that the blackmailer was just antagonizing them and that they had to react rationally but deep in his code he was paranoid and hurting. This is the reason he disregarding Sova’s warning and concern when he went to drop in the contain the blackmailer, he had to protect his team and was determined to do that regardless of the risk

Raze: In phoenixs voicemail he mentions Raze having really bad nightmares, i think besides Fade doing her fuck shit this started around when the dossiers were released. Raze did feel guilty over it but was able to turn to her friends for support so it didn’t harm her too much other than make her absurdly paranoid

Killjoy: Killjoy reacted as many would expect her to, she denied and dismissed everything that was said. Killjoy has become largely ignorant of what her machines do, seeing the ones made while she worked at kingdom as not her fault as they simply asked and she created it. It does start to weight more heavily on her but she keeps up with her denial of responsibility due to her not directly being responsible for anything the machines shes created have done.

Reyna: Reyna grew upset and started trusting Valorant less, refusing to go on any missions until the threat was dealt with and returning home to protect her people. She was very stern that any threat had to be dealt with before she would even think of helping them, even stressing that if any harm came to her, her people, or her sister she was out of Valorant.

Cypher: Cypher become much more urgent when it came to catching the blackmailer, channeling his paranoia into purpose.  He did do exactly what she said he would, throwing away the compromised safes house and locking himself away in his office unless he was needed. He also checked in on what remained of his family from afar. Cypher made sure to lock away everyones dossiers and watch the net for any sign of them being leaked to the public, ready to hit the kill switch if it did

Jett: Got incredibly paranoid that everyone noticed. She started having to talk to Sage alot to reassure herself that she wasn’t a villain, she wasn’t her earth 2 counter part that had done so many awful things. A lot of the agents had to reassure her she was a good person and that one day the world would see that rather than her mistakes as well as the crimes of her double.

Skye: Skye took everything said with a grain of salt. She knows she isn’t just a corporate dog, she doesn’t serve Kingdom and never will. Skye sees her work with Valorant as helping more people than she could alone and thus continuing her mission of protecting nature and the natural order. She made sure to try her best to comfort the others with pep talks as well as dismissing the dossiers as nothing more than empty threats.

Yoru: On the outside he acted tough, like it didn’t effect him and that it was entirely bullshit. When asked what the blackmailer had poked at he refused to show anyone but rather directly gave the dossier to Cypher, bypassing both Viper and Sage. On the inside and behind closed doors he struggled a lot. He started fighting with seeing himself as worthless when it came to love or friendship, reflecting on each past break up or falling out. He drilled it into himself that in the ed everything would be worth it, everything would be fine; but Yoru probably knows he’s lying to himself but wont admit it.

Astra: She shrugged the dossier off as nothing more than a poor attempt to judge her character. Astra is confident in her powers, abilities, and her friends so she has little doubt she can maintain everything. She also knows that to be good there must be bad and that everything has a dark side, there is no way to perfectly balance it nor get rid of it. She works to be a positive voice or the other agents when she can ad reassures them that tomorrow is always brighter. 

Chamber: On the outside he reacted formally, not coughing up his dossier until Cypher prompted him to and saying it was non sense, may have even gotten rid of it himself and claimed he didn’t get one if he could. Internally he was dying and had a similar episode to Yoru, the worry of becoming the villain eating at him enough to bring him into tears. He told his double as soon as he could that their goal may be compromised ad sought some reassurance from him. Chamber already worries that at the end of everything he may be seen as a cruel, villainous person that can holds no ones trust or faith despite him seeing what he’s doing as necessary so the dossier just made that worse. Its the reason he’s been becoming more friendly to the other agents even going so far as to admit he was wrong about removing Neons limiters and apologizing for it BUT pointing out he knows no one wants to hear it. The dossier just made Chamber become even more aware of just where he stands with everyone and how that ice may break at any moment, plunging him into chaos.

[uselessheretic]

These takes about what's racist that end up being racist themselves also continue to. Overlook how blatant the show's writing is about racism. Every time they present an action or character as racist it gets called out textually and thwarted in short order and they're consistently good at keeping racism to these instances. In part bc the writing room and cast is very diverse themselves. If Izzy was meant to be a stand in for colonialism we'd KNOW the characters would KNOW and it'd be a stated reason they'd move against him... this isn't the kind of show where that'd slip through the cracks or be obfuscated it'd be right there in the text.

And also reducing a character's actions and motivations to their race and their race only is ??? Racist lmao if everything Ed does and says is bc he's a poc (and it's always this general term, possibly to cover up that they're looking at this like he's Black and specifically Black American and not Māori. Shoving every single poc into the experiences of Black Americans is shockingly also racist) and not an intersection of whatever brands of brain weird, his class, his position as a pirate, his personality, every single other thing that makes Ed Ed along with his race it's weird! It's a weird way to read a text!

the show is just...... not subtle about racism. there isn't any gray area and there aren't any characters who are racist that we're supposed to sympathize with. the closest we get to that is black pete and stede saying a microaggression to the indigenous tribe in ep 2 which is immediately called out and corrected. the way the show portrays racism is often thru poc being able to reclaim power and subverting white supremacy. the writers of color were also explicit that they dont want to portray racial trauma as a driving character trait! blackbeard was also written before taika was officially casted (altho ik jenkins said he wanted to have taika play him) but i'm pretty sure a bulk of his initial writing would've been done with the character written aracially (he is not aracial, btw)

that and we also know that taika doesn't like having his writing or characters boiled down just to their race. he's talked about this before where he wants to write stories with māori characters that aren't centered on super serious interrogations of their identity. not erasing their māori heritage, but that it was alienating for him growing up and only seeing certain depictions on screen. also... idt there's any māori writers on the team. like i just don't think there's going to be a super in depth deep dive into ed's racial trauma unless there was representation of that in the writers room. jenkins and taika are both pretty good with that (i mean reservation dogs has an all indigenous writers room! we just gotta get some black natives in there too now lol....)

anyways, i do feel like there's a tendency for people to center their reading of ed, and the other characters of color as well, through a lens of an american view. which just happens to most often be a black american view. either that or people applying an indigenous american reading to ed's character and not actually. looking anything else up. which does a disservice imho like even to the other black characters who are all likely from different regions and experiences and therefore have different interactions with race. like frenchie, who's biracial and presumably had been "in service" in parts of europe has a completely different lived reality than oluwande, whos likely of the african diaspora and seems less familiar with majority white spaces. (these are guesses ofc)

shrugs idk it's just weird i feel like people put very little effort into trying to look into other experiences than what they're familiar with. which is an issue across fandom as a whole and something i think white fans and fans of color are both guilty of. i feel like a big part of it is a very american-centric view tbh (the continual shock and confusion from the brits at "olu is an offensive nickname" lol) which i am also american and need to work on my own biases and assumptions.

i want to be careful to not seem like i'm pushing blames onto fans of color or anything like that, but i also think it's necessary for us, as poc, to continue to challenge ourselves as well. there's a tendency in fandom to relate our analysis through a personal lens exclusively when that doesn't always cut it. when it comes to topics of identities separate from our own, we should be open to feedback to ensure we're not platforming misinformation or a limited view.

but there's soooo much rich and good diversity in ofmd that covers a wide range of identities that it feels like a shame to flatten them into a one size fits all reading. a great part of representation in media is that it exposes you to narratives you may not have been familiar with before, and ofmd offers a chance to engage with them on a deeper level!