#And my primary goal in life is to do everything forever so | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

velvetlilacsdaisies · 3 months

Text

Flames & Weapons pt. i

OC!Fem!Reader x Garrick Tavis, OC!Fem!Reader x Bodhi Durran

Word count: 3.5k

Synopsis: What happens when you attend Basgiath war college as an infantry cadet with your lover, your ride or die best friend and your twin brother? Alot of fucking shit. Follow the story of our oc’s Allie Henrick and Katia Lalley as their bond of friendship remains strong as their dynamics of life change around them. What happens when they meet two fellow first year riders in their first year? Will their world change forever? Then again nothing can be as expected in war college. Stay tuned as our oc's become badass infantry cadets.

Warnings: swearingggg (a lot.), iron flame spoilers???, NO USE OF Y/N!!, mentions of cheating, let me know if we missed anything 🤭

Author’s Note: SURPRISE!! A month in the making thx to my procrastination hehe sorry allie. This is a self indulgent fever dream of a collab between @garricks4thwingqueen (president of the garrick tavis fan club fr) it’s first person original character fic. Primarily focusing on GarrickxOC but with side quests of BodhixOC as well. It’s an entirely new perspective for me to write bc i do y/n pov or third person so this was a treat. We hope you all enjoy!

Three years…three years I had spent in that toxic cesspool of a relationship. For what? For everything I had an intuition about to be true? Fucking incredible. Nothing like being right and a fool, maybe once RSC started Malek could put me out of my misery, and save me from the overwhelming amount of embarrassment I felt. The clock tower in the courtyard sounded alerting it was a quarter to 8, indicating it was almost time for Battle Brief as the chatter in the halls started to die down outside my door.

I sighed, finally rolling myself out of bed after lying there, staring at the ceiling replaying the events of last night since the alarm on my bedside table went off an hour ago, but I was numbly stuck in the warmth of my blankets. What a waste of time… I’ve repeated that to myself for what felt like the umpteenth time that morning.

I barely had enough time to get dressed in the navy blue uniform I grew accustomed to, and put my auburn hair into the slicked-back bun I had to wear, my hair was barely unkempt and uniform not as crisp as the codex required. I was sure to get yelled at by one of the executive lieutenants today, but I didn’t quite care, too numb to feel the usual anxiety I would feel about abiding by the stupid little handbook we were given in the beginning of the year. I dreaded every second of the thought of going to Battle Brief. Being forced into proximity with Zachariah made my stomach churned at the flashbacks of last night.

Minimal conversation was my goal for today, I thought, setting the agenda internally for myself as I walked to Battle Brief. Just make sure my battalion doesn’t do anything stupid and stay in line. I didn’t need to get reprimanded anymore than I probably already would be today. Plus after the night I had prior, I just couldn’t bother with much interaction with anyone. It’s bad enough I had to show up for classes. I put my bag on my shoulder and made sure that my door was locked as I made my way to the academic wing of the infantry quadrant. I was never more thankful for having my own room, one of the primary perks of being a Battalion leader.

I entered the somewhat crowded hall that was used for Battle Brief. A giant map in the middle of the room, showing all of Navarre. Keeping my head down as I made my way to my usual spot.

"Allie you missed breakfast." My best friend, Katia, said concerned. I slid into my seat between her and my twin brother, Drew. He offered a tight-lipped smile in greeting. “You’re going to be sluggish through morning lessons.” She added.

"Fuck off, I’m not gonna die if I miss breakfast." I whispered snappily.

"Eat this," Drew said with a roll of his eyes, ignoring my foul mood, tossing an orange to me.

It landed on my desk with a thud, as I wasn't paying him any mind, no, my sole attention at this point was on my ex and the girl that had her arm wrapped around his waist as they walked into the enormous classroom. "Fucking hells, Chiara Reid?” Drew hissed lowly to us as they walked by.

"Oh shit?" Left the girl besides me lips as they both realized the cause of my current mood. Katia’s eyes now set to a death glare at the pair that passed by.

“I saw them kissing in the library last night. Dumb ass tried denying it all.” I sneered, pushing the lump that had formed in my throat down.

It was the last straw of the tension that had been building between us in the last few weeks. We had been together since we were teenagers, but I guess that hadn’t accounted for anything when you attend war college together.

The last few months were filled with fighting and arguing over his lingering eyes and neglectful behavior. It had driven me mad to the point that I felt crazy for even accusing him of such thoughts of cheating, but last night had confirmed my intuition was right. Fighting the burn in my eyes as silver tears lined them, threatening to spill. I would not get upset over some loser. Katia grabbed my hand, rubbing small circles on the back of it.

“I’m gonna beat his fucking ass.” Drew glowered, gripping his notebook until his knuckles turned white.

"It's not worth it Drew, he's in our squad you know the penalty," I murmured, glancing his way. "I guess I'm out of a best friend now.” He mumbled, slouching in his seat. I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, feeling guilty that I got in the way of their friendship.

Katia scoffed, “You’re more worried about losing a best friend than the fact he treated your sister like shit? Unbelievable Drew…”

“Yeah, well he was my friend first, and I warned him—” My twin grumbled, leaning over me to glare at her.

“Warned him? I fucking told him I’d castrate him if he ever did something to Al. And unlike your pansy ass I fully intend on keeping my promise.” Her green eyes were darkened.

Drew continued to haughtily argue in a hushed whisper with her trying to prove whatever point. I kept opening my mouth to try to shut them up, but they just kept volleying back and forth retorts to one another before I could get a word in.

I rubbed my temples, trying to focus on what our professor was debriefing instead. I didn’t expect my breakup to cause a full argument between the two people closest to me. Any other topic? Yes. Not this though.

Their voices started to raise as they used meaningless insults as jabs towards one another, causing the attention of the cadets around us to look at us. Including Zachariah and Chiara. The girl only had a smug smirk on her face, which made the impreding frustration that had been rising since I woke up grow even more.

“Silence.” Our professor yelled across the room. I slid myself down into my seat, making myself as small as possible in the crowd of infantry cadets now looking our way.

"Henricks', Lalley I didn't realize this was a socializing hour." The professor shouted mockingly. Instantly, Katia and Drew shut up, muttering coy apologies, both embarrassed they were caught.

“Now can we turn our attention back to the map.” The professor continued the lesson. I had to pinch Katia’s arm as she reached behind me to flick Drew on the side of the head. An “ow” leaving her lips as she finally stopped and actually started to take notes for class.

These two would be the death of me…

"Look I know you guys dated for years, but you had a hunch. Think of this as a celebration of a new chapter?” Katia sighed, stopping mid-route in our evening run.

"I just don't feel like doing anything extra this weekend, especially socializing." I groaned, lifting my hands and resting them on top of my head.

"Which is exactly what you need, to socialize." A mischievous glint sparkled in Katia's hazel eyes. I didn't like that glint. She had always been the rebellious one since we became friends years ago. She always got into trouble, and then I had to bail her out or succumb to her ideas. “We should definitely go to Chantara tomorrow night.”

She used any excuse to find a way to party or sneak off campus. I’m surprised I’ve upheld my titles with her as my executive squad leader with the antics she always seemed to get us into.

"This is the one weekend I'd rather just stay in my room—" I started to protest going back into a jog.

"Just humor me, Henrick." She rolled her eyes. "Besides, I'm finding the infantry dating pool rather incestuous at this point." She pointed in her mouth, making a gagging noise as she kept up her pace with me. "Anddddd Garrick and Xaden will be there and you're finally a single woman." She wagged her eyebrows at me. I just rolled my eyes at the suggestive expression on her face knowing what she was thinking.

"Fine." I huffed in the refreshing air of a late summer evening.

"Yay!" She squealed excitedly. "We're gonna have so much fun! Not to mention Garrick looked like he wanted to beat Zach's guts out before Drew stopped him; after the little spat you two had last weekend."

Garrick and Xaden…Any mingling between Riders and Infantry was frowned upon. The codex even goes as far to state there will be no toleration of inter-quadrant dating during a student’s attendance at Basgiath. But that hadn’t stopped us from becoming friends with riders. The four of us hit it off the first night we met.

I thought to myself silently as I thought back to that first night out in town during first year.

"Damn, we both clean up nice." Katia whistled.

She wasn't wrong, despite wearing our infantry winter fur-lined jackets, we looked good. We didn't have to wear our typical uniformed sleek buns, and finally could let our hair down for once. Despite the anxiety that brewed in the pit of my stomach, I was excited that my best friend had convinced me to sneak out.

I shook my head, "You're crazy, you know that right?" She linked her arm with mine, grinning maniacally in response as we left the barracks.

She led me through tunnels and stairs I’ve never been in since we started infantry a few months ago. “How do you know about this?” I asked again. She’s been rather elusive and secretive on how she even learned about Chantara, the town older Basgiath students would frequent on the weekends to drink, party, and shop at.

She pushed her brunette hair over her shoulder, shooting a wink at me. “It’s amazing what intel you can gather with incredible charm, good looks…a few gold coins.”

We reached an ancient iron gate that a couple second years were standing at. The smell of churam filled the air, making my nose scrunch up. The codex said the herb was forbidden from school property?

One of the second years grinned seeing my best friend. “Lalley, you’ve got some guts. I didn’t think you and your friend would actually show up.”

She walked up to the man, her smile alluring radiating under the dim patterns that lined the stone walls. “My promises and threats are never empty.” Reaching into her pocket, she set two gold coins down into the guy’s hand.

He handed a coin back to her, “promise me a game of darts later at Féasta?”

“Yeah, sure.” She replied coolly, her tone sultry. Though I could tell by the look in her eye, that was one promise she wouldn’t be following up on. I was ready to lose my composure, biting my lip to stifle the laugh about to fall from my lips.

His grin grew even broader. “Sweet, just follow the path through the clearing and you’ll see a fork—take the left. We just let a group of riders through not too long ago. Just follow their obnoxiously loud yelling if you’re unsure.”

She linked her arm with mine, using her free hand to wiggle her fingers at the man in goodbye. “Thanks Trey.”

She discreetly dragged me outside a reasonable distance from the gate before I burst out in giggles. “Thanks Trey?” Mocking her flirty tone.

“Listen,” she giggled lightly herself. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. And I’m desperate for a drink and a dance.”

“It must be so hard to be single.” I said sarcastically.

“We all can’t be fortunate to have their hometown sweetheart attend War college with us now can we?” She used her linked elbow to nudge me, causing me to shy away from her. She just pulled me closer. “You owe me the favor of being a wing woman tonight, I’ve covered for you and Zach too many times this year… and we haven’t even made it to squad assignments yet.”

“Whatever you say Kati.” I just rolled my eyes, shaking my head at her.

The walk into Chantara was brisk, as we giggled about what we should expect for our first night out of Basgiath. The town was lively, citizens of the town and students all throughout the town square browsing the market stalls that lined the cobblestone. Strings of lights glimmered lining the stalls, while musicians played on the corners. Everything was so lively to what we were expecting. There were three different taverns in the town square: Féastas, Lúchás, and Doyle’s. We decided to try Lúchás first seeing the group of riders Trey was talking about wandering in there, along with some couple infantry and healers.

“I knew I should have ordered food when I was up there because I’m starving.” My best friend said as she came back to our table with Lavender Lemonades.

The bar wasn’t crazy packed due to the cold weather, but there was a sizable amount of patrons in here. It was cozy, we had a table right next to the hearth, and I could see why most of the patrons were Basgiath students. The music from the band wasn’t ancient sounding, and the barmaids weren’t either. It was very youthful and merry than the taverns we had back home. Scanning over the decent sized room, my eyes landed on the opposite side of the room. On two riders more specifically, the one looked to be Katia’s type. Tall, tanned skin, dark hair. Though a scar marred his eye, it didn’t take away from his handsomeness. He would be perfect for her.

I did promise an attempt at being her wing woman tonight. My eyes kept lingering on the man next to him. He had an inch or two on his friend, longer dark hair that was more styled than his friend's unruly short waves. The most built man I’ve ever seen, Amari had to have designed her herself, his relic a masterpiece expertly marking his bulky biceps. I have a boyfriend…

“Huh?” I said as she was trying to get my attention, my gaze not leaving the far left corner of the room.

“For once would you not be in a daydream!” She chuckled until her gaze followed mine. “Oh wow, they’re hot.” She blurted.

"Shh, don't be that obvious," I said, slapping her shoulder while we both took in two very tall and handsome riders in their black leathers.

“Oh please like they aren’t even looking our way.” She scoffed, taking a sip of her drink.

But they were, well at least the taller one was looking directly at me as his friend tried to get his attention. And I couldn’t help to unabashedly stare back.

Garrick’s POV

“Garrick!” Xaden half raised his voice snapping his fingers at me, drawing my attention back to our usual corner of the tavern.

“What?” I peered over to my best friend.

“Were you even listening to what I said?” He acted annoyed.

‘Don't lie, you weren't.’ Chradh chuckled.

‘Are all dragons as sarcastic and grumpy as you?’ I chidded back getting only a huff of hot air as my answer. "Yeah, something about… OK yeah no."

Xaden chuckled, finally noticing what had caught my attention across the tavern floor. "You're obviously looking at the shorter infantry cadet, aren't you?” He nudged my side. “Only you would be the one to be six-six, and have a thing for extremely short girls, dude. She can’t even be more than five foot nothing dude.” He rattled off.

Xaden had a thing to point out the obvious and be rather talkative once he had a couple drinks in his system. Reminding me of his younger cousin, Bodhi, every time I had drank with him. I paid no mind to his rambling as I walked to the table the two infantry girls sat at.

“Where are you going? You don't even know if she's single." Xaden started to say as I couldn't help myself. I heard my best friend mutter a curse and his footsteps behind me.

"Could I fancy you two ladies to a friendly game of pool?" I asked the two girls. The taller one looked like she was about to speak first, but the shorter cadet with auburn hair was the first to open her mouth.

“Not even a ‘hi what’s your name?’ Typical rider fashion.” She had a brow arched in my direction, causing her best friend to giggle as she teasingly scoffed in my direction. Holding out her hand she beamed up at me. “I’m Allie, and this is Katia.”

That evening was the first night of what started the friendship of two first-year infantry cadets and two first-year rider cadets. Our friendship only grew over the last year as Drew and Zachariah started joining us. Though Drew and Zach were wary of the riders at first due to silly rivalry between the quadrants.

The next night, Katia met me outside in the alcove of the infantry courtyard like we always had since that winter in first year. The only difference was we no longer had to cough up gold coins to pay our way into town, and could go freely.

Our walk into Chantara was enjoyable as today had been the coldest day in July after our new cadets had joined us just a few weeks ago. My heart rate was almost pounding in my chest as we neared the tavern. Why was I so nervous? Yes this was my first trip into the town as a newly single woman, but that didn’t change much? It already felt like I was single by the end of first year anyway, and we’ve been to Chantara plenty of times since then.

We made our way to our usual end of the tavern where our crew usually hung out which now consisted of Drew, Katia, Xaden, Garrick, and myself. I noticed three extra bodies, two I didn't recognize at all but one had a shorter but similar build to Xaden, the second a female abou Katia’s height with short pink hair that was half shaven. Of course, Drew was shamelessly trying to flirt with her. Then there was the familiar mop of curly-haired dirty blonde 20-year-old I'd recognize anywhere.

"Sawyer!" I said excitedly, wrapping my younger cousin into a tight hug.

"Missed you too, Big Al." He chuckled. I flicked his ear at the mocking nickname.

Sawyer was all that Drew and I had left for our family. Our parents were in infantry while Sawyer's were riders and we lost all of them in an ambush on an outpost several years ago, including Katia’s; her mom a rider and father an infantry cadet. The four of us easily had become a found family of our own.

We were introduced to the other new first-year riders; the man that looked like Xaden was his younger cousin, Bodhi, and the pink haired girl was Imogen. I remember Garrick and Xaden telling us stories about them, so it already felt like I somewhat knew them. Bodhi seemed more eager to talk to us than Imogen. She stood by Sawyer and Xaden’s younger cousin a majority of the time. Even as Katia tried to compliment her hair, she offered dry responses. But everyone fell into a familiar session of banter and catching up on what's been going on for the last couple of weeks.

Throughout the night, I got lost in my thoughts. The summertime had the bar packed to the point everything was so overstimulating. The music, the loud chatter, it was too much. Why did I even come here? It was stupid to listen to Katia, I should have just stayed back in my dorm. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, but I wasn’t.

Then I saw the familiar sandy brown hair at the entrance to the tavern. Zachariah. Chiara in tow with him, as I made eye contact with my ex. His face looked as if he saw a ghost, and quickly pulled her to the other side of the bar.

“Allie, what the fuck?” Sawyer was the first to speak up.

“Yeah isn’t that your boyfriend?” Xaden offered a glare towards the shorter man across the crowded room.

“Was her boyfriend,” Katia sneered. “Two timing piece of worthless—”

“Kati.” Drew gave her a look of warning.

“I still haven’t got to fulfill my promise.” She leaned back in the booth, crossing her arms. Xaden, who sat next to her, playfully shoved the side of her head.

“Pipe down, firecracker. You’re not going to do shit.” He smirked, as she swatted his hands away.

“Riorson, it was hair washing day.” She groaned. I rolled my eyes at her dramatics. At all my friend’s dramatics actually. I didn’t want to discuss the newly ended relationship tonight or have it made a big deal. But also I certainly wasn’t expecting Zach to show up with his new girlfriend to the tavern he knew my friends frequented at.

I felt a pair of eyes glance towards me from across the table, looking over I saw Garrick looking at me. His usual hardened look was replaced by a look of concern, his hazel orbs intently focusing on me. He cocked his head towards the back door, signaling me to join him outside. I followed him towards the door, once he got up, and into the cool evening air.

I didn't realize by now that I had tears threatening to escape until Garrick pulled me into his chest and wiped a tear from my cheek.

I had been so focused on lessons and training the past couple days, I hadn’t realized how much I bottled up trying to play it off. I was upset, frustrated, and beyond done.

“It’s okay,” he whispered as my shoulders began to shake from my quiet sobs.

Garrick had always been the one that I was closest to. He always somehow caught a glimpse of the ugly side of things in my relationship and was always conveniently there to pick up the pieces when Zach would storm off.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured against my hair.

Feedback is always appreciated, likes, and reblogs as well!! 🫶🏻🫶🏻

41 notes · View notes

scintillatingshortgirl19 · 1 year

Text

Why doesn't Barry like Noho Hank?

Disclaimer before I get into it: I am always and forever a Hank stan as well as a Barry stan, and nothing in this post is meant to imply that Hank is "actually the one in the wrong here" or something - I'm just trying to figure out what Barry's headspace looks like when it comes to Hank. I’ve genuinely had a hard time putting my finger on the exact reason Barry has never liked him, so this post is just my attempt at figuring that out.

I think a lot of it comes down to what Hank represents for Barry, not so much Hank himself. Like yeah, he annoys Barry at first, but also every single time Hank has ever come into Barry's life, it's to drag Barry back into the life he's trying so hard to get away from. This isn't necessarily Hank's fault - he's just trying to survive and thrive like everyone else - and it doesn't excuse Barry's treatment of Hank. But in the context of what Barry's entire goal has been throughout the show, Barry did have a valid reason for disliking him.

It's easy to forget what their dynamic was in season 1. Hank's politeness and general personality - much as the audience (myself very much included!) finds it charming - actively made Barry's dislike of him worse, and it's not just because Barry personally found it annoying. When one of the people who just oversaw the torture of the only person you care about and is now holding that person hostage - and is one of the primary things holding you back from escaping your life as a hitman - while also being super cheerful about it and presenting himself as your friend the entire time, you're gonna dislike that guy 100x more.

And Hank is sort of a contradiction for Barry, I think - he's the person who's had the most affection for him this whole time and absolutely could've helped fulfill Barry's need for human connection . . . but he's also this person who keeps pulling Barry back into the hitman life. Like I said, in s1 he's literally one of the people holding Fuches hostage and forcing Barry to do a hit. At the end of season 1, he saved Barry's life . . . but in s2, he threatens to kill Sally and the entire acting class if Barry doesn't kill Esther. (And when Barry failed, Hank very much did try to kill him! Barry absolutely would have died that day if Hank had had a more competent shooter! This is a valid reason to not like somebody!)

And even when Hank (wisely) wants nothing to do with Barry, Hank is still the one Barry associates with that life. In s3, Barry approaches Hank because he's giving in to the darkness and he doesn't know where else to look to find a purpose. In s4e3, Barry turns to Hank to get Gene killed. Barry can't see Hank as a source of genuine connection, because for Barry, Hank always = one of two things: Barry being dragged back into darkness, or Barry giving into darkness on his own.

None of this is to excuse or condemn anybody's actions - I know Hank had his reasons for everything he did. But when trying to understand his and Barry's relationship, it's important to see it from Barry's perspective too.

I'm also not saying it’s ok for Barry to hold everything from s1 and s2 against Hank after everything that's happened - I don't really think that's something Barry is even necessarily consciously doing - but I think the context of every interaction they’ve ever had is the key to why Barry has a mental block about being able to see Hank as a potential friend/source of human connection.

He can't separate Hank from his hitman life and all the parts of himself he hates.

#barry hbo #barry berkman #noho hank #anyway my greatest desire is still for them to become actual friends #i think if they talked everything out #and if barry had the chance to see hank in a different context #*cough* forced roadtrip *cough*#i think they could form an actual bond #i've said it before and i'll say it again #if two characters have tried to kill each other multiple times #that can make their eventual friendship even stronger <3 #i need my enemies-to-friends storyline for hank and barry

18 notes · View notes

xx-meat-clown-xx · 1 year

Text

Non-canon-compliant Spiderio Rambling

This post is about the comicsverse but much of it is my own interpretation of the comics with a lot of context omitted, particularly on the dynamics prior to Daredevil (1998) #1-7, if those issues mean anything to you lmao. It’s all going under a readmore, content warning for everything you would expect from Spiderio. (Gaslighting, death, violence, things of this nature.)

Summary: Inverting the usual Spiderio dynamics borne from the MCU using comicsverse and exploring how that might look from Quentin’s perspective.

my favorite aspect of comicsverse spiderio is that there’s moments where quentin simply must be coming to the conclusion that spider-man is a fucked up freak (/pos) like him or perhaps even worse. you have to keep in mind he’s not a mutant or enhanced and put that into perspective with Peter keeping active tabs on him. On top of Quentin ruining his own life due to his impulse to villainize one superhero in specific, the guy follows him now. forever.

and when Peter catches him, Peter is very, very comfortable with how much protection the helmet gives Quentin. This guy can tear Quentin apart limb by limb literally. Without his helmet, I could say without exaggeration that if Peter had beaten him in the same way he would have died several times over. (At one point in the more recent comics, 2019 if I remember correctly, Quentin’s helmet is so strong that it deflects a bullet for example.)

I wonder how much of Quentin takes this as a threat. Does he think Peter is telling him with each punch, “I could do this to you. I want to do this to you.” Pete would disagree outwardly with this perspective but he would agree. He does want to hurt him.

The primary difference between these perspectives is that Peter isn’t using it as a threat. He scares people sometimes too to get them to cooperate, he doesn’t mean it. He holds people off buildings, sometimes he even drops them before swinging down to catch them. Peter threatens people, scares them intentionally to make them do what he wants. But his behavior with Quentin isn’t a threat, it’s something else, something worse, and I think it’s something Quentin has clued into.

Peter loses some level of self-control with Quentin because he knows it won’t kill him if he does. From Quentin’s perspective, as a fallible normal person (relatively speaking), he likely on some level fears Peter. Not the persona that he projects, what Peter shows him when there’s no one watching.

To Peter, this is rationalized as letting out steam. He’s within his right to fight back and to defend himself. To Quentin, this is evidence of a true self, glimpses of the man behind the mask. Even with the direct risk of bodily harm, though, that’s a necessary if not primary aspect of Quentin’s goals. He purposefully cuts as deep as possible to see a reaction.

I think 616 Mysterio is consciously aware of the possibility of death when he conducts villain against Spider-Man, I’d even argue that he’s planning on dying that way because it would destroy Peter. Not only with the public eye, which is almost enough to justify the risk on its own, but it would so fundamentally destroy Spider-Man’s entire perception of himself. That would make it worth it. To haunt him, to drive him to tearing his integrity to shreds over him, to completely destroy everything he stands for over Quentin. The concept is nearly paradoxical -- to drive Spider-Man to hurt him so badly that all Spider-Man can do is blame himself. (This is incidentally why Far From Home fucks so severely.)

Quentin is quite confident in his art and Mysterio is the embodiment of his art, so he likely overstates his own importance in Peter’s mind. He likely thinks Spider-Man is as obsessed with him as he is with Spider-Man. After all, they both stalk one another. On occasion, Spider-Man will even follow him, as if he’s warning him. Perhaps just reminding him.

So, then, with all of that in mind -- imagine either having a crush on the other. Perhaps it’s even reciprocated. What a terrifying situation for Quentin to be in! Peter, consciously, would never purposefully push on Quentin’s boundaries in this way. But Quentin doesn’t know that and he wouldn’t believe it if Peter told him.

For Quentin’s part, I’m under the impression he would repress it for the most part. That could be his dirtiest, most well-kept secret. After all, he can’t use it against anyone. It’s a vulnerability. Quentin needs to hedge his bets, he’s on an uneven playing field. In the event he is acting on his romantic or sexual interest, it’s highly likely it would be in a scenario where he believes he has complete and utter control over Spider-Man psychologically or emotionally. The risk of rejection is too much, too damaging.

But as for Peter having feelings or an attraction for Quentin, this is very different.

Even if Quentin reciprocates, the fact that that only holds as much weight as Spider-Man gives it must be paralyzing. Who’s to stop him then? Certainly not Quentin. And that’s sort of the horror of being Mysterio -- all along the only person stopping Spider-Man from killing Mysterio is Spider-Man. And Quentin has never trusted Spider-Man because he’s always known he can inspire something in Spider-Man, something primal and violent, he can make Spider-Man worse.

Romantic or sexual interest would just be another step up, more intimate, more unnerving. It necessitates no longer being the monster he’s built himself into, being laid bare metaphorically or literally. Quentin is used to Spider-Man being obsessed with Mysterio -- not with Quentin. There’s something depraved about it.

And what an opportunity it would be! Even if he reciprocates, even if he’s imagined this scenario a thousand times over, what a wonderful, new way to claw his way into Peter’s psyche. Could he resist the urge to unmask him the moment he’s close to him? Would he wait until he’s distracted, fallen asleep? Even if Quentin doesn’t want to use it against him--yet--it’s insurance. Spider-Man knows where Quentin sleeps; it’s only fair.

Even if Quentin doesn’t reciprocate, what a powerful tool to have over Spider-Man. He can make him worse. He can make him worse. The opportunity doesn’t outweigh the fear, the primal reaction Quentin resents and tries to suppress.

In some way, whenever Spider-Man has pinned him down and ripped off his helmet, forcing Quentin to look his masked-face in the eye, he’s felt like the roles have been reversed. The predator has become the prey. Quentin wonders if his eyes dilate when it happens, if Spider-Man can see his autonomic and undisguisable fear. He could die here.

Even now, when Spider-Man means him no harm, he feels distinctly like he’s about to be eaten. Is Spider-Man aware that when his pulse speeds up it’s not because he’s pressed up against him? Does he understand that when Quentin looks at him through unobscured eyes, a brush against his neck sounds like a resounding, paralyzing, breathtaking, wet crack?

But this is too much of an opportunity. Quentin has been handed so much power. He has no choice but to wield it. After all, if he were in Spider-Man’s position, well... Without question, if it were Quentin, if Quentin wielded so much physical power over Spider-Man... Because Quentin can’t stop thinking about bones snapping, can barely hold back a manic smile at the concept, he has no choice but to wield this power over Spider-Man. He has to even the playing field.

If it were Quentin, if it were any other context, the only reason he can imagine himself holding him down would be to -- oh, he’s not sure where he’d begin. (The rotator cuffs would be good, the shoulders as well, perhaps his wrists. They take a long time to heal and he’ll be much less of a nuisance without all that swinging, won’t he?) So, naturally, he needs to hedge his bets. If he were in Spider-Man’s position, what would convince Quentin to not hurt him?

Like prey, he submits. Guarded, he gathers information, ascertains whether the jaws wrapped around his neck are likely to snap closed. Maybe Spider-Man is trying to scare him, testing him. If Quentin were in his position, the idea of snapping his jaws shut is dizzying, breathtaking.

He’d play along. He’d ascertain the role he’s expected to play and slowly dig his claws in. How much can he get away with? If he promises what Spider-Man wants, then he can wield this power with intent. He can figure out what he wants, what he likes, and dispense it when it’s the most beneficial to him. If Spider-Man were smart, he’d do the same in Quentin’s position. If anything, he’d find it quite endearing.

And, crucially, Peter would have absolutely zero idea that Quentin is so afraid of him.

(As a final note, I think 616 doesn’t really think of himself as an attractive person and would be distrustful of any advances due to this. He could perhaps compartmentalize it as an attraction Mysterio as performed by Quentin Beck, which is an attraction he could understand. They have so much history and chemistry in costume, and he can understand the appeal of the taboo.)

#spiderio #cw long post #it almost turns into more of a ficlet towards the end #i actually have a fic im working on along this train of thought that's from peter's perspective #they're both like animals sniffing at each other and wondering when the other will strike really #and as time goes on they're increasingly more and more surprised the other isn't striking them

11 notes · View notes

jdgo51 · 1 month

Text

The Prayer of Jesus

Today's inspiration comes from:

Pray First

by Chris Hodges

For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

— Matthew 6:13 NKJV

I’ll never forget when my understanding of prayer changed forever.

I was a sophomore in high school, fifteen years old and newly saved, when my pastor, Larry Stockstill, taught on the Lord’s Prayer. Pastor Larry was passionate about prayer — to the point that I half-expected him to preach on the power of prayer any given Sunday. He even made sure we had prayer in the name of our church: Bethany World Prayer Center.

But hearing him teach on prayer this time was different.

It was the first time I realized that the Lord’s Prayer wasn’t just a prayer — it was an outline for prayer. My mind was blown! I thought you were just supposed to memorize the Lord’s Prayer and recite it whenever it was time to pray. And at that particular age and stage, the twenty-one seconds it took for me to say the Lord’s Prayer was just about how long I spent in prayer. The main reason I didn’t pray longer was that I didn’t know what to say. So, like most of my friends and many of the Christians I knew, I would simply recite the Lord’s Prayer, give God a few requests, and call it a day.

Learning to consider the Lord’s Prayer as an outline, a model for prayer, remains one of the greatest discoveries in my entire Christian life to date. I hope this discovery can have the same impact on you.

When His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, Jesus used a technique that many rabbis used — teaching God’s truth by providing an outline drawn from the Scriptures. The disciples already knew how to pray based on their upbringing. They had learned traditional prayers that most Jewish males memorized as part of their upbringing.

But when they saw and heard Jesus pray, they were stunned. He wasn’t praying as they had been taught, so they asked their Master to teach them to do it His way. So that’s exactly what Jesus did — He gave them the gift of an outline for how to talk to the Father. It changed everything for the disciples that day, and it changed everything for me too.

Now I hope it changes the way you understand the Lord’s Prayer — and perhaps all prayers!

Our Father in Heaven: Respect and Intimacy

Having a deliberate plan in place when you pray goes a long way toward deepening your relationship with God. Rather than stifling your connection, a prayer plan facilitates staying focused and going deeper. The primary components of prayer planning are model prayers. These are not scripted prayers to be read verbatim but simply outlines, templates, and blueprints that help you include the major elements of prayer such as praise and worship, confession, petition, and intercession.

While we’ll explore several distinct models found in the Bible, the best starting point is the prayer outline Jesus Himself gave us. It’s the model prayer of all model prayers. In response to their request, Jesus instructed His followers to pray like this:

Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. — Matthew 6:9–13 NKJV

The Lord’s Prayer isn’t just a prayer — it is an outline for prayer.

It’s important to realize that Jesus wasn’t teaching us words to memorize but rather how to connect with our Father. With this relational goal in mind, Christ gave us an outline with seven distinct aspects of prayer. Similar to rabbinical teaching of the day that followed specific outlines, Jesus concisely demonstrated elements for us to explore and expand upon as we pray.

A logical starting point when teaching others how to communicate is to focus on their audience, the person being addressed — and that’s exactly how Jesus began: “Our Father in Heaven...” It’s difficult to grasp how radical it was for His disciples to hear that they — and we — should connect with God relationally. And not just relationally — we should begin by calling God our Father, which Jesus implies may be His favorite title.

Jesus called Him “Abba,” which conveys intimacy, and told us to do the same. It’s similar to when we address our earthly fathers as Daddy or Papa. It’s warm and personal, familiar and comfortable. Rather than starting with a formal approach, we speak to God as His sons and daughters:

You have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, ‘Abba, Father’. — Romans 8:15 NLT

God wants to be in an intimate relationship with you. And your relationship with Him begins with a right view of God. Nothing will determine your relationship with God more than your view of Him. Addressing Him as your Father still shows respect but accurately demonstrates your access and closeness.

When my kids were little, I loved nothing more than for them to jump in my lap, cuddle up, and tell me about their day. As they grew into adulthood, our communication wasn’t as physically close, but the love, familiarity, and intimacy remained. They know they can come to me anytime — not just when they’re struggling or needing something. I love it when they pop in and just say, “Hey, Dad, how are you? What are you working on? How’s your day going?”

God loves for us to come to Him in this same way — as children who love Him and want to spend time with Him.

Excerpted with permission from Pray First by Chris Hodges, copyright Chris Hodges.

0 notes

iriemorning · 1 month

Text

i am not your everyday person

i dont do daily journals, make good morning/night posts or update my parents what i do every minute. im not the type to commit to a set goal like writing 100 words everyday and keep doing it until i reach 10,000 words. i always struggled with those type of goals since young. but now that im getting older, i have come to accept that i am simply wired like a 20% cheetah and 80% panda

for instance, i work my ass off and take action in strong, accelerated bursts within like... three continuous days. and then coop up in my shell for the next two weeks or so. you can never unplug me out of there until im recharged.

but when the time comes again and my presence and action is absolutely needed, i will be there.

which is why the prospect of quality time really aligns with my primary love language. some people might relish in words of affirmation, receiving gifts, or acts of service, but i express my commitment to everything under the sun by making the most of the given moment.

and so that means i do not take cancelled meetings lightly, nor people bailing out with plain excuses at the last minute. i dont like quitters either. because the moment i say i'm in, i mean it. i set aside everything else and stock up my energy to accommodate this moment, spending my full undivided attention to make it high quality, even if it doesnt last forever.

thats why whenever i take vacations or visit an exotic place, i always wanna visit or try out everything. i remembered a lot of special, specific days this way by pure memory without even noting them down; days when i reached a new milestone, reunion with my loved ones, and even the most terrible days, i dont forget.

it only makes sense that when i watch a movie with someone, i get irked and upset if theyre not immersed as i do and busy with their phones. its disrespectful to the creators and offensive to me, because that means they dont value the time we set together. so nowadays, i'm more picky and stingy with my time.

important events are seasonally categorized in my headspace. i have my spring and summer moments when i wanna be dolled up to attend gatherings, or go frolicking around the grocery halls pushing a full cart in my grandma outfit, climb the top of the mountains with limited oxygen, ride the deep-end of rollercoasters while screeching my head off, and pulling all-nighters for my curricular activities.

its like living life off the edges. i always reach that precipice where im two missteps away from falling off the cliff, but i dont, since i am busy admiring the view at the top. i always play my part (sometimes others' parts too that they left unattended), and i always manage to reach the end.

my fall and winter moments are comfortable but messy. not so exciting for an outsider looking through, since i just seem to laze around, dragging my feet like its the most exhausting thing in the world to prepare myself some dinner. but thats where my brain, the CPU of my whole being, is working at its full power

some might think that my 'bursting' state is where it's at, but that's all impulse: like the blinking reflex when something gets on our eye. it's robo-automatic: hiking a mountain? must reach the top. a project due? dont sleep and finish it. the wildest things you might hear me go through, still kicking it sans sleep sans water were all organized chaos—things that i foresaw, prepared, researched, and planned for while i was 'resting'

my resting state is where i tune in to the past and possibilities, and write them at present; maybe to improve the future in some way, but mostly to quell and disperse all these ideas popping up in my head before they could burst away like bubbles in sheer overpopulation. this is my way of release in a fast-paced world.

it is the 21st century after all, and so i find this celebration of my 21st birthday very special in particular. at my vantage point, it seems like i have caught up with the times. we're the same age now. coming of age doesnt come with a cost, so I have to pull my bootstraps and act accordingly.

ah, to start with, perhaps allocating a small share of the panda labels and raising the stocks of the cheetah entertainment to 25%? ha! they seem reallyyy oppressed. the cheetah in me says they have more places to go.

p.s. if you reached up to this point, you already spent your precious time reading my words. . . and for me that means a lot

#not your everyday person #poetics #quality time #love language #writer life #bursting state #resting state #seasons #birthday #21st century

0 notes

jenniferstit · 2 years

Text

shufflemancy PAC reading: 🎧🎙🔊🎶

hello! i wanted to start doing pac readings centered around music. besides numbers, music is the primary way my angel & spirit guides communicate with me. i receive messages through music allll the time. i also love aquarian energy, so shoutout to all the aquas! 🛸🪐🔭 without a doubt, y’all’s energy shows up in my readings the most, so i wanted to show love to an aquarius artist, and one of my favorite artists in general, Tinashe (whose birthday just passed). so happy belated 29th birthday to Tinashe! happy birthday season to all my aquas!!! hope you enjoy this reading and expect more music-based readings from me in the future.

i also didn’t use tarot for this reading, so this is mostly an intuitive reading, with a small oracle portion at the end. like & share if you enjoyed.

pick a Tinashe album cover—

Group 1: 333 👁

endings, endings, endings! you start off at the end of the album with “it’s a wrap” & then move to the top of the record with “let go,” which is yet another confirmation that you are ending one cycle and starting another. moreover, all 3 of your shuffled songs have the same overall energy: moving on!

this song is about being at the end of a journey & remembering exactly who tf you are. you’re no longer enmeshed in the events of your past. you’re able to look at the situation objectively, acknowledge your mistakes, and move on confidently knowing that you’d never make those same choices again bc you’re different now… maybe you’re at that point where ppl from the past are coming back, wanting to engage with you again. and you just don’t entertain any of them bc you know there’s simply no benefit for you. certain chapters of your life will forever remain closed.

this song is about letting go of a self-limiting mindset. you can see where you want your life to change but don’t exactly know how/where to start. before you take any action, it’s starts with your intention & mindset. imagine what you want, imagine what it feels like. align to that energy… imagine that version of you that has already accomplished that goal: what do they look like? what do they eat? what do they wear? what do they smell like? where are they living? what life choices are they making? and slowly but surely, become that person. do what you can right now to ensure you will become that person bc if you can see it, that version of you already exists.

closing out the trifecta of moving on… this one’s about pulling your energy away from anyone or anything that drains it. some of you may be realizing certain relationships in your life are just not cutting it anymore— this song in particular talks abt a romantic relationship. if you ever feel yourself romanticizing the past, tap into the energy of “it’s a wrap.” remember that you let go of certain people/situations for a reason, don’t let attachments be the undoing of so much progress. for some this could literally be about alcoholism/substance abuse. imbalanced relationships and drug abuse share a similar parasitic & co-dependent dynamic. whatever you’re situation is, you’ve acknowledged these behaviors are not good, but now you need to actually put in the work to dismantling them. for some, it could be as simple as an internet addiction and you needing to spend more time in the real world accomplishing real goals. detox yourselves accordingly, hold yourselves accountable, & make sure to replace those bad habits with good ones.

oracle: 4444. you are extremely divinely protected at this time. you may have a green and/or yellowish aura— strong heart & solar plexus energies. you may have spotlight on you now or in the coming future… esp if that’s something you’ve been working toward. you’re definitely in a waiting period, waiting for cycles to close out. when they do, everything you desire will come. i see you being satisfied with the outcome. embrace boredom! being bored is good sometimes (dopamine detox). you may also need to spend some time in nature, i heard “climb a tree.” this new cycle will be the beginning of something solid you can build upon, i heard “re-create yourself.”

Group 2: Songs for You 💿

okay so i have such a funny relationship with this song. when i first heard it i loved it, then i got sick of it for a long time (mainly due to g-eazy’s part), then all of a sudden i became obsessed with it, even more than before. i saw Tinashe back in october, and i went from hating it to playing it all the time, like a week or so before the concert. and then at the concert we locked eyes with each other during this song at a particular part and sang together… i’m not gonna repeat the words bc they’re pretty nsfw but i just could not stop laughing… of allll the songs to sing together that it would be this one lmao. she actually did a mashup of this one and one of my all-time fave songs by her called “ooh la la” (which i didn’t think she’d even perform) and it was all just the highlight of the show for me… i share this story bc i have a feeling that this song really resonates with a lot of people in this group. you have people from your past watching you! for some, you could be watching someone from your past, but for most i’m getting this energy of people who had passed you over now starting to regret it. they’re imagining that things with you would be better than what they have now and they’re experiencing major fomo. for those who are watching someone else, you may be suspecting that this person is not happy without you and you’d be right lol. for better or worse, there is this sense of an ego boost knowing that someone who didn’t see your worth is now paying the price.

so echoing the last song, some of you know exactly who is watching you & are totally unbothered by their wandering eyes. some of you may be totally done with this person. others may be entertaining thoughts of letting this person back into your life, but you know there’d be a cost. either way, you know your worth and you know that no one should ever have the power to make you feel expendable. life’s too short to entertain half-assed connections.

ayeeeee, okay so this is my favorite part of your reading and i’m so happy that this is the energy we’re closing out with. this is a bad bitch anthem and as soon as i saw this song paired with “so much better,” i knew that this group would be full of confident ppl who know exactly why ppl from their past can’t let them go lol. i’m picking up on a strong sacral energy… and i’m hearing that sex for you should always be a sacred space bc ppl will siphon off your sacral energy by connecting with you sexually (which could be detrimental to you/your confidence). this is about being totally in YOUR energy and no one else’s. being extremely selective and only wanting to share your energy with other “bad bitches” aka people on your vibrational level. there’s nothing like being somewhere or being in a group of ppl and just knowing you don’t belong, it immediately lowers your vibration. this group needs to just continue to do them, despite whoever is watching and/or whether you have to go it alone for a while. the right people will gravitate towards you and you towards them at the same time… plus, you never know who’s watching. bad bitches link up.

oracle: 777. some of you may be planning to confront someone… make sure you write down everything you want to say and don’t let this person try to take control of the conversation, speak your truth. this group has great discernment… use that discernment when meeting/dealing with new people, it will be needed. there’s something very celestial abt this group, i’m picking up on some luminary energy (sun/moon or cancer/leo). starseed energy. a cycle w work/career could be closing out at this time.

Group 3: Joyride 🎢

i’m getting a scenario of someone entering a new phase in life where everything is calm… this could be how you choose to navigate life from now own, prioritizing inner peace & harmony above everything else. some of you need to simplify your life, it’s so easy to get caught up in the distractions of this world, especially when you’re surrounded by unawakened individuals who aren’t living/acting in alignment. some distance from certain people may be needed. for some, total isolation may be needed for a while. take a moment to go through the people in your life and ask yourself, “what do i gain from this connection? when is the last time i felt this connection was a balanced give-take?” simplify and edit accordingly.

very emotional song lyrically & melodically. sometimes when we’re co-creating a new reality with universe, the old reality will grab onto us even harder to try to prevent us from leveling up. that’s the energy i’m picking up. as you distance yourself from certain ppl/scenarios, some may notice that you are leveling up/leaving them behind. i can’t tell you how many stories i have (and have witnessed) where ppl long forgotten have tried to reinsert themselves back into my life right as i was in the middle of a major purging/healing cycle. these are tests from the universe. spirit is allowing you to choose what is more important to you— your growth or your comfort. you can’t heal everyone and you can’t bring everyone along with you as you ascend, it’s just the truth. emotions may arise & some ppl may put up a fight, but these tough moments are where you prove to yourself how strong you truly are and how dedicated you are to your own growth and happiness. you can only put others first so many times before you finally take a stand.

i love this song. there’s two ways i look at this song. the first is recognizing what you need and what’s good for you. tying into last song, as you ascend you’ll realize that those things that once made you feel comfortable will no longer serve you. even if those things try to come back to you with open arms, you just have to see them as poison. that thing, person, situation is poisonous to you and you are poisonous to it. even if you micro-dose on poison, it’s still poison… and it will take its toll eventually, one way or another. the other way i look at this song, which is how i interpret it as i listen to it (which also ties into the next song) is dealing with rejection. when a certain place, space, person, etc. doesn’t want you, there’s this realization upon reflection that that situation just didn’t serve you, and universe was saving you from a negative outcome. of course, emotionally it doesn’t always feel like that, so sometimes we have to hype ourselves up and remind ourselves that no matter how ppl view or treat us, it should never change how we view ourselves. that’s what i take away from this song, feeling good and confident about yourself, even when certain things don’t work out.

this group gets a bonus song since the last one was technically just an interlude lol. okay, i was SUPER excited when this song came out next on shuffle, bc i always always play this song and “ain’t good for ya” together bc the subject matter is very similar (to me). this is one of my fave Tinashe songs ever, and highlights one of the things i love about her the most… her ability to take objectively “sad” subject matter and make it fun to listen to. this is a very clear song about rejection but it’s the sexiest song abt rejection ever lol. i’m going to read this energy as future energy… as you leave behind your old reality and create your new one, the world will feel like a playground. everything will feel new & fresh and with that comes new lessons, new temptations. certain situations will be drawn to you & you towards them, and they may be tempting bc they are new, but they may not all be meant to last… just be aware of that. a maybe is a no. wishy-washiness is a no. inconsistency of any kind is a no. that’s what the song is about… having the dignity and self-respect to know when someone just doesn’t fw you like that. don’t give them the opportunity to reject you repeatedly.

oracle: 555. some of you may be entering a very prosperous period soon, having lots to celebrate. don’t let tough times have a negative affect on your self-worth… you are not your pain, you are not the things that have happened to you. i see balance being restored… esp if you’ve been silently battling something, your fortune is shifting. some of you need to work on your solar plexus chakra. spirit is shifting things when it comes to your finances so expect changes with that.

for more tarot readings:

ig: yinz.yang 🧿

twitter: yinz_yang 🔮

107 notes · View notes

lokiondisneyplus · 3 years

Text

Yes, Loki series director Kate Herron knows about your fan theory about the show, the analysis you posted to social media. No, she won’t tell you what she thinks about it, or whether you were right.

“I follow all the conversations on Twitter,” Herron told Polygon in an interview shortly after Loki’s season 1 finale. “I don’t always weigh in on them, because I made the show, so they don’t want me weighing in like, ‘Actually, guys…’ I think that’s the whole point of art — it should be up for debate and discussion.”

[Ed. note: Spoilers ahead for season 1 of Loki.]

Loki has been a hit for streaming service Disney Plus — episode 6 of the show, the final installment for this season, was reportedly watched by more households than any of the platform’s MCU finales to date. The series has been a popular source of fan conjecture and argument, with one particularly big rolling conversation focusing on whether the budding romantic relationship between trickster Asgardian Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his alternate-universe counterpart Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) is a form of incest.

Herron is willing to speak up about that one. “My interpretation of it is that they’re both Lokis, but they aren’t the same person,” she says. “I don’t see them as being like brother and sister. They have completely different backgrounds […] and I think that’s really important to her character. They sort of have the same role in terms of the universe and destiny, but they won’t make the same decisions.”

Herron says thematically, Loki falling for Sylvie is an exploration of “self-love,” but only in the sense that it’s Loki learning to understand his own motives and integrity. “[The show is] looking at the self and asking ‘What makes us us?’” Herron says. “I mean, look at all the Lokis across the show, they’re all completely different. I think there’s something beautiful about his romantic relationship with Sylvie, but they’re not interchangeable.”

Directing the final kiss between the two characters was a complicated process because it had to communicate something about each of them over the course of just a few seconds. Herron says the primary goal was creating a safe, comfortable environment for Hiddleston and Di Martino, and after that, she had to think about how to bring across Loki and Sylvie’s conflicting goals in that moment.

“It’s an interesting one, right?” she says. “Emotionally, from Sylvie’s perspective, I think it’s a goodbye. But it’s still a buildup of all these feelings. They’ve both grown through each other over the last few episodes. It was important to me that it didn’t feel like a trick, like she was deceiving him. She is obviously doing that, on one hand, but I don’t feel the kiss is any less genuine. I think she’s in a bad place, but her feelings are true.”

Herron says directing Hiddleston in the scene mostly came down to discussing the speech Loki gives Sylvie before the kiss. “That was really important, showing this new place for Loki,” Herron says. “In the first episode, he’s like, ‘I want the throne, I want to rule,’ and by episode 6, he isn’t focused on that selfish want. He just wants her to be okay.”

Loki writer and producer Eric Martin recently tweeted that he wished the show had been able to focus more time on two of its secondary characters, Owen Wilson’s Time Variance Authority agent Mobius M. Mobius, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Ravonna Renslayer. “I wanted to explore her more deeply and really see their relationship,” he says, “But covid got in the way and we just didn’t have time.”

Asked if Loki and Sylvie’s relationship suffered from similar necessary edits, Herron says it’s true that the show’s creators and audience still don’t know everything Sylvie went through to make her so different from the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s original version of Loki. “We’ve seen her as a child, but she’s lived for thousands and thousands of years, in apocalypses on the run,” she says. “I think there’s so much more to delve into with Sylvie […] You’re filling in the blanks. You see [her on the planet] Lamentis, and it’s horrific. And you’re like, “Well, what kind of person would she be, growing up in apocalypses? What kind of personality would that give her?”

Herron says Sylvie’s backstory actually reminds her of the 1995 movie Jumanji, where a young boy is sucked into a magical board game in 1969, and emerges 26 years later as a full-grown man, played by with typical manic energy by Robin Williams. “It’s such a weird reference, but…” she says. “He’s a little boy when he ends up captive in that game, and when he comes out, it’s obviously been a life experience. With Sylvie, it’s similar. She was a child when she had to go on the run, so she’s had a very difficult life. I would love to see more of it. As Eric said, she’s a rich character, there’s so much to be explored.”

Herron says, though, that during her time on the show, material about Sylvie was added rather than cut — specifically, those scenes of her as a child, being kidnapped by the TVA. “This was before my time, but I know in the writers’ room, there were lots of avenues exploring Sylvie on the run and what her life was like,” Herron says. “I wouldn’t want to speak more to those, because I wasn’t there when they were being discussed. But something wasn’t in there that was important to me — I felt we should see her [history] in the TVA. Me and the team were talking about how it made complete sense, because episode 4 is all about twisting the idea that the TVA might be good on its head. And so that’s something that came in later, once I joined, was seeing her as a child. I think we needed to see that, not to understand her completely, but to get an idea of her motivations, why she’s so angry at this place.”

Talking more broadly about the series finale, Herron says the last few episodes weren’t as heavily referential as the first episodes, which she intended as “a love letter to sci-fi.” While early images like the TVA’s interrogation rooms had specific visual references from past science fiction, episode 6’s locations were drawn more from collaborations with the crew.

“The idea of the physical timeline being circular, our storyboard artists came up with that,” Herron says. “I had in the scripts, ‘We move through space to the end of time,” and then me and [storyboard artist Darrin Denlinger] discussed how we could play with the idea of time, while also adding MCU nods. He was like, ‘What if the timeline is circular?’ I think that’s such a striking image, like the Citadel at the End of Time is the needle on a record player. I just thought that was such a cool image, but it wasn’t necessarily taken from anything.”

Episode 6 focuses heavily on the mysterious figure He Who Remains and his citadel, a space she says was largely conceived by production designer Kasra Farahani. “I remember he brought in the art of the Citadel, and I thought it was beautiful,” Herron says. “He said, ‘The Citadel has been carved from an actual meteorite,’ which I thought was such an inspired idea. And He Who Remains’ office is the only finished portion of it.”

She says there are only a few direct homages in episode 6, including the zoom shot through space, which directly referenced a similar sequence in Robert Zemeckis’ 1997 film Contact.

“And then I have my Teletubbies reference for episode 5,” Herron says. “I wanted the Void to feel like an overgrown garden, like a kind of forgotten place. And I realized I’d pitched it as the British countryside. I remember trying to explain it to ILM, who did the visual effects, and saying, ‘Oh, you know, it’s like the Teletubbies. It’s just rolling hills, but they go on forever.’ That actually was quite a helpful reference in the end, which is funny.”

Asked for her favorite set memory from shooting the season, Herron says it comes down to Tom Hiddleston starting a mania for physical exertion before takes. “Sometimes he runs around set to get himself in the right mindset before he performs,” she says. “He does pushups. You know, you’re going into an action scene, you want to look like you’ve just been running. And it became infectious across all the cast. We’ve got so much footage of — I think Jack [Veal] ended up doing it, who plays Kid Loki. I’ve got [shots of] him and Sophia doing pushups and squats, just to get ready. It was so funny watching that echo across all the cast. I think all of them ended up doing those exercises with him at some point. It was so funny.”

“That might be my favorite set story, but it’s honestly, not a sweet one,” she adds. “I would say my favorite thing is his enthusiasm. He’s a very kind empathetic person. We were filming this in quite tough circumstances, a lot of people were far from home and isolating, and he brought this warmth and energy and joy to the set every day. And I think that made everyone feel very safe and very bonded. I’m forever grateful to him for doing that.”

#Kate Herron #Loki #Sylvie #Tom Hiddleston #owen wilson

187 notes · View notes

taggingtim · 3 years

Text

Why I love Pre-Boot Tim Drake and why the Reboot has ruined him

I love Tim Drake. He is my favorite comic book character of all time. I’ve been really upset the past few days about what DC has been doing with him lately, and I thought it would be cathartic for me to write something up about it. (No, this isn’t a rant about Tim being bi/gay; it’s a much larger problem than that. But I’ll get to that in a bit.) Bear with me for a bit of history, first.

When I was a kid I loved the Batman Animated Series. I know this will lose me a lot of internet cred, but I always preferred the fourth season. In particular, I loved Tim Drake. He was fun and funny and I absolutely adored him. I used to beg my mom to take me to the mall so I could buy issues of Gotham Adventures. For my birthday one year my parents got me a subscription to the comic, and I was blown away by the idea that I could have comics MAILED to my HOUSE.

Around middle school I started collecting Marvel comics, mostly X-men stuff. I loved them, but when I started college I quit the hobby for financial reasons.

Fast forward a few years, and I felt I was financially stable enough to start buying comics again. Rather than going back to Marvel, I decided to give Batman comics a chance. I had no idea where to start, and when I found out my beloved Tim had his own comic series, I thought it was a perfect entry point into the Batman universe. I bought the complete series from a local comic shop and dove in.

Tim’s Robin series was exactly what I was looking for in a comic. He was very different from little Timmy Todd from BtAS, but I loved him. I built the rest of my comic collection around him, grabbing up every book that he was featured in, from Young Justice to Teen Titans to Batman, Detective Comics, Nightwing, Red Robin, and many others. I have random books from series like The Demon just because Tim was in them.

So why did I like Tim so much? What about this character made me so excited for more? I found in Tim something that I had never seen in a comic book before: character growth. Somehow, though he was written by many different authors over many different years, Tim managed to have a character arc that is consistent and makes sense. Sure, there were a few small bumps along the way, but on the whole Tim has always stayed true to his character, and he’s developed in a way that the big name characters, like Batman, never can.

When we’re first introduced to Tim, he’s a young teen who has been neglected by his parents growing up. He’s smart, healthy, and strong, but he lacks so much self confidence and has little sense of self worth. Tim notices Bruce’s increasing violence as he grieves for the loss of his son, and Tim knows he needs to step in and help. Batman needs a Robin.

For most characters, this would be the part where Tim put himself forward for the job. But he doesn’t. He seeks out Dick Grayson and begs him to come home instead. It’s only when Batman and Nightwing are in danger and there is literally no one else to help that Tim steps up and dons the cape. And once he does, he’s constantly plagued by self-doubt, terrified he will screw up and leave Batman worse than ever before.

From there, Tim undergoes intense training. He never begs to be in the spotlight, doesn’t push to go out on the streets before he’s ready. His goal is to help Bruce as much as possible.

Here’s where I started to fall in love with him. All that self-doubt, the constant need to be useful? That’s exactly what you would expect to see from a child whose parents had ignored and neglected him. He finally has a parental figure who sees him, who values him, and Tim does everything he can to make himself worthy in the hopes that Bruce will keep him around.

This is the first example of character consistency that we see with Tim. And it continues. When his mom dies and his dad is put in a coma, you see Tim struggle to come to terms with losing the people he loves, but never had a relationship with. Tim almost never mentions his mom after her death, because she just wasn’t present in his life. When his dad recovers and decides to stick around, Tim struggles to build a relationship with him. He’s plagued with guilt because he’s finally found the father figure he needed in Bruce, but he thinks that he’s supposed to feel that way for Jack. It’s a running undercurrent in their relationship that creates distance between them for years.

This is already so long, so I’m going to try to summarize a bit more. We get to watch Tim grow up. We see his awkward relationship with his first girlfriend, Ariana. He doesn’t know how to treat her; he’s never had the opportunity to observe a healthy relationship. But he tries so, so hard. All of Tim’s relationships are awkward, because he’s never had a model of a good one. Steph is a great match for him, because she’s very vocal about what she wants and needs, and she isn’t afraid to call Tim out when he messes up, which is exactly what Tim needs.

Big things happen to Tim. He’s stuck with Jean-Paul Valley, who slowly goes insane, leaving Tim to try to keep the city in one piece. He’s infected with the Clench, a plague that sweeps over Gotham and kills everyone it touches, and barely escapes with his life. His girlfriend is sexually assaulted, leaving him to deal with the fallout. His family moves out of Gotham, and he has to sneak back in during No Man’s Land to help. His relationship with his dad has intense ups and downs, resulting in him being sent to boarding school, punished in a variety of ways, and generally caused a lot of trouble in his life.

Then people start dying. Over the course of about a year in his life, Tim loses his girlfriend, his dad, a close friend, and his best friend, each of whom dies under tragic conditions. Tim’s grief is intense, and he is understandably traumatized by the losses. We see fundamental changes in his character. He changes his costume from something bright and cheerful to something darker that reflects his emotional state. He’s more subdued, his adventures a little more serious.

When Bruce first tries to adopt him, Tim literally creates an uncle and hires an actor to play him, just to avoid dealing with the situation. Bruce has viewed Tim as a son for years, so to him the adoption is an obvious step. For Tim, it feels like a betrayal of his father, and it takes a while before he’s ready to accept Bruce’s love, home, and a place in his family.

When Damian shows up on the scene, Tim really struggles with him, and not just because early Damian is a horrid brat who tries to kill Tim on multiple occasions. Tim has always felt the need to earn his place with Bruce, and Damian constantly throws all of Tim’s biggest fears in his face—he’s not wanted or needed now that the “real” son is here, he’s not worthy of a place in the family, he’s not good enough.

Tim tries to clone Conner, his best friend. He’s lost so many people, and he’s desperate to get them back. Conner was cloned to begin with and fully matured over a very short period of time; the technology clearly exists, so why can’t Tim use it to get his best friend back? And if he can get Conner back, why not the others he’s lost? He eventually gives up, but when he eventually gets access to a Lazarus Pit, he immediately wants to incorporate the waters into his process so he can revive his loved ones. With Dick’s help, Tim eventually decides to let it go, but it’s such a poignant moment for the character.

Then Bruce dies, and Dick takes Robin away. Tim switches to the Red Robin persona as he travels the world, alone, trying to prove that he was right. He has to deal with the trauma of losing another father, finds out that his girlfriend never died but let him hurt so much for so long. His brother and the only close friend he has left both think his grief has overwhelmed his sense and that he’s gone crazy. He’s utterly alone.

The Red Robin series is such a great culmination for Tim. He finds a place for himself as a hero, as a CEO. He gets parts of his family back—Bruce, Steph, Bart, Conner. He finally figures out who he wants to be and creates a place for himself.

This overarching character development is what I love about Tim. His many, many traumas impact his decisions, and you can clearly see how he changes over time as a result of them. I didn’t even go into his development as a leader from his early fumbling with Young Justice to his strong leadership of the Teen Titans, or how his relationships with Conner, Bart, and Cassie develop so fluidly and realistically over the years.

This is why I love Tim. Characters like Batman are static; nothing that happens to them will ever have a lasting impact, because in the end the character always returns to what they were. Tim, on the other hand, has changed and developed A LOT since his initial appearance. His growth has always been consistent and logical.

When the reboot happened, all of that character growth was lost. Tim was replaced with a jerk who betrayed his friends and cheated on his girlfriend. DC has basically retconned all of this and tried to turn Tim back into who he was, but by taking away all of the things that have happened to him over the years, Tim has lost SO MUCH.

I keep looking for my Tim in recent comics, and I just can’t find him. It breaks my heart, because I love him so much, and it feels like he’s lost to me forever. The most recent Young Justice comic series actually gave me hope; I felt like maybe, finally, someone was going to write Tim correctly. He had his primary friendships back, his relationship with Steph was developing (even if they seem to have completely dropped all the development around Steph’s decision to let Tim think she was dead). The actual book itself wasn’t fantastic, but it felt like they were headed in the right direction.

Over the last few days, I read the Batman: Urban Legends books. I actually read the Batman/Red Hood story first, which was fantastic. I was really excited to read Tim’s story (though I already knew how it ended). Jason’s character was handled so well, and he seemed to actually have some character development that will hopefully last. I anticipated the same for Tim.

But Tim’s story was awful. The plot was all over the place—kids are being kidnapped, so Tim has to join a pain cult to get them back? He’s somehow helping Oracle with computer issues while simultaneously questioning witnesses? He’s broken up with Steph, off camera, shortly after telling her how much he loves her, but Steph somehow thinks that they should have a caring relationship where Tim tells her what he’s feeling? Bernard has somehow become a good enough fighter to stand side by side with Robin? Tim STILL doesn’t have a code name? Why is everyone suddenly hounding him about what he wants to do with his life?

It’s just such a mess of a story. If it didn’t end with Tim agreeing to go on a date with Bernard, no one would ever have even mentioned it. There’s nothing particularly re-readable or enjoyable about it.

I actually liked that they brought Bernard back. I really enjoyed him in the original Robin series. It’s been a while since I read that part of the series (I’m actually working my way back through it now). I know Bernard always read as gay to me, yet somehow I felt like he was out of character in these books.

And then, the climax of the story. Tim is bi, or gay, or has at least agreed to go on a date with a boy.

If this had happened in the pre-boot, when Tim was Red Robin and had an actual character arc, I honestly wouldn’t have had an issue with it. I do think it would have needed a LOT more build up than it was given here. Tim has always been a very introspective character, and we’ve been party to so much of his internal monologue over the years. It seems very strange to me that such a huge thing just sneaks up on him out of nowhere when he’s never even thought about it before.

But more than that, this story just feels like the final death blow for the Tim I loved. The whole arc is about how Tim doesn’t know who he is or who he wants to be. What will his hero name be? Will he go to college? What is he going to do with his life? These are all great questions, and his answer to all of them is… date a boy?

Is this going to be his defining characteristic going forward? From here will we just see Tim exploring and discovering his sexuality? The Tim we have now doesn’t have a family, a team, a purpose, or even a code name. Why was this the thing that DC decided to give us? It feels like they wanted to make a gay Robin and decided it would be Tim because they didn’t know what else to do with him.

It’s stupid, but I honestly feel like I’ve spent the past few days grieving the loss of a loved one. The Tim that DC is presenting now is just not the person that I knew. Tim would never break up with Steph that abruptly for what he admits is no apparent reason. He would never say “just call me Robin, since Damian’s out of town.” Everything that I love about Tim seems to be gone, and in its place DC has given me a date with a boy.

Again, it’s not Tim being not-straight that I have an issue with. I’ve never read the character that way, but it’s something I can live with. My issue is the way it was handled. Why not make Tim an actual person first, and then explore his sexuality? Send him off to college! He’s obviously thinking about it! It’s the perfect opportunity to give him his own book. He can move to a different city, choose a new name, and DC can introduce a whole new set of characters. Figure out which parts of Tim’s backstory are still canon, and which have been dropped. Make him a person again, and then let him explore his sexuality.

I know this post is all over the place, and I don’t have time right now to go back and edit it. I just really needed an outlet for my frustration. Right now it feels like there are so many people who are so excited about Tim being bi/gay, but they don’t know anything else about him. I keep seeing people comment how DC has been “dropping hints for years!” with no evidence other than “he and Superboy were really close!” I guess I’d just really like to have some dialogue with other people who are fans of Tim, rather than fans of Tim-as-bi/gay or fans of Tim-as-straight.

Does anyone else feel this way? I’d honestly like to have a dialogue about it with other long time fans.

#Tim Drake #Red Robin #this is a long one #pre-boot vs reboot #this formatting is a little weird #Batman: Urban Legends 6 #Batman: Urban Legends 5 #Batman: Urban Legends 4

110 notes · View notes

kurowrites · 4 years

Note

May i ask for WangXian? With nos;

1 (roomates rite?) with 6 (fake dating i think?)

And 5 (something about emotional capacity of a brick? Strangely enough i wish that LWJ would be the one to say this to WWX..if possible 🥺🥺)

I also sorta hope this evolves in to a FWB situation but just the thought of fluff n hilarity from this prompt is already making me squeal n cackle 🤣🤣🤣

Please n thank you 🥰🥰🥰

Have some dumb weekend fluff.

---

When Wei Ying arrived at home, he had a very precise plan how he wanted the rest of the evening to go. He was feeling an exhaustion that barely left him standing, and all he wished for was to eat (though that one was optional, honestly), get fucked into his mattress (though he would probably have to do with a quick wank), and then sleep for the next twelve hours.

Not more, not less.

As they are wont to do, things didn’t turn out quite as he had imagined them on his tedious way home. When he finally walked through the door of the apartment that he and Lan Zhan shared, his first target was the kitchen, where he hoped he would be able to stealthily unearth something from the freezer that could be warmed up in the oven.

When he entered the kitchen, however, he found Lan Zhan at the stove, stirring a pot of food that smelled heavenly. Lan Zhan turned around when he heard the door open, and he gave Wei Ying a critical once-over before he announced: “Take a shower, the food will be ready soon.”

Well, Wei Ying thought, turning around and heading towards the bathroom almost as if he was guided by some higher power. It was rather hard to argue with that.

He had no idea why Lan Zhan was awake this late at night, and why he was cooking dinner, of all things. But Wei Ying was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Not when he was this tired. If a shower was the most direct path to food prepared by Lan Zhan, then he would do that without a single complaint.

The shower helped slightly with his exhaustion and general sense of discomfort, and when he finally left the bathroom, he felt slightly more conscious and decidedly more human than before. And when he stepped back into the kitchen, a steaming, hearty bowl of curry was waiting for him at the table, looking perfect and delicious and like everything that Wei Ying had not dared to hope for tonight.

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying moaned, making a beeline towards the table, stuffing the food into his mouth almost before he had even taken a seat. “You are the best. The bestest. A god among mortals.”

“Hn,” Lan Zhan said, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with that statement. “Eat.”

That, Wei Ying did without needing to be told twice. Lan Zhan had made the curry exactly the way Wei Ying liked it, rich in flavour and very spicy, and it was just so good. Getting to eat Lan Zhan’s cooking, full stop, was already a boon. And Lan Zhan had made this curry just for him, had waited until after his bedtime to feed Wei Ying. He truly was the bestest roommate that ever lived.

Wei Ying eagerly devoured his bowl, and Lan Zhan even gave him seconds.

So good! So delicious!

After he had finished his curry, Wei Ying still felt exhausted, but now he had a warm belly full of delicious food, and a warm flicker in his chest that was the knowledge that his roommate cared enough about him to make food when Wei Ying was down on his last leg. Things were looking a little brighter now.

And Lan Zhan was still in the kitchen, putting away the last of the cookware that he had washed while Wei Ying was eating.

Wei Ying looked at him, and considered. After he had already received the deluxe version of the first item on his to-do list tonight, he decided that maybe his luck was just good enough to get the second item on the list checked off, too.

He got up and put his dirty dishes into the dishwasher, and then he waited until Lan Zhan had put away the last pan. Once Lan Zhan’s hands were free, he smoothly slipped in between Lan Zhan and the kitchen counter, and wrapped his arms around Lan Zhan’s neck.

“Lan Zhan,” he whispered, a sneaky smile playing on his lips. “You are still awake.”

“Indeed,” Lan Zhan calmly observed.

“Mh, I missed you, oh roommate mine,” Wei Ying sighed, a little dramatically. “I feel like I haven’t seen you forever. And now that you’re here…”

He leaned in, gently rubbing his nose against the soft skin of Lan Zhan’s neck.

He felt the tiniest of shudders in response, and then Lan Zhan’s arms wrapped around his waist.

Jackpot.

It wasn’t always easy, figuring out when Lan Zhan was in the mood. They were roommates after all, and generally they just lived together. But sometimes, even the rigid Lan Zhan needed to let off a little steam, and when he was in the right mood, he was perfectly fine with fucking Wei Ying into various surfaces around their apartment. Wei Ying obviously had no objections to that; not only was Lan Zhan really hot, he was also really good at sex.

Maybe it was sad to say that his entire sex life consisted of occasionally seducing his roommate, but it was good. Really good. And Lan Zhan seemed to feel the same, because Wei Ying was pretty sure that Lan Zhan wasn’t having any kind of ‘relations’ with anyone else.

So yes, they had done this many times before, and by now, Wei Ying had become pretty skilled at reading when Lan Zhan was open to seduction. Still, the moment before he could be sure that Lan Zhan was willing to respond was always a nerve-wracking one. Luckily today, Lan Zhan’s hands on his waist spoke a clear language.

He grinned up at Lan Zhan and said cheekily, “I’ve been wanting to get fucked into my mattress very, very thoroughly all day. Honestly, I think all that’s between me and twelve hours of sleep is one good orgasm.”

Lan Zhan didn’t reply, but his hands squeezed Wei Ying’s waist once in response to Wei Ying’s words.

Wei Ying moaned in return, leaning up to press soft kisses against Lan Zhan’s lips.

“You can do with me whatever you want,” he promised. “I’m all yours.”

His clumsy attempt at seduction was apparently deemed sufficient, because Lan Zhan started herding Wei Ying towards his bedroom.

Being in Lan Zhan’s care was always amazing, because Lan Zhan never failed to really take care of everything, especially in moments like these. He silently guided Wei Ying to his bed, stripped him out of his clothing (folding and putting everything away properly, which shouldn’t be hot but was, anyway), then readied lube and condoms, and before long, he was arranging Wei Ying on the bed with almost adorable intent and focus.

Wei Ying let it all happen; he felt too lazy to move on his own volition and was perfectly willing to let Lan Zhan take the wheel after he had signalled his willingness. Lan Zhan moved his limbs around, lifted his hips, and suddenly, Wei Ying found himself in a position where he was more or less pinned on the bed, open for Lan Zhan but not really able to move otherwise.

It was perfect. This was exactly what he had fantasised about. When Lan Zhan worked him open and slowly pushed into him, he was unable to do anything but moan and take what Lan Zhan was giving him. It was incredible, getting slowly fucked into the mattress by Lan Zhan. As he was wont to do, he tortured Wei Ying, letting his orgasm build slowly as he thoroughly worked Wei Ying’s body with precise movements. He had never really told Lan Zhan as much, feeling that such a confession end up on the wrong side of revealing, but he felt safe in Lan Zhan’s hands, and only this let something inside him unfurl slowly, something that had been tense and stressed out all day.

It wasn’t necessarily the physical act in itself that made Wei Ying want to sleep with Lan Zhan occasionally, but this feeling of safety, of being taken care of that Lan Zhan seemed to naturally inspire. He sometimes got horny for that feeling alone.

When he finally came, it was with an almost hazy, sluggish kind of intensity, one that made his eyes close and sleep pull at his consciousness almost before he knew it.

He felt a gentle hand on is back, and a whispered ‘Sleep,’ and then he was gone.

---

When Wei Ying woke up the next morning, finally feeling halfway rested again, Lan Zhan was obviously long gone. He always woke so much earlier than Wei Ying, and had probably finished half of his planned tasks for the day already. It was enough to make one feel bad about one’s own achievements, if Wei Ying didn’t have absolutely no hope of every reaching Lan Zhan’s levels of competence.

Wei Ying stretched lazily and wandered into the kitchen to look of food. His plans today mostly consisted of eating and lazing around; the first day in a long while that he would be able to enjoy without having to stress about work, and he intended to enjoy it by doing absolutely nothing.

In the kitchen, he found breakfast prepared for him already – Lan Zhan really was too good to him! Grateful, Wei Ying sat down and dug in with enthusiasm.

Once he was finished, he considered for one moment that he should probably go to the bathroom and try to make himself at least somewhat presentable, but he really wasn’t feeling it. His primary goal today was to vegetate. He didn’t need to look actually human to do that. Instead of going to the bathroom, therefore, he went in search of Lan Zhan. It didn’t take long; he found him in the living room, reading a book on the sofa.

Without ceremony, Wei Ying flopped onto the sofa next to Lan Zhan, leaning his weight onto Lan Zhan’s shoulder. Lan Zhan, Wei Ying couldn’t help but notice, looked and smelled as good as he always did, while Wei Ying was still a disaster zone. It was truly enviable. Not that Wei Ying felt he had enough energy to put effort into it, right now.

“Ah, Lan Zhan,” he sighed, rubbing his face against Lan Zhan’s shoulder. “What would I do without a roommate like you? You are the best. Roommate of the year. Maybe of the century. The breakfast wasn’t needed, but appreciated anyway.”

He had expected one of Lan Zhan’s customary little “Hn”s, ignoring Wei Ying in favour of keeping his eyes on the book he was reading. Instead, he felt Lan Zhan’s posture grow stiff, right before Wei Ying was gently pushed off of Lan Zhan, and Lan Zhan heaved a heavy sigh that Wei Ying didn’t know how to interpret.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said with a certain sense of gravity in his voice, not quite looking at Wei Ying. “I hate to agree with your brother on anything, but I think he was not entirely wrong when he told you that you have the emotional capacity of a brick.”

Wei Ying jerked back a little. He wouldn’t want to admit it, but the words hurt.

He knew that he wasn’t always the most sensitive person on the planet, but for Lan Zhan to use words like that… He racked his brain, trying to think of what he had done to make Lan Zhan this upset.

Lan Zhan had cooked for him yesterday without Wei Ying asking him to do it, and Wei Ying had said thank you. Wei Ying had asked for sex, but he’d checked in with Lan Zhan first to make sure he was okay with it. And the rest of the time, he’d been unconscious.

Was Lan Zhan upset that he hadn’t really done his share of housework lately, since he’d been so busy with his job?

“Lan Zhan, I –” he laughed nervously, pushing his hands through his hair. “You’re probably right about that, because I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Lan Zhan sent him a look, which was somewhat less angry than Wei Ying had expected it to be (what a relief, Lan Zhan wasn’t actually angry at him), and then he sighed.

“Wei Ying,” he said, and suddenly he sounded a little sad. “You keep calling me roommate.”

“That’s… what you are?” Wei Ying asked, confused.

Apparently, that had been the wrong thing to say, because Lan Zhan’s expression soured.

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying exclaimed, keeping himself from latching onto Lan Zhan at the last moment. He doubted Lan Zhan wanted Wei Ying to touch him again right now. “Is that wrong?”

Lan Zhan huffed once.

“No, I guess it is not,” he pressed out. “I had simply hoped I would at least merit a ‘friend’ by now.”

Wei Ying gaped at Lan Zhan. Sat and stared at him in disbelief, watching as Lan Zhan’s ears slowly turned a brilliant pink.

“Lan Zhan!” he exclaimed, and then he couldn’t go on, because he was choked with too many feelings.

Lan Zhan, that Lan Zhan, considered him a friend?

A friend??

“Wait,” Wei Ying suddenly realised. “At least a friend?”

Lan Zhan sent him the flattest look he had ever seen. It was genuinely impressive.

“We’re fucking, Wei Ying,” he said, in a tone of voice equally as flat.

There was a beat of silence, a pronouncing ringing that went through the living room, freezing the air in between them for a moment.

And then Wei Ying tipped his head up and burst into laughter, loud and unrestrained. How could he not? Lan Zhan was funny, and Wei Ying was so relieved, and so happy, and…

“I thought you were barely tolerating me, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying sighed as he back flopped against the sofa, the sudden storm of emotions ravaging his already exhausted body and dragging him back down as he took a deep breath. “I never thought you would ever –”

He bit on his lips and looked up at Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan, who always took such good care of him.

Lan Zhan, who–

“I love you, Lan Zhan.”

The words left his lips almost against his will.

How could he not say that, when Lan Zhan looked at him with soft, molten eyes, the trace of a blush still staining his cheeks a pretty pink?

He loved this man.

“I really love you, Lan Zhan,” he couldn’t help but repeat. “So, you see, maybe slightly more emotional capacity than a brick. Though I wouldn’t–”

Lan Zhan, judging from the way he lifted Wei Ying into his lap, pressed their hot faces together, and peppered Wei Ying’s lips and cheeks with little kisses, apparently felt the same.

Definitely more than the emotional capacity of a brick.

#kuro writes #the untamed #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #mdzs #prompt meme #prompts #izzy-isme92

385 notes · View notes

damsel-loves-machines · 4 years

Text

Parenting Shell-don with Donatello would Include:

Author’s Note: This took freaking forever when it shouldn’t have and I, for the life of me, can’t comprehend why. I would like to thank @aceing-it-spaceing-it for recommending this prompt to me. Just a reminder that I am not accepting requests at all at the moment. Everything that I usually write is all based on inspiration, but I couldn’t pass this idea up.

Here is an excerpt from my Interested in Donatello’s Tech writing, the piece that has started it all. Since it’s my piece of writing, I can copy and paste it without guilt.

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.? He’s your son now. I don’t make the rules.

Donatello programmed him to call you ‘Mistress Y/N’ until his brothers somehow managed to reprogram the A.I. turtle behind his back (once again) to call you ‘Mom’. After chasing his brothers with his rocket hammer and fighting down the sheer embarrassment, Donnie didn’t bother with changing it back. The damage was already done.

A part of him liked it, too, but he is taking that secret to the grave.

Donnie does enjoy the fact that you treat and take care of Shell-don like a son just as much as he does. You make sure to keep track of Shell-don’s coolant to be changed thrice daily so that it doesn’t overheat and scratch behind all 8 of his favorite places whenever you have time.

You even decided to freshen Shell-don’s metal coat with polish every once in a while as a treat for working so hard.

He dubbed you ‘his favorite parent’. Donnie is only partially offended by that.

What a lovely introduction. Anyways-

Shell-don is baby. To you, at least.

“He is not an infant, Y/N. S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. is a very intelligent artificially-created being with a well-crafted independent personality that I have concocted-”

“He is also two-and-a-half months old. HE. IS. BABY.”

“....don’t you mean, “He is A baby?”“

“Don’t sass me, mister.”

“Mom, Dad. Please stop fighting.”

At first, Shell-don couldn’t...compute the reasoning why you were coddling and spoiling him like this. He wasn’t complaining, but he was very confused as to why you insisted he’d rest his hard wire for the afternoon while you took care of the rest of the chores he was assigned.

Shell-don confronted Donnie about this and his creator said:

“They have always had a great fascination with all of my technological inventions and achievements. However, the second you called them ‘Mom’, you completely won their heart. Even though the primary goal for that remark was for my embarrassment, but you made Y/N happy nonetheless. You’re my greatest creation and they acknowledge that. They love you just as much as I do, bud.”

Cue robo-tears.

If Shell-don isn’t scurrying around the lair or resting at his charging station, you’re carrying him around in his arms like how Misty carries Togepi all around Kanto.

While Shell-don goes for Donatello for basic things and physical guidance with topics revolving technology and the sorts, he goes to you for emotional support and chill times.

The warmth and softness of your body hits differently against his metal body when in your embrace, something that Donatello’s reptilian physique somewhat lacked in. Shell-don fully understands why Donnie always tries to “subtly” cuddle up to you whenever he can.

Shell-don is, at times, emotionally stunted with a hint of dead-pan snark. He gets it from his father. -_-

So whenever some sort of argument would ever erupt between the two violet turtles, you do one of three things:

1. You try to sit them down and talk to them both.

2. You pull the “I’m not mad. I’m just disappointed.” move.

or 3. You threaten to call in Dr. Delicate Touch.

So far, nothing failed as of yet.

You hound the two of them to teach you binary code. You can’t tell what kind of conversation they are having when they communicate in 0′s and 1′s and you hate being left out. They always seem to love watching you pout about it and continue with their aimless banter in a playful manner.

Once Donnie constructed a body for Shell-don, you made it your mission to make matching clothing for the two.

*enter The Clothes Don’t Make the Turtle music segment here*

Everything felt sweet until Shredder infiltrated the lair.

You were stuck at the lair during the tragic mishap, along with April and Karai. You ran to enlist Shell-don to aid in the fight to meet up with the others...

...until you saw the tech lab completely trashed.

You called out for the violet tech-terrapin. The only noise that answered your calls were sounds of broken static underneath debris and mechanical parts.

“...M..bzzt..m...mo...glitch..om?”

You knew that so long as his memory chip is free of damage and/or corruption, Shell-don could be rebuilt with his memory intact.

But the sight of your son’s tremendously damaged tech anatomy only made you shed your tears harder.

You reunited with Donatello later on, with help from April and her bike.

The violet-cladded terrapin took one look at Shell-don’s chip laying tenderly in your grasp before crushing you in a hug of his own, desperate in trying to find comfort for the both of you.

*Fast forward to after the Finale*

Donatello manages to rebuild Shell-don once the Sewer Fam managed to safely settle back down into their home with massive clean up and renovation.

You guys ever seen the ending scene of Big Hero 6? It’s basically that.

“Did I do well?”

“You did awesome, buddy.”

“We are so proud of you, Shell-don.”

#rottmnt donatello #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt donatello x reader #rottmnt donnie x reader #donatello x reader #donnie x reader #rottmnt x reader #rottmnt imagine #rottmnt headcanons #donatello headcanons #donnie headcanons

605 notes · View notes

thefirstknife · 3 years

Note

Hi! I saw the Mara discussion and I got curious. I don't understand very well what people mean when people say smth along the lines "she sacrificed a lot for good" (not the exact wording, sorry). When I read marasenna and the forsaken prince, she struck me as pretty manipulative and just looking to have an obedient following. Admittedly, it's been a long time since I read these books, so I might have forgotten a lot. I also got some kinda bias bc she reminded me of some, uh, not-so-nice folk who had a negative impact in my life, so I'm a bit squicked by her attitude, especially w/ how she treated Uldren and Ghost at some occasions.

Is it ok to ask for some clarifications about her motivations? Totally okay if not if it's too much work. Sorry if it's a weird ask fjjshf

Oh, Mara definitely has a manipulative streak about her.

Marasenna is in general a very biased source because it's coming from Mara herself so there's bound to be some narrator bias there. She presents some of her actions as being done for the greater good and we could debate whether that's true or not.

For example, when she created the Awoken people and the Distributary, a lot of negativity came when the Awoken realised they were created by one of their own and wondered why someone would create them in a way where they could still experience pain, suffering and death. Mara's reasoning is that without those things, there is nothing to advance towards. If you could live forever in perfect bliss, there's no goals to achieve and nothing to work for. They'd just be trapped in the Distributary living pointless "perfect" lives.

I agree with that because I, as a player, know that the Awoken weren't given the Distributary as some great and amazing gift: it was a punishment by the Darkness, just not done in the same way as the Collapse. The people on the Yang Liwei wanted no part in the Collapse and asked to be treated as a separate species and Darkness tossed them into a singularity. I personally don't think this was some sort of a great fate, especially if the plan was to live in the singularity forever and do nothing. So Mara not giving the Awoken a perfect paradise and immortality and life free from suffering IS, in a way, for the greater good. Obviously, this isn't an objective view of things.

Mara definitely manipulated people, lied to people and even abused them, sometimes obviously, sometimes subtly. She also clearly cares, in her own way, about certain people and things. How much, we can't really tell because we only have biased sources about her. I think Mara's biggest crime is when she knows things will end badly but she lets them happen anyway; for example everything with Uldren. His corruption and death could've been stopped if she actually reached out to him and told him she's fine in the Ascendant plane and that the visions he's getting is not her.

I totally understand when people are not happy with Mara's behaviour and if they're also squicked out by her. She's a very polarising and morally ambiguous character. I'm not surprised if people dislike her, nor is that in any way wrong.

The problem is mostly that Mara gets an extreme amount of explicit and gross hate directed at her, the type of hate that no other character in Destiny gets, despite there being characters objectively morally worse than her. Like, she genuinely received more hate than the Darkness, the primary antagonist or the Hive, as close to the primary antagonist as one can be.

This could be because her crimes are more grounded (manipulation and abuse) rather than whatever Darkness and the Hive are doing (nobody on Earth has really experienced their entire planet being killed, not exactly the easiest thing to relate to). But there's other characters with similar stories. Calus is a good example, as he's also a very manipulative character who continuously tried to make the Guardians join him by giving them stuff and praising them and being manipulative in general when his only real goal is selfish. He was also manipulative to the Cabal people, a lot of which followed him literally into death so HE could fulfil his goal of talking to the Darkness. He never cared about any of his people or the Guardians really.

I definitely wouldn't like Mara as a real person, but she's an interesting character to read about. Most ambiguous and villainous characters are to me.

#destiny 2 #mara #ask #hope this explains some of it!#other input is welcome too!#lore vibing #long post

56 notes · View notes

sugarmaplewings-fics · 3 years

Text

KiriDeku Relationship HC’s

Pairing: Midoriya x reader x Kirishima

Warnings: Jus some poly fluff for you here

Author’s Note:

I keep telling myself that I’m going to take a break and go on hiatus, but then I proceed to just keep writing like I’m running out of time.

Anyway, shoutout to @in-this-house-we-stan-izuku for shipping me with these boys earlier! They really are my favorites :) And thanks to anon Neo for sending me this request! Again, it’s taking me an atrociously long time to get through them, but I hope that will change these next few months. I’m really going to work at getting them done and clearing my inbox, I can’t stand leaving my requests closed for so long :(

Enjoy this rarepair! I love the concept so much and I’d like to write a full fic or drabble sometime in the future ♡ ♡ ♡

-Sugar

━━━━━━♡♤♡━━━━━━

● I'd say that y'all were a throuple pretty quick

● Izuku definitely had a crush on the both of you

● Kirishima was so cool to him, and he loved your personality just as much

● And it's likely you had a crush on both of them as well

● Maybe you and Midoriya ended up dating first, but felt like something might have been missing

● You realized that you'd both taken interest in a certain redhead, and it wasn't long until you invited him into the relationship

● And bam;

● I think of Kiri as being the slightly more dominant one

● He's a little more openly protective of the two of you

● He's definitely the most open about your relationship, and he always wants each of you on one of his arms when you're out and about

● Eijirou and Izuku have a lot of mutual respect for one another

● They both admire the other's manliness and strong wills, and they're pretty good at working and training together

● They like training together, and if you're a hero, they'll train with you too

…

● Now, of course in the relationship, they treat you like the freaking royal you are 👑

● Respectful kings, we stan

● They're both great listeners and generally give pretty great advice if you need it

● Kirishima likes to tell you how manly you are and Midoriya is literally the sweetest most precious being

● They like pampering and spending time with you

● Eijirou always goes out of his way to shower you with his affection and love. Making you and Izuku smile or laugh is literally his new favorite thing

● He's a pretty big flirt when he wants to be and making the two of you flustered is now a primary goal in his life

● If you're also a flirt, you best believe you and Kiri are going to gang up on Midoriya to see who can get him to blush the most. All in good fun, of course

● Neither of them is the jealous type, so everything's pretty chill

● You're just always there for each other, no matter what

…

● When it comes to dates, these boys will go all-out in their own way

● Big on picnic dates in the park, or just hanging out at the beach for hours together

● They really like being out and spending time with you

● Y'all have banger movie nights at Midoriya's apartment

● His mom is literally the best and loves both you and Kiri to pieces

● Cooks for the three of you spontaneously, and basically takes you in as her own children

● All of you have fanboy/girl/person tendencies, which lead to long discussions and ramblings about both yours and their current obsessions

● DORKS, the three of you, istg

● You could stay up for hours just chatting, and it doesn't even matter what topics you pick, it's just fun

…

And now it's time for Sugar to lose her mind over physical affection

● Ok literally snkdnfkabnckjdbs this is super obvious by this point if you've been paying attention, but you've got literally one of the softest, sweetest, fluffiest relationships you could ask for here hajsbbaslksdnfh

● Think about it: Sunshine boi + sunshine boi + you

● Yasss

● I'd say that most of the time, during cuddle sessions, you're going to end up sandwiched between the two boys, in their arms

● They both just want to hold you so freaking much, and who are you to deny them?

● I headcanon that Kirishima is literally one of the warmest people ever (aside from like, Todoroki's left side or somth pfft) and he and Midoriya combined give the best hugs2

● Top tier, can't stress this enough

● Y’all love getting wrapped up in a huge blanket and just having some quality snuggles for an hour or two 👌

● Great time for deep convos

● Or even just taking a quick nap! Lord knows the three of you need it

…

● Midoriya's not big on PDA, but Kirishima's fine with it

● He will full on give you a good smooch in public if you already said you were okay with that

● And even if you're not, he'll respect that and wait until he can get you and Izuku in private

● Both of them like hand-holding though, no matter where

● Two hands? Two partners? Oh, it's all coming together

● If you try to get out of participating in hand-holding, they'll pout and give you puppy dog eyes

● Cold is the heart of whoever can say no to even one of their faces, let alone if both of them are doing it to you at once

● But don't forget that they'll never force you to do something you really don't want to

● Y'ALL 👏 HYPE 👏 EACH 👏 OTHER 👏 UP 👏 CONSTANTLY 👏

● Everyone has their insecurities, but it's hard to get too down on yourself with these two lovely boyfriends at your side!

● They always seem to know what to say, and they're never any less supportive of you

● And you've got their backs just as much. If someone has an icky day, the other two are there with blankets and snacks and kisses for the rest of the evening

● Midoriya tends to be more of a receiver than a giver when it comes to kisses since he tends to get flustered. But even so, his kisses are so soft and sweet

● Loves having his cheeks kissed. Kiss his freckles, play with his hair—do that and he'll love you forever (not like he already doesn't)

● You can fight me when I say that Kirishima loves being super romantic

● Gives some of the best kisses out there

● He's always so passionate and every time he kisses you, it's like he can't stop smiling

● He can't get enough when it comes to make-out sessions

● All in all, I think we need to see more of this

● They just love and cherish you so much and you're the best thing that ever happened to them >:(

● Overall 11/10 relationship, can and will daydream about constantly

━━━━━━♡♤♡━━━━━━

Taglist: @basicaegyo @fourteenow @iiminibattlehero @katsugay @nabo39 @pyrofanatic @sendhelpimstupid @xoxopam4

#midoriya izuku #midoriya headcanons #deku headcanons #midoriya x reader #izuku midoriya x reader #deku x reader #kirishima eijirou #kirishima headcanon #kirishima x reader #eijirou kirishima x reader #kirishima eijirou x reader #kirideku x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #reader insert #request fulfilled!#anon neo #sugar fics #sugar hcs

290 notes · View notes

jdgo51 · 1 year

Text

The Prayer of Jesus

Today's inspiration comes from:

Pray First

by Chris Hodges

"For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever."

— Matthew 6:13 NKJV

"I’ll never forget when my understanding of prayer changed forever."

"I was a sophomore in high school, fifteen years old and newly saved, when my pastor, Larry Stockstill, taught on the Lord’s Prayer. Pastor Larry was passionate about prayer — to the point that I half-expected him to preach on the power of prayer any given Sunday. He even made sure we had prayer in the name of our church: Bethany World Prayer Center.

But hearing him teach on prayer this time was different.

Now I hope it changes the way you understand the Lord’s Prayer — and perhaps all prayers!

Our Father in Heaven: Respect and Intimacy

The Lord’s Prayer isn’t just a prayer — it is an outline for prayer.

You have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, ‘Abba, Father’. — Romans 8:15 NLT

God loves for us to come to Him in this same way — as children who love Him and want to spend time with Him."

Excerpted with permission from Pray First by Chris Hodges, copyright Chris Hodges.

0 notes