#He's definitely a vain bastard

[masquenoire]

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐖𝐒.

𝗕𝗢𝗟𝗗   —  character trait.

𝘐𝘛𝘈𝘓𝘐𝘊   —  situational.

absent-minded | abusive | addict | adrenaline junkie | aggressive | aimless | alcoholic | anxious | arrogant | audacious | bad liar | bigmouth | bigot | blindly loyal | blunt | callous | childish | chronic heroism | cheater | clingy | clumsy | cocky | codependent | competitive | corrupt | cowardly | cruel | cynical | delinquent | delusional | dependent | depressed | deranged | disloyal | ditzy | egotistical | envious | erratic | fickle | finicky | fixated | flaky | frail | fraudulent | foul mouthed | guilt complex | gloomy | gluttonous | gossiper | gruff | grudgeholding | gullible | hedonistic | humorless | hypochondriac | hypocritical | idealist | idiotic | ignorant | immature | impatient | incompetent | indecisive | insecure | insensitive | lazy | lewd | liar | lustful | manipulative | masochistic | meddlesome | melodramatic | money-loving | moody | naive | nervous | nosy | ornery | overprotective | overly sensitive | paranoid | passive-aggressive | perfectionist | pessimist | petty | power-hungry | proud | possessive | pushover | reckless | reclusive | remorseless | rigorous | sadistic | sarcastic | senile | selfish | self-destructive | shallow | sociopathic | sore loser | spineless | spiteful | spoiled | stubborn | suspicious | tactless | temperamental | timid | thief | tone-deaf | traitorous | unathletic | ungracious | unlucky | unsophisticated | untrustworthy | vain | withdrawn | workaholic

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘.  @arkhampsych​ (Thank you Ciar! ♡) 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆. @alicesought, @batmanwholxughs, @brutalscaled, @defectivexfragmented, @desmuerte, @king-crane, @luposcainus, @shinebrightsweetdove, @splinterdsoul, @thewomanwholaughs and anybody who wants to do this?

[littleprincepaladin]

[hihomeghere]

Salt and Pepper | Arthur Morgan / Reader

Word count : 1.4k Summary : Arthur notices his hair is starting to gray. I saw a post on here about Arthur with salt and pepper hair and I couldn’t stop myself hehe. Warnings/Tags : talk about death, getting old, Arthur loves his wife, no tb, Arthur and reader own a house, mention of past gang members, cursing, lots of fluff, self deprecation on Arthur’s side, bullets, mention of weight gain (in a positive way)

“Godamn ugly bastard.” Arthur huffed, his gaze piercing as he looked into the mirror. He hadn’t meant to have himself a pity party this morning. In fact he was feeling quite fine this morning before looking in the small bathroom mirror. Waking up next to you always puts a spring in his step. Especially when he’s waking up in a real bed, underneath a soft quilt that you happened to sew in some free time. Mismatched patches and all, it was his favorite thing in the small home you two shared. Hell, you were becoming quite domestic ever since the house was completed.

But he wasn’t exactly expecting to find gray hair sprouting from his hairline. He wasn’t that old, was he?

“Jesus.” He sighed, inspecting further he realized it wasn’t one or two gray hairs, it was almost twenty. Hidden under his longer than normal locks after forgoing a haircut for the last couple weeks. He was surprised you hadn’t noticed them, especially with how much you loved to run your fingers through his hair. Although, he loved it just as much, maybe even more.

God, he needed to get rid of these before you saw them. He was sure you had some tweezers around here somewhere. He opened up your drawer, rifling around for your tweezers. Bingo. His hands gripped the small piece of metal, a triumphant smile on his face.

It was only once he looked back up into the mirror, determined to fix this issue before you woke up, that he noticed you padding into the bathroom. Rubbing sleep from your eyes, you wrapped your arms around his middle.

“Mornin’.” You hummed, laying your cheek against his bicep, smiling sweetly at him through the mirror.

“Mornin’.” He said, clearing his throat.

“What do you need those for?” You asked, eyeing the tweezers in his hand. Caught red handed, he tried coming up with some excuse.

“Nothin’ sweetheart.” He said, giving you his signature smile, kissing your forehead. He slipped the tweezers into his pocket for safe keeping, at least until he had a free moment without you around. After all those years on the run and he could come up with nothing, Hosea would have been so disappointed in his lack of an answer. He swore he could hear the old man chastising him now.

“For a former outlaw you sure are an awful liar.” You tutted, shaking your head, slipping your fingers into his pocket and pulling out the tweezers.

“Well it ain’t my fault,” He huffed playfully, “Could never get nothin’ past you anyway.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck. You removed your hands from around his waist, leaning back on the sink as you looked up at him.

“Spill.” You said raising an eyebrow, your arms crossed over your chest.

Knowing he’d been caught, Arthur hung his head, a low sigh leaving his lips.

“It’s just-“ He cursed, turning to look away from you, “Well I’m goin’ gray.” He admitted, not meeting your eyes.

“And?” You asked in such a nonchalant manner.

“And?” He asked looking up at you, his brows furrowed.

“So you have some gray hairs.” You said with a shrug, “You’re acting like the damn world is ending.” You chuckled softly, a smile tugging on your lips.

“Well-“ Arthur sighed, pursing his lips, he didn’t want to be vain but damn it, it did feel like the world was ending.

“Honey.” You said softly, reaching up to cup his cheek. “Ain’t nothing wrong with some gray hairs.” You said, shaking your head, looking so goddamn patient as always. What he did in a past life to deserve you he would never know, he definitely didn’t deserve you in this one. You smiled, running your thumb over his couple day old stubble. He couldn’t help but sigh softly, leaning into your touch.

“Just makes me feel old ‘s all.” He shrugged, closing his eyes.

“Arthur.” You said softly, he opened his eyes. His bright azure pools looking into yours. “Getting old means we’re still alive.” You said pointedly, not missing the way your fingers trailed lightly down his chest.

He sighed softly, anyone who said he was the most like Hosea had obviously never had a one on one conversation with you. You had shared the same dry wit along with being just as wise as the old man. Sometimes he wondered if the two of you were more closely related than just being adopted by him as a kid.

As your hand settled over his heart, he couldn’t help but remember a time when you didn’t have this place. When his next breath had been an undeserved blessing. When you and Charles had pulled his broken body off that godforsaken mountain. You were right, he should be grateful for these gray hairs and new lines on his face. Should be grateful that he made it this far out west with you, where the air was dryer and slowly his lungs didn’t hurt as bad with each breath.

If anything he should be grateful that you’re here, here in this house. The house that he built specifically for you. That you’re not buried six feet under like most of the fellow gang members. That you didn’t catch a bullet like Lenny or Sean, how he wished they could have had the chance to grown old. Even as mouthy as Sean was, the poor bastard didn’t deserve that. Lenny was just a boy, foolish enough to be sucked in by Dutch’s silver tongue. He shook his head trying to clear any thoughts of the past.

God, along with the fact that somehow both of you still happen to be standing, the fact that you chose to stand by him after everything you went through makes his head swim. You could have left him at any point, hell he had begged you to leave after his death sentence. And yet, here you were.

“Guess you’re right.” He said, a small smile tugging on his lips.

“Course I am.” You teased, a smile spreading across your face. You leaned forward, brushing your nose against his. He accepted your silent invitation, pressing his lips against yours. So soft and warm and inviting. He could feel you smile against his lips. That small smile warmed him from the inside out, nearly making his toes curl.

Jesus, he was lucky. More than lucky, he still couldn’t figure out how he had tricked you into marrying him. He wanted to be the best version of himself for you, he had made a promise to try every day to be a better man for you. You shouldn’t be tied down to a miserable old fool like himself.

As if you could read his mind, which he often suspected you could, your soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Besides,” You began as you pulled away, “I like the salt and pepper look.” Arthur scoffed, shaking his head.

“Really?” He asked, raising a brow.

“Really.” You nodded, running your hand through his hair. “Think you get more handsome every day.” If anyone was getting prettier every day it was you. Your hair was longer, cascading down your shoulders in waves. No longer tied up in a tight braid or bun. You looked relaxed, at peace. You became softer once you both settled into your new lifestyle. Not just emotionally, although you still had that fire which had first drawn him towards you, like a moth to a flame. You were physically softer, your harsh edges smoothing out as you started to eat and sleep better. Your curves became more prominent, and he certainly didn’t mind having more to hold onto late at night.

Maybe you truly did feel the same about him. He had never known you to lie. A blush settled on his cheeks at the thought. He shook his head, a small chuckle rumbling through his chest.

“Yeah, alright darlin’.” He says taking your face in his hands, kissing you again before you had the chance to embarrass him further.

Maybe getting old wasn’t so bad if you had someone to grow old with.

[mysicklove-main]

Pairings: King Merman! Bakugou x Human! Fem! Reader

Word Count: 5.2k

Warnings: Just fluff.

Summary: You meet a merman one day and find yourself with your very own trading companion. You exchange gifts of the land and sea. The two of you were fine until Katsuki says he wants more from you.

𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

Katsuki Bakugou gets everything he wants. The underwater kingdom is his, and whenever he wants or needs something, with a flick of his webbed hands, it appears. He is worshipped and maybe even feared by all of the seas. King Bakugou, the warrior ruler of the sea.

Except for a mate. No matter how many mers, both male and female, his court presents him with, he never feels anything toward them. His mother scolds him for not even meeting the young candidates, but he doesn’t give a shit. He gets what he wants; he will know if they are worthy just by a single glance.

So on some days, he forces his mother to watch the throne while he swims and swims just to clear his mind. He picks fights here and there with other sea creatures just to test his strengths. After he wins his battle against his third great white, he realizes he needs something stronger. Something to really pique his interest.

A human. Well, from afar, they look pathetic with their gangly limbs, but it is common knowledge to a mer that they possess weapons that can easily kill any creature of the sea. But this is Katsuki Bakugou we are talking about here. He isnt just some mer. He is the most powerful being of the sea. No one, including a human, could beat him. 

So, the arrogant bastard took toward the surface to find the closest human. The water becomes more shallow, and not that he would ever admit it, but adrenaline fills his veins when he gets closer and closer to the shore. 

Luckily for him though, a human was close. In the water, too. He was dreading trying to coax one into the ocean. Katsuki snickers at the strange limbs called legs kicking to try to keep the human afloat. It was so embarrassing for them. One flap of his tail, and he is yards ahead of them. It was incomparable the strength between the two species. 

Without much hesitation, he grabs the submerged legs and pulls. They scream, of course, when they lose their precious oxygen and are surrounded completely by salt water. Their arms flail, and their legs continue to fight their way to the surface, but it’s all in vain. After all, this is Katsuki’s element.

Wanting to get one glance at the human before making a swift and easy death, he turns the figure around, and his eyes widen.

You were pretty. Prettier than any of the other mers he has ever seen. Even if your face is contorted in fear, he takes a second to admire your hair, eyes, and lips. They were all so cute. Exactly the way he likes them.

And your strength was actually impressive. Although you were no match for the king, you were definitely putting up some sort of a fight. He actually had to grip you tighter so you wouldn’t squirm away. Both of you knew it was a losing battle, but still, you really tried. You definitely had survival instincts.

As Katsuki gets distracted admiring the creature, you get one lucky hit and manage to kick him right in the nose. He hisses out and lets you go. 

He could go out and grab you again easily but didn’t feel the need to. After that fight you put up, you deserved to stay alive. Stay alive, so Katsuki can meet you again.

You were just trying to take a dip in the ocean, really. After all the stress you have had this week, you deserved it. A nice relaxing day by the beach. You were not planning on almost getting drowned.

You swim swiftly toward the dock and yank yourself up before the creature tries to grab you again. You didn’t see much except for flashes of blonde hair, red eyes, and an orange tail. What was that thing? Some sort of fish? It just didn’t make sense. What fish could pull you down into the water? The beach was completely private, so it’s not like you could tell a lifeguard what happened.

You shiver and grab your towel before heading inside your beach house. You began to ponder, desperately trying to figure out what the strange animal was. After about an hour of research, you came to the decision that it was definitely a mermaid. Many studies have shown that they do, in fact, exist but are extremely rare to find.

It seems absolutely insane to you, but what else could be able to hold onto you like that? And that tail…It was huge. 

You aren’t going to go near the beach for a while. Even so, though, you really did want another glance…I mean, seeing a real-life mermaid is crazy! Once little peep of the mermaid surely wouldn’t be a problem.

After all, curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

Three weeks. Katsuki has managed to escape his royal duties to see your ass, and not once have you come back even close to the water. He has scouted the area over thirty times and found the small shack you call home. The mer lets out a scoff as he watches your shadow move back and forth inside the building.

He has thought about throwing something at the building but thought against it. He didn’t want you to think he was a violent maniac (even if he was) with your first real meeting. So, he boredly swam back and forth, waiting for you to come outside again.

He was in luck because at around 5 pm, you did finally open the door of your shitty shack and step outside. He quickly dove into the water to watch from below the surface. The last thing that he needed was to scare you back into hiding. 

His eyes follow your figure as you walk toward and onto the dock that bridges into the ocean. You look nervous but determined, and Katsuki can see you holding something but can’t determine what it is. 

Suddenly, your loud voice calls, “Hello!” over and into the water. You flush in embarrassment for doing something so silly. But you continue anyways, “If you are out there, mermaid, come over here!” It probably wasn’t the most convincing way to lead the visitor over, but whatever, you were desperate.

Katsuki smirks in triumph. He only knows very little of the human language due to his studies as a child. All he knows is that you greeted him and said the word “mer,” so you must be calling for him.

So he pops his head out of the water with a small smirk on his face. His orange ear fins are spread wide and on display. His scarred tail, from all the fights he has won, beats against the water as he watches you. He gently displays his sharp canines with his smirk. Like always, he looks like the strongest being of the sea. 

When you take in his appearance, you scream and fall onto your butt.

Katsuki lets out a light bark in laughter, watching you fall. He couldn’t blame you; those strange limbs looked hard to use. If he were human, he definitely wouldn’t struggle, but he bets Denki or Eijiro would. 

He puffs out his chest and made himself look as large and powerful as he could in the water. “Hello, I am King Explosion Murder or King Bakugou, ruler of the undersea.” He stood there waiting for the excitement or shock that usually comes from hearing his title, but nothing came. “Ruler of the undersea. Did you not hear me extra?” Judging from your frightened appearance, trembling on the doc, no, you did not understand. 

And then he remembered. Of course, you don’t understand. He isn’t speaking in your tongue. To you, it must have sounded like a bunch of trills and clicks.

Katsuki opens his mouth to speak but growls. He doesn’t remember how to speak your language. It’s unnatural for mers to do it, but nobility are taught it, just in case. However, that was when he was ten, and he hasn’t practiced since.

Upon hearing his frustrated growl, you point your knife straight at him and threaten him. “S-Stay back! I have a knife, and I know how to use it!” You didn’t, but that was beside the point. You shouldn’t have come out here. It was a stupid idea. Curiosity did kill the cat, and you’ll need more than satisfaction to get you out of this situation.

The blonde doesn’t understand any of your words. The only thing he understands is that you are holding out a knife toward him. A gift! Already? Katsuki is known to be bold, but here you are, offering a courting gift on day one. I mean, it made sense, considering his physique. You must have seen how powerful he is and were quick to pounce. Eager, he likes it, and he can’t really blame you.

He huffs out pride and lets out a click in thank you. Then, quicker than lightning, the blonde snatches the knife from your hands and into his. He holds it up to admire it, unaware that you’re currently freaking out without your weapon to defend yourself. He scoffs at it. It was sharp but not even close to his very own canines. He turns toward you and pulls the knife up next to his teeth to show the comparison. He is once again unaware of how you pale drastically.

“Stay.” He uselessly commands before diving down back into the water, knife still in hand. You cock your head to the side in confusion at his disappearance, but realizing this is your only time to escape, you begin to book it down the dock and toward your home. 

You don’t get very far. Katsuki, effortlessly fast, grabs your foot before you can return to the sand. You stumble forward and land on your knees, causing you to hiss in pain. A small scrape forms on your left knee.

He huffs in annoyance. “I said stay, you idiot! Look what you did!” 

The loud growls cause you to tear up. This is it, isn’t it? He has got to be growling so much  because his prey got away. It was a stupid idea, all of it. You were going to die, and nobody was going to find your body and–

Katsuki grabs your leg and licks the wound on your knee like he has done countless times with others during battles. After all, mer saliva has healing properties. Then as your eyes widen in shock, Katsuki pushes an orange sea shell toward you. He set in the water, just earlier for you. He lets out an annoyed bark when you don’t reach for it, and hearing the warning, you quickly scramble to take it. The blonde smirks in triumph and continues back to healing you.

You shiver when you feel the tongue back on your knee. It was like a cat’s tongue. The prickles gently nick at you. But, with all the courage you can muster, you tear your gaze away from the creature and onto the sea shell. It was light orange, and absolutely massive. Seriously, it was about the size of your whole hand. But, it was pretty and shiny in the sunlight. 

You spare a glance at the blond, who is still completely focused on the task at hand. You could guess that he is trying to heal you for some odd reason. It made your heartbeat begin to return back to normal. Why would he heal his prey from such a minor wound if he was going to kill anyways? But why would he want you alive?

Then, you look to the right of him and see that in his hand, he is still holding the knife. Your eyes widen in realization of what is happening. “Trade! You want to exchange items with me. From the…human world?” The mer tears his mouth away from your skin and furrows his eyebrows in confusion. You point to the knife and then the seashell. “Trade?” You explain.

Katsukis eyes widen in understatement. So, the human word for “courting” is “trade”! Only a genius like himself would be able to figure that out so quickly. He lets out a soft grumble and nods his head. Then, realizing if this relationship is going to work, Katsuki has to tries to try and speak in your tongue. “Chr–aye-dd”

Your mouth falls open at the attempt of your language. The whole thing was absolutely insane, and now the strange creature is trying to communicate with you. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so you continue speaking. “Yes, Trade! But say “Trr” instead of “Chr” You enunciate the sounds, so he understands.

Katsuki grumbles stubbornly when you correct him. Only his mother has been one to nag in, nobody else has the guts to do it, but here you are correcting him within the first greetings. You were bold; he had to give it to you. He also likes that. So, for your sake, he tries again.“Trrr-aye-d”

You laugh at this and smile gently. “Yes! Thats it! Trade.” You once again point to the knife and the seashell. 

Seeing you smile, Katsuki lets out a trill and nods. Without much permission, the blonde rests his head on your leg, careful not to touch the wound. Then the hopeless mer begins to daydream. This was going perfectly! Not even one day of knowing him, and you have already allowed him to court you. Now, it was smooth sailing from here. He just needs to bring you a couple more gifts, and finally, King Bakugou will have his very own mate! 

You, on the other hand, are freaking out a little bit. A merman is here and resting his head on your legs! Nobody would ever believe this was happening. 

You tear your gaze away from him for a second and notice that the sun is almost down. Although the mer seems friendly as of now, you didn’t feel comfortable with him enough to stay with him during the dark. So, you try to gently get it up without disturbing him too much.

His daydream comes to an abrupt stop when you begin to move your legs. He groans in annoyance. “Stop.” He commands, which comes out in a small bark. You ignore him, considering you can’t understand him, and Katsuki slides back into the water. 

He lets out a low growl, and your eyes widen. He wasn’t having second thoughts about this little exchange, right? So as you get to your feet, you quickly say, “Tomorrow, I will come back, and we can trade again. Okay?”

Katsuki looks scepitical. He only got out the word tomorrow and trade. Which definitely is a good sign, but does he trust you enough to keep your word? If he has to wait another three weeks, he is going to absolutely pissed. But then again, you seem to like him a lot if you already began wanting to court him on the first day of the meeting. Plus, you allowed him to touch you, once again, another good sign. You have got to like him.

So he sighs and trills a goodbye before swimming back down into the deep blue sea.

Katsuki Bakugou was adorable. It’s been about a week since you have known him and you have visited him every morning. He seems to be rather attached to you already. One day, you overslept and missed his meeting, and the next day you got an earful of mostly growls and barks. You thought it was adorable that your new friend missed you.

Currently, it was Friday, and exactly a week since you guys have been talking to one another. You learned his name and even have gotten him to speak in small sentences. He seems to pick up the human language very quickly. You wonder if it was a mer thing or a Katsuki thing.  Either way, you praise him immensely, and he acts like he doesn’t care, but its obvious by the red ting on his cheeks he does. He also teaches you the language of merfolk. Your vocal cords don’t really do the barks or clicks justice, so the two of you continue to speak in your language.

Not only that, but the mer was heavily physically affectionate. It was hilarious, considering the fact that he would insult you on being a “weak human,” and then the next minute, would curl into your lap as if nothing had happened. 

In all honesty, no matter how much of a brat the mer was, it has been one of the best weeks of your life.

“Human. Att–tention. Now.” The orange merman demands when you stop running your fingers through his soft blonde hair and stare off into the distance. You chuckle at this and continue to pet him. You are glad you taught him the word “attention” because before that when he needed it, he would take to softly biting you. You have small bite marks all over your leg because of the overgrown, needy creature.

A small, content smile falls on his face as he nuzzles into your legs. Courting has gone absolutely perfectly. You were gentle and warm but were able to put up with his shit. A perfect match the two of you are. 

Of course, every once in a while, you do say some stupid things. “Katsuki, do you think I can meet some of your mer friends?” The merman looks up at you and gives you a familiar glare. You smile in return, hoping to encourage him. 

It doesn’t seem to work because he lets out a cat-like yawn and closes his eyes again. “Friends, weak. Stupid,” He grumbles, and you roll your eyes.

“I bet we would get along considering you call me weak and stupid,” You remind, and Katsuki opens his eyes back again to glare at you.

He lets out a series of trills and clicks on accident before sighing and switching back to your language. “On–ly need me,” He challenges, and you give up the argument. Katsuki was as stubborn as a mule. If he didn’t want you to meet his friends, you won’t.

All of the sudden, Katsuki rolls off your legs and into the water. You tilt your head to the side, but the mer just grumbles out a, “stay.” and lightly bites your calf to get his point across. You, like always, flinch at the bite, but let him, knowing that denying him makes him even more upset. Besides, it’s probably a sign of affection.

Then, he dives back into the water, leaving you alone. A couple of minutes go by, and eventually, he pops his head back above the water. He raises his webbed hand and shows a squirming fish in his hands. You give him a questioning stare, but before you can ask, he plunges his sharp canines into the body. The fish dies immediately, and you’re left in shock at what the hell just happened.

He then offers the fish to you. “Eat,” He barks, and you shake your head, disgusted by the fish placed so close to you. Katsuki doesn’t like this answer, and he glowers at you. “Food. Eat. Hun–ted for you.”

Even if you are used to his demands, you are not willing to go that far for the sea creature. “That will make me sick, Kats. I can’t eat raw fish, but I really appreciate the offer.” Katsuki stares at you for a second and then, like usual, lets out a series of annoyed trills. He grabs the fish and quickly begins devouring it, bones and all, much to your horror. 

Once finishes, he looks back up at you with a satisfied smirk. “Good Hun–ter.”

You nod in agreement, “Yes, you are a fantastic hunter Katsuki, way better than me.” He chirps and nods, preening at the statement. You roll your eyes and laugh at his behavior. 

And then he sighs and, like usual, begins his goodbyes. He seems to be a very busy creature, only being able to meet for about two hours a day. You wonder what is taking up his time. Another mer? Maybe he has a family? But he never mentioned either of these things.

You don’t get time to ponder on it, because Katsuki rubs against your legs one last time before saying his usual statement. “Trade. To–mor–ow”. To which you nod and wave your goodbye with your new pink seashell that you add to your collection.

He nods before falling under the water and disappearing.

You begin to think more and more about Katsuki. Even if he was another species, you couldn’t help but be attracted to him. His muscular upper body, his soft blond hair, his piercing red eyes, and even if you hated the canines in the beginning, they are beginning to grow on you. Plus, he has the best personality. Although it is a little aggressive at some points, you know he has good intentions. 

He is sweet to you, under all of the insults, and is exactly your type (well, if he was human). So, like a normal person of your age, you begin to daydream what it would be like, to be more than a trading partner with the strange, but enthralling creature.

It’s been about three weeks, and the two of you have been “trading” almost every single day. Things like forks, coins, small mirrors, and cups have been given away while you receive an abundance of seashells and old jewelry that has fallen into the sea. Katsuki goes out of his way to find the nicest items he can. After all, he is a king, and his mate deserves only the best.

Katsuki knew he was doing a perfect job courting you. You are happy with him, he provides for you semi-well (only because you won’t take his food), and he is a fantastic protector. Often times the red-headed shark tried to talk to you, but Katsuki manages to scare his friend away every time. He isn’t going to risk you falling for some other extra. You were way too eager to court with him (even if it did make sense considering his physical appearance), and he didn’t want to play the odds of you accepting some idiots advances. You were his, and he was yours. That’s how things are supposed to go. So, today is the day he was going to ask you to be his mate. Then, the two of you are going live happily ever after.

He leaves his mother on the throne, like always, and grabs the ring he has planned to use. It was gold, and he removed the previous gemstone and replaced it with a pearl he had found when scouting the area for any threats. He knows that rings are weirdly important to humans, so, it was probably a good idea to get one. Then, he heads to your guys’ meeting spot.

You were waiting at the dock with your feet in the water. He swims up to you and lightly traces his hand up the bottom half of your leg. Then, like usual, he lays his head on your legs. You smile and pet his hair, “Hey, Katsuki.” He lets out a small click in greeting.

“I brought you something,” You continue, and Katsuki’s ruby eyes look up at you, slightly intrigued. You always gift him the strangest things. You pull out a tennis ball, and Katsuki squints at it before snatching it from your hands. He then begins to assess it. He rubs his cheek on it, then bites it gently, and finally growls at it, just to make sure it wasn’t anything dangerous. Once completely satisfied that it was safe, he trills in thanks. In your broken language, he says, “Good gift. M–Mine better.” to which you chuckle and nod, not willing to argue with the guy.

He pulls away from your legs and back into the water. A second goes by, and he is back up above the water and smirking as confident as ever. Katsuki quickly reminds himself of the stupid human customs he is trying to follow. He has practiced this sentence about a billion times. He forcefully, and a little nervously, thrusts the gold ring into your hold. “I K-King Katsuki Bakugou, take you, Y/N L/N to be” He lets out a small growl in frustration when he forgets how to pronounce the last part correctly. “To be…my mate.” He puffs his chest out while he waits for the tears and your acceptance.

But much to his surprise, you begin to giggle as you grab the pretty ring. You admire it and praise him on how beautiful it was. You have never seen a ring like this, it was pretty. You place it on your pointer finger and smile. Then you pat his head lightly and say, “Yes that is how wedding ceremonies go! How did you learn those lines? And I love the addition of “king.” Great touch Kats. Actually, did you know that I happen to be the Queen of the human lands?”

Katsuki has never been more confused in his life. Firstly, you put the ring on the wrong finger. He read so many slabs that told him that you were supposed to place it on the one next to the pinky! Secondly, you didn’t even respond to the declaration. You just praised him on his abilities. Thirdly, you are a queen?! Would this mean that your two people can finally live in peace? This seems like the most important question, so he says, “You–Queen?”

You laugh once again and, this time, shake your head. “No. Sorry I was just teasing you, Katsuki. I couldnt help it since you said you were the “king” of the sea.” He furrows his brows. Did you think he was joking? He has left his people abandoned for you daily, and you don’t even believe him!

“I am King! You are my Q-Queen! Mate!” His newly learned language gets choppy when upset. He grabs onto the doc with his hands and looks up at you with a scowl.

You tilt your head to the side. “Mate?” 

Poor Katsuki goes into another hissy fit. He growls and grumbles, and you furrow your eyebrows, used to his dramatics. You don’t know exactly what’s pissing him off, though. 

You are pissing him off. You guys have been “trading” for two weeks now, and you don’t even know what mates are. What do you think these entire interactions have been about? “We trade. Now we mate.”

“Like animals do?”

He uses his tail to propel him above the water. Now he is almost your height when you are sitting down on the dock. He only does this when he really needs your attention. The scowl has deepened, and this time, you do flinch. “Like mer do!”

Was Katsuki joking? About the king and the mating thing? You have never heard him joke before, but also, what was he talking about? You guys originally were trading items, and now you guys are friends. Did you confuse him somehow?

Your thoughts were suddenly cut off when Katsuki leans forward and pressed his lips onto yours. They are wet and a little salty, but still soft. You are just glad that you can’t taste fish on his lips. Your eyes widen for a second, but then gently kiss back for a second, and Katsuki pulls away. Red tints his face, and you probably match his furious blush. “S-See! Mate.”

Oh. So this entire time, he has been wanting to get with you? You use your hands to cover your face in embarrassment, but Katsuki is quick to remove them with a short but scolding bark. “We trade. Now we mate.” He repeats.

You realized that you confused him this entire time. He misunderstood your definition of trade. “You court and then mate. Not trade Katsuki. Trade is when you exchange items, like merchants do.” 

Katsukis face contorts into disgust. Like the lower-class people? He is a king, for christ’s sake! How did you think that he was trading with you like some lowly extra? He didn’t need your useless items (yes, he did, he actually loves them all)! He lets out a series of growls and barks in the mer language at your misunderstanding. Finally, he, in your tongue, says, “Stupid human!” 

Although you haven’t known Katsuki for that long, you know is not mad specifically at you, just upset. I mean rightfully so; you have misunderstood his attentions this entire time. You have got to make it up to him. So, you lean over and tilt his chin upward toward you and cut off his growls with a soft kiss. He, of course, shuts up and kisses you back intensely. 

He hates craning his neck to kiss you, it makes him feel small, and he is the strongest creature under the water; he should never feel small. So without much hesitation, he grabs onto your figure and pulls you into the water. 

You screech in surprise as the cold water hits you, and Katsuki grins. He presses his lips against yours again and effortlessly holds you above the water. Eventually, you pull away with a trail of salty saliva. “You are going to have to recourt me.”

Katsuki frowns as his face fins pin straight back on his face. “Why?” 

“Because I didnt know you were trying to courting me. I want to enjoy it this time,” You hum, and Katsuki flicks a tad bit of water into your face. You scrunch your face up and whine, and Katsuki laughs low.

His orange tail flicks into the water. “Idiot human.” But, he still nods in agreement. It wasn’t like he was going to force you to be his mate. If needed to be, he can wait.

Your smile turns mischievous. “And you have to court me like a human does.” This time Katsuki does growl in annoyance. Human ways are so tedious.

“No.”

“Awe I guess I just got to find a human “mate” to court me….” You fake pout, and Katsuki grips you tighter. He can see right through your bluff, but pissing you off right now in such a nice moment does not seem like the best idea.

“Fine.” You give him a peck on the lips for his compromise. He in return, grabs your hand and replaces moves the ring from your pointer onto your ring finger. He lets out a satisfied click with the new placement. Now both mer and human will know you are his.

As you watch Katsukis ministrations, you think back to what he said earlier and hum in thought. “Hmm and Kats you were just  joking about being a king right?”

Katsuki laughs mischievously and a little arrogantly. Your eyes widen at the response. “Right, Kats?”

“Nope.”

You squirm in his hold, but he wraps his tail around you, preventing you from leaving. “I can't be the ruler of a kingdom that I’m not even from! Plus I'm not even a mermaid!”

But Katsuki was already lost in thought, daydreaming once again of the future. Besides, there are many ways to get you changed into a mer, it wasn’t hard. “King and Queen Ex-plo-sion Murder. The most powerful mates of the sea.”

“Katsuki!” 

[lyssasdrafts]

★ 𓈒 ݁ STAR—CROSSED (rhysand x reader) ⊹

chapter three: (written) ✧

𓈒 ݁ ✫ masterlist previous next

over the weekend, you had thanked mor countless times for the opportunity she’d given you. she had insisted it wasn’t a big deal, but perhaps she wouldn’t understand how much this meant to you, how badly you had wished for a path in photography to be there for you. it had been a dream that you’d given up on for a long time until you started again for fun in your first year, but you would’ve never thought to consider it until you had the safety net of your degree.

“are we getting distracted now, y/n?” rhysand’s words interrupted your thoughts. you can hear the arrogance that coated his voice like honey. he peers above you, leaning over your desk to stare you down.

you had your chin in your palms and had been staring into the distance, but that didn’t mean you weren’t listening. however, a part of you was embrassed to admit that it was rhysand who caught your attention again and not the lesson. shifting your gaze to look up at him, you fake a smile as you respond, “i can promise you that pretty face isn’t distracting anyone, rhysand.”

rhysand quirks an eyebrow at you, almost like he was trying to guess what you were thinking about. “i never implied you were distracted by me in particular,” rhysand says blankly before a smirk makes his way onto his lips. you blink at him, realizing the insinuation about what you’d said. you curse yourself for referring to rhysand as pretty, but he definitely knew what you were talking about. it wasn’t unlike him to wink at people on campus and make small flirty comments when he knew he could talk someone into something. perhaps he’d even tried it on you at some point. it was a skill that you sometimes envied, the only ever way you convinced people was through your clever reasoning. at some point, you’d heard from elain that apparently you also happen to be quite intimidating unintentionally, something she said you had in common with nesta.

you take a moment before you respond, using it to scan rhysand’s figure. he wore his usual dress pants and a white button down shirt, his jacket further showing off his expensive preferences. despite the shiny silver watch and necklace he used to accessorize, he made himself look more casual by undoing the top two buttons of his shirt. you admired his style only because you could tell rhysand takes good care of himself and as a photographer. you recognized his jacket to be from a designer you admired and studied, revealing how his taste could be similar to yours. although he was a bother for you, the bastard didn’t have a bad fashion sense at all.

rhysand continues to stare down at you, while you wanted nothing more than to slap the expression off his face. his gaze made you uncomfortable, it burned into your skin and left your heart beating faster. he was insufferable, always taking pleasure in annoying and distressing you when he could’ve been a friend. in a perfect world, the two of you should be helping each other instead, if only rhysand wasn’t so petty and you weren’t so competitive.

you stand up for your desk, the chair making a squeak that catches the attention of some people sitting around you. those glances in your direction are ignored as you stare back at rhysand, your faces slightly inched closer than when you were sitting down. you give him one last comment before you stride out of class.

“you clearly think so highly of yourself that i’m not wrong. but since i’m not as vain as you, i have better things to do than entertain you.”

you’d actually been in a good mood for your entire ride to the studio, despite your earlier conversation with rhysand. you had brushed it off for once instead of obsessing over every comment and heading to the library, insisting on working harder to beat him.

this was your first professional shoot as a photographer, and you had a likely chance of being asked to keep working with the studio since the previous one had quit. never once would you imagine that posting your account online and building your portfolio that it would be shown to someone at a studio like this one. you didn’t believe in fate, but a part of you thanked every star in the sky that you ended up with mor as your roommate. maybe there was some greater power that brought you and your best friend together.

perhaps this could become a real job for you, unlike what your parents had always insinuated. you could work in engineering after your degree while free lancing as a photographer. perhaps if you were really good and built a name for yourself, you could even do photography full time. you would prove your family wrong, you could find a job that provides for them plenty enough.

the studio lobby is quite modern and newly renovated, you can tell from the moment you walked through the revolving doors of the building. from the running water fountain to the hanging lights over the main desk. checking in was easy as well, once you gave the name of morrigan’s manager you were immediately given an entry pass and escorted to the correct room.

the studio room is smaller than you expected, though it definitely wasn’t underwhelming. the small room was full of lights, with different backdrops in multiple colors. the equipment caught your eye the most, with large heavy professional cameras that you almost didn’t want to touch in fear of how expensive they probably were. these were cameras that you probably wouldn’t ever get a chance to buy on your own without getting a job in photography first.

you’re left alone in the studio room after being told that the model would be out shortly. even though it was a smaller space that the studio offered, you were told that this model was apparently quite promising, but he just preferred to work with few people. you hadn’t realized until now that there wasn’t anyone else working on the shoot with you, though you didn’t really feel like it was your place to request for any staff.

you realized that he would arrive any moment now and notice the door in the back leading to a dressing room. you remind yourself that everything will be alright, that you can handle being alone with a stranger for an hour or two. you didn’t necessarily need to be too nice since you didn’t want to come across as desperate, just polite enough to be professional. your model would likely be a beginner as well, someone who might understand your current position.

in the corner of your eye, you notice a navy blue jacket hanging off a chair, proving your assumption that the model was probably in the dressing room. you can’t help but recognize the design, the style of the fabric that almost looked black from a nontechnical eye and you realize that you’ve seen it earlier.

your eyes widen once the door creaks open and rhysand steps out, fixing his hair before his gaze shifts to look for his photographer. your jaw drops at the sight of him.

“y/n,” rhysand pauses, angling his body towards you before lifting an eyebrow again. “are you stalking me now too?”

— NOTES

the bat boys are bit mischaracterized at the beginning to show y/n’s misconception of them

y/n is so clearly attracted to rhysand physically… despite hating his personality <3

y/n always wanted to be a professional photographer but their family disapproved and so they decided to go into astrophysics instead :(

— TAGLIST

@thelov3lybookworm @starsand @lilah-asteria @therealmoonstone @just-a-social-casualty-1 @ashjade19 @girlontheblock @cherry-cin @daughterofthemoons-stuff @starswholistenanddreamsanswered @sweet-chai-amore @kierramofficial @noelli-smv @c-dizzle99 @littlestw01f @marina468

[mint-yooxgi]

Longing - Yandere!Dragon!Changbin

Yandere AU & Dragon AU - First Person POV

Genre: Mature, Smutty Themes, Internal Monologue

Pairing: Changbin X Implied Chubby!Reader

Words: 1,678

Warnings: Possessive thoughts, some smutty thoughts, and some minor violent thoughts. Mentions of potential kidnapping, but nothing comes of it. This is a Yandere story, it will contain themes such as stalking, violence, obsession, possessive natures, and just general overall creepiness and swearing. You have been warned.

A/n: Again, I feel like I definitely could have made this much more feral than it is, but I think it's good! Dragon Binnie is just a softie at heart, but maybe that's just me hehehe anyways, Feedback is greatly appreciated! Enjoy!~

The Ninth of The Feral Drabbles

That human… Why does he even bother? Doesn’t he know that you’re mine?

The only thing worse than seeing how desperate this imbecile is in getting your attention, is knowing that you fall for it. Every. Single. Time.

Why does somebody as pathetic as him get to love you, and why- why, why, why, why, do you love him back?

I’ve known you for longer, but perhaps it’s the fact that I’ve waited so long to insert myself into your life that you don’t realize what’s right in front of you. I have always been ready and willing to serve you, to love you at a moment’s notice. Yet, none of that seems to matter to you. It’s so frustrating.

No, you would rather be with a mortal who can’t even protect you properly against his friends. He doesn’t stick up for you. He doesn’t defend your honour when they make nasty, pretentious comments against you, right in front of both of your faces. He lets them walk all over you, and does nothing about it!

Believe me, My Jewel, there have been a few times where I’ve had to strongly resist the urge to tear his throat out for remaining silent when those comments clearly affect you so negatively. I see the way you retreat into that shell of yours, one which I long to break you out of. You never have to worry about being too much, or too loud when you’re around me. Anyone who says otherwise will be fried to a crisp.

You should be showered in praise, not hid in a corner and talked down to in order to please others.

Come to me, My Jewel. I will let you shine. I will make you shine.

I just wish you weren’t so guarded around me.

Did I come on too strong? Am I too boisterous?

I thought that’s what you liked…

It must be him. He is the one telling you to stay away from me. He is the one keeping us apart, after all.

Oh, how I long to tear that bastard limb from limb. Only, that would make you upset, wouldn’t it? I would hate to be the reason that My Jewel loses her sheen, even if you aren’t aware of it. The guilt alone would eat me alive. Besides, it’s not like you don’t love him.

I hate that. More than anything. 

The fact that your love is wasted on someone so weak, someone so… undeserving makes me sick.

I have spent countless days and nights preparing for our life together, only for this bastard to steal you away from me. I cleaned my hoard. I rearranged the furniture. Hell, I even started decorating our nest with more things that I know you like. Only, my efforts were all in vain.

I wasn’t quick enough.

Do you not see the way I look at you? I know he does, and I know that he’s threatened by it. I am one of the strongest dragons in this territory, and I am not afraid to assert my dominance over him if need be.

I could take you by force. After all, dragons are notorious for stealing that which they desire most, especially when they wish to add such beauty to their collections. Only, I can’t bring myself to do that to you. I’m not like that, and I don’t want you to despise me. If you’re going to want me, it will be of your own free will, not because I’ve forced you to.

Which is why my situation frustrates me to no end. So badly do I want to tear you away from that no good, disgusting, vile - well, you get the point - man. However, I also know that it would devastate you. I need you to leave him of your own volition, not because I ate him in a fit of jealous rage.

Oh, how I’ve longed to torment him, too. He stole you away from me, and despite how I pride myself on how civil I can be, I have never wanted to lose control so badly before. It would be so easy, too. I could even make it look like an accident…

I won’t lie, I have thought about the various ways in which I could torment and torture him for what he’s done to us. Sometimes, those thoughts help me fall asleep, but then I picture you resting in my arms, and I manage to calm myself down.

You just have that affect on me. You make me want to be better - do better. I want to make you happy, and I will. I promise you that.

Eventually.

I’m working on a plan to help drive you into my arms, and after what I witnessed tonight, I’ll be putting it into motion much sooner, rather than later.

I almost lost my temper tonight, My Jewel. Something that has not happened to me in years. However, seeing that- that- that thing with his hands all over you drove me insane.

Doesn’t he know not to touch the art? Priceless artifacts are meant to be shown off and displayed, not for grimy hands to smear dirt all over their beauty.

Well, unless you’re a dragon like me. Then, it’s okay. At least I know how to take care of treasure, and that’s exactly what you are, Jewel. You are the finest treasure this world has ever seen, and I will spend every day of the rest of our lives proving that to you.

Though, please don’t think I view you as some kind of trophy. I may consider you to be the greatest Jewel in my collection, but that does not mean I see you as an object. I wouldn’t be going to such great lengths to have you if I did, and I never want you to think that. I don’t own you, but I will admit, long since have I desired to be able to call you mine. I desperately want you to call me yours, too.

I will protect you. I will provide for you. Anything and everything that you could ever dream of. I want to make all of your dreams come true, and then some. You honestly have no idea what you mean to me, what you do to me. So badly, I want to spend time with each other, getting to know every minuscule detail about the other’s interests and hobbies. Then, I want to partake in them all with you.

You, and you alone.

There is nothing I desire more than your happiness, and I know for a fact that you will find the greatest joy when you’re with me.

Honestly, My Jewel, when it comes down to it, I desperately long to please you. In any and every way I can. In every and any way imaginable.

I want to cook for you. I want to cook with you, and see you smile at me when I eventually fuck up the recipe because despite my best efforts, I am a horrible cook. They say it’s the thought that counts, though, right?

I want to go for walks together, exploring places you could never have thought up even in your wildest dreams. I want to show you my hoard, and let you pick out the finest of gems so I can make you a crown, a necklace, a ring. Anything to have you shining like the Jewel I know you are.

More than all of that, though, I want everyone to know that you’re mine, and I’m yours.

I want to please you in every intimate, intricate way you’ll let me. I adore you, My Jewel, and I just wish that you could see that.

I certainly adore you more than he does.

Does he even know how to please another person? Fuck, I was getting so heated watching his pitiful attempts to bring you pleasure. Even I could tell you were faking it.

Don’t you know you’d never have to fake anything with me? I would kill to be able to touch you, My Jewel. I have long since desired to learn every aspect of your body so that only I can be able to bring you the utmost pleasure in the most intimate of ways.

Let me get lost in the heat that radiates from between your legs. Let me spend hours licking at every part of you, until the only thing you can think about is the way my tongue feels on your skin. I want my name to be the only thing you can utter from those sinful lips of your, moaning praises meant for me and me alone.

Let me roam my hands all over that delectable body of yours. Let me carve my marks into your skin, so that everyone will know who has loved you in the most fulfilling of ways. I long to know what your body feels like pressing against my own, your arms wrapped around my back as your hands pull me in closer. I want your nails carving your own marks into my skin, claiming me as your own.

I’d let you see my wings. Hell, I’d even let you touch them as I’m making love to you. Maybe I’ll even tease you with my fangs, and my claws. A little bit of danger which in the throws of passionate loving never hurt anyone. Besides, I believe it would make things a bit more thrilling, don’t you?

Please, My Jewel, let me fulfill our greatest desires as one. Let me claim you as my own, and mark you with the most sacred of intimacies I know how. I promise you’ll never know fear, you’ll never know doubt. Only happiness, and an unquestionable, unshakable loyalty and love from the one who has always been desperately devoted to you from the start. The one who has been longing for your embrace far before I even knew what this feeling bursting inside of my chest was.

Please, just let me love you.

[instant-delusions]

wind hashira || shinazugawa sanemi x f! reader

cw: sanemi 💀, steamy, curse words, alcohol

a/n: watched a 7h kny essay & I need more

༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹ attaboy ◃ ۪۪۫۫ ༄ؘ

slamming down your ochoko, you swallowed the rest of the disgustingly bitter sake. "another round!" shouted mitsuri, waving her hand in front of the bartender, who looked absolutely worn out. feeling your mind drifting slightly, you barely made out obanai's worried voice, telling her to slow down.

the hashira (except muichiro and shinobu) go out drinking often - which is a coping mechanism you don't know how to feel about - but you're glad mitsuri drags you along to these get-togethers, although you're a lower rank. luckily, you get along with the hashira well. all of them are booming personalities, each one much different than the other - you appreciate the different perspectives and worldviews, despite them ending in bickering most of the time.

"I've got an idea!" rengoku shouts excitedly, "let's play a game." a mischievous smile forms on his face. "fuck that" the wind hashira retorts, starting to get up. "dont be a buzzkill, sanemi!" you push him down again, hands gripping his shoulders. nervously, he glanced back at you, mouth opening as to respond in some way. he'll never, ever admit it, but he's had a crush on you for months now. not that he has to, really, it's obvious to everyone but you. sanemi's always been confident in his abilities to hide his feelings, although most of the time he's very easy to read. plumbing down next to him, you start filling his and your ochoko with sake, to which he grumbles a "thank you", not even looking your way.

unbeknownst to you two, the other hashira are done with the way you dance around each other and schemed a plan, feeling obligated to give a little push. "okay!" tengen started, "how about...hmmm...dare or dare." "the fuck ist that ?" sanemi questions, "you know..." giyuu starts nonchalantly, "like truth or dare, without the truth." both of them exchange fuming eye contact for some reason. "you think I'm stupid, bastard?" sanemi's clenching his fist, trying to get up, but obanai wraps his hand around the pillar's arm, pulling him down aggressively, whispering something about him 'looking like a fucking anger-management needing dumbass'.

it's sanemi's turn. until now, everything's been pretty tame, gyomei ate two spoons of wasabi, tengen asked the bartender "how much for a blowjob?" and giyuu wrote shinobu a letter, containing the word 'penis'. giggling and whispering, the hashira brainstormed a dare for sanemi. "so." tengen clapped his hands. "see that closet?" tengen pointed at the shoji on the other side of the room they rented. "enjoy twelve minutes in there with (y/n)."

sanemi and you turned beet-red, you proceeded to wave your fist in the air saying that you got nothing to do with this and sanemi just started spewing creative curses, but all in vain. gyomei picked both of you up and threw you into the closet, closing the shoji. muffled laughs was all you could hear, until your attention was drawn to the body pressed against yours and the minimal space of the closet. position-wise, this was definitely compromising, sanemi's legs were spread and you laid between them, your head on his chest. his body's so warm, his middle pressed against your chest, breath fanning over your hair, legs trembling. you're definitely dizzy now, the alcohol and proximity getting to you, with the magic of liquid courage, you pushed yourself up, lips barely brushing against each other.

"fuck..." sanemi whispered, you could feel the way his lips formed the word. he brushed his fingers through your hair in a gentle manner, curling it around one. eyes locking with yours, he continued; "I've wanted this...you...for so long. I could thank those idiots." his lips pressed against yours and you didn't waste time, immediately throwing your hands around his neck, bringing him closer. sanemi exhaled against your lips, "me too." you responded, diving into another kiss, nibbling at his bottom lip, asking for permission. he opened his mouth and you started exploring with your tongue, while the pillar let his hands travel across your body, groping your waist, trailing up your shirt. "wait..." changing the position, you put each of your legs next to his hips, straddling him. when you were done, he quickly cupped your cheeks and brought you down for another kiss. giggling, you pecked the corner of his lips, "you're quite needy, huh?" you teased, kissing his jaw next.

"shut up, twelve minutes are not gonna be enough."

[lives4lovesworld]

Dragons, their unique and extraordinary bond and why the binder is a red herald.

“If you read Fire and Blood, you’ll know there’s definitely a bond between the dragons and their riders and the dragons will not accept just any rider,” says Martin. “Some people try to take a dragon wind up being eaten or burned to death instead, so the dragons are terribly fussy about who rides them.” - Grrm November 2018

We shall not pretend to any understanding of the bond between dragon and dragonrider; wiser heads have pondered that mystery for centuries. We do know however, that dragons are not horses, to be ridden by any man who throws a saddle on their back. - writings of Gyldayn

Most speculations around dragons, the dragonbinder and any potential riders are blatantly rooted in nonsensical delusion and pure envy of House Targaryen and the power it derived of their dragons, and the deranged need to see the dragons fight and wreak havoc to finally villainize them all once and for all the eyes of the realm as the clowns of this fandom all do in their posts, so their excessive hatred is finally validated by canon. Nowhere is all this more apparent than in the ridiculous popularity of the theories that have Stannis Baratheon, Young Griff, Victarion and Euron Greyjoy become dragon riders, and more specifically all in context as enemies to Daenaerys.

It's truly astonishing what loops people jump through to make these theories appear even the slightest bit feasible;

Even if Stannis Baratheon would survive long enough to set eyes on Dany's dragons and even if the theory in and of itself wouldn't be a pathetic attempt by his delusional stans to still present him as a viable candidate for Azor Ahai Reborn. There was not one recorded incident of a Baratheon riding a dragon, and mind you Orys Baratheon was likely Aegon’s bastard brother yet neither he nor any of his closest descendants have been dragon riders, and each of them had more blood of the dragon than Stannis. The prerequisite of even being one.

Young Griff [or FAegon or Aegon VI] tho the most feasible of all the "candidates" it is ridiculous which lengths the proponents go to, to craft scenarios, where he, always a political enemy of Dany, somehow obtains one of her sons. It's often argue that, regardless of who Young Griff truly is, Targaryen or Blackfyre, due to his blood he must be a dragon rider! An equally bold as unfounded hypothesis: i) the concept that House Blackfyre would have been dragonlords as well had the dragons not be extinct by the time the cadet branch of House Targaryen was founded is purely speculative! Neither House Celtigar nor House Velaryon, two ancient Valyrian House, had been dragonslords. Hell, not even all members of House Targaryen had been. ii) Young Griff surviving long enough to set eyes onto Daenerys's dragons is as hypothetical as Stannis's prior, and given how he is currently risking an all-open war with only 5000 sellswords at his disposal with no prior war experience against the current reign is just as unlikely. iii) However, let's assume Young Griff indeed survives long enough to do so and ends up fighting Daenerys; as already stated dragons aren't mere mounts, they choose their riders and need to bond and for that, they need a considerable amount of time, training is time-consuming as well. So how exactly would Young Griff even get the chance to bond with either Rhaegal or Viserion? In addition, Daenerys's dragons are unique to their ancestors all of them having bonds to her as their cherished mother. Despite what the fandom argues, dragons are not nuclear bombs, they would never bond with someone who would want to severely harm or even kill their mother. Lastly iv) which is purely theoretical but IMO a very solid theory: @luchibelle theorized that Magister Illyiro Mopatis put the eggs into his son's cradle after the Targaryen fashion and hoped they would hatch. The man likely attempted several times to hatch them. In vain, he gifted them to Daenerys as bride's gifts. In all likelihood to make the marriage with Daenerys for Khal Drogo more desirable, for Dany's bride's gifts are his property, which the Magister needed for his scheme of Viserys as the evil invader with his foreign army of savages for his son to defeat as the gallant Aegon VI Targaryen. However, it does further contradict the speculation of Young Griff's potential being able to bond & ride a dragon.

So far Euron and Victarion Greyjoy are the only ones actively perusing Daenerys for her dragons, name and beauty, something none of the other "candidates" do which should at least be the bare basis on these speculations if you want to call them that way. However, the unquestionable fact that the iron borns do not possess a drop of the blood of the dragon should end all speculations then and there. The unfounded idea that Euron possesses unnatural power and/or uses the horn he proclaims is a tool that can subjugate dragons should serve as a substitute for the lack of valyrian is a jump through a loop unparalleled: i) While GRRM can stress as much as he wants that Euron is much more than what he appears to be; a megalomaniac sadistic busy-body. The Forsaken shows that Euron sacrifices humans and uses tortured captive priests to perform their magic FOR him. The power does not come from him, unlike Daenerys and some of the Starks. ii) the unwillingness of this fandom to see Euron's tale of him traveling to Valyria as a lie is on the same level as its unwillingness to see Petyr Baelish's one. Valyria after the doom is hell on earth. GRRM emphasized this more than once in his lore; Princess Aerea Targaryen, Garin the Great. Hell, he even wrote this scene. Yet because some really want to see their super specific unfeasible(!) fever dreams to validate their need to punish Daenerys and House Targaryen and their dragon for being perceived as obstacles to their favorite character's rise to power, Euron Greyjoy, a minor character introduced to us in ADwD, is the first to set foot onto Valyria after more than 400 years. iii) Since we have established the truthfulness of Euron's tale, let's extend the same skepticism to the "Dragonbinder" as well; true dragonbinders were used by pure-blooded Valyrians to tamp even the ill-willed and oldest dragons. In the millennia of wars between the dragonlords of the Freehold and the rest of Essos dozen of such horns must have been lost by riders and found by other folk. If the possession of one paired with enough magical expertise and lust for dragons would been sufficient to make anyone a dragon rider, the Freehold of Valyria would not have been the only civilization to tamp dragons. So why would two Greyjoys make the exception? On top of that, why would Euron let the horn out of his sight and more importantly give it into the custody of his brother he knows has wronged and slighted more than once? And if Euron is indeed an agent of the Others, of Ice GRRM won't have him subjugate one of the embodiments of Fire, which shall be triumphant at the end of the series. Lastly, the speculation of Victarion Greyjoy as a dragon rider is a misunderstanding, likely deliberate, of Moqorro and the dialog between him and Victarion; Moqorro is a red priest sent to Daenerys so she might know she has been identified as Azor Ahai Reborn by his temple. If he is even half as frantically loyal as Melisandre is to Stannis, Moqorro would never actively try to sabotage his Chosen One by helping someone, a non-believer at that, to rob her of her dragons. Creatures that are sacred to the religion of R'hllor. Not to mention who is Victarion to Moqorro? A pillaring slave catcher who worships an agent of the Others for everything that isn't R'hllor.

If speculations around potential dragon riders do not serve to despite Dany, then they are handed out as rewards to favorites. Nevertheless, GRRM has written to many hints for the other characters to become riders, likely Tyrion and Jon Snow, despite it being incredibly repugnant to me for numerous reasons; it has been Daenerys who has to do all the hard work, who figured out how to birth them, how to raise and feed them, how to train them and deal with all the moral dilemmas. No matter what it will always be cheap, offensive and lazy to me that two characters will swoop in, become legendary as as the first dragon riders woth Danya and reap all the glory, and given of which descent they will be, a violation of GRRM own lore and rules of physic. The excuse of 'its the ending of the world' is beneath his talent.

To conclude its despicable how something as unique as the bond between dragons and their riders and the otherworldliness being of the blood grants is cheapened by all these speculations, which are almost exclusively petty fantasies that should be impossible to happen.

[hamliet]

"Pet": Pretty Woman, But Gay

So I read the Captive Prince series way back in like, 2016, and read the first few short stories and never read the fourth one because I wasn't a fan of the character it would focus on. And then through a weird set of circumstances I found myself reading this short story this past week, and it might be one of my favorite short stories ever.

I'm posting under a cut because the series is very adult, and the short story and series itself contain triggering content.

Ancel is definitely a favorite character of all time now, which is impressive especially since I hated him. But that's kind of what CS Pacat does well--she writes unlikable characters who are indeed truly flawed and not just soft babies inside, and then makes you like them by showing their development without completely changing who they are as characters. It was the main strength of the original Captive Prince trilogy, after all--Laurent's development still remains one of my favorite character arcs of all time.

So really, I don't know why I was shocked at what she did with Ancel. Especially because the whole reason I hated Ancel was the same incident that made me dislike Laurent: a scene in which Laurent uses Ancel to sexually assaults Damen. And I still do think that particular scene is the biggest flaw in the series, because it's kind of glossed over in a lot of ways. Admittedly, that's still the biggest flaw of "Pet" as a story, too: that the story frames Ancel's low moral point as what he does to Erasmus, which is portrayed as an escalation of what he does to Damen, when I'd argue it's the opposite.

Yet, seeing things from Ancel's perspective--how desperate he is to matter, how he genuinely has only ever been used and so doesn't understand why other slaves wouldn't even try to perform and enjoy the meager scraps of joy they get in life--changed my perspective on him. Not on the incident, but on him.

Ancel's a brilliantly written unreliable narrator, too. As confident and vain as he seems, he's all too aware that he doesn't matter in the court. As much as he hates Damen and Erasmus for the former's refusal and the latter's inability to play the role, it's really self-hatred projected onto them. We see bits and pieces of this seeping through in his conversations with Berenger, such as him telling Berenger in a moment of delight:

"I'd even sleep with you. I might even enjoy it for once." He stopped. "High praise," Berenger said dryly.

Ancel doesn't enjoy a lot of his life. But he'd never admit it, because he lacks control over pretty much every aspect of his life and so seeks to keep control over his thoughts by lying to himself. And yet, paradoxically, he's still one of the few people at court who is usually honest with others.

All of this is why Berenger is such a great love interest for Ancel. Berenger prizes honesty, but also freedom. He buys Ancel but refuses to sleep with him because he knows Ancel doesn't really want to, no matter what sweet nothings Ancel whispers in his ear. He respects Ancel's autonomy in ways no one else ever has, and he sees him as a person first and foremost.

Normally stoic "good guys" aren't super interesting as love interests for me. I like angsty tortured souls, Byronic bastards. But Berenger works perfectly in the story, and is no less interesting as a character than Ancel. To be fair, part of this is because everyone in Vere is insane and debauched and there needs to be one normal one there, and that's Berenger. Yet there's intrigue, too: why Berenger bid so highly to buy Ancel in the first place is never directly stated, but what he does say is that Ancel:

You took on every councilor in that room and won.

It wasn't the physical performance, but Ancel himself, his psychological performance. It serves as a metaphor for the overarching plot of the Captive Prince series, wherein the lowly and those who have everything against them end up taking on far more powerful individuals and systems and winning.

Which makes the last line of the story all the more fitting:

But if he wins?

Ancel may not be a pure-hearted individual, but all along he's showing Berenger that it is possible for those who have less to win, and to be loved and give love. He gives Berenger hope for the future, for the coming coup. And as we all know, Laurent does win, and I can only presume Ancel and Berenger live happily ever after.

My second complaint about the series is that the ending is too abrupt even if the ending line is perfect because that's my complaint about the trilogy too.

[starleska]

welcome to...starleska's f/o round-up 2023! 🥳🥳🥳

below the cut is every single character i've had a crush on in 2023...and there are 30 in total!! 🙈💖 these are given in chronological order of fixation, and they are all new crushes (so re-entering a fixation for a character i've simped for previously doesn't count 😂) now be warned, this is a genuinely unhinged list. they are largely villains. one is a mushroom. one is a vehicle. one is a casino-themed duck-shaped robot. my autism is indiscriminate in the characters it fixates on, and they are all suitably embarrassing 😭💖 without further ado, here we go...

1. James the Red Engine | Thomas the Tank Engine

...shut up 😂💖 at the start of this year i truly lost my mind and fell headfirst into the Thomas the Tank Engine fandom (everyone there is so lovely and creative!!)...and of course, the vain train is my favourite 🙈💖 James is cute okay!! i don't need to justify myself!!! 2. 'Big' Jack Horner | Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

there's no way anyone missed this one - we are quite the tight-knit and dedicated group in the 'Big' Jack Horner fandom 😳💖 come on, look at him...a huge, powerful, obsessive, fancy-bastard collector with an affinity for magic??? he's stunning 🥴💖 i made so many lovely friends through gushing about this horrible man!!! we had so much fun making OCs to ship with him 🙈 one of the most intense fixations i've had all year, and one of the best villains we've seen in years...he is fantastic 🥰 3. Pizzahead | Pizza Tower

i don't know what's in the water of Pizza Tower but it's impossible to be normal about any character you like from that game 🙈💖 of course the evil sentient pizza slice took the top spot, he's so cartoony and ridiculous!!! the amount of power he exerts is also quite the draw 🤭💖 i'm not gonna lie there's a couple other characters from this game i may get into later...we'll see 😉 4. Fingers | Dead End: Paranormal Park

have you heard this guy's voice. can you blame me. deliciously evil fruity monstrosity with supernatural powers? sign me up to whatever sinister scheme Fingers has going on now or in the future 👉👈 he hits a lot of boxes...between the cabaret-style makeup, the posh, dismissive and manipulative personality and the inexplicable Eldritch body, he was always gonna be a crush 🤭 5. M.O.D.O.K. | Marvel

wheeze okay, this was originally a JOKE!!! @thelighttasteslikelasagna sent in this message joking that i look like i'd find M.O.D.O.K. hot, and i was really angry about it for five minutes...and then i discovered the stop-motion cartoon where he's exactly the kind of cringefail malewife villain i enjoy (in the Augustus St. Cloud vein), and the rest is history 🙈💖 definitely one of the silliest crushes i had this year, but he holds a special place in my heart :3c 6. Gargamel | The Smurfs

nah man i was on some serious mental illness at the start of this year 💀 i just can't help it when bad guys are like this, alright!!! Hank Azaria's performance as Gargamel is sooo silly and over-the-top, i couldn't help but love every second he was on screen 🙈💖 Gargamel's just a whole lot of fun!!! who doesn't love a magic-wielding freak hellbent on the destruction of a group of little creatures?? (i cannot and will not be taking any questions at this time 😶) 7. Wally Darling | Welcome Home

my God, the Wally Darling fixation hit the entire Internet like a train 🤭💖 soft-voiced, ambiguously-moraled rizz puppet that he is, how could we not all fall head-over-heels? i have to thank this guy for throwing me headfirst back into fanfic writing, as the whole Welcome Home story really inspired me...not to mention all the lovely folks who wanted to imagine different ways of getting to hold Wally's hand 🥰 hooray for our pretty puppet boy!! 8. Killa Harkan | John Wick: Chapter 4

...yes, i know, it's funny that Killa's the first of two cartoonishly evil German-accented bad guys with sleight of hand tricks and gold teeth on the list this year 😂💖 sitting in the cinema, the second he opened his mouth my partner just turned and stared at me, because they knew. i refuse to apologise for appreciating a really awful bastard - especially one who dresses so sharply 😉 9. Ian Hawke | Alvin and the Chipmunks

yet another member of the 'it started off as a joke...' club 🤭💖 listen, Ian serves!!! we can't resist a smarmy music producer/manage type, can we? Ian's in the same camp as Gargamel for being a deeply evil man whose capacity for doing harm is directed at little creatures. all i'm saying is, he can sign me up for a dodgy deal any day 🥴 10. Myc Cellium | Inside Job

i can't tell if it's my monsterfucker tendencies or my consummate attraction to Brett Gelman but the crass sentient mushroom got me down bad 😭💖 he's just such a menace!! he's got that intoxicating combo of being horribly socially inappropriate and an actual outcast...fellas, Myc was fixation bait for me 😭 11. Klaus Kickenklober | Sing 2

i don't care if you think you're not a furry, someone can and will get you from the Sing franchise, and that is a threat 🙈💖 yesss laugh it up, Star's got another stern and vaguely European cartoon villain added to the list 😂 i just find Klaus so impossibly delightful!!! he'd be a terrible teacher to have in real life, but in fiction, i think i could fix him :3c 12. The Spot | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

ohoho, i know you guys were living for The Spot fixation because i remember your reaction to the x Readers 😉 look at him and his incredible design!!! the transformation of The Spot from weak laughable villain to reality-bending monstrosity had me by the throat...and i can't wait to see more of him when the next Spider-Verse drops 👀 13. Mad Mod | Teen Titans

MAD. BLOODY. MOD!!!!! i think our favourite British bastard has to take the crown (literally and figuratively) as my strongest fixation out of the whole of 2023, i lost my mind over this guy. he just consumed my every waking thought!!! 🙈 the style, the voice, the unbelievable engineering skill...Mad Mod is one of those once-in-a-lifetime f/os that you know you'll be obsessed with for a very long time 😳💖 i look back so fondly on those wonderful few months of Mad Mod fandom resurgence, and how that still continues today...here's hoping even more people find out about him and develop their own crushes 😉 shout-out to the lovely @iriso-page who suggested him and Music Meister to me 🙈💖

14. Control Freak | Teen Titans

sdfgdf okay back on form with the fat dweebs, i know, i know!!!! my ravenous Mad Mod fixation wasn't enough to ignore Control Freak, one of the most delightfully stupid villains in Teen Titans...!!! he hits all my buttons (ha!) and i genuinely think his design and powers are kind of epic. would love to see him utilised in the future 😉 (i am never beating the Discord kitten allegations...) 15. Ken | Barbie

well, this particular blond himbo was quite the surprise!! 🤭💖 i'm not usually the one to go for such a stereotypical hottie, but Ryan Gosling plays Ken as so unhinged and...off for the whole movie, he activated the same neurons which come with the weirdest of my crushes 🙈💖 Ken's a misguided sweetheart and i'd love to help him feel a little bit wanted;;; 16. Buck Ruffler the Duck Shuffler | Toontown: Corporate Clash

fell into the wonderful world of Toontown: Corporate Clash and imprinted on this fucker like...well, like a baby duck 😂💖 is this not the most spectacular design for an original Cog you've ever seen?! i love that Buck is an absolutely scrambled robot with a gambling addiction, and i think he'd be lovely (and hilarious) company 🥰

17. Barnaby | Billie Bust Up

ohhhh yesssss Billie Bust Up caught my attention with this sinister goofball!!!! fancy, flamboyant and very into murder...Barnaby has all the traits for any Tumblr Sexyman, and i cannot wait for the full game to drop so we can see even more of him 👀

18. The Mad Hatter/Jervis Tetch | Batman

Jervis Tetch my beloved!! this has been the year of fancy blonds in top-hats, as well as deeply silly hypnotists, and Jervis kicked off this trend with a bang 🙈💖 i'm a Mad Hatter fan generally but B:TAS Jervis is a special kind of pretty stalker, and that voice is delicious 🥴 thanks to him for kicking off an Alice in Wonderland fixation and for finally getting me into drinking tea...the things we do for our crushes, eh? 🥰 19. Music Meister/Darius Chapel | Batman

and here is the first character played by Neil Patrick Harris who made it onto this year's list!!! 🙈💖 another camp, theatrical Batman villain to add to my collection...gorgeous voice, such an immense sense of style, and wonderfully good fun!! i think more people should get a little obsessed with the Music Meister 😉 20. Buggy the Clown | One Piece

none of you can judge me for this one - i remember all the TikTok edits!!! 😂💖 Buggy is pathetic and so much fun - i wasn't expecting to enjoy him as much as i did!! although my fixation for him may have been short-lived, my love for him certainly isn't 🥰 21. Pat Butcher | BBC Ghosts

ohhhh, every now and again a little sweetheart will get me right in the feelings, and Pat Butcher is added proudly to my f/o collection as the second Yorkshireman (next to Salad Fingers 😭). i just love what an upbeat, lovely man he is!! he's so soft and warm to everyone he meets and tries his best to do everything right by his friends...i'd love to cuddle with him 🥺 22. Josh Levy | The Eltingville Club

a classic return to form with Josh Levy, à la Comic Book Guy and Control Freak...really telling on myself by collecting these horrible greasy nerds who would 100% call me something derogatory if i tried to talk to them 💀 i appreciate every last one of The Eltingville Club but Josh, as a failed writer who remains just as toxic as he was when he was a teen, is my undisputed favourite 🙈💖 23. Swan | Phantom of the Paradise

oh God, reawakening my crush on Paul Williams by discovering Swan damn near killed me!!!! 😭💖 i was so obsessed with this man as a kid and the moment i saw him as Swan in POTP i felt intense attraction and gender envy in equal parts;;;; Swan's whole aesthetic and demeaning, inhuman approach to people is impossibly sensual, and i can't overstate enough how little evil dudes in tinted shades will always get me down bad 🙈💖 24. Kinger | The Amazing Digital Circus

my love for Kinger was such a pleasant surprise!! 🤭💖 sweet, anxious fella that he is, all i want to do is get him out of that digital hellscape and ensure he can wrap up in as many blankets as he likes!!! i love his always-on-the-edge-of-a-breakdown portrayal and am so eager to learn more about him and his backstory 👀 25. Peter Gregory | Silicon Valley

ahhh, kicking it the old-fashioned way by getting extremely invested in the most autistic character on the show (and that's saying something, given the high neurodivergent coding of everyone in Silicon Valley 🙈💖). Peter's style and methods of communication are traits i simply find attractive in real life, and although he sadly wasn't with us long, he absolutely stole the show ✨ 26. 'Action' Jack Barker | Silicon Valley

given my love of nerds it's no shocker that Silicon Valley hit me with two f/os, and 'Action' Jack Barker - the tech-field Colin Robinson - was a surefire entry 😳💖 what is it about these milquetoast men who are so whitebread yet are capable of such terrible things which gets me every time?! Jack is such a fun character and i'm glad we got as much of him as we did 🙈 27. Avery | Pokémon: Sword and Shield

i cannot believe none of you guys told me about Avery, the most amazingly dressed character i've ever seen in the whole of Pokémon 🙈💖 shhhh he is so very pretty and petty and his powers are incredibly cool. i just love everything about him and would delight in helping him develop a real sense of self-esteem, because he does not deserve the dismissal he receives from his family 😭💖 28. Matthew Patel | Scott Pilgrim

oh my God, heart in my MOUTH seeing Matthew Patel get the glow-up villain arc he so desperately deserved!!!!! 😭💖💖💖 Matthew is just the epitome of style and power in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, and it was so fantastic getting to see him grow as a character and get self-actualised. plus his fight scenes were some of the coolest things i've ever seen. Matthew can i have your number please 🥺 29. The Toymaker | Doctor Who

!!!!!!!!!! i don't know if you guys can tell, but i really love the Toymaker...and even predicted that he'd completely consume my mind months before we got The Giggle 🙈💖 e v e r y t h i n g about him just gets me so bad. his reality-bending, his teasing attitude, his ridiculous accents, his gorgeous costumes, his emotional inconsistency, his tragic backstory...god, if i so much as look at him smiling i melt 🥴💖 characters played by Neil Patrick Harris really get me!! i'm so proud to be modding a server dedicated to the Toymaker now, and have met so many brilliant, wonderful friends through him and falling back into Doctor Who!!! i think we're all going to be brainrotting over him for quite some time 😉💖 30. Dr Mark Fry | Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

Dr Fry, rushing in at the finish line!!! 🤭 the second my pals saw this guys they were all spamming me, begging me to watch Dawn of the Nugget!!! and ooooh i was noooot prepared for the specific brand of soft creepy genius he is 💖 even if they'd played Dr Fry purely as your run-of-the-mill mad scientist he would've gotten me bad, but they just had to make him equal parts freaky and brilliant with just a touch of arrogance, didn't they?? Melisha scored well 🤤 (also, three whole Yorkshiremen in my collection now!! is it the accent? 😭) aaaaand that's everyone!!! phew, is anyone else out of breath? 🥵 what a wonderful, silly year of fixations this has been 🤭💖 thank you all for being here, brainrotting happily alongside me for some of these characters, and for all the other characters you love!!! i hope 2024 is awesome to you, and that many more fictional characters are around the corner, ready to make you smile 😉

[katasstrophy]

What are your favorite pet names for your fave blorbos??? Mine are beebee for Bachira and YoiCHU! *insert cheek kiss* for Isagi~

d’aaawwww nonnie you got me giggling over this how cute<33 i may have gone overboard like always lol but here are some of my takes !! (these low key just. turned into headcanons oop i hope that’s okay!)

SHIDOU RYUSEI — HELLCAT

this is my personal favorite because it just fits him so fucking well and i know it in my soul of souls that he’d adore it. like yes he is your feral hellcat<3 your demon spawn<3 but you’re crazy enough to love that about him, to turn it into an endearing pet name, even. bastard would probably purr and meow just to lay it on real thick pls i can never be normal about this man.

ITOSHI RIN — RINNIE

calling the ever stoic, foul-mouthed younger itoshi smth as sickeningly sweet as rinnie is the best thing since sliced bread actually idc if i’m basic! it’s true! ofc he’d absolutely abhor it at first, snapping at you to “fucking stop calling him that” which just spurs you on more tbh lol he’s furious with you. he thinks he abhors the nickname, then one day you drop the cutsy act to return to his given name and he’s just left standing there like🧍baffled and pissed out of his mind bc where’s his mf rinnie huh?? i want to eat him so bad.

MIKAGE REO — HANDSOME

i feel like reo – party due to his lavish upbringing but mostly because he is just the ultimate lover boy – would definitely gravitate towards more ‘classier’ terms of endearment. call him handsome, or go all in by calling to him as my love and his chest is instantly puffing up like some bird about to perform the sickest mating dance ever lol he’d be so smug about it. definitely, 100% the type of guy that still gets weak in the knees when you call him husband – doesn’t matter if you’ve been married three months or 5 years he eats that shit up!

SANZU HARUCHIYO — CANDYMAN

okay so because i’m a little shit i can’t ignore the juxtaposition of the big bad criminal being committed to the pink aesthetic (don’t get me wrong i’m obsessed with it), so in my head i could get away with calling sanzu annoying crap like barbie doll or cupcake – or probably his most tolerated one out of the bunch, candyman (because of the, ya know, murderous implications lmfao). all in a very sarcastic vain ofc! i feel like calling him by his given name, or just simply haru, would def be all the more special then <3 (… BUT bc he’s sick in the head he’d probably love it even more if you romanticized his psychotic tendencies – call him stuff like my lovely little killer and he’s a goner he is clinically insane like.)

HANEMIYA KAZUTORA — MY (EVERYTHING)

let me just clarify that this man is not picky! whatsoever! he’s so starved for love he’d literally eat any term of endearment straight out of your mouth if he could. everything is one the table: baby, honey, sweetheart, darling, love – you name it, tora likes it, he wants you to keep calling him sweet names until he’s drowned in it. but what gets him really over the moon is if you just insert a small little ‘my’ in front of it. yeah, he loves being called baby, but my baby? he’s on his knees for you goodbye he loves the subtle ownership of it. (not to get n/sfw but uh… call him your sweet boy when you’re overstimming him and his pupils might just turn heart-shaped he’s ruined.)

KAKUCHO — YOUR LAST NAME

i only recently found out that “hitto” is actually a fanon made last name for kaku darling and i’d like to report that i’m still devastated over it so :( when you two get married – because he will marry you, if he’s in love like that’s it he’s locking you down for life – you ask him if he’d like to take your last name and yeah he cries a little he’s so touched pls :( so when people refer to him as L/n-san or mr. L/n he’s still not over it he has to remind himself that they are, in fact, talking to him. the effect triples when it’s you that calls him as such he’s so proud to wear your name brb gonna bawl my eyes out.

[blues824]

Hiya! You wouldn't mind if I put in an request? If so can I get the side characters from obey me with a demon read like maybe they're out on a peaceful day and suddenly an explosion goes off & so they go check what it is only for demon reader to jump in front of them holding their missing arm and them being dirty from all rubble n stuff & them saying "this fight is so amazing!" with an wicked smile on their face and a tent of pink blush of them getting excited fighting another demon , I wonder how the side characters would scold demon reader

Diavolo

Mans just wanted to enjoy the tea that Barbatos had set out for him when there was a sudden explosion

He teleported so quickly, and was in the exact right spot for you to come flying out and making you both fall to the ground. He was glad that he cushioned your fall, though.

Diavolo picked you both up from the ground, only to see you missing an arm but with a full smile on your face

“THIS IS AMAZING!” You exclaimed with a sadistic look on your face

Oh hell no. He is taking you to the nearest hospital so that you can get your arm reattached, and before you can protest he has you over his shoulder.

He makes sure to give Barbatos a call and explain what happened, also so that his butler can get a chauffeur en route

In the car, he is scolding you for being so reckless, but you can tell that it comes from a place of love and worry.

Low-key, it also came from a place of jealousy because you got to do all of these crazy and wild things but he’s stuck in the castle doing work 

Barbatos 

He was serving the young master some tea when he saw an explosion in the town. He noticed it was near where you lived, so he was understandably worried.

Once he got there, you were thrown out the window and landed right beside him. He thought you were dead until he saw your chest heaving up and down

Upon your face, there was a smile, and right next to you there was your disattached arm.

“That bastard has no idea what’s coming for him” you said with a menacing aura as you started to get back up

All in vain, however, since the butler picked you up in a bridal carry and teleported the two of you to the hospital so that you could get medical treatment 

After informing Diavolo about what happened and you were in the hospital, he went to go deal with the demon you were fighting against

Then, when he went to go visit you in your hospital room, he gave you a 2 hour lecture about how you should be more careful

Not that you listened to any word you said. You were a very chaotic demon, so the chances were leaning towards you going through something like this again

Solomon

Mans was just tryna pull a Harry Potter and practice his spells when he received word that you were in a very bad fight

Upon arriving, you were promptly thrown out of one of the windows, and Solomon had to use a Wingardium Leviosa so that you didn’t have a rough meeting with the ground, but your arm did not fall under the spell

You were smiling and laughing aloud, as though this were a very amusing and entertaining party or something akin to that

“I wanna go again!” You exclaimed

“Too bad”, the sorcerer responded, and he grabbed your arm and floated you to the hospital so that you could get it reattached 

He let Purgatory Hall know what happened and asked them to inform the brothers as well as Diavolo and Barbatos that you were in recovery

Solomon definitely scolded you, but he found it hard not to laugh throughout the entire thing because the whole situation was hilarious 

The Brothers had gone to deal with the demon who caused you harm since you were like a sibling to them, as Solomon stayed by your side

Simeon

He definitely saw the explosion a few blocks away from Purgatory Hall, and he realized that you were in that area on an unspecified errand

So, he quickly went over just in time to see you being thrown out of a window like a character from a cartoon show, and your arm following after you 

The angel stood over you, and you had a dazed smile on your face. He thought you were going to make a guardian angel joke but instead you shouted this:

“I WANT A REMATCH”

Y/N did not get their rematch, as they were princess-carried to the hospital so that they could get their arm healed 

Simeon let Solomon know about the happenings of the day, and told him to get takeout because Lord knows that the sorcerer can’t cook

By the way, his lecture about violence not being the answer went on for 6 hours with a slideshow presentation that Luke had made a while ago

He’s never going to let you live this down, and I hope you know that. Each day, he will be giggling at your misfortune,

[rhythmantics]

what the FUCK do you mean you wrote two of the best prototype fics AND drew some of the best art. illegal

seriously though i am in love with your characterisation, especially of all three mercer siblings. frankly your version of dr mercer is the best ive seen in the entire fandom lmao

Thank you! I'm really glad you're enjoying that terrible bastard of a man. Dr. Mercer enjoyers unite. We love this evil skinny twink

Thoughts about Mercer sibling characterization + themes of the game (under a cut because it's VERY LONG):

The thing I try to stress when writing Doc Mercer (hereto referred to as "Xander") is that yes, he is a narcissistic, vain, arrogant bastard of a man, generally irredeemable, with extremely loose and/or nonexistent morals and a terrible personality.

However, [PROTOTYPE] is a game where most of the characters are some level of fucking awful and monstrous, but their motivations are still explored, and sometimes even still justified. I mean, Alex eats people. Randall was on his way to nuke Manhattan. Blackwatch regularly laughs at being able to murder innocent civilians. A powerful moment in some of the WOI's is Blackwatch gleefully discussing killing people, while the visuals show a camp on a rooftop where the survivors have written a big "NOT INFECTED" in a bid to not be murdered by Blackwatch.

Still, there's nuance there. Alex may grow a conscience and save New York, but he's still, you know, a walking viral apocalypse that both eats people and enjoys it/thinks it feels "right." Blackwatch murders all the people they want, but at the end of the day, they ARE the line that stands between humanity and viral apocalypse. And Randall might even be justified in nuking Manhattan if it means taking Alex out, because - you know - walking viral apocalypse (and for all Randall knows, ZEUS only killed Elizabeth to establish his dominance as hive queen supreme). I don't see why Doc Mercer should be exempt from that nuance, but he so very often is.

So that as my starting point, what do we know about Doc Mercer? Well, mostly from the PRIMA guide, we have his backstory. This backstory is so hilariously awful that I legitimately don't think I'd believe you if you told me he wasn't supposed to be sympathetic.

Xander's mom is thrown in jail right after he's born, no other family is willing/able to take him in, so he's thrust into the foster care system (no father is EVER mentioned, ever)

To make matters worse, Dana's bio mentions that she moved "to New York" to follow her brother, implying that they aren't NY-born, which further implies that they're from NEW FUCKING JERSEY LOL (it's only like, an hour's bus away from Columbia U, where Xander went to college)

Xander is kicked around foster care system like a hot potato until mom is released from jail. Seems like she either got pregnant right at the end of her stint, or right as she got out; he's 10 when she regains custody of him, but 9 when Dana is born.

Dana's bio says "[Xander] was the only parent figure Dana ever knew." It also said their mother had "drinking problems." Xander raised Dana to the degree that she literally doesn't even see her mom as a parent.

"For [Xander], foster care was better." Yikes. That's definitely an implication of abuse (if the parentification weren't enough). What kind of abuse? Well, they're often bundled together, but we can make a Strong Case for extreme violence at minimum, given the following:

What was mom in jail for? A 9-year sentence implies a second-degree crime, which, uh... take your pick: aggravated assault, aggravated arson, theft of an item more than 75k$, armed burglary or burglary that results in injury or threats of injury, unlawful possession of a firearm, sexual assault. Yikes

Bio outright describes it as living in "abject poverty," so with the fact that he was LITERALLY the only parent Dana knew (a role he was forced into starting at the age of TEN), as soon as he was legally able, he probably had to take on a job in addition to school and childrearing.

Given the "abject poverty" angle, I find it doubtful that he was able to leave home until he graduated, especially given that a commute from Jersey to Columbia U could be as short as an hour. Since he graduated from his PhD at the age of 24, that means he was Dana's parent until she was fifteen. 3/4 of her life by the time of the game.

Needs to be stressed: this man changed her diapers, warmed up her formula, cooked meals for her, helped her with homework, taught her sex-ed and what puberty was, helped her get her first job, taught her how to apply for college. He is, for all intents and purposes, Dana's father. (Put a pin in that!)

Like... holy shit! This is a sympathetic character! I don't know how anyone would be able to read that in isolation and not feel bad for this guy. I mean, this is a person who has literally ALL the trauma. Like, he's in the 99th percentile of worst childhoods in America. This boy has collected PTSDs like they are pokemon.

The PRIMA guide literally says that, at the end of all that, he "trusted no one, had no friends, cared less and less what others thought of him," and was an "impatient, dark, tortured person" with a history of burning bridges. "Forever paranoid," "morally ambiguous," and "teetering on the border of sociopathy" are also used to describe him, and - yeah, of course! I mean, did you SEE his backstory? Holy shit.

And what really fascinates me about this is that, even under those circumstances? He was probably the best parent he could have been to Dana. She literally sees him as one, stuck around NYC for five years because he was just that important to her, and trusts and cares for him so deeply that she's willing to risk her life for him/willing to forgive Alex ranting about how eating people "feels right."

Some people argue that he was using Dana as a pawn, or manipulating her, etc. etc., and I really dislike this take (though, of course, everyone's entitled to their own HCs etc., especially because a lot of the PRIMA stuff was clearly rewritten by the time of the game's release). First, I think that a working college girl with a fiery personality like Dana would not have stuck around for FIVE YEARS if she didn't feel like Xander deserved it - and given that he was also ghosting her for those five years, any manipulation he had her under would have worn off. Like, it's REALLY HARD to gatekeep gaslight girlboss someone if you're no-contact with them. Also, are you trying to tell me that an eleven-year-old boy was looking at a literal 2 year old going "yes... I will raise her to trust me absolutely... as a tool for me to use in the future... and then completely ignore her calls for 5 years!" C'mon.

But the second, and more important, reason I don't agree with that take is that I feel like it strips Dana of agency and reduces her to this almost damsel-like role. Nah, man, even if Xander was not her brother/dad, she would have risked her life to help him out. Why? Because she's a fucking anarcho-socialist journalism student, that's why!

Her PRIMA bio is really interesting in that regard; I feel like the game didn't show off well enough just how awesome Dana actually is. She's studying journalism at NYU. You may have heard that her job is "writing tabloids," but that's such a simplification/misunderstanding of the text! We actually have the titles of the publications she writes for, and they are: "Everything You Know Is Wrong", "Bathsheba", and "The Military/Industrial Complex Report." Even just from that small glimpse (and the fact that she calls Blackwatch "goose-stepping motherfuckers"), I think it's evident that she's got some deeply anti-government, anti-military, anti-fascist beliefs.

Furthermore, Dana is like... kind of a terrible person. Here's a great excerpt from her bio that I feel like isn't talked about enough (emphasis mine):

"She owes money all over town, and somehow manages to sweet talk friends into lending her more. She's a hustler, good at manipulating people. Like her brother, she's narcissistic and evasive. When she doesn't like someone she'll go out of her way to make sure they know it - particularly if they push the point. She's disrespectful, foul-mouthed, and not afraid of a fight. This all serves her well when she's neck-deep in a story, but in real life, her kind of behavior only makes her one thing: enemies. In short, she's her brother's sister."

Guys, I am not normal about that last sentence. It's phrased the same way as "she's her mother's daughter" or "she's her father's son." Like. Oh my god, Xander is basically her dad.

But back on topic: Dana is characterized as a BADASS BITCH who doesn't take shit from ANYBODY and is ALREADY anti-government. She literally calls the Blackwatch shit "the story of the century." She would have taken that case on even if it weren't her brother presenting it to her, no manipulation necessary.

AND she knew the risks. I've seen it argued that Xander's to blame for "tricking" her into investigating something that put her life in danger, but I think that's unfair to him. First, I think Blackwatch would've investigated and/or disappeared Dana either way, given how trigger-happy they are. Second, she knew the risks - that's why she was using her friend's penthouse apartment as a safehouse. She was prepared to risk her life for this story; BW just moved faster than she anticipated and ambushed her at her apartment.

(And, also, like, just as an aside, we don't know if she had permission to be in her friend's place, and given her PRIMA bio, she probably didn't, like she just full-on broke into her friend's really nice apartment LOL probably even chose the friend with the nicest digs LOL)

This also serves as such an interesting glimpse into not only her and her brother's relationship, but her brother's characterization. We already know that Xander possesses good social skills to some degree, given that he has a girlfriend who was willing to risk her life for him (she went back to the lab to get something for him, which is how she got caught - let's ignore for now the ethics of dating his subordinate); he also climbed the ranks at his job, rising to Associate Director (McMullen's direct subordinate) sometime within only five years.

Dana's bio, however, confirms it. Every description of her personality becomes associated with Xander with the phrase "she's her brother's sister." Xander is a hustler; he's manipulative and gets people to do what he wants. Xander is evasive, disrespectful, and lets people feel it when he doesn't like them. Xander makes enemies. BUT.

Even in the midst of all that - his paranoia, the fact that he's having a freak-out because his coworkers are being "silenced," and that he ghosted Dana for five years in an effort to leave the past behind him... who does he trust to have his back? Dana. I need you guys to understand. He doesn't go to Dana because she's an easy tool for him to manipulate. He goes to Dana because he's scared for his life and she is the only person he trusts. I think there's a reason Alex latches onto her when he learns she exists, and part of it is definitely because the scaffold he's built on, the original Dr. Mercer, viewed Dana as unconditionally trustworthy. The feeling is mutual.

And just in case you needed some sort of in-game proof? He has at LEAST two photos of Dana on his foyer wall. Legit. Go back and rewatch that cutscene when Alex walks into Xander's apartment. He has 2-3 photos of Karen... and 2-3 photos of Dana. He's been ghosting Dana, but he keeps photos of her on his wall, where he sees them every day, right next to where he works. One of the Dana photos is also the only photo that Xander is not in. I just... he loves his sister. He's just too mentally ill to be normal about it and keep in contact.

So, we have here pretty much Xander's ONLY redeeming quality: cares about his sister! That's it. That's all he's got. Let's talk about some other irredeemable stuff.

So far, I've talked a lot about the PRIMA guide, but now I'm going to talk about what's in the actual game, because it's quite interesting, and I don't think all of it made it into the fandom zeitgeist. It's too bad, because this one major fact really adds a shitton of nuance to this character:

Xander was out of the loop.

Xander did not know anything about Hope, Idaho. Xander did not know that Blackwatch existed. Xander didn't even fucking know that his human test subjects were deliberately infected. Within day one, Alex knows more about the conspiracy surrounding Blacklight than Xander ever did. And we know exactly how much he knew about the virus because he mailed Dana a laptop containing everything he was able to find, and it pretty much got as far as "MOTHER is named Elizabeth Greene" and "Hope, Idaho existed...?" We have a WOI where Randall expresses concern over even giving Xander access to MOTHER, and a WOI where Xander is pissed the hell off when he finds out that their human subjects were not naturally infected. He didn't know!

That suddenly casts his role in Blacklight's production in a much less nefarious light. Look at this job from Xander's point of view: You're a 24 year old who completed an 8-year college run (undergrad and PhD) in six years, WHILE raising a teenage girl and probably while working, too. At graduation, you get offered this insanely cushy job, with a threat that you'll be blacklisted from the industry if you refuse (this literally happened to Dr. Ragland, according to his PRIMA bio). It's a top-secret government job. The government's not great, but you have loose morals, and it can't possibly be worse than Albert Einstein building the atom bomb. So. Whatever.

(On top of that, they're already lying to you abour what the project's purpose is. Xander states he "didn't know" what he was working on until he "figured it out," and there's a WOI where one employee raves that the virus could be used to cure every disease on earth. It seems there was a general vibe that they were probably working bio-weapons, but no one knew FOR SURE, and a contributor to Xander's meltdown is the fact that his research results just... vanish. He doesn't know what they're being used for.)

Plus, holy shit, the pay. Xander is making, like, seven figures by the time he's 29. He lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side (where Gossip Girl takes place lol). The average price for a one-bedroom there is, like, 4000$ a month. This man spent 24 years in brutal poverty; the money matters to him.

On top of that, the stuff they're doing at GENTEK? Of course, it's stomach-turning, but it wouldn't clock as inherently unethical. Xander's fury at learning that MOTHER was a test subject, and not naturally infected (as he's been led to believe), implies that they were NOT infecting people at GENTEK. The bodies we see in WOI, their test subjects, were already infected by the time they got there, supplied to GENTEK with a cover story, that the virus was one they'd found naturally, and that these people - whose brains were fried by the virus - were just unlucky victims of random happenstance. Furthermore, making viruses more dangerous is legitimate virology. It's called "gain-of-function" experimentation, and while it is controversial (for obvious reasons), it's still something you would potentially be doing at an above-board lab.

That means that, prior to Penn Station, the worst Xander can be accused of is being a bootlicker, class traitor, who knowingly worked on WMDs for the US government. And yeah, that is monstrously evil, and Albert Einstein is a monster by that metric, but it's a level of evil that's matched or surpassed by almost every other character in the game. Dana and Ragland are the two exceptions, maybe Karen too, depending on whether you think her low hierarchical position absolves her of any sin. McMullen and everyone at Blackwatch are all more culpable than Xander. They're the ones giving him orders - he's the low man on the totem pole!

And his reaction upon realizing how deep the rabbit hole goes? It's not asking to join up with the evil side. It's not going out to do a terrorism (even if that's how it ends up). It's blowing the whistle. His first instinct is to go to his sister, the anti-government, anti-military journalism student. And as he spirals into panic and anxiety, it's to escape the city, while warning someone - probably Dana - to "get out of there". Even McMullen says, when Alex confronts him, "you were always so smart. You were ready to give up all our secrets. [...] We were trying to figure it out -- you just wanted to bring it all down." The class traitor was about to redeem himself. His motivations might still be selfish - to punish the people who lied to him, to save his own ass - but he's not a cartoon villain.

It's only after he's cornered, staring down guns, realizing that all his efforts were futile, possibly even realizing that Dana is next, that he smashes the vial. AND EVEN THEN... I think we're supposed to understand why he did it. Not sympathize, necessarily, but... look at his life. Abandonment, abuse, parentification. Skipping meals to make sure Dana can eat. Running on a sleep deficit because homework has to be done after helping Dana with hers after coming home from work after going to school. His wealth and girlfriend are hollow victories when he can't trust people enough to make friends. He loves his sister, enough to keep her photos on his foyer wall, but can't bear engaging with her as an adult on equal footing. He thought he'd finally caught a break, only for it to turn out to be a death trap from the start. Yes, choosing to smash the vial was an irredeemable action, a selfish, vindictive, and evil choice; however, I don't think he could have chosen differently. Dr. Mercer was not necessarily intended to be a sympathetic character (although he was), but he was certainly, bare-minimum, intended to be a tragic one.

It seems like the game went through several rewrites, and those rewrites confuse a pretty major plot beat: does the virus Xander releases at Penn Station burn itself out, or does it go on to become the main virus on the streets of Manhattan? This question, and where you personally fall on it, is really important. And that's because... if the virus burns itself out in Penn Station (which apparently the writer confirmed on Twitter, but there's evidence in the game to suggest the opposite), then that means Xander has one of the lowest body counts in the game.

Yeah, you heard me. Let's say the virus burns itself out in Penn Station. How many people would that even be? A few thousand? In 2009, Penn Station served about 300,000 people per day. That is really busy, but obviously, not all of those people - or even a majority of those people - are going to be in the station at any given time. It's probably a number around four digits. Um, how many people does Alex kill over the course of the game, again? Obviously, the in-game kill counts can't exactly be trusted, because you can rack up millions depending on how much you fuck around, but it's generally agreed that he's in the tens of thousands, between all the military bases he destroys, civilians he eats, and soldiers he cuts through. Randall has been confirmed to have ordered the glassing of both Hope, Idaho, AND Two Bluff, Arizona, with an attempt on Manhattan. (Cross also mentions a Kentucky in one of the cut lines, implying there's more cities and casualties than we even know about.) There are 1.6 million people living in Manhattan in 2009, so Randall was about to kill, like, a thousand times more people than Xander.

It also means he never put Dana in danger. If it's a virus that burns out on its own, he - the person whose work was "years ahead of his nearest competitor" - would know that it wouldn't reach her. And it would make sense if it burns out, too, because it's a bio-weapon. Not a great bio-weapon if it causes a a whole-ass apocalypse! And I also don't think it's fair to blame Xander for Alex letting Elizabeth Greene out of her cage, because by that point, 1) Xander is dead, 2) Dana sent Alex there, 3) Alex is a fully sapient and independent being who is not under Xander's orders because Xander is dead. I mention this because I've literally run into people who believe that the virus burned itself out at Penn Station, BUT ALSO that Xander releasing the vial directly put Dana in danger of infection AND that Elly's rampage is somehow his fault. You can't have it both ways!

That's actually why I don't believe that the virus burned itself out. Narratively and thematically, it's much better if Xander did release his virus knowing that it might cause a full-on apocalypse. That does make it so that he risked his sister's life (although you can argue that he figured she was as good as dead, anyways, given that they'd tracked him down - I don't, since I think he was too busy panicking and being sleep-deprived to be thinking about that), and it DOES make the entire ensuing tragedy his fault. And the reason that this is important is because of Xander's role as a "father" to Alex.

Here's something else that's important to note, which I often see overlooked: Alex places the blame on the shoulders of Randall, not Xander. "You bastard," he says after he's eaten Randall. "You could have stopped all this - you let it happen." Meanwhile, here's what he actually says about Xander: "what Mercer did is beyond forgiveness," and at the end of the game, "Alex Mercer. This city suffered for his mistakes, for what he did at Penn Station. And whoever he was - that's a part of me." We aren't supposed to think he's unilaterally evil without nuance. Pretty much everyone, Alex included, has done things "beyond forgiveness" in this game. We're instead supposed to ponder what it means to be derived from his stock.

What is Alex's characterization? To be frank, Alex is a dumbass baby. I know that this is not necessarily popular, but I genuinely believe that it's intentional. There are literally cut lines from the very first mission that REALLY drive home that this poor guy has NO IDEA what's going on. Begging people to stop shooting at him, thinking to himself "where's a place with a lot of people?" (honey, you're in NYC), and generally going "what was that? how did this happen? what's going on? what? huh? what?"

There's also needing Ragland to suggest to him the novel idea of breaking both spines on the leader hunters, and following Phone Voice into a death trap, and then still listening to Phone Voice a second time, not to mention how awkwardly he shrugs his way out of Karen Parker's hug, or how he's constantly pushing himself all the way into Dana's personal space/startling her/disappearing while no one's watching. There's a point where his brilliant plan for getting McMullen to land is to disable some infection detectors... while standing ankle-deep in biomass... looking up at McMullen. He's just, ah, ehm... not the sharpest tool in the shed. If you replay the game with that in mind, it... yeah. I mean. His first instinct upon being attacked by helicopters is to go up onto the roof of a building, where he is surprised by... more helicopters. Who left this child unattended? Where are your guardians.

I know I'm exaggerating - Alex does show remarkable flexibility and adaptability and on-the-fly problem-solving sometimes - but when the PRIMA bios and McMullen repeatedly stress that Xander is clever, manipulative, a schemer, a hustler, "so smart," it really highlights how... straightforward Alex is in comparison. You cannot tell me that Alex, as he's presented in-game, is "a lateral thinker - plans within plans."

And the interesting thing is, this actually seems like a fairly late-stage change! The original PRIMA guide blurb for "The Prototype" seems to suggest that he is actually an amnesiatic Dr. Mercer, not a wholly separate entity. It goes on and on about how "The Prototype" is cool, calm, dry and witty, always in control of his body, etc. etc., but that really doesn't match the in-game characterization at all (he's consistently characterized as awkward, unsure of himself), meaning that I think this is more proof that a characterization as "fucking idiot dumbass baby" was intentional.

Sampling of cut voice lines:

"Ghost Twelve, Ghost Twelve... oh, shit, that's my callsign..."

"Aw, I hate D-Codes..."

"They think I'm dead. Perfect. I can't wait to see the look on McMullen's face."

"I need to get somewhere with a lot of people... somewhere where they can't just keep firing at me."

"Where is there a lot of fucking people? Where?" (girliepop you live in NEW YORK)

"Just remember! This was your idea!"

like. cmon, man.

That being said, Alex is not innocent. He starts the game without a conscience, easily and effortlessly killing people, instinctively eating them, too. He's quite literally built upon two existing minds - the people-eating virus, and the sociopathic misanthrope. I think this is why he defaults to shoving people and has no option to put them down gently - he's filled with Xander's rage, his hatred, and his casual cruelty. One of his earliest lines is this: "revenge was the only clear thought in my head. The only one I could call mine." LITTLE DOES HE KNOW. He continues. "I wanted to find out what happened to me. The reason. Someone to blame. Someone I could punish."

And now we get into a major theme of the game, my thesis: [PROTOTYPE] is about family. It's about nature vs. nurture, it's about the cycle of abuse, and it's about how the people who raise us, shape us. Xander is the "father" of this story; he's consistently placed in that role relative to Dana, and Alex directly inherits his genetics, his appearance, his name, and even his initial personality from him. And as for the mother... there is literally a character in the game named MOTHER.

Alex is, in a very literal way, the child of Xander and Elizabeth Green. He was born out of a fusion of their DNA - the virus infecting Xander's body. Elizabeth also literally says "I am your MOTHER" in their first meeting. And as if that weren't enough, Elizabeth's relationship to Alex directly mirrors Xander's relationship with his own mother: the first thing Elizabeth does is abandon Alex, and when she returns, it's only to threaten Dana's safety and torment him. Xander himself becomes a mirror to his own absent father, disappearing before he ever got to know his son. This is the cycle of abuse, the tragedy that occurs when someone who was abused becomes trapped by it, and has no ability to operate outside its confines, perpetuating the pain that was inflicted upon them.

However... something's different. Alex is not left alone to suffer like Xander does. He has Dana - a parental figure who loves him unconditionally, whom he loves unconditionally in turn. And she is the impetus for his ability to change, the one who most directly molds his burgeoning consciousness. His interactions with Dana are brief, but even in those brief interaction, she teaches him empathy ("my god, [Elizabeth]'s just a girl. What kind of fucking monsters are these people?"), kindness/mercy ("whoa, whoa, whoa. [Ragland]'s a good guy"), and trust ("look, no matter what, you're still my brother"). Let's go back to our pin. Xander is Dana's "father" also... and he was the best one she could have had, given the circumstances. Dana represents breaking the cycle. Dana represents Xander's single redeeming quality.

In other words... the key difference between Alex and Xander is that Alex has an adult figure in Dana that he can trust and rely upon, something Xander never had... because Xander was that for Dana. Xander broke the cycle. That's the one good thing he managed to do.

Now, we know that lots of rewrites happened, that final boss stuff got shifted around, and things got moved into a sequel hook, like Dana's fate or PARIAH's whole deal. However, I think we can almost piece together what it might have been if we follow this thematic line of thinking. Because here's something quite interesting: PARIAH... is in foster care. A child who kills everything he touches, abandoned and trapped, a monster, whose only use is as an agent of evolution, a direct parallel for Xander at his worst - this tortured man who "found solace only in his work", for whom foster care was better, who teetered on sociopathy and didn't care. Randall represents the government, the system, that put him there - the first ones to ever screw Xander over. So if we assume that the final boss was originally PARIAH, and Alex still needs to eat his way through Elizabeth and Randall to get to him, then an incredibly interesting thing happens when we view that sequence of events from this thematic perspective.

Alex would triumph over MOTHER, the government, and Xander's worst. The crystallization of the fleeting love within Xander's heart - the one redeeming facet of Xander's personality - would overcome his abusive mother, the cold-hearted system that forsook him, and even his own worst traits, the monster he was molded into. Quite literally, love would win. And I think this would have even tied in to curing Dana - that this would become a major facet of Alex's motivation - that he'd need PARIAH in order to cure her, or something like that. Dana - kindness, empathy, and love, breaking the cycle of abuse - becomes the impetus for Alex to change, to become a better person, to grow a conscience, to trust others. I think that's the central theme of this game.

Xander's shadow looms large over the entirety of [PROTOTYPE]'s story. There are more themes than just family, but it's the one I wanted to highlight, because I think it's the one most central, most core to the game's emotional experience. At every turn, you can feel the ghost of Xander - not just because Alex is literally wearing his corpse.

I'll restate here the relevant parts of Alex's closing monologue:

"I looked for the truth. Found it. Didn't like it. Wish to hell I could forget it. Alex Mercer. This city suffered for his mistakes, for what he did at Penn Station. And whoever he was - that's part of me."

Xander is Alex's father - the person from whom he inherited his base nature. But Alex is able to grow beyond that - to trust others, to love others.

"What have I become? Something less than human. But also something more."

Xander was so tormented by his past, by his abandonment, neglect, and abuse, that he was unable to face his sister. Terrified of the pain of abandonment, he chose to abandon her rather than risk being rejected when she became an adult. And yet, he loved his sister. That's the nuance of this character, the legacy he leaves. One of cruelty, but also one of kindness. Both are inherited by Alex - it's fair to say that everything Alex is has been shaped by Xander, his father. The bad... but also the good. And it is because of that miniscule, faltering, fleeting "good" that Xander was able to procure, that Alex is able to rise above what Xander became.

TL;DR: It would be appropriate, both narratively and thematically, to call Xander "daddy".

[kings-highway]

it’s not “rare” i think, but oikuro??

hmmmm mmm m m m m m 🤔

I have thought of this one before! Mostly because Im sorta a slut for captain squad polyamory but thats a matter for another eve.

I don't really have them at the top of my list, but I can definitely see them as a strong friends-to-lovers ship, where they initially connect over hijinks and mayhem causing, very much feeding each other's ego's and being generally bothersome to everyone around them, but then sort of accidentally falling in love. Like I can visually the scene, where Kuroo and Oikawa are laughing and heading into Kuroo's room and collapsing into beanbag chairs and talking about "did you see Kenma's face??? oh my god Yaku was SO MAD" because they just pranked the shit out of the Nekoma team, and their laughing gets quieter and they're gazing at each other in the dark and then suddenly they kissing and WOW they're kissing and WOW okay-

I also think it would be a good first 'mature' relationship, like the first time either of them REALLY try. Not "oh I really like him" try, but "I need to make sure I present myself respectably, and we're making reservations for dinner and I'm ironing my shirt-" like theyve both been goofy, carefree people before but this is an adult relationship, and they need to act like it.

I do think there would be some insecurity in this relationship, I see them both as mildly vain people, which isnt a bad thing but I think they could end up fighting a bit. Kuroo definitely isnt as high-energy as he thinks he is, and has to tell Oikawa to calm down. BUT they both have this great love of volleyball and I think Oikawa absolutely ADORES Kuroo's "lower the net" philosophy, and post-timeskip you bet your ass Oikawa is doing any promotional anything Kuroo asks for. I think Oikawa would really like listening to Kuroo go off on his little tirads. Also, he definitely thinks the stupid plasma speech before matches is totally cool.

I think Kuroo appreciates a boyfriend that really, really fucking cares about things. Passion and determination are like the hottest things to him and these two bastards are making out in every locker room Oikawa has ever had to change in.

Also, they could definitely talk nerdy with each other. A rare break from their teammates, their dates are surprisingly quiet affairs and they talk about recent news and medical advancements and just general - back to that more mature concept - sort of grow up together and with each other and into each other.

Overall Rating:

For me, Personal Interest: 2/10 for Monogamy, 7/10 Polyamory with other capts

Concept/Potential: 6.5/10

[phantasmiafxndom]

You should talk about your ocs here more often :3. I feel like a lot of people who like your KnY content would like HTBM, so... Which Here There Be Monsters characters do you think would fit the best as a demon in a Kimetsu au?

Thank you!!! >w< I really should try to talk about them more, and I very much appreciate the prompting to do so~ For the sake of keeping this post from getting too carried away, I'll only be taking non-human characters into account; feel free to ask about the Mages separately, if you'd like.

(For context/Oc info, check @phantasmagoriaoriginals)

. . .

Skorpion — Her personality, to begin with, consists of picking fights with as many people as possible and eating things she shouldn't. She'd do great as a demon... though her reckless, persistent harassment of every Hashira she can find might not lead to a very long lifespan as one. Not that she'd care too much about dying...

Suu — Tbh, he wouldn't be all that different as a demon. Same merman-like appearance, same zero braincells, same life strategy of hiding out in the deepest river he can stake his claim on and devouring anyone unfortunate enough to go in the water... He'd be happier as a demon (downsides included) than a human, by far.

Jericoh — Douma vibes, but more "scam artist/crime boss" than "cult leader". Takes way too much pleasure in tormenting poor, helpless, stupid humans who can't fight back. Probably collects Nichirin swords as trophies/to fulfill his sparkly-valuable-objects fetish. Either evades detection for centuries, or gets his ass in trouble REAL quick.

Mithri — Smug snake bastard is now a picky-eater demon who's actively offended when humans aren't honored to be devoured by them. Vain to an extent that makes Gyokko look modest, they'd likely end up picking constant fights with Slayers out of sheer spite. They'd have poison-based abilities, with dreadfully versatile tactics.

Cinnabar — They'd be one of those demons that looks far too much like a person/child (and takes advantage of that). Definitely sets mass wildfires/burns down entire towns just to munch on the charred corpses afterward. Doesn't have much interest in direct combat, but finds it hilarious to watch hopeful, determined Slayers burn alive after not landing a single hit on them. Uncontrollable in a dangerous way; Muzan would probably get sick of them very quickly.

Kegare + Kiyomi — These two have to stay together regardless of the Au (do not separate, as the joke goes), so I can picture a sort of Daki and Gyuutarou-ish situation for them. Kiyomi would likely be the stronger one of the two in this setting (mostly due to how many humans they'd eat), but Kegare is the one going out of his way to cause as many problems as possible (especially for the Slayer corps).

[ramrage]

ghost’s ghost

chapter 4: the wake

work rating: T

chapter rating: T

relationship: John “Soap” MacTavish x Simon “Ghost” Riley”

characters: John “Soap” MacTavish, Simon “Ghost” Riley”, Kyle “Gaz” Garrick cameo, John Price cameo

tags: Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Body Horror, Main Character Death, Not Really Character Death, Ghost John “Soap” MacTavish, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Crack, Dark Crack, Fluff, Eventual Smut, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Changing Tenses, Not (always) chronological

ao3 link

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 5

They entered the funeral parlor with too much confidence, in hindsight. 

 

Johnny was still there, like he was still alive, so what was there to mourn? Things were different, obviously, but they had acknowledged those changes, seen the body, talked it out. All of that nonsense was sorted. At least, that was their shared understanding of things.

So how bad could a wake be?

 

Hell, Johnny was cracking jokes on the way in. In particular, there was an inappropriate little comment about kneeling and what would definitely constitute abuse of a corpse. Simon, unable to make any real response around so many onlookers, threw an inconspicuous snort for his efforts. 

 

It was going to be fine, even with the solemn faces of the workers at the door. The overly-patterned carpet wasn’t going to change that, either, nor would the choking smell of carnations. It was going to be fine.

 

They filed in, Simon doing his best to avoid weary handshakes and condolences as he queued to pay his respects at the casket. Johnny was still joking (“A bit bullshit that I can’t jump the queue to see my own damn self, but rules are rules, I reckon”) so that meant things were fine. It meant they were okay.

 

They would go to the casket and Simon would pretend to look sad, but he wouldn’t really be sad because he knew the truth. No one else was the wiser and he and Johnny would laugh about it after the fact. 

 

But reality isn’t kind to those with confidence.

 

Simon knew this, but was still blindsided by how shaken he was to see Johnny’s body again, somehow more painful to look at than when Johnny died. He had seen fresh-dead bodies, had seen what they turned into. They both did. Johnny’s body was no exception. The realization hit Simon like a bullet, punched the air from his lungs. The worst thing of all was the abrupt end to the cheeky stream of commentary.

 

Simon looked over to find Johnny stood like a deer in the headlights before his own casket, something unnamable flashing in his eyes. 

 

“Oh god,” he said finally. 

 

Simon kept his eyes down, giving Johnny privacy and buying him more time to say goodbye to the way he was. 

 

“Vain bastard I am.” A bitter laugh giving way to sobs, “I'm bent outta shape because my pretty face is gonna rot into compost.”

 

In Simon’s silence, Johnny carried on.

 

“Oh, and bleeding fucking Jesus, am I wearing lipstick ?” Johnny groaned, an attempt at humor that, with his choked voice, missed the mark.

 

Simon wanted to reply, wanted to say he hated it, too, but with everyone around, he couldn’t say a word. Couldn’t speak, couldn’t cry. Could only stiffen his upper lip and clear the way so someone else could pay their respects, pretend that he grieved Johnny only as a Lieutenant grieves his Sergeant, pretend that, despite the waxy, pallid skin, he didn’t think Johnny was still the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen; and pretend he couldn’t see him still. And what a mindfuck that was. 

 

There were two Johnnys. 

 

One was still fucking there, wiping his eyes as he walked from the casket and then cursing himself for trying to hold Simon’s hand. The other Johnny, the one with hands Simon could hold, was dead. An inanimate shell, obsolete, no longer serving the function of holding the soul it once contained, doomed to rest under six feet of dirt and decompose into something hideous and unidentifiable. 

 

Simon stared at the two Johnnys in hopes it would somehow help him make sense of the duality. It just morphed into grief and horror, instead—twin hounds that nosed around their ankles, tripping them as they dared to move in any direction. All Johnny could say was “Oh, god,” and he repeated it on every breath. 

 

Simon couldn’t speak even if his body let him. There was too much to say and too many ears to hear him. The other attendees kept their distance and Simon and Johnny both were grateful for that. 

 

The hounds circled them even as they left the funeral parlor, trailed them all day and into the night, followed them into bed to curl in the space between their bodies. Johnny was the one to kick them first.

 

“I can’t fucking do this,” he said suddenly. “Simon, I can’t fucking do this.”

 

Of course he felt that way. Who the fuck wouldn’t? Simon’s been dead before, too, has also mourned himself, but only in a metaphorical sense. And he wasn’t like Johnny—never was. He’d never lit up a room like Johnny could, never had as much life .

 

“I know,” Simon said after a while, even though he didn’t; he didn’t know which particular horror was eating at Johnny, and even if he did, he couldn’t imagine, not in his wildest dreams, how it would feel. Fucking Johnny. Johnny, Johnny, Johnny.

 

“I know you feel that way,” he amended, and hazarded a glance at Johnny’s face. Despite the illusion of blood in his cheeks and the vestigial rise and fall of his chest, he’d never looked more dead. Beyond missing a real body, he was missing his fight. The sight of him, so broken, scrubbing phantom hands through his phantom hair had Simon feeling far more tender than his personal brand of emotional constipation and English masculinity would allow, so he added, “but you can. I know you can.”

 

“Bollocks,” and a bitter roll of the eyes was Johnny’s toothless reply. 

 

Simon pressed off the mattress to stand at Johnny’s feet. That’s what he’d do if things were really real, if nothing had changed, so that’s what he did. For the same reason, he cocked his head and hummed. “Insubordination at a time like this?” 

 

Johnny sighed. “You’re not my superior anymore, are you?” Like everything else he’d said and done in the past few hours, the words came out without challenge, without fire. He had laid down his arms. “You can’t really be my anything if I’m nothing.”

 

“Sure seem like something to me,” Simon hit back. They both winced as Simon’s hand passed through Johnny’s shoulder, a reassertion of reality that they, otherwise, chose to ignore. Because what else could they do? “What do you want to call yourself then? The devil on my shoulder?”

 

“Nah, I prefer hallucination . Drives home that you’re completely off your head.”

 

“You said it, Sergeant.”

 

“And you accepted it, Lt.”

 

They were getting somewhere.

part 5