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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 2 years

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Casting couch scenario with him

Or special massage after a hard day by him?

I went with my Thunder thot.

Not All That Glitters

Warnings: implied noncon, coercion, blacklistic, manipulation, power imbalance. This is a dark fic and you are responsible for your own consumption. 18+ only. Proceed with caution.

Character: celebrity!Thor

Summary: A chance encounter with Hollywood's number one leading man leads to an offer you can't refuse.

Please leave some comments and a reblog. It keeps me motivated and I love any constructive feedback, screaming, keyboard smashes, etc. that you have to offer.

Enjoy!

You smile as a flash leaves a glaring ring in your vision. You resist the urge to shield your face from another shutter, moving carefully before the backdrop. You leave the clusters of photogs and walk the line of reporters and bobbing mics, calling for an interview or a snapshot.

Your name isn't among the rabble. You're a newcomer, fresh off a mid tier credited roll. Something that has your name fluttering through audition rooms but unlisted in the magazine. You'll be lucky to be featured on the up-and-coming rosters of aspiring actors.

As you wave politely, you're drawn in by a journalist with a big red mic, "hey, hey! Do you have a moment?"

"Um," you nod and step closer to the metal rail keeping the press at bay, "sure."

"You're in Caliber, right?" She asks, "new star, any other upcoming projects?"

You're slightly thrown off by the suddenness of it all but Hollywood never moves slow.

"Uh, yes, actually, I'm currently set to support in an adaptation of–"

"Oh! Oh!" The reporter nearly hits you with the microphone as you dodge her and shield your mouth. You realise you were only a placeholder for a desperate paparazzo, "Thor! Thor!"

You peek over as the tall blond strides casually, stopping to pose in his black tux, smiling at the lens brightly. So suave and cool, a veteran of the stomping ground you're trying to tiptoe onto. A-list, well beyond your directory.

You turn back and smile at the camera before it pans away. You hope that doesn't make the cut. Absolutely embarrassing.

You're jostled in the tight squeeze if interviewees as the reporter squeals louder and waves excitedly. As you sidle away, a warm hand catches your lower back. You stop short and look up, fighting to keep an unaffected veneer.

"Pardon," the statuesque blond rumbles in his deep voice, "I'll try not to get your toes."

You bat your lashes up at Thor Odinson, the star of every red carpet and every blockbuster.

"Excuse me, sorry," you murmur, "I was just–"

"Miss, can you move? You're in his way," the cameraman snaps.

"Oi," Thor utters and keeps his hand against you as he faces the reporter, "I was just coming to see my friend. Brilliant actress if I do say so myself."

You blink and hide before you muster a semblance of cool to look over, "uh, yeah, hi!"

You give a pathetic little wave up at him. He winks and leans in to peck your cheek, "play along."

You keep your smile plastered on and turn to the camera. Thor stays close, looming over you. Somehow, he's even bigger than on the screen.

"You… are you working together?" The woman asks as he raises the mic to him.

"Ah, well, we can't tell all our secrets," he teases, "but I am very excited for the future."

"Can't you give us something?" She preens.

"Sorry, we've got to go," he nudges you, "come on, sweetheart."

You move, too shocked to argue with him. That's one way to get attention. He urges you along, taking you away from the barriers.

"Ugh, right arses," he mutters as he smooths his jacket, "pardon me, but I hate how they treat us like circus animals."

"Us?" You whisper, thankfully unheard.

"I hope you didn't mind," he seems to recall himself and pivots to the flashing photogs, "smile, sweetheart, don't want them gossiping?"

He bends his arm behind you, posing as you raise your chin and do the same. Your disbelief keeps you quiet as you let him guide you along.

"Stick with me. One day, you'll be desperate to be away from it all."

"One day? That's optimistic," you reply as you walk with him behind the gabbing celebrities and their interviewers.

"Oh, I know a star when I see one," he follows you along, "and I know a few tricks."

⭐

After your brush with the towering heights of Hollywood, you take your seat with the rest of the extras among the array of sparkling stars. Your table is well out of the shot of the cameras, only caught in the background of the front runners. You don’t mind, the free champagne makes up for the overpriced gown bartered for a name drop of the designer.

You know several of the actors sat with you. They are on a similar level, dependable if not forgettable. You are the lot of ‘those ones’, those faces people swear they’ve seen before but can’t recall where.

Your adrenaline is still amped high and further stoked by the alcohol. You’re not nominated in name, only as part of the ensemble for the film. Still, the reviews were positive enough that you might just get to peek out over the shoulder of the director.

The pandering rolls on. You plaster on a smile for appearances but the presenters are predictable, the poorly landing jokes cringeworthy, and the winners expected. You swallow a yawn as an orchestra takes stage to perform a medley of songs nominated for score of the year. You hide behind your glass, trying not to betray your disillusion as many of the guests show a similar unrest.

“Eh,” you nearly spill on yourself as a hand rests on the back of your chair and you look up at the figure who is suddenly hunched close, “there you are.”

You blink at Thor and glance around the table. Malorie, stage name, Loren, shares a curious look before you face the blond star. Your smile grows effortless as you do.

“Hi,” you greet nervously.

“I didn’t want to lose you in the mix,” he keeps his voice quiet, beneath the sonorous strings, “you’ve a card? Number for your manager?”

You take a breath, stunned. He’s just humouring you. Hollywood is all appearances and he no doubt wants to maintain his veneer as the affable leading man. You play along.

“Oh, sure,” you reach for your clutch. You always carry a card around, it’s part of the job. You’ve gotten some of better roles shoving them in hands, “and thank you, for earlier. I’m still so embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed? For what?” He says as he watches you, the heat gathering in your cheeks. It’s just the champagne, you need to slow down.

“Just… you know how ridiculous those interviewers can be,” you shrug and fish out a card, flicking it out between two manicured fingers, “here.”

He nearly covers your whole hand with his own, his other still firmly planted on the back of your chair. He takes it slowly, a lingering touch along your fingers as he looks down to read the type. His cheek dimples as his thumb grazes the raised font.

“You’ll get a call,” he promises, “I should be back to my table before I’m caught out.”

He leans in and to your surprise, pecks your cheek. You struggle not to recoil and give a tiny giggle instead. He gives a soft squeeze to your shoulder before he steps away. You watch him go, turning back slowly to the stable, stunned and stiff.

You clasp your clutch shut and leave it in your lap. You reach for your glass as Malorie leans over, “so how exactly do you know Mr. Ken Doll?”

“We ran into each other on the carpet,” you scoff, “he’s just being polite.”

“Honey,” she speaks behind her hand, “do you know what a PR stunt could do for you? Especially with that man?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You think he’s gonna call you to be his co-star, mm mm. No, sweetie, he’s on the rebound and he needs a humble little lover to bring him down to earth. You know the game. Same as me.”

“No, it’s nothing… he’s not going to call, either way. I’m not stupid. Like you said, I know the game.”

“That isn’t a courtesy,” she nods to him and you peer across to his table. He watches you, sending a wink in your direction, “that’s groundwork.”

You take a drink and look down at the table cloth. You pull your shoulders up dismissively, “whatever, you’re just mad I got that audition over you.”

“Pfft, save me the trouble of squeezing into a corset,” she waves her hand at you, “don’t whine to me when your tits feel like pancakes.”

⭐

“You got an audition,” your manager, Josie, chews into the speaker. You hold it away from your ear as her gum snaps noisily, “big one.”

“Oh?” You wonder as you go over a script, “when–”

“You’re going to have to drop out of that period piece if you get it,” she interjects, “and shouldn’t be an issue. Bigger check with this one.”

She’s always blunt, always to the point, but she’s better than your last agent. The one who emptied your bank account and disappeared. Lessons learned.

“Right, well, we’ll see. I might be able to work both.”

“I’m telling you, sweetheart, this is the real deal. Thor Odinson’s directorial debut. Starring and directing. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. For most people, it’s none in a lifetime.”

“Oh, wow, Thor? He called–”

“His agent did, legal team too. They’re very hush hush about this project so you’re gonna have to keep it zipped.”

“Okay, got it,” you say, “sounds… like a lot.”

“It’s what you’ve been waiting for, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s just… I didn’t think he’d call.”

“Have you even had a look at your phone today?”

“What do you mean?” You toss the script on the table and stand.

“I know you hate reading the damn things, but the tabloids are going crazy about that kiss. I’ve been working overtime tryna get these damn vultures off my back. We gotta figure out how to work this.”

“Work what?”

“Leave it to me,” she chirps, “I’ll text you the time and the place for your audition. Remember, keep it quiet. Wear a hoodie or something.”

“Al–”

The line clicks before you can finish. You sigh and swipe away the ended call. She never says goodbye. You’re used to it. You press your thumb down and open the front page, pacing as you scroll down to Entertainment. ‘Winners and Losers…’ ‘Best Dressed’, the typical articles that follow a ceremony.

You stop before you can scroll past the small thumbnail. You squint and read the hyperlink, ‘Odinson moving on?’ You chew your lip and open the page. At the top, a picture of you and Thor on the carpet, one posed, the other with his shoulder to the camera as he speaks to you. A rather intimate scene.

You skim the article, your name pops up, a list of your less insignificant roles, and some leading questions to pad it out. A video ends the article and you frown. The candid moment that Thor pecked your cheek looks much more provocative from another angle.

Your phone buzzes and the message pops up in a bubble across the top. Malorie’s triumphant, ‘told ya so’ is quickly flicked away.

Well, as awkward as it is, this is your chance. Maybe your only to claim your spot among the stars or fade back to the obscurity of the endless Hollywood void.

⭐

You’re surprised to find the address listed is residential. You’re used to hotels or random studios. Nothing so fancy as the gated mansion in the hills. You steer your old beater up and hit the button on the speaker box, waiting for a response as you check your bag. The script arrived the day before, allowing little time for your preparation.

“Name?” The response comes, curt.

You give your name and your purpose but the microphone seems to cut before you finish. A loud buzz signals your admittance and the gate retracts to let you through. You lean on the pedal and continue up the sprawling drive.

You pull in behind a Benz and kill the engine. The contrast of the vehicles remind you how far out of your league you are. You get out of the car, gathering yourself and putting on that well-refined mask. Be calm, be cool, and just do what you know how to do. Act.

You go up to the front doors but resist the urge to lift the large brass knocker. It seems more ornamental than practical. You find the doorbell cam and hit the button, swaying impatiently.

A tall blond woman answers the door. Regal and unlike any maid you’ve ever seen. Her long peridot dress suggests anything but. In fact, you think you know her, at least by sight.

“Oh, you must be…” she chimes as she pulls you in by your hand, your other grasps your bag tightly, “we are so excited to have you here! Thor can’t wait to get started.”

“Ah, okay, thank you,” you say as she lets you go and sweeps around to shut the door.

“My, my, I’m sorry,” she checks her waved hair in a nearby mirror, “Frigga Vanir. Thor’s mother.”

“Frigga,” you’re breathless, “you’re his mother? You’re… you’re…”

“Oh, my day is well behind me,” she tuts, “but I’m flattered.”

“I… had no idea.”

“We try not to let it get out,” she puts a long finger to her lips, “we wouldn’t want any unkind assumptions about the family, yes?”

“I wouldn’t– won’t say anything,” you promise, “um, I think I’m confused. Is this… an audition or–”

“Of course! Thor just hates the whole pretense of studios, such a headache. Besides, this place is so big, we may as well get some use of it.”

“Makes sense,” you accept with a nod.

“This way,” she directs you up the left arm of the double staircase, “oh, dear, you must be so anxious. I do forget how it used to be. But you don’t need to worry. Thor showed me your last picture, what was it? Caliber? I loved it, dear, you are very talented.”

“That means a lot, especially from you,” you say as you follow her, hiking your bag up to your shoulder.

“After you’ve gone through the whole… process, we’re going to do a nice little dinner. You’re more than welcome to join.”

“Thank you, that’s so nice.”

“Don’t be so nervous,” she turns to you as she stops before a door, “you will do just fine. He’s already very fond of you, oh and you are so effortlessly endearing.” She touches your shoulder, “and I do prefer you to the one who came yesterday. She was… loud.”

“Thank you,” you smile as she reaches for the door handle, “um, before… before I go, can I just tell you that you were amazing in Eden. It’s one of my favourites.”

“You do not have to pander to me, dear,” she chuckles lightly.

“I’m not. I–” you clear your throat as you recall the monologue you learned in high school, “‘If we go any further, we cannot go back but—’” You look around, as if there is someone watching, “‘if we go no further, we will be lost forever.’”

She gives a slanted grin, “oh, you’re not lying.”

“I was a very obsessed teenager,” you laugh at yourself, “I’m sorry.”

“No, no, go on,” he pushes down the petal shaped lever, “he’s waiting.”

You nod and turn as she waits for you to enter. You slip through and the door shuts behind you. It’s not what you expected. Any of it. The room is dimly lit, an artificial fireplace licking along one wall, as Thor sits on a chaise with his phone in hand. On the table next to him is a script and a legal pad.

“Er,” you begin nervously, “I’m here.”

You cringe at your own stupid declaration as his head pops up. He brightens and stands to greet you, “oh, you are. I did fear you might not come. Please, ignore any redundant messages I just sent.”

“Oh, uh, that’s fine, I’m sorry, I thought–”

“You’re one time, early,” he says as he approaches and offers his hand, “always a good impression.”

He bends and kisses your forehead before you can react. You say nothing. It’s not the worst you’ve encountered. Too many directors like to physically guide you around a set and they tend to have wandering hands.

“So, you read the script?” He asks as he retreats and sits again. He puts his phone aside and takes the script from the square table.

“I devoured it. It’s so interesting.”

“I can only take so much credit. My brother is a gifted writer,” he flips through the pages, “and you got my notes for the scene we’ll go over?”

“Yes, I think,” you put your bag down, “I think I got it.”

“I don’t mind if you read,” he says, “short notice and all.”

“No, no, I’m awful with a script in hand,” you give an awkward flutter of your fingers, “I’m ready.”

“Alright, so I’ll be Erikkson and you are Alva,” he sets the context, “remember that this is set during a snowstorm…”

You listen diligently as he lays it out. He’s sauve, a professional. The way he goes through it so naturally. You do wonder about the producers, there’s usually one around for auditions, or at least a casting director. You peek around, trying to find a lens, it’s at least standard to record.

You don’t question it. You don’t want to ruin this. You can’t just throw this away after years of scrimping and scraping for parts. You might finally be able to give up the server gig.

“We’re lost,” Thor begins the scene and looks at you, your cue.

“You’re lost,” you argue, “and stubborn.”

You go through the lines. They flow easily despite the late night cramming them into your brain. You follow your instinct, imagine the set around you, a whole swirl of snow gusting and guiding you. You don’t think, just go.

You finish the scene as Thor signals with a clap. His script is beside him. You only feel his gaze then, realise how intently he’s watching you.

“I like it. You’re… subtle. Natural. Exactly what we need.”

“I’m sure you have others to see still,” you say, “before you can make a decision.”

“My mind is made up, I want you,” he says.

“Really?” You can’t help but beam.

“Yes,” he beckons you over, “come here.”

“Um,” your lip twitches but you near him, “what’s up?”

“Well, there’s one more thing we should try, just before I call my casting director,” he pats the seat next to him.

“Okay…” you sit, nervously rubbing your palms together.

“You read the entire script?”

“Yep,” you answer.

“So you know… we– Erikkson and Alva, they kiss.”

You poke your tongue into your cheek, “uh, yeah, but that’s… standard.”

“Still, chemistry is everything,” he angles towards you, “I want to be sure you’re the one.”

“Well, wouldn’t that be better…” your voice trails off and you correct yourself, “yeah, I suppose.”

“It’s all business,” he assures, “if we don’t mesh, it could ruin the whole thing. Trust me, I’ve had some real dead fish.”

You try not to show your discomfort at his last comment. Dead fish? Is that how he sees actresses or women in general?

“Alright,” you shift, “I…”

He touches your cheek and leans in slowly. You tilt your head back and meet his lips as they descend. His beard tickles you as your mouths join and he slides his tongue out. You let him in, wanting to just get it done with and show him you can do anything he needs.

He hums and his hand slips around the back of your head, holding you against him. He smothers you hotly and you find it hard to breathe. You press against his chest, it’s enough to prove yourself. More than. He doesn’t budge.

He pushes you down against the couch, your legs crushed sideways under him as he follows you down. You babble into his mouth and clutch the fabric of his shirt. You bite down on his tongue and he parts at last with a hiss.

“Get off,” you shove him but he remains unmoved, “Thor, what– I think we got it.”

You try to sit up and force him off you but he keeps you trapped under him. He cradles your head, his thumb brushing your cheekbone, “you know how big this could be for you?”

You’re taken aback. His timbre grinds in his throat, different than before. His aura is suddenly dark and smoky around you. His eyes are dilated and endless. You shudder as you press your fingertips into his chest.

“I know but… I don’t want it. Get off.”

His eyes close and he remains as he is. His lip twitches and his jaw ticks. His breath scours you as he lets it out through his nose, your arms trembling beneath his weight.

“Do you know what happens when you say no?”

You gulp and bat your lashes as your eyes burn, “Thor, please, I can’t do this–”

“No, you don’t. Because the ones who say no aren’t heard from. Not in Hollywood. You say no right now and you say no to every director and producer in Hollywood. Hell, I could get you barred all the way to Broadway–”

“Thor, you don’t have to give me the part, alright? I just can’t–”

“You do it or you don’t work again. Not outside that bistro paying you pennies.”

Ice flows through your veins as his heat enwraps you, consuming you in fiery horror. You stare at him, speechless. It’s all you ever wanted but is it worth the cost?

“You’re so beautiful,” he purrs as he caresses your cheek, “I didn’t want it to be like this.”

“I’m just…” your mouth is dry, your tongue clumsy. You feel your stomach pit and swallow up your soul; a fair price for a dream you can’t let go, “surprised. I wasn’t prepared–”

“Baby, I’ll be good to you,” he grazes over your hair and cradles your head, “you just gotta let me…” his lips brush yours softly, “I’m gonna make you a star.”

#thor #dark thor #dark!thor #celeb au #au #thor x reader #fic #dark fic #dark!fic #mcu #marvel #avengers

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swiftsaltsweet · 3 months

Text

Thief in the Avatar’s Estate: Chapter 5-Leverage

Characters: Rangi and Kyoshi and Yun (plus whoever appears in Rok)

Pairing: Rangshi

Summary: Yun decides to head off to bed after his travels from fighting with the Fifth Nation. But as he does, he and his bodyguard, Rangi, hear strange noises coming from Kelsang’s room. When they go to investigate, they are surprised by what they find.

(Canon divergent AU-What if Kyoshi was raised by her parents?)

Prev chapter

Other Sites: AO3 and Fanfic.net

A long silence followed the teens at the campfire, one that Lee happily ignored as she chowed down on her food. The other two weren’t sure what to make of the strange fruits she had gathered, but she seemed to be fine eating them. So they each took one she had been roasting, and hoped for the best.

Yun glanced at Rangi, wondering if she was brave enough to dig in next. She picked at the fruit instead, almost dissecting it. Wait, did the fruit have eyes?! And legs??? Was this an animal not fruit? Did the Spirit world have animals? Yun shook his head, the Spirit World was way too strange.

Focusing his attention back at Rangi, he did see a light blush dance on her face as she focused on her food. She had been unable to meet Lee’s eyes since they arrived at camp, but Yun had noticed Rangi stealing some glances at the taller girl when she wasn’t looking.

Yun cleared his throat, deciding to break the silence.

“So you removed your makeup, why’s that?” he tried to ask nonchalantly. Not that he had any complaints about the removal.

“It was itchy,” Lee mumbled between bites.

I guess that’s fair. “But, I thought you were trying to hide your identity?”

“Yeah, well, it was half off anyway. So why bother, right?” Lee shrugged. “Plus, in terms of physical clues, I’m already Spirits-Out-of-Luck in that department. I can totally see you putting out a hit on any almost seven foot tall girl when we get out anyway.”

Well, yeah, that was a given. Yun sweat dropped. Well, at least he knew she really was around seven feet tall.

“How did you get a fire going?” Rangi asked Lee abruptly, pivoting the conversation.

Lee choked lightly on her food, before nervously answering. “Just some good old fashion survival skills!” She thumped her chest a few times, either trying to clear some loose food or to show bravado. “You know, sticks on sticks, elbow grease. Guess you could say I’m a firebender too!”

Lee laughed at her own joke, but neither Yun nor Rangi were amused for different reasons.

Lee pulled at her collar, trying to ventilate some air down her shirt, “C-c’mon don’t look at me like that. It was a joke! A joke! Me? Bending two elements? That’s just not natural. Haha.”

Yun rolled his eyes, “Of course not, you aren’t the Avatar.” But his response was just met with a confused look from Lee.

Before Yun could question her about the look, Rangi continued her interrogation.“Starting a fire that way takes a good amount of time to prepare.” She looked Lee in the eyes with a piercing gaze.

“H-how would you even know anyway?” Lee sweated, trying to dismiss the firebender. “You just have to punch the air and fire will appear!”

“Time,” Rangi continued, ignoring her diversion. “That you lacked.” With every word the flame in front of her felt hotter, and her glare became more piercing. Yun was starting to sweat as well.

Is she trying to get her to admit she has flint or something? I guess it’d be good to have, but we have her. Yun scratched his head, confused why Rangi was digging into Lee. Then he realized, she was just probably venting her frustration out on the girl that’s making her frazzled. He chuckled to himself. She really is childish sometimes.

“Well, I’m fast!!”

“Ignoring the fact, that you were able to hunt for food on top of it-”

“So what? I’m a good hunter! Maybe I’m like Avatar Kuruk’s reincarnation or something!” Lee threw her hands up in exasperation.

Rangi threw her food down and stood up, the fire in front of the trio expanding into an uncontrollable flame.

“HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH A BLASPHEMOUS THING IN FRONT OF THE AVATAR!” she roared, actually angry now.

“Argh, it was a joke! Calm down!” Kyoshi still put her hands up in surrender. “I just know the guy was known for his hunting skills! He was the only one I could think of! I didn’t mean anything deeper.” She continued to list off various excuses to pacify the firebender. Her surrendering hands made a pushing motion, as if to signal the other girl to back off.

“Hunting?” Yun cocked an eyebrow, he was more confused than offended by Lee’s comment. It was an odd thing to single out about Avatar Kuruk. He was more known for his Pai Sho skills, or his proclivity with various ‘extracurricular’ activities. Even his habit of challenging people to random feats of strength was more known than his ‘hunting abilities.’

“Yeah, hunting!” Lee latched onto Yun’s question, in hopes of steering the conversation away from Rangi’s anger.

“No, it’s just-” Yun tried to find the right words. He’d learn all he could about a bunch of past Avatars. He even had a team of people who used to work with Kuruk. Yun should’ve known everything about him. But hunting? “I really-I mean. He was good at hunting. His pelts say that much, but really? That’s not the first compliment that’d come to mind for him.”

“Maybe when he lived in the North?” Rangi suggested, aware of the pelts and teeth jewelry he was known to wear as trophies. Even she was completely perplexed by Lee’s words as much as he was. She should know almost as much about Kuruk as Yun. Partially because of her mom being his companion, but also because of her own devotion to the Avatar mantle that bordered on fangirlism. She probably studied Avatar history nearly as much as he did.

Lee looked at them as if they’d grown extra heads, “His pelts? You’re joking, right?”

Both Yun and Rangi glared at the girl, not exactly pleased with her tone. As if she was a school teacher who was disappointed in her students' lack of elementary level knowledge.

“No we aren’t, we know everything about him,” Yun furrowed his eyes at Lee in defiance.

“Then you should know that complimenting his hunting skills should be the first thing anyone compliments him on!”

“We know of his bouts of strength! He was a very strong and talented Avatar,” Rangi defended. “It’s just that….”

Due to her devotion she was not one to insinuate anything negative about the Avatar, past or present. Yun, however, could. “He just never showed it outside of silly competitions. And hunting animals isn’t exactly that big of a deal when you’re the Avatar….”

Lee just stared at them dumbfounded for a minute, then a smug smile slowly grew across her face. “Animals? You two really don’t know anything do you? Not what he really hunted?”

Something in Yun snapped, he got up from his log and grabbed Lee by the lapel, “You think I don’t know my past self?!”

He’d studied so much, spent so many sleepless nights researching. Yes he’d had a hard time communicating with his past selves, but with all the knowledge he had from his associates and his own research…. To have someone laugh in his face and say he didn’t know anything? It was almost too much for him to bear.

“Calm down Lil’ Avatar,” Lee shifted on her log, not phased by Yun’s sudden outburst. She raised her arms in the air in a mock reverence, “‘The only true knowledge is in knowing you know nothing.’ Or some bull shark like that. Don’t let not knowing things stress you out so much!”

She was quoting an old Air Nomad phrase, a little high end for a run of the mill daofei to be familiar with. Was she someone high end? Or connected to someone high end? Some of the bosses of the bigger daofei organizations were more well rounded with their knowledge of the world. The first one that came to his mind was Xu Ping An, and the thought of Lee being connected to that monster put a pit in his stomach.

But if she really was connected to Xu….well, it was both a blessing and a curse. Maybe Yun would be able to take that man down once and for all. Avenging Jianzhu’s failure of catching the slimy bastard.

“I’m not making fun of you, I’m just excited I know something you don’t.” She gave him a smug grin. “It just means I have leverage.”

Yun let go of her lapel and took a step back. “What do you want in exchange for it?”

Lee hummed while Rangi protested to Yun. “I don’t know, yet. It’s just good to have, no?”

Yun glared warily at her, she was too free spirited. He didn’t know if that made her more dangerous or not. But something in his gut told him he’d want whatever information she had.

“How do we know if it’s even real?” Rangi asked in the middle of her protesting tirade. “She could just be lying! How did she even get this information? She wouldn’t have known him when he was alive-for spirit’s sakes Yun she looks our age!”

It was an unsurprising and normal question, which led to a horrifically surprising answer, “Huh? He told me himself. That Kuruk guy.”

Rangi and Yun stood stock still, the air leaving their mouths in a puff, as if the wind had been knocked out of them. Their bodies began to numb into pins and needles as they tensed themselves from the blow they just heard.

Yun’s heart began to quicken, the only thing moving in him at the moment. Every pump turned into an electrical shock radiating throughout his body.

When he finally gathered the strength, all he could say was, “What do you-how do you? You can talk to Kuruk? H-how?!”

Lee gave the two a worried look, surely because Yun looked as sick as he felt. “Yeah. Buff waterbender guy, right? I can talk to him through meditation. Why are you two acting like this? It’s normal innit?”

Yun and Rangi blinked at Lee, then at each other, then at Lee again.

“No!” Yun threw his hands up in the air, “It’s not just ‘normal’ to speak to a past Avatar! It’s hard to do even when you are the current Avatar! Let alone some layman!”

It was Lee’s turn to go stock still, “Oh.”

The word hung heavy in the air. How was it that a random daofei of all people was able to spiritually connect with a past Avatar? What made her so special? It was almost laughable, as if the spirits were taunting him.

“M-my mom spoke to a past Avatar once,” Lee suddenly spoke up, combing a nervous hand through her hair. “W-we were passing by one of her big statues, and my mom wanted to meditate. When she came to, she mentioned that she communicated with some Avatar lady.”

“Lady?” Yun’s thoughts swirled as he tried to think of a female Avatar who had a statue that a random person could come across. There was only one that fit the bill. “ Avatar Yangchen?” Yun asked, bewildered but a little more hopeful for some reason. “Your mother spoke to Avatar Yangchen?”

Maybe this girl’s family was just more spiritually inclined? She did say that her mother wanted to meditate. Sure some daofei leaders had a tendency to become megalomaniacs or religious fanatics, but maybe this one just happened to be a normal and slightly more spiritual person? As laughable as that may be.

Wait, was her mother even a daofei? What if she was raised in a normal spiritual household, and then ran away to become a daofei later? That made more sense. There’s no way the most holy of the Avatars, Avatar Yangchen, would speak to a lowly daofei. Kuruk, maybe, he was a bit of a trickster. But surely not Yangchen!

“Yeah! Yangchen! Arrow Avatar!”

Yun cringed at the disrespectful names Lee kept coming up with for his past lives, but he kept pressing on. “What did she say?”

Lee scrunched her face up, confusion evident on it. “Something about…..auspicious winds?”

They sat there for a moment, unsure of what to make of such a cryptic phrase, if there was anything to glean from it at all. The air was tense for a moment until Yun broke it with a sigh. “I….think I recall non-Avatar people communing with the Avatar spirit on occasion.” He sat back down. “It’s not exactly common, but it does happen.”

Yun rubbed his forehead, trying to recall the information. Was it a journal? Or was it mentioned in a passing conversation? If he could just remember, maybe it’d soothe his worry a bit more.

Lee let out a sigh of her own, but gagged when it was Rangi’s turn to ask a question. “Do you have high spiritual awareness? Really? A criminal like you?”

Lee let out a nervous laugh, “Maybe I was a nun or monk in my past life?”

Rangi narrowed her eyes at Lee, and then walked away from the fire. “We should rest here, and then continue walking in the morning.”

“Sounds good to me,” Lee waved lazily.

The three teens trudged over to their sloppy earth bent beds. Yun noticed Lee pat herself down.

“These beds suck,” he mused.

Lee waved her hand, annoyed. “Well then you do better Lil’ Avatar. Should be easy, I know you’re the better earthbender.”

Yun fixed their sleeping arrangements, and they all went to bed.

_______

“You know, I know we ate that food you found, but I feel like it didn’t really do anything,” Yun said, stretching his back. He may be an earthbender, but it still wasn’t exactly pleasant to sleep on the ground. He missed his bed.

“Yeah, food’s kinda just a fun thing around here. You don’t gain any weight, but you don’t lose any weight…. Which means you don’t really feel full,” Lee shrugged. She was patting herself down again as soon as they’d all woken up.

Then why did you let Rangi go off to forage-. Yun was about to dismiss the girl’s train of thought, assuming it was another weird thing about her or the Spirit World. But then realized in a panic that maybe she’d wanted to be alone, separate from him and Rangi. Yun took in his surroundings and Lee, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He decided to ignore the nagging feeling for now.

“Maybe that’s why there’s no bathrooms in the Spirit World?” Yun questioned, mostly to himself.

“So where are we going now?” Rangi asked.

After spinning around in one spot, carefully looking in every direction, Lee decided on a path. “That way!” She pointed.

It was a forest, but as the three looked over the horizon, they saw it would turn from a welcoming lush forest, into a dark barren one the stuff of nightmare. Yun could’ve sworn he saw a very unfriendly mountain range in the far off distance, accompanied by lighting and everything. So welcoming. He thought sarcastically.

“Just say you’re trying to kill us,” Rangi turned to Lee, deadpan. “No need to insult our intelligence.”

Lee blinked at them. “I’m not? This is the best way.”

“The hell it is!” Rangi spread her arms out in exasperation, then moved her pointer fingers so they were both pointing at her eyes from the side. “Did your eyes suddenly stop working?!”

Lee walked over to Rangi and slapped her happily on the back. “Of course my eyes are working, silly! Are yours?”

Rangi smacked Lee’s hand away, “Don’t touch me!”

Lee rolled her eyes and mumbled. “Fine, fine. I was just trying to be friendly….”

“If that’s not the way to Koh, then what is?” Yun asked, exasperated.

Lee scanned the area again, this time she cupped her ear as she did, and then she pointed in the opposite direction she planned to go in. “It’s that way.”

Yun and Rangi followed her finger, it pointed to a field that looked like it was filled with happiness and cotton candy. Of course.

“Screw this, I’m done with you messing with us!” Rangi started to charge off in that direction, not believing Lee’s words for a second. Yun was about to follow her when Lee’s hand shot out and grabbed Rangi by the back of her collar.

“I don’t think so, Firecracker. You’re too pretty to have your face stolen,” she said as she started dragging Rangi from behind. Rangi’s arms flailed behind her trying to free herself, she peppered her anger with curses and protests.

“How do you know that’s the way to Koh?” Yun asked Lee, his eyebrow raised.

Lee looked back in the direction of Koh and shrugged nonchalantly. “Just follow the sound of Kuruk’s cries and you’ll get there eventually.”

Just as Yun was about to bolt towards the field, he felt himself fall back. Lee was dragging him by his collar alongside Rangi.

“Oh no! You aren’t going there either, pretty boy!”

“Bu! Bu-bu-bu….but Kuruk!” Yun whined. He had a chance to meet his past self!

“Uh uh, you want to get out of here? Then you’re going to do what I say! I’m not pussyfooting around anymore!” Lee scolded, as she dragged the two smaller teens behind her.

___________________________________________

To the world, Rangi was an exceptional person. She graduated not only top of her class, but early from the Fire Academy as well. Then she did the exact same thing at the Junior Corps. She’d been in many duels and Agni Kais but never got a mark on her once, let alone lost. Her combat prowess was almost second to none.

So why was it, she was being manhandled by a damn daofei like no one’s business?!

“Let go of me,” she said with an even whisper.

“No,” Lee said, her tone commanding a finality and smugness to the conversation. But that only made Rangi’s blood boil that much more.

Lee was holding Rangi by the waist, an ironclad grip on her hip. It didn’t matter how much Rangi twisted and turned, she couldn’t break free. Her heart was pounding abnormally fast, surely it was from all the strain from trying to break out. Nothing else would explain it.

“We can’t get through if we don’t kill it!” She yelled-whispered, hoping it would drive her point home. It didn’t.

Lee just hugged her closer to her body, not caring about the contact in the slightest. This girl really had no boundaries.

“We shouldn’t kill it,” she whispered. Despite her grip on Rangi, the girl’s eyes never left the creature that stood in their way. A tall, purple ghostly spirit, with strange yellow wisps of hair. It had a strange darker purple pattern on its body, and an even stranger red pattern on its head. It had spikes protruding from various parts, and had very long claws to accompany it. Oh yeah, don’t kill it! Who would want to kill such a friendly looking creature? Rangi had to suppress an eye roll.

“Why?” Yun asked, his neck bent at an awkward angle from the way Lee had snarled his ponytail into her fist. He and Rangi had tried to make a break to start a fight with the monster despite Lee’s protest. And now they were both victims of her manhandling. Thankfully she had the sense to not hold Rangi the same way she was holding Yun.

Though with how tight Lee was holding her, and the different curves she could feel pressed against her back- well…. Rangi wasn’t sure which one of the two was in the worst position.

“We killed the weird fishy one, why can’t we kill this one?” Yun continued

“We didn’t kill that one.”

“How do you know?” Rangi spat at her.

Lee finally looked down at Rangi, examining her. Rangi squirmed under her gaze. Once she was thoroughly looked over, she cocked an eyebrow and a smirk danced on her face, “Oh trust me, you’d be able to tell.”

Rangi thrashed in Lee’s arm again, she was getting sick of her weird, cryptic way of talking. “So we’re just supposed to wait here?! It hasn’t moved in twenty minutes!”

“Yes! …..or….” Lee trailed off.

“Or what?!”

“You two can calm down and we can walk past it!”

Rangi just stared at Lee dumbstruck, it was official. She was working with a certified idiot. “You want us to walk past it?!”

“Like it’s just a neighbor in a village? ‘Hey Jun! How’s the crops? Did that boy propose to your daughter yet?’” Yun added in sarcastically.

Lee rolled her eyes, “I mean, if that’s what you need to do to get in the zone! By all means!”

“WE AREN’T DOING THAT!” They yelled to Lee in unison, a bit too loud. The spirit turned its attention to their hiding spot.

Lee detangled her hand from Yun’s hair and quickly clasped it over his mouth, then pulled his head down into a headlock. She adjusted her hand on Rangi slightly, before hoisting the girl up by the waist, lifting her off the ground. Then she started walking towards the spirit. “Great job, now you don’t have a choice!” She muttered annoyed to her captives. “Now stay calm, hold your breath or something, just don’t freak out!”

Lee walked up to the spirit while the other two tried to swallow their caged horror. The spirit looked down at the three menacingly, but it didn’t move. It just observed. Its head slowly turned as they moved past it. When they were far enough away, Rangi saw the spirit slowly turn its head and body back to where it was looking before their outburst.

When the figure was out of sight, Lee dropped the two teens on the ground unceremoniously.

“Now are you going to listen to me? Or do I need to carry you like a misbehaving cat?” She chided them, annoyed.

Rangi sniffed and wiped her nose. Lee had been right about the spirit, all they needed to do was stay calm. They were the ones who were about to put them in undue harm.

“Sorry,” they both mumbled.

Lee sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “It’s fine. You two don’t trust me, and you don’t understand this place. I get it.”

“But why didn’t it attack us? I thought you said we should avoid the spirits?” Rangi asked.

Lee sighed. “This place and the creatures that inhabit it, can be…. changed by our emotions.” She scratched the back of her head and looked at the other two teens wearily. “If we remain calm, we can usually skate by but…..”

“But that dark spirit attacked us without warning, so why didn’t this one?” Yun asked.

“The one that attacked us was dark, the one we snuck past wasn’t. It was just scary looking, but it would’ve become a dark spirit if you freaked out!”

Rangi’s head hurt. “But, why?”

“Like I said, this place and the creatures can change based on our emotions. Fear and anger can turn them dark, I wouldn’t be surprised if the fishy spirit was turned because of our fighting,” Lee sighed. Her face bore an expression of….shame? No that couldn’t be. “Ninety-nine percent of spirits are normal as a default, not dark. Even the ‘evil’ ones like Koh or Father Glowworm….” She let out a shudder. “If we avoid both, it’s safer for us and for them.”

There was a long silence as the teens mulled over the information they got. Dark spirits were made because of them? Lee also mentioned the Spirit World itself too, and considering what happened to the fish spirit…. Rangi shuddered at what possibly could happen if the Spirit World itself turned dark.

“How did you survive? As a kid, the first time?” Yun asked, surprising the two girls. ”It’s just been bothering me. We’re all barely getting by right now, so how’d you go a week as a little kid?”

Lee gnawed on her lip, despite the wound healing at a fast pace, each time she bit into it, it would open up again. “I had help.”

The two stared at her wide-eyed. “Help? Did someone come in with you?” Yun asked.

“No, I ran into them here….”

“Any chance we’ll come across them again?” Rangi asked.

Lee looked around and shrugged, it had a more defeated flavor to the action than her usual nonchalance. “I was hoping we would run into her, but so far….nothing.”

Rangi looked away, somehow unable to look at Lee’s downcasted expression. It was the first time she saw the daofei looking vulnerable. It set her on edge. She told herself it was because Lee was a fearsome daofei, so anything that made her worried should be worried about. Yes, that was it.

Lee sighed forlornly, resting her cheek in her hand. “I miss her. She was really cute too…..”

Rangi scowled at the comment, an irrational side of her hoped they wouldn’t run into the Spirit World guide anytime soon. Her scowl then turned into a deep pout, unsure why that comment annoyed her in particular, and unaware of Yun’s watchful gaze on her.

__________________________

A/N: Yun, the reason you can’t remember a “Person who isn’t the Avatar, speaking to an Avatar” is because that was a reference to the comic Suki Alone. :’D

The purple ghost spirits I took the design from when Korra first gets split up from Jinora in the creepy forest (which is also the same forest they are wandering in :’D)

Anyway, can’t wait for the next chapter~! Chapters 2, 6, and 7 (this one I still need to finish writing) were the key chapters I REALLY wanted to write when I first came up with this idea.

Also sorry for taking so long to publish this. TT0TT I wanted to do a picture for this too and I was kinda sorta on the struggle bus with it.

#yun #rise of kyoshi #kyoshi #rangi sei'naka #rangi #rangshi #rise of kyoshi au #rangi seinaka

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summertimemusician · 2 years

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Thinking about The Original Attempted Calamity Hero and Ganondorf again and the implications of the Calamity even existing in the first place.

(Warning, this post has spoilers for basically all of the Zelda franchise and is pretty long, if there's a game or thing you did not read but would like to like the manga then please turn back, or stick around if you don't care lol)

I know there's a lot of theories about him floating around, that either he was half Gerudo, part of the Zonai tribe or at least half Zonai and Zonai raised or even Ganon himself because for some reason something might have happened to that era's Link, but that's a fairy better released at another day. But can y'all imagine being the guy back then? I don't think we discuss this enough to be honest.

So far, almost all of Ganon's incarnations have been at least somewhat mortal before BOTW, with the exception of obviously Demise who was a deity, and the whole thing with the Four Swords Adventures portion of the timeline that kind of itches at me that it has time travel involved though that's yet another fairy, but almost every single one of them started as a human even if they do get more and more animalistic over time. What with Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker's Ganondorf being by far the most human, but during the second part of Ocarina of Time and later on Twilight Princess they descend into Beast Form, which is a power boost yes but definitely a downgrade as it doesn't leave him as sane or cognitive, given that at the end of Twilight Princess Ganon returns to human form to fight Link rather than remain in that form. It's telling that he much prefers being human to being a feral boar.

Then we have OG Zelda's Ganon, the general downfall timeline Ganon that is, from A Link to The Past to Oracle of Seasons/Ages to A Link Between Worlds to the very first Legend of Zelda and Link's Adventure, it's clear that Ganon has fully descended into a feral state and that whatever bit of humanity there and cognition as a result was, he very rarely talks in LTTP, in a LBTW he's at his most coherent when Yuga fuses with him, by the OG Zelda he doesn't speak at all and twice in that time frame he had to be revived rather than come back on his own like his more human like iterations can if they wait and chill for a couple hundred years. He's basically no more than a feral animal, he isn't interested in ruling Hyrule, he's very darn interested in destroying the hero and making Hylia herself suffer and definitely doesn't care about burning Hyrule to the ground and killing anyone in his path if that does the trick, whatever sanity there was is too far gone.

Stick with me here, I'll get to the point.

It's an interesting descent and detail to pivot and follow after. It's obviously a result of Demise's corrupting divine fury and curse, you know what's technically a similar case? Zelda.

I think we can all agree that Zelda isn't Hylia, she's Hylia brought to earth or at the very least her vessel if we go by Breath of the Wild, because Zelda praying for herself wouldn't make any logical sense otherwise even if by order of her father, with no memories or rememberance of what she was, just that she is the holder of Hylia's divine power and her will and responsibility to protect the people and specially the Triforce/Light Force the Original Three left behind. No Cost Too Great you could say in the words of the Pale King from Hollow Knight, the only time she remembers in full is in Skyward Sword, it's confirmed that Zelda gets Hylia's knowledge and maybe even her memories after praying in the springs and it doesn't matter if she's just a vessel to her power or a reincarnation or if this is a Cú Chulainn situation where she is Hylia yet isn't (Schrodinger's Deity?), and her behavior shifts a bit then, not by much but it's definitely noticeable if you look at the text.

What if it's a similar case for Ganon? Zelda is what you get when you don't have the memories, when you take something barely comprehensible with a though process you can't even begin to understand with an intense capability for emotion that's practically suffocating and compress it into a mortal form to start again as a blank slate and it mostly remains that way. Ganon is what you get when the memories slowly seep back in as well as the intense, overwhelming, all consuming divine rage and fury and wish for vengeance seeps into a mortal vessel that very obviously can't fully hold it, couple that with Demise's curse and you have a cocktail for disaster, Ganon was doomed from the start just by being Demise's vessel, man never stood a chance. Though there's no way to say wether he fought against the influence or not, that's something we are unlikely to ever know since we only play and read from Link's and Zelda's perspective.

The Calamity and Malice is the result of when that divine fury breaks out, when there's a break in the already spilling over and cracked goblet. But it couldn't have broken on it's own you know? We see that cursed enemies were always a thing in Zelda games and as far back in the timeline as Skyward Sword it already existed, remember that corrupting and harmful 'water' at the Ancient Cistern's basement? The cursed enemies and dark crystals there? Possibly a leftover of Demise's power after the original break through the surface as seen in the First Hero's manga, a prototype of Malice, hence why Ghirahim was sniffing around there for a way to bring him back, it's the only other place in the franchise after BOTW we see a prominent number of cursed enemies, and the Malice is clearly a thing that can learn and evolve, it can possess enemies and technology, it can revive the dead and control it and possess people too and create beings from it (remember the Phantom Ganon in OOT and PH guys), but it's not a discernible pattern, we didn't know much about it at all until recently and that right there? Is some terrifying lovecraftian/ancient mythology thing.

Because we clearly see it puppeteering scattered pieces of Sheikah Tech in the form of the Blights, possessing the Divine Beasts and the Calamity Ganon form in BOTW, Tears of the Kingdom shows us how Ganondorf's corpse is still around and clearly was revived, like a lich being corrupted from it's own energy. It's not Ganondorf doing anything anymore, it's the curse, it's Demise's Will, and as his corpse has not fully perished yet it likely is but a puppet to it.

It was not a pattern anyone could have predicted much less the hero back then, would he and his Zelda have an inkling about the pattern of Ganondorf always reincarnating and maybe have tried to do something about it early? Absolutely, heck maybe Ganondorf was even sane enough to fight back and try to go off script. Would they have predicted that some kind of freaky kill switch would actívate to keep his reanimated corpse going only powered by the original curse Demise set up, which is basically fueled by pure divine will for vengeance on the one with the spirit of the hero who bested him not once but twice and the goddess that twarthed him at every turn from throwing that little green glad bastard at him with a sacred sword to seal him to basically sabotaging the Triforce so divine beings cannot use it and fury so strong it transcends time and space if we count games like Cadance of Hyrule and Hyrule Warriors (which we are doing here by the way) being a thing and presumably happening in different worlds? Absolutely not.

Honestly I see people compare BOTW and AOC Link to the guy back then and how they should have done better in game and that BOTW Link failed not living up to the standard he set up and how he stopped talking under the pressure and I'm just, y'all ever pause and think he wasn't anymore prepared than you people? Maybe I'm remembering it wrong due to sleep deprivation, I haven't slept well in months and woke up in a cold sweat at 3am to start writing this down but just- He didn't have Shrines to prepare him, he didn't have the Divine Beasts back then to weaken the Calamity before they were built by the Sheikah with presumably Zonai aid (and oh boy to I have thoughts and headcanons on that) and that would have taken time, it was basically just him, Zelda, the other races and Fi as the Master Sword (or heck even without her, we all know it always takes any Link time to get the Master Sword in the games, he likely didn't pull her out straight away like how presumably BOTW and AOC Link did) holding the fort against Malice enhanced monsters and likely revived undead because we know even while sane the previous Ganon's were definitely not above doing that.

So it was most likely a Phyrric Victory, the few times we hear about things that happened to previous heroes, is that we either don't know what happened to them at the end of the story (which is extremely concerning if you ask me because something should have been recorded right? They should have at least recorded how Zelda got her powers to give other Zelda's a better point of reference that just stay in a spring and pray to yourself apparently) Or that they just straight up died (The Hero's Shade being OOT Link, The First Hero being left behind rather than being able to ascend with the other humans to Skyloft, OG Zelda's previous Link most likely being killed in an attempt by Ganon's cult to revive him or to seal him away again), and we don't hear what happened to him or Zelda or the original Champions. History is written by the victors after all, Hylian history has a tendency of erasing details, take from that what you will.

TL;Dr My headcanon is that him and his Zelda were unwittingly cataclysms to the Calamity being unleashed in the first place, and that's why we don't hear much about what happened to them and, since 10000 years have passed there was likely a lot of time for erasure and cover up to happen by the crown. And that the man himself would be very proud of his descendants for being able to deal with at least part of the problem he unintentionally caused and surviving even with worse odds in spite of being better prepared unlike him who most likely died even if BOTW Link and AOC Link should get at least one sucker punch in if they're told that wasn't even the original goods they thought they dealt with as a treat if we go the LU route, in this essay I will-

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swordsmans · 1 year

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happy WIP wednesday! i am once again Putting Zoro In Situations. this is gonna be a rework (in the loosest possible sense) of a much, much older abandoned fic of mine that i'm cannibalizing for the bones. it'll be zolu (ob v i o usly) and also have lots of character conversations (MY BRAND), and it's not going to be finished any time soon. However. It has words now, which is better than last week.

text under the cut!

The kid advances, eyes focused completely on him now—like he knows what Zoro’s thinking, or has had enough experience with hostile adults to know the little signs of violence. “Don’t move!” he shouts. At the very least, he has keen observation skills. “What did you do to my little brother?”

Zoro ignores the question but stops, again reaching out with his observation haki looking for someone—but he’s alone, still, save for the kid whose near-invisible haki presence is detectable only now that he’s standing there glaring at him. “I’m only going to ask this once, kid,” he says, raising an eyebrow. “Where are my swords?”

In response, the boy glares and bites out, "And I’m only going to ask this once, old man—what did you do with Luffy?" already assuming a kind of rough, haphazard fighting stance. No formal training, Zoro notes—the kid’s loose and nimble, with a practical mid-low grip on the pipe, but he’s also so sloppy it’s clear he’s been self-taught by survival. It’s unlikely that there are any real fighters nearby, then—

—and then his brain catches up with what the kid’s just said. Zoro sighs.

In one motion he snaps the ropes around him, then steps forward, stretching the stiffness of being tied to a tree for who-knows-how-long out of his arms and back. “Ha, ha,”he enunciates deadpan, scowling down at the brat. “Whatever stupid game you two are playing—who even are you, some friend he made?—don’t mess with my fucking swords.” The kid brandishes his pipe, but Zoro just bats it away—if Luffy’s roped whoever-this-is into something, he can’t be as weak as he looks—and says, “Where are they?”

To his credit, the kid doesn’t back down—he just grits his teeth and holds his ground, even as his eyes widen and Zoro can see his knuckles turn white around the base of his weapon. That does give Zoro pause, then—because even though he’s holding his own, the kid is clearly scared. Which doesn’t bode well if Luffy’s been fucking around with the locals.

Suddenly, a battle cry roars up from the bushes to his left and something leaps up to smash the back of his head, screaming, “Stay the fuck away from my brother!” Zoro pivots in time to catch a second (sloppy, inexperienced) blow from the new kid—not much older than the first, but buzzing with a kind of rage that promises a dirty fight to anyone who tries. While the blond kid looks mostly put-together, this one looks like he’s been raised like a wild animal—shaggy black hair full of sticks and leaves, mud-streaked and torn clothes just a size too big. (He also looks vaguely familiar, and Zoro’s annoyance doubles.)

#opfanfic #op fanfic #opfanfiction #anyway i really hope it's obvious what's going on here #i am hoping to channel big 'luffy zoro and otama in early wano' energy with this one #but also there will be crying #unfortunately for all of us i can't remember my ffnet password #but there wasnt much to it and this is going to be different pretty much immediately #gyro.odt

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heartmachinehq · 11 months

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Hyper Light Breaker: Meet PB

PIVOTING TOWARD CHARACTER-BASED STORYTELLING

A while ago, we shared that we were developing Hyper Light Breaker with a limited form of character creation in mind - our player “characters” would be specific species, all following the same character archetype. The goal was to reduce animation scope down significantly by sticking with the single archetype.

As time went on, however, we discovered that a specific story was taking shape. And it needed to be told through a discrete cast of characters with their own backstories, motivations, and personalities.

We are now pivoting away from broader character customization, in favor of enriching player experience and empathy through highlighting each of these unique characters and their journeys through the world. We are still retaining customization in the form of offering near limitless loadout options, hub options, and other ways for players to have agency over this world.

With that said, please meet…

PROTOBREAKER

PB was featured prominently in our Announcement Trailer, but the character’s identity and role in the Hyper Light universe has been shrouded in mystery since. We’re now ready to share a little more about her.

You meet PB in the Hotel Lobby of the Hub, the launch point for all of your ventures into the Overgrowth. A former highly skilled Breaker herself, she now works a desk job where she assigns and oversees Breaker missions.

PB has a long history in this world. But she is generally reserved, and minces few words. It is up to you to uncover her past, and play a crucial role in writing this new chapter in her story.

PB IN THE WORLD OF HYPER LIGHT

PB has a unique role in Breaker’s narrative. The abandoned wilds of the Overgrowth are shrouded in mystery, and PB has been here since they were first sealed away from the rest of the world.

Within the Breakers, PB is your commander, so she passes along your marching orders from Breaker HQ. But like you, she’s curious about the Overgrowth’s mysteries. In particular, she wants to learn the goals and motivations of the Crowns—why do they fight the Breakers? What are they protecting, and why?

PB knows many secrets about this place, but she’s not quite sure which of them are relevant to the mystery. When you discover some brand new information about the Crowns or the Overgrowth, you’ll bring those stories back to PB. She’ll share her own memories with you, and help you put the mystery together.

PB has a few secrets herself, too. She’s been living in the Overgrowth for a long time, and she seems to have a strange personal connection to the Crowns. If you help her discover more about the Overgrowth, she may share some of her history with you!

LET US HEAR FROM YOU!

How do you feel about our character-based storytelling process?

What do you think happened to PB?

#hyper light breaker #storytelling #narrative #story #game design #video games #gamedev #game development #heart machine #game dev process #game process #development process #protobreaker

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loosesodamarble · 2 years

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Ranking Josele's Weapon Proficiencies

I made Josele a bit of a beast when it came to wielding non-magical weapons. She knows how to use a decent variety and is pretty skilled too. However, she's not a master with every weapon that she puts her hands on and I'm going to rank her skills.

..........

1. Sword: Her go-to weapon. She mixes dancing into her combat style, making her hard to read especially since she can just switch to more traditional footwork to throw enemies off. Yami and Fanzell are likely the only people who can stand toe-to-toe with her going just on swordsmanship. Asta eventually joins them but upon introduction, Josele would trounce him. She has a special technique passed down from her father called a Blade Pivot. It involves pretending to make a regular thrust attack but turning her wrist at the last moment to change the blade's direction and switch into a slashing attack. It should be noted that the Blade Pivot is a family technique. Josele wouldn't share it with Yami or Asta or even Nacht, only her own children. (If it's not obvious, this isn't a real technique. You'd probably break your arm and sword trying this. It works for Josele because anime logic. 😆) 11/10 skill. -Josele isn't as masterful with curved swords like cutlasses and sabres but they're still swords and so Josele still makes them bend to her will. 10/10 skill.

2. Dagger: She will sometimes dual wield a sword and dagger together. Daggers don't have as much reach as swords but they're excellent with skirmish scenarios and can also be thrown for range. She can use the Blade Pivot with daggers too but it's not as effective due to the shorter blade not being able to arc as effectively as a sword blade. 10/10 skill.

3. Bow & Arrow: Her main method of ranged attacks. She wouldn't consider herself having mastered the bow the way she would for the sword but her quick drawing skills and accuracy are second to none (as far as cc are concerned; who besides Yuno has been seen using a bow?). She can manage to fire two arrows at once though that’s only when she can be stationary; it's not a technique she can pull on an active battlefield, only on a quiet hunt. Known to use a bow to deal blunt strikes in melee as well. 9/10 skill.

4. Spear: The polearm that she's best with. She can stab with it, throw it, twirl it, and can even stick it in the ground and swing on it for a little acrobatic fighting. Is a little more defensive with spears than swords or daggers, using the staff to catch melee blows pretty often. 8/10 skill.

5. Axe: Josele really could be an axe murderer. She's pretty good with these things. She can hack with the main blade, can use the butt of the handle and even the backside of the blade for blunt strikes. She's also been known to use the flat of an axehead to block precise/piercing strikes like a mini shield (thought she readily admits that it's not a good way to use an axe). She can also throw an axe pretty well. 8/10 skill.

6. Greatsword: Josele is no stranger to going two-handed when using her weapons. The little extra weight does affect her footwork but not so severely that it makes her "bad" as using greatswords. She does manage some grace with greatswords but there's a reason it's not in her regular arsenal. She still keeps one at the base though. 7/10 skill.

7. Halberd: Josele learned the hardway that halberds weren't just "long axes" but she picked up the weapon pretty easily after that. Knows how the leverage the axehead with the staff to make strong swings. 6/10 skill.

8. Crossbow: Josele knows her way around a crossbow and can aim it nearly as steadily as she can a bow even when on the move. The ability to determine her drawtime with a standard bow vs. the mechanical slowness of a crossbow does hold Josele back though. 6/10 skill.

9. Trident: The pronged head took Josele a while to get used to. She doesn't use it as effectively as other polearms but she doesn't look like a complete fool with a trident. 5/10 skill.

10. Sickle: The curve was a little hard to learn how to work with but Josele successfully uses sickles. The way the edge is positioned on the inside of the curve is something else that Josele doesn't work well with 5/10 skill.

11. Hammer: This is definitely Acylla's (@faewraithsworld's oc) weapon. Josele can use a hammer if absolutely necessary but it's one of the few weapons she doesn't have one of, not even in her extra arsenal. 4/10 skill.

12. Flail/whip/similarly flexible weapon: Josele would be screwed. She makes "stiff" weapons like swords and axes graceful. She doesn't know how to work with loose and flexible weapons like whips. 1/10 skill.

#josele canty #black clover oc #black clover #soda's ocs #acylla rhine #taja's oc #soda asides #i know this isn't how weapon proficiency works in real life #kinda unrealistic for someone to be decently skilled with so weapons #but fiction #i like the idea of josele using all these weapons as a conduit since she can't naturally shape her magic #also her being able to 'dance' with something like a sword #but fumbling with a 'graceful' weapon like a whip

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soul-dwelling · 1 year

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On Maka being the main charachter - dunno think the anime is the one that actually made me believe it to be the case, even if others hate it because of that. In the manga I really did feel like Soul was more the point of view charachter, the one that Ohkubo spoke through and that Maka was more like somebody that was viewed from the second perspective in a way, IDK hard to explain, there are a lot of Maka moments but still

Who is the main character of The Great Gatsby: Gatsby, because he’s the protagonist who propels the actions of the story, or Nick, the narrator, the point-of-view character whose voice we hear throughout almost all of the book, someone who is involved in the story but doesn’t instigate the actions that propel the plot?

Heck, look at these two works: The Great Gatsby, Soul Eater. Soul’s name is literally the title of the manga.

(We’ll ignore Ohkubo’s remark that the title actually refers to a different devourer of souls.)

Soul being like Nick, as a point-of-view character, makes sense to me. But that just reinforces how I think Maka is the protagonist and the main character.

(And yeah, a main character is a vague enough phrase: you can multiple main characters. So, moving forward in this response, I’ll be sticking more to “protagonist.”)

Maka is the one who propels action. She opened the door to the church. She wielded Soul in combat. She determined how to fight Arachne.

Granted, you could say the same about other characters. Black Star propelled the Book of Eibon arc to get to Kid. Along with Kid and Crona and all of their weapons they stopped Asura on the Moon.

So, what was Soul’s role, in terms of storytelling, not just as Maka’s weapon?

I think you're right. I think his point-of-view role was relevant to characterizing Maka. In that regard, I get what you mean by calling Soul the character whom Ohkubo spoke through: Soul tells us what kind of a person Maka is, he helps characterize her, like a author tries to develop a character. And it is Soul’s experiences that progress her characterization.

It was Soul who made the plan to get Blair’s soul, but it was Maka who had to reach out to him to finish the job, and it was she who changed from the encounter: it was her frustration with Spirit that led to her doubt, and it was stopping Blair that got her to trust Soul and change her perspective after what her father did. Maybe you can look at that and say Soul propelled the action here--but it was propelling action to get Maka to change, and it was Maka who had to take action to keep the story going.

Soul was a sounding board for Maka, whether it was her admitting she had no plan to deal with Crona, or telling Soul to wait while she reached out to Crona’s soul. That doesn’t take away from his own existence as a main character: his name is the title (regardless what Ohkubo said), he is right there with Maka at pivotal moments, it was his injury that motivated Maka and ended up giving her the power up they needed against Crona and (in the manga) Asura. It doesn’t take away from his activity or his importance--he may not be the chief protagonist, but he is still a main character.

And he gets his back story in the manga, which makes him more fully realized.

#soul evans #maka albarn #long post

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popculturebuffet · 1 month

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Next up for Disney TVA, who is your favorite character from the cartoons in the 90s half of the Disney One Saturday Morning era: Doug (Disney seasons), Jungle Cubs, Nightmare Ned, 101 Dalmatians the Series, Recess, Pepper Ann, Hercules the Animated Series, and Mickey Mouse Works?

Okay so weeding the field, I haven't seen Jungle Cubs, Nightmare Ned, or 101 Dalmations and haven't seen herc recently enough to actually judge it. Like LMM it's just vauge memories. Thankfully I looked ahead and while there will be gaps LATER the next era i've seen pretty much everything. Can't say I'l lhave the deepest opinons or a faviorite characters, but it won't be nearly as sparse as these last two and had I realized that I woudl've had you just cram both together. For now though Disney's Doug: Not sure as I haven't rewatched these lately, but since i'm not sure I named one in the disney section , Mr Dink with Skeeetr a close second: he's funny, goofy and while advice despensing neighbor wasn't exactly new ground, he helped spice it up by being human: he's goofy as hell, up to some down to earth domestic shenanigan. He's basically the american version of red green. (The red green show is great and if you haven't heard of it.. your welcome)

I remember liking this version. While there are a bunch of changes.. none feel bad. A lot of the additions work: Doug having a little sister opens new ground, the rank up to middle school makes sense as they finished elementary last series, and continuing miss dink as mayor and having Bebe's dad become school principal. It also helps one of my faviorite episodes and the only one from this run I clearly remember is here, where Patti finds out her dad is dating her teacher and dosen't take it well. Disney's Doug isn't a super sharp upgrade, it's still pretty standard slice of life but it dosen't SEEM like the downgrade it gets painted as.

Recess: Gus. I thought this would be hard but no, my relatable pov baby boy is still my faviorite. I like Gus in part because on paper he should stop working after a bit.. but unlike other pov everyman characters there for exposition, he has enough outside it, his insecurity, panicky nature, and genuine kindness, to help. I also like the portrayal of a military kid, who his moves around a lot nature was due to that and it makes his friendship with the kids and fight to be seen not just as "the new kid" that more pognaint. They give him just enough depth to make you fully understand why, despite usually being the voice of reason, he sticks around and yet don't have him be a total stick in the mud either. He's usually all for the heists, he's just one of the first to panic about it and even then Gretchen and Mikey just as often chime in.

As you can probably guess... I love recess. It's one of Disney's best shows period, made my top 10 list for Disney TVA"s 10th annviersary (Also a reminder to not forget clerks in these asks) for a reason and is only not at the top of the pile because the network had some of the best shows in recent memory in the late 2010's early 2020's and even with that this still stacks up with the best of them.

Recess captures how it felt to be a kid well, the larger than life worlds we created, how parts of the playground were carved up, how the teachers felt useless or actively malicoius, yet grounds it in reality: both miss finster and principal prickly are slowly revealed to be people. Like Hey Arnold around the same time, but in it's own way, it provides plenty of one offs for the various other clicks and kids, while giving our main sextet a ton of depth, focus and spotlight. The series has a swiss army knife quality to it, ala batman the animated series (A comparrison I never though tof but i've been binging a lot of serum lake on youtube lately. ) but it's one that fits: like BTAS, Recess can pivot between awwkard stories of growing up like mikey's voice changing, a chilling psychological drama like the box, or a simple exploration of language or how adults take shit too seriously like the whomps or trial episodes. The series goes all the hell over the map from heists to mediations on death to using a pokemon stand in to teach economics. I can't say enough about this show. A true masterpiece like almost nothing else and I only say that because it got the perfect spiritual succcesor in craig of the creek and disney woudln't greenlight the revivial because their stupid.

Pepper Ann: Don't have a faviorite as I didn't watch the show that much but what I saw I like and I should revisit it. I got jazzed when it got added to D+ then.. forgot. Which happens often.

Mickey Mouse Works; This is a weird ask as.. iv'e never seen mickey mouse works.. but i've seen the shorts on house of mouse? As such i'll save the discussion for house of mouse for the most part but the shorts are pretty good. There's a few awful ones, the quality coudl vary wildly, but when it hits it hits

#doug #recess #pepper ann #mickey mouse works #disney

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dblegendschronocrystalgenerator · 9 months

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dragonballlegendscrystals-2024 · 9 months

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ashe-delta-manic-mumblings · 9 months

Text

Alright, this is a write up I've wanted to do for a while. It's about my favorite set piece in fiction. Well, I guess set piece is wrong, but trope isn't the right word either. The concept of veriticality.

Spoilers for a couple of pivotal scenes from some works, including the bible, I guess. If you don't want to be spoiled on Lycoris Recoil's, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door's, and Gurren Laggan's final scenes, then, like, don't read it.

My favorite scene in Lycoris Recoil, and what inspired this post, opens with the protagonist and the antagonist staring off into the sunset from the top of the tower she's trying to save and he's trying to destroy, as they discuss why they're going through all this trouble.

They're both fighting for the same thing, in this case, Japan. Which brings me to my first point here.

Verticality provides perspective. In this scene, for the first time, the two of them are looking over the very thing they're trying to save or destroy. They can see everything they're fighting for. This is a very common thing to do before a final fight in fiction literally everywhere.

In most pieces of media, this is most common achieved with the cutaway to some far off friends praying or cheering for the protagonist.

You know, winning through the power of friendship, and all that. Classic stuff. This works, but it can feel a bit boring at times, and might miss the mark on providing the impact you want in the big final scene. It also doesn't work in every kind of media, like writing, where once you're in a scene, it's very hard to leave one.

If the media wants to get clever with it, they'll make a peanut gallery for people to comment through. This leads to some pretty funny scenarios where sometimes the scope of the shot is too much and they need to actually pull back to a smaller scale in order to give proper scopes again. Easiest example? Gurren Laggan, where it's scope is so ridiculous they end up throwing actual galaxies around in it's final fight...

...only to rely on defend Earth is it's true final frontier of stakes. Because defending the universe is, somehow, has less stakes than the planet.

Verticality fixes this problem. Everything you're defending, everything you're fighting for, it's right there. It's all around you.

Are you defending a city? Then the top of a tower shows you everything. A kingdom? A sky platform in the sky is a classic place for a final battle? The whole planet? That's a bit harder, but have you considered a fight on the moon?

For many protagonists, its the first time they'll see the entirety of everything they're fighting for. This is on purpose, because often times, that sense of purpose and scale also communicates the finality of the conflict. That it's the final fight, everything, all this is on the line. Which leads to the second point.

Verticality provides totality. Now this is a stretch talking about the bible in a post about a cool scene in an anime, but...

...the Tower of Babel.

Stick with me here.

Even in the most quoted book in human history, verticality implied a sense of importance. This makes sense, I mean, where are the heavens if not above us? And so, in the story, we made a big fuck off tower to reach them, and yadda yadda, at risk of spoiling the bible, it didn't go well.

What's important about the Tower of Babel, though, is that it shows that verticality implies divinity. The final frontier. Quite literally nowhere to go but up.

Other than the aforementioned perspective, verticality by itself signifies importance. Humans aren't supposed to be this high, and see everything. The only people (can you even call them that?) this high should be the gods themselves, looking down upon us much in the same way a protagonist would seeing all they're fighting for.

It's foreign. It's alien.

It's final frontier. The final fight.

The scene which inspired this post, by the way, rises the stakes even higher with everyone's favorite The Timer™, which is a whole 'nother thing, but I figured I should bring it up, because divinity isn't the only thing that's causes the rising stakes.

It's the ground.

Verticality kills.

The thing about getting characters into the air which is fascinating is that while it's pretty easy to justify why a character is higher up than normal, it's a hell of a lot harder to get them down. Well, at least, without killing them.

We've all seen it by now. The protagonist is cornered, back to the wall, although not literally, as all that lies between them and death is the end of the cliff face. Rocks fall, beckoning danger. One wrong step, and they too should fall.

By having the threat of falling, it creates a danger that otherwise might not have been present. Granted, given plot armor as a concept, no one actually falls, or if they do, it's for a quick scare as the best friend character busts in and saves their life at the last moment.

Should the sheer terror of one of the most common fears, that being height, of course, not be enough, you can always finish the job with a big cut away show just how far that fall really is.

I'm a big fan of this scene personally for TRIPLING DOWN on the vertical nature of the scene and really hammering home everything they're fighting for, the importance, and the danger of it all by having it end fighting on a crumbling glass floor, that's such a good touch.

Literally no where else to look except what they're protecting.

It's about time to wrap this up, but a few minor points.

This is part of what makes the moon so special as a symbol in media. It's inaccessibility, it's divinity, it's deadliness, it's call to be explored, it all borrows from the sense of verticality. It's the tower, in a sense. The reverse is not true for the Earth while on the moon, as it usually what's being protected. You can make the Earth a symbol of verticality while on the moon, but it's a lot harder, as it's more a symbol of home before it's a symbol of danger.

Finally, the symbolism of verticality can be reversed too, although it's usually way harder when you're trying to raise stakes by going deep underground. When doing so, it tends to borrow a lot of the same stakes from high up symbols anyways, like death from falling, and grand scale structures. Communicating depth is just harder than height in general because it's not exactly like you get a window into the sky to see how high you are.

Enter Made in Abyss, which solves this problem by... adding a sky! Okay, well, I guess that works. It solves the issue of showing depth by having it feel like height instead. It does create a new problem of not really making it clear how deep you are, but that can be done on purpose to create a sense of mystery. And frankly, I don't think Made in Abyss needs anymore more stakes, I think they've got it covered.

Verticality manages to check three boxes you want in a big showdown. It shows the stakes, feels important, and threatens to kill. Even if you haven't noticed it—and everyone I've babbled about this to haven't, at least not on purpose—it's always been there. It's everywhere. It's not a symbol, at least not in the traditional sense, but it's ability to create stakes and purpose out of thin air makes it a great tool for writers and designers alike, and even if we don't actively study it, it's there.

Trying looking for it sometime. Take the plunge and look for when the stakes get so high the fight can only take itself into the sky.

Or, actually, maybe you should wait under after the fight. That jump does look mighty high.

#manic mumblings #writing mumblings #anime mumblings #writing #symbolism #anime #symbols

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