#aight with his character

[butteronabun]

woah, it’s just so easy to be sentimental

– an alhaitham x female reader, fwb au

overview: this conversation with him was eventually coming—it’s alhaitham, after all.

wc: 1.3k

notes: this is a modern au! also, implied smexy times but nothing explicit happens. c:

“What do you even benefit from this?” You finally speak, after two minutes of catching your breath.

You’re currently laying on top of Alhaitham, with the side of your head buried on his enormous chest. He places the plush quilt on your lower body, and his hand stays on your back.

You hear his heartbeat calming down. 

But now, yours is the opposite. Forget about regaining your composure, now that the question is out—a question long overdue by the way—you have no choice but to swallow your anxiety and face it. You finally asked him. 

And this is a good thing, right? At least, even if his answer will probably shatter you just like how Cyno broke Tighnari’s window, the annoying questions in your head can finally shut up. Right? 

Who are you kidding? You feel like you’re going to combust. It's Alhaitham. Who knows what he’s gonna answer? 

“. . .You could actually choose other people than me to be your fuckbuddy, you know. There are far better candidates out there.” You remark, and you feel your chest tighten. Why is this so hard? You feel like breaking down. “Like, like. Um. I don’t know. Maybe that one girl from your Darshan? She seems really nice. Real gorgeous, too.”

Ah, yes. Here it comes. Comparing yourself to other women. Great. Now it’s harder than before. Sooner or later, you’ll have to participate in your own solo 'Try Not To Cry Challenge In Front of The Man Who Literally Folded You in Half Moments Ago.'

You feel Alhaitham’s pec vibrate on your cheek when he replies, “I have my reasons.”

Damn him and his reasons. You need his answers. Unfiltered answers. “Then give me one.”

You tense when his thumb of his hand—that’s still remained on your back—begin to rub through the fabric of the blanket. As your cheeks steam, you shut your eyes tightly from the sensation, wishing that Alhaitham won’t notice. But since he continues his ministrations anyway, it’s safe to conclude that he did. Sometimes, he’s a bastard. ( But you like him, though. And that sucks. Maybe. Maybe not. ) 

He supplies, “Our bodies are already familiar with each other. I’m not interested in getting intimate with another and testing the waters. That takes too much of my time.” 

Right. During your first and second sessions with Alhaitham, he seized the moments and explored what worked for you and what worked for him. What worked for the both of you. 

“Okay.” 

Perhaps, what he has said is already enough for you - but it’s bullshit in your own opinion if you think you’ll only be satisfied with that. You need to know more. Even if it’ll probably lead to your doom. Why can’t you just be relieved for once? Why are you always curious? Ugh, you really have it in you to become one of Vahumana’s top students! “What are the other reasons, then?”

His caressing comes into a halt. “Do you really want to know?

Wow. Now that sure is ominous. You open your eyes at that. The blunt Alhaitham asking you if you want to know? You lift your head from his chest and blink up at him in disbelief. You try to think of other things just so you can ignore the nervous ache in your stomach.

But it’s all pointless! Everything inside this room is all Alhaitham. Everything reminds him of you, because this is his room, for archon’s sake! You sigh heavily, and stare at his irritatingly handsome face. You, sadly, have no choice.

Even if you’ve seen this sight a hundred times already and even up close considering you’ve, ahem, with him, he still makes you flustered. One gaze and you’re out. One gaze and all your clothes are on the floor. 

Not to mention, it’s just so unfair that despite all the activities you’ve both shared, he’s still so attractive. And he’s glowing. How? Why are you so lucky? And out of all the people in the world, how did you end up in his bed?

The curiosity itches.

You poke at his skin repeatedly. “That’s why I’m asking? Why are you being sus, Alhaitham?”

He sends you a flat look. “Do you mean ‘suspicious’?”

You grin playfully at him. It’s hilarious to see him get offended whenever you use some slangs that he finds nonsensical. This is what he gets—you provoking him with words that he thinks are embarrassments to the languages.

Alhaitham exhales through his nose, then resumes on rubbing your back. “Give me a minute. I’m trying to weigh the pros and the cons. Apparently, it’s hard on my part because you are an unpredictable one.”

Your eyes sparkle. Now that the anxiousness has dissipated away, it’s replaced with excitement. “Ooh, this is new!” Alhaitham doesn’t open up much regarding his personal thoughts, so you’re relishing on this. “I’m a challenge to you?”

“Very much so.”

Really? A challenge for the intelligent Alhaitham? You? You chuckle, “Maybe you’re overthinking this!”

“Maybe I am.”

Then, you return to your position once more, content on making his chest a pillow. “So do you think I’m complicated?” 

“Do you want the truth?”

You huff. So many short questions and responses. You’re literally giving him the hint that he has the permission to tell you. “I didn’t reach out to you for nothing. What I like about you is that you’re brutally honest.”

Then, it’s quiet. 

Alhaitham’s thumb is still rubbing on your back. You grow a little worried, wondering why he has stopped answering. You’re about to raise your head again, until his available hand rests on top of it, preventing you from taking a glance at whatever expression he’s making.

“I have read a lot of books that are incredibly complicated—books that make people drop immediately because they find it hard to grasp and comprehend. Fortunately for me, I am not that type of person. I like the challenge, especially if it requires critical thinking. And in return, I gain new knowledge. I gain new lessons.”

Trying to make sense of it all, you hum inquisitively, “So, your point is?”

“So even if you are a mess—” “Hey!” “—Even if there are times that I find it difficult to understand your intentions or your actions, I have no plans of leaving you.”

Your heart performs somersaults. 

Oh. Oh.

All this? Coming from Alhaitham himself?

Impossible. There's just no way he said all that.

The words that you do not want to disclose reveal itselves anyway. “And. . .” You murmur, “. . .if you’re satisfied? W–will you abandon me like your other books that are gathering dust on the top shelves?”

“I’ll give you a chance to reflect on what you’ve just said. Your claims are as false as what the flat earthers fight for.” Alhaitham admonishes.

You are now the one who is rendered speechless. You don’t know if you should laugh again because the flat earthers became an example or if you should just stay silent. You don’t think you can take what he’s about to say next.

The organ inside your ribcage squeezes, and gradually, you quiver. The nervousness makes its grand entrance again.

You detach yourself from his chest once more, and meet his indifferent gaze. It’s expected, but your heart begins to pound when you realize that his eyes seem too intense this time. 

“Alhaitham. . .?”

“For the record, I don’t abandon the books. I read them once a year. And again, don’t compare yourself to bad similes—if you want me to revise it, I will be more than glad to construct one now.” The hand that’s on top of your head slides down, and he grabs your chin with his thumb and index finger. 

( Him and his habit of correcting your figures of speech. He always finds a way to insert this in every conversation, even in the most ridiculous and most serious of scenarios. )

“So,” Alhaitham lowers his eyelids, and you swallow. “Do you get what I’m trying to imply?”

You do.

And you’re not sure if you want to say yes.

Because once you nod or affirm, there’s no turning back from this.

[r-aindr0p]

Mr. Flamme never works (unpaid) overtime

He might reconsider

[endominator]

Guess who's back 👀

And a small bonus page made by my friend Clevzx

[toxooz]

b4 i descend back into the comic making trenches i Had to draw it 💀

all that just to have to rake

[syluses]

there was another wave of caleb drama on the bird app the other day about him not wanting to be ur gege at all which was lowkey super dumb bc its not true but now its making me think of an au where mc and caleb don't grow up together and meet as adults but caleb's still delusional and crazy enough to want to have that type of dynamic... like just irrationally mad that he isn't the one who raised u LMAO i always saw him as the type to just want to be your everything not Just a brother not Just a lover... it tickles my brain.. love and obsession so all-encompassing that he has to be everything in ur life

..Oh brother 😒 no pun intended. I agree with u tho nonnie 💯 Bro needs to be her everything, & if he isnt he feels worthless.

Prepare thyselfs

Alright, yall already know by know that im a big gege truther- however im perfectly fine with the people who wanna see caleb as the ‘childhood friend’- which the anglicized version essentially goes off on. Now i do believe those individuals dont see all of caleb’s unique little nuances- just because so much of them stem from the brotherly role he was ‘forced’ to fill for mc all throughout childhood- and i think they fail to recognize the paramount correlation it has to their ‘forbidden’ romance (which both he & mc ACKNOWLEDGE in the story; but ig they’re just whiting out the bits they dont wanna hear) but im not gonna flame ppl if they wanna see bro as the friends to lovers trope.

i dont agree with it, but its more or less okay with me bc i understand lots of ppl are icked out by the pseudo trope (reasonable) yet still want to appreciate xia yizhou in their own way— even if ignoring the original intention inevitably brings a certain distance to that for the lack of comprehension over his, well, ahem GEGEISM™️

The way some of them wanna DENY the asian/original canon tho is pretty insane ngl. Like homie u can still enjoy ur own (english localized) idea of caleb- but to try to erase the obvious gege/meimei implications of the chinese version is funny only because its just that stupid. Again im definitely not one of the ppl who’ll yell and shame others for not fucking with the gege vibes, but cmon… its pretty obvious that is in the canon.

And now im yapping at this point but as to whether or not caleb WANTS to be mc’s brother figure? ..Honestly i feel like that is complicated in itself, and i think the answer will vary from person to person. But for me i think its both a yes and a no. He definitely acts as her brother, thinks as her brother, regards himself as her brother. And the self awareness is absolutely there for him- as in he knows its wrong to romantically pine for mc because he truly does- in his own way- naturally see mc as his meimei as well, even if he tries to separate himself from it the more his yearning grows. I think calebs emotions revolving this are super complex. I can barely even put it into words.

He wants the full right, if u will, that the gege title grants him over her— the closeness, the responsibility, the bond— but it ultimately gets in the way when he stares at her in admiration for a little too long or leans a little too much into the fantasy of pretend girlfriend and boyfriend. Growing up, whenever he humored her and they played house, he never had to feign the part of ‘husband’ bc he already carried all that love with him. In a way, a lil piece of him kind of blames mc for ‘asserting’ the gege role on him, but he’s still just as guilty bc he happily gave in to it all throughout their growing up. He liked it, even, in those moments he could almost forget his own pathetic desires.

I truly do believe that caleb feels regretful over the brotherly role he operated under for just about all his life… But i also truly believe that he would have it no other way— the smallest idea of anybody else assuming that spot in her life makes him furious. Because again, he wants to take care of her, he wants to protect her, to bandage her scraped knees and hush away her tears, to cook breakfast lunch and dinner for her and have almost as much of a say in her life as gran does. (…past tense.) He wants the proximity, the domestic life with her, the casual closeness and again, the slight dominion the ‘brother’ role gives him over her.

Lets not forget that in all of this, for all his cheerful, reassuring smiles and easy quipping comments, that there’s a little worm in the back of caleb’s head that wants ultimate control over his meimei. and yes, even just in calling her his ‘meimei’— or her running face first into his strong arms bc she knows, as family, he’ll always have her back— some of that control is given. Its so hard to articulate this pls kill me. But i hope u know what i mean.

At the end of the day, for all his reservations about it- and the actual blame he lowkey tries to put on mc for it- Caleb does and always wanted to be her gege.

Because if he was never her gege, he’d be nothing. His responsibility over his meimei— his sister, his friend, his closest confidant and hopefully, one day, his wife— is frankly all that gives him purpose.

And yeah maybe he is a little crazy because of it... But he knows she loves him too, deep down. He knows her better than anybody else, after all. The same can be said about his love for her: nobody in this world could ever hold even a fraction of all that Caleb both internally & physically shoulders for her.

It’s as much of an ugly curse as it is a beautiful gift.

Duality my friends, duality

[boopshoops]

TWST OC INTRODUCTION - TCOAV

Joel Bullion - Makings of Greatness

Name: Joel Bullion

Nicknames: Buzzbait, Thistle

Gender: Male

Pronouns: He/they

Sexuality: Aromantic Asexual

Birthday: November 30 (Sagittarius)

Age: 39 in AU 37 in canon

Height: 6'2 or 188cm

Voice Claim(s): Jellzybelle

Twisted from: John Silver from Treasure Planet.

Unique Magic: "Rattle the Stars" Summons exactly that in the palm of Joel's robotic hand: a star. However, this is not just any star, this star's life flashes before your eyes, resulting in a controlled supernova. It creates a burning hot flash bang, with tremors forming cracks in the ground depending on the magnitude of the star itself. The explosion knocks enemies away from Joel. The size of the star dictates how much magic they will use, as well as how much blot he will accumulate. He is unsure what the maximum size of a star he can create is, but he does know that he has gotten dangerously close to overblotting while trying. In his current state, the blast is not deadly and primarily works to stun opponents or, at most, render them unconscious.

Grade: Teaches Freshman, Sophomores, and Juniors

Class: Teaches Culinary Crucible, Astrology, and Tech. Occasionally aids with Physical Education.

Hobbies: Treasure hunting, finding constellations, hiking, traveling, spelunking, deadlifting, cooking.

Likes: Pernil, old school tech, adventure novels, hard cash, or anything he can sell for gold really, pranking Ezra and Crowley, telescopes, planetary science, zodiac signs.

Dislikes: Grading (this man should not be a teacher), any dish with fish in it, sticklers, staying still, overt formality, the cold, humorless individuals.

Fears: Immobility, optometric illnesses, not amounting to anything, not living his life to the fullest, birds.

Summary: "Why does he even teach?" is a question that crosses the mind of almost every NRC student in one of Joel's classes. He's shameless, sarcastic, and finds entertainment in messing with students and staff alike. Teaching is only a side job for him, his real passions lie elsewhere. Nonetheless, he is highly skilled in a variety of subjects, making him indispensable.

He abuses that privilege, of course, taking the time to have as much fun as he can in what he calls a boring dump of a school and make sure everyone around him suffers for it. Though this usually just amounts to light teasing and pranks. They do not behave like an educator or mentor. He does not typically enjoy interacting with most of his students in a serious manner, and the ones they do enjoy talking with are treated more like casual, distant friends.

With the responsibility of teaching so many subjects heavy on their shoulders, he does make plenty of time to shrug it off to work on his true dream: getting as rich as possible. Now, now, there are plenty of figures at NRC who want that, yeah? But Joel wants the lottery. He wants to struggle, look high and low, and come out above everyone with something ancient, shiny, and, hopefully, covered in expensive jewels. Over everything and everyone, they enjoy the hunt of it. To the point where he values it above people and relationships. Hell, they'd fly to the moon to get it if they had to.

Outfit Inspiration

Author's Notes: JOEL. Ahhh Joel. I'll admit, this was harder to write compared to the others! Everyone else's development, personality, struggles, etc. came very naturally to me, while, with joel, I really had to sit and brainstorm for awhile. Though, I can now say that he has grown on me a lot, and I plan on giving him more of a role in TCOAV like Ezra! I have lots of plans for him! Old ass man <33 (affectionate, /j) this will probably be the last new TCOAV oc for a while! But just know, there will be more >:)

Tag list! v

@lowcallyfruity @kitwasnothere @distant-velleity @thehollowwriter @justm3di0cr3

@skriblee-ksk @cecilebutcher

[denkilightning]

also we all agree that it was jay who disfigured the device on nokts neck (or ras' pilot device to it) so he and rox could go kill the matriarchs, right? like we all agree that even if nokt told walker their plan, walker wouldnt care about the dragons and hed still help nokt and rox? like we all agree that its a great setup for his later arc, discarding the dragon/ninja side and joining the forbidden five? that it makes sense for walker to act upon the main goal of freeing the forbidden five over ras' goal of keeping nokt subdued? We All Agree Walker Helped In Killing The Dagon Matriarchs, Right?

[activatebutterflyshield]

The Muses hit me with some random inspiration today so here’s a proper design sheet for He of the Lingering Smog and the Glittering Lights, aka Hollywood Angel, aka the God of Los Angeles, featuring the script Chahvinik by @thecrazyneographist.

He’s mostly based on the name of his city, the fashion sense of the famous bit of Humanity that calls him home (clothing is half gala dress, half black tie suit), all the ink those writers use up, paparazzi, Hollywood’s history of censorship, the smog that blankets his land, the manipulative nature of the industry, and the horses of the Spanish who took the land for the Angels.

[ohitslen]

My dad told me to watch Gungrave with him (we have just watched one episode atm) and I was like wait the vibes, this feels so awfully familiar, where have I seen this, the characters hmm no but I’m so sure I’ve never seen this anime before

And I was right I have never seen it before…BUT… as I google for some facts I immediately found out that Nightow was the character designer along with good sir Kōsuke Fujishima of the og game, and the anime is under Nightow’s name as it seems and I was like—

OF COURSE. NIGHTOW.

[rhineposting]

saw someone unironically saying "rhinedottir fed nigredo to durin to make nigredo grow better and stronger because durin's stomach is actually nurturing like hummus 😊😊😊" god if you're up there can you revoke this person's rights to speak about rhinedottir, or any morally questionable girlboss for that matter. if you can't accept that a lady had her son swallow her other son whole then just move onto characters who are actually nice instead of rewriting the actually not so good characters to fit your imaginary narrative better.

[galaxii-stara]

working on another lil guy. havent figure name out, but he is a bodyguard of an university student who is partially blind

[true-blue-sonic]

I think TSR played a big part in the "crybaby that wouldn't hurt a fly" perception of Silver. Silver in that game can't even comprehend other people's aggression. I think that combined with how meek and even fearful he's often drawn in IDW creates that impression of him(he cowers in fear at Blaze's flames and nervously holds her in Victory Garden and that isn't the only instance of him being frightened in that series)

About TSR, I definitely agree. Though, I looked into it more before to see if Silver would meekly let Lanolin scold him without talking back in IDW issue 63, and Silver actually does have good scenes in the English localisation! For example, he is shown at least twice to be right on Eggman's tail about what he is doing with Dodon Pa and the Ultimate Energy Engine, and even talks to Eggman once without immediately letting himself be shot down when Eggman insults him.

....But then the localisation put in that fucking Trash Talk Scene and UGH. I looked at the Japanese version, and especially Sonic is just so much more easier to bear there. The thing is, the essence of what the localisation seemed to want to convey in their conversation is absolutely there. Sonic is a bit teasing and competitive, Silver is somewhat awkward and cannot really convey what is bothering him. But Japanese!Sonic, you know, tells Silver multiple times to not worry. That they're friends who haven't seen each other in a while and that he thus would like to race with Silver because he enjoys it. He does joke a bit with Silver's worries, but when Silver expresses frustration he backtracks and goes right back to encouragement once more. None of that dumb "I'm gonna badly beat youuuuu" "I'm gonna make you look sillyyyyyy get your head in the gameeeee" "I'm gonna feed my car to youuuuu", and so on. That's not expressing happiness at being able to race with a friend who hasn't been around in a while, that's just being a smug jerk waving your self-confidence into someone's face who clearly is not interested. And then you continue ragging him on while he tries to talk about his worries, which you keep shooting down in favour of your bragging. Bah. One of English-TSR!Sonic's worst moments, imo. Not helped by Silver's altogether awful responses, like "I'm not hungry, but thanks", and not to mention the "I'm so gonna own you!" "Okay." from the racing start. Like Silv, bruh, you're constantly sneering at and mocking other racers on the track in multiple games, show some bite??? And, as seems to be happening with most of Silver's mischaracterisation by fandom, this one event gets cherrypicked to show that he's just Complete UwU Baby Who Cannot Trash Talk So Cute So Cinnamon Roll If You Look At Him Funny He'll Drown In His Own Tears.

....Yeah. Sigh. Even worse because he's got multiple good moments otherwise.

Anyway, onwards to my other current Silver-related dislike in the Sonic franchise, namely IDW! Because he can indeed be drawn strangely there, and definitely cowering like you said in your ask. Though, a Silver with huge starry eyes and shit when things go right for the heroes for a change is HELLA ooc as well. Give Tangle her stripes and tail back please :/

In my mind, Tangle was similarly starry-eyed in issue 9 as Silver in issue 26, but Silver is WORSE there. In what world is Silver more of a Manic Pixie Dream Genki Girl than Tangle???

And the annoying thing is that also in IDW he's got, in my opinion, great moments! The battle with Zomom in #28 is a no-nonsense, well-coordinated fight between Silver and Whisper wherein Silver can convey what he believes in when he gets jeered at, while showing off some slick psychic moves. In issue 30, Silver gets tons of moments to shine: he's a massive help in Sonic's attempt to reach the final Emerald with Metal Sonic on multiple fronts (carrying the Emeralds, using his powers to block the blows from that gigantic Zavok while not dropping them, getting to Sonic at the very last second so he can turn Super in time, etc.). And even if the Super battle against the gigantic Zavok goes by in mere seconds (which the comic lampshades itself), the scene wherein Sonic and Silver remove the Metal Virus from the world with Silver's PK is one I quite like as well. It shows further good coordination between Sonic and Silver, nobody is being a smug jerk, they know what they should do to save the world and do it smoothly. So also in IDW there are definitely moments to be found where Silver is just his IC self, where I would even go so far as to say that for a good 80% or so in issue 63 he is too.

...But, of course, people only look at the moments wherein he's Being Baby to support the fact that He Is Baby, so there's not a lot of people paying attention to those issues in favour of others that have him far more flanderised and dumb. For example, I quite like Victory Garden because I like the idea Silver would start a garden and seeing Blaze and Silver interact, but it doesn't give much respect for his powers (he can't even carry a bunch of equipment at once, or not slap himself right in the face with it?), throws in an obligatory It's No Use reference because Evan wrote this*, and adds some silly faces and poses here and there on him as well. And there you have it: uwu baby Silver! Not to mention the absolutely awful way Sonic treated him in issue 8, where I'd say the TSR conversation was actually bearable compared to that. Plus the fact Silver is just regularly drawn all throughout the comic as wide-eyed cute boyo in all sorts of goofy kid poses, to the point where Evan actually toned down some of her sketches for #8. (I believe there is a second example when he and Sonic first see Whisper, but Tumblr's search function is shit as always.) So yeah, both the art of IDW and the way Silver is written there tends to be on the meh side in my opinion and furthermore makes him a nice punching bag for everyone else, sigh, and those are the exact moments other fans seem to focus on for their idea of what Silver acts like in favour of actual more IC moments.

I do not know enough about what appears to be one of the root causes of this mischaracterisation of Silver: namely Archie, the stories of the various issues Silver was in, and the fandom's general mindset at the time. But I know enough to realise that Silver was just written plain awfully there, and it bothers me that Silver The Punching Bag (both by comic characters and writers alike, really) from that comic just seems to have gotten carried right over into IDW next. And now we indeed have fans see Silver as a massive cry-baby with half a braincell who won't be able to walk two steps without perishing from something, which is fine if that is how you want to portray him for your fanwork! But it is not what an IC Silver is like, yet especially the comics portray him like that too. I will readily say that Silver seems tough to get down because he's gotten a very 'dual' personality between rude determinist and friendly world-admirer, but the fandom, comic writers, and localisers alike focus far too heavily on that latter part and twist him into someone he simply is not. And since I like seeing both parts of that personality come into play and I do not like Silver being drawn like Tangle (wide-eyed, goofy, Silly Poses Of Enthusiasm) while displaying an altogether awfully unfitting personality (dumb, overly innocent with a complete lack of rudeness or smugness, constantly being set up to be mocked by other characters), I do not like how this characterisation is what has become so pervasive in the fandom's mindset, either.

[aesthetictokinghost]

Don't mind me, I'm just out here pouting about Separate Ways ruining Wesker by removing his emotional control and making anger his entire personality.

[moeblob]

I'm suffering Fates Brain Rot so I drew OCs? Logical!

Nytis (blondie) is a demon cleric who hates feeling any form of pain but lives to cause others pain (he does indeed see the irony of becoming a cleric). In order to help protect himself he forms a pact with Elnae (red gal) and she basically fights in his place if there is a threat of injury. She also does little errands like info-getting and sneaking around for him.

The thing is, while he can hurt others no problem and it's satisfying, he was granted the ability to heal others after he swore allegiance to a deity he holds no respect nor regard for. He honestly doesn't care about whatever gods exist. HOWEVER. As a demon, simply using holy magic actually hurts him so he's a pretty stingy healer and has a sword "just in case" he has to fight.

That said, he does actually have one thing he refuses to let go unpunished: a kid being injured/cursed. He might be a messed up demon but he draws the lines at letting kids suffer. When El asks about it and is like "haha what, did you have a bad childhood too, buddy?" he's like "???? How else would I end up like this? As a cleric? Hurting myself to heal? What the hell is wrong with you YES I had a bad childhood."

[always-andromeda]

Watching A Quiet Place: Day One put me right back into the little Joseph Quinn era I had in 2022 almost immediately. 😭

[bastardofharrenhal]

me when there r tyrion sansa jaime and davos chapters all in a row with no other boring snoring sloppy povs in between