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bonefall · 9 months

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While we’re talking changing who appears in places- can we change the cats helping out with Sunbeam’s rock trial? I was so confused why the cats selected to help were selected. Sure Cherryfall because she was going to be the one opposing Sunbeam, why not, anyone can do that though honestly and not who I take issue with being there. But Alderheart was there? The medicine cat? Don’t you think he has better things to be doing than pushing a rock around? Where’s Lionblaze aka “I may as well still have my god given super strength”? He could easily be the cat that gets pissy for Sunbeam “not listening to senior warriors” and maybe with age feels that she doesn’t respect him, head of patrols, enough to warrant her staying this sabotaging her in the third trial. I felt robbed that Plumstone who seemed to be established as another bg strong cat was absent. Sure sending Sunbeam with all the strongest cats would make it easy but it’d also be making it safe considering Ivypool didn’t want the rock to hurt anyone and it’s a pecking rock. Why not send your strongest cats to deal with it?

I feel very strongly about this trial, can you tell?

I'm a bit dissatisfied with certain trials in general. Most of the time I LOVE the new trials they made, I think they've been super creative so far, but some have been so lackluster that I need to shine them up.

Namely Berryheart's active attempts to get challengers killed. Someone has to get ACTUALLY hurt by one of those, instead of them just being generally unfair and no one raises an objection about it. I did not like the spring-powered adder that went BOING out of a log.

I will say that I would like to expand on Plumstone in this arc, plus her whole little family. They're in an interesting place, with Bumblestripe coming back from Ferncloud's Parting while leaving his father with the Tribe, Blossomfall still reeling with emotional abuse she suffered at the paws of the impostor, Stemleaf's death and Spotfur raising his kits, and Shellfur's mateship with Fernstripe.

Plumstone ALSO has some stuff going on. She's besties-maybe-dating Thriftear, Bristlefrost's sister, and yet she's one of the more outspoken cats about how she's getting tired of the ThunderClan nepotism. She's strong, reliable, and a competent warrior-- so HOW is it fair that Nightheart keeps getting all these undeserved "chances to prove himself" when SHE is here, SIGNIFICANTLY more orange, and wants her own chance to shine??

I still see her personality as being "a dear" lmao, she's not mean, but she's also not willing to bite her tongue either. She will say what's on her mind, and point out unfair treatment when she feels it.

Thriftear supports this. Yeah, she's a descendant of Firestar and a great warrior, but she EARNED the respect she gets. Bristlefrost did too. Nightheart doesn't even want his legacy, why is this clumsy humbug still getting special treatment?

Good-cat bad-cat pair type thing going on.

So I'm probably going to let them both act as a unit, since BB's Dewnose isn't in ThunderClan and that was a really random pair-up anyway.

("wait! Elder Bones! Where did Dewnose go?" Probably ShadowClan, here is the BB!ThunderClan family tree. There's been shuffles; the Cloudbright kits are now Whitewing, Foxleap, and Icecloud, 3 "singlet" litters, spaced out over years.)

Quickie thoughts on touching up the trials;

(DISCLAIMER: NOT SOLID. WE DON'T REWORK UNTIL ARCS ARE COMPLETE.)

Berryheart's are going to need serious overhauls. Nightheart's were really cute and I enjoyed them, but BB is supposed to be about how her group is escalating towards violence. I do not want them to stay so "cute" for the story I'm telling.

I also don't want to keep Nightheart failing his last one on purpose. I want his growth to be more based in self-realization than trying to let Sunbeam "save face."

I kinda want Fringewhisker to get injured during one of her own, and then Antfur dies as collateral damage in Nightheart's last. I'd like Nightheart leaving to be half him realizing that his BEHAVIOR is a problem, and half for his own safety.

In ThunderClan, I'd like the boulder one to be more about Sunbeam assembling a team, almost like she's a patrol head.

Since it's her second trial and she displayed some pretty fantastic leadership skills with her first one, I've got an inkling of an idea that Squilf actually talked with Ivy about wanting to legitimately assess her talent.

Like, "We both know that this whole trial-system was just to appease the other Clans. These are meant to be easy because idgaf. But wow, Sunbeam was actually impressive with those kits. What else can she do, if we give her the chance?"

I really like writing Squilf as she's described in Bramblestar's Storm, where her good leadership comes from being attentive of details and making everyone feel useful.

Man... maybe ill save Rosepetal for this arc and let her be deputy during this. Something feels very Rosepetaly about this. Maybe even have Rosepetal be clearly treating her as if she's a Secondary Apprentice, preparing her to take over her reputation of being a prolific mentor... Nightheart comes back from his trip only to find Sunbeam with twice as much respect as status as he ever had.

I can always axe Rose later to get Ivypool in... But I also REALLY love all the Ivypool Deputy Drama with how there's a conflict with ShadowClan... man. why are there so many interesting girls.

Maybe Rose doesn't have to be deputy, but Ivy assigns Rosepetal as the only "mandatory member" of the Boulder Patrol. Like a tutorial tip lmaooo

Sunbeam: "I think I will pick......................" STARES AT ROSEPETAL, "aaalderrr-" Rosepetal frowns "--pluuuuumstone??" Rosepetal nods, "Wise choice."

And lastly. The final Sunbeam trial. Ngl hated it. It felt really boring compared to the previous two, which were super interesting and excellent ways to give some spotlight to background characters.

Riddles don't even feel like a ThunderClan thing. Idk that was a very RiverClan (philosophy) or ShadowClan (trickery) kind of thing.

I think I'll hold off on thinking about it though; I think it would be SUPER cool if I totally overhauled that last trial to make it foreshadow the later books, somehow.

I DO want to keep that disney channel ass Cherryfall being a bitch part though. I love her so much. I'm so glad she's walking in her father's pawsteps and becoming the snot-nosed brat of ThunderClan.

I will definitely be changing how Sunbeam HANDLES it though. Hate the way that the books emphasize never telling anyone anything.

In fact, I kinda want to make Sunbeam approach Sparkpelt for advice, to show she finally has a figure she feels like she can trust.

Explicitly contrast the way that she NEVER felt like she could approach Berryheart, and that so much of her appeasing, avoidant behavior had been because she didn't feel safe or respected.

Here, in ThunderClan, she has family. She begins to realize that even if Nightheart came back and dumped her, Sparkpelt and Finchlight would NEVER kick her to the curb.

So she goes to Sparkpelt about how she is being bullied by Cherryfall, and they TALK ABOUT OPTIONS.

Like, you know,

Spark: "We could go to Squirrelstar or the deputy."

Sun: "I don't want to cause a fuss if I don't have to... besides, idk, I don't want to set the peat on fire, it would be nice if I could be on good terms with Cherryfall later."

Spark: "that's very wise of you, but just remember that Squilst is a very fair person. We can always go to her. Do you want any backup at all or do you want to do this on your own?"

Sun: "I think... I think I actually do need to do this on my own. If I was being confronted, I think I would just double down if I was being attacked in a group. That was right with Brambleclaw because you weren't trying to convince him, but... what do you think?"

Spark: "I think Cherryfall's just like her father and her ego is everything to her, so I think you're right on the mouse with all this. Honestly, I don't even know how much I'm helping here!"

Sun: "Oh but you are helping! You're helping a lot! StarClan... it feels so nice to just... have someone to listen. Thanks, Sparkpelt."

Basically, tweak the trials to bring them more in line with the themes and messages of BB, y'know? And also beef up the Clans themselves, by stressing the various personalities that are at play here. Especially since I quite like how Sunbeam in ThunderClan has some super neat traits she wasn't expressing in ShadowClan.

Like... it feels like it could be a really cool story to tell about how supportive environments can make you really shine. How you can suddenly seem like a brand new person, just by having people who have your back and encourage your autonomy.

#BB!ASC #asc spoilers but like... book's been out a while now I will probably stop using this tag for this book soon #Better Bones AU

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dootznbootz · 29 days

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I'm not very fond of Epic AUs where Odysseus adopts Astyanax.

It's fine for a one-off joke or comic and ofc this is just my opinion but... if Astyanax lives (like in Racine's play), he should always stay with Andromache. His actual mother, yk. Not with one of the men who sacked Troy. Zeus' prophecy is bound to happen and Odysseus knew keeping the infant around was a bad idea.

If Astyanax dies, I want to see him in Elysium with his father, finally in a peaceful place and having all of eternity to catch up. Then Andromache joins them (sending her to Asphodel would be too cruel) and they finally reunite.

Would anyone picture Neoptolemus adopting Astyanax ? The son of Achilles, who dragged Hector's body in a chariot. No ? So Achilles' associate doing the same would be weird.

And Odysseus ? I want him CRAVING for a son, waiting for so long until he can express his paternal affection (and always cursing Palamedes even after his revenge 😂).

Him meeting Telemachus all grown up should be his first real shot at fatherhood. It'd be underwhelming if he already had a little boy with him. If Telemachus has a little brother, Penelope should be the mother. Or they adopt another baby together afterwards. No Astyanax and ESPECIALLY NO TELEGONUS !

So yeah, imo Astyanax and Odysseus don't belong with each other. Any thought ?

Headsup: This is just an opinion. My opinion does not matter. If you like this AU, PLEASE don't let that stop you from creating! Just because it's not for me, doesn't mean it's not for you or for someone else :D

I absolutely agree and you absolutely put into words WHY.

There's the term "woobifying" and in some cases...I think that's what people just often do with Epic/The Odyssey. (especially from Epic) I'm saying as someone who is a very soft and fluffy person. I love soft and sweet fics and ideas. I love stuff that makes me smile. But I almost feel as though with certain soft things, you're taking away what makes characters who they are. which DOESN'T make me smile lol

like I think there's more fun in simply a "no-war AU" than the "Astyanax lives AU" xD like, that way, Odysseus is with his family, gets to be a dad, Astyanax gets to live (let's not think too hard about how "no war may have meant no Astayanax")

As that way, they still get to be in character as well.

Penelope and Odysseus for example, are scallywags lol. They scheme and swindle. They giggle and kick their feet when they get extra cattle. They hold grudges. They can be snooty and prideful. They're as full of love as they are full of hate. Odysseus, during the Sack of Troy, in both the Odyssey AND Epic, will do whatever it takes to get home. Like yes, in Epic, Jay has it where Odysseus has to "become ruthless" but I can understand what he's doing with the narrative. Odyssey Odysseus? Um...Iphigenia is proof that Odysseus is already ruthless.

Btw, why is Astyanax the only one Odysseus would want to save with these AUs? What about Iphigenia? Is it because of Epic?

Yes, I DO think Odysseus (and Penelope for that matter) have a lot of parental instinct. I plan to write Odysseus carving lil wooden toys for random kids just as something to do. He does tricks. (ngl, while it seems they weren't around in the Mycenaean era, Yo-yos were a thing in ancient Greece. I just KNOW Odysseus would be the type to do so many tricks. (also string and wood🥹)) He has a soft spot for Greater Ajax's boy. My goober was friends with Menelaus and Agamemnon even before he met Penelope (he saw two exiled guys take back their kingdom and thought "hm??? vulnerable state??? They're very rich?? hehe >:3" but then became fond of them. The reason why he went to Sparta was to help Menelaus with Helen but fell in love himself.) and he's carved lil toys for Agamemnon's kids

He's carved lil Iphigenia toys. She likes Dolphins. He still helps sabotage the letter in some myths and even hypes up the crowd.

Even if it IS just based on Epic, "The Horse and The Infant" and "Just a Man" are HUGE turning points for Odysseus. Or even just a show of character. Like yes, "Odysseus is learning ruthlessness" but he already is ruthless. He literally says "I would trade the world to see my son and wife". AND HE STILL DOES THE DEED! HE WAS RUTHLESS SINCE THE BEGINNING! The Second song in the Musical and it already tells you about Odysseus and what he is willing to do. Is he sad and haunted? Yeah. Still did it.

And I really love that as that's Odyssey Odysseus as well! Odysseus isn't an unfeeling violent villain. He's just a man.

Also...What happens in the Odyssey is no fucking place for a child. ;~; The cyclops, the Goddesses, the monsters? Why should a lil boy be anywhere near that? How did he survive while drifting to Ogygia? Does Poseidon try to keep them together? As no one would be in the state to take care of each other together for that many days.

And in general, in the Odyssey, to me, it's such a huge thing that he literally lost EVERYONE. THAT HE IS ALL ALONE. All of the people who were with him are now dead, and there was nothing he could do. It was already fated.

It's horrible but there's something so poetic in him being the "Sole Survivor", especially after all the hell he went through.

Also yeah, I DO really hate the thought of Telemachus knowing "You took care of this baby when I needed you?". Like my OdyPen have a daughter after he returns as the whole "only one son" and that's already really hard for Telemachus to watch Odysseus be a father for her, regardless of how often and how adamantly Odysseus reassures him that Odysseus desperately wished to do the same with him.

#Mad rambles #shot by odysseus #ask #superkooku #odysseus #epic the musical

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ghostl0re · 8 months

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this is just for fun this post is not to be taken as a complete reality of his personality. astrology is a hobby for me i study it and read charts for fun so im not an expert. also this post was written based on his chart with NO houses.

(images for mere representation of his energy)

moon (moon tri. mars, moon sext. uranus and neptune, moon tri. pluto; magnetic, attractive, he could be able to read people easily and may want constant change) and mercury (mercury tri. mars; energetic, loves to learn, active) in pisces honestly i can sense it in his interviews. may appear shy. he feels a lot, there was this interview where he said he connected spiritually w Numa...yeah. he's sensitive. VERY. an empath.

venus in aries im not surprised you can actually see it in certain videos with a certain person (iyyk) (venus sq. mars, venus opp. jupiter, venus sq. uranus, neptune; commitment problems, low self-esteem, sweet person regardless) he kinda needs constant stimulation or he'll get bored but when he loves he goes all in and with passion (im not gonna talk about the s3xúal stuff cuz i feel like im crossing a line lol i respect him) if he's not interested in someone believe me YOU'LL KNOW

sun in aries like are we surprised? he's sooo confident also prob very flirty, FUN, a leader, impulsive and definitely energetic (sun opp. jupiter, sun tr. pluto; could have a big ego and is also an influential person, if we read his chart w gemini rising he has sun conj. moon; caring person) let's not forget all that aries chaotic energy like sarcasm, wanting to do everything fast in life, thinking they're always right, being judgemental, optimistic, bursts of energy, wanting attention or getting over things easily, honest AF lol

mars in cancer soo passive-agressive and a protector of those he loves, loyal, moody, sensitive and just nice overall. (mars sq. jupiter, mars opp uranus, neptune; bro gets the work done but could be unpredictable, dramatic, could be one of those people that just loses their shit just chaotic overall, cancer helps A LOT tho)

jupiter in libra popular, charismatic, creative, kind he's great w the arts but i think we already knew that lol he could have a lot of luck in the arts and look at him now, everyone loves him

saturn in aquarius a leader, responsible, secretive, loyal and confident he gets the work done (saturn sq. pluto; he could be stubborn af, face hard challenges, etc. could get dark but also very good cuz it makes him a resilient person)

uranus and neptune in capricorn (generational planets) hard working, determined, responsible, wants success, independent. (uranus conj. neptune, uranus sext. pluto, neptune sext. pluto; strong personality, curious mind, imaginative, could be curious in spiritual topics)

pluto in scorpio (generational planet) remember Bayona used to say Enzo had this mysterious energy? pluto in scorpio could be one of the many reasons (f.e his pisces moon) why he seems mysterious, he could feel a lot since is a water sign, emotional, MAGNETIC but this planet as well as uranus and neptune are more about a whole generation.

lilith in pisces bro he's super and i mean SUPER intuitive, EMPHATIC and creative (he has A LOT of water in his chart) he has a vivid imagination but it also signifies addictions or anxiety (i wont be diving into it tho) lilith in pisces could mean self-sabotage tendencies, excesssive tendencies (in anything), lives in their head, trust issues, escapism and repress their emotions. and that's all because this placement feels A LOT is always connected with everyone and everything.

chiron in leo he has the wound of talent he prob thinks he's not talented enough he actually thought he was gonna get fired many times lmfao

summary: he's very VERY emotional person. i almost drowned looking at his chart, water king. water makes him a super sensitive dude, his fire placements make him more energetic and confident, he's emotional, spontaneous, fun, energetic, down to earth, unpredictable, expressive, ambitious, spiritual, sensitive and impulsive, reads people like a book, he feels deeply, most likely an empath. i would say that the reason he's captivating are his pisces placements (if i knew his birth time this would be so much more detailed) he probably had (or has) anxiety and self-doubt thoughts i see him more of an ambivert kind of person, you can see in his interviews and even in his insta posts how deep and sensitive he is but also his fiery combination, he just seems fun. overall he's a super cool dude i like his energy a lot, he's very magnetic. im gonna say a weird thing but he kinda reminds me of getaway car (yes...the taylor swift song, wanna know the specific part of the song that reminds me more of him? after the bridge, when piano intensifies loll)

note: im not including his north and south node cuz they're more specific depending on the house they land, i would love to know his birth time to get more specific things but alr

#enzo vogrincic #la sociedad de la nieve #society of the snow #writing #astrology #enzo vogrincic birth chart #enzo #enzo birth chart #enzo vogrincic edit #enzo vogrincic icons #astrogirl #astro observations #birth chart #💫#💌#lsdln

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definitelynotshouting · 3 months

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context: ik most of my asks are pretty disorganized, stream of consciousness type of thing but GEEZ this got out of hand. you know that thing cats do when they bring you a dead mouse and *they're* super proud of it and you're just like dude.. why /lh

i usually put whatever my immediate thoughts are after reading the chapter and this time i thought it might be fun to write it out before. can you tell im running on five hours of sleep?? lmk if this made any coherent sense because even i dont understand it!!

so last chapter ripped my heartt out and stomped on it. i am LIVING for the way this whole thing was written, gorgeous prose as always <3. i was very curious as to wether Mumbo would question Grian but i think him NOT doing that was SO in character, and i adore it. I feel like w/ some fics (my own writing included) Scar is the ONLY one Grian relies on for support (in ANY area), and whenever Mumbo is even in the picture, he's just kinda "there", he doesn't check up on Grian or broach the topic of whatever is currently plaguing our little bird guy (basically, he's not involved in Grian's life despite being "his best friend"). And the way you characterized him was just So Real?? I would wager a guess (correct me if im wrong ofc) that part of it is that he just DOESNT know, (because Grian is oh so good at telling half truths and privately justifying his self sabotage) but a part of it is also him being lowkey willfully ignorant. he doesnt WANT Grian to be sick (mentally or otherwise) but definetly knows that SOMETHING is up. he really WANTS to help fix whatever is going on (evident by the gold farm) but he doesnt know what Grian needs or how to help him.

i have been OBSESSING over how Grian saying goodnight to Mumbo was ACTUALLY his goodbye to him but Mumbo DOESNT KNOW AND ITS EATING ME ALIVE. (also thought it was super interesting how Grian sort of took Mumbo leaving to sleep as "permission" to do the deed)

side ish note: how tf does Grian even plan to do that?? ik he's got the spider eyes and i *think* he's planning to turn the healing potions into weakness potions but like?? how is he going to do that??? i would assume that the gang would be watching the potions AS they were brewing, and even if they weren't, healing potions and weakness potions are.... vastly different colors. (unless im mixing them up with something else). also aren't they going to walk in on him prepping or already being in the middle of it and just save him like last time? the team as a whole has done a pretty good job on keeping an eye on Grian (from just a "this person can't walk" standpoint) so far. is he waiting for a chance when everyone is busy or does he plan to use MORE weakness potions to make it stronger or quicker?? im interested to see if he's even going to follow The Plan, because up until this point he's been pretty careful with trying to make plans and sneak around EXCEPT for the spider eyes basement adventure, which makes me wonder is he'll get more frantic/desperate as the appointed time draws closer.

Real talk though, Mumbo (and everyone else) is going to be beating himself up over not noticing when stuff goes down (which i would assume would be next chapter, but idk). Also, the fact that Grian asked him to stay means A LOT. To me (and idk if this is what you meant to convey) that signals that a part of him WANTS to stay. theres a part of him that wants to continue to experience the comfort and joy he gets from his friends, but he feels like he's only going to continue to hurt them, so to him this is the ONLY option to keep them safe. also the majority of his existence is just misery and pain so thats probably not helping. (PLUS the whole slew of mental health issues, this is not purely self sacrificial).

anyway, i LOVED this chapter as always, it was like chicken noodle soup for my overworked little soul and i savored every bit of it!! (also, no need to apologize for not having enough spoons!! i dont have any chronic illnesses but i know that shit sucks. this is a particularly long ask for me so dont feel compelled to answer everything in it, or answer right away. hope ur doing well <3)

-🐛

BUG ANONNNN THIS COMMENT IS SO SWEET AND I LOVED READING IT OMGGGG

you hit the nail exactly on the head for where im going with mumbo's characterization-- there is 100% a level of willful ignorance there. Ive always felt like mumbo is the kind of guy who has a thing about avoidance-- he feels very much like a character who will absolutely do his best to ignore things that hes decided arent his business (right up until he stops LMFAO) and part of that in hunger au is him being so anxious for grian to get better that he stops looking at the red flags grian is aggressively waving around. It'll work out!! He's sure of it!! Grian even directly said he's trying to get better!! And i think if he looked at that for longer than it takes for him to flinch away from the entire subject, he would see how much of a bald lie that is.

But he doesnt, because thats a LOT to deal with, and hes never really??? Seen this side of Grian before??? Not the way Pearl and Scar have. Theres a lot of intricacy there that i feel im skimming over but like Mumbo is very much keeping his own sanity in mind here too and thats another painful factor to the whole situation. Idk i have lots of thoughts about it and about the choice here to depict Mumbo giving in to that willful ignorance, and how its going to affect his and Grian's relationship in the future of the fic

(Quick tw for frank discussions of suicide below)

You've also completely nailed the subtext i was getting at with Grian asking Mumbo to stay-- smth ive always felt is a bit underrepresented in narratives like these are how at its most base core, suicide and suicidal ideation are often about needing something to fundamentally change in your life. It takes a LOT of both hopelessness and sheer willpower to actively try and overcome your body's instinctive will to survive. That instinct is baked into our very cells; when someone commits, it means their hopelessness for meaningful change to happen in their lives was so strong it overpowered everything else. And that is something deeply, deeply tragic, and also something i really wanted to respectfully highlight in this portrayal-- how bad things are when you spiral that far. Grian is starving to death. He wasnt lying about maybe having a week to live-- the intermittent feeding has kept him alive longer than anticipated, but its like trying to wall off an avalanche; theres only so much you can do in the face of all that :( and that hopelessness, in combination with how guilty he feels for what he did to his friends, has manifested in him feeling like his only recourse is to kill himself... but at the same time, that instinct to survive and KEEP SURVIVING is still blaring in his veins, and that manifests as him asking Mumbo to stay. Its a bit paradoxical, but its meant to really show how bad his mental state is, that he is willfully ignoring all the frantic signals his body is screaming at him to try and stay alive rn 🥺🥺🥺🥺

Also, with the potions-- without revealing too much about how this is going to happen, Grian is planning on making fermented spider eyes and using them to turn the healing potions into harming potions, which he'll then drink in the in-between to make sure he dies immediately. Now.. i know how this is gonna go, and i know the exact mechanics around how this is gonna shake out, but smth to keep in mind is hes not thinking logically anymore, he has FULLY capitulated to his own storm of emotional wreckage. So yes there are DEFINITELY some questions to be asked about how hes gonna try and get this done, but in all honesty they mostly boil down to "sheer opportunity" which you'll see a bit more of in the next chapter >:] but yeah its meant to be a bit illogical skdbwkdjskd since he just isnt thinking coherently anymore at this point :(

Bug anon thank u for my entire life this comment was so sweet and so wonderful to receive, i really love it when my writing is analyzed like this and seen and understood!!! Its amazing its such a wonderful feeling to have your work be seen like this and its something i very much do not take for granted :]]]❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ tysm for the ask i am seriously treasuring it SO MUCH rn (and also thank you for the well-wishes!! Im doing my best to stay silly out here HEHE)❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

#shouting speaks #asks #hunger au #compliments #suicide #cw suicide #just cause it gets real frank in the discussion of it #long post #txt

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humanharvest · 10 months

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Hey! Sorry to bother you but I saw you answer an ask where you talked about your headcanons for Johnny Cage and Kuai Liang's friendship and now I really wanna hear more headcanons of yours, if you want to share?

Sorry again if this is a bother, feel free to ignore it!

noo it's not a bother at all!! i love doing stuff like this, it lets me feel out more for characters! also, sorry if anything is jumbled. i do not have a clear thought process! lol

alright, starting with hanzo first because i have a few that're pretty tame and small. as a nervous habit, i think he traces over certain parts of his hands like his knuckles and will tap on them to help stifle his anger. or he puts one hand in the other and squeezes it so it's not as obvious.

aside that, given his pyromancy, the man is a walking heater. he probably doesn't like cold tea, when or if he drinks it, so he will warm it up in his hands! and with his hands, he'll heat them enough to massage anything sore to help with that. i also think that despite things with kenshi, hanzo had to really fight with himself about takeda, always having an underlying fear due to what happened with his son. he cares a lot about him though :) for the most part he was awkward or felt that way, but despite his strict nature, all things seem to go well.

he takes a lot of pride in being well groomed and clean, and with that information, i also wonder if he kind of hates mess? finds being sweaty for too long a discomfort, hates to let blood dry on him, something he most likely has gotten used to, sure, but he still dislikes it.

for emotions, when he lets his anger control him, he thinks way more irrationally and is inherently more self-sacrificing. he doesn't really care what might happen to him because he's just going to come back again, so why should it matter? but if he actually has a cool head, hanzo's less likely to do something irrational.

kuai liang, i have a few more headcanons for! that being that he's so used to isolation and lack of touching (that isn't someone hitting him with their fists) that he kind of locks up and blue screens when he receives things like a hug, or a pat on the back. he can handle handshakes and a shoulder grab, since those happen quite often.

he's very careful, tactile. not one to blow up, but this leads to him bottling up emotions. he really has a habit of that, mainly because he one: doesn't want to be seen as weak and two: doesn't want anyone else to be burdened with his negativity, so to speak. he doesn't think it's obvious when it eats away at him, but frost, hanzo, johnny, they know when it is. but still kuai liang self-sabotages and is very avoidant about his feelings. he turns how he's feeling into a calm optimism, offering small smiles that are just facades. he's used to this, but also finds the new support, even after years, to still be so overwhelming. he appreciates it all, but it's a very slow process for kuai liang to properly open up.

out of everyone, i think johnny — since again, i see them as best friends — knows a lot of little things about kuai liang that kuai liang doesn't even admit or reveal aloud. he's just observant, notices when kuai liang makes little animal sculptures out of ice when he's bored. this totally doesn't prompt johnny to ask kuai liang to make him one of those fancy ice sculptures so he can use it at a fancy party.

for a few random ones, i think, despite the fact kuai liang doesn't drink or drinks very little, he'd be a great bartender. i like domestic au's, so bartender kuai liang is something i think about time to time. he'd also just look good in a suit. i also think he loves hamsters. there's just something about them he loves, and if he were a normal child with a normal life, he would've loved to own one growing up. or even currently as an old man! he just reads as a hamster guy.

i think that's all i had to wrack my brain for these LOL i hope you like my hcs :3

#mk #mortal kombat #🩻 txt #ask #kuai liang #hanzo hasashi #mk11 headcanons #another long post!!#and i will find any way to talk about kuai liang he is my little soggy wet cat who is so sad

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jkgnggj · 5 months

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Question, is saiki & toritsuka's friendship better(healthier) or hii and toritsuka's?

Just a question!!! for me it's hii's and tori's

(Is healthier spelled wrong????)(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞

I FUCKING WROTE A LONG ASS ESSAY TO THIS AND WHEN I TRIED TO POST IT TUMBLR WAS LIKE "WOOPSIE SOMETHING WENT WRONG 🤪" BITCH !!! ANYWAYS SORRY FOR SUPER LATE REPLY I HAD TO RETYPE AND RESEARCH STUFF AND REWATCH THE EPS FOR THIS LOL

Ok so basically I think they're both healthy / unhealthy in their own ways its just up to ur interpretation yk. Like ultimately it's up to everyone to decide whether it's toxic or not in their hcs and fanon aus and stuff bc note everyone's gonna have the same opinion but to me I think both friendships are very healthy in their own right.

I think at first tori's def a bit selfish and only seeks out relationship out of his own selfish desires like he seems out Saiki bc of his cool powers (though there isn't much wrong with wanting to befriend someone bc u think they're cool) but he also mentions he wishes he had those powers and then he goes on to try and make saiki use his powers for saikis benefit (aka be popular and get a girl) which again isn't like the worst thing ever like it's obvious Tori would want his only friend to help set him up with someone but the way he does it is a bit disingenuous bc he's pretending to be something or someone he's not. But regardless saiki always helps him even if he doesn't actually help lol sometimes he sabotages him tho usually Tori does that to himself LMAO. But saikis supportive of Tori even tho he insults him and shit he's just a tsundere who doesn't know how to show affection and his way of doing it is a lil violent but he doesn't actually ever harm Tori he always heals him and stuff when he actually physically does damage so Tori can't even feel it when his insides explode lmaooo. Also saikis constantly helping Tori become a better person and do the right things. And u could say it's "toxic" or one-sided cuz only Tori gets something out of their friendship but that's simply not true bc saiki gets a friend out of Tori and the first friend to know Abt his powers too, the first person out of his family to know him for who he truly is powers and all. He's also really reliable even if he's kinda incompetent or useless he is still a huge help when it counts. Tori's constantly putting saiki above his selfish desires when it really matters. They each give and take from each other which I think is necessary for a healthy relationship tbh. It's not one sided at all bc they each risk their lives for each other (cat tank arc).

As for hiitori like any relationship Tori pursues it's a lil superficial at first bc he's got unpure intentions and like selfish reasons for approaching her. He wanted to flirt with her and date her simple as that he wants to be loved lol. And he's a bit of a jerk Abt it bc altho he's nice and kind to her u could say he's probably mostly or at least partly doing it to end up dating her or so she doesn't end up hating him or losing feelings for him bc he's never really had a girl like him for more than like 0.2 seconds. He approaches Saiki to help cure her unluckiness so that he can date her without the fear of getting killed (which like sorta fair but at the same time still douchey lol). He also gives up and runs away bc he's a coward and tries to dump her into Saiki and Mikos hands bc again he's selfish and prioritizes his life over anything else but he tries to protect her (and himself, or maybe himself and by extension he protects her) when they're together like when he offers to take the dangerous chemicals to class himself instead of letting her touch them. So you could say his motives are more Abt self preservation than love but I do think he still cares about her safety and well being (even if at first it's just bc hes desperately and selfishly attached to her love for him). And he gets a lil "toxic" or like possessive when satous in the pic bc now he's got a love rival and he doesn't really like being dumped over the average dude (like fair again but it's still seen as toxic bc he calls hii-chan his girl LMAO) and so he tries to get between them right but backs off when he's literally almost killed at the stationary store haha what a coward. But then when they find out why she's so unlucky although reluctantly Tori ends up helping Saiki figure out how to cure her misfortune. And u could argue he only did it for Saiki's sake so he could praise. Him or be proud of him but I think the reason (if not most of the reason anyways) he does it is because he does genuinely care about hii-chan's safety at the end. He can't just leave a poor cute defenseless girl with that shitty guardian spirit. She's the first girl who's ever really had feelings for him for this long and like genuinely doesn't hate him or whatever so ofc he's gonna have a lil soft spot for her she's the closest thing he has to a friend in class since most of the girls hate him and call him "pervitsuka" and shit so im sure he was trying to be legit helpful and useful to if he wouldn't get recognition for it. I mean he goes full on mom mode on the guardian spirit and then nendou sr comes and goes mom mode sr on the dude too and cleans him up and then it's still not enough so Tori sacrifices (literally, he holds a fucking funeral for them) his getas burning them at the stake just so the guardian spirit can be happy and protect hii-chan like he should've been. He doesn't even complain about giving up his high heels what a brave girl he is 😔💔 oh u also made a post I think Abt how when tori was missing for a whole fucking week the only one who noticed was hii-chan and she went and told Saiki and that's the only reason he found out lol. Maybe it's because the dude sits next to her in class or bc he was her first friend at pk or her first love of something but whatever the reason it was still incredibly thoughtful of her to worry about him and his wellbeing. That's something that didn't really occur to kusuo so I guess if u really wanna pin them against each other hii-chan wins by being the more thoughtful of the two but hey Saiki felt guilty and wanted to rescue Toritsuka despite him being brainwashed and hating him at the moment that he risked his life for him just so he wouldn't get hurt by the cat tank so I think they can't really be compared since. They're different circumstances lol.

Anyways, I think that although his motives for starting any relationship and approaching anyone are usually selfish, Tori sticks around and helps them when they need it. Both saiki and suzumiya are important for Toritsuka's growth as a person / character and their relationships are both fairly healthy at least by the end. I think toritsuka loves and cares for suzumiya and saiki as much as they do for him <3

#ty for the ask Hopefully this one doesnt fucking delete itself again ugh #fuck u tumblr #ruchans asks

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sshbpodcast · 5 months

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Character Spotlight: Rom

By Ames

Among your A Star to Steer Her By hosts, Rom might be the most polarizing character from all of Star Trek. Some of us (and you all know when I’m talking about Chris) worship the ground this grand nagus walks on. And some of us (oh hello, I’m Ames) would rather throw him out an air lock. His rather offensive depiction as someone who seems to have low intelligence ends up contradicted by his otherworldly engineering skills. His actually very funny scenes get offset by how his whole character becomes a goofy punchline. His Ferengi values are deplorable and yet his character journey and love of his family are commendable. And that voice…

All that to say: this blogpost is going to be our biggest roller coaster ride yet.

So get ready to dig into a bowl of tube grubs and keep your tooth sharpener handy as we dig into the moments we adore about Quark’s lesser brother and the moments we detest about him. Read on below and listen to this week’s podcast episode (jump to 1:01:34) for all the Ferengi gossip. And don’t forget to call your moogie.

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

You saved your brother’s life Let’s start off with the good stuff. In “Necessary Evil” when Trazko is pillow smothering Quark, Rom screams and screams for help, foiling the assassination plot and saving his brother’s life. And you know what, it’s actually a pretty funny button when Rom screams again when he realizes that, with Quark still alive, he won’t be inheriting the bar any time soon.

I would be proud to have a son in Starfleet Even I, a bonafide Rom hater, can admit that his relationship with his son is one of the best things about his character. We see him stand up to Quark (a rarity!) and support Nog’s desire to join Starfleet in “Heart of Stone” and we’ve got to give the guy credit for wanting Nog to pursue his dreams of becoming better than his father, low bar as that may seem.

The Ferengi not-so-Benevolent Association When the Nagus’s personality has gotten rewritten in “Prophet Motive,” he somehow ends up making Rom the senior administrator of his new Ferengi Benevolent Association. And you’ve got to give Rom credit for seeing a chance to scheme that even Quark didn’t notice, as he embezzles money from the foundation before Zek turns back to normal. He’s got the lobes!

Moogie’s got the lobes for business In addition to the lovely father-son relationship with Nog, Rom’s relationship with his moogie is also extremely sweet. He eventually supports her profit-making scheme in “Family Business” even though it’s illegal for females to make money, tricks Quark into coming to terms with Ishka, and by the end of the episode is in on the plan to hide some of her profits from Brunt, FCA!

My son’s happiness is more important to me than anything, even latinum It’s worth mentioning how supportive Rom is of Nog again because in “Facets” he foils Quark’s nefarious plan to sabotage his Starfleet Academy exam, even threatening to burn the bar to the ground because he places his son’s personal journey so highly. He also goes to Garak to have Nog’s cadet uniform made personally, which is just about the cutest moment in the show.

Our union, united, will never be divided Rom proves to be a champion of the laborer in “Bar Association” when he starts up a union for Quark’s bar to fight for better pay and working conditions. Again, it’s another practice that’s illegal under Ferengi law, but that doesn’t stop Rom (even when it gets Quark attacked), who rallies his band of waiters and Dabo girls together with confidence we’ve never seen before.

Number one dads! We don’t get a lot of scenes between Sisko and Rom, the two best dads of the station (sorry Miles, but neither of these proud papas left their child to die in the woods). When Jake and Nog are quarreling over their odd-couple habits in “The Ascent”, the two fathers concoct a scheme to get them to talk out their problems and be friends again by pretending there are no other quarters available.

Do I have a reason to stay? Maybe it’s because Lewis Zimmerman comes across as such a cretin, but it feels like a victory when Rom asks Leeta out at the end of “Dr. Bashir, I Presume?” and she decides to stay at the station instead of leaving to become Dr. Z’s sex object. Even though everyone already knew she’d say yes, it takes him the whole episode to muster the courage, but let’s take the win.

Self-replication. That’s the only answer. Rom’s contradictory character traits are nothing if not fascinating. Sure, he couldn’t find a cup of water if you dropped him in a lake, but he still comes up with the ingenious idea to have the cloaked minefield also be self-replicating to take on the Dominion in “Call to Arms.” Moments of sheer brilliance like this make Rom a character of simultaneous simplicity and complexity.

I walk through minefields Rom’s profound bravery is on display during season six when he works with the resistance to undermine the Dominion occupation. And it all caps off with “Sacrifice of Angels.” Rom may not have had time to prevent Damar from taking down the minefield, but he still sabotages their weapons array, giving the prophets the time they needed to save the day.

We’re not commandos, we’re negotiators What could have simply been a farcical play on The Seven Samurai or The Magnificent Seven gets a fresh take when Rom has a rare epiphany in “The Magnificent Ferengi”. The Ferengi don’t have the chops for fighting (except for Leck, whom we love), and Rom points out that they should treat the release of Moogie as a business deal, something more in their wheelhouse.

A kinder, gentler Nagus Rom’s entirely hyperbolized character arc concludes with him becoming Grand Nagus in “The Dogs of War.” Sure, it’s definitely entirely out of nepotism because his mother had put him there, and she’s also definitely going to be the one ostensibly in charge because she can pull his strings, but what a journey! And he’s so magnanimous about it that he even gives the bar back to Quark!

—

Worst moments

Not next to that human boy. I don’t want you to have anything to do with him. Onto the bad stuff! In “A Man Alone,” Rom doesn’t even have the caricatured voice yet, but does start the series with all the typical toxic Ferengi values. It takes a battle for him to agree to let Nog attend Keiko’s classroom, and even when he does, his anti-hooman racism shows when he won’t let Nog sit with Jake, just as Sisko didn’t want his son hanging out with that Ferengi trash either.

Now go to your room. And no studying. A few episodes later, Rom pulls Nog from Keiko’s school in “The Nagus” after getting criticized by Zek for allowing his son to learn from a hooman female. It’s one of Rom’s biggest faults (and Quark’s too): his preoccupation with displaying as a typical, profitable Ferengi even among people for whom their value system is hot garbage. Rom at least eventually overcomes it.

Rom’s. Nice name for a bar, don’t you think? Another case to make that point: Rom becomes the lackey of Zek’s son Krax and helps in the attempt to kill off Quark in “The Nagus.” It’s not until later that we see more brotherly love, one-sided though it may seem. But this early in the show, Rom is much more of a typical Ferengi, obsessed with amassing power, fame, and fortune above all else.

Ferengi, Romans, Countrymen: Lend me your ears We here at the podcast really rooted for Pel in “Rules of Acquisition,” a female who really has the lobes to break free of the government’s oppression of her gender. So when Rom outs her to Quark as a female (after a scene way too comically goofy of him literally looking through Pel’s socks to find incriminating evidence), we can’t help but start siding against him, the dirty rat.

You know, come to think of it, my ear’s bothering me too Like I did with the Quark post, I will call out all the uncomfortable uses of oo-mox whenever the show sinks to such a level. We see Rom trying to trick Faith Garland into giving him oo-mox in “Little Green Men” – while his son is actively getting it! – and I just find it so gross. For how much oo-mox is played up to be a sexual act in this show, this is sexual assault, plain and simple.

Too. Much. Oo-mox. And to make things grosser, we get even more oo-mox references a couple episodes later in “Bar Association” when we learn that Rom has given himself an ear infection from too much oo-mox. And it’s self-inflicted. So basically what we’ve learned from this scene is that Rom masturbates so much that he gives himself an infection, a detail I wish I never had to learn.

Even. More. Oo-mox. I’ve got one more oo-mox mention to get out of my system because I’m just so angry every time it comes up. Literally right after Rom has admitted to rubbing his ears raw to Leeta in “Bar Association” and she shows some sympathy for him, his response is to request oo-mox from her! They’re not even dating at this point! It’s disgusting. I hate it. Minus a hundred points.

The better to hear you with Speaking of Leeta, it’s exactly a season after this that Rom finally asks her out in “Dr. Bashir, I Presume?” (as we mentioned above!). But! This is a) after we learn that his first wife Prinadora swindled him on their wedding extension contract like a chump, and b) after we watch him literally tuning his ear to eavesdrop on Leeta and Zimmerman’s conversation. And somehow he still never gets the hint she’s into him. Like a chump!

If you liked it then you shoulda put a Bajoran earring on it I’m just gonna lump what a shitty partner Rom is to Leeta into one screed. In “Ferengi Love Songs,” he tries to make her sign a Waiver of Property and Profit just because Jadzia and Miles were teasing him about not being very Ferengi like. This after he started wearing a Bajoran-style earring, which strikes me as on the questionable side of cultural appropriation.

Later in “Call to Arms,” we see Rom trying to suggest Leeta’s wedding dress literally be a couple handkerchiefs and a loincloth (gross) and then once they’re married, he decides she’s leaving the station before the Dominion rolls in, without her getting a single say in her own life (more gross!). Why are all the men in this show so shit at relationships!?!?

You said the reward was twenty Shockingly, Rom’s incompetence hasn’t come up as much as I expected, but his ability to ruin things through miscommunication and shenanigans is on special display in “The Magnificent Ferengi.” He blurts out that Quark is cheating the other Ferengi out of reward money, riles up the rest of the team, and thus gets Keevan killed because he can’t keep big mouth shut.

Foul ball! I’m not alone in hating on the campy mess that is “Take Me out to the Holosuite” but Rom is so disruptively, dangerously bad at playing baseball that it warrants being on this list. How he makes it as far as he does in the tryouts only speaks to how terrible Sisko is at coaching. The guy breaks Quark’s damn head. That’s how bad he is. It goes past being funny to just being idiotic.

That’s why the lady is a scamp We have space for one more bad “Rom is a nincompoop” joke that doesn’t land. In “The Siege of AR-558,” we’re tortured with Rom’s deliberately atrocious cover of “The Lady Is A Tramp” just because Ira Behr really needed to shoehorn Vic Fontaine into as many of the final episodes as possible, and it shows because it’s just another lowbrow, asinine, bottom-feeding gag. Check that off the list.

—

Well, that may have gone off the rails but whenever I have to sit through oo-mox jokes, I get testy. And sadly I already know there’s going to be more of that next week with our final Ferengi spotlight on Nog! So make sure you’re following along to catch that, join us as we continue our watchthrough of Enterprise over on SoundCloud or wherever you podcast, engage in negotiations with us on Facebook and Twitter, and stop making oo-mox jokes!

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lacrimosathedark · 2 years

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Hello. I love Conner Kent and have compiled pretty much every time Conner and Tim have had any kind of intimacy since he was brought back to canon.

Let’s go in order!

Young Justice 2019 (not to be confused with the OG)

For the record, this is pre-bisexual-realization Tim. tbh I’ve been thinking about just how bitter Tim sounds here despite still being oblivious to how freaking gay he is. Like, seriously “Whatever dumb thing or person makes him happy makes me happy.” Like, why they gotta be dumb, Timbo? While not anywhere near as weird, it also feels very strong for Tim to say with his whole-ass chest “he’s my best friend and I love him” solely given how recently he recovered those memories. But if they had resolidified into him by that point, it’s not too strange. Stronger things have been said about them and by them.

Conner goes right for Tim. (In fairness, Cassie’s already got him and Bart isn’t in the room yet, but still)

(Also please join me in desperately trying to ignore the Drake outfit for the next few images because Yikes)

Conner was being such a Mom to Bart before this that this just reminds me of when they started Young Justice and he made a comment about how Bart would be a handful for other heroes or parents and Tim just gave him a Look and he was like “Oh, no! I am NOT the mom!” Sure, Jan.

More cute Bart, but it’s just...the thought. Bart knew Tim would want to see pics of Kon punching Luthor in the face and I love that for them.

I couldn’t not include the subsequent hug. THEY’RE SO FRICKIN CUTE.

That’s about it for Young Justice (and thankfully Drake). Next is the Tim Drake Pride Special, most of which is also in Batman: Urban Legends. Though Conner is only in Urban Legends for this one hot sec.

Kon doesn’t end up helping with Bernard because Tim is a stubborn dumbass with a habit for self-sabotage. But he saves the day and gets the boy anyway.

(For the record, I am endgame TimKon 100%, but Tim and Bernard are also very cute together and I’m so excited to see more of them! Honestly, read the new Tim Drake: Robin comics they are so flippin cute and we get to see Bernard being a ridiculous conspiracy theorist like he was on New Earth and it’s actually pretty funny and so cute UGH)

Then this is I think exclusive to the Pride Special, and we are post Bisexual Awakening.

So many people loved this page. Including me. But this part of the special was more about getting Tim to talk to Stephanie again. Because he’s an awkward loser who is trying to find himself and will occasionally just distance himself from people to do so. Despite generally being self aware and knowing better.

Anywho, the following is from Dark Crisis: Young Justice. Which isn’t too bad, but sometimes feels a bit wonky, especially with the girls. But it’s not totally out of character, especially given the Fresh Trauma, and it gets in the boys’ heads. And there’s...A Lot.

This is...well, these are Cassie’s thoughts. The plot hole made here, “Conner never find[ing] out” which shouldn’t be true because both Cassie AND Tim told him about this, is hand waved later because the whole thing with Rebirth is everyone’s memories are Fucked. I mean, Kon and Bart should have not been included in that because they were “off-world” when the N52 reboot happened which is the explanation for the 90s/2000s versions to come back basically as they had been, but y’know. Comics.

But anyway, this is bringing up, in case you live under a rock and were unaware, the time when Kon died and Cassie and Tim started dating for a hot second almost entirely because of their shared grief over Kon. Cassie had literally been in a Superboy cult and Tim was in the desperate process of trying to clone him.

You know. Fun times.

Dark Crisis actually has a lot of Kon@Tim stuff. I mean, plenty of the mutual affection still, but Kon is very focused on Tim, whereas Tim is trying to be more logical and, funny enough, listening to Bart.

Everyone forgets Bart is Super Smart, in part because he’s actually naturally clever but has a goober personality, but also because part of his trauma response to getting his kneecap blow off and having to have surgery done with little to no anesthetic because his metabolism burned that shit right out, he literally consumed an entire library. Like, read every single book there at super speed. Boy Knows Things. Plus he’s experienced to much more trauma since then, he’s become a quick thinker (pun always intended).

But you’re not here for my Bartholomew Is Great lecture, you’re here for TimKon!

Coffee Boy Confirmed

Oh, Tim...

All three of them go flying out of a car and Kon grabs Tim, but fuck Bart I guess? Bart brings this up later but it’s still frustrating. Sure, Tim and Kon are besties, but they love Bart. He’s not a third wheel in their friendship. He’s part of it. Just...sigh.

I love “You know I can run, right?” This is just a little glimpse into while Kon’s brain seems almost exclusively reserved for self pity and Tim, and Tim is still very much more focused on Conner, Tim is still paying attention to Bart (even if he doesn’t feel like it). Tim didn’t need to grab Bart at all, but why not?

Again, Kon brushing Bart off entirely, and Tim acknowledging Bart’s point but still showing preference to Kon.

Tim is So Done with these two and it’s so funny.

Also want to note, “process this with Babs later”. Is Babs acting as his therapist? I think she has the training, or at least a degree in psychology? That would actually be kinda sweet.

This seems so much more “ow my heart” out of context...the context is, Kon is being a dick to Bart. Tim ultimately disagrees with Conner, but not enough for Bart to not storm off, as seen below.

For the record, that’s not Cassie. Which is pretty obvious from the jump. But even here...yikes.

This stunned look (which is oddly glassy-eyed and unnerving tbh...) is in direct contrast to his calm understanding when Cassie actually told him, and then when Tim tried to talk to him about it. He was initially like “that’s kinda fucked up, but I get it and I forgive you”. Which...honestly sounds super big and sweet, but he also had pretty much the same reaction to “I was in a Superboy revival cult” and “I tried to clone you 90+ times and considered tossing you in a Lazarus Pit” so...

What I’m saying is Kon, in true Kent fashion, is a himbo.

But this could set off so many trains of thought here. Cassie told him it was out of grief that she did it--Tim never gets to explain his side. But what if it was a grief reaction for Tim? (It was.) Does that mean he was projecting his feelings for Conner onto Cassie? (Probably.) Tim knows he likes boys now, does that mean he liked Conner? (Likely.) Either way, what does Kon do with this?

Okay, this isn’t TimKon, but these boys are so fucking funny. Have I mentioned that I love Tim Drake? Because I love him. (Also reminds me of the time when Bart’s head was fucked up and he thought he was Batman...look, the 90s were weird, okay?)

They just had a fight and Tim’s first move is to stabilize and comfort Conner. Just....aaaaaaaaaaaa

And then we get to the fourth issue...which is probably my favorite because we’re finally in Conner’s head! We’ve been bopping between Bart and Tim until now (and also Cassie and Cissie elsewhere), but nearly this whole comic is Kon’s POV and it’s both hilarious and a little heartbreaking. I...I love him. He is my Favorite.

So, they’re being attacked by a whole fake Justice League and Titans (I see Roy and Kory and Kyle and Donna and--) and Big Bad is fucking with the sound waves. Until Conner is like, “Okay, but what if we didn’t?”

He’s the one who’s been trying to convince the other two that this fake world is okay, that it’s better and they should stay, despite things being noticeably Off, and despite the distinct lack of Jon, Damian, and Wallace. (As far as I know, Bart doesn’t know Wallace too well, but Kon and Jon at least met and got on okay, and Tim and Damian are...well, they’re at a point in their relationship of begrudging respect and affectionate verbal violence rather than, y’know, actual violence). Bart wants to GTFO, and Tim was wishy-washy at first, but at this point is firmly with Bart and wants out. I mean, he started getting Bad Vibes when Fake Batman said him wanting to date Bernard over Stephanie was “just a phase”. I didn’t include that image despite loving it, but Tim’s internal thoughts are, verbatim, “@#$&#&* what?” which can, I would guess, be translated to, “Fucking what?” Tim is very curse-y in this series.

But I’m getting sidetracked. Kon wants to stay, the others want out, and Kon throws a bitch fit.

“The man was too stunned to speak”

Poor Bart, figuratively and literally carrying this fucking team.

Here we go.

Hey. Hey, Conner. Buddy. What the fuck does that mean, man?

I cannot begin to tell you the number of ways this page hurts me. Just...all three of them are so fed up with everything and aaaaaaaaa

And then Bart rightfully goes off.

Like, that’s not quite true, but it sure do be feeling that way right now. And while even in this post I’ve shown just how much both of them can care and pay attention to Bart, they have always been more focused on each other. At first it was because Tim was secretive and Kon thought he had a stick up his ass meanwhile Conner was new to the world and being actively manipulated by people. And then it’s because they’re best friends. Like, heterosexual life partners levels of best friends. Platonic (or not-so-platonic) soulmates levels of best friends. They both consider Bart their best friend too, but they hold each other above pretty much everyone else. Which, after they’ve all lost some footholds in reality with their seniors missing, those small slights feel more pointed and are getting to Bart a lot more. He’s hurting and Tim’s the only one listening, but Tim is favoring Kon and it’s driving him up the wall. All that frustration and resentment come to a head. Hopefully to be resolved.

I’ve made this a Young Justice Boys post instead of just a TimKon post, but I regret nothing!

For the sake of my image limit I haven’t given everything I love about this issue, but even if you don’t read the rest (which is fair, it gives some people Bad Vibes at the start) please read this issue. Conner’s inner monologue is so stupid and so funny and I love him so much.

But anywhozits, proceeding!

I want it noted that Bart was attacked right before this and is held on the ground but Conner immediately goes for Tim. Unbelievable.

(I refuse to crop out Bart when he’s funny)

I’m, uh, not a fan of Superboy’s face here, but y’know, more him focused on Tim. While Bart is in a similar predicament.

He finally mentions Bart...after he seems to have nearly been able to save himself.

(Yes, the bad guy’s name is Mickey. Yes it’s awful, but that’s the point. I think.)

Now, here’s a big point for me, so I’m breaking down the page.

Mickey-boy conjures up images of new and revised characters (ex. Jon Kent and Harley Quinn) and Tim sees

And the next panel?

He sees Tim looking at the image of his boyfriend...and he changes his tune.

And they they all go off on a speech that’s touching in context but incredibly cheesey out of it. Also a bit obnoxiously meta, but so is this whole storyline.

“What are you gonna do about it, Conner Kent?” I don’t know why that gets me so much but it does.

That’s all for now. Last DCYJ comes out November 15 and I’ll probably edit this post at that point to add what’s in there but I’m impatient and made this whole thing and I need people to love and appreciate these boys.

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scenetocause · 1 year

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any guesses as to how max and lando both wound up sick. just curious.

[cn: cheating]

"You haven't sucked me off for ages," Lando pouts. Max nearly chokes on his mouthful of avocado toast.

"Mate." His ears are turning pink, he can't look at Pietra. "What the fuck."

"Well it's true, you haven't." Lando says it primly, goes back to demolishing some poached eggs with gay - literally - abandon. Like he hasn't just derailed Max's life for the fiftieth and possibly worst time this week.

He's going to have to do it at some point so he glances round at Pietra, who at least doesn't look completely disgusted with him, just like she's contemplating ways to kill Lando. Which he's fully onboard with, actually. It could be a new date concept, if Lando's going to insist on coming along.

"No, I haven't," is all he can muster as a response.

The thing is. The thing is that Max knows he's being a little bit of a hypocrite on a whole bunch of levels. Because he used to come on all Lando and Luisa's dates and fill in all the ways Lando's a rubbish boyfriend by being a better one and she didn't seem to mind that Lando just doesn't count sleeping with Max as anything, so they'd carried on doing it. Max is also pretty good at being Lando's boyfriend, in terms of getting him to act normally.

But Max should've known it wasn't going to work the other way around. He'd been so careful to keep them separated, at first. Partly out of fear Pietra would realise he's very much not an F1 driver and realise she could do better but much more out of knowing this wasn't going to go down well with either of them. It's a hard sell "hey can my best friend, who's chronically weird, hang out with us all the time and also sometimes he has to spoon me for emotional support."

He's tried to find things in it for Pietra but she could go to Monaco anyway and have a more normal time. She's not that keen on coming to grand prix, although he thinks she would if it was his racing and let's not take that train of thought too far to the depression station.

And Lando can't act normal about him and Max doesn't want him to. Was maybe trying to provoke this by getting a girlfriend in the first place - which isn't fair, that's not why he's dating her, it's just that something makes him want Lando's attention as much as Lando wants to give it to him and if they could ever just make that work they'd probably be a lot more normal.

The problem, really, is that Lando feels much more like forever than his girlfriend does. Which is pretty cursed, especially when he's openly sabotaging Max in the middle of brunch.

She doesn't bring it up with him, probably because there's nothing to talk about. Max had caved under about one minute of scrutiny from her about the nature of his relationship to Lando and then promised they weren't like that anymore and then slept with Lando the second he touched down in Nice.

Which is bad. He knows it's bad. He objectively knows this is bad boyfriend stuff and he doesn't want to be that, he wants to make things work and be in love and get married and have kids. Be normal - except that he can't.

It's like the stupid mess in his brain. He could just not have whatever makes him demotivated and mopey for days on end and it'd be better. Simpler, at least. Make more sense for the way his life's supposed to be going but instead he's had Lando fussing over him for a week because Max accidentally said some depressed stuff even though he'd been pretending that wasn't really going on anymore and now Lando's trying to add every possible enrichment to his enclosure.

Which is how they've ended up in Max's bedroom, Lando's hair freshly clipped and stream done, with Lando trying to get his cock in Max's mouth.

"Will you," he bats Lando's hand away from his hair, "just stay still and let me do this?"

"I'm trying to help." Lando sounds way too aggrieved for a man about to get a blow job. "It's been so long maybe you've forgotten how to - ah"

Max hums, knowing how good that feels when someone's got their mouth round your dick and then relaxes his throat, leans into it. Feels himself drooling on Lando's dick at the same time as Lando settles back into the mattress, sighs out how much he's enjoying it.

"Ah, that's so good - you're so good."

It's embarrassing how easily taken apart Max is by the praise.

Lando's fingers thread through his hair and he doesn't fight it, this time. "I missed you, baby," Max groans at the nickname, dick twitching. "I missed this, missed us."

It's a good job there's a dick halfway down Max's throat so he can't say anything stupid like 'me too, buddy.'

Lando's leaking already, messy in Max's mouth when he swipes his tongue over the head, lapping at it. He always gets so needy for it, whimpering and whining and pushing his hips up in desperate little circles - it's like the opposite of the way he fucks Max, all deliberateness. Like this he's just a helpless kitten, biting his own fist to try and stifle the noises he's making.

Max pulls off for a second, strokes Lando's hip, when he's getting really desperate. "It's ok," he says, trying to guide Lando, get him to turn the overwhelming sensation into a conclusion and Lando just whimpers again, biting his lip.

He comes into Max's mouth a minute later, back arching and Max lies down, head on Lando's tummy, to kiss his heaving abs afterwards. Lando pulls him up after a minute, holds him and Max's erection isn't so urgent he can't enjoy it for awhile.

When Lando returns the favour, chaotically sucking Max's balls while he's jacking him off, it doesn't take long either for Max to come or for the guilt to sink in. He can't come up with an excuse for why he can't stop doing this, only the inevitability that he won't.

They both claim their sore throats are from golfing or the rain or hayfever or something. Lando smuggles Max back to Monte Carlo two days later and fucks him in every room.

#emptyhalf fic

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sun-undone · 2 years

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JJ feeling cornered and isolating himself in 1x07 vs in 3x04

welcome back to “how many ways can sof talk about one scene”

so i've talked SO MUCH about JJ stealing the money from Barry in 1x07 already (specifically here) but i just wanna rant about it a little bit more in comparison to the first jiara talk in 3x04.

so in 1x07, he steals the money and John B and the rest of the pogues are immediately trying to get him to rethink it, refusing to get into the twinkie with him and calling him out for his "crazy", impulsive shit. JJ tries his best to explain his reasoning, saying that they deserve some kind of reparations for the trauma of being held at gunpoint by Barry and also appealing directly to Pope by reminding him that he took the fall for him for Topper's boat. to me, this all reads as a desperate attempt to get the pogues to see that all that "crazy" stuff that he does is for them, at least in his mind. he's always trying to help them out and do right by them and perform these extravagant acts of service for them to prove that he's worth their love, but he doesn't know how to explain all of that, so he just goes on the defensive when things start going south in the conversation. and when it's clear to JJ that the pogues just don't get it (partially because how in the fuck is he supposed to explain it without also admitting how worthless and undeserving of love he feels), he walks away.

flash forward to 3x04, when JJ is starting to employ some of those same defense mechanisms from the 1x07 pogue fight in this conversation with Kiara. he has these blinders up again and is trying to protect himself by going on the defensive, ranting in fragments about how he has nothing and that Kie could never care about him and that she doesn't understand what it would take to even begin to help him, all of it building up to him finally calling her a kook, which is one of the few times that he actually goes on the offensive. and this is where we start to see the main difference between 1x07 and 3x04.

in 1x07, JJ felt cornered because of a lack of understanding, so he went on the defensive and ultimately isolated himself. but in 3x04, he felt cornered because of a wealth of understanding, so he resorted to the offensive, and once again ultimately ended up isolating himself.

JJ calling Kie a kook is the last ditch effort to get her to play into his self-sabotage. the defensive didn't work, dancing around the issue of her being from a different world didn't work, so now he's just gotta go for the killing blow and hope that she's the one to walk away so he doesn't have to do it first. he's purposefully trying to hit her where it hurts so that she'll blow up right back at him and realize that he's the piece of shit that he believes himself to be. and i think this reaction absolutely comes from Luke (as does the running away and the overall not believing that he's good enough thing, truly every bad trait of jj's can be traced back to that piece of shit i swear).

Luke is so good at fishing for people's insecurities and pushing until he gets a reaction (ie: 1x05 with JJ and 2x08 with Kie), so we can assume that that's where JJ learned this behavior from. of course, he's doing it in 3x04 more as a way to hurt and isolate himself, but let's not pretend like Kie isn't still very much collateral damage in JJ's own self-sabotage here. and of course, since JJ is actually a good human being unlike his father, we can see that he clearly regrets calling her a kook immediately after saying it. important differences there. when JJ is trying to use a trick from Luke cause his own tricks aren't working well enough, he can't stomach it.

and of course, that's only made worse when Kie still refuses to play along. she's not playing into his self-sabotage and giving him the reaction that he's trying to get out of her because she sees right through it all. she's being so gentle and understanding (while also still standing her ground and not letting him get away with calling her a kook btw what an actual icon), and it's so antithetical to everything he's grown up around.

she doesn't take the bait. not even a little bit. because she knows him. and so he runs. just like he did back in 1x07, but for the exact opposite reasoning.

Kie knows him too well, and i think for JJ, that's potentially even more terrifying than the pogues not understanding him enough back in 1x07. hence, taking a page from Luke's book and resorting to the offensive. not just walking away from Kie like he had walked away from the pogues before, but riding away on his bike. riding out to a pier and basically having a panic attack. everything about it is heightened compared to the 1x07 fight.

because being so vulnerable and so incredibly known by Kie, of all people??? his worst nightmare because it's also his greatest wish.

#i do not know what this is i've gotta be honest #just kinda kept writing #there's something here i just don't know if i explained or organized it well #but the point is i will never stop talking about that scene #that 1x07 scene used to be my absolute favorite to analyze but the 3x04 one has taken its place #so OF COURSE i had to take any opportunity to talk about them together #jiara #jj maybank #kiara carrera #obx #outer banks #obx3

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julymarte · 11 months

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The last ask about Pravaal meeting the in-laws made me want to do more of that rtfgyhjukil havemore info under the cut, esp cause some of you might not know about stuff before KoS

Nakir&Shari (i'm dating the daughter of the man who almost killed dad)

Nakir's introduction of Shari to his parents generated quite a mix of emotions his mother was really excited cause Nakir never really introduced anyone to them only having short flings here and there, and of all girls a princess like WOWIE!... that exact thing didn't sit well with his father, like he has nothing against Shari but he can't help but think of the fact that she's the daughter of king Dakonos that almost 30 years prior almost killed him on the battlefield (Jarrah took it personally back then and even aimed for a pay back rematch but he's over it now..yet it's still unpleasant thinking about it )

Uri'el&Pravaal(??things going unexpectedly smooth??)

upon seing the pic on the discord server a friend immediately went:So pravaal told them he was the girl? and i replied as it follows: yeah in the end he revealed that, sure Jarrah was a bit weh about it and did his fair share of protective dad warnings to pravaal but nothing out of the ordinary, he's just glad uri broke up with his old gf who he found annoying as hell(as everyone did)... also he was like... he was happy when he was with "her" so it's chill if he's gonna be happy again plus the usual if you hurt him i hurt you sorta things but again i na """chill"" way (cause he knows Uri is a spoiled asshole and even if he doesn't want him to suffer, he thinks he's been pampered and spoiled by his mom and life in general a bit too much and having some "bad experiences" could help him mature) unlike the overprotective x100 "i hate you and your dad, don't you dare to get close to my daughter" way he does with Sadiq and Nadira.....The overall meeting went smoothly cause they both already knew Pravaal (and even before the coming out and the reveal they suspected there was something going on between the two in a way or another) and trust that he's a good match up for their big chicken son

Nadira&Sadiq (CHAOS)

you can see this as a Romeo and Juliet situation, two youngsters in love with each other while their families (their dads) can't stand eachother. Jarrah and Malik,Sadiq's father, have a very old and lasting rivalry going on, it began with Malik bullying Jarrah during his first academy years, the latter would later get revenge in a post graduation duel breaking the nose of the first and from there on mockeries and fists would fly everytime they met so you can imagine how unpleasant the idea of becoming kind of related would be for these two, who still carry on a petty rivalry like two middle schoolers. Roya and Bianca, the moms, are actually encouraging the union as they believe they should follow their hearts instead of getting stopped by their childish fathers( who have actively tried to sabotage the union multiple times) Random fact: sadiq's wearing an uniform instead of casual clothes cause it's notmyown oc but @mikness' together with his mother Roya

#kos #kingdom of sun #oc #original character #art #sketch #kom #kingdom of moon

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geddy-leesbian · 1 month

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HEYYYY !!!!! so i was just wondering a few things if that’s okay

1. what re games have you played?/which is ur fav

2. did u like luis the moment he was introduced or did knowing his full story really connect w you?

3. rare pairs!! i love rare pairs so please explain any of the ones u like with luis :-) not asking about any in particular i just like to see people talk abt stuff they like

TYSMMM BYEEEE

YAYYY ASK!! IT'S MORE THAN OKAY

1. so my RE pipeline was kinda wild. In 2020ish I watched my sibling play through RE4 on our wii, but didn't have any strong feelings, like nothing stuck with me. I literally forgot Luis existed, I had zero memory of what he was like in that game. Then last year they showed me this fantastic youtube video and I was hella interested in Leon/Luis so they replayed RE4R (they're insanely good and had already beaten it several times) and I became OBSESSED with Luis and Leon and RE generally. After RE4R they binged and replayed (with me watching ofc) some of REmake, RE2R, RE7, and Village. The games I've actually played myself are RE1 but only the DS port, Revelations, RE4R, both Chronicles games, and this obscure beauty that is incredibly noncanon but actually very dear to me:

(and I've at least read about/watched some cutscenes from all the other games)

This is insane of me, but honestly I fucking love Darkside Chronicles so much that I almost want to say it's my favorite, but I won't go that far and just say that RE4R is my favorite with an honorable mention to Darkside.

2. My first real exposure to him was from that youtube video so like

yeah I was hooked immediately and then got deeper and deeper into RE lore and loved him even more

3. Of course I love Winterserra. I just love that they're both what they need, that they save each other; Ethan needs saved from his infection/the corrupt part of the BSAA, Luis needs a malewife someone to save him from himself and his guilt, making him feel like he deserves to live and pulling him out of his depression.

I'm also going to gush about a nonromantic pairing that I really love: Luis and Alfred Ashford.

It all goes back to Darkside Chronicles:

My brain worms honed in on "traitors to Umbrella" and went "ah yes so Luis Serra would have been in Rockfort if he'd tried to sabotage the Nemesis Project instead of quietly disappearing to Valdelobos. Interesting." That spawned a whole AU where Luis avoids execution by being charming as hell. Seeing as Alexia Ashford was a child prodigy, Alfred is 👀 when he finds out that a prisoner he received is also a child prodigy (I imagine Luis being the first and last child prodigy to end up in Rockfort, most would just be too brainwashed and manipulated to want to break away. I mean I guess technically Wesker and Birkin were child prodigies who broke away but Luis would still be the only one that ended up in Rockfort) and has Luis moved and treated better than other prisoners. Luis learns to roll with Alfred and stay on his good side, eventually managing to con him into believing that a) he did not betray Umbrella at all but got framed by his coworkers and b) an elaborate bullshit story about Luis actually being nobility.

... which Alfred REALLY likes and he gets to be the first non Ashford to enter the private residence, where he's supposed to be Alfred's companion until Alexia wakes up. I'm going to cut this ramble off here but being Alfred's BFF is actually hell on earth tbh (Alfred is genuinely very fond of Luis and tries to treat him well, but the problem is that Alfred Ashford is a mentally unstable absolute WEIRDO that has no idea what normal people enjoy and their basic needs so like. Yeah. It's better than being physically tortured/executed/a guinea pig, but still a very bad time!) but Luis hangs in there and eventually escapes back to Valdelobos, but as a very different person, a very bitter one who would really, really not want to help Leon and Ashley… but still would eventually.

My last Luis rare pair is Luis/Annette but there's not much to elaborate on really. Annette likes fucking him because she's trapped in a loveless marriage and William hasn't had sex with her in years and Luis is young and pretty, and a lot better in bed than William. Luis likes fucking her because he feels like a monster for his work and misses Leon (this is an AU where they knew each other as teenagers) and sneaking around with a blonde reminds him of sneaking around with Leon back in the day. There's nothing emotional, just two people using sex as a coping mechanism to distract themselves from how deeply unhappy they are. (i kinda lied it does get a bit more interesting with Annette entrusting Sherry to him when Everything Went Wrong, but up to that point the "relationship" is 100% physical, only sex, no feelings.)

AGAIN THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING I ALWAYS LOVE ANSWERING ASKS <3

#yeah i had to flex my 3ds theme again

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twotimeracewinnerlandonorris · 1 year

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actually, since we've brought up the espn sob stories and i'm still seeing "lando is the shittiest teammate on the grid" takes in the year of 2023, when lando has been nothing but kind and supportive of the rookie who is already challenging him more than daniel ever has, let's talk about what the daniel teammate experience is really like.

-lando is labeled a shit teammate because he says he doesn't feel sympathy for daniel's situation. in the same interview, he explains how he would also face criticism if he underperformed to that extent. on one of the occasions with the "no sympathy" comment, he even mentioned how if he had performed that poorly relative to ricciardo during their first year as teammates, he probably wouldn't even still be in f1. basically, he explained how f1 works: you perform, or you're out (unless daddy horner saves you). yet, here he is, lando norris, the shittiest teammate on the grid.

-then we get to ricciardo's ESPN sob stories (oop. i meant journalism. very respectable journalism) that is full of so much bullshit, the sources of it (his Hollywood management corporation) had to wipe their mouths with toilet tissue after spewing this bullshit.

-"lando isn't actually talented, they just design the car around him, and according to the almighty ricciardone, it's undrivable so he would flop if he switched teams." A) why is lando's loyalty always attacked by daniel and his team? sorry the old man is reminiscing on his career and having regrets now, but nobody made him leave red bull. that's a choice he made all on his own because he had a younger, faster teammate (he and his fans also spun that as red bull sabotaging him, yet now he's begging to go back, funny he exposes his lies himself). B) James Key, thank fuck he's gone, even mentioned designing the 2022 car with daniel's feedback specifically in mind to make him more comfortable. yet he regressed further. lando has never once, with any mclaren, said "yes, this is 100% what i want in a car." hell, he just got p2 and spent much of the weekend complaining about how shit the car's balance was, lando is just talented enough to drive around that stuff. has nothing to do with the car being designed around him.

-then there was the (again, if he doesn't care not to weaponize something against lando that lando has spoken about impacting his mental health (and is even celebrated and cheered on for it), why the fuck do we have to treat daniel with special care and not bring up his MULTIPLE failures because "pOOR BABY WABY DANNY'S MENTAL HEALTH") whole "I've never thrown away a win like lando has." Yet …. to get that win, he needed the two top drivers to crash out and his teammate to be told he isn't allowed to fight for his maiden win. similarly, lando was there to fight and defend daniel. yet, regularly how it worked with the chronic victim, he's nowhere in sight when it's time to return the favor and actually help his teammate. i can say this with 100% confidence: had carlos been with the team in 2021, both he and lando would be GP winners right now. lando led the majority of that race — no team orders, no teammate around for help at all — yet in the end, it was a team strategy decision that costed him. nothing to do with his driving abilities at all (like the reason daniel lost his seat for).

fuck daniel ricciardo. i can say that with 100% confidence too. thrilled to see him fail again, hopefully maybe then the racist old jerks at Red Bull will give yuki the recognition he deserves but i doubt it.

i love u 🧡

#karenína answers #anti ricciardo

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redbullcateringfiction · 1 year

Text

Chapter 4 -

Cantata

Arabella is the executive assistant for Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff. 10 years into her career, it looks like the tide is changing, and she's beginning to question her relationship with him. Is it something more, or nothing but an idea lingering in her head?

F/M, Fluff, Boss/Employee Relationship, Romance, Pining, Love, Slow Burn

Fourth chapter below the cut or click here for AO3

Click here for the previous chapter on Tumblr, and click here for a list of all chapters

(Total: 16720 words thus far)

“You’re really pretty,” He spoke, entangling his fingers in my hair.

“Thank you. That was very nice,” I lied. Okay, don’t get me wrong. I’m not the type to fake an orgasm, but I’m definitely the type to oversell it. I’ve definitely just oversold it, but it’s definitely a million times better than my last one night stands. I just cannot deal with the way he kept telling me I’m pretty. It’s like he had a praising thing that I wasn’t aware of.

“So, you sleeping with your boss?” He asked suddenly, sitting up in the bed. His apartment was in central London, in the penthouse of a skyscraper. He needed no lights to be on in his bedroom as the city lights flooded in, and I could still see his expression. He looked at me as though this was the most important questions he had ever asked anyone. Absolutely absurd.

“I’m going to just leave now,” I sighed, sitting up. I began looking for my dress.

“Oh, c’mon. The way he came over there at the table, and touched you as he left. The way he looked at you and mentioned your ex that you took to a Christmas party? He was obviously trying to sabotage the date. You’re sleeping with him, and thats okay. I’m just curious,” He shrugged.

“Curious? Curiosity is sleeping with a guy who you just met because you think he might be good in bed. Then when he isn’t, that’s called disappointment,” I answered, finally finding my dress and throwing it on. I began the search for my purse, shoes, and ponytail holder.

“That’s a low blow. I wasn’t trying to be offensive. I swear I was just curious,” He asked, throwing his hands up.

“If I was sleeping with my boss, and seriously think about this, would I go on a date in a hotel I know he’s staying in?” I asked, putting on my heels.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. C’mon, stay,” He complained.

“You sound like a child. And you are. A gentleman would help me find my stuff.”

“Okay, okay. Fine, you’re right,” He groaned, getting up finally and turning on the light. “Listen. I’m just calling it how I see it. He patted you on the back and interrupted your date. It's awfully strange. You have to admit that at least.”

“We are European and I have worked for him for 8 years. After a winter break, we usually greet each other with cheek kisses. Patting me on the back is less physical. And he interrupted because he wanted to make sure I didn’t leave things in his hotel room,” I sighed. I suddenly paused in the midst of strapping on my heels.

I could practically hear him staring at me. “Leaving things in his hotel room. Of course. Not strange at all.”

“Toto wasn’t even there. It was a connected room, and I changed up there prior to our date. The guy I actually just slept with.”

“Okay, okay, fine. Just pause and listen to me,” He begged. I stopped trying to strap up my other shoe and simply stared at him. “Arabella. You don’t have to like me. You don’t even have to be interested in me. But the least you could do is acknowledge that my assumption is not crazy.”

“So you just want to be right? That’s all? I’m not giving you that satisfaction,” I answered as I finally got the strap to connect. Great, now where’s my phone?

“No, no, no. Because if there’s one thing I noticed, it’s how silly and embarrassed you got when he came over. How you yourself seemed to notice something was odd about it, but also how attracted you are to him. I’m just saying,” He shrugged.

“Saying what?” I demanded.

“You are attracted to your boss, and he’s at least interested in you.”

“I’m not, and he’s not,” I complained while desperately searching for my phone.

“Yeah, yeah. Say that to my face, and go home and overthink it. I’m a lawyer. My job is to read people,” He explained, grabbing something off his nightstand. He handed me my phone.

“Fuck, you had it?” I nearly screamed.

“I put my number in there. Text me.”

“Absolutely not.” I opened my phone and went straight to Uber. I don’t even want to try waving down a taxi. I just want the car here and now.

“Arabella, I do not want to date you,” He pressed his hand to his head, exasperated.

“You’re really selling yourself.”

“I know you didn’t want to date me either! Just at least consider talking to me. If you’ve noticed, being brutally honest and talking all the time is one of the things I do best.”

“Yes, surely,” I sighed, waiting and staring at my phone.

“And I have attorney client privilege and legal professional privilege. I doubt you talk to anyone outside of your inner Mercedes circle. I can tell. You barely told me anything, probably because you’re afraid I’m going to run off to the media. Nothing more than numbers and what’s already known. Am I right about that?”

“Yes.” Still no fucking Uber. The taxi would’ve been a better idea.

“If you talk to me about anything going on and I run off and tell the media, I run the risk of being disbarred in the United States, which is where I do all of my business. Here in the UK, it’s a bit laxer, but regardless, I would lose my job in a millisecond if I said anything ever. And you desperately need a friend. Am I right about that too?”

“Attorney Client privilege only applies if I’m your client.”

“Then consider me your lawyer. Pro-bono, of course. I’ll send over a document in the morning. Because really, I can tell that you can’t talk to anyone. You probably don’t even tell your parents,” He reiterated.

“I get it. I’m clearly a lonely spinster and you want to play therapist.”

“Oh, really. You think handling billions of dollars in assets and knowing about nearly every corporate merger months in advance doesn’t leave me lonely either? I need someone too. And you have to admit, you’re a fun person to talk to. And you’re the only person I’ve met in years who is even close to the same position as me. So yes, I want to take advantage of it,” He groaned.

“You don’t have to talk about mergers over dinner,” I answered.

“Yeah, and you don’t have to talk about Mercedes. But that's all you have right?” He looked at me waiting for a response.

“My Uber’s here,” I answered, leaving the penthouse at once. I took the elevator straight down. I stared at my phone. Sure enough, there was Jeffrey’s number. I instantly deleted it. I have no clue what even happened, and right now, all I want to do is curl into a nice, comfortable, blanket cocoon and forget about all of it. In fact, that’s exactly what I’ll do. As soon as the Uber pulled up to my house, I set my alarm and snuggled into my bed. I wrapped myself into my duvet, and shut my eyes. I quickly drifted off to sleep.

“That is a fucking 6th world championship!” I screamed as Lewis crossed the line for a 2nd place position. The garage broke into a fit of cheer and celebration. 1st and 2nd on the podium were locked out by Mercedes. A race win for Valterri and a championship for Lewis. The last two races at this point would be victory laps. Just two weeks ago, a similar spectacle. Valterri in 1st and Lewis in 3rd that time had gifted us a 6th Constructor’s in a row.

This was not a break though. As I had seen in the past seasons, a win is a win, but to us it means little more than putting more resources into next year. Get Lewis tied with Schumacher, and more relevant to me, get the team an 7th consecutive constructor’s. Toto looked at me with a big smile as I took a deep breath. He gave me the necessary hug that occurs during these high emotion moments, and ran off to cheer with the rest of the team.

I could almost feel the walls close in on me though. In a time like this, I should be happy. I should be celebrating with them. I just couldn’t manage to make my legs move over to everyone else. Tunnel vision. The room started going dark, and all of sudden I felt a hand on my back. I turned to my right and it was Bono.

“Arabella, you went pale for a second,” He spoke quietly. I could just barely hear him over the noise.

“I feel like I have the bends,” I sighed, trying to walk back to my usual seat, just 6 feet behind Toto.

“Woah, you’re off balance,” Bono said, helping me walk over there. “Let me grab medical.”

“No, no need. Just some anxiety I think.”

“Anxiety? We just won a championship!” He spoke excitedly.

“Exactly. Go run off and celebrate. I’ll be fine,” I smiled. Bono raised an eyebrow at me concerned. “I swear.”

“Arabella-”

“Bono, you’re the 6th world champion’s engineer. I think they wanna see you too,” I laughed. “Trust me. I’ll be fine.”

“Alright, alright, Arabella. I’m off. But text or call if you need anything. Alright?” He ordered.

“Got it,” I answered, putting my head into my hands. I recalled this feeling almost instantly. I was 13, sitting in my room, and I looked out the window. The day before had been pleasant, but that day, a storm was rolling in. I watched as all the kids playing outside were called inside by their parents. As I looked at the horizon and saw the sight of the thundering clouds. I felt my chest get tight. It wasn’t the storm that scared me, it was the vastness. The distance. I could see nearly straight to the sea. I grew up on the West Frisian Islands. My family ran a hotel for families visiting the islands on their holidays. Yet, we rarely traveled by ourselves. That summer was no different, and looking out the window, I wondered why suddenly I had a desire to curl up and disappear.

I laid on my floor and stared up at my ceiling. I listened as the storm came in and poured rain on our roof. It was louder than I could imagine. I felt calm listening to the rain, and as the darkness came in, I felt calm looking out my window again. I refused to leave my room for a week. I put up blankets over the windows to keep myself from looking out. Every time I did look out, I would feel my heart race. My eyes would find the horizon and I would get scared.

On the 8th day of my mother bringing the dishes to my room, and my father watching me scurry to the bathroom and hurry back, they dragged me out of my room and all the way to the doctor’s. In the car, I was screaming and crying, and begging for them to take me back to my room. In the doctor’s office, I felt little comfort as the doctor offered to move me to a room with no windows. When he did, and he noticed I calmed down, he turned to my parents and spoke. “I believe your daughter has agoraphobia. She will develop anxiety in environments she does not feel she is comfortable or able to control.”

My parents didn’t respond to the news kindly. For 2 more weeks I stayed in my room alone. The day school was to begin again, I begged my parents not to take me. They assured me they weren’t taking me to school. They weren’t lying. Instead, I found myself shipped off to a boarding school in France. I stayed there for two years while my parents nearly mocked me on the phone asking if I had learned to behave yet. Every day I sat in my dorm room for as long as possible, staring at the walls. I lost a tremendous amount of weight as my body continued to grow since I refused to spend long times in a mess hall surrounded by other children.

My 3rd year there, as I entered into the Lycée, a teacher took a great notice of me. She noticed the way I sulked around corners and could suddenly disappear without notice. I never felt so safe in a space that wasn’t my room until she took the time to do so. Eventually, she taught me how to calm myself, and introduced me to people. She gave me friends that encouraged me to branch out. The end of that year, I thought I could go home. My parents informed me though that at this point, they didn’t believe I was ready to return home. I don’t believe my parents ever intended to allow me to go home. Two years later, I graduated, and returned to the Netherlands. When I stepped back onto the island for the first time in 5 years, the salty, humid air tightened my chest. Instead of joy to be back home, I touched the sandy dunes and wanted to turn back. I wanted to disappear. And so I did. It took me a moment to leave out from home, but once I moved to the UK, I knew I had no desire to return back to Ameland. I knew I couldn’t escape immediately though.

I stayed and helped my parents run the hotel for just a year while simultaneously getting my training to become an executive assistant. A year later I was in Amsterdam and a personal assistant for a doctor. A year later I had finished all the training and was flying to the U.K. and working for United Agents. Instead of working with the celebrities though, I wanted to work with the agents. At 20, I had made it out of the Netherlands in just 2 years, after having spent 5 years away already. At age 28, just 4 years ago, I had officially lived outside of the Netherlands for more time than in. I wasn’t upset by it either.

When I left Ameland, I expected to see Amsterdam as this beautiful paradise. The boats, the bikes, the tall beautiful men, but instead, I just ran into the same problem. It wasn’t satisfying yet. I wasn’t far enough away. I hated it, and decided to run away. Going to the U.K. has been far better for me. F1 has been even better. Traveling keeps me from having a safe place to completely hole up in. There’s nowhere to hide, and for me, that can be a good compromise. Yet, there’s times, like now, where I still feel it peak back up. The ruckus, the noise, the crowds. It all brings me crashing back to watching that storm roll back in. Every shout from an engineer, every roar of an engine, and every champagne bottle pop is like a tempest, rolling in from the sea.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and shot my head up. I looked around. The place was nearly empty. As I spun around in the chair, my eyes met Toto’s.

“Everyone’s heading to the podium. I thought it was weird I didn’t see you heading out that way,” Toto said, pulling a chair out from under the desk. He sat next to me, and placed his hand on my arm. “Are you alright?”

“Thanks, I’m fine. You should probably be running to catch up with them.”

“You know how those things are. Hurry up and wait. We have time.”

“I just got a little anxiety. That was all,” I spoke softly.

“You can be honest with me.”

“I am. That’s all.”

He sighed, and pulled out his phone. “Look what Jack did,” He smirked, pulling up a picture of his son. He was covered in maple syrup. I chuckled.

“Oh God, what a mess,” I complained.

“You should’ve seen Susie’s face. You wouldn’t believe the clean up,” He chuckled, looking through more pictures of Jack running around.

“He’s not even three yet, is he?”

“Feels like it should be further away, but you’re right. He’s two, but April is rounding the corner.”

“In like, 4 months.”

“For a kid, that’s a lot! They grow so much, so very quickly. Forgive me for forgetting, isn’t your sister pregnant?” He asked.

“Yeah. She’s giving birth over the break. That’s why I’ve taken it off.”

“Well, you’ll be a wonderful aunt. Children are such a wonderful addition to the world.”

“Even when they’re covered in syrup?”

He laughed and sat back in his chair. “Net gain,” He sighed. “Now…do you want to run with me to the podium? Because now we’re actually running out of time.”

“Sure,” I answered, standing up. We ran to grab the scooters and headed off.

My alarm woke me up with a tremendous bang. Yes, I had slept, but the type where you’re drifting in and out of consciousness with nothing more than your thoughts keeping you awake. It was a weak rest. Thankfully, the flight was 8 whole hours where I could gently nod off. I stood up and as I promised Leanna, made myself a full English breakfast. Enough to sustain me for quite a while, and enough to enjoy the flight. As I sat down to eat it, I looked through the schedule for testing. I readied myself in the bathroom going over the schedule again and again until it was absolutely burned into my memory.

As the time for me to leave and still arrive early began to approach, I headed down and hailed a taxi. Just seconds before it arrived, I realized I had left all of my bags and had to beg him to wait. When I returned, he was miraculously still waiting. I hopped in and took the taxi all the way to London Heathrow. As soon as I arrived I saw Toto walking towards security. I checked my watch just to make sure, and sure enough, he was far too early.

“Toto!” I called out. He whipped his head around and waved to me as I came running over. “You’re an hour early!”

“For once, I thought I could beat you,” He shrugged. “Even now, I must tie with you.”

“You’ll never beat me. It’s my job,” I laughed. We approached security and handed over our passports, both being bright red but with distinctly different languages on them. As we exited security, we meandered our way towards the area where we would get on the charter jet in silence. Toto suddenly stopped while walking through the airport and looked at me.

“I’m sorry,” He spoke quietly.

“Huh?” I questioned. Suddenly, we turned as we heard someone yell.

“I’m so sorry,” A woman spoke running up to Toto. “Are you really Toto Wolff?”

He laughed and smiled. “That’s what my passport says.”

“Can I please take a picture with you? My son loves Mercedes, and I would just be beside myself if I didn’t take this opportunity to tell him I saw Toto Wolff, and had photographic evidence that I spoke with him.”

He laughed again. “Sure, sure,” He said. He leaned into the selfie camera with her. She smiled excitedly as the picture was taken.

“Thank you so much,” She almost whispered, as she turned round and ran off.

“Happen frequently?” I asked.

“No, not really,” He awkwardly laughed. He took his fingers through his hair, almost neurotically fixing it. It had been long since I’d seen him slightly nervous.

“You were saying?” I offered.

“Oh…nothing. I just got lost in thought and realized…are we going the right way?” He asked. I looked up at the sign overhead which very blatantly read Charters . Perhaps he didn’t see that one? I looked down the long airport hallway and saw yet another blatantly obvious sign, literally glowing, that read Charters.

“The air that thin up there?” I asked, waving my hand around his face. I am 5’ 4” so it was quite the reach and I nearly had to stand on my toes since I had chosen not to wear my heels for a long airport walk. He swatted my hand away.

“Apparently,” He answered, taking a deep sigh, right before releasing a small chuckle as well.

We continued to walk along in silence towards the charters, and when we finally arrived at the gate, we had a little bit to wait until the jet arrived. He stared at me for just a moment. “I am sorry.”

“So, it wasn’t just about thinking we were lost?” I asked.

“No, of course not, Arabella. I am genuinely very sorry and I-” He was interrupted by a sudden and powerful hug around the legs. It was, of course, Jack. He quickly and immediately picked up Jack and threw him on his shoulders. “Are you ready to go flying, Jack?”

“Arabella,” I heard from behind me. Susie had snuck up on me and nearly scared me to death. “How are you?”

I whipped around and gave Susie a hug. “I’m great! Thanks for asking.”

“Thank you for taking Jack for the weekend,” Susie smiled.

“Oh…you’re…welcome?” I questioned.

“I’m joking, I’m joking. I’ll be there.”

“Don’t scare me like that.”

She laughed brightly and I watched as Toto spun Jack around in circles. Soon enough, the entire party had arrived with Bono and many of the other important engineers. Their work on the car would be crucial for testing. We had to set a pace, so getting the staff out there as early as possible was important. The engineers would be absolutely clamoring to get inside of the paddock. When we all arrived and the plane had decided to arrive as well, we finally boarded. I took my seat directly next to Bono. As the plane finally reached cruising altitude, I walked towards Toto and handed him the manilla folder with the important details for testing. I watched as he pulled on his reading glasses.

“So, go ahead and give it a look over. We’ll have engineers at the paddock as soon as possible to evaluate the car. We need to make sure everything is ready. We’ll get to the paddock at 8am, a long while before the actual starting of testing. Valterri is on the morning shift, which should give Lewis a good start in the evening. I will warn you though, there’s news of a dust storm rolling into Bahrain,” I explained.

“Thank you, Arabella,” He nodded.

“What were you saying out there earlier?” I asked him, kneeling down and whispering.

“I’ll explain later, I suppose.”

“You do you,” I answered, heading back to my seat. I sat next to Bono and we made small talk until breakfast was passed around and people began eating. As the conversation ended, I found myself falling asleep again. I woke up as I felt an arm touch me. I jumped awake, and found a blanket covering me and Bono looking at me, expectantly.

“Oh, thanks for the blanket,” I nodded, before feeling like I would crash off to sleep again. I closed my eyes and laid my head down again.

“First, wasn’t me. Second, we’re going to land soon. Did you maybe want a coffee?”

“Oh, fuck yes,” I spoke sitting up. He laughed and wandered off to find me a coffee. Bono returned with the coffee and placed it in front of me.

“Black americano, right?”

“Yes, I am. What has that got to do with the coffee?”

“Oh, stop. Jesus, Arabella,” He ordered me. I chuckled and sipped my coffee. Bitter and dark, also like me.

“So who gave me the blanket?” I asked, pulling the blanket over my head.

“Toto. He came to speak to you after Jack fell asleep, and saw you were knocked out cold,” Bono explained.

“Huh,” I answered. I stood up and could just barely peer over, where I saw Toto now also asleep with Jack, laying his head on his father’s lap.

“Looks like we missed each other,” I sighed, sitting down. It was almost like we were playing phone tag in person somehow.

“If it were that important, he would’ve told me to tell you,” Bono yawned. “All this sleeping is making me…sleepy.”

“Then do as the Romans are doing and sleep.”

“And then be groggy while trying to work on a car? God, no,” Bono mumbled. “But I will get my own coffee.” He stood up and wandered away. I looked out the window and watched as the sun set over the Arabian peninsula. When we arrived, I would spend a long while in the airport smoothing things over for everyone arriving in Bahrain, playing translator. Yes, English is spoken in the Middle East, despite most Briton’s beliefs, but nonetheless, it did speed things along to have someone well versed in Arabic. It was one of my few remaining regular connections to my culture, and even so, there was the twinge of guilt that hit me when I found that at times, I could find myself thinking I was more Arabic than African. Were both not accurate though? At the end of the day, I was certainly darker skinned than most other Dutch people.

“Toto would have a field day if he knew I was having a cappuccino right now,” Bono spoke as he took his seat right back next to me. “Past 11am, it’s a grievous sin.” He mocked Toto’s Austrian accent while laughing a bit to himself.

“You’re going to wake him up just by trying to imitate him. It’s practically his alarm,” I spoke, until I heard the flight attendant right behind us. “Or they’ll wake him.”

“Just wanted to let you all know we’ll be landing soon. Hold onto your drinks and stow away the tables,” she smiled. Bono and I did as she asked and slipped on our seatbelts as well, as she continued going through the cabin waking people and reminding them of the basic flight safety procedures. I couldn’t help but laugh looking through the tiny sliver of space in between the seats and seeing Toto shoot his head up and try and fix his sleepily pressed down hair.

As we landed, the days of Islamic girlhood came crashing back to me. I no longer practiced, and my hijab had been removed years ago. Neither of my parents very much minded. My father had long been atheist, but had raised his daughters religiously, as was my mother’s wish. Even so, for my mother, that meant we knew of our religion, but not much outside of it. Even she rarely wore the hijab. Only when she went to visit her parents in Amsterdam and we would stumble our way into a mosque. I wore it for a little bit while in France, but found myself removing it after not too long. When I returned to the Netherlands, neither of my parents even really noticed. My sister still practices, however.

Still, though, landing in Bahrain, I found myself recalling all the rules of modesty my mother would give us when visiting the conservative older family members. This morning when I had dressed myself, I made sure I followed all of the rules. Nonetheless, I checked myself over. The second the plane landed, everyone exited their seats and their aircraft with a particular determination. I found my passport, and found the words I would need to use.

We approached customs, and I walked through first. When I approached, I let them know I would be translating for the team.

“We speak English,” One of the guards laughed.

“It’s quicker in Arabic. Trust me,” I sighed. They shrugged, and quickly as each person followed through, I translated every word with near-perfection.

“Toto, you’ll be riding with Bono and Musconi,” I explained as he walked through. “The car will circle back around and I’ll meet you at the hotel.”

“Got it, thank you, Schatzi,” Toto answered before quickly running off with Bono. I had to be careful with myself to not melt instantly. Toto had a tendency to find the quickest and most appropriate Austrian term for ‘darling’ when he was truly in awe of my expertise but also in a rush. It happens quite frequently during race weekends, and, in an effort not to make myself feel special, would be used for just about anyone who he was just pleasantly surprised by but also, could not spend more than 5 seconds talking to. Despite this, I found myself lingering on the word for far too long, and suddenly I was stumbling over my Arabic. I suppose I hadn’t gotten it out of my system.

As quickly as we had rushed to customs, everyone had rushed through customs. Soon enough, I stood there waiting for those who had taken the commercial flight to come through. As I waited, the guards continuously asked me to go through if I was done, and I continuously reminded them that I wasn’t. I then felt my phone go off with a text. I instantly looked at it, thinking of all the various forms of bad news it could be.

Unknown: Arabella, this is Jeffrey. You hadn’t texted me, so I assume you don’t want to proceed. At least, for your consideration, I worked up this contract for you. I used a basic bit of googling and figured that you’re likely coming up on your contract renewal for Mercedes. Congrats on the 10 years, by the way. Seems like the right time to use a lawyer though.

Tags: @daddyslittlevillain

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