#but i think Most of them would not go directly against victor

[the-faultofdaedalus]

IDEA. AIRON MAN BESTIES WITH A ROGUE DOOMBOT WHO'S JUST TRYING TO BUILD THEIR OWN PERSONALITY AND LIFE OUTSIDE OF THEIR IMPLANTED MEMORIES..........

COULD BE AN ACCIDENTAL GAINING OF FREEDOM OF CONSCIOUSNESS, LIKE W/ SENTIENT ARMOR, BUT I ALSO THINK IT COULD BE RLLY NEAT IF THEY WERE A PROTOTYPE DOOMBOT THAT ENDED UP HAVING MORE FREEDOM AND CAPABILITY FOR GROWTH THAN INTENDED AND THEY'VE BEEN LIVING THEIR OWN LIFE SINCE (IDEALLY W/ VICTOR'S SUPPORT BC RESPECT FOR THE AUTONOMY OF HIS CITIZENS AND CREATIONS AND ALL THAT)

BONDING OVER THE TECHNOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS AND LIMITATIONS OF THEIR FORMS, THE PRESSURE TO APPEAR A SIMULACRUM OF A BIOLOGICAL ENTITY AND THE FEAR OF HOW OTHERS WOULD VIEW AND REACT TO THEIR TRUE SELVES, THE "I AM CONNECTED TO MY CREATOR, BUT I AM NOT HIM IN THE WAYS HE WAS HIMSELF AND I AM MORE THAT WHAT HE MADE ME FOR," THE STEMBOY SWAG, ETC........

I ALSO THINK IT COULD BE FUNKY TO EXPLORE LIKE. I AM AN INDIVIDUAL DISTINCT FROM MY CREATOR BUT I AM STILL TIED TO HIM. DO I FEEL OBLIGATED TO ONLY DRAW FROM HIS VISION? DO I FEEL GUILTY FOR ADDING ELEMENTS OF MY PERSONALITY TO HIS DESIGN OF ME? WOULD HE BE PROUD OF WHO I'VE BECOME?

TRULY THIS WAS JUST MEANT TO BE A VAGUE NOTION OF A POTENTIAL CHARACTER BUT I STARTED THINKING AND GOT HOOKED DJSLHFLSHFLS BUT YES HELLO

oh there literally are already feral doombots just Around. thats canon. they are... already sapient as far as im aware (but like, sapient in that they have enough of victor's memories and personality to successfully pretend to be him and sometimes for them to not know they aren't him. also they can feel pain. questioning why victor has made ten thousand cannon-fodder robots with also his whole brain in them which also can fully feel pain is a different post) but yeah feral doombots my beloved

there’s like…. at least two i know of. the one with the fancy coat and the one calling himself vincent that actually looks like a human, i love them. i have so many thoughts about feral doombots just Around and Vibin and its not like victor gives a shit. he can make new ones. whatever.

but also ;-; that's So good, especially if its somehow pre-reveal for iron man being Known as anything other than like, a human in an armor so perhaps he meets a doombot somehow (maybe it's stealing replacement parts from SI and when IM realizes that its not... actually taking anything dangerous hes like. oh. oh. because he's smart enough to also know why he isnt just going to get repaired like normal) and it's just, this sense of Recognition that iron man cannot say anything else

i think it would be good if it was like. iron man offers to help fix the bot. oor just, helps him. no expectation of anything else. and the doombot is supicious because of course it is, it was programmed by Paranoid Bastard Supreme, and it's not like iron man can even tell it why he wants to help it so badly, because even if he doesn't think it's actively a danger that doesn't mean giving it the information that he isn't human like everyone assumes wouldn't be... an incredibly bad idea. it's still attached to a supervillan, after all

(also sidenote but i am frothing at the mouth about potential doomquest in this universe it would be SO funny,,,,,, king arthur sends a pretty lady to iron man's room for "companionship" and iron man is just like. ah. ok. i dont know what is expected of me right now. also doomquest is very good to me, specifically, because its one of the only early comics things where almost anyone has more respect for tony than for iron man, which i enjoy, i think it would be SO good for airon man au especially if iron man is like. in danger of just... running out of power. technicallyyyyy i think this should also be a problem in canon, i think doomquest happens during chestplate era, where hes largely not able to go more than about a day without Dramatic Wall Outlet Time and yet hes fine just vibin in camelot (famously deprived of wall outlets) for at least a couple of days, but YEAH SEND AIRON MAN TO CAMELOT i think hed be both freaked out and also. sad that tony couldn't experience it. i think the background radiation of iron man's life is just... sadness that tony cannot experience any of the cool things he does)

but like... him continuing too help this doombot. maybe the doombot also helps him out somehow, as well. maybe subtly interveening in some fights. maybe giving iron man some neat lil tech tips. maybe a;klsdjfasdf the doombot still wants like. Something To Do and not just sit idle all the time or something so iron man hooks 'em up with a fuckin. tech support job. or like, product testing, for SI. something where he can just fix shit thats been broken in the stupidest ways or, try to destroy other things. who knows i dont. but maybe theres an attack at SI and iron man deals with it but hes damaged, and normally he'd like. hide away and do a quick n dirty patch job just so theres not obvious holes into nothing, but. the doombot follows him. and finds him. and its just... looking at eachother. knowing "oh fuck we're the same" and also "oh fuck he knows"

i think they should help fix eachother up and be buddies anyways it'd be good

[dittanyinbloom]

Hand Written

The final part to Note Taking and Study Habits

Ominis x fem!MC, fluff, kissing, it is just kissing but I wouldn’t say it’s safe to read at work

This is all so self indulgent but idc I write for my own entertainment first and foremost

.✉️🦉❄️

Over the weekend, you ran into a bit of trouble. Your first trip to Hogsmeade with Natty had famously resulted in a troll battle, but most people didn’t know that the journey hadn’t ended there. During a well-deserved butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, you were confronted by Victor Rookwood and Theophilus Harlow. One thing led to another, and now as of late, you and Natty found yourself acting as protectors of the Highlands. Whenever one of you heard of Ashwinders causing mayhem, the two of you would team up and hunt them down. This time, you may have bit off more than you could chew.

The wizards you fought against that weekend had been poachers. Not only that, but Theophilus Harlow himself had shown to the battle. By then, you had already taken a few curses and had long since exhausted your supply of Wiggenweld potion. Lucky for you, they had captured two hippogriffs, one of them being Poppy Sweeting’s friend Highwing. The killing curse was thrown, but thanks to the hippogriffs, you and Natty had made it out, narrowly.

The next morning, the two of you had joined Poppy for breakfast to ask what should be done about the two fully grown hippogriffs in your nab-sack.

“Well, I would say to release them back to their home, but with all the poachers still running about. . .” Poppy sighed heavily. Scotland wasn’t safe for any beast at the moment.

“There is somewhere I could take them,” you offered hesitantly, “I didn’t want to take Highwing there without your approval since the two of you are so close. But I can show you, both of you.” You smiled at Natty. “It’s quite extraordinary, actually. I’ve been waiting for the right time to share it with people.”

Natty returned your smile. “You have me intrigued.”

Poppy’s eyes lit up. “Is it close enough for us to go after classes today?”

“Why wait until after classes?” Then you were standing from your seat in the Great Hall to lead the girls out. Overhead, the owls had arrived to deliver the morning mail. A letter was dropped on the table for you, and you placed it directly in your robes for later. Most of the mail you received was from people asking for favors or updating you on ongoing quests they’d assigned you. Whatever it was could wait for now.

The girls followed you out of the Great Hall, giggling and unable to contain their excitement for whatever Hogwarts mystery you were about to show them.

Sharing the Room of Requirement with others re-sparked your excitement for the space. The three of you rushed in nearly late to Charms. You snatched food from the Great Hall during lunch just to run back to the Astronomy tower. Poppy took to the skies of the vivarium. Natty had fallen asleep on your couch cuddling a puffskin. You debated dozing off as well, exhausted from the weekend, but you stayed vigilant and watched over the time to know when you would have to drag the other girls to DADA.

“That. . was. . brilliant!” Poppy had an arm hooked around one of both yours and Natty’s elbows. Her balance was still off from the flight.

“Now that the two of you know it’s there, I think you should be able to find it yourselves. I’m not in the castle much these days, so the beasts would love your company.”

Natty brightened at the invitation. “I’m looking forward to exploring as my animagus form when I am better rested. Galloping around was not in the stars for today.”

“That puffskin took quite the liking to you,” you teased.

“I had an inkling you would be good with beasts, Natty,” Poppy commented, “You have a warm soul. The creatures see that.”

After classes, the three of you were yet again exploring the room. Free from needing to keep track of time, you planted yourself on the couch for a well-deserved rest. As you turned on your side, a curious crunching sounded from under you. You frowned as you sat up, digging through your robes for the parchment preventing you from sleep.

The letter from that morning! Might as well open it now and find out what sort of predicament you would be spending the rest of your weeknights solving.

What caught your eye first was how meticulously the words were placed. There were perfectly even indentations on both sides. The spacing was exact, and the lines, while ever so slightly up and to the left, were even in height. Someone had planned out what they were going to say to you. This was rare among the desperate scribbles of your usual quests. Even professors who wrote to you about assignments were flippant with their quill strokes, far too busy to even attempt legibility for a mere student.

Y/N

I fear apologies are in order. Sebastian insists you’ve been distant this weekend because of my actions. Offending you was not my intentions. The touches were merely a way to express that I share the same sentiment. I think of you often. In fact, I have not been able to think of much else since you started taking my name. If I’ve misinterpreted your feelings, please meet me today after classes in the Undercroft. You are owed a proper apology face to face.

If you happen to feel the same, you know where I’ll be.

Yours Truly,

Ominis

You stood from the couch so fast the room was spinning. By now, he must have assumed you weren’t going to show. How awful he must feel to think you didn’t care enough about his letter to even address it.

“Deek!” You called out, wildly looking around the room for him.

He had popped up out of nowhere, startling you. “Yes, Miss?”

Pressing the letter against your chest in shock while trying to collect yourself, you uttered, “Would you be so kind as to let the girls know I had to leave, but they are welcome to stay for as long as they’d like?”

“Of course, Miss. is everything all right?”

“Yes, for once, I’ve received a letter with good news, but I must meet with the sender right away.”

“Deek will make sure your friends are well taken care of in your absence.”

“Thank you!”

By the time you arrived at the entrance of the Undercroft, you were out of breath and only panicking worse. What if he had already given up? What if he was angry? What if your late arrival changed how he felt? You stomped down the stairs as quick as your thick boots would allow and ducked under the metal grate since it wasn’t rising fast enough.

Finding yourself inside the echoey room was like being doused in the icy waters of the sea. All the adrenaline that had been fueling your sprint over had dwindled, leaving only trepidation in its wake.

“Ominis?” You called out, hating how loud your voice seemed against the dead silence of the room. Nothing stirred. Nothing moved. You couldn’t even hear the faint sound of his breathing. You were alone.

“Ergh!” You let out through your teeth. How could you be so careless? Why couldn’t you have read the letter at any other point in the day? “Confringo!” You cast at a hanging candelabra. It swung violently from the momentum of your spell. The next victim was a tower of boxes. One by one exploding into bits, “Bombarda! Diffindo! Depulso!”

You turned on your heel, aiming at the desk in the corner that was rarely ever used for school-related revision. “Flipendo!” The contents crashed to the floor: a vase shattering, candles snapping in half, tomes scattering about. Still, the chaos didn’t feel like enough. You stormed over to the wreckage and kicked the now very sideways desk for good measure. Apparently, your steel-toe boots were a little worn down from all your adventures because you felt the impact jolt up even past your shin.

With absolutely no balance, you plummeted to the floor with a wince, grabbing at your foot in agony. “Mother of Merlin! So stupid!” You had fallen into the debris. Now that you were coming down from the rage, you frowned at the mess around you. Meekly, you uttered, “Reparo,” at the stack of boxes you’d destroyed.

Pushing yourself off the ground, you aimed at the desk next. In the blink of an eye, everything was in it’s rightful place. Even the tiny shard of glass in your palm had rejoined the vase.

You sat at the desk, exhausted from your meltdown. Your left hand landed on a folded piece of parchment. The only person who ever worked at this desk was Sebastian when he was reading something he wasn’t supposed to. Curious as to what kind of notes he was taking, you unfolded the paper to find the diligent penmanship from Ominis’s letter.

Y/N

We have to leave in a hurry. Anne is feeling too ill to walk, but Solomon is traveling in Egypt. He is meeting with old friends from the Ministry, Curse Breakers. Anne needs someone to look after her for a few days, and Sebastian didn’t want to go alone. He shouldn’t have to be alone, not at a time like this.

I hope this message finds you well.

Yours Truly,

Ominis

Oh, what a fool you had been. You looked up at the arching ceiling and let out a laugh of disbelief. While you were having a tissy fit about being late, Anne was suffering. Merlin, how idiotic you felt.

Ignorant, as Sebastian would so kindly say. And this time, he’d have been right.

If Solomon was away, you might have just the thing to lift the spirits in Feldcroft. All you needed was a quick trip to the Room of Requirement, and you could be on your way by curfew.

It was far too late to be knocking on someone’s door, but there you stood in the entryway in the dead of night. The air was bitter and unforgiving. The nights were always chilly this close to the sea, but this year's winter seemed to be never-ending. The moment you appeared at the floo station in the middle of town, you debated sending yourself right back to the warmth of your common room.

The front door swung open to reveal a familiar wand pointed at your face. Sebastian, looking rough from sleep, mustered up the deadliest glare he could and opened his mouth to spew out a threat. His scowl brightened to a brilliant smile, recognizing you were no foe.

“Well if it isn’t the subject of the hour herself!” He stepped aside, ushering you into the small home so he could shut out the harsh weather. “You had us thinking Ashwinders were looking for a fight.”

“Assuming they would knock,” Anne added as she sat up in her bed.

“Sorry to frighten you, and wake you. ., but with Solomon gone I thought these might be of use.” You pulled a bag of freshly picked shrivelfigs from your enchanted satchel. Ever since your first trip to Feldcroft, you had been growing them. The broken look on Sebastian’s face, when his uncle had ruined the one he had bought for Anne, was etched in your soul.

“Have I told you lately that I love you?” Sebastian mused as you handed him the fruit.

“I don’t think you’ve ever admitted you love me.”

“Hmm, very well. I’ll add it to my to-do list.”

“I look forward to it, Sallow.”

“Don’t hold your breath, Gaunt.”

“Hey now,” Anne chastised, “Did we not just discuss that at great length?

Sebastian rolled his eyes then turned to you, “I’m very sorry. Does the name make you uncomfortable?”

“No,” you admitted, braving a glance at Ominis who was sitting at the head of Sebastian’s bed. You nearly gasped at his appearance.

When Sebastian had answered the door, you didn’t take a second glance at his apparel. But seeing Ominis out of school robes was always a treat. Even those few times you had, he would still be sporting his uniform vest and button-down. Now he was wearing a long sleeve thermal that seemed too loose in every area it was meant to be tight for warmth. It was likely one of Solomon’s since the boys had to leave on the spot without having time to pack.

Ominis looked terribly endearing swimming in the giant shirt with blankets looking at his hips. His hair was still somehow in place despite the fact that they had clearly already been lying down before you came in. The space in the bed next to him was disheveled from Sebastian jumping out of bed to answer the door.

“Told you she likes him!” Anne proclaimed, talking with Sebastian as if you and Ominis weren’t in the room. Though, in her defense, with the way you were looking Ominis up and down, it may as well have been Anne and Sebastian that weren’t in the room.

“Then explain the cold shoulder!”

“She was probably busy being her usual self. You do remember her having ancient magic abilities to discover, don’t you?”

“That doesn’t explain not showing up to the Undercroft.” Sebastian refused to back down from the argument.

“But she’s here now, isn’t she?” Anne reached a hand out to you. “Come, Y/N. You can sleep with me. It’s late, and we should all be resting.”

Sebastian put his hands on his hips. “Don’t you think the married couple should-“

“Sebastian!” Ominis chastised. “Enough before I hex you. Get back to bed.”

You were timid to join Anne in the tiny bed. The old wood creaked in protest from your weight. She was quick to cover you in her warm blankets. Only then did you realize how badly you had been shivering from the cold. Anne’s head unabashedly laid on your shoulder as she hummed.

“This is lovely. Sebastian has refused to sleep in the same bed as me since we started school. We used to cuddle every night.”

Across the room, Sebastian seemed to groan in agony, “Anne, quit telling people that.”

Anne went on defiantly, “He used to be so sweet to me, but he drools in his sleep.”

You giggled. “Why am I not surprised? He drools a bit in his waking hours as well. Especially in Miss Garlick’s class.”

“Hmm, wonder why that is?”

From the boys’ side, a light slap rang out, followed by the sound of a wand clattering to the floor.

“Don’t hex them!” Ominis whispered.

“Just a silencing charm!” Sebastian said defensively.

The bed was empty when you woke up. Anne had not traveled far in their tiny abode. She was relaxing with tea at the dining table. Her plush armchair stood out between the other bare, wooden dining chairs. Ominis was awake and tending to the kettle. Sebastian was snoring. A dark spot had formed by his mouth on the pillow. You bit your cheek to prevent yourself from laughing.

Lovely blackmail material for later.

“Good morning,” Ominis said, holding out a steaming mug to you. His voice startled Anne who hadn’t even noticed you had woken up.

“Thank you.” From the smell alone, you could tell he put the perfect amount of sugar. You nearly melted into the cup yourself. What you would give to wake up every morning to Ominis. . . His hair had finally given in and fallen ever so slightly out of place due to not having its usual routine. He felt the wisps on his forehead and frowned, raising his hand to move them. You reached out, grabbing his wrist. “Leave it.”

He went from pink to red alarmingly fast. You sipped your tea and caught Anne’s watchful eye. She was smiling, despite her words, “I’m starting to pity Sebastian. He was right. This is disgusting to witness.”

Deciding it was your turn for a bit of fun, you teased, “Yes well, you and Sebastian might as well get used to it. Marriages do tend to last a while, the good ones, anyway.”

Adoring the opportunity to join in on the mischief, Anne added, “I guess so. Ominis is one of the good ones.”

“Precisely.”

Ominis had his own notes to go over on that very topic. He grabbed his coat from the hanger, shrugging it on as he asked, “Y/N, would you care to join me for a morning stroll? I thought we could pick something up from the vendor. He usually has bread ready by now, and this place is due for some more fresh food to go with those shrivelfigs. Maybe a few eggs for breakfast as well. .”

“I would love to.” You mimicked his movements to grab your coat, but he had picked it up first to hold it up for you. You couldn’t help but nervously glance at Anne who seemed very amused at the whole show behind her cup of tea.

Just one arm and then the other. It wasn’t so bad, that is, until after when he put his hands on both your shoulders and smoothed out the fabric. When you turned to face him, he held out an elbow for you to hold.

“Oh,” you murmured under your breath.

Timidly, you accepted his guide, but Ominis stayed frozen in the foyer for a second longer to ask, “I’m sorry, I’ve done it again, haven’t I? Is this arrangement all right with you?” He nodded toward where your hand was shamelessly finding its place on his arm.

“Yes, of course. You lead. I have no idea where we are going,” you assured him.

“It’s rare people ask me to lead them places,” Ominis was attempting a jovial tone, perhaps to put your budding nerves at ease.

It didn’t help much due to your mouth spewing words without a thought, “I’d follow you anywhere.”

Now it was Ominis muttering a soft, “Oh,” while mulling over the depth of your words.

Anne slurped her tea inappropriately loud, causing the two of you to jump. You offered her a sheepish smile, a silent apology for forgetting that you and Ominis were not alone.

“I want a niece or nephew named after me,” Anne proclaimed. “It’s the least you could do to make up for this.”

Throwing a look of annoyance Anne’s way, Ominis was quick to fire back, “I think Sebastian has that cover-“

“Consider it done!” You promised the girl.

Ominis quickly recovered from his shocked appearance to ask, “Do I not have a say in the naming of our child?”

“Take a moment to consider the benefits. If it’s named after her, she’ll be guilted into babysitting. Would you rather have Sebastian looking after our child while we’re away? We’d come back to a demon baby.“

“Bold of you to assume Anne is any more responsible than Sebastian. She caused quite a myriad of trouble in our early years, more so than Sebastian. Do not let her fool you. Sebastian has yet to beat her detention record. Try as he might.”

Then you were whisked away on a proper tour of Feldcroft. Sebastian had previously shown you around, but those landmarks were more about the places they had fought Goblins or where Anne had been cursed. Ominis was naming off what houses belonged to which neighbors and listing who grew what each season. He spoke as if this hamlet were his home, but you were well aware the Gaunts resided in Northern England.

Perhaps Feldcroft was more of a home to him than that place ever would be. That would make sense. Sebastian and Anne seemed more like family to him than the true family he spoke ill of. It was a fine place to call home. Quaint and quiet. There was more variety in the cities or even villages like Hogsmeade, but the hustle and bustle of those places got old. Visiting Feldcroft with Sebastian had always been a guilty pleasure. Pleasure because you craved simplicity after all your adventures, but guilty for feeling so at peace while Sebastian and Anne were struggling.

With the sun breaking through some of the clouds, today would be warmer than yesterday. By the afternoon, most of the snow would likely melt away. Days like that were usually colder than the weeks of snow that preceded them. The wetness seeped into clothes and chilled to the bone. With all the fields surrounding the hamlet, you hoped the ground would soak up the moisture quick. Either that or the four of you would be inside for the entire duration of your stay.

A while into the walk, Ominis finally took out his wand to lead the both of you toward a hay bale big enough to sit. A cart of chomping cabbages rolled by. You tried not to shiver, knowing very well how deadly those things could be. Assuming you were cold, Ominis trailed a hand down your arm to find your own placed in your lap. He encapsulated your hands in his and brought them to his lips, blowing hot air to heat them deliciously.

You had to mentally remind yourself to breathe, not wanting to get called out as you were in the library. His actions heated you up in more way than one. Your face felt overwhelmingly warm, as well as other regions of your body you weren’t quite ready to acknowledge just yet. But in truth, you greatly appreciated the notion to warm you. You hadn’t been able to find a scarf before running off to Feldcroft, probably due to your supply being mostly piled in Ominis’ dorm room.

“We should actually buy the bread and eggs for breakfast, but I must admit the point of this walk was to get you alone.” He still had your hands hostage, holding them near his chest. They stayed there a beat longer before he finally let you have your freedom, which used to be a sensation you craved before you grew used to Ominis’ affections.

“I’m sorry if coming here was not appropriate,” you spewed out. “I hadn’t read the letter in time, or else I would have met with you before.”

“After how foolishly I acted, I would have understood if you didn’t show at all. If my second letter made you worry about Anne, I’m terribly sorry. I did not mean for you to follow us here, but I am glad you did. Is that selfish of me?”

“If wanting me around is selfish, then I wish you would be selfish more often.”

“I’m selfish all the time.”

You took that as an invitation to move closer on the makeshift bench. Now with your hip and shoulder flush against his own, you were practically forced to entangle your overlapping arms. “Ominis, I should tell you. . This weekend I had not meant to ignore you.”

“It was well deserved and to be expected, only natural after how uneasy I made you feel. Just because you drew hearts around my name doesn’t mean you would want my. . . advances.” Ominis visibly cringed at his own terminology.

“I do,” you blurted. Merlin, with all the marriage references, you may as well get out your wand and make an Unbreakable Vow at this point.

Ominis tilted his head. “What?”

“Sorry, I meant to say that it’s okay. You were right in assuming I wanted. . that.”

The heavy feeling in the boy’s chest seemed to lighten. He sighed in relief. “Oh, I felt horrible thinking I had made you uncomfortable in any sort of way.”

“Nervous, but not uncomfortable.”

He lifted his wand to let the red light take in the quiet hamlet. You stiffened, suddenly becoming hyper-aware of your surroundings. Loyalists and Ashwinders were still a heavy threat, especially in Feldcroft. For a moment you had let your guard down, and now you felt terrible for not keeping watch.

Oddly, not a soul was in sight. Even the livestock that often wandered about was either off in the snowy fields or no doubt huddled up in a barn somewhere. The morning was young, you could tell from how loud the birds were chirping. Most residents were still hunkered down in their homes except for a dedicated merchant setting up their cart near the well in the center of town. They weren’t quite near enough for Ominis to pick up their sound, though, his hearing could be even better than you already assumed.

You tucked yourself close to his side to whisper, “Did you hear something?”

He shook his head no, lowering his wand. “I only wanted to make sure we were alone.” The tip of his nose had gone pink from the cold. His cheeks were rosy, too, from being out in the morning breeze.

“It’s just us,” you reassured softly. “There’s a merchant setting up in the center of town, but they-“ A hand obstructed your view. Ominis was tentatively reaching out. The light brush of his index finger against your jaw is what cut off your train of thought. The others landed on your pulse, his thumb finding your chin. It glided up, moving across your lips that were still slightly parted from the words that got left behind.

“Don’t move,” he didn’t really need to tell you. The shock of it all was enough to turn you into a statue.

Then he was leaning in. His movements were slow but deliberate. His thumb left your lips only to be replaced by his mouth ghosting over yours. That’s where he stopped. You thought he was second-guessing himself, but then you could ever so slightly feel him break into a smile.

“I didn’t mean for you to stop breathing,” he teased. “Take a breath.”

You did, a pathetically weak one that is. But as soon as you took in air, Ominis closed the distance. His lips, though soft and gentle, weren’t hesitant in any way. He still held the side of your face, guiding you to him.

Your eyes had closed on instinct, so you had become lost in the sensation of him against you. His hand was the only thing grounding you until you reached for his jacket and tugged him closer. Only then did he take advantage of your parted lips to deepen the kiss. He let his other hand explore the side of your body, finding your hip and then running up and down the side of your thigh. You couldn’t help but shudder at the sensation.

Then, all too quickly, his lips were pulling away. You followed, chasing his movements, needing more. The hand cradling your jaw held you in place, letting him put his forehead to yours and chuckle.

“You want more, but you stopped moving.”

Had you stopped? You didn’t mean to. “You distracted me.”

He hummed in approval and squeezed your thigh just above your knee. The sound of your breath hitching was all the confirmation he needed. “You really like that, don’t you?”

Your grip on his jacket was se desperate that your hands were starting to ache. “Ominis, please. .”

“Do you even know what you are asking for, my dear? I think I should take you on a proper date before doing any of that. And perhaps, not in the center of town. .”

You immediately tucked your face in the crook of his neck, far too embarrassed to face the world after that. “I’m sorry.” Your breath on his neck made him go stiff. A mischievous thought crossed your mind, and you were acting on it before you could talk yourself out of it. You brought your lips to his neck, just below his jaw. His hand instinctively tightened around your thigh as he let out a gentle gasp.

“Oh,” was all he could say, now deeply understanding the intensity you felt whenever he would touch you. At first, you peppered kisses along his skin, but when you came across his pulse your self-restraint floated away. Feeling how quick it gave you the confidence to open your mouth wider, sucking his pale skin until it went red and warm. Trickles of electricity ran down his spine. He wanted to chastise you for being so lude in public, but he couldn’t form words. His body felt limp, completely compliant to whatever you chose to do. Then his own tongue betrayed him, “Right there.”

Eager to please, you focused all your attention on that spot. Your fingers tangled in the hair at the base of his neck and tugged slightly so that he’d grant you better access. Ominis didn’t give any resistance to your demand.

It was thrilling to know you could make him experience all the things he made you feel. You pushed his limits further by grazing your teeth against him. His hand shot up your thigh to your hip, the other landing on your other side. He pulled on you as if he wanted you closer, but any closer you’d be in his lap. Although that idea was beyond tempting, the sound of someone’s front door creaking open made you pull away from his neck.

The loss of contact made him frown. He quickly cupped your cheeks to pull you in for another kiss, but you put a hand against his chest, holding him at bay with a giggle.

“Later,” you promised, “-when we’re alone again.”

Ominis tilted his head in confusion. His eyes went wide when he heard the soft chatter of a neighboring couple exiting their home behind him. Quickly, he let you go and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I- I didn’t hear them come out.”

You left a brisk kiss on the little cluster of moles decorating his cheekbone before standing and tugging him along. “Come on. We still need to buy breakfast.”

By the time you made it back to the Sallow home, Sebastian was moaning about how starved he was. His eyes lit up when the door opened. Anne had told him the two of you had gone to collect bread and eggs. His excitement morphed into terror at the sight of his best friend in such disarray. In all the years he’s known Ominis, Sebastian had never seen his hair so wild.

“Are you okay? Were you attacked?” He squared Ominis’s shoulders and frowned at the red marks littering his neck. Anne giggling behind him made Sebastian piece together what he was seeing. His face twisted up in a look of disgust. “Oh, are you serious? In the middle of town?! Do I need to start escorting you two everywhere?”

“That’s hardly necessary,” you insisted at the same time Ominis admitted, “I don’t think that would stop her.”

“Give me that,” Sebastian growled as he took the basket of food from you. “Unbelievable, both of you. Go sit while I cook.”

“Let’s listen to Sebastian,” Ominis whispered with a smirk forming. Curious as to what he was planning, you let him guide you to the dining table. You’d expected him to pull out a chair for you, but he sat down first and then pulled you closer, patting his thigh. “Come on, he said to sit.”

Your heart was jumping haphazardly in your chest. You sat with your back pressed to his chest. His arms wasted no time snaking around your middle and pulling you close.

“Deplorable,” Sebastian muttered.

“No, it’s sweet. Quit acting like you’re so modest, and make my eggs,” Anne demanded. “I want my yolk runny.”

Sebastian sighed heavily, giving in, but only because his twin had ridiculed him. “Fine. And how would you like your eggs, Mr. and Mrs. Gaunt?”

“Whatever is easiest,” you offered.

“Preferably not poisoned,” Ominis suggested.

Y/N,

Feldcroft has been absolute mayhem while you've been away. I know this work trip is necessary, but I've never been shy to admit how selfish I am when it comes to you. If you are able to sneak away a few days early, let's not tell a soul. You can hide away in the house, and I could have you to myself just until others are expecting your return.

Speaking of others, I must warn you that your primroses have been trampled by Sebastian's son. I assume I don't even have to name which one was the culprit, but he has promised to help you replant them on your return. Sebastian would have done it with him, but somehow our dear friend managed to learn absolutely nothing during seven years of Herbology despite having such a watchful eye on our professor during classes. Perhaps you can bestow a bit of gardening knowledge on all his children that way they have hobbies that don't involve destroying our home when they visit.

Until then, I will miss the smell of the flowers almost as much as I miss you.

Your Husband,

Ominis

p.s. Please do consider my request that you return early. If not for me, then for the well-being of our home.

[emerald-cobracat]

Has anyone considered how none of the winners in the life series actually get to survive past the games.

Grian killed himself immediately after killing Scar. Scott is killed by a command after winning. Pearl dies at most a second after Scott kills himself. Martin is the only one who survives after winning and even he runs out of time.

The games aren’t meant to be survived, even the winners fall victim to the death that plagues the server.

None of the victors go against this. Except Scott and Martin.

Scott is killed almost immediately afterwords. He’s killed by Grian (I think). Grian is a watcher. Wether he left or betrayed them doesn’t matter. He still has the power and knows the power of the watchers. He knew that Scott wouldn’t die after his victory. He knew Scott would move forward and try to save them.

The watchers don’t like Scott.

This would cause them to hate him. To despise him. To make is so that the games would never be kind to him again. But then Grian kills Scott. He uses the power he once abandoned to save Scott from the watchers wrath.

So maybe the watchers don’t like Scott but they approve of him. He got one of their own to use his power again. They would favor him but they’d let him be. It’s why Scott and Pearl survived as long as they did even if they didn’t team up. The watchers left them alone because Scott was part of the pair. In limited life Scott was doing the best he could and very little went wrong for him. He managed a crazy bucket clutch with the entire server trying to kill him. The only thing that went wrong is him being boogeyman first and even then it just meant he had more time.

It’s also why Scott couldn’t win double life. That would get rid of any good will the watchers have for him.

The watchers want Grian back in their ranks. And so far Scott is the only one that got Grian to use his power.

However Martin doesn’t play the game as he’s supposed to. He betrays everyone and in the end doesn’t play fair. He wins but in the cruelest and most desperate way he could.

Martin also dares to live after he’s won. He dares to not abide by the rules and die. Yes he does die eventually but he had an hour left on his timer. An hour, no winner has lasted that long. What if Martin is doing so badly right now because in that hour he did something. He challenged the watchers or maybe used that time to find something on the server in an attempt to free himself and his friends.

What if he did something so that the watchers couldn’t kill him. They’d have to wait until his time ran out.

They’d hate that.

It could explain why he’s doing so badly now too. Yes Martin might share the canary curse because of him attacking Jimmy but what if it’s more than that. What if the watchers are getting directly involved with everyone because of Martin. What if Martin found something in that hour in limited life? What if he’s so close yet so far to ending the games?

The watchers would hate that. They’d try to stop him.

And what better way then to further control everyone then by putting them against each other with a secret.

I also like the idea that Scott is using his good will with the watchers to learn more about them and try to stop them. During limited life the watchers began to notice so Martin who may or may not have known what’s happening gets involved.

[steezywrites]

Punishment

Peeta X Y/N

————————————————————————

“If he went after Katniss-“

“You aren’t Katniss.” My fathers grey eyes were bloodshot, the withdrawal and stress evident in every too visible vein. I didn’t miss the slight shake of his hands as he placed them on my shoulders, and tried to fight the anxious shakes that were threatening my hands as well.

“But-“

“We need to at least try. Maybe he’ll listen to you.” My father sounded desperate, and I didn’t blame him. Peeta had been a beamed of light for all of us, and now whatever had happened shrouded him in a darkness that had wrapped it’s hands around Katniss’ throat and nearly killed her. If the Capitol could turn him against Katniss if all people, I highly doubt he’ll be happy to see me. While I haven’t been the mascot for the rebellion like Katniss, it would be useful for the Capitol to make him hate me too. I was tied pretty directly to his time in the Hunger Games, being his mentors daughter and all. I couldn’t even count how many times Peeta had run over to my father and I’s house a all hours, eyes still clouded over by whatever nightmare had resulted in him screaming himself awake. The number of times I had sat next to him in front of our fireplace in silence, drinking hot cocoa with my hand wrapped I’m his in an attempt to comfort rose to the surface of my mind, along with a very specific night of body heat but I pushed that one as far away as I could. It wasn’t the right time to think of Peeta that way.

Finally I sighed and nodded. My father let go of my shoulders and led me towards the medical units. The impossibly sterile and bright white halls of the medical unit made me nauseous. Such a stark difference in the environment and what I knew laid behind the door we were approaching. I had seen him once through a one way glass, and nearly puked.

I heard him before I saw him. He was yelling something, both anger and desperation bounced off the stark white walls in a haunting echo. The sound caused me to pick up pace, I nearly ran to the door I knew he was strapped down behind. The yelling hadn’t stopped until I threw his door open. His head snapped towards me fast enough it just have hurt, his big blue eyes surrounded by shadows stopped me in my tracks as they searched me for something. The light in them kept switching between recognition and caution, like I was some plant he knew he’d seen before but couldn’t remember if it was poisonous or not.

“Peeta, Y/n wanted to see you. She’s been worried.” A voice came through some sort of speaker in the room, a doctor I’m guessing. Peeta nodded, eyes still not leaving me. I wanted to run up to him, hug him and tell him everything was okay now but the memory of the bruises on Katniss’ neck kept my feet firmly planted. I knew him and Katniss weren’t actually lovers, it was all for show and Peeta had told me many many times that he and I weren’t the same as he and Katniss, but they were still closer than most-shared trauma does that to you- and he had tried to kill her. It only made me more cautious as to what sort of reaction I would cause. If he tries to kill the person he had spent two Games trying to keep alive, what would he try to do to me?

“You look lovely.”

His voice broke the silence. His tone and the words didn’t quite match up, as it was quite blunt and more of an observation than a compliment, but it thawed a bit of the ice on my feet.

“Thank you, Peeta.” I gulped.

“You’re scared of me.” The same blunt tone escaped his mouth.

“No, not exactly. What do you remember about me?”

He looked down and blinked rapidly before looking back up at me and seemingly at loss for words. Does he not remember anything?

“Some…things.” His voice was now the cautious one. I took a step forward.

“Tell me. I’ll tell you if they’re accurate or if I remember them differently.”

“You’re Haymitch’s daughter. You live next door to me in the Victors square.”

I nodded.

“I go to your house when I have nightmares.”

I nodded.

“And we’re…”

I took another step forward.

My movement seemed to surprise him, and he blinked quickly again before the faintest blush touched his cheeks.

“What are we exactly?” He asked, eyes no longer meeting mine.

“We didn’t get the chance to really figure that out.” I breathed. This almost felt like talking to the old Peeta, but the air was too fragile.

“Katniss and I… but I thought…”

“You and Katniss put on a hell of a show. To survive. She’s your best friend.” I knew I had started to push a boundary. His eyes had darkened, face contorting in anger and confusion.

“No she..I loved her and she…She used me!”

I flinched. His anger wasn’t as painful as the certainty in his voice was. I loved her stabbed me in the gut as it echoed in the empty, too large room.

Someone must have yanked me out of the room, because I was suddenly in the hall way, staring at Peeta though the one way glass as he thrashed against his restraints, cursing Katniss’ name and screaming about mutts and monsters. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him until a shaky hand on my shoulder turned me towards them. My fathers grey eyes only took a glance at my face before pulling me into a hug.

“It isn’t real Y/n. The Capital messed with his head. This is-“

“This is my punishment isn’t it?”

He let go of me. An anger I never felt began to bubble in my throat. The stab wounds in my gut began to burn as I stared back into my fathers eyes and tears began to flood mine.

“This is my punishment! For being your daughter! For loving Peeta! For being in the way of the stupid, fake star-crossed lover’s bullshit! That wasn’t even my decision! That was you and Peeta! And now me and Katniss get to pay for it!”

I stormed out of the medical unit, everything too blurry to see exactly where I was going.

[faithisasuperstar]

hi! i literally love your treech fics so much! do you think you could write a treech x mentor!reader where she goes to see him at the zoo the night before the games (a bit like coryo and lucy gray)?

kiss of life → treech

treech!tbosas x reader

notes → in which love and life are fleeting as you say your final goodbye to treech. (i stole dialogue directly from the book for this LOL)

warnings → not edited & uploaded via iphone.

     “treech?” you whispered out into the dark. faint hints of moonlight peeked in through the clouds, becoming the only source of illumination in the pitch black of the night. falteringly, you crept closer to the bars of the monkey house, eyes scanning for a sight of your tribute you had grown rather fond of.

     “y/n,” he answered, and you followed the sound of his voice, which had turned far more gravelly since the last time he had spoken to you. once you had located him, you scampered over to the boy, eyes lighting up.

     “thank goodness you’re okay,” you cried, placing a hand to his face. you hadn’t gotten to see him after the explosion in the arena, and you wanted to make sure that he was alright. “gosh, i can’t believe they’re still making you go in there tomorrow!” tense, heavy air settled between the two of you.

     “i’ll be alright. me and the pack got a plan,” he reassured you as your fingers snuck into his hair, which had become rather matted since his arrival in the capitol.

     “just… don’t trust them too much. keep a good distance, please. i have a feeling they’re just going to use you.” you cautioned him, voice unsteadied by worry. the pair from four scared you the most. they had fierce determination in levels you had never witnessed before. while it was admirable, it was rightfully daunting.

     “thank you. for what you’ve done for me. i really have a chance now, ‘cause of you.” although his expression was blank, you could see in his eyes that he meant what he had said. pangs of guilt struck you, as you felt there was so much more you could have done for him. nonetheless, a tender smile made its way across your face.

     “it’s my job. i can’t let you die in there, you mean too much to me.. not just as my tribute, but you. you matter to me. you’re the most incredible boy i’ve ever met.” you confessed, eyes beginning to brim with salty tears, devastated that you would have to part with him when the night came to an end.

     “don’t cry over me, y/n. especially because i’m going to win. for you.” treech promised with certainty. the immense wholeheartedness of his tone brought you an ounce of optimism, and you couldn’t help but add on.

     “i’ll be there in the arena with you. we’ll win together. and once you’re announced victor and i get the plinth prize, i can buy you and your family a way into the capitol,” you suggested. a rather farfetched idea, but desperation and maybe even love had clouded your vision and infiltrated your thoughts. you shouldn’t allow your fantasies to get the best of you, but they all seemed too real as treech became an honest contender to win the tenth annual hunger games. he humored your idea, even though it may not have been possible, as he reached for your hand, squeezing it firmly. his calloused palm, having seen years of labor and hardships, juxtaposed against your softer one. the feeling truly highlighted the difference in your upbringing compared to his own. never had your living conditions led you to have to get a job, or even consider it. you couldn’t imagine having to do so for years in order to make ends meet. it hurt you that treech was not able to make the most of his childhood.

     you and treech had come a long way since the first time you had met him at the zoo. two weeks may not have been that long of a time, but it seemed like an eternity to the two of you, as each day you grew closer to the boy. he seemed to warm up to you more and more with each gift and lingering touch you had left him. originally, treech was quite cautious of you. he didn’t think he could trust you, knowing you were capitol, supposedly endorsing the very systems that wanted to kill him, while still claiming to want to help him. but over the course of the twelve days treech had spent in the capitol, more vulnerable than ever, he realized that not every citizen there had as much ill intent as he once believed, or at least, you didn’t. you too discovered that the district people were not at all like the animals your family made them out to be. they were humans, like yourself. of course, you had been wary when your parents made claims of the district people drinking blood and turning to means of savagery, but it had always lingered in the back of your mind. that was, until you met your tribute. the boy like quality of his aura diminished any doubt you had left of the children being bestial, replaced by guilt that you had ever felt that way in the first place.

     as his hands entwined with yours, you managed to slip your silver bracelet onto his wrist, something you had been waiting for the perfect time to do. treech looked at you with confusion. “it’s my good luck charm,” you explained, as he inspected the jewelry. “it may just be like a placebo effect or something, but it helps me feel better. i want you to have it. as a loan. you can return it to me once you win the games.” you claimed, ever so confident of your statement.

     “you’re all i’m going to think about in there.” treech admitted. in that moment, your temptations overcame you, and you gave into the desire to kiss the boy. sure, it was rather uncomfortable for the both of you, necks strained as you both tried to reach the other through the bars, but none of that mattered the moment his lips met yours. the feeling alone sent sparks through your body. you felt reenergized, now more than ever as his kiss breathed new purpose into you. when he pulled away, you were left hungry for more.

     “we can pick this back up after the games,” treech promised you, giving you one last knowing glance before the two of you parted ways. the games would commence, but underneath all of your anxiousness, a flicker of hope had sparked.

[moowithmidnight]

Hey do you have any random cashmere hcs (can be anything in particular?)

Random anon, this is the best question anyone’s ever asked me :,) 

Keep in mind this is a pretty new hyperfixation so I haven’t had a TON of time to fully flesh these out!

CW: light mentions of canon-typical sex-trafficking

Cashmere Headcanons:

Cashmere was extremely overconfident and cocky after Gloss’s win, and would constantly talk to anyone who would listen about how proud she was of her brother. Everyone at the Academy was sick and tired of her by the time she volunteered, and she just couldn’t care less.

She fell very hard for the propaganda, and fully believed in the glory of the Games before she became a Victor. As a result, she was very one-track minded about her goals: win the Games, bring honor to District 1, love the life of a Victor. I think when that illusion was shattered for her she took it extremely personally, and sort of internalized that lesson.

She was 16 when she volunteered for the Games. Originally she intended on waiting until 18, but after Gloss’s win, she wanted to volunteer as soon as she could. She didn’t understand why he tried to vaguely discourage it, and took it as a lack of faith in her abilities.

She sort of took Finnick under her wing until he became something closer to a friend, and as a result, he is the Victor she is the closest to. They both have a lot in common, and he knows a lot more about her than anyone else (excluding Gloss).

She’s bisexual. There’s quite literally no canon reason for me to believe that other than it feels right. Bisexual vibes are there.

She’s very intelligent. It’s a semi-popular headcanon that she’s a sort of bimbo, but I find that characterization extremely insulting. She rebels against the Capitol the same way the other 75th Tributes do, and I would argue she plays a majorly under-appreciated role in Catching Fire. District 2 is extremely loyal to the Capitol, even more then 1; Brutus and Enobaria weren’t going to try to stop the Games. If she hadn’t started fake crying to garner the audience’s sympathy from the jump, they would have taken the rest of the attempts a lot less seriously.

Despite not believing most of the propaganda District 1 and the Capitol sold her, she still holds a certain level of disdain for the outer districts.

Her and Johanna butt heads a lot because of their shared proximity to Finnick and blatant dislike of each other. Cashmere views her win as a cheap tactic (although admires her manipulation skills) and dislikes how loud and directly defiant she is.

She and Gloss had an extremely close relationship throughout their childhoods, and anything he did, she wanted to do too. They always relied on each other and their parents were fairly neglectful, so Gloss ended up caring for her a lot of the time. However, that relationship became extremely rocky after Gloss won his games, then her, and then Snow started selling them. By the 3rd Quarter Quell, their relationship wasn’t the same level of closeness as before, but it was decently repaired, and they felt they could rely on each other again.

She has a cat. A really prim and proper Siamese cat, with a completely opposite playful personality that she hadn’t originally accounted for. The cat was one of the first things she bought with her Victor money, and she refused to give it away when Gloss offered her a calmer one.

Even amongst District 1 citizens, she is an extremely convincing actress and liar. She knows how to manipulate the Capitol in just the right way to get what she wants, and it causes a level of distrust between her and many of the other non-District 1 Victors.

These are just a few of them! Thank you again for the ask 🫶

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Gus Fring

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Breaking Bad is known for its fantastic cast of characters, all of whom have some level of critical acclaim and iconic status. Seriously, go to Wikipedia and go to any character’s page from the show (basically every major character has one) and look at the “Reception” part, pretty much all of them are universally beloved. Chief among that crowd is the only villain in the show to give our rascally villain protagonist Walt a run for his money, the criminal mastermind that is Gustavo “Gus” Fring.

If you think I’m going to do anything other than add to those heaps of praise, you’re surely mistaken; I love Gus as much as anyone else who has seen the show. But where most are willing to overlook certain aspects of the character that don’t work so well because he is cool and gay, I acknowledge those flaws and love Gus anyway. We are not the same.

Motivation/Goals: Gus is a businessman, plain and simple. Be it Los Pollos Hermanos or his secret meth business, Gus wants perfection in every aspect of his professional life. That being said, he’s a pretty fair boss, and if you pull your weight you will be rewarded; he treats his employees at Los Pollos Hermanos so well that you know the show takes place in a fantasy world, because no boss is that nice. And he was way too lenient with Walt all throughout that man’s career working with him.

Of course, Gus is also driven by revenge. Don Eladio, Hector Salamanca, and the rest of the cartel are responsible for the death of his lover Max, and Gus refuses to rest until the entire operation has crumbled, with only him left standing tall and Hecor lefty broken and crippled to be finished off last as he’s the one who pulled the trigger. It’s a very classic villain motivation, and it helps give a little bit of sympathy to a character who is otherwise too cold and mysterious to really delve into the mind of. At any rate, it makes it very easy to root for Gus and cheer him on as he plays his supposed superiors for suckers and orchestrates their downfalls all while coming up with dozens of plans to cover his own ass.

Performance: Giancarlo Esposito has such an air of elegance and menace to him when he’s playing Gus. You can really see why he man ended up typecast after this, playing cunning antagonists, because he really kills it here. He does have one incredibly major flaw, though: He’s not a native Spanish speaker like Gus is. This leads to pretty much any point where Gus is required to speak the language falling flat, especially since most of the time he’s up against actors who are actually fluent and even if you’re not a native speaker you can pick up on how clunky he is in comparison to Michael Mando or Tony Dalton.

Final Fate: Gustavo Fring got outplayed by both Walter and Hector, and the result is perhaps one of the single greatest villain deaths of all time.

As many have pointed out, it is genuinely hilarious how Gus hated Hector so fucking much that he refused to die in the same room as him. And hey, maybe this isn’t very accurate to how a person would realistically look after taking an explosion directly to the face… But it’s one hell of a cool visual. Sometimes it’s better to check realism at the door for the sake of symbolism and cool prosthetic gore.

Best Scene: I think it is genuinely hard to top Gus’ awesome moments, even if he doesn’t ever really get an entire episode of focus. I think his crowning moment, the moment where we as an audience and Walt as a character learn that us is not even remotely fucking around, is his silent preparations before he comes up to his lackey Victor and violently slits his throat in “Box Cutter,” before equally silently getting dressed once more. Right before leaving, he simply says, “Get back to work” before leaving a stunned Walt, Mike, and Jesse behind.

undefined

There’s also Gus taking down Don Eladio and all his capos in “Salud.” It’s such wonderful, beautiful vengeance, and it’s all made better by the fact Gus poisoned himself, went to the bathroom, neatly placed a towel on the floor and knelt down on it, and then induced vomiting. This man would pick the fruitiest way imaginable to save his own life.

undefined

Finally, there is his scene in “Fun and Games,” the first and only time we see Gus just out enjoying himself. We get to see him pretty obviously flirting with a sommelier, but as soon as the man leaves for a moment Gus makes the decision to commit himself fully to his mission and rule out the possibility of love again after what happened to Max. This is the moment where we see Gus fully become the man we know him as in Breaking Bad, and it’s honestly pretty tragic. He could have been happy if he’d just let go some of his hate, and maybe he’d even still be alive.

undefined

Final Thoughts & Score: Gus is one of the best villains ever to grave television, and considering he’s in a show filled to the brim with some of the greatest villains ever devised, that’s really saying something.

Part of what makes him so genuinely great is just how utterly unknowable he is. Over the course of both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, he is almost like a god of the criminal underworld, untouchable and mysterious. What very little tidbits we get of his past paint a conflicting picture that could mean any number of things, and at every other point he manages to command respect and fear from all those around him, with those not wise enough to do so ending up dead by his masterful machinations. It ultimately makes the single scene where we see him not doing business, the one where he flirts with the man at the bar, so much more impactful. We see that Gus has rejected his humanity, his chance at ever being happy again, so that he can be consumed by his work and his vengeance. Gus is what he is by choice.

It’s why, even if it’s not really “good” that Walt won, it is so satisfying and cathartic. Gus spends his screentime pulling off superhuman schemes and feats of vengeance, orchestrating the deaths of the entire Salamanca family and his own cartel superiors, and yet he is done in by an absolute bumbling buffoon of a criminal like Walt. It’s a classic case of David and Goliath, with the untouchable adversary being taken down due to viewing his foe as so far beneath him that he didn’t realize he was screwed until it was too late. Gus was sadly too smart for his own good, never bothering to consider the erratic chemistry teacher could ever pull off anything big enough to defeat him.

With all that, Gus gets a 10/10. With how much I love Gus and how I consider him one of my favorite villains ever, you might be wondering why I didn’t bump him up to a 10.5 to denote him being a cut above the garden variety 10. Well, Gus has one issue with his character that I feels really hampers him in crucial moments: His inability to speak Spanish. Giancarlo Esposito, despite being an absolutely fantastic actor in every other regard, does not speak Spanish and needs his lines given to him phonetically. Native speakers have called his accent stilted and unnatural, and it has led to moments that should be epic and powerful such as his monologue to Lalo before killing him becoming nonsensical gibberish to trained ears. Considering that character is a native Spanish speaker, this is an absolutely unforgivable and glaring flaw. It certainly doesn’t ruin the character, but it does hold him back just a little bit.

But it really does speak volumes that as soon as Gus is taken out, the quality of the villains just plummets. The final season has Walt facing off against a bunch of Nazis and fucking Lydia, the annoying businesswoman. The final season is still peak, but boy are those villains living in Gus’ shadow. In spite of his flaws (or, well, his singular but rather major flaw), he’s still one of the greatest villains in television history, and is up there with Walt and Saul as the greatest villains in the series.

[neurotonic]

In a fight to the death between Solaris Fabby and Prism who do you think would come out the victor? The circumstances that lead to the fight are irrelevant I just need to know who wins.

Oh I see... We're pitting three bad bitches against each other... any history/feelings on killing aside, my answer depends on the nature of the fight/what they're allowed to prepare and use for the brawl. Putting this under the cut because WOW this got longer than I thought.

Edit: Also I forgot to add but I'm not going to throw in any of their feelings between each other for this, I'm just kind of basing on what they CAN do, no context no nothing. If you DO want my opinion of it...I think they Really wouldn't like having to kill each other. But that's not what we're here for today.

For pure hand-to-hand combat, no additional tools/weapons... Prism is probably not used to that kind of thing. She's on her ass inventing all day and Reggie mentions that she's not used to the physically stressful life of a field agent. Fabby's probably more used to getting into fights, though her style leans more on her using lethal inventions. And I feel like her general sense of class would prevent her from fully giving her all with her body movements.

Which leaves us with Solaris. I wholeheartedly believe she's jacked as fuck. Astronauts are required to be physically fit and strong to do whatever it is they do in space. So all that training, combined with her stature easily gives her the physical advantage over the other two. However, if the fight happens AFTER the Death Engine explosion (maybe a few months... or years later...) Solaris is in a lot weaker state. If we're being extremely generous and say she's almost as good as she was before, the odds would be more or less equal between the three. She is Nawt gonna go back to the way she was before sorry queen. But if we're talking peak performances, then there you go. Brick Shithouse Solaris.

Conclusion: Solaris, for pure hand-to-hand combat.

IF we're playing to their strengths and let these inventors play with their little touys, they'd have a more equal footing methinks! My immediate instinct says Fabricator wins because I think, out of the three of them, she's the most familiar with designing inventions that are the most efficient at killing people, if we're going from her kill count. However, she's going against two other inventors with some very unique tricks up their sleeves.

Solaris's lasers are a close second and BOY are they dangerous. Maybe they're not in the same scale as the Death Engine because of the possible timeframe, but she's able to make the dashboard canon and self-destruct module real quickly (I THINK. i forgot the timeline for this but I digress). Prism's robots can Also technically overpower the other two with the sheer number she could make within a set timeframe. Maybe she could also weaponize kinesium (but that's a little disadvantageous for her robots now that I think of it. Could be like a last resort self-destruct thing. But she's not gonna like it).

Fabby could easily kill them with poison gas, but with Solaris's and the robots' lasers they could ignite and negate the gas--that is, if they're quick enough. From the gasses Phoenix ignites, they're usually still in their containers before they're dispersed in the air (and I'm not sure how the chemistry goes if they try to ignite that as it's being sprayed...). If anyone tried to attack Prism directly, they'd have to go through her shield of robots (which she's not gonna like either, but they Are handy). Solaris also still has her physical strength alongside her lasers. This is actually harder than I thought with all the possibilities between them oh Goddddd.

If we find weaknesses, I think Prism's would be the most glaring - if any of the other two find out how to destabilize kinesium, it could make a disastrous chain reaction of explosions that'll wipe out her robots if they're not far enough. But then the robots could try to explode closer to the other two, somewhat of a "im bringing you down with me" situation. For Fabricator. I dont really know what other Types of inventions she could make specifically for fighting...................if she blows all her poison gas she's probably gonna get screweds immediately. She could have lethal fashion things of varied uses, but that still involves surpassing the defenses and avoiding the offenses the other two have. Solaris is going to fair pretty well when it comes to the offense, but her stature actually puts a bigger target on her body since she'd be easier to see and hit.

Jesus well. Sorry to disappoint you anon but I'm really drawing a blank here. If you really want I could add their feelings on Killing as a last resort and say that Prism probably wouldn't win because she Really isn't the type to kill without reason (she'd defend herself to the end), and Fabby would be the winner of this because she is in fact the most bloodthirsty out of the three of them. She's probably the fastest to analyze what she should do to exploit the other two's weaknesses.

Without that, feel free to imagine these three inventors absolutely giving it their all and then everyone exploding to bits and pieces simultaneously. Whoever wins is a win for #feminism except they really just Die at the same time here so

[josefavomjaaga]

Petiet about the "roi Nicolas" affair

Ha! I'm on a roll today! 😁 Here’s another testimony from the memoirs of one of Soult's aides-de-camp, Auguste Petiet. Petiet often enough was at odds with his marshal over financial matters, so his report is particularly interesting. He did, however, not witness the beginning directly, as he had been sent away from Oprto to support general Delaborde with taking and occupying Amarante, in order to hopefully reopen communications with the French forces in Spain and to find any sign of marshal Victor’s corps. Taking Amarante and the bridge across the river Tamega proved to be a hard task in itself and took its toll on both the troops and their leaders. As Petiet notes about Delaborde:

The general's character suffered because of the continual obstacles he could not overcome. In one of the unsuccessful attacks, a grenadier was killed between General Delaborde and myself and covered us with his blood. The general said gloomily: "How happy this man is, I would like to be in his place!" On 24 April, General Delaborde received a letter from the Marshal instructing him to send me back to him with the journal of his operations. I was all the more anxious to get back to headquarters as I had been strangely surprised by some of General Delaborde's words. He claimed that Marshal Soult was going to usurp the throne of Portugal and that he had not even been afraid to announce this in a proclamation signed by General Ricard. The delegations from the provinces occupied by the French army had come, he added, to pay their respects to King Jean de Dieu.

And at this point Petiet added a footnote in his memoirs, stating that this was Soult’s first name. Apparently he also had already tired of the whole "Nicolas" business. Or he was astonished himself about that weird first name.

I will indicate here the various circumstances which gave rise to such a rumour. Most of the expeditionary army was made up of troops who, having already fought an unfortunate campaign in Portugal, had reluctantly returned to a country which they considered to be cursed. The generals bitterly criticised all the dispositions of the Duke of Dalmatia and seemed delighted to see him forced to stop his invasion plan. The Marshal, who was still counting on the arrival of the auxiliary troops that his instructions promised him, had established order and discipline throughout the country under the jurisdiction of the French troops. Property, religion and industry were protected.

I’m not sure if Petiet does this on purpose but immediately adding the fact that private property, churches and rich warehouses were under protection, after listing the grievances Soult's subordinate officers had against him, almost makes it look as if that, too, had been something they were not happy with.

In this instance, the Portuguese, wishing to shake off the yoke of England, came to the Duke of Dalmatia with deputations from the towns and villages, asking him to ask Napoleon for a monarch of his choice to govern them. But could he be reproached for thinking that Napoleon, who had placed Murat and Bernadotte on their thrones, would set his sights on him to reign in Portugal?

And here Petiet clearly is writing in hindsight, with a messed-up timeline. Murat was already in Naples, that’s true, but Bernadotte was still very much under Napoleon’s command in early 1809 and about to clash with him during the battle of Wagram. He also fails to add that both these marshals had family relations to Napoleon.

If so, would he have taken up arms against his brothers, along with the two Frenchmen I have just named? Was his devotion to the Emperor not absolute?

I suspect what Petiet actually wants to write is: You know, Naps, maybe you should have made Soult a king. That one would at least not have declared war on you like the other two.

When the head of one of the Portuguese delegations knelt before him and exclaimed: "I kiss the hand of my king", the Marshal was undoubtedly wrong not to state vigorously that it was for Napoleon alone to make such a choice and that he did not aspire to rise to this supreme rank. He was undoubtedly wrong to appoint, on his own authority, a high vicar bishop of Braga, to attach him to himself as chaplain and to allow him, when he accompanied him, to throw money at the people, who responded to these gifts with cries of "Viva el rey!" He undoubtedly made the mistake of not personally drafting the proclamation of his chief of staff, which contained the clumsy phrase: "The Marshal wishes the army not to assume that this request from the Portuguese is the result of any personal ambition on his part."

At this point Nicole Gotteri, who edited Petiet’s memoirs, in a footnote again explicitly points at Junot’s behaviour in Lisbon the year before, and even to Davout’s in Poland. I do not know if there really was similar behaviour from those two; Gotteri is clearly not unbiased herself when it comes to Soult 😊. And now, having listed up all evidence against his marshal, Petiet continues:

But it is not true that he exceeded the limits of his duties as Governor of Portugal. It is not true that he usurped the throne. It is not true that he announced his alleged usurpation in a circular. And yet, a denunciation thus conceived was sent to the Emperor signed by Generals Loison and Delaborde and some others whom the Duke of Dalmatia had severely reprimanded, either for their negligence in service or for their impertinence.

I can just see Petiet jumping up in an imaginary court room as he wrote this, vehemently defending his marshal. It is not true! It is not true! They’re all liars! How dare they!

The soldiers were generally tired of war. This campaign was made all the more painful by the fact that, along with the enemy army and the population, the weather and hardships of all kinds were also working against them. Add to these obstacles the grief of being without communication with the other French troops, the certainty of receiving no promotion and, in the future, a death unknown to one's family and to France. Few souls were strong enough to brace themselves against such a fate. Murmurs broke out and echoed all the way to the enemy camp.

Followed by the story of Argenton’s secret negotiations with Wellington (whom Petiet pointedly, and for this period of time I believe correctly, names only Wellesley). Which reminds me that I once came across Wellington’s reports about these negotiations. Those might also be interesting in this context.

[mad-scientist-showdown]

Information masterpost

The Mad Scientist Showdown is an interfandom tournament gathering the most iconic (and underrated) fictional mad scientists! ⚡️

32 competitors; polls last 24 hours.

This goes without saying, but although I understand and encourage getting invested for fun, please do not seriously get mad over this. Rather, get 'mad' in a silly way! Like our scientists.

Reminder! Before sending me an ask around the type “was x character submitted”, check if I haven’t answered your question already by searching the name of the media they come from on my blog! (if it’s a long title, try with the abbreviation too. ex. hlvrai)

Propaganda: Propaganda, fanart etc. is happily accepted. Either send it to me in an ask, or (preferably) make a post and tag me in it so I can see and reblog it :)

Useful tags (most are featured tags):

#mad scientist showdown -> every post regarding the competition in general (kinda gave up this. didn't expect to have so many posts)

#showdown info -> posts i made that give current info about the competition

#not scientist showdown -> posts that aren’t either info or the polls directly (=> mostly asks) (for filtering)

#mad scientist polls -> all polls; except the ones for round 1 because I hadn’t made that tag yet. you can therefore find them using the #round 1 tag

#[round x] -> polls that are part of a certain round x (ex. #round 2, #semi finals)

#showdown art -> art people made for the showdown (thank you <3)

#batshit scientist squad -> every post about the donatello/doofenshmirtz/megamind/bubblegum mad scientist found family

#mad scientist propaganda -> posts (reblogs or asks) that are propaganda for a certain character, by fans of that character

#mad scientist shoutout -> posts that are about — usually relatively niche or underrated — characters (and their media) who were not nominated enough times to get into the tournament

#other competitions -> reblogs of other competitions to promote them

“Why are there 3 PEOPLE against Donnie in the final???"

In this tournament, when there is a tie, both contestants advance to the next round as a duo. Megamind and Princess Bubblegum tied so they went on as a duo, and then they tied again with Doofenshmirtz in the semi-finals. The bracket's image in my pinned post should be a good visualization. This last tie was intentional as a joke about how teaming up would be the only way to defeat Donatello.

“Why are Henry Jekyll and Victor Frankenstein, the ogs, not here?”

After much thought, I decided not to include them, precisely because they are blueprints. It wouldn’t feel right to have them be pitted against characters who are inspired by or even based on them. They just don’t belong in the same category, and that’s not what I had in mind when I started this competition.

“[complaint about the matchups] >:(”

Seeding a bracket is… complicated. Putting the fan favorites against each other will obviously make people unhappy, but putting the fan favorites against obviously less popular characters will make it unfair to the latter. Do you see the problem. I tried to make it fair without thinking about it too much either. Please don’t be mad for real. There are tons of beloved characters, and half of the contestants are going to the shadow realm by the 1st round! I assure you I have nothing against your blorbo in particular.

(every masterpost is available from my pinned post)

[heavensbeehall]

Still More Chapter 19

It seems like [the Arena was built for District 4] it, anyway, with all the water, when I bet only a handful of the victors can swim. And there was no pool in the Training Center, no chance to learn. Either you came in here a swimmer or you'd better be a really fast learner. Even participation in the initial bloodbath depends on being able to cover twenty yards of water. That gives District 4 an enormous advantage.

Some readers have speculated that Snow wanted Finnick to win, so he could keep selling him. This is highly possible. But we know from Plutarch that arenas are built in a day and this one was being put together before the Quell announcement. I suppose they could have added water to the center--if there was sand or simply shallow water?--fairly easily.

It's also possible the Arena has salt water because Plutarch wanted to make sure Finnick got to the Cornucopia first, since Finnick seems to have the most information on the plan of all the tributes (besides perhaps Beetee).

But REGARDLESS, I do like the idea that Snow thought he'd be hindering everyone but Finnick with the water and Katniss is like "lol my dad taught me to swim in that lake YOU KNOW ABOUT, idiot."

A quick survey of the rest of the arena shows that most of the tributes are still trapped on their plates. Wait, no, there's someone standing on the spoke to my left, the one opposite Peeta. It's Mags. But she neither heads for the Cornucopia nor tries to flee. Instead she splashes into the water and starts paddling toward me, her gray head bobbing above the waves.

I just want to point out that Mags seems to have swum from her plate towards Peeta, avoiding the Cornucopia because she knew they would all meet up there. And I sort of picture her having a grand ol' time.

My grandfather lived on the beach and he swam all the time (he died at 82 so he was even older than Mags), even when we felt the water was too cold. He thought we were wimps.

Finnick has reached Peeta now and is towing him back, one arm across his chest while the other propels them through the water with easy strokes

This is a fairly common lifeguard tow for heavy surf. Where's my Baywatch/District 4 spinoff?

[Mags] is one of the few people who actually likes me.

I'll probably get into my theories on Finnick's mental health situation later, but what I think he means here is "Mags is one of the few people who actually knows me and still likes me."

"Katniss has remarkably good judgement."

I like how they all bond over the fact that Mags is awesome.

"...no one in this arena was a victor by chance." He eyes Peeta for a moment. "Except maybe Peeta." Finnick knows then what Haymitch and I know. About Peeta. Being truly, deep-down better than the rest of us. Finnick took out that tribute from 5 without blinking an eye. And how long did I take to turn deadly? I shot to kill when I targeted Enobaria and Gloss and Brutus. Peeta would at least have attempted negotiations first. Seen if some wider alliance. But to what end? Finnick's right. I'm right. The people in this arena weren't crowned for their compassion.

I hold his gaze, weighing his speed against my own. The time it will take to send an arrowthrough his brain versus the time his trident will reach my body. I can see him, waiting for me to make the first move. Calculating if he should block first or go directly for an attack. I can feel we've both about worked it out when Peeta steps deliberately between us.

I like this exchange because it's the beginning of Katniss thinking everyone knows how great her man is, even though they haven't known him very long. (Here it kind of sounds like she thinks Finnick might be into him, which makes the "kiss" at the beginning of the next chapter even funnier to me.)

And then Peeta does the exact thing Katniss thought Peeta would've done at the Cornucopia. Because he is a sweetie. (Though Katniss seems to have forgotten he killed in the previous arena and didn't try to negotiate with Cato.)

In summation: Peeta and Mags are really carrying this alliance, despite the two of them being figuratively carried (by Katniss in Peeta's case) and literally carried (by Finnick in Mags' case).

[thestobingirlie]

i saw a post by a nancy stan complaining about people having rightful criticisms of nancy. and said that steve was useless and nancy had saved everyone's lives multiple times.

and i was just thinking where? are we watching the same show?

season 1, she didnt save anyones life, in fact her and Jonathan would have been demogorgan food if steve hadn't come back and saved them.

season 2, shes more interested in putting everyone in danger to get justice for barb than dealing with what is going on. she doesn't get involved until after the lab. the closest thing to saving was when she used the hot poker to force the mindflayer out of will. steve on the other hand saved the kids repeatedly. in the junkyard against the demodogs, against billy, and in the tunnels. like he uses his bat to free mike from the vines that trapped him in the tunnels.

season 3, the first half nancy just had the attitude of wanting to do what she wants to, and ignore everyone else. sure, the driscoll thing helped the connection that multiple people were being flayed, but I don't recall her doing any saving. jonathan and lucas saved el from the mindflayer. steve protected robin erica and dustin as best as he could from the russians, erica and dustin saved robin and steve from the russians. el saved scoops troop from the russians. steve saved nancy and the others from billy by crashing a car into him.

season 4? arguably it was because of nancy they knew music would work against vecna, but I would 100% argue that is more on robin, because robin was the one who got them the chance to actually speak to victor creel. and steve was the one to recognise max was in trouble at the graveyard. she didn't save steve, he pretty much saved himself once he had back up. and the plan failed. steve said he didn't like it, and he was overruled and it failed.

(the nancy not saving people anon)

i forgot to add- i think its the gun thing. in all four seasons, they've given her a gun and acted like it made a difference. when in canon, her guns have never helped (s1, the demogorgan doesn't take damage from bullets, s2, she holds a gun but doesn't even fire it bc el does the work, s3 she fires repeatedly at billy and it does nothing, s4 she has the shotgun which does nothing to vecna). and some nancy stans seem to think because she has a gun shes a badass that saves people with it.

(i think this is also why they stopped giving steve his bat. because he has repeatedly used it to save the others. they want to take that power away from him, and just make nancy seem more of a badass girlboss with her guns)

yeah, most of the characters haven’t really directly saved lives in the show. and it’s understandable to want your favourite character to have that action hero moment, but there’s no need to just make shit up and lie lol.

everyone’s has moments that impacted others, and i don’t think anyone could be removed and everything would be exactly the same, but yeah. nancy hasn’t saved everyone’s lives multiple times, she’s had her life saved more times then you could argue that she even distantly saved someone.

and i agree!! i think this idea comes from the way the duffers use her guns and make her out to be a badass, using them in really tense moments you could use in edits. but they often ultimately mean and do nothing.

and it’s irritating because if they wanted nancy to be an actual badass, they could do that! they could have her guns be life-saving, but for some reason they just don’t. they want to make out nancy to be this action hero, but do nothing to actually make her deserving of such a title.

(and i will always hate the way the nail bat has been left in the dirt)

(also with the music, i think that was robin that figured it out, so, yeah, nancy gave them victor creel’s name, but it was robin that found the information on him, that found out where he was, that got them into the building and that found out it was music that saved him)

[rmd-writes]

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

I was tagged by the lovely @cha-melodius 💖

Rules: post the top 5 works you’re most proud of that you released in 2022 (not necessarily your most popular), your top 4 current WIPs that you’re excited to release in the new year, your top 3 biggest improvements in your writing over the past year, your top 2 resolutions (ways you wish to improve your writing/blog) for the new year, and your number 1 favorite line you’ve written this year!

Top 5 works I’m proudest of (in reverse chronological order)

1. Soon (Tarlos) because 3,700 words written in 100-word chapters was a challenge, albeit a fun one! There were times when I was tempted to just say “fuck it” and write the rest of the fic as per usual, but I’d said I was going to do it in drabbles, and I’m stubborn and competitive enough to compete against myself, so 37 very smutty, very short chapters it was! I didn’t reread the earlier parts until I’d finished the whole thing and I’m really pleased at how cohesive it was in the end.

2. Let’s Get Physical (Tarlos) because of the coding I learned (thanks @celeritas2997 !) to be able to include Instagram posts and images within the fic

3. What, like it’s hard? (RWRB) because of the sheer amount of time and effort that went into writing that fic, and I think it has some of my best writing in it.

4. what i want (what you deserve) (Tarlos) because taking a fic written by someone else, and writing the alternate pov - without simply repeating everything that was in the original fic - was tricky but fun. Thank you Lola for letting me play in your universe!

5. Feeling kind of sketchy (Schitt’s Creek) because it’s a slightly different style to the way I usually write

Top 4 current wips I’m excited about

Hmm, this isn’t strictly a list of wips as not all of these have actual words typed yet but:

1. (un)professional services, my collab with @welcometololaland - we’re just having a lot of fun!

2. More Tarlos gym au

3. RWRB lawyer au part 3 aka the reveal

4. samba!Carlos (mostly cos the image I have in my head of Carlos in this fic is 🔥 and I wanna write about him)

Top 3 improvements in my writing

This was really hard to come up with!

1. A year ago, I definitely would not have been able to tell a story that is both believable on the face of it, but also as the precursor to a fairly significant twist. See for eg, to the victor, the spoils and you’re all that i need

2. Related, but not quite the same, I think my story telling has improved generally

3. I’m checking my stats less, which is far healthier. Is that an improvement in my writing? Maybe not directly, but it’s related.

Top 2 writing resolutions

1. I’ve said this before, but to use a beta more regularly. I do a lot of beta reading myself so I know the benefits of using one, and I do generally have a friend or two living in my docs and to bounce ideas with. But I know my writing could be improved on immensely by taking the time to have a friend actually beta it!

2. I don’t have to do All The Things

Number 1 favorite line

I’m cheating and this is two lines but they belong together and I can’t split them:

They say goodbye in the watery dawn light, between soft cotton sheets, in a tangle of limbs; writing their love for each other into their bodies with every gentle sweep of their fingers, every tender brush of their lips, every roll of their hips and the press of their bodies together.

They say goodbye in the hush of words whispered into the space that feels sacred between them, reminders of a love that feels infinite and unknowable, and yet a love that Alex knows as surely as if it were tattooed onto his skin for the world to see.

Tagging @paper-storm @actual-sleeping-beauty @strandnreyes @treluna4 @stereopticons @mostlyinthemorning @hippolotamus @cinnaluminum @liminalmemories21 and anyone else who wants to play

[supersaiyanjedi14]

Pre maiden Raven vs Ironwood the two seem very different range vs melee, soldier vs bandit, “for the greater good” vs “being realistic” but at their core they are cowards who try to present an invincible front.

This is actually a matchup I've been thinking about at times. Beyond what you brought up, both stand as the most prominent rouge members of Ozpin's inner circle, their personal ideologies ultimately leading them to turn against Oz for one reason or another. Unfortunately, we have no information on how Raven fought before she became the Spring Maiden (unsurprisingly, getting access to godlike power is going to significantly affect your tactics and conduct), so the only real analysis for her can be made at her current state. And between Current!Raven and Ironwood, there is a clear and obvious victor here.

Still though, this is a fun matchup given their surprising commonalities, and it's not as much of a curbstomp as one may think. So let's take a look!

Raven Branwen, the Bandit Queen, vs. James Ironwood, the Iron Soldier. The Renegade Ideologues.

Physical: Both combatants are human around the same age, give or take 5 years, but that's where the commonalities end. While Raven's physical output is truly exceptional, Ironwood's cybernetics make him far more physically able, boasting superior strength and built-in armor that elevates his durability. Raven is definitely more agile even without her flight abilities, but given Ironwood's performance against Winter, I doubt she will be able to speedblitz him. The only meaningful physical advantage in Raven's corner is in stamina, as Ironwood has shown a surprisingly limited gas tank in prolonged combat, made all the worse by his reckless overextensions. Raven has shown a better ability to maintain her performance, and her cowardice ironically makes her the better survivalist. However, Raven's ability to outlast the general doesn't change the fact that it takes a hell of a lot more to put him down than it does her.

Martial: Raven and Ironwood both make full and ruthless use of their weapons, their differing fighting styles giving major advantages and disadvantages to each. Their skill levels are roughly on par, able to match Qrow and Winter respectively in live combat. Raven's swords provide superior melee effectiveness to Ironwood's hand to hand skill, whereas Ironwood's marksmanship has better ranged options, potentially keeping her at arm's length. Both are straightforward offensive dervishes who aim to overpower the opponent directly, and both have come up short against more subtle sneak attacks. However, despite lacking guns or a dedicated unarmed component, Raven's fighting style is still flexible enough to accommodate a wide array of fighting styles, and despite her overreliance on brute force, she has shown a greater willingness to resort to alternative tactics if her initial push fails. Ironwood, by contrast, doggedly sticks to the same routine over and over again until something breaks, and against a dedicated weapon specialist, battering assaults can only go so far.

Special: This is really the critical factor that makes this otherwise interesting matchup a mismatch. Quite simply, Raven wins via the Maiden powers. Ironwood's gravity Dust rounds are powerful and versatile, but they really don't compare to the freak storms that Raven can generate at the drop of a hat. While Mettle is a far more effective combat tool than Kindred Link or Raven's bird form, the sheer magnitude of Raven's abilities is enough to decisively overwhelm Ironwood, Winter's swatting of him being a strong potential scenario. While we don't know the specifics of Raven's pre-Maiden conduct, even her Dust blades provide her with more options, so a hypothetical battle with a normal Raven that conducts herself exactly the same as she does now would only differ in the severity of her victory.

In conclusion, Raven Branwen and James Iornwood are both highly capable and skilled warriors that stand comfortably in the upper echelon of their setting, but Raven dominated on the back of superior elemental power. However, I need to stress that although the deck is heavily stacked in the Spring Maiden's favor, Ironwood is not helpless. We know that Maidens can still be threatened by normal Huntsmen that can match their combat abilities, and Ironwood's comparable skill, superior physique, and sheer bloody ruthlessness means that he's going the be a major obstacle to anyone. In fact, if Raven isn't careful, it is entirely possible for Ironwood to score a dark horse victory analogous to Luke Skywalker's defeat of Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi; a more powerful and flexible champion physically overpowered by a particularly driven adversary. However, I do not consider this the most likely outcome given Raven's liberal use of her powers and Ironwood's limited sustainability, and when the general begins to burn out, the bandit will be intensifying.

I declare Raven Branwen the victor.

[mybeautifulbeautifuleternal]

“I always wondered how it would feel to make you bleed,” the sentence was said idly, not particularly threatening. It didn’t need to be. Snow was tied up and surrounded, his allies dead or almost there and his empire crashing and burning around him. There wasn’t a move that he could make right now that would free him. So why waste the effort in trying to scare a man that hadn’t felt fear in years?

“There was a story, whispered about back home. When you can make a god bleed, people stop believing in them. So. Lately, I’ve wanted to make you bleed,” as the Symbol of the Rebellion, the other Victors were staying quiet but you could feel them agreeing with you, wanting to be the one that ended Snow’s sad little life. The other people in the room had been silenced by the sheer hatred and bloodthirsty rage most of you were capable of producing when confronted with the man who orchestrated the large majority of your lives. “But you know what? I’m not the only one and I don’t think I have that largest claim. I’m simply satisfied that before the day is done, you’ll be dead.”

You had been pacing around the chair Snow was sat in, even now not wanting to get close to him, but you had ended up directly in front of him. A last small rebellion against the monster of a man, that despite everything he’d done — you weren’t afraid to look him in the eyes. And when you made eye contact with him, you made sure that he could see the utter disdain and complete lack of apathy you had for him and this situation.

Snow was dead — his body just didn’t know it yet. You had done your part and you were washing your hands of the situation, of him. You weren’t going to let him control your life any longer. You turned and walked out the door, Finnick following you.

You both trusted that Johanna would take care of him, anyway.

@summer-of-whump

[liar-night]

rating ittz play pairings based on how insane the gay sex is

1. mercutio/tybalt

the most INSANE of insane gay sex. im talking window shattering bed breaking table creaking sink clogging shower leaking gay sex. when you look up hate sex in the dictionary their pictures are in it. they have scratches and bruises all over their bodies before they can even get in bed. when they walk out of the bedroom the morning after the villagers ask if they’ve been mauled by wild animals. don’t even ask who tops and who bottoms because they settle it through a naked oiled up wrestling match and the victor is different every week

2. west/east

they could be crazier than mercutio/tybalt because they have insane cock busting magic but i don’t think they directly face off with each other in the play so they get a few points docked off. also east is a super soggy sopping wet excuse of a wizard compared to west. the hate sex has good potential especially if magic is involved but east is too weak to stand up against west (but i guess east futilely struggling against west could also be insane enough for insane gay sex)

3. hatter/rabbit

have you ever seen the video of a shampoo bottle being crushed and milked by a can compactor? that’s what hatter does to rabbit. (ignore how they barely interact in the play this isn’t about that. itaru’s cringe rabbit ears line will forever carry me) their complete opposite personalities and values which could lead to disagreements that can only ever be resolved through insane boning combined with how rabbits are literal breeding machines and can go for 5-7 rounds at a time… yeah. i firmly believer that hatter needs to fuck the uptightness straight out of rabbit for his own good. don’t ask why the creamer at hatter’s tea parties tastes weird btw you don’t wanna know where (or who) he sourced it from

4. merlin/lancelot

when i first began thinking of this post they were at the top (biased because of the mortal enemies dynamic and because i have wips of demon merlin fucking the everloving shit out of lancelot with the power of “i can write whatever i want”) but then realized they aren’t as insane (pre-demon reveal at least) as the others… lot to think about. merlin’s meekboy persona for the first half of the play is as vanilla as vanilla can get. lancelot is too noble and dedicated to his honor to bed his employer’s wizard. and even after merlin is revealed as a demon, he fucks off and dies immediately so lancelot cant even slip a quickie in which i will FOREVER be mad about. in my heart i know the gay sex is insane but strictly based off of the play… i cant see it. sad. i must fix this with my own crazy canon

5. boyd/luke

not much to say about them honestly. like i guess boyd would probably create a bunch of strange and quirky machines and potions (re: straight up sex toys and aphrodisiacs) that he needs a test subject for and who else is around to assist him but his cute sour faced dour faced apprentice but other than that… they’re alright

6. kanagi/kigutsudou

ive never thought about these two in my life

bonus: shibukawa/tsurumatsu

i actually haven’t read literary impasse yet so i cant rank them properly in good faith but i have heard that shibukawa is tsurumatsu’s childhood friend… lots of potential for pent up feelings on both sides that would absolutely explode during sex. with how stressed and neurotic tsurumatsu is, the stress relief fuck would go INSANE. they’re burning holes in the tatami mats with the friction from their bodies