#i know i focused a lot on marcs side of it here

[universefcb]

I'M HERE.., PAU CUBARSÍ

Pau Cubarsí x Barça!Fem!Reader.

sy: You are a player for the Barça women's team, and you have a secret relationship, only a few employees knew about it. And one day, some players from the men's team went to watch the women's team play. But you end up getting badly hurt and Dad becomes desperate.

a/n: I accidentally missed the request for this order, a thousand apologies to whoever asked, but here it is! And sorry if there are mistakes, English is not my language.I hope this is what you asked for!

warnings: A little anguish, anxious reader, super protective Pau Cubarsí.

The game was intense. The Barça women were facing one of their biggest rivals Real Madrid, and she was focused as always. The team needed the win, and she played with fierce passion, not hesitating to chase every ball. Her energy was contagious, and even from the bench, her teammates shouted encouragement.

In the front row of the stands, the men’s team watched the game with interest, enjoying their day off. Pau Cubarsí was among them, seemingly calm, but anyone who knew him well would have noticed that his gaze followed her every move on the field. He didn’t show anything obvious—after all, no one could know about their relationship—but every time she fell, his heart skipped a beat.

“Y/n is getting a lot of attention, huh?” Yamal put his cell phone in his pocket.

“The game started ten minutes ago and she’s already playing with a fierce wolf.” Hector said smiling and watching y/n receive the ball and kick it to the side, falling at Ainata’s feet.

Pau felt a pang of jealousy in his chest and shifted uncomfortably on his seat.

“Lucky is her future boyfriend” Marc Guiu said making Cubarsí look at him, taking his attention away from the game.

And then, it happened.

Pau was startled by his friends' screams and turned his attention to the field, seeing his girl lying on the ground.

The ball had come high. Y/n jumped to head it, but at the same time, an opponent came with unnecessary force. The other player's elbow hit her head, making her lose her balance in the air. The fall was ugly.

The stadium was silent for a second, and then a disturbing murmur began to spread. The referee quickly blew his whistle, summoning the medics, while her teammates rushed to her side.

Dick feeling his stomach tighten.

Y/n slowly opened her eyes. Her head was throbbing, her vision blurred. She tried to get up, but as soon as she got to her knees, she felt something warm run down her face. When she touched her forehead, her fingers came away covered in blood.

And that's when the panic began.

She hated blood. She hated anything medical. She hated feeling like she was fighting in front of others.

“I’m fine,” she muttered quickly, refusing any help. She stood up on her own.

Her heart was beating fast. Her breathing was irregular, and her hands were shaking. The doctors tried to hold her down and carry her to the edge of the field, but she refused, not wanting to appear vulnerable.

“I need to get back to the game! I’m fine!” Her voice cut off at the end, and that’s when her eyes filled with tears.

She tried to return to the field, but the doctors got in front of her. Leaving her teammates worried and Pau completely nervous in the stands. Making her friends notice her uneasiness.

Her legs were weak, her head was spinning, but she kept trying to convince everyone that she could play. But no one believed it anymore.

The trainers exchanged worried glances. She was on the verge of collapse, refusing help, insisting that I needed to keep going. She let the pain take her, sitting on the floor.

They don't know what to do.

Until someone had an idea.

“Call the Dick...”

Pau was already on his feet before he even finished his sentence. As soon as he heard his name, he didn't think twice. He jumped over the barrier and ran towards her.

Leaving some of his friends confused and others with a smile of surprise.

“Love, look at me.” He said, after getting close to her.

His voice was low, but y/n heard it. And in the midst of the confusion in her mind, something clicked into place.

She blinked a few times, trying to focus her gaze. As soon as she saw Pau kneel in front of her, her racing heart gradually slowed down.

He gently touched her face, brushing away some of her bloody hair. He tried to clean the side of her face that was covered in blood.

“Breathe with me, okay? Slowly.” He drew in air and let it out slowly. She hesitated, but eventually followed suit. Her eyes were watery, her chest rising and falling too quickly.

“I know how bad this is..” He automatically ran his fingertips over his scar. “It’s going to be okay.

He whispered, leaving small kisses on her forehead.

“I… I have to go back…” the voice came out small, almost a sob.

“Not now, mi amor.” The way he said my love was so delicate that those who were closest heard it and were left open-mouthed. (MY LOVE)

Some of the men's players exchanged looks of surprise. Gavi almost choked on what he was drinking. Ferran Torres furrowed his eyebrows.

Y/n had never let anyone see her like this. But there she was—completely surrendered to him.

“I hate this,” she whispered, closing her eyes as another tear fell.

“I know, I know… But I’m here, okay?” Pau opened her hand slightly, pulling her closer. “Let the doctors take care of you, please. For me?

She bit her lip, still reluctant. But he lightly caressed her face and looked at her in that way that always made her give in.

And then, for the first time that night, she nodded slowly.

As the doctors treated the cut, she never let go of his hand. Pau held her tightly, taking his time, letting her calm down at her own pace.

The men's players remained in shock.

“Wait… They’re together?!” Balde muttered, trying to process what he saw.

“Cubarsí is a scoundrel!” Hector laughed, running his hand over his face. “I love that boy!”

“Worse than that, it makes sense,” Ferran replied, frowning.

“How did we never realize this?” Gavi whispered, still in disbelief.

But at that moment, neither Pau nor y/n cared who knew or not.

She was still dizzy, her head still throbbed, but when Pau helped her up he put one arm under her knees, and the other arm secured her behind her back. Carrying her away from the field and the shouting.

The game had been over for some time, and the men's team players were gathered in the locker room, still trying to process everything they had seen.

Gavi, still in disbelief, ran his hands over his face. “I just can’t believe this. Dick and Y/N?! This kid hid it really well!”

“And he really did hide it,” Random Bucket shook his head. “That quiet one… pretending he was innocent!”

“That explains a lot!” Ferran Torres commented. “The way he was always watching the women’s games more attentively than anyone else… The day he almost jumped off the bench because a woman marked him too hard… But my love was the best.”

Hector laughed. “MY LOVE! The guy announced his relationship in front of the entire stadium and we’ll only see it later!”

Before he could continue teasing, the locker room door opened and Pau entered with y/n, still visibly tense with a headband on. He looked at his friends and already knew that he would not have peace.

“Are you okay?” Yamal said before any jokes could start.

She let out a sigh of relief and nodded. “Yes, the doctors stitched up the cut and told me to rest.

“She didn’t want to go to the hospital, but…” Pau gave a small smile. “I convinced her.”

He gently grabbed her waist from behind, letting her rest her head on his chest.

The friends exchanged knowing looks.

“Convinci,” Marc Guiu repeated, arching an eyebrow. “What kind of convention are we talking about here, Cubarsí?”

Y/n felt her chest burn, slowly rising to her face.

The defender rolled his eyes, already anticipating a barrage of jokes. “The kind you don’t care about.”

“Ahhh, so that’s how it is, huh?” Gavi slumped down on the bench, pretending to be offended. “Months by your side and you never gave any hint that you were dating our future star?”

“Exactly,” Pau replied without hesitation, crossing his arms.

And getting a little laugh from y/n.

“Scoundrel.” Bucket laughed, pointing at him.

“You can’t trust a defender,” Ferran joked, shaking his head. “They’re too cold to even hide their relationship.”

Hector laughed. “At least now we know who will be the official brother-in-law of the locker room.”

Pau rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but smile a little. Deep down, he knew his friends were happy for him.

And he was so grateful to have y/n in his life.

[marvelrivalsimagines]

A Blessing From the Gods

Characters: Hela, Moon Knight, Scarlet Witch, Winter soldier

Prompt: “could you do Moon knight, Bucky and any other character of your choice with another avatar of a Greek gods?” - anon request

Author’s note: I tried to keep which God you are the avatar of vague so you can imagine whatever kinds of powers/backstory you’d like. Also I’m not sure if the requester wanted the HCs to be romantic or platonic but I think these can be read either way. 

Warnings: None!

When Hela sees you for the first time she is immediately intrigued by your presence, for better or worse. She can tell that you are definitely no god yourself, yet she can sense that you have brushed with divinity frequently. She has had brief, and awkward, conversations with Moon Knight about his connection to Khonsu so she realizes that you must also be an avatar. But an avatar of which god? As much as Hela likes to pretend she’s all knowing and above childish emotions like curiosity, she can’t satiate her burning desire to know more until she finally talks to you for herself. 

Hela approaches you with her usual confident smirk and a snide comment about how there appears to be “yet another mortal avatar running about”. As you share your first conversation Hela's face is stoic as she bluntly asks you her burning questions, but if you are observant enough you can see an amused look in her eye. Hela is pleasantly surprised, you are far more interesting to her than Khonsu’s little knight. 

As Hela learns more about your relationship with your god she says she finds herself even more thankful for her dominion over death, preferring to rely on her legions of Hel to do her bidding over having some weak and fickle human. A lot of your conversations have this same energy lol. It sometimes feels like the goddess looks down on you, but it’s undeniable that she enjoys your presence simply because she keeps coming back to you.

A lot of the other heroes think that Hela has it out for you with how much she picks on you. It isn’t common for Hela to have good intentions for anybody outside of herself, not even her own brothers. But with all the time you’re starting to spend with the goddess of death, you’re able to pick up on the subtle tone of affection in her voice when she speaks to you. Even if her words are just as demeaning as what she would say to others. 

If you have a more adversarial relationship with your God, Hela is always eager to listen to your complaints and she always takes your side on arguments. Hela doesn’t have many good relationships with the other gods but she likes you, so as far as she’s concerned you’re always right. Hela also loves stirring the pot between other gods, so sometimes she’ll give you less violent ways to get back at your god. For example, she’ll tell you stories of something embarrassing that happened to your god centuries ago and then tell you to bring it up to your god whenever they start to bother you.

To be completely honest, the Moon Knight system doesn’t pay you much mind when you first join the fight for the multiverse. The Fist of Khonshu is here to carry out his god’s will so his senses are focused on the mission at hand, not necessarily the people around him. Marc knows you’re there as he’s cautiously aware of all the people around him, but it’s the old bird who brings his attention to you. Khonshu, with his knowledge of the other gods and their avatars, recognizes you and then proceeds to yap about your god in Marc’s head for 5 minutes straight. 

How your first interaction with Moon Knight goes depends a lot on what Khonshu has to say about your god. If he speaks positively about your god then Marc is definitely curious about what kind of a person you are. Khonshu historically hasn’t played well with the other gods, so Marc can’t help but wonder what kind of deity you’re wrapped up with if Khonshu can get along with them. If Khonshu doesn’t like your god then Marc may be pressured by Khonshu to confront you in an attempt to settle some 2,000 year old beef between gods. I’ll pray for you if that’s the case 

But whether your first encounter is out of Marc’s own curiosity or because of Khonshu’s petty drama, as the two of you inevitably talk Moon Knight feels a small connection starting to grow with you. Marc’s connection to Khonshu has always seemingly alienated him from the other heroes who think he’s plain crazy, but as a fellow avatar you’re both able to share some of your experiences with each other. Whether your relationship with your own god is as turbulent as Marc’s or not, Marc feels a slight weight lifted off his shoulders as he’s able to speak with someone who can truly understand the pressure of constantly being beneath a god’s gaze. 

Marc doesn’t let many people into his life, but when people do get close to him the entire Moon Knight system becomes very protective over them. So if you have a bad relationship with your god, or really anything in your life starts to go south, Moon Knight’s first instinct is to seek out some sort of revenge for you. However it’s obviously not possible for him to go against a whole god on your behalf and that fact is really frustrating for Moon Knight. Be careful what you complain about around Moon Knight, he will throw hands for you at a moment's notice lol.

Wanda is unfortunately another one who doesn’t pay too much attention to the people around her, so she might not acknowledge you at first. She’s worried about preserving the very fabric that holds her reality together, so you’re gonna have to do something kind of eye-catching to initially get her attention lol. 

As one of the most powerful magic wielding beings and the Sorceress Supreme of her universe, one thing that will definitely make her interested in you is any magical abilities your god may have bestowed upon you. While Wanda is concentrating on controlling her own chaos magic on the battlefield, her mind is still able to recognize a kind of magic she has never seen before. Cue her now being mildly distracted as she low key tries to watch you and fight the enemy team at the same time. 

Instantly Wanda has a need to know everything about your abilities, and as soon as the battle is over she’s trying to speak to you. What kind of magic do you wield? How did you get these powers? Are you just a beginner at magic or can you show her some of your advanced spells? Honestly it might kind of feel like when you tell someone you have a skill, like drawing or speaking another language, and someone just immediately puts you on the spot and asks you to do it for them. It’s especially intimidating if you know that she’s the Sorceress Supreme of her universe, like how are you supposed to impress her lol? But don’t worry Wanda means well, she’s just very blunt and is curious about the different kinds of magic people have access to in these new universes <3

Wanda isn’t known for being very social, but whenever there is down time in between missions you two tend to seek each other out now. Whether it’s a conversation about your personal lives over some lunch, or the both of you focusing on honing your magic in complete silence, Wanda is so used to your presence that it starts to feel strange when you’re not around. In her universe she’s constantly holding reality together, constantly fighting off magical threats, constantly trying to gain more control over her powers. But here with you Wanda greatly enjoys feeling more like a ‘normal’ person. 

You know, if you’re having a problem with your god you’ve now got a whole Sorceress Supreme on your side, and Wanda isn’t afraid of talking back to gods and higher beings. In her timeline she is constantly trying to stop power hungry gods from collapsing her universe, so if you need someone to just casually intimidate your god into being a bit kinder to you, Wanda has more than enough experience to get the job done. She will ask to speak to the manager for you.

Everything that’s happened in the first few weeks of the time stream entanglement has become a blur for Bucky. Suddenly he’s in another dimension with a new (and tentacle-y?) metal arm and he’s fighting alongside other heroes from different dimensions for the fate of the universe. Alright, cool. This is fine. Before all of this mess started, meeting you and being told that you’re an avatar of a Greek god could have shocked Bucky, but now that fact somehow seems like the most normal thing he’s been told in his life. 

As you, Bucky, and the rest of your team head out on your mission Bucky has heard a little bit about your background from Steve, who gave him a brief on all of their strange new teammates. As you clash with the heroes on the other side of the fight Bucky finds his normally focused senses drifting to you. Divine powers tend to be pretty flashy, and a trained soldier like Bucky can immediately see how skilled you are at what you do. As Bucky gets caught off guard by a diving Psylocke, the flash of your abilities is a welcome sight as you help him fend her off. Your reward for helping Bucky? A gruff “Thanks”, before he hones in on another enemy. Isn’t he dreamy <3

After that fight you’ll most likely have to approach Bucky first. Bucky knows he should probably give you a proper thank you for your help, but unfortunately Hydra brainwashing will do a number on your social skills. When you check in on Bucky after the fight is over, you’ll find that he’s slightly more talkative than usual - really just towards you, Steve, or Clint though. He has a lot of questions he'd like to ask you, he’s not as familiar with all these gods and aliens as some of the other heroes are, but he also doesn’t want to accidentally offend you. Bucky knows that he certainly doesn’t have a happy or inspiring story behind how he got his powers, so he doesn’t want to accidentally be too invasive. 

As the two of you grow closer you notice that Bucky tends to stick by your side a lot, both in and out of combat. In combat, Bucky sticks by your side as he knows that he can rely on you if things get rough. He also wants to be there in case he needs to return the favor and help get a diver off of your back. But when you both are just relaxing in between missions, Bucky finds comfort in your presence. Consciously or subconsciously, Bucky knows that you’re a person he can let his guard down around, which isn't a very common experience for him. With everything that he’s been through in life, the fact that the former Winter Soldier trusts you means a lot. 

Bucky really empathizes with you if you have a bad relationship with the god you serve. He has a lot of experience with being used as a living weapon, being treated like your only worth is what you can do for the person giving you your orders. He can’t stand to see another person live that way, especially not when it’s you. Bucky knows that he can’t go up against a god, and he knows enough about these kinds of power dynamics to understand that trying to stand up for you might actually make your situation worse. So Bucky commits himself to supporting you in whatever way you ask him to.

[gatorbites-imagines]

They need to make a second Moon Knight season. People also need to make more Moonboys x Male reader, not a lot for some reason. Here’s my pitch, Moonboys with a Summer like s/o. Like they are just like super hyper and cheerful but also really temperamental and kinda scary, lots of emotions at once type of person.

Please good Sir, I beg thee🙏🌆

Moonboys x Summerlike male reader

Headcanons

It’s been a while since I watched moon knight or written about the boys, and I feel like im forgetting what their personalities are like :/

Marc Spector

I’m not sure Marc knows how to deal with you in the beginning with you having so many strong emotions wrapped inside you at the same time. Its probably a bit intimidating for him, since he himself tries to stay coolheaded and focused on the mission.

After a while, Marc would get used too it though, and would come to enjoy it since its part of who you are. He does end up floundering sometimes when your emotions get a little too bright or loud all of a sudden, and he needs to figure out what caused it.

Knows some de-escalation exercises he’s gotten form Steven that he helps you go through when you start to get a little too angry, or angry enough for it to start effecting your choices and actions. Marc wouldn’t want you to end up doing something you might come to regret later.

Steven Grant

Steven would be a little more prepared to have a partner whose emotions can be quite strong and a little all over the place. He might have to catch up sometimes, but he’s more likely to match your vibe. It might cause a bit of a loop, especially when he gets excited talking about his interests and you just egg him on.

Knows multiple types of de-escalation exercises or focusing exercises, that he needs to use himself quite regularly. This means hes great at helping talk you down or get you to focus on something else when you get a little too angry or frustrated on something.

Quite enjoys how happy you can be at times, especially on days where Steven himself is feeling stressed. Its like a breath of fresh air, or maybe a shot of espresso.

Jake Lockley

Even worse than Marc when it comes to dealing with all your strong different emotions in the beginning, he just doesn’t show it. Jake is more the type to lay low and observe, letting him feel out what’s on the agenda today before he interacts.

He doesn’t talk much, so he’s more than happy to sit back and listen to you ramble for hours if you get excited about something, or just need to angry rant about one thing or another that pissed you off today.

When you start to get too worked up, both positively or negatively, Jake will wrap an arm around your waist and pull you to his side. Or he will grab your hand and give it a squeeze. Not enough to hurt, but enough to bring you down to earth so you guys can think whatever is going on through logically.

[watercolor-hearts]

When I drew this fanart of Luca as a ballet dancer, I didn’t have any story idea or universe behind it, but when I was talking with @fredwardart about which riders I’m planning to draw as ballet dancers, things changed and now there’s a whole universe I’d like to talk about a bit. It quickly turned into a Rosquez-focused idea but I’m happy to talk about other sides of it, too, if anybody’s interested.

Important information: I’m not a ballet expert, I just sometimes like watching videos of it and drawing ballet dancers.

The whole conversation started with me not really knowing how to make Luca and Cele work (which is based on a suggestion I got in a comment under that post) because in my mind it was Pecco who was Luca’s partner and it was hard for me to make things work with Luca and Cele but then we’ve come to a solution. Pecco and Luca are boyfriends, Cele and Luca are dance partners. Pecco is a dancer who focuses on teaching (this is the pic with which it all started for me), mostly kids with Luca, but older people, too. So he’s Cele’s teacher and Luca is Cele’s ballet partner because he needed one and for Pecco it was the easiest to just ask Luca. He happily said yes and they work really well together.

And how come Rosquez into the picture? Well, a picture of Vale being a strict teacher, trained by Russian ballet masters appeared in my brain and there was no stopping after that.

Marc wants to be a ballet dancer and he wants to learn from the best, his role model, Valentino. He’s been promising talent since a very young age so he gets into the academy, straight into Vale’s class because he’s really good. He’s too good. So Vale tries to break him because he’s jealous and he doesn’t want Marc to become better than him. His students can be good but nobody can be better than him.

Vale’s career ended because of an injury he couldn’t fully heal from because he was too hot headed and trained even when he shouldn’t have and it just made things worse, so he can’t dance anymore and he really misses it and there’s a lot of frustration in him. He only had a few professional years as a principal dancer so he couldn’t really show his full potential for long and he doesn’t want Marc to be able to do it because then people would forget about Vale, the dancer who was once everything, the best of all. Marc is good, he’s amazing, he’s new, he’s active and he’s young, he’s good-looking. He’s everything. He can’t let Marc live his dream. And if Vale couldn’t come back from his injury, Marc won’t be able to do it either. Vale thinks. But he’s wrong.

They say the injury is career-ending. But Marc is stronger than people think he is. Ballet is his dream and he’s willing to do anything to get back on stage. He doesn’t accept what most people say. He’ll get back. He has to get back. He has to show Vale how good he is, he wants Vale to know that he’s working hard because of him, because he’s his role-model and he wants to be as good as Vale was on top of his career.

Marc is naïve and doesn’t notice the “red flags” in Vale’s behavior and teaching method because he’s too blinded by the fact that he’s learning from him, from the person he’s looked up to since he first saw him on the TV as a child. He’s willing to do basically anything if that means he can get closer to being as good as Vale was. He doesn’t realize that Vale’s goal is not to help him reach his goal but actually to make sure he never reaches it.

Pecco and Luca visit Marc in the hospital and at home during the recovery. The relationship between Pecco and Vale gets bad because Pecco never really agreed with some of Vale’s methods and asked him not to use them anymore but Vale didn’t listen to him and now here’s the result… Pecco doesn’t want to give his name to it and be part of the academy anymore but he doesn’t leave because Luca doesn’t want him to leave.

Luca tries to talk with Vale, he’s incredibly disappointed in him, especially because Vale doesn’t see where the problem is. Or who the problem is. They argue and the goodbye after is not nice. Luca lets Vale boil in his own anger for a while and goes to find a therapist for him because it’s clear that he needs it, and hopefully he’ll also realize it after he calmed down.

Luca and Pecco support Marc during his recovery and they’re there for him. Obviously this whole thing is in the media because Marc is a promising young talent from the beginning and Vale’s academy is one of the most prestigious academies in the ballet world, so this happening doesn’t show the academy and Vale in a good light. People want to stop taking their kids there, Luca and Pecco have to work really hard to separate themselves from Vale in people’s minds because they don’t do what Vale was doing, they have their own method and their primary goal with the kids they’re teaching to dance is to make them enjoy it without any kind of eating disorders or body image issues developing.

Later, after Luca basically forces Vale to go to therapy and get his things sorted out, Vale realizes that he shouldn’t have done this and he needs to work on his feelings and process the fact that he can’t dance anymore, because as it turns out, he still hasn’t processed it and he turns it into anger and jealousy towards others he sees a potential to be better than him.

Marc forgives him because from Luca he knows what happened with Vale (as in the details that weren’t in the media) and he wants to focus on the future but Vale needs a really long time to forgive himself. But seeing Marc being back on stage a few years later helps because at least he didn’t end his career.

Because if he did, he couldn’t have forgiven himself.

[starsarekind]

Marc Spector was not particularly skilled in the kitchen.

In the months he'd been without Layla, he'd grown accustomed to greasy gas station snacks — devoid of most proteins but enough to satisfy an empty stomach on a job for a moon god.

When Marc wasn't on a mission, Steven took care of himself. Jake, who they'd learned about more recently and whom he was still getting used to, deemed himself the chef of the system, which was more or less accurate and incredibly infuriating.

Marc had a recipe pulled up for fried rice, and only about half of the ingredients he needed. If Layla wasn't at the kitchen table, he'd give up and order something in. Maybe he wouldn't eat at all. But no, Marc was trying to ease back into mundane married life, and he had a lot of slack to pull and a lot of shit to make up for. He could make Layla some damned fried rice for dinner.

Layla played quiet music from her laptop. Realistically, she was not looking at the screen. Her eyes were focused on Marc — the familiar tensing of his jaw, the way he held his shoulders, the crease between his brow as he concentrated on the stove. She soaked in all of the things that made him her husband. On one hand, it relaxed her to see. On the other, more selfish hand, Layla wanted to be as equipped as possible in recognizing when a switch happened.

Even now, after slow weeks of getting accustomed to their new life after defeating Ammit, the flat was demonstrably Steven's. The floors were still littered with stacks of books that had no places on shelves. Books on Egypt and egyptian mythology and hieroglyphs were left open to certain pages on every desk and table, no matter how often Steven tidied up. Mug stains from old tea dotted every wooden surface in an almost admirable way.

There were small signs that Marc lived here, too. The bed was made in a rigid and practical way, with no margin for error. A wedding photo of him and Layla now hung by the bed. But otherwise? This space had not been meant for Marc.

Zoning back in, Layla saw Marc murmuring under his breath, getting frustrated. Layla could practically see the steam coming from his ears. She moved to his side in a second, assessing the situation and scanning the recipe.

"Oh, baby, you'd better--"

"I don't need all these comments from everyone." Marc replied, before Layla could even finish her sentence.

It startled her for a moment. Not the tone, or the defensiveness, but the language — the word: everyone. The air felt thick when she realized she was not the only other person in the room.

"Is it Jake?" She asked, softly but without room for avoidance.

Marc's jaw tensed again. He didn't meet Layla's eyes, but he nodded. "He won't cook, but he'll make fun of me for doing it wrong."

His head tilted to the side, and Layla recognized a conversation she was not privy to. As Marc was distracted, Layla was careful to nudge him away from the stove. She wasn't the greatest cook either, but she was better than Marc, especially when he was starting to dissociate.

Layla was still working on getting used to the blank look in Marc's eyes as he looked past her, never sure if he was pulling back into his own head, or if he'd be right back. She busied herself with the recipe.

The flat fell into comfortable silence, save for the faint music from the laptop on the table, and the sizzle of the pan, as Layla finished cooking dinner.

"Cheers, love," Steven smiled over to her, blinking a bit to gain his bearings. "Oh! You made dinner, yeah? Lovely. I'll set the table."

She noted, quietly, the way Steven stood with his shoulders slightly hunched, like standing up straight would make him too much of a focal point. His eyes were wider, too, and somehow the creases that always made Marc look so tired seemed to subside.

Layla's heart ached. She didn't mind the intrusion, knowing that if Marc's gone away, it was for good reason. And, in fact, she was quite fond of Steven, and even warming up to Jake.

This did not change the fact that sometimes she wanted to eat dinner with her husband, and that sometimes it was difficult to see his face and know it did not belong to him.

Despite this, she smiled.

"Thanks, Steven."

[mah-t-wordblog]

Could you make a tickling fic of Miraculous Ladybug in which all of Marc and Nathaniel's friends tickle them because they think they are depressed because they don't know what to do since he has an artist and writer block????

Ofc!!!!! I only put Marinette and Alix because I think they are the most important friends for both of them (and because I'm horrible at writing fics with a lot of characters hehe) I hope you like it!

Alix's anti-writer’s block technique

Lee: Marc Anciel, Nathaniel Kurtzberg

Ler: Marinette Dupain-cheng, Alix Kubdel

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡

Ships: Marc x Nath

Warnings: This is a tickle fic, if you don’t like it, just scroll down 

This fanfic is originally in Portuguese, my English is translated using an automatic translator, if there are any big errors you can tell me so I can fix them

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡

Marc and Nath were in the art class trying to produce a new chapter for the story they were both producing

However, both of them, at the same time, were having a horrible criative block

They just stared at each other without being able to create anything

“Damn, we need to move this part of the story forward, Marc” Nath said, while randomly drawing shapes on a piece of paper

“I know, but neither of us can do it”

They both sighed, Marc hit his head on the table a little too hard, which ended up catching the attention of Marinette, who was sitting on the table behind them

“Marc? Nath? Is everything okay?” She walked towards them

“Yes” Nath replied

“No” Marc contradicted

“I don’t understand, what’s going on?”

“I already understand” Alix appeared behind Marinette, she was doing graffiti on the wall and decided to pay attention to the conversation “writer’s block huh?”

The two boys let out an affirmative grunt

“It’s simple, Mari, if Nath doesn’t draw, Marc doesn’t write, and if Marc doesn’t write, Nath doesn’t draw, get it?”

“Ah… this is horrible!”

“It’ll pass” Marc picked up a pencil and started randomly scratching on a piece of paper

“It’ll never pass” Nathaniel lay down on the table again

“Stop being so dramatic, Nath!” Marinette exclaimed

Alix observed the situation and grabbed Marinette to the corner, so that the two could not hear her

“Mari, I know what to do to help them”

“Really? That's great Alix” she smiled

Alix smiled too, but with a smile with a greater touch of evil

“Let me show you an infallible technique”

The short girl walked to Nathaniel, who didn't even turn his head to look at her

“Nath~”

“Huh?” He let out a grunt

“Be careful~ because the tickle monster is here~”

Nathaniel's eyes widened when Alix dug her fingers into his ribs from behind, he tried to get up but the girl pushed him down again

“Gehehehehet ohohohohohof!”

Marc was already blushing, he saw Marinette approaching him and didn't try to stop what he knew was going to happen

“Mari- no! NahahahaAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“I liked your technique, Alix!”

“It’s Alix’s anti-writer’s block technique, Nath loves it, right?”

“Shuhuhuhuhut uhuhup” the redhead blushed, he saw naughty hands getting closer to his knees

“Better not be so rude to me, I know your weak points”

“NAHAHAHA! GEHEHEHET OHOHOHOF, AHAHAHAHAHALIHIHIHIHIHIX”

“Oops” she laughed

Marinette was poking Marc’s ribs, the boy wouldn’t stop moving from side to side, he didn’t want to get away, but his body wanted

“Where is your weak spot, Marc?” The girl moved her hands up a little more until she reached his armpits, making Marc choke “oh, I found it?”

“Ehehehehe-AHAHAHA PLEHEHEHAHAHASE” he grabbed her hands

“Don’t you think they’re already too tired?” Marinette asked

Alix was so focused on simply destroying Nath that she didn't notice the tears that formed in the corners of his eyes

"Argh, okay... but you two should know that it's only because she asked, if it were up to me you could handle it a lot more" she crossed her arms and smiled at Nathaniel, who looked at her and blushed

"I'm sorry, did I go too far Marc?" Marinette asked, placing a hand on his shoulder

“No… no… it’s okay, I’m just too ti- sensitive” Marc smiled awkwardly

“Oh” Marinette smiled “that’s good then, I’m glad we helped you guys feel better”

“Thanks”

“Thanks, whatever” Nath crossed his arms

“Hmmm, Nath, I think I have an idea” Marc grabbed a pencil and a blank sheet

“I think I do too, rainbow” the redhead smiled “what if…”

“Let the two of them talk now, Mari, they’re cool again” Alix and Marinette left them to think alone

“Do you do that, like, constantly?”

“I think whenever they need to” the short girl laughed

“They’re cute together huh” the other smiled

“Yeah… that’s true” Alix smiled too, grabbing her red spray “They’re really cute”

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡

Thanks for reading! 💛💛

[batsplat]

also I’ve seen some (well a lot) photos of dani & sete together and like were/are they friends? obviously I know about the honda connection + them both being spanish but not much more then that. kinda hilarious that dani was/is friendly with both of them……

time to bring back the world's funniest photo

this is a genuine work of art. quite possibly one of the greatest photos of all time. I'm in love

yeah dani hired sete in 2017!! that's what gives us that great moment where valentino forgets about jerez 2005 with sete in the room - like that's why sete is even attending pressers in the first place. this is what sete had to say about it start of 2017:

honestly this is one of my fave sete interviews, I've had it in my drafts for a while to discuss but I might as well throw it in here. so yeah, him and dani have known each other since dani was a kid!! which will have been partly due to the honda link - they were also both gresini riders in 2004-05, if in different classes

plus they had the spanish link, back when that was like. something a little more noteworthy. they've regularly trained together for years!! dani had already asked sete to be his coach for two years!! they have a "great relationship"!!

but yeah obviously we do have to address the valentino of it all. "in recent years [dani's] dropped a little, as a result of bad luck. when you try many times and don't succeed, your enthusiasm and motivation are less" uh huh...? like, say, when someone puts a curse on you and however much you try and try and try again, you can no longer win another race? it would be horrible if that curse gave you all manner of ill fortune, yeah? that sure would sap your enthusiasm and motivation, wouldn't it?

note too that the phrasing for what sete's attempting to give back to dani echoes what he says valentino still has: enthusiasm and motivation. the joy and the will. sete believes nobody should attempt to become the 'anti-marquez' - the very phrase implies a single chosen challenger to finally take down the sport's current king. focusing too much on that person can only come to your own detriment. you'll eventually become your own main rival... eventually, you'll defeat yourself, and your enemy won't even have to raise a hand. dani/sete parallels isn't the sort of thing you'd necessarily arrive at yourself, so it's always kind of the involved parties to do your work for you. what valentino and marc never lost was their 'inner spark' - and the two of them can cause the kind of misfortune for others that gradually eats away at their 'enthusiasm and motivation'. if you've been marked out to defeat one of them... well, beware

and. of course. "we've always had a great relationship, given that we've shared so many great moments together" buddy WHAT are you talking about. ALWAYS??? sete has a funny habit of acting as if he's like, worked very hard to repress everything that happened to him between 2003 and 2005 as some kind of weird ass curse-induced trauma response. but it's actually the "I've never done any interviews in which I've talked badly about valentino" that's the most revealing - which is a) kinda debatable, but at the same time b) ... well, yeah, sete has been awfully restrained in what he's said post-2005! which has always been super annoying to me, as someone on a fact-finding mission about that era, but it's also... it makes perfect sense, doesn't it? of course, sete was still committed to managing the image of that rivalry. so determined to be respectful that he's avoided giving his side of the story. and sure, you can take him at his word that he's let bygones be bygones, that he really only remembers the positives of that time, but... it's complete and utter bullshit! he's finally started talking about THIS decade (transcribed for the sete post):

if there's one good thing that came from him going on that bloody three hour australian podcast, it's in him opening up about how obviously extremely not Over It he is:

if you think that valentino has had a lasting negative impact on the sport, that he made it more dangerous, that this is something that can directly be traced back to what he did to YOU... then why are you NOT 'talking badly' about valentino? why didn't you complain about the overtake at the time, publicly rather than feeling frustrated with race direction in private? but that's sete all over, isn't it... casey, for all his sins, has not exactly been quiet about valentino post-retirement - and while I'm also not going to ascribe any especially altruistic motives to that, while he does also obviously sell a very particular version of their story, you at least don't get this kind of blatant disparity between his stated principles and his public output. it's like when commentators were talking during assen 2004 about that magazine cartoon, the one with the gag that valentino just had to put a mirror on the back of his bike to defeat sete. (which is obviously very mean-spirited, yeah, and there's plenty to critique in how sete was portrayed as this vain foppish pretty boy.) sete has always, always cared too much about appearances and it was always going to be what killed him in that rivalry. he truly is the perfect foil: valentino manipulates image to his own ends, while sete is a slave to it. and that's how we've somehow ended in this situation where both parties have been perfectly willing to let the facts of that rivalry dissipate into obscurity over time. valentino erases sete from the narrative of his career as an act of punishment, whereas sete lets himself be erased because he does not wish to be associated with something so very ugly. and thus the story sinks over time towards oblivion

anyway. sorry. uh, back to dani. reportedly that was quite a close partnership he had going with sete:

a rich kid with a fancy bike collection to the last. here's a joan instagram post about said training:

and here's another interview sete gave about dani - unsurprisingly he's once again very complimentary:

"we have noticed that the machine is developing in a certain direction" uh huh? something about riding for honda, who you believe are geared only towards making one of your rivals succeed? must be tough, eh

probably a complete coincidence, but as it happens 2017 was the closest dani and valentino ever really got to a public spat - over valentino's sturdy defending in aragon. "if he's not happy, he has to race alone" indeed. obviously, dani did not end up winning a title - though 2017 is still the closest he'd gotten since 2013. he was very much in that title fight, pretty much until the wet race at misano, even if as the fifth of five contenders... so 13 of 18 rounds in, not bad. (incidentally, that's also the race that ended valentino's title aspirations by dint of missing it entirely.) and when dani was pushed out of honda and decided to call it a day in 2018, here's what sete had to say:

more recently, dani's spoken about the advice sete gave him late in his career:

"in my last years" does make it sound like he's being put down, eh. so yeah, a rider coach, but probably more importantly a friend. wonder if they're still close

[age-of-moonknight]

Hi!! Hello

I feel like we are not getting a lot of steven as much as both marc and jake, like what motivates them and such. Having said that, what would your aproach be at developing steven both personally and in his relationship with jake and marc?

Btw, your blog is still my favorite one in all of tumblr, I look forward both to new releases and your commentary after every single one <3

Hello! And thank you so much for the ask and for hanging around! :D I am immeasurably glad that this blog is something that sparks a little joy in your life. 🤍🖤 As for Steven, I see your point! You actually brought up something I've been mulling over deep in my brainpan for a hot minute, so (as always seems to happen when I answer asks whoops), this got a little long. There's a bit of preamble on how I came to my conclusion, but I'm pretty sure I more directly address your question in the second part, so you can just skip to there if you'd like hahaha

Part I: Preamble Not to hijack the whole lunar theme, but Moon Knight comics do go through phases and one type of phase involves some authors giving a bit more panel time to one of the guys (e.g. Jake in the first volume of Vengeance of the Moon Knight, Steven through a lot of the first Moon Knight volume as I recall). Currently, we're in a phase of focusing a bit more on Marc and, while MacKay's work on Moon Knight has been some of the most consistently enjoyable comics I've encountered in a while, I do miss Jake and Steven. Steven in particular, has been a little out of focus. On the one hand, I can kind of see how that happened. After how previous authors chose to portray him, my interpretation is that Jake's character needed a bit of time dedicated to returning him back to his essence (but that's a whole other kettle of worms). Additionally, I will always be the first person to rail against comic characters getting pigeonholed by editorial as having a certain "role" within a comic and once that role's been fulfilled elsewhere, editorial struggles to know what to do with that character and potentially discards them entirely (or worse, warps them beyond recognition, but again, I don't need to be bring up here how salty I am about how Marvel editorial has treated other characters hahaha) and I believe that might be a bit of the case with Steven. For a long time, the guys' dynamic was understood as Steven makes money and high society connections, Jake makes friends and underground connections, and Marc makes uuuuuh let's say "extreme bodily harm to his enemies" and is not really fit to be seen in society due to, you know, the crimes against humanity. Now that Marc's lost all of their money and, in a turn of events frankly more miraculous then his multiple resurrections (perhaps to no one's greater surprise than Marc's), established himself and the Midnight Mission as upstanding parts of the community, Steven's two main "jobs" in the reductive sense aren't as easily inserted into the narrative anymore. Part II: Actually Answering Your Question (Sorry) HOWEVER, even beyond my never ending love for Steven just as he is, I believe there's more to explore.

Particularly, when I first read your ask, the first thing that popped up in my head was this page from the most recent Moon Knight annual:

Moon Knight Annual (Vol. 5/2024), #1.

Historically and including in Moon Knight (Vol. 9/2021), #24, writers have portrayed Steven as the respectable one who wants to settle down, but this idea that Steven's just as much a thrill seeker as Jake and Marc -- it just manifests differently -- greatly intrigues me. As such, personally, I would LOVE to see more of Steven's work on the logistical side of things. They don't need huge sums of cash to throw around; Steven's probably just a bit more adept at understanding how financing both legitimate and illegitimate ventures work, so he can either direct them or manipulate them as necessary. He can be messing with criminal finances for Moon Knight work in ways that carries just as much risk as pounding the pavement. Authors have alluded to such things previously, with Mr. MacKay highlighting how critical finances are to continuing the Midnight Mission's work in the community and how Moon Knight can even use them for fighting crime.

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu (Vol. 1/2024), #0.

This little gem of an infinity comic actually addressed the topic even more explicitly.

Avengers Unlimited (Vol. 1/2022), Infinity Comic, #64.

I get it, white collar crime and financial maneuvering is a lot more difficult to make appear exciting in the comic medium as opposed to, say, fisticuffs or edged weapons. In my opinion at least though, this is cool!!! Marines make jokes about their organization's history of struggling with logistics, but that underlines how critical that aspect is to making sure anything can operate effectively! Using the full range of skills and resources available to most efficiently execute justice is just something that feels very Moon Knight to me. That interpretation also helpfully supports my argument that Steven should be just as involved in Moon Knight work as Marc and Jake, just in an "occupational specialty," if you will that looks as different from what Jake and Marc do as how different Jake's networking looks from Marc's....very kinetic approach to problems. Accordingly, I guess I would just like to see Steven utilized in the narrative more as the "scalpel" of the trio. There is a time for everything, including Marc cracking skulls, Jake shaking hands and slapping backs to collect HUMINT, but also for Steven's precise and surgical approach that can dismantle a whole organization perhaps without even any bloodshed. After all,

Moon Knight (Vol. 9/2021), #25.

Steven's got his own way of doing things.

I guess, ultimately, is it too much for me to ask that Steven, Jake, and Marc be all equally valued for the unique skill sets they bring to Moon Knight? That they support each other, particularly with how wonderfully complimentary those skill sets are? hahaha

[specializationisforinsects]

On Names, Meaning, and Self-Determination

aka ✨✨I woke up wondering about the significance of the name Anthony at three am and I'm now certifiably insane ✨✨

Good Omens is undeniably a queer allegory, and also at the heart a story about self-determination and free will. I think I’ve discovered something related to these two things that I haven’t heard anyone talk about, and it’s making me loco.

Choosing one’s own name is a very queer (often trans but more broadly queer) action; a way to assert and affirm one’s identity, often in opposition to a power structure that existed in a previous iteration of one’s life - our hero does this several times. Let’s take a closer look:

(Disclaimer: I’m using he/him for Crowley here for clarity and because the show and book often do.)

Starmaker [???] -> Crawly

We get to see Angel!Crowley, popularly called the Starmaker, in the opening shots of season two. Whatever the Starmaker's name was, he's insistent at several times throughout history that that is no longer him:

"I knew the angel you were." / "The angel you knew is not me." "You were an angel once." / "That was a very long time ago."

I love that the narrative never tells us what Angel!Crowley's name is - and I hope it bears out in season three. That's not him, and quite clearly he doesn't want to be (mistaken for) that angel ever again.

When we see him again, (chronologically) Crawly is now fallen from grace, a serpent demon, introducing himself to Aziraphale on the wall of the Garden of Eden after all that business with the apple. This is pretty clearly a callback to Genesis 3:14:

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

(Even though...chronologically...I think he had that name before tempting Eve.)

Crawly -> Crowley

In Golgotha, he cites Crawly as "too...squirming at your feet-ish" which again is not him (except for some *cough* situations into which I will not delve here) anyway

The shift from Crawly to Crowley is a subtle one, just a few letters. It speaks to me of a quiet rebellion against Hell, not changing so much that it attracts a lot of attention, but nevertheless rejecting the role Hell has cast him in.

[sorry my gifs suck so bad. It's quicker to grab a snippet than find someone else's better gifs.]

Aziraphale is surprised by this, but not unpleasantly so.

Crowley is making it clear he will only go along with Hell as far as he can. He doesn’t use their name for him, he’s not fully on their side. He still sees himself as a demon (unforgivable) but he’s taken some of his power and agency back. He won’t go blindly along with either Heaven or Hell, he’s asserting his independence.

(I don't know much about the meaning of this name, other than the fact that it's an Irish surname. Doubtless, there's some connection to Aleister Crowley. It's also apparently a maritime logistics company that will "Build and Operate the First Fully Electric U.S. Tugboat". Good for them!

It also reminds me of crows. I have a soft spot for bad boys who model their image after corvids as a defense mechanism.)

Anyway, part II. This brings us to the part that I woke up at three am thinking about.

Crowley, Anthony J.

"The famous Mr. Crowley!"

Here's what we’ve (fandom) spent a lot of time focusing on:

“What's the J for?” / “Just a J, really.”

Here's what I propose we focus on instead:

“Antony?” / “You don’t like it?” / “I didn’t say that! I’ll get used to it.”

Anthony. Why Anthony?

Anthony's not a name that appears in the Bible, but there are a few historical Anthonys we may know…

Marc Antony

(Most of this is pulled directly from wikipedia.)

Marc Antony was one of the Second Triumverate, a group of three men who ruled Rome after the assassination of Julius Caesar. Politically there were a lot of power struggles between them, and Antony married the sister of one of the other men (Octavian) in the triumvirate, as a kind of peacekeeping political move. However, Antony’s territory included Egypt and the young queen Cleopatra.

There were a lot of wars and sieges - I’m not gonna pretend I understand it, but basically Antony was hanging out in Egypt with Cleopatra and Octavian consolidated power in Rome, and started a smear campaign against Antony.

He argued that Antony was a man of low morals to have left his faithful wife abandoned in Rome with the children to be with the promiscuous queen of Egypt. Antony was accused of everything, but most of all, of "going native", an unforgivable crime to the proud Romans. Several times, Antony was summoned to Rome, but remained in Alexandria with Cleopatra.

Going native?? Where have we heard that before?

Octavian and other Roman Senators believed that turning the hostilities towards Cleopatra as the villain would gather the most support from Romans for war. […] Octavian's publication of [Antony’s will (alleged)] which named Antony and Cleopatra's children as heirs and directed his burial in Alexandria, was used as a political weapon in Rome to declare war against Cleopatra and Egypt as a whole. Octavian, now close to absolute power, invaded Egypt in August, 30 BC. With no other refuge to escape to, Antony stabbed himself with his sword in the mistaken belief that Cleopatra had already done so. When he found out that Cleopatra was still alive, his friends brought him to Cleopatra's monument in which she was hiding, and he died in her arms.

Oof. Choosing their own side under pain of death.

St. Anthony of Padua

Okay I’m not religious, and I'm tired of spending time on catholic websites but here are a few bullet points I found to make me scream

Saint Anthony is known in Portugal, Spain, and Brazil as a marriage saint, because legends exist of him reconciling couples.

Saint Anthony of Padua is known as the patron saint of lovers, often prayed to for meeting one's soulmate or finding lost love.

Pope Leon XII referred to him as “the saint of the world.”

Anthony

We don’t learn about the name “Anthony” until 1941, meaning that Crowley chose it for himself sometime after 1862 and before 1941. During a period of separation from Aziraphale after one of their bitterest arguments, he picks a human name for himself.

So, finally (jk this was first, but…)

I looked up the meaning of the name Anthony and (allegedly) it means “highly praiseworthy” or “priceless one”.

Take a minute.

The implications of this being a name he’s chosen for HIMSELF??

That maybe he hopes Aziraphale will call him??

That, to my knowledge in the show, Aziraphale hasn’t called him??

In conclusion

(I made myself crazy with this, please scream with me a little bit? I gotta go take a shower and wash the catholic websites off.)

[wortsandall]

Jake Lockley-the lies we tell ourselves au

buckle in, this one's long next

my biggest inspiration for this whole au was this man right here. mostly from reading fanfiction and thinking-who is this man to me? and noticing the pattern that jake had become kind of one note.

the fanon jake lockley had become a kind of stereotype-the rough macho man, slinging Spanish and banging ladies-and rarely did I see anything go past those interpretations. now there's nothing really wrong with that and I don't mean to shit on anyone's perception or enjoyment of the character.

in the show, the only things we know are that

he fronts in violent moments to get marc and jake out of a bind

he speaks spanish

he has to be the one who asked the woman out at the museum

and thats exactly why we get the jake that we often see.

personally, I just wanted to explore beyond that. maybe as a black person as well i found that one note portrayal to almost be in poor taste and starts to infringe on some Latino stereotypes even if it's not purposeful. (again you do you. and I don't mean to speak over any Latino voices who may feel differently)

but jake to me can go so much deeper than that. the framing of him as the "violent" alter is so harmful when it comes to D.I.D. we all remember split. those that are uninformed about disorders like D.I.D usually don't see the harm that can come in that kind of portrayal or can be dismissive. I don't have D.I.D myself, but I do have an unfinished psych degree focusing on abnormal psych and dissociative disorders and a LOT of free time.

my main point being that I didn't want jake to just be the violent alter. it was so obvious to me that jake engages in violence as a form of protection. and that alone brings so much more depth to his character. jake only fronts in the show to get them out of a dangerous situation. and when he doesn't have to kill-he doesn't. like with the kid.

so jake immediately screamed protector to me. and the violence that comes as his form as protection is the most effective that we've seen. it's not about making sure that marc feels okay with what's been done or happy. it's about keeping them physically safe.

tw for discussions of abuse, bullying

the show shows us that marc, and in extension all the boys were abused by their mother. it may be jumping to conclusions but my next thought would be that's where jake gets the violence from. and I don't mean that he enjoys it or wishes to hurt people like he was hurt as some sort of outlet. but that now they get some kind of control over when and how they are hurt.

to make some more leaps, I thought that it's not far-fetched to believe that there could be bullying in their childhood due to potentially being seen talking to themselves. or if I wanted to make it sadder, for being both Jewish and Latino. I've seen my fair share of mixed people being forced to "pick" one or being ostracized for not fitting in the way they are supposed to.

hell, I'm fully black and have had to deal with not fitting the standard due to the way I speak, or dress, or what music I listen to, etc. if something like that was going on, I can imagine dots being connected. that in order to be left alone-violence can actually be the answer.

my mom beats me -> I tend to stay clear of her as much as I can -> these kids are bothering me -> I can make them steer clear of me

and if I'm hurt -> then its my choice -> a side effect of being in a fight -> not something done on purpose to me

I imagine that's jakes origins. he's not great for anything else in his eyes, that's all he's used to. marc wouldn't register these fights as anything abnormal. marc sees himself as broken and angry, and even as a child I think that's what he would boil these fights down to. he wouldn't remember the specifics of it-just the aftermath. feeling so angry then nothing but seeing the bully on the ground holding his nose. and just fill in the blanks for himself.

as a physical protector, jake's concern is physical safety. as they get older and they end up in psych wards or other mental facilities after their dad's growing concern about the out of character behavior. (steven, not knowing how to be covert) jake would be more aware. they are in this strange place, away from what's familiar and being treated like an invalid.

I think jake would front much more often, even if he's just watching from a corner of marc's mind. he'd be used to that kind of hyper vigilance. I don't want to demonize mental health facilities, though I know that a lot of them can be very harmful. but I don't think marc would be the one causing "trouble" in there, nor is steven.

this is where the other alters that I want to add for this au to come in. where marc remembers these wards as no big deal and steven has zero memory. but jake remembers more of the unpleasant aftermath caused by outbursts of a different alter leo. I'll get into him and what I imagine his character to be in a different post but just know that this is leo's origin: the wards they were in and out of as a teenager.

I think that once they left, they weren't fully an adult. maybe 17, about to turn 18 but marc hits the bricks. tired of his mother's abuse and his father's enabling of it. I imagine that in those couple months before 18, marc would rather be anywhere else. and jake would be the one helping with that, guiding marc without him realizing. turning them away from potential areas of danger, fully fronting in order to fight off a robber. I don't think this would be a long period-maybe a month or two. and that's why marc thought they could just leave until the military. (jake, tired of being the one to watch marc's stupid ass would wish that marc had just toughed it out at home until their 18th birthday. their mother was a known danger, the streets are not)

joining the military and everything after is mostly marc. jake only fronting similarly to the show, in life and death situations. steven and the other two alters wouldn't be fronting at all. and in these long year periods is where I think jake's role would change slightly. as marc learns how to better protect himself on his own, jake would become more of a gatekeeper. maybe not a great one, still concerned more about their physical safety than anything else.

"survive. don't die." that's jake's priority. so in these combat scenarios it is impertinent that alters who can't fight, won't. in this sole endeavor, he becomes a gatekeeper. anything that might trigger steven and the others gets heavily locked down. he has a tight hold on the front, making sure only he or marc could possibly do it. I can't imagine he'd be able to keep that tight hold at all times. maybe there's small moments where their guard is down and any of the others could front for a moment. but for the most part, he's successful.

and when he gets tired of this, maybe the others are starting to front more or marc's fatigue starts to impact him, he makes the decision that in order to stay alive, they have to go. and that he's the one who tried to leave in a fugue state.

we all know what happens next and fast-forwarding through that, jake has less of a need to front. marc has the suit now. but jake is still a gatekeeper. marc's belief that steven and everything that came with that was over is partly due to jake keeping them all neatly held back and marc unaware.

due this backstory of jake's I don't imagine him getting out much. he hasn't had time for much else and doesn't know who he is outside of protecting them. after their mother's Shiva, I think jake would be the reason why marc and steven's life start to recombine. that he'd notice how shaken marc is after her death and know that it's not a problem that he can fight. so steven starts to front more, taking the brunt of these emotional moments. jake takes an even further step back, thinking steven has his role. as a caretaker and emotional protector this would be good for marc.

in this relative calm, where marc is trying (and failing) to balance his life and steven's, jake has a lot of time on his hands. maybe he watches how marc crafts a fake life for steven and thinks that it'd be nice to have one of his own-but not know how to go about it. he's never really been a person. in his eyes. he doesn't know how to be. so maybe he takes a small step on asking out the woman at the museum (I can't remember her name or if it's ever been mentioned, sorry)

thats the last part of fanon jake that I would like to dissect. I know in the comics I've read (and its only the 2016 and 2021 ones I apologize for that) there are references to this "woman-loving" personality. there are scenes where marc, steven, and jake are all talking and jake is in a club environment with dancers. and for me, it's never read as him being some kind of playboy hounding or thirsting after woman. in most of these scenes, jake is namely talking about finding community and people to care for in the rougher crowds. the crowds that might frequent these types of areas and crowds.

that's what I'd like to focus in on. jake may be a part of a system but it is a fairly isolated one. and part of that is due to his choices, but that doesn't mean he can't yearn for community. jake would be around during the time that marc was with layla. I imagine he'd probably have fronted a number of times as well. jake wouldn't know to navigate more emotional and intimate moments making him uncomfortable around her. he's covert enough to pretend to be marc in day to day scenarios, but not this. at the same time he'd see the way they interact and clearly love each other and become envious. so when he gets a chance, he tries it out for himself. though he never gets to go on that date.

all this to say jake lockley is aroace. he wants connection, community, family. due to circumstances both in and out of his control he'd never experienced that. and the couple times he has, it's been in a romantic sense. so he tries to copy that, thinking maybe that will be the key. but it isn't. he doesn't need that. he just needs some form of intimate connection to help him learn and remember how to be human. not just as a weapon, not just as a human shield. but as a person with his own wants and needs and personality outside of what the system wants.

that's my jake lockley.

the lies we tell ourselves au masterpost

[kuwdora]

Star Wars audiobooks! I've been restless for new Star Wars since Andor ended. Been going through a handful of Disney era and Legends novels over the last few months. I have enough reactions to get down into an actual post. Mostly I'm just going to be foaming at the mouth over Marc Thompson and Sam Witwer's narration and falling over myself about the characters. I have listened to: Dark Disciple, Last Shot, Disney Thrawn trilogy, Heir to the Empire, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. Lots of these books I liked, some of them I didn't but the narration and characters are still amazing. Motherfucking MARA JADE. Asajj Ventress!!!!!!!! I have no rational mind about Maul and I am one of those feral stick figures chewing on Thrawn. Hnnghh.

First of all, let me start with Marc Thompson. He's been doing the audiobooks for years and years now. Here’s a great intro where he’s talking about the differences of doing character voices and learning the importance of bringing the right dynamic to the prose. He slips so seamlessly into his Star Wars voices reel, ahaha.

Here is a really cute Lip Sync Battle where Marc Thompson will say a line and then have a fan lip sync the same line back at the camera. His energy, his energy I love it so much. Everyone is having SO MUCH FUN. There’s also a cameo by Star Wars author Christie Golden in this video. Super cute.

First book:

Dark Disciple - Christie Golden Narrated by Marc Thompson

Alright I actually had picked this up ages go from my library and never read it but since I’ve been on an audiobook kick, Marc Thompson got me goin’ with alllll his voices.

I love Asajj Ventress so I was pretty much guaranteed to enjoy something from this book. Apparently it was written based on some unfinished scripts for an arc that would have happened if the show didn’t get cancelled. Knowing this makes a lot more sense with regards to the pacing and I think I would have preferred the animated episodic for this since I think a lot of the early Quinlan and Asajj stuff dragged a little too much. However I did appreciate getting more of a deeper dive in Asajj’s head and it really made me want to go digging through AO3 for some amazing character studies that I know must exist at this point.

But yeah, I didn’t think I’d enjoy the eventual romance between Asajj and Quinlan but Quinlan was such a perfect set-up for a fall from the Jedi Order. I think I’m just really easy when it comes to whumping the fuck out of Jedi with torture and their own emotional repression.

I was really into all the Dathomir scenes and the history of Asajj with her sisters being touched upon again and how she managed to not “go crazy from the dark side” because of the balance she found because she was a Nightsister.

A++ for Asajj having to go to Boba fucking Fett to mount a rescue mission inside a fake heist.

Really I think I’m just so easy for murdery women with a rage boner. Fuck Dooku.

Marc Thompson’s narration was a delight and I definitely would recommend this for anyone who enjoyed The Clone Wars series and wanted to get a little more Asajj screen time. Here’s a scene where someone pulled Clone Wars clips and put Dark Disciple audio underneath. Marc Thompson bringing incredible Dooku subservience and Sidious danger, hhhngh.

7/10, would listen to again even though I'd rather see the finished episodes.

Last Shot (A Han and Lando Novel) - Daniel Jose Older Narrated by Marc Thompson, Daniel Jose Older and January LaVoy

This book was extremely disappointing. Normally I am a fan of seeing fan-favorites have their mid-life crises but I was extremely bored and over with Older’s take on Han having an existential crisis of who he was as a father an husband in this post-Empire world. Lando on the other hand, was having a crisis of genuinely having fallen in love and not knowing how to handle that. I fucking loved that.

This book had multiple timelines and jumped around a lot and I don’t know if I just wasn’t focused enough while listening but the timeline jumps were jarring and incomprehensible at times. The action plot ended up being rather unsatisfying.

It was also very jarring to have three narrators for the different timelines and I kind of feel bad because I went and looked and Older’s narration is just consistently getting panned across all reviewers—and for good reason. Thompson and LaVoy are experienced voice actors and with Older in the middle, Older just seems slapdash in his reading. If it was just Older all the way through I might have been more forgiving but going back and forth with everyone… it really was painful at times.

It was a slog to get through this book, really. What I actually really enjoyed was all the original characters: an Ewok slicer, a nonbinary hot shot pilot, and Lando’s love of his life whose name is slipping my mind even now, agh. I wasn’t fan of the villain character, unfortunately, and it was a bit of a letdown that the action plot was just… I don’t know, boring. It was a riff on transhumanism except with droids and a bit of droid supremacy to it and I was just... tired by it.

Marc Thompson was KILLING it tho. His performances always fucking delight me. January LaVoy’s narration of Lando and L-3 were also really great even though I just wasn’t into the scenes themselves.

3/10 - do not recommend, HOWEVER I would read fic about the lady ewok hacker Peekpa.

Darth Maul: Shadow hunter By Michael Reeves Narrated by SAM WITWER

I am, as the fannish parlance goes, Not Normal about Maul or Sam Witwer's performance as Maul.

This novel takes place just before the events of The Phantom Menace and it’s a Star Wars story that is very, very narrow in scope. The stakes are still very high because someone has gained information about the Trade Federation’s impending blockade and Sidious sends Maul to go and take care of it. The whole story takes place in the underbelly of Coruscant and I gotta say, it’s really refreshing after going through a bunch of Star Wars shows, books and films where it’s all galactic hopping whirlwind stuff to have that's in one place and happening in a short amount of time. I think it's something like 2 or 3 days that all the events happen.

Michael Reeves is a man of deep characterization and creates an amazing sense of place in the Black Sun alley of Corusant. We get very little Sidious and Maul interaction but what bits we do get are fascinating and haunting. I do like the ‘less is more’ approach here with these two...although I will say I’m not sure I would have picked up this book if I hadn’t gone through The Clone Wars and lost my goddamn mind over Sam Witwer’s portrayal of Maul.

And his performance here. In this book. I don’t know what it is about Witwer but when he does Maul my brain just lights up in a way that I haven’t really gotten outside of live theater performances. He brings this sense of ruthlessness and competence to Maul, his gleeful rage and oscillating mania as he ends up tracking an information broker and Jedi Padawan. Oh, Witwer is truly just. Fucking amazing, okay.

I would love this book even if it wasn’t Witwer narrating it but my god he elevates it to a whole new level. I got my copy from the library but it is immediately on my to-buy list once I can buy books again.

Michael Reeves also wrote for Batman the Animated series and Gargoyles which makes a whole lot of sense in the way he’s able to just create such lush sensory detail of place and people, oh holy fuck. He’s the writer who wrote the Gargoyles episode about Broadway accidentally shooting Elisa with her gun (this is an episode that got pulled from airing and I don’t think they have on Disney+ right now). Aw man, alright I definitely need to read more of his stuff now.

The action plot is Lorn Pavan is a down-on-his-luck fellow who got information he shouldn’t have and he is trying to sell it, Darsha the Jedi Padawan gets sent down to bring in a Black Sun informant and things go tits up for her in horrible ways. Darsha and Lorn’s paths collide and they try to survive Maul. I love everything about these characters, except for the end where Lorn started having romantic feelings about the Padawan. Blech.

Also somehow I think I-5 is now my second favorite droid character I’ve come across in the greater Star Wars canon (Chopper will always be my #1 grumpy cat droid). Witwer has the best dry delivery for the droid character. Like. It’s so fucking GOOD.

I’m also impossibly impressed and obsessed with Witwer’s performance of Sidious and the Jedi Council. His Qui-Gon is SO FUCKING GOOD. His Palaptine has my teeth rattling in my head oh my god.

Here’s the first 5 or so minutes of Shadow Hunter, hhnngh. You get Maul, Sidious a drunk Lorn Pavan, and my new droid bestie I-5:

I am 100% going to be reading Michael Reeves’ other Star Wars novels. Apparently he has a series that follows a Jedi-in-hiding post-Order 66 and I want to just dunk my head in all the Star Wars noir, I guess, yes please.

10/10 - I love, would heartily recommend to anyone wanting a kind of story that’s more heavy on character and setting and also SAM WITWER!!!!!!!!! Maul. Hnnghghghgh.

TIMOTHY ZAHN TIME.

Thrawn Trilogy (Disney era) Thrawn, Thrawn Alliances, Thrawn Treason Narrated by Marc Thompson

This was my second time through the Disney novels. I watched Star Wars Rebels first, then my friend jb_slasher told me about Thrawn having novels. I had vaguely heard of Heir to the Empire over the years and also my friend recommended the Disney trilogy so I figured I’d start with that since I was diving off from Disney canon anyway.

My god I love this trilogy so fuckin’ much. Marc Thompson out here nailing it. This Thrawn is the type of character who is always the smartest person in the room and I should get irritated by that like all the other characters but mmmm, I have a competence kink. And I am just over the moon with how he instills loyally and allegiance in his crew who can now have a commander who is not interested in politicking his way through things but actually is committed to strategy and whatnot.

Also fucking Zahn made Thrawn go back to space college. And gave him a little protege who he grew to admire. Eli Vanto is a great character, I am reading a lot of slash about them obviously but yeah, I loved seeing his growth throughout the trilogy. And THRAWN ALLIANCE. Y’all. Y’all. The Star Wars memes about Thrawn and Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker are AMAZING and really do the hilarity so much justice. Here's a fantastic book trailer cut together with Marc Thompson' narration, hnngh.

This man absolutely knows who Darth Vader is and Darth Vader is like “oh fuck no you don’t.” And when Thrawn had met Anakin during the Clone Wars and Anakin had to try and work together with him? Perfection. Bonus Padme getting to be a ridiculous and foolish badass when she goes looking for trouble. And also her also having a competence kink for Thrawn, too. It cracks me the fuck uuuuuup, okay.

Thrawn absolutely hates politics so fucking much and I love to see how that is the primary way he gets thwarted or has to build his strategy around. Because people are fucking assholes and political everywhere. Seriously, have I mentioned how much I love Marc Thompson??

Thrawn Treason gave us more of Thrawn’s people and whatnot with the Chiss which I also liked but I’m really less interested in their motivations and experiences as a culture on the edge of the Empire. More here for Vanto now getting to be the fish-out-of-water and leveling up and getting all the respect he deserves.

MARC THOMPSON, y’all. He does a great Thrawn, an AMAZING whinybaby sycophant Ronan of the Starkiller Project, and his Eli Vanto Space Yokel intonation is 💋. Also I feel like the loyalty and trust that Thrawn earns from his subordinates really feeds into this praise kink thing that everyone develops by being around him. I love it.

10/10 will lose my mind and listen/read this trilogy again and also read all the fanfic about it.

Heir to the Empire Timothy Zahn

I am sorry it took me 30 years to get here but I AM NOW HERE FOR MARA JADE’S RAGE BONER. Let me repeat: MARA. JADE. !!!!!!!!!

Also holy fuck. Luke Skywalker getting to be smart, technically creative and able to navigate through terrible situations in spite of a Force-Blocking Macguffin is AMAZING. I was not expecting to be this into a post-Empire Luke but I really fucking loved it.

I also love all of the Han and Lando scenes in this (WAY MORE than Last Shot, sorry Daniel Jose Older).

Leia and Chewie!! On Kashyyk!! Talon Karrde was so great (Thompson made him kind of sound like Antonio Banderas??)

Thrawn and his bestie Pelleaon! What a fascinating dynamic.

I actually was not very into Thrawn’s vibes in this book as much as I was in the Disney stuff. I don’t know if it’s because of the vibes they wrote him in Star Wars rebels that got filtered back into Zahn’s take on him for the books (or if it was the other way around?) - Like, the calculating tactical and man of strategy is still there, but… hm, I’ve been struggling to articulate what about it that didn’t tickle me as much. He’s still playing the long game in every situation but I don’t know… I think there’s this more pragmatic view of people he has in the Disney books that he doesn’t get here in the first of this trilogy. I haven’t gotten to the other two books from this series yet so maybe I’ll feel differently later. The anniversary edition of the audiobook that I got from my library was narrated by Marc Thompson and he (you'll be so surprised) fucking nailed it all for me. Love love love.

10/10 timothy zahn, I love you. You got an amazing way of writing action. I gotta read more of your stuff. Anyway, I'm also starting the Ahsoka novella that I think (??) is not quite canon anymore since they got a final season for Clone Wars, but it's by E.K. Johnston and narrated by Ahoska's voice actor Ashley Eckstein. Don't have enough thoughts about it yet but I love Ahsoka so I'm sure I'll have a decent time.

[thedevilsoftruth]

Haven't posted in a while, but something that was really bugging me a lot was some shit I noticed when rewatching the Moon Knight series that I think a lot of comic book fans could relate to. I know, Mr " um actually " comic book guy is talking right now but imma need you all to bare with me here for a second. and before any of you start typing, please remember everything said here is MY opinion. All I ask is that you're respectful. I'm going to start of with how I don't understand the hype around this motherfucker.

Literally the most whiniest mf in the ENTIRETY of the MCU. The only people who can like or tolerate this bitch are mfs who have 9 hours of daily screen time on TikTok, listen to hyperpop music and think that he's a soft uwu meow meow baby girl hurt emo princess boy.

Moon Knight is literally one of the most metal superheros out there and the directors saw that and said, " now imagine that but we make his woman so much better than him and water him down and completely change his back story and then wipe our asses with it, spit on it and then pretend we were trying to show representation. " Like what the fuck are you fucking doing?

My first problem is that I felt like this show focused too much on Layla and her relationship to Marc... Nvm, Sorry I lied. Not Marc, fucking STEVEN. This show isn't about " Layla ", its about MARC and Steven and JAKE. (I'll talk about Jake later) Like can we just... " Are you an Egyptian superhero? " " I am. 🥺" GIRL BYE 💀💀 this part of this show was so bad it made eternals look good. This was cringe on the level of seeing your mother do a dab. All that episode 6 was about was Layla kicking ass and that's it. I don't understand why Kevin Feige has the urge to make everything about badass women. Like theres ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with that, I love badass women and we need more women superheros, but I'm just saying, I came here to watch MOON KNIGHT not Layla El-faouly.

So funny how they make a show about Marc Spector and he only gets like 20 minutes out of the 6 hours of the entirety of the show. I think the most time he got on screen was like episode five and maybe two but that's about it. It felt like he was only there to make things depressing and to make Steven Grant have better character development because he himself is just so fucking boring and not funny. Marc Spector is so much more than " I got hit as a kid and my alter ego is fucking my ex wife. " He's a Jewish antihero struggling with a personality disorder that's eating his life away and a toxic relationship with a man who's been basically lying, emotionally abusing, and manipulating him since his CHILDHOOD. What I love most about Marc Spector is that he's not like all other these mighty superheros, he's just some dude. He just some dude with real human struggles like you and me, trying to figure himself out and navigate through his disorder. Marc should have had a bigger role in this show but I guess Steven Grant and Layla were more interesting than him. Steven is the main course, Layla is the desert and Marc is the salad off to the side that's barley been eaten.

Steven Grant is not a shy British man with great manners who works in a gift shop and is giving in his moms flat, he's a savvy millionaire ( who's from Chicago, Illinois, so as Marc and Jake ) who works in the film industry and lives in a mansion. Those are two completely different characters. Everyone that I've seen who's criticized Steven in the slightest has said that he was bland, boring, and the producers were trying too hard to make him funny. You can't try to have something that's just straight up sad happening with a character and then pretend that it's funny and try to make it into comedy. That's just not how it works and it's not realistic. That's why movies like The Crow are good and movies like Renfield are bad. The Crow takes itself seriously and is genuinely sad but lightly sprinkled with comedy, Renfield wanted to be a bit sad, but ruined itself by trying to hard to make every scene funny.

The only good scene in this entire show is the scene where Marc says, " you are you the only real superpower I ever had " or whatever the fuck. I didn't pay attention because all I could think about was the scene from frozen where Anna fucking froze and Elsa cried about it and then unfroze her with her tears or something. I guess her tears must have been really hot.

What I'll give Muhammad Diab credit for is casting. Having Layla be Egyptian is good, and having Oscar Isaac casted as Marc is also really good. Everyone In the comics is white for a character normally centered around Egyptian bullshit. They also got Khonshus personality right and that's about it.

I hate how the producers said that this show was all about " representation" and then didn't add Frenchie, who is a gay french guy in it or Bushman who is a black mercenary because he was " too much like Killmonger " ( which doesn't make any fucking sense because they are drastically different on so many levels but okay. ) they also said that this show is they're most brutal and violent show yet, but they were " violent " ( and bloody-ish ) the first three episodes and then just kinda gave up towards the end.

For the last thing, I'm gonna talk about Jake finally. Just pretend that I'm sighing right now. Like a really audible, dramatic sigh.

I get they wanted for us to differentiate the differences between each personality with accents but Jake doesn't need to speak Spanish. He doesn't speak Spanish in the comics and having him do it is completely unnecessary. I get it's Hollywood and Hollywood needs to make everything sexy and attractive, but Jake Lockley is the least sexiest alter of Marc Spector. He doesn't wear a suit with black leather gloves or drive a limousine, he's a fucking taxi cab driver with a really weird mustache who wears a turtle neck. When I think sexy, I don't think taxi driver. And it ruins the point of Jake Lockley as well because Marc uses Jake to see what's going on on the streets in New York. New York is really busy and crowded, so people are more prone to using a taxi, not a limousine unless you're bougie and rich.

Anyways that was my rant. Good night.

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the comics: Learning to Crawl (issue 35)

Moon Knight, Issue # 35: Second Wind

Written by Tony Isabella and drawn by Carl Potts

Hey look! The X-men are in this one! And the Fantastic Four! That’s a lot of cross-over. As I’ve stated before, a lot of times when you have a ‘features’ on the cover, it means the characters show up briefly to do a one liner, then leave. A ploy to try to draw in more readers and sell more issues. Let’s see how much they all feature in this! 

And the plot summary? “Following last issue’s devastation, Moon Knight is at a crossroads on whether or not to continue his vigilante career. Guest-starring the X-Men and FF!” 

Now, keep in mind that this is a new writer (One that was acclaimed and recently retired that came out of retirement to guest appear) right after Moench left Marvel. So we're getting the character intro that feels more geared towards the writer than the audience. ALSO this is a cross over ultra long issue so they are hoping to have NEW readers that are here for the X-men and that will get interested in Moon Knight and then start reading regularly.

So we're not only going to get over intros of the characters, but we're also going to get a heavily watered down edition of the characters because the new readers aren't here for lore, they're here for X-men. 

We open at midnight in Manhattan. 

"It's Midnight when the man born Marc Spector (but who has long since glided into other identities as easily as he now glides over the city) spots the quarry that has brought him out into the darkness. 

Thus Marc Spector begins this in his identity as the costumed adventurer Moon Knight. When it ends he will know who he truly is...and why." 

His prey is "The Fly", who focuses on robbing rich vacation homes while the owners are away. 

After noting that The Fly recently went up against Spider-Man and lost, Moon Knight sneaks up on The Fly and immediately gets his ass kicked. He spends a lot of time on the ground. 

He’s doing well. 

OH. OH NO. I know this comic! (it may come as a surprise to some of you that I do not read the comics then write these analysis. I do a life reaction.) I knew this was coming but it had completely escaped me that THIS was how it happened. Oh. My. Khonshu. This is embarrassing. 

As always, Frenchie is up above keeping an eye on things. When he spots "The Fly" getting away, he radios down to Moon Knight. 

Worried for his friend, he climbs down from the chopper and finds Marc laid out on the roof, unable to move and barely able to speak. 

I must say, the art and colors on this issue are spectacular. 

Frenchie gets Marc to his chopper. 

"Moon Knight glides from pain to oblivion to delirium in no discernible pattern. Once he curses himself through agonized tears for being so sloppy this time. 

Once he wakes in madness to quote Keats. 'There is not a fiercer hell than the failure in a great object.'" 

Side note: We've seen Marc, specifically Marc, quote classical literature before. Marc is shockingly well read and it makes me wonder why he hides how smart he is. In later issues he talks about his struggles in school, but Marc Spector really is very smart. (An idiot but smart). 

John Keats is an English romantic poet. He is famously known for "Beauty in truth, truth in beauty".

Jean-Paul takes Marc to a private hospital that 'doesn't ask questions'. 

He undergoes surgery, but his spinal damage is great. They tell Marlene that they've done what they can and the rest lays in subsequent therapy. "I'm afraid it's entirely possible that Steven Grant may never walk again." 

We move to Paris where a young up and coming dancer is running for her life from some unseen danger. 

Her assailant is a woman who accuses her of abandoning Russia and taking all her gifts with her. The attacker uses the wind as her power and sends the girl off into the sky to meet a terrible fate. 

Back in Grant Mansion, we see one of the Moon Boys working on parallel bars to learn to walk again. The whole time, he curses himself for letting The Fly get away. 

Now, for the past couple of issues, Moon Knight has been facing another internal conflict of if he is doing any good. The people he was supposed to help turned out to be th villains and the villains turned out to be guided by circumstances and then paid a terrible price. 

"I'm not sure I should ever think about Moon Knight again... I mean, what if it's somebody else's life on the line next time I screw up?" 

Marlene calls an end to today's therapy session and helps 'Steven' back to his wheelchair. 

Samules, the butler, announces a guest and Gena busts in at full speed. 

"Guests, Sammy? We're family. Right Lockley?" 

"How's the kids, Gena?" (Jake is always such a sweetie). 

She gives him a hug and I may tear up. I love Gena so much. 

Crawley bursts in next. 

Jake's friends have always been his support and his heart. 

Jake is worried about the boys. 

Gena is too. "This sure isn't the easiest city in the world to grow up in...Even for good kids." 

They reflect on the gangs always recruiting new members. 

They talk about how Lenny, from the Music box issue, is serving time despite being a good kid. They reflect on the gang that was poisoned and attacked Gena in her diner. 

"Those are the reasons I'm thinking of leaving. My brother has a place in Houston. He needs a manager. Hard decision to make." Gena admits. 

"Do what's best for you and the kids. But... If you can --stay. You've got family here too." 

It's hard to let go of friends. Especially someone as important to their way of life and joy like Gena. Jake relies so heavily on his routine. He visits the diner for breakfast frequently and he goes there when things are stressful or he wants to get away from Steven's life and people. 

Gena heads out, back to the diner. Crawley lingers to have a word. 

Moon Knight used to pay Crawley for information. Crawley has always had a gambling problem and he admits that he's been in it again and is out of cash and overdue on the rent again. 

"I...I was wondering if Moon Knight would be requiring my services soon." 

I'm not sure who is fronting at this junction, but he's giving Steven vibes so I'll say Steven. 

Steven admits that he doesn't know when he'll be up and able to walk again, much less Moon Knighting... 

"I'm not sure Moon Knight will be back." 

Marlene offers to put Crawley on a retainer and holds out some cash. 

"Oh, no. I'm afraid I've gotten to enjoy working for a living again. Not to worry, my dear, I'll be fine." 

Crawley refuses help and asks to be notified if his services are needed. He heads back to the diner.

Steven is angry. "He's my friend, Marlene, and for the first time I'm wondering if it hasn't been my needs as Moon Knight that have kept him down in the gutters--While I come home to THIS every morning.

Maybe it is time to retire as Moon Knight." 

He heads into the room that houses his Khonshu statue. 

"What do you say, Khonshu, Old boy? Is the wheelchair and the legs that won't work some sort of sign that my tour of duty as Moon Knight is over? Have I paid for the crimes of my past? 

All the men I am... Can I put Mercenary Spector to rest? Can I stop driving Lockley's cab?

Can I finally be the man I want to be? I WANT to be Steven Grant, Marlene. He's a good man...The kind of man who could make you happy." 

"That would be nice. Let's talk about it...Sometime." 

"Right. Well, wheelchair or not, I've still got a life to lead. Let's get on with it." 

Narration: And if Khonshu has any thoughts of his own to add...He keeps his own counsel.

So we are dealing with Steven primarily in the chair. It’s interesting that Steven is the one dealing with the PT and learning how to cope. We get glimpses of Jake, but mostly it’s Steven wondering what sort of life he is supposed to follow. The desire to just be Steven. To be a good man. To make Marlene happy. 

Next we see Marlene and Steven going to a Ballet. Steven has sponsored the local ballet in an effort to be "just a good citizen doing what he can." 

Steven goes to meet the star, Sergey Valberg. He's brought along the media to help promote the company and get more people to the Ballet. 

As the media sets up, we catch a glimpse of the angry woman from before that sent the other dancer to space. 

Sergey has agreed to let the media record his rehearsal. They watch in amazement as he dances when suddenly...

A gust of wind knocks all the security around and the woman enters the room. "Sergey... Your dance is over." 

"Marlene... I think she's here to kill him! Try to cover me while I...I... Sit here like a helpless cripple." Steven is realizing he can't do anything.

Wind lady blows the chair over for his trouble. 

Sergey recognizes her. He calls her Bora. 

"I have heard...of a woman whose heart is as cold as the frigid winds she commands. I had hoped I heard wrong." 

She had once rehearsed under Sergey, dreaming of being a great ballerina. Then she found out that she was a Mutant as she not only gained wind powers, but she also grew to over seven feet tall! 

When she went to him for help, she found out that he had fled Russia to America. 

Her dreams of being a ballerina were over. 

"I awoke to find my long cherished goals thrust eternally beyond my reach, for what choreographer had ever conceived a ballet for a seven foot tall artist?!" 

So naturally she decided to punish all those who defected from Russia. 

She drops the temperature to below freezing as the winds swirl around them.... And Sergey starts to dance. 

"If I die, It will be as I have lived--Honoring life through my dance!" 

Steven is helpless to watch from outside of the rehearsal room as the temperature drops and the winds blow. 

"The Bora is a cold, dry wind. It can reach speeds of 125 miles per hour and has been known to overturn trucks. He lets the gusts catch him in mid leap.

His dance has become a language now... His movements its alphabet. The opposition of arms and legs create words. His dance speaks to Steven Grant. It speaks of courage unconquerable." 

Steven crawls to the glass and struggles to get to his feet. 

"The temperature in the enclosed studio is now sixty degrees below zero. The sentences form more slowly. Indeed, there is only breath left...for one... final... statement." 

Sergey takes a final leap. 

"The dancer is dead... But not his dance." 

The wind woman departs and Steven is left helpless. 

He has realized a truth. He asks Marlene to take him home. 

Love the imagery of Khonshu’s statue behind Marlene. “Inside the mansion there is a cold silence. It reminds Marlene of a tomb…in Egypt.” 

"Because I have to be here. Because I'm needed." Steven sits in the wheelchair clutching at the Moon Knight cowl. "You know what's out there. It's a world in which the savages all too often rule our cities, our streets, our souls. 

The Good citizens... The Grants, the Lockley's...They fight that tyranny as best they can. They aren't always enough." 

Steven is starting to understand that as much as he wants to be the good person and the only person, he can't. 

"Moon Knight is more than a good man. He's a force that transcends the brutality and the fear that are the savages' main weapons--Because he can use those weapons himself. 

He's a savage on the side of the angels. A protector of innocents... A symbol of vengeance and hope. And, God willing, If he does his job well enough... He'll be the last savage." 

It's an interesting understanding by Steven. Viewing Moon Knight a a necessary violence force. But does he see Moon Knight as his own person, as Marc Spector, or as all of them working together? 

I know how Moench would portray Moon Knight, but with him out of the picture, how is Marvel going to let the character of Moon Knight advance? 

Steven attempts to stand. 

He fights through the pain. 

For once, he’s not looking to Khonshu for support. Or a miracle. 

"This is the truth learned. That being Moon Knight is not a curse... Nor a state of penance. It is simply who and what he was always meant to be." 

So what is Moon Knight's first course of action? 

He goes to see Professor Charles Xavier's school for gifted youngsters. 

Alright. We are a little over halfway through the comic and we are finally bringing in the X-men. 

He speaks with the Professor himself. 

"The Russians have been unusually co-operative with the bare facts. She's fourteen, off her nut, and operating without their sanction. Not enough. I need to know how her powers work!" 

Moon Knight notes that there are four more defectors in the ballet company and he bets she'll strike again on opening night. 

Professor tells him how he thinks Bora's power works then asks if Moon Knight thinks one man can stop her. 

"I don't know. I don't see where I have any choice but to try. Thank you for your help, professor." 

Leaving, Professor X watches him go. 

"He has doubts. His injury--His recent failure....The pain that yet wracks his body. They all work against him. And still he strives to overcome. The man's determination is both inspiring and frightening." 

He calls in Colossus and Nightcrawler. 

Mostly because you can’t have a comic that boasts about an X-man crossover without the x-men. And any time there’s a one off X-men crossover, they tend to just kinda throw Colossus and Nightcrawler at the situation back in the day. (Current day it’s more like wolverine or some random side characters that Marvel wants to promote at the time for a smaller comic). 

Nightcrawler makes the argument that Mutants should deal with Mutants. 

"I would agree...Normally... But Moon Knight is at a crossroad in his life. He must be given the chance to prove himself to himself. He is a powerful force for good. 

Perhaps more powerful, in his own way, than we X-men. We will not interfere unless necessary." 

Yet... They do all agree that a night at the Ballet might be nice. 

Outside the school we find Frenchie chatting up Storm. 

Opening night, the theater is packed! And what's this? The Thing! 

He says his hello to Nightcrawler. 

Nightcrawler admits that he's there as 'unofficial back-up'. 

Ben laughs. "I guess that makes yours truly and pals the "Official Back-ups, then." 

It would seem that Moon Knight knew he wasn't fully up to full strength so he called in a little extra help. 

"The Fantastic four!" Kirk turns to his row and admits "I, too, came with 'Pals'!" 

And there we see more of the X-men! I'm not a big X-men reader, so I only recognize two, maybe three of the ones there. 

It's also interesting that Moon Knight would specifically ask for help from the fantastic four. He's only had run-ins with DareDevil, Ben, and the Hulk up to this point. Inviting Dare Devil to the ballet would be... a bit off. And the Hulk wouldn't exactly be good backup. 

It's also hilarious that to this day, Ben still considers Moon Knight a friend and every single year will send him Hanukkah cards. In later issues, Moon Knight admits that there aren't a lot of Jewish heroes and that Ben needs to meet others besides himself, since he isn't exactly the most observant. But it's still touching how Ben said "This is my friend." and clung to him for so long.

We see Moon Knight himself up in a box seat overlooking the stage. (And this image really tickled me for POTO reasons. If you know, you know.) 

"But if Kurt Wagner has gained new respect for the Moon's Knight of Vengeance, the object of that praise is himself still wrestling with doubts.

Bora has the power to level this theater. He was crippled by a glorified burglar. Memories of past failure assail him. The waiting is a battle in itself. And that he does not surrender to his doubts in those seemingly interminable minutes is a victory as great as any he has known." 

Okay okay okay. Let's take a moment to appreciate the actual Ballet! 

"Laurencia" - A story of love and tyranny. 

A ballet by Chabukiani. As wiki informs me, "Created at a time when 'choreodrama' was considered in the Soviet Union the only acceptable form of contemporary ballet.' 

Basically it stresses that dance was an ultimate form of expression and all movement should serve as a purpose. 

So ballet at the time seemed to focus heavily on drama based plays. 

The story the ballet is based on is one of a peasant revolution. Which, if you know the most basic of Russian history, this was a big deal for the Soviet Union. 

Now, Chabukiani created his own form of choreographic language in Ballet where he focused heavily on the Male Dancer and created 'the heroic male dance'. 

The play is pretty simple. Village awaits the return of some grand Commander with his army. Meanwhile a girl and her admirer are flirting. The commander returns and immediately desires the beautiful girl. She rejects him so he leaves with his army. The admirer asks the girl to marry him but she isn't sure and doesn't answer. The Commander returns and tries to have the girl. She rejects him again and this time he leaves promising revenge. The girl marries her admirer but the commander interrupts the wedding and arrests her groom. Pretty pissed off, she rallies the village and they storm the castle. They kill the commander and free the groom. 

The original story was written in the 1600s and was based on a real story. 

Back to the comic! 

Bora interrupts just as the revolt against the evil Commander is taking place. 

Winds batter around the ballerinas as Bora steps on stage. 

"The winds of retribution have pursued you from the homeland you hae betrayed! They have decreed your punishment! And they have named Me Your executioner!" 

The X-men and the Fantastic Four hold off, wanting to let Moon Knight take his chance to redeem himself to himself. 

(It's also funny to watch a woman command the winds and have Storm be there like, "Oh she is not going to get away with this".) 

Moon Knight leaps down onto the stage. 

She immediately blasts him with wind. This gives the dancers time to make their escape as he fights against the wind storm. 

Professor X had guessed that Bora's powers were psionic in nature. She was not generating the wind herself like Storm does, but she was opening a sort of portal to harness the winds from their original location. 

Off stage, Marlene and Frenchie flip on the lights and buzzers, giving Bora a massive headache and thus she loses control of her wind. 

The notion that Steven goes around building things ‘just in case Moon Knight needs them’ is hilarious. 

The Fantastic Four do their thing and ensure that the audience and fleeing Ballerina are not injured in the wild winds. 

You gotta love cross-over comics. The X-men could have ended this immediately. Much less the Fantastic. Both in the same building? Come on. But this isn’t their comic. They are guests in this comic so they gotta watch Moon Knight, a man without a single ounce of power who just finished recovering from massive spinal injury crawl across the stage. Look at him go. He’s used to being on the ground anyways. 

We get to see the Various X-men like Kitty Pride and storm and Colossus do their thing to help people. We also see the Fantastic Four do their own thing. 

Pretty pissed off, Bora now focuses fully on Moon Knight and he's getting blown around a bit. 

"The temperature drops rapidly, a full degree per second. He cannot feel what he clutches in his hand. He does not stop. Ice daggers cut deep into his flesh. And still he does not stop." 

Nightcrawler pops in just behind her, giving her a start. The momentary distraction is enough for Moon Knight to get to her and...

DID HE JUST CHLOROFORM HER?!

Yep. Sure did… 

Well... It worked. She passes out. 

Later, back at Grant Mansion Marlene and Steven talk.

"You're tired." "I am exhausted--and in excruciating pain--and feeling completely, totally wonderful!" 

"No more doubts?" 

"Lots. But I won't quit again. What we do is important." 

"I can live with that." 

And we end on Khonshu's statue gazing at Marlene and Steven embracing. 

OKAY. Coming from the future and gazing upon the past, we know what is to come in the comics much much distance from when this one was written. 

He does in fact quit again. He also ends up in a wheelchair again. What’s the difference? This time, it is Steven that handles it. In the future issue, it’s MARC that handles it. Another huge difference? In the future issue with Marc being left crippled, his friends have all left him and he suffers alone, angry, and in despair. This time, we see their friends rally around him. Steven is practical in how he confronts the problem, and Steven takes them through the rehab PT, he puts in the work, and he understands what it means to not be able to recover. He accepts potential failure and he makes peace with it. 

Marc does not. In that future episode, Marc pushes himself over and over again and suffers in miserable agony as he fails and fails and fails. Steven accepts that he is a good man and he can live with himself if he can’t be Moon Knight. Marc cannot. 

We also see the general use of ‘What WE do is important.’. He won’t quit again. He, being Steven Grant, acknowledges that he gave up too soon. He settled too soon and didn’t leave the others any say in the matter. He wrote off Jake and Marc and Moon Knight. Now he sees that he can’t do that. Moon Knight needs his place. 

What I also love is that this was again another show of a battle against oneself. We see him struggling again with his own failures and dip into self depredation. They suffer with imposter syndrome and doubt and depression. He acknowledges that the doubt is still there. That they are still struggling, but that they now know that they need to keep pushing on and forward. 

What I didn’t like about this issue? What happens to the girl? What happened to Bora after she is defeated? 14 years old and her dreams of ballet are gone and she is obviously not taking anything well. Do they just hand her over to the X-men to deal with? Also the main ballet dancer was killed! And the ballet just goes on? He was a pretty important figure it seems like! And the girl from earlier that was killed! I hate loose ends. 

Overall, I really did enjoy this issue, even if it was a cross-over with loose ends. This is the last we see of special guest writer Tony Isabella. In the next issue, we get our first full one from Zelenetz!

[vel-hell-ael31]

Introduction

Full name: Axel Marc Anthonyson

Nicknames: Axie -Anthony -Tony - Sonny - Single Father- Greñas

Sexuality: ⚣ Gay

Ethnicity: American 🇺🇸

Place of birth: Columbus, Ohio, United States

☆彡彡-Physical Appearance- ミミ☆

Age: 17

Eye color: Hazelnut

Hair color: Dark brown

Hair style: Curly. Mullet, cut on the sides of the head.

Height: 1'85cm

Voice: Warm. Don't worry. Intimidating when angry or upset

☆彡彡-Favorites-ミミ☆

Color: Green, Black, White and Brown

Animal: Cats, dogs, parakeets, ferrets and lizards

Other: Spend time with his friends. Watch movies. Go anywhere on a skateboard.

Hobbies: Draw. Go do Graffiti. Read. Write. Listen to music. Go for a walk with her pets. To be with her friends. Art. Photography. Basketball. Guitar

☆彡彡-Family-ミミ☆

Mother: ✝︎ Laila Steward

Born 07/18. She die at the age of 48.

Father: Jake anthonyson

Born 01/23

☆彡彡-Relations-ミミ☆

Best Friends: Arthur D'Oyly and Isabella Ruiz

Crush: ????

Couple: ????

☆彡彡-Traits-☆彡彡

Introvert. From time to time arrogant. Faithful. Genuine. Somewhat demanding with his work. Considered. He is usually spiteful when someone deceives him or is disloyal. Honest. Comprehensive. Protective. Tolerant. calm and patient

CHARACTERS!

↓

──── ❝Axel Anthonyson❞ ───

"The art boy"

▪17▪

❝1.85m❞

⚣ gay

●○●○ဗီူ●○●○

[Neta, are you telling me that those five sticks are a person? We have quite a lot of work to do if you want to pass...]

─── ❝Rodrick Heffley❞ ───

"The boy in the band"

▪16▪

❝1,70m❞

⚥Bisexual

●○●○ဗီူ●○●○

[Let's see, sir "I know how to draw and you don't" How the hell do you want me to draw it? Look at him, my brother is literally a stick. ]

──── ❝ Isabella Ruíz❞ ───

"The Bestie Goss"

▪16▪

❝1,60m❞

⚢Lesbian

○●○●○●○

[Just look in the mirror Ax; you're the graphic representation of "lovesick fool" And no, I don't make that face with Allison.]

──── ❝Arthur D'Oyly❞ ───

"The DJ Friend"

▪16▪

❝1.78m❞

⚥Pansexual

⚲ Gender Fluid

●○●○●○●○

[Brother, what do you want me to tell you...if you don't keep it, someone else will take it, or worse, another. Now help me make Maxie jealous at the party. ]

───❝Allison Williams❞───

"The bad girl"

▪17▪

❝1'67❞

Bi-curious(?

●○●○●○●○

[Hum... Maybe she fell to the ground and searched badly. But, one thing... What was that "she's eating Allison" scandal, huh? Do you like the idea? that's why you're so red right?]

────❝Lucian Smith❞───

"The German Boy"

▪16▪

❝1'80❞

⚥Pansexual⚥

●○●○●○●○

[What do you want me to tell him? Hey, hello... I'm Lucian, I've wanted to talk to you since the beginning of the course... But I didn't dare until now, you seem very cute... He's behind me, right?]

────❝Maxie Miller❞───

"The boy from the skating rink"

▪16▪

❝1'76❞

⚥ Bisexual

●○●○●○●○

[Hello, some skates for two hours please... You're Arthur, from my class, right?]

──── ❝Jake Anthonyson❞ ───

"The father"

▪57▪

❝1.80❞

⚤ Straight

●○●○●○●○

[I know that since mom is not here I have focused only on the company... But honestly I am very proud of you.]

┅┅┅┅┅┅┅༻❁༺┅┅┅┅┅┅┅

✰ Glance is a fanfic inspired by the Disney movies "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid" which in turn is based on the book series by author Jeff Kinney. But the story of Axel, his friends and Rodrick is completely mine.

✰ Character information taken from Wikipedia, Fandom and Amino. The height is an approximation.

✰ The photos are not mine, only the edited ones. Credits to their respective owners.

✰ Possible containing +18 (it will be notified before its appearance) and profanity.

✰ Efforts will be made to follow the thread of the series

✰ Story with Homosexual content. gay. yaoi. If you don't like it, I kindly ask you to withdraw without making bad comments

✰ There will be some other misspelling that will be corrected later. I make mistakes, I'm not a machine. Of course, he accepted constructive criticism and so on, but said with respect, not with mockery or etc.

✰ If you have any ideas or suggestions, you are free (obviously if you wish) to tell me privately or in the comments. Even if it's something minimal, you can tell me, it won't bother me, rather, you'll make my day

✰ I will try to narrate and make it understandable as well as possible.

✰ From time to time, it is inevitable for me to have some writer's block. I hope you understand me

✰ My native language is not English. I am very sorry if there are mistranslated or misspelled words.

✰ The story will start with some events from the first book/movie and then something from before the second book/movie "Rodrick's Law" although most things will come from my imagination, there will be references and situations based on the books/movie.

(Boys love)

The story is about a homosexual couple of men. If you don't like this containing, I ask you to refrain from making any bad comments and retire.

(Girls Love)

The story will also deal in part with a homosexual couple of women. If you do not like this content, please refrain from making any bad comments and retire.

[anitalianfrie]

Right so what's up with MotoGP omegaverse?

so, this should be the moment where i admit i don't even remember half of the guys competing because i started after the end of the season and i laser-focused on the marquez brothers and the italian guys. Anyway, I'm not going to give you a list of who i think is what, because we're here to talk about DYNAMICS. thoughts under the cut because i got a bit ranty.

So, motorsports are an hypermasculine enviroment, every single one of them. Think how bad it gets when you are riding death machines at 200kph that will try to kill you at every turn. You have to be strong you have to be aggresive you have to be a real man you have to fuck a lot (i'm not sure how this translates to being able to ride motorcycles but i also never claimed to be in the head of somebody really stupid) = you have to be an alpha. So of course for the longest time only alphas where considered strong enough to ride properly. Betas? too weak, not aggressive enough. Omegas? they can hold the umbrellas, maximum. They are too submissive, they will never overtake an alpha, they will lay down and show their neck to be mated right then and there when the alphas should do their real manly racingTM.

This of course doesn't take in account the fact that kids will start riding minibikes waaayyy before showing their second gender (in their puberty) so. Beta riders are most definitely there, and once stereotypes around omegas start to subside in the family sphere (thank you omega activists) and parents allow their omega kids to continue racing, omegas are there too.

Which doesn't mean that betas and omegas (in particular the latter) aren't treated horribly and always underestimated. A couple of omega champions (Jorge and Marc) change a bit the perspective, but the rosquez divorce sets everything back to 50 years. (No, i'm joking. Mostly. Just know that the rosquez divorce here is bad. really bad) Still, in the paddock there isn't much equality: alphas are almost always half of the grid, if not more, followed in numbers by betas and then omegas.

Are relationships between riders incentivized? OF COURSE NAWT, because those evil cunning omegas will try to make the big, strong alphas loose their focus from the championships with their evil ways. And betas are not even considered, because a true alpha rider will only fuck a traditional, stay-at-home omega that will raise their pups while he throws himself down the circuits at 200kph on the other side of the world. (you know, like true alphas do). And of course omegas are expected to not get pregnant because they're an investiment for the team and the least they can do is not getting a pup bred inside them and ruin the championship for everyone. As you might imagine, omegas get offered waayyy less contracts than alphas and betas.

I said before that i wasn't going to say who's what because i've put down like, maybe five riders, but i changed my mind, so.

Jorge is an omega, as per @whatwepostintheshadows amazing post, as is Marc. Vale is an alpha, more on those two here. Dani i'm not really sure, because I can see him both as an alpha and a beta, always criticized for not being alpha enough/not agressive/strong enough. Alex is probably a beta. Enea is probably an alpha (is this purely based on his nickname being "la bestia"? maybe. I'm open to discussions about him). And for the academy, I'm sure of pecco being a beta, but i'm not sure about anybody else.

Suggestions/ideas in the askbox and/or dms about this are highly appreciated please do come to talk to me about this :)))

[batsplat]

I want to know which current F1 drivers meet your ‘worthy of interest’ standard? Because I honestly find most of them pretty boring.

well, a dead giveaway for me mostly agreeing with your assessment is that I don't really post about f1 on here. which, okay, admittedly there's a lot of things I don't post about on here, like tennis for instance.... but y'know. there's more of a motorsports tumblr crossover, whereas nobody's following me for my tennis takes and the tumblr community isn't really my scene. with f1, I do actually follow it a lot through tumblr... and. I mean, I have plenty of opinions and all that, I enjoy engaging with it, but I'm not posting long psychological deep dives on here for a reason. I kinda follow f1 differently because it's a sport I got into with my flatmate, who I watch the races with whenever we can. and relatively speaking, our conversations about the sport are like... more focused on the team side of things in addition to the drivers, driver market gossip and news stories and all of that, just having fun with the controversy of the week etc (or every few months it's me sending her very long messages about how I think an x men f1 au would work, which she very generously puts up with despite only having a passing familiarity with the x men franchise)

that being said! ofc it can be fun to root for and against some guys in a more casual way! and I've definitely developed and refined my preferences for drivers in the last couple of years... the ones I primarily root for are george, lewis, alex and esteban. george has that like... idk, exceedingly obvious hunger to him that I really appreciate in athletes - I can tell every single second just how badly he needs this... how he does want to be loved and sometimes thinks too hard about how to achieve it... but when it comes down to it, he will ALWAYS choose winning. very compelling!! I love how even in his current situation where he knows a lot of lewis fans despise him... he still can't entirely help himself, he's still going to push it. because he just can't function any other way - he's not the type who can really be bullied into submission, which slaps. also he's clearly quite thoughtful, somebody who thinks a lot about his craft and is really committed to constantly working on himself. again, it's all about the hunger, that sense that he'll pounce every time given half a chance. that edge of neuroticism paired with the constant accusations of inauthenticity... plus, idk, there's a real air of uncertainty surrounding whether he'll ever be able to fulfil his potential, and I am a sucker rooting for someone who brings out my natural pessimism. but the thing is, he does have that dawg in him - if he ends up not making it, won't be because of his mentality

lewis in all honesty I missed so much of his career that it's always going to be a different type of investment for me... idk I've just never been the type of fan who can care if someone finishes p6 or p8 if they've won eighty million races. I have the same thing with marc too, had it with valentino back in the day, like I'm sorry but you've won so much it's just very... okay wake me up when you're fighting for something real. obviously I do enjoy all the narratives he's picked up over time, the nico stuff in particular is a lot of fun... I like his steel and grit and the way he's defied the odds to become one of the greatest to ever do it, and again the hunger he's got about him... got some real affection for how he's also kinda paranoid, moody, pessimistic, irascible, enough of an edge to him to be just a touch nasty. not a stranger to mind games himself, of course. and he's an excellent pr merchant!! such a carefully constructed persona, idk, makes him more compelling somehow. I enjoy whenever there's been a hint of tension in that particular teammate relationship, shame merc never had a good enough car for it to get worse. here's hoping he's not too washed to crash out leclerc next year or something fun like that

alex,, yeah, obvious underdog charm. bit of an odd route into f1 and has of course had to fight pretty hard to get back into the series at all. he's got a good dry sense of humour as well as quite a whiny streak that makes him more interesting, plus I like his friendship with george, (my general bar for caring about athlete relationships is 'do I think corporate is pushing this on me', which is true of a lot of these f1 'friendships' but not this one.) he's just quite easy to root for idk, my bar for rooting for athletes is way lower if you're not winning everything. like it's only if you're at that top tier that I need you to be an absolute dickhead for you to sustain my interest. and then with esteban, again, underdog appeal partly just because of how rough a road he had into f1,, not just another rich kid... also how many other drivers he's pissed off. pairing the on-track terrorism with a really sweet smile off it, which is always such a fun combination imo. AND too many people hate him, which makes me naturally root for him more

so yeah, y'know, I have thought about them a fair bit and talked about them with my flatmate and all that, but it's all relative in terms of the amount of time and interest I've invested in them. mostly I just bully them all a lot in messages that will remain unavailable for public consumption