#in fact everything he does ranges from neutral to good

[blackknight-100]

So, sometime back I made this post about Fathers and Sons in Hindu Mythology, and @chahaa-piun-ja mentioned this:

I'll admit I forgot about Dhritarashtra, which speaks a lot about his paternal nature honestly, but when I was about to reblog and mention him, I realised he deserved a different post all to himself.

So... Dhritarashtra is blind. And by popular consensus this is a metaphor for his moral blindness and his blind support of his antagonist sons which... yeah. There's a lot to say about this representation of blind people but then again, this is a text from a time when disrobing a woman was theoretically lawful so. We'll ignore that bit for now.

That being said, I did subscribe to this idea myself, and it seems pretty straightforward overall: a father loving his son to the point of ruin, until I dug in a little deeper. And it seems to me overall that he isn't just blindly granting his sons' wishes out of love, he, like every other adult male in the Kuru court, is complicit in it.

From his backstory we know that he has been denied the throne because he was blind. Which today we would call ableism, but it was clearly as allowed in those times as it is now (looking at you, people who put ridiculous physical requirements to discount disabled applicants), so Pandu becomes the king. His feelings on this matter vary from neutral, unmentioned, resignation, frustration, jealousy, fury to outright hatred, again depending on which version you are reading and the point of view. All of this is valid by the way. If your family effectively decides to cheat you out of a throne and give it to your younger brother, who is also physically indisposed, just more agreeably so, in a society dominated by progentiure, you'd have every right to be furious.

So, when Pandu is compelled to go to the forest, either because of his impotence, or the curse, this feels like justice served. If I were Dhritarashtra I'd be happy too - look, you cast me away, and now you need me again. And Dhritarashtra becomes king. Whether he wanted it or not, whether he was jealous or not, he reclaims his birthright, and his brother isn't even dead or anything. I suppose he would have more qualms about the throne if Pandu were dead. Reasonably speaking, he has every cause to be happy.

And then Pandu tries to sleep with an unwilling Madri. And Pandu dies. And his sons come to Dhritarashtra's court. And the elders want Yudhisthira to be King.

Do you see where I'm going with this? This is Dhritarashtra's childhood/adolescent nightmare come again, and this time with his sons. He has a hundred of them. The fate of a son who is not King is erasure. History forgets them, people no longer remember them. Yes everyone knows the other Pandava brothers now, but they are outliers. They are heroes. They are demigods. And they are only 5 in number. No one will remember the 95 other Kauravas. No one remembers all the names of Krishna's sons, and they too were demigods, albeit unconventional ones, Hell, I don't! And I'm sure most people don't either.

Then, like a manna from heaven, Shakuni falls into his lap. Shakuni is his brother-in-law. Shakuni loves Gandhari and will always want the best for her sons. Shakuni is also really, really clever. And Shakuni, for whatever reason, hates the Pandavas.

Now, I know there are many popular versions where Shakuni is doing this to take vengeance on the Kuru clan, and yes it was dumb of Dhritarashtra to hand over his son's care to him in this case, but Dhritarashtra is overall driven by emotion and a desperate desire to be innocent. He just... gives away 3 boons to Draupadi because her condition makes him feel guilty and afraid (as it should, but this is not what you would typically expect from a man who blindly caters to his sons). When he realizes that doom has come for his children, he has a whole breakdown where he gaslights himself into thinking that he isn't responsible for the situation at all. Dhritarashtra is not even particularly immoral overall: he doesn't want to harm his brother's kids, he loved Pandu, and by extension he loves Pandu's children. But they have to be removed for his sons to get their due. He circumvents this by applying agents - Shakuni, Karna, his own sons.

Duryodhana loves him for it - he has no qualms exerting his power over his father. Except he does this with the belief that his father would never let him walk off to his ruin, which is why he is big mad™️ whenever Dhritarashtra costs him something. And Dhritarashtra basically costs him everything - by giving the Pandavas sanctuary, by letting them get equal education, by partitioning the kingdom, and especially by freeing them. When Draupadi wins over the Pandava brothers, that is when Duryodhana's belief really snaps, and he starts seeing his father as a lenient and foolish king. And the next time, he makes decisions himself and enforces it before his father can get a word in edgewise.

So yes, overall, Dhritarashtra is not a blind, dumb and ignorant spectator, or a helpless father bound by love. He's an indecisive coward, plain and simple, and he actively gives leeway for Duryodhana and co. to do what they do, and then hinders them because he cannot pick a lane. This is a sharp contrast to someone like, say, Kunti, who effectively enforces her will on her sons more than once, and orchestrates her sons' ruin more directly. Like sure, I get where Dhritarashtra is coming from. I'd be just as unhappy as he was if I were ever in his position. And it isn't that Duryodhana doesn't have a claim on the throne. It's just that Dhritarashtra is a passive parent who kind of tried to do good by his sons by keeping his own hands clean, and dirtied theirs in the process. And you know what? I'd rather take Kunti's ferocious authoritarianism over this.

[kalims]

kiss your best friend | ignihyde

kiss your best friend and see how they react!

parts. one , two , three , four , five , six , seven

characters. idia, ortho

content. gender neutral reader as usual, platonic for the bby, wingman ortho at it again, forgot about this ngl

note. sorry guys idia's part was messy but I mean, I'm just portraying his chaotic feelings ig. I SWEAR ORTHO'S PART MAKES UP FOR IT SINCE HES THE CALMER ONE

damn part six finally hear after almost a year (I'm so sorry help)

idia

is having the fastest inner monolog you will ever hear in your life, if it was being read out loud that is. could be nominated as rapper of the year with how fast he's blurting out thoughts in his mind.

also probably vocals of the year too with how high pitched, and small in range it is. what a versatile king 🔥

'anywaysitooklike10yearstryingtofindthisitemcausetheysaidtheysawitbutohmygodwhatinthethreehellsishappeningOMGaretheykissingmechatamidreamingOMGimnot??WHAT WARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA'

to make your life easier 'anyways it took like ten years trying to find this item cause they said they saw it but oh my god what in the three hells is happening OMG are they kissing me chat am I dreaming OMG I'm not??? WHAT *incoherent screeching.'

probably has never kissed anyone besides his body pillows which is just one sided making out so completely forgets his 'lessons on teaching himself how to kiss' and freezes up. comically gets goosebumps and remains frozen even after you pull away.

then starts turning red from feet to head??

he has so many questions that he in fact, does NOT want to ask cause even if it cost his life he can't question you if you guys are dating now cause YOU JUST KISSED HIM SO THAT MEANS YOU BOTH UPGRADE LEVELS.

wait he can't call it friendship level. clearly you're both past level 10 now right?? INTIMACY LEVEL???? HE DOESNT KNOW HES PANICKING.

is too awkward to ask and acts even more awkward as the time is more prolong during the time he's just left wondering what the hell you guys are now cause he's too pussy to do anything without confirmation that you're both duos for life now.

ortho

is the one idia rants to about his predicament right after you part ways.

like, idia doesn't even try to call or contact ortho through the means of technology even if it meant getting to talk faster. he's BOLTING to the dorm with his unathletic ass (with breaks in between.) because the tea he was going to spill was that good.

listens intently and goes :O when idia finally mentions the part where you randomly kiss him out of the blue, by the way only getting to the point after idia spills.. umm.. the wrong thing to be honest, literally retold the whole day until that point.

yeahhhh.. he has the energy atleast.

idia is probably telling ortho about how it meant nothing even though you literally outright kissed him, to the cheek, mouth, or something and he's still gonna say it didn't mean anything.

ortho gotta be the one telling idia to make the move cause no idiot would mistake that for nothing (except idia apparently but he'll have everyone know that his brother is a tech genius!!)

they both do one of those scenes in movies where P1 - idia, is talking to you in real life with an earpiece, and P2 - ortho is said person behind the earpiece. basically the one telling idia what he should do because that guy is too lost for his own good.

"brother move closer!"

"... isn't this too close already though--" <- embarrassed and regretting everything

in the end he did manage to get a label on the two of you, no thanks to HIM and all the thanks to ortho <3

note. ortho's part just ended up as an extension of idia's part but I always love to include him in everything :') just some behind the scenes on how idia actually got a relationship (ITS ALL ORTHO)

not pr, who prs anyways cries

[solarpunkblerd]

Can I have reader finding out that they're pregnant with Roy Harper's (Red Arrow) baby and she's nervous to tell him because he's already lost a child and may not be ready for another one?

yayyy first request! I love this idea, I hope you like it!!

To Start Again (Roy Harper x Reader)

wc: 1,011 | Slight angst, mostly fluff | tw: emetophobia warning

You stared at yourself in the mirror, nauseous shock coloring your face. One hand was braced against the sink and your other was holding a positive pregnancy test. If you were being honest, you didn't know how to feel. your first instinct was happiness but now, anxiety boiled in your chest as you thought of Roy. How would he react? Would he be happy or would he shy away, due to the loss of Lian?  The nausea had been happening for a few days and that's how you knew you needed to take a test. You threw up again, collapsing to your knees by the toilet. Once you were sure that you had finished throwing up, you grabbed your phone, dialing Dinah's number. 

Dinah answered immediately, probably due to the fact that You never called, you'd always prefered texting. "Is everything okay?" Was her first question.

You sniffed, rubbing your eye. "Can you come over? And bring icecream?" You asked, voice raspy and pitiful. 

"Of course," Dinah agreed, immediately. "I'll be there shortly." 

You hung up, collecting yourself from off the floor and rinsing your mouth out with listerine. You were only wearing Roy's large Jimmy Eats World t-shirt and you figured you should throw on some pants as well. You found some fluffy pajama pants that didn't smell too terrible and you released your hair from the messy bun you had hastily tossed it into. When you were ready enough, you sat on the couch, anticipating the arrival of your close friend. You allowed your mind to wander, thinking about the future, all the things you would need to buy, whether it was a boy or a girl, what you guys would name it, et cetera. It went on like that until the doorbell rang. You stood and opened the door to reveal Dinah holding two large tubs of vanilla ice cream, her usually neutral face crinkled with worry. You stepped aside to let her in. "Thanks for the ice cream." You hummed, digging in their silverware drawer for a large spoon. 

"[Name]. What is going on? Where's Roy?" Dinah asked, concern coloring her tone. "Did you fight?" 

"Oh! No, no, we didn't fight, he's at work." You reassured her, "It's just, I just found out I'm pregnant. I'm having a lot of emotions about it." 

Dinah's eyebrows jumped in surprise, "You're pregnant?" She asked, excitement eating the confusion away. 

You smiled, "I took three tests and all of them came out positive. I'm inclined to believe they're right, due to the insane amount of morning sickness I've been having."  "How are you feeling about it?" She asked, sensing that there was a whole tangled mess of emotions going on. 

"Um, excited but scared. very very scared. I don't know how Roy would react and- just. Ugh."

Dinah's brows furrowed, "Roy loves kids, you know that. But you're worried because of Lian?" She asked, tone soft and understanding. 

You bit your lip and nodded, "I know he loved being a dad and that he still wants to be a dad, but I'm afraid that maybe he changed his mind and doesn't ever want even the slightest chance of going through that loss again." 

Dinah hummed, understanding your hesitation, having gone through something similar. "You won't know until you talk to him. It would also be a good idea to start therapy, individually or as a couple. Just so that when this baby does come, you are a united front." 

You nodded, taking a scoop of ice cream. "Thanks, D, you always know how to make it better." 

Dinah laughed, flipping her blonde hair, "Well I am the smartest woman you know." 

You giggled and rolled your eyes at your best friend. "I wouldn't go that far. I would say you're the second, after me." 

"Sure." Dinah shrugged, tone teasing. "If that's what you want to believe." 

"Oh my god, get out, you've lost best friend privileges." You joked, not actually making any moves. 

"I should actually go though, I'm meeting a client soon. I postponed it by an hour for you." Dinah sighed, standing up with a stretch. You stood up with her and led her to the door, leaving her with a hug and a goodbye. 

Now alone in the apartment, you sighed, cleaning up and putting the ice cream in the freezer, now more concerned about how you were going to tell Roy. But you thought something simple would suffice.

Soon enough, you heard the turn of the keys in the door and hurriedly stood, holding the small yet long box behind your back. 

Roy stepped through the doorway, his copper hair tied into a bun to be kept out of the way. "Honey! I'm--" He stopped when he noticed you standing there, looking ten different kinds of nervous. "Is everything okay?" 

You gulped and nodded, shifting nervously on both feet. "Um...here." You said, holding out the box. It wasn't wrapped or anything, but all that mattered was what was inside. 

Roy's face scrunched in confusion, until he opened it. Roy's heart stopped and stuttered back to life when he saw the pregnancy test. "R-Really? This isn't a prank, you're pregnant?" He asked, unable to tear his eyes away from the test. 

"Yes, I took more than one and they were all positive." You confirmed with a shaky voice and before you could blink Roy had you in his arms and clutched against his chest. 

"I'm gonna be a father. We're having a baby!" He cheered, before lifting her up and pulling her into a soft kiss. 

"So..you're happy about this, I take it?" You asked, after you pulled away for breath.

"Why wouldn't I be, Sweetheart?" He asked, "I want everything with you. Everything." 

You stared at the man for a moment. Your man. Your gorgeous, kind, loving, wonderful man. You pulled him into a deep kiss and kissed him until both of your lips were swollen and neither of you could catch your breath. 

Of course you'd talk more later, right now, you just wanted him. 

[lilpotatjj]

Here you go guys. Crazy how much wanted it. Fanfiction story right after she sang 'Santa Jamie' teasingly. It's long. It's sometimes funny and...damn It's freaking wild and hot. (And it's fiction😉 so enjoy)

!Warning!: 18+ SC teasing each other. Cait does a wee bit more than just...having fun🤫🔥

"~so hurry down the chimney tonight~ Cait suppressed a laugh.

"Ho-Ho-Ho" The Scotsman closed the book with a grin.

Sam stared at her. It was a long, deep look. His eyes were already doing what Cait asked, indirectly and in complete secret, just the two of them. Everything around them was suddenly quiet, even though people were bustling around preparing the next scene for the two of them. She swallowed hard and didn't move an inch, while in his mind he had already undressed her and shown what a good girl she was.

"...a...C..t......." Words tried to reach her, but they were so muffled, as if a flash grenade had exploded next to her. It was the blood that first shot out of her face, straight into her middle, that gave her goosebumps, purely out of pure desire. He did it all the time, but not on set and certainly not minutes before a scene. "Caitriona!" it rang out in her ear and she jerked her head in the direction from where the words came. It was her make-up artist, who wanted to do a few last things to her hair. Sam looked after her for a few seconds and then focused on the book again. "Everything OK?" asked the make-up artist Balfe, but she just smiled dully and tried not to let it show that she had just mentally had sex with her co-star, who was sitting just 2 meters away from her. Without realizing it, she started to sweat. "Cait, if you're not feeling well, let me know, remember, forcing yourself to do something can only prolong the production in the long run," said the artist as she fiddled with her, but she just shook her head. The Irish woman took a deep breath, closed her eyes and mentally went over her lines again. In vain. The damned Scotsman kept getting into her head. If she doesn't pull herself together immediately, there could be trouble from the producer. The fact that neither of them had slept together for a week didn't make it any easier. Why did she have to sing that stupid song? Too much work on the set and physical withdrawal made her weak and Sam is always one to jump on these little games.

"Let's go, guys! The set is ready!" It was the scenes from season 5, episode 11, in which Jamie is lying in bed with a book and Claire is putting on perfume to seduce him. The first dialogues were still OK, but this time it wasn't her laughter that made her mess up the scenes like usual, no, it was her looks. They were too real, they were long, lascivious looks, different to how the producer had planned to shoot. Sam was, as always, fully in character and he knew what he had done. "CUT!" The producer went quickly to her and looked at her neutrally. "Is everything OK?" For God's sake, no! There he is, her husband in full Jamie outfit, lying on a bed and her? only in a nightgown. If she could, she would jump on him, without a script. No, everything is not damned OK! At least that's what she thought and just nodded silently. "Yeah, I'm just a bit...tired" she paused briefly when she heard Sam clear his throat and cursed him for his small but extremely cheeky insinuations. He looked at her and smiled absolutely innocently. Cait looked over the producer's shoulder at him and the heat rose in her face. He will pay for this, even if it's too late today after filming! She sat down again and took a deep breath, this time with an exasperated hum in her voice. "Okay, let's go," she said briefly and was back in 'Claire mode'.

She knew what was coming and pushed the thought of it away for a while. Sam and Cait finished filming the scene without any further major interruptions. Now she had to go to bed with him, having her face and neck moistened with water beforehand so that she looked sweaty. Sam looked at her as she prepared and raised an eyebrow. "So you don't need that much extra water today, huh?" he said in a tone as if he didn't know why at all and she glared at him with a warning look, which made Sam hold back a laugh. He got into position, Cait did the same and they continued. With the click of the clapperboard the scene came to life. Cait stretched herself, tired and sweaty, and stood up to go to the window. She was really hot by now and the whole situation was really pissing her off, but her acting talent was now showing its full potential.

"Claire..." came Jamie's voice quietly and worriedly. He hugged her and without noticing, the two were back in their own little bubble. "Have you been crying?" he asked and Claire smiled at him with an innocent smile. "No... it's just so hot, I'm sweating..." the sound of her voice, more Cait than Claire, continued to speak her lines and both played around the scene with a natural honesty, you could forget that this was a place where there were a good 15-30 people in the room and tons of cameras pointed at them. Jamie picked her up and sat her on the windowsill with the green screen in the background. He started kissing her thigh and Cait had trouble not losing her composure, sticking to the script. This bastard tried harder to make it look as real as possible and came dangerously close to her center. Claire tilted her head back and concentrated on not messing up the scene and accidentally making a move that would risk a 'CUT'.

Done. Fortunately, no further cut was needed and both of them were able to catch their breath. They both stood up and Cait ran her hands through her hair, looking at her husband. He had a stiff-on...that was obvious. She had to get away now, get some distance, otherwise her legs would give way if she looked at the Scotsman for even a second longer. She went into one of her trailers to change completely. After the producer and the others had thanked them both, they were allowed to finish work. It was already late after midnight and such provocative scenes are usually shot late to give the actors the opportunity to free themselves from certain feelings. Very few people know that the two are more closely connected than everyone thought.

"HOHOHO..." There was a click from the door as it closed and Sam was leaning against it. She was so lost in thought that she didn't even notice the blonde and was startled by his words. She was standing there in just her bra and pants, her shirt in her hand. "God damn it, Sam!" she said and took a breath of relief. He came towards her and she did everything she could to ignore him. She fiddled with her hair and suddenly felt a warm breath on her neck. Sam was standing right behind her.

"Are you sure you've been a very good girl today?" he asked in a scratchy, rough voice without touching her. "Sam, please... not here... not...-" she took a sharp breath when he suddenly gently put his fingers on her neck. For a brief moment she let herself get carried away, but then came to her senses when she realized where she was. "Sam, someone could come in at any time..." she said in an almost choked voice, as he had no intention of stopping. His fingers slowly ran around her neck and a shiver ran through her legs. He started kissing her neck and looked out the window, where he could see Sophi in the dark, moving towards the trailer. He stopped kissing, but didn't leave her side. Sam stayed close to her as the door opened and Sophi walked in, saw the two of them and froze for a brief second. Her gaze lingered on Sam for a small but uncomfortable moment, then on Cait, who was slightly out of breath, and then back on the Scotsman. Sophi turned away and quickly put down one of the outfit pieces. She almost got goosebumps from Sam's gaze. Not because of excitement, no...he claimed Cait for himself with an aura that could wake the dead. Like an alpha who dominates and claims his matriarch.

The message was clear and left no room for further questions on her part. She walked as quickly as she could and was visibly confused as she left. Cait hadn't given her a single glance and was trying to collect herself. After all the hard days of filming and working without sleeping with her once, he just wanted her for himself and not to let anyone or anything ruin the moment. The Irish woman freed herself from the confines and put on her top. "Let's go to your trailer, Santa Jamie." She winked at him seductively and then grabbed her jacket. They both went out and Sam suddenly grabbed Cait to carry her bridal style. She giggled and suddenly snuggled up to him, feeling his warmth. There was nothing nicer than feeling his closeness. She always gave him security and comfort.

When he arrived, he let her down on her feet and closed the door behind him. She still had a score to settle with him. She was a good girl, but he wasn't. On the contrary...he annoyed her wherever he could today. Just the thought of it reignited heat in her, a fire that had almost gone out and was now reignited when she just looked at him. He simply dropped the key on the table as he went to her and wasted no time. He grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her passionately. She let her jacket, which she had just taken off, fall to the floor and returned the kiss just as intensely, leading him backwards a little so that he was forced to sit down on the table. He didn't give up and pulled her onto his lap, kissed her neck and quickly moved to her breast. He paused for a moment. She was wearing a button-up shirt. He started to unbutton her but became too impatient and ripped it open with a jerk so that his hands could wander to her bra.

A sigh escaped her and she held on tighter to him so that she didn't slip off his lap. Sam's hand wandered into the side of her bra and played tenderly with her breasts. Completely out of sorts, Cait closed her eyes and enjoyed every single second, every single touch and murmured something incomprehensible. The passion that was bubbling in both of them was literally boiling over. The Irish woman helped her blond Scotsman take off his top and didn't stop kissing him for a second, afraid that someone might interrupt at any second. From his neck down to his abs, she stopped at his waistband and looked up at him cheekily. "I said I was good... so I want to unwrap my present..."

One of the typical Scottish guttural sounds came from him, announcing obvious anticipation. He stood up and let her free him from his pants. She looked at his erection and glanced up at him cheekily. "I can Play with my present right away, can't I?" She teased him in an innocent voice and kissed his best piece . He flinched slightly at every single touch and knew that for God's sake she mustn't go full throttle because he was about to burst. But that was exactly her intention. She wanted to tease him now and drag the whole thing out. She took him completely into her mouth and went full throttle straight away. Sam moaned, too excited as he was and grabbed her hair in his grip. "C...Cait stop..." He hardly got a word out and closed his eyes when it was already too late and he came violently in her mouth with a loud moan. Revenge tastes sweet...

He looked down at her in surprise and gasped heavily. She raised an eyebrow and grinned as she swallowed. "What?" she asked innocently. "I bet there's more in the Christmas sack..." she grabbed his balls, which made him jump. "You deserve a punishment as naughty as you are right now, my love." He smiled cheekily and almost cynically at her, grabbed her arm to turn her and pushed her onto the table with gentle but firm force, her bum stretched out towards him and his arm behind her back. He just pulled her pants down a little, just below her butt, and came to her without penetrating her. The Scotsman continued to hold her with his arm behind her back. He was so taken by what she was doing that he didn't need a break and was still aroused. Very slowly, Sam gave one kiss after the other, starting from her neck, down to her back and stopping just before her bum. He sat upright, one hand still on her tied arm and the other hand now found its way to her neck. He entered her and remained still. The Irish woman looked behind him as best she could and became impatient. Cait practically begged him to carry on, to move and to drive the desire out of her, but he stayed like that for a moment. "Well, what is it, Sassenach... I could literally feel how much you wanted me on set today, how you practically forced yourself on me and I swear to you, if we had had to repeat the take just once, I would have led you to the toilet and taken you there!"

Her face was bright red, not from shame, but the thought of making out with him there was almost her fault. She couldn't think any further when she felt the first powerful thrust from Sam and moaned loudly. God, what a week of abstinence can do to you is almost inhuman. He showed no mercy and thrust again and again, didn't mince his words and was careful to hold her tight without being too rough or hurting her. Sam set the pace, but noticed that she was about to come and that was exactly why he slowed down. She snorted indignantly and looked at him angrily, but all she got back was a sadistic grin. "Sam please...please don't slow down..." she whimpered almost wordlessly, completely out of breath and noticed how the tingling was lessening. "You bastard...!" she scolded in such a sweet voice that made Sam laugh and gave her a slap on the butt with his other hand. "Now now...that's no way to talk to Santa...Darling." Now she tried to free herself, which almost got the blond Scotsman into trouble. He let go of her and took a step back, but he didn't have much time, because Cait launched a new attack on him and grabbed his arms to press him against the wall opposite the table.

He grinned a little too proudly, but he lifted her left leg, turned her so that she was pressed against the wall and thrust into her without batting an eyelid. A loud moan made almost the entire container shake. He began to move faster inside her than before and Cait had trouble holding on to him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she laid her head back, gripped by desire. "Don't stop...Sam...!" she begged again, but he had no intention of stopping now. He wrapped her in a long and passionate kiss, making sure that she got her money's worth and tightened his grip on her thigh. The wave of lust and adrenaline flooded over her, making her forget everything for that one moment, the stress at work, the sleepless nights and the different filming times, which often meant that both of them couldn't be together. Cait clung tightly to Sam's neck as she came and her loud moans gave him goosebumps. He was so close to coming a second time. His body literally trembled as he poured himself into her and he hid his face in her neck, but the Irish woman grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her while he moaned loudly.

He stayed in that position for a moment, both of them staring at each other silently and completely out of breath, until he finally let go of her leg and it slowly sank to the floor. Cait almost lost her footing completely, but he held her tightly in his arms so that she couldn't give in. Sam was completely exhausted and grabbed her by her butt to carry her to his bed. They lay next to each other and Cait snuggled up to him while he covered her and himself with a blancet. "I wanted you so much today... filming the scene was torture this time" she whispered to him softly and he smirked. "I know... you were so tense and confused. You'll laugh but your make-up artist gave me a dirty look. She knew exactly what was going on," he said and kissed her on the forehead. "Oh?" Cait was genuinely confused but she kissed him on his upper body. "Well...who can say they slept with Santa?" she said playfully and Sam had to laugh. "Oh, you were a really bad girl, my love...as punishment I would have to give you another smack on your beautiful ass." He grabbed her ass with both hands, kissed her while she lay on top of him and grinned into the kiss.

"I love you, Santa Jamie," she said lovingly.

"And I love you...Sassenach"

My other SC Fanfictions here in my MASTERLIST

[doshi-sukiru]

Does Optimus hate Megatronus with the same vitriol and protectiveness over D-16 he hates the rest of the High Guard with or does he think of the Prime fondly because of how much D-16 liked him back when things were simpler? Does he try to destroy monuments to the strongest of the primes or does he refrain for some reason? Does he hate that D-16 looks so much like him now?

Does Megatronus sometimes wish that he could directly possess Megatron in order to rip Optimus apart (could he do that if he wanted to)? Does he feel a drop of pity for him that is instantly drowned out by the ocean of everything horrible he's done? Does he listen to Megatron talk about Orion and point out every red flag or does he just let Megatron talk it out?

To start, I mentioned this before, but Optimus does not know Megatronus can communicate with D-16. The matrix allows him to talk to every former prime in spirit, but it doesn't tell him if any of their cogs are being used by others, or if the primes can communicate to those who hold their cogs. e.g. Optimus knows Elita and Bee have cogs that belonged to a prime, but he doesn't which prime it came from, nor the fact that elita and bee can communicate with their own prime.

Megatronus never mentions this either, because every other prime believes his cog was lost to the pit, and he's never voiced the truth about it. Even if Optimus and D-16 were in close range, Optimus would not be able to know Megatronus was communicating to D-16.

If anything, Optimus tries to honor the primes, especially Megatronus, as often as possible instead of the occasional moments Sentinel did to show the people of Iacon how much of a better ruler he is. He doesn't destroy any statues or merch or datapads about him, knowing that it might upset D-16 'once he came to his senses and returned.' He doesn't hate D-16 and Megatronus look similar either, he just hates D-16's mask in general.

Megatronus does have his moments where he wants to put some sense into Optimus for his actions against the high guard, since they were people he knew very well, but he can't possess D-16. The spark left in the cog that keeps Megatronus there is only a fraction of his original self, so even if he could possess D-16, he wouldn't be able to use his body at all, and be kicked right out before D-16 returned.

Rather than pity, Megatronus feels disappointment at it all. He knows he can't do anything much to stop Optimus from wanting D-16 back, but he knows Primus's goal was for Optimus to focus on the people and not the mech who defied death (d-16). He can't help one side without needing to help the other, with teaching D-16 how to survive on the surface in battle and guiding Optimus in making battle plans against the Quintessons. He actively chooses to stay neutral on their issues, knowing if he showed favoritism it would only get worse.

Megatronus does let D-16 talk about his past with Orion, knowing the boy is still not used to this new role that he has. He only tries to reason with him whenever D-16 holds onto the belief that Optimus is a good person despite seeing the things he's done (e.g. ambush the high guard MULTIPLE times, brainwashed D-16 to stay with him, actively stalking them, etc.). It doesn't end too well, but Megatronus still tries to get D-16 to see that Optimus and Orion are two different mechs now.

[englandsgirl18181234]

Hi👋so hope you’re having a good day/night and sorry for sending you a new ask when you haven’t answered my last one yet

but I just read your post about your au where Athena basically gets the winter soldier treatment and have lot of questions about the au like do Apollo and Athena tell the others about what Zeus did to them and about Athena’s conditioning or do they have to put the pieces together by themselves

speaking of conditioning does Apollo not have the conditioning and did Zeus try to do the same conditioning with Apollo and it just didn’t work maybe cause it sounds like that Zeus started doing this to Athena when she just was born and only stared with Apollo after god games or did he just decide not to the conditioning to Apollo cause he wasn’t trying to make him into a weapon

what are the reactions of each of the Olympians and especially Hera,Demeter,Hestia,Poseidon and Hades to finding out about everything that’s been happening to Athena and Apollo

What time is this au happening during

who is older in this au Apollo or Athena

In this au when Athena was banished from Olympus and went to live with Triton did Zeus not send her to Triton right away so he could turn her in to a weapon or while Athena was banished did he come visit and continue to do the conditioning without Triton being aware of it

I just thought of something dark what if in this au Zeus sent Athena to Triton to so he could have a weapon ready to strike in his brother kingdom

Also why did Zeus kill Pallas in this au because it seems like this is less of Zeus fearing to see his daughter lose in a spar and more calculated

It's all good my dude(gender neutral), I promise! You are welcome to send as many asks as you want, I will always do my best to answer them all even if it might take a while! I promise I'm still working on that Poseidon ask by the way, it's currently in my drafts and getting long!

So from the top! Spoilers under the cut, and warning this has gotten Really Long.

Athena and Apollo do not willingly tell the others anything until after Zeus has already been dethroned and cut to pieces for several days. They are far too afraid of what Zeus will do to them if their efforts fail and he finds out that they were willingly plotting against him. They are not taking any chances with this, not when this might be their only one. They are not trusting anyone but each other, and especially not when the others on the Council start poking around to try and figure out what's going on with the two of them.

This actually causes a lot of angst during the final battle when Zeus manages to trigger Athena's conditioning and Apollo has to fight her. The others had gotten hints that something was s very wrong with them both and that it has something to do with Zeus, but that was it before they take the fight to Zeus. So to see Apollo in that battle, with tears openly streaming down his face and his mouth twisted into a vicious snarl, fighting to kill against an utterly blank faced Athena, the only person they knew for a fact that he trusted, was like a slap to the face that they had all missed something huge going on.

His conditioning is also nowhere near as deep as Athena's either, to the point that he can actually remember every order, and is even able to defy Zeus at times.

And Apollo did go through a lot of the same conditioning as Athena when he got dragged in by Zeus, making him a lot more war like than he's usually depicted. He's even better in a fight than the rest of their siblings, including Ares, because he can regularly fight Athena to a draw as long as she's not under Zeus's orders. And he excels in all ranges of combat in a way that none of his other siblings do, even Athena. Melee, close range, long range, he can do it all, though he's best at melee and extremely long range. And he's a dirty fighter, he's not afraid to hit below the belt or throw sand in your eyes if it gives him even the smallest advantage.

But the thing with the conditioning is that it didn't work the same way as it did for Athena. He does still have some conditioning, but it's different from Athena's because Zeus didn't want him as a weapon, he wanted him as a way to keep Athena in fighting shape. Zeus only bothered training him in combat because he wanted him to be able keep up with her so he could heal her even in the middle of a battlefield.

Because Zeus had molded her into what is basically a barbarian in D&D. Doing as much damage as possible as fast as possible, with no care for how hurt she gets in the process as long as she's still able to fight.

Apollo was basically grabbed to be Zeus's personal healer and Athena's 'mechanic' as it were.

It's because with Apollo, he was already a fully grown adult with multiple primary and secondary domains, and a very defined sense of self because of his bond with Artemis, when Zeus started working on him.

So the rest of the gods, when they're finally informed about what Athena and Apollo suffered at Zeus's hands, are absolutely horrified.

Whereas with Athena, she was essentially a genius toddler that looked like a 12 year old. Zeus got her right from birth, carefully crafting her into his perfect weapon.

And up until she was sent to Atlantis, and then when she later met Odysseus and his family? That's all she was. She was a weapon, Zeus's weapon, and nothing more. People on Olympus basically treated her as an extension of Zeus, never her own person.

But Triton and Pallas taught her, entirely without intending to, that there was more to life than just training and pain. Her time in Atlantis showed her that the way Zeus treated her was not the norm, even for royalty.

And even after she was banished, even after Pallas's death and Triton's seeming abandonment, she remembered those lessons. They became a reminder of Pallas, of her first and only friend. A reminder of Triton and the fact that, even if he didn't love her anymore, he had still loved her once. He had still thought her worthy of his love once upon a time, and that gave her hope that she might be able to make herself into something worthy of being loved again in the future.

And those lessons came back with a vengeance when she met Odysseus. He treated her as a person, as someone worthy of respect on her own merit and not as an extension of Zeus.

Their relationship was extremely close, and she was gentle with him in training as far as she could tell. She gave him the things she'd always wanted in her training with Zeus. A trainer that didn't hurt him when he got something wrong, time to rest and heal when he pushed himself too far, guidance when he didn't know what to do. Even My Goodbye was impossibly gentle from her perspective. She didn't hurt him for defying her the way that Zeus did to her, she didn't torment him and take away the few things he cared about. She just left. Just ignored him for a little while, as a punishment.

But her perspective is so different from his that there was a lot of miscommunication over the years. To him her training was brutal, pushing him harder than he'd ever been pushed before, with long periods of silence when he disappointed her, and her advice was often cryptic and unhelpful until he had already messed up.

So when they reunite, Penelope makes sure they sit down and actually talk things out. And as Athena explained what her own training was like, Odysseus and Penelope suddenly understood so much more about why she trained him the way she did. So to her, seeing and training Telemachus the way that she and Odysseus did together, was pure fantasy. She'd never even known it was possible to be so utterly kind and gentle while training someone, and that hurt the Royal Family when they realized it.

Wow I got off topic there, my bad. Back to your questions!

For the younger gods, it's because Zeus made them complicit in it. They were part of the reason Athena and Apollo were abused for so long. Because Zeus pitted them against each other so they wouldn't have anyone they could go to for help. Ares and Artemis in-particular are disgusted with themselves because they were actively hostile to the two people that should have been their other halves. All because of a man that none of them had even truly trusted.

And the older gods are even worse off. The fact that Zeus was able to do something that many of them felt was worse than what Kronos had done, for thousands of years, all directly under their noses is genuinely sickening to them. Poseidon and Hestia in-particular blame themselves for what Athena and Apollo suffered.

Poseidon because he banished Athena from Atlantis after Pallas's death. He was the one who made her return to Olympus, even though he knew that Triton didn't want her banished. So to now find out, more than 3000 years later, that not only was Athena the weapon and not the killer, but that banishing her sent her directly back into the hands of the man that turned her into that weapon in the first place? He's horrified and disgusted and also desperately wishing that he could go back in time and punch himself in the face. He was horrible to Athena after what happened to Pallas and he knows that. He was already ashamed of how he treated her, so to learn she was suffering through all of this on top of it? He's definitely cursing himself for his foolishness.

Hestia is absolutely sickened by what Zeus did to Apollo and Athena. She hates him on a level that up until that point had been reserved solely for Kronos. And she blames herself because as Goddess of Family, the Hearth, and Home, she should have been able to tell that Athena and Apollo didn't consider Zeus family, that they didn't view Olympus as their home. She should have realized what was happening right under her nose, but she didn't. And her niece and nephew, her own family, both suffered for thousands of years for it.

Am I implying that even so long after Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus's deaths Athena and Apollo both still consider the palace in Ithaca their real home? Yes, yes I am.

And this is all happening around roughly the same time frame as my Chthonic Athena AU, so like 30 to 40 years after the second Giant War.

Athena is much older than Apollo in this AU. She's Zeus's very first child, so she's older than everyone on the Council except Zeus, his siblings, and Aphrodite. Apollo is actually one of Zeus's youngest children here, with only Hermes and Dionysus being younger than him.

So Athena's time in Atlantis was a very strange mix of banishment and diplomatic visit. The royal families; basically Zeus, Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Amphirite, Triton, and Pallas, all know that Athena was essentially being banished. But everyone else was told that she was there for an extended diplomatic visit because of her status as Zeus's only child.

And there is a gap between Athena's birth and when she's sent to Triton. It's roughly a century, or about a hundred years. Enough for her to still be very young by godly standards, but old enough for Zeus's excuse to make sense when combined with her domains.

And remember how I said Athena is the oldest? Yeah, it's by about 500 years. More than enough time for Zeus to really get his claws into her even with her time in Atlantis.

And you are exactly right on why Zeus sent her to Atlantis. He wanted her there because he wanted a weapon in the heart of Poseidon's kingdom when they went to war. And that's exactly why he forced her to kill Pallas.

Zeus wanted to go to war with Poseidon. He wanted an excuse to attack Atlantis. And with Athena killing Pallas, who was not only Poseidon's only grandchild, but also a princess of Atlantis as Triton's child, and in line for the throne should Poseidon and Triton ever fade, he was absolutely certain that Poseidon would declare war first. Or at bare minimum keep Athena as a prisoner and give him an excuse to do so.

But Triton put a stop to all that, and Zeus hates him for it. Triton's obvious love for Athena not only stopped Poseidon from taking her prisoner, but he didn't even want her banished. According to Atlantian law*, as the one who lost a child, Triton should have been the one to decide Athena's punishment. But Poseidon overruled him with the power of his position as King and banished her before Triton got the chance to decide.

*That I'm totally making up for story purposes

Triton didn't even get the chance to speak with Athena before she was sent back to Olympus, so he never got to hear what happened from her point of view. As a matter of fact, no one in Atlantis did. Poseidon didn't want to hear what she had to say, too enraged at the death of his granddaughter, so he sent her away immediately.

But let's lighten things up a little bit since these got pretty heavy.

Pallas and Athena once fought Triton together and actually managed to beat him. He was so proud that he insisted on throwing a feast and had Athena wear his crown for the whole day to show off.

Odysseus once beat Athena in a spar and she did the same thing, giving him her cape and even letting him keep it.

It had protection magic weaved into it and Odysseus, with Athena's help, made it into Telemachus's baby blanket. It became a family heirloom that was passed down for generations, and when the last of their descendants died, she started using it for her own children.

Athena helped Odysseus carve his and Penelope's wedding bed into the olive tree where they met, blessing it and putting protections on it so it would be all but impervious to mortal damage.

Athena actually attended Odysseus and Penelope's wedding in disguise, blessing their union.

She also blessed their promise rings* when Odysseus was forced to go to war, making it so that as long as one of them** was wearing theirs, they would both always know that the other was still alive.

*As far as I could find, the ancient Greeks didn't use rings to specifically symbolize marriage, but rather as a token to show love and affection.

**Because wearing a wedding ring on the battlefield is a great way to lose it or get yourself killed***, especially when it's not made from modern more durable materials.

***You know I'm right, no matter how romantic it is. Having it on a chain is begging to get choked with it, and trying to punch somebody with it on increases the likelihood of breaking a knuckle or something.

Telemachus once called Athena Mom* while half asleep and she was really touched by it. Penelope wasn't even mad about it because he'd already told her and Odysseus that he saw Athena that way. They were just surprised that he'd actually said it to her face.

*Or the ancient Greek equivalent that I can't find right now

So yeah, thanks for the ask!!! I love answering questions like these, and hopefully you don't mind the lighter parts at the end!!

[radioactive-earthshine]

hi orla!! i come bearing one of my favorite characterization questions. what would you say are bart's major character flaws? how does he react to making mistakes, and how does that change over time as he grows and develops? (i hope this is a fun one for you to ponder as well!!)

Thank you for such a thought provoking question!

Bart goes through some rapid development throughout the comics, some of it makes sense, some of it doesn't as is typical for all comic characters but I will go into this in with my best ability while taking consideration of how fast he changes.

His major flaws.

Early life (first appearances and through most of his solo)

The major one is the one that is his namesake, essentially - his impulsiveness which can be a strength and a neutral trait all at once. It is simple fact that in his more early comics he did not think through his impulses. He simply thought, then acted, with no time between to wonder if stealing a car and driving it off a cliff, while being pursued by cops, was a good idea or any sort of idea.

Lack of regard - this goes into him very frequently ignoring the well-being of others while he was trying to save the day - yes his solutions do work, but they also involve putting others in peril, both mild and direct. This however stems from the next flaw which is...

Lack of a fundamental understanding how the world works - this is not his fault. He spent relative to him over a decade in virtual reality where the rules were completely different where there were no high stakes, no one could get hurt, physics were different, and then suddenly after his whole life living in this world he is living in the real world... He doesn't understand the rules, he is not socialized, and no one really took the time to explain to him that the best way to help people from falling rocks in the real world was to get them out of the way, instead of punching the rocks. He simply has no experience with high stakes in his earlier comics so he behaves how he would in VR.

Also, he just doesn't ask for help because he doesn't know how to. Due to being in VR he doesn't often reach out for help unless he really, really is struggling. His first impulse (hah) is always to solve things on his own. This is also what makes Max's last words to him "Some things you just have to figure out on your own" very heartbreaking because that's all Bart was doing.

Later Impulse

As he ages and starts to understand how the world works he does still struggle with those mentioned above but he starts to know what love is and how to treat people he loves. He becomes less selfish, he has a better idea of what a hero looks like and how he wants to be a hero but he starts to develop some things that he struggles with such as...

A deep feeling of inadequacy as a result of years of bullying and Thad - We see this right after the Mercury Falling arc where Bart throws himself into trying to "do better" and it comes with some unfortunate results, mostly him developing deep anxiety.

This last point carries through to his time as Kid Flash and can be cited when he decides to be Kid Flash after he was shot by Jericho.

Other basic character traits that can be seen as 'flaws' that are ongoing and part of his character.

He is impatient, has a temper that is tied to frustration and passion. has difficulty standing up for himself until he cannot handle it anymore and explodes, and he goes with his gut more than he probably should.

How does he respond to his mistakes

Like anyone, there is a range! He can go from being "oh oops" to "oh fuck what is wrong with me I have to change everything about me to make up for this" depending on what it is.

The most famous response to his ongoing 'mistakes' and the bullying, and general abuse at the hands of Wally because of those 'mistakes' was him deciding to no longer be Impulse but Kid Flash.

In general however, when he does make mistakes he most frequently files them away as part of learning and doesn't often mull over them more than is necessary.

How does he change over time?

When comparing him as Kid Flash (and YJ19 Impulse) to his early Impulse issues we see that he grows in many ways, most fervently that he does think ahead, he does develop the ability to plan, he does think about others, he has more compassion, and is less selfish because he finally learns how to love other people over time.

It's what drives him to sacrifice himself twice with no regrets, it's what propels him to break time for Kon's sake, it's what drives him to choose the lives of his friends over his pet dog in his later Impulse issues.

All in all his major character growth circulates around his ability to love people, see people, and look ahead while still maintaining some those enjoyable 'flaws' like being impulsive and having a bit of a temper.

Thank you so much for the ask!!!

[theconfusedacorn]

Alright, FINE

I've made a tf2 OC (who is 100% a shameless self insert. Shut up).

This is Engi(neer) 2 (or, as Scout calls her: Hobo), the resident Canadian. She's around 22, SLIGHTLY taller than Scout, and doesn't like talking about her past.

She is SUPPOSEDLY Engineer's neice, though according to Medic, they share NO blood relation.

After being kicked out of university because she was quote: "failing miserably." (at least thats what she says is the reason), she was recruited at request of Engineer.

She's a filthy mongrel of a woman, often getting so lost in her work that she forgets to shower or eat for weeks, not uncommonly working until she starves herself and wakes up at respawn. Medic has absolutely HOUNDED her for abusing the respawn system, and more importantly, HER BODY in such a way. She doesn't see the issue, but he has INSISTED on setting curfews and meal times for her, which Engineer (and the rest of the mercs) are quite strict on enforcing. She's pissy about it, but doesn't have much of a choice.

Ms. Pauling was a little pensive about a new merc being added to the team, but her tune changed once she met her. Ms. Pauling hangs around Engi 2 whenever she can, much to Scout's annoyance. Engi 2 is DECIDEDLY not straight, but she is UTTERLY OBLIVIOUS, and doesn't read Pauling's subtle flirting as as flirting.

Fun fact:

Despite not being trans, she did have Medic preform what was effectively top surgery the moment she was recruited. Truthfully, she was just tired of the back pain and wearing bras, so Medic was more than happy to chop em' right off at her request. She was OVERJOYED.

Much like her "uncle," she has an affinity for severing limbs and replacing them with robotic ones, except she does this whilst out on the battlefield.

Doing this will ALWAYS cause her to bleed out within a couple of minutes, a little longer if she can get Medic to tag team with her, but can give her a RANGE of boosted abilities from strength, speed, defense, more gun power, and just about everything else.

Note:

These alterations aren't permanent, as after death, respawning replaces the severed limbs, leaving little more than the occasional scar. Truly a WONDER of modern science!

Relationships:

Engineer: Practically family. Father/daughter vibes. They play music together sometimes (her on violin, him on guitar). Love building stuff together.

Medic: Close friends. Medic is constantly trying to fix her jacked health and force her to take care of herself. The results have been mixed.

Heavy: Friends. They make sandwiches together sometimes; it's one of the only things Engi 2 eats, and doing it with someone else makes it easier for her to remember.

Demoman: Friends. They drink together sometimes and love discussing ways to improve Demo's explosives. They also have deeper conversations, but they usually don't remember those.

Pyro: Friends (?). Pyro is odd, but in a good way? They like fire, and so does she, so she supposes they have that in common.

Sniper: Friendly. She thinks he's cool. They have a mutual distaste for social situations. Don't talk much aside from the occasional "good job out there".

Soldier: Neutral. She doesn't really interact with him and, frankly, avoids him so that she doesn't get dragged into one of his workout regiments.

Spy: Dislike. She respects his abilities, but it pisses her off that he is continually digging through her past. She's not the sharing type and has, more than once, punched him for bringing up things she never told him. She never wins these fights, but that doesn't stop her from trying.

Scout: Dislike (?). She doesn't really have an issue with HIM, but he DEFINITELY has an issue with HER. She's not sure why, maybe because she somewhat rudely turned him down early on (she had thought he was joking), or maybe something else, but most of their interactions are untamed yelling. She honestly thinks it fun, up until a point at least. Scout can get pretty mean.

ALRIGHT, THERE

That's everything about Engi 2 for now, but there will PROBABLY be more

Anywho, thanks for sticking with me! :D

[south-sea]

Ayo another one cause why not? ☯️-likes/dislikes headcanon ♒️-cooking/food headcanon for your Metal and Shadow AU!

we're having fun here 😎

☯ - likes/dislikes headcanon

shadow does not like being wet. being actively-in-water is marginally less terrible, but the feeling of wet fur against air is a gross sensory thing for him. so like, he'll take baths and showers, sure, but he'll hate nearly every second of it. (what he really needs is a full-body hairdryer that works in under a minute, honestly. an alien-hog can dream!) on the other hand, hotsprings are tolerable and in fact a small mercy when he's fatigued-- gross wet fur and all.

other things he's generally not a fan of: having his quills messed with, being stared at for too long by strangers (makes him think they're judging him for all the pale scar spots), and large flocks of birds. get too specific about dislikes otherwise and you start to land in "it's because trauma" territory.

he likes the smell of rain more than the sound of it. in general, if canon shadow is a city-dweller, second chance shadow is more of a nature guy. i mean he definitely doesn't have favorite types of trees or anything. definitely not. (it's crimson king maples among several others.) other than that, he definitely prefers the green and light blue chaos emeralds the most. it's mutual.

metal is perfectly neutral about Most Things. he maintains he doesn't "like" things, similar to how he doesn't "want" or "need" anything, either. it's sort of a loophole: he doesn't have opinions about items, but when it comes to actions, he could name a million (if he could bring himself to admit it, anyway). headpats from people he already likes, for example, and generally any amount of personal attention given to him that falls outside of the typical "repairs" category. treating him the way Rivals 2 shadow treats him is a pretty surefire way to cement the person as one of his favorite people. but watch out

dislikes are another matter entirely, though. negative emotions are much easier to identify/acknowledge. he's grown to despise mr. tinker, recoils at being referred to as any of the other ex-badniks' sibling, and generally dismisses anything to do with everything that came "before". he claims he doesn't care about appearances, and that's usually true, but mess him up on purpose (such as hitting him with a paintball), he will hold a grudge. this is especially true once he gets his upgrades.

treat him like a person and gain a powerfully devoted ally. damage his pride/ego/ability to fulfill his purpose and gain a lifelong enemy ranging anywhere from "could be misconstrued as playing a little too hard" to "avoid and only engage if he has a use for you" to "attack on sight".

♒ - cooking/food headcanon

even if he's vaguely aware shadow likes to cook, metal's generally not involved in the process beyond holding things for him.

that aside, shadow's entirely too picky about food sometimes. his general rule of thumb is "it can't be boring". it can't be Just Sweet. it can't be Just Sour. he's not snobbish about it and won't turn down "cheap" food at face value, but atmosphere and presentation go a long way too. e.g., typically he's not a fan of sweets because they tend to be the most "boring", but give him a churro at a fair and suddenly it's the best thing in the world.

here's a guy who went from "food is just fuel, i don't and shouldn't have any preferences", to (very) slowly accepting and in fact embracing food as a social and enjoyable thing. since then, exploring new foods has become a major staple in his new life.

root vegetables are among one of his favorites in things like soups/stews/curry, but especially if they're "al dente" as he refers to it. tomatoes, especially roasted or regular cherry, are somewhat of a comfort food at this point. he unironically likes (fancy) avocado on toast, mostly because avocados are a good example of the sort of earthy flavor he likes the most. french press coffee and spiced chai are up there too as favored "complex drinks".

finally, one of the things he regularly makes at home is a particular recipe. imagine a chocolate bar, right. imagine spiced chai. now imagine spiced chai in the form of a chocolate bar. he keeps these and regular (fairly expensive) dark chocolate in his bag as "essentials", and that became an established thing well before he started keeping medical kits in there. second chance shadow definitely has his priorities in order.

[aikoiya]

YES!!! Say it louder for the dumbasses in the back!

Like, do I like it when a villain gets a redemption arc? Absolutely!

But a key part of that is the villain acknowledging that they did wrong & not only others holding them accountable, but themselves holding themselves accountable!

As much as I love Steven Universe, I hate that Rose is seen so badly while the rest of the Diamonds are forgiven & don't have to face any real consequences!

Admittedly, I think that part of the reason why they had to get away with it was because they were too powerful to realistically be punished. But that doesn't mean that I like it!

And dear heavens, DO NOT get me started with effing Undertale! I will effing rant for so long about the sheer hypocrisy of the message until I get a freaking headache!

Now, I love Asgore, but it's because I understand what the motivation was. I understand that the call to genocide was a grief reaction & then he kept it up, not because he wanted to, but to give his people hope.

Does that make it okay? HELL NO!!

But I get it & the reason why I am so willing to forgive him despite the absolutely heinous crime he committed. Despite the fact that he is basically a serial killer & a planned terrorist.

Is because he admits outright, fully, & completely that it was wrong & apologizes. And in certain endings, even backs it up.

If you do a neutral run & kill Flowey, if you go back & fight Asgore again, he literally offers up his soul so that Frisk can leave the Underground.

When you fight him, he is straight to the point & incredibly solemn.

Everything about him tells me that this choice to do what he did? He did not want to do it. That he legitimately believed that it was the only way to free his people & as the king, it fell upon his shoulders to do everything he could for them. Because that was his responsibility.

Yet, he does not pretend that it is some good thing, he acknowledges that it was a necessary evil that he would not have done if he saw any other way around it.

And he holds himself accountable for his actions.

Now, that doesn't mean that I'm okay that he got away scot free! In all honesty, I'd prefer it if not only him, but every monster that called for genocide & who tried to kill Frisk, I wish that they'd all been tried in a court of law for the attempted genocide that they planned. That they all be found guilty & subsequently jailed.

And they make sure that each & every one of them are under no illusions about why that is.

But they aren't.

All of the blame is put solely upon Asgore & that isn't right. The rest range from complicit, to conspirators, to attempted murderers, if not outright murderers themselves!

Yet none of them are held accountable!

The fact that they conspired to kill children & later to commit genocide is never acknowledged. They just get their happily ever after.

Not once do they acknowledge that what they were doing, what they planned to do, was wrong!

And very few times is it brought up in the fandom just how horrifying this experience must've been for Frisk! How traumatizing it must've been!

Man, the thought of dying is terrifying FOR ADULTS & this poor kid is living it constantly on repeat!

Where are the fics focusing on the existential dread of Frisk's existence? What about the fics going into the nuance of their behavior where someone notices trauma bonding & abuse victim behavior & extreme PTSD??

At the very least, Steven Universe acknowledges that the things that Homeworld & the Diamonds did & were planning to do, were evil.

Undertale just sweeps that shit under the rug for the sake of a happy ending.

This is why I am willing to forgive Steven Universe, because the fact that what they did being wrong wasn't ignored. I am also able to acknowledge that there was no reliable way to punish them as the Diamonds are the literal top of the food chain with no one above them, so the only real way to stop them is to find some way to shatter them, which as far as anyone knows in the show, is not possible. Or to rehabilitate them.

I don't like it, but it was the only real, viable option available to them given the information available.

However, I can't forgive Undertale for its bs pacifistic platitudes about how kids shouldn't be allowed to defend themselves against people trying to kill them & use their soul to kill all humans. A game that paint the monsters as "good" & never let's its characters take accountability for their actions.

One thing I do not like about Steven Universe, is the continued wailing that PD's name took.

Yes, she did a butt-load of bad things, but what a lot of people are forgetting is that the series starts with her at her best & ends on seeing her at her worst. That those terrible things took place thousands of years ago & that she'd changed in that time.

That she genuinely regretted her actions & did damn near everything in her power to make up for it within her understanding at the time. FOR 6,000 YEARS!!!

Do I think that she should've told the Crystal Gems the truth herself, especially before it got so twisted?

Yes, absolutely!

But I also understand that she was very messed up in the head & was doing the best she could at the time.

That doesn't make it okay, but I understand it.

So, really, I'm more so upset at the fans for demonizing her while letting the actual genocidal maniacs off!

this was originally targeted at blizzard but you know what? forgetting the importance of narrative in grey morality seems to have become a trend.

also i don’t know how to tilt the text in ms paint send help

[alex-wizard-413]

I have recently found out that the "autism flame" is just one of the oldest elements i can control. There are many more, and achieving them requires a certain "openmindedness" (or putting a negative quantity of quintessence into something). they follow these three rules.

I am (and always will be, unless i can reproduce) (which i cant) the only one with any sort of "true mastery" of these elements (or at least being able to wield them without getting subjected to total mindbreak and enough ego death to acrually kill someone on the spot) Which is good because imagine someone ascending with THESE.

These elements are alive. They are a part of the will of my own creator, and seem to punish those who "step out of line". I saw someone holding a chunk of Crystalline Earth like it would've made them a god among the gods, and he immediately sprouted crystals from all of its body. I dont think he ever died actually.

These elements did not exist until my creator said so. Its impossible to make a new "autism element" unless either my creator wills it... or [LORE REDACTED]

Below are the elements in question. Read away, i guess.

Cleansing Fire: an azure-yellow flame that erases everything, reducing everything to finely blended ash and smoke. Seems to be connected with emotions. This element has an extreme amount of variants (possibly even the actual original element of fire avaiable on Wizard Island Island) but this "autism flame" seems to be unique to me. At least three people killed me for this shit, all three of them died before the first spark reached the ground.

Cosmic Water: shimmering like the night sky and glittering of a billion blue-ranged stars. Apparently perfect for scrying or smth. Basically free cosmic vfx (maybe i can use it to make someone look cooler? IDK) but it can also mess with localized time or something??? I dont know this shit seems to be more flow than anything really.

Crystalline Earth: a million, million crystals of many colors, resonating with every element that isnt one of the autism ones. Every crystal is a light emitting mass of pure quartz-like material. Effectively, this means any manipulation of Crystalline Earth allows for something i can only describe as "True Ultimate Counterspell +ω^ω". The only damage ever happening being reduced to neutral damage inflicted on the crystallized structures themselves. The sturdiness of the forms of this element being the only limit of its defenses. Analysis shows that only a fractal-like structure could make it truly unbreakable.

Chaotic Air: sharp in undefinable methods, able to pierce shields that cannot (and *should* not) break by definition... simply by using any gaseous matter around the target, who is then forced to somehow figure out how to exist in the vaccum of space, if not create one. This element seems to call upon impressively powerful storms, and lightnings of bloody crimson and deep purple. Toghether with the Cleansing Fire its probably one of the more "destructive" elements.

Hexessence: pure, unadultered magic energy. I tried everything to make it work- Owl House glyphs, Thaumcraft spells, actual genuine RUNECRAFTING... nothing seems to work. The only thing i know about this is that its behind some of the most undefined magical events ever... after all, this is all that was left of the original HP universe before... the rewrite.

Abyssal Void: a dense tar which reflects purple and crimson equally, emanating a smoke that does the same. Patadata is especially fucked with this one, showing that the only "consistent" thing about this corrupting material is the fact that it looks like it came straight out of steven universe. Possibly a stray mass of this element may have found its way to @gobodegoblin, as shown in her current corruption arc <- discredited because whatever dark shit tainted her seems to be caused by the trauma of her castle getting griefed 2b2t style. Maybe she could "Enthrall" people all along, but she figured out how to do that only after a traumatic event? Poor girl.

Infinite Light: even the smallest amout of it seems to produce BILLIONS of lumens. I fear using it outside the testing grounds for fear of pulling a Dante and showing off our planet to forces beyond comprehension. Then again, the worst that could happen is more people like my creator would show up. Analysis suggests that this isnt just some sort of "light emitting matter". Rather, it seems to be the Concept Itself of Light (as a "thing") turned, but not forced, into a shape like a bright clay of sorts... tests did show it could be Dimmed Out (and therefore, turned into a more Solid substance) to make and/or become armor and tools and weapons and guns. Best I could come up with was having the me that looks like a pirate give me suggestions (as his abilites ARE based upon constructs of light and dark) and teach me the attacks of this... "kee-zah-rue" guy. Hm. The Multiverse really is weird.

ERROR: remnant of whoever "steps out of line". This "glitched matter" is no different from the pure form of my creator/'s flesh. Tastes like mortadella during the day and like choco ice cream during the night. But only if its first processed into Autism Matter (otherwise it tastes like a pokemon gen 1 cartridge)

[heard-nsfw-is-back]

When the 141 + König try to get your attention.

They'll have extra bandaids, hair scrunchies, socks, and ammo for your favorite guns. Anything you could possibly need as an emergency that you might not get easily. They carry around hygiene products for you too if you need. "Dammit I need." Bam immediately in your hand. "Oh I should have taken extra." Don't worry about it they gave enough for a month. Have an illness or need medication they have the supplies you need on hand always. You're tired and can't sleep because you have watch? Oops your shift has been covered, go get some rest.

Ghost:

You've noticed it eventually. He's always got whatever you need and soon it becomes so regular that you're just subconsciously turning to him when you need something. He's always got it too. Without fail. It's not till Price, smug as fly shit, tells you Ghost is covering your night shift that you make the decision to confront him. In the military a man doing you favors could mean anything positive or negative but it could definitely be used against you. You find him and sidled up next to his side. "What are you doing?" You ask eventually. He grunts, pretending to be confused. "You're always doing me favors on the field and now you're taking my watch. What do you want?" He looks down at you. "Don't want anything." His sentence feels incomplete and you just glare up at him. A sigh and then, "Alright I do want something." Ice crawls through your stomach. You had hoped it was just him trying to make you feel comfortable in the group but no, there was a string. You look out to the range and track in your base. "Name it." You bite the words, trying to shove as much terror as you can in to your sentence. "Go to dinner with me." A beat, you inhale, another beat and you decide whether or not this counts as harassment. "You've been doing this to...get me to go on a date?" Trying to make the situation clear from your perspective. "Can't really flirt to save your life, the only way I knew what to do. I'll still do it. I just want you. You're a damn good soldier and an asset to the team. And you leave your work out of the base. The team likes you." He tilts your head back to him, as gently as anything. "I like you."

You loved your dinner and plan more date nights.

Soap

With Johnny it was harder to figure out if something was going on. He was always carrying extra things for the team. Ammo, meds, clothes, whatever. It's not until you get a smoke grenade to the face and you have to rip your contacts out to flush your face properly that you don't have extra, and your goggles that have your prescription is in your room. Keeping the pillows company. "Fuck all this." You're basically blind without them and there's no way you can fake it till you're back to base. It was stupid and careless. Price was going to have a field day with this after he reams you for an hour at least. "You alright?" Soap slumped down next to your still prone body. "No it's dumb I left my glasses and contacts. I'm going to have to evac. Or just wait." Soap laughs and you're about to get mad before he pulls out goggles for you. It's your old script but it's not too bad. You make it back to base with nothing more than a headache from your aching eyes. There's no reason he should have your old glasses. In fact, it's made you start to question how he always knows where you leave your things. He's genuinely nice and not in a bad way, even Ghost is gentle around him. Still, you need to talk, cause that's weird. Looking around you find him and you ask him to follow you in to the conference room. He does, glancing at you in confusion. You keep your face neutral and when the two of you sit down he's relaxed but nervous. "Everything alright?" "No not really, why do you have my old glasses? Pretty sure I threw those out, plus it's weird that you always know where I lose things." You lay out your concerns and his shoulders drop. "One, yes I notice where you lose things but you're always losing things and it makes you frustrated. So I've just been making sure to pay attention when you put something down or when you drop something. Two, you did throw them out but I had an extra from when your glasses once on a mission. So I've always kept one just in case. I'm sorry I made you unsettled. I really meant no harm. Plus I, wait no, sorry not the time." He waves his hand. "No no go on it's ok." You feel comfortable again and willing to go back to how it was before and hopefully set boundaries better for yourself. He leans forward. "I like you. I've been trying to get you to look at me, actually look at me." You feel your face go hot. "Dinner, maybe? Or something?" He continues, trying not to laugh at your agape expression.

You have dinner and a movie and happily wonder what your next date will be

Gaz

You were so focused on getting your exercise this morning done before it got too busy that you missed the breakfast call. 'Dammit!' There was no way it wasn't packed with people now. All the good food would be taken and you are not going to touch those breakfast bars, more crumb than food honestly. You make your way to your room, hoping that you would have something in your stash of snacks. As you comb through your drawers you find a single bag of popcorn. You had been meaning to go up to the shops and restock but you've been so busy or do tired lately. And now your stomach was growling. Great. You finished your popcorn on the way to the mess hall. The line was long but you slide in and wait. "Hey morning." Gaz bumps your shoulder friendly. "Hey!" You smile, he was always nice to you, and welcomed you to the group easily. "Got your favorites already don't worry about the line." He points over where the 141 was sat and a plate in front of an empty chair. You frown, "Yeah those are my favorites? How did you?" Gaz scoffs. "You eat like the same 6 things it's not hard to remember." Actually now that you think about it, he always makes sure you had your favorite food. Even if he for sure had to go out of his way. He looks over to your concerned face. "Hey you ok?" "No that's really weird. But thank you I think." You pick up your plate and go back to your room. It's too loud and the sound of other people chewing makes you want to scream today. Gaz followed you. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you." You sigh and stop. "I'm good at what I do except this. Let me start over. You, me, dinner?" He asks and you look over to him. Before you can stop it a smile creeps over your face. "You were flirting?" He laughs, sheepish. "Badly, obviously." You shake your head, still smiling. "Ok you know what? Dinner sounds nice."

You both enjoy dinner so much that you end up taking all your meals alone together. It becomes so commonplace that Price sends those fold away tables to your rooms.

Price

You were new and the transition from your old squad to the 141 was strange. The base was private, secluded and unfortunately for you the nearest stores were about 15 miles away. It made shopping for hygiene products so annoying so you had to stock up. Until you had been gone for two months on a mission and you came back smelling awful and you had been run ragged and all you wanted was a shower and maybe a two week nap. You walked up to the base and Price walked out. "Good to see you, welcome back." "Good to be back Sir. I'll feel better after I get settled." He laughed and walked you in. "We had a bit of a move around. Your room was moved." Nervous now you followed him. "Something happen?" Shaking his head, Price lead you to a new door. "I should have had this done before but it turns out there's no real way to get plumbing to where your room was so we moved you here." You walked in and your things had been carefully moved. Wait. "Plumbing?" "Built you your own bathroom. Little bit of your own space." "I don't understand. I was fine with the one we already had." You looked under the sink and there was one more box of pads and tampons you absolutely were sure you didn't buy. That was creepy. "Let me know when you need new ones by the way I'll put in the order." Your head was screaming danger. No man in his position of power would just do that for no reason. Danger. No one would build a bathroom for one person and get the exact private things you would usually get. Danger. Slowly you stood up. Option One, get a hold of someone above Price and get out of here quickly and quietly Option Two be nice and grateful, (which you are Ghost and Soap are big fans of bathroom sex and any chance to not see that again was fantastic), but see if you can get out of this room without him noticing you freaking out. "What's wrong?" He asked, noticing your tension. Fuck, option one then. "It's kind of weird you know my order and the things I get. You also built me this. Captain, you have to know how this looks." You turn and face him. He looks at you and the gears start to turn. "Oh shit. No it's not like that I completely understand. I'm just trying to make you feel at ease. Give you your own space. Also your products are coming out of the squad budget so it's not any string I had to pull. I only noticed what they were when it was being packed away." You really think about it. Mull it over and over and slowly nod. "Then.. thank you Captain. I do appreciate it. It's so nice." Your own bathroom. You would have killed for this in your old squad. "Just want to take off my favorite girl." There he goes again. The easy banter. "I thought it was no big deal." You tease. "If I wasn't your favorite girl then you wouldn't do this?" He chuckles. "No I would. I wouldn't have any ideas about what goes on in this shower but I would still make it happen." "What kind of ideas?" You lean on the doorframe and he takes a few steps to you. "Let me show you."

You must have been in there a while because when you both make your way to the kitchen Ghost and Johnny are sitting around looking vaguely impatient. "Thank fuck." Ghost sighs and Johnny laughs. "Finally done? Thought you'd never finish."

König

You and König are good friends coming in at the same time, the two of you bond over trying to figure out your place in the squad. He's got your back and you've got his. When you get stuck in rain or fall in to water puddles too deep and they seep through your boots, he always has an extra pair of socks with him. Or a shirt when you need to rip one for an impromptu bandage. But it's especially odd when he happens to have a belt that is your size that you use to hold up a gun you swipped off an enemy body. "We're gonna talk about this when we get back." You tell him, matter of factly. And you do. You come up to his room and he let's you in. His body language is tense and he's actively making himself look as small and non-threatening as is physically impossible. "You always have spare clothes for me. You always have a hair tie or like today with a belt that I checked and is my size. It certainly isn't yours. So what's going on?" He slumps, and admits that he just wants to take care of you. "I'm not sure why I picked that but. For me it's strange I have to order my clothes or make them so I always like to make sure that you have clothes? I think. I'm not sure what I mean." He stands up and your eyes follow his. "I'm sorry my dear for upsetting you." You scoff and wave him off. "It's not weird you didn't upset me. Besides I think it's kind of cute that's how you show you care." König runs his hand over yours. "I do care. A lot. So much it drives me mad sometimes." He leans down, your head straining back, baring your neck to him. "Show me." You plead. "Not yet. I'm told I need to wine and dine before indulging, no?" You can see his eyes crinkle in mirth and damn if that isn't cute and hot at the same time.

"Ok I'm dined, I'm wined. Can we indulge now?" His laugh, deep and warm, is a balm and a flame at the same time.

Can you tell König is my favorite? None of this is healthy btw. I'm walking through the factory where they make the red flags and I'm asking for the gift shop and menu anyway. I need an exorcism.

Edit: can't believe I forgot Kyle. Ugh. Sorry for the late addition folx

[rubye402]

Happy Valentine's Day / Singles Awareness Day, everyone!

Below/Under the cut is some Turtle boyz headcanons for their first Valentine's with their S/O bc everyone is gonna want 'em! Their S/O is you/a gender neutral reader!

Incarnations: 2012/2k12, Rise/Rise of the TMNT

Warnings: Cursing (bc I swear like a sailor and thus I will let the boys say(?) fuck as well.)

Other things: All of the TMNT boys are around the same age as reader, while not specifically any age, this is assuming everyone is in the same-ish age range.

Also, there's no specific part of either show these take place in, but it does have some mentions of season 1 places and things for both.

Cool? Cool.

2012:

Leo:

Leo is such a cheesy ass dork. We know this. So it's not shocking that he has the day planned for you.

He has everything planned a few days before in advance, in fact.

Leo 100% stole from a flower cart while nobody was looking the night before V-day, and then dropped some money off to "pay" for it.

Look he's trying OK? There's only so much he can do as a mutant turtle. That just goes to show how much he loves you if anything.

Knowing the Leader's luck, they probably wilted a little bit RIP (please tell him you love the flowers)

Somehow Lee convinced Don to borrow the Shellraiser to drive you out far enough from NYC to do a stargazing date.

He loves space, he loves you, it's a perfect date!

"I love you, my comet."

Raph:

You'd think not in a MILLION years would Raph be into Valentine's Day.

...I mean, you'd be half right???

Look, in front of his brothers and acquaintance, he would just call it Single's awareness day and call it all overpriced fucking nonsense.

But then he manages to get you both alone in either his room or yours, and then it all melts away, albeit with hesitance.

He takes out a little stuffed animal he managed to knit together for you, the stuffed animal being either your favorite animal, or a teddy bear. It's red for obvious reasons.

Raph's spontaneous date for Valentine's is honestly just saying "fuck it" and relaxing with you. Whether that's watching something on TV, or reading something side by side.

But if you have something else in mind, he'll happily do it. He just asks that whatever date, and the stuffed animal in turn, is your guys little secret.

"...Love ya, doll."

Donnie:

If the eldest brother was cheesy, Donnie is the goddamn king of sappy. We love that for him though.

Hon, he was on top of doing something for Valentine's since midnight rolled into Febuary.

First off, no duh he built you a little mechanical trinket. That part is obvious.

But Donnie also managed to talk to Murakami-san and set up a little after hours dinner date just for the two of you.

Everyone say "Thank you Mr. Murakami."

Poor thing is so nervous the entire day though, even after y'alls date, baby boy n o-

Please reassure him you loved everything he did and give him validation.

"You know I love you... Right, my sweet?"

Mikey:

He's nearly bouncing off the walls from excitement today.

He didn't plan anything in particular, but he's so excited to stay by you the entire day.

Somehow managed to make chocolate for you? Ho w did he even get the ingredients to make it??? The world may never know.

It's either really good, or you have to make an excuse to save them for later and toss them when you get home.

There is absolutely no in-between when it comes to this boy. I mean, it's the thought that counts I guess?

No matter what, Mikey takes you to a skate park for a date, just to show off.

If you can skate, you can skate with him! If not, he'll show off his moves even more to you!!!

"Man, I love you so much, baby cakes!"

Rise:

Leo:

Someone help our boy in blue, he's SUCH a trainwreck.

Our usual suave faceman has left the building, folks. He is so nervous about Valentine's with his partner, and he always wants to so earnestly do a good job.

Leo is going the whole nine yards when it comes to you, we're talking roses and chocolates when he comes knocking, dinner date at Run of the Mill pizza, probably busts out the suit, all of it.

He probably forgot that, maybe a pizzeria and suit is a bad combo, but leave him alone he's fucking tryin g-

Let's be honest with ourselves... He probably tripped a couple dozen times just GETTING to the Pizzeria with you, so he's more then likely got his suit all dirty in some fashion </3

Also, Señor Hueso 1 0 0 % shits on Leo the whole time, and if you weren't dating him and thus feeling bad for Lee, you'd laugh your ass off at Hueso's snark to the now dying inside turtle.

After that dinner, please build him back up, he'd be over the moon knowing he didn't completely screw up Valentine's.

"Thanks, babe. I love you so much."

Raph:

You'd think his nervous stink would be starting up... But surprisingly, no, he's actually feeling really chill.

He just wants to hang out with you all day, and if you have any plans, he'll happily go with but otherwise??? He didn't plan anything particular.

Now that is NOT to say he doesn't care, hell no. He just really wants to chill with you and vibe and have a lazy day.

And knowing how momma hen he normally is? Yeah that honestly WOULD count as a date for him to just not worry about a thing besides hanging out with you.

He probably does make you a little something though. He's not as arts and crafty like Mike is, but he probably can make you a little stuffed animal or, at worst, a tiny card.

Big guy honestly wants to spoon you and/or cuddle all day and not have to move a muscle aside from that. That's his own version of heaven.

And honestly? No giant teddy bear compares to the one Raph is on Valentine's.

"Just know that I love you, honey."

Donnie:

Now this is the boy you'd assume would be the chill one, swapping any sort of nervousness with Raph, but FUCK no.

Don is, much like his twin, is running around like a chicken without it's head on Valentine's.

Normally he was never this so hyper aware of the February holiday, but then you entered his heart, and that dismissiveness went FLYING out the goddamn window like a rocket on one of his inventions gone awry.

But eventually once everything is planned out and ready, he leads you into all the dramatic flair that is so incredibly Donnie, that it's no surprise how utterly romantic it is.

You adore it all, maybe even lightly teasing, and it's enough to take all of Donnie's stress away, and just... Enjoy the night.

Like the chaotic but corny nerd he is, our boy in purple legit MADE fireworks just to set off for you to watch with him. (And if you're sensitive to them, he just made a little robot with sparklers.)

If you're not, let's hope your date isn't in the middle of NYC, or there are gonna be fucking COMPLAINTS about them fireworks oof-

"I adore you, my love. My everything."

Mikey:

OH THIS SWEETHEART

He made the BEST chocolates just for you, no cap. Nobody except you can have them.

All three brothers whined about it for the rest of the month TBH that Mikey didn't at least ask them to sample the test chocolates.

Mikey argues back though that they can suck it up bc the bae comes first, always. <3

Besides the chocolates, Mikey didn't plan much of anything for Valentine's day. He just wanted to eat chocolate and vibe.

If you have a date idea or date planned though, he is going to ASCEND.

Doesn't matter if your only date idea was watching a movie, if it's any sort of date idea, he just,,, full of love,,,

"Have I told you how much I love you, sweetie-pie?"

[squadrah]

what do you think about la squadra's english dub voices?

Fun fact: I never watched the dub beyond a small bit of it because I was put off by the translation choices ("jail bait", having Melone shit on his dead teammates when he was quiet and polite in the Japanese original, etc.) but for this ask I fired up Episode 10 where everyone has a turn to speak (and took a quick listen of Episode 16 to hear more of Melone), and I'll write down my impressions of their voices as I go! Mostly comparing them to the original experience.

Formaggio: It seems fitting for someone of his stature, though I enjoyed the playful griminess the original had, and dub Narancia's more edgy voice makes me miss it more (somewhere between the two would have been the best for me). Either way he sounds like a tough guy fuckboy, and I can't argue with that.

Pesci: Mellower than the original when he speaks normally, which was both a relief to the ears and threw me off a bit because I was worried that he would just sound dopey for the most part, but I do hear the shrillness when he is spooked and anxious, so this is a really good fit and I would probably enjoy hearing more of it.

Melone: This is okay, I guess? It feels a little more rigid than the original, and sometimes makes him sound more butch than he needs to be, but it does a good job of giving him a detached and intellectual tone where he needs it. A little too detached, perhaps, because it doesn't convey the original's excitement very well.

Prosciutto: I see they did their best to give him a smooth cool guy voice, and it feels fine as a stand-alone, but I am very partial to his original voice so I definitely miss not just the deeper voice but the harder grit. Without it he sounds too generic for me, and his lines don't really help because they make him too pretentious.

Risotto: This one was a big miss for me because you can absolutely tell that the voice actor is trying to sound deeper than his range allows. I would have cast someone with a naturally deep voice, even if they might sound a bit more wooden as a result, just to nail the fact that everything about him is big from body to voice.

Illuso: Now *his* voice would have made a good Formaggio voice. There is that edge and irreverence that I was looking for, though I can see why Illuso was the one to get this voice, since he's taller and more subtly menacing than Formaggio. Side by side it feels justified, but I would have liked a more oily voice for him.

Ghiaccio: Oh, this one is fun! I'm neutral on his original voice, but the fact that it was really well captured and the yelling is top notch makes this my biggest favorite of the seven! He sounds young and properly angry and his is the one arc I would actually want to watch in the dub version based on the voice alone.

[sometimes-romealone]

WAKASA X GENDER NEUTRAL READER

MOVIE NIGHTS

Okok got you

Also my GN busterinos, you are in fact welcome here and like a/b/o content I will put GN so y'all can find it easier in the masterlist and make sure to tag it specifically gender neutral! I don't fuck around with how I tag so dw

X

Wakasa was excited behind his tired expression, finally was he going home to his partner and finally fucking unwind after the nonsense he dealt with today at Shinchiros shop.

They had to clean up after some Mikey's shitling friends tried to rob and kill Shinchiro but thankfully failed, now he could go home and see what baby was cooking!

Entering the small apartment he noticed the blankets set up on the couch with finger foods and snack not to mention the DVD player set up and everything "Waka! I just gotta finish the popcorn and we can start!" The wonderful voice of his partner (name) rang from the kitchen and Wakasa couldnt help but follow their melodic voice and bask in the sunshine that was (name) (last name).

"How's shin? Does he need anything?" They asked genuinely, something wakasa had come to appreciate over the years "yeah they're fine, stop babying them" "I'm not babying them! I'm worried for their well being!" They said moving away as wakasa tried pinching their cheek teasingly and the couple moved to the couch where wakasa let himself be vulnerable and snuggle into his lover's chest as they started the movie.

(Name) subconsciously played with wakasas hair as they watched the shitty action movie, the (age)-year-old was fascinated at how bad the movie was and couldn't stop watching the trainwreck of a film "Waka" "yeah?" "You got shit taste" "yeah, I mean I chose you right?"

"Oh I'm sorry did you just say 'I wanna sleep on the couch?"

"Yeah yeah, I'm sorry"

"And I'm picking the next movie"

The two always bicker like this, to an outsider they looked like they didn't love each other but anyone who looked longer than a minute could see the love between them "oh I invited the Sanos for dinner, Mikey's birthday is close so we are making his favorites " (name) said as they cleaned up their movie night, the couple going to wash the dishes together (name) washes and Wakasas dries.

"Yeah? Gotta get the good table cloth out then"

"Grab drinks after your done tomorrow yeah?"

"Aight"

[chacusha]

Odo’s morality

I was talking with @weaver0fwords about why it is that Odo never acknowledges Quark's more good deeds, like the food/supply smuggling he did for Bajorans during Terok Nor, or why Odo, someone who is concerned more with justice than law, strongly disapproves when (for example) Quark arms the Maquis and similar groups. It's very likely (given Odo's close monitoring of Quark) that Odo knew about Quark’s smuggling during the occupation and yet he never mentions or acknowledges it at any point in the show, and when you do have Odo finding out about Quark’s illegal activities that seem to be for a good cause, he’s usually annoyed/disapproving in a way that indicates that he still very much has a low opinion of Quark. This got me thinking about how I think Quark’s morality has been very influential on Odo and that Odo and Quark have a kind of symbiotic relationship when it comes to moral action. There's less evidence of it in canon, but I also think Kira had a similar influence on Odo's morality. Both Quark and Kira through their contrast with Odo's values help define for Odo what he is willing and not willing to do.

This is one of my favorite topics so I decided to expound a bit more on what I think Odo's morality is as depicted in the show, and how I think Quark and Kira shaped that morality.

Just a note before going into my thoughts about Odo's moral compass: One of the things that is difficult about putting together a coherent picture of Odo's morality is that (1) the show is inconsistent and contradictory in its depiction of Odo's morality, and (2) the show also, I think, makes missteps in its depiction of Odo's morality. Both of these things result in, at best, unexplained puzzles that the viewer must solve by filling in details or, at worst, plot holes that require the viewer to throw away or mentally rewrite bits of canon in order to come up with a better/more realistic/more consistent depiction of Odo.

What I mean by (1) is that Quark and Odo's relationship is kind of infamously incoherent and open to multiple reads about what is going on between them. Because Quark's morality departs so far from Odo's stated morality, Odo's relationship and attitude toward Quark (which can range in interpretation from plain and simple hatred/contempt to having a crush on or being in a relationship with Quark the whole time) does have ramifications on what Odo's morality (in practice) is. Without being able to piece together a consistent read of Odo and Quark's relationship, it is hard to decide on what Odo's morality is in fact meant to be.

What I mean by (2) is that I think the writers intended Odo to be overall a "good"-aligned character and a character you can recognize as being morally upright and a good/moralistic person, although one that has shades of grey and less savory aspects to his character and one that (like MANY ST:DS9 characters) is thoroughly morally compromised. However, I think the writers miscalibrated their moral scale slightly when it comes to Odo. I think ST:DS9 puts a bit too much weight on Odo's moral virtue stemming from the fact that he is a "neutral" "impartial" outsider observing humanoid conflict and legal systems and stringently applying that neutrality in a way to improve them. To modern audiences, though, even someone who actually IS perfectly neutral and impartial and unbiased (and not simply claiming to be such) in a system as skewed as the Cardassian occupation of Bajor is prrrobably doing much more to prop up that system and launder its obvious injustices into a misleading veneer of respectability than they are making anything better. As such, I think Odo comes out of the occupation looking much worse than what was the writers' intent. For example, I think 5x08 "Things Past" is an interesting episode but is badly calibrated. From everything we know about Odo, he probably has plenty to feel bad about even if he carried out justice (as he felt it) perfectly aboard Terok Nor. You can complicate his character quite a lot just by showing him to be a good and competent cop/chief of security aboard Terok Nor; instead the writers choose to depict Odo's "failings" aboard Terok Nor as stemming from sloppy detective work where he fails to find the real culprits of a crime and instead condemns innocent people to execution. In my mind, this is my mental model of what I think the writers intended with that episode and why I think it failed to accomplish its goals:

I think the writers thought they were writing a character who, through his strong sense of justice but position within Dukat's colonial government was complicated but generally seen as a good/friendly presence on Terok Nor by Bajorans. Adding nuance to his character would therefore mean depicting him falling short of people's image of him. However, to a more modern audience, even when doing his job perfectly, Odo is already quite a morally-compromised character. In order to make it believable that Bajorans respect and trust him, he must have been doing something else outside the chief of security role that they felt was helpful and beneficial. But we barely see evidence of this in the show aside from Odo withholding information once in order to protect Kira (implicitly “picking a side," as she puts it, in the Cardassian-Bajoran conflict). In order to add nuance to his character and also make his character comprehensible, the show actually needs to go the opposite direction -- show us more of Odo doing things that would have gotten him in Bajorans' good books, show us that what he did for Kira was part of a larger consistent pattern he engaged in during his time at Terok Nor, not a one-off thing, and certainly not reveal things that make his character during the occupation look even worse than it already is. While the show does plenty to indicate it understands that Odo's position at Terok Nor was not morally clear-cut -- the show clearly depicts Odo as Not a Good Person and shows that many people actually do view him as a collaborator -- it is ultimately very hard to square facts like (a) Odo being chief of security on Terok Nor and coming out of the occupation still able to occupy that position on DS9, and (b) Kira having such a close and trusting friendship with him from the very start of the series, with Odo's personality and his actions on Terok Nor. So this is what I mean when I say that the writers made some missteps in Odo's depiction. I think how Odo is actually depicted in terms of his morality comes apart significantly from what the writers thought they were depicting, and so I have to kind of choose between interpreting Odo's character based on what is actually there in the show vs. interpreting it based on what I think was the underlying intention re: his character.

Okay, with those preliminary caveats out of the way, let's get into the main argument I want to make, which is that, despite all the issues mentioned above, the way that I read Odo is that Odo relies heavily on Quark's moral compass to do two things for Odo: (1) to calibrate Odo's own moral code (Quark as a moral teacher for Odo), and (2) to allow Odo to indirectly express parts of his morality that he is too squeamish to engage in himself (Quark as a proxy/symbiotic moral agent that complements Odo's stated morality). While Odo never verbally acknowledges that Quark is (in some ways) a good person or that Odo morally approves of some of his sketchier actions, I think it is somewhat implied by the fact that Quark is still at Terok Nor/DS9 that, all-in-all, Quark remains in Odo's "good books" despite how much Odo attests that he's going to arrest Quark (you know... any day now...) and how hostile he is toward Quark. I also think Odo's relationship with Kira is much the same, where Kira, like Quark, challenges Odo's morality and causes him to have to rethink his moral positions, and also that Kira too is a proxy/symbiotic moral agent that allows Odo to indirectly "act" in ways he normally could not.

Some basics about Odo's morality

First off, let me just collect some things from canon that I think establish the basic contours of Odo's morality:

Odo has a strong sense of justice / is a moralistic person / believes himself to be a force of justice in the world. Whether or not he actually has this effect at any time is highly debatable, but I think we can assume that Odo at least believes himself to have a strong grasp of the good and to be consciously and constantly striving to take action in service of that notion of The Good. From 2x08 "Necessary Evil": Odo: Nobody ever had to teach me the justice trick. That's something I've always known. A racial memory from my species, I guess. It's really the only clue I have to what kind of people they are. From 2x18 "Profit and Loss": Odo: All right. I'll do it. Quark: You will? Odo: But not for you. Turning Hogue and Rekelen over to the Cardassians would mean their deaths. I've read their files and nothing they've done warrants that kind of punishment. I'll free them, Quark, but only in the name of justice. Some examples of Odo viewing justice to be core to his motivation/personality. From 3x02 "The Search, part II": Odo: I've devoted my life to the pursuit of justice, but justice means nothing to you, does it? Female Changeling: It's not justice you desire, Odo, but order. The same as we do. Justice vs. order is a frequent recurring theme/dilemma in Odo's storylines and is where he comes apart from his Changeling brethren. Odo frequently rejects the project of the Founders as being immoral and separates himself from them (morally and physically) and even works to undermine their efforts. From 3x07 "Civil Defense": Quark: It's because they knew you were an honorable man. The kind of person who would do the right thing regardless of the circumstances. And now your integrity is going to get us both killed. I hope you're happy. This is Quark's evaluation of Odo and is treated as something kind and reassuring to say, something that Odo would be pleased to have someone say about him (of course, Quark tempers the praise with insults at the end). Honor and integrity are clearly important to Odo. In addition, we frequently see Odo contemptuous of other people's moral failings. Quark is one frequent target of Odo's contempt but he also shows contempt for other individuals throughout the series. He's just generally a very judgy/moralistic person and I think this helps establish him as someone primarily motivated by justice.

Odo has a complicated relationship to law and regulations. On one hand, it's clear that Odo has a general preference for things to be orderly -- people complying with the rules and regulations he's set up on the station, people not breaking the law, people not disturbing the peace/ordinary day-to-day operations. However, on the other hand, he will frequently disregard laws and regulations he views to be irritating or illegitimate. Yet at the same time, he will often appeal to legal systems and laws in order to discipline bad actors and constrain the ability of people to act badly. From 2x22 "The Wire": Odo: I routinely monitor all of Quark's subspace communications. Bashir: Is that legal? Odo: It's in the best interests of station security. An example of Odo blatantly and intentionally disregarding local laws to maintain station security. See also the above actions regarding the Cardassian dissidents in 2x18 "Profit and Loss," where Odo cooperates with Quark to use an illegal cloaking device to smuggle Natima and co. off the station in direct violation of an agreement between the Bajoran AND Cardassian governments, upheld by the Federation, to hand Natima over to Cardassia. From 2x20 "The Maquis, part I": Odo: If you will let me be in charge of Security I will give you a safe station. You people tell me to do my job then give me a Federation rulebook listing all the things I can't do. Untie my hands before you start to blame me, Mister O'Brien. Dax: I'm sure no one meant to blame you, Odo. Odo: Give me the right to set a curfew, let me do more searches of arriving passengers, give me fifty more deputies. Kira: And this station will be just the way it was during the occupation. By contrast, this is an example of Odo complaining about how his actions are limited by local regulations. It's also an indication that, if Odo were in charge of setting policy and laws, his natural inclination/morality leans quite authoritarian, moreso than the Federation, and probably also Ferengi and Bajoran culture too (certainly more than Kira). Of course, the measures he lists here are indeed things he needs some amount of institutional support/buy-in/resources in order to accomplish. This maybe gives an important hint at Odo's morality which is that illegal actions, especially ones that can be executed on his own, surreptitiously and privately, he is perfectly willing to do. From 4x16 "Bar Association": Quark: I need you to get those traitors [his striking workers] away from my front door. They're blocking access to my place of business, causing a disturbance on the Promenade, and they're probably a fire hazard. They belong in a holding cell, every last one of them. Odo: Well, I hate to admit this, but I agree with you. From what Chief O'Brien tells me about strikes, they sound like trouble. I don't like mobs. In my opinion, if you need one to get what you want, it's not worth getting. Quark: Good. Then you'll haul them away. Odo: I'll do nothing of the sort. Quark: But you said-- Odo: I know what I said. But I have strict orders from Captain Sisko not to impinge on your employees' freedom of expression. As long as they stay peaceful and allow your customers access through the second level entrance, I'm not allowed to interfere. Another example of Odo refusing to break local laws and orders even though it conflicts with his own personal preferences/moral system. Perhaps a bit complicated by the fact that thwarting Quark might be part of Odo's motivation here... From 5x19 "In the Pale Moonlight": Sisko: I can't have any record of him being on the station. Odo: I see. I am certainly aware of the need for special security measures during wartime, but as a matter of law, if Quark chooses to press charges against Tolar, I have no choice but to make an arrest. Here, Odo appeals to the law as a way of thwarting Sisko, despite the fact that Odo can and does disregard the law when it suits him. Possibly the difference here is that this is a security incident, which Odo views as his intrinsic duty to investigate and pursue. It’s also possible that Odo’s recalcitrance comes from a suspicion of authority figures bending the rules to suit them, behavior that Odo might find it his duty to curtail and obstruct wherever possible. (On a shippy read, it’s also possible Odo’s stubbornness is related to the fact that Quark was hurt in the incident.) It's kind of hard to piece together a coherent picture of Odo because of all this. The best I can do is to say that Odo has a somewhat bifurcated approach to moral and legal systems. If the moral/legal system is one that coheres with Odo’s own morality (including systems he himself has designed), any amount of authoritarianism is justified in carrying out and enforcing that moral system. If the moral/legal system is one he disagrees with, though, it loses all form of legitimacy and Odo no longer feels like such rules apply to him. He is willing to take any action he views as just, if it can be carried out by himself in a fairly invisible manner.

Odo is at least somewhat critical of the Cardassian occupation. As far as I can tell, Odo doesn’t frequently state what he thinks about the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. However, we do know that he was Terok Nor’s final chief of security (1x04 “A Man Alone”) -- as in, he stuck around the administration for several years and held a fairly significant position therein -- and that during 2x08 “Necessary Evil,” he was quite blunt to Dukat about his low opinion of the Cardassian occupation: Dukat: Have you ever seen a dead man before? Odo: Yes. In your mines.  Dukat: I'm talking about order here. Justice. Odo: There's very little justice in the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. It’s a bit unclear whether Odo’s opinion is that any sort of colonial situation is intrinsically unjust and illegitimate or whether he just disapproved of specific abuses present in the current regime. However, we can certainly say that, though Cardassian-aligned in his position and at times easily manipulated by Dukat into accomplishing Dukat’s goals (2x08 “Necessary Evil”; 5x08 “Things Past”), Odo was clear-eyed about the cruel way in which Bajorans were treated during the occupation.

Odo is personally a pacifist who eschews deadly violence in his role as a security officer, but he has taken life indirectly by submitting suspected criminals to the death penalty. It’s established from the very beginning that Odo never uses phasers/weapons, nor does he allow such things on the Promenade (1x01 “Emissary”). This suggests a preference toward using non-lethal ways of dealing with security threats. This is reiterated in 3x26 “The Adversary” in foreshadowing before the first time Odo (unintentionally) takes a life: Eddington: [to Odo] You sure I can't interest you in one of these [a phaser]? Odo: I don't use them. Besides, in the history of my people, no changeling has ever harmed another. I'd hate to be the first. Eddington: Apparently that changeling doesn't feel the same way. If we don't stop him, no one on board will escape unharmed. Including you. Odo: You may be right. But I've been a security officer most of my humanoid existence and in all that time, I've never found it necessary to fire a weapon or take a life. I don't intend to start now. However, people that Odo suspected were terrorists did get executed on Terok Nor and Odo mainly seems more upset about the fact that they were possibly innocent and less so about the fact that the punishment was death (5x08 “Things Past”), and a Cardassian points out in 7x21 “When It Rains...” that Odo, in his role as chief of security, handed Bajorans over to the Cardassian legal system, which we know at this point features elements like torture, show trials, and death penalties. From 7x21 “When It Rains...”: Seskal: Odo. When you were the Head of Security on Terok Nor, what did you think was going to happen to the Bajoran prisoners you arrested? Kira: You don't have to answer that. [...] Odo: I expected that my prisoners would be dealt with justly, but I soon came to realize that Cardassians have little interest in justice. Seskal: Ah. Well, then, why didn't you resign in protest? Kira gets annoyed before Odo can answer, but anyway, it’s clear that it’s part of Odo’s code that he doesn’t kill, although this is a bit hard to square with the fact that he has taken actions that led to people being executed.

Some basics about Quark's illegal activities on Terok Nor

Here, I just want to review some facts about how Quark behaved when he was on Terok Nor, some of which comes fairly late in the series.

From 2x08 "Necessary Evil": Odo: She paid you for an alibi? I wonder how Gul Dukat will react when I tell him about that. Quark: I'm sure it'll cost me a case of Cardassian ale. Dukat: Two cases at the very least. A broken alibi. That sounds like progress.

Here, it's clear that Quark regularly lied/gave cover stories for people in exchange for money. Also, this brief exchange between Quark and Dukat suggests that they had a very similar relationship that Quark and Sisko have during the show. Namely, Quark is repeatedly caught engaging in crimes, but Dukat, clearly believing that Quark's presence on the station is overall a positive/worth it, frequently looks the other way and protects Quark from the full consequences of his actions. One way you could read this exchange is that it is indicative of widespread Cardassian petty corruption, where you can get away with something illegal as long as you give the right people an appropriate bribe. Or you could read it similar to Sisko and Quark's relationship where Quark is allowed to get away with some illegal activity that interferes with station operations but he is usually given a minor slap-on-the-wrist punishment to indicate the administration Disapproves but then is allowed to continue with his business nonetheless. In any case, this indicates that some of Quark's antisocial/subversive activity on Terok Nor was done out in the open, basically, with permission from the administration.

From 2x18 "Profit and Loss": Quark: I owe you. You saved my life. If you'd turned me over to the authorities, I would have been executed. Natima: I admired your courage. It was a brave thing you were doing, selling food to the Bajorans. I thought you were a man of honor. Quark: I'm a Ferengi. You should've known better.

Quark: I didn't betray you. Natima: Don't lie to me, Quark. I know better. You used my personal access codes to authorize payments for goods you never provided. Quark: So I took a little money from the Cardassian Communication Service. They could afford it. Natima: You stole that money. Quark: I saw a chance for profit and I took it. Maybe that was wrong. I don't know. But what I really regret is betraying your trust. That was the worst mistake of my life. Natima: And you'd do it again in a second. I believed in you, Quark. But you were using me like you use everyone. For profit.

This dialogue between Quark and Natima indicates that Quark smuggled food to Bajorans (something that could have resulted in the death penalty) and also used Natima's credentials to embezzle money from her employer. It also indicates that Natima originally thought that Quark's actions were done for noble reasons and was disappointed to find out that it was out of self-interested profit, which Quark does not deny.

From 4x25 "Body Parts": Brunt: You give your customers credit at the bar. You only take a thirty percent kickback from your employees' tips, and you sold food and medicine to Bajoran refugees at cost! Quark: That's not true. It was just above cost. Brunt: Close enough. It was still a generous, hu-mon-itarian gesture.

Here, Brunt corroborates Quark's food (and medicine) smuggling and also approaches this from the opposite direction from Natima, accusing Quark of generosity because he had the opportunity to price gouge but he did not. This additional detail comes quite late in the series but does complicate the depiction of Quark's morality here. While Quark proudly admitted to Natima that he was being merely profit-seeking and mercenary in his interactions with Bajorans (in accordance with Ferengi moral norms), this exchange with Brunt casts doubt on the story that Quark was entirely motivated by profit... However, because it comes so late in the series, it's possible to read this as a retcon intended to soften/complicate Quark's character for the purposes of this episode's plot/conflict with Brunt, rather than a read that was intended for Quark's character the whole time.

Finally, there is a possibility that Quark smuggled weapons to the Bajoran resistance during the Terok Nor era. We never get confirmation of this; in fact, it’s possible to read it as being disconfirmed. However, we do know several things: that Hagath sold weapons to the Bajoran resistance; one of his business associates at the time was Gaila, Quark’s cousin; Quark has told Gaila sometime before 5x18 “Business as Usual” that he is unable to smuggle weapons through DS9 because of Odo’s presence there (this does not preclude, however, Quark helping make alternative arrangements); and that Quark in general is willing to help sell weapons to terrorist groups (as in 2x20 “The Maquis”) by connecting buyers with weapon suppliers.

Odo uses Quark's morality as a baseline/floor when judging other people's morality

Okay, given all these things, it's interesting then to note when Odo seems to compare other people's morality to Quark's and uses that almost like a measuring stick in order to determine when someone's morality is beyond the pale.

In 1x04 "A Man Alone," Odo notices a guest at Quark's who enrages him. Odo tells the man he wants him off the station; they get in a fight that Sisko has to break up; and then Odo says that the man has one day to leave the station. What did that man do that caused Odo to despise him so much?

From 1x04 "A Man Alone": Odo: His name is Ibudan. He used to run black market goods through here to the surface during the Cardassian occupation, gouging his fellow man who needed medical supplies and so forth. Some Bajorans actually considered him a hero, but I saw him let a child die when the parents couldn't afford the drug that would've saved her life. A few years back, he killed a Cardassian officer who wanted a payoff to look the other way. He went to prison for murder. I sent him there.

This is quite interesting given what we (much later) find out about Quark. There's a lot of parallels here between Quark and Ibudan: we know Quark also smuggled medical supplies and also that he frequently bribed Cardassian officers to get them to look the other way. However, Quark does come out of this direct comparison looking pretty good because he didn't price gouge desperate Bajorans and he never killed anyone either. Given that, right before confronting Ibudan, Odo was having a semi-friendly, semi-antagonistic chat with Quark, this scene implicitly draws a strong contrast between Odo's moral evaluation of Ibudan vs. his tolerance for Quark who is in some ways quite a similar character to Ibudan.

Then later, in 2x08 "Necessary Evil," Odo finds out that the thing a list of Bajorans share in common is having collaborated with the Cardassian government:

From 2x08 "Necessary Evil": Sisko: Blackmail? Odo: Blackmail. Sisko: What did they have to hide? Odo: For one thing, that they'd come out of the occupation with that kind of money. Dax: You think they were working with the Cardassians. Odo: Selling out their own world for a profit. (contemptuously) Collaborators. Not even a Ferengi would do that.

Interesting that Odo chooses Ferengi as the comparison class here. Once again, Quark's -- and also Rom's -- morality provides an interesting contrast to the people whom Odo is morally judging. Ferengi are not particularly scrupulous -- in this episode, even, there is much attention paid to the fact that Rom has motive to murder Quark to inherit his bar; it is not above Ferengi to murder/backstab their own brothers to make profit, and this is something Rom has actually done in the past (1x11 "The Nagus"). Quark has even been accused (by Kira in 2x18 "Shadowplay") of being a Cardassian collaborator, and it's established in this episode that Quark was smuggling luxury contraband (ginger tea) to people who could afford it (the aforementioned collaborators). But neither Quark nor Rom are collaborators in the sense that Odo means here -- people who side against their own people in favor of a colonial government and enjoy the power/financial benefits of doing so.

In both of these cases, Odo seems to be comparing the behavior of other criminals or disreputable people to Quark, and he has very little patience for people who come out of that comparison unfavorably, suggesting Quark’s morality forms a kind of “floor” that Odo is willing to tolerate. The fact that Odo's behavior to Quark (while undeniably antagonistic and hostile) still has an air of cordiality to it seems to suggest that in comparison, Quark is actually in Odo's good books (although maybe just manages to squeak by).

Quark and Odo as moral foils

Another plausible read that extrapolates from canon here is that Quark, despite purporting to be amoral, greedy, self-interested, etc., seems to actually engage in quite dangerous behavior to help relatively powerless people who can't pay him much. You can interpret this in many ways, but the simplest is probably that Quark, despite his outer demeanor, is often moved to risk his life if he feels intense enough moral pressure/guilt from not doing so (this, for example, is the core dilemma for Quark in 5x18 "Business as Usual"; see also the stress Quark experiences when responsible for people’s lives in 1x10 “Move Along Home”). Unlike Ibudan who is unmoved by the death of a child because the parents didn't have enough money, Quark is not this way.

So in short, Quark often takes dangerous, illegal action out of a sense of guilt, despite moral, social, and legal pressure to pretend to be entirely self-interested. In this way, Quark's morality forms a direct challenge to Odo's morality: Quark in a lot of ways is a terrible person, one that Odo has contempt for, but Quark is often willing to commit crimes more dangerous and transgressive than Odo is willing or able to do, out of moral guilt. In this way, I think Quark has the capacity to morally shame Odo, because even Quark, a terrible person, is sometimes willing to take actions that Odo wouldn't dream of doing, simply because Quark couldn't morally live with himself if he didn't. Again, Quark functions as a moral compass or floor that Odo is not willing to fall beneath.

Another point of contrast between Quark and Odo’s morality is that Quark tends to be interpersonally immoral and impersonally moral while Odo tends to be interpersonally trustworthy and impersonally immoral. Ferengi morality tends to lead to annoying interpersonal interactions: Ferengi frequently lie to, cheat, exploit, and sexually harass the people around them. In other words, many people find Quark’s style of immorality irritating just because interacting with him is so unpleasant. By contrast, Odo is someone you could trust would not mistreat or disrespect you in a one-on-one interaction. However, in terms of their macro-level politics, Quark probably did more for Bajoran independence than Odo did. In general, his large-scale political instincts are probably better than Odo’s.

Quark allows Odo to externalize some of his morality he is too squeamish to engage in himself directly

This brings me to my second point regarding the way Odo uses Quark's morality. Quark reveals the limits of Odo's strongly-held moral code.

Take, for instance, the act of selling weapons to terrorist groups. Odo is quite pacifist. Quark is too, but selling weapons to terrorist groups apparently isn’t something he balks at (although selling to dictators who plan to mass murder their own citizens is). Odo on the other hand doesn't wear a weapon and (I assume) finds it morally unacceptable to sell weapons that are ultimately just tools for killing people. Whether it kills Cardassians or Bajorans matters a lot to the people embroiled in a conflict, but to Odo who holds himself apart from all races, it's just people killing other people, something that is always wrong and tragic. So selling weapons to a terrorist group is a clear violation of his own moral compass (add to that that it's obviously against the law). But if you take into account the whole situation, especially in the case of the Cardassian occupation of Bajor where you have two very unequal sides, with one side fighting for their lives and their freedom, it becomes less clear. Some of Quark’s illegal activity is undeniably moral... and yet Odo would never do it himself, which I think is a complicated situation for Odo to find himself in.

I think Quark and Odo's relationship is very symbiotic in this way: Quark is capable of doing work that Odo would like to do but he is unable to do. By “unable to do,” partly, I mean this is an external limitation: Odo is unable to visibly break the law from his position as an enforcer of the law. But partly I mean that it’s an internal limitation too, which is that Odo can't bring himself to do it because it goes against his strongly-held and clear-cut personal rules and code (his personal pacifism). But in some sense, Quark allows him to externalize or outsource some of the more complicated and ambivalent parts of Odo's morality that Odo cannot indulge in himself.

We see plenty of examples when Odo makes use of Quark's skills, connections, resources, etc. -- for example, he makes use of Quark's ability to gather info in 2x02 "The Circle" and of Quark's illegal backdoors in 2x24 "The Collaborator" -- presumably the reason why the station keeps Quark around. Odo also acts to free Natima in 2x18 "Profit and Loss" but only at Quark's request. In this way, Quark allows Odo to get around parts of the law he finds unjust while still occupying the role of the enforcer (not breaker) of laws and maintaining trust and the appearance of being “by the book” and principled, by having this separation of morality systems: "Quark does illegal thing [x]. I just chose to look the other way/forgive him when he did that." By enabling Quark to act in the way that he is naturally inclined to act, Odo can avoid the moral failing of refusing to act in a situation that demanded action.

Explorations of this form of morality-by-proxy are very common on ST:DS9. Take, for example, the memorable dynamic between Sisko and Garak in 5x19 "In the Pale Moonlight": Garak is the one actually carrying out the scheming, lying/fabrication, and assassination, but it is all done with Sisko's approval and complicity.

Kira’s morality functions as a ceiling for Odo’s morality

Kira’s morality also seems to have a very similar function as Quark’s, except inverted in a lot of ways. Whereas Quark is an ostensibly amoral character (he’s not actually amoral but he subscribes to a kind of self-interested morality that comes off as callous amorality or moral indifference to most people), Kira is an openly morally-fervent character, very similar to Odo, actually. In other words, Quark is self-interested (a clear vice), while Kira devotes herself to a larger cause to the point of self-sacrifice. Quark’s tendency is toward inaction in terms of risking his life to help those in need, but he is capable of being guilted into moral action. Meanwhile, Kira’s “the ends justify the means” morality means that she has calculated that proactive immoral action (killing the innocent) is morally required of her even if she is wracked by guilt afterward and has to harden her morality into an overly-simplistic good vs. evil, with-us-or-against-us dichotomy in order to keep doing what she does:

From 1x12 “Battle Lines”: Opaka: Just what impression do you think I have? Kira: That... that I enjoy any of this. I... I don't enjoy fighting. Yes, I’ve... I’ve fought my entire life, but for a good cause. For our freedom, our independence. And it was brutal and ugly, and... I.... But that’s over for me now. That’s... that’s not who I am. I don’t want you to think that I am this... violent person without a soul, without a conscience. That-that is not who I am.

From 5x11 “The Darkness and the Light”: Kira: So you were wounded during an attack I carried out when I was part of the resistance, and I'm supposed to feel guilty? We were at war, Silaran. Fifteen million Bajorans died during the occupation and you want me to feel sorry for you?

From 7x21 “When It Rains...”: Kira: Believe me, I understand how you feel. During the occupation, I didn't want to attack any facility that had a Bajoran working in it. But I did it. Because they were collaborators. They were working with the enemy. 

Like Quark, Kira’s morality presents a direct challenge to Odo’s: she is someone who is driven by morality to fight and kill, even self-sacrificially make herself a worse person and damage her own psyche in pursuit of a better world and to defend others who cannot defend themselves. However, in the reverse of Quark’s, her morality forms an upper bound on Odo’s morality, a threshold that he is not willing to cross in the name of justice / goodness / morality. Both Odo and Kira live their life in the service of the greater good, but in her violence, Kira crosses a line that is too central to Odo’s moral code for him to cross himself. Therefore, she reveals the limits of what sorts of action Odo is willing to take in the name of justice.

Odo and Kira’s moral and personal similarity

In another contrast between Kira and Quark, despite Kira’s history of violence, as a person, Kira is much easier to respect and have as a friend than Quark, which probably explains the big difference in Odo’s attitude toward them, despite the fact that he has known both of them for a long time. Whereas Quark tends to be interpersonally quite irritating, both Odo and Kira are people who you could trust would treat you with respect and integrity in a one-on-one sort of interaction, even though they are morally compromised in other ways.

As this thread points out, in terms of personality and values, Kira is actually quite similar to Odo: they are both passionate about justice, competent and professional, blunt/outspoken, strong-willed/stubborn, tough, quite rigid in their morality, and they work together in the same organization. This makes it easier for Kira and Odo to be friends (while Odo and Quark are “enemies”). And because of these large amounts of similarity in their personalities, Kira also forms a kind of natural mirror or foil for Odo, because she presents a path that in some other world he might have walked, but which he has consciously rejected. The main difference between them is that Kira subscribes to a kind of utilitarianism where the ends justify the means while Odo subscribes to a kind of deontological moral system where adherence to moral rules is what is important, and this ultimately leads to different notions of justice, despite a lot of similarity.

Kira allows Odo to externalize some of his morality he is too squeamish to engage in himself directly

Very similar to Quark, Kira as a Resistance member has predictable behavioral tendencies that fall outside Odo’s strict rules. Whereas Quark sometimes feels morally compelled to take illegal (locally) non-violent actions, Kira also sometimes feels morally compelled to take illegal (locally) violent action, both of which Odo disapproves of and would not engage in himself. But by legally protecting Quark and Kira from the consequences of their actions, Odo is able to act by proxy in situations where to refuse to act is itself a morally-fraught choice, while strictly adhering to his principles.

As a result, Odo cannot directly acknowledge his approval of Quark and Kira’s actions, as this would defeat the separation he has set up between himself and them. However, his friendship with both of them implicitly indicates there is some amount of (ambivalent) moral approval of their very different moral systems.

In summary

I think Odo’s morality has been shaped during his time on Terok Nor by both Quark and Kira, who both provide alternative forms of (im)morality to Odo’s own system. In particular, Quark is a lower bound that indicates what level of self-interested lawlessness Odo is willing to tolerate while Kira is an upper bound that indicates what actions taken in the name of justice Odo is unwilling to engage in. It is easy to read Odo as having learned about the limitations of his moral code through their examples, and that he expresses some of his morality through both of them by permitting them to act predictably in ways that go against his own strongly-held personal code. To summarize this post, I made this chart comparing the different approaches Quark, Odo, and Kira have toward morality and the people/systems around them: