#like madness combat for example

[veelingsforyou]

rejecting ari - leads to dating her

accepting ari - leads to losing her

i noticed how both ari's are wearing opposite colors during their confession.... i think that's interesting

[distressedwalnut]

Colored a doodle of Emi I did awhile back

[dustmusings]

consequences be damned

Wolffe x F!Reader

word count: 3.3k

description: commander wolffe likes to berate you when you go against his orders, but this time, you can't supress the visceral reaction it brings.

warnings: not necessarily enemies to lovers but... a decent amount of arguing, mentions of negative clone treatment, i think that's it? idk man I'm tired

a/n: this is for all the girlies that cry when someone raises their voice at them! (me) anyway... i get nervous when discussing the treatment of clones and other kinda touchy stuff bc i just have this nagging feeling that i'm always interpreting stuff wrong, so I hope the stuff wolffe says at the end makes sense lmao

masterlist | join my taglist | read on ao3

You heard your name called after you before you managed to make your escape to your quarters, desperately trying to avoid confrontation. Ignoring the Commander’s calls, you hurried down the hall, your strides much wider than your usual gait. You managed to get the door open, but a large hand wrapped around your wrist before you could evade the uncomfortable conversation.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The Commander snarled, tugging you back into the corridor and slamming his fist into the control panel to shut the door.

You lifted your eyes to his for a moment, your head still angled to the floor as if it would shield you from his foul temper. You had never seen him so angry.

“I asked you a question, soldier” He said, his voice dangerously low as his face drew near to yours, “Did you really think I’d let you off after what you just pulled?”

“Sir, I didn’t mean to—”

Wolffe interrupted you with a sarcastic laugh, “Didn’t mean to? You’ll have to do better than that”

You couldn’t look at him. You knew he’d react like this when he found out, but you still hated when he was angry with you. He was more hard on you than his brothers, he always had been. So much so that you felt there was something unsaid between the two of you, that there was some itch that he wouldn’t stop scratching even though he wouldn’t acknowledge what it was.

“I’m sorry sir” You peeped out. It was the only thing you could say.

You had no explanation for your actions. You had gone directly against his orders, knowingly, deliberately. You knew he would find out, you knew he’d berate you for it, and you did it anyway. You’d do it again if you got the chance.

“Sorry doesn’t cut it” He began, and you let him scold you without interruption, “I have told you, countless times, you do not get involved in the conflict. No matter what. Do you know how it makes me look?”

He paused, but you knew the question was rhetorical. In that silence it was hard not to think about the feel of his hand wrapped around your wrist, still keeping you in your place.

“I makes me look like I can’t control those under my command. If a medic can go against my orders then what’s to stop the rest of the men? Or the other nat-borns? I mean, do you even think? Clearly you don’t. You don’t have combat training, you could’ve been hurt, or you could have died”

He continued on, but you tuned him out. You had heard this barrage of demeaning comments more than once, and it was starting to feel like maybe it had become one time too many. If you had any more backbone you would’ve told him how much you despised when he did this. Although, Wolffe — along with almost everybody aboard the ship — was above you in rank. You couldn’t possibly give back to him this belittling commentary, so once again you stayed silent.

The worst part was that most of the time, Wolffe wasn’t even unbearable to be around, far from it. At any other time he was kind, in his own way. It wasn’t a way in which you’d seen anyone else express kindness, but you’d come to understand the way he operated a little by now. For example, something you had retroactively realised was a display of compassion, was that when you first joined the 104th, he had checked up on you everyday, albeit not in a particularly cheerful way. He had made sure you were comfortable in your new quarters, the ones you were now stood outside of being reprimanded.

There was something gnawing at the back of your mind, the feeling that you shouldn’t have to put up with this. You could hear your father in the back of your head, telling you that you had to learn to stand up for yourself. You hadn’t looked up at Wolffe once through his ranting, and you didn’t plan on it either, especially now as you felt your eyes becoming heavy with tears.

It was a natural response. You never liked being told off, and right now you felt as if you were a child again, your parents giving you a lecture about your shortcomings. Hot tears rolled down your cheeks in a similar manner, silent and unacknowledged.

You didn’t know when Wolffe had finished laying into you, but when you stopped reflecting on the past and came back to the present moment, you realised that he wasn’t speaking anymore. You hazarded a look at him, once again keeping your chin pointed down. He was just staring down at you, his scowl replaced in favour of a more uneasy frown, finally removing his hand from your wrist.

“Are you okay?” He asked quietly, clearly unsure of how to even approach the situation.

“I’m fine” You replied, and your voice was surprisingly even.

He was still just peering down at you through his creased brow, frozen in his place and out of his depth.

“Why are you crying?” He addressed the situation head on.

“I’m not crying”

“You are”

“I’m n—”

“You are”

You looked to your feet, feeling absolutely infinitesimal under the full scrutiny of his commanding presence.

“Alright fine, maybe I am” You admitted in a whisper.

“Why?” He asked firmly.

“No reason”

“No reason?”

“Yep, no reas—”

“Stop it” He interrupted again, “What’s wrong?”

You let out a long breath, your chest heaving before it escaped your pursed lips. You could taste the saltiness of your tears, and you lifted a hand to wipe one of your cheeks.

“I just don’t like being told off okay? I can’t help it”

“I wasn't telling you off, I was—”

When he didn’t finish his sentence your eyes flicked back up to his. His frown had softened, and he was now chewing on his lip as if he was looking for something to say. You huffed quietly, your cheeks scorching with embarrassment at the whole situation.

“If it's alright with you sir, I'd like to retire to my quarters now” You spoke quietly, trying to escape this situation that was nothing if not awkward.

Wolffe stepped back from you, clearing his throat, “Yeah, go ahead”

You turned back to your door and opened it up. You had only taken one step inside when Wolffe spoke up again.

“Wait”

You turned around, your eyes finding his, flitting between the cybernetic and the natural. His usual scowl was nowhere to be seen, and he just looked at you with a plain expression, something unreadable.

“I don't want to have to tell you off” He said, his voice uncharacteristically gentle.

You mustered up a little courage after his change in demeanour, “Then why do you?”

His throat bobbed as he gulped, “I just want you to be safe”

The way that he was staring at you was entirely too much for you to cope with, so you lowered your gaze once again before you replied.

“Thank you sir, I appreciate that”

Wolffe reached up slowly, gently taking your chin and guiding your eyes to his. He gazed upon you with the utmost sincerity and apology as his thumb swept across your still-wet cheek.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you”

“That's oka—”

“It's not” He spoke resolutely, with no room for argument, then softened his voice a little, “You understand that I don't like to be angry with you, right?”

Something about your expression must have conveyed a sense of doubt, because Wolffe frowned when you didn’t reply.

“Do you really think-?”

“I don't think, remember?” You replied, in a oddly humorous way, despite the previous tone of the conversation. Wolffe gave you a disapproving look, and you backtracked, “Sorry Commander”

Wolffe was still holding you face, and the way his eyes were searching yours was making your stomach erupt into butterflies. His gaze was captivating, cementing you in place and rendering you speechless in a completely different way to when he had been scolding you earlier. You didn’t want to be the first one to break away, and thankfully Wolffe came to his senses soon enough.

“I should go”

He dropped his hand from your chin and stepped back. You nodded subtly in reply to his words, still unable to form your own, and he turned to leave with haste.

You watched him walk away as you leaned on your doorway, stalking down the hall with a pace to rival your hurried steps from earlier. His head turned back to you briefly, and you both instantly looked away, you stepping back into your room and closing the door as you felt your cheeks burn hot from being caught watching him.

It felt like something had shifted in your relationship, like something significant had happened. Perhaps it was your inadvertent show of vulnerability, perhaps it was the way his touch set your skin alight. Whatever it was, it was something that you couldn’t take back. Whatever was unsaid between you was coming to light, and you cursed your racing heart for getting ahead of itself.

You were crouched behind cover, your eyes locked on a trooper that had been knocked to the ground. He wasn’t moving, but going over to see if he was still alive was too risky, even if the focus of the enemy’s fire wasn’t in his direction any longer. You lingered, waiting to see even the slightest twitch of his fingers. He continued to lay motionless, his body sprawled in an uncomfortable position from the heavy blow he had received. You hoped, prayed, and they were answered in an instant, the man’s body curling in on itself as he groaned in pain.

You gulped, and slowly turned to look over your shoulder, only to see Wolffe watching you like a hawk.

“Don't you dare” He shook his head slowly, his voice low, almost a growl.

You hung your head a little, squeezing your eyes closed for a brief moment.

“I'm sorry Commander”

You rushed out from behind the cover, hearing your name being screamed after you in a desperate plea for you to do anything else. You didn’t pay attention, you were solely focused on making it to the trooper.

You pulled the man to his feet, throwing his arm around your shoulders and making your way back to cover, but you were not so lucky as to evade danger. Blasterfire ripped through the air surrounding you, causing you to duck out of its path, and take the injured man down with you.

“Get out of here!” The Commander shouted at you, stepping in front of you and shooting at the droids that had focused their fire in your direction.

You dragged to man the short distance back to cover, and as you were giving him a once over, assessing the issue, Wolffe ordered another medic to take over and tugged you further back from the front lines, around the corner of a crumbling building.

“What the kriff is the matter with you?”

He was angry. More angry than he had ever been, more angry than the previous rotation. And yet, there was a far clearer emotion swimming in his non-cybernetic eye, dripping from his pinched brows, washing over you with every heavy breath he exhaled. Worry, concern, utter distress.

“I thought I made it pretty clear that I don't want you anywhere near the action” He growled, evidently struggling to keep his emotions in check.

Despite his afflicted demeanour, you didn’t feel like having a repeat of the previous rotation, and the adrenaline coursing through your veins only sought to heighten you irritation.

“And I thought I made it pretty clear that I don't appreciate being told off” You grumbled back to him, not feeling brave enough to say it with your chest.

“Then stop doing stupid things!” He rebutted, his voice conveying every inch of exasperation he felt.

You shook your head as you dragged your gaze from him, starting to walk away. You weren’t going to be talked to like this again. For the second time in the last rotation, Wolffe’s hand shot out and wrapped around your wrist, tugging you back.

“I'm talking to you”

“Well I'm not talking to you” You snapped, snatching back your arm and finally letting your irritation take over.

At first, Wolffe appeared to be taken aback. You had never so much as argued back at him before, but something about the fire burning in his eye told you that it was welcomed. He wanted you to fight back. He liked that you were fighting back.

“I refuse to be reprimanded for doing the right thing” You continued, letting him hear your true feelings on the matter.

“You refuse?” Wolffe seemed almost amused.

“Yes” You replied, but your confidence was slipping, “I refuse”

Wolffe laughed, taking a step towards you, “And I suppose you think you have the authority to refuse my orders? Seeing as it's the only thing you can seem to do right”

You stepped away from him, but with every step you took, he followed after you. It wasn’t long until he had backed you into the wall, and was towering over you with a challenging look on his face.

“I have free will, is what I have” You puffed out your chest in defiance, causing it to come into contact with his chestplate, “And I will use it to do the right thing, consequences be damned”

“It must be nice to be you, huh?”

You just frowned, not entirely sure what made him say that.

Wolffe’s face became stern, “You just get to flit about, playing the hero when you could so easily become the martyr acting the way you do, claiming it's all about ‘free will’ and ‘doing the right thing’. Well guess what? I don't have those luxuries. If I disobey orders, I get court martialled. I don't have free will, and I don't get to do the right thing, I get to do as I'm told”

You swallowed thickly as your body recoiled from his in shame. From his perspective, your actions certainly seemed silly and plainly misguided. Perhaps they were.

“I'm sorry Commander, I didn’t think—”

“No, you don't think, do you?” He retorted quickly.

You frowned deeply, drawing an enervated sigh from Wolffe.

“I would love to be able to consider what is right and wrong, but I am simply not allowed. Having the ability to think, to form thoughts unique to myself, but not get to enact any sort of ‘free will’, it's—” He breathed deeply, his forearm coming to rest on the wall beside your head, “Oh, the things I would do if I had free will”

His eyes bored into you through heavy eyelids, his self control hanging by a thread. He was so close to you, his body pressing yours into the wall, and it was taking all of your strength to not melt against him.

“What would you do?” You spoke softly, guiding him in the right direction.

He didn’t waste any time in replying.

“I would tell you that the reason I don't want you around the action, the reason I can't stand your stupid moral compass which makes you do stupid things, is because the idea of you getting hurt is my own personal hell. I would grab you and hold you close and keep you safe, I would never let you go. I would—” He puffed out a quick breath, mingling it with your own as he drew impossibly closer, “I would kiss you, and do every other thing I've been dreaming of since the first moment I met you. I would throw all of this away, if I got that chance”

There was not a single one of his words that were processing in your brain. For a moment you just stared at him, shocked, before the surprise melted from your face and you offered every measure of tenderness within you in a single look.

“Wolffe” You whispered, reaching up and placing a hand on his cheek.

His eyes closed at your touch, and his troubled expression eased slightly. He let out a shaky breath as he took in the warmth of your skin on his, but as soon as he had revelled in it for a moment too long, he put up his walls again.

“But it doesn’t matter, because I don't have free will” He stepped back from you but you were determined now, following after him.

“Well I do”

You practically leapt at him, your hands finding the back of his neck and pulling him against you, bringing him into a searing kiss. His hands instantly flung around your waist, tightening around you and drawing you into his body as if he was never going to let go, just as he promised. It was as if he only needed you to be the one that initiated it, and now, he had forgotten everything that was stopping him in the first place.

You let your fingers tangle in the curls at the base of his neck, and he pushed you backwards into the wall again, a soft groan sounding in the back of his throat. One hand came up to cup your cheek, and you were surprised at how softly he held you, a direct contrast to the way that he was devouring your lips, consuming your very soul with only his mouth and tongue.

You had to pull away, gasping for breath, and he did the same. He held you close as you both caught your breath, staring into each other’s eyes with a newfound fondness. It was intoxicating, to see him like this; his chest heaving from having kissed you with such an intensity. You felt like your psyche was being ripped from you with each heavy exhale, and you were watching from outside of your body.

“I'm never letting you go now” He continued to hold onto you like his life depended on it, burying his face in the exposed skin of your neck.

“I thought-”

“Don’t” He rumbled, “I don't care what I said before, there's no going back now”

You sighed blissfully and mirrored him, and coiling your arms around his neck and holding him tightly. The feel of his breath against your neck was heady, deeply exhilarating, but in the quiet of the moment, you couldn’t help but remember you were in the middle of a battle.

“Maybe we should-”

He lifted his head and cut you off with a deep kiss. You were powerless to stop him, but you didn’t care to anyway.

“Just a little longer” He pleaded, his eyes soft and slightly widened, “Please”

You let a small smile lift the edges of your lips, enamoured by the soft side that this kind of treatment brought out of him. It was almost amusing, how different he was acting as compared to his usual authoritative demeanour. He was putty in your hands, and you didn’t quite know how to handle it.

You brushed your lips lightly against his and spoke with a teasing edge, “Yes sir”

taglist: @darthnihila @cdblake1565

[frostfloweragainlol-alias-juno]

Some lil headcanon stuff for Torque lmao (ft team prime)

↳ Optimus and Ratchet are conjunxs, tho initially just Bumblebee and Torque knew as they are really private about it. They are really private about Bumblebee and Torque being their sparklings too (a bit more difficult with Torque since she really looks like Ratchet but they played it off as a coincidence. Somehow it worked for a while) The main reason for their secrecy is because they fear the decepticons will take advantage of both these informations. Team Prime eventually figured it out tho.

(how sparklings work in my au [completely Sfw and asexual])

↳ Her Alt mode is an ambulance. Sometimes she uses her holoform as well

(This is Torque’s holoform + Ratchet’s)

↳ Torque really likes human music, any kind. Her first introduction to it happened when she got stranded alone for years before she got reunited with the team. The only signal she could pick up was a radio station’s one and to help take her mind off everything and combat the solitude she started listening to it while she scavanged for supplies or tried to find a way to contact other autobots. She picked up the habit of quietly humming along to whatever song there was, and it continued even when she arrived at the base.

She sometimes hums along when Miko happens to play her guitar at base too.

↳ Torque and Bumblebee sometimes switch places with Ratchet when they have patrol with Optimus so him and Ratchet can spend a bit of time together without interruptions. They are aware their creators are busy and often don’t have the time to do much of anything together so thats their way to help them get a bit of that time off and they offer to take on a few task to convince them to take the day off (for example Torque offers to take on Ratchet’s tasks and Bumblebee to take on an extra patrols)

↳ Most of she’s pretty friendly and cheerful but she can be very blunt at times and takes after Ratchet in some aspects.

↳ She goes along well with the team, tho she didn’t at first with Smokescreen. Being a medic like Ratchet (even tho in training she still goes to help fix and weld together injuries of the team as she is literally one of the two medics left) she saw her fair share of horrors in the battlefield and she genuinely got annoyed every time he talked about how cool it was fighting and stuff because she saw it from a medic standpoint: just a senseless spilling of energon. She eventually warmed up to him however and they became friends

She didn’t go super along with Ultra Magnus at first either

Referring to at the beginning of ep 9 season 3, the tone in which he spoke to the team kinda pissed her off, that’s when she threw a quick “you did not just use that tone” glare at him. She knows he meant well but she really didn’t like how he said all that. It felt low-key disrespectful to her

↳ Torque doesn’t fully believe decepticons can change but she doesn’t discard the possibility. Except for Megatron. She despises the guy for what he did to her brother and if she could punch him in his faceplate she would.

↳ She rarely argues with her creators, even less so with her brother

The only time she argued with Optimus it was when he decided to stay behind when the base was blown up and she argued with Ratchet when he tested the Synth-En on himself

She argued with Bumblebee when he went on patrol when he didn’t have his t-cog and put himself in danger

In all 3 occasions, she was more worried than mad

↳ Torque goes along pretty alright with Jack and Miko tho she does find Miko’s tendency to jump into the groundbridge worrying.

She goes along really well with Raf and she’s happy to answer any questions he has about Cybertron when Ratchet is too busy and Bumblebee is on patrols

She goes along enough with Fowler and June, sometimes she asks June how human medicine works

↳ Her mask and visor originally had a medical function, they were to deal with contagious viruses (such as cybonic plague), but she uses them more when fighting.

(Tw, light mentions of tortur€)

↳ Torque can’t feel pain. When she was taken by decepticons back on Cybertron, before she managed to escape with the escape pod she was tortured for information so badly that her pain sensors got damaged severely.

Because of that she can’t feel if she is critically injured in a fight and continues on until she just drops and doesn’t feel the discomfort of needing to refuel so she most of the times forgets and often runs low on energon.

Optimus is very careful in sending her in missions because of these reasons and Ratchet is trying to fix the damage but so far was unable too.

The team took first notice of this, or at least Optimus and Ratchet did, in the aftermath of the scraplet incident (she went with Arcee and Optimus in the artic but when she was back she didn’t appear to be suffering like Arcee or Optimus even being in the same condition)

+ bonus doodle of Torque being very pissed off

[nevadancitizen]

-> FASCINATION WITH THE ORDINARY

synopsis: your world is vastly different from the nevada native to madness combat. after the main three + 2bdamned get transported to your world, they each find things that fascinate them.

word count: 2.5k

characters: hank, deimos, sanford, 2bdamned, player! reader

trigger warnings: ehh slight yandere/obsession but could also be read as super heavy pining if you're not into that lol

notes: madness combat fandom arise. madness combat fandom come back to me (also set in @/saltymongoose 's self-aware au)

For the sake of consistency, let’s imagine that the Player lives in a big, lonely, woodsy and plain-sy plot of land. There’s little to no outside human interaction, and lots of animals wandering through the area with a river running through it. For the wildlife, I’m basing it on the American South because I’ve lived here my entire life and know how they act.

SUNSETS & SUNRISES

2BDamned would be the most entranced, since he has the most memories from before the fall and before Hank killed the sun. He’s an early riser by nature (since his body has conditioned him so he’s mostly overworked and under-rested, as unhealthy as it is), so he leans more towards the beauty of a sunrise, towards the light that starts to paint the dark sky with hazy orange shades and rosy hues. He likes breathing in the crisp air and the way it almost sends a shock through his lungs.

But the sun stirs a lingering feeling of nostalgia, though, for the way things were before everything fell to madness. Doc tries his best not to let the thoughts get the better of him as you slip through the front door and out onto the front porch, carrying two steaming cups of coffee. 

God, he could imagine staying like this forever: just you, him, a beautiful sunrise, and coffee. Surely the way you pay attention to him, the way you get up extra early to watch the sunrise, the way you doctor his coffee just right – they’re all examples of how you care for him, just as he cares for you. But for now, he’ll just bide his time, blowing the steam off the surface of his coffee and purring, soft and raspy, both at the taste and because of your company.

But that doesn’t stop the others from appreciating the astounding view at dusk, because Sanford and Deimos are more partial to sunsets after long days. They like lounging in the adirondack chairs set up around the fire pit, cracking open a few beers, and simply relaxing with you. (Don’t worry, Sanford will gather firewood and Deimos will set it alight if it’s a little too cold for your taste.)

They’re fresher clones, so they don’t remember the sun well, if at all. They both always go quiet when the sun starts to dip below the horizon. Sanford props his tea sunglasses on top of his head and Deimos sets his cigarette in the ashtray as they both stare at the way the light turns the clouds purple and paints the sky with pink streaks. It stirs something sad in your heart – both of these men are pushing and just over the cusp of thirty, yet they don’t know the simple sweetness of a sunset. 

But as soon as night overtakes the sky, they both turn their attention back to you. Deimos makes some suave comment about your beauty being nothing in the face of a sunset in that rumbling, smooth voice of his, and Sanford gives him a pointed glare. Sanford points out that your beauty and the beauty of nature are two whole different things, but keeps showering you with not-so-inadvertent compliments, leaving you flustered and blushing from both grunt’s words.

Hank is somewhat of an anomaly with this one. All of the grunt’s biological clocks are absolutely porked from their time without a sun, but Hank’s affected the worst by far. (That, and he doesn’t really care for the sun. He literally slaughtered it.) Therefore, he’s more privy to waking up in the middle of the night and dragging you onto the roof to look at the stars. 

He likes laying on his back with you on his chest, pointing out the brightest stars and asking you questions about them. (He doesn’t really care, he just likes hearing your voice.) He loves your vivid descriptions of the constellations and how you describe them in intricate ways. To Hank, they’re just sparkly, unreachable dots in the sky, but it seems like, to you, they’re beautiful: like millions of silver nails driven into a dome of dark blue velvet. 

He savors the moments like these the most, when you’re alone with him. There’s no sound except for the crickets and dog-day cicadas and spring peepers and your voice and Hank’s sputtering purring. Honestly, it’s as it should be – without those other pesky dipshits ruining your time together. (Well, he can tolerate Doc, but that annoying extraction team could go fuck themselves for all he cared.)

ENTERTAINMENT

Sanford hates being lazy. He hates feeling like he’s not doing anything useful, even if he’s being useful by resting. The only real way to make him sit down and stop moving is by trapping him on the couch, laying your head in his lap, and turning on the TV. (Even if, for the first thirty minutes, he’s too focused on you and your body heat and how fast his heart is beating to even consider looking at the TV.)

But the thing he loves watching the most isn’t any sort of movie with amazing cinematography or show with riveting writing – it’s infomercials. Specifically, infomercials from the 90’s to the late 2000’s. He likes seeing what things could’ve been like if there was no madness in Nevada, because things are oddly peaceful (at least, to him) in your world. Billy Mays and Cathy Mitchell make him wonder about domestic life with you (even if the Jupiter Jack and the Xpress Redi-Set-Go are completely obsolete by now), and how these little gadgets would make your life together supposedly go smoother.

He likes combing his claws carefully through your hair as you both watch these people play up how useful these obviously useless inventions are. He tries to avert his eyes and act interested in the TV as you look up at him and point out how the Red Devil Grill was recalled because it got so hot it collapsed and caused fires, but can’t. He just can’t keep his eyes off you when you look up at him so sweetly, and can you blame him? You just make his face so warm and his heart beat so fucking fast…

Deimos has always had a fascination with electronics, but it’s mostly been from a tactical and weaponized standpoint. But he’s discovered (well, really, you introduced him to) video games. He absolutely loves curling up into your side, purring and providing commentary as he watches you play. (Because, despite his trying, he hasn’t really gotten a hang of the controls yet.)

He loves more story-fueled games with characters he can really get attached to. He likes investing himself in things and people that don’t actually affect him, because seeing your favorite character go through dire straits or even die hurts for a little while, but it’s nothing compared to seeing someone get eviscerated right in front of you. And, yeah, he totally cried when Arthur Morgan died (and totally played it up so that you’d comfort him). 

He also likes draping himself over you in the middle of a boss fight, wriggling and nuzzling into your cheek, causing you to giggle, lose focus, and, obviously, die. He strings together half-hearted apologies through his raspy purring, but he’s not really sorry. More deaths means more time spent with him, and internally, he’s completely and honestly unapologetic for his underhanded tactics. 

Due to the nature of his administrative role, Doc spends a lot of time in front of screens. He likes to unplug and unwind by reading, no doubt with a straight-up hazardous amount of coffee by his side. He prefers reading with you with an arm wrapped around your shoulder, whether you’re also reading or working on something else. Though he’s inexperienced (and sometimes even shy) with these types of things, he’s more than happy to ease into affectionate touches and romance that kills his common sense with you. 

His tastes are often cheap, but when he earns enough dough, he likes to splurge on second-hand college anatomy textbooks. No, he’s not planning on going to university, but he wants to know the inner workings of the human system (and, therefore, the inner workings of you). He also likes speculative biology and seeing what humans think about other intelligent species potentially being out there.

He would absolutely be elated (though he tries his best to hide it) if you took his interests seriously and discussed them with him. He tries to keep you in his makeshift office and away from the others so you can continue to spend this precious alone time with him, but that doesn’t stop the red-hot flare of jealousy as one of the others bursts in with a childish ask about something that should be obvious. (Of fucking course you wouldn’t want to go for a walk, Deimos, have you seen the weather out? Leave you and him alone!)

Obviously Hank would love gorefest and splatter film movies because of his all-encompassing and absolute love for carnage, and he’d love them even more if you got scared and hid yourself in his shoulder or chest. It’s clear that he’s your strongest and most capable vessel, so he clearly agrees with your choice to choose him as your protector (even if that choice is based on an instinctive need to hide). 

He also loves WWE and MMA fighting. When given the choice, he opts for MMA because it’s real and bloody and he prefers seeing people push themselves to their absolute limit rather than some predetermined fight that serves a higher storyline. (But, then again, he really likes the clip of Undertaker breaking into Paul Bearer’s house during an interview and throwing a cabinet at him because, what the fuck? He’s never thought of that before! Using things from the environment when out of weapons instead of his fists could be an improvement. Maybe he can learn a thing or two from these fake fighters…)

And, yes, if you give him access to Twitter he will turn your entire timeline into those backyard fight videos and dashcam car crashes. He doesn’t mean to, it just happens.

ANIMALS

Being a natural night owl, Deimos loves keeping a lookout for what critters come out at night. When he’s on the front porch with you, smoking a cigarette and waving away mosquitoes, he makes sure to keep an eye out for weird and unusual wildlife. (While pressed against your side and purring loudly, no doubt.)

He likes watching the whip-poor-wills swoop down and catch the moths that swarm around the overhead porch lights. Yes, he will try to catch one, but backs off when you tell him to. Instead, he opts for digging in the dirt to find beetles and grubs to toss up in the air for the small birds to catch. He will kinda feel bad if the beetles hit the ground but will continue to throw them to the birds when you tell him insects are basically immune to fall damage, so… no harm, no foul.

He’s also absolutely enamored by raccoons. He likes throwing food to them from the safety of the porch and watching them eat with their little grabby hands. He’s very reckless so, despite your warnings, he’ll try to squirrel one away inside the house. (He does this multiple times and, without fail, gets bitten each time. 2B has given him multiple rabies shots after shooing the raccoons out with a broom.)

Speaking of Doc, he enjoys going out in nature and finding decaying things just to see how many buzzards arrive. He excuses it with something about wanting to see if decomposition works the same across both your world and his, but he secretly finds some relation with the birds – something about being deliverers and arbiters and negators of death. (Though the last one really only applies to him.)

He also likes the rare sightings of wild horses. He’ll go out of his way to (carefully, shyly) rouse you from whatever you’re doing to go take a look at the majestic beasts, and he’ll be even more excited if there’s a foal wandering between the stocky legs of the adults. 

He just barely brushes his fingers against yours as you both stand on the edge of the treeline and watch them graze. Seeing the foal break from the herd, kick out and tumble and fall over and immediately get back up sparks… something in his heart. A vision. Just you, just him, linked pinkies, and a future together, with this warm feeling in his chest.

Hank really likes the more dangerous creatures. He gets along well with cottonmouth and other venomous snakes (and “gets along well” really means that they’re mean as can be and strike as often as possible while he just holds them and smiles at you). 

If you don’t keep a close enough eye on him, he’ll wander off and try to provoke larger animals, like bobcats. To him, they’re just tiny little pussycats, even if they pose a real threat and could kill him. Please don’t let him go too far, because if he comes across a bear, he will try to wrestle it, and Doc doesn’t like having to do emergency surgery on the island countertop in your kitchen. 

On multiple occasions, he’s come back to the house after being missing for hours, reeking of skunk spray. He just purrs happily as you tell him to strip and hold still as you spray him down with the hose.

Sanford is way calmer with his interactions with wildlife. He likes sitting on the dock with you and watching the fish swim by (because he’s impressed both by the fish and by the river – he’s never seen water in such great quantity!) Set him up with a hook, lure, and line and he’ll be entertained for hours. Though he struggles a bit with making streamers and fishing knots due to his big hands and claws, he’s more than patient when you teach him (mostly because he gets to spend time with you). 

When he’s fishing, he likes to look around and observe – mostly because fishing is a waiting game. His favorite visitors are herds of whitetail deer, especially when summer is in full swing and the fawns are ready to start exploring. They remind him of his family, mainly because of the way the does don’t really care which fawn is theirs, just that each is getting enough milk. You point at them and discuss them with him in small whispers because you don’t want to spook them. 

Again, it reminds him of his want for a domestic life with you. Just basking in the mottled sun that seeps through the trees, dipping your bare feet in the cool river water as a catfish tugs on the line – it’s all he wants, really. Now if he could just get the rest of the grunts to leave you alone… excluding Deimos, of course.

[yanderes-galore]

A romantic concept *or* alphabet for Lady Maria (Bloodborne), please?

🕊️ anon

Yandere! Lady Maria Concept

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Guilt, Jealousy, Overprotective/Possessive behavior, Violence, Blood, Lucid yandere, Worsening mental health, Suicide/Double suicide (It's Bloodborne and part of her fate....), Consumption of blood, Forced relationship implied.

Lady Maria, like the other characters I write from series like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring... is a little difficult to put a personality and plot together for.

The most I could put together is she's stoic and has a very tranquil and calming voice.

Her personality definitely clashes with what she did to end up in the Hunter's Nightmare though.

Which I suppose I could use to my advantage of making her yandere....

In terms of the plot in this request, what I thought about is you being a Hunter who worked with her.

So, essentially, you were a Hunter student who trained beside her.

I choose this because it would give her time to be obsessed with you.

There's even more moral conflict, too.

As you know, Maria's mental health doesn't really tank until after the Fishing Hamlet.

So if she was yandere towards her fellow Hunter before and even after it... She'd worry about what she's thinking.

Essentially... I think Maria would be a slow descent into madness yandere.

She already kind of is descending into madness in canon... would it be that difficult to imagine?

SO, if the trigger warnings weren't enough, let me tell you this is going to get dark with her.

You and Maria were students of Gehrman, The First Hunter.

I feel this alone causes strange dynamics due to how Gehrman is obsessed with Maria.

So imagine the weird dynamic of Gehrman obsessing over Maria... and Maria only seeming to be fond of you.

You, on the other hand, are too focused on studying to be a Hunter.

You are no doubt close to Maria due to your constant training and research into the blood your world is surrounded with.

Yet it's not like you know everything about your peer.

For example, you have no clue Maria is a Vileblood due to her heritage of being related to Annalise.

She hides such a part of her, not even indulging in blood magic.

A HC I want to add to this concept is Vilebloods might be a bit possessive in nature?

This is all for fun anyways and I thought it would be a way to make Maria less... tame as a yandere.

Maria is a very controlled person, but you can't always hide your true nature, right?

There's some odd behavior you no doubt notice due to that.

For example, Maria is more protective of you than she should be, even before the Fishing Hamlet incident.

Perhaps even she can sense Gehrman not particularly enjoying you as his student due to a conflict in personal goals.

Maybe the delusional man feels you'll steal Maria from him, even though she's attracted to you out of her own free will.

Maria finds herself fond of you since you never seem to judge... The only thing you judge is her combat ability.

Such a thing is important for a Hunter, after all.

You both seem to learn from one another, training as comrades.

In return for respecting her, she no doubt stands up for you when Gehrman gets too harsh.

Another odd quirk you may notice is how often Maria ends up calling you 'My Hunter'.

It's definitely a term of endearment, one you try to see as friendly.

But the way she says it...

It really makes you wonder if she's intending to mean it as something more?

Maria is originally just a skilled Hunter looking out for you on the job, learning and training beside you....

Her love for you is there, but subtle enough to brush off.

Fast forward to the Fishing Hamlet Incident with Kos... Maria had left to explore the death of The Great One there.

Originally you were to come with, yet maybe you were called elsewhere to attend to another Scourge problem.

You expected Maria to come back afterwards the same as she always was...

Instead you see her come back to meet with you covered in blood...

Her gaze vacant, even as it snaps onto you.

Part of you wonders if you should've come with her, but she never speaks of what happens.

Instead she pulls you close, breath hitching as she shakes.

Or... maybe instead you had joined her in this new hunt.

Which leads to you being ordered to commit atrocities for the Church.

By the end of it, you aren't the same, just like Maria.

But it seems even you take it better than her... You didn't like doing it... yet you didn't entirely blame yourself.

Maria, on the other hand, was shaking as she was covered in blood.

She comments that you're both sinners now... before pulling you close to her to sob.

Regardless, Maria's mental health tanks around this time.

She keeps muttering to you about sins... even tossing her weapon away.

Eventually we all know what happens in lore, right?

Maria soon ends up taking her life due to the guilt of the acts she committed.

Although, what if she has an obsession over you?

What will she do then?

It's... what you expect, unfortunately.

Maria at first tries to be stable, relying on you heavily.

You're what keeps her together, her fragile mental state showing you her true feelings for you more and more.

She feels she doesn't deserve you... That she doesn't deserve to be happy after all the blood on her hands.

But she can't help clinging to you, feeling you hold her.

Maria knows you probably deserve someone else's love...

Yet, perhaps due to her Vileblood nature, she refuses to allow you to go anywhere else but by her side.

After all, as a Hunter, you're a sinner just like her.

You've been noticing Maria's mental fall.

You rarely leave her side, even more concerned when she tosses her main weapon away.

You're trusting when Maria asks you to join her in the Astral Clocktower eventually.

She can not handle her own guilt anymore.

But she also can't handle the thought of another taking her place in your life.

Her Vileblood tendencies refuse to allow you to be without her.

So... she makes this meeting in the Clocktower her last hurrah.

You meet her in the beautiful Clocktower, her looking out at the view in front of her.

This is where Maria makes herself clear....

She comes up to you, eyes dark for a moment before she clings to you.

This is the moment she chooses to confess to you.

She whispers about everything....

At first it's innocent, she admits she's loved you since you were both students.

Although, the sweet confession turns rotten once her true tendencies come through.

She admits she's never enjoyed sharing you with others....

She admits that she's always wanted to keep you for herself, as wrong as that is.

Although... It doesn't matter how wrong her feelings are in the end, does it?

She's committed worse atrocities at this point.

You understand, don't you?

She's obsessed with you... You're what keeps her going....

However, she's aware that this is all wrong.

Which is why... She needs to take you with her.

She needs to keep you all to herself, all hers, forever....

Before you can comment, Maria kisses you deeply.

You find yourself returning the kiss... the gesture pleasant on the tongue...

Until you both sense that putrid taste of blood.

You pull away with a cough, your own blood coming from your mouth and throat

Maria simply licks the taste of you of herself before shoving the blade deeper.

You barely register the fact Maria has slit your throat.

You can't make a noise, choking on your own crimson fluid.

Maria gives a sympathetic look, savoring the taste of the blood you've given her...

Yet it isn't long before she follows your lead, vowing to be with you even in death.

Depending on your choices, maybe she will.

If you committed the same sins as her, you two will be together in the Hunter's Nightmare, forced to reside in the Astral Clocktower together forever.

Then you'll be all hers.

However, if you died here but did not defile Kos... Maria may not have you in the Nightmare.

A devastating fate as she's forced to realize she'll never see you again....

Or, another option... Maybe you never visited the Clocktower.

Maybe you were too busy removing the Scourge to visit her in her last moments.

Then... You may even regret not seeing her in her final moments.

You don't think you'll see her again... Until you commit a sin that forces you to be placed in the Hunter's Nightmare after death.

Something calls you to the Clocktower then... and you follow in confusion.

Only to meet Maria there... your fellow Hunter eager to confess.

Then, regardless of if you accept or not, you'll be together... forevermore.

Each fate isn't a happy ending in the slightest.

You'll both die either way... and there's a good chance Maria will be waiting there for you...

Then she can finally love you... you and her together... bathed in sin as she forces you into her embrace...

Her beloved Hunter... right where they belong.

[hanshenrykcd]

Okay, one of my 13663524161 thoughts to henry/hans/bartosh: bartosh is (more or less voluntarily) adopted by the pack bc when they tried to ransom von bergow with his bodyguard during nebakov he was like:" war is a nasty business, sorry mate :("

Bartosh decided tagging along with them sounds a lot better than being killed and made an example of, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And now I have several ideas: bartosh sparrs with hans and henry, they don't only do swordplay, but also train hand-to-hand-combat.

Someone needs to get jealous (henry knows first hand that bartosh is a "passionate and sensual man") and seeing him wrestle with hans (maybe one of them has a bare chest, even) makes him feel things: jealous and horny

Of course bartosh isn't as oblivious as hans and he knows a horny sodomist when he sees one so they continue their tryst from Trosky.

Maybe Hans gets jealous bc henry now spends suspiciously much time with bartosh and he drives himself mad bc he doesn't really understand why his bestie making a new friend bothers him so.

The braincell-wielder of that trio would be bartosh, i reckon, so maybe he'd be the one who puts 2 and 2 together, when Hans gets angy (and denies it) when henry and batrosh train??

Sooo, several things could happen:

hans and henry get their shit together and finally make out

bartosh decides to drive hans clinically insane with jealousy

bartosh decides to drive HENRY insane by flirting with hans (and maybe more brandy and bare-chested wrestling bc why the hell not! Bonus points if hans gets a lil sunburnt, i want him to suffer)

Regardless, the end result is bartosh getting hansry action

Thank you very much for coming to my ted-talk

ummm HELLO????? I LOVE YOUR MIND?????

also this "The braincell-wielder of that trio would be bartosh" i died LMFAO

jealousy is like one of my favorite things in the fictional word and this just YES.

please let me know if you ever write a fanfic please and thank you. and perhaps this can inspire other fanfic writers out there? 👀

[literaryvein-reblogs]

hiii, i am writing my first book/novel. its highlighting d***th, romance, mystery, politics, pretty questionable characters w revenge, thriller and lots of women n power play. its my first book and im not that educated about such themes. but this rough plot i have in my mind is so beautiful that underperforming this excellent trope would be a shame....ive never written before so could you please what to do to actually write this kinda theme to my heart's satisfaction. I've never written a freaking chap before and now im really lost

Writing Ideas: Revenge Tropes

some tropes related to revenge, thriller, women, and power play

Afterlife Avenger: This trope involves the circumstance where a character explicitly still chooses to pursue conflicts against whatever's left of their hated target long after they've passed.

Best Served Cold: Named for the French (or Sicilian, or Klingon, or drow, depending on who you ask) proverb, "Revenge is a dish best served cold." At least in the case of drow, it also means one can have well-planned revenge and drive them mad with fear as a bonus.

Crusading Widow: The death or murder of their significant other motivates the character to seek revenge.

Defeat as Backstory: A protagonist (or some other character's backstory) in a story begins by having been defeated either before the story began, or early on in the story (often in a prologue).

Dying Curse: With his dying breath, a character wishes ill fortune upon his killers, or some other personal enemy.

Pay Evil unto Evil: In real life, the sort of thinking behind this trope is called "retributive justice".

Revenge Through Corruption: Instead of inflicting physical harm, the villain attacks the mind and soul.

Villain-by-Proxy Fallacy: When someone goes after not only a crime's perpetrator, but those who supplied the perpetrator or were otherwise marginally connected to it, whether or not the people involved had anything to do with the actual crime.

Woman Scorned: A woman who's been dumped, cheated on, or otherwise done wrong by her significant other (or, in some cases, merely thinks she's been).

Examples

Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo, probably the greatest revenge story of all time.

In the original version of Beauty and the Beast, the Prince's widowed mother goes off to fight a war and leaves a wicked fairy to help him rule. When the Prince comes of age, she tries to seduce him and turns him into a Beast when he refuses her advances.

In Moby-Dick, Captain Ahab makes it clear throughout the book that he'll pursue Moby Dick to, into, through, and out of Hell, and even then he still won't be satisfied until the whale suffers forever for its slight against him.

Crime and Punishment: One of the antagonists of the novel, Porfiry, works as a police officer and interrogator, which usually would qualify as a good-aligned job. As you further witness this officer's tactics in catching criminals, you see him commit to bribery, thievery, death-threats, and psychological torture to force an admission. Furthermore, he seems to actually enjoy it, toying with amateur criminals like a cat torturing a wounded mouse. The justification, of course, being that the victim of this was a murderer, and therefore deserves it.

George R. R. Martin's Fire & Blood: After the war, Lady Joanna Lannister has a beef to pick with the Greyjoys, who've taken up raiding the coast, including killing a few Lannisters. She decides the best course of action is go to the Iron Islands and kill every man, woman and child she can find. She just settles for burning a lot of things and abducting one Greyjoy, gelding him and turning him into her fool.

Feyd Rautha Harkonnen receives a Dying Curse in Dune. After killing a combat slave in the arena, his opponent's final words are "One day one of us will get you." Given that this fighter is not just a slave, but one of the soldiers from the army of the Harkonnen's blood enemies, the Atreides, this may be prophetic.

In A Song of Ice and Fire, Arya Stark's conflation of justice and personal vengeance leads her to Villain-by-Proxy Fallacy. While many of people on her death list certainly deserve to be brought to justice, such as the Tickler for torture and Weese for abuse, others were merely acting on orders, such as the Hound, doing their jobs or are just guilty by association. Cersei Lannister is on her death list for being involved in the execution of Ned Stark, but Cersei wasn't complicit in that activity, and even spoke out against it. Same with Ilyn Payne, who was just doing his job as the royal executioner. The real mastermind of Ned's death, Littlefinger, is not on the list. Meryn Trant is on the list for killing Syrio Forel, but there isn't any evidence to confirm the crime. Polliver and Dunsen are on the list for flimsy reasons, like stealing. She has Chiswyck murdered for the crime of not being as funny as he thinks he is (granted, Chiswyck was joking about a gang rape, but that isn't the reason Arya cites as his crime). The conflation of justice and vengeance, and how that conflation leads to this trope, is one of the key themes of the entire story.

Queen Dido in The Aeneid, who prophesies that her and Aeneas's people will meet again in war (the Punic Wars — her future, Virgil's past). Particularly tragic in that it's made fairly obvious that he'd have stayed with her if he'd had the choice.

Sidney Sheldon's The Best Laid Plans: Leslie Stewart plots to ruin the career of Oliver Russell when he leaves her at the altar to marry a woman whose father promises to further his political career.

The Hunger Games: The Pay Evil Unto Evil trope is discussed all the way through Mockingjay, and reaches its culmination when President Coin suggests either executing all Capitol citizens or forcing their children into the Games.

Source ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

Hi, here are some tropes I found related to the themes you described. You can find more in the source linked above. Study how it is portrayed in different types of media, and in your favourite films/books, to gain inspiration for your own story. You can take the rough idea/plot you already have, and try to incorporate techniques and tropes used by other authors, but then deviate from borrowing those ideas when your story starts to flow naturally. All the best with your writing!

[boiledkwamaegg]

I think it just clicked with me why when I first saw Faenil I thought they were really neat. they delve into the science aspect of Elder Scrolls which I feel like not a lot of OCs do unless they study Dwemer stuff or are House Telvanni. and I LOVE the slight sci-fi aspects Elder Scrolls has cuz if feels like no other fantasy series does that.

LONG ASS RAMBLE TIME!!! I'm putting most of it under a cut again. I'm gonna power through some other interesting asks today as well. But yes!!! I'm glad you sent this because I am so fascinated with the sci-fi themes in this series too! I guess when I started thinking about Faenil as a concept, I figured that a flesh mage should definitely know quite a lot about biology and medicine in order to properly work with their craft. But then I came across a problem - why would a society built around magic need a science-based doctor when there's alchemy and restoration magic?

I vaguely remember reading some story within one of the games (forgot which one it was) where someone gets sick and someone drives themselves mad trying to find a cure - so clearly there are limitations to restoration and alchemy when it comes to healing, but it's kind of left up for interpretation.

So here's where my own stupid headcanons come in. I mean, if a cure disease potion cures a contracted disease, kinda like an antibiotic, and restoration magic helps with closing wounds, then what do you do when there's something else wrong with your body? What if magic isn't always an available option? What do you do when someone has cancer, or even a benign tumor - what do you do when someone's appendix is about to burst - what do you do when someone has a heart condition - or diabetes - or failing organs... the list is endless, and I'm sure highly developed societies within fantasy settings have people who are specialized to figure these things out! And what's better than mixing magic with science?

I know in the games magic is pretty mechanical in the sense that most of it is only meant to aid you through combat, but the combat in the games is objectively pretty simple and boring, and I'm sure there are other unique ways to apply magic to the daily lives of people in Tamriel. What if you can use something like detect life (alteration) similarly to an x-ray? What if you can enchant medical instruments similarly to weapons and apparel? Could you create something like NSAIDs out of common alchemical ingredients? Can frost magic be used to freeze organs? Could you defibrillate someone's heart with dual shock magic? I have so many ideas. I'm especially obsessed with the notion that surgeries are so intricate that they might as well be considered magical rituals with the way poor preparation and the wrong tools will lead to a complete catastrophe. And obviously cleanliness and proper sterilization is vital to pretty much anything medical wise - but this is also a medieval fantasy land where medicine is still very experimental and understudied, so things will go wrong a lot! So, with that being said, I don't have to feel bad for not being a medical expert - I dropped out of medical school twice but at least I get to live my dreams through this fucked up and evil altmer OC haha

Thing with Faenil is that despite their absolute dogshit interpersonal skills giving a different impression, they ARE intelligent, not only because mages are a class built on intelligence, but because a doctor needs critical thinking skills; they need to be able to problem solve and they need to be highly analytical. So, while they are pretty inexperienced with the things they come across in Skyrim, they are constantly taking notes in their little journal and figuring out the easy way around taking down some new type of enemy or solving some weird dungeon puzzle. For example, I don't think Faenil has ever seen dwemer contraptions before, but they have definitely studied the dwemer from books and applied some of their mechanics to prosthetic limbs, so it's gonna be fun to explore how they will tackle something like a dwarven centurion considering they will most likely try to analyze its design to find out how to turn it off and then come up with a strategy to get to it. And, of course, they will realize eventually that teamwork is essential, just like it was with their work back in Alinor, and it will hopefully be pretty satisfying when Faenil gets an idea and everything falls into place just right every once in a while.

All this to say, Faenil is also one of those annoying "get destroyed by facts and logic" type people LMAO they will literally taunt a god in their face, get struck by lightning, and say it proves nothing.

[sarnai4]

Expectation Subversion

Penguins of Madagascar has some of my favorite examples of subverting expectations for personalities. They also gave me something that I try to use when creating my own characters. It seems like the characters can easily fit into a one-dimensional stereotype, but then there's more. Let's start off with Rico.

At first glance, Rico is just a loose cannon. In lesser shows, he might have been. After all, he just needs to be the silly one who spits up weapons and sure, he is, but that's not all. Rico is also fiercely loyal. He's the same one who was terrified of a "haunted" car and still braved it head-on when it had hurt Skipper. Comically enough, he can just as easily turn on the others when Ms. Perky wants him to do something else (cue Rico attacking them because of that darn voice box). An underrated skill of Rico's is how resourceful he is. He always knows exactly what weapon is necessary for the moment. With these skills, his loyalty, and his fun/unhinged flair, he really comes to life as a character.

Private is seemingly just the nice guy of the group. He's the young one who's innocent. Again, this is a part of him. He is very nice, not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings like when he was supposed to win a rude-off against Clemson. He's also pretty naive with a lot of things, being unsuspecting about Hans actually being bad. Despite this, there's more to Private than niceness. He's got the most common sense of the group, being the only one to see that grabbing the plant needed to save Maurice's life would be easier than continuing to use the jaws of life AND realizing how unlikely it was that Santa was spending Christmas Eve in a random building. I also love how he's got a backstory of being this almost ruthless mini golf player. His underrated skill is that he's the second best fighter of the group. Solely looking at fin-to-fin combat, Private is the only one who's been on par with Skipper.

Kowalski could have just been the "science nerd." He definitely has this as a core part of him, but he's also such a drama queen. I love it. He's the poster boy for book smarts because this penguin has a score of 0 for practical reasoning. Heck, he had to figure out which instincts to use. His struggles with this leads to him continuously making inventions that almost kill everybody. Kowalski is always an invention away from turning into a mad scientist. I'm convinced this actually has happened before and then he just snaps back to his senses (thinking about times like Jiggles and more). Something else which adds an interesting layer to him is how much he wants to be in charge. He's technically the second-in-command and has made it clear that he'd like to replace Skipper when the time comes. "Kowalski's log...too soon?"

Skipper seems like he's just the tough boss. In a comedy like this, he easily could've been an incompetent leader. Rather than that, he's honestly a very good leader who is clever with his plans. Seriously, his escape plans shown in Pets Peeved and more episodes really demonstrate how thoroughly he can think out a strategy even when he's on the spot. Along with this, Skipper tries to act hard and rough, but he makes it clear that he cares about his team more than anything. He even faced his fear of needles (this show singlehandedly taught me what trypanophobia was) for Private when he learned that the soldier would've been hurt otherwise. It even stretches beyond them. Skipper really cares about everyone in the zoo, going so far as to look out for Julien who is probably one of his least favorite zoo mates. I also really like how much being a leader means to Skipper. When he thought he couldn't be in charge anymore, he was having a meltdown. He even put Private as leader just so that he could make it clear who actually deserves the position. It's so petty, that it's almost beautiful.

[xbomboi]

yapping about Briar. fellow Briar enjoyers assemble.

okay okay i don’t make it too obvious (or maybe i do, i wouldn’t know) but briar is my personal favorite character. i think about where the stories of all the characters would go and what their arcs would be a lot, but hers in particular is really important to me.

so i wanna talk about it.

first of all, she’s narcoleptic coded, right. we all know that. but her mom on the other hand reads to me, like, an alcoholic mother? and her dad is just willfully ignorant. either way, there’s a huge sense of neglect going on in that family. i mean go figure why briar would be the one doing most of the work raising her brothers. and of course she’s a party girl, because who’s gonna stop her? her parents? see yeah exactly.

so i don’t think it’s unreasonable to say she doesn’t have very strong parental figures in her life, at least not at home. but, and now you have to really hear me out about this one, i think baba yaga could take up a parental role in her life.

i know it isn’t much, but the seeds for her having at least a hint of a connection with baba yaga are there.

in the webisode “Stark Raven Mad”, baba yaga scolds briar for rambling about her party, and then as the commotion picks up she’s still exercising authority over briar in particular.

then there’s thronecoming, wherein, when briar is sulking at the dance, upon noticing the picture on the projector, she asks baba yaga for answers, who provides them.

and then skipping all the way to epic winter, after the girls become a little creeped out by her mannerisms and book it, briar is the one who makes sure to peak back in and give a parting remark.

so i think there’s potential there to be explored. her feeling neglected at home and then finding solace in another adult at school would be neat.

but the fact that it’s baba yaga is important, so just put a pin in that and we’ll circle back to it.

now, i think out of the core four, she was (at least at first) the hardest to actually pin-point what the future of her story could look like. with raven, i think it’s pretty clear her journey is just continuing to combat the prejudices of the world as she fights for change, apple is now pretty much on a path to figuring out her own future as ruler of a kingdom and what that’s going to entail, and maddie is the goofball that’s there to have fun and be supportive along the way.

then there’s briar. and, let me be clear, no, in my mind that girl is not sleeping for 100 years with where things are heading; in the main universe of the story, briar will be free of the sleeping beauty destiny.

but it’s like, if she’s not gonna sleep, what more is there to actually do with her? what direction COULD her life go in? because if she’s no longer fated to sleep 100 years of her life away, then she can’t just party like there’s no tomorrow anymore. she’d need to decide what she actually wants to do with her life.

and i think i have an idea.

i mentioned her narcoleptic coding at the start with intent to bring it up again. see, you might notice that a lot of the fairytale aspects of ever after high can be read as allegories for real-world problems. for example, hunter and ashlynn’s relationship is treated in their world the same way society may look at queer couples or biracial couples. or how raven’s mom being trapped in a mirror is their world equivalent to not paying child support.

with that kind of correlation in mind, i think treating briar’s curse as a condition could open up an interesting opportunity. i think, in their world, curses as a whole could be viewed as a separate branch of medical specialization, with briar spearheading this notion of thought.

we know briar is well-versed in chemythstry already. in the webisode “Briar’s Study Party” she makes note of the fact that she’s been studying forever-after, and she demonstrates enough knowledge in the subject to enthusiastically teach it to her friends, who all end up acing their tests on it as a result.

i think this is something she could potentially make a career out of. i think she could come to the conclusion that she wants to be able to help break curses for people everywhere, and could pursue learning to develop potions and elixirs to do so.

which could happen under baba yaga’s tutelage.

picture this: briar declares her newfound goal, to which baba yaga offers to teach briar all she knows in order to achieve what she’s set her sights on. briar—with an ounce of hesitance—accepts, and baba yaga officially takes her under her wing with the intent of mastering sorcery.

obviously, she wouldn’t lose who she is in this. she’s still gonna be an impulsive, adrenaline junkie who desperately needs a screentime limit on her mirrorphone. but in this process, she’d be rounded out by baba yaga and would in turn mature a bit from the experience. she’d get serious about life, but she wouldn’t let go of who she is at heart.

this could lead to her becoming the resourceful one in the main group. like on adventures, she’d be able to pull out a potion or whip something up (because i’m not going to let raven’s magic make her too o.p. she’s gotta have limitations) as a solution to problems. she could really have a role that proves useful and important to the story.

that’s my ideal pitch for where to take briar’s character.

[moonselune]

Wait, the Ansur quest is Wylls side quest? Damn. I thought it was just a fetch/kill with a little dungeon crawl so I skipped it in favor of other things bc I was on a time crunch. They really didn’t lean on its importance as much as anyone else’s side quests. Either that or Im dense…. 🤷‍♂️

Honeslty I didn't realise it to begin with either and as I've mentioned previously on my first run I completelty missed it.

And I think the reason is, it is all based in act 3 and you don't hear about the wyrm until act 3. Whereas for Astarion for example, its cazador this cazador that, I still stand by the fact that if Astarion gets downed in combat he should go "ugh this is cazadors fault".

Whereas the dialogue lines we get with Wyll are, how was it growing up as a duke's son? Pretty shit about all that mizora stuff huh?

Like it's all small talk really like yes the reveal about the exile and the reasons behind it is interesting, but its like and what?

Like he comes back to baldur's gate, and obviously you could argue that Wyll has changes and people wouldn't have recognised him, but you would expect some pushback. Florrick only gets mad when Mizora meddles with things, apart from that its like yay wyll!

Could you imagine the salacious gossip that would be going round regardless of the absolute, like I'm thinking bridgerton lady whistledown type shit. Like it would make wayyyy more sense that the baldurs mouth gazette quest to have something to do with Wyll. Just everyone gossiping about the Duke's son returning and he's got horns!

He would have suitors flocking him, trying to marry up, trying to get in with the Duke and he's got horns so he's tangled with Devils and survived - even better.

Honeslty just imagine a quest where you enter the lower city and Wyll just gets swamped by adorning suitors and you have to knock them out, or even you have to survive a turn based chase through the city. The possibilites

ALSO - (you have unlocked a Seluney rant, congratulations/comiserations)

They could have developed a Wyll/Gortash storyline, because if Gortash was slutting his way up to the top he must have encountered Wyll at some point, even if Wyll was just a teenager and it was at a ball.

Could you imagine the banter between them at the coronation, sans all the sad stuff about his dad etc.

"Finally managed to grow in that stubble Wyll?"

"At lesat I have changed, unlike your taste for fashion."

"To be knighted Archduke by your father - must have been a shock for you Wyll."

"You on your knees for a noble? Not really."

Like he is the only one not surprised that Gortash and Durge hooked up.

You could even further that by him knowing Karlach as Gortash's bodyguard which why when Mizora is like you need to hunt down this devil and he recognises her and is like yea sure. Crook on the surface, crook in avernus, it would make sense to him. Which would then make his realisation that Karlach is good, so much more intense.

But yea Larian really missed a trick here.

[atreeinthemoonlight]

Robert was a terrible king by nearly every metric, and his death directly preceded one of the most destructive conflicts in history. Given that, it’s not surprising that some people start looking backward for alternative outcomes, especially ones that never had the chance to fail.

If Rhaegar had won at the Trident and suppressed the rebellion, we’d likely see the opposite narrative emerge. Every time he made a questionable decision or when any crisis happened, related or not, people would invoke the memory of Robert: the bold rebel who fought for love, the wronged lord who might’ve changed everything. His legend would grow precisely because he never got far enough to disappoint anyone...though Rhaegar died early enough to avoid public failure, he still managed to let down the only people he was actually responsible for...

Rhaegar is considered a potentially good king not because of anything he actually governed,it’s all about who he’s being compared to. While he was alive, they compared him to Aerys.After he died, they compared him to Robert.Two of the worst kings in Westeros history,and against them, Rhaegar will always come out as “the good king who could have been.”

He liked reading, playing the harp, and quiet contemplation—unlike his mad king father, who was violent and cruel. Naturally, people idealize him as a “cultured and enlightened ruler.” This contrast makes it easy to overrate Rhaegar without actually examining his actions or judgment. He didn’t need to actually do much of anything—just not being Aerys was enough to make him a god in the eyes of many. Many readers don’t evaluate him by the standards of a statesman, but rather through the lens of a romance novel protagonist—Tragic, melancholic, always seeming to carry some secret burden,he gives off that aura that makes you want to get close, to ease his sorrow for him. Readers mistake that emotional pull—the desire to comfort him, to believe in him—for proof that Rhaegar must have had a grand plan, that he knew exactly what he was doing and would’ve succeeded if only he’d had the chance. Some readers even treat his extramarital affair with Lyanna as a qualification for being a good king—as if a male character who isn’t toxically masculine or boring must naturally be fit to rule.

But did the books even mention a single concrete example of him making sound political decisions or showing leadership in state affairs? Winning a tourney and enjoying books can qualify someone to govern a kingdom? Of course not.A tourney proves skill in combat, not military strategy.A love of reading might suggest a poetic soul, but it doesn’t mean he had a coherent political philosophy,vision or statecraft. Ruling a realm takes strategic thinking, political savvy, organizational competence, and a deep sense of responsibility—not a good harp solo or a brooding stare.

Unfortunately, many people mistake “prince-like charm” for actual kingly ability. Even if Rhaegar had lived, I still wouldn’t see him as a good king. The fact that “dying early” is considered both his greatest political achievement and most devastating kind of defeat says it all.

You don’t even need to bother wondering what would’ve happened if Rhaegar had won at the Trident—because he was never going to win.The idea of him winning is so far-fetched, I’d write my name backwards if it actually happened lol.

[eldritch-spouse]

So I was wondering how would Kalymir react if his heir had a nightmare and went into his room? Sorry, this is weird and kinda dumb, also your my favorite writer, and I hope you're doing well!

[I'm your favorite writer?? 🥺🥹 *sniff* ooOough-]

Sometimes Kalymir wonders if having you involved in the process of raising his heir is a good idea.

You teach them human weakness, something they absolutely must not have if they ever wish to take the throne, to maintain it. Offering them a different perspective is something he can appreciate, but when that same perspective softens the character of his child, the demonlord can't help grow anxious.

The worst possible outcome would be an heir that is too soft for Wrath. Something Kalymir drills into your head whenever you seem to be imparting too much "flowery shit" into your own child's mind.

This has created many a conflict between you, but he's glad that you don't just pipe down, he likes it when you scream right back and throw yourself at him about your rights as a mother. That's good, you need to keep that spirit. At the very least, you've accepted that your child is the son of a Lord of Wrath, and their nature will always seem "callous" to you. They love you, they just don't show you that the way a human child would.

Nevertheless, it still falls onto Kalymir to correct some of the culture you impart. Like the "beast under the bed" story, for example. He chewed you the fuck out for that one when he found out the kid was sleeping anywhere except in their room as a result. An heir fearing their own territory?! What madness!

Kalymir wasn't asleep when he heard the tap tap tap of his child's footsteps across the halls. They open the door to the bed chambers and stand quietly in the darkness.

" WHAT. " Kalymir turns to them.

They may try to hide it, but there's no concealing the slight tremor of their limbs, and the tail tucked between their legs.

" Where is mom? "

" WITH ROCH. "

His heir makes to leave without another word, but he slams a foot down.

" DON'T WAKE YOUR MOTHER. SHE NEEDS UNINTERRUPTED SLEEP. "

The child looks confused and uncomfortable now, clearly seeking you specifically for this. Kalymir would be rolling his eyes. As is, he gets off the bed and passes by his own kid in the halls. Although they are growing fast, something pleasing to the King, they can barely keep up with their dad's massive footsteps.

" COME ON, SQUIRT. "

They do, visibly confused.

" Father- "

" NIGHT TERRORS AGAIN. "

The halfling puffs their cheeks, their hair standing. " NO! That's stupid- "

" YOU SCREAM IN YOUR SLEEP, KID. " He chuffs like an irritated bull. " YOUR MOTHER'S LULLABIES WON'T FIX THAT. "

The future ruler of Wrath deflates, not quick witted enough to deflect the truth.

" Where are we going? "

Kalymir puffs his chest, something the kid immediately mimics.

" THE TRAINING GROUNDS SERVE MANY PURPOSES. "

Fortunately, the King can't see his own progeny mutely huff and roll their eyes when their dad starts blabbering on.

" THEY KEEP YOU SHARP. THEY KEEP YOU HEALTHY. THEY MAKE YOU POWERFUL... AND THEY QUIET THE MIND. "

The two arrive upon the first combat room, a rather basic one, with no objects to be used mid-fight, aside from the weapons available for each fighter's choosing. This is a routine the heir is already well-adjusted to, casually standing on the tips of their toes to reach their favored dagger, while Kalymir simply stands on the "field" with nothing but his own body.

" Come on dad, I've already trained today- "

" OPEN THOSE FUCKING EARS. "

He rapidly tears one of his own spiked growths out of his shoulder, hurling it at the child with a speed that would likely give any normal mother a heart attack. However, that small body very easily jumps out of the way, trying to use their own father's size against him when they weasel around his great form and attempt to slice his legs.

To no avail, not only is Kalymir's skin much too hardened to be slit by a mere dagger, they fail to take his tail into account, getting a blunt blow to the midsection and rolling away in pain.

" SECOND TIME YOU FORGET THE TAIL NOW. " The Icon tuts, snorting at their whining child.

" Fuck you, old fart... "

" DID YOUR MOTHER TEACH YOU THAT ONE?! "

The kid only shows their tongue in a taunt before crawling to their side of the room again.

" LISTEN TO ME. WHEN YOU WAKE IN THE NIGHT BECAUSE OF YOUR OWN MIND'S COWARDICE, YOU COME TO ME AND WE SPAR. "

The princus blows hair out of their face and adopts an offensive stance.

" YOU WILL SLEEP LIKE A FUCKING BABY TONIGHT, YOU'LL SEE. "

He can't help but smile when they simply shriek and sprint towards him as fast as their tiny body allows.

Kalymir's going to rub it right in your face when those nightmares all but disappear.

[moonlit-imagines]

Headcanons for being ex-HYDRA and Bucky being your mentor

Bucky Barnes x teen!reader

warnings:

a/n:

prompt: @marvelflame2010: “Hello, can you write headcanons for Bucky Barnes being a mentor to a teenager (around 15-16) that was ex-HYDRA and is trying to be a hero? read your request rules, so I hope that this is proper. Thank you!”

sometimes it felt like no one knew what you had went through, being abducted and forced to be a weapon for a secret organization whose purpose was to gain more control

but when you met these avengers, it felt like everyone and their momma knew what it was like

bucky barnes, for example

the winter soldier, a WWII soldier deemed missing in action, presumed dead, and happened to be a prisoner of war and beyond

the experimentation and mind control he endured was much like your own, which gave you some comfort

“does it ever feel weird hearing one of your trigger words as a civilian? you know, now that we got ‘reset?’” -you

“not…no, not really? who’s speaking russian around you, y/n?” -bucky

“uh…i mean, no one. i’ve just been watching a lot of russian tv recently” -you

“why would you naturally assume i am also doing that?” -bucky

“why did you assume i didn’t?” -you

ok, thats not the greatest example of bucky mentoring you, but it’s a great example of sarcastic bickering!

honestly, the hardest part was learning how to be gentle again

if you could even say you were ever gentle to begin with being taken so young

it was hard to be so ruthless and unfeeling and have to start feeling

the nights of panic and anxiety were the worst, they made you wish you had that switch in your mind still. you’d whispered the trigger words to yourself sometimes to see if they were still there and if they could “help” you turn off those feelings

but bucky knew. he knew and he learned and he stuck with you

“y/n, those feelings are good” -buck

“no! no, they’re not. why are you saying it’s good to feel bad? i can’t breathe! i can’t think!” -you

“because you have feelings now. it’s the same as when you’re happy. you get to feel happy, it comes with all that other stuff. you have options, opportunities, this is one of them. you just have to take deep breaths” -bucky

combat training was the strangest feeling

“nope. too hard” “pulling your punches now” “your aim there was lethal” “you can’t put that much force into a chokehold” “cutting someone’s finger off isnt cool, y/n. kind of a dick move” “you automatically try to inflict severe injuries, arteries should not be the go-to. disarm your enemy first, if anything”

nothing ever felt right

if you were fighting effectively, you’d risk killing someone, which isn’t what you do anymore

if you held back too much, you’d be injured or killed, and all this would be for nothing

there had to be a sweet spot, but it was never what you were trained for. you were trained to eliminate your targets by any means

but you understood bucky all the same

bucky was there to help you acclimate to the norm too

like, whatever that was

says the guy with the metal arm and fought in world war ii despite the fact it was now like. 2020-something

like a normal ass diner

“you know, i rarely ever got to go out to eat as a kid” -bucky

“can you ever say something that doesn’t make you sound ancient?” -you

“hey, you wanna pay for your meal tonight or do you want me to?” -bucky

“sorry…” -you

you liked to watch dumb tv shows (the american kind) with him

he’d indulge for a few minutes and then walk off unless he was REALLY interested

actually, he really enjoyed the office

“which avenger would each character be?” -you

“don’t…don’t make me do that” -bucky

“come on! you know, i kind of think phyllis and bruce are alike. like, theyre soft until they get mad and then all bets are off” -you

“that is…dumb” -bucky

sam really loved that bucky was there for you

but he saw that bucky was kind of doing it to distract himself too

“you know, me and steve found bucky just minding his business a while back. all he wanted then was to be alone, mind his business. this? this was what he needed” -sam

“what? a teenage hydra defector?” -you

“i mean, if youre gonna put it that way” -sam

“no, i get what youre saying” -you

steve actually didn’t come up too much, you know?

you thought bucky was trying to keep himself in the present as much as he could

which was what you were trying to learn from him in the end. how to move forward

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[nortsauce]

I love all the fun and unique ways you draw fanart of characters from ace attorney (and other things) but my favourite detail by far is you giving Maya purple eyes.

It really ties her whole design together super well, given it's her main colour, and I assume that's why you draw her with purple eyes, plus it's also just a cool eye colour in general.

OMG I GET TO TALK ABOUT MY LEAST/MOST FAVORITE THING EVER: COLORS!!!

One thing that many ppl realize about me is that: i have a VERY short attention span. I get lazy when things take too long, even if i enjoy it!

SO! When designing each character in my style, i like to make it so they are easy to color bc it’s so tedious to me, especially cus i make animations and comics rather than full pieces!

This means that all the colors match to SOME OTHER thing on them!

BUT!!! Theres MORE to it! Bc despite my love for ease and swift-art? I LOVE SYMBOLISM EVEN MORE!!!!

These two for example: Have eachother’s color palette match something on the other’s!

All of the mother kids have the same red or yellow or blue on them! Save for claus who has a cyan to differentiate him from the actual protagonists, yet still being a form of blue because. well.

Do I have an hour to explain?

Lol anyways I do this with every character like as far back as when I was in Madness Combat. Hell when I first Joined the Good Omens fandome too!