#some of you reveal you don’t ACTUALLY care about the I-P conflict

[jynersq]

i beg western liberals to think for a single fucking second before making sweeping statements about how any random israeli citizen deserves to die because of their government’s horrific actions. two seconds, maybe. if you’re a usamerican, maybe reflect on the unspeakable brutality of the bush era a little. you’ll get there.

[twilightmalachite]

2×2 - Grown-Up Situation 4

Author: Akira

Characters: Yuuta, Hinata, Anzu

Translator: Mika Enstars

"He actually made 2wink shine, unlike other people who are nothing but talk."

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Season: Winter

Location: Meeting Room

Yuuta: …And so, those in the faction who want to disparage Anzu-san are trying to get YamadaP appointed in her place.

Hinata: There’s talks about bringing in a well-known independent agency from the field to ES and make them the head of P-Association, huh?

And transfer the power and authority Anzu-san currently has over to YamadaP.

Yuuta: Well, it might become a hot topic. It’s an undeniable fact that YamadaP is competent, I have a feeling it’ll change the way we see the P-Association, which is currently being laughed at.

He actually made 2wink shine, unlike other people who are nothing but talk.

Hinata: Watch your words… Why have you turned into such a bad kid, Yuuta-kun?

Yuuta: I’ve been like this for a while, though? Wasn’t it just everyone else who misunderstood me?

I just realized that it’s impossible for others to understand me even if I kept quiet, so I decided to not hold back anymore from revealing my true feelings.

I don’t care if I’m hated for it. It’s better than being slowly chopped to death.

Hinata: … …

Yuuta: Well, whatever. Maybe I just don’t get it, but what do we have to do with this unsightly P-Association infighting?

I don’t want us to get involved in this~, can’t you idiots just squash each other instead?

Hinata: I told you, watch your words, your words…

Anzu-san said that since there’s no point in fighting forever, they decided to settle with a match.

A production showdown between AnzuP and YamadaP.

Yuuta: Sounds fun, adults.

Hinata: Better than a never-ending internal conflict that could lead to violence—I mean, it sounds pretty healthy.

Yuuta: Anyways, we 2wink have been chosen for the production showdown’s material.

Hinata: We’re the balls being used in a ball game.

We seem to be the only idols that Anzu-san and YamadaP have both produced—

Yuuta: As an external producer, YamadaP doesn’t seem to have much involvement with ES idols.

I guess that means we’re convenient~. Well, I do feel that in terms of how long we’ve known each other, Anzu-san has a bit of an advantage.

But, YamadaP has spent more time working as a producer, right? Meaning his experience and track record are on a whole different level.

Hinata: I guess those reasons are why they felt we would make suitable “balls”.

I sound like you saying this, Yuuta-kun, but adults seriously are always making selfish decisions without knowing it.

Yuuta: As usual, our autonomy is not taken into consideration, isn’t it?

Hinata: Right, right, do we get anything out of going along with this mess?

Yuuta: Hm, hm… Eh, for real?

Yuuta: Really… From now on, we’ll be able to have our very own brand-new weekly name-sake program during prime time?

Hinata: I wonder if that’s what the Vice Prez was referring to when he called it a “large job offer”.

That program—2×2, will be produced alternatingly by Anzu-san and YamadaP.

Yuuta: And then, you’ll compete for viewer ratings, or something?

Hinata: As of right now at least… It seems the program’s scheduled to air a total of 12 times for a season, meaning Anzu-san and YamadaP will be in charge of 6 each.

The total ratings earned for those 6 sessions will be compared, the winner being who has the highest.

Yuuta: Ahaha, isn’t this just some game?

Just what do these oh-so-hard-working people think of the work they do as?

Hinata: I think it’s good and easy to understand. Also, Anzu-san and YamadaP will be in charge of the first and last episodes respectively, which are the most likely to get large viewership ratings.

Yuuta: It kiiiinda feels like they’ve made a solid plan already, somehow… If we refuse the request, the whole thing will just fall apart, is that really alright?

But if we say no, then I bet some other idols will just be put in our place… Honestly, there’s probably millions of them out there ready to toss us aside and replace us.

Hinata: Hmm. And it's true this is a disproportionately huge job, where turning it down isn’t really an option.

I’m willing to take it on, if anything. It sounds like it’d be a little interesting, and I think it’d be beneficial to 2wink too.

So Anzu-san, there’s no need for you to do anything like kowtow.

Yuuta: We’ve been used to being swung around to other people’s conveniences for a while now.

You can apologize now and say that you’re sorry for causing us trouble, but all I can say is if you’re going to apologize, then don’t do it in the first place.

Hinata: I’m still concerned about how you phrased that, but… Well, that's how it is.

We’ll cooperate with you the best we can, so don’t look at us like that—okay, Anzu-san?

We owe both a lot to you and YamadaP, so it doesn’t bother us, although we can’t just pick a side.

Yuuta: I suppose that’s why we were chosen. Any other ES idol—Especially those from Yumenosaki, are likely to have a bias towards Anzu-san.

Where if it were us, who don’t really have favor towards one side or another, it’ll make for a fair game, right?

Hinata: Right. So, well, it’s hard to not want Anzu-san to win, but we’ll do our best as professionals!

It seems to be somewhat of a troublesome position for Anzu-san, too…Well, do your best.

As a producer.

And we, too, will do our very best as idols, with pride.

[ ☆ ]

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[worldofgoo]

ask prompt from a few days ago im answering late because ive been out. ty @divinerevelation !! and these are the prompts im using. uhh it turned out long so watch out

(im answering this for my oc cobalt, you can see pictures of him in his tag on my blog)

🍎 [RED APPLE] Who does your OC value above all else?

As he exists right now, nobody at all really? It’s basically the conceit of his character that he’s closed himself off from any social connection and just lives in his own little world focusing on his work mostly. I guess I could say “himself” but he also doesn’t really take his own agency very seriously, but I guess he does take care of himself which does indicate some level of value he places in himself.

He will undergo changes as the story progresses but I’m always very uncertain and conflicted on the story so... can’t really answer accurately for that right now.

🥭 [MANGO] What colours best represent them and why? Does this differ from their favourites? 

Bluueeeeee:3 All my ocs are color coded in my head, but I lean really hard into it for the main cast of this story, each one being one of the 6 main colors of the color wheel. Have had various thoughts about what those colors could mean symbolically, esp their placements relative to each other, but ultimately I think it’s mostly about the associations I have for them in my head.

Mostly I kind of see blue as a distant cousin to purple? Purple is My color, and I give it to a few of my faves/self inserts. But I kind of view Cobalt as kind of a “hue shift” of like, myself and my personality? If that makes any sense. He is definitely Blue. Like deep intense screen of death blue. I guess it happens to line up with the view of blue = sad but he isn’t exactly sad just kind of... closed off? His coping mechanisms leave him fairly comfortable in day to day life. And I think I also value this shade of blue for its intensity and he doesn’t lose the association when he opens up more, meaning its associations aren't always negative.

Is it also his favorite color? I kind of like the idea of it being assigned to him by chance (happening to have blue items, being assigned a blue uniform, things like that) and he just became accustomed to it and often has blue things out of habit. I don’t know what he would consider his “favorite” color if he had to choose? I assigned him pink the other day bc it matches well with blue lol.

🍈 [MELON] If they had to be put into a box, what box would it be and why? 

If you mean box trope-wise, I think he would be most apparent as like, “asshole with a heart of gold”? Like he’s distant and treats people coldly but when push comes to shove he will act on his actual morals and values, which is that people shouldn’t suffer, so if he actually believes he has a way to help somebody he will.

At one point when I made this story I wanted all the characters to be presented as one trope and then get revealed to actually be the opposite (like idk it turns out that while he acts like he hates people he is actually a bleeding heart), but I kind of realized that I was trying to reinvent the wheel when those kinds of tropes and archetypes have been done hundreds of times. Though I am still intending to add some level of irony, I guess, to his characterization along those lines I just don’t think it necessarily excludes him from still being fairly identifiable as following a specific set of archetypes.

This could of course change in practice, but those are my thoughts on it right now at least.

🥝 [KIWI FRUIT] How does their outside appearance differ from who they are? 

His outward appearance is very dispassionate and inexpressive, and people who see him generally assume that he is annoyed or pissed off with them, which is an impression he doesn’t make any efforts to dispel. I think there is a certain percent of the time where he is genuinely annoyed with people, but a lot of the time, he just kind of looks like that and is just vibing. I think the biggest thing that people don’t expect about him is that he’s actually fairly observant and listens to the conversations around him and notices things about people, which can lead to him being interested in people’s problems even if he never gives voice to it.

I think what adds to people’s assumptions about him is also the way he dresses, which tends to lean towards formal/practical. I always draw him with a white lab coat which would definitely make people assume he is doing some kind of Science Stuff but I’ll be honest I don’t know if he’s usually wearing that, lol. But even then it’s often some kind of uniform or work wear. He also ties his hair back which I think in the cultural context also makes him seem kind of formal/businesslike? Basically he comes off as very serious-looking and like he’s very busy and put together, which I guess aren’t altogether inaccurate. He takes a lot of pride in his work and spends most of his time thinking about it and he likes to keep things neat.

🍆 [EGGPLANT] How are they used by others? How easily are they tricked into this?

So.... hm. He knows very well that his life isn’t really under his control. But I think that there are subtle ways where he is still being manipulated to continue to feel that way. I know that’s vague I’m not sure how to explain it without coming off as pretentious or stuff but its like. The System and all that.

The thing is though, while he always goes on about accepting his place in the world and how ultimately all he can do is follow the path that’s expected of him, he has this kind of like, understated rebellious streak? Like he isn’t loyal to the Evil Space Government he is very stubborn about doing what HE wants when he can get away with it.

Like I realize I view him as like a hacker type guy which I think is interesting considering all his other characterization being all about his apathy about the way things are and how he can't change it, but then here he is doing super skilled and illegal #rebel shit basically just, for shits and giggle lol. Kind of tangential at this point but it's relevant to how he doesn't actually let people control him as much as he maybe tends to assume he does. In general he doesn't like being tricked or doing things he doesn't want to do and tries to be as informed as he can even if he still does ultimately get mislead and lied to just because he had no way to know otherwise.

[lemonmatronics]

I cannot hold it in any longer—

I have been having so much fucking Brainrot over Bluster’s family line and I like, CANNOT stop thinking about them and need to get the brain puddle out there

I’m fully convinced that basically everyone that was ever leader has some sort of sibling issues going on or at least some baggage that they make an attempt to cover up. And because they cover it up it just repeats every single time

Keep in mind that literally every single bit of this is based off NOTHING and I am literally just making it up, but I LOVE royal drama sooo :P don’t be shocked

Anyways I believe that old dead Bluster isn’t the only look-a-like here and that he had a sister. You already know where I’m going with this. Doubt she had the same name though, obviously.

So Robbie Lookalike is the older sibling of the two and next in like for leadership. In fact she actually does have a brief reign that doesn’t even get to last a year. Her plans as leader to attack and once in for all destroy the Care Bears, as their conflict is only growing.

Dead Bluster believes this is the worst way to handle this, and tries to plead with her to stop these plans, fully believing all out war could destroy their entire society. (Which for the time,, yeah. They’d get cooked) But she does not listen, shaming him for not wanting to defend his people.

Conflict only rises before between the two until Dead Bluster feels like he has no choice. He has to keep her from attacking the bears.

The fight between older sister and younger brother breaks out. Neither of them wanted death. Despite the fights and disagreements, they both still loved each other. But in both of their eyes it was now down to one life vs the many, and only one remained.

A week later the peace treaty was signed.

Fast forward further into the future, two twin girls are born. The patterns on their fur fitting each other like gloves.

Their family so happy to have Nad and Mona both. But as twins, only one could take the throne while the other was left behind. A mere backup.

As they grew up Nad was the more proper of the two sisters, keeping composure when needed and handled things with smarts. Mona, however, was not like her sister. She did not want to learn what was already known, she looked for things to discover. The nosey child never knew when to stop pushing for answers.

Nad was the one chosen to be trained and cared for as their future leader while Mona was pushed away into the shadows. Praise be the child prodigy to one day lead them, Mona couldn’t even feel jealous.

At first she was thrilled at the news, happy her sister would take the burden of ruler instead of her. But as the family pushed her way further into the dark, she only found more. Answers to questions she never asked, faces of the dead revealed to be liars.

If they had cared enough to keep her occupied she never would have found that room. Hidden behind the walls, door covered to look as if it never existed.

She did not tell a soul what she saw for years.

Everything inside was burnt to a crisp, almost everything was ash and charred. She could only identity two items. The large, framed, shredded painting that laid flat on the ground. The wood work around the unrecognizable portrait all to similar to the ones used for the portraits of for her family’s royal line.

As she lifted the dusty, charred image, she found a folded note underneath. Protected by the destroyed painting.

Her family noticed the sudden change with her, none of them understanding why Mona suddenly insisted that she was better fit to rule. Her sister being bombarded with the demand to break the peace treaty the second she was in charge.

Nad didn’t understand why her sister wanted this, she never gave a reason, she only commanded her sister either do as she says to hand over her entire future.

Both demands that Nad refused to meet. As calm as she was, she was no coward. She would not give up everything she worked for for something her sister wouldn’t even explain her reasoning.

But how could Mona speak up?

She would simply be erased too.

Years went by like this, closer and closer to the day Nad would be announced as their new ruler.

Nobody knew why it was Mona that showed up that day. Nobody knew where Nad had gone. Despite the fact she was one step closer to completing her goals, Mona did not smile once that day.

The new queen was not stupid, she realized over the time of her waiting for the throne, that her people were not suited for a war. Only the ones with the same blood as her had powers. And as cruel as they may be, they were not fighters. The Bear’s magic was too strong.

Mona ushered in an new era of progress. She poured everything she could into the technological progress of her home, to utterly fantastic success.

Harnessing bad seeds into a source of magic, using bad vibes themself to power their entire society, weapons galore being created as she funded almost all of it.

It was perfect. Everything she wanted it to be. Creative minds all across the bad crowd creating machines and finding discoveries that would not only help them with war, but the basic living of her kind as well.

Within mere years everything changed for the bad crowd. And she did not see the finale of it.

Mona did not get to break the peace treaty herself, murdered beside her husband before her plan came to fruition.

However, as boss, it was the very first thing her son did.

[rivangel]

Real question, but ignore if it's bothersome or makes you feel uncomfortable or too personal.

Would Levi date/love you in real life or even in canon world? Like with how you have such a strong way of understanding him so fucking well I honestly LOVE how you interpret him as he would be in different situations, you know this answer best.

Again, if this makes you upset or uncomfortable to think about please ignore! I'm just a curious person.

thisss post is p personal so if you dont care about me as a person dont read😭 /gen

(I’m asexual so definitely not in real life. even if i didn’t know who Levi was and he was just There, iiii wouldn’t feel any attraction, or at least not nearly as much as with him being fictional. idrk how to explain it)

putting aside all the reasons i wouldn’t survive the canon world (💀), iiii really don’t know? i cant decide? mostly because of the personality disorder so i really can’t tell u what i’m like :| i get obsessed when someone tells me i’m actually really intimidating or funny for examples bc i didn’t know. or shy, bookish, excitable etc etc idk about any of it.

but enough about psychology. i used to be a really clingy person who couldn’t be by myself basically ever lmao, but i’m the exact opposite now. Levi would notttt like a clingy partner, or someone who needs him in order to stand on their own. he’s fiercely independent, and so he would need someone who’s his equal in that regard. yeah that’s me

i kind of kin levi💀 all the shitload of abandonment issues and trauma? check. will sooner eat glass than ask for help? check check. cant read social cues, all the emotional expression around others of a brick wall (unless i’m masking)? check check check.

and i feel like Levi would get along with someone who has experienced to some extent his kind of pain. in other words someone bubbly but especially innocent in any regard is not someone he’d get along with romantically. (so i pass that one.)

i’m kind of an intellectual too? you don’t necessarily need to be smart, but you should function a lot on logic and being inquisitive or introspective. same as him. so me.

Levi would have trouble with someone who lives with their heart on their sleeve or lets emotions guide all their choices. he’s badddd at emotions, wouldn’t be able to return that energy and wouldn’t know what to do with it all. he’d get overwhelmed. iiii don’t know which one i am sooooo… undecided.

seeing how Levi is so awkward and aloof as a person, he’d want to be around someone who’s notttt like that with their close friends / people they love. same reason Levi especially gets along with people like Furlan and Isabel, Erwin, and Hange. all extroverts in varying ways. i’m extremely fucking awkward but with ppl close to me i’m definitely more of a Hange or Isabel type💀 so that’s good at least. as Levi’s partner, being very reserved, defensive or shy wouldn’t go anywhere.

also similar to Levi, i stuff down basically all my emotions until i pretty much explode. i don’t really know how to decipher my feelings or what they mean. i don’t think that’s a significant factor to having chemistry with him, but it’s worth mentioning. about Doing Emotions, Levi doesn’t seek out support with his emotions, and in fact he wouldn’t want that. he would prefer your feelings for each other, and the things you each do to protect, comfort, or be there for each other understood. his partner doesn’t need to be the same as him, but it’s good they understand that. we'd be very comfortable with each other in that regard.

also same as Levi, i just avoid everything that upsets me in the moment, and can be immature or petty at signs of conflict. Levi is an extremely mature person, but he isn’t someone who’s emotionally intelligent, and he’s a sensitive character. thus his first instincts when there’s been a misunderstanding or he feels a sense of one of his biggest fears - abandonment - he can’t bring himself to reveal that vulnerability, so he either deflects, gets petty, pulls away, or all three. taking that into account alone, me and Levi would be a disaster to say the least lmao. he needs someone who encourages him to confront the issue one way or another.

i’m not sure if i’m more calm or hotheaded, but i have insane anxiety and the worst anger issues ever. maybe that would fall into the category of “feral-ness” like Hange has to an extent. Hange is also an intelligent and logical character (i mean they’re a fucking scientist), which i relate to so i think i pass that. maybe.

i can stay calm in a fast-paced urgent situation. also important not just if i want to survive in the aot world (i wouldn't anyway probably), but that's important to Levi. alongside strength (in the broad definition).

so my conclusion: OBJECTIVELY yeah.... maybe... if i live that long. but also we have a lot to learn about communication and getting over our own ingrained self-hatred/perceived worthlessness/fear of intimacy etc etc. Hange can be our couples therapist lollll

[oyasuminto]

mayhaps m!kylar with a bully!fem!pc where our soft yandere boy finally snaps and drags the pc in the school closet nd,, breeds her? and as much as she hates to admit it she got addicted to his cock and keeps dragging him in the same closet for a quickie? 🥵👉👈

It’s just too easy to pick on that creep. He’s so tiny that she can lift him clear off the ground and slam him into lockers, he flinches at every sudden movement, and he’s such a fucking crybaby.

Some may call her cruel, a bully, and they certainly wouldn’t be wrong, but it’s not like Kylar doesn’t deserve it, especially after a pair of her underwear disappeared from her gym locker. She may not have solid proof that it was him, but who else would be creepy enough to steal a girl’s panties!?

The way he reacts when she teases him in other ways just cements it; he shudders if she gets a little too close while threatening him, just a brief flash of her panties leaves him awkwardly tugging his hoodie down.

God, he’s a loser.

Is she playing with fire? Perhaps, she’s heard stories about that little freak pulling knives, but he’s way too much of a coward to actually do anything.

Right?

She doesn’t even notice the storage closet opening, nor the small hand reaching out, until she’s grabbed and pulled with enough force to send her to the floor.

The freak is grinning as he pins her wrists in place and secures them with a zip tie. She could probably break through the cheap plastic with ease, but a slowly approaching headache and the glimpse of a knife make her reconsider.

He’s just trying to scare her. That’s it. He’ll wave that shitty little pocket knife around, act all big, and then run away all terrified.

Just like he always does.

She tenses when the metal blade is held just inches away from her throat.

“Y-You’re so mean to m-me,” he mutters, “but i-it’s okay, I can f-fix that...”

There’s a loud rip sound, followed by a sudden coldness on her pussy.

The remains of her panties are tossed into the corner of the closet, and it’s only then that the bully really notices the lack of light in Kylar’s wide eyes.

No.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

She begins trembling and squeezes her thighs together, only for Kylar to pry them back apart and kneel between her legs, preventing her from trying again.

Kylar shushes her, two slender fingers forcing their way past her lips and pressing down on her tongue. “I n-need to teach you a le-lesson.”

He places his knife on the floor, blade still pointing towards her, and traces his now-free hand down her shaking body, over her breasts, stomach, and thighs, before finally dipping between and brushing against her pussy.

“You’re n-not a virgin, are you?” Kylar doesn’t wait for an answer before roughly thrusting a finger inside. “I’ve h-heard stories, seen t-things.”

She sniffles, trying to fight back tears. She can’t cry in front of the creep, can’t show him weakness. Maybe he’ll leave her alone if he realizes she won’t break.

“Still t-tight...” He’s talking to himself more-so than her, entirely enthralled in her pussy.

Christ, what a fucking virgin.

He withdraws his finger and licks it clean with a quiet moan. “...So sweet...”

With a lopsided grin, Kylar shoves his shorts down his thighs and pulls out his hardened cock, precum already leaking from the tip.

It’s bigger than she thought it would be.

The head of his cock rests against her pussy, threatening to penetrate.

He leans over her, forcing her knees against her chest and leaving her muscles burning. “Y-You’ll look beautiful f-full of my children.”

With that, he thrusts forwards, burying his entire cock inside of her.

Kylar’s movements are erratic, hips snapping against her ass as he watches every little change in her expression.

She hisses out something about it hurting, but the fingers in her mouth turn her words into nonsense gibberish. She doubts Kylar would care even if he could hear. The freak’s too far gone at this point.

His knife is still within his reach, one wrong move and the blade could end up buried in her chest. She wouldn’t put it past him, not when she’s realizing that the stories about him threatening people for the smallest things are all true.

Instead, she squeezes her eyes shut and pretends to be literally anywhere else. Pretends that Kylar isn’t whining and rutting against her.

But she can’t.

Every desperate thrust brings her crashing back down to Earth and slaps her with the reality that she’s trapped in a storage closet with some psychopath, one who seems intent on fucking his way into her womb, like some shitty hentai made for horny virgins who’ve never even seen a real pussy.

Of course he’d read that crap.

Her snarky thoughts are the only thing keeping her from breaking down, the sole thing keeping her sane.

“Gah!”

By some miracle, Kylar’s cock strikes that one bundle of nerves that has her seeing stars.

“Th-That feel good? Make...make that f-face again.”

He angles himself in just the right way to hit her g-spot again and again and again.

She can feel her eyes roll back and her body go limp. The sudden rush of pleasure mixing with fear and pain is too much for her brain to handle.

And her mind goes blank.

When she comes to, it’s just in time for Kylar to pull her down on his cock, allowing him to cum deep inside her pussy.

He’s breathing heavily as he straightens up and pulls out. It seems like only then that he realizes what he did.

“I’m...I’m sorry! P-Please don’t t-tell anyone!”

Then she’s alone.

She doesn’t even bother to clean the cum out of her pussy or check her locker for a spare pair of panties, instead heading straight to the school roof, where all the other delinquents hang out. Several of them notice how disheveled she is; hair tangled, shirt partially untucked, wrists bruised, gait awkward, but none comment on it.

Whitney looks her up and down with a snicker. “What? Did you get shagged on the way here?”

“Something like that,” she replies, snagging a cigarette from Whitney’s packet.

Whitney lightly shoves her and mutters something about owing them a smoke. She just gives a noncommittal grunt.

The next few days are unsettlingly normal, and she fucking hates it. As much as it disgusts her to admit it, Kylar hasn’t left her mind, and it’s not in that I’m-gonna-beat-the-fucking-shit-out-of-you way that she thinks about most perverts. She’s addicted, to that fucking freak’s cock. One rough fuck in a storage closet was all it took, and now she wants more. Just one problem;

Kylar’s back to running away with his tail between his legs.

She ends up having to threaten a few people to get him in the right place at the right time.

The greasy creep is trembling when she slams him into a wall, obviously expecting some kind of violent vengeance.

Instead, his lips are captured in a bruising kiss.

“You’re comin’ with me, freak.” Kylar doesn’t get a chance to respond before he’s being pulled by the collar of his shirt.

Any students present in the hall move out of the way, assuming that the resident outcast is about to get his ass beaten again.

She grins when Kylar is thrown on the closet floor, much like she had been. He’s whimpering, tears pricking the corner of his eyes.

“Quit bitching,” she says, straddling the petite boy, “you’re gonna shut the fuck up and let me cum, got it?”

Kylar doesn’t resist when she pulls his cock out of his shorts, but his eyes do widen when she lifts her skirt to reveal a lack of panties.

“Not such a big fuckin’ man now, huh?” She spits into her hand and uses it to lubricate Kylar’s cock. “You’re some loser virgin! It’s not fuckin’ fair!”

Her head falls back as the loner’s cock finally slips inside of her. Kylar’s hips are already trying to hump upwards, but she holds them down.

“You’re my toy, that means I call the shots.”

Kylar ends up leaving the closet with a limp, a luminescent blush, and some very conflicted feelings.

It becomes a dirty little secret between the two of them. She makes it clear that Kylar’s body will never be found if he tells anyone, and there’s not a chance in hell that she’ll admit to becoming addicted to that fucking loser’s dick.

She has to keep up appearances, of course, so Kylar’s still being shoved around like always, but now there’s an added layer of sexual tension to everything she does, and Kylar knows that he’ll get to empty his balls in a warm, fertile pussy at some point that day.

It’s an odd dynamic, but it works.

[nocek]

Don't spare us the long rant! We want to hear your thoughts!

Oh you are going to regret this ;P

So here goes my loooooooong angry rant about Taskmaster and also the Black Widow movie in general.

Let's start with my point of comparison. Captain America the Winter Soldier was a good movie. It's still in my top 3 Marvel movies as I'm sure is for many people. And statistically speaking everybody likes Bucky. He is like the most beloved side character right after Loki. I guess.

Anyway. My point is that Taskmaster and Winter Soldier have bit for bit the exact same building blocks: hypercompetent antagonist that is a serious threat to our hero who just can't win with in one on one combat. But then plot twist: our antagonist was just a victim and puppet without free will in hands of actual villain who is bland bureaucrat.

So why did Winter Soldier worked really really well and Taskmaster was just ehh.. ok?

Well the short answer is that catws was a much tighter movie that had clearer goal (and also that goal/theme was singular: good things get corrupted with time and sometimes you get to start over) compared to black widow which had to jump through too many hoops and still somehow managed it but it wasn't as graceful as it would be if they (as in executives) resigned from one or two hoops and flips and explosions.

And I'm omitting a BIG disadvantage of making a prequel movie about a character that they killed off in shitty way. Though that created one of extra hoops for them to jump through: quickly build up Yelena as a character.

And character build they did. Because srsly Yelena is awesome and I love her. BUT. That came at a price.

Lets compare to catws. The new character there is Sam (and kiiiiiiiinda also Natasha a bit but that's a topic for a different rant) who is nowhere near as well build as Yelena. At the beginning. Because he had time to be fleshed out and naturally grow in few different movies and then we got a deep dive in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

But Marvel can't give Yelena few movies because she will appear in Hawkguy an Hawkeye series and also Marvel is generally dividing their assets into: outer spaaaace, down to earth heros and magic stuff (aliens, androids and wizards ;P). But also they can only create so many things in a year.

So yeah. Yelena offtopic can be summarized that I love that we have her as we have her but it came at a cost of air time of the movie.

So comparing the movies again:

Catws had the theme of good things being corrupted with time. And the theme was underlined 3 times through Peggy, Bucky and then Shield/Hydra. Which are interconnected and also make nice scale from inner conflict of the main character to the outer conflict of the movie.

In Black Widow there is the topic of the past evil that never went away and is still taking away free will from people. And again we have it shown through 3 outlets: Yelena, Taskmaster and Black Widows. But there is also whole family subplot attached to Yelena and there is Red Room attached to Black Widows. So as you can see things are getting crowded. Which in turn make the theme a bit blurry.

I mean, sure, the Red Room should be the Shield equivalent. Even it could take smaller space because good Shield turns out to be evil Hydra is generally more time consuming to explain than Red Room bad. But still combining Red Room and Black Widows make things a bit crowded.

(There is a reason why the surprise subplot of there is more Winter Soldiers was in separate movie and was kinda handwaved and cut to minimum. But they couldn't do that here).

But it's time to stop my ranting about whole Black Widow movie and focus on comparing Taskmaster and Winter Soldier.

Because to be honest both are bare bones of character and more of an carte blanche in the movie. Both have barely any screen time yet there are colossal difference which stems out of:

first introduction: as I mentioned they are hypercompetent and unstoppable threat that you can't win with, you can only hope to run away (both done equally well)

programmable killing machine:

For Taskmaster we just get a scene with her watching other heroes fighting at the screen. For the sake of building up the mystery of character we think that "he" is just watching. Maybe learning or more likely just being creepy. The information about the chip and literal programming is given to us much later in the movie which makes this scene lose the power. idk how it will work on rewatch? Maybe better? Hopefully. right now there is too many new movies in cinemas to go for a rewatch and disney+ still isn't available here -.-

For Bucky we have literal torture scene. You just can't be more blunt than that. It also hammered the next point in.

there is human behind the mask:

Winter Soldier is introduced with full face mask which he gradually loses and then we have the big reveal of not only: that's a human but also that's a human our main hero cares about deeply.

With Taskmaster they fucked up it for chap plot twist. We are learning quite late that oh snap that's Antonia (that we don't really care about) and our main hero kinda feels guilty about her.

I think the big difference is what kind of character Steve and Nat are and also the way they reveal this secret. Steve actively recognizes Bucky by himself and is very openly shocked. Nat is passively told and shown that hey, this is Antonia. And there is no time in the movie for Nat (and for us) to be shocked because that's the 3rd act and we need time for explosions and stuff.

Besides, the problem is that all the big plot twist reveals are boring on rewatch (stil big props for Pacific Rim and giving us the monster reveal in like second minute of the movie, I will never not appreciate that).

Also on related shitty note. We the audience. Bucky is handsome and vulnerable and we can drool all over him (and oh man, we the fandom did a fair share of drooling). Antonia is disfigured and not sexualized in any way. Which I'm actually grateful for but there is no pretending that doesn't make a hell lot of difference. But that's a whole different, ugly and big topic I'm not remotely qualified to write about. I'm just angry ranting here.

they don't have free will:

For Winter Soldier we have amnesia + torture tropes which to be honest have been done over and over again and it shouldn't have worked as well as it worked. Bit it did. In context of Black Widow movie it worked because it was just one guy that actively broke through brainwashing with active help of the hero.

In Black Widow there is a lot of characters that are pasively "woken up" out of mind control over and over again by active protagonist. Unfortunately the repetition kinda cheapens it. Especially in comparison to main gut punch right in the feels scene in the other movie. Which is why it's not fair to compare the two.

So lets talk about lack of free will aspect itself. To be honest the mind control aspect in Black Widow was done really great from story perspective. Evil scientists perfected it to the point it being (bit handwavey but) completely impersonal but also completely dehumanizing to the subject. So I'm buying that it can be completely switched off in equally efficient and impersonal way. Even the way they explained it with Alexei the pig was great and terrifying... to a point. Because then kicked the main problem with this movie. Clearly some execs came and saw it and went whoa... that's too dark for pg13 blockbuster. Let's put some cheap jokes here. And it happens over and over again in this movie :S

humanizing flashback scene that ties them to main hero:

For Bucky, sure we had Captain America First Avenger but a movie needs to stand on it's own legs. That's why we have the flashback scene which shows us that Bucky cared about Steve. Leaving it at the narration in Smithsonian of "best friends since childhood" would be just telling us. And we needed to be shown and we needed a space for the "till the end of line" so it could come back and stab us right in the feels.

Also because we are ignoring previous movie Russos cleverly made us care about Winter Soldier because Steve cares about Winter Soldier. And we already know and like Steve so building up our main character gives us more mileage out of new bare bones character (because let's be honest, Winter Soldier is just that). Two birds one stone thing.

In Black Widow there is no such thing which IMHO is the main reason Taskmaster doesn't work. We just get information about cardboard cutout: insert cute little girl here (only told, not even shown actual cardboard) and all of the emotional connection to Natasha is: I know that my boss that I hate has a daughter, she got in the crossfire. Which means nobody cares.

All it would take is adding a short flashback scene. idk Dreykov is an asshole and doesn't care about Antonia but she is she cutest and most adorable little girl. She treats the Black Widows as older sisters. Hell if you want to make it more horrorish copy of the idea of Thor wanting to be a Valkyrie when he grows up or T'challa wanting to be a Dora Milaje. Little Antonia wants to be Black Widow when she grows up because they are badass and they are nice to her (and are also slightly confused by her) because she is nice to them and is only person that treats them as humans. Hell we could have short interaction between her and Nat. Just a smile between them would be enough.

You could get a lot of character buildup mileage out of such a short scene.

But it couldn't happen partially because the movie didn't have time for that but we didn't get that mostly because it would show us instead of telling that Nat killed a cute little innocent girl for her own personal gain. (well she thought she was destroying Red Room but mostly wanted to get away - vide she didn't check on Yelena or other widows. But I wouldn't hold that against her. It was put your oxygen mask first kind of situation. But still it would make her look bad)

Besides, that would take guts to actually show.

And technically they could have afforded to have that guts. That was last movie with Nat anyway. It would actually make this plotline about her feeling guilty about Dreykov's daughter and red in her ledger work. But well... It was last movie so they wanted to leave us with the most goodest and bleeding hartest and heartwarming mary sue version of Nat with just telling us without showing hey, she got dark past.

On the other hand if we had the rumored Endgame plotline of Nat running an orphanage. Damn that would tie to this plotline so well. We could tie the loose widows also. Dam we were robbed here I tell ya >.<

Ok I'm overdoing offtopic about Nat. Sorry

design

So yeah. Design wise Winter Soldier is like great. For Taskmaster, she sure looks cool but also kinda generic? If in 10 years you'd show me her and say it's antagonist from GI Joe or something I'll believe you :S (not touching the debate that in comics something something because unfortunately I don't know Taskmaster from comics. Although I hear that few recent ones were quite good so I'll check them out sooner or later)

snapping out of mind control

I mentioned before. It would be unfair and there is no point comparing main emotional scene of the movie versus means to an end that were repeated several times through a movie.

Natasha freeing Antonia even if she thought that Antonia will kill her because that would fair was great. What I'm annoyed is a cheap fakeout that went with that. It was just after the bombastic finale with explosions and all the cgi shit. Even without looking at the movie runtime it was obvious there will be no extra fight scene.

In catws it worked because the cgi pew pew extravaganza was a background noise and was part of a continuous fight. In BW helicarriers fell already, there was a second of dust settling and then Nat throws away the shield (uses that capsule). Tension just fell from highest place in a movie (quite literally lol), trying to rise it again for such a short moment just doesn't work.

But that's the general problem with Marvel movies. Bombastic CGI fest as grand finale that probably is "outsourced" and then actual director comes back and needs to end movie super quickly.

disappearing act at the end

So in catws there is mystery of what will Bucky do. We are given some hope since he dragged Steve out of river and visited the museum but thats all. I mean there is this annoying Marvel thing of skipping over the interesting ending of last movie and starting with next plot point. We were hoping for the grand roadtrip/hunt for Bucky but nope. We must run ahead with all the plotlines (same way I'm sure that the Spiderman is Peter Parker and he killed a guy thing will be already dealt with in the beginning of the next movie -.-) But that's bonus mini rant.

In BW they needed to wrap up to many plot lines too quickly so Antonia wakes up and that's all. We don't get a suggestion what she may do. The problem of the chip she still has installed is omitted. There is nothing. She just fucks off to lalaland with other Black Widows the end. Because we needed ending for Nat's actual family which was ok but also kinda rushed.

As I mentioned waaaay before (god, this rant is pretty long) too many hoops to jump through.

Which really sucks because if they added that one flashback scene just for Antonia and spared few more minutes for the overall ending it would work so much more better.

And I even know where they could have saved few minutes (besides the explosions thingies). The supply guy. One extra character in a movie with too many characters. In catws the supply problem (with wings) was solved with nbd shrug. If you wanted to show that Nat has her own web of contacts it should be more than one guy. IDK in Budapest there could be 10 second scene with neighbor saying hi nice to see you again we reinforced the walls after last time. In Norway we could see her visiting some special secret supply stash run by some rando before getting to the mobile home.

But oh she was on the run so that would be too many people. Then cut the people entirely. The shitty helicopter can be worked around with joke that I'm not on speaking terms with Stark rn and that's the best we can have on short notice.

Eh.. side rant again. Sorry.

So to wrap it up. I actually really would love to see what will happen with the loose Black Widows and Antonia because here they were really underdeveloped. And while widows were more of a group hero and we have Yelena as a representative so in a way it balances out but Taskmaster needed so little extra care to make her character so much better and I'm a tiiiiiiny bit salty about it.

[knivesareout]

marcus moreno sfw alphabet

About a week ago, @michaelperry messaged me and asked how I felt about collab’ing because she was having some soft Marcus feels and we’re always feeling soft about this man over here so now we have this! Hope y’all enjoy! Read it on AO3 here.

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A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

In both platonic and romantic relationships, Marcus is pretty affectionate. Whether he’s touching your arm reassuringly or offering an ear to listen to your problems, he wants to show you that he loves and cares for you. He sees it very much as coming out of his role as a leader—perhaps he can’t always be the one to fix things for you, but he’s intent on always showing that he supports you. And to his mind, affection is support.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

Friendships with Marcus would probably start out by sharing mutual interests, but he’s also definitely built some relationships out of little things: one-off jokes, being the only two people not in a conversation at a party, things like that. There’s an ease to Marcus that makes it easy to turn those moments of camaraderie into real friendship.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Marcus is a cuddler, through and through. It’s comforting and warm and gives him a sense of security and peace. A morning cuddle before getting up, one before falling asleep and anytime he can get his arms around you and just hold you. He’s an arms wrapped tightly, nose buried wherever he can find your skin kind of cuddler. And though Missy is grown, he’ll still find her laying her head on his chest and squeezing him tight.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

Marcus is the definition of domestic. Look it up in the dictionary and a picture of this man will be there beside it. Settling down is always something on his mind since his wife passed, craving the routine and feeling of sharing his life with someone. He cooks, cleans, and does laundry like a damn champ: sorting everyone’s clothes by colors and fabrics. He has his bedtime routine down to a science and loves seeing your toothbrush next to his when you finally take that next step.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

If your relationship with Marcus necessitates an actual break-up, things have gotten serious. Lives merging even if there aren’t rings on fingers sort of serious. So because he takes his serious relationships… seriously, he’ll tell you if he starts to feel like the relationship is going downhill. The two of you will be sharing a quiet night in and he’ll just open up and admit that he feels like things aren’t working as well as they used to.

Because of that, though, if he were trying to end things, you’d… know already. Either because things wouldn’t have gotten better, or because perhaps they got worse. And so it is that things would go out not with a bang, but with a whimper—him kinda sadly looking at you across the kitchen one morning and you being like, “Yeah, you’re right.”

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Marcus is in it to win it when he finds the right one. He hates the idea of wasting his time, your time, when he just knows. The idea of commitment only phases him in the way that he worries for Missy’s sake but he trusts that if something didn’t feel right, she would tell him. Marcus proposes after 6 months but gives you plenty of time to just be engaged, the ring on your finger being enough to tide him over because every time he sees it, he knows you’re his.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Let’s say that Marcus is gently assertive. Emotionally, he’s not going to steamroll you, but he always wants to make sure you know where he stands. To some degree, he feels like holding back too much is akin to lying, so he’s unafraid to say hard things even knowing that they might knock you over.

He’s plenty assertive physically, too, because in case it’s not clear from his love of cuddling, Marcus loves touch. But as a strange side effect of the Heroics, he’s particularly aware of how he’s touching when he’s not on the job. He’s careful about not wanting to get too intense (unless you want him to).

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Marcus loves hugs. He loves the simple intimacy of them—from a quick goodbye hug to something more emotional where you just collapse against his chest after a long day. And there is nothing like a hug from Marcus. His strong arms and broad chest envelop you in the safest, most comforting way. He’s warm without being hot, soft but sturdy. He can just tell when you need one too, holding his arms out when you give him a simple look.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

When Marcus knows, he knows. It only takes Marcus a few months to know—after he’s spilled every possible dark, terrible secret he has and you don’t look at him any differently. When he introduces you to Missy and though there’s a bit of hesitation at first, you two catch on like wildfire after the initial awkwardness. It’s when he can see how well you fit into his family, how easy it would be for him to make room in his life for you and he realizes he already has.

He says it after a typical night for the three of you, dinner and a movie that Missy’s picked out because it was her turn. After he’s tucked her into bed and comes down to find you putting on your shoes to head home. He tilts your chin up and says the words so easily, like he’s said them a million times before (and he has, over and over in his head when he looks at you) and asks you to stay.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Because touch is so important to him as a way of expressing his affection and desire for you, Marcus’s jealousy might get stirred a bit when he sees someone put their arms around you or a hand on your shoulder. He’s secure enough in your relationship that he doesn’t see things as a real threat, but yeah, he might let out a low, warning growl and pull you close, maybe kiss you on the cheek.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Marcus is soft and gentle at first, his lips a little chapped. He can’t bother to remember to pack chapstick with him because he’s busy.

He likes to kiss the spot under your ear that makes you shiver, then across your cheek to find your lips. It’s easy to lose yourself in his kisses, passionate and all consuming.

Marcus likes to be kissed right below the hollow of his throat, where a small freckle sits and he’s just a little bit more sensitive there than any other place above his shoulders.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Marcus is great with kids and always has been. He's gentle and patient with them, loves listening to their over the top stories full of gibberish and makes sure to nod in all the right places. Babies quiet their tears when he holds them because his hands are just comforting and strong, making them feel safe. When Missy came into his life, he was wrapped around her finger and she was a total daddy’s girl, reaching for him more than anyone.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Marcus wakes with the early dawn, liking to get in a run before he starts his day. He’s always downstairs before you are, freshly showered and drinking his morning cup of coffee with the paper. He can take a slow morning from time to time but you’re usually shoving him out of bed after 30 minutes or so, his fidgeting annoying. You don’t complain when he pulls you into the shower with him when you can’t manage to fall back asleep.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Nights are often unpredictable because Marcus’s days are unpredictable: the Heroics aren’t really dictated by “weekday” vs. “weekend.” Some days probably don’t look much different than an office job, but some days he’s having to do big important saving the world things. So the tone of your evening is often spontaneous, with the general sentiment of, “Oh, you didn’t have to save the world today? Hmm maybe we should go out for dinner or a movie.”

That said, finding time of any sort together can be difficult, so the two of you are often content to stay in and just keep things low key. Really enjoy each other’s company.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

You can expect a pretty steady stream of vulnerability from Marcus in the early stages of your relationship in particular. He won’t unload all of his baggage on you, certainly not at once, but he absolutely wants to share everything with you, and in his mind, being open about himself is crucial to showing how serious he is about you. The first cue that he wants you to really know him comes when he opens up about being a widower. It’s difficult, it’s personal and intimate to Marcus, but he also sees it as being inevitably impactful on your relationship, so he feels you need to know. Those are the sorts of things he wants to make sure to share sooner rather than later.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

Marcus Moreno? Legendary leader of a group of superheroes? He’s developed a very cool head from conflict mediation that carries over into most arguments or scenarios where his anger might be provoked.

But all of this goes out the window when Missy is involved. If Missy’s in danger, Marcus immediately jumps into protective dad mode, and his anger comes out full-force in an instant.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

Marcus is pretty detail-oriented in general, so he’s great at remembering things about you, but he especially internalizes things you share in moments of real vulnerability or while seeking out his advice. He wants to be able to check in about it later, or remember details so that when you bring them up again, he’s immediately on the same page.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

It’s easy for Marcus to remember the first time he really thought, “Wow, this is it. I want this.”

It was a spontaneous trip to the science museum downtown, you mentioning it off hand the night before after seeing a flyer up in the grocery store and Marcus booking the tickets before falling asleep. There was a science fair at school that Missy was dithering over whether or not to apply for and you figured a trip to the museum would give her that final push.

It was about half way through the museum when Marcus had realized he’d lost the two of you and he went searching through a few rooms when he found the both of you, bent over a robot and chatting about it excitedly. He watched you pull Missy into your side, squeezing her tight, and that’s when he knew.

Later that night, when you’re both nestled in bed with your head on his chest, you tell him Missy decided to sign up for the science fair.

He buys a ring the next day.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

Especially in the honeymoon phase of your relationship, Marcus goes on high-alert whenever you’re in a context that could even possibly be read as dangerous: even out at bars, he’s keeping an eye out for bad guys who might try to hit on you, not really as a jealousy thing but because he wants you to be safe. And God forbid you end up in possible danger because of a threat the Heroics are dealing with; as much as he doesn’t want to, he can’t help fretting over you in particular.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

Marcus likes to keep things casual unless it’s a special occasion and then he’s pulling out all stops: hotel booked, dinner reservations and a night all about you.

He definitely tries to lessen the burden of everyday tasks for you, or as much as he can manage while still juggling work. He makes sure he’s still pulling his weight and not leaving them to you just because you’re less busy.

Marcus is a random gift giver: I saw this and thought of you kind of gifts are his specialty, and they are always something that’ll make you less stressed. Like, when he overheard you complaining about the lack of storage in the pantry and the next day there was a box full of acrylic storage containers shipped to the house with a note attached that read, “Until I can build you something better, I hope these help.”

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

There are a few bad habits of Marcus’s that drive you wild (like leaving the toilet seat up when he’s in a hurry or the sink covered in his beard trimmings when he forgets to lay a towel down), but the absolute worst is when he clips his toenails and leaves the clippings wherever they land.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Marcus doesn’t really care what the average person on the street thinks of him, but he cares very much what Missy thinks, and also what you think. With Missy, it’s more that sometimes he enjoys messing with her, just a little bit. Wearing a tacky pair of shoes or a goofy t-shirt if he knows that she’s in a good enough mood to just be giggly and embarrassed about it. You, on the other hand… Well. He wants you to be into him in every way, so he cares. Of course he does.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

When Marcus became a widower, Missy became his “other half.” He put so much love into her, wanting her to feel safe and supported after their shared loss, and part of that is because he did feel like his wife made him whole. At a time when everything was hard, when he easily could have felt incomplete, being there for Missy meant everything. That was where he allowed himself to feel whole.

But after feeling that ache and that loss for a while, he does start to give himself permission to look for a new kind of wholeness, because while he’s been able to be there for Missy, obviously he needs someone who could support him so completely. And it’s hard and maybe a little frightening at first, when he starts to find that in you, but he also knows that he can’t live scared about really, truly loving again even if that could mean also feeling incomplete again later. Even if he might feel incomplete without you… well. Instead he’ll lean into how fucking much he loves feeling whole with you.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

Introducing you to his mother is just as big a step for Marcus as sharing you with Missy for the first time. And look, it’s… honestly, it could have gone better. The two of you had to rush over because Marcus got held up saving the world, and he figured that Anita would understand since obviously she was a part of the Heroics too, in her own way. But wow, was it rough. She was short with you both and whenever you spoke, her responses were short and abrupt. Marcus left that night incredibly perplexed, swearing that wasn’t anything like her.

You had suspicions to the contrary, which are confirmed a few weeks later over your fourth dinner together. Marcus and Missy go into the kitchen together to get dessert sorted, and Anita leans her elbows sternly on the table to ask whether you see things with Marcus as permanent. Besides Marcus, she’s the first person who knows the answer is yes.

The two of you get along wonderfully, after that.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Marcus isn’t into big, outward displays of physical affection. He doesn’t mind a kiss to the cheek or a hand around the waist but he detests seeing people make out in public and it makes you laugh every time he sees it happen when you’re out, wrinkling his nose and turning away.

Also big on personal hygiene, he’s big on his morning showers after his run. He’s overly aware of his own body odor, and others’, and likes to make sure he smells good (which he does). It, in turn, makes you more alert to your own so more often than not, you’ll jump in the shower with him just to make sure.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

Marcus does the morning crossword puzzle from the paper every night in bed, glasses perched low on his nose while you read a book next to him. He sleeps on the right and you sleep on the left. He has to have the ceiling fan running and the temperature set to 65 or lower to be able to sleep comfortably since he runs warm.

[bombyxluna]

Omega Mammon X GN!Human MC 

This is more of an intro to the series, which is why is a lil bit longer and more explanatory.

We’re here to break sub gender norms! 

I don’t know how many parts this will have but I want it to be angsty.

No NSFW yet :P

CW: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Talks of heats/ruts/sub genders

The Devildom is, for a lack of a more fitting word, strange. Though, you suppose, being surrounded by demons should be. 

There’s too much you don’t understand still. Three months have passed since you arrived - or were kidnapped? the jury is still out on this one - and it feels like an eternity of time and too little all the same. 

Demons, as it turns out, have very different customs and rituals from humans. So do angels. You are in the least thankful for the classes, but every other student in them seems well versed in the basics, while you float about unsure of what’s happening. Hell, even Luke knows more than you, and he hates demons. Not to mention he’s a child. Double low blow. 

The classes would be going a little bit better if you only had time to actually study for them. Though you do suspect that Diavolo doesn’t actually give a shit about grades and this entire school is a mockery to appease his peaceful plans, you're still stuck in what’s basically hell and having to go to what’s basically hell’s undergrad school. Great. 

The least you can do is prod around for some demon knowledge. You know, just in case. Because things are getting weirder by the day, and sometimes it feels like it’s all an ongoing inside joke you’re not really a part of.

Also, because of them. 

Living with demons wasn’t exactly unexpected, but living with the Seven Rulers of Hell - well, six of them, was. 

Despite initial impressions, you’re quickly figuring out there’s more to each of them than the public eye could see. Something lurking below their perfectly crafted personas, that is reserved only for the ones in close proximity to them. Only for family.

You’re not family, but you’re definitely in close proximity. 

It’s easy to tell how much they hide behind masks. Lucifer, as far as everyone else knows, it’s the always serious and stern big brother that will never crack a joke or play around. The entire foundation of that statement could be torn down with one single picture you had, of him playing with Cerberus. 

Leviathan, despite actively trying to kill you over a book series since - no, you’re not over it - is more than the shut-off otaku who is otherwise known as the Admiral of the Devildom’s marine. He is also clumsy and shy, and he goes on tangents about what he likes, and he is friendly. 

Satan, known as the hot-headed brother who has a tendency to overwork himself into humor changes and explosive arguments, is a reserved person, a cat lover, an erotica reader, and an absolute dork. 

Beelzebub, though he whines about food a lot, is far more than just the hungry brother who also happens to be a jock. He’s a carebear, a very attentive listener, has great movie recommendations, and an amazing cook. 

Asmodeus, who may look lust-driven and shallow to the onlooker, but is caring, a hopeless romantic, a good friend and brother, and even a little insecure. 

And then there’s Mammon.

At first, you didn’t know what to think of him. He acted high and mighty, too strung up in his high horse to look at a human such as yourself. When Lucifer put him in what was basically the task to babysit you, it’s safe to say you were annoyed. 

But then, you started to pick up on things. Small things. Unnoticeable to those who aren’t looking, but that become increasingly clearer once you realize them. 

He’s clingy. With his brothers, with you, even with his credit card. Though he never lets himself linger, when he hugs you, it’s tight and crushing, like he needs to be as close to you as possible. When your arms brush together as you walk about, he blushes. 

His brothers tease him. A lot. To the point, it’s painful to even to you sometimes. He laughs through it all, but you can see the drooping at the corners of his mouth, and how the giggles don’t reach his eyes.

And he’s scared. At least, that’s what it seems like to you. He puts up a front of being this big, angry, scary, and powerful demon such as his brothers, and though you certainly don’t doubt the powerful part, the angry and scary seem faulty. 

It’s intriguing. One day he’ll be all over you and the next he’ll act like he barely knows you, avoiding your eyes and only answering in curt answers. Sometimes his PDA is off the charts - he’ll throw arms around you, stick close, pull you closer when you’re walking together - and others he acts as the smallest of touches burns him like it pains him to be so much as near you. 

And there is that smell. It lingers on him but not on his brothers, like a perfume stronger than anything else. It doesn’t make any sense, though, because you’re pretty sure it’s not perfume. You’ve seen him spray himself before leaving in the mornings and it’s not the same smell. It’s something else, a light waft that emanates from him in waves, but no one else seems to pick up on. 

He’s a puzzle that refuses to fall in place, and all you want to do is figure him out. 

Solomon sits down in front of you with a loud gruff, dropping a small pile of stacked books on top of the wooden table in the library. The librarian shushes him when the sound echoes through the empty halls. Asmodeus hot on his trail, carrying nothing but a bag. He sits down as well, eyes all but sparkling.

“MC!” He sings. The librarian shushes him. 

“Hi, Asmo,” you make space on the table, putting your bag on the chair next to you.

“Ready to cram years of demon biology in one afternoon?” Solomon asks. He smiles wickedly as if he thinks it’s actually possible to do so, and you feel a little bit like a prey caged in by a much, much more astute predator.

You asked for help with the subjects, and maybe you’re already regretting it a little. “Sure,” you answer, trying to sound determined. 

He smiles. “What are you seeing in your class?” 

Solomon picked different classes for the year, and while you were fine with not doing whatever the hell goes on in advanced alchemy, it’s a little bit of a bummer to not share even one class with the only other human around. 

“I’m not… really sure,” you slouch on the seat, ready to give up. Why can’t the world be like the movies and you can spend an entire year just looking out the windows and being pretty? “Subgroups? Or sub genders?” 

“Oh,” he says softly, flipping through one of the heavier looking books. 

Next to him, Asmodeus is pulling out a notebook filled with post-its and notes made in glitter pens. You suspect he didn’t come to lecture you, and that suspicion is confirmed when the notebook is discarded as soon as it showed up, apparently being pulled out only because his bag was on the smaller side and his pink switch-like video game was at the bottom of it. He sighs dramatically, lowering the music coming from it, and laying his chin on Solomon’s shoulder.

Yeah, definitely not here for you. 

Solomon slides the open book towards you, marked on a page titled Subgenders then starts flipping through the next. 

Asmodeus watches as you read over the basic introduction. 

“It’s not hard,” he says, voice bubbly even though the words game over can be read on his screen, “It’s a little tricky to separate, but you get the hand really quickly.”

-

It’s not actually all that hard to figure things out. Solomon, despite the borderline chaotic ways he chooses to explain things, is a fairly good teacher. You manage to grasp the three sub genders and the differences between them in no more than a couple hours - a record if you’re being honest. 

And Solomon had been right. It’s not hard to separate them. Alphas are, generally speaking, the “dominant” gender. They’re easier to anger and natural born fighters. They experience ruts, can mate, and have knots. Most of the royal court are alphas.

Omegas are the “lower” gender - though according to Solomon, the idea that one is lower to the other is being more and more fought againts and discussed in the realms - they’re conflict solvers and are seem as sweeter and more fragile. They experince heats and self lubricate. Most of the common demons are omegas.

Betas are a middle ground. They don’t have scents as strong as alphas or omegas, and aren’t easily affected by ruts or heats. They can still mate, however, and are often seem as level-headed and good right hands for alpha leaders. They’re rare. Barbatos is one of them.

And then there’s the Apex, the “alpha of alphas” as Asmodeus described them. An alpha so powerful he stands above all others, in the top of the “food chain.” That’s the category that fits Diavolo.

“So… what are you then, Asmo?” You ask, folding your arms above the book Solomon had highlighted to you.

Asmodeus perks up, bright as ever. “I’m an alpha, of course! Can’t you tell?” He gestures to himself, manicured nails gleaming under the bad lighting. 

“What about you?” You turn to Solomon. He hadn’t mentioned anything about humans having sub genders, but you kinda wish that was possible, although you couldn’t tell why.

Asmodeus pulls Solomon closer by the arm and beams. “He’s my omega!”

Solomon shrugs him off with a low chuckle. “Don’t make me slap you.”

“Kinky,” Asmodeus points a finger to him, smiling wide. He pulls Solomon again, by the shoulders, and lowers his turtleneck, revealing a bite. “I didn’t lie, though.” 

Solomon pushes him off with a scowl, covering the mark with his hand. “Yeah, yeah.” He waves Asmodeus off, adjusting the clothing.

You chuckle at them but say nothing. It’s clear Solomon doesn’t want you to.

Asmodeus pays his scowl no mind, resting his head on Solomon’s neck. Solomon sighs. “I’m not anything. Humans don’t have sub genders. We didn’t evolve to them, so we end up in somewhat of a grayscale. The closest thing to us would be betas.”

“Then we… claiming and that stuff… we can’t do it?” Your eyes trail to Solomon’s neck, but the bite is covered. 

“Not really,” he sighs, “this was an exception.”

“And why’s that?” Asmodeus hums, leaning over Solomon. Their faces are almost touching. 

Solomon sighs again, an amused smile playing on his lips. “Because I’m a demon’s whore.”

Asmodeus smiles, so much that little dimples show up at the corners of his lips, and he claps. “I love you so much.” 

You roll your eyes, making a vomiting sound when they kiss. Lowering your gaze, you read over the title of one of the chapters. 

“Hey,” you look up again, catching their attention, “what about your brothers? Mammon has a different scent, is he an omega?”

Asmodeus splutters, looking exaggeratedly shocked. He chuckles, strained. “Of course not!” He waves hands in front of himself, almost hitting Solomon in the face, “We’re all alphas.”

“Oh,” you say. It doesn’t make sense. None of the others have a scent like Mammon’s. It’s a little sweet, but seems clouded, slightly sour in the corners. 

“I don’t get it,” Asmodeus muses, tapping a finger to his chin, “humans don’t really feel our scent, how can he be different?”

His gaze is closed off on you, analyzing a little too much. It makes you feel like an ant under a magnifying glass, “I uh… he just does.” 

Solomon stares at you but doesn’t comment on it, even if it looks like he wants to. 

Asmodeus hums in thought, gaze still sharp on your every movement. Then, he smiles, almost artificial in its wake, “Well, whatever!” He slaps a hand to the table. At this point, the librarian gave up on shushing you.

Solomon is still staring at you. You move a little. Being watched like this makes you feel kind of squeamish.

Asmodeus is staring at Solomon, and then at you, resting his head on a palm. He hums again, stretching his arms over his head, and then he’s up, pulling Solomon with him. “We should get going!I wonder who’s on dinner duty.”

You blink. Dinner was still far away. Your study session just got cut short, and while you have no idea why, it feels like it’s your fault.

As you close the book and gather your things alongside them, the word seems to call you again. “Being an omega sounds painful, though,” you close the book, “heats and all.” 

Solomon scoffs. He closes his notebook, sliding his bag over a shoulder. “That makes it more fun.”

Asmodeus tsks, waving Solomon off, “Don’t listen to him he doesn’t have a soul.” 

Solomon neither confirms nor denies this statement, instead only giving you an amused chuckle and a tilt of the head. 

The feeling that you did something wrong, crossed a barrier you weren’t supposed to, clings to you. But still, it makes no sense. 

There’s something different about Mammon. You have to figure out why. 

-

The first thing you notice is that you’re missing a pillow. You’re back from a week filled with classes, ready to drop in bed and sleep the entire weekend when you realize something seems off. You look everywhere, but the pillow is nowhere to be found. 

Then, a couple of days later, the thin blanket you keep for movie nights and long study sessions is gone. 

It progresses like that. The throw you use to warm your feet. Your favorite stuffed animal. A fluffy winter jacket. 

When you ask, fed up with this little prank, none of the brothers seem to know where your things went. 

Your pact with Mammon is still somewhat fresh, but you find yourself going to him, if not for a solution, maybe to complain. 

The door is open when you arrive, pushing it inside without ceremony. 

“Mammon, you’re not going to believe-” 

The words die on your throat. There, spread on top of his bed, twisted and fluffed together into a carefully crafted bundle - no, your mind provides, a nest. This is a nest - are all your missing items, and, sitting on top of them with a flushed face and big eyes, is Mammon. 

Oh. 

Turns out you were right. 

“MC, I, I…” Mammon fumbles upwards, all but stumbling in the mess of blankets and pillows he has apparently snatched not only from you but from his brothers as well. There are even some pillows you don’t recognize, cow patterns all over them. 

“Mammon…” it’s all you can say. You have never dealt with this before, but the answer to your question was clear as day, right in front of you. 

Omegas nest when stressed or needy. Came Solomon’s voice, a memory from the lecture just a week before. 

“You’re an omega.” You say, in a surprised whisper, cogs turning on your mind and finally fitting with each other. 

Mammon’s face falls and his breath hitches. “How do you know about that?”

“In class… we went over the basic biology of demons and…”

He gulps audibly, eyes darting to the floor. “Then you know.”

You can almost feel the question marks forming around your head. “Know what?”

“How disgusting this is,” he gestures to the nest. His face is still reddened, voice bordering on wet, “I took your things without telling and I… I used them, my scent is all over them and now… I’m sorry, MC.”

“Mammon…” you reach towards him, but he steps back.

“You probably want them back, right?” He chuckles dryly with no real humor. “It’s okay, I get it. People don’t like when omegas get all needy, I know that.” He scratches at the back of his neck, a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes tugging at his lips. “You can take them, I’ll just…” he points to the door, “yeah.”

And then he’s gone, leaving behind the same smell you came to associate with him, only much sour in its wake. Your pact mark burns, glowing a faint yellow tone. You stand next to his bed, confused and feeling like you managed to fuck up even more.

Masterlist

[fatefulfaerie]

A Century Apart Part 1/2

Kakariko without the stench of blood in the air was frankly sickening to Zelda’s lungs. 

She had trouble breathing in the air that took so long to clear, that had forgotten the war of a century prior, that was normal to an entire country of people that had become accustomed to a post-apocalyptic Hyrule. 

When she had first arrived here, Link draped as best as she could manage over his horse, she was frankly overwhelmed with nausea, some of it due to her worry at Link collapsing moments after an unanswered question, some of it due to the blood caked on his tunic, and some of it due to her terrible, terrible, stomach twisting guilt for making it here alive. 

It was night now, and the twelve hours that Link spent recuperating in his slumber had felt to Zelda like an entire week. She tossed around a circular slice of orange carrot as she sat with worry twinging her heart. Normally sitting on the floor to eat as the Sheikah were accustomed to would have made her back hurt, but she paid little mind to her back.

Impa cleared her throat, and so Zelda looked up and across the table. The noise was so familiar that she almost expected to see the Impa she knew, in her twenties and incredibly agile.

Yet this Impa had eyes that had aged, eyes that had faded from a red as bright as cranberries to a hazel, a common side effect of Sheikah aging.

“You’ve hardly touched your food,” Impa said, wrinkles and all, her face more spotted and much more round nowadays. “I know the carrots aren’t your absolute favorite but you always used to love when I made Seafood Rice Balls.”

Zelda nodded, and faked a small smile, although it came off as a simple pursing of her lips.

“Yeah, I…I remember,” she muttered quietly as she tore away her glance, looking back down at her plate. The scientist within her knew that she was, in fact, hungry and needed food to sustain herself, yet the princess with her wasn’t quite ready for such indulgence, for such luxury. 

She began with a carrot.

It was soft, obviously well-cooked as her teeth bit upon food for the first time in a hundred years. It was buttered and salted and spiced with something she didn’t recognize, something they wouldn’t have typically served at the castle.

She almost forgot how to swallow as the chewed-up orange mush threatened to trail down her throat, but she gulped the single slice of carrot down nonetheless. 

It felt strange, eating, and it felt strange that it felt strange.

She could tell Impa was watching her eat, especially as she dove the chopsticks into the Rice Balls that, over a hundred years, she forgot she missed.

“When was the last time Link was in Kakariko?” Zelda asked, reacquainting herself with the texture and taste of the white rice, the seasoned fish on top of it, the leafy seaweed around it. She didn’t dare to meet Impa’s glance.

“About a week ago,” Impa said. “He came to restock, as he does occasionally. It wasn’t a long visit, though. I suppose he had places to be.”

Zelda nodded, using the cloth napkin on her lap to wipe away any stray particles of food from her mouth. It was almost an instinct, the way she was trained to always be proper, the way her back was straight were she sat, the way she refused to let herself be and just put her elbows on the table. Paya obviously had no problem with it when she ate earlier. Zelda envied her casual manner, living decades upon decades away from a kingdom.

Zelda didn’t expect Impa to reach out and grab her hand, and thus she almost ripped her hand away she was so unaccustomed to it. Zelda looked up.

“He is going to be okay,” Impa insisted slowly and calmly with eyes aged with wisdom. Zelda had no choicest to truly trust them. “He pushed himself very hard to save Hyrule and to bring you back. I would wager he hasn’t slept in days…and the injuries he ignored, well, it’s about time they caught up to him.”

“S-sorry to interrupt,” Paya stammered. Zelda didn’t even hear her come back down the stairs. “It…it’s Link.”

“What’s wrong?” Zelda asked standing up completely panicked. “Is he okay?”

“Oh gosh I shouldn’t have phrased it like that,” Paya said. “He’s fine, he’s just stirring. You said you wanted to be there when he woke up?”

“Yes,” Zelda said, nodding, her hand lightly fisted at her chest. “Y-yes, of course. Please lead the way.”

He didn’t look any different when Zelda finished the last steps of the stairs, Link coming into view. His face was still terribly scratched up and bruised. The only difference now was that Paya had-and she would have to ask later how a Sheikah could be so stealthy as to wrap a person’s chest without waking them up-dressed Link in bandages to brace his broken ribs. There was a fair amount of blood on the bed from the gash on his leg, but it seemed to be well-sewn up now, the wound cleaned and covered with a fresh bandage. There was also a half-empty bottle of a familiar dark purple elixir, a common painkiller among Hylians. Zelda used to use it for headaches.

She could she the way his blue eyes had begun to shine through eyelids. The room was dark, lighted only with candles that smelled of lavender and honey. It seemed so long ago that they had brought Link in, Zelda suggesting they keep the main lanterns in the room doused so that Link could perhaps sleep sounder.

“Link?” She asked as she stepped forward, the combination of her lack of stealth and her thin brown sandals making the wooden floor creak.

She knelt at his bedside and repeated her query.

“Link,” she said. It was now a whisper, like she was pretending to be the lover she never was to him.

The fatigued hero hummed as he blinked open his eyes lethargically.

“Zelda,” he said, softly in his half-awake state with a small smile. The former princess assumed it was because he knew of her presence before his head rolled over to her and he flipped out with wide eyes. It was as if someone had put smelling salt underneath his nose, the way he bolted upright.

“P-princess! I…” Zelda watched with equal parts awe and glee as he ignored the extremely likely pain in his ribs to fix his messy bedhead. Not to say he was in any way successful. “I’m sorry, I…”

“Link,” Zelda said, in such a soothing way that Link froze immediately. It may have also been because she placed a hand on his cheek. Zelda gently guided him back down to lay on the pillow.

“You look fine,” she assured him. “And you are in no condition to do anything but rest.”

Link’s icy blue eyes pleaded for something Zelda couldn’t place. They looked at her, studied her in a way Zelda wasn’t used to.

“Princess, I…” he began, but his words faltered, as if his intended sentence just walked off a cliff, accidentally ran out of room on the ledge and was now falling and forgotten. “I would like to call you Zelda,” he finally said. “Is that all right?”

Zelda nodded, and had to keep from tearing up.

“Yes,” she said, water making her green eyes shine like emeralds. “I would actually prefer that.”

It looked as if Link had something else to say, and yet he hesitated with a hitched breath. Zelda hesitated too, not what to say, but whether or not it was fair to reveal that she could read him like a book. It was a byproduct of their time together a hundred years ago, a time he may not have any recollection of at all, a time he may even be scared of. It was for those reasons that she demonstrated her patience instead, taking his hand and fooling herself that she was conveying her care with her eyes.

“I remember you, by the way,” Link said.

Zelda shifted slightly. There were so many memories between them and so many things that could be assumed between the memories that she couldn’t help but fear what story he had construed.

“I remember you not liking me,” Link continued, Zelda sighing, opening and closing her eyes with a slight cringe. Of all the things for him to remember. 

But he didn’t stop there.

“I remember you warming up to me and us becoming friends…at least I think.”

Zelda had looked down at her hand, the way her thumb ran up and down his palm.

“Do you remember anything else?” Zelda asked, tilting up her head. Link seemed genuinely out of answers and that’s what broke her heart the most.

“Is there something I should remember?” Link asked. Zelda shook her head.

“No,” Zelda said quietly, detaching her hand from Link’s. “It’s nothing of consequence.”

She moved her hand to his forehead, brushing aside a lock of his dirty blonde bangs. 

“I’m glad you’re recovering well, Link,” she said softly. “I’ll leave you to your rest. We can talk more later if you’d like.”

She stood up to leave but didn’t get far, Link’s hand grabbing her wrist and seizing her heart.

“Wait,” was the word he spoke to explain himself. Zelda turned her head to look over her shoulder. She couldn’t help but be surprised that Link had indeed, meant to grab her, was entreating her with those soulful blue eyes, deep as an ocean and filled to the brim with conflicting emotions.

“There’s more to it than what I remember,” he said. “There’s…well there’s how those memories make me feel.”

“What do you mean?” Zelda said, turning her body but refusing to kneel at his bedside, her cautious heart already shattered enough to not risk being broken even more.

“Whenever I remembered something that happened between us,” Link began. “I would try to draw you, would try to capture your beauty, but the image of you was always fleeting. Sometimes I forgot whether your hair was truly blonde, whether your eyes were brown or green, whether or not freckles dotted upon your nose, your cheeks, what the shape of your face was. But each time I tried to draw you I felt like I was getting both closer to and farther away from perfection.”

“Link,” Zelda said as she shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“I didn’t either at first,” Link continued. “I didn’t understand why I was so enthralled by your beauty, why the sound of your voice twinged my heart, why the thought of your touch made me feel the warmth of my blood.” 

Zelda knew what he was describing, and she knew it well. It was for that reason that she couldn’t believe his words, that she searched within her lungs for the ability to breathe.

“Link,” she said breathlessly, finally kneeling down. “A-are you saying…?

She couldn’t even finish her question but Link nodded nonetheless.

“Once I realized it was a crush,” he said. “I tried to ignore it, telling myself that nothing in my memories indicated anything more than an obligatory friendship, that it was disrespectful to think in such a way of someone who was royalty, but…” He bit his lip. “No cliff was as easy to descend as the one that dictates love. I fell quickly and I fell fast. It felt familiar too, like something was in ruins inside me but this time, it was simple to salvage, to rebuild and to…” Link chuckled. “I can’t think of another word.”

Zelda was speechless, her mouth slightly parted and her eyes frozen. Link didn’t expect his declaration of love to be so paralyzing.

“I-I guess I,” Link said, continuing in the absence of Zelda’s words. “I kind of got the feeling that you also have similar…” Link looked for another word, but it didn’t exist in his brain “…feelings…” He inwardly cringed. “So I figured I would bring up the subject...but maybe I...shouldn’t...have?”

Zelda was quiet, almost too quiet, before she stood and finally said five words, five words that left Link in the dust of such an anticlimactic response.

“You never talked this much,” she said, before shooting him with green eyes filled with conflict and pity and turning around to walk back down the stairs.

[antiloreolympus]

5 Anti LO Asks

1. i dont even think lo persephone is particularly a bad character, i think the issue is rachel has no idea what to do with her. she wants her to be native and innocent but also deadly and confident, but that'd require persephone to have some flaws/complexities, so she just makes up vague "feelings" and the underworld making her smell bad. rachel herself cant commit to actually letting persephone be a real character with weaknesses and flaws.  which just ends up making persephone boring and flat. 

(same anon abt persephone's lack of flaws) the issue too is that because rachel made persephone the most powerful goddess and has hades as the most powerful king with all the resources, all sense of stakes and tension is just not there. they dont even have actual antagonists because apollo, demeter, and leto are jokes, minthe had no power, and everyone falls over backwards to defend hxp, and we already know the ending. the plot and conflict are as shallow as the characters themselves.

2. its honestly kinda ??? that there is art of lo demeter and persephone and how loving of a relationship they are (were?) and yet thats not in the actual comic? like demeter's love for persephone is framed as abusive and cruel and the actual reason for persephone's problems yet everything demeter said would happen did?? and those werent her fault? like its one thing if demeter had all these fears but were proven wrong, but she's time and time again proven right? and is still framed badly for it???

3. i think part of the reason the art of lo doesnt hold up is bc the world is very flat. like the characters are already boring enough in their colors being the only actual character design, but the world around them is very lacking. theres no distinct buildings, no distinct flowers or trees, and the backgrounds all just flat voids of a single color with some sketchup lines slapped on top. now, other webtoons do this too, but its so the panel doesnt become overwhelmed, LO does it to be lazy.

4. the webtoons app updated to where now the main page banners change every time you open the app to let more series get ad space so OF COURS LO has a banner on it and?? its confusing?? like it has persephone being ~sexy in a bathtub~ and the tagline is "no service in the underworld" and its like what does that even mean?? also the ads love to pretend shes this confident, sexual woman when shes literally everything but in the actual comic. its kinda shocking how often the LO ads just lie like that.

5. Comparing LO to some other WEBTOON I would say that LO is too ambitious for its writer. For “Forever After” you normally just have the current issue and the overall issue with the story, so just because we go through characters in that story their characters complete their arcs. True Beauty is drawn out BUT arcs are still tied up abs even tho it’s not as interesting as it was it still holds my attention positively. “The first night with the duke” kinda got past the point I care about but still again has me drawn in. Suitor of Armor’s story is expanding greatly but I feel the writer already has plans for that

BUT LO is another story. The cast seems bloated for the plots going on and I’m losing track. Like Eros got to explain his little story, and then we forgot about it for a bit with Hades and Aphrodite talking about it for a split second and then way later Eros says “I’m gonna find Pyche” but is he looking? No he just asks his mom for more hints we don’t see him try to do anything clever. He doesn’t even find her on his own merit. And after two years we don’t even get a full conclusion how that went. They shot arrows at Apollo and then what? They were high up in the air, was Eros able to break their fall (probably) What about the whole falling for Ampleutus stuff? We probably won’t see anything for another couple months regrading those two.

ARTEMIS! She’s Persphone’s roommate, we know she’s lying about never having a crush but who is it? RS stated Artemis is gay. Does it matter? Does it influence the plot at all? Is it gonna be a big reveal that Zeus is her father? Why does she hate the three kings so much? Does Zeus know he’s her father? Or was Apollo abs Artemis “created” like Persphone and Hera? (Probably not but still)

HESTIA and ATHENA! When did they start TGOEM? Why did they? Hestia isn’t Athena’s aunt right? Was Athena “created” by Zeus? How does Hera feel about that? What was Hestia like before the war and now? Is Hestia close with the other six traitors?

Hera and her kids! We know Hera has more than Hephaestus Ares and Hebe but like what’s the story man? Hera is closer to all three of these children (Zeus seems to discourage Hephaestus presence, Ares defends his mom, and Hebes mad at Zeus for banishing Ares from the house) but these weren’t snap things that happened, it seems like the kids bond to their mother way more than their father just in general before the story, but why? I feel like Hera’s stuff is used as filler but I’m still more interested rather than HXP all the time. Whose the sister? Why is Hera closer to P rather than her own kids it seems. And echo!? Why did Zeus hire her and what’s the agreement?

That ghost that keeps showing up?

Whatever the Kronos revival plot is?

What happened to rhea?

So the Trojan war already happened?

What’s the deal with Demigods?

Nymphs can have parents but sometimes don’t? (Daphne was crested by Demeter, but Thetis has a mom?)

Is Megara and P now just friends? Or did we miss her character where she either gets over hades or plots revenge?

I just feel like with everything LO isn’t planned this far out and it’s just worrying for what she’s in the mood for not tying plots together and getting much figured out. Like the plot just Keep not moving forward because there’s just too much to cover. 

[astradrifting]

Hiya anon, I’m answering this message over here to keep my blogs tidy! Thanks for the ask!

Oof, honestly I don’t have many concrete theories for ADOS other than what I speculated about Aegon’s death, it’s obviously so dependent on what happens in Winds that it’s all up in the air right now. I’m thinking Winds will almost definitely feature them reuniting and falling in angsty forbidden love amidst the backdrop of very messy Northern politics and an impending ice threat, with R+L=J being revealed by the end of it or early ADOS at the latest, for maximum pre-reveal incest angst.

I do think the show gave us a very, very, very rough idea of what happens, in that Jon will spend most of ADOS in the South while Sansa remains at Winterfell, in charge of the North. GoT managed to make Jon’s parentage a central part of the plot while completely sidestepping any of its actual implications or consequences, but I suspect that a big part of Jon’s ADOS plot will be reckoning with the secret and it’s reveal. Any resolution reached to the Northern politics in TWOW that involves Jon will be thrown into chaos with the reveal, so I could see a marriage between Jon and Sansa being proposed in order to tie Jon to the North and the Starks in the eyes of the lords before he goes South.

The secret being revealed also makes Jon being the only one who can go South make sense. The show’s “Only a king can treat with a queen” reasoning doesn’t hold up under scrutiny, since Jon being imprisoned on Dragonstone makes it clear that sending an emissary would have been smarter. Book!Jon and Aegon are both smarter than that, but “he is my long-lost brother and there is a lot of blood and history surrounding our births and our father’s choices that we need to reckon with” is a much more compelling argument for why the two of them might want to meet personally. Just in terms of narrative as well, why introduce a potential long-lost brother and then not have them ever meet?

Of course a lot of this also depends on what happens with the Others, since Jon’s story has been so tied with them from the beginning that it’d feel hollow if he didn’t have some involvement in how that is resolved, but that plotline is so inscrutable to me that I can’t even begin to theorise what happens there. I’ve got a tentative ‘Bran???’ mentally sharpied over a picture of the Others and that’s as far as my theories go :P

I don’t have a very clear idea on what Sansa’s plot will be while they’re separated other than that it will feature her growing into her rulership of the North. The show might have been accurate in that Arya arrives at Winterfell after Jon has left, and the sisters come into some sort of conflict over their past, their separation, and who they each had to become to survive. It’d serve as a nice way for Jon and Sansa’s stories to parallel again too - both of them having to (re)learn how to deal with a sibling that they barely know, who they don’t quite understand but desperately want to. But the sisters will resolve their differences and be stronger for it, possibly coming together to slay Littlefinger for his crimes against their father. Though I’m also in favour of Sansa taking care of him herself somehow, she has more foreshadowing for that specifically, and Arya has different deaths in her future.

Throughout this whole separation, I fully expect Jon and Sansa both to be heavily missing each other and wishing they were home together at Winterfell, annoying everyone around them by constantly going “I wish Jon/Sansa were here.” 😉 The show already explicitly showed Sansa missing Jon, so imagine how much more pining we’ll get when we can read her thoughts!

Sansa will also probably have a major part to play in the aftermath of Dany’s death. There’s a crazy amount of parallels between Baela and Rhaena Targaryen, who were instrumental in getting Corlys Velaryon freed after the poisoning of Aegon II, and Arya and Sansa, so it seems that, unlike in the show, they’ll be successful in getting Jon released following her murder.

That then totally leaves him free to be with Queen Sansa, hopefully as King in the North but I’d totally accept Prince Consort. I’m also a big believer in the Jon the Builder ending, pioneered (imo) by @istumpysk and @agentrouka-blog, in which he plays a big part in resettling the Gift with new lords.

His lord father had once talked about raising new lords and settling them in the abandoned holdfasts as a shield against wildlings. […] “It is a dream for spring, though,” Lord Eddard had said. “Even the promise of land will not lure men north with a winter coming on.”

If winter had come and gone more quickly and spring had followed in its turn, I might have been chosen to hold one of these towers in my father’s name. Lord Eddard was dead, however, his brother Benjen lost; the shield they dreamt together would never be forged.

(Jon V, ASOS)

To me, that last line reads like Sansa’s thoughts about seeing Jon again, how the thought is sweet but “of course, that could never be”. We know that that line exists solely to be subverted, because they are going to meet again. The same with this one; Lord Eddard and Benjen are gone, but their nephew-son still lives, and he can carry on their dream. It’d be a nice way of allowing Jon to keep some of his vows too - to still be the “shield that guards the realms of men” even after he has left the Watch (guarding from what, at the end of the series, I’m admittedly not sure *points to picture of the Others with ‘Bran????’ written in red sharpie and underlined*). I mean, you can’t just reference the title of the last book, the culmination of your epic fantasy series, in a throwaway line from Jon’s memory without it having some kind of payoff, George. Especially when it’s literally the only time the phrase occurs within the series. Nearly word for word, at least. There’s some “dream of spring” imagery that appears elsewhere that is pretty interesting... But that’ll be in a separate post because this is getting long enough!

So, uh, it turns out I actually do have a lot of thoughts on how ADOS will go! Basically, Jonsa ever after, the wolves coming again through their many adorable trueborn babies :) It won’t be plain sailing, they will face even more grief and pain before the end. But also the possibility of a happy ending, a dream of spring even in the depths of winter.

[girldraki]

💥💢🕷🪤🙉🎁🖍🔥 for el and or any gam friendgroup member of ur choosing! (sorry if this is too much :p)

NO THIS IS EXCELLENT TYSM

under the cut bc. Yeah <3

💥 COLLISON - what emotions do they have trouble dealing with?

any stress above like a 4 out of 10 runs a risk of degrading their presentation (most often via part of their body starting to melt but sometimes affecting stuff like their voice/smell*/practiced lack of Instinctive Predatorial Vibe) which is not a great combination with their anxiety disorder. this has gotten better over time but more because they’ve practiced so much that maintaining composure is becoming automatic, not because they have. gotten much better at dealing with stress. they’re very avoidant

💢 ANGER - what are some habits they have that will take some getting used to?

they have a tendency to obsessively practice their presentation in a way that is both probably a little annoying and kind of weird if you’re not used to it-- they will sit with a scented candle or a song or a mirror and repeatedly try to match/sustain whatever the relevant sensory aspect of it is for hours.

🕷️ SPIDER - what is their biggest fear? do they have any irrational / mundane fears?

most of their fears are centered around their inhumanity unsurprisingly. i guess their ultimate fear is the idea of somehow having their monster-ness laid permanently bare in front of everyone else

also theres no context in which this would actually be a material concern but pineapple is deeply unnerving to them conceptually. Why does it dissolve your mouth.

🪤 MOUSE TRAP - what will always lure them into certain danger? a loved one in danger? a promise of something they are always searching for?

hmm. HMMMM. like we sort of said above out of controlled environments theyre kind of... really conflict averse? and on top of that sort of difficult to meaningfully harm? this is hard to answer!

probably jo or negative pressure related to somehow revealing their situation. you could probably get them to do some very stupid shit by leveraging either of those over them

(surprisingly it is hard to get them to do stuff on the notion that it will help them appear human. they are pretty cautious about stuff like that)

🙈 SEE-NO-EVIL - whats a side of your oc that they don't want to show other people?

WELL. (gestures).

i guess a more specific part of this is that they’re loosely intended to cause horror via uncanny valley and therefore incredibly insecure about doing anything that might induce that. they are very conscious to maintain Their Own Specific Appearance and not pick up too much of anyone else’s mannerisms

🎁 PRESENT - what types of presents would they be most happy to receive? are they good at gift giving?

they love all things cooking. The le creuset round dutch oven in cool mint would fix them or failing that they would be happy to have a good wok or a nice candy thermometer. other than that they enjoy, like, simple consumables like candles or bath bombs** or maybe perfume and nice decorative items

(on an anomalous level they would very much like something that made them appear human better but they are, as discussed, extremely discerning over stuff like this and too shy to ask anyone they trust for it)

i would say theyre an ok gift giver? their two big strengths are (1) home cooking fancy dessert treats and (2) just sending people shit off their steam wishlists

🖍️ CRAYON - what advice would you give to them?

hang out with other entities similar to you. hang out with other entities that don’t care about appearing human. Genuinely even talk to amethyst more***. be more of the nonhuman equivalent of t4t (platonic) basically it’ll help

🔥 FIRE - do they have any self destructive tendencies? what habits do they have that hinder them from becoming their best self?

as might be obvious by the rest of these answers their standards of Appearing Human are way too high and they just kind of keep reinforcing them. on one hand this is giving them a great deal of technical skill at self-manipulation but on the other hand this is kind of unhealthy? jo doesnt really have the wherewithal to help them on this because his background isnt the right one to recognize the problem. if they just... relaxed their personal standards and hung out with more sapient nonhumans like we said above they would probably be a lot less fucked up about stuff

[unforth]

A Non-Definitive and Certainly Incomplete List of the Differences Between the Qianqiu/Thousand Autumns Danmei Novel and the Donghua

@blacktigersprings commented on one of my Thousand Autumn Liveblog posts, asking about the differences between the donghua thus far, compared to the book - they'd seen the 16 episodes, but hadn't read it yet. After I wrote down what I could remember I was like...ya know what, I should just make all this into a post.

This is non-exhaustive. I am a tired person with a bad memory and a lot going on, so I am sure I forgot things. I'm gonna ping @baoshan-sanren since they're the main person I know who is in Thousand Autumns fandom also, and I'm willing to guarantee they will think of things I didn't, and also probably be able to correct me if I mixed anything up. I'll try to edit this based on new info, if I have the time, and I might post it as meta on AO3? I did that with my list of differences between CQL and MDZS and people found it helpful so...yeah. I'll add a link if a do.

Note that all posts like this rely to some extent on interpretation; what I write reflects my interpretation and understanding of events (...to the extent I remember them...) and others may have read/watched the same sequences and reached different conclusions. I've made specific notes where I think I'm raising a point that's more subjective than others.

This contains spoilers for all 16 episodes of the donghua, and for the equivalent parts of the novel. I did my best not to put in novel spoilers for past when the donghua ends, but there are allusions to subsequent events.

Anyway - vaguely in chronological order of when they happen?

(read more)

Overall, the basic premises of the donghua and the novel are pretty different. In the donghua, there are several primary conflicts - the intrusion of the Beimi/Tujue, the competition over access to the Solarity, the competition between different sects' top masters, and the search for that ring that Yan Wushi has. In the novel, these are all things that exist, but they're not the primary plot, and they're all at least somewhat difference. While the novel has multiple plotlines that focus on different things, looking at it as a whole, the main plot is a political one about control of the Empire, and how different sects are pulled into that conflict as a result of how the Emperor relates to Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist sects. Which tradition each sect follows is much more important and relevant in the novel. The Beimi/Tujue plot is still relevant and involved, but it's just one thread in the political milieu. The Solarity, which has different and long name in the novel that I never remember - it's like, "the complete works of (some master who's name isn't in my brain" - is in six volumes, and it's definitely still important, but it's importance kinda fades as the novel progresses (though it's still a main piece at the point where the donghua leaves off). The ring is basically non-existent in the novel - instead of it being in Yan Wushi's possession, it's in the possession of the woman who's birthday party Shen Qiao goes to (...Madam Su? Might be her name? I'm sorry, I'm not great with names, and I usually rely on fandom wikis but this one is sparse) - in the novel, she was a disciple of Hulugu, and then she stole the ring and returned to the Empire. That other Beimi/Tujue disciple (...Dong something??) takes it back and returns with it to his clan, if I recall correctly, so it can be used to unify those clans to make war against the Empire.

In the donghua, Yan Wushi is just...generally portrayed as pretty nice, and the YanShen vibes start pretty early - there's an early sign of playful flirting from Yan Wushi that actually seems sincere? At least it did to me. As a result, the YanShen vibes feel a lot stronger than they do in the novel at a similar point in the narrative. In the novel...I'd personally say Yan Wushi has zero interest, romantically or sexually, until well after where the donghua left off, and their relationship isn't canon until nearly the very end, and is always left more implied than...outright. I would personally say that in the novel, Shen Qiao has some feels for Yan Wushi pre-Sang Jingxing, but Yan Wushi doesn't reciprocate (except maybe at a deep level he refuses to acknowledge). It's not until he's healing post-almost-dying (as in, during the time immediately after when the donghua leaves off - I'm trying to be vague to avoid giving spoilers to people who haven't read it) that there start to be some real clear signs that Yan Wushi may have caught some feels, and even then it's complicated. They're complicated. They're also complicated. It's part of what I love about them, lol.

In the donghua, the fight between Shen Qiao and Kunye is shown "on screen" instead of only being described afterwards, and it's revealed almost right away that Shen Qiao was poisoned. Also, a lot of people help Kunye and they all fight Shen Qiao together. In the novel, this fight is off-screen. It's strictly a one-on-one battle between Shen Qiao and Kunye, and the reader doesn't learn that Shen Qiao lost due to poisoning until Shen Qiao goes to Mount Xuandu to confront Yu Ai.

In both the donghua and the novel, when Yan Wushi is trying to turn Shen Qiao evil, he sets up a mission for Shen Qiao and Yu Shengyan, The object of this mission is to kill a family that serves the Hehuan Sect. Shen Qiao refuses to participate, and helps them escape. In the donghua, they don't actually escape, and the "they serve Hehuan" thing turns out to be a ruse; they actually serve Yan Wushi. In the novel, they're actually Hehuan spies, and Shen Qiao still helps them, and they actually escape.

(RAPE MENTION TRIGGER WARNING) In the donghua, Chen Gong betrays Shen Qiao when that jerk noble whose name I can't remember right now (and it's not in the wiki, god the wiki is so slim, I wish I had time to help with that) hunts him for sport, and he doesn't want to die. In the novel, Chen Gong betrays Shen Qiao when that same jerk noble, who as a reputation for using pretty boys as sex slaves, tries to kidnap Chen Gong as a sex slave, and Chen Gong is like, "no no you don't want to fuck me, I know someone WAY prettier for you to rape." (The fall out remains the same in both - Shen Qiao beats up the guy, nothing bad happens to him, and he and Chen Gong part ways).

In the donghua, Shen Qiao goes to confront Yu Ai at Mount Xuandu by like. Literally walking up to the front gate. And then all the disciples for some reason get mad that Yan Wushi comes, even though he...also walked up to their front gate. Why do they even have a gate??? In the novel, Shen Qiao uses a super sneaky back way, only known to disciples, and so it actually makes some kind of sense when Yu Ai et al are like SHEN QIAO WHY ARE YOU SHOWING THE EVIL GUY OUR BACK DOOR?

(NOTE this one relies more on subtext and thus is very open to interpretation. What's written here reflects my personal interpretation, and others may disagree). In the donghua, when Yan Wushi hands Shen Qiao over to Sang Jingxing, they have a chat that heavily implies that Yan Wushi is kinda-sorta-not-so-secretly thinking that Shen Qiao could win a fight (and is probably expecting Shen Qiao to do so by using the demonic core that has been implanted in him). Sang Jingxing also says things that indicate that he thinks that Yan Wushi is setting a trap for him. In the novel, while it's never all that clear what Yan Wushi's motivations are, it becomes pretty clear by the point of the Sang Jingxing fight that Yan Wushi was serious when he said he didn't care about Shen Qiao, didn't consider him worthy, and doesn't care what happens to him. He definitely handed over Shen Qiao with every intention of Shen Qiao getting tortured and raped, and had no interest in saving him. Shen Qiao only becomes interesting to Yan Wushi afterwards. Yan Wushi is never only playing one game, so he may have thought that being pushed into a corner would force Shen Qiao to use the demonic core, but it also seemed to me like he genuinely didn't care - he'd gotten bored, and was done playing with the "new toy" that was Shen Qiao.

In the donghua, there is a shot of someone - the clothing is pretty unmistakably Yan Wushi's purple robe of ultimate purpleness - pulling Shen Qiao out of a river after he plunges to his almost-demise in the fight with Sang Jingxing. In the novel, Yan Wushi doesn't pull Shen Qiao out of the water, after Shen Qiao destroys his meridians in the fight against Sang Jingxing. Instead, Shen Qiao collapses in the mountains, where he is found by Shiwu and brought back to the monastery for treatment.

In the donghua, Yan Wushi is fighting the four masters who have it in for him, and before the end of the fight, Shen Qiao arrives and tries to help him; he fights the four masters solo to try to keep Yan Wushi from using his powers and harming himself, and when he's about to lose, Yan Wushi...uses his powers and harms himself. In the novel, Shen Qiao doesn't arrive until after Yan Wushi has been defeated; he finds Yan Wushi almost dead and brings him to a small village nearby, where he stays with a nice girl and her...grandfather, iirc...and tries to keep them safe while nursing Yan Wushi back to health.

In the donghua, it's kinda implied that Shen Qiao goes to rescue Yan Wushi because, like...he likes him? There's not really a reason given, just that he wants to, or maybe to keep the ring from going to the Beimi/Tujue? In the novel it's pretty explicit that Shen Qiao goes to save Yan Wushi because he believes Yan Wushi's position in the Empire is critical to the stability of the world - and he wants the world stable, so that there won't be more refugees, starvation, etc. That he also may like Yan Wushi is the case but is almost incidental; Shen Qiao is focused on doing the most good for the most people, and that means saving Yan Wushi, because Yan Wushi is critical to the Empire, and the Empire is critical to the common people. (this is a major part of the political themes that are more prominent in the book than in the donghua).

I can't actually remember when Bian Yanmei was introduced in the novel? But I was pretty sure it was around when Yan Wushi sends Shen Qiao to that birthday banquet? Anyway, Bian Yanmei isn't in the donghua at all thus far; in the donghua, Yan Wushi's only apparent disciple is Yu Shengyan.

[mydisasteracademia]

SFW Alphabets: Tomura Shigaraki

Y’all know the drill.

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Depends on how much he likes you, and whether the rest of the League is around. Usually to show his affection he listens to you more, looks you in the eyes, and takes your input when needed, and sometimes he might rest his elbow on your shoulder. When you’re alone, however, he can get really clingy. He loves resting his head in your lap and snuggling into you.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

He definitely talks to you a lot. Complains his ass off about missions with the League, maybe asks advice for dealing with a specific problem. he can be fairly touchy-feely with you, maybe leaning in over your shoulder or sitting with his side touching yours. If needed, he’ll grab your fingers while walking. You two probably hit it off on an online chatroom, probably talking about how much heroes suck, and when you met up in person, he was shocked at how pretty you were.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

You know he’s hugging on you as soon as you’re alone. Tomura is private about romantic affection, and he has a lot of it to give. Since this is his first relationship, his instinct is to press and see what he can get away with. As soon as you get into a good rhythm together, he likes pulling you into his lap while he’s doing something just to rest his chin on your shoulder.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

As much as he likes you, I doubt he’d be keen on settling down just yet. Remember, he still has hero society to burn to the ground. I doubt he can cook and clean that well, so he’ll need some help with that. He keeps things fairly tidy, surprisingly.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

He’d be incredibly upset while he does so, and he might just pace about in front of you and rant about how conflicted his is, but eventually he’ll tell you that you need to break up. He’s either paranoid of Sensei disapproving, or Sensei outright told him that he needs to let you go in order to focus on his goals. He’s very upset about it, but doesn’t want to go against what Sensei says (in the beginning, anyway).

F = Fiancé(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

First off, you can’t exactly legally get married. If you did, he’d probably get arrested considering his status as a villain. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t think about it from time to time in the context of you being his cute little house-spouse, ready to greet him whenever he comes home from a long day of dismantling hero society as a whole. He really thinks about it for a while, especially after you offhandedly mention actually committing to something like that. But he’s still not ready to settle just yet. Help him destroy society as you know it and maybe he’ll reconsider.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

It depends. In front of others, he’s not gonna treat you any better than them. He’ll treat you like any other comrade. But when you’re alone, he’s loads more gentle with you. You’re special to him, of course, and he wants you to know it especially when you’re away from prying eyes.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

He likes hugs, but he doesn’t like initiating them. If someone like Toga or Twice hugs him, he doesn’t push them away, but he doesn’t exactly hug back. If you happen to hug him in front of others, usually it’s a quick catch-and-release. When you’re alone, though, if you hug, he doesn’t let go. He loves your touch.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

He’s very stubborn and doesn’t say it right away. You’ll end up saying it first, and it gets him thinking. Does he love you? Eventually, though, after a while into your relationship, he says it to you when he thinks you’re asleep.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

He gets incredibly jealous, very easily. You’re his s/o, dammit, and he doesn’t want other people to intrude on his turf! He may have matured greatly past his Season 1 demeanor, but wherever you’re involved, he tends to get heated. If Dabi happens to rest an arm across your shoulders, he tends to get frustrated. If Compress steals your attention for too long, he’s fairly quick to drag you away.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

His kisses are purposeful and rough (due to his lips). It depends on his mood. Sometimes he’s content to give you a lip peck, sometimes he cups your cheeks and deepens it until you both pull away panting. Kissing, to him, is special. And he wants every one to be special.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Not exactly horrible around children, but not great, either. Since most children tend to idolize heroes, he can’t be around them for long without needing a break to take out his frustration on something (probably one of poor Kurogiri’s shotglasses). Depending on the child, though, he can be more patient than he is with most adults because he understands them more. Especially with abuse victims. (Careful that you don’t end up taking in a victim of parental abuse as your own.)

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

He likes to laze about in bed in the morning, just holding you and pressing slow kisses across your shoulders and back. When you eventually need to get up, he likes to watch as you go about getting ready for the day.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

As soon as you’re alone, he’s sitting down with you in his lap. You scroll through your phone with him, maybe play an RPG together, just as long as you get to lie in bed together he’s down for it. The two of you end up falling asleep tangled in one another’s arms (careful that his are far away from you if he’s not wearing gloves).

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Tomura doesn’t do heart-to-hearts unless it’s talking about how your ideologies align. He’s extremely reluctant to talk about his own past with you unless it’s singing Sensei’s praises as a teacher, but sometimes he just has to vent to someone about how shitty his childhood was. In those moments, as you run your fingers through his hair, he tells you about his bastard father and doormat family, his sister, and his dog. If he cries a little, you’ll never tell.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

He’s gotten a lot better about keeping his temper in check, but he still has those moments when he gets angry and sulky. No matter what, he just can’t keep his anger at bay whenever he’s around someone gushing about their favorite heroes, especially not when it’s All Might. He doesn’t like it when someone insults his abilities and underestimates him, either. All the better reason to dust them where they stand.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

He tries to remember every single little thing that he can about you. Like Midoriya, he likes to analyze you and find out for himself what you like so that he can surprise you sometimes. He has a full notebook about things he’s noticed you tend to gravitate towards, as well as things you’ve stated are your favorite.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

His favorite memory is when you first healed him. You were relatively new to the League (a find by Toga), and while he didn’t trust you yet, you had panicked when you noticed a gash in his side and immediately sat him down to try and wrap the wound. Your tender care as you wrapped him up touched him, and from that point on he paid more attention to you.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

He is extremely protective of you, nearly to the point of being obsessed. He would do anything to keep you safe. He hates being viewed as weak, but when you have to come to his aid, he appreciates it, even if he feels like he has to show off a little more to offset the nagging feeling of being inadequate.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

The two of you don’t do things as a couple often, but when you do, he puts in a lot of effort into making your dates go perfectly. He gets frustrated when things don’t go to plan, but you often manage to distract him. He puts a lot of thought into gifts for you, only picking the things he knows you like.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

Aside from his scratching (which is a compulsion due to his Quirk), he can be really judgmental and sarcastic, especially when he’s in a bad mood. He tends to be a little manipulative and when you get him angry, you need to give him room before apologizing. He feels betrayed easily and requires a lot of convincing for him to let go of his hurt feelings, but he still remembers.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Before he met you, he didn’t put a lot of stock into his appearance. But afterwards, he started feeling self-conscious about his skin and face. He knows he can’t do much to help it, but it’s still frustrating when he looks in the mirror and sees how badly-damaged his skin is. He gets very insecure next to you.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

Before you? No, he was totally fine. After you? Definitely. Tomura is a very lonely person at heart and while he didn’t realize he wanted a person at his side before, now he doesn’t think he can live without you next to him.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

Likes to go into stores and discreetly dust All Might merch. It’s surprisingly good stress relief.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Literally anything heroic. It’s one thing to be nice and kind to people; he can definitely handle that after all the shit he’s gone through. But actually striving to be like the pro heroes? He wouldn’t be able to be around you. You can’t be judgmental either, because he knows he’s not the ideal type of guy to be around, and hearing it from you too would get old very quick.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

He’s plagued with mild insomnia and has a hard time falling asleep at night. With you, though, he’s been able to calm down enough to get a reasonable amount of sleep at night just by sleeping next to you. Still lazes about and lightly dozes in the morning, though.

[hankwritten]

TFComics Rewrite

I am currently plotting an outline for a TFComics, and I want to get my thoughts about fixes to canon and possibly get feedback. Since this is a rewrite there’s really no *spoilers* or anything, so I’m willing to answer all questions about what I plan to do. Also some characters I’m not so sure about how I want to retool them, so if your have ideas for your fav let me know!

Disclaimer:

This rewrite is intended to critique the content/choices made in the construction and telling of the Team Fortress 2 comic series. It is not a personal attack on the artists/writers/directors or any of the creatives that made contributions to this series, nor is it meant to substitute or replace the official release. This work is transformative in nature, and relies on an understanding of the source material to be understood. TF2 and its characters belong to Valve.

TFCR is working on the assumption that the audience has read the original comic, and as such will skip over scenes and plot points that are unchanged from the original. I don’t think it needs to be said, but this fanfiction will not make sense if you are not familiar with the source.

I also recognize that there are strengths within the comic’s writing and weaknesses within my own. Namely, that Valve writers are gods in the realm of comedy, and I’d rather not try to match them in the regard. As such, I will state up front that these will not be as funny as the TFComics. That is not to say there won’t be jokes (either ones transplanted from the source or some of my own) or that the tone of this will be terribly grimdark, only that my focus will be on improving story structure and character development as those are what appeal to me.

 The Broad Strokes

The goal of TFCR is to give a more engaging story for all the mercenaries we know and love, as--let’s face it--the TF2 mercs are side characters in their own damn story. These are some of the planned improvements.

There will be reason for each of the mercs to actually be there. As it stands, the motivations for almost every character besides Pauling and Saxton Hale are vague and unsatisfying. We’d usually say something along the lines of “money” for hired killers, but clearly Scout doesn’t even know if they’re getting paid, and some of the other characters are even worse. The hunt for the Australium is, therefore, boring. MacGuffins usually are, but at the very least the characters should care about the item even if the audience doesn’t. This work aims to give each of the nine mercs a motive and a reason to be in the story instead of just replaceable joke dispensers.

Explain what “Team Fortress” means, and how it relates to RED and BLU. Long and short: the nine mercenaries we see on the team are not from either RED or BLU but rotate between the two, and were the individuals selected to fight the robots. That means all things do happen to all characters. As Valve pretty much goes with “whatever is funniest at the time”, it’s very hard to make a cohesive theory about “where the hell is BLU team?”, but I’ll do my damndest. We’ll also examine Team Fortress’s relationship with the other capital T Teams, and why they’re considered the “rejects” of the bunch.

Comics 1 & 2 will be removed from the timeline as they serve no purpose, only taking what needs to be known about the plot’s setup and jumping straight to A Cold Day in Hell.

We will introduce the Classic Mercs right away so they can generate threat and play against the TF mercs when they do actually meet head to head.

We will not be killing off Gray Mann. (Not preemptively anyway.) In fact, there will be more focus on him and Olivia as villains facing off against the Admin, providing her foil as the TF2 and TFC mercs provide foils for each other.

I considered waiting until the final comic was out to begin working on this, but that may never happen. Jay Pinkerton said he may reveal what plot they had in store eventually, but considering it took Half Life over a decade to get the “I was once a Valve writer but my NDA has expired and now I can go buck wild” treatment, I’m not holding my breath. The main reason I wanted to do this is that the Administrator’s motivations are not interestingly foreshadowed, to the point where there aren’t even any good fan theories out there. That said, WritingDispenser and Riddle of the Sphinx helped come up with a pretty fun one, which was actually the inspiration for me to get off my butt and start plotting this.

There will be no queerbaiting. This refers both to HeavyMedic (which has been simultaneously used as wink wink nudge nudge joke many times and as encouragement for fans to play their stupid hat game) as well as lesbian Pauling (since femme lesbians are the preferred method for front facing LGBT representation across almost all media, but video games especially). If you need to understand why lesbian Pauling is an issue, Sarah Z coined the term “queercatching” in order to describe word of god confirmations on characters sexualities that are not followed up on in the text. I recommend the full video on it.

Due to the importance of immortality in the theming of the comics, respawn will not be a thing. Deaths we think should have happened previously will be explained as close calls, or that Medic can heal a short time after death. Medic and Scout’s deaths will be cut in the story itself, as after Sniper died and came back, them doing the same thing kinda lost their punch.

Scout

There will be no ScoutPauling hints. It doesn’t make sense to give screentime to this relationship because Valve obviously doesn’t think it’s going to go anywhere so why make Scout turn down advances from other hot women? I mean I get Expiration Date was a Thing but it feels like Scout’s whole motivation shouldn’t be reduced down to chasing a girl who doesn’t like him back.

He’s here because he lost his life’s savings in bad investments and needs the money. That’s it. Which is still somehow more than his canon motive which is question mark question mark question mark

He, Soldier, Spy, Demo, and Pyro all start the adventure with Miss Pauling.

Engages with Heavy on a genuine level when they go to collect him, Heavy doesn’t blow him off when he tries to level about dead dads.

There will be no DadSpy reveal. The way Spy treats Scout has never been “deadbeat dad feels bad about abandoning his kid” but more “this is someone I would kill without a second thought if I felt like it” which makes his reveal in comic 5 feel very disingenuous. I don’t think Valve even had this plotline in mind until comic 3, as #2 still has Spy seeming only to care about Scout’s Ma and not Scout himself. It also makes “seduce me!” retroactively weird.

Uhhh hooks up with Zhanna. This one isn’t critical I just think it’s funny.

Soldier

Soldier is going to be the Ur example of the Admin not treating her people well, as we’re going to lean into the whole “Soldier was only mildly messed up until the whole lead poisoning” thing.

He’s here because he’s blindingly loyal to the cause. He’s actually going to very little from canon because of this actually.

Might be the reason Team Fortress has a reputation of being the lower tiers of the Teams, but that doesn’t mean he’s damn good at his job. Fatal flaw is that he’s unstable, and even though the courthouse plotline won’t be in this fic, it should be noted that he actually does cause problems for the other protagonists due to his short temper. He’s a risky asset, but still essential.

There will be a minor explanation for the WAR! Comic, but I think that’s better saved for Demo’s analysis.

Pyro

Pyro is the character you could cut entirely from the comics and have the least change. Now, they’re going to be Pauling’s right hand. Let me explain.

Engineer and Pyro are implied to live together, and Pyro doesn’t have anything better to do than go with Engie after Team Fortress is disbanded. Rather than having a reveal, we will see some of what is going on with the Admin and friends early on, and see what leads up to her sending Miss P the note that kicks off the whole plot. However, while Engie needs to stay and look after her, Pyro’s skills aren’t useful here, and they are sent as a direct messenger to help Pauling.

They’re loyal, and unlike Soldier rarely mess up orders. They’re also partially mute, making them ideal for handling sensitive info. Pauling trusts them to handle the burning of “Elizabeth’s” paper trail.

Will be using they/them in the narrative voice, but other characters will refer to them as he/him. I considered going with it/its because that’s bubbled up in popularity again, but ultimately I decided against it.

We’ll get glimpses to their train of thought, but like the comics they will remain virtually silent.

Demo

Demo’s role in the cast is going to be very similar to Spy’s. The events of WAR! involved him nearly dying and Soldier taking the win, and he’s very bitter that after all those events *apparently* mercs can just be switched around teams willy nilly and don’t have to kill each other anymore. (As the audience, we know this is because the Admin found out the “make them so angry they won’t ask questions” wasn’t a long-term viable solution, and instead brought TFI forward as a neutral third party that was pretending to mediate the gravel wars.) But Demo’s suspicious, and is only along because he really has been miserable since he lost his job.

This conflict will eventually come to a head, more on that in the Sniper section.

Is fairly forgiving with his teammates. Doesn’t like Sniper but I’m willing to drop a little angst during that submarine scene. Is glad to see Medic actually. Here to be some glue to hold this merry band together.

The Eyelander will not be forgotten after 2 comics because I love this character concept and I think it was underutilized.

Drunk jokes will be kept to a minimum. What I liked about WAR! and Bombinomicon was that it took Demo and showed that they knew how to make him funny without making him one note, which they sort of did in the early TFComics but stopped in the later ones in favor of him….being asleep for the whole plot. I promise 100% awake Demo in my rewrite.

Demo likes Pauling on a personal level, but has trouble reconciling her with his feelings on TFI.

Doesn’t get knocked out by moonshine because. Seriously? Poisoning the Demoman with alcohol? In what world does that work.

Heavy

Not too much to change. Scout doesn’t accompany him when he goes to look for the secret Australium cache, and he engages with Mags and Saxton (which will be when the audience finds out what they’ve been up to) and actually cares about what’s going on with them. He thinks Darling is up to something. Which he is, he’s attempting to unseat both Gray and Helen due to long family history.

Will at least mention Medic. Their reunion falls a little flat since it mostly relies on Meet the Medic for context, as they don’t really interact in the comic. There can be a bit of a flashback to what it was like as all these mercs broke up.

I know uhhh Valve seems to think found family is really dumb, and that these murderers could ever like each other is silly or something, but the mercs do? Like each other? For the most part anyways. 

Bronislava and Yana come alone for adventures, not just Zhanna. Again, no real reason, but sometimes I get to have tacky fanfic stuff in my own fanfic because I Wanna.

Engineer

Engie ruminates on his family history of allowing all this bullshit to happen and just kind of shrugging. Basically Moss’s analysis of the Conagher themes.

Has put a lot of time, sweat, and tears into BLU and now TFI, isn’t willing to let it fall now, even if Admin is basically living on borrowed time. He’s doing this because of the ‘ole sunk cost fallacy.

Also we get to see more of Pauling and Admin’s relationship through his eyes.

Medic

Congrats on being the one merc with an actual arc, Medic! As a reward, you will not be changed much.

I’m actually going to use Medic’s section to say that the Classic mercs will be referred to by their first names in order to differentiate them, and we’ll get little previews of what they’re like from Medic’s perspective before we actually see them fight Team fortress. The battle at the submarine will be more of a fight in this sense, working it out so it seems like surrender is the only option after Sniper is killed.

Final fight with Cheavy will be...not blocked so awkwardly. I mean this is now a textual medium so my work is already halfway done, but still the pacing is so weird. Shudder.

Sniper

These are the big guns. Most changes, even more than Demo. He’s been actually hunting for New Zealand/the Australium cache on his own, and doesn’t want Pauling interfering, saying for a he knows she could have been the ones to kill his adoptive parents.

(She hasn’t, but the Admin did actually order them killed in an attempt to stop Sniper because she thought she could prevent the exact thing that is going on right now which is that Sniper is considering trying to get at it.)

Sniper doesn’t know this, but Pauling, Demo, and Spy eventually convince him to share his findings and help them get to New Zealand.

Spy

Similar to Demo but is less conflicted about it. He knows just because he likes someone doesn’t mean he won’t have to kill them later. 

Spy knows about who killed Sniper’s parents, and tells Demo, sort of as a test to see where his loyalties lie. He also knows that Pyro is Pauling’s confidant for certain things.

Demo questions him about what he’s doing here, whose side he’s really on. But you know. Spy is Spy and he was never really on anyone’s side but his own. When it comes down to it, it might be exactly as Scout thinks: that he’s ditched them all and run off when he had the opportunity. But, big damn hero, comes back in the end.

He’s here mainly to “keep an eye on things.” Also maybe because his gf asked him to keep an eye on her son :)