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etherealvoidechoes · 2 years

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Borderlands AU - Welcome Back, Handsome Jack - Chapter 1: To What's Left Undone...

It had barely been a year since the Vault Hunters and Crimson Raiders had killed Handsome Jack. Though they had chopped the head of the mad snake off — if not obliterated it —, Hyperion was still functioning, if not dysfunctional, which was the norm for most corporations in the six galaxies. And Helios Station loomed high over Pandora, monitoring all things; mainly Hyperion and their lucrative Eridium mining operations.

Mr. Blake found himself trusted in a new position, one he was half expecting with how Jack’s quest was going. The man was doing his best to undo his former boss’ work and get Hyperion back on track to its old self. But those Vault Hunters and Crimson Raiders were still being nuisances, understandably wanting to destroy anything associated with Jack, but he was thinking of solutions to get them to back off completely to stop the damage to corporate property and immense profit-loss.

But the man would be in for a shock one day as he was going over reports. A shock that would change everything.

Okay, finally done with chapter one after some edits.This is gonna be a 4-parter or so. Kinda “establishing” Jack coming back to life and whatnot and kinda gauging myself if I’ll do a full blow fic to make a story with him fully getting back in action to take revenge. Which only means I really need to play/watch TFTB.

Ao3 Link - Which may be more preferable to get certain formatting I’ve done with some parts.

Warning tags below.

There will be more tags to come as I work on the next chapters. And sorry for any bit of ooc/inaccuracies(though later on for Jack, that’s the eridium poisoning driving him insane.) Been awhile since I’ve played 1&2.

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Helios Station. That colossal Hyperion moonbase, styled in the stamp of an “H”, orbiting high above Elpis , and its gaze loomed over Pandora.

The station was still fully operational after Handsome Jack’s death. One could say business had increased after the madman’s death. Hyperion wanted to keep a tight grip on their Eridium mining operations taking place on the lawless backwater planet below; something that made them quite rich and gave them an edge against the other corporations because of eridium’s properties and the many technological advancements they had made. Hyperion had also evacuated its most valued and critical employees from Pandora, leaving a few “lucky” overseers and workers for the mining operations and a sizable military force as protection. Which was needed. Bandits were still insane and wouldn’t hesitate to attack their mining sites for anything valuable… or just pure wanton destruction; defacing every surface with the mutilated bodies of their victims, crude art, and other questionable things.

And then there were those Crimson Raiders and their Vault Hunter buddies. They still had a score to settle with Hyperion. They wanted to pay back every single ally, close friends, hell, even the innocent bystanders caught up in Jack’s megalomanic quest for “peace” with massive amounts of collateral damage and blood.

Despite some annoyances, operations on Pandora continued and part of the moonbase become a tourist attraction of sorts. Despite everything he had done, Handsome Jack had somehow cultivated a cult of personality of sorts amongst some in Hyperion, and then from those that caught his inane broadcasts to the six galaxies. The man did have an odd charm. A thinly disguised psychotic charm. Then again, the verbal and physical abuse he subjected his employees through broke them mentally in more ways than one… some consider him a god.

So, deluded fans of the megalomanic paid big bucks visit and for those more than willing to part with a huge chunk of change — and surprisingly there were a lot of gullible people — for VIP access could enter his office turned memorial. The little attraction brought in quite a pretty penny. And an odd form of amusement for some employees. There was always a running bet on how many entitled fans would get vaporized for trying to enter Jack’s office without authorization by the end of the week. Large amounts of money changed hands frequently with these ongoing bets.

So the station was quite functional, if not dysfunctional; much to Mr. Blake’s chagrin.

Mr. Blake… That devil-horned suit. A lot had been dropped onto his shoulders since Jack’s death. But he was expecting it. Sooner or later, someone would have killed the man and all responsibilities would be oh so gracefully shunted onto him.

Shortly after Jack’s death, the man became acting president of Hyperion. Nearly instantaneously, restructuring began. Partially to course correct many of Jack’s insane and wasteful plans to “civilize” Pandora, and then some bright-eyed employees wanted to climb that corporate ladder, find a more cushy spot in the hierarchy. There were many instances of various “accidental” deaths occurring on the station. The occasional airlock failure, food poisoning via allergic reactions, the Loader bots targeting systems malfunctioning, causing a few instances of people being gunned down, and the list goes on. A few even targeting Blake. But Blake somehow stayed on top and out of harm’s way. Seemed like he always had a contingency for everything.

Eventually, the death and turnover of station employees stabilized and slowly lowered once the restructuring was nearly complete.

Jack’s office became his. Despite it being used for those lucrative tours. After hours, he would put it to use. It could still act as the command center of the station and had the best computers there. It would be wasteful not to use them.

And it was another day — or night, can’t tell with space — that Mr. Blake was there. After hours, contemplating how to sort out Hyperion’s many, many troubles.

After hours, and the office was empty once more. Just the hum of electronics and hidden machinery kept the room from being dead quiet. Most of the lights were shut off. They rarely turned those soft blue lights illuminating the colossal busts of Handsome Jack off. But there was another calm source of light. Those reflected rays from Elpis, filtered in through the windows, kept the darkness from completely swallowing the room.

And standing by those windows, just behind the desk, was Jeffery Blake. That sharply dressed and lanky man was looking out those massive windows. Hands behind his back, his eyes were transfixed upon that red scar on the moon.

How it all began… Well, one of the many ways it all began for Helios station and Hyperion’s operations on Pandora. Insured Jack’s descent into madness and rise as a power hungry tyrant. To think he was once a mostly humble programmer. Mostly…

A subdued scoff left Blake’s lips. Humble probably was not the best way to describe Jake back them, but he was a lot more pleasant to be around even with his off-and-on had an over an inflated sense of grandeur that would peek through as he ran the station.

“I wonder how things would be now if everything was handled differently… and if Jack had help for his… other… issues before everything else.”

The thought occasionally crossed Blake’s mind. Actually, crossed his mind many times as he was stuck working under Jack. The man had a lot of issues he hid well... at first.

But Blake occasionally wondered, if the destruction of the “Eye of Helios” had been dealt with differently, where would Hyperion be now? Where would Jack be now? Truthfully, he viewed the betrayal by Moxxi, Roland, and Lilith to be quite reasonable. What in the world was Jack thinking building that thing?

And to think that was one of the many drops in the pond — with a few being boulders — during that whole incident. A conga line of poor decisions for all involved, an ever-growing stress that kept all from thinking rationally. And that final nail in the coffin was when Lilith rammed that Vault relic into Jack’s face. Any last shred of sanity in that man snapped.

“Should have made sure that attack killed him. But the others were there with him. Guns at the ready. Her shields wouldn’t have lasted long.”

Still, he wondered… how would things be if Jack was killed then and there?

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on the past.

Blake’s eyes shifted away from Elpis.

“Let’s get down to business.”

A moment later, holographic screens appeared around him, surrounding him in a blue glow. His eyes fell upon them, shifting from panel to panel. Raising a hand to his face, he tapped his chin. He even turned his body as he looked at each panel.

An active tracker for Hyperion stocks caught his attention. Steady and rising. Then messages from the Share Holders and Board of Directors. The usual business asking about profit margins, how things were being run, and what not.

His eyes narrowed as his bite the inside of his cheek. For a moment, he winced as he bit much harder than he expected.

“Why…”

The “Handsome Jackpot”. A name he had some to loathe. There were so many messages concerning that scam of a casino Jack built. How many zillions of corporate money did that man invest in building that thing? Well, it did quickly pay out by draining those “lucky” patrons that went there. And now those patrons and so many others were trapped in that death trap of a casino as soon as Jack died. Why did he program the place to lockdown in the case of his untimely death?

“Megalomaniac…” Blake shook his head as he read the reports.

All rescue efforts were going poorly. The top-notch security to the station quickly obliterated all attempts to leave the station, no matter what was tried. But the casino was more than welcoming to trap any and all newcomers. Fixing the issue was getting pushed to the back-burner until they could disable the security measures.

His eyes then shifted to a screen containing the ECHOnet news concerning all things on Pandora. It was the same old same old bandit madness, peppered with the escapades of the Vault Hunters. Speaking of Vault Hunters… them and the Crimson Raiders… he needed to figure out a way to sate their bloodlust. They were making good on their promise to destroy all things Hyperion. A few things Blake didn’t mind being destroyed, a few things he could ignore and write off like Opportunity and the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve.

“Opportunity…” A snort came out, followed by a chuckle. Another crazy plan of Jack’s. He wondered who would even move there with all the questionable laws, but then he thought of the fanatics that attended the tours on the station. There’s always a gullible person out there. For now, the construction of the settlement continued to not be an entirely wasted venture. It became the perfect place to house all those “lucky” workers who ran the mines.

Mines… Those Eridium mining operations. Blake’s eyes shifted to another planet. There was something he couldn’t ignore forever. The Crimson Raiders and Vault Hunters’ ongoing attacks were bitting into Hyperion’s profit margins. The Board didn’t like that too much and wanted the nuisances completely wiped out.

A disgruntled hiss slipped from his lips thinking about those meetings.

Blake knew that would be a tall order. They had just waged war against Hyperion a while back and had won. He was in no mood to wage war against them again. There was a strong chance a second war could end with Hyperion having to completely abandon Pandora. There had been discoveries of eridium on other planets, but not in the abundantly vast quantities found on Pandora. It would be too great of a risk to strike another war.

“Maybe I can see if I can broker a deal with them if Lilith is willing to listen.” Blake muttered to himself. “Though I’ve heard she’s had a few Hunters capture some Hyperion spies for interrogation. Heard they’re determined to take out the ‘eyesore in the sky’.”

And in response, they had increased security on Helios. Again.

Blake toyed with the idea in his mind from time to time. He had decent professional relations with Lilith and her cohorts years ago, cleaning up the “Claptrap Revolution” mess. But who knew where his standing with them was now after everything with Jack.

He shook his head. It was a thought. A thought that needed to take shape and become action sooner rather than later. Just a little more planning out all the details and maybe a deal could be struck.

His eyes drifted back and forth between the panels as he thought of how to respond to messages here and there, and then giving out orders on how some operations should be handled. Until something caught his attention.

A buzzing rumble at first before a pinging rattle against metal. Blake glanced over at the desk and down. It was his phone, a yellow screen flashing as it vibrated across the desk. Odd. He didn’t remember setting the vibration that strong.

“Hm.”

Those holo-screens flickered out one by one, blue glow disappearing , before he walked over to the desk. He looked down again and at the screen.

Hidden Caller:

>ACCEPT || >DECLINE

“Hm…” Oddly strong vibrations. And there was a pattern to it that repeated a few times.

-... .-. --- -.- . -. / ..-. .- -.-. .- -.. . / -... .-. --- -.- . -. / ..-. .- -.-. .- -.. .

“Hm.” He tapped his chin. Was it? He shook his head. Only one way to find out. He reached over to the phone, picked up the earpiece, and put it in his ear as he answered the call.

“Hello?”

A series of electronic pings and screeches quickly greeted his ear. Head jerking to the side, he gritted his teeth as it went on for over a minute. Then there was silence. He took in a breath.

“The Golden Age.” He uttered those words. A pause. More silence for just a moment and more of the screeches came through before slowly transitioning over to a voice. A heavily distorted voice. “Ah, you. Wondered when you would call again.” A smile crossed his face. Just the contact he wanted to hear from again. “Where did we last leave off?”

Blake paced back and forth; holo-screens flickered back into existence and kept pace with him. The conversation focused on the ongoing problems on Pandora. Specifically, the activities of the Crimson Raiders. They had info to share on what they were up to and where some of the Vault Hunters were. Off hunting those closely associated with Handsome Jack, even if for a short time, for interrogation.

So, ideas were being tossed around on how to negotiate a truce that would bring the least amount of profit-loss and bloodshed.

Buy them off? Did they even care about money that much to give up their vendetta?

Give them an exorbitant amount of guns? Couldn’t go wrong with that, since they had to deal with those crazed bandits. But… but that could so easily backfire in Hyperion’s face. There were those confirmed rumors the Crimson Raiders were planning on assaulting Helios station.

Perhaps place some bounties on them or amass an army to wipe them out? Wait… how did that go for Handsome Jack again? That option stayed at the bottom of the list.

So ideas continued to be tossed out and mused upon.

Blake’s pacing slowed as he passed by the desk, before anger flashed over his face. One moment his right hand was swiping through some messages and then the next it came down hard onto the desk, making a slighty loud thud.

“That’s the last thing we want!” His voice was just below a shout. A moment later, he winced, quickly rubbing his wrist. A robust metal desk, topped with finely carved wood panelling imported from Eden-6 did not play well with weak wrists.

The voice on the other end laughed, rattling off a few things. He rolled his eyes. Then shifted them to a panel that showed multiple views of Pandora from space. That massive eridium rift, a vibrant purple glowing scar that stretched across one side of the planet. Amazing how it appeared so suddenly after the defeat of the Destroyer years ago.

As he continued to listen, Blake narrowed his eyes. “I don’t find that funny. Operations will not be abandoned or destroyed in a bait and switch to get rid of them.”

He then pressed a few buttons on the keyboard on the desk, activating some holo-screens, and transferred what he was doing over to them.

“Now less joking. Tell me what you know about their latest plans. Heard they recently grabbed a technician from the station that was recalibrating a moonshot beacon a short while ago.” He brought up the profile of said technician. Someone low on the food chain, but that’s all it could take to start a fire.

His contact gave him the details, and he made notes and remarks. Looks like they were going to have to increase security again and update some security codes… again.

Soon, Blake was sending out orders concerning the much needed updates. And to increase security of the important workers down on Pandora.

As he continued to work and talk, a barely audible whirring sound came from the desk.

On the left, towards the edge, panels shifted, sections pulling away from the sides as something rose; a slim, rectangular column. It looked inconspicuous. Just a dark gray plinth, barely anything about it looked interesting. As is rose, flaps unfolded from the side, revealing the hidden magic within. Several lenses one could find on those major Fast-Travel hubs.

That whirring increased as those lenses lit up blue until a solid hum took over.

A new holo-panel appeared by the ones Blake was working it.

EXECUTING: NO ONE LIVES FOREVER… EXCEPT ME.

It went unnoticed.

That hum grew louder. Holographic streams of pixels and particles swirled around the lenses before several lines of light were projected out, making an outline. Quickly, a silhouette began to take shape. The blue glow grew brighter as more streams of pixels and particles appeared and swirled towards the shape as those familiar electronic swirling sounds of a digistructing(or teleporting) item or person filled the room.

Line by line, a body was coming through, being built block by block. A body that twitched and dripped blood.

Blake’s nose wrinkled. There was a strong sulfur smell biting at his nose, making his eyes water, peppered with the smell of burnt clothes and flesh. Human flesh. A smell he could never forget after spending some time down on Pandora. At least it wasn’t rotting and mixed smell of Skag piss. Ugh bandits…

“What the hell…?” He muttered, taking a moment to wipe his nose. “Is the maintenance crew working in the ventilation again? Someone lose grip on their torch or touch a loose wire?”

The digistruct sounds grew in intensity and a few flashes of bright light occurred.

“Huh?” That finally caught this attention. He looked up. A brow raised. Those typing fingers froze. “What in the world?”

Who? What? How?

He looked down to the source, that hidden plinth inside of the desk. When was that there? Then again, even Jack had his secrets.

Backing away from the desk, holo-panels quickly closing, he grab his phone and sent a message to security. This person had to be an idiot to transport themselves in here. But why the smell of sulfur and burning flesh?

“Hm?” Blake’s eyes shifted towards his ear piece. The voice was still talking. “No… something’s come up. Unexpected guest. We can still talk before security arrives.” He moved to the right side of the desk, giving the digistructing body a wide berth, but was curious to see who this bold, idiotic person was.

The lower half was fully digistructed and the upper half was slowly coming in piece by piece. But with what was there, they were riddled with bullets, burns, and slashes that had to come from a Buzzaxe. Clothes were absolutely ripped to shreds, and all those wounds were bleeding. A massive chunk of the person’s left thigh was missing. And there was fresh crimson running down said leg.

Blake wrinkled his nose. A hard swallow soon followed, chasing down a growing burn in the back of his throat. A hand soon covered his mouth. Needed to add the clean-up crew to that security call he made. Didn’t need that blood staining that expensive wood flooring.

“Hm.” Blake muttered. Something about those pants looked oddly familiar. Something about that silhouette was familiar. Especially those shaking laser lines around the hair. Swept back, faded slightly on the sides, with a few arched locks. Where had he seen that last?

Security was taking forever to arrive, but Blake kept watching, just entranced by the morbid sight. Until something in his mind clicked. “Wait…” His head quickly spun around and fell onto one of those gaudy statues of Jack that lead to the desk.

“What… no…” He looked back at the digistructing body. The torso was nearly done now and was just as battered as the lower half. A few more chuckles of flesh were missing, making Blake question if this person would be alive when the digistruct ended. The clothes were ripped and riddle with bullet holes, but were still recognizable.

“No… no… no…”

Something was clicking. Troubling things were clicking in his mind as his eyes focused on the clothes.. That gray suit jacket, brown vest, white dress shirt, and yellow shirt underneath. What remained of those blue tattoos on the right wrist as part of the skin of the arm was charred black, with a deep divot of flesh and muscle missing from the forearm. And then were a few rings he recognized.

“No… no… no.” Blake shook his head. He looked back at the desk and noticed there was still one holo-panel up. He went back to investigate.

NO ONE LIVES FOREVER… EXCEPT ME. 87.50% COMPLETE.

WARNING: MEDICAL INTERVENTION NEEDED ASAP. TRAUMA TEAM CONTACTED. ETA… ERROR…

MULTIPLE LACERATIONS DETECTED. HEAD TRAUMA DETECTED. BRAIN TRAUMA DETECTED HIGH BLOOD LOSS DETECTED. SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH DEGREE BURNS DETECTED. ERIDIUM POISONING DETECTED

“What the hell?”

He expanded the panel to get more details. A series of panels appeared. His jaw nearly dropped. A profile image appeared. That smug face of Handsome Jack greeted his eyes. Then he saw the rest. Read the rest. Vital stats, walls of text listing every single last injury he had sustained and then some details on how this digistruct of a teleport was working… and then a concerning amount of error messages that were appearing.

Before he could even decipher what those where, something caught Blake’s eyes. Details of what this “NO ONE LIVES FOREVER…EXPECT ME” execution was. He dug deeper. A brow twitched; his face reflexively contorted in disgust as he read the file. Immortality. A harebrained idea implanted into Jack’s mind because of Professor Nakayama ages ago. A considerable amount of the company’s expenses were wasted in the venture of using Digistruct technology to copy one’s mind and build a new body with a ton of failures until one courageous soul was able to convince Jack it was pointless and was taking away precious resources from the Eridium experiments. He surprisingly conceded… after throwing them into an airlock and spacing them.

“This is… impossible.” But Blake couldn’t believe what he was reading. What he was seeing. A functioning prototype for a mad grasp at immortality. He glanced back at Jack. That head was nearly done. He could see the remnants of those clamps that held Jack’s mask in place. This hinges broken, and the flesh around the edges was torn and bleeding.

Jack was dead. They had photographic and video proof of his long coming death from those Crimson Raiders and Vault Hunters. Those Vault Hunters gave Lilith the pleasure of killing the man. A firm hand gripping the man’s face, bringing him to his knees, followed by a quick burst of her Siren power coursed through his body and threw him to the rocky ground, splitting the back of his skull open like a ripe vineapple.

“That was for Roland, asshole.” A brutal death, yet efficient.

Several items were pilfered from Jack’s corpse, especially that mask, and they left him there to rot in the Vault of the Warrior. After planting a bullet to his brain. One last release of frustration from Lilith, and she swore she heard him gurgle. Hyperion was unable to retrieve his body, as once they regained control over the area, the arena was flooded with lava.

“Impossible…” Blake muttered as his eyes went back to the panels. He looked back to his ear. That person was talking, asking what was up. “I… I… I don’t even know where to begin.” He shook his head. “Hm!?”

Suddenly, a massive “ERROR” obscured the main screen.

98.989897% COMPLETE. ERROR. PROCESS INTERRUPTED. ERROR. PROCESS INTERRUPTED. INVESTIGATING ERROR.

Both brows were raised. He looked back over at Jack. Those digitstruct sounds and particles began to wind down and so did the lights. Just a few particles swirled around the floating, near lifeless body — as there was a finger twitch here and there — of Jack. The processed looked to be done. Jack looked to be entirely there. Wounds and all.

“Hm…”

“Hm…” Blake transferred the panels over to his personal system and made his way towards the front of Jack. Still, he gave him a wide berth, carefully eying the possibly living corpse suspended in the air. He studied the burns and bullet wounds. The rising burn of bile came back up, but another hard swallow forced it back down.

It surprised him there were not more gruesome wounds — minus his one arm, thigh, and recognizable slices from a Buzzaxe — as those Vault Hunter’s came down on him hard in his final hour. Just a pack of rabid dogs dishing out much deserved justice against him with their overkill weaponry.

Though… there was his head… there was just a massive amount of fresh crimson running down his neck, coming from the back of his head. And from what Blake he glimpsed as studied the body, there was a chunk of hair missing, revealing shattered white fragments of a skull and that all too familiar pinkish-red brain.

“Huh…” The man tapped at his chin as he paused in his tracks. He was curious about that wound, though his brain was yelling at him not to look. Taking a few steps back, both brows were quickly raised. Another hard swallow followed, but a gag slipped out.

The back of Jack’s head was split open, but the brain looked rather intact. There should have been parts of it missing.

As he was pondering on the thought, moving forward again to study the rest of the body, he nearly tripped over his feet — way too close to the stairs. Really needed some guardrails on the platform — once his eyes saw the face. Jack’s face. It was him. Face plain, eyes closed, and mask torn off, revealing that embarrassing scar underneath. It was really him.

“How…?” Blake muttered as he got himself steady once more. His eyes focused on that face, especially that bullet wound right in the middle of his forehead. It was leaking. “Just how…?”

If Jack had this working failsafe, why didn’t it activate as soon as he was killed?

“So… we may have a problem now.” Blake spoke to his contact. Throwing caution to the wind, as his curiosity was getting the best of him, he slowly inched towards Jack to getting a better look at him. “Something big just came up. It may be rather troublesome for the future of Hyperion.”

As he got closer, Jack’s eyes flew open suddenly. A strangled gasp came out as his mouth snapped open. Blake’s eyes went wide; stumbling back, his butt hit the floor. He nearly tumbled down the stairs, barely catching himself.

Pain crossed Jack’s face. He grunted, face twisting into a grimace as his fingers arched. Those eyes, one blue and the other a cloudy green, darted around.

Where? Where? Where the fuck am I?

His mind was in a heavy fog, his body was numb, but the layout of the room seemed familiar to him. Those two gorgeous busts of one handsome man. And then he saw someone on the floor. His assistant, more like unwilling butler, Jimmy a.k.a. Blake. Mouth hanging open, the man was white as a sheet, like he had seen a ghost.

“What…” A mutter escaped his lips. What was he doing back in his office? Last thing he could remember was facing those wretched bandits in the Vault of the Warrior. But those memories were so foggy. His nose wrinkled as he closed his eyes tightly. Why were those memories so foggy? Why did it hurt to think?

He fought against that pain and searched for those memories. He won his fight against those stinkin’ murderous bandits, right? Right…?

His eyes flew open once more, face dropping, eyes trembling as they stared blankly ahead. The memories hit him. He did not win. The Warrior was summoned, but those bandits killed his long-awaited weapon. And then Lilith, the damn Siren killed him! Killed… him… He had died?

Impossible… Impossible!

His mind refused to rationalize that. There was no way those bandits killed him. There was no way.

“Welcome back,” a female-voiced AI suddenly spoke, “Handsome Jack!”

Nononono…. Impossible…

“Death is barely a temporary setback for your Handsomeness!”

Fuck no…

Blinking a few times, a d brief shake of his head, his eyes fell onto the Blake. The man was still snow white and stammering “he’s alive” or some stupid nonsense. The man had to have answers. He was good at keeping track of things. Staying up to date on all the important information.

“What the hell is going on Jim—“ Jack froze as he felt something course through him. Mouth agape; pupils were mere pinpricks.

“ERROR. PROCESS INTERRUPTED. TRANSFER PROCESS INTERRUTPED. DNA DATA CORRUPTED. TRANSFER DATA CORRUPTED.” Another AI spoke. More robotic and cold. “FATAL ERROR OCCURING.”

“mmmmMMMMMIIIIIY—,” Jack’s voice returned, going up several octaves as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, “AAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!” Before it turned into a full-blown wail of pain.

Blue bolts of energy erupted from the machine like lightning, quickly ensnaring the man. Blood shot out of every wound. His body thrashed about in the air like a puppet being jerked around by a child, causing him to contort on himself several times. A few times, his back arched until it felt like his spine would break in two and then those limbs contorted nearly beyond their natural ranges until… a few snaps were heard.

Blake had to turn away. This time he lost his dinner.

White froth soon left Jack’s mouth. And that Vault scar on his face began to glow… purple.

“What the hell…” Blake muttered, hand wiping his mouth. His mind trying to process what was going on. And his body was far too frightened to move a muscle. “He’s… alive.”

The entrance doors to the room opened. A thunderous stampede of footfalls entered the room. Blake looked over his shoulder.

“Took security forever… and there’s the medical team?” For a moment he wondered why they were there as he didn’t request them. Then his mind remembering the wailing corpse in the room. “Lovely…” Probably some hidden protocol in the program sent a message to them.

Could he keep them from saving Jack? It was better for Hyperion — really everyone — if the man stayed dead.

He pondered on that for a moment before pursing his lips. He took in a sharp breath and sighed. If Jack had this cooked up, what else did he have planned? Possibly additional orders in that hidden protocol to kill anyone that tried to stop the medical team from saving him.

“Why, why, why? Always something…” It was just a speculation, but Blake didn’t like. He had enough fun working around and tearing apart insane rules and loopholes the man had implemented to keep his power — and getting Hyperion back to its old black and red color scheme was one rule that was making him want to tear his hair out. He was so tired of that damn yellow.

So, there probably was some hidden clause somewhere dealing with this, and Blake very much wanted to keep his head on his shoulders.

An annoyed sigh slipped from his lips. He barely noticed the medical team sweeping past him and over to Jack. Someone deactivated if not destroyed the machine. The moment it was off, Jack unceremoniously crashed to the ground, still a twisting and shaking mess.

He barely acknowledged the security team and his ears being flooded by a sea of questions as hands firmly clasped his arms and raised him back to his feet.

Is that Handsome Jack?

Handsome Jack is alive!?

Handsome Jack is back!?

“Oh, things are going to get interesting again…”

Looked like Blake’s and his contacts plans were going to have to be put on hold for the time being.

Hopefully, death sobered Jack. But only time could tell. And Blake had strong doubts death did.

#borderlands AU #Handsome Jack #Handsome Jack AU #Broken!Jack #writings #fan fic writing #Borderlands 2 #Borderlands #Fic: Welcome Back Handsome Jack

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we-love-imagines · 4 years

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Sunday Sniffles

Valentine’s Event: Day 4

Prompt: Rohan + Domestic

Ao3 Link

Author’s Note: Hi! This one is a bit of a sick fic, but it isn’t very gross, just a little fever. I’m so excited for the Rohan ova to go to Netflix, I haven’t gotten the chance to watch them on my own so I’m super excited. I love Rohan so much, he’s so fun to write for! Expect a lot more Rohan content soon!

As you opened your eyes, groaning softly as you woke up, you noticed the man that was beside you when you went to sleep was long gone. To most people, waking up to an empty bed would be upsetting, but you had grown used to it. You and your fiancé, Rohan, were busy people, and there wasn’t much time for early morning cuddles. There was coffee to make, pages to draw, and work to be done.

However, you both had the tendency to run yourselves ragged. As you rolled out of bed, your legs felt like jello, and your sinuses were extremely sore. As you headed to the bathroom, chills ran up and down your spine as you sniffled and coughed, your head pounding as every step felt like a mile. Realization hit you, however, when you entered the bathroom and flicked the lights on. Your paled cheeks and reddened nose gave it away- you had gotten sick.

After washing up a little, you hoped the icky feeling that coated your body would disappear so you could get some work done; alas, it did not. You slung a blanket over your shoulders, wandering down the hall to your fiancé's office on shaky legs.

“Rohaaaaaan,” you called, your voice hoarse, before opening the door, “I’m coming in.” He always got a little miffed when he was interrupted, but he was used to you stopping in around this time to say ‘Good Morning.’ Not noticing the weak warble of your voice, he didn’t think to take his eyes off his work.

“What is it, (Y/n)?”

“Babe, I think I’m sick,” you told him, before sneezing, “I don’t think I’ll be able to look over your pages today, I’m sorry.”

Setting down his pencil, he turned to face you. The moment he laid eyes on you, he could definitely tell you weren’t bluffing- you looked like death. While Rohan could certainly overdo it at times, your job as a manga editor had you working yourself to the bone a lot. You not only checked for continuity and general errors in a multitude of mangakas’ manuscripts, but you also were their main consultant, bouncing around ideas with them whenever they seemed stuck. While you were the editor for Pink Dark Boy, Rohan was very self-sufficient, so he never needed much from you. However, as of late, the other mangakas under your care were getting quite needy, putting a little too much on your plate for the past week or so.

“Let me take your temperature,” Rohan stood up, taking your hand and dragging you into another room. He pulled out a little thermometer, placing it in your mouth- just as he expected, the temperature rapidly rose.

“You have a fever, my dear,” he sighed, looking over your weak form, “Come on, let’s get you back to bed.” To most people, Rohan seemed like a heartless bastard; Hell, when you first became his editor, you thought so too. However, after getting to know him better, you quickly found that he could be rather sweet if he wanted to. After years of going out, you discovered that said kindness seemed to only be extended to you and a few close friends. Whenever he’d call you little pet names, or hold you like he was right now as he walked you back to your shared bedroom, you reminded yourself of why you fell for that heartless bastard in the first place.

Tucking you back in under your covers, he sat you up on some extra pillows, grabbing some extra blankets from the closet to warm you up even more.

“Tea?” he asked, rolling up his sleeves.

“Babe, you don’t need to baby me,” you told him, prying off some excess blankets, “Go back to work, I know you’re busy. Besides, I have a few calls to make-”

“No, no (Y/n). You’re not doing any work today,” he protested, taking the blanket you were trying to get rid of and putting it back on top of you, “The more you try to do today, the longer your fever is gonna last. You’ve been working too hard lately, anyways. It’s probably the reason you’re sick.”

“But the other mangakas need me, at least let me call them-”

“Dear, they’re creative people, they can manage for a few days while you recover,” he cut you off, making a snide face. He never liked how busy those other mangakas made you- they always seemed to rely on you too heavily for ideas.

“Until then, you’re staying right here. I’m going to make you some hot water for your throat- would you like to read something?”

“Again, babe, you don’t have to fuss over me,” you chided, shooing him away, “I won’t go into work today, but I can make my own tea. You have pages to finish.”

“I know I have pages to finish, but I’m ahead of schedule. Is it wrong of me to ensure my fiancée is well taken care of?” Rohan rolled his eyes, a cocky little grin on his face. He knew you hated when he was right. “What if I wanted to fuss over you anyways, hm? We’re both so busy, I don’t have the time to properly spoil you like I should.”

“You sly dog,” you smiled back at him, sniffling in between words, “You’ve been waiting for something like this, haven’t you?”

“Guilty is charged,” he chuckled, rolling up his sleeves before placing a box of tissues on your nightstand, “I’ve been wanting a nice, easy day with you for awhile. While your condition isn’t optimal, I’ll take any chance I get.”

Without another word, he rushed downstairs to fetch you some warm water as you reached for the drawer in your nightstand, pulling out a book you’ve been meaning to finish. Rohan came back to your room, not only with some hot water and a variety of tea bags to choose from, but with a large breakfast, too.

“You’ve got to drink lots of warm water and eat right so you can get better, okay?” he instructed, setting the tray of food deftly on your lap. You also noticed his ‘go bag’ of art supplies slung over his shoulder. He always carried that bag around when he was out of the house in case inspiration suddenly struck him, so he could draw whole pages of manuscript then and there. He set it down, gently, in the corner of the room; if this bag was with him, it meant that he was staying by your side all day.

Sitting on the bed next to you, Rohan made conversation with you while you ate, cleaning up soon after you were done. He spent the whole day like that, lying beside you, making sure you were okay.

“Rohan, you shouldn’t cuddle me,” you weakly argued, trying to push the man currently spooning you away, “I could get you sick!”

“I don’t care. It’s been too long since we’ve gotten to just lay around together, Dear,” he shot back, nuzzling into you. While you wanted to protest further, the warmth of his body and the endearing pet-name made you complacent. Soon enough, you found yourself drifting off in his arms.

Seeing as you were ill, you had a hard time staying asleep, but Rohan would always lull you back down, comforting you like a mother singing to a baby. While part of you wished he was getting his work done, it felt so nice to finally spend some quality time with your future husband. Your little chats in between naps actually included a lot of wedding planning- something you were both too busy to think about since he popped the question. Also, even though you felt a little bad about it, it felt really nice to be doted on like this. Rohan was being so sweet and gentle with you, which was a very nice change of pace compared to his usual prickly personality.

Suddenly, you found yourself waking up, the electric clock on your nightstand showing that it was the early evening. Did you just spend all day in bed? Despite the frail feeling in your limbs, or how gross your face felt, it was so nice to lounge around all day.

Behind you, you heard a little snore coming from Rohan. Carefully, you turned over to face him, making sure to go slow enough not to wake him. As you settled back in, you saw how peaceful his face was, all of the tension in his body gone as he slept.

It felt nice to wake up to his face again. From here on out, you two would make sure to save some more time for each other.

#jjba #jjba x reader #rohan x reader #rohan kishibe x reader #rohan #rohan jjba #jjba rohan #rohan kishibe #jojos bizarre adventure #JoJo no Kimyō na Bōken #Valentines Day event

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xpeachesncream · 4 years

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please could you make taehyung jealous for the next perfectly wrong drabbles? 👉👈

perfectly wrong | drabble [3]: if it’s one thing taehyung truly has a love-hate relationship with, it’s the fact that you have such a sweet, kind and warm demeanor towards everything and everyone.

word count: 1.8k

warnings: pretty fluffy, implied sexual content, cussing, tae is petty but also pouty

notes: feel free to send requests like this to my inbox and i will get to them! it may not be right away but i promise i’ll take a look. it can be for anyone in the perfectly wrong series. same thing goes for off the grid. however, please note that there are certain things i won’t write about - extreme mental/physical/verbal abuse (we’re all about fun, lighthearted pettiness here and nothing serious), threesomes, orgies, any extreme, intense smut because i’m still not used to writing smut like that. basically anything that you might be uncomfortable with or wouldn’t do in real life, i most likely will feel uncomfortable too and will not write about it! pls keep that in mind, thank you! love you all tons! 💗

Taehyung will not hesitate to let people know that he's your man and your man only. You thought he might have learned from the entire Jungkook situation, in which in a sense he has; he no longer acts weird about how close you and Jungkook are, but that doesn't mean he doesn't get jealous outside of that bubble.

He was the campus fuckboy, after all. He knows the capabilities of the boys here. He knows the intentions of the majority. He's familiar with the stupid little games boys play. If anything, he helped play a role in the stupidity of many boys on campus. He was a champion, the walking fuckboy 101 bible - they wanted to be Taehyung and they did everything to follow his ways.

So, when he's ordering coffee and sees a guy trying to lay his sweetness on you, getting all googly-eyed and licking his lips like you're his last meal on Earth, he doesn't like it one bit because he knows that look. He's been there before, especially with you. It doesn't help that you're super approachable, welcoming anything and anyone into your arms like you're some kind of saint.

The anonymous dude [Taehyung can't tell from afar] apparently cracks a joke, because you're entertaining it and playfully shoving him aside. You're beaming from ear to ear, tears almost streaming down from whatever joke he's telling you.

You hadn't laughed like that with him in awhile, nor has he seen you smile so big like that. Obviously, it's the jealousy talking. You loved Taehyung more than anything, and he was the only one who could make you feel the way that you do.

"The fuck?" He mumbles to himself.

"Here's your coffee, Tae." The barista says softly behind the counter, her gaze going between him and the scene. He can't keep his eyes off of this interaction, praying to the heavenly being above that the boy will get the hint and leave before Taehyung can get there. But he doesn't. He continues to crack jokes or whatever the hell he's doing to make you laugh the way that you're laughing. You rest your chin on your palm as you look at the dude in front of you, head tilted, looking all cute and shit and you don't even know it. Tae's eyes widen when he sees you place a hand on his shoulder and give it a gentle squeeze.

"T-thanks, could you actually just toss it in a to go cup, please? I think we're gonna head out instead." He dug his hands in his pockets as he keeps watch, the barista silently doing as asked. Taehyung quickly grabs the coffee and heads out to where you're seated, the dude still all up on his woman like he had been waiting for the right opportunity to pounce on her ass all day.

"Wow, are you serious? Christian that's hilarious, I'm sorry. Maybe you should have gone for that installment instead. Either way, I think it'll look amazing. It'll look so good when you finish it." He hears you reassuring ol' dude. You look up to see Taehyung slowly approaching, his forehead furrowed like some kind of angry, old man waiting for kids to get off of his porch. Curls all defined and fluffy, he didn't look intimidating to you one bit - but Christian squirms in his seat, finally catching the hint that Taehyung was not happy about him sitting that close to you with his arm brushing up against yours. Taehyung's eyes were piercing right through him, colored lenses intensifying the look.

"S-sorry, I was about to—"

"No, please stay. Let's all gather around and talk about each other's day." Taehyung sarcastically scrunches his nose and does a shimmy to show that he's actually not fucking playing right now and Christian better know what's good for him.

"I was just asking her for some advice on art class." He stands to nervously dust himself off. Now, if it's one thing you know too well, it's how petty Taehyung gets when he's jealous. You quietly sit there, a little hot and bothered with how Taehyung is acting, but you also want to laugh at how people really find Taehyung so intimidating. If you all only knew how much of a baby bear he was behind closed doors.

"Cute. You do know the fucking art room is two steps behind you, right? You know, where the professor usually is at." He steps forward, jaw slightly clenching.

"Look man, I really didn't mean any harm." Taehyung nods. "I was just about to leave."

"Don't forget to pick up your googly eyes from the floor." Taehyung shoots him a finger gun and clicks his teeth. "Wouldn't wanna misplace those for the next time you try and use them on my girlfriend again." Christian leaves without saying anything else, causing you to snort.

"What was that about?" You chuckle.

"Let's go." He sternly says, handing you the cup of coffee.

"I thought we were gonna sit and drink this here?"

"Or we can just sit and drink this at home." You hurriedly get up to follow him as he starts walking towards the car.

"Are you really that upset?"

"Are you really that upset?" He mocks your tone as he continues to walk to the car.

"Real mature, Kim Taehyung." He looks over his shoulder to glance at you with those eyes before looking back at the car. He silently opens the door for you, avoiding all contact. You silently giggle to yourself because even though he could get annoyingly petty like this, he still found ways to be a gentleman and cater to you. You watch as he plops into the driver's seat, sipping his coffee as he stares out at the campus. "Tae, what are we doing?"

"You wanted to sit and drink this here, right?"

"You're annoying." You roll your eyes and sit back. Was he really doing this right now? Taking your ass to the car to enjoy your coffee, away from people?

"Says the one who was all it'll look so good when you finish it. Ouuuu, either way it'll look amazing." He mocks your tone. "If anything, you're the annoying one, acting all cute when you know these dudes have it out for you. Since when do you shower people with compliments like that? I thought I was the only one."

"No, they don't, Christian is just a good friend from class and I was just trying to help give him some solid advice."

"Oh, so he's a good friend now?" He raises his eyebrow. "Jungkookie is a good friend. Hoseok is a good friend. Yoongi is a good friend." He counts on his hand, showing you the three fingers he has up. "Where's Christian at? I don't see him on that list. Christian is not a good friend." He puts his hand out as if he's waiting for your response. "Wooooow, it's quiet, no back talk, ey?" You put his hand down. Did I tell you he was also a comedian at best?

"Babe, stop." You pout, but he shakes his head. "Why are you acting so jealous right now?"

"Cause! The way you were all smiley and laughing with him. Praising him. Playfully pushing him and shit. You barely do that with me."

"You have got to be kidding. I've done that with you time and time again, I barely spend time with anyone else but you. You always make me laugh and you always make me smile, much more than anyone else."

"A-and you were like squeezing his shoulder so sweetly. You had this soft touch when it came to him even though he was looking at you like he was thinking some foul shit. You just— You just give it so easily."

"Baby." You chuckle. "Okay, that's just way too far."

"I know it all too well. I know a boy's brain like the back of my hand. So yeah, we're enjoying this coffee in here whether you like it or not." He furrows his eyebrows. You give him a moment to calm down before you reach over and caress his cheek. He welcomes your touch and you can instantly feel him relaxing as you continue to touch him gently.

"You're too cute."

"No." He pouts.

"Taehyung, you know I love you. And you know you're the only one who can make me feel all sorts of ways - one being happy and incredibly giddy from your lame jokes."

"They're not lame."

"They're lame." You joke as you scrunch your nose. "But that's what makes them unique to you. I wouldn't have it any other way. And on top of that, you know I can never stop smiling around you no matter the circumstance. Like now." You smile at him because honestly, he was being too fucking cute and you wanted nothing but to cuddle him at home. He had such a jealous side to him that little things ticked him off, but you knew he cared and just wanted you to himself. You couldn't help but feel the same, hence the girl at the mall being all flirty with him.

"Honestly, you're gonna be the death of me." He looks at you, his cheek falling deeper into your touch while you giggle. "Seriously, it's not funny. You had me experiencing heart palpitations when you touched him like that, it's not a joke."

"Relax." You chuckle. "You're dramatic."

"You wanna talk dramatic?" He looks at you. "She got all flirty with you when she walked off and you didn't even say anything!"

"Okay, I get it!"

"Mhm." He wiggles an eyebrow. He begins to start the car and pull off, the ride pretty silent. You knew he just needed a moment to get over himself, so as soon as you step into your apartment, you put your things aside and throw your arms around him.

"Babe." You plant kisses all over his face.

"Mmm, no—" He says in between kisses. "You— don't— get to do that—- and expect to— win me over— just like that."

"Uh huh. Yet, you're still kissing back." You say, pushing him towards your room. All you had planned was just to cradle your big baby and cuddle him until he felt better. You've learned that's how Taehyung gets over most things. Truly.

"Y/N, I'm not joking." He lays on his side after tossing his keys and phone on your night stand. He throws his hood over his head, while you throw yourself onto him, being the bigger spoon.

"Hey." You forcefully turn him around to make him face you. He does nothing look at you, allowing you to place a soft, passionate kiss on his plump lips. He gives into it, deepening it while tugging you closer to him. "You know I only have eyes for this handsome guy right here, right?" You boop the mole on his nose.

"Good, cause I want you all to myself. Stop being such a fucking saint. Be mean for once. I know you can do it, since you always catch an attitude with me." You laugh.

"Whatever, Taehyung. If that makes you feel better."

"Good." He smirks. "Come here. I'm trying to show you that you're mine and only mine." He wraps his arms around you and snuggles tightly against your body until you hear him softly snoring into your chest.

#bts #bts fanfiction #taehyung fanfiction #taehyung #kim taehyung #taehyung x reader #kth x reader #writing #perfectly wrong #perfectly wrong drabbles #kth series #taehyung fluff #bts fluff #kim taehyung fluff #kth fluff

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key-to-my-heart · 3 years

Text

S2 WISHFUL THINKING

hey hi hello! i haven’t really been active on tumblr but i wanted to get back into the swing of being active and posting often. so.

i decided i will take note of some of my predictions, hopes, wishes etc. for Season 2 of Rainbow High!

so i kinda wanna just cover the things we canonically have seen aka specific events and drama that has gotten introduced

- The New Roommates / Series 3 Girls

i feel like we will definitely see more of them within the coming episodes. rainbow high literally advertised the new teams as like… i think the second or third teaser for the new season

it’s interesting to me because. this makes me think of What The Runway Project is? what could it possibly be? i believe i made a post about this in the past but the main theory (and theory i believe the most in) would be a Stage Production of sorts. i mean… it makes sense!

the twins are both Performing Arts focus and are definitely the antags this season. so why wouldn’t they cause trouble in regard to a stage play? plus, bella is back. she’s literally a set designer! we have never seen her do any set designing (other than making a sketch) so it would be fun to see that! if river were to get more focus this season, he would definitely have an outlet to channel his Performing Arts creativity! plus… Daria is a song writer so like. imagine if we were to get music out of that? please. the possibilities are endless.

im also eager to see the series 3 girls dynamics. like are the rest of the girls (gabriella, georgia, emmy and daphne) all roomed together? do they get along? will they all be just as dramatic as stella, sheryl and daria’s dynamic?

but anyway. whatever the drama and the semester project is, the new teammates definitely seem to be playing a crucial role in this season.

- The Twins

i’m actually really eager to see more of them. i feel like not enough people are talking about them? season 2 is actually really interesting so far…. maybe more so than season 1… and i feel like we are going to have to thank the twins for that at some point lol

like. idek what they’re planning on doing but. i’m excited to see what it is! they’ll probably be involved in the semester project or at least causing problems to all of the roommates and teams. they’ll definitely have something going on with bella. and it seems that they have a good bond with karma (after the KWK we got). so maybe they’ll have input in any potential drama with Karma. which leads me to

- Karma VS. Violet

so. this drama has been teased at for like. ever. for what feels like forever.

this moment in Karma’s bio PLUS the commentary about violet from her and the twins in the recent KWK episode. but anyway. i’m actually super interested in whatever this drama could be??? like. why is karma watching.

we know violet adores karma, she really wants to have her in the vi life. so i’m sure she basically looks up to her! but like. will karma actually genuinely be nice with violet? keep a distance? make remarks like she did in her recent vlog? i don’t know. idk what to expect. of course it’ll have to do with vlogging or something.

- Bella

ok so there is a few things to note with bella. i’m still interested in if bella will accept to do an interview with Karma for her vlog? if so, i wonder how that would go. and i wonder how violet would feel about it. like the very last time bella was featured in vi’s vlog was on a bad note (even though they made up) but like. idk AAA

also i’m wondering how bella is gonna handle being back to rainbow high. because so far it seems she’s having trouble fitting in. will the key to her fitting in be Jade? will Jade help her figure everything out? or would it be someone else?

as much as i’d love Jade to be the reason Bella starts to feel more at home, i also love the other idea of Amaya being the reason bella feels comfortable again. Amaya was once the new girl (and of course in an awkward position because she was essentially a replacement for bella’s spot in the runway group) but. she didn’t fit in. she had to find her place at rainbow high… and it took her until the runway show to be able to truly feel comfortable.

and like. i’ve been rooting for bella/amaya dynamic for awhile now. i see a lot of potential in this duo. we know they somewhat have tension. i mean. bella had a really awkward confrontation with amaya and that was rly their first and last conversation. sure they’ve been around each other like in the music video, at the end of s1, and when bella walked into the girls dorm s2ep2 but like. that’s it.

SO ANYWAY. what i’m trying to get at is that these two definitely need to become friends. i mean. they have a LOT in common. i was talking about the new girl situation because i feel like they can relate in that way. they both had an awkward entrance into rainbow high and could bond over that. it took amaya awhile to feel at home at rainbow high… so maybe she could become friends with bella and help her feel at home! they’re both very determined leader types. they’re really passionate and! they have the same friend group! so why not become friends?

- Jade and Bella

of course i will wonder about these two! i have no clue what to expect with them. the fandom and myself are really really really wanting to see these two become a canon sapphic couple. i really want to see this happen! and mga knows this. mga knows we want to see jella happen. i mean, they literally snatched the ship name from us and plastered it into their vlogs. so they KNOW

anyway. these two are literally going through it rn. the way jade’s eyes lit up when she saw bella was back at rh. and now both of them are looking for each other and worried about each other. jade thinking bella is mad at her rn? please. i will sob. they are really holding off this jella reunion but i hope it’s for a good reason. i just want them to talk and have a good reunion… a hug……. happy tears, happy smiles…………..a love confession…

- Amaya

so i don’t really have much to say here but i’m just wondering about amaya this season. she’s definitely been advertised so much to the point that she essentially became like. THE main focus in season 1. this peeved some people but personally i loved amaya being like a sort of main character figure. she didn’t really take attention away from the other characters but also had that energy of being a main character anyway.

my point is, though, idk how she will play out in this season? like is she going to be as much of a main character as the main 6 are…. or will she play a bigger role? i have no clue. it seems bella is going to have a key focus this season, which makes sense, but it still just makes me wonder about amaya’s role this season

- Colin

i just hope this man does not get a development arc. i know some people want him to…. but i just. i don’t. i don’t understand. the point of him existing was to show that cheating is wrong and to display girl power. by teaching that skyler didn’t need a man to prove her worth. that she is her own person. her own strength! i really hope that colin and bella don’t have anything omfg.

- Winter Break

i’m really. REALLY excited for the winter break arc. it’s about time we get to see some backgrounds outside of rainbow high! plus the animated tidbits of ruby, sky, and violet in their wb outfits in the wb commercial was everything.

i’m so excited to see their new hairstyles, to see them with their snow gear and more. omg. of course i think the twins will be involved in this arc someone. krystal briefly mentioned the twins’ family having a ski lodge. and then of course we see sunny with her skis so like. yea!! i just wonder how these episodes would play out. or episode. but anyway like… will they just vibe? or will there be a problem of sorts? if it’s winter break then it probably won’t tie into school or like projects or anything like that

- Kia Hart

i’m actually hoping kia gets some focus this season. like. what is she going to do? is she going to pair another couple together? (if so, please be jella. okay wait seriously what if she is the key to reuniting jade and bella together… anyway) i just hope to see more of her and possibly more of her and krystal together haha. but kia just vibes so far, it would be lovely to get more of her!

- The A’s

so ainsley is finally beginning to get some attention! i really hope we continue to get more of her as well as avery, and aidan of course! we did get a bunch of content of aidan but you can never have enough honestly.

but i just wonder about how the A’s will be this season. like will they do anything significant? are bella and avery going to remain close? what is going on!!!

- The Malibu Line

so we literally know nothing about this except

but i still wonder like. if we will get to see anything about it at any point during the web series. perhaps it would be more of a summer thing. but it definitely means something if Bella is in it! (also i’m just generally excited for her new doll. omfg.)

- The Rock Line

so we also know almost nothing about this except

saw someone discuss that the music being heard during s2ep2 could be in regards to the rock battle. honestly. what if this is some sort of project? battle of bands or something? that would be cool lol. anyway i’m intrigued for this line mainly because of all the clothing leaks we have been getting omg.

- The Slumber Party Line

we have known about this for a little while (with the theory of the baby blue girl being in it) but i’m just curious as to who the characters are and if they will be in the web series at all.

- Jett Dawson

okay so. this is a big one. jett being a collector doll, i feel like she’ll definitely play a crucial role in the series. so like. who will she be to the main characters? it says she’s generally nice. why was she giving that look to the girls after their runway performance? IDK! i have no clue what to expect with her. i feel like the expectations i had for amaya (before we knew anything about her) will be put into jett because. the vibes i got from amaya ever since we just had her doll… i am also kind of getting from jett. so i’m eager!

#rainbow high #rainbowhigh #rainbow high dolls #rh: episode predictions #rh: theories

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ynainna · 3 years

Text

aether hcs for a fic

note: this has personally been in my mind for awhile and while I deal with not writing this fic for awhile since I’m busy with other fics, I thought of dropping some bread crumbs for this 😩 I’m sorry I’m so inactive buttercups. THIS WILL BE THE BEST I CAN GIVE FOR NOW 😭 🤧 🤚

SO SPOILERS FOR THE ARCHON QUEST Ch IV: We will be Reunited

It’s canon divergence for this fic as instead of Aether leaving the ruins and just being a mourning confused sweetheart, he goes detective mode 🕵️‍♂️

but since he’s so recognizable with his foreign getup and gigantic reputation in Teyvat, he goes undercover (no this will not be a spy au- or at least I’ll try not to make it a spy one😭 )

His undercover involves cross dressing because I just really want to make a pretty aether who defies gender norms 💅🏻

His fit is basically a whole ass traditional esque Liyue or Inazuma inspired depending on how far the divergence I want to make this (I’m pretty sure I’ll try to mix his whole traditional female fit with a variety and not just one culture👏 )

HIS HAIRRR!!! since they don’t have colored contacts (in their timeline so far anyways) his eyes would be pretty recognizable bc he’s very distinct!! Very otherworldly our sweet charming Aether! so he does the next best thing and it’s HAIR COLOR!! 💇‍♀️

Hair dye doesn’t exist during the time where the countries we’ve been in were inspired from so he changes his hair color via natural environmental things like the ancient civilizations!

Anyways, Aether has light colored hair which is also very distinct since there’s not really a color like that in Teyvat (IN MY FIC OFC 😩 🤚) and with his very distinct features he really needs to hide it so his chances of being found are slimmer

BUTTT!!! as I’ve said before he can’t change his eye color with fakes so he has to hide his other most distinguishable feature!

HES GOING TO WEAR MAKE UP 👏 🙌 like the pretty eyeliners Xiao and Zhongli got going on but red and very hmm, sexy?? No no, feminine ish?? it’s hard to describe so I’ll find a reference picture of a character’s make up later and post it!!

BUT HIS HAIRSTYLE IS GONNA BE LIKE THOSE KOREAN DRAMA UHH ROYAL ONES like the little low bun with a hair pin stuck there??? god help me it’d look so good!! (I’ll try to share some art that I’m trying to draw to give me some inspiration for more!!)

besides his looks (bc my mind has been on that for so long) this will be based on after a week after running into Lumine

BUT DURING THAT WEEK HES PREPPING!

Paimon is very against this undercover thing but she lets him be solely bc Aether looks so determined and she thinks that’s better than a mourning and gloomy aether

aether doesn’t tell anyone else about his planning but barely anyone sees him during his prep week and even then it looks like he’s in a rush so ppl barely have time to talk to him

so the day he goes “missing,” or when he blends in as a citizen and starting his undercover thing he’s got going on, everyone is like: !!! where frend?!?!

It isn’t super obvious that he’s gone missing, or as they thought, since they won’t notice until a week or two bc they know he travels a lot and is super busy esp recent days but when no one hears a whisper in the wind or any commissions that Aether usually takes disappear then alarm bells start ringing

obv they can’t just abandon posts but there’s ears out and they’re super worried 😔

Xiao is very concerned and is always up and about either searching or is up on the balcony or at the highest mountain tops just watching for a hint of his existence (he even thought about heading to monstadt to look) 🏔

Zhongli Xiansheng IS VERY CONCERNED 🍵 even if he’s just so out of it while doing paperwork during his work hours, often contemplating about any signs or anything relating about the resident outlander

Childe well,,,, 👺 he’s in Snezhnaya first and foremost and doesn’t hear anything until a week or two (3-4 weeks after ppl notice he’s gone) before he’s set to return back to his post in Liyue. Even if Childe is fatui and is very well informed, he was busy with family and just a LOT of paperwork bc u can’t tell me being a harbinger that’s out on expeditions isn’t a lot of paperwork and meetings and a whole bunch of shit 🗿

Xinyan, Xiangling, Chongyun and Xingqiu are conspiring with one another there’s not much else to say than that. They’re just there making theories and sometimes acting on them as they eat in the confines of the Guhua clan’s residence or at Wangmin’s

The Qixing are very sneaky but very worried, they can’t extend much of their resources to search for him even if they owe a lot and have formed attachment bc they have duties and Liyue comes before that

Their spy network doe is very dry since there’s no information flowing in about traveler and it frustrates them very much!! Ganyu as cute and busy as she is, is even more concerned and a workaholic cause she needs to get her mind off of it before she stresses even more in worrying 😓

THE MONSTADT TEAM!!!

Knights of favonius you already know 🙌

Jean is concerned and often when on break contemplates out looking out in the window wondering where or how he’s gone (don’t tell anyone but she’s spending her free time looking for clues and reading up on things! Lisa helps doe, they’re seen almost all the time together just reading books and talking quietly as they bounced ideas and concerns with one another)

Kaeya is already hand in hand with his sus friends that which are his spies 🥴🤪😼 but things are also not popping up and he’s just yknow.... nothing on his hands 🤷‍♀️ he is actually more productive in his work than procrastinating on it bc he needs brain juice working and when he finishes it his mind can just go around like a hamster ball as he thinks about the situation

Diluc with his network of information is also left with nothing tangible to grasp that would help with finding Aether or Paimon and he is frustrated even if he doesn’t show it. He’s all grumpy and is more prone to take up his stand at the bar hoping to gain information from any blabbers but it’s fruitless 👊 😔 his night patrols are quiet most of the time so most nights he spends time thinking about it or searching for Aether!! or as much as he can anyway

KLEE!! 😭 🤧 is super worried, comes out of solitary confinement only to see everyone busy and serious faced and she’s so confused like ??? So when she asks everyone just looks solemn or puts on a smile to tell her everything is fine or they’re busy or a case came up but she finds out after Aether isn’t there for his roundly baby sitting to take her to places to fish bombing and when she asks Albedo she finds out that way too

Albedo is... quiet, tries researching and consulting the books of alchemy that would help with tracking someone down but it can’t really do much. He tries to attend more meetings now to see if there’s anymore information they learned or gain but is ultimately disappointed when none are given. It’s hard taking care of a sad Klee when he’s also worried (so they’re just a ball of cute sadness)

Sucrose and Noelle hang in the library just looking for ways to help or researching as well as tracking Aether’s steps!! They bond though, and they run into Amber and Eula who are also in conversations with one another trading ideas with one another on their theories and ideas. They’re super concerned and Amber is this close 🤏 to cry and yell bc she remembers her first day with Aether and she just wants him to be okay 🥺

Venti 🧐 is basically just tiring himself out as he no longer has a gnosis to boost his OG elemental powers so he’s just tired as he’s consistently using and expanding his powers far more than the limit he should pass. Dvalin has tried to get him to rest but this shit ain’t working. Windrise is not doing wonders rn 😫 🤚 if anything it makes him more determined and more pushy with himself to just do more bc it reminds him of Aether.

Mona tries to scry but its fruitless and she goes even more broke bc she’s using resources to find any possible way to help enhance her Hydromancy to help find Aether (all she knows is he’s alive bc his constellations still reside in the sky) she does get frustrated and tends to have all nighters once in awhile in her determination to just FIND

The Adventurers are just clueless and try to do the commission Aether normally does thinking he may show up there or have left signs, they ask ppl they meet to see if they’ve seen him and even rope in Razor to help them search in the wild throes of Teyvat (it’s not very fruitful)

Anyways before I basically just spoil my whole Fic plot line 👩🏻‍🦽🙎🏻‍♀️🧍‍♀️🧎‍♀️

BASICALLY THEY WILL MEET AETHER AGAIN!! and how?? Well, when I actually write this fic you’ll know 🥴💁🏻‍♀️

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inevitably-johnlocked · 3 years

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Hi Steph!

I’m sorry it’s my first time sending you an ask, so I dunno which button I clicked man. Sorry about that.

Ok, so what I wanted to request! I love your blog. You’re really kind and genuine, and I’ve found some great fics to light up my day from here. But sometimes, the posts are suuupppeeerr long, and I may not be looking for this info exactly? Like it clogs up a lot of my dash. So I wanted to request if you could use a “read more” feature after a brief, at least for the fic rec posts.

I hope I didn’t offend or anything. Thank u for all the kindness you put into the world each day. Have a good day fren!

Hey Nonny!

Ahh, okay, you’re not going to like what I am going to say, but you are very respectful and were smart and sandwiched your issue in compliments, so Ahhhh, I feel conflicted now.

With all due respect Nonny, this is my blog and I get more engagement on my lists if people can see the full list; many people prefer it that way, and honestly I get crapped on either way, so I’ve made the executive decision to not cut my posts. The only time I do is on “second” reblog on super long LONG lists so that I have a “cut” and “uncut” version of the post, but even those I’ve been reducing.

I’ve tried both ways, and full posts get better notice. All I want to do is share my love of fics and content with y’all, and the best way to do that is to just have it all there so people know what they’re getting.

Plus, am I to just “readmore” every single reply on my posts? A lot of the reason my blog has stayed as long as it has is because I’ve always been a very interactive blog. People LIKE seeing their replies added to a comment thread on my post, and it helps smaller blogs get noticed. It’s not much on the surface, but I’ve had smaller blogs come to me DELIGHTED that their name is now attached to one of my posts that are going through a “popular reblog cycle” (that is, a post that is being interacted with for a good few days before I actually finally add it to the month-reblog queue). It helps create a sense of community, I feel, and that’s one of the things I am very honoured to be: a starting place for community.

And this is just in a general sense and NOT directed at you, more at the people who shit on me in the notes of my long posts, but I don’t GET people getting upset about my TEXT BASED POST WITH NO IMAGES IN IT, but not on any of the image or playlist posts I reblog, which take FOREVER to load on mobile. I GENUINELY don’t get it. I don’t even use the app on my phone, I’m logged into the browser on my phone, because the app is garbage.

The problem is the app, in my opinion. That’s the gist of it. It loads slow, it scrolls terribly, and the UI is annoying, but instead app users blame the bloggers and not the fact that Tumblr staff ignore every suggestion we make. And because more of the newer people use their mobiles these days, us old-time Tumblr users are expected to microblog like the shitty sites that are Twitter or Facebook. Tumblr is a blogging platform, like LiveJournal, laid out all nicely and clean and honestly, (the royal you) you’re getting exactly what you signed up for: long posts, opinions, and interaction. If one wants shitty layouts, shitty comment threads you can’t follow and reactionaries, go to Twitter. Call me a boomer, whatever, I just find Tumblr so much more appealing now more than ever.

Sorry, I’ve needed to get this off my chest for awhile now. I don’t know. Maybe I’m being pedantic. I don’t care, really. My thoughts on this: if (the royal) you don’t like the content, or find stuff annoying, don’t follow me.

Because you know what a lot of my longest posts are? Helpline numbers at the bottom of posts. Useful links. And just stuff that make people happy. People in despair are not going to click on a read more of a post. People who want links to resources aren’t going to click on a read more. People who just want happiness after a stressful day are literally just scrolling to smile, and they ain’t gonna click a read more.

YES, there are reasons read mores are good, absolutely. I just PERSONALLY don’t like them because I like engagement. I don’t get much of it anymore on my posts, EXCEPT the fic rec posts, and THOSE work better as a full view.

BUT NONNY PLEASE KNOW I AM NOT UPSET AT ALL WITH YOU, and you’ve given me a great opportunity to discuss this thing that I’ve put off for awhile because the other people were less-than-kind, and it only made me NOT address it out of simple spite because I’m nothing if not a passive aggressive old lady.

So, here are a few ideas you can implement:

If you like my posts but not the longest ones, I always tag them “long post”. Tumblr finally has its own tag blocking feature, so just block “long post”. All of my very long lists will be blocked, and you can decide if you want to click on them based on what the additional tags are. I try my best to tag all my lists appropriately.

Similarly, you can “tag block” my username, and only click on the posts you like the tags for.

DON’T TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY, PLEASE, this isn’t a “so there!” comment, I promise!!: You can unfollow me if you’re only following me for the fic lists, and instead follow me on Twitter at @inevitablyjohn1, which is used only to promote my new lists and art. Every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday I post up the Wednesday Reblog, Five Fics Friday, Fic Rec Roundup, and Fic Rec Sunday, with a link to each post :) Then you’ll get all the lovely full lists I post 4 times a week. OF COURSE, this is the option I don’t want to happen, because I love all my lovelies and you’ll miss out on the random fics, insightful asks, and suggestions I get throughout the week, BUT I want you to enjoy your time on Tumblr, and if my blog is causing you stress, it’s the last thing I want to happen. I love all of y’all too much to see that!

THAT ALL SAID, Nonny, I’m really sorry to disappoint you, and I hope you understand my POV on this. I just don’t see any benefit on my part, for MY blog, which I run for MY happiness which has the side effect of making other people happy. I also hope you will still stick around regardless, but I care about your well being and I understand if you have to leave.

AND everyone, please don’t be harsh on this Nonny! They asked a question respectfully and deserve our respect in kind.

I truly wish you the loveliest of days, Nonny, and have a great week! <3

#steph replies #my blog #blog things #tumblr things #ironically:#long post #Anonymous

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supercasey · 4 years

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So I've been playing The Hades Game like fucking mad for the last few weeks, and although I'm not very far in it (at least, I don’t think I am; I’ve only beat Hades once!), I'm absolutely in love with it! Anyways, a certain idea has been kicking around in my head for awhile now, so I thought I'd share it with y'all; feel free to tell me what you think of it! (Warning: spoilers for when you beat Hades the first time!)

Anyways, I've already seen a really cool AU post for if Demeter raised Zagreus on the surface by herself (which you can find HERE; please check it out, the outfit for Zag alone is an amazing concept, and I love the artwork!!!) but I keep thinking about an AU where, after Zagreus dies at birth, Persephone runs away and takes his wrapped up body with her.

On the surface, she reconnects/reunites with her mother Demeter, and with her aid, the two of them manage to resurrect the newborn baby, though now he has more white in his hair than anything else. After that, Persephone sends Hades a letter to tell him that Zagreus is alive and well (because she actually has some fucking class), before proceeding to raise Zagreus on the surface with her mother, far away from the entrance to hell. The Olympians also help her out a bit, but mostly they just help by hiding Zagreus when it’s necessary.

(The rest is under a cut ‘cus this got a bit long, sorry!)

Years pass in relative peace, until Zagreus is about as old as he is in-game (I think he’s around 20-25ish???) and is living well, working with his mom and grandma to take care of their gardens and live peacefully away from mankind; he especially loves tending to the animals and guiding lost mortals to safety. However, one day while foraging for fruit in the deepest corners of his mother’s signature garden, Zagreus happens across a strange man in long robes, who introduces himself as Thanatos.

The two men get along swimmingly from minute one, and after agreeing to meet with each other again soon, they leave and tell their families/friends all about the experience, having no clue who they are to each other. After all, Thanatos was told growing up that his lord’s first wife died giving birth to their first and only child, who was a stillborn, and Zagreus thinks his father died of disease (his mom didn’t have to heart to tell him anything bad about his dad). Needless to say, they’re gonna be in for quite the shock soon.

Cue Hades losing his shit and calling on Thanatos, Megaera, and Achilles to go find his progeny and bring him home; he gives them special permission to leave the Underworld without any resistance, trusting Than to lead the way back to Zagreus. Achilles is less than thrilled to be performing such a morally grey task for his master, but Meg and Than are eager to prove themselves, so he begrudgingly agrees to help, even if it hurts his conscience to do so.

Persephone and Demeter also freak the hell out on their end, scared shitless by the fact that Death incarnate has just met their son/grandson, and they’re worried that he plans on coming back again soon. Demeter suggests sending Zagreus to live with the Olympians until this all blows over, but Persephone disagrees, wanting her son to stay nearby in case he grows ill (it’s implied that she’s a bit overprotective of him, mostly because she’s afraid of him dying again; this also means she refuses to let him know that he’s in any danger, believing it would only make things worse for him in the long-run). Frustrated but understanding her daughter’s pain all too well, Demeter at least convinces her to call on the Olympians for aid, which Persephone agrees to do.

The gods promise to help of course, but... well, they're low-key lying; they wanna see how this plays out first.

After several days of traveling through hell (literally), the “let’s kidnap Zagreus” gang makes it to the surface, and they immediately head to Persephone’s garden. All this time, Zagreus has no idea that he’s being targeted, so he goes about his chores as usual, only to run into Than again, and hey, he brought some more friends for him to meet! Zagreus is friendly with all of them, being raised to be very polite by his guardians, and while he’s busy chatting with Than and Achilles, he doesn’t notice Meg sneaking behind him. Just as Zagreus is rattling on about how the animals have been faring this summer, Meg stabs Zagreus in the back with a blade coated in Hades’s blood, cursing him to belong to the Underworld again.

With Zagreus now unconscious from a sedative that was mixed with the blood, the trio hurry off with him back to the Underworld, but not without Persephone seeing what they’ve done to her son. Horrified, she begins to sob, and winter arrives in the mortal world without so much as a fall season in-between this and the summertime.

When Zagreus comes to, he finds himself in a bedroom similar to the one he has in the game, but it’s much cleaner and has less objects of personal value to him. Hades is standing at the foot of his bed when he wakes up, and very calmly, Hades tells Zagreus that he’s his father, and that from now on, Zagreus will be living in the Underworld with him and his people, where he so obviously belongs. It’s a shame his mother can’t be here, of course, but they just need to wait awhile, that’s all; surely she’ll come to her senses and return home soon, now that her husband and son are here.

Zagreus jumps out of bed and faces his father as soon as he’s done monologuing, ready to tell him off for what he’s done, but to his shock, Hades hugs him as soon as he’s on his feet, and admits that he’s waited for this day for a long, long time. He asks his son to please just accept that this is his home now, and despite still being a bit surprised (and subtly hugging Hades back because Longing), Zagreus tells him straight up that he can’t, that he has to get home, especially with winter coming in a few months!

Dejected but not overly surprised, Hades simply nods in acceptance, but he still warns Zagreus that it’s no use trying to fight it; he’s stuck here, now and forever, so he may as well get comfortable and try getting along with him, because no one’s going anywhere anytime soon. Zagreus is horrified, but he nods nonetheless, unsure of what to say or do just yet.

Later that night, as Zagreus is struggling to sleep in this new, unfamiliar place, Achilles comes to him and apologizes about what’s happened, and although he can’t magically fix everything for him, he tells Zagreus that it actually is supposedly possible to escape; it’s just that no one’s ever done it before. Driven by his desire for freedom and the thought of reuniting with his mother, Zagreus tells Achilles that he’s going to find a way out, no matter the cost. Achilles congratulates him on his tenacity, but warns him that it won’t be easy. Still, he’s willing to help Zagreus as much as he can.

From then on, I imagine the game playing out very differently from the original, with a rather frazzled and scared Zagreus trying to get home to his mom and grandma, but with none of his training from Achilles in this AU, he has to rely on something his mother taught him; his connection with earth and all it’s inhabitants. Or, in his case, his connection with the spirits of animals (a cross of his dad and mom’s powers). That’s right, I’m making The Hades Game into a fucking Pokemon-ripoff, but still with some rouge-like elements mixed in (mostly with Zagreus not keeping his animals after runs).

Having royally fucked up in not stepping in sooner to protect Zagreus, the gods end up helping him out by sending down animals associated with them for the young god to tame for a run (I’ll come up with them later). They usually offer a selection to choose from, and from there Zagreus can build up a team and use it to try and escape the Underworld.

To replace weapons, I like to think he’d have “signature” animals that can help him out for any of his runs, specifically ones from Achilles, Poseidon, Zeus, Demeter (once he reaches the surface at least once), and eventually even Hades gives him one if they bond together enough ((yes, it’s Cerberus... kinda; it’s a puppy version of him, otherwise he’d be OP as fuck)). Zagreus’s signature animals can all be given names, and they keep certain skills that they pick up through enough experience battling in the Underworld for Zagreus.

As for story-line stuff, Zagreus ends up in a very fish out of water situation as he tries to get to know everyone in Hades’s house (he’s still our kindhearted Zag, after all, and he knows most of them aren’t to blame, not even really Than!) while also focusing on his goal to get home to his mom. Hades ends up being a lot nicer to him in this AU, perhaps overly so, as he’s trying to make his son like him more in order to make up for lost time (and fill the hole in his heart that Zag’s initial death as an infant and Persephone leaving with him created). It’s part of the reason he’s even letting Zagreus try to escape; he wants him to learn that it won’t work on his own terms (and maybe also scare the kid so bad that he comes running to him for comfort afterwards).

Also, I should really note that Zagreus is 100% a sweet country farm boy in this AU, and he has no idea what the fuck is going on with pretty much anything in the Underworld, much to everyone’s astonishment. For example:

Meg: Gods, it must be weird getting used to everything down here, huh? Sick of stepping in bat shit yet? Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it, and Dusa’s pretty good about cleaning it up to begin with. Zagreus: I mean, I guess? It’s not that different from chicken shit tbh. Meg: What the fuck is a chicken???

After that... yeah, I dunno. I’ll try playing Hades some more, see if I think up anything else that could be interesting, but for now, I hope at least someone ends up liking this dumb AU (if not, I’ll still like it... might even try my hand at drawing for it a bit tbh). Again, please check out the person who’s post/art I linked earlier in the post, ‘cus their art is really awesome and inspired me to include Demeter more in this AU!

#supercasey ramblings #hades game #zagreus #zagreus hades #thanatos #hades #persephone #demeter #megaera #achilles #hades farmboy au #i dunno what else to fucking call it #thanzag #if ya squint

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bitletsanddrabbles · 3 years

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Phyllis Baxter Doesn’t Give A Fuck, and That’s Marvelous!

I’ve mentioned a couple of times that I’m reading (well, have read by this point) “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.” No, I’m not censoring the title – the cover has a stylized ink blot where the U goes. It’s the only self help book I’ve ever read and the only one I’m ever likely to read because honestly? It’s really good. No, seriously. It’s not the smart ass nihilism you might expect from the title (in fact, it warns away from that). It’s just very down to Earth and grounding and it explains so much! Why there are wildly successful people who feel like failures! Why, no matter how much you avoid drama, you still aren’t happy! Where these mind sets came from!

….Why Phyllis Baxter is the most mentally healthy person in Downton Abbey!

No. No, really. The entire second half of the book, I had scenes from Downton going through my head, dominated by Raquel Cassidy and her freakishly beautiful eyes! (Seriously, how does anyone get eyes that pretty? Can not even!)

So since I haven’t done overly much character meta in awhile, let’s look at this a bit!

The main thing about Phyllis that stands out, that’s always stood out, that just stands out more and is easier to put into words having read the book* is that she takes responsibility for her life. The obvious example here is her insistence on owning her part in the jewelry heist rather than letting people foist the blame off on Peter Coyle, but it goes beyond that. That is something she takes responsibility for that is also her fault, but she manages, somehow, without a book telling her, to recognize that ‘responsibility’ and ‘fault’ are two difference concepts; that accepting responsibility is not the same as blaming herself; and to apply that to all aspects of her life. A better example is the Bateses getting their noses out of joint when Thomas summoned the police to talk to her. That was not her fault. The fact she was confused when she was told they wanted to talk to her should have made it pretty darn obvious to anyone that she hadn’t done the summoning. The Bateses missed that, or were just so rattled they overlooked it, or whatever, and got pissed. That was also not her fault. But it was still a thing that was happening to her, it was a part of her life, and she took responsibility for figuring out what to do about it, and she did a really good job. I mean, she could have just sat there insisting that it was Thomas’s fault for writing the letter and the Bateses’ fault for not trusting her or questioning things and that it wasn’t her fault, therefore they were responsible for fixing it. She didn’t. She sat down and solved the damn problem. The fact that life had left Thomas Barrow with a mental health level that can be reasonably classed as ‘stage four emotional cancer’ was likewise not her fault, but again, it was something she had to deal with. It was part of her life. She could easily have followed the lead of most the staff and simply let Thomas happen, but she’s way to responsible for that. She knows that’s not going to fix any problem for anyone, and she knows that while she can’t solve Thomas’s problems for him, he can’t solve them himself without a butt load of support.

She doesn’t give a fuck if the problem is her fault, she’s still going to deal with it!

Next point is that while she might tremble at the thought of public ridicule, she is not afraid of failure. Before we even meet her, she’s already failed all over the place. She failed to recognize Peter Coyle as a toxic pos. As a result, she failed at keeping her job. Once she got out of prison (which she actually seemed to succeed at, ironically), she failed at getting a new job until Thomas came along. She failed at making a deal with Thomas. She succeeded at getting out of the deal, but she failed at keeping Thomas’s trust. She failed at keeping Cora’s trust. She repeatedly failed at winning Thomas’s trust back. Heck, her aforementioned attempts to regain the trust of the Bateses failed! Not once did she let those failures stop her. Each time she took responsibility for her life and it’s problems and she tried again until, eventually, she succeeded. She won back Cora’s trust and got to keep her job. She needed Molesley’s help to repair relations with the Bateses, because you can’t always do everything yourself, but she managed. Eventually she managed to rebuild that bridge with Thomas that had been hit with napalm (before the invention of napalm! These guys are impressive!). She succeeds because she’s failed, learned from those failures, and is not afraid to fail again. It’s a straight up inspiration to anyone.

She doesn’t give a fuck if she fails, she’s gonna try anyway!

I can’t speak specifically to her core values, other than to say the seem to be pretty solid ones, because the specifics of those are very personal and very internal. She clearly values supporting people and has learned to value honesty, but that’s as far as we can go there. However, she’s also okay being average. That’s huge. She’s okay being not terribly special. She is special, of course, and she likes being appreciated, but the extremest need to be the best-and-most-loved or the worst-and-most-pitied is not her. She does not see simply living her life, known to a few close people, and then being forgotten after she dies as the ultimate failure. This frees her of most jealousy issues because she’s not focused on what she doesn’t have. It’s brilliant.

She doesn’t give a fuck if she’s special, she’s got a life to live!

(Thomas and Edith both fail spectacularly at this one, which isn’t surprising, considering their respective lives. I mean, if they were masters of this, I’d kinda be bashing their characterization as hyper unrealistic.)

And finally, while she has been repeatedly victimized she (like a lot of true victims who get help and get out), does not go in for what the book terms Victimhood Chic, that lovely entitled view that says everything that makes you unhappy is oppression and you have the moral right to be offended by it. She doesn’t make trouble so she can have the moral high ground for a few seconds. She doesn’t dogmatically insist that she’s right and everyone else is wrong. She allows others their circumstances and view points. She tries to understand those view points rather than just insisting that other people have to try and see hers. She allows herself to move on and find new, healthier relationships with new, less toxic people rather than holding the world up to the standard of Peter Coyle.

She doesn’t give a fuck about moral superiority, there are better emotional highs than being pissed off 24/7! Like sitting on the beach listening to that nice guy you work with tell you about the book he’s reading!

She’s still not perfect, of course. She has her flaws. Everyone does. She can still be timid and get herself into less than healthy relationships. But damned if she isn’t also a hell of a role model.

* Honestly a lot of what it told me is things I already knew, it just helped to clarify them, give clear ways to talk about them, and give some suggestions on how to combat them. Not ‘fix’ them – that is too easy a word and there are no easy solutions in this thing. Combat.

#downton abbey #phyllis baxter #character meta #self help #strong characters #mental health

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griffinnorth · 3 years

Photo

I'm ready to talk about something I've been working on for a long time...

APOCALYPSE CHILD: A New Original Webcomic

I've been working on this project semi-secretly for awhile now, and I finally have enough work done on it that I feel confident and ready to share with you all what I'm working on.

What is Apocalypse Child?

It's a whole new original webcomic separate from Guild Wars 2 and Tora Steals Things ( @torasteals ). Almost every artist I know has a passion project or two that's been with them from their childhood and this one is mine. I've been world building and developing it for years, and I finally started the script for it roughly a year ago. It's near and dear to my heart and I'm both elated and terrified to even let you all know that it even exists.

Is it anything like Tora Steals Things?

No. Oh no this is a completely different beast...

Tora Steals Things is an episodic and mostly comedic series with a few darker stories here and there.

Apocalypse Child is an adventure story with an actual overarching plot, far less goofs and gags, and a generally more serious tone.

What's it about?

A nerdy archeologist, who wants to be a father, tries to raise a strange kid who might bring the world to ruin. That's its most basic premise.

In more detail...

Apocalypse Child is a story about Thunder, a mysterious and terrifyingly powerful boy who may be the most dangerous creature alive; Buzz Clarwin, the nerdy archeologist trying desperately to raise him as his own out of the kindness of his heart; and Roy Ilzura, a runaway Prince and the archeologist's best friend who is trying to save him from his newfound "son."

The three travel the world together - trying to piece together the mystery behind Thunder while exploring ancient magic ruins, fending off assailants from a secret society hellbent on murdering the boy, and discovering hidden truths about their world's long dead Gods.

If you like modern fantasy settings, ancient ruins, found family dynamics, fight scenes (lots of them), pretty boys (...look I'm not gonna deny it), elemental powers and races, and road trips (no I'm not kidding) - then this is probably your jam.

Cool so when can I read it?

There's no release date for this yet, but I can tell you where it is in development:

16 chapters of the first draft are finished

3 chapters are more or less ready for thumbnails

77% of the character designs are done for chapter 1

60% of the environment designs are done for chapter 1

Once the design work is done, I should be able to move into thumbnails and finally start the first chapter.

And from this day onwards, you'll actually get to see all this design work as I continue development!

What does this mean for Tora Steals Things?

It means a lot of things, but namely it means a change in its current update schedule. TST is now going to be updated every two weeks instead of every week, starting today. (It'll still be two weeks early for patrons on my patreon though)

This wasn't an easy decision to make, but it's one that had to be done. I've been trying to work on both Apocalypse Child and Tora Steals Things at the same time which simply wasn't working. TST eats up a lot of my time and doesn't leave a lot of room for other projects. In order for any of my other work to shine, it needs to take a backseat.

What can I expect to see in the future and where?

Changing TST's schedule to a bi-weekly one actually opens up possibilities for me on what I have time to work on. It means not only will I have more time for Apocalypse Child, but also other art. Here's what you can expect going forward:

Apocalypse Child Design Work:

This includes character design sheets, environment sketches, and concept art. I have a lot of this already so you can expect to see that here as early as next week.

New (and Old) Art:

Ever since starting Tora Steals Things, I've been hesitant to share any art not related to it which has resulted in me sitting on just a ton of art that no one beyond close friends have seen. Some of this art is a decade old! You can expect to see this art finally released for viewing here.

I'll also be making new illustrations going forward so you can expect to see those too.

You can find this design work and art being posted on my main blog here @griffinnorth , on my twitter (SoulBreather), on my instagram (griffinsdnorth), and two weeks earlier for patrons on my Patreon.

(Some of this art is NSFW btw, but those will only be posted to twitter just FYI)

Also there isn't a strict schedule for these like the comic, but you can expect to see something every week as usual - it just won't always be the comic like before.

Going Forward

As an artist I'm changing my direction and expanding what I create and share with you all. It's incredibly liberating to finally share with you some of the work I've been doing in secret for years, and I hope you're all as excited for it as I am.

There's a lot of cool stuff coming your way and this is just the start!

If you have questions, feel free to ask me!

#apocalypse child #announcement #webcomic #guild wars 2 #Tora Steals Things

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peach-the-owl · 4 years

Note

Maybe one with Kima and Allura? The reader is an artist and one day they start to leave little notes with sketches for them in random places where they can find them and it's just them being a good friend trying to make them smile during the day.

Aww, I love Kima and Allura so much, their relationship is just so precious 🥰 I hope this turned out well

Also might’ve let myself get carried away with the idea, it’s a bit long 😅

Little Notes

Allura & Kima & Artist!Reader (Platonic)

You were making your way over to Allura's for a visit knowing she had been stressing out over Kima being missing from her mission in Kraghammer and hoping to calm some of those nerves. You walk up to the doors of her tower and give a knock, after a small wait the door opens to reveal the arcanist herself.

"(Y/n)! It’s been awhile, how are you?" She asks slightly surprised by your sudden appearance.

"Hello Allura, sorry about not informing you of my arrival." You sheepishly scratch at the back of your head in apology. "Do you mind if I come in? If not I can just-"

"No no, it’s alright." She stops you and steps out of the way for you to enter the tower. You welcome yourself in and go to sit in your usual spot whenever you’d visit. "I’m actually glad you decided to pop in, I’ve needed a distraction what with everything going on." Allura admits. At this point you pull out your sketchbook and pencil you always carry with you and start to add some fine line work to a piece you’d been working on for weeks now, never seeming to get it quite right.

"I know you’ve been stressing over this, which is exactly why I wanted to come over. So why don’t you tell me about what you’ve been up to recently." You suggest, not looking away from your drawing. You knew this wouldn’t bother Allura because for the years you've known each other, while it looked like you weren’t paying attention to the conversation you actually were, listening very carefully to every word being spoken to you. Allura went on to tell you about her work with the council and some of the worries she has for Kima, you adding in your own thoughts to the conversation every now and again. She then told you about her allies, the adventuring group known as Vox Machina that she asked to help find Kima, you knew about this group and what they did for the royal family but didn’t know them as personally as Allura did.

"I just hope nothing terrible has happened." Allura finally concludes after her long rant. You give an amused hum and sigh, taking proper notice that you’d wandered away from your project and had several random doodles covering the page. However instead of hindering you this placed a wonderful idea into your head.

"Relax Ally, if these people are as capable as you say then they’ll find Kima in no time. Just relax and breath, alright." You look up at her this time seeing her nod and take a few deep breaths. While she was distracted with that you carefully tear out some of the doodles, writing little messages of encouragement on the back of them and stand up. You sneakily slipping one of the notes between the cushion of the chair having it stick out just enough to be noticeable but not too obvious. "It’s been lovely, thank you for having me over but it’s getting late. I should really be making my way home."

"Allow me to walk you out." Allura offers which you happily accept, sneakily hiding the little drawings along the way in various places for Allura to hopefully find later. "I really appreciated the visit, helps to confide in a friend. You’re welcome back anytime." Allura gives you a quick hug that you return before the two of you part ways until next time.

It had been a while since your little visit and felt it only fair to check in and see how everything was going. When you arrive you’re relieved to see that Kima had returned in one piece, while Allura was occupied with thanking Vox Machina for their efforts you quietly shuffle over. You then watch as Kima and Allura share a small moment by staring at each other before they run into each other’s arms, you smile a little at this before deciding to quickly jump in.

"No it’s fine, just pretend I’m not here." You joke gaining everyone’s attention, you walk over to the two and without missing a beat Kima gives you a playful punch in the arm. "I swear to Bahamut Kima, you’re gonna break my arm one of these days." You slightly hiss from the pain.

"Nah if I meant to do that, it'd already be broken." Kima says slyly, you roll your eyes before properly hugging your friend, slipping a little note you’d made into her armour.

"Well now who’s this one?" The red Dragonborn asks. After some proper introductions with the group Allura invites everyone into her tower for tea, you hang back a second unsure if you should join them or just head home early.

"Don’t just stand there, the offer stands for you too." Allura gives a warm smile and ushers you inside.

"I know I just didn’t want to feel like I was overcrowding the place, plus I’m sure you’d like to catch up with Kima." You say meekly. You make your way up and automatically go to sit in your usual spot, pulling out your sketchbook as both a distraction and to continue on a commission for a client you’d received. Enjoying some tea and listening to the conversation between everyone else, Kima leans over your shoulder to look at your work.

"The hell is that supposed to be?" She asks quietly, staring at your drawing.

"Art." You reply cheekily. You catch her rolling her eyes at the corner of yours.

"I know what it is, but what is it?"

"The client asked for something abstract, so this is the result so far." You precede to erase and redraw a few of the lines you’d made until you felt satisfied.

"I don’t get it." You stifle a laugh, Kima didn’t really have an artistic eye but you appreciated that she at least tried to understand your craft whenever the two of you got to interact with each other.

"Shouldn’t you be involved in this conversation? Not to be rude or anything but it sounds important." You look up at Kima now to which she scratches at the back of her head, you can now see the blush on her cheeks.

"His questions were making me a little uncomfortable." She gestures over to the goliath, Grog. You give a reassuring pat her on the shoulder, sneaking another note into her armour before you realize something.

"Sorry to interrupt but what time is it?" After some fumbled reply’s Allura gives you her best estimation. "I have to go, I’ve got client to meet today and sooo much work to do. Thank you for the tea Allura, it was lovely to meet you all and thank you for safely bringing Kima back." You give a bit of a rushed goodbye as you gather up your things and hurry out of the tower, pausing briefly at the door to hide one more note for Allura to find later.

Time came and went, work piled up leaving you busy to no end, the only contact you had with your friends being the letters you’d write each other telling of what you’d been up to. However once the dragons came your world went crashing down, you had longed for a break away from all the work on your shoulders but not like this. Your home was in shambles, your hard work that took you months to complete destroyed in seconds, you considered yourself lucky to have made it out alive. Now you were but another refugee in Whitestone praying for a miracle while doodling in your sketchbook, the only thing that survived with you albeit slightly charred at the corners.

"Oh my gosh! You’re alive!" You hear a familiar voice call, looking over to see Kima run up to you. You give each other hug and once you let go Kima punches your arm.

"Every time I swear." You sigh with a small laugh, rubbing your arm.

"Gotta keep that arm strength up for your art stuff." Kima jokes, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "Anyways, do you know where Ally is?" You shake your head.

"I don’t, but I assume she’s alive, that woman’s a tough cookie." Kima nods in agreement.

"Would you like to help us?" Keyleth asks.

"Me? No I couldn’t, I’ve never really been the adventuring type, I much prefer swinging around a paintbrush over a sword." You politely decline the offer. "But I would like to advise one thing," you pat Kima's shoulder, once again slipping in a note you’d made into her armour in hopes of bringing encouragement. "Don’t do anything rash that could get you killed." Kima gives a quiet "yeah I know" and with that you watch the party continue on their way.

You did what you could with what little resources you had to build up and regain some normality to your life, starting a little side business of making motivational cards for anyone needing an extra pick me up. Folks seemed to really like it, each card having a personalized picture and message written on it, doing what you could to help keep hope alive in these trying times. When you met up with Kima and Allura again Allura was relived to see you were still alive and standing strong. They invited you over to the abode they were staying at together, which put a new idea into your head. Before you arrived for your visit with them you had made more of your little notes for them, this time making a few that you hoped would help spark the romance between the two you’ve seen since day one (secret wingman). When you arrived they gave you a quick tour of the place, leaving opportunities for you to slip the notes into various places around the house, making you wonder if this time they were doing it on purpose having finally caught on to your little gimmick. You all sat down and sipped away at some tea or coffee while talking about the actions going forward, as the evening came you bid your friends a goodnight and made your way back to your temporary living quarters…

More time flew by, the Chroma Conclave was since defeated and Emon was slowly rebuilding itself, a time of peace finally setting in and you had a lot of work ahead of you if you were ever going to be able to buildup your home from scratch. The only downside was you didn’t have the gold to pay for everything, your work as an artist didn’t always pay a lot but it was enough to keep you stable but having to pay to acquire materials for the house and art studio was another story entirely. Your then approached by two very familiar people.

"Allura! Kima! So good to see you both again. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to write or visit often lately, been quite busy trying to re-establish myself." You greet your friends and notice the large bag Kima's carrying.

"It’s alright we’ve been rather busy ourselves with everything going on. We actually wished to talk with you." Allura gives you a gentle smile.

"Well I’d normally like to welcome you into my home, but as you can see it’s… not much of a home yet." You half-joke gesturing to the still ruined state of your house, the broken paintings you once had all having been stripped away when the Cinder King still ruled.

"That was actually one of the things we wished to speak with you about, Kima if you would." She turns to Kima who in turn hulls the bag over her shoulder letting it clatter to the ground, and you can hear the jangling of coin inside. "I believe this should help accommodate everything you need for your home and work." You stare jaw dropped at the bag filled to the brim with gold.

"I-This is very generous of you. I simply can’t just take your money." You say out of shock at the large gold pile in front of you.

"Think of it as payment for all you’ve done for us." Allura smiles and gives you an expectant look.

"All I’ve done? I haven’t really done anything to help."

"Sure you have, back when Kima was missing finding those papers with the little drawings and messages really helped keep me calm and cheer me up through all the stress." Allura explains.

"Yeah, or the ones you managed to slip into my armour. Little distracting at first but invigorating when I was in a tough spot in battle." Kima jumps in. You just smile, all you were doing was trying to be nice and encouraging to your friends unknowing of the effects it apparently lead to.

"Still, not all is from us." Allura suddenly cuts into your thoughts, you look at her confused. "That was the second thing we wanted to talk with you about. Some of this is a sort of upfront payment for a few commissions from our friends, half now to help you and half later once you've completed their requests."

"There’s more!?" You were almost lightheaded from the information, but shake it off and refocus yourself. "I’d love to, please fill me in on all the details."

"First off Keyleth asked for a landscape piece of her home in Zephrah, Keyleth will easily help bring you to and from her home whenever you’re ready. Next Percy wanted a portrait made for castle Whitestone, he said he’d fill in the rest of the details upon your arrival. Finally," Allura gives a bit of a sigh, "there’s Taryon… he wants a, and I quote, 'self portrait made with nothing but the finest oil paints you can get your hands on for the Slayer's Cake.'"

"So basically the plan is to visit Whitestone once my home's rebuilt. That should be fine, one question though, who’s Taryon?"

"Trust me, you’ll know who he is when you meet him."

"Sounds like quite the character." You say with a hint of nervousness. "Well if that’s everything, I should get to work. Thank you again for everything." You go to collect the heavy bag of gold only to pause when you hear Kima speak up.

"Ally did you still wanna… you know ask about the thing?" She had leaned closer to Allura to ask but you still heard her.

"What thing?" You question to which Allura perks up a bit in realization.

"I almost completely forgotten. Right, there was one more, very special request." You look at the two in silence, Allura walks up to you and takes one of your hands in hers. "(Y/n), Kima and I have a very important and special request of you." You just nod and wait for her to continue. "We were wondering if you could make us something special for… for our wedding." You stare wide eyed in awe.

"You two are getting married? That’s amazing! About time too." You cheer.

"Not so loud please, we just want a simple and private wedding you know, a few eye witnesses for the event. You don’t have to make anything grand, if anything we’d like what you make to be similar to the notes you’ve always left us." You press your hands together and hold back the urge to just scream to the heavens in happiness for them. When you manage to calm yourself enough you look back that the couple and give them a large smile.

"I’d be honoured to make something for your wedding." You give them both a hug and reset your sights on your shambled home. "Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a house to get built."

"Hold on, I still have one more thing for you." Kima interrupts this time. Before you can ask you feel a punch impact your arm, you suck back the pain as you rub the spot she hit. "Alright now your free to start." She gives you a smug look.

"Every. Single. Time." You playfully glare back. You had a long road ahead of you and you were certain it’d only be a matter of time before the peace is disturbed again but for now you wanted to focus on the present. Like you said, you had a lot of work to do.

#critical role #critical role & reader #vox machina #vox machina & reader #allura #allura vysoren #kima #kima of vord #allura x kima #allura & reader #kima & reader #npc appreciation month #nothing romantic here

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