#they may appear later in the story and join later? but then they feel kinda similar to valerie augh

[vaugarde]

girl help im thinking of a major oc rehaul again

[atruththatyoudeny]

Happy 28th! Here are all the lovely fics I read this month:

where we landed | blueskiesrry | [70k] The leaves were green the last time Harry stepped foot in Holmes Chapel, a stark contrast to the candy apple, butterscotch painting them now, years later. Harry first notices them on the train, gazing out the window with a downturned mouth. A warm something floods his stomach–memories, Harry imagines, of him as a boy, longing for the days when he’d live elsewhere and have to take this very train home for the holidays. He wonders how it’s possible to have once felt eager and euphoric at the sight of changing leaves yet now to feel nothing but tired. He sighs softly, turning away from the trees to look at his daughter, half-curled in his lap, asleep. or: harry returns to his hometown with his sick daughter and more reminders than he bargained for of the boy he once loved when he left a handful of years ago

MARRIED FOR A WEEK?! | gravitycentered | [20k] Hi guys :) You might recognize Harry from one or two of my old videos .. I was tagged in the Married for a week challenge so I asked him to be my husband ! We had to live together for a week and take each other out on a couple romantic dates and that, check out the video to see how it went :) Give it a like if you enjoyed and maybe subscribe if you haven't already. Love you all - Louis x

It's everything else that matters | words_of_my_own | [83k] At forty, Harry has settled down in London, as a single dad and successful businessman. Along comes Louis, his son’s new friend, who turns out to be more than he appears at first sight. Their paths are slowly intertwined as life stories are unfolded and feelings arise. *** "They may only be joking around here… …or the atmosphere has just turned slightly flirtatious. Louis' raised eyebrow and quirky smile adding on to it. It’s fun and exciting, and Harry doesn’t think twice before he throws another glance over his shoulder, just to find Louis steady eyes on him, his teeth digging into his lower lip. Christ, the bloke really is handsome. Sexy, even. And this is definitely not how Harry normally reacts to people of the same sex, but…apparently, he is now."

He Was a Different League (When I Was Nothing Much) | AFangirlFantasy | [21k] Sick of being alone, Marcel is forced (by Niall) to join an online dating app. The idea is well and all, except for the inconvenient fact that he hasn’t moved on from his childhood sweetheart - Louis. If only Marcel could learn to let go, he might actually be able to love again. Or, an AU where finding that 'someone new' actually leads to finding that 'someone old,' and Marcel is painfully oblivious.

I want to wake up where your love is | marcythesassykitten | [166k] “Kinda feels like it is, though. And it’s okay to be pissed at me because of that,” Louis' voice was still the normal feathery sweetness Harry was used to, but it had a harshness to it that he couldn’t place until he looked up and met Louis’ eyes. There was so much pain exposed for Harry to see, for him to be able to pick at, taunt or ignore. Louis was sitting right there, allowing Harry to see all the broken pieces, the sharp edges that had never been mended back together with the love and kindness they needed. In that moment, Harry saw his own pain reflected back at him in Louis’ eyes. He could feel bits of his own heart calling out for him to reach out and allow the two battered hearts to heal together as one. “It’s not. I’m not… I’m really not,” or, a chicago-inspired story about lost dreams, unjust fates, undying love and lots of pizza, repressed feelings, cute kids and, of course, cats

Welcome Home | Jelon | [49k] Louis Tomlinson had to put a stop to his football career for a couple of months and he decided to go back home to rest his mind for a little bit only to find out a really weird coffee shop owner started to visit his mother on a regular basis with just as peculiar but lovely kid named Maxine.

Half a World Away | SilverStuff50 | [10k] Bothy: A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Scotland, Northern England, Ulster and Wales. They are particularly common in the Scottish Highlands, but related buildings can be found around the world (for example, in the Nordic countries, there are wilderness huts).

[avocadorablepirate]

What Do We Call This? - 08

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Pairing: Trafalgar Law x fem!reader

Summary: On a quest to find what you've been looking for, you acquire the help of the Straw Hat pirates, who've agreed to let you temporarily join them. There are however many challenges that come along with your temporary recruitment - an alliance with a certain Trafalgar Law being one of them.

Word Count: 3.1K

Warnings: fluff, angst, kinda slow burn, swearing, the occasional OP spoiler (this chapter references/hints at events that happen after the Wano arc)

A/N: Chapter's longer than usual, but I still hope it doesn't feel rushed cause I think I could have added more....but it is what it is. Also, my memory of the older One Piece episodes isn't great, so I may have changed a few things and added my own bits. Anyway, I hope you like it!

—⁠☆✿☆—⁠

It's been four days since your argument with Law. The tension between you two is thick, and everyone onboard the Polar Tang can sense it too. Although, you're not even trying to be subtle with your decision to ignore him, so it's no surprise that people have noticed.

You could be in the middle of a meal, but would walk out the minute Law entered the room. If you were conversing with someone and he approached, you would abruptly end the conversation and walk away. In short, Law could never seem to get a moment alone with you, but even if he did, he wasn't sure what he would say. His mind is flooded with questions and things he wants to tell you, but he's uncertain where to begin. More than anything, your last words haunt him, replaying in his mind at the slightest thought of you, which is almost constantly.

Usually when Law finds himself overwhelmed by such thoughts, he confines himself to his room, his work helping as a distraction. But right now he's needed on deck since the Polar Tang had stopped at an island to refuel. However, with the way he's pacing back and forth, lost in a maze of his thoughts and emotions, he's not being of much help.

"Something bothering you Tra?" Zoro inquires, a hint of amusement lacing his words as he observes the doctor's preoccupied demeanor with a bemused expression. He leans against the railing, crossing his arms as he waits for Law's response, his curiosity piqued by the unusual display of distraction from the typically stoic pirate.

Law, however, remains oblivious to Zoro's jest, his focus shifting instead to Robin. If he was going to talk to you he needed to understand you, and since you were not speaking to him, Robin was the next logical choice for insight, as you always appeared most comfortable in her presence.

"Nico-ya, what do you know about (Y/N)'s past?"

His question surprises Robin, and she momentarily hesitates before responding , "Hmm... we're not entirely sure about what happened before she reached Fishman Island, but from what she's told us we know that at the age of five she left her island and a month later was found by a Marine agent who took her in. Now she's looking for that island."

"Why was she stuck on Fishman Island for so long?" Law asks, remembering that you had mentioned being there for nearly four years.

Robin visibly frowns, she knows the answer to that question, but she's not sure whether it's her place to tell him. However, Zoro interjects before she can contemplate further.

"She was being held captive by a Fishman named Hody."

Law recalls the name, and the story behind it. Chopper had briefly told him about the ordeal in Fishman Island. However, the reindeer had either forgotten or chosen not to mention this key piece of information.

"What would he make her do?" Law felt agitated, did he really want to know the answer to that question? Based on what he had heard, he had a vague idea already, but he hoped his suspicions were wrong.

"He would make her use her powers to torture humans, and the rest of the time she was handcuffed with sea prism cuffs."

Robin's reply has Law feeling uneasy, his grip on his katana tightening, "But that would have hurt-", he cuts himself off before he can divulge your secret.

"That's why she's so keen on helping people. She doesn't necessarily have to use her powers to hurt people anymore."

Law's thoughts raced with everything he had just heard. If you didn't approve of using your powers to hurt people why had you used them to help him in Punk Hazard? What else had you been through that he didn't know about?, and the question that gnawed at him the most: was he the reason you were alone through it all? Had he taken Corazon away from you?

Law swiftly excused himself from the group, desperate for the solace of his room. He needed to sit down. No, he needed to find you. But, you had gone out with Bepo to help restock the Polar Tang, and it was unlikely that you would willingly talk to him. Nevertheless, he had made up his mind - he would speak to you one way or another. But how?

He then recalls something. Every night, once everyone else was asleep, you would sneak your way to the infirmary. However, for Law, who stayed up well into the early hours of the next day, your tiptoeing past his room did not go unnoticed. He would intercept you during one of your midnight visits to the infirmary.

_______________________________________________

That night, Law sat by his door, patiently anticipating your arrival. Around one o'clock, he heard your footsteps as you passed by his room. Peeking through the small gap, he confirmed it was you before silently trailing behind. Upon reaching the infirmary, he found you struggling to wrap gauze around your torso while grumbling to yourself about it. Seizing the opportunity, Law stealthily entered and closed the door, which let out a loud creak, startling you. You nearly stumbled but caught yourself on the surgical bed, though your elbow collided with its metal frame.

You wince from the impact but swiftly attempt to regain your composure, desperate to save yourself from the situation as soon as possible. However, escape seemed futile with Law leaning against the door, effectively blocking your only exit. Damn it, if only I had his powers.

"Law I really don't want to talk to you right now. So, please just leave me alone."

You couldn't quite pinpoint the reason, but you felt your eyes welling up with tears. Perhaps it was the lingering pain in your elbow or the weight of suppressed emotions. Nonetheless, you do your best to hold back the tears, biting down on your lip to stop it from quivering.

Ignoring your words, Law slowly approaches you, and for a moment you think of making a run for it. But you knew even without his devil fruit all it would take was his outstretched arm to stop you.

"Sit," he says, and you find yourself complying to his command. He takes the leftover gauze from your hand, and undoes your careless bandaging. Lightly tracing the bruises as he applies an ointment, he looks up to make sure he isn't hurting you before meticulously wrapping the gauze around your torso. He doesn't say a word, and neither do you, averting your gaze, so that you wouldn't have to meet his eyes that continue to glance at you from time to time.

"It should be healed completely by the time we reach Wano," he finally says, securing the end of the bandage and fixing it in a few places before taking a step back.

"I know you don't want anyone else seeing your bruises, and you really shouldn't be changing the bandages yourself," he pauses, thinking over his next words, "So, every night, at around the same time, come here and I'll change them for you."

He doesn't give you time to respond, the blue light enveloping you and teleporting you back to your bed.

Over the next few days you fall into a routine. You go to the infirmary at around one in the morning and find Law already there, waiting for you. Once you're seated on the surgical bed, he removes the old bandages, examines your wounds, applies an ointment, and then wraps them up again. But, the routine is always accompanied by silence, and it's not a completely comfortable one. That being said, the tension between you and Law has definitely simmered down. For starters you don't immediately walk out of a room the minute he walks in.

Tonight is no different from the previous nights - except that the silence is eating at you. Ever since Law had started doing this little gesture for you, the weight of guilt from your earlier words to him has only grown heavier, and tonight it feels particularly suffocating. You know you have to address it, but you're so consumed by your thoughts that you don't even notice Law finishing up. It's the soft blue light that finally draws your attention.

"Law wait!" you yell with a sense of urgency, and his head snaps up to look at you, the dome disappearing.

"Everything alright?" he asks, looking you up and down with concern.

"Yes...well actually no. I wanted to apologise. I'm sorry about what I said, I shouldn't have. You've been through so much shit and I was so caught up in my own emotions that I didn't even think before being so fucking insensitive," you confess, nervously fiddling with your fingers. Unsure of what else to say, you continue speaking, hoping to alleviate some of the guilt weighing on you.

Law releases a heavy sigh, bringing an end to your rambling. Slowly, he approaches you, silently seeking permission to sit beside you. You give a slight nod, and he settles into the vacant space beside you.

"I was at fault too. I shouldn't have said what I said without even considering your reasons," he lets out another sigh, placing his head in his hands as he continues, "When I realised that you somehow knew Cora-san, I felt protective. Like if I let anything happen to you I would lose what's left of him, or I would lose something he was trying to protect."

Law felt vulnerable. Opening up to others was unfamiliar, something he actively avoided. It was simpler to suppress his emotions than to burden someone else with them. Yet, now he realized he wasn't alone in this sentiment. Perhaps that's why you found it easier to be vulnerable around him as well.

"It must have been hard huh?" you ask, but don't expect a response, "I was devastated when they brought his body back, but it must have been so much more worse for you," you say, inwardly cringing at your attempt to console him.

"I'm sorry. You lost him because of me."

You release a sigh at his admission, feeling frustrated that you couldn't find the right words to ease his pain. Your mind races, desperately searching for the next thing to say. You couldn't mess up again.

"I was playing in this cove when it happened. The sky changed colour, and there was this weird light coming from above. My parents who were with me quickly put me in a small boat and told me to row as fast as I could to the next island, promising to meet me there. I did as I was told, but I was so focused on getting away I didn't even see how the island just completely disappeared in seconds. The harsh current that followed knocked me out and when I woke up I was on the island my parents had told me about. While I was there nobody could afford to take me in, but they were kind enough to leave me their leftovers. Although it was pointless. I had given up. I refused to eat, or do anything for that matter." You take a deep breath as you recall the memory of the scraps of food that would lay untouched in the cold alleyway that you called 'home' for a while.

"Then, almost a month later Cora-san found me. Apparently the Donquixote family was on the same island, and he was supposed to make contact with Doflamingo for the first time after their separation. Instead, he chose to take me back to Marine Headquarters, and I was an absolute brat about it," you let out a soft chuckle, remembering how you had shoved Corazon and then attempted to run away, "I even threatened to eat a devil fruit that he had found during his mission. Obviously, he didn't think I would actually do it. Hence, the weird powers," you pause to stretch your arms out, flexing your fingers, before continuing. "But he still wouldn't abandon me. Even told Sengoku that he had accidentally dropped the fruit into the sea. Which was honestly possible considering what he was like," you add, another chuckle escaping you, accompanied by a faint laugh from beside you.

"He took care of me for the next couple of years, and he became my only reason to continue. I would eagerly wait for him to come back from a mission and recount his adventures to me." You smile fondly at the memory, remembering the little trinkets he would bring back for you every time.

"One day he came back after visiting Doflamingo and he told me about this boy who tried to kill him. I was absolutely livid, but he seemed to have found it funny," you take a break to catch your breath, taking a quick glance at Law before continuing, "He would tell me about the same boy every time he came back from meeting the Donquixote family, and it honestly made me a little jealous. I didn't want to share him with anyone." You once again look at Law, and there's a hint of a smile across his face, and you can't help but smile to yourself, "Then one day he called Sengoku and said he would be gone for a while and wanted to speak to me about it. I immediately knew it was for this other kid, and threw a huge tantrum. But all he said was that this boy needed someone to help him find his reason to live. Needed someone to free him. Save for the sniffling, my tantrum stopped after hearing his words. Because who better than Cora-san to get the job done. The same person who had given me my reason to live."

Law finally looks at you, his lips contorting into a frown while you bite down on your own to prevent a sob from escaping.

"I took him away from you. You should despise me."

"There was a point where I did. I blamed you for what Doflamingo did. Though it faded over the years. Then when I saw you at Punk Hazard I realised that I didn't hold that grudge any longer, and it's because it dawned on me that what Cora-san wanted had come true. We had both found our reasons to keep living."

You try your best to offer Law a smile. It had been ages since you had spoken to someone about Corazon, and remembering everything all at once was overwhelming. Still, Law accepted your attempt and gave you a small smile in return.

"My reason was just to get revenge," he says, tilting his head back as he lets out a sigh of frustration.

"No, I don't think so," you firmly state as you lean against the wall behind you, not taking your gaze away from him. "I know that's what I said, but I didn't mean it. I think you found other reasons - your crew, wanting to find out the meaning behind the name 'D'. Maybe they weren't your initial reasons, but along the way they became reasons too."

Law's eyes drift shut, repeating your words in his mind, his reasons. They do so much to calm him - his reasons to live....Perhaps, just perhaps, he can entertain the notion of finding another one.

The silence between you two shifts to a comfortable one, and Law finds himself savouring the moment, allowing himself to momentarily forget the weight of his burdens. As he relishes in the peace, he feels the soft fabric of something against his palm, and he opens his eyes to see what it is. It's the dark pink hood you've always worn.

"I've had it for long enough, and I think he would have wanted you to have something of his." Law gazes fondly at the pink hat in his hand, twirling the straps with the little hearts at the end around his finger, when he's reminded of something.

"Come with me," he says, sitting up straight and you're slightly confused by his words, "Where?" But he doesn't say anything else, teleporting the two of you with the flick of his fingers.

You find yourself in a bedroom, standing in front of what you assume to be Law's study table; you can't really tell with all the sheets of paper that are thrown everywhere. While Law rummages through the drawers of his table looking for something, you take a moment to survey his room. It's sparsely furnished, with a bed shoved into one corner, a bookshelf overflowing with assorted items near its base, and this table that sits against the opposite wall.

"Here," Law says, holding a brown leather pouch in front of you, urging you to take it.

"What is it?"

"Cora-san left it with me that night. I think it was meant for you."

You both sit down on opposite ends of Law's bed, and you carefully empty the contents of the pouch onto his mattress. Out falls various little trinkets, and your breath catches in a mixture of surprise and fascination.

"At the time I didn't really know why he would insist on stopping at atleast one store in every village we went to, but I guess he was collecting them for you."

You're flooded by a wave of emotions, that you don't even think before you tackle Law into a hug. The sudden movement catches him off guard, causing him to lose his balance and hit his back against the headboard. As you both settle, your head finds a resting place against his chest, his hands instinctively gripping your waist to steady you.

It takes a bit longer than expected for the realization of your proximity to sink in, but you're the first to react, pushing yourself off him and jumping to your feet. "Sorry, I must be tipsy from drinking with Zoro. I should probably head back to bed, thanks for these," you quickly say, shoving the trinkets back into the pouch before you scurry off.

"Tipsy? I don't think so. I know what tipsy you is like," Law teases, a small smirk playing on his lips.

"Huh? What do you mean?" you inquire, pausing in your retreat, eyebrows knit in confusion.

"If anything, you're more truthful when you're tipsy, and maybe a bit bold."

"How would you know?"

"How else would I have known that you knew Cora-san."

Your face flushes with embarrassment as the wheels slowly turn. You recall the party on Bartolomeo's ship, and the splitting headache you woke up with the next morning that had made you forget most of the events of the previous night.

"Um...I should go," you stammer, attempting to retreat from his room once more.

"No, stay," Law mumbles, and you wouldn't have heard him if he was any softer.

"I want to talk some more," he says, rubbing the nape of his neck while avoiding your gaze, "On-only if you want to that is."

"I would like that."

A smile threatens to spread across your face as you return to the same spot on the bed, this time with your back against the wall and your head resting on your knees. Law shifts closer, mirroring your position, his head pressed against the wall as he gazes at you fondly.

"So..."

"So..."

_______________________________________________

A/N: Ended it the same way I would have ended any conversation I didn't know how to keep going ┐⁠(⁠ ⁠˘⁠_⁠˘⁠)⁠┌.

taglist: @trafalgardaria @deathsmajestysworld @cottoncandyloverrrr @magnificenttaledreamland

[windmaedchen-oceanhorn]

More Valen & Fay Headcanons

I've done some digging today, and I found more pre-release backstories. I really needed to get my thoughts sorted and put out, so there is no drawing this time... 🙇‍♀️

Let's just say, overall, I like all these previous ideas and will use them as the basis of my headcanons, as long as it is possible to incorporate them into the current canon of AFK Journey.

So you understand what's from the beta backstories, I marked them appropriately. Since this folder is pinned publicly in the AFK Journey Discord, I assume there is no harm in sharing it here also. 💎 = Fay's backstory ⚔️ = Valen's backstory 🪙 = Atalanta's backstory 👣 = AFK Journey game

Here we go...

Stoutstone Isle is known for its gemstones and other natural riches (💎).

Fay bemoans her being inferior to her parents, both "smart" Evergreen Conservatory scholars. (👣, Fay's Mystery Theater II)

Fay has been absolutely spoiled by her grandfather, so she can be certain of his love and adoration (💎), but I can imagine that she feels insecure about her parent's love AND Valen's love for her. Valen more so than her parents, but they all kinda left her behind after all and she is beyond the moon to now be roaming the world with the Evergreen Conservatory (👣), having the chance to do stuff that'll impress them all.

I still think Valen's father is the one born into the ruling family of Stoutstone Isle. He became a scholar of the Evergreen Conservatory and got to know Valen's mother there. Both spend most time on the main continent but visit occasionally.

Valen has not forgotten his sister and he sometimes writes her a letter (💎). She hates him for leaving, but loves him for at least sending her elaborate letters from the mysterious outside world. I bet, upon meeting her bro again after so many years, the first thing she does is telling him off for his horrible handwriting. xD

I think I will stick to the explanation given here as to why Fay and Valen don't ACT like they know each other during the Remnant Peaks main story arc. I am inclined to believe, however, that for the two little sidequests "Fay's Mystery Theater I & II", they know who they are even if they are not mentioning their relationship specifically. This revelation happened off-screen and since their backstories aren't further elaborated on in-game, it isn't revealed here either. Merlin knows at that point.

They act close enough that I think it's too odd and unbelievable that they still don't recognise each other.

But I admit that they COULD be acting a lot more akin to the first AFK Journey trailer IF THEY DID know each other then.

The Japanese release is close at hand. If someone was willing to keep an eye open, it might be worth checking out their conversations in Remnant Peaks and that side quest. The Japanese like to address siblings with certain pronouns and I would not be surprised if Fay, at least, would have this implemented in her speech whenever she talks to Valen. (But how adorable would it be if Valen did the same to his little sister? xD)

Fay's backstory explains why Valen and her join Merlin in the first AFK Journey trailer. Miasma (I take it, that's maybe an early version of the corruption appearing all over the place, announcing the return of the Hypogeans) has appeared on Stoutstone Isle and Fay ventures out to find her brother and with him, a solution to the Miasma problem = trying to safe their home island. (💎) Since this doesn't quite work with current canon, I have to ditch this particular part. At least to the extend that the Miasma is known to Fay. I don't rule out that Stoutstone Isle may have to be rescued by Merlin, much like the Dark Forest, at a later point of the game.

Valen's beta-backstory made him a member of the Gray Foxes for possibly the entire 8 years after he has left home and before meeting Merlin (⚔️). However, in the current canon he reveals that he's lived in Holistone for "a long time" and the theft of the Faith Stone seems to have been a couple of years ago, too. My personal estimate is that he was about 5-6 years in Holistone… and thus about 2-3 years with the Gray Foxes.

Just as Valen was a member of the Gray Foxes for some time, so was Atalanta! In Atalanta's beta backstory it is revealed that she was a lone wolf, fighting on her own, with huge trust issues. None of her colleagues would work with her, except for Valen. When he insists to help the villagers fight after a job done, Atalanta is basically just walking away, leaving him to fight alone. Of course, while she had every intention to not turn back, she sees hidden archers about to burry their arrows in Valen's back, and she just can't NOT help after all. Without showing herself, she leaves Valen to fight alone in the front lines, but she does take out the enemies in his back. She doesn't admit it, but Valen later knows that she stayed and helped, since he found her arrows all over the battlefield. (🪙)

Even though their relationship was a professional one, and probably not a close one, I could imagine that Valen considered himself in debt to her. So when Atalanta "slipped" away from the HO in Remnant Peaks… it was, as surmised by other fans, done on purpose by Valen. In such a way that he specifically won't lose his face, though. Thus Valen might have paid back what he owed to her. I still have to think more clearly about the violence and crimes in this game, but hey, the Faith Stone WAS a pretty valuable item and proven to have been stolen by Atalanta. If she had been convicted, in all seriousness, I don't think a death penalty would be all that unlikely. Bandits are killed on the spot for way less. (See Hendrik's backstory, AFK Arena).

When Atalanta appears during Remnant Peaks, even though there is no "hi, how have you been" between her and Valen, it is HE who advocates for her being their guide. A reference to their shared past and another "opportunity" given to her to be trusted? ;-)

Reading Atalanta's backstory made me understand her a bit better. But I must still admit, that she doesn't click with me at all. I'd even say, I kinda hate her. But THAT makes me actually appreciate her existence since I can like other characters even more thanks to her. xD

And that is it for now! Thanks for considering my ideas and please do let me know what you think! You can always message me or send an ask. 🥰

[1anxiousbeancrying]

I may get hate for this but this is my opinions on characters in the spider verse movies. And feel free to disagree with me. I will only be talking about the movies portrayal of characters not the comics so I may like a character more in the comics but not in the movie. And another thing I'll take into consideration is plot importance. These are just my thoughts on the characters in general like morally, personality, and how they make me feel

Miles Morales: main character so he immediately gets some points, his story in the first movie was amazing, and it kinda leaks into the second film with him trying to find his place as Spiderman and he has had some of the best moments in the franchise. It makes me so excited for them to rap up his story in the next one. 10/10

Gwen Stacy: her story has been one of the best parts of these movies as it perfectly shows why she does and act the ways she does in the movies from the loss of her best friend and that fear holding her back till miles appears and her conflict with her dad fueling her to stay with the spider society and her later facing her problems instead of running away from them makes her and amazing character, also her fight with the vulture was one of my favorite parts of the movie. 10/10

Peter B Parker: he was good in the first film with it shows his problems in his own world and Miles helping him overcome some fears like having children and in the second him having mayday showing he got his life together, but he loses major points for the second film. He did nothing important only hurting miles and I understand her joins Gwen at the end to help him but hes constantly bringing his child to battles and did nothing when Gwen was being sent home to a place where she had no safe place to stay and where her dad had tried to shoot her. Like my guy you are an adult Atleast try and say something.4/10

Peni Parker: absolutely adorable in the first film and very helpful in making and new goober her and spider are so interesting and her dynamics with porker and noir is so cool, it made me so sad when her Fathers mech died. While she didn't do anything important in the second film the movie did a great job of showing she had changed, I can wait to see more of her in the next film. 7/10

Spider noir: I definitely think he's over rated but I can see why. his design slaps and he was quite funny in the first film, they did a great job in showing someone from a black and white world trying to adjust to a world of colours, he was a good character with some great lines despite not doing anything of much importance to the story, him throwing a car at tombstone was badass though and his relationship with peni was cute. Maybe my opinion will change on him in the next movie though. 6/10

Spider ham: I don't really feel anything towards him he had some good lines and his fight with scorpion was great but other than that he didn't really do anything, hopefully this will change in the next film. 5/10

Miguel O'Hara: here's where people may disagree with me. I like the concept for his powers and I think he's a great antagonists to Gwen and miles but other than that I don't care about him as a character. Im interesting to see what happens with him in the next film but I ain't to fond of his design, and his cannon even theory is fucking shifty, like bro the reason the world collapsed was because you replaced a dead person not because you stopped one event. Also he should not be treating children the way he does in the film , like dude you were a father wtf. And the hype around the character also puts me off him as well. 3/10

Jessica drew: I actually really like Jess, while she didn't do to much in the film, it was still enough to get me interested in her character from her first interaction with Gwen showing concern for her and later becoming her mentor. When Gwen gets sent home it shows her slowly swaying away from Miguel , the film actually shows a conflict within this character which a lot of characters seemingly don't get, and makes me wanna see how she's handled next film. 7/10

Hobie brown: I like Hobie he's just over rated as fuck. He makes the new watches for Gwen and the gang and also helps miles get free but other than that, he hasn't got much of an individual story in the movie yet, he just felt like a side character, which technically he is but most of the other spiders don't have the problem for me. I think I heard where seeing more of his world in the next film so hopefully it gives us more insight to his character, but I also feel like once again it's the fan girls which are ruining the character for me. 5/10

Pavitr Prabhakar: I loved him his introduction was incredible and and entire section of the movie in mumbattan was incredible, with the black hole forming in his world, it provides his character with a secondary story behind the main movie one. Him joining the gang at the end of the film even with his world collapsing shows how good of a friend he is, miles helped him so now he's gonna help miles, while he didn't do to much in the movie they did a great job of setting up his character for the next one. 7/10

Margo kess: I absolutely love her design and she wasn't in the film enough, the only thing she really did in the movie was let miles go but it had a big impact, I can't wait to see her on the team in the next film. I'm also sick of people putting her and Gwen against each other the besties deal with it. Her score would be higher I just haven't seen enough of her character yet. 6/10

Miles g morales: badass entrence and it was a really cool ending to the film, thought were don't know anything about him yet as a character so I can't really rate him yet. 4/10

Spider cat: 10/10 no questions asked.

[cidthesquid]

Better Late Than Never! | Style Savvy : Styling Star #05

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Hey, So I do try to upload at least once a week, wasn't actually going to post today, but a lot happened today, and I need a distraction. So expect a bit less commentary than normal. But let's get started!

Alright, so last time, we failed Rosie's request, so let's fix that:

Ok, it's pretty much the same, but only contains items fully in the 'rock' theme. And the Result.

$4 over budget :'( No option to compromise, or change her mind, she just leaves the store again. (I would have given you a discount if that was an option.) Alright, round 3. (same outfit but without the $19 earrings)

Ok, there we go!

We're reminded of Rosie's dreams of being a popstar, and it seems like she has a bit of a rival/role model! She then offers to show us some family photos, and..

well it's nice to see she cares for her animals. okay next photo:

I lover her description here, showing that both groups are considered family.

I know I mentioned this before, but I'm really enjoying her character, they really put a lot of effort into making her story enjoyable to witness, even if it is in a fairly passive sense. I really like hearing about her reason for wanting to sing, it's not just "I want to be rich, popular or famous, it's about bringing smiles to people.

Definitely very in line with character motivations to become idols in Japanese media. Alright, with that event cleared, ..back to work!

I'm always sprised when I I read these inteatctions, Lots of intresting ideas, for example Lydia just wanting to branch out, But afraid that other styles may not work well for her. I've been there, it's like "if it works, why change it?", My own appearance is not really something I see often, so I don't really think about it, nor put much value in.(Real clothes are $$$!)

And that's the great thing about avatars and dress-up games, they make the design/composition work super easy, And I feel I can appreciate the designs more as I can actually see them, they stick out in my mind more.

Ok, I'm sure that sounded super weird to some, I don't even 'self-insert' into games, so this idea is kinda hard to explain, not even sure why I brought it up. oh well. Any way, the day has ended, but before we move on to the next, let's try on a new outfit. Hmm, I guess we have not gone for a 'cute' look in this game yet.

Originally I went with a pink bow, but I really wanted an inner with straps, and the only option was dark blue, so I picked this hat to match, I think the navy blue still stands out a little, and the hat ages the look up a bit, but I still like it overall, and may just swap out the blue stuff later when I get more options.

And so we end the day.

We've just reached rank 6, and Raven Candle has just unlocked!

Oh, I really like the sample outfit:

And on the way out of the shop...

We run into Rosie, she's super nervous about her audition, and was a little too focuses on her breathing practice, but she's so pumped that she.. ends up going in the wrong direction.

So we decide to join her at the production studio:

Against the receptionist wishes, we decide to check on Rosie's audition. It's really cool that we get to follow her to this degree, and see her try out using the outfit we picked out. It's really driving home our connection to the character's story, and even if we can't really change anything, it makes us feel like we have some level of agency, even if it's just picking out the outfit, it feels deeper. As she starts she bumps into the mic and falls over, but her endless optimism helps her push through.

Before she can begin, we get kicked out. And this ends the event, I guess we'll have to wait till later to see how it turns out. Its getting a bit late, but I stop by the shop to see if any customer arrived. And it looks like Richard (jo's Brother) and Anneke are here:

They talk a bit about office and pop tar clothing, giving more hints to Richard's preferences. (Likely for a later event) And Anneke asks for a new outfit to wear to the office. I don't really know what qualifies as professional, but I'll try to avoid anything too flashy, and see how it goes.

I think my color matching could have been better, but overall I'm pretty happy with this. and it seems they were too.

Afterwards we get a followup with Vincent, seems he's looking for Jo and he reiterates the frustrations around Richard's dress codes.

And with that, I've again reached my 30 image limit, and I got to get ready for work soon anyway, so this seems like a good stopping point.

Playing and writing this has been very relaxing, and I actually found a solution to my initial irl problem while working on this. So it just goes to show, making some space from a problem is not the same as ignoring it. Doing something fun/creative may seem like a waste of time when you're busy, but it can also give you the boost you need to complete a hard task you'd otherwise be stuck on. But anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this post! <Next Post>

---- As always, all comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome! (I'm also looking for feedback on this new style, how's the formatting?)

You literally can't bother me, (unless you go out of your way to be a jerk), so post whatever you need to say!

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group F Round 1: #F3 vs #F6

#F3: Daily lives of tiny forest women

Hakumei and Mikochi are two tiny gnome-women who live together in a house built into a tree in the middle of the forest. The show is a slice-of-life about them meeting and talking to other gnome-people or animals of the forest.

#F6: Normal school until stuff happens

Fifty years ago, horrific creatures dubbed as the “enemies of humanity” suddenly appeared around the world. To combat these threats, teenagers gifted with supernatural abilities called “Talents”—such as pyrokinesis and time travel—hone their powers at an academy on a secluded island.

Nanao Nakajima, however, is quite different from the others on the island: he has no Talent. With many “Talented” teenagers around him, Nanao is often a target for bullying, but even so, he still strives to complete his training. Soon after, two transfer students, the mysterious Kyouya Onodera and the mind-reading Nana Hiiragi, join the class. But just as everyone starts blending as comrades-in-arms, mysterious disappearances begin to threaten the class’s entire foundation.

Titles, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!

#F3: Hakumei and Mikochi

Propaganda:

It really is super adorable, and the art is gorgeous. Every bit of the world is rendered lovingly with a great level of detail, from the characters to the environments. The anime has this really cool effect where they use paneling to emulate the manga’s style while also making the characters visually smaller on-screen, which works because they’re tiny.

For a slice-of-life show, there’s a good amount of continuity. They introduce the swamp necromancer Sen in one episode, and she keeps showing up later on, helping rebuild their house when it explodes, then Mikochi repays her for that by designing and making a dress for her. The show gets really into the intricacies of everything, like how dying fabric is a multistep process that is similar to chemistry, or how soap is made with aromatics.

Every character is well-realized, with their own set of quirks, profession, the tricks and tools they use in that profession, and they make pretty consistent re-appearances. And the writing is very dry and witty despite the whimsical setting. It’s cute, but it feels very adult, all the characters are adults with jobs who get drunk sometimes. Everyone is very professional and responsible, and it’s a nice change of pace from teen shounen.

Trigger Warnings: None.

#F6: Talentless Nana (Munou na Nana)

Propaganda:

I’d like to start off by saying that this is NOT a copy of My Hero Academia, even though it sounds as such. It’s kinda hard to explain the show without spoiling a major plot point, but it’s pretty much as the summary says. Honestly, if you want to watch this, don’t look up anything about it—you will get spoiled right away, and it does ruin the experience. I started this without knowing anything about it and I think that’s for the best because it’s plot twist after plot twis,t and you’re not sure what to expect next. That’s honestly something I really liked about it because you don’t know where the story will take you. Anyways, highly recommend because more people should know about this series.

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Violence (not heavy), Necrophilia.

The abuse part is mostly implied instead of shown. There is violence, but it’s not graphic, though it may be a little disturbing.

If you’re reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

[smooth-boob]

⭐

You are a true friend lol, thank you for sending this, and I AM SORRY FOR THE LONG RAMBLE, BUT HERE WE GO:

With absolute writer's ego, I have been vibrating with director commentary about The Bustle in a House since I wrote it because some of the lines are quietly devastating and they inform so much of what I have written since then. Specifically, you may be pleased to hear, I keep coming back to lines about Anthony's relationship with Violet.

First, there's this in chapter two:

For a moment, they are like mother and son again, rather than strangers trapped in an impossible situation and drowning in their own grief. Dread rises within him as he watches another wave overtake her. He is grasping her hand, trying to keep his mother from slipping away again, but he is not strong enough, and it is already too late.

Then later, in the next chapter:

Absorbed in their various activities, his family do not take notice of him immediately. 

Folding his hands behind himself, he first bids his mother good morning. She raises her gaze and bids him the same. Without heart, he cannot help but feel. Offering her the benefit of generous thoughts, he is glad that she does see him and that his appearance has not offended her.

(emphasis added obviously lol)

"Offering her...offended her." = he is literally just like, "Wow, she barely acknowledged me and didn't get mad that I existed. That's really kinda nice!"

This entire story is filled with an extremely lonely Anthony noting that his family ignores him/doesn't see him/doesn't like him/doesn't care about him and it is all simultaneously tangled up with him making quick excuses as to why this is happening or how he's trying to compensate for it. Sometimes, you almost can't distinguish the distinct parts of what he's thinking. He is continuously pushing them away because he doesn't know how to pull them closer without hurting them as much as he is hurting, and so they stop seeing him as Anthony and start seeing him as something else. The "tyrant brother." The shadow of a father. Whatever. All of his siblings are literal children for whom he is responsible, so he can't ask much of them, especially when nobody likes that he's not just their big brother anymore.

Meanwhile, he wants so much to have his mom back, but of course she is understandably deeply depressed and also she resents him for taking his father's place (even though it's literally not his choice!) and when she is there with him/for him, she's still not really there.

In that scene in chapter two, Anthony's pretty sick, and when Violet finally comes to check on him (he sounds like he's choking to death, and she happens to be in the hallway) she breaks down pretty much at the sight of Anthony being ill (which, y'know, she just lost her husband and almost lost her baby, so yeah) and he gets about thirty seconds of comfort, followed by him trying desperately to comfort her because she cannot handle the situation at all. And then like a week later, when he finally is well and he wakes up SO FULL OF HOPE and ready to join his family again, instead of her being glad that her son is well, it is like she is looking straight through him.

But he can't resent her. He doesn't want to. She's his mom, she raised him so lovingly, and then she just...suddenly hates him. And now he is her guardian, and he feels so much responsibility for her well-being and so much guilt for not being who she wants him to be, even though he can't be that person, which is something only time will teach him.

In Bustle, I would say there are no villains. In For Shame, well...I cared less about not making any villains lol. I can understand Violet's perspective in both stories, but in For Shame, so much time has passed and yet it all comes back to the baggage of those initial moments after Edmund dies, and Anthony definitely reverts back to being eighteen/nineteen. He doesn't want his mom to see him break, and she is there for him, but it's too late, and he's slipping away again.

....end scene.

[dreamonseems]

The man I am

Part 4

Joel Miller x Female Reader

Summary: Pre outbreak Joel and Tommy, move to a small town in Canada. After Joel's daughter Sarah dies from a tragic accident. Joel meets the reader and falls in love. She helps him move on from his grief. And he starts a new life with the reader.

Notes

◇ There is an age gap between the reader and Joel, the reader is 19, and Joel is 35.

◇ There will be an outbreak in this story, but first, I'll start pre-outbreak. Tess will also come in later in the story.

◇ HI, this is my first Joel fanfic. I feel like this will be bad, but I'm going to try to write this anyway. I had a dream about it, so I kinda want to make it true, lol. I'm also Canadian, so that's why they are in Canada, lol. But they will make their way back to the USA.

Weeks have passed since Joel's phone call to Y/N, and the tension between them continues to grow. Every time they cross paths, they make a point to avoid each other, and the air between them is thick with unsaid words.

Tommy has noticed a change in his brother's behavior, especially when Y/N's name is brought up. One evening, he finds Joel sitting in an armchair with a beer in his hand, lost in thought. Tommy joins him on the couch and tries to initiate a conversation.

"So you and Y/N had a fight or something?" Tommy asks, trying to break the ice.

Joel responds with annoyance in his voice, "There's no me and Y/N. She's a kid, Tommy."

Tommy looks at him incredulously, "We both know she's not a kid. She may be young, but she's a woman who knows what she wants."

Joel sighs heavily, "She thinks she wants me, but she doesn't know what that means. So, no, she doesn't know what she wants."

Tommy takes a deep breath and says, "Look, Joel, I love you, brother, but why can't you let yourself be happy? Every time you were around Y/N, you were so happy. I'm not telling you to forget the past, but you have to move on, Joel. And I think Y/N would be great for you. Just let yourself have this, stop torturing yourself so much."

Tommy leaves the room, leaving Joel alone with his thoughts. He knows his brother is right, but he's scared of what might happen if he lets himself be happy with Y/N. He remembers the kiss they shared, how it felt like everything he ever wanted. As Joel sits there, lost in thought, he realizes that he can't keep running away from his feelings for Y/N. He has to face them head-on and figure out what he truly wants.

--------

Y/N was still deeply upset about everything that had transpired. She confided in her closest friends May and Joanna, sharing with them the details of everything that had occurred. The two friends, wanting to help Y/N move on from her heartbreak, suggested setting her up on a date. Y/N agreed, acknowledging that she had not been on many dates in the past due to various factors. Y/N's father had a reputation for being strict and overprotective, which often scared away potential suitors. Additionally, her heart had never been strongly drawn to anyone in the way that it had been to Joel. He was the first person she could see herself settling down with.

Her date Dane was a guy from their church known for his good character and coming from a respectable family. He was also good-looking, with blue eyes and longish brown hair. However, his appearance paled in comparison to Joel's ruggedly handsome features. They decided to go to Bill's hub, a popular bar and grill restaurant located downtown. The establishment was run by Bill and Frank, a beloved older couple who were well-known and respected in the community.

Y/N had a special connection with the couple, especially with Frank, who happened to be her high school teacher. Her and Bill had developed a close bond over the years, too. She used to work at his restaurant when she was a teen, and they often engaged in deep conversations about conspiracy theories.

As she and Dane walked into the restaurant, she noticed Joel sitting by the bar. She hoped he wouldn't see them, but unfortunately, they were seated at a table right in his line of sight. When he saw her with another guy, he felt a wave of anger and jealousy that he couldn't control.

Throughout the night, Joel and Y/N tried to avoid looking at each other. However, every time Y/N glanced over at him, she noticed that he had a dark expression on his face, as if he wanted to punch something. She wondered if he was jealous of her being on a date with someone else. To test her theory, she became a little more touchy with Dane, laughing and leaning in close to him. When she glanced back at Joel, she saw him tensing up and clenching his fists as if trying to contain his frustration.. Y/N was satisfied that her theory was correct: Joel was indeed jealous. She couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction, knowing that she had caught on to his true feelings. Joel noticed her smirk, realizing that she had figured out his jealousy and was enjoying watching him squirm.

At one point, Y/N excused herself to go to the bathroom. As she made her way to the ladies' room, Joel got up from his seat and followed her. He waited for her outside the bathroom door. Y/N finished up in the bathroom and swung the door open, only to find Joel waiting for her. At first, she was taken aback by his sudden appearance, but she tried to remain calm and composed. "Joel, hi," she said, trying to keep her tone friendly.

However, Joel's expression was stern and angry. "What the fuck are you doing?" he demanded, his voice laced with frustration.

Y/N let out a bitter laugh. "What do you mean, what am I doing?" she shot back, her voice rising in annoyance.

"You know exactly what you're doing, Y/N," Joel said, getting closer to her face.

Frustrated and agitated, Y/N decided to confront Joel. "If you must know, I'm on a date, Joel. I'm doing what you told me to do, finding a guy my own age." As she spoke those words, Joel felt a pang in his heart. He realized that he had been an idiot to push her away, and now he was paying the price.

Joel takes a step back and runs his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I didn't mean for you to go on a date with someone else so soon," he admits, his voice low. "I just wanted you to move on and find happiness, but seeing you with someone else... it's just hard, okay?"

Y/N's heart softens at Joel's words. She can see the pain etched on his face and knows that he's hurting just as much as she is. "Joel, I miss you," she says softly, reaching out to touch his arm.

Joel takes a deep breath and pulls her in for a tight hug. He caresses her face gently and says, "We need to talk. Tell your date you have to go home, and we will discuss this in the car."

"I... Okay," Y/N says, feeling a mix of emotions at the way Joel is touching her. "I'll wait for you outside."

As Joel leaves, Y/N collects herself and makes her way back to the table to let her date know that something has come up and she needs to go home. She can feel the weight of Joel's presence as he waits for her outside, she gets into his car, and the ride to Y/N's house is quiet.

She's beginning to think that they're not going to talk about their situation when they arrive. Joel shuts off the car and leans on the steering wheel.

"What do you want?" Joel asks, his voice low.

Y/N is confused at first, but she lets her heart answer. "You, Joel. I want you."

"I'm not a good man," Joel says, his voice heavy with regret. "I've made many mistakes. I don't think you know what you're asking for."

"Then tell me, Joel," Y/N pleads.

Joel takes a deep breath before revealing his painful past. "I used to have a daughter. Her mother left us when she was a baby. She died when she was eight. She was walking home from school with her babysitter, and I was supposed to get her that day, but I was too busy at work and couldn't leave. They came across two guys who were fighting, and one thing led to another. One of the guys pulled out a gun and started shooting, and Sarah got hit."

His eyes darken as he continues. "So you know what I did? I found the guy that shot her, and I made him pay."

Y/N gasps at what she hears. "Do you understand what I'm saying? Can you accept the man that I am? I'm asking you, can you look into my eyes and still tell me you want to be with me and that you love me?" Joel asks.

Y/N is left in silence for a moment before she speaks up. "I understand and I still choose to be with you if you choose to be with me," she says.

Joel is quiet for a moment before he speaks. "I'll give you one more chance. If you leave now, I'll let you go. But if you stay, then that's it. You'll be mine, and I keep a firm hand on what's mine."

Y/N leans over and pulls Joel into her arms. "I'm yours, Joel," she says.

Joel kisses her forehead and lets go of her, saying, "Go home. I'll come here tomorrow to talk to your father. You're mine now. Don't forget that."

Y/N gets out of the car and heads into her house, feeling hopeful about their future together.

-------

The next day arrived, and Y/N's nerves were on edge as she awaited Joel's arrival. She had no idea when he would be coming, nor did she know what he would say to her father. As the oldest child, her father had always placed a great deal of responsibility and trust in her, and he held old-fashioned values such as courtship and marriage. Y/N knew that if Joel were to ask her father just to date her, he would most likely turn him away.

Y/N's family was everything to her, and she had a particularly close relationship with her father. He was her hero, and she looked up to him in every way. The thought of her father rejecting Joel's request pained her heart, and she worried about how it would affect her relationship with both her father and Joel.

Y/N tried to calm her nerves by distracting herself with a book, but she couldn't concentrate. Every time she heard a car drive by, she jumped up, thinking that it might be Joel. She kept checking the clock, but time seemed to move so slowly.

As she sat lost in her thoughts, she heard the doorbell ring, causing her anxiety to flare up. She debated whether to run down the stairs to answer or to stay put in her room and let the man talk. She decided to wait for her father to come talk to her when they were done talking.

Isaiah, a middle-aged man with a sturdy build and a serious demeanor, opened the door to find Joel standing in front of him. As Y/N's father, he knew his children well and paid close attention to their interests and actions. He was not surprised to see Joel, as his daughter had been talking about him a lot lately, often mentioning how handsome he was and how good of a man he seemed to be. Isaiah had seen Joel around town, talking to his daughter or watching her from afar with a look in his eyes that reminded him of the love he had for his own wife. He could see the same love reflected in Y/N's eyes whenever she looked at Joel.

"Joel Miller, right?" Isaiah asked, recognizing the young man.

"Yes," Joel replied, clearly nervous

"I've been expecting this would happen. Come in," Isaiah said, leading Joel to a cozy study with bookshelves lining the walls. Isaiah sat down behind a large wooden desk and gestured for Joel to take a seat across from him.

"So, go on and ask what you came here to ask for," Isaiah said, fixing his hard gaze on Joel.

Joel swallowed hard and took a deep breath before speaking. "Well, I think you know I'm here for your daughter. I want to court her."

Isaiah remained silent, staring intently at Joel for a few minutes before finally speaking up. "I can see the kind of man you are. I can see the little bit of darkness that is in your eyes. Why should I trust you with one of the most important people in my life?"

Joel took a moment to gather his thoughts before answering. "I can promise you that I would die for your daughter. I would kill for her. I would let the darkness take over me to keep her safe and happy. And I think you know the lengths I would go to because I know you're the same type of man I am, sir."

The room fell silent once again, the tension between the two men palpable. Isaiah's hard stare did not waver as he considered Joel's words.

"Okay. I'm entrusting you with my heart. If you break it or let it get hurt, I won't hesitate to come for you," Isaiah finally said, his tone stern and unwavering.

"Thank you," Joel replied, getting up to leave. He knew Isaiah would want to talk to Y/N before giving his blessing, and he would wait patiently outside until the time came.

Y/N's heart was pounding as she heard footsteps coming up the stairs towards her bedroom. She knew it was her father, and she couldn't help but feel nervous about what he had to say. As he knocked on her door, she got up to open it, her anxiety increasing with each passing second. When she saw her father's face, she sat down on her bed and waited for him to speak.

"Joel Miller asked me for your hand in courtship," he said, his tone serious.

Y/N's heart skipped a beat. She had been afraid that her father would turn Joel away. She stared at her feet, afraid to look into her father's eyes.

"Do you want that?" her father asked, his voice softening.

Y/N's heart swelled with hope. "Yes!" she exclaimed, unable to hide her excitement. "I very much would like that."

Her father let out a huff and sat down beside her, pulling her into a tight embrace. He held onto her as tightly as he could, not wanting to let her go. He knew that this was a big step for her, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of protectiveness towards his oldest daughter.

"I said yes," he said, his voice full of emotion. "I want you to be happy, and I trust that you know what you're doing. I trust that you've found the right person."

Y/N felt tears welling up in her eyes as she hugged her father tightly. "He definitely is the one, papa," she whispered. "He feels safe, just like how you make me feel safe. I love you. Thank you for trusting my judgment."

Her father hugged her back, his heart full of love and pride for his daughter. "I'll always be here for you, sunshine," he said. "Always. Papa will always be here for you."

Y/N feels her father's comforting hand on her head as he caresses her hair. She looks up at him with tear-streaked cheeks and a grateful smile. Her heart races as she hears her father's words, knowing that Joel is just outside waiting for her.

"Thank you, Papa," she whispers before watching him leave the room. She takes a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, wiping her tears away as she makes her way down the stairs, still reeling from her emotional conversation with her father. As she opened the front door, she saw him leaning casually against his truck, looking just as handsome as she remembered.

Joel straightened up as soon as he saw Y/N, a smile spreading across his face. He opened his arms wide, and she ran towards him, jumping up into his strong embrace. He effortlessly caught her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, feeling safe and protected in his arms.

As they gazed into each other's eyes, Y/N felt a powerful surge of desire and love. Without hesitation, they leaned in for a passionate kiss, their lips meeting in a fiery embrace that left them both breathless.

After a few moments, they finally pulled back, both of them panting and flushed with desire. Y/N looked at Joel with a sense of longing, her heart full of love for this man who had captured her heart.

"I'm all yours now," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

A low growl escaped from Joel's lips as he held her close, his eyes dark with desire. "Mine," he replied, his voice full of possessiveness and love.

Y/N felt her heart swell with joy, knowing that she had found the one who truly loved her for who she was. She snuggled closer to Joel, feeling his warmth and strength surround her, and knew that she was finally home.

Part 5

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Spiderwebs Pt.1: The Pace & Prince Charming

Time to give Dressrosa its due. I’m not the biggest fan of this arc, but I’m liking it more now that I’m seeing how it fits into the big picture. Interesting one for me too; I’ve been a fan long enough I kinda think about parts of my life around the releasing arcs. Dressrosa almost perfectly overlaps with Grad School for me, which was a very happy time. Though one I didn’t really make much more time for manga than getting up a little early and reading the new chapter each week. You may have already gathered I enjoy the Grand Fleet a lot, particularly Cabbage & the Tontatta. We’ll get to one of those in a minute.

The pitch here is not that Dressrosa as a whole is some big step in this overarching fil rouge. Here, the devil is in only about the first third. While the entire crew and Momonosuke are present we’ll see a lot of great beats that poke at the Straw Hats’ weak side. It starts right here, with Doflamingo’s “pace” or momentum. We’ll hit this deeper, but the idea is Doffy is this type of character when they’re a villain. He’s how dangerous someone with these skills can be. Katakuri’s a version of Luffy who’s had this growth already, then I’d argue Kiku is the good person who shows how to apply the same concepts. Luckily Law’s here right? He’s a good gap-filler! Except...this arc will carry a lot of water setting up why it needs to be someone else.

See what I mean? It didn’t take long. And look at who ends up delivering the message? Law gave it his best shot and got played. Dressrosa devolves from what could have been a solid plan because Doflamingo was just better. Luckily he could be outmuscled, and fate had other plans. This failure inspiring the Tontatta and others to take their last shot. It’s kinda like if Luffy showed up 10 years into Wano’s long winter and gave Ashura Doji’s men the extra boost they needed. Stuff like negotiating a hostage exchange or maybe say, recognizing a way to use Caesar and expose crimes anyways as a recovery are the types of things Kiku is the right territory to excel at. Robin’s a great spy, but she’s too socially awkward. That’s not a knock, around this point in the story there’s an SBS answer where Oda patently describes her as such. Just like spelling out Kiku’s sociability in a later one. 

Let’s not forget there is this big hook too. Doflamingo and VA Tsuru’s rivalry is there in both’s first appearance. Right around when we’re meeting Blackbeard and Bellamy. The Crane is the one who knows how to deal with a naughty boy like this. Gotta say though I love their little rivalry being a thing even if nothing else comes of it. Moving on, Doffy has the StrawHeart Alliance nailed with his counter to the opening shot. By all accounts he easily could have ended both. The Colosseum was a perfect trap for Luffy. And that is where I can’t help but notice at least one big moment that seems to carry a lot more weight after Bakura Town.

Rebecca. I’ve already hinted at this and it’ll get it’s spotlight. Rebecca & Kyros’s story make for an excellent contrast with Kiku & Kin’s. Diagenically, I’d argue seeing the Dressrosa pair maybe made Kin’emon start to feel conflicted about her. It was subtle but there the whole time. Forget that for a moment though, just this scene. The girl standing against the scorn of the masses. What’s the difference between here and the Sumo ring? Rebecca’s hurt by it, she does cry. She’s a little younger and softer overall but at the end of the day Kiku’s better able to shrug it off. We’re not done though, it’s how she ends up getting that same trick we’ve seen elsewhere when someone else joins the fray.

Cavendish you pretty idiot I love you. We can use Luffy’s face for scale; Kiku impressed him way more but it doesn’t diminish Cabbage. The obvious comparison is she made the better first impression (giving Luffy food and tending to Zoro) and was a lot cooler in her big moment. Biggest difference is he’s still a former noble forced out of that life, we never see that “no person called chattel” element out of him. Think like what I’ve said about Boa. Cavendish has all the tools, his bounty speaks for his capability, but he’s too vain and self-absorbed. Likewise not the type to follow others, he’s a solid enough captain that has survived the New World independently so far. He is showing off the skills. Swaying the crowd with pomp and circumstance. Teasing a gentle side. Not to mention...

Such a funky pose! Oh yeah, this gets oddly specific at points. Hakuba seems really huge when Dressrosa’s beautiful swordsman has this whole “bakura” shtick going on too. Notably a demon side he cannot control. We’ve talked about Pudding, both will get those iconic split face panels to really drive it home. Also a cool little quirk, Cavendish’s attack names are a lot of Western theatre and literary references. I also love Kiku having some shade for Caggage in PW4. Really there’s a fair amount of comparability between this stretch of Dressrosa and Act 1. Think about Cavendish first appearing trying to explain the weight restrictions. Luffy doesn’t listen. Excellent contrast to Kiku who he respects more off the bat.

To me, Dressrosa is in hindsight a great example of what we try to avoid in Wano. Being exposed too early, a nationwide manhunt. It’s a “dress” rehearsal for the play, if you will. This plan could have gone off without a hitch and brought down Kaido’s wrath on Doffy. But they got played, they got invested, and it ends up paying off big time for the Straw Hats in gaining the Grand Fleet. A lot of the eventual captains of that fleet end up doing a good job of showing an element that’s missing. Just, especially when we fill them out with the cover stories, we’ll see that they lack big things too. A lot of these things will be positive traits that run through Kiku’s side of Wano. Showing her as someone who can balance a lot of them. Cavendish is the most on-the-nose by a mile.

[villain-in-love]

Allow me to bring your attention to Alice Baskerville, one of my favourite Pandora Hearts characters and my adopted little sister!

Just as much as I loved Alice from the beginning of the story, I absolutely hated the treatment she got later in the manga. With all due respect, I will never forgive Jun Mochizuki for deciding to turn Alice from a cunning and cocky badass into a comic relief character, who acted like a little kid and only had food on her mind.

So here are a few things I came up with as headcanons, some of them explaining her behaviour and personality, because Alice deserves it.

Warning! Some major spoilers for the manga.

♠ I headcanon that she’s always hungry and craves meat because she’s supposed to eat humans. Unlike other chains she can go without it and control herself just fine (probably because she’s the Black Rabbit), but it’s still the most suited food for her.

♠ She knows about Abyss much more than any other character (the only one who can compare is her sister) because she spent so much time in there, but she also intuitively understands and connects with it because of how closely she’s tied to it, being born in there, and having The Will of Abyss herself as her twin sister.

♠ She misses Alyss, even if she doesn’t realise it.

♠ She may have lost her memories, but not the effect they had on her. Mentally she’s still not okay due to isolated childhood, living through the tragedy of Sablier and literally sacrificing herself to prevent the world destruction, and later spending hundred years alone in Abyss.

♠ Those are also the reasons she acts so feral at times – she’s not very familiar with society norms. Though even if she was, I doubt that she would use that knowledge often, being certain that it’s her Abyss given right to do whatever the hell she wants.

♠ She’s arrogant, a little self-centred, and tactless. Did I mention poor self-control? I mean, she can hold herself together when and where it would give her benefits, but other than that, she couldn’t care less what others might think about her.

♠ Having lost connection with her twin sister (with whom they literally shared a body at one point), she often feels lonely and doesn’t even know why. Given that her entire current existence is a complicated matter, she struggles with a feeling of unease and wrongness that always creeps somewhere in the back of her mind. She tries her best to find things to keep herself busy, so that she doesn’t have to face it.

♠ Yeah, she’s bad at self-reflection. She doesn’t even want to deal with it.

♠ I assume that she had contracts before Oz and that’s why she acted so confident and knew what to do when they met. But those deals rarely turned out how she wanted them to be – she couldn’t get a chance to roam the human world freely.

♠  She spends most of the time in the human world exploring and pocking her nose everywhere she can.

♠ I headcanon that by the end of the manga she develops rather peculiar and seemingly random set of skills and knowledge.

♠ She has more energy than she knows what to do with.

♠ As we have seen, Alice doesn’t know what love and romance really means, but she vaguely knows what “seduction” is. Aka how to make an impression, appeal to humans, and make them do what you need them to do. She can be very flirty, even if she doesn’t think so and doesn’t have any intentions associated with this behaviour.

♠ When she lived in a tower as a human, she read a lot of books, usually the ones about adventures and heroes. A great part of her vocabulary was borrowed from those old books, which is why she can be so poetically dramatic, but even if it kinda fits when she’s fighting, sometimes she starts acting like that in times when it’s out of place.

♠ She’s still 14 mentally, you can’t blame her for wanting to appear cool.

♠ She eventually did pick up “Holy Knight” to read, purely because not understanding what Oz and Elliot constantly argue about is annoying. And then she joined the debate, throwing around controversial opinions that often left Elliot and Oz pausing in shock, trying to process what they just heard. What’s funny is that sometimes Alice’s commentaries actually made a lot of sense. Too much sense.

♠ While she was stuck in Abyss for 100 years, Alice often got into fights with other chains to entertain herself. She soon realized that she’s much stronger than most of them, and while it did give her some kind of ego bust and satisfaction, she was also disappointed by everything being too easy and thus not giving her enough adrenaline.

♠ Somewhere in the second part of the story she goes through the identity crisis because of gradually getting stripped of the Black Rabbit powers, which started returning to Oz – the original Black Rabbit. With that, Oz slowly became the one to handle most of important fights and dangerous situations, leaving Alice with nothing to do and even slightly upset, because being a powerful chain was a point of pride for her for so long.

♠ With Oz having his own identity crisis in canon, I think it would be nice to have Alice go through the similar thing to parallel it, especially since their identities and their misplacement are closely tied together. It would also allow for better character study and development that canon Alice didn’t get enough.

♠ Алиса – воплощение выражения “всё гениальное – просто”. Пока все остальные ломают головы и сверханализируют, Алиса посмотрит, сплюнет, назовёт всех дебилами и выдаст решение проблемы в двух шагах.*

♠ Just keep in mind that her solutions can often include violence and brute force, so if you’re a pacifist, be ready having to ask someone else.

*I’m can’t currently figure out how to translate it in it's full meaning (the translations i get from from different sites are not good enough), but I want it to be here.

[analogicalfan]

I need help!

I have found out about the LGBTQ community for some years and I have always thought of myself of an ally but a year and some months ago I begin to question my sexuality and gender, but mostly my gender.

I knew that when I would find love I would know what my sexuality is but my gender is a whole nother story. I had spent to many sleepless night on this topic and if anyone who can relate or went through the same thing and know there gender it would really help me. Now I know that I would not get an complete answer but it will help me get an idea of what my gender is.

I'm a female at birth but I was what my parents and many people called as boyish. I would hate to wear dress and skirts because I couldn't run or climb a tree or anything I consider fun. I would love when my father and brother would be wrestling and would join them. I would get jealous at my dad and brother that they could take there shirt off but I couldn't (I was 5 or 6 at that time so I didn't). I played with dolls and stuff toys but I would choose Legos and playing with swords any time.

Only in first or second grade did I realize what gender meant. I saw boys who I would play with started to avoid me and go play with other boys. My life change and it was scary. The boys would play with boys and girls would play with girls and as much as I like being with the girls something in me always wanted to play with the boys again.

In 4th grade I started to get really insecure of my body and it was strange because I was one of those kids that never cared about there appearance. If it was summer I would have given any thing to sleep without a shirt on but I felt uncomfortable and never had the courage to do it as I hated my body.

5th grade came around and that is when I discussed the LGBTQ community and I was happy? I never knew what that filing was but I kinda felt complete. But that didn't last long as a year later I begin to question my gender. And that brings me here I hate my body. I fill uncomfortable when I see my front. I sometimes wonder how it is to have a boys body and be called one.

Despite everything I said I still have many female interests. I still like wearing makeup and some dress (not that guys aren't allowed to do that too)

As much as I would love to go to a gender therapist I don't think my country has any as I live in a somewhat homophobic county and even if there was I don't think my parents would allow me to go as I think there homophobic. I tried to give mom a hint asking her how would she feel if me or my brother would come with a partner of the same gender but she said that it is unnatural and I never brought that up again since then and there are also really religious so I may need to wait until I can finish school and can move out.

[atbgauge]

writing this on my phone and so naturally i'm gonna ramble hope its coherent... anyways thoughts on wuwa yaaay

there are story spoilers for 1.0 so do not bother reading if you have not completed it yet

i wonder what the hell they were even thinking in regards to releasing wuwa the way it did this year. i remember when rumors about the may release date were coming around and i didnt believe them because i felt like that'd be too soon, and that they'd probably release june earliest but around september latest but look where we are now HRRKFJFKF

i knew to keep my expectations low especially after participating in the beta and idk i dont think they'd rewrite and then have to reprogram & rescript and reanimate according to the new writing. i am very disappointed they went with the mass appeal route rather than giving us uhmmm something good and new. i know someone out there is gonna say "well its a mobile gacha game" but idgaf thats not really an excuse to me and i still think you can make something worthwhile and still deliver an interesting message

i dont think i'm ever gonna get the same creativity that f7d had but it'd be nice if these gacha game developers tried like... also like even pgr was more creative and this kinda isnt the post for it but i liked the beginning chapters idgaf. anyways idk i just wish they kept the original gloomy atmosphere as they teased wuwa and maybe get rid of rover or like. idk just dont make them self inserts for us and just make them actual characters or something. i'd rather see yangyang as the main character like we see how capable and knowledgeable she is and then she gets thrown to the side. oh well idk because of its format and its shift towards mass appeal and following the trends of today... we got this kind of game instead

genuinely there are some really cool moments in terms of animation, environment/set design, technology, 3d modeling but idk it kinda ends up being a mess for me because of the really poorly written story

acts 1-4 are idgaf central except 3/4 i guess because thats when scar appears or whatever and then we confront him and then we get that grand reveal that we'll be facing jue soon. scar..... idk i think he is definitely interesting and the fractsidus thing is cool too but we only really get to know them on a surface level and how they want us to join their side to cause the end of the world basically and they want to be in control and they want to worship whatever lifeforms that come from bringing the lament but idk just seems. not that all interesting

5...... is our introduction to black shores with a brief fan service moment which was kinda weird as fuck and then the second half is the experiments the savantes were creating for the tacet rain (whatever the fuck thats called) and i kinda didnt care for it too much because it just reminded me of earlier acts and its just more background on the lore and the 3 million terms it throws at you

6........ okay i actually sorta kinda liked this one because we kinda just got right into it but it still felt off to me. the game does literally tell you that an outbreak is gonna happen but it kinda just happens too quickly for me? i guess we got that brief moment with aalto looking outside and the retroact rain was forming and then cut to jiyan and getting more lore on him and the history of huanglong (which is a nice set up for his character quest later) and then it jumps back to us helping out in jinzhou's defense lines and everybody is there so it Feels like we're all contributing to fighting off the tacet discords

and the. there's the one part where we create a battle plan basically and that just felt so unnecessary like. what is the point of making rover do that just let it be an animated scene where they all discuss this together?? also jiyan YOURE THE GENERAL so YOU can do that yourself and those irrelevant npcs like that was a waste of time and if you select the wrong choice anyways rover talks it out in his head why thats the wrong thing and expects you to choose the correct one so its all very stupid

i mention this to say.... there are some very unnecessary cuts like this throughout all acts. like the heron fight before getting into dreamless' domain has a fade to black just for jiyan to say a singular line like "ok lets move foward" basically then fade to black and then back to gameplay like... why could that not have been a simple voice over line like in other quests. and again for that battle plan thing was just very unnecessary just animate that shit out or whatever. the cutscenes in this game are actually surprisingly very nice and they cut into gameplay pretty well sometimes so i dont understand why they just... didnt do more of that. i dont know why theyre not considering the execution of these things and the intention as well

idk hopefully they do more creative things, they've done that with pgr and i know pgr was made with unity and wuwa is unreal but idk like... we couldnt have finetuned things more??? we cant take more time to create some cool set pieces for this game and have cool animated events and cool programming/scripting???

i also hope kuro addresses optimization and localization issues too. i am amazed they still managed to screw up this games launch in the same way they messed up pgr's launches in all its servers its kinda amazing really

anyways stopping here because its late and this is getting long heres to hoping 1.1 is good and thanks if you read this far HRFGJHDJF

[itfitsitshipsart]

1 and 5 for f/os of your choice.

Though, I'd love to hear some "Tales Of" Hot Takes so if you have a general one not related to your F/Os please shout it. XD

Alright! Time to go on a limb here then!

1) what’s a Hot Take you have about your f/o?

Alright. The hottest take I've got for Tale of Vesperia is... that LeBlanc and Co. are hands down the BEST characters! And it is a SHAME that I never see anything about them! Like, okay. Story time.

Tales of Vesperia was me and my brother's first Tales game. All we knew was it was a jRPG that had co-op. So we started up the game without any expectations. And not long into it, before our first battle, we saw THIS.

such a face, after some pretty average (no offense, Yuri) looking anime/jRPG characters, my brother and I just had to pause the game and laugh. We were delighted by this duo's appearance. The tall and short one, a classic pair for media.

we just KNEW the game was gonna be good once we met them! They're both (and LeBlanc when we meet him) hilarious, and the fact that they go above and beyond they're duties, and end up being true knights and very good people. Hands down the best characters. THEY DESERVE MORE RECOGNITION AS BEST CHARACTERS

(Also, does anyone else question how the heck they got Raven and themselves to the Heracles before the group who had a fricken DRAGON to fly on! Especially considering when the main cast left, they had to dig the man out of the ruins first. Like, All I imagine is they're experts at rowing in a little rowboat. That's a second hot take I've got. They've got a rowboat and are faster than a speedboat.)

Another hot take I suppose is... that I don't think Tales of Symphonia is that great. It's fine, I suppose, and matches other tales games in what it offers. But for some reason I just didn't care for its story and the character interactions. They didn't feel as together and bouncing off one another as other groups in other games do. It's on the bottom of my Tales of list, and considering I've played 6 of them (Vesperia, Berseria, Zesteria, Symphonia, and Xillia 1 and 2), and watched 2 of the anime (Zesteria the X and Abyss), I find it odd that one of the 'best' titles people say is one I liked far less than others. The characters just didn't make me feel like the others do.

5) what’s the dumbest thing you’ve heard about your f/o, either on the internet or irl? 

So, I kinda answered this one broadly here, so... yeah. I'm gonna be crazy and grab another question to answer! Mwahaha!

10) how did you feel when you realized “oh of course i had to like That Character”?

So. One of my favorite stories to share about me irl falling for Raven, and I'm sure I've told it many a time before. BUT I'm still baffled by how I fell in love with him!

Cause I didn't even notice him in the opening animation. He was just another character. I wasn't looking for live, but anticipated I may find a favorite for the length of the game. And I decided "that guy looks cool and kinda pretty. I bet I'll like him!" When I saw who I'd learn much later was Yeager. Oh the irony.

So we started the game, and I thought nothing of the few times Raven popped up and did the group dirty. And when he joined the party for the first time, I saw he had a bow and figured I would try him out. Before that, I was just kinda playing as Yuri, and it was okay.

I didn't realize I was falling in love right away. He was funny, but very much not my type. And as I slowly grew more fond of him and got some less than pure thoughts, I was actually put off by it all. I was falling it love the longer we played. I loved playing as him, and was hanging on every word he spoke, and I wondered what secrets he was hiding.

Then he left, and Estelle disappeared with him. I was worried and had a bad feeling at him possibly betraying the group. And him being revealed as Captain Schwann gave me... *ahem* mixed feelings. Suddenly, that serious gaze and beautiful hair that actually was my usual type was there, and was quite attractive. But it was also concerning because of how different he was to the Raven I had finally admitted to myself I maybe fell in love with.

And then.

I thought he died.

I fully accepted that this game could be cruel enough to kill one of our main characters, and it HURT. So to my joyful surprise that he was alive, any hint of doubt about loving him was gone at that moment.

So that's the long tale of me falling for the old man. It was unexpected, but he's now the most important man in my life, my beloved.

[kurt-wagner-official]

Post #17: UXM Annual issue 4 and UXM issues 139-140

Before I get into this annual, which I do really like, I have two things to note. The first is that as soon as I started reading, I realized I forgot to mention the guest artist on the last annual, George Pérez. Pérez is one of my favorite comics creators ever, mainly for his Teen Titans run, which was at this time about to start. He also tragically passed earlier this year. The artist for this annual is John Romita Jr., my favorite Spider-Man artist, who'll come back to Uncanny in a few years. The second is it's placement in the series; I cannot for the life of me understand why they chose to set this between issues 138 and 139. Losing Jean, Ororo replacing Scott, and Warren and Kitty joining are all things that need to be addressed in the main series, so here they're either brushed over or ignored. There's no continuity errors, it's just kinda jarring thematically. I feel like it would have been really easy to throw Warren in and say it takes place later, but what do I know. Anyway, on to the story- it's Kurt's birthday. This is the first issue without Scott, who's been the lead character for the entire history of the X-Men, and the big question on the reader's mind is who will step into the spotlight, but Claremont dodges the question by writing a Kurt-centric story that Kurt's barely in. His friends throw him a surprise party, which starts out great but quickly goes horribly wrong when he opens an unmarked package that explodes is his face and kills him. Before the shock can really set in, Xavier has called his friend Dr. Strange, who's spells reveal that Kurt's soul has been stolen, but it can be restored. (He also discovers that Kurt is completely human, not a demon, so suck it Azazel.) Suddenly the culprit, a witch named Margali, appears and sucks Ororo, Peter, Logan, and Strange through a portal. They wake up at what appears to be the gates of Hell as described by Dante, with Kurt alive and with them. They enter, hoping to find answers, and are greeted by Minos, who casts Kurt into the pit of Hell. Ororo saves him, but is herself stabbed by a harpy, sending her into the pit. Our heroes set out on the path of Dante to find where she's being imprisoned, and we get some brief insights into their religious beliefs, one of my favorite topics in the series. When Logan sees the pit of the wrathful, he thinks about how he could be condemned there someday. But he's unafraid and unashamed of who he is. Logan will over the course of his life make friends and enemies of countless gods, and occasionally be one himself, but I don't think he ever puts any thought into religion. Logan is a true realist; he lives in the present always, focused on what he can do, and doesn't really care about any afterlives that may await him in the far future. Peter was raised atheist, and doesn't want to believe in any god that would condone the existence of such a Hell. And Kurt is, of course, a Catholic, which is only briefly mentioned here, but will become important to his character later. He also reveals to his friends what he did to incur Margali's wrath- he killed her son, and does not regret it. The heroes fund Ororo in the eighth circle among the thieves, transformed into a snake. They free her and restore her to her body before venturing down into the final circle, where they find not Satan but Margali and her daughter, Jimaine, who unsuccessfully pleads for Kurt's life. Kurt yields to Margali, ready to accept the punishment that he feels he deserves, but Strange uses the Eye of Agamotto to reveal the truth. Margali took Kurt in as an infant and raised him alongside her children, Stefan and Jimaine. Stefan made Kurt promise to kill him if he ever succumbed to his rage and killed an innocent, and Kurt agreed, never imagining that it would happen. But it did, years later, and though Kurt tried to peacefully stop him, he accidentally snapped his neck. Margali and Jimaine both disappeared, and Kurt has been living with the guilt ever since. Margali forgives Kurt and frees him, before Jimaine reveals that she's actually been Amanda Sefton, Kurt's girlfriend, all along. This relationship is really weird and incesty. Later Kurt's relationship with Margali will be softly retconned into more of a foster mother situation where  Kurt was kinda raised by the community, but after a long flashback about Kurt and Stefan calling each other blood brothers, it's really creepy and uncomfortable to see him kiss Stefan's sister. Moving past that, there's one more sweet moment when Logan sees Kitty, who's still feeling out of place with the X-Men, standing alone, and invites her to join the group hug. This Logan is a far cry from the loner who refused to look anyone in the eye, and his bond with Kitty is one of the best in the franchise. I think Kurt actually got the least thought bubbles of any of the leads in this issue, but that was worth it for the backstory twist at the end, which adds a whole new dimension to Kurt's character. His cheerful and outgoing extroversion isn't a false mask by any means, but it is a part of himself that he actively chooses to encourage. He has to; in this instance, and periodically throughout the next few years, when he drops that part of himself he starts drowning in Catholic guilt. But he's always able to find himself again, and in this way he's very different from Ororo and Peter; the latter two, when confronted by darkness and killing over the next few years, often crack in ways that take them years more to heal. But Kurt lets darkness in and balances it with light, which is probably the most emotionally healthy way to handle being an X-Man and makes him probably the kindest hero in the Marvel universe. He's also a fascinating foil for Logan; the main differences between the two of them are Kurt's optimism and emotional control. In broad strokes and first impressions they're at opposite ends of the pacifism spectrum, but they have very similar hearts that are tempered by very different outlooks on life.

Issue 139 is where we start to really explore the personal ramifications of the Dark Phoenix Saga. Which again is kinda jarring that they skipped over it in the annual, but it's not like grief would be over and done in one issue so it's fine that there was a buffer. Warren is on the team and struggling to readjust, and I do wish Claremont would at least mention his time leading the Champions. Building off of a brief mention in the last annual, Kitty is still scared of Kurt, and he notices, but rather than letting it get to him he just decides to keep trying to get through to her until she gets used to him. Kitty's crush on Peter is also growing, and pretty soon I'll have a lot to say about that. Ororo's taking well to her new leadership role. Her leadership is different than Scott's; whereas his goal was to turn the team into one well oiled machine, she views everyone individually and directs them as such. Scott is a great leader, but for this team specifically, Ororo is a better fit for the job. She and Peter are also both making more jokes than usual, a slightly weird coping mechanism for Jean's death. Logan, now wearing his new orange and brown costume (my favorite Wolverine costume of them all), tell Xavier he needs to go sort out his issues with Alpha Flight, and at Xavier's suggestion invites Kurt to come along. Meanwhile, Ororo takes Kitty, who's new codename is Sprite, to the dance studio of Stevie Hunter for a lesson. Kitty was already growing up fast, between skipping several grades and her parents' impending divorce, and now that she's an X-Man, she'll be growing up faster. She reminds Ororo of a younger her, and Ororo wants to help her hold on to her childhood in a way Ororo herself never could. Meanwhile, Logan and Kurt arrive at the house of James and Heather Hudson, who Logan says are the only friends he ever had before the X-Men. Kurt is also the first X-Man to learn Logan's name, when Heather calls him by it. Kurt asks why he never told them, and Logan just says they never asked. Heather directs them to where Alpha Flight is hunting the Wendigo, a monster that Logan fought on his first mission against the Hulk. Logan jumps at the chance to not only save the Wendigo's victims but also fix the only mission he's ever failed and patch things up with Jimmy. Kurt leaves him with his old teammates to get their gear, and stops to watch the sunset, which reminds him of Jean. He starts sobbing and prays to God, first in anger that He let this happen, and then to hope that Jean is at peace. The X-Men are for now grieving separately and privately, unwilling to share the pain with each other. I really like the recent focus on Kurt's religious beliefs, which add another great level to an increasingly complex character. Unfortunately, his prayer is interrupted when he turns around and sees the Wendigo.

Issue 140 starts back at the mansion, where Peter is distracting himself by doing some landscaping. Warren arrives and asks him if he misses life as a farmer, and Peter says that he does in some ways, but he can never go back after being an X-Man. He still likes farmwork though, because it reminds him how small and powerless he is in the face of nature. He would love a simple life, but he knows he'll never have one. But he's not complaining, because he has a new family and a purpose in life. Xavier and Warren discuss the X-Man, who Warren likes with the exception of Logan. He thinks he's unstable and dangerous, but Xavier believes in his potential as a person and as a hero. Meanwhile, Ororo goes to pick up Kitty from class, drenches a creep who's been harassing her, and finds herself jealous of Stevie's role in Kitty's life. Finally cutting back to the action, Kurt barely survives the Wendigo's attack before being saved by Alpha Flight. Logan and Annie, the Alpha Flight shape shifter Snowbird, go after the Wendigo, and there's a rare Logan flashback to his life with Jimmy and Heather. They found him stranded in the wilderness years ago and saved him from what appeared to be certain death. He loved them like family, but soon the Canadian secret service recruited him and turned him into their most dangerous operative. He hated being their tool and left with Xavier the first chance he got. Logan is happy to do dirty work if he believes in it, but he hates being a pawn. Now that he's accepted the X-Men as family, he's glad to take orders, but he never wanted to work for nameless suits. He stayed out of loyalty to his friends, but even that had its breaking point. Back in the present, he's caught up to Wendigo, who's about to eat his hostages. Logan releases his berserker rage on the monster, but he's able to turn it off to get the victims to safety. Being an X-Man has been good for him; instead of being pointed and shot at targets by the government, Xavier, Scott, and now Ororo tell him to point and shoot himself. He's able to control his rage now, making him even more dangerous towards his enemies and less scared of himself. The Wendigo recovers and attacks, but Annie has returned with reinforcements. Logan is saved by his old and new families working together, but the turning point is when Annie shapeshifts into a wolverine to defeat Wendigo. She's overcome by the brutal nature of the animal, but Logan is able to talk her down. He feels the same primal bloodlust she does, but he's learned to control it through the support and love of those around him, and he extends the same to Annie. Kurt and Logan have a mini philosophy discussion about the morality of Logan's violence. Logan only never goes for a kill until his enemy tries to kill him, at which point all sympathy is gone. Kurt calls this reasonable, logical, and justifiable, but not right. In his life, Logan has probably killed many people who could have been saved, and Kurt's refusal to kill may have led to the deaths of those people's later victims. The world sometimes needs Logan, but Logan also needs Kurt to keep asking him these questions.

[lokislastlove]

In Memoriam (Dark! Steve, Bucky & Sam x Reader) 1

Summary: After the death of your grandmother you make a trip to visit her old estate, and you discover it may be more trouble than it’s worth.

Warnings: Noncon/Rape, ghosts, smut, bondage, thigh riding, spanking, rough sex, oral sex, over stimulation, mentions of death, allusions of abuse. 18+ only peeps, it’s obviously dark.

Notes: Well this started as a tiny idea for @charmed-asylum ‘s bingo challenge! (Congrats, love. You’re amazing! I also do not expect you to read if you don’t want to) and it kinda spiraled into this craziness. Also there is a surprise guest, but I don’t feel like giving it away so… hope you enjoy! ❤️ I will be posting a chapter a day, I tried to keep them to around 2k each.

Chapter 1:

Thirteen hours in the car have your muscles aching for a reprieve, wariness only slightly surpassed by your ravenous hunger. The waitress refills your cup before turning back to the mounted tv and tuts at the news report. The same story that has been playing on repeat for weeks.

Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, has been labeled a wanted man. Headlines call him a traitor, a villain, and accuse him of breaking criminals out of an undisclosed high security prison after causing millions of dollars in damage at a German airport in his attempt to escape. Angry pundits scream their outrage at his betrayal to his country and it all leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth. Eventually you just tune it out all together.

“Can you believe it?” The waitress shakes her head.

You look between her and the tv, trying not to roll your eyes. “Yeah, pretty crazy,” you answer dully, missing the days when small talk focused on the weather or sports.

“You be careful out there, honey. It really does seem like there are no good men left in the world these days,” she laments, her weathered features adding a weight of respect to her bleak perspective, she’s clearly seen enough to warrant some pessimism.

“Thankfully there shouldn’t be any men where I’m going,” you humor politely and she pats the counter before walking away.

With your stomach satiated and your energy levels rising thanks to the kick of caffeine, you toss down a bill and wave your farewell to the waitress. The happy ting of the doorbell echoes in the silence of the dark parking lot as you head for your car parked under the dimming yellow streetlight. You hop over the broken bottle along the faded white line and open your door.

The bell sounds again as you drop into your seat and two men, their faces shadowed by baseball caps, make their way to the small Volkswagen across the lot. You can’t help but watch them comically bend to squeeze into the tight space.

You switch on the radio and pull up your gps, checking the lot to see if the VW had moved, but it remains dark. You pull out of your spot and the honk and flash of the strangers headlights distracts you momentarily. You release the gas pedal, as you blink away the white spots and your car drifts slowly toward the exit.

A large silhouette suddenly appears in front of you and you slam on the breaks with a sharp gasp. Your hands grip the wheel tight as you realize how close you came to hitting him. Only a half a second later and you might be looking at a lawsuit. Granted, you weren’t going fast and the size of him would suggest he’d probably do more damage to your car than you could to him.

“Oh, shit!” You exclaim, chest tightening in panic while he huffs in annoyance and flips up his collar to hide his face.

With a shrug he passes by and jogs to join the other two, barely sparing you a glance. You are grimace guiltily as you leave the lot, a bit more cautiously this time.

You pull onto the dark town road and in two easy turns you make it back to the deserted highway. The bright side of driving at night is the noticeable lack of traffic, and less cops to catch you speeding through the winding back roads. You switch on your brights and carry on down the narrow road carved through the dense forest, unconcerned when you notice a pair of dim headlights a good distance behind you.

Your tank whittles down to near empty after another two hours of driving and you pull off at the first gas station you find. You get out and breathe in the cool misty mountain air. Sunrise is still a few hours away, hopefully around the time you should reach the house.

You take your wallet and shake out your numbing limbs as you head in to pay for gas, noting your pump number.

“Hey, can I get a fill of regular at pump three, please?” You recite as you pull out your credit card and slide it across the counter.

You look up at the man when he doesn’t take your card immediately and you find him staring at you with a lazy curiosity.

“Bit late for a girl like you to be driving through the mountains all alone,” he comments, his eyes roving down your body as he leans an elbow on the counter.

“Well I don’t have much choice,” you sigh impatiently as you grab a candy bar and pack of gum from the display.

He clicks his tongue but still makes no move to ring you up. In your irritation you only vaguely notice the other car pull into the station and someone enters the shop.

“These roads can get pretty dangerous, lots o’ deer and animals poppin’ out in the dark. And I know little girls like you scare so easily,” he continues.

“I’ll be careful. The gas? Please?”

He has the audacity to look insulted, “no need to get all snippy. I was just tryin’ to be a gentleman. I see why you don’t got a man to look after ya with an attitude like that.”

You bite your tongue and nod, he’s not worth the energy. He slaps his hand down on the card and slides it off the counter, slowly punching the numbers in and offering it back with a scowl as he sucks his teeth.

“Thanks,” you say tersely with a scoff.

You turn to leave but run into a large solid chest, completely unaware of the stranger standing behind you with his hands full of snacks.

“Oof,” he grunts as a bag of chips and a soda slip from his grasp and crash to the floor.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you,” you apologize, quickly bending to pick up the fallen snacks.

“Just like a woman, never watching where she’s going,” the gas station attendant sneers.

“It’s no problem,” the stranger intones, giving the rude clerk a sharp look. “Thanks,” he says turning his attention back to you as he awkwardly grabs the items from you.

He has a kind face with smooth dark skin and warm brown eyes that hold your gaze as he flashes a sweet gap-tooth smile. You feel a flutter in your stomach at your close proximity to such an attractive stranger, his impressive physique and subtle musk have you in a haze. But before you are able to say anything else he quickly lowers his face and skirts around you to reach the counter.

You clear your throat and rush back to your car, tossing your candy in the front seat before you hook up the gas. You shiver in the cold air, watching your puffs of air swirl in front of your face and dissipate into the fog. The cute stranger leaves the mart and hooks up his own pump just as your clicks in completion.

You eye the man as he busies himself by cleaning the windshield of the dark blue VW bug and you frown. It is the same car from the diner. Part of you feels a trickle of unease, but you remind yourself there isn’t much out here and this is the only station around for miles.

You pull out, driving past the VW with lingering curiosity. The man you ran into sets back the stick and nods at you while another man sits in the front seat, a large map unfolded across the dash in front of him. You swore there was a third, maybe he’s in the restroom.

Pulling back onto the highway, you are thankful not to have much further to go. The last short stretch of road between you and salvation from this car. You crank up the volume to help keep alert as you make your descent into the lower hills.

The switchbacks prove more treacherous than you expect, especially in the thick fog, and it slows your progress. Traces of the golden sunrise peek over the horizon, igniting the fog around you. Thankfully the roadways remain scarce of other drivers as you slow to look for the dirt path hidden among the foliage. The car that had been following you at a distance gets closer as you slow, the path should be right here.

“Fuck!” You exclaim as you slam on your breaks, turning hard off the single lane highway and onto a small dusty side road.

You screech to a halt in the short pull off zone and stare at the overgrown metal gate blocking your way. You watch the VW roll by slowly in the rear view mirror, hoping they don’t stop. You open the door and the man in the front seat seems satisfied that you aren’t injured so they continue on with a polite wave.

You huff as you inch toward the gate, kicking away vines and tossing broken branches until you reach the padlock. You pull out the key ring that hasn’t left your pocket and struggle to open the rusty lock. There is a crunch of metal followed by a satisfying click and the lock falls free. One gentle push is enough to make the crooked gate swing open with a hollow whine.

“That’s not creepy at all,” you mutter to yourself, looking down the dirt road that disappears into the dark wood.

You trudge back to your car, kicking away the bigger sticks to clear the path. It’s a bit bumpy in places, but thankfully all the debris is small enough for you to move on your own and you eventually make it down the half a mile long driveway to your temporary home.

“Yikes,” you cringe as you look up at the neglected structure, vines covering most of the visible surfaces, making it impossible to assess the repairs needed.

You curse your brother under your breath as you pull your backpack from the front seat and reluctantly near the front door.

“You’re the real estate girl, you’ll be fine,” you mock his parting words as you step up the surprisingly sturdy porch steps.

You sigh as you reach the door, “here goes nothing.”

You pull the keys from your pocket and let yourself in. The rooms are dusty from lack of use for the past seven years. You didn’t even know this place existed outside some fuzzy memories as a kid, playing with your older brother in the surrounding woods. Honestly, you had convinced yourself most of it was a dream.

As you look around the dark foyer, lost memories swirl through your mind. You suddenly remember sliding down the curved banister, crashing painfully when your brother fails to catch you like he promised. You chuckle to yourself as you cross the threshold and start to look around.

“This is going to be impossible by myself,” you sigh, resting your hands on your hips.

The house is large, definitely classifiable as a mansion, though the haunted aspect is yet to be determined. You walk up the creaking steps, making a mental note of the rotted step near the bottom. A strange instinct or familiarity lures you down the hallway to the right and you peek inside the rows of bedrooms and bathrooms. Furniture sits undisturbed beneath greying sheets, windows so dusty they barely let in the natural light.

You pause as you hear a creak echoing down the hall from the main floor below. You hold your breath as you strain to listen for any other signs of movement, but nothing comes. Probably just an animal.

You let out a slow breath as you push open the double doors at the end of the hall and smile at the large nursery awaiting you on the other side.

“I remember you,” you whisper fondly to the empty room.

Tagging: @darkficsyouneveraskedfor @caffiend-queen @queenoftheworldisdead @needleandhammer @buttercupfangirl @threeminutesoflife @thiskindahotkindamusic @emberenchanted @patzammit @maluisamarvelfan123 (if you want off the tag list just let me know 😊)