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loadedberetta · 11 months

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vita brevis // Ghost x Reader (fem no body desc) MDNI

warnings. cw blood, gunshot wound on R, stitching, needles

life's short, have an affair with your Lieutenant for all I care.

1.7k //nsfw under the cut (it's [implied] smut)

"Couldn't you have got shot in a place that'd be easier to bandage?" Ghost rumbled as he unclasped your tac vest.

The plate carrier thudded on the ground with a muffled metallic clang, and you breathed a deep sigh for the first time in a while.

"I don't know, couldn't you have picked a better entry point?" You quipped back in a strained voice as you removed your jacket and handed it over to Ghost.

It was a strange situation, him trying to get to your gunshot wound to bandage it while simultaneously biting your head off about a stupid decision your team made while doing an infil for some intel.

How badly it went was not your fault neither Ghost's, but having no one else around you took your frustration out on each other since you found the other one grounded near the location of the hit. Both of you stranded, and unable to radio for a quick exfil in the harsh weather, you retreated into the woods, and by the mercy of the French hiking enthusiast, found a cabin a few miles deep in the dense forest.

Price chose this time in February to send Ghost, you, and the commando team to complete this hit because the "weather would mask your entry completely". Well, safe to say it didn't, and now you were sitting in a mountain cabin with a bullet likely fragmented into your upper arm.

Ghost tore the bloody sleeve off your wooly stando with a loud ripping noise, and gave the disconnected arm back to you.

"Oh…" you muttered, suddenly aware of how cold it was in the cabin. "'scold."

"Straight through… You are one lucky motherfucker." Ghost murmured with the finger of his wool glove between his teeth while taking a look at your arm, raising it and twisting it around.

"Still-- not the correct way to- ow!" You yelped as he thumbed the wound that was still oozing blood.

He hooked his arm behind his back and after the loud rip of some velcro, a small IFAK appeared in his hand.

"'sall I got." He muttered as he unzipped it with one hand, the other squeezing your injury shut while you grit your teeth.

"A marksman and a demoman are lucky to have this much on them." You quipped in an attempt to lighten the mood. You pressed your lips together as he fastened the tourniquet above the wound.

You had to give it to them, the militia defending the intel was a messy bunch with great skillsets. Not counting the bullet wound, you had a few other superficial wounds and bruises strewn across your body earned in close-quarters combat, and as Ghost patched you up, you spotted him sporting a few gashes and slashes as well.

You started watching him kneeling in front of you to distract yourself from the prick of the needle and the pull of the skin while he was stitching you up with the antiseptic thread (which, for a change also stung), but it soon turned into amusement. You never explicitly noticed how heavy and broad he really was; your subconscious did you a favour already on that front. Yes, he had a commanding force in the team but it seemed to have come naturally for him. Only now did you piece together how and why he was such a pleasure to look at and a menace to work with.

His stitches were steady and he wasted no time on moving onto the exit wound.

He moved behind you, sitting on the bench you were perched on too, and set a flickering gas light on the table to get some minimal light to work in. For a moment longer than you would have liked, he fumbled. He let out an aggravated huff that made you turn your head back at him.

"What?" You growled, agitated from the annoying pain in your arm the stitches left in their wake, and the anticipation of another round of the same uncomfortable pricking.

"Need a better angle..." He huffed.

You pressed your lips into a thin line as you saw his eyes roam around, trying to find a solution.

"Put your hand- no. Gi' me." And just like that, he grabbed your injured arm and put your palm behind you on his thigh.

His thigh.

You tensed, and your breath hitched. Just when you thought the uncomfortable first few seconds had passed, he moved your hand with the short command of "twist it" after you were too preoccupied with focusing on steadying your breathing than listening to what your ears were hearing.

His palm curled around your wrist from behind, cold and hot at the same time, sending tingles up your whole arm, all the way through your spine - and to your absolute dismay, - all the way down to your cunt.

The first stitch dug in.

"Still cold?" Ghost asked, trying to sound nonchalant. You couldn't see him, he was behind you, which made you flare up. You've learned to read him through clues in his body language, but now, you were stripped even of that.

"Yeah…" you breathed back, trying to sound neutral, but failing miserably.

You weren't totally lying. Although the cabin was upkept, had a few gas lamps, and was even minimally supplied, the unforgiving weather outside combined with the empty fireplace wasn't exactly accommodating. The snowstorm had picked up since the two of you arrived here, inhibiting you further from either leaving or setting up long-range comms until the weather stilled.

An itching sensation you couldn't resist likely from Ghost pricking a surface nerve sent a jolt through your arm, which pulled you from your thoughts.

"God-- shit, sorry…" You muttered as you reset your hand on the tough fabric of his cargo pants. His devilishly sly hand wrapped around your wrist yet again, and without a word, he repositioned it, right on the bulging inseam of his cargos.

It was now his plushy inner thigh you were feeling with the entirety of your palm, which stirred another wave of guilt-ridden pleasure blooming in your abdomen.

"Stop moving about." his voice came through as a snarked whisper.

"'m not moving." You tilted your head sideways to catch a glimpse of his dark figure behind you.

"Your fingers." He reminded in a voice that was halfway between annoyed and teasing, something you've rarely heard from him before, usually when Soap worked him up during training missions through the radio.

Quickly turning your head back, you mumbled something about them getting numb, but you mostly just wanted to avoid him seeing the embarrassment spreading on your features.

"You're not helping me concentrate 'ere." He spoke in a voice laced with a sinful pitch that made your face twist into a shamefully turned-on mess he thankfully couldn't see.

"Sorry." You told him for the second time in a few short minutes. "I am getting a needle--"

"You're not sorry" Ghost retaliated and punctuated his words with a painful prick to your skin.

You opened your mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Brain short-circuiting, you missed your window of opportunity, and Ghost spoke again.

"Keep this up, and you'll be in big trouble when I'm done. D'you understand?"

You tried ignoring the red flashing lights in your brain about him. You were not supposed to do this, but God, you wanted to so badly.

"Just get this shit over with, okay?" You huffed back, trying to sound angry but it came out more as a plea.

"Oh stop ya bitchin'." Ghost muttered from behind you as you felt him tug on the string looped through your skin.

Whether it was the adrenaline left over from the op, or a fresh rush you didn't know, but when you felt him pull the curved needle out of your skin you slid your hand resting on his thigh further up his cargos.

You felt him still his arm holding the needle, and a sharp inhale ripped through the cold air.

"Now who really needs to shut their fucking mouth?" You said incredibly softly while turning around just enough so the string still had slack, but you could lock eyes with Ghost. This was a very, very dangerous gamble you decided to place your bets on.

"Don't fucking play this game with me." He spoke with a volume matching yours, but a tone much more deep and sinister. "Turn 'round and let me finish first, for fuck's sake."

"Fine." You mumbled as you turned back, trying to conceal a smirk forming on your face, no traces of your previous embarrassment, and the shift of your position to rearrange the crotch seam of your pants to allow you catching a slight friction in the movement.

Your hand moved devilishly. It not only stayed where you left it high on Ghost's thigh, but you slid it further up, feeling the slight bump that must have been the hem of his boxers. You knew how much it annoyed him that you wriggled about under his fingers. But you also knew how fucking preoccupied he must have been with trying not to make it obvious that he was already concealing a semi.

"You don't wan' this" Ghost whispered impossibly close from behind your head. You did not notice or feel how he leaned in so closely, and the faint tease of his hot breath crawled below your skin to fizz and settle deep in the pit of your stomach.

You sucked in a small breath and almost got scared at the thought. Almost.

"Oh? I think I do, Lt." You turned your head back just the slightest, and let your fingers slide along what you supposed were the hem of his tight boxers.

He didn't answer for a moment, instead tugged on your skin to seal the stitch.

"'f you pop them, you're redoing them y'self."

You barely readjusted yourself, and heard him put the tools down before a hand snaked over your belly from behind and popped your belt open without a warning. Your brain gave the go-ahead while it could, and shut down for your own good from then on.

Ghost didn't tease and certainly didn't beat around the bush. Two thick fingers were pressed against your folds in an instant, restrained by the tight fabric of your tac pants. The sensation picked a ripe moan from the budding tree of pleasure flowering inside you, giving you a small teaser of what more was to come that night.

(a/n: a very old reworked fic. renod. still not betad- should I post about looking for a beta? I digress, enjoy the thoughts that come with this lol. okay bye c u horny bastards tomorrow)

#beretta does fics #I'm sweating posting this honestly #but this is how we deal with being insecure over here #post that fic gain the experience #simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost riley #ghost cod #simon riley #simon ghost x reader #ghost call of duty #ghost mw2 #ghost x you #ghost x reader #cw needles #cw gunshot #cod mw fanfiction #cod fanfic #cod mw ii

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allzelemonz · 1 year

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Blood: Micah Bell X Male Reader

Pronouns: None Mentioned, Reader referred to as ‘boy’ and ‘handsome’ Physical Sex: AMAB Rating: E/Smut, language Warnings: Micah Bell is his own warning, blood/murder kink, murder, gun fight, kissing, grinding, anal fingering, anal sex Summary: You get some blood on you while robbing a homestead with Micah.

The little house packed a lot more of a punch than you expected. The minute you got there, a bunch of lunatics came out to raise Hell. But you and Micah went there for a stash so a stash you will find. You have shot most of them down, now making for the house. The door swings easily, bouncing back from the wall and distracting you enough for a much larger man to come at you with a knife. Large may be an understatement, the man is akin to giant so much that his head drags along the ceiling even as he ducks down to tackle you.

He manages to push you to the ground, towering over you and raising his arm to stab down. But he hasn’t paid much attention to your hands, the hands of an outlaw that reach for your gun with ease and put a bullet right in his gut. The behemoth screams, stumbling back as you get on your feet. He looks down at his wound before glaring at you and charging again. This time you have the proper angle to put the bullet in his skull and he collapses in front of you, just an inch away from taking you down with him.

Outside you hear the continuing gunfire, occasional taunting shouts from Micah, both dying down gradually. You start to loot the place, knowing that Micah would much rather shoot as many bastards as possible than have help. And when he stumbles inside with a stupid smile on his face, you know you’re right. You’ve already stuffed your bag and pockets full of valuables, busy collecting things from the kitchen when he leans against the doorframe.

“Ya missed quite a show out there, darlin’.” He sighs as if he’s fallen head over heels with the act of murder, knowing him he likey did a long time ago. “Fools-- Hold on there, cowpoke.”

He stops you as you try to walk past him, his hand catching your arm and pulling you back so he can look over you. You follow his gaze, only now noticing the blood splattered all over your clothes. His hand goes to your cheek, eyes blown as he wipes something from your face. His thumb comes away red and you guess you have blood all over your face too.

“Ya have some fun a’ yer own in here, darlin’?” He asks, voice low as he rubs the blood between his fingers.

“Guy came at me.” You shrug, pointing to the man on the floor. “Shot him, nothing exciting.”

Micah follows your gesture to the man on the floor. “Quite the big man, darlin’.”

He slowly moves you up against a wall, his hands trailing over your blood soaked clothes. His lips meet yours, kissing hungrily as he presses up against you.

“Shit, Micah…” You chuckle.

“Ain’t my fault ya look damn good all blood soaked, darlin’.” He smiles, resting his head against yours. “An’ I thought watchin’ ya shoot folks got me goin’.”

“You’re a sick bastard, Micah.” You smile, kissing him just as hungrily as he had you.

“Ya love it, cowboy.” He inhales deeply, like he's trying to take in the scent of the blood that covers you. “Ain’t the first time I fucked ya after a job.”

“First time we’re still here.” You gasp as his hand drops down to palm you through your pants. “C-Can’t say I’m opposed though.”

He chuckles. “See, ya love it.”

He reconnects your lips, his hands working fast to get your pants down. You fumble for a tin of pomade you found in one of the bedrooms and push it into his hands, briefly disconnecting as you get your pants off and Micah fishes himself out. He presses back against you, fingers covered in pomade as you spread your legs for him to slip his hand down to your ass. You kiss him as you feel his fingers pressing at your hole, Micah pressing his fingers inside at the same time he forces his tongue past your lips.

Your moan is muffled as he goes straight to stretching you out, not bothering with any teasing like he usually might. He trails his lips along to your cheek, just brushing the skin before he licks the blood splattered over your face. The act makes him groan, his fingers moving faster to work you open.

“Next time ya murder a man like that, I wanna watch, darlin’.” Micah whispers. “Bet ya look damn handsome doin’ it.”

You smile, pressing a kiss to his jaw. “You always do.”

He removes his fingers and lines himself up fast as his lips move to suck marks into your neck as he cleans the blood. In a fast motion, he pushes inside and the air leaves your lungs. You both stay for a moment, catching your breath between idle kisses.

“This is why Dutch never lets us go on jobs together.” You mumble.

He chuckles, starting to grind his hips. “Don’t matter much, we always get the money ta take care a’ them parasites anyway.”

“Then you better hurry up, still haven’t found the stash here.”

“I’m ain’t done with ya after this, darlin’.” He says, hips pulling back slowly. “Know of a few more folks I wouldn’t mind robbin’ today.”

He snaps his hips back forward and you lift your leg as much as you can to get him deeper. His movements turn fast, fucking you like he’s on a timer. One hand grips at your waist, the other holding your leg up as his lips press against yours. You can taste the faint blood in his mouth from licking it off your skin, all mixed with Micah’s usual tobacco and whiskey. The hand on your waist moves to your untouched dick, stroking it hard with his thrusts. You unravel soon after, spilling over his hand and onto both of your shirts. Micah follows suit, hips stuttering before he buries himself inside and his kiss turns a little softer.

He lets your leg fall back to the ground as he pulls out and his hand releases your dick. His lips linger, giving a last few kisses as he groans from separation. You manage to push him back so you can catch your breath. He has that stupid smile again as his eyes trail over you, legs unsteady as you lean on the wall for support. He finds your pants, handing them to you and waiting with your gunbelt in hand as you put them on.

#red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 #micah bell #red dead redemption x reader #red dead redemption x male reader #micah bell x reader #micah bell x male reader #x reader #x male reader

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neomel · 2 months

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IDW Sonic Arcs Tierlist Masterpost!

Introduction

Arcs

Miniseries

One-shots & Annuals

Sagas

FAQ

Introduction

Hello! This is the masterpost for my Tiermaker template regarding all of IDW Sonic's stories - "arcs", for short! Due both to the somewhat messy reading order of the comic and Tiermaker's restrictions on description lengths, I concluded the best course of action to best inform people was to just make a big post on here, detailing all possible questions and confusion you might have. I of course can't decide what you want to do with this info - make your tierlist however you want! - but I hope to at least give some pointers to help clear up confusion.

The images on the template are divided into four categories per the color of their banner (with colors and names that you might've noticed in the table of contents above!). These represent the various ways in which IDW Sonic's stories are officially* categorized in: Arcs, Miniseries, One-Shots / Annuals. and Sagas. The default order that the images appear in on the list, as seen in the above image, follows their release and recommended reading order. Detailed descriptions of what each of these categories mean, as well as where every issue fits in, can be found on each of the bullet-points below.

2. Arcs

Arcs in Sonic IDW are how the comic's main numbered issues are bunched together: think of the issues as chapters, and the arcs as the narrative those chapters form. Every issue with a number, from #1 to today, is part of an arc, and said arcs typically to follow a narrative throughline throughout them, beginning at the start of the arc and being resolved - or changing focus - by the end.

These arcs are officially named and sorted through IDW's paperback reprints, a list of which can be found here. These paperbacks also insert some one-shots and annuals into some arcs, despite these being mostly disconnected from the ongoing arc. As a result of this, some arcs contain 5 whole issues, while others only contain 2 with the rest being made up of these one-shot additions. Whether or not you count these self-contained stories as being part of arcs or not is entirely up to you when making the list!

As of writing [2024-07-26], issues #72 - #75 are yet to be released and yet to be given an official arc name. Once said arc name is revealed, it will be added to the template.

Fallout! > #1 - #4

The Fate of Dr. Eggman > #5 - #8

Battle for Angel Island > #9 - #12

Infection > #13 - #16

Crisis City > #17 - #20

The Last Minute > #21 - #24

All or Nothing > #25 - #29

Out of the Blue > [Annual 2020] #30 - #32

Chao Races & Badnik Bases > #33 - #36

Test Run! > #37 - #40

Zeti Hunt! > #41 - #44

Trial by Fire > #45 - #49

Battle for the Empire > #50 - #51 [Deep Trouble] [Annual 2022]

Overpowered > #52 - #56

Urban Warfare > #57 - #61

Misadventures > #62 - #66

Adventure Awaits > #67 - #68 [900th Adventure] [Endless Summer] [Chaotix Halloween]

Extreme Competition > #69 - #71 [Winter Jam] [Spring Broken]

3. Miniseries

Miniseries are 4-issue side stories that take place inbetween main arcs, typically starring other characters from the comic than Sonic and c.o! These are still part of the story of the comic, but the order they're listed in here is specifically based on the date they were released, not when they canonically take place.

Tangle & Whisper > After Infection

Bad Guys > After Out of the Blue

Imposter Syndrome > After Trial by Fire

Scrapnik Island > After Overpowered

4. One-shots / Annuals

One-shots, as the name implies, are stories contained entirely to a single comic issue. Annuals are similar: Think of them like collections of several smaller One-shots, all drawn by different artists! Like with the Miniseries, these are all canon and part of the storyline, and all but one are officially included as part of arcs per the paperback reprints. As they're typically disconnected from the events of the main comic's arcs, I recommend ranking these on their own!

Annual 2019 > Not part of any arc

Annual 2020 > Part of Out of the Blue

Deep Trouble > Part of Battle for the Empire

Annual 2022 > Part of Battle for the Empire

900th Adventure > Part of Adventure Awaits

Endless Summer > Part of Adventure Awaits

Chaotix Halloween > Part of Adventure Awaits

Winter Jam > Part of Extreme Competition

Spring Broken > Part of Extreme Competition

5. Sagas

The little asterisk at the end of "officially" in the introduction was referring to this category in particular. Sagas in IDW Sonic are ways to group together the greater story of the book into phases, mainly through a common thread that binds the arcs and issues featured together. This classification is the only one not officially provided by IDW themselves - however, the comic book's main writer Ian Flynn has provided the names and outline for them through his podcast, to help divide the comic's run into different sections. Sagas are effectively a way to view the IDW Sonic story on a macro scale, combining multiple pieces of the story into larger wholes.

Whilst looking at the tiermaker template, think of it like this: Every Arc, Miniseries and One-shot / Annual featured before a Saga icon is part of said Saga, and everything after said Saga icon is part of the next Saga. As of writing [2024-07-26], the ongoing saga beginning with Scrapnik Island and issue #57 lacks a given name and is thus not featured on the tierlist template.

Revenge of Neo Metal [#1 - #12] Fallout!, The Fate of Dr. Eggman, Battle for Angel Island, Annual 2019

The Metal Virus [#13 - #32] Infection!, Tangle & Whisper, Crisis City, The Last Minute, All or Nothing, Annual 2020, Out of the Blue,

Eggman's Legacy [#33 - #56] Bad Guys, Chao Races & Badnik Bases, Test Run!, Zeti Hunt!, Trial by Fire, Imposter Syndrome, Battle for the Empire, Deep Trouble, Annual 2022, Overpowered

6. FAQ

I'll be using this section to address some common questions that I've received from others in asking for feedback in this template. If you have further questions, feel free to add them in the reblog tags or replies, and I'll edit the post to include them!

Why aren't the Classic Sonic IDW issues featured, such as the 30th Anniversary Special or Fang the Hunter?

My goal with the default sorting of this template, as described in the introduction, to follow both with their release and recommended reading order. The Classic Sonic IDW issues are very disconnected from the core Sonic IDW storyline, as the Classic Sonic games still exist in a nebulous amount of time in the past before the original Sonic Adventure. Because of this, they're not part of any of the three currently established sagas nor part of any of IDW's officially released reading orders - and I have no way of adding them to the template that doesn't mess with the sorting. For instance, due to how Tiermaker works, all images added are shoved into the very back: This means that if I were to put all the Classic Sonic stories in at the beginning of the template (per their Chronological appearance), all new Classic IDW releases such as the upcoming Knuckles anniversary release would end up awkwardly squeezed in the middle of the main series.

However, since Tiermaker lets users add their own custom images to templates, I want to eventually make a sort of "DLC pack" with images of all the Classic Sonic releases. These will be linked here with a Google Drive link at a later date.

What about the Sonic Forces, Team Sonic Racing, and Sonic Frontiers prequel / tie-in comics?

Those may also be included in the future - and if so, they'll be released the same way as the Classic Sonic releases.

What the heck is "Deep Trouble"?

During 2021 and 2022, IDW released "Free Comic Book Day" issues of the Sonic comic, released for free as per the name of the annual holiday. Whilst 2021's release was halfway a Classic Sonic story and a halfway a clipshow recap of the IDW comic from issue #1 to #49, the 2022 release included a new story canon to the main Sonic IDW storyline. That's "Deep Trouble"!

Why are #67 and #68 not part of "Misadventures"? What even is "Adventure Awaits"?!

I was surprised to learn this too! The paperback releases seem to have an upper cap for how many issues they're willing to include, which meant that #62-68 couldn't all be fit into one release. I think it's perfectly valid to consider them all still part of the same arc and to just ignore "Adventure Awaits" (particularly with #67, I believe that one really should have been in the "Misadventures" paperback). There's a similar quirk with "Extreme Competition" and issue #72-75, which all seem to be part of the same Sonic Riders-inspired story, yet are split into two halves as to allow "Extreme Competition" to also include reprints of two one-shot stories. If you want to just rank the entire Riders arc under "Extreme Competition" and instead rank the one-shots on their own, go right ahead! The goal with including all of these was just to provide as many options as possible, and ignoring arc classifications that you find stupid is indeed also an option!

In the list of arcs, why is Annual 2020 listed first on Out of the Blue, before the issues that make up the arc?

That's the way it was printed in the paperback! I assume it's because Annual 2020 features a good number of stories regarding the Metal Virus, and that Out of the Blue is the definitive end to the Metal Virus saga.

What about the Archie Comics?

I haven't read them!

Can I ask you something?

Sure thing! And if it's a question relevant enough to the template, I'll add it on here!

[LAST EDIT: 2024-07-26]

#mel alphabet soup #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sonic idw #idw sonic #sonic comics #tangle the lemur #whisper the wolf #surge the tenrec #dr starline #tiermaker #tier list

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felixcloud6288 · 1 year

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Fullmetal Alchemist Chapter 30

We've had one traumatic death, yes. But what about second trauma?

Y'know how Greed said Ed was the type who doesn't mind getting beat up but will lose his cool when others get hurt?

Greed is also that type of person. This is the only time he's been furiously angry, and it's after seeing Loa and Dorchet killed in front of him.

I wonder if Bradley knew Martel was inside Al's armor before she tried to kill him. If she had kept quiet and let Alphonse quietly sneak her out, I wonder if the scene would have ended with Bradley saying something like "Before you go" and then running his sword down Al's chest.

The scene transition after Martel is killed implies Al lost consciousness from the shock. I wonder how that works though. I know falling asleep and being rendered unconscious are two different things, but I'd assume there are some overlapping characteristics that should cause Al to be unable to fall unconscious because of his condition.

I wonder if Martel's blood spilling on Al's bloodrune might have momentarily disrupted the seal and disconnected Al from his armor and if maybe Ed pulling Al's soul might have had something to do with Al not having his memories to begin.

I've got no real ideas with that. If something comes up later, I'll talk about it then.

But Al managed to reach that silhouette of his mother and that's what caused him to lose his whole body.

Bradley demands to know if Ed and Al traded any information or made any deals with Greed and threatens to kill them if they did. Considering what Bradley is, it's pretty wild he'd make that threat. He was willing to kill one of their sacrifices to ensure their plan wasn't found out. Or maybe he was intimidating them into silence.

Al being a suit of armor was probably known to the Homunculi long before this point. Greed found out because of the rumors in East City after the fight with Scar, and Lust was on the train to Resembool. Bradley asking about why Al is a suit of armor might be the first time they considered him as a sacrifice candidate though.

I'm glad Ed pointed out the inconsistency from Bradley saying he wants to find out what the military conspiracy is but then killing a bunch of people who could have been potential leads. Of course we as the readers understand it's because the conspiracy goes all the way to the top at this point.

Wouldn't it suck if you bought a house in Central and there's a window that allows one of those searchlights at Central HQ to beam into your house?

The scene with Riza is playing out like that scene with that white girl in every horror movie, right up until she pulls out a gun and shoots Barry.

I just love how she hid a gun in her grocery bag. Did she put it there after leaving or does the grocery store stock fully loaded revolvers next to the pet food? And where did that other handgun come from? She's not keeping a holster of any kind and just before this panel, she was using her right hand to hold her groceries.

Her grocery bag also had dog food so she canonically has Black Hayate at this point.

There was a missing person flyer for Yoki.

We can still see the bullet holes Danny and Maria gave Barry.

We see the military banner. It's a horned(?) dragon(?) with a winding tail.

It must suck for the people whose office windows are behind the banner.

back

Spoiler Discussion

Bido being established as not at the Devil's Nest during the raid shows how far ahead Arakawa had the story planned.

Arakawa planted a little seed here which would bloom into a major plot point dozens of chapters later. Hindsight and this scene proves she planned to have Greed return and have him betray Father a second time.

#fullmetal alchemist #fullmetal alchemist reread

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blnk338 · 1 year

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RWYS creative notes :3 part 5????

In chapter 35, Reaper chooses to wear what she would have usually worn around her mom— she also continues to wear flannels, jeans (ripped and not ripped). She does this subconsciously because it’s what she used to wear in her youth, absentmindedly going to her roots as she’s back in Cincinnati

Some folks may also notice that she reverts to a lot of the Midwest humility/politeness/vocab.

There's a reference to Makarov in RWYS. But I'm not saying where ;)

I finished up Inside Job just before writing RWYS and I think that Reagan might've been a factor in how I wrote Reaper. Her as well as Ellie from TLOU and Vi from Arcane!

I partially based Reaper's dad off of Joel from TLOU

Chapter 8: Cutting Onions and Cutting Ties was almost "Putting a Bandaid Over a Bullet Hole."

In that same chapter, there's a moment where Reaper asks her mom if she really misses her dad. Of course, her mom is taken aback, because, of course, she misses her husband. While Reaper's mom misses her husband, there's a large part of her that misses the idea of a perfect family rather than the man himself. She was in denial that she neglected and abused her child; in her mind, they were the perfect picket fence family. So again, yes, she misses her husband, but she also misses the picturesque perfection that they had, or so she thought. That is what Reaper was pointing out in her question on whether or not her mom missed her dad. More along the lines of, "Do you miss him or do you miss the idea of him and what we could've been with him still around?"

...Again, chapter 8... Yeah, that was Ticci Toby. I honestly just felt like adding him in for the hell of it, plus a little memoir to an old fanbase, and I had a bunch of people go ":0000 IS THAT--" Yes, yes it was.

On top of that comment, I made Toby a bit of a light in the dark. Especially at the end of their interaction, Toby chooses goodness over judgment. He's surprised at Reaper's appearance, but he's not disgusted. There's a clear sudden disconnect within her and instead of getting weird, he wishes her well. I had Toby there as sort of a lighthouse for Reaper if that makes sense. In the fog of all the bad shit that happened to her in Cincinnati, there was Toby, giving her one last salvageable interaction before her ship sailed away.

"A gun to his head and a gun to his head" -- I had SO much fun writing that sentence, I thought I was so clever LMAO

Laswell and Tiffany's house was based roughly off of my grandmother's house :)

I hinted that Ayla, John's ex-wife, is a lesbian

To properly write Rigo's tongue getting stuck in Chapter 12: A Very Merry Garfield Christmas, which was one of my favorite named chapters so far, I actually held my tongue and read his lines out loud to make it as accurate as possible.

In Chapter 15: It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Warcrime, Reaper calls Graves a pig. This was not only mocking his initials (Phillip Isabella Graves) but it was also a reference to her blaming him for the cop murdering her father.

A little construction fact: American buildings and Eastern European buildings are quite different when it comes to their structural construction; looking back, I actually wrote the structures of Chapter 15 with American buildings in mind because I am so used to looking at them (I used to work construction)

Please also notice that Graves consistently demanded Reaper for the information and REFUSED to let her hold any of the documents/evidence they collected.

Reaper fought Price (incredibly briefly) in the same chapter to hide the dog tags. Again, Graves demanded all the information to be handed to him. She explains Graves would incinerate Tahoma's dog tags; it was later mentioned that Graves would do anything to get rid of any information on Tahoma. Keep this in mind constantly.

Chapter 15: It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Warcrime's title is based on the MCR song "It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Deathwish." It was also originally the title of the chapter, but I felt that Graves' actions were far too impactful to not be mentioned in the title.

Along with that, Graves actually broke the Geneva Convention in that chapter! "Article 36 of the 1949 Geneva Convention II provides that “medical and hospital personnel of hospital ships and their crews shall be respected and protected”" Graves deliberately endangered Reaper and put her in a situation where she would most likely die. As a medic, she has special protections (stated above) and therefore, adds another war crime onto Graves' list. Oh yeah, she's also an allied soldier that was endangered under the command of a higher-ranked officer, but that's not that important... (/S /SARCASTIC)

I actually have removed a lot of scenes involving Zhao due to the fear that people find/found her therapy sessions boring or lackluster. I actually find her addition to RWYS crucial, but much of it could be told from Reaper's POV (ex: her flashbacks to their sessions). Regardless, I am withholding a lot of Zhao scenes because I don't want things to be boring.

#rwys cn #rwys notes

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flightfoot · 2 years

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I'm sorry if this come out as a vent but the bullet point on the wishmaker part kinda hit too close to home to me, because I don't have any recollection of my childhood memories. My parents are very strict and controlling because they want "the best for me" and what Adrien said in that episode is what I said whenever someone ask about my dream. "I want to be whatever my parents what me to be." Growing up in a family with narcissistic parents make me give up on what I want to be because that's not good enough for them, they never give me space to do what I want to do, they choose what they want me to be because they can't be what they dreamed of and I never thought how destructive that wish could be until recently. Because my parents always told me what I can do and what not, as an adult I become disconnect with myself, I don't know what I want and I don't know how to want something. Therapist said the reason why I don't have childhood memories is because the childhood trauma that I have and I tried to suppress it subconsciously and I think that's probably the same with Adrien as well.

Perhaps this is why I hate the theory so much because I see myself in Adrien and a lot of people really like to simplify his reaction as a result of him being controlled by the amok even though it could be his trauma response. As someone who grow up and live with a parents like Gabriel, for people to simplify my responses as someone tried to controlled me with a magic item and solely because of it is a big insult for me. Because if my father told me to obey, then I would obey him even though I don't want to do it unless I want to get punished. I don't want to imagine the younger me doing what Adrien do to survive in abusive household and then being told "Ha ha ha you're not a human then." By stranger because that would devastated me then.

I know not all theory stan do it but most if not all that I saw in my dash was like that and it's frustrating.

Oh yeah, the whole "not having clear childhood memories" and "the wish being to be what your parents want you to be" are also things that make sense for just plain child abuse. It probably would have been interpreted that way, too, if not for people both already suspecting that Adrien might be a sentimonster, and the strangeness of him being an infant when he had this dream, when everyone else was walking and talking when their dreams were shown. There's not really a good alternate explanation for why he had that dream as a literal infant.

I think with Adrien, his responses, most of them could be easily explained just by, well, him being abused by Gabriel and his trauma responses as a result. I don't think an amok was even used against him until season 4, we didn't start getting hints of it being used until then. So yeah it wasn't really necessary in order to explain why he followed orders and had trouble even attempting to stand up to Gabriel (not that he would've been able to change things even if he had). The abuse would've been enough.

It's not just "Adrien obeys, therefore he's a sentimonster". Like you said, that's often just what you have to do to survive in an abusive household. It's that, combined with the show focusing on a bunch of weird, out of place details that suddenly make a lot of sense if Adrien's a sentimonster.

#ask #miraculous ladybug #sentiadrien #sentimonster adrien agreste

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chainofclovers · 3 years

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Ted Lasso 2x8 thoughts

I am so lucky that the creators of Ted Lasso decided to make this entire show specifically for me. #blessed

If last week felt like a bit of breathing room (albeit tense, poignant, character-progressing breathing room) with distinct narrative lines, this week’s episode was a chaotic yet tightly-written swirl of pain and hope and sadness! No neat subject headers for this one, y’all. Just my brain and heart in the inadequate form of a bulleted list. It is the medium available to me at this time.

I am going to remember the moment when Ted calls Sharon and tells her his father killed himself for the rest of my life.

(I could say a bunch of stuff about his face and what he says and how he tries to hide his tears from Beard right after and how insanely much I adore this character and ahhhhhhhh but I’m just going to leave that scene there in our collective memories.)

Jamie. JAMIE. Higgins has given some great advice about love on this show, but his musings about his up-and-down relationship with his own father were not helpful in the context of Jamie’s dad, who is an abusive piece of shit. I really adore that all of the main AFC Richmond staff members are realistically a bit hit-or-miss with their advice and life philosophies (some are mostly miss this season, of course).

And I am completely in awe of the moment when Jamie punches his father. The way he just stands there after Beard kicks his dad out of the locker room. The way you can hear a pin drop. And Roy—Roy who is learning in so many areas of his life about his influence on people, learning that the things he needs aren’t necessarily the same as the things other people need—is the one to cross the room and hug him. Hold him, really, with the tenderness Ted used when he hugged Rebecca outside the gala in 1x4. God.

I’ve thought a lot about how s1 was about giving people a soft place to land. There’s always an angel there when you need one. There’s always an opportunity to be kind. If you look for someone, you find them. If you look for the good in someone, you find the good. And as everyone works through their individual journeys in s2, that can’t always be the case anymore. But there are still so many moments of angels on this show, and it’s not about chance and serendipity and fate [not that it was about that in s1] but about the effort it takes to become someone who can be there for someone else. Or who can be there for yourself. I’m so proud of Jamie for physically fighting back against his father. I’m so proud of Roy for being the one who recognized what Jamie needed.

I have every feeling in the world about how Ted is almost totally frozen both times (s1 and s2) he witnesses Jamie’s father abusing him. In s1, he was still there for Jamie after, and I have every reason to believe he’ll be there for Jamie after this incident as well, but that frozen stance HURTS. He’s in so deep with his pain about his own father that it’s like he physically cannot snap out of it to act in the moment. It seems entirely outside of his control, and it breaks my heart, because Ted wants so badly to be a good father, a good coach, a good friend, a good partner, a good patient. He’s there for people in all kinds of ways, even in his current less-than-capable state. He takes care of Sharon post-concussion and even gets her a new bike! During the disastrous match at Wembley his coaching is ineffectual and everything is chaos but he’s the last one standing on the pitch! But this really awful thing keeps happening to Jamie and Ted is just…frozen in the face of it. Like one of those nightmares where you’re running in place.

The frozen-in-place nightmare also kind of applies to the way the total separation between Ted and Rebecca feels, too. I have never for a moment doubted the writers’ intentions in setting these characters up as soulmates on parallel journeys, and I’m actually really digging (on a story level) how disconnected they are right now. It is IMPRESSIVE that their absence in each other’s lives feels like such a glaring loss, one we cannot forget even as there are so many other things happening onscreen. It is 100% not just shipper goggles making me process information about Ted while thinking about Rebecca and information about Rebecca while thinking about Ted. I know there are a lot of really angry and frustrated people in the fandom right now (both T/R shippers and T/R antis and non-shipping fans who don’t get why s2 is different from s1) and while I understand being frustrated by choices characters make, and frustrated by the feelings the show makes us feel that we just want to feel more of or less of, I continue to agree with pretty much every narrative choice happening right now.

Agreeing with the narrative like this?! This is such a unique experience for me as a viewer—to feel like I’m on a ride that is at once absolutely wild and incredibly sensible and well-crafted, and to feel simultaneously completely invested and anticipatory and speculative but also totally willing to trust where it goes. I long for Ted and Beard to really talk. I long for Ted and Rebecca to stop missing each other. I long for Roy to have a serious conversation with Ted about what’s happening with him. I long for Keeley to find a vocation, something that drives her beyond her projects. I long for so many things! But I wouldn’t long for them if this show was less good. If the show was less good, I wouldn’t have a wish list a mile long because I wouldn’t be so attuned to the details and potential lurking in every scene. THIS IS SUCH A GOOD SHOW, I CANNOT HANDLE IT, I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

(To that end, a great deal of the Ted Lasso tag and so many Twitter reactions reactions to the show feel super stressful right now and I am kind of just trying not to look?! I love this fandom so much because of the amazing conversations that happen and because of brilliant fic and because there are some awesome people I never would have encountered were it not for this show. That little bubble is wonderful and I’d stay in this fandom no matter what in order to keep experiencing those things. But fans’ catastrophic reactions to every little thing that happens, every little choice a character makes that isn’t the “perfect” choice? The takeaway that the writers—on this show of all shows—wake up in the morning ready for another day of torturing shippers rather than another day of writing a beautiful story they genuinely want to write? I do not enjoy those parts at all. I would like to opt out of those parts. I’m having such a magical experience watching this show and talking about this show and listening about this show and writing about this show with a variety of people who feel all kinds of ways. I truly wish I could somehow transfer the energy of this experience onto all the people who are hating it right now. I don’t mind at all that people are having vastly different reactions to this show and are sharing their honest feelings, including the really angry ones (I can appreciate something and disagree with it!), and I get that sometimes the language of fannish reactions is intentionally, ironically hyperbolic. But there feels like this very serious trend of people legitimately thinking writers on this show are targeting shippers and have lost respect for their characters, and I just feel like an alien from another planet when I see that stuff. I guess I just feel like people make art because they want their art to be visible to other people and to themselves, but that doesn’t typically involve specifically catering to or torturing a subset of that audience?)

I am more fascinated by Sharon Fieldstone than ever before. I have been running through every single action with her and Ted so many times. The confirmation that she’s living in club-provided housing (that could not look more different from Ted’s club-provided flat). Ted clearly noticing the many bottles. Sharon’s face while she tries to casually recycle them. (Sharon could legitimately have a more problematic relationship with alcohol than Ted does, and I find that extremely interesting and am very curious to find out what happens there.) Sharon leaving him voice notes while she’s concussed, probably because she’d been thinking about him shortly before the accident. The way Ted calls her and does all the funny voices and it’s not frustrating like all the times he uses his silliness and allusions to deflect during their prior conversations because this time, those behaviors are just a part of him showing care for another person. The way they stretch each other, and Ted is still wrong about the things he’s been wrong about, but they both grow all the same.

While it is pretty much impossible for me to imagine that this show would include an actual romantic relationship between Ted and Sharon (it would be beyond unethical even if they could write it well, and Sharon in particular is so professional and committed to her work, and it would erase so much of the powerful message about the importance of seeking therapy from a professional who is not your friend or partner, and I would totally hate it), watching this episode was the first moment I had this queasy little feeling that it’s possible that Ted could end up developing really complicated feelings about Sharon since, at this point, he’s been honest with her about things he’s hardly spoken about before and you can really form an attachment to people you feel safe with in a new way. (I mean, I’m sure Michelle knows what happened with Ted’s father, but I’m not even certain if Beard does.) He’s so broken right now, and Sharon is such a great person and so different from anyone else in his life (even though Rebecca is also different, and Beard is also different, and Roy is also different, and so on), that I could see things getting really fuzzy for him. I continue to have faith in the way the storylines on this show are handled. I’m just. Putting this here.

(In saying that, though, I also wanna make it really clear that I don’t just automatically assume anytime a new female character is introduced that they’re going to end up becoming a romantic complication. Like, Phoebe is allowed to have a teacher who is an attractive woman and AFC Richmond is allowed to have a sports psychologist who is an attractive woman and Keeley is allowed to talk to Jamie Tartt without it threatening what she has with Roy and all these people can exist as human beings without the introduction of romantic drama.)

Isaac gives every player one haircut per season, OH MY GOD. The JOY during the haircut scene. YES.

KEELEY AND REBECCA. Their text thread. The affirming video call right before Rebecca goes into the restaurant. The way Keeley sits all snuggled up against Rebecca in her office.

I was pretty thoroughly spoiled for the Sam and Rebecca plot through 2x8, and I was bracing for something far more problematic and tortured than what happens in this episode. The words I would use to describe their scenes: awkward, cute, cringy, and understandable. There are a million reasons why this relationship isn’t sustainable, but I felt completely understanding of both their choices here. This show has a lot of thesis statements, but I keep going back to the idea from 2x1 that there are people who enter your life to help you get to the next point, and I think it’s entirely possible that Sam and Rebecca will mutually be that for each other.

I find comparisons between Rupert and Rebecca super upsetting. There are absolutely meaningful things to say about the irony of ending up in a situation with an uncomfortable resemblance to certain taboo elements of an ex’s situation. But that ex is abusive and manipulative and cruel and Rebecca has exhibited NONE of those behaviors, and it makes me really sad to think that people feel that the writers on this show have betrayed Rebecca in giving her this storyline.

As always, I reserve the right to keep blathering about this show. I’ve had a headache for a couple of days, but my head is also so full of 2x8 thoughts that I couldn’t keep them in even if the circumstances for writing this were not ideal. I kind of hate that I’ve included frustrated fandom thoughts within the analysis of what I felt was an absolutely gorgeous, complicated, heartbreaking, near-perfect episode of television, but if ya can’t be a little dramatic on your own tumblr while you’re feeling raw and under the weather, where can ya?

#ted lasso #ted lasso s2 spoilers #meta by me #ted lasso 2x8 #a lesbian watches ted lasso #cw: suicide mention #cw: alcohol abuse mention

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loonatic-moon · 3 years

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Okay, you asked (well, @chemistink asked), so here is my running journal of thoughts about Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan. Please note that there is no real organization, rhyme or reason to these bullet points. Also note I am largely going off the anime, and I am not current on the manga, so uhhh yeah excuse me if any of this has been contradicted. CONTAINS SPOILERS. Cut for this and for length bc THIS IS LONG WOW

this show really do got that whole "developing family dynamic between a bunch of fuck-ups suffering through life" done pretty well, hitting you in the face right from the title. As a fellow fuck-up who once had a job with a work family like this, I can't imagine why this speaks to me /s

Despite my shipping preferences, I do get and appreciate that the work family dynamic informs the overall relationship between the cast. Under all the gags and hijinks, they've all got each other's backs. It's cool to see a work family portrayed in this way, as a dynamic that can form because of and in spite of a job, a company, and life impersonally and relentlessly fostering a disconnection from yourself and the stuff that matters. And like, as much fun as UraUsa is to ship, I also get that the stage cast, in their own varying ways, first and foremost admire and revere Uramichi as the big brother of their work family.

I wonder about Utano as Uramichi's and the casts' work big sister-- and whether she's *actually* his bio sister who ran away form home at 16 is definitely curious to consider. But even if she isn't, I get a strong sense that she just happens to be exactly like who his real sister would be if she were on the show.

Each of the main cast annoys, confuses, and amazes each other on the regular, and on top of life generally sucking. And life sucking especially hard in showbiz. But it's really nice to recognize that genuine human connection is what makes all the bullshit bearable, no matter how brief or individual that connection is. And that shared suffering is interpersonal glue.

Uramichi says he suffers through work because he wants to live - something most of us working class can connect with - but it's also made very clear that he doesn't just phone it in. It's clear the man busts his ass everyday because it's meaningful to the kids, which in turn is meaningful to him. However, the kids' show definitely isn't just random setting for the show. I think it's also pretty clear that Uramichi does what he does because he's also been in an extended mourning of his own childhood, and trying to regain some of the pure childhood joys he missed out on due to his strict and demanding father. He's therefore MUCH like Iketeru in this regard-- the latter of which has a veneer of being funny and adorable, but whose situation is actually just as fucked up and tragic as Uramichi's. Dick Feynman.

Look, I am down with most ships, and I am not about pissing in anyone’s cereal, it’s just that UraUsa's happens to be the shiniest ball of them all for me right now. Judge if you must. But I enjoy that their diametrically-opposed personalities create a balanced friendship, even if they seem to get along like oil and water. Or sodium and water.

On some level, they prob recognize that they each have something to learn from one another to achieve a happier balance in their lives. For Uramichi, it's how to smile and let go, and be less serious. And for Usahara, it's the opposite-- he could stand to be more serious and responsible. It's a telling sign of affection when they both show changes in behavior due to one anothers' dispositions & examples. For example, one of the first and only times in the show we see Uramichi smile, genuine and unforced, is when Usahara's in pain being his goofy, carefree self.

Usahara in turn, is moved by Uramichi's more serious approach to things, like his twisted ankle in college. Uramichi is the cause of one of the first and only times we see Usahara to do a responsible thing for himself by going to the clinic.

You could argue that they are both childish in different ways, and compared to the rest of the cast, they're all in various states of arrested development. Isn't that what a lot of adulthood really is about, though? Managing yourself as an overgrown child, and figuring out where to find the magic after it all seems to fade away?

All the above doesn't even touch on the psychological analysis you could probably delve into regarding Usahara controlling and voicing the hand puppet of Kotori-san, Uramichi's sleep demon. A demon who asks the types of questions Uramichi wants to avoid. A demon that uramichi can talk back to in the form of Usahara. This is one onion I'm a little scared to peel.

Speaking of sleep demons. Mine was a big giant 100-legged cockroach on my ceiling, and this show only makes me wish it had been holding a giant baguette. Or 100 tiny baguettes

kids do be noticing shit, and this is a feature

But circling back to UraUsa, I'm not convinced that the series will actually be ballsy enough to ever go for it outright, but I do have to wonder about some of the deliberate creative decisions going on with Usahara. I'm probably projecting my bisexuality/biromance like nothing else, but like...the hairclip. Being first in line point out Uramichi's specific tastes, wants to be up in Uramichi's biz 24/7, or that he's hot. That weird, awkward denial about Uramichi having a girlfriend in college (idk if I was missing something here but right now, yep, that happened). Or pot calling the kettle black when he accuses Kumatani of being an Iketeru wikipedia article. Or the fact that Capellini's character homes in on Usahara like no one else.

IMO the boundary-trouncing queen character gets my hackles up as a rather tired stock trope to see rear its head in an otherwise thoughtful comedy, but I also get that she refers to herself 'onee' and that this type of irony is in line with the show. TBH I have mixed feelings since she's not the worst example, and there are some moments I can appreciate.

But putting this aside, I bring her up because it's hard not to wonder at the function of Capellini as something like a lgbtq+ dowsing rod pointing to Usahara because in my experience, us non-straights tend to be pretty good at detecting and gravitating to one another.

Then there's EPISODE 12. Shit, jesus god. More on that later.

But on the other hand, there's Utano. The guy she's dating is an unsuccessful, aspiring comedian, from Kansai, afraid of bugs, and who needs her to be his mommy, yet she feels pressured to stick with him in the hopes he'll get around to marrying her. Usahara is also an aspiring comedian, also from Kansai, is also unsuccessful, is also afraid of bugs, and is also reliant on more responsible people to take care of him. This parallel puts my eyebrows in a goodamn twist.

It especially puts my eyebrows in a twist when we are shown Usahara fleeing to Uramichi for protection from a bug in the exact same episode we learn about Utano's bf's bugphobia. My brain both loves and hates stuff like this

UraUsa also frequently has coordinated colors and/or patterns, suggesting alignment. Ditto Kumatani and Iketeru. Utano also coordinates with Usahara and Uramichi.

Okay, I'm ready to discuss Episode 12. The episode where we learn Usahara has held some uh...intense and complex feelings for Uramichi since college.

This is the remark toward the start of Episode 13 that bookends a giant segment where Usahara, after believing that Uramichi was quitting the show, goes through a downward spiral of panic and drunken mourning in Episode 12. A whole ass episode featuring Usahara's personal devastation over the thought of Uramichi leaving him behind. A whole ass episode that also took us down memory lane and underscored that while usahara has always had a carefree and irresponsible type of personality, and is uramichi's polar opposite in many ways, he's sharp as a tack about Uramichi as a person and genuinely adores admires him underneath all his (usahara's) nervousness about him. A whole ass episode I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of, but I will mention that it also features Usahara wondering whether his fate with Uramichi was bound by AN ACT OF GOD at one point

Kumatani is also shown in the same ep to have developed his own opinion and bond for Uramichi, too, albeit in his much more subtle, understated, and contrasted way. However, I just find it interesting how Kumatani looks at Usahara after having been the star witness to his entire freakout:

...and having known all along that Uramichi was not in fact leaving the show. He says he didn't tell usahara because usahara didn't ask...and I'm willing to take his word at face value. However, Kumatani is also someone who's been shown to be a huge sweetheart and is fiercely protective of his work family, so his decision also reads like he didn't want to interrupt while Usahara was working his feelings out, but idk. Maybe he also wants in on an UraUsa love sandwich, and I can't say I'd be upset with this outcome either.

Okay the end

#uramichi oniisan #urausa #I know I got the goggles on #usakuma is also intriguing ngl #long post #meta #I went way too deep

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chiclet-go-boom · 2 years

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So for the first time since the... middle of February? Beginning of March? It’s fucking quiet at work and I have caught up to everything I want to catch up on. So for the first time on forever I’m in hold pattern until somebody gets back to me. I haven’t had more than three minutes of downtime in MONTHS and suddenly this afternoon is just streeeetching before me like a pristine slope of downhill snow.

I could fire up my many, many WIP fanfic documents and try working on something but nah. Instead, I shall regale you with the many things I could be work on in bullet format, so that we can all admire my options.

FFVIII - Sins of the Living - Squall / Seifer This is the oldest thing I have that technically I’m still working on. I have ten chapters done out of what was envisioned as twelve so this is like, nearly over. The gap between chapters nine and ten was seventeen years though and I have people who have, in fact, had it on their subscribe list for that long. Every so often, somebody posts a comment lamenting that its not finished. I should finish it.

Shadowhunters : “parabatai thing” - Jace + Alec A little one-shot thing from Clary’s point of view on the deal between Jace and Alec. I can’t figure out the exact point I want to make at the end, so its languishing on a three-quarter build since I’m not sure what romance-crushing epiphany to end on exactly.

Shadowhunters - “morningstar” - Jace / Alec Wherein Sebastian doesn’t exist and Jace is Valentine’s one big experimental shot at fucking over the Clave and the war. Featuring graphic torture, mindbreak, feral Jace and desperately valiant Alec and enough dubious consent issues to make your pearls clutch in a fever. The sin of Eros, oh my. I wanted to channel at least a little bit of the feel of N I G H T M A R E but went wildly off track pretty quickly. I am not cut out for creeping horror, who knew? But I can write a pretty savage fight scene, giggity.

Star Wars Sequels - “twincest” - Kylo / Ben This random thing I worked out with Ben and Kylo as teenage twins, terrible parenting and a bunch of sexybad decisions made at lightspeed. Supposed to be fairly short but fell into a plot and never worked its way back to the top of the pit.

Star Wars Sequels - “future imperfect” - Kylo / Rey A modern day/magic AU idea, where Ben and Kylo are twins again but Ben sees the future and Kylo sees the past and Rey (Never A Palpatine) can find anything that’s lost and we do mean everything. Leia runs (owns) the largest single coven on the northwest coast, Snoke opposes her in the east and Luke is missing, the bastard. I had some pretty good visual scenes worked out for this, had some kickass bits with Phasma and Hux and its one of the few fics where I wrote down the world building points I didn’t want to forget about.

FFXIV - The Lighted Paths - Emet-Selch + WoL Started writing this for NaNoWriMo last year because the Meatball told me to and I was amused enough to cough up a 10k of a start before playing the game got more important than writing about it. A reworking of Shadowbringers that would bork the fuck out of Endwalker, I started wandering into romantic territory with the WoL and realized I didn’t care for it really and never floundered my way back to a throughline I preferred. Emet-Selch as vague eldritch horror, sin eaters are terrifying, and you don’t get through thirteen thousand years of mass slaughter by being overcareful with consequences.

FFXIV - “eldest sister" - Ser Aymeric / WoL I love this one in my head. POV of a pleasure house madam in Ul’dah, the WoL contracts our narrator to set up a “first night” with Aymeric before they have to leave for Gyr Albania, possibly never to return to Ishgard because the tides of fate wait for no miqo’te. Featuring a potion of Lethe, miqo’te sex and marriage rituals, a yearning WoL and Aymeric keeping his secrets close to the chest.

FFXIV - “pandora’s box” - Ser Aymeric / WoL This one is a bunch of disconnected scenes so far with a narrative thread I haven’t pulled together really, I just like thinking about it. Like Pandora, once you open the box, you can’t close it again and some things? Some things will eat you alive. The WoL punches through the acceptable limits of power and realizes to their terror that the pit waiting inside them seems bottomless: aether to fill it, aether needed to cascade into it in a waterfall of inevitability. With Haurchefant gone, the voice of love and reason, how do you ground yourself back to flesh and blood when all that you touch, you want to consume?

FFXIV - “viator” - Zenos yae Galvus / WoL Fix-it fic so that Zenos doesn’t end up gasping out his last beyond the end of stars. G’raha is not best pleased by this. Featuring cuddle-clutching for warmth, turning to your killer for comfort and making sure the dead guy understands he doesn’t get to leave you like this. Small sidebit/denouement where Zenos and the WoL reenact some of that last fight in front of witnesses back in the real world, who finally get to see what happens when the gloves comes off and mortality is more a concept than a reality for either of our best frenemies.

Merlin (BBC) - “prince of summer” - Merlin / Arthur What if the show was more medieval fantasy and less played for laughs? Featuring fairy rings, fae with teeth, Beltane, the Wild Hunt, seven lost years and childofmagic!merlin who knows more than he’s supposed to and less than he ought. Uther Pendragon’s A+ Parenting.

Harry Potter - “the open circle” - Harry / Draco The second ficthingie on this list that actually has world notes scribble down so I don’t forget. Wherein Draco doubles down on who he is and means it this time, Harry discovers what being the Master of Death really entails if you intend to stay on this side of the line and Eighth Year Hogwarts where the question comes down to: what did Lucius have in his other hand? Old Magic Is More Frightening Than You Think.

#fanfiction

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volturialice · 2 years

Note

Can I get 4 and 10 for the meta asks? :)

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

I really like a lot of my more ~purple~ writing, I think I’m good at that. The last couple paragraphs of Ritual come to mind:

Luckily, it is the quality, not quantity, of her blood that will slake his thirst. He rests a knee on the stone between her legs and leans over her, inhaling. He can already taste the sweet rawness of her skin where it scrapes ever-so-slightly against her bonds. She’s delicious.

Her eyes are closed beneath the shroud of her veil, her breaths slow and even. The wet thump of her heart is steady, relaxed. Asleep, then. So much the better. She’ll never have time to feel afraid.

10. How would you describe your writing process?

It’s less a “process” and more of a “series of seemingly disconnected events that somehow result in a fic.” I have an idea, I write it down (usually as bullet points or a summary) in my absolute monster of a scrivener doc (I have one total for each fandom), and then I see if it haunts me. If it sticks in my mind, if things I encounter in everyday life end up inspiring me, if it sort of picks up mass like a snowball rolling downhill. If it does, I write some actual prose and see how that feels. Usually it eventually hits a point of critical mass where I’m like, yes, I have written enough text and have enough idea of a plot or structure to make this worth Actually Writing.

The Actually Writing is the hard part for me, because my brain is convinced it needs ~inspiration.~ I do a lot of pre-writing that’s mostly rereading passages of books or fics that I find particularly well-written. Sometimes I write Dialogue Only first, like a script or an etude, and then go back and fill in the blocking and internal monologue. I almost always write out of order and end up with a bunch of scenelets/beats that I arrange and then go back to write my “connective tissue” (scene transitions and that sort of thing.) For Perdition I have that super detailed outline I consult, but I always end up changing it, often significantly (I threw in, like, 3 extra chapters when I realized I needed to develop and explore certain things in more detail, for example.)

I self-edit pretty hard as I write, which is why it takes so long. My main concession to Drafting is if I can’t think of a word I want or if I find a sentence too sparse or clumsy, I [put it in brackets] as a reminder to revisit and fix it later.

Once all my ~Text~ is written, I leave it alone for a day and night before I revisit it for a final edit. I usually do this in the AO3 interface since it helps to see it in a different font. Sometimes I also read out loud! This is also usually when I finalize details like chapter titles, opening quotes, etc.

send me meta asks

#ask games #meta asks #ty <3

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spritewrites · 4 years

Text

time travel doesn’t change everything

Fandom: The Umbrella Academy

Characters: the Hargreeves siblings

Word Count: 5k

A/N: Hi everybody! This is a collaborative fic (wow!) that @ticklishhargreeves and I have been working on for a while, based on an idea that we came up with together about three weeks ago. We wanted to incorporate a bunch of the headcanons we’ve come up with recently into a fic. We hope you enjoy!!

Allison’s room could best be described as a bit of a time capsule; posters from the beginning and middle of her career, drawings that she’d made and been gifted as a child, and family photos in the form of newspaper clippings. Going through the drawers and boxes under her bed provided nearly endless entertainment. A small gasp escaped from her grin when she pulled out one specific piece of paper that she’d forgotten about — a somewhat poorly drawn chart that depicted each of the Hargreeves siblings’ most ticklish spots. The tickle fights they’d had as children were sparse, considering they only really had free time for about an hour a week, but damn, were they competitive. This was the cheat sheet that she’d made to always get the upper hand.

The colored pencil had smudged a bit, but Allison could still make out the faint markings of each of her brothers’ names. She smiled to herself, leaning back on a stack of books to read the chart. They’d been so young then, but she could still hear their laughter echoing down the mansion hallways, as clear as anything. She let out a small laugh at a note in the margin: Ask Mom for acrylic nails before next week.

“Everything okay?” Luther was leaning against her door frame, just a bit bigger than when they were kids, but still with that same kind smile. She smiled back.

“Just reminiscing. Check this out!” She held up the faded piece of paper for him to read.

“No way!” the large figure exclaimed, gently taking the chart from Allison’s hand and sitting on the side of her bed to look at it. “This is from all our —”

“Tickle fights,” Allison interrupted with a laugh, “yeah. Crazy, right?”

“Yeah,” an awkward chuckle from Luther masked the slight nervousness he felt reading his name accompanied by the bullet-pointed notes: squeeze his calves, scribbles under toes, tops of feet are weirdly ticklish??, kicks a lot. “God, I haven’t been tickled in… years, probably.”

“You were so cute,” Allison giggled, and Luther wasn’t entirely sure that he liked the look she was giving him. “I wonder if this is still accurate.”

Luther cleared his throat. “Yeah, well, um, no way to know for sure, so-”

She had tackled him to the bed before he even knew what was happening. “Only one way to find out.”

She sat across his knees - “You kick, remember?” - and gave one of his calves a squeeze. Luther bolted upright, gasping.

“Um, I think there’s another way to find out! See, I could just tell you-”

“No,” Allison smiled, squeezing again and enjoying the desperate noise her brother made. “I’ve gotta test it to know for sure.”

He got as far as “Wait, Allison, please-” before he was choking back giggles, trying to worm his way out of Allison’s hold as her long nails skated over his ankles. She grinned.

“Okay, so squeezing your legs still definitely works. How about your feet?”

“No!” Luther cried, burying his face in a pillow and nearly squealing as she traced gentle lines over his soles. Allison giggled at the sound, scribbling over his heels and leaning forward to keep his straining legs from kicking.

“Feet are still pretty bad too. Thank God the serum didn’t affect these, huh?” She skittered her nails around the tops of his feet, and Luther let out a screech into his pillow. It was taking all of his strength to not… well, use his strength.

“You remember that pedicure I dragged you into, right?” she laughed at the memory, and again at Luther’s quick nod into the pillow.

The screech turned into an uncharacteristically high-pitched yelp when Allison held his toes back with one hand, and skittered beneath them with the other. Finally, he’d began to laugh an endearingly childlike giggle. “AH - Allison,” he attempted to catch his breath with a forceful gasp as his massive arms squeezed the pillow to his face, and his legs shook, “Allison!”

Allison laughed at him and his sounds, almost not wanting to stop. “Alright, alright, I don’t want to kill you. Not yet, anyway.” She rolled off his legs to lay next to him on the bed, grinning from ear to ear. “Looks like your weak spots are still the same!”

Luther groaned, trying to catch his breath through the pillow (he wasn’t confident enough in the color of his face yet to look at her). “That was mean.”

“Hey, I was just consulting the chart!”

“You wrote the chart!”

“And I stand by it,” she teased, giving his leg a poke that made him twitch. She grabbed the paper and left the room, satisfied that her victim was suitably tickled out.

Luther rolled onto his back, panting. “Screw that chart.”

—

As she was leaving the room, Allison couldn’t help but notice the absence of Vanya’s name on the chart. It wasn’t a surprising fact. They never included her in anything as children, not even tickle fights. This fact still broke Allison’s heart, but of course, with the opportunity to make up for lost time, it’d be foolish not to take it… right?

After spotting her much smaller sister reading on the couch, Allison made her way downstairs and plopped down right next to Vanya with a grin.

Ever since their trip to the 60s, the sisters certainly developed a strong bond. Allison was, quite possibly. the one sibling that Vanya felt the most comfortable with; Klaus being a close second. Her attention drew away from the book in her hands, and towards her smiling sister. “Hey, Allison.” Vanya smiled, setting her book down, saving her place.

“Hey, um,” Allison subtly hid the chart by her other side, raising an eyebrow with a mischievous glint in her eye, “Vanya, are you ticklish? By any chance?”

“Uh,” Vanya chuckled, shifting awkwardly with a shrug, “I - I think so. I mean, sometimes Sissy would touch my neck and it would feel kinda funny. Like the back, right here?” She touched the back of her neck to show her scheming sister exactly where she was ticklish. Big mistake.

“Oh,” Allison chuckled, not expecting this to be so easy. She sneakily reached her arm around the back of the couch, “Like, right… here?”

Vanya twitched, letting out something akin to a squeak as her shoulders jumped up beside her ears. “I think - hey!” Her sister had begun tracing wicked fingers along the crease of her neck, her nails sliding effortlessly between the wrinkles to get at the weakest points. Vanya scrunched like a turtle, reaching back to swat at the offending hands, but the light touch made her limbs turn to jelly and her effort was not very coordinated. The endless stream of bubbly giggles, however, was new.

Allison’s face lit up. “Looks like you are ticklish.”

Understatement of the century. Vanya opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a squeal when Allison’s tickles wandered down from her neck and over her shoulders, sneaking pokes in under her arms.

“Where else, I wonder…” Allison mused, and slid her hands down her sister’s sides. Vanya’s spine nearly snapped with how quickly she arched her back, letting out a gasp. “Oh, here?”

“Allison, please!”

“Please what?” She tapped a nail on the curve of Vanya’s waist, prompting a high-pitched giggle. Vanya shook her head, seemingly struck dumb by the overwhelming feeling. Another pinch to her side, and she wriggled, curling in on herself. Unfortunately, this left the back of her neck unguarded, and with a smile, Allison reached to tickle her there.

Vanya squealed. “Please, I can’t - mercy!”

Allison laughed at her sister’s reactions, easing off to just rub her shoulders. “Okay, so, neck and sides? Those are the big ones?”

The sigh of relief that escaped Vanya was soothing. “I - I guess so. I think?”

“Well, I still have more exploring to do, but I can be merciful for now,” Allison replied with a wink. “I’ll add you to the chart.”

“Chart?”

“Yeah, see?” She pulled out the piece of paper. Vanya’s eyes lit up.

“Oh my God, this is adorable. How old were we when you made this?”

Allison smiled. “I don’t know, ten maybe? We used to have these epic battles…” She trailed off, catching her sister’s eyes. “I’m sorry we didn’t - ”

Vanya held up a hand to silence her. “It’s okay. I’m included now.” She raked her gaze over the paper in her hands. “Luther was ticklish on his feet?”

Allison couldn’t stop her laugh. “Still is, I just tested it.”

“Shit, that’s goddamn… cute. All of these are so cute,” she said with a smile.

“Aren’t they?” Allison replied, snatching the paper once again with a cunning smile. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some notes to update and some experiments to run.”

—

It seemed like whenever she saw Klaus, he was always talking to some ghost. Usually arguing with them. Sometimes flirting, you never know. The conversation that Allison walked in on today, however, was definitely not flirting.

“Just shut up, you don’t have a goddamn clue… That’s what I said, you never fucking listen to - Allison!”

She paused in the doorframe, amused. “Am I interrupting?”

“What, this?” Klaus gestured vaguely at the armchair across from him. “Nah, nothing important. Just bonding, you know how it is.” He seemed to disconnect from Allison for a second, listening, and then shot a glare at the armchair. “Dickwad.”

Allison clapped her hand over her mouth at the insult, but not quickly enough to stop the laugh that escaped. Whoever it was, they had pissed Klaus off. “Okay, well, I was just going through some of my old stuff, and I found…” She pulled out the wrinkled piece of paper. “This.”

Klaus’ eyebrows furrowed. “Okay… What is that?”

“A chart I made when we were young, to win those fights we used to have.”

“What fights?” Before Allison could answer, her brother’s gaze flicked to the armchair and back to her. “The tickle fights? You made a… what did you say, a chart?”

She nodded. “It’s detailed.”

Klaus laughed. “So organized! Let me see -” He reached up, but she snatched it out of his grasp.

“Nope, this is valuable information. But, I could let you see… if you participate in the experiment I’m running.”

Rolling green eyes, Klaus scoffed and lifted his arms up, a playful smile on his face as he looked away. He clearly already knew exactly what these so-called experiments were; perhaps Vanya’s laughter from downstairs was a giveaway.

A smile played on Allison’s lips. She remembered how Klaus never really hated tickles, and acknowledged the note by his name: asks to be tickled all the time, listed alongside others such as SUPER ticklish armpits, tapped his hips once and he squeaked? maybe he’s ticklish there too? Haven’t tried yet. She laughed, launching her tickling fingers towards Klaus’ armpits, only to be stopped by him slamming his arms down at the last second.

“Sorry, sorry. Instinct,” he smiled, already giggling a bit, before lifting his arms again.

All of a sudden, his elbows shot down towards his hips as he choked on his laughter, “B-Ben! No!” Klaus collapsed to the floor within seconds, kicking his legs and screeching.

Allison smiled. Of course, only Ben could rile her brother up like that. Squinting, she smirked, noticing the placement of Klaus’ slapping hands, “Klaus? Ben’s not getting your hips, is he?”

The silly noises he'd been making between silent laughter was accompanied by a desperate nod, messing up his long hair.

“Good!” Allison exclaimed, a bubbly tone to her voice, before lowering herself to the floor next to her flailing brother. “What a long overdue discovery.” Her pinch to his left hip felt more real than Ben’s spidery ghost tickles, and he squeaked. Her hands moved quickly, though, to lodge themselves under his arms while he was distracted.

The yelp that left Klaus’ mouth was loud enough to make Allison flinch slightly, but her hands stayed put. “Allison,” he whined, squeezing his arms to his sides as he simultaneously tried to roll away from Ben’s way-too-tangible thumbs digging into his hip bones.

She raised her eyebrows curiously as she twitched her fingers ever so slightly, relishing in the squirms and adorable gasps that followed.

When Allison began to wiggle all ten of her fingers, plus the other ten digits, both on his worst spots, his eyes squeezed shut as his squeaks and laughs rose yet another octave. Curling in on himself, he shook his head, unable to shake either of his ruthless tickle-monster siblings.

“Tickie, tickie, tickle!” Allison cooed as she laughed along with him.

“What's wrong, Klausie? I thought you loved tickie, tickie, tickles.” Ben’s words were snide and Klaus could practically hear his stupid grin.

High-pitched giggles rolled out of his mouth as he grabbed onto a nearby throw pillow. “Stopstopstop, okay! Okay, jeez!” It was obvious that he wasn't that desperate for the tickles to stop; he really just needed a breather. Klaus threw the pillow in an attempt to hit Ben, but it just phased through him. Ben stuck his tongue out.

“Asshole,” Klaus grumbled at his invisible brother. Allison laughed again, before leaning over to whisper something into Klaus’ ear. A noticeable smile washed over his face as he looked directly at his ghost brother, crawling towards him.

Ben's eyes widened as he stumbled backwards, falling back onto the armchair. His arms flailed, not knowing how to defend himself since it had been such a long time. “Nonono, Klaus, what did she tell you? – EEP!” His reaction to Klaus’ quick and repetitive pokes to his stomach was immediate.

The notes on the chart read really squeaky, ribs and stomach (but be careful!!!), starts begging after mere seconds, & very gullible, so easy to tickle. Ben had always been super easy to trick into getting tickled when they were younger; asking him to reach things in high up cabinets, challenging him to keep his arms up, and tons of tickle hugs.

He hadn’t been tickled since before he died, but it was just as unbearable as he remembered. He couldn’t hold back a squeak as Klaus prodded around the soft area just below his ribs, throwing an arm over his face to hide his blush.

Klaus threw his head back and laughed. “Awww, I forgot that you were so sensitive, Benny! Guess now we know what’ll happen when you make fun of me, hmm?”

Ben wanted more than anything to snap back at his brother, but couldn’t possibly reply around his high-pitched giggle fit, so he settled on a squeal. “Allison! H-help!”

“She can’t hear you,” Klaus cooed, racing his fingertips up Ben’s ribs to elicit another adorable squeak, clearly amused.

Allison laughed at the image of her brother kneeling on the floor, ruthlessly attacking absolutely nothing. “No, but I can picture it. Remember those physical exams that Grace would give us?”

Every month, in order to keep them all in tip-top shape for missions, Grace would perform physical examinations. These exams, of course, included lots of pressing and prodding tummies with her cold robot hands, much to Diego and Ben’s dismay. Diego would often need to have a break after ten seconds, but Ben would always just giggle his little heart out, and could never sit still, try as he might.

Klaus giggled too. “Of course, dear little Benjamin could never stand those. Could you, Benerino?” Their brother merely cackled in response, batting helplessly at the tickling fingers. God, if this didn’t end soon, he was going to die again. Could ghosts die again?

“I… neeheed AIR, you asshole!”

“No you don’t,” Klaus replied simply, pinching at the skin right above his belly button. Ben shrieked, flailed, and ended up rolling off the armchair onto the ground. Klaus took it as a cue to stop and sat back, grinning at his work.

“What’s he look like?” Allison asked, not even trying to hide her sadistic smile.

Klaus grinned at the rumpled pile of ghost on the floor, who flipped him off. “Like shit.”

“Fuck off,” Ben replied, but he was smiling. Mission accomplished.

—

Diego frequently sat in his room alone, doing God knows what. The minute that Allison walked in, he was just twirling one of his knives in his hand. Turning around to look at his sister, who had been smiling at a piece of paper, his brows furrowed, “What?”

Allison couldn’t help but chuckle to herself as she read the notes beside her stoic brother’s name: ticklish EVERYWHERE, pokes make him squirm, sometimes cries at tummy tickles, GET HIS BELLYBUTTON, & make sure he’s not holding anything. She remembered fondly how her and her brothers would always gang up on him and tickle him until he cried. Grace always had to step in to get them to stop. She cleared her throat, and looked over at him, turning the paper around to face him, “Remember this?”

“Oh, ... yeah, from those - those fights we had when we were kids. Yeah.” Diego placed his knife down on the desk, and moved to stand up, subtly trying to escape what he feared was about to happen.

“Hm, what kind of fights were those?”

“You - y’know. The -… the wrestling and stuff.” He silently cursed his sister for trying to make him say it; she knew that he absolutely hated the word, both hearing it and saying it… and experiencing it. Diego pretended to nonchalantly pace away in order to exit the room, only to make his way into the corner farthest from the door, where Allison was inconveniently standing.

“I heard a rumor… that you can’t move until I start tickling you.” Allison sped up the last part of her rumor, making it so he couldn’t cover his ears as he typically used to. Walking over to him, she grinned and wiggled her fingers in the air, eyeing his torso.

A grunt left Diego’s already reluctantly smiling mouth as he attempted to tug on his legs in order to move, “Dammit! Screw you, Allison! - ACK!” His eyes squeezed shut, embarrassed at the slight giggle that he’d let out without her even touching him yet.

“What is it, Diego? Surely, you've grown out of letting a few tickly fingers take you down?” Allison teased, poking his tummy with her two index fingers.

A snort escaped his mouth in an attempt to stifle the giggle fit that was bound to start as he doubled over. He tried to use his regained mobility to make a break for it, but it was too late. The momentum from the force he'd been using in his attempts to get away pushed him to the floor. He was absolutely cornered.

“Nonono — I-I, yes, I have grown out of it!” The way his arms were wrapped around his torso and the quick pace of his words, however, told a different story. “I’m seri - NO,” he yelped before dissolving into a squirmy puddle of silent giggles. Allison’s digits were swiftly poking and scratching at any spot they could reach.

“You’re what? Cereal? Serene? Can’t be serious; you’re giggling too much for that, silly.” Ever since they were children, Diego always seemed to bring out Allison’s most brutal teases. “It seems to me that you still might be the most ticklish one in this house, Diego! Tell me, how does it feel to have such a title?” She’d been able to latch her hands onto the sides of his stomach before wiggling her fingers into them.

His laughter rose in volume when he opened his mouth to speak, “I-It tickles! - Shit, shit,” he squealed over Allison’s coos, “Sh-sh-shut up!” Saying the word, along with his embarrassingly childish reactions to such simple touches, was enough to redden his face. A squawk left his mouth when he felt a clawed hand digging into his lower tummy, dangerously close to his bellybutton.

Allison stopped for a second, glancing down at both of Diego’s hands clutching onto her single hand on his stomach, and back up at her uncontrollably giggling brother. The grin on her face was the only thing that preceded her free hand flying straight towards his unguarded navel.

Diego weakly pushed at her hands as he kicked his legs and screamed. His cackles now echoed through the whole house. Both of her hands were squaring in on his stomach and fuck, he couldn’t take it. “Allison - fuck! I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, oh my God, stop,” Diego rambled quickly between gasps of laughter, tears forming in the corners of his eyes, much to his own chagrin, and Allison’s amusement.

He was just so fun to tickle. He always had been. Of course, Allison knew he wasn’t going to die; he was just over dramatic sometimes. “What’s the magic word?”

“F-Fuck off,” he growled.

Allison mimicked a buzzer noise as she continued to tickle and poke around Diego’s hypersensitive midriff, even adding a few pokes to his thigh, and pinches to his triceps, “Wrong.” She laughed at the rather adorable image of her brother, curled up in the corner of his room, hands flailing in an attempt to get the tickles to stop, and twitching away from every little touch. He really was ticklish just about everywhere.

“I've gotta tell Lila about this,” Allison chuckled, making a mental note. “Imagine her finding out that you're ticklish on your shoulders. And your chest? She's gonna have a field day, I know it.”

A squeal, “Noho, okay, okay, please! Pleasepleaseplease, fuck,” he rolled over, yelling when the tickles didn’t stop, “Fucking please, Allison! Pleehease.”

“All right, you big baby!” She decided to finally let up, chuckling at the residual giggles that escaped Diego’s mouth.

He clutched his stomach, wheezing. “Christ, I fucking… forgot what that felt like.” A warning look was shot towards his sister, “Don't you dare tell her.”

Allison grinned, poking him again and brightening when she was rewarded with a yelp. “I think we all did, and…” a quick spider over his tummy got him to curl up again, “I think I just might.”

—

Allison clutched the chart firmly in her fist, making her way up the many flights of stairs. Last but not least. She glanced at the notes by the scrawled out ‘Number Five:’ says he's not ticklish but we know he is, flinches when anyone touches his knees (especially the left one), and hiccups a lot after laughing really hard.

Bursting into his room, Allison, expecting him to be doing… well, whatever old man stuff he liked to do, was surprised to find her brother fast asleep in his bed. After all he’d been through, experiencing the apocalypse twice & back to back, he certainly deserved a nap or twelve.

One thing that all of the siblings agreed on, though silently, was that Five was utterly adorable when he was asleep, and not snapping at anyone. Surely, just a smidge less adorable than when…

A poke to the blanketed figure made his snoring breaths hitch, and then they continued as normal.

He’d napped long enough, Allison thought to herself, not knowing if he’d been sleeping for two minutes or two hours. Nothing could beat her infinite curiosity, though, about just where dear old Fivey was ticklish. It had been far too long, and she knew he was at least a little bad on his knees but there was no way that could be all. That little body definitely held tons of bottled up laughter over the years that just had to be let out.

Of course his right leg was sticking out of the mass of comforter and sheets. Of course it was.

Allison quickly spidered her fingers right above the hem of his grey knee socks, that he even wore to bed, apparently.

A sudden jerking motion under the covers followed as he stopped snoring.

“Fiiive,” Allison crooned in a somewhat warning tone. No answer. She pinched the sides of his knee, only to be awarded with a twitch and a “cough” that was far too loud to pass off as a cough.

“Fuck off, Allison,” Five’s sleepy voice, muffled by the pillow, piped up.

“Okay, rude,” she replied, going in for the kill, skittering all five of her nails over his knee cap.

He internally cursed at the choking sound that escaped his throat, as he pulled his leg under the covers, in order to provide some defense. The blanket reshaped itself as he curled up, and Allison thought she heard a grumpy sigh through the fabric.

“Y’know, you might’ve spent almost 50 years without other people, but I would’ve thought that you’d remember at least some of your manners.” Another sigh. “No apology? Fine then.”

Allison sat right down on Five’s bed, and grabbed his left ankle, pulling it out from under the covers.

Before he could teleport away, he felt unbearably light and spidery tickles along the back of his knee. A screech that he couldn’t hope to suppress left his mouth, but only took seconds for the bubbly giggles, and the violent kicking, to begin.

Allison’s steady hold on Five’s ankle turned out to be a major asset to her attack as his whole body thrashed around, tangling himself in his blanket and sheets. She couldn't help but flinch at the frantic movements and his other foot weakly pushing at her hip.

“Good to see little Five still has those tickly, tickly knees!”

“Allison! Fucking,” he squeaked, unable to hold back the helpless laughter, “Fuck you! I’m gonna - ACK,” another giggle. “Dammit! I’ll fucking kill you!”

The giggles laced with threatening screams were delightfully familiar. “Sure you will, Giggles,” she teased, prodding and squeezing around his entire knee, adding some occasional rib tickles into the mix to make him twitch.

Five’s hands flickered blue, but there was no way he could teleport with how unfocused he was. He felt like he was going crazy. It had been ages since he'd laughed so freely, let alone been tickled; certainly since before he left. The sensation, so completely disarming while also frustratingly familiar, overwhelmed him.

“Fuck you, I swear - shit! Oh my fucking g- Allison!”

“Yes?” She stuck her tongue out in concentration, digging into the spot just above his kneecap that made him scream.

Five was in hell. His hands were still glowing, but never enough to do anything goddamn useful. He could feel his leg twitching, trying to kick, but Allison was merciless, and she had a lot more practice tickling his thirteen-year-old body than he had fighting off her adult reflexes. The giggles pouring out of his mouth were starting to grow hoarse, though, and he was pretty sure that if this kept up much longer, he’d actually go crazy.

“F-fine!”

“What was that?”

“I said - ” The tickling stopped, but his eyes locked on where Allison’s lethal nails were still hovering over his ribs. Flushed, he choked back a giggle. “I said fine, you fucking - ”

“Fine what?” Allison aimed a poke at the space between two ribs and he jerked.

“Fine, I’m sorry!” The hands withdrew, and Five curled into himself, breathing heavily through the last remaining chuckles. Allison blew on two fingertips like a gun, and dodged the smack that Five sent her way.

“Fuck off. Hic.”

Allison’s eyes lit up. “There they are!”

“Huh? What are you - hic - talking about?” Five grumbled, pulling his knees into his chest and sucking in a big breath to try to stop the hiccups.

She grinned, pulling out the chart, and resisting the urge to reach out and poke his puffed cheeks. “I took notes.”

Five’s eyes widened, and he let out his breath, looking vaguely… impressed. “Holy shit. You’re thorough.” His eyes scanned over her scribbled words. “Diego? Really?”

Allison chuckled. “Really. I’m surprised you forgot, he’s the worst of all of us. Even worse than you.”

Five’s nose wrinkled, and he let out a childish snort. “Serves him right.”

“Oh, shut up, you ticklish little son of a bitch.” Diego muttered from the doorway... alongside Klaus, Vanya, and Luther.

Five spun and internally cursed at himself at the blush growing on his face, wondering how long the rest of his siblings had been there watching him get absolutely wrecked.

“I know you are but what am I,” he snapped back at his bigger but younger brother, who’d lunged towards him, ready for a battle.

Diego was blocked by Allison though, and he stopped, knowing not to cross her while she was in the terrifying mood she’d been in all day.

“Guys, enough. Can’t we have just one fun day without you at each other’s throats?”

“Y’know what, Allison, I know I didn’t get a very close look but…” Klaus clicked his tongue as his strong brows furrowed, “I don’t think I saw your name on that little chart.” He made his way over to his other siblings with an unmistakable glint in his eye and grabbed the chart from his sister’s hand.

Allison always did have the upper hand in all their tickle fights, and now they all knew why.

“W-well, that’s because I made it.” The look that her family exchanged did not go unnoticed, and she stepped backwards, ending up stumbling onto Five’s bed. “Hey, hey guys, wait - ”

The chart was updated that day; Vanya’s handwriting scrawled next to Allison’s name, alongside cackly laughter, super ticklish neck and armpits!!!, accidentally kicked Luther in the head, & best sister ever.

#umbrella academy #tua #tickle fic #tickling #ticklishhargreeves #my fics #ticklish!luther #ticklish!diego #ticklish!allison #ticklish!klaus #ticklish!five #ticklish!ben #ticklish!vanya

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lonestarbabe · 4 years

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Abandoned Chances

TK talks to his parents about Gwyn’s pregnancy. (AO3)

The words are ringing through T.K.’s head, ripping through him like a bullet, a feeling he knows all too well. “You’re going to be a brother,” his mother had said, and then when T.K. hadn’t been able to process the words, “I’m pregnant, T.K.” He’s not sure what to make of the words. He’s convinced that this is some strange joke. It has to be a joke. He’ll laugh in relief if it is a joke because his parents can’t seriously believe that they’re fit to be parents again.

“You can’t be.” He shakes his head in disbelief because “How is that even possible?” T.K. once wanted a sibling. He’d dreamed of having someone to talk with during the darkest moments of his parent’s marriage, but he realized that wanting a sibling was selfish. It wouldn’t be fair to his brother or sister to bring them into such an unstable situation. He worried that they would be just as unhappy as he was. He wouldn’t wish that on anyone. He’d made peace with the fact that his parents were something he’d have to handle alone. It has always felt like his burden alone to carry— the price he has to pay for existing.

“It’s something of a miracle,” Owen says with a grin. It’s a miracle in the way that a heart finally becoming available after months of waiting on the transplant list is a miracle; one family has their prayers answered while another has their nightmares come true.

T.K. watches his dad take his mom’s hand, and it might’ve been a cute gesture if tender moments like that weren’t a countdown to the inevitable disaster that would follow as soon as the excitement turned into the hard reality. Gwyn squeezes Owen’s hand, and T.K. realizes that he is an intruder in their joyous moment. He can’t find it in himself to smile and congratulate them. He wants to. He doesn’t want to make a fuss, but he’s got no control over the surge of emotions that consumes him.

“Did you even think this through?” His parents’ hands disconnect, and they go rigid at T.K.’s tone. “What the hell were you thinking?” He’s never sounded more like a parent.

“T.K., we thought you’d be happy,” his mom tries. “We’re going to try to make things work.” She points between her and Owen. “We’re happy.”

“I don’t know why you thought I’d be happy about this.” T.K. stands up from the chair, unable to stay still. He feels himself start to pace. He’s trying to control his temper, but he’s frenzied and the crazed emotions won’t abate. “Trying isn’t good enough when you have a kid. You have to do more than try.” T.K.’s parents had tried a lot of things. They’d tried to care for T.K. They’d tried to work out their issues. They’d tried to stay afloat. But for all their trying, there wasn’t a lot of action. They wanted to change, but they didn’t put in the work. Owen especially. He wanted a fairytale ending while avoiding the difficult fairytale beginning. He’s always had a way of swooping Gwyn up and pulling her into his fantasy— T.K. too.

Owen has a way of making people believe in him, even when he repeatedly doesn’t follow through. When T.K. was eight, he starred in his school play, and for the whole weekend of the show, T.K. kept thinking that Owen would show up. Even halfway through the Sunday matinee, T.K. was certain his dad would come just as he had promised. Owen had never shown, but T.K. never let go of that small kernel of hope. Even when he should have known better.

“You always wanted a sibling.” He doesn’t even know which one of them said it, but words are throwing themselves off his tongue before he can even try to control them.

“I wanted a sibling because I hated being alone.” He’s never told them how lonely he felt as a kid. He’s not sure if that’s because he didn’t want to hurt their feelings— because he knows they love him— or because he didn’t want them to list a bunch of reasons why he shouldn’t have felt that way.

“Alone? You act as if we left you to fend for yourself without food or care for hours at a time. We always took care of you as well as we could. Just because you didn’t confide—”

“Don’t even finish that sentence, Dad. The only time you paid attention to me was when you wanted me to declare a winner in your arguments or when I was so fucked up that you had to pay attention.” T.K. doesn’t stop there. “You’re going to fuck up another kid, and I don’t want to watch that happen.” It’s too painful. Owen and Gwyn are already fighting like they used to, and a baby isn’t going to change that. A baby is just another tool they’ll use in their war to best one another. Fighting is like a sport to T.K.’s parents, and they are well suited for those kinds of battles, but that’s not enough for a healthy relationship. The thrill they get from challenging one another doesn’t create intimacy. It doesn’t stop them from destroying the people closest to them as they wrestle to come out on top.

“That’s not fair, son,” Owen says. Son sounds like a slap in the face. Owen’s voice makes T.K. feel like a silly little kid who doesn’t understand how the world works. “Things are different now.” T.K. wonders for a moment if he’s actually the selfish one here. What if he’s deluding himself into thinking his parents are the problem? Maybe they’re right. Maybe he is being unfair. Maybe the real reason he doesn’t want them to have this baby is that he hates the idea that they might not be so bad with this baby. He’s jealous that they’ll love their second chance more than their messed up first. Because how can he ever compete with a baby, pure and unbroken? He wonders if he’s that messed up that he would begrudge his sibling for getting the effort that T.K. never got.

But, then, T.K. remembers all the fighting his parents have been doing since they’ve been in Austin. They haven’t changed. They haven’t even defined what they are. There’s no way that they should have a newborn. “I’m not being unreasonable.”

“Honey, we know this is a lot to process,” his mom says, and T.K. has always liked when she calls him honey. It makes him feel like he matters, but sweet words can’t take away years of hurt he’s tried not to have. He feels guilty for the way he feels because his parents had a lot of issues, but they weren’t monsters. It would be a lot easier to know where he stood if they were villains rather than normal people who do incredible things.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” T.K. insists.

“I know this is a shock, but it’s our second chance to be a real family, T.K.. Your dad and I want to give this a shot.”

“A second chance? Not everyone deserves a second chance.” He takes a breath. “You only get a second chance when you’ve already given up on your first chance.”

“We never gave up on you.”

“You can’t even admit that you screwed up your first chance. ‘We made mistakes,’ that’s what you always say, and yeah, that’s true. You made a lot of mistakes, but the thing that drives me crazy. You blame those mistakes on circumstances. It always goes back to 9/11, but that doesn’t excuse away all the wrong choices you made. 9/11 was one day. What’s your excuse for all the other days?”

“Do you know how many—" and T.K. can’t let Owen finish that sentence. He’ll explode if he tries to push all the feelings that he has back into himself yet again. The stakes have never been higher, so if he’s going to lose his cool, it might as well be now.

“Would you listen to me for once?” T.K. asks, the weight of years of unsaid words pushing down on his chest.

“Fine,” Owen says. His voice is terse, but at least he’s allowing a conversation.

“I’m angry at you,” T.K.’s directing his words mostly toward Owen. He’d always gone easier on his dad than he did his mom. When he was a teenager, he’d blamed his mom for everything. He got angry at her when his dad wasn’t there than to question why T.K.’s hero kept letting him down.

“I always wanted to be just like you, Dad. You know that. From the time I was old enough to say what I wanted to be, I wanted to be a firefighter.” T.K. sat back down on the chair. “Then, 9/11 happened, and I was scared of losing you. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t focus. Whenever you were gone, all I could think about was you not coming back, so when I most needed you to be there. You weren’t.”

“I couldn’t help that. They needed me.”

“I needed you, but you always put the firehouse first, and you’d do it again in a heartbeat because that’s how you are. You can’t let go of what you lost, so what you already have always takes the back burner.” His mom had always been busy, but he always knew that she would take care of him. Half the time, he didn’t know if his dad would even show up. It’s not like Owen was absent from his life, but even when he was with T.K., he wasn’t emotionally present.

“When I was a kid, of course, I wanted to be a firefighter because I wanted to be like you. You were what I thought every man should be, but as I got older, being a firefighter wasn’t about being like you. All I wanted was to be a part of your life. I knew I’d never be what you put first, but I figured that if I could be part of that thing that it would be close enough.”

“T.K.,” Owen’s voice cracks, “You’ve always been the most important part of my life.”

“I know you love me,” T.K. says, even though that love doesn’t always feel unconditional, “but words don’t cost anything, Dad. You can say them all you want, but until you stand behind those words while fire blazes and the world goes to hell, they don’t mean anything. You can’t bring someone into this world, telling them that they mean the world to you, and then put the whole world above them.”

“What are you trying to say?” Gwyn asks for clarification.

“I’m saying that it’s selfish to have a baby because you miss the good times. When you’re making this decision, don’t think about the joyful moments. Think of when things become a challenge. You’ve got to be ready to not just put their needs before you when things are going well, but you’ve got to make that commitment when times are hard because it’s that shit that separates loving parents from good parents.”

“Were we really that bad?” Owen asks.

“The problem is that you haven’t changed.”

“Your dad and I can be in the same room without murdering each other,” Gwyn tries at humor.

“That isn’t funny,” T.K. says, feeling exhausted. If he’s being honest, he might as well get it all off his chest at once before they go back to pretending that they’re all fine— just a happy but unconventional family. “You still put me in the middle of your fights, wanting me to take a side. I don’t want to choose a side. I love you both, and it’s not fair to make me choose when you two are arguing just for the sport of it. What makes you think that your relationship will survive more than a few months? You’ve ignored all the reasons you got a divorce in the first place.”

“We can work on that.”

“If you couldn’t work out your issues for me, what makes you think this new child will be any different?” T.K. knew that sometimes it was better for couples to call it quits than to prolong the uncertain inevitable. He felt relief when his parents had finally made it official. He’d always secretly wanted them to get back together, but the logical part of him knew that they were better apart. “You don’t even live in the same half of the country. If things go wrong, we’re not just talking about living a few blocks apart. We’re talking hundreds of miles.”

Gwyn sighs. She reaches her hand out, “You seem so sure that things aren’t going to work.”

“I had a front-row seat the first time your relationship broke down. How is it different now?” Owen and Gwyn look between each other, searching for an answer. “See? I’m not trying to tell you what to do.”

“It sounds like you are.”

“No,” T.K. corrects, “All I’m doing is telling you what you need to hear before you commit to this because children deserve to feel safe and loved.” He looks up at his parents. “And it’s not right to bring a child into this world to recreate moments you feel like you’ve lost.” T.K. knows that he can’t force their hand. He can’t tell them what they should do, but it wouldn’t feel right to let them have a baby on a whim.

The smiles have fallen off his parents’ faces, and T.K. can’t help the guilt that worms its way into his body. He feels like a jerk. “I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad,” he says, still trying to temper their feelings. He worries that he was too honest. He almost regrets having opened his mouth. This is why it’s easier to keep his mouth shut, make jokes, and stew in his anger.

His mom gets up, stoops to his level, and puts her arm around him. “You’ll always be my baby.” Her embrace is warm, but the anxiety doesn’t lift from T.K.’s stomach. “We both love you so much. That’s one thing we’ve never disagreed on.”

Owen agrees, “You’re the best thing we’ve ever done together.” T.K. can’t help but think that’s a lie because he’ll always be the chance they abandoned.

#text #911 lone star #911 lone star fic #My writing #Elise Writes #My Fics #1000 - 3000 words

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thelightofthingshopedfor · 3 years

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lol okay so I dashed off most of this the day of and then kept not posting it because I kept thinking I needed to add stuff, but then I ended up adding more stuff mostly in reblogs instead (should all be under the “my meta” tag if anyone’s curious) and now episode 2 is technically coming out tomorrow night in my time zone so obviously I need to just post this. bullet points of disconnected thoughts, some of which are probably at least slightly outdated by now but whatever, here you go

seems very possible Mobius left the tape with him on purpose because he figured Loki wouldn’t be able to resist looking at it

would have to check the timing but I’m pretty sure he started looking terrified as soon as Thanos came onscreen without really knowing the context (aside from the very basic outline of “it’s been several years and he reconciled with Thor”), which at least underscores that they weren’t buddies--Loki knew something awful was about to happen the second Thanos showed up sadly this is not true, the clip he sees first is him trying to stab Thanos, so...yeah it stands to reason that he’d know it was about to end badly no matter what

other people have mentioned this but I love that we got to see Loki just like...existing?? like I know he’s never been the protagonist before and seeing him as the protagonist has always been one of the things that’s excited me most about the show, but now that it’s here I’m just kind of struck by how HE’S THE PROTAGONIST so we’re getting all these emotions and little gestures and moments when he’s alone that we only got in tiny, sadly easy-to-overlook snatches before (and it also occurred to me that I don’t think we’ve ever seen Loki eat anything, which is something else that might change)

also his projection is fascinating, and so is the fact that he explicitly turned it around on himself, which seems relevant to all the theories about a lot of his other statements (”freedom is life’s great lie,” most of what he said to Natasha, etc.) being things that were drummed into him on Sanctuary rather than stuff he just came up with on his own, so that seems to cover a lot of the stuff he says in Avengers and here

on the other hand it seems unlikely we’re ever going to get confirmation that Bad Stuff happened to him on Sanctuary aside from what we already saw in Avengers, which is frustrating, although to be fair I also wasn’t expecting to see Loki crying about his family in the first episode (and the most I’m really hoping for, still, is that nothing will explicitly contradict the idea, so...we’re good on that thus far, I guess)

so the first half of the episode was...ehhh, I don’t know, but the second half was amazing. I know some people didn’t like that part either, but I felt like...okay, I don’t love him being humiliated so I would’ve preferred different framing for some of this BUT a lot of casual viewers still see Loki as a cackling caricature without having picked up on any of the stuff that very clearly showed otherwise, and this show wants to treat Loki as a person, someone worthy of audience sympathy, so they kind of had to go in hard and fast on that aspect to get everyone up to speed. like, yes, fans who’ve been paying attention know that Loki’s a person, that he’s wounded, that he doesn’t hurt people just because it’s fun for him, that he feels things very deeply, that he loves his family, but somehow the mainstream perception of him has missed like 85% of that, and the show’s just not going to have much impact unless it gets everybody on board with those very basic ideas. in terms of story structure it probably doesn’t make sense for this to be his lowest point, but starting from the bottom and eventually getting somewhere better is fairly standard, so at this point I can imagine tons of ways things could improve for him

yeah I do hate the whole Sacred Timeline thing, see also my posts about how much I loved that Endgame canonically (I thought) established multiple timelines where everything was fine, so yeah I’m pissed about that because it means those timelines were canonically pruned

like I don’t...hate it as a storytelling device? I just hate it for fandom reasons, and I’ve hated it in other fandoms when canon did something that seemed to open things up to all this incredible possibility and then went “actually no, we’re boxing it up again into this one specific Way That Things Happened” and for fanwork purposes it doesn’t matter all that much, I don’t think it’s actually that much harder to do AUs or go “okay well in this universe the TVA doesn’t exist, whatever” (in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if AO3 quickly develops a new canonical “not TVA compliant” tag for basically all Loki fic), but it is annoying that it’s now like “canonically, every AU is Not Allowed”, and if that ends up sticking as the status quo with the TVA considered good guys or at least a necessary evil then yeah, I’m going to be annoyed

HOWEVER

I don’t think that’s inevitable for a variety of reasons

this whole show is going to deal with multiverse shenanigans and so will Dr. Strange 2, so it seems completely possible that the end result could be a status quo of “there’s a multiverse actually and that’s fine” (...although yes, I’ll be doubly annoyed if the end result of this show is a restored multiverse of some kind and the end result of Dr. Strange 2 is condensing it back down to a single timeline)

the multiverse is a long-running comics tradition, which still seems to be the case even after...whatever event it was that collided a bunch of them and tried for a Highlander thing, look I wasn’t really following it and I know some characters ended up in other universes from where they started but I’m pretty sure we still have a multiverse of some kind

almost all the recent Loki-centric comics have focused on questions of fate and agency

Agent of Asgard in particular was about Loki eventually going “fuck you I won’t do what you tell me” and forging a new path (and, okay, it does seem like runs other than AoA have been the most influential here but again we’ve only seen one episode)

Loki, specifically, is an agent of chaos and change, like that’s his whole thing going way back to mythology, because sometimes stagnancy is death and chaos is healthy, and of course myth!Loki (and earlier versions of comics!Loki) is always responsible for triggering Ragnarok, which isn’t just the end of the world but is also a natural, crucial part of a cycle of renewal, and yes the MCU already did Ragnarok but that doesn’t at all mean they can’t play more with those ideas

Tom Hiddleston has brought up this specific point several times in recent interviews, that sometimes chaos is the one thing that's really needed

also, on Jimmy Kimmel the day of the episode, he kind of...planted a seed about the TVA maybe not being uncomplicated good guys because seriously what gives them the right to make these decisions for literally everyone

so at the very least I think it’s completely possible that things aren’t quite what they seem, and that for instance we’re supposed to discover that Mobius is consciously manipulating him to turn him into the type of tool the TVA wants him to be

also “the timeline wants to break free” shows up on a lot of merch, which does seem to indicate a free will vs. predestination theme

I’m not at all familiar with comics!TVA, although I understand they’re considered villains (although to be fair, so were the Skrulls, and at least thus far that’s been inverted for the MCU), but their whole thing reminded me of a few other entities in a way that could be relevant:

the tape running out was like the Norns cutting the thread of somebody’s life

Those Who Sit Above In Shadow in AoA (and also maybe whatever was below the God Quarry in Infinity Wars although I’m less familiar with that)

the gods in Cabin In The Woods, who were also kind of audience proxies in that they really just cared about the sacrifice being entertaining, which kinda seems like the only logical reason for the Timekeepers to prefer any given series of events over another

my personal hope for the series: the Timekeepers are ultimately the Big Bad and the rogue Loki variant is ultimately right in trying to wipe out the TVA (because sure I realize it’s maybe dumb of me but I still don’t want any Loki to be completely a bad guy!!); the major named TVA characters realize they’re the baddies actually and team up with a whole army of Lokis to take them down and GIVE US BACK OUR MULTIVERSE

#meta #my meta #loki meta #loki spoilers #loki series spoilers #loki show spoilers #loki show #loki #marvel cinematic universe

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