#Her ship is somewhat still in the process whether to ship her or not | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

eleemosynecdoche · 8 months

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Okay. Oil fire serious posting, huh? Now my friend @rlyehtaxidermist is a patient, forbearing soul, and I've been known to get a little hot under the collar at times. The language may get spicy. You have been warned.

Anyways, there are people apparently trying to do some kind of shipping war over this interpretation of Touhou 19 and of Sanae and Tsukasa. They level three basic charges- that there's no support for it, that it's a shallow sex ship, and that Tsukasa is obviously manipulating Sanae. Let's take it from the top.

1. No Evidence, Not Canon

Well, I could go and take screenshots and get the Japanese text and screenies of confirmed "sex isn't real in Touhou" people trying to puzzle out the parts of the Japanese text where Sanae and Tsukasa use very familiar language with each other. But I won't.

Why does it matter? Like, take it as a given that this is the case, that this ship is created from nothing. What would that mean? That people need to stop talking about it? Or restrict their posting about it to some kind of space for non-canon shipping? Is that reasonable?

Look, shipping characters on the basis of them being in adjacent stages has a history in Touhou. Some of them, like Parsee/Yuugi, got ZUN offering some support for it much later, through indirect means. Others, like Nitori/Hina, are kind of unpopular nowadays. People still make art and comics and doujin novels for those unpopular ships based on proximity. And why shouldn't they?

Some of my favorite doujin works- Ōkawa Bkub's "Charm" series, ALISON Airlines's drug-themed and mind-expanding works, Komaku Jūshoku's Ran-chama shorts- are far outside the boundaries of what ZUN produces. I think it's good that people take what ZUN puts down and run with it. I think that's a much healthier way to creatively engage with an artistic work you enjoy. It also gave us Higurashi When They Cry, Umineko When They Cry, Undertale and Deltarune, and other independent works where the influence isn't quite as obvious.

Anyways, all that freedom brings with it people being allowed to ship in ways you think aren't canonically supported, as part of being able to creatively reinterpret the work they're engaging with.

2. It's A Shallow Sex Ship!

Now let's be fucking clear here- what people are implying by this is pretty clearly "You're using this shipping to get off!"

Look. Do you really think that people are likely to be getting off to the idea of sex that's unglamorous and kinda mediocre, a bit awkward? If there is some kind of fetishist of that kind posting about SanaKasa, I'll buy them a drink to salute their extremely broad and abstract sexuality, which would be quite rare indeed.

I'm being mean. The more likely thought process here is that social assumptions around whether anyone would use direct and somewhat crude language about weird sex without being aroused at that moment or being some kind of perpetually-horny sex pervert are shaping how people react to seeing posts where a foxgirl's tail is used as a proxy for her having an erection.

So set that aside. I'm gonna talk about why the sex posts are meaningful to me personally.

I'm not an old hand of Touhou fandom, I came to it as a grown adult with the period between Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom and Hidden Star in Four Seasons as my entry point. But what I learned very quickly is that there's a lot of Touhou stuff, posting, art, comics, fanfics, where people offer up sexual content that I find deeply unappealing (mostly because it's dull, het, and not infrequently invokes sexual violence). And then, eventually, I realized that there was a kind of reaction to this state of affairs.

This was the sense that Touhou fandom was divided into bad sexual stuff and good desexualized stuff. And sexual stuff from a lesbian or WLW perspective was lumped in as part of the bad, with an assumption it was made for men too. And so if you wanted to enjoy the lesbian overtones of Touhou, the Touhous better not be having sex!

This is in turn correlated, I think, with the sense of Touhou as the whimsical side of the "cute girls having tea parties" media metaconcept. All of this ties really heavily into a broader social understanding of sexual desires between women, between nonbinary people, (or even between men much of the time) as intrinsically predatory and needing to be desexualized to be acceptable.

But Touhou isn't a series about cute girls doing cute things at tea parties in the text. In the games, it's a bunch of rude women threatening each other with violence in erudite ways, then engaging in elegant examples of that violence, and finally going drinking together. There's intrinsic sexual tension to all of that. It's people flirting with each other, showing off their stuff, and then getting to know each other at a bar.

Touhou's gotten more explicit about the sexual side of things. Tsukasa, who's drawn with what are instantly recognizable as sexually charged expressions, lidded eyes and insouciant gestures, whose outfit loosely resembles both short pajamas and a romper dress with the skirt cut away to show off the built-in bloomers, is a noteworthy chunk of that, and then she gets treated both in the fandom and in UDoaLG by powerful beast youkai as, essentially, a born slut.

But the sexual aspects have been there since Perfect Cherry Blossom at the latest. The implicit flirtatiousness, the women with extremely close relationships. So what talking about Tsukasa having bad sex and falling in love means to me is a couple of things- it's an acknowledgement that sex is going on. It's also a way to engage with Tsukasa as a character who's engaged in what is only barely subtextually survival sex work, and offer up the possibility of love in a very normal and unglamorous sense, for Tsukasa to be sexual and yet loved and fully worthy of love.

Making them both transfem or transfeminine-coded (i.e. Tsukasa probably didn't transition, but her penis is still effectively a trans woman's rather than that of a cis woman who shapeshifted in terms of how characters understand her position and body) is in turn an extension of that, of how trans women's bodies are fetishized (especially in sex work). And taking these bodies we, as a group of people, have, and treating them as sexual, but in a more naturalistic way yet playful way. And so for me it's just a matter of being truthful- this is describing the situation in terms of the world as I know it, within certain specific boundaries of Touhou I like to use.

This humongous nerd can have a loving, fulfilling relationship while not being good at sex and having to figure that out. This poor little kon kon can be loved without it being transactional, without having to try and become purified and sweet and "More tea, Miss Sanae?" Even bad girls (in several senses) can love and be loved. If you're gay enough with your cringe girlfriend, a miracle will happen.

All of this is of course my hyperprecise sexual fetish. Every last word of it.

3. All According To Tsukasa's Keikaku

"Tsukasa's just manipulating Sanae!"

Why is it important that Tsukasa be an undefeatable schemer and manipulator?

Let me put it this way. If Tsukasa can manipulate everyone equally well because everyone has weaknesses in their heart or whatever, that's blandly cynical. It makes her out to be some kind of overwhelming malevolence. If Tsukasa is really really good at manipulating powerful, perceptive, and forceful women, but completely unable to affect naive, slightly gullible, says exactly what she's thinking Sanae beyond marginally? That's funny! The one person that should be a cream puff to manipulate is beyond manipulation!

It's thematic! Someone who's open and honest and not trying to manipulate other people can't be manipulated in turn, because she's rejecting the game. It's relevant to Tsukasa's character! UDoaLG makes it clear that tube foxes are despised, that they're seen as weak and unable to fight like real women do. Tsukasa has to manipulate people because it's her only way to keep from being crushed, or so she thinks, because she's immersed in that reality.

Sanae isn't manipulatable, but also doesn't really try to crush her. Sanae offers a relationship between equals, even if they have different power levels.

It even plays into neurodivergence and mental illness- think of Tsukasa as someone unsure if she's manipulating people or not. Sanae being autistic and not manipulatable provides a reassurance that she's capable of doing better.

None of which means she's going to start being a saint or even a decent person, just that she's an awful person whose awfulness is hard to separate from her situation, but she can be in a better situation without having to become good first. She can stay malicious and kinda sucky and we know she's doing it on purpose now! We can say, "you are yucky disgusting, babygirl" and squeeze her into a Pringles tube without guilt. With minimal guilt.

Also, abilities are self-declared and Tsukasa's method of manipulating the other polycule members in Unconnected Marketeers mostly seemed to be encouraging them to do what they wanted to do already. Similarly, she can manipulate Aun in UDoaLG by playing on Aun's desire to be helpful and the dangers of the situation, but Aun also knows it's safe because her other body is back at the shrine. She's not, frankly, massively strong. In demonstrated "power levels" she's a step below Yachie "failgirl" Kicchou. Think about that.

Made it all the way to the end? Congratulations! Imagine a Touhou ending slide where I'm (whatever you think I look like) holding up Tsukasa and Sanae sock puppets.

#touhou #th19 spoilers #oil fire meta #tsukasa kudamaki #sanae kochiya #monstrously large posts

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quibbs126 · 8 months

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Hollyberry x dark cacao fankid?

Fun fact: this ship is the second on my list. But anyways, here’s Ruby Choco Cookie

She’s named after ruby chocolate, which is this new kind of chocolate that apparently has a berry like taste? Also it’s pink, so like, it was the obvious pick. Also I think when I first came up with the name, I still had Ruby Cacao Cookie as a character, so you could factor that in too (context for people who don’t know: Ruby Cacao was an oc I made that’s Dark Cacao’s sister. She’s currently in limbo for whether I decide to keep her bc I rewrote his backstory again)

Ruby chocolate:

So I know I said before that I was going to give her frilly dresses, but I kind of just decided against that when actually making her today. I still gave her one to reference that, but I’m a little disappointed she doesn’t have that concept. Though I suppose it might make her look too similar to Kouign Amann, at least in concept

Like I said prior, I’m thinking that before when she was younger, she would wear fancy dresses all the time, even while out and about using her big sword. Her wardrobe probably consists of a mix of European dresses and Korean hanboks. In current day, for whatever reason she doesn’t wear them in favor of more traditional adventuring gear, but she does still have some and wears them from time to time

With her actual outfit, I may or may not have taken primary inspiration from Guts in Berserk (sorry I’ve been making Berserk like my new personality), which is mostly seen in her upper body, with the chest plate and shoulder pads (which may have been an unnecessary detail if I’m being honest), along with her bare arms and bandages (well I mean, Guts only has one hand bandaged, but he’s also missing an arm, so. Hmm, maybe I should make a fankid in the future that’s an amputee…). I think I was going to give her sleeves initially, but took them out for the Guts look. Though I think it works without them. I’d say Guts and some of Hollyberry’s alternate outfits were my main inspiration, along with a dash of Dark Cacao’s alternate cape (though I don’t think the fluffy bits look the best). I just wanted to add something from Dark Cacao

Oh and also obviously, I took inspiration from Guts’s sword, the Dragon Slayer. Listen, I had it in my notes that she has a “big ass sword”, and that was always going to stay, why not model her sword after the iconic oversized sword? Though I suppose the details did end up getting covered up by the rest of the outfit (though you can see it in the sketch, though it’s a bit too small). And I’m not entirely sure its relatively simple design really matches Hollyberry and Dark Cacao, but screw it

Her hair wasn’t originally going to be in a bun, it was going to be long (and I still want it that way), but with her sword and cape, I just didn’t have room to also give her flowing hair, so tied up it is. Also I made her streaks pink to look more like the color of actual ruby chocolate. Her main hair color being dark red was more a reference to Ruby Cacao

Also I think an original idea was to incorporate spades in her design? Since Hollyberry is has hearts and Dark Cacao has diamonds, and you could argue that Pure Vanilla’s kind of looks like clubs, so I thought why not complete the set here with spades? But I only remembered that info well into the sketch process, so I didn’t end up incorporating it. Ah well, maybe another time

If I’m being honest, I think she looks too Hollyberry and not enough Dark Cacao. But maybe that’s just because I used a lot of pink and red, since she’s ruby chocolate. But I don’t know if I dislike her design, I think it looks at least fine, if not good

Also, she was supposed to be somewhat chubby, or have some width to her, but I think that accidentally got lost in the finished product. Sorry

Anyways, how about we talk about her character?

To be honest, I really don’t have much. She’s a traveling adventurer, just going around fighting monsters. And while she generally is a pretty friendly person, she in truth prefers solitude, simply sitting in the night sky with nothing but her sword and her thoughts

She wasn’t always a traveling adventurer, instead staying at a palace (probably the Hollyberrian one), but at some point that attitude changed. I don’t know what caused that change, and whether or not it was tragic (Guts may have also influenced her personality/character in some way)

And other than one thing about her maybe meeting Kouign Amann in the past, that’s kind of all I have on her. And I gotta admit, that’s pretty disappointing for me

Like when it comes to these Ancient kids, I usually have an idea of their relationships with their parents or their half siblings, but here I got nothing. I don’t even know what her role as princess of either the Hollyberry Kingdom or Dark Cacao Kingdom means (and as far as ages go, the only thing I have is that she’s probably older than Dark Choco, though I don’t know about Royal Berry). She just kind of exists

I think I focused too much in her design aspect and didn’t think at all about her lore, which is honestly really disappointing on my end. And is she really even that good of a character? I dunno

*sigh* maybe some other time I’ll come up with a proper background for her and her relationship with her family (though right now I don’t really want to)

But yeah, that’s Ruby Choco I guess. Hope you like her!

#also if you’ll notice the page is slightly wider #that’s bc with the ref pics and the length of her sword she just couldn’t fit without being too small #did I have something else to say?#oh yeah I vaguely based that sketch dress design on a Casca outfit #but I only had one ref and it wasn’t the best so it’s not that accurate #anyways #cookie run #cookie run kingdom #dark cacao cookie #hollyberry cookie #hollycacao #cookie run oc #fankid #fanchild #ruby choco cookie #my ocs #my art #requests #answers

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rising-volteccers · 8 months

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Hiii hope you're having a great day! If you're still taking requests. Can you do a short fic with the prompt "you’re not getting rid of me that easily. " with Friede and Orla (platonic or romantic, your choice)

THANKS <33

Episode 18 still lives rent free in my mind so have another what if scene based on it! I've also become pretty fond of their ship too since learning of their connection so here you go! Hopefully it's an enjoyable read!

Series: Pokemon Horizons

Characters: Friede, Orla

Orla had been going through the somewhat dull, repetitive motions of her construction job until she received an unexpected visit from Friede. It appeared that he still had the habit of popping in and out of her life as he pleased, not that she minded too much. While they kept in touch ever since she moved to Hoenn, it became harder for them to see each other in person over time. Adulthood pretty much kept them busy so Friede’s unannounced visit while she was on the clock didn’t exactly pleased her but she supposed it was nice to see him again.

That was until he made that outrageous request. Friede was a brilliant man in his own right but at times, she genuinely questioned what went on in his mind.

"Are you an idiot?" Orla had blurted out in her surprise. Really, he wanted her to repurpose a fishing boat into a fully functioning airship? The first time in years they met up and he dropped that on her? Orla knew other engineers that would laugh him out of the room for coming up with such a preposterous idea.

"Can you do it?" Friede responded instead in this mildly challenging tone. His expression, with that smirk and slight tilt of his eyebrows, spoke about the confidence he had in her skills.

Orla tugged the brim of her hard hat down, took a deep breath before meeting his smirk with a grin of her own. “I’ll just have to try!”

For the first time in awhile, Orla felt excitement bubbling within her. Finally she had a good challenge to sink her teeth into. Her job offered her good pay but it didn’t provide her the mental stimulation she genuinely craved. She had full confidence in her skills as an engineer but lacked the opportunity to showcase it until Friede’s outlandish request.

Orla supposed that part of him never changed. Even back when they were kids, he made her life a lot more exciting. She supposed that was why she held a fondness for him that never faded even as distance kept them apart.

She had to negotiate with her employer about using company equipment on what amounted to a personal project but she reached an agreement in the end. A part of her wondered whether they simply wanted to see whether she could pull this off. Orla wasn’t blind to the ridicule going on behind her back once word got around about this project.

Instead of letting their words get to her, it simply fueled the fire within her to prove her skills. Despite the seemingly spontaneous request, Friede didn’t actually came by unprepared. He showed her the basic layout of the airship he envisioned that Orla eventually ironed out into a functional design since he planned on flying this all around the world.

The construction itself took a couple of months. Orla worked on the project little by little–she still had to do her regular job but thankfully with reduced hours and lesser responsibility–day in and day out. She built around the Asagi, strengthening the foundation before expanding and adding new features.

Friede visited her from time to time as well. Building this airship meant nothing if he didn’t have the proper qualifications to fly it so he spent his days studying to earn himself a license, not to mention going through the process of legally flying through multiple regions. Each time he stated how impressed he was by the progress made, reinvigorating her to see this creation come to fruition.

At last, after months of time, effort and resources sunk into this project, Orla unveiled the completed airship to Friede. Pleased as pie to see him thoroughly floored, she decided to act upon a thought she had whilst making the newly dubbed Brave Asagi.

“Let me ride with you,” she said, leaning back against the railing. “The ship will need maintenance, right? I was just getting bored with my job.”

Orla realized that she wanted to see her creation in action. When she pictured flying high in the sky as they soared to new horizons, staying at a construction site became unappealing. While this project gave her plenty of headaches, it was the most fun she had ever since she became a fully fledged engineer.

Besides, she doubt that Friede had the skill set to keep up with the airship maintenance. The idea of traveling together with him reminded her of their shared childhood too.

Thus Orla joined the newly formed Rising Volt Tacklers. Together with Friede, Ludlow and Captain Pikachu, they’d travel around this vast world.

…or so she thought. They still had preparations to do before the Brave Asagi could embark on its maiden voyage. Orla had done the majority of her part so it rested on Friede in getting them approved for takeoff. She didn’t envy him at all when it came to all the paperwork he had to do.

Just like how she’d seen him for the past week or so, during one calm afternoon, she popped into the meeting room to find him with his head on the table. Several stacks of paper were displayed in a semi circle around him. Captain Pikachu was nowhere to be seen, apparently having left his trainer to this nightmare on his own.

“Knock knock,” she said by way of greeting. “I brought some lunch to ease your suffering.”

Friede raised his head, shooting her a grateful look. If she didn’t know any better, she thought there were tears in his eyes.

“Oh Orla you’re my hero. My savior.”

“Alright, laying on a little thick there,” Orla replied with an amused shake of her head. Friede eagerly accepted the offered paper bag. She got him his favorite sandwich from one of Slateport City’s many restaurants.

While Friede dug into his lunch like a ravenous man, she ate her own portion in a slower pace. She waited until he was halfway through his sandwich before asking.

“So, how’s it going?”

Friede first washed down his current bite with the juice she also got. “It’s making me wanna tear my hair out but I wanna say that, barring a sudden new policy that makes everything here obsolete and I will cry if that happens, I should have the paperwork ready to be reviewed come next Monday.”

“I was about to make a comment but I decide to be nice instead and say that I’m sure things would go well. This is the last hurdle we need to get over before my baby’s fit to fly, yeah?”

Friede’s expression lit up. “Yeah! I’ve got my license and we’ve gone over the logistics of flying the Brave Asagi so many times that I’m having nightmares about it that when we get approved, we can finally leave Slateport.”

Orla mimicked his grin. “I’m really looking forward to that day. I’m confident that this ship will fly but it’s different to actually see it happen, you know?”

“I get it. Like I fly around on Charizard but it’s going to be different when I steer this ship into the sky. You get to see what me and Cap see, too.”

Seeing his earnest smile, Orla sipped on her own juice to distract her from the mild warmth to her cheeks. She couldn’t hide her own smile, though.

“I’m sure it’ll be a wonderful sight–unless it storms. At some point we’ll have to test the integrity of the shields. Those are new technology from Devon Corp and while I trust their products, it’ll be nice to see how it actually holds up.” Orla briefly narrowed her eyes at him. “This does not mean that I want us to fly straight into a storm anytime soon.”

“What do you take me for? Of course I’m not going to do that on our maiden voyage,” Friede replied, sporting a faint pout.”

“Good. If things break so soon, I will demand that payment from you.” The teasing threat made the pout deepen.

“You said that you didn’t need it so no take backsies.” Once he realized what slipped out of his mouth, Friede reddened slightly from embarrassment.

Orla, on the other hand, covered her mouth from the sudden burst of giggles. “Take backsies? I haven’t heard that since we were kids.”

“Well, you get what I mean.” Friede bit into his sandwich with more ferocity, as if the act of his chewing could ease his embarrassment.

She decided to take pity on him just this once. Admittedly, it made her a little? Giddy? That he hadn’t forgot stuff from their childhood. Orla knew that he struggled with his memory at times so knowing that something that they shared still remained in his mind was…

“You know, I think we’ll need more people,” Friede eventually spoke up.

“What, already thinking about replacing me? You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” she replied, entirely teasing him by this point.

“Don’t be ridiculous. No one can replace you Orla. You’re one of a kind.” The ease in which he said that left her briefly stunned, not that he noticed. “What I meant is that it’s realistically difficult to run the ship with the two of us. I’m not going to push Gramps into doing the hard work so we’ll be doing the bulk of it.”

Orla took a moment to ease her emotions before responding. “You’re right. What sort of roles do you want filled on the ship?”

“A cook for starters,” Friede replied, tapping a finger on the table’s surface. “You’ll be busy with the engine room while I steer the ship until we can reach the altitude to turn on auto pilot. I can do the cooking but depending on the sort of weather we face, meal time’s going to be all over the place.”

“True. I don’t think I can handle your cooking all the time anyway.” She flashed him a teasing smile at the wounded look he shot her. “Kidding but yeah, I vote for getting a cook. I’d also propose in getting someone with proper medical knowledge. Health is important, not to mention we don’t know what would happen during our travels. In case there’s an emergency and we’re far from the nearest health facility, having an on deck nurse or doctor is a must.”

“You’re right. While I could put out ads for it, a part of me just… want whoever that joins us is because they wanted to you know?”

Orla hummed, briefly closing her eyes. “I get what you mean. The Brave Asagi’s essentially going to be our base of operations. We’d want everyone to be on board, literally and figuratively, to keep it running smoothly.”

“Exactly but I also don’t wanna put too much burden on your shoulders…”

Here, Orla opened her eyes, fondness gleaming within them. It swiftly changed into a mildly challenging look, lips set into a grin. “Don’t worry your pretty little head there. Who did you think created this baby?”

Friede stared at her before wordlessly shaking his head. His mildly concerned look was replaced with a matching grin. “Course I know. It’s created by the greatest engineer I know!”

“Don’t you dare forget it! I’m all for finding new people for our crew but I want it to be natural, yeah? Maybe you’ll find folks to charm into joining.” Aside from me, she added privately.

“Nah, if someone’s going to lay on the charm, it’d be Cap! I mean, who could resist him?”

For a moment, Orla thought he meant someone else but she supposed that was to be expected with him. He wasn’t entirely wrong too. Cap had loads of charming potential.

“I suppose but before we discuss this more in-depth, I think someone should get back to his paperwork.”

Friede’s expression quickly fell as he stared at the stacks before him. Orla chuckled, rising from her seat to grab the wrappers so she could throw them away.

“I’m sure you’ll get it done soon. Just think about how good it’ll feel when it gets approve and we’ll be soaring through the sky, yeah?” She reached out to place a hand on his shoulder, giving him a comforting squeeze.

Friede sighed, craning his neck back till he could look up at her. “Thanks Orla. Do you think you can grab dinner too later? Maybe from that nice seafood restaurant we went to last Saturday?”

Orla rolled her eyes good naturedly. “Alright, I’ll continue to play errand girl a little while longer just because you’re working hard.”

“Thanks Orla, you’re the best!” Even if she tried to keep her expression neutral, she found herself smiling regardless at the wide beam he shot her. She just about resist the impulsive desire to ruffle his hair.

Instead, she held out her hand towards his. Friede’s beam impossibly grew larger as he responded by performing the handshake they’ve created back when they were kids.

Now it served as their connection in being members of the Rising Volt Tacklers.

#Pokemon Horizons #Pokeani #Anipoke #Professor Friede #Orla (Pokemon)#Braveasagishipping #Orliede #Hana writes stuff

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stardate44002point3 · 1 year

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Star Trek and the problem of political salience

So, I've been thinking a lot about the Shaw/Seven deadnaming controversy and I think much of what has happened in terms of the level of outrage about it - which probably wasn't entirely what the writers were going for - is the ongoing problem of Star Trek using contemporary political issues to signal things about character and, in this case, having it backfire on them, just a little.

To explain, first what I think the writers were going for was a quick shorthand way of signaling that Shaw was a bit of a dick, but a redeemable one (hence he was always going to call Seven, Seven by the end of his character arc). However, two things got in the way of that and has resulted, at least in the Tumblr and Twittersphere, of a not insubstantial number of Trek fans celebrating his death (because deadnaming someone is clearly death-worthy) and harassing people who openly either like Shaw or, even worse, ship Shaw/Seven.

Why did this go somewhat awry? I think there are two reasons.

The first is that they just didn't think it through when they wrote it. Not only do people openly call Seven, Hansen (without any blow back from her) in earlier seasons of Picard (and not just in the fascist S2 version of the UFP), but now that she is in Starfleet, she must have a name on file. I've said this before. Either that name is Annika Hansen, in which case it is on her to change it, and neither Shaw (nor the rest of the crew) can really use another name for her because the computer won't recognize it. Unless we're expecting them all to shift between names depending on whether they are talking to her or referring to her with the onboard computer.

OR her name is Seven in the system. But narratively that's not going to work, because then Shaw would HAVE to call her Seven or, again the computer wouldn't recognize her. Since he refers to her as Hansen when talking to the computer we have to assume that is her name in the Starfleet HR system. If she has a problem with it, she needs to change it, I can't imagine Starfleet cares what people want to call themselves, nor make it difficult for people to change their names in the system.

So that's just careless writing, they were trying to make a point, and didn't really think through the whole process, relying on the contemporary political zeitgeist to do the work for them.

Which brings us to the second issue. Picard S3 was written in 2020/2021 and largely filmed in 2021. At that time, while deadnaming was something that was talked about and recognized, and understood to be a very bad thing, we were only at the start of the culture wars shifting to Republicans focusing on attacking trans rights (because up until last summer they still had abortion as their go-to wedge issue). Since the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme court ruling, and the relatively buoyant performance of the Democrats in the 2022 Midterm elections, Republicans have gone all out at the local, state and national level on attacking every aspect of the trans community's existence - from the ability to legal change names to the process of transition itself, to the ability of trans people to exist in society without harassment.

And not unexpectedly, there has been a huge surge in support for the trans community, which means that any indication of disrespect is now a much more politically charged issue than it was even this time last year. So what the writers intended to be throw away signifier of tension between captain and XO, has become a huge red flag of abuse.

Using a contemporary issue in this way is much more fraught than it used to be because, for a variety of reasons, the political zeitgeist changes much more rapidly in the 21st century than it ever did before.

So tl;dr; I don't think Shaw was ever meant to be an irredeemable asshole, I just think the writers did a piss poor job trying to demonstrate friction between him and Seven and the political situation has changed in such a way that the issue they chose has become so much more salient in the last year.

#liam shaw thoughts #liam shaw #seven of nine #abuse will be deleted and blocked

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honey-everythingisonfire · 2 years

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GODS I AM SO TORN ON WHETHER OR NOT I WANNA SHIP HUNTLOW

on the one hand, i want them to just stay friends because Hunter HAS to process his trauma before getting into a relationship, because Willow should not be the one doing the therapizing (i’ve seen a lot of my friends’ relationships go down the garbage disposal this way, trust me, please go to therapy, it’ll be better for you and your partner), and I feel like without the proper development, the whole thing would be super clunky and feel really forced. also, it would be cute, cuz it would show a healthy guy-girl friendship that still works even if there is a rejection.

BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, they’d make a cute pairing, Willow would absolutely beat the shit out of anybody who makes fun of her lame boyfriend and is a good role model for positive self thinking, and I know we are gonna get the whole “Amity going all ‘AS LUZ’S GIRLFRIEND’” spiel all over with Hunter. They would also be an interracial couple, which god KNOWS we need more of, as well as one of the first HEALTHY SOMEWHAT HETERO RELATIONSHIPS IN THE SHOW, because I cannot imagine for the life of me a healthy, ambiguously straight couple in this show. And it’s nice to see a straight relationship that isn’t incredibly toxic for comedy.

all in all, i just want both of them to end up happy at the end, because it’s what they deserve.

#the owl house #toh #huntlow #toh willow #willow park #toh hunter #the golden guard

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captainofthetidesbreath · 1 year

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Fjord's tags (Fjord Stone, Fjord Tusktooth, Fjord Critical Role) are kind of a mess because of his understandable difficulty with last names amd identity in general but do you think he still uses the last name Stone now that his shipping company is named for it. I'd love to hear your thoughts on Fjord and names.

I've written a post about the matter after Part 1, and I note that the surname is used on his character card in both parts of the two-shot, but the short of that post and my general thoughts is that I think Fjord is taking concrete and well-thought-out steps to reclaim the name and has very much begun using it in his daily life with the hope and goal of fashioning it into having a different connotation and weight so that he can, for the first time, use it comfortably and painlessly. We haven't seen enough of him using it to for it to be clear how comfortable he is, but he clearly has a greater level of comfort than during the campaign. (Which makes sense, it's been six months.) I think it's been a much slower process than it was for, say, Beau and her relationship to her surname, but Fjord is undertaking it and is practicing using his.

I think naming his company after it is a big step and a crucial part of that ongoing reclamation process. I idly wonder if naming the company after it is an aspirational goal: the name means this now, and he will make that association happen in his mind, and he will feel better about it. But, either naming the company this represents a hard-won level of comfort he already possesses or it represents the level of comfort he desires and is working toward by getting used to the name this way. It's hard to tell which—again, because we haven't seen a lot of him using it—but either way, it's a step in the process.

It's not totally clear whether this two-shot is before or after he's set the orphanage straight, but I imagine Fjord's work there will make the process of reclaiming this surname and of growing comfortable using it somewhat smoother and easier.

I think that it hasn't been easy for him, that it still often stings at the time of the two-shot (some days more than others, but most days increasingly less), and that he is sometimes frustrated with how long, difficult, and at times painful the process is—but the process is indeed happening, and progress is steadily being made, and the name is increasingly easier and more comfortable for him to use.

I think he's feeling better about the name these days, even if some days it still hurts a bit, and that's a result of a lot of hard reclamation work and practice saying it, and naming the company after it has been crucial to a significant amount of that progress.

#me: But the short of it is [writes a post longer than the original]#Critical Role things #CR meta #CR

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alwaysahiccupandastrid · 2 years

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I saw this post about androids with disabilities come up on my dashboard and it got me back on my Alien (namely Covenant and Isolation) bullshit because it made me think of both Walter and also Samuels.

In Alien: Covenant, Walter lost his hand protecting Daniels so I’m just imagining how this would impact things later on when the ship reached Origae-6 (because fuck the ending of the movie, that’s why) For example, when they’re building homes for the colony, he struggles lifting or balancing things with one hand, or the humans are freaked out by the sight of it at first. None of the crew or colonists know how make a new hand, let alone wire it to the rest of his body so it’s useful - if they ever do make a replacement hand for him, it would be somewhat awkward or delayed or something, because none of them have the skills to properly connect the wires etc. Walter is hyper aware of how… off it feels. It feels like a dead weight more than a hand - even though he’s capable of using the hand, he can move the fingers etc, it just doesn’t feel completely the same. He learns to live with that, but he always knows.

Mostly, however, the Isolation/Ripuels dedicated part of my brain is like “SAMUELS SAMUELS SAMUELS” post-Sevastopol incident. Somehow Amanda managed to drag Christopher Samuels out of that chamber, put him on a little pod or whatever so that he’d be safe (idk, I’m grasping at straws here, we’re all just gonna pretend okay) and she’s faced with the task of trying to fix him up. Amanda Ripley is a skilled mechanic but she’s not used to working on androids - especially not ones as advanced as Christopher Samuels, who is one of the latest Weyland-Yutani models. But she knows that it’s extremely unlikely they’ll run into someone who can fix him that also won’t alert Weyland-Yutani (who would undoubtedly take Samuels away for good as well as doing god knows what to Amanda because now she knows too much), and she can’t take the risk of leaving him unconscious - the longer he’s left the less likely he is to come back. So she does the best with whatever she has (which is extremely little) and - thankfully, somehow - is able to get him conscious.

There are lingering effects. Sometimes his voice will sound wheezy or like it’s coming through a fan or something because of the damage done to his vocal processors; his vision is still better than most humans, but sometimes he notices it falter or start to grow fuzzy, and he’s concerned. It takes longer for him to process things now, he’s unable to connect to servers as fluidly as he once did, and even then the connections are weaker and more difficult to maintain. Even when he and Ripley are living together, and he’s able to have more professional maintenance and check-ups, he struggles because the damage is done - these struggles won’t go away, and he must learn to exist with them.

Amanda blames herself of course - she feels it’s her fault for not patching him up perfectly or whatever - but Christopher tells her she’s the only reason he’s still able to walk around at all, that without her he’d have ceased existing long ago; her efforts weren’t perfect but they did bring him back, they did keep alive until they could find a reliable and safe specialist who wouldn’t tattle to WeYu about them. After what happened to him, it’s miracle he’s operating at all - it’s a testament to how incredible she is that she got him working with no professional tools or experience.

He learns to live with the new struggles - but they’re not what bothers him the most. What truly bothers him, what he struggles to work through for a long time, is not knowing whether his growing feelings for Amanda are a result of the damage he suffered before being healed or if he was truly faulty anyway. He knows what happens to androids at Weyland-Yutani who are too human, who start to develop their own likes, dislikes, thoughts and feelings. He was made to do his job and serve the company, which he has done dutifully - until Amanda Tei Ripley appeared in his life. He wonders if his feelings are a result of how damaged he was and continues to be, and worries that it’s the beginning of a downward spiral: there are cases of dangerous androids who became “too human” and harmed those they were supposed to protect - and Christopher can’t bear the thought of it, can’t bear the idea that he could turn and hurt Amanda.

Christopher Samuels is not and never will be dangerous, and everyone knows that - except for him. He knows he’s perhaps being overly worried, but he can’t help it: the very idea that he could hurt Amanda is repugnant.

#ripuels #christopher samuels #amanda ripley #ripley x samuels #samuels x ripley #back on my bullshit 😎#alien #alien: isolation #also:#walter #alien: covenant #daniels x walter #walter x daniels #daniels branson #daniels

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rinisbowen · 8 months

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if you're not too busy, can you give your thoughts on season 4??? been missing your analyses!!

hey anon- i popped into this blog to post something completely unrelated, but seeing this ask i'll just do a semi-brief response to this: (news flash to the me who started this answer- this is no longer brief)

i haven't watched season 4. i've seen clips. i know the spoilers. i don't know that i will actually be watching it, sad as that is for me when there are certain things i wanted to watch develop properly... i might at some point, but it doesn't look to be something i necessarily want to actually properly watch start to finish...

before anyone comes at me for having strong opinions on a season i haven't watched top to bottom- don't. i don't need to have seen every shot to have a very solid understanding. i've seen a lot via socials... i "know what i'm talking about" to the extend i need to here. people are going to have their own subjective opinions, myself included, whether they've seen every second or haven't.

i told my friend on the phone when it came out that after seeing everything it seems like season 4 is more like retcon: the musical: the series...

if anyone has anything Specific they'd like talked about, i'd probably be happy/willing to do so, but admittedly, i'm not super keen on enduring the disrespect that was done to the early two seasons of the series...

also similarly- if anyone wants my thoughts on specific aspects of an alternative season 4... like things i could've envisioned for it pre- like- us getting any content... whether it's end of season 3 compliant or even like- conceptually compliant... i'm down to perhaps talk about that kind of stuff? or a sort of five season thought process... since obviously ending the series in the middle of the school year... pretty odd... especially with how they were acting like oh no this is the End...

my thoughts on this show are largely based in my understanding of the series format and arcs based in season 1 and season 2... season 2 is a very grounded season for all it tries to accomplish with limited degrees of success... i know people dislike it for various reasons, i think i actually like it for some of the reasons some people dislike it. and conversely a lot of people like season 3 for the reasons i dislike it. (and i'm not talking ships here folks- i'm talking stories and i'm talking style)

also for all i'm saying here- and this is definitely not to the degree of a traditional analysis post i would make... i would be willing to get into certain things if i am asked about them specifically.

before anyone comes here to scream at me- the thing i dislike about the season was the way it was done- not certain things being done in general. also i think it's a bit sad that they didn't think the story they were telling in season 4 couldn't stand on its own legs and needed all the associated retcon to make sense... there were ways to pull off a lot of what they wanted to accomplish- while still respecting the series and its roots

i think the conclusion i've come to in large part is that season 4 is not the same show as season 1. this is in a lot of ways, and for a lot of reasons. some out of the writers control. some just- due to changes in climate and in process. i know there's been more effort in the latter two seasons to listen to actors more with what they want, which changes things too. this can be a good thing in some cases and less so in others i tend to think (and this is an opinion i hold beyond this show)... i think there's been some disrespect done to different characters in different ways. i think characters have been somewhat reshaped to fit the narrative the show now wants to follow rather writing a narrative which fits the original characters. (and yes this can be done while having character growth/progression.)

---

one thing i'm very happy with, to end this post on a positive note: kourtney and her story. from all i've seen- she was handled very, very well this season, and it's wonderful to see how far this girl has come. she was only supposed to be a one episode character in season 1 initially before dara auditioned and changed the game, and i think that shows in kourtney's lack of initial depth that first season. she's gotten so much more to do, and i think dara's talents being showcased in the latter two seasons even more has been a wonderful thing. i'm thrilled- and i also love that kourtney got a very solid college arc, i think that was important to do with at least one of the characters, and i'm pleased it was her. she deserves it.

#hsmtmts discourse #hsmtmts s4 #answered #admin #//i want you to block me if you have the urge to comment something rude on this post. it's unnecessary. same for “uh actually” comments #//i'm probably not gonna be on this blog super frequently still- i said i was gonna work on my aus and i tbh have not had the motivation...#//but i still do not need rude commentary and i Am trying to be tactful #//even if i won't see it right away

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owl-with-a-pen · 2 years

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If you’re still interested in taking requests, I think it would literally the best thing ever if you could possibly incorporate the previously discussed Naltorian affection headcanons into a fluffy lil piece.

So, this is obviously - very - late, but on the bright side it meant I was able to include a variety of the aforementioned headcanons! I hope you enjoy. 😊

Brainy hadn’t intended on expending quite so much of his focus on a singular task, but then Alex had asked for his assistance.

He’d been assigned with the duty of cleaning up an alien transmission from a ship that had been discovered in low-orbit earlier that day. Once the Super Friends were able to unscramble and translate the message, they would be better placed to understand whether the signal’s originator was friend, foe or – quite possibly – in need of their help.

The simulations Brainy had run confirmed his initial hypothesis that the threat-level of the entity was negligible, but Alex was nothing if not thorough. The Tower’s database was hindered by the limitations of its time period, and with a mind and speed that far outshone the storage of any high-grade twenty-first century computer, it had been clear that Brainy was the most efficient candidate for the job.

Unfortunately, this had led to him becoming somewhat inattentive to other obligations he’d had that day.

Namely, the movie marathon he and Nia had been planning.

It had been intended as a day of relaxation, for the two of them to enjoy a series of hand-picked classics they’d spent the better part of a week compiling. Why, Lena had caught them bickering just the other day about which decade's hits should make the list. Alex had even thrown in a couple of her own suggestions in an effort to defuse the situation. As a result, Terminator 2 had been begrudgingly accepted as a last-minute addition.

When the first movie began to play, however, Brainy had made certain that his task would not distract him. He’d kept his audio processing at full capacity to capture every second of dialogue expressed in the film. His hand remained an inch above his tablet, downloading the data he required for the transmission directly into his thought tracks so that he wouldn’t need to sacrifice his visuals of the movie as well.

His focus level had started within acceptable parameters, but as the transmission took up more and more of his required attention, he found that he was unable to delegate certain tasks to his background functions quite so easily.

Soon, he was receiving a real-time feedback lag from all sensory inputs, long enough that his reactions to the movie’s various twists and turns were delayed by almost 2 and a half seconds. Something he was certain that Nia was beginning to pick up on, especially when he flinched three seconds too late at Indiana Jones’ famous encounter with a pit of snakes.

Frustration knotted itself inside of Brainy’s chest. This should not have been as hard as it was. Uninhibited, and thereby unencumbered by previous mental restraints, refining the transmission from a ship that was well within Earth’s own atmosphere at the time of its detection should have been – as Nia would put it – a piece of cake.

Brainy had never fully understood that particular idiomatic expression, but he enjoyed the phrasing all the same, even if it did only serve in making him feel hungry.

Brainy frowned, blinking out from the surface-level code that had been running through his thought tracks like white noise. He was getting distracted again, his mind branching off into far too many directions to keep track of. And yet, no matter how many branches he seemed to create, they all spiralled back to one thought in particular.

Nia.

By losing himself to his work, ruining the day they’d had planned in the process, he would surely disappoint her.

After everything that had happened, he had promised to devote himself to her. That he would never leave her again. Whether that was for a self-proclaimed mission, another time period, or, in this case, a task that could have been completed at a far more beneficial time for them both. He had wanted to be there for her, to enjoy every uninterrupted moment they could share together and together alone, to- to—

Brainy stilled suddenly when he felt Nia shift towards him on the couch, pressing herself up against his shoulder. She’d been watching the movie quietly up until then, politely ignoring the fact that Brainy’s mind had been galaxies away.

He felt the soft tickle of her hair as she inclined her head towards him, bumping her forehead inquisitively against his temple. It was a gentle but adamant tap, one that asked nothing of him, but communicated her feelings quite clearly all the same.

Brainy sighed evenly through his nose, letting his eyes flicker shut as the knot in his chest began to unfurl.

This, Brainy had learned, was a very specific form of Naltorian affection - something he had at first been subject to by Nura years ago when she’d used to joke around with him in his lab.

And, had it stayed as just an insistent little bump of the forehead, perhaps the tone of Nia’s message would have been solely construed as a playful one.

Naltorian affection was both immensely complex and also an endless source of intrigue to study. So much of a Naltorian’s power was based in the dreamscape, which required a level of vulnerability to the waking world that many species never willingly showed. It often meant that a Naltorian was guarded around acquaintances, friends, even people in their social circle that they had known for quite some time.

But, when they found someone they trusted…

Nia nuzzled her face into Brainy’s jaw, obstructing any chance he had at a coherent train of thought – not that he minded in the slightest.

The flutter of her lashes tickled against his cheek as she buried herself into his side. Brainy smiled, severing his connection with his tablet the moment the warmth of Nia’s lips brushed along his face, followed by the insistent friction of her cheek and temple as they grazed at his jaw with more fervour than before.

When she pulled away, Brainy opened his eyes to find Nia’s, bright with mischief, just inches from his own. She was knelt up on the couch now, one knee resting atop his leg. Her hands, he realised belatedly, had been exploring along the neckline of his t-shirt. She curled her fingers into the fabric there, her knuckles pressing playfully against his collar bone.

“Hey,” Nia murmured.

Brainy’s smile widened. He leant forward, prodding his nose gently against her cheek. “Hey,” he echoed.

Nia grinned back, elated by his open reciprocation. Her gaze wandered over to the tablet balanced precariously on the sofa’s arm, her expression beginning to sober. “Want me to take a look at that transmission?” she asked seriously. “A fresh set of eyes might help.”

Ah, so she had noticed. Brainy’s smile softened, and he bumped his forehead into hers to convey his gratitude. “I would like that,” he said earnestly. “Just… not right now.”

Nia chuckled, nodding her understanding. “Want to give our movie marathon another shot?”

“I should have been giving it my complete attention from the start,” Brainy admitted, regret catching in his voice. “Nia, I’m so sorry—"

“Hey,” Nia said quickly, pressing her forehead into his. She held herself there for a while, long enough that Brainy felt the heat of her skin spread down across the bridge of his nose, warming his cheeks. Brainy sighed out, relaxing into her touch.

“It’s okay,” Nia said. “Brainy, you’re here with me in every way that matters. Besides,” she huffed out a short laugh, “you’re doing your job. It might suck, but we can’t just stop being heroes because we have other plans.”

“Perhaps,” Brainy conceded, a conspiratorial smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. “Although, I don’t calculate any calamities occurring if this particular task of Alex’s is… postponed for the time being.”

Nia leaned back, raising her brow in approval. “Oh, well, in that case.” She reached out for the remote, rewinding the movie back by fifteen minutes as she leant her weight fully into his chest, curling onto his lap. She pecked his cheek, winking up at him with feigned seriousness. “I expect your complete and undivided attention.”

Brainy grinned, eagerly wrapping his arms around his girlfriend’s waist. “Duly noted.”

--- --- ---

It was half an hour later when Brainy heard it.

They’d since manoeuvred themselves so that they could lie against each other on the couch. Nia was snuggled into Brainy’s shoulder, her eyes half lidded, lips parted, soft breaths warming the side of his face in gentle staggered puffs.

It was through those parted lips that Brainy could detect a soft rumble, issuing from somewhere deep within Nia’s chest.

The sound alone was enough to make Brainy smile. In tone, it wasn’t far off from the purr of an Earth-born feline. It was a rare sound in of itself, one that only occurred when a Naltorian was succumbing to a totally unguarded sleep state.

When Brainy had first heard Nia make that sound some months ago, the intensity of his emotional reaction had been enough to bring tears to his eyes. There was a certain level of trust that came with the physical way in which Naltorians communicated their care for others, but none was stronger than when they entrusted a person they loved to see them at their most vulnerable.

Brainy had vowed on that day that he would never fall short of that trust.

Movie all but forgotten, Brainy watched on fondly as Nia dozed, carding his fingers gently through her hair. Impulsively, he bumped his forehead against hers, swallowing down a laugh when her lashes fluttered and she tipped her head up to nuzzle her nose half-consciously into his jaw, a dream-weary sigh catching against the corner of Brainy’s mouth. Brainy listened intently as the purrs inside her chest rumbled louder still, thrilling at the added layer of contact he had instigated.

Brainy let Nia latch to his side, her face resting against the crook of his throat as she continued to purr.

A giddiness swarmed inside of Brainy’s stomach, urging him to express his own feelings in some way. He had been reminded time and time again not to shy away from the emotions his uninhibited mind had unleashed, and while purring was not precisely a Coluan reaction to excitement or joy, under the circumstances, it felt perfect.

Replicating frequencies was the first step in mimicking most languages or voices. Brainy only needed a moment to memorise a brief snippet of recorded audio before running it through his voice modulator, making the necessary adjustments.

When he had, Brainy breathed in deeply before popping the proverbial lid to his emotions, releasing the sound from deep within his centre. It was a modified replication, a rumble that echoed with its own mechanised undertone, but was still unmistakably gentle in intention. After his first meet with Kara, Brainy had taken great interest in studying the healing qualities of feline purring, and had even gone as far as recreating certain frequencies to output when Nia had been sick or injured.

Now, though, the sound was of no one’s benefit but his own. A simple way to express how content he felt in that moment, and how grateful and jubilantt he was that Nia had found that same contentment with him.

He was rewarded a second later when Nia relaxed totally in his arms, her purrs continuing to beat against his throat in unbroken strings of sound.

And so, Brainy purred on in kind, enough that the sound of the TV soon faded out completely, replaced in totality by the ever calming symphony of synchronised hums.

#supergirl #brainia #nia nal #brainiac 5 #supergirl fanfiction #my writing #my asks #jammatown919 #yes i did the Purring Headcanon i HAD to sneak it in at the end it's too adorable not to #forgive me if this reads as rushed i didn't have much time to refine it but i hope you like nonetheless!#a lil bit of brainia to start off the week 😂

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ddarker-dreams · 3 years

Text

Yan Childe, Diluc, Kaeya, Zhongli, Beidou & Ningguang / Courting Darling.

Warnings: Stalking, implied blackmail, kidnapping, and gaslighting. Note: this is a bit of an amalgamation from different asks i’ve gotten, put into one thing bc i thirst for these six characters so hard .

Childe:

“What’s life without a little adventure? You can stand to miss work for a day or two, it’ll still be there waiting for you when we get back. People have even gone so far as to say I’m an absolute joy to be around. You want to know who said that? Sorry, that source is staying a secret.”

Childe is an erratic whirlwind of highs and lows. You never know what to expect from him, and he likes it that way, always keeping you on your toes. He doesn’t bother with having his friendliness appear genuine. If you want to doubt his goodwill, then so be it, he won’t stop you. It just makes it all the more interesting to keep you around should you be wary of his presence.

He doesn’t care for the traditional conventions surrounding romance. It isn’t his thing, and he’s used to being considered the odd one out of every crowd, so why stop now? Childe doesn’t tone down any aspects of his bloodthirsty personality in your presence. It’s difficult to tell how serious he’s being since most of it takes the form of jokes or other lighthearted jests. In his mind, the fact he’s even spending so much time with you should make it obvious he’s interested. Whether that’s good or not.

You’re going to be dragged all over the place. Childe’s stamina is seemingly an infinite well, as he takes you from activity to activity. By the end of the day, you’ll be exhausted. Unfortunately, he doesn’t take no for an answer, weaseling his way into your schedule despite your protests. Childe is particularly fond of getting into situations where a fight is inevitable, purposefully taking you to areas with monsters to show off his combat prowess.

“Did you get a look at that, [First]? Aha, I haven’t had this much fun in ages! You already want to head back? Hm, I don’t know, the night is still young. Stop dragging your feet or I might just have to carry you. Not that I’m complaining, should that be the outcome. It’s up to you. Oh! Now that’s the spirit! I’ll try not to be hurt by how fast you’re moving now.”

Diluc:

“Ah, [First], I take it you’re doing well. I couldn’t help but notice you eyeing this book at the market earlier. I’ve had a copy of it for ages, but with how busy things are, rarely do I have time to read. I’d be appreciative should you accept this and give it a better home.”

Diluc is self-assured in many areas of his life, romance is not one of them. He knows how to carry himself in the company of businessmen, staying polite and vigilant, but this rigid method doesn’t work in his favor when it comes to wooing you. To soften the blow on his side, Diluc tells himself that it was never about a relationship anyway. That his main priority was and will always be to ensure your safety. He tells himself this, but... isn’t sure if he really believes it.

He’s a perfect example of pining from afar. Subconsciously, he’ll drift towards areas you tend to linger around, hoping to spot you amidst the bustling crowds. Each time he tells himself that this’ll finally be the time he approaches you. The opportunity is set before him, waiting to be taken advantage of, but he rarely follows through with his desire.

It frustrates Diluc to no end how easily others flock to you. He’ll stand there, still as a statue, eyes boring into whatever pest currently holds your attention. This would be the push to finally send him your way. It’s a surprise to you both when Mondstadt’s wine tycoon materializes by your side, politely asking to speak in private. Truth be told, he just can’t stand the thought of another person holding your attention that isn’t him.

“I apologize for my abruptness back there. There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you about for some time, and well... would you consider having dinner with me tonight? I’d appreciate your company.”

Kaeya:

“It’s a funny thing, really. How we keep bumping into one another like this. Ah... that suspicious expression, it wounds me deep, sweetheart. When did you start looking at me like that, I wonder?”

There’s no doubting Kaeya’s interest in you, from the first time he sauntered over to you and started a conversation. The problem you have is deciding how genuine his advances are. While Kaeya might not be the textbook definition of a heart-wrenching playboy, you’re familiar enough with the many rumors surrounding him to be wary. It doesn’t help that he’ll point this out to you when guessing the source of your apprehension.

His methods are, oddly enough, effective. Kaeya balances the various aspects of seduction with ease. He reveals just enough about himself to draw out your attention, before focusing the conversation back onto you. You’ll never get to stop and realize how little you know about the man sitting in front of you, he makes certain of that.

Kaeya might hide certain aspects of himself, but his dubious morality is never concealed. He has you entirely wrapped around his finger, words validating his actions falling from his lips with the utmost ease; he’s a force to be reckoned with. You’ll start a conversation heated about something you’ve learned, only for it to end wondering why you were ever upset in the first place.

“Now, now, there’s no need to get all riled up over something like this. Don’t you trust me by now? When have I ever given you reason to doubt me? You need to take a look at the bigger picture. Hey, take a seat. I’ll sit here all night explaining to you if it’s necessary.”

→[More underneath the cut].

Zhongli:

“There must be something that I can assist you with. It may not look it, but I’m familiar with many fields of work, even obscure ones. Please allow me to lend a hand.”

Zhongli, despite having been around for many centuries, is somewhat clueless in romantic pursuits. He’s aware of his fondness for you, but doesn’t know what to do with it. This leads him to becoming your shadow for some time. He focuses on what he knows best: observation and processing new information. Your every little movement will be analyzed and tuck into the back of his mind for later usage.

Zhongli’s soft over the idea of you coming to rely on him for everything. He prides himself on his wealth of knowledge and work ethic, believing it a strong appeal, one that he puts on full display when you’re around. It’s not rare for you to overhear neighbors and friends speak highly about Zhongli. They’ll mention in passing how they were having difficulty with something, only for Zhongli to come around and help without asking for anything in return.

This is exactly what he’s been hoping and waiting for. Zhongli has patience and sets himself up to be a desirable partner in your eyes, the efforts from his labor coming into fruition. Before you even speak to him for the first time, you’re likely to think highly of him, having heard all the ways he’s helped people close to you. Now that the stage is properly set, he’s ready to make his interest in you more evident.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, [First]. Oh? You can say the same for me? Well, I hope I can live up to your expectations. I had just been on my way to Yanshang Teahouse, would you care to join me? My treat, of course.”

Beidou:

“You haven’t lived until you’ve experienced a voyage with my crew and I. I’ll set up a nice cabin just for you, how does that sound? Hm? Special treatment? Don’t worry your pretty little head about that, lass.”

Beidou’s attention is overwhelming and oftentimes dangerous. Traditional social conventions are nothing but a waste of time for her, meaning that common courtesy is disregarded in favor of always speaking her mind. Which might not be so bad if she wasn’t so amorous. Even the most oblivious person couldn’t miss Beidou’s overt favor towards you.

This reverent display of affection is only exacerbated when she’s drunk, face flushed and an arm swung tightly around your shoulder. She doesn’t care who sees, who’s judging, or what gossip will be born from her actions. Beidou makes a point of showing everyone in the vicinity that even if you aren’t officially partners yet, a claim has been staked on you.

Whether it be coercion or some other unsightly method, Beidou is intent on bringing you on her ship at least once. Or that’s how she initially phrased it to you. Imagine your surprise, that when you finally caved so she’d drop the subject, her crew was untying the ropes keeping the boat at port.

“The fun’s just getting started, you haven’t seen anything yet. Don’t get all teary-eyed yet, sweetheart, I know you’ll come around. This’ll be a story sung by sailors for generations to come.”

Ningguang:

“If I’m being honest, not many are given the opportunity to speak to me outside of business-related ventures. I never thought I’d find it this... pleasant. I hope you’ll continue to entertain me as you do now.”

Ningguang starts off her wooing in a subtle, almost coquettish manner. She is confident in her charm and brilliance. Not many have been gifted in the art of conversation to the same extent Ningguang has, her silver tongue paired with quick intellect making it difficult for you to escape. She’ll corner you verbally without you even noticing it.

Ningguang finds amusement in how you stumble over your words, pure of heart and not chained down by special interests. Your forthright but considerate demeanor intoxicates her. She’s used to people cowering in her presence or trying too hard to pursue their goals. You might even earn a rare compliment or two, disguised as politeness, that doesn’t register for hours.

She is a lady of fine taste. The sky’s the limit when it comes to her wealth, which is unrivaled throughout Tevyat, and you’ll be quick to notice this. Ningguang is most partial to sending you traditional Liyue adornments, believing the rich culture behind each piece suits your beauty. She’s also fond of the fact that when you wear her gifts, everyone in the vicinity will know it’s from her, due to its extraordinarily high cost.

“Do you like my latest gift, little dove? It was made custom with you in mind, an unrivaled display of craftmanship, if I may add. Wear this and carry me with you... always.”

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rainydaydream-gal18 · 3 years

Text

(Bad Batch) Visiting the Caves

Imagine: You and the Bad Batch check out a tourist attraction on the planet you stop on- miles of underground caves that you get to see on a tour.

(Author’s Note: I made myself nearly tear up with this one, so I hope you enjoy it. I’ve got some asks in my inbox, and I will be getting to those soon! For now, enjoy this bucket of feels).

You and the group arrive at the main entrance in civies, and everyone is excited. Wrecker, Tech, and Omega are buzzing with conversation about the cool stuff they'll see. Hunter is doing a mental headcount to make sure everyone's present. Echo is waiting patiently by the door. Crosshair doesn't say much, but he's quietly smirking at everyone's interest and casting occasional glances at the entrance.

Upon entering the main visitor center, everyone scatters. Wrecker and Echo are looking at photos of the caves that are hanging on the board. Tech is loading up on brochures and informational booklets. While Hunter is getting the tickets, Omega is all over the room inspecting the rock displays. Crosshair does a survey of the place before joining Wrecker and Echo by the board. Finally, everything is paid for, and the tour begins. You fall into step with the group in the dimly-lit cave, following the tour guide along the walkway.

Hunter is finally able to relax a little and enjoy the sights, though he still has one eye open to make sure the squad doesn’t get into any trouble. He is fairly attentive to what the tour guide is saying, but is more focused on the aesthetic beauty of the caves rather than the information. If you are Hunter’s date, he will quietly take your hand in his during the tour and cast you subtle affectionate looks. He finds going through the tour with you romantic, even when surrounded by the whole squad. Hunter might even take an opportunity to whisper how beautiful you are when the others are preoccupied.

Tech is absorbing the information, though most of it is stuff he already knew or just read up on in the brochures. He still listens closely and will offer up more details if he feels it necessary. Even though he is focused on the science behind the formation of the caves, he is no less impressed by the sight and speaks about it with wonder. If you are his date, he’d be at your side the entire time, his shoulder bumping yours, and watching your smiles and expressions of amazement. He loves seeing you enjoying it as much as he is, and sometimes you’ll catch his stare and feel the warmth in your face.

Echo is the most attentive, listening carefully and letting the tour guide know he is interested. He also asks questions and points out anything neat he sees to Omega. Occasionally, he gives Tech pointed looks if his teammate drowns out the tour guide with his own spew of information. If you are his date, then you’ll spend most of the tour holding his hand - only letting go when he wants to point something out to Omega. You’ll catch his eye a lot, whether he’s giving you an amused glance at something your teammates did, or an affectionate gaze every now and then.

Crosshair talks the least, of course, but he is no less fascinated by the caves. During the tour, his eyes wander. At one point, he might even fall behind the rest of the group if he spies something particularly interesting or beautiful. If you are his date, then there may not be as much conversation, but the two of you can enjoy the sights together. He’ll still be quite content listening to your comments and observations. He’s not big on public displays of affection, but he’ll hold your hand and slow down so the two of you fall back behind the group. Then, he’ll plant an occasional kiss on your temple, and you’ll catch him smiling more.

Wrecker can hardly contain his excitement. The others have to keep reminding him that he’s being a little too loud and that the caves carry his booming voice pretty far. He listens to the tour guide, but finds his mind wandering to other things that grab his attention. If you are his date, he’ll hold your hand the whole time and keep grinning at you. Expect him to be pointing out all sorts of things to you. If the group stays in one place for too long, he gets a little excited and wants to keep moving, so you give his hand a gentle squeeze and smile to distract him.

Omega is up front between Hunter and Echo, listening and raising her hand to ask questions. The tour is an hour long, but she’s no less excited at the end than she was when it first started. She loves learning about the rock formations and the science from both Tech and the tour guide. By now, everyone plays a part in looking after her. Even Crosshair keeps a protective eye on her if he thinks she’s wandered a little too far.

After the tour, the group ends up in the gift shop where there are lots of trinkets, gemstones, and fossils for sale. Everyone scatters again to wander the small aisles.

Hunter is browsing the jewelry. He might get himself a fossil on a black cord to keep. If you were his date, he’d get you a bracelet made of smooth multicolored gemstones. He likes the idea of a gift you can keep on you wherever you go, and it pleases him to glance over and see you wearing something he picked out you. Hunter is rather private about this sort of thing, so he is subtle about gifts. When you’re distracted, he slides the bracelet onto your wrist in a gentle motion, causing you to glance over in delighted surprise as he smiles at you.

Tech goes for a sample from the very caves he toured as a souvenir and to conduct his own tests back at the ship. If you were his date, he’d most likely get you a small rock collection complete with its own display case. The colorful stones would make a pretty decoration for your quarters and would be rather practical if you took interest in learning more about them. He’s surprisingly pretty sneaky and is able to get it for you when you went off to browse with one of the others for a while. He presents the collection to you somewhat hesitantly, observing your expression in hopes you like the gift.

Echo can’t decide on what to get for himself right away, so he focuses more on a gift for you. He ends up finding something for himself in the process. He picks out a heart-shaped worry stone in your favorite color. The smoothness of the stone is soothing to the touch, and he figures it would be a nice reminder of the day. As a thought afterward, he decides he’d like something similar. Echo takes your hand in his unexpectedly and places the smooth stone in your palm with a smile before showing you the one he got to match.

Crosshair knows he wants to get you a gift the second he sets foot in the shop, but he isn’t sure how to go about it. He’s not used to doing this sort of thing, and the thought of his squad seeing him browse the jewelry and teasing him leaves him mortified. Part of him wants to just ask you what you want, but he’d rather it be a surprise. He stresses over it until finally Wrecker notices something is off and gives him a nudge in the right direction. He even browses with him so he can look inconspicuous. Crosshair goes with a pretty gemstone necklace as a gift for you, and back on the ship, he fastens the jewelry around your neck from behind, hearing your gasp of surprise and seeing you turn around with a smile on your face.

Wrecker is excited to pick out a gift for you, though he isn’t exactly subtle. You catch him a few times holding up t-shirts toward you when he thinks you’re not looking before quickly hiding them behind his back when you turn to face him fully. Then you see him ducking behind the aisles to hide from you, making you chuckle. He is so excited that he can’t just pick out one thing, so he ends up giving you a little gift bag with assorted goodies: gemstone-colored pencils, a stuffed animal, a t-shirt... He hands it to you, rubbing the back of his neck shyly while you smile at how thoughtful he was.

At the end of the day, everyone returns to the ship quite happy about the visit. The group is still buzzing with conversation, and Omega has an armful of gifts from the shop and a big smile on her face. Everyone sits around and shows off the stuff they got for a while and talks about their favorite part of the tour, and you get the chance to cuddle up next to your favorite Bad Batcher.

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spockshocked · 3 years

Text

On “This Side of Paradise”

Watching the original Star Trek many decades after it aired, I cannot help but feel as though the conclusions I draw from certain lines, scenes, and even entire episodes must not be exactly as initially intended. Despite the caginess, both in canon and in external commentary, that Roddenberry and others employ in their discussions of the nature of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock’s relationship, and the subtext often burgeoning on text especially to a gay viewer, Spock’s perceived gayness extends beyond his ambiguous relationship with his Captain. Many of the cues that might cause a gay viewer to feel reflected by Spock come via the quirks of his Vulcan nature.

One episode which deals particularly with Spock’s internal conflict vis a vis his mixed heritage is “This Side of Paradise,” the 24th episode of the first season. Spock falls under the influence of alien spores that cause him to break down in what appears to be immense pain, before he confesses his love to a woman named Leila Kalomi, whose love for him had been unrequited for six years. Spock spends the majority of the episode under the influence of these spores, canoodling with Kalomi and giggling while hanging from a tree branch, until Kirk roughly snaps him out of it and the stoic science officer returns to himself. The spores appear to render their hosts relaxed, blissful, and dazed, an effect which can be undone through displays of strong negative emotion.

The most striking result of his time spent under the influence is the melancholy that seems to overtake him once the effect is broken. Once he has his bearings and realizes that Kirk has intentionally riled him so that the spores lose their hold, the first thing he says is:

SPOCK: The spores. They're gone. I don't belong anymore.

In the context of the episode, “belonging” is the eerie, almost cult-like description for one under the influence of the spores. Taken at face value, Spock’s comment is merely an observation that he is no longer being affected by them; Spock often makes somewhat banal comments seemingly for the benefit of the audience’s comprehension. However, this one seems to carry a double meaning. Consider Spock’s heritage: half-human and half-Vulcan, Spock constantly finds himself torn between two clashing cultures, truly “belonging” to neither. A substance that enables his full emotionality, effectively tipping the delicately balanced scales of his identity, provides a sort of relief. With the negation of its effects comes a return to the inner turmoil he experiences every moment of every day.

Spock felt like he belonged when he was able to feel and express romantic love for a woman. A simple reading of this might be that the ability to process emotion gave Spock a sense of belonging, but there is once again another, deeper analysis to be made. The assumption that gay couples would likely be commonplace by the 23rd century aside, the fact remains that the show was produced in the 1960s and there are no canon gay couples to be found. Therefore, it is possible to work within a metric where one might have a reason to remain closeted. If we approach Spock as a closeted gay man, then the female object of his affections becomes a key element in his feeling of “belonging.”

In typical Star Trek fashion, the exact effect produced by the spores is never elucidated. The implication seems to be that it provides some lowering of inhibitions and propensity for leisure. However, the spores could also be seen as pushing their hosts to pursue their ideal lives. Doctor McCoy gets notably more Southern, his accent thickening as he walks around singing the praises of the mint julep. It seems as though, while under the influence, he pursues things that remind him of the comforts of home.

Spock, however, has no such comforts. Instead, he becomes something he could never be: able to reciprocate the feelings of a beautiful young woman who has pined after him for years. Once the effect of the spores is broken, he must then break the news to her:

LEILA: I love you. I said that six years ago, and I can't seem to stop repeating myself. On Earth, you couldn't give anything of yourself. You couldn't even put your arms around me. We couldn't have anything together there. We couldn't have anything together anyplace else. We're happy here. [crying] I can't lose you now, Mister Spock. I can't.

SPOCK: I have a responsibility to this ship, to that man on the Bridge. I am what I am, Leila, and if there are self-made purgatories, then we all have to live in them. Mine can be no worse than someone else's.

Spock’s response is cool, as we have come to expect from him, but notably more candid that most of his observations about his own experiences. He starts by claiming a responsibility to not only the Enterprise, but to Kirk himself. This could be a simple declaration of loyalty to his captain, as it would almost certainly appear to Kalomi, or an allusion to some repressed feelings that would only register to him. His next line, however, carries some serious weight. “I am what I am” refers to his Vulcan heritage, but as is often the case, it could also easily be in reference to his own homosexuality. Either way, he is explaining why he is incapable of loving Kalomi; the difference is whether he is incapable of love at all, or of love for a woman. His “self-made purgatory” is both his entrapment between his Vulcan and human halves, and his repression of his sexuality.

Spock rarely speaks about his mixed heritage and the internal conflict it causes him, just as he rarely speaks of his own emotions at all, but it takes its toll on him. Briefly finding relief from this conflict only makes the return to it that much more difficult, causing him to be even more terse than usual. Kirk even points out that Spock has been quiet about the experience:

KIRK: We haven't heard much from you about Omicron Ceti III, Mr. Spock.

SPOCK: I have little to say about it, Captain, except that for the first time in my life I was happy.

Spock has spent his entire life trying and failing to completely repress his human emotions in an attempt to become fully Vulcan. When he finally has the chance to experience them in full, he breaks down in pain at the wave of repressed emotions before he finally experiences untainted joy “for the first time.” However, that is not his authentic self either. Neither a logical Vulcan nor an emotional human, he is eternally trapped between worlds, and was only able to find joy in a brief and unattainable fantasy. He is so discontent with his own nature that he cannot be happy as he is.

To a closeted viewer, this final line of the episode, delivered as dryly as always, is heartbreaking. The first time in Spock’s life that he was happy was when he ignored an integral part of himself that brought him pain in order to live a moment of a life that he could never have. To those who have repressed their sexuality, convincing themselves that they felt attraction to those of another sex because it was what would make them belong, watching Spock find joy in this fantasy only to be crushed when he must return to reality is painfully familiar.

Analysis of Spock and Kirk’s relationship is generally sufficient to read them as a gay couple. When Spock is viewed in isolation, however, he still comes across as gay to many viewers. Spock’s innate perceived gayness relies not on his attraction to men, but on his repression of his true self and of the emotions that he cannot bring himself to face. While chalked up by the show to his half-Vulcan heritage, it still strikes a chord in a very human gay viewer.

#star trek #tos #this side of paradise #analysis #spock #gay spock #spirk #mine #yes this is a paper i wrote for fun

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hauntdoesthings · 3 years

Text

Bakugou X Reader Angst

Author’s note: I don’t know why I felt the need to write this, but it hurt me and I refuse to suffer alone.

Context: Reader is quirkless and was in the support course at UA.

~~~

To be fair, this wasn't the first time you and Bakugou had butted heads. Even before you had started dating, you were both hot-headed and too stubborn to back down when you got fired up. Whether it was some miniscule mistake you'd made on his costume or him busting up your hard work from being too rough during training, your petty squabbles were notorious in UA. Most students feared them, going as far as leaving any room both of you happened to be in; the Bakusquad on the other hand, namely Mina and Denki, saw opportunity in your rivalry.

Mina's shipping habits were no secret in Class 1A. She was almost freakishly good at reading others' emotions and not at all shy about sharing her opinions and theories during sleepovers. You and Bakugou were in no way safe from her scheming mind.

It had only taken a few suggestions to Denki about how hilarious Bakugou's reaction would be to get him on board with her schemes. With Denki's support came Sero wanting to see how horribly wrong this could go and then Kirishima would easily cave to his friends' enthusiasm. So now the whole Bakusquad was plotting to trick you and Bakugou into falling in love between screaming matches.

It had worked surprisingly well for a group effort of four people with a collective braincell count of two and a half. After about ten times of you two being "accidentally" locked in the closet together, you had begun to see a calmer side to the hothead, and you were more hesitant to call him out on every little frustration he caused. He in turn had turned somewhat soft towards you, although he'd kill anyone who even suggested the idea. He had grown accustomed to your presence and might have even admitted to enjoying it, if only internally. Soon enough, no one needed to force either one of you into a cramped space to get you to tolerate each other. You started tagging along with the Bakusquad on hangouts and walks back to the dorms that soon turned into private outings with just you and Bakugou and long conversations that lasted all the way into his room. Nothing had been said about you two dating, it just seemed to come naturally.

Your similarities, the parts of yourselves that used to keep you for being able to so much as exist near each other without a fight breaking out, at times made understanding each other as easy as breathing.

At other times, it still caused the same old fights. Few had ever been quite as bad as when you first met, in fact, most were more playful teasing than anything. Even now, after you'd both graduated and were living together, you had both learned what was off limits for these arguments and avoided them as much as possible. In some cases though, certain issues were brought to ugly light and neither of you had ever quite learned to apologize.

It was just supposed to be a quick errand, but the thugs had come out of nowhere. They had your hands tied and your head in a bag before you could even process the hands dragging you into the alley. You could barely hear their words over your muffled yells, but it didn't matter when a familiar voice made them all freeze.

Bakugou had been doing his usual patrols when he caught a glimpse of a gang attempting a kidnapping. He waved whichever sidekick had tagged along to follow as he dashed into the alley, quickly preparing for a fight. Luckily, the mere sight of the powerful pro had immediately discouraged the wannabe criminals and the encounter ended without confrontation, at least between Bakugou and the villains. When he tugged off the bag to see you underneath, that was a whole different story.

He made short work of your restraints and picked you up, muttering to his sidekick to take in the criminals on their own. It was a quick walk to your shared home, but it felt like hours anticipating your boyfriend's anger. You could practically feel it rolling off him in waves, but you had both decided once he went pro to keep any fights private. Didn't need the media giving him a harder time than they already did.

The slam of your front door and your feet touching the floor brought you back to reality, to where Bakugou was glaring down at you.

You weren't sure how it had devolved from there, but the subject had ended up turning to your inability to defend yourself.

"Just because I can't fight as well as the number 2 hero," you practically hissed, "doesn't mean I can't handle myself if worst comes to worst."

"See, you say shit like that and then do absolutely nothing when you're about to get kidnapped!" One hand was buried in his hair, threatening to tear out the fibers. "I know I'm strong and you're always trusting me to save you, but this is hard for me too! Seriously, I have to spend too much time worried about your dumb ass getting yourself killed because you're-" He cut himself off, looking like he'd killed you himself.

There were about a thousand ways that sentence could have ended, but you both knew what he was about to say.

Quirkless.

It hung in the air like a death sentence. Whose death it would mean was anyone's guess.

Steeling your expression to cold anger, you turned on your heel to storm into the bedroom.

Bakugou didn't follow.

#bnha #bnha x reader #mha #mha x reader #bakugou #bakugou katsuki #bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #katsuki bakugou x reader

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hailbop1701 · 3 years

Text

Curing a Rainy Day

A sort of five times Star Trek gen fic for your viewing pleasure. I mentioned I would write it but please be aware that I wrote this on my phone late at night and I has no beta. Typos and mistakes will be found. 🤣

-H❤🖖

Word Count: 2,166

Sulu:

Leonard McCoy wasn’t a huge touchy-feely type of man. Well, that’s what he really wants folks to think anyway. He was a doctor and that meant it was his oath-bound duty to cure what ails his patients. Whether it was from a physical malady or an emotional one. The first time he initiated his “Rainy Day Cure” --title courtesy of his daughter-- to one of the command crew he was surprised that it was Sulu of all people. If Len were being honest he thought it would have been Jim. Sure he had hugged the kid in the past but he always let Jim be the one to initiate contact. The reason why is complicated and a story for another time.

When he found him the young pilot was huddled alone in Observation Room Five, his shoulders hunched, his down so his eyes were hidden and mind lightyears away. Leonard had a feeling he knew where. The chaos after Khan and Marcus had caused a lot of damage, and not all of it was physical. They were all still healing even a year later. They had left Kronos not three hours ago and according to the mission report, Sulu’s younger sister was…

Not who she claimed to be. ‘Yuki,’ McCoy recalled her name lamely as he made his way loudly over to the depressed man.

She revealed that she worked for Section 31 and was determined to fix the Federation the right way. Though the term “Right way” is skewed for many folks. War was almost started, again and the Enterprise had to stop it, again. Section 31 now had the last little pebble of Red Matter and was holding it like a…” Nuclear deterrent” as the old saying goes.

Shaking his head Leonard pushed recent events to the back of his mind and continued on his own mission. Plopping down on the couch that faced the giant window of stars, McCoy leaned forward so his elbows rested on his knees.

He didn’t offer his apologies or sympathies, he knew Sulu didn’t want them. So they sat in silence. Sulu just shook his head and looked up at the doctor with confusion and betrayal in his eyes. “I don’t - I” he stopped swallowing and the helmsman looked so young Leonard didn’t even think about it until after he had already done it.

He wrapped an arm over Hikaru’s shoulder and squeezed. Sulu stilled for a moment before relaxing and saying what needed to be said, a weight slowly lifting off his shoulders and his chest.

Scotty:

Leonard and Scotty were both having a terrible terrible time. The cold sucked in Leonard’s opinion and being trapped on an ice ball of a planet only confirmed his feelings. Looking over at the Enterprises Chief Engineer, Leonard had a feeling that he wasn’t alone in his thoughts and feelings.

The Scot was curled into a tight ball up against the last running console the entire ‘Fleet base had. He was shivering and muttering to himself, glaring at the distress signal he had rigged up. There was nothing they could do but wait. Rubbing his hands together to warm them Leonard moved toward the console and slid down to the floor next to Scotty. Touching shoulders with Scotty, McCoy tucked his hands under his arms and sighed. There was nothing he could really say to ease the engineer’s anxiety -- which stemmed from Delta Vega no doubt -- so he simply let his presence be enough.

Scotty glanced at Leonard to see that he was looking back at him with calm understanding. Grunting Scotty curled himself closer to the CMO and let the man wrap an arm around his shoulders. They didn’t speak a word and only moved when they heard the sounds of the rescue party on the other side of the sealed doors.

Chekov:

Pavel Chekov was the youngest of the command crew, so he was automatically protected and treated like the youngest sibling of a giant family. The navigator understood that his friends didn’t mean to and that it was just sometimes a reflex but he was getting damn tired of it. Today was his birthday, he had finally turned twenty! Chekov was so pleased to find that after the incident with Khan he was being treated like he should. There was one person who always treated him like he was young and precious.

Pavel found that he didn’t mind so much. Doctor McCoy treated almost everyone that way -- even though he wasn’t that much older than the rest of them -- in an almost fatherly manner. A true caretaker. Chekov allowed the behavior from no one but McCoy.

Leonard walked into “Rec Room Two” taking in the crowd with a softening scowl. A small wrapped parcel gripped in his hand. He looked down at the present, weighing it in his hands carefully. With a sigh, McCoy strode through the room looking for the birthday boy. Jim waved at him wildly from the other side of the room a huge grin on his face. Narrowing his eyes, Leonard saw that his captain wasn’t in fact drunk at all. Grunting in approval he smiled at Chekov who was hurrying over to greet him.

“Happy Birthday Pavel,”

Chekov grinned and his eyes widened at the present presented to him. Leonard gestured for him to open it and the young man did excitedly. The wrapping paper littered the floor a long black box in its place. Slowly opening the box the navigator knocked a silver antique pocket knife into his hands. Examining it closely he looked up at McCoy in confusion.

Leonard shifted nervously on his feet. Clearing his throat he pulled out a similar from his belt. “My daddy gave me this one to match his when I turned twenty. I know your pa wasn’t around as you grew up and so I thought…” his sentence fell into silence. For once Leonard McCoy was at a loss for words. Pavel quickly wiped a stray tear from his eye and grinned at his friend holding onto the gift tightly.

“Thank you doctor!” he said gratefully and Leonard understood that it was for more than just a knife. A small smile graced the CMO’s lips and pulled the kid in for a hug.

With anyone else, Pavel would have been annoyed. This was an exception.

Uhura:

Leonard was tired. He longed for his bed but as he looked around at all of the injured crew he pushed the longing away. There was no time for it. Rubbing the blurry fatigue from his eyes he pushed on. Triage, surgery, aftercare. He really didn’t truly stop to breathe until the middle of gamma shift when the ship was sleepy and quiet. The only noise was the soft beeps and whistles of monitors. His nurses quietly whispering and working.

Christine hours ago told him to stop worrying and to go to bed already but something in him just couldn’t. Blinking dumbly down at the PADD in his hands he sighed and signed off on the next round of Spock’s antibiotics. During the Enterprises most recent scuffle the bridge took a hit and the science station exploded sending the first officer flying, earning him a ticket to medical.

After the fight was over and things had only calmed down to a trickle of wounded instead of a flash flood, Nyota Uhura breezed through sickbay’s doors. She waited patiently and even helped where she could. When Spock came out of surgery and was placed in a private room she immediately went to his side and hasn’t moved an inch since. Jim would have been right beside her if he could afford to. But it appears the admiralty wanted words and had kept him busy since. McCoy had barely just convinced him to get some sleep saying that he would call if anything changes.

That was three hours ago.

Leonard walked -- though Nyota would say shuffled -- into Spock’s room, his eyes going straight to the monitors above the bed. The half Vulcan was resting peacefully. McCoy knew it was only a matter of time before he woke and would go into a healing trance. Something that should be monitored anyway. Leonard quietly wondered who he would grant the opportunity to slap Spock awake this time…

“Leonard!”

The sound of his name made the CMO snap his head in Uhura’s direction. Her eyes were fire, filled with frustration, exhaustion, and worry. McCoy winced, “Sorry Nyota, guess my mind wandered a bit,” he said somewhat sheepishly. Her expression softened a flash of guilt passing through her features.

“You need more rest. You’re going to run yourself into the ground at this rate,” she scolded half-heartedly. McCoy gave her a small smile and a shrug,

"I'll rest when I'm not needed." He whispered and badly covered up a yawn. The hidden meaning behind his words wasn't lost on the linguist though. She pressed her lips into a tight line deciding not to comment. Instead, she rested her gaze on Spock once more her hand inches away from his.

So deep in thought, Nyota hadn't even realized that McCoy had left and come back, a tray with a couple of hypos in his always unwavering hands. Catching her eyes he gave her another encouraging smile. He took care to tell her everything he was doing and how it would help keep infection away. Leonard knew he didn't have to explain but he felt it necessary to fill the quiet with "Illogical chatter" as Spock would surely call it.

Uhura was so tired and so frazzled that she was startled to find the CMO crouching in front of her with concern all over his face. "You need to get some rest Nyota. I can have a cot brought in if you'd like…"

Uhura, let a few tears fall before she bottled it up again. She shook her head wiping her face, "I'm alright Leo. Everything is just catching up to me…" she mumbled with a watery chuckle. Leonard snorted at the nickname she had given him,

"Just let me know darlin' "

And without truly thinking about it he pulled her into a hug. It only took Uhura a second to process what was happening before she wrapped her arms around him tightly. A genuine smile breaking across her face. The first time in hours she felt content, safe, and able to truly breathe.

Jim:

James T. Kirk was a touchy-feely type of man. Leonard supposed it may be from a less than stellar childhood. So whenever Jim would pull him into a one-armed hug or slapped his back or even leaned up against him, McCoy would let him. He would definitely bitch but only half-heartedly, Leonard needed to keep up appearances after all.

So when they found Jim partially dead, hanging from his wrists in a cave all smirks and charm…

Well, no one batted an eye when -- after he made sure that the man would live -- Leonard pulled his best friend in for a hug. Jim just laughed, laid an arm over McCoy's shoulder, and leaned into the hug.

"I only had to get tortured and offered to an alien God for you to hug me. Good to know,"

"Shut up Kid,"

Spock:

No one ever thought the words McCoy, Spock, and hug would ever be uttered but stranger things have happened on the Enterprise.

No stranger than an alien device that turned back time. In a physical sense anyway. Leonard looked down at his adolescent hands and sighed with a heavy eye roll. "Not this again," he grumbled with a shudder.

Looking around the room he saw Jim shouting at Mudd who had bought the alien weapon and decided to point it at him and Spock. McCoy tilted his head, his eyes going comically wide.

Spock!

Where was the green-blooded rugrat? Leonard looked around and sighed in relief at the sight of the first officer. He was hidden under a rickety wooden table. Crouching down Leonard gave Spock a small smile, he waved and gestured for the Vulcan to come closer. Apparently the younger you go the further your mind goes with it. Spock had a mentality of a...of well, a toddler. He couldn't have been more than two.

Spock stared at Leonard intensely before darting out and crashing into his legs. McCoy stumbled a little before he got his footing. Spock looked up at him with wide scared eyes, tears threatening to fall. 'Must have gotten all Vucan-y at four or five,' Leonard thought as he picked up his friend.

Leonard pulled Spock close, hugging him to his chest whispering softly. Spock seemed confused for only a moment before he buried his head into the young CMO's neck.

Jim of course saw it all and later under the threat of meeting his end via an airlock kept his mouth firmly shut. The only thing the Starship Captain said -- which everyone agreed-- Doctor Leonard McCoy could absolutely cure a rainy day.

Tags:

@lauraaan182, @chickadee-djarin, @cowenby2, @bluesclues-1234, @sayuri9908,

#star trek aos #leonard mccoy #leonard bones mccoy #jim kirk #james t kirk #spock #mister spick #nyota uhura #pavel chekov #hikaru sulu #montgomery scott #fanfiction #hailey the queen of typos

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mrpenguinpants · 3 years

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Hello its 11:47pm and I should be doing finals BUT stay in school, I realized Childe and Kaeya have a similar white/light streak of hair, both same side and in a similar location, so now I'm bringing this to your attention, goodnight -Lucky

Haha, trust me. I am the last person to judge you on whether you should be a good student or not. I'm nearly 29 hours of being awake and I'm ready for death honestly.

I remember a while ago about a post that said something about that. I don't remember the specifics but I think it mentioned how both Kaeya and the Fatui Harbingers share a light streak of hair. I don't know if Signora has one or if it's specific to the male Harbingers but Scaramouche has one of the back of his hair [around his neck].

I wonder if you can tell I'm answering this ask at 6am haha. My brainworms are buzzing around in my head. Okay, let me stretch my fingers out. Get out the markers and continue my "this doesn't make any sense but I'm pretending this is canon lore" whiteboard theory.

Side note: I completely fucked this up and made a reverse dark au instead.

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There's no way this comes true so let's pretend this is an AU. Instead of Abyss Prince Kaeya, what if we have Fatui Harbinger Kaeya? In Liyue, they had Childe. In Inazuma, they have Scaramouche. While yes, you can technically argue Dottore/Signora is a part of Mondstadt, they don't really stay for very long. We don't know what exactly Scaramouche is doing but he did say he was an Inazuma envoy [I think, I don't remember]. There isn't technically a Fatui Harbinger stationed there so what if Kaeya is secretly a Fatui Harbinger? After getting basically disowned by Diluc and receiving his cryo vision. He was approached by the Fatui to join their ranks.

This is just an excuse to say wow, the Harbingers seem to have really specific and flashy clothing. I wonder who else I know dresses the same?

I also just want to mention that apparently initiation into the Harbingers is to dye your hair lol.

We can go even further and say that Kaeya is a double agent for Mondstadt as well. I highly doubt Diluc wouldn't be aware that Kaeya was a part of the Fatui, but if he was a double agent, then Diluc might not rat him out. Possibly. Or we can pretend Diluc is an idiot and never finds out.

Or even better, Mondstadt puts too much faith into Kaeya that even if Diluc does tell someone, no one would believe him. This is literally an excuse for me to expose my inner Kaeya simp and how in the manga, when he played the bad guy and stabbed a child? Yeah, let's bring that Kaeya back. I want him to drop the flirty but still somewhat nice nature and go full "I'm an arrogant piece of shit and there's nothing you can really do about it because no one would believe you" attitude.

Honestly, I've completely side-tracked myself at this point but I'm ready to commit to an entire dark reverse au right now. Give me cynical Kaeya with playboy Diluc. Rip to Diona tho lol. I just want Diluc and Kaeya to be shitty people together ok?? Or hey, we don't even need to change their personalities that much, just take their morality compass and chuck it out the window.

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Okay okay. Look at me. Kaeya is still the abyss prince but instead of being adopted into Diluc's family, he gets picked up by the Fatui. Instead of growing up with Diluc, he grows up with Childe instead [@cattycattitude is feeding my inner Kaeya x Childe simp, it's a valid ship ok??]. While he still retains his flirty personality that we see in Mondstadt Kaeya, he's a lot crueller and uses insults as compliments. While Mondstadt Kaeya is a "the ends justify the means". Dark Kaeya's thought process is "if someone isn't dead by the end of this, I'm doing something wrong". Meanwhile, with Diluc, his dad is still dead but he doesn't suffer the betrayal that Kaeya gave him. Thus he never goes on that soul searching journey and becomes this really hot-headed but really friendly guy. He's still pretty aloof but approachable since he doesn't have a reason to not trust people.

Even going to Liyue characters and Zhongli?? Who is Guizhong? We don't know her, she doesn't exist in this AU or she died super early. Zhongli remains as Morax and never adopts his human persona, thus never really learns about empathy or humanity. He's borderline a dictator and doesn't see himself ever in the wrong, he's helping his people. Whether they want him to or not, and why wouldn't they? He's their archon so that's enough reason for him to do what he wants. He's not specifically cruel or wants to harm his people, this is just the only way he knows how to do it.

Also, Childe never falls into the Abyss. Do what you want with that information.

Fuck it honestly, we might as well just combine everything. I'm ready to drop dark reverse au Kaeya meeting Mondstadt Kaeya. I think they would hate each other haha.

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Either way, here is my AU food. Go wild. I'm going to sleep now. I have another idea about Dad Zhongli + Adeptus Reader w/ Minx but I need to iron that out a bit.

I'm not editing this. This is pure word vomit and I'm not apologizing. This is why you people need to lock me out of tumblr when it's 6am.

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