#Like even if we want to take a cynical approach and think of it as Josh just latching onto Zach in the Daryl situation because he was There | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

emo-batboy · 8 months

Text

Battinson and the JL ft. His Eventual Identity Reveal

(If you’re just here for the cutesy bits, skip to Attempt #2. Otherwise, STRAP IN CUZ IT’S A LOT)

Bruce Wayne of Matt Reeves’ The Batman is not the founder type.

He wouldn’t voluntarily join a book club, much less join a league of super powered vigilantes whom he does not know personally.

So in this universe, you probably wouldn’t call him one of the three Founding members.

But he’s still integral to the formation of the Justice League

It starts out with a friendly visit :)

Bruce is patrolling on a random night in Gotham when he notices a weird thing in the sky. It’s floating just far enough behind him that a less vigilant person wouldn’t have noticed, but Bruce is always watching his own back, and he takes it as a threat.

He strays from his usual path and then heads to a warehouse roof before turning to face the threat.

It’s Superman. All smiley and dressed in primary colors. The strongest, most powerful being on Earth just floating over like he wasn’t stalking Batman a second ago. Bruce does not like that.

“What do you want with Gotham?” He asks. “I don’t,” Superman says. “I wanted to talk to The Batman.” So this is some kind of fight? An intervention? A warning? Then Superman frowns. “You…are The Batman, right?”

Bruce only nods as he considers his options, but he can’t really do that when Superman has super speed, super sight, super strength, super breath, super lots-of-things-that-Batman-probably-doesn’t-know-of.

Then Superman surprises him by landing on the roof and giving him this pitch about a superhero group.

Superman and a few other vigilantes have been bouncing around the idea of teaming up together so they can help one another protect their cities. And The Batman was a “perfect candidate.”

“I’m not joining your club.” “It’s not a club. It’s a league.” “What’s your mission statement, then?” “A what?” Bruce fights the urge to roll his eyes. He still doesn’t trust this guy. “Take your league idea back to the drawing board then we can talk.” He does not intend on talking.

But two months later, Superman is back. This time, he brings another super powered vigilante named Wonder Woman.

She smiles, politely approaches him, and says “Superman tells me you want to learn more about our league.” That is not what he said, but he doesn’t bite.

Bruce can’t decide which they remind him of more: college recruiters or cult leaders. But because Wonder Woman genuinely seems to care about seeing this project through, and the roster she has of current like-minded vigilantes is impressive, he lets her talk.

And to give her credit, she definitely thought out the logistics more. It almost makes up for the time they’re wasting.

Okay, fine. They’re still way behind on concept, and it’s pitiful. He actually feels bad.

They obviously care! They just have no idea how to run a business like he does. Is it a bit cynical to think of this league of Justice as a business? Yes, but that’s the only way he can even conceive this happening and working.

Bruce asks about their organization’s leadership structure, and that’s when Wonder Woman falters a bit. “We want to work with each other, not for.” Bruce bites his tongue on that subject.

He asks about their scope of work. “We want to help as many people as we can, but that can be ironed out later.” Bruce bites his tongue on that subject.

He asks “Who’s funding this?” She answers, “We have a few members willing to pitch in, but the majority will have to come from generous citizens.” And that’s when he just stops asking questions. Because what?

If he could cry the grease paint off, he would.

They can’t just think every super-powered vigilante is going to sing Kumbaya and braid each other’s hair. There needs to be checks and balances within the organization to avoid tyranny and corruption. They need a reliable source of donations (that doesn’t immediately out Bruce.) They need a proper chain of command. They need to map out their area of responsibility. They need to design a VERY strict vetting process. It’s not sunshine and rainbows. It’s hard work!

So he says he’ll think about it again and complains to Alfred about the weird super stalkers.

But for SOME reason, Alfred doesn’t see the problem

Alfred encourages him to join so he can “make some friends.” But how can he trust these people if they can’t even make a half-decent pitch? It’s like a bad episode of Shark Tank.

And “make friends?” They’re all masked

But after a week of gentle nudging (read: very firm lectures), Bruce agrees. ONLY to keep tabs on the rest of the vigilante world and possible threats to Gotham

(And without his help, they’ll probably butt-dial Lex Luthor the nuclear codes or something)

And he is damn well going to figure out who these people really are before he helps them make a Super Organization.

Alfred figures out about half of their secret identities purely as a brain exercise while Bruce is out fighting crime and collecting head injuries like Pokémon cards. They figure out the rest together.

They also develop contingency plans for every single member. Just in case.

And after months of Batman being visited by random vigilantes, whom he has several choice words for about personal space—“This is my city. Go away.”—he accepts. On several conditions.

Not all of them are appreciated.

Attempt #1: “Making Friends”

After several scheduling conflicts, a lot of prep work, and a really good hype session in front of the mirror, Bruce heads on over to the first official meeting.

Batman arrives with a long list of things they need to do before going public. The first thing on the list?

Write A Mission Statement

What the fuck are they actually trying to do? Bruce thinks this is a great starting point.

And you’d think (you’d think) this Justice League thing would be easier to tolerate than the drawn-out exec meetings he has to sit through with boring, old businessmen who keep delaying things so they can hash out every little detail.

To Bruce’s absolute horror, he BECOMES the boring businessman who’s delaying things so they can hash out every little detail. He misses the boring, old businessmen. At least they knew what they were doing.

Every turn, he is argued with.

“Why do we need a mission statement?” “‘Power Structure’ feels authoritarian. Can’t we just share leadership duties?” “Do we really need this much paperwork?”

Bruce has the audacity to say, “We need to develop some sort of protocol that helps us analyze any possible threat.” But no. “Why can’t I just jump in? I have eyes.” “Jumping in without studying an opponent’s behavior could cause more harm than good,” he insists. “So what? I’m going to watch an alien monster go on a rampage through my city instead of fighting it?” “Yes. You don’t know what it’s capable of.”

Bruce already regrets joining.

All he hears is the others gossiping. “Is this guy really telling us how to be heroes?” “He’s got a major stick up his ass.” “I knew we shouldn’t have let him join.” And if that doesn’t dissuade him, he doesn’t know what will.

“How was the first meeting?” Alfred asks. Bruce scowls. “I’m not making friends.”

Nonetheless, Bruce sticks it out for weeks until they have some semblance of an organization. And, to his shock and amazement, it…kind of works.

The Justice League makes its debut, and Wayne Enterprises generously donates some money “out of spite” after Lex Luthor publicly denounces the league. (Honestly, Bruce would too if he hadn’t personally duct-taped it together himself.)

But the league starts small, just like he told them, they respond to natural disasters and public safety threats first (as per the outreach initiative) and focus on protecting communities in need (as per the mission statement.)

Yes, they still think Batman has a stick up his ass because he’s a stickler for writing incident reports, but no one else reads them so he has the right to be pissed.

He’s almost kind of sort of content with how it’s going. Even his reputation as a vigilante is improving.

That’s when another glaring difference between him and the other members appears.

Despite looking the same age as the rest of the team, Bruce is actually much younger?? Even excluding the aliens, gods, etc.

Most of his teammates are in their late 30’s, early 40’s. Meanwhile, Bruce is at the ripe age of 29 and a half.

He is the youngest by ten years.

Everyone kind of just assumes he’s the same age, though, so they make references to 80’s kids stuff that he only vaguely understands through Alfred and his business partners. He just sits there in silence like a child who snuck over to the adult table and is waiting to get caught.

So on top of the rift he (accidentally) created when they started the organization, it’s even harder to connect through similar interests. Other than punching people together.

And Bruce Wayne has a bad case of imposter syndrome when it comes to their superpowers.

He’s always in the corner brooding, and everyone’s like ummm antisocial much?

But 50% of the time, it’s because he’s thinking “I’ll never amount to the incredible heroic feats everyone else has accomplished. How can I possibly make a difference to the world if I’m already struggling to save Gotham?” Like a little emo freak 🖤

(Meanwhile, you couldn’t pay those mf’s to step foot in Gotham. This Bat guy’s crazy and he’s human apparently?! No way. Nuh uh.)

The OTHER 50% of his “brooding” is Bruce standing to the side with a mixture of concern and judgment because his teammates’ competency in certain areas is…alarmingly low sometimes.

One week, he finds himself thinking, “How do these grown-ass adults not know their way around a digital map? They’re 40, not geriatric.”

Then like a week later, it’s “These fucking war fossils don’t even know Morse code. I gotta do everything around here.”

One of the final straws is when he says, “Did they just break another fucking Keurig? Who does that, Alfred? It’s the fifth one.”

Suffice it to say, he’s not very personable. But is it his fault? Well yeah, a little bit. Like……..65% his fault.

(The remaining 35% is their moaning and groaning whenever Batman calls a meeting.)

Bruce’s irritation is totally justified.

God, he just wants to go home.

Why is he doing this again?

Attempt #2: Actually Making Friends

The first JL member to break through his cold, black exterior is Wonder Woman. She needs help with search and rescue after a sinkhole opens up near an elementary school, but no one’s available until Batman responds to her call.

He’s on the scene in less than an hour and makes quick work in securing the area. Thankfully, she catches him once it’s over. (He always runs off without saying goodbye.)

“Thanks for helping. Everyone else was just so busy. I’m glad you could fly over.” Batman mumbles something that she can’t quite hear. “What was that?” she asks. “I was busy too,” he repeats. She gives him a weird look, and he freezes up for a second as he realizes that probably wasn’t appropriate to say. “I mean…this was more important. There were kids in danger so it didn’t…matter if I was busy.”

Wonder Woman considers how awkward The Batman looks for a moment then smiles. So he really is human. “Well, thank you. The help was very much appreciated.”

Since then, several small acts of kindness and solidarity earn Batman some respect from the rest of the team.

One day, Flash complains about how boring their meetings are so Batman brings a massive bin of fidget toys. After placing them in front of the Flash, he mumbles, “These are for ADHD. They’re useful.” Flash almost cries with relief. He is very touched.

Another day, Green Arrow is severely injured in battle. Without a word, Batman leaves the fight, takes him to a safe location, stops the bleeding, and does it all while repeatedly making sure he’s awake and asking permission to remove certain pieces of clothing.

In another fight, Plastic Man’s mask is thrown off, and Batman sees his face. In a second, Batman tosses a smoke bomb, picks up the mask, and hands it back before anyone else can look. It costs them time and the element of surprise, and Plastic Man knows it, but Batman did it anyway.

A JL member’s stomach grumbles during one too many meetings. Suddenly, their little break room becomes a fully stocked kitchen with shelf-stable meal items and all the basic necessities. There’s a nut-free section, a gluten-free section, everything. The only reason they know it’s him is because anyone else would have admitted to it.

(He renovated the whole fucking thing. In one night. By himself.)

And they all see how gentle he is with children. Countless times, The Batman is spotted prioritizing young civilians at any given moment.

He has lollipops in his belt. And Bluey bandaids too.

It’s the little things that make them feel closer to him :)

And okay maybe his goddamn Mission Statement lecture wasn’t so bad

So they stop moaning and groaning

Okay, now it’s bonding time WOOHOO!!

Attempt #3: Kinda? Friends??

One day, Superman says he isn’t too fond of billionaires (because of Lex, obviously) and goes on a rant about capitalism. Bruce doesn’t dare contribute because 1) he’s the richest man in the world and 2) every other billionaire he’s met is insufferable.

(Including Oliver Queen who Bruce refuses to look at while Green Arrow “defends his city’s billionaire.”)

(And while we’re on the topic of Green Arrow, Bruce cannot forget the disappointing almost-fling two summers ago. He still holds a grudge.)

Green Arrow: “You’re all fashion nightmares. Who wears a cape in the 21st century?” Batman: “At least my facial hair isn’t longer than my dick.” GA: “What was that, Batman?” B: “What?”

Also Bruce is very attracted to Superman.

(He likes older men.)

(Yes, I am referring to Henry Cavill’s Superman.)

(Sue me.)

(But don’t get your hopes up. He does literally nothing about it.)

(Coward.)

One of the JL members complains about how sore they are after a few missions so Bruce cashes in his Monthly Attempt to Socialize and says, “Try yoga. It helps me.” “…Batman, you do yoga?” “Yes. My son got me into it….It’s good for you.” “You have a son?!” He is never socializing again.

They also learn that Batman has the smallest frame on the team. (Like yeah, he’s tall, but he’s also lanky, and everyone else is either an alien or a human dorito.)

One night, they need to sneak through the vents of some building so Bruce offers to do it. Someone says, “It’s a tight squeeze. Are you sure you can fit?” Then he just takes his cape and pauldrons and shoulder pads off and is suddenly like a foot skinnier

“Wait…is this why you’re so good at hiding in the shadows?” Bruce just glares at the Flash for a second before climbing into the vents.

(The answer is yes.)

A betting pool is started over whether or not Batman is part Bat.

In fact, several betting pools begin because no one knows anything about the guy??

Aquaman and Plastic Man go to great lengths to figure out what his hair color is.

They lose their shit once Bruce tells them he’s vegetarian.

Green Lantern: “Every time he opens his mouth, we learn something new. Next, he’s going to tell me he speaks Swahili!” Batman: “I do.” GL: “Oh, come on!”

Superman: “We need someone on the inside for this international operation to work, but that’ll take at least three months undercover.” Batman: “Don’t worry. I have connections.” S: “…In Shanghai?” B: “Yes.”

The Flash adds SHANGHAI?? to his conspiracy board

Bruce needs to stop trying to socialize. It’s better for everyone’s cardiovascular health.

A year or two in, they’re all introduced to Captain Marvel. Bruce is the first and only person to learn his true identity (kid Billy Batson) because Bruce is the only one with a kid. That way, he understands the weird Gen-Alpha humor and references.

Millennia-old deities don’t use the term Flop Era.

And, of course, they play FMK at some point.

(I mean, come on. There are like TWO mature adults on this team, but Martian Manhunter doesn’t know what’s going on until it’s too late, and Wonder Woman is busy at her day job.)

During that particular round, the celebrities are Bruce Wayne, Lex Luthor, and Kylie Jenner. Bruce does, in fact, want to kill himself, but he chooses Fuck instead because of this exact conversation:

Green Lantern: Come on, Bats. It’s just a game! Choose already. Batman: No. I’m against killing. GL: Oh, go fuck yourself. This situation is completely hypothetical, and you know it. B: Fine! Fuck Bruce, Marry Kylie, Kill Lex. GL: See? That wasn’t so hard :) Bruce:

He tried

Attempt #4: Ah shit, FRIEND?

The identity reveal comes about three years after he joins. He’s 32, has three kids, he’s been on hundreds of missions with them, the team’s over twice its original size, and there are domestic terrorists overtaking Manhattan.

Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and The Batman try to extract as many civilians as possible, but now they’re being hunted. After hiding in a warehouse and considering their options, MM finally suggests that they pose as civilians, which immediately creates uproar.

Bruce, however, realizes this is the only way out.

But it’s not dramatic or badass like that one JL episode. No, instead, he thinks about it, swallows the regret, and just—

Takes off his cowl.

And the whole room falls dead fucking quiet.

Then, “Oh fuck.”

(That was Green Lantern.)

Bruce just shrugs and mumbles, “Martian is right. It’s the only way.” And really fucking hopes the grease paint hides his red face because he is not having a good time right now.

He would rather die, actually, but they need to get somewhere safe and Fast.

The others look him up and down then nod slowly. “Uh yeah.” “Okay, sure.” “This is fine.” “We’ll do that.”

The others begin slowly taking off their suits and changing into something more casual. Bruce takes his off, revealing the skin-tight compression suit underneath, and stuffs his armor in the roll-up duffel bag that’s kept in his belt.

He changes into his drifter outfit, wipes his face clean, and suddenly, The Batman’s just a normal guy. (A very pretty normal guy, mind you. His teammates have eyes.)

“We can head to my place,” Bruce says. “It’s closer, and I know the train system pretty well.” And yes, he’s pretty soft-spoken outside of the suit, but now it feels even more obvious.

Meanwhile, the others are like—

Oh. My. God.

Oh my god, he’s fucking shy. Batman is acting shy in front of us. Dear fucking god. Batman is Bruce Wayne. And Bruce is shy so Batman is fucking shy?? Bruce is pretty too. Holy fuck. He is very pretty.

And he’s so young?? Oh my god, he’s a BABY wtf?! He’s like four inches shorter. Four inches tall! They’re all towering over him without his massive boots and armor, and he just hunches over with the big duffel bag like he wants to sink into the floor, and he’s so small.

Wonder Woman wants to put him in her pocket.

Sue her.

They end up taking the train back. Bruce has on the mask and cap that hides his face (poor Superman, he really likes his jawline) and they all follow Bruce as he gets off and on several trains at seemingly random stops. THEN when they’re finally in Gotham, they head into an abandoned-looking subway station that leads them into a…cave?? WTF

And in the middle of the cave is an elderly man with a cane and a three-piece suit just lounging on a recliner. (WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK—)

He looks up from his crossword puzzle and says, “Ah! You’ve finally made friends, I see?” Bruce rolls his eyes. “This is not a sleepover,” he gripes. “Shame. I was about to grab your footie pajamas for you.”

The man smiles at them. “A pleasure to meet Master Wayne’s work friends in person. Would you like some coffee? Tea? If you’re like him, this is going to be a long night.”

No one dares to question why this man recognizes them in their civvies

They also can’t tell if the footie pajamas line was a joke or not. After tonight, nothing is off the table.

(This is a minefield of information. Barry is having flashbacks to his conspiracy board. No one is going to fucking believe him.)

They all settle into one corner of the cave. Bruce leaves to change and comes back looking like this:

(Goddamnit, Clark is having a meltdown. His hair looks so good wet.)

At one point while they’re plotting, Wonder Woman glances over his shoulder to see Bruce checking some sort of security camera. A boy, maybe nine or ten, is sleeping in bed. “Is that your son?” Bruce clearly doesn’t want to answer, but Alfred gives him a look, and Bruce sighs. “One of them. Yes.”

Later, they have to analyze some explosive samples in the cave, and Barry, forensic scientist extraordinaire, has some choice words about the non-sterile environment.

Barry: This doesn’t look safe. Bruce: My lab is perfectly clean and functional. *bat screeches* Don’t worry about that.

For the rest of the night, they use the evidence they have to track down the organization while the rest of the JL suits up and saves NYC.

After a few hours, they’re safe to return to NYC for damage control. But Alfred refuses to let Bruce go with them. “Your sons are worried. Drive them to school, then you’re coming home and sleeping.”

Bruce clearly wants to argue, but the mention of his kids stops him. He sighs and turns to the others who are already changed. “Let me know if you need anything. I can be there in ten minutes.”

They all nod, knowing full well they will not be doing that. The guy clearly needs rest.

(Also, he is a single father of three and still goes out every night to punch robbers and crime bosses? Is he doing okay?)

Then they head back to NYC with so many questions.

But a lot of it makes sense too, actually. Maybe they just weren’t thinking about the man behind the mask enough to see it.

They learned a lot about their friend that night.

And they have a lot of bets to cash in.

FIN

Okay :D that was a lot! If you enjoyed it, please let me know. This has been simmering in the back of my head for months <3 Have a great day and drink some water :)

Hey bestie @bruciemilf

5K notes · View notes

iwritenarrativesandstuff · 1 year

Text

Q's Relevance and Parallels to Double Black

I had a sudden brainwave of thoughts (read: I only got three hours of sleep last night) and needed to share. I've thought this for awhile but I really think Q will be returning to the series at some point.

First of all, there's just too much ambiguity there and I want to know more about Q in general. What happened to Q to spawn an ability like that? Why does Dazai speak about them like they're the devil incarnate? What was the incident that led to so many Mafia deaths in an effort to lock Q up? Is there any significance to Q's unusual eyes (remember that most characters tend to have fairly normal eyes, and this is a series where the eyes carry symbolic weight)? What's with Q being strung up in this position that is eerily similar to a crucifixion, shortly before Steinbeck has a conversation about God existing but not loving them?

There's a lot there. I've spoken about this before in the meta I did about Dazai's change in approach after the Q chapter, which was genuinely an unexpected event he did not anticipate. But there's something fascinating about the way Chuuya reacts to Q as well. In fact, both Dazai and Chuuya are almost uncharacteristically murderous towards this kid, and that's real interesting, seeing as many aspects of Q mirror aspects of their younger selves.

Now I understand you might be thinking: uncharacteristically murderous? Story, they have both literally killed many, many people before. Yes, but context is important here.

Dazai doesn't have strong violent urges - not even in the Mafia, where he was considered terrifying more so due to his apathy in killing than anything. I can't remember a scene where Dazai is described as radiating bloodlust like Kyouka or Mori. Dazai is scary because of his indifferent hollowness at his worst points. Odasaku was described similarly in Untold Origins - there was no real desire to kill, just a listless cold follow-through. Dazai's sadistic methods, brought up by Higuchi in Chapter 25, are acknowledged as a means to an end, a method, not something done out of any strong desire or enjoyment. So when Dazai makes death threats or appears visibly angered - that's something worth taking note of. For him to make a promise to Q to pluck out their heart - holy shit. That is not typical Dazai behaviour. He doesn't even make that kind of threat towards Fyodor. Whatever happened in the past clearly shook him, enough for this moment to change his approach in the series and send him back to using darker methods again.

As for Chuuya, while he has and does kill quite readily, this is mostly in the heat of a fight. For him to give the go-ahead for murdering an unconscious child - it's unusually cold-blooded for him, and I can't think of another instance where he's down with lethal intent outside of combat and direct orders. I've seen some people talk about his reaction to Dazai suggesting he'll kill Q as proof that he's gotten darker since we saw him last in Stormbringer, from someone who would plead for the lives of the Sheep to be spared ("They're just kids") to being ready and willing to kill a defenseless child. While I think it's likely true that he's gone darker since that point - Chuuya appears to be more cynical in the present as well as having darker eyes with a smaller central pinprick of light than in Fifteen and Stormbringer - that's not the only thing going on here.

Thing is, Chuuya has always been fairly ruthless. He’s a very vengeance oriented character, right down to his fighting style (rebounding attacks and bullets). Hurt him or someone he cares about and he hurts back - and that threat will be destroyed. Parallel to this is how he is seemingly unable to turn his back on people who have helped him. Help him and he will remain loyal and protective even if that person goes on to stab him in the back. He has a very “give and take” mentality. Chuuya operates on the reciprocity principle.

So, about Q, here’s the thing: Q is a part of the Mafia, that's true. But Q has never helped them, only hurt indiscriminately. Mafia philosophy says “protect your own and follow the boss' wishes no matter what”. But Chuuya’s philosophy is saying “neutralize the threat”. And interestingly, Chuuya’s philosophy won here. If Dazai had've killed Q, Chuuya would’ve defied Mori’s orders in favour of his own judgement, which is extra intriguing because it emphasizes Chuuya’s loyalty to the people within the Mafia, not the Mafia as an organization itself. This is in full contrast to people like Tachihara and Hirotsu, who prioritize the organization and orders above all.

And about Q being a child: I don’t think this is such a big change in his character if I'm being honest. Chuuya knows full well how dangerous a child can be - he was that dangerous child. People underestimated him as a teenager and paid for it dearly; do you really think he'd make that same mistake? He also has a very warped view on the responsibilities and ways a child should be treated… while I do believe he probably is protective of those younger than him, he also equally understands that a child can be just as much of a threat as anyone else. For Chuuya, it’s always a matter of what wins out: the person or the threat? In this case, it was the latter.

The thing is, it's interesting the way they react when you look at the way Q eerily parallels aspects of their younger selves - as well as some things that carry over to the present.

Dazai and Q share central themes of control.

Q's mind control ability is actually referenced by Dazai as being essentially the worst kind of ability there is, and I know I've mentioned before how he seems to react poorly to those people who attempt to mentally control others, placing them on a heightened level of danger (think Fyodor, Mori). I don't think I need to get into Dazai's control freak tendencies - and what's more, after Q's introduction, after he says that mind control is the worst kind of ability there is - he ramps up his masterminding and enacts as much control as he can over the proceedings of the events that follow. Q's ability is interesting in the sense that it allows them control over others, implying Q came from a background of little control. I have also hypothesized that Dazai, with his need for situational control, similarly came from a background of little control. It's also likely they both were hurt by others - Q's ability turns any pain inflicted on them back around, giving them a way to fight back, while Dazai can level the playing field of any unfair advantages by nullifying abilities.

Q's small segment in Fifteen is also interesting: they're near completely zoned out, just staring off into the distance without responding to their environment until Dazai gets directly in their face. Then Q suddenly flips a switch and becomes all cheerful and playful. It reminds me of young Dazai's quick switches between faux cheerfulness and emptiness earlier in that same book.

They also both have quite interesting relations to pain. Q wonders why cruel things always hurt them, but Q makes this a foregone conclusion by purposely arranging others to hurt them so they have an excuse to hurt those people back. Q's pain becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: they hate it, but the only means of control they know in interactions with others requires it. Dazai similarly hates pain - his pain loop, however, is more emotional than physical. Dazai feels isolated and alienated from others, but his attempts to exert control require him to distance himself and rely on his mind over all else. He also leans into his inhuman side when it becomes apparent pain is unavoidable (I think often of his reactions throughout Dark Era to Ango's betrayal) - again, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. He will not find anything. He will continue to be separate from humanity if this cycle continues. That was why it was imperative that Odasaku break him out of it. Self-sabotage behaviours and unhealthy cycles, physical and emotional, are apparent with these two.

For bonus points: both have injured right arms.

On a more superficial level too, Q and Dazai both have "creepy child" energy, with emphasis on the child part - they are both legitimately disturbing at times but also have moments where they show childlike interest and behaviour. (I encourage people to check out Q's mayoi cards for this - I know it's not super canon or anything but it emphasizes their "kiddishness".)

Also I'm unsure if this is significant, but there's this detail too:

Q has a very unusual right eye with a star in the center. The right eye is also the one Dazai kept covered in the Mafia. Notably also, Q's right eye is frequently obscured by their hair in key scenes.

...Does it mean something? I have no idea. But it's potentially interesting so I thought I'd add it.

Meanwhile, Chuuya and Q share themes of loss of control.

For Q, this is quite obvious. They are literally locked up; imprisoned within the Mafia and unable to exert control over their circumstances. For Chuuya, it's a little more subtle but still present, I believe: I invite people to look at his character song and mayoi (particularly aquarium) for direct references to feelings of being trapped. However, looking at Fifteen and Stormbringer, there are a few mentions of freedom that are intriguing in relation to Chuuya's character. In Fifteen, both Dazai and Shirase mention Chuuya's "freedom"... but this is almost a mockery of what's really going on. A party to celebrate Chuuya's freedom is really an elaborate set up for a trap. Shirase telling Chuuya that he should have the freedom to act on his own wishes is really a cover up for a betrayal. In both instances, Chuuya's freedom is a lie. Stormbringer, at the very least, instates a sense of agency where he at least has the freedom to make choices about his own actions - that's the whole point of his hat; it's a symbol of autonomy (also anti-mind control; more on that in a bit). However, Stormbringer also systematically strips away the start of any alternate path Chuuya could've taken - he cannot be the child he was, he never got to hear the pitch on living in the light. He feels genuine gratitude towards those in the Mafia - they have his back, which is more than he could say before, but at the same time, the Mafia is kind of the last option available there if he wants not to be alone... and Chuuya does not want to be alone. (Seriously. His character song. Please look at it. Also Stormbringer.)

Now, onto their abilities, which also parallel in the sense that they are both used to "get back" at people. Chuuya rebounds attacks - bullets shot at him ricochet back at the people who fired, and Q hurts people who hurt them. There's a very reciprocal relation to the way they use their abilities, and it is absolutely to induce fear and intimidation in others, but there's a key difference. Namely, Chuuya fights only against enemies or people who strike first. Q, on the other hand, intentionally makes "enemies" out of even innocent bystanders just to have a reason to hurt them back. A lot of this is due to Q's misanthropic nature - I doubt Q has ever had a positive bond with another person, and so Q sees the whole world as their enemy - a world which, to them, does not want them in it. Chuuya, on the other hand, has had people who care about him, and he cares about them in turn. He's a bit jaded but he doesn't hate humanity, far from it.

In that sense, Q parallels Verlaine in a sense, right down to being kept in a special secret room in the Mafia, hehe. Though again, there's differences. Verlaine chooses to stay in that room, first of all, while Q doesn't have a choice. Verlaine's angst is internal identity based while Q's is more external situation based. In response to their pain, Verlaine chooses to relinquish control of himself (Brutalization), and Q chooses to have everyone else lose control of themselves (Dogra Magra). Verlaine says "look at how monstrous I am and how I hate and hurt because of it" and Q says "look at how monstrous you all are and how I hate and hurt because of it".

Chuuya is not so far on either extreme that he emulates this - but he could've ended up like Verlaine, and he admits it in Stormbringer. He could've maybe ended up something like Q too, if he'd remained trapped as a lab rat. But see here's the key with Chuuya: his hat makes it so the choice to lose control of himself is his alone, and moreover, that losing control doesn't mean he goes out of control. He trusts that he can lose control for a bit, place it in someone else's hands for awhile before it goes too far. Trusts that the choice to lose himself will be followed by the keeping of a promise to bring him back to himself. Chuuya has bonds, and that's the key difference.

But uh. Going back to parallels... about the scene where Q gets tortured... and the scene where Chuuya gets tortured...

Is this significant...?

...is... is this...

...

.............

Um. I may be delusional. But. Well. *gestures at all of this*

So, where does this leave us? Well, we have Dazai, who sees a manipulative, mind-controlling kid that he calls a "walking disaster", and we have Chuuya, who sees a dangerous ability user that is too big of a potential threat to not be dealt with, so the two decide the best course of action is to kill them about it. The reason Dazai did not follow through is likely a mix of his stated reason (the Mafia cannot harm Dazai so long as he is needed to stop Q), and probably also that he isn't really supposed to be directly killing anymore.

Nice, guys. Really clear and consciously held self-concepts you got there.

Considering everything, it's maddening that all we have on the dynamic between these three is: Q joins in Fifteen at the same time as the other two and is assigned to Dazai since he can stop their ability. Mori doesn't know what it is at that point but assumes whatever it is will be manageable because Dazai can just nullify it. It... clearly wasn't.

I feel like there has to be something here and that we're going to be coming back to it. Q, the old Boss, how Mori got so close as an underground physician in such a short time... there's so much about the Mafia we don't know so I'm assuming the story will shift to focus on these points again... someday. Hopefully.

#i have even more thoughts unwritten if you can believe it but seeing as it is 4 am i should probably stop. also this is too long.#but yeah i frequently think about how horrified and genuinely spiteful dazai is with q like... what happened???#ok just had an awful thought: what if whatever happened with q inspired dazai's brutal treatment of akutagawa #...honestly maybe. it's actually a possibility if something went terribly wrong before.#this... isn't the meta i was supposed to be writing or even started to write... oh well #enjoy?#is this even coherent?#bsd #bsd meta #bsd q #bsd dazai #bsd chuuya #soukoku #skk #bsd fifteen #bsd stormbringer #storyrambles

900 notes · View notes

shanastoryteller · 1 year

Note

Hi, I'm a huge fan of your Gods and Monsters series but I had a question: have you already written the piece where Aphrodite and Hephaestus fall in love? Bc I could have sworn there was one about that, but I Cannot find it so now I'm wondering if that's one of the things that isn't written/posted yet. No pressure either way, I just wanted to check!

Aphrodite is named the goddess of love and beauty by Hera, the queen of the gods herself, and is given a gleaming throne of pristine ivory in the pantheon.

Aphrodite is named the goddess of love, and many take that as an invitation.

She understands quickly that Hera has not only dictated her domain, but also offered Aphrodite her protection, however oblique. Hera’s power on her tempers greedy hands and greedy eyes, making them ask for what in other circumstances they might simply take, and she resents that it’s something she should be grateful for.

The sea that bore her isn’t even an option anymore. She feels Poseidon’s gaze on her like a snail crawling across her skin, leaving oozing evidence of all the places it’s been. She thinks that her mother would help her, but she does not know.

Amphitrite made her and left her and sent her to the pantheon, full of danger that she does not understand.

She’s known the sea and the sky but worries about venturing from Mount Olympus, where distance from Hera’s influence might embolden some of her suitors.

She is a daughter of Zeus and Amphitrite. Power comes to her as easily as breathing, but she has no wish to test that power against gods with far more experience than she.

Hestia’s fire is always warm and soft and no one dares approach her while she’s in its light. Aphrodite forces herself to stay in the oppressive heat far past the point of comfort, staying closer to the flame than anyone besides the hearth goddess herself.

“So you’re who everyone is talking about.”

She startles, turning, and is first faced with a broad, tanned chest, then lifts her gaze further to look into a face with dark amber eyes and hair as long as her own. There’s blood splatter along his neck and unease curls within her stomach.

“I can’t stay,” he continues, looking her over. She appreciates that he doesn’t linger too long in certain areas and looks her in the eye after. It’s a low bar, perhaps, but many fail to clear it. “You impressed my mother, which isn’t easy.”

“Lord Ares,” she greets. Hera only has one child – well, two, but only one that ever ventures onto Olympus.

She should have guessed sooner. He looks so much like Zeus, except for Hera’s eyes clear in his face.

He waves dismissively. “None of that. We’re equals, aren’t we?”

Not really. The beloved child of the king and queen of the gods, the god of war, someone who does not even sweat in the heat of Hestia’s flame. And her.

“I suppose,” she answers. “How can I help you, Ares?”

“I just wanted to talk,” he says. “Rumor has it that you haven’t left Olympus. You may be a goddess of the pantheon on my mother’s word, but you have to cultivate worshippers just the same. They know you, but they do not what you will do.”

Neither does she.

“Can I go with you?” she asks impulsively.

It’s a stupid request. If Ares wants to overpower her, he will, and there won’t be anything she can do about it.

But he’s Hera’s son. That has to mean something.

“A battlefield isn’t a place for love,” he says, which isn’t a refusal.

“Of course it is,” she says, taken aback. “Otherwise what are they fighting for?”

Ares stares at her for a long moment. She refuses to do anything besides meet his gaze.

Finally, he says, “I can’t tell if you’re naïve or I’m cynical.”

“Love starts wars, but it ends them too,” she says. Maybe she is naïve, when she’s never even met a mortal herself, but with power over a domain comes knowledge of it too. “If not for love, why do men so desperately want peace?”

“Love means peace then?” he asks.

There is something heavy in that question, something she doesn’t understand, and it causes her to hesitate. But in the end she says, “Yes,” because it’s the only answer that can be true and she wants to be truthful to someone.

Ares holds her gaze then says, “You can come with me, if you want. It won’t be pretty.”

“Then perhaps they can use a goddess of beauty,” she says, excitement pulling her lips into a grin.

He shakes his head, but offers her his hand, and she takes it.

Under Ares’s protection, she feels as if she can finally breathe.

Aphrodite doesn’t know if Ares is aware that he is protecting her, since it’s less something he does and more something that is achieved through him existing, but she doubts the son of Hera is a dull man. That doesn’t seem like the sort of thing that the queen would tolerate.

Gods and nymphs and other manner of creatures still approach her, but all it takes is for her to hurry back to Ares’s side for them to abandon their pursuit. She’s not sure if it’s his parentage, his domain, or just the striking figure he makes on the battlefield, but they don’t follow her when she goes to him.

But she is not always with him.

Athena corners her on the city path. Aphrodite meets the goddess’s grey eyed gaze squarely. “You’re causing too much trouble.”

She’d seemed nice when Aphrodite first met her in the pantheon, but after Hera gifted her her domain, that kindness hasn’t resurfaced. She doesn’t take it personally, although she does wonder at its absence.

Athena, like Aphrodite, is a daughter of Zeus that has escaped Hera’s wrath through the virtue of being motherless.

Aphrodite is not motherless, precisely, but no one can know of her connection to Amphitrite, and it’s not like her mother stuck around long after bringing her into this world anyway.

“Ares said he doesn’t mind,” she says.

“Of course he doesn’t,” she sneers, looking her up and down derisively. “Everyone is talking about you and pursing you and nothing else is getting done.”

She draws her shoulders back. “That’s not my fault.”

Athena shrugs, not willing to say it is outright but clearly comfortable with implying it.

“What do you want me to do about it?” she asks, and knows it’s a mistake as soon as it leaves her mouth.

Athena doesn’t miss a beat. “Put everyone out of their misery and get married. They’ll cool off and get back to work if you’re ineligible, even if only in name.”

She’s not a goddess of loyalty, but the implication still stings. She’s been going through all this effort to avoid either bedding or offending everyone, after all. “I can’t just marry someone.”

“Why not? Hera will probably even officiate it, considering the interest she’s taken in you,” she says.

Before Aphrodite can respond, Ares appears at her side, slipping out of air as easily as taking a step. He’s covered in viscera and for a moment she puzzles over his newly red hair before realizing it’s soaked in blood. She doesn’t even want to know how that happened.

“Hello Athena,” he says brightly. “It’s so rare to see you outside of a library, we should really catch up-”

She disappears mid eyeroll.

Ares grins. “What did you do to her?”

“Thank you,” she says first, then, “I have no idea. She’s so angry. Is she not well liked in the pantheon?”

He shrugs. “Depends what you mean by liked. She makes a lot of enemies, but she’s not that bad. She gets frustrated a lot because she thinks she’s smarter than everyone around her.”

“Is she?” Aphrodite asks.

“Usually, yeah,” he looks around then bends down to whisper in her ear, careful to angle his filthy body away from her, “Hestia says that when she sprung from Father’s head, she took all his intelligence with her. Mom says that’s giving him too much credit.”

She laughs before she can think not to, then claps her hand over her mouth, as if Zeus is standing around the corner ready to smite her for mocking him. He is the king of the gods. Maybe he is always watching.

“It’s alright,” he says warmly, “just don’t repeat it where he can hear it. Or Athena. She’d throw a fit at the implication that her intelligence is anything but her own.”

If she ever decides to invite trouble rather than avoiding it, that seems like an excellent way to do it. “Are you okay? That looks messy.”

“Battle’s won, for now,” he says casually, rolling back his shoulders and wincing at the motion. “I’ve got some time before another one calls me there. I could use a good soak. Want to meet my brother?”

“Which one?” she asks even though she already know the answer. Of all his siblings, Ares claims only one of them.

“You don’t have to play dumb when we’re alone,” he says, which is suitably stunning that when he holds out his filthy hand, she doesn’t think to clean it before taking it. She hadn’t thought he’d noticed. “Come on.”

There’s the strange rushing sensation of being pulled along rather than moving herself. They’re in someplace dark, compared to the outside, and it takes her several seconds to adjust to the low lighting.

Everything glitters.

There’s shining metal twisted into exquisite shapes and liquid gold dripping like fondue and even the walls themselves shimmer in the light of the magma, the mica flickering silver.

There is a man with deep, dark skin and narrowed amber eyes. He has broad shoulders and a tapered waist and as her gaze drops even further, she sees the golden legs supporting him below the knee, as delicate and beautiful as all strange things scattered around his workshop.

“I hope that’s not yours,” the man says.

He has a nice voice. It’s low and yet it almost echoes around them. It takes her a moment to process what he’s said, and her confusion lasts only until Ares’s lips twist into a not quite smile and he replies, “It never is,” and she realizes he’s talking about the blood and worse covering Ares.

She wonders at her place here, what to do or how to act around this man surrounded by beautiful things who doesn’t even look at her.

Ares pulls his hair from its braid and blood splatters on the floor. “I’m going for a dip. This is Aphrodite. Be nice. Aphrodite, this is my brother, Hephaestus.”

“Goddess,” Hephaestus murmurs, inclining his head.

She returns the gesture, trying to untangle the strange frown and the look in his eye. It’s not like Athena’s anger but it doesn’t exactly seem friendly either. She’s still pondering it when Ares’s words catch up with her. “Take a dip where? There’s no-”

She turns to see Ares slipping into a vat of lava, fully clothed. The blood and dirt and everything else is burned away, along with every stitch of clothing he’d been wearing. He tilts his head back into the magma to give his hair the same scouring treatment.

“Water,” she finishes faintly.

“It never gets any less disconcerting,” Hephaestus says. The strange tone is gone and when she turns back to him, he’s smiling.

He has a nice smile.

“What are you making?” she asks. “Are you the god of creation?”

She’s said the wrong thing again and she’s aware of it as soon as his amusement dims. She desperately wants to take it back, to say something different, but it’s too late. “I am the god of nothing.”

“People pray to you,” she says. “I have seen them.”

Her temples are all still being constructed but several of his already exist.

“Mortals pray to lots of things,” he answers, going back to tinkering. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Yet,” she says. He survived being thrown from Olympus and being raised in the underworld and now he makes things he still hasn’t told her about. “When they pray to you, what do they pray for?”

“Same thing they pray to every god for,” he answers. She doesn’t say anything and he sighs. “It’s not exciting. Hotter ovens. Faster chariots. Sharper spears. My brother’s a better candidate for that one.”

Aphrodite turns to Ares, but finds him curled against the edge of the crevice, the lava lapping at his shoulders as he sleeps with his head tipped back.

“Heat always knocks him out. Hestia used to hold him as she sat it front of her fire.”

This time she knows it’s the wrong thing to say before she says it, but she can’t stop herself from asking, “How do you know? I thought that you didn’t come to Olympus.”

“Didn’t,” he echoes, “is a soft way to put it, when it’s can’t.”

Even nymphs sneak their way up the mountain. A god with temples, even a minor one, should be able to walk freely across Olympus. Then again, Hera insured he wouldn’t walk freely anywhere.

Or tried to. His shimmering gold calves are in defiance to that.

He clears his throat then says, “She told me. Ares badgered me into setting up a hearth in the center of the volcano, even though arguably the whole thing is a hearth, but,” he pauses. “She visits it, sometimes.”

Aphrodite is impressed. “I thought she never left her own hearth.”

“Any hearth is her hearth,” he says, shrugging.

He’s sidestepping her, but she’s brought up enough sensitive topics for now. “What are you making?”

“Nothing useful,” he says ruefully, looking around his workshop. “If I wanted to get more followers, I’d focus on making things people can use. A lot of these are godly tools – only we can use them effectively.”

“Will you show me?” she insists. “They’re beautiful.”

His lips part, his dark eyes catching hers, and there’s a breathless moment where neither of them move. Then he turns and says, “Sure, come with me,” and she follows behind him, watching the smooth gait of his handcrafted legs.

Next time she’s on Olympus, she goes to Hera to ask her advice.

Aphrodite is currently under both her and her son’s protection. This isn’t a decision it’s politically smart of her to make on her own.

She waits until Zeus has left. His absence tends to put Hera in a foul mood, considering what he’s likely to be doing out of her sight, but it’s worth that to make sure that they’re not overheard. Aphrodite doesn’t think that any advice Zeus gives will be in her self interest.

Hera’s might not be either, but so far whatever she’s doing for her own self interest has been beneficial to Aphrodite, and that’s enough for her.

She bows and offers her a bouquet of lilies that she’d picked herself, each one a bright orange reddish hue and perfectly in bloom. Hera reaches out to touch a petal, but pulls back and says, “Weave them into my hair while we speak.”

Aphrodite can’t help herself from being touched. Hera always does her own hair, not even allowing her servants to touch it. She delicately combs out Hera’s curls, giving her hair waves to match the curve of the lilies’ petals. Aphrodite tells her what Athena said to her, then waits.

“She’s right,” Hera says. “As the goddess of love and beauty, you’re inherently desirable. Until you make your own desires known, others can decide what they are, and decide that they qualify. Marriage at least sets your standards.”

Aphrodite frowns. “So you think I should marry?”

She shrugs. “Gods like to pretend that beauty is cheap and love is something bought.” Suddenly, Hera’s appointment of her domain makes a little more sense. “But if that were true, they wouldn’t be pursuing you so ardently. Marriage won’t change that. What it does is give you a tool that you can use.”

“That’s not very romantic,” she says, put out.

Hera laughs, tossing her head with the motion, and Aphrodite has to pull back to keep from crushing the flowers. “Is that what you value?”

“Yes,” she answers, but it comes out more like a question.

“Then that’s what you should marry for – romance. Apollo will likely come ahead on that scale.” She moves back in place so Aphrodite can continue. “There is a reason that as the goddess of marriage, love does not fall within my domain. Marriage is about getting what you want. Some want love, or beauty, and so that’s what they marry for. Other for money, for power, for protection. Decide what it is that you want and then marry the person who can give it to you. That’s why your marriage will be a deterrent to others. It will tell them what you value.”

Hera did not marry for love. Aphrodite doesn’t need to be a goddess of it to know that. “Do you think I should marry your son?”

Ares is the most obvious answer. She’s spent the most time with him, and he’s kind to her, and he protects her. He’s not especially romantic, but he cares for her. No one else pursuing her knows her enough to care for her.

“If he’ll give you what you want,” she says. Aphrodite finishes affixing the last lily to her hair, and she turns to face her, her amber eyes bright with an emotion Aphrodite can’t name. “Choose your spouse. We’ll hold the wedding on Olympus and I’ll marry you myself. No one will question it after that.”

“Thank you, Queen Hera,” she says.

When Hera walks away, it’s with fire weaved into her hair.

Ares is silent for a long time when Aphrodite tells him that she’s looking to marry. She thinks he’s about to offer, and the ball of dread in her stomach is both surprising and informative. She loves Ares. She does not want to marry him.

This is an inopportune time for her to realize that.

“If we were to marry, would I find peace?” he asks. “Everything is so loud sometimes.”

Her heart clenches. In this moment she hates for the first time. Zeus did this to Ares and that makes Zeus her enemy.

“When you find love, you will find peace,” she says, placing her hands on his shoulders. “I can’t be your peace. If that’s what I was, you would know by now. But when you do find that person, that loudness will fade.”

There’s a pressure around them and centered in her head, giving her a searing headache, and then it’s gone and its only Ares’s hands on her elbows that keep her upright as she staggers, suddenly exhausted.

“Your first blessing,” Ares says, smiling as she blinks up at him, dazed. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t know I could do that,” she says fuzzily.

He laughs. “You’re a goddess of the pantheon. There’s very little you can’t do. You’ll discover that in time.”

She thinks he’s trying to be comforting, but the idea that her abilities are beyond her own knowledge is terrifying. There’s a reason most gods have to earn their domains rather than be assigned them.

The problem is if not Ares, then who? It would be easier to narrow her options if she knew what she wanted, like Hera told her to do, but she doesn’t. She wants people to leave her alone. She wants to learn how to be a proper goddess. She wants to claw Ares away from Zeus’s grasp with her bare hands.

None of that is anything a husband can give her.

“Say that you’re willing to be courted and see what they offer,” Ares says. “Maybe you’ll know what you want when you see it.”

“But what if I don’t want any of it?” she asks. “Then I have to choose someone I don’t want.”

He hums, then says, “I’ll ask for your hand too, and offer more than anyone else. Then, if you don’t find someone you like, you can just pick me and we won’t marry. Mom will understand if I tell her.”

The thought of getting on Hera’s bad side is chilling, but if anyone can soothe her temper, it’s her son, so she agrees.

The news travels quickly, gods from all over climbing up to Olympus’s peak to ask for her. It’s spread to the point that she thinks some of them that are here don’t even want her, that it’s just a big show about what they’re able to offer. Which, of course, makes her choice even more difficult.

Ares, Apollo, and Hermes offer her the most, of course. They’re gods of the pantheon and have more influence and power at their disposal. But the minor gods still make a good show of it, stepping forward to off her castles and servants and land, nymphs even offering to grow a her a living manor from the forest and perfectly plump fruit every day of her life.

In one way or another, they all off her protection, luxury, and beauty. She struggles to find any of it of value.

She’s resigned herself to picking Ares just to get it all to stop when a hush falls over the crowd that’s then replaced with frantic whispering. They part like a wave retreating from shore and her breath catches in her throat when she sees who’s walking towards her.

Hephaestus is on Olympus for the first time since he’s been thrown from it.

He’s gilded gold as he passes by everyone else, his eyes on her alone, from his legs to the way the sun illuminates his amber eyes to the chiton wrapped snug around his waist with a golden belt. He could have worn a long robe to hide his legs. She likes that he didn’t.

He stops in front of her and she tries to think of something to say, but her throat is too dry.

“Goddess,” he murmurs, then pulls a single copper rose from thin air and offers it to her. “For you.”

She takes it, her fingers brushing his, and his hands are still warm like he’s just pulled them from the forge.

He came to the place where the worst thing that ever happened to him occurred. He’s given her a gift with no strings. He’s offering her only this – the skill of his hands and the bravery of his heart.

What she wants is someone who will take her as she is and grow with her, who will explain the world patiently and know her well enough to make her something beautiful.

She is the goddess of love and beauty. She cannot be bought with castles.

“Yes,” she says, holding the rose between their bodies as she pushes herself up to kiss Hephaestus in front of all of Olympus.

There are shouts of protests, people yelling in anger or betrayal, and Ares’s bright, warm laughter over it all.

Aphrodite expects Hera to be furious.

Instead the goddess says nothing of her choice, only holds the wedding as she promised. Zeus won’t even look at Hephaestus, but Hera stands in front of them and recites the vows for them to repeat back to each other as if it’s all normal, as if Hephaestus is just like any other god to her.

She has that same look in her eye that she had before while she does it, but Aphrodite barely notices it before her husband pulls her attention back to him, his promises of love and loyalty more worthy of her attention than anything going on in Hera’s mind.

She and Hephaestus walk down Olympus, hand in hand, husband and wife.

#this wasn't written as a prompt but i'm taking it as one #gods and monsters series #ares #aphrodite #hephaestus #hera

908 notes · View notes

grimm-writings · 6 days

Note

on my hands and knees begging you to write that legally blonde idea… obsessed with the idea of reader thinking chil wants to get back w his ex vs chil just wanting to be friends and crushing hard on reader

take it like a man!

…ft! chilchuck x fem! reader

…tags! fluff, reader is into fashion

…wc! 2294

…notes! chilchuck tims and emmett forrest are the same to me (my type). this is so incredibly self indulgent thank you for enabling me anon. a lot of dialogue is paraphrased from the song/show, such is the way of songfics. enjoy!

Oh, how Chilchuck wished he could say no to you.

He didn’t know what he was expecting from you and Marcille’s ‘sweep your wife off her feet operation’, otherwise shortened to SYWOHF which Chilchuck pointed out was an awful name for a campaign. You elected to ignore him.

In actuality, he really wanted to just do this his own way. What he had in mind was just to pay a visit and talk things through. As those with a little womanly touch, you and Marcille knew that wouldn’t be enough. Chilchuck had to prove he was serious about this – that he really wanted his wife back in his life!

Seeing how excited you were showing off your step by step plan… he didn’t have the heart to tell you that he really just wanted to remain friends with her.

So, here he is. Having his eyes covered by your hands as you guide him through the busy streets of… who knows where.

“Almost there,” your breathless though excited voice reaches his ears, “I promise!”

You finally slow to a stop, and Chilchuck also gets the chance to speak about his thoughts on this. Simply being, “this is pointless. We don’t need to be doing all this.”

Scoffing, you fold your arms. “Don’t be like that! A conversation isn’t the only way to win her over.”

“No,” Chilchuck starts, “but it would sure make me look desperate!” He swats your hands off and away from his face. His back is turned away from the building you’re arguing outside of, not even bothering to see what you’re doing.

You frown. Chilchuck doesn’t easily get so frustrated with you. That’s what people usually say – if anyone can convince him to do anything, it’d be you. “Chil,” you try to appeal. You even try physically reaching out, hand hovering over his shoulder. “Work with me here. We can do this in a way that will prove yourself, and let her know you’ve changed. For the better.”

Chilchuck listens to you, sparing you a sidelong glance as you go on with your speech. “You make it sound like we’re in some romance novel. This isn’t ‘for the better’ I just want to talk to her.”

“No you don’t, you want her back in your life!”

“Well…!” Chilchuck stutters at how blunt your words are. You are way too observant for your own good. He never knows how to talk to you cooly when you do this. “Well, of course I do! And I can do that by slowly building up trust between us again, without rushing anyone.”

Where Chilchuck expects begging to follow through with your scheme, you simply look at him with a cold expression– colder than he’s ever seen you wear. “So you have the chance to run away again if things get too much? Sacrificing your integrity?”

You’re both lucky this little nook in the streets was away from most crowds. Save for the passersby' conversations, the silence would have been strife with weight. Chilchuck opens his mouth, then closes it again. He repeats the action, and tries to use his hands to communicate his thoughts to no avail.

He settles for turning away from you in angered shame, fists balled at his sides and tips of his ears growing red. “...I guess.”

You smile, knowing you have swayed the half-foot to your side. Even in the dungeon, your debates went this way. Chilchuck would present a cynical, logical approach whilst you were more realistic – something your appearance doesn’t really match with. Chilchuck thinks he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Not like he’d say that to your face.

Hearing your confident hum, Chilchuck sighs and turns back to you. “Why do you always have to be right?” He complains about this constantly. You always seem to one-up him in ways he can never prepare for.

“I don’t have to be,” your attitude and voice returns to its usual, jovial form, “when I’m with you, I just am!”

You reach over to Chilchuck once more right as he’s about to make a scathing comment back at you. His face is a bit too close for comfort with a wooden door, an entrance somewhere.

“You trust me to help you impress your wife, don’t you?” You ask, with a clear sense of finality.

Chilchuck doesn’t think he has much of a choice in the matter. “...Of course,” he responds honestly but you can hear his voice waver.

He can practically sense your smile from behind. “Then don’t stop now.”

You wish you could say without a spot of bias that you were 100% supporting the operation at hand. In actuality, it came with a heavy sacrifice of your own feelings remaining unsaid. Of course you just had to fall for the semi-married man. You have already tried to move on, from distracting yourself with an operation like this, to asking Izutsumi to pummel your head with a rock (which she was very close to doing).

This will have to do.

It was like magic, how the environment of the building interior rushes through you. Chilchuck even feels it, his large eyes blinking as he drinks in the sight.

“...Where are we?” he asks, almost dreamily. A beautiful ceiling lamp shines onto coloured wallpaper. The scent reminds him of the kind of perfume Marcille would use. It’s strangely… alluring.

You lean your face over Chilchuck’s shoulder. “Oh, nothing much. Just the most trendy half-foot exclusive clothing store in Kahka Brud.” You can easily sense Chilchuck’s shock from this position – amusing you greatly. “Here.”

You stand up behind Chilchuck again, massaging his shoulders. “Just take a deep breath, and let it sink in. We’ll be here for a bit so get used to the smells and lights. Feel how it draws you in.”

“I’m feelin’ it alright,” Chilchuck responds, moreso about how he has no idea what convinces people to remain in these environments for so long without feeling overstimulated.

He already feels hot with how you’re handling him.

You move around so you’re in front of Chilchuck. “Listen, I know this can be… overwhelming,” you start, giving the understatement of the century, “but think about who you’re doing this for. Swallow your pride and… pick out anything you think is nice. I’ll do the same.”

Chilchuck nods, about to set off, but not before you take his face, squishing his cheeks a comedic amount so he’s forced to pout and look you in the eye.

“Promise me you won’t run. Take it like a man, alright?”

You let him go, and Chilchuck swears the heat on his body is from the stuffy maze of clothes stalls. As he navigates the first selection of half-foot men’s clothes he sees, he tries to ignore the thoughts that seem to non-stop course through his brain.

He’s largely unsuccessful.

What are you getting out of this? Some sort of second-hand pride at bringing together two estranged lovers? Wait ‘til you find out the truth – that those aren’t where his true feelings lie. Why can’t you leave well enough alone?

Why does he let you string him along with every plan you come up with?

You arrive back with a couple of blazer–pants combos, calling out Chilchuck’s name as you do so. Damn, you sure are speeding through the process.

“So, I took the liberty of picking some of the more fancy kinds of suits.” You hold them up in your arms. “Whaddya think?”

“Suits,” Chilchuck repeats dryly, in disbelief of how far you’re taking the idea of impressing a woman. He looks through each of the three upon seeing your determined expression.

He points at the pale pink option. “Absolutely not.”

He gestures to the navy one with a thinner fabric. “I like this one.”

Finally, he only spares at a glance at the creatively patterned suit. “I think I’d sooner be fed to wargs than be seen in that.”

You assemble each of the selections in order of preference. You muse, “I see, I see… Something refined but masculine. Much better than your ‘tattered chic’ look. Like an old book forever trapped in a library.”

Chilchuck furrows his brow as you run off again. “Wh– What’s that supposed to mean, jerk?!”

He sighs. He watches you as you make a few more choices again, before Chilchuck tries to distract himself looking at ties. He’s come this far. He should trust in your instinct. It hasn’t failed him– or anyone yet.

So what the Hell?

Before Chilchuck knows it, he’s handed the acutely sized down, perfect combination of blazer and pants, and he’s stuffed inside a changing room. He’s instructed to change into the whole thing.

As he does so, you can’t help but pace. This is it. This is the winning goal to help him impress his old flame. It’ll be like an academy romance – falling in love all over again like you’re teenagers. You sigh longingly. If only you can be there, in her place.

“You’re gonna look great!” You converse with Chilchuck through the curtain. “You’ll become a whole new man, promise! You’ll bloom like a rose!”

“It’s just clothes,” Chilchuck, in his usual cynicism, calls back.

You return with a raspberry. “Don’t be such a Debbie-downer.”

“Wow. No one’s called me that since grade school.”

“Maybe not to your face.”

Even without looking at him, you can imagine the scoff and eye roll he must be giving you, interrupted by a small choke on his own spit. “Is this the price?”

“Ignore that!” You quickly respond. “It’s my treat! Come out, come out, I wanna see you!”

Better to gloss over the fact you worked hard to do this for Chilchuck with a high budget. No doubt he’d tease you or outright refuse it. You open the curtain and pull Chilchuck out by his arm. He quickly adjusts himself and you both stand in front of the wall length mirror.

“...Woah.”

It’s said naturally in sync. Both of you hardly recognise the brunette half-foot in the form fitting suit and tie. With a bit of hair maintenance and more time to actually make himself look presentable…

“I look like Laios on a good day,” Chilchuck jokes.

Your breath caught in your throat, you can only let out, “y-yeah.”

You pray he doesn’t notice how enthralled you are in his appearance, if slightly ungroomed.

Once the moment passes, Chilchuck makes himself comfortable by loosening his tie and undoing a button or two, then putting his arms where they usually are behind his neck. “But it’s just me.”

Without hesitation, you find yourself speaking without meaning to. “Is that not the best part?”

Chilchuck looks at you in confusion. “What?”

“I-I mean…” you trail off. You look nervous. That’s rare for you. Usually you always had something to say. Now you look like you’re trying to figure out how to word something in a specific way. Why?

You move behind Chilchuck to smooth down some of his hair. “You may look more charming but… this is all you. Your choices, your style… It reflects who you are on the inside. That’s the magic of fashion.”

Chilchuck laughs a little, mostly at his own cluelessness. He can’t believe he’s underestimated a simple shopping trip. “Thank you,” he says, with complete sincerity.

“No.” You shake your head. “This is not a gift. I’m just… This is me thanking you for how you let me get away with so much.”

Your hands land on his shoulders, and Chilchuck’s fingers find their way to interlace with yours. For just a few more moments, you look at yourselves in the mirror.

Catching yourself, you step away from the situation – from him. “Well? Come on, you need to buy this. I’d want to marry you if you took me out looking like this!”

The half-foot flushes red. You got to know what you’re doing to him. “That’s not really—”

“Chilchuck. Please.” You place your hands on your hips, looking dead serious. “You look hot.”

…Well, he can’t argue with you. If you really think that, then who is he to deny it?

“Fine. I’ll get it.”

You smile that cocky grin Chilchuck has grown to love. “That’s our man.”

Leaving the shop was like a breath of fresh, unperfumed air. Chilchuck would nearly fall to his knees and start kissing the ground if he paid too much attention to how his legs ached. The post shopping trip fatigue is really hitting him.

“I enjoyed this,” he however admits. “Maybe women are onto something when it comes to clothes.”

“That’s why you should always listen to whenever a woman is speaking,” you wisely advise, making Chilchuck nod with a slight snort.

He stops at a crossroads, where you go back to his place, and he goes back to his. “You can trust that I will now.”

“Good.” You sigh in relief knowing your venture was successful. Maybe too successful, because now you may lose him.

Chilchuck keeps looking at you with affection. You can’t say you haven’t noticed how he keeps sparing you glances, mostly throughout the shopping trip. Maybe he has warmed up to you?

Still, neither of you can stop yourselves at this point.

You approach, and for a hopeful second, Chilchuck tilts his head a bit to the left, eyelids lowering and leaning into you. Your arms wrap around his middle.

Your face nuzzles into his neck as you hug the man tight. Chilchuck is still for a few seconds. A hug. Right. Of course you’d want a hug… He responds in kind.

“See you soon, Chil. I wish you luck.”

“Y-Yeah. Luck with the lady.”

Your happiness comes with a heavy sacrifice of Chilchuck’s feelings remaining unsaid.

He’ll take it like a man.

#✮ grimm's fics!#dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi imagines #dungeon meshi x reader #delicious in dungeon #delicious in dungeon imagines #delicious in dungeon x reader #chilchuck #chilchuck tims #chilchuck x reader #chilchuck imagines #chilchuck tims x reader #chilchuck tims imagines

125 notes · View notes

inactivewattpadauthor · 2 months

Text

Raiden x Reader x Fujin: Brothers Share (Lime)

Context: Storm bros both are a bit 'frustrated', and they came up with a very lovely solution

Warning: Nothing explicit, but it's implied you get sandwiched ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The atmosphere gifted such serenity. It was perfect for one to sit through and meditate.

It was always Raiden's go-to hobby whenever he had somewhat spared time in his hands, and he always enjoyed it whenever he could. Although he is a demigod, an immortal being, he knew good things don't last.

Yet, recently, he's been feeling off. It doesn't feel something so dire he needs to consult with the Elder Gods, but whatever it was, it's bothering, let alone, confusing him.

The Thunder God will try to brush off the feeling in body, but it'll always come back. Maybe stronger than prior. And it's agitating since he only knew meditation, which doesn't help.

Standing from his spot, he groans indignantly, rubbing at his temples.

"Trouble with meditation, too, brother?" Raiden slightly flinches and turns to see Fujin. He must've not heard his brethren enter the room.

"It seems so. No matter my attempts, my mind will not be clear. Worse, I do not know what is causing it." Raiden walks around, trying to think before stopping by the window and peering down.

His glow up orbs observe his familiar two students sparring with each other. Turning to the right more, was you seated in the distance, catching up on your studies while occasionally glancing up at your two dorky friends fighting.

For whatever reason, Raiden was less interested in watching the progress with the two boys but kept focus on you. It wasn't like you were doing anything special, but his gaze just never leaves...

"She's stunning, isn't she?" Fujin walks to his side and observes as well.

Raiden only lets out a monotone grunt, which Fujin knew he agreed with him.

"I've been having the same feeling you have. A certain frustration that not even meditation can sooth." Fujin began, walking off from the window. "I may have an idea on how to deal with it, but you are not likely to accept it."

Raiden looked at his brother with a snarky look, finally ridding his gaze upon your figure. "Speak your mind brother, I have no patience for half-hearted, indirect suggestions at a time like this."

Fujin only chuckles at his brother's short fuse, nonchalantly leaning against the wall, crossing his arms. "Well, we both clearly have eyes for dear Y/n, am I correct?"

The expression on Raiden's face relaxed, intrigued on what Fujin may propose. "Are you perhaps about to suggest we collectively pursue her?"

The wind god smiles and nods. "We could persuade her to assist us both on our... salacious feelings before it gets worse."

Looking down, letting the cynical hat cover his glowing orbs, Raiden ponders. This was rather something sinful, but he cannot deny, he is a man. And he knew that Fujin wouldn't judge, considering he's completely relaxed and the one even to propose such a preposterous thing.

"What happens if she finds the request disturbing and says no?"

"If she doesn't want to then we can figure something else out, but Y/n is a cooperative one." Fujin answers, seemingly confident.

Sighing, Raiden takes the younger god's word for it. "I'll accept the proposition."

---Time skip! Dont forget to drink water!---

You ruffled your messy hair, being rather tired after a day of being active. Yet, you were to stop by the Sky Temple again at night.

Walking in quietly, you seeked out both protectors of Earthrealm and did your usual bow as they spot and approach you.

"Greetings, Y/n." Raiden says, returning the courteous bow. "You do not have to be formal with us. You're our friend." Fujin tells you with a warm smile.

"Oh- my bad, it's a habit." You say a bit flustered. "What is it you need from me at this time? Is it about Liu Kang?" I looked confusingly between the gods.

"No, we just..." Raiden didn't know how to start off. "Do you mind if we all go somewhere rather exclusive?"

You were confused since the Sky Temple was rather empty already, but you nodded anyways. And in a split second, the three of you appeared in a rather comfy looking bedroom with a flash.

It must've been Raiden's since all the decoration and furniture look ancient and untouched, considering he doesn't really take time off.

As you were distracted taking in the sudden surrounding, Raiden places his hands behind and back and sighs before explaining. "My brother and I spoke of an issue we both seem to have, and we request if you are willing to help us."

You looked at Raiden and then Fujin in the back. They both seemed relax as if maybe it was something not too urgent. It made you curious.

"Okay, what is it?"

"A certain craving," Raiden takes a glance at Fujin, whom nods, encouraging him to speak more on it.

"A need that we both share. We both desire the physical companionship of a woman. And we would like for you to join us in satisfying that, ah, particular desire since we know you well."

The cat seem to have ceased your tongue as you didn't know how to respond, rather your mind has clouded with thoughts, mostly questions. You looked from Raiden to Fujin. Both of them, eh?

Fujin raises an eyebrow, amused by your expression of shock and uncertainty. "Oh, don't worry, dear Y/n. We won't hurt you. We are simply asking for your consent, and your willingness to indulge us."

"So you guys are really asking me to sleep with you? BOTH of you?" You just had to make sure you were getting this right.

"It may sound absurd for a mortal woman to sleep with not one, but two gods, but we are still men." Raiden states.

"And something similar has happened before." Fujin hints with smugness.

"Fujin." Raiden gives him a warning look before turning back to your shorter being. "Do you have any objections?"

This was rather a one chance in a lifetime deal, and both brothers are such fine specimens. You trusted them well enough.

"Both of you?" You repeated once more with a smirk that was pure admiration.

Fujin walks behind you, first gently grabbing your shoulders before wrapping his arms around you, clearly the more eager brother.

"Brothers share, Y/n." He whispers in your ear, his white bang tickling your face.

Raiden steps more forward, his shadow looming over the both of you. "And we share 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨."

That line alone was enough to cause goosebumps. You gasp quietly feeling soft lips on your neck.

"She's so pretty." Fujin moans out a comment, holding you more and kissing your skin.

Your attention was grabbed back by Raiden as he lifts up your chin, having you look up at his authoritative eyes. "Are you ready to serve like a good mortal?"

You gulped, feeling two things poking you, behind and front.

"Yes, my lord..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ahem... not saying there will be a part 2, but uhhhh, I'm definitely gonna be thinking on it...

God, what my own writing does to me

(Someone on Tumblr ask smth in my inbox, I'm hella bored and lack human interaction)

#mortal kombat 11 #mortal kombat #mortal kombat x reader #mk imagine #mortal kombat imagines #mk headcanons #mortal kombat headcanons #lord fujin #fujin #fujin smut #fujin x reader #lord raiden #raiden #raiden x reader #goddesswritings

105 notes · View notes

moonydustx · 1 month

Note

Hi!! Your writing is so good. I love it so much!!! Can i request a Five x female reader? Where the reader is smug and direct about her feelings? Thank you!! 🫶🫶🫶

Hi Hi! First, thank you for appreciating my work ❤️❤️

I tried my best to deliver and I apologize in advance if anything deviated from the proposal. I used Five from last season because his personality in these last few episodes is my favorite. Again, thanks for the request and i hope u like!

requests | the umbrella academy masterlist

What do you feel?

Pairing: Five Hargreeves x F!Reader

Warnings: fluffff, some things are a little out of canon, F!Reader is also someone with powers. She can feel others' feelings and make others feel hers through touch.

You still remembered the first time Five crossed your eyes at Temps Comisson. The neat jacket, the formal shorts and the almost arrogant posture for just a kid. At first, you hated him.

"A new friend for you." the manager introduced you to him and the two of you barely bothered to shake hands.

"Great, a newbie." Five replied, without much patience.

"I already have my suitcase, I don't need this new one." the cynicism in your tone was clear to both of them. When you saw the manager looking at you impatiently, you turned to him. "Let's follow the rules: don't get in my way, don't meddle in my choices and please don't expect me to save you if you're standing in the grave."

"I could say the same." Five replied, extending his hand to you. "Deal."

And a few years later, here you were. Cooped up in the family of what you could call your best friend, attending a wedding taking place under the lights of the end of the world.

"What do you think, huh? Apocalyptic weddings." Five whispered as the bride and groom entered.

"First I need to find someone who can handle it." your answer came out almost automatically and you just watched Five deny it, with a smile on his lips.

The ceremony was quick, totally the opposite of dinner. The two of you chose to sit at a table alone, taking in your surroundings. The happy couples, Ali and Viktor fighting, Ben being disturbed by Klaus.

"Can you feel what they think from here?" Five asked, filling his glass.

"Sex, sex." you pointed to Luther and Diego with their respective spouses. "Guilt and grudge." you pointed at Viktor and then Allison. "And suicide." Finally, you pointed at Ben. "Look, I don't even need to go there and touch them."

"Sometimes I forget." He pointed to your hands covered in gloves. "And you, how do you feel about the world ending?"

"Relief, I guess." You lied, seeing him nod.

You both watched Klaus approach, in silence. Brother Hargreeves tried to convince them to listen to Sir Reginald, but it was in vain. You understood his hope, in trying to somehow rescue his father's good image and no matter how much he denied it, you could feel that Five wanted to be able to have that kind of hope too.

"I still don't believe him." Five said in a low tone, despite having alcohol in his blood, he still needed to remain alert.

"Me either." you imitated him, moving closer to him. The two of your heads were practically glued together as the two of you talked. "It's a shame to see Klaus so… wait a minute."

Sir Reginald's presence was present there, frightening everyone. It wasn't the spiteful version that you heard Five talk about over the years, but there was something that didn't fit there, you could feel it.

The man gave a brief speech, with a huge poem and it was clear from the looks of those around that the situation was stranger than you could imagine. Perhaps with the intention of breaking the ice hovering in the air, as soon as Hargreeves left the microphone, the dance floor was filled with music and colored lights.

"The old man is actually good at it." Five pondered, taking your attention.

"I don't know, something is wrong. He's always alert, he won't let me touch him." you responded immediately, watching him think for a few seconds.

"Any ideas what we can do?"

"I don't know if you got the memo, but we're about to die. " you turned away from Five to grab your glass. In a cynical gesture, you took your glass towards his glass, improvising a toast. "Here's to the old man's minutes of sanity."

"How can you be so frank?" He seemed indignant, drawing a laugh from your lips. "You're worse than me."

"Ah, dear Five. Try to feel what everyone else feels for a day. All the anger, all the fear. Your own feelings become a burden to you." your words silenced him, leaving space for him to just nod and for you to return to contemplating the speeches.

"I'm glad the world is ending." he stood up, extending his hand to you while his other hand held the bottle of champagne you shared. "Screw other people's feelings."

"Yeah, screw it." You accepted and stood up.

Five led you to the dance floor and even though the music was more upbeat and the dance floor was full of his brothers, he still spun you around a few times, in a kind of disconcerted waltz.

Five soon let go of you and climbed up to where the DJ table was, taking the microphone from the strange man. Without speech or prior notice, Five began to sing. The lyrics weren't the happiest of all, much less the melody, but they were familiar to you. You remembered singing it a few times in Five's presence and saying how much it reminded you of your father, who had been away from you for years.

"Would you accompany me?" your eyes moved away from Five's to Klaus, who proposed a dance. You could notice his suspicious look as he led you away.

"You like him, don't you?" Klaus asked and you just nodded, there was no point in hiding it anymore. "Well, you still have some time until the world ends."

"And if it doesn't end, what do I do next?"

"What do you mean it doesn't end?" Klaus asked, stopping turning you around. "Will you accept Dad's plan?"

"No, no, that's not it. I've seen Five end apocalypses before, I think something inside me hopes he can fix this one too. Maybe it's just the grief speaking inside me."

"Yeah, maybe."

Klaus turned you around once again and let you go, leaving you alone for just a few seconds.

"Let's get out of here?" Five's voice materialized behind you. "I need fresh air."

Before you could respond, he held your hand and led you away. It only took a few minutes for the two of you to be alone, watching the orange sky from the building's terrace.

"Can I ask you something?" You sat next to him, keeping little distance. Before you could ask, he held out the bottle of champagne he hadn't put down yet.

"Technically you already asked."

"Stop being an idiot." your shoulders collided with his. "That's it, right? I think we finally don't have the solution."

"I can almost believe you're scared." this time, you didn't deny it, you just looked away. "You know you don't need to talk, right?"

"I know, but it's frustrating. Running after saving the world all this time and not being able to. I'd rather die, I don't know, run over by a car, with an anvil falling on my head. But an apocalypse?" you laughed and watched Five do what you had done many times when you couldn't use your voice to talk. He took one of your hands and took off the glove, allowing himself to touch your skin.

"I can feel you." he replied, in a low tone. "You are afraid."

Five preferred to omit everything else he felt when he touched your skin. Fear, anguish, anxiety, love. The last one weighed on his mind, but he knew you and knew you would come out as soon as he felt comfortable. In a way, he knew that when he touched you, you would also be aware of his feelings.

"The only people who aren't scared are those who aren't paying attention."

"I think we need to drink more, to forget about this." even after just a few minutes of sitting, Five pulled you to your feet. "And this dress suits you, it's a waste to stay here while the party is going on downstairs."

Again, he dragged you downstairs, where the celebration was taking place. Whiskey, vodka, beer, everything that still contains a quantity of alcohol became part of your menu and at the end of the party, you found yourself sitting at the counter, Five standing a few meters away, tasting two different drinks. Maybe that would be the last time the two of you would party.

"Five?" you interrupted him, making him place the two bottles on the floor. "I don't want to die with regrets."

"Elucidate me on that."

"Even though The Handler always made it clear that I was too much for you, I like you." A sob caused by alcohol interrupted your train of thought. "I like it and I know that maybe I'm a little too much for your arrogance. You're also a little too much for me." You laughed, seeing him approach. "I think after these years, it's only fair for me to say that I love you."

"You think?" he laughed, fitting himself between your legs dangling from the metal counter. "You drank too much."

"You too." you responded immediately, starting to take off your gloves. "And alcohol doesn't affect my opinion. Feelings don't lie, do you want to feel?" Before the first glove could leave your hand, Five stopped you.

"I believe in you and I feel the same." he replied and in an unexpected gesture, he hugged you, putting his face in your mouth. "I've loved you for a while, it's a shame it took us so many years to realize."

"We can live that at least now." You gave space for his face to be in front of yours. "Damn, now I wish I could end this apocalypse."

His lips took yours and instead of his hands attaching themselves to your body, Five disheveledly took off your gloves and pulled your hands until they tangled around the back of his neck.

"I love you so much." he murmured between your lips, feeling almost overwhelmed by all the feeling that emanated from your hands. "Tonight, I'm yours and you're mine, fuck this apocalypse."

"Until the world ends?" you asked breathlessly.

"Until the world ends."

Your mouth tasted like alcohol, sweets and fear for the small future, but Five didn't see the problem, after all you could love each other until the world ended.

#fiction #reader insert #no use of y/n #requests open #the umbrella academy s3 #the umbrella academy #five hargreeves #five hargreaves x reader

55 notes · View notes

tenebraevesper · 3 months

Text

Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Prime, Character Analysis - Part 6)

Welcome to Part 6 of my Shadow and Sonic character analysis, which is actually part analysis, part me just gushing over the Sonadow ship. In this Part, I will be covering the second half of Episode 17: Grim Tidings, which can be summed up as ''little brother is jealous of older brother's boyfriend and also is trying to kill them''.

With this done, I have three more episodes left in which Shadow appears, and unless I get too many screenshots/gifs so Tumblr won't let me post them all, Episode 21: Home Sick Home and Episode 22: The Devil is in the Tails will be one post, while Episode 23: From the Top will be its own post. There might also be a slight delay in me covering those episodes because I need to gather all of the material for them.

In any case, let's dive into this episode!

In the first half of the episode, we already saw a very prominent shift in Shadow's character, aka his protective and caring side and his attempt to reach out and comfort Sonic, which was genuinely really cute from him.

So, Shadow and Sonic manage to enter The Grim, with Sonic (who for once didn't faceplant upon landing in the Shatterspace) being surprised to see Nine having gone full Elsa by creating a citadel with the Paradox Prism energy. As they approach it, they're confronted by Nine, who tells Sonic how Sonic's plan was never Nine's plan.

''So, it was always about power?'' ''No, that's not-'' ''Exactly. With the Paradox Prism, I'll be able to turn this world into a paradise. MY PARADISE!''

I find it genuinely interesting how Shadow's first thought is that Nine was after power, rather than approval or companionship. Nine agrees, but he wasn't seeking power for the sake of power. Knowing Nine's character, he is a loner who had been bullied all of his life and after believing that he found a true friend in Sonic, all he wants is to create a world where he and Sonic can be happy. However, with Sonic ''betraying'' him, he decides that he is better off alone.

Now, doesn't this sound a bit familiar?

So, this is speculation, but I think that Nine is supposed to be a foil to Shadow. Both are loners with a cynical view of the world and a strong connection to Sonic. However, while Nine started out as Sonic's ally (after some initial trust issues) and looked up to him, Shadow was quite antagonistic, fighting Sonic and berating him for shattering their reality. However, over the course of the show, things changed, with Nine taking over as the main villain while Shadow became Sonic's closest ally.

While the reasons for Nine betraying Sonic have been seen and discussed in and out of the show, I want to point out something I didn't really see anyone bring up - how much does Nine really know Sonic (and for that matter, how much does Sonic really know Nine)?

Nine acted on the belief that Sonic wants to stay with him in The Grim and create a world just for them, at least until he got the confirmation that Sonic wanted to restore Ghost Hill. Nine is not Tails, so no matter how much he interacts with Sonic, he wouldn't know about any of Sonic's past actions or how he acted in similar situations to get a good understanding of him.

Shadow, on the other hand, knows Sonic well enough to point out his mistakes and flaws and is not afraid to knock him down a peg, while also understanding that Sonic genuinely has everyone's best interests on mind. He has seen how Sonic behaves in situations like this, and even if he fights Sonic, he has no issues working with him and trusting him (albeit, after he admits that, yeah, they need each other to fix reality). Unlike Nine, he has enough experience with Sonic to understand why he acts like this.

''Let's destroy this traitor.'' ''Wait! Maybe I can reason with him.'' ''Reason with him?!'' ''Just let me try. If that doesn't work-'' ''Then he's mine.'' ''No, he's ours.''

*Soviet anthem starts playing* Sorry, not sorry! X3 But seriously, was anyone reminded of that one meme when Sonic went ''he's ours''? Because that's the first thing that popped into my mind.

Also, why do writers love writing Shadow trying to destroy Tails? Like this is the third time this happens!

First we had Shadow fighting Tails in Sonic X (granted, he was targeting Cosmo, but still!).

Then we had Shadow fighting Tails in Sonic Boom (granted, he was targeting Sonic, and Tails and Knuckles were in his way, but still!).

Now we have Shadow targeting Nine in Sonic Prime, who betrayed them, took the Paradox Prism and left their reality to fracture... which for once is actually a valid reason for Shadow to go after him.

But still, why is Shadow having beef with Tails in every animated media he appears in? Going by this pattern, I guess that Shadow will also target Tails in Sonic Movie 3.

*shakes head in amusement* Anyways, where were we? Ah, yes!

So, Shadow and Sonic's conversation is actually quite interesting when you take into consideration everything that happened between them. Shadow wants to do the obvious, while Sonic, despite having experienced a great loss, still hopes that he can reason with Nine. Shadow is stunned, but Sonic asks him to let him at least try. If it doesn't work, Shadow will deal with him... No, Shadow and Sonic will deal with him.

This is certainly the culmination of both Sonic and Shadow's character growth. Not only did they talk about their plans, but Sonic acknowledges that, if he cannot talk to Nine, he will have to fight him. Shadow, in turn, let's Sonic do try the more diplomatic approach rather than take the violent option, clearly showing trust in Sonic's negotiation skills. It is genuinely amazing to see.

Unfortunately for Sonic, Nine doesn't care about fixing their relationship, as he already replaced him with his own version of Chaos Sonic, called Grim Sonic.

''Woah! Who or what is THAT?!'' ''It's you.'' ''Yeah, but if you squint and tilt your head to the side, it's also kinda you.'' *gives Sonic an unimpressed look*

Honestly, I genuinely laughed at this little exchange, especially when Shadow just gives Sonic that look. It's really fun to just have them talk like this, showing off their dynamic.

''Whatever it is, it's in our way.'' ''Not for long!''

The conversation even continues, with both preparing for the fight. Once again, I just love how these two can hold a banter in one moment and leap into action in the next one.

At first, they get caught off guard by Grim Sonic, with Sonic being exasperated there's another robotic version of him, with Nine pointing out how he saved Sonic from Chaos Sonic, but how this time, Sonic is on his own. Sonic's expression falls as he hears that, clearly hurt by Nine's words.

''He's not on his own.'' *Sonic perks up, both confront Grim Sonic* ''We're all on our own.''

Honestly, this is really sweet of Shadow, showing that he now stands firmly by Sonic's side and cheering him up. Shadow really has undergone through a lot of character growth, affirming that he and Sonic are now a team and they will work together to beat Nine. Not to mention, Sonic just looks so happy to hear this.

What follows next is Sonic and Shadow beating up Grim Sonic, showing some amazing teamwork together.

''It's over Nine!'' ''I decide when it's over!''

Nine summons the other Grim Variants, that of Amy, Knuckles, Rouge and Birdie (no Big or Froggy tho, and certainly no variant of Tails), claiming how they're his friends now. Sonic and Shadow continue the battle.

''Behind you!'' ''Behind you!''

I'm absolutely loving this! Seriously, before Sonic Prime, when was the last time we saw them work together like this?

Anyways, as the battle continues, Shadow tells Sonic to go for the Prism, but Sonic protests, not wanting to leave him alone. Shadow assures him that he'll be fine and tells him to go, with Sonic listening to him. Nine laments about Sonic's recklessness, throwing crystals at him and knocking him down.

''Sonic!''

Shadow looks absolutely devastated when he sees Sonic fall...

...and his first instinct is to rush over to Sonic to protect him.

Fortunately, Sonic gets up, with Nine joining the Grim Variants, praising the power of the Prism and how there's nothing he can't do. Sonic questions him whether this is really what he wants, to spend his life all alone with robots as his companions. Nine responds how he can at least trust them, with Sonic the pointing out how The Grim is decaying, and Nine reveals that, while he rebuilt the Paradox Prism, some of the Prism energy is still missing.

Now, observe this closely.

''Oh, I've rebuilt it. But it turns down there is some Prism energy missing.''

When Nine mentions the missing Prism energy, he briefly glances at Sonic's shoes, smirking. Sonic clearly has no idea what he's talking about, thinking about his words.

Shadow, on the other hand, follows Nine's gaze, looking at Sonic's shoes, then back at Nine, who gives him a firm look, as if confirming something. Shadow's eyes widen in realization, then he gives Nine a look of pure anger.

Shadow has put together that Nine is now targeting Sonic, and he is pissed.

''Sonic, you have to get out of here!'' ''What?''

Shadow's first words and actions after this realization is to tell Sonic to get out and then protecting him from Grim Sonic.

''It's you! He's after your energy!''

It is as if someone flipped a switch. Shadow's thoughts are basically ''Forget the Paradox Prism, I need to protect Sonic now!'' He literally switched priorities the moment Sonic had been put into danger, and when he sees Sonic struggling with the Grim variants, he basically encases him into a tornado to protect him, telling him that he has to go.

''What? Shadow thinks he can steal Sonic away from me!? Not a chance!''

I know that Nine is after Sonic's Prism energy, but he sounds so much like a little brother who is jealous that his older brother spends more time with his boyfriend than with him. I mean, he certainly isn't over Sonic, no matter what he says about the robots being his friends now, so it certainly checks out.

Nine then fires a blast of energy at Sonic and Shadow, with Shadow managing to grab Sonic's leg...

''This is for your own good!'' ''Shadooooow!''

...proceeding to throw him out of The Grim and right into The Void, much to Nine's dismay. Nine then sends Grim Birdie and its clones to follow Sonic, and while Shadow fights the rest of the robots.

He is not in the best state, but damned if he doesn't give his all to cover Sonic. Unfortunately, he is outnumbered and eventually knocked into the abyss.

You fought as best as you could Shadow, but unfortunately, you will need more help in the fight against Nine. Fortunately, Sonic knows where to find that help.

So, the second half of the episode just cemented everything I had said about Shadow's character growth, with the inclusion of him putting Sonic's safety above his own. Sure, Sonic is Nine's target, but you can't say that Shadow hasn't been doing that even before he learned about Nine's plans.

Oh, and Sonadow shippers? I think you can definitely add ''Protective Shadow'' to your story ideas.

#Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Prime, Character Analysis - Part 5)

#Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Prime, Character Analysis - Part 7)

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer (Masterlist)

#Ten's Thoughts #sonic prime #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #sonadow #sonadow prime #tails nine

102 notes · View notes

orchidbreezefc · 5 months

Text

edgar woe.begone: low empathy, high masking

THESIS: my reading of edgar woe.begone is that he's a low empathy autistic who has no innate intuition for social cues and has had to teach himself everything about social interaction from scratch, which is an interpretation that i think explains a lot about him.

now, i am very critical of edgar as a person. i think he's a less than good person and a bad boyfriend. but let me be VERY clear right off the bat: these symptoms don't make anyone a bad person. these symptoms aren't even bad per se. theyre all disabling symptoms that make social interaction more difficult for the person who has them. like any symptom, they have to be managed and compensated for.

some people under the neurodivergent/mentally ill umbrella, as with any group of people, are bad people. being a bad person flavors one's approach to their mental illness, and mental illness in turn flavors the manner in which they're a bad person. the mental illness isn't what makes you bad, but it does affect how your shittiness manifests.

disclaimers done, a good place to start is the way edgar speaks, especially with jeremy's performance. edgar always sounds very reasonable, approachable, and agreeable, and there is never an ounce of genuine emotion in his voice. he talks like an autistic person with zero innate intuition for social interaction who has taught himself to speak in the way that he's learned will get the best response.

edgar's customer service voice is the only one we hear and likely the only one he uses if he can help it. we know edgar's a tactician, a persuader. why use any other voice than the one he's carefully fine-tuned to make people like him and be receptive to what he's saying? this isn't even necessarily cynical: what do you want him to do, talk in a more uncontrolled, emotional way--that he's not used to managing--that will make people like him less?? what good would that do?

edgar likes control. he's more comfortable when things are in his hands, and only his. propagation definitely factors in here--if [link: my theory] that propagation is what solidified the certainty of edgar's death is true, it's no wonder he wants to control and limit the spread of information. edgar prefers to be in charge of making the plans, ideally alone.

this is part of why mike is perpetually out of the loop, even regarding decisions that concern him--which is pretty damn paternalistic. but there's a more wholesome aspect as well: edgar genuinely thinks he's doing mike a favor.

edgar knows mike has undergone and is undergoing a lot, and that he's terrible with plans and a major blabbermouth. if edgar can take care of a problem without mike having to worry his pretty head and perfect eyebrows about what to do, without knowing it ever existed, isn't that so much better? that's edgar being a good boyfriend, actually. he's helping!

it probably doesn't even occur to edgar how much this limits mike's agency, how much it hurts mike that edgar refuses to let him in, how this puts them on unequal footing, how fucking patronizing it is to not let your boyfriend make his own decisions about his own life. oh, how the tables have tabled since him originally telling mike that keeping the story of woe.begone from him didn't protect him, it impeded his ability to make informed choices.

here's where the low empathy creates problems--edgar doesn't have that innate intuition for how mike's feeling, and he doesn't (effectively) manage or compensate for it, and he definitely doesn't communicate with mike enough to know how he's affected by this shit (avoiding too much information sharing is good, remember?)

and mike certainly isn't going to tell him! mike is a goddamn simp. he's not going to establish boundaries. he's not going to put his foot down and demand better treatment. as if he fucking deserves that in the first place, pshaw. the only time he pushes back is in season 10 when he doesn't remember their relationship, and edgar is deeply shaken.

edgar is devastated to learn he hurt mikey, because he does genuinely adore that man. he would get lasso lessons from michael and rope him the moon if he could. his low empathy and efforts to manage everything himself keep him from realizing that mikey, a hyperempathetic mess who gets sentimental about pens, seriously suffers from being shut out like this.

edgar's thought process must be equally inscrutable to mikey, who just figures it would be asking too much to be an active and equal participant in his own relationship and life. edgar's perfect and great, so if mikey deserved that, he would already be giving it to him. if mikey's unhappy with any part of their relationship, no he isn't. he's lucky he has edgar at all. he's lucky he has anyone.

recall michael's agonized admission that "everything is about rugby, dammit" 10(++++) years and edgar's literal death later. we can only guess at how bad his rugby was, but we do know michael never talked it through with edgar. he tells mike this was him 'letting it go' actually, when the fact that theyre having this conversation at all is proof that he extremely hasn't. this is what 'letting it go' looks like to michael: burying an issue forever and giving up on ever getting closure.

so yes, edgar does authentically deeply love his mikey-bear. unfortunately, if you never establish the communication to bridge the differences between your own methods of operating and that of your partner, love will only get you so far. and the first time around, where it got them was michael fighting back tears in an apartment in latvia over a wound from edgar that he suffered in silence until the day he died.

62 notes · View notes

estelofrivendell · 9 months

Note

Hello ! Hope you're doing well

Could you please write a Legolas x Reader where the reader is playing piano (i know piano don't exist in LOTR lol so actually it could be any other instruments, I just prefer piano) during the Rohirrim party and Legolas fell even harder for them and thought it was the right time to confess his feelings (if you can also include that they've been distancing lately)

Hope it is not too much and take your time to write it!!

Legolas x Reader (The Pianist)

A/N: Hope you like this, anon! Legolas is a little tricky to write, trying to get better with him and his characterization.

The Rohirrim were a merry bunch, there was no doubt about that. Despite the heavy losses in Helm’s Deep, the return of Gandalf and Éomer lifted their spirits greatly.

The celebration began as soon as they returned to Edoras with Merry and Pippin, cheerful and energetic as always. Legolas was unsure if he was dreaming but he swore the two hobbits were not as tall as they are now the last time he saw them.

After Gimli passed out, Legolas checked the great hall to find the remaining ones not yet intoxicated. There was Aragorn, who never took in more than he wanted to, Éowyn, who did not seem to enjoy these kinds of things. And there was you, playing the piano and surrounded by jolly men singing a song about falling in love.

If the theme of the party was to celebrate the recent victory and honor the fallen, then everyone was miserably failing, because they sure are not making any mention of the dead in their song.

As soon as the song came to an end, he approached you, narrowly avoiding the tipsy men about to bump into him and passed by others who lost their balance. You looked up at him and grinned.

“Hello, Legolas,” you greeted cheerfully. “Would you care to join me?”

“I am afraid I am not very skilled at the piano,” said Legolas. “I do, however, take pride in my skill at the harp. You never told me you played the piano.”

“You never asked.”

True enough, Legolas felt he did not know you well. He started off preferring your company over the others, especially Gimli’s, but in a strange twist of fate, he would not hesitate to call Gimli his best friend now. You were what he liked to call thoughtful; always thinking of the future, hoping for the best instead of the worst. He was no cynic even if the odds point to a complete destruction of the world and someone like you and your optimism was a refresher.

Legolas thought this was the right moment to start over. “We speak little to each other lately. Perhaps at dusk you could teach me how to play the piano and get to know each other more.”

“I would love to.”

“It’s not that hard, Legolas. You’re tensing up. Everyone has to start somewhere, and if I can do it, then so can you.”

Legolas could read basic piano sheets and memorised all the keys and what notes they represented, but couldn’t hit the notes as well as he wished. One second, he’ll be playing fine but his fingers would suddenly tense and make it difficult for him to continue, abruptly ending his practice awkwardly.

“It happens to the best of us,” you insisted. “Besides, you’re lucky enough to have all your life to master the piano.”

Legolas chuckled. “That is true.”

And for the first time in what he guessed was weeks, Legolas felt light heartened, like he always was before you two grew distant from each other. He’s not sure how it happened but he was sorry those weeks were wasted with lack of interaction instead of getting closer to you.

“Are you seeing anyone?” Legolas asked.

“Not at the moment, no,” you said. “Why?”

“If you would let me, I would like to take you out for a ride at dawn. Edoras has a lot of lovely things to offer. We could talk about that and more about each other.”

You smiled. “That they do. I’d love to, Legolas. I think you're wonderful to be around.”

#lord of the rings imagine #lotr imagine #legolas x reader #legolas imagine

122 notes · View notes

sciderman · 7 months

Note

I love the fact your Peter learns from his mistakes.He’s literally telling Wade to not fuck up something that would have even worse consequences of.That’s a good man right there 👏👏 praise for Peter

HE IS SO GOOD. he's wonderful – no one gives him enough credit for just how much he's learned and evolved over the years – he's come so, so far. and i have a wonderful little post i'm sitting on that's kind of actually all about how far he's come. but we see it everywhere – he's constantly evolving, and taking ownership of his mistakes and learning from them.

we say that peter maybe apologises too much, but – he takes what he learns forward. and he wants wade to move forward too. and he believes wade is.

wade - wade's kind of the opinion of the contrary.

it's a sore spot.

a BIG huge ouchie for wade.

fact is - wade's perpetually frustrated that peter is evolving much faster than he is - because wade feels like he's relapsing, constantly. he desperately wants to be better.

it's something that revolves in my brain a lot, actually. wade and peter's differing approaches. wade is of the mindset that there's a constant reset-button on him.

and in the comics - there is. wade is a character that's never allowed to evolve in the comics. he's whatever the writer or audience is interested in, for that week. he's been the villain, been the anti-hero, been the hero, reset. back to villain. back to anti-hero. has a marriage. has a divorce. has a daughter. has his memories of his daughter erased from his memory. he is never allowed to actually progress, or have any sort of stability as a character. deadpool, as a character, has never had a status quo.

peter parker - in his heyday - (we don't talk about the last decade of comics) - growth and evolution was the crux of his comics. he starts off a bitter teen - grows into a cynical college student - into a persevering adult, in a long-term romance and eventual marriage that span decades of comics. he becomes a teacher - he just - he grows. the comics let him evolve to the point you'd hardly recognise him if you sat teenage peter parker and adult peter parker next to each other. it's a long game and you're with him every step - and i just - i think wade's awareness of that reality (what with his relationship with the fourth wall) means that he'll always have this nagging fear that peter's inevitably going to evolve past him, and wade's going to be on reset, again.

i think he's terrified that if he loses peter, he'll be back to square one. i think he's terrified of how much he needs peter here - to remind him that he's doing something right.

#sci speaks #ask-spiderpool #meta

103 notes · View notes

corruptedcaps · 8 months

Text

Moral Objection: Part Three

Read part one here

Read part two here

The next morning came with the now familiar hangover of her transformation. Thankfully she had left Jack’s before he had to see her for who she really was but was now laying in bed alone with regret once again at her actions.

“Why do I become such a heartless conniving bitch when I transform?” She said aloud not to anyone in particular however she soon heard a voice reply.

“Because it’s who you’ve always wanted to be.” Said a familiar voice that sounded like it was right beside her.

Sitting up with a start she looked around unsure of where it was coming from. “Who said that? Where are you?”

The response was soft but clear. "Go to the mirror." Heart pounding, Keira complied, her steps hesitant as she approached the reflective surface. Her breath caught as she stared at her own reflection, her heart racing in disbelief. The image that stared back at her was not the plain Keira she had known, but the beautiful and cruel alter ego she had become.

Staring at the reflection that both fascinated and repelled her, Keira took a deep breath and spoke aloud, her voice determined but tinged with desperation. "This isn't who I want to be. I want to be kind and good, to make a positive impact." Her words hung in the air, a plea for some form of redemption.

The voice, mocking and haunting, whispered in reply, its tone dripping with cynicism. "Kind and good, they're just other words for being naive and weak. Look at the world around you. Do you think it rewards kindness? Power and beauty are the currency of success."

Keira's heart ached as she listened to the voice's words, its cynical perspective challenging her deeply held beliefs. She fought against the doubt that threatened to consume her, a battle raging within her mind and soul. The temptation of power and confidence still held its grip on her, but a small ember of her former self refused to be extinguished.

“You need me Keira, you want me! Even now I bet you’re getting off on the wicked things we got up last night. Jacks big dick pounding our perfect pussy. If he passed you in the street today he wouldn’t even notice you.” Her evil persona said with a knowing smirk.

It was true, images of being her hotter self consumed her mind. She could still taste the lipstick on her mouth, feel the tight dress clung to her perfect curves, the lustful gaze from every man that saw her. It was all intoxicating and her body was reacting in kind.

“Go ahead, slip that hand into your panties and fantasize about being me. You know you want to.” Her reflection said with a velvety smooth voice, sending Keira into an almost trancelike state.

Keira’s hand traced the lips of her pussy first, before slipping two fingers in. Her mouth let out a little moan as she looked at her evil reflection smile satisfactorily. Keira knew she was losing a fight for her very soul but in that moment she didn’t care.

“Picture what an evil bitch you can be when you embrace me. I’ve been buried all these years inside of you, Elissa just helped bring me out. Admit it, you love what a mean bitch you are when I’m in control.” Her evil side hissed but Keira was about to give in yet.

“Nooooo! That’s not true! I’m a good person! Ohhhhhh god!” She groaned as she fought against her stronger persona while still playing with herself, unable to stop.

“No Keira! You’re good at being bad! Your a fucking natural babe. Imagine the cruel shit we could get up to if you gave in and we became one. Think of how hawt it would be! We could take Elissa down and become top bitch.” The voice continued and Keira was beyond turned on. It was impossible for her to resist. Being hot and mean was one thing but the chance to replace Elissa was too good to pass up.

“Ohhhh fuck yessss! Fuck my morals and my ideals! Where has that gotten me?! I want power and beauty and money! I want to be a spoilt mean bitch! Ahhhhh!” She moaned loudly as she came hard over her fingers. She felt all fears and anxieties flee from her mind as her meaner persona enveloped and merged with her. It felt good.

Standing up she tasted her fingers with a smirk and looked in the mirror. Her hotter reflection was gone, replaced with her plain as dirt look which she scowled at. She had the attitude now, she just needed the looks.

Picking up her phone she dialled Jack. Like a good boy he picked up after just one ring.

“Jack, remember that better deal I promised you? Well it’s time I reveal it to you. Here’s the plan…” Keira said purring down the phone as she laid out the plan for him while fingerling herself some more. She couldn’t wait.

To be concluded…

98 notes · View notes

moonsorchid · 2 months

Text

Rewatching ep.29 of Love Between Fairy and Devil

Part 1 - I tried to include my comments in one post, but again so many things happen in this episode

(spoilers ahead)

So we learn that DFQC didn’t drink the elixir that would prevent him from feeling Xiao Lanhua’s pain while she was in the cave. And we also get this wonderful speech: “Since we are to be husband and wife, we must stay together until death do us part for better or worse. Even though I cannot bear this trial for her, how can I let her suffer alone?”

At this point, they haven’t said “I love you” (as far as I remember, correct me please if I am wrong), they have barely shared any intimate moments, yet their love for each other is so deep and beyond conventional relationship milestones, that they are willing to go through all this suffering.

Awe Xunfeng, now you make me feel bad for saying all those bad things for you. You have a heart, I may like you from now on.

He truly worries for her (I did not remember this at all) I am sorry, Xunfeng :(

Xiao Lanhua remembers their moments together (their first kiss in the prison, how DFQC was cooling the dew water for her, how he kissed her underwater, how he saved her from the immortals, riding the dragon, DFQC making petals flow around her, trying to get her pin, teaching him how to smile, kissing on the bridge, watching the sunrise together) to endure the torture. I am melting

Can I just say that I love Shangque? His devotion and kindness to DFQC are admirable

I loooooove this scene where they acknowledge her as their Queen

Ok, Xunfeng, I take it all back. I love you, now. So happy he accepted her as his Queen. *I have a goofy smile on my face*

Uff, such a powerful scene when DFQC enters the room - the signs of exhaustion obvious on his face and the way he walks – and approaches her. His touch is so tender, the way he looks at her so sweet. I am dying, I love them so much

They are back in the palace and everyone kneels in front of their Moon Queen. So proud of my babies!

Look how happy Shangque is!!! So cute!

And what a shock for Changheng to realize that the Goddess he was engaged to is in fact Orchid.

How fast did I watch this the first time that I don’t remember her saying this? Poor Danyin :( I love her character development.

Ok, so Ronghao claims that the Moon tribe was the one that killed the 3000 heavenly soldiers. And the Emperor is like yes, I believe the prisoner, without investigating further, and I am going to start a war without any second thoughts.

Pausing to appreciate his calmness and beauty.

Um, excuse me, Ronghao, but you just started a war

Do you know how much I love sweet puppy dragon? He just gave Jieli a key to all his savings. I mean he is the purest, most innocent person in the world. He knows her, he knows what she’s like and yet he opens his heart (and his savings) to her, fully aware she might steal them and never look back. Because he wants to see the good in people. The cynical part of me thinks he is naive, but another part of me believes he is precious.

Haha Jieli is already thinking about opening a store with him. They are so cute together!

I mean look at how happy he is!

See you in part 2 (hopefully soon, because I miss them already)

Also, you can use my post as a drinking game for the words "love" and "cute" :D

#i am amazed at how little i remember from these last episodes #i was in such a hurry to finish the show #it's all a blur in my mind #i love that i pay attention to details now #and i get to know the characters better #so many powerful scenes in this episode #love between fairy and devil #lbfad #rewatching #mine #orchid's reactions

24 notes · View notes

ilynpilled · 1 year

Note

what is your take on jaime infant trebuchet threat?

here is my read of it:

I take into heavy consideration how it is contextualized by the preceding chapters and Jaime’s development in general. A very important thing about how Jaime changes is that it is not just about morality, knighthood, honor, etc. He is also noticeably developing in how he approaches things along with his relationship to the self + the fact that he is more conscious: he is confronting things, he is using his brain (everybody please clap)

“His brother never untied a knot when he could slash it in two with his sword.”

Now, because Jaime’s relationship with his idealism, his honor, his self etc. has changed so drastically, this situation becomes a knot. There is no more “most expedient way to achieve my goal enabled through my cynical ‘pragmatism’.” This is a knot that he can’t cut through because that would be going against keeping an oath, an oath that now means something to him again. And Jaime has reflected on his gordian knot approach since his hand loss.

Let’s see what problem the Blackfish poses:

From Jaime’s perspective, his resolve is an iron fortress. There is an emphasis that idle threats do not work on him.

What does Jaime primarily learn from this roast session from Brynden? The reputation that he (and his family) had earned for him will not allow for negotiation. Not with someone like Brynden. It does not only speak of how dysfunctional Tywin’s method is in the long term, but also how Jaime has a persona in the collective consciousness. It is something that will not go away, perhaps ever. He has reflected about how he no longer has the means to cut through his problems in a literal sense, and cutting through this knot in a less literal sense would lead to bloodshed and the breaking of vows (I wanna add that it is also not a simple situation where rejecting his role and abandoning this situation all together is a necessarily clean alternative. Jaime is an instrument of a regime, he is not the ultimate power here, he belongs to the crown, and he isn’t irreplaceable, so it is not like he as an independent force can make Lannister presence disappear here, even if he wanted to. Running from this knot would not fix anything, especially from the perspective that Brynden is doing nothing but a stubborn last stance with no end goal other than bringing as many Lannisters down to hell with him. While the ‘peace’ that he will create here is obviously temporary, and an uprising is brewing, his motivations and outlook in his current position are important. The siege remaining unresolved leads to the suffering of all sides involved, the Riverlands, already devastated by war, is starving, on top of this all being a threat to his family. The Blackfish scoured the country clean and expelled all useless mouths, the siege not being solved also leads to people starving. ) We can see how and why he now has to resort to new approaches, something he has learned previously in ASoS:

Tyrion would find a way. Let us use the cards we have been dealt. Especially the reputation that is used against us.

Also, what do the people around him suggest:

“Execute Edmure. Show that our threats are not idle”

Edmure is the key, is what Jaime eventually realizes, but not like that. What does Jaime do? He does not end up killing Edmure to show his threats have legitimacy to Brynden (part of it is the logical conclusion he makes about how that would strengthen his resolve, BUT he also does not go with a baby trebuchet threat to Brynden. I personally do not think Brynden is coldhearted enough to take that threat lightly (we know Jaime and co’s thoughts are a different matter), especially if he does not view it as an idle one. But the risk of the bluff being called is more present with Bryden, and then Jaime loses all credibility and chances to avoid bloodshed. There is a reason George wrote this how it is. I think we are supposed to scrutinize what exactly Jaime is saying, and to deliberately who.) He doesn’t execute Edmure and then go to Brynden with a baby trebuchet tier threat with the pretense that his threats are not empty anymore. No, he ends up using Edmure.

A Lannister pays his debts, he thought, and you’re the only coin that’s left to me.

He says this aloud. This is not a thought. This is not something he is reflecting upon based on everything that has been going on in the past chapters. This is a deliberate performance people are watching, specifically Edmure is watching.

“Must you make me say the words.” “He forced himself to smile” etc. He seems to have conflict with even getting these words out, because the people that are present, who he seemed to have built a relationship with, and presented the side of himself that is not just his ignoble reputation. We know Jaime has a very complicated relationship with his self concept, he is desperate for self affirmation as well as not being perceived as monstrous. Yet there is no alternative path here. There is a reason George sets this up: in order to keep his vow he has to embrace his reputation and make use of it instead of trying to save it. The part of this speech that I am showing here are Tywin’s words coming from his mouth. Genna pointed out something: (I do wanna say that there are nuances here, I also do not think this means Tyrion is some final villain and as horrible and cruel as Tywin) Jaime is not Tywin’s “son” (also foreshadowed when Tywin disowns him in ASoS: “You are not my son.” I always thought this was thematically significant considering the choices he starts making at that point). The emulation he does is supposed to be inauthentic. Again, Brynden does not care for these threats, but “soft-hearted” (not saying I agree with this sentiment, not even Jaime does as per ADwD, but it is the reputation he has in a classist and violently patriarchal society lol) Edmure does. Everything is set up by Jaime in this interaction seems to rely on this. If Edmure does not give in, the knot remains. If the knot remains, Jaime feels he would have to cut through it to keep his other vow (to his king and family), and if that is the case he is ready to die on the battlefield immediately because he does not really want to live with himself and his lack of progress (“Just more shit in the bucket. Jaime resolved to be the first man on the battlements. And with this golden hand of mine, most like the first to fall.”). Furthermore, I do not see the point of Jaime doing child trebucheting on top of breaking his vow and following up on what he told Brynden that he would do, especially if he feels recklessly suicidal enough over just having to break his vow lol. What would be the point? You could argue that Jaime can be self destructive enough to do it just to put it into stone how horrible he is, and then recklessly die, but again I do not think thats even a necessity for that for him atp. Jaime is not someone like Tywin. He is not about crazy acts of ruthlessness to overcompensate for a lack of dominance. His primary insecurity is not people not fearing him or questioning his authority, it is people perceiving him as a monstrous oathbreaker. To me, him comparing himself to Tywin here did not primarily feel like: “I really showed it to Genna, I am actually Tywin”, it was also a somber observation connected to this specific insecurity (ntm how Jaime views Tywin: “My father is dead as well” “May the Father judge him justly.” Now, there's an awful prospect.) Even if he keeps trying to emulate aspects of Tywin, I think he is aware deep down that that it incompatible with what he wants to be (see the anti-parallels in his ADwD chapter). I also put a lot more weight to Genna’s words about this because Jaime also seems very caught up in “these threats and methods are not chivalric”, not “they underestimate my strength.” (Lady Genna suggested that a few of the men might be put to the question. He refused. “I gave Edmure my word that if he yielded, the garrison could leave unharmed.” “That was chivalrous of you,” his aunt said, "but it's strength that's needed here, not chivalry." Ask Edmure how chivalrous I am, thought Jaime. Ask him about the trebuchet) Not to mention we have to think about Jaime’s main motivation in emulating Tywin.

Another big thing that is informative: Jaime’s guilt over Rhaegar’s children and that he did not protect them from his own father. If he is someone that feels guilt over that in his subconscious post-hand loss, would he really be capable of going through with this threat now? Not to mention the situation with Bran atp: link.

and where are we at ADwD?:

For an instant, the deep red clouds that crowned the western hills reminded him of Rhaegar’s children, all wrapped up in crimson cloaks.

“Is that why you killed all the Starks?”

“Not all,” said Jaime. “Lord Eddard’s daughters live. One has just been wed. The other …” Brienne, where are you? Have you found her? “… if the gods are good, she’ll forget she was a Stark. She’ll wed some burly blacksmith or fat-faced innkeep, fill his house with children, and never need to fear that some knight might come along to smash their heads against a wall.” The moment he reiterates Tywin’s dogma, he is flooded with all of this. His last decision in this chapter is going with Brienne, abandoning his position, abandoning his pursuit of the brotherhood (ntm how he didn’t parallel his father or the mountain and left the smallfolk alone despite them potentially holding information about the brotherhood) and disappearing with her because he is told Sansa would die otherwise, despite Tywin’s very dogma of “dead men and dead sons claim no vengeance.” It is not only treason, it is a risk in general. He is crippled and considerably more powerless, Brienne is injured, and yet they disappear together without a trace.

I think a more substantive criticism of Jaime and the handling of the Riverrun situation, other than a bunch of morally darker actions that he actually takes to ensure he is diminishing the threats against his family, is that he would supposedly forsake his vow for Cat in favor of the vow sworn to his king if he is truly completely cornered, which is the statement that he contradicts in ADwD anyways. (If the Blackfish would not listen, he would have no choice but to break the vow he'd made to Catelyn Stark. The vow he'd sworn his king came first.) This is not what your #kingslaying taught us my guy. Ofc, with Jaime and his narration it is always a bit of a gamble: not a moment later he is ready to say fuck it and die in trial by combat to escape the knot (return of the passive suicidal ideation, even saying that if he loses they lift the siege —the siege is out of his control once he dies so I suppose that lets him escape the vow to his king? still lmao—) And again, we see what vow he ends up prioritizing in ADwD. He started out the chapter thinking he is finally gonna return to his place by his king and son, after completing his orders, his primary vow, but…

It is also his old version seeping through. The one that does not want to face dilemmas. The one that is willing to escape them even if that means death. Again, dying for him is easy, living with difficult choices to make is hard.

“As I was fucking her, Cersei cried, 'I want.' I thought that she meant me, but it was the Stark girl that she wanted, maimed or dead.” The things I do for love. “It was only by chance that Stark's own men found the girl before me. If I had come on her first . . .” The pockmarks on Ser Ilyn's face were black holes in the torchlight, as dark as Jaime's soul.

Here is another thing to note, though. Jaime is also someone who, at some point in his life, was ready to do horrible things to an innocent child, with no “justification” like with Bran. He was so detached from his conscience that we was capable of this. This is at a point where he disconnected completely from his morality, and allowed his disillusionment to enable his behavior. He is aware of this. He starts reflecting on this, especially in relation to his evaluation of his relationship with Cersei. That is why he confesses to Ilyn (who is already a metaphor of the man Jaime became: the Lannister executioner, a sword for death etc etc). This is something that makes his soul dark, as pointed out by his narration. The fact that he acknowledges and reflects on this already speaks of change (not to mention that this confession is contextualized with him switching to real swords, taking Ilyn, a literal executioner, into a forest with no one around, and being like “kill me if you can” right after. I do not think Jaime is very happy or delusional with himself as a person here lmao). We do not learn of this from Cersei or anything. Jaime is the one confronting himself here. Jaime is no longer on autopilot. Jaime is trying to confront things. His moral compass is no longer locked away in his deep subconscious. The question now is whether that moral compass will win over all of his struggles with perception, his internal conflicts of his family facing an existential threat and the deterioration they cause and reinforce, and the ghosts of his past. That is what AFfC is starting to interrogate, along with hammering it home that certain vows will never be able to compromise, with many of Jaime’s delusions being forced to crumble one by one.

#i don’t necessarily think that people discussing the nuances of this is a bad thing either #like i think u can criticize many of jaime’s approaches and actions in these few chapters #what i dont like is ‘redemption man threatened to launch baby?? how can u think he changed at all’#find that obtuse and reductive #jaime lannister #valyrianscrolls #asoiaf #asoiaf meta #ask

198 notes · View notes

maxwell-grant · 9 months

Note

So, as a lover of superheroes, supervillains, super-science ETC, i've had Venture Bros on the mind recently, for reasons that should be obvious, and my mind has run into an intersting question I kinda want to pick your brain on: Why does Venture Bros work. Like, it's a show that is absurdly cynical and dark and bleak. It's comedically dark, but sitll dark. Downright mean-spirited a lot of the time. And normally, I find that kind of cynicism very dull, but...For some reason, here it feels like it works. Maybe it's just the sense of affection, of real love for classic 60s cartoons and superhero comics sprinkled throughout, but...I don't know, it feels like it should make me as angry as something like Velma does but it just doesn't. I don't know why. ANy thoughts

I said as much that a lot of that has to do with the fact that the show stuck around, and the characters were developed so vividly, that the creators had to answer the "...okay, so now what?" process, that usually stops those kinds of mean dark parodies right on their tracks when they run out of cheap shots to take. But honestly, going back and rewatching it? Venture Bros was always going to go there, the whole Jonny Quest parody thing just did not last past Season One, hell you could argue it didn't even really last past the pilot or midway through S1. By episode one of Season 2, the show had gestated into it's own thing. The show was allowed to grow, and change, and develop. It got to move past itself and say goodbye to old favorite ideas and say hello to new ones, it got to breathe new life into itself with the soft-reboot of Season 6 and keep being so much more with every new season.

The artbook goes into this quite a lot, actually, with Jackson talking about how Venture Bros started as a one-off gag observation about how Jonny Quest ripped off Tom Swift, and then became a concept when he realized he could fit all of his unused ideas for The Tick and superhero parodies and weird comic ideas. He and Doc Hammer actually specifically address how the parody element faded and why:

I like the pilot. It isn't the show that we made. but I like the pilot. The pilot was made with a different concept. I can watch it and not tie it into Venture Bros. I can go, "Okay, here are these characters in their first bid for comedy,", and it had moments when we both said, "Yes, we will perpetuate these moments. This is who these characters are." And it had moments of single-beat pilot jumps. It was fine. It was not the show that we kept writing, because we couldn't.

There's something about a straight parody that I think has a cap. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe people can write a parody forever, but I think you can only make so many jokes on one thing for a certain amount of time before you go, "We have to develop the world that these people are in.". It needs a revolving door.

You would need to approach it like Harvey Birdman, which said, "We're going to take every character we can get a license for, bring them onto the show, and have them do their thing in our world so we can demystify all the characters you remember from your childhood". It's a great straight-up parody. But if you take Sealab 2021 - that had nothing to do with the original. They took these drawings, and they said, "These are totally different people. We're going to give them their own different world, their own language, characters", and that worked.

We were leaning towards that. Venture Bros was even weirder because we said, "Let's make this world rock solid and deep and long and have just an abundance of information. Let's have the jokes come from everywhere, and the speed is hard to keep up with. You have to watch it twice". And that was nothing that Jackson and I talked about. Let's make this smart, rich and meaningful, and hope that other people have our sensibility and eventually get it. - Doc Hammer, Go Team Venture!: The Art and Making of The Venture Bros.

There's even this quote from Jackson regarding one of the earliest attempts made in trying to figure out the show's look and design where it was supposed to be animated in CG at Will Vinton Studios, and it was intended to look gorgeous as well as outrageously expensive and within six months everyone aboard had left and Jackson's time in The Tick was up so he had to get production on the new thing moving along. And he describes what wound up being a pretty effective summation of the show post-animation bump;

"Screw the bad-on-purpose sixties Marvel thing. Screw irony. Isn't it way more subversive to do this smart-ass, darkish comedy but have every aspect of it look gorgeous?

That's what got me thinking that it's way cooler to make things well and beautiful than to try to make them crappy on purpose - Jackson Publick, Go Team Venture!: The Art and Making of The Venture Bros.

Most if not everything that makes the show work, that makes it's character work, you can trace pretty directly from that process, of where the show started versus where it ended. It's Rusty Venture becoming a more complicated character and less of a mean caricature. It's Brock Samson needing things to do besides being the action badass who kills armies of disposable henchmen, and the show needing to move past him and make him so much more as a person. It's in how the show was originally conceived in a villain-of-the-week format and The Monarch was a throwaway gag character for the pilot, but The Monarch's defined personality and shtick worked well enough that it made it much easier and more rewarding for them to just go back to him for most episodes, until he wormed his way into becoming the show's other protagonist. It's Hank and Dean growing past literally and textually interchangeable and disposable Hardy Boys pastiches into actual people, distinct people, people who can carry their own plotlines and take center stage and actually be The Venture Brothers as something more than just a throwaway gag concept.

I'm certainly not saying it works for everyone, or that it works 100% of the time, again rewatching the show is putting a lot into perspective for me and a lot of jokes kinda did just age abysmally, but the show knows what it's doing enough to skirt by and avoid a lot of catastrophic pitfalls that usually happen with similar projects.

And really I'd say the main reason it works is, and it's never really just one reason, is because it was, and is, a painstaking labor of love founded on a marriage by two geeks (I'm not even exaggerating, that's how the two described their partnership at least a few times) shooting the shit at a treefort for nights on end, getting to do all these dumb voices that you only get to do with friends, laboring extensively for years on making this thing they'd created the best that it possibly could be, something they put all of themselves into again and again. It's them making a dozen different comedy duos voiced by themselves and finding ways to make each distinct so they can fit in all these dumb and lovely little conversations and skits, it's that combination of their skills and preferences and even disagreements. It's got that Asterix thing where the work is so inseparably intertwined with the partnership that made it, that the work's growth over time is tied to.

So honestly the best way I can summarize why I think the Venture Bros works is because it was 19 years of Jackson Pollock and Doc Hammer at AstroBase doing exactly this, just replace the cartoon sound effects with deep cut pop culture riffs and in-depth earnest extrapolations of why the comic books and cartoons they love and obsess about are deeply stupid on a fundamental level and why this something great that you can spin endless stories and scenes out of, actually no keep the over-the-top battle sound effects, those are equally important.

"Jackson and I, we'd go every day and talk and laugh and get to know each other and not even talk about the show, but just find out what our sensibilites were. It was like the process of falling in love"

We played darts and made up these little skits, much of it became The Venture Bros. It was all kind of based around this idea that Aquaman and Black Manta were not who they were but people that were much chattier and more social. It's almost like what The Monarch and Dr Venture became, actual people that have these bizarre jobs: chaser and chasee. This strange bureaucratic relationship with the paradigm of villain and hero.

I'm a goofball and name shit. Of course I named my studio. We took over the place and AstroBase as this entity - a really filthy fucking painting studio - became a creative tree fort. Owning the AstroBase is one of the things that made The Venture Bros.

A place where we could go at two in the morning and scream at the top of our lungs that had nothing to do with commerce. It was a clubhouse. A pure idiot invention. And if we wanted to stay up all night making costumes or rubber swords, we just did. - Doc Hammer - Doc Hammer, Go Team Venture!: The Art and Making of The Venture Bros.

#replies tag #the venture bros #the venture brothers #jackson pollock #doc hammer #adult swim #man that movie rekindled my fixation at maybe the worst time #or maybe the best idk

62 notes · View notes

deltoidlover · 2 months

Note

Looks like some shitty ship discussions have surfaced in hl fandom again, but I don't mean that here actually xd

I'd like to hear a little bit (or a lot) more about your fav kind of freehoun if you don't mind sharing! Maybe some pre & post rescas headcanons, idk any stuff you would like to tell, and if you want. No pressure

i'm actually really glad i got an ask like this, i have seen some shipping discourse bubbling back up and it's just. can we not? enjoy what you enjoy, at the end of the day none of this is canon unless valve says otherwise, no need for the infighting. anyway, prepare for a text wall with barely any grammar.

pre-rescas: -i like to think that gordon and barney met very soon after gordon was hired and they got along like a match to a flame (is that the saying?), like barney came along on gordon's first tour of the facility and maybe even got lunch with him. -since the majority of workers at black mesa are most likely 30+, barney was especially drawn to gordon (not only because he was kinda cute) since there was finally another young and seemingly down to earth guy around. -honestly my favourite trope is having barney pine after gordon and try to suppress his major crush on him. -it's kinda sad to say or really acknowledge, but back in the 2000's and early 90's, obv lgbtq+ matters were not as accepted, i mean being called 'gay' was like the worst insult imaginable at the time. because of this, i do think barney would be a little wary of his own gay thoughts, maybe even dislike himself a little because of it. eventually i'm sure he'd grow to accept that he is, in fact, gay. -when it comes to the two hooking up, i really, really like the idea of their relationship being kept hush hush. it's pretty hot ngl and i think it would be the most plausible for their situation. -personally i don't really think barney nor gordon would call eachother pet names, or really say 'i love you' without hesistance. i feel like they'd show their affection in different ways, for gordon he'd show his love through gift giving i think. like the occassional snack for a tired barney on the night shift, or a box of donuts if he's feeling generous. -gordon always makes up excuses for why barney has to visit his dorm room so often. one day it's a faulty tap in the bathroom, or the next a clogged airvent. people seem to believe him because his voice is so monotone.

post-rescase/hl2: -during the years where gordon is abscent, barney, for the most part, holds out on hope that he will come back. over time, as barney gets older and older and nothing seems to be changing but only getting worse, he grows more cynical. i think that maybe 5 or so years before gordon's return, barney had forced himself to settle on the idea that he was not coming back. -after taking gordon into his office, he doesn't outright hug him or ball his eyes out, but it's so so obvious that he's feeling a bunch of old bottled up emotions when gordon looks into his eyes. gordon probably does give him a hug though. -however on gordon's end, i feel like things at the start would be a little awkward. his feelings are as strong as they were back then, as it hasn't been 2 decades for him. -i like to think that around the time when gordon arrived at kleiner's lab, that's when gordon approaches barney about their past and they maybe rekindle things, just a little. like maybe a longing look or kiss on the cheek. -honestly there's not really much i can say about hl2 as barney's appearances are so brief. basically i just think that they'd use every moment they had whilst the other was around to get a little closer again, even if they're not outright smoochin' it up or anything. -HOWEVER, in my happy little half-life, barney arrives at white forest with a group of rebels and he spends a few days in bed all patched up and gordon frequently visits his room and maybe even sleeps there with him, it had been quite a while since they'd met up again, gordon honestly thought barney had been blown tf up after the citadel's explosion. -they basically just hang out A LOT in white forest and eventually one of them works up the courage to start their relationship up again. -i think the idea of them once again sneaking away from crowded areas of the WF base so they can have a little privacy together is pretty cute, like they did in black mesa. -and if we're gonna enter hl3 territory, i think gordon, eli and barney would all set out into the arctic to do combine project borealis mossman stuff, and then save alyx :) amazing writing.

i probably have a lot more ideas floating around in my head but i think this is more than enough lol thanks for the ask, this was fun to put together!

#half life #half life 2 #freehoun #my headcanons #all in all can we please just get along we all love this 25 year old game and its characters we dont need to 'pick a side'#there's so much creativity and talent in this community as a whole NOT just the shipping side of it i mean ALL OF IT #so i think all ships and art and headcanons should be celebrated and stuff ya know #even if a certain headcanon isn't for you thats ok you don't need to flame someone for it (unless it's like bordering illegal or something)#this goes for all fandoms tbh #we should all just be like vortigaunts #We are One within the Vortessence love thy neighbour or something idk

26 notes · View notes