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#but I don't think steven saw them as such at any point
pearlfacts · 2 years
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Just curious, but why do you hate Andy so much?
I think I made a brief post a few months back about the general weirdness of gem harvest but I will talk about it again in order to properly discuss my andy opinions. buckle up
first off I think he is just a generally unlikable character, which I think was the point for the most part. my dislike of him though honestly is mainly directed at the idea of him/his episode in the first place. not that I dislike the crew, I think they just made a lot of hm... misjudgements? the most obvious one here being the illegal immigrant joke, especially given the political climate at the time (the episode came out a couple of weeks after the 2016 election). I think that there was potential in the episode, especially given it was the first (only) time we met someone from greg's family. learning more about greg (and by extension steven) was important, because we see all the gem stuff but steven is half human too. being in touch with that is important to him, hence why he added demayo to his name! I 100% would be in support of the premise of making andy confused and unwelcoming to strangers in an important place for him and his family. my issue with him lies in the fact they took real problems, real conservative beliefs, made them lighthearted, then redeemed him within 15 minutes (reminder that it took them two YEARS to redeem bismuth!)
he just left a bad taste in my mouth. I've always been an advocate for filler eps in shows in general because I love the inherent world/character building they provide. not everything has to be plot heavy all the time for me! so I think that it could've been a really nice episode if they'd gone about it differently. there was some really cute/funny moments with the gems too. I know the message of su is that everyone deserves forgiveness and whatnot, but I feel like if they insisted on going down the route of him being a real life dick then he would have been a good opportunity to show that just because someone is family it doesn't mean you have to be on great terms with them
I would argue this is even something they do with white diamond later. I dislike her as much as the next guy, but so does steven. I won't go into my thoughts on the diamond redemption because they are in all fairly unoriginal, but a lot of people view her redemption as steven... making friends with her? when that is not the case. like ultimately there should have been more consequences but being on okay terms with the diamonds was something that had to happen in order for steven to put a stop to what they started. he couldn't heal the corrupted gems on his own, and the diamonds would have continued targeting earth forever otherwise. but steven did not suddenly decide they were good people, or that he liked being around them. in homeworld bound he very explicitly does not like being around them; even when he starts to think they're the only people he can relate to. he tries to shatter white. this to say steven is not incapable of having a grey area of feelings about people, so I don't understand why andy was someone the crew felt the need to actually redeem. like wasn't he invited to garnet's wedding?! why in the world did he need to be there?!?!
tldr andy = white diamond
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novantinuum · 4 months
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Steven's Breakdown Was Inevitable From the Very Beginning
I feel like the thing that fucks me up the most about Steven Q. Universe and how well conceived he is as a character is that the fundamental building blocks of why he reached his breaking point in SU: Future were laid out as clear as day in the span of legit only the first four episodes of the original show. The writing was literally always on the wall that future him would struggle with matters of self worth and identity in relationship to the others around him.
Let's take a look:
Gem Glow
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"Awesome! What are these things?"
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Foundational Trauma #1: Steven's home is always either under threat or actively being wrecked by antagonistic forces/beings, and he constantly copes with this by pushing down his fear in favor of a curiosity and silver linings based mindset.
Look at his initial shock when he opens the door and gets tackled by one of these things, and then his response when one of them spits acid:
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The kid's freaked the hell out about all this, and while I do think there's a part of Steven that genuinely IS curious about what these lil critters are, I think he's subconsciously using that curiosity as a way to distract himself from his own fears and anxieties. This is Steven actively learning how to ignore the deeper problems in favor of emoting a facade to the others in his life that he can totally handle himself in scary situations like these.
The underlying reason why is incredibly apparent, when you look at the example from the next episode-
Laser Light Canon
"I don't know what a magic lady like her ever saw in a plain old dope like me..."
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Genuinely- from the bottom of my heart- I think the above quote from Greg is a moment where his own insecurities around the Gems actually rubbed off on Steven.
At this point in time, Steven may be living with the Gems... but he hasn't started to harness any of his powers at all, so in his own head he might as well be the same as his dad- another human, just one who happens to have a gem! But the way Greg talks about himself... given Steven was living with him in the van for years before moving in to the beach house, he had to have heard negative self-talk from his dad like this before.
And then there's the rest of the Crystal Gems... always speaking of Rose with such reverence as if she were an all-powerful goddess... and Steven can't help but look back at himself, and his gem that won't work... the gem that the others still identify as Rose's...
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"Your gem-! You have Rose's gem!"
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And maybe he starts to wonder if- without any working powers- he's just a plain ol' dope like his Dad, too.
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"Please work... Unlock! Activate! Go! Please-!! Everyone's counting on you, you can't just be useless!"
Foundational Trauma #2: Steven has Rose's gem, and as such, is constantly living under the silent expectation to live up to a standard that he simply cannot ever hope to achieve, because he doesn't KNOW her and he never will.
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I want to highlight one of Steven's expressions while his dad is talking about Rose- look at that sad look. My god, I just wanna hug him. This is the expression of a child who has already come to terms with the fact that his only relationship with his mom is through the rose tinted stories that other people tell him about her.
Cheeseburger Backpack
So. Steven has learned so far that he needs to push down his feelings and emote a false veneer of cheer and bravery even when he's afraid, because the rest of the people in his life have expectations and hopes for him due to the legacy of his parentage and he can't bear the thought of letting them down. (And in a sad way, at this point "letting them down" literally just means... being an ordinary human boy. I believe Steven at this stage of the show is flat out scared to be human, because to be human is to fail at being a Gem, and no amount of love and sacrifice in the name of humanity in the seasons to come could've ever saved him from the fundamental fact that the wedge between him and this whole half of his being was already drawn long before the events of season 1 even started. But I digress.)
Let's see where we go from there. Let's check out Steven's first "mission." Or as Pearl puts it about 35 episodes later, his first "test."
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"Yeah... they can't all be winners."
This episode is tinted with a little bit of tragedy for me on rewatch, because I genuinely do think the Gems handled the situation as well as they could've. They were supportive of Steven's successful ploys, and (for the most part) responded with grace when he majorly blundered and left the Goddess Statue at home. The main problem, however, is that Steven has already developed a bit of a complex about impressing the three of them-
Foundational Trauma #3: Even when they claim otherwise, Steven has convinced himself that affection from the Gems is transactional, and that when he messes up he's not truly a part of the Crystal Gems.
Of course we the audience know this isn't true- I mean, hell, Amethyst even said as much in episode one after her slip-up ("and you're fun to have around, even if your gem IS useless!")... that the Crystal Gems wouldn't be the same without him. But Steven... the poor kid is a complicated little guy living a complicated life, and whether they intended it or not, the language used they've used around him thus far has not backed up their attempts at fully embracing him, human parentage and all.
Thus, Steven just spends the entire episode wracked with anxiety trying to find creative non-power using ways to make the mission easier so he can convince them he's useful to have around.
Look how nervous he gets even when all three of them are visibly and vocally supportive of his presence here:
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This is the face of a boy who feels like he's under constant judgement and scrutiny from those around him.
Blessedly, viewing this episode in isolation, he experiences a brief moment of mental respite where he finally accepts the Gems' encouragement and agrees that his ideas 'can't all be winners,' but this lesson does not stick for him moving forward. A shame, really.
Together Breakfast
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"What's the matter, Steven?" "I wanted us all to have breakfast together, so I made Together Breakfast! But everyone keeps leaving..." "Oh, that's nice..."
Taken in context with what we've learned already in the last three episodes, Steven's desperation to spend quality time with the Gems here and his sadness that they keep leaving him alone doesn't just exist within a vacuum. He spends the whole morning watching them shuffle in and out of the temple, or come back from missions he wasn't invited on, and with the disastrous result of the LAST mission he went on probably fresh in his mind it's not hard to understand why this bothers him.
Foundational Trauma #4: Steven internalizes that the price of "not being useful" is that the Gems actively ignore him, meaning that the only way to guarantee their attention is to work as hard as he can to become a stronger member of the team.
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I know this screenshot is usually used as a lighthearted meme, but I wanted to include it because I think it's a good example of how Steven's intense desire to impress permeates every facet of his personality at times. Just LOOK at how desperate he is to make Garnet laugh at his joke, to be the one that's at very least "fun to have around," as Amethyst put it in episode one.
The Gems do eventually drop what they're doing to spend time with Steven by the conclusion of this episode, but this only comes after Steven shows his growing strength and "proves" himself by saving their butts from the breakfast monster.
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If he successfully gained their attention in literally any other way he might've come away from this episode with a different lesson, but no. Instead, his fears were proven true- the Gems value strength and utility, and if he's not exhibiting that, then what use is he to them?
These fears of his can be seen weaving throughout the foundational fabric of the entire show, but I think Steven lays out what he sees as his "stakes" in the clearest way possible in the episode 'An Indirect Kiss.'
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"But- if I don't have powers, then I can't hang out with Amethyst, or Garnet, o-or Pearl, and- I-I can't go on missions!"
And these same insecurities even rear their ugly head as late as the movie.
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"I can't believe this... for the first time in years, everyone's in danger, everybody needs me, and- I'm useless!"
Powers = Utility = Worth = Other's love, for Steven. Everything is transactional to the end, which is a hilarious double standard he's set for himself when he's made his reputation as the kid who always listens and encourages and gives others a chance to change, no matter their messy history with him.
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So let's recap and restate those foundational traumas from Steven's perspective.
One: The only way to cope when your life is constantly under threat is to bury the damage and pretend to be fine.
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Two: Everyone expects you to live up to the standards of someone you're not.
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Three: The Gems only love you when you're of use to them.
Four: If you ever stop being useful, the Gems won't want anything more to do with you.
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In sum, Steven's habit of burying his feelings for the benefit of others was there from the very beginning, not just since 'The Test.'
Those unreachable standards he felt so daunted and intimidated by all his life were the ones set by Rose, at first... but over the course of the series, the dynamic of this shifted. As Rose's influence fell into the background, Steven's rose into the front. And so it's with great irony that- by the time of Steven Universe: Future, the expectations this exhausted, worn down teenager is fighting to once again achieve are the ones HE set for himself. Many of young Steven's selfless actions during the war are quite admirable when analyzed in isolation, but almost none of them are sustainable. He set himself on fire just to save the world, but teen Steven is genuinely unable to see this for what it is yet- as a tragic sacrifice of his own childhood. You can't burn your own ends for others forever, not at all. His breakdown was simply inevitable.
When it comes to the interconnected beliefs three and four, these are exactly why the ultimate confrontation at the end of I Am My Monster HAD to be one fueled by selfless love. Steven is at his absolute lowest at this point- he's everything he fears he's become, trapped in a form that's nearly incapable of reason. He's big and angry and spiky because that's a part of the facade- because a part of him WANTS to scare the Gems away, wants to be left alone forever, believing this the fate he deserves as price for his misdeeds.
In this form, by his own definitions he is NOT useful to the Crystal Gems at all.
But they don't care.
Because it never WAS about Steven's 'usefulness' to them, they simply love him for being Steven.
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With this in mind, the conclusion of Steven Universe: Future wasn't just a salve to teen Steven's immediate struggles, it was a salve to the foundational insecurities that have been plaguing him his entire life.
And hopefully... from this point on... his family's shows of love and encouragement will be enough to finally convince Steven that he's more than worth their time...
No matter what path the future leads him on, and no matter what form he takes.
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why do so many people keep calling ed izzy's abuser? I thought it was kind of funny how wrong they were at first because I love being right but at this point I feel like, if you really believe that why do you even like this show? where the main love interest is a violently abusive indigenous man? that sounds boring as shit. what would possess the writers of the show for them to make such an awful decision?
but then I think, if this many people believe it does that mean I'm the one who's wrong? or is it that the creators fumbled that storyline when they should have been clearer about it? or maybe it's just that most people on here have had their reading comprehension scorched away by Sherlock Holmes conspiracy theories and Steven Universe discourse. I can't tell. sometimes I think the internet may have been a mistake.
No they're wrong here's what's going on. People all read this shitty fic called Hell or High Water where Ed was everything the Izzy stans say he was and then instead of realizing that Ed is sad everyone regressed into thinking that the Kraken Era TM was going to be incredibly violent, like serial killing blond men because they look like Stede levels of violence. Even if you didn't read HoHW you saw art or read fic from people who had engaged with this fic and succumbed to it's premise. So there's been this background radiation of misunderstanding what the Kraken is on the fandom for several months. So inevitably when Ed did some mild violence and then attempted suicide by threatening murder until the crew took matters into their own hands, which is not abuse or torture by any stretch, btw, it's a murder-suicide at worst (I say at worst because I consider it fuckery-suicide I don't think Ed was trying to kill people I think he was trying to force them into a situation where they thought it was kill or be killed so that they would choose to kill him, but that is my interpretation and you are free to think it's a botched murder-suicide I have no problem with that), which, murder is something the show has never condemned and if it did it would be horribly inconsistent. So anyway, Ed's whole Kraken Era was categorized in the show by him being sad and doing so many drugs and begging someone please god anyone to kill him and trying to break Ned Low's record out of the evil boredom, but because it had a murder-suicide element to it and Izzy's toes were getting removed and he waved a gun around at everyone once (in a way that felt to me like he was trying and failing to work up the nerve to blow his own brains out but I digress) people who liked HoHW and were mad that people had called it out were like "see hes being violent HoHW author vindicated" as if anything Ed did rose to the level of that fic
And you want to know how I know this read is bullshit? Because when I watch the show with people who don't read fic or interact with the fandom and then I gauge their reactions without showing my hand they all implicitly understand that Ed is reacting to Izzy in a way appropriate to how pirate captains react to threats from subordinates. The spectrum of reactions has been from "hey isn't it weird how Ed was the Kraken because his dad was abusive and now he's the kraken because of Izzy? Maybe there's something there but idk" to "I don't think you can apply the logic of domestic abuse to a pirate captain and first mate but also Izzy had it coming" to "I cannot feel bad for Izzy after last season, I'm sorry." To "lmao Izcel" and I've showed this show to roughly everyone I know. The only thing I can conclude from the fact that people who don't engage with OFMD fic almost unilaterally thinking that Izzy is in the wrong and then coming online to see people thinking the opposite is that Izzy as victim and Ed as abuser is pure fanon, like how Stede is a cinnamon roll who talks like Azeriphael.
But anyway yeah you're completely right about the fact that this would be a bad show if they decided to make Ed into a domestic abuser. I don't want to watch a rom com about a domestic abuser falling in love and I don't want a show that decided to make it's indigenous lead abusive when the stereotype of indigenous men as abusers is still to this day used as an excuse to separate indigenous children from their families and put them with white Christians in order to erase their culture. Good thing OFMD didn't make Ed abusive, so I still like the show.
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undreaming-fanfiction · 11 months
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Just Your Voice...or something
This ficlet is for @stevethehairington's birthday, the best of celebrations to you, Mack!!! I was thinking for some time what you'd like and I was reminded of your small essay about the Little Mermaid. So...have a Little Mermaid Steddie AU.
The sea witch was supposed to be terrifying, that's what everyone kept telling Steve. He'd sell you potions that would destroy your mind. He'd find any loophole to make you do their bidding. He'd cheat, lie, promise the impossible and connect with the spirits of the deepest ocean to enslave anyone and anything.
The thing was...Steve really did need his help.
The second he entered the witch's cavern, he already felt like he made the worst mistake of his life. There was a huge bubbling cauldron, glowing with whatever toxic stuff the witch was brewing, and from the shelves carved in to the cavern walls, tens of tiny creatures were watching, waiting, following his every move.
"Well well well. Prince Steven himself. I should have cleaned."
Steve turned around so quickly his hair created a halo around his head. There the witch was, sitting on the ceiling with their tentacles wrapped around loose rocks, staring down at Steve, turning their head curiously to the side.
"Uh...what are you doing on the ceiling?" Steve asked, returning the questioning glance.
That made the witch chuckle. "Good question. Stretching. Also it gives me a new perspective."
"An upside down-perspective doesn't sound very useful, but whatever makes you happy," Steve shrugged. "Listen, uh...I came here with a request."
"Oh? A request from the prince himself? I will need a right side up perspective for that then." The witch bounced off the cavern ceiling and landed before Steve with almost staggering grace. Only then could he properly see what they - no, he - looked like. Long, flowy hair around his head, dark eyes and a mischievous smile that gave way more credence to the rumors. He too felt inclined to do whatever the witch asked of him. "Hi," the witch stuck his webbed hand forward, "I'm Eddie, the local witch and the perpetrator of every single bad thing that happens around here. Ever had a bad hair day? That was me."
Laughing, Steve took his hand and shook it. It was becoming more and more difficult to remain cautious when the witch was so charming. "Nice to meet you, Eddie. I'm...well, Steve. You alread know that."
"That I do." Eddie moved backwards and crossed his tentacles in a way that Steve often saw humans do with their...not-tentacles. Legs, they called them. "Well then, Steve. What can this measly witch assist you with? Not that I dislike visitors, but I don't get to see too much royalty around here."
Steve shook his head and rolled his eyes. Royalty, sure. As if he was anything special to his father, his only redeeming feature were his looks, the golden scales and a beautiful mane of sun-kissed hair, that was it. "Funny. Uh, look. I need legs. Also to breathe up there." He pointed vaguely upwards to the distant surface.
Eddie blinked. "Uh. Sure, legs. Dare I ask why? A pretty lady or something in the land above?"
The prince snorted. "Yeah, no. Look, it's not like you care, but there's this kid up there, he almost drowned. Name's Dustin, I think, and I...shit, this sounds way more stupid than I usually do, but I want to make sure he's okay. He didn't look too hot when I dragged him to the beach and his mom was going crazy with worry. So...yeah. That's why."
"That..." Eddie opened his mouth, then closed it. "That's so sweet I might barf."
Steve shrugged and pointed towards the cavern entrance. "Be my - well, your guest, but you might want to do it outside. So. Legs. How much for a pair of legs? A temporary one?"
Eddie grinned at him, twirling his tentacles some more. It was almost hypnotizing. "Oh, I don't know. Pretty difficult, those pesky legs. All those toes, ten of them, that's a full day's job. I'd say the price is...your voice."
Ah, there it was. The evil streak everyone was talking about. Steve just closed his eyes and nodded, resigning himself. "Fine. Take it."
He expected pain, maybe. Or something touching his face, at least. What he didn't expect was a loud fit of laughter invading his ears, reverbating through the cavern.
"What?" he asked Eddie, annoyed.
"You..." wheezed Eddie, wiping at his face, even if any and all tears would dissolve in water instantly, "you really thought I was serious? That I'd do some evil crap like that? Ah, man. My reputation has to be way worse than I assumed."
Steve's scowl sent him into another fit of giggles while the prince searched for a reasonable response that didn't include punching the witch. Just a little. "Okay then, so what do you want?" he snapped.
One mighty sweep of tentacles and Eddie was next to him, hand over his soulders. His black scales were smooth and surprisingly pleasant to the touch. "Geez, Stevie, calm down. Contrary to what you might believe, I'm not that bad."
"Yeah?" Scanning the walls of the cavern, he noticed the scared eyes of the tiny creatures around. "Care to tell me if those poor, unfortunate souls moved here voluntarily?"
Eddie just snickered and crooked his finger at one of them, inviting it closer. It wiggled in the water a little before slowly descending into his palm. He touched its forehead with a long finger and muttered an incantation. And just like that, in a puff of colorful swirls, floated Chrissy, with her golden hair and forest green tail. "So, Chris," drawled Eddie, "care to describe to prince Steven here how I kidnapped you and forced you to live here with me?"
"I..." Steve was at loss of words. "I thought you left? Or disappeared?"
Chrissy snorted and moved closer to Eddie, finding comfort under his arm. "Yeah, I did both. Because Jason wouldn't leave me alone. I came to Eddie for advice on where I could go, but he let me stay here, in a changed form...for my own protection. Just like the others. Really, Steve, prejudice doesn't suit you." Turning back to Eddie, she nudged his side. "Hey, Eddie, can you change me back? I'll take a brief nap."
Ruffling her hair, he touched her forehead. "Sure thing, Chris. Off to the bed with you." And just like that, she was a tiny octopus again, floating to her shelf.
"Oh wow," breathed out Steve. "I feel like a huge asshole. That's...that's actually really nice of you."
Eddie shrugged, returning to his cauldron. "What can I say. The rumors are useful, it keeps the rich and mighty assholes out. Except for this asshole," he pointed at Steve with one of his tentacles, but there was no venom. "So, legs. Can do, a small spell and you'll change when you exit water, you'll have your tail back when you re-enter it. Just a small warning for you - you'll want to get covered when you get up there. There's going to be...something...where the front of your tail is and humans don't like to see that."
Steve snickered at that. He definitely saw one of those during his trips to the surface and he absolutely didn't want to see that either. He watched as Eddie muttered something weird and deep that sent sparkles towards his tail. "Great, thank you. Uh. So, what about the payment? What do you want?"
Eddie rolled his eyes at him. "Whatever. You want to check on a kid, so it's not like I'm going to charge you something crazy. Two pebbles, a pretty mug for my cavern, whatever."
"Do you like anything from the world above I could bring you?" Steve asked, moving closer to the cauldron. "Since I'll be there. They have a lot of interesting stuff."
"Hmmm...maybe..." Look, mermen normally didn't blush, but Steve could swear Eddie's cheeks turned a bit darker. A strand of his wavy hair floated into his mouth and he started chewing on it nervously. "OK, so theoretically. If you were to find one or two. Apples? Do you know what those are?"
The shame in Eddie's face had Steve laughing, clutching his sides. He just looked adorable, trying not to ruin his cultivated image. "Sure, I know them. They float, but I'll get them down here. You've got a sweet tooth, huh?"
"Not a word, prince," the witch threatened, pulling more and more hair in front of his face. "No one will believe you. Now shoo, go check on your kid and find me some apples."
Steve saluted him. "Shall do, oh mighty witch!" With a single sweep of his golden tail, he was gone.
When everything quieted down, Eddie stayed hunched at his cauldron. He didn't really foresee this day going so...weird. Not bad, but weird.
"You like him."
He scowled at the tiny Chrissy creature that floated in front of him with a smug expression. "Oh shoo with you too. He's going to check on the kid and fall in love with a pretty lady or a princess above, or he's going to toss a half-rotten apple to me when he comes back and will never speak to me again. They always do."
She floated closer and nuzzled under his chin. "I don't know, Eddie," she sighed. "He seemed like a good guy. And he had those eyes. Just wait, I'm about to earn an I-told-you-so."
- - -
Eddie hated being wrong. But when, not even a day later, he found Steve waiting in front of his cavern, a satchel of apples in hand (well, above his head, struggling to keep it underwater) and a wide smile on his face, he thought being wrong wasn't the worst thing in the world.
"Welcome back, your highness," he invited Steve in. "So, how was your child friend?"
Steve beamed at him, his face bright even in the shadow of Eddie's abode. "He's doing well. A bit shaken, but recovering. His mom was really grateful, both to me and you. She sent you this...what did she call it. Token of appreciation from her garden. They should be one of the sweetest types." He handed Eddie the satchel and watched with fondness as the sea witch shoved his hand in, grabbing a beautiful red apple and taking a bite. The look on his face was pure bliss.
One crunch later, Eddie opened one of his eyes and looked at Steve. "Want one?"
"Uh, I..." Steve stammered. "They're your payment, I couldn't-"
Shaking his head, Eddie shoved an apple into his hand. "Don't give me that crap. You saved the kid, you deserve an apple. Now make yourself comfortable. Unless you're afraid to stay?"
Steve laughed and floated closer to Eddie, taking a bite of his apple. "Of you, Eddie? Never."
The crunching of apples was loud in the cavern, but not enough to drown out the quiet "I told you so" from the highest shelf.
(also, I forgot to mention this, but the cauldron? It was soup. Eddie is feeding a full cavern of runaways so of course he needs to cook in bulk)
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madlittlecriminal · 10 months
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Heeyyy, not sure if your requests are open or not... If not, no worries, feel free to ignore this, lol. But I gotta say, I absolutely adored your mk fanfics! They were just so good! And it got me thinking, you know? What if, in Steven's date episode (the one in the series), the reader showed up? Like, maybe she could be the waitress or just someone who happened to be alone at the restaurant and saw him there. What do you think would make her approach him? I don't know, maybe a sense of sympathy, or just wanting to be cool? Or maybe he's just really good-looking? Who knows! Anyway, sorry if I rambled a bit, and please forgive any mistakes in my English. It's not my first language. Once again, I LOVED your mk fanfics!
- Anon🐌
Chocolates and Wine ☾ Steven Grant × Female!Reader
your English is great, don't worry anon! :) im glad you liked my fics though! it means a lot to be honest, especially since i was hesitant at first to write for the moon boys. but you and everyone else who has liked and reblogged my work has made my days so much better :') thank you and i hope you enjoy! :) also, i ramble too, so you can ramble as much as you want!
Warnings: being stood up, the so-called date of reader has no specified gender
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You glanced at your phone and sighed when you saw it was now 7:30 and your date wasn't there. 30 minutes late and not one message to you saying that they were cancelling or at least letting you know that they were running late. Honestly, you were beginning to lose hope. However, when you turned around to see a guy looking a bit sad after getting off the phone, you felt bad. Had he gone through the same thing you were?
It was kind of unfortunate really. I mean, he was handsome. Not to mention that he looked good in black, but that was beside the point. You saw he had a heart shape box with him, and you quickly knew it was chocolate. The waiter walked over to him, and you quickly decided that there was no way you were going to waste this night and let him be sad.
He looked too good to be sad anyway.
So, you did what you thought was right and quickly ran up to the table and sat down across from him. The look of shock on his face was hard to miss and you let out a breath. "Sorry I'm late! I typed the wrong address and from rushing to get here, I forgot to let you know." The waiter smiled at you while the man in front of you was frozen. "Did you order yet?" He shook his head and you smiled. "Great! Can I get a glass of red please?" The waiter nodded and looked over that the man. "And for you sir?" He nodded and looked up at the waiter. "Y-yeah, I'll take the same. Thank you." The waiter left while scribbling the drinks down on his notepad. Once he was far, you looked over at the man, his dark brown eyes meeting yours.
"Sorry if I scared you, sir. I thought it was best if I joined you." He shook his head. "No worries. I saw you waiting and I thought it was for someone. D-Did you get stood up?" You look down at menu the man had and sighed. "Unfortunately. I don't understand why people do that, y'know? Did you get stood up too or did they have the decency to reschedule?" You scanned the menu before deciding what you wanted before passing it back to him. He took it and embarrassment was written on his face. "I got the days mixed up. Thought today was Friday when it's actually Sunday."
"Yeah, it happens. Especially when time goes by quickly, you lose track of days, right?" Something was written on his face as the waiter came back with the wine before putting it down and asking if you were ready to order. You and the stranger placed your orders and he walked away. "You could say that. Sorry, I'm Steven...with a v." You raised your brow with a small smile as you looked at him. "Nice to meet you Steven with a v. I'm (Y/N)." His embarrassment quickly faded, and a small smile crept on his face. "This date of yours, did he bail because he was nervous?" You shrugged. "I wouldn't know. Tried contacting them and they never responded, so I gave up and came to your table."
"Out of pity?" You took a sip of your wine. "Honestly? Maybe a bit, but I figured I would take my chances. You seemed decent enough to talk to." He chuckled. "Thank you...I think?" You smiled. "Plus, it was a bonus for me since you definitely are cuter than who my date was." He raised a brow. "A man?" You shrugged. "Male, female, gender neutral, doesn't matter. You're really handsome, Steven." He looked down at his hands and you tilt your head to the side. Did he not get compliments? Surely a man this handsome got compliments daily, right?
He gave you a shy smile. "I'm not used to flattery, so I'm sorry." You grinned. "It's fine," your waiter returned with the food and you both began indulging on the food, having a nice conversation. You found out he was an Egyptian mythology buff and you thought it was cute. He told you about how he wanted to be a tour guide for the museum he worked at, but his boss was, and you'd quote "a complete twat" which made you snort. You told him about your career and your different interests as well, causing him to look at you with so much focus that you honestly became nervous.
However, as quickly as this whole thing started, it came to an end; he paid and you gave the tip since he refused to split the bill, insisting that you did so much for him, the least he could've done was pay for your food as well. As you both began to leave, you traded numbers, agreeing to hang out again soon. He then looked at the chocolate box that was now under his arm and turned to you. "Do you like chocolate?" You were shocked by his response and nodded. He handed you the box of chocolates with a smile. "There you go, love. Enjoy, yeah? You did a lot for me today and it was great. Thank you."
"You're welcome, Steven. Do you need a ride?" He hesitated for a second before nodding. "Yeah, alright." With that, you gave him your phone so he could put his address in it and got into your car. Honestly, you were glad your date stood you up or else you wouldn't have met Steven. After Steven handed your phone back to you, you send the person a text saying that you wished them the best, but you were no longer interested in them. You deleted their number and went back to your navigation app and began taking Steven home.
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artist-issues · 8 days
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I saw the steven universe post of yours and I am wondering about something.
Are you actually, honestly happy?
You seem very sure that happiness can only come from perfectly following your religion's teaching about what your god wants people to do. If that truly makes you happy every day I don't think anyone can convince you that it doesn't hold true for everyone else.
I’m joyful. Happiness is fleeting. It’s a good thing but it’s dependent on your circumstances. Joy isn’t. Joy is a posture of the heart that comes from knowing who I am and where I’m going, in Jesus Christ.
Joy doesn’t come from “perfectly following my religion’s teaching about what my god wants people to do.” It’s really important that you understand that.
It just comes from having a relationship with the One who made me and saved me. I fail to follow the Bible’s (not “my religion’s,” because when you say “your religion” you’re implying one man-made set of rules out of many I could’ve chosen from, and that’s not what the Bible is) teaching all the time. I fail to do what He wants every single day.
If I were just focused on following rules and making sure everyone else toes the line, too, I’d be miserable. There are worldviews like that. But the Biblical worldview isn’t one of them.
Ephesians says “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Not by works. I can’t measure up or follow all the rules or obey God perfectly; nobody can—except Jesus! That’s the point. When God looks at me and loves me, He does it because of what Jesus did for me on the cross. So anything I do that falls short? It’s covered. And I’m loved perfectly; God never loves me less, or bases His affection toward me on how good or bad I do day-to-day.
And in the meantime, He changes what I want, but by bit, so that I get back to who I was always meant to be; His creation, made for love. I love Him, and His people, more and more every day. I stop thinking so much about me. There’s all this freedom, because I don’t have to do any of it alone. And, I’m forgiven, and loved, and adopted, and no circumstance or person in the world can take that from me, ever.
That’s where joy comes from. Real joy, that is not dependent on anything that changes. Sometimes I still get unhappy. Sometimes I get trapped in a cycle of overthinking and anxiety and even depression—but it has not lasted, and it never can. Because the moment I reach out for help, He’s there, reminding me of who I am in Him, lifting my eyes up off of my circumstances or out of my dark thoughts, by helping me focus on Him.
A lot of people find this kind of “higher than my circumstances” emotion in “something bigger than themselves.” The difference is, mine is eternal, and it lasts, and it never gets corrupted. I’m talking about the God of the Bible and a relationship with Him, not the religious imperfect humans of religion. Human movements get corrupted, religious or secular. Human nations fall. Human families or lovers change and die. All those “something bigger than myself” sources for happiness eventually go away. Not a relationship with God.
So hopefully I’ve answered the spirit of your question. It might help you to know that in my reblogs to that post, I’ve mentioned that God let’s you choose. You can either choose to be His, and be what He made you to be, or you can insist that something else will make you happy and keep chasing that. He lets you do that. But in the end, nothing else except Him lasts. And by end, I mean, “THE end.” Life goes on past this. And if you end this life choosing to chase temporary things for happiness in sources outside of the God that invented Good and Happy, you’ll spend eternity outside of Good and Happy, because you chose to spend it without their Source.
So when I made that post, I made it because I believe that Rebecca Sugar made Steven Universe and infused what she thinks the God of the Bible is like into the character of White Diamond. But she has Him all wrong. I know Him, and He’s not like that, but I can see how someone who doesn’t know Him would come to those conclusions.
So it’s like if someone who barely knew your best friend made a vital skit on Instagram about your best friend…and it was all wrong. They slandered your best friend—and what’s worse, they did it because they never really understood your best friend, and don’t have a relationship with your best friend, and you know that if they did they not only wouldn’t have made the skit, but they would get the blessing of having a friend like your bestie.
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I hope some of this has answered your question. Thank you for taking the time to send it, and maybe to read this long response.
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love-takes-work · 1 year
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Hey I’ve been thinking a lot about fusions in Steven universe as a huge fan myself but I have one big problem with Stevonnie, and that’s how mature and icky alot of the plots with them are, for example all of kevin, Lars throw away sorta crush etc. I was just curious because I read your steg post and I found it really interesting and agreed with it!
I was just curious as someone who looks way more into the show what’s your take on the topic of stevonnie and how or why they differ so much from steg!
I don't think Lars was shown as a "throw away crush"--both he and Sadie had a dazzled reaction when Stevonnie walked into the donut shop, and it was Sadie who blushed and insisted the donuts were on the house. Not only Sadie and Lars but Sour Cream and everyone who saw them at the rave were enchanted with Stevonnie.
But if you were a little grossed out by the "maturity" of that episode, you'll be very happy to know that was intentional! When speaking about the episode's intent, Rebecca Sugar said it's about how it feels to suddenly find the world responding to you differently when you're going through puberty and you suddenly have an attractive/adult body and people are presenting you with opportunities you're not familiar with and not ready for. And treating you like you should like it when you hardly even know what it is. Expecting you to play a game when you don't know the rules. A quote of Rebecca's from an interview:
"Stevonnie challenges gender norms as an individual, but also serves as a metaphor for all the terrifying firsts in a first relationship, and what it feels like to hit puberty and suddenly find yourself with the body of an adult, how quickly that happens, how it feels to have a new power over people, or to suddenly find yourself objectified, all for seemingly no reason since you’re still just you… "
You see Stevonnie just kinda enjoying that Lars and Sadie don't recognize them and treat them like something incredible and special when Connie's never been cool and Steven's always been sort of tolerated or humored by the young adults in town. But then when Kevin enters the picture it's scary. "This dance isn't fun!" They had pictures in their head of how cool a dance party would be but the actual reality of it was super uncomfortable and unforeseen.
I remember reading a LOT of disturbed reactions to this episode on a message board from when it first came out. Some of the (straight) men said they just weren't used to being the POV character while being unwillingly objectified by a strange man in a club, and had never viscerally understood until this episode why that seemed SO creepy. And a lot of the women, on the other hand, recognized it from personal experience instantly. There are several scenes that have the viewer actually seeming to see what Stevonnie sees, including when Kevin is looking them up and down.
The episode is about some of the joy and terror of that experience, from the point of view of the experience.
Some folks have wondered why Stevonnie doesn't appear to have any duplicated limbs or eyes, especially after we found out from Steg that looking totally humanoid is not a side effect of being three quarters human. I think part of the reason they made that design choice is that Stevonnie was meant to be seen during their debut venture as a stunning, magnetic person, and if they'd looked alien at all we might have interpreted the stares and gasps as reactions to a weird sight instead of a gorgeous stranger. (And it's super nice to see them interpreted by guys and gals as attractive, though Kevin clearly sees them as a girl at first and addresses them as such.)
That said, maybe they have a duplication that doesn't show. I like to headcanon that they might have two hearts. <3
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ivystoryweaver · 5 months
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Based on this request from @i-still-dont-like-your-face "I'd be interested in what you'd come up with for 'Making new traditions' for the non-holiday prompt list for any of the moon boys"
^ I wrote 2 answers for this ask. Read the fluffy drabble.
Summary: You and Jake don't celebrate the holidays in his car
Pairing: Jake Lockley x gn!reader
Word Count: 805
Content: nsfw, language, smoking, mentions of holidays but reader and Jake don't celebrate (and prefer it that way), oral- m. rec, creampie, car sex/semi-public sex implied
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Years had passed since Jake had even thought about a holiday as anything other than a night to drive people around shit faced from holiday parties. Christmas Eve was no big deal to him and he couldn't remember the last time Steven or Marc celebrated Hanukkah. December was just another month and that was fine by him.
He met you at a Halloween party. He wasn't celebrating that one either - he just wanted to make some good money.
Then he saw you.
You shared his cigarette and fucked him in his back seat. Nothing completely new. Honestly, he never planned to see you again but apparently, you ran in the same shady circles and kept the same ghastly hours.
By late November, you frequented his back seat (and his front seat, and the hood of his car). And you had somehow become the only one.
Jake asked if you had Thanksgiving plans. You told him he could stuff you full.
December rolled around and, honestly, Jake dreaded the thought of being dragged to a holiday gathering of any kind, especially one involving family.
He was a lone wolf.
Except he'd become a bit attached to you.
One night, he was driving you around, when the radio trolled an ancient Yule tide carol.
You groaned and asked to turn the station. Jake smirked to himself, obliging you, secretly pleased that you asked and didn't turn it yourself.
But there was one thing he had to know. "Have any holiday plans?"
"Like you fucking care," you chuckled, dragging your fingers up his inner thigh temptingly.
"I care if it involves me."
"Why would it?" You shrugged him off, boldly cupping his crotch.
He smirked.
"You do any of that shit? Christmas trees, menorahs? Or anything?" His breath hitched as attempted to ignore the trace of your fingertips raking back and forth.
"Or nothing," you flatly returned, rubbing him insistently, feeling him grow hard beneath your palm - the thick weight of him straining against his slacks.
"Don't see the point. December's just a month."
Silence engulfed the cool leather interior of Jake's car as you drove by a huge display of holiday lights.
You didn't even notice them as you popped the button of his trousers and dragged the zipper down.
"Fuck," he groaned as you pushed your fingertips under layers of fabric to find him hard and leaking for you.
Despite that fact that Jake was driving in a populated, holiday-lit area, you unbuckled your seatbelt and leaned over to swirl your tongue over his tip.
"Jesus...I'm driving," he hissed, the reflexive jerk of his hips 'accidentally' pushing his cock up into your waiting mouth.
You sucked hard, holding him inside your hot cavern, giggling around his length as you felt the car swerve and come to a stop.
"Fucking hell," he moaned as you stubbornly wrapped your hand around his base and swallowed his tip, bobbing your head up and down so intensely that Jake's gloved hand slapped the window.
"Mierda," he grunted, his other hand gripping the nape of your neck to shove you down.
You gagged so hard you couldn't think straight, but Jake was finishing what you started, his thick hips bucking up into your mouth deliciously.
You had planned to tease him a little but his gloved grip held you in place. You obliged him, refusing to tap his leg for a breather, loving to feel him lose control.
And he did, right down your throat. You swallowed every hot drop greedily, pulling off his softening member with a pop.
"Well, that was fast," you teased, licking your lips clean from the mess dribbling down them.
"Almost crashed the fuckin' car," he grumbled, stuffing himself back in his pants. Glancing around, he noticed a family of four strolling by, admiring the holiday displays around them.
"Guess we could have picked a better spot," you admitted, noticing how nothing was hidden with lights this bright.
Jake's eyes found yours and he winked.
"We can give 'em a show."
You found yourself laughing, which wasn't something you really ever did in December.
"I think we should," you agreed, climbing across his lap without invitation, and sealing your mouth to his.
Your body melded with his under the bright lights, and you went right on making out until eventually Jake was ready to take you right there in the front seat, not stopping until you both slumped against the seat, exhausted.
"We should do this every December," he joked a while later, taking a drag of his cigarette. “Make it a tradition."
You curled up on his chest, spent and sated.
"You still want me around next December?" You questioned, your voice sounding smaller and more hopeful than you intended.
He cupped your face and turned your gaze up to his. "Yeah. I think I do."
Non-Holiday Prompts - check out this list, OP did a great job with it
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nicoline1998enilocin · 9 months
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Living our 'perfect' life | Part 2
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PAIRING | Husband!Loki Laufeyson x Wife!Female!Reader
WORD COUNT | 2.4K
SUMMARY | Loki created a fake reality to be back with you, and he is absolutely delighted to have you back by his side. SHIELD isn't all that happy with his shenanigans, and when you find out about his plans too, you try to convince him to let you go for good. He doesn't take this lightly and when he loses you again, he completely spirals out of control as he tracks down the Darkhold to destroy anything and everything he possibly can.
WARNING(S) | This is your official trigger warning. Do not proceed if any of these topics upset you. Pregnancy & birth (non-explicit), slight gaslighting, an emotional goodbye, pretty major angst, little bits of fluff, Dark!Loki near the end.
A/N | This is part 2 of the request from @glitteryeggalmondherring, and it is important that you have read that one before reading this, otherwise this part won't make as much sense. Thank you for your amazing request and I'm hoping I could do it the justice it deserves! 🖤
Likes, comments and reblogs will be very much appreciated 💜
Main Masterlist | Loki Laufeyson Masterlist | Part 1
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Loki couldn't possibly be happier than he is at this very moment. He got married to the love of his life, and now you're pregnant with two of his babies. When you found out that you're expecting twin boys it was a bit of a shock at first, but now the two of you are happier than you ever thought possible. ''So, what are we going to name them?'' you ask them as the two of you are walking through a store filled with all the baby stuff you could even dream of and more. ''I was thinking of giving them human names, so they would have that in common with you. Their last names are automatically going to be 'Lokison', so that way we have the best of both worlds!'' he says and you nod.
''Makes sense, but that doesn't answer my question,'' you said with a soft giggle. Loki could never get enough of hearing that, and he softly squeezed the hand he was holding as a sign of his love. A smile tugs at the corners of his mouth as he pulls you in for a little kiss, but your belly is in the way so it isn't as easy anymore. You're almost 7 months pregnant at this point, and seeing how they're two big guys, you're stretched pretty far already and kisses become less easy, but that doesn't mean the two of you don't kiss anymore. Oh no, ever since you got pregnant, Loki has gone almost feral in the bedroom and has to touch you whenever he can, wherever he can.
''What about Steven and James?'' you say, and Loki thinks about it. ''Are you wanting to name our kids after Captain America and the Winter Soldier?'' Loki says, and your face immediately turns sour. ''Why wouldn't I name the boys after them? The two of them are heroes and not to mention, they were some of my best friends! Besides, Bucky wasn't the Winter Soldier anymore when I met him,'' you pout, and Loki gives in. ''Okay, fine. We can name them after Steve and Bucky,'' he sighs because he knows he won't win this war.
The two of you picked out everything you needed for the nursery and took it home, wanting to get started sooner rather than later. When you were sitting in the rocking chair Loki got you as soon as the two of you found out you were pregnant, someone knocked on the door. ''I'll get it, you can stay here and sit pretty, darling,'' he says and you smile happily, not having to get onto your feet is an absolute blessing right now. When Loki opened the door he pretty much tried to shut it right away when he saw who was in front of it. Nick Fury was standing there with 2 SHIELD Agents, and he had a slight feeling about where this was going. It wouldn't end well in whatever way he would spin it, so he would very much like all three of them to leave them alone.
''Oh I don't think so, Laufeyson,'' Fury said when he tried to shut the door in his face again, without luck. ''We're here to talk, and if you just cooperate everything will be fine, and there won't be any more people hurt than you have so far,'' he says in a stern tone. Loki decided to just make a run for it and quickly turned around and upstairs, to where you were sitting in the nursery. All he cares about is you, and your twins of course. The three men are behind him but Loki is quick enough, shutting the door with his magic and sealing it so they can't get in. He grabs you and holds you close, consoling you as you sob softly, not sure what's happening but scared nevertheless.
They keep banging on the door and trying to barge it down, but Loki's magic is strong enough to keep it upright, and he just holds you close, whispering sweet nothings into your ear the entire time to calm you down. After about an hour and a half the three men go away and leave the two of you alone, but they're coming back with a lot more force later. Right now the two of you are just together, and you're perfectly content with that. ''Loki, why were those men trying to beat down our door...?'' You ask him, but he doesn't want to tell you.
''No reason darling, I've got everything under control right now. It's nothing you have to worry your pretty head about,'' he says, giving you soft kisses on your forehead. The fact that you feel cold to the touch is something Loki doesn't mind, he hasn't ever since he got you back. All he cares about is you, and the fact that he finally gets to live the life you have fantasized about countless times. “I love you, darling, as long as we’re together everything is going to be okay,” he says, rubbing soothing circles on your back. “Love you too,” you sigh into his chest, and your eyes are slowly falling shut from exhaustion.
Fury made true to his promise and came back again a few times, each time with no luck, but it was starting to wear you out at this point, especially with the way your pregnancy was progressing. Carrying one baby was already difficult, but you’re carrying double the amount of babies, so you also suffer from double the exhaustion. At this point, you’re about 7 months pregnant and you’re on complete bedrest, with Loki doting on your every need. He doesn’t mind because he loves taking care of you in every single way, so this comes naturally to him. However, when you wake up in the middle of the night with the world's worst cramping, Loki jolts awake, worry etched into his features.
“L-Loki, please! I think I’m in labor!” You pant and in an instant he’s on your side of the bed, ready to go to the hospital. “It’s okay darling, you and the boys are doing so well for me,” he says as he jumps into some clothing and helps you into a flowy dress before grabbing your hospital bag, right now you’re glad you packed that a while ago so it was ready to go in case your boys came early. In no time you’re in the car and on the way to the hospital, where you are immediately checked into the labor & delivery ward. It is a smooth labor - it’s Loki’s perfect world after all, and he doesn’t want you to be in pain or uncomfortable.
A few hours later you’re both holding one of your beautiful sons in your arms, and they are almost replicas of Loki. They both have jet-black hair, pale skin, and those gorgeous blue eyes that melt your heart every single time you look into them. And now you’re heart will melt three times as fast when you’re looking into them. “They’re beautiful,” you sigh and Loki agrees. “They are, and they’re ours,” he says with a big smile on his face. You have to stay in the hospital for a few days but once you’re allowed to go home, you couldn’t be happier. You have the love of your life and two beautiful sons. Life is pretty fucking perfect at this point.
But that feeling won’t last, however. SHIELD found out that Loki has created children in his reality, and it throws the entire universe out of whack. Not only should the reality not exist, the boys should never have been born either. When they have been home for less than a month, SHIELD is breaking down the door, but much to their chagrin, no one is home. Loki took you and the boys on ‘vacation’, or that is what he told you, at least. You weren’t entirely sure why, but you weren’t complaining because the four of you were very happy in your slice of heaven for the time being.
~ A few months later ~
The boys are growing like crazy, and enjoying every little bit of attention they can get, but you're getting increasingly suspicious nowadays. You've noticed that something is off about Loki, but you can't quite place your finger on why exactly, so you finally decide to bring it up to him. ''Loki, I know this might sound crazy, but why are Steven and James the only kids in Westview? I haven't seen any in all the time I've got you back...'' you say with uncertainty laced in your voice. ''You must be mistaken, dollface, they're all just sleeping right now! I think you've been so busy with our angels that you just don't notice them,'' he says, trying to sweet talk you out of knowing the truth, finding out about what he has done.
Your suspicion doesn't waver, however, and you bring it up more often, each time hearing the same excuse, and you're feeling like something must be wrong with you. Something must be wrong in your brain or the way you see the world because you trust Loki... right? Finally, every single piece falls into place when Fury and his men come by again, but this time you happen to be in the kitchen, and you can overhear their conversation. ''...asking for the last time, Laufeyson. Stop this or we will make you stop it!'' is all you heard and your suspicions were confirmed. This isn't real, you aren't alive and your boys never really existed. It is all a twisted reality Loki made up when he lost you.
She can't take it any longer and steps into the hallway where Loki is talking to Fury. ''Loki, you should listen to them. What you did isn't healthy for any of us, but mostly not for you,'' you start as you take his face in your hands, cupping them softly as you look into his eyes. ''Please, I need you to listen to these men, they only want what's best for you,'' you plead, but Loki doesn't want to hear any of it. He shakes his head slightly as tears roll down his face. ''Please, don't make me do this, Y/N, I can't go through this again,'' he says as he pulls you into a hug, holding you tight against his chest.
''I know you can, Loki. Because I promise I will find you in the next life, and every life after that one. We will always be together, but we can't be together like this. I'm not real, your boys aren't real, and this isn't healthy for you. Loki, it hurts me to say this to you, but you have to let me go. You are stronger than you think, but you're causing everyone around you so much pain,'' you tell him, now softly crying too. At least now you get to say goodbye to him, unlike the last time, when you were ripped out of life so suddenly during the war against Thanos. ''These months we shared were nothing short of perfect, but it has to end. I'm sorry to tell you, but it does,'' you say, and Loki squeezes his eyes shut to keep himself from crying again.
''I can't, darling, I really can't lose you-'' he says again, but you interrupt him. ''YES, you can! You are way stronger than you give yourself credit for! But at least now you get to say goodbye to me. This time I won't be taken from you like last time,'' you tell him and in less than a second your lips found his, giving him a soft and tender kiss. Your goodbye kiss. The last one you'll ever share, and as much as it breaks your heart to see him like this, you know it's for the best that he lets you go. ''You can say goodbye to the boys too if you want. They love you so much,'' you say as you pick both of them up. When he hears the little giggles coming from them he completely breaks.
He falls onto his knees in defeat, feeling like he lost everything all over again. ''I'm so sorry for every bit of pain I've ever caused you, and I wish I could take it all back,'' Loki sobs, tears staining your cheeks now too. ''I love you so much, Y/N, and even though it will hurt me more than anything, I will do it for you,'' he says, and slowly his magic starts to weaken, and the reality he created around all of you fades away. ''We love you, Loki, and I promise we will go and find you in every single lifetime after this time,'' is the last thing you say as Loki watches you, Steven, and James fade into nothing too. Sobbing uncontrollably, he whispers ''I will always love you, darling. In every lifetime, I will find you,''. It's the last thing he says before he gets taken away by Fury and his men.
~ 10 years later ~
Living without you again was absolute hell for Loki, and he changed completely. Where he used to be a loveable goofball, he has turned into the complete opposite, wreaking complete havoc wherever he goes. He has been on the run for a few years and is on the hunt for the Darkhold, which proved to be harder than he thought. He never got over the fact that he lost you again, and his mental health also rapidly declined. Falling into a deep depression and trying to end it multiple times, all without success, has led them to where he is now. Outside an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere, supposedly the place where the Darkhold is being housed.
He walks in and much to his surprise, the leads weren't wrong. There it lies in front of him, the book he has been desperately searching for, ready to be taken and used. He picks it up and lets out a maniacal laugh at the feeling of it. Finally, he can create a new reality where he is the leader, where he will have you and his sons, and where no one will ever try and stop him. With this book, he knows he's stronger than anyone in the universe, and he can't wait to get started. It doesn't take him long to create another reality, and there you are, right back by his side. The boys are on either of your sides, one next to you and one next to Loki. ''Welcome home, darling. I missed you,'' is all he says before taking your hand and walking into your new reality. Together.
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bardkin · 5 months
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an important thing i've come to realize about my fictionkinity is that my source is my mythology; an embellished or abridged representation of me.
i know there's a post i reblogged ages ago that uses this line of thought (source = legend & fanon = folklore, or something similar), but i can't remember it & wanna put this in my own words.
plus, this is about my personal beef with "canon divergent" as a descriptor for myself, so finding & re-reblogging that post wouldn't satiate the bees in my brain lol
i think it ties into why i adopted folcintera as a term, because i do not see my source as fact. (my source in particular would've turned out very different, if not for the censors on Cartoon Network. all i need to say is "Rubphire wedding," and folks in the know will nod sagely and/or get angry as i still am about how Sugar & their story was treated by CN.)
i thought myself to be canon divergent for a long time, but that just... never totally felt right. it felt more like a label i thought i had to adopt because i'm not just like the Steven in the show/games/comics. i'm just... me; a version of the character that many, many people saw. nothing more & nothing less.
i am my own folklore, taken from my own myth, in the most mundane ways possible.
my source is only rigid because it has to be. that's how documented storytelling works; it is immutable in the final product, be that prose, picture, film, animation, or whathaveyou. new versions of it are made when the original story gets released into the hands of fans, who go on to create different immutable pieces of their own.
myth into folklore, and such and so on. i don't fully know if any of that makes any tangible sense, but like, bare with me-
i'm wholly psychological in my framework, in regards to being Steven. the origin of how it happened doesn't really matter, because i'm still Steven at the end of the day. i have what i label knowledge and memories of things that happened & people i met and love(d) in that story, because the information sits in roughly the same space as my other, physical, memories. sometimes i ache for that story and world, because i've always felt like i was supposed to be somewhere other than physically here. i'm Steven in my brain and in my heart.
so when i first started questioning being fictionkind, almost a full year ago at this point (thanks to @aestherians for encouraging me to dig deeper into this part of myself lol), it felt quietly disingenuous to label myself as "canon divergent."
and that feels like a seemingly small thing that shouldn't matter. but i'm still bothered by it; more than a little. hence why i'm tossing that term over my shoulder and never looking back :3c
viewing myself as just Me and knowing that a lot of things will and won't line up with my source is fine. source is a version of my and other Stevens' stories, told through the limitations it was allotted. for some, those limitations were true for them; others, not so much (to varying degrees).
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bluehourbucky · 1 year
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cookies
pairing: steven grant x reader
summary: steven helped you move into your new apartment you want to thank him with some homemade cookies
a/n: I got such a soft spot for steven he's the sweetest most cutest person ever
[dont know why everything is lower case sorry abt that i was already too far in to change it when i noticed]
| main | bucky | moonkinght |
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________________________________________
you've been wanting to do something for your neighbour since you moved in since he had helped you carry your furniture into your apartment.
not only did he help with moving in he also went out of his way and asked if you need help with rearranging furniture or building something, you declined politely. it didn't help that steven on top being kind is also incredibly handsome and you had immediately developed a crush on him.
however you hadn't managed to say thank you yet.
you didn't know how to say thank you but you thought a batch of cookies wouldn't be a bad idea.
and a good idea it was, in case you had sugar which you didn't.
so you shamefully walk across the hall and ring stevens door, he's the only neighbour you actually met enough times to ask for stuff.
"hello!" you say when steven opens the door, he looks even more handsome since the last time you saw him. to be fair you've never seen him in his at home clothes and it's absolutely a breathtaking sight.
"'ello?. you alright?" it takes everything in you not to literally run back to your apartment.
"yeah yeah. great. so uh you have any sugar I promise to give it back?"
"sure, come on in, don't stand in the hallway, just gotta find it." steven curses himself for inviting you in as his house is a mess and he legitimately has shackles attached to his bed.
you awkwardly walk inside and only take two steps then you stop not wanting to overstep.
"oh you have a fish." its the first thing that comes to mind to fill in the silence.
"yeah that's gus. gus say hello to our guest." steven says and your heart does a little flip.
"oh so rude of me hello stevens roommate." steven let's out a laugh which makes you blush.
"here,love." steven gives you sugar and you blush even more, you assume the nickname was accidental but doesn't mean your heart knows the difference.
"thank you. bye." you quickly leave and almost stumble.
steven curses himself, he didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, the word just slipped without him thinking. he's had a crush on you since he saw you the day you moved in and now you probably think he's creepy.
after getting into your flat, you immediately start making the cookies. you really hope steven likes them you put a lot of effort into them.
you stand a few minutes in front of his door like a weirdo until you get the courage to knock again.
"hi! It's me again. here some cookies for you. I just wanted to thank you for helping me move in and for being so kind to me. okay bye." you push the cookies into steven's and try to leave but steven grabs your hand.
"wait. what if we ate them together? that's of course if you want to. and you really didn't have to I helped because I wanted to." steven still holds your hand and waits for your reply.
it's not like you're going to miss this opportunity and not with the way he's looking at you.
"sure."
you take the time to look around and really take in the sight of his apartment, the books, the aquarium - it's just so steven.
"please, feel comfortable. thank you so much for making this for me. i'm sure it took bit of your time."
"i wanted to, I hope you like them." you expectantly look at at steven while he takes his first bite.
"so?"
"best cookies I ever had." steven says and you blush.
" im sure that's not true." you shyly say.
"sure are."
at some point you and steven sit on the couch and talk, he tells you about his work at the museum some fun things you can see there and offered to give you a tour when he's not working.
somehow the time flies and suddenly it's 2am and when you see the time you jump from the couch.
"oh im so sorry for keeping you up so late! i should go."
"I didn't notice how much time passed I'm sorry for keeping you. I been rambling a lot." steven scraches the back of his neck awkwardly, and he really hadn't noticed the time he was really just enjoying his time with you.
"i guess I'll hold you to your promise for the special tour of the museum?" you smile at steven.
"of course."
the last thing steven remembers is you going to the door and now he's suddenly kissing you?
as you were about to leave steven pulls you in for a kiss, at first you're shocked, but it takes you just few seconds to return it. it starts off rough but suddenly it melts and softens as if you're kissing another person.
at first stevens hands are on your hips but as the kiss softened they are suddenly on you cheeks.
when you finally pull away you feel like you're as red as a tomato.
"sorry." steven mutters out an apology.
"its okay. that was nice." you can see that his shoulders relaxed at your words.
"uh the tour could we turn that into a date?"
"i'd love that. good night steven."
you kiss him quickly again and leave.
"good night" steven whispers to himself.
____________________________________
"you helped the worm. it is amusing." khonshu laughs.
"it was impossible to watch that. besides he just needed a little push it was going well." marc replies and puts on the suit going off into the night.
_____________________________________
[the end]
likes comments and reblogs are appreciated <3
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menacing-menace-rat · 1 month
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Heya! Just saw your post so I hope you don't mind my fluff related somewhat crossover of Batman and Moon Knight:
In this random AU, Bruce Wayne witnessing the death of his parents was such a traumatic moment that it would spiral to give him DID (his extra personalities being Steven Grant and Jake Lockley from Moon Knight).
Now in present time, each character of the batfamily (of your choice) while doing something together (maybe training perhaps) can't help but each remember fondly about the first time meeting Bruce and eventually finding out and meeting his other personalities as well and how much it was quite a surprise. They even each tell their most fondest memories with Bruce, Steven or Jake, by the end, they don't realize that Bruce Wayne has came back, smiling with Steven Grant and Jake Lockley also feeling happy.
Hope that's okay, thanks and have a great day
Hey! Okay I think I understand the request but in case I don't, feel free to ask again. I have never done cross over stuff before but I love both batman and moonknight so I'm excited to try. They really feel like they fit together so well. I can totally imagine the wild interactions between these men. Anyway without further or do here you go! 😄
        The kids were used to Bruce's changes. Most of them thought of Steven as a second dad. Jake only came out when needed but having a family seemed to mello him out almost like he felt safe with them.
        It had been a rough night for everyone. Gotham just seemed to be falling deeper into the hands of crime lords and maniacs. Dick, Jason, and Tim made their way to the kitchen for a snack before bed. 
        “Any of you catch Jake and Bruce arguing again?” Tim asked as Dick grabbed them all some cereal. 
        “Nah I got real good at tuning out their bickering. Don't take them so seriously. They will work it out.” Jason says as he shoves a whole huge spoonful cereal into his mouth. 
         “Do you guys remember a few Christmases ago when Steven and Alfred worked all morning to set up the living room for a Christmas card photo and Damien puked all over the rug?” Dick said as he finally made himself a bowl. He smiled as he remembered the look on everyone's face. There they all were dressed in their finest and poor Damien just couldn't keep it down. 
          “All I remember was the smell. I told him not to eat the ancient candy canes in the decoration box.” Tim said with a chuckle. “I thought you were going to bring up when Jake bought that bike and tried to park it in the greenhouse. I thought Bruce was going to throw that thing in the pool for a second.” Tim added. 
         “Oh my God I forgot about that!” Jason interjected as he choked down another large spoonful. “That bike was great. I think that was the first bike I ever rode. Jake can be a pain but he taught me everything I know about bikes. I hope Bruce wasn't jumping down his throat too much tonight. The guy really has a knack for taking the fun out of vigilante work.” 
         Everyone knew Jason and Jake were close. When Jason first came back from the dead Jake was the only person he'd let near him. They just understood each other. Jake was the father Jason thought he needed. 
         “Jake's alright but Steven will let me talk his ear off all day if Bruce isn't busy. I even got him into RPGs and he helped me rebuild my computer.” Tim commented finishing his bowl of cereal first.
       The boys continued talking about their shared experiences with Bruce, Steven, and Jake. It's an unconventional set up for a family but they all manage to make it work together.
       At some point Bruce realized they hadn't gotten around for bed yet so he looked in the one place he knew he'd find three teen boys, the kitchen. Sure enough they were there all sat on stools, cereal long finished. They were boisterously recounting their favorite moments with their surrogate fathers. If Steven had been in control a tear might have come to Bruce's eye.
       The sun started to rise and eventually they all went to bed. Bruce couldn't help but sleep a little sounder knowing Steven and Jake were loved by his adopted sons. He couldn't ask for a better family.
        It got a little sappy near the end but I hope you enjoyed. It was a really fun AU to write. The idea is super creative and sweet. I hope I did it justice. 💕
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waywardmillennial · 17 days
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watchergate & where we go from here...
To start at the end, I purchased my annual Watcher TV subscription on April 20th because I wanted to support them when it felt like so many others were not. I'm cancelling another subscription to make this work with my budget, and I'm very happy with this!
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Watcher has always made high quality, entertaining content that I love, and I'm happy to support them as they try to grow like they've always wanted to so they can bring on more creators and give us more diverse art.
So, moving forward, I'm going to be posting about Watcher TV when it comes out - spoiler parties with the sexy moots! - and I'll be blocking any and all haters I see. 💜💜💜
(read more bc ofc this got long)
To walk this back and give a little history/context, *ahem* [sotto Byron voice]
April 12, 2024: Watcher announced they had a surprise coming for us in a week's time. The news came in the form of a very spirited ad-read in the Mystery Files s2 finale. And afterwards there were a few blogs posting about it, but I commented to a friend that my dash had been devoid of Watcher posts (oh, how that sweet summer child would grow to long for a day such as that).
There were some corkboard theories, and I broke down the new logo design, but nothing big happened until the following Thursday.
April 18, 2024: I saw the leak for the announcement. It was on reddit and a sock tumblr blog was made sending the link out to people. I didn't post it or share it because it wasn't my news to share. I wanted to wait to see how they were going to explain it.
Maybe I should have said at the time (but it's fine if you don't believe me now I guess) but I was hoping Watcher TV would become like their enhanced Patreon replacement, where the new shows like "Puppet History Karaoke" and "Road Files" would be exclusive, and some other perks like early access. [note: if Apollo is laughing at him right now, I'd kindly request he stuff that red ball somewhere Helios doesn't shine]
I imagined some people would be mad at the streaming news but it didn't prepare me for how bad it would get...
April 19, 2024: Most of us know what happened. The announcement was not well received. Watcher's silence right after wasn't helping, but I don't think many people were willing to give them any grace for their pre-planned trip to the UK and instead demanded answers immediately.
Do I think maybe their announcement could have been timed better? Or maybe given a different tone? Perhaps. But either way what they were trying to communicate was not what people chose to hear, and the response from many viewers was, to choose a very formal phrase here, absolute bonker banana balls insane.
The main anti-streamer "arguments" I saw basically boiled down into these categories:
"high production tv quality content is what they want to make, but we don't want that - we only want them to sit in a blank room and talk to each other with blue and yellow text like the bfu days!!"
"Steven's the one behind all this bc he's rich and greedy and only eats gold"
"they already make enough money off their patreon why are they doing this?? they should have consulted [insert other yt-er here]"
"they've become the capitalist elite that we swore to destroy! so we have to tear them down from their thrones!!"
Even now, feeling better than I have in days, I don't have the energy to say why each of those takes completely misses the point of who they are as a company, as creators, and as human beings. But there are some eloquent posts in my #watchergate tag, or my other post, if you're interested.
April 22, 2024: We got the Watcher update - giving people access to all videos after a month on the new streamer - and that seemed to placate a lot of viewers and those on the fence. But it was also the day I learned about that horrible petition against Steven, and I'd been following all this drama for several days (foregoing some self-care) and so I had a little meltdown...
Even though the new setup is closer to what I'd hoped for like 10 days ago, I hate how we arrived at it. It's shown people that they can bully creators to get them to compromise on their company. In fact, I've seen accounts celebrating this.
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Opinions like this have given me trust issues when it comes to the Watcher fandom at large now. As many of my beloved mutuals have said, I'm going to be wary of accounts that follow me and be applying that blocking feature liberally.
I can also only imagine how things like this must have broken some of the trust that the Watcher crew feels for us - fightingfuries really said it best. If they do start distancing themselves on socials and things, I wouldn't really blame them.
I don't have more to say, other than I'm going to support them as much as I can, for as long as they continue to make content. I'm going to send the team a care package. And I hope in time we'll earn back their trust.
Now I'll let Ryan Bergara play me out...
As for the question of why we decided to launch our own platform, when we started Watcher in 2020, we wanted to create shows that we were proud of, that we had ownership over, and that would provide you the caliber of content that we felt you deserved. However, we were finding it harder and harder to stay relevant to advertisers and the constantly changing YouTube landscape. We faced some incredibly challenging decisions. We didn't want to compromise our content to ensure they met advertising requirements. And we definitely did not want to lay people off that have brought Watcher to life behind the scenes. And we didn't want to bring Watcher to a close, which would have happened if we stayed solely on YouTube. - An Update, April 22, 2024
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guybitesatgames · 2 months
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TMAGP 08 - They Already Named One "The Architecture of Fear"
Okay so obviously everyone is going to go bananas about what happened after the 19 minute mark (its me, I'm everyone, my response was undignified). However, Alex's tweet put me on high alert so lets dig our claws into some incredibly specific inclusions from just the case section of today's episode.
There have always been nods to real-life locations and historical figures across the Magnus-series, but this episode is particularly grounded. The case takes place here-
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-Forton services - a service station that still exists, I assume entirely thanks to its listed status. It's a semi-historical site, which means lots of pictures have been taken of it, including its interior. Behold, the restaurant Terrance Stevens was sucked into, both (likely) the version he saw vs. what he should have expected at the top of the elevator:
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I've not been to this place, but it is highly documented. I was able to find out that, just as it is in the show, the button for the restaurant floor has been disabled (unless you have the manufacturer's key). In fact, I think I might have found the exact website as whoever was doing research for this episode (Alex?) because they both mention seating for "700 people, with 101 toilets and 403 parking spaces".
And Terrance Stevens was doing such a good job with his sources up until this point! And I mean that - early in the case he cites (Zumthor, P. 2006), (Augé, M. 1995), (Bachelard, G. 1994) and (Trigg, D. 2012). Now, it'd be super easy for a writer to make up some names and append some years on them and call it a day but- no! Peter Zumthor's lecture Atmospheres: Architectural Environments, Surrounding Objects was published in 2006. We can similarly find Non-Places by Marc Augé, The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard (reprinted in 1994), and The Memory of Place: A Phenomenology of the Uncanny by Dylan Trigg.
Given the emphasis on Smirke's architecture in The Magnus Archives (and the preponderance of liminal spaces as a source of horror, generally) I shouldn't be surprised that the authors have read up on academic papers linking structures to emotions. I was just a little blindsided that they would hand us a "further reading" section.
The real question at the end of all this is: will any of this be on the quiz?
Surely, surely if the writers wanted to be so precise as to get information about which elevator buttons are currently accessible in a real life truck stop correct, there must be something important about Forton services, right? Thankfully, we have an answer, from the Q&A for The Magnus Archives Season 3.
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Well done, I am slightly worried.
Though the details of specific locations may not really really matter, I think the idea that there are nexuses of fear - places that themselves just aren't right - was laid out quite plainly in this episode. Forton services could harbor another gap in reality much like Hilltop Road, and I don't think this will be the last we hear of "hungry architecture."
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atlasscrumpit · 10 months
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Yandere moon boys with a mute reader?
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Marc was walking home one night after he had been out on a mission with Khonshu, it was late at night and there were barely any people around.
He saw an older man with a young lady walking along, he didn’t think anything of it until the older man shoved you against the wall.
“This is ridiculous!” The man shouted, he continued to shout but Marc couldn’t make out what was being said.
He ran up and pulled the man away from you.
“Back off!” He shouted as the man stumbled away from you. Suddenly he pulled out a gun and pointed it at Marc.
“I suggest you mind your own business, sir.” He growled as Marc narrowed his eyes at him.
Marc quickly moved forward with expert precision and quickly grabbed the gun before shooting the man in the chest.
He expected a scream from you but he looked at you to see you crying and hyperventilating.
“Shit, hey it’s okay. Let’s get you out of here.” He muttered as you looked at him in fear.
You kept shaking your head and crying.
“Unless you want to go to prison you will fucking come with me!” He shouted as you flinch and nodded, he grabbed your hand and dragged you along the streets.
You continued to cry when Marc finally got you into the elevator of his building.
“Who was he?” He asked as you looked at him in fear.
“You can tell me.” He said before you shook your head and pointed to your throat.
“What do you mean?” He muttered before he heard a booming voice in his head.
“She is mute you idiot!” Khonshu said making Marc roll his eyes.
“You’re mute, okay that explains it. Can you sign?” He asked as you nodded and signed ‘father’ to him.
“He was your father… Okay, thank you.” He replied as you nodded a little, the elevator opened and you took you into his apartment.
“She’s terrified.” Khonshu said causing Marc to groan in annoyance.
“No shit.” He grumbled before grabbing a glass of water for you.
"Fuck, I made a big mistake didn't I?" He muttered as you looked at him and nodded.
"I'm sorry... I just saw what he was doing and I snapped." He muttered before he stood up and grabbed a pen and paper.
"What's your name?" He asked as you wrote it down for him.
"Did your father hurt you a lot?" Marc asked as you paused for a moment before nodding a little.
"We'll, figure this out. But, you can't leave here, okay?" He said as you looked at him in fear.
You started to scribble on the piece of paper he gave you.
'I want to leave.'
"I know, but if you leave the police will come after you. If you stay here I can protect you, you don't want them to take you away do you? Prison is a lot worse than what your father put you through." He threatened as you felt years in your eyes.
"Nod your head if you understand, Y/N." He said, looking into your eyes as you nooded a little.
"Good girl."
--
Marc thought you would've fought more against him, but he realised that your father had unintentionally taught you to adapt to any situation, especially when it involved someone with more power over you.
Marc had found it pretty easy to keep you on his side, after all you'd never had affection or even contact with anyone other than your father.
Marc liked how much you enjoyed his affection or got excited when he came back home.
You laid your head on his lap while you watched TV, maybe it was twisted but Marc liked the fact that you were broken.
He loved that you relied on his for everything, he yearned for someone to take care of (other than Steven) and now he finally had it.
And it wasn't going to change anytime soon.
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erinptah · 7 months
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Do you think Jake's hat is his compromise between 'wear obvious headcovering typical of jews like Marc's dad' and 'don't wear anything at all like your headmates' because old habits die hard. This headcanon hit me like a truck a while ago.
I mean he does declare "Of course I'm Jewish" when Steven asks in CoK verse but he doesn't seem any more religious than Marc.
Maybe he just like the beret, maybe he's trying to look like a cabbie in the comics, maybe some third option
Oh, huh, there's an idea. Wearing an acceptably-observant level of head covering, without making it visibly the religious kind.
MCU Jake shows up in nice clothes and a tie, too, he likes to look a little fancy, and he probably takes it as a given that "formal wear" includes some nice headgear. (Marc does too, at least the one time we saw him try to dress up, for the shiva. Steven...doesn't seem to? He didn't on date night, at least.)
Generally I don't write Jake's Jewishness as manifesting in "following specific rules and prescriptions," like wearing specific clothes, eating kosher, not working on the Sabbath, etc.
It's more -- well, first and foremost it's that Jake stands his ground on things Marc feels guilty and unworthy about. Marc feels like a bad human for killing people? Jake's not sorry, guys like Harrow have it coming. Marc feels like a bad Jew for serving another god? Screw that, Jake will be a Jewish Fist of Khonshu if he damn well feels like it, nobody gets to say he's unworthy or take that away from him.
...And then he wouldn't want to dig into the specific values and beliefs and actions that mean Jewishness to him. Because that feels too close to "justify yourself, explain why you count," and the point is that he counts if he says he does, dammit.
But, for a partial list:
Value of community. Sense of justice. Saving lives being more important than following laws. The principle that if a god shows up and starts giving you orders, you get to argue. Arguing in general. Arguing as a form of bonding. Sarcasm. Ability to laugh at yourself. The low-key instinct not to get too comfortable anywhere, you never know when you'll get thrown out. A recurring idea that one way you protect important things is by not getting too close to them.
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