#he’s a fighter so it only makes sense haha | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

inbarfink · 6 months

Text

Okay, so, for the longest time the Tallests’ behavior toward Zim in ‘Battle of the Planets’ has always struck me as… odd.

I mean, of course the idea that they mock him publicly behind his back makes sense in general. That is a very Tallests Thing to Do. But the specific ways they mock him…

I dunno...maybe the intention is supposed to be like 'haha you're saying 'unstoppable death machine like it's a good thing but it's not!!' or something but... with the delivery and the general characterization of the Irken army it comes off as more of 'haha! it's funny because he's NOT an unstoppable death machine hahaha" and...

Like, yes. Zim is correct. He is, in fact, an ‘unstoppable death machine’. That is absolutely an accurate statement to be taken seriously. The only problem was that he’s an unstoppable death machine that’s too uncontrollable to prevent him from Death Machining his own people as well. That’s literally why you banished him, remember?

But then I took a moment to think about that.... It does actually makes sense that the Tallests, despite getting literal first-class seats to his rampage of destruction - might still have a problem with actually internalizing why Zim is so Bad.

Because Zim is basically the Irkenest Irken to ever Irk. He might be considered ‘Defective’, yes, but all of his defects manifest as the logical extremes of Irken ideology. He has, on paper, all of the skills and personality traits and ideals that the Irken Empire value - just exaggerated and twisted in a way that makes him the biggest milestone around the Empire's neck.

Zim is a pretty good fighter, infiltrator, pilot and scientist. Remember, he’s a Fast-Food Drone Play-Acting Alien Invasion to get him out of the Armada’s antennas now, but he was a legitimate actual Invader back during ‘Impending Doom 1’. And that’s with all the social barriers and prejudice that a short Irken like him is going to face. I’m guessing a lot of the selection process for Invaders is done by automated systems or extremely-detached Control Brains. And only looking at, like, Zim’s practice or test results - he should be an exceptional Invader on-par with Skoodge.

But we all know the truth is more complicated then that. Zim’s talents and training are hampered by his own massive ego, absolute inability to accurately assess threats and his impulsive desires for destruction and death. He’s unable to judge when he’s punching above his weight or tackling an endeavor beyond his abilities. He cannot admit when he has made an error, even just to fix or improve an invention/plan. And he always allocates his resources in the dumbest way possible.

And that’s all, like, emergent from Irken Ideology - or at least from Zim’s logical extreme of it. Confidence and selfishness are rewarded on Irk - Zim is mostly unusual in terms of sheer volume (or maybe he’s too Short to be allowed to have such a high opinion of himself.)

His inability to proportionally handle threats is emergent from the Empire’s ideals of Irken Supremacy. Zim is supposed to see all other species in the universe as stupid and inferior and worthy only of servitude and so logically they can’t be a serious threat to him, an Elite Irken Soldier. But he also needs to internally justify why all of these Clearly Inferior Beings are even a problem to the Irken Empire in general and for him in specific. Especially when he fails to conquer them as easily as a ‘Superior Being’ is supposed to. And so his ego and his insistence on Irkens being Superior has to elevate them into fearsome enemies.

That Speciesism is also why his disguise is so bad! We directly see it in the first episode. He had the option of picking a more realistic human disguises but he just found it too gross. And that actually seems to be a trend, considering every Actual Invader we see on the show has a disguise that is just as bad if not worse.

And Zim’s tendency towards delusions is also born, at least partially, from his devotion to Irken Ideology. Not just from the obvious insistence of the superiority of himself and his Empire despite his constant failures. But also… how do you balance out the Irken values of selfishness with the also-Irken values of loyalty and absolute obedience to the Empire and the Tallests? For Zim, the obvious answer seems to be ‘delude himself into believing whatever selfish personal whim he has is actually for the good of the Empire and the true will of the Tallest’. That’s how he can break All of the Rules All of the Time and still act like he’s just another obedient and loyal vessel of the Tallest.

And then there’s the value of destruction and cruelty. This is absolutely not a Zim-only thing - that is a value he got from Irken society in general. After all, it’s pretty clear they don’t even have, like, a token excuse for their universe-conquering aspirations. They’re just doing this shit because destroying and subjecting the universe seems Fun and Cool. I mean, ‘Battle of the Planets’ demonstrates that better than anything.

The Tallests have no idea of what to do with the planets they conquer. They don’t need them for anything. They decided Blorch's new purpose as a spur-of-the-moment decision and it was a Parking Structure Planet. Most of Irk’s single-use planets are pretty silly but this one especially so. Parking Structures only have value based on them being near a Place People Want to Go To, so a whole planet of them really defeats the whole idea. The Tallests only conquered Blorch and wiped out the Rat People because they want to conquer planets and wipe out sapient species.

And that is… exactly the same sort of meaningless cruelty Zim demonstrates. I mean… What Zim did with Prisoner 777 is literally just a smaller-scale recreation of what the whole Irken Empire did to the Vortians. And honestly, Zim actually has a slightly-better track record of actually getting ‘his’ Vortian to do what he wants. While the Irken Empire in general has basically shot themselves in the foot and assured all of their best technology is going to come with some sort of Stupid Hidden Flaw and all because they wanted to be the Conquerors rather than ‘just’ allies.

The difference is really just that Zim values destruction so much he has problem processing that directing the destruction at his own people is still a very bad thing in the eyes of the empire.

And that’s… kind of the ideological blind spot the Tallests fall into during ‘Battle of the Planets’, I think. They should know that Zim is very much an Unstoppable Death Machine, just one that they can’t control and thus should be kept as far away from the Empire and Operation Impending Doom 2 as possible. But in their little Irken-Ideology-Poisoned minds - being an “Unstoppable Death Machine” is a Good Thing and Zim is obviously Bad - so, obviously logically he cannot be an Unstoppable Death Machine.

And throughout this entire episode, the Tallest mock the idea that Zim is even capable of… not just achieving his and the Empire’s goals (obviously, yeah, he is incapable of doing that), but that he's even capable of properly causing destruction? Which they should know he is very capable of. And this is probably the closest he ever came in the show to legitimately destroying the human race. Only being foiled due to a huge stroke of luck on Dib’s part that nobody saw coming. And yet the Tallests were so certain that Zim, of all the Irkens in the galaxy, is somehow incapable of destroying a planet???

And at the end, Zim does prove himself as an Unstoppable Death Machine by, once again, managing to kill a fuckload of his own people while the Tallests laugh about how inaccurate that descriptor is for him.

This is extra ironic with the Tallests throwing that one guy out of the airlock at the start of the episode

They punish others just for not remembering Zim’s rampage, but they clearly have not internalized what it Means themselves.

The fact that a guy like that even managed to reach the most prestigious not-height-based position in the Irken military in the first place should be a cause of some serious introspection of how Irken Military training and evaluation is handled. Especially when you consider much more competent would-be-Invaders like Tak got dismissed and punished for things totally outside of their control.

But… It seems like the only lesson anyone in the Irken Empire learned was just “Zim is awful”. Which is true, but isn’t really getting to the root of the matter.

You can see another example of that mindset from the Tallests in ‘Hobo 13’. Because those two were so sure Zim was going to lose, and lose painfully. Because he is Incompetent, obviously that means he can’t do it. Totally forgetting that Zim actually totally has the athletic, combat and - most importantly, technological skills and out-of-the-box thinking that allowed him to survive and thrive.

I mean, yeah, that means he cheated and threw his entire squad to the dogs for his own personal gain and petty sadistic amusement but… that is absolutely not something the Irken Empire frowns upon. The Tallests especially love to torment and even kill off their subordinates for the pettiest of reasons. Skoodge, featured in both of these episodes, is a great example.

And like, ‘being bad leaders and tormenting their own underlings’ is basically what the Tallests spend the entirety of that episode doing.

That Sergeant had ideological problems with Zim being such a horrible and callous leader, but that’s clearly not a representation of the Irken Empire’s stance. Quite the opposite really. Zim might be a disgrace to Hobo 13, but he was an exemplary Irken. The only reason why him winning was a problem is because he’s Zim and they all hate him.

And speaking of the Tallests’ own behavior reflecting Zim’s… let’s talk a bit about ‘Enter the Florpus’.

Because the downfall of the Irken Armada in that story is not just Zim’s fault. I mean, it is partly Zim’s fault. Without him there wouldn’t be a Florpus in the first place. But the narrative makes it constantly very very clear that this is Not Actually a Threat for the Armada… if not for the Tallests adamantly and childishly refusing to change course.

The Tallests hate Zim, and they make it clear at every possible opportunity. And they hate him because he’s so damn incompetent and such a threat to the Empire’s safety. And yet they constantly demonstrate they possess the exact same core personality issues as Zim - they’re just slightly better having, like, a veneer of reasonability and being able to perceive reality (and also they are tall, which helps them get away with more.) And nowhere is it more obvious than ‘Enter the Florpus’...

Where the Tallests prove that they can be just as childish and single-minded -

And just as destruction-hungry -

And just as quick to deny reality -

And just as disrespectful of their underlings.

This recurring bit with the navigator is especially striking to me, because more than anything it makes me remember… Operation Impending Doom 1.

Two times the Irken Empire has been brought to the brink of collapse. And both of these times it is because a powerful high-ranking Irken (one time an Invader, the other time the Tallests themselves), refused to listen to the warnings and concerns of a lower-ranking expert Navigator - continuing with a course of destruction for their own people.

You could say the Irken Empire was doomed from the start because of their own philosophy of cruelty and selfishness. Eventually, it was bound to create someone like Zim - who takes the Irken Ideology to its logical extreme in the most destructive way possible. Or you can say the Irken Empire was doomed from the start because of their asinine height-based class system. Which basically inevitably assures that at some point the reigns of the Empire will be at the hands of someone buffoonish and incompetent enough to drag the whole Empire down with them. And both of these viewpoints are true in their own way but also…

The Irken Empire was also doomed from the start cause, whatever this is a result of a culture that highly values obedience to your superiors over common sense, or because punishments for disobedience are just so terribly severe - these two Navigators continued to push those knobs and drive that ship even as they knew their commanders were mad and their actions were just driving their own Empire towards oblivion.

Perhaps the Irken Military could use some sort of protocol of what to do when your superior is being clearly unreasonable and endangering not only the mission but literally the fate of your entire civilization? No, of course not. Yet another lesson not learned from Zim’s actions in ‘Impending Doom 1’. The only important lesson Irk needed to learn from that was just ‘Fuck This One Guy in Particular’.

Zim’s whole existence is like a twisted parody of the Irken Empire and all of its values. It’s really no wonder that the Tallest never got the joke.

#invader zim #iz #zim #zim iz #iz zim #zim invader zim #tallest purple #tallest red #almighty tallest #invader zim tallest #enter the florpus #etf #iz etf #invader zim enter the florpus #invader zim etf #iz enter the florpus

516 notes · View notes

feroluce · 4 days

Text

So I'm well aware this is probably a case of "it isn't that deep" but I love looking at all the fiddly little accessories and bits and bobs of Hoyo designs and trying to justify them. Sampo's is particularly funny, because. What even is all that dkkxjdkd

His outfit has so many straps wrapped around him, like they're restraining or holding something in to keep it from bursting at the seams, and not all of them look like they're even connected to anything! But I'd like to think they are useful in certain situations, like if Sampo takes a hit out in the Fragmentum from one of the monsters.

He's hurt, his arm is bleeding, but he is ALMOST done, he just needs a couple more things to fulfill his quota to Natasha and he doesn't want to turn around and go back now. So Sampo frees a strap from his shirt, winds it around his arm above the cut, pulls it tight with his free hand and his teeth. He'll treat it properly in a minute, once he's done scavenging.

There's also the strange chains that resemble snake spines. Given how they're way longer in his splash art and the way they wind around-

I'd like to think they can extend somehow, and Sampo can use them to scale heights. Firefly clocks him as a covert fighter without even being within 20 feet of him, so it would make sense for Sampo to have ways to get around that don't involve usual/obvious methods, like stairs. Think assassin skill sets.

He's also the only one known to be able to get between the Underground and the overworld, and while he's pretty tight-lipped about his method, having some sort of device to help traverse vertical heights is probably insanely helpful there.

And the little metal ornaments across the backs of his wrists! You can see it a bit better in his reference sheet (everyone say thanks @/dragaliareferencearchive!) as opposed to his splash art-

they aren't flat, they stick up a bit off his arms. And so I wonder if Gepard has ever gone to arrest Sampo, and found that they interfere with his handcuffs haha

The ornaments don't match, the one on his right wrist is actually shorter and doesn't extend down to the back of his hand. Which probably doesn't make it nearly as annoying for handcuffs as the left one, but it would make sense for Sampo to have them like that, since he seems to be right-handed! I think a certain proficiency in being ambidextrous is necessary to dual wield daggers like he does, but. Sampo uses his right hand to

hold his blade in his splash art

throw his blade in his skill

play/show off with his dagger in his idle

lob smoke bombs in his technique

cross over his heart when he bows

and to flip his bangs during the cutscene where he saves the trailblazers from Bronya

So a shorter guard on his right hand would help him keep his wrist's flexibility to be able to do all that unimpeded (loving the thought now that Sampo is naturally right-handed and still better with it, but he practiced constantly with his left until he could do things passably ambidextrous).

I also love them because I wonder if they're in the perfect place to help block a hit, along with the chain wrapped around his left forearm.

Like I love the image of a hired killer soundlessly sneaking up behind Sampo in some shady dark alley, knife sloooooowly raising, and then all at once, they strike!

And instead of feeling the blade sink into his back, they get the unpleasant resonating of metal-on-metal shivering up their arm and rattling their bones, because Sampo has turned around at the last second and raised his crossed his arms to let the knife glance off the guards on his wrists.

And the mercenary is left to realize that oh, they are fucked.

#sampo koski #hsr sampo #hsr sampo koski #hsr #honkai star rail #now that I think about it is there literally ANYTHING in canon that says Gepard carries handcuffs or do we all just need to be bonked skzjms #things I lay awake thinking about at 3 AM ☆#I would actually love to see Sampo use those guards to block a blow from Gepard because hhhhhh #gepo fight scene! gepo fight scene!#Gepard trying to bring Sampo down only to get held off at the last second #adrenaline pumping breath quick faces close together eyes wild and bright breathing right in each other's space #ahem #anyway #but I can't see them like REALLY fighting because Sampo mostly just commits fraud and theft and I don't think Gepard would resort to-#-violence over that. Geppie is a good boy he probably wouldn't get violent with Sampo unless Sampo was putting other people in danger.#looking at his splash art this closely also gave me a really funny revelation which I'll maybe post tomorrow #Sampo is such a little shit I love him NSMKDNDMD

71 notes · View notes

ozzgin · 7 months

Note

Cave mommy is always such a delight, being cute and shi... now think about how chaotic a big cave sister would be. They found big sis a little after they found Pickle, and when they woke her up, oh boy, is she a handful

Maybe she was introduced to Pickle just as soon she woke up cause' they thought she was a partner, but they learned very quick as soon as big sis give him a loving suplex greeting

She's the really teasing but absolutely caring and overprotective type of sibling, she's a whole lot more loose than her smaller brother. The only way you'll get her to take you seriously is if you're threatening her or her brother's life, more so her brother

And she's more different from cave mommy in a sense that she'll accept the fighters in their rough housing and play rough with Pickle, just cause' she knows they can take it, and they'll have to take a lot since sis doesn't hold back unless she's asked to

Big sis is definitely the bread winner of their pair since she'll take down even the strongest (Yujiro being the exception) in a swipe or two, if she takes you dead serious

I wonder how that would’ve played out during Yuujirou’s first encounter with Pickle, when they had their little contest of strength and Yuujirou ended up using a move to throw Pickle to the ground. Both Pickle and his sister have no knowledge of what just happened. All she knows is that her brother has been attacked with a bizarre technique by a man that emanates danger. So on one side you have the enraged prehistoric sister ready to protect her sibling, and on the other Yuujirou who’s been asked to tread carefully around these beings of cultural importance. He has to hold back from going all out, but for how long? At some point he’ll have to grit his teeth in annoyance and admit to himself that either he gets serious or he could risk losing the fight. Big sister cornered The Ogre into survival mode.

“What were you thinking?! You could’ve killed her if we didn’t interfere!” Professor Payne yells in exasperation. Yuujirou can only growl and speed away, because no way in hell will he admit he had no other choice against your brute force.

I feel like I always end up mocking Yuujirou one way or another, haha. He’s an easy target, to be honest. The other fighters aren’t as edgy.

Maybe the final fight against Baki would’ve also been more entertaining. If he were to face a much more aggressive opponent, perhaps he’d have skipped the cocky attempts to compete with the raw strength and focus more on winning instead. In any case, I’m loving the idea! Kind of makes you wonder about Pickle’s family tree in general given he’s always shown alone even in flashbacks.

#baki headcanons #pickle baki #prehistoric reader #baki

219 notes · View notes

inviisiiblelee · 1 month

Text

just a little note so I don't forget this about my Overpowered!Vox AU, in which Vox becomes the strongest Overlord entirely on accident and through necessity.

The idea of deaths as a Sinner and regeneration having long term effects. You get sent to maybe purgatory, or some sort of void, and must make your way back to fully return. A sort of maze. It gets easier the more you experience it, but typically it only take a month max for most people. And usually they come back faster.

Vox himself doesn't do well in the dark. His first death, if he ever experienced one, would take twice as long. Three and a half months before he returns to his body, or reforms, whichever is easier.

My interpretations of Vox and Alastor insist they've known one another and have been close since they met, Alastor took him under his wing, so to speak. But when Alastor left for seven years, he left Vox behind, who had always been weaker. He wasn't a fighter; he preferred words.

But he was a mess without Alastor, and they had left on poor terms, and he was vulnerable. When he finally died, being attacked for his vulnerability, people didn't stop trying to kill him, trying to take the credit of killing the Media Overlord, who once was protected but was no longer.

Over and over again. Three deaths, twelve, twenty-five. He only needs a week now. After forty-five deaths, he started getting forgetful. He started losing track of time, forgetting how things happened, and becoming paranoid. After fifty deaths, he upgraded his body to support on hand weaponry, including holy weapons.

After fifty-three deaths, he started attacking first, reacting to every little movement. Carmilla and Zestial deemed him a liability, in spite of his many, many soul contracts making him prime need for Overlord meetings, requesting Valentino or Velvette permanently take his place. He would corner those he attacked, if he could refrain from killing them, demanding their souls in return for mercy. They would usually accept, with angelic steel pressed against their necks.

After fifty-seven deaths, he had a hard time recognizing anyone, and remembering what was reality, and knowing whether people were trying to threaten him or not. People die by his hand often because they look at him wrong. He doesn't fall apart emotionally anymore- he fixed that after death forty-seven. He's almost indestructible, safe from himself, at least.

His mind is never quiet. His thoughts are too loud. Sometimes he thinks people can hear them. He scares everyone. People run from him, now. It's odd. But he can make them stop. He is so powerful ... a single turn of the spiral in his eyes and none can resist his commands. He is paranoid. Anyone as fragile as he once was gets his protection. He will lose his mind if you tell him no, or give the slightest hint of attitude or what he may deem as odd behavior. Killing is daily. Accustomed to. He may not be very good at fighting, but who needs to be when he can shape up to be roughly the size of Godzilla itself? He would eat Adam whole and spit him back out if he wanted to, and while Adam would be capable of beating him, he'd have to react fast enough.

Vox has turned into the single most powerful and most terrifying Overlord, but also the single most insane being in Hell. He has no sense of self anymore. He lost everything, including his mind, after Alastor left.

When Alastor returns, Vox doesn't recognize him at first. It's only lucky he ran out of holy-tipped bullets that day or he'd have killed him! Haha!

"How long has it been? Twenty years? Oh. Only seven? That's good. It's been too long, still, old friend, let's catch up!"

#my writing #vox hazbin hotel #hazbin vox #hazbin hotel vox #vox #headcanon #my headcanons #vox hazbin headcanons #hazbin au #au headcanons #overpowered vox au #radiostatic #staticradio

111 notes · View notes

natimiles · 6 months

Note

Hellooo it’s the same anon from before :)

I was wondering if you could write (only if you want to! No pressure whatsoever :D) platonic headcanons or scenarios for your favourite IkemenVampire boys with a gn!reader (age is up to you). I feel like our vampire men, however handsome they are, would also be great older brothers (albeit a bit outdated on technology ahaha)

Again, please don’t write this if you don’t want to :) it was just a thought in my head and I really enjoyed your work of the IkemenVampire characters with the reader that has a tattoo, but you take priority :D

-🥀 anon (if you allow it ofc)

Hii, dear 🥀

Sorry, I’m a slow writer haha. I was finishing another fanfic, but here we go!

Sometimes I feel they have a brotherly relationship when we’re not in their routes, so I really liked it! It's my first request, so that adds to the excitement, hahaha.

I wrote them separately, I hope it's how you wanted it (:

A gn!reader with a sibling-like relationship with them | Isaac, Mozart, Jean, Arthur, Theo and Vincent, and Napoleon

Tags: gn!reader; minor spoilers from their routes.

Isaac

He accepted Comte’s offer to have some alone time for peaceful work. With the little school he and Napoleon had set up, he didn't want any more responsibilities in his life. However, as always, things never seemed to go his way.

You’re stubborn and clumsy, and he can’t make sense of half the things you do. However, for some inexplicable reason, he’s intrigued by the challenge of understanding you. Before he knows it, you’ve become a part of his daily life.

You make sure he has all his meals and encourage him to leave his room sometimes, at least to go to the garden and get some sun on his skin. You even took care of him when he was sick, never leaving his side until he was better. You talk about what you remember studying about him in school and how he should consider being a professor here. You pester him until he does what you want and pretend to cry when he runs out of patience, just to make him feel bad for the outburst; but you’re also there when he needs to talk and always defend him from others (you’re the only one allowed to tease him about the apples).

“Hey, Newt, fancy a slice of apple pie?” You managed to get Arthur to stop calling him that. You might’ve even threatened him.

He always looks for you now, whether he needs advice about his new job, has a problem, or wants to grab a meal at that downtown cafeteria. He’s happy when you seek him out for advice or to hang out on a day off. Having you around is comforting; he’s no longer alone. You’re the family he’s always wanted, and he’ll protect you with everything he has, which mainly involves glaring at others while blushing (this man is not a fighter). He still enjoys spending time alone, working. He’s aware that you’ll come looking for him if he spends too much time locked in his room.

He probably won’t say much if you meet someone you like; he’s not overprotective. However, he’ll attempt to meet them to determine if they’re a good person (he might even call Napoleon to help him with this).

Mozart

When you arrived at the mansion, things were lively, and he despised it. You’re a troublemaker; it’s obvious. Comte once warned them about how dangerous it could be to cross the door without him because they could get lost. Yet, you managed to cross it by accident! Looking back, that was a red flag already, but you keep doing stupid things every time, so it’s hard to say which one really is the red flag. He should stay away, but for some reason, he feels an urge to protect you.

As time passes, and he grows accustomed to your presence (and your chocolates, ahem), he realizes that you’re not only his new best friend but also family. In his first life, he was the youngest son and was very close to his sister, so he finds solace in your company and the new sibling-like relationship you share.

You two are joined at the hip in no time. You’re definitely his favorite person in the world now. Congrats, you got yourself an overprotective brother — but he means well. Arthur touches you? Mozart’s there in a second with a handkerchief in hand, ready to clean you of those scoundrel’s germs. You cut your finger? He helps you bandage it. Are you taking care of the violets in the garden? He’s there beside you, keeping you company while he composes a new piece.

He loves playing for you and always shows you his new pieces first. Your opinion means a lot to him, even though you may not be as versed in music as he is. If you encourage him to play and attend more aristocratic parties, he might even give it a shot. His trips downtown have become easier since you helped him overcome his fear of carriages, so he’s gradually getting used to them.

He might even teach you a thing or two on the piano if you’re interested, so you two can play together for the residents, just as he used to do with his sister. He’s a surprisingly patient and kind teacher. It’s a side he only reveals to you and Jean, and even the soldier never sees his friend smile fondly at anyone else.

God help the person that falls in love with you. He won’t be creepy about it, but he’ll be condescending until he’s certain they deserve you and his trust. The two of you now understand Theo and Vincent a little bit better.

Jean

He’s confused about why you want to be friends with him. He doesn’t think he deserves it, yet you persist, and something inside him just allows it. As you start teaching him how to write and read, he notices how patient and kind you are.

He’s the sweetest brother you could get. He feels like you’re his older sibling (and probably is, considering how young he died). He will protect you whenever you need, after all he’s a trained soldier. He shows you his diary and everything he writes. He asks for advice and always listens intently to what you have to tell him, because you don’t judge him even when he’s having a bad day. He’s interested in your stories about the future, he can’t understand how there’s such technology (the poor guy lived in a century that didn’t even have electricity yet).

You help in his shop when you can and you take care of him. You’re the only person who can actually make him eat/drink something, at least some blanc so he doesn’t starve himself again. He doesn’t want to disappoint you. He doesn’t want you to leave him and lose another family, so he makes an effort to care at least a little bit about himself, and you praise him every time you notice it.

A customer asks for something he doesn’t know how to write yet? “Wait a minute, please, I’ll ask my sibling how to write it.” And the customer is confused, because he didn’t know Jean had a sibling.

If you fall in love, he’ll be so happy for you! Obviously, he’ll be wary of them at first, but he’s such a chill brother. He’ll miss spending more time with you, but he’ll be happy to know you’re happy.

Arthur

Chaos. That’s what happened ever since you two met. Comte might have lots of gray hair now, because of you.

He tries to scare you out of the mansion, but you laugh. He hits on you, you yawns. He threatens to bite you, you bite him first and he yelps so loud, everybody came to see what happened. And when you challenge him to a game, he doesn’t lose but it’s really close.

He is observant and really smart, so he notices fast that he really enjoys your company and wants to hang out with you more, even though he doesn’t see you in a romantic way. You make him feel confident about himself again, like his own writing, and even consider being a doctor once more. He protects you from the idiots and teaches you all he knows about card games, and you actually win twice. That’s his sibling!

You become his partner in crime, but don’t think he lets you do everything you want. He’s actually really responsible when it comes to you. He locks himself in his room sometimes, but when you do it he drags you out and makes you eat something. If you’re sick, he takes care of you and sleeps on the floor beside your bed until you’re good again. Once Isaac tried to bite you when you cut your hand, and he just put his hand in front of Isaac’s mouth to protect you. When you go out to the pub with him and Theo, no one dares coming close to you, they know your brother can be scary when he wants.

You’re going out with someone? He won’t pry much, but he wants to know if you need some advice or if something happens. He knows very well how people can be with their desires, and he just wants you to be ok. Don’t get him wrong, he doesn’t want you to keep your chastity nor anything like that, he just wants to make sure it’s all consented and protected. Are you in love with them? Oh, that’s nice! He can’t wait to meet them!

Theo and Vincent

First of all, you can’t become a sibling to just one of them. Theo would be devastated and Vincent would certainly miss his brother. That’d end up with the three of you as a family anyway, so…

Vincent’s been nice to you since the first moment, so it’s not hard to befriend him. But Theo is a different story. He actually just starts to try being nice to you when he sees you defending and helping Vincent with his emotions. You also help him with his work and some problems from his previous life, and he ends up grateful. And the three of you are inseparable now.

Theo likes to hear you talk about the arts from the future, Vincent hears your ideas for painting and likes to use you as a model, and you make sure they’re healthy and eating while working. They have a strong protector feeling towards you, you’re their youngest sibling.

You're really proud of your new family. The first art exposition you help with is actually a success because you talked so much about your brothers that everybody got curious. You protect them with everything you have. Theo still calls you hondje, but you can’t blame him. You bark and bite anyone who tries to mess with them, and he says he can almost see a wagging tail when they come home, and you greet them.

You start painting, even if you don’t know how to do it. Vincent is patient enough to guide you and teach you the basics. Theo tries to be supportive, but what the hell is that paint supposed to be? If you look upset about his comments, he’ll apologize and give you a stack of pancakes to cheer you up.

May the lord have mercy from the person that falls for you. Vincent is an angel, but he doesn’t want you getting hurt, so he’ll find out if they’re trustworthy before being too nice. Theo is savage from the first moment he meets them. You’re upset with him and he can’t stand it, so he’ll try to be a little nice. Keyword: try.

Napoleon (I already see him as an older brother)

He tried to help you from the first second you passed the door, so you bonded quickly. He has the urge to protect you since you seem pretty reckless on your own. He likes taking care of others; he already has Isaac as a younger sibling, so he certainly doesn't mind having you too.

He helps you get used to this new century, giving you a tour through the city and assisting you with some chores. You help with his and Isaac's school; the kids love you so much that he can't help but find it endearing. You quickly come to rely on him, as it's really easy to trust him. You ask for his help whenever you need it, even if it's as simple as teaching you how to dance so you can go to a ball, and he gladly helps you.

He’s not overprotective; he offers his advice and trusts you’ll make good decisions on your own. However, he makes sure to draw the line for Arthur, he doesn’t want you getting hurt or bitten… Ok, he might want to overprotect you sometimes. He’ll teach you self defense, just in case.

He’ll try not to pry too much if you fall in love with someone, you’re a nunuche but you’re trustworthy. He knows you’ll come to him if you need something or if your heart gets broken — and may the Lord have mercy if it actually happens.

Masterlists

#🥀 anon #request #platonic #ikemen vampire #ikevamp #ikevamp isaac #ikevamp mozart #ikevamp arthur #ikevamp jean #ikevamp napoleon #ikevamp theo #ikevamp vincent #ikevamp hc #ikevamp request #ask me #ikevamp x reader #ikemen vampire x reader #ikevamp requests

109 notes · View notes

deathmetalunicorn1 · 11 months

Note

At this point you should be mad at me for keeping showing up in your tray haha But check this out; a reader who is like Neytiri from avatar (the blue ones), who is the daughter of an important man and believes in a goddess called Ewya (an ancient goddess for the benefit of the idea). Maybe she met her love when they bumped into each other and fell in love, she ran away with him and they had children.

Now, something happened that at one point they were trapped in the battle of some gods, or the gods came down just to destroy something, but the point is that among their victims was their eldest son, who died protecting one of his brothers. From that moment she had a hatred against that specific God and when they recruit her husband to fight, she enters his place (sort of like Mulan, plus she tricks the Valkyrie into thinking that she is the one who will fight).

When they realize they try to get her out she is already fighting and winning; and before killing the God she says

- "A son for a son"

Maybe it doesn't make sense if she didn't kill a son of his, but when the God dies she watches the God's father (Zeus or Odin) with eyes crazed with revenge.

She wins and is reunited with her husband, who only hugs her because they somehow avenged their first child.

So the candidates are; Buddha, Qín Shí Huáng, Lú Bú, Nikolas Tesla and Raiden.

I hope you've seen the movie, if it's not okay, I recommend it in case you want to see it, Much love!

I could never be mad at you my dear J

I’m gonna use Apollo as the god, because I’m still mad at him for upsetting my baby Ares >:(

-You still remembered that day as if it were only yesterday and not almost ten years ago, the day you laid your son to rest, to be with Ewya.

-The tears that fell never seemed to stop, he was gone, your eldest baby. Taken from you in a cruel fit of rage of a god, Apollo, throwing a tantrum and taking it out on innocents.

-Your husband and your other children did their best to console you while grieving themselves, and while your tears dried, your heart could never heal.

-For a parent to lose a child, especially in such a way, where there was nothing you could do to stop it.

-You could see him as the rocks of your home came tumbling down, hands stretched out to each other as you tried to make it to him, but failed to do so.

-You’ve never forgiven yourself and you’ve never forgiven Apollo.

-When Ragnarok was announced and your husband was selected as a fighter, you pleaded with him to let you take his place, you wanted revenge on Apollo, you needed peace for not only yourself and your family, but your son and the others who lost loved ones, and so none would ever lose someone in such a way again.

-He refused, knowing you were blinded by your, well deserved, rage; he felt bad, but told you, “I don’t want to lose you too if you lose yourself in your anger.”

-You understood his logic, but you refused to accept it, seeking out Brunnhilde, and telling her that you would be fighting Apollo instead of your husband.

-Your unwavering gaze and even tone was very convincing to the eldest of the Valkyries and she believed you.

-As you stared at Apollo, walking in, being cheered as if he was a saint, you closed your eyes and breathed deeply, praying to Ewya and your son to guide you.

-You fought with such ferocity that many, gods and humans, were stunned, you were definitely a skilled warrior, able to dodge most of his own blows.

-Your husband, whom you let nap before his fight, ran out, looking frantic trying to find you, as you had let him sleep and when he ran in Brunnhilde, demanding to know where you were.

-She was stunned and then frantic when she told him that you were fighting, as you had told her you were taking his place!

-They scrambled, trying to stop the fight, to no avail.

-You felt so much rage in your heart, but you felt so calm as you swung your weapon, blocking another of his blows.

-You felt a hand on your shoulder, giving you a small squeeze and the tears instantly welled in your eyes as you stabbed Apollo in the chest.

-His eyes were wide, seeing your own tears, like you were upset and you spoke, your voice soft, almost gentle, “A life for a life, my son is avenged.”

-He fell back, slowly disappearing, and you were announced as the winner, turning as the crowd roared with cheers.

-Your grief was still there, your tears still falling, but there was also a sense of relief, now that he wouldn’t be able to harm innocents any longer.

-Zeus was furious, shouting down at you, anger in his eyes, angry that you killed his son, you looked up at him and spoke, your eyes hardening into a glare, “He killed my son as well as several other innocents in a senseless attack. They weren’t even warriors- they were innocent children! Do you feel anger for them too, or only your son who was the attacker?”

-Zeus went silent at this, he didn’t know that his son had killed innocent children, Apollo had tantrums from time to time, not getting his way, and knew he would attack others, but never children.

-You heard running footsteps and you turned, a smile taking over as your husband ran to you, leaping into your arms and hugged you tightly, a sigh of relief leaving him.

-Your weapon fell as you hugged him back, more tears coming, “Our son is avenged.” He nodded, not saying anything for the moment, he was just so happy you were okay.

-Buddha- His arms squeezed around your waist before pulling back, “C’mon, the kids are waiting.” You nodded softly, taking his hand as he picked up your weapon, carrying it for you, and headed backstage where you were both quickly run down by your other three children, hugging you both tightly which made you smile. Your family was now safe.

-Qin Shi Huang- His hands cupped your cheeks, smiling up at you as a sigh of relief left him as you picked up your weapon and he took your hand, “C’mon, your children have probably eaten most of the food I prepared.” You snorted with laughter, “Excuse you- your children take after you being big eaters!” he laughed warmly, giving your hand a small squeeze, happy that you were still there.

-Lu Bu- He was a bit annoyed that you had stolen his fight, but you won, you avenged your son, and you were still alive. Once backstage he hugged you close once more, sagging into your embrace once you were away from prying eyes, “Don’t do anything reckless like that again.” You smiled softly, pressing a kiss to his cheek, but promised him. He gave you a small nod before you went to collect the rest of your children so you could head home.

-Nikola- You hugged him tightly, feeling his tears wetting your shoulder as he sighed deeply before pulling back, a smile on his lips, “You scared me. Please don’t do anything like that again. I can’t lose you too.” You pecked his cheek softly, eyes soft, “I won’t, sorry for worrying you, my love.” He gave you hand a small squeeze before taking you backstage, asking you about the techniques you used in your fight, as some you hadn’t shown him, because they were very advanced, and you didn’t want to risk your children trying anything before they were ready.

-Raiden- Had you instantly in his arms, carrying you backstage, after grabbing your weapon, “You took my fight from me, you’re in time out!” your laughter echoed in the hallway once back inside, listening to him scolding you like how you did your children when they did something bad. Your arms wound around his neck, hugging him and planting a kiss on his cheek which made him hum, “Don’t think that acting cute will get you out of trouble!” He couldn’t help but grin when you started to laugh again, giving you a small squeeze.

#record of ragnarok #ror x reader #ror buddha #ror qin shi huang #ror lu bu #ror nikola tesla #ror raiden

143 notes · View notes

utilitycaster · 11 months

Note

From all the TTRPG shows you've watched so far, do you have any favourite player character builds, or builds that you think were especially well suited to the campaign/setting that the character was in?

You'd have to narrow this down - there's a lot (I stopped keeping my massive spreadsheet of character races and classes in actual play updated bc it was getting ridiculous but it's at over 100) so I'm just going to call out a few players who consistently hit this mark in everything they do.

Surprising no one, Emily Axford. Truly one of the biggest reasons why I get annoyed at the "haha Emily will DESTROY this DM" is that Emily has an incredibly good eye towards party composition and collaboration with DMs while also pulling off some wild multiclasses. This serves her in NADDPod especially, since they're a small party and everyone needs to be versatile. I will say that while I love Callie's build and think it mechanically works very well and made sense for her background in Mothership, it feels like it needs more in-story explanation that we haven't quite gotten to, but I also trust that we will.

Surprising no one with taste, Travis Willingham. Even in cases where we know it was off-the-cuff (Grog) he did a lot of work establishing why Grog was the class he was and how he felt about it; and in cases where it was pre-planned, the amount of backstory and mechanics work he does before and during the story is admirable to the point of ridiculousness (updating Chet's backstory to accommodate what Matt said in a flashback sequence? bananas). His multiclass choices always fit both the base build and the story admirably, and always fit a niche within the party that is very much needed, and the choice to play someone like Cerrit in Calamity or Fjord in general would put him here on their strength alone.

Again surprising no one, Aabria Iyengar; DMs make the best players. Capable of some great optimization (Deanna, Laerryn, whatever the hell Antiope had going on) or just playing a character with a simple build but with a strong understanding of the setting (Myrtle the Bitch; Suvi). Really, Suvi alone puts her here in that Aabria maybe more than anyone (though she might be tied with Emily Axford) understands wizards and understands that your character is a part of the DM's worldbuilding and needs to reflect that, while also serving as your contribution to that world.

And finally, Lou Wilson. He often does fairly simple builds - Nydas and late-game Fabian are the only ones with significant multiclassing beyond barbarian/fighter level dips - but he always knows precisely what his character is here to do from the start and why, can adapt on a dime, and he has a fantastic eye for subclass choice.

Honorable mentions:

Zac Oyama tends not to go for incredibly complex mechanics, but he has a great understanding of building a character who fits into the world in a way that both reflects and expands upon it, and has a great sense of subtlety, restraint, negative space, and comedic timing. (I've been meaning to make a negative space/comedic timing post but honestly just watch Zac and Travis.)

Grouping Taliesin Jaffe and Siobhan Thompson together because they are both very strong mechanically and not afraid of a wild min-maxed triple multiclass on occasion, but more specifically because they've both made at least one character I really did not vibe with and also absolutely could not fault in any way other than "not my thing, personally." Related to that, both of them bring an "I'm a generous and skilled player and I don't really give a fuck what the audience thinks" vibe that I (the audience) respects the hell out of.

Jake Hurwitz is the rare player who 100% knows his wheelhouse and embraces it whole-heartedly, and he puts in the character and setting work to keep it interesting.

Justin McElroy is mechanically competent but nothing impressive, but he absolutely thinks about his characters and the setting and how they fit together in a deep and interesting way and which sets him apart in TAZ. Kind of with Jake in that he 100% writes what he knows; I think this kind of player is underrated and having played with some, they shouldn't be.

And on the rare chances Brennan Lee Mulligan gets to play, not only is he min-maxed to the hilt but he always is working with the DM in a truly admirable way, even as he builds a little guy who cannot roll below a 25 deception or who has somehow managed to get sneak attack twice per round or something wild like that.

#answered #Anonymous #long post #actual play

67 notes · View notes

turbo-overkill · 10 months

Note

Can you talk about Optimus?? Sorry if this is weird haha but I just really want somebody who loves him and his character to talk about him. Anything is fine really, appreciation, (fandom) salt, or whatever you feel like

ofc! this isn't weird, don't worry :)

I'm going to talk about a subject that's been on my mind a lot, especially with the release of ROTB

Optimus' anger and how he displays it, taking examples from Bayverse, TFP and ROTB

One of the biggest criticisms Bayverse tends to receive is the way Optimus acts. He's brutal, doesn't shy away from insults and threats while in battle and comes off as hungry for revenge, bloodthirsty, etc. He dismembers his enemies without a hint of hesitation, and the camerawork and CGI go out of their way to make sure we pay attention.

This goes pretty against what we're used to seeing from Optimus. He's been shown to go all out in fights before, but only when it was necessary to do so. He's always been known as in control of himself, showing restraint and knowing when to hold back.

A counterargument to this criticism is that the movies are trying to portray PTSD, trauma or simply Optimus' exhaustion and frustration with the war and everything related to it. And while this does make sense on the surface, it misses the fact that Optimus' brutality is there first and foremost to look cool.

Bayverse thrives on explosions, gore and violence, and Optimus is no exception. He decapitates nameless enemies in closeups + slow-motion, weapons digging through metal with as much detail as possible, because he's effectively a kill-cam farm. Every robot in the movies is there to provide cool and shocking fight moves first, and be an interesting character second, and Optimus is the pinnacle of that, because any talk of peace or regret at killing Megatron he might hold is immediately contradicted when the movie needs someone to disassemble a Decepticon in brutal detail.

Optimus' trauma and motivation is an afterthought and feels more like a last minute, poor attempt at shoving away criticism than anything else.

And while I can understand wanting to turn him into a deeper character and put his potential to good use, it's important to note that he's not written to be an interesting and engaging leader battling trauma and depression, he's written to be a fighter who knows how to kill someone in a cool way.

The movies are built on the glorification of violence, military propaganda and toxic masculinity, and Optimus is a perfect encapsulation of that- rather ironically, given everything he as a symbol stands for.

In comparison, Optimus in Transformers: Prime is entirely different. He's the complete opposite- reserved and keeping to himself most of the time. He keeps himself tightly controlled, which is both stated outright (multiple times) and obvious from just his behavior alone.

In comparison to Bayverse Prime, when TFP Optimus gets angry, it's a rare occasion and that makes it all the more surprising, and putd emphasis on the change.

When he goes to fight Megatron after Raf gets injured, there's a clear change to how he fights, acting more brutal and using dirty tricks, i.e. running his tires on Megatron's face. He's collected, he's not running around flailing his arms in blind fury, he knows exactly what he's doing despite his anger. He's determined.

During S2, when Starscream steals the Autobots' keys, Optimus yells out in anger, which takes Ratchet and Bulkhead by surprise, because there was build up leading up to it.

The show, for all its flaws, did pretty well on making this scene work, because it created a contrast between it and how Optimus acts 99% of the time.

To see a character as calm and wise as Optimus lash out like this, even if it's in a way that wouldn't seem strange coming from other characters, is jarring.

TFP had almost 2 full seasons to flash out Optimus, give us his most important, defining characteristics, hammer them in and then contradict them and make the contradiction stand out.

Another key difference is that when Optimus punches someone and the camera slows down, the music stops and that over-used, time-slowing-down sound effect comes in, the violence is much more toned down.

It goes from "look at how cool seeing someone's face get ripped off in 4k ultra is" to "this guy is cool because he can punch people really hard". It shifts the focus away from the violence and towards Optimus being a cool, strong warrior guy. Don't you just want to buy his toy?

To sum it up, the stark difference between Bayverse and TFP Optimi is that Bayverse revels in brutality and anger, and extends that to Optimus, whereas TFP sets Optimus up as a calm, controlled leader who never loses his cool and then uses his anger to both surprise us and emphasize certain plot points.

Both are there to be dramatic, but Bayverse uses anger and violence and over the top brutality so much that it quickly loses significance and becomes a boring, if a bit confusing mess. Transformers: Prime is more toned down, and therefore, Optimus' anger succeeds in what it sets out to do.

This brings me to the reason why I'm writing this in the first place: Rise of the Beasts.

Optimus is driven primarily by revenge. It's clear that Bumblebee's 'death' messes him up, as is stated by multiple characters, and that's where the problems arise: we have nothing to compare this to. It's tell, don't show.

We barely see anything of Optimus before Bumblebee gets killed. We got a glimpse in BB2018, but I'm pretty sure not everyone who saw ROTB also watched that. It's the MCU effect of relying on the viewer's prior knowledge of 60 other movies and half a century's worth of comic book runs to feel at all upset when Tommy Kicknuts aka Invincible Guy dies within the first 20 minutes.

Were it not directly stated that Optimus was acting out, we wouldn't really know. He might as well just be like that all the time, because we're going off of what the characters tell us, not what we actually can see.

There is no contrast. Optimus already acts frustrated before the supposed change in his character, and while that's not an issue by itself, it only makes the lack of build up all the worse. We caught a tiny glimpse that's not enough to make a conclusion about him as a person, and immediately, the movie is asking us to be surprised at how differently he acts.

However, unlike with Bayverse, this doesn't seem like the result of a writer who just didn't care.

ROTB as a whole suffers massively from having too many subjects to tackle, and it's very likely that Unicron and the Maximals were not a part of the original script at all.

The first third or so of the movie feels like a completely different story. It tackles racism, poverty and how people can be driven to crime when they're out of options. I feel like that was a look at the movie we could have gotten if Hasbro didn't want to shove half the characters in the franchise into the movie.

With Unicron and the others, the movie is filled to the brim and leaves no room to explore the characters in depth- including Optimus.

It feels like the writers did genuinely care for the characters, at least in the beginning. No matter how stuffed and confusing the movie can be, you can see that at least someone om the team cared about what they were doing.

As a result, we get an Optimus that still has a lot of potential, but whose first proper debut fell incredibly flat because of lack of time.

I also feel iffy about the fact that after everything, Bumblebee just came back. While it's not clear to what extent, Optimus was clearly heavily affected by Bumblebee's death and is very likely traumatized. It doesn't feel right to me how Bumblebee got revived and everything went back to how it was before, because it feels dismissive of Optimus' arc, however poorly it was done.

I don't want to take the blame completely away from the crew, though, because there were still a couple of things they could have done to create the contrast Optimus' character lacked.

First, change the way he fights. We get a fight scene prior to Bumblebee's death, and several fight scenes after that. One isn't a lot, but it's something at least.

By making Optimus fight with a more elegant, composed and calculated style, using his weapons a lot and clearly planning out his moves, only to then change that completely and make his body language more aggressive and sudden, maybe with more punching and directly tearing at his opponents, it would convey his anger pretty well without directly telling us. Body language is a powerful thing in cinema and it makes me sad to see how underutilized it is in Transformers as a franchise.

Another way would be to make the characters more surprised at his behavior during the rest of the movie. They take a second to respond, hesitate, look like they're about to argue but end up staying quiet.

Third, show us Optimus grieving while the group stays in the village. Maybe he just sits there and looks at Bumblebee, maybe the others leave and it shows him staying behind, maybe someone just mentions mid conversation that he's with Bumblebee and they shouldn't disturb him.

If combined, these wouldn't add more than a few minutes of runtime, meaning they could very well have been added without any worry for time constraints.

To conclude this and give my final opinion, Optimus' status as a wise, good guy who's not easily swayed by anger works to his advantage. Making his display anger, especially in destructive ways, is not inherently a negative thing, but is hard to pull off when you don't have enough time. Otherwise, he either acts out of character, or you lose the balance and the moments when his anger shines through do not stand out as much as they need to.

Give him time. Give him enough time to establish himself, give us a good idea of who he is, and then change that. In this case, the lesser the better, because the more aggression he displays, the more casual the narrative is about it, the less impact it has.

#asks #media analysis adjecent #im so fucking sorry about how long this is. lord have mercy #i also want to note that the issue with Bay Prime isn't the aggression in relation to trauma necessarily #trauma and PTSD can very much lead to worsened temper/poo emotional regulation/etc and we absolutely need more #representation that doesn't paint ppl like that as inherently evil monsters #the issue moreso is that any trauma he might have is either an afterthought or just a headcanon and is not the focus of the story #transformers #optimus prime

54 notes · View notes

beevean · 21 days

Text

Having Thought again about Hector (and this time I'm talking about the real Hector) being called a child, or implicitly called naive - and how this is an important trait of his character.

Under cut because it's image heavy. Because I cannot and will not shut up :P

The laundry hanging scene is mostly there for fluff after the harrowing Hector vs. Isaac fight, but you can infer a lot from it.

Hector? Oh, you're in the shade again. It's not healthy. Come on! I need your help with something. The clothesline has broken, and I need a man's help. Ahh, you're pulling too hard, Hector! The branch will break!

Rosaly asks for a "man's help", but discovers that Hector can't do so much as hang laundry. He pulls too hard: Hector is a former fighter, so his first instinct is to use a lot of his strength (and he may even be superhumanly strong due to his powers). He probably never had to calibrate it in his life.

Rosaly: You’ve never done laundry before, have you? Well, this should be fine, thank you. Hector: Let me help you… Rosaly: No! Stop! That’s my…!

Then he takes Rosaly's clothes without permission: he really wants to help after that first embarrassment, but he doesn't seem to think that maybe it's a bit rude to rummage through a woman's underwear :P

It's all played for laughs, but it's also sad. Hector didn't have the chance to live a normal life. No one taught him how to live in human society, and then he wasted half of his life under Dracula's service. It's all new to him.

Haha, you’re so funny, Hector. With such pretty silver hair and such a pretty face…

But Rosaly doesn't judge him, doesn't think he's weird: she's honestly endeared by his clumsiness. (get yourself a so that doesn't make you feel bad for being different in common things 🥺) As I said in an older post:

He's not naive in the "easily trusting" sense: he hasn't lived in the human world enough to learn about it, except for hatred and rejection, and even simple things like hanging laundry don't come easy to him. But he wants to learn and he wants to help, much like a child would. And well. Rosaly knows how to take care of children without a home :) Where Hector sees nothing but a curse and sin, Rosaly sees innocence. She's idealistic, perhaps to a fault, but perhaps believing in the inherent goodness of others can pay off.

Rosaly: You’re just like a child… Hector: Where are my armor and sword? Rosaly: No. You've been bedridden for a week and only woke up yesterday. Hector: But I can't stay here.

Yet, interesting that this is when Hector asks for his sword and armor. He explains that he's afraid of attracting monsters again like the werewolf, but I also read shame in his expression. Rosaly means well, but I can imagine Hector doesn't like being compared to a child (especially if he associated childhood with being weak and hated). Maybe part of him even resents that she is right, and his instinct is to wanting to go back, to hide, to fight.

(or maybe he's just hella embarrassed that he was called "pretty" out of nowhere lol rosaly has excellent tastes)

It's also worth mentioning that, while Rosaly is never explicitly called a "womanchild" or naive, she seems to be considered as such by the others. She is called "too nice", because she overworks herself for little, and most importantly because she is allowing a complete stranger inside her home without knowing anything about him, ignoring the danger.

(in fact, Ted here calls Rosaly お人好し, which means "good-natured person" but with connotations of being a fool. This is after she brushed off Ted's concerns about Hector because "he has pretty eyes and birds seem to like him" :P)

Even Hector is unnerved by her attitude.

Rosaly: You were worried about us. Thank you, you are such a kind person. Hector: You take everything as a good thing... No, I'm sorry. Why don't you ask me? Haven't you heard anything from that kid? What did I do, what did I escape from? How did I kill that werewolf? …Who am I and where did I come from?

Rosaly's lack of curiosity and tendency to always assume the best of Hector is terrifying for him. He's waiting for the other shoe to drop, so that she'll know him and then hate him like everyone else. Who does this? Who just allows anyone to help with chores, and then finds cute when they can't do it? Who just welcomes someone in their home without caring about where they came from? It's weird. Rosaly is weird. Just as weird as Hector, a grown man who can't stay with other people and hasn't learned basic matters.

Being in touch with the blessings of the earth, feeling the seasons in the cold water... Seeing everyone’s smiles, having a meal with someone, going to bed grateful that the day has ended safely... All of these are wonderful things that are hard to come by. I have received everything I want from everyone.

Of course, the difference is that Rosaly is not naive due to lack of experience. She chooses to be stubbornly optimistic. She will love everyone to death. You have no choice.

And her relentless optimism is what allows her to see past Hector's barriers and mistery. He's just a good person to her, nothing more and nothing less.

Your name is Hector, you have beautiful silver hair, you were injured, you never did laundry, and you helped me and Ted. That's enough for me.

Another thing is that, Rosaly doesn't need Hector for household chores. She seems to be living alone just fine, and in fact she is the one who always helps others. So this is not really for her benefit: it's for Hector's. It's to give him something to do instead of drowning in his own thoughts. It's to make him feel less alone. There is symbolism in how Hector is still standing in the shadow, not hiding but still not ready to face the human world, and Rosaly says it's not healthy and drags him out to enjoy the sunlight, which he eventually accepts.

Hector is a proud, competent, intelligent man and warrior, but he's also a stunted child who has cowered from the world for years. Rosaly, without knowing anything about him and his upbringing, but sensing that something is different about him, is happy to show him the world and let him grow. Not because Hector is needed, but because he is wanted and welcomed.

My adoptive parents died a long time ago, so now I'm the only one here. So yeah, I would really love it if you stayed here.

Rosaly is used to live alone... but what if two lonely people lived together and helped each other?

In case it wasn't clear, the parallels between the beloveds fill me with warmth and joy :)

PtR gives us a similar concept, but with different characterizations:

"The unspent ferry fare for the Nether Rivers... to make up for it…"

"Worn-out and shiny? Thank you for the thought, but they'll think I stole it... I wonder if you don't know the world..."

Interestingly, here Hector's naiveté is painted in a more traditional manner. Sure, there's the heartbreaking part of him paying Rosaly for her basic kindness, because he is that foreign to the idea that he can be cared for without giving anything in return; and there's the symbolic part where he refers to the belt as pretty much the Charon's obol he had failed to pay, because he had planned to die but Rosaly saved his life so she is the one who gets to be paid. But Rosaly can't accept the gift for sensible reasons: it's too ostentatious, and she can't go around with it without drawing unwanted attention. Remember that this is also a time of witch hunts, and people are growing angrier and more suspicious, secretly due to the Curse.

Hector wouldn't know it. He lived isolated in the castle for years, so isolated that he couldn't hear the scream inside the stone walls. So for him it's a very straightforward reasoning: this woman is showing kindness to me, so I'll pay her with the most precious thing I own. (and even then I have my own ideas about that belt and why he has it)

Btw, this naiveté is not completely gone by CoD. He's surprisingly earnest with Julia when he meets her, revealing his background to a stranger. Thankfully nothing bad comes from it, but she seems to be much more guarded than him. I like to see this as a sign that he mellowed out after Rosaly :) or maybe he's just a gentleman lol.

Anyway I love Hector so much and I find it a more complex, vulnerable and relatable character than most assume 💖

#castlevania #akumajou dracula #hector castlevania #rosaly castlevania #hectaly #curse of darkness manga #prelude to revenge #yeah turns out that “manchild” doesn't mean “trusts too much and is an idiot for that”#cough cough #i'm sorry for having to pull up the japanese pages #tumblr hates the english version of the mf manga

15 notes · View notes

chrollo-lucilfers-chains · 1 year

Text

Hisoka x gn!lawyer!reader

Little Lawyer

Warnings: none, that I'm aware of

You walk down the hallway to death, mentally preparing yourself for the worst. Well, it's not really the hallway to death... It's just the hallway to the restaurant of the heavens arena with it's little fake trees and weird colors but with who you're thinking of meeting, it might as well be death.

As you round the corner and go inside, your eyes immediately flicker to the mop of red hair peeking out behind a decorative bush. He's sitting with his back to the room as if to demonstrate just how assured he feels in his power. Even in an arena with some of the strongest hunters and fighters in the world Hisoka Morrow is still the apex predator.

He is also in a very bad mood, you assume.

Short and to the point, you remind yourself. Otherwise he probably won't even listen to you...

Walking up to his table you don't slide into the chair across him. If he does attack you there's no way you will even get as far as to the door but the idea of standing at least gives you some false sense of security and confidence.

You clear your throat to get his attention but he doesn't react to it, intensely focused on the set of playing cards in front of him.

"Mr. Morrow, I've heard of your little law dilemma", you are about to add your name and title but he stops in the movement of his hands and closes his eyes, letting out a small moan of annoyance that stops your talking immediately.

Annoyance is worse than just a bad mood... You don't want Hisoka Morrow to be annoyed with you!

"Listen," he starts in his usual, overly sweet but icy voice before you can even begin to hold your little speech.

"I am in a very bad mood right now, so either say something interesting and get to the point or leave, because I may look like the sexy equivalent of a clown, according to my fans, but I sure don't joke around like one. It's a very bad time right now for you to try and see how long lasting my patience is."

Fuck, you think. You were right. Better make this one count then. And you were nothing if not determined!

"I was in the law team for the hunter exams and worked under the head examiner. I listened to the interviews and I know what you want. You want to kill without being held accountable and to fight other strong people. I can offer you both."

Hisoka lifts his eyes to your figure almost catlike. He tilts his head and raises one singular, perfect eyebrow in a gesture for you to continue. Many people talk bad about him but none of them can deny how attractive he is. His hair is still disheveled from the fight he'd had minutes ago and the red strands seductively frame his handsome face. You admire his sharp features and the yellow eyes. When those exact eyes narrow you remember who he is.

God damnit, his jawline is so not the point right now!

"I can get you out of any possible trial before it even begins and I will get you out of your current problem as well."

His eyes tighten, as if calculatedly scanning your every asset. You shift from one leg to another. What if he says no?

"You know, usually people who come to me with a proposal want something in return. I assume you do too?"

"I do."

You close your eyes. You'd practiced what to say in the mirror the whole morning and still it was hard to get out right now. You take a deep breath and steady yourself.

"I want you to kill my boyfriend."

Hisoka holds your gaze for a split second, as he registers what you just said, then he breaks into histerical laughter. You look around confusedly. What is going on?

"Oh god..." he lets out between giggles. "I needed that..."

Other people are starting to look at the two of you with a questionable gaze and you try smiling along with Hisoka, acting as if you'd just told a funny joke and hadn't just proposed homicide to the maniacal clown breaking out in hysterics in front of you.

"Ahaha haha, yeah... Uhm, are you okay?" You ask, mildly concerned about not only him but also the other people in the restaurant now.

He let's out another histerical giggle but finally seems to recover from his tirade. Then he apruptly stands up, takes your wrist and starts heading to the exit, pulling you along with him.

His face is set in an unreadable expression. Oh god, what had you done? Is he going to kill you now??

"Uhh, you- you can just say no, if you're not interested!" You scramble, trying to make him let go but he just keeps trotting forwards, unbothered by your pulling on his hand. And holy cow, he's strong. He could probably be a rock climber with that grip strength...

He doesn't stop outside, instead he starts heading the direction of his room and if you weren't panicking before you definitely are now.

When his door is in sight, you start twisting your hand in order of making him let go.

"Mr. Morrow I don't feel comfortable going into your room! Unhand me right this instant!!" You tell him, trying to sound calm even though you are freaking out inside but ultimately failing to conceal the panic in your voice.

He rolls his eyes without you seeing it and opens the door to his suite. He shoves you inside and shuts the door, effectively pinning you against it.

"Hisoka, my name is Hisoka."

"What?" You let out confusedly.

"If we're going to work together you aren't calking me Mr. Morrow", he says and you blink.

"Oh god, I thought you were going to kill me! Yes, okay. I can call you that"

He nods.

"You also have to help me first, little fruit." Ah, there it is. You were expecting a certain amount of mindgames and flirting from the sociopathic clown but this is definitely a lot more intense than you thought.

"That... I can do..." You give him this one because it may just save your life.

"But you have to help me after that!" Begging won't work on him, you know that much about the magician but you still have to try.

"Why of course, little lawyer~" Hisokas smile is nothing short of frightening, as if it was supposed to be innocent but he didn't feel like it halfway through.

"We're going to get to know each other real well."

Hisokas hand pats your head twice.

What have you gotten yourself into?

#hunter x hunter #hunter x hunter x reader #hisoka #hisoka morrow x reader #hisoka morrow #hisoka x reader #gn reader #gender neutral reader #gn!reader #mine #my writing #lawyer!reader

83 notes · View notes

corishadowfang · 1 month

Note

Any or all!

Skuld and Mimir: 🫂 💢 🛡️

Skuld and Brain: 🎁 🏠 ❤️‍🩹

Skuld and Ven: 🛏️ 🎤 ⛓️

(For this)

Haha, two of these are pretty fitting, since I hopped on Tumblr to take a break from working on the next chapter of Fallen Stars. (Putting these under a read more because they get...kind of long.)

Skuld and Mimir

🫂 PDA — what are their opinions on public displays of affection? are they comfortable with touch, or is that a big ‘no’ in their friendship?

A lot of their public displays of affection are pretty subdued! Skuld enjoys hugs, but Mimir won't really seek them out unless they're pretty overwhelmed; Mimir's also not someone who'd really do a lot of the roughhousing Skuld might do with some of her other friends, except on rare occasions, haha. (Sometimes, they are willing to push her into the fountain or something, if only because they think it'd be funny and catch her off guard.) So for the most part, it's just like...gentle shoulder leaning or hand-holding, or just quietly hanging out next to each other.

💢Combat — for fighters, how do they work off each other to defeat a greater foe? would they have a “team attack” or tactics for attacking an enemy, or in a more realistic scenario, who would be most likely to pick a fight for the other’s honor? for pacifists, is there anything that can push them to resorting to violence?

Before The Reveal, they worked (or would've worked, since they didn't get much opportunity to fight together) really well together, balancing each other out almost instinctively. They'd probably both get a strong sense of deja vu, and slip into familiar patterns without thinking.

Directly after The Reveal, they'd ironically have trouble working with each other right away; both of them are still struggling to deal with the fact that Mimir is also the Player, and that means that they second guess themselves or feel weird about falling into familiar patterns.

After they start to figure things out, though, they kind of...find a way to work together that's unique to them. They still cover each other's weaknesses a lot, with Skuld being a much more aggressive physical fighter, and Mimir taking a kind of hit-and-run/healer strategy. It's different to what they used to do, and they spend a lot of time training to try and figure out what feels right for them. (They also definitely try and come up with team attacks, haha; it becomes a bit of a fun pastime for them.)

Of the two, Skuld's more likely to verbally challenge someone for Mimir's sake--but Mimir's more likely to just go ahead and smack them with a Keyblade, haha. (They do still have some of the Player in them, after all.)

🛡️ Guardian — does someone specific take the role of “guardian”, or do they protect each other equally? if one character is more protective of the other(s), is their protective nature appreciated or suffocating?

They tend to protect each other equally! Both are pretty capable Keyblade wielders, and neither wants to step on the other's toes. That said, they'll definitely step in to protect each other if there's something the other seems to be struggling with!

Skuld and Brain

🎁Gifts — what would they get each other as a gift?

Skuld might go the easy route and get him books, haha--not that he minds, because she has a pretty good idea of what he likes, and he'll always take new books.

Brain tends to make things rather than buy things, and a lot of them tend to combined practicality and sentimentality. He likes creating things that mean something to the person, if they're close to him, so he'd probably create something like "a star charm with a protection spell," or, "new pouch that's essentially a bag of holding but has decorations to remind you of home," or something similar. (Skuld occasionally feels bad that her gifts aren't quite as personalized, but Brain generally dissuades her of that pretty quickly, haha.)

🏠 Housemates — how would these characters be as housemates? if they’re already roommates, what does their life look like together? if not, would they want to live together, or would that be pushing things too far?

Haha, they tend to bicker a lot, but they do enjoy/would enjoy living together, depending on what sort of timeline we're talking about. Provided they're given enough time and space away from The Plot, they'd probably settle into an easier sort of rhythm...albeit one where they'd still mess with each other a lot, haha.

❤️‍🩹Healing — when one of them is hurt or suffering, what little things does the other do to help them heal (physically, emotionally, etc)?

Both of them tend to immediately check in and see what's wrong if the other seems off. They don't always actually talk about it, but it's the thought that counts.

Brain tends to be someone who makes things for his friends to try and like...either fix the problem or at least take their mind off things. Gifts are definitely his major love language, haha.

Skuld usually tries to find ways to make whatever Brain's dealing with a little easier. Usually, that means asking him if she can help with projects, which he's often grateful for.

Skuld and Ven

🎤 Karaoke — what’s their go-to karaoke songs, for when they’re taking turns singing and what duet do they choose when they’re singing together?

Haha, with Ven, I have to go with a Jesse McCartney song, and the one that feels most fitting is the cover of "I'll Try." Skuld...I'm not entirely sure. I think if she was going to sing Karaoke, it'd be something more energetic? But I don't know if I have a good song in mind. (I, uh...also don't know for sure what they'd do as a duet, though they give me strong Disney song vibes, haha.)

🛏️ Sleep — what sleeping habits do they have? how would they comfort the other(s) after a nightmare? would they share a bed or cuddle together, or does that cross a boundary?

The "nightmare" thing actually segues pretty well into the "share a bed or cuddle" thing, because...that's basically what happens! If Ven has a nightmare, he'll usually seek out one or more of the other Union Leaders, who'll either drag the rest of the Union Leaders into one big cuddle pile, or offer to share a bed with him for the night. Skuld tends to tell him stories until he falls asleep.

Skuld's a lot more reluctant to go to Ven in turn, though, just because she worries about putting too much of a burden on him. Ven gets pretty good at picking up when she's upset, though, and tries to do the same thing for her that she'd do for him.

When they get older, things change a bit. I imagine after they meet again in canon (uh. hopefully), they're both...dealing with A Lot. Skuld has a bit more trouble opening up to people, even if she wants to talk to Ven; Ven doesn't have the same problem, but he is aware that he doesn't know this version of Skuld. Skuld has a lot of nightmares, and I like the headcanon that Ven doesn't really like to sleep after everything that happened to him, and I think that leads to a lot of them just...spending quiet moments up together. It's comforting for both of them, since neither expects anything of the other, and they can just...be with someone who cares. (If they get tired enough, they probably end up falling asleep against each other, and I like to imagine that eventually, they get comfortable enough around each other again that that becomes more common as things go on.)

⛓️ Chains — how do they respond to learning about each other’s trauma, or what holds them back?

In the UX days, if Skuld had known about what had happened with Strelitzia beforehand, she would've been...distressed. If she didn't know that Darkness was involved, she'd probably be disbelieving, because she just...doesn't believe Ven would do something like that. If she did know about Darkness, she'd absolutely be ready to hunt it down and give it a peace of her mind. Regardless of which, though, she'd want to comfort Ven, even if she might not know how to proceed.

If Ven had learned about some of the traumatic stuff Skuld had gone through (i.e. the Keyblade War), he'd...probably feel a little overwhelmed, but his first instinct is to comfort his friend, so...that's what he's going to do! He might not know what to say, but he can still hug them or try to be a listening ear.

In the present, Skuld would be furious to know what Xehanort did to Ven, and it'd hurt a lot to know just how much he'd been through. (While she'd definitely be tempted to go after Xehanort if he was still alive, she also might find herself struggling with it, since, uh...she has her own trauma regarding him.) Because of everything she's been through, she finds it harder to figure out how to comfort him, but she still desperately wants to.

Ven would also be a lot less hesitant in the present. Given his own experiences, he has a much better understanding of the type of traumatic shit people go through, and how it can change a person. He gets it, and he can guess a lot of what Skuld's feeling about the situation...pretty accurately. That's not to say he's not mad at Xehanort too, though, and both of them probably vent about him as a bonding activity. I like to imagine at this point that Skuld's a lot less likely to see Ven as "kid brother that should be protected" and more as an equal, which makes it easier for both her and Ven to be honest with each other about what they've been through and how they feel, which...they can't always do with the others, to varying degrees. (Though it's definitely getting better for both of them!) It means they end up being pretty good support systems for each other, once they get past the initial awkwardness of, "I knew you once and now I have to relearn who you are" thing.

#kingdom hearts #fallen stars #thanks for the ask!!#i actually have a lot of thoughts about skuld and brain as housemates #but i couldn't figure out how to write them out without just...writing a whole fic haha #(also a lot of them are specific to fallen stars aha)#i also have A LOT of thoughts about how current ven and subject x skuld might interact haha #so thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about them!

9 notes · View notes

icypantherwrites · 4 months

Note

Was hoping to be able to ask this on anon because I’m shy haha, but my favorite character was Pidge and I absolutely love your writing and was wondering if there was a compilation of any of your Pidge-centric works anywhere? I was super into Voltron years ago and now there are. A lot of fics to sort through 😅 no pressure or anything, just curious to know if there is something like that!!!

Sorry about the anon asks, but I had to turn them off as too many people used them to send me really awful messages (as you can see below they still do it on AO3 >>) and I just couldn't deal with that any more.

To your query though, I actually used to try to keep an updated archive of all my works sorted by character on Tumblr and embarrassingly I cannot find it (but it hasn't been updated since at least 2021 so it's super outdated), so I've done my best to remember all of my Pidge-centric works (most she's the whumpee, but some she's just heavily involved in the story/Pidge emotional angst or character-centric or Pidge&another character relationship moment) but I hope this might help. There's a few unmentioned type "snippet fics" from my Patreon that exist but are not listed as no summary for them. If you check any of them out and have a moment would love to hear from you in the comments on the fic what you thought ♥

In no particular order:

Human Nature -- this is a series of the following three works:

What it Means to be Human: Pidge had always taken pride in the fact she’d been told her mind was like a machine. She just… Never expected to find out that it actually was. Or; Alternate Universe Fic where Pidge discovers she’s an android and begins a journey to find what being human really means.

Interlude: What Makes Us Different (But Also Human): Where Pidge and Keith discuss what about their heritages of android and Galran are the same, different, and discover how truly human they actually are.

Made With Love Pidge has come to terms with the fact she is an android, but she still has questions. And the only people that can answer them are the ones who have known her for her entire life. It’s time to find both Matt and her dad and learn the truth about what happened to her.

"I Am a Fighter"

Summary: The Galra capture Pidge and present her with a choice. Either she makes the weapon they want… or someone dies. Pidge prides herself on her genius, on her logic. But this? This is not a choice. This is torture. She’s being forced to decide if the universe’s fate outweighs the lives of a few individuals and no one, no one, should be allowed to make that call. She has to though. Again and again.

But when a familiar face is dragged before her she can feel her resolve crumbling. Because Keith is not a nameless prisoner. He is her friend, her family. And yet his blood is already dripping from her hands.

A Broken Arm For a Broken Soul

Summary: Shiro is breaking. Pidge can see it: the exhaustion, the pain, and the growing, splintering cracks. And while Pidge doesn’t know how to fix broken people she does know how to fix broken things. And Shiro’s prosthetic arm the Galra forced upon him is a broken thing. She doesn’t know how much it will help, but… but maybe, if she can fix that then Shiro won’t be quite so broken anymore.

A Needed Distraction

Summary: Mini fic of Lance giving gifts to each team member, Pidge's chapter :)

Koala Hugs (Patreon Exclusive)

Summary: They’d been told that the guest houses were supposed to keep them safe from the deadly low temperatures of the planet. And while for Pidge that is indeed the case, she learns it’s not so for Lance as she’s awoken by a projection of pure terror from the Blue Lion, who can sense her Paladin dying. And now as Pidge hurries to Lance’s guest house and finds him so so cold and still, she can only hope she’s not too late.

Battle Scar

Summary: Scars can cut deep and not just physically into the skin. Pidge finds herself forced to confront a memory when Lance catches sight of a scar she had previously kept hidden. But maybe… maybe this is for the best.

Always

Summary: Pidge and Lance are on an undercover mission to retrieve supplies they desperately need for their journey back to Earth. Despite the odds everything seems to be going in their favor; Lance is charming the local gang and Pidge is hidden away as backup and they are this close to calling it a success.

And then everything goes wrong.

Not only are the gang members now hunting them, Lance has been poisoned and its affecting his memory. Pidge somehow has to keep them both alive until rescue comes, a feat made more difficult by the minute as Lance forgets first short term details, then the mission, and now... now he’s forgotten her. But no matter what happens Pidge knows she’ll protect Lance and he will protect her. Always.

Pidge + Stitches (Patreon Exclusive)

Summary: “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

The question came out shriller than Pidge wanted but she wasn’t able to ask it any other way as Keith lit a fucking huge metal needle on fucking fire that he planned to put through her skin next to her.

Stardust: In You and In Me (Patreon Exclusive)

Summary: Pidge is so tired. She can’t sleep though, not until she finds something. Her family is out there, but no matter how hard she tries, no matter how hard she searches, she can’t find them. The universe is just too big. Coran gently disagrees.

Crash and Burn

Summary: Lance and Pidge crash the supply pod following a freak asteroid storm. And Lance... Lance is hurt. Badly. He's bleeding out and there's no time to wait for rescue. Pidge has to save him. And the emergency flare... Well, it's the only thing she's got.

Red Where it Belongs (Patreon Exclusive)

Summary: How much blood, Pidge faintly wondered, had she lost now? What percentage? The human body couldn’t lose more than forty percent of its blood before death occurred and hypovolemic shock symptoms started around fifteen percent. She stared at her blood covered hands, at the puddle growing around her, feeling the way everything was going numb and made her guess. At least twenty percent. Twenty percent more to go.

Ready to Be a Dragon - (Patreon Exclusive)

Summary: Lance is a Shifter. He’s familiar with many forms, has his favorites, but there’s one that stands above the rest: a dragon. And with Pidge’s magic that dream has now come true. But what should have been a perfect day of soaring through the skies with Pidge to celebrate his new form comes to a screeching halt when a band of soldiers spots them and wants the glory of slaying a dragon. And even though Lance isn’t technically a dragon… they aren’t going to take no for an answer.

Birthday Wishes

Summary: Pidge blinked. She blinked again. The date remained the same. Today… today Matt would be twenty-five. Her eyes widened with horror. Was, she frantically corrected herself. Matt was twenty-five today. Because he was alive. He had to be.

A Day at the Beach

Summary: A day at the beach takes a terrifying turn when Pidge falls victim to a deadly allergic reaction. Now the only question that remains is what will kill her first: anaphylaxis or the ocean?

Break It

Summary: Don’t be scared, Pidge told herself. That was the most important thing. The constant clanking and tugging and crying all around her was very detrimental to that plan. So too were the shackles digging into her ankles and wrists, linking her to every other person on the chain of slaves, that sent her constantly stumbling as they abruptly stopped and started.

Chase Away the Nightmares

Summary: Pidge is hurt. She’s hurt bad. And yet there’s nothing much Lance and Hunk can do. They’re stranded in the middle of a warzone on a hostile planet and help isn’t coming for a long while. No matter what though they will protect Pidge. They’ll keep her from further harm; from the aliens, from injury and even from her own nightmares as her head wound blurs reality and fiction. And maybe, hopefully, soon the nightmare will be over for them all.

Plummet

Summary: They’re dangling off of a cliff where falling means certain death. And while Shiro’s grip is strong on Pidge’s hand the cliff face is weak. And now time has finally run out.

Scavenger Hunt

Summary: The team has returned to the Space Mall but shopping isn’t what’s on Lance and Pidge’s minds. They’ve got something better planned: a scavenger hunt. It’s a battle of the stealthiest and Lance is the cool ninja sharpshooter so he’s got this in the bag. Right…?

As the World Falls Down Around Us

Summary: Ever since Pidge revealed she was a girl her team seems to have become a bunch of overprotective, overbearing idiot males and it’s pissing her off. She’s still the same person and more than capable of taking care of herself. But in her determination to prove herself independent she winds up injured. Badly. She can handle it on her own though. She doesn’t need their help.

But hiding her injury has dire consequences and now it’s not just her freedom at stake but her life.

And Lance’s.

The world is falling down literally and figuratively around them and Pidge realizes she can’t save him alone. She needs help. Lance’s help. And as dire as the situation is there’s almost something optimistic about being trapped at the bottom: the only place to go is up.

Now if they can only reach it before time runs out.

Finding the Light (series of following two fics, TW for rape)

Sit Beside You: "I'm fine," Pidge repeated, as though trying to convince both herself and Lance. "I am. Nothing's wrong. I'm okay. I…" Her hands were trembling and she tucked them beneath her arms in the most pathetic looking hug Lance had ever seen. "I'm fine. It's over. I'm fine. Not a mark. So nothing happened. I'm fine." / Pidge is not fine. None of them are. But hopefully, eventually, they will be.

Right, Wrong and the Normal In Between: Pidge didn’t want to think about it. She knew better now than to deny that it had happened or that she was fine but all she wants is for things to be normal again. But normal is a concept that keeps getting further away. Pidge realizes just how far out of reach it is when she freezes in battle and memories distort reality. Everything is wrong. Nothing is right. But Allura doesn’t think it’s so black and white. There are a lot of steps in between and she’s going to help Pidge walk that path and find her way once more.

Rivers Stain the Ocean - (Patreon Exclusive)

Summary: When Lance messes with Pidge’s color coding system the only thing to do is retaliate in kind. So she dyes him completely blue. It’s harmless though, will wear off in a few days, and the experience will teach Lance to never touch her stuff again. A win-win if Pidge does say so herself. Except for the part where the planet they visit the following day to form an alliance has this whole thing about a prophecy and being cursed and deceived by a being of blue. And in order to save both their planet and Voltron... They’re going to kill Lance.

What Makes a Team

Summary: Lance has been feeling a little lonely of late. Allura’s off with Lotor, Shiro’s been keeping busy on his own and Hunk and Pidge are wrapped up in this whole “Team Punk” concept that has them holed up for hours in the lab. So when he’s invited to accompany the two geniuses on a resource gathering mission he couldn’t be happier and plans to make the best of it.

And then everything goes wrong.

They’re trapped, injured, and if blood loss doesn’t get Lance first then suffocation definitely will. They need a plan but Hunk is down for the count and Lance knows he’s no good for coming up with something of that caliber. But his team needs him and he’s got to think of something. Otherwise… this cave is about to become a tomb.

Inches From Death

Summary: Being captured by the Galra is a lot less frightening than Pidge thought it would be. It’s boring, really. Well, until Lance slowly starts suffocating to death inches from her and she can do nothing to save him. Now… Now it’s terrifying.

A Squeak in the Code

Summary: Despite the late hour Pidge has no plans to sleep until she finishes running her current algorithm. Four determined little space mice have a very different plan in mind.

Crimson Shock

Summary: What should have been a routine mission takes a terrifying turn when Pidge is injured. She’s trying not to be scared because it’ll make Hunk more so and she needs him not to be but it hurts so much and the world is growing dark and she is so so scared.

Give Me a Sign

Summary: Matt isn’t sure why he was targeted for a ransom request. He wasn’t a nobody in the Rebels but he wasn’t a somebody either. What did these aliens think the Coalition would offer for him? But as the transmission turned on Matt got his answer. Because those weren’t Rebels on the screen. It was Katie.

Heavy is the Toll of War (series of following two fics)

The Cost of Winning: "The Blue and Green Paladins serve no purpose to the Empire," the Galran commander smirked at his bound captives. "And as such you have no use except as arena fodder." He chuckled. "Give us a good show before you die." / Lance is determined to protect Pidge and save her from the arena. She will not die here. Over his dead body. Hopefully it's not quite that literal of a promise.

The Price of Peace: They may have escaped the arena but things back home are far from all right. Keith is struggling. Shiro is hiding. Lance is suffering violent flashbacks and she's having nightmares too. It's wrong. It's all wrong. Pidge hates it. She wants her space family back. Not this broken version of them. It looks like she's just going to have to fix it. And Lance is going to help.

Over the Edge (my very first VLD fanfic ever :))

Summary: It was supposed to be a simple nature hike. What it turned into was anything but. And now Pidge and Lance are just hoping they can make it back alive.

"Pidge!" came a scream. And before she could even process that she was falling, that she was going to die, a dark hand shot over the edge and wrapped bruisingly about her wrist, but she had never been so grateful to be in pain. Lance's panicked face met hers, although there was a steely glint of determination that so, so many overlooked. "I've got you," he panted, throwing his other arm forward and grabbing even more of her arm. "It's going to be okay."

A Sister In (My) Arms

Summary: Pidge is fevered, fatigued, and yet somehow here she is climbing almost a thousand stairs for the good of the Coalition. But she isn’t doing this stupid ceremony for the stupid Coalition. She’s doing it for Allura. And Allura will be there to catch her when she finally falls.

Trick or Treat

Summary: Pidge (gently drags) Keith with her to go trick or treating at the Garrison sponsored Halloween event. But what is supposed to be all in good fun takes a dark turn when they realize that someone is following them…

Burnt French Toast

Summary: Every Mother’s Day per tradition Pidge and Matt make their mom practically inedible French toast and are then saved by the local bakery. But there’s no bakery this time. Just burnt French toast. And after three years of missed Mother’s Days, of leaving without answers and causing their mom even more pain, Pidge is horrified that this was all they could do.

Stabbing Pain

Summary: Where Shiro jumps in front of a spear to save Pidge, gets impaled, and insists he is all right as he’s very painfully bleeding out.

Follow You Home

Summary: Voltron is heading home. Except, for Keith, the destination of Earth isn’t his home, not really. There’s no one waiting for him there. And, he tries to tell himself, that it’s not like the space family he'd made up here with Voltron would abandon him as they go seek out their own loved ones on Earth. But he’s so used to being left behind, forgotten, why should this time be any different? Fortunately, Pidge is right there to remind Keith just how much he belongs with all of them.

#icyanswers #voltron #vld #pidge #katie holt #fic rec #fanfic #fanfiction #fanfiction recommendation #icypanther #icypantherwrites #pidge centric #pidge angst #pidge hurt #pidge whump #hurt pidge

17 notes · View notes

aquietwritingcorner · 2 months

Text

Presumed Dead

Title: Presumed Dead Day: Febuwhump 2024, Day 23 Prompt: Presumed Dead Fandom: TMNT 2003 Word Count: 1995 Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl Rating: T Characters: April O’Neil, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello Warning: SAINW Summary: Going through Shredder’s stronghold was a disturbing process to begin with. But one unexpected discovery answers decades old questions and brings a little hope. Notes: Haha, playing with some of those Peter Laird original SAINW ideas again ^^; ff.net || AO3

_________________________

Presumed Dead

April should have learned long ago not to presume anyone was dead. Unless she saw the body and had it confirmed—like with Splinter, with Casey—then she really needed to stop making presumptions that people were dead.

She had almost lost her family that way. After the final attack on Shredder—one in which she watched the Shredder get atomized—she had presumed that the remaining brothers were all dead. It was only by sheer luck that she had somehow found Stockman still alive, although not Hun, and he had informed her that the brothers still had a chance. She had already called in backup to come and go through Shredder’s stronghold, so when they got there, they had immediately done what they could to save the brothers.

In the end, they had found some pods that looked as if they were for either for healing or stasis and, put the brothers in them. They didn’t know if it would work, but they did know that if they did nothing, the brothers would die, so it was worth the risk.

And then the work of freeing the Utrom slaves and fighting back against the human opposition had begun.

That had been months ago, nearly a year at this point. The freed Utroms had turned on their captors, and the rebels and the people had joined in. Anyone who had joined or worked for Shredder of their own volition was thrown into jail, if someone didn’t kill them first. Some were just as enslaved as the Utroms, and for those, more compassion was had. The freed Utroms had sent some people back to their own home world, to free it, now that it was possible, trying to make sense of and recover from the decades-long rule of the Shredder. They had, as soon as they were able, sent back help, including doctors that were able to save the turtles, although they still had to spend time healing.

All of that had taken nearly a year. It was only now that they had the time to really go through the stronghold. It was a strange, disturbing task. Shredder had kept all sorts of things as trophies, from the most famous artwork and rarest items of a planet to the bodies of his enemies, taxidermized like some sort of animals. He had storehouses of food, and clean, unspoiled water. The technology that was within the stronghold was amazing, and a lot of it was already being used in the wider world, to try to clean it up.

April had faded from her leadership position as old leaders who had experience had risen up to try to restore order to the world. April didn’t mind. She had never wanted to be something like that anyway. All she had wanted was a free world again. She had that now, and so she spent her time focused on the task of dismantling the Shredder’s stronghold. She had a whole crew working on it, and, sometimes, the guys joined her too. It wasn’t always easy, but they were settling into their new normal.

And then it all got turned upside down.

It started when Angel had stumbled up to her, face pale, and grasped April’s arm.

“April, you’ve got to come with me!” she said. She looked around, noting the other turtles there, too. “All of you!”

“Angel? What is it?” April asked, grasping Angel’s arm in return. Angel was a seasoned fighter, battle hardened. Nothing much shook her. But whatever this was, it had shaken her deeply.

Angel just shook her head and pulled April along beside her. April followed, and the boys dropped what they were going and followed. Angel took them down corridors, back into what they were learning were Shredder’s personal rooms. They had found the most twisted things here, and April’s heart sank into her feet as Angel pulled her along, moving quickly and urgently. Whatever Angel found, it couldn’t have been good.

She led them down a few hallways and through a few doors, snapping at some people to clear a path before she brought April and the guys to a stop in front of a glowing cryotube.

And that was when April decided that she should absolutely never presume someone was dead.

She heard the sharp intake of breath behind her and turned to see the brothers staring at the container, their eyes wide.

“No way,” Mike breathed out.

“Is—is that—” Leo said.

“Donnie…” Raph said, stepping forward and putting his hand on the container.

“We found him,” Angel explained. “We almost missed this room, because it was hidden, but when we found him, I knew I had to go find all of you. The Utroms say that he’s in a cryogenic sleep. It looks like he was frozen alive, but—and here’s the kicker—he’s still alive. They think they can revive him, although they want to do it on one of their medical frigates and not here.”

“Yes,” Mike blurted out. “Yes! Absolutely!”

“You mean, he’s alive,” Leo said. “He’s alive and he’s been alive this whole time and we just didn’t know?”

“Bring him back,” Raph said. “He deserves to be alive again.”

And so, the decision was made.

An Utrom medical frigate had been in orbit above Earth for the better part of a year now. Donatello’s cryotube was transported to it. Tests were run and simulations thought through. The brothers never left his side, and April seldom did either. She couldn’t help but reflect on just how scared Donnie looked in there—or how young. After all, this was a Donatello from thirty years ago. And not, presumably, the one that had visited them.

Very quickly, the tests were finished, and the process was ready to begin. The Utroms were very careful, not sure what the long-term effects of being in cryogenic stasis this long would be. He was brought out of it, and then put in a bed to wake up slowly, his brothers all gathered around him.

“He looks so young,” Mike said, staring at Donnie.

“That’s cause he is,” Raph said.

“He got taken when we were seventeen,” Leo said. “From what I can tell, he doesn’t look any older than that.”

“He doesn’t,” Raph said.

Mike stared at him. “So. All this time when we thought he had abandoned us… when we blamed him... He was really Shredder’s prisoner all along.”

“When you blamed him, Mike,” Raph said. “I never thought he abandoned us.”

Mike tensed. “I don’t think so, Raphael. I remember you throwing a fit and yelling about how he left and how stupid it was!”

Raph tensed in return. “That was different!” he said, sweeping his arm around as if to prove his point. “I was talking about whatever it was that got him in trouble, not him just up and leaving us of his own free will!”

“Same difference, isn’t it?” Mike yelled back, squaring off against Raph. “Either way, he left us!”

“Guys cut it out!” Leo’s voice cut through the argument, and both brothers turned their ire on him.

“Nuh-uh, Leo, you don’t give me orders—”

“Like you have room to talk—”

“No!” he said and pointed towards Donnie. “No, I mean, cut it out, and look!”

That shut both brothers up, and the two of them looked towards the bed. Don was starting to let out little noises, like he was trying to wake up. April watched as his brow furrowed and his beak scrunched up, his head turning from side to side slightly. Everyone in the room seemed to be holding their breath.

After a few seconds, Don opened his eyes. He blinked them a little bit, as if trying to focus, before a look of confusion settled on his face. He looked down at himself, and then, finally over to the side.

“Guys?” he said, sounding confused. “Where am I?”

For half a beat, no one said anything. And then Leo stepped forward, falling back into his leader role as if it was only natural now that all four of them were together again.

“Take it easy, Donnie,” he said. “A lot has happened.”

Don’s eyes widened as he took in Leo, and he tried to sit up, only to overbalance and nearly fall off the bed. In a flash, Raph and Mikey were both there, sitting him up again. Don pulled in a sharp breath as he looked at his brothers.

“What—what’s happened?” he said, and April could hear the confusion and the fear clearly in the young voice. “You all look so old and—And Leo, your face. Raph, your eye. Mikey… your arm.” He shook his head. “I don’t—April?”

His eyes landed on her, and she smiled at him. “That’s me, Donnie.”

Don swayed in their grip again, and the brothers steadied him. “I don’t… I don’t understand. What’s happening? And why do I feel so lightheaded.”

“Probably because you’ve been in cryogenic stasis for over thirty years,” Mike said. “You should lie down.”

“Over thirty years?” Don said, staring at them all. “I don’t—how?”

“What’s the last thing you remember, Don?” Leo asked him.

Don looked thoughtful. “Well…”

Slowly Don started tracing his memories, going over how he had seen a sensor out when he was up late, and had gone to fix it, only to be ambushed and taken prisoner by the Foot. He’d been captured and thrown before the Shredder, but after that the memories were a little fuzzy and incomplete. He was fairly certain that he was interrogated, and he was sure it went on for multiple days. And then he was treated well, and his injuries tended to. The last thing he remembered was being put in to that cryotube, and knowing he had no way out.

The brothers and April explained what had happened to the world since then, how Shredder had taken it over, how the family had fallen apart, how the resistance had come together, and how the Shredder was finally beaten.

“There’s—there’s so much,” Don finally said, after they all sat there in silence for a few minutes. “To me, just last week we were playing Mario in the lair, and now I wake up and I’m in this—this—this post-apocalyptic world where nothing is right, and I find out that my family fell apart, and my father was killed because I wasn’t there.” He ran a shaking hand over his face. “I don’t even know how to process this.” He frowned. “And I can’t stop shaking.”

“That’s probably some cryosickness,” April said. “With most people it fades with time, although I don’t think anyone’s ever been in there as long as you have.”

“I don’t recommend it,” he murmured. He looked up at his family. “So, what now? What happens now?”

The three brothers shifted uncomfortably, so April took the lead. “Well first off, mister, you’re going to stay here and make sure that you’re all good. No one knows the effects of being in cryostasis for as long as you were. And second of all,” she glanced at the other turtles in the room. “I think you four have a lot to talk through.”

“We can’t deny that one,” Raph said.

“That’s the truth,” Leo muttered.

“Then you’d better get to it,” April said. “You’ve got a second chance. I suggest you take it.”

Mike glanced at the floor and then up again, his gaze quickly bouncing from Donnie to April. “Yeah,” he said. “We can try.”

April nodded. “Good. I’ll leave you four alone,” she said. “I’ve got some more work to do.”

She left the brothers then, knowing that they had a long, hard road to go down, with decades of built-up resentment and issues. But if anyone could get past that, her boys could. And April could only hope that it would lead to a better future for them all.

#Febuwhump2024 #FebuwhumpDay23 #TMNT #TMNT 2003 #TMNT 2k3 #SAINW #TMNT Donatello #tmnt april o'neil #tmnt leonardo #tmnt raphael #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt fanfic #tmnt fan fiction

7 notes · View notes

yuzuna123 · 3 months

Note

Now that Tekken 8 has been released and I assume you watched the story mode, what is your overall opinion on T8 story?

To be quite honest, i think it was okay? it may have had some poor attempts to do comic relief moments, but it was okay to say the least. BUT You see, I expected more? for example, both Kazuya and Jin's arcs to be there, not just Jin's, and to not have many loose ends. And for Jun not to appear in only just a minute and then for 3 seconds like it was promoted. I expected them to have flashbacks of Kazujun and a reunion between them and a family reunion between Kazuya, Jun, and Jin. I guess they are planning to do Kazuya and Jun's story and reunion in a Story DLC.

youtube

I saw this video and they are right! they do make a point. A DLC is should be expected for a game like Tekken with various competitors. Mortal Kombat did it, even Street Fighter in a sense.

He said EVO Japan is where they might officially annouce the DLC but i think April could be a little early! Mortal Kombat did the same with their new game but they did after they saw some profits, So my best shot is EVO in the US in July 19-21 is where we will get news about it, if that happens then...i suppose the DLC will be out...uhhh early next year??? or perhaps next Summer.

Ah well, it's a new and fresh game you know, there are bound to bring out new content haha :P

#tekken #kazuya mishima #jun kazama #jin kazama

7 notes · View notes

alagaesia-headcanons · 8 months

Note

Hello! Finally scraped together my courage! I love how you talk of the inheritance cycle and i have a lots of feels for that saga, it's the first fantasy i have EVER read.

As you have probably guessed i love Orrin and kind of appreciate Murthag, but my favourite character is Jeod.

Could you talk a bit about your thoughts on him? I find him an incredibly fascinating character (and he wields a RAPIER. that's the BEST WEAPON.)

lots of love! i really like your blog!

Hello hello!!! Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoy my stuff and I'm glad for the ask as well!

I really like Jeod! He's one of my favorite background characters. I think it's especially refreshing that he's not emphasized as a warrior and the most important contributions he makes are through his scholarly studies. In that way, he really balances out the main characters who are very focused on the war and the battles. And the way he encourages his same sort of curiosity and joy for books and learning in Eragon is very sweet, and I wish we could have seen more of it. Overall, Jeod simply comes across as very heartfelt, I see him as one of the more caring characters with the way he so readily goes out of his way to help- joining the Varden to steal the egg in the first place, helping Brom and Eragon without hesitation, and giving Roran and the others from Carvahall the chance to reach Surda. He does all he can and it's very endearing.

I also have an old headcanon deep in my heart that Jeod had a long standing and ill fated crush on Brom. In the beginning, the mysteriousness and intrigue that his brisk, guarded manner evoked drew him in, and then he came to admire his sharp wit experienced confidence. It started as a little crush, light and guileless. He never had the courage to mention it and Brom, always forging ahead and never slowing down, didn't give him much chance anyway. But the feelings stayed with him and they slowly transformed into something more sincere- a quiet, persistent pining. But Jeod still feared saying what he felt and Brom always regarded them as colleagues, or sometimes friends, and if he recognized anything else in Jeod's heart, he turned a blind eye to it. Jeod told himself maybe he would finally say something more after they settled the matter of the missing dragon egg, but then Brom died. At least Jeod believed so. Too little too late. When he married Helen a few years later, it wasn't his most thought out decision and he always carried a bit of guilt for never loving her quite the same way he loved Brom. After Brom suddenly appeared on his doorstep again, Jeod almost told him, but it still felt like too late. He was married now, and he could sense that wherever Brom's fate led, it was with Eragon and Saphira, not him. And lo and behold, he lost Brom a second time months later, a more gentle heartbreak than the first, but still poignant.

But on another note I've been thinking about lately, if they'd gotten a proper opportunity, I actually think Jeod and Orrin would get along very well. Of course their shared interest in academics and research and learning would give them common ground and draw them together, and I picture them going back and forth discussing their various areas of interest for ages. And I rather wish that the sort of support Jeod gave Eragon could have been shared with Orrin as well because it would really suit both their characters and could have been a very touching and significant exchange. Orrin's interest in science is very genuine and passionate but it never receives any encouragement in canon and I can really easily see that coming from Jeod, who deeply understands and respects the drive to learn, telling him that his work and skill are admirable and valuable. Also, I can only imagine how jealous Orrin was of Jeod during the war lmao.

Jeod: oh haha I'm not much of a fighter anymore so I help the war effort with my scholarly knowledge, studying books to find things that might help! :)

Orrin, through clenched teeth, vibrating slightly: god I wish that were me.

#eragon #inheritance cycle #jeod #brom #orrin #i always love seeing your tags on my stuff btw <3 #always so grateful of the other orrin fans out there adfsahjk #ive just always imagined young jeod w a puppy crush on brom that gradually sinks into his heart and never leaves c':#PLEASE i want jeod and orrin to interact and trade books and be nerds together!!! is that so much to ask!!!!!!#and orrin can hang out w someone less combative than everyone he deals w in canon lol #answered ask

16 notes · View notes