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steddieas-shegoes · 9 months

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Hi! I've spent hours reading your Steddie stuff when I honestly should have been sleeping because work and adulting. Gotta be some of my favorite writing! You have requests/prompts open? I have 2! If you like them :) 1. The Soulmate idea of people having a moving animal tattoo representing their Soulmate. Steve has hyperactive bat who loves to drape itself around his neck quite possessively. Eddie with a retriever pup or something that likes to curl up over his heart. 2. Always a sweetheart Steve? No King Steve era thing. He bugs Eddie to learn about D&D to understand his kids better qnd our poor metal gremlin melts :) I'm Soft Boi, so sorry for no angst.

I'm posting the 1st one here, but on the second one, I am gonna just give a rec instead. Last Man Standing by @griefabyss69 (GriefAbyss on AO3) is kind of this request but taking it to filth level 😈 But anyways, this idea is so fucking cool my dudes. I love a good soulmate AU, and when it's something super unique like this, I lose my shit. I definitely think someone could make a slow burn with this idea and if anyone does, please let me know! - Mickala ❤️

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He used to hate it.

A bat was such a menacing and disgusting creature.

Anyone who saw it would give him a look that was equal parts apologetic and concerned.

But when Steve started getting left alone at home, when he only had surface level friends, when he cried himself to sleep because the silence wasn’t enough to drown out the negative thoughts, the bat wrapped itself around his neck, and he didn’t feel so alone.

He’d started sleeping with his hand on his shoulder just to feel closer to his soulmate.

Hoped that whoever it was wouldn’t be disappointed that he was theirs.

————-

Eddie convinced himself for his entire childhood that the golden retriever tattoo that ran up and down his arms every day was some sympathy soulmate tattoo.

There was no way his soulmate was someone this hyper.

And then Wayne explained there was usually a story behind the tattoo, something more than just the personality or energy of a person.

At night, the retriever would pace across his chest, eventually settling right over his heart.

He wondered what his tattoo representation was.

He hoped it was a bat.

————-

“Dude, it’s not a big deal. Just show us!” Tommy yelled to Steve from the pool.

Steve had managed to hide it from his friends for so long.

He wasn’t ashamed necessarily, but he definitely didn’t need Tommy and Carol or any of the rest of the basketball team to see it.

The tattoo often stayed hidden pretty well during the day, usually hid on his thigh or stomach. He got away with always wearing shirts for practice and skipped post-practice showers with excuses that he had a study group to get to.

But his pool was a problem, especially now that he was at an age where everyone wanted to come over to swim when his parents weren’t around, which was often.

He tried to make excuses, said he was just worried about the sun, worried about a creepy neighbor watching.

It only worked a couple of times.

Now it was night, so no sun.

The neighbor was on vacation.

And everyone expected him to strip down and get into the pool.

So he did.

Everyone stared in silence as the bat flew from his stomach to his back and settled on his shoulder.

It seemed like it wanted to be seen, but still wasn’t sure how it wanted to be perceived.

Steve could relate.

No one commented on it, probably too afraid that one wrong word would get them kicked out of the pool permanently.

When he went to bed that night, the bat took its place around his neck, his hand rested in its place against his shoulder, and he sighed.

“I hope you’re being seen,” he whispered into his empty room.

——————-

The golden retriever was completely still for more than eight hours the same night Starcourt exploded.

Eddie tried not to panic for the first few hours, knew it could be any number of reasons the tattoo wasn’t moving.

But after hour six, he called Wayne at work, worry carrying over the line as fireworks boomed in the background.

“It’s not moving. It- you said when it stopped it meant- they can’t be, though.”

“Eds, take a few slow breaths, son. C’mon now, you’d have known if he-”

“But what if mine’s broken? What if the connection isn’t right?” Eddie tried taking breaths, but it wasn’t working.

The more he thought about it, the more likely it was that his soulmate was gone.

By the time Wayne made it home from work, the retriever had moved from his forearm to its usual place over his heart, and Eddie was fast asleep on the couch, his hand resting on top of it.

—--------------------

Being dragged into more freaky Upside Down shit was not on Steve’s to-do list. Then again, it never really was.

He wouldn’t have even bothered coming with Dustin and Max if not for the fact that Dustin was terrified something had happened to his new best friend Eddie.

He tried to hide his terrible mood, but knew he was failing.

He woke up this morning to his bat already on his leg, seemingly asleep, though it was normally still around his neck or on his shoulder when he woke up.

It hadn’t moved all morning, and he was a little worried about what that might mean.

He was also getting more worried by the day that he’d never meet his soulmate.

He knew it was dramatic, but most people he went to school with had met theirs by now, their tattoos now permanently placed in matching spots on their bodies.

“Dustin, this is so stupid,” he reiterated for the hundredth time as they walked up to the boathouse door.

He kept thinking it to himself as they poked around looking for Eddie, as he was being held against the wall with a broken bottle to his neck by Eddie, as he felt a flutter in his stomach at the way Eddie was watching him as they told him about the Upside Down.

He didn’t take the time over the next couple of days to pay much attention to his tattoo, didn’t really consider the fact that what little time he slept, he was so out of it he didn’t even notice whether the bat was on his neck or not.

Didn’t think about it until a moment in the RV alone with Eddie, when something in his brain told him to check on the bat.

“Sorry, just. Can you wait one second?” Steve interrupted Eddie’s thought as kindly as he could.

“Uh, yeah?” Eddie responded, confused.

He slipped to the back, not bothering to close the curtain that separated it from the rest of the RV.

He lifted his shirt in hopes of seeing it, but it wasn’t there.

He groaned and unbuttoned his jeans, rushing to just check and see if the bat had moved at all.

He shoved his jeans down and frowned.

It was in the same place still.

On his inner thigh on his right leg.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, or what he thought was under his breath.

“Everything okay?” Eddie’s voice was much closer than he expected, making him jump and rush to pull his pants back up. “Shit, was that your tattoo?”

“Yeah. It hasn’t moved in a while.”

“Neither has mine.” Eddie moved in closer. “Actually, mine’s on my thigh too. Kinda makes it hard to check.”

“Which thigh?” Steve couldn’t help asking.

“Right.”

“What is it?”

“Golden retriever. Can’t really imagine who it would be,” he admitted.

Steve’s first and only pet had been a puppy. A golden retriever named Daisy.

She was his entire world for almost a year until she chewed on one of his dad’s expensive watches and ended up being given to a man who worked with him.

He cried for days after that, didn’t talk to his dad for weeks, not that that was difficult to do since he was gone more often than not.

He vowed that he would get another one the moment he was an adult.

That didn’t quite work out.

But his nannies all used to call him a retriever, his energy contagious in the best way, his playful demeanor a relief. As he grew up, it got dulled by his parents, expectations, society, but he knew inside, all of that was still there.

“What’s yours?” Eddie asked, shaking him out of his thoughts.

“A bat.”

Eddie tilted his head and looked at him, eyes squinting to take him in.

“A bat?”

“Yeah. He’s a playful guy, but kinda shy it seems like,” Steve’s smile was fond until it was sad. “At least until he stopped moving.”

“When did he stop moving?” Eddie ignored the fact that it was a he for now.

“I guess I noticed it the day we found you in the boathouse.”

They both stared at each other for a moment, possibly coming to similar conclusions.

“What about yours?” Steve asked quietly, though something told Eddie he already knew the answer.

“The day you found me in the boathouse.”

“I-”

“How-”

“Dingus, we gotta go!” Robin was suddenly yelling as the RV door slammed open.

They could figure this out later.

They would have to.

—-----------------------

As Steve sat by Eddie’s bedside in the hospital, he thought about how often the bat tattoo had been the only comfort he had, the only thing that kept him from being completely alone.

He thought about how Eddie had always done his best to include the people who didn’t belong anywhere else, how he’d put on a show to protect himself, but hated being seen.

Wayne watched him from the other side of the bed, silently judging him, probably trying to figure out how to kick him out.

But he couldn’t.

He felt the pull now.

Now that he’d been around Eddie, somewhat gotten to know him, how he was fearless when it came to the gremlins, was willing to give up his own life if it meant getting Dustin to safety, he could feel the tug on his heart.

It was inconvenient since they didn’t know when or really even if Eddie would wake up.

So he waited.

He waited for Wayne to kick him out. He waited for doctors and nurses to have answers. He waited for Eddie to wake up.

He waited to know if he’d be able to have his soulmate or not.

—-------------------

Eddie’s first word when he woke up was Steve’s name.

Steve let out an uncontrollable sob, curling down so his head rested in the sheets of the bed.

Wayne’s hand was on his back, his voice trying to speak to him and Eddie at the same time.

They’d gotten closer over the last few days, Wayne’s calm presence enough to keep Steve from completely losing his mind with worry.

But the pain meds in the IV drip seemed to catch back up to Eddie within minutes and he was asleep again.

“He woke up though. Your boy woke up,” Wayne said to him, holding his hand.

“Yeah. He did.”

—-------------------

When Eddie left the hospital, Steve insisted on pushing his wheelchair to Wayne’s truck himself.

The nurse agreed with little argument; The hospital was incredibly understaffed and overrun with patients from the “earthquake” and she had a million better things to do.

The walk down was mostly quiet, but not awkward.

“I think some of my tattoo is missing,” Eddie finally said, barely more than a whisper.

“From the bats?” Steve asked.

“Yeah. I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. Doesn’t change anything.”

“No?” he asked, voice full of hope.

“Not a thing for me.”

—------------------------

They dated.

It was unconventional in every way.

Steve had never pictured himself with a man, but now he couldn’t picture himself with anyone but Eddie.

Eddie had to explain that they couldn’t just go out and hold hands like any of Steve’s other dates, they had to be careful.

It wasn’t always easy; Steve got frustrated and Eddie got insecure.

But they always ended their nights with soft kisses, with whispered words of comfort and promises.

They fell in love like that, the tattoos only the beginning of something that no one could have expected.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #ficlet #request #soulmate au

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deconstructthesoup · 5 months

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It's Black Friday, which means I'm, of course, thinking about Starkid... and I have a theory that the specific order that the LiB are always listed in (Pokotho, Bliklotep, T'noy Karaxis, Nibblephem, Wiggoth Y'Wrath) are, in fact, the order of how powerful they are, from least to greatest.

Let's start with Pokey. Now, on the surface, yeah, being able to completely take over people and turn them into hollow shells that speak your voice may be pretty damn powerful, but I think this actually works to the LiB's detriment. Think back to what Hidgens said, way back in TGWDLM---the existence of the hivemind would result in world peace, because if they're all under one mind, one "Singular Voice," there's nothing to fight about... but the LiB are all about sowing chaos, driving people to ruin. And if Pokey takes over everyone, there's nobody left to mess with. Even Webby outright compares Pokey to the rest of his brothers, which speaks a lot to how they see him---short-sighted, close-minded, and probably a little selfish. (I could also bring up the fact that unlike the others, he seems a lot more serious and even somber in his infliction, tying into his stone-face mask, but that's a whole other thing.) He's also, interestingly enough, one of two LiB who weren't introduced by way of Sniggles---even Nibbly got a little song from two of them after he did his Honey Queen munching---so maybe that means something? Idk.

Blinky definitely seems to have a good deal of power, if the horrors going on in Watcher World are anything to go by, but it also seems kinda... limited. From what we can see (heh), Blinky just operates out of this theme park, and unlike the others? He actually got defeated. Alice and Bill broke out of the effects, flooded Watcher World, and made it out with their bond strengthened rather than broken. Compare this with Pokey succeeding in taking over the world in TGWDLM---even if he failed later in Yellow Jacket---Tinky easily pulling the rug out from Ted's feet in Time Bastard, Nibbly snacking on Linda without so much as a second thought in Honey Queen, and Wiggly fucking starting a nuclear war in Black Friday despite his cult getting defeated and him not actually manifesting, you gotta wonder... what's up with Blinky failing? But I think his human look in NPMD speaks to that---it's a very laid-back look, and I saw someone suggest that he (or she, here, I guess) is trying to emulate the type of teen who's just there to chill, sit back, and watch TV. Maybe Blinky's whole deal is that he's fairly passive, and just wants to watch the chaos happen while he nudges some folks in the right direction. I could be completely wrong, of course.

Now, Tinky as the brother who's smack-dab in the middle actually makes a lot of sense. His domain is time itself---that's nothing to sneeze at! He's incredibly devious, and he always seems to get what he wants! His specialty is driving people insane! But when you look at the fact that he seems a little too chaotic, even for his brothers, and the fact that his eldritch form is, uh... kinda tame, since it's literally just a yellow goat, you have to wonder if Tinky suffers from middle-child syndrome. He's powerful, sure, but he's weird. Either he gets overlooked or he's just there to be along for the ride---I'm just guessing this based on the fact that he had, like two lines in The Summoning, even though he's probably the reason the messed-up timeline in Hatchetfield exists. He's just the crazy middle child, and honestly? That works. Good for him.

Nibbly, I think, is the only LiB (aside from our tentacle boi) who is explicitly stated to be considered "unique," with a power set that automatically puts him on a different level than a lot of his brothers. He's the only one who can regularly manifest in our reality, which makes him the only one who can physically affect the real world---and sure, that means eating pagent winners, but it could also mean a shitton of other things. It's kind of amazing that with his constant hunger and the power to manifest on Earth once a year, he only limits himself to one sacrifice... and maybe that's the point. Maybe the sacrifice only exists because Nibbly used to use that night to cause as much devastation as possible, and he's calmed down since then. Which, uh... yeah, scary thought.

And, yeah, Wiggly is obvious. He's in charge, he makes the decisions, he's always revered over the others---it's pretty clear that he's the most powerful brother, and though everything he does in Black Friday speaks to that, I have a feeling that we don't actually know the extent of Wiggly's true power... and maybe, that's the point. The other LiB get clear-cut domains---control, surveillance, time, and hunger, with not a lot of room for wiggle room, if you'll forgive the pun---but for Wiggly, it's not so obvious. We know that his line in The Summoning is "Wiggly wants his wrath," but it's not just wrath that he preys on. In Black Friday, he uses what people want to become strong, quite literally marketing himself as the solution to all of their problems. In NPMD, he asks Steph, Pete, and Grace for the thing they cherish. He's not just wrath, but greed and desire, and that adds a punch. Also, that extra bit of complexity makes him line up perfectly as a devil figure.

And considering all of this, you have to wonder---where does Webby fall in all of this? Is she stronger than her brothers, and it's just that they outnumber her, or is she weaker? Is she older or younger (this might've been answered, I'm not as caught up on livestream lore as some may be)? Is it just her in the White, or does she have sisters? She's described as "A Queen in White," not "The Queen in White," which points to there maybe being more, but why haven't we seen more? Why is it just Webby fighting against her brothers, and why can't she do more?

*pauses*

Wow. Okay. Jesus, that got away from me.

Anyways, the Hatchetfield saga has super cool horror worldbuilding

#starkid #hatchetfield #tgwdlm #team starkid #black friday starkid #nerdy prudes must die #the lords in black #wiggog y'wrath #nibblenephim #bliklotep #pokotho #t'noy karaxis #webby hatchetfield

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whateveriwant · 1 year

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Heads or Tails

Summary: Ghost has undergone a lot of changes recently, many of which you find concerning. So you concoct a plan to try to bring the old Ghost back, the first and most crucial step: getting rid of that new mask.

Pairing: Simon "Ghost" Riley x Reader

Word Count: ~4.0k

Warnings: language, slight physical aggression, some uncool boundary crossing, my attempt to sound Bri'ish

A/N: Hello! So this is a new endeavor for me! I've never written for Ghost or CoD/MW before, but I've recently become obsessed with interested in the characters, and so wanted to give it a go. I was rushing a little to get this out, but I really hope you enjoy! :)

"Bet it's a fetish or somethin'."

Your neck nearly snaps as you swivel to the left, your eyes bugging at the Scot's words.

"Probably humiliation kink… Maybe breath play," Soap ponders aloud, eyes trained across the room pensively.

"Nah, mate. I reckon it's a bad trim, or some bad ink," Gaz adds from your right, making you pivot in your seat. "What'd you think? Tribal or teardrops?" He gestures to his own face, attention also drawn straight ahead.

As the two go back and forth positing ideas, your own eyes are finally steered to the figure in question. This conversation, like seemingly all the ones as of late, is centered around one topic and one topic only.

That damn mask.

While Ghost's signature masks are nothing new to the members of the 141, this one in particular has had you all scratching your heads for weeks. Much like his other balaclavas, this one is dark with a contrasting white skull, only this mask has one minor addition that none of the others have ever included: A big, bouncy puffball right on the top of his head.

When you first saw it, you honestly thought it was a joke; you were on a mission in the tundra, after all. But as you started to laugh, the sharp, deathly glare the Lieutenant gave you had you immediately snapping your mouth shut, averting your eyes out of respect.

Where he got that mask, you hadn't a clue, but you figured it would be just a one time thing anyway. However, that assumption turned out to be entirely wrong as Ghost continued to wear it again and again, no matter the mission conditions. Not only that, but he's also been exclusively wearing it around the base too; that is, whenever you do see him around the base.

It's been weeks now and you haven't spotted him without that ridiculous mask once. If you didn't know any better, you'd say he wears it 24/7. But that can't actually be the case unless he likes waterboarding himself with every shower, which if he does, then good for him, you guess.

Though you have a lot of questions you'd like to ask the Lieutenant, the one eating at you the most is why. Why the switch up? Why the obsession with this specific mask? Why all these little changes you've noticed about him over the past several weeks?

Because that's the thing. Beyond the pom pom, there's something about Ghost that's been… different. Better, even, in some regards, but there's also been a massive decline in others.

Out in the field, he's shown significant improvement. His aim has been sharper, his knife skills cleaner, hell, even his walk has been more sure-footed. While Lieutenant Riley has always been the cream of the military crop, for the last several weeks, he's been on another level.

Off the field, however, is a different story entirely. Instead of the man you thought you knew, it's like you hardly recognize Ghost anymore. He's been much more curt, closed off, and dare you say, a downright cunt to you all, and that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of all the other discrepancies you've noticed with his character.

Like why has he been avoiding the team much more than he ever used to, or why does he immediately shut down any attempts at getting close with him? He's never been an incredibly open or approachable man per se, but it's like he's gone full blown antisocial recluse now.

The sudden switch in his behavior just didn't make sense to you, so you tried casually bringing it up to Price one day, hoping maybe he had an explanation that would help piece things together. In response, however, your Captain simply shrugged his shoulders, dubbing the mask Ghost's "good luck charm" that must've just gone to his head.

While you didn't necessarily have a better answer yourself, Price's conclusion wasn't good enough for you to accept as the truth. Maybe a lucky rabbit's foot or good luck coin or whatever could explain away Ghost's overnight tactical improvements, but it didn't answer the why of everything else.

Why has Ghost changed so much?

As you reflect, the sound of Gaz and Soap's continued discussion slowly brings you back to the present, making you blink out of your stupor.

"...been acting all off. Like he's… paranoid or something," you hear Gaz say regarding Ghost. "Like, the other day for instance, when we got dropped off back at base, I swear, as soon as his boots hit the ground, he was booking it like he was about to get shot."

Well, that's certainly a relief. Not that Ghost is acting strange, but that at least you're not the only one to notice.

"I thought maybe he was just sensitive to the floodlights – those things were ruddy blinding that night – but when I tried to catch up and ask him, you'd think I was chasing him from how fast he ran," Gaz adds.

Though that's a bit unexpected on Ghost's part, you suppose it's not all that uncharacteristic anymore. He's been increasingly aloof nowadays, and while you're not totally sold on Gaz's paranoia claims, you definitely see the cause for concern.

"Y'know, I think you're on to somethin'," Soap agrees with Gaz's conclusions. "Just the other night, 'round two in the mornin', I caught him rummagin' around the kitchens like he was afraid to get caught."

"Hold on," Gaz interjects, craning his head to face the other Sergeant. "What were you doing in the kitchens at two a.m.?"

"Mind yer business, that's what," Soap huffs, waving his hand dismissively. "But anyway, even then he was still hidin' beneath that bloody mask. I cannae even remember that last time I saw him without it," he says, almost dejectedly.

You can't remember the last time you did either, though you're not as beat up about it as Soap is. The man seems to have a certain fascination with staring at his Lieutenant's bare face that you can't say you totally relate to.

As Soap continues thinking to himself of when last he saw Ghost without his mask, he suddenly snorts, smiling as he tells you, "Y'know, I once tried to break in his room and steal that thing while he slept, but the lad has some unpickable locks on his door, I tell ya," he chuckles.

"Oi, you mental or something?" Gaz's voice pitches up. "Trying to steal his mask? You'd be lucky if he didn't string you up by your bollocks just for thinking it."

Soap scoffs, peeking over from the corner of his eye. "Oh, come on. Like you've never?"

"I'd like to keep my boys securely attached, thank you." Gaz shifts his weight at the uneasy thought, grimacing slightly.

That has Soap turning fully in his seat, making to confront Gaz head on. "So you're tellin' me you like the new mask? That you don't want to see the fucker gone?"

Gaz shakes his head, mirroring Soap as he similarly turns to face him. "I didn't say that. I'm just as tired of looking at it as you are."

At that, Soap throws his hands up, letting out an exasperated breath. "So let's do somethin' about it!" he exclaims, calling back to his attempted theft.

"Like what?" Gaz huffs. "You want me to ask nicely? 'Ghost, would you please lose the mask? There's only room for one ugly hat around here, and Price has already filled that niche. So sorry.'"

As the two Sergeants continue to bicker over the top of your head, you keep your eyes on Ghost who's still in the room. Thankfully, he appears to be completely oblivious to the animated discussion happening around you. You don't think he'd enjoy hearing how his teammates want to throw his mask in an on-fire garbage bin.

Gradually, your attention starts to drift away from the conversation at hand until you're right back at your earlier conundrum: trying to figure out Ghost's deal.

Why has he been acting so different as of late? What could have brought on such a drastic change in his behavior? As you think, Soap and Gaz's words lightly filter through your mind, and suddenly, the answer becomes blatantly obvious.

What's the common denominator in all of this? What seems to be the root cause of all this discourse? It all comes down to one thing and one thing alone.

That fucking puffball mask of his.

Ever since he got that new mask, there's been a never ending stream of changes with Ghost, most of which you'd argue are for the worse. You know it's silly to cast blame on such a normally inconsequential scrap of fabric, but at this moment, there's nothing else that makes sense in your mind.

Maybe the change is because his brain is being squeezed too tight or maybe he's been having a constant bout of heat stroke these last few weeks. Whatever the reason, you can see how wearing that mask has negatively affected him, and you're eager to see that rectified.

"I've got it!" you pipe up for the first time, interrupting the Sergeants who are still verbally going at it. You look between them both before once more bringing your gaze back to Ghost. "I know what to do," you say confidently.

Though the old Ghost you knew has been M.I.A. recently, you don't think he's truly gone, not permanently anyway. He's just been squirreled away for the time being, trapped in a cage of woven black thread. You just hope that, with a little luck and a lot of planning, soon…

You'll be able to set him free again.

~~~~~

You peek impatiently around the corner, seeing Gaz standing at the end of the hall. When he notices you, he shakes his head, turning back to keep watch like directed.

Annoyed, you check your phone again. Soap said they were on their way five minutes ago. You know it's a maze of passageways between here and there, but still, they should've shown up by now.

At its core, your plan is simple, but so many pieces have to come together for you to pull it off successfully. One screw up and it all comes toppling down, and you doubt you'll ever get a chance at a redo.

Another 30 seconds pass before you're checking on Gaz again, the man keeping a silent sentinel against the wall. The trap's been set, all you have to do is sit back and wait. But you're not sure how much longer you can handle until you go mad.

Just as you're about to text Soap for confirmation again, Gaz perks up, turning and nodding over at you. Before he can be spotted by anyone else, he slips into the room at his back, quickly closing the door shut.

Finally! It's time. Operation Unmask is a go.

You stoop to pick up one of the items at your feet, counting down from 20 as you hear a pair of heavy boots slowly approach your position. When you finally reach zero, you suck in your breath. It's now or never, baby.

Right before the figure can descend on your hiding spot, you pop out around the corner, colliding directly with the man you'd expected to find. Ghost grunts in surprise at the blunt contact, that damn pom pom on his head bouncing as he stumbles slightly.

"Oh, sorry!" you call out innocently. "Didn't see you there." It's not exactly a lie. You struggle to peer around the tower of boxes in your arms, stacked high enough that you can hardly see a thing ahead.

Ghost grunts again as he takes in the scene you've laid out, thankfully seeming to accept it at face value. "Careful," is all he says, moving to continue in the direction he was headed.

"Oh, uh, actually—?" you stop him before he can escape. "Sorry, but… Do you think you could…?" You shift the boxes deliberately in your hold, hinting at the favor you mean to ask. "If you don't mind. They're really heavy."

This plan all hinges on whether or not Ghost will take the bait. Though he's been less than charitable recently, in the past, he used to be quite helpful to you in particular. That's why you're the one who had to ask for his help. You knew that anyone else, he'd decline immediately.

But you can tell Ghost is hesitant to agree to assist you now, not only because of his recent change in character, but because he was currently preoccupied.

"Price is waitin' for m—" he starts to give the excuse Soap had fabricated to lure him out of his room.

"Please," you cut him short, pretending your situation is dire. "It'll be quick. I just need to get these to my office." That's where you pulled them from initially, filling them with whatever junk you could find to weigh them down. Soap and Gaz weren't thrilled to have to lug them all the way over here, but you had to make them heavy to be convincing, you'd told them.

As if on cue, out of the corner of your eye, you see Soap finally make his appearance at the end of the hall. He turns the corner Ghost had come from earlier, having successfully tailed the Lieutenant all the way from his room undetected. Gaz's timing is also stellar as not a second later, he carefully opens and exits the door Soap passes by.

Luckily, Ghost doesn't seem to notice the two Sergeants quietly lurking behind him – a blessing since, sometimes, you swear he has a pair of eyes in the back of his head.

He considers you for a moment, staring at the stack in your hands, glancing at the others still by your feet. Though you can sense he's warring with himself, another light 'please' from your lips has him caving with a sigh.

As Ghost bends to grab one of the box towers, that's when Soap really makes his move. The Scot creeps forward until he's within arm's length of Ghost, hand outstretching as he reaches towards the Lieutenant's head. Just before he can close his fingers around the mask – intending to snatch and run, the fastest of you three – Ghost does something that surprises you all.

Without even looking, Ghost suddenly jerks away from Soap's grasp, ducking at an almost unnatural speed and angle. At first, it's like he doesn't even realize what's happened himself, but then he turns and sees Soap standing there, hand caught right in the cookie jar.

"What the fuck d'you think you're doing, MacTavish?" Ghost asks roughly.

Soap blinks dumbly, shocked by Ghost’s quick reaction. "S-Sir," he stutters, his brain trying to catch up with his mouth. "Just… thought… I… saw a piece of lint," he makes up the fib on the spot, then boldly reaches towards the mask again.

Once more, Ghost evades his reach, leaning far back like he's in The Matrix. He growls and slaps Soap's arm down. "You wanna keep that hand, Sergeant?" he rumbles.

In response, all Soap can do is nod his head, baffled into a state of silence.

"Then fuck off," Ghost warns him not to try again. He then nods towards the pile at your feet. "Or better yet, make yourself useful and pick up a box."

Still in a trance, Soap immediately complies with the Lieutenant's order. The two grab a respective stack, Ghost directing Soap to walk ahead as he no longer trusts him where he can't see him.

Fuck! This is not at all what you envisioned. This train is rapidly going off the tracks, heading straight over a cliff.

But thankfully, you have a potential backup in place, and Gaz quickly makes his way over as he sees things running amok.

"Ghost?" he captures the attention of the growingly irritated man, who stops and turns at the sound of his voice. "Uh… your shoe's untied," Gaz mumbles once he's under the intimidating gaze of Ghost, and your eyes fall shut at the lame excuse.

Christ, this is all going to shit. There's no way you're going to pull this off.

Somehow, though, Ghost chooses to check Gaz's statement, and he cranes his head down to inspect his boots. "No," is all he says, seeing his laces clearly intact. But before he can stand back up, head still down turned, Gaz takes his opportunity before it can slip away.

Gaz tries to grab for the bloated puffball wobbling in his face, but just like before, Ghost seems to have a sixth sense for it. Again, he bends out of the way, spectacularly agile, and shoots a glare at the Sergeant's gall.

"You out of your fuckin' mind? What's gotten into you lot?" Ghost accuses the three of you, turning to look at you all, becoming increasingly suspicious of what you're doing.

Shit fuck ass balls. You need to act fast. He's starting to catch on.

Panicked, you do the first thing that pops into your head, dropping the boxes to the floor with a thunderous thump. Ghost's head snaps in your direction, eyes wide in confusion, and they only widen more as you purposefully knock the boxes out of his hands too.

"Whoops!" you exclaim and swiftly crouch down, starting to pick up all the bits and bobs that spilled out.

Gaz realizes your intent and quickly follows suit, stooping down to help you clean up the mess. It's a few seconds before Soap catches on as well, and then all three of you are on your hands and knees, crawling around like a pack of vermin.

"The fuck's the matter with you bunch?" Ghost exhales, unable to make sense of the unfolding chaos. Nevertheless, though, he begrudgingly lowers himself down, electing to assist despite his growing skepticism.

As you go about cleaning up the mess you made, you try to covertly catch the eyes of your accomplices. Without words, you ask them which one is going to make a move, who'll grab for the mask next, but both seem a little reluctant at trying their hand again.

Ugh, whatever. You'll just do it yourself then. Really, how hard can it be?

Slyly, you creep around until you have a good vantage on Ghost, his back partially turned to you. You edge closer and closer until you're nearly bumping into him, pretending to still pick up the items scattered around. Then slowly, so incredibly slowly, you raise your hand up, reaching towards the back of Ghost's mask. Just as your fingers graze the fabric, pulling it up a mere centimeter, Ghost jolts, springing to his feet with a start.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" he yells.

"What's wrong with you?!" you fire back, your frustrations boiling over. You pop up to mimic his stance, throwing all stealth to the wayside as you figure the jig is up anyway. "We're just trying to help you."

"Help me?" he sneers. "Like hell. You're out to fuckin' get me."

There he goes again with the paranoia Gaz proposed. Though maybe, in this instance, he's not entirely wrong.

"You think we haven't noticed the differences with you? How much you've changed recently?" you continue. "We can see what that thing's doing to you. You'd be better off without it."

Ghost shakes his head in wild perplexity. "The hell are you on about?"

"The mask, L.T.," Soap rises to his feet. "Take it off," he implores.

"Who the fuck d'you think you are giving me orders, Sergeant?"

"It's just a mask, sir, and we've all seen you without one before," Gaz joins the showdown. "What have you got to lose?"

Ghost looks between each of you angrily, pointing an accusatory finger at you all in turn. "You're all way out of line! Get the hell back," he urges as you three start to close in.

"Why d'ya always hide from us now? I thought we were friends, L.T." Soap reaches forward, his hand immediately swatted away.

"Ghost, really, the thing's a bloody eyesore. Just get rid of it." Gaz tries his luck, only to be met with the same result.

Again and again, you all try dislodging the mask, descending on Ghost like a pack of rabid animals. With each swipe and stretch, he expertly dodges your attacks, bending and batting you away like pests.

"Quit fuckin'—!"

"Just let me—!"

"Oh, for cryin' out loud!"

The scene is total, unbridled chaos – voices raised, arms entangled, rubbish littered all over the ground. You three push forward on Ghost until he's backed into the wall, trapped with no way out. He fights and fights, the pom pom jostling around perilously, until finally, bitterly, he's overcome.

Soap gets his fingers hooked under an edge of the mask, and he yanks, pulling it all the way off. For the first time in weeks, Ghost's face is revealed to you all, and you'd be ecstatic if not for one detail that has you freezing.

Is that a…?

No, it can't be. You must be imagining things.

Actually, that looks kind of real. Holy shit, that's definitely real!

Oh my God! Is that a—?

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THAT?!"

You, Gaz, and Soap all jump back in horror at the sight before you: a plump, little, white rat nestled atop Ghost's head. The rodent seems just as shocked to see you as you are it, and it lets out a small squeak as you lock with its beady eyes, tiny fingers clinging to Ghost's hair.

"Aaaahhh!" Soap unleashes a girlish shriek, dropping the mask as he rears back.

"What the fuck, Ghost? No really, what the fuck?!" Gaz asks dumbfounded, hand coming up to cover his mouth.

Before anyone has a chance to fully process what they're seeing, the rat tugs on Ghost's hair, moving him to scoop up his mask from the floor. He's guided to shove the fabric back on his head, perhaps a little more roughly than intended, because you hear a pathetic squeak ring out as he does.

He points his index finger at you in a threatening manner, the holes over his eyes slightly askew. "Not a word," he grumbles, spinning on his heel. "Not one fuckin' word!"

And just like that, he takes off down the hall, a fat, pink tail sticking out from under the back of his mask. It takes a moment before you even realize your mouth is still wide open, and you close your jaw with an audible thud.

Vaguely, you hear Soap muttering behind you, near tears as he cowers against the wall. "Steamin' Jesus, I think I touched it! Did— Did it bite me? Am I bleedin'? I think I'm bleedin'!" he blubbers hysterically.

"Nah, you're alright, mate! You're alright!" Gaz tries to comfort him, unsuccessful as he’s also rattled.

As the two huddle together in the corner, you're left staring after Ghost's rapidly fleeing figure, trying to pick up the pieces of your newly fractured reality.

That… was…

Honestly, you're not sure what the hell that was.

A rat? That rides on Ghost's head? Controlling his every move and muscle? You guess that explains a few things about his behavior recently, but mostly, it just leaves you with more questions than answers.

Where the hell did he get that thing? How the fuck does it work? Why did he even think to test it out in the first place?

Actually, on second thought, no, you don't want to know. You've seen enough for one day, or really, one lifetime.

At the start of this, you thought you had such a great plan to unveil – one that would simply reveal the "true" Ghost again. You didn't realize that in the process of trying to set him free, you would release a whole other beast, literally. And while at your core you still believe your intentions to help were good, you realize now that, perhaps…

Some things are better off hidden.

__________

A/N: Squeak squeaker squeaky squeak! [Translation: Happy April Fools!]

It figures that my first venture in this fandom is a crack fic. I expected nothing less lmao. But anyway, I'd love to know what you thought! Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!

#simon riley #simon ghost riley #simon riley x reader #simon ghost riley x reader #ghost x reader #simon riley x you #simon ghost riley x you #simon riley fanfiction #simon riley fanfic #ghost mw2 #cod mw2

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to-thelakes · 2 months

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Luke confessing his love for reader during a screaming match/fight after confronting an unsub went wrong and reader being confused as to why he's telling them that now

faltered

pairing; luke alvez x fem!reader

summary; after you put yourself at risk, once again, luke finally snaps but the argument doesn't go in the way you expect.

warnings; fluff, angst, love-confession, happy ending, not proof-read

notes; is this proof-read? hell nah, is it good? honestly, anyone's guess, i am so so so so so bad at writing characters being angry because i just... honestly forgive people WAY too easy and i can't stay mad at people for long. i can probably count on one hand the amount of times i've actually been mad so this was a little experiment for me. and honestly, this little request/ask/whatever had me inspired and i wrote the dialogue last night and then finished it today so here is my little drabble/1.3k word one-shot about this scenario

“What the hell were you thinking!” Luke raged as he closed the hotel door behind him. You clenched your jaw, turning back to glare at him. You couldn’t believe this.

“I saved her life!” You snapped back as you looked up at him. He scoffed, throwing his hand up to gesture at your wound.

“Look at your face! You put yourself in the line of fire unnecessarily,” He argued back. You stared at him, in complete disbelief.

“I did what I thought was right,” You said, voice still loud but not quite shouting at him this time. You could feel the rage bubbling and you felt guilty enough that you didn’t need Luke shouting at you like your cheek hadn’t been slashed open.

“You knew that wasn’t the right call,” He responded, crossing his arms over his chest. You turned around briefly but his words stopped you in your step. You turned to face him.

“I had to do something!” You raged, anger jumping back to the surface within seconds.

“And letting the Unsub get you was the way of doing that, huh?” He questioned, venom lacing his tone. He couldn’t believe you had been so reckless and you didn’t understand why Luke cared so much.

“Yeah! I needed her to get away and if that meant I got hurt, oh well because she’s alive!” You argued, throwing your arm out as you spoke. Luke shook his head, disbelieving.

“No, we had a plan. You put that plan in jeopardy!” His voice raised at the last word, anger morphing his features. It would have bothered you if you weren’t equally as fired up, “If JJ hadn’t been there, you’d both be dead!”

“JJ was there, Luke. So, don’t give me this shit!” You shouted back before you turned around and grabbed your to-go bag. You wanted to get back to the team. You weren’t even sure why you let Luke come with you. Maybe you thought he’d be a comfort but he wasn’t. Of course, he wasn’t. You should have known.

“And what if she hadn’t been, huh?” He asked, voice levelling out as he stepped towards you. His arms still crossed over his chest.

“It doesn’t matter,” You retorted as you glanced over your shoulder. You were stuffing your clothes into the bag haphazardly, hoping that you could just leave this alone. But Luke wasn’t willing to give up it seemed.

“Yes, it does!” He practically shouted and you threw your last piece of clothing into the bag before you whirled on him.

“Why! Why does it matter so fucking much?” You were at your wit’s end with him. You were in pain, you were upset and you didn’t need this, “I’m alive, I’m here, I’m part of the team still! Prentiss isn’t mad at me so what gives you the right!” You were shouting again, rage bubbling over as you stepped towards him. You met his gaze defiantly.

“Because I love you!” He shouted back and you fell silent. Luke’s face suddenly morphed from anger to regret and he stepped back. You just stared, the silence permeating between the two of you. You didn’t know what to say. You were speechless and you just stared.

“What?” You asked softly. All the anger had flooded out of you like the plug pulled out of sink and all that was left in its wake was confusion.

“You put yourself in the line of fire, again,” He tried to swerve away from his confession, ignore it. He tried to go back to what the argument had been about but you cut him off;

“Luke,” You tried to say something but you words seemed to falter. He looked at you for a moment and you opened your mouth before you frowned, “What do-?” You wrapped your arm around yourself, stepping back from him.

“You-” Luke faltered for a moment before he tried to inject the anger into his tone, “That is the second time you’ve put yourself in the line of fire. You can’t-” But the anger seemed to falter again. You were looking at him with an expression he couldn’t read and his words hung heavy on his tongue. Your mind was whirring with thoughts and you were trying to pick them apart, make sense of something.

“Why would you say that now?” You asked. He had never heard your tone so soft and guilt reared its ugly head in his chest. But also, that familiar sting of rejection began to creep in.

“What? What do you mean?” He replied, frowning down at you. You sighed raggedly.

“You can’t just throw around a confession like that,” You mumbled. Luke stepped back again, his face fell and you wrapped your arms tighter around yourself. You didn’t know what to think. You had loved Luke for so long. That’s why you had trusted him to come with you to the room but this, this was unfair.

“I wasn’t trying to-” But you cut him off with a soft; “I know.” Realistically, you did know that he wasn’t trying to use it as a guilt trip but it still felt so cruel. Why couldn’t he have said it some other time? Why now?

“I don’t understand why you’re so reckless,” He said after a beat of silence. You scoffed.

“It’s not recklessness, it’s a calculated decision,” You responded, wanting to shut this argument down before it even started again. Your anger wasn’t clouding your thoughts anymore so you thought you might as well explain it to him, “I knew JJ was behind me. I knew she’d be able to catch him. We had the profile wrong and I realised that. I didn’t have a choice. He was about to kill her.” Your gut twisted as you held yourself tighter. The sting of the knife against your cheek was still so fresh to you. You were lucky.

“And you got hurt,” He responded. You shrugged.

“But we’re both alive and I’m not gonna apologise for doing what I thought was right.” You said simply. He nodded and he stepped towards you. It felt hard to swallow as you stared down at the floor, unable to meet his gaze.

“I don’t expect you to,” His words were a simple reassurance but it made you feel a little lighter. You sent him an awkward half-smile, mumbling;

“Good.” There was silence for a few beats before you took a deep breath. You just had to say it, “But for what it’s worth, I think I love you too.” It was Luke’s turn to be silent this time and he stepped towards you. There was quiet for a moment and you chanced a look up at him. The frown had been replaced with a cheeky smile and you rolled your eyes at him, turning to look away.

“Huh,” He let out, the smile turning into a smirk as he stepped towards you. He wrapped his arms around your waist tugging you closer and you let him. Your arms wrapped around his neck as you looked up at him.

You knew what he intended to do and you were quick to put your finger against his lips, stopping him from leaning any further, “Don’t even think about it, Alvez. Take me on a date first,” You stated. A grin began to spread across your face and you wished you could stop it but you couldn’t.

“Then let’s go out tonight,” He suggested. You hummed in thought before you nodded and pulled him against you.

“Okay,” You said. He couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face as he pulled you into a hug, holding you tightly, “As long as you kiss me goodnight,” You whispered against his skin. He chuckled and nodded his head against your hair.

“I can do that.”

#luke alvez x reader #luke alvez #luke alvez x you #luke alvez angst #luke alvez x reader angst #luke alvez fluff #luke alvez x reader fluff #reader-insert

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avillanappears · 5 days

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godzilla x kong: the new empire

"For most of human civilization, we believed that life could only exist on the surface of our planet. What else were we wrong about?"

okay, I kind of fell off doing this, but we’re back! the best ever tumblr review series that’s written by avillanappears.tumblr.com! I came in not expecting much, but it turns out I really, really liked it, actually! I’m more pleasantly surprised than anyone, godzilla vs kong rubbed me very much the wrong way. godzilla and kong beating the ever-loving tar out of each other was fun, sure, but I have WORDS for the human stuff. I could fill a whole post with those, probably, but we’re not talking about that! we’re thinking good thoughts, about the one I liked!

it’s definitely a fun adventure film. hollow earth was a much more fleshed out setting this time, I loved the varieties of locales and creatures. giant, flying flamingo fish that shoot electricity? kong crossing a rickety bridge made out of the spine of a monster so massive, that it’s kaiju sized compared to him? this is exactly the sort of thing I wanted to see! it was fascinating seeing kaiju sort of “on their level”, in a whole giant sized ecosystem made for them. we got some of that in the atomic time of monsters by @tyrantisterror, and I think it’s such fertile ground to explore. godzilla’s flirted with the idea before in both its netflix animes, but this is them really committing to it. it makes my worldbuilding and specbio freak heart happy. we even got to see more hellhawks! I love those guys.

lookit that face

okay this is going pretty long, but anyhoo, I liked the character stuff too. kong was as lovable as always, you really feel for the big lug. even though he’s a living god the size of a mountain, there’s a real vulnerability to him. he’s just a sad, lonely guy who wants purpose and belonging.

he and suko had some kind of fast, but still very nice bonding. the human side was fun too, they fixed a lot about what I didn’t like from the last movie. jia had more of an arc going instead of just being “the one kong talks to”, bernie was a lot more enjoyable since they cut out the weird conspiracy theorist stuff, trapper was a fun guy. it was nice just seeing someone who loves monsters and weird nature stuff.

skar king surprised me with how personal of a threat he is, they really let him feel like a horrid, nasty piece of work. he’s more than just a big evil overlord, he’s a bullying control freak who wants everything his way, and it makes his wretchedness more tangible in a way.

shimo didn’t get all that much, but I love shimo. I love her, and I can barely even tell why, there’s just some kind of Vibe to her I resonate with. I think it’s how mythical she feels. the oldest of a line of gods, a great being of ice, controlled by a wicked devil….in fact it all felt very mythic. I appreciate that, I love it when kaiju works play out like weird mythological epics.

probably the most tangible complaint I can think of right now is that the godzilla stuff was pretty underwritten. it honestly felt like he was just….doing video game sidequests or something. like, it didn’t have Impact up until the very end when he finally meets kong and SPOILERS SPOILERS. and it feels a shame to kill scylla and tiamat off this early, I liked those two as unpredictable wildcards. with rodan and the others still mia, and two titans unceremoniously dead, it’s starting to feel like the monsterverse is sorta….flattening itself? now that kongs arc is done, I think we need to get back to a godzilla solo or two, flesh things back out a bit. but that’s for future peter to talk about, today we’re leaving things off on a high note. fun characters, dynamic locales, some great monster brawling, this one was a good’un!

godzilla cast monkeys into hell for their sins

#avillananalysis2024 #godzilla #king kong #godzilla x kong: the new empire #kaiju #long post

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bigdealsgoddog · 1 year

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Lookism guys trying to impress their s/o

Notes: gender neutral reader! This is just my hcs about how some of the lookism guys would try to impress their s/o(Jake kim, Samuel seo, vasco, Daniel)

Jake kim (kim gi myung)

Probably the least likely to feel the need to impress his s/o

Like he’ll absolutely do it if he knows it’ll get a certain reaction out of you but he’s pretty confident in himself

Maybe there’s a special hole in the wall place that he found or maybe he’ll take you to one of the places on big deal to be like “yeah I know this area really well, the people love me here and it’s amazing food”

He’d probably try to hide that he’s the leader of big deal for a while unless that’s how you end up meeting him/finding out about him

He’s more likely to try to impress you with things he found rather than material items and spending money. As is big deal doesn’t have a lot of money but he’s also not the type to just throw money around like that. Plus doing that attracts all the wrong people in his eyes.

Samuel seo (seo seongeun)

This man and his inferiority complex? You know DAMN WELL he’s gonna be dropping so much money on you to impress you

Fancy dinner dates, expensive liqour, his fancy car all the way back to his fancy apartment

See I feel like he wouldn’t like a gold digger as much as he wants to impress you with money I think he’s more likely to fall for someone who doesn’t give a shit about his social standing. Or who he even is for that matter

It’s the inferiority complex kicking in, he feels like he needs to get what’s not his, someone that doesn’t want him until he proves that he is the best option for them

So he’s gonna be a little disappointed when his attempt at impressing you doesn’t actually work out

He’d end up trying to impress you by finding out about a certain food/item that’s been discontinued and absolutely hunting that thing down and getting it for you. You’d be more impressed that he remembered that random niche thing about you but it’s honestly a little touching how hard he worked to find it for you

Please praise him that’s all he really wants

Vasco (Euntae lee)

He’d have all of burn knuckles memorize a performance or something like that, panicking because “he really needs to do this for s/o, everything is on the line”

It was like your fifth date and he heard something from vin jin that if you’re not spoiling your partner and showing them every moment why you were the best option then they might as well leave and poor guy took it to heart so now all of burn knuckles is getting ready to surprise you for what you thought was going to be a coffee date with vasco

Honestly suddenly being surrounded by all of burn knuckles while you were taking a walk in the park as they tried to do what looked to be interpretive dance? You honestly weren’t sure it was a little overwhelming

Actually a lot overwhelming

Jace thankfully was able to save the day rushing in and escorting the burn knuckles while vasco panics asking you what’s wrong and if there was something wrong with the surprise

You calmed him down and let him well the thought was nice but you didn’t really know why he went through all that trouble? He ended up explaining it all and you kinda just gave him that ‘Aw you poor thing’ look

“It’s ok vasco you don’t need to impress me just to keep me around” “i don’t?” It’s like a weight lifted off his shoulders

You also didn’t want to admit that when he works out seeing his muscles impresses you enough

Daniel park(hyeong seok)

I think he’s also one of the types to not want to try to impress his s/o?

Not to say that he’s super confident or anything but he knows how differently he was treated on surface level appearance alone so I think he would’ve probably fallen for an s/o who wouldn’t be all about impressions alone?

Like somebody he doesn’t feel like he needs to impress or act a certain way with but he’ll still try, he ends up asking Jay and joy what to get you, things he could do to impress you

He’s pleasantly surprised when you’re more impressed how he remembers your drink order at the nearby cafe and when he brings you your favorite pastry from the patisserie down the street

He ends up getting you some new clothes on occasion, like if he notices a specific hoodie or shirt you’d wear a lot he’ll try to get you clothes in similar brands/styles. And so long as you like it he’d get you a size up too because he noticed how much you like how big his clothes are on you

#lookism #lookism hc #lookism fluff hc #x reader hcs #Daniel park #Jake kim #Samuel seo #vasco #lookism Daniel #lookism Jake kim #lookism Samuel seo #lookism vasco

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seagreenstardust · 8 months

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I’m gonna say something that’s probably not going to be well received in certain circles so let me start by saying this: I believe, with only a few rare exceptions, that you should be able to ship whatever speaks to you the most. And just because I don’t ship something doesn’t mean it’s wrong for anyone else to ship it, and the same for things I do ship, no one else has to ship it too. Who you do or don’t ship will never be a reason I pass judgment on you, ever. Live your best life.

That being said, I want to talk about Horikoshi and straight ships.

(And bakudeku.)

Here’s the thing: Hori has written straight ships into MHA and he’s done it so masterfully that it’s made me ship them without even realizing it. I don’t know if we can call them canon because as far as I know no ship is actually canon yet, but what is canon is the care Hori put into building these relationships.

Kirimina. Hori wrote in a backstory that parallels bkdk that I just adore. There is something about Kiri looking up to Mina and being so inspired by her bravery that it shapes the hero he becomes that is such good content. They’ve had multiple mid-battle moments of protecting and helping each other. I ship Kirimina so hard because of the canon Hori gave us.

I am a low key Denki/Hitoshi shipper but season six kinda hit me in the face with whatever we’re calling Kyouka/Denki these days and now I guess I’m a multi-shipper???? That is how hard Hori hit me with the Kyouka/Denki feels. And he did it the same way as Kirimina, because we have years of content of Kyouka teasing Denki mercilessly, plus the cultural festival band, so when they’re separated in Season 6 and Denki has this intense moment of realization that she’s who he needs to be brave for and it actually works??? I’m a goner.

Heck, I ship todomomo too you guys though I can’t blame Hori for that one, that’s just me being me. The point is that I ship it because the characters Hori gave me struck a chord inside.

But there is one straight ship Hori never once made me ship.

Every time izu*cha showed up I just kinda endured it? It just wasn’t for me. I didn’t see two kids with chemistry, I saw two kids who didn’t know who they were or what they wanted fumbling their way through a will they/won’t they without either of them seeming all that invested in it.

In six seasons and nearly 400 chapters and multiple times revisiting the story I have never once felt any inclination to ship izu*cha

Hori can write straight ships. Hori made me ship his secondary straight ships nearly effortlessly. So if izu*cha was meant to be canon why have I never once felt the chemistry?

You know who has the chemistry? Bakudeku. But here’s the thing: I wasn’t thinking about Katsuki as a possible love interest for Izuku the first time I watched the entire story. I honestly wasn’t paying much attention to him at all, he was everything I didn’t like on the surface so I more or less ignored him despite Izuku holding onto him for dear life. Katsuki never once colored my opinion of izu*cha, they did that all on their own.

It wasn’t until after my first watch through, when I was hungry for more and trolling around tumblr, that I realized people shipped Katsuki and Izuku and it was literally like something out of alignment popped into place in my head.

Oh. Duh. That’s the ship.

I went from zero to a million in a handful of seconds because the chemistry was there, the backstory was there, and boy are Izuku and Katsuki loud about how obsessed they are with each other. Just like Kirimina, just like Denki and Kyouka, Hori planted the seeds throughout the entire series so that when it was brought to my attention everything about the narrative and character development supported it.

And I have to take a moment to explain my dislike of Katsuki at first: I honestly fell for the surface-level interpretation of his character and then kinda wrote him off without much more thought. Which is insane to think about because you can’t really understand MHA without Katsuki, he is so integral to the story as a whole that any version of it without him is skewed so far out of alignment that it’s not even the same story anymore. But I just saw angry boy who yells for no reason and put Katsuki in a box and left it at that.

It wasn’t until I was willing to give his character a second look that I started understanding him, and more importantly, his relationship with Izuku. And it helped that when bkdk was presented to me as a ship that my brain understood immediately why it worked. The canon source material supports bkdk at every possible moment.

I really don’t think it does the same for izu*cha.

#bkdk #bakudeku #I’m being very deliberate about not including actual ship names for the one ship I’m arguing against here #because the shippers for that ship deserve to have their tag filled with positivity and I am not trying to rain on anyone’s parade #mainly I’m just word vomiting something I’ve been thinking a lot about while tumblr lurking #and I guess you could say that Hori doesn’t actually know how to write a solid romance and mistakes his way into it three separate times #but izu*cha reads to me like the token het ship for the main character that Hori doesn’t want to write but has to #there’s no care being put into it except how it highlights the other ships for the two characters #anyway #good for you if you made it this far in to my rambling #or maybe I’m sorry is the better thing to say 😂

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dana-chan-the-control-brain · 3 months

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The SaMs/LaEs Monty hater in me that skips any and all episodes where it's just Monty+Another character (Like Earth, Lunar, or Moon). I even skip gameplays with him in it. He's only ever nice and decent to Earth, and Lunar by extension. Can't even be nice to other people that Earth cares about. My girl deserves better, I'm sorry, I had to say it. I don't care if he "treats her well", that's the bare minimum. Spoiling her with gifts feels like love-bombing to me or maybe that's just me nitpicking because of what I went through in a previous relationship. But anyway, point is Earth deserves better! He still secretly calls her mommy, like mumbling it and it's ick!

I think Monty stopped calling her Mommy a long time ago. He only called her that during his first meeting with her. And maybe one or two times after that, but... Eh... Shrug.

I do think Monty is an interesting character, but since he's left the main circle cast of TSAMS and got his own show with MAFS, I feel his intelligence has gone down significantly.

They focus more on his rage, and he tends to be more stupid, when in the early days of TSAMS, he was overly cautious when it came to Evil people but he was just stupid with money.

It is interesting to see his character evolve, but I kinda wish we could go back to what he had.

I do like morally grey Characters, and like... Monty is quite an interesting asshole. But I will give him this, he is entertaining for me.

I don't expect my characters in media to behave logically sometimes. And I have a mixed relationship with the direction they're taking Monty right now....

And I'm one of those people who doesn't like him with Earth that much.

At the bare minimum, we know his war crimes were fake, as he admitted in their therapy.

But like...

He has actively threatened Earth's family, (Lunar, Solar... and Ruin if he counts) he has threatened children, and not just FC. In the recent LAES episode, he kinda hinted that he beat up a few children who threw golf balls at him and Earth is just like "haha you're silly." (looking back, she probably thought she was joking)

I mean... they're cute. He treats her nice. But that's the bare minimum.

I feel she can do a whole lot better.

I get that "opposites attract" and everything....

youtube

But at some point...

There's a limit.

It almost feels they have nothing in common and are just together cus the vas are dating.

I get that Monty "showed her the world" or whatever and opened her heart to romance. but that could have been anyone....

The episode where Monty faked he was being sick just to cuddle with Earth in MAFS was my least favorite episode and actively triggered me just cause of how closely it resembled abusive relationships I've been in before.

Earth even knowing he's lying but tolerating it cus she likes him to stick around.... FC asking what they love about eachother, and neither of them really have a good answer..... As they both only like eachother for what they can do for eachother. Earth liking that Monty opened her up to new experiences, and Monty liking Earth for what she can do for him. Which to me, feel very surface level.

I've heard people argue: "well, you can't just list on the spot what you like about someone."

Yes I can. I can literally do that with all of my friends and it's a long list and it's not just things that they do for me, it's who they are as a person and more substantial things to little things.

I know Monty and Earth have only been dating for a few months, but I think they would have had more they liked about eachother by now.

So is this me heavily projecting? yeah. Is it wrong if people like Monty and Earth Together? No way! Honestly ship them if you like.

But honestly, for me personally I need something more substantial.

Monty is literally her opposite and they don't have much in common and actively hurts kids and her family when it was something Earth would put her foot down in any other scenario.

#tsams #danachan's rants #danachan's asks #danachan's replies

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designernishiki · 11 months

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okay hot take time with tumblr user designernishiki yet again.

i really don’t get the hype over majimako like. at all. I’ve tried to wrap my head around it but every time I just end up so confused how it’s such a popular pairing and wondering if we played the same game like?? they had no chemistry, barely even knew each other (and what they did know of each other was almost entirely built off desperate traumabonding) and people treat the pairing like it’s the most deep, romantic thing in the world despite there being like. nothing there. at least romantically speaking. it’s honest to god baffling to me.

their most iconic “romantic” image together comes from a scene where makoto wants to fucking run away from him because she wants to find lee, who she fully trusts and who’s in danger (and probably also because majima’s literally just admitted to initially planning to murder her.) and he has to hold her there so she doesn’t get herself killed by running (literally) blindly into the street or something. how on earth is that a romantic scene.

their little sort-of date consists of majima being kind and sympathetic to her, sure, maybe even displaying some surface level feelings, but she’s completely preoccupied because of the massively important issues going on at the time with the lieutenants who wronged tachibana, she’s more or less probably plotting their deaths in her head during that scene, and in the end she purposefully has him run to get takoyaki so she can flat out Leave without him stopping her. because she has other priorities and is Not In The Headspace For A Soft Sentimental Escapade to say the absolute least.

Whatever they were, they were not In Love, they didn’t have time or circumstances for that, or to get to know one another as Actual People rather than as incidental liferafts in the midst of a sea of traumatic, nightmarish events. majima attached himself to her and felt strongly about her safety and eventual return to normalcy because she reminded him of himself and wanted her to have the pleasant civilian life he couldn’t give himself. on her end? honestly I don’t think she felt that connected to him at all up until the end, namely up until when he fixed her watch. and even then “romantic” is not even close to the word id use for what she was feeling– in fact I think that waters it down, if anything. I mean like fuck she was there bringing flowers to her brother’s grave in the spot where he died in front of her i really don’t think this was about romanticism, it was about compassion and selflessness and wishing her good luck in her new, free life, while expecting nothing from her in return. he cared about her and her outcome in life deeply and this would be the case regardless of any romantic feelings for her.

Anyway I didn’t mean for this to turn into an essay and somehow I could go on for longer but I absolutely do not need to. I just. am so secure in my thoughts about this and sometimes seeing how people talk about this relationship and it’s supposed deep romanticism makes me feel like I’m losing my mind or played a completely different game or something ngl. don’t get me wrong, ship whatever you want I’m not saying it’s problematic or something it’s just. bizarre to me how popular and sensationalized it is. and a little frustrating how applying this overdramatic romantic narrative to them can so often water down a dynamic that’s way more nuanced and interesting on an individual character level.

#long post #rambling #it drives me a little insane. can you tell #I don’t know man #sometimes I really feel like a lot of people just like it because it makes majima seem more Normal and Less Fruity #not saying everyone is like that #but #I do think a large portion of the hype comes from this mindset consciously or not #and if I wanna get Real spicy for a second. I think the insinuation that he somehow developed feelings for her after knowing her for like #less than a week and only in the worst possible situations was written in as a way to- at least somewhat intentionally-#provide an excuse for why majima’s relationships with women in future years either crumble horribly (mirei) or he doesn’t take any #genuine interest in pursuing them at All. it helps to be able to point at shiyawase nara iiya and go look! he’s Like That because he’ll #always only have feelings for makoto! there’s definitely not anything fruity going on with him at all and he’s definitely not been #into his close male companion for possibly entire Decades #and what’s annoying is that this strategy. if it was. in fact. a strategy. worked pretty well #people really do think he’s been romantically hung up on her for years and that’s the sole reason he doesn’t pursue any women #(sans mirei but that’s. a whole different discussion. and obviously did not work out very well.)#but anyway #yeah #fun fact this pairing is the only tag I have filtered on tumblr like. period. fhfjfjdjdjdj #I KNOW that’s petty of me and like I said there’s nothing like morally Wrong with it or something it just. annoys me.#and I’m gonna be real since I’m dumping all this here anyway. every time I see an alternate timeline pic of them where they’re like. a #Normal Couple with a Normal Life and majima is a Normal Guy i physically recoil i just. i hate it dude i really do #like agshdhfhdhdh majima’s development into who he is hinges SO MUCH on embracing and accepting the fact that he’s not Normal and will never #be Normal and that’s okay– in fact that’s great in its own way because he doesn’t have to fit into a mold and can explore whatever #eccentricities and hobbies and parts of an identity he wants to create. for better or for worse. y0 majima still clings onto hope that he #has the capability for ‘normalcy’ and he sees that potential in makoto. but eventually has to come to terms with that not being an option #for him. and he mourns it at first but is quick to take advantage of the freedom that comes with that realization. and etc etc etc. it’s so #important to him as a character and such a big queer theme as well and I hateeeeeee when people erase it in favor of ‘but what if he was #Normal and not a Freak.’ bdhxhffjbfb I ran out of tags so I need to shut up fr fr

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dear-wormwoods · 11 months

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Okay, I have 2 questions for you: 1) What do you think about people who say that if Cartman became abusive with Heidi it was Kyle just because he openly suggests that he would use Troll Trace to reveal Cartman's bigoted past and send the information to Heidi and because he only helped Heidi because he was in love ( honestly it's just make my blood boil) and 2) What do you think about Kitty Monk's video " Are Cartman and Kyle the same person? "

Ps. I'm happy that I'm not the only one who adore Kyle and thinks Rabbi Cartman was and awful person.

I’ll be honest anon, I kept putting off answering this because I wanted to actually watch the video you mentioned so I could properly give you thoughts on it but I truly do not have the time or energy to watch it. I’m assuming the whole video is about making Kyle’s actions out to be more terrible while downplaying Cartman’s so as to put them on ‘even ground’ and I’m simply not here for that kind of content. If I’m wrong, please let me know!

To answer the question the title poses: no, they are not the same person. At all.

Kyle has a conscience, which sets him apart from Cartman for obvious reasons. He feels bad when he does something wrong. He worries about how his actions affect other people. He even worries about and feels bad for Cartman, despite being the one person who really should get a free pass to not give a shit about him. He’s a dick in the same way a lot of kids are dicks, and that really isn’t comparable to Cartman’s behavior and total lack of remorse.

I imagine people who follow the ‘same person’ line of thinking would say things like “well Kyle laughed at Cartman getting HIV so Cartman was just teaching him a lesson, just like how Kyle tried teaching Cartman a lesson by making him ginger” or “Kyle blew up Toronto so he’s probably killed more people than Cartman ever did with Cthulhu.”

To those points I would say - Cartman’s reaction to Kyle laughing was disproportionate and to suggest otherwise or downplay the seriousness of intentionally giving someone HIV as ‘payback’ is ridiculous. Kyle was laughing at the irony of the person who constantly jokes about him getting AIDS being the one to end up getting it, and he clearly knew he was wrong to laugh about it which was why he excused himself so he wouldn’t do it in front of Cartman. It was a gut reaction that he knew was socially unacceptable. Cartman was completely out of line in his response by doing something which, as far as he knew at the time, would cause permanent damage to Kyle. The difference between that and the ginger thing is twofold: Kyle wasn’t really reacting to Cartman’s bigotry on behalf of himself, he was trying to come to the defense of actual Ginger kids who were now being bullied by other kids because of what Cartman was saying. He wanted to show Cartman what it was like to be on the other side of things for once. Kyle wasn’t motivated by selfishness or revenge. The other difference is that dying Cartman’s hair etc wasn’t permanent. He did not forever alter Cartman’s body or intentionally make him sick, he and the other kids made surface level, temporary changes. This is not equivalent to giving someone HIV - obviously.

The other thing… well, I’ll preface this by saying I don’t think that the Canada thing was handled well by the show. It did not really deal with the aftermath and how it weighed on Kyle’s conscience other than the two second scene where Ike tells him to stop being a victim. But I also understand that it’s difficult to like, reconcile that kind of devastation for a character who is so overcome by guilt that he wants to die over toilet papering someone’s house. Here’s the thing though, Kyle isn’t directly responsible for what happened. He feels responsible and it makes sense why he does, because it was his own emotional outburst that ultimately ‘swayed’ Garrison, but I truly don’t think he meant for that to happen. He was speaking from a place of hurt and trauma, after not feeling heard by his friends and supposedly safe adults, and finally, the wrong person listened to him. Garrison already had a vendetta against Canadians - he was itching to do something drastic. Ultimately it’s HIS fault. Compare this to Cartman using Cthulhu to knowingly and intentionally destroy San Francisco, who knows how many synagogues, etc… it’s not the same. Cartman knows what he’s doing, and he doesn’t care about how it impacts others. Kyle cares about the natural consequences of his actions, even the indirect ones.

I’m not sure if those points were even in the video but those are what came to my head. Ultimately, Kyle’s conscience will never allow him to be ‘the same person’ as Cartman. Suggesting that they’re on the same level is, I think, fundamentally misunderstanding both the characters and their relationship with each other.

As for Heidi, I’ve never heard anyone say it’s Kyle’s fault Cartman became abusive, but I’m not surprised it’s been said. Some people will just say anything to villainize Kyle and make Cartman more sympathetic. It sounds like something Cartman himself would say, or any other abuser - “oh, I only hurt you because of x y and z”. It’s removing accountability from Cartman, which is… insane to me. Maybe Kyle’s threat put pressure on Cartman, but it didn’t CAUSE him to become abusive. He was always going to become abusive. It’s just who he is. That’s like saying Butters caused Cartman to become abusive by laughing at Heidi’s jokes. Or saying it’s Heidi’s fault for expecting Cartman to put effort into their relationship and talk to her more. It’s gross. Cartman is responsible for his OWN jealousy and paranoia and whatever else contributed to the way his relationship with Heidi played out. Saying otherwise goes against one of the messages of the whole season - Cartman deflecting and placing blame on everyone else and victimizing himself was an abuse tactic in itself. Heidi saw herself going down that same road and chose to break the cycle and take responsibility for herself. People need to hold Cartman responsible for his own decisions, words, and actions.

When it comes to Kyle’s relationship to Heidi, I don’t even think he liked her let alone loved her. I think he helped her because he felt bad for her, could see that Cartman was abusing her, and knew how it felt to be on the receiving end of Cartman’s abuse. He didn’t even think he liked her at all until the girls told him he did, and it was easier for him to go along with that than to grapple with the complicated dynamic he has with Cartman. I do not think Kyle’s intention to help Heidi was selfish at all. It wasn’t about taking away Cartman’s girlfriend and making her like him instead. It was about helping someone he could tell was suffering.

Sorry this took so long to respond to! I’d be interested to know what points that video made but I’ll probably never watch it.

#asks #south park #kyle broflovski #eric cartman

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optiwashere · 3 months

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This is a big one for the Asheera replay.

Context if you've missed things so far: I'm replaying the game as Asheera again for a combination of inspiration, reminders of characterization, and also to solidify how Asheera feels about a lot of the major companion moments in-game. I'm also way farther than this now so I'm probably going to speed up what content the replay posts cover...

Before we get to the main event, I wanted to go over some of Asheera's high level thoughts on the companions so far!

Karlach - Fast becoming good friends. Lots of silly banter shared in camp, on the road, basically wherever. Asheera enjoys hearing Karlach's stories about Avernus whenever she's willing to share them; it gives her better perspective on her oath. To see what some would call a monster, a woman that was on the frontlines of the Blood War, and call her friend?

Lae'zel - Still tense, but Lae'zel is coming around on Asheera. Asheera respects her in combat, the crèche is still a possible cure, and she still knows more than anyone else in the party about illithids. Side note, but Lae'zel thinks the situation between Shadowheart and Asheera is pointless given their condition. It's not even physical? Why bother?

Shadowheart - Growing closer, and the rest of this post kinda goes into why. Asheera is starting to hear her faith as zealotry and that's concerning, but it's also... sad? Asheera hears in her words something that triggers the redeemer's instinct to search for more than what's on the surface. She doesn't respect Sharrans (who would?) and she wonders what lies behind the fanaticism.

Wyll - He's everything he ever said he was and more. Asheera thinks he's just a good guy, and that's honestly something she needs on her side. He's quite flirtatious too, which is a fun break from fighting. She doesn't swing that way, but it's fun watching him fumble with literally everyone in camp.

Gale - Asheera is glad that she was wrong about Gale. He really is just eccentric. Maybe a bit egotistical and prone to overexplaining himself, but he's been a decent man so far and he did explain the entire magical item eating problem pretty quickly. Being able to trust a wizard is always good!

Astarion - He's just fascinating. He's an asshole and a blowhard, but he's at least open about it. That at least gives her something to work with. The whole "pretending not to be a vampire" schtick was getting old anyways. Plus, imagine the look on her fellow paladins' faces when she tells them she actually had a chance at redeeming a vampire spawn? That's worth the effort alone.

Now. Time for Shadowheart and her "oh btw, I worship Shar" reveal. Which, you know... wasn't obvious by the armor she wears to begin with or the gigantic purple tent with Sharran iconography stitched into it. It's always good to have confirmation!

But seriously, this is a really major moment for the Asheera/Shadowheart relationship.

After Asheera hears this confession, I have to just headcanon that Shadowheart's tent doesn't have the iconography on it. Otherwise this being a "reveal" is completely lost for me. When she first mentions it, Asheera is definitely surprised. Yeah, Shadowheart can be annoyed when Asheera acts altruistically, but it's never been something that comes between them really.

She said 2 in this dialogue by the way. It's a moment where she wants to put all their cards on the table. After a somewhat long discussion, Shadowheart then says something that completely changes the tone of the conversation:

At this point, Asheera sees Shadowheart. Really, finally sees her. Not the "shield of secrecy" that she preaches blindly, mindlessly regurgitating things she's been told about Shar. Right here, she sees pain in every word that Shadowheart says about her Dark Lady. There is a purpose to it all, that's what she wants to believe.

Not the pain. None of what Shadowheart says here is actually about loss, pain, or suffering. What Shadowheart yearns for is purpose and meaning. That's all Asheera hears, and her heart breaks for this woman that she just thought was going to be a distraction during their adventure.

It's also so massive for Shadowheart's characterization for the same reason. She's so deluded that she then starts spouting propaganda that's completely and totally false...

Like, Shadowheart?

Baby?

Shar advocates for literally none of that lmao. Sharrans destroy things that aren't Sharran and call that idolatry, they worm their way into organizations with assassination and manipulation to control them, and heretics are anyone that will not accept Shar. The level of brainwashed this girl is operating on with this dialogue is wild and it remains one of my favorite convos in the game even on replay.

For Asheera, she hears the absurd self-justification in Shadowheart's words. She is almost melancholic throughout this conversation except when she's talking about Sharran ideals. Suddenly, she becomes angry. Like it's a learned response from decades of abuse to force her into the mold she's been randomly chosen to fit.

Asheera's heard zealots before. At this point, even if their situationship never becomes anything more, Asheera is convinced that she needs to know more about this woman's pain. Maybe there is a way to help her?

Side-note: Shadowheart's defensiveness towards her own abuser is so fitting that it's kinda hard to watch on replay, knowing what we know about her entire arc. "So long as it has meaning..." what if there is no meaning, Shadowheart? What if it was entirely arbitrary?

That's what Asheera's thinking during this.

Furthermore, when Asheera learns that she's had her memory deliberately suppressed — and combined with the pains from the wound on her hand — it's basically red flags galore. She's not used to dealing with someone so thoroughly... unaware of her own situation. Asheera is very much a "charge headlong into the situation" type person for the most part, even if charging means a discussion rather than a fight.

Yet Shadowheart thinks that she can have everything she ever wanted if she appeases her own abuser. Horrifying.

I find this single approval tag so fucking telling. The approval tags can sometimes be broken and multiple in one branch can be directly contradictory depending on the sort of "route" you're trying to bring a companion down, but there's no alternative approval/disapproval in these choices. Everything else is neutral, but this one touches her.

Like, at this point we all know that Shadowheart is a deeply wounded person that wants to believe in something so that she four decades of suffering was for something, but the fact that she approves of you offering to help her with her wound is so... there's an entire essay to be written there.

It's unreal. She goes on and on and on about how Sharrans must remain free of all but their love of Shar. Her (perverse, abusive) love of Shar is literally physically symbolized in the stigmata she carries.

And she approves of Asheera trying to ease that pain? I think Shadowheart rationalizes this as Asheera trying to help her be a "true" Sharran and avoid the pain altogether, but that's not what the dialogue says. Nor is it Asheera's intent. Her intent is to help her ease the pain.

Now, there's lots of ways to read Shadowheart's wound as a depiction of chronic pain, and I don't want to take that away from folks. Love that for y'all, but in "my canon" and with Asheera specifically this is a moment where Shadowheart reaches out, hand held open hoping for anything or anyone to reach back, and Asheera is the first person that doesn't swat her away in fear or call her a failure for not adhering to her religion.

She takes Shadowheart's hand willingly, ignoring all the traps and knives Shadowheart's set up to protect herself. Why was sharing everything so easy? Secrecy is supposed to be what Sharrans need, after all. Why was it so easy for someone to listen to the way she speaks and for them to say, "I'd be lying if I said [Sharran faith] didn't sound convincing."

So long as it has meaning, right?

Also, I keep forgetting to take screenshots of Asheera's Dream Visitor and since they were brought up in one of the Companion!Tav asks...

Here she is in the character creator because I think the next time I see this character they will look quite a bit different lmao. Seeing this person in her dreams doesn't startle Asheera, it's not uncommon for her to dream about this person but then this dream version of that person begins speaking strangely. It makes Asheera immediately distrustful of this thing, whatever it is, once it starts speaking freely and saying things that this person would never have said.

#oc: asheera #asheera replay posts #this turned into a pseudo-meta post and I really desperately hope it doesn't draw That Crowd lmao #this has been a neat little experiment but I'm going to move these to weekly/whenever posts so that I can focus on headcanuary + fic writin #this has been the juice I needed - some inspiration!#i'm def speeding these up in terms of content if not frequency...

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theywontletmebeprincipal · 7 months

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okay I've watched Fionna and Cake and WOW I enjoyed it a LOT more than I originally thought I would.

I had to sit with the last episode for a while. Trying to decide my feelings on it, you know? My first reaction to how they painted Simon and Betty's relationship was that they did that so the audience could better cope with Simon's choice to move on. Thought about it more and yeah, I was wrong. It just removed the rose-colored glasses. I think the one thing I didn't like was Beth spelling the whole thing out, like yeah I got it. The chose your own adventure allegory worked! I got it. I like the last episode! The part when GolBetty was still protecting Simon when Scarab kept trying to fuck with him got me emotional

Winter King was the biggest tumblrsexyman bait I have EVER seen- selfcest bait and all! Pretty funny, I respect it.

Loved both what Gary and Marshall Lee were doing and what was happening with the main characters. I wasn't sure if I would be too interested in them, but fucking. I got invested in the baking!

BRO THE THEME SONG!?!?! I had only seen the one for the first episode beforehand, so the real intro was a surprise to me! I love it!

Trying to organize my thoughts is hard uuhh just I liked it and will probably rewatch it :]

1. ok the thing about the choose your own adventure allegory isn’t that it’s just that. I thought it was the one weak aspect at first too but in the ending sequence there’s a reveal that totally recontextualizes it

remember the little girl who wanted to be a writer because of ice king’s fionna and cake books? she sketches casper and nova during that sequence. casper and nova isn’t just some random allegory they pulled in — it’s HER BOOK. those are her ocs based off of the stories simon told her about him and betty, and ultimately it was that girl’s portrayal of them, not beth’s explanation, that made him realize what was going on

re: beth, I think it was at least a very interesting dynamic. simon is usually paired with characters either much younger than him or just less worldly than him, and he’s very book/world smart, so I think people tend to forget how immature he can be. ice king was just simon to the extreme after all, not to mention the way simon acts in the earlier episodes (him refusing to run from scarab because he just doesn’t feel like it is a great example). he’s a very smart guy but sometimes he gets so caught up in that that he doesn’t step back to consider anything except surface level logic. pair that with him going slightly mad with worry and I fully understand why beth thought he was shermy doing a bit

simon isn’t childish per se, but there’s a lot of things he doesn’t know because he doesn’t ever really look outside his own perspective, and I like how casper and nova illustrated that. simon has always been this sort of fatherly figure that everyone else admires but nobody else sees the worth in, he’s always trying to shoulder so much for no reason. there’s been this imagery the whole season of simon caring for people younger than him (baby finn, normal finn, fionna, astrid, etc) but he never actually lets himself be cared for. so it makes sense that him being given the grace that a kid would be given and ultimately realizing his wrongdoing after seeing himself through the eyes of a child would be a thing that happens

2. you’re so right about gumlee me too man. the scene where they kissed while pb n marcy were hurtling to their toxic codependent yuri deaths was crazy. holy shit

3. I honestly think there’s a LOT to winter king I have a couple posts worth of analysis on it. I think the idea of simon doing something so wildly unethical is very fascinating I loved watching him spiral into madness. slay

4. the biggest surprise for me I think was cake’s arc? like looking back I totally should’ve seen it coming but it was I think my favorite ongoing plotline from the show. her wishes being at odds with fionna’s presented this really interesting dynamic that finn and jake never had and the way she was a narrative foil to simon was like. ohhhh that was fucking evil of the writers . simon desperately wanting to destroy his mind and cake desperately wanting to keep hers. the way that translates into their dynamic with each other. the terrifying dawning realization that fionna might prefer her non sentient. of course it isn’t true, but it would’ve felt that way, no?

also just fucking. “everybody dies. they should get to die as themselves.” “fionna, I am myself. like this.” what if I spontaneously combusted killing everyone in a 3 mile radius. what then

#sanswers #sorry this is a LOT of text but I have Thoughts #you can tell it’s serious too bc I’ve actually taken the time to write out ‘and’#adventure time #fionna and cake

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andipxndy · 9 months

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so i'm taking part in the abbott rewatch and honestly??? abbott is such a gift

some of these things i'm noticing in the rewatch??? beautiful

like:

Janine being a Buzz fan for the ambition (i mean predictable but also i love her for it)

Andrew's sassy pencil throw is a mood ngl

her student Erica calling her Janine like they're friends outside class??? maybe my brain is overthinking by calling this foreshadowing lmao

Janine thinking twice on her Xanax rug thing and realising that it's actually a good one to use forever

"Back That Azz Up" for kids BARBARA PLS

Janine calling Barbara "mom" and basically babbling excitedly to her at how great a teacher she is and how she wants to be like her 😭

the staff room being upstairs???? i hadn't noticed it before but now it's 100% an important factor to me because that means all the ground floor teachers have to go upstairs instead of the upstairs teachers coming down

also is it the upstairs hallway that's white because a lot of the later interviews are in a warmer brown corridor (downstairs) i think

they're sitting at different tables in the pilot - they're sitting further from the kitchen counters here

as much as i disliked Ava in the pilot originally, her calming down that other teacher (Tina. her name is Tina.) showed a hint of professionalism that we see more of later (she wrecked that literally 5 seconds later in true Ava fashion though)

Barbara smiling every time she fires a shot

five year old bra. that's so HARSH Barbara. also the fact that she noticed (and the bra is probably older than that)

Jacob talking about Africa 😭 he truly does need to stop

...i feel like Janine's ENTIRE CLASS calls her "Janine" and not "Miss Teagues" and that's great tbh. absolutely hilarious. but it also shows the differences in power and respect between classes because Melissa's kids would never call her "Melissa", and she and Janine teach the same grade

Barbara's expressions are genuinely wonderful

why is Jacob trying so hard. i love him but also why is he like this

Janine absolutely keeps her shawls as emergency cover ups for kids with bathroom emergencies

"that was disgusting... but she seems nice" the beginning of the fall ladies and gentlemen

Janine walking straight into Barbara's classroom like she's always a welcome guest lmao. where was the knock on the door, Janine.

that smirk on Barbara's face when Janine starts gloating like she knows something's about to go wrong

Gregory, Janine and Jacob walking together down the corridor. the after school squad begins. except we all know Gregory is just walking there because he wanted someone to follow and Janine was his first choice

"am i even a Sagittarius?" Janine your exaggeration is simply glorious

Ava's nicknames for Gregory are incredibly imaginative and i may need a full list of them

the way Jacob was about to start making comments on Janine's hair 💀

Sheena refusing the food 💀 how bad was that pizza???

Gregory definitely followed last minute to see what was going on with Janine because at that point he's known her for less than a week (maybe even a day) and he's already 😍 for her

veryone just wanting Jacob to not talk or bring in one of his "inspirational quotes"

Jacob why are you trying to hug this stranger past a rug

that small smile on Gregory's face that he clears as soon as the cameras appear

Barbara bringing in the odor and stain spray for Janine 🥺

that blue dress that Janine wore? i want it

anyway i really re-enjoyed the pilot, it just brought back a whole lot of feelings and revealed a whole lot more about the characters than i thought it would. it may be surface-level understanding of the characters, but it leaves you wanting to learn so much more about them through the show.

#aj speaks #abbott elementary #abbottrw #i love this show #i loved rewatching the pilot #cannot wait to keep rewatching it all

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mmriesoftvat · 3 months

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"I shouldn't be telling you this, but what you did for me today... I thought it was sweet of you." Was it the alcohol that was making him say such things? It probably was. Cyno was very much aware of his own body temperature rising, even against the faint cooling breeze from the open window of his personal living quarters inside the Akademiya. Maybe the green and pastel silks he was wearing loosely around his form were contributing to that effect too.

There was a part of him that thought his company shared part of the guilt too. Though for that he had no one to blame but himself.

"... It was rash. And sudden. And not at all proportional to the threat level we were dealing with..." He had to make a point still, flicking an admonishing sideglance at Kaminari, sitting with him on the window sill to look at the fireworks display outside. Cyno felt a smile surfacing on his face still, and he couldn't fight it. It was a good thing he was on a day off from his duties starting tonight. "... But it was sweet. Thank you."

Sweet isn't a word Kaminari would normally ascribe to himself, so hearing Cyno call him that more than once is jarring. The shock shows in the way Kami whips his head toward the General. "I didn't do it to be called sweet." The disdain is in his voice as he rises from his position.

Honestly, he isn't sure why he does the things he does for Cyno. It's certainly not a selfless act, Kami knows that much. But it's not entirely selfish either. There's some desire lurking just beneath his more logical rationalizing, some hidden motive to keep Cyno on a shelf for only Kami to admire. Keeping Cyno safe, yeah. Of course he needs to stay safe and healthy, it's for the people.

As he moves toward Cyno though, Kami can smell the alcohol on his breath. It's an unpleasant smell, but Kami can't judge, he'd do the same if his body would allow it. Unfortunately, alcohol is just another drink that tends to get in the way of other things that could be considered fun.

"Call me rash more often," Kami continues. "I think I like that more than sweet." He presses the palm of his hand to Cyno's chest, nudging him back a little. At this point, even Kami doesn't know what he's doing. The hidden desires in his brain are no longer so hidden, and he's acting on impulse now. It's so strange and foreign, so different from the other emotional extreme.

He's pushing Cyno back against the wall, hand running up and down the man's torso. "I'm definitely rash, and not at all rational. Consider me your own personal attack dog." He leans in, pressing his lips to Cyno's neck for a second, listening to the sound of his heartbeat. That steady thump has Kami's face heating up. "All bark, especially all bite."

"I could be rash right now. I want to be rash." It's not just possessiveness he's feeling. There's something else, a feeling Kami doesn't even begin to know how to understand. It's a very human sensation though, and it's one that irritates him all too much at the moment. It's rolling off of him in intense waves of desire, a longing to take Cyno for his own, and show the General exactly how Kami is really feeling inside. But...

Pulling back, his lips curl back in disgust for himself. Whatever this is, he can't deal with it when Cyno isn't in the proper mindset for it. It feels wrong, like somehow he's taking advantage. If they're going to do something, Kami can't bring himself to do it when one reeks of alcohol.

"But you're inebriated, and I'm not doing a thing until you're sober." His hand drops from Cyno's chest as he steps back. "Otherwise, it's all on you to take the initiative."

#( ANSWERED. )#roleplay abiogenesis2 #; cyno #( SELF | KAMINARI. )#( IC. )#suggestive #alcohol tw

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nobodysdaydreams · 1 year

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I love the “Curtain/Nathaniel Benedict goes from scary villain to the society’s weird uncle” arc, but may I present the “They were family all along whether they realized it or not” theory:

What’s crazy to me about the show’s version of Nathaniel Benedict/L.D. Curtain is that despite his evil intention and manipulations, he, in a weird toxic way, has always actually cared about the kids. Obviously there’s the scene where Reynie says that he knows that despite everything Dr. Curtain cares about his son, which is the point in his speech when Nathaniel asked Reynie to stop talking because he felt a narcoleptic attack coming. But I don’t think it was just SQ that Nathaniel cared about. I think in some twisted way he cared about the other four kids too and might have even considered or thought of considering them family before season 2. (warning, long post, but hear me out).

Reynie/Sticky- Besides Sticky and Reynie the only other person we see Curtain have those weird manipulative dinners with is Garrison, who he describes as his “friend” (despite his obvious manipulations). Granted, maybe he does those fake-friend dinner manipulations to a lot of executives/messengers/employees and we just don’t see it on screen, but it’s never implied that he treats Jackson, Jillson, Jeffers, Marlon, or even Martina that way, and she was the top student at the institute. Martina also tells the boys that no one has ever made messenger as quickly as they have. Additionally, Curtain favored Reynie a lot before he realized Reynie was resisting the whisperer and thought Reynie was only trying to befriend his son to get ahead. Before that he gives Reynie and SQ speeches about other people trying to take advantage of/betray you and treats them very similarly. Curtain even tells Reynie that “he had limitless plans for him”. He also ends up favoring Sticky more than anyone. Curtain might have sent Sticky to the waiting room but that was before he became a messenger. And when Curtain hears Sticky’s greatest fear for the first time, his empathy and concern were genuine. Even when he finds out Sticky is working with Reynie, he still begs Sticky to get back into the whisperer even though he could just get another kid.

Kate- They make a point of showing that Curtain is impressed with the answers Reynie and Kate gave in class when he first meets them. Additionally, we see Curtain dismisses and mocks nearly every request brought to him by a student/employee regardless of who it is. So why would he listen to Martina and save Kate from being barged to (of all things) play tetherball which in no way helps with his plan? Curtain would likely not know the names of all students and leave that to administration, only monitoring the names of top students he’d use as messengers. Martina speaking with him was probably the first time he made the connection that his ex-possible friend/employee’s daughter was at the school. Regardless, it’s still the only time he listens to and respects input from a student/employee and on a surface level, it seems random and out of character.

Constance- He doesn’t do much with Constance other than comment on her psychic abilities at the end of season 1, but he’s still impressed with her power. If they stick to the books, he was also aware that an orphan psychic child existed that could mess with his plans and was at some point trying to locate her.

But more to the point: Why would Curtain favor the majority of the society like that? Is it really just because of their talent/usefulness/personal connections? We don’t get a lot of details on what Curtain wanted to use the children for besides starting the emergency, but honestly, as crazy as it sounds, I think he was planning to adopt them at various points in time. Curtain’s adopted SQ, so we know he’s adopted his ex-employees’ child before and might have tried to do so with Kate, but something went wrong and he couldn’t track her down until he found out she was back at the institute. (I don’t know if he would have still considered adopting Kate or maybe even all the children after sweeping them, but book Curtain swept SQ’s memories and show Curtain used dangerous fake happiness to get his brother back so it’s not totally outside the realm of possibility). Also, as far as Curtain knows, Reynie and Sticky are orphans around the age he and Nicholas were when they were looking to be adopted which is why he projects the conflict he had with Nicholas so strongly onto them (though he switches which one he views as himself in the situation). Even when he realizes Sticky betrayed him, he still begs Sticky to join him, stating that he doesn’t need Sticky, but wants Sticky to be a part of this, that he recognizes that Sticky is incredibly gifted (which goes with Sticky’s fear of not being wanted and Curtain’s already visibly upset at this point. Maybe even more sad than angry you can see he’s almost crying). As for Constance, her being a psychic child Curtain was looking for makes the “that little girl is psychic, I should have anticipated that” line make more sense because Nathaniel, on the verge of completing the emergency, was probably thinking to himself “See Nicky? I never needed you anyway. Soon I’ll have the world. And my own family” but after discovering his ex-employee’s kid, and the two orphaned messengers he connected with work for his brother is now thinking “Ugh, at this point Nicky probably has that psychic child too. Wait, that actually would explain how she destroyed my machine. Oh… of course. Of course Nicholas has every other special child I’ve ever looked for (besides SQ). Because Nicky always gets everything, doesn’t he?”.

Also: Curtain hates betrayal, especially when he feels like it’s from someone he actually did trust or care about. That’s why Curtain is so eager to sweep Milligan again, to get control over and admiration from his brother, to make Reynie squirm when he thinks he’s the spy, to brain sweep Kate, to put Sticky under artificial happiness and to “treat them without mercy”: because in his eyes, they betrayed and hurt him first, and they deserve what they get. Yet even in Season 2, when the children are his enemies, he still insists on calling them a society. Yes, he is trying to destroy them, but he also on some level recognizes that these children deserve admiration. This might be because maybe, despite his evil intentions, Curtain saw the same special thing his brother saw in these children and a big reason he is wants to destroy them is because he actually cared about them before he realized they were against him and is now so determined make them pay because of their loyalty and connection to Nicholas, his ultimate betrayer.

However, despite Curtain’s anger over Nicholas’ betrayal and all the horrible things Curtain has done to Nicholas, deep down, Nathaniel still cares deeply about him and wants his brother back, which is seen when he has a complete breakdown when Nicholas freezes. He is also distressed when Constance freezes, though it is more subtle (probably because others were in the room), but when she wakes up, Nathaniel looks genuinely relieved, is holding back tears, and unconsciously starts walking forward when he see them hugging each other. You can tell he wants to be a part of their family, and in a way, through their connection to Nicholas, he always has been. This is an interesting contrast to book Curtain who hates it when Nicholas calls himself his brother and uses the children as a means to an end, whereas show Curtain seems to really want and need that family relationship, but is struggling to obtain it in a healthy way. I’ve made like 50 posts already speculating what Nathaniel as their redeemed uncle would look like, so I won’t beat a dead horse but by golly is that the direction I hope they take this.

#long post oops #sorry I just have many thoughts on this storyline but I noticed this and I was like #wait… did … did Curtain possibly consider adopting members of the society in this version?#because the few clues we have about his character do point in that direction to a degree #AU where Sticky is overcome by the whisperer and gets adopted by Curtain?#AU where Kate is successfully adopted by Curtain after Milligan is swept? Or maybe after Curtain brainsweeps her?#AU where Curtain finds and adopts Constance and uses her to enhance the whisperer?#mysterious benedict society #the mysterious benedict society #tmbs #tmbs disney #tmbs season 3 #mbs season 2 #mbs season 1 #mbs season 3 #mbs disney #mbs #mbs s2 #nathaniel benedict #nicholas benedict #reynie muldoon #sticky washington #kate wetherall #constance contraire #ledroptha curtain #mr curtain #mr. curtain #dr curtain

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