#i fucking loved them like. i know. lame to fixate on two humans when there are SO many more interesting character deisngs

[crehador]

brother crab's winter 2024 parting thoughts: ishura s1

tl;dr was originally meh on this for reasons that really aren't fair, ultimately wound up enjoying it well enough to pick up s2, but wouldn't necessarily recommend (especially if you'll be bothered by the fact that it's Very slow)

full review:

you know what i think for the first half of the season i really didn't give this show a fair shake. based on a skim of its summary and the fact that it had the battle royale tag, i went in thinking it would be structurally similar to shuumatsu no valkyrie (which i'd recently binged and enjoyed immensely)

and that sort of battle royale, a tournament between a roster of op heroes, does seem to be coming up. but unlike snv, ishura doesn't dump us straight into the tournament. there's a whole lot of buildup to it, in fact...

the whole first season is buildup for the tournament to choose a hero, which isn't necessarily a bad thing! just isn't what i expected, so i was a bit on the fence for a while

ultimately though i think i did enjoy this series. it's heavy on the action (and gore) but most of the fight scenes are pretty banging, and the cast is full of fairly interesting characters (many of whom are not long-lived lmao)

some of the characters are so cool, in fact, that it feels like a shame to not get more time with them. the pacing didn't feel bad or anything, but it's a very, for lack of a better word, scattered series. not in a negative way, though, because the relatively huge cast provides a wider look at the world. it's just a lot of build-up and so far not much payoff (but clearly it's the start of a longer thing, so i guess to me that's fine)

the worldbuilding to me is by far the strongest point of the series, even stronger than the action sequences. there are some elements of it that i really love, like the naming conventions ("taren the guarded" "dakai the magpie" "alus the star runner" and so on, instead of family surnames) and the word arts magic

the (fairly early) reveal that not only humans and wyverns but even these... constructs? that seemed like mechanical golems? could use this word arts magic was fantastic to me, and i hope we get to see more interesting things of that nature as we continue

ishura has had a second season announced and even though i was a bit lukewarm on it for half this season, i do think i'll continue. if only because the cast is absurdly stacked and i go where my favorite voice actors go lol

i would still say it isn't exactly exceptional as a fantasy action series, but does do some interesting things with worldbuilding that i don't think i've seen much of before (but i also haven't watched fantasy extensively yet, so don't have too much to compare)

dakai my beloved freak i miss u already umu it was such a trip hearing hoshi souichirou voice a character like dakai though lol i mean i'm sure he's done many before but i more associate him with darling momo revale (and more recently saiyuki swk) so this was. new. and a treat

#crab watches #winter 2024 #parting thoughts #ishura #GOD i'm going to miss taren and dakai #i fucking loved them like. i know. lame to fixate on two humans when there are SO many more interesting character deisngs #but they are SO my thing #woman in uniform who's declared herself the new demon king #and her funky little barefoot boytoy sidearm #could watch a whole series with them tbh #another worldbuilding aspect i'm really fascinated by is like... not just the fact that there are ''visitors'' from other worlds #but i guess how they're regarded? #because like soujirou might end up the mc #as much as this series can have an mc (it's very ensemble cast for now) #but dakai is already out #and they're the two we've met who have been isekai'd into this world #and so far they're not... REALLY the focal point? #i'm rambling now but i guess what i'm trying to say is it's interesting and refreshing that there are like #isekai elements in this series but isekai ISN'T the main factor #and the people who were isekai'd aren't necessarily the main players #(well soujirou certainly is but anyway) #it's just kind of neat how isekai is used more as like flavoring instead of the main ingredient here #really enjoy that

[adhdeancas]

wait so fellow adhder I'm I think that actually all of the TFW are actually ND. Cas has autism, dean has adhd, and hear me out, Sam has ocd. the intrusive thoughts? obsessive behavior? eating and acting clean literally to a point where it is inconvenient for everyone involved? I think he is obsessing over being clean and fresh (compared to demon blood and souless Sam, sleazy and nasty Sam) also I have a few reasons for thinking dean us adhd but y do u think so sorry I'm rambling

let’i’ve been waiting all my life for you to come into my inbox and talk to me about this

of COURSE TFW are ND!!! of course!! and yes, yes, we all know Cas has autism I love my autistic angel and i love the hc that Sam has ocd because it does fit really well!

(sectioned all of this out because it’s better for adhders to read, you get it)

his ocd directly bleeds into his poor self-esteem like you said with the demon blood! he feels the need to be pure and even though he canonically knows that these things (like eating clean, running, etc) can’t help his problem, he still tries because he kind of... has to. 

also OCD is often connected to a need for control, and the physical state of sam’s body is the one thing he has control over (which is also where we get into eating disorder territory). Sam has had so little control over his life, especially growing up, and for most his childhood, he didn’t even control what he ate (with Dean making/buying his meals). SO once he gets out of that environment, he hyperfixates on this new freedom!

we can also go to the hand pressing with this. a literal compulsion that even after the effect of the pain wears off once the hand heals, he still does it as a grounding method. nonsensical compulsion to calm anxiety? yes OCD 

can also be linked to childhood trauma but what ND can’t be amirite

emotional regulation once again - remember Angry Boy King Sammy? So angry he doesn’t know what to do and can’t control it and feels like he’s gonna explode with the rage?

intrusive (sometimes violent) thoughts are a huge marker for OCD and Sam’s obviously sometimes come from Unnatural means but they are also a part of him and kind of always have been

religious themes are also huge in OCD which Fits and makes me EMOTIONAL Sam I’m so sorry he spent his whole childhood feeling unclean and unholy and Fixated on that to the point of praying to a God his family didn’t believe in just so he could be Clean fuck

also i think it’s really interesting and cool that of the two brothers, Sam shows the most obvious signs of OCD even though he is canonically the messier brother and the brother not worried about IRL germs (i know the writers didn’t try to do this but i don’t care they didn’t play into the OCD means i must germex! trope)

AND ADHD DEAN!!! 

let’s first look at the obvious: Dean is highly skilled in combat, even though he hates physical exercise. Why? ADHD brain tied up with anxiety is hardwired into flight or fight, not sit and focus on one thing. it’s constantly picking up on threats and peripheral vision and all that shit 

he also has a spotty history with books! like i’ve said before, not shit writing, this is Dean’s ADHD. Dean as a kid read some high-brow books and he still does occasionally but he doesn’t nearly as much as an adult because it became much harder!! and because he just couldn’t devote that much attention, even as a kid, to things that he wasn’t really interested in! This is why he hates research

he’s known far and wide for his impulsiveness, his knee jerk decisions. it’s part of what makes him a good hunter and part of what makes him human disorder incarnate - It’s ADHD

Low frustration tolerance and rejection-sensitive dysphoria! Dean has a really hard time regulating his emotions and especially anger - especially especially especially when he feels like he’s being rejected or abandoned. it’s literally his worst fear 

^^^^ rejection-sensitive dysphoria also plays into his low self-esteem (god poor kid to have RSD in an environment growing up where Everyone Was Constantly Busting Each Other’s Balls and couldn’t be emotionally available to also tell you they actually love you), high self standards, and social anxiety (he’s a bullshitter, his chameleon charm is also a symptom of his social anxiety and RSD) 

also Dean has lots of sleep problems both ways and complicated relationships with motivation and inner restlessness versus a yearning for stability 

comfort items / food!! now i can’t find the research on this so forgive me because i know i’ve read it somewhere that ADHDers tend to gravitate toward familiar things or foods! (like Dean’s burgers and his car / motels that are all basically the same) it is a very ND thing in general as well

along that line, ADHDers tend to have sensory processing issues - it’s why Dean has an Outfit Recipe of the same types of clothes that he sticks to - also why he delights so much in sensory stuff like magic fingers and the Dead Guy Robe

(((jfc i thought of this point while writing out the last one and then forgot it and had to stare at the screen for a minute, now I’ve forgotten it again while writing this thank you adhd))) AH YES! auditory processing! Remember how we make fun of Dean for his lame comebacks? Remember how we make fun of him for his buffer speed in The Scene? baby that’s because it takes him five extra seconds to translate those words let alone RESPOND

not to mention people with ADHD often have much higher rates of anxiety/depression (duh) and substance abuse (yes)

lmao in researching this the article I was looking at says that lead exposure as a child can lead to ADHD and jfc you KNOW those shitty motels had Exclusively Lead Paint smh

BUT ONE OF MY FAVORITES of course has to be that Dean gets along so well with autistic Cas!! as an adhd dude with an autistic best friend, WE DIG! adhd and autism go so well together because we can get each other in ways that others just Can’t. adhd and autism have a lot of overlap/similarities in brain function and shit. 

tend to eschew social conventions and be much more straightforward/want that in others

they can both have the tendency to fidget and depending on upbringing mask that for some people - which also leads to being social chameleons

they both have comfort items / foods that NT find really strange or childish in my experience

sensory disorders!!! cas with his ONE OUTFIT and Dean with his different colored ONE OUTFIT 

Anyway i’m in love with this and i have so many thoughts but here are a few of them thank you very much for this ask i love that you came to me 

#ask #willowwisk #adhd dean #dean has adhd #autistic cas #cas has autism #ocd sam #sam winchester #dean winchester #castiel #neurodiversity #tw: abuse #tw: eating disorders

[him-e]

what did you think of shadow and bone? have you read the books? i only read the duology

Thoughts on Shadow and Bone, now that you've probably seen it?

I think the show is alright? It lacks a real wow factor as far as I’m concerned, but it’s enjoyable. It’s especially enjoyable in those parts I didn’t anticipate to like / didn’t even know would be there. 

Whereas the main selling points leave a lot to be desired.

The good stuff: the visuals. The aesthetic. The overall concept. Production, casting and costumes are excellent, the setting is fascinating. The worldbuilding isn’t perfect and is sometimes confusing, which is probably due to the show jumping ahead of the books and introducing elements that happen much later in the book saga, but I’m loving the vague steampunk-y vibe of it mixed with more typical fantasy stuff and slavic-inspired lore, the fact that it’s set in dystopian Russia rather than your usual ye olde England.

I find it interesting that in this ‘verse the Grisha are simultaneously superstars, privileged elite, legendary creatures and despised outcasts, according to the context and the type of magic they wield. It’s A Lot, and so far it’s all a bit underdeveloped and messy, like a patchwork of different narratives and tropes sewn together without an organic worldbuilding structure. (there are hints to a past when they were hunted, but how did they go from that to being, essentially, an institutionalized asset to the government isn’t clear yet. There’s huge narrative potential in this, and I hope future seasons will delve into those aspects)

Many of the supporting characters are surprisingly solid. I appreciated that Genya and Zoya eventually sort of traded places, subverting the audience’s assumptions about them and their own character stereotypes, despite the little screentime they were given.

Breakout characters/ships for me were Nina/Matthias, and even more so the Crows, i.e. the stuff I didn’t see coming and knew nothing about (having only read the first book). (I thought the entire Crows subplot was handled in a somewhat convoluted way, at least in the first episodes; it was hard to keep track of who wanted Alina and why, but the Crows’ chemistry is so strong it carried the whole Plot B on its shoulders).

HELNIK. As an enemies to lovers dynamic, Helnik was SUPER on the nose, I’d say bordering on clichéd with the unapologetic, straight outta fanfiction use of classic tropes like “we need to team up to survive” and “there’s only one bed and we’ll freeze to death if we don’t take our conveniently damp clothes off and keep each other warm with the heat of our naked bodies” (not that I’m complaining, but i like to pine for my ships a bit before getting to the juicy tropetown part, tyvm). And then they’re suddenly on opposite sides again because of a tragic misunderstanding - does Bardugo hate high-conflict dynamics? It certainly seems so, because between Helnik and Darklina I’m starting to see a pattern where the slow burn and blossoming mutual trust is rushed and painted in broad, stereotypical strokes to get as fast as possible to the part where they *hate each other again* and that’s... huh. Something.

^That’s probably why I’m almost more interested in Kaz x Inej, because their relationship feels a bit more nuanced, a bit more mysterious, and a bit more unpredictable. (I didn’t bother spoiling myself about them, so I really don’t know where they’re going, but it’s refreshing to see a dynamic that the narrative isn’t scrambling to define in one direction or the other as quickly as possible)

-

Now, as for Darklina VS Malina... I found exactly what I expected. 

Both are ship dynamics I’m, on principle, very much into (light heroine/dark villain, pining friends to lovers) but both are also much less interesting than they claim to be, or could have been with different narrative choices. I’ll concede that the show characters are all more fleshed out and likable than their book counterparts, and the cringe parts I vaguely remembered from the books played out differently. And, well, Ben Barnes dominates the scene, he’s hot as HELL, literally every single second he’s on screen is a fuck you to Bardugo’s attempts to make his character lame and uninteresting and I’m LOVING it, lol.

But yeah, B Barnes aside, Darklina is intrinsically, deliberately made to be unshippable. 

It makes me mad, because it’s - archetypally speaking - made of shipping dynamite: yin/yang-sun and moon, opposites attract, COMPLEMENTARY POWERS AND SO ON. And what does Bardugo do with these ingredients? A FUCKING DELIBERATE DISASTER:

^ Placing the kiss so early on (season 1, episode five) effectively kills the romantic tension that was (correctly) building up until that point, and leaves the audience very little to still hope for, in terms of emotional evolution of the dynamic. 

Bardugo lays all the good stuff down as early and quickly as possible (the bonding, the conflicted attraction, the recognizing the other as one’s equal, etc) only to turn the tables and pull the rug so y’all sick creepyshippers won’t have anything to look forward to, because THEY’VE ALREADY HOOKED UP AND THAT BELONGS TO THE PAST, IT’S OVER, THEY’RE ENEMIES. This, combined to the fact that she falls for him *without* knowing who he really is, is the opposite of what I want from a heroine/villain ship (it’s basically lovers to enemies, and while that can be valid too, I wanted to see more pining and more prolonged, tormented symbolic attraction to the Shadow/Animus on Alina’s part). 

But here’s the trick: it’s not marketed as lovers to enemies - it has all the aesthetics and trappings of an enemies to lovers (the Darkling is, from the get go, villain-presenting, starting from his name), so it genuinely feels like a trollfic, or at the very least a cautionary tale *against* shipping the heroine with the tall dark brooding young villain, and I don’t think it’s cool at all. It makes the story WAY less interesting, because it humanizes the villain early on (when it’s not yet useful or poignant to the story, because it’s unearned) but it’s a red herring. The real plot twist is that the villain shouldn’t be sympathized with, just defeated: there’s a promise of nuanced storytelling, that is quickly denied and tossed aside. So is the idea of incorporating your Shadow (a notion that Bardugo must be familiar with, otherwise she wouldn’t have structured Alina and the Darkling as polar opposites who complement each other, but that she categorically refutes)

Then we have Malina. The good ship.

Look, I’m not that biased against it. I don’t want to be biased on principle against a friends to lovers dynamic that antagonizes a heroine/villain one, because every narrative is different, and for personal reasons I can deeply relate to the idea of being (unspeakably) in love with your best friend. So there are aspects of Malina that I can definitely be into, but it troubles me that in this specific context it’s framed as a regression. It’s Alina’s comfort zone, a fading dream of happiness from an idealized childhood, to sustain which the heroine systematically stunts her growth and literally repressed her own powers, something that in the books made her sickly and weak. But the narrative weirdly romanticizes this codependency, often making her tunnel vision re: going back to Mal her primary goal and centering on him her entire backstory/motivation, to the point that when she starts acting more serious re: her powers and alleged mission to destroy the Fold, it feels inorganic and unearned. 

Mal is intrinsically extraneous to Alina’s powers, he doesn’t share them, he doesn’t understand them, he has little to offer to help her with them, and so the feeling is that he’s also extraneous to her heroine’s journey, aside from being a sort of sidekick or safe harbor to eventually come back to. People have compared him to Raoul from Phantom of the Opera, and yeah, he has the same ~magic neutralizer~ vibe, tbh.

The narrative also polarizes Mal’s normalcy and relative “safety” against Aleksander’s sexy evil, framing Alina’s quasi-platonic fixation on the former as a better and purer form of love than her (much more visible and palpable) attraction to the latter. This is exacerbated by the show almost entirely relying on scenes of them as kids to convey their bond. I’m sure there are ways to depict innocent pining for your best friend that don’t involve obsessively focusing on flashbacks of two CHILDREN running in a meadow and looking exactly like brother and sister. LIKE. I get it, they’re like soulmates in every possible way, BUT DO THEY WANT TO KISS EACH OTHER?

Which brings me to a general complain: for a young adult saga centering on a young heroine and full of so many hot people, this story is weirdly unsexy? There are a lot of shippable dynamics, but they’re done in such a careless, ineffective way that makes ZERO EFFORT to work on stuff like slow burn, pining and romantic tension, and when it does it’s so heavy handed that the viewer doesn’t feel encouraged at all to fill the blanks with their imagination and start anticipating things (which is, imo, the ESSENCE of shipping). The one dynamic that got vaguely close to this is, again, Kaz and Inej, and coincidentally it’s also the one we didn’t get confirmed as romantic YET. Other than that, where’s the slow burn? What ship am I supposed to agonize over during the hiatus to season two? Has shipping become something to feel ashamed of, like an embarrassing relative you no longer want to invite in your home?

Anyway, back to Alina/Darkling/Mal, this is how the story reads to me:

girl suspects to be special, carefully pretends to be normal so she can stay with Good Boy

the girl’s powers eventually manifest; she’s forcibly separated from Good Boy

the girl’s powers attract Bad Boy who is her equal and opposite but is also a major asshole

girl initially falls for Bad Boy; has to learn a hard lesson that nobody that sexy will ever want her for who she is, he’s just trying to exploit her

also, no, there is no such thing as a Power Couple

girl is literally given a slave collar by Bad Boy through which he harnesses her power (a parody of the Twin Scars trope)

you know how the story initially suggested that the joint powers of Darkness and Light would defeat evil? LOL NO, Darkness is actually evil itself and the way you destroy evil is using Light to destroy Darkness, forget that whole Jungian bullshit of integrating your shadow, silly!

conclusion: girl realizes being special sucks. She was right all along! Hiding and suppressing her powers was the best choice! She goes back to the start, to the same Good Boy she was meekly pining for prior to the start of the story.

... there’s an uncomfortable overall subtext that reads a lot like a cautionary tale against - look, not just against darkships and villain/heroine pairings, but also *overpowered* heroines and, well... change? Growth?

Like, it’s certainly a Choice that Alina starts the story *already* in love with Mal. That she always knew it was him. The realization could have happened later (making the dynamic much more shippable, too), but no. 

#anon #asks #* #sab for ts #long post #darklina for ts #malina for ts #sorry it took me a while but i wanted to see the whole season first

[a-stitch-in-time-and-space]

Headcanon: Julian Bashir is autistic and has frequent sensory overload, and the only two people who can help him are Garek and O’ Brien. Me? Projecting? It’s more likely than you think!!!

Ha, moooood. Which on that note I have a somewhat intense fic here in which Julian has a meltdown. It’s not related to sensory issues so much as “oh boy a lot of shit’s happened to him” but if you want more O'Brien helping him out after this – so because we gave that fic to O'Brien, let’s give this one to Garak.

Also can we talk about the fact that it’s canon that Julian and the other augments can hear sounds at decibels that non-augments can’t and that it causes them pain, but Julian just taught himself to not react, like fuck, how did someone write this and not follow through on Julian-Bashir-is-autistic-and-or-otherwise-nd!

sorry for taking so long, a. this got a bit longish so it’s under a cut and b. I got distracted by the fact that I always want to see everyone’s notes on reblogs in case of interesting discussion points and i have just now learnt that that cannot be done easily if a lot of people reblog at once… oh hyper-fixation how you get me time and again

this takes place post-Doctor Bashir I Presume and alludes to the fact that during this time Garak and Bashir’s interactions were gradually stripped away in the show (because it too gay) - Andy Robinson ran with that in A Stitch In Time and had Garak write about how much he regretted the two of them not remaining close/hinted that he was in love with him… so take that background as you will.

—— More Space ——-

Thank goodness, he thought after an indeterminate amount of time. O'Brien was here. He would be able to calm him down, he would know how to come up with some soothing description of exactly which of DS9’s pistons or pipes or programs was currently making that noise and he’d either fix it or stay with him until it sorted itself out. Or maybe the noise was gone and the residual whining was just himself recreating it perfectly in his head, or maybe he was just too far gone by now for it to matter, but O'Brien would help. Since the two of them had become friends and some of Julian’s old ticks had returned after his augmentation had come to light, Miles had been a surprisingly steady presence in his life.

“Doctor?”

No, not Miles.

Garak.

He couldn’t make himself respond. His body felt like it was compressing him into a vice, with all his ability to focus somehow splintered into a million shards, each of them painful to the touch. Oh no, what if Garak touched him? If Garak touched him right now he might shatter or scream or something else entirely outside of his control, but talking was also impossible right now, so he couldn’t ask him not to touch, please don’t touch-

Garak sat down in front of him, far enough away that it didn’t feel like too… much.

“Doctor. You don’t need to say or do anything.”

He could manage that.

“I was wondering why you’d missed our lunch date. Very pleased to find you didn’t simply opt not to come without telling me, although I find the alternative to be distressing.”  He stopped talking for a moment then. “Apologies for breaking into your room. Again.”

While Garak simply sat and occasionally spoke Julian was dimly aware of the fact that he could feel his edges hardening again. The shards were being pulled back together.

He also noticed now that he was freezing. It usually happened like that, having sat sedentary for however long or coming down from some emotional extreme. He shivered.

“This station is cold,” said Garak.“The temperature, the lights, the people… all too cold.”

Julian managed a smile and it was like his mouth was freed from a curse. “It is, isn’t it.”

“Not to mention loud,” Garak added.

“All that machinery,” Julian nodded and spoke slowly. His mouth still needed to unstick. “Every time an alarm goes it’s like a sharp pain… I used to be… much better at this.”

“What do you mean?”

“I used to… I used to get these all the time as a child. Meltdowns, shutdowns, I think. But then my parents told me later that it was a side-effect of the augmentations and I tried to… to will myself to stop them, to bypass my natural instincts in order to not be found out and it worked, in a way, or at least nobody found out. I familiarised myself with and categorised any sights, sounds, smells, feelings I came across on earth during my Starfleet training and ordered them into lists and sublists: What I could handle mostly, what I could handle sometimes, what I needed to avoid at all costs. I managed to… to pretend. And then I came to Deep Space Nine and for awhile it was all too much again, I had to make new lists, but I managed, I really… I really did, I really did, I really-” he was talking himself into hyperventilating again, he knew this, but he couldn’t stop now, “- and then I got captured and it was like everything just stopped. I barely- I don’t even remember most of it, but when I got back it was so much worse -”

“Julian,” said Garak and the sound of his first name coming from Garak’s mouth surprised him back to the now. “Julian,” said Garak again. “You’re here. With me. On a floor that is quite cold, I might add.”

Julian breathed out and mumbled under the exhale. “One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.”

“What is that,” asked Garak.

“Counting my fingers. It… helps.”

“Noted,” and the easy way in which Garak seemed to have just accepted that he would be helping Julian again in future was another shock to his system, but then why wouldn’t he? Even if they hadn’t met up as often as they used to. Even if he was untrustworthy at heart and Julian could never figure out why Garak wanted his company at all. He found he missed Garak’s simple and complicated nature. It grounded him, somehow.

He got up off the floor, reaching out for Garak when he stumbled. He held him just tight enough to make sure that he wouldn’t fall. Not overcrowding – Julian suddenly remembered that Garak was claustrophobic. He must know how easily sensory inputs could become too much.

At Garak’s questioningly soft hold on his arm, Julian nodded and he helped him to the sofa. “Would you like some water?”

Julian nodded. As Garak went to fetch it, he began to talk again. Somehow… he just needed to get it out now, like an excision. “After the truth came out my mother told me that they’d been lying. I mean, they’ve been lying about so much, but specifically about this. I’ve always been like this. Or. Some of it. The meltdowns. I thought… those memories weren’t real. But now they are? Some of them. I’m having trouble sorting them.”

Garak handed him the water.

“I developed a theory,” said Julian, forgetting to sip.

“Tell me your theory doctor,” said Garak, his tone of voice tender as he sat down beside him, again, close enough if he needed him, but not too close.

“I was wondering why a heightened inability to process inputs was a side-effect of the vast majority of augments, when I had this inability before my augmentation. I started to suspect that it was less to do with the augmentations and was simply… who we were. The augmentations gone wrong could throw that into extremes, but that may have more to do with medical trauma responses than… anyway, I can’t confirm until I have more data. I did research into my own developmental delays, the medical history – it’s fascinating how we repeat cycles actually, first it was considered a form of possession or changelings, then it began to be classed under a broad form of what would be known as schizophrenia, then divided into narrow and still somewhat inaccurate categories of autism, aspergers, adhd, add, high and low functioning etcera, and then was gradually broadened again under general brain-differences known as neuroatypicals or neurodiverse,” he took a breath and continued: “- I’m not too interested in 21st century history honestly, but I know the government upheavals affected medical classifications and concepts of what was known broadly as “disabilities” at the time, and that it fundamentally shifted again once we formed the federation. But then -” and here he started gesticulating widely in excitement or outrage - “it all becomes the same just repackaged, doesn’t? Stigma against augments who are overwhelmingly people like me is stigma against neurodiversity is stigma against the “possessed,” it’s…” he trailed off. “It’s all the same,” he finished lamely.

He’d become very aware suddenly that he’d done that thing that annoyed most of the people he ever conversed with, running his mouth while forgetting the other person. But Garak didn’t seem annoyed. He was listening intently, in fact. At the pause he even nodded and offered: “The history of such matters is different on Cardassia. Or rather, mental and developmental differences don’t get acknowledged on Cardassia.”

“Eugenics?” said Julian with a frown.

“Not as such. We don’t mind in theory, as long as everyone can perform the tasks they’re assigned to. It’s a… class thing. If you belong to a powerful family and are expected to do great things in the army or politics or the sciences, being unable to do so for any reason is usually – what is the term humans use? - “Swept under the rug.” But then someone like you, dear doctor, if you had been Cardassian it might surprisingly have been easier for you.”

Julian shook his head. “My abilities are due to my augmentations. I’d have been… I don’t know. Not me,” he said softly.

At that, Garak gave him a look that he couldn’t pin down. Something… surprised for a moment, almost? Then smoothed out into an enigmatic smile. “Perhaps. From what you tell me you’ve always processed like you do, you’ve just been given better tools to translate and more…” he searched for the word for a second, before landing on: “space.”

At that Julian burst out into an unexpected laugh. “I certainly have enough space out here. More than enough, I’d say.”

Garak’s smile deepened. “But it doesn’t matter. Either you were always going to be able to pursue medicine and the stigmas of your parents and surrounding society were preventing you from discovering that on your own, or your augmentations made you unlock new abilities. But on Cardassia someone with the kind of passion you possess would have done well, with or without them.”

“If I were born into the right class. And if I didn’t get arrested for being fundamentally against the militaristic state.”

“Naturally,” acceded Garak. “And I must say I’m quite relieved to find the incorruptible, perfect federation comes with its own flaws. One wouldn’t have expected it with the way humans constantly go on about it.”

“Oh, we go on about the federation? According to you Cardassia is superior in culture -”

“- oh, definitely -”

“- politics -”

“- without a doubt, my dear -”

“- criminal justice system?”

“- well, we’ve never brought a wrong case before the court-”

“- I know you’re just saying that to rile me up-”

“- my dear doctor, when have I ever been anything but sincere?”

“- when have you ever said anything you meant?”

“- I am offended, truly-” said Garak with a big grin on his face.

Julian found it the easiest thing in the galaxy to return.

“Remember to drink your water,” he was reminded, gently, before they continued their lunch discussion. It was a moment in which they both forgot that they had ever begun to drift apart in the first place.

—— The End ——-

#Julian Bashir #Elim Garak #ds9 #st: ds9 #star trek #fanfic #writing

[scottspack]

Over a week ago @progmetallesbian created the “Top Ten Niche Interests” tag game and tagged me in it and ive been meaning to do it ever since!!! My lovely wife @got2ghost tagged me in it again today so it’s finally happening:

TOP TEN NICHE INTERESTS

As a preface, ive seen a lot of these from other people and you all have wonderful, very niche interests (ex: amy & chi) and it made me feel like a lame normie when i started thinking about my interests bc apparently im not into anything THAT niche, so these are the things that to me are personally niche and to everyone else are probably just normal things

1. TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR FC: there’s a long unimportant story to how my dad and i became spurs fans but the fact of the matter is that we’ve been following spurs soccer for three years now and it’s an interest i literally ONLY get to talk about with my dad because i have about two (2) friends who are interested in soccer and zero (0) of them watch the EPL. it’s hilarious to me that what is probably my personally most niche interest is the one that is shared by the vast majority of the world. such is the life of being a soccer fan in america :(

2. THE PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN TRILOGY: this is an old niche and another one that isnt that niche at all but one i feel compelled to include because when i tell you that i was obsessed with this trilogy in elementary school, obsessed is not nearly a strong enough word. i watched all three movies so often that i broke about 2 sets of dvds per movie. i know every possible piece of trivia about these movies. i had every piece of merch from claire’s and hot topic that it was possible to own. my friend and i read about 500 different books on pirates. we called orlando bloom “orly”. i could go on. potc was probably the only thing ive ever been legitimately “hyper-fixated” on and i will defend all three of those movies until i die!!!! if you’ve ever said “i liked the second two but i just couldnt follow the plot” please let me know and i will be happy to explain it to you in excruciating detail!

3. SOLO THRU-HIKE BLOG POSTS: this one i feel can actually count as niche! i fucking love reading blog posts from professional hikers who do crazy long solo thru-hikes. the lewis and clark trail, the appalachian trail, and the te araroa trail in new zealand are some of my favorite to read posts about, but ill read about any solo thru-hikes because i think its fucking bonkers and interesting and complex and inspiring and i hope to never ever do one in my entire life!

4. R/PARANORMAL: i have no reddit experience, i dont have an account, and i never want to actively engage in the reddit community. BUT. i fucking love ghosts and the paranormal so r/paranormal is a treasure trove for fun ghost stories and i read it pretty regularly! a lot of them are silly as youd expect but every now and then there are some really good ones that scare the shit out of me

5. HISTORICAL DRESS YOUTUBERS: it started with bernadette banner and once i had watched pretty much every single video she ever made, i started watching her friend’s channels, and then their friend’s channels. i have no interest in ever dressing historically, i dont really care about fashion, and i will never make my own clothes, but goddamn it if it isnt extremely fun and interesting to watch how passionate these ladies are about their specific niche time period of historical clothing! the talent! the history! its amazing! 

6. INSTAGRAM PINUP MODELS: i honestly cant remember how i stumbled into this world but there is an entire community of classic “pinup” models on instagram who have the most beautiful and creative looks ive ever seen and i now follow like 15 of them and am obsessed with watching them do their hair and makeup 

7. THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (2002): this is the greatest film adaption of a book, the greatest period piece, and the greatest piece of cinema ever created by human kind. im not interested in debating, i just know that im right.

8. ENDLESS OCEAN: endless ocean was a game i owned on the wii as a preteen that i played for like a year and has been living in my head rent free ever since. you play as a scuba diver in the great barrier reef and all you do is go diving and catalog fish for your conservation team. thats it. that’s the entire game. and playing it was the happiest ive ever been in my life!

9. BANDS FC: there’s a guy on twitter who combines bands and soccer clubs to create new logos. ive been following him forever and its one of my favorite things on the internet!!! he puts a ton of time and research into his designs and they’re all so good. fun fact, he’s also a gay ally and once went to battle against british footie homophobes! a true king!

10. CHRISTIAN MYTHOLOGY: idk if it counts as niche if i blog about it on the regular but i have a deep deep love for the aesthetics, stories, and legacies of christianity. i grew up non-denominational christian but have always been (prepare for cringe) a spiritual person, so i have a huge appreciation for all religions! but obviously christianity is fairly ubiquitous in america and the only religion i have any claim to, so it’s a big interest of mine to explore christian mythology and the ways it’s shaped human history

im going to tag @wolfbuddy @eremji @curlytemple and @significationary if yall are interested!

#i wish i had more interesting niche interests but apparently im either a huge normie or have the worlds worst memory #and cant remember any of my more unique interests #its probably the first one ://// #amy this was just a creative and fun idea #thanks for making it!

[kinktae]

Tempting || 10

Y/N is an angel and a good one at that. She steers clear of the seven deadly sins, especially lust. She is out performing her duties when she runs into a demon. Luckily for her, that demon, Taehyung, doesn’t seem to buy into that whole “Angels and Demons are sworn enemies” idea. But unluckily for her, Taehyung just so happens to be the very embodiment of sin. Especially lust.

Or, “For someone who is meant to be so pure, you sure are dirty, angel.”

pairing: demon!taehyung x angel!reader

genre: fantasy, smut, angst

warnings: alcohol use, mentions of suicide/death, lots of dirty talk and smut lol

A/N: this is less biblical and more supernatural?? Like less focus on religion itself and more focus on angels and demons as immortal creatures even though I might reference some “biblical” terms lol sorry this is too unholy anyways it’s fine. oh and this is a dream I had!

CHAPTERS: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 (final)

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CHAPTER TEN (THIS CHAPTER IS ACTUALLY EDITED FOR ONCE and this chapter is dedicated to @timeline-comics who helped me with the plot <3)

I woke up to the feeling of goose bumps running up and down my skin.

The source of temperature-induced discomfort was quickly pinpointed, as I opened my eyes to see Taehyung's arm and leg tightly wrapped around me, pressing me into his chest.

His hot breath pressed against the crook of my neck, where his sleeping head had taken purchase. The rest of Taehyung, however, remained cool to the touch.

Angels naturally gravitated towards warm things; both physically, such as sunlight, and figuratively, like love.

How odd that I would find warmth in a demon.

I shifted my body away from the cool-skinned boy with a whine. My covers had somehow ended up by my feet and I wanted desperately to retrieve them.

Taehyung let out a groan of protest but let go of me.

I sat up, pausing for a moment as I took in the soreness that lay in-between my legs.

“Morning.” A tired groggy voice called out from beside me.

I turned over to look over at Taehyung, who was staring at me through hooded eyelids, clearly more than willing to go back to bed.

“Good morning.” I smiled at him, my heart swelling at the sight of the sleepy form of the boy I loved so much. He gave me a lazy smile before shutting his eyes once more. 

I turned back towards the front of my bed and reached over to pull my covers back over Taehyung and I.

Immediately, Taehyung threw his arms around me, pulling me back into his chest.

I turned over in his grip so that I could face him. Taehyung was awake once more, an odd look on his face.

“How are you?” He asked, nervously. 

“I’m well, and yourself?”

Taehyung rolled his eyes and brought up a hand to flick the tip of my nose, causing me to exclaim in laughter.

“I mean how are you feeling? After your first fuck and stuff.”

“God, you really do have a way with words.” I sighed at the crude boy, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

“I’m fine. Just a little sore, I suppose.” I told him with a hum, admiring how the morning sun that seeped into my room fell on his handsome face.

“That’s good.” He sighed happily before sending me a small smile. I could feel myself blush lightly as I smiled back at him.

I couldn’t believe I slept with Taehyung. Having Taehyung pressed against me and holding me like he did last night felt wonderful. Along with the other things he did, of course.

“So... you up for round two?” Taehyung smirked, the question clearly having had been on his tongue since the moment he first regained consciousness.

I laughed and rolled my eyes, pressing my mouth against his. Thankfully, Taehyung let the kiss remain soft, just moving his lips slowly against mine.

Pulling away, I sighed, “You need to go.”

Taehyung scoffed sarcastically, “What am I? Some sort of one night stand you have to kick out?”

“Yes.” I told him, getting up to get out of bed.

I was in some sort of blissed out high right now, still glowing from last nights effects. As much as I wanted to lay in bed with Taehyung for the rest of time, the last thing I needed was for one of my roommates to walk in and see a demon in my bed. Besides, I had to take a shower and clean all my sheets.

“Wow, love you too.” Taehyung grumbled, moving to get out of bed as well.

I knew he had said it sarcastically, but the fact that he had said it at all still left my cheeks red and smiling. 

“Wait, pull your shirt up, angel.”

My smile quickly faded as I sent a scowl his way instead.

“No, I said no round two.” I scolded him which just caused him to roll his eyes.

“Angel.” Was all he said as he took a step towards me before lifting my shirt up and over my bare chest.

I squeaked out in protest, throwing my hands over my breasts to cover them.

Taehyung let out a deep laugh, his voice still recovering from having just had woken up. 

“Lemme see.” He back me into my bed. I fell back involuntarily and Taehyung took that as his opportunity to pry my hands off of myself.

“Pretty.” He breathed once he had successfully held my hands away from myself.

With a final extersion of energy, I pulled my hands out of his grip and yanked my shirt back down, sending him a frown. I shoved him away from me.

What on earth was wrong with him?

“You pervert!” I accused, crossing my arms over my chest, in case he tried to pull another stunt like that again.

“Shut up, you love me.” Taehyung stated with a cocky smirk that I wanted to wipe off him so badly.

“Go away.”

Taehyung’s smirk was replace with a sad pout, “Say you love me, angel.”

I blushed at the sudden request, caught off guard.

“I love you.” I told him earnestly.

In response, Taehyung just stared at me, before clearing his throat.

“This is gonna sound so stupid but... I think I’ve always had love inside me. It’s like, it’s always been there, but it wasn’t until I met you that I began to feel it. Does that make sense? Without you, I would’ve never known who I was. And the fact that I’m someone that you say you love back is something I’ll never be able to wrap my head around. I don’t deserve you but I’m so fucking happy that I have you because I love you, Y/N. More than you know.”

I sat in front of Taehyung, doe-eyed at his sudden impromptu confession.  Taehyung’s cheeks grew pink, as if he wasn’t aware of what he was saying until he had said it.

“I– Fuck, that was cheesy, I’m sorry.” Taehyung laughed nervously, his hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

It was moments like these that made me sometimes wonder if we were both in over our heads. We were in this too deep at this point, and I couldn’t leave Taehyung if I wanted to. It scared me.

“I love cheesy.” I assured him, my smile wide. Taehyung gave me a relieved grin.

“Come over this afternoon. We can watch some of Jin’s human movies that he has given to us. We could also make some pizza. Or, if all that sounds lame, I can always just eat you out until the sun comes up.”

I let out a surprise laugh, my face immediately heating up, “Oh, God. Is there an all of the above option?”

“Come over this afternoon and find out.” He taunted with a smirk and raise of an eyebrow.

He made his way to my window, starting to leave.

“Don’t forget to do your angel magic and wear some Purgy eyes in case Jungkook is home.” Taehyung called out with a final wave before jumping out of my window and into the day.

I sighed. I didn’t think stealing yet another essence suppressor was going to sit well with my fellow roommates. In fact, I should probably apologize to all of them for the scene I created the other day.

Walking in my bathroom, I decide to shower before doing anything else. Laundry and repenting would have to happen after I was clean.

I stood in front of my mirror as I peeled off my shirt. I let out a small gasp at my reflection.

My breasts were littered with purple bruises, some small and others that bled into one another. So this is what Taehyung was looking at. The memory of how I had permitted Taehyung to mark up my chest ran through my head. 

Imagine if I have caved in and let him have his way with my neck.

I sighed at the sight.

Odd how something that looked so bad had felt so good.

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“– I just really wanted to apologize for how I spoke to all of you the other day. I lied to you about taking the essence suppressor. You were completely justified in asking me about it. I’m sorry.” I finished, my head bowed slightly.

I had walked downstairs, my hands full of my bed sheets, when I saw Hobi and Namjoon sitting at the table, eating breakfast. They both looked at me quickly before going back to whatever it was they were doing. In Namjoon’s case, it was reading a book he had laid out in front of him, and in Hobi’s it was demolishing his meal.

Setting my sheets to wash, I knew I had to say something. Things were awkward and tense in this household and it was entirely my fault. So I made my way up to the table and began to seek forgiveness.

“Y/N, I forgave you the moment you angrily marched up the stairs away from us. You know I can’t stay mad at you.” Hobi reassured me with a small smile.

“I can.” Namjoon reminded, his eyes fixated on his book.

I felt myself cringe at his words, “I’m sorry for yelling at you Namjoon, I was out of line. Please forgive me.”

Namjoon raised an eyebrow before lifting his eyes up to look at me. He gauged my sincerity for a moment before sending me a dimpled smile.

“Of course I forgive you. It’s your job as our sister to test my patience, I guess.”

“Sister?” I said, tilting my head in confusion.

“Yeah. You’re like a little sister of sorts. And the rest of the boys are my brothers. We’re a family, Y/N. Families fight. But they also forgive. Now sit. Eat.” Namjoon said, nudging his plate of toast my way. I sat in the seat in between Namjoon and Hobi, happy to have my boys back.

“Where’s Jimin, by the way?” I asked casually as I munched on my toast. The boys normally all ate breakfast together in the morning.

“He left extra early today. He must be pretty busy because he seemed like he was in a rush to get to the park.” Hobi informed me.

“Yeah, he came home last night pretty late and he seemed absolutely drained. He looked upset as well.” Namjoon added before turning his attention back to his book.

“We should all go to Limbo again! Take a much needed break.” Hobi announced excitedly. 

“I’m down!” I agreed eagerly. Maybe I could plan it so that Taehyung went that night as well. If I planned it right, I could spent half the night with the boys and half the night with Taehyung.

Speaking of Taehyung...

“Hey so, I actually need a essence suppressor for tonight.” I said, turning towards Hobi, trying to look as casual as I could.

“Oh, are you going to Limbo?” Hobi inquired, with a raise of an eyebrow.

“Yeah... another angel I met last time told me she was going tonight and asked me if I would join her.” I lied through my teeth. I had just apologized for lying yet here I was once again. It was beginning to worry me how good at it I was becoming.

“Oh, who?” Hobi pressed, genuinely interested.

I froze for a moment, panicking. I hadn’t thought this far ahead.

“Um, her name is Angelina.” I spoke finally, having said the first name that popped into my mind.

“Never head of her.” Hobi shrugged, scooping another spoonful of food into his mouth.

“She’s not anywhere near here.” I hummed, quickly shoving my mouth with another toast as if to silence myself before I could feed Hobi yet another lie.

“Cool. Well, I’d give you one of mine but I really can’t afford to lose another pill. It took me so long to save enough for the amount I have now. Literally an entire year.”

So that’s where all of Hobi’s left over money from his allowance went.

I pouted in disappointment but other wise understood; I swallowed my bread, “Dang it, I really need a supressor.”

Hobi gave me a sympathetic look before shrugging.

“Why don't you get it from Hobi’s drug guy.” Namjoon spoke up suddenly, his eyes not lifting from his book.

“Drug guy?” I frowned at the term, not liking what it implied.

“Why do you have to phrase it like that?” Hobi laughed.

“Because it’s a guy who sells drugs.” Namjoon retorted before sighing dramatically, “Poor Hobi has a drug problem.”

“Hobi, you do drugs?!” I gasped. 

How in God’s name was Namjoon speaking so casually about this?

“No, I’m not some sort of druggie, relax. Joon, stop joking around, you know she doesn't pick up on your sarcasm. Anyway, the guy I get the suppressors from just happens to be a drug dealer.”

“Oh my God, he’s your drug dealer!”

Hobi rolled his eyes, “Don’t call him my drug dealer.”

“So he’s not drug dealer?” I questioned, suddenly confused.

“Well, no. He is a drug dealer.”

“What am I meant to call him then?” I huffed, annoyed at the pace of this conversation.

“He’s my plug.”

“Plug?” I furrowed my eyebrows, unfamiliar with the term in that context.

Hobi just nodded, “Yeah. Keep up with the modern slang, Y/N.”

I rolled my eyes which caused Hobi to laugh. I shifted in my seat.

“I don’t understand. How did you even find this... plug.”

“I take it back, don’t use that term. Sounds weird coming out of your mouth,” Hobi started once he had swallowed his food, “and stop asking so many questions, I’m not gonna take you to see him if you keep that up.”

I made a small noise of surprise, “You’ll take me to him?”

“That was another question.” He laughed before nodding to answer me.

“Ah, you’re the best!” I squealed, leaning over to give Hobi a tight hug. “When can we go?” 

“Now if you want.” He shrugged. 

I stood up from my seat immediately, “Oh, God. I’m gonna go get ready then!”

My nerves were already through the roof. If I was going to meet this infamous drug dealer then the last thing I wanted was him not to like me. Drugs and violence typically bled into one another, and I didn’t want to give him any reason to dislike me.

I dismissed Hobi and Namjoon quickly nd rushed to the stairs, bouncing with every step. 

Walking into my room, I made my way over to my dresser. Opening the box that contained the money I had saved up, I pondered upon how much I should bring. Hobi had told me once that the essence suppressors were expensive and even though I only planned on buying maybe three or so, I couldn’t help but worry that I might not have enough. 

Grabbing all of my remaining money, I began to get ready.

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Surprisingly, this drug dealer lived in a nice neighborhood. For some reason, I expected another sketchy entrance-to-Purgatory type of situation. Hobi explained to me that this guy made good money and could afford a nice home.

I thought that a drug dealer would want to draw as little attention to himself as possible, but then it occurred to me that his clients were probably all supernatural and capable of hiding their tracks.

Hobi stopped in front of a house and made his way to it’s door. I followed him cautiously, stopping behind him as he knocked on the door.

Within moment, I heard the door unlock and swing open.

“Oh, hey Hoseok.” A voice greeted from ahead of Hobi. I poked my head from behind Hobi’s back to see who this infamous drug dealer was.

My eyes grew wide.

“Y/N?”

Jin’s expression mirrored mine, wide eyed in disbelief.

“Jin?” I responded, unable to understand how literally everyone in my life somehow lead back to Taehyung. Even if I had wanted to distance myself from him, I genuinely couldn’t.

“Woah, what? You guys know each other?” Hobi said, his eyes flickering between both Jin and I.

“Yeah, we met at Limbo.” I said automatically, Jin’s eyes never leaving mine. 

There was no doubt. I hadn’t taken a suppressor today; he could see that I was an angel. 

I felt my throat close up.

Jin now knew that Taehyung was a demon and that I was an angel. And with one slip of the tongue, Hobi could find out as well.

“Oh, you were there that night, Seokjin? Shame I didn’t see you, we could’ve hung out.” Hobi said, completely oblivious to the thick tension that surrounded Jin and I.

I stepped behind Hobi to hide myself, trying to control my now erratic breathing. 

He had seen my panties in his best friend’s dryer so he clearly aware of the fact that Taehyung and I had that kind of relationship. And now I had just waltzed to his door with another angel to ask him for the very thing I had used to lie to him.

How in God’s name did my life come to this?

“It’s fine. I was with some friends you wouldn’t have wanted to get involved with anyway.” I heard Jin’s voice ring out.

Even if Hobi stood between us, Jin’s voice ran right through me, resonating deeply. Of course he disapproved. I didn’t doubt for a moment that half demons knew the implications of an angel and demon being involved with one another.

My body was suddenly yanked away from my hiding spot as Hobi pulled me into his side so that I could face Jin.

“Well, Y/N is an interested buyer in those essence suppressors I get from you.”

“I bet she is.” Jin stated through a tight-lipped smile. I blushed at his snarky comment, my eyes falling to the floor.

I heard the sound of Jin shuffling and I look up to see that he had moved from his doorway, inviting us in.

I followed Hobi in cautiously, wanting to be anywhere but here. It wasn’t that I thought Jin was going to tell Hobi about Taehyung and I, but the possibility certainly made me sick to my stomach.

Jin’s house was beautifully decorated on the inside; he had a clear preference for marble and white when it came to interior design. The house itself wasn't extraordinarily big, but it was still a good size and it was clear that money had been invested into it.

Hoseok sat down on the couch in the living room and I followed suit, taking in everything around me. Jin had a top notch speaker system, along with an enormous television that I couldn’t imagine any human lifting on their own.

It seemed like his house had everything he could ever want, so I found it curious that he chose to spend his time over at Taehyung’s small apartment. 

Did he live alone? Perhaps, he was lonely.

Jin stared down at me.

“How many?” He said bluntly. I clearly wasn’t in his favor today.

“However much this will get me.” I replied quietly. Reaching into my pocket, I showed him how much money I had on me. Jin looked at the currency for a moment before meeting my eyes again.

“So... one.” Jin stated.

I blushed, embarrassed at how foolish I must have looked coming all this way for a single suppressor.

“Yes.” I said extending my money towards him. Hobi quickly interjected.

“Woah, give him the money after you get the product. Haven’t you ever hustled before?” Hobi laughed easily, clearly familiar with how these exchanges usually worked.

“You don’t trust me Hoseok?” Jin smirked at the orange-haired boy, suddenly in a better mood.

Hobi grinned, “You say half demon, I say half scum-bag.”

I widened my eyes in horror at Hobi insulting Jin, but to my surprise Jin just laughed in response. Jin proved to be good spirited regardless of the situation.

Jin told us that he would be back and headed off into a hallway to his left.

“How long have you and Jin known each other?” I immediately asked Hobi, once we were alone.

“Mm, probably a little under a year. He had just moved here when I ran into him. Said he was getting away from his family, or something like that. I would’ve introduced you all but he’s part demon, you know. How long have you known him? I’ve never heard of him going by Jin.”

“First time I met him was that night at Limbo. He just introduced himself as Jin.”

Besides, Taehyung and his friends all referred to him as Jin so it had solidified in my mind. Not that I was planning on telling Hobi about Taehyung or any of his friends. 

It was looking as if Jin had no intention on telling Hobi about Taehyung and I, but I still felt like I needed to verify with Jin himself.

Jin came back rather quickly, a small clear baggy with a familiar white pill inside.

“You want to smell it to make sure it’s the real deal or are you good?” Jin teased, causing Hobi to roll his eyes.

“I guess I’ll trust you this one time.” He sighed dramatically.

And with that, the baggy was placed onto my palm and I gave Jin the money I had promised him. I almost couldn’t wrap my mind around how expensive one little pill was.

“Oh, can I borrow your bathroom before we go?” Hobi asked politely to which Jin nodded.

Hobi didn’t bother asking for directions as he got up and walked to what I could only assume was the hallway that led to the bathroom. He had clearly been here before.

Suddenly, I became painfully aware of the fact that Jin and I had been left alone, and by the look on his face, he clearly wasn’t in the mood to talk.

Still, I needed to make sure Taehyung and I’s secret was safe.

“He doesn’t know.” I started meekly, unsure about how to go about this conversation.

“Who? Tae or Hoseok?” Jin quipped back immediately, the judgment in his voice evident.

I flinched at his tone and at what he was implying– that I was using the essence suppressors to lie to Taehyung so that he wouldn’t know I was an angel.

“Hoseok. Actually, no one really knows. The only person that knows about Taehung and I is Yoongi and, well, now you.”

Jin said nothing in reply, which caused my uneasiness to grow.

“I’m not gonna tell Hoseok if that’s what you’re thinking.” Jin stated after a moment of me just staring at him.

Panicking, I shook my head. I needed to stop angering him.

“No! Uh, that’s not what I meant to–”

“I’m sure you and Tae already know how stupid it is what it is you guys are doing, so there’s no need for me to make your situation any more complicated. You already have a shit storm coming for you, I’m sure.”

I fell silent as I took in what Jin said. 

“I love him.” I thought out loud, staring at the clear bag on my lap.

Jin blinked at me, saying nothing.

Looking up, I met his eyes, “We want to make this work. There has to be a way. I know we probably both look so incredibly foolish to you but I have to believe that this isn’t a mistake. I’m sacrificing everything to be with him so I have to believe that all this is worth it. He loves me.”

Still he said nothing and I felt myself sink into my seat.

“Wouldn’t you do anything for love?” I frowned.

I watched as Jin’s expression softened a bit; perhaps it was the human in him that sympathized with me a little.

“Yeah. I would.” He replied in a softer tone, suddenly growing somber. I wasn’t sure how to reply to that so I didn’t and we stood in silence until Hobi returned from the restroom.

“Come on, my fellow druggie. Let’s get a move on. I’m sure Jin has other things to do today.” Hoseok waved me over, standing by Jin’s front door.

I jumped to my feet quickly, rushing over to Hobi, more than ready to leave.

“I’ll see you whenever I see you, I guess.” Hobi told Jin casually with a small shrug of his shoulders.

“If you ever decide to delve into human drugs, you know my hours.” Jin replied, a small smirk on his full lips.

I frowned automatically, but Hobi just laughed him off before waving him goodbye and walked out the door.

I paused behind Hobi to give Jin a small but grateful nod, which he returned. Whatever his opinions were, we had seemed to reach a small but silent agreement, and I trusted him not to tell anyone. With a small ‘goodbye,’ I walked out of Jin’s house and shut the door behind me.

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I had managed to slip away from Hobi by claiming that I wanted to explore the city and help some people. Thankfully, Hobi had a job to do elsewhere and left me without a hesitation.

I did actually end up roaming around the city and helping a few humans. I had been spending so much time with Taehyung lately that I had almost completely forgotten about my angelic duties. It was funny to think that this is what once completely consumed my mind.

When the afternoon rolled around however, I made my way back into town, Taehyung’s apartment lay just on the outskirts of it, helping to blend the town into the busy city.

As the elevator took me up to the thirteenth floor, I couldn’t help but feel the familiar rush of excitement that came whenever I knew I was going to see Taehyung. I wondered for a moment if this feeling would ever go away.

I lay a knock on the door, and to my surprise, the door swung open before my knuckle could come down to press another knock onto it.

“You came!” Taehyung exclaimed happily, a boyish smile on his face. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me in for a hug.

I laughed at his boundless energy.

“O-Of course I came.” I stuttered, as his mouth had wasted no time into trailing kisses down my neck.

“If you didn’t come, I was going to go get you anyway.” He admitted with a chuckle, a hand grabbing onto my hair, pulling my head back so that he had better access to my neck.

“Taehyung...” I sighed, “Are you home alone?”

“Kind of. Yoongi is in his room.”

Immediately, I shoved Taehyung off of me. Of all the people who knew of my existence, the last person that I wanted to know I was here was Yoongi. The last time I saw him I had literally threatened to fight him; there was no way I was actually going to follow through, especially now that I was the one who intruded into his home.

“Why are you so scared of Yoongi? So what if he doesn’t like you? He’s not gonna confront you about it. He’s harmless; he mainly keeps to himself and sleeps.” Taehyung frowned, reaching for me once again. I stepped back to counteract his movements.

Taehyung was cute, but he was incredibly naive. This image of Yoongi that he had clearly didn’t exist as Yoongi had absolutely no problem in stomping into my house just to tell me how much he disliked me.

“Ever heard of the expression ‘Don’t poke the sleeping bear?’ That applies to Yoongi.” I told him adamantly, refusing to back down on this one. My life was complicated enough, if I went around aggravating the vampire who already hated my guts, then  I was just asking for more trouble.

“Whatever.” Taehyung huffed, making his way towards the the couch. I followed him and sat down on it.

“I have snacks in the kitchen that I’m gonna go bring over. Look through these movies and pick one.” Taehyung told me happily, gesturing towards the display of DVDs that lay on the coffee table in front of the couch.

“Okay!” I told him as he left for the kitchen, peering down at the different films.

 Angels weren’t very big on movies. They were fascinating and all, but they only took up time that we could be utilizing to helping humans. I couldn’t remember the last time I sat down to watch a movie. I was excited to do so.

“Put on your Purgy eyes, by the way.” I heard Taehyung’s voice call out as he walked away.

Oh, I had forgotten!

I reached into my pocket in search of the small baggy I had gotten earlier today but frowned when my hand came back up empty handed. Reaching into my other pockets, I felt myself start to panic as they, too, proved to be empty.

How had I lost it? Did I drop it? Oh God, how could I be so careless! 

I let out a groan at my own stupidity. Leave it to me to spend all my money on one measly pill, only for me to lose it.

I frowned at the cover of a movie that lay in front of me. 

‘Charlotte’s Web’ it read. I wasn’t sure who Charlotte was but I was pretty sure I had her beat when it came to whose life was more of an entangled web.

The sudden sound of the front door opening snapped me out of my thoughts and I watched as Jin walked in. He met me with wide eyes.

“Y/N? What are you doing here?” He asked quickly, his eyes flickering across the room, probably for Taehyung.

“Good to see you again. I’m spending the night.” I told him, politely.

“Y/N is here? Hell yeah!” I heard a voice call out from behind Jin. Before I could pin a name to the voice, Jungkook poked his head out from behind Jin, meeting my eyes directly.

Only this time, I hadn’t taken an essence suppressor. This time, when his eyes met mine, they no longer held that playful twinkle that they usually did. 

I watched in horror as his eyes and entire demeanor turned dark, something carnal and forbidding taking over.

“Oh, fuck.” Jungkook all but growled.

#kim taehyung #bts taehyung #taehyung smut #bts smut #v smut #bts imagines #jeon jungkook #bts jungkook #jungkook smut #park jimin #jimin smut #bts jimin #jung hoseok #bts jhope #hoseok smut #jhope smut #min yoongi #bts yoongi #bts suga #yoongi smut #suga smut #kim seokjin #bts jin #jin smut #kim namjoon #bts rm #namjoon smut #bangtan #bangtan smut #mywork

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

ASM vol 5 #9/810 Thoughts

I wrote this before the arc had finished so please bare that in mind if you read on because I recognize some of it might seem weird or redundant in the wake of the conclusion tot he arc.

Kinda sorta mixed feelings for this issue.

 Okay so here are the aspects I DIDN’T like.

 The recap page implies that the general public is starting to forget Peter ran Parker industries and that the heroes all think Spider-Man is in the pocket of the Kingpin.

 Now recap pages aren’t actually part of a story so they don’t exactly count per se.

 But if that is the intention of the author then the series has done a poor job of conveying the former. It’s just ignored the elephant in the room that was Parker Industry.

 And whilst Spencer was saddled with that mess a mess it was nevertheless and he’s cleaned up a lot of other things. Whilst I didn’t consider it a mess necessitating any cleaning up nevertheless when Steven Moffat took over Doctor Who in 2010 (technically 2009 but that’s not important) very early on he established that the massive global Dalek invasion everyone on Earth knew about had been erased from everyone’s memories (mostly) meaning that now alien invasions could happen and new characters would react as though they were sceptical of the existence of wider alien life.

 Again, this wasn’t necessary but the point being was that Moffat put the work in to fix something he perceived as a big problem that resulted from the prior regime. Spencer has been doing some of the same here but not addressed that biggest of elephants in the room that from it’s mere announcement the fanbase was collectively calling out as something that would fuck over the series going forward. Because absolutely not would the general public just forget who Peter Parker was in regards to PI, let alone the company itself.

 As for the Kingpin thing, I never thought about it until just this issue but I kind of have issues with it now. Because even if the other heroes do not know Peter’s identity surely they DO know Spider-Man and/or Kingpin well enough by this point that they’d not presume Kingpin and Spider-Man to be buddies.

 I mean there ARE ways to explain their feelings, like if they presume Spider-Man to be an imposter or something but him being on the outs with the other heroes merely because Fisk put on an appearance of them being friends in spite of their years of animosity shouldn’t make the heroes automatically resentful towards Spider-Man.

 Again, it can work but Spencer needs to better elaborate upon it.

 Moving in I did have a few issues with Felicia here. At first Spencer seemed to have her acting vindictive akin to stupidity of Slott’s run after SpOck sent her to jail. But then he explained why she was actually miffed at him and it made more sense.

 Well sorta.

 On the one hand Felicia has always been in love with Spider-Man and so if in character Felicia should jump at the chance to sleep with him if he propositions her. On the other hand though she does say Spider-Man was being creepy which and we get a mere snippet of what he was doing, so presumably he might’ve gone further than that.

 The other thing I didn’t like was Peter’s attitude to Felicia. Hey I’m all for ignoring stupid continuity if you are trying to fix things, but here...that isn’t happening. Peter is treating Felicia as an old friend but she hasn’t been that since 2009 and he’s still lying to her. Maybe that will be fixed next issue and their old relationship established but right now it is problematic.

 Oh and also the issue seemed to treat their old relationship as being messed up due to Felicia’s criminal tendencies when that wasn’t it. They hooked up in a monogamous relationship 3 times and whilst that was why they broke up the first time that wasn’t what happened on the second or third occasions.

  Finally I wish Spencer wasn’t maintaining Felicia’s tendency to be evil. Being a Robin Hood style character okay sure. But here she is basically what she was like in 2009 (except not made into a vessel for Joe Kelly’s midlife crisis sexual fantasies) but if she’s still like that her character is still in need of repair.

 Now this isn’t to say I hated every moment they interacted. Far from it. it was more on point than it’s been in a long time and much improved over BND and Slott’s run. So within the context of post-OMD Spider-Man it was good but within a wider context there are still problems. It is at least written better than before, I especially loved the acknowledgment of them making for a good team.

 Finally I disliked the art. Common criticism by this point but it stands.

 That’s everything I disliked but on the more positive side of things I felt that the general plot of the Thieves Guild is still a fun idea.

 The Thieves Guild are an X-Men/Gambit concept but Spencer has put enough distance between them that this NYC chapter of them can be played enough as a ‘Spider-Man thing’. And the notion of them swiping all the paraphernalia of superheroes through the power of super thievery is a fun superhero plot.

 I also don’t mind Felicia being a member of their ranks. I mean I feel like if she always had that tattoo Peter would’ve noticed by now, but there are numerous ways to explain that. If nothing else I love the scene between Felicia and her Dad, because it humanizes her, touches on her origin and allows her to be more her own character. I feel there is so much potential to be exploited from exploring Felicia’s relationship.

 Now in spite of all those complaints I actually loved this issue because of the Mary Jane subplot. There are some feelings I’m wrestling with in regards to it though but on balance I think this was ingenious on Spencer’s part.

 Okay first thing’s first. The artwork by Michele Bandini looked really nice. If you are going to have two artists work on the same story dividing them up based upon the subplot and the main plot is actually a pretty clever idea. I didn’t know there was going to be two artists actually and so when I checked out the preview pages before the issue’s release I was confused as to why Ramos’ style looked so much better from one page into the next. I wish Bandini had done the whole story to be honest.

 But onto the subplot itself.

 To begin with it’s just lovely seeing Spencer actually give MJ a subplot of her own and focus upon her. And it’s good focus too. So far he’s not really mishandled her in this story at all so Spencer seems to be a decent MJ writer. I hope this trend continues and the relative lack of Mj/his use of MJ within his first two arcs was more about building up Peter and also paying tribute to Superior Foes which landed him this job in the first place.

 I didn’t see the Carlie twist coming. Honest of all characters that reveal could have been she was the farthest from my mind. For some reason my mind was fixated upon Bobby CCarr or Jonathan Caesar somehow.

 Now Carlie is...controversial of course.

 Carlie was one of the many lame Brand New Day era characters with her status made worse than many of the other ones because

 a)      She was at times a Mary Sue

b)      She was pushed hard as the new love interest. I mean really, really, really pushed hard

c)       She had an inconsistent character design

d)      She was at times bland and at other times just...not nice. See her considering getting a Green Goblin tattoo to piss Peter off. Yes she was drunk but I don’t care how drunk or angry you are that’s like considering getting a Nazi tattoo to piss off your Jewish boyfriend. You are just nasty at that point

e)      She was an idiot during Superior despite being the most sceptical person of Otto

 Carlie to say the least was HATED by the fandom.

 Now look let’s not sit here and pretend the fandom hate went beyond what was warranted by the character. She was treated as an 11 on the ‘this character sucks’ scale.

 But that doesn’t mean she didn’t score a very solid 7 or 8 if you catch my drift.

 Here though she is arguably written better than ever before, not in the least because most of those problems listed above are being avoided or addressed.

 Rather than being an overcritical and judgemental asshole like in her last appearance who either attributes blame to Peter for the horrible things happening to her or else makes it clear the nature of who he is means he’s doomed to misery because no one could put up with that, here she acknowledges none of it is his fault and he deserves happiness.

 Spencer does drop his continuity ball though by listing off the wrong reason for why Peter and Calrie broke up. According to him Carlie couldn’t handle dating Spider-Man but in reality it was the fact that he was lying to her that was the problem.

 Whatever though, nobody cares why Peter and Carlie broke up, so long as they did.

 Similarly, if Spencer wants to try and rehabilitate the character who neglected to inform her ‘friend’ and roommate that she might be dating a villain without realizing it, okay let’s give him and this character a second chance. If Carlie wants to say she always liked MJ in spite of her douche actions lets draw a line under it and try again.

 Now we move onto the meat of the subplot. The support group for superhero supporting cast members.

 This idea gives me some mixed feelings and it somewhat depends upon how it  is handled going forward.

 On the negative side, I do not want this to turn into a subtextually critical evaluation of how MJ handled life with a hero in a past or how older runs did. Also the story is somewhat ignoring how MJ DID have people she could talk to about this in the past, like Felicia and Aunt May. But currently neither character knows his secret, might not be finding out anytime soon so okay I guess I understand why Spencer is treating it this way.

 I think Spencer’s putting in little lines of dialogue and presents a resistance within MJ to joining the group which makes it clear to us that, whilst Carlie felt alone and unsafe keeping Peter’s secret, MJ doesn’t feel quite like that even though it might be a struggle all the same.

 Which is in character, remember she kept his secret for years beginning with AF #15. Similarly MJ has had issues opening up to people in the past and has seen first hand the cost of exposing Peter’s secret.

 Now in spite of all I’ve said, I cannot tell you how much I ADORE the idea of a support group for super hero friends and family.

 If Spencer plays this right it could wind up as one of the mainstays of the Marvel Universe’s architecture, like Night Nurse or what have you.

 It just makes sense as a piece of world building for the Marvel Universe and is an emotionally engaging idea that ANY comic book series can pick up.

 Moreover it highlights the innate quiet awesomeness that is Jarvis. Jarvis is like Alfred but to the whole Avengers and one of the most bad ass bad ass normals in the whole Marvel Universe so highlighting him as this proactive, helping and caring individual is appreciated.

 This idea is a great addition to Peter and MJ’s relationship too as it gives Mj something to do aside from wait by a window and counters one of the most frequent weapons in the anti-MJ/marriage brigade’s arsenal.

 “MJ can’t be with Peter because it’s worse than being with a cop because they get to talk to other cop’s families. It’s just so toxic for her!!!!11!!!”

 See Fred Van Lente’s piece of shit MJ story in ASM #605 for proof of this.

 But right here Spencer finds a solution to that complaint (which I’m sure the anti-MJ brigade just love  him for) and one that makes justifying breaking them up again a lot harder.

 Also guessing who all the people in the meeting was turned out to be really fun.

 Over all I loved this issue because in spite of my problems with the Felicia end of things the MJ end was brilliant.

p.s. Isn’t it a little weird for Spider-Man to not remember what ‘Spider-Man’ did when they were separate people?

I guess you could argue that his memories from ‘Peter’ might be hazy too. Or that this weird science comes with ‘rules’ like that, e.g. one side has to dominate the other.

#Spider-Man #Black Cat #Mary Jane Watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #mj watson #mjwatsonedit #Felicia Hardy #peter parker #Nick Spencer #Michele Bandini #Humberto Ramos #Marvel #Marvel Comics #Marvel Universe #X-Men #the Black Cat #Amazing Spider-Man