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your-regular-toast-enjoyer · 1 year

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Yandere Damian Wayne x Alien leader reader

Yandere Damian Wayne x reader or Yandere Damian Wayne/reader Damian Wayne x reader or Damian Wayne/reader

Word count: 2636 words

TW: GN reader, yandere, rebels?, manipulation, adult Damian Wayne (inspired and mostly based off of Damian in Batman beyond & Injustice 2: Gods among us), and Damian might be a TW of his own at this point...

A request by @desertangel12 : Hi, can you do a yandere one shot or headcanon for Yandere older Damian Wayne with a reader who is an alien senator or queen like Padme from Star Wars but include that she has a fighting style like a Jedi (especially Ahsoka's fighting style if you know her).

I mean, aliens aren’t unheard of within the vigilante world. There are heroes like the Martian Manhunter, Miss Martian, Starfire, Superman and so on. Aliens are surprisingly common within vigilante circles.

So, perhaps Batman was chosen to be Earth’s representative on a diplomatic mission to the planet you ruled over, maybe it was a sort of peace talk, to ensure that neither Earth nor your planet got in each other’s way or caused unduly distress for the other.. Damian, through being Batman’s sidekick, would join his father’s side as they both made for your planet.

I can imagine that Damian is quite taken by you the moment he sees you. Whether you look exactly like a human or is simply humanoid. Damian believes that you resemble a piece of art.

The youngest Robin somehow manages to always sit or stand right next to you during meetings, even though Bruce directly ordered his son to stay next to him at all times. You will be none the wiser of his inappropriate knack for staying close to you, after all, you know nothing of earth’s customs and assume it to be a show of peace that one of Earth’s envoys prefers to be close to you.

Perhaps Damian approaches you after one of the many meetings required to fill out the peace treaty. You’ll at first think he has a question regarding the treaty, but instead, he asks you to show him around the city in which you reside.

Now, let us assume that you speak English. Perhaps you’ve been taught previously or perhaps your race just knows all languages. Whatever it may be, you’re delighted that the strange young man, who calls himself Robin, requests to know more about your civilisation. It is, after all, important to know the culture with which you sign treaties.

Whether Damian needs some type of oxygen mask to inhale your atmosphere or not, you get him ready to exit the diplomatic housing within which you have all been residing since the humans’ arrival.

Damian is fascinated by your entire culture, but he is especially interested in the buildings’ architecture, the art of your people and the strange little animals that look like nothing from earth, but which you call pets.

The two of you really connect on a deeply personal level and it feels as if you just click. As if the two of you were made for each other like two puzzle pieces. Damian expresses this feeling to you and you agree, exclaiming, “It’s a shame we were born on two different planets. If I had met you under different circumstances we could’ve been the best of friends”. That sets Damian off, because yes if you had only been born close enough to each other, he is sure that the two of you would have gravitated towards each other like magnets.

As the days go on, you admit to Damian that he is probably already one of the best friends you have ever had. You explain how your entire life was shaped for you to be the best leader of your planet that you could possibly be, that your existence held no other purpose, and as such, you never really made any lasting friendships. Damian is shocked, not by what you’ve told him, but by how similar it is to his situation. He too experienced the exact same thing when he was younger... back when he was being formed into the perfect leader of the League of Assassins. This admission of yours makes Damian feel the need to protect you. He managed to escape his fate, but you’re living it. Damian has friends now, and he has a proper family. You’re living the life you were forced into. Whether or not you enjoy that life is of no concern to Damian. He sees it as you being tortured by the life that has been forced upon you.

Damian will insist on hanging out with you even more, and you might start to feel a little trapped in his company. But you have no one else to talk to, his father is certainly not any great conversationalist. So, you decide to just relax in Damian’s presence and let him do all those weird human things that they apparently do with friends… Like, needing to know where you are at all times, or making sure that no one else enters within an arm length’s radius of you... Such curious creatures they are...

Yeah, that’s just what those weird humans do with their friends. Damian confirms this, and you think to yourself, “Well… If anyone knows about human customs, it must be a human!” It’s this thought process that not only allows Damian to indulge in all his yandere tendencies, but also makes you defend him against your own council, who think that the human known as Robin is getting a little too close to you…

Damian and you might start to flirt a little. At first, it was you who did it jokingly. Damian did not see the joke. The Robin takes your flirting as a declaration of love, and if there is one thing the Al Ghuls are known for, it is their intense courting. Damian will make quick work of the whole affair. If it had been on Earth, he might’ve gotten you flowers and other gifts you might enjoy. He doesn’t have that opportunity on a foreign planet. So, instead, he’ll take out his trusty sketchbook and pencil, then proceed to draw as many portraits of you as he has pages for. When he is done, he’ll give them all to you, along with his heart.

I can imagine you’ll probably accept his feelings, he’s the only real friend you have after all. The only person who ever treated you like a person and not as the leader of your planet. Of course, he’s the only one you can see yourself getting involved with! However, you warn him that your relationship must remain hidden. Your people wouldn’t accept a human as your spouse. Not so easily at least. And if your parents are still alive, they would never allow you to get involved with, what is in your eyes, an alien. Damian hates that you don’t want your love out in the open, but he will relent after much convincing. “If that is your wish, beloved. But I see no reason to hide what is surely destiny.”

Everything goes fine for a while. The peace treaty is slowly getting finished and Damian dreads having to go back to Earth without you. He debates whether or not he should simply kidnap you, but he realises that’d be an open declaration of war, and Earth cannot withstand your planet’s forces directing their aggression towards the little blue planet.

However, Damian doesn’t need to kidnap you, because a traumatic event unfolds. You’re attacked by a rebel force, led by a distant uncle of yours, intent on taking your place of power for himself. The only way he can do that though? Well, by killing you, of course!

Damian is at your side the second the attacks start, believing you to be one of those politicians who are incapable of protecting themselves. Well, you’re no Earthling and that is certainly not how politicians are on your planet.

You’re a formidable fighter, using a strong defence quickly followed by fast and aggressive counterattacks. Damian barely knows what hit him as he watches you tear through hundreds of your uncle’s soldiers. You cannot take them all down, however, and Damian quickly joins your side. Your fighting styles match up pretty well, you’re both aggressive fighters who do not hesitate to jump directly into the action. With your powers combined, (and a healthy dose of help from your own guards), you’re able to push your uncle’s forces back and otherwise decimate whatever is left within your walls.

Bruce is disappointed in Damian after the fight. He killed and otherwise maimed hundreds of men along your side. It goes directly against Bruce’s ‘No killing rule’. Yet, Bruce is not so stuck up as to not see the necessity of the fight and the near-impossibility of not snuffing out a few lives. He is, however, concerned with how much Damian seemed to enjoy cutting down multiple people, just to protect you.

After the attack, it is decided that you’ll be safer on Earth while you write up the last parts of the peace treaty, and perhaps for a little while after. Bruce, who pities you for the heartbreak of having your own family betray you, offers to let you stay at Wayne manor. It is, after all, one of the most secure places on Earth, as well as rather inconspicuous looking.

You accept his offer, and, in private, Bruce lets you know of both his and Damian’s secret identities. You’re hurt that Damian didn’t let you know himself, before the attack, but you also understand the risk that they’ve taken just to come here, not to mention the months that they’ve ripped out of their former schedules, just for the sake of peace. Damian might apologise for not letting you know earlier, but you assure him that you understand.

Once back on Earth, Damian becomes ever more hyper-vigilant. He’ll ask you to not leave Wayne manor for fear of someone outside of the home not understanding your situation or attempting to attack you. (This will be especially bad if you don’t look entirely human). At first, you’ll understand where he’s coming from. It would both be dangerous for you to leave the manor, and it would also be risky for the Waynes. Not only could their secret identities be revealed, (especially if the existence of your planet is widespread knowledge), but if your uncle finds out where you’re hiding, he could end up attacking Earth, and more specifically the Waynes, as a way to get to you.

So, for a long time, you stay within the manor. Damian. Is. Ecstatic. He’s getting everything just how he wants it. You’re literally living with him, on Earth. This was exactly what he dreamed of.

Alfred will know of you two’s secret relationship immediately, nothing escapes his eyes, especially not the lovey-dovey glances you throw at each other over the dinner table. Alfred finds it adorable. He has never seen Damian so happy, and he quite likes you as a person. “What a nice match”, he’ll think. Still, Damian’s obsessiveness doesn’t escape him either. It worries him, the intensity with which Damian stares at you, or the way he makes sure his more youthful brothers are nowhere near you… Alfred is concerned. He’ll keep the relationship a secret, though, mostly for your sake…

Bruce might find out relatively quickly as well. He’s observant, and it’s hard to miss how often you and Damian hang out… and how you guys are sharing Damian’s bedroom… He will sit both of you down and have a talk about the dangers of such a relationship. He won’t be wholly unsupportive, but he is afraid of the repercussions of such a union. Bruce doesn’t pick up on Damian’s yandere tendencies though. Bruce has very little idea of how a normal relationship looks, so he’s not really able to discern anything inherently wrong with Damian’s obsessiveness and possessiveness, he just sees it as a lover’s reaction to their other half being in mortal danger. But Damian needs to watch out because if his father gets wind of his tendencies, he’ll make sure to keep the two of you separated. He’s not nearly as forgiving with his youngest son as he is with his older ones.

As the peace treaty is signed, finished and sent back to your council for approval, you slowly start to prepare for a return to your home planet. Damian is not amused. He desperately tries to convince you to stay on your own accord. Whispering words of love and his anguished need for you at his side while you’re together in his bed at night.

You want to stay with him, you truly do. Yet, you know that your entire planet is counting on your return. You have been trained your entire life to set your own wants aside for the good of the people and even with Damian holding you close…so impossibly close, you know that you can’t give in to his demands.

A few days before you’re set to return to your home planet, the hidden location that you were meant to rule from, while your uncle’s troops were slain, is blown up. No one knows how the rebels knew where you were meant to go, it’s a mystery and everyone suspects that it’s one of your council members that has betrayed you… Everyone except Damian.

In reality, your council is entirely loyal to you and you alone. Still, there was someone who sent off a message to your uncle about where you were supposed to be. Someone interested in you staying in hiding on another planet. Yes, of course, it was Damian who told the rebels.

After your hiding location is discovered, another is found. Yet, that one is similarly blown into smithereens. The next one too, the one after that as well, and so on. It is finally, (at the suggestion of Damian), decided that you will move to Earth indefinitely. Your people are supportive of the decision, rather a leader who lives on another planet, than no leader at all.

You’re crushed. You feel as if you are the worst leader to have ever ruled your planet, yet Damian is there to reassure you that you aren’t a failure and that you’ve just been dealt terrible cards.

I can imagine Damian seemingly doing everything in his power to help your army crush the rebellion, yet, he is actually the one feeding your uncle just enough information to keep the planet too dangerous for you to return to. This is, obviously, not within anyone’s knowledge except Damian, your uncle and perhaps Grayson… He always loved his youngest brother the most, and if you make his baby bird happy, then he’ll keep the green-eyed man’s involvement in your exile a secret.

When you’ve been on Earth for a while, your council starts to press you for a politically advantageous marriage. Damian, (who is considered a war hero on your planet at this point), offers himself up as a possible candidate and your planet’s population is elated. It’s like a fairytale to them. You, of course, accept his proposal, (what other choice do you have). I can see your engagement being broadcasted to your entire planet as a way to keep morals and support for your reign high. It works wonders and Damian becomes the entire planet’s sweetheart… A James Dean for aliens, if you will.

After years of staying with the Waynes, you have never seen the outside of the house. But that’s okay, you weren’t used to being allowed out much on your home planet either. At least here on Earth you now have a husband, and maybe a few friends in the form of Bruce, Alfred and Grayson, (I could see Damian letting you interact with those three, and those three only!)

Maybe, if you’re willing and able, you’ll get a few half-alien heirs, which might end up as vigilantes like Mar’i Grayson, or maybe Damian will keep them locked up behind closed doors, like you.

Damian won’t be disappointed or anything if you don’t want kids, heck! You might not even be able to have any together if your alien race doesn’t genetically match up with humans! Then the two of you will simply grow old together, with you never leaving the manor and no one knowing of Damian’s involvement in the civil war.

Perhaps, decades down the line, some alien historians will dig up Damian’s letters to your uncle and he will be known as the biggest traitor across all of time and space. However, you’re both dead and gone by then, so Damian couldn’t care less.

A/N: Yes, you can just ignore this, it's mostly for the user who sent in the request. Thank you for this great idea! I hope I did it justice and that you like it. I tried to research briefly Ahsoka's fighting style, but I've never watched Clone Wars or any other media where she was a major character, so I'm not too sure how well I did on that... Anyways, I hope I did an okay job! Have a nice day, and thank you for the request!

#damian wayne x reader #yandere damian wayne #damian wayne #yandere damian wayne x reader #yandere x reader #batboys x reader #damian wayne x you #damian wayne x y/n #alien

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fiery-emblems · 1 month

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Random thoughts for the day, which came to me not just because of Fire Emblem but also my own comics-

This is probably not surprising to anyone who's followed me for a while but, I really don't like the aesthetic of classic high fantasy. I'm talking like knights and elves and wizards....it's alright and I've definitely enjoyed stuff like Elder Scrolls and Dragon Age ect. but the actual settings are pretty forgettable (unless you're specifically talking about the WEIRD areas like Morrowind or the daedric realms).

I think this is because I grew up on games like Tales and Final Fantasy. These games take the tropes of high fantasy but they tend to mix in elements of lost technology, or aesthetic elements that are somewhat alien. If you've ever played Tales I'm talking about things like the dungeons within the planet in Tales of the Abyss with the floating music themed platforms, or the entire realm of Spira in FFX which is so colorful with the oddly shaped buildings, or even the way FFVII mixes things like magic and spirits with highly advanced cities.

I just think it's so much more fun when designers are able to expand their influences out past medieval Europe gray/brown colored familiar sameness. That's why I made it a point to reference Asian cultures in my own comic (and for my future project ideas I want to do stuff like turn of the century American fantasy, or Mediterranean inspired fantasy and things like that).

I think this is also why I like Awakening and Fates (and Kozaki designs in general) more than other FE settings even though the world's themselves aren't that fleshed out. They're just more interesting to look at.

Tldr: I think it's important for designers to take inspiration from reality when creating a fantasy world, but I also think it's way more effective when the push the boundaries past just making things look "realistic". I want to see more fantasy realms that are inspired by things that aren't medieval Europe, as I've said many times before. Let it be alien. Let it be anachronistic.

#this is partly an excuse for me to complain that ive always thought wizard robes look stupid #which is part of the reason i dont like soren's archsage robes :P #too wizard-y #yes its true i prefer kozaki's designs over the ones from tellius even though im a tellius fan #theyre pretty good for being kind of bland medieval-ish designs #at least most of the laguz designs are a bit more interesting

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simpforsix · 6 months

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i want more lore (pun intended) on the culture of lorien! i want to know about the people, about what they lost, about what their lives were like!

so anyways, here are some ideas about loric culture (keep in mind some of this could be canon/impossible in the series and i've forgotten because i haven't read the whole series in years). feel free to use and/or expand on any ideas in fanfiction and fanart, and please tag me if you use this as inspiration because i desperately want to see more loric culture!

-we know they have festivals based around their moons/stars. what do those look like? i'm imagining celebrations similar to pagan celebrations of equinoxes and solstices, so things like dances and bonfires. also how often do these happen, how different is their astronomy from ours? with multiple moons, how do those impact their oceans and navigation?

-how do they mark the passage of time? here we obviously have the year marked by our orbit around the sun and days marked by the turn of the earth, as well as seasons which technically have specific days but vary a lot based on location and hemisphere. we also have the moon cycle and the months of the year. how does their orbit vary from ours? do they mark something similar to years based on it? do they also have a day/night cycle similar to ours, and how do they schedule their days? what do their seasons look like? with multiple moons, do they have varying moon cycles and do they have specific ideas of importance within them, like the importance some place on the full moon? how do they divide time up, and how do they count it?

-how does their concept of age work? their orbit is probably different from ours, so if they count years the same as us what ages on lorien are big deals? on earth we have things like 16 and 18 being important in some places because they're your "sweet sixteen" and when you become a legal adult. do they have specific ages that dictate what you can do, like start training or work?

-what does the geography of lorien look like? it seems like their may be a central civilization with their ships and academies, but there's not a lot of description about the rest of the planet. it's ten times smaller, so it's kind of like a massive country. some of that is oceans and seas. like any country, there's probably smaller towns and cities with different customs and history. is there any territorial division, like the borders of countries here on earth? it seems they lived in peace and had very little conflict, so even if they have borders it's likely a very different system and idea to ours.

-how do the people who live beyond the central civilization differ? i think it could be a really cool idea to explore how other places on lorien function and how their societies adapt to their environment. for instance, a society living in the mountains could be stronger than average and more resistant to the cold due to their environment, while a coastal society could be very proficient in swimming and creating navigational tools as well as managing sea travel and trade. it's also interesting to consider differences in appearance due to location, like how on earth people closer to the equator have darker skin while those further away have lighter skin. with different societies there could be different diets, clothing, traditions, and so much more that i want to see explored.

-how do they travel? do they use ships to travel like how we use airplanes? do they have trains? do they have individual means of travel, like cars? since they seem eco conscious, how do they travel without harming the planet? do they use loralite to teleport and then use other means to get to places without loralite? since the academies are in the central civilization, do other societies send their garde there to board or do they have their own customs for garde?

-what does their economy/trade look like? since they're peaceful and don't have many of the issues we have on earth, i assume they don't use capitalism. i imagine it's all coordinated to give each society what they need, with everyone helping each other since if they never had capitalism they wouldn't be wondering about profit. how is the work divvied up? some cepan had jobs farming, but to supply a whole planet it must be a bigger operation. some legacies could help with agriculture, and many garde and cepan could help with resources once they're done training. they could send people with specific legacies to other societies, such as someone who can manipulate metal going to a place with mining. the work is also probably much less grueling, since they aren't trying to make a profit and instead just get what is needed. coastal societies could manage ports and get resources sent all around.

-what are their religious beliefs? are there different beliefs, or one main belief with different sects? i imagine that there would be a lot of spiritual stuff surrounding the entity and possibly lorien itself, so maybe more monotheistic. how do their religious beliefs incorporate the elders? do they view them as priests or prophets, or maybe even jesus-like figures? who are their religious leaders and how does one become a religious leader? or maybe they don't have a leader, and look directly to the entity/lorien for guidance. they might have religious texts, which i imagine are in the libraries and probably preserved by the cepan.

-what are their funerary practices? in the books we really only see them practice more human, western funerary practices with cremation and burial. on lorien, would it have been a somber affair or more celebratory? how would they have cared for their dead? on earth cremation and burial are the most common, but there's also diversity in how those are carried out, like open air pyres and natural burial. if they bury people, what do their graveyards look like? how does their mourning practice work? is it practiced in stages, are there specific events that must occur, how do they work through death?

-what are their societal roles? do they have gender roles or are they just divided by garde and cepan? do they have concepts like matriarchal or patriarchal societies? we know grandparents take care of young garde, so what is the role of the parents and other family members in the upbringing? there are many roles in a society that need to be filled: caretakers, laborers, leaders, etc. they might let most people choose their roles, but some would have to be designated or expected like grandparents caring for the children or elders.

feel free to add more, and i'll probably keep this list going as i think of more! i just think that lorien is so underdeveloped as a culture, and we don't get a real sense of what was lost even though some characters like the cepan lived on lorien for many years. they lost a whole civilization, and i wish we knew more about the people and their lives before the mogadorian invasion.

#lorien legacies #i am number four #pittacus lore #legacies reborn

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full-on-sam · 11 months

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Worldbuilding questions

Have you dived nose first into a new WIP? Me too. Have you planned your new characters? Me too. So now the next step before writing is worldbuidling! Some people love it, some people hate it, some people really struggle with it.

I will post a part two with political and cultural worldbuilding in a few days, as well as one about maps. If you have specific requests don't be afraid to ask!

So, here are some questions that should help you set up the world for your WIP.

Part 1: physical settings and time.

Because breaking it all down, makes the process less of an enormous task and more writer friendly

First thing first: decide where your book will be set. It seems given, but it can be more difficult than what it seems.

Is it a huge world with lots of nations? There is only one nation? Is it small or big?

There are big cities? Or small villages? Or a mixture of both?

The landscape: is it flat? Are there mountains/forests/a desert? If your world map is big, you might want to consider some biome variety. If it is smaller one could suffice.

Are there islands? If so, how many? Are they big? How are they connected to each other/ the mainland?

Some big natural events shape the landscape: is your world subjected to plates shifting/earthquakes/volcanic eruption/droughts?

How is the climate? If it is really hot and humid the landscape will probably be different than a place with lots of rain and wind. Small hack: plains can have a huge variety of climates.

Seasons. Does the landscape get different with seasons changing? If so, how? It seems given but you might have a story where everything is the same all year round (think The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion the Wardrobe and the Witch, where it's winter all year long.)

If your characters travel a lot it will be useful putting everything down on a map. It will help you keep track of where they are and describe te setting accordingly. (I will make another post on how to draw maps soon, and link it).

Maybe it is not a tradional world, and you will need none of those things. For example you might set it in space. In this case you will need to answer different questions.

Is your story set on planets or spaceships? Do your characters ever touch a planet or do they just travel inside a spaceship? If that is the case, remember to research how spaceships work. (Also are those future spaceships, present, or past? It will make a big difference or the technology used)

If your characters touch planets consider: how many they are? Are they livable (is there water/air)? Are there other living forms? Is so which ones? How far/near are to the main star of the system? Are similar or very different to our own?

Secondly you will need to decide a time period to base your novel upon. Even if it is in a fantasy world, you will probably need to take inspiration from real world.

Is it set in a world close to our present? Or do you take inspiration from the past? Is it set in the future?

If it is set in the past you will need to pick a century and do researches specific for that century. Here some things you might want to check:

Clothes (type of clothes, sure, but also of cloth and threads. How are they made and by who. The differences between classes)

Weapons (how are they made? how much do they cost? does everyone have them or are they reserved to the rich? Are they used in training or only in battles?)

Food (what food is more popular? Again there will be differences between classes. How is it cooked? By who?)

Royalty (how is it treated? is it liked or despised? What clothes/weapons/food have they different from lower classes)

Specific historical events that occur in your world. If it is real world be sure to make your researches. If it is a fantasy one, pick an event you can be inspired from and research that to be more accurate (e.g. you want to set your world in something similar to 1700/1800. In that case you might want to read about different revolutions and see if some of that can be applied to your world too)

If it is set in the future there are some implications too. You might want to establish:

Technology (how big is the impact on society? Pick specific items, such as phones or computers and understand how they evolved)

Transports (are they more efficient than the present? If so why? Are there new means of transportation? If so, what are they?)

Climate (has it changed? If so how has it influenced population? Which areas are now inhabited? Which are not?)

Food (crops can be influenced by climate change and/or new technologies. Some foods might not be available anymore because the ingredients stopped growing due to those conditions. Some instead might be new because technology or natural evolution has changed some food varieties. For example bananas used to have seed and now not anymore. Consider if something like that might have happened)

Of course you don't have to answer all of those questions and consider all of those issues. But they might be useful to better understand your world, even if you don't cite all those elements while writing.

#worldbuilding #settings #time periods #worldbuilding tips #author tips #creative writing #writing #writeblr #writers on tumblr #writing community

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script-a-world · 8 months

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Submitted via Google Form:

I want to build a primitive prehistoric society on my planet, like the equivalent of the Paleolithic period, but having trouble organically avoiding human rights issues. Ideas?

Tex: I’m not sure what you mean by human rights issues? Generally the approach to using specific eras as an inspiration to worldbuilding is to view your source cultures from a contemporary POV, and see how the people of that era discussed and defined what they considered morality to be.

The Paleolithic era has less found, recorded information, but it’s not entirely the dearth of resources that is popularly made out to be. Archaeological sites of that era, and particularly for the regions of the planet that you’re looking at, will be quite helpful, as will anthropological analyses.

A preliminary reading on the Paleolithic Wikipedia page here would be a good starting point, and there’s a lot of articles in the same vein that are linked within that page.

Wootzel: Hello! In order to help with this issue, we need a lot more detail about what issues you’re thinking of, and maybe a little bit of explanation about why you think these issues are hard to avoid. Since your primitive society isn’t described, just the issues themselves might leave us head-scratching as well.

For example: “I don’t see a way to avoid having child labor be a normal part of this society, since there’s a certain job [details] that requires fitting in small spaces where adults can’t go.” Come back with further explanation about what you’re up against, and we can give an answer a shot.

Licorice: Human rights as we understand them today, enshrined in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, are the product of the Enlightenment, which in turn was the product of many centuries of philosophical and legal discourse drawing on a diverse heritage. But if we look at it in another way, human rights, in the sense of the rights and wrongs of how human beings treat each other - our duties towards one another, and their duties towards us - go back to the dawn of recorded time and probably way before that. I can’t think of a religion ancient or modern which doesn’t have some version of The Golden Rule (treat other people the way you’d like to be treated yourself) as a foundational principle. Of course, human beings are not morally perfect and often fall short of that ideal.

Since you’re the creator of this society, it’s up to you to choose the foundational principles on which their moral and legal systems are constructed. You decide how they conceive of their duties both towards themselves as individuals and towards the various members of their community. If you want them to have modern-style human rights, you can choose that. As a reader, the only thing I’d find unbelievable is a society where everybody always follows the moral code unquestioningly and never tries to violate it in pursuit of their own selfish interests.

Blue: While we can’t divorce our view of society from our modern understanding of what is just and what isn’t, it’s important to try and approach the past without judgement, at least to start with. Every society is a product of its era. Try looking at the society you are trying to create from the characters’ point of view.

Morals are a subject to change. We are necessarily biased towards our modern POV, and we should acknowledge that. The idea of human rights might not be new, but our conceptualization of it is. Also, depicting something that can be deemed a human rights’ violation does not equal condoning it. Sometimes it’s important for the narrative and for readers’ suspense of disbelief.

#google submitted #culture #society

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theold-ultraviolence · 1 year

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What are Amaelia’s favorite movies tho?

Ok I hope I’m not forgetting anything!! I’m pretty sure I’m gonna think of more movies but these are the ones that came to mind:

Ok I just gotta add that, as we’ve established Modern!Aemond as a cinephile™️ he was probably like: “MY daughter will be introduced to CINEMA from a young age! She’s gonna have TASTE.”

And then fast forward to when Amaelia is already 2 years old and he knows the dialogue of ‘The Swan Princess’ by heart because it’s all she watches during a period of her life lmao. By now his movie shelf filled with AUTEURS™️ is starting to get filled up with princess movies. He’s not even mad though.

Peter Pan is a favorite (the animated one and the live action one from 2003). She loves to see the pirates and mermaids and the dog! And she loves Wendy because of her love for telling adventure stories. But she’s a massive fan of pirates in general.

On that note about liking pirates, she loves Treasure Planet. It’s pirates in space™️ but also loves the Muppet Treasure Island with Tim Curry.

Uncle Daeron introduces her to the live action ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movies

A Bug’s Life, because it’s ‘Auntie Helaena’s movie’

For some reason, ‘Oliver and Company’ and the love action ‘The Cat In The Hat’ are Uncle Aegon’s’ movies ashshdjdksk

QUEST FOR CAMELOT! Need I explain this one? It has dragons and knights, it’s the perfect movie in her book. She loves anything with dragons and knights (dad’s influence).

Also because of knights and wizards, she loves disney’s The Sword In The Stone.

Going to self-indulge for a hot sec here and add The Black Cauldron because it’s a spooky one. Reader, seeing how much Amaelia enjoys knights and princesses, suggested this one. You were afraid she was gonna get scared but she ended up loving it.

Extra self-indulgence: reader also suggests to her ‘The Road to El Dorado’ because of all the adventure but also because of the big inspiration from Mayan cultures. Triple self-indulgence: reader and Amaelia sing the songs together every time they watch it.

Aemond really wanted Amaelia to enjoy these because they were his childhood faves, and he’s so thrilled when she does: 101 Dalmatians and Lady and The Tramp. Because, dogs! She lives in a household with two loving doggies, so of course these are amongst faves. She also loves the 101 & 102 Dalmatians movies with Glenn Close.

She has a love/hate relationship with The Land Before Time because she LOVES the dinosaurs in it but HATES the scene where Littlefoot loses his mom 😭 — she just cannot watch that. She’ll burst into tears every time and she has to be cuddled and kissed by her mom all day afterwards.

For this same reason, she can’t watch Finding Nemo, because she cries when Nemo gets separated from his dad.

I feel like she loves/is exposed to many old-school animated movies because her parents show her movies that they liked when they were kids and that want to share with her. And also, I’ve said before that Aemond loves analog media and he has a working VCR still. He must have gone to Alicent to scout for all the VHS tapes from his childhood to play Amaelia.

#modern!aemond #modern!aemond’s family

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ferninapot · 7 months

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Mmmmmmm I'm in a very venus mood.

Planet of love

She grew up on a mineral rich island at a time where demons had to scatter so as to not go extinct, because hunts at the hands of angels and humans were prominent

Always had and still does have a pessimistic disposition about her. She's observant and aloof.

Okay fuck it, let me write my paragraphs. Bullet points are boring as shit.

I don't want to spoil too much because I like to keep my oc information confidential for writing, so I'll just do the same thing I did with solon—an overview that is in depth but not so much that you know everything about this character.

Venus is honestly one of my favorites for how confused (and confusing) she is. Also, since my lore is flexible, she works for most AUs so long as I find plausible and historically accurate reasons for crossovers etc without changing the content itself. Because to be honest, if you have to change a character in their entirety for another universe, it probably doesn't work out for them in the end at all.

She is a succubus. I really love land of the lustrous, so part of my lore branches off of the idea of pseudohumans as displayed in the manga and anime. Succubi are particularly known for having rarer compositions, and Venus is particularly made of poudretteite. There's no meaning behind it, but I do find it pretty.

The banner above was done by me. But the filters don't align with the coldness of the pink as displayed here—it's intended to be warmer, because I consider her pretty serene in her own right.

Succubi have rarer constitutions to lure in prey—they feed off of the minerals of living things, while normal demons feed off of minerals produced on mineral rich islands, caves, and even crystal forests.

I decided to make her pink because it's often associated with eroticism and femininity, both of which are elements of her character and how she carries herself. Moreover, I think the coldness of her colors when depicted in images play a role in juxtaposing her personality. Sometimes serene and simple at a glance, and other times melancholic and, well. Frigid. Rough around the edges. In this case, I wanted to go for the former because of the piece I was writing. (I since dropped it, but now that I think about it the pairing has enough chemistry to work. If not for the fact I don't have many ideas, I probably would've started working on it.)

The name Venus is also inspired by the Roman god Venus. Or I guess she's better known in Greek as Aphrodite. Pre-amnesia, she was given a human alias because languages spoken by divines are impossible for humans to understand. Too complex and often metaphorical. Not to mention other elements like symbols, and the fact demon dialect particularly can't be traced because they live in secrecy away from humans. There's little evidence to support their existence because they make it that way.

That's not to say there aren't demons that interact with humans though. Venus is one of them—as a prostitute and succubus, she has to in order to maintain her vitality and strength. Although many like her are humanized. Unable to tell anything about their culture, or even the clan they originate from. That's what makes them an easy target for hunters, a large faction of angels (that may as well be a race at this point because there are so many branches—and they've even adapted to optimize success biologically. That's kinda wild.) That use their gem parts for a variety of things. Medicine, personal strength by absorption, potions, among other things.

I intend to write a whole story on my lore—that's why my ao3 exists. In spite of all the crazy things I see in my fandoms, I intend to make a magnum opus on a site that is usually badly regarded outside of platforms like this for its content.

#eev oc posting #oc #venus #artists on tumblr #original world

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eddsworldrus · 2 years

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What do all the boys home planets look like from your space au?

Ok oh boy!

this will be long since a lot of based off some oc stuff

Tord

So his race (Kathar) Their species a fair sized chunk have never even seen their homeworld!. A lot live on massive warships that cruise around, and are cities in their own light with their size and scale. And there is def a big difference in the cultures between Kathar who live on the homeworld, and those who live on warships. So different traditions/customs/and attitudes. Especially since every warship develops it's own customs, micro-holidays, and communities.

But it's a very pretty world with huge forests of megaflora Red wood trees spanning 100's of feet up. A world with a /lot/ of mountainous terrain and huge plain like areas on some of the steep mesa/flat portions

then deep foggy basins, and lots of the cities built up the sides of the mountains, mesa's or plains areas often pretty tight clustered cities where they live close together i was thinking of lots of world building and all these paleontology videos had me a lot more inspired to think about world building, and environmental factors their world would have that probably helped kathar adapt like that Mountainous landscapes, do powerful/digitigrade legs for climbing/traversing difficult areas, A lot living in very high altitudes. heavy/dexterous tails for balance and grabbing things especially

Fave lil leaf mice that catalogue as leaves/ect to hide in their forest floor homes. Just laying flat on the ground when many of the many species of avians are overhead.

Edd His planet is mostly ocean (like 90% water). With immense ocean biodiversity, (like think subnautica variety as a close example). (especially his species has a ton of variety based off their location/sub species) Edd mostly lives in massive underground tunnel networks. The world is *viscous* when there's massive leviathans and hostile sea life all about, so constantly out for ways to survive.

Also around the few patches of land massive coral reef like forest, some as tall as tree's branching out into the water.

Kelp forests that go for miles and miles

Then deep trenches with all sorts of life. You bet there be some weird ass crab creatures cause we love carcinisation

Matt

His planet is the least habitable, with most of the surface being to harsh for many species to live on, as it's volcanic, extremely hot, acidic rain, and just generally volatile. The surface is craggy and mostly barren, asides from the few species that live there. Most of his species live in vast underground networks. They've developed extreme tolerance to heat, toxic gases. and other rough environments.

So they've built up and reinforced their deep tunnel systems, and giant open caves, over many years. Having made gorgeous structures and adornments to it. Especially since living underground having a lot of access to metals and minerals to work with as building materials.

Fruit is a rarity/delicacy there as most plants they get tend to be more uncommom/mostly succulent/cactus adjacent with how rough the terrain/soil conditions can be.

Then big underground springs are another common feature, as they'll actively seek these out and build around.

Tom His is a mostly nocturnal planet, cooler temperatures, and has multiple moons. A lot of Lots of flat plains land and thick woods and brush. Not as many mountains/extreme heights.

For a majority of the time it's dark or almost a constant state of night/occasional dusk. Which a lot of bioluminescent life has developed, especially in the plants and fruits. Glowing to attract pollinators and seed spreading creatures.

Just sometimes fields of glowing flowers cropping up during the right seasons.

Their capital city is a massive floating city (Built on a base of the same crystals he has on his necklace and are 'magic amplifiers' so a whole lot of magic junk on his world),

Dappling of rural towns and villages. Lots of buildings having been lived in for generations, as a lot of importance in their culture for their history/traditions)

(some of their focus on tradition/valuing their culture does get toxic and there has been a growing counter culture movement against it)

A lot of the small towns have nice wooden buildings, or spires and obelisk like buildings. Most build around the environment but not over it.

Their sea/ocean is a big point of superstition, and very little sea faring. As it's a jet black ocean and most of it's contents are unknown, that is often seen as 'cursed'. Like a common phrase is 'sea touched' as those who are unlucky/dealt with tragedy (A lot of their funeral practices are mostly sea burials to pass on)

A couple other members of his species! oops I have a lot of lore/stuff for Tom and Tord's worlds especially

#eddsworld au #space au #this is such a long post but I can type about these worlds for a long tiiime #mostly cause a lot of concepts for the planets/races were preexisting/oc content of mine

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madelinemccoolname · 25 days

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i was inspired by a youtube video, so introducing

Magnet's Media Mreviews

Red Faction Guerrilla Re-mars-stered and Fast and the Furious (2001)

So lets start by addressing the elephant in the room. Neither of these are kids movies and one of them isn't even a movie. this is because I want to transition this series from "maddie wants to review a whole series" and transition it to "hey this is something I've consumed recently, here are my thoughts formatted like a casual review" both because the serious reviews are harder to write, and because I like writing and like sharing my opinions on things but I've made both too scary in my mind. so yeah not just movies, lets review an xbox 360 game.

Red Faction Guerrilla was an xbox 360 generation open world third person shooter about doing revolution on mars. The remake is the same, though prettier. I realize this is an awkward review to start this relaunched series with, if i said that was intentional would you believe me? the game mostly revolves around the player as mason lastname (no relation) doing odd jobs for the Red Faction, blow up a building, blow up a lot of buildings, blow up a guy... most of this game is blowing something up for somebody. This is because at the time of release, red faction guerrilla was showing off some extremely cool destructible environment and building technology, and they knew what they had was cool and satisfying enough to build a whole game around. This leads to a game that plays well, side quests that lead into story progress that lead into side quests, satisfying gameplay loops, and one of the only games I know that looks worse than it is to play. Sure it has problems, its a ps360 open world game set on a desert planet, it comes with problems, but satisfying gameplay isn't one of them.

On the subject of problems, the story might as well not exist, the music is unmemorable, there are maybe 6 high quality cut scenes in the game and most of them have to do with a racist, native martian scavengers that the game sets up for a long time and then it turns out to be a jingoist caricature of a vague "native" culture that probably should've been cut. the weapons never get as crazy as you'd hope, mostly just different rocket launchers and normal guns, moving around without a car is a pain, the game penalizes you if a civilian npc dies in the same zip code but game good so 7/10

memorable bits: big hammer, dust gun, the terrible propaganda billboards, jenkins the old man that lets you blow stuff up in his car, the call of duty modern warfare missions right at the end, the sequel

fast and the furious

oh my god I'm so much more comfortable talking about a movie. the fast and the furious is a movie about a guy named brian trying to be a guy with a fast car named brian, he wants to get in with another group with vin deasil's character dom, but uh oh, brian's actually a cop, is he going to choose being a cop or being a racer, watch the movie to find out what he chooses just forget about the sequels.

Speaking of forgetting about sequels, what is this plot? so dom and his gang are stealing tvs and dvd players and selling them on the street, and brian is trying to get in with them, to see if they're doing it, in addition to illegal street racing, which they're also doing but that's not a good enough crime. So then brian has to get closer and closer to dom, while examining other racers to see if they did it, and getting close to dom's group while hiding from them also. And the big race "Race Wars" is going on and they wanna win the big race and its actually not that important despite this being a car movie. It's almost notable in how un-notable this "undercover cop who might defect" plot is, except theres also 10 sequels??? and a spinoff? like what do we need to know, where the one guy gets his ADD meds? how many gangs is he going undercover for? you'd think they'd recognize him after a point. or oh shit wait maybe the next movie is about completely different characters and they're all just car movies. anyway I got distracted but the movie's boring 5/10

memorable bits: racism, sexism, homophobia, uh dom's shitty friend who's homophobic and is also dating dom's sister which you'd think he would have a problem with, race wars, brian's shitty cop handler that sucks, the snoozer of a climax, brian maybe dying at the end

#magnet's movie mreviews #magnet's media mreviews #fast and the furious #red faction guerrilla #review #movie review

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c-40 · 1 year

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A-T-3 105 Algorithm & Blues Pt.3

いち、に、さん、し

Image by Walter Velez from when Japanese cars were entering the American market

'According to DJ Chintam—the co-author of Wamono A To Z records guide, and co-curator of last year’s Japanese jazz funk and rare groove comp—the concept of wamono didn’t exist before the mid-’90s: “Playing Japanese music in DJ sets was almost taboo,” he once told Resident Advisor. But the UK rare groove scene, which sent evangelists hunting after obscure funk, soul, and disco, prompted him to start scouring for domestic records at the turn of the century' - Pitchfork. These are the same diggers that went out hunting for Northern Soul records, they same that compiled the compilations of the late 1980s and 1990s (A-T-3 079 A-T-3 080 A-T-3 081)

My Truth

My personal interest in Japan is, I assume, similar to many people growing up in the UK in the 1980s. Japanese cartoons on TV like Battle Of The Planets and Ulysses 31 (I bought a bootleg of the soundtrack it in the early 2000s), sci-fi characters like Godzilla and Ultraman, and arcade games from Space Invaders to Out Run to Street Fighter II (Red Bull’s excellent Diggin The Carts web series is worth a shout). Japanese arcade games were a massive influence on me, not just the graphics but the cabinet artwork, the sound and gameplay too like BurgerTime, Bomberman, or Bubble Bobble. They felt like a small window into Japan

My experience of Japan and music when I was young, like many others in the UK, suffers from multiple personality disorder. I was born when Biddu/Carl Douglas's Kung Fu Fighting reached number 1 on the UK singles chart. Growing up there was the music in anime (although we just called them cartoons) and video games, period dramas that often use oriental folk music or a pastiche of (as I've said I became aware of Ryuichi Sakamoto through his film music), then their was the imitation of Japanese culture by western pop acts like Turning Japanese by The Vapours and Japanese Boy by Aneka, this was when advertising and the presence of Japanese imports on shop shelves and in showrooms began calling for attention to Japan. By the time I was a teenager I was listening to John Peel who would play bands like Shonen Knife and Pizzicato Five

Throughout the 80s there was a fashion for ‘Japanisme’ on record sleeves. Sheffield design studio Designers Republic began incorporation elements of Japanese graphics into their artwork for the group Pop Will Eat Itself, this developed into one of the styles tDR are known for, in the 1990 tDR created an imaginary Japanese corporation called Pho-Ku. In their way tDR were trying to subvert marketing slogans, Japanese iconography and characters were incorporated into the designs not only for their own charm but as symbols of what is sometimes called hyper-capitalism. From the late 1980s I'd pick up bits of Japanese artwork wherever I could, this might be reproductions of high art or ephemera. In 1991 Akira got a theatrical release in the UK, as an art student I was watching Tetsuo: The Iron Man and it's sequel. I enjoyed Anime and manga (I think Ranma ½ was the first series I got into) and I'm a fan of Superflat

The video for Madonna' released's single Rain (written with Shep Pettibone) was released in 1993, and appeared to have sleek and minimal contemporary Japanese aesthetic to it which I loved. Ryuichi Sakamoto plays the video director in it. This aesthetic is made explicit in Chris Cunningham's 1997 techno orientalist Ghost In The Shell inspired video for the Bjork single All Is Full Of Love

I remember seeing all the CDs on display in Japanese shops and knowing there was gold hidden in there. I will buy anything that looks interesting. YMO, Ryo Kawasaki, Logic System were probably the first older Japanese artists I went looking for

Interest in 'City Pop' and Japanese ambient music in America is written about as if it has happened over night but, it's nothing new, it goes all the way back Ue o Muite Arukō (or Sukiyaki) a Japanese record sung by Kyu Sakamoto that American veterans took to number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. Slick Rick takes the melody and incorporates it into the Doug E Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew classic La Di Da Di

Tracks like YMO's Firecracker was popular with Black American audiences, Bboys were into Riot In Lagos, and in Planet Rock G.L.O.B.E, Pow Wow, and Mr Biggs get the house to repeat "ich me sun chi" [ichi ni san shi]. Bambaataa's love of Kraftwerk is well documented so this is probably definitely lifted from Numbers by Kraftwerk

My attraction to Japanese culture was the science fiction and fantasy. Wu-Tang: An American Saga tells the story of RZA and Ghostface Killah's love of martial arts movies and RZA's genius move to sample those films and their sound effects, and boo-yaa the rest as they say is history with Japanese samples and references cropping up in hip hop, R&B, jungle and all their derivatives until the end of time. Wu-Tang were the first hip hop act to go all in, it wasn't subtle was it, in many ways you could compare Wu-Tang to UK synth pop like Japan, Wang Chung, the rock group Asia and other 1980s groups that referenced elements of Japanese culture. Over the last decade or so anime and manga have become mainstream in the US and rock and pop acts are also paying attention to Japanese culture

Tamao Koike - Automne Dans Un Miroir produced by YMO, slower and translated into French b side of Kagami No Naka No Jugatsu which is also great

youtube

Go Misawa- Jigoku Kara no Shisma and some nice anime soundtrack popular with hip hop producers. It's from the anime Devilman

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Go Misawa - 悪魔人間 (デビルマン) - 不動明

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#1983 #tamao koike #yellow magic orchestra #ryuichi sakamoto #haruomi hosono #yukihiro takahashi #go misawa #synth pop #soundtrack #tokyo #japan #80s music #Youtube

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d-criss-news · 3 years

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Nine Songs: Darren Criss

When Disney, Phantom Planet and Mr Hudson collide: Glee star, Emmy and Golden Globe winner and musician Darren Criss talks Andrew Wright through the pivotal songs in his life and the unexpected ways they found him.

“When we are younger, our gateway drugs to a lot of popular things don’t come from the sexiest of places. It’s up to you how proactive you want to be with your curiosity from there, and how far down the rabbit hole you want to go, if you go down at all.”

Choosing the songs that define you is a tricky business to say the least, especially when the power of song has provided an ongoing soundtrack to your life. “When you’re as avid a music consumer as musical artists are, trying to pin down Nine Songs is difficult,” Darren Criss laughs. So much so, his final choices only really crystallise as our conversation draws to its close. “It’s hard for me not to see the value and joy in literally everything,” he explains. “The curse of the creative person is that your ideas and your interests always move way faster than your body can execute.”

Criss is a creative par excellence. As well as his Emmy and Golden Globe winning performance in The Assassination of Gianni Versace, where he played serial killer Andrew Cunanan, to his upcoming role in Muppets Haunted Mansion Halloween special as The Caretaker, he’s also a prolific musician. Criss enjoyed a decadent musical consumption since childhood, so “this was a bit of an archaeological dig,” he admits. As such, everything from jazz standards, to 808s, punk rock, ‘90s teen pop, and musical numbers are excavated in the course of our extemporaneous journey through the music he loves.

Equally on his mind is how to go about approaching the task of creating his Nine Songs, full stop. “The interesting social experiment is: Are my answers going to be songs that actually shaped my life and were formative to me as an artist? Are they songs that were formative to me as a human being? Or am I picking songs that I think represent who I am to people that do not know me? All three of those things aren’t necessarily the same thing.”

He reaches a conclusion of sorts. “For the purposes of making some kind of decision, I’m gonna lean less into trying to look cool to your very cool readership, and more into the literal, ‘What made me think about music in a different way? And hit me in a very emotional way?’ I think that’s probably the healthiest route.”

Embracing the accessibility that characterises Criss’ picks - or at times the initial touchpoints that led him to them - are something he vacillates over during our chat. “I’ve seen a lot of other people’s Nine Songs and they’re super cool. It’s like Leonard Cohen B-sides and old opera records and stuff. I’m gonna be pretty honest with the pop culture zeitgeist of how I grew up but explain why there is so much value in those moments.” His contemplation continues into the next day, Criss’s publicist passes on his regrets at being tentative to admit how he encountered one of his song choices via the Shrek soundtrack.

A yearning to reinterpret accessibility and the value attached to it drives Criss, however. He tells me that a festival performance that applied the anarchic verve of punk rock to a more refined Great American Songbook number remoulded his perception of music entirely. His love of the fusion of these two genres in particular symbolises the salient musical backdrops of his childhood - the guitar bands he played in with friends, and his musical theatre endeavours that led him to Broadway and multiple Ryan Murphy juggernauts, including his breakthrough playing Blaine Anderson in Glee.

Criss employs these contrasting musical lexicons, and other areas in between, on Masquerade, his new EP. Comprising five stand-alone “character-driven” singles, it sees Criss donning different musical personas. “I’m leaning into people that might know me as an actor,” he explains. “Because if actors can do Shakespeare, romantic comedy, and then do a horror movie and wear a prosthetic nose and a wig, I didn’t understand why I couldn’t just do that with music.” The song “walk of shame” draws on jazz-standard chords interlaced with hip-hop production, “i can’t dance” looks to new-wave, and “for a night like this” is the product of Criss’ goal to create the ultimate end-of-the-night crowd-pleaser for a new-year bash, wedding or bar mitzvah. “This is all of the parts of me as a lifelong fan of these genres, trying my hand at servicing the pieces of them that I love.”

“I really love all styles of music and understanding what makes them unique and special and what makes them really pop. There are so many things that really make things sing - for lack of a better verb - and I like acknowledging those things and celebrating those things.”

“So, let’s begin. I have runners up and shit, and I have artists, I don’t just have the songs, so we might have to pick them as we go.”

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“Part of Your World” by Jodi Benson

“When people read this, they’ll go ‘That’s cute, he likes Disney songs’, but it’s more profound than that. Some of the most formative pieces of music to hit me at a very early age would have been any of the songs that were coming from ‘The Disney renaissance.’ The early-mid ‘90s explosion of The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beauty and The Beast.

"One of the through lines between the three of those musicals was Howard Ashman, who is one of my all-time heroes. Dramaturg, songwriter - he really was the voice behind what made those songs great. I have always loved Howard’s lyrical sensibility and also Alan Menken, his partner who wrote these songs with him. There was a musical structure to a lot of the songs which I would unconsciously pick up in my own songwriting, not just musically, but the idea that not only did somebody make these songs, but they wrote them for a story.

“There’s a clip of Howard Ashman vocal directing Jodi Benson, who was the original voice of Ariel. It’s a wonderful example of his genius, where not only was he songwriting but he was storytelling in the way he would tell her how to perform it, and you can really see the song coming to life in that clip. That’s when you cross the street from ‘It’s a song’ to ‘This is an experience.’

"There are certain ingredients that are required to elevate music that goes beyond just a nice melody, a beautiful orchestration and a good voice. There are things that are required to really give a performance a characterisation, context and a vulnerability, that he architects in real-time with Jodi Benson. You see that what he’s doing is what makes the record so special, and that’s something that’s always been inspiring to me.”

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“MMMBop” by Hanson

“I think my love of Hanson was because some people didn’t like it, so I was like ‘Fuck you, I like this, how do you feel about it?’ But this is difficult for me, because you know, I’m speaking to The Line of Best Fit and we’re trying to be cool! Although, do you know what’s cool? Being accessible! Writing a pop hit when you are 10 years old. Being in a band with your brothers and you’re all below the age of 15, you have a record contract where you are writing, producing and performing songs that are doing well.

“I was 10 years old when their first album Middle of Nowhere came out, and I remember reading somewhere that there were these kids that had a record. At the time, I was playing guitar and I was writing songs, but in my mind I was a kid, and that was it. I couldn’t be on the radio; you had to be a grown up to do this.

"This was the first time where I realised ‘Holy shit, kids can do stuff!’ It’s the value of seeing yourself in the media - that’s a whole other conversation to talk about - but there’s an immense value in feeling like there’s a piece of you out in the zeitgeist and doing well because it’s encouraging. You go, ‘Holy shit, maybe I can do this as well.'

“When you see children doing things, you’re ‘Wow, this is so cute and fabulous’, but then when you actually look at it you go, ‘This is miles above what most people in this age group are capable of,’ and that’s all I saw, because I was in the same age group and I was so inspired by that. This whole album was really a turning point for me, where I was like, ‘I can do this, I can do music too, because these guys can.'

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“Ooh La La” by Faces

“This song really blew my mind. It became my own theme. It’s that ‘Make your heart sing’, nostalgic moment when you’re a teenager, driving in the car listening to it, playing guitar with your friends and you’re singing “I wish that I knew what I know now / When I was younger.” You’re like, ‘because I’m an adult now, I’m 15-years-old. If I only knew what I know now.’

“I was doing theatre from a young age and I was part of a young conservatory called A.C.T. in San Francisco. By way of somebody who knew somebody, I had an audition for a movie. As a kid not being near New York or Los Angeles it was really exciting, and this audition was for a film called ‘Max Fischer’, which would become the movie Rushmore, which would become one of my favourite movies of all time by the now very distinguished Wes Anderson.

“Separate from my own objective love of Wes Anderson, when this movie came out I was just around the age of getting into my own sort of identity with music, but also movies - indie movies - and trying to assert who I was. So, I see this movie Rushmore and I love it. I love the soundtrack, I love it so much, it’s one of my favourite albums ever. This song is the end sequence, and the way it made me feel - the vocals on it, I could play it on guitar and it was part of a cool movie - it really represented a lot in my life.

“And because of the acting thing, and Rushmore being great - it’s about this kid in high-school who's misunderstood but has his own agenda - everything about it was just so fucking cool to me. To this day, I cite that song as one of my favourite records of all time.”

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“Recently Distressed” by Phantom Planet

“A guy that really formed the way I would sing and write songs is Alex Greenwald, the frontman of Phantom Planet. I went to see Phantom Planet because I loved Rushmore and I found out that Jason Schwartzman [who had been cast as Max Fischer] was also the drummer for a band called Phantom Planet.

"So, when I saw their name on the bill I went, but I didn't know their music. I was barely 14, but their set blew my mind. It was Rock and Roll, but I loved Alex Greenwald’s voice. I loved everything, and I would follow their career from there. I always tell people that my voice is a combination of me trying to be Alex Greenwald, Paul McCartney and Rufus Wainwright, but failing. Alex was incredibly formative for me.

“One of their biggest records was a little while after I first saw them, which was the song for The O.C., "California." That was more of an Elvis Costello thing, and they employed a lot of stuff that sounded to me like The Beatles and a lot of ‘60s mod/pop-rock. But later they would employ things from Fugazi, Radiohead and harder shit, and that eclecticism, again, only accelerated my love for Phantom Planet.

“Recently Distressed” is from their 1998 album Phantom Planet Is Missing. This was a cool rock song that employed these George [Harrison] and Paul [McCartney] background vocals and included all of the things that I loved. It was harder but melodic and employed minor 4th chords and more complicated chords than I was used to. I had grown up with power chords - which are very Gregorian - on a lot of alt. punk rock, like Green Day or Nirvana, and if Kurt Cobain was using power chords then that’s how I was playing guitar. Hearing this music was like ‘Oh, I’m using full chords, not sevenths, minor 4th chords, diminished chords’, shit that I would learn to use more and more.

“When you haven’t experienced much, anything that gives a hint towards possibility, even though it’s probably always been there, you’re like, ‘I like this, I’ve always kind of liked this, but it’s very encouraging to hear somebody else do it and it’s gonna make me reconsider my possibilities.’ That was literally the moment that my power chords turned into full barre chords.”

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“Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” by Rufus Wainwright

“I forgot the other day how I got into Rufus Wainwright, because all of this stuff I was getting into quite young. It’s like when I talk to 11-13 year olds, it’s funny to think that this was when I was really starting to build my musical identity. But then I remembered, and I didn’t want to say because I didn’t want to sound uncool, because he is such a revered artist who exists in a much cooler place than what I’m about to say.

“I loved soundtracks and I would always buy soundtracks for movies that had cool playlists. I had the Shrek soundtrack, and there’s a cover of Leonard Cohen’s seminal “Hallelujah” that Rufus does and he smashes it, and I’m like, ‘Who the fuck is Rufus Wainwright? What a beautiful voice.’ Then I saw that he was going to be at the Virgin Megastore in San Francisco one week, so I go and he’s there promoting his new album Poses. I remember I didn’t have enough money to buy the album that day, so I had him sign my sneaker and I saved that shoe.

“The first song on Poses was “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk”, which is a very dark and reflective song about his own battles with addiction, but he’s singing it over this really beautiful, whimsical song that has a lot of really great wordplay. I always love when artists, especially lyricists, can encapsulate an idea with not exactly what they’re talking about. The song’s called “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk”, it’s not called “Addiction”. Its talking about things that he craved and how that’s representative of other things that he’s gone through. There was a sophistication and elegance to that that I really gravitated towards, that I didn’t possess but wanted to shoot for. So when I saw him, that was a big one for me and he would also continue to influence me later in my life.

“I’ve become friends with Rufus since. I’ve performed with him and we’ve made records together, which is crazy. His songwriting was very complex and punk-rock, but he had this classic cabaret voice, the kind of voice that I don’t have. I was fascinated that there was somebody that could write this really dark material but have such elegance on top of it. He was virtuosic on the piano, which I thought was very cool because musicianship is always the thing that gets me going the most about artists.

“You know what? People say, ‘Don’t meet your heroes.' I completely disagree. Chase the living fuck out of your heroes. I’ve spent a lifetime doing so, it’s made me a better artist, and I’ve sometimes got to meet them and work with them. I’ve worked on music with Alex Greenwald of Phantom Planet. I’ve performed with Hanson. I’ve performed those Disney songs with Alan Menken at The Hollywood Bowl.

"This is all because there are people that I love who I have put on my vision board, and the things that they have done are the things that are bringing me to them. So it is nuts, but at the same time you’re like, ‘Well, what else did you think would happen?’ They did stuff that some part of me connected with, so obviously there’s a magnetic pull towards that person.

“Rufus Wainwright is one of my absolute favourite artists of all time and like I said, me trying to sing like him and failing is a big part of my own journey as an artist.”

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“3x5” by John Mayer

“John Mayer’s another guy that came around when I was 15. I heard a song of his on a middle-of-the-night, singer/songwriter college radio show. This is where I used to get music. You would listen to these carefully curated playlists that you wouldn’t be able to hear anywhere else, and the host played “No Such Thing”, a new song by this young kid who had just dropped out of Berklee College of Music - John Mayer.

“I’m listening to this song and I’m like, ‘Not only is this guitar playing really interesting, but the lyrical value and everything that is going on here ticks all the boxes.' It was jazz, but it was pop. And he did something that all these other guys and girls I’ve mentioned did. They made something very unique and very accessible.

“I immediately went out to buy this album, Room For Squares, and I listened to it over and over again. It was an album that was really formative for me. "3x5” is a really beautiful song that employs a lot of chord structures and melodies that blew my fucking mind at the time, and it made me wish that I could write songs like that.

“That album was a huge turning point in the way I played the guitar, because it was the first time in my life where I would look up tabs. Up until this point in my life, if I heard a song I could play it instantly. It was like a party trick, I would get how it worked if I heard it, because most of the songs I would hear on the radio - especially those that involved a guitar - were [centred around] power chords. And now I’m hearing all of these ninth chords and thirteenths, and I’m like, ‘What the fuck is this?’ So I’d have to look up tabs.

“I think any young artist can attest to this - when you try and learn other people’s shit, it’s the best tool for educating yourself. Playing other people’s music really helps you lock in what your own style is. Trying to learn these songs - and sometimes pulling it off and sometimes not - really changed the way that my hands moved around the guitar and considered chords and voicings that I’d never really thought of.

“There’s another tie to musical theatre here, where I remember seeing Audra McDonald, who is a very venerated theatre actor, and she did a cabaret. If you’re familiar with cabaret culture, it’s more about performing the story of the songs – ‘Life is a cabaret’. She did a John Mayer song because she thought it was from a musical theatre show, and I was so tickled by this, because I was like ‘Yeah, if you really think about it, I don’t think he knows this and I don’t think his fan base even thinks about this, but there’s a number of his songs that feel very theatrical in the way that the lyrics play with each other and the way the chords move’.

"When I saw this I thought, ‘That is why I like John Mayer’, because yes, he’s an amazing guitar player, but he’s also a really strong songwriter.”

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“Cabaret” by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

“Also, around this time growing up in San Francisco, as a guitar player playing music with your buddies, the number one thing that you play is punk rock. There are different parts of the spectrum of punk rock, there's the NOFX, Swingin’ Utters, like real punk, punk. And then there’s the pop-punk thing that was happening at the same time, which was also equally influential - blink-182 and Green Day.

“Fat Mike was the frontman of NOFX. I loved NOFX, and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes were a supergroup of different members from different punk bands, of which Fat Mike was one of the main architects. They would cover songs and turn them into punk rock songs. They have an album of hits from the ‘60s, and they also have an album called Me First and the Gimme Gimmes: Are a Drag, and that record is just a tonne of musical theatre covers that are done through punk rock.

“That was completely in line with everything I loved at this time of my life but didn’t really know how to articulate. I loved punk rock but I also really loved musical theatre. Not only the performative element of it, but there was a real musicality to musical theatre that wasn’t as present in some of the other shit that was popular at the time, just harmonically, or where chords would go. There was a sophistication I loved that seemed to not exist in punk rock.

“Then hearing Fat Mike at The Warped Tour going ‘Alright, which one of you Motherfuckers loves Julie Andrews?’ and hearing a mixed bag of reactions, because people were ‘What? I was not expecting that from you, sir?’ And then they start playing “My Favourite Things”, a classic Rodgers and Hammerstein song which is very accessible, but sophisticated nonetheless. And I am just living. I’m like, ‘This has got the attitude and simplicity of punk rock, but the sophistication of a beautiful song.’

“That was the first time in my life where I went, ‘It’s just all music. All these categories and boxes are completely arbitrary.’ So I thought, ‘I can do that.' I was playing power chords in punk bands but I realised that you can take chords and make them into other rhythms and voicings and have the same song. I could take a punk song and make it jazz. I could take a jazz song and make it country. So, quite providentially, I would end up on Glee, where they took popular songs and would sometimes do their own versions.

“By that point, I had been doing this my whole life. The first time this ever became a possibility for me was seeing Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, and that way of thinking about music and genre. I’ve put that into Masquerade, and it’s all born from that moment of ‘Oh my God, nothing has to be one thing. It’s just about how you look at it.'

“Cabaret” is from a pretty famous musical that I would’ve probably heard about later in life, but I first heard that song as a punk song and then I went back and heard the original. It doesn’t matter how these things happen, the inspiration happens and then you can go from there. But Me First and The Gimme Gimmes were a huge gateway drug and I play “Cabaret” now every year at my festival. That’s why the festival is called Elsie Fest, because it covers the song.”

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“Modern Nature” by Sondre Lerche

“One of the great joys of being a younger brother is that you get to inherit the music of your elders. My brother and I were both really proactive consumers of music, so we would share stuff with each other all the time. But then he would come home from college, which is like coming home from a music festival essentially, right? He was in a new time zone with new people, so he’d bring home these mix CDs that he’d made from people that he’d heard about, and he brings home this guy named Sondre Lerche.

“Hearing this guy blew my mind, because he also was using jazz chords and drawing on musical theatre. Musical theatre’s a massive category, so I can’t just say that musical theatre sounds like one thing, but when I say this, I’m referring to The American Songbook, the jazz standard songbook. “Modern Nature” was a duet that I would go on to play many times with one of my oldest musical collaborators, Charlene Kaye. When we got to college and we both found out that we loved this guy.

“There was a much more whimsical way to how he wrote these songs. And what’s crazy is that loving this guy meant that we also loved Rufus Wainwright, that we also loved these other artists. But Sondre was the first time I considered that I loved that type of music, but I didn’t know that you could be a singer/songwriter and put out music that sounded like it.

“I don’t know if ‘twee’ is the right word to use, but with “Modern Nature” there was a playfulness about it, and again, a musicality that I really gravitated towards. There is a through line - there was a sophistication that was accessible, and me trying to learn those songs did make me rethink the way that I was writing music. The structures were weird and different and I liked that.

“To this day, I find myself writing songs that I think might be difficult for people to ingest, because they’re a little too left of centre, and I realise that I’m trying to write like Sondre Lerche, or I’m unconsciously just copying him.”

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“Everything Happens to Me” by Mr Hudson & The Library

“I was in an H&M in Stockholm when I was 21, and I heard this really cool groove and the lyric was “Why must I always play the clown?” It was sung with a really thick British accent, had an 808 feel on it, and lyrically it had an attitude. Who would say something that sounds so like you’re in a Gilbert & Sullivan musical, but it feels hard? It was cool.

“I went home and looked this up and it was off the record A Tale of Two Cities by Mr Hudson and the Library, which would really, really fuck me up. I bought the album immediately because I loved this song. I had to order it on the internet because I couldn’t find it. It was doing well in England and he was on the festival circuit in the early-mid 2000s, but the first song on the album was a musical theatre cover with 808s.

“It was a pared-down, sort of a hip-hop version of “On The Street Where You Live” from My Fair Lady, and I’m like ‘No fucking way, this guy gets where my head is.’ I’d thought about punk rock musical theatre, but I never thought about 808s and 909s scoring these beautiful songs. I go down the track list and he has “Everything Happens to Me”, which is another very famous standard, and he had this really cool, what we would now call chill-hop, ‘study beats’ version of this song. I was like, ‘This is it. This guy gets that good music is good music and you can reinterpret it to offer it as a new song.’

“I would later become great friends with Mr Hudson. I got to meet him years later when I was with Columbia Records, and they said to me ‘Who do you want to meet?’ He was at the top of my list. I went to London and we’ve been friends ever since and have created all kinds of music together.

“He told me a story where Tyler the Creator went up to him once at Coachella and said, ‘Oh man, “Everything Happens To Me”, that’s like my song.’ We both wondered if Tyler the Creator knew that it was a Chet Baker cover. And we were thinking how cool it is that you can offer these songs to a new audience through a different lens. Tyler’s a smart guy, he’s very cultured, and I’m sure he did know. But it’s more the idea that if someone experienced this song and didn’t know that it was a cover, and this is like the first time they ever get to experience it.

“Mr Hudson would go on to do his own thing with Kanye and was on 808s & Heartbreak and has had his own career. I think “Supernova” was a hit in the UK, it didn’t really cross over here to The States, but before that moment for him, that Mr Hudson and The Library album changed my life. People use that phrase willy-nilly, but this literally was a turning point in my life. It all had to do with the same thing that happened with these other songs, where I saw someone do what I always wanted to do but didn’t really know how to pull off. Where he had this fusing of old songs delivered through a contemporary lens, but also laced it with his own original material that also employed the things that made that old songwriting interesting.

“It’s like changing the font of a great essay but finding the font and figuring out that that font is its own art form. He really displayed that marvellously on this.”

The Masquerade EP is out now

#darren criss #the line of best fit #press #sept 2021

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xmalereader · 3 years

Text

Helmut Zemo X Male Reader

|| Masterlist ||

Contains spoilers from tfatws episodes 1-6 and its a Mandalorian AU, this idea was inspired by this user: @clints-lucky-arrow I read their idea about Zemo owning the Darksaber and couldn’t help but feel inspired to write something about it! :)

Summary: After the avengers broke up, Helmut Zemo was never captured or attempted suicide. Instead he went searching for an old artifact that comes from a different planet and that somehow ended up on earth.

Warnings: Slight dark theme, the mandalorian crossover, mandalorian history, darksaber, slight angst, tfatws spoilers, reader is Zemos partner.

—

Romania — 2016

Two strangers have been searching for a special artifact for years, it was first found out about when they attended an auction a few years back. Zemo had been trying to get his hands on some Hydra files and a special notebook that contained the code words that can control the Winter Soldier. During their exploring they heard about an artifact that had come from a different planet located far away from their solar system.

Most people would scoff, asking themselves on how something so special could end up on earth, but many people believed that this artifact was real due to them already seeing strange things appearing in their cities and having to deal with alien existence. Zemo had stolen the red notebook and the information about this powerful artifact that has been around for years. He had given this information to his trustworthy partner, allowing him to read and decipher the files. Hoping that it’ll help guide him to this powerful artifact.

His partner, y/n, has been working with Zemo for as long as he can remember. The two have been through thick and thin. They were both loyal and truthful and not once have they thought about betraying the other. After Zemo had given him the files he would spend hours trying to figure out more about this artifacts history and why it was considered important. Both he and Zemo would visit multiple libraries from around the world, reading books that could help them find more information, but they always reached a dead end.

Both he and Zemo were close to giving up until they find something hidden in the Hydra files that were leaked a few years back. Zemo was able to decipher those files, finding information about the artifact and where it could be located.

“They called it the Darksaber.” Zemo read out loud as he sets a picture down in front of y/n, the Darksaber was straight, rectangular shape, with a guard. It didn’t look anything special to him as he raised a brow at the picture. “Where was it Last located?” He asks, pushing his book aside.

“Romania.” Zemo replies back, looking through the hydra files as he sets it down on the coffee table. “It says here that the Darksaber was a unique black bladed saber that was created by someone named Tarre Vizsla.” Zemo sits across from y/n as he explains where the Darksaber came from. “It says that the Darksaber came from a planet named Mandalore, a home planet where the most powerful and strongest warriors lived. They called themselves Mandalorians.”

Y/n looks at the hydra files and bites his lip. “Why do you think Hydra has this information? I mean—this Darksaber must’ve been important to these mandalorians.” He said. “So, why is it here or how did it end up here?” He asks. “The Darksaber is a powerful weapon that is won during battle and whoever wields it can claim the throne on Mandalore.” Said Zemo, giving him a small grin and a small tilt of his head.

“Wait, so your saying that if we find this Darksaber. It could be possible that we could rule a whole unknown planet?” The other whispers out in shock, not believing that a weapon like this could gain control over a lot of people and a whole planet. “Even if we find it here, it won’t be possible to rule over Mandalore. The planets location is unknown to us and the artifact is millions of years old, we don’t know if Mandalorians are still around.” Zemo explains. “Also, we don’t know much about them that it’s hard to say on how this Darksaber ended up here in the first place.”

The two wanted to find this Darksaber but still had a lot of questions about these Mandalorians and their planet, they still don’t know how important this artifact is or the history behind it. All they know that it used to belong to someone and that it’s used to claim the throne, but nothing else is mentioned. They don’t know what Mandalorians are or what they do, they don’t know anything about their culture or their ways of living. It all still remained a mystery.

After getting enough information they were able to find the Darksabers location near Romania, hidden deep inside a castle. Both y/n and Zemo had to find ways on how to find the Darksaber in the castle, they would take tours around the castle, hoping to find something that’ll tell them where it’s located. Sometimes they would break in late at night, taking out the guards and stealing their outfits as they searched around the castle grounds. It didn’t take long for Y/n to find the Darksaber, hearing a soft whisper through the tunnels during one of their late night break ins.

Claim me

Y/n felt himself shiver, not knowing if he was hearing things or slowly going crazy. He searches for Zemo that night, telling him that he could hear whispers around the castle. He expected Zemo to brush it off and tell him that it’s probably nothing, but the older man could only stare at him with wide eyes as he says.

“You hear it too?”

The two followed the voice through the tunnels, hearing it grow louder as they approached their destination. Y/n had to cover his ears at one point, not being able to take the voice anymore. It felt dark and desperate, wanting someone to claim it. Zemo was able pinpoint its location. The Darksaber was hidden behind a wall with Mandalore writing, but the two had no way of understanding the language.

The break in again the next night, bringing useful tool that’ll help them break open the wall. The two took turns breaking down the wall, hearing the voice grow louder as they got closer to the Darksaber.

Claim

The voice continued to chant as Zemo finally breaks a hole through the wall, Hearing the voice die down as a cloud of dust blocks their vision. Y/n coughs and waves his hand around, clearing out the dust as he look inside to see the Grey hilt lying inside. Zemo steps up and reaches inside, taking the hilt in his hand as he looks at it carefully.

Y/n looks back inside to see a small cylinder, reaching in he takes out the strange cylinder and places it in his hand. “What—?” He gasps in shock as the strange device lights up, showing a hologram of a stranger wearing silver armor.

“My name is Din Djarin, Ruler of Mandalore.”

Zemo steps up and gently takes the device from y/n, holding it out for the two of them to see.

“If you are receiving this message, it is because Mandalore has fallen. Throughout the years, Mandalorians have been trying to search for peace, wanting to claim Mandalore back and to rebuild their home planet. But, due to my claim of the throne the Mandalorians have split up. Some wanting to follow a leader that’ll help them through both battle and politics while others wish to follow a leader that followed the old ways.” Din explains.

“I won the Darksaber in battle by protecting my son. I had no reason to claim the throne on Mandalore and did not want this responsibility. I have tried many times on getting rid of the Darksaber, but due to our stories the only way that it can be taken is if the rightful ruler is battled for the throne.” Din goes silent for a few seconds before letting out a small sigh. “My people saw me as the rightful ruler of mandalore. They saw me as their leader and as someone they could look up too. I’ve lead a planet to peace and not war, I’ve worked my way through politics and wanting to keep my people safe, until a certain Mandalorian named Bo-Katan, challenged me for the Darksaber. She has battled me many times and not once did she succeed.” Dins shoulder tense as his helmet tilts to the side. “Bo-Katan always wanted power. She was selfish and didn’t think about her own decisions which caused another purge on Mandalore. The Darksaber is too powerful and dangerous, which is why I kept It hidden. If this message reaches you than please, keep the Darksaber safe. This is the way.”

The holo comes to an end as it turns off on its own, leaving he room in silence as Y/n and Zemo stare at the empty holo. Y/n gently lowers his arm down, gripping the holo as he sighs deeply and slips it inside his bag, turning back to Zemo. “A purge on their home planet, all because of that.” He points at the grey hilt that Zemo held in his hand.

“The Darksaber is a symbol to them, a symbol of leadership. Something that his people believed in until one of them focused more on the power of this weapon than on the symbolism that it represents.” Said Zemo. He tilts the hilt to the side and placed his hand on the small trigger, awakening the Darksaber as it ignites its dark blade.

Y/n’s widen in amazement as he steps closer, feeling the heat as he stares at the black balded saber. “Like the king said, we must keep it safe.” He hears Zemo say as he too stares at the blade before switching it off and seeing the blade disappear.

Germany — 2024

“Why is he out of prison?!” Sam shouts at Bucky as they stood in the same garage as Zemo. A few years ago Zemo was captured by t’challa, sending him to prison for the murder of his father. Zemo spent 6 years in prison until he officially broke himself out in order to help both Bucky and Sam with their super soldier situation.

“If I may—“

“No!”

Both Bucky and Sam say at the same time as they glare at Zemo.

“—apologize.” Zemo mumbles the last part in a soft whisper as he allows the others to argue like an old married couple while he makes his way around the garage, collecting some clothes to change into since he was still wearing the guards clothes.

“So what can you tell us about the super soldier serum?” Asked Sam as they followed the man closely as Zemo explains to them on how to find the serum and how he has connections with people that can help them out.

“But first, I suggest getting ready before we head off.” He gives the two a smile before leaving to change, he pulls out his phone and dials a number, placing the phone near his ear as he smiles at the sound of his partners soft voice.

“Liebling, prepare a private plane, I’m coming home.”

“Who’s this?” Sam asks as he nods towards the other man who stood outside of the private jet. Zemo smirks as he approaches the other man, “Liebling.” He says as he leans forward to place a kiss on his husbands lips. “This is Y/n, my husband.” He introduces to both Bucky and Sam.

Bucky scoffs. “That can’t be right.”

Y/n glares. “Is their a problem with me being married to a man?”

“I’m not worried about you getting married to a man, I’m worried on how you got married to him.” Bucky points at Zemo who only rolls his eyes and boards the plane. “Who I marry shouldn’t matter to you.” Y/n says back harshly as he boards the plane, sitting across from Zemo as he leans back in his seat.

“Hast du es mitgebracht?” Asked Zemo

Did you bring it?

Y/n opens the left side of his coat to show Zemo the Darksaber clipped to his belt. “I always keep it close, just as promised.” He answers back. The Darksaber has been in their lives for awhile now. They have been keeping it safe and away from people that’ll abuse it’s power. The Darksaber was special, it had spoken to them many times about its history and the darkness behind it. But, both Zemo and Y/n try their best to control the blades darkness and to not allow it to corrupt them.

“Where exactly are we heading?” Y/n asks as he takes Zemo’s book and flips through the first few pages. “Madripoor, their will find someone who will give us information about the serum and who is making it.” He explains, watching y/n closely as he bites his lip and sets the book aside. “Let’s hope we don’t get into any trouble.” He added with crossed arms as he too stares back at Zemo. The two making eye contact.

“I hate to break the sexual tension but—how exactly did you two meet?” Sam asks, causing y/n to blush hard as he looks out the window, ignoring both Sam and Bucky.

“Y/n and I used to work together, before Sokovia. He helped me through missions and planning the battle between the avengers.” He explains, noticing Bucky turn his harsh glare towards y/n. “He helped you find the records?”

“Actually, he helped on finding your code words.” Said Zemo, “the rest I did myself.” He adds in the end.

Y/n glanced over to Sam and Bucky and glares back. “You can be upset as you want, because what we did was the right choice.” He hissed out, curling up on the chair as he turns on his side. His back facing them as he tries to sleep for the rest of the flight.

Zemo chuckles and gives the other two a shrug. “I suggest not getting on my husbands nerves, he won’t hesitate to cause harm and I won’t be able to hold him back.” It was true, both y/n and Zemo were powerful together.

Both Bucky and Sam decide to ignore Zemo and try to get some sleep before they arrive to Madripoor to deal with the trouble that is coming for them.

Their mission to Madripoor become a disaster after their cover was blown. But, lucky for them they were able to find an ally who helped them through their issues. Sharon was able to find the scientist that was creating the super soldier serum, giving them the location and allowing them to deal with the man.

After Zemo had shot the scientist, chaos erupted around them. The place was blown up and bounty hunters were after them, wanting to claim the price on their heads. As Bucky and Sam struggled with killing off the hunters they quickly forgot about Zemo and Y/n who had disappeared a few minutes ago.

Y/n soon appears, dropping down in front of Sam and Bucky as he wore a black mask over his mouth. Covering half of his face as he glared at the bounty hunters. He removes the Darksaber from his belt and ignites it, feeling the power run through his body as he strikes down the first person In front of him. It only takes him a few minutes to take down all of the bounty hunters, using the Darksaber to block the bullets as he cuts them down.

Once the shooting grew quiet he stands over the dead bodies, removing his mask as he turns off the Darksaber and clips it back onto his belt. He turns around to face the others who stares back at him with fear in their eyes. Y/n sighs and turns back around to see Zemo approaching them with a car, giving them all a friendly smile. Y/n rolls his eyes and chuckles, “thought you left me behind.” He says and hops into the front seat.

Zemo shakes his head. “I would never.” He leans forward to kiss his head before driving off once Bucky and Sam get in. They drive back to their private jet, leaving the car behind once they arrived. As they board the plane once again they sit on their usual spots, with Zemo watching y/n read.

“What was that back there?”

Zemo raises a brow. “What was what?” He questions, tilting his head towards Sam. “That thing he had-“ he nods towards y/n. “What was it?” Sam grew curious, wanting to know what the weapon was.

Y/n sits up and removes the Darksaber from his belt, setting it on the middle of the table that stood between him and Zemo. “It’s called the Darksaber, it’s an ancient weapon that was found far away from our solar system.” Explained y/n. “The Darksaber already claimed Zemo as his owner, but it trusts me and allows me to use it.”

“That thing speaks to you?”

Zemo clears his throat. “It’s ancient and from another world. It only speaks to its owner or who they think is the rightful owner.” He takes the Darksaber in his own hand and smiles at the powerful feeling. “It is very powerful and special, we both keep it safe from prying hands.”

Bucky chuckles. “A weapon that dangerous shouldn’t be wielded by either of you.” He said. “We saw what you did back there, you slaughter those men like it was nothing.” He tells y/n who glares at him angrily. “Those men almost killed us, your lucky I saved your life or else I would’ve left you to die. This weapon protected me and saved us.” He hissed out.

“Besides, the Darksaber doesn’t respond to just anyone. It only obeys the wielder.” Y/n adds, looking at the Darksaber. Zemo holds the saber in his hand and gives it back to y/n, trusting him to keep it safe for the mean time. “I trust him to keep it safe.” He whispers under his breath, already knowing that the Darksaber was speaking to him.

“Will be making a stop in Riga, for now, get some rest.” Said Zemo.

Y/n Stands up and walks towards the back of the plane where a private room was setup for only him and Zemo. He pushes the curtain aside as he steps inside and closes it behind him, removing his coat and tossing it aside as he flops down on the bed. Letting out a loud moan, shifting into a more comfortable position.

It didn’t take long for Zemo to enter the private room, sitting on the bed as he leans down to kiss y/n’s temple. “Any word on the mandalorians?” He asks.

Y/n shifts onto his back with a sigh, removing the Darksaber from his hand as he hands it back to Zemo. “A few months back I met a Mandalorian—he was quiet small but powerful.” He furrows his brows together. “He said that he has been searching for the Darksaber for years, that it belonged to his father Din Djarin. I asked him if he was still around but the formal leader of Mandalore passed away many years ago.” He still remembers hearing the mandalorians voice go soft as he mentions his deceased father, feeling upset.

“I asked if he came to take the Darksaber back and he said no, told me that he does not wish to have saber. Said that it’s best for it to continue staying here on earth, far away from anyone else. He said that the Darksaber held too much power.”

Zemo examines the hilt as he listens y/n explain his interaction with a mandalorian. A group of people that they thought had either gone extinct or into hiding.

“He knows your the wielder and was able to feel the connection that both you and the saber have.” He hears y/n say. “The Mandalorian trusts us with it and believes that will take care of it.” Y/n leans his head on Zemos shoulder.

“As long as it stays here, it is safe.” Zemo responded back, setting the Darksaber to the side as he pulls his husband into a hug, placing a kiss on his neck as the two enjoy each other’s company, knowing that this powerful weapon could lead them into discovering new things that this world doesn’t know quiet yet.

#male reader #helmut zemo #helmut Zemo x male reader #zemo x male reader #baron zemo x male reader #baron zemo #the mandalorain #the mandalorian crossover #au #crossover

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ladyartemesia · 4 years

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Fic recs for taehyung? I love your stuff btw I’ve read them all uwu

As a beacon of extra-ness in an already extra world, I am entirely incapable of just recommending fics like a normal blog. No. I’ve got to wax on like a bloomin connoisseur. I have compiled some (but not all) of my favorite works in several different categories and sorted them accordingly. This crazy list is so long I had to add a “keep reading”... but I simply couldn’t bear to leave any of these off the list. They are all so good!

Fics have been divided into 8 categories. Some are under the cut.

▨ FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS and FRIENDS TO LOVERS ▨ ▨ ARRANGED MARRIAGE ▨ ▨ FANTASY ▨ ▨ ANGST WITH A HAPPY ENDING ▨ ▨ HYBRID and ABO (alpha/omega) ▨ ▨ MULTIPLE PARTNERS ▨ ▨ NEIGHBORS AND ROOMMATES ▨ ▨ TABOO THEMES and DARK FIC (Sex Work/Power Imbalance/Very Unsafe Sex) ▨ ▨

▨ FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS and FRIENDS TO LOVERS ▨

Insomnia by @hobiwonder

This is one of those fics I read and literally could not stop thinking about. It is wildly hot and honestly hilarious. Poor reader cannot sleep and the beautiful bro she’s tutoring offers a rather unconventional solution.

(Ego) Hoe Chronicles: KTH by @suga-kookiemonster

Listen. If you find a niche fan blog devoted entirely to Ego Tae... I’m not gonna say it’s mine. But it’s probably mine. I once told suga-kookiemonster that I would literally read a story about Ego Tae going grocery shopping on a Wednesday night and I stand by that. In this lurid romp, the reader falls into the clutches of everyone’s favorite bohemian sex lord and he rails her into another dimension.

Falling, Falling, Gone by @johobi

Pining (mutual or otherwise) is not really my thing, but I would straight up read Jo’s laundry list if she posted it. As usual I was blown away by how everything she does seems somehow better than any other version of it. This reader is really unique as well, and her relationship with the wildly popular soccer star Tae comes to a sexy and hilarious head at a sort of bachelor auction. With sharp dialogue, delightful subtext, and fantastic side characters, you really shouldn’t miss it. It’s pretty much perfect.

A Friendly Favor by @baeseoul

This is the classic “teach me some sex for another woman” trope and it is done so well. Sweet best friend Tae is looking to benefit from your experience, but his is not the only world about to be thouroughly rocked.

Officer Kim and the Criminal Crush by @ddaengyoonmin

This is one of the best twists on childhood friends to lovers I have ever seen. Tae grows up to become a cop and reader grows up to be a societal menace. I won’t spoil it, but it’s the perfect blend of nostalgia, tenderness, and smut. This fic technically doesn’t have a name so I had to give it one to link it. It’s part of an AMAZING series Zoe did that I also highly recommend.

Out of the Blue by @jimlingss

This is one of those stories that blooms throughout the narrative until you are left with this gorgeous flower at the end. I loved the journey of these two characters. It was real and it perfectly captures the experience of finding your soulmate in the person you least expect.

Sin Pijama by @brilliantlybasicb

This fic is a switch culture fic. It is wild wicked hot and this Tae is unreal. I love the way he lets the reader think she is in control just long enough. It is a wild romp with an adorable sequel and honestly you should read it.

Girls Like You by @jjiminah

I was in jjiminah’s asks IMMEDIATELY about this fic because I had FEELINGS. The reader begins wordlessly teasing and tempting Tae on their morning bus ride every day until he is literally losing his mind. Everything that follows is fire. Jjiminah has hinted she will wrote more for these two and I NEED IT.

Sighs and Sonnets by @btsaudge

This fic is beautiful. Like it’s basically art. This is a bad boy who is bad for you. But he has the soul of a poet and the stroke game of a renaissance master. Bittersweet and seductive, this fic is a full experience.

The Text by @taetaesbaebaepsae

Tae is your friend with benefits but it looks like feeling may have been caught by one or more parties. When you attempt to soothe your aching heart with another pretty boy, Tae decides to stake his claim. This was very sexy. The whole fic was sexy.

▨ ARRANGED MARRIAGE ▨

Monster by @neonlights92

Monster and all of its companion series about each of the boys is one of those fics that I reread constantly and also just think about constantly. This is one of the best mafia AUs out there and it’s characters are vivid and unforgettable. Tae’s stubborn resistance to his lovely new wife in contrast with her quiet, clever strength really brings this story to life. A word of warning. The masterlist links are a bit messed up. To read part two you must click on part three. And to read part three must click on part four. The link to part four is at the bottom of part three (or you can just search it on her site. It is definitely all there though).

Dichotomy by @kpopfanfictrash

There is a reason the incomparable Shanna is on this list three times. She is truly incomparable. This is childhood friends-to enemies-to spouses and it is wonderful. I adore this Tae. He is sharp and vulnerable and occasionally heavy handed, but truly a gem. This fic also features one of the best angry sex scenes I’ve ever run my eyeballs across.

▨ FANTASY ▨

Chism by @kpopfanfictrash

The world-building in this story is genuinely awe inspiring. You could write series upon series within this vivid universe. The god of Winter is missing and Summer’s heat burns unchecked for many years. The reader is a warrior with a unique ability tasked with guarding a very interesting prisoner. This story is so good. I mean it is really bloomin incredible. It’s hard to say what I liked best about it, because it was stellar across the board.

Obsidian by @kpopfanfictrash

In the pantheon of delicious Tae incarnations, Obsidian Taehyung is essentially unrivaled as a grey witch who moonlights as a sexy rock star. His extremely erotic clash with a white witch detective plays out as the two of them track down a sinister killer (with the help of some truly memorable side characters).

Out of this World by @ddaengyoonmin

This one is really unique. Tae is a merman scientist on the water planet of Neptune and when the reader and her misguided crew crash into his sea, he takes it upon himself to improve inter-species relations. This fic features excellent world building alongside several twists and surprises. Clever scientist Tae is downright irresistible.

▨ ANGST WITH A HAPPY ENDING ▨

Picking Flowers by @jamaisjoons

So this story is a journey - truly a beautiful one and it’s a gorgeous addition to the hanahaki genre. There is real pain and I cried real tears, but gosh it was so sexy and so worth it. I was surprised by how truly immersed I ended up in this piece. I lost track of everything else. The end is insanely satisfying, but the journey is really what makes this fic unmissable.

Until Yesterday by @jimlingss

This fic destroyed me slowly then slowly put me together again piece by piece. When I say I went through it - I WENT THROUGH IT. The story is loosely based on the movie “The Vow” and it is just fantastic. Beautiful and tender till the last word.

The Foolish Muse by @bibbykins

This is the story of someone who is deeply in love, but knows they deserve better. It is a sexy and evocative work with allusions to mythology that fit seamlessly into the narrative. I think my favorite part is Tae discovering how much the reader meant to him and what choices ultimately lead them to a really delicious conclusion.

Back to You by @ladyartemesia

The last time I did a fic rec list, it got like 700 notes. Ya girl is not makin the same mistake again. I spent hours on this list. My work is comin along for the ride. Kim Taehyung is the love of your life, until one day he disappears without a trace.

Vacancy by @ppersonna

This one is the only idol AU on the list and I normally don’t read those, but Lindy’s work is too good to miss in any setting. I am thrilled I took a look because what I found was a glimpse into a beautiful relationship that weathers and eventually overcomes the challenges of loving in the limelight. There is a LOT of emotional depth and symbolism which really elevates everything about this lovely story. The reader’s internal struggles in the face of her lover’s fame are extremely well done.

▨ HYBRID and ABO ▨ (alpha/omega)

Eye of the Tiger by @opaljm

I am beyond hype about this story which is (very) loosely inspired by Zootopia and features a cocky tiger Taehyung and a fiesty prey hybrid he needs to fake date in order to keep panther Jimin from murdering him. (Tiger Tae got a tad too frisky around Jimin’s mate and now things are dangerously awkward.) This story is already so freakin good. I cannot wait for the rest.

Silver and Blue by @taetaewonderland

What happens when you get on the wrong side of the right werewolf? Very sexy - very crazy times. Chronologically this is the first of the Silver and Blue series which follows barely civilized were-Tae through his courtship and eventually his relationship with the spunky reader. Holla to all my impreg kink homies. This is the fic for you.

Heat Run by @ladyartemesia

As I said before, the last time I did a fic rec list, it got like 700 notes. Ya girl is not makin the same mistake twice. I spent hours on this list. My work is comin along for the ride. Alpha lawyer V is a man of many secrets, but his well ordered reality spirals wildly out of control when he crosses paths with a fiery omega set on saving the world from his wicked ways.

Beautiful Stranger by @interludemoonchild

This was a wild ride from start to finish. Taehyung is a tiger hybrid shifter who escapes from the circus to be close to a veterinary student he bonded with. There is a lot of interesting twists and surprises in this one. I was definitely screaming at the end.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell by @jingabitch

A very young wolf hybrid Taehyung adopts you as his pet human when you are just a kid. After Tae leaves to serve in the military he returns to an adult version of his sweet little princess and chaos ensues. Mind the tags for this one folks. It’s excellent, but there are very triggering themes throughout.

▨ MULTIPLE PARTNERS ▨

Level of Restraint by @lemonjoonah

This is not strictly a Tae fic in that he is only one of three major players in this twisted masterpiece. Lemon is the undisputed queen of the surprise twist and this one is truly brilliant. People dropped this fic in the discord calling it the best fan fiction they had ever read and I am not here to argue with them at all. Fair warning, every word - every inch of this fic is sexy and it’s delicious brand of titillation is wrapped around your psyche good and tight by the end.

Four by @luxekook

The quadruplets next door are fueling your very lurid fantasies. It turns out they have some fantasies of their own... You will need water if you read this fic. This is the original patented Kim Taehyung Horny Hive Mind 4D Experience™

▨ NEIGHBORS AND ROOMMATES ▨

The Heat Wave Series by @curly-bangtan

The original story (chapter 1) in this series is definitely famous, but I don’t know how many people have read all 9 chapters and if you haven’t, you are really missing the incredible journey of two very horny idiots stumbling recklessly towards real and amazing love. Everything is set off when the air conditioner breaks and a pair of wild roommates shed their inhibitions along with their clothes.

Flicker by @chimoona

So this fic started out with adorable neighbor dynamics and ended with erotic rope tying. Baby I was ABOUT IT. This was so bloomin hot and also like sweet and tender. Really a sexy and sentimental treasure.

Not Your Typical Flower Shop Story by @jungtaeyoongles

This story goes from “aww” to “WHAT THE-” real quick. Fast paced plot and twist after twist turn the whole flower shop au upside down and then inside out. I can’t say more because spoilers but like - WOW.

▨ TABOO THEMES and DARK FIC ▨ (Sex Work/Power Imbalance/Very Unsafe Sex)

Extracurricular by @ppersonna

One of my favorite professor-student AUs. The reader writes her gorgeous professor a borderline erotic analysis of several major works of art and he feels compelled to discuss it with her privately. Lindy really outdid herself on this one. It is scorchin. Professor Tae is actually really sweet and somehow that just makes the whole thing hotter.

Akrasia by @nitaescence

This is insanely hot. Emphasis on the insane because it’s basically a super erotic romp where you have sex with a man you don’t know (Taehyung) on a crowded public bus. I literally felt my blood pressure going up the longer I read. Whew.

The Client by @jungkookiebus

This one hit me right in the feels. Taehyung is a sweet and lonely man who has a standing Wednesday appointment with an upscale sex worker. As the story progresses, feelings become involved on both sides. When I say I am checking her page thrice daily for part three... This is so engrossing. And this Tae. I just want to hold him.

Daffodil Dreams by @sombreboy

Tread carefully ladies and gents. This story is excellent, but it is easily the darkest fic on the list and, if you choose to read it, please read the trigger warnings carefully. The reader is a psychologist called in to analyze a very dangerous criminal. As their sessions progress, however, several boundaries are crossed.

Obey by @jjkfire

Taehyung is the most feared and ruthless member of the local mafia and you are the world’s most inept escort. You needed a job, but had no real interest in sex work and you’ve managed to fly under the radar as a glorified waitress until Kim Taehyung himself walks into your agency and decides that you’re the only girl he wants. Oh my gosh I loved this story so much. It was downright amazing and there is a surprise at the end that makes everything even sweeter.

#kim taehyung #bts #kim taehyung smut #kim taehyung x reader #kim taehung fanfiction #viola recommends #fic recs #I CANNOT BELIEVE TUMBLR FORMATTED MY POST SO MY BANNER IS HIDDEN I WANT TO LITERALLY CRY #TUMBLR we are FIGHTING oh my gosh

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