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yusiyomogi · 2 days

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i actually think there's some significance in the fact that mithrun wears oversized shirt with open collar (it most likely belongs to laios) in the final arc of the manga. i mean, not just that kui simply wanted to draw him in oversized clothes, lol.

in all instances we see young (pre-dungeon) mithrun he's wearing clothes that hide his body as much as possible. which seems normal, until you see what other elves prefer to wear: most of them wear light short tunics with no sleeves and they don't usually even wear pants. here's a comparison to his brother's outfit, for example, as they stand next to each other.

it's not like his fashion choices are unique, but it certainly feels deliberate. he doesn't add any variation to his canary's uniform either, but that's not especially notable, i guess, because a lot of canaries don't do that (i mean, it's still their armor).

but in his perfect world he's also one of the few who always wears this type of clothes. never revealing himself. sitting a little further from everyone else.

he even lies in his bed fully clothed, like he can't ever bring himself to let his guard down, never showing his "true" skin to anyone.

btw notice that his bed is a single bed, even though he's been living with his partner for 5 years at that point.

and that's the idea, isn't it? he never lets himself be truly vulnerable with anyone, even in his dungeon, where people are supposed to like him unconditionally. i think it adds something to the horrible scene with the demon: it's especially disturbing that the demon literally doesn't care how much of yourself you wanna hide, it sees (and eats) right through every protective layer. and we all know what the allegory of this scene is.

when mithrun loses all his desires, he no longer cares what clothes he wears. and in some twisted metaphorical sense it's heartbreaking to see him in a simple elven tunic when he's recovering, the one that doesn't hide any of his injuries or scars or terrible physique.

he doesn't care to hide himself anymore, but it isn't on his own volition. it's something that was ripped away from him, as well as his privacy (a lot of people have to go through this when they're in medical care actually).

when he recovers and enlists to canaries again, he starts to wear full uniform again, but i don't think it holds much significance to him anymore. or at least he thinks it doesn't. we can see that cithis forces him to wear frilly dress at some point and it's implied that he goes along with it (cithis is still an asshole for that btw).

at this point he's fully focused on finding the demon, but i think the sad reality is that he's always been capable of developing new desires. i'd argue that there are already some things he cares about without realizing it, in the main story. but what's stopping him from actually realizing it at that point is that he's clinically depressed. his disability makes his life difficult; he lives with the idea that he's completely "broken", he accepted the reality of living like that and always goes along with what others make him do. so, he doesn't believe in his own privacy anymore. it’s actually something kabru talks about in the adventurer’s bible comic, when he tries to help mithrun to figure it out again, to help him see the value of privacy, of choosing what he wanna reveal of himself. mithrun needed a reminder that he still has this choice like anybody else.

i think the scene where kabru asks him about his past for the first time is interesting in that sense. first of all, i like the symbolism of kabru unbuttoning mithrun’s collar and cuffs, revealing the scars underneath (a good amount of them is self-inflicted). he does so unthinkingly, but in his defence he doesn't know anything about mithrun yet. another interesting thing is that the first reaction mithrun has is covering his eyes with his hands. he's trying to hide. he supposedly has no desire to hide, but this reaction is almost instinctual to him. i think kabru notices this as well (of course he does) and i think it's one of the things that prompts him to voice his concerns about mithrun's privacy later.

so, what about that laios' shirt he wears in the final arc of the comic? he has to change his uniform's shirt for something else because it's covered in spider's guts. it's unclear if someone puts laios' shirt on him or if it's something he chooses to wear himself. regardless, it's still symbolic for his change. it's not particularly revealing or anything, but it's different from the type of clothes he usually wears, and it's tallman clothes. and in this final arc we can see a lot of his true feelings as well. he's visibly mad at kabru, he shows concern and tries to help marcille, he helps kabru to break out of his spiral. and obviously, in chapter 94 he reveals a lot of what he actually feels and think and shows genuine emotions other than anger. and I think it’s the first time he decided to be open and vulnerable on his own volition, probably in his entire life.

we can see him wearing variety of clothes post-canon and it’s ambiguous how much of it he picked for himself. pattadol probably helps him a lot with choosing outfits and she also prefers high collars. but mithrun knows he can choose now; even if he doesn’t want anything in particular, he always can express his opinion or feeling, like he did with kabru’s food. he always can choose how much he wants to be seen. i’m just glad to see him wearing similar shirt with open collar and rolled-up sleeves on the cover of daydream hour book.

#dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi spoilers #dungeon meshi manga spoilers #mithrun #sorry for my english #text post

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wilcze-kudly · 1 day

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I do find it annoying how a lot of Zutara fans tweak the character's stories, personalities and even the timelines to suit their own needs.

Once again, there's nothing wrong with fanon and headcanons, however if looking through the lense of canon, you're objectively wrong.

I ended up stumbling on a post from a Zutara shipper. (At this point I'm regretfully considering not following the tags for Zuko or Katara because I get way too much Zutara content lol) I'm not replying directly to her because I don't want this to turn into an argument, and I know she doesn't take criticism very well.

Ok, So let's break this down.

The character who was first out of the group to trust Zuko?

I'm quite sure this is referring to the scene in Ba Sing Se's caves. And yes, that is a very important scene. I think it's a very important scene preceeding Zuko's 'relapse'. It shows how he's matured during his time in Ba Sing Se and therefore it serves to add to our dismay when he joins Azula. I adore the fact that Zuko's journey to redemption is not linear, it certainly adds a lot to the character and shows us how his trauma affected him.

It's also a horrific moment for Katara. To have her worldview on Zuko and firebenders as a whole challenged, and then for it to go blowing up in her face. It rips open old wounds of her childhood. It refreshes her resentment of Zuko and the Fire Nation as a whole. It parallels the death of her mother when Aang dies due to Azula's lighting and she is unable to do anything about it. It places her back in that spot of helplessness. Even though she's grown up, even though she's a master waterbender, she still comes a hair's breadth to losing one of the most important people in her life.

No wonder she hated Zuko so much after this.

It's an important moment for both characters, but I wouldn't say it is that in a romantic sense. It's a sweet, hopeful moment that then turns absolutely horrific and visceral for both parties.

I could argue that there are other characters who could be given the title of 'first to trust Zuko'. Funnily, Appa being one of them lol.

But other characters trusting Zuko dovetails nicely into the next point.

The character who emotionally connects to Zuko?

Well, technically, I'd argue that most members of the Gaang connect emotionally on one level or another with him?

But I'd argue that Aang is the person Zuko connected with the most. Aang is Zuko's parallel. Aang is the first person to reach out to Zuko. Aang is the person who showed mercy to Zuko, multiple times. Aang is the person who valued Zuko's life, the life of someone whose whole life goal is to capture him.

This was also an incredibly important moment to Zuko. This is the thing he brings up when trying to convince the Gaang to let him join.

Zuko: Why aren't you saying anything? You once said you thought we could be friends. You know I have good in me.

The character Zuko feels safest letting his guard down around?

It's Mai. Love her or hate her, her relationship with Zuko is incredibly important to him. Maiko isn't my favourite Zuko ship, in full honesty. But even platonically, Mai and Zuko are one another's reprieve from their respective shitty lives.

People often talk about Katara touching Zuko's scar while discussing healing his scar, however one could argue that she did so as a medical examination. Mai touching Zuko's scar is a casual thing, neither of them really make a big deal of it and that's the beauty of it.

I'm mainly talking out of my own personal experience, as someone with a huge amount of burn scars, but there is a world of difference between someone inspecting my scars like Katara did and simply accepting them as a part of me, like Mai does for Zuko.

With Mai, Zuko isn't the scarred banished prince, Ozai's son or Azula's brother. He's just Zuko. And they speak freely with one another, arguing like real people do. Often, being comfortable having arguments is actually a sign of being comfortable with one another.

The character who helps Zuko heal from his trauma?

Once again, this is a bit of a flawed question. By the end of the show, Zuko isn't even fully healed, in my opinion. He has made leaps and bounds on the road to recovery, but when he will truly heal if ever is yet to be seen.

Zuko's journey to recovery includes plenty of people. This includes Iroh, Aang, Song and Jin. People who show him the error of his coping mechanism. Who challenge his worldview, who coax him out of the his shell of pain and anger.

The character known for showing most compassion to others?

Yes, Katara's compassion is a huge part of her character. Her need to help and protect those who cannot do that for themselves cannot be understated.

But Aang's compassion for others and all beings is just as great, if not greater than Katara's. Compassion and nonviolence are huge parts of his culture and his own philosophy.

Aang: Wait, we can't just leave him here. Sokka: Sure we can. Let's go. Aang :No, if we leave him he'll die. Aang airbends himself off Appa and retrieves Zuko, bringing him to Appa. Sokka: [Sarcastically.] Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. Let's bring the guy who's constantly trying to kill us.

Friendly reminder that Aang could've absolutely wrecked Ozai, but held back because his own moral compass was so powerful. Hell, he was friendly and nice to Azula, the woman who literally killed him.

This is why Aang and Katara work so well together. They're both incredibly compassionate people who will immediately jump in to help others in need. Like they did during the Painted Lady, destroying the factiry together.

The character who primarily bears the burden of having to step up into a parental role?

I think "parental role" is an incredibly vague term. There's a lot of things that go into a "parental role". Katara plays a stereotypically "maternal" role, while someone who plays a "paternal" one would probably be Sokka.

Katara deals with very "homemaking" tasks like sewing and cooking, etc. And Sokka often takes on the role of leader, hunter, gatherer and also protector, despite being a nonbender.

This coincides nicely with their core childhood traumas. The loss of Katara's mother impacted her greatly, leading her to have to step up into a motherly role. While Sokka was clearly heavily traumatised by his father departing and the crushing responsibility of having to care for his entire village.

Sexism also probably played a part in this dichotomy.

The character who represses their emotions to be strong for others?

I'd argue that this could apply to all the members of the Gaang in some capacity.

Aang's pain is something most of us will never experience and cannot hope to understand. The complete horrific destruction of his culture and home followed him through the entire show. He was entitled to his grief and rage, yet he supressed it. We see during Appa's kidnapping, how easy it would be for Aang to rage, to let himself be destructive. And yet, he wakes up every day and chooses to smile and goof off, because his friends need someone to remind them how to be children.

Sokka puts on a very impressive bravado, despite having a lot of insecurities. However, as the oldest member of the Gaang (pre Zuko) he puts on a facade of the confident and unbothered older brother. Even if he's the butt of almost every joke, he still keeps that demeanour up, letting it slip only a few times.

I'd actually argue that Toph is the person whom this label fits best. While we know Toph as witty, callous and strong, we have to remember that she kept up the facade of her parents' good, helpless little blind girl for no reason other than her mother and father's comfort. She actually hides a lot of her hurt, covering it up with a prickly exterior.

I want to do longer think pieces about Toph and Katara so apologies if this isn't complete.

I'm actually baffled by the idea of Katara repressing her emotions. She's actually quite straightforward and open about her feelings. She yells and feels a lot of emotions and lets them be heard. She gets angry and sad. She's actually kinda bitchy sometimes and that's honestly why I love her so much.

The whole inciting incident of the show was her getting so pissed off she somehow pulls a giant iceberg from the bottom of the sea.

She is anything but repressed.

She is angry.

She's angry at the fire nation, at Sokka, at her father, at men, and with good right to be so.

This is what makes her an amazing character and one who broke the mould of a lot of female characters at the time. Her anger and unrestrained emotions rang true with a lot of watchers at the time. I'm not sure why this is being taken away from her rather than celebrated.

I reiterate the point I made at the beginning of this post: there is nothing wrong with headcanons and fanon interpretations for one's enjoyment. I do find it a bit odd when it changes a character too much (because then, why not just create an oc?) but it's all in good fun. However, you shouldn't push that onto other people and how they perceive canon and you certainly shouldn't use it to take away from other characters. It's a very unfair way of entering discourse.

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rendy-a · 23 hours

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Sorry, househusband Headcanons with Silver 👉👈✨💕(sorry the first questiom accidentally sent incomplete ) 👍

Ha ha ha. That first request would have been enough. Househusband Silver? Say no more. I'm with you there!

You have to keep an eye on him when he does chores to watch out for advice he picked up from your father-in-law. Lilia passed on some of the strangest housekeeping habits to Silver and you never know when they’ll pop up. You remember the winter that both of you were sick at the same time and Silver made an actual bathtub full of soup because that was the correct amount advised by Father.

You do all the cooking prep together. It’s not that you don’t like Silver’s cooking (even he knows to avoid using Lilia’s recipes), it’s just that you worry too much about his safety in the kitchen. There have been some close calls where Silver has fallen asleep with a hot stove on or holding a knife. Now, you have little dinner-prep dates to cook up meals for the week. Each finished dish is one your spouse can finish off in the microwave or by setting a timer on a kitchen appliance. It’s not foolproof but you certainly worry less. Seeing Silver in an apron is just an added bonus!

You never thought you’d say this, but small forest animals are your back-up plan. It’s like nature itself has decided to help your husband escape danger and accomplish his goals. You’ve literally seen mice help him sew up a rip in your clothes and a deer pull your sleeping spouse out of the street. You are grateful that Silver is so beloved by the animals, or you don’t know how you’d bare to leave him home without you!

You were sitting at your desk hard at work when suddenly a chill runs down your spine. You look at the clock, there are three more hours of work left in the day. You frown and decide to quickly check your phone messages, just in case. When you pull the device out and look, your heart drops when you see the message, [Father is here for a visit.] Oh dear, your famous Father-in-law is alone with your spouse, and you can’t do anything about it.

You quietly take your phone and sneak away to the parking lot for a quick call. It rings several times with no answer. You hang up and try again. This time, you get a sleepy, “Hello,” at the fourth ring. You smile at the sound, picturing your spouse just awoken from a short sleeping spell. “Hi dearest, I got your message. How are things going?” There is the smallest hint of a smile in the tone that replies, though you know he is stoic as ever on the other side. “Father is helping me clean out the attic. It’s going along well. We’ve got everything moved out and into our living room now.” You look out into the distance. All the dusty things hidden away in the attic are now all over your clean living room. Well, it could be worse.

You force an extra amount of cheer into your voice, “That’s great honey, and you are keeping an eye on him? Making sure he…doesn’t work too hard?” Silver assures you that he only fell asleep for a moment, but that Lilia was back where he expected him to be. You feel a sense of dread, “Silver, it is nearly lunch time. He hasn’t been cooking, has he? Did you check?” There is a long pause before Silver mutters, “I better go.” You wish him the best of luck and disconnect. Then, you gaze at your phone for a moment before dialing the nearest pizza delivery place. Better safe than sorry.

A few hours later, you sneak away to the restroom to text your spouse. [How are things?] You wait quietly in the stall until you get a reply. [Do you think we need to put a bedroom in the attic?] You look at your phone in surprise, this conversation is already veering wildly from what you anticipated. [Why would we do that?] You see the dots appear and wait for your hubby’s text. [In case we need to use the spare room for a nursery.] You sigh and roll your eyes, Lilia again. [We can talk about it when I get home. Agree to nothing!!!]

After work, your thoughts turn immediately to your spouse, and you head straight home. You see your house come into view and your sleepy husband is waiting for you at the door with his eyes shut. You climb the stairs and give him a sweet kiss. His eyes flutter open and he smiles at you, “I had a wonderful dream and now here you are.” You brush a strand of his silver hair from his forehead, “Which was better?” He looks at you with seriousness and replies, “You. You are always better.” You turn your head to the side, feeling the heat in your cheeks.

“Ahem,” you clear your throat, “So where is our precious Father?” Silver drops back until he is only holding your hand, “He left. He said we needed time alone to work on his grandchildren.” You laugh and think that sounds very much like your spirited Father-in-Law. You rub your thumb along the fingers holding your hand, “Well, since he is gone, I suppose its safe to ask about your day. How did the attic cleaning project go?” Silver calmly assures you that things went just fine. Nearby, a squirrel looks up and meets your eye before giving you the most traumatized shake of its little head. “I’m glad everything worked out,” you say as you make eyes that say ‘I’m sorry’ to the neighborhood wildlife. You didn’t know what trouble he’d been involved in, but you knew some evil had been conquered today. You squeeze Silver’s hand and that prompts him to lift you into his arms and carry you over the threshold. It wasn’t happily ever after, but for today, it was enough of a happy ending for you and your prince charming.

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst silver #silver x reader #househusband au

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tidalgeode · 1 day

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I think they should fall into the river and drown (im insane about these damn old men....) Anyway i drew this for a little thing I wrote, its under the read more !! shout out to my friends for proofreading it we got rid of like 10 'he would's

It was the ass-crack of dawn, as Clef often put it. They had left around 5 minutes ago, while it was still dark. Now, the dawn light was scattered through the leaves. The rushing water became audible as he and Kondraki's footsteps crushed the excessive undergrowth along the old path. Clef mourned their timing, gazing at the barren blackberry bushes that littered the entire forest.

“Couldn't we have gone in summer?” he asked, hands in his pockets as he carefully stepped down from a large rock.

“As if either of us were available. Fishing's better in fall anyway”

Kondraki, at this point in the trip, had long since given up trying to make the shorter man shut his trap. He just wanted to get to the water faster, not wanting to miss the small window of time when the fish are most active. The river wasn't far, but trekking through the overgrowth was taking longer than expected.

Kondraki wished he had brought a machete, becoming irritated at the amount of times his fishing pole became stuck in passing bushes, despite his best efforts.

“If you don't catch a massive fucking fish bigger than the creel I'm gonna be disappointed, Konny.” They crossed through the last narrow clearing in the brush, finally able to see the river. Now walking on gravel, Kondraki took the lead and walked over to a jutting mass of rock close to the mouth of the creek. He placed his rod against it as he climbed on top and opened a pocket in his vest. Finding a flat enough section of the rock, Clef sat and pulled out a spoon from the creel. “Gimme the end of your line.”

“Excuse me? Like hell I'm letting you choose a lure for me. I thought I already had a-” He squinted as he looked for the end of the line, with no hook to be found. “Oh, motherfucker.”

“Must have gotten lost.” Clef said, sporting a shit-eating grin. ”I like this one, lemme tie it for you.“ He showed off the spoon, it was neon and spotted like a more garish trout.

“No.”

“Come on, I know just as well as you do how to tie a knot.”

“Knowing you, your stench is gonna kill the damn fish.”

“Don't they have a good sense of smell? Call it an improvement. I bet they'd love it.“

”Know what, maybe you're right. It'd make sense if the only thing that could be attracted to you is a fish.“

Kondraki grabbed the line and found his way to the end of it, flicking up the bail to allow it to extend further and handed it off to Clef.

”What does that say about you then?“ Clef said, taking the line and delicately tying the spoon on with a tight knot.

”It says nothing, because you're the ugliest man I've had the displeasure of knowing.“

”You're so sweet, I try.“

”Shut the fuck up before I throw your ass into the river.“

#scp #scp foundation #dr clef #dr kondraki #clefdraki #implied but we all know these emotionally constipated men dance around eachother #half of this is just me referencing the way i like to fish...#shout out to the trout

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just-a-creep-babe · 20 hours

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Graveyard Shift - Part 7

Eyeless Jack x Reader

Graveyard Shift Masterlist

Commissioned by anonymous — thank you so much darling, I hope you enjoy! 💓💖💞

Requests are closed but commissions are open!

Masterlist: x

Jack doesn’t say anything

He doesn’t move, doesn’t look down at her with a tilt of his head like he usually does—he doesn’t react in the slightest

(Y/n)’s stunned at the unexpected sight, and even more so by his unusual behaviour

She’s about to say something—although she isn’t exactly sure what she’s about to say, in all honestly—when she notices he hasn’t stopped clutching the side of his chest since she opened the door

She looks down, and there, permeating out of the fabric of his hoody, is a deep, dark crimson stain

And all at once, she realizes what’s happening

As if sensing her understanding, Jack takes a step forward

And then, without any further warning, he collapses

The girl just barely manages to catch him before he falls

The sudden weight of him knocks the breath out of her lungs and she nearly stumbles and topples over

Fuck, he’s heavy

Her legs burn with the strength it takes to keep standing

She needs to safely find a way to set him down—now

Somehow, she manages to help him stagger all the way to the couch, wincing with every weak grunt and hiss of pain that escapes him after every step

Once he’s at the couch, she helps him lie down on his back, keeping his chest up and exposed for her to examine

And, based on first impressions alone, it looks like some kind of stab wound—one that had a decent amount of force behind it, too

Curiosity bubbles at the back of her throat—what happened?

Her gut twists in a knot just thinking about it

What kind of person would have the courage to do this, and to someone of his stature, nonetheless?

And, maybe more importantly, what did he do that could’ve caused someone to lash out like this?

Or, maybe, she thinks, maybe it has something to do with the people he works with

Maybe he’s just always surrounded by danger, and dangerous people alike

She shakes her head, pushing the thought away

Whatever the case, whatever the reason for his injury, she needs to help him

It isn’t even a question to do so

Leaving him on the couch, she grabs a pair of scissors from the kitchen, then makes her way to the bathroom

One of the perks, she supposes, of constantly stealing from the hospital, means that she now has a decent stash of medical supplies

She takes everything she needs; bandages, disinfectants, antibacterial ointments, painkillers, and the necessary materials for sutures

She returns to the living room, turns on all the lights, and immediately gets to work

Kneeling in front of the couch, she first tries to offer Jack some painkillers, but he’s unresponsive

With her brows furrowing in worry, she figures she needs to make it quick—for his sake

She doesn’t know how much blood he’s lost, and while she has no clue just how different his anatomy is compared to a human’s, she figures that she should approach it the same way anyway

Meaning that the first step needs to be getting better access to his wound

Since he isn’t lucid enough to take his shirt off, and doing so could risk further aggravating the wound, she carefully uses the scissors to cut through his hoody

She avoids getting too close to his injury, and once his outer layer of clothes is off, she delicately cuts through his black shirt next

He doesn’t move the whole time, and she’d almost be worried, if it weren’t for the uneven rising and falling of his chest indicating he’s, at the very least, still breathing

She peels his clothes off, then holds her breath at the large, prominent gash around his ribs

The sight almost makes her dizzy

Throughout her many, many grueling years of school, she’d seen plenty of gratuitous injuries on people

Most of them, admittedly, were just pictures or videos, though she'd seen a few in person, too

But something about this being on Jack—someone who seems so untouchable, so strong and lethal and utterly deadly—it somehow makes it all the more gruesome

Not to mention, she hasn’t yet patched anyone up in such a critical condition—much less on her own, of all things

Relax, (y/n), relax, she takes a few deep breaths to steady herself, don’t panic, you know how to handle this

It’s practically impossible to tell if there’s damage to a major organ, and with no tools or equipment to check, she realizes, with a sinking feeling in her gut, that she’ll just have to carry on regardless

He’s stronger than a human, she reminds herself, he’ll be ok

He’s clearly lost a lot of blood, but it looks like somewhere along the line, he managed to slow the bleeding—though it wasn’t entirely effective

She gently pats the area with disinfectant

How long ago, she wonders as she does so, did he get injured?

How long did it take him to reach her?

She almost expects him to react to the sting of alcohol on his open gash, but the only indicator that he feels anything at all is the faint shift in his breathing

With surprisingly steady hands, she gets to work on his stitches

As much as she wants to make it quick and painless—because God knows it must feel like hell without numbing agents—she also doesn’t want to rush it and do a sloppy job

She doesn’t know how long it takes to stitch him up, but by the time she’s finished, the edges of her vision are blurring from the concentration

She moves back, blinks a few times, and takes a look at her work

Considering it’s her first time doing this kind of thing in such shabby conditions—it’s not all that bad

Some parts are patchy at best—clearly the work of an amateur—but she knows it’s good enough to get the job done

With one final sigh of relief, she coats the stitches in antibacterial ointment, dresses it with a bandage, and then finally lets herself deflate from the stress

For a while, after he’s all patched up, she doesn’t leave

She stays by his side with her hands still soaked in his blood as she watches over him

A mix of emotions muddled by a slew of questions come and go like the waves of the tide

She’s tired, worried, and confused, and all of it somehow leaves her feeling numb

Eventually, she realizes it won’t do her any good to stay up all night

So, with a final breath of resolution, she stands

She passes by next to him, intending to grab him a glass of water before returning to bed, when he suddenly stops her in her tracks

She yelps, not expecting his abrupt grip to lock around her wrist and force her to stop

“F-food—I need—I need food”

It takes a second for the fog of her sleep-deprived brain to register his words

“You—what?”

“(Y/n)—“ he grunts her name out, and the sound is low and gravelly like the snarl of a starved animal

Pins and needles prickle at her skin and coax the fine hairs of her arms to rise alongside goosebumps

Something isn’t right

Her instincts scream at her to get away from him

And, somehow, she gets the feeling that something bad might happen if she doesn’t give him what he wants

“I—I have some leftover pasta, if you want—“

He shakes his head, interrupting her

“Meat. I need meat”

Her heart rate picks up a pace

She suddenly feels trapped

“I-I don’t have anything with meat prepared,” she explains, trying to keep her voice calm and level, “I mean, I… I have some unprepared beef. I can make something with it, if you’d like, but it might take a—”

“Don’t—just. Just give it to me. Now. Please”

There’s an unfamiliar kind of desperation in his tone

Swallowing back the lump in her throat, (y/n) nods

His grip on her loosens, allowing her to go to the fridge, pull out a pack of raw beef, and offer it to him

Through her haze of exhaustion, it almost feels like a dream when he yanks his mask up his mouth, tears through the thin plastic, and scoops out a handful of meat and eats it raw

He barely even bothers chewing

He just devours it, handful after handful

He eats like he’s famished—like if he waited any longer to eat, the hunger would’ve consumed him

The red juices drip past his lips and dribble down his chin, leaving a trail of blood down his throat and onto his chest with every bite

He’s ravenous

And though she doesn’t want to openly gawk at him, it’s like she just can’t pull her eyes away

When he’s nearly done tearing through the whole package, it’s like it suddenly all becomes too much for her to watch

She leaves

She returns to her bedroom, closes the door behind her, and wraps herself up in her sheets

As if the warmth of her bed could shield her from what's happening in her own living room

She must’ve fallen asleep after that, because the next thing she knows, bright sunlight is streaming through her curtains

With a yawn, she lazily rolls over in bed, and the memory of last night’s events slowly comes back to her

It almost feels like a dream, but she knows it wasn’t

And with a clear, well-rested mind, it’s easier to process what happened

He ate raw meat, she remembers

He didn’t want to eat anything but meat—he insisted on it

She sits with the thought for a second, then eventually accepts it

He eats raw meat, she thinks again, mulling the idea over in her mind, as if trying to decide how she feels about it, how she feels about him

She realizes she witnessed a part of him he wanted to keep secret; a part of him he didn’t want to admit existed

That, combined with everything she knows about him so far, brings her to the plausible theory that he’s some kind of carnivore

She doesn’t dwell on the thought any further than that, out of fear of discovering some kind of truth she’d rather not know

Just because he’s a carnivore, it doesn’t mean he’ll hurt her, she thinks

Really, it doesn’t change much of anything at all, she convinces herself

Pushing down her weariness, she thinks about his injury instead, to keep her mind occupied on something else

It’s unlikely he’s feeling much better in a mere few hours, and he’s probably still passed out

Still, his bandages might need changing, and she should check up on him periodically, at the very least

With a stretch, she sits upright, takes a second to bask in the morning sun, then gets out of bed

She honestly didn’t expect him to be awake when she makes her way to the living room

Which is why it comes as such a surprise when she sees him sitting upright with his gaze turned towards the window, like he’s lost in contemplation

When he hears her coming, he turns, and his abysmal eyes lock with her

She pushes away the memory of blood dripping down his face

And instead, she tries to act natural

“How are you feeling?” she asks gently

“I’m… better,” he hesitates, “thank you”

She nods

Last night’s questions flood back to her, and she debates whether or not now’s a good time to bring them up

But she instead opts to prioritize his health beforehand

“Can I take a look at your bandages?”

“Go ahead,” he nods, “Though I’ve already looked them over—you did a decent job”

She snorts

“I was a bit… unprepared,” she explains as she approaches him

He’s shirtless

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering she’s the one who snipped his clothes off, but, for some reason, it’s like she was too focused last night to realize it—and only now is it fully sinking in

He’s… attractive

He’s very, very attractive

His body’s perfectly lean and muscular, with just the right angles at all the right places

She’d seen the outline of his figure before, like when he’d come in soaking from the rain, but it doesn’t hold a candle to seeing his bare skin exposed like this

He’s sculpted like a statue of worship

She tries not to gawk, and instead forces all of her attention on his bandage

She wonders what he’s thinking as he watches her

There’s something strangely… intimate about it all

They’re so close to one another, just a mere inches apart as she gently examines his injury with feather-light touches

Silence fills the sparse distance between them

And as the heat of his skin radiates against her, she just wants to lean into it, lean into him

Is she just imagining it, or is he leaning in too?

Can he feel the warmth of her skin?

Can he hear her heartbeat?

Does he know what she’s thinking?

She closes her eyes, breathing in, and the scent of his skin fills her lungs

She doesn’t know if she merely imagines the ever brief, ever fleeting feeling of a cool pressure against her lips

But the contact suddenly reminds her of red-stained teeth, and with a start, she quickly jerks away

He seems just as startled as she does by her reaction

“You… last night,” she clears her throat, then stops

He tilts his head questioningly, and the brief gesture is enough to coax her into finishing her thought

“Your diet… you don’t eat regular food… do you?”

She doesn’t know why that, of all things, is the first question that comes out

But, at this point, she needs to know

He turns away, stiffly, almost like he knows what she’s referring to, but he doesn’t want to admit it

“I don’t,” he admits, his voice just barely above a whisper

“Then what… what do you eat?”

He shakes his head

“Don’t. Don’t ask me that”

Nausea fills (y/n)’s stomach

“That’s not fair,” she pushes, “I helped you out. I did something for you—you owe me an answer”

“Not that,” he reiterates, shaking his head, “I’ll answer something else—anything else. Just not that”

She wants to know

More than ever now, she needs to know

But maybe, she figures, maybe it is better to stay blissfully ignorance, just for now

So, even despite the curiosity overwhelming her thoughts, she takes a deep breath to try to find another question

“Ok,” she says, “Ok. In that case, tell me something about yourself. Anything”

A tense moment of silence follows as Jack considers his answer

It drags on to the point where (y/n) starts to wonder if he’s avoiding the question, when, finally, he speaks

“I wasn’t always like this,” he says, and there’s a hint of longing in his voice as he continues, “A long, long time ago, I was just like you”

The woman furrows her brows

“What do you mean?”

He looks at her, and somehow, his gaze is more piercing than ever

“I was a med student, just like you,” he explains, “Something… something bad happened…“

He pauses, as though reliving the memory is unearthing years of buried feelings and mixed emotions

“I… got caught up in the wrong crowd. Met some bad kids who did some bad things. And then… in one night, everything just… kind of changed—forever”

His words hang in the air

(Y/n) turns his answer over in her head, trying to connect some semblance of a story that’s left all too vague to understand

But before she can discern any more to it, he turns to her

“Is that answer enough for you?”

She bites her lip

No, it’s not enough

But instead of speaking her mind, she simply nods

And, just like that, the conversation is over as quickly as it began

Over the next hour, Jack recovers unnaturally fast

(Y/n) only has time to eat and shower, and by the time she finishes her morning routine, he’s gone without a trace

Even though he was only there overnight, his absence leaves a strange kind of emptiness in her living room

She wonders if she overstepped any boundaries with her questions

But then she thinks, fuck it, it’s not fair of him to always withhold information from her like that

If she’s going to keep helping him out, if she’s going to trust him, she needs to know more

And so it isn’t long before she finds herself in front of her laptop, staring at the empty search bar with questions burning in her mind

She has to start somewhere, she thinks

And if he won’t give her the answers she needs, she’ll just have to find them on her own

Straightening herself out, she finally types into the search bar: MD student disappearances

#creepypasta #creepypasta x reader #eyeless jack #eyeless jack x reader #Crp ej #crp

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ironunderstands · 1 day

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I've seen some people mention that at the end cutscene of 2.2, while everyone else in the dreamscape looks to be waking up/seems dazed, Ratio looks composed????? Like this is a normal Tuesday and said people said "what if he's been awake from the Order dream for actually a while lol"

Thoughts, o Aeon of Reading Comprehension?

Knowing Ratio, yeah, he probably figured out he was in a dream pretty quickly, perhaps even as early as 2.2.

There are two things that confuse this though:

It doesn’t linearly become Ena’s dream, there’s no specific moment in time where everything is no longer reality. Rather, the entirety of Penacony is slowly falling into the dream, with people like the Trailblazer going in first because of their sensitivity to Memoria. Honestly the Ena’s dream thing is very confusing, but what I’m trying to say is that it’s difficult to pinpoint when exactly Ratio woke up, but we can make a few assumptions

We just don’t see shit from Ratio’s end like, at all. The amount of screentime he has versus his importance in the story is nuts, to the point where I think they are almost deliberately hiding what went down on his end. Like bro how did you figure out Dormancy, what happened 😭

However, even with these limitations I still have somewhat of an idea of what I think happened.

The Ratio we meet next to Aventurine and Topaz following our “defeat” of Sunday likely isn’t the real Dr. Ratio. Because well, look at him. And look at them for that matter 😭 “The IPC is going to leave Penacony alone” “I Veritas Ratio am working with the Genius Society” this seems more like wishful thinking on the Trailblazer’s end rather than something that could ever happen in reality, especially since in what universe would Ratio find the time to somehow convince and work with the Genius Society on a topic neither he nor they would care about.

Moreover, this scene is also meant to make the audience go “hmm, something’s up” so the twist that it was all a dream had more impact. However, in that scene, Himeko and Welt also comment on how weird their behavior is, which makes me wonder. Were Himeko and Welt (and by extension Dan Heng and March) also experiencing the same dream as TB, or are they also fake, and TB’s closer relationship with the other members of the Astral Express makes them more realistic in Ena’s dream, objecting to the IP3’s behavior in a way they would in reality?

Anyways, tangent over, the point is, that Ratio wasn’t real, so where is the real Ratio? I’d say he’s experiencing a perfect dream of his own, just like everyone else on Penacony.

Which is why he woke up so early. Sure, the memokeepers could have sensed he was useful and woke him up so he could help wake others up, something which we can assume he’s doing based on the singular frame he gets in that cutscene.

Just based on vibes, it looks like he just helped those two people in the back wake up, and now he stands up to look at the Hunt arrows/stars/meteors? Shooting across the sky.

However, I want to entertain the idea that Ratio woke up on his own, because realistically, he 100% could.

Ena’s dream, and well, Penacony in general offers a perfect reality, and that’s not something Ratio believes in. He would immediately notice everything is too good to be true, and that would cause the dream to fall apart. Interestingly, Ena’s dream also seems to tailor itself to the individual, so what would be too perfect for Ratio to ever believe it could happen in reality?

I’m sure you have already guessed the answer.

How was it, Veritas Ratio? Having the thing that unraveled your dream be the one thing you have wanted all your life? How does it feel, knowing that being acknowledged by Nous is something that could never happen to you in reality?

How was it?

I still think it could have happened in other ways, or maybe he avoided falling into the dream in the first place somehow, but ultimately, I prefer my idea the most.

I hope this satisfies your question

#dr ratio #honkai star rail #hsr #dr ratio hsr #i need to write a fic about this #Ooh the angst potential

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poshmygosh · 17 hours

Text

Sooo I just watched Challengers and I have so many thoughts!!! Warning: this is a long one..

Honestly, I have seen so many interesting takes on this movie (though I'll mainly be discussing one I've seen a lot that I don't agree with at all) and I figured I'd throw my two cents in there lol.

So first and foremost: Tashi is a vital character to this film, as well as Patrick and Art's relationship as we see it int he future.

I"ve seen so many posts saying that "Patrick and Art should just get together, they're the one's that are really in love" or just overall downplaying the role that Tashi has in the film, I don't know if this is just that thing that some mlm shippers do where they erase the woman in the situation so that can just ship the two men, misogynoir, or something else entirely, but this takes generally doesn't make any sense to me. Obviously Patrick and Art loved each other, even before they met Tashi. They had been best friends for years and their friendship was definitely homoerotic at the LEAST, but the idea that they would have been romantic without her is not true. They had never had any sort of romantic interaction, besides jerking off in a room together in separate beds when they were twelve, until Tashi prompted them too in the hotel. I don't think that would have happened otherwise. Beside the fact I do believe that there was some romantic yearning from both of them at times, they were not in the place to actually explore what that means. Patrick had a girlfriend, Art was clearly not in a place to confront the possibility of a sexual situation between them, and they were headed in two completely different directions in life. Tashi being there with them in that moment in the hotel, with them hanging on to her every word, every command allowed for them to feel comfortable being sexual with each other in that moment. Even if she had left that hotel room and the three of them had never interacted again, the night would have been brushed off as just something they did when they were drunk to hook up with a girl, it wouldn't have amounted to relationship, and even if it had she was still an integral part. She is the catalyst to so much of the tension between them, the sex that they might've shared in that hotel room that night if things had continued, and the sex they share on the tennis court 13 years later.

Another hot take: I do think that Tashi loved both of them at different points of the movie, though she loved tennis most of all.

I've seen some people say that the only real love that exists within the triangle is between Patrick and Art, and that Tashi only loved tennis. While I absolutely agree that tennis was the love of her life, I don't at all think that she never had love for Patrick or Art. One of the reasons why she was so bothered by Art saying that Patrick didn't love her when they were eating together at Stanford, was because she DID love him. She puts up a front, she acts like things don't bother her even when they do (is it clear that this trio need to work on their communication lol?) but she does like to show it. I think that this is also evident when her and Patrick are making out in her dorm later. I think some people think that her trying to giver him pointers on how to play better are her trying to be mean or vindictive but I also think this is a sign of how much she cares bout him. Her dad was her tennis coach, so you can imagine that she grew up in a household where oftentimes the love that was expressed was in conversations about how she played and how she could play better. And she's passionate about the sport and she has so much love for the game. For her, love and tennis are tethered in a way. The fact that she watched his games and was so eager to give him tips and pointers was evidence that she cared imo. And how that quickly turned into a fight between them is her putting up her walls, becoming defensive, most likely because she still has Art's words in the back of her head, and it bothers her.

As for Art, I feel like this could go without saying, but she married him. She married him and had a kid with him, and she didn't have to do that lol. She could've just coached him, we know that she's coached players without having a romantic relationship with them, and she did a pretty damn good job to, so she could've done the same with him. We actually get a really nice scene between them at the diner and we get a small glimpse of them beyond tennis, and you realize what it is that sees in him and why she would be interested in him romantically and not just as a coach to player.

I feel like people misconstrue her disdain and loathing that she has for them as her not loving them. She loves them and at times hates them. She tells Art in the beginning that she would do anything to be able to play again, and yet, here these two are, one who has lost his confidence and motivation for the game, and another whose laziness and carelessness prevent him from reaching his highest potential. Two people who are wasting their greatest privilege and she despises them for it.

Annnnnnd last take (I didn't expect this to be so long): Art is a snake.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love Art. I love all of these characters, and in my head they all quarantined together during covid, found a therapist, learned how to communicate and work through their issues, and are now living happily ever after with Lily, but Art is a snake as are all of them. I've seen some people excuse him trying to break Patrick and Tashi up back at Stanford, for one reason or another, and I'm not really sure why. You can love a character and/or feel sympathetic for them without erasing their wrong doings. You can admit that Art was slimy and manipulative at times and still love him, I promise. None of these characters are real and canonically all of them do pretty awful things in the movie, but you can acknowledge that and love them anyway. I think that if you look at this movie as there being a "bad guy" or a "good guy" you may have missed some things. The movie is messy, and toxic, and petty, and intoxicating, and thrilling because of the characters wrongdoings not in spite of them. And I think that's part of what makes it so fun!

Anyway, this was sooo much longer than I intended it to be lol, but I had so many thoughts I needed to get them out. I don't even know if this makes any sense but it's late and I'm going to post it anyway. If anyone has their own thoughts please please share! I'm literally obsessed with this movie, so reading people's ideas and opinions about it has been really fun

#challengers #zendaya #josh o'connor #mike faist #tashi duncan #patrick zweig #art donaldson #overall really great movie #luca guadagnino you've done it again!!

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utilitycaster · 1 day

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If you have time, I'd be really interested to hear any thoughts you have about the Bad Kids in terms of party/combat mechanics! I know they have a number of homebrew abilities/items that make them a little different from RAW character builds, but what do you think about them in terms of party balance or combat effectiveness? The thing that usually leaps out to me is how many of the Bad Kids are able to buff each other in and out of combat, and they seem to work fairly cohesively in battle. What's your read on them?

I don't have a ton of thoughts - in general, assume my CR thoughts will always be much more involved in part just because I'm more involved and also the ease of looking up information for CR works - but what does interest me actually is that the Bad Kids started off a pretty standard split of three casters (all competent support casters but capable of damage) and three martial classes, and that everyone but Adaine has undergone a subclass change, a multiclass, or more, and nearly all those changes were in the direction of higher utility and support. Adaine meanwhile was always a divination wizard which is simply a fantastic class and subclass with high utility and cool abilities so there's no need to change:

Fabian was originally a champion fighter, which is a great subclass but not really focused on party support other than being extremely good at killing foes and a decent tank. During season 2 he switched to battlemaster and multiclassed into bard (college of swords). His focus is still primarily on damage, but he can now maneuver and aid allies with his fighter abilities rather than just being super good at hitting, and he has the spells and inspiration of a bard, arguably the class most defined as a support/utility class.

Gorgug was originally a pure barbarian, and branched off into artificer late in season 2. It's a weird multiclass and one that Brennan has worked with Zac to homebrew but it did make a lot of narrative sense for him, and he then put the work in this past season. Artificers are also a good support class, whereas barbarians (especially Beserker, which he originally was) are also all about tanking and damage. By multiclassing into battlesmith he adds familiars onto the field, and maintains taking abilities.

Fig was originally college of whispers, which kind of sucks as a bard subclass, and so switching to lore, which gives you more access to spells and ways to help your allies helped. She also addressed the lack of bard ability to do damage by taking first a level in hexblade, and then multiclassing into paladin. She can still serve as support, and frequently does via inspiration and healing, but she now has pretty much all options available to her.

Kristen was originally a life cleric and is now twilight, and honestly both are super strong but twilight has a wider array of powers whereas life is very strongly healing-focused. Clerics also just get exponentially stronger as they level up and get higher level spells.

And finally, Riz switched from inquisitive, which is a solid rogue class in terms of solving mysteries, to arcane trickster, which gives him access to spells, dramatically expanding his repertoire. Also, to be honest, rogue abilities at high levels are really good, it's just, you spend a lot of time in levels where all you get is sneak attack.

So: all the martials ended up with some amount of spellcasting, the most pure support caster took some wise martial dips, and clerics and wizards are just really good classes that get better as you get more powers. You end up with a party that, as you say, can all buff each other.

#answered #Anonymous #d20 tag #d&d mechanics

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lunaviee · 17 hours

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꩜ — comfort, kinda school au, ooc nagi?, implied chubby reader, 0.6k wc

thinking about how you’d be studying super hard for finals week and draining yourself, growing more lethargic with every hour. the words on the page look like they’re blurring together and you’re almost positive you’ve been trying to read the same paragraph for like 10 minutes.

you’re broken out of your trance when you hear a faint mumble of “shit-“ come from behind you. the clacking of the keyboard suddenly becomes more apparent and you turn around to see nagi on his computer. was he studying? heavens no, this is nagi we’re talking about, he was playing on his pc. he looks cute, you think, his head tucked into the collar of his hoodie, leaving only the honey-like glow of his eyes and the softness of his hair peaking out. the brightness of his screen is turned down, you notice, probably out of courtesy because he knows you’ve been studying hard.

“y’done?” he hums, a low grumble in his voice, most likely from tiredness. you feel just a little bit bad. nagi insisted on staying awake while you studied because he “can’t fall asleep without you”

you sigh and shake your head, getting up from your seat to stretch. nagi reaches his hand towards you and lightly tugs on the fabric of your shirt. he pulls you into his arms with ease, turning his chair for you to be able to stand between his legs. his hand covers the small of your back, the other arm looping around your waist as he leans his head on your lower stomach. your hands gravitate towards his hair, raking through its softness. it’s slightly damp, he took a shower a while ago but never bothered drying it.

a comfortable silence lingers in the air and you can feel your sleep catching up to you. “can you be done? ‘m tired,” he mumbles, tugging you to sit down on his leg. you glance over at the time on the screen, reading 1:49am. yikes. nagi drags a kiss from your exposed shoulder up to your cheek, hand rubbing against your back. he knows how stressed you are and he doesn’t like it. mostly because it takes away from your nap time with him.

“i still have chem to study for..” you sigh, slumping against him out of dread. there’s a short silence as nagi stares at the glow of his computer screen on your cheek. he a little bad considering he’s always been gifted when it comes to academic. he doesn’t study at all and manages to get at least an A on the test. “that’s not until next week. cmon, pretty, it’s late. lemme sleep.”

his slow and gentle touches across your back slowly lull you to fall limp against his chest. you know studying is important, but right now it feels like there’s just bricks in your legs and his embrace is always so comfortable. he takes your silence as a yes and turns off his pc before lifting you up. even considering the amount of training he does for soccer, it still surprising how easy it is for him to just pick you up like a ragdoll.

he climbs into bed with you still in his arms, tugging the blanket over the both of you. nagi’s always brought a comforting sense to you and he makes you physically feel all the stress seep out of your body. you sink further into his chest and practically start melting into him with your proximity. he holds you tightly and securely, pressing a kiss onto your forehead before the both of you knock out for the night.

✮— what is up guys!! let’s ignore my long ass “break”😇

#blue lock x reader #bllk x reader #seishiro nagi x reader #bllk headcanons #bllk imagines #blue lock x reader fluff #blue lock fluff #seishiro nagi x you #nagi seishiro x reader #nagi seishiro x you #x chubby reader

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thezombieprostitute · 2 days

Text

Constant Change - Part 2

Summary: You and Nick must navigate the new territories of pregnancy and parenting while managing the continued hostility from Clark Kent.

A/N: Reader is AFAB, in her late 30's, early 40's. No other descriptors used.

Word Count: ~1.3k

Warnings: Pregnancy issues. Please let me know if I missed any!

Part 1 -- Part 3

Your “retirement” party comes too quickly for your preferences. You knew your bosses were being pressured to get you out of your job but you didn’t think they’d push for you to leave in just a week. You worked for them for so many years but because of one rich asshole you’re given such a short amount of time to say your goodbyes and make sure your coworkers can cover your job until a replacement is hired. You’d genuinely hoped to train whoever they hired but that’s not an option.

The one solace was that you got out before your pregnancy started showing. You weren’t sure you could handle your coworkers’ well-intentioned, but unwanted, advice. You weren’t necessarily a private person but the number of stories you’ve heard about complete strangers rubbing pregnant bellies without permission and criticizing everything the woman does has you feeling shy. You haven’t announced anything yet, especially not to your family, though you get the sense Nick is bursting to tell people.

He went with you to your first appointment with the OBGYN. He was attentive and caring. You saw the telltale signs of him making mental notes whenever the doctor said things to look out for. You got the impression that if he could carry you everywhere he would, just to make sure you didn’t overexert yourself. But he is respecting your wishes to keep your pregnancy quiet for now and that’s what matters to you.

Well, part of you does enjoy how doting and overly attentive he can be. It feels nice to be taken care of so completely sometimes. And it really feels like there’s nothing Nick wouldn’t do for you. You really need to make sure you don’t take advantage of that. You’d hate for him to feel like you were using him or were ungrateful for all of his care.

You leave your office for the last time, carrying a box full of your personal items and some gifts from coworkers. It feels strange to know you’ll never work here again. There are so many changes happening in such a short time it’s making you feel off kilter and you start quietly crying as you wait for Nick to pick you up.

Thankfully he doesn’t leave you waiting for long. He pulls the car up to the curb and immediately jumps out to get the box from you. He’s about to make a comment about you not carrying anything heavy when he sees your tears. Holding the box in one arm, he reaches out and gently caresses your face, wiping away some of your tears. He looks intently into your eyes, silently asking if you need him to do anything. It’s another thing you love about Nick, he waits for you to tell him what you need. He never presumes he has all the answers.

You lean into his touch and hug him as you let your tears keep falling. He holds you close with his unburdened arm. You can’t see him looking around and giving death glares at people who give you odd looks. They quickly look away and leave the two of you alone with you none the wiser.

When you’re ready you gently pull away from him, “we should probably get going home. Don’t want you to tire your arm holding that box.” You smile and give a little chuckle at his incredulous expression. “Not that you can’t carry it forever if you really wanted to,” you assure. “I just want that arm strength saved for holding me.”

He breaks out into a smile and kisses you, “I love you, too.” He quickly puts your box in the backseat of the car before opening the passenger side door for you. You used to try to tell him he didn’t have to keep opening doors for you but have long since given up, opting for a little ‘thank you’ kiss on the cheek every time he does it. Part of you wonders if that’s why he keeps doing it.

“I really miss lamb curry,” you mope over your bowl of oatmeal with minimal flavorings. “Can’t wait for the morning sickness to subside.”

Nick smiles sympathetically, “I can’t wait, either. It’ll be one less thing we have to worry about for you. But the dietary changes are helping, right?”

“Yeah. My stomach still gets upset, of course, but it’s nowhere near so��volatile.” He nods as he continues eating his own oatmeal. “Also, Nick, I just…I want to thank you.” He gives you a quizzical look. “Thank you for not eating or drinking foods I can’t have. At least not in front of me. I can’t tell you how much easier it is to deal with this drab diet because you’re not flaunting your ability to eat whatever you want.”

“It’s not a problem my Lady,” he assures. “Besides, I still get plenty of my favorite flavor when I eat you out.”

You giggle and heat rushes to your face. You’ll never get over just how into you this man is and how seriously he takes your pleasure. It’s so much more than you’ve ever gotten before.

“We do still need to talk about what to do for a wedding,” you think out loud, looking at the beautiful ring Nick had gotten you. It was so beautiful, the stone's color making you think of Nick's eyes. Whenever you'd gotten anxious you looked at it and thought about his eyes looking at you with nothing but love and it calmed you down. “I suppose we’ll have to tell our respective friends and family members at some point as well.”

Nick covers your hand in his, “whatever you want to do, we can do. You want a grand wedding, we’ll make it happen. You want a civil ceremony, we can do that too. You have full say in this.”

“You know I appreciate your opinion,” you counter.

“My opinion is that, so long as we end up married, I don’t care how it happens.” He brings your hand to his lips to kiss it.

“Maybe not a civil service,” you ponder. “I don’t want to go back to the office any time soon, even for such a happy thing. But I do like the idea of a small event. We’ve both had enough attention to last a lifetime thanks to that live-stream.”

“Thank you, again, for hiding my face as much as you could during that,” Nick interjects. “Pretty sure it’s a big part of why I was able to keep my job instead of being relegated to office duty. And you know I can’t sit still for that kind of work.” He smiles at you, eyes filled with love and mirth.

“Any follow up from Teach or Barber on the case?”

“Kent’s lawyers have finally convinced him he’s fucked up by suing us,” Nick chuckles. “But, of course, it’s too late for him. Barber’s working on avoiding getting me drug into the spotlight. At the same time, DA Rhodes is looking to enjoin the suit with the criminal trial Kent’s facing for attempting assault and stalking.”

“What would that mean for us?”

“We’d be saying that our defense against Kent’s claim is the result of his criminal trial. I’ll be honest, it’s not my favorite. I don’t want either of us on that witness stand for a second longer than we have to be. If it all works out, we won’t have to enter the courtroom at all.”

“That would be lovely,” you admit. “If Kent is willing to settle, maybe we can make a restraining order part of the settlement.”

“I wouldn’t mind taking this to a jury trial, get a bunch of his dirt out in public, but that would put me in a difficult position.”

“So we push for settlement and use the money for our honeymoon,” you joke.

“That actually wouldn’t be so bad of an idea,” Nick kisses your hand again. “I’d love to take you anywhere in the world.”

“Maybe a second honeymoon after…” you rub your belly. “After things get a little more settled?”

“I promise,” Nick brings you in for a kiss.

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#garbage men au #Mafia au #mafia!nick fowler x female!reader #nick fowler x reader #mob!nick fowler

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clerifik · 2 days

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Major Character Dissection: Alastor (Part One)

(MAJOR SPOILERS)

Okay. I've been working on a major story idea, and In order to properly plan it out. I need to figure out Alastor as a whole. I need to dissect the absolute shit out of him, and you're coming with me for the ride.

One: Alastor's Deal Making Tactics:

Alastor is a master manipulator who meticulously plans out all of his deals. He knows exactly how to get under peoples skin and he knows exactly how to gain a sense of false trust with his victims. He uses the same manipulation tactic on all of the victims shown. @vaggietheangel came up with a really cool theory that I'll elaborate on.

Alastor knows how naïve poor Charlie can be when it comes to trusting others. Even after all of the warnings she has received from Vaggie, she still manages to make a deal with him. His offer is small, there is no harm done to her, but it still is a deal that furthers Charlie's trust with him.

I also find it quite interesting after all the explanations Vaggie has given of Alastor, all the warnings she has concluded to at just how dangerous he truly is. She makes a deal with him herself. It's minor, but it is still a leg of trust that he is offering her. It just shows you how masterful Alastor is at getting under peoples skin and manipulating others to get what he wants.

With Husk, he most likely strategically gained his trust. Offered him small deals for Husk's gain, eventually added more risk to the offers, until he meticulously had Husk wrapped around his finger and he knew that he wasn't going to be able to get out of it.

(This connects back to something @artykyn said and I thought it was interesting too.) This all goes to show that Alastor knows his way around deal making. He knows the ins, the outs, how to bend the rules. He is a skillful manipulator that knows how to word his deals in a way that'll make sure he's always the one that wins in the end. But Alastor, knowing all of the loopholes of deal making, can't even find a loophole in his OWN contract that he made with whoever gained his soul, and we all know that it is RUINING him because he craves power. He needs to be the predator in every situation. This is CRAZY because it just shows how much power they truly have over Alastor, and the fact that there is someone more cunning than Alastor with deal making is just terrifying especially after everything that we already know about how skillful he is.

It also offers a further question: Knowing Alastor's morals, knowing his absolute distaste for others that are more powerful... what compelled him to not only sell his soul, but sell his soul in a contract with NO KNOWN LOOPHOLES?

Two: Alastor's Personal Contract:

There have been many theories floating around about who owns Alastor's soul, but my personal favourite one is the Lilith theory.

And yes, of course there is the "both Alastor and Lilith were gone for the same amount of time" theory. That's a good point, but I believe it goes much deeper than that.

Lilith has been described in the show as someone who absolutely refuses to submit to the will of others. She is always the one in control. She has also been described to "empower demon kind with her voice." This may be a slight stretch, but does that not sound like gaining the trust of others? Offering trust in exchange for something larger? Alastor's tactic is manipulation; giving people a false sense of hope. Does that description not also seem like it could apply to Lilith?

I'm not sure how accurate this information is, but I heard once that Viv confirmed that Mimzy's explanation of Alastor was accurate... so I'm using this to my advantage when I say this:

Mimzy said he was dismissed when he first manifested in Hell. He was essentially powerless and grew his power almost overnight. Realistically, the only possible way that this could've happened was if he made a deal with someone much more powerful than him for status and power... (Lilith). She let him have his fun. She let him kill Overlords to gain control, she let him build his name up, get used to deal making and learn the loopholes of it. Lilith gave him a false sense of control. She gave him decades of time to build his experience, before she really let her fun begin with him once she found out about Charlie and the hotel. Charlie was shown to be calling her mother around the same time that Alastor gained a sudden interest in her and the hotel. Odd coincidence If I do say so myself!

…What if Lilith's status in Heaven was due to a deal she made herself? If she can keep Hell under control... she can remain in Heaven? (Now I'm not sure why she'd want to be in Heaven, that'd be a whole other discussion post) Lucifer has stated that he has tried something similar to what Charlie is attempting, and he continuously was dismissed. If that's the case, Lilith was/is his wife, and it wouldn't be hard to notice Charlie attempting the same thing she watched her husband do. This would obviously cause a disruption in Heaven, so she calls upon her puppet that she has built from the ground up; Alastor. She sends him to the hotel to be her eyes.

I don't believe Alastor's powers are his own either.

I became more open to this idea after seeing @anthurak’s post about the same thing.

First off, aesthetically, the Overlord's powers match them. Valentino's are pink pheromones that move like air. It's sultry, It's sexy, It's everything that Valentino embodies. Vox has the ability to hypnotize people into listening to him, and he can manipulate other forms of technology. He is a literal television so yes, this too makes sense.

Alastor though? His entire character is composed of shades of red so why is it when he is using his powers, they're neon green and appear to be almost electric? Plus the tentacles? He is a deer, and there is no indication that he would have tentacles simply due to that fact It makes no sense. Whenever he uses his powers, It looks like he's throwing on an extension of himself. It doesn't seem like Alastor.

I'd also like to point out the green stitching along his mouth during the scene where he's making a deal with Charlie. A lot of people have said that it looks like they're keeping him smiling... but I think the opposite. His smile looks jagged almost like it was torn open, I think the thread is just a connotation to how he has to keep his mouth shut about his deal. I think Alastor uses his smile as a grapple on himself. He's losing control, and the best he can do is put a smile on and play a character.

The chains during the scene where he intimidates Husk too, aren't connected to him like they are shown to be with other Overlords... they're connected to his staff. This leads me to believe that the staff was given to him from (in this theory) Lilith. This links back to my, "Alastor is Lilith's eyes" theory, especially considering that there is an eye on his staff. That could be Lilith's way of spying.

This would also explain why Alastor suddenly became so powerless once it was broken during the Extermination scene. Alastor is nothing without that staff. It's his connection to Lilith, to his powers. His staff makes or breaks him. It would also explain why Husk seemed to have thought he was out of his contract. If all the contract powers are held through the staff... Did he technically lose them all?

Almost dying to Adam fucking terrified him too and it's not hard to see that. He spent years of being untouchably strong and easily overtaking everyone to the point it made his ego so large he thought he could take on THE Adam. He realized he is practically just a Sinner without his staff and powers. His deal makes him, but it's also going to break him and god that's insufferable in his eyes.

PART TWO LINK:

#hazbin hotel #hazbin charlie #hazbin lucifer #hazbin theory #hazbin alastor #alastor #alastor theory #hazbin vaggie #hazbin husk

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