Tumgik
#we named it the Phoenix for a lot of reasons but a phoenix is also kinda Altanin's symbol in some ways
jakey-beefed-it · 2 years
Text
Had a game of Goblin Squad d&d last night. We continued our exploration of the magic-blasted wasteland we find ourselves in, trying to track down Altanin’s blood relatives who are also a potentially super dangerous cult. Tracked them to this not-quite-abandoned ruin, talked our way past the hobgoblin squatters, and proceeded into the depths. 
There had been a load of automatons set to guard the depths of this place, but Altanin’s family/the aforementioned cult came through with around 30 people and just obliterated the automatons. There was only one left, and it was pretty badly damaged. We managed to sneak past it and find a big old pile of ordinary treasure- the cult having taken only the magical items that were present.
At this point, the sorcerer’s Extremely Evil and Powerful family patriarch (they’re a whole family of evil sorcerers, she’s more of a neutral sorcerer) showed up to taunt her a bit. He also activated the remaining automaton, which attacked us. We set up a pretty good ambush, with our rogue and I doing a fair amount of damage to it, but it rushed past us and attacked the ranger and the sorcerer, mauling them both pretty badly
Well, this simply will not do, thinks Altanin, so on my next turn I charged the thing, hit it once with my sword, then used my other attack unarmed so I could grapple it as a bonus action (wooo Tavern Brawler feat). So I basically grabbed it by some important central mechanism and hauled it back, away from the squishies.
It whirled on me and attacked four times, two of them crits because of course I was reckless attacking so it had advantage on me, and my AC was only 16 instead of 20 since my magic-shield-bearing hand was occupied with holding the ‘bot by its middle. I took literally 107 slashing damage (halved to 53, woo rage) and then the thing started making this eye-watering, teeth-shivering whirring noise that built and built
It was pretty obvious it was going to explode in some way, so the whole party ran out of the vault we were fighting in. Except Altanin, who felt he needed to hold it in place and anticipated being able to shrug off half of whatever explosion damage it did. Selflessly keeping it from hurting his friends, at relatively little cost to himself. That’s the bear totem lifestyle, ba-by
Well, the noise crescendoed and when it popped, it did Ninety Eight damage. Psychic damage. The only damage type I don’t resist. Which took my HP total from a comfortable 149/198 to 47. Also, I was stunned.
We killed it the next round, thankfully, but oy. Altanin was a bloody mess- literally oozing blood from his eyes, nose, ears, mouth, his head ringing. The scratches from its physical attacks were nothin’ in comparison. And since our life cleric’s player exited the game due to time/energy constraints, our only healer is currently our ranger. 
She gave Altanin a talking-to about maybe being a little more cautious from now on, as a result. She always has been the group tactician, so he’s inclined to cooperate. Could’ve been worse, though. Could’ve been better, too.
Next time hopefully I’ll remember that one of my attuned magical items lets me do double damage against constructs. >.>
14 notes · View notes
flamingpudding · 9 days
Note
I'm so sorry I didn't get to finish but as Dan's Teekl is a Phoenix snake and he takes after Vlad since of dressing
When something big is going on the magical world and they need King Phantom's help he decides to bring along his children this is how the Justice League finds out just like Robin is a past dumb title so is Klarion all the Justice League deal with a bunch of hyper up chaotic children who have been antiheroes let's find out
I wanted this to be just like a we are robbing thing except with Clarion all of them showing off the fact that Teekl have never been a cat would be so funny to me
Anywho I haven't been able to come up with anymore ideas for Dan is Klarion but I did come out with this one hope you find it funny sorry that I messed up on the first part of the writing
Okay... so version one got deleted, per my rant post notices... so here is version two hopes to that it will still be as good... also... i didn't remember how I ended this the first time soooooo yea... sorry again for having messed up in between...
[Link to the first part of the Ask here!]
I hope this will still be as enjoyable....
------------------
Vlad didn't regret a lot of things but he regretted having told Bruce Wayne that he had a way of summoning the Ghost King. Why you ask? Because Bruce Wayne apparently leaked that information to the Justice League.
Well originally Vlad had told Bruce only about this because he was after the deal he had wanted for years with Wayne Enterprise. That man had been able to avoid Vlad for years now, and during his years when he hadn't been a redeemed man it had infuriated him.
But he was a redeemed man now. He had reformed his entire Company and since Wayne Enterprise was contracted with the Justice League, he had felt it was appropriate to boost that his Company had valuable connections too.
He also just wanted to rub it into Brucie Waynes face that he wasn't the only one with big name Hero / other worldly connections department. Okay it might have been a bit of an ego thing left. But he was a redeemed man.
And because he was a redeemed man he had not used his ghost powers to throw Batman out of the window the hero had used to barge into his hotel room at 3 -goddamn- AM only to demand the method on how to summon the ghost king.
No sir, Vlad was a redeemed man, he was nice now, a good guy.
He only grumbled and demanded the reason, which apparently was a demonic thread to the magical world that indirectly could wipe out the entire world itself. Great, little badger will not be amused hearing about that.
Daniel would be cross with him for using the summoning stone in the middle of the night but Batman was giving him a valid reason to use it. Surely Daniel would understand right? Plus Vlad could use that as change to see the little badger again. It had been a while since he last saw him.
Well Vlad regretted agreeing with Batman with the condition that he would be the one to do the summoning. That man in a bat suit did not hesitate to drag Vlad with him then bringing him, blindfolded mind you, to a place where he then was faced with several heroes, including but not limited to the Justice league.
Just great.
At least Vlad got to inform Danial about the situation and the reason for his summon as Ghost King via summoning stone, even if that blond British man had scoffed when he saw Vlad pulling it out, about the situation and what the little badger could expect the moment he stepped out of a portal.
What Vlad did not expect were several RED portals opening and similarly dressed young adults as well as one teen stepping out of them.
"Sup old man! Mom told us you called him about some world ending problem!" Dan greeted him in his Klarion get up, perfectly styled hair and his ghost pet, a phoenix snake, Snape (yes Dan named his pet after a mage from a wizard movie series) on his shoulders. Vlad could feel the distinctive illusion magic around the pet and he was pretty sure everyone without ghost powers were not able to see through it.
"KLARION?!" One of the present heroes yelled.
And of course all of the kids had to answer in reflect turning to where the voice came from at the same time.
"Yea"
There was a brief moment of silence in which Vlad face palmed.
"Ah sorry, that was on reflex. Old habits die hard!" Ellie laughed, she had grown into a young woman and was currently wearing what looked like a black suit crossed with a 90s style witch dress.
"I am the current Klarion, lose that fucking habit already." Dan grumbled annoyed as he crossed his arms glaring at every sibling that had answered to his alias.
"I am telling mom you cussed." Ellie instead grinned instead, before she looked around for a moment before her eyes landed on Nightwing, her face instantly lighting up. "ROBIN! I mean Nightwing! I haven't seen you in ages!"
"Do I know you?" Vlad could feel sorry for the hero, but these where the phantom kids, so he wasn't in the slightest and he was still cross with he heroes for waking him up at 3AM!
"I am hurt! Don't you recognise me!" Ellie gasped and Dan unashamedly elbowed her for acting so familiar.
"Misrule." He warned her. Ellies current Anti-Hero -Chaos Agent- Alias Vlad remembered. A name she specifically chose because it sounded like Miss Rule and she knew that the word play would annoy Nabu. That girl had some serious beef with the Ancient of Order.
"Oh shush little brother! Let me reconnect with the kids I used to mess with!" She shushed Dan ruffling his hair and nearly messing up his horned hairstyle, before turning back to Nightwing. "Don't you remember my lovely Armadillos? Though I only know you were the Robin I first meet because I looked into Grandpa Clock's time mirrors..."
There was a brief moment of silence on the other side where the heroes stood and Vlad swore he could have heard a pin needle drop.
"Oh god..." One of them finally spoke up as apparently some kind of realisation sunk into the heroes. But before Ellie could add anything more the one Vlad recognised as Red Robin cut in.
"Klarion is like Robin!"
"RR what are you...?"
"The title of Klarion got passed down like Robin!"
There was another brief moment of silence before Dan, Ellie and the rest of their siblings burst out laughing.
"It took you idiots this long to see that?!" Dan called them out, laughing as he hugged Snape.
Vlad would probably feel sorry for the entirety of the heroes before him if he wasn't amused by this himself, even he had seen the differences whenever 'Klarion' got passed on.
"For your information, I was the first Klarion, so i could mess with Nabu." Ellie grinned. "I was also the one that used a bit to much eyeliner."
"I never got the the horned hairstyle right."
"I was the one with a fancy black suit."
One by one the phantom kids listed of all the differences in their versions of Klarion until they all looked towards the youngest Dan, the current Klarion.
"What?" He grumbled as his elder siblings grinned at him.
"Fucking fine. I use a suit similar to the old man's style and I like to do more than just mess with Nabitch." He muttered after enduring his siblings stares for.
"And you cuss." Ellie grinned brightly causing the rest of the siblings to to chuckle.
Vlad recognised the look in Dan's eyes and before the kids could break out into an argument or a brawl, depending how violent Dan was feeling, he coughed loudly to get noticed by everyone.
"World threatening situation." He reminded everyone. "Where is your mother? The Ghost King?"
"Oh Mom is already dealing with the situation." Dan shrugged. "We more or less came to watch and see the heroes suck and fail at 'Order' to rub it into Nabitch's face."
Vlad really wanted to scowl the kids and he was going to but then the heroes cut in again.
"Can we get back to the thing about Klarion being a title passed down like Robin? With how many different Klarions did we have to deal with over the years!?"
"Red Robin not the right time..."
"Yes the right time! So many comments from Klarion make sense now! Like the first time he went right up into my face!"
"Red Robin!"
"Oh that was still me! The first Klarion!"
404 notes · View notes
sandboxer · 7 months
Text
I think one of the (admittedly many) reasons Phoenix is such a difficult character to get an accurate read on is because he’s often treated as three or four separate people, by both the games and by the fandom to different extents
his evolutions can be so distinct from each other in the games that we’ve developed different names for one guy (feenie, beanix, Phoenix), and while I do think that his writing in the games is inconsistent, I also think that giving him different names during different time periods has solidified that division in our climate of opinion. we tend to flanderize each version of Phoenix to the extent that he sometimes isn’t recognizable as one cohesive character—feenie tends to be infantilized, beanix tends to be pitied, and regular phoenix tends to be idolized, especially when we’re talking about his post-AA4 self. but they’re all one guy. the separate personas tend to get played up into caricatures that rob him of nuance and, most importantly, continuity. feenie can be stubborn, beanix can be excessively optimistic, phoenix can be a rat bastard, etc and so on… because, again, they’re all just phoenix wright
I also don’t mean this as a criticism of the naming of his different evolutions, and I’m definitely guilty of the above treatment myself. I think my point here is that while the naming is useful in a ton of ways, a lot of fun complexity can be unlocked by blending him into one yummy layered Phoenix soup
369 notes · View notes
discount-shades · 1 year
Text
Contract Spouse Chapter 3
Tumblr media
Chapter 3: Moving
A/N: I am absolutely delighted by how much everyone loved Phoenix last chapter. 😀
Pairing: Jake Seresin/Reader (nicknamed Pip)
Warning:  Angst,  
Length: 2100ish
Summary: Pip moves to California.
Previous     Masterlist     Next
You write your name on the final box and survey the apartment. Everything was packed and labeled. Half was going with Sami to her new place with her boyfriend, Matt. Some of your stuff would be going with you to California and the rest would be put into storage.
“So you and Jake?” Matt asks as he wanders back into the apartment after taking one of Sami’s boxes to his truck. “How’s that going to go?” You roll your eyes. Sami had only informed Matt about your marriage to Jake after you decided to move to California. He had been annoyingly interested in your relationship ever since he had found out. 
“I don’t know Matt,” you say shortly, as you hand him another box, “it will go however it goes.” You are nervous enough as it is. You had not lived with a man other than your father, and you had gone no contact with your parents after they had kicked you out. With the added stress of the investigation you were on edge.
Logistically everything was ready to go. Utilities all canceled and mail forwarded. Sami had rolled her eyes at the moving checklist you had given her but dutifully followed it. You had notified your bosses, and had to quit one of your jobs, but the other had agreed to let you stay on. You had convinced them that having a California based liaison would help when working with companies in that time zone. 
You were prepared for everything except Jake. 
“It’s just that a fake marriage and moving in together is very romcom of you.” You gaze at Matt in exasperation as he continues, “what if you have to fake PDA?”
“Eww Matt, that's my brother you are talking about!” Sami walks in and shoos Matt outside, but the expression on her face is calculating as you try to hide your embarrassment by shuffling boxes into different piles. 
“I’m going to miss you.” You look up from shifting boxes at Sami’s words. She has tears in her eyes. “I know I was moving out first but now you are going across the country and…” She trails off sniffling. You walk over and wrap her in a hug, her long blonde hair tickling your nose. “I’m just going to miss you is all.” 
You dry her tears with your sleeve. “I’m going to miss you too,” you tell her and she lets out a watery chuckle. “Your brother is going to be a poor substitution for my best friend.”
“Ouch,” You look over as Jake walks through the door. “That hurts my feelings Pip,” he holds his hand over his heart, “all two of them.” He walks over and hugs Sami before pulling you into a hug and you can’t help but inhale the smell of his cologne.
“You’re late Jacob.” Sami sasses him as she checks her watch. “It's after eight. We've been at it since seven.” 
“I slept in, Samantha.” He shrugs and you look more closely and see shadows under his eyes. “Also I got donuts.”
“You are not carrying any donuts.” Sami has her hands on her hips, “don’t lie to me about donuts.”
“I gave them to Matt downstairs.” Sami groans and goes running out the door. You both watch her go and turn to each other. “You good?” his tired eyes are searching your expression and you square your shoulders and nod. 
“Are you?” He shrugs his shoulders in a non-committal way. 
“Yeah, as good as anyone being criminally investigated can be,” he says and he pulls you into a hug when your face falls at his response. You relax into him, wrapping yours around his waist. Jake’s hugs are always comforting. Strong arms and a firm chest. He is solid and dependable and you can't help the feeling of safety you always find in his arms. 
His voice rumbles in your ear where you have it pressed against his chest. “We have a lot of evidence to prove we are actually together and a valid reason for you to move after you got the letter.” 
You nod reluctantly and go to apologize again for the both of you being in this situation but he stops you. “I knew what I was getting into, Pip. I could have divorced you years ago but I didn’t so we are in this together.” 
You agree quietly as Sami walks back through the door with Matt who noisily clears his throat. You grab a donut from the box he is holding before grabbing something small you can carry in one hand and making your way out to Jake's truck, eating as you go.
It took a few hours to pack the stuff you were taking to California into the truck. The movers you hired were able to take the furniture that was yours to the storage locker before carrying on and taking the rest to Sami’s new place. Your car had been on its last legs for a few years so rather than chance it on a 1300 mile road trip you had decided to sell it and buy a new one in California.
Once everything is settled you find yourself standing outside Sami's place, her arms around you as she cries into your shoulder. Jake and Matt standing a respectful distance as you say your goodbyes. When she finally releases you she takes a shuddering breath. “God, I didn’t even cry this much when I moved out of my moms house.”
You’re not crying, but going your separate way from Sami is still hard. “It’s probably for the best.” You smile half heartedly. “Gotta break that codependency we’ve got going on.” It had been a running joke for most of your friendship, though for you, it felt like it was a little too close to the truth. Your lives were entwined so closely that you were more like twin sisters. 
“I’m just realizing that we’ll never live in the same place anymore.”
“I’ll be back in the city six months or so after the charges are dropped and we can divorce.” You say as the guys begin to walk over. “Shouldn’t be more than a year.” She gives you a look that you can't place and turns to hug Jake.
“Take care of her, she may be your wife but she is my best friend.” Jake chuckles and picks her up in a hug. You hear her whisper to him but can't make out the words. You give Matt a quick hug and after he and Jake shake hands you are on the road.
– – – 
Jake blinks in weariness as he drives. He had spent the last two days driving to Texas and was now leaving the state. He never slept well in hotels, or in this case motels. He actually hadn’t slept well in years. But he didn’t like to think about it. He only couldn’t sleep when he was sleeping in new places. After a week in one place he was fine. Mostly.
He glances over at you. After the letter you had started to wear your wedding band, hoping for it to leave an indentation on your finger. It had been his suggestion. He had thought of the deep groove etched in his mother’s finger when she had finally been ready to take her wedding ring off, four years after his dad had passed.
He could tell you were nervous. Your fingers constantly move as you fiddle with the band, spinning it around and around. He had bought the simple white gold infinity ring with tiny lab grown diamonds when you had married him, and until now you only had worn it for special occasions. 
Looking at you, sitting beside him and completely upending your life to move across the country to make the marriage seem real, the guilt hits him. “I should have divorced you years ago.” His voice is sharp, breaking the silence that has stretched between the two of you for the past hour. 
You look up at him, startled by the sudden admission. He can feel your gaze boring into him and he avoids your eyes, focusing on the road.  “Careful Jake,” he can hear a wryness in your voice that tells him you are grinning, “any other woman would be insulted by an admission like that.”
He let out a grudging chuckle. “You know what I mean.”
You sigh. “It’s a two way street Jake. You won’t let me blame myself, so I won't let you blame yourself.” You straighten up in your seat and shift so you are facing him. “Jake, look at me.”
“Can’t. I’m driving.” He can practically hear your eyes roll.
“Jake.” Your voice is weary and he relaxes his shoulders with a sigh and glances at you before returning his eyes to the road without the rigid focus of avoiding your gaze. “We probably should have divorced but it was just easier not to, for both of us. It’s no use playing the ‘what if’ game.”
“Yeah,” he voices his agreement but he knows better.
The last few years he had been actively avoiding the topic of divorce when he talked to you. If he thought you were getting close to bringing it up he would change the subject. He was afraid that if he divorced you he would have to give you up. 
You were his confidant. The person he talked to most. Some days he thought you knew him better than anyone. He told you things he couldn’t tell his mother who would only worry. He couldn't tell Sami either. His sister was notorious for her inability to keep a secret and would have spilled to his mother the first chance she got. Javy knew what happened but they never talked about it.
But he could talk to you. He never told you what happened, but he could tell you everything else. His thoughts, how he was feeling, but never why. You just listened. You were understanding, you would give advice and help him reframe things. You always seemed to know when he needed a distraction, but you had always been that way. 
The day his father died he had been sitting in the kitchen in the middle of the night, numb to the world, wondering what the hell he was going to do. The old fashioned responsibility of being the man of the house weighed heavily on his shoulders. 
His mother had gone to bed hours ago, she had ended up barely leaving her room for a month, but he didn’t know that the first night. You had spent the night with Sami in her room. It crossed his mind that he should have checked on Sami hours ago, but the lack of light coming from under her door told him it was too late and he’d buried his face in his hands feeling like a failure. 
He heard a creek and looked up to see you creeping out of his sister's room. You had met his eyes as you walked into the kitchen. You grabbed two clean glasses out of the dishwasher and filled them at the sink before walking over and putting one in front of him and sitting across from him at the table with the other. 
“Sami’s asleep.” Your soft voice broke the silence.
“I should have checked on her.” He said it automatically, sharing his real fears and insecurities with you. “I’m already fucking this up.”
He remembers the look on your face so clearly. Compassion, exasperation, and understanding. “You can’t mess up grief. You’re allowed to be sad too, Jake.” He stared at you thinking about how ridiculous it was that at seventeen he needed to be comforted by an eleven year old. “It's not all on you.” You sat quietly across from him for a few minutes as he thought about your words .When he eventually nodded you stood up and gave him an awkward hug before you picked up your glass and left the kitchen. “Drink some water, crying can dehydrate you.” 
He watched Sami’s door close behind you before staring at the full glass you put in front of him. He picked it up, drained it, and went to bed himself.
“I didn’t know NCIS investigated marriages.” Your comment brings him abruptly back to the present. 
“What?” he asks in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know, when I got the letter it surprised me,” you say, “It's just that the TV show makes me only think of them investigating murders.” Jake lets out a short laugh and he sees you smiling at him out of the corner of his eye. “I mean, if we need lawyers will JAG be involved?” There is laughter in your voice. “How many TV shows am I going to live through in this situation?”
A smile lingers at the corner of his lips as he keeps driving.
586 notes · View notes
gffa · 1 year
Text
Hey, hi, cool, so I just thought, for no reason that I can think of at this particular time, you all might want to fall back into the Kalluzeb rabbit hole with me, especially since they didn't get onscreen resolution for the desperate need I had for them to kiss, so fic is here to help solve that for us. Also feelings. So many, many feelings. And delicious mutual pining and hilarity of two idiots who clearly want to bang each other, with the knowledge that Zeb eventually will totally get his man (Steve Blum said so!!! just like that!!!) which makes it fun to watch two dumbasses circle each other around. Or finally give in because there's definitely a lot of giving in. Anyway, yes, have some STAR WARS REBELS fic, centered on Kallus and Zeb just because I thought it would be a fun side trip today. No reason! Just seemed like the thing to do, is all! STAR WARS REBELS KALLUZEB FIC RECS: ✦ A Lasat Walks into a Bar by Holderisms, zeb/kallus, the mandalorian spoilers, 1.3k    After speaking with Teva, Zeb gets a drink. Even when someone is waiting on him. ✦ Eudaemonia by Bur, zeb/kallus, 7.9k    Alexsandr never expected to find peace more terrifying than war. ✦ Hoth is (Not) for Lovers by bar2d2s, zeb/kallus, 1.2k    Hoth is cold and Kallus is miserable. Set only just before Empire Strikes Back. ✦ Falling in Love with the Right Now (Poster Boy) by akaparalian, (pre-)zeb/kallus & ghost crew, 1.6k    Somewhere out there in the galaxy, there's a rebel propaganda artist who deserves a raise. ✦ It Works on You by Kereea, zeb/kallus, 3.2k    Humans and lasats can have very different ideas about what's attractive. Zeb and Kallus still tend to line up by each other's standards. ✦ Warmth by icarus_chained, zeb/kallus, 1.6k    Zeb and Kallus, in the aftermath of Zero Hour. Someone needs to put Kallus back together, or near as can be managed. ✦ Mating Rituals by Velvedere, zeb/kallus & sabine & cast, 4.7k    Zeb has been acting weird lately. Kallus vents to Sabine about it. ✦ in your warmth I forget how cold it can be by dykeannebonny, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 3.6k    "Are you going to kiss me, Garazeb Orrelios?" Alex's lips were parted; he inhaled deeply through his mouth. "I'm thinkin' about it," Zeb said quietly. ✦ What We Want by TheTrashMan (Viraaja), Viraaja, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 12k    Kallus and Zeb realize what it is they want from each other: sex, obviously. ✦ Falling in Love with the Right Now (Poster Boy) by akaparalian, zeb/kallus & phoenix crew, 1.6k    Somewhere out there in the galaxy, there's a rebel propaganda artist who deserves a raise. ✦ The Care and Keeping of Ex-Imperials Who Need Coffee, a Nap, and a Hug in That Order by akaparalian, kallus & phoenix crew (& some zeb/kallus), 8.8k    Five Ghost crew members who helped Alexsandr Kallus, and one who he helped in return. ✦ In the Middle of the Night by bar2d2s, hera & kallus (background kanan/hera & zeb/kallus), 1.8k    When one member of your self-made family is pregnant, you’re all pregnant. ✦ Celestial Navigation by ambiguously, zeb/kallus, 1.7k    Kallus doesn't understand why Zeb's not sad. ✦ Untitled Rebels Fic by Mirror and Image, zeb/kallus & cast, 11.6k    Kallus, on Yavin IV, sees a Lasat that isn't Zeb. Things go as expected. ✦ When we have peace by apocrypha73, zeb/kallus, 2.9k    After the Battle of Endor, Kallus and Zeb enjoy the celebration. ✦ The Last Parking Spot on Lovers' Lane by ambiguously, zeb/kallus & hera & cast, 3.7k    All Zeb wants is to find a nice quiet spot to make out. This is not as easy as it should be. ✦ Speculation by Nana, zeb/kallus & ap-5, 1k    "AP-5," Kallus said, "are you under the impression that Captain Orrelios and I are involved, romantically?" "It is common knowledge at the base, sir. You don't have to deny it just because I am a droid." ✦ roisters by spookykingdomstarlight, zeb/kallus, 1.8k    For once, he is willing to put aside his thoughts and act. “Garazeb,” he says, because he is the only one who calls Zeb by his full name and because he’s noticed the way Zeb’s fur ripples in pleasure after he says it and somewhere in the back of his mind he knows that means something. “A word?” ✦ in this world by xpityx, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 2.1k    It had been eight months. Eight months since he'd last seen Alex in person. He'd still been Kallus then, had still been convinced that the Ghost crew were taking him to his executioners. ✦ The Sea Has Ten Thousand Names by ambiguously, zeb/kallus, 2.6k    Living on a new planet is hard when you don't know the language. ✦ Date Night by ambiguously, zeb/kallus & kanan/hera & jacen, 1.7k    Asking your not-boyfriend out on a date is even harder when he's stuck babysitting for his friends. ✦ Heard It in a Love Song (Can't Be Wrong) by ambiguously, zeb/kallus, 2.7k    Kallus can't quite figure out what makes Zeb tick, but he keeps trying. ✦ a more than mutually beneficial agreement by wrennette, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 3.1k    It takes a while, getting ex-Agent Kallus to open up. ✦ Another Mission, Another Mess by icarus_chained, zeb/kallus & kanan/hera & ghost crew, 6.5k    Kallus has been slowly intergrating into the crew when the Ghost is assigned to a normal supply run. The mission goes south, as it usually does, Zeb takes a hit, Kallus doesn't take it well, and the rest of the crew try to pick of the pieces. Another mission, another mess. Just another day on the Ghost. ✦ Rebel Teamwork by sempaiko, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 4.9k    How many Rebels does it take to screw in a lightbulb? ✦ Unscheduled Contact by Kala_Sathinee, zeb/kallus & cast, NSFW, 3.4    During a rescue mission, Zeb gets stranded aboard the Chimaera when it jumps to hyperspace. He and Kallus make the most of the time. ✦ just another damn of the damns you're not giving by shades, zeb/kallus & cast, NSFW, 6.8k    The thing is, Zeb’s handsy. ✦ taste of pleasure by wrennette, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 1.2k    The one where Zeb follows through on his idea of fucking Sasha full of come and then eating him out until he cries ✦ Scent Blind by Rachello344, zeb/kallus & cast, NSFW, 4.4k    Alexsandr has been avoiding Zeb since he joined the Rebellion in full, convinced that prolonged contact with the Lasat will prove his undoing. As long as Zeb smells so unfathomably good, he’ll never be able to speak with him casually, especially now that there are no other divides between them. If only Zeb had gotten the memo that Alexsandr was doing this for both their sakes. Unfortunately, it seems Zeb can’t, or won’t, take a hint. ✦ In Your Orbit by LoveCrumb, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 3.2k    After wanting to touch Zeb for so long, Alex reaches up and runs his hands down Zeb’s wide chest. The fur there, like much of his body, is short and thick; it feels velvety as Alex strokes downward, and more textured and coarse on the upstroke. ✦ We Belong Way Down Below by Mithrigil, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 1.6k    Zeb runs into Kallus on a routine mission. He doesn't know how that resulted in both of them getting off, but he's not complaining. ✦ ibac jaon by wrennette, zeb/kallus, nsfw, 3.9k    Fulcrum had given up on being found. ✦ Cogs by ambiguously, zeb/kallus, 1.1k    "You brought him home. That makes him yours." ✦ ever so patiently by Anonymous, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 21.2k    Lasat have very peculiar mating habits. No one thought to tell Kallus about that. or: Kallus is the last one to find out he’s being courted.
562 notes · View notes
l0serloki · 3 months
Note
Can i ask for a chamber nsfw where he catches the reader pleasing herself to him-- i'm so sorry m having- such bad chamber brainrot🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️
Tumblr media
Spying
Chamber x Reader
Chamber finds you avoiding him and tries to find out why. Only to see something very scandalous..
CW : SMUT, f!reader, chamber masturbating/watching without reader knowing (for a bit), oral (m!receiving), exhibitionism (?)
masterlist
Tumblr media
When you had joined the protocol you thought it would be more like an army. A job. But it turns out, it was more like a small family. You were all always around eachother and picked up on how everyone liked things. And as much as you liked that, it was also an issue. 
The issue being the hot Frenchman who everyone seemed to ignore. You had grown quite close with him, being the agent right before him to join. A lot of others had joined after but it was obvious that you two were a duo - like Phoenix and Jett. It was great but now it wasn’t. For one simple reason. 
You liked Chamber.
God. You didn’t know how to stop the feelings and each day was torture as he came in. Rubbing your shoulder and telling you about his guns. His stupidly attractive voice whispering nonsense out as you tried to control your damn heart.
“Are you listening, Y/N? Would you like me to make you one?” Chamber’s fingers tapped at the table in front of you and you snapped out of your daze. You coughed awkwardly as you shook your head. Your eyes couldn’t help but notice the veins protruding from his nice shirt and underneath his watch..
“Uh.. That’s okay Vin.” You waved his offer away and he sighed. 
“I don’t offer that for just anyone. I think building you a new gun might be beneficial-“ He continued, his fingers digging into the wooden surface, his arms practically begging for attention. 
You stood up rapidly and mumbled out a quick apology.
“We can talk about this later! I-I just realized there’s something I didn’t finish!” 
Your body quickly made its way to your room, shutting the door with extreme speed. You laid down in your bed thinking about ways to deal with this annoying crush on the Frenchman.
You could just tell him.. No. Why in the world would you do that?! You were his only friend in this place. And if it got awkward and you couldn’t see his cute face. Seeing his eyes light up with excitement over his guns or his new little hobbies. Bringing you food and sweets to see your reaction. The soft touches and care he gives you.
You had to do something. At least to calm yourself in this moment. Your hand traveled down your body and under your pants as you imagined Chambers face. It was wrong to do this. But you couldn’t stop yourself.
Chamber had not expected such a reaction from you. He had just offered to build you a gun? Maybe he had finally hit the line of where you were uncomfortable with him? Maybe his affection was too much?
“Wait..!” He yelled out but you were already half way down the hall. He debated following after you but he decided to give you a bit of time. He finished up his coffee and got up, making his way over to your door. His hand balled into a fist as he went to knock and instead stopped. There was mumbled noises coming through the door that he couldn’t place. Were you crying? 
He knew it wasn’t right to enter before knocking but he did anyway. His hand pushed open the door just a smidge as he surveyed the room. His eyes widened as the sounds got clearer and the view was quite different. His pants suddenly felt very tight as he watched you work open your cunt, his name falling off your lips perfectly.
“Vincent..” You cried out and he pushed his face against the door frame. He wanted to say something but then he would be a creep, no? Either way his options weren’t the best and part of him wanted to continue watching your little show. His hands worked at the zipper of his slacks as he pulled out his hard on, watching as you added another finger.
“Good girl..” His voice all but whispered as he began to palm himself in motion with you. His pace got faster as he watched you work yourself open with precision. You were so beautiful, falling apart just for him.
“Mm..” You moaned out as you got close and Chamber’s eyes didn’t blink once. He needed to see your face as you came apart.
“Vincent!” You cried out as you spasmed and his fist got tighter as he jizzed over himself. He quickly grabbed at his handkerchief and cleaned off his hand before silently pulling your door back shut. It wouldn’t hurt for you to not know about his check-ins on you, right?
This happened going on two weeks now. He got down a pattern of what to say to tease you into leaving quickly. He would stand and watch and feel disgusted with himself but he couldn’t stop. He needed to watch you fuck yourself, it was for him after all.
But today was not like the usual. The moment he peeked through the door you were in your desk chair and not your bed. Your pussy on full view for him as you began your motions. He could feel himself throb at the sight alone. It was more dangerous this way, if you even happened to look up you would see him standing there touching himself to you. And you would hate him. But he still went ahead with it.
“Oh Vincent��” Your head fell back in the chair as your pace was slower. More gentle. Your fingers opened yourself up to his view and he could feel himself growing closer just from that alone. You were so wet. And twitching just for him. He could only imagine putting his cock between your sweet folds.
“Keep going darling.” His voice barely even whispered as you continued. You both lasted a few minutes, teasing your bodies till you both were on the edge. He was seconds away from cumming when he heard you.
“C-come fuck me now. Stop watching.” Your eyes met his through the door as you pleaded and his body stopped. He couldn’t even move as he realized. You knew and you wanted him to watch.
“Naughty girl. You knew.” Chamber enters your room, his cock still in hand as he shuts your bedroom door. “My dick isn’t going to suck itself princess.” He tuts and you can only roll your eyes as you walk over to him.
You slowly fall on your knees as you keep eye contact. He only grins as he taps your lips with his cock.
“Go on. Taste what you’ve been wanting.”
Your lips slowly wrap around the angry tip, his precum filling your senses. You could only moan as you feel his hands grip at your hair, trying to pull you down.
“So demanding.” You choke out and he only groans.
“You like it. So take my cock like the good girl you are.” His voice is hoarse as your hand massages his balls, slipping your tongue up and down the shaft.
“And if I don’t?” You tease and his eyes narrow.
“If you don’t I will walk out and never fuck you darling. That is a promise.”
You knew he was dead serious with his tone so you got to work. He was right, you did like it and you wanted him. You had wanted him going on weeks now. Watching his careful eyes through the crevice of the door as you fucked yourself. It drove you mad.
“Mmm that’s it.” Chamber grunted as your mouth went up and down on his cock. Drool spilled past your lips as your nose brushed the small hairs around his base. Your hands gripped at the back of his legs as he fucked your face.
It only took a bit before he was spilling his hot load down your throat, moans leaving his lips. He was quick to recover, looking down on you with a wicked grin.
“It’s time I give you what you want, no?” Chamber gripped you up, wrapping one of his arms around your waist. His cock teased through your folds as your breaths became staggered.
Finally.
He wasted no time to push himself into your wet cavern, letting himself indulge in what he had been watching for weeks.
“You’re so tight mon amour.. Please.” He choked out as he feels your cunt gripping against him. You try to relax as he takes his sweet time with a few tester thrusts. Ultimately Chamber couldn’t take it and began a rough pace.
“Vincent..” Your voice cracks as you feel him everywhere. His hand holding you in place as his other one kneads at your tits. 
“I know. I’m almost there too.” He coos into your ear as his pace gets erratic. You can feel yourself teetering on the edge. All of those weeks of teasing had been worth it just for this one moment alone.
“Vincent m’ cumming!” You cry out as you clamp down on him. Moans echo across the room as he joins you in euphoria. 
He falls onto the bed with you, staring over with a little smile. You can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
“So you like me too?” You say and he rolls his eyes.
“Where did you get that idea from mon cœur?” His voice is sarcastic as he moves a strand of hair away from your face. You only snort as you cuddle up against him.
“You’re mine now.” You demand and he only hums.
“All yours."
Tumblr media
117 notes · View notes
symbioticfic · 5 months
Text
Producing Pleasure: Prologue
(Main story of Idol Alternate Universe)
Tags: Original Characters, no smut, just a teaser, an intro to the world
This is an alternate universe. Some events may differ from real life.
Thanks to @twice-inamillion The Company series for making me revive this idea from the drafts. Check out their awesome work on their blog.
-------------
“What?!”
“I said, I want you to produce our new girl group.” Mrs. Kwon repeats herself. You rub your face in disbelief, hoping your CEO is joking.
“With all due respect Ma’am, I’m already a leader of a group and you put me in charge to become our group creative director. That’s quite a lot. Why not choose Eunji or Keenan for the job?” you plead your case. All your focus is for your co-ed group, Twelve Six, along with Eunji and Keenan. With being creative director for your group and sometimes groups under your label, you don't want more stuff in your hand.
“Well, Eunji is also helping out as a composer for Phoenix. And Keenan is broadening our A&R connections. We may be an up and coming label in this industry, but we are still short staffed.” Slumping back to your chair, gears in your brain are working hard to find a way out of this.
“Then why don’t you hire someone who has experience doing this kind of stuff? I know you have the money to find one. If the three of us are spread thin like this, when are we going to make music?”
Mrs. Kwon always says that the three of you were geniuses and is the reason why OTB is the rising star of companies in Kpop. Take Shamrock for example. A thirteen member boy group and the first idol group under OTB. You recommended a talented Japanese street dancer that you used to battle and Keenan found a genius kid producer online. Both of them become important members of Shamrock. As for Eunji, she trained OTB’s first GG, Phoenix in vocals. With her and her sister, they composed and produced music for the five member group, resulting in them competing in the Red Sea of girl groups right now. Also not to mention, your group Twelve Six. Your group’s music is able to breakthrough the public listeners. Decades after the last big co-ed group, finally Twelve Six changed that. Now, Korea sees Twelve Six as “Music for the people” because of your group penmanship and music move and touch many people's souls, not just in Korea but also the world.
“Because I trust you and I see potential in you to be a great producer.” there she goes again, putting huge faith in you. Ever since joining your label, Out of The Box (OTB) Studios, you have been one of her favourites. As an experience street dancer and performer, also having a brain being a portal to fantasy world says Mrs. Kwon, she has pushed you to the limits. She even goes as far as creating you a co-ed group with her youngest daughter Kwon Eunji and a Korean American rapper named Keenan Shin. The three of you were born on the same day and year, the twelfth of June, hence the name Twelve Six comes from.
With all the money in the world and full trust on you, Mrs. Kwon will do anything to help you to become one of the greatest artists in K-pop. But you doubt your ability if you are given another responsibility.
“Listen, Choi Sesang.” you sit up straight as your CEO calls you by full government, “Just please look into this file and consider it.” a brown file is presented in front of you. Reluctantly, you take it and open it. The first name on the paper almost made you jump out of your seat. You flip through the pages and surprisingly most of the names are familiar to you.
“Ma’am, there are-”
“Yes, they were idols. Some had troubles with their past companies and ended their contracts, and some I bought them out of their contracts.” bloody hell this rich woman. Her way of using money to get what she thinks is the best for the company still baffles you even after years knowing her, “They deserve a second chance and I know you’re up for the job. And rumour has it, you have your ways with girls.” she gives you a teasing look.
“Your daughter really has a nasty mouth, you know that?” Mrs. Kwon laughs at you cursing her youngest daughter.
“I don’t care if what Eunji implied was the truth or not. But I do have my own eyes.” she says after calming herself, “Your relationship with the Phoenix girls is admirable. They see you as a brotherly figure and a safe space to talk to. Those girls are strong minded and some are hard to get through, but you easily befriend the girls. That is enough for me to know you’re the right person for this project.” you look down to the file in your hand, taking in all what Mrs. Kwon says. A heavy sigh escapes your lips.
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Splendid!” she claps her hand in joy, “Also, there is one thing I need to tell you.”
Here you go, the catch in all of this, “Doing this job means you have got out of your way to get the job done. I know you are a good kid and have been staying clean until now. But sorry to say son, you have to get your hands dirty with this one. It's part of the industry, the system. No matter how long you try to avoid it, your time will come.”
Saying those words with a beaming smile so easily creeps you off. Well, a CEO of a K-pop company is not exactly the most morally right person in the world. Mrs. Kwon has always been brutal when it comes to business and you are led into one of her traps. Situations like this remind you where Eunji gets her nasty personality from.
Defeated, you know there’s no way out of this. Your fate has been sealed by the devil. Already, you try to drown your mind to come to terms with this twisted system. With heavy heart, you look straight at Mrs. Kwon. You can see insanity behind her eyes.
“So… do the job by any means necessary?”
“Correct! There you go, already getting a hang of it.” it’s supposed to be a laugh of joy for Mrs. Kwon, but it feels like she’s laughing at you. Soon enough, you will be playing with people's lives just like her.
“The girls will be coming in next week. Prepare yourself, mind and body. I have a feeling you will like them.” with a smirk, she leaves the room. You groan as you throw yourself back into the chair. The dreaded day is near. By next week you will become one of those industry scumbags. You love performing and singing, but you despise the industry. Being in it long enough to know stuff. The girl that you will be working with surely also knows a thing or two.
Thinking about your doomed future only makes you mad at yourself. Feeling suffocated, you pack your stuff and go home, not before leaving a text in the group chat.
Chat Room
Three silly peas in a pot
You
@Enzy your mother is a fucking witch
Enzy
WHAT THE FUCK?!
I mean you’re not wrong
But still…
WHAT THE FUCK?!
THAT’S MY MUM YOU PRICK!
K.S.
LOL 😂
Dorms now
I need this juicy story 👹
_ _ _ _ _
Three days since you operate as the main producer for OTB’s new girl group. You’ve met with the company staff and instructors over the week to discuss the training program. These three days have been orientation and waiting for the rest of the girls to join the company. Today is the day where they all finally present and training will begin to ramp up.
You arrive at the company at eight. Not wanting any problem, you do a morning check up every day just to make sure. After doing that, you take a sip of your black coffee while looking through the girl's profile again. You seriously can not wrap your head around the names on the list. Mrs. Kwon really is a crazy businesswoman for getting these girls to become trainees again in your company.
“Damn they’re hot.” startled, you almost spilled your hot coffee onto the papers. You look back to see Keenan peeking over your shoulder. His curly dark brown hair really needs a cut. It almost pokes your eye.
“Could you not sneak up on me like that?”
“You’re the one who’s busy staring at these profiles.”
“Hey!” he takes a seat next to you and slides the file over to him. You let him be, as you need a break from reading those papers over and over again.
“Still can’t believe they are trainees here.” Keenan says.
“Me too.”
“Mrs. Kwon is one damn good negotiator.”
“You can say that again. It’s like a person playing DnD and always rolls Nat 20 on persuasion.” Keenan laughs at your cheeky joke.
“Yeah… so, which one you gonna fuck first?”
“I- what?! Bro, shut up.” you punch his arm only for him to laugh even more.
“Come on, seriously bro. There are some hot chicks right here. If I were you, I would try every single one of them.”
“But I’m not you dumbass. I’m not some guy who will fuck every girl he sees.”
“Not yet.”
“Fuck off.” Keenan's laugh now turns hysterical. He’s always been like this. Being from Brooklyn makes him more frontal than your average Korean. He’s been teasing you since both of you met. With your ability in speaking English, you bonded easily with him. You also help him get accustomed with his homeland culture. But it seems you can’t take Brooklyn out of Keenan.
You take back your file from Keenan and walk off, “Ay! Where are you going?”
“Training is almost starting! I’m needed in the dance room!” you shout back at him.
“Okay then! Tell me if you score on one of them!” you don’t look back and flip him off. You can hear Keenan laugh fading as you walk further away from him.
The dance room for trainees is in the basement. Everything related to the trainees are in the basement. Only the ones who debut are the only ones who can experience the freedom of the city view from the artist dance room upstairs. For the trainees, the dark and damp basement is their prison. Some even will never see the day of light from the dungeon. Sound of blaring music can be heard at the end of the hallway. The girls may be stretching right now.
Other than being the main producer for the group, Mrs. Kwon also personally assigned you to be one of the dance instructors. Talk about a burden. It’s not the first time you are teaching a class. During trainee days, you already helped to train the fellow members of Shamrock and Phoenix. It’s just for a few sessions because Shamrock have a capable and experienced dance line and for Phoenix they are natural performers. Not the same can be said for this group. Maybe one or two names stood out, but they are nowhere near the talent as your fellow labelmates when they first join the company. And your part is to train them to be on par to standards.
Standing before the dance room door, you take a deep breath before twisting the door handle. The sound of your arrival alerts the girls. Quickly, they line up in a line with one of them scrambling to turn off the music before joining the line.
“Good morning PD-nim.” they greet you in unison.
“Good morning. At ease.” you say that, but they are clearly tense. Fifteen girls standing in front of you. You recognize their faces with a few unfamiliar ones. Some of these girls had a respectable career as idols. They are without a group due to them being in a project group making their contract length shorter than normal or suing their way out of their contract because of how stupid their company was. Some were in a group that disbanded. Others are trainees from different companies. Now, here they are starting from zero once more.
Knowing you have to keep professionalism, you close your eyes and take a deep breath. Starting today, you will have these girls' fate on strings. Toying with their dreams, giving them false hope. Just like Mrs. Kwon you thought. You open your eyes and give them a big smile.
This is when you notice Mrs. Kwon foul tricks, attacking your weakness: boobs. Most of these girls have sizeable to huge tits. You felt your cock twitch at the sight of the girls wearing tight sports bras, pushing their boobs together. One of them has a big enough bust, it outlines her baggy shirt.
“My name is Choi Sesang. For those who don’t know, I will be the main producer for this debut project as well as your dance instructor. Pleasure to finally meet you all.”
--------------------------
If you made it this far, thank you for reading. Like I said on the top, this was an idea that was collecting dust in my google docs. @twice-inamillion The Company series really got me thinking about this idea again.
I already have a few names for the girls: Chaehyun, Natty, Hyeju, and Xiaoting so far, with the first three already having a rough idea for it.
Recommendations for idol names are gladly accepted with the general prompt of the story would be helpful also.
I know I said a Pokémon story is on its way but that's on hold for now. I have struggles for the smut scene of that story. Wait a little more.
See you next time 😄
85 notes · View notes
magicpiano · 7 months
Text
DCMK/Ace Attorney crossover has so much comedic potential.
After Kaito graduates high school, he becomes a professional magician and travels the world preforming. (Funnily enough, KID has also started doing more international heists. Weird coincidence, right?)
Anyway, Kaito goes to Japanifornia for a few shows.
Trucy is of course a huge fan of both KID and Kaito Kuroba and wants to go to his shows which is how they get involved in the case.
Someone dies at KID's heist and poor Kaito (who definitely only came to watch because he is such a huge KID fan! Honest!) is accused of the murder. Trucy insists they defend her idol.
The WAA has people with magic truth finding powers, but they never think to ask Kaito if he is KID, only if he committed the murder, and of course he didn't, so they agree to defend him.
(I am not sure if it is funnier if they never figure out Kaito is KID or they realize it but recognize it has nothing to do with the case and they can't prove it, so whatever. But if they figure it out Trucy says something like, "magicians keep each other's secrets!" then demands Kaito does a show with her.)
Kaito at least partly goes with Phoenix as a defense attorney because he is famous for getting Mask☆DeMasque off the hook.
Also Ron DeLite is a huge KID fan. So is Maya.
Conan is there (because of reasons? Still investing the Black Organization? Idk) and, of course, he came to the KID heist too and, of course, got involved in the murder.
Conan is so upset that the legal system in this country went ahead with a trial before he was even allowed to investigate. He sneaks in of course which is how Phoenix meets him during the investigation phase.
Upon asking something as simple as Conan's name Phoenix is faced with a full five Psyche-Locks. Logically, he is sure this kid must have something to do with the crime, right? Too suspicious.
Poor Detective Gumshoe keeps messing up and Conan is ready to lose it. He can't believe Gumshoe is allowed to call himself a detective and he isn't even allowed onto the crime scene.
I struggled to decide which prosecutor would be best for this case, but I think Klavier is the funniest possible option. He knows a lot about show business and can complain about KID stealing his spot light lately.
(After the trial, Klavier tries to get Kaito to be part of one of his shows because we already know he likes magicians at his concerts. I think Kaito might even be down for it.)
Kaito 100% believes Maya when she says that she can summon spirits of the dead. Like, yeah, sure, he has seen weirder shit. He is looking for weirder shit.
If this is post Duel Destinies I can see them being very uncomfortable with Kaito's disguise abilities.
Kaito is of course found not guilty of the murder. Maybe he is even found not guilty of being KID too, like Ron DeLite. (Hakuba just loses it when he hears this)
They never did find out what was up with Conan's Psyche-Locks.
124 notes · View notes
Spoilers under the cutoff because there is no way I'm jumpscaring ya'll with the biggest gut-punch in the game. Also I'm pretty sure it'd be taller than me if printed out so bare with me!
I'm going to be talking about a very important section in Case 5-5: Turnabout for Tomorrow...
...because good god almighty, can we talk about how GOOD Simon's Mood Matrix segment is?!
Pretense: Facing Your Fears
Let's set the stage for Simon and Athena before we build to what I want to talk about. Context is important and in this case it helps make the following revelations that much more effective.
Both characters at this point have gone through hell and high water to save the other from a dreadful fate; Simon enduring 7 years on death-row to protect Athena from punishment for Metis' death, Athena studying law in spite of her intense fear and trauma to undo the damage done by his false confession. By the time we get here we've seen how deeply Athena is affected by her trauma. We've seen how far Simon is willing to go in the name of protecting Athena, going so far as to disregard his own sister's concern for his safety.
By the time of Turnabout for Tomorrow's trial, they have practically been pushed to their breaking points; Athena is indicted for Clay's murder and is confronted with the idea that she herself is responsible for the death of her mother - her memories of UR-1 resurfacing and being pushed back at the same time as the worst-case scenario becomes apparent. Simon's efforts to save Athena from this punishment have been rendered practically useless with her incarceration, the phantom slipping from his grasp, the guilt Athena would bear being the only thing he stands to protect her from.
At the end of Phoenix and Edgeworth's initial skirmish and seeming Guilty verdict, Simon steps in with one last effort to protect Athena's innocence in this matter. Even though she's set to be convicted for Clay's murder, this carries a lot more weight if ever she realised what he saw that day would prove her guilty of killing Metis Cykes.
Athena - despite a practical mental breakdown earlier that day - pushes herself to stand at the Defense's bench to achieve what she has been working towards from the day Phoenix inspired her to persue this career. She's very much still afraid, still rattled by the accusation Aura had made, stating that she wants to run out of the courtroom as she speaks. Despite this she pushes herself to stand there and ask Simon for the chance to face her worst fears - that of the UR-1 trial and the horrible idea that she could be guilty herself - by letting her reveal his true emotions.
Simon accepts, confident that his prowess in psychology can deflect her efforts, though nevertheless wary of the emotions he has kept under wraps for 7 years. Athena (& Phoenix I guess...) slowly dismantle his testimony in full-knowledge that he is lying for a reason - one that could potentially destroy her if proven true. Both of them are staring down the worst-case scenario for each other and trying desperately to keep the other away from that event.
Let's go over that testimony then, shall we? I'll go through it section by section.
Part 1: The False Confession
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Simon's lie relies on people seeing him as a heartless killer. We see him build and reinforce that image in his trials, acting as beligerently and violently as he can muster without causing any real damage. By this point he's already slashed at & sicked his bird on just about everyone who's ever stood in court, save for Bobby Fulbright. He's had to be shocked by him just to stop.
Suffice to say it was pretty effective since it took a hostage situation to convince officials to give UR-1 a re-trial (even after the HAT-2 bombing implied that the crimes that day were purpetrated by another party).
To this end, he brought out every trick in the book to keep his true memories on the event at bay from prying eyes; his closed-off nature, his mastery of psychology, his training with blade and hawk alike, his time in prison exposed to the worst humanity had to offer. All of these were ample tools in ensuring that his image is not broken.
His anger and joy regarding his false murder are almost complete lies. At best, he's enraged that such a thing happened at all and glad that his scheme had worked to protect Athena. The phantom later on demonstrates that people can indeed fake their emotions, though some genuine feeling will slip through the cracks if you try.
Enter Athena. Not only does she have a keen ear for one's tone, she has studied psychology and put her mind towards applying her talent to the coutroom. Her Mood Matrix program makes what she hears apparent to even the least informed person and she's already cracked a good number of testimonies with this power (well, two in 5-3 since Apollo and Phoenix did all the others, though they couldn't have without her explaining things).
For most people, Simon's anger would overshadow the relief he felt when he found Athena in the laboratory. Just enough to keep his lie sound for the untrained ear. That same relief for Athena's safety is weaponised in the next two lines as he talks about how cathartic the act was, cementing his intentions to others.
His relief at Athena's safety did need some explaination - leaning on people's poor perceptions of Metis to help his story along - though aside from that? This testimony is practically impenetrable with only one easily explained oddity that only Athena could have ever picked up on.
As I said however, one's true emotions can't help but leak out. Even the best liars like Simon and the phantom can't help that.
Part 2: A Ronin's Remorse
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Only two statements change at this point so those are the only ones I'll show here.
One, he's dropped the anger in the second line to focus on his relief. Before he only mentioned that he found her instead of Metis, using his anger to mask his thoughts as frustration that he had to wait for his plans to go through.
Two, his joy is replaced with intense sadness towards the act of plunging the katana into Metis. There's no mention of catharsis here; only describing what had happened to her. To that, he would feel a great sadness.
Naturally he would grieve Metis, though that would not track with his prior satisfaction with the act. So he leaned on Athena again to explain his emotions, and that does explain things rather cleanly.
Note that this is the only time his Noise Level drops, too. It goes from 100% to 40% here - it's the closest he's willing to get to how he truly felt about the event without giving the game away. Any closer and he would start revealing emotions that do not match his words in the slightest.
Part 3: Brief Shock
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
His noise level rises to 60% here, so the emotions displayed are less accurate to how he truly felt. Although his tale of grand homicide has shifted somewhat...
Now, his concern at the beginning wasn't killing Dr Cykes to rescue Athena; he entered the room because he heard that Athena was upset in the other room while looking for her in the Psychology Lab.
How true it is that Athena was crying at that moment is debatable given future revelations, though nothing's contradictary about this section. Perhaps at this point she hadn't thought to put Metis on the repair table having only just woken up, reacting much like any child would at the sight of her mother's body before the idea crossed her mind. We do have an hour's gap between Metis' death and Simon leaving the lab, after all.
In any case, Simon's relief has turned to shock in the moment he finds Athena in the Robotics Lab. Any mention of Athena at this stage is long gone - he only talks about his hurry to the Robotics Lab. It isn't clear what he would be so shocked by at this stage. Most anyone would know, not much was out of the ordinary when he walked into the room.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Look at how he hesitates before arriving at this explaination. His words are a lot shakier than they were for prior testimony, the excuse he gives a blatant lie to cover his tracks. The noise level goes up again with this as well, from 60% to a full 100%; Simon has completely obscured the events he witnessed once again.
This was the closest Athena and Phoenix got to poking at what he really saw in the lab and it clearly rattled him. Before, his reasoning was sound. Now, we're left wondering what he actually saw in there to result in that much shock...
Part 4: The Blade of Evidence
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Unfortunately, this is where the Mood Matrix becomes useless. Simon has explained his contradictory emotions deftly up to this point; his relief at Athena's wellbeing, his grief at the loss of Metis Cykes, his surprise upon entering the lab. In stark contrast to a good few people subjected to Athena's therapy, Simon is the only one in the game that completely evades her attack. He knows how she operates & is well-versed in analytical psychology himself which shows in just how reasonable his explainations are up to this point.
But stacking lies upon lies only gets you so far until it begins to contradict the one thing he can't re-interpret; evidence.
Tumblr media
This is the only time he takes damage during his entire time on the stand. When his words no longer match what is physically verifiable, there is no recourse - his psychological prowess cannot disprove cold, hard facts. Just as Athena's abilities cannot be used as hard proof, rather requiring proof in and of itself (usually in the form of a confession from the witness).
Simon can no longer lie about what it is he saw in the lab that day. There are no avenues through which he can explain his shock and by now Athena & Phoenix have dug through his thoughts quite extensively. With that decisive cut they've managed to open Simon to one last attack...
Tumblr media
...saldy, by opening one of his deepest, most painful wounds.
Part 5: That Terrible Scene
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
By this point it's clear everyone is getting much more than they bargained for. Simon's shock was only the tip of the iceberg; a raging storm of emotions had been hidden from earshot for 7 long years, far away from even Athena's keen ears.
The fact she's surprised that Simon has been carrying this for so long shows just how early he's managed to keep this under a lid, that he's had to hide it from young Athena as well (who's hearing was much more sensitive than now).
Athena herself has managed to endure the sound of people's hearts this entire time, in stark contrast to when being around people too long made her dizzy to the point of needing headphones. We've only seen two emotions at most go overboard at once with Marlon Rimes and she managed just fine with that noise - the grief and anger associated with the loss of his lover Azura Summers (at that point her empathy is the only thing that really shows). Simon is different. He feels everything all at once with such intensity that it pains Athena to hear for the first time since her debut. It changes the Mood Matrix screen we see here to purple for the first time that wasn't her demonstrating something to her co-workers (see Yuri Cosmos' MM sequence). Beyond volume and intensity of emotion, the fact that the person she cared so much for as to practice law to save from death row is experiencing so much mental anguish himself is distressing. Something terrible happened that day. It shook the ever-stoic Simon into a state not seen in even the most wild witness so far. He's hidden it for Athena's sake this entire time, but... why?
He's intentionally vague about it this time, compared to his more detailed accounts of the events. "That terrible scene!" leaves a lot to the imagination and nothing that comes to mind is comforting.
We all know why Athena's the defendant in this trial; Aura thinks she killed Metis Cykes that day. Edgeworth supports her theory through evidence that even Phoenix can't counter up to this point. Simon intervened in order to stop their efforts to indict her by lying about what happened that day.
Lying about... what, exactly, is the most concerning question. At this point the only two plausible explainations are that either Simon or Athena had done it. Savvier players might remember that Clonco stops by for a recharge at 2PM, same time as the crime, though Simon and Athena left the room at 3PM. There's a SMALL chance that what he saw could contradict what's been posited so far, though chances aren't looking great.
Also note that his line "I had no choice but to kill my mentor!" has gotten shorter. No mention of not wanting to hand Athena over. Just declaring in sheer hysteria that he did it and had no choice but to do it.
Simon is in a panic. Athena is reeling from her old friend's inner turmoil. No one is quite sure if what's about to be revealed will be in their favour.
He's very obviously concerned with Athena first and foremost; this entire act goes against even his own sister's wants, after all. That's where the centre of his most complex emotions lie.
And what do we find at the eye of the storm?
Part 6: Fixing Her Mother
Dr Cykes was already dead. Athena stood before her body on the repair table, bloody katana not too far away from her. She's covered in blood and no doubt in shock, but otherwise safe and sound.
Then Simon drops the bombshell; Athena looked at him with this look on her face and told him the following:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
So.
Allow me to impart how gut-wrenching this entire sequence is.
On its own, it's already dark as dark can be. A smiling, dead-eyed little girl covered in blood is a sight to shake the hardiest to their core (the suspension of disbelief not withstanding - this is a cartoon depiction). I'm not the biggest fan of how Dual Destinies tends to jump between 3D and 2D anime but it can work. And boy does this work.
In context, this is Athena looking at Simon when he finds her mother Metis dead on the repair table. There's a bloody katana right by her and a stab wound on Metis. Athena has her mothers blood on her. She's smiling. Completely detatched from what is going on around her while looking Simon dead in the eye, telling him that she's about to take her mother apart to "fix" her.
Simon is in a whirlwind of emotions over this; grief at his mentor's death and for Athena's loss, relief that she's alive and well, furious that Metis had been murdered, and shocked that not only that this happened, not only that it seemingly happened because of her daughter... but that she's smiling as she's telling him the most horrific thing he could hear after seeing all of this.
Although. Simon isn't the only one Athena is looking at in this image.
She's also looking at herself. Her older self, the one that's just been told she killed her mother and how she intended to "fix" the situation.
Athena has not processed what happened that day by this point - her memories are still tucked away behind 5 Black Psyche Locks as a truth even she isn't aware of. Some parts of that memory come back to her here; the memory of stabbing someone with a blade, telling Simon she's going to "fix" Metis... but nothing more. The phantom is still hidden away from view. So the only logical conclusion she can come to at this point is that she did kill her mother that day.
She processes all of that while looking at herself, dead in the eye, covered in her mother's blood and smiling as if nothing's wrong.
She's looking back at the most innocent form of herself during the single worst event in her life. And she's smiling back at her.
Even better, she's looking at YOU. The player. Taking all of these dreadful things in while you and Athena are forced to witness something that shook SIMON SODDING BLACKQUILL to his core, before Athena finally breaks and screams in a combination of denial and anguish that her worst fear had come to light.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
It's only worse when Simon explains that Metis Cykes truly did love Athena. Everything that she had done - especially the headphones Athena hated oh so much - was done to help her lead a normal life in spite of her condition. Simon, being well attuned to the needs and motivations of others, picked up on this and saw the Cykes for more than what they appeared. He did not want to believe that Athena would so callously kill her mother and rip her apart on her own machine. Without any evidence to prove the contrary, he took the fall to save her from guilt he saw as unjust. It had to be some kind of mistake... right?
Athena, on top of reliving UR-1 under the worst possible context, is practically frozen in her shivering pose the entire time. Without any evidence to the contrary, she has no reason to believe it wasn't her. Her faith in herself has completely shattered at this point. She was brave in wanting to confront the truth Simon had hidden all these years - especially after what Aura said while she was in the Detention Centre. Unfortunately it only revealed the worst for both characters; Simon's drive to protect Metis' daughter had been for naught, and Athena now has to live with the knowledge that in the abscence of decisive evidence, she had set every terrible thing that happened to the her, Simon, and Aura in motion 7 years ago.
I could nark about Phoenix's involvement here. How he steals much of Athena's thunder and how she would have been more fitting to point out the flaws in Simon's testimony, perhaps even showing some growth as a standard evidence-presenting lawyer through disproving the Ponco explaination. I do wish he was written and utilised better, though I completely understand why Athena specifically is out of commission for this part of the re-trial, especially immediately after Aura and Simon's revelations about her part in UR-1.
The trauma Athena experienced has a significant affect on her throughout DD and she's shown that enough pressure being built on her is enough to shut her down completely. UR-1 itself is horrific enough to warrent such a total shutdown in the times it occurs - specifically in regards to not being able to save a friend from a false conviction. The game does a good job in building up to and justifying her reactions. Having her truck on in spite of this is very much in the Athena spirit but there's a clear breaking point; going past that would reduce the impact significantly.
I do still think it would have been more effective for her to pick apart Simon's testimony though. You can't have your faux-protagonist make a big hoo-ha about being given a chance and then hand the steering-wheel to the guy who only learned of Simon's situation THAT SAME DAY-
Ahem. Sorry about that.
My gripes aside, this is a very effective and powerful sequence that makes the triumph later on all the more impactful. This struggle between two people trying to save the other, briefly falling into the darkest moment of both their lives, then somehow coming back from it is the main reason I cried over Simon thanking Athena while she finally let loose those tears of joy.
Dual Destinies can be amazing when it isn't being stupid, you know?
93 notes · View notes
topguncortez · 2 years
Text
Tumblr media
Opposites Attract blurb #2 warnings: breast feeding. Rooster being a himbo . . . again. Breast feeding is a totally normal thing and shouldn't be treated as something taboo. synopsis: First dinner party with the dagger squad post Ella's birth.
|| Masterlist || Opposites Attract Masterlist ||
It wasn’t very often that you and Jake went out anymore. Hell, you couldn’t remember the last time you went out, even before Ella was born. Things had changed a lot in the Seresin household, now having two kids to take care of. Y/N and Jake were thankful that Ella was an easy baby. It made the transition from one to two kids easy. Plus adding in a move and a relocation was hard too.
Tonight, Maverick wanted to celebrate the dagger squad becoming an official squad at North Island. Rooster and Hangman had been named primary instructors of the program, while the rest of the squad were secondary advisors to it. Maverick had gotten his promotion and was placed as commander of the program. They would still be on standby in case there was a mission or a deployment to go on. Jake loved it, he was going to spend more time at home than he had all of his career.
“We don’t have to go,” Jake said, as he put the car in park outside the restaurant where the squad was waiting for them. Jake was the most stubborn about going out tonight, grumbling and making comments and dragging his feet about it. 
“Yes we do,” Y/N said back to him, “It's really the first time you've seen the whole team since we moved back.” 
"Yeah for a reason," Jake said, and looked back at his kids in the backseat. Y/N was all too prepared to stay at home with the kids, but Maverick insisted they come too. Maverick had set the invitation to family, friends and partners of the dagger squad, knowing that they are as much apart of the team as the actual aviators.
"Rooster has been bugging me about seeing them," Y/N said, "We can stay for a bit and then go."
"I'd rather be at home getting baby snuggles," Jake grumbled.
“Jake. . . we talked about this. It’s one dinner. She’s fed, and changed, she’s gonna sleep for a while. And Alex will be entertained enough by Fanboy and whatever new nerd show he's been watching,” Y/N said, and Jake nodded.
He got out of the car first, followed by Y/N. He grabbed the car seat carrier, while Y/N helped Alex out and grabbed the diaper bag. Y/N walked into the restaurant and easily spotted the team, as Rooster got up from the table and walked over to them.
"Rooster!" Alex exclaimed and took off for his uncle. Rooster picked him up and tickled him, sending the boy into a fit of giggles.
“You’re here! Where's the little one?” Rooster said, as Jake walked into the restaurant, carrying the sleeping baby in her carseat. Rooster smiled at the sight, “We haven’t ordered food yet, but we ordered drinks.”
The Seresins followed Rooster over to the large table that Maverick had reserved for them. Jake greeted his friends as Y/N hugged Phoenix, Dragon (phoenix's sister) and Penny. She sat down next to Penny, and Jake next to her.
"How are things?" Penny asked, and Alex climbed into her lap. Jake was happy that Penny and Maverick seemed to take on the role of being his kids "grandparents". Jake was always upset that his strained relationship with his parents had also affected his kids. Y/N's parents lived in the area, so they saw Ella and Alex frequently now that they had moved back.
But with Penny and Maverick becoming a couple, and Maverick the "dad" of the dagger squad, it meant that Ella and Alex had a new set of grandparents. Penny was thrilled with it, loving spending time with the kids. Maverick had his reservations about it, saying he'll wait till they are a bit older and he can let them run around the hangar without having to watch their every step.
"Getting easier," Y/N said, "You know how it is with newborns, each week there is some new issue that either gets resolved or comes on. Currently battling her sleep schedule," Y/N glanced down under the table at the carseat carrier. Ella was still fast asleep, and Y/N rocked the carrier gently with her foot.
"I miss the baby stage a little bit. . . but I do not envy you," Penny laughed, "How is school, Alex?"
“I got you a lemonade, I hope that’s okay," Jake said, sitting back in his spot after talking to Coyote for a bit.
"That's fine," Y/N said, and Jake looked down at his daughter again, "She's fine. Stop stressing."
"I'll never stop stressing, I have kids," Jake said and Y/N giggled.
The conversation flowed naturally around the table as everyone wanted to catch up with everyone. Alex had somehow managed to find a new lap to sit in, finding his way around the table. Like Y/N predicted, he was deep in conversation with Bob and Fanboy about the latest rocket launch at NASA. Jake would still occasionally look down at his daughter, finding her still asleep under the table.
“Told you, she’s just fine,” Y/N said, placing a hand on his thigh. 
“Is she still asleep?” Rooster asked, and Y/N nodded, “She gets her ability to sleep through things from Jake. He's ALWAYS the first one asleep after flights in the rec room."
“At least I wake up when my alarm sounds and doesn't oversleep," Jake shot back.
“One time!” Bradley exclaimed. 
"It was twice. . . this week," Bob said.
When the food arrived at the table, everyone dug in. It had been a hot minute since Y/N and Jake had had anything decent to eat besides box mac n cheese and frozen pizzas. Y/N could feel yourself getting full even from a couple bites of the pasta you had ordered. Jake had heard her stir first, and looked down to see Ella slowly starting to wake up. Y/N looked down right as she let out a wail. 
“Is she hungry?” Jake asked Y/N. 
“I didn’t bring in bottles,” Y/N reached down to unbuckle her and got her out. 
“Do you want to leave? I can go get the car.” Jake said, and started to push his seat back. 
“No, it’s fine.” Y/N said, and looked around at the restaurant, “I can go to the-” 
“Nonsense,” Penny said, “You’re fine, sweetheart. You’re just fine where you are. It’s the great part of being a mother. It’s natural.” 
“Only if you’re okay with it, babe. We can go anywhere,” Jake said to his wife. 
Y/N nodded and Jake moved to grab a blanket out of the diaper bag. He helped her cover up, as she pulled up her shirt and got Ella situated. She easily latched on, and Y/N settled back into her chair. Jake wrapped his arm around her shoulders, his finger gently running over the blanket over Ella’s covered head. His eyes searched around the restaurant in case there were any wandering eyes or sour looks. Jake smiled at Y/N and placed a kiss on her forehead, as she patted Ella’s back.
"Does it feel weird?" Rooster asked, and Y/N lifted her head up.
"What? Feeding her?"
"Yeah. Like I've had a girl suck on my nips once."
"I didn't need to know that," Y/N scrunched her face and laughed.
"Jesus Bradshaw, my kids are around," Jake said and threw a piece of bread at him, "But does it?" Jake asked his wife.
"A little bit," Y/N giggled, "If she's not latched on right, or if my supply isn't full, then it feels a bit weird. But no, other than that, it's kind of comforting."
"You ever try it?" Bradley asked looking at Jake.
"Fuck no-" "Yes," Y/N and Jake both answered.
"By accident," Jake said, "It was by accident," He said letting the table know, "It was like 4AM, and I was sleep deprived. I thought it was the creamer bottle, but it was not."
"Dumped the whole thing of breast milk into his coffee," Y/N giggled, "Oh I was so mad. He was already gone for work so I couldn't cuss him out, and Alex was crying up a storm."
"I took one sip and about threw up. I don't know how they can drink that stuff," Jake said looking down at where Ella was still happily drinking away, "Babies are weird."
--- --- ---
@alanadetigy @xoxabs88xox @aerangi @smoothdogsgirl @n3ssm0nique @ellabellabus07 @persondoingstuff @blindedbyyourgrace17 @sugarmelonwater @chaoticassidy @spider-d00d @callmebymym @multifandom-fangirl4 @bellamy1998 @the-hottest-lieutenants @Nilspettersson @milesrooster @bl6o6dy @lunamoonbby @hrandomthoughts @18crazycutebutalsopsyco @thesithdiaries @shizzybarnaclee @malums-trash-can @dempy @sakari_yura @teti-menchon0604 @bxwitched @lttlemer @sleep-whose-that @callalily2000 @blue-aconite @gspenc @wildxwidow @littlebadariell @sweetheartlizzie07 @seventieswhore @localhockeygirl @dannyavi @Zzsloth @lareinedumal @flowerpetvls @the-raegan-whittemore @prongs_girlfriend @Criminalmindsandmarvel @sayuri9908 @hopefulinlove @uwiuwi @aynanasstuff @bittergomez @whotfatemywaffles @marvelandotherfandomimagines @milestomaverick @harper1666 @dracosluvbot @dannyramirezwife @alphabetsalad @jakexfmc @luckyladycreator2 @lilyevanswhore @oxxolovemelikeyoudooxxo @amiets2 @persephonesportal @buxkybarnez @Lexhalstead3 @army24--7 @labarboteuse
library page || taglist || Kofi :)
589 notes · View notes
Text
having thoughts about marlene mckinnon for way too many words
In honour of breaking up the fanon characterisation of Marlene a little, here’s every bit of information I could find about Marlene from canon, and variants of Marlene that aren't a Marauders' year Gryffindor that I think could be really fun to write! As a fandom we all seem to stick to the same few traits for the characters like Marlene, to the point where it almost creates a kind of ‘canon’ which kind of defeats the creative freedom which makes writing in the Marauders era so interesting.
And please note that this is not a criticism of fanon at all, headcanon what you want to headcanon, there are so many talented writers and artists who do amazing Marlene work within her fanon characterisation as a Gryffindor classmate in the Marauders’ year. I just had a lot of thoughts.
So anyway, here’s the three quotes we have that mention her:
“No one lived after he decided ter kill ‘em, no one except you, an’ he killed some o’ the best witches an’ wizards of the age - the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts - an’ you was only a baby, an’ you lived,” - Hagrid, The Philosopher's Stone
“That’s Marlene McKinnon, she was killed two weeks after this was taken, they got her whole family,” - Moody, Order of the Phoenix
“Wormy was here last weekend, I thought he seemed down, but that was probably the news about the McKinnons; I cried all evening when I heard,” - Lily, The Deathly Hallows
Let’s get into it. Alright, so to get an indication of what Hagrid means when he’s talking about “the best witches an’ wizards of the age,” we can look at the Bones and the Prewetts.
“That’s Edgar Bones… brother of Amelia Bones, they got him and his family, too, he was a great wizard” from Order of the Phoenix. Apparently, his mother and father were also murdered by Voldemort (fandom wiki). It’s unclear whether “great” refers to magical skill or strength of character; however, we know Amelia Bones, his sister, was a fair and principled woman, so it probably includes elements of both. 
“Gideon Prewett, it took five Death Eaters to kill him and his brother Fabian, they fought like heroes.” Combining this with the Hagrid quote, we can gather that the “best witches an’ wizards” likely refers to prodigal magical skill, as well as strength of character - generally acting like a hero. 
So from these quotes, we can gather that Marlene was either a great witch herself, or at the very least, most of her family was skilled at magic, and that they all had great strength of character. By strength of character, I guess, from looking at the type of people the Prewetts and the Bones were, I mean that she valued stuff like justice, compassion and courage, and also, to put it simply, had a backbone and could stand up for what she believed in. 
I don’t think this necessarily makes her a Gryffindor, although it does make it more likely. The Bones family was known to be affiliated with Hufflepuff (Susan Bones), and people of every house can exhibit these traits. Although still very much possible, I find Slytherin to be the most unlikely house for her, as Hagrid does tend to harbour certain biases towards Slytherins (i.e. he tells Harry that there wasn’t a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin) so would be less likely to describe a Slytherin-affiliated family in such a positive manner. However, realistically, all four houses are open options for Marlene. 
Now, onto her relationship with Lily Evans. Lily does not refer to her by name, only as part of a collective “the McKinnons,” implying that to the extent Lily knew Marlene, she was also associated with more than one member of the McKinnon family. Her death is also mentioned in a throwaway sort of line, as an explanation of Peter’s sadness, meaning she had to be somewhat close to Peter for it to be reasonable that he’s at least as sad as Lily about her death. This also reads like it’s the first time Lily has discussed her death with Sirius, and it’s been about a week. This, to me, seems to indicate a relationship that isn’t necessarily very close, more like coworkers than anything - if they were closer, I think we could expect more of a specific comment about Marlene rather than a generalised one about her family. As this letter is addressed to Sirius, it’s also likely that Sirius wasn’t particularly close with Marlene either, as Lily offers no attempt to comfort him about her death, which occurred sometime close to “last weekend.” Given Lily is often shown as quite a caring character, if either Lily or Sirius were extremely close to her, I think you’d expect more from Lily. However, Lily still does “[cry] all evening” when she hears, so it isn’t completely detached news of something happening to a stranger. Casual friends or acquaintances, maybe, but probably not a deep friendship.
We’re looking at a relationship close enough to warrant an initial shock reaction from Lily, but not close enough to warrant continual intense grief for more than a week, with a connection that was to the whole McKinnon family, not simply Marlene. In my personal view, while being Gryffindor classmates fits this model (allows Lily, Peter and Sirius to all be familiar with her, and could have a similar level of detachment as Harry has from Dean or Seamus), I’d think sharing a dormitory for seven years and also fighting in a war together would form a deeper connection between Marlene and Lily (think of Harry’s connection with Neville by the end of Deathly Hallows), or at least warrant a mention of Marlene in particular rather than “the McKinnons” in her letter. 
Moody also doesn’t point out additional members of the McKinnon family in the photo, implying that they were absent when the photograph was taken or were not members of the Order. I think it likely that more McKinnons than Marlene were in the Order, as this would allow Lily, Sirius and Peter to be connected to the family. There are three scenarios: the McKinnons are in the Order photograph and are simply not mentioned by Moody, the McKinnons are in the Order but not the photograph, and the McKinnons are not in the Order. In the first scenario, Marlene is singled out as the most significant member of the McKinnons, as she is the only one named and the others are referred to as “her family” - she could be more involved in the Order than the others, or she acts as some kind of leading figure for the household, or she was simply better known to Moody than the others. In the second scenario, she is mentioned as the only one present, while the others are absent - they could be in hiding, although Lily and James were in hiding and were still present for the photograph, or are on some kind of Order activity (like Lupin, who is also not mentioned as being in this photograph). In the third scenario, Marlene is the only Order member in her family. The way Moody describes her death as “got her whole family” also suggests an element of being caught, as if the whole family was wanted to some extent by the Death Eaters. Hagrid also says that Voldemort had “decided ter kill ‘em,” further implying that the whole family were targets, not just collateral damage from targeting Marlene. For these reasons, I find it more likely that she is not the only member of the Order in her family.
Lily, James, Sirius and Peter are seated in the same row of the photograph - from this, we can gather that there likely wasn’t arranged seating and people sat with those they were friendly with. Marlene is standing nearby to Dedalus Diggle, Frank and Alice Longbottom and Moody, implying these were the Order members she was closest to, not the Marauders. For this reason, I think it’s reasonable to interpret Marlene as older than she often is portrayed. Frank and Alice’s ages are unknown, but they are well-accomplished Aurors, repeatedly stated throughout the series to be an extremely challenging career with training for at least three years after graduation to even enter the position, although they are not too old to have Neville (the average age of first-time mothers in 1981 was about 25, but given that Alice was a well-established Auror by the time Neville was born, she was probably a bit older), likely placing them somewhere in the mid twenties to thirties range. Dedalus Diggle could be any age, but he is quite an eccentric and cheerful character, wearing a purple top hat, known for enthusiastic displays like summoning shooting stars in Kent upon Voldemort’s downfall, bowing to Harry in a shop, and attempting to be friendly to Vernon Dursley (a monumental task). Her association with Dedalus Diggle implies she isn’t bothered by this kind of behaviour - or maybe she is, and she’s unfortunately stuck standing near him. Moody is described as having grey hair, and just generally comes across as an older man (grizzled appearance, gruff, battle-hardened cynic). Given Moody is also nearby, Marlene is now associated with at least three Aurors, so she could reasonably be interpreted as an Auror, or Auror-in-training.
So, in conclusion:
Marlene is a member of the Order, likely at least a few years older than Lily and James. Her family members, whether that be her children or parents or siblings, are also in the order, and she is probably fairly close with them, given they were all murdered together. The McKinnons are highly skilled wizards and have strength of character, standing up for their beliefs, to the extent that they become a specific target for Death Eaters. Her closest associates in the Order are probably the Longbottoms and Dedalus Diggle, as well as Mad-Eye Moody. 
Marlene Variants!!
I think being described as one of the best of the age, not her age, but the age, might imply that she was either a younger member of a well-known magical family like the Potters (James Potter’s parents), or was an older, well-accomplished witch in her own right. 
Marlene, part of a large family affiliated with the Order, who knew Sirius, Lily and Peter through having been the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor one year. We know that, in Harry’s time, Dumbledore asked at least two former Order members to teach DADA in a six year time span (Moody and Lupin, from Harry’s first to sixth year), so it isn’t unlikely that Order members could be asked to fill in the role for a year. Professor McKinnon, who puts her students through almost military paces, but who sits on her desk while teaching, who knows which students are friends, who arranges her seating plans accordingly to make sure everyone has someone they can ask for help nearby. Marlene, who teaches the first years how to duel and goes tramping through the forbidden forest searching for Hinkypunks and takes her third years to the lake with Gillyweed to hunt for Grindylows, because doing is the best way to learn.
Marlene McKinnon and Dedalus Diggle as friends; whether Marlene is similar to him in being enthusiastic and just generally kind of extra, or whether she’s a kind of down to earth character foil for him, just… I think those two would be very interesting to see interacting. Marlene and Dedalus as old schoolmates, who love magic for the wild and the untameable, who charm rain into shooting stars and charm autumn leaves to fly in dizzying dances.
Marlene as an Auror. Marlene as Moody’s colleague, as around his age, as Frank and Alice’s colleague. Marlene who can hold her own against any given Death Eater, even when caught by surprise. Marlene, who can cast spells so powerful they make the floor crack under her feet and sear the walls with energy. Marlene McKinnon, who makes Death Eaters flee when she appears in the doorway, who can never be ambushed and can never be beaten, who decimates the ranks of every opposing force. Marlene, who isn’t afraid to kill where Moody spares, who can snap from kind to deadly in an instant. 
Marlene who is delighted when Alice tells her she’s having a baby, who comes around for lunch on Saturdays, who helps design the wards, and patches loopholes in the magic until it's impenetrable, and who makes Neville a quilt that is never finished. Marlene, who would have been an incredible aunt figure to Neville Longbottom. 
Marlene as an Auror in training, with parents who are already Aurors, potentially siblings too. Marlene who goofs around with Moody, who Tonks reminds him of years later, Marlene who dies despite her training. Maybe Evan Rosier is the one who kills her; maybe Moody remembers this when Rosier refuses to come quietly; maybe Marlene McKinnon is half the reason Rosier ends up dead that day.
There’s my brainrot analysis! This turned out a bit longer than I intended it to be. Feel free to use any of this in anything you make (maybe I’ll cough up some art eventually… tag me if you do, I’d love to see). And a friendly reminder that if you do headcanon Marlene differently, in the end, it’s all for fun, and you’re free to view her any way you’d like. And who knows, maybe I’ll get around to doing this for the other characters one day.
21 notes · View notes
vivalas-vega · 1 year
Text
real friends / jake ‘hangman’ seresin x reader / part six
cobra is a lot of things... the main one being stubborn as all hell :/ pls lemme know what you think!!! I think I’m going to cap this story at ten parts but honestly don’t hold me to that lol
Tumblr media
real friends / jake ‘hangman’ seresin x reader / part six
add yourself to my taglist
one - two - three - four - five 
word count: 3.4k
warnings: language, angst, roo being the voice of reason, probable navy inaccuracies - I did some googling but honestly not much
Tumblr media
Being back in a high school filled you with memories of the past you’d wished to leave exactly there, buried in a box six feet under never to see the light of day again but as it turns out, you had to make good on your promise sooner or later. You were standing in a gymnasium that smelled faintly of sweat and the cheap pizza that was wafting from the cafeteria just across the way as a principal droned on to the side of you while you and Hangman stood perhaps a hair closer than you would have liked. You hadn’t spoken since you slipped out the back of the Hard Deck, not for lack of trying however, Hangman had spent the past three days desperately trying to get ahold of you to no avail. You felt guilty, you really did, in all honesty you missed him. You had grown accustomed to having him around, to the silly text messages throughout the day, to spending more time together when out with the group… the group you’d also been avoiding much to your own dismay, but Phoenix had closed that door when a late-night-drop-by turned into making a case for the man… you were nothing if not stubborn, hellbent on seeing things through your way no matter how infuriating to yourself and those around you.
You were only snapped back to the present upon hearing your names as you were introduced, not hearing anything he’d said about the Navy’s two most decorated and accomplished pilots, and certainly not hearing Hangman’s brief chuckle at the statement. You floated to the middle of the basketball court, almost in a daze, as you slipped back into the girl you always were… the girl who put everything aside for the sake of her career.
“Those are our names, yes, but you’re under no obligation to refer to us as Lieutenant,” you said with a small smile, “I’m Cobra and this is Hangman.” you reintroduced. 
“Those are your names?” A girl in the front row asked, almost folded in on herself as she leaned back against a bleacher and you both chuckled.
“Sort of, those are our callsigns… everyone earns one eventually, almost like a nickname.” Hangman answered.
“How do you earn one?” she asked, leaning forward a little.
“You usually get one pretty early on, given to you by your peers based on something silly you’ve done or something that sticks… I became Cobra after a training mission where I flew rather fast and was quick to strike my target. Truth be told, it wasn’t said to me as a compliment but nonetheless it stuck,” you joked. “And Hangman, well uh- if I recall the story correctly he suggested the game during some down time and he’s been Hangman ever since,” you lied and you didn’t miss the smirk out of the corner of your eye. You thought telling the story of a cocky and brazen pilot who consistently left his teammates hanging was the opposite of what you should be telling the impressionable group of kids before you. “But anyways, back to why we’re here today… We are Naval fighter pilots, and I know what you’re thinking: the Navy has pilots? Seems a bit silly for the branch of the military that focuses on the sea to have anything to do with the sky but they go hand in hand more than you would think.”
“We ship out on Naval carriers around the world, the Navy allows us to get as close to our targets as possible without the risk of ground transportation, where we’re able to fly missions you’ll probably never hear about in the pursuit of keeping our country safe and stopping things before they even have the chance to happen,” Hangman added. 
“Because of the high pressure situations we’re put in, we had to go through pretty rigorous training to get here, starting in Rhode Island at Officer Candidate School, and then heading out to Florida for Naval Aviations School Command, however… where all the real fun happens is Top Gun. Top Gun is where the best of the best go to hone their skills and earn certification that puts them at the top of the call list for the most dangerous of missions. It’s where every pilot dreams of going, but very few are given the chance.” you said, trying not to smile at the way each kid was locked onto your every word… you supposed you might have gotten lucky with this bunch, you were usually met with yawns and blank stares. 
“When Cobra and I aren’t deployed that’s where we are, using the skills we’ve acquired from our own time at Top Gun and our own respective missions to teach the Navy’s most promising pilots flight maneuvers and aerial combat techniques to protect themselves and their country… and how to look cool while doing it,” he added with a laugh and you fought back a laugh of your own as you noticed each girl in the room watching his every hand gesture with rapt attention and looks of admiration. You wished you could blame them but you weren’t known for being hypocritical. 
“Have we made this sound super cool?” you asked and were met with eager nods, “for how awesome it is, it’s equal parts challenging and terrifying… if not more. This isn’t a path for everyone, should you find yourself in this position you will be tested to your limits daily and it will change who you are at your core… but for those up to it, it truly is the ride of a lifetime.” you finished as the principal opened up the room to questions and you nodded at the same girl who’d questioned your call signs, who’d started the assembly looking rather small and disinterested but the more you talked the more she leaned forward, opening her body language and watching the two of you as if you were the only thing in the world.
“What made you decide to become fighter pilots?” she asked and you and Hangman looked at each other before he nodded at you to go first.
“I’d always loved the idea of flying… on family vacations I much preferred the flights than the trips themselves, I’d always thought I’d go to traditional flight school and maybe become a commercial pilot but during a college fair in high school I met a Naval aviator who completely changed my trajectory,” you answered with a smile.
“For myself it was a little more roundabout, the idea was always there but I did a year of business school before deciding life in the cockpit was more my speed.” The rest of the questions went pretty standardly, how do you prepare for the really scary missions, what kind of jets do you fly, what does an average day look like, and the two of you answered them with grace and wit that had them eating out of the palms of your hands. When the principal motioned to dismiss everyone after thanking you for your time, you hung back awkwardly as you watched everyone file out of the gym, trying to keep as much distance between yourself and Hangman as you could. 
“Lieutenant- sorry, Cobra,” you heard behind you and you turned to see the girl from the front row. You could practically feel the anxiety rolling off of her and greeted her with a warm smile you’d hoped would ease her. “I just wanted to thank you for coming today, if there’s any truth to what my principal said I’m sure you have much better things to be doing… it’s just- I’ve sat through a lot of these assemblies whether it be the Navy, the Army, Marine Corp… you’re the first woman that’s spoken at one. You’re the opposite of what I associate with this career path and I think that’s really cool,” she said, fiddling with the strap of her bookbag and you couldn’t help but smile at her.
“What’s your name?” you asked, to which she responded Sadie. “Well, I won’t lie to you Sadie… I’m entirely outnumbered in my field,” you said with a laugh, “much like every woman no matter the branch of military. Is this something you’re interested in?”
She nodded, “I think so… I don’t know, I’ve spent the last six months stressed about what to do after graduation because nothing sounds appealing to me but listening to you talk about what you do… you seem so passionate and confident and it suddenly feels pretty clear.”
“You seem brave, which is one of the most important traits as a pilot… especially as a woman. If this is something you’re serious about you’ll have to work harder than your peers, it’ll be frustrating and there will be days you wonder why you’re doing it but eventually you get to where I am and you get a sense of pride that your male counterparts can never attain,” you reached into one of your pockets, “this has all my information on it. I’ll let you in on a little secret - that number doesn’t go anywhere,” you said, handing her your card as she softly laughed, “but I’m always accessible by email. If you ever have questions and want to talk more about it, or if the time comes to start your applications and you don’t know where to start feel free to reach out.” 
She took it graciously, tucking it into her bag and beaming up at you, “thank you, Cobra. I will definitely be using it,” she said before sticking her hand out to shake yours.
“You remind me a lot of myself. Word of advice? Don’t worry about what goes on in these halls, it doesn’t matter in the end. Just focus on your goal and maybe one day you’ll be on the other side of this conversation.” you said and she nodded before thanking you again and returning to her group of friends who were watching skeptically from beside the door.
“I think you just changed a life,” Hangman commented, having watched the entire interaction with a sense of adoration. “You’re really good at this, I know these aren’t our idea of fun but you should do it more often… they need to see a woman such as yourself in this position.”
You nodded, “she’s a good kid, I look forward to when she reaches out.” You went to find the principal to say your goodbyes and you were acutely aware of the way he was hot on your heels on your way to the parking lot but you refused to acknowledge it for fear of having a conversation that would rival the angst and drama already plaguing these hallways. He was quick to close your car door just as fast as you’d opened it and you steeled your gaze on the handle.
“Can we talk?” he asked and you kept your eyes anywhere but his, knowing the second you looked into the pools of emerald your resolve would go slipping through your fingers.
“I can’t do this right now, Hangman,” you replied, moving to open your door again.
“Cobra, please talk to me.” he pleaded and you sighed.
“Jake, please. Let me go,” you said and he nodded in defeat as you were all too quick to get in your car and leave his dejected figure in your rearview mirror. The emotion was quick to bubble it’s way to the surface as you navigated your way home on autopilot, not even sure how you made your way there until you were tearing through the space and to strip your uniform off to discard in a heap on your closet floor. You pulled the pins from your tight bun, running a hand through your hair, almost desperate to reestablish blood flow as if it would make you think more clearly. Before you could let your thoughts send you in a downward spiral you heard your doorbell ring and you sighed, already knowing who it was as you made your way to the foyer. 
You looked through the peephole, surprised as you threw the door open to reveal Rooster standing there with his hands in his pockets looking rather sheepish.
“Rooster? What are you doing here?” you asked, raising an eyebrow as his eyes trailed your form.
“Do you make a habit of opening your door like this? I’m sure the mailmen must love you,” he said, pushing his way into your home. You looked down to see that you hadn’t made any effort to clothe yourself after stripping of your uniform, leaving you in just a thin tank top and your underwear and you cursed under your breath as you disappeared down the hallway, reemerging in sweatpants and a cardigan pulled tightly around you. 
“Sorry, have a lot on my mind,” you muttered, standing awkwardly as he made himself comfortable and rooted around your fridge before producing two beers.
“That’s actually why I’m here,” he handed one to you as he made his way to settle into your couch and motioned for you to follow which you reluctantly did. “Would you like to tell me what’s going on?” he asked though you could tell by his tone it wasn’t really a question.
“Just taking some personal time, like we were encouraged to with this leave,” you replied before taking a sip and he snorted.
“Okay, and the actual answer?”
You sighed, “Rooster, what do you want from me?”
“I want you to tell me why you’re avoiding everyone, and more specifically Hangman. I got a rather worrisome text from him not too long ago and I still don’t know why you left the bar earlier this week,” he was exasperated. It wasn’t necessarily unlike you to withhold details of what was going on with you but he was genuinely worried and Hangman’s constant questioning of whether or not he’d heard from you was doing nothing to ease the concern.
“I’m not avoiding him,” you mumbled.
“So… not answering his texts or calls and speeding out of a high school parking lot is what exactly?” 
“I wasn’t speeding, it was a very tasteful, very understated skedaddle and I don’t need to explain myself.”
“You do when it’s affecting the rest of us, and you definitely do when the two of you look like shit,” his patience was wearing thin but he was doing his best to keep his voice soft, “did he do something to you at the bar? Did he-” he cut himself off, taking a deep breath, “did he touch you or hurt you? Because if this is an entirely different conversation we’re having, you can talk to me.” 
You shook your head, “he didn’t do anything I didn’t give him the green light for.”
“So, something happened?”
“Fucking Christ, Roo. Yes, he followed me out onto the patio and he kissed me. Twice.”
“Okay, and why are you upset about this?” he prodded.
“He just… I-” you began stumbling over your words and took a deep breath to center yourself. “We were arguing and he just kissed me. Like, truly in-your-face yelling at each other and he decided that was the absolute best moment to lay one on me.”
“That’s kind of romantic,” he said, throwing his hands up in surrender when you glared at him, “what, it is. That’s like… your thing, it makes sense that’s what your first kiss was.”
“We shouldn’t have had a first kiss in the first place,” you protested.
“Are you seriously going to sit there and tell me what he did was so surprising?” he asked and you narrowed your eyes at him.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I just mean that you and Hangman make sense. I didn’t see it at first, mainly because despite your need to be a difficult asshole, you’re good. Like, truly good and I didn’t want Hangman getting anything good that could further blow his ego out of proportion but now that I do see it I can’t see this dance the two of you are doing as anything other than biding time.” 
“We don’t make sense, Roo. He is a serial womanizer and I am focused on advancing my rank. We can’t even have a few weeks of genuine friendship without reverting back to being at each other’s throats.”
“I think that’s called passion, Cobra. You’ve always had it, you’ve both just been so stubborn you’ve directed it elsewhere.” 
You sighed, “did Hangman put you up to this? Did Phoenix put you up to this?” you asked, recalling when she’d shown up the night after the incident saying very similar things.
“No, he did not… I merely told him I would do a welfare check, and well… Phoenix and I did talk but I brought this up of my own accord because I care about you and unfortunately I care about him too and I think you’re being too stubborn for your own good.” 
“I’m not being stubborn, Rooster, I’m sticking to my boundaries.”
“Boundaries you have in place, why? I’m all for boundaries, Cobra, but that’s not what you’re doing and you know it. You’re pushing him away.”
“Because this isn’t a good idea, because I can’t do this with him. It’s all about the chase for him, the second he gets me he’s going to get bored and move on after a few weeks and I can’t go there.”
“So, you’re scared,” he observed and you shook your head.
“I’m not scared, I’m being practical. Things are already awkward enough and barely anything happened, can you imagine what will happen if it goes any further?”
It was his turn to shake his head, “no, you’re scared. And that’s okay, but what are you scared of?” His incessant prodding was sending you off the deep end, your will to keep your mouth shut wavering with each passing second.
“I’m scared that the second it gets real he’s going to leave, because what you and Phoenix are suggesting… it’s not Hangman, we all know that. I’m going to let him in and we’re going to give it a shot and he’s going to leave, and then what? Then the group gets weird, work gets weird, and none of it will have been worth it.” you finally said, letting it out with an exhale.
“I don’t think we’ve ever been given the opportunity to see that side of Hangman. Most of the girls we meet in bars aren’t necessarily looking for a boyfriend, Cobra, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but dating with our life and schedule is kind of a pain. I think you’re being a little too hard on him,” he said softly. “I don’t know if you’ve got your walls built up so high you can’t see it but he’s different with you and we all see it. Sure, you fight like cats and dogs but for the most part he’s- I don’t know he’s softer when he’s around you. I’m pretty sure he can’t go two minutes without glancing in your direction to make sure you’re okay.” 
“I just don’t want to go there, Roo. It’s not worth it,” you sighed and he nodded.
“I think you’re wrong, but it is your life. I just think you should talk to him… put him out of his misery, put all of us out of our misery because I cannot take another day of him badgering me about you. He really cares about you, Cobra, I think you’re closing yourself off to the possibility of a lot of happiness.” With that he stood, placing a kiss to your cheek before taking his leave and leaving you alone to process everything he’d just said. You’d wanted to be mad at him, you really did, but it was so quintessentially Rooster to swoop in and try and fix the tension you didn’t have it in you to be mad. He might have had a point, several points actually, but you weren’t feeling quite that malleable yet, weren’t ready to admit that you may be wrong and that you’re maybe being too hard on him. If you were hard on him, if you kept your walls just as you’d built them you wouldn’t have to deal with the fallout. As your phone rang beside you, you picked it up to see a photo of Hangman, a perfect snapshot of his essence poised behind you at the pool table with a shit-eating grin, and you choked back tears as you silenced it and tossed it aside. Rooster might have chipped away at you but you just weren’t ready, not yet and certainly not tonight.
Tumblr media
previous part / next part
taglist:  @potato-girl99981​ @olliepig​ @roosters-girl @angelbabyange​ @loveforaugust​ @seriouslyseresin​ @sopheeg​ @shanimallina87​
196 notes · View notes
science-lings · 20 days
Text
I've been thinking a lot about Phoenix's family, and I got carried away so I'm going to put the whole essay below the cut, I'm so normal about him
I'm sorry there's just no way that Phoenix has any sort of normal family situation, not just because they're never mentioned even in passing as he goes through extremely major life events, but also because of how he is as a person. You cannot convince me that the guy who fell head over heels for Dahlia two seconds after meeting her had any sort of reliable support system in his life. When she got arrested the only person he could think about was a guy he hadn't seen since they were both nine instead of any current person who would likely care that he almost got poisoned and arrested for murder.
While I think it would be nice if he had lesbian moms who loved him, it just doesn't quite fit in with what we know about Phoenix. I mean, even in the WAA/WTA the only photograph on display is Zak's, and if there isn't a better person to put on the wall than the biological father of his daughter who abandoned her, that's pretty sad. (though I personally like to think that his portrait was there specifically as a target for things like darts and throwing knives). Plus, we already know from the thing with Dahlia that Phoenix's primary way of dealing with trauma and abusive people is just to pretend nothing happened and force himself to forget about them.
That's not even mentioning this guy's abandonment issues and complete willingness to adopt anyone he finds into his found family with zero hesitation. He meets Ema once for a few days, someone he has no personal connection to, but because she reminded him of Maya he stays in contact with her at some capacity to the point that he keeps her investigative tools with him and can have his name be used to gain her favor. Also, there's that new years art where she gets drunk with the Wright's and Apollo. And there are several more young adults/teenagers like that, he's got that foster kid to foster dad energy.
What I think makes the most sense is either that he was given up for adoption/ was an orphan in the foster care system who was passed around a lot, never getting too attached to one family, which led to his abandonment issues, or that he had a normal family life until something happened that estranged them from him. As a staunch believer in Transmasc Phoenix my thoughts are that he had transphobic parents so when he left for university he cut them off and changed his full name which explains why he is so desperate for emotional connection at that time. He suddenly has no one but a dream to find Miles and a girlfriend whose red flags he's completely blind to.
But honestly, there are so many reasons that people could come up with that would also make sense for his character. Maybe they were emotionally abusive and since everyone around him has dead or horrifically bad parents he's just not going to ever bring it up because who is he to complain when his besties are Maya Fey and Miles Edgeworth. Maybe they were just absent a lot and he had to take care of himself (and perhaps younger siblings) until he just couldn't take it anymore. Maybe they just tried to get him a girlfriend to settle down with one too many times and he just refuses to visit them, not even on holidays like Christmas or new years. It's just fascinating to me that there's absolutely nothing about them, I think there was even one of those little (official?) comics that poked fun at the fact that he doesn't really have parents, he may not even know who they are.
I also stand behind all of the ideas from my Phoenix Family HCs Poll because all of them would be so fun to explore even if some of them are total crack HCs. Tigre is only 16 years older than Phoenix but you can't say it's not possible that he messed around in high school and his girlfriend just gave up the kid for adoption and it would be so funny if Phoenix had to put his own father into prison after he pretended to be him.
In my Fem!Phoenix AU where I'm planning on expounding upon her relationship with the Feys and her own spiritual power (Phoenix does canonically talk to ghosts sometimes), the spirit of Ryunosuke found her and kind of became her imaginary friend who appears sometimes because I love him.
Even the idea of the goddess of law making him as an indestructible little terror on the legal system would be fascinating to expand upon. I would love to read about the whole concept of law being turned into a kind of religion, is she a single omniscient god (is she single?) or is she part of a larger pantheon? What would that mean for Phoenix?
I just can't even fathom that there's something normal going on with Phoenix and his family, I think he should pull an Apollo and secretly have the most batshit family backstory. Just looking at this guy and you know he has some kinds of issues, he was an art/theater major, he's got to be a little bit of that flavor of fucked up.
22 notes · View notes
cyanide-latte · 27 days
Note
5 6 7 FOR Cooper, Rin, Xi and the twins are PULLING on my hair demanding Talesin as well
OHOHOHOHOHOHOOOOOOOO EXCELLENT
This is going to get a bit lengthy so my apologies in advance, I'm going to be putting this under a read more cut.
Additionally! If some of you are looking at the name "Talesin" and wondering which of my OCs that is, I've not talked about them on here yet but Talesin is a nextgen OC for Kalim and my boy Copper. The biggest reason I've been mum about him on here is because, quite frankly, @blithesharem is the only person who can apparently coax Talesin into talking. He refuses to offer me anything to work with otherwise, and I only just recently figured out some things about him, again because Blithe and I had been chatting in DMs and it knocked something loose. (I did find out at least one other thing about him today thanks to a prompt from @inmateofthemind but that actually came from Copper, Talesin didn't tell me himself.) He's an elusive little scamp and I love him but boy is he hard to pin down.
5) Any animals you most associate with your OC?
Copper Benoit- ignoring the low-hanging fruit of Copper's unusual animal companions, I associate him with dogs. While you could say it's because Floyd's nickname for him is "Sea Dog", it's also due to the fact a lot of other people have said he's got the energy of a sad, lonely puppy. And I would say that's fairly accurate, especially at the start of his story. (And he probably grows up into the kind of dog that you'd love to have around but definitely don't want to get on the wrong side of.)
Wei Renqiao- Perhaps this is cheating but I associate him with phoenixes. His Signature Spell/Unique Magic, "Revenant Warlord", allows Ren to revive after he's died or been killed somehow. There are certain circumstances in which he can be perma-killed, sure, the magic has its limitations, but typically speaking it would be near-impossible to permanently kill him. And his body heals rapidly when he revives, so I've always seen him as a phoenix since I was first conceptualizing him.
Wei Xinyi- This one might seem a little odd, since Xinyi is an extrovert at heart, but I tend to see them as a tiger. Because we do tend to see more and more videos of tigers being playful or fun, and there are absolutely some endearing moments of tigers that are brothers being silly, but they're still tigers. And I think that's a fairly good rule of thumb for Xinyi: they come across as extremely playful, lighthearted, and affectionate with those close to them, but don't think for a second that's all there is to them.
Talesin- a ring-tailed lemur, apparently. It just fits.
6) Any flowers you associate with your OC?
BITCH FLOWER SYMBOLISM IS MY DAMN LIFEBLOOD
Copper- Blue iris. They symbolize hope and faith, both integral parts of where Copper's story begins, and they also symbolize mystery, which is appropriate to his heritage going unknown for so long (as well as how well he keeps his unique magic hidden.) The color fitting so well with him eventually ending up in Pomefiore is a nice little bonus!
Ren- Lotus, for its meanings of rebirth and regeneration. Emilia, for creativity. Periwinkle, for intellect and mental capability. And forget-me-nots, for fidelity, faithful love, resilience and memory.
Xinyi- it feels fitting that, as a Mulan expy, at least one of the flowers I associate with them the most is pink magnolias, for innocence, youth, joy, femininity and romance. Also sweet William for masculinity, gallantry and courage.
Talesin- Anthurium, for hospitality, and freesia, for joy and friendship. And rhododendron, for danger and a need for caution.
7) Does your OC have a favorite and least favorite food?
Copper- I don't know if he has a least favorite food, but his favorite foods are all fairly spicy. He's not the pickiest eater and I don't think he has a single favorite.
Ren- "Ants climbing a tree", if we're going for food from his culture. It's mung bean vermicelli noodles stir fried with minced meat and sprinkled with scallions. It's been his favorite since childhood and nobody makes it like his mother does! He's also extremely fond of red bean bread and he often bakes it himself! Not sure what his favorite dish is from other cultures, but I can tell you his least favorite food is anything with duck in it. Don't ask why, I don't know, he just doesn't like duck.
Xinyi- This one is interesting, because Xinyi loves cross-cultural exchange and a big, big part of that for them is other foods! They have a running list and their fave foods are subject to change, but (presently based on what they tell me) they love chocolate-covered strawberries, chili-cheese fries, and cheesy potato soup served in bread bowls. (A-Xin, did you go to a festival or something and not tell me.) Atm they don't have a least favorite food.
Talesin- His dad got him hooked on gumbo and cornbread, his baba got him hooked on lamb and rice, and Uncle Jamil got him hooked on beef curry. He also REALLY loves waffles. He immensely dislikes any dishes made with shellfish but he'll tolerate them (with a lot of dramatics) if he absolutely has to.
—————
Taglist: @ramshacklerumble @simons-twsted-children @tixdixl @elenauaurs @rainesol @distant-velleity @theleechyskrunkly @thehollowwriter (let me know if you want to be added to the taglist for my TWST OCs!)
24 notes · View notes
valorant-drabbles · 5 months
Note
Hi! Can I request an Jett x gn!reader?
Reader is Iso’s radiant older sibling, and they keep it a secret they are siblings. Reader joined the protocol at same time as Jett. Reader has similar abilities to Iso.
So Iso just joined the protocol and reader is sharing headphones with him and listening to music with him in the kitchen and cooking with him. Jett also sees them training together a lot. Jett (not dating reader yet) gets jealous because reader is cooking and training with someone else.
Thank you!
So Sorry I've been MIA. Being sick really sucks the motivation out of you. But I hope I've made up for it! Enjoy!
Gender neutral reader!
Word Count: 3.5k
Warnings: Mild Cursing
Tumblr media
Radiant Jealousy
Reader x Jett
The unstoppable duo. That's what the younger agents of the protocol had started to call your team. The team consisting of Jett; the swift, air-riding daredevil... and yourself. The terrifying, defensive master of the battlefield. Together, your abilities meshed perfectly- your ability to counter bullets with your shield when timed correctly, as well as your ability to teleport out of trouble before the enemies' very eyes... only for you to be replaced with Jett, who's always ready to deal with the agents you teleported her to. It was definitely advantageous. You were able to swap the place of yourself with any one of your teammates if they needed a quick escape; and it proved extremely valuable many, many times.
Any mission with the two of you was bound to be an adventure, and often left the other duelists on your team scrambling for kills to make up for how many you and Jett had managed to get together. As expected, there were a few sore losers who dreaded being teamed with this unstoppable duo; namely Yoru, Neon, and even Phoenix on a bad day. Occasional jealousy would brew, but at the end of the day, as long as everybody survived, and as long as the mission resulted in a success... no one could really complain too much.
On a day like any other, the protocol found itself welcoming their newest agent, hailing from China; Iso. The Dead Lilac. Known for his skill with swift assassinations, cleaning up loose ends, and appearing virtually unstoppable from the outside view, And today, that man stood before all the other agents, as Brimstone gave his usual speech regarding the welcoming of new team members.
"Everyone, this young man is Iso. I expect all of you to be courteous towards him, and make him feel right at home."
Brimstone simply gestured to the male, who appeared to have an earbud in, listening to music. Jett couldn't help but let out a slight huff, only to raise her hand.
"Hey, don't we have a rule against wearing earbuds n'stuff during meetings and whatever?" Jett's voice piped up from the crowd of agents, who all exchanged similar nods of agreement.
Upon hearing this, Iso simply plucked the earbud from his ear, and stuffed it into his pocket without much of a fight. After all, it was his first day; getting off on the wrong foot with everybody for something so small wouldn't be the best.
You, however, currently standing beside Jett, jabbed her in the side with your elbow, and gave her a scolding look. "Don't single him out like that. How's he supposed to know? It's his first day!" Narrowing your eyes at your partner, Jett feels a slight flush of embarrassment rush to her cheeks.
"Ah- s... sorry." She apologized gently, though she clearly meant the apology more towards you, not to much towards Iso. But he didn't appear to mind. Brimstone cleared his throat, redirecting attention to himself once more.
"We do have rules like that for a reason, yes. Though we have discovered that Iso is able to preform just as well- perhaps even better- when he's listening to music. So, we've allowed him to bend that rule, as long as it doesn't cause distraction during missions. If any of you wish to get a pass to do the same, you will have to pass a few tests that Viper and myself have designed... just to ensure that you won't get yourself killed in the field if you aren't able to hear the enemy behind you."
Brimstone's eyes had met a few other pairs of eyes within the crowd of agents... mostly those who had proven they weren't able to multitask in such a way in the past. And in short, those agents were the reason Brimstone had initially administered the ban on music on missions in the first place.
"Y/N." Brimstone called you out from the crowd. "I'm going to ask you to show Iso around the headquarters. The training hall, his room, you know the drill."
You nodded towards him as you were instructed to show the newbie around. At the opportunity, Jett's eyes lit up with excitement. Hell yeah, her duo was given a big responsibility! She was so proud. "I'll tag along with you guys! Plus, I'd love the chance to spar with you, Iso!" She'd beamed, only to be cut off from approaching by Viper.
"Jett. Last time you were in charge of showing somebody around, you went so fast that they ended up getting lost for a week. And anytime they asked for directions, you accused them of not paying attention during your tour." Viper had raised an eyebrow disapprovingly, her tone proving to be rather... irritated. More so than usual.
From the crowd of agents, Gekko kicked at the floor with a quiet huff. "... she talks so fast, she may as well be speaking another language." He muttered, mostly to himself. You gave the poor guy a sympathetic look over your shoulder, before turning your attention to your eager duo partner, hand on her shoulder in reassurance.
"I'll be honest, J... Tours aren't your strong suit. But once Iso is more settled, I'm sure he'd be happy to spar with you." You shot her a smile, reassuring Jett despite her mild disappointment at being rejected. Sighing, she simply crossed her arms across her chest, and stepped back into the line of agents. "Fiiiine, do it your way. But if it takes longer than an hour, I'm hunting you down and helping, whether you want it or not!"
You couldn't help but smirk at Jett's impatience. It was always a trait you'd found quite endearing. Irritating at times, sure, but endearing nonetheless. You'd lost count of how many times Jett had gotten herself into a dangerous situation because she didn't want to wait for backup. She was always looking to prove herself, always eager for the opportunity to ace. It was a lot worse when you and her were fresh recruits. And you'd saved her ass dozens of times before she saw the merit in the two of you working together. You couldn't say you hated her impatience, because truthfully? It was the trait of hers that helped bring you two closer together. And it was always oddly cute to watch her bounce in place, twirling her knife in her hand as she was forced to wait.
"If that's settled... everyone is dismissed."
-------------
You'd been at the protocol for quite awhile; longer than most agents, actually. So the tour with Iso didn't take much time at all, much to Jett's relief. Jett who... may or may not had been following you and Iso from a distance. You hadn't noticed her initially, but once you did, decided not to embarrass her in front of the new recruit, and let her follow you like a puppy.
Though the tour did indeed only take an hour, Iso had quite a few questions regarding some of the agents, and how the training facilities worked... so, you decided to dedicate the rest of the day to answering any and all of Iso's questions. You even showed him around the kitchen, so he'd know where everything was if he ever needed to make himself something to eat.
Suffice to say... Jett... didn't like that. At all.
Jett was basically the in-house cook, and only trusted a few select people to help her if offered. You were one of those people. Hell, she'd let you take over cooking if she was sick, and have faith you'd do her dishes justice.
And there she was, glaring daggers from around the corner at Iso. Who was taking notes on where Jett kept the kettle, strainer, spices... Even though usually Jett could appreciate someone taking kitchen care seriously, she couldn't figure out why seeing Iso there with you in the kitchen made her skin crawl.
Maybe it was because, aside from training, the kitchen was where you and Jett spent most of your time. Even if it was just being sat on the counter, drinking coffee late into the night, because insomnia haunts most of the younger agents. And seeing you hop up onto the counter, offering to make Iso some tea how he likes it... Ugh. She hated it, she hated it, she hated it!
"Whatever." Dismissively, Jett had let out a stubborn huff of irritation, and headed towards the training hall. Training was always a good way of getting her mind off of things... though you were often on her mind if you weren't by her side training as well. Okay, so maybe you were always on her mind. She couldn't help it! She always just figured that was the cost of having a kick-ass duo; always worrying, thinking about how to improve your guys' performance... wondering why you were so damn chummy with Iso-
God. Jett needed to let off some steam before she imploded.
------
The next few hours of her free time was spent perfecting her knife throws, as well as some general aerobatic moves that you had been brainstormed for her. Ways to use her radiant power more without causing too much destruction. Last thing the protocol needed was a tornado within its walls.
Though the hours passed mindlessly, Jett still couldn't figure out why the hell she was so agitated by Iso's mere existence. She was always hyped when a new duelist joined their ranks, to the point where she'd try and take them under her wing if they needed help discovering their fighting style. She took a lot of pride in her ability to help her fellow agents, and yet...
As if summoned by the mere thought, Iso happened to enter the training hall, you following by his side, explaining one thing or another. Jett wasn't sure. She hadn't been close enough to hear your conversation- but she didn't like it.
"Oh- you finally here for that spar?" She'd flashed a grin in the direction of Iso. She was itching to put him in his place- though that thought alone was quite a strange one for her. Put him in his place? He hadn't done anything-... had he?
Iso himself looked quite surprised to see Jett in the hall, and had held his hands up in a faux surrender, showing he had no interest in sparring. "Oh, you were serious-- I mean, we can totally do that another time. But Y/N was going to train with me. To help me figure out how to best use my abilities in combat, maybe using them in combination with someone else's abilities......"
Iso's voice had quickly been drowned out by Jett's own thoughts. You... were going to train with Iso? What, alone? Doing what she usually did with her duelists? Finding his fighting style?
You could see the displeased look on Jett's face, as she wasn't the best at masking her feelings for too long. Flashing your partner a nervous smile, you approached Jett. "I know Iso's abilities pretty well myself, so finding his style probably won't take too long- but we can train elsewhere if you're busy here-?" You'd offered quietly, not wanting to further upset your duo. But it was a bit too late for that.
Grabbing your arm, Jett forcefully pulled you towards the door. "Get some target practice in while I have a chat with your 'trainer'." She'd growled towards Iso, who looked more confused than anything. But he didn't question further, and definitely didn't want to witness an angry Jett in action- so he'd grabbed a gun and started shooting some targets to warm up.
Dragging, dragging, dragging on; You couldn't exactly do much to escape Jett's grasp- her upper body strength was impressive for someone of her size. "Jett-- Jett!" You call her name, trying to get her to stop dragging you, but to no avail. She didn't stop until she knew you two were completely alone. In an empty hallway.
"Jett, what the hell is up with you today? You're being more of a jerk than usual." You scolded in a hushed tone once Jett had finally let go of you, moving to fold your arms over your chest. Your body language was enough for Jett to know you were beyond irritated, but you were holding it together for her sake.
Jett just turned to glare at you, fists clutched as she struggled for a few moments. Trying to find the words to articulate how she was feeling- Feelings were difficult for her to explain most of the time. So before she could open her mouth, you held your hand up to stop her. "And I'm not going to listen if you start yelling."
God, she wanted to punch you for saying that. But it was a boundary you'd set with her after the first few arguments you two had. Things would just escalate and escalate, and neither of you would listen. Talking over each other so one of you could be heard. And even if she was angry, Jett always respected your boundaries. Which meant in this case that she wasn't going to shout.
"Right. Right right right right right." Jett exhaled deeply, and began to shake her hands in a bit of a stim. Shake the anger out, that's what she often did. And more often than not, it didn't help too much. It only subsided how much she wanted to punch things. But it would at least get her through the conversation.
"You're kind of... how can I put this lightly... driving me crazy. In a bad way." Jett articulated slowly, though was quick to see your displeasure from the look in your eyes once she'd said it. Huffing, she continued. "You're, like... being all nice n' shit to Iso, which is fine or whatever... But you were crossing some lines."
"... I'm sorry, how the hell was I crossing lines? I was showing Iso around, like Brim told me to?" You furrowed your eyebrows slightly in confusion, not knowing if you should still be irritated or not. What was going on in her head...?
"Okay, uh, example. You were showing Iso around the kitchen. My kitchen. You didn't think to ask me if I wanted to show him around the kitchen at least? Show where I hide the good flour?" Jett urged, though you couldn't help but snicker slightly.
"Jett. It's the Protocol's kitchen. And it's pretty small. There's not much to really show him. There just wasn't enough to show to justify bringing you in."
"Fine! Okay, that's fine. Just don't cook any of our meals with him, and we're fine. See? I'm being reasonable!" She had a forced smile on her face, but it was quite clear she was struggling to keep her composure. It felt like she was jumping all over the place with her logic, and she'd just started.
"Another example! You... were going to train with him."
"... Jett. I train with everybody." You shot her down almost immediately, to which you could only raise an eyebrow in mild amusement. She was really grasping at straws here for excuses to be angry, and none of them were really... viable?
"But you said, and I QUOTE-- … okay, I can't remember exactly what you said, but you mentioned something about helping Iso figure out how to use his abilities in combat." Her teal eyes bore into yours, and there, finally, you could sees a glimmer of the real problem.
Conflicted. Hesitant. Envious.
"That's my thing. No, Not just my thing. It's our thing. You were the one who inspired me to figure out unique ways to use my radiant powers in combination with other peoples' abilities. To figure out my fighting style, and helping others find theirs! That's how we became a duo! And sure, I took credit for it a lot of the time... but you were the reason I started helping people in the first place! To the point even Viper trusted me to help recruits figure out their style!" She'd began to pace back and forth as she spoke, another mild stim. If she kept her body moving in some way, it helped her thoughts flow a lot smoother.
"So why-" Jett suddenly turned to you, pinning you to the wall with both her hands on either side of your head. "Why did you try to do it without me? Were you going to... I don't know? Be his duo? The way we do things is really, really efficient, it doesn't need to change! So... Don't you dare think for a second that you're replacing me for that-- that..." Her voice trailed off, as she noticed a smirk slowly rest on your features. "Wh... What the hell are you making that face for?"
"You're jealous."
Those two words were enough to make Jett fly back a few feet, as if it physically impacted her, blasting her away from you dramatically. And as the realization slowly dawned on her, Jett's face slowly grew a bright red shade. That... would explain a lot about how she'd been feeling. She gripped her own shirt, eyes locked on the floor, suddenly all out of things to say. Rendered genuinely speechless.
"Wh... What am I jealous about?" She asked after a few moments, looking towards you for answers. Jett really didn't know why she was jealous. And you couldn't help but find that... oddly adorable, despite how scared she looked with this information out in the open.
"I don't know if I can answer that for you, J." You admitted with a slight smile, slowly approaching as if she were a startled dear in a beartrap. "But... If I had to guess, you're jealous that... I'm spending all this time with Iso, doing all the stuff you and I usually do?"
Jett's gaze remained glued to the floor tiles, hands stuck to her side. The burning feeling on her face wouldn't go away. She was completely embarrassed. Something so simple... made her upset? Groaning, she covered her face with her hands, turning away from you to hide her shame further. "M... Maybe. I think that... isn't too far off." She didn't want to admit it... though she kind of had to if she wanted you to know why she was upset.
"Jett..." Your smile softens on your face as you take a few steps towards her, raising your hand to hold her cheek. Your thumb caresses her cheek as her eyes flick towards yours. "You're an idiot. You really think I'd replace you like that? After our years of experience together?" The question caused Jett to gaze down at the ground again, taking a moment to clear her throat a bit to find some kind of rebuttal.
"You were just... I don't know. You got along really well with Iso, and clicked pretty fast." She let out a soft sigh, absentmindedly leaning against the hand to her cheek, almost affectionately. You couldn't help but compare her to a cat in that moment.
"Of course we get along well. He's my little brother. Showing him around was the best way to help him feel acclimated, after all-"
Jett felt her thoughts grind to a halt.
"Your... brother?"
You could see the mix of realization, embarrassment, and relief in her eyes. It would've made you laugh at how cute it was, but decided that, for Jett's sake, you'd hold back.
"Yeah. I told you my little brother would be joining the protocol a few months back. Did you forget, or were you not paying attention?" You raise an eyebrow in sheer amusement, as you watch Jett's expression freeze and then scramble to find an answer, to which, she couldn't find one.
"I... I am so sorry, Y/N. I completely forgot." She whispered, grabbing both of your hands within her own, holding them tight. "I'm such an idiot- and I was going to yell at you over this? Please, please, please forgive me!" Jett practically pleaded, to which you couldn't resist laughing anymore.
This precious idiot, you thought. You let out a content sigh, squeezing Jett's hands for a moment as you take a step closer. "Drill this into your head, okay, dummy? You're irreplaceable. Nobody is ever going to take the place in my heart that belongs to you."
Before Jett could even consider thinking too much into your words, you'd leant forward and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. From such a quick action, you could swear she was about to float off or launch into the air like a rocket. Frozen, but shaking.
"Jett?" You called out softly with a slight grin across your face, the cogs in her brain whirling, trying to catch up with what was happening. And the second everything clicked, Jett got the biggest, goofiest smile on her face as she proceeded to grab your face and pepper it with as many little kisses as she could before you'd push her away, laughter filling the hollow halls.
You promised Jett to spend the rest of the evening with her after training with Iso, to make up for the time she demanded back.
And fell asleep, wrapped in blankets, watching movies on your laptop. The following days, the other agents swore they'd never seen Jett so happy.
46 notes · View notes
fancy-plans · 10 months
Text
I know that no one follows me for final fantasy stuff, but I need to write out my thoughts/interpretation the Final Fantasy XVI ending, and tumblr allows for good spoiler protection, so forgive my indulgence.
SPOILERS AHEAD, DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU'VE BEAT FFXVI
Okay. Now, as much as I hate it, I think Dion is definitely dead, or meant to have died. While there's no question in my mind that this is the game's intent, the fate of any of the three who faced Ultima can be easily amended with enough will (hehe) or copium. We only see Dion falling, we don't see him actually die, so why can't Dion be to FFXVI what Shepard is to Mass Effect 3? Joshua (if he lived), or Terence, or Medicine Girl, can be there searching for him in the rubble, find him, heal him. But yes, for me personally this is a pure copium interpretation none-the-less.
As for Clive, I also think he is definitely dead. He states that Ultima's power was too much for his vessel body in the end, and we see the curse taking him on the beach, spreading from his fingertips to his entire hand within seconds. We also see Metia fading, which indicates Clive's death.
The main argument I see for Clive's survival is that in the final Jill quest, she says that no matter how bad the night is, the dawn will always come, as will Clive. And then when Jill is crying, she sees the dawn come, and stops crying. However, I think that's just her finding hope in the darkness, and through her grief, taking comfort in the knowledge that Clive did indeed save the world so that a new dawn would always come.
This also fits with the lyrics of the song that play at the end, My Star, which go:
For your flame still burns inside me deep within my heart Showing me, a new tomorrow, never too far And when I cannot bear the pain, I look up to the sky and pray And though our night is over you shall always remain, forever, my treasure, my star
Yeah, those lyrics definitely say "Clive is dead" to me, sadly. I think Clive's fate is of course debatable, and I see a lot of people convinced that he survived. But, for me, as much as I wish he did, I just don't think he lived.
Now, finally, to Joshua, the most complicated one. The biggest piece of evidence for Joshua's survival is THE BOOK. Final Fantasy, written by Joshua Rosfield. A lot of people think that Clive wrote the book under Joshua's name due to the quill that Harpocrates gave to him, but... why? That makes no sense to me. If they wanted to show that Clive survived and wrote the book, the book would have just had Clive's byline. Let's not forget that Harpocrates also said that Joshua is a gifted writer, so Harpocrates' crumbs don't lead only to Clive as the author.
There's also the interpretation that Clive/Jill had a son named Joshua who wrote the book. While more plausible to me and also a sweet interpretation, it still seems like quite a big reach. Or, perhaps Joshua had already been writing the book while he was alive, and Clive finished/published it? But when Harpocrates tells Clive that Joshua would be a good writer (which he also says to Clive to keep us all confused, lulz), it's implied that there really isn't time for anyone to be writing, but maybe after Ultima's defeat it's the pen they could turn to.
So, of all the explanations for the book, I think that Joshua surviving and writing it is the most likely, and the reason for that being shown at the end when it easily didn't have to be shown at all. And let's also not forget that the name Joshua derives from Yeshua, the Hebrew name for Jesus. Jesus and the Phoenix, these are both figures who rise again.
But, that of course begets the problem of how, actually, did he survive when he was most definitely dead? Joshua even explicitly says in an earlier scene that the Phoenix can mend flesh, but not restore a spirit. Yet, the difference from then and the end is that when Clive healed Joshua, he was using the power he absorbed from Ultima, the power of a God. We know this because after Clive heals Joshua, he states that his body wasn't enough to be able to handle Ultima's power after all. And if Ultima's power wasn't important narratively, then Clive could have healed Joshua's flesh once he absorbed the Phoenix's power, rather than this act occurring after. Besides, whatever he did to Joshua must have utilized a great deal of power, not just the power of simple healing/mending flesh, to have been too much for his vessel body. And while the powers of the Phoenix can't restore a spirit on their own, we really don't know what they would be capable of in conjunction with Ultima's power.
Even before this, we know that Joshua's power earlier went to bounds that it should not have been able to when he reached Clive, who was trapped in Ultima's nightmare realm. Ultima says something like, "You shouldn't have the power to do this. How is this possible? This is the power of creation," (paraphrase). I think that Joshua and Clive's powers, when fueled by their will, determination, and brotherly love, are capable of stretching beyond any normal bounds. There's no telling what they'd be capable of when combined with Ultima's power. Therefore, as Clive cycles through the memories of his brother and burns with the will for the power to heal him, Clive was able to actually revive Joshua at the end.
My last though on Joshua surviving is not based on any actual game events/lore/evidence, so might perhaps be more copium fueled, but I think it also makes more sense for Clive's story arc. The game begins with him (nearly) killing his brother, and a full loop would end with him saving him. Final Fantasy XVI is after all, more than anything, a story of brotherly love. For Clive's final act to be to save his brother and fulfill his duty as Joshua's shield, is a much more satisfying and complete story and character arc imo.
Anyway, those are just my thoughts. Like I said, it's really up to interpretation which, if any of those three, might have survived. The only thing that would change that would be if we got a post-game DLC that confirmed things one way or another. But, for now, this is what makes the most sense to me, for better or worse.
94 notes · View notes