#I THINK THE WHOLE BIG ORGANIZATION THINS IS SUPER INTERESTING AS WELL | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bakatenshii · 2 years

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hellaur it's the csm nonnie i just finished csm and it's so cool, i'm doing fine as well hehehe, i went into csm without knowing any background and honestly i misunderstood the plot big time because i wanted to read csm because of the chainsaw dog and i thought they're all chainsaws, and there is a much better chainsaw and they all fight.

i was shocked two chapters in because the character which made me want to read csm died? and like i was conflicted on whether or not i should continue, obviously i did.

my favorite characters are kishibe and quanxi, also the takoyaki guy who reminds me of tamaki (bnha). i didn't think half of the characters would die right away because there are some really good demons/hybrid/fiends that i was expecting to have a bigger role especially one of quanxi's girlfriends the halloween one, (cosmo)

as for makima i didn't know she was the antagonist because i truly thought it was gun and when she was revealed it felt like a big joke, because wtf she's good at it, like i was fooled. and she's a good antagonist, and she basically manipulated half the demons in the area.

but i feel like she's just like denji, but more experienced because how did they let her have such a high position knowing that her powers are like that, and it also begs for other questions because it feels like she manipulated everyone

everything that happened was premeditated by her, to work in her favor and she manipulated everyone, also in her conversation with kishibe when she said she remembers things they don't know about like other devils that have existed long gone, does that mean she's old asf?

i do agree that her reasons are shallow because what prompted her to do those things (minus being a fan) like is that her true reason? does she know more? and yes reze is so much better

also the angel devil, i feel like he's still working with makima (willingly) but he has grown closer to aki. everyone is suspicious right now, i feel like they're all controlled by makima.

so far, i'm planning to reread some chapters and check some stuff i may have missed but i'm very excited for the second part because oh my gosh, also the power of the devil depends on how the item/object is feared and if people know the csm is the hero then he is no longer feared, does that mean his power will lessen(?)

and another thing is how cool are the devils in csm, like i wouldn't have thought that the plot would be like that because (like i said i thought they were all chainsaws kdjfhdS) but it really gives a nice way to introduce more characters, also i want to know how big the organization is.

because there are many devils out there and i'm sure some devils will come back, honestly i don;t know if this is understandable like i'm just rambling hehehehe half of these might not be coherent but!!! either way thank you for your response it's so cool to read vv long

also another question is what devil would you like to see in csm?

ahh NO THANK YOU FOR THIS RESPONSE! i think one of the best parts of reading manga (esp ones like csm) is the theories and analysis and deepdive into the lore, so I’m so glad you’re here to scream about it with!!

I do think the killing of characters was done super offhandedly but I also read that it was specifically done like that to prove the fickleness of human life and how fragile it is? humans die in an instant, at any time, and if I think about it like that then I do think the manga portrayed that super well.

I wish we got to see more of Kishibe!! and I also wish we got more Kishibe Quanxi backstory? because they clearly go all the way back. Hopefully we see more of Kishibe and Yoshida in the next part bcos god knows theyre the only ones left still alive HAAHAHAHA

The gun devil reveal was so anticlimactic for me, but at the same time I was almost relieved that we didn’t have a whole War Against Gun sequence because for some reason, a generic flashy shounen-style Boss Fight feels cheap to be included in csm? IDK IF THAT MAKES ANY SENSE, I COULD BE CHATTING ABSO SHITE OAKAOAK I just think with how deep the lore is and all the conflicting questioning morals (esp with the whole fear strengthens the devil aspect), having one Big Boss feels... like a cop-out? it just doesnt suit it imo, and I’m glad they went the route they did. I just wish they did moreee especially w Makima, shes deffo very old and she mentioned csm killing her 26 times already, I just. I just want more lore more explanation more expansion?? WHICH I GUESS WE’LL GET IN PT2

omg i would die if angel devils still alive and has bodily autonomy (ie not under makimas control) because he is my abso fav character and i need MOOOREEE screams && I’m excited to see Power hopefully come back next pt, and i keeeep thinking this, I know theres a future devil but I’d love a time devil. one that can manipulate time would be so sick, and I imagine what with the fear factor, time devil would be quite powerful as well bcos everyone’s scared of the passing of time ya know?

#urusai! baka #csm spoilers #csm #side note i also read csm for pochita #i like literallt was so excited to meet pochita #AND THEN THEY NUKED HIM IN OAIAOAO THE FIRST 2 CHAPS #MY POOR BUB #AT THE END WHEN HE SAID I JUST WANTED TO BE HUGGED BCOS EVERYONE FOUND HIM SO SCARY I SOBBED #I LOVE U AO MUCH MY LIL BABY I WILL GIV EU THE WORLD???#HAVE FUN ON UR REREAD!!#oh i totally glossed over ur denji makima skmilarities point hold on #i think id find her more interesting as a character +villain if they just gave us more parallels between her and denji or maybe her backstor #or just anything honestly?#i see what people r saying when they draw parallels i just dont personallg SEE it in the manga if thag makes sense #I THINK THE WHOLE BIG ORGANIZATION THINS IS SUPER INTERESTING AS WELL #u know when we were sent to that other dimension (i think hell??) and there were devils fhat we couldnt even begin to grasp or understand #id love to aee how they play into it? itd ve super cool and i feel like with the whole #set up to revive power and recreate power #we might get to see how the whole dying process goes and how theyre revived and what the whole syatem us #ALSO. Also also ALSO I WAS TALKING TO MY FRIEND LENNIE ABOUT THIA AND SHE BROUGHT UP THE FACT THAT #THEY MENTIONED ALL THE DEVILS HEARING CHAINSAWS BEFORE THEY DIED. I NEED AN EXPLANATION.#ID IT BCOS CHAINSAW DELETES THE EXUSTENCE OF DEVILS HE EATS THEREFORE HE HAS POWER OVER LIFE N DEATH TO SOME EXTENT #SO MANY QUESTIONS ITS SO INTERESTING #thank you for listening to me ramble!!!

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aye-of-newt · 2 years

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Hi!! I saw your recent Sherlock post so I just gotta ask... did you like BBC’s Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch? I’m just curious on your opinion haha

Short answer: It's a bad adaptation.

Long answer:

(I will try to use "BBC Sherlock" to mean the show and "Sherlock" to mean the character to help minimize confusion)

I enjoyed the first few seasons as they aired. I partook in the 2012 of it all. I remember when I believe in Sherlock Holmes was plastered wall to wall on your tumblr dash while the world waited for season three. My "cringe" confession I suppose haha. But honestly? It was fun and I won't apologize for that. I wasn't involved in any drama. I lived my best life as a young teen and got out before it really went down in flames. All in all, low key a fun time in life and minimal regrets. yolo, I say to harken back to the time.

I remember not really enjoying parts of season three/feeling dissatisfied with it and my interest dropped off after that from what I remember. I wasn't watching it anymore by the time the... controversial season four dropped.

Now, it's been years since I actually watched it so my memories are faded but I will try to explain what I didn't like.

It got too big: This one is more of an opinion (well it's all an opinion I guess) but the stakes felt too high. The villains in the show were just too powerful for me to find realistic/to fit in with the rest of the grounded setting these characters lived in. Like the whole world was being overtaken and run by the secret evil underground organization of Moriarty? It was too much. BBC Sherlock seemed like it was supposed to be serious, dramatic, artsy show. Only at same time the writers were constantly trying to go bigger every episode with this huge metaplot... and it got away from them. Half the show was an attempt at a serious, adult modern adaptation of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and the other half was a comic book. (Don't get me wrong I love comics and if they had committed to the bit it could have been great, but the half and half thing they went with was a nightmare of clashing tones.) This really became a problem after season two. They went too big too soon and ran out of room to be believable and then just took a nosedive into ridiculous. Also they just didn’t explain things well? Like how people spent years and years theorizing how Sherlock survived The Fall and then... they just didn’t give an answer? I think they didn’t have one. They didn’t bother to come up with how he did it. (And then made sure to poke fun at the fans for... caring about their show???? With that whole Anderson thing???) The writing always told us Sherlock was super smart and he pulled amazing deductions out of thing air... but that was the problem. They were out of thin air. The writing was lazy. It didn’t bother to set things up enough or just pulled answers out of its ass so Sherlock could win and look smart without the writers having to do the work to actually write a smart story. Good mysteries give you information along the way so that you can solve the case with the characters. BBC Sherlock just threw an impossible-for-you-to-know bit of info in at the end after Sherlock has “deduced” it so you can marvel at how smart he is. You know what else they call that? A plothole. Maybe it’s just not my taste. I will give it that benefit of the doubt. My personal preference would have been for a case of the week format with more police procedural level stakes. Not that that is "better" or anything. It's just what I wanted. Maybe an overarching plot with a Big Bad at the end but just... a slightly less big one.

A Fundamental Misunderstanding of Who Sherlock Holmes Is: This is not an issue unique to BBC Sherlock. It's a phenomenon of the popular culture seen many times before and will happen again, ie the fanon-ization of a character. Over time pop culture has come to think of the character of Sherlock as an arrogant asshole who is full of his own cleverness and cares little to none for others. Sometimes, you will see him softened with the introduction of his Good Friend Dr. John Watson and grow to be a better man for it. That is the path that BBC Sherlock went with. It can make for a compelling story and I get the appeal of a man softened by (platonic!!!!!! as everyone will insist) love for sure. When it was executed well (as it sometimes was and sometimes wasn't) this take that the BBC took was very moving. However, this interpretation misses the nuance of ACD's original work. The Sherlock Holmes he wrote about was not a man who was in need of having his heart opened. He was a deeply emotional and very sensitive soul. Og Sherlock was the type of man who stopped to observe a rose and remark on how beautiful it was and how such an “embellishment” on the world was the empirical proof of a loving god. (The Naval Treaty) He did not need John Watson to teach him to love. Yes, Original Sherlock Holmes would swear up and down that he did not care about others and that he was cold and unfeeling and unaffected by the world... and he would prove himself wrong immediately with the next action he took. He insisted he was rude and brusque and cruel and never actually was. This characterization started to make more appearances towards the later half of BBC Sherlock if I recall, but it still wasn't the man that ACD wrote about. To put it in perspective, in A Study in Scarlet by ACD when Sherlock and John first meet, Sherlock deduces that John had a brother who drank himself to death. When John is upset by his thoughtless remarks, Sherlock notices, feels badly, and apologizes for his insensitivity. ...A bit different than BBC.

Misogyny: It was bad. We all know it was. We all know who Steven Moffat is and what he is like. But condense it all into two points: Irene Adler. The Woman. In ACD’s story she bested Sherlock and he respected her deeply for it. She was one of the few people who could outsmart him. He also realizes the man Irene was blackmailing was an ass and ends up siding with her anyway. In BBC Sherlock however, she cannot be allowed to beat Sherlock because no one is allowed to ever be smarter than Sherlock. She ends up a damsel in distress that he must save and condescend to. Irene is a popular choice in adaptations as someone to pair Sherlock with despite the fact that in the original work there is nothing to suggest that he has any romantic feelings towards her at all. They are simply a man and woman existing in proximity. Which is evidently enough for some people. In ACD’s cannon Irene never shows up in person after A Scandal in Bohemia (she is referenced once or twice) and is very happily married to another man. Sherlock’s general attitude towards women: People like to portray him as really sexist? For some reason? Or the people writing him are sexist... hm... wonder if that is ever the case. Anyway. Yes, OG Sherlock does make remarks about how women are silly or untrustworthy but once again he doesn’t really back up his words. Many of his clients are women and he takes them seriously. He often asks them to help assist him on the case and never doubts their ability to perform the tasks that he requires of them. He says they are useless and he shows his belief in their capability. Also, to be honest a lot of it comes off as a defense mechanism. Like, “Girls? Oh no girls have cooties! Ew! Girls! Stupid women... would never want to hang out with them because men are so much better. Because we’re smart of course. And girls have cooties. Yes. That is why I will never marry. Not for any other, uh, gay reason.” Speaking of which...

The Johnlock of it all: Yes. We do need to talk about it. Many people have said it better and with more detail than I can but to summarize, well, the show writers did intentionally queer bait and then were massive fucking assholes about it. Enough said. Now let’s talk ACD’s cannon. Sherlock is gay. Like... he just is. The more I learn about Victorian society and euphemisms the more obvious it becomes. He hangs out in areas of London known for being home to “bohemians” those who are anti-establishment and pro (free)love and beauty and progress. (John considers himself a bohemian.) Sherlock is an Artsy dude and that has all the same connotations it does now. His whole ~thing~ was influenced by Oscar Wilde, who was one of the most famous(ly) gay men in the world at the time. He likes going to the Turkish bathhouses with John. He smokes. A lot. (Many gay men did at the time as a cover because Victorian society thought that smoking=manly=not gay) It’s pretty endless. Also. During Victorian times there were a huge number of former soldiers who were not being given the pension/support that they needed and in turn resorted to prostitution. You know who starts the very first Sherlock Holmes adventure as a recently discharged solider who has fallen on hard times? One Dr. John Watson. Yes. Seriously. He and Sherlock MEET at the Criterion, a bar known for being the place to go in London to find a gay sex worker. John and Sherlock are extremely gay. John deserts Sherlock (gets married) for like one story before his wife dies and he’s back at 221B. They are life partners. It’s fact.

Anyway, that got longer than I’m sure you were interested in and was more about ACD’s Sherlock than BBC Sherlock but I hope you get where I’m coming from at least.

I am really only just rejoining/getting into OG Sherlock stuff and filling in my knowledge about it so I’m hardly an expert. But I really love this kind of thing and I adore OG Sherlock: the sensitive gay man who loves flowers and is kinda acab and pro helping the marginalized and who really loves his Very Best Friend Platonic Roommate Who He Likes to Hang Around with at Bathhouses Naked With, John Watson.

#thanks for the ask!#newt rambles #sherlock holmes #I hope the lingering fans dont get mad #or they can #whatever #I would die if I got anon hate over sherlock in 2022

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silence-burns · 3 years

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Please Hate Me //part 46

Fandom: Marvel

Summary: Based on: “Imagine having a love/hate relationship with Loki.” by @thefandomimagine Who would have thought that babysitting a god could be so much fun?

Genre: slow-burn, enemies to lovers, banter

Mornings, contrary to popular belief, could actually be quite enjoyable, especially if experienced around noon.

There were few things better than the comforts and warmth of one's bed, and a loved one's body pressed close, resting peacefully within reach. Even the sunlight didn't bother Loki much. He'd grown used to the dim rays of the winter sun doing their best against the low-hanging clouds. It would snow again, as it did the past couple of days.

The apartment had windows overlooking a wild patch of a garden tucked in between the buildings, forgotten or ignored by the residents. It wasn't much, but a few gnarled trees managed to take roots and grow unattended, to the delight of all kinds of birds from the neighborhood. Once the snow melted, it would be easier to judge if there was any potential to work on that place, but for now, both of you just watched over it, occasionally feeding whatever animals fancied some corn on that day.

The few snowmen Peter had worked on showed both his progress and the unquestionable lack of skills. Loki wasn't sure if it was possible for a snowman to lean to the side any further without falling, but he was certain the boy would ease his doubts next time he paid a visit.

Thankfully, chances of that happening anytime soon were low enough for Loki to feel safe, at least until classes end. A small mercy, but one that he'd take gladly.

Loki turned to the side and buried his face in your neck. The soft fabric of the covers slipped off your sleeping form, daring him with a display of skin marked by his ministrations from last night. Or maybe the night before that. It was hard to discern between the days lately. They blurred together because of the amount of work to focus on. The apartment was in a good condition overall, but in dire need of redesigning. The tiresome work was made easier once Loki realized how easily his magic could bend the walls and the space contained within them.

Still, he deserved to rest, and he intended to continue doing so when he heard the last thing he wanted.

Knocking.

It couldn't be Peter, who'd either walk in or stick himself to the window after half a minute of not answering. Loki looked over his shoulder. The window behind him was still boy-free.

That meant whoever decided to make the gravest mistake of their lives could be a neighbor. Neighbors were supposed to be friendly, or at least neutral toward new residents, as you'd explained a few days ago. It wouldn't be anything strange if one of them decided to pay a little visit to say hi. None did so far, but if any dared, Loki would make sure it was their last.

Unfortunately, there was another possibility that came solely from the fact of an opening business, advertising it on the aforementioned door and allowing the, also aforementioned, boy to spread the business cards all over the city.

It could be a client.

It wouldn't be such a bad thing overall, but it was at the very bottom of the things Loki wanted to deal with instead of sleeping. If it was up to him, he'd just cancel the sound with a quick spell and ignore it further, but he couldn't forget your joy when your first client visited a few days ago. The sense of purpose it gave you and the way it made you smile were still vivid in Loki's memory. Even if the first client was a first-grader missing a tooth.

Still, you made him a promise and even put him into the schedule, promising to resolve his problem...today, actually.

Loki sighed and braced himself mentally for the walk downstairs. If the kid showed up to check how it went, he'd be in for a surprise. Loki pushed himself off the mattress, pulling the covers over your shoulder to keep you warm.

He didn't bother himself with looking for a coherent set of clothing among the things scattered on the floor and furniture. Lately, he'd spent most of his free time in a wonderfully green robe you gave him as a gift anyway, and he didn't feel like breaking his new routine. Walking down the stairs, Loki did his best to keep his eyes open enough to see the steps. A child or not, someone would be getting a lecture about the importance of beauty sleep…

Loki opened the door, reminding himself that however strange it might sound, murder was not always the answer to every problem.

Loki frowned. He closed the door. He opened it again.

"Haven't I murdered you already?" he asked.

Agent Coulson put on a smile he must've practiced in front of a mirror a hundred times. "It would seem so."

The old lady living next door looked them over and decided she didn't need to leave her apartment as much as she had thought. The locks clicked one by one when she turned on her heels and closed them firmly.

Loki debated following in her steps when Coulson said something that made even Loki freeze.

"I paid you a visit because the Avengers and SHIELD need your help."

Loki blinked before erupting into laughter - waves and waves of it that he just couldn't stop. His body shook with the bizarre words of a long dead human he had almost forgotten about already. For a moment, he considered what the neighbors must be thinking if they'd been eavesdropping, but it was of secondary importance. What really mattered was that his mood changed so quickly Loki hadn't even noticed.

"I'm glad you're taking my visit well," Coulson smiled tightly, waiting patiently for Loki to calm down.

"Oh, don't worry. Killing you the second time will do wonders to my mood for the whole week," a dagger slipped into Loki's hand.

"Who are we killing today?"

Both men froze hearing you. You walked down the stairs with a blanket pulled tightly over your shoulders. Good manners dedicated you cover your yawning mouth, but your hands bunched in the thick fabric of the blanket reminded you of what was truly important in one's life, especially before noon. Or coffee.

"I thought we agreed on a no killing rule in the mornings? It complicates the whole day."

"To be fair, I've killed this man before."

"And now he's come for a refund?" You turned to Coulson. "I'm sorry, agent. We aren't open yet. Can you come back in the afternoon?"

"Don't worry about it," the agent said. "I've come for a completely different matter. As I've already begun explaining to your…"

"Love of my life," you helped him.

"...I came here asking for your help. Both of you. I would be delighted if we could talk about this like civilized people."

"What a wonderful idea, my dear corpse. Come in."

"Could you please put down your gun first?"

"I don't have a-"

"Please. I just want to talk."

Coulson's polite smile was as unnerving as you remembered it from the few rather brief encounters you'd had in the past.

"Fine," you growled, pushing the blanket to the side and dropping a gun onto the coffee table.

Loki had his eyes on the agent when he walked further into the room. Loki and you were still not sure whether it should be an office or just a living room, so for now it stayed somewhere in between. Coulson didn't mention the state of disarray, but he didn't sit on the couch.

"So what's all the fuss about?" you asked.

"An object was stolen from a SHIELD safe house two nights ago. Despite our greatest efforts, we have been unable to find it. We are well aware of the set of skills the two of you possess," Coulson gave Loki a sharp look, "and are keen on paying you generously for your help."

"No," Loki shrugged. "We listened, now you can go bother someone else."

The agent sighed. He didn't seem particularly surprised, though.

"How generously?" you asked carefully. You shushed Loki before he started complaining. "You must realize we're living quite comfortably already and there's not much that we need."

"Name your price then." Coulson's smile didn't waver, and it was clear he was open to negotiations. The case must be dire, then. And if whatever had been stolen came from the depths of SHIELD's super secret base, it must not only be worth a fortune, but also highly dangerous and possibly not quite from this world.

Loki's elbow kept on jabbing your ribs in desperate hope of getting your attention, but you were too deep in your schemes already.

"We don’t have much interest in money," you leaned back on the couch, fixing the blanket absentmindedly, "but since both of us already have ties with your organization, why not go into that direction? We'd love to have the kind of… support you can offer."

The smile on your face was sweet enough to make Loki's teeth rot, but he kept quiet. He had no idea what was on your mind, but he was keen on finding out. He looked at the agent.

"I'm afraid SHIELD is not the right kind of agency to clean up after you mess something up," Coulson said.

"I'm pretty sure you guys are perfect when it comes to disappearing people and wiping away their messes as if they never were. Last time I saw you work, you were quite efficient."

There was definitely a history between the two of you. Loki kept his smile to himself as he watched the agent's shoulders shift. Whatever the story was, it clearly involved a part the agent was not the happiest about.

"Could you reconsider?" he asked at last.

"We named our price."

"This artifact is of the utmost importance. Surely you understand what the stakes are?"

"This is a private business, darling," you gestured around. "If you wanted the heroes, especially those working pro bono, I'm afraid you climbed the wrong tower. But since you came to us, and I'm sure that’s not because you miss our lovely faces, you must've already considered that option, didn't you?"

Coulson sighed. "You've got yourself a deal."

The grin on your face was nothing short of wolfish. "How lovely. Now, what did you lose?"

The box Coulson took out of the pocket of his suit was neither big nor pretty. If anything, the thin wood looked worn, and the edges were rounded from time and touch. Still, it was enough to make Loki tense next to you, and not touch it when the agent set it on the table.

"It used to hold a pin, and the pin used to have a gem of unknown origin. Now there's neither, and we want them back."

You exchanged looks with Loki.

"We'll contact you when we find anything out," you promised.

You wondered how desperate Coulson must've been if he didn't even argue before leaving the not-office. In the silence that fell upon the room, your attention turned to the box. No ornaments and not even a lock. If such an important pin had been put inside of it, why was the box not secured more?

"What do you think?" you laid back into Loki's side.

"Are we actually doing this? I'm not the right person to talk about trust issues, but I'm pretty sure I've already killed that guy."

"Did you sense anything off about him?"

"Not really. But when it comes to this little box…" Loki's hand hovered above it, but he didn't touch the wood. "I probably shouldn't be surprised to find mice residue, but I'm quite puzzled about that disgusting tang of necromancy."

"Do you think the pin had been used for some dark rituals?" you wiggled your eyebrows.

"I'm afraid we'll only find that out if we can figure out where the pin went."

"What are we waiting for then?”

A few hours passed without any further interference, but as all good things, that time had to pass at last. The rather casual afternoon at your apartment had been interrupted by a certain boy who had secured himself a spare set of keys beforehand, and now used them to enter.

Peter froze midstep.

"Close the door. It takes way too long to reignite all these candles," you said from the living room turned office turned ritual site.

The thick black candles were laid out around a circle drawn with chalk, and strange symbols painted with what Peter could only hope was actually paint. Very, very red paint. The same type of paint covering Loki's bare skin in twisting, overflowing sigils. With his eyes closed, and head upturned, he chanted quietly in a language of wind and shadows.

"Cookie?" you offered from the couch, where you laid sprawled.

The bag was almost empty, but the cookies turned out to be great anyway. Peter sat at the very edge of the couch, observing the god and his ritual.

"Is that...normal?"

"Yeah, chill. We got a job from a dead man walking who told us to find a stolen alien artifact, so we're doing our very best," you yawned. "Meaning, he is working and I'm supporting him wholeheartedly."

"I'd have better support from the chicken I told you I needed," Loki murmured between breaths.

"Where the fuck was I supposed to find you a living chicken in the middle of New York?"

Peter took another cookie. "Does that mean you won't be able to find that thing?"

You waved your hand dismissively as Loki focused back on chanting. "It'll be fine, he's already done that once with perfect results and no chickens violated."

"What were you looking for?"

"The remote."

Peter nodded. Chewing on the last cookie, he fished his homework out of his backpack and laid it out on the table, next to a gun. He had a spider-patrol planned for the evening, but had to finish schoolwork first. With Ned sure to ramble about his newest set tomorrow, Peter had no chance of finishing it before the classes started in the morning.

#please hate me #loki x reader #loki x you #loki laufeyson x reader #loki laufeyson x you #loki #loki laufeyson #loki imagine #loki marvel #loki mcu #loki laufeyson imagine #loki series #marvel loki #loki fanfic

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uwua3 · 4 years

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hmmm can i request masumi moving on from the director to the assistant director (reader)? like how he would transition and realize that he doesn’t actually love the director and is falling in love with the reader instead? thank you so much. i love your headcanons. theyre super lengthy, and they capture the emotions of the characters perfectly!! keep up the good work, love! :)

thank you so much!!! i’m so glad that i can portray the emotions of a character somewhat well 🥺 i often have a hard time pinpointing exact feelings so i’m so happy it doesn’t hold back my writings! i will keep doing my best to bring you the coolest pieces ever, mark my words!!! but this prompt is so ??? interesting that i’ve been thinking about it outside of tumblr, you know! i’ve held this off until i had a solid idea so here i am! ready to bring this to justice, wish me well!!! ♡

summary: masumi’s love language is making playlists, apparently

warnings: absent parents, one (1) argument, unrequited love

author’s note: please understand masumi was a hopeless romantic teen who grew up without love so his crush on izumi is definitely unhealthy, but it makes sense for his background TT i hope he overcomes a character arc where he “falls out of love” and loves himself more :D

word count: 3,666

music: breakfast in the park – scotty sire

one playlist, one song.

🌸💌 usui masumi

everything masumi did was for izumi

he acted on stage flawlessly by the script just to hear her approval from backstage. he put his acting career before his studies to have her praise the next day when he memorized his lines. he woke up for izumi, and fell asleep to see her sooner. eat, sleep, and breathe for izumi. masumi was in love

it didn’t matter if she loved him back, it was the feeling he wanted

growing up, no one loved him. so this unrequited love wasn’t painful, maybe it’s what he deserved for being so hard to love. if only he was better, did everything to improve, used every waking hour of his time to become the person izumi wanted him to be, then maybe he’d be deserving

masumi loved izumi, at least, so he thought

(but was this true love? why did the people he love always reject him? what was wrong, what did he have to do to be loved?)

it was another day, masumi opened his eyes and his first immediate thought was to greet izumi “good morning” and make sure she had her breakfast the way she liked it. he would pull a chair out for her, sit across the table after preparing her favorite coffee perfectly, and spend every second in between with her until they had dinner together

it was a cycle, a pattern misumi couldn’t find himself not doing. he lived for it, it’s what he was born to do

when masumi hurried to the kitchen to remain on schedule, he stopped by the entrance. someone else was in izumi’s place, a mug in your hand with a packet of papers open on the counter. you didn’t notice the teen by the door as you read through the stack

huh... you weren’t izumi

you looked up from the fine text and saw a boy staring at you with an apprehensive expression, as if he was wishing to will you away with the sheer force of his glare. in fact, he even appeared frustrated, his eyes narrowed and arms crossed over his chest

(of course he was angry! you were in izumi’s place, you interrupted his entire plan of the day! this was taking time out of his “loving izumi” schedule)

before you could say anything, the director walked into the room and you knew what was going on. the teen’s eyes practically became hearts, you could hear the pulse of his heartbeat from where you were, he instantly smiled and his whole face changed

it didn’t take any skills whatsoever to know izumi had a (not so) secret admirer in the dorms

“masumi!” izumi said, smiling back at him and missing the way he immediately melted at the way she pronounced his name. masumi suddenly wanted to hear it again and again. if he had a tail, it’d be wagging everywhere from how overwhelmed he was with emotion

he trailed after her like a puppy, seeking her attention and touch as he mindlessly followed with wide sparkling eyes and a permanent blush

as he tried to continue their day as normal, izumi led him to you with a big grin as she placed him in front of you. he didn’t bother turning to look at you, his entire focus was on izumi like he was stuck in a daydream

it wasn’t until izumi said those words that changed the rest of his life that he snapped his eyes towards you

“—meet our new assistant director! they’re going to be your acting coach!”

and ever since then, masumi’s hated you

it didn’t take long before the spring troupe members confessed izumi used to be masumi’s daily acting coach after practice. now that you took over her position, you basically stole him away from her (meaning less time for masumi to try to win over his true love)

(truthfully, izumi was grateful you replaced her. it was mentally draining to have to reject every single advance from the lovesick teen without breaking his heart. she pulled you into a hug with a relieved exhale, thanking you for your service as you wondered what she meant by that. you found out very quickly afterwards)

masumi couldn’t have ditched extra practice or else he’d let izumi down. so, he stayed against his will, using every chance to silently express his complaints about spending his limited time with you instead of izumi

of course, you didn’t react. you wanted to make a good impression for your first official job as the mankai assistant director (thank god your high school had a connection to offer apprentinceships), knowing this was an opportunity of a lifetime to even be inside the theatre business

(yet, you were questioning if masumi was a test or not. was this a test to prove you were patient, respectful, and willing to adapt to different types of actors? there was no way this kid was this in love with a grown woman, he couldn’t have possibly been this infatuated with izumi to the point of desperation)

(he was)

a week or two into extended practice and you were already stretched thin. masumi never took off his goddamn headphones, his volume on max with rock music damaging his eardrums as he barely paid attention to you. just nodded whenever you attempted to reprimand him, he didn’t care at all as he treated you with no respect

you were tempted to snatch his headset off and make him actually do something. you stood across from him in the practice room, his slouched posture completely not fitting the character he was portraying and his mumbled words the exact oppoosite of his performance whenever izumi was around

as he skimmed over his part and boredly stated the line in a monotonous attitude, you took a deep breath in and out with a forced smile

“masumi, perhaps you should emote more, with feeling.” you advised, your cheeks hurting from how strained your facial expressions were. masumi hummed, rolling his eyes as he turned the volume up higher (how was that even possible?)

“masumi, please pay attention.” you warned, an edge to your voice as masumi didn’t even acknowledge you. he glanced towards the door, as if hoping izumi would come through, then at the clock with a very disappointed sigh

“masumi.” you said, clutching the script in your fist as you tried to not cross your arms. your patience was on thin ice, how long would his bratty and arrogant attitude hold? you exhaled sharply, trying to maintain your composure for the sake of your internship

he didn’t respond. he yawned and stretched, as if he had just woken up. was masumi spaced out this entire time? you went to open your mouth and ask about his well–being (perhaps, you were being too critical of him. you were also a high school student, he must’ve been pressured in class), but before you could speak, he turned away with a curse

“shut up already, you’re so fake.” masumi mumbled, about to push his headphones over his ears completely but you threw the script onto the floor, startling him as it was your turn to glare at him

“usui masumi!” you shouted with disappointment, not believing your ears. why were his first words to you an insult? you wanted to go back to the stage of your relationship where he didn’t speak at all

masumi stared at you with an impatient look, as if he was waiting for you to get it over with already

“you want the truth, then? well, here it is!”

before you could stop yourself, you released all the anger you bottled up ever since you worked with him in a singular sentence

“izumi doesn’t love you, she never did and she never will, so give up already.”

this was the first time masumi even reacted to your words. his eyes widened, his hands frozen hovering above his headphones and his breath hitched in his throat. you instantly knew what you said was out of line, and when you tried to apologize, masumi sprinted out of the practice room rubbing at his eyes

the door slammed close, echoing in the corridor as you released a breath you weren’t aware you were holding. what could you do now? practice was over early, apparently

you were waiting for it to come, you knew you were being fired. you anxiously paced the floor, checking your phone multiple times to see if a notification with your resignation was arriving. it never did, even throughout the night, as you arrived to the mankai dorms with the weight of your outburst on your shoulders

as usual, you greeted the other troupes with respect despite being around the same age as them. in terms of their careers, they were leaps and bounds and years ahead of you and you made sure they knew that. they responded back friendly enough, offering sympathy most times whenever it was time to work with masumi

this time, the dorms were awkwardly quiet. it looked as if everyone was wary, looking out for something, on edge as they quietly moved around and tip–toed outside a certain door. members shushed each other with a hiss whenever a cabinet door slammed shut, or a bowl clattered against the table surface too long. it was an organized plan to not die, apparently

“what’s—” you started but were immediately silenced by a few pushing their pointer fingers to their lips with a warning expression. you bowed slightly as an apology and lowered your voice, glancing around you for the threat

“what’s wrong?” you whispered and everyone didn’t hesitate to point to masumi’s dorm room door. you learned that, to your surprise, masumi refused to leave his dorm and didn’t even let izumi in (you also found out he didn’t tell anyone what had happened between you two and your lack of professionalism)

you guessed this was going to be your apology then for not making you lose your job on the first day

when you straightened your back and confidently made your way to masumi’s door, the hushed warnings and pleas not to perish right then and there faded when you rapidly knocked on the surface with a stubborn intent to your actions

“masumi, it’s time for practice.” you called through the door, able to pick up on the vibrations of the music he was blasting through a speaker. no response, as expected of the drama queen (he was a teenager, after all)

“masumi, come outside or i’m making you.” you demanded, knowing he heard you when the volume was lowered a bar. it was instantly increased to the max, making most of the boys wince and cover their ears as the floor beneath them shook. you knew what this was: a challenge

scrolling through your albums, you found it and pressed play

without warning, masumi whipped his head towards his door as he heard something other than his own music

were you... were you playing the latest single of his favorite band?

you pressed your phone speaker below the door frame, letting it pass through the crack as he slowly turned down his own volume, staring at where the sound was coming from

after more than half the song, you breathed a sigh of relief when his door finally opened. masumi stood in front of you, his headphones pushed down to his neck, as he observed you (it was like he was really seeing you for the first time)

“you...” masumi paused, unsure how to continue. the song was winding down and fading out, coming to an end as he blankly stared at you. you fidgeted under his stare gazing through your soul, wondering if you had gone too far before—

“you know my favorite band?”

you blinked in surprise, as if you were expecting literally any other accusation but that. you nervously laughed, rubbing the back of your neck as you looked anywhere but at him. was it weird to admit that?

“y–yeah, of course. you play them all the time, so i assumed. i took a listen, they’re not bad.” you rambled, about to continue before masumi bent down to grab your smartphone. he held it out to you, which you took as he glanced at you up and down. was that, an impressed look to his face?

“of course they’re ‘not bad’. i listen to them.” masumi said, taking his script and leaving in the direction of the practice room without another word. you scrambled after him, attempting to keep up (you were usually the one dragging him to go)

masumi tried not to think about it too hard, but he did anyways

izumi didn’t even know what type of music he liked, but you did

it was during that fateful practice where masumi actually made an effort to try, and it’s like the fight from yesterday didn’t even happen

mankai couldn’t believe it—you actually managed to coax masumi out of his toxic mood swings. even izumi had a hard time processing it, confirming her gut feeling that she hired you for a reason

your hours with him increased, coincidentally enough

ever since then, you began learning more and more about who masumi truly was. any other person would’ve dismissed him as problematic for his borderline–creepy attraction to izumi, but past that, you realized there was a deepy rooted traumatic reason why masumi sought love from a select few

masumi was more than his love at first sight crush on izumi. you learned through his short, slightly rude responses, that his parents were absent from his life. when you put two and two together, it was obvious his guardians abroad didn’t give him the approval he needed as a child

(you made an effort to praise him more, genuinely complimenting his talents and encouraging him to do even better. you never noticed, but masumi’s face burned from being appreciated for once)

yet, you weren’t afraid to discipline him. you knew uninvolved parents meant a lack of authority in his life, resulting in his indifferent approach to everything. in a way, your ability to keep a level head but still reprimand him when necessary kept practice productive and functional (you learned being honest didn’t hurt his feelings one bit)

your relationship with masumi bloomed to be more than two aspiring actors. if you were lucky enough, you would even consider him a friend

he liked checking out new physical music releases in the form of cds and had a huge collection of post/progressive rock organized on his desk. when you gave him a mixtape of your favorites to share your music taste, you noticed it was closest to his player

(one time, izumi was worried about him. it had been quite some time since the last time masumi tried flirting with her. she was about to walk into his room before izumi noticed it was left open a crack. she looked in and saw masumi was lying in bed, staring at nothing with a small smile on his face as he listened to an unfamiliar song. it was your cd on repeat)

after school, you and masumi often rode the train back home if the mood called for it. he always leaned against the doors, staring out of the blurry windows with his headphones on and seemingly thinking of everything at once (probably izumi, considering how many times he subconsciously smiled to himself)

you sat beside him, focused on your apprentinceship work and staying on top of all your tasks. it was pretty much a quiet ride home, your friendship with masumi didn’t require talking to fill the silence. the comfortable gap between you two was expected, just two people co–existing with one another

except this time, it was different

you opened your laptop, about to start working before you glanced at masumi and stopped. he didn’t have his classic white headphones on, he always had them

before you could offer your own, masumi turned towards you, holding out one earbud with the other in his left ear

when you took it and placed it on your own ear, masumi slid over to sit closer and the casual distance suddenly closed. he shuffled through some playlist, he liked making them even if he did it rarely

masumi turned his head to look at you, and he seemed to be quietly asking what your opinion was on the track

(how much time had you spent with him that you had familiarized yourself with his complex body language?)

you closed your laptop and put it back in your bag. scooting closer, your legs were touching as you leaned over to read the title, humming a sound of agreement

“this is one of my favorites.” you confirmed, moving back only to realize how close your faces were. one wrong move and—

“me too.” masumi said, and he smiled

you wondered where you had seen that smile for and remembered: it was the smile he had given izumi every time he saw her in the morning

could it be?

you two listened to the music for the rest of the train ride, feeling as if you were trapped in a timeless space as no rules applied here. it was like your own little world, with masumi by your side and the background soundtrack of all your favorites

(misumi remembered your favorites, too. at the departure, you noticed he had messaged you a link. it was to the playlist he played earlier and a comment: thanks for the mixtape)

you two headed to the dorms, hands brushing and no words exchanged, like always. you weren’t aware how close you had become with the boy in love until now, especially with a singular cord keeping you two together

yet, it was as if nothing changed. when masumi saw izumi, he became the character everyone thought he was: a lovesick teenager in an unrequited relationship. he left you and sought izumi’s nonstop approval, his earbud pulled out of your ear as you watched

why was he such a different person around her? which version was his true self? and why did you want to know so bad?

(maybe, you wanted to be the one who knew masumi inside and out)

after that, you asked to ride the train home more. it was one of the only times you had him for yourself

sharing music became a way of communication over talking. you could predict masumi’s mood based on what he was listening to, and you always knew what to do when it came down to it. if masumi had something to express without his usual bitterness, he’d send a song and wait for you to listen it in full just to be understood. sometimes, his playlists even spelled out sentences

your relationship with masumi was mutual, and that was a first for him. he didn’t feel like he had to spend every second with you to confirm your friendship. he sometimes saw you irregularly throughout the day, but enjoyed it regardless

what was different was you made an effort to see him, you showed up to practice early with new song suggestions and plans to attend more music concerts. you included him, didn’t let him off easy, and had high expectations without being like his parents

no one wanted him around like you did, he had never felt this before. was this what it was like? being loved?

as you guys kept walking home with his earbuds connected, masumi was fully aware of how he wanted to hold your hand

“what is it?” masumi began, pushing his hand in his pant pocket to keep his voice steady. “love?”

you stopped, causing him to pause with you as he felt the tug of the cord. masumi turned towards you, the lyrics still played in the background as the instruments continued. a verse passed before you answered slowly, as if you were unsure and contemplative yourself

“love... love is what you feel. it isn’t defined, but it’s what you have for something that makes you happy, that motivates you to do your best.”

masumi didn’t seem to understand, so you explained further

“like, doesn’t music make you happy?”

masumi nodded

“then you love music!”

masumi seemed to understand as you two kept walking. but, masumi was even more confused, because didn’t that mean he loved you? you made him happy, you were his source of motivation

“then do you love me?”

you didn’t stop this time, but walked faster as you fell out of step with masumi. a new song was playing, but you couldn’t hear it over your own heartbeat

“don’t ask things like that, especially when you love izumi.” you laughed, but there was no humor whatsoever. masumi didn’t say anything else and the silence returned, it wasn’t as comfortable anymore

when you two walked through the front door, masumi hesitated. wasn’t this the point where he quickly latched onto izumi’s side? why did he want to stay with you? masumi glanced at you and before he could say anything, you gave him back your earbud and left to do your job

izumi waved at him, and masumi followed. for some reason, he questioned if izumi had ever heard his music before

(he realized, he never made a playlist for her)

it was nearing the end of your shift, you had blocked out your thoughts with the masumi method: maxing out your headphone volume as you revised masumi’s lines and corrections for next practice

your phone pinged, making you flinch at the sudden sound as you pushed the papers to the side. you sat with your chin on your knees, leaning against the practice room mirror as you lazily grabbed your phone, unlocking it to see a new text from masumi

it was another playlist titled “you make me happy, you motivate me”

you opened it and was about to press play before you noticed there was only one song

“i love you”

#usui masumi #masumi usui #a3! act! addict! actors!#a3!#act! addict! actors!#a3! actor training game #a3! headcanons #act! addict! actors! headcanons #mankai a3!#mankai company #a3! x reader #a3 x reader #masumi x reader #a3! masumi #a3 masumi

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benevolent-savage · 3 years

Text

this is what happens when u enable me lets go

(spoilers ahoy)

Firstly, here’s some somewhat miscellaneous reasons that don’t contribute to any sort of narrative analysis but are still parts of the character I like.

His boss fight is my favorite in the game thus far. It’s not super hard, but it isn’t super easy either, and I even managed to solo it on my Balance after a few practice rounds. Sufficiently challenging without feeling unfair.

His boss fight music. It is a bop and a half, go give it a listen, my soul ascends from my body a few centimeters every time I hear it start up.

His voice. I’m sure it’s processed at least a little but gotdamn his voice is so deep and spooky it startled me when I first heard it. Very curious who his actor is; I think he and Inyanga Whitestripes share the same one. Either way, very well voiced and acted.

His design is very good. It’s the perfect mix of innocuous but also spooky sorcerer fella who knows some shit. And I was afraid that the designers would try and make him like. Handsome? Under the hood? To try and make him more sympathetic? But they didn’t and I’m glad for it.

With those out of the way, the next thing to establish, I guess: I don’t interpret Old Cob to be the main villain of arc 3, nor do I interpret Raven as such. They’re definitely antagonists, but they’re not the ultimate problem; the ultimate problem is their divorce, and how they keep dragging people into their bs. It’s established the Aethyr is a physical manifestation of their anger towards each other, and as it thins, communication between them becomes possible, as Sparck puts it in this thinly veiled metaphor toward the start of Empyrea part 2.

But Cob’s still an antagonist and I love him so I’m gonna talk about that. Most of this is going to be talking about his motivations for doing what he does, since I don’t see him quite as the ‘likes to watch the world burn for the hell of it’ archetype that others might.

One of the reasons that drew me to his character is how legit his gripe is, when put in perspective. Old Cob- or Grandfather Spider, if you prefer- is not a mortal like the other antagonists of previous arcs, which establishes he has a different thought process right off the bat. This new universe was built on his suffering and he has a grudge against the ex wife who made it, so as a god, it makes some sense he’d try to destroy it and build one he would like better. He’s fully aware that what he is doing will hurt people but decidedly doesn’t care, and I appreciate that so much. He’s chaotic as fuck and he owns it, along with his superiority complex that’s as wide as the day is long.

Yet his reasoning is like. Weirdly understandable? Like, if my ex-whatever put me in jail for a lifetime sentence and stole my kidney to pay for a new house or something, I too would go apeshit and want my fuckin kidney back. That’s mostly how I interpret his situation. He’s not doing this for hell of it, he’s doing it because he wants to get back at his ex because he’s bitter and petty and for the most part he knows this but he feels justified in doing do because she ripped out his goddamn kidney- I mean heart, and he wants that back.

And then, even after all that, he and his magic are treated as if they’re inherently evil. While, sure, Shadow is a ‘dark magic’, its actual properties aren’t anything malicious by itself. It is described as “a magic that changes reality,” and that’s it. Incredibly exploitable and you should practice caution while handling it, but used correctly it is powerful and helpful; this is likely alluding to the backlash mechanic, where likes decrease the percent of damage you take, dislikes increase the percent, and I imagine the person meant to be the literal embodiment of the magic in question to be similar in nature: not inherently harmful and lashes out if he feels he’s been mistreated.

Going off that, I’m not sure he ever wanted the FirstWorld to be destroyed, and therefore believes his incarceration to be entirely unjust; he doesn’t deny that he instigated the fight between the Titans, but when it comes to being accused of its actual destruction, he gets angry.

...Okay the written text doesn’t really display how mad he got here, but he was like. Big Angy. Super offended. Honestly, a big part of why I love and analyze the hell out of his character comes from how his VA delivers his lines and his voice in general. If you haven’t heard it for some reason, I recommend looking it up. Anyway, here he’s basically saying he didn’t destroy the First World, and even if he did, he’s suffered enough punishment because of it, to my interpretation. The only one I remember blaming him for it is Raven; Bartleby was there, and I don’t recall him blaming anything other than the Titans for it. This is of course not accounting for the various changes made to the lore since he was introduced, but they could have easily thrown in a line like ‘And now Spider plans to destroy the Spiral the way he destroyed the FirstWorld!’ or something to make it clear it was done intentionally.

And this may very well be straying into headcanon territory here, but I think he holds positive relationships very closely to him, even if things went sour in the end; he clearly still has some remaining affection for the Titans, calling them ‘the children’ and being incredibly angry at Raven for forcing one of them to destroy his Heart.

When Rat loses in Polaris he shows up to praises his efforts and even comfort him, in his own weird way. He reprimanded Scorpion in Mirage, but it’s because Scorpion wasn’t doing what his dad asked him to and got his ass kicked as a result. As for Bat, every time they’re in the same room together he pays him some sort of compliment.

Bat claims that he and his brothers are meant to be his tools, and to some extent that’s true, but he also genuinely cares about them, and it’s really interesting to see a villain defect from the usual ‘not caring about anyone other than themselves’ and openly show affection for his kids while still managing to be an incredible asshole.

In line with this is his relationship with the Wizard. There is, of course, a foundation of manipulation to their dynamic, at least to some degree. I thoroughly believe that Spider was overshadowing Coleridge, at least partly, so our character could bust him out of prison.

And while this is happening, he regains some of his spent power and removes threats to it as well, namely Morganthe, using the Wizard’s help. In fact, I have very little doubt that he was at least partially responsible for her fall; his timing on that two-liner was too on the nose.

But even with that, I think he genuinely treasures the Wizard’s help and company, which is why he attempts on four different occasions to either sway them to his side, or warn them away from what he’s doing.

Boy, I want that vacation, but it’s your fault I’m here.

And then, of course, his relationship with Raven, something that is basically a summation of his character arc. Laden with baggage and tragic in concept, it is my belief that most of what he’s doing isn’t because he genuinely hates the Spiral or he wants to get back at her, but because he loved her and treasured their relationship; so upon her mistreating him, he lashed out at everything she’d made and detested it as a result. But only because he felt betrayed and hurt so he has to inflict that on other people because he is, as aforementioned, a petty and bitter old fuck.

Moving off that line of thinking, an admirable quality he possesses is how smart he is. This guy has so many wrinkles in his brain it must look like a raisin. Well, perhaps not ‘smart’ exactly, but how good he is at manipulating certain situations to his advantage. Like in Mirage; you just know that he was fully expecting Mellori to be there and fully planned to use her as a back up plan, or you could even argue that the whole debacle in Mirage was a ploy to get his hands on her, while having the added possible benefit of things actually working out.

Actually his scheme in Mirage was really interesting now that I think about it. His aim was to turn back time to when the FirstWorld was whole, further implying that he never wanted its destruction in the first place. It would also, of course, be a time where he had his Heart and would have the ability to avoid having it ripped out again. This would involve not having the Titans fight each other again, or at least not starting it and suffering the consequences. It would be everything he wanted to achieve knocked out in one go with minimal muss or fuss, compared to other methods. It’s probably a part of why he shows up personally to bargain with Eerkala and the Cabal, and why he directly intervenes in our Wizard’s efforts to stop him; it was too important to trust to any of his kids, so knowing Scorpion probably wouldn’t have been able to execute it anyway, he used his kid as a distraction for the most part.

I also like looking into the fact that his element, besides Shadow, is Storm, as opposed to pure Shadow or Death, as most major antagonists are. Storm is a school based on invention, experimentation and improvement. This is something that interests me for two reasons: one, the magic of major antagonists is always a part of their character, Malistaire the most blatantly, and two, because of this line he says in Mirage.

To my interpretation, this would imply that he sees the Spiral as something that could be improved. And as a god, he would of course find it his obligation to try and fix this flaw. When he made the barter with the Cabal, I don’t doubt he was being at least partially honest about restoring the FirstWorld; it would certainly fix the flaw it has in the context of stealing his internal organs, but he would also probably seek to improve it, make it more suited to Shadow or something.

Something else I find intriguing is how weirdly honest he is; I don’t recall him ever lying to us once, unless you count omitting certain facts as lying. But that’s absolutely something I can see him using against people, like “I didn’t lie to you, I just didn’t tell you, your fault for not asking ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .” As said before, he;s really good at manipulating people and he weaponizes whatever he can; @that-wizard-oki made a really great post about how he uses conflicts- his fault or not- to his advantage, and does his own thing in the background without interruption, Mirage and Neumia probably being the best example of this, with Scorpion and the Cabal serving as distractions while he either carries out things himself or gives instructions.

To pull all of this together narratively, I think it’s important to consider this line from Mellori during one of their confrontations:

He feels powerless, so he puffs up his god status. He has little power to fight with, compared to before, so he mostly manipulates and creates back-up plans while causing conflicts to serve as distractions. His love hurt him, so he lashes out at others and drags them into his problems.

You may ask, “But Sam, these are all bad qualities, why should we like him because of this?” And I would respond “Because it makes him a complex and interesting antagonist.” The kind of character that executes his shitty actions in such a way that you can’t help but respect- even just for the level of dramatics put in to it- while also having a motive that makes you stop and consider that maybe he has a point but is very much handling the situation the wrong way.

Like, c’mon, he ticks so many villain boxes. Tragic backstory? Check. Blatant thespian who owns it? Check. Gets his hands dirty before the climax of the story? Check. Smart/ manipulative/ has back-up plans? Check. Understandable, strong motives? Check.

He’s got layers. Like onion. I felt like there was always something new to discover about him, and for that I can assert my opinion that he’s one of the best characters in Wizard101.

lmao if you read this far into my simp-for-shithead post congrats. feel free to shoot me more asks on the subject bc i cant write persuasive-essay-esque format anymore my brain is rotting. if you will excuse me, im off to listen to the chronoverge combat track for the 82937487734th time

#i get that a lot of people havent gotten far enough into the game to meet him but I ENCOURAGE U TO TRY BC HE'S A GOOD AND FUN CHARACTER OKAY #i need more cob content >:U #wizard101 #w101

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connoissuer-of-fine-vines · 2 years

Note

Happy Halloween! In honor of the spookiest day of the year it is time for a very spooky ask! Describe your oc if they where completed by the Phyrexians!

One month later, I'm finally answering this ask. I started getting into Magic during our first trip to Innistrad so I never got to experience Mirrodin/New Phyrexia and the Phyrexians are sufficiently creepy enough to not be of super interest to me. Plus I'm not a big artifact person. So this isn't going to be very in depth.

Ayden- His predisposition for religious organizations would make him a prime candidate for Elesh Norn to complete, his thin frame being made more intimidating with their porcelain plates implanted.

Patroclus- Vorinclex would see the strength in Patroclus and recognize his reverence of the natural way of life. Vorinclex would complete him and observe his creation to see how well it would survive.

Corrine- Corrine is fiercely independent, which while not ideal to the overall agenda of the Phyrexians, would allow her to fit in to Urabrask's faction quite well, but overall I could see her being corrupted by Sheoldred. Corrine still hasn't forgiven the Church forgiving the people of Innistrad false hope while Avacyn was locked away and I could see Sheoldred's completion of Corrine corrupt that hatred into thinking that if only everyone had followed her and what she was doing that they'd still be alive.

Tyran- Like Corrine, Tyran's independence would be an issue to the Phyrexian agenda as a whole, but that and his talent with light and to a lesser extent fire magic, would allow him to work well with Urabrask's faction in the Furnace Layer of New Phyrexia. Urabrask's completion of Tyran would enhance his fire magic to help with the forges.

Nikos- While Nikos isn't exactly the most intelligent person, I think Jin-Gitaxias would leap at the chance of completing Nikos. His skill in stealth and talent in Act of Treason type magic would make Nikos the perfect spy and infiltrator. Jin-Gitaxias' completion of Nikos would enhance that magic into more permanent mind control magic.

#mtg fanwalker #mtg fan characters #ask #phyrexia #sorry this took so damn long #interest ADD kicked in

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kestrels-nook · 3 years

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I watched He-Man: Masters of the Universe (2021)…so you didn’t have to.

If you’re anything like me, when you saw that Netflix made a new He-Man series, you were thrilled. SPOP was a masterpiece with a wonderfully diverse crew of characters, beautiful animation, and an investing, cleverly written plot line so surely the remake of its sibling series would be just as good, right?

nope :(

Now, I might not be the most qualified person to review this show. I never watched the original and am by no means an 80s kid but I’m going to do the best I can using my 2021 standards. I mean, it’s a remake of an old series so you should be changing all the bad things but keeping the good things.

First Impressions

You start the show and are immediately dropped into the action. Someone, assumed to be a villain, is sneaking through a big palace type place looking for something. There’s no world building or explanation or introduction. We are greeted with this character, watch her go through some turmoil and then escape. It’s a pretty rocky start. She-Ra started with a similar type intro, with the characters running through an intense obstacle course, but eventually the action dropped off and we got an explanation about what’s going on. With nothing else to go on, you try to form an opinion on this unknown character and the show as a whole. As someone very interested in tv production and animation, one of the first things I really paid attention to was the animation. I’ve always favored a more simplistic, 2D animation, like what Hilda does really well, but 3D, if done right, can be very pretty. However, the animation in this show was clunky and in your face. It felt like an early 2000s video game pretty choppy with stiff, overly exaggerated body movements.

After the opening scene the theme song/intro plays. This intro shows characters we’ve never met and is dramaric and flashy. There’s no connection to the show and none of it feels like it fits yet. Then, we’re thrust into another seen with our basic white guy main character and the confusion continues. Overall, the first impressions of the show weren’t incredible. It was difficult to get into and connect with what was going on.

Characters

One of the best things about SPOP, and I’m sure most people would agree with me, was the relatable and unique set of characters. With the show being heavily based off of something else, I’m sure there wasn’t much room for creativity when it came to character design, yet they somehow managed. He-Man on the other hand was greatly lacking in that department. Every single one of the characters was a bone thin, unrealistically proportioned, personality-less, and washed out. Except for when He-Man transformed. His entire upper half got super swole and bulky while his legs stayed the exact same. Kind of like a blonde Gru. He definitely looked like a Chad. Adam himself was incredibly cringe. His whole personality was white teenage protagonist, no depth at all there. Teela and Duncan were both decent characters, although they went through their ”redemption arc” much too quickly and Teela’s weird floating metal plates were weird and generally bothered me. They tried to give the characters all sad backstories but they all felt forced and flat.

The main villain also is boring. Basically taking the motivation of Scar from The Lion King, Prince Keldor is just power hungry or whatever.

Plus they got rid of the cool ghost looking guy and replaced him with a dumb, green, talking tiger. Fitting his name was cringer.

Plot

I don’t know where to begin with this. I don’t think the writers knew where to begin with this as well. Ouch that was harsh. Granted this was a kids show, so plot wasn’t as important as cool looking sc-if characters, but lots of kids shows get off the ground because they’re appealing to older audiences as well. And without a decently organized plot that’s going to be difficult to do. I’ve always said good characters can carry a bad plot but that’s only true to an extent and the characters themselves weren’t relatable enough for that. I think there were good intentions for the show but it feels like the first few episodes were kind of thrown together script-wise and that really impacted my entire view of the show. Just a bunch of people fighting over a sword but the reason why they want the sword or whos in the right is very unclear. Just the general vibes that the blond guy is the hero and the skinny purple girl and green skull guy are bad. Four episodes in and I’m honestly still not sure if there is much of a plot. Maybe I’ve been spoiled with high quality shows like ATLA and She-Ra but I feel like there should be an end goal and personal motivation for each of the characters and there didn’t seem to be any of that. Why did Duncan give up his whole life to help some random strangers? Did he have a life? Do any of the characters have an actual life or personal relationships? Its all just so empty.

Positives

I realize I’ve just done nothing but tear this show apart. Which is unfair of me, especially since it’s a product of probably years of hard work. And there definitely are some pros.

- The backgrounds are beautiful. One bonus of the animation style is incredibly detailed and thought out backgrounds, especially of the space sky. I’m a simp for cool looking moons, regardless of how scientifically inaccurate they are.

- The colors are cool and all spacey which I love. As anyone who has talked to me would know, one of my favorite parts of Luca was the appealing coloring of the characters and scenery. I love a girl with bright blue hair please more of that in media.

- The music was good! Nothing groundbreaking but cool! Good composition!

- Uh yeah

Conclusion

Overall, I’m not a fan. I realize I’m being Highly critical of this tv show aimed towards children, but I’ve seen some great kids shows and this wasn’t one of them. It was very scattered and disconnected and just…empty. A descent show to keep on in the background while scrolling or doing homework but not easy to get into and definitely not something to obsess over. The plot line was messy, the animation was off-putting, and the characters were empty. Definitely would recommend just watching She-Ra again.

{disclaimer: I’m not finished yet. If I finish and it gets better I will update!!}

Update 1:

little ghost guy exists! He is a robot so not as cute but still loveable. Add that to the positives!

also around episode 6 there starts to be a plot like but it still isn’t…great or attention grabbing. I’m still having to force myself through it

#Tl;dr #he-man 2021 = chunky animation and poor plot and character development #He-man #he man masters of the universe

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birdmenmanga · 3 years

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I ain't got nothin to say I just wanna hewwo too

Also what is Tower of God about

This has been sitting in my inbox for a while but I finally feel like I have the mental capacity to answer this question.

First off, hewwo to you too~

Tower of God is a Korean webtoon that started its serialization back in 2014. The plot goes as follows: Our protagonist is a boy (or what appears to be one, anyways) named the Twenty-Fifth Baam. All he has known his entire life is the cave that he was trapped in, and the only person who he ever saw was a girl named Rachel who would visit him and play with him every once in a while. Although Baam was very content to simply stay as they were, meeting in the cave, Rachel wanted to ascend up the Tower tm.

It’s said that anyone who reaches the top of the Tower will have their greatest wishes granted, whether it be riches, glory, or power. Rachel simply wants to be able to see the stars that are rumored to fill the night sky outside the Tower. Frankly, Baam doesn’t get it. But one day Rachel tells him that she’s leaving, and vanishes into the Tower, and Baam, panicked, forces his way inside the Tower as well. Though he doesn’t know it yet, Baam is an “Irregular”-- someone who was not chosen by the Administrator, who submits to the King, Jahad, but rather by the Tower itself.

The way you climb the Tower is just by taking a lot of tests, more or less. There’s a system of magic called shinsu, which the air in the Tower is saturated with -- you live it, you breathe it, and you bend it to your will to use it. In terms of governing, there’s a King, Jahad, who rules over the Tower, and there are the Ten Great Families who tend to be very powerful. Jahad, who is unable to have children on account of being a Nice Guy tm who was rejected once and was never able to recover, he chooses powerful girls to become Princesses of Jahad, who serve him faithfully and are not allowed love. There’s a lot going on in the universe, to be honest.

With everything I’ve said so far it might sound like a story about Baam searching desperately for Rachel, but it really isn’t the case. He finds her pretty early on, and is even reunited with her for a brief period, but Rachel finds her patience wearing thin, and has no time to spare for a clingy boy who chases her around with the loyalty of a puppy dog. In the midst of the second-floor test, she betrays him, leaving him for dead.

Of course, Baam doesn’t really die. He’s picked up by FUG, an organization whose mission statement is killing Jahad, and trains him in the hopes that he will become their god and kill Jahad for them. The friends he made during the course of his journey are used as hostages, to ensure Baam’s cooperation. He takes on a new identity: Jue Viole Grace.

And then things get really complicated. By which I mean it all gets hazy from there inside my head.

WELL NOW THAT YOU KNOW ALL THAT I’m gonna talk about why I like this series.

1. Worldbuilding is super compelling. There’re so many different moving parts that all somehow come together. Understandably, when the universe is so complex, there are sometimes extremely vague or even contradictory parts to it, but honestly, I don’t mind. It’s called a Tower, but it really feels like multiple parallel universes all stacked together, since every floor is so different from each other. There are whole ecosystems and societies that live on each floor. It’s stunning!

2. For a shonen...well, not manga, but for something in the shonen genre it treats women pretty well. A lot of the time I read manga and I feel like I’m compromising in a way, like if I want to read a good story I HAVE to see women or girls “accidentally” get stripped down for no reason. Tower of God treats almost all of the characters extremely respectfully, and women are depicted as people with agency, rather than props for other characters’ stories.

3. I really like a lot of the themes that are discussed in Tower of God.

A big part of Baam’s character development is about letting go of people who are unhealthy for you, which I feel isn’t often shown in these kinds of stories. I think in shonen stories there’s a focus on “redemption”-- that there’s a clear line between good and evil, and if you lose an ally over to evil you should try to win them back to good. But it’s not really like that in Tower of God...sometimes it’s easy to tell whether a character is meant to be good or evil, but more often than not relationships are dictated by each character’s desires, and conflict happens not because a character is a bad person but because two groups want different things to happen. Someone who you had been against just an arc ago could be on your side now. As a result, it’s much easier to show Baam weighing how much he’s been hurt by Rachel without really condemning her to being “evil”. He can cut ties with her, not because she is morally reprehensible, but because he has come to understand that he is whole even without her. When Baam can conceive of himself as more than just an extension of Rachel, he can clash with her head-on and fight for what’s important to him without hesitation.

There’s also interesting commentary about fate and destiny and whether that’s something you’re born into. I personally find Rachel to be a compelling antagonist because it’s established that she...isn’t really anything special. She’s not particularly powerful, not particularly pretty, not born into a good family, and can only really rely on what cunning she has to climb the Tower. And so in a sense she’s doomed to fail...but is that right? Do your dreams not matter if you’re not powerful? A lot of worldbuilding starting from Season 2 really develop this idea. The Tower is a place of hopes and dreams, but at the same time it’s a ruthless place. For every person who advances to the next floor, someone else can’t...Once, in a discussion group, the Tower was likened to the American Dream which I thought was an extremely good comparison. The Tower favors those who were born into wealth and power, so even if it’s talked about as an equal opportunity sort of place, it really isn’t true.

4. Okay...it feels like cheating if I don’t talk about KhunBam for at least like. A little bit. Sorry, but I’m just such a sucker for characters unhealthily pining after someone they believed to be dead for years only to find out they are not actually dead. (as I’m sure..you suspected...) For two people who so habitually shoulder their burdens alone, it really touches me to see them find solace in each other. They don’t have to walk alone...they can rely on one another. I like it, personally.

But yeah! That’s that on that, I think. Sorry this ended up so long...I just had a lot to say, haha.

#tower of god #asks #meradorm

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kinetic-elaboration · 3 years

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April 30: 2x17 A Piece of the Action

Today’s ep was A Piece of the Action, one of the greatest of all time. Honestly, as far as feel good episodes in particular go, it’s one of my ultimate faves.

Uhura seems to be having a lot of fun listening to Kirk trying to communicate with this alien.

Yes, Kirk, please explain how it took you a hundred years to get back to this alien society.

I actually like this whole back story a lot. If the Horizon met the Iotians 100 years ago, and the planet is on the edge of the galaxy, it must have been one of the earliest contacts between the Federation and another planet. Or did it even pre-date the Federation? I’m too hungry to try to figure out timelines lol but still, the plot kind of relies on it being an early contact: pre-Non-Interference Director, pre-modern communication methods.

Also just really curious about the Horizon in general. What kind of ship was it? What was it doing out there? What was that first contact with the Iotians like? I do not want subsequent “Star Trek” to explain this to me, I just want to speculate.

Woah who is this guy filling in for Spock? He looks like a Spock impersonator.

Kirk just turns Spock and McCoy around: “We’re beaming down now!” Has to take his BFFs on the mission.

The aliens are SOMEWHAT imitative?? This doesn’t look somewhat to me.

“Home was never like this.” Lol well he’s from Iowa so it’s probably missing some corn fields I guess.

This is clearly an open-carry state. Are they imitating Texas?

Spock is truly not bothered by anything at all. He’s so chill.

Heaters.

Baby blue eyes. McCoy looks so offended at that. It’s a compliment, Bones!

This is a great triumvirate ep because you can see their very different reactions to the whole thing, basically on a spectrum of chill (Spock) to alarmed (McCoy)

“I distill it myself.”

Compared to all these suits, the Starfleet uniforms really look like pajamas.

Ah-ha, Spock has found something interesting!

Published in 1992?! I want one.

AOS Kirk would have actually played pool with this alien gangster.

“This is the contamination, Captain.”

These “fancy heaters” lol.

The way the Iotians interact with the Federation aliens is honestly so interesting to me.

Come on, man, Kirk isn’t an arms dealer.

What’s this? It’s a cell phone, obviously.

What would these aliens do with an iphone? It would probably destroy them.

Oh, Scotty, so confused, trying to keep up with the slang.

I like how the secretary looks up like she can see the ship.

I feel like if you looked up “heater” on the Enterprise language banks, it would not be helpful. Imagine Scotty personally making and the beaming down 100 space heaters.

I love that Kirk knows so much random Chicago history. True Midwestern Boy.

Love those old pinball machines in the back of the room.

Lol Kirk trying to subtly get Spock to shut up and stop being truthful. “Don’t mess this up for me, babe.”

Fizzbin is a true classic moment in television. I love how much fun Kirk is having with it. And Spock nodding along like this makes sense to him. Adorable, supportive boyfriend. Also, I feel like fizzbin is a particularly effective strategy for this culture because they are imitative. A chance to learn a new game?? Amazing.

Kirk is so great in this episode.

“Mr. Spock--Mr. Spock? What are you doing on this frequency?” He’s on it because he finally figured out how to work the primitive radio.

I feel like real Chicago gangsters didn’t have “Boss” engraved on plaques next to their front doors.

“I never been arrested my whole life!”

“How’d you get back up there?” Lol. Well at least he remembered Spock was supposed to be a hostage.

“Why would he put a bag on our Captain?”

I realize that it is correct to refer to the gangster aliens as indigenous but it still amuses me.

Kirk is going to save himself while Spock is working on saving him. My boy is so smart!

“Ship’s log. Incredible as it seems, Dr. McCoy and I have been fooled again.”

You can tell Spock is trying super hard not to laugh here. His lips in that very thin line.

Kirk saves the day again!

It’s hilarious to me that in the time Kirk was kidnapped and escaped, Spock and McCoy got all the way up to the Enterprise and then all the way back down.

“I admit logic won’t work here, so let’s go wild with some cosplay instead.”

I love that Kirk canonically cannot drive and I think about this EVERY time he’s forced onto a motorcycle in AOS.

TOS Kirk has never been on a motorcycle in his life. But TOS Sarek definitely does own one.

But CPine would look good in this blue gangster suit.

AOS Kirk can’t drive stick any more than TOS Kirk can but he would be way more confident about thinking he can.

Spock is definitely going to veto Kirk buying an old car.

“I’m calling you a babe.”

Wow but I love Kirk and Spock and their adopted alien son. This kid is smart and bold; he is a good K/S surrogate child. And I definitely appreciate that when he calls for “daddy” two men show up.

I am now going to refer to the Federation exclusively as “the Feds.”

Kirk is having so much fun with this whole thing and I love that for him. “The whole ball of wax.” “Sawbones.” “Spocko.” The exaggerated accent.

And Spock is... just trying his best. I love this nerd. He wants to play but he’s just not got the hang of it.

Scotty and Uhura just hanging out, as they do. She definitely gets what Kirk is doing before Scotty does.

Scotty’s so proud of the term “concrete galoshes.” Well, close but no cigar.

Honestly I really want to know what the cars on Vulcan look like.

Kirk calling Scotty “baby” and “sweetheart.” Confirmed space bi.

Even Spock is getting into it. He even said “You’s.”

I have PTSD from the phrase “run government like a business.”

Spock and Bones are definitely Kirk’s boys.

“Now we have hostages again.” There’s something legit hilarious to me about that line.

“Isn’t that logical?” He hopes he’s pleased his space husband.

Is it really fair to say that the mobs are a criminal organization when, as far as we know or have seen, there is no actual government? Like what laws are they breaking?

Don’t at me about the paternalism of using the Feds’ “cut” to somehow inch the Iotians away from mob governance.

That ending with McCoy and the communicator was great lol. The image of the imitative Iotians taking apart the communicator and just going to town makes me happy.

I’m quite serious when I say I want this ep rebooted with the AOS cast for the costumes alone, as compensation for having to sit through yet another film about Khan.

Also I really love these aliens. They might be among my favorite aliens. I just like how they attach themselves to things they find interesting and then make them the centerpiece of their culture. Like, what were they doing before the gangster thing? Besides farming?

Also I love how they have no problem at all with the aliens showing up in their big ass space ship. They just think ‘oh, maybe they’ll give us stuff, like last time.’ I kinda feel like they weren’t weirded out by the Horizon, either. They know what they’re about.

My new stance on Kirk and cars is that probably, being from Iowa, he can drive, just not stick, but since he’s lived in San Francisco and space his entire adult life, he probably hasn’t driven since he was 18. Thus why he thinks he’s better at this than he is.

Spock has never been behind the wheel of anything, ever, though, in either universe.

Next up is The Immunity Syndrome. The only thing I remember about this is that all the Vulcans on the Intrepid die. And I think it’s the one where Spock flies a little ship into the amoeba and Kirk and McCoy rescue him? In other words, I remember the beginning in and the end, and nothing in the middle. So, should be fun!

#the year 2021 #2021: star trek #star trek tos #2021: fandom thoughts

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poi-bigbang · 4 years

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Art Claims

(Thank you @caviezeldaily for this amazing banner!)

Here are the remaining summaries up for claim in the POI Big Bang:

1. Title: Carbines and Capacitors

Relationships: Gen (Joss & Cheyenne, other Team Machine friendships); background John/Joss, brief Harold/Grace and Laskey/OFC, brief unrequited Shaw/Cheyenne, mention of past Joss/Cal and Cheyenne/Irene Travers, two staged scenes that are explicitly not preludes to romance Characters: (in order of appearance) Cheyenne Bodie, Joss Carter, Mike Laskey, Lionel Fusco, John Reese, Harold Finch, Bear, The Machine, Sameen Shaw, Zoe Morgan, Patrick Simmons, Raymond Terney, Genrika Zhirova, Timothy Sloan, Root | Samantha Groves, Peter Collier, Anthony Marconi, Carl Elias, Peter Yogorov, Grace Hendricks, Andrew Monahan, Alonzo Quinn, Fermin Ordoñez, Arthur Claypool, Tom "Sugarfoot" Brewster, Bronco Layne Rating: Teen Summary: A routine day for Team Machine turns into anything but when a cowboy from 1880 falls out of thin air and lands practically at Carter's feet. Getting him well and acclimated to life in 2013 is only half the battle. Computers are out of his line, but he does have other skills Finch can use… so the best laid schemes of Greer and Quinn are about to run into a 6'6" tank named Cheyenne Bodie. (Season 3 AU, crossover with Cheyenne, with cameos from Sugarfoot and Bronco)

(Wikipedia links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheyenne_(TV_series); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarfoot; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronco_(TV_series); Fandom wiki: https://cheyenne.fandom.com/wiki/Cheyenne_Wiki; IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047720/) Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply; References to historical atrocities, uncomfortably timely conversations, canon-typical violence, canon-typical threats of violence, crude remarks by Shaw, Cheyenne comes from a 1950s Western and speaks/thinks/acts accordingly (but as in canon, he hates racism and injustice) Art Wishlist: Open to any media, although traditional/digital might be more suitable than manips because most available images of Cheyenne are B&W--as was the show, so vids and gifs might have the same problem. Podfic would be welcome, and the story is finished (and long!), but recording could be a challenge because Cheyenne's voice is lower than John's and because there are lots of footnotes and a few words in the Northern Cheyenne dialect, Dutch, Spanish, Sioux, Russian, and Hebrew. Cheyenne wears a very distinctive hat (brown with silver arrowheads around the band) that could be drawn as part of a still-life banner or divider, possibly with a Colt Peacemaker and a Desert Eagle (crossed?). Also, if you're interested in illustrating a scene, there are... rather a lot to choose from, but I think I'd go for one of Cheyenne with John, Joss, and/or Shaw. I will happily work with any artist to find what source/reference materials are needed--I don't know where Cheyenne is available to watch outside the US, but there are at least clips posted on YouTube.

2. Title: Spare Me Relationships: Lionel Fusco/John Reese Characters: Lionel Fusco, John Reese, Lee Fusco, Harold Finch, Bear, Root, Original Characters Rating: (use AO3 system) T (for a kiss and Fusco's bad language) Summary: (<100 words) "I don't need a genius to tell me that you're lonely." Fusco invites John to join the NYPD bowling league to give John something normal and fun to do for once. But soon Fusco realizes that John isn't the only one who's lonely. Warnings: (use AO3 system) None Art Wishlist: (what media you're open to, hoping for, any ideas) Anything is fine by me! I've never had someone make art for a story of mine, so I'm easy to please!

3. Title: Kingfishers

Relationships: Harold Finch/John Reese/Grace Hendricks

Rating: M at the moment, maaaybe E by the time I’m done

Summary:

One morning, a handsome stranger walks up to Grace Hendricks in a park and introduces himself. His name is John, and he likes her paintings.

That afternoon, Grace meets a wealthy insurance executive who offers her a sizable art commission. He’s intelligent, interesting, and easy to talk to. His name is Harold.

(A different-first-meeting story, in which Harold ignored the Machine’s attempts to set him up with Grace in 2006, only to receive her number in 2012 after he and John have been working together for over a year.)

Warnings: inexplicit references to child abuse and alcoholism

Art Wishlist: Grace’s paintings and sketches, and her feelings about the art and artists she admires, are pretty important to the story. There are passages where I describe pictures and paintings she’s created, or beautiful objects of various kinds that she and Harold both admire. An illustration of any of that stuff would be amazing, or maybe a kind of Pre-Raphaelite picture of the characters. Also, kingfishers are kind of thematically/symbolically important, and very beautiful, and would make lovely art.

Two requests: please don’t make art of Harold and John that excludes Grace, and please no NSFW art.

4. [Fic previously claimed! Should not have been here! Apologies!]

5. Title: More Than Words Relationships: John Reese/Harold Finch/Grace Hendricks Characters: John Reese, Harold Finch, Grace Hendricks Rating: General Audiences Summary: John and Harold have a lot in common. They've loved. They've lost. They've done their best to help people. And now they have a matching pair of soulmarks- tattoos bearing the first words your soulmate says to you. The marks aren't what bring John and Harold together. But they might end up tearing the two of them apart. Warnings: Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings (this fic should be tagged for some of John's suicidal ideation pre-season 1 and in the fic) Art Wishlist: Looking for visual media/graphic design. Since this is a soulmate/soulmark AU, I would be very happy if someone could design the tattoos I have in mind, in their medium of choice. I am willing to collaborate, or just see what they come up with. But while that is my ideal art pairing, I am open to anything!

6. Title: Untitled Relationships: Harold/John Characters: Harold, John, Bear, Shaw, Fusco, Carter, OCs, *possibly* an appearance by Root Rating: Teen & Up Summary: When a number goes wrong and Harold is stabbed, his entire life is thrown into disarray. Seriously injured, he's left with no choice but to rely on someone else as he recovers. He chooses John (or, rather, John chooses himself) and invites John into his home and his very private life as he slowly heals from the trauma and the wounds.

What happens when he realizes he wants John to stay close? Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply (additional warning for panic attacks and memories of a violent attack) Art Wishlist: I'd especially love illustrations (traditional or digital), but I'm game for anything.

7. Title: Bonds Not Broken - Maybe??? Relationships: John Reese/Harold Finch Characters: John Reese, Harold Finch, Sameen Shaw, OCs, Elias, Heralds of Valdemar characters, Rolan, Weaponmaster Hersch, King Jesse, Bear the dog, a cast of thousands Rating: Adult M/M Summary: An AU Person of Interest/Heralds of Valdemar crossover. John is not only a Herald, but the King's Own. The story begins with the death of the king, and this is John's journey to find his place in Valdemar. Warnings: Author Chooses None Art Wishlist: I like most styles of fanart except chibi. I love a good photo manip but really anything! If the artist is interested, I have an Instagram where I put pictures that helped me write this monster. The instagram is blackchaps with a Hawkeye icon, easy to find.

8. Title: Untitled (for now) Relationships: Harold Finch/Lionel Fusco, Lionel Fusco & Sameen Shaw, Harold Finch & Sameen Shaw Characters: Harold Finch, Lionel Fusco, Sameen Shaw, Bear, Leon Tao Rating: E Summary: One year after the death of Samaritan, Harold Finch returns to New York City and reunites with his old friends. Sameen Shaw and Lionel Fusco, who have believed him to be dead for the past 12 months, are not exactly eager to trust him again. As Harold handles mysterious cases on the outside of their new organization, he works to repair his relationships with both. Sameen, who doubts his commitment, will be hard to convince. Lionel, who bears deep emotional scars, will be impossible. Warnings: Canon typical violence, drug/alcohol use Art Wishlist: I’m super flexible re: medium. I’m very into the idea of space-centric or detail-centric art, as opposed to character-centric art, if that makes sense. Re: space-centric, a lot of the fic is about loneliness and puts the characters in empty, uncomfortable, or sad rooms and the vibe is very like these Edward Hopper paintings, I think. Alternatively, it’s Finch POV and he’s doing a lot of focusing on tiiiiiiny details and significant objects, and I’d love some fancypants studies or edits of those.

9. Title: Degrees of Separation Relationships: Gen (but the whole point of the story is that they’ve all been separated, so there are no relationships in action) Characters: John Reese, Harold Finch, Sameen Shaw, Root, Lionel Fusco, Bear Rating: Teen and Up (due to a limited use of common profanity) Summary: The lives of the members of Team Machine in their new identities during the first months of Samaritan’s full operation, from the separation of the team at the end of “Deus Ex Machina” through the events that take place in “Panopticon.” Warnings: Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings Art Wishlist: I am open to any medium. It would be great if the art focused on the separation that the characters are experiencing.

10. Title: If I Could Tell Him Relationships: Harold Finch/John Reese; Harold Finch & Root; minor Root/Sameen Shaw; past Harold Finch/Nathan Ingram Characters: Harold Finch, John Reese, Root, Nathan Ingram (mentioned) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Summary: Harold manages to tap on the fourth wall of 4x17 “Karma” and has some thoughts about the mirroring of himself with the victim counselor vigilante Shane Edwards. He and John go on their walk with Bear, but Harold keeps what he’s feeling to himself. Years later, after all of Team Machine survives the defeat of Samaritan, Harold comes across Edwards and realizes he never talked with John about all of the emotions that number still fosters, specifically regarding Nathan. Root gives him some advice, and they all work on a happiness that encompasses the past, present, and future. Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Art Wishlist: I’m open to anything, from digital art to fanmixes and anything else, really. This is a rinch fic but it’s also basically a Harold character study (entirely from his POV and a lot of internal narrative) so any art could probably focus on him.

11.

Title: The Mysterious Human Heart in New York Relationships: Jessica/John, Harold and Jessica, Harold and John Characters: Jessica, John, Harold, Fusco Rating: Teen Summary: Agent Jessica Reese has managed to claw her way back from Ordos after being betrayed by her partner and the CIA. Gutshot and purposeless, she spends her days haunting the hospital in New Rochelle, watching her ex, John. John has his happily ever after: got his nursing degree, married a great guy, lives in a beautiful house. Jess is glad. He should be happy with Peter.

When she bumps into the mysterious Harold Finch, who knows too much about everyone, he tells her the unpleasant truth about John's dream marriage. Jess must face up to the fact that John needs her help to find safety and happiness. Warnings: Show level violence, some medical detail as John is a nurse. Art Wishlist: I am open to any medium except audio.

12. Title: To my God, I sacrifice Relationships: John Reese & Root, John Reese/ Kara Stanton Characters: John Reese, Root, Sameen Shaw, Hersh, Kara Stanton, Harold Finch (mentioned) Rating: Mature Summary: Former soldier and CIA agent John Reese has condemned himself to a slow death after being burned by the agency. After witnessing a strange woman answering a forgotten payphone, he suddenly finds himself entangled in a web of secrets, zealotry and violence. Warnings: Canon typical violence, canon typical torture, mentions of suicide and rape, abusive/unbalanced dynamics, alcoholism Art Wishlist: I don't have any particular requests in regards to the art, I'm curious about what will the artist choose to interpret. If I had to choose, a scene illustration or a cover would be very cool :)

If you’d like to make art for any of these fics, the sign-ups for artists are here:

https://poi-fanworks.dreamwidth.org/27461.html

And the claim post is here:

https://poi-fanworks.dreamwidth.org/31548.html

#person of interest #big bang #fanart #fanfiction

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bestworstcase · 4 years

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Hi! Just wondering, do you have any theories about what happened to all of Zhan Tiri’s followers who were trapped in the Demanitus Chamber? (I’m annoyed they didn’t show up in the finale to be honest, they’d have been a great army. What do you think about that?)

you and me both, anon -_- i spent most of s3 speculating wildly about how the disciples would come into play and after CR made a point of destroying the device altogether i was positive disciples would come up and then that… didn’t happen, despite multiple scenes with zhan tiri fucking around in the chamber. freed disciples >>> brainwashed brotherhood as minibosses for team corona. But Alas.

as far as theories go well. in canon i like to think they escaped and are skulking around getting up to evil nonsense either on zhan tiri’s behalf or solo, but *yeets canon out the window* we’re in bitter snow land now :]

the scions are zhan tiri’s most formidable, and favored, disciples. after he banished zhan tiri, demanitus hunted them down and imprisoned many of them in vaults around the continent. by the time of his “death” in 31 PE, only scion remained free: calanthe gothel.

of the remaining scions, six are trapped in demanitus’s labyrinthine library in tarazed, one was imprisoned in his tower underneath azoth but was released in 1648 PE (25 years prior to benighted), and three were sealed in the chamber in corona. [meaning, yes, there are only eleven scions in the whole world. it is the highest of high honors and zhan tiri is very choosy about offering it.]

so… hm. trying to organize this in the most coherent way. let’s start with the Big Three as far as the story of bitter snow is concerned: the traitorous pupils of lord demanitus.

tromus matthiaos was born to a large, impoverished family on the western steppes of volkan. his parents being unable to care for him, they offered him up as an apprentice to a sorcerer, varril alexandros, who passed through their village when matthiaos was four years old. alexandros was a brilliant man but exceptionally cruel man, so, when matthiaos was twelve, he set fire to the house in the middle of the night and fled. demanitus found him wandering in the wilderness not long after, half dead from dehydration and exposure, and took matthiaos under his wing.

life in demanitus’s care was much better, and over the next seven years matthiaos grew devoted to demanitus to the point of considering the man his father. around this time, the pair traveled to pchela, a remote hamlet nestled in the salt marshes of northeastern zamora, to study the spirits of the marshes. there, they encountered sugracha il pchela, the fifteen-year-old daughter of the marsh-witch ennuricha. her mother flatly refused to share her knowledge with demanitus, but sugracha craved more than pchela had to offer, so, she stole ennuricha’s grimoire and traded it to demanitus in exchange for his tutelage.

about four years passed. the trio settled in antares for a time to study the massive black rocks upon which the ancient city-state was built, and that is where calanthe gothel found them. she was the daughter of a destitute high house of aberdinon; her father paid for her education with ruinous loans and, once she reached adulthood, made it clear he expected her to pay those loans back by using her skill in potionry to secure a wealthy husband. calanthe poisoned him instead, pawned what few heirlooms the family still owned, and used that money to flee north to antares. there, she wheedled her way into demanitus’s good graces. he took her on as a pupil; she clashed often with him and matthiaos, but grew very close to sugracha.

soon after, demanitus relocated them to his ancestral home in corona, at the top of mt. ghisa. at this time, zhan tiri was bound in the caverns beneath mt. ghisa, but the anchor demanitus had used to bind her had begun to wear thin. her influence bled into the surrounding mountains, and one by one, demanitus’s three pupils gravitated toward her—first sugracha, then matthiaos, and finally calanthe. less than a year after they came to mt. ghisa, they performed a ritual to release zhan tiri and took her side in the bitter, decade-long war between zhan tiri and demanitus.

zhan tiri offered scionhood to all three of them in part as a gesture of gratitude, and in part because she grew genuinely very fond of them in the years that followed her release. matthiaos and sugracha took to it eagerly, but calanthe… changed her mind, after her initial acceptance. (basically she didn’t pay enough attention upfront and balked when reality set in.) she double-crossed zhan tiri and returned to demanitus, presenting herself as an innocent victim and passing him information on zhan tiri, her cults, and her scions. this information was the final piece demanitus needed to banish zhan tiri from the world altogether, and proved useful in hunting down the scions as well. calanthe dipped as soon as zhan tiri was banished, used what she learned from zhan tiri + the powers granted to her by incomplete scionhood to claim the sundrop for herself, using it to keep herself alive and stave off the nasty consequences of her refusal to complete the scion process.

matthiaos was the first scion demanitus captured, as demanitus considered matthiaos his greatest failure and felt a personal responsibility to deal with him. he was sealed in a vault at the base of the tower in azoth, which demanitus then sunk and filled with a host of dangerous traps and assorted guardians. demanitus filled the labyrinth next; these six scions aren’t… super important in the story i’ll just list their names, from youngest to oldest:

1. amaranta morcant 2. alizarin marcach 3. hyacinthe de malveisin 4. idris carthamine 5. źatīr thēshala 6. tanith

the final three scions—the ones imprisoned in the chamber in corona—were the last demanitus captured. sugracha was one of them; the other two were sorchā and dione, the two eldest scions.

dione was the first of zhan tiri’s scions, and she became a scion a few years before zhan tiri named herself, way back in the final decades of the lost era. during this period, zhan tiri was known as gat as’la and bore very little resemblance to her present-day self; she was a primordial devourer with a lot of power and a vague but covetous interest in the profane realm. dione meanwhile was a… fairly ordinary woman whose village was massacred by the advancing armies of the then-rapidly-expanding abralian empire in what is now western citrifola; dione fled, took shelter in the great tree, encountered a manifestation of gat as’la, and survived which led to a long and brutal game of cat-and-mouse, which in turn resulted in a growing mutual fascination. dione founded a cult, gat as’la got attached, bargains were made, and little while after that gat as’la named herself zhan tiri and…became…zhan tiri.

several thousand years passed, the abralian empire crumbled, zhan tiri’s interest in the profane realm and humanity in particular grew while also becoming vaguely less predatory in nature.

annnnd then she met sorchā.

the nation of saporia didn’t exist at this point; instead there was this loose alliance between a handful of smaller, independent territories, among them the city-state of charcāthēn. sorchā was a poet and philosopher of little renown, who lived in charcāthēn and had a profound interest in magic but also a kind of listless dissatisfaction with the contemporary understanding thereof. she encountered zhan tiri more or less by happenstance while wandering the countryside for inspiration and that. changed everything. because sorchā at the time was in the midst of this sort of anguished youth coming of age and zhan tiri was on the cusp of an existential crisis and the collision of those two things produced the philosophy that would become the bedrock of saporian culture for thousands of years to come.

sorchā codified the distinction between the sublime and profane realms. she articulated the concept of choimghē, which—i’ll just quote what i said the last time: it’s a mingling of the profane and sublime; the word itself literally means “cusp” or “threshold,” and the idea is there is an irreconcilable tension between the profane and the sublime; both exist in a state of perpetual fascination/repulsion; to achieve choimghē is to achieve balance between the two, resolving this tension into peaceful coexistence. this principle is interwoven through almost every facet of saporian culture; for example, their beliefs about death and the afterlife.

she founded the saporian cult of zhan tiri, and played a significant role in codifying the framework of the divine ternary, the formation of saporia as a single sovereign nation, and the governmental structure of the tháomazhatēm in later centuries. she also created the sorchān calendar, which has been widely adopted across the continent.

her importance in saporian history and culture really can’t be overstated, and she had an equally huge impact on zhan tiri herself—while sorchā wrote about choimghē, zhan tiri rooted herself into the profane realm, and that philosophy + that decision were thoroughly intertwined. sorchā is the reason zhan tiri is the way she is now and the reason zhan tiri so strongly considers saporians her people.

anyway.

dione, sorchā, and sugracha are kind of the favorites of the favorites. zhan tiri does genuinely, truly love and trust all of her scions but she has an extra soft spot for these three and that is mostly down to them all having a similar mixture of ambition + competence + cleverness + creativity + passion + grit + derangement that zhan tiri enjoys particularly.

#bitter snow #zhan tiri #sorry for taking like a week to answer this lmbmsdfjsdjh #i uh #i kept going off on tangents #and then cutting out the tangents #being concise is hard #Anonymous

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bluberrystarboy · 4 years

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Hello! This is a NCT Dream High School AU! You could end up with any of the Dreamies! It's all based on your choices! As you read, you will be faced with a series of choices at the end of each chapter, and you can make the decisions. Each decision you make will make you closer with one of the Dreamies. Keep reading to find out who you end up with! This story is also gender neutral, so anyone can read it! I apologize in advance for any grammar and/or editing errors!

Words: 2,395

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All you wanted was one day. One day where you didn't have to deal with people. It's not that people themselves were necessarily bad, you were just shy. It's the way you've always been. You grew up that way. And it had its perks. Not many people talked to you because you were so quiet. But it also had its downsides. When you have to do anything that involves talking to people, you would start to sweat and stutter with every word spoken. But you can't help the way you've always been.

You were also the type to just sit back and observe. Just people-watch. It sounds creepy, but there's a lot you can learn about a person just by watching. The way they speak, their body language, and their facial expressions can say a lot. And although watching people can be fun, there are seven boys in particular that interest you the most.

Mark Lee- He's captain of the basketball team and a natural born leader. He was the first one to catch your attention. He's always smiling or laughing around his friends, never a dull moment between them. He seems to always be happy. Nothing can bring down his attitude. The only time you've ever seen him look unhappy is when he has his serious face on, usually on the day of a game. He's smart (his grades have to be high for him to stay on the team) and people admire him even more for that. He's too nice to say no to people, and can sometimes overwhelm himself with other people's problems.

Huang Renjun- The artist that's highest on the academic leaderboard. He's an amazing artist, with a knack for drawing faces. His art has been posted all around the school, even though he'd much rather prefer to keep it on the down low. He's also super smart. He has A's in all his classes, and everyone asks him for help. He says yes sometimes, but only if he knows the person is actually going to try. He's very sarcastic from what you've observed, and very quick witted. He tries to stay positive, but it doesn't always work when he gets stressed out. And his stress relief is drawing. You've seen him sitting outside a couple times, drawing the plants and trees.

Lee Jeno- An ice hockey player with a scary face. Even though he seems scary, everyone knows he's an actual sweetheart. He can even be shy sometimes too, blushing when his friends tease him. A lot of people are intimidated by him, and honestly you can't see why. Just by observation, he seems super sweet, almost like a puppy. When he smiles, you can't help but to smile. He's smart because of sports, but he isn't that interested in school. He would rather be in the rink, playing hockey than doing school work. And he's amazing at it too. Watching him play is always intense. You work at the local ice skating rink where his team practices, and you can see him giving all his effort. You always watch in awe of him.

Lee Donghyuck- A bad boy with a cocky personality. You're not really sure you could call him a bad boy though. He doesn't really break that many rules, only the ones he doesn't like. He's yelled at teachers before and skipped class, but he's never done anything illegal that you know of. He likes to try to be a bad boy though, wearing a leather jacket and skinny jeans to school everyday to come across as "tough". He can be very cocky however, teasing his friends without mercy. He knows when to stop, he just has a very playful nature. His aura is just playful and happy. His smile is the most radiant thing you've ever seen. It can cheer anyone up and from what you've heard, he has a secret talent for singing too, but will never show anyone, not even his friends. Those are just rumors, but you'd like to believe they were true.

Na Jaemin- The student body president and mister popular. Everyone, boy or girl, loves him. You can see why, his face is chiseled perfection. He can also have a cocky personality, but he's more merciful about it. He's definitely a people person, that's for sure. He's not a player, but does talk to people when he gets the chance, and he has dated a few of them. He loves being student body president. Talking in front of people and organizing events are things he's good at. And his events are always amazing because he knows what teenagers like to do. He's also very nice to people and has a nice personality. In everyone's eyes, including your own, he's perfect.

Zhong Chenle- The school photographer and choir kid. Chenle's voice is amazing. You've heard him sing whenever you walk past the choir room. He has the voice of an angel. He loves singing and has even gotten in trouble in class for singing a couple times. He's also a big talker, which has also gotten him into trouble. He doesn't do it intentionally, he just can't help it. He's big into photography as well. He loves to take pictures, especially of him and his friends. He put his talent for photography to use by joining the school paper and takes pictures around school. From the pictures you've seen, he's really good at what he does. Must be a natural born talent.

Park Jisung- The shy and timid dancer. He's a lot like you sometimes. He's constantly stuttering over his words and always just a little too awkward. Except for when he's with his friends. When he's with them, he's always laughing and even sarcastic sometimes. His smile is rare, but when it does show, it just adds to his cuteness. His friends are older than him, and sometimes fawn over his cuteness, and his smile just adds to it. He's also an amazing dancer. You've seen him in the dance room at school before. He moves with such a grace that you've never seen in anybody. Sometimes after school, he will head to the practice room with Chenle and dance while he sings. It's a beautiful sight, that you just so happened to walk past after studying in the library.

And you know all this information, just from observing. Not many people notice your existence, and you'd like to keep it that way. You don't really have friends. At least, not like them. Everyone around school calls their friend group the Dreamies. They all have big dreams, and stick together no matter what. You think the name suits them.

You only had two people you were close to. Your friend, Seungmin, who has been your friend since elementary school. He's stuck with you through thick and thin, even after making new friends. He was still there for you. The other person, was your brother, Yuta. He was an upperclassman, and was always busy trying to get ready for college, but you two were as close as ever. There was one thing always freaked you out though. He was best friends with Mark. They have been close for as long as you could remember. And that was great for Yuta, but not so much for you.

Mark was always hanging around the house. And you weren't complaining, but you, again, were shy. So anytime you saw Mark, you booked it towards your room. You would hope he'd understand that you were shy and didn't hate him, but you couldn't help it. You just couldn't face him. You liked him. And all the Dreamies for that matter. As cliche as the scenario sounds, you couldn't help yourself. They all have qualities that appeal to you and your heart beats hard anytime you see them or hear their voices. You were content not being noticed, okay with staying on the sidelines. But that was hard to do. Yuta knew Mark and Mark knew you, which meant that his whole friend group knew you.

They didn't talk to you, always too busy with each other, which you were thankful for. But sometimes they tried, especially Mark. As much as you liked them, you couldn't bring yourself to talk to them, always too scared or nervous. Instead, you ran and hid, like a coward. It's not your fault.

Today was interesting, however. It started off normally. Yuta pulled up and parked the car in the parking lot. You were about to get out, when the door locked. You looked back at Yuta with a questioning face.

"Y/N," He said. You kept quiet but continued to look at him.

"Mark told me that you avoid him and his friends. Why?" You didn't expect that. You continued to look at him, heat rising to your cheeks.

"Y/N, answer me," Yuta pushed.

"I- Well- You see-" You stuttered before sighing and trailing off, "I dunno.."

"Y/N, Mark's my friend! And his friends are nice too. You've known him for years and still don't talk to him-"

"Correction," You interrupted while pointing at him, "YOU'VE known him for years, not me."

Yuta sighed before continuing, "Listen, even if he is my best friend, your my sister/brother. I want you guys to get along! Do you hate him or something?"

"NO!" You said a little louder than intended. Yuta looked at you while smirking.

"Do you like my best friend?" He questioned. How do you reply to that?

"No," You said firmly, "I don't like him. And I don't hate him either. Yuta, you know how I am. No matter who it is, I'm not good at talking to them."

"You talk to me."

"That's different!"

"How is that different? You talk to Seungmin too! He's your best friend!"

"Yuta, I just can't."

"I don't believe that. There has to be a reason. Maybe it's not Mark you like, it's one of his friends!"

"Yuta, stop it, I'm just not good at talking to people. I can talk to you because you're my brother and I can talk to Seungmin because he's just always been around and doesn't expect many words from me anyways-"

Yuta cut you off, " Mark understands that. He knows your shy, but he still wants to be friends with you, or maybe more," he said, raising his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

You blushed and looked away, "Yuta, just drop it, okay? I think he's nice and he's your friend, which is fine. I don't know why you think I like one of them anyway."

"You're blushing, and avoiding eye contact with me. Just tell me! I'm not gonna tell them! I'm your brother."

"Yes, you are my brother. I have nothing to tell you..." You trailed off again.

"I won't stop until I know who, and I'll drop it for now."

"Thank you-"

"But," There was a catch. Of course, "You're gonna talk to them today. I'll even go with you. Don't avoid them, Mark just wants my little sister/brother to be friends with him and the Dreamies!"

You sighed, giving up. There was no use fighting, he wouldn't give in. You looked over at him and said, "Fine, just open the door."

He smiled at you and unlocked the door. People watched you as you stepped out of the car with Yuta. I guess you could say people know you exist, but the just don't care enough to acknowledge you on your own. They just know you as Yuta's little sister/brother. You're content without the attention, but you wished they wouldn't stare at you everytime you're with him.

You looked down while waiting for Yuta to get his stuff and lock the car, trying to avoid the looks sent your way. Yuta looked at you and smiled, "Ready?"

"Do I have a choice?" You questioned.

"Nope," And with that you continued into the school.

Walking through the halls, you looked down, following Yuta's feet and almost falling over when he stopped in front of you. You looked up at him with questioning glance.

"He's not here yet, just give him a second." You scanned the hallways, looking at the different people around. Down the hall, you spotted Mark and his friends walking towards you. Your palms started to sweat and you started to get nervous. Mark saw Yuta and smiled, but then locked eyes with you. Although it was only for a second, his eyes lit up and he started to speed up. You could see the other Dreamies behind him and you could feel the butterflies erupting in your stomach. Mark reached you and Yuta before the rest of the Dreamies did.

"Hey Yuta!" He said excitedly before looking at you. "Hey, Y/N," He said, a little softer as not to startle you or scare you away like all the other times. You didn't reply, just looked down at your feet. Yuta nudged you with his arm.

"Hi Mark," you squeaked out without looking up.

"Sorry they've been avoiding you guys. They're obviously a little shy." Yuta said. You looked up to see all the other Dreamies there.

"It's okay," Jaemin replied from behind Mark while looking at you, "They're just more adorable."

You blushed and looked back down. Donghyuck chuckled before speaking, "I'll say. I thought they would never talk to us!"

"Hey, be nice," Mark said, "They're just shy, leave it be. It's just like Jisung."

You looked up with your face on fire and your stomach flaring with butterflies. You finally got a good look at them. They were all so much more handsome up close. Yuta nudged you again, motioning for you to talk to them.

"U-Um, Mark," He looked down at you," Sorry for avoiding you. I don't hate you or anything, I just, got nervous. As you can tell, I'm not exactly the best at talking to people like Yuta is." You hoped he would accept your apology. You didn't mean to make him think that.

"It's alright. I'm not mad or anything. Your Yuta's little sister/brother, I could never be mad at you. I just wanted to get to know you is all," He replied with a chuckle.

You could feel your heart pounding. He was so nice, just like you inquired. You showed him a small smile and blushed again.

"Well guys, we should probably get to class," Jaemin said, "Y/N, Jeno, Renjun, and I can walk you if you want, you're in our class."

You looked at Yuta. He looked back at you as if saying, 'It's not my choice, don't look at me,'

~~~~~~~

It's now your choice!

Go with Jaemin, Renjun, and Jeno

Refuse the offer

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defeatedbyamerechild · 4 years

Photo

Here is my evil team organization. Remember the droog and child evil team, I asked that. So here is my grunts for Team Myriad. These children are obsessed with fighting trainers and never talk at all. Speak in rhynmes or numbers. Well sometimes but not often. Are they friend or foe?

“These child like grunts have mysteriously appeared in the Galar region. Their motivations and faces are unknown. The thing they love the most is pokemon battling.” Utilize in normal, fairy, psychic, and steel. But will use other types if they have to.

So do you like this concept? Also any criticisms for my drawing or improvements. Like their appearance, looks, or design? Would this be an interesting team?

PS I wonder how the pokevillains would react to this team. Intrigued or confused? Love your blog.

----------

I forgot about this sorry!!! I saw it the other day and forgot to reply.

Anyways, I really like the designs you have there and I can definitely see the inspiration from the Clockwork Orange aesthetics there. I like that they don’t talk and use rhymes, this is cool dialogue. It is, to me, relatively hard to picture it in an official Pokémon game because I don’t think Nintendo would want it to look too creepy and I can definitely picture this content in a creepy pasta aesthetic that I... don’t think Nintendo would wanna approach. It would be doable, though. And of course, as fan-content, even the creepy pasta style or other horror-related styles are valid. Anyway, it’s a versatile concept that could be used in many ways from just mysterious to actually scary.

I really like the masks, at first I was a bit confused because I thought these were their faces, before reading what you wrote there, but as masks these are neat. Also they are something I can see Nintendo going for, I mean, they literally gave Allister a creepy mask so why not?

Overall, yes, I like it! The concept is neat! As a basic premise for a team that works well for me, even if their goals are unclear. You are basically making the “unclearness” part of the concept. Also really like how you wrote their description in a Pokédex-style, like... the text really reminds me of Pokémon stuff. :3

The only thing I’m still kinda curious about is how this could be developped in order to remain interesting throughout the whole game/story (if a game/story were to be made with it of course), because in terms of narrative, just “it’s a mystery” with no further development can become rather boring or repetitive, or seem kinda disconnected from the rest of the narrated events (depending on how it’s done). Also it could be a problem if the mysterious events are not explained *at all* in the end (half-explained and up to interpretation endinds are good alternatives in my view, but, at least for me, “we’ll never know who they were after all” tends to be a disappointing ending).

Basically, I like the overall idea you gave me, there’s nothing here that I think is a bad idea, but I would find it hard to use if I were to make my own story with them because of the problems above. Maybe you have all that in mind and you already have a superb story with them that works perfectly well, in that case, great, I just wanted to mention what I thought of the concept in practical terms as a (bad) fanfiction writter. XD

BUUUUUUT of course I’m not the executive producer of Game Freak receiving the concept for the next game that I should review or anything, so all this is irrelevant. Even if you didn’t develop their story any further, that’s totally fine. You don’t even have the obligation of thinking this through and answering these questions, you can definitely just make your concept and visuals and not actually use it in a game/fanfiction/comic etc, that is perfectly ok. I’m just a boring person graduated in Language Arts that will go and make boring analysis of stuff. XD

About the art... I think it looks really cute! I don’t wanna go and criticize stuff based on style, like “the heads are too big, limbs are too thin” or something like this, because this is just your style. It’s an aesthetic choice. I could say that the heads are larger than what they usually are in Pokémon games, but honestly, so what? You don’t have to emulate the Pokémon style in order to create Pokémon content. So yeah, you can play with proportions as much as you want and since the drawings seem consistent in terms of symetry and style, that’s just ok.

That said, my only criticism might be...

1. The female grunt’s legs seem a bit too long (even considering the stylistic choices, I’m comparing her body proportions to that of the male grunt). Basically, if you put that same lenght of skirt on the male grunt’s body, it would go down to his socks, but on her she still has the same amount of skin + socks + boots under all that, you see? So maybe make her skirt shorter or make her boots and socks shorter... Or give up on showing parts of skin. It’s easy to lose the sense of proportions under loose clothes like skirts, but if you trace the body silhouette under her skirt, that will probably become clearer. It’s always nice to try and make a full silhouette or skeleton before drawing clothes, in my opinion. (Also this could have resulted from the angle you took the picture! could be just a distortion on the photo that made it look different, so if that’s the case, ignore this XD)

2. This could be a stylistic choice too, but I’m gonna mention it just in case, the limbs look kinda “noodle-ish”. This can also influence your measurement of body proportions like “where exactly does the arm bend”, “where exactly is the knee”, this sort of thing... Of course, as I said, it could just be style, like Adventure Time, for example. They just have those noodle arms. But since I don’t know if that was a conscious choice or not, I decided to mention. Lots of people (including younger me) start by drawing arms (and hands!) as a “continuum”, so if the arms are streched, they are just one straight line from shoulder to hand (some people will even make it shoulder to fingers and put the hand in the noodle pack). And if the limbs are bent, the elbows and knees, fingers and wrists, fold in not very precise places. However, I found it easier to draw arms, legs and hands by subdivinding these limbs into smaller sections. It’s easier to keep them proportional and understand how they bend. You made their arms fully stretched in a way where elbows are not visible and, in the girl specifically, seem a little bit short? Again that can defintely be used as stylistic resource, so only consider this tip if you’re aiming for a more realistically-proportional style.

3. You may wanna make the male grunt’s feet a bit larger? Also they are inclined and I don’t know if that was done intentionally or not. (or if it was just the paper bending a bit when you took the pic).

I’m like... not a professional artist or a teacher or anything. I’ve literally never studied art, so when I give out these feedbacks, they are usually based on my own life-experience and what I’ve learned drawing. But it’s always hard to set the line between style and mistakes. I was once told that you must first learn the basics of actually proportional anatomy before you can start playing with it, so when people ask me for tips, I try to stick to the things I’ve learned myself while developing my knowledge in anatomy and proportions. Not that I am like.. an expert, of course. So yeah, basically, don’t take my criticism as the ultimate truth, I’m still just learning just like you. ^^

About suggestions and improvements: Maybe add something to their canes, on the handle part? And maybe adding detail to their boots... But only if you want to of course. Also, have you thought of eyelashes for the masks, like... eyelashes on only one eye or something? This wouldn’t be for the grunts because I think they look great just like that and are already complex enough, but you might wanna use that for admins or something? Specially if it’s eyelashes on the lower half of the eye.

I also would like to say that I couldn’t read everything you wrote, sorry.... I’m bad with handwriting! So forgive me if I said anything redundant that you had already put in the info. ^^

And finally... I don’t usually make reaction things in submissions, only during ask events, so forgive me for not giving you the villains reactions here. I hope you understand. ^^

SORRY FOR THE SUPER LONG REPLY AND FOR THE DELAY, I HOPE YOU FIND WHAT I SAID INTERESTING AND USEFUL MAYBE?

#submission #collab #thanks

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gallickingun · 4 years

Text

hofortendou x nishinoya || gallickingun matchups

@hofortendou : first off conGRATS !! i’m so glad to see that your blog keeps growing! also i would like to participate in your matchup event! i would like a male match from haikyuu 🥰 i’m (she/her) 5’4”, short-ish haired brunette with big hazel eyes (i’m talkin’ tim burton scale) and covered in freckles. I do digital art both as a hobby and for uni, i play video games, watch too much anime, i longboard when i can or if it’s a particularly nice day out, and i absolutely love plants, like they’re all over my apt. if i had to give myself an aesthetic i’d say a mix between art mom n grunge, i think? i usually wear a hoodie and shorts/sweats bc i work from home but i’m a sucker for cropped jackets/shirts w mom jeans and docs when i need to actually get dressed. i like to learn new things and am v organized but not overbearing w it, my personality is very open minded, intro-extroverted and humor based but i’m literally baby and WILL cry if you raise your voice at me. that being said i’m v affectionate and love me some tenderness. if i had to look for anything in a partner it’d be sympathy and humor, for sure. and i would love to go do something fun like roller skating or walk around a fair for a first date, something memorable and not super basic, y’know? ty and ily moe ❤️

Thank you so much for participating! I really hope you like this! And thank you again for supporting me, it means the whole entire world 🧡

Warning: Slight NSFW ahead! Under the cut~

― Noya supports going out or staying in - whether that’s trying a new Thai place, or watching anime on the couch. Sometimes you gotta paint the town red, other times you have to chill out on the sofa! ― He’s affectionate as all get out, absolutely adores and requires to touch you at all times. Hand in your pocket, hand in your hand, hand on your waist. Once you two get comfortable enough with each other, he’ll kiss you in public if you’re okay with it, he’ll hold your hand at all times, and will definitely make sure that everyone knows the two of you are grossly in love. ― I think your aesthetics would go really well together! Noya canonically loves the color black, so I think that your grunge aesthetics would go together, even if you both like to switch it up from time to time.

☁ Nishinoya absolutely adores you. To the point where you’re not sure sometimes if he’s genuine or not. Whether you’re fully decked out in a complete face of makeup and a full snazzy dress, or lounging around the house in one of his old jerseys and some joggers.. that man is going to remind you how beautiful you are.

☁ He definitely wants to kick your ass in video games, though. He has a radical competitive streak, no matter what the activity is or if he’s done it before. It will be his first time playing Mario Kart and he’ll jump up and down on the couch, mashing buttons and squealing at the top of his lungs every time he gets thrown off the track. If it’s more FPS style games, he talks too loud and pretends to know what he’s talking about by using slang that he’s heard from his other friends who play video games a little more.

☁ Noya loves it when you wear crop tops - sweatshirts, tanks, tees, etc. - he likes to sneak his hands along your waist and up your shoulders. His thumbs run along your ribs and he pulls you in closer all the time, nuzzling your nose and whispering sappy compliments and corny pick up lines and raunchy one liners. He ducks his head into your neck and as he’s pressing kisses to your skin, his fingertips are searing into your waist, and you feel completely lightheaded at being so overwhelmed by his closeness.

☁ He gets loud from time to time, but when you shy away from him or possibly even tear up, he’s immediately bringing his voice down a few octaves and rushing forward to apologize and comfort you. His hands find your face and his voice is gentle, eyes warm as he looks across at you to

☁ There is a pretty heavy praise and worship between the two of you - Nishinoya loves to kiss your lips and tell you how pretty your eyes are and how good you take him and how beautiful your body looks while he’s fucking into you slow and deep. He’ll whisper with his nose against your temple, his lips against the shell of your ear, “Such a good girl, damn, you’re gorgeous. Look so pretty when you’re taking me just like this,” and then he makes your pussy cream with his fingers sneaked between your hips to find that precious bundle of nerves.

☁ On the same hand, he loves it when you whimper praises into the thin air between your bodies. You whimper, gasping out, “N-Noya, love your cock, please, fill me up, I-I want more.” And oh, does he deliver. Somehow he’s able to keep stretching you out and filling you up, even when you both think your cunt has sucked him in to the base. You tell him in blundering babbles how strong he is and how safe you feel with him, and the sound of you doting on him with your words is what makes his cock twitch just before he coats your walls white.

☁ At least once a month you two have a veg out on the couch night. Noya orders dinner, you put together a blanket nest, and you two snuggle down into the corner of the couch and watch whatever reruns or new anime is on that you’ve both decided to watch. He’ll ask you a million questions if he’s never seen it before, even if you haven’t seen it before, because he’s just so curious to know how it ends even though he doesn’t really want you to tell him.

☁ Nishinoya wants to do everything you love, no matter if he’s truly interested in it or not. It’s important to you, so it’s important to him. However, he really has a short attention span, so unless it’s something super stimulating, you’ll need to be willing to redirect him whenever necessary. You might need to stop for food in the middle just to break it all up.

☁ Affectionate? Please. Nishinoya can’t keep his hands off of you. If you’re in the same room together, he’s stood next to you, hand in your back pocket or arm around your shoulder. Everyone knows you two are together from the moment you set foot anywhere because he’s kissing your forehead or you’re leaning into his bicep or you’re holding each other around the waist. Sometimes the others have to remind you that you’re in public, even though Noya is just giving you a lil’ forehead smooch.

☁ Noya is a pretty joking guy, even though he does have his serious moments. He and Asahi are really close and he knows how to joke with him, so he learns from that and uses it to determine how far he can go with you so far as sarcasm and banter. He nudges your ribs and giggles in your ear and tells too many jokes sometimes, but you love it. There are times when he takes it too far, though, and the first time you get upset because of something he said, he’s apologizing for days and latching himself onto you like a koala. You have to tell him a dozen times over that you’re okay, so long as he doesn’t tell that joke again.

"It’s hot! And I’m not getting any better at this!” Noya groans, dropping back on the concrete so he’s laid out, sprawled limbs spread out every which way. He drapes his arm over his face to cover his eyes from the beating sun, his lips pulled into a pout, “Please, can’t we eat?!”

You chuckle, squatting beside him to tickle the little sliver of skin that’s peeking out from under the hem of his shirt from where he’s caused it to ride up by moving his arms around. “C’mon, Yuu, you’re not going to quit on me now, are you?”

Noya groans, rolling onto his side so he can rest his cheek against the tops of your knees, “But it’s hot and I’m hungry. We’ve been at this for hours!”

“It’s been twenty minutes.”

“Well-”

“It’s fine, babe,” you tell him, running your fingers through his hair, pulling gently at the brunette strands with your digits. Another chuckle shakes your chest and he turns his head to look at you, thankful that your body is blocking the direct sunlight, “I don’t want to not learn, honey, I just forgot to eat breakfast. Maybe we can grab something, go for a swim, and then try again?”

You do as he says, finding a food cart to grab something small to eat and scarfing it down on a picnic table that’s centered along the pavilion that overlooks the beach. You hold hands underneath the table, your palms rested on Noya’s knee. He’ll play with your fingers, squeezing your knuckles and following the curve of your palm down to your wrist. It feels that sometimes he’s even checking your pulse to make sure that you’re still okay, still with him. As if he cannot believe that this isn’t some sort of dream that he has the ecstasy of reliving every day.

As you drop your tee shirt to reveal your bathing suit, you can’t help but notice Noya’s eyes are all over your frame. He comes up behind you before you can turn around to admonish him for undressing you with his eyes in front of everyone here on the beach, and his arms wrap around your waist, head tucked into your neck. When he speaks, his voice is husky and it sends a jolt of electricity directly to your core, “We could always just go home-”

“You promised, Noya!” You whine, circling your hands around his wrist and tugging playfully. He groans and bares his teeth to your shoulder, sucking one harsh time before releasing you, “Only because I’m completely whipped for you, babe.”

Your feet hit the water and Noya is flying past you into the waves, screaming at the top of his lungs before he plunges into the sea. You can’t contain the giggles that part your lips, covering your mouth with your hand as the waves crash into your shins. You’re meeting him halfway, floating in the ocean water up to your shoulders, your body folded at the waist beneath the crest of the waves, “You’re so dramatic, Yuu.”

“You wouldn’t have me any other way, would you?” he asks, eyes still burning with that familiar flame as he tugs you by your hips so you’re straddling his waist beneath the water. You gasp as he rolls his hips up into you, the feel of his thick length hardening against your thigh, “N-Noya-”

“Shh,” his voice is accented by the feel of his middle finger slipping your bathing suit to he side, “Keep quiet, baby girl, and I’ll make sure we both feel good.”

Your voice is lost in your throat, irises swallowed by your pupils when the first languid stroke of his fingers finds your innermost folds. Nishinoya pulls your chin with his free hand, tilting your head so he can kiss you on the mouth, eliciting a gasp from the back of your throat, “That’s not quiet, baby. Try again.”

The way you gulp and nod your head makes him chuckle, but he can’t keep himself from you, and before you know it, he’s devouring you from both ends.

Please check HERE to see if I’ve done your matchup already. Remember, I will also post your matchup with the tag: “#emoji-matchup”, using your emoji in place of the word, so if you can remember your emoji, you can search my blog for that tag to see if I have completed it already!

#nishinoya yuu #nishinoya matchup #haikyuu!!#haikyuu!! matchup #hq matchup #nishinoya yuu matchup #nishinoya hq #nishinoya haikyuu #morgan does matchups #hofortendou #💌 matchup

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athina-blaine · 4 years

Link

Jon goes on a business trip.

Chapters: 1/1 [Complete]

Words: 1,692

Tags: Established Relationship, Canon-Typical Violence, Long-Distance

Jon threw his backpack onto the hotel bed and slumped into the desk chair. It boggled him how he could even think about sitting after being trapped in an uncomfortable airplane seat for the last 12 hours, but he just didn’t have the energy to stand.

Weak, grey lighting wormed through the ratty curtains, washing out the already muted yellow walls and doing nothing to lift the temperature of the room. The second hand of the analogue clock twitched in place.

You get what you pay for.

Martin had insisted he would stay up late waiting for Jon's call, but guilt still twisted his stomach as he dialled his number. He wished Martin would have chosen to get some sleep instead, but, then again, the thought of going another day without hearing from him didn’t feel particularly good either.

The call clicked.

“Hello? Jon?”

“Evening.”

“I believe you mean, good morning."

"Shut up."

"Where’ve you been? I’ve been waiting around for ages.”

“I told you I wouldn’t be getting in until around 7. If anything, I’m ahead of schedule.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I was just kind of hoping you were exaggerating how long it would take. You know, so if you get there a bit early, it’s like a nice little surprise.”

“Martin, if you’re expecting an airport to ever being running ahead of schedule, I’m sorry to say, you’ve already lost.”

Martin’s laugh was staticky in the receiver. “So, what’s it like? Sample any cuisines? Are the locals friendly?”

“Yes, I’ve had a bagel sandwich from a coffee shop at the airport, and the cab driver who escorted me to the hotel shouted at me.”

“What did you do?”

“What makes you think I did something?”

“Ah, well, you know, you can be a bit— And it’s not your fault! You’ve just been in a flying metal box for the last day, so it’s totally reasonable to be grumpy. But you can be a bit tetchy at times.”

Jon sighed. “I suppose I was a bit more aggressive expressing my umbrage at the way he handled my bags than was strictly necessary.”

“Jon.”

“My laptop was in there! He threw it.”

“Of course, dear.”

Jon curled up in his chair, wrapping his arm around his knees. “So, what have you been doing?”

“Oh, nothing interesting. Just rewatching old episodes of Emergency Contact. Couldn’t you have at least waited until Monday to fly across the world so we could watch the new one together? Kathy is finally going to find out what happened to her fiancé.”

“I'm sorry, eldritch fear monsters have very little respect for broadcast network scheduling.”

“Pity.”

“You don’t have to wait for me, you know.”

“Oh, don’t give me that. What’s the point of knowing some big secret if you don’t have anyone to talk to about it? And don’t just try to know it, either!”

“That would be a terrible misuse of my abilities.”

“Since when did you give a toss about that?” Martin yawned, smacking his lips gently. “Well, I guess I should let you go. You must be exhausted.”

“Not really.” Jon didn’t sleep much these days. “But you need to get up early for work, so …”

Martin hummed. The second-hand of the clock continued ticking pointlessly. A film of dust was beginning to settle on the back of Jon's throat. What a terrible hovel this place was.

“Oh, wait, before you go, I wanted to tell you, you won’t believe what Melanie found while digging around for the Davis case.”

“What is it?”

“Okay, so, you know how the guy was acting super weird and it’s, like, yeah, he definitely killed his ex-wife, right?”

“Yeah?” Jon said, pulling the thin blanket off the bed before settling back down.

“Well, guess what Melanie found in the storage closet of his mechanic’s shop?”

“Her dismembered corpse?”

“What? No, his toolbox. What’s the matter with you? You’re so morbid.”

"Oh."

“That’s a joke, I’m joking. Melanie didn’t find anything, was talking my ear off all day yesterday about it. Absolutely exhausting. I mean, I get it, Brighton isn’t exactly close, but remember when I had to go all the way to bloody Plymouth?”

Jon did, but he let Martin remind him anyway, and closed his eyes.

Snow crunched under Jon’s feet as he limped through the street, a packet of files tucked under his arm. The custodian at the Federova Research Centre had been furious at the hour with which he asked for one of their documents, but she had quickly reconsidered when she helpfully told him about the gambling ring she was running.

He still felt terribly guilty about it, but it got a little easier every time. He didn’t know if that made it worse.

A gust of icy wind sliced through his coat, chilling his bones. His nose burned as he breathed down the arctic air. He had been entirely unprepared for this miserable weather and fantasized about his dry hotel and a cup of hot coffee.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling off his glove with his teeth, he took it out and opened the screen.

>aaahhhh!! im burning up!!! help!!!

Attached was a picture of the sun shining in the middle of a blue sky. Smiling, Jon typed a response, the tips of his fingers already uncomfortably numb.

>Be sure to wear plenty of sunblock

He angled his phone at the night sky, blanketed in thick, dreary clouds, taking a picture and sending it.

>oh, yikes. you sure im not the one on vacation?

>You know this isn’t a vacation

>yeah, going on vacation would require you taking that stick out of ur arse

> ):<

>im sorry, it’s a nice stick

>Thank you

>also why are you awake??

>Research. Need I remind you that you were the one who texted me?

>i was expecting you to see it tomorrow!! go to bed!!

>Yes, darling

A light snowfall had begun. Wild animals skittered by in the distance, dark shadows in the corner of his eyes. Tucking his phone away, he continued his trudge, the bruises on his left leg throbbing.

He’d go to bed once he got these documents sorted.

The black ooze caught Jon’s foot and he crashed to the ground, shoulder crunching under his weight. The creature crept up to his knee, squelching as it latched onto his other leg, gelatinous and soggy. Hissing sharply through his teeth, he clawed the dirt, pulling himself forward. His foot had grown numb.

The creature had reached his waist and his fingers sluiced through the wet soil, his body too heavy to move. Pins and needles crawled up his legs before he lost feeling in them entirely. Though it had no mouth, the creature groaned, the sound of satisfaction one might make as it bit down into their meal.

He grabbed his phone before it ate his pocket and made a call. It rang.

It went to voicemail.

The desperate words died on his tongue. He shut his eyes tightly, pressing his face into the ground and breathing in the musty earth.

“Um, hello.”

A slimy tendril crawled along the back of his neck, leaving a damp trail in its wake before creeping into his hair. It would never wash out.

“Just wanted to see if you were awake. Of course, you aren’t, it’s like 4 AM. Not your fault. Nothing new on my end.” The creature squeezed, pressing his ribs against each other. “No, no, that was a lie. I’m currently being attacked by some kind of blob monster. Didn’t want to worry you, sorry. That was stupid of me.”

The scent of sweet organic fumes struck him, and he stiffened, stomach churning.

“I am trying very, very hard not to die right not, but just in case, figured, should give you a call. Seemed like the right thing to do.” He chuckled, which turned into a splutter as the thick sludge began filling his mouth and his nose. “I’m sorry.”

He ended the call, hand falling limp, still cradling his phone. It was swallowed shortly after.

The airport was fit to burst as Jon worked his way through it, suffering bumped shoulders and crying children the whole way. The lingering smell of floor cleaner and cigarette smoke made his world spin on an axis, but he pressed on.

He was home. He was home, and he’d be in his bed within the hour. He pictured changing into his pyjamas and crawling under his cosy bedsheets, being held, as he was shoved through customs by sour faced security guards who wanted to be there even less than him and wanted him to know it.

When he reached the airport lobby, something barrelled into his chest.

“Finally,” said Martin, squeezing Jon hard enough to make his eyes pop. “You were supposed to be in two hours ago.”

“I told you it was delayed,” Jon said, resting his cheek on Martin’s shoulder. He inhaled the scent of his own lemon detergent and had a vision of Martin cycloning through their flat in a cleaning frenzy. “You said you were going to wait at home.”

“I lied and you knew it.”

“I did not."

Martin looked up, a gentle smile on his lips. It trembled, his eyes growing misty, before it cracked. “So, um, I know this is going to sound really crazy, but …”

“Yes?”

“Do you think you could just, you know, never, ever leave again? Ever?”

He looked so small and scared as he said it. Jon had done this to him. Again.

Jon pulled him back into his arms. “I can’t promise that. But it sounds nice.”

“Yeah.” Martin sniffed. “And I don’t mean just these little jaunts to the other side of the flippin’ planet where you try and get yourself killed. If you go to Tesco, I'm gonna be on your arse. Right? Got it?”

“Of course.”

“You can still go to the bathroom by yourself, that’s okay.”

“Perfectly reasonable. You're dizzying me.”

Martin pinched his arm and pressed his mouth against Jon’s, slow and hungry, before dragging them towards the exit gate.

“Come on, let’s get you in bed.”

#the magnus archives #tma #themagnuspod #jonmartin #jonathon sims #martin blackwood #fic #fanfiction

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