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genshin-impact-writings · 1 year

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hi, can i request the good ol' "treating their wounds" trope with childe? (help im a sucker for it) it'd be nice if you could write a drabble, but a headcanon is also fine ! you seem like a sweet person ngl and i adore your writings <33

It's embarrassing how long this request has been sitting in my inbox, and I'm so sorry that it took me so long to finally write this because it's literally one of my favorite tropes ever. If you're still around, anon, I really hope you enjoy this! <3

Notes: mentions of blood and injuries, reader is a healer and has a cryo vision

Safe in my hands – Childe x gn!reader

It’s already dark outside when a knock on your door interrupts your quiet and peaceful evening. For a moment, you consider to ignore whoever’s outside of your hours right now but when they knock again, more impatiently this time, you sigh and put your book down. Another knock, and you make your way to the hallway, ready to bite the head of your unexpected visitor off as you fling the door open. But the words die on your tongue when you recognize Childe – or rather, the state he’s in. He’s barely able to keep himself upright, clutching his ribs, and his clothes are drenched in blood. Still, he somehow manages to crack a smile. “I know it’s late,” he says and lets out a shaky breath, “but I think I need your help.”

You’re too stunned to speak, so you just drag him inside and shut the door. It’s not the first time he shows up at your doorstep, bleeding and beaten, but it’s most definitely the first time that his injuries are this bad. Archons, you really hope your abilities are good enough to help him.

“I hope this is not your blood,” you say in a miserable attempt to ease the tension that fills your small living room. Childe shakes his head and laughs, a laugh that quickly turns into a cough, and your heart sinks. “You really need to stop being so reckless.”

“Are you worried about me, comrade?”

“No, I’m more worried about the fact that you keep ruining my furniture.” It feels awful to crack jokes in a situation like this but you need to distract yourself from freaking out. Childe is your friend, and it hurts to see him like this. It hurts to know that he’s reckless enough to risk his life just for the thrill of battle. If he continues like this, he’ll get himself killed sooner or later, you’re sure. One day, you might not be able to save him.

But today, you can, so you push these thoughts to the back of your mind and help him take off his jacket. It’s ruined, as well as his maroon colored shirt, but you honestly couldn’t care less about his clothes, especially now that you can clearly see the severity of his injuries to the full extent. His upper body is covered in several cuts and bruises, and his ribcage is bruised as well.

“Not looking too good, hm?” Childe asks, though he probably already knows the answer. With a sigh, you say, “Nothing I can’t deal with. I’ll get a cloth and some water. Some of these cuts look really nasty. Wait here.”

It doesn’t take long to fetch everything you need in your kitchen. When you return to the living room, Childe forces himself to smile once again. “Thank you for helping me.”

“Don’t mention it,” you say as you start to clean a particularly deep cut on his chest. “Now, do you want to tell me what happened out there?”

“Fatui business,” is all he replies, and you nod. He never tells you anything about his work. At first, it has irritated you because you were convinced that he didn’t trust you but now, you know that he keeps his silence to protect you. After all, it’s dangerous to get involved with the Harbingers.

“Okay,” you say and put the cloth aside, “I’m going to heal this cut first, and then I’ll take care of your ribs. Alright?”

He nods. “You’re the healer, comrade. I trust you.”

You take a deep breath and let your hand hover over the cut, focusing on your ability to speed up the cell growth. The injury is bad but you’ve seen worse during the time you have worked as the Milleliths’ healer, and soon enough, the wound stops bleeding, giving you the opportunity to examine it further. It’s already looking a lot better but healing it completely will take a while. “This might hurt,” you warn him, “but afterwards, you’ll feel a lot better.”

He doesn’t flinch, not even once, but the way he presses his lips together is enough to tell you that he’s in pain. “Comrade, are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Shut up. I need to focus.”

A few minutes go by, silence settling in until you pull your hand away and let out a sigh of relief. “There,” you say, “as good as new. What about your ribs?”

“I don’t think they’re broken,” Childe replies and sits up, only to let himself fall back against the backrest of your couch, “but they sure hurt.”

“I can help with that.” You suck your lower lip between your teeth, trying very hard not to lose your focus, as you summon Cryo to your fingertips and gently press them against his bruised skin. He hisses in pain but soon enough, you feel his tense muscles relax beneath your touch, and he closes his eyes, a relieved sigh escaping his slightly parted lips.

“Better?” you ask, softly.

“Yeah. Thank you.”

A smile flashes over your face. A smile that quickly fades when you realize that his body is covered in scars, a clear sign that he has been in this spot way too often already. It’s not a deliberate action, nothing you have planned to do, but you raise your hand and carefully trace the faded scar that spreads across his chest. Childe stays perfectly still but you can feel his racing heartbeat underneath your fingers.

“What happened there?” you ask, your voice barely louder than a whisper. Childe turns his head away to avoid your gaze. “The Abyss isn’t exactly a friendly place – especially not when you’re a foolish and overconfident kid.”

Your heart is resting flat on his chest now, right above his heart, your touch still so gently that he feels like he’s going to melt right on the spot. He can’t remember the last time someone has cared about him in the way you do. He knows he should probably pull away but something in him craves this, craves the feeling of security and peace only you can give him. And so, he doesn’t pull away.

Moving your other hand to the back of his neck, you guide him forward until your forehead is pressed against his and the tips of your noses brush together every time one of you moves. This close to him, it’s almost impossible to ignore the rose-colored blush that’s dusting his freckled cheeks, and judging from the way his ocean blue eyes widen just the tiniest bit, he’s well aware of that, too.

“I’m sorry this happened to you,” you say quietly. “I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to deal with all of that.”

Childe lets out a shaky breath. It’s rare that he’s at a loss for words but in that moment, it’s like has lost the ability to form a proper sentence. He doesn’t know if it’s because you’re still so close to him or because he’s so taken aback by the fact that you genuinely care about him, despite everything he has done in the past. Most people don’t like being around him, even his parents and older siblings have distanced themselves from him after he joined the Fatui, and sometimes he just feels terribly lonely.

“I’m fine now,” he whispers – and he means it. Here with you, he feels at ease, like nothing else matters, and this time, his smile is genuine. “All thanks to you.”

Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed it please consider liking, reblogging and/or leaving feedback. I'd really appreciate the support!

Taglist: @genshinparty @kaeyas-beloved @ajaxstar @caesars-bubbles @the-gayest-sky-kid

#childe x reader #tartaglia x reader #genshin impact x reader #childe x you #childe fluff #genshin impact fluff #genshin fanfic #reader insert #gn!reader #gender neutral reader #childe x gn!reader

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wraith-caller · 4 months

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D, Hunter of the Dead, or Darian, is easy for a lot of people to hate. He’s rigid, allied with the Golden Order, and a hunter of the undead, who may be in need of mercies which the Order isn't interested in providing. I often see him written off as sort of bigoted, callous, an asshole, and given little in the way of nuance that is afforded to (almost all of) the rest of the cast of complicated characters we encounter. So I’d like to try to tease out those shades of grey, highlight the very human tragedy of his backstory, as well as make a few (hopefully interesting) observations about his parallels with both Fia and Morgott.

🚨🚨SPOILERS AHEAD🚨🚨

I. A quick recap

Players can first meet Darian near Summonwater, where he warns us about the Tibia Mariner and Those Who Live in Death. If we harvest the Mariner’s deathroot and return to him, he’ll offer to show us to the Bestial Sanctum and ask us to take his place as Gurranq’s servant. He will move to the Roundtable Hold and gives us a little info on who he is, who he serves, his bitterness towards Rogier, and will teach us incantations which are especially effective against the undead. We can summon him for help in two fights: one against a Mariner in eastern Liurnia, and another against a Black Knife Assassin in the Black Knife Catacombs. If you’ve kept up with Fia’s quest, she’ll ask you to bring the Weathered Dagger to its original owner. Interacting with Darian while having this item will result in him wondering where you got it, offering to take it off your hands, and thanking you for it. Next time you come to the Roundtable, he’ll be dead, presumably killed by the Fia’s Mist spell.

II. The allure of acceptance in an otherwise hostile world

As with most characters, we’re given very little info about who Darian and Devin were or where they’re coming from. Info from the Inseparable Sword tells us:

The inseparable twins found solace in the Golden Order, the only institution not to revile them as accursed beings.

The reason for the harsh treatment appears to be related to their strange nature. The twins share a single soul between them, living otherwise as distinct, autonomous persons. Per the Twinned Set:

The two known as D are inseparable twins. They are of two bodies and two minds, but one single soul.

Elden Ring is full of curses and shunned beings, so it’s not all that surprising that the world saw these kids with their weird spiritual situation and just weren’t having it. What is surprising at first glance is that the Golden Order, who are generally experts at reviling aberrant lifeforms, are the ones to accept them. But it makes some sense. Marika birthed not one, but two sets of cursed twins. And of course, Marika and Radagon have a very similar condition. In the fight within the Erdtree, we see them as one singular body, shifting between two aspects. It likely wasn’t always this way, and they were probably two distinct beings at some point, like Darian and Devin. Aside from how impractical it'd be to ask us to believe that no one noticed these two high profile rulers were never active at the same time, the wording of some of Marika’s echos indicates the two were not sharing a single body at some point:

O Radagon, leal hound of the Golden Order. Thou'rt yet to become me. Thou'rt yet to become a god. Let us be shattered, both. Mine other self.

All of this is to say, Marika and Radagon’s nature may have at one point been exactly like the D twins: a single soul shared between two bodies. This is further teased at by the fact that we receive the Inner Order gesture from Devin, and the Outer Order after listening to Marika’s words in a church. While the placement of these gestures was likely much more about illustrating the difference in blind faith versus an examined one, given Marika’s dialog there, it’s certainly interesting that we are given these paired gestures by these two characters. It’s not common knowledge to people of the Lands Between that Marika and Radagon are the same, but perhaps enough people in the upper echelons of the Order know this so as to recognize the similarity, and thus accept Darian and Devin.

It's clear why the Golden Order might make an exception for the D twins. It also conveniently sets the stage for some very fanatical devotion. It’s easy to write off fanatics. After all, they’re, well, fanatical. They’re rigid, unchanging, uninterested in adapting to new information which sheds any unflattering light on their new group. We’re all quite susceptible to this, our propensity towards tribalism once being a valuable trait which helped us to survive in our species’ infancy. The D twins get this kind of cranked up to 11 because they suffered a lifetime of being not just unwanted, but actively despised by everyone. They’re reviled for something they have no control over. We don’t know anything about their life as children, but it wouldn’t be surprising to learn they were abandoned by their parents if all institutions saw them as reviled. It could be that their parents were also adherents of the Golden Order, but given that they are Tarnished, and that the Inseparable Sword description specifies that they found solace rather than took solace or similar wording, it reads as though they may have only really had each other until the Order took them in.

What does something like that do to a person, especially if they lived with such cruelty as children? The need to belong is fundamental to our being, and shunning on a societal level like this would be pretty devastating. And it isn’t just one society that’s repulsed by you – it is every society except one. While the Golden Order has done horrible things, that becomes a lot harder to focus on when the hands that have committed those wrongs are the first to ever be extended to you in kindness. It’s hardly surprising then that Darian doesn’t just serve the Order, but has woven it into his identity. He doesn’t have any interests to share with us outside of his dedication to the Golden Order, like Rogier with his desire to be a scholar. He was given a purpose by the only people to show him acceptance, and he will pursue it doggedly.

III. Morgott and Darian – “Thy kind are all of a piece”

I mentioned before that the Order may have been accepting of the D twins due to Marika’s own 2 sets of twins. Malenia and Miquella have no significant similarities to Darian and Devin. And while Mohg shares a sense of instability with Devin, they don’t have much more in common beyond their cursed nature. Darian and Morgott, however, share a handful of interesting parallels.

They’re both reviled and rejected due to the circumstances of their birth. Cursed through no fault of their own, both were likely abandoned for it and kept from participating in society. Both serve the Golden Order fervently, with Morgott presiding over Leyndell as king while Darian hunts the dead on their behalf. In spite of being mistreated for what they are, they both perpetuate that mistreatment onto others like them. Morgott keeps the Merchants imprisoned, and leaves the Omens to wallow in the sewers. Darian hunts Those Who Live in Death while refusing to accept Rogier’s discovery that they are a result of a flaw in the very thing Darian has devoted himself to.

And both have a less than stable twin brother, one they never mention but for whom we might be able to reasonably assume they care about all the same as they were both likely each other’s only companion for much of their lives. When naming all of his siblings as traitors, Morgott notably leaves out Mohg from his condemnations. Darian, if killed by the player, begs his brother’s forgiveness, and keeps his very existence under wraps, with only Rogier appearing to know of Devin. Of further note, Morgott and Darian walk above ground, under the light of the Erdtree, while both Mohg and Devin live beneath the earth, in the endless night of the Eternal Cities.

IV. Rogier – “Such adaptability is more important now than ever...”

Besides Gurranq, the only other person we hear much about from Darian is Rogier. The dialog these two give about each other indicates that they meant a lot to each other before their fallout. I touched on it in my post about Rogier, but in essence, while Rogier appears composed and maybe even a bit wistful about their old days, Darian seems to stew and fume with resentment. He talks about Rogier as someone who used to be all of these positive things, but that he gave it up when he fell from the righteous path and took up with Those Who Live in Death, ultimately becoming a victim of them.

Yet in spite of their apparent split, we still catch Darian helping Rogier out with his research. He tells Rogier about the markings he found in Summonwater, and he fights a Black Knife Assassin in order to help us bring the knife print back to Rogier. There’s a strange little back and forth between them and I can’t help but read it as Darian navigating an internal conflict he’s not all that familiar with. After all, he’s unlikely to have had a friend like Rogier before, given how he was hated by everyone. So he’s even more unprepared to deal with losing that singular positive relationship he had with another person who wasn’t his own brother, or ordained to accept him. So he struggles, both resenting Rogier for his sacrilegious discoveries and maybe regretting parting ways to begin with. It has him fuming one moment then bringing back peace offerings the next.

They’re a classic case of opposites attracting, and the polarity between the refusal/acceptance of change was their downfall. Rogier encountered new information, was able to integrate that into his reality, made the challenging admission that he’d been doing wrong, and tried to fix it. Darian listened, but simply shut it down. It’s easy to write it off as bigotry, fanaticism, or whatever else – Fia indicates that the undead are unjustly persecuted by the Order, and Rogier tells us they aren’t malicious but rather unfortunate bystanders. Darian is too rigid in his beliefs to accept change, especially a change so radical as this. And he’d have to admit that he and Rogier may have been perpetuating an injustice in their brutal treatment of Those Who Live in Death.

I think there’s another pretty important factor in this which is often overlooked in discussions of Darian’s inability to adapt to the idea of a flawed Golden Order. And that’s in how much of his self-worth, his self-esteem, is going to inevitably be tied to the only people in the world to accept him and his brother as being fit for life. He wasn’t just exiled from his home after witnessing Grace like Fia or Roderika, he was reviled by everyone from day one. As I’ve said before, this leaves an indelible mark on a person, and such extreme shunning and forced isolation from society are a form of psychological torture. This is bound to leave a person with some trauma and maladaptive traits, and one that is relevant here is Darian’s inability to handle the Golden Order being mistaken about something so personal. This isn’t some mild administrative mistake, or even a major miscalculation in a war. It is a mistake about who is accursed and who isn’t, who is fit for society and who isn’t. And if they’re mistaken about the dead, who else are they mistaken about?

Normal people who have normal lives have a hard enough time accepting change. And those normal people have an even harder time taking in that change if it conflicts with some belief they already hold dear. So for someone like Darian, a change like this is not some trivial adjustment. It could be world-shattering for him, and would take loads of effort to accept, an effort he’d then have to make entirely on his own since his initial reaction was to flee from the conflict that brought it on altogether. He left Rogier, unable to handle this revelation, finding it easier to deny it altogether than accept it. And that in itself must tell us how painful this new truth would be for him – as someone viewed as accursed by all societies outside of the Order, Rogier very well could have been his only friend. Darian was willing to sever that link in an effort to preserve the reality where he has acceptance and a place in society. It is a very human reaction, and one that I feel deserves a little bit of reflecting on when we consider Darian and his motivations. This isn’t a standard case of someone being a stubborn ass because they can’t admit they made a mistake. This is something akin to cult indoctrination, when a traumatized person’s identity is far too wrapped up in people who told them that they are good, and that it’s everyone else who doesn’t love them.

V. Fia and Darian as caregivers

These two have more in common than you might think initially, since they’re positioned on opposite ends of the spectrum in the matter of death. While Fia seeks to uplift the dead, Darian would terminate them. One reviles the Order while the other reveres it. But both know very well what it is to be an outcast. Fia is exiled from her home after seeing Grace, and upon her arrival to the Lands Between is seen by some as “vulgar”. It’s her first taste of receiving the kind of scorn Darian would’ve known all his life.

But she still finds it in herself to care for others. And I would argue that Darian does too. Fia seeks to bear the hatred and disgust others have for the dead, to protect them from persecution. She has a gentle bearing that invites us to let our guard down around her, is soft spoken, steady, and calm. Darian shares a similarly placid disposition for the most part. Where Fia wants to protect the dead, Darian seeks to protect others from them. While he hunts the dead for the perfection of the Order, he clearly cares about the people the dead inflict themselves on. Upon first encountering him in Limgrave, we overhear him speaking to one such victim of Those Who Live in Death, saying:

I'm sorry, I cannot give you your proper rites... But at least you did not join Those Who Live in Death. Your soul will return to the Erdtree, in time.

He gives what comfort he can to this person, admitting that it isn’t much. And he does his best to warn us away from the village, trying to keep us from harm. When we return with the deathroot, he names us a comrade. Contrast this with Tanith or Varre, who ask us to kill for them to prove our allegiance. Darian does the opposite, telling us to leave the dead alone lest we fall victim, chastises us as foolish for taking such a risk to get the root anyway, and then invites us to serve Gurranq. He’s uninterested in pressuring or forcing us to join him, much less in having us bloody our hands for his own approval.

In his cut dialog for the Dreambrew quest, his thoughts go not to his own personal enjoyment of the drink we offer him, but to the victims of the dead. He says:

Alcohol, to make a libation? A fine idea. The Lands Between brim with the dead. If a drink can serve even as a small rite of remembrance, that is enough.

And then there’s probably the most blatant symbolism of this caring nature seen in the form of his armor and his posture with it. He literally holds his other half protectively in his idle stance, cradling the head of his twin as he is clutched by this smaller, frailer form. Even in death, repositioning the camera beneath him shows him shielding the bust as if to protect it from Fia’s fatal attack on him.

I often see Darian characterized as cold because of his distaste for the undead. But all of these little things about him add up to me as someone who is more concerned with being conscientious and caring of the living.

VI. Conclusion

I don't anticipate changing many minds about Darian. This is a pretty niche corner of an already niche fandom, after all, and it's super tempting to pick sides in search of which group in the game is right or wrong, which is going to pave the best way forward. Most characters in the game are doing something less than moral in an effort to advance an agenda, whether their own or that of who they serve. But at the same time, they usually have interesting and sympathetic motivations pushing them towards those goals. Fia murders Darian and never tells us her true goals until we find her with Godwyn, never letting us know that we were assisting her in killing someone, maybe even a friend, when she handed us that dagger. But she does all this in an effort to protect those she sees as persecuted. Darian is the one persecuting that group, but he does it as someone who has seen the violence the dead inflict on the living, as someone who has lived the very same persecution, as a servant to the only people to ever stay that persecution for him the way Fia would for the dead. This game is not interested in giving us neatly delineated good guys and bad guys for the most part, which is what makes their stories so compelling even when we're only given a few breadcrumbs. But it's also why it's strikes me as a bit short-sighted to write any one of them off as wholly irredeemable.

#d hunter of the dead #darian elden ring #elden ring meta #heres to hoping i dont get hate mail for this one friends!! 🍻#lol who am i kidding there are 3 ppl in this world who would read a 3000 word essay about d hunter of the dead #but we dont choose our hyperfixations do we...#wraith meta

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blackstarchanx3new · 9 months

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FSR Rambles 12 times Vaati got his ass kicked

Insanity, Vaati being pathetic.

What's new?

Ooop. Zelda showing off how she'll kill you within 2 seconds of being in HER castle.

Link's letter was smth addressed earlier: He warned her with a letter he was going to pull the sword.

Which implies a certain amount of impersonal-ness to the action. He didn't want her talking him out of it lmfao. He was already struggling with defying Vio's persistence so it makes sense he didn't want Zelda to try and logic his ass either.

Her outfit being the sneaky armor in botw, presumably so she could sneak attack, whoever ended up attacking her.

I thought it'd also be a fun throwback to Sheik and spoiler:

Zelda's gender identity is pretty open. Link referred to her with "They" pronouns earlier in the comic but I didn't feel it was very relevant to bring up at the time lmfao. Zelda's all sorts of gender in this comic to say the least.

The reason why Vaati knows she's around is smth I'll get into later when it's more relevant.

"Damn would you have preferred Gannon???" - Vaati probably.

Zelda isn't playing around she wants to know where her blonde twink is at.

Vaati is a bitch about it of course.

Oh she mad.

She real mad.

"PATRICK THATS NOT A HOOKER!!!"

"It's not?"

"ITS A BOMB 💣!!!!"

Vaatis stupid as hell expression before she goes boom is hilarious to me.

Smth people seem to be CONFUSED about fsr is Vaati's not so subtle Zelda simping.

Vaati is a Zelda simp, that's really all there is too it. The extent of that simping is smth I've joked about a lot.

So he got his ass handed to him.

Shadow himself noted vaati must be weak as hell earlier so. Guess he was right.

Smth of note: vaati is struggling to keep his form in the "wind mage" form. As his body keeps trying to revert to the "wind demon" design

Those titles are used interchangeably in the manga but I call his Hylian disguise his "wind mage" form and the demon form his "wind demon" form personally.

Zelda casually drops the fact she was trying to murder Vaati with that blast. She isn't playing around. Makes sense this asshole held her prisoner for who knows how long before and did something to her best friend.

Haha vaatis pathetic and also in pain.

Good.

His suffering is all the direct cause of his own actions so...hard to feel TOO bad for him rn.

Zelda certainly doesn't.

Link’s shitty state outright made her a more cold hearted person it seems.

Not that'd I'd blame her for that lmfao.

Vaati struggling to get back to being handsome lmfao.

Vaati, my bro, when are you going to do a single thing for yourself????

Okay but the implication Dark Link let Vaati get his ass kicked and only jumped in to help when Vaati called for help is very funny.

Dark links comedically large sword is just interesting. It's not a four sword replica like Shadow’s.

Zelda is in shock at the weird Link coming out of nowhere.

Darks immediate reaction of being flustered at seeing Zelda is so funny to me.

"HYLIA'S MASSIVE TITS, IT'S A WOMAN!!!"

And fun note: This is the first time Dark's actually for reals appeared in the physical world and not just in the "Headspace".

Subtly creepy he isn't just a mental problem but a physical danger as well.

His attack was very calculated, as he didn't hurt Zelda and just slammed his sword in front of her...

...Haven't we seen smth...SIMILAR TO THIS?

Huh well, look at that...

Sweaty weirdo Dark Link enters the chat.

No it was not just for the memes he's actually just like that lmfao.

So from what we know about Dark so far there's some things to note:

Our buddy boy can see the memories of others and "live" through their experiences.

Yall see what it is getting at right?

Shadow link, Vio, and Vaati's emotions and memories are influencing Darks inability to harm Zelda here.

And perhaps he formed feeling a certain kind of way about her.

He associates her with positive feelings lmfao.

Their influence aside, he still chooses not to hurt her on his own.

Vaati’s reaction is priceless.

Zelda seems to grant Dark some mercy, assumably because he outright denied Vaati here lol.

For his sparing of Zelda he gets squished like a dog toy. Poor Dark Link.

Vaati leaves with his dumbass lackey.

When you casualy blow a hole in your castle lmfao.

She's overwhelmed.

She need break.

She need hug.

She need...Link.

Pff.

Guys, he has self-awareness...fuck.

Vaati, that was just unnecessarily mean to your lackey.

Also Dark Link appearance wise:

His hair color has changed. It's purple toned now when it was grey blue toned earlier....

Okay I'll stop being coy it's because he's mimicking Vio's appearance.

Oh. Well, that's a face, alright...

Is he ANGRY? Is he HAPPY?

Did he make that face because he knows it'd freak Vaati out?

Vaati’s abusive bullshit doesn't seem to damper his mood at least as he's smiling in the 3rd panel.

Dark link and Shadow link are very different people, ESPECIALY when it comes to how they cope with Vaati's abuse.

It left a mark on Shadow where as as of right now at least, Dark acts MOSTLY unbothered by it.

Let's face it rn his idea of normal relationships are Shadow and vio lmfaoooooooo-

The dudes who both almost murdered each other.

Pff

His "I want kisses too" line will never not get a laugh out of me.

It's so indicative of how he actually feels.

He wants kisses.

He drops that Shadow is the demon king and for a second you gotta wonder if Vaati was like

"...Why is Gannon smooching Vio?????"

Dark Link also wants to dance. Both are things he saw Vio and Shadow do, mind you...

Vaati has no idea wtf is going on lmfao.

Dark has eclipsed him as the true villain of this comic-

I say in jest.

Dark casually recaps stuff we already kinda know.

While trying to dance with Vaati pff.

Funny enough, taking the lead in said dance, which reflects how he's the one doing all the work rn.

So, Dark link is interpreting peoples feelings, not 100% understanding them. 🤔

He has to actually think about Blue's emotional state hah and even seems surprised.

It's funny to think that even Green picked up on blue being jealous, and basically everyone did, but Dark had to think about it...

Kinda shows he doesn't really understand people much. Like TRUELY.

Or he's just not as interested in blue vs Vio and Shadow.

Dark stutters again like he did when he was face to face with Zelda.

Vaatis so mean mocking his stutter and continues to berate him.

Well that was an outburst.

And I finally get to talk in detail about Dark Link’s "mechanics" for a lack of a better term will expand on the next page.

Design/art wise:

Dark's teeth are all sharp here when normally, despite being a demon his teeth are flat/human looking teeth.

The background is a more red version of the head-space Vio and Green have been dragged to when Dark talks to them/at them.

Immediately he's back to being himself.

Weirdly happy, which settles in the true horror of the previous outbirst:

He didn't mean, a single word of what he just said.

He said that, PURELY to hurt Vaati because it's something that Vaati already feels about himself. He wasn't actually MAD at Vaati and snapping in response to Vaati's abuse. He was just reflecting Vaati's anger right back at him.

So smth about Dark:

He often reflects DIRECTLY how others behave.

Instances of such:

The madder Vaati got in this talk, the "angrier" Dark Link got right back at him.

He shouted at Dark to "Do something" and he responded angrily back that he didn't want to hurt Zelda.

He shouted and berated Dark Link causing Dark to shout that nobody loves Vaati.

Dark Link's nature is to be calm, quiet, pretty "Happy" and kinda hopelessly romantic lmao. He wants to have his idea of "Fun" with people.

He MIMICS people.

Dark has no identity of his own (At least he doesn't seem to realize he does) so often he just bounces off people. He only takes joy in hurting others atm.

Not even in an outright malicious way. At least not the kind of malicious that's "haha I broke the hero because I hate him". This is just what his idea of "Fun" is. What his idea of normal interactions are. This is just what he's suposed to be doing rn.

He isn't acting much outside of his direct reason for creation. What he even deems as fun is indicative of his creation as well.

Engaging with their range of emotions and characters and memories he deems interesting is FUN to him.

If his dialogue from page 121 is anything to go off of, bro really doesn't give a shit about his job. He just wants to have fun:

He finds it amusing Shadow can ALSO manipulate people's feelings, outright kind of complimenting him for it.

And then gets hopelessly distracted and starts talking about what he'd "Rather do" right now.

Which involves hugging Vio and reading oop.

He didn't get SUPER involved/invested in Shadow's memories until Vio and Shadow were doing more "interesting" things, at least in Dark's opinion of what is "interesting."

Dark wants to engage in relationships lmfao. But he's stuck engaging with memories living though them vicariously and hurting people he supposedly "Likes".

He wants to dance with someone and kiss them and in general have "happy" moments with someone. But is stuck being a curse that's only purpose is to break the hero apart and reflect negativity.

It's kinda sad.

But he clearly hasn't reflected on his own life/situation outside of Vaati's feelings towards him.

Also: Dark has no desire to kill any of the Link or Link himself...keep this in mind.

Again: He reflects Vaati's mood of annoyance with that face in the second panel. Which kills me. You just know Vaati's making the same face off screen lmfao.

Symbolism symbolism

Dark plucks the violet but leaves the silent princess alone outside of petting it. Call back to how he left Zelda alone.

He says more stuff we kinda already know, but recapping is good. Actually, we spent like 100 pages in flashbacks, hah.

It also shows what Dark learned/his takeaway from watching their interactions.

Haha oh Dark why are you ripping petals out?

There's smth to be said about him ripping the petals out as the game "She loves me, she loves me not" is a vibe that's being invoked here.

With the odd amount of petals (Being 5) it'd land on "She loves me" by the way.

A relatively innocent game turned into something sinister as he rips petals out in accordance with how many heroes there are.

Dark's behavior continues to be ODD, as he claims Shadow's predicament is "Sad". Which is true.

But...does his expression REALLY scream that he's ACTUALLY sad about it to you?

His chest eyeball just stares blankly forward, his body language implies he's just kinda pretending or acting sad.

Which makes sense, Dark hasn't been shown to clearly understand sorrow properly as even when he cried he was still smiling.

He compares Vio and Shadow's struggles with their identities directly as they're both struggling with who they're SUPOSED to be compared to who they are.

Again: he's ripping a petal out as he talks about each member of the Link squad.

Notes notes notes my favorite:

For whatever reason Vio is not in his present day look here. He's how he looked 7 years ago.

You could make a lot of different assumptions as to why:

Is this how Dark sees Vio? Vio visually represented to be stuck in the past. Vio just feeling more childishly scared in the face of what's happening.

Dark's comforting Vio here in a similar manor to how Shadow did though.

Also super weird: Dark actually in a round about way compliments Vio here.

"He's so blinded by his self hatred he can't see just how much everyone adores him because of his calm cool nature..."

Dark can feel how others feel about Vio and repeated those opinions.

This is smth to note because so far the only things he's really repeated out loud have been negative things people feel about THEMSELVES.

Outside of when he complimented Shadow.

But this shows he can actually recognize positive feelings people have towards others and repeat those too...

And outright stating: He "likes" Vio.

Because of his strong reaction to Zelda, we can assume that he likes people depending on how others feel about them. Because the team likes Vio: So does Dark Link.

Another petal falls while he dips into Green's problems. Who's the only other one we've seen him play around with so far outside of Vio and Shadow And not even really with Shadow...

Weirdly enough Green feels empty inside because he's diet link lmfao.

I told yall I'd give him a personality.

Harbors guilt for lazing around when everyone else was doing stuff. Ouch.

He felt the need to promise Link he'd keep shit okay but he doesn't even know if he CAN.

Blue and his ptsd.

Dark continues to hug people while utterly obliterating them as people lmao.

Blue can't express his emotions arounv Vio which is a theme we'll see as we go into the comic more.

Vio looking back at Blue tho is, a thing.

To be fair to Dark's assesment of Red: red hasn't done anything in the comic yet.

Him chucking the flower the second it's not pretty anymore and, eating the petal is just funny in a morbid way.

Creepy thing: He ate the petal that "Symbolized" Red. The sweet optimistic character. Kinda just shows Dark consumes everything around him in a pit of despair lmfao. Also it's hilarious that he ate smth that he shouldn't have.

Vaati's disgusted reaction to said petal eating is very funny and Dark's monologue about HIMSELF is very telling I feel.

He thinks he's a hero, because he's saving someone. Removed from context that Vaati is a villain and the fac to "Save" Vaati he needed to hurt the REAL hero of Hyrule...

His actions are preventative at the moment: he's making so Link can't reform and the pieces can't seal Vaati back into the sword.

Dark's actions all make sense to Dark Link. XD

Nobody is cheering him, so he just blatantly says "YAY DARK LINK!!!" Which is honestly the funniest lines Dark has said purely because it shows his childish outlook on this entire situation.

He's just the hero saving Vaati.

Dark's clearly annoyed to some degree nothing he does is bringing Vaati any amount of satisfaction.

He did what he was supposed to do. The sword is drawn. Vaati is free.

Dark even mocks Vaati's impatience and his need to control someone else to do his work for him. Hitting Vaati right where it hurts with Vaati's insecurity about being a pawn.

Instantly also going for the throat with "Master Elzo and Link would be disgusted with you"

Obviously: He's talking about Minish Cap Link NOT "our" Link.

This use of their names offends Vaati to no end.

The fight scene is fun, enough said. XD

Okay fine: Ramble thoughts.

Dark manages to mauver his way into not getting properly hit.

Dark's fascination with strangling people is not missed as he does it to Vaati here.

As he repeats things he knows will hurt Vaati's feelings.

Vaati is being unreasonable and stupid in Dark's eyes so him bringing up Vaati's insecurities to make a point is just his attempt to get Vaati to listen to him.

Despite his actions seeming to go against it: He IS on Vaati's side and IS trying to "save" Vaati.

He isn't even saying/acting out of spite, he's just kinda lowkey annoyed and exasperated at Vaati at best. XD

We hit the image count so I'll pick up later.

#fsr rambles #fsr au #loz au #four swords returns au #four swords returns #loz fsr au

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spacelizzbian · 9 months

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Ahsoka s1 ep6

Love how they reminded us of the fact that there are "former imperials working at every level in the new republic" ain't no way they're getting back to the normal galaxy this episode? like bro, dw I didn't forget the New Republic kinda sucks 😂

Deadass thought Ahsoka was gonna spill on her world between worlds experience 💀

Hm, Ahsoka seeing Sabine giving the enemy the map as a fault of her own shortcomings as a teacher when it shows that she really was Anakin's padawan.

Urging Sabine to do what's right and putting feelings aside, while being unable to do that herself and fearing what could happen because of it..... this coming after the episode where Anakin's legacy and Ahsoka's unease with it was explored is 😭😭

Though it is throwing me off that she's still saying the same stuff as before her epithany last episode?

I understand it would be too easy if those fears caused by Anakin's betrayal would be healed after one episode and they probably wanna save that moment for a more exciting scene than her and Huyang sitting in the mouth of a space whale. But it'd have been better if Ahsoka showed that she has progressed in this regard?

I cannot believe they did the cheesiest thing and actually had Huyang say the thing.

This show so corny I love it

Pour one out for the Wolfren people, there was a prison on board lmao

God I hope he keeps his promise, he's a more interesting dark sider if he does

Something about them being so far from civilisation is actually creeping me out....

They were in hyperspace for all of the events of last episode, probably longer, that distance between galaxies is incomprehensible.

If anyone gets stranded or hurt they'd be so far away from help, the typical "fleet arrives to the rescue" at the last second can't happen now.

I don't think it's ever sunk in for me how hopeless Ezra must've felt being stranded here

A signal?!? Really??? That was fast lol

You know, for a literal different galaxy, I'd have expected this planet to look funkier.

Even Dathomir looked more mythical than this

I guess I take back all that dreadful pondering about being stranded far from home in a deserted galaxy cause apparantly there are fucking people living here

ok sure

Poor Sabine, not Jedi enough for Huyang, too Jedi for them witches 😔

I swear to god if they show us another iteration of order 66

I don't think I've ever commented on Shin and Baylan's designs but I love how they almost have a game of thrones fantasy knight vibe about them. Makes sense as this convo suggests they seek glory from the past.

Props to Kevin Kiner, the music is stealing Thrawn's intro scene

Wild guess Im throwing out there, Enoch is Ezra but like ... brainwashed as Savage was

Either that or he is deep undercover as one of those stormtroopers, that def sounds like something he'd do

Bro why there so much familiar kind of typical star wars life on this DIFFERENT galaxy?? 💀

OH HE JUST A BIG LIL PUPPER 🥺🥺

Damn, last episode really felt like clone wars in style and this one really feels like rebels lmao

Shin self identifying as a trained Jedi? Interesting.

Her doubting what Baylan is saying?

Oh?

I cannot wait for Baylan "destroy the past" Skoll to face off against Ahsoka "recently started healing from the wounds of the past" Tano again. I can practically feel the emotional culmination of this show and Ahsoka's character concluding

Oh these creatures are gonna get fridged so bad aren't they?

Ah shucks my wild angsty guess disproven so quickly

Tho Ezra just chilling with a bunch of lil creatures is also very him

They can sense Ahsoka approaching in the whale?¿?¿? That sure is convenient for them

Lmaoooooo Morgan is so angry she's like "sOMEONE FUCKIN KILL THIS DAMN WOMAN ALREADY IVE HAD IT

👏 UP 👏 TO 👏 HERE 👏

WITH HER IMMORTAL BS"

Thrawn upon learning Ahsoka's master was Anakin: "oh, psssht, I know what buttons to push, easy"

#ahsoka #sabine wren #ezra bridger #thrawn #shin hati #baylan skoll #ahsoka series spoilers #ahsoka spoilers #ashowka #sw

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ninjagirlstar5 · 2 months

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I love Haru, but he does deserve to get slapped every now and then for his pervertedness.

So, Haru is a pilot, that goes without saying with his hat and goggles as that's the most clear indication of his Ultimate Talent. His OG design was alright and I liked it as is. But I guess I just wanted to push his pilot design a little bit more while still keeping to his very casual look. So I, uh, replaced his vest with a bomber jacket. I'm sorry but I just wasn't feeling the vest as it looks like some kind of jacket that had it's sleeves ripped off and Haru decided to wear that cause he thinks it looks cool...which is actually pretty in character for him so it's not a bad design choice honestly, fkdgytdklymtlkym. I was just in the mood for a bomber jacket, so I gave Haru a bomber jacket. I just pushed the sleeves up juuust below the elbow to give the impression that he's pretty chill. When his temper is not flaring up, at least. But otherwise he's a pretty chill dude that just...wants to hang out and do dumb (perhaps even dangerous) teenage things and even go on a date or two. Anyways, back to the jacket, I also had it unzipped below his collar to again push the fact that he's pretty casual. But looking back on it now, I feel like I should've left the jacket completely open like his old vest. It would just fit his vibes better. But I decided not to go back and change the sprite simply because I was lazy and I didn't want to go through all the effort of erasing the linework and stuff. Just know the next time I draw him, I'm going to leave his jacket open. Also, I find it interesting that Haru's OG sprite has what looks to be a military symbol on his sleeve?? And his likes aside from women (of course) is also the military, at least according to the wiki. Which makes me think that Haru is a military brat of some sort, like one of his parents, probably his dad, was a pilot for the military or something. I could just be overanalyzing this but I don't think LINUJ would add these to his character without some kind of purpose. It'd be better if we actually had an idea of what his home life actually was, but alas, all we got in his FTEs was his love life (and his guilt over his role in Kiyoka's death, oof). Anyways, I decided to make that symbol on his sleeve a little more clearer on his jacket and I changed his necklace to dog tags to tie it all together. I found his blue necklace in his OG design kinda just...there...to fill in some space on his torso. And I thought it was kinda meh and out of place for such a plain necklace, so changing it to a pair of dog tags fits the whole military thing way better. After that, I changed his shoes to boots and gave him a ponytail cause...honestly, I just wanted to give him a ponytail. I love it when male characters have ponytails so Haru was lucky enough for my brain to go, "ponytail, now" while I was designing him. It kind helps his hair stand out when he's wearing his hat as it mostly covers his bangs in this redesign, not like in his OG sprite where tufts of his hair peaks out from underneath. Besides, I can see Haru being the kind of guy to grow out his hair, even if it's against regulations or something, like, say, occasionally serving in the military. For someone who seems to be interested in the military, perhaps even worked for it as a pilot, Haru actually has no issue in arguing against authority figures. No, seriously, if he's not arguing with Teruya in the killing game, he's butting heads with Kinjo. He may fall in line once, but if he has an issue with you, he doesn't hesitate to say it, regardless of your position. And with that, I just adjusted his color palette, desaturated his skin tone a little bit while making sure he remained tanned and that was it. Haru is done!

Man, I miss Haru. I feel like he really shined in Chapter 4 but I enjoy the little details of his character outside of his usual role of being the "comic relief."

#DRA #Haruhiko Kobashikawa #Danganronpa Another #DRA Spoilers #sprite edit #Star's Art

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grokebaby · 5 months

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@magnuficentwo

AYYYY UNDERRATED VARPUNEN FAM TIME LESGOOO. I'm thinking I'll try to say one positive and one negative but I won't force it if it stalls me

P - Negative: See she was born into a warrior family (aka she's the beast variety of demon), which in itself was just not the right lifestyle for her personally. Real stressful. I could pick probably multiple experiences from here but let's highlight the string of clashes between a Plague from those days who ended up killing and injuring several beasts. There are still two living Villagers that bear the scars from this time. P, however, bears the mental scars of having one or her co apprentices and teachers murdered. She has survivors guilt and various other kinds of guilt from this and suffered a bad freeze reaction that has stayed with her for a while.. The victims weren't even super close to her, but it was the sheer horror of the fact that anyone could just die (and in her mind, it'd be her fault bc she failed to help them).

As a bonus, btw, the plague involved in these events is dead nowadays. Please, do take a guess as to how.

Positive: One time, P and Nan were left home alone together for roughly a week, and since P mostly didn't interact with Nan aside from what she deemed necessary, things got quiet and awkward for a bit.. P was honestly scared, bc she had the fear that this was some kind of test from their husband - one she could fail miserably, somehow, so she remained on her tiptoes the whole time. He said he'd be off on a business trip and as the author I can verify this is actually true, and it wasn't a test, but unfortunately Ps mental state was... Not good. Thanks to him. A few days in, Nan approaches P carefully and tells her that it's okay if she doesn't know what to say, and if she needs her alone time. But if she did want to hang out, or talk, or anything, Nan would be here listening, no pressure to come up with anything special. See Nan had thought that the avoidance had more to do with Ps social anxiety and being a very withdrawn person, rather than paranoia over their husband. Although I won't deny she had a hunch..

Either way, this left a very positive impression on P, and she found some kind of strength in the fact that maybe, just maybe, if things get bad enough, she can lean on Nan. That, and she decided then and there to try her best to treat nan better and try to approach her on her terms. It didn't end up happening too much (not enough in her eyes), but it did still happen.

Sighs lovingly. P deserves way more attention imo. I did not hold back from rambling. Anyways!

Pesticinger - Negative: (TW TORTURE FEEL FREE TO SKIP) So it's widely known she's unpopular amongst humans for obvious reasons, so they often plot various things to get back at her, and often try to even capture or kill it. So there's this waterfall. A group of humans really want Pesticinger to have her "comeuppance" for what she's put them through. So this waterfall. They've set a trap there, where there's a rope that ties into a noose when released, and it hangs under the rushing water. Pesticinger is lured into this trap, and here's the situation: she's got a noose around her throat, and it tightens the further you pull on it. If she gets swept up by the water's pull, it starts choking her, combined with the water trying to pull her under. So she has to literally constantly fight the water, or she suffocates (either by drowning, or noose). It is not a good time. Her feathers get soaked the hell out so flying becomes difficult, she's quickly exhausted and it's kinda hard to call for help when you're trying to fight suffocation. She was rescued, of course. Poor bird. But she can barely even look at a noose, and the noise of waterfalls gives her anxiety. So do ropes, if they're put anywhere near her body.

This next memory I'm not sure if I'd label it necessarily either strictly positive or negative but it was very impactful for her. See Pesticinger has the mental capacity to get really, really introspective and existential, but the way her brain works, also sometimes leads it to tie itself into knots and leads her down dead ends she can't think herself out of. So it can definitely overwhelm itself by overthinking. When she was still very young, in one of these cases, she came to speak to her creator henself; the Mistress. It asked many panicked, disjointed questions, trying to untangle it's mind, and getting distressed, it started knocking at it's head with it's foot. The Mistress, gently, places hens hand on Pesticingers face to block the hits, and they share silent eye contact for a moment.

"Dear bird.. You don't have to know all the answers. You might, someday, but you don't need to. You are more than just a bird, or a beast; you are a force of nature. Even still, you can be as ordinary as you want. Just don't forget yourself."

Pesticinger still feels.. Bittersweet, about it. She's frustrated that she didn't get the answers, in fact the denial of them entirely upset her back then. But she can't say it wasn't also comforting. The reason this memory isn't purely positive is mainly due to Pesticingers mindset.

I think I'll cap this post here BUT BEFORE I DO I'll include just a little something from Nan bc. My number one Varpunen fam for sure. It'll be under the cut

I'll be vague bc I was actually writing a whole thing about this and it's still kinda in progress. But.

Something that's really stuck with Nan was when she, at one point, took her kids to see their grandpa, aka Nans father. He knew there were kids, but hadn't met them due to life just sweeping everyone up for a while.

He did not react well to seeing them. Their visit became very short and very uncomfortable. Nan had to have a talk with her father privately, (His name is Yngve Surström, btw) while the kids awkwardly waited outside.

This would become the last time Nan sees her father before he disappeared completely. Nobody knows why. Or how.

#Ask #Lukittu oc tag #Pesticinger #P #My ocs #tw torture #Nan #Umm I didn't do as many characters as i planned bc I can't be concise for SHIT #But thank you so much!!!!!#My brain just went okay time to speak casual up here. And I'm kinda digging it? Took the pressure off. Hope it's okay to read though #I HAD FUN!!!! CARES YOU TOO AUUAUHAGU NICE FOREVER #Very cool ask my brother

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distort-opia · 1 year

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You know i think people should write more of Khoa being jealous of Joker or at least those in Gotham. Like Khoa matter so much to Bruce in the early day and even now but he's been gone for most of his life, and if there's one constant person that has matter so much to Bruce in his life after that Joker is the one. Khoa wish he'd turn away from Gotham but Bruce wouldn't do it and as a result he too wouldn't look away from those in it (Joker, Harvey, Selina). I think he should find this annoying because no matter what he do if compare to them, Bruce would always look at their way more. Your ghostbat fic really show that tbh. Him wanting to keep Khoa close but also him always feeling the pull towards Joker, towards Gotham

It'd definitely be something interesting to explore in more stories! Comics included. Ghostmaker comes to Gotham after Joker War and singles out Clownhunter, but it always struck me as fascinating how his whole spiel would've made a lot more sense applied to Joker himself:

Batman (2016) #103

Leaving aside the fact that Bao only became Clownhunter because of Joker's actions... protecting twisted and unrepentant killers, huh? Because Bruce cares too much and thinks everyone can be saved, huh?

But also you're getting at a facet of the core conflict between Bruce and Khoa, and that's Bruce's fatal attachment to Gotham. He chose Gotham over Khoa before he even became Batman... there's no way he'd leave it now, after sacrificing decades of his life to the city. I think Khoa definitely knows that, and it's why he's staying in Gotham right now; he knows Bruce would never leave. However, it's got to sting, one way or another. At the end of the day, Khoa is compromising and giving more than Bruce is. Which is the state of 90% of Bruce's relationships, actually... and it's why we've already seen other characters struggle with it. Selina, perhaps, is the one most resigned to it, although it's clearly quite bitter:

Batman (2016) #35

And that's coming from Catwoman and Batman's almost-wife, someone who grew up in Gotham and is undeniably part of it.

But would love to see Khoa's struggle with this, yes! It's different for him in a lot of ways, since he's less keen on acknowledging that he does make emotion-driven choices. Being jealous of the way Bruce is hung up on Gotham and the people in it would make for delicious angst in the Khoa-admits-he-has-Feelings department.

Though I'll admit, addressing the Joker-shaped elephant in the room is particularly fascinating to me because of the way he hasn't been directly talked about. Joker objectively impacted the lives of all characters involved in Ghostmaker's introduction arc, Bruce being the most obvious of all; but you also have Bao and Harley. And Khoa does pick Harley's brain about it. He calls Joker "one of the most dangerous men on the planet" and shows curiosity over Harley's relationship with him. It feels strange that we haven't been shown Khoa confronting Bruce about Joker, especially because of the timing of Khoa's appearance (post Joker War) and Khoa's accusation of Bruce caring too much, and that making him a failure. The glaring implication here is that Bruce fails because he refuses to let Joker die too (Joker War's ending still doesn't count as that, seeing as Bruce literally made sure Joker would be able to survive before making a statement through leaving), much like he refuses to let Khoa kill Bao or Bao kill Harley. It'd make so much logical sense to have a moment in which Khoa is like "Bruce, you've been fighting this clown-themed motherfucker for like two decades and he's getting worse and worse. You're not helping him, you're not killing him, you're not containing him. What the fuck are you doing??" Hence that fic of mine you mentioned, Anon. I really needed a scene in which Khoa did this.

But I realize this notable empty space within the story is probably due to Tynion not wanting to address Joker's influence. Ghostmaker's introduction arc includes fighting and traumatizing Bruce into being better... the same method Joker employed in Joker War (and not only). Not to mention the psychopathy, the obsession with Bruce, and the common theme between Khoa and Joker when it comes to refusing to admit that their past matters. There's plenty of parallels there, and avoiding them just makes the lack of addressing it more glaring to me. Within Universe though, it manages to come across as Khoa avoiding the subject, which is its own kind of angsty fun for a multi-shipper.

Got long again, lmao. Sorry about that. But yeah, it's fascinating that you've got the (arguably) "good" pre-Batman psychopath and then the "evil" post-Batman psychopath and Bruce is Unhinged about both of them, but in distinctly different ways. I'm very excited about Batman Inc. (2022) #8 now, since the cover and previews indicate Khoa might take on Joker! I really hope it'll be written well. Technically Joker's in his divorce era and him coming back to Gotham and the whole Joker Inc. thing... trying to figure out where the hell that falls in the timeline of Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing, since Failsafe hasn't taken place there yet. Or what Joker's motivations are, or if that'll even be the real Joker. But either way, there better be some good drama!! Fingers crossed.

#though fics like that are lacking also because of the widely-held fandom stance of 'we hate Joker'#which once again. I respect when it comes from reasonable individuals #but not when it's coming from antis who harass and hate on real-life people over a bunch of pixels #asks #long post #batman #ghostmaker #joker #bruce wayne #minhkhoa khan #selina kyle #ghostbat #batjokes

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noonmutter · 3 months

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Best Boy

DWC Feb 2024 Day 4: Vengeance/Satisfaction

Pandaria was already meeting spring with wide open arms, and the cheerful, bright sunlight was almost offensive to Shedwyn's eyes. That wasn't really new, though; everything was almost offensive to Shedwyn's eyes right now. Her fucking husband had gone and got himself fucking titled--legitimately titled, through no effort of his own, the fuckhead--and he had no idea how it'd happened. She had even less idea, and his babbling explanation hadn't made it a whole lot clearer.

The fact that they were shouting at each other about it the whole time probably hadn't helped.

But still.

Fucker.

After they'd gone in circles for about half an hour, and she'd slugged him in the chest a little bit harder than she'd actually meant to, she'd decided it was time for a breather.

"I'm going to Leon's. I need sex in my mouth right now and I don't mean you."

"First of all, fuckin' ew--"

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT, ASSBAG OF KEEL."

She hadn't realized she'd been growling obscenities, mostly about her husband, out loud until the younger Ambroce whistled at her from his front door.

"Y'gonna keep me in suspense or kin we take this inside?"

"I want to be petulant and snarl some more and maybe blow something up, but I also want pizza, and I know if I do the first thing I won't get the second."

Leon nodded and stepped aside to let her into the house. "Yer becomin' downright self-policin' these days. I'm pretty sure tha's a good thin', but..."

"Shut up and feed me."

"Fine, but this better be good, y' grumpy li'l shit." He adored his sister-in-law, but that also meant he was a lot more willing to be crass with her than most. She was family, ergo she was tough enough to take a little bit of honest ribbing.

"Food then snark. Please. I want to not be the adult right now."

"Fair enough. Does tha' mean I don't get an explanation? Only if tha's th' case, I'm not gonna make yer fav'rite."

"But--"

"Them's th' rules."

Shedwyn sighed. She would kill a man for anchovies, and the man who did the absolute best thing with them was standing right in front of her, and she was a Lady, god dammit, and... She sighed again. She could be polite for a little while.

"All right."

"Attagirl."

"Don't push it, Ambroce."

Laughing, Leon closed the door behind them and fled to the kitchen to get to work. It was a good thing everyone else had left for their own chores for the day, or the complaints would've started within five minutes of the fishy dish going into the oven. For the most part, the house smelled of salt, generic "fish" smell, shrimp, ham, cheese, and tomatoes, but those first two really overpowered the rest. Anchovies were not popular at the restaurant in Stormwind, but the ones who liked them really liked them, as he'd found out, so he kept a small supply at home for emergencies. Emergencies like his little mana-bomb of a sister having a bad day, for example.

They didn't talk about much of anything while he was cooking. Leon was too focused to offer up much of anything without being prompted, and Shedwyn was in no mood to talk like an adult yet. She was in the mood to pout, and scream, and maybe punch Terry again. She'd had to go through so frickin' much to get her own title set down on paper and into the records that mattered; she'd memorized every stupid word of the stupid Doppelganger Decree of 28 and would probably not be able to forget about it for years. And Terry'd gone and fuckin' farted out a dynasty.

Shedwyn Lias-Ambroce was not strictly speaking a jealous woman, but she had limits. It just wasn't fair!

Somewhere amid the interminable brooding, a steaming pizza appeared on the table in front of her, and the clouds parted. Angels didn't sing, because angels sucked and didn't like anchovies, but that was fine. More for her. The first bite was always the best, but the second through sixth bites were pretty damned amazing, too.

Leon was kind enough to wait until she'd torn through two slices before he cleared his throat. When Shedwyn was not immediately forthcoming, he made his point by taking a slice of his own and sitting down. She growled to herself, then picked up a napkin and dabbed at her mouth.

"Your brother got lucky again."

"...Like yer 'avin' another kid, or...?"

This time, the sigh was loud, extremely melodramatic, and seemed almost to propel her backwards to drape over the back of her chair. "Like he didn't end up dead or promoted at the end of the Gilneas campaign, so he fell ass-backwards into a viscountcy instead!"

Leon blinked, then took a bite of his slice. Nope. Still don't like anchovies. "Alright..?"

"All right? Really? That's the first thing you say? Your brother's a goddamn titled, landed Gilnean nobleman out of nowhere! After all the shit I went through to get my shitty little Barony carved out of Duskwood! Not only does he just walk into some office in Stromgarde and walk out with a title, he walks out outranking me! Which I didn't know I would care about until it happened!"

Leon said nothing, simply letting her unload, as was his wont. His neverending patience pissed her off even more, as was her wont.

"I had, and still have, to work my absolute ass off for every single scrap I've ever gotten or ever will get, and then I have to work even more to keep it, and your bullfuckin' Ambroce luck has Terry just survive long enough! What the fuck, Leon?!"

When she stopped to ask him a question, even if it was a rhetorical one, Leon looked up from finishing off his slice. He calmly licked his fingers, then set his elbows on the table. Then, he set his chin on his hands. "Would it 'elp any if I said it wasn't all luck this time?"

"Well of course it wasn't all luck, it takes a shitload of skill to survive the absolute fuckalanche of shit he's been through, but--"

"No, I mean it was me."

That stopped the little mage mid-rant. "What was you?"

"Th' Gilnean Repatriation Initiative sent out letters somethin' like a month ago. I got one, you prolly got one tha' got tossed out, knowin' 'ow you an' Terry feel about anythin' bearin' th' royal seal of anywhere."

Shedwyn gaped.

Leon continued, "I'm just as much a Gilnean as 'e is, but I've my life 'ere, an' I very much like it. An' really, goin' 'ome does not bring 'appy mem'ries t' th' fore. Maybe I coulda got th' ranch back, but... gods, I don't want it. But I know Terry does. An' anybody 'o'd met th' man fer five minutes knew 'e'd go back t' Gilneas th' instant th' call went out. So I sent a reply with a couple suggestions."

Shedwyn's hair was starting to crackle like one of those globe toys that made lightning strike where your fingertips touched them.

Leon, undeterred, picked up the pizza plate and walked it back into the kitchen.

"My brother is a turd, a recoverin' racist, an' more than a bit of a jackass. But 'e's also an extremely patriotic, loyal man when 'e wants t' be. Tha's admirable as 'ell! Downright noble, even. Apparently they agreed, eh?"

The chair clattered to the floor as Shedwyn stood up, both hands up in front of her, grasping at the air in a strangling motions.

"You- you-"

"Feel free t' tell 'im Leroy says congratulations." He turned and stared her straight in the eye, even as they crackled with arcane lightning. "Elroy does, too."

Later on, Shedwyn would say the only reason Leon survived that meeting was because she didn't want to destroy the house, his spouses didn't deserve that.

Mostly it was because everytime she'd try to gather up the energy to cast something, he'd headbutt her, and she was too stubborn to dodge.

( @daily-writing-challenge @shedwyn )

#my writing #leon #shedwyn #dwc #waxing crescent #leon's xanatos gambits are always the best #all because Terry called him Leroy for 25 years and Shedwyn told everybody his middle name at his wedding with Pin #he is every inch the younger brother

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anomalouscorvid · 1 month

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🎻 💯 🌴 🖤 for Carrie!

(for this)

🎻 (does your oc play any instruments? what is their skill level (beginner/intermediate/advanced/virtuoso/etc)?) - carrie has always taken more of an interest in dancing or listening than playing, but when she was younger she did take flute lessons. she later inherited her parent's flute on their passing (..to the tomb colonies), but she's never touched it since...

💯 (share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.) -

with the vake-steed, she regularly hunts zee-beasts, something which has given it a distinctly more peligin appearance. to her, these secretive hunts are a standard (but very much sacramental) thing to refresh her blood, heart, spirit, eyes, etc., and something it'd be a horrendous snub to not include her hunter-bat-thing in, given the pair's connection; to the former veils, this has been an inferior replacement for its own hunts, and probably some kind of betrayal of the spirit of their.. agreement? contract? binding?

her anger against laws of nature and the nature of permanent death doesn't mean she's against all kinds of killing - carrie often (comparatively often. not regularly) temporarily-kills others, sometimes (many times...) with lasting consequences for those killed. it's more or less a time-out for them, and if there's some accidental maiming, well, that's life. but of course perma-death is unacceptable

despite her hedonism, she's in some ways kind of boring as a person... almost 'no fun allowed', looks down on immaturity. not something i've properly shown so it counts for this in a meta way

🌴 (does your oc have a green thumb? do they enjoy gardening?) - if she grew anything other than mushrooms and occasional gifted hell-plants, she'd probably end up accidentally killing them, even ignoring being in a cave.. so it's a good thing she has no plans to try and import any surface plants. but also her still-living hell-plants (those which haven't been repossessed) are in a constant state of slight suffering

🖤 (has your oc killed or seriously wounded anyone before? have they broken someone's heart and/or broken someone's trust?) - she has certainly broken hearts and trust... having been an occasional homewrecker.... and she's damaged some promises in her life. but aside from that...

i guess the above point - about not perma-killing people - kind of answers this one? she's wounded quite a few enemies, acquaintances, and friends... there's been some, very few, who she's seriously injured and left to die. and, of course, some of those couldn't survive even a single death. most are sources of guilt, others she doesn't acknowledge ever happened. not a precise answer at all but this is me putting a pin in this to write more about later haha

#fallen london oc #carrie (oc)

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arcplaysgames · 1 year

Text

WHY DO THEY HAVE A CHAINSAW THO

this "Velvet Room" is so fucking messed uppppppp

you know if Igor were actually here I am sure that this fire sale alarm shit wouldn't happen

anyway yeah i'm still convinced the "Igor" here is a fucking fake, every thing out of his mouth is wildly out of character also I can't find it rn but he like alluded to, uh, either killing Reverie or letting him die if he failed his "rehabilitation" and I am like what the fuck is even going on here

Notigor, I'm tellin' ya

sooooo uuuuuh Kaneshiro's shadow self is...... a flyman who starts using-- god, this is probably not the intended pull but he reminds me of Gangnam Style, that specific mockery of superficial nouveau/fake rich people?

Also he has a giant pig-shaped mecha and I'm like............. Is this a reference to the Absolutely Safe Capsule? I have no idea but it sure felt like it.

Fight was a breeze, Ann has sleep magic, everyone got stomped.

blah blah Sae's boss is like the big bad or something blah blah

So it SEEMS that when Morgana gets to touch a Treasure, he almost remembers something about himself, but its leading him to believe he's wrong and he's not actually human after all, which is distressing to him.

My current theory on Morgana is that he's similar to Teddie, in that he's a being built of the desires of humans. He just didn't do enough sit-ups and hasn't gotten a human body yet.

The form of a kitty cat is.... an interesting wrinkle in the whole thing. Teddie manifested as a literal mascot out of the desire to be liked and have friends (basically, it's more complicated than that). Morgana is a kitty.

So... possibility one is there is some Obvious Association with cats that I am missing that answers why kitty. Or.... maybe it's not as one-to-one with Teddie and Morgana is the manifestation of someone's desire. And that person is a cat person.

Maybe Morgana is Reverie's imaginary friend given solid form, WHO KNOWS. Reverie needed a talking cat, okay. His life is better for having Morgana.

In other The Velvet Room Is Fake As Hell news, Caroline and Justine are giving Reverie the usual "make a persona with X ability" tasks BUT they don't know where their list CAME FROM. And the fact they don't seems to disturb them.

/squints at the twins

It.... sure is interesting that they are tiny and they are each missing the opposite eye and their personalities are so diametrically opposed they almost seem like two halves of one person

and in this """"Velvet Room"""" fusion is explicitly the act of killing two personas to funnel their energy into a single new person.

This is by FAR the Edgelord-iest Persona yet, so I am seriously contemplating if it'll Go There and have the twins fusion executed into a single 'complete' Attendant

but like. I wouldn't put it past this game honestly. We already had a lot of other heavy shit in this game, why not use a guillotine on two children.

/rubs eyes with hand

Maruki is Fucking Weird ain't he. Like, he's objectively a terrible therapist for one, the amount of personal details he lets slip and inserts un-prompted into his work is wildly unprofessional.

Also the thesis of his work seems to be purposeful clouding of perception to 'heal' patients of inner pain and boy fucking howdy what the fuck.

I am squinting at him too. He makes me nervous.

OKAY GOD LET'S TALK ABOUT MISHIMA BECAUSE HOLY SHIT BRUH

hi, hello, what the absolute fuck

Mishima, our biggest fan that we never asked for, literally knows nothing about the actual Thieves and is more focused on making them (and as a byproduct himself) more famous. He tries to get Reverie to go after this... random up and coming celeb? Because it'd be big news?

THIS IS STRAIGHT UP FULL THROTTLE DELUSION

and it gets WORSE

He's also finding anyone on the Phansite he doesn't like and is sending them threatening messages as if he's the fucking Thieves.

AND HE KNOWS IT'S FUCKED, HE LITERALLY ASKS IF HE'S GOING TO BE A TARGET

which, putting aside the fact I hate Mishima so much, this feel so much like a cry for help right here, like he's become fucking Twitter Poisoned and is aware of it but can't get his ass off the site and needs an intervention. He completely and totally sounds like those people who joke about how socmed is ruining their lives and how they know it's a cesspool and they should quit but they are also addicted to it.

ryuji he is that bad

So we actually go find his Shadow in Mementos and, lmao, this fucking "you just had to" BRO YOU SEEM TO MISREMEMBER HOW THIS WENT, you know, when you followed me around at school and back me into a corner so I had to admit I was one of the Thieves and you shoved this Phansite thing into play when no one asked

Mishima needs help but also dude has been holding a shovel and does not know when to stop diggin' and then keeps blaming other people for the dirt of his shirt

we don't even fight him, just leave him alone with himself, which: good. Goddamn. I would tell you go talk to Maruki but he's sus as fuck.

#p5 #persona liveblog

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that-sims-four-blog · 4 months

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Oh dear, I started a Sims 4 playthrough.

You know what, "Leeb, Leefuh, Love" sounds like a pretty good sitcom name. I'm going to start naming whatever sitcom-fanfic this playthrough becomes—provided I don't chicken out of documenting This Thing out of cringe.

For starters, Metallica—the three angriest men of the year 2003—decided to move to some random house in Oasis Springs. Why? I don't know. Are they there to find a bassist? Dunno either.

Okay, maybe they aren't so angry.

In fact, James and Lars are coming along pretty well. Since there isn't a way in-game for them to start a thrash metal band, each members are doing mundane jobs!

Lars is a lawyer—looking at you, Napster—while James is an Entertainer, probably a comedian because why not. Kirk's getting a start in the Culinary career.

...Oh, yeah, the Welcome Wagon struck that household, too.

Johnny Zest made a fruitcake. I think they liked it—I can't recall what they thought of it... Kirk's social awkwardness begins to pop up, too, although advice from his totally-bandmates did help a bit.

And yes, that's Makoto Yuuki—from the popular PS2 video game Persona 3 FES—in the background. We'll bother about him in a bit. At least he gets along pretty well with the Metallica household, especially James.

Several hours later, Lars decided to become the new Skrillex, and played around with the music-making-table (I can't remember what they are called).

It's got about as much bass as ...And Justice For All, trust me.

Moving over to that place that the developers designed after the British countryside, not that I remember the world's name, the RBY household moved into a house. Weiss won't fit anywhere between the budding lovers Blake and Yang and the hyperfixative Ruby. She might get created at some point, just outside the hellhole.

So, yeah, there they are, living their lives in the moment.

This is probably my favorite screenshot of them, Blake probably being OOC be damned.

Also, most of the household seems to have fairly... memorable faces, especially Yang's psychotic expressions. I might compile them at some point in the future.

Anyways, so, jobs: Blake writes stuff. Yang is a cop—because I can, and I want her to be as silly as Martin Riggs; so she's stuck in a cop-aganda show. Ruby goes to high school, therefore she's stuck in some teenagers-do-stuff sitcom.

Oh, yeah, Ruby did go to high school, and I have some bits to document.

As pissed off because of some fear about unfulfilled dreams, she seems to have a thing for exercise. It's probably an excuse to offer you one of her goofy-looking faces, though.

There's some random person with the Zelda moon following them, apparently:

And there's also that thing.

I can't kill that Landgraab off for the grievous crime of T-posing?

God fucking damn it.

But aside from that, everything went as normal, and Ruby managed to acquaint herself with Cassandra Goth.

That's good, I suppose. There were two other Sims that she managed to befriend, too, but I forgot their names. No, that Landgraab is not on the list—absolutely not, nuh-uh.

Also, later that day, she decided to bring Ruby to the Hijinks-and-other-things Festival. She went off to the art museum, while Ruby's left on her own. Noooo, that never happened before in the show Ruby was from! haha! But yeah, she joined the Pranksters—mainly because I wanted a silly laugh—but upon finding out that James Hetfield is there, I thought it'd be utterly hilarious for her to prank him.

That's the best image I could capture. No, I'm not giving you the aftermath of the trolling.

So, that's one-half of a thing I'm doing, and I realized that I was capturing too many pictures for comfortable reading. Plus, the default Tumblr layout sucks for this kind of thing, and I have no clue how to code layouts, so... Yeah, the second half coming later on.

#the sims 4 #the sims 4 screenshots #ts4 #sims4 #archive convinience tag goes here

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cavalcleave · 9 months

Text

Laughter Is Contagious

Warnings: N/A. | Characters: Monsterwyn, Doc (guest character belonging to @/bunquest) | Word-count: 4,893 | AN: they're having fun + playing. fun fact this was inspired by a dream i had!

---

"Y'know, Wyn, I don't ever hear you laugh that often… I mean you do do it but… I dunno it's pretty uncommon to hear." Doc says.

Monsterwyn hums in confusion, now leaning up from laying on her. "Yeah? What's the point of saying that? I mean I haven't really had fun for a while until I came here." They reply. "Everything's boring back home, but here? It's a whole new experience everywhere I go! And there's delicious new ways I can kill."

"What's boring about your home?" Doc asks, she can't help it, she's curious about their home universe, since they don't seem keen on taking her there very much. "Other than the ruined town, I imagine that place was lovely before… y'know."

"It's boring because I've seen it all already! It doesn't take long to explore everywhere if you're immortal!" Monsterwyn exclaims, frustrated. "Especially since I can go places mortals can't. You just gotta set aside I dunno maybe a few hundred years depending on how you go about it. Probably a bit more than that… I was doing some fun looting on the way."

Monsterwyn pauses for a moment, as if considering whether or not to say this. "Plus… there's nothing for me back there… I've done it all so… all that's left is the bitter memories I keep picking over like a vulture! Everytime I go into my old room, I just… get reminded of him… I carry around his skull for crying out loud just so that maybe I can be seen as more like a monster. But no one even understands! So I'm doing it all for nothing!"

The look on Doc's face softens, she carefully puts her hand on their cheek, "It's okay, it's not all for nothing, you cared about him didn't you? You carried that skull to the ends of your world, just because you loved him so much."

"I guess so…. I don't really feel love though, I think… I mean I like some people and things but… I don't know…" Monsterwyn says.

"Don't be silly, of course you do. Lighten up a bit Wyn! You must've cared a lot to do it either way. Love's very… broad, I can't imagine that you wouldn't feel something close at least. I mean you can love your friends, your job, practically anything." Doc says, patting them on the head, hoping to be encouraging.

Monsterwyn purrs, "Guess that makes sense… people always say it to mean a bunch of stuff…."

"... Why don't we play a little to lighten up? You could probably use it, you usually have plenty of energy." Doc suggests.

Monsterwyn looks at her curiously, tail wagging. "Play? Play what?" They ask, padding closer, as if she'll tell them faster if they're right next to her. "Hide and seek? But your home is so small…."

"Welll…. Let me think…" Doc says, trailing off thoughtfully.

"They are right, my place is pretty small and Maldwyn's really good at hide and seek in enclosed spaces… a little tag would probably rile them up too much… they'd be running around like crazy… if only I had that laser pointer, it'd make things a bit less weird than straight up getting a cat toy without asking them." Doc thinks, Weighing her options until she sees how close they are to her. "Hmm… would they maim me like a cat if I pet their belly? I think it can be a playful thing with them… Though while I'm at it, might as well take a shot and see… maybe I could ease them into it so they don't bite. Distracting them? It's possible, but… I don't know what would even work. Would acting more like them and like… surprise attacking them be enough? Or are they like, ticklish or something? I don't know… you'd think they'd have gone on a weird tangent if it was notable though… They wouldn't bite me that hard so… I guess it'd be harmless… I could try both."

"How about a surprise game?" Doc finally answers. "Starting… now."

"What? But how am I supposed to figure out how to play if I don't know what game we're playing?" Monsterwyn exclaims, getting right up in her face.

"Oh, don't worry I think it'd be easy to figure out, Wyn. You're a fast learner." Doc reassures them.

Monsterwyn's tail impatiently lashes behind them, "Then what is it????" They ask, whining.

In a quick motion, Doc quickly takes advantage of how close they are to her and strikes, quickly managing to pin them flat on their back. "Surprise attack!" Doc laughs, "Maybe I picked up a thing or two from you."

Monsterwyn lets out a surprised mewl as they land. "Hey! That's not fair! You used my tricks against me! My pouncing!" They exclaim, squirming underneath her hold.

"Sounds like something a sore loser would say if they lost surprise attack." Doc says, chuckling as she takes a hand off of them to lightly poke their nose.

"I'm not a sore loser! You just didn't tell me we were playing it!" Monsterwyn says and then, in another quick moment. The tables are suddenly turned, and now Doc is pinned down. "See, see I'm good at it."

"Woah, hey! You're cheating!" Doc exclaims, laughing. "Honestly I forget how strong you are sometimes…"

"So what you do is ok, but I'm cheating. I see how it is." Monsterwyn says, looking away from her, and holding their tail up.

Doc bursts into laughter, "No, no it's fine, it's fine Wyn! You're so silly. It's just that there's a rule for when you lose in the game I made up for us."

"Oh… it's not an established game? I thought it was because of how you acted…." Monsterwyn says awkwardly, their voice softening into an apologetic tone. "I guess I just ruined things for you because I'm stupid again… sorry"

Doc's expression turns to concern, "No, no, no it's okay! We're playing to lighten up, Wyn. I was trying to be silly, not serious!"

"... Oh… it's not all serious even when you're supposed to be relaxing? This place is always so weird…. How do people get anything done without any punishments anywhere…." Monsterwyn asks. "Like I know from Bobby the positive reinforcement thing but I still don't really get it…"

"Of course not, silly, you're just supposed to relax!" Doc says. "And it's pretty simple, you encourage someone to do better with like, a treat or something? I don't know exactly how it goes but think of it like that."

"So…" Monsterwyn starts trailing off as they start to settle down and lay on top of her. "Do you do that with me?"

"Oh god no, if I was I'd be bad at it. I give you treats all the time and I wouldn't be able to resist your cute face when you beg for more." Doc says, letting out a chuckle as she notices they've gotten back to laying on her. "Plus it's not really something I should do, I mean I'm not your parent or anything, and it might be a bit… awkward. I mean, I'm your coworker, I'm not really… equipped to do that."

".... You and Annie could be like my parents. You two sorta act like it in a weird way. Annie's kinda scary, and you give me treats sometimes. I think I'm too old to be in a family like that though, so it probably wouldn't work out like that. It's just hard to imagine you filling the same role Malcer did….." Monsterwyn says.

Doc hums, "Ummm…. I think I'd like us to stay friends still rather than that honestly. As much as I like hanging out I do like your mandatory break from breaking into my house."

"Honestly, they're enough of a handful as is… as much as I like them." Doc thinks.

"It's nice to know you think of me that way though. I don't mind being that sort of… comfort to you. Or, however you think of it in your head." Doc says, ruffling up their hair, making them purr.

"What were you talking about before anyway, while we were still playing the surprise attack game? The extra rule or whatever?" Monsterwyn asks.

Doc laughs, "Oh, that well, we don't need to worry about it anymore. You've gotten comfortable again and it's all just for fun anyway. If we play it again I'll tell you."

"Oh… then…" Monsterwyn starts, quickly getting up to pin her again. "We're playing again, tell me now! I wanna know!"

"Wyn!" Doc exclaims, giggling, "I thought you liked being cozy more than playing."

"Not when you're keeping anything I wanna know, now tell me tell me!" Monsterwyn says, impatiently swishing their tail around.

"Alright, alright. It was just that for losing, you'd have to be 'attacked' again but like, in a silly way, y'know." Doc answers.

"Attacked again…? Like how? Do you have claws and I never noticed?" Monsterwyn asks, taking a glance at her hands.

"Nothing like that, Wyn. I was gonna subject you to a 'petting attack' where I pet you a bunch. Nothing bad, just a fun thing." Doc says.

"A petting attack… so… if I won would I have to petting attack you?" Monsterwyn asks.

"Oh, no, not if you don't want to. You can do whatever you want to 'attack' me. The point is to have fun, after all." Doc says.

"Oh… that makes sense…" Monsterwyn says.

"I guess it's kind of weird that Doc pets me all the time, and I don't really do it back or anything other than cozy up to her or rub my face on her…." Monsterwyn thinks. "But I don't think I know how to like… go about it… Plus with my claws I'll have to be careful. I can give it a shot though, Doc would be nice about it if she hated it."

Monsterwyn slowly reaches one of their hands out, then hesitantly, slowly and awkwardly, gently pat Doc on the head.

Doc is puzzled but they give Maldwyn a smile. "They must be trying something out, no harm about it." She thinks.

"She's not saying anything about it… but she's smiling so… I guess that means it's probably alright to pet her? Or maybe I did it wrong and she'll hate it…" Monsterwyn thinks, their eye worriedly darting from making eye contact with her and avoiding it.

They carefully transition the patting into petting her. Trying to both be gentle and mimic the same movements Doc makes when petting them. Though they stop in confusion when Doc seems to start laughing.

"What's so funny? I'm just petting her? Is this good…? I don't know…" Monsterwyn puzzledly thinks.

"I'm not really sure what they're trying… but hopefully this isn't making it awkward… I can't exactly help it though, curse of being ticklish…." Doc thinks, as she stops herself from laughing.

"Am I….? Doing something wrong…?" Monsterwyn asks hesitantly, almost afraid she'll react negatively.

"What? No, no it's fine! I promise, you can continue doing… whatever you're doing." Doc says reassuringly.

"Oh…. Okay." Monsterwyn says, resuming petting her. Though it still confuses them when Doc starts laughing again.

They furrow their brow, "I still don't understand, what is so funny about this? Is she making fun of me…? It's just what she does to me… I don't get it."

They start to get frustrated with Doc's seemingly odd response to this, their tail lashing behind them. Eventually after a few more moments of this, instead of stopping and asking her what's up, they just take their other claw and cover her mouth with it.

Doc takes their hand off of her mouth in confusion, "Wyn. what are you doing???"

"What am I doing? Well what's so funny, I don't get what's funny about this? It just feels like you're making fun of what I'm doing…" Monsterwyn growls, seeming annoyed but more confused than anything.

"Huh? Wyn, I'm just really ticklish, really! I don't mean to come off like that, I just can't help it." Doc says.

"You're… ticklish…?" Monsterwyn asks, blinking in confusion and appearing to be thinking really hard, as if they're trying to recall something. "Oh… like… the thing you do with kids to entertain them? I thought that went away or something."

"No, no, it's just that y'know people don't really tickle each other that much when they get older, at least not on purpose. I think you keep the same amount of ticklishness also… but I don't know for sure" Doc answers.

Monsterwyn awkwardly avoids eye contact, "I well… um… forgot about that… sorry. Doesn't really come up much when all you do is murder people and steal stuff…" They say, awkwardly laughing. "I… I'm not really the smartest… sorry."

"What? No it's fine, just a harmless misunderstanding. It could happen to anyone. You're always a bit silly though, it's hard to be mad or anything." Doc says.

"Oh…." Monsterwyn says.

"So… are you ticklish?" Doc asks.

Monsterwyn looks back at her again, "I don't really know…" They reply.

"What? Were you never tickled when you were younger? Guess that would make sense… with the whole… being raised for violence thing." Doc says.

"Yeah, Malcer was too busy and stuff for that sort of thing…" Monsterwyn says, "But I played plenty with Fian. But I don't really remember being tickled at all…."

"Oh… then… Do you wanna find out if you're ticklish?" Doc asks.

"Well um… isn't that kind of thing a bit… childish? I don't really… it'll make me seem weak won't it?" Monsterwyn asks in return.

"What? Don't be silly, you're childish all the time. You can still brutally maim people fine, right? Plus, I won't say a peep to anyone else about this if you'd like." Doc says. "It's just for fun to satisfy your curiosity anyway."

"I guess it'd be fine if it was you anyway…" Monsterwyn says, petting her again. "I wouldn't mind finding out, I suppose."

"I'll be happy to oblige then, after you finish… whatever you're doing…?" Doc says.

"Huh? I'm petting you, like you do it all the time to me so i thought… maybe I should try it on you…" Monsterwyn says.

"Oh wait… that's so cute… Wyn you're adorable…" Doc says. "So are you… done?"

"No! You're suffering my petting attack, forever!" Monsterwyn says defiantly, petting her a bit intensely.

"Ehehehe…. Noooooo… the petting attack is too powerful…" Doc says jokingly.

"Well too bad, The monster has captured its victim." Monsterwyn says, nuzzling her. "You're stuck forever so I win the game for all of time, which means you're always getting attacked!"

"That's not fair, I still have to attack you too! I won first." Doc says.

"Doesn't matter, because I'm the winner now. You can't stop me." Monsterwyn gloats.

While Monsterwyn is focused on petting her. Doc slowly reaches her arms out to their sides and then starts ticking them, causing them to mewl in surprise and fall backwards onto their back. squirming.

Doc takes advantage once more, pinning them as they squirm. "Now who's winning?" She asks, a little smug.

"You're cheatingggg! I wanted to be ready for that!" Monsterwyn says.

"The warfare of surprise attack never ends." Doc says, now putting her hands on their chest. "Now, ten thousand petting attack!"

Monsterwyn huffs, looking displeased until Doc shifts back a bit and after petting their belly, starts to tickle them. "Heh… hey! I thought you said you were gonna pet me not hehehe… this!"

"Weeeeell, I did want to hear you laugh more. And there's nothing in the rules that say I can't switch it up whenever I want." Doc says.

Monsterwyn helplessly squirms, while laughing more than enough to outnumber every other time Doc has heard them laugh. To them, it feels like Doc has found all of their weak points so easily. "Well- Ehehe…! You're cheating, you have all the advanced training or hehe… whatever." Monsterwyn says.

This reply makes Doc start laughing as well, "Advanced tickle training? Wyn, I'm really just getting you in common places people are ticklish… I'm not that good. I don't do this that often either…" Doc replies, amusedly.

"What? But it feels so… Mmmm… Heheheheh!" Monsterwyn says, they can barely get their thoughts together because they're laughing so much.

As Doc starts to sprinkle in some tickles to their sides they seem to laugh harder and squirm more. She seems to have hit the jackpot of where Monsterwyn is the most ticklish. "It feels so… What now? Like I've hit your weak point? Tickle tickle tickle…" She says, a taunting hint in her voice.

"Doc…! I'm gonna cry, I can't… hahaha!" Monsterwyn says, already tearing up, "You're too good at this! I couldn't even get close to this with you…"

"Well, I'm glad you're still enjoying it." Doc says, chuckling. "Ouhhh but who could've known such an adorable little killer was so ticklish... Who's my ticklish little adorable killer, you are! Yes you are!"

"Nooooooo… ehehehehe! I'm not adorable hehe… I'm vicious! I'm not that ticklish either it's just because it's the first time for meeee!" Monsterwyn says dramatically, still not being able to help laughing.

"Is that so?" Doc asks, "So we can do this again and you'll be less ticklish?"

"I don't know how it works… so um…. Maybe?" Monsterwyn replies. "Once I'm free you're going to suffer my petting attack for real! I wasn't done yet!"

"Well I just attack you forever, then. Since I'm the winner now." Doc smugly says.

"Hey! Ehehe… that's what I said! No fair!" Monsterwyn says.

"Well, if you're so tough and vicious… then… why are you still being tickled?" Doc asks.

Monsterwyn lets out a defiant mewl, "I'm not letting you do this! You're just too good at it!"

"Yeah, she's too good at this… that's why I can't just… get her off. Even though… it'd be easy…. It's not that I… it's only because of Doc! I don't enjoy this…! It's so… childish and silly! Yeah, it's only because of how nice it is when she touches me… though… I guess it's nicer when it's prolonged contact and not this…" Monsterwyn thinks, "She makes me so soft, of course this would happen… even though I both hate how soft I'm getting and kind of like it…"

"Yeah, I know" Doc lets out a chuckle. "Who knew that just knowing how to tickle people is more than enough to take down the big bad monster. You're a lot softer than you think huh…"

In one moment Monsterwyn flips Doc over and pins her down, growling. "I'm NOT soft! It's not that easy to just make me go down."

Doc is still in shock for a moment and after a long time, one that makes Monsterwyn question if they were too rough for a second she says, "... Yeah, whatever you say, Wyn. Though, if you could really do this the whole time… you must've liked that huh."

Monsterwyn hisses, "It's only because you're so nice that I put up with it. Plus we're playing, why wouldn't I go with it. It's not fun if I'm the only one winning."

"If you say so, Wyn." Doc says. "I'd just be happy if you had fun."

"Well… yeah of course I had fun." Monsterwyn mumbles out. "You're always fun to play with."

"Awh, I'm glad." Doc says happily.

"Don't think you're getting outta my petting attack." Monsterwyn says, "I want payback for those tickles." They start to pet her, starting out gently.

"Ehehe… and payback is um… how much petting exactly?" Doc asks, knowing she'll get a non conclusive answer.

"....... how long were you attacking me? Ummm… that but more." Monsterwyn says as they carefully transition the petting into tickling.

"Noooo... not more than my attack… hehehe… you devious beast…" Doc says dramatically. "Y'know I… haha... didn't really think about how your claws would feel like this."

Monsterwyn stops for a moment, "Does it hurt…?" They ask.

"Oh, no! It's just… weird… you can keep going." Doc says reassuringly. "I'll tell you if I get hurt, okay? You don't have to worry."

"Okay, Doc. I trust you." Monsterwyn says, nuzzling her face before continuing to tickle her.

"Ehehe… I trust you too, Wyn." Doc says.

"Well, they're not tickling me that hard… maybe this'll be fine." Doc thinks, "They do have to be careful with their claws."

"Hmpft." Monsterwyn huffs, "You're lucky I have to get used to doing this before torturing you forever with my terrible attack."

"Ehehehe… well it's not my fault… can't you melt your claws away?" Doc asks.

"No? Even if I try really hard to I can't melt only my claws… I can melt the whole hand only… it's like… whatever was under my claws isn't really there anymore… but I know it's there I've seen it. It's just… weird." Monsterwyn says, "Plus even when they do melt away completely… it hurts… and my hands are always bleeding and even though I don't have normal blood anymore it's all red…."

"Huh… maybe Annie could take a look? She could probably figure something out." Doc suggests.

"Maybe… but… I don't know… I don't think it'll be useful. I mean I can live everyday life fine without knowing." Monsterwyn says, "Then I'd have one less mystery to think about."

"I guess so… weird stuff happens all the time though, so I wouldn't count out anything as being useless to know." Doc says.

"... Fine, I guess I'll ask Annie if she can figure it out." Monsterwyn grumbles. "Hopefully it'll be less painful this time."

"It'll be fine, I'll make sure of it. If she makes it hurt for no reason I will be punishing her with no kissies." Doc says.

Getting a little more comfortable with tickling her with their claws, Monsterwyn starts gradually doing it faster. "Well… maybe you should be focusing on my punishment, hm?" Monsterwyn says.

"Hey, ehehehe… you're cheating you distracted me!" Doc says.

"It's not a distraction if you brought it up." Monsterwyn says, tapping her nose with their clawtip.

"Damn it… you got me there hehehe…" Doc says.

"Yayyy I got you again." Monsterwyn says, smiling at her. "Maybe you're right about me being smart." They chirp in delight.

"Haha… you're plenty smart Wyn. It's not that you- pffft ehehe! Hey I'm in the middle of talking, that's not fair!" Doc exclaims.

Monsterwyn looks at her a bit deviously, "Well it's not my fault I got uncomfortable with my torture method. Plus why do you get to complain? You're my victim."

"Because surprise attack victims are unionized." Doc says.

"What! No we're not! How does that even make sense??" Monsterwyn exclaims, laughing.

"Well maybe you aren't, but I am Heheheheh." Doc says.

"You'll pay for that!" Monsterwyn says, tickling her sides.

Doc almost squeaks in surprise, starting to squirm underneath them. "Hey! I already did this one!" She says

"Nothing in the rules says you can't!" Monsterwyn muses, chuckling.

At this point, Doc has been laughing so hard she's started crying. It takes a few moments for Monsterwyn to notice, but when they do they stop immediately, a concerned coo escaping their mouth as they gently cup her cheek with one of their claws. "Are you alright?" Monsterwyn asks, their voice dripping with concern.

"Huh? I'm alright, wyn. I just hit the limit for how much I could take before crying." Doc says.

"Oh…" Monsterwyn says, awkwardly. "It's weird seeing you cry… I haven't seen you do it very much so I… sorry…" They whine apologetically, nuzzling her face insistently. "Forgive me for breaking our surprise game fun, ritual, whatever."

Doc lets out a laugh, "You're so silly Wyn, it's alright! It's understandable, you have a lot to worry about when it comes to playing with mortals. I think you've been handling it fine, I'm having fun."

"I better be." Monsterwyn growls, they release their pin on her and begin to check for any wounds. They nose around thoroughly, gently licking her like a cat would groom another.

Doc begins to protest, "Hey! I said it's fine! You don't need to fuss over me this badly, I would've stopped you if I got hurt. I wouldn't hide it from you… I know that'd make you feel worse about it." She says, trying to reassure them. Though she would be lying if she said that it wasn't also because of their thorough checking often leaving her with a very long time to get refamiliar with how rough their tongue is despite how thin a snake's tongue is. Clearly with how they use it, when they got those cat behaviors they definitely were given the need for socializing like one.

"But sometimes you won't notice! And it'll cut you up inside and then it'll happen again and again and then you'll die! Or maybe I'll accidentally poison you and won't realize it until you're under my control!" Monsterwyn exclaims. They keep nosing around, trying to search every last inch of her. Yet once again they find not a scratch. They let out a sigh of relief and start making themself comfortable to lay on her again.

Doc also shares a relieved sigh, "Well you'd never let that happen, I trust you." She gives them a kiss on the head after saying this, silently hoping it'll calm them down. When she hears them purr after doing it, she figures it worked.

"Mmhmm… I'm extra careful with you. I'd never forgive myself for hurting you, even if I wasn't in control, because it's my fault for being out of control or possessed or mind controlled. I should just be able to resist it, it's my fault for hurting people, not anyone else's." Monsterwyn says, lowering their voice down to a mutter as they speak. Though they quiet down completely when Doc starts petting them.

"Shhh… shhhh… It's okay, you're okay… Relax Wyn, alright? It's not your fault… you're plenty capable of being careful." Doc soothingly says. "It's relaxing time… do you want to take a nap?"

Monsterwyn hums a confirmation, "That would be nice…" They murmur, moving to further cling onto her. When they get comfortable Doc pets them on the head. She tries to move towards a nearby table to grab their melatonin gummies, but they start to whine.

"I thought you wanted to take a nap?" Doc laughs, amused. She carefully moves back where she was, taking a purr as confirmation that she was in a satisfactory spot. Monsterwyn flicks their tail towards the table as they begin to reply, "I can grab it myself, how could you forget Sweet Tooth? No need to stop being comfortable." Doc watches as the tips of their crescent shaped tail picks up the container and moves to hand it to her. She lets out a soft laugh as she gently takes it and opens it. "Here you go, Wyn." She says, offering the open container back to them.

Monsterwyn squints at the label, "How much do I eat for a nap again?" They ask. Doc hums in thought before speaking, "I think it was half of one right? Pretty sure that was what worked for you…" On that confirmation, Monsterwyn grabs a gummy and carefully tears it in half with a claw and eats one half then drops the other back into the container. They put the cap back on and use their tail again to put it back where it was.

"Y'know you don't have to be so careful, right? I always have to say it to you, so what's wrong?" Doc asks, carefully petting their head. The beast carefully settles down, but lets out a low growl when she asks that. "You're Annie's greatest prize, of course I'd be careful! She'd… she'd…! Okay I don't know what she would do if anything happened to you but it would be bad! Of course… you're up there on my prize list too… I don't want any scratches or blemishes on your happy head." They say, huffing in frustration. "I don't know how you don't get it, you're important!" Doc pauses, staring at them for a moment. "Wyn, I don't think Annie would take it that seriously unless I was in real danger. You'll be fine, the rest of the DCT is pretty rough sometimes too, um… besides Mable of course." Monsterwyn practically jumps up in alarm, "They hurt you!? I'll teach em not to dare and even hurt a hair on your head! No one gets to hurt one of my prizes! I'll even… I'll… even…" They exclaim, but slowly trail off and quiet down. It seems the gummy finally started to kick in for their nap.

"I'll… get them… later… too comfy…" Monsterwyn mumbles, sleepily. Doc pets them as their grip on her tightens a bit. "Shh… shhh…" She hushes them, trying to calm them so they'll fall asleep.

Eventually, with a bit more coaxing to get comfortable, Monsterwyn falls asleep. Their snores filling the air after a few minutes. Doc breathes a sigh of relief, they always fall asleep eventually, but sometimes it's a struggle with them.

But, since she's not going anywhere, Doc decides it's probably time for her to take a nap as well. Wouldn't want to disturb them from the nap they wanted to take, now would she?

#original writing #monsterwyn #zpa monsterwyn #guest character #doc

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