#but figured I needed to read up on source material first so I could appreciate it properly | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

channeleven · 1 year

Text

LTA: Todd McFarlane’s Spawn

I'll be blunt, I don't have the best relationship with comic book cartoons. I'm able to appreciate some of them these days like the Incredible Hulk cartoons, but I feel a lot of them fall into the same series of tropes and cliches that basically make them as run of the mill as an animated sitcom, I feel like I'm the only one who noticed this. Now, comic book adaptations, familiarities aside, are enjoyable if you're into that scene, though it's hard to deny most of them have some serious issues. They could be forgivable if they came out at a time long before a gold standard is set like the old Marvel cartoons, but for stuff like She-Hulk Attorney at Law and DC Superhero Girls...

At your own risk.

But when it comes to shows like those, either I avoid it knowing I'd have little good to say about it, or I give it a shot after seeing some clips and I'll see how I feel about it from there, and here we are now.

Background

Spawn is a comic book character created by Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane, and one of many Image properties that received a hell of a lot of interest. In the mid-90s, Spawn received a massive marketing push, from video games, to toys, to movies and a television series, and for better or worse they saw the light of day. Though I imagine it was through marketing people became familiar with Spawn, I know I was.

My first exposure to Spawn was through a trailer for the 1997 film that turned up on an old VHS tape I had. I was unfamiliar with the character and assumed this was some B movie tribute, Spawn was a mutant and Clown was an evil wacky political figure or something. If you want my opinion on the film, I can understand why some things about it were changed compared to the comics, like changing Terry Fitzgerald's race and removing Chapel, but whether it was Todd's influence or not, it feels like people actually cared during its production, as nearly everything else is done to properly replicate elements of the comics, Michael Jai White did a good job as Spawn and John Leguizamo absolutely nailed Clown. You can certainly do a lot worse when it comes to superhero films, especially New Line Cinema titles released during that period. After all, 97 was the year of Annihilation.

As for the series it's another interesting coincidence. I left a comment praising the animation in the music video for Korn's Freak on a Leash, and I said yeah, I want to see a cartoon animated like this. Someone recommended Todd MacFarlane's Spawn to me, and after a few years I got around to checking it out... just to find context for a scene I saw on YouTube. Although going through it, it seemed more familiar than I expected, like I watched this long ago in reruns, or my folks actually let me watch it, I know they let me watch The Sopranos with them.

Let's just get into the series proper.

Plot and Characters

This won't be a plot summary, but just to get you into the loop, Spawn centers on Al Simmons, a government assassin who is betrayed by his partner and killed. He bargains with Satan stand-in Malebolgia in order to return to earth and reunite with his wife Wanda, but as his death was arson-based he is rendered disfigured, and now sent to recruit souls to join Malebolgia's army, in this case, souls of those who have done wrong and would be destined for hell.

This is made clear early on, so even if you haven't read the comics you can at least jump right in without needing that much knowledge of the character. An adaptation works best when you don't need to be immediately familiar with the initial source material. With so many adaptations taking on radically different directions with little connection to the sources that originated them, it's a huge mess. However, that doesn't mean you'd be losing some context if you're new to the series, and it shows for a lot of the characters. I'm not aware of their allegiances, motivations or overall relevance to the plot, so admittedly I had to look them up so I have some idea to what to expect, especially when each are well written characters in their own right. Firstly, Angela. She had only made one appearance in the animated series proper. I had assumed she would be a bounty hunter sent to kill Spawn, and I was kinda right. At least somewhere in the comics she was initially sent by heaven to destroy Spawn, it fails but not on black and white terms. The role was kinda switched by the end of the series, where Jade was given the role. I heard this was due to legal issues between Todd and Neil Gaiman and if the latter had no role in the series that could've spelt trouble, although Angela would've appeared in the show's fourth season had the series kept going.

But when it comes to Spawn characters outside of those immediately connected to Spawn, I've gotta talk about Sam and Twitch. Now, on the surface they appear to either be corrupt cops or those who would become a thorn in Spawn's side, but basic research and getting through the series revealed that wasn't so. In truth, Sam and Twitch are poised as being good cops in a precinct riddled with corruption, that point being made especially clear in the show's last season, when beforehand they were just investigating incidents Spawn either had a hand in or happened to be at the right place at the right time for. People like to immediately depict cops as outright corrupt, whether it comments on police brutality or just pokes fun at them, so it's nice to see something not only serve as antithesis to that, but maintain its commentary on corruption in the police force. Even when said commentary is on the nose, it's at least relevant to the plot and key characters and carried out in a way that makes either character shine, from reflecting Sam's genuine care for justice beyond his more loutish nature, to Twitch's bravery, determination and analytical nature.

I certainly thought they were great, and so did everyone else. They not only got a cameo in the 1997 film, but they even got a spin-off comic series.

Clown, aka the Violator, marks the perfect balance between entertaining and sadistic, or just one who delights in fucking with people's minds. He was summoned to ensure Spawn kills those with souls to be damned to be recruited into Malebolgia's army. The film portrays him as more comedic but otherwise in line with his comic depiction, while the animated series is the latter in full force, either works for the material they are given. On the opposite extreme, Cogliostro, once the Black Knight who had managed to escape Malebolgia's grasp, seeks to help Spawn avoid a similar fate. Regretfully in the comics he becomes a villain, but hey as long as it wasn't so he could get into the pants of a deviantArt OC so be it. This seems to be a later occurrence in the comics so the animated series was spared from one of the most desperate attempts at drama since ever.

Of course there're people who're relevant to Spawn's former life as Al Simmons, and this series does not take those details for granted. He wants desperately to see his Wanda one last time and he takes the opportunities, only for her to be appropriately disturbed by what is now at his disposal. His best friend Terry married her and had a child, and though Spawn was appropriately angry that he got further than he did, he realized it wasn't out of malice and at least found closure on that. Spawn was even able to confront his physical killer, Chapel, and of course he wouldn't show any mercy, having him live with the guilt, but having the strength to not have his soul claimed by Malebolgia. Finally, Jason Wynn, basically the whole reason things fell into place. Spawn indirectly served as a key to unlocking Wynn's corrupt practices, including black market trading. Whenever he strikes, he sends others to do so and is determined to keep his conquests in check. However, after becoming severely burned from a mythical mask, apparently the unmade fourth season would've had him seek redemption... either apologizing to Spawn or trying to have his soul be made pure so he can go to heaven, though the latter seems to be the case as he feared his actions against Al Simmons would catch up to him.

The seasons can be summed up like this.

The first season exists to establish Spawn and his motivations, as well as him settling into Rat City, an alleyway serving as a sanctuary for the homeless, and one where a number of shady dealings take place no doubt thanks to Wynn and for the first season, Tony Twist, who is promptly dealt with after Spawn makes quick work of Overt-kill, whom Twist sends to deal with a stake in their affairs.

The second season sees Spawn confronting Chapel and Terry finding himself scrutinized by Wynn after learning of his black market dealings, while Spawn is seen as a protector of Rat City. This also sees the introduction of Washington Post reporter Lisa Wu, who is soon revealed to be Jade, which the third season would confirm. As for the third season, Spawn realizes he can no longer get back to his old life as Wanda outright rejects him out of pure fear, a series of events would help clear Terry and expose Wynn, Twitch would survive an attempted assassination by his and Sam's superior officer and confirm his connection to Wynn, Jade willingly gives up after discovering Spawn's humanity is stronger than prior hellspawns she was sent to kill, and by dying a warrior's death she can maintain a place in heaven, and the series ends with Spawn wanting his humanity back. To some, this seems like a bad end, but this can be seen a number of ways, like how he is willing to be dead, knowing he's now a burden to those he cares about and can never live the life that was yanked from him, while realizing those who have wronged him were dealt with

Acting

Keith David as Spawn is complicated, because it isn’t Keith David playing Spawn, just Keith David. All that changes role to role is the script and the direction. Play his Spawn with his Goliath (Gargoyles) and I’m sure you’d find some similarities. Of course that isn’t to say it’s a bad performance by any stretch, but I can’t say the voice is necessarily unique. About the only time it seemed sorta different was when he played Atlas in Teen Titans.

But to be fair, let's bring up another example of an actor who is well recognized for one role, even though it's a similar performance across the board. Mike Pollock is the current voice of Doctor Eggman. While he has owned the role, his voice ins't particularly unique, a keen ear can easily pick that up when watching other 4Kids shows. However, the voice became synonymous with Eggman, as it fit the character. Mike Pollock is Eggman as much as Keith David is Spawn, having voices that suit the characters well and serve to truly define them.

Then there's one of the more interesting actors for Tony Twist, interesting in that he's played by the same guy, James Keane, who played Mr. Green on Hey Arnold!, and I say it that way because Hey Arnold! came before Spawn's animated adaptation. Keane also played Sam in this show, so it turns out he has more range than I'd expect of him.

And there’s not a single piece of Tara Strong or Grey DeLisle to be heard, it’s a breath of fresh air. We do however get Kath Soucie, sure, I'm okay with that, I know little of her personal life and her voice isn't as obnoxiously stale and repetitive as Grey DeLisle's, and she isn't a raging bitch like Tara Strong. Bite me.

But that's not all. We got the voice of Mulan playing Jade, James Hong; guy from the Seinfeld episode The Chinese Restaurant doing a role, Jennifer Jason Leigh got to play a character one time too, and there's a rule that says if it exists, Eric Roberts has to lend his voice one time. Inherently, it's a mixture of actors either not entirely in the loop of traditional voice acting or already are, and it can work, I know it did here.

Layers

There is some hidden complexity within even the smallest of things. Take for instance Spawn's encounter with that bad cop in the fifth episode. He threatens Gareb, but his anger was due to the stress of seeing one of his right hand cops and others literally blown up by a deranged priest who turns out to be Clown. Of course you wouldn't root for the cop but you kinda understand what led him to go bad, even get some irony of Spawn making him a message board, and after getting killed by Clown he gets the message about Spawn's presence to Sam and Twitch. This actually helps to give more weight and motivation to later scenes, for instance, Twitch's encounter with Spawn. Spawn has already determined cops to be outright crooked, but Twitch manages to demonstrate a stronger moral compass, and bravery in the name of learning the truth, and Spawn returns the favor with a warning, which really is him being nice.

You can even see such strong motivations with the other characters. Wynn is a uniformly corrupt individual, but he fears for his life upon realizing what he had created in Spawn, and he becomes determined to destroy him to save his own ass. Clown can seem like a hardass, but it's kind of his job, he wants to make sure Spawn fulfills his obligations. Terry married Wanda, but he never meant to infringe on foreign territory, and Chapel seemed to express repressed guilt over killing Al, before it drove him insane. Then Sam and Twitch, throughout the entire series leading up to a hell of a finish, and of course Jade which not only put her through an arc but helped better establish Spawn's humanity.

A great show is more than the sum of its parts, and I feel Spawn went above and beyond in that regard. It's really something you have to see for yourself.

The Animation

I was directed to this series because I loved the animation in the Freak on a Leash video, and I was not disappointed here. The animation was produced in house at HBO, and they also worked on Hot City which came out around the same time. MadHouse are credited to producing the show's title sequence. MadHouse is a prevalent anime production company, but they've had a hand in some American productions. For instance, they produced the animation for the second season of Street Fighter: The Animated Series.

However, MadHouse merely served as a contractor for other companies. In the first season, animation was split between KoKo Enterprises, Sheen Production and Sung Production. Koko were involved in quite a bit, producing the animation for the first season of Static Shock, Superman The Animated Series and took on animation services for Men in Black: The Series after the first season. For the second season it looks like MadHouse took on a more direct role in animation production alongside DR Movie. DR Movie also happened to produce the animation for Men in Black: The Series, but also produced the third season for Avatar: The Last Airbender, episodes of The Batman including The Batman Vs. Dracula, one episode of Teen Titans, they helped produce the Death Tome segment in The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XXXIII, DC Superhero Girls, Justice League/Unlimited, they did one episode of Street Fighter, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, oh, they even did Loonatics Unleashed and High Guardian Spice.

It's important I highlight the more anime type shows and lesser stuff to demonstrate how subtle their work is on a visual basis in Spawn, but soon.

Okay, back on track, the last season was handled through Mook Co., who produced the first season of Men in Black: The Series, Swat Katz: Radical Squadron and the Scooby-Doo direct-to-video films from Zombie Island to Cyber Chase. At first I thought they were the ones behind the entire series, but I was wrong.

With Todd McFarlane playing a major role in the series' development, either he'd have plenty of freedom to take advantage of, or he's just there to make people happy. Okay this isn't going anywhere, what I'm trying to say is that things are drawn and animated to act like a direct translation of the comics. It's a huge contrast to the overt anime aesthetics and overtones present in other comic book adaptations. Now, it seems like most comic book adaptations outsource their work to Japan or equivalent studios in Korea in order to better replicate the action, but somewhere along the line people cut the middleman and decided to bank on the growing popularity of anime in the states.

Or maybe I'm overthinking it.

Spawn's animation is great, but far from perfect. They tend to take shortcuts and reuse animations, but most shows do and they're not as blatant as say... The Real Ghostbusters in its twilight seasons. Of course it's of no hinderance to the constant action going on, it isn't too complex, but it isn't too simple either. The art design provides a gritty appearance that compliments Spawn quite nicely, if it was overtly anime-esque, it would lose its punch, its grit, and just be a faceless series.

Senseless Comparisons

In a way, I feel that Spawn set a good standard for comic book shows that seek to be dark, well Batman: TAS aside. There're a lot of shows I can compare Spawn with, so let's begin with another series adapted from an Image Comics series, Invincible.

The differences are night and day. Spawn employs a more grounded comic translated appearance, while Invincible embraces the anime schtick wholeheartedly. It feels like a Cartoon Network action show from the mid-late 2000s but with blood and cursing, and of course their brand of humor. It can be enjoyed on a surface level, but when someone comes along and does it better, it's hard to really deny that.

Take the introductions of Monster Girl there and Angela here. With the introduction of Angela, you get a quick hint to her hero appearance, and when she goes into the alley you expect her to show her powers, but she just uses melee and anything subtle. You’d expect her to go full hero, but they don’t play into it, all you’d expect is for those creeps to get their asses handed to them, just no way of knowing how.

With Monster Girl, it's like this. There's a character who looks like she doesn't belong there. She is provoked into showing her power, this has been done. Now, it can be done right, don't get me wrong. Take Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes' introduction to She-Hulk in the sure. Yes, she is shown at the start of the episode, but you know who we don't see right away? Jennifer Walters. Hence, it's possible to be surprised by its reveal for those who haven't read the comics, and yeah, the series features somewhat different takes on existing Marvel characters so there is a chance to be surprised. Not to mention, they didn't mention her name, like Invincible did with Monster Girl, thus eliminating any sense of surprise and dragging it out to make it look like a huge reveal. I'm just saying.

Next up, let's resurrect an old punching bag of mine for some extra blows, Teen Titans. Spawn did an episode that tackled racism, but handled it in the best possible way, show, don't tell. You would think they would make it where Terry or Spawn are maligned for being African American, but no, they have a psychopath who kills African Americans for dark intent, and the racist motivation behind it isn't stated outright. This episode has enough faith in its viewers to let them connect the dots, whereas Teen Titans spoonfeeds the message, pussyfoots around directly focusing on those who would face prejudice, because Tamaranians don't exist, and above all, rather than take the opportunity to incorporate lore from the comics, they make up a character that exists solely to push the message.

And yes, Static Shock tackled racism direct, but they handled it better by committing to the kind of racism people are the most aware of, and I'm happy that episode is getting more and more recognition for it, while Troq isn't as much. Consider this a segway into the next section.

Getting Away With It

Spawn was able to get away with a lot of stuff, though some would argue it was because it aired on a premium cable network and at a time when kids would likely be asleep, midnight to be exact. That's a good argument, but I feel that any show, anywhere could get away with stuff, well, beyond overt gruesomeness and gratuity, whether it's premium or basic cable, network television or syndication. To better explain my point, let's refer to Stripperella, Static Shock and Swat Katz.

Stripperella aired on a basic cable channel, and if you didn't get the idea from the title, it's a show about a superhero who happens to be a stripper, and yes, that profession is shown full stop. In spite of that, there's more to the show than it. Stripperella feels like it's trying to pay tribute to silver age comic stories, or just parody the genre, or maybe Stan Lee was clearing his desk drawers, I dunno. What I'm trying to say is that they got away with showing T&A on basic cable, lest the copy I saw was sourced from a DVD, but hey, they were wiling. For syndication, let's turn to Swat Katz. This show got a way with quite a bit, especially for stuff I bashed Teen Titans for skimping on, like characters going insane for whatever reason, even death, with some gruesome killings shown, shadow or not. Now yes, syndication lacks the standards network television does, hence producers were able to get away with a hell of a lot more, but what about that network example? Networks are ones that crack down on no-no stuff the most often.

Well... Static Shock.

Racism focused episode aside, Static Shock went dark a decent amount of times, and they never held back for anything. They made it clear Virgil's mom died under harsh circumstances, they highlight her death and the impact on the family, they put one character in critical condition as a wake-up call for Virgil to take his heroic obligations seriously, the first episode featured a gang war, hell, need I remind you of Jimmy, where a gun is blatantly shown, well, again, in a straight up depiction of a potential school shooting, oh, need I forget how the weapon is fired and someone gets hurt, on network television.

But wait, isn't The WB technically a cable network, same with Cartoon Network, beyond Kids WB shows airing on WB affiliates in syndication? I mean Teen Titans was also in the same boat as Static Shock, but you could argue Static Shock did a hell of a lot more than Teen Titans did in highlighting serious issues, and above all committing to genuinely dark stories. I'd argue that Static Shock serves as a kids equivalent to Spawn for going above and beyond, showing writers genuinely cared about making engaging content, and Spawn just helped inspire me to see just how it could be done, or how it has been.

Now, if you really want to see the differences in impact an episode could have, compare Teen Titans' Haunted to Spawn's Home, Bitter Home.

Relationship

As far as how I feel about the show, I have the same relationship with it that I do with Koala Man. Both of them are great shows and vouching for their quality is a hill I'd be happy to die on. The issue is that I don't like to participate in discussions of either, because I know where they'd lead. Spawn got cancelled too soon, Koala Man was created by the same guy behind Smiling Friends, do the math. I still like the shows, but I know it can go south if I encounter the wrong people.

Not only did I bring up Koala Man for that, but because both represent the best of two sides of a superhero show. Koala Man is a well written comedy with glimpses of character complexity and motivations made clear, all in series about a man coping with his past and a midlife crisis, I guess. Meanwhile, Spawn is a well written horror drama with clever dialog helping to provide some relief every once in a while. Bringing back Teen Titans just to get this out, Koala Man is set in an absurdist world so you can take the weird things happening as a given and they let the jokes flow without resorting to tropisms to get a laugh out, and Spawn has every right to commit to more gruesome acts, both because of its midnight slot on a premium network and already being based on a gruesome comic book series.I don't know how else to end this, so let's go on.

Do I Want to see More?

So, seeing what I've said, do I want Spawn to get another season? Well the answer to that, is no. I don't. You're probably confused, lest you've seen my philosophy before. The thing about continuing, what if the ending turns out to be a letdown? A journey is only as good as the destination, if the end sucks it will drag down the experience of the rest of the series because you know that’s how it will end and there is nothing you can do about it, Camp Lazlo and Star Vs. beckon. There's also the matter if one more season is gonna be enough, will people be fine with that, or will they just keep asking for more? Ask for an inch, but take a mile. And of course people can indirectly kill the good will in seeing things continue. I never want to see Infinity Train or Glitch Techs with how clingy people are to those.

Then there's the matter of unintentional cockiness, had with shows like Sonic SatAM and Teen Titans, where they immediately end with either a cliffhanger, or a downer, something to gaslight people into thinking they want more. My philosophy on television shows go like this, treat every season finale like it's your series finale, leave off on a note that you can pick up the pieces on or satisfying enough to accept, which is something Spawn did, by having Spawn reaffirm his want to be human. You may say he hardly evolved, I'd say you're confused. Spawn wanting his humanity suggests he knows he can't get his old life back, but also won't be the leader of Malebolja's army, he is willing to die, but we don't see it. It could've been worse.

Okay yes, there's the matter of Spawn impregnating Wanda with a child that would serve as a decider for the fate of the world, but it would take a long time before the baby would be able to make a conscious decision and act on it. There's another element to the fourth season, but I'm not gonna bring it up, knowing how people on Twitter would lose their minds and that's another series thoroughly ruined by total goons.

Final Thoughts

Spawn is an underrated gem, for sure, but given the climate of cartoon culture, maybe it's for the best not that many people know about it, let this be like a secluded spot a select few people know about, a well kept secret not tainted by idiots, like Mission Odyssey.

I would say HBO turning away from animation after Spawn and Hot City concluded ironically predicted the state of HBO Max, but then you realize stuff like The Life and Times of Tim and The Ricky Gervais Show existed.

#image comics #spawn #todd macfarlane

1 note · View note

trakdrita · 2 years

Text

Saiki k 3d

#Saiki k 3d plus

#Saiki k 3d series

I thought about what aspects of characterization annoy me the most. Well, I have an idea of what the "fanon" characters are like after spending so long lurking in the forum. Re: Worm characterization: I'm flattered that you think it's working, although I've already seen some complaints about this story so I don't know how much my take on it is worth, haha. I'll be sure to give Eve a listen - I always enjoy having songs or a playlist for whatever project I'm working on at the moment. Kudos!Ĭlick to shrink.First of all, thank you as always for your long review! I'm glad you enjoyed RegentQuest and Saiki's "interaction" with the Undersiders. Stay healthy, sane and again, I'm really struggling to not make this post an entire page worth of praise for the amount of effort you put in this.

#Saiki k 3d plus

Plus plus ultra work for this medium-mixing chapter and I'm really looking forward to see what new, creative, artistice mediums you'll use to blow our minds next once you're free.

#Saiki k 3d series

Personally I find it mind-boggling that his songs have never been used for a series before but hey, at least that means your story won't be associated with any other anime right?īut I'm getting off subject. One of 'em could very well be the defacto song for this story (and even if they don't make the cut, they're still good songs to listen to when you need some extra energy for work stuff like your finals). Not exactly original, but you'll still have put his songs in your work before any other anime. I've been binging his work again and when a soundtrack for this was brought up, I figured I might as well recommend the artist. And finally for the soundtrack, while I'm more than fine with you making an original piece for this story, a pretty good alternative I think would be to remix some tunes from this amazing Japanese artist called Eve. Appreciate the lack of romance as well, since I feel that it's always the biggest cause for story decay most of the time (that said I wouldn't mind a one-sided, comedic "romance" in the style of Teruhashi's shtick since it's mostly done as a gag and used to improve her character). Probably as some clerk at a convenience store that every relevant Worm character likes to frequent with his luck.įor your Q&A, I'm kinda dabbling in Worm stories myself and given you haven't read the source material either I'm kinda curious on where you get your characterization from. I'm also interested in seeing what kind of job Saiki ends up getting. There's not much to talk about once you omit the best part from the review after all, but I do expect we get a bit more expansion on what that first precognition was about, given Coil's powerset. Other than that, Saiki here was his usual sardonic excellence and lastly I admit I feel kinda bad for Oni Lee taking the blame. At the very least she's still significantly less irksome than Al-hole. Along with the promise of shenanigans by virtue of her going crazy trying to figure him out after her powers told her about his limiters but stated he wasn't a Parahuman. Lisa was also good, if only because I liked her internal thought's on Saiki as well as her breif dynamic with him. Grue had to be my favorite for being a nice, accommodating straight man to his group's antics who honestly has the best chance at being Kusuo's frie- sorry, acquaintance than the others. I also enjoyed the small but entertaining interactions between Saiki and the rest of the Undersiders. Take all of Greg and or Uber n' Leet's crap and stick it right into your Ikemen bastard face. And I hope either he or JGSZX or both use their powers to turn you into the designated butt-monkey of this story. Because Alec you dumb fuck, I felt second-hand annoyance from only reading you irritate Saiki. Mind blown after all.Īnyway, to start with I think you did a great job at Regent's portrayal. I think I'll uh, just stick to the stuff before the game if I want to post my review in a way that's coherent. I don't think I can even put into words just how amazed I was over how you did such an impressive achievement. Now rest assured, I won't be badgering you about Deltarune any time soon, but just know that your secret's out you've shown too much of your hand to make any of us think you're a normal SBer.Ī visual novel. There is no way any normal writer would go to those lengths on a casual basis unless they were never a normal writer to begin with. Hawks x reader rescue.Okay, so after finishing this chapter I have to ask: JGSZX, are you Toby Fox? Because that is the only explanation I could think of that makes sense after playing a VN minigame almost a dozen times once I finished reading a "fanfic" with grade-A illustrations.

#Saiki k 3d

0 notes

shoutogepi · 4 years

Text

Red Roses

Kirishima Eijirou

word count : 7.5k

[ ✘ (nsfw!), flowershop!au ]

themes : haaaa where to begin… almost dubcon?? (BEWARE!), dom!kiri, size kink!kiri, light spanking, tinyyy bit of ass play, little use of “Sir”

bio : Kirishima decides to educate you on the alternative meaning behind a red rose.

author’s note : this fic was meant to be for the @bnhabookclub provisional licensing exam event using their flowershop!au, but alas... i am a lazy procrastinator. anyway you should check them out!! i’ve absolutely loved being a part of something so great. also thanks to all who helped me with this fic <3 buuut special thanks to @lady-bakuhoe for beta reading <3

tagging: @queensynderella @marilla-eldriana @1-800-callmekatsuki @hisoknen

also available on AO3 here

─── ・°* ﾟ✧:* • ｡ﾟ:*･☽･*: ｡ﾟ•*:✧ ﾟ*°・ ───

🅃he bell tinkles overhead as you step into the quaint store, palm clammy against the metal doorknob and chest tight with apprehension.

“Y/N! Thank god for you,” your friend exclaims from behind the register, sliding over the counter with ease. She shoves the apron she’s holding into your hands before attempting to throw her hair into a messy bun. “I cannot believe my sitter cancelled on me this last minute— my husband has to be out of the house in ten minutes!”

You smile at her gratefulness, but your eyes are not on her. The curtains on the back room part and out steps the store owner, red eyes landing on you. “Y/N,” he greets you, the timbre of his voice low and cool. You nod and smile hesitantly toward him, shifting your attention back to your friend even though you can feel his gaze raking over your body.

Yuki wags a disapproving finger toward the man behind the counter, “Kiri, you better take good care of her!” She commands with a playful yet firm tone, body already halfway through the door you’d just come in through.

Your entire being screams out for you to beg her to stay, but you hold your tongue as you recall it was you who said you’d cover her shift. She already seems to have had the stress lifted from her shoulders at your arrival, and you can’t bear to back out after coming all the way here.

Looking back toward the source of your stress, you can’t help but admire him. Scarlet locks hang down around his face, majority pulled back into a sleek, short ponytail to give you a better view of his handsome face— jawline sharp as his teeth and the scar on his forehead slicing through his brow. He’s tall; well over six foot with rippling muscles adorning his long, tan arms. He’s wearing a crisp, white button down rolled up to the elbows, black and red ink poking out of the hem and trailing down his forearms. The store’s pine green apron is pulled snug around his figure, accentuating his broad chest and narrow hips. You already know his ass looks incredible, even though it’s hidden by the plastic countertop. He’s a five course meal on legs, for Christ’s sake, but you know better than to get ideas— he’s a player.

“Of course,” Kirishima replies across the store after her retreating form. His eyes drift over to you, catching your stare. “I’ll take great care of her.”

The door closes, sealing you to your fate with the red beast of a man. For a moment you just stand there, frozen as your mind runs through a thousand thoughts. Before he can comment about your blatant staring, you rip your eyes away from his, throwing the neck of the apron above your head. Tugging the tie around the back of your waist, your fingers fumble with the thick material as you turn to face him again. “So what should I work on?”

He seems amused at your question, even though it’s extremely valid. Not even bothering to hide the generous once-over he gives you when you've finally tightened the bow behind your back, he takes his time to answer you. “Yuki usually does the ordering for next week’s shipments tonight, but I’ll do that. You can put together some bouquets— I’ll give you one to follow off of.”

You’re honestly surprised that he’s giving you real work to do, but then again, you are covering a shift after all. Kirishima shows you the corner behind the counter designated for bouquet assembly, and he helps you make the first bouquet before he slips away behind the curtains of the back room once again, leaving you alone in the store.

He’d picked a simple bouquet for you to reproduce; a dozen red roses with a few sprigs of baby’s breath and a touch of greenery. The work is pleasantly methodic to complete, and by the time the sky is dark, a small sense of pride blooms in your chest at the pile of bouquets you’d managed to complete. It’s five minutes to close, and not a single customer has come into the store in the last hour. You’re snipping the ends off of the last branch of baby’s breath when you hear the rustle of the curtains behind you.

Immediately the atmosphere of the room changes. The once warm and light mood that filled the shop dissipates, replaced with a heavy, silent tension that causes trepidation to ooze into your veins.

“These look pretty good, Y/N,” Kirishima speaks from behind you, thick fingers moving over the packages of cellophane in a slow, analytical sweep. You roll your eyes, wondering if he’d thought you’d do a shit job or something.

You open your mouth to give him a curt thanks, but your voice dies in your throat as you feel his presence a hair’s breadth from your backside. The heat that rolls off of him licks at your skin through your clothes, your hands fixed midair.

“Though this one’s a little off,” he murmurs, breath washing over the shell of your ear. His hands come into your field of vision, arms absurdly thick and just generally large in comparison to you. His hands are just as big, dwarfing yours as he plucks the dainty flower from your stiff fingers.

The tattoos that peek out from the cuff of his sleeves hold a certain gravity that captures your stare. You watch him tuck the stem among the bouquet in your peripheral, placing it in precisely the perfect location to make the ensemble flawless.

Your stomach lurches when his chest brushes against your shoulders, fingers turning in on themselves to form to meager fists that you place atop the counter. “There,” he whispers, and you can feel just how close his lips are to touching your ear.

His voice does something to you; up close like this it sounds almost akin to how a tiger’s purr rumbles through its whole body. Except it’s your body that it thunders through, an unwanted heat beginning to form between your thighs. You shift your legs slightly, bringing your feet closer together in an attempt to mitigate the sensation.

You nearly gasp when he pulls away, eyelids fluttering shut in relief.

“You’re actually pretty good at this,” he comments, returning to the pile of bouquets that rest along the countertop. He starts to tuck them into his arms, red gaze flickering to gauge your expression. There’s a knowing gleam in his eyes, and you try your best not to allow heat to flood into your cheeks. But he doesn’t push it any further, turning and walking around the counter to crouch in front of one of the fridges that line the wall. You find yourself wishing for the cool air to wash over your own face, and you grab a few bouquets before making your way over to him.

You kneel down next to him, slightly annoyed that even sitting down he’s still at least a head taller than you. Stupid proportional man. You open the door and prop it open against your hip, leaning in to place the fresh bouquets inside an empty bucket, following Kirishima’s lead.

Kirishima watches you from the corner of his eye for a moment. “Thank you,” he says as he continues to fill the buckets in front of him, “for filling in for Yuki, I mean. The shop doesn’t look too busy but it needs two people to keep it up and running, so… I appreciate you coming in.”

His words are unexpected, and they bring a fresh wave of heat to your cheeks. You’d never seen the playboy be so openly appreciative before, although honestly you’ve only seen the fuckboy side of him— the one that eyes you down, and blatantly flirts with you when you come to visit your friend during her shifts. “Of course, Kiri,” you reply automatically. The burning in your cheeks only intensifies when you realize you’ve addressed him so informally, but when you turn to apologize to him, you find he’s much too close for comfort. He’s leaned in, taking you by surprise as the scent of his deep, savory cologne wafts into your face. Those carmine eyes piece into yours, making your stomach fill with butterflies, flapping round your stomach in a concoction of nerves and— you hate to admit it— hunger.

“You’ve done such good work today, Y/N,” he nearly whispers, and you watch as his full lips part to utter the words, sharp fangs glinting at you. Before you lose yourself to the moment, he stands, mollifying the intensity and severing you from the invisible string that pulls your gaze to his. You hesitantly take the hand he reaches out to you, trying not to think about how truly huge it is compared to yours. He pulls you up effortlessly, and you still as his other hand comes to touch the back of your waist when you all but collide into his chest. “Sorry,” he says but you wouldn’t deem his tone apologetic, “you’re so dainty, y’know— like a flower.”

You turn on your heel to face the other direction, hoping he doesn’t notice how much his comment affects you; you’re sure you look like a bird with fluffed, ruffled feathers— you certainly feel that way at least. You let out an awkward laugh as you take a hasty step toward the register, your body wanting nothing more than to rid itself of this infuriatingly delicious heat that Kirishima’s words create underneath your skin, licking and crawling along your bones. Finding yourself safely harbored behind the counter once again, your eyes fall to the nearly-completed bouquet you were just wrapping up when Kirishima exited the back room. Your fingers reach for a sprig of greenery, flat wide leaves fanning out in an elegant manner that could only accentuate the beauty and simplicity of the red bouquet.

But your sense of security is proven false, for Kirishima’s deep, demanding voice trickles like honey into your ears. “Red roses are accepted as the symbol of love all around the world,” he pauses for dramatic effect, and you hate to admit you’re left teetering on the edge of your metaphorical seat waiting for his next words, “but true florists know they convey another meaning.”

By the clarity of his diction you can tell he’s standing not far behind you, probably a step or two away. You can feel your heart rate spike again, your breath catching as you wonder what his next move will be. “And what’s that?” You reply dryly but it comes out more like a breathless whisper.

His thick forearms intrude your vision and settle on either side of your figure, leaving just a touch of space from your flesh. Your nearly shaking fingers drop the twig of leaves when he reaches between your hands, plucking a single thorny stem from the assembly before you and holding the soft, velvety petals to the tip of your nose. He doesn’t have to say the words for you to know to take a sniff of the blossom, and you inhale as much as your lungs will take before he answers your question, breath hot against the shell of your ear.

“Desire.”

Your body freezes completely, too shocked to even draw in a breath of air, when his pointy teeth graze the very tip of your ear. Jaw hanging at his sheer impudence, you’re still as a statue when he moves the soft swell of the bloom across your far cheek, soft petals trailing along your fiery skin. The action tickles slightly, causing your head to turn toward his face that hangs down above your shoulder.

“You’re so beautiful, sweetheart,” he coos, and again there’s that rumble in his voice that resonates through your frame. He drops the flower, not caring to even spare a glance as it falls from his fingertips. The digits move to cup your chin, middle finger pushing the corner of your jaw to swing your face directly in front of his. Simmering red eyes stare deep into yours, flickering toward your lips briefly before he decides he no longer wants to drag this out.

You’re horrified to moan so unabashedly when his lips press against yours in a vicious siege, dominating them and claiming them as his. His kiss is rough, as if he can’t hold himself back from his beast-like passion, yet it’s much more meaningful and encaptivating than you’d imagined it would be. His arm slithers around your hips to place his hand atop your ribs. Your eyes widen at his undisguised motive, and you open your mouth to call him out— but before you can pull away to tell him to stop, his tongue slips between your lips. Knees wobbly at the sudden intrusion, your tongue begins to move with his, stroking, and swirling, and tangling into one sexy, sloppy mess. His hand slips from its place on your ribs, drifting underneath the side of your apron and cupping your entire breast— not much of a challenge for his large palm.

Kirishima moans into your mouth at your acceptance, and you can only croak out a small whimper of reciprocation. His hand is hot through the nearly sheer fabric of your blouse, and the bra does not do much to block his calloused hands from your chest. His other hand continues to grip your jaw, just hard enough so you’d have to struggle to pull away from him. That is, if you were ever to want to pull away from him.

Your hands are still frozen in front of you, unsure what exactly to do in this situation. Mind completely exhausted of all higher levels of thought, the only emotions you can recognize are lust and satisfaction. Actually, your brain is so hazy with these feelings that you don’t even complain when he starts to undo the tie at the back of your apron. His teeth drag across your bottom lip, the sharp edges not quite pressed hard enough to cut you, but for some reason it brings an unexpected thrill. Pulling away from your mouth, Kirishima’s lips meander across your jaw, his hand tilting your head up so he can continue his journey to your throat. He sucks on the tender flesh there, inhaling your sweet and clean scent as his tongue washes against your skin. You gasp at his brazen action, ass pushing against his hips to discover something long and thick there. Teeth prick into your flesh just a touch too hard, but he’s let go of you after only a minute, and he traces over the small wounds with careful licks.

“Do you,” you suck in short breath when he squeezes your breast, your words faltering, “Do you do this with all your employees?” You taunt, but Kirishima can recognize the doubt in your tone. It’s hidden under false scorn, but your question is pure and filled with true intent.

He pauses his treatment on your neck for a spell, and when he speaks, the wet skin on your throat feels cold as his breath falls upon it. “Of course not,” he purrs, raising his head to take your earlobe between his teeth, pulling away and sending a fresh wave of shivers down your spine. Your body jolts at the stimulation, and your bottom brushes against his crotch again. This time, his hand moves from your breast to wrap around your waist, securing you in place. He presses his concealed cock against the swell of your ass, and you bite your lip at the sheer size of him. Leaning in, he places a long stripe on the side of your ear with his hot tongue, and you can hear the teasing dripping from his voice. “Only with the pretty ones who beg for it.”

Kirishima’s hips rut against your ass, and he holds you in place so that the gentle grind he offers is felt in full effect. You nearly moan at the feeling of his hot length rubbing against you, your pussy starting to leak onto your panties. Of course you know he’s been around, but he’s so sexy— and he’s got to be good at what he does with all that experience.

He pauses, angling your face to still in front of his again. There’s a mischievous twinkle in his eye, and a pleased smirk pulling up one corner of his mouth. He turns your face away again, and your eyes fall shut as his nose scrapes along your cheek. “Yuki says to stay away from you,” he grumbles, lips pressing against your cheek as he speaks, a groan slipping from his parted lips as he rolls his hips into yours particularly hard. Your bottom lip is held prisoner between your teeth in a desperate attempt to hold in the moan that craves to be set free. “Says a good girl like you is too good for me to be messin’ around with.” His words convey a dash of irritation, and you’re caught off-guard at the seasoning of disdain.

You wonder when she’d told him that— when they’d talked about you— but Kirishima does not allow you another moment to ponder it. He kisses you again, and all thoughts are cleansed from your brain as his lips seize yours. The hand on your chin drops and you gasp as it lands on the hem of your skirt, curling around you so his hot palm rests on your inner thigh, just a short distance from your soaked panties. Your feet move to draw your legs together, and your quivering thighs rub against his hand as you struggle to make your body move to your will. Pulling back to fill your lungs with fresh air, you mumble against his lips, “Kirishima, that’s—”

“But I know you’re not all that innocent,” he continues, fingertips brushing over the saturated lace. He groans as he traces along your slit, delighted to find you’re more than aroused from all his touching and teasing. Your cheeks feel impossibly hot, and you let out a soft whimper as he grazes over your clit a few times, your head falling back against his broad chest. Kirishima takes in your lustful expression, and the way your eyelashes flutter at him makes his cock twitch in his pants. “You’re so wet, sweetheart— fuck, you’re a naughty little thing. Y’want this, huh?”

Even though you only give him the slightest nod, he seems to accept your response, for his grip around your waist tightens considerably, pulling you flush against him. His hips buck against yours and you moan aloud when the clothed tip of his cock rubs against your panties through your skirt. You can’t even react when he spins you around, your head feeling fuzzy and laden with desire. He grabs your hips, easily placing you on the edge of the countertop before his fingers move to rip off your apron, then coming to undo the buttons at the front of your blouse. “The— The store,” you pant, eyes darting toward the door that currently sports the ‘open’ side of the sign. You swallow thickly when Kirishima falls to his knees, landing at the perfect height for him to put his head between your thighs.

His hands move to snag the hips of your panties, and you nearly whine in embarrassment when he slides the item down your legs, a thick string of your lust connecting the material to your pussy before it severs. Kirishima only moans in awe, pride oozing into his system as he takes in how drenched you are for him. He shoves the soiled lace into his pocket, and you whine at the action, about to complain but he cuts you off. “Don’t worry, Princess. No one’s gonna bother us,” he breathes out as he comes closer to your weeping core, your slick trickling down your ass cheek to drip onto the countertop.

White hot mortification bursts through you as he takes a long whiff of your pussy, and you squirm to move backwards but rough hands trap your thighs open, dragging your ass to hang halfway off the edge. He smirks as he looks up at you, examining your flustered expression.

“You ‘dunno how long I’ve wanted to have a taste of this sweet little pussy,” he growls, and your hands fly to the end of the counter to steady yourself, grasping onto it tightly. He chuckles when your cunt twitches before him at his words, his hands spreading your thighs apart into an obtuse angle, moving forward to drag his nose along your slick folds. You whimper at the contact, clenching around nothing as he teases you, your mouth falling open to suck in ragged breaths of air. His tongue darts out just slightly, and he runs the tip along your slit, separating your folds and savoring how your thighs shake underneath his grasp. “Mmmm,” he moans, sending tiny vibrations echoing through your sopping cunt, “good girls always taste the best.”

You can’t bear to look at him any longer, and you move your hand to place your curled knuckle between your teeth as his tongue creeps out, the flat muscle petting over your entrance slowly. His teeth graze your clit and you whine at the stimulation, the smooth enamel sliding across your bundle of nerves easily. His tongue is slow and playful, stroking you and avoiding where he knows you want him most.

Kirishima nuzzles into your cunt, rubbing your clit again with a lewd snarl pulling up his lips. “Look at me,” he commands and you follow his direction instantly, eyes blown wide with lust and tongue pressed tight against your knuckle. He groans at the sight, and you only shift your hips in his grasp to try to get closer to his mouth. Those scarlet eyes find yours once again, and you struggle to hold his gaze as his lips wrap around your clit, sucking it in and rolling his tongue over it. He moves the muscle hard against you, just fast enough to have you moaning out, your hand flying from your mouth to grasp the top of his crimson hair. Pulling away briefly, he blows a small huff of air across your heat, shit-eating grin splitting to gloat. “Doesn’t that feel good, sweetheart? Be a good girl and keep those pretty eyes on me.”

Your lips waver as they press into a firm line, your thighs straining to close at the intensity when he sucks your clit into his mouth again. But his massive hands hold your legs apart without any effort, and he lashes his tongue against you without mercy. There is nothing more you want other than to throw your head back and close your eyes, jaw hanging open and heated pants drifting out, but you force your gaze to remain on the man between your legs. Your fingernails scrape against his scalp as you try to find some way to channel the pleasure he introduces to your body, but the action only seems to spur him on. One hand leaves your thigh only for his other arm to wrap right around your ass, and your hips buck helplessly against his face when a fingertip prods your slicked entrance.

Kirishima does not ask for permission, and you suck in a silent gasp as his finger spreads your pussy, shock and pleasure shooting through your limbs at the stretch just one finger provides. “You seem a little quiet, sweetheart. Wanna hear that sweet voice of yours again,” he growls against your pussy, tongue flicking down to trail along the edges of his finger lodged deep inside of you.

You can only whimper as he glides the digit out, pushing it back inside slowly and nearly making your eyes roll back in your skull. His finger is already so long and thick— god, if you had fingers like that you could probably make yourself cum in—

A shriek of bliss rips from your lungs as he thrusts his finger into you, curling toward himself and rubbing some place your fingers have never reached. There’s a cocky grin on his face, and you hate to admit he looks so good looking up at you like that from between your legs, but you can’t bring yourself to form any words. “That was cute,” he chuckles, jagged teeth nipping gently at your pearl again and forcing your entire body twitch against him. He makes sure to capture your full attention before he finishes his thought, the corners of his lip curling with something darker. “Is that the best you’ve got? I think you can do better.”

He’s anything but gentle, the heel of his palm rubbing against your folds as he fucks his finger into you at a rapid pace. You’re seeing stars flash before your eyes, the sliver of sanity you were so desperately clinging to ripped from your grasp. You cry out when his mouth returns to your clit, sucking, and flicking, and slurping. Your eyes just won’t stay open, jaw losing the opposite battle as it hangs ajar, broken and unrestrained moans tumbling out like a burst dam.

Kirishima seems satisfied with your reaction, and he begins to groan against your cunt. You’re dripping with enough slick to coat the entire lower half of his face, and the vibrations from his throat only reverberate through your pussy, making you sharply tug on his hair.

“K-Kirishima,” you pant, a plea about to leave your lips. You’re not sure if you want to beg him to stop, or to give you even more. But Kirishima makes that decision for you.

A strained gasp slices though you when his finger slides out of you, only to be pressed against another digit and shoved into you. The unexpected addition causes you to yelp, a strained moan purring out of you as he allows a few slow strokes for you to adjust. Jesus, having two of his fingers in you feels like you’re being stuffed already— a fleeting pang of fear shooting through you as you wonder what his cock will feel like. But you’re not allowed to ponder the thought, his fingers picking up the pace and curling against that spongy spot again.

Body squirming with bliss, your hips thrash in his hold, switching between scooting back and forth, rocking yourself against his mouth. Kirishima can feel your cunt begin to tighten snug round his thick fingers, your walls fluttering and pulsing at his rough but generous stimulation. “Gonna cum? Bet you make sucha pretty face when you cum, come on sweetheart,” he murmurs, slick lips kissing along the top of your pussy, across your clit. You would’ve cum already if he just kept that sly mouth of his on your clit, and you don’t expect his next words to affect you so much as you cum all over his hand. “Sooner you cum, sooner I can split you open with this cock. You want that, right? Wanna have me fuck that tight little cunt— y’wanna be my good girl, huh?”

Kirishima holds your hips close, arm tightening around your bottom as your body spasms with your orgasm, euphoria zipping through your entirety. The broken moan that rings out into the room makes his cock pulse in his pants, trousers feeling suddenly much too snug for his liking. Your head is thrown back in ecstasy, thighs quivering atop the counter and toes curled in your sneakers.

Finally he allows you a moment to breathe, fingers slipping out of your pussy and standing before you. His arm slides up with him, snagging around your waist to lay his palm flat against your shoulder blade and hold you upright. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he smirks as your eyes finally open, only to catch him tracing his tongue along the fingers that just brought you to heaven’s gates.

Your palms land on the broad expanse of his chest, fingers curling around straps of his apron. He laughs as you whine gently, ducking down a considerable distance and allowing you to slip the loop over his head. You undo his shirt as your lips collide, this time in a sloppy and desperate kiss. His tongue rolls over yours in your mouth as he tugs your bra to rest on top of your chest, your breasts spilling out into his eager palm. He thumbs over your nipples and growls against your mouth, and you whimper and allow your fingers to spread across the flesh of his chest. When you open your eyes, you notice a black and red dragon carved into the top of his pec, dipping halfway down from his collar bone and curling around his shoulder down the length of his arm.

Shirts thrown to the floor in crumpled heaps, you trail your fingers down his hard six pack, thumb combing through a neat trail of black above the button of his jeans. Digits running down to cup his hard length, you look at him with wanton eyes and groan. “Wanna taste you, Kiri.”

Kirishima clicks his tongue in his mouth, a beefy hand wrapping around your wrist entirely and steering your hand to rest on the bulge on his thigh. Your eyes widen almost comically, your throat drying and pussy tightening with a cocktail of apprehension and excitement. He leans down to run his tongue along the column of your throat before he pulls back with a brief nibble to your jaw, locking eyes with you. “I don’t think a sweet girl like you can handle taking me in your mouth.”

His fingers move to undo the button on his jeans, the suspense thick in the air as you watch in awe. He tugs the jeans to rest beneath his ass, the bulge in his black boxer-briefs already indicating you might be in for more than you can handle. You try not to let your jaw drop when his cock springs free, swollen tip glazed with a sheen of pre and pulsing veins decorating the entire shaft. Hand around the base of his cock, you whimper as it only covers half his length— his fist is already considerably bigger than yours and suddenly you’re in fear for your pussy.

Kirishima laughs at your expression, pressing a quick kiss to your lips and smoothing the hair from your forehead. “Don’t worry Princess,” he murmurs, arm around your waist again to push your hips to the very edge of the countertop. Your pussy twitches when the head of his cock brushes your folds, and you find yourself wondering if you’re about to be in a world of pain or pleasure. Probably both. “I’m gonna make you feel so good,” he promises, nuzzling his face into your neck and pressing gentle, wet kisses there.

“I don’t— I don’t think it’s gonna fit,” you croak out, arms hesitantly wrapping around his neck. Yet your legs spread on their own accord, inching forward so his cock rubs against your opening.

Kirishima purrs at the action, licking his lips against your throat. “We’ll make it fit, sweetheart.” He brings his hand up to his mouth and spits into it, the crude noise making you flinch and wrinkle your nose in disgust. But it doesn’t last for long— any conscious thought leaves your brain when you glance down, seeing him stroke the top half of his cock with his slick hand. Biting your lip, you close your eyes and pull him closer, trying to prepare yourself for whatever is about to come.

Thankfully his movements are slow as he pushes into your wet cunt, and you’re surprised how easily his length slides into you. The stretch is unreal— unlike anything you’ve ever felt before— and it takes all your willpower not to clench around him for you know that will just cause you further discomfort. He only enters you halfway, grip tight on your waist as if he’s having a hard time controlling himself. Sighing against the flushed skin of your neck, he moves to kiss you again, lips tender and careful.

You whimper when he gives a tentative thrust, your nails clawing into the muscles lining the top of his shoulder. His cock is so thick, and knowing it’s only halfway inside you has your stomach twisting in terror. He’s goddamn huge. It takes a few more gentle thrusts for your grip on him to loosen, and your body relaxes slightly in his arms.

Kirishima clearly has enough experience with this, because the pace he sets is perfect. His hands slide all over your body, cupping and squeezing every inch of flesh he can find. Hips rock into yours at a slow, benevolent pace, your pussy stretched wide around him and fluttering as his thick veins drag along your velvet walls. Lips finding yours again, his tongue and pointed teeth distract you as with each thrust his cock shifts a tiny bit deeper inside of you.

At some point you start to moan, head falling back and mouth open wide as long, unadulterated sounds float out from the bottom of your lungs. Kirishima’s pace hastens, hands landing on your hips and thrusting into you swiftly. His cock is making your head spin, brain full of fog as your heart hammers in your ribs. He swears as his rough hand claps atop your ass cheek, taking note of the way your pussy shivers around him and a sharp squeak is summoned from your lips. “God you’re fuckin’ tight sweetheart— fuck, you a virgin?” He moans, fingers biting into the reddened skin on your ass. When you shake your head at him, he questions how on earth it is possible for you to be this snug around him, but he makes sure to thank whatever deity there is for it.

You cry out when his thumb greets your clit, and he fights to maintain his measured pace at the way your cunt squeezes so tightly. Your slick is dripping onto the countertop, his cock buried deep in your core, again and again. His added stimulation to your clit has you gasping for breath, a coil in your stomach filling with pressure. “Ohgodohgodohgodohgod Kiri please don’t stoppp,” you beg, pupils drifting up into your skull and your hands flying all over his torso, grabbing whatever skin you can reach.

Kirishima groans, palm pushing your tailbone forward so your hips bump against his. You scream at the full intensity of his cock inside of you; every inch and every vein setting fire to your insides, his thumb relentless on your clit. Your vision turns white as you reach your peak, your body seizing in ecstasy. Pulling him close, you wheeze for breath against his chest, his thumb never stilling its movement on your clit until you grab his wrist and rip him off of you, overwhelmed with the bliss from your orgasm rippling through every bone in your body. He’s still moving inside of you— albeit at a snail's pace— but it’s enough for him to prolong the pleasure simmering in your veins.

Finally you collapse into his chest, mind numb and eyelids too heavy to keep open, your lips pressing clumsy kisses into his skin. A deep chuckle rumbles through his chest, his fingers carding through your tresses. “Now, that was cute, Princess,” he says, the amusement in his tone laced with something darker. His fingers curl in your hair, pulling your neck back so your head tilts up to meet his sinister gaze. “But you didn’t get permission to cum, did you?”

Your heart begins to race, your stomach plummeting as he holds your gaze without vigilance. You whine as he pulls out of you, your cunt never feeling this empty before as his hot length disappears. Kirishima picks you up without effort, biceps swelling with intricate swirls of charcoal ink. He places you on wobbling feet before spinning you around, your hands flying out to grab the counter as he shoves your shoulder down.

“That makes you a bad girl, Y/N.”

Horror streaks through your every limb, and yet, only a sinful moan wanders out of you, your feet moving apart and thighs spreading for him to fit between. You crane your head to look at him, drinking up the beautiful man behind you. Broad shoulders trail into a broad, thick chest, tapering down to a tight and powerful waist. Each muscle on his body is prominent and enticing, covered snugly with tan skin that glimmers with a sheen of sweat. His red hair hangs to frame his handsome face, mostly still tugged back into his low ponytail.

As if reading your mind, he moves a hand back and snags the tie off, vibrant locks of scarlet licking the tops of his shoulders. Running a hand over his forehead, he looks at you with a predatory gaze, a smirk curling up one side of his lips. “Y’know what happens to bad girls, right?” You bite your lip and shake your head, egging him on as the top of his cock traces around your opening. “Bad girls get punished.”

The loudest scream of the night rips through you as he thrusts into you without warning, his cock hitting all different kinds of places than before in this new position. Kirishima doesn’t allow you a moment to adjust; he starts slapping his hips against your ass roughly, fist gripping the hair near your scalp again and pulling it tight so your back arches. You cannot breathe, or speak, or think— but somehow his name slips out of your mouth between all the moans.

A harsh slap across your ass sounds, the sting causing your pussy to quiver around his length. “Bad girls don’t get to use my name,” he growls into your ear, leaning over your body to take the tip of your ear between his teeth.

Your eyes are crossed in pleasure, your expression probably comforted into the most lewd, carnal face you’ve ever made. His cock is too big, and you know you won’t be able to walk right tomorrow, but maybe that adds to why it feels so fucking good right now.

“You’re makin’ this seem like a reward, not a punishment, Princess. You like taking it rough, huh?” He teases, pulling your head back by your hair and eliciting another moan from you. “Answer me.”

His cock pounds into your cunt, the sheer stretch enough to make you cum, let alone the length. Your lungs begin to shake as you feel your orgasm building again between your legs. “Yes Sir!” You yelp when his palm cracks against your ass again, your knees wobbly and the pressure continuing to build.

Your reply makes his cock twitch inside of you, and Kirishima sucks in a cool breath of air between clenched teeth. His hand grips the bottom of your thigh, and you cry out when he hikes your knee onto the countertop, cock drilling into you even deeper than before.

Your pussy twitches as you cum instantly, a drawn-out moan vibrating through your throat. Fingernails scraping along the countertop in your gaze of euphoria, Kirishima is forced to halt his assault on your cunt as it squeezes him tightly, his teeth piercing into his lip in pleasure. But as soon as your cunt loosens, he’s fucking into you with renewed vigor, your hips knocking into the counter as he plunges his massive cock into your sloppy heat. “You just don’t fuckin’ learn,” he snarls, wrist twisting to pull your hair tighter, bending your spine to his will.

“I’m sorry Sir,” you choke out, tears beginning to trickle down your cheeks. Each thrust brushes your cervix and it hurts, but at the same time the intensity of it all feels incredible. “I didn’t know I could… could cum so q-quick! Please, Sir— ah!— Please forgive me!”

Kirishima tosses his head back at your admission, your apology immediately accepted. His hand slips from your hair to your throat, turning your head so he can see your face as he pounds into you without mercy. The tears slipping down your cheeks make your eyes sparkle and he groans, his own end in near reach and only approaching quicker at the sight of you. “Y’look so pretty when you cry, sweetheart— shit, I know you have one more for me,” he leans in and pokes his tongue out to collect a salty tear, kissing the wet skin on your cheek. His thumb on your throat wanders to your lips, and you take the digit into your mouth with enthusiasm, keeping your eyes locked with his.

You whimper around his finger when his other hand comes around to circle your puffy clit, already overstimulated and thighs shaking. Your legs try to close but he keeps them spread apart, cock still ramming into you as his lips trail down to your neck. His hand on your throat loosens and comes to rest on your ass, pulling your cheeks apart and tracing his slippery thumb over your puckered hole. Your eyes widen with shock, and you force your voice to work even though it comes out scratchy and breathless. “W-What are you— Kiri wait, that’s—”

“Have you ever had anything in here, Princess?” He inquires as his thumb slips into you, making you shriek at the fiery stretch. Pushing the digit into your ass, he moans at the sight of you sucking in his thumb so obediently, your hole trembling and squeezing round his finger.

You shake your head, at a loss for words once again. You can feel his cock rub against his finger through your walls, and though it’s a foreign, unfamiliar sensation, it’s far from unwelcome. More tears of pure pleasure descend from your lashes, the combination of all his stimulation driving you insane. You can feel your climax building with every thrust, your walls dragging along his cock and his finger, his other hand rolling your clit.

“C’mon, baby. Cum for me, it’s alright,” he purrs, balls feeling tight with his near release. His fingers pinch and rub all over your slick clit, and you mewl out as that familiar pressure heightens in your stomach. “You’re a good girl, aren’t you? Show me how good you are, sweetheart.”

He doesn’t allow you a second to think, and you whine out for him when his hips crash against your ass, shoving his entire cock inside your soaked hole and spreading your aching walls. The spot he’s hitting with the head of his cock causes your eyes to cross— you didn’t even know it existed before now— and suddenly everything is too much, and you’re crying out his name as your orgasm tears through you.

Kirishima gives a few more hard thrusts before he’s there too, the tips of his teeth piercing into your neck as he floods your pussy with his heavy load. Your cunt pulses around him, milking out every drop he has to offer as you’re thrown into waves of complete euphoria. Eyes closed, toes and fingers coiled tight in pleasure, you whimper as he gives your clit a few more rubs before his hand moves up to push his hair back. “Good girl,” he praises, hot palms sliding along your curves and rubbing circles into your skin.

You’re totally spent; body limp atop the countertop, nipples hard and hot against the cool plastic, tears drying on your cheeks, ass feeling warm and fuzzy, and pussy trembling with the aftershocks of your climax. Kirishima is careful when he pulls out, and you can’t even find the energy to make a noise of complaint at the emptiness between your legs. You can feel his release begin to dribble out of your abused hole, and your body twitches when he presses his thumb in to shove his seed back inside.

He sighs as he grabs a paper towel from the sink behind him, dragging it along his weeping, yet still impressive, length. As you’re still catching your breath, he walks around the counter and into your field of vision, tucking himself back into his pants nonchalantly. When he reaches the door, he flips the ‘open’ sign over to ‘closed’ before sauntering over to you, eyes trained on yours. “Well, sweetheart,” he chuckles, gaze raking over your exhausted form, still collapsed on top of the counter in a sedated-like state. He reaches forward, tucking a stray piece of hair behind your ear as he smiles brightly, but a shadow of something more ominous lingers in those scarlet eyes. “You’re gonna have to cover Yuki’s shifts more often.”

─── ・°* ﾟ✧:* • ｡ﾟ:*･☽･*: ｡ﾟ•*:✧ ﾟ*°・ ───

soooo that happened. finally some dom kiri on my blog!!! please be sure to lemme know if you enjoyed <3

➥ masterlist

𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 © 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐩𝐢 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝.

#kirishima eijirou smut #kirishima smut #bnha smut #mha smut #kirishima eijirou x reader #kirishima x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #kirishima eijirou fic #kirishima fic #bnha fic #mha fic #my fics

4K notes · View notes

pokemonswshbutionlyplayedsword · 3 years

Note

I recently read one of your posts about what the gym leaders dislike the most about each other, so I want to request a post about what they like the most about each other :)

Hell yeah, spread positivity.

Milo:

-Nessa: Her confidence. Milo admires the way she seems to never let anyone get her down.

-Kabu: His advice. Kabu always seems to know what to say, and Milo really appreciates that.

-Bea: Her care for her pokemon. For as strong as she gets, and as hard as she trains her team, she always makes sure to keep her pokemon healthy and happy.

-Allister: His individuality. Milo knows Allister the least, but the fact that he stands out unapologetically is something Milo can appreciate.

-Opal: Her tea. Milo loves visiting Opal because she gives great tea and snacks. Visits are very pleasant.

-Gordie: His jokes. Milo and Gordie share very similar humor.

-Melony: Her cooking. Milo loves a good home cooked meal and Melony’s dishes are welcome in the middle of the Circhester cold.

-Piers: His ambition. Piers was scary to Milo at first, but once they got to know each other, Milo began to realize that Piers has a lot of goals, most of which are to benefit others.

-Raihan: The way he treats his fans. Raihan seems like the type to brag and boast, but Raihan is a really cool dude. Milo can’t stand people who flaunt things too much, so the fact that Raihan could and doesn’t is appreciated.

-Leon: The way he cares about other people. Leon is always looking out for other people, and he always strives to help others around him.

Nessa:

-Milo: The way he supports his friends. Milo does a lot for his friends and supports them no matter what.

-Kabu: His passion. Kabu very clearly cares about his career, and not much holds him back. Nessa is inspired by that.

-Bea: Her strength. Nessa appreciates that Bea is super strong and doesn’t let the fact that she’s a girl hold her back. Nessa’s all about girl power.

-Allister: His humor. Not many people hear Allister tell jokes, but Nessa gets to hear pretty frequently, and he’s funny.

-Opal: Her stories. Every times Nessa sees Opal, she has another exciting story to tell about when she was younger.

-Gordie: How he stands up for himself. Nessa is on Gordie’s side when it comes to the fight with Melony. The fact that Gordie keeps going with rock types no matter is really cool.

-Melony: The way she’s a mom to everyone. Melony takes care of people no matter what, and Nessa appreciates that. Melony proves that you can be kind and strong.

-Piers: The way he does music. Nessa knows how hard it is to be a model and a gym leader at the same time. She understands how much work Piers puts in to do music and pokemon training, even when no one sees it.

-Raihan: His personality. Raihan is a lot of fun to hang out with. He and Nessa have similar personalities, so they get along well.

-Leon: The way he looks out for the rest of the league. Leon is the reason Rose never got the chance to pass a rule to stop the Gym Leaders from doing outside work. Leon protected Nessa’s modeling career, despite all the trouble it put him through.

Kabu:

-Milo: His commitment. Milo always follows through on promises and agreements. Kabu really appreciates that.

-Nessa: Nessa’s work ethic. Nessa puts in a lot of work to do all the things she wants to do. Kabu knows that not everyone would be able to do that.

-Bea: How hard she works. Bea is always training. Kabu always admires those who work hard to get stronger.

-Allister: How advanced he is. Allister is the youngest gym leader Galar has ever seen. Kabu is very impressed.

-Opal: Her attitude. She’s always sarcastic and sassy, and Kabu thinks it’s funny.

-Gordie: The way he looks after Piers. Kabu has known Gordie since he was very young, and he knows that Piers is his best friend. Gordie has always been there to support Piers when he needs it, and it reminds Kabu of his friendship with Melony.

-Melony: She’s a good friend. Kabu and Melony have been best friends for a very long time. And despite how long it’s been, Melony and Kabu are still as close as ever.

-Piers: How hard he works. Not everyone sees it, but Piers puts everything he has into taking care of Spikemuth and following his own ambitions.

-Raihan: His passion. Kabu relates to and admires Raihan’s commitment to becoming stronger than Leon.

-Leon: His strength. Leon is so strong it’s unreal, and yet he’s still very humble. It’s a source of inspiration.

Bea:

-Milo: His physical strength. Bea loves to spar, and Milo is a formidable match.

-Nessa: Her involvement. Nessa is always seen doing something for her community. Bea teaches martial arts, so seeing Nessa teaching swimming is something they bond over.

-Kabu: His desire to better himself. Kabu and Bea train together relatively often.

-Allister: His childishness. No one knows Allister as well as Bea, and it’s refreshing to see him act like a kid.

-Opal: Her stories. Opal was very strong and chaotic when she was younger. Bea loves to hear about it.

-Gordie: His type specialty. Bea loves to train her pokemon against Gordie’s because of how tough they are.

-Melony: Her kindness. Melony is very strong, but she’s also very kind and generous. Bea always loves seeing her fellow female gym leaders proving their strength.

-Piers: His advocacy for his pokemon. Bea knows that Dark Type pokemon have a huge stigma, and she appreciates that Piers works to change that.

-Raihan: His drive. He’s great to train with because he wants to get stronger so badly.

-Leon: His generosity. Bea would understand if Leon refused to help the gym leaders so he could stay stronger, but Leon is always happy to help the gym leaders train.

Allister:

-Milo: His food. Milo always has something tasty to share with Allister.

-Nessa: How nice she is. Nessa is always thoughtful and kind to Allister. She laughs at all his jokes, so it makes him feel confident.

-Kabu: His stories from Hoenn. Kabu visits Hoenn pretty often and brings snacks and other things back for Allister. And his stories are interesting.

-Bea: Her care. Bea is usually seen as strong and cold, but Allister knows that she takes care of him. He thinks of her as an older sister.

-Opal: Visiting her. Visiting Opal is very nice. The visits are always peaceful and quiet. Opal gives him good snacks, and she seems to understand him.

-Gordie: His gifts. Gordie loves to give material gifts for any occasion he can. Gordie is a really good gift giver, too. Allister doesn’t know Gordie well enough to think of something better.

-Melony: How she takes care of him. Melony is very understanding and accommodating for Allister. She also takes care of Bea, which makes Allister feel better.

-Piers: He accommodates for Allister. Allister used to think Piers was loud and scary, but he’s actually really calm and quiet. Piers is able to take Allister somewhere quiet and keep people away when he’s overwhelmed.

-Raihan: His love of books. Allister likes to read, and Raihan is a good person to talk to about books. Raihan also lends Allister really good books.

-Leon: His understanding. Leon is very loud and energetic. He knows he’s a lot for Allister. He just really appreciates that Leon doesn’t get offended when Allister gets too overwhelmed.

Opal:

-Milo: His connection to nature. Milo gets plants, and bonds with Opal over the forests around Ballonlea.

-Nessa: Her advocacy for strong women. Opal grew up in a really sexist time. She really appreciates Nessa encouraging girls to be strong.

-Kabu: His humor. Opal thinks Kabu’s humor is hilarious. She gets along will with him and Melony.

-Bea: Her care for Allister. Opal thinks it’s fascinating that Bea cares so gently for Allister while she’s still so stoic and strong.

-Allister: His mystery. Opal relates to him more than anyone else. How different he is from others is endearing.

-Gordie: His kindness. Gordie is really supportive and kind to everyone, especially his friends. Gordie takes a lot of time to make sure his friends are okay.

-Melony: Her stories. Opal likes to tell stories, but she loves to hear about when Melony was young and wild.

-Piers: His resilience. Opal can tell that Piers is a survivor. He adapts to everything and has achieved success despite everything he’s been through.

-Raihan: His history knowledge. Raihan likes to ask questions about events that Opal lived through and Opal likes to share those stories with him.

-Leon: His care for Hop. Opal’s favorite side of Leon is the caring brother side. She knows how happy it makes Hop when Leon is with him. It’s heartwarming.

Gordie:

-Milo: His humor. Gordie likes to crack jokes with Milo because they always seem to land.

-Nessa: Her attitude. To Gordie, nothing is funnier than watching Nessa put someone down for being a jerk.

-Kabu: His involvement. Kabu is a close friend of his mother, so Gordie saw him a lot when he was a child. Kabu is like a father figure to Gordie in a way.

-Bea: Her eagerness to fight. Gordie loves pokemon battles against her because she understands rock types really well.

-Allister: His ambition. Gordie knows that Allister has goals for his future, and he can admire that.

-Opal: Her gossip. Gordie gets to hear juicy secrets, either from Opal herself or from Melony, who heard it from the source herself.

-Melony: Her love. No matter how much they fight, Gordie knows Melony was a good mother to him. He can’t hate her ever.

-Piers: His supportiveness. Piers has been Gordie’s best friend since they were children. Piers puts his entire self into being a good friend and helping Gordie. Piers has done a lot for Gordie, especially with the fight going on.

-Raihan: His energy. It’s tough to keep up with Raihan, but it’s an adrenaline rush to hang out because of how much always seems to happen.

-Leon: His involvement with the rest of the league. Leon could be some greater presence, but he isn’t. He’s a friend to the gym leaders, and stands up for them when they need. Gordie really appreciates it.

Melony:

-Milo: The way he takes care of his Pokémon. His flock of Wooloo are well loved and it shows.

-Nessa: Her unwavering determination. Melony admires the way Nessa sticks to her choices and hardly ever budges for other people.

-Kabu: His sense of adventure. Especially when he was younger, Kabu would take Melony on plenty of exciting adventures. Even now that they’re older, her best friend is still a lot of fun.

-Bea: Her care for Allister. Melony is one of the few who knows how kind Bea is to Allister. All they have is each other in essence. And Melony is glad Allister has a solid person to stick to.

-Allister: His childlike curiosity. Melony adores kids, and Allister is no exception. She loves that he asks so many questions and it always learning.

-Opal: Her wisdom. Melony is hardly ever caught off guard or at a loss, but when she is, Opal always knows what to say.

-Gordie: His independence. Even though Melony doesn’t like that Gordie doesn’t train Ice Types, she has to admit that he does well for himself. He’s a big presence without riding the traditions of his family, and he built that himself.

-Piers: The way he cares for Marnie. Melony has known Piers and Marnie since they were kids. Melony is grateful that Piers is such a good caretaker for Marnie, even though the fact that they’re in this position breaks her heart.

-Raihan: His generosity. Raihan is very famous and rich, so he’s always donating things or giving to the people around him. Melony thinks that’s a good attitude for someone like Raihan.

-Leon: His humbleness. Melony remembered when Leon first became champion. He’d been a little arrogant at the time, but he’s humbled himself a lot. She’s glad for it.

Piers:

-Milo: His open mindedness. Piers knows Milo was afraid of him at first, so he was surprised when Milo tried to get to know him. He’s glad for it.

-Nessa: Her confidence. Nessa never lets hurtful comments get her down. That’s something Piers admires and is a little jealous of.

-Kabu: His patience. Kabu and Piers aren’t the closest, but Kabu was there for Piers when he needed him. Piers had been a lot of trouble for Kabu to deal with then, but Kabu never lost his temper with him and was patient the whole time.

-Bea: Her relationship with Allister. Piers know what it’s like to be a kid responsible for an even younger kid. Bea’s not exactly in the same situation he was in, but he still admires her resilience.

-Allister: That he’s introverted. Piers relates to Allister not wanting to be around people. Allister also gives Piers and excuse to get to a quieter place to rest in big events.

-Opal: Her ability to read people. That skill has saved Opal and the people around her a few times. Piers included.

-Gordie: His consistency. Gordie has always been a safe haven for Piers. He’s always been sturdy and supportive and hardly ever wavers when Piers needs him.

-Melony: Her care. Melony is the closest thing to a mom Piers has ever had. He doesn’t know where he’d be if she didn’t insist on taking care of him any way she could.

-Raihan: The fact that he’s extroverted. Raihan can be a chore to deal with sometimes, but Piers also appreciates him because he takes the lead. It’s refreshing to just be dragged around and not have to make any decisions.

-Leon: His understanding. Leon has always been someone who wants to understand and accommodate people. He’s saved Piers’ hide many times because he made the attempt to understand Piers.

Raihan:

-Milo: His laid back view of training. Milo is a strong trainer, but he’s friendly about it. Milo makes for a good relaxing warm up or wind down battle.

-Nessa: Her attitude. Raihan and Nessa are a force to be reckoned with when they’re together. Nessa makes Raihan feel even stronger.

-Kabu: His passion. Kabu is an intense trainer because he wants to better himself. This is a trait they both share.

-Bea: Her intensity. Raihan loves training with her because it’s so difficult to keep up. Certainly, a welcome challenge.

-Allister: His mystery. Understanding Allister the way Raihan does makes him feel exclusive. Also, they talk about books a lot, and that’s fun.

-Opal: Her gossiping. Raihan loves to be in the know, and he’s glad Opal is willing to share with him.

-Gordie: Hanging out with him. Gordie is a fun person to hang out with casually. He always seems to know someone or have something to do.

-Melony: Her cooking. Raihan is a sucker for home cooked meals made with love. When he’s in the area, he always wants to stop by for dinner.

-Piers: His reliability. Piers puts up with a lot, but he always follows through on his promises. He may not seem like it at first, but Piers is a very trustworthy person.

-Leon: His strength. Raihan always looks up to Leon. He worries that if he ever does surpass him, he’ll be without a goal and start to decline.

Leon:

-Milo: His love of kids. Milo is an old friend of Leon’s, since they used to live so close together. Milo was always there to help out with Hop when Leon needed, and he taught Hop a lot of important things.

-Nessa: Her dedication. Leon knows she models and trains Pokémon at the same time. She works hard to do her best with both.

-Kabu: His want to be better. Kabu is always working hard, and it pays off. Leon cares a lot about people who want to be stronger.

-Bea: Her training. Bea throws everything into being a Pokémon trainer, and Leon looks up to her for that.

-Allister: He’s a prodigy. Allister is the youngest gym leader Galar has ever seen. He’s also very strong at the same time. Leon has high hopes for his future.

-Opal: Her experience. When Leon has a problem, Opal always knows how to help. She’s gotten him through a lot.

-Gordie: He’s fun. Whenever Leon needs to go out casually, Gordie knows how to help. Hanging out with Gordie is a good stress reliever.

-Melony: She cares about him and Hop. Melony is very sweet, and Leon knows that she took care of him when he was first settling into the league. He was very grateful, but not surprised, to know that she did the same for Hop later on.

-Piers: His dedication. Piers juggles a lot of things. Being a gym leader, his music, taking care of Marnie and Spikemuth. It’s a lot for one person, but Piers perseveres. Leon doesn’t know if he’d be able to handle all that.

-Raihan: His rivalry. Raihan is always at Leon’s heels. He inspires Leon to keep working hard for himself and the people around him. He knows how important he is for Raihan, too.

I tried to do my best but for some reason it took me three days to get through this.

#pokemon swsh #pokemon milo #pokemon nessa #pokemon kabu #pokemon bea #pokemon allister #pokemon opal #pokemon gordie #pokemon melony #pokemon piers #pokemon raihan #pokemon leon #ask #bigwagonpiepainter

260 notes · View notes

annecoulmanross · 3 years

Text

Top Ten Historical Figures Done Dirty by The Terror (2018)

So, we all know and love Dave Kajganich and Soo Hugh’s beautiful show, right? Of course. But it’s important to set the historical record straight, especially when there are real people’s life-stories and legacies on the line.

(NOTE: this list is biased heavily toward upper-class individuals because the historical record does a better job preserving those voices for us. Was the real Cornelius Hickey as nasty a person in real life as he was in the show? Almost certainly not – which is why we’re given “E.C.” as a nod to the fact that we shouldn’t assume these characters represent real historical villains, even when the narrative makes them antagonists; HOWEVER, not everyone in the show was given the same courtesy as the OG “Cornelius Hickey.” Which is why this post exists – to show you the best sides of some people you might not otherwise appreciate for their full humanity. That being said, keep in mind the sources used – and, for instance, who has surviving portraits and who doesn’t.)

Thus, below the cut, I give you this list, (mostly) in order from #10 (honorable mention, only somewhat slandered) to #1 (most hideously maligned) – my list of characters from The Terror who deserved better.

(Please don’t take this too seriously – I know there are reasons why choices had to be made in order to make this show work on television, and I do very much love the end product. But I also genuinely think it’s a good idea to remember the real people behind these characters, and think critically about how we depict them ourselves.)

Bottom Tier – The Overlooked Men of the Franklin Expedition

#10. Richard Wall – & – John Diggle

We’re combining these two because they had a lot in common, historically speaking! Both were polar veterans, having served as a Cook (Wall) and an AB-then-Quartermaster (Diggle) on HMS Erebus under the command of Sir James Clark Ross in the Antarctic expedition of 1839-1843. Certainly we do get some good scenes with them in the show, but there was plenty more to explore there – for instance, Captain Ross was apparently so taken with Richard Wall that he hired him on as a private cook after the Antarctic expedition. (One imagines that Sir James may have regretted letting his friends of the Franklin expedition steal Wall out from under him.)

(If you want some more information on Diggle, the brilliant @handfuloftime found this excellent article on him – fun facts include the detail that Diggle’s only daughter bore the name Mary Ann Erebus Diggle.)

#9. John Smart Peddie

Now, I don’t think we should go as far as the Doctor Who Audio Drama adaptation of the Franklin Expedition, which makes Peddie into Francis Crozier’s oldest friend, someone “almost like a brother” to Crozier (no evidence of ANY prior relationship between the two existed, contrary to whatever the Doctor Who Audio Dramas would have you believe!) but Peddie probably earned his place as chief surgeon, however fond we may all be of the beautiful Alex “Macca” MacDonald, who was, in fact, the Assistant Surgeon, historically speaking. It’s hard to find information about Peddie, but someone should go looking! I want to know about this man!

(If you want to know more about the historical Alexander MacDonald, there’s a short biographical article on him from Arctic that you can read here.)

#8 James Walter Fairholme

The only one of the expedition’s lieutenants who doesn’t really get any characterization in the show, which is a travesty! The historical Fairholme (pronounced “Fairem”) was, as they say, a himbo, and the letters that he wrote home to his father are positively precious. He loved the expedition pets (lots of kisses for Neptune!), and he needed two kayaks because he couldn’t fit into just one with his beefy thighs. Fitzjames loaned him a coat when all the Erebus officers had their portraits taken, and then called him a “smart, agreeable companion, and a well informed man,” and Goodsir singled Fairholme out as “very much interested” in the work of naturalist observations. Just a lovely young man who could have gotten some screen time, you know?

(Also, as @transblanky discovered, four separate members of the Fairholme family gave money to Thomas Blanky’s widow when she was struggling financially in the 1850s, making them, combined, the most generous contributor to her subscription.)

Middle Tier – Franklin’s Men Who Didn’t Deserve That

#7. William Gibson

Alright, I want to talk about how uniquely horrible the show’s William Gibson is: this is a character willing to lie and accuse his partner of sexual assault that didn’t happen. I get there were extenuating circumstances, but if I were a historical figure who died in some famous disaster and someone depicted me doing something like that? Let’s just say I’m deeply offended on the real Gibson’s behalf.

What do we know about the historical William Gibson? Not much – but we know a little. Gibson’s younger brother served on an overland exploratory venture across Australia in the 1870s… from which he never returned. (God, the Gibson family had the worst luck?) This description of a conversation that young Alf Gibson had with expedition leader Ernest Giles only days before his death is VERY eerie:

[Gibson] said, “Oh! I had a brother who died with Franklin at the North Pole, and my father had a deal of trouble to get his pay from government.” He seemed in a very jocular vein this morning, which was not often the case, for he was usually rather sulky, sometimes for days together, and he said, “How is it, that in all these exploring expeditions a lot of people go and die?”

I said, “I don't know, Gibson, how it is, but there are many dangers in exploring, besides accidents and attacks from the natives, that may at any time cause the death of some of the people engaged in it; but I believe want of judgment, or knowledge, or courage in individuals, often brought about their deaths. Death, however, is a thing that must occur to every one sooner or later.”

To this he replied, “Well, I shouldn't like to die in this part of the country, anyhow.” In this sentiment I quite agreed with him, and the subject dropped.

(From Giles’s Australia Twice Traversed which you can read here)

Beyond that, one thing we do know is that William Gibson was probably friends with Henry Peglar – they had served on ships together before, and Gibson may possibly have been the poor fellow found cradling the Peglar Papers, according to researcher Glenn Stein. So we might imagine the historical Gibson as a much kinder man than the show’s depiction of him – this was someone who befriended the clever, playful Peglar we all know and love from the transcriptions of his papers, so full of poetry and linguistic jokes. It’s a shame we didn’t get a chance to meet this real Gibson, who actually knew the Henry Peglar whom we love so well.

#6. Stephen Stanley

Look. There’s that one famous line in James Fitzjames’s letters to the Coninghams about how Stanley went about with his “shirt sleeves tucked up, giving one unpleasant ideas that he would not mind cutting one’s leg off immediately – ‘if not sooner.’” And certainly Harry Goodsir had some mixed opinions of the man, saying was “a would be great man who as I first supposed would not make any effort at work after a time,” and that he “knows nothing whatever about subject & is ignorant enough of all other subjects,” whatever…. that means….

But Fitzjames also had some rather nicer things to say about him, that he was “thoroughly good natured and obliging and very attentive to our mess.” Also, the amputation comment? Very likely had a quite positive underlying joke to it – Stanley may not have been much of a naturalist, but he was actually an accomplished anatomist, who won a prize for dissection in 1836, on account of his “bend of the elbow,” which was “a picture of dissection,” according to Henry Lonsdale, who also called Stanley his “facetious friend” and “a fine fellow” (Lonsdale 1870, pg. 159). So, the real Stanley probably was rather droll, but the perpetually cruel Stanley of the show misses some of the real man’s major historical virtues and replaces them with historically unlikely mass-mercy-murder.

#5. John Irving

Now we’re getting into the territory of characters who did get some good development, but are missing a bit of historical nuance. As I’m sure many of you know, the historical Irving was indeed very religious, but the flashes of anger (i.e. against Manson) we see from Irving in the show don’t seem terribly consistent with the Irving depicted in this memorial volume, where John seems more like a quiet, bookish, mathematically inclined young man, with a self-deprecating sense of humor and a gentle sweetness. It’s really not at all far off from the version of Irving we see with Kooveyook in the show – I just wish we could have seen more of that side of Irving.

Top Tier – The Triumvirate of Polar Friends

So, these three DO have many good things to recommend them in the show, but because I’ve done such deep research on them, it can be quite jarring to watch certain scenes in which they behave contrary to their historical personalities, and I find myself pausing when watching the show with friends or family to explain that NO, they wouldn’t do that!

#4. Sir James Clark Ross

First thing – we LOVE Richard Sutton. He did a beautiful job with the material given to him. (This is true of all the actors on the list, frankly, but it’s doubly true here.) But that scene at the Admiralty where Sir James tells Lady Franklin “I have many friends on those ships, as you know,” to shut down her argument for search missions? At that time (aka 1847), historically, Sir James Clark Ross was actively campaigning for search missions, planning routes and volunteering his services in command of any vessel the Admiralty even vaguely contemplated sending out. You could see this real-life desperation in Sir James’s morose attention to his whiskey glass in that scene if you’re really trying, but I think the more historically responsible thing would have been to make vividly clear that James Ross risked life and limb, as soon as he possibly could, to try to rescue Franklin and Crozier and Blanky, men he’d known and cared about and bitterly missed – and, in the case of Crozier, “truly loved.”

#3. Sir John Franklin

The historical Franklin had plenty of flaws – his contributions to British colonial rule certainly harmed no small number of people, and we should question the way that heroic statues of Franklin are some of the only memorials that serve to honor the lives lost on Franklin’s expeditions – especially considering the steep body count of not only Franklin’s final voyage, but his previous missions in Arctic regions as well. (DM me and I’ll scream at you about counter-monuments! Is this a promise or a threat? Who knows!) With that said, most contemporary accounts agree that Sir John Franklin treated his friends, his family, and those within his social orbit with kindness, and his cruelties were systemic, not personal. In this light, the image of Sir John viciously tearing into Francis Crozier’s vulnerabilities in the show feels very off. Though there was certainly some friction over Crozier’s two proposals to Sophia Cracroft, historically speaking, there’s no evidence at all that Sir John discouraged her from marrying Francis – Sophia may have had many reasons of her own (*clears throat meaningfully in a lesbian sort of way*) for not accepting any of the several marriage proposals offered to her (from Crozier as well as from others), and we ought to keep in mind that she remained unmarried all her life. The notion that the real Sir John would have considered Crozier too low-born or too Irish to be part of the Franklin family isn’t grounded in historical fact.

#2. Lady Jane Franklin

Again disclaimer: the real Lady Franklin left behind a legacy with much to critique. Those who rightfully point out the racism of her treatment of the young indigenous Tasmanian girl Mathinna should be fully heard out. Observations of her own contributions to imperialism are important and valid. Though I tend to see her feud with Dr. John Rae as somewhat understandable – given that Lady Franklin didn’t have the benefit of our hindsight knowing Rae was correct – the levels of prejudice that she enabled and even encouraged in the writing of Charles Dickens when he attempted to discredit Inuit accounts of Franklin’s fate are inarguably deplorable. These things being said, everything noted for Sir John re: Sophia Cracroft goes for Lady Franklin as well – there’s no reason to imagine a scene where Jane would bully Francis Crozier within an inch of his life, seconds after a failed second proposal, when, historically, Lady Franklin felt the situation was so delicate that it required the quiet and compassionate intervention of Sir James Clark Ross, a dearly loved mutual friend to all parties. Tension does not imply aggression; conflict is not abuse. We know this can’t have been an easy experience for the historical Francis Crozier, but the picture is a lot more complicated than what can be shown in one small subplot of a ten-episode television show. Because of this complexity, however, Lady Franklin’s social deftness suffers in the show. (I could also write an entire essay about Jane Franklin’s last shot in the show, at the beginning of Episode 9: The C the C the Open C – TL;DR is that framing is very important, and, at the very last moment, the show reframes Lady Franklin as a mutilated corpse, a speaking mouth without a brain, which is….. a choice.)

And, at number 1, the person done most dirty by The Terror (2018) is….

#1. Charles Frederick “Freddy” Des Voeux

Look. I’m biased here because I am fed daily information about the historical Freddy Des Voeux from @frederickdesvoeux so I’ve become, I think understandably, a bit attached.

But this is very plainly the clearest cruelty the show does to a historical figure – the historical Des Voeux was a very young man (only around 20 when the ships set sail) known always as “Frederick or Freddy” to his family, and described by all parties as bright and sweet – Fitzjames said that he was “a most unexceptionable, clever, agreeable, light-hearted, obliging young fellow, and a great favourite of Hodgson’s, which is much in his favour besides,” and described him cheerfully helping to catch specimens for Goodsir. Des Voeux is named “dear” by Captain Osborn in Erasmus Henry Brodie’s 1866 poem on the Franklin Expedition (43) and Leo McClintock reported the young man’s well-known “intelligence, gallantry, and zeal” in his 1869 update to his account of the Franklin Expedition’s fate (xlii). None of this is consistent with Des Voeux’s behaviour in the show, especially in the later episodes.

To reduce Des Voeux to an easily-detested figure, over whose death one might cheer, is not a kindness – the creation of a narrative where his death is satisfying does damage to the memory of a real person, a barely-more-than-teenager who died in the cold of the Arctic and left behind only scraps of a shirt and a spidery signature in the bottom margin of a fragmentary document.

Television shows may need their villains, but it’s important to remember that real life isn’t like that. Surely the historical Frederick Des Voeux was most likely not a perfect person, and, as an upper class officer contributing to a British imperial project, he does bear some responsibility for the harm done by the Franklin expedition, but it’s not accurate to assume he was any less worthy of sympathy than the other officers who considered him a friend – those men whom we now venerate, like James Fitzjames. So as far as I’m concerned, Freddy Des Voeux deserves at least as much consideration, care, and compassion from us.

#franklin expedition #franklin expedition fictions #the terror #the terror amc #terrorposting #long post

191 notes · View notes

alirhi · 3 years

Text

okay. let's do this shit.

Guess what, bitches? Mama bear's back and angry all over again. Remember when I said I might dive into a ragepost about how Bucky's treated after completing the one about Loki? This is it. This is the post. Welcome to fucking Thunderdome.

I will actually try to keep it civil. No promises, but I'll try. and I will not be accepting "constructive criticism" about my rage. Just so we're clear.

Got it? Good. Let's dive in.

In case you don't want to read the whole thing (I know I get wordy) here's what this whole post will boil down to: BUCKY NEVER HAD A FUCKING CHOICE. NEVER. NOT ONCE IN HIS ENTIRE ADULT LIFE.

Now, quick reminder: I don't read comics. I know nothing about Bucky's comic canon, except what Sebastian liked to bring up as often as possible during TWS/CW promotions: at some point, Bucky boned Nat. XD Since Bucky only exists as a Marvel property, I won't be bitching about other source material being disrespected like I did with Loki. This is all MCU, my dudes. And honestly? That's enough, because though we don't see nearly enough of Bucky for my liking, we do manage to get a rich, deep backstory to him in the material we're given, partly thanks to better writing in the early days of the MCU, and partly thanks to Sebastian Stan's phenomenal acting. Unlike the writers of the Loki series, Seb knows how to show, not tell. And gods, what stories those eyes show...

Let's start with the army. In an old post illustrating what an absolute BAMF Bucky Barnes truly is, I mistakenly said he enlisted, and a kind soul educated me on the incredible attention to detail Marvel used to pay - in this case, Bucky's ID number. 32557038. As this kind, eagle-eyed soul pointed out to me, the first two digits of that number - 32 - signify that Bucky was drafted, specifically from the NY, NJ, DE area (that last part is rather obvious, as Bucky and Steve are from Brooklyn lol). Bucky didn't choose to go to war. He was drafted. He was forced to fight, or go to prison.

Bucky was born in 1917, which means - again, as someone pointed out to me a while back - he came of age during the Great Depression. As a child, he would likely have seen his parents living comfortably and able to shower each other and him and his sister with gifts and fun memories, and then POOF. Stock market crashes when he's only 12-years-old, and life becomes brutal and painful. He manages to have some fun with his best friend Steve, and spends his teens/early 20s chasing girls and keeping his stupid, stubborn, tiny friend from getting beaten to death.

Steve constantly has something to prove. He's absolutely got what my mom always called "little man's disease", and Bucky's just doing his best not to roll his eyes too much at this asthmatic chihuahua constantly trying to beat up Tibetan mastiffs. While Steve keeps lying on his enlistment forms (an actual crime) trying again and again to get into the army and prove what a badass he is (definitely not), Bucky's had enough trauma and upheaval in his life and he just wants his stupid friend to calm tf down and live. Enjoy the fact that he doesn't have to go to war and get his limbs blown off.

And then he gets fucking drafted. This sweet, resigned realist who knows exactly how dangerous the war really is, is forced to put on a uniform and go fight strangers alongside other strangers thousands of miles from everything he knows. And on his last night of freedom, when he just wants to hang out with his friend, see some cool gadgets, and dance with a pretty girl, his stupid angry chihuahua friend feels the need to lie and try to enlist again.

Okay. Gotta get back on track. Ragepost about mistreatment of Bucky, not how much Steve annoys me. Sorry. Anyway...

Bucky's drafted, accepts his shitty lot with a brave smile, and is shipped off to Europe, where he is captured by HYDRA and presumed by the Allies to be KIA. Instead, he's strapped down, tortured, and given the HYDRA version of the super serum against his will. Steve rescues him, and Bucky knows he can't leave his idiot friend to his own devices to get his head blown off, so he dives right back into the fray. And then he falls off a cliff, loses most of his left arm, and is declared dead...again. This one's pretty damn valid, though lol. Without the serum no one knew he'd been shot up with, there is no way he would have survived that fall.

Here is where Bucky's story gets truly heartbreaking: His autonomy, his ability to consent is stripped from him through electroshock torture/brainwashing. The trigger words are conditioned into him during this process, and boom. Ten words in Russian, and Bucky Barnes is gone. Even the confused, hurting shadow of him is gone, leaving only a perfectly obedient killing machine, with Bucky's pretty face. He's strong as all hell, though, so they can't keep him fully under their control for long, not without more torture, when the disorientation of being fucking frozen wears off on longer missions.

I cannot stress this point enough, guys: Bucky. Had. No. Choice. Not like the draft, where his choices (go and get shot at, refuse and go to jail, or dodge and run to Canada) just suck. No, he literally didn't have a choice. He had his ability to choose stripped from him. If that's too complex a concept to really sink in, try this: His brain was fucking raped. Repeatedly. For decades. Nothing the Winter Soldier ever did was Bucky's fault. Nothing. Ever. Not remotely, no matter how you fucking slice it. Bucky is not an assassin. I almost said "not a killer", but he was a soldier, and a sharpshooter. He definitely killed when he was himself, but that was in a war, not a series of assassinations.

So far, imo, so good. This is just a rundown of Bucky's pre-show backstory. I don't love what he had to suffer, but I do love how it was treated in the movies. People were afraid of him, but when they knew the whole situation, Steve, Nat, and Sam rallied behind him. Natasha had plenty of reason to want the Winter Soldier dead; he'd tried to kill her multiple times and almost succeeded. Sam had no reason to help Bucky at all; he didn't know him, didn't trust him, and again, TWS had tried to kill him. But he stood by Steve, and when Bucky showed the clear difference between himself and TWS, Sam stood by him, too, and fought alongside him.

And it's very realistic, imo, that Tony didn't give a single fuck that Bucky had no choice. He watched this man murder both of his parents on tape. If TWS had killed my dad and I saw proof of it, I'd try to kill Bucky, too. Grief wins out over logic. Most emotions usually do. And that's a very important point we're going to come back to in a few minutes.

Bucky was really only in like ten minutes at most of IW and Endgame, and for multiple reasons I hate those movies, so I'm just gonna skip them, kay? Kay. On to the main event!

Here's where I get pissed off. Even if I didn't have an unhealthy attachment to this character, or the depth of appreciation for his tragic backstory that I do, the lack of continuity between the movies and the show alone would still piss me off. It always does. Don't even get me started on Joss "Continuity? What continuity?" Whedon and his (iconic, but flawed) shows. Ahem. Back on track...

Let me just get one little thing out of the way real quick: I fucking LOVE The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I love it. This show amazed me when I first watched it, and I still love it after many more viewings lol. I have only ever watched it all the way through without skipping over as much John Walker shit as possible the one time lol but I love how Sam and Bucky interact, and I fucking adore how Sam's arc was treated. I just wish they'd show the same care and attention to Bucky.

Because what they did to Bucky in this show is a fucking travesty. There was a tiny ray of hope in the pilot, when he called out Dr. Bitchface for being a terrible shrink. I thought that would be the start of him realizing he needed to find someone else and ignore the damaging shit that woman was telling him. But...nope. No such luck.

The show really had a strong start, I'll give it that. We see Bucky having nightmares of his time as TWS and struggling to hide how his traumatic memories are affecting him as he tries to live in the world again. He befriends the father of one of HYDRA's victims, which can't be good for Bucky (and we're shown it's definitely not when he sees the shrine in Yori's home to his late son) but it's sweet, how he's trying to connect and reach out to someone who's hurting and lonely.

They drop the ball a little with the whole... Bucky can hack a fucking car, but can't figure out Tinder thing. Had they just run with the fandom interpretation of the tiger photos line, that it shows that Bucky is bi and left it at that, I'd have been okay with it (and no, that is not because I ship Sam/Bucky. it's because Bucky is and always has been a certified nerd who loves technology and has consistently shown very little issue learning to use new gadgets). The outdated flip phone he handed his terrible court-mandated shrink was a burner; I liked that theory when I read it, especially since it's the only time we see him even holding a phone that old lol. This all could have fit the "Bucky is a sassy bisexual nerd" narrative and it'd be okay. Instead, the director was like "NOOOOOO that line was just to show how old he is and how he can't figure out all this newfangled technology!" Woman, you had him remotely driving someone else's vehicle with a tablet. That is NOT a man who can't figure out a damn smart phone!

But that's just a minor annoyance. What fills me with absolute rage is how everyone - not just the shitty therapist who lashes out at and purposely triggers her traumatized patients, but EVERYONE - Sam, Zemo, people who should fucking know better ALL treat him like he's a psychopath and a ticking time bomb. Like he chose to take the serum and he chose to kill for HYDRA, and he's just seen the error of his ways. *barf*

Bucky in the movies is established to be a victim, through and through. His guilt over what he was forced to do is natural, and that he sees himself as a monster makes sense... but that doesn't mean it's correct. The one and only thing I ever liked about Steve Rogers is at least he got it. He pointed out that none of it was Bucky's fault, he tried to show him that he was worth saving. That's the other reason I refuse to talk about Endgame. This post will get a WHOLE LOT LONGER and a lot fucking angrier if I open that door.

Zemo supposedly knows everything about HYDRA and super soldiers... So why does he treat Bucky like he's a corrupt serial killer? (this, for the record, is why I don't like Zemo) Why does he never point out that Bucky was given the serum against his will, or that his actions, when he had control of them, proved that he was never corrupted? Bucky never wanted to become superhuman. Bucky didn't even want to fucking fight!

Sam, despite constantly resisting the label, is shown very clearly to be Bucky's friend. By episode 3, he cares. He worries about how Bucky is getting lumped in with the other super soldiers in Zemo's speech... But he never really defends him. He says "what about Bucky?" but he doesn't point out that Bucky's a good man, he's fought so hard to help people, he does everything he can to avoid killing... And that fucking speech in episode 5. I was with him on "you gotta stop looking to other people to tell you who you are." I was like "YEAH! Tell him, Sam! Bucky, you're WORTH SAVING, boo! Your value does not hinge on someone else's opinion of you!" And then... Sam dropped the ball.

He not only continued the disturbing pattern of victim-blaming in this show, and in Marvel/Disney properties in general, but he gave really dangerously bad advice! No one in their right mind, mental health professional or no, would EVER tell a traumatized former assassin (whether he was responsible for his actions or not) to go confront his victims' families out of the blue with no warning and no one to mediate and keep things from going to shit. Yori already knew his son had been murdered because he was in the "wrong place, wrong time." How is it being "of service" to tell him you're the one who killed him?! Remember how I said Tony's reaction to learning the full truth about his parents' deaths was valid and would be an important point later? Hi! Welcome to later. THAT is the natural reaction to facing the man who murdered your loved one(s). And even if Yori didn't get angry and lash out, HOW IS IT "HELPING" HIM OR BRINGING HIM "CLOSURE" TO KNOW THAT HIS FRIEND KILLED HIS FUCKING SON?!?!?! This man befriended him, bonded with him, watched him grieve... And now he's learning this is the man who caused all his pain and heartache to begin with? That is so toxic and psycho I just... I can't even... UGH.

And then there's the equally toxic and damaging "deeply traumatized person just needed a stern talking to and a hug to be ALL BETTER AGAIN" ending. I loved seeing Bucky happy and socializing, but it was too soon, and it was unearned. And it sends a fucking awful message to people actually struggling with PTSD, and to their loved ones who don't know how to help them. Heaping more blame on them and then hugging it out is NOT helpful!

This show could have been damn near perfect with just two changes. That's all. Just two. 1) Someone, anyone, bringing up the reasons why Bucky was never a villain in his presence. Someone being in his corner and reminding him, like Steve did, that it wasn't his fault and he's not going to "snap". 2) More time devoted to Bucky's healing. Actual fucking healing, not the shit they tried to pass off as a magic fix-all. He can have his happy barbecue moment, just don't frame it as "everything's great now!" Healing isn't linear, and there will be both good days and bad. Some of the most fragile people in the world have the brightest smiles.

If we get a season 2, which this amazing show absolutely deserves, and they address this stuff, all will be forgiven in my book. Expanding on his story and his journey toward healing will help to reframe that "happily ever after" garbage as something more realistic. But as it stands now... Fuck Marvel.

#fan rant #ragepost #long post #bucky barnes #mcu #captain america #the first avenger #the winter soldier #civil war #tfatws #mcu spoilers #stop victim blaming #victim not villain #never a fucking villain #bucky deserved better #fuck marvel #fuck disney

35 notes · View notes

dailymeruem · 3 years

Text

How much does Meruem weigh?

Being a fan of a particular series or character means you want to know everything you can about them, even when certain information is not explicitly stated. Although we are privileged to follow Meruem from his conception to his death, there is still a lot of information we are not given about him. One such mystery is his weight!

Fellow Meruem lover and colleague Lurm (Wicked_witchart - Insta, TikTok) has done some casual sleuthing and maths, and has come up with a reasonable estimate as to how much Meruem would weigh!

I have received permission to share that info with you here, so if you would like to find out how much mass is contained in this tiny chunk of man, read on!

First of all, as noted at the outset, we are never given official specific physical stats in the manga by Togashi or in the anime. There is Meruem’s entries in the HxH guidebook(s), but the credibility of the guidebooks is often debated. Thus, these findings are by no means canon, but are a fun estimate that might add to your appreciation of the character, or could help members of the HxH fandom in fanfic, rp or art endeavors!

To begin, we will be establishing some base estimates regarding one thing we have a better idea about: Meruem’s height. This will be the base of our weight calculations, as you shall see.

Again, Meruem’s exact height is not stated in canon, but we do have 2 clues: the HxH Guidebooks, and comparing his height visually to characters we do know the exact height of. I won’t be getting into finding all that here, that’s another topic, but I will be using these two sources for my base height estimate:

This video that was put together by a fan based on speculation and the HxH guidebooks;

and this chart made by a fan on Reddit based on the same sources.

Based on these, we came to the conclusion that a relatively acceptable estimate for Meruem’s height would be 169cm (nice), or 5′5″. Short King!

Step 1: Base Assumptions

This brings us to the beginning of our calculations. Before we figure out his main body weight, we need to consider one very important extremity: his tail.

Starting from our base assumption of Meruem’s height, we are going to attempt to decipher the length, diameter, and then volume of Meruem’s tail. We can then figure out how much his tail would weigh, which we can add to his total body weight at the end!

Fig 1.1 is our base assumptions for our calculations. Using Meruem’s head as a measuring guide, we see he is approximately 6 heads tall.1/6th of 169cm = 28.2cm, so we will use that figure as a Head Height.

To figure out his tail width, we will take these things into consideration:

his tail is made up of 10 segments

each segment seems to be around the width of his hand (measuring the segment width vertically down the tail)

2 measurements of Meruem’s hand width = 1 Meruem head height

With this info, we can conclude that Meruem’s tail is about 5 Heads long, or 5/6ths of Meruem’s full height. Subtracting the Head Height from the Full Height will give us the tail length:

Full Height (169cm) - Head Height (28.2cm) = 140.8cm Tail Length

We will use this measurement next to find out how much the tail would weigh!

Step 2: Tail Volume

Fig 1.2 is going to help us visualize how we find the diameter of Meruem’s tail in order to plug it into our calculation.

Looking at official Meruem art for the anime (which is what we are using for this research as anime refs tend to be more consistent), his tail appears to have the same approximate diameter as Meruem’s face, from his chin up to the “brim” of his hat.

We have to rely on eyeballing for this, and this boy has a big noggin, so we are going to be generous and say that the diameter of his tail is 1/2 of his head height, to allow for the rest of his head, the height of which is depicted often inconsistently, even in the anime.

1/2 of Head Height (28.2cm)= 14.1cm Tail Diameter

We now have the Tail Length and Diameter. Now the math begins.

The tail is a cylinder, so we will be using the formula for the volume of a cylinder- V = πr2h

Radius = 14.1 (Diameter of Tail) divided by 2 = 7.05 Tail Radius

V= πr2h = π·7.052·140.8 ≈ 21985.21725

V ≈ 21985.22 cm3

So, what do we do with this number?

~~~

Step 3: Tail Weight

When thinking about weight, you need to think of *what* is making up that weight. In humans, aside from fat, a major factor in weight is skeletal muscle.

As you may know, muscle is quite dense, and for a being of Meruem’s power, I’m sure he has a lot of it. Judging by the speed, power and precision that Meruem can swing his tail around, it’s safe to say that thing is probably entirely muscle mass. We are going to figure out the weight of Meruem's tail using it's volume measurement and the weight measurement of skeletal muscle per cm3!

> OBJECTION!!!! <

But Beamie!, you may exclaim, Meruem is an ant! He doesn’t have a skeleton! But remember, Meruem was made up of entirely human genetic material. He’s not all human, but he is also not all bug. I am going to quote Lurm directly here as they explain their reasoning:

I would argue that he does have an inner skeleton

His hands don't seem to have any junctions, and his face has too much free movement and is too smooth to be made of such hard material

But at the same time it's not floppy meaning he has something on the inside keeping it together

For me it makes no sense for him to have lighter bones (like birds) cause he needs the structure to keep his body erect and suspend his helmet, also higher risk of fractures which we have seen he's very resistant against

Also also he has a freaking big ass, muscular TAIL which probably adds quite a few kilos to his total

For the reasons above, we are going to go with the assumption that Meruem does indeed have some sort of inner skeleton, as a supplement to his exoskeletal parts.

Back to the calculation. Skeletal muscle weighs 1.04 gram per cubic centimeter. So to find out how much the tail weighs, we are going to multiply this weight by the volume we figured out in the last step.

1.04g/cm3 x 21985.22 cm3 = 22864.63g

Tail Weight = 22.9 (50.4lbs)

That’s one heavy tail!

~~~

Step 4: Body Weight

Almost there! This is the section where we are going to do the most estimating. Meruem is not a tube we can easily find the volume of like his tail, so the closest thing we can do is compare his body to a human male of the same stature.

Looking up average body weights of a healthy human male of 169cm, the ideal range is between 57.1kg (125.8) and 71.4kg (157.4lbs) . Because Meruem’s is most likely entirely muscle, we are going to go with the highest number here to cover our bases. This is a dense chunk of ant man.

With the body weight of 71.4kg, the final piece of our puzzle is the exoskeleton. We have no way of knowing a)precisely how much exoskeleton we are talking, and b) how much it would weigh, as we don’t know how thick it is. There is no real way to measure the weight of a real bug’s exoskeleton either, aside from weighing molted skins or something. The best we can do is to compare the material of an exoskeleton (chitin) to something similar. Keratin might be the closest we can get.

Lurm came up with the ballpark number of 5kg (11lbs) for the exoskeleton weight through their science ways and I don’t know about all of you, but that sounds reasonable to me.

Total Body Weight= 71.4kg (157.4lbs) + 5kg (11lbs) = 76.4kg (168.4lbs)

~~~

Final Results

Meruem’s total weight:

Body Weight 76.4kg (168.4lbs) + Tail Weight = 22.9 (50.4lbs)

99.3 kg (219 lbs)

Solid, but still within lifting range. If you worked out, you could carry him bridal-style. Can’t knock this boy over with a pail of water. He can sit on your lap but your legs might fall asleep/need amputating. Nice!

I hope you enjoyed this scientific journey!! Over-analyzing anime characters is what we do best here at DailyMeruem. Peace!

#hxh #hunter x hunter #meruem #meta post #meta #science time here on the blog again! please enjoy

115 notes · View notes

baepsaesbae · 4 years

Text

Pag Lubog Ng Araw || When the Sun Goes Down

Pairing— Jeon Jungkook x reader

Genre— SMUT, Angst, Enemies to Lovers au, Delinquent gang au

Warnings— Oral (f receiving), face riding, explicit unprotected sex, somewhat rough sex, fighting (they engage in fisticuffs quite a bit), swearing

Word Count— 2.4k

Summary— The gang leader of an enemy group has been getting on your nerves. This town ain’t big enough for the both of you.

A/N— Thank you @dollwithluv for requesting! I hope you like it! I got kinda carried away with this one oops. You can still request drabbles up until the end of the August with this post

“Is that all you got, Jeon?” you spat in his face after blocking a powerful kick.

“I’m going easy on you. Just testing out the waters,” Jungkook smirked before landing another blow, knocking you aside.

Now it’s your turn to show off. With your balance regained, you launched forward to unleash a flurry of fast punches and jabs on Jungkook’s torso. That made Jungkook stagger backwards, but it wasn’t nearly close enough to knock him down. And so the scuffle continued.

You and your gang of girls ruled this town, striking fear into any man who dared looked your way. Or so you thought. Recently, a rowdy group of boys were looking to expand their territory--directly into yours. Of course, you weren’t going down without a fight. Literally.

“You idiots get lost! We’ve been here for ages,” one of your posse members yelled over your skirmish.

“Why don’t you ladies just move aside? You’ll be under our protection once we take over. You guys can even continue patrolling like you normally would. The only difference is that you’d be flying under our banner, so to speak. That ain’t too bad, right?” one of the boys from Jungkook’s band of delinquents (you believe his name was Seokjin) tried to reason.

“Over my dead body!” you screamed as you exchanged blows with Jungkook.

“That can be arranged,” Jungkook gritted his teeth.

“Get em boss!” underlings from both sides cheered.

10 minutes later, both you and Jungkook were battered and bruised. Jungkook’s lip was busted and your nose was bleeding. Both sides concluded that the match was a draw.

“You’re tougher than I thought,” Jungkook acknowledged.

“I’ll knock your ass to the ground and beat you to a pulp next time,” you threatened with a menacing glare.

“So feisty,” Jungkook chuckled as he spat out blood.

Back at your gang’s headquarters (an abandoned shack that you refurbished), your friends tended to your wounds.

“You have no idea how badly I wanted to jump in and smash his skull in,” Nayeon tsked as she bandaged your hands, “But I know you would’ve hung my booty above your fireplace if I meddled.”

“I appreciate the concern. He roughed me up pretty good, but I’m sure he’s licking his wounds right now too. Plus this is a leader to leader thing. You are my girls, and I’m gonna fight for you till the very end,” you gave them a thumbs up with a smug smile.

The girls cheered and applauded for their fearless leader. They know that past your tough exterior, you’re a fiercely loyal kind hearted person. Most of the gals joined your group after you saved them from being harassed or abused by various men. If there’s one thing you hate, it’s misogynists. Or maybe just men in general.

Both gangs practically tiptoed around each other for the following weeks while their leaders were still recovering. You tried devising plans to run them out of town. Your gang was bigger, so you’d definitely win in an all out war against seven guys. But you quickly brushed that idea aside, not wanting to endanger your crew.

“We gotta have another showdown,” you concluded during a gang meeting.

“What?! You got so hurt last time. There’s no way we could let you--”

“Shut up! What ___ says goes. You know that,” Nayeon silenced the complaint.

“Sunmi, bring this letter to the Bulletproof Boy Scouts. I still can’t believe they named themselves that,” you snickered as you handed her a paper with a formal challenge scribbled on it.

“Uh, boss, I don’t think we’ll need to send that letter,” someone called out from the back after there was a pounding on the door.

“Open it,” you commanded.

Standing on the other side of the door was a pretty boy whose smile lit up the room. No one would believe that he’s in a delinquent gang, you barely could. But then again, it seemed like that gang only recruited models with a penchant for violence and mischief.

“Hey pretty ladies! I’m Jimin. I come on behalf of the leader of the Bangtan Boys. He wants a final showdown. Only him and ___ are allowed in the specified location while they fight. He said the rest of us can brawl outside if we felt like it, but I’ll leave that decision up to the audience. Here’s our official note of challenge,” Jimin handed a crumpled receipt to the nearest girl, “Sorry, that was the only paper we had on hand,” he apologized sheepishly.

“Sundown two days from now at the vacant warehouse huh? Sounds fine to me. Any rules?” you raised a brow at Jimin after reading the challenge aloud.

“I dunno. That’s all the boss discussed with us. Figured you two would make it up as you go. In terms of weapons, Jungkook prefers to use his hands,” Jimin answered.

“So practically no rules. I can roll with that. See you boys in two days,” you shooed the messenger away.

“Are you sure about this? You’re finally starting to recover--”

“Gear up. You’re gonna help me spar,” you interrupted Nayeon. You didn’t have any time to waste before the rematch.

~The Day of Reckoning~

Your girl gang surrounded the warehouse. They weren’t happy about leaving you alone, but they were ready to keep anyone else from interfering. You tapped your foot impatiently as you waited at the front.

“Is this heaven? There are angels as far as the eye can see!” one of the boys whistled as soon as they pulled up.

“I wouldn’t count on that, Tae. These gals would probably stab you in your sleep and steal your wallet or something. Not like you have any money in there anyway,” Jungkook teased.

The group of boys sauntered through the crowd of sneering women until Jungkook stood directly in front of you.

“Let’s settle this once and for all, you piece of shit. Loser skips town,” you asserted.

“Works for me. I’ll hate to see you go,” Jungkook’s tongue quickly darted to lick the corner of his mouth. The action was meant to be intimidating, but it stirred something inside of you. You tossed the feeling aside; he was the enemy. And you’re about to kick his ass.

The warehouse smelled like mold mixed with wet dogs. It was dark. The only light source was the sun’s rays that shone through cracks and holes in the walls or from the partly torn off ceiling. It was already dwindling. Jungkook loudly slammed the door behind him. You led him to the middle of the building, turning to face him before the fight could start.

“Hope you enjoyed your time here,” you taunted.

“We did. We like it here better than our own hometown. You sure you don’t wanna just let us take over? I won’t have to ruin that pretty face of yours,” Jungkook offered again.

“Fuck off Jeon,” you scoffed before throwing the first punch.

You found yourself locked in a repetitive pattern of offensive and defensive moves. Jungkook’s attacks felt heavier, but you moved even faster. It seemed like both of you had reserved your full strength last time.

Jungkook’s last punch knocked you off balance. He took the opportunity to knock you to the ground, effectively pinning you under him. He leaned close to your face and smiled maliciously down at you as he assumed that his victory was assured. He was wrong.

You banged your head against his with as much force as you could muster. In a flash, your positions had been switched. Jungkook groaned in agony under you as you tightened your hold on him.

“Surrender, or I’ll pulverize you,” you threatened.

“Let me tell you something first,” he wheezed.

You reluctantly moved closer to him, but were on guard just in case he tried to headbutt you.

“Closer,” he demanded.

“No fuck you--”

Jungkook used the last of his strength to repel his upper body towards you to plant a rough kiss on your lips. You looked at him in shock, releasing your grip. Jungkook placed his hand on the back of your neck and pulled you towards him, stopping you just centimeters in front of his lips.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I have a thing for strong women,” he whispered.

You lunged forward and knocked Jungkook flat on his back as you kissed him ferociously. The taste of blood was tinged with desire as the kiss deepened. No one could deny that Jungkook is a handsome boy. Seeing him all beaten up made him even more attractive to you, especially knowing that he’s tough enough to compete with you.

“You know, I thought you looked cute with a busted lip,” you said when you broke the kiss.

“I’d look even cuter if you busted on my lip,” he winked, “Ride my face, ___. Please,” he added.

“What? Right now? I’m all sweaty because we’ve been fighting and--”

“I don’t give a shit. Let me taste you. Unless you’re uncomfortable, of course,” Jungkook showed his decent side.

“In that case,” you say as you slide off your pants.

You kneel above Jungkook’s face, your clothed cunt hovering inches away from his open mouth.

“Come. Here,” Jungkook roughly pulled you down onto his mouth.

He licked wide stripes along your panties, soaking them with both his saliva and your arousal. Ripping the measly piece of material off, he dove nose first into your pussy. His tongue explored your folds, making you squirm. He placed a strong grip on your hips to hold you firmly in place. He moved his arm to let his hand rest right above your pussy.

Without warning, his thumb began to circle your swollen clit. You whimpered at his touch. The pace of his thumb synced up with his tongue as he shallowly dipped it into you. You could feel something ball up within you. No doubt your climax was on a one way express train pummeling towards its final stop. Destination: All over Jungkook’s face.

“Jeon I--I’m gonna” you shuddered.

“Lay it on me baby,” he said, muffled by your pussy.

A euphoric high took over your body a couple of intense seconds later. You were tingling from your nose down to your toes as you weakly dismounted Jungkook. He licked around his mouth, savoring your cum.

“I guess you’re right, you do look better after I busted all over your lips. And face. Sorry bout the mess,” you laughed.

“You could let me fuck you if you really wanna make it up to me,” Jungkook suggested as he palmed his groin.

“Do you fuck as well as you eat pussy?” you inquired as you sat beside him.

“Only one way to find out. You down?” he propped himself up by his elbows.

“Fuck me senseless, pretty boy,” you requested.

“Sure thing, except,” Jungkook pushed you onto your back, “I’m on top this time.”

Jungkook shimmied out of his pants, revealing his already hard dick. It wasn’t too girthy, but it was long. You had a feeling he’d hit all the right places with ease. You were still sopping wet, so Jungkook slid in without a problem. He took his time feeling every inch of you before finally bottoming out.

Jungkook began to fuck you harder, making your entire body shake with each impact. Your wanton moans mixed with his grunts as he snapped his hips faster. His hand snaked its way from your chest up to your neck. He placed a harsh grip on the sides and smiled down at you with satisfaction. Normally you’d enjoy this, but not today. Not with Jungkook.

A quick jab at his side prompted him to release you and nearly double over. Before he had the chance to cuss you out, you flipped him over, reclaiming your rightful place. You ease yourself back onto his cock, bringing him back to a blissful state.

You rode him like your life depended on it. Your hips had a mind of their own as they rocked back and forth. Jungkook groaned with pleasure as he rested his hands on your hips. You began to fuck him with a purpose, changing your pace.

“Whatcha doin?” he moaned.

“Spelling my name on your dick. Now it belongs to me,” you answered proudly.

“Oh fuck, is that so? Are we dating or some shit?”

“Shut up and we’ll figure it out post nut,” you hushed him.

You brought up your knees and squatted over him with your feet on the ground. You bounced up and down and let yourself get lost in the moment. Your carnal voices harmonized and echoed throughout the abandoned warehouse. The sun had finally set, now replaced by the pale moonlight.

“Baby keep going, just like that. I’m gonna cum. Wait fuck should we be using a con--uuuggghhhh,” Jungkook didn’t get to finish that sentence.

He exploded into you, his warm seed shooting up into you. You bent over to kiss him once more. What was meant to be a quick peck turned into a heated makeout session.

“Give me a little bit before I can fuck you again,” Jungkook said once the kiss broke.

“We have more pressing matters to address. Uh, what exactly should we do now? I don’t know if we can really declare a winner or a loser,” you pointed out.

“I’d say we were both winners today,” Jungkook nodded.

“Interesting…” you thought out loud.

“What?”

“Are you still open to combining forces? Only this time, we’d be on equal footing. We can make a stronger gang together,” you suggested.

“I don’t see why not. Everyone is outside anyway right? Let’s go break the news,” Jungkook agreed.

“We both look like shit. And we smell awful,” you observed.

“Eh, it happens. They gotta respect their leaders no matter what, right?” Jungkook shrugged.

Both Nayeon and Jimin fell into the warehouse as soon as you opened the door.

“We weren’t doing anything!” Nayeon said quickly.

“We were just wondering if one or both of you were dead, so we tried to see if we could hear you guys and…” Jimin couldn’t maintain eye contact with either of you.

You pushed them aside and walked out to face the delinquents that were eagerly awaiting the official verdict.

“Listen up dirtbags! Starting today, we will be combining forces. We are now one gang, and we’re gonna be the strongest gang this country has ever seen!” you announced.

“You hear that boys? We’ll be seeing these angels on the regular!” Jungkook chimed in.

“What the hell?!” was the resounding response as Jungkook grabbed you by the waist and locked his lips with yours.

#bts smut #jungkook smut #bangtanarmynet #btswritingcafe #jungkook angst #bts angst #bts fanfic #kpop fanfic #kpop angst #paralumanplaylist #jungkook x reader #bts x reader #ksmutclub

439 notes · View notes