Tumgik
#but lord they make me batshit
deimosatellite · 4 months
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no bc zoro and sanji are literally so fond of each other and im losing my shit over it like wdym they always bicker and fight but both of them know their song and dance so well neither goes too far / their fights are COMPLETELY balanced / moreso getting out zoomies in a trusting way. and then not to mention the times they Do get along /smile at each other you can literally just see the pure joy radiating off of them. also tf is up w them always standing together / sitting together when like girl you can sit with anyone else. bye
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rat-off-string · 7 months
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“Wiggly is a tumblr sexyman” “Tinky is a tumblr sexyman” you’re all wrong btw it’s Nibbly.
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impishtubist · 10 months
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AU where Harry doesn’t die at Godric’s Hollow - but Voldemort isn’t defeated, either. Sirius arrives to find Voldemort in possession of his baby godson and refusing to give him up (b/c, shit, that’s one powerful baby, and Voldy wants to harness that power!). 
No one knows that Sirius isn’t the traitor. It’s easy enough to explain to the remaining DEs - all Voldy has to say is that he’s the only one who knows that Sirius was working for him, and they’d all believe him. Voldy blackmails Sirius into playing along. He’ll keep Harry at his, idk, lair or whatever, but Sirius can also live there and raise Harry IF he goes along with the ruse that he was the Secret Keeper who betrayed the Potters and IF he allows Voldy to spirit Harry away whenever he wants to study him/his magic.
So now Sirius is pretending to be a Death Eater, has to allow the whole world (including Remus) think he’s a traitor, has to keep himself from murdering Wormtail (unless Wormy is off living as a rat somewhere??), and has to keep Harry safe while secretly trying to figure out how tf to get them out of this situation.
idk is this anything
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werepires · 7 months
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I love how RTD got his hands on David Tennant’s doctor again and immediately went “let’s put this man through emotional hell”
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aerticent · 8 months
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my love for Maven has evolved into something and no matter how hard i try i cannot put it into words and it’s driving me crazy
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cowboy-robooty · 1 year
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got desperate asf for some non-shitty heta fanfiction and said fuck it ill read the gerame fanfic cuz the author did make some good shit before (even tho i know it wont be THAT good since ill need to manually edit in my brain alfred as feliciano instead and make a whole extra unspoken lore to explain why feliciano is so ooc).... BUT LORD. IM CHEWING GLASS. IM CHEWING GLASS SO FUCKING HARD RIGHT NOW. BECAUSE GIRL ITALY EXISTS IN THIS FIC AND OH MY GODDDD I HATE IT HERE I HATE IT LUDWIG STAY AWAY FROM THAT MAN STAY AWAY FROM THAT EVIL DEMENTED VILE MAN AAAAHHAUHWUSUDJJS STAY WITH FELICIA PLEASEEE PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! LIKE STRAIGHT UP HE DONT EVEN LIKE ALFRED BRUH AND ALFRED DONT EVEN LIKE HIM. ill admit the set up is good (its like a 1950s au and the reason why i trust this author is a whole nother can of worms that i put in my drafts maybe ill drop it later) BUT I CANT EVEN CARE OR TRY TO CARE ABOUT ALFRED X LUDWIG BC FELICIA IS RIGHT THEREE AND THIS AUTHOR GETS THEIR RELATIONSHIP TOGETHER TOO. SHES LITERALLY LIGHT OF HIS LAIF MAKES HIM HAPPY IS SWEET AND NICE TO HIM TUGS HIM DOWN AND RUBS THEIR NOSES TOGETHER LIKE MOTHERFUCKER THATS TRUE. THAT HAPPENED IN REAL LIFE I SAW IT. SO WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU WRITING THIS INTO A DAMN LUDWIG X ALFRED FANFIC IM CHEWING GLASSSSSS!!!! BC I KNOW FELICIA X LUDWIG WONT HAPPEN I HATE THIS STUPID BAKA LIFE I HATE IT HERE RAAAGJWJSIIEKDODKDKDKXKDKZKKS RAGE RAGE RAGE
so far its a genuinely good fic tho with some nice character development and being able to take a "real life universe" spin on heta characters which i find can rarely be done well! id rec it to any ameger fanheads out there!
peace and pascal! <- (im sorry im lying. im lying. tw lies. no peace only pascal. sorry i lied on main. its a good fic thats true. but i want the earth to explode. feels like im shoving my dick in an anthill)
#to be fair i read all non itager ship fics by mentally editing whoevers with germany to be italy bc i believe they love eachother in all#universes#but this author is making it real hard bc theyre genuinely good at like time era and how nationality plays into identity so i have to#do mental gymnastics and create the most batshit reasons ever to keep it itager in my head#but yeah THIS ONE ISNT LETTING ME FUCKING IMAGINE BECAUSE ITALY IS RIGHT FUCKING THERE#GIRL ITALY IS RIGHT THERE AND GENUINELY ACTS THE WAY THAT ITALY AND GERMANY ALWAYS INTERCAT WIF EACHOTHER LIKE IT ISNT EVEN OOC#THEY HAVE INTERACTED FOR A SOLID LIKE PAGE AND A HALF AND I SHIP THEM SO HARD SHES SO NICE TO HIMM#THEY RUBBED THEIR NOSES TOGETHER EVEN MOTHERFUCKER I THINK THEY DO THAT!!!!!!! YOU UNDERSTAND SO WHY DONT YOU PREACH?!?!?#YOU KNOW THE LORD IS REAL SO WHY DONT YOU FOLLOW THE TEN FUCKING COMMANDMENTS!!!!!#no shade to this author too this is just my aids bc to me any ship wif those two freaks that isnt them kissing eachother is my antichrist#anything that aint itager is my antichrist fr#the other fic from this author was just so much easier to eat..#cuz to be fair in the other fic it was a germany torture compilation and he literally did not genuinely love the other guy at all#i think that fic was true because italy wasnt present in it and i do believe germanys life would be like that would italy#what no italy does to a mf: unimagimeable suffering#i can accept that fic bc yeah i looked the author in the eyes and said 'germany would never love anybody thats not italy in all universes'#and they went okie! sure! :D#sorry guys im getting sepsis rn okay robooty when he faces the antichrist
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collegeoflore · 6 months
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filing these under “lines that make xarrai feel extremely normal” as well.
#this whole conversation is a lot for them. LMAO.#i have actually fully rewritten this one as a dialogue study too bc it’s like. a very important moment for them but#idk man. i wish u could argue with him more in game LOL#this convo makes me and xarrai both batshit insane tho LOL#the inbuilt banite ambition they run from but cannot shake (let him take this power and then take it from him)#vs the love for him they refuse to admit is love (this will ruin him)#they don’t WANT this power and they don’t want him to have it but they can’t shake the part of them that plots out how to get it.#but they have to be better than what made them or none of it was worth it etc etc etc i am rambling. anyway. bye#oc. xarrai#r. hold me like a knife#(for durge!xar they r much more like ‘idk if this is a good idea but i will maybe help u??’)#(canon!xar is (after they get over their knee jerk reaction of Oooh I Want It) is very directly to his face like ‘this is an awful idea.’)#realized these tags r not even about the lines in the screenshots. lol.#the whole ‘what cazador did was only wrong because it happened to *me*’ cuts them like a fucking knife tho LOL#it’s such a flagrant rejection of everything xarrai has said to him by this point. and he doesn’t even recognize it as one LOL#but xar hears that as ‘every bit of genuine emotion you’ve shown me and the trust u put in me with ur past meant nothing :) sowwie’#‘it was only bad bc it happened to me and that means it’s not bad when ppl like cazador do things to ppl like u either :)’#and they Know that’s not what he means. but instead of communicating like an adult they just seethe abt it LOL#okay sorry now i’m done.#lord only knows why i exclusively drop lore in the tags.
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maniculum · 1 month
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A post of mine from several months ago about the Perlesvaus self-rearranging forest just wandered across my dash again and made me think about it some more, so I wanted to talk about it a bit.
Perlesvaus, for those who don’t know, is a 13th-century French Arthurian romance. It’s intended to be a continuation of Chretien de Troyes’s Perceval, but it’s mostly known for being completely batshit when it’s known at all. (There’s an old book on Arthurian texts that dedicates a chapter to Perlesvaus and repeatedly speculates that the anonymous author had Something Wrong With Him. This is the longest scholarly treatment of Perlesvaus I’ve been able to find & read.)
Anyway, there’s an odd worldbuilding detail in the text. See, it’s a Thing in chivalric romances that the questing knights happen upon castles & lords & damsels & such that are unfamiliar to them and have to be explained. You know, “this is the Castle of Such-and-Such, where the local custom is as follows. It’s ruled by Lady So-and-So, whose character I shall now describe to you.”
This is a genre convention that largely goes unquestioned, but it’s a bit odd if you think about it. All these knights are at least minor nobility. They don’t know the other nobles in their region? They don’t know what castles are where? Don’t they have, like, diplomatic relations with these people or at least attend the same tournaments? Even if they’re all fully committed to the knight-errant lifestyle and don’t really engage in courtly diplomacy, you’d think they would share information with each other and get the lay of the land. But instead, to use TTRPG terminology, it’s like they’re all on a hexcrawl that was randomly generated just for them to have these adventures.
The author of Perlesvaus decides to address this. In what’s kind of a throwaway paragraph late in the text, he explains that God moves things around so knights always have new quests to do (and, presumably, is also making sure they always arrive at the right narratively-significant moment). So the reason they’re always encountering people & places they have no knowledge of is because those people & places really weren’t there yesterday. They didn’t know about the Castle of Such-and-Such because it’s normally a thousand miles away and the forest path they followed to get there used to lead somewhere else.
And I think that would be a really interesting thing to stick into a novel or a TTRPG or something. When a knight rides into the forest with the intent of Going On A Quest, at some point they go around a bend in the path, cross an invisible barrier, and wind up in the Forest of Narrative. This is a vast forest with no set geography, filled with winding paths and populated almost entirely with questing knights, damsels in search of questing knights, friendly hermits, strange creatures, and allegorical set-pieces. Then, at the narratively-appropriate time, they cross back over the invisible barrier back into the regular world, and find themselves wherever the Narrative has decided they need to be. This could be a different country, a different continent, or a different world entirely.
Whether anyone involved is actually aware that this is how it works is… optional, really. Though if it’s not a Known Phenomenon, the people whose jobs it is to handle trade & diplomacy & god forbid, maps, are going to end up tearing their hair out in frustration.
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satoruhour · 7 months
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*runs in*
colllege athlete!au where jjk men see you in their varsity jacket and just goes batshit crazy. They defo win the game afterwards and fuck you in it, best orgasm of your life.
*runs out*
❄️
a/n: MY LORD .......................... YOU JUST UNLOCKED SUM IN ME ICY !!!!! discussions of p -> v sex, unprotected sex, breeding, oral f! receiving, name calling, semi-public sex, long LONG post
gojo would def be the one to suggest it at first. hes even offering to buy two jackets just for you but then youre like “but i dont want you to waste money satoru... plus i want it to smell like you..!” omg that makes gojo cum on the spot lmfao. but is mostly caught off guard when you first wear it - it happens when its the half time of the game and his team is not doing particularly well bc he made u a little upset the night before and he felt bad :( youve been on his mind for the whole game and hes so distracted poor boy. but u also think you were being a little childish in how you reacted, so youre stealing his varsity jacket way earlier than he leaves and hes so confused when that morning he cant find it. shows up to the game in another jacket and got an earful from his coach that no one really likes, and bc theyre doing so badly, at half time the coach didnt want to meet with them for pep talk either. boo fuck the coach but anyway, youre rushing down to the lockets and whatnot in his jacket. feels like straight out of a movie dude omg. that troy and gabriella shit bc gojo is dragged outside and is hugging you close and muttering apologies into your neck, kissing u all over sigh. its gotten him a big boost of adrenaline tho! and as the star player of his team a lot of his teammates feed off of his energy. gojo is the last to leave the locker room, wanting to have a little more time with you. he twirls you around and admires you in his large jacket and makes out with you until he hears the buzzer from outside LOL. gives u a deep kiss, “ill win and fuck you good later, alright princess?” “go get ’em, satoru. i’ll be here always.”
yeah he def fucked you good later on, making you strip out of everything but his jacket and pounded u nice and good in the locker room long after everyone left. made you ride him on the benches, ate you out as you sat on the benches and kept thanking u for being his lucky charm thru all his matches. the grip on your hips were so heavy they were pprobably bruised, and the clanking of the lockers were so noisy it was a wonder you two werent caught. “that’s right, baby— taking my cock like the good girl you are,” you’re pushed up against the university lockers and railed into from brhind, sticking his fingers into your mouth as he made u arch your back in that varsity jacket of his. ooh lord. brought you out on a winning date and fucked u in his car, fucked you back at his home all the while wearing his jacket !!!!!!!
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geto has never thought of it personally, but he wonders about it one day, thinking bout you in it without anything and he gets hard as heeellllll. has been wantin to put you in it for the longest time but just didnt have the opportunity to - youre always prepared with a cardigan or jacket of your own or you simply just dont get cold much to suguru’s dismay. so when you’re shivering one day before a game (sometimes they would watch the match before to get a sense of the two teams, and also bc you wanted to travel light handed for the date geto was going to bring you to after), geto’s so so quick to offer up his varsity jacket before you can think of any counter to it. but what you dont tell him is that youve been “avoiding” in a way, just bc you know if u get access to his jacket he will never. get. it. back. you have a knack for stealing his clothes bc geto smells good good and youre addicted to his scent. but either way youre trying not to gasp at the largeness of the jacket ... 🙏 same girl. you’re slipping one arm and then the other, wrapped in the safeness of geto’s jacket and hes trying so hard to show u that he isnt shivering LMFOAOAAOAO thank god the match was ending already and his team was up next. gojo only nods towards you later in the locker room as you stay thru their coach’s talk, smiling sickly bc he just knew what his best friend was going to do afterwards.
soon enough he can hear the cheers of the spectators flood his ears but hes only focused on you running up to him from the bleachers and hugs you close in his sweaty body (which u protest against and laugh about), but hes whispering “you dont mind though, right baby?” yeah you DEF dont mind it when he pulls you into the janitor’s closet and his body is grinding against yours. “was so hard playing through the game, yknow how difficult that is?” you reply back with i cant imagine with a giggle and let him do whatever he wants to you: hes so impatient he cant pull his game pants down all the way and the same goes for you. both your bottoms are stuck atound your thighs, and youre trying to stay quiet in that squeezy closet. it’s hard. youre so wet you dont exactly need foreplay, just maybe some brief fingering which has you whining into his neck and he slips in after. fucks you until the pails and cleaning supplies are falling to the floor and youre hoping to take off the varsity jacket but he refrains you from it, loving the way ur white shirt is turning wet from all your sweat. it’s sloppy, disgusting, juices spurting everywhere and youre so tight from your pressed-together thighs. i guess he has no choice but to put you in a mating press too and he goes so deeeep in that position you moan out loud. “yeah— made to take my cock like a slut, ain’t ya? only natural when you’re lookin’ so good in my jacket.” getos gross and u love it.
/
nanami fits better as an alumni whos come back for a friendly current students vs alumni match. hes entering the gym with haibara and his two annoying seniors gojo and geto and while they talk a lot of crap theyre great players. nanami comes up to greet you since youre still their manager and hes one year above you. dating across years is a little difficult esp with how nanami was in his last year of uni, and now that hes looking for work while u finish your last year .... it’s hectic thats for sure, but u guys make it work perfectly fine bc nanami prioritises you a lot!! but late youve been busy with midterms and him with settling in with his new job that he almost forgot about today’s match. is met with nostalgia the first time he steps intothe gym again but he never expected you to wear the varsity jacket that’s stuffed deep into your closet. frankly it doesnt fit him at all any mroe but you thought it to be fitting to wear it in this once in a lifetime match (bc hes just so busy!!!! to book a date w/ nanami is like going to the army dawg). nanami’s jaw drops when u first step foot into the gym and oh my god youre going to be the umpire too? he is going to become too distracted, instantly taken back to the many many times hes gotten you trapped in the gym bathroom with his cock in your mouth, or the time you ride him in the empty gym in the corner (it was late at night!!!!), or also the time right after his loss where he took all his anger and frustration out on you, jersey between his teeth as he uses you. something switched in nanami that day when u expressed how much u liked the roughness tee hee. surprisingly hes even more focused, in a way of proving something to himself bc he can probably count on everyone’s hands the number of times hes missed a cue from a teammate before when he was still in school just cause u were wearing his jacket 😭😭😭 man you dont even need to be in the jacket! thats how obsessed he is with u!!!
shoots you a small smile after each point and is trying to hard not to run to you to get a good job kiss. also finds the fact that youre judging appropriately and not showing biasness just cause nanami’s on one team really really hot! the way you call the shots, give the accurate penalties and that booming voice of yours echoing thru out the gym ..... youre so good at being umpire that even the juniors cant deny they lost fair and square and not just cause youre nanami’s girl. altho bc you two are so good at hiding they dont rlly suspect anything until hes kissing you - something that even he isnt that comfy with but he just needed to show off !!!!! that isnt the case when later he has you back in the gym, reminiscent of that one time!!! but nanami found it so hot, hes backing you back up into the quiet gym, illuminated by the moonlight. its way late after dinner and the uni students have gone back to their dorm already while the alumni has departed for their homes and its just you. thank god the gym is also located in a place that is a little secluded and disconnected from the campus so it isnt long before youre both making out against the walls of the gym, moans and sounds echoing in the large hall. “just like old times?” “yeah. except ill be taking my time with you” yeah, u take ur time indeed: the gargling of your mouth and groans of nanami is so disgustingly filthy, slobbering all over his dick and he also eats you out on the floor. when he stretches u out with his fingers you can hear yourself bc youre so wet that you drip to the floor. but none of u give a shit when you settle atop nanami and start riding him needily, bouncing and moaning out his name. the way the sounds of your slapping skin makes it way back to is gross!!!! but so hot!!!! its so lewd !!! you get tired soon enough and nanami thrusts up into you with whispers of ur name in the gym. u do that hot thing where you pull up your shirt and pull down ur bra so your tits r spilling out .... OOOOOOHH it gets nanami cumming instantly, esp with the large frame of the varsity jacket on you that he cums more than usual <3333
/
toji, rather than a player, is a coach for the team. youre the manager whos helping with all the admin stuff and waterbottles/towels and with moral in the team - kind of like kiyoko and yachi in hq, but when u show up always no one knows whose varsity jacket youre wearing. they all speculate between themselves and have their thoughts but the team members never suspect that it’s their own coaches one. it looks too similar to the team’s with no name on the back, the sewing is exactly the same and the small logo of their team takes its place on the left breast as usual. but they never bother to check the inside where toji has made a large blotched ‘T’ on the label and your name squeezed in on the underside. toji loves to see it on you, esp in games and while hed love to see it on you outside of it he cant run the risk that he’s dating the manager. but he also especially loves it when you surprise him at home: wearing his jacket with nothing but your panties, prancing around and doing chores as he comes back from another gruelling match. ohhhh the things he’d do to you... but the best is when you do it in public. that changes the whole game
you’re helping with practice here and there, picking up the stray shuttlecocks/volleyballs/whatever sport around the gym as they practice their drills, but toji realises you dont reach over and bend like you usually do - normally youd do it when you know toji’s the only one to be standing behind you so he can see your panties under the short skirt but you dont do ANYTHING so he wonders if he did smtg wrong. but also you’re squatting down to pick up things? it’s only later when you saunter up to him as his team is distracted and you unzip the jacket just a little and he gets the glimpse of the lingerie set he bought you and very very riskily bringing his hand down to your centre where you’re bare. toji groans to himself when he feels that youre already so wet, playing with your folds just barely until his student calls out to him and youre both shocked out of your daze. “you’re in for it, doll.” takes u to the equipment room, and fucks right after dismissing the team. “doing this typa shit in front of the boys? dirty girl.” youre holding onto the shelves of the equipment and it’s rattling so much that things are tethering so close to the edge, it’s insanity. the sight of his cock disappearing into you while you wear that short skirt is just pure serotonin for him, plus your moans echo a lot throughout the room along with the slapping of ur skin. stuffs the collar of the varsity jacket into your mouth to keep you quiet as he cums in you <3333 “look at that...” sighs when he removes his cock from you and cum drips to the floor, “my pretty manager.”
OKAY BYE . I NEED TO BE SPAYED.
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allfearstofallto · 3 months
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Childe meeting Scaramouche's Wife -Drabble
Yandere! Scaramouche x Fem! Reader x Yandere(?) Childe
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Scaramouche didn't have “guests.” He had visitors and nuisances, but never guests. You didn't even think he had real friends, seeing as he spent most of his time pestering you.
So when he showed up at home with another person, you were visibly surprised. A man a head taller than him, with a Playboy smile and messy orange hair.
“You need not bow to him,” Scaramouche ordered, making you raise your head, “He'll be staying for dinner. Be sure to tell the head maid to make preparations.”
“Yes, my lord,”
As they walked past you, the man stopped in his tracks at your side. He looked you over in interest, but his eyes seemed to be lacking light or glimmer. Despite his smile, his eyes felt truly dull.
“You're not going to introduce me to your wife?” he asked, sounding a little hurt.
“I didn't feel it necessary,”
The man took his glove off and tucked it into his pocket, then reached his hand out to you, “Call me Childe.”
You looked to Scaramouche, waiting for his signal before taking the man's hand and giving it a firm shake, something you hadn't done in the year since you married him, shaking hands wasn't common in Inazuma.
You went to pull your hand away, but Childe held his grip. He gave you a mischievous smirk, a look that made your heart drop to your stomach. Your hand was lifted up to his face, and his pink lips pressed a kiss against it.
You were quick to yank your hand back, but that wasn't enough for Scaramouche. You could feel his eyes boring into the side of your head, his rage making the air in the room hard to breathe.
“You've been here for less than ten minutes, and you've already found a way to piss me off,” he spat, but Childe just laughed, proving to you that he was truly batshit insane.
“You worry too much, it's just a greeting,” he patted Scaramouche on the back rather firmly as the two of them began the walk to the office together. Just when you thought you could breathe a sigh of relief, Childe turned his head to look back at you. You felt your blood run cold as he shot you a sultry smile, followed by a wink.
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digitalagepulao · 9 months
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"Let me make a wager with you."
"[...] He'd be an immortal, a Buddha, if he's good; Wickedness would cloak him with hair and horn. Endlessly changing he runs amok in Heaven, Not to be seized by fighting lords or thunder gods."
the mental image of Sun Wukong absolutely twisted into a horrifying demonic form by his rage and ambition, moments before that fateful bet, make me go batshit insane <3
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dccomicsbracket · 2 months
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Batgirl (2000)
Perhaps my single favourite piece of writing in the comic book medium. This was my introduction to Cassandra Cain, and is the perfect place to get into her. Everyone should read Batgirl #19, and bask in the way it lays out the core of Cass' character with surgical precision. Puckett's Cass is fascinating: a fine balance of absolute confidence in her ability, crushing guilt about her past, a desperation for redemption and to see others redeem themselves, and a fundamental belief in the preservation of life. 1st batgirl on going, very good overall run, do it for Cass everyone its quite literally required reading for cass, babs, and steph. the way kelley puckett is able to explore cass’s character through her relationships with the other bats and the parallels between her and bruce is actually insane. theres so many little details in the visual story telling as well that just make the experience that much better. the fluidity and expressiveness of the art also adds on to the overall experience. it is literally DCs magnum opus Life changing series.
Young Justice (1998)
It's 6-8 fifteen year olds living in a cave, and their only adult supervision is a robot wind machine one of them graffiti-ed all over within the first five minutes of meeting him. The only two with anything even RESEMBLING normal childhoods are the demigod and the son of two billionaires (literally just some guy). They have an alien motorbike and at one point they save the world from aliens by playing baseball. Everyone in it is just so stupid all the time and I love that for them (god bless 🙏) Never has a comic quite that batshit and quite that sincere graced my presence I just love it and I enjoyed reading it
Blue Beetle (2006)
Just a good introduction to a character with a satisfying conclusion. I love you, Jaime, a guy who's just trying to do his best for his loved ones and his local community. I love you Khaji Da, scrungly lil dude speaking in glyphs. I love you, Brenda, and your complicated relationship with your aunt who adores you, but is also a crime lord. I love you Paco, a genuinely good friend. I love Jaime's family and the way they all adjust to Jaime being a superhero. I love the effort made to portray Jaime as a person with community and connections. i looove jaime sososo much he's such a fun protagonist and the developement of his character + his relationship w khaji da is sooo interesting and well written. i love seeing him bond with his little alien bug parasite !! all of the side characters are also so great like brenda and paco are so fun and la dama is suuuch an interesting character. jaime's family is also so lovely they clearly care abt jaime so much and its nice to see a kid superhero with parents who respect and also deeply care abt their kid. the art is also very fun overall its just a really stellar run Quite honestly one of the best written comic runs I've ever read, DC or otherwise. It flips so many standard comic book tropes on their heads and does it well. The main character is the epitome of just some guy and he is my favorite of all time. AMAZING characters. Fresh perspectives on comics tropes that are so overused it's hard to imagine comics without them. Everyone is worthy of respect and treated with dignity, even the villains. Khaji Da's character arc is amazing. And the adults make me laugh so much. Guy and Peacemaker as mentors who IMMEDIATELY recognize this kid is FAR more emotionally mature then they are, so they're not going to bother with that side of mentoring!
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yanderemommabean · 7 months
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maybe youve already written about this, but have you ever thought about a yandere priest?? 🫣 theres barely any in the already very niche yandere community and as someone who has a thing for priests and corruption, hnnggggg. i think itd make very good material for some batshit crazy yandere. itd be a mess, really. maybe a priest willing to abandon their god for you, rid themself of their white collar, breaking their servitude. to get on their knees to pray for forgiveness not to the lord above, but to pray at the altar of your flesh.
maybe, a priest who truly believes that you are the epitome of purity, so they must keep you clean and rid of all sin threatening to corrupt you. even if it means sullying their hands to keep you pure.
or maybeeee a truly unhinged priest who stumbles upon a broken darling and gives them promises to shepard you into the light, so you must trust them for they'll wash you of your sins. how could you distrust a servant of god?
OR, OR, its just some overzealous heretic who uses the word of god to justify their actions, whilst manipulating you to falling on your knees upon their feet.
Ugh I ADORE yandere priests. The type to make you the focus point of worship? YES! The ones who have abandoned their god because you have brought them more bliss and salvation? Tasty. The ones who see you as their god and even possibly makes others believe it too? Delicious, 10/10, its always so good! I also really love the ones you mentioned where they see you as everything pure as portrayed in their books, so they must protect you, they can't let you fall into unworthy hands, must be the only ones to ever touch such a beautiful, pure image of perfection. I've written about a few, years ago, it's been a while, but its a wonderful trope with so many ways to write about it! makes me wonder who fits this trope the best, there's so many good characters!
-Mommabean
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Shooting my shot asking for a Kaku x adult Lucky fic rather than headcannons this time (you don’t have to if you don’t want to)
Oh trust me, I want to!
I decided to make this a little what if scenario for if Kaku had been successful in running off with her after Enies Lobby
Not So Bad
3.4k words
warnings for yandere content and pregancy mentions (not for Lucky)
Life had taken many turns that you hadn’t been prepared for. 
It started with more tame things such as your parents throwing you out when you dropped out of college and the absolutely unhinged shit customers put you through at work. Then you went and got yourself sent to a whole different world, as one does, and after that your life appeared to be speedrunning batshit insane events.
This ultimately culminated in your current situation: Being abducted and forcibly married to one of the many people who had become obsessed with you since entering this bizarre world.
Waves crashed against the ship from outside, lightly jostling you and everyone else on board. Kaku’s arms instinctively tightened around you. The small bed you were both crammed into left no room for personal space, every inch of your body was squeezed against his so as to prevent either of you from falling off the bed at the slightest movement of the ship.
The soft fabric of his nightshirt pressed into your face, likely leaving an imprint in its wake. The steady rise and fall of his chest stuttered slightly from the disturbance of the particularly large wave hitting seconds before, but it evened out again. He’s such a light sleeper that you’re honestly surprised that wasn’t enough to wake him.
Quiet grumbling could be heard behind you as one of the other people you were bunking with complained about how rough the sea was. You could understand why she would be irritated by this. Her morning sickness had been bad enough already, the motion of the ship rocking as much as it was definitely didn’t help.
This particular situation was hardly anything new for you. Ever since Kaku had “eloped” with you after you failed to fight him off at Enies Lobby thanks to your clammy hands dropping your impact dial, you’d been on the run. It made sense, you suppose. You were a wanted pirate after taking part in the attack on Enies Lobby, and he was a former CP9 agent who not only ran but was also being blamed for the situation. It was rare for you two to stay on an island for more than a few weeks. If you stayed any longer you ran the risk of being tracked down by other assassins.
While Kaku’s distinct features made hiding a little more difficult than it needed to be, you lucked out by not having a photograph on your bounty poster. No one had been able to get a picture of you, so they had to settle for a drawing instead. It wasn’t very accurate, though you had to admit it looked much better than Sanji’s. You damn near pissed yourself from how hard you’d laughed after seeing his.
Kaku was outwardly optimistic about your circumstances, assuring you that the manhunt would calm down as the years went by. You’re not sure if he actually believed that or if he was just saying as much to try and comfort you. That was admittedly something he was good at. Lord knows he’d needed to do this more than a few times in your time together.
At first you had resented that tendency of his because he had been the primary cause of your stress. The audacity of him to try and get you to calm down after kidnapping you made you want to scream. Or when he would wildly misconstrue why you were upset. Like the time he thought you were having “pre-wedding jitters” because you’d been fighting him tooth and nail on the way to an extremely shady chapel, and didn’t ONCE consider that maybe you just didn’t want to marry him.
Your kicking and screaming had done nothing to stop it. The officiant didn’t care about your willingness, and Kaku was delusional enough to excuse your behavior as just being nerves or whatever. He’d gotten what he wanted, insisting that he wanted to “do this right”, and now he was your husband whether you liked it or not.
As time went on, your disdain for him was becoming less and less, and you didn’t know how to feel about it.
Sure, at first it was easy to dig your heels in and resist. The Straw Hats would be here any second to save you, you were sure of it. But they never showed. You tried to rationalize it. They didn’t know where you were. With Robin they knew exactly where she went and how to get there, it was easy to chase after her. With you, you had up and vanished without a trace. You’re not even sure they had enough to go off of to know that you’re with Kaku.
Jealousy was an ugly emotion, but that didn’t keep it from brewing within you. You hadn’t seen so much as a hint of the Straw Hats, and that led to you questioning if they were even trying to find you. Were you just deadweight that they were glad to be rid of? You tried to tell yourself that wasn’t true, but it became harder to convince yourself of that as you saw reports of the Straw Hats gaining new members.
Had they replaced you? That easily?
Surprisingly, Kaku had been the one to assure you that likely wasn’t the case. He pointed out how hard they fought to get you back when you were still in Water 7. While he definitely wasn’t a fan of theirs by any means, even he could admit that they cared for you. It was… confusing to hear him of all people defend the Straw Hats. 
The real tipping point came after you saw the paper announcing Ace’s death. That broke you.
For a solid month after that, you were inconsolable. There was nothing that anyone could do or say to ease the pain. After the crying had gone from a constant to only happening in random bursts, you had fallen into a deep depression. You wondered if there was something that you could have done to prevent this. Would you have been able to save Ace if you’d been there? The idea that his death was avoidable made you feel sick to your stomach.
All throughout this depressive episode, Kaku had been nothing but kind and patient. He’d been a shoulder to cry on, someone to ramble to about your time spent with Ace in Alabasta and how he was like the brother you never had. Kaku didn’t once get irritated with you over being upset, and he never criticized you for being useless when you were too depressed to get out of bed in the morning. It made him very hard to hate.
Then one night he brought home a kitten he’d found at the construction site he was working on temporarily, one of his many odd jobs he’d picked up. The poor thing was underweight and so filthy that you couldn’t even tell what color it was supposed to be. A rather lengthy bath in the sink had revealed him to be orange, which reminded you of Ace and made you cry again.
Kaku had encouraged you to keep him saying that having the little guy around might help you to feel better, and you saw no reason to argue. You’d always wanted a cat. The kitten was a total sweetheart. Very mischievous and dumb as a brick in true orange cat fashion, but undeniably loving. The idea to name him Ace came to you easily.
Having cat Ace around did wind up being a turning point in your mood. You couldn’t sulk in bed all day when a tiny kitten was raising hell in your room and demanding attention. It was nice having something to take care of.
Ace was presently snuggled up in the crook of your neck, thoroughly worn out from Ellie playing with him for hours on end during the day. Ellie was the daughter of the couple you were sharing a cabin with. The six year old had been ecstatic to see she was rooming with a kitty and had all but begged you to play with him, which you were fine with. Her mother, Clara, had simply been grateful to have her daughter occupied while she struggled with a combination of morning and motion sickness.
Due to both you and Kaku having a wanted status, you typically chose to stay in the cabin of whatever passenger ship you happened to be traveling on so as to minimize the chances of being recognized. This led to you getting to know Clara and Ellie quite well. Not her husband though, who you’re not sure you ever caught the name of.
Kaku had butted heads with him a couple of times over his behavior, starting with when you were boarding the ship and saw that he’d left Clara to haul on all of the luggage herself despite being very noticeably pregnant. Both of you were quick to help her, while Kaku made a jab at him for being a “ninnyhammer”. Honestly you think he was more mad about not knowing what that meant than being insulted.
None of you saw much of him after that. He’d spent the day socializing and drinking, only coming back to the cabin after everyone else had already gone to bed.
You’ve been awake since he came back. Partially because you’ve had a lot on your mind as of late, but mostly because you really needed to pee. You thought that it could wait until morning at first, but it had become clear that wasn’t going to be the case.
There was no use in trying to sneak out of the bed without waking up Kaku. With how closely pressed you two were, even a heavy sleeper would be awoken from the movement. The second you shifted yourself up onto one elbow, his eyes shot open.
“Is something wrong?” His voice was thick with sleep, but his eyes were alert.
“I need to go to the bathroom. Hold Ace so he doesn’t run out after me,” you pulled the kitten away from your neck and handed him over. Ace mewled in protest.
“Alright, will do,” Kaku murmured while holding the feline gently.
After slipping on your shoes and a housecoat over your pajamas, you quietly snuck out of the room. 
One of the downsides to being sent to a world that was in a time period before your own was that things were less advanced than you were used to. Unfortunately that applied to the bathrooms. In the absence of plumbing, the “toilets” were in cramped rooms at the front of the ship that essentially just had a hole in the floor hanging over the ocean below.
Admittedly, this ship’s toilets were bougie in comparison to some of the others you’ve been on. At least these afforded you some privacy, unlike a few of the others that simply had you out in the elements for anyone and everyone to see your bare ass.
You’re not sure you made it ten feet from the room when you could hear the door open and close again. Your eye twitched in annoyance. Where could Kaku possibly think you would go while on a ship in the middle of the ocean? You hadn’t tried to run in months after learning quickly that you had no hope of being able to get away from him, not with how athletic he was.
With a huff, you stop and look over your shoulder. Instead of seeing your paranoid husband, your eyes fell upon Ellie. She jogged over, nightgown bouncing with each step, “Are you going to the toilets? Can I come with you?”
“Oh, yeah of course,” you waited for her to close the gap before continuing.
Ellie reached up to grab your hand as you made your way down the dimly lit hall, “Thank you! I really needed to go but was too scared to go by myself, it’s so spooky in here at night.” That it was. The sparsely placed oil lamps did little to illuminate the halls, the moonlight shining in through the windows was doing more than they were. “And I didn’t want to ask mama since she doesn’t feel so good.”
“Aww, that was very considerate of you,” sadly she appeared to be more concerned for her mother’s well being than the woman’s husband was. It wasn’t surprising that she hadn’t even considered asking her father to go with her, you don’t think you’ve seen them speak to each other once.
She tugged on your hand and looked up at you expectantly, “Hey, can I play with Ace again tomorrow?”
“I don’t see why not, he seems to be quite fond of you,” you couldn’t help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. Ellie squealed and walked with a skip in her step. 
Distantly, you wondered how Ace would feel about you naming a cat after him. He might be a little indignant about it at first, especially if you talked about how dumb the kitten was, but you think he would come around. Cat Ace is charming in his own right, he’d be able to win over human Ace. If… If he’d had the chance to. You shook your head. No, you weren’t going to let yourself spiral again tonight, and certainly not when you were escorting a child to the bathroom. 
After a somewhat long trek, the head finally came into view. Ellie let go of your hand and ran into one of the private rooms. She must have really had to go. You entered your room of choice with a decidedly calmer gait. It was very dark in there, with the only light coming from the slits in the wall letting in both fresh air and moonlight. 
Wanting to get out of here as quickly as possible, you got down to business. The choppy waters did not make balancing yourself particularly easy, but you managed. After washing your hands in a bowl of water that you were trying your hardest not to think too hard about the cleanliness of, you took a moment to look at yourself in the mirror.
Pushing back the partial bangs Kaku had given you to hide your scar- that he swore up and down he wasn’t bothered by, this was purely to hide your identity- you traced over the scar. It had long since healed over, but the memories associated with it felt fresh.
Again, your thoughts drifted to the Straw Hats. A few months ago, they had disappeared. No one knew where they were and there was talk of them having disbanded. You didn’t buy it, Luffy was far too determined to give up on his dream, and his crew was too loyal to leave him, but where did that leave you?
When they first left the public eye, you had thought it was done intentionally so they could come rescue you. It would be harder for Kaku to avoid them if he had no idea where they were. That never happened. It was really starting to feel like they had abandoned you. Makes sense, you suppose, you were quite the handful for them. What with all the people chasing after you and fighting them to get to you. It was probably nice to not have to worry about that anymore.
It hurt. A lot.
But not as much as you thought it would. Kaku has told you time and time again how much he loved you, and you did believe him. At first you thought he was just obsessed and nothing more, but as time went on and he went out of his way to try and make you happy, you found yourself doubting him less and less.
You wouldn’t say that you loved him, but you’re not sure how much longer that will be the case. He’d been successful in making you at least a little fond of him. You would willingly engage in conversations with him and honestly didn’t mind him holding you at night anymore. There have also been a few instances of you getting… carried away, but you didn’t want to think about that right now.
Were a few kind words and gentle touches really all it took to make you overlook the extremely dubious beginning of your relationship with him? Were you really that easy to win over? How pathetic.
Another rough jolt of the ship snapped you out of your thoughts. A dingy bathroom was hardly the kind of place you should be staying in any longer than necessary. The wooden door creaked loudly as you forced it open, making you wince. 
Ellie was standing on a bench beneath a large window, taking in the sight of the ocean at night. She flashed you a large grin and hopped down when you approached. The walk back to your shared room was filled with speculations about what the island you were heading to would be like. It was a welcomed distraction from your previous train of thought.
As you rounded the corner of the hallway your cabin resided in, you spotted a figure stationed outside of your room. Your pulse quickened, briefly panicking as you wondered who it was, but then he turned and his side profile gave away his identity immediately. Ah, it was just Kaku. Though you couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing out here.
He likely spotted both of you the second you entered the hall, and he spoke up once you got close enough to hear him. His eyes were focused on Ellie, “Your mother’s fretting over you, you should go in and let her know you’re alright.”
“Oh, okay. Thank you for walking with me, Lucky!” Ellie gave you a quick hug before scurrying into the room
It wasn’t until then that you noticed a disgruntled Ace in Kaku’s arms who was all but clawing at him to get to you. Naturally, you scooped him up and brought your dear pet to your chest, causing him to purr.
“Did something happen? Why was Clara so worked up?” You lightly stroked the kitten’s face, making him purr even harder.
“She didn’t realize her little ankle biter had slipped out of the room after you and got into a tizzy over where she had gone. She settled a bit after I said I saw her leave with you, but I figured she’d prefer to see Ellie in the room again.” Kaku sidled up to you, one of his hands found purchase on your shoulder and his head rested against your own. You allowed it, even leaning into him.
A comfortable silence blanketed you two as you lingered in the hall, swaying lightly with the current of the ocean.
“You do so well with children. Ellie adores you.” Was murmured into your ear.
Your breath hitched in your throat. You knew where he was going with that. Kaku had been open about his desire to have children since your encounter in Enies Lobby. Over the months that you’ve been together, he’d made several comments about it. From observations that you were good with kids when you did interact with them, to asking what kind of names you liked best. He wasn’t subtle, but he never pushed it when you changed the subject.
“I guess so? Ellie’s a good kid, it’s hard not to get along with her.” You honestly weren’t sure how you felt about the idea of having children of your own, you were hardly in the best state of mind to be thinking about such things.
Kaku hummed in agreement and held you to him just a little bit tighter. After a moment, he released you, “We should hit the hay, it’s late.” He didn’t wait for an answer before gently guiding you back to the room.
Slipping off your housecoat was slightly difficult to do while holding Ace, but he was too cute for you to want to put him down so you made it work. Kaku was already in the small bed and helped you climb in, keeping a firm grip on you so that you wouldn’t be thrown to the floor from a poorly timed wave. 
Yet again, you were squished against each other from the lack of space. A couple of months ago, you would have hated this. Now? It didn’t seem so awful.
Your face was buried in his chest as Ace squirmed around in an attempt to get himself comfortable. Kaku’s lips pressed against your forehead for a brief kiss and he mumbled out a quiet “sweet dreams” before fully settling into the bed.
Maybe loving him wouldn’t be so bad.
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A Mission - The Maze Runner Imagine
Request from Anonymous: i loved ur 'how you meet' preferences!! could you write a griever slaying fem reader? i know this sounds wack but hear me out she comes straight out the box running for the hills and instead of stopping when they tell her not to go in there she runs straight in. minho or one of the other runners find her killing a griever and theyre like what the FUCK and he drags her back to the glade like why is there a girl here why was she killing a griever and everyone is like what the FUCK just everyone being confused and bewildered at the first girl in the glade being batshit crazy
Author's Note: Thank you for the request! I hope you like it!
Word Count: 2.2k
I have a mission.
It's the first thing you remember when you wake up in this cramped box, and for a while, it's the only thing you can think.
I have a mission.
The details come to you in fragments. You know you'll have to run. You're ready for that, pacing around the rising room to keep your muscles warm.
I have a mission.
There's going to be danger, that you're sure of. The scars on your body that you have no memory of getting make you wonder if this isn't the first time you've had a mission like this. There's a long one that snakes along your calf, like someone wrapped a curl of barbed wire around your leg. Your hands are littered with tiny, long-healed cuts. When you flex your fingers, you feel strong. Hardened.
I have a mission.
The room shudders to a stop. The far half of the ceiling opens up and daylight pours in. You sink further into the shadows. The light stings your eyes, and the gentle hum of the ascent has been replaced by clamoring voices and the sound of constant movement. The box shakes with the thud of someone landing inside.
I have a mission.
You dart across the room, hearing the voices change to shock and confusion, and leap for the wall. Your fingers just barely grip the top. Your feet scrabble for purchase on the slick surface, but you're determined, you're quick, you're strong, and this is your mission so you must succeed.
You haul yourself out of the box. A mob of teenage boys stands in front of you, all around you, some laughing, some glaring, many simply confused. You run at them and they scramble away. For a strange, detached moment, you feel like a queen walking to her throne, the lords parting before her in deference, cheering.
There is no cheering as you sprint across the grass.
"He's making a run for it!" someone says, cackling.
"I think that was a girl," comes a different voice.
You run faster. Your eyes have adjusted to the brightness and you can see the blue sky, the grassy ground, and the hulking stone walls boxing you in.
Escape one box and run right into another, you think, and then, I have a mission.
There are a few breaks in the walls, massive doorways leading into a mystery. You're heading for the closest one. Behind you, there are loud footfalls and cries for you to "Stop! Don't go in there!" It sounds like someone tells you to "Stop being such a shank," but his words are choppy, confusing, and all you want is to complete your mission.
The entrance is so close, just a few more seconds of all-out sprinting, when you feel the heavy presence of someone behind you. Someone who wants to grab you. Who wants to stop you.
Without planning to, you come to a dead stop and drop into a crouch. The person behind you was too close, they can't stop soon enough, their shin collides with your back as they trip over you and slam to the ground in front of you.
You're back running before you can take a close look at him. Every muscle in your body is moving with instructions you haven't given, implementing lessons you don't remember teaching. Your surroundings are entirely new, entirely foreign—and yet, there's an uncanniness to everything you see. The colors and the season and the people are wrong. But the bones of this place, those are familiar. Especially, you realize as you enter the gap between the walls, the maze.
For the first time, your steps falter. The walls are gray stone and decked in ivy. That's wrong. They should be…they should be…
You want to shiver, the memory flees, all you know is the mission.
You sprint and take a left at the four-way intersection. All of the voices have faded. No one seems to be coming after you as you make your way down corridors, following a path that's branded like fire in your mind.
Straight. Right. Right. Left. Straight. Left. Right. Right. Straight. Straight. Straight. Left.
Here.
Here is a dead end. The walls are so thick with ivy you can barely see the stones. The air is still as a graveyard. You stand, panting, trying to remember what comes next.
From atop the wall, there's a clicking noise. You look up.
The creature is hideous, all mechanical limbs and throbbing, human-like skin. You half-expect giant wings to unfurl from its back (why? The memory slips away like a shadow) but instead it starts climbing down the ivy, whirling and clicking. Razor-sharp barbs glint along its body. Its mouth, a maw of metal, gnashes hungrily.
You remember what you have to do.
The boys find you faster than you thought they would. You hear them round the corner as the monster shrieks its death knell. Its mechanical body curls in like the husk of a bug. Blood drips down your arm, getting on the wires that droop from the metal disk you're holding. It's still warm from the creature's chest cavity, where it had been nestled like a heart. The disk is pockmarked with flashing dots of light. They blink at you a few times, the pause between each growing longer, and then they wink out. The creature at your feet, speared by its own jagged limb, falls silent.
"What the fuck."
The boy isn't asking, you realize as you turn around, the metal disk slipping from between your blood-slicked fingers. He has dark hair and dark eyes and an athlete's build, all lean muscle and confidence. His gaze darts from you to the monster, then back to the monster.
He's flanked by two others, one with shaggy brown hair and freckles who looks to him in deference, and the other, dark-skinned and serious, who steps forward, side-by-side with the speaker.
"Minho," commands the dark-skinned boy, "check that the Griever's really dead."
The boy who spoke first nods and starts toward you, trepidatious at first, then more sure as sees the monster (the Griever?) more clearly. "Definitely looks dead," he says. "I don't know how she's not."
Their stares feel like drills boring into your skin. Your back aches, hot with blood, and the muscles in your legs are tightening up. Your mission is done, you should feel happy, but you're still here in this strange, wrong, too-familiar place, and the adrenaline that had been fueling you is fading. You want to go home. You want your sleeping bag, covered in a blanket of fur and nestled in the—the—Gone. The memory is gone.
I had a mission, you think. And then you say it out loud, testing the words on your tongue, "I had a mission."
The boy closest to you, the one who'd been called Minho, stares at you like you've grown a second head. "You're jacked," he says with a breathy, perplexed chuckle.
The insult is on your lips before you can remember where it comes from: "Crackhead."
Minho lets out a booming laugh, then turns to the other boys. "Can we keep her, Alby?"
The serious boy, Alby, frowns deeper. "We need to hold a Gathering. Thomas, go tell Newt. We'll be right there."
The third boy, the one with brown hair and freckles, nods warily. He takes one last look at you and sprints back the way he came. You watch him go, ignoring the boys he left behind until you hear a clatter of metal.
Your body jerks into action, spinning around and putting your hands up, ready to fight the Griever again if you have to. But it was just Minho kicking the creature's body, poking and prodding at its innards.
"What's your name?" Alby asks from behind you.
You turn and back up a few steps so you can keep both boys in your field of vision. Minho is crouched over the Griever. Alby is staring at you, his gaze heavy, solemn. Distrustful. 
"Y/N," you tell him.
Minho pries the Griever's jaw open. His voice echoes off the metal tunnel of the Griever's throat as he asks, "How'd you avoid getting stung?"
Before you can answer, Alby cuts in, voice sharp and angry. "Where did you come from? What do you mean mission?"
Your body aches. You don't want to be here, standing over a mutated, cybernetic monster, being questioned by strangers. "I don't know. I can't remember anything."
"You remembered more than we did," Alby fires back.
Minho straightens up. "Let's get her back to the Glade, Alby. She can answer at the Gathering."
You hate their lingo, want to spit on all of the slang you don't understand because you know the words that should be there instead (it's not called the Glade, it's called the…) but you can't find the words, so you jog with them through the maze, following Minho, Alby a few paces behind you. They have you locked in. There's an urge to break away from them at one of the intersections. You could push Minho into the wall and sprint past him, only where would you go? 
"What is this place?" you ask as you run.
Minho glances back at you. He looks apprehensive, but there's a curious glint in his eyes. "We're in the Maze. Although, you really shouldn't be in here, Greenie." Looking forward again, he speaks in a louder voice, "Clearly you're a rule-breaker."
You still kind of want to push him.
As you get closer to the "Glade," you hear the murmur of voices. It gets louder and louder, until you can see the door at the end of the corridor and, beyond it, a swarm of boys. Somehow, they get even more raucous as you get closer. Their shouts blur together, meaningless words and sounds filling the air. They clamber into each other, everyone wanting to get closer, no one willing to step into the Maze.
"Out of the way, shanks!" Minho yells.
Boys push and pull, slinging insults and questions, and somehow the mass of chaos becomes two distinct groups, one on each side of you.
Minho leads you across the grass to a rustic building. It's practical and sturdy, all of the effort put towards making a building that won't fall, none left to make it inviting. Inside is quieter. For a second, you're grateful because the blood rushing in your ears and the pain singing across your body is enough noise. But as you follow Minho into another room, the air grows thick and tense. Every breath feels like you could choke on it.
Eleven boys sit in a semicircle, two empty seats amid the line. In the middle of the room is a single empty chair.
Your stomach sinks. Your feet pulse with pain.
Alby enters behind you, jerking his chin at the chair in the center. "That's yours." He watches and waits until you slowly walk to the chair and sink into it.
Your skin feels hot. You're acutely aware of the blood on your clothes, the sweat on your body. You feel like a science experiment, everyone examining you, anticipating your reactions so they can write them down, dissect them, find the answers they want. Mouth dry, you swallow and wait.
Alby and Minho take their seats, Minho beside the third boy from the Maze, the one Alby called Thomas.
"Who—"
"Why—" 
"She's a—" 
"We can't trust—"
"She killed a Griever." Alby's voice rises above the rest, the stern tone of a leader.
The other boys erupt into more questions. They bounce off the walls. You don't know who to look at, gaze darting from boy to boy until you land on the blond next to Alby. He's one of the few that isn't speaking, his brown eyes boring into yours. You don't know if he sees fatigue, fear, or anger on your face, but he gives a slight nod, almost to himself, and holds up a hand.
"Slim it!"
The others get out a few more unanswered questions before falling silent.
"What do you remember?" the blond asks, his words tinged with a familiar accent. You can't place where you've heard it, who you've heard it from, but you remember that she had blonde hair too, and…The thought fades away.
"I know I had a mission," you say. It's as simple as that, but the boys stare at you like you're speaking another language.
"What does that even—"
"Who gave you—" 
"Where the fuck did you come from?"
The blond again holds his hand up against the barrage of questions. 
The large boy to your left who spoke last scoffs and protests, "Let us ask, Newt. I know how we can get some answers."
Biting your tongue to keep more insults, origins unknown, from bursting out, you add the name to your memory, filing it with the others. The boy with the accent is Newt. The leader is Alby. You followed Minho through the Maze. And the third boy from the Maze who sits beside Minho, eyebrows furrowed together, his name is—
Thomas stands up. He looks far away, his eyes distant and unfocused. The room slowly quiets down.
"What is it, mate?" Newt asks.
Thomas doesn't look at him. For a few seconds, he just stares at the wall. Then his eyes snap to you. "She shouldn't be here."
The large boy grins, a harsh, twisted thing. "The Greenie's growing a brain."
Thomas doesn't react. Your eyes are locked with his, your breath stuck in your chest. Should you stop him? Should you beg him to continue? You don't have time to do either. Thomas stares at you and speaks.
"She's from Group B."
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charmikarma · 5 months
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Breath as Influence and John in the Epilogues
Breath is probably one of the better understood aspects. “What is it?” someone asks – and the whole fandom is like, “Oh, Breath is about freedom and wind and detachment.” Which I don't disagree with. But I think most people miss a key piece of it – Breath as influence.
I'm no seasoned classpector, but I am a Mage of Breath, so I feel like I have a deep and personal understanding of Breath, particularly because of how it has manifested in my life. Yeah, I know, claiming I'm an authority on the subject because of my self-imposed alignment within a fake typology system makes me sound like an asshole. But I'll have to ask you to trust me, because if I start talking about my own experiences, I'll sound like even more of an asshole.
Anyway, let's kick this off with the official description of Breath, per the Extended Zodiac:
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In summary: the Breath-bound are flexible, driven, detached, and maybe a little self-centered. Also, other people tend to get caught up in their personal development, which tends to make them good leaders. But the most important thing here for the point I'm making is this:
others ... feel inspired by them.
This word, inspired, has been rolling around in my brain for the past few weeks, because of its connection to Breath. Hey, did you know that “inspire” comes from Latin spirare, meaning "breathe"? And if we include the Latin prefix in-, it becomes "breathe into."
The Breath-bound have an ability to breathe into, or inspire others. They're not aware of it – after all, they are just living their lives for themselves. But wherever they go, they are inspiring people. Or, more accurately, they are influencing people. Actually, the influence of Breath goes beyond just people. I could even get meta with it (and I will. I apologize in advance). But let's start small for now.
Tavros Nitram
So, Tavros. Page of Breath. Pretty much all of Tavros's contributions to Homestuck as a story happen as a result of someone doing something to him. Vriska paralyzes him, which kickstarts the whole FLARP cycle of revenge arc. And again when the truce is broken in Act 5 Act 2, it is because Vriska kills Tavros. If this doesn't sound like influence to you, you're right. Tavros has very little influence. He's a Page, after all, and if there's one thing I know about Pages, it's that they're weak as shit until they reach their "true potential," which is pretty much always something stupidly overpowered. Y'know, like Jake overpowering Jade's first guardian powers. That was pretty batshit, I'd say.
But Tavros's contributions don't end there. He actually does reach his true Page-y potential right at the very end of Homestuck, when he gathers an army of ghosts – honestly, probably every single ghost in the furthest ring – by just talking to them. Was this something of a punchline to a very long joke? Probably. But it is also a pretty good example of the kinds of things Breath players typically do.
On a meta level, though, this argument kind of falls apart, because... As far as I can tell, the army of ghosts doesn't really do anything. Nothing important, anyway. Lord English's defeat is pretty much entirely at the hands of John, Dave, Davepetasprite^2, and alt!Calliope in the body of Jade, as described in the Epilogues. The ghost army just isn't relevant, in the end.
But you know what is relevant? Vriska.
Half the people reading this just groaned, I can feel it. Why are we talking about Vriska, a Light player, on a post about Breath?? I hear your question and I raise you this: Why the fuck is Vriska so obsessed with Breath players???? Personally, I think it's because she has an innate sense for their passive ability to decide what's relevant.
But before we get into Vriska, let's talk about John.
John Egbert
John, Heir of Breath. The protagonist of the story. In the context of my thesis of "Breath as influence," isn't it interesting that the protagonist is a hero of Breath? And even beyond that, he's an Heir, a class typically interpreted as "becoming" their Aspect, or "inheriting" it. If you find my argument compelling, you could even say John is the influence that drives the story. Which is exactly what a protagonist does - after all, what is a story without a protagonist?
This question is actually addressed in Homestuck, kind of. At some point in Act 4, Terezi manipulates John into visiting his denizen early, which gets him killed. The story is left without its protagonist, and progress grinds to a screeching halt. Jade doesn't enter the Medium and presumably dies. The reckoning never happens. Dave and Rose are trapped in a doomed timeline. They lose contact with the trolls. For what is a world without the breeze, without air, but a place of complete standstill? The story needs John to continue. Okay, it needs Rose and Dave and Jade just as much. But it's interesting that the story makes a point of John's death being the turning point that makes this particular timeline doomed.
Okay, sorry for the wait. It’s Vriska time. Vriska's driving motivation is to be relevant. She does everything in her power to steal the spotlight, which may or may not be related to the fact that she's a Thief of Light. Again, I'm not an experienced classpecter. I only really have a surface level understanding of Light. But I'm getting off topic here.
In Act 5 Act 2, Vriska starts talking to John. Why? Well, partially because she wants to compete with Terezi, who is talking to Dave. But there's also the fact that she wants to be the force responsible for Bec Noir. And also for John reaching god tier. And everything relevant really??? She's really fucking good at being relevant, I'll give her that. Or at least presenting the illusion of relevance, but that's a big topic that I think I should save for another day. Another essay, maybe. The point here is, John has a tremendous amount of influence over Things That Happen just by existing, and Vriska knows it. Maybe she torments Tavros because she senses the same sort of potential in him, but that's probably a stretch.
In any case, this is baby shit. There's better evidence than this. Let’s talk retcon powers.
You could argue that the retcon powers are separate from John's abilities related to his classpect, and on some level you'd be right. But in a game that "knows" everything that is going to happen, I have to question if extraneous powers like this are taken into consideration when Sburb "decides" what classpect it gives a player. I feel similarly about Jade's First Guardian powers. Teleportation is a pretty space-y power, in my opinion. And definitely one that... "breaks rules," I guess. Among all the other things First Guardians get to do. Once again, I'm no classpector. But Jade getting access to First Guardian powers upon reaching God Tier strikes me as very Witch of Space-y. I feel similarly about John's retcon powers - they strike me as very Heir of Breath-y.
And not just because I view Breath as influence, though that is definitely the most obvious way the retcon powers could be interpreted as Breath-y. Even on a surface level, they're pretty Breath-y. When John first talks to Roxy, he gives a whole spiel about everything he's been to up until this point, most of which is obscured by "blah blah blah." But little phrases come through occasionally, and when he starts talking about his brand new retcon powers, he uses the phrase "UNSTUCK FROM CANON." Which sounds a lot to me like "freedom from the narrative." But maybe more telling is the fact that John's quest as an Heir of Breath requires that he use his retcon powers. Getting rid of the oil, freeing the fireflies - his quest as established at the very beginning was always intended (in universe at least; I can't speak for Hussie's intentions) to be solved by his retcon powers.
So retcon powers are at the very least Breath-adjacent. What’s that got to do with Breath as influence? I’m sure you see where I’m going with this. Retcon powers are basically the ability to do whatever the fuck you want to any point of any timeline. I’d call this influence but I’d sound silly, actually. It goes way beyond influence. It’s way less subtle. I guess you could call direct intervention like this influence at its most powerful. Well, almost. There’s one step above this that John never really taps into. Which brings us to...
The Epilogues
For better or for worse, I fucking love the Epilogues. I think Candy, on its own, is a fantastic and surreal deep dive into a mind high on depression. And as for Meat, I’m an absolute sucker for metafiction and narrative fuckery. I eat that shit right up. My favorite anime is Princess Tutu, etc., etc. This is your warning: Yes, this section will contain evidence toward my claim that Breath is influence. It also doubles as an Epilogues analysis. It kind of turns into one at the end. Sorry, but I needed to get it out of my system.
So, in case you missed it, the step above retcon powers that John never taps into is direct narrative control, like we see Dirk engaging in throughout the Meat side of the Epilogues. The fact that Dirk is revealed to be the narrator of Meat begs the question: who is narrating Candy? It’s never outright stated, but it’s probably alt!Calliope. Unlike Dirk, alt!Calliope doesn’t have an agenda, as far as we’re aware. So why is Candy so fucked up and weird? Why is everyone out of character? I know this comes as a shock, but: it’s probably John’s passive influence over the narrative.
Before the Epilogues even begin, John’s been wasting away in his house all day, every day. He’s depressed as hell. Sort of dissatisfied with how artificial and "perfect" Earth C is. Some have suggested he also feels disconnected from the post-retcon versions of his friends, and I think this holds some merit. It would explain why he feels disconnected from reality in Candy.
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(Candy, 11)
Depression colors your view of reality. It darkens some parts, brightens others. People who look happy will appear so to an unsettling degree. Fucked up things will appear even more fucked up. Depression ups the contrast, if you will. And that’s pretty much what happens in Candy. Jane’s pretty bad in Meat, but she’s like a billion times worse in Candy. Jade causes some awkward moments in Meat, but she is pretty much a sex pest in Candy. The positive parallels are a bit harder to find, since Meat pretty much sucks too, but you could speculate that John perceives Rosemary to be happier together than they actually are, so they’re, like, uber happy together in Candy and raising a daughter and shit. It is John’s warped perception of reality that in turn warps it beyond recognition.
This isn’t just me theorizing, by the way. There’s pretty compelling evidence to suggest that this idea is accurate to what is happening. It’s pretty clear in a conversation between (Vriska), who has just arrived on Earth C via the black hole in the furthest ring and her descendant/clone Vriska (aka Vrissy in HS:BC). The two of them stare up at the sky, pointing out clouds and what they are shaped like, when (Vriska) has a realization.
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(Candy, 37)
John’s influence over the reality is so absolute, even the clouds bend to his will. I think Vriska only notices it because she’s a new arrival to Johntown. It isn’t long before she’s absorbed into the John-ness of the timeline. And then, she goes on to say exactly what I’ve been saying this whole time. Remember earlier, when I said Vriska knew that John had an incredible amount of influence over Things That Happen?
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(Candy, 37)
Yeah. That wasn’t speculation.
The last thing she says, though, that he’d be relevant even if he was dead, is actually a reference to Meat. So let’s talk about it!
As we know, Meat is narrated by Dirk. Dirk’s narrative style is a lot of fun for me, personally. He’s sassy, kind of an asshole, and has no time for bullshit. The second John puts that meat in his mouth, he gets to work, pulling the strings of his little puppet show.
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(Meat, 1)
He wastes no time putting words in John’s mouth, writing him out of the story of Earth C as quickly as possible. It’s almost with a sense of urgency that he pushes John to complete his mission. Which is probably necessary, seeing as the sanctity of canon relies on him going back to tie up the loose end that is Lord English. But I think Dirk has ulterior motives. I don’t think Dirk has the ability to impose his will so overbearingly with John around, because for some reason, John’s power of passive influence prevents him from doing so. Is John more powerful than Dirk, even after his ascension to Ultimate Selfhood? Maybe. I certainly think so.
But John’s pretty gullible. He’s easily influenced. He doesn’t have the same safeguard around his own mind, for some reason. Or maybe he does, and it’s just taken Dirk this long to crack him? This is speculation at this point. Not important.
So Dirk eventually kills John. Why? Well, first of all, it’s harder to control the narrative with him around. Though I speculate that’s not very important to Dirk anymore since he fucks off to who knows where around when John comes back. I think, more likely, Dirk finds John’s influence on the narrative unsavory. I mean, just look at Candy. What an absolute disaster of a timeline. Maybe his awareness is such that he knows that letting John live will result in a similar degradation of his friends’ personalities as he knows them. I can’t really say one way or another. It’d explain why he wants John’s body on the ship with him, though. Y’know, to make sure he never gets revived. And yes, he wants him on that ship. He pretty much tells Terezi outright to captchalogue his body before convincing her to join him.
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(Meat, 35)
There’s one problem, though. I don’t think John being dead even erased his influence on the narrative?
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(Meat, 36)
Right there at the end:
The gentle breeze is all she can hear. It’s louder than my voice, and in some understated way, makes my case for me more persuasively.
I don’t think there’s any other way to read this than the breeze representing John. This is a literal manifestation of John’s influence. I guess it could be symbolic – like Terezi doing a “what would John do?” kind of thought process. But I dunno, Dirk doesn’t strike me as that kind of narrator. Besides... It’s a little too on the nose. Say what you will about the Epilogues, but I believe a great amount of care went into them. This certainly isn’t a throwaway line.
Conclusion
Okay, sorry. I really went off the deep end into Epilogues Analysis Land there. You may have noticed that I didn’t talk about Homestuck: Beyond Canon. That’s partly because I haven’t gotten there in my reread, but mostly because I’m not yet convinced that it has – or will have – nearly the level of plot consistency of its predecessors. We’ll see, I guess.
In any case... Breath as influence, huh? There’s probably more evidence for this hidden away somewhere. I probably could have talked about Rufioh. I didn’t want to though. I also probably could have pointed out the word inspire from the Extended Zodiac thing and called it a day, but instead I blacked out and wrote this. Weird!
If you read all, uh... *checks word count* 2.7k words of this??? Jesus fuck. If you read all this, thank you for reading. I’m open to feedback! I’d love to discuss some of this more! Especially the Epilogues stuff. I have a million thoughts. Bye!
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