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#color theory can suck my dick
bittersweet-mojo · 2 years
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despite the name the green knight is entirely different shades of blue except for the 20 minutes where it was orange
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creation-help · 1 year
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Miscellaneous character design tips (that everyone could find useful)
- Feathers in hair, behind the ear, on the head, in some headress ect? Just don't. Unless you're indigenous I strongly, strongly advise against it, bc native people have criticized this design trope time and time again. Accessories and clothing like this can be very difficult to get right if you don't know what you're doing.
• Also! W*ndigos. Don't. If you wanna design a character that "looks like" (or is what you imagine when you think of a) W*ndigo, just. Design a character that looks like that and call it some other monster (Disclaimer: I'm mainly talking about things like those skull headed monsters with antlers ykno). These creatures have alot of deep meaning to the cultures they're from, and people are tired of them being appropriated and misrepresented. It will cost you nothing to just make a generic monster rather than butcher something from a marginalized culture. (Also, I've censored the word because in the past I've been told that using it's name is bad luck/harmful, so I'm doing this to be respectful)
(Natives/indigenous people are welcome to add on discussion about this if you feel like there's anything I could've said differently)
- Unless your character design is meant to be flexible, up to artist interpretation, or just messy, place patterns and decorative characteristics on distinct, memorable places. For example if your character has spots, put the most notable ones on places that're easy to remember and replicate, like on particular body parts. I'd also advise to make just a bit less of these patterns. Generally, if you're not aiming for a cluttered looking design, prioritize quality over quantity, when it comes to patterns.
- A character design's intent is just as important as the actual character design. You'll see me mentioning this on the previous point as well. Unless we're talking about offensive caricatures, there's teeechnically no such thing as a "bad" character design. Just rather a failed or unsuccessful one. What I mean by that, is that if your design is meant to look cliche, tacky, messy, or just plain unappealing, and it looks like such, that is a successful design! If you designed a character just to be something fun for you to draw, that's a successful design! I often see this point applied more professionally by other art advisors, to mean more like "You should be able to tell what kind of character it is based on the design", which is also true! But intent and purpose matters in storytelling. Obviously, not all aspects of a design need to be there for some very specific reason (looking at the people who ask "Why was this character made fat/gnc/black/poc?" and so on.) just keep in mind what this character is supposed to be. I think it's better to worry about if the character design does what it's supposed to, rather than if it's ""Good""
(And yeah, there are still things that just objectively don't look very good together, according to human perspective and color theory and whatnot, but again, if you're aiming for that, you go buddy!)
- Sorta coinciding with the previous point: Don't be afraid to use "ugly" traits when designing. I think the reason why is obvious (beauty standards can go suck a dick), but there's more to it than just radical acceptance! By giving more unique, weird, or "ugly" traits to your characters, you make them more memorable and distinct from one another. If there's a billion smooth faced perfect pretty characters who are the exact same kind of flavorless vanilla sexy, it gets boring, and they blend together! And please don't limit these traits to just villains or characters who are supposed to be disliked!! My other advice on this point, is, pllllease don't design villains "ugly" and heroes "pretty", I feel like that should be a given, but alot of people may be doing it without even realizing. And that's understandable, but I heartily recommend taking a second to think about it more deeply. Why is this visual trait "Bad", or "Evil"? I just feel like so many artists are deathly afraid of having their characters look the least bit unappealing or challenging. I could go on about this but I'll stop here to keep it concise. Don't beauty police your oc is all I'm sayin
- Reference! I don't necessarily mean take inspiration from other existing character designs, although that can also be helpful. I mean that look around you, think broadly! If you have a certain theme for your design, try to round up all the little things (items, concepts, colors, animals, traits) that could be associated with it! And try to reflect that in your character design. You can get a little wacky and experimental. You can literally just broaden your inspiration to things like everyday objects, a specific fabric texture, an element, or a fungi that lives in moldy houses. Anything! My main point is to try to think outside the box and consider more unconventional things to reference for your character design, you'll never know what might work and look really interesting. Often, a bland design is worse than a weird one. (Disclaimer: Unless you're aiming for bland ofc, per my prev points, but ykno). You can also just go by "Hmm, I'm making a character who is X, what does that remind me of?" or, what I also recommend "Hmm, so X kinds of characters remind me of these things. Let's ditch that and think what one usually wouldn't associate with X kinds of characters!". Ykno, defy convention, think about things you might not usually do. I know it can be easier said than done but once you get into a habit of trying to think more broadly, it'll come to you easier. Don't be afraid to get odd and unusual
- While I don't condemn designing a character in a way that just, is that way, because you designed it like that, I also recommend thinking about how and why the character is like that in-story. Might seem like an obvious tip, but I'll elaborate. I for example, have a pair of bug demon characters who grew up on the streets and didn't have the normal amount of nourishment for their age, so, due to that their mouth pincers and other buggy parts were left much smaller and more "plain" looking than others of their species. They never developed to their appropriate adult size. Things like this will reflect on a character design! And that's just one example. If your character has a habit of nervous picking, or sensory problems, or live in an area where certain resources for clothing aren't available, all of this will reflect on the design! Of course, you can also work backwards from a design and think "Hmm, what justification will I think of for the character having these traits (especially if they're uncommon for their story setting)?"
I may do a part 2 sometime later, I just had some thoughts I wanted to compile for now! Obviously you can have your own design principles but these are ones I consistently use (also the first one being as specific as it is, is just something I particularly wanted to say).
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mynjnx · 9 months
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Color theory can suck my dick anyways a Albert drawing for y'all
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0clu · 1 year
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slipknot x splatoon because i feel the need to combine my interests all the time
originally i was gonna have all 12 here but i decided to keep it as the original 9 we all know and love since i hardly even know the new members.. i would have loved to have them under here tho
so basically these guys arent really an actual team (yet) but they do have scrimages with eachother. like all the time. everyone has basically the same traits and personalities as their irl human counterparts.
i went off of vibes i get from them btw
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#0 Sid Wilson
Inkling
• he has the rat/ray tail
• most annoying skirmisher..
• inkbrush main all day
• sucks at zipcaster and corey berates him for it
• A rank isnt treating him well but he doesnt care. hes just having fun (joyful little guy he is)
• loves qr ssu and ninja squid
• you know he has the record player in his locker
• dj
#1 Joey Jordison
Octoling
• reliable frontline slayer
• if the dapple dualies has only 1 fan on earth its him.
• also plays jr and sploosh 7
• could get top 500 if he wanted to but he doesnt care much abt it
• prefers nouveau to vanilla despite its special
• still pops reefslider like its splashdown
• plays in a band
#2 Paul Gray
Inkling
• midline
• average mini splat/nautilus main
• misses the zink variant from years ago (the old bubbler)
• just your basic S ranker, good but not the best
• comes up with the wackiest comp ideas
• "what if we all used weapons with splash wall as the sub... or quad big bubbler on tc"
#4 Jim/James Root
Inkling
• anchor
• heavy splatling, ballpoint
• came from greater inkopolis (is that what they call it?)
• him moving made his rank reset from S back down to B- so now hes scared to touch ranked
• "im a backline, man... what if my teammates are fucking braindead?" ion know
• new to the group so doesnt really know these guys
• got in from a tryout session
#3 Chris Fehn
Octoling
• midline slayer
• used to be insane with the sting ray special before it got banned
• shotpro main and jet dick rider for life
• never thought abt gear building until like a year ago, its amazing how he even got to X rank running opening gambit on jet.
• pinocchio mask in his locker he sometimes wears to turf war
#5 Craig "133" Jones
???
• slayer
• wiper. lives and dies by the sword
• he just kinda popped up one day
• ...
• him talking is like a big foot sighting
• really good. like... super good... almost mick level
• everyone wonders what the hell he mained before splatanas were a thing
• well decorated locker. nice color theory
#6 Shawn Crahan
Octoling
• anchor but can be mid for faster comps
• explo is his babby. slosher is nice too
• 'they dont know i served in the octarian army'
• was basically the groups leader 24/7 until corey came
• his strongest feat is making strategic decisions and pop up plans for the team
• has been S+/X rank for yearsss
• probably responsible for some of the map callouts you hear today (ex. skipper pavilion, blackbelly skatepark)
• his locker has a dried squid corpse playing a miniature drum set inside
#7 Mick Thomson
Inkling
• as anchor as it gets
• "do you ever play anything other than 5k??" "...5k scope"
• frequent top 500 in tc and rm
• wants the original eliter 4k to make a comeback
• evil charger main #666
• will talk you to death about chargers and their history
• his locker just has a singular eliter in it
• "come into MY house, suck MY dick, call ME gay?!?" incarnate
#8 Corey Motherfuckibg Taylor
Inkling
• the most "splatlands born and raised 💀" guy ever
• aggro midline
• 💞flingza💞, stamper
• hates big swig it feels like a knock off flingza to him
• S rank isnt treating him well and he does care. bro is suffering
• some know him as "the great big mouth"
• no ass unfortunately
• shawn saw him in turf war once and immediately went and got him to join his team afterwards
• was found as a soggy flingza main but gradually learned to have great team spirit and become a good leader :D
• just kinda puts shit in his locker.
• joey says he has frontman energy
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midnightmisadventures · 2 months
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Anyway about Liam
I've just.....I've just been feeling so insecure and feel like I'm numbing and as I'm uncovering more of this trauma more of the suppressed stuff I'm realizing how much of my childhood, my parents, the way my parents dealt with things, the way we dealt with our parents it translates so much into how i turned out and why i hate myself so much. Now im remembering times with Liam and seeing him in a new light
Because when we started getting stoned together it was some of the first time he had talked about that stuff about his childhood and his family and we were getting so deep. And I thought I was too.... but regardless
He was going back to his place and calling his sister who also smoked and they were having 3 hour cry sessions rehashing everything
So now I'm picturing him in the same numbing state that I feel myself in now and it makes so much sense as to why things played out the way they did
I always thought I understood bc we're so similar and I was also so depressed and healing insecurities
But....lmao I don't know how to explain it. It was a DIFFERRNT kind of depressed and dealing with insecurities
And at the time of course I saw him in flashes of color while in front of me in tears. I wondered why life felt so hard on his shoulders. Why couldn't we just relax and have fun and smoke and make stupid jokes while the sun goes down every day forever.
Why can't he just realize that he doesn't have to DO all this and FIX all this ?? He's fine now, ill help him do it
And now I feel like I've never hated myself more, I have so much to process, my thoughts scare alone scare me, I'm foggy and blurry and permastoned, and I've lost my meds, I HATE my body and I can't shower and I still live with my parents
The idea that he even could've thought I had it all figured out scares me
And i can understand why, when he felt like this he couldn't get into a relationship.....with me
I know I know it's a hard sell. The evil morty in my head is always gonna keep him from sucking his dick too hard
But idk I really do believe I was a victim of the "cab theory" or whatever when boys meet someone they know they'd marry and do life with but they just aren't ready.
The idea that he even could've thought I had it all figured out scares me
I rlly think Liam was saying I cannot date you right now because I would fall for you and wanna put a ring on it. But my shits not together
So it's so hard to think about all those times the evil morty in me tried to tell me he didn't like me
Well suck it cause I'll be attached to rick for life babyyyy finite curve or not
And damn it would be sick if we figured it out
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cascadianights · 9 months
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Fuck being convinced to hate men because of the worst examples of them.
Fuck hating 50% of the population because of the way you assume they were raised.
Fuck trauma being exploited to feed into hate for a blanket group of people and separatist behavior.
Fuck acting like men are inherently unsafe monsters and being convinced that every shadow is a danger until nowhere feels safe and the real threats are lost.
Fuck acting like it's a fucking joke to love riding a cock or sucking a dick! Fuck acting like giant clits or little cocks or cut or uncut aren't all attractive as hell
My partner is gentle and soft and caring. He gives the best hugs, and cuddles. He's supportive and loving of everyone in his life, and he would do anything for the people he cares about. He was the quiet jock that would fight the bullies dumb enough to pick on people in front of him. He's quiet, but when he gets talking he'll lay out whole universes before you. People feel safe with him, I feel safe with him, the kids love him and they knock on our door and ask for us and the dogs to come out and play and he smiles and says yes even when he's exhausted. He understands math in an easy way I've never grocked, and he's hot as hell. I love his neck and forearms and biceps and stomach and hips and thighs. I love his confident smirk when he dominates me or makes me beg to come. I love the way he keens and moans and writhes when I make him beg instead.
My close friend (and ex) is one of the most masculine & straight men I know. He could pick me up and fuck me against the wall, and he can beat anyone in a fight bc he had to learn how to young, and he's let me twine flowers into his hair and he has the softest smile and even in our worst fights he never once used his size to tower over me. He showed me how to box, and he waxes romantic about queer and native philosophy and pedagogical theory while filling the walls of his home with color. He has 3 dog beds In His Car Alone for his senior dog that gets a monthly bath and 3 walks a day and anything his little heart desires. He spent a spring rescuing baby squirrels and he's spent evenings showing the next generation how to nurture controlled burns and whittle. He's an intellectual powerhouse that's working on indigenous CRT and a state bill and he tells the best stories and notices all the little things.
My best friend in high school was one of the most "popular" people in the grade, and he saw me looking lost and terrified on the first day of school and asked me to walk to homeroom with him. We used to ride bikes to the park and laugh and talk for hours on the swings. He put me in my place when I was being an asshole and he danced with me at homecomings and now he's out trying to save the world in DC. He's the only boy I was allowed to spend the night with, and we'd stay up all night playing video games and fall asleep on the couches. He always showed up, and he took me to Downtown Disney and the lights glittering in the dark for the first time. He's outspoken and funny and charismatic as hell.
Men are sexy! Men are gentle! Men are safe! It's OK to be queer as fuck and still love men. It's OK to acknowledge how many individuals suck or have done wrong by you without blaming an entire group. It's OK to want to be a man. It's OK to want to leave every bit of masculinity in yourself behind and still love it in others. It's OK to recreate what we prize as masculine.
Hating Men is a shortcut to hating parts of yourself & the people you love & a slippery slope towards TERFdom. It's OK to put it down.
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returntosaturn271995 · 11 months
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Friday, June 9th: Fight for your right to indict
Indictment is stupid word. Yes, I am bad at spelling, but that’s only because English is full of words that force me to go “in-dick-tment” in my head. 
But I digress today because Trump was indicted on 37 (!!) felony counts for stealing documents from the White House, lying about it, and not giving them all back when asked. 
Dude, what the fuck? Will he go to prison? Because in the book I’m (still) reading about the 90′s, OJ had all of evidence against him but fame and media circus’s have turned real life legal cases in to a form of this country’s worst  entertainment.
My vote is that he rots in prison. Anyhoo here’s some other votes (aka choices I made) for the ways I tried to be a better person after ranting and raging in therapy with Angelita yesterday. 
1. Woke up before 11 am (I know. It’s still progress).
2. Got workout-glam for a 2 hr long walk with Ryan after grabbing another lavender latte from Palmy’s. I’m trying to perform less in conversations and enjoy comfortable silences more after my talk with Zach last night brought it up. Yeah...I’m not super great at it, but sober date! Cardio! 
3. Helped a small (but very motivated) dog back in to his home after he broke loose on to the boardwalk. I spilled my coffee and probably looked like a total idiot duck-walking him back, but no good deed goes unpunished, I guess.
4. Rocked a half-up, half down pony, low-cut black workout top, Adidas black leggings, and black and white Asics. Big black headphones, black leather backpack filled with my book and highlighters. 
5. Meditated on letting obsessive thoughts go. Officially hit 83 hours of practice. I sat up straight instead of lying down to let the elements take me. I did torture myself a little with overthinking anyway, but there were some present moments that felt buttery and yellow. Think: amber is the color of your energy. 
6. Made blueberry scones because I am a chef. Folded laundry first thing this morning. Dusted my bedside table because I’m trying to be one of those people that cleaning soothes. (Oh yeah, squeeze that bleach spray, honey! Let’s wipe away our sins and likely a fuck ton of my dead skin cells.)
7. Tried a new Yoga flow today. Intermediate, 22 minuets of thigh flexibility. And may I just say? No. That was terrible. I’m happy I did it but damn. My progress is feeling very non-progressy. BUT I can still touch my toes and do a flat-footed downward dog so there: ceiling and floor. Officially hit 15 hours of practice. 
8. Set up Orange Theory for Monday because I’m a masochist. Set up a leg and brazilian laser for later this month because I am a realist. 
9. Applied to a job on Linkedin, because why not it was right there. Waiting with total nerves to see if I get the Nowadays offer, made sure to send kind follow up email.
10. My goals for tonight? Purchase a new alarm clock that doesn’t suck. No alcohol/going out. Finish/or make progress in 90′s book (this thing is well written but my god is it thickems). Skincare moment. Make steaks with caper butter and roasted potatoes and then wash the dishes. 
I think I’ve done enough work today to both continue the virtuous cycle or feel that I was productive enough to save some goals for tomorrow. We’ll see. It can’t be denied that after every habit I feel better. Daily chores don’t suck the life force out of me like they used to (or maybe the idea of them used to), but instead I affirm my worth and right to be taken care of. Every action is a vote. It’s proving ones love to one-self with quality time, acts of service, words of affirmation, and yes, a couple of gifts. 
Hair grease and inner peace, 
Erin
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yourmidnightlover · 3 years
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the nickname
Summary: reader convinced spencer to let her take the reins in the bedroom... or does she?
TW: oral (male recieving), fingering, mention of overstimulation, multiple orgasms, unprotected sex, penetrative sex, riding, scratching, use of nicknames (princess, love, etc.), hints at sugar daddy!spencer, age gap (not specified but i’m thinking around 10-15 years). *let me know if i missed anything*
WC: 2,912
A/N: this hinted at sugar daddy!spencer (not really hinted so much as saying it outright). I also wrote this for @anxiousblanketqueen ‘s fic contest for her birthday! i believe it’s prompt number 21. i hope you enjoy :)
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you had been together for a while, now. maybe 13 months? you bet spencer could recall - more like knew he could.
you had met when you were one of his students. you're going to georgetown on an academic scholarship because no way in hell could you pay for the full tuition when you still couldn't afford it with the scholarships.
he took a liking to you - how could he not? you were a hard worker and proved yourself to be extremely determined. on top of the obvious intelligence, you had a beauty that radiated around you. and that beauty had a touch of... innocence. and maybe that innocent beauty is what initially attracted him to you, but he'd like to think it was just your personality as a whole.
you were never one of the students who would come to his office after hours for help you clearly didn't need. you would use your colored pens and highlighters to help organize your notes, so it took a while to pack everything up to leave.
one day, when there weren't any students lined up out his door, he went to your seat as you were cleaning up. you looked up, rather surprised that your inappropriate crush was standing right by you.
"uhm... hi," you smiled at him as you put your pencil pouch in your bag, breaking eye contact for the briefest of seconds before returning your attention back to him.
"hi. i was uhm..." he cleared his throat, "i was wondering if you had any questions? you never come to the office hours for questions and i was just... just making sure," he stuttered out.
"oh," you chuckled a light, airy laugh that spencer wished he had recorded so he could replay it over and over and over. "i don't have any questions. i guess that just means that you're a really good professor - very thorough," you stood up and flung the bag over your shoulder, still incredibly shorter than him.
"than-thank you," he smiled. "i'm happy to hear that you're actually getting something out of the lessons," you began walking out of the classroom, looking back to ensure that he was following you.
"yes, i truly do," you agreed. "i'm also pretty sure i'm one of the other people who isn't auditing the class," you added.
"correct, you are," he enthusiastically gestured, another laugh leaving your beautiful lips.
"i mean, you can't necessarily blame them for just taking the class," you chuckled as he held the door open for you, you gave him a subtle 'thank you.'
"what do you mean?" he asked in a soft tone.
"i mean you- you're..." you trailed off, gesturing to his entire body in hopes to convey what you meant. he just looked at you with a confused taste, letting you know you needed to elaborate. "you're very... attractive, professor reid."
"oh-that's very... thank you," he blushed as you halted by the bus stop.
"of course," you turned around, looking up to meet his eyes. "so... wait, what time is it?" you asked rather frantically.
"it's," he looked at his silver watch adorning his wrist, "6:27."
"shit," you swore for the first time in front of him, underneath your breath.
"wha-what is it?" he asked, perplexed as to why you would be so frustrated.
"the last bus leaves at 6:15 and i've missed it," you huffed out, trying to compose yourself before checking your bag and realizing, "i forgot my key and my roommate is at her girlfriend's house."
"is there anything i could do?" he asked concerned.
"no i can... i can just stay at the library. i should probably study up anyway," you tried to laugh it off although you knew it was pointless... he was a profiler for christ's sake.
"the library? y/n, this might seem a bit inappropriate but i have a spare room you could stay in until your roommate gets back," he offered kindly.
so, you took him up on his offer.
you slept in his spare room after he got you both takeout. you laughed and talked for what seemed like meer minutes but turned out to be until 1 a.m. you talked about string theory and the leonard euler's paradox. he gave you interesting facts about tortoises and achilles.
that little hangout session turned into countless hangouts over the span of three months. and then he asked you out on a real date once you finished at the top of his class - and not just because you were his favorite.
the first time with spencer was... beyond delightful. he was captivating with the way he worked against and for your body. it was almost as if he felt like his sole purpose on earth was to please you. he was eager, yet patient with the way his tongue flicked and sucked at your skin.
he was such a dominant personality in the bedroom, which was extremely appreciated since you didn't have much experience in that arena. but now that you were more versed in that world, you wanted to experiment a bit more.
casually, he began to pay for your things. it wasn't so head-on at first. it would be paying for your groceries, or buying all of your college books for you. but then it got a bit bigger. when your roommate couldn't give you the necessary half of the rent that was due and was beginning to be a nuisance, spencer quite literally let you move into his place. he would pay for your car's repairs and bought you jewelry consistently.
one time, as a joke, you called him your sugar daddy - mostly because that's how he acted. he just didn't like the term. he felt as though it made your relationship together seem one-sided when you were, in fact, very in love with the man. you came to realize it also made you seem like a gold digger, which you weren't - even though the money is a nice plus. so, you relented and didn't say that again.
spencer never really had much time off now that he was working back at the bau and traveling but now, you had him to yourself for a whole week. you had been planning this since he told you when he'd be off.
step 1: look sexy - you always looked sexy to him, but feeling sexy would also be a plus.
step 2: surprise him while looking sexy - absolutely devious.
step 3: seduce him - when doesn't he want you? exactly.
it was foolproof.
you had gotten the text 15 minutes ago that spencer was on his way back to his place, wanting you to meet him there once he had settled in. little did he know that you were in a sexy little white number - the white reminded him of your innocence which really got him going - lying in wait for him in a pair of heels. you sat in one of his reading chairs, deciding to pick up a book until he got home.
when you heard the jingling of keys coming from the other side of the door, you assumed your position. the chair was turned toward the door, you sitting pretty with one leg crossed over the other.
spencer walked through the door, hanging his coat and briefcase up before finally noticing you. his eyebrows shot up, looking your body up and down hungrily.
"wow," he smiled a wicked grin as he slowly made his way to where you were sitting. you stood up, heels clicking as they hit the floor and walked closer to him.
"i wanna try something," you placed your hands on his chest, pushing him back slightly until he was forced to sit down on the couch.
"and what would that be, princess?" he asked, hands stroking your hair that was cascading down your back.
"i..." you bent down to whisper in his ear, "i want to be in charge tonight," you placed a soft kiss below his earlobe, feeling his body shudder subtly at the proposition.
"are you sure you can handle that?" he chuckled, hands roaming to your waist and grinding your hips down on his.
you almost gave up. almost. you grasped his hands, placing them on the arm of the couch before getting close to his face. your lips were almost touching before you whispered, "no touching today, pretty boy."
you felt his hips rut up against your core, you chuckled at his eagerness. you decided to throw him a bone and ground down, hard, against his hips. the groan he let out was low and enticing, nearly enough to allow you to give him whatever he wanted.
"bedroom," you whispered against his neck before getting off of his lap, allowing him to scurry to the room. "take off your clothes while you're at it!" you giggled under your breath as you heard his clothes shuffling, telling you that he was obeying your request.
you waited a couple of minutes until you went into the room, wanting to have him go a bit insane like he normally did to you. when you walked in, he was laying on his back on the bed, just like you wanted. his cock was already red and leaky, prominent as it bounced on his tummy.
"good boy, spence," you giggled, walking over to him and straddling his legs.
once you were settled, you pressed a chaste kiss to his lips before trailing them down his torso, leaving the occasional hickey scattered on his chest. traveling kisses down his happy trail, you traced the vein on his dick and watched it twitch up and hit his stomach once again you giggled at the reaction.
"now i understand why you like so much responsiveness," you chuckled as you pressed a soft, barely-there kiss to the tip of his cock, he hissed once again from the contact.
you slowly took his cock in your mouth, agonizingly slow, and flattened your tongue at the base. one you got him as far down you could manage, you began bobbing your head just as slow. his hands flew to your hair, trying to force you to go faster until you swatted them away.
"should i tie those up?" you threatened, your hand working at his member as you spoke.
"are you fucking kidding me?" he swore, clearly agitated by your antics.
"no," you squeezed his dick for punctuation, the way he grunted made the wetness pool in your underwear. "i'm not kidding you."
you took him in your mouth once more, bobbing your head far more vigorously than before this time, just to spite him. hollowing your cheeks, you swallowed around him and began gagging around his dick before coming back up for air.
"fuck," he whispered underneath his breath, not wanting to let you know just how much of an effect you had on him.
you smiled to yourself and continued your antics until he was spilling all down your throat. you didn't stop there, you came back up and let your hand continue pumping his member slowly.
"shit," he hissed from the stimulation.
"shhh," you put your free finger up to his lips.
you gave his dick a few more strokes, curses leaving his lips delightfully before you drew your hands up his body once more before straddling his lap. after moving your panties to the side and slicking his cock with your arousal, you ground against him leisurely, trying to tease him a bit more. you unclasped your bra, throwing it somewhere in the room. finally, you reached between the two of you and lined him up with your entrance.
"are you sure you can do this?" spencer asked, not to entice you, but to make sure you were alright.
"there's a first for everything," you chuckled, knowing you had never been on top before.
you had never been on top before - you'd like to blame your lack of experience. you knew it might be hard to keep up the pace, but you were determined to make not only yourself but also make spencer feel good. that's all you've ever wanted. that's what you're meant to do - make him feel good. so no matter what it took, you'd make it happen.
you slowly lowered yourself onto his dick, being wary of how much bigger he felt from the new angle.
"shit," you whispered, your hands resting on his chest in attempt to ground yourself. "oh god..." you trailed off, feeling your dominant personality fade away as the pleasure overtook you.
"keep going, princess," he spurred you on, his hands finding your waist and rubbing gentle circles on your skin. "you've got it."
so you rose on your knees until only his tip was inside of you for you to lower yourself once more. you whimpered from the feeling of him re-entering your body, your pussy clenching around him as if he were an intruder.
"doing so good for me," he grasped your waist a bit tighter so he could help you rise and fall on his cock. "fuck, it's so good."
"d-doctor, i-" you stuttered, the persona nearly entirely gone and nowhere to be seen as he continued to move you up and down.
when you learn forward, your face hovering over spencer's chest, he took the opportunity to wrap his arms entirely around your waist. before you knew it, he was slamming his length into your pussy over and over and over and over again.
"oh! oh my god," you moaned, your voice reaching a higher octave as he drilled into your body in the most pleasurable way imaginable. "don't stop! don't stop! ple-please!" you screamed out, your hands wrapping around his torso and squeezing his body to ensure that he was there - present.
"i won't, princess. just let go. let go for me," he pressed a kiss to the top of your head so sweetly in contrast to how he was fucking you.
"i'm cumming! oh god, i'm cumming, spencer!" you cried out as you released the tension from inside of you.
only spencer wasn't done yet, so he took himself out of you, and he placed you on your back before reentering you. he moved in and out of you at a godly pace, trying to get himself to his climax before you would become too overwhelmed from the overstimulation.
"spen- spencer," you scratched at his back, surely leaving red marks for him to ogle once you were through. "i-i'm close," you sucked lightly at his earlobe before he moved his hand between the two of you, circling the little bundle of nerves at your crest.
"my little insatiable bunny, huh?" he smiled as you whimpered into his ear, nearing your second release. "loves my cock a bit too much, huh?"
"please! fuck!" you shouted out as you came on his dick, pulling at his hair. the clenching and fluttering of your pussy finally sending him over the edge, his hot release flooding your insides.
"fuck," he groaned into your ear as he carried the two of you through your releases. "good job, princess," he pressed a kiss to your neck as you stroked his hair, playing with it as you were still coming down.
"i'm sorry," you frowned once he pulled out, finally making eye contact as he lay down beside you.
"what for?" he asked incredulously.
"i just... i wanted to make you proud and i couldn't even finish without your help," you explained in a whiney manner, not allowing yourself to meet his beautiful eyes.
"hey," he grasped your chin to force you to make eye contact. "i love it when i have to help you reach that high. that's not something to be embarrassed or upset about."
"i know but i wanted to ride you and i couldn't even do that," you rolled your eyes.
"it takes time to get used to doing that," he chuckled. "and besides, riding someone on the bed is never a good way to begin. the couch is always better - that way you have the back of it to hold onto."
"really? so it's not that i'm just terrible at being a top?" your eyes widened with hope, he smiled at your eagerness.
"i think you could be a switch but it needs a bit of work, my love," he brushed your hair behind your ear before seeing your disappointed gaze and adding, "but i'll bet that with enough practice i could start calling you my little bunny, yea?"
"really?" you perked up at the proposition. "i want you to call me that."
"well then, i guess we better start practicing," he grinned before leaning in and giving you a sloppy kiss, his hands flying to your waist as he stood the both of you up to go to the couch.
needless to say, with spencer's guidance you were able to master the art of riding him. and you got that special little nickname, too.
taglist:
@averyhotchner
@greenprisca
@muffin-cup
@emilyprentisslittlewhore​
@spenxerslut​
if you’d like to be added to the taglist, please don’t hesitate to message me or leave a comment saying so!
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unpretty · 3 years
Text
astielle ch 28 spoiler ask dump~~
anonymous asked:
Tauril-form is puberty, because that's when his voice changes. Abysscale-form is college-age because that's when he goes to his first orgy.
anonymous asked:
You called Abysscale-form college-age (which does not preclude teenage sexscapades given the ages that go to college) and that tracks with how I think of Tauril-form as going through puberty (because of the voice-change). But if Tauril is the horny teenager that's kind of sad. Because as Minnow has pointed out many times That Dick Will Kill.
not each other, it won't!! although i imagine taurils sleeping with each other would have the bro-iest vibe. very bill and ted. taurils also have Options with people who aren't giant bull centaurs, it's just awkward is all. fortunately for everyone taurils are actually adults and are not full of hormones, they just have zero impulse control and when they like someone they want to impress them and spend time with them and it doesn't necessarily occur to them to get their dicks involved in the situation (karzarul's mind was elsewhere the first time he was a tauril)
anonymous asked:
When Violet said monsters make the best mercenaries and throw the best parties I didn't think about it, but the fact that all the impyrs came into being with swordsmanship skills equal to Lynette probably had something to do with the former. Even if ten isn't that many, THEY COME BACK. (Eventually. In, like, a month.) And the others probably learned from Lynette, even if they died. Lynette's unintentional teaching, back again.
they learned from the best murdering them repeatedly
anonymous asked:
When Ari is repopulating, and he skips Black Drakonis, he says "Makes sense." But he's surprised when Violet points out that Black Drakonis is missing, so it sounds like he at least had a theory/assumption at the time for why she was skipped, but it doesn't match with the new information.
he initially just assumed that black drakonis had managed to avoid being killed the whole time, which made sense because she's a big dragon and she can just fly away if someone is trying to murder her. but generally if a bigass monster is alive someone is going to see it, especially her, because she likes finding population centers to try to guard.
anonymous asked:
"It also occurred to him that trying to get Minnow to act like she lived in a society since they were young may have negatively impacted his sense of what constituted an acceptable thing to say to a person while his dick was out." Is just HILARIOUS.
anonymous asked:
Honestly I can relate to Leonas cause just last week I was like 'I keep falling asleep in class maybe I should develop a caffeine addiction' and one of my friends was like 'pls eat more food' so I started to actually have breakfast and an after work snack and I magically stopped falling asleep in class
anonymous asked:
Minnow's hips don't lie, but castle ruins are strangely deceptive.
everyone who wasn't following along when astielleblogging intersected with kink taxonomy hell is going to be so confused if/when minnow finally gets stuck somewhere
@9ofspades asked:
Ari is my favorite again and I want him to have actual eternity to be happy with his poly soulmate throuple together. And also his big monster family. Also I think he's wrong about what the core of the Heir and Hero are - both of them have, deep in the core of their souls, the fact that they are Monsterfuckers.
for the record i have a post in my drafts with all of your readalong asks and i still haven't decided what to do with them but i enjoyed them IMMENSELY
anonymous asked:
>looking for food >ask the cook if their food is earthy or wet >she doesn't understand >pull out illustrated diagram explaining what is earthy and what is wet >she laughs and says "it's good food sir" >buy some food >its wet
@ivylaughed asked:
I love the tumblr meme references in Astielle. The guards bringing their own knives; there being an infinite variety of brassica oleracea; the fucking chocolate guy. I'm half-waiting for a children's hospital/color theory reference. Thank you for the easter eggs.
i'm glad someone read 'chocolate birdhouse' and immediately thought THAT FUCKING CHOCOLATE GUY AGAIN ashjasd
anonymous asked:
I just wanted to say that as a plant nerd and forager I deeply appreciated Minnow's surprisingly accurate botany lesson.
unfortunately all the books that leonas gave minnow are still at her house and so she cannot cite sources for the existence of hemlock, queen anne's lace, and giant hogweed
anonymous asked:
“I think you overestimate people’s willingness to admit when things don’t make sense to them," lmao Minnow has a point
will the two men she is with learn from this and start admitting when they don't know things they think they should and are confused? absolutely not.
anonymous asked:
XD Ari hears "Kavid" and immediately attempts a strategic retreat.
anonymous asked:
“‘you should get dressed’ is a complete sentence.” Is making me laugh.
it's probably for the best because if he actually had known all three of them were out there it would have taken him like an hour to get ready and he would have had at least one breakdown about how none of his outfits were good enough and it was all nari's fault
anonymous asked:
Kavid: I will be happy to HAVE YOU ALL *lascivious eyebrow wiggle* at my earliest convenience.
anonymous asked:
"he gets smaller" "in this weather who doesn't?" KITTY PLZZZ
anonymous asked:
I can't decide whether I love or hate Kavid - I have a very Specific idea in mind for his voice, though I admittedly can't figure out where I'm pulling it from. He is an Excellent character though. Lovely chapter as always :D
anonymous asked:
Before, I was entertained by Kavid. Now I love him.
anonymous asked:
Kitty, Kraven and Kavid have similar speech patterns on purpose, right??? Right?????
i was honestly imagining some kind of nonsense faux-european what-country-is-this-even-from hollywood accent but imagining that he has sounded extremely russian this whole time is extremely funny
@rose-and-bones asked:
SHE HAS A TYPE aghfgstjs
minnow having a thing for obnoxiously pretty men who think they're great aka self-recognition through the other (horny)
@speakingintothevoid asked:
“You are,” Leonas said, “an egotistical, self-important fop.” “Ye-e-es,” Kavid said without shame. “She has a type, does Starlight.” I! LOVE!! IT!!! Makes me almost think of Violet and Karzarul - our point of view character being faced with a version of themselves who are more comfortable in their own skin and our boys not knowing why that annoys them
@keleviel asked:
I rescind my earlier mild disdain, Kavid is great. Is he actually The Greatest Of Bards, or is that just more showmanship?
he rocks about as hard as you can rock on a lyre, which is probably harder than you'd think (especially if you brought a lot of drummers) (which he does)
anonymous asked:
Jakshahshsh every time a new astielle chapter comes out i read it at least twice. Kavid i love you. Leonas i love you also you fucked up lil man. And karzarul the seat. And minnow the mischievous. and just. poor nari. existing in the same world as minnow and her all-powerful boyfriends and also kavid. nari needs a raise
she really does
anonymous asked:
Bruce in Office Meeting and Leonas grabbing the wine when Kavid starts talking about Imperials solidarity.
anonymous asked:
"You would like to compare notes?""Always." Brilliant. Leonas to a t. Loving this interlude with kavid. Snuggly tipsy leonas is a treat. kavids talk of how the weather makes all of us smaller had me cackling. Also this batshit imperial conspiracy is gr8
anonymous asked:
I am suddenly much less comfortable about Leonas performing medical experiments on Minnow, though no fault of his own. :(
@mooseman13579 asked:
Leonas finding out about the weird sun empire truther stuff: haha I'm in danger
the real unanswered question is how much of this is news and how much of it is stuff he already knew and assumed was normal
@thegayknee asked:
Holy shit this is it, isnt it. This is how they fix karzarul's reputation and expose Leland. With the power of Kavid
anonymous asked:
Karzarul's Questlog: "Work on our Image" updated, The Tale of Hollow Monsters delivered to bard.
anonymous asked:
just how many of her lovers is minnow going to recruit into her questing party
she should probably be swapping people out to keep their levels consistent but instead she just keeps karzarul and leonas as her companions for every single quest
@flying-butter asked:
"Details! I need details!" "The king sucks." This is every conversation with any of the trio. Minnow likely knows how to complete half of Ari's quests and Leonas the other half, but no one talks about anything without prompting.
minnow just assumes that everyone knows what she knows because she can't possibly be the brains of the operation and meanwhile karzarul and leonas are both busy having shame
anonymous asked:
i was so excited for the lore drop but the moment Leonas sat in Karzarul's lap my brain just shut off
@themaidenisdeath asked:
oh yes, as we all know, "all business" and "taciturn" are the first words that come to mind when we think of Minnow. It reminded me of when she met Karzarul and he told her she was particularly chatty for hero. Sorry Kavid, you're just neither a Sweet, Considerate Monster with a Dick of Steel And Tentacles To Match™ nor a Twink Prince With Silky Hair, Dom Tendencies And Weird Dietary Beliefs™
@halfdeadfriedrice asked:
"what Hero business?" / "I'm the Hero. All my business is Hero business." You tell em Minnow! And then it turns out to be Quest relevant after all; all business is Hero business Also kavid's last night's makeup and messy convertible couch covered in laundry with half-empty wine bottles on the floor is THEE most visually resonant, I feel like I am visiting a college friend
leonas got very lucky that there weren't any cigarette butts floating in that wine because in his mood he might have just drank it anyway
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Buzzfeed Unsolved AU - Batfam
The batboys start the account as a joke at Dick’s insistence (family bonding!). The first video was Tim rant about an old case that couldn’t be solved. Jason recorded it as a joke. Barbara is the one that needled him (“What’d you mean the girl just messed with the elevator? What’s the point in that?” “THATS THE THING NO ONE F**KING KNOWS BABS!”). Dick cracked jokes (“Wow, guess she ghosted the ghost.” “IT CANT BE A GHOST DICK, OKAY?!”). Duke stared into the camera (“Help me.”). Stephanie ate waffles in the background and nodded along. Overall, it was pure chaos. When Jason posted it it went viral almost immediately.
Cue Dick setting up an official YouTube account, editing the first video then posting it (Duke’s face is slowly zoomed in on with the audio “Why are we still here? Just to suffer?” while he mouths “help me”).
They go on, doing a bunch of other cases and even supernatural ones. Damian and Jason are the ones, oddly enough, that are scared of ghosts. (“YOU CANT PUCH THEM YOU IDIOT!” Jason screeches. Damian nods, “They can take control of your body, there is no defense. It’s unnatural.”) In most of the videos Duke can be seen looking dead inside or just frustrated (“Why can’t my family just be normal?”). Tim presents all the cases, Barbara is his co-host, and Dick and Stephanie are the (intentional) comedic relief. Jason, Damian and Duke become the unintentional comedic relief. Case just shows up out of nowhere to make random ass comments (“I don’t think it’s possible to die like that? Can someone even die from that?” Dick asks and turns to Stephanie. She just shrugs. Cass just comes out of nowhere, “It is.” Cue the screaming. “WHERE THE F**K DID YOU COME FROM?!” Jason screams. “Oh hey Cass! How’ve you been?” Stephanie asks with a casual grin. Cass just tilts her hands in a ‘so-so’ gesture. Duke asking how the frick Cass knows that with utter terror. She smirks and fades into the shadows. “See you later Cass!” Cass becomes a Cryptid and Stephanie is known as the Cryptid whisper.).
Eventually they make a comment on the “creepy ass noises” in the manor. The audience begs them to investigate their own house. They do, of course. They creep through the house at night, recording the whole thing. Bumping into Bruce that’s just being a tired dad (“Why are you all up at 2 in the morning?” Dick glances at the rest of his siblings as he pushes Barbara’s wheelchair, “Uh, Ghost hunting?” Bruce sighs, pinching his nose before saying, “Fine, don’t tell me. Just clean up after yourselves.” There are memes about Bruce within 24 hours.). Jason at one point makes a joke about the theories that Wayne Enterprises funds Batman (“Maybe he just lives in our basement.” Jason snickers. Stephanie adds on, with a spot on impression of Bruce, “Batman, I’m gonna need you to pay the rent.” Jason chimes in with his own Batman impression, “I can’t this month. I don’t have a real job. I fight for justice!” Stephanie, “Yeah well, justice doesn’t pay the bills.” Jason, “Aren’t you a billionaire?” Stephanie, “Yeah, and you’re a free loader. Even my kids have jobs and one of them is twelve!”)
People latch onto the joke and make memes about the whole thing. Eventually they use this opportunity to make it so there’s less connections between them and their alter egos. Especially since some conspiracy theorist are getting so close yet so far.
They get recordings of Dick doing a backflip before slipping and landing on his ass (on purpose, they didn’t want to actually make him hurt himself).
They get Duke to say he hates the color yellow (“Signal is yellow though!” -Stephanie “And?” “Isn’t he cool?” -Dick “I prefer Black Bat. They’re pretty badass.”).
They get Jason trying to shoot a moving target, he barely clips the side of it (“Red Hood would be disappointed in you.” -Damian “Yeah, well, Red Hood can go suck an egg.” People now have a new meme of Red Hood being disappointed in anyone that misses a shot. It’s said after people miss throwing trash in trash cans.).
Stephanie is asked if she’d fight crime. (“Dude, when would I eat my waffles though?” “You eat your waffles at 3am?” “Obviously, no one can question your life choices if they can’t see you making them.” They actually track her down at 3am and find her eating waffles. Spoiler and Black Bat were spotted that night around the same time. None of the boys know how the girls did it so they’re kinda scared now.)
Barbara just looks down at her wheelchair then rushes after the cameraman. Cue screeching and running away from her. (“Okay, I think we lost her.” The camera is in selfie mode and shows the boys hiding in a guest room with Barbara in the background grinning. The video ends there. They stop posting for a few days, making their audience panic before posting a video with various bruises. “Barbara told us to stop asking stupid questions.”)
They ask Cass and she just looks straight at the camera before looking really confused. (The video is then explaining to Cass that people think she might be Spoiler or Black Bat. Cass tilts her head before shrugging, “Cool.” The video ends with the Dick saying that Cass takes the theories as a compliment even though she’s just a very silent person and accidentally scares people around the house.)
Damian is asked and he just pulls out a knife. (“Where’d you get that knife from, you little sh*t?” Jason asks. Damian just frowns before replying, “It’s Gotham.” “Hate to say this but the kid’s got a point.”). “Leaked footage” shows Damian watching what little videos there is of Robin fighting with a katana and trying to copy the stances.
They later post a clip of them sneaking around at night where they see a tall shadowy figure lurking in their house. (“Batman?!” The figure turns around to show Bruce in a Batman bathrobe, complete with little pointed ears. He’s holding a cup of coffee and looks half asleep.)
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bamfdaddio · 3 years
Text
X-Men Abridged: 1979
The X-Men, those globe-trotting mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. Want to unravel this tapestry? Then read the Abridged X-Men!
(X-Men 117 - 128, X-Man Annual 3) - by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Terry Austin, George Perez
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See Jean? Dark Phoenix is nothing: this is how you turn evil properly. (X-Men 123)
So, these things have been getting longer. Whoops.
Last year, plotlines tended to bleed over in one another, but this year is a lot more arc-based, jumping from location to location. This is basically X-Men: World Tour. After hitting Antarctica and the Savage Land, our team of merry mutants visits Japan, Canada, Egypt, Scotland and even a theme park! (And really, both Murder World and Disney Land are run by capitalist scumbags who pretend to be in it for the art, the only difference being that Arcade purposefully murders his guests.)
But, before we check in with the X-Men, we return to the Institute. See, there’s a mutual misunderstanding that wouldn’t be out of place in a Shakespearian tragedy: Jean and Charles think Beast and Jean were the only survivors of their fight with Magneto in Antarctica, while the rest of the X-Men believe they were the only survivors and Jean and Beast perished. Since the X-Men have been trapped in the Savage Land, nobody has been able to clear up the confusion.
With their grief driving a wedge between her and Charles, Jean leaves the mansion to deal with her feelings on her own. (She’ll end up on Muir Isle.)
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This is adorable! And, if the whole "Empress of the known Universe "-thing blows up in her face, she can always become a barista at Starbucks. (X-Men 117)
Lilandra successfully persuades Xavier to leave Earth as her consort, now that there is nothing left for him. Xavier agrees, but not before having a flashback to the time he met another telepath named Amahl Farouk in Egypt. (The Shadow King isn’t relevant just yet, but he’ll become an important villain later on.)
The X-Men, meanwhile, cross a treacherous ocean on a raft and are picked up by a Japanese vessel. The Japanese do not allow them to call anyone, for some reason. Sure. When they finally dock in Japan - six weeks later - some arms dealer named Magnum Moses has put Agarishima is on fire. Like, literally an inferno of such big proportions that even Storm can’t do much.
What follows is an uninspired, slipshod adventure. For some reason, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing are there too, because the president needed American detectives to investigate Magnum Moses (?) and for some reason, Misty doesn’t know Jean thinks Scott is dead, nor does she mention she just saw Jean to Scott. AUGH. It will take almost a year for Scott to figure out Jean isn’t dead and it becomes increasingly more contrived. I get that Claremont needed to isolate Jean to make her susceptible to, er, a certain someone’s machinations, but holy fuck do I have to suspend my disbelief for all of this bullshit.
The only good things about this little arc are:
Sunfire is still a dick.
Wolverine meets Mariko Yashida, a Japanese girl who actually reciprocates his feelings, as opposed to Jean. I’ve mostly been ignoring his budding feelings for Jean, because I stopped finding love triangles interesting since I was 16 and watched The OC, so I can only applaud this development. Mariko brings out Wolverine’s soft side and it’s very adorable. Later on, she moves to NYC for some reason and they start dating.
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There is something sweetly disarming about calling Wolverine ‘beautiful’. (X-Men 120)
Anyway, Magnum is holding Japan hostage: either they give him what he wants - I think that might be money, sorry, wasn't paying attention - or he sinks Japan by activating the fault lines and you guys, I am sooo bored. Unsurprisingly, the X-Men stop him and for once, it’s Banshee who gets to play the most important part.
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It’s a good thing I was terrible at science, otherwise I might have to point out that earthquakes and sonic waves don’t work that way! I simply get to be entertained by little rascal Colossus, plugging his ears like a toddler, and Sunfire’s gritty determination to not be impressed by some silly screaming Irishman. (X-Men 119)
Banshee pays a steep price for the victory, however: his vocal chords end up damaged, leaving him effectively powerless for the remainder of the year.
Oh, and here’s interesting fact about the above spread: you may or may not know that Chris Claremont and John Byrne were notoriously terrible at working together; this issue became a particular sore point between the creators. See, Byrne wanted to run the above panel without the sound of ‘Kra-Koom’, believing the art was strong enough to convey the destruction. He was livid when the finished product ended up containing a sound effect after all. I get your frustration, man, but if you want a writer who knows how to say less with more, you should maybe not work with Claremont?
(One of the reasons Claremont liked being so verbose and descriptive in his scripts was because otherwise, the artist would fill in the blanks using his own imagination. It’s no wonder these two found it hard to work together.)
On the flight to the US of A, Colleen Wing hits on Cyclops. It has to be the jawline, right? It can’t be the personality. All of a sudden, a snow storm causes their plane to be diverted to Calgary. The cause of this delay is Alpha Flight, who want their Wolverine back!
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When even the narration is all “and they think they’re equal to any team of superheroes”, you know you’re a bunch of C-listers. Ugh. (X-Men 121)
Vindicator, previously known as Captain Alpha. He changed his name after accidentally shooting Moira that one time, which is exactly the kind of hollow gesture this dude would make. Ugh. If you think his new-found remorse won’t let him threaten an airplane chock full of innocent passengers, you would be wrong.
Shaman, doctor by day, magic user by night. Him and his magical little pouch are to blame for the snow storm.
Sasquatch, Canada’s answer to the Hulk. (Hilariously, the theory on why he turns furry instead of green is because he’s closer to the Aurora Borealis and this somehow messes with the radiation?)
Snowbird, a young Arctic goddess. Precious. To be cherished. Barely there for this adventure, sadly.
Northstar, an arrogant, hot-headed speedster, the twin brother of
Aurora, a lover, not a fighter. Together, they have light powers.
Vindicator and Shaman hog most of the spotlight, so Alpha Flight continues to be the ever-loving worst. They’re really wasting Northstar’s first appearance here. Here's why they suck:
Alpha Flight accidentally smashes a plane and keeps threatening to drag Wolverine back to the military against his will.
They push the cover price of the comic to a whoppin’ 40 cents.
Johnny fuckin’ Hudson even provokes Storm into an attack in the middle of a mall.
Shaman lets his blizzard get out of control.
After Storm fixes this mistake for him, Northstar has the gall to knock her out, “because she’s obviously the strongest”. Like, you’re not wrong, but damn, y’all a bunch of unpleasant superheroes.
To stop the fight, Wolverine decides to turn himself in. The X-Men leave, but while flying back, they already make plans to save their teammate. Wolverine saves them the trouble, casually sauntering into the cockpit while claiming that pulling a fast one on them was the easiest thing ever.
To be fair, I understand why you’d want to put a country between yourself and those bozos.
And finally, the X-Men are home! Xavier left them the equivalent of a Post-It saying “off to space”, so they try to pick up their life as best they can. None of them contact Jean’s parents, make an attempt to visit her grave or happen to see Beast on TV and by now, my suspension of disbelief is stretched so far that it could replace Reed Richards on the Fantastic Four.
Ororo, meanwhile, makes a little pilgrimage to Harlem, to the building she grew up in before she moved to Cairo.
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I have failed you as a recapper, because I have absolutely no idea how to parse this scene. (X-Men 122)
I think I’d have to write a full-on thesis before I could properly analyse this, because so many things intersect here: poverty and racism, the boundaries of a superhero comic, confronting a (shared) past. I can’t even fully gauge if this is a clumsy, privileged attempt at tackling a serious topic or rather, a valuable moment in a comic that continually tries to expand on its themes of racism, exclusion and prejudice. One thing I will note is:
Luke Cage delivers the sort of trite conclusion that they’re superheroes: they’re better at fighting Galactus than at fixing the human condition. Point is, he kind of has to believe that, doesn’t he? It’s the sort of blind spot we all permit ourselves: you can’t fix everything. None of us have the power to fix the earth, or humanity, or the economy, or whatever: if you’re lucky, you can maybe tend to your own garden and leave it better than you found it, ensuring some happiness for yourself and a few loved ones.
Chasing bank robbers is easy. Superhero stuff. But here? Who do you attack here? These kids, or the system that failed them? You can’t really punch a needle exchange into being. Maybe that’s the appeal of superhero comics: there’s a clear villain, which is so sorely lacking in our day to day lifes. There, we are ruled by systems that are rooted in inequality, patriarchy, gender...
But Storm isn’t like Luke Cage, not in this regard. Before she became an X-Man, she used her powers to help people that came to her. And the whole point of the X-Men - other than beating up villains in colorful spandex - is that they want to change the system. They want to fix things, they want to fix a dark part of human nature, the part that hates which we fear.
Storm doesn’t really respond to Luke Cage here, but we know she’ll keep fighting the good fight, despite insurmountable odds. You can’t fix mankind, I don’t think, but you can sure as hell try.
*coughs*
Anyway!
Black Tom and Juggernaut hire Arcade… to kill the X-Men! I’m not sure why? I thought these two usually attempted to solve things on their own and Arcade’s fee is, like, a million bucks, so…? Maybe Black Tom asked his boyfriend what he wanted for his birthday and Juggernaut clenched his fists and said “I WANT THE X-MEN DEAD” and things escalated from there.
So, Arcade is a subtle villain. While Scott and Colleen Wing are on a date, this happens:
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I can’t decide which is funnier: kidnapping people by sneaking up on them with A GARBAGE TRUCK or the fact that Spider-Man deduces this is Arcade’s doing by the noise alone. (X-Men 123)
Spider-Man doesn’t really figure into the rest of the plot, by the way.
Arcade successfully kidnaps all of the X-Men (and their dates: Colleen, Amanda and Betsy). Who is this Arcade? Well, he is an assassin who lets his victims run through a gauntlet of some sort, testing them with potentially deadly results in his Murderworld. He’s like a discount-combo of Saw and the Joker, except a lot less competent and a lot more spoiled rich kid. He barely kills anyone, ever, until maaaybe Avengers Arena, some forty years later.
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Arcade veers heavily to the silly side of the silly-to-sinister scale, but he at least commits to a theme. Bonus is that trapping your heroes in a bunch of ricocheting balls fubars them ever-so beautifully. (X-Men 123)
This whole adventure is very silly and has very little bearing on the overarching plot, but it’s a fun enough romp: Cyclops nearly gets squashed by a hydraulic press, Nightcrawler gets attacked by bumper cars with chain saws attached to them, stuff like that. The absolute best part is when Colossus is hypnotized by an illusion of the KGB and becomes THE PROLETARIAN.
His insignia is Vladimir Lenin, y’all.
After various shenanigans, everybody is freed from their respective booby traps, everyone except Colossus. See, Piotr has been feeling down, torn between the exciting new loyalty to the X-Men and the more dutiful loyalty to his family and his motherland. (Also, he’s been feeling like a failure because he came up short a couple a times, aw.) Those feelings are exactly what Arcade has been abusing, but when Colossus comes in for the kill, Storm gives the most heartfelt plea:
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I’m not crying, you’re crying. (X-Men 124)
Arcade’s all: “Eh, can’t win ‘em all” and yeets the X-Men out of Murderworld. The story has barely any other repercussions, except we stop seeing Colleen Wing and Betsy (Piotr’s date) after this. To be fair, being kidnapped by a super villain is a good reason to stop seeing someone.
Even more inconsequential is the adventure in the Annual. The only important thing to glean from there is that, when Thor is unavailable, Storm is a suitable substitution. Couldn’t agree more.
The quality of the comic has been steadily ascending throughout the year and ends on a supremely high note: Proteus. Because I think it might be Claremont’s best work so far, I’ll be dedicating a full post to that. (Man, that 10-picture-limit is a real bummer, huh?)
Ugliest Costume: I don’t care, I just want someone to cosplay the Proletarian.
Best new character: There’s actually a few options - Snowbird, Northstar, Proteus - but both Jean-Paul and Narya don’t really show their best sides this year, so I’m going in a different direction. My pick is the Shadow King. He is a very effective foil to Xavier, perhaps even moreso than Magneto. I know I rag on Xavier and his cavalier attitude to bending others to his will a lot, but imagine if you had his powers: wouldn’t you just make people do whatever you want? Just, like, all the time? The Shadow King is an effective reminder of what Charles would have been like, had he been immoral. (Well, more immoral.)
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No matter how cool your psychic battle may be, this is what it looks like to the rest of the world. (X-Men 117)
Turns evil: Colossus, for the first time!
What to read: 117, 125 - 129.
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pl-panda · 3 years
Text
To Marry a Vigilante: Part 6
MASTERLIST || First || Previous || Next
------------
Even if she tried to downgrade her reaction to learning that the class was held hostage, Marinette was still nervous. No amount of rationalizing that they were mean or that they didn’t care one bit about her helped. She just couldn’t help but worry about them.
Damian tried his best to understand her, but he really didn’t feel any empathy toward them. Idiots brought it upon themselves. He wouldn’t cry after them. Instead, he took it upon himself to distract his beloved from her stress. They were in the middle of the second Disney movie when she finally dozed off in his arms. Given his luck, that was the moment Selina decided to enter the room. 
“Oh. I’m sorry to interrupt.” She said with a face that clearly meant she wasn’t even a bit sorry. 
“Tt. You’re lucky Angel’s asleep.” He scoffed, making sure not to be too loud. 
“Angel huh? The best I ever got from Bruce was ‘Kitty’, and even that was only out of the suit. You’re moving fast.” 
“Shut up.” The scowl on his face was evident. 
“Why aren’t you roof-running with the rest of them?” She asked, dropping the teasing (for now).
“I told father I would no longer carry the mantle of Robin.” He revealed. It wasn’t much of a secret, but beyond Bruce, only Alfred knew. Their butler knew everything and then some more. 
“Whoa!” Seline looked genuinely surprised. “What brought this on? Don’t tell me you’re planning on settling down with a wife.” Her grin returned. 
“Tt. Will you people stop?”
“No. Now answer the question pip-squeak.”
“For the record, I’m almost your height now.” He sighed before taking a sneaky gaze at his wife. “Did Bruce tell you about Paris?”
“Not really.” She made a pensive face.
“Then I am honor-bound to withhold any more information.” 
She looked at him, trying to judge what it was really about, but Selina kept getting distracted by how cute the two teens looked. If she didn’t know, she would assume they were dating for at least two years, not barely a semester. There was this trust that Damian refused to show anyone else, maybe beside Dick sometimes. 
“Fine. But I hope when the time comes, you’ll speak to us.” She was about to leave, but something stopped her. “And if you want to avoid more teasing, try not to have your ‘beloved’ fall asleep in your arms where the cameras can see.” She smirked and left the teens alone. Damian groaned. He was really digging his own grave.
“Dami…” Marinette murmured. For a moment, he thought that he woke her up, but she just snuggled closer and returned to sleep. 
--------
A cloaked figure was making strides through the city, trying to keep to the shadows. The streets of Gotham were mostly empty at that hour, but those who still dwelled usually didn’t have good intentions. And even in a city where a group of people in fancy suits was more efficient than the police, someone in a full black cloak with a hood to boot would attract attention sooner or later. 
“Hey! Look at that, boys. Someone’s trying to play bat.” A group of burly men stepped their way. 
They received no answer.
“What? Bat’s got your tongue? What say you drop the costume and we can see who’s there,” the supposed leader taunted.
They received no answer.
“Oh come on! We can play too!” One of them smiled. He was more perceptive and noted that the figure’s body was not only small but slightly more curvaceous. “Come on, don’t be shy.” 
Still, no reaction.
Angered by the lack of any reaction (and slightly tipsy), one of the men tried to push the cloaked person. Their supposed victim reacted by stepping to the side. What happened next froze all of the onlookers’ blood. 
With one swift motion, the figure brought a blue weapon down on their companion and it went right through his neck. When she pulled it out, the fancy fan unfolded. From under the black hood, a blue face looked at the would-be attackers. It was definitely female, but it was impossible to make out the age.
“You’re not worthy to even lick my boots, peasant,” she sneered before looking at the others. “Neither are you.” 
She folded her fan and rushed forward. 
---------
The next day started mostly normal for Marinette. She did wake up curled into Damian’s side, which was nice. Her mother then showed her at least twenty pictures of them sleeping cuddled together, which was embarrassing. She promised to save them for when she was older, which was a dreadful image. Damian brought her coffee in the morning, which was great. He was so thoughtful.
“Mari? Mari? Sweetie?” Her mother waved her hand in front of the girl. “When you stop daydreaming about your lover-boy, can you pay attention?”
“Sorry, Maman.” 
“Don’t worry. I was once young too.” Her mother nodded understandingly. “But could you please pay attention? That goes to you too, young man.” She raised her head to send Damian a light glare. 
“I apologize for my lack of attention.” 
“Today the class is having a trip to the mall, to buy anything they did not bring with them. Caline forced this when it turned out that several girls had nothing to wear for the Gala, which they were apparently ‘not informed about’,” Sabine scoffed.
“Tt. They were. It was that Angel refused to give them free clothes,” Damian interluded. 
“I offered to make them the dresses. I even caved and offered a discount.” She grinned. “It’s not my fault all my prices are adjusted to my usual clients.” 
“And the fact that your usual clients are celebrities who deemed anything lower an insult to their persona is irrelevant,” Chloé added, walking into the room. She barely managed to get to the chair before collapsing. Whatever possessed her to ask Cassandra Cain for training?
“They didn’t!” Mari protested, but she didn’t put much heart into it. 
“Shush! I’m your agent now.” 
“I know Chlo. You don’t need to flaunt it.”
“You’re kidding? I’m the girl behind MDC. Suck it, mother!” She shouted at the ceiling, even though it was physically impossible for Audrey to hear her. 
“Tt. Moving back to the subject?”
“Oh! Don’t mind me now. I’m having fun.” Sabine smiled at the kids. “But yes, the class is going to be visiting the mall. In theory, you three should be joining them.”
“But?”
“But I would prefer if you kept your distance from them,” Sabine responded harshly. “I don’t want you mixing yourself with a bad crowd Sweetie.” 
“Got it, Mom. We will be visiting a smaller shopping district then. I need to fashion masks for all three of us.” 
“Won’t masks be provided at the gala?” The woman asked, surprised.
“Tt. Only for those who don’t bring theirs.” Damian clarified. 
“Good. One more thing.” She turned to the only boy in the room. “Damian, I trust you to keep both of them safe today. Otherwise, you will have three angry assassins on your neck for the rest of your short life.” She threatened, ignoring the exasperated expression on Mari’s face and Chloé who was checking her nails. 
“Three?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I told you that Sandra adores Marinette. And Cassandra shares our feelings toward her newest cousin.” 
It took all of Damian’s willpower to remain calm. The idea of Cass, Lady Shiva, and Sabine chasing him was terrifying. “Of course, Madame. I will guard them with all my strength.” 
“Then have fun kids! Tom promised to drop you off when he goes to the market and Bruce let him take one of the cars.”
“I’ll go pack up,” the two girls said at the same time. They giggled before running to their respective rooms. Damian just stared after them for a moment, shrugged, and left for his room  to get dressed. 
When he opened his wardrobe, a line full of ready sets consisting of black turtlenecks and dark-gray jeans, all already ironed and fresh. Together with the morning toilet, it took him a total of seventeen minutes and forty-three seconds to get ready. When he arrived in the main hall, he saw Tom sitting leisurely and reading through the newspaper.
“Tt. Sir, shouldn’t we be leaving?”
“Oh! Damian!” The baker lightened up. “Why would we need to be leaving? The girls left to get ready only a… fifteen minutes ago.” He looked like he was looking for another word, but changed his mind when he couldn’t find it. 
“Closer to twenty,” the boy couldn’t help but correct, “but it means they will be ready soon.” 
Tom laughed loudly. Damian sent the older man a questioning look, but he had to wait for him to calm down. “You never had to wait for a girl to get ready in the morning, did you?” Tom questioned once he calmed down.
“I do not see the relation…”
“Find yourself somewhere to sit. Most likely we won’t be leaving in at least an hour.” The baker cheerfully suggested. 
“But…” 
“It’s how the universe works and the sooner you get used to it, the better. A piece of advice: don’t rush them or it will get worse.” 
“Um… I still want to know why…” 
“Everyone does, but some questions don’t have answers.” Tom laughed. 
----------
“Damian! Look at that fabric! I’ve never seen it in stores before!” Marinette dragged her beloved toward the wall of various bales. She showed him yet another fabric, that he couldn’t really separate from three previous ones. Unless you count the color that is. 
“It is indeed interesting…” He tried to find the word, but Mari was too far gone to pay him any attention. When he used to listen to his brothers whining after shopping trips with the girls, he always dismissed it as fairy tales. Now, he regretted that he didn’t listen to Tom’s warning and hadn’t brought a wireless earset. The kind that only uses one ear so he could still hear what Marinette and Chloé talked about. 
“Mari! Look at that one!” The blonde in question pointed to one that was placed quite high. It was black and when reflected light, seemed to glow purple and dark-gold. Interesting, but it held little tactical value. 
“Perfect. Dami, could you reach it?”
“Sorry, Angel, you’re the one with wings here.” He said the first thing that came to his mind. 
His beloved blushed. Chloé just shook her head and muttered something about diabetes. 
After shopping for fabrics, a new sketchbook, several sets of sketching pencils, and some wires, Damian finally got them to go grab a bite. The whole way he kept skulking. Marinette had forbidden him from paying for any materials or clothes. He wanted to!
Of course, the moment their order was brought had to be the moment a villain made an entrance. Firefly zoomed into the calm street and immediately started to set things on fire. The girls immediately jumped into action, herding the panicking crowd and accelerating the evacuation. Damian took cover and sent a quick text to Oracle before joining Marinette and Chloé with crowd control. It was quite impressive to see the blonde grab the guy twice her size and force him to run the other way. Marinette focused on gathering as many stray kids as possible and guiding them away. There went his hope of not ending up like Father. 
It was going okay, the villain seemed more focused on making the buildings burn than attacking the defenseless civilians. Up until he flew over the entrance dropping napalm and cutting them off. Marinette immediately jumped between Firefly and the group of kids she was leading. Damian and Chloé were by her side faster than one could say ‘wedding dress’. 
“I told you Katana is a viable accessory.” He grumbled. That reminded Mari. He noticed that her red dress (his favorite) gained a broad red sash tightly wrapped around her. It had no noticeable clip holding it in place, so he assumed she just made some adjustments. Now he watched her unroll it to reveal her Christmas rope dart wrapped around her. She quickly grabbed the end and allowed it to fall loose on the ground.
“At least now we aren’t entirely defenseless.” She stated confidently. This was not Marinette the Parisian girl. This was Marinette the Ladybug, with or without a suit.
“And what do we have here?” Firefly floated not so far away. “A whole collection of new…” He didn’t get to finish. Marinette immediately attacked, hoping to attract his attention away from the kids. Damian cursed loudly. He wanted to leap into action, but he knew that Chloé stood no chance to protect the kids alone. 
The rope dart stuck Firefly in the arm, making a deep cut and letting some blood out, but the heat of his surrounding cauterized the wound. It didn’t seem to bother him. Instead, the villain aimed his flame gun at the girl who was already away from the group. 
“I will make you burn!” He shouted and opened fire. The girl he was aiming at used her rope to pull herself away faster and avoid the flames. 
In the distance, one could hear the sound of sirens, announcing the arrival of the police and fire department. They were still several minutes away and even then Firefly was probably too hard to capture without specialized gear. Or a rope dart. 
Marinette spun it several times in circles before releasing her weapon like a deadly projectile. Thanks to a quick flick of her wrist, the rope wrapped around the criminal’s ankle. He didn’t expect it, and when she yanked hard, he lost control over his jetpack for just a moment. It was enough for her to release the ties and gather the rope back. By the time Firefly managed to regain stability, she was already launching another projectile. This time, the dart flew straight and went right through his gun. There were several sparks, but as the rope was isolated she stood her ground. Yanking on the rope, she made him let go of the flame thrower before it exploded. The item fell on the ground and she pulled the now-free dart back while dodging for cover. 
Damian saw the gun sparking and without thinking picked the loose sewer cover and jumped in front of the kids. Chloé used a nearby trash can to form a wall between them while the lid served as her shield. The barricade would be useless if someone aimed at them, but it did a fine job shielding the group of eight kids from exploding a flamethrower. They had to drop their defense as soon as the explosion passed, and their hands still got hurt regardless. But they probably saved eight kids from heavy scarring. 
Firefly did not have the same luck. The explosion caught him in the middle and the knockback pinned him to the wall. When he got over the daze, he was met with several police guns aimed at him. 
-----------
Watching the reunion of kids caught in the fire with their parents was heartwarming for Marinette. She was proud of her husband and best friend. Their quick action definitely saved several lives. 
“Excuse me, miss?” A policeman in a long brown coat came to her. The paramedics already cleared her and one gave her the number of a trusted therapist if she needed to talk with someone. “Commissioner Gordon.” He introduced himself. “I was told you were the one that took down the villain…”
“It was an accident.” She spoke quickly. “I mean I didn’t try to take him down. He came over to where I was hiding with the kids. I thought he was about to burn us so I just acted on instincts. Get attention, move away from the group, keep attention, strike with everything at your disposal.” She recited. 
“That… Where did you learn that?” He stared at her. She was very young but spoke with the experience of someone who dealt with this on a daily basis. 
“Paris was dealing with a supervillain for the last four years. My class was a hotspot for his possessions.” She took a deep breath to calm down. “Even before the attacks started, I was taking martial arts classes. I upped the intensity after that.”
“Hm… I see. And your weapon…?” Commissioner asked, pointing at the rope dart now wrapped around her waist. She didn’t yet have time to put the sash back on. 
“Oh! Rope Darts are my weapon of choice. Easy to carry around, fast, good for non-lethal takedowns, and can be made into a fashionable accessory.” She smiled.
“Indeed. Even before that, you and your friends were herding the stray children and directing adults to the nearest exit.” 
“Same. I’m not sure how it works in Gotham, but in Paris, it was important to get people away from the ak… possessed person.” She corrected herself for the sake of not explaining everything. “Some of them tended to make civilians into puppets.”
“It was still brave of you. I didn’t get your name.”
“It’s Marinette, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Nice to meet you, Commissioner.” She gave him a bright smile.
“Thank you for your service, Miss Dupain-Cheng.” He saluted the girl before walking away, muttering about reports. Now she only had to explain things to the adults at the Wayne Manor.
--------
Masterlist // Next
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bigskydreaming · 3 years
Text
Currently thinking about whether or not Dick would reconsider his stance on taking Bruce’s last name post-adoption, if the Court of Owls and the origins of his own last name were taken into consideration.
Dick’s protectiveness of his parents’ memory and holding on to the few tangible reminders he has of them is of course a big thing with me, but he already does that via his first name....which is the one they actually gave him. Grayson was just the name - the title - John inherited, with no idea what it meant or was meant to signify, and it never really defined him or his family, as they instead made it stand and be associated with something else entirely, the Flying Graysons, a colorful circus act of wonder and awe-inspiring stunts.
But once Dick knows that the legacy beyond what his parents and grandparents made of the Flying Graysons is simply one of his Crypt Keeper of a great grandpapa like, getting his pretension on and trying to Ordain Shit steeped in classism and faux-prophecy of the fake news variety, I can see Dick seriously considering the Grayson-Wayne hyphenate, because he’s like. “Hey, its my name and I’ll keep it if I want to, BUT ALSO lmfao fuck you if you think I’m gonna let you have the last word on who and what I am. Cuz guess what? I get the last word there, and I declare the new last word in who and what I am is not your ‘Gray Son’ and now you don’t even get to spin it that way, cuz its Dick Grayson-Wayne now hahahaha what, are you mad about that? You gonna cry? You gonna DIE?”
Jason squints at his somewhat hysterical elder brother, and out of the corner of his mouth says: “He’s usually better at the shit-talking, and I’m not just used to giving him more credit than he’s due there, right? I’m gonna be so pissed if I am. I hate giving people more credit than they’re due. Its the principle.”
Tim shrugs. “He’s kinda running on four days of no sleep and I mean, it is a bit of a heated situation for him.”
Cass shushed them both, still gazing intently at the detente between their brother and the would-be zombie apocalypse he reluctantly called his biological next of kin. Ugh. Biological next of kin were just the worst. Well, not always. Just most of the time, with their family. “Shh. Its poetry.”
“You’re just saying that because of the theme,” Jason sniffed haughtily. “His execution is still decidedly lacking and we all know it. Also lacking here: an actual execution. Why can’t I shoot the guy again? I know there were reasons listed off, but it was Bruce, so I wasn’t listening.”
“In other reasons to shhh, Damian IS seconds away from stabbing you if you don’t shut up,” Duke warned, not looking terribly concerned.
“Let our brother have his moment,” the baby of the family haughtily out-sniffed Jason. The latter not so gracefully ceded his defeat there with a glare. Nobody could out haughtily sniff the youngest Wayne, but that didn’t mean Jason had to like it. “It’s no less than we would do for any of our siblings here.”
“Oh I reeeeeeeally want to test that theory, Babiest Bird.”
Cass and Duke exchanged mirror looks of delight as Tim and Damian’s faces both journeyed across wastelands of horror, devastation and bewilderment, as they tried to parse which of them had the most right to be more offended by Jason’s latest mangling of a family honorific. Dubious emphasis on that last part.
The moment was shattered, as most moments are, by Stephanie.
Making puppets of her fingers talking at each other. So. That part was new and different at least.
“My dad loves you more than me. He’s MY dad and he loves YOU more than ME! Well my brother loves me more than you. Well he’s MY brother and he loves ME more than YOU! I know you are but what am I? I’m Robin no I’M ROBIN no I’m the mostest Robin of all the Robins in Robin land hahahahaha suck eggs, Robin-poster!”
She laughed and wiped tears of hilarity from her face, heedless of all eyes (including Dick and Cobb’s) now being trained on her. “Oh man, this family is just the best. You guys kill me. I mean, not literally, Black Mask already called dibs there but in like, all other not actually fatal ways. You get it.”
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hermannsthumb · 4 years
Note
can I have anything soft and kind where newton accidentally overhears a video calll between hermann and lars where hermann is getting absolutely *demolished* by his father and it's upsetting and uncalled for and he's visibly upset by the end of it so newt decides to bring him tea and make terrible jokes and play classic music and generally acts like a friend (dunno whether hermann knows that newt overheard and how he'd react) x
this also doubles as my entry for my “Hurt/Comfort” square for my @theloccent summer Bingo!!!!!! sorry it’s taken me so long to fill mine, i haven’t had the best summer 😅
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Between the two of them, kaiju attacks always seem to hit Hermann harder. Newt’s never happy about them, obviously, he’s not a fucking sadist, but more kaiju mean more kaiju parts, which means Newt has more to work with, and more to pull viable theories from for the sake of the entire planet. Every kaiju attack brings them one step closer to no kaiju attacks. (In theory, anyway. Newt’s kind of hit a rut in his latest stuff.) There’s a bright side of things.
Hermann, though--he’s another story. When a jaeger falls, or fails, even through no fault of his own, it’s one of Hermann’s jaegers falling or failing, and he blames himself for each and every jaeger that does either, to the extent that he’ll lock himself away in his quarters for a goddamn week and agonize over everything. Even when they win he finds a way to fault himself for something--damage that shouldn’t have been sustained, a lag in response time. Fucking paint chipping off.
That’s half of it, anyway. There’s also his dad.
The fight they had this time was especially nuclear: a kaiju came a little too close to the city, and a jaeger was a little too slow in stopping it, and it managed to tear through a decently-sized business complex (which had been evacuated in time) before their jaeger blasted a hole through its gut. Dr. Gottlieb Senior had plenty to say about this the next day. Newt heard plenty of it, too, lurking outside the lab after a well-timed lunch break. Mostly well-timed, anyway. Ideally he wouldn’t have heard any of the fight.
“--Father, will you please--!” Hermann is shouting in German, and the response is prissy, and clipped, and likewise in German, faster than Newt’s Americanized brain can even follow. It must be something nasty, though; Hermann lets loose a colorful string of curses, and there’s a beep as the video call ends abruptly. When Newt peeks around the corner, Hermann’s head is buried in his hands. 
Newt has a feeling he knows what this one was about. It’s the same one Hermann has with his dad after every kaiju attack, after all--the jaeger program is dead, long live the wall, come to the dark side of the force, Hermann, you’ll get a nice paycheck and live comfortably until the kaiju tear apart the world. And Hermann’s response is always the same, because he has at least a shred of goddamn integrity--fuck you, no. Well, maybe not in those exact words. The sentiment is there though.
Tomorrow, Dr. Gottlieb Senior is going to go on international television and milk that leveled skyscraper for all its worth, and decry his son’s hopeless idealism and naivety, and demand the U.N. funnel even more money away from the jaegers and into his own personal pet project, and Hermann is going to shout and snap at Newt for every little thing and refuse to put anything in his system that isn’t nicotine or black coffee and work himself to a migraine and an exhausted collapse at his desk. Today, Newt is going to be a friend.
He ducks back into the lab twenty minutes later with a cup of tea--the good shit, from the private stash he keeps in his quarters for days like today--and a whole wheat sandwich wrapped in plastic. Hermann hasn’t moved from his desk. He doesn’t so much as twitch as Newt sets both tea and sandwich down next to his elbow.
“What’s this?” he mumbles.
“I wasn’t really hungry for lunch after all,” Newt lies. “I thought you might want it.”
Hermann picks up the sandwich and narrows his eyes at it. He narrows his eyes at Newt next. “You weren’t hungry?” he says.
Newt shrugs. “Yeah, so what? If you don’t want it--”
He reaches out to take it back, but Hermann yanks it out of reach. “No,” he says quickly. “I will take it. And the tea, too.” He coughs. “...Thank you, Newton.”
“No sweat,” Newt says.
On any normal day, Newt would shuffle his iTunes library at full volume as he does his dissections, and Hermann would whine and bitch and throw chalk at Newt until Newt turns it down to a respectable half volume. Today, he accesses a very particular playlist--Hermann Jams #3--and sets his laptop volume low enough to just be background noise. He’s not sure if Hermann actually even likes classical music, but it seems to calm him down, and Newt can at least appreciate a good violin every now and then.
Hermann’s shoulders loosen up after two songs; he takes a bite of the sandwich. Good. “Need anything else?” Newt says, aiming for casual, but wildly aware of how forced it sounds. “A different sandwich? Fruit? I have a couple apples in my--”
“It’s fine, Newton,” Hermann says.
“Just checking,” Newt says.
He waits until Hermann finishes the sandwich and starts on the tea to speak again. “I finished that book I was reading, by the way,” Newt says, slicing his scalpel through a layer of kaiju hide. “The sexy one about vampires. You were right, it sucked.”
It rocked, actually, but one of Hermann’s favorite things to do is lord his superior taste in everything over Newt, so Newt is going to hand him the opportunity on a silver platter. He’s just that great of a friend. Hermann snorts derisively. “Aren’t I always?” he says. “And to think you wanted me to purchase a copy, too.”
“Hey, man, nothing wrong with book club.”
“There is when the books in question are exceedingly--well--” Hermann makes a face. “Questionable. If I picked--oh, this is very good, by the way, Newton,” he adds, lifting his tea cup. “Wherever did you find it? I know it didn’t come from the mess.”
The secret tea stash labelled Hermann in Newt’s closet was purchased at a very expensive shop in the city a few months ago. Originally Newt bought it with intentions of giving it to Hermann as a birthday present, but kinda forgot, so now he just breaks it out for these kinds of occasions. “I have connections, Hermann,” Newt says cryptically. He also has a bus pass.
They bicker good-naturedly over the literary value of vampire smut for a little bit, before switching gears to a somewhat more heated debate over what would happen if Newt just stabbed his scalpel into his kaiju sample, and--after doing it, and finding out the answer is nothing--Newt ducks out to get Hermann more from his tea stash. It’s late by that point, nearly time for them to head back to their quarters for the night. Hermann catches the end of Newt’s sleeve after Newt sets his tea down. “I’m not as oblivious as I might have appeared, Newton,” he says. “Thank you for your kindness today. It’s very much appreciated.”
He gives Newt a rare smile, stiff and awkward as hell. Something melts in Newt’s chest. “Uh. Yeah, sure,” he says, heat rising to his cheeks. “You know I’m your...friend.”
“I do,” Hermann says seriously. 
He drops Newt’s sleeve; Newt finds himself inexplicably mourning the loss of the touch, and--as Hermann’s face slips back into neutrality--that little smile. “Your dad is a giant bag of dicks,” Newt blurts out before he can help himself. “He’s not worth it. Seriously.”
The smile returns in a brief flicker. “I'll try to remember that,” Hermann says.
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Text
Just Like You - Kenny McCormick(South Park)
I wrote this a really long time ago when I was obsessed with South Park. I don’t know why lmao, but here it is. 
Warning: Also wrote this when I was an edgy teen™, so cringe and possible trigger warning.
~~~~~~~~~~
Welp, today’s the day...
New town. New house. New school.
My parents had gotten a better job offer here in this little town of South Park, much to my dismay. I love traveling, but moving from a large city in New York to a small mountain town in Colorado is a lot.
It should be interesting though, more opportunities that I’ve never gotten before. Although, I still have to go to school. The local South Park high school.
I put on my outfit for school and wear my black coat over it. It seems to always snow here, only on rare occasions it gets warm. I run downstairs and grab a piece of toast my mother made from the kitchen. I find a note on the counter.
Have a good first day of school, hon. Try to make some friends, and yes, that means being nice to people. Your father and I will not be back until tomorrow morning, so keep those memories of your first day in you head until we can hear about it. Love you!
My mother is a freak, I love her, but she’s a freak. I’m surprised my father has a job with all the day drinking he does. It helps him get work done, I guess.
I walk to school still eating my buttered toast. Approaching the school, I take in its features. It’s an ugly yellow color. Although, I think all bright colors are ugly. I walk in the school and all eyes are on me. I pretend not to notice. I get my class schedule and such from the receptionist and make my way towards my locker.
“You must be new. I think I would’ve recognized an ass that fine before.” A brunette says to me. I roll my eyes and huff.
“As a matter of fact, I am new. I was hoping for something better than a lame catcall on my first day, but at least you tried.” I said and patted him on the shoulder. He glared, tears filling in his eyes, and stomped off.
I bet he’s never been rejected in his entire life, poor soul.
I walk into my first class and immediately get called on. “Well, hello there! You must be the new student. Y/N right? Well, I’m Mr. Garrison and this here is my little friend Mr. Hat. Say hello Mr. Hat!”
Okay...already creeped the fuck out. Something about his southern accent and oh yeah, his fucking creepy ass puppet just rubs me the wrong way.
“Now, please, go take a seat. Wait...are you a troublemaker?” He asks.
“Oh no. Not at all, sir.” I lie. It’s easy to lie. I have a natural talent for it.
“Oh alright, I guess you can sit next to Kenny. That boy in the orange coat. You can keep him in check.”
Will do, you creepy old fuck.
I take my seat next to the blonde haired boy. He’s kinda cute actually. After class a group of boys came up to me, including that Kenny kid.
“Hi, new kid! Just thought we’d introduce ourselves. I’m Kyle. This here’s Stan, Cartman, and Kenny.” The redhead said.
“Holy shit, look at those tits!”
“Cartman!” Kyle scolded.
“Well, first off. It’s Y/N, not new kid. And nice to meet you too...I guess.” I said and walked off. 
Yeah, I don’t have great people skills. My harshness has pushed people away. I’m trying to work on it. But determined from what the fatass said I probably don’t wanna be friends with those dudes.
Off to lunch, finally. Hopefully the lunch here is better than the ones at my old school. I took my tray and looked around the lunchroom. Everyone in groups or pairs. I see one empty table. I head towards it and sit down.
The food isn’t that bad, but I’ll definitely be bringing my own from now on. While I was eating I noticed people staring at me. One, that Kenny kid, and two, that guy that used that lame catcall. I got uncomfortable real quick.
The rest of school was a bust. It was boring. Now, I want something fun to do. I heard that there’s a pond near here, that sounds like fun. I asked directions to where the pond was, which I found out was called Stark’s Pond, and headed there.
I approached and noticed no one was there. Perfect.
I looked around in my bookbag for some rope, and luckily I carry some around with me at all times. I look a heavy looking rock and tie it to the rope. I’m not that heavy so it should work.
I tie the other end of the rope around my ankle. I throw the boulder into the pond and it yanks me down, breaking my ankle. It drags me down until the rock rests at the bottom of the pond.
It’s dark and cold. I’m floating, suspended in time. I look up and see the sunlight breaking through the surface of the water, but it’s not enough to reach me. My hair flies around, loose and tangling each other. I reach up and run my fingers through my soft hair.
It starts...I try to gasp for breath but it isn’t there. My lungs start to burn with fire as no oxygen reaches them and they only fill with water as I struggle for air.
I always find this part of drowning so fascinating. Your survival instincts kick in and you try so desperately to fight to survive but come up short when your lungs fill completely with water and your body becomes stiff and frozen.
I black out.
*The Next Morning*
I gasp and bolt upright from my bed.
I sigh in relief to see that I’m back again, in my new home. Every time I die, there’s always a part of me that’s afraid I’ll never come back, and yet I always do.
The first time it happened, I was 10. I was at a birthday party. It was my friend’s party cake that killed me. Someone, while making the cake, accidentally put poison in it. I don’t know how in the hell someone “accidentally” puts poison in a cake, but it happened.
I started to feel hungry, it wasn’t time eat yet but the cake was on the kitchen table and I couldn’t help myself. I took a small piece of cake, it was delicious but it caused me to foam out the mouth and have a seizure. I died almost instantly. Good thing I died otherwise the rest of those kids would’ve had a bad day.
Then I woke up in my bed the next morning.
The hardest part was that no one remembered that I died, but I did. I remember the whole painful experience, and my parents didn’t even believe me. They took me to counseling after that, not that it helped.
One day, a few weeks after the first time I died, I tried crossing the road without my parents. I looked both ways and no cars were coming as far as I could tell. As soon as I almost crossed the, a car came out of no where and completely wrecked me. Again, I woke up in my bed like nothing happened.
The day after I built up the courage enough to test out the theory that I was unkillable. My dad had a 9 mil in his safe. I shot myself, and just like that, I woke up in my bed the next day.
At first, I was insanely afraid of myself and it wasn’t until last year that I realized it could be fun.
I’ve tested out so many ways of dying. Yesterday at the pond was my first time drowning, but I wanted to get over it cause I knew I’d drown soon even if I avoided it. Next on my list is falling to my death, but besides drowning heights is my biggest fear. Heights might be a good excuse to procrastinate getting that done.
I get up out of bed and take a quick shower. I wonder if I’ll ever stop being immortal? It’s probably a good thing I am since I’ve become so accident prone.
After my shower, I quickly got dressed and jogged down the stairs, almost falling in the process. I walked into the kitchen where I saw my parents.
“Y/N! Hello, sweetie!” My mom said and gave me a hug.
“Hey.” I said.
My mom was making waffles and my dad was just sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. Dick never pays any attention to me.
“So, how was your first day of school? Did you make any friends?”
“Uh, not really. Some guys introduced themselves to me, but you know how I am with people. And school was fine, learned a lot, teachers are a freaky though.” I paused. “Oh, and I drowned myself at Stark’s Pond.” I said nonchalantly.
My mom sighed. “That’s nice dear.”
Ever since I’ve been experimenting with dying over and over, I’ve been telling my parents about it. They never believe me of course. Even when one time I purposely hurt myself and bled to death in front of them, but they never remember. My dad didn’t really give a shit though. Anyway...
“I’m going to school now. Later!” I said, walking out the door.
Hmm, maybe I should take the bus. I wait at the bus stop, cause I don’t feel like walking to school.
“Y/N!” I flinch when I heard my name being called out. I turn to see Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman walking up to me. “I didn’t know you took the bus.” Kyle went on to say.
“Didn’t really feel like walking to school today.” I said, looking down and kicking the ground beneath me absentmindedly.
The bus finally arrived and we all walked on, I sat in the very back by myself. Until Kenny decided to sit next to me.
“Mmph!” He said, well I don’t exactly know he said. His bright orange parka covering his face made his voice muffled. I’m just gonna assume he said hi.
“Hi.” I replied.
“Mmph mmph mmph mph mmmph mmph!”
“Uh...huh?”
He rolled his eyes and took off his hood, revealing a mop of messy dirty blonde hair. “I said, how are you liking school so far?” He said.
“Oh, um. It’s okay, I guess.” I smiled.
“You guess? Okay, so I take it you don’t really like it.”
“Well, it always sucks when you’re the new kid and you have no friends.” I sighed.
“No friends, huh? Well, I’ll be you friend. I’m sure Kyle and Stan will too!” He said, making me blush. Darn. “Aw, you’re blushing!”
“Shut up. I always blush.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Kenny smirked.
When we finally got to school Kenny walked me to class, which was nice. He’s actually really nice and funny, also really adorable.
*A Week Later*
School so far has been good. I’ve grown really close to Kenny, since he’s basically my only friend. 
Kenny invited me to sit with him at his table, I agreed. Stan and Kyle seemed to enjoy my company though, Cartman didn’t. Didn’t like me for some reason, although he could be just an asshole all the time.
As the talk started to slow down and lunch was almost over, I looked around the lunchroom to avoid small talk. I saw the guy with brown hair staring at me again, but looked away when I saw him. “Hey, Kenny?”
“Yeah?”
“Who is that guy over there?” I ask, discreetly pointing at him.
“Oh, that guy in the red coat is Clyde. Why?” Kenny asked.
“Oh, no reason. He was just staring at me my first day here and also today. He also kinda catcalled me that day too.”
Kenny noticeably frowned. “He has?”
“Yeah, but it’s probably nothing.” I stuttered a little. Kenny giggled. 
“You’re cute when you stutter.” He smiled, which made me blush. “Aw, you’re blushing again.” He poked my blushing cheeks.
“Ugh, stop.” I whined, and shoved his hand away.
The rest of school was okay. Kenny stayed by my side the whole day, I didn’t mind, but he seemed like he was in a clingy mood which was weird. “I’ll walk you home.” Kenny said.
“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that.” I said.
“Nah, I insist.” He said.
Well, who could say no to Kenny. We were almost to my house, we had to cross the street first. We both walked side by side, Kenny had his arm around my shoulders to which I giggled. I suddenly hear a loud horn, I tried to push Kenny out of harm’s way but it was too late.
We’d both been run over by a semi-truck. 
I gasp and bolt upright from my bed in a cold sweat.
Oh, god. Kenny. We both got hit. I tried to get Kenny out of the way, but I was too late. I let him get run over. He’s probably dead because of me.
I start to sob. He’s dead and it’s my fault. My fucking fault. God no. Why couldn’t it have just been me? I wouldn’t even care if I wasn’t able to come back, I just want Kenny to still be alive.
My alarm went off. I smashed it. I’m not going to school today. I can’t. Everyone probably knows Kenny’s dead and they’re mourning him school. I can’t be knowing it’s my fault.
My doorbell rings.
Ugh...I don’t feel answering the door. The person is now beating on the door, damn they’re persistent.
I get up to yell at the person who’s beating down my door. I mumble profanities as I answer it. My heart stops. Not literally but it feels like it. 
“K-Kenny?” I start sobbing as I take the blonde haired boy in my arms, holding tightly. “I thought you died!” I sob. I pull away. His face looks like he’s in shock, also confused.
“You...you remember?” He asks.
“Of course I do! I tried pushing you out of the way of that truck, I guess I succeeded.” I sigh in relief.
“But...how? I thought you died too.” He said, flabbergasted.
“What do you mean too? Wait, you remembered I died?” I ask, also so confused.
“Y/N, I died. You didn’t push me out of the way in time, but I didn’t save you either. We both died,” he paused, “and we both remember.”
Suddenly, Kenny grabs both my upper arms and pulls me close to him and gives me a passionate kiss. 
I pull away, shocked. “Woah....what was that for?”
“I’m sorry. It’s just...nobody has ever remembered me dying. No one, but you can.” Kenny explained.
“And you remember me dying?” I ask.
Kenny nods. “You’re the first person that remembers me dying too.” He says.
I don’t know what to say or do. This has never happened to me before. I think Kenny feels the same, since we’re both just stood awkwardly at my front door. I finally break the silence.
“Kenny, I thought you died, and I’ve never been more scared in my entire life.” I said, with still a few salty tears flowing down my red cheeks.
“I was too.” Kenny said. “Well, looks like we have more in common than I originally thought.” He giggled.
~~~~~~~~~~
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macklives · 4 years
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alright, im actually kind of in the mood to unpack some stuff regarding karkat's character and the way alternia works actually, so i dont mind giving this a go. and while act 5 isnt completely finished yet (so this is an analysis post for act 5 up until page 2305), there is still more to explore, and im pretty sure i have a lot more to read regarding both karkat AND alternia. until then, i will give a general layout as to what i know so far and how i can expand this in a psychological way (especially considering i did my psych exam so my mind is FRESH from studying)
alright, starting with what seems to be the deal with the hemospectrum, theres a total of 12 blood colors. HOWEVER, one of those blood colors is a "mutant" blood which is unwanted in troll culture as it is, well, "mutant", meaning whoever has this blood will get brutally slaughtered. hurrayyy. im guessing it is even lower than aradia's rust blood, as she is allowed to live but is the lowest on the hierarchy triangle. meaning karkats blood is not even ON the hierarchy triangle and simply buried underground where they hope he stays. so its not exactly pleasant to be living in a society where everyone is trying to KILL you or at least keep you away from everything.
from what i remember, troll reproduction is a vital aspect in their culture, that everyone is forced to mate and drones will come by each house to collect the genetic material. this is mandatory apparently, and if someone were to object, they will be “culled" as quickly as they could say no. alternia seems to be really keen on the whole "blood and carnage" thing, which means their probable solution to anybody breaking the law, is to kill them on sight and just leave them there to rot - regardless of who they are and what families they comes from or have. trolls are free to kill whenever or whoever they please without any governmental repercussions. which means revenge upon revenge happens without any policy.
however this is very important when looking at karkat, because karkat may not be able to do the whole reproduction process (not that we necessarily want him to, im saying this in terms of how its mandatory for every troll and there will be a time when the drones WILL come for karkat). but as he is already a mutant and if they were to "collect" from him, they would find out his blood regardless of how he hides it. they will either cull him for saying no, or cull him for his blood. karkat, in this sense, is doomed regardless. which makes his character much more interesting.
and keep in mind alternia kind of sucks, because from the looks of it, trolls are constantly tested throughout their lives to prove themselves to society that they are allowed to live and survive. but ONLY if they are the strongest among them. alternia wants to become this fearful planet where the weak die off and only those proven worthy can stay to grow up and slaughter more of their kind until the world is nothing but blood thirsty strong murderers. im not too sure who is governing alternia but they can suck a dick if they think this is how good morals work. alternia only really has one way to solve things which is to kill those who question/fight back, OR to kill those who CANNOT fight back essentially. which puts all the trolls through a double edged sword where they cannot do anything but follow the guidelines given to them by troll's society and government, and try to survive as much as they can until then.
if i remember correctly, when it comes to the law side of things. if you look at it from terezi's introduction where she explains prosecutions with her plushies (lemonsnout ect ect i forgot the term for them lol), she said "you are guilty until proven innocent" which is the polar opposite of "innocent until proven guilty” used in OUR own society today (tho i guess we are by far the "good guys" in this situation, but we are far different than how trolls live their lives). anyways, what this means is that everyone dies regardless unless theres literal proof that they have not done the crime. even so i wouldnt put it past them to do nothing about their case even WITH proof. terezi even goes to say that technically there is no way to deal with the law on alternia, and most of crimes get solved through death. she even demonstrates this by how easily she hung the "suspect" and flipped a coin to determine his fate. however, even with the coin landing on the side of safety, where the suspect were to be released, she said "im blind remember i cannot see this coin" and essentially "killed" him. while terezi may have just been playing with her plushies, theres something we can take from this which dictates how their actual court cases are actually solved.
NOW, vriska (yes ik pls bare with me here, i will not make it about vriska but i do have a point here), from the last few pages i saw, can basically kill her friends in an instant, without any remorse. i can tell she sees this as the most "necessary" solution for her problems. i wouldnt say its for survival, but she does do it as a way to provide some sort of safety on alternia. she is a higher blood, and apparently the high bloods are known to kill whoever they please as long as its convenient. and since trolls have this whole fad of "killing the ones who cause you trouble so the problem is out of the way", she is wired to think its the only solution when threatened or when you dislike a person. 
god, she killed aradia because she wanted "revenge", because she wanted to get back at aradia for tormenting her with ghosts EVEN IF aradia did so because she threw tavros off a cliff in the first place. this may have worsened their friendship, KEEP IN MIND THEY WERE FRIENDS, but NEITHER, and i mean neither terezi/vriska/aradia, had any remorse if the other dies as long as there was a reason. in the story, vriska didnt care what happened to tavros because she disliked him, therefore becoming pretty bias over his fate. because of this attempt at killing, aradia didnt care what happened to vriska either, and neither did terezi. terezi sold her out to one of the most powerful beings on their planet, solely because of their revenge cycle. as long as the troll in question did something "malicious”, then that plays a factor in their morals. vriska gave no second thought to killing both of her friends (or at least attempt to with tavros), terezi also tormented john in act 4 which led to his “doomed timeline death” and sold vriska out after she realized vriska wouldnt change. so no fucking WONDER karkat tries to hide who he is, he's overly cautious to not let it slip out because even the people he calls friends could backstab him at any given time considering theres LITERAL EXAMPLES OF THESE TROLLS HAVING DONE SO.
to karkat, he sees this as dangerous, which is why he even CALLS vriska dangerous to begin with. she might not even hesitate to kill him herself or maybe sell him out to the drones, because 1. she may not want to be a witness to something society actively seeks to destroy and 2. she cares more for her survival than karkats. EVEN if they were friends (re: aradia and vriska and terezi). so it just shows. 
on that note, i find it funny how karkat indirectly distracted vriska after she baited him with the question of his blood in a past conversation, which prompted karkat to monologue about troll romance. he was, yes, VERY interested in this topic to start with, but it was a nice little bonus for karkat as to not be found out by the one person who would most likely kill him even if it wasnt on purpose. however, we do not know how this will play out IF she does find out, we just know karkat is in the right to be scared of the theory.
and, alright i do have to mention this, while karkat may have been an angry fucker to START with, who spites the world and throws out insults every chance he gets, i feel he does this as more of a survival instinct as well. he doesnt care what he says to people no matter what they rank on the hemospectrum. they dont know his blood color so he feels he has some sort of immunity, but he just needs to keep it hidden. it also may just be his personality, as he IS a character who was given specific traits and andrew went along with it without so much thinking about plot. yet if you look at this from more of the metaphorical route, think about it with uhhhh lets say the perspective of how dogs work. for example, when you put a chihuahua next to a doberman, a doberman is more of an excited, energetic dog whereas a chihuahua will rain hell down on anybody who so goes near them. sometimes this is to make up for their size, to seem as menacing as the larger doberman, as they have nothing else to fend themselves with. another way to look at it is, if you see a bear (i forget if its black/brown or grizzly) you make yourself seem like the bigger person by scaring it off with sounds and eventually it will leave you alone. these sort of tactics work in the sense of survival. this is sort of what karkat could be doing, he uses insults and a defensive shouting to not really "hide" himself, but to have some sort of way as to not be found out if people start to question. someone asks him "hey karkat whats your blood" he goes "FUCK YOU, FUCK OFF, END OF STORY" which could make a person go "yo sorry dude forget i ever asked". so this could be a factor as to why he is so crabby, however on the other hand, he is crabby because that is also his character. andrew probably thought yo cancer = crab = crabby. however i do like how he is perceived and the whole "mutant blood" really made me do a double take on how he views life himself. he has to always hide who he is or he will get physically killed. alternia would take joy in finding out he does not belong there because lets face it, alternia is a bitch of a planet.
this also brought me to ask the question, why does karkat want to be a leader if hes so scared of what would happen to him if he were to be found out? which then, at first i said lol this is just karkat, he wants to a leader because he just wants to be the leader, he likes when things go to plan and that he the most say in their sburb plans considering he thinks everyone else is a "dumbass". to which, i then thought about it more and went ouch what if hes a leader because he knows hes not valued enough in society, that he somehow wants to feel some sort of importance in the world, so he wants to become a leader. i imagine younger karkat, not knowing why his blood is so undermined, finding out he is not wanted and suddenly on the most wanted list without having even DONE anything. even TAVROS said he was on that list, but only because he was weak and had no back-bone, here karkat may have been strong but no matter what, he was to be culled BECAUSE of his blood. something he cannot change no matter what. imagine a little kid knowing he will die at any point because of who he is (rlly sounds familiar if you think about it). so of course, he hides himself from the world, but do you think for an instant, little angry karkat wants to simply be FORGOTTEN about? i doubt that, he wants to be heard, he doesnt necessarily want to be rejected as he knows he will be, so while he does hide his blood, he wants to have a voice no matter what. when being a leader, people dont reject you, they LISTEN. they all may not want to because karkat is just a fucking ticking time bomb, who can lash out at any second, but i feel theres now a reason why he has this superiority complex. he wants to sort of become the person he knows he never will become (if you put it into that perspective). so thats kind of why im giving him the benefit of the doubt here.
i would also like to point out a sort of.... comparison?? not with the dogs but with unwanted children in a family household. this doesnt necessarily apply to karkat, but sub in family household with society and it might as well. (on that note, a warning/viewer discretion, if you have any problem with this kind of discussion, i wouldnt read further into this paragraph and skip to the next one) alright, the unwanted child psychology basically deals with the process of a child which is neglected by their parents, and/or know that they were never wanted in the family. i read an article a while back when we were discussing this in a lecture, we were browsing multiple people's perspective on the matter, and one said "An affective relationship may be suffocating to [the unwanted/neglected child]: it’s a defense against intimacy of which they know nothing. Normally they fluctuate between egotism and deep feelings of inferiority. They don’t understand what a balanced and healthy self-esteem looks like." it explains how the child who grows up in an unwanted home admits great emotion deprivation, because the child's bonds of affection are extremely fragile, and this can lead to both egotism and feeling like they are inadequate. and it really strongly shows karkats personality. we havent gotten that much from him in general, but considering how he uses this egotism to cover up the fact that he may be doomed, really shows the similarity. i liked this short article so i want to give some points to take into consideration, specifically this part: "It will be very difficult for unwanted children to build healthy relationships of affection in their adult life. Love is a foreign language to them. They don’t know how to decipher the codes and much less how to build them. It’s very hard for them to need and to be needed. That’s why, more often than not, they completely shirk their conflicts with peers and superiors, or do nothing but generate them. They speak incessantly about the broken relationship that marked their arrival in the world. A person with such a background will need help to get through those abysses of love that live in their heart. The most important step is that they recognize that their discomfort doesn’t depend on who they are, but the circumstances that led to their being." it may not be 100% tru for karkat but theres a small portion of it that can link back to karkats view on life and how being this mutant can really change who he is as a person. and i hope you can see the similarity between karkats character and this form of psychology. yet i also do not fully know the depth of karkat vantas. however i do hope it continues to build up in this way, as it would be both interesting and make us feel more for him as a person.
alright, i think if i write any more i will never stop aghjsk, which is a bit too much for a sunday afternoon, basically to sum up this post, trolls are violent and karkat will be killed if hes found out, even by his friends if it comes down to it. so karkat cannot really trust anybody, hes alone and imagine the thrill he had when he saw jack cut his hand to show the bright red blood? that he finally has someone LIKE HIM. imagine when he finds out about the kids. so i believe in his growth, while he needs to get a better vocabulary, i do get why hes so defensive all the time. because hes both scared and unwanted. and he wants to make up for it.
and i guess with all that being said, you can tell i now have a slight soft spot for the kid lmao
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