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professional-yapper · 4 months

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Curiosity

Aonung x Human! Reader

Summary: Aonung is curious about the sky demon that came to his village with the Sullies.

Warnings: Aonung not respecting boundaries like at all, treats reader like an object kind of, manhandling, nothing serious tbh, Spider gets ragged on repeatedly

It's late afternoon, the sun at its peak, bathing the Metkayina village in warm gold.

You were enjoying yourself thoroughly, floating on your back and letting the sun warm the parts of you that weren't submerged in cool water. Your exomask was gathering a little condensation in the heat, but not enough to disturb your relaxed state.

It had been a good day. Neytiri had been growing warmer towards you as of late, though you suspected it was mostly born of a desire to please Kiri, who felt Spider's absence sorely and had turned to you to fill the gap of her token human best friend.

A position which you didn't entirely appreciate being thrust into, as a matter of fact. Sure, you missed Spider too, and you were as close to her as you were to her other siblings, but you weren't him. You didn't want the sudden responsibility that came with being their fill-in human. You couldn't crack gross boy jokes with Lo'ak, couldn't comfort Kiri over the shared lack of parents. And you definitely didn't paint yourself blue and act totally feral.

Like you said, you liked Spider, but that was something about him you never understood.

So you were happy to have this respite, even if it were a brief one.

That is, until a shadow fell across you. A large one. You groaned at the disturbance and sudden lack of sunlight, opening your mouth to tell whoever it was to fuck off, when you found that it wasn't Loak, as you had expected, standing on the platform above you, but the son of the Metkayina chief. Onung or something.

"Can I help you?" you asked, trying your best not to sound too irritable. After all, his family was hosting you and the Sullies. He was a dick, but it wouldn't do anyone any good if you mouthed off at him. Not that the desire wasn't there.

"Do you have to wear that mask all the time? I've never seen you take it off," he commented, ignoring your question as he lowered his bulk into a crouch, tail swishing across the ground behind him as he looked at you with genuine curiosity on his face.

You squinted at him, shifting onto your front and treading water as you did so. "I can't breathe your air," you replied bluntly, then, unable to resist, added an "idiot" after for good measure.

He scowled briefly, ears flicking backwards.

You huffed out a laugh, rather pleased with yourself for managing to get under his skin. "Now, is that all? Because I'm trying to enjoy the sun, and- hey! Hey!"

You cut yourself off as his large hands hooked under your armpits, lifting you clear of the water. "What are you doing, dickhead?!" you snapped indignantly, trying to pry his hands off you, kicking at his arms. "Put me down!"

It was his turn to ignore you now, instead carefully adjusting himself to sit on the edge of the platform, legs dangling above the water.

He lowered you onto his lap, and you briefly considered stomping on his dick once you found your feet on his broad thighs, but settled for folding your arms and glaring at him. He shifted his hands to your middle, presumably to keep you from falling or jumping off, and continued to stare at you.

Your cheeks grew hot almost immediately. You felt beyond exposed as he observed you, standing there on his thighs with his hands on your body, only in your damn bikini. He was just looking at first, but then began to touch you, taking your arm between his forefinger and thumb and holding it out- as much as you tried to fight it, you were simply no match for this big blue idiot's child-like curiosity in your alien form.

And it wasn't like he was unattractive. It was just that he was Metkayina royalty or something, and dumb as a rock, and you weren't Spider and you didn't have a massive boner for every Na'vi under the sun.

So maybe you were a little bitter towards the idea of human/Na'vi romance. After all, you were the unlucky bastard who'd had to sit through Spider's long talks about his various crushes. It had started with Neteyam, mature and kind and confident and altogether a pretty good crush for a young human boy like Spider. Then it had been fiery, playful Lo'ak, then dreamy Kiri, and at one horrible point you remember it being Jake. Yeah, Spider went through the Sullies like he had a to-do list.

You were nothing like that. You'd never had a crush on a Na'vi in your life.

And you weren't about to start now, even if his eyes roving over every inch of you with genuine interest made you squirm and flush.

"Do you mind?!" you said waspishly, finally getting fed up with his intense scrutiny as his hand travelled down your leg, dwarfed in his massive palm as he tried to examine the limb in question.

"Not at all," Onung or whatever his name was replied, grinning at you, teeth flashing. Jesus, they were sharp.

"Look, Onung, you can't just-" you began indignantly before he interrupted.

"Aonung. My name is Aonung," he corrected.

"Aonung," you repeated back to him, rolling your eyes. "You can't just-"

"You're not saying it right," he pouted like a little kid. Did he honestly think you cared how his name was pronounced?!

"Shut up and let me speak!" you snapped, hand lashing out and grabbing him by the ear, making him yelp as you dragged his big head towards you. "Listen, you big blue jackass, you can't just pick people up and start examining them like that! I didn't consent to it!"

"Let me go," he hissed at you, fangs inches from your face.

You stared right down his throat, unafraid. "You let me go. I'm not a toy you can fuck around with."

"Fine," he huffed, his tail thumping behind him irritably as you released his ear and he set you down beside him.

You stood for a moment, the seaspray-wet platform cooler on your feet than his thighs had been, and resisting the urge to shrink into yourself as the wind hit the place where his hand had sat around your middle.

He kept sitting there, looking rather like a kid that had been sent to time out, frowning, ears flat against his head and tail still twitching.

"Why did you wanna look at me, anyway?" you asked abruptly, looking at him. "You seemed pretty set on drop kicking me into the ocean when I first came here."

His ears drooped even further and he didn't look at you. "Cause," he grumbled.

"Cause why?" you persisted, reaching out and pushing at his broad shoulder, feeling a little braver now you were no longer at his mercy.

He glanced at your hand, then at you, a weird expression on his face that you didn't feel like unpacking.

You withdrew your hand. "Sorry."

"It's fine," he grunted, then heaved a sigh. Your eyes followed his chest as it rose and fell absentmindedly, before you caught yourself and gave yourself a firm mental telling off for checking out the big blue guy who'd just handled you like you were an object.

Not that you'd hated it. It was just... unexpected.

"You can look at me if you're that curious," you relented. "You just had to ask first. I get that you'd be curious but-"

"I didn't think you'd mind," he muttered.

"Didn't think I'd mind? When a guy twice my height literally snatched me out of the water and started handling me like an object? Aonung," you say severely.

"You're still saying it wrong."

You roll your eyes so hard it hurts for a second. "That's the best I can do."

"No, it's not."

"Oh, yeah, since you've got your degree and know every fucking thing."

"I don't know what a degree is," he pointed out, looking at you steadily.

You huff and glance around, then back at him. "Teach me, then. If it's such a big deal. Teach me how to say your name."

He just scoffed at you and looked away.

Okay. Rude, considering he'd been bitching about it nonstop.

You took the initiative and climbed back into his lap to make him look at you, gripping his shoulder tightly for balance as you stepped back onto his thighs. Thankfully of your own volition this time.

"What are you doing?" he asked, sounding mildly irritated, his hand cupping your hip instinctively to steady you.

"I said teach me," you repeated firmly, poking him in the chin. "I'm sick of you nagging me about it."

"I've only said it twice," he huffed.

"I've only said your name twice," you countered.

You stared at each other for a long moment. His hand was warm, gentle on your hip, and you still had your hand on his shoulder, his skin sun-warm and slightly gritty with sea salt and sand. Okay, so maybe you were kind of attracted to this one Na'vi specifically.

He sighed, looking away from you, then back at you, adjusting himself to be more comfortable, leaning back on his other hand. "Aonung," he said clearly. "Ow-noong."

You made a rather feeble attempt at imitating the sounds. You were used to the more blunt names of the Omaticaya, but the embarrassment of not getting it right was killing you a little inside.

He chuckled, thighs shifting under your feet a little, making you wobble and glare at him.

It takes you a few more attempts and much laughter from him, but you get it, or as close as you think you'll get.

"I think that's about as close as we're gonna get," Aonung said finally, voice warm with amusement as he looked at you.

You blushed despite yourself. Eywa, what was happening to you? This wasn't like you at all.

He was still gazing at you, and you realised his thumb was rubbing lazy circles into your hip.

You sighed deeply.

"Something on your mind?" he prompted.

"You're more tolerable than I expected."

A grin spread across his face as he tilted his head, ears tilting forward. "Should I be flattered?"

You just shrugged, smiling back a little.

"Well," he continued, shifting once more beneath you, heaving a sigh of his own. "I guess you'll be pleased to know I find you tolerable too."

"Well, isn't that convenient?" you snickered. "The human and the Metkayina's precious little prince-"

"Ah, shut up," he murmured, sitting a little more upright, bringing his face close to yours, before he stopped himself.

You didn't dare to move. "And what are you up to?" you whispered.

"Nothing." He smiled, slow and lazy, still rubbing soothing circles into your hip, tail beginning to thump again behind him.

Then he moved his hand to your mask, still watching your face. "Take a deep breath for me," he hummed.

You did so as your heart began to thump insistently against your ribs, hoping- no, praying that he was about to do what you thought he was going to do.

He lifted your mask off gently, and leaned forward, covering your mouth with his.

Like everything else about him, his lips were warm, firm, tasting of sea salt and some Metkayina herb, the name of which escaped you.

You sighed contentedly into his mouth, looping your arms around his neck as best you could, leaning your body against his chest.

You wanted this to drag on forever. There was no great realisation, either, beyond the simple oh. I have a crush on Aonung. No desperation in this.

It was just nice, to be here, standing on his thighs, kissing him slowly and peacefully while the brisk sea breeze enveloped you both.

He eventually pulled away and replaced your mask, looking down at you with a serene, content expression, tracing his fingers down the glass.

You couldn't help smiling, cheeks flushed as you shifted your hands to his shoulders.

"That was nice," he commented, trying to hold back a grin. "We should do it again sometime."

You laughed a little breathlessly. "Definitely."

His laughter mingled with yours, his chest vibrating a little as he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the glass of your mask above your forehead. "I'll hold you to that."

I love dumb hunk himbo Aonung can y'all tell

#aonung #aonung x reader #aonung atwow #aonung avatar #avatar x reader #x reader #spider #spider soccoro #kiri #loak #jake #neteyam

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crowlyne · 18 days

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Cant stop thinking about emperor sy au...

Thanks to sy's modern knowledge of historical palace dramas and encyclopedic knowledge of pidw along with him having max stats on luck and charisma he survived the succession war (and somehow becomes an emperor? He is still confused on how he got it. Its not that he cut down his fellow princes nor did he scheme to get the emperor position but hes the only legitimate option left). SY doesnt have any experience on ruling kingdoms however (or anything really) but thankfully SY got an economics degree in his past life so hes not a fish out of the water.

Although the imperial rule doesn't affect the cultivation world directly, they're still impacted in the form of trade and manpower. The power to empower and cripple sects is in his hands. Ever since SY declaring SJ as his long lost brother CQM received a lot of lucrative trade. SQH is appreciative but hello?? He didnt write any long lost family members on SJ! So he got curious and begged the sect leader to send him instead of SJ to meet the emperor for trade discussion, and thats how he met his fellow transmigrator.

SY made him cough up all of his authorial knowledge and found out about OPM and HHP, although its already too late to save SXY as LBH has been born. Needless to say, HHP's coffers are running thin these days. With them having less money their manpower and support from noble families are slowly diminishing, the maintenance and security of the seals fell to disrepair, and SY (in disguise) with SQH's cultivation expertise managed to free TLJ. A few brief expositions later, TLJ and ZZL thanked both of them and slipped back go the demon realm. News of their freedom got out and HHP is scrutinized and support dropped even further than before.

SY did manage to visit QJP regularly to visit his brother and consequently, meeting LBH a number of times (making LBH absolutely smitten with him and considering joining the nonexistent imperial harem). With SJ more assured in his position (also maybe SY's promise of him always having a place in the palace and his family and less people being hostile towards him had an impact) SJ had less frustrations and projections to subject LBH and his students to. He still doesnt like the beast but his stupid brother (an emperor!) doted on him like a favored child so he tried his best to ignore him instead.

Things were going well until the immortal conference where instead of SQH orchestrating the attack, its TLJ and ZZL trying to get a hit on HHP's OPM and dragging LBH back to demon realm kicking and screaming. LBH is presumed dead.

SY found out of course but he didnt know the details (SJ remains tight lipped and insists that hes dead and thats all he should know) and thought LBH fell into the abyss and SJ pushed him like the original plot and grew depressed of thinking of his brother that he grew fond of turn into human stick. Also considering LBH's going to merge the realms and conquer the human kingdoms under one rule he might not have long either, he is, after all, a human male which by the novel's rules itself, a cannon fodder.

Years passed and the demon army, under the demon emperor LBH, conquered other human kingdoms and eventually showed up on SY's kingdom's doorstep but not for the reason SY's thinking of.

SY found himself still alive (!!!) and married (???) with LBH for alliance. CQM stays unmolested and unburned for years to come. SJ, however, remains a sour pickle with this whole arrangement, but at least hes left in peace.

Bonus :

LBH loves to roleplay as a concubine whenever he dropped by SY's palace. When SY visited the demon realm however, LBH loves to show him off that the demons thought of him as a concubine instead (much to SY's embarassment)

#svsss au #bingqiu #emperor shen yuan au #shen yuan #shen jiu #good lord this is long but ive thought of this for a long time

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lilapplesheadcannons · 2 months

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Nie MingJue, the unintentional kidnapper

Or that time A-Yuan almost got adopted into the Nie Sect

Nie MingJue is starting to get slightly uncomfortable. Sure, it has been decades since HuaiSang was a toddler (two decades, to be more specific), but surely toddlers need to blink more? The child is looking at him like he is the most mesmerising vision it has ever seen in its entire 4 years on earth.

He tries to glance through the door without being too intruding. He understands there is a touching reunion happening somewhere inside, and God knows he doesn't want to interrupt the Jiangs screaming and crying and hitting and hugging their wayward prodigal demonic cultivator, but surely someone else can take the child? Is it not a cousin of the Ghost General and her terrifying sister? Now he thinks about it, he is not so sure they are very fit guardians if they are willing to abandon their charge to any random cultivator. And the worst part is A-Yao, the person best suited to deal with this situation, has left with them, presumably trying to find a quieter resting place for the Wen remnants away from the chaos that is the 100 days celebration of the newest Jin baby.

He flinches when a soft finger cautiously pokes his cheek. The child grins guilelessly at him and says, "Pretty gege!"

Nie MingJue blushes to the root of braids. That's it! This child is obviously surrounded by unreliable people who would teach him utter nonsense or dump him in the middle of enemy territories, so as a responsible adult, it is his solemn duty to adopt the child (a boy? It is dressed as one, but who knows with Wei Wuxian?) and take it to Qinghe. He stands up with the child under one armpit, the child seemingly unbothered by being dangled like a sack of potatoes.

"He's mine!"

Lan Xichen's baby brother looks just as angry as he did on the day they first met, when he ended up biting HuaiSang. Except now he is almost as tall as MingJue, and he has already put the tip of his finger on his sword.

Rude!

Nie MingJue, a sect leader and the chief cultivator, is an older brother first and foremost. How can he resist ruffling Lan Er-Gongji's already ruffled feathers even more?

"I didn't know Wangji had a child."

Wangji bristles even further, reminding him of the time he accidentally stepped on Second Mother's cat's tail.

The child waves at him from his precarious position, "Rich Gege!"

Does Wangji's eyes soften a little? Nie MingJue can swear he saw a crack of smile in his lips. Surely, he is just hallucinating. The child chirps out again, "Pretty Gege!" pointing at MingJue. The room temperature plummets several degrees.

"GIVE HIM TO ME!"

If Wangji doesn't want to take over from Lan Laoshi, he can easily earn his living teaching enunciation to rich masters. Nue MingJue heard every syllable distinctly, including the single exclamation mark at the end. Is he serious?

Nie MingJue stares at him. He has heard rumours. The light bearing lord! The war has done awful things to the cultivators. Once kind, just men have been reduced to butchers with enough trauma to last a few lifetimes, but surely it hasn't changed the upright young man in front of him to such an extent that he was willing to...

He moves the child from underneath his arm and settles him down on the ground behind him.

"Look here, Wangji, he is just a child..."

He gets interrupted again by the same clear, obstinate tone.

"Give him to me! Now!"

Has Wangji lost it? Does he want to kill a child, practically a baby, to avenge his father and his sect? Does he really think he can get away with killing the adopted child of Wei Wuxian when Wei Wuxian himself was just a few doors away? Not to mention the Ghost General and the Jiang sect leader in the vicinity?

You can probably cut the tension with a blunt sabre. That's the first thing Lan Xichen notices when he walks in, the second thing being his brother and his best friend locked in a staring contest. Wangji looks like he is ready to start a fight, and Da-Ge has that little mocking smile, which means he is happy to indulge. Behind him, little A-Yuan is studiously examining the pattern on the carpet.

Wangji breaks the stare first. He turns to his big brother and says, almost petulantly,

"He's not giving A-Yuan back!"

Lan Xichen smiles and shakes a deprecating finger at MingJue in mock sensor,

"Now, now, what do you mean by not handing over my nephew to my brother? Da-ge! If you indeed want a child,..."

Wait a second! The jibe about the child being Wangji's, that was purely a taunt. Is it true? Did Wangji really have a child? A 4 years old? But, he begs your biggest pardon, Wangji is a child himself! How can he have a child? When? With whom?

Having his sympathetic brother on his side seems to encourage Wangji to speak further.

"A-Yuan called him pretty!"

If only people could see their Light bearing Lord pouting! Xichen tuts.

"For shame, Da-Ge!"

But before Nie MingJue can demand explanation, A-Yuan decides he has had enough of the carpet and stands up, then walks over to Lan Wangji in a brisk, businesslike manner, who bends down to pick him up without breaking eye contact with Nie MingJue and pointedly kisses the child's forehead.

Nie MingJue is pretty sure he is having a Qi deviation right now. Ah well, there are worse ways to go, he supposes.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #mdzs crack #pure crack #nie mingjue #lan wangji #a yuan #wen yuan #lan xichen #Just imagine Wei Wuxian brought the whole burial mound to the Carp Tower for Jin Ling's 100 days celebration #of course he and the Jiang siblings have a lot to catch up on #and Jin ZiXuan needs to hold the baby while patting Jiang Yanli on the back #And Jin GuangYao needs to somehow accommodate few extra dozen of people! Managerial nightmare!!#Wait! Nie MingJue is just sitting there! Let him mind the toddler for a while!#Lan Wangji believes his precious son almost got kidnapped by the chief cultivator

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minobe-household · 3 months

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yuuto minobe.

one of the many subjected to the wrath of the progenitor, muzan kibutsuji.

hello everyone!! it's about time i made a brief rundown of my oc's origin story. details are heavilly omitted since this is going off of a perspective based on common knowledge around the others like the other writing i made. makes it a bit more immersive i guess? also so i don't just end up infodumping. happy reading :-)

—

she had spent her entire life in close ties with the demon slayer corps, being a member of the mysterious family bloodline tasked with raising and training the kasugai crows. she was the only one known by most beyond mere names and rumors, haven occasionally visited the butterfly mansion to relay messages and help out ever since she was little. why her parents would allow her to do such a thing was unknown, but she quickly became a welcome presence nevertheless.

she was a bit of a rowdy child, sometimes just running around dressed on in the juban she'd always sleep in and an apron. many also knew her for her frequent tricks. even so, she was always enthusiastic to help, constantly insisting on contributing more to the corporation—regardless of the workload she placed on herself with each and every task she picked up. she'd strike conversation with anyone she could, learning more about demons and the art of breathing styles through those she listened to over the years.

as she grew up, she came to gain interest in becoming a demon slayer. it took strenuous training, but her ceaseless ambition pulled through and she was eventually admitted officially. her climbing of the ranks took longer than most with her other responsibilities, but she was quite respected by her peers for her unwavering effort. she would go to near outrageous extents to keep everyone safe in missions, several of which she was able to get through without even a gash laid on her or her partners. most came thanks to the various strategical moves she developed over the course of her training, in a technique she called breath of spirit.

however, it was only about a year before she suddenly disappeared. there was an attack on the minobe household. the girl, faced with a dangerously strong foe as a mere kanoto, urged for her parents and siblings to run, and fought head on. such was the last time she was ever seen.

there lacked any bodies at the scene, only the ashes of the demon that was once was, small pools of crimson left sparingly about. her family was eventually found safe in refuge through the search, but their daughter—she who fought with such vigor, such determination—was nowhere to be found. not even they knew what became of her.

the conclusion failed to answer every question that lied within the incident, but there was no other possible explanation. she was presumed to have been eaten. it was hard to believe, or rather, to accept. and despite the confusion, the regret, the suffering, there was no waiting for a single soul in what was to go on until everything came to an end. time continues its march as is. years pass.

she has died.

or so she says upon her return.

#there's also the art i didn't really mention that. the tiny yuuto is real #demon slayer #kny #kny oc #kimetsu no yaiba #i have accessed the media. (oc tag)#sen's...writing??#minobe yuuto (senei)

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ijuststareatstuffhereok89 · 1 year

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Title board created by the wonderful @mochie85!

Lesson Seven

After a tragic end to a horrible encounter sends shockwaves through your core, Loki suggests a special way he can take care of your wounded soul.

**MASTERLIST HERE** Pairing: Soft!Dom!Loki x F!Reader Content Warnings: smut, extensive mentions of death, euthanasia, and death-related philosophy, some dark content (though the characters won't be), exile, moodiness, smut, kinks of various flavors (look for specific chapter warnings), trauma and mental illness, reader is a captive, reader has a body count

CHAPTER-SPECIFIC WARNINGS: Reader is injured, smut-adjacency mixed with comforty/fluff (Loki bathes Reader)

You couldn’t move a muscle. You couldn’t do so much as breathe. Your eyes were locked on the gun pointed at you from no more than ten feet away, as if even blinking was letting it out of your sight for a moment too long.

Brunnhilde immediately threw up a hand. “She’s got nothing to do with any of this.”

Your breathing became heavy as you very slowly began to rise out of your chair, throwing your hands up in surrender. “I’m an American!” you protested. “Human! Mortal! M…muggle?”

“Did you kidnap her?” asked Jonah, turning to the King but keeping the gun on you.

You shook your head. “No, I’m here because I want to be. For a…um…project.”

“The Devil whispers in her ear!” cried a woman from beyond the stoop.

“Oh, shut up,” murmured Brunnhilde.

“The Flock is a calling from God,” chimed in the woman standing next to Jonah, her long, tangled blonde hair in a braid that was caught in her jacket zipper. You could see through her clothes that she carried a child, and from the looks of her, it was far from her first pregnancy. “So much death and chaos has happened since Iron Man was created, the schematics probably drawn from Satan’s hand.”

“We were made in His image, not superheroes!” called another from the assembly.

“ENOUGH!” Loki shrieked, sending gasps, tremors, and steps back from most of The Flock. Only Jonah and the woman beside him stood firm. “Leave her be! Your qualms are with the King…and I.”

“You’ve all been here too long, demons!” said the woman. “My husband is a prophet of the Lord. Heed him and leave this place before we purge it.”

No one else could see it, but the thick gray tendrils of your lethal gift were wrapped like snakes about your fingers and wrists (not that you needed to see it to know it was there and at the ready). Oh god…

“Hell itself originated in your realm,” said Jonah. “Your own sister bears the name. A massive horned firebeast set about a prophecy on your city. Tell me, how do you dispute your dark purpose now?

Loki bit his lip. The Flock did its research, that was certain. Almost as if one of their own was among the Asgardians…

Loki stood tall and handsome, ready to reroute a comet for you, the slightest green tinge sparking at his fingers. Jonah, in his boldness, managed to walk right past the angered-but-now-cautious King, still looking right at you as he advanced with a frightening intensity. “You’re going to come with us, then--”

“--NO!--” Loki lunged forward.

“--Ivar?” suddenly called Mrs. Olssen, looking at her husband, who was gripping his chest, pale and sweaty. Her voice was almost too strong for her delicate, elderly condition. “Elskan? What is it?”

Everyone stopped, even Jonah, distracted by the sudden convulsions that sent Ivar Olssen spasming in his seat, his trembles nearly knocking over the tea table in front of him.

“Heart…pain…chest…” was all he could say.

You noticed something odd about Ivar, as did Loki. For a man in the middle of a presumed heart attack, the golden seidr beginning to grow in the man’s palm was a bit curious. Jonah and The Flock may not have been able to see magic, because none of them suspected anything but a frail old man dying.

Ivar winked at you, and the moment Jonah came within arm’s reach of you, you dove under his arm and attempted to bolt. Jonah grabbed your arm, his reflexes quicker than yours. You were jerked back to the floor at his feet, and you felt something in your ankle pull, sending pain up your leg.

Ivar shot to his feet and thrust his palm, shooting out a golden pulse that sent everyone who was standing to their asses on the floor; even the members of The Flock who were left on the grass spiraled to the ground. Only you and Mrs. Olssen were not affected, as Mrs. Olseen knew her husband of three millennia well enough to duck as soon as she saw the gold palm.

Brunnhilde, stunned but used to the pulse from her years serving as a valkyrie, came back to her senses first, and pulled a dagger out of her boot as she rose. Loki nearly spiraled right off the porch and into the group below, but he’d managed to only fall against the railing. Meanwhile, you struggled with Jonah, who now was using his position on the ground to grab your injured ankle as you began to sneak away.

He managed to grip your ankle tightly, and when you first attempted to yank your leg back, the searing pain paralyzed your side, and you cried out, alerting Loki to your distress.

However, before Loki could do anything, you thrust your hip back, sacrificing more pain so that you could kick Jonah in the jaw, which finally gave you the edge you needed. Wisely kicking the gun out of his hand as well, it went skidding across the floor until it went under the tablecloth and out of sight.

In spite of your injury, you were able to hop away from the scuffle and begin to run. Descending the steps in an attempt to get around the rest of The Flock, most of the cult members were too afraid of you to do more than dive out of your way. A few of the men holding guns aimed, but in the chaos, their shots went harmlessly into the air.

There were some, however, in the two-dozen-or-so people there, who had the gall and initiative to leap at you.

“RUN!” hollered Loki. “Y/N! Go!”

You wanted to go back. You knew they’d only come after you so that Loki would go quietly. He was still vulnerable. But Loki was right (and a god, to boot). His odds of making it out of the fight were higher than yours for certain, with or without your pathetic help. You needed to hide, and fast.

As you began limping away, one of the attackers succeeded in latching onto you, dragging you to the ground with him. The pair of you rolled around, each trying to gain the upper hand. He happened to be slight in build, possibly even younger, certainly lighter than you. But he was strong, and the little bit of volume he had on his figure was all muscle. You had no form, just the primal need to get away, and it seemed to be enough. You were holding your own.

Then you felt The Pull, and you went ice cold as you felt your physical strength almost double immediately.

The boy went limp as soon as he grabbed your naked wrist, his body falling to the side as you quickly rolled away. Gasps immediately rang out as you stumbled to your feet. Everyone had stopped fighting the minute someone understood what had happened.

“Edgar?!” shrieked a young woman with dark red hair, running forward and lunging herself over the body, examining it as more of The Flock began to close in.

You looked up. Brunnhilde was shocked. The Olssens both had looks of soft pity for you. Loki looked…pleased?

Why do you look so satisfied, Loki? I just did it again…a person! A person who was clearly loved…

Your body full of adrenaline, your head full of fear, you finally chose to turn and run full-tilt off into the rows of cabins (in spite of your hurt ankle), figuring it would take too long in clear view to run for the hill. It would be easier to get lost among the buildings.

Where to go? Where to go?

The library appeared on your right, and you quickly headed for the open window around the back of the cabin. You could see the nervous librarian through the curtains, clicking away at her knitting again. She didn’t raise her voice, but she did jump as you crawled through the window and landed on the floor with a low, pained moan.

“I’m not here…” you whispered. “Crazy people outside.”

The librarian acknowledged you for the first time and nodded quietly, putting a finger to her lips in agreement. “They always say they will burn my books,” she whispered. “They can try. They won’t win.”

You couldn’t help but notice she gripped her knitting tighter to her body, the mere mention of The Flock triggering a frightening or sorrowful memory.

“Thank you,” you smiled weakly, gritting your teeth against the pain of your ankle. The librarian noticed.

“Go into the back room, where the romances are. Lock the door. Once it looks better, I can send for Loki,” she instructed, going back to her work before you could reply.

So much for being a frightened little woman, you thought. Is everybody going to command me here?

You did as you were told for safety’s sake, however, and after locking the door, you sighed, taking a book from the shelf and deciding to pass the time in exile reading Asgardian folk stories. Sadly, most of the books were in Asgardian writing, vaguely resembling VIking runes, of course, but it wasn’t as if you could read either. Because of this shortage of English tomes of interest, your mind couldn;t be ripped away from the disturbing fact that you’d killed again.

It was in defense…That’s what you said before…No! It’s true…Killer…Stop…

Assassin…Murder…

Monster…

The man had someone in his life. Whether the redhead was a wife, sister, or friend, she lost someone she loved today, at your hands. Just like before. Had you learned nothing?

Hours went by, and the sky began to darken. You’d fallen asleep, only to be jerked awake from a nightmare by the sound of four rhythmic knocks on the door.

“Y/N…”

Loki!

You rushed to the door to unbolt it, practically throwing the door off his hinges and falling into his waiting arms. “What have I done?” you began to sob. “I did it again…”

“He would have shot you or taken you away, but I knew you’d be distressed about his demise regardless,” Loki whispered, gently stroking your hair and swaying your bodies slowly back and forth.

“If I weren’t here, you wouldn’t be here, and they wouldn’t have come--”

Loki squeezed you tightly. “That is simply untrue. They’ve been plaguing New Asgard since they arrived. They have a village of their own not more than twenty miles from here. The Sheep usually keep to their side of the forest, I promise.”

You were babbling a mile a minute now, your fear prying your mouth open as a way for every thought on your mind to come spilling out all at once. “Yeah, but they KNOW me now! They know what I did, and if they were already mad enough at you, just think of what they’ll do to me when they come back!”

“We will be ready for them when they do,” promised Brunnhilde, who you never realized was standing behind Loki the whole time, watching you turn into a crying little child in Loki’s embrace. “Loki, listen to me.”

He nodded cordially, turning to look her in the eye while still clutching you against his chest.

“I think you’re a massive idiot and a pustule of a god,” she exclaimed, “But even you have to see how important it is to have me train her alongside you.”

He repeated his nod. “As much as it pulls at my soul, I am inclined to agree with you. But let’s discuss this later.” Silently indicating how you were bordering on hysterics, Brunnhilde bit her lip, a little uncomfortable at the large display of emotion, mumbled something about making a trip to the liquor cache, and left.

You felt Loki’s hand gracefully rest across your jaw, gently pulling your head up so that he could look into your eyes.

“You’ve lost the adrenaline from today, I see the energy drain from your face,” he said. “There is no time for more work today, of course, but I think we need to make sure you’re cared for tonight.”

You let yourself go from Loki’s grip, shrugging and trying to wipe away the tears searing your hot, red cheeks. “What does that mean?”

“Today was horrible. I blame those sheep people, but perhaps I aggravated things,” he sighed. “I feel as if I owe you some sweetness, perhaps in the form of a bath?”

You shook your head. “We only have a shower stall, remember?”

“Ivar and Katja have a bathing tub upstairs, a large one. They’ve already offered it to us.”

You finally managed to smile warmly, feeling bashful under your mentor’s concerned, sincere eye. “How did you have time to think of everything when all of this chaos happened around us?”

He shrugged and laughed. “Did you forget that I AM chaos, my dear? Do you think I’ve never gone toe-to-toe with a simple cult before?”

The elderly pair of landlords graciously offered supper for you and Loki as you made your way back to your building in a quickly-darkening twilight. Storm clouds obscured the last bit of sunset, giving the sky an ominous yellowish cloud through the overcast. The air was thick with moisture, and it was difficult to breathe, especially seeing as you were still catching up physically from your hysterics.

“I’m not sure she’s ready for such a rich meal,” Loki politely declined. “Stew seems to be a favorite of hers, but she’s been through much today.”

You were grateful for him to speak on your behalf. You didn’t want to upset, scare, or disappoint anyone else today. Plus, you did feel particularly prone to nausea at the moment.

Katja smiled understandingly and nodded, looking at you with even more pity, which made you feel awkward standing there under Loki’s arm like a downtrodden child he’d picked up off the street. “Very well, dears. I laid out towels and even found a little of my precious Asgardian bath oils for you.”

Loki chuckled. “You were permanently displaced from your home, and your bath oil was what you chose to spare?”

Katja stood tall, with a wise smile on her face. “Memories mean more than clothes. The scent reminds me of my girlhood back home.”

Ivar showed you down the narrow hallway to their master bathroom up on the top floor, a large room with a pit cornered against one wall, inside of which was a walk-in bath about the size of a small jacuzzi: the perfect amount of space for two. As promised, everything had been laid out immaculately for you, making Ivar chuckle.

“We don't host like we did on Asgard,” he said. “She misses those days sometimes.” With one of his signature hacking coughs, Ivar turned and left you.

Loki closed the door, then made quick work drawing the bath, adding the oil, and then deciding to add a little bit of bath bubble. “You look weakened,” he remarked as the tub filled, turning to you and taking in your pathetic form. “A warm bath, followed by a long rest and a hearty breakfast will help.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you,” you sighed sadly. “But--”

“--I didn’t ask for your help, and yet you did such a great job defending me,” he whispered, gently kissing your forehead as he began to peek his hands under the hem of your sweater. “You distracted them, like it or not, and they were so afraid of you that they forgot what they came for, which was myself.”

“Really?”

“And for as much as I would deeply desire to thank you with my prick, such physical exertions would be too much for you tonight. Instead I’ll bathe you and put you to bed.”

You looked down as you realized that he wasn’t trying to seduce you by moving curious fingers toward your breasts, but was only making an earnest effort at removing your clothes. You were briefly thrown off balance as he removed your sweater and cast it aside, and Loki’s attention was drawn down to your ailing ankle.

“That looks painful,” he remarked. “Once I get you into bed, I’ll fix it. It would be wise to wait to heal you until you are off your feet for good, so you can immobilize the muscle as much as possible.”

You giggled a little as Loki unabashedly went for your bra next, clearly enjoying the intimate moment but careful not to make anything of it when he exposed your naked chest a moment later. “Since when were you a doctor?” you asked, trying to break the tension.

“All Asgardian royals have some form of healing seidr, unless you are of a warrior’s build like my brother. My mother trained me somewhat, though I am ashamed to say I fought her much of the way.” Lokis swiftly removed your jeans, but stood back when you were in nothing but panties, unable to avoid the desire to look at you. You smiled gratefully and finished disrobing yourself as he began peeling off his tunic, the spell broken.

“Why is that?” you asked, curiously.

“I wanted to be in fight lessons like Thor,” he answered. “Frigga wanted at least one of her sons to have healing power, but the going stigma was that healing was for women. I was embarrassed that I had to heal while Thor got to claim glory through battle.”

Loki was naked before you again, and you fought the urge to ignore his warning about taking it easy. He smiled mischievously, the look on your face betraying your thoughts. “I know, I’m impossible to resist,” he said cheekily. “You want me, but I meant it: we cannot be amorous tonight. Not when your body needs to recover in more ways than one.”

“But you like to control me, make me writhe,” you said softly, your eyes stuck on the little ‘V’ shape his pelvic muscles made below his belly, carving a sharp, defined path to guide a wandering eye directly to his insatiable cock.

He nodded, scooping you into his arms, pressing his naked body to yours, and burying his nose in your hair. “Yes, indeed. But a good dominant--teacher!--takes care of his student, and treats her like a jewel in his crown, not just a prop for his bed. I want you healthy and strong whenever I take you to bed, understand?”

You nodded, feeling yourself blush. “Thank you. For everything so far.”

Loki twisted his lip. “Don’t thank me just yet. I get the feeling our trials are only just unfolding. But enough talk of that for tonight.”

He turned off the water and climbed down into the tub, splitting his legs and beckoning for you with hand, which you took as you went in and leaned against his torso, the bubbles smelling faintly of cherry blossom.

True to his word, Loki made no move on you, although there was no doubt bathing between the god’s solid legs was highly erotic. He tenderly rubbed soap and oil over your skin, gently rubbing it into your back, neck and arms. You allowed him to massage some conditioner that smelled of coconut slowly into your scalp with his fingers, which felt remarkably relaxing, and when you slid forward to dip your hair below the surface to wash it out, you felt him comb his fingers through it, from root to tip. When you re-emerged, you let him braid it behind your neck, tying it off with a black rubber band.

In addition to feeling incredibly turned on in spite of your exhaustion, you felt revitalized, relieved, the weight of your sins that day washing off of your body and rolling beneath the foam. It was as if Loki was baptizing you, cleansing you of the guilt brought on by the murder. After he finished with your hair, he let you lean against him again, silently letting the hot water turn lukewarm, a calm washing over you. After several more minutes, you felt Loki brush his thumbs softly against your nipples.

“Perhaps this is a day for a lesson after all,” he finally broke the silence as you let the sensation of his fingers brushing against you make you tingle. “Today, you learn that sometimes, no matter how powerful you are, you can’t control everything. When it gets too heavy, you need to preserve yourself and wash away the dust. A mistake doesn’t make you a bad person.”

You got out and wrapped yourselves in two oversized robes Ivar had left on the doorknob. By the time you went outside to stumble down the other set of stairs leading to the basement, the rainstorm had rolled in, and it was coming down in sheets. Yet the whipping wind accompanying the precipitation was warm. It was the kind of rain one opened the window to at night to fall asleep to.

You didn’t bother turning on the light in the living room. Loki led you to your bedroom, where he flicked the lamp by your bedside on. He turned down the comforter and let you slide between the sheets, taking off your robe and allowing yourself to sleep nude.

“I never saw a need for night clothes myself,” he said with a wink, making you smile.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all that you sleep in the buff, Loki,” you snarked. “It suits your character.”

“My character has one goal tonight, kitten, and it is simply to make sure my student is as strong as she can be so that I can get those blasted joint lessons with Her Worship over with,” he muttered. “Do you need anything? Have a sleep ritual, perhaps? I hear a glass of warm milk is a Midgardian tradition…”

“...I don’t need a drink, but I’d like the window to be open as long as it rains, please?” you asked, pointing up at the small window about six inches under the ceiling, opening up to ground-level.

He immediately did as you asked, remarking how he also was fond of the sound of rain plopping onto the ground. “Of course, storms are brief on Asgard.”

“Loki?”

“Yes, my student?”

“I don't know if I can sleep,” you said sadly. It was true, you felt the exhaustion cement you to the mattress, but you weren’t sure the will to close your eyes was strong enough just yet.

He looked at you a moment before seemingly deciding upon something. He briefly left you in bed alone before returning with the textbook (The Ethics of Death) you’d gotten from the library. “Without getting too sentimental, my mother would read to me until I fell asleep whenever I was ill or was too wound up to retire from an exciting day.”

You felt your skin go warm with the thought of Loki as a young boy. How sweet was an image of the former intergalactic criminal as an innocent baby! The echoes of the tender memory clearly still resonated in him, and now he was passing on the rare mote of kindness from his youth to you. You were touched.

“I’d like that.” He gingerly caressed your cheek and leaned down to kiss your brow.

Smiling peacefully, Loki sat down next to you on the bed, leaned back and crossed his legs, opening the book as you rolled onto your side so that your head was nestled in his shoulder. He opened the book and began where you had last dog-eared the page. “You don’t need to retain any of this,” he insisted. “Just let my voice be your lullaby.”

Loki was an effective sandman. You felt a gentle pull on your eyelids as his deep baritone sent you off into unconsciousness, safe and comfortable, at least for tonight.

He didn’t realize that you’d drifted away within the half-hour, and it had been nearly an entire hour before he took a breath from his reading to see you asleep, a small bit of dribble hanging at the edge of your lip. Stifling a chuckle, Loki wiped it away with his thumb lightly enough so as not to disturb you before getting up and turning out the light.

Before leaving, he pulled the blankets up to your chin and made sure you were really asleep. Then, he was briefly distracted by the rain falling outside, and he stood underneath the open window for several minutes, lost in his internal monologue, the occasional rogue drop of rain hitting his face after making its way within.

Be at rest tonight, little one, Loki prayed. I’m afraid things just grew exponentially worse for the both of us.

Finally, he went back to his own room, where he didn’t sleep for a moment the entire night.

Bit of a longer chapter, and plot-heavy. Thanks for sticking with me! And yes, this Loki variant knows how to braid hair. PLEASE REBLOG and COMMENT! Thank you!

@kats72 @violethaze @cheekyscamp @javagirl328 @yelkmelk @mischief2sarawr @buttercupcookies-blog @lokidokieokie @fictive-sl0th @jaidenhawke @caothicshit @holdmytesseract @anukulee @joyful-enchantress @simplyholl @meowmeow-motherfucker @huntress-artemiss @lokisgoodgirl @loz-3 @mjsthrillernp @alexakeyloveloki @linaax @noideakitten @evelyn-rathmore @lovingchoices14 @itzcomplctd7 @praq123 @the-fantasy-loving-angel @alexakeyloveloki @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @admiralatthebowofnails @vanilla-daydreaming @technicallysassyfox @ozymdias @fall-myriad @sititran @lokisdeadcat @blog-the-lilly

#loki #fanfiction #mcu #mcu loki #mcu fanfiction #loki x reader #loki laufeyson #loki fanfiction #loki/reader #loki smut #loki angst #new asgard #mcu valkyrie #cults #fundamenalists #dont fear the reaper #comfort #smut adjacent #loki bathes

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calisources · 1 year

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KLAUS MIKAELSON SENTENCES QUOTES. quotes are taken from both the vampire diaries and the originals. warning, some of this quotes might include threats, mentions of blood, gore and some other vampire terror. change pronouns as you see fit.

He made me feel powerless and I hated it.

Power, loyalty, family. I made him in my image and he has bettered me. I want what he has. I want to be king.

Those who live hate me more than ever.

You're all out of your minds... if you think some liquor-fueled one-night-stand - no offense, sweetheart - means a thing to me.

I will walk away and I will never come back. I promise.

You'll never again have to look me in the eye and cover our connection with hostility and revulsion.

People have been after me for 1000 years. And I am always one step ahead. So whatever it is you're thinking of trying, go for it, give it your best shot. You won't succeed.

Don't underestimate the allure of the darkness, (name). Even the purest hearts are drawn to it.

I don't have to prove anything, love. I am the alpha male.

Come on. One dance. I won't bite.

Don't tempt me, little wolf.

Maybe you should mind your business, wolf girl.

The only thing stronger than your craving for blood is your love for this one girl.

You are supposed to be dead. What are we gonna do about that?

I invited him to the party, love. He's the one dancing on the table.

And what kind of father allows another man to die for his child?

My hatred for you runs so deep it's difficult to pinpoint its origin

I believe that secrets are a poison that need to be spat out.

A better man would protect you with that lie. But I am not that man. And so I leave you with the burden of a truth that no one will believe.

End of the day human life is just a means to an end. Our means to our end.

Perhaps one day, in a year or even in a century. You’ll turn up at my door and let me show you what the world has to offer.

From all the poems written on the subject of unrequited love, there are so few on the pain of being the object of that affection.

We are the savage villains in fairy tales told to children. But not for (name)

He has done damage only a father can do.

There's no power in love! Mercy makes you weak! Family makes you weak!

This family comes with many hardships, but there is one benefit. You will always have a home here.

This family makes me want to murder people.

The line between what brings us pain and what sustains us is far thinner than one imagines.

Is it evil to take what one wants, to satisfy hunger even if doing so will cause another suffering? What some would call evil, I believe to be an appropriate response to a harsh and unfair world.

You can't win a war without a few strategic losses, no matter how regrettable they may be.

We all must stand alone against our demons.

They say that the passage of time will heal all wounds, but the greater the loss the deeper the cut.

Over the course of my life I've encountered no shortage of those who would presume to speak of good and evil. Such terms mean nothing. People do what is in their best interest.

You know, it's funny how often a person's sharp tongue can end up cutting their own throat.

. Death dances silently in everyone’s shadow, and she doesn’t give a damn. So why give a damn about her?

Art taught me that one's vision can be achieved with sheer force of will.

If I tell you who I really am and you refuse to beleive me, then I can hardly be blamed.

If you knew even a fraction of who I am, it would break you in two.

Because what’s important to you is important to me. What makes you happy makes me want to keep you so. What scares you, I want to tear apart.

I do not wish to watch you from behind glass, (name).

You rant and rave about the monster I have become.

There is beauty in the courage of the fragile fighter. Those that persevere, despite all they've been through, those who still believe there is good in the world, as dark things we often find we need that light the most.

ou presume to know me? Then know this... I will gladly end you for what you did to (name).

Mere hours after you lecture me about boundaries and here you are at my house in the middle of the night.

Mere hours since she died I've thought of a thousand things I forgot to say.

I can tell you I love you tomorrow. You're not dying today.

Violence is unavoidable then. Well, I tried.

In my experience an offer from a malevolent witch always comes with a catch. What's yours?

It would be better for you if you did fear me.

You know, you all seem to think this is a democracy, and I assure you it is not!

I quite enjoy my obsessions, thank you very much.

Everybody knows you're in love with her.

You do realize it is not I who is to be the husband you can boss around.

You declared war when you came after my family and for that, I will make you suffer as only I can.

I'm sorry, is this some sort of motherly critique? Please feel free to choke on it.

The whole time she lied to me. She made me weak.

Well it was a challenge to find a good pairing. What wine goes well with treachery?

A man damaged by his demons and those demons are not dormant, they are hell-bent on killing me and everything I find beautiful. And you, you are beautiful.

#rp meme #sentences memes #meme call #roleplay memes #sentence meme #( cali meme. )#rp memes #rp prompt #rp musings #roleplay prompt #roleplay meme #he has so many quotes i love ok

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distinguished-slacker · 1 year

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OnS chapter 125

Today’s chapter was better than expected. Probably because they toned it down with the studid jokes in comparison to the previous chapters.

It’s interesting how Yuu and Mika knew Shikama was lying about Micha getting better. Was it because they connected the dots knowing angel Michaela died at that age based on their physical appearance in the coffin? Or did they actually know it was a lie just from Shikama’s tone and expressions? If it’s the latter that is quite impressive since Shikama is a pretty good liar and it’s hard to know when he is lying or when he is telling the truth.

Also Yuu read that “creating servant tribes and resurrecting the dead both are strictly against the law”. We knew that resurrection was a sin but what does it mean by “servant tribes”? Does it mean that their angel civilisation wants equality? Or that no one but God is allowed to be above others? By servant tribes does it refer to Shikama creating the vampires and demons? Maybe creating the Mikado no Oni a millenia ago and subjugating humans too? That part about the Sun’s power and darkening it sounds scary. I hope it means making the Sun black instead of actually reducing its light intensity, otherwise life on Earth would terminate (it’s also 150 million km away so…). Although I don’t know what a black Sun will do either…will it still be able to support life even if it’s black in colour? Will the Sun, the star, be actually black, or will it be just black from the perspective of people on Earth?

But probably what picked my interest the most was Micha behaving as our Yuu while eyeball Yuu was looking at Micha. I’ve been bothered by how much our Yuu changed midmanga, specifically after Guren came back in Osaka arc and told them he will resurrect everyone. Since then Yuu became like a different person, goofy. He had goofy moments before too but got serious when he was required to. But after that, it’s like he became like a child, being too happy-go-lucky, not thinking things through, speaking in gugu gaga language and saying the weirdest jokes at the most inappropriate times. I tried to find reasons for this like maybe the drugs frying his brain but after reading this chapter I have the feeling that our Yuu’s mind has been merging with eye Yuu’s without people knowing, and therefore our Yuu is behaving like the person eyeball Yuu saw the most and spent its time the most with, angel Michaela. After all, angel Michaela was presumably a kid and seems very innocent and optimistic, just like current Yuu (minus Yuu’s dark crazy moments).

Overall, solid chapter. It’s also nice to see that Kagami is still writing the chapters from where the previous ones left off instead of changing the setting but still I must say I really miss the complex conversations between different and multiple characters at the same time. That’s where Kagami’s writings fails the most so until I don’t see the other characters again having well-written conversations I can’t really say Kagami’s writing has improved.

#I hope I didn’t miss anything #owari no seraph #seraph of the end #yūichirō hyakuya #mikaela hyakuya #shikama doji #sika madu

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wangxianficrecs · 1 year

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in this place where we don't have prayer by Cerusee, Mikkeneko

in this place where we don't have a prayer

by Cerusee, Mikkeneko

T, 42k, wangxian, xuanli

Summary: And now it’s time for the canon divergence AU where Jin Zixun has the tactical sense to station archers on both sides of Qiongqi Path for his murder ambush, and Jin Zixuan shows up fifteen minutes late with Starbucks.

Mojo's comments: Authors' tags are KILLING ME.

Excerpt: [JGS said,] "…As long as the Ghost General roams free, Wei Wuxian’s evil deeds continue to plague us all. I truly wonder why the Jiang wish to reclaim him now. Was that previous expulsion simply a convenient fiction, to save face? To protect the Jiang, from the bloody, heretical crimes of a demon child?” “Yes,” Jiang Jianbi said, immediately. “The Jiang disciples never renounced Wei Wuxian. Nor did Jiang-zongzhu ever ask us to, within Lotus Pier.” “It was all a lie, then?” “I believe that ‘a convenient fiction’ is one definition of a lie,” Jiang Jianbi said, politely. “Surely all who reside in this tower are familiar with lying, and do not require the inferior tutelage of the Jiang in this subtle and excellent art. Wei-xiong—ah, he simply wished to distance himself from the Jiang for the brief duration necessary to establish—to establish the farmers of the Dafan Wen in their new home. He had—of course—always intended to return to Lotus Pier, his home. Wei Wuxian’s murder has robbed the clan of a brother, and the sect, of its most gifted and beloved disciple. The Jiang believe we are owed recompense for Wei Wuxian’s death, and demand a reckoning from the perpetrators.” (Jiang Jianbi, Jin Zixuan abruptly recalled A-Li telling him the other night, was one of the very few Jiang disciples who’d survived the Wen massacre of Lotus Pier, having been away on a night hunt, at the time. One of our only shidis left, she’d said, tearfully. It suddenly occurred to him that Jiang Jianbi must therefore have been exposed to a great deal of Wei Wuxian, at a formative age.) The room briefly silenced, while everyone tried to absorb that, and his father’s face, which had darkened more and more over the course of this speech, flushed purple, and then he stood, kicked over the table in front of him, and rose, and strode over to where the Jiang’s First Disciple stood, proudly, chin raised, and hands folded behind his back. Father snarled, “Wei Wuxian was the jumped-up son of a servant. He was a heretic and a demon. His life cannot be compared to even one of the Jin.” “That’s true,” Jiang Jianbi said, unflinching. “Wei-xiong was worth a thousand Jin.” Father slammed his fist across Jiang Jianbi’s face, and sent him sprawling. Author's Notes: I can only presume one of the notes Jiang Cheng left was for Jiang Jianbi, and it read “just go fucking feral.”

canon-divergence, qiongqi path ambush, dead wei wuxian, he gets better though, angst, grief/mourning, lan wangji becomes the wen protector, golden core reveal, bamf first disciple jiang oc, jiang cheng is a mess, good brother jiang cheng, medial core magic revivification, feelings realization, dramatic lan wangji, bamf madam jin, politically subtle nie mingjue, necromancer/necromancee psychic bond, jiang siblings, hurt wei wuxian, weak wei wuxian, hurt/comfort, marriage proposal, yunmeng wen, communication, brotherly feels, wedding planner jiang cheng, genius wei wuxian & wen qing duo, happy ending, @cerusee @mikkeneko

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for these hard-working authors if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

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shroomtime00 · 1 year

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Always and Forever (hunter x reader)

You descend down the staircase, and with each step the stairs creak and groan. You scrunch up your nose, how can a staircase be this noisy?

You jump down the last remaining steps, “And they stick the landing!” you make a gymnast’s salute, like the one that lady did in the metal box in the living room. Grinning to yourself you glanced around, taking in the basement-turned-bedroom.

It’s rather dusty, the musky smell filling your lungs. It must haven’t been used for a while, not until you and the others…

You shake your head, not wanting to finish that thought. Now wasn’t time to be worried or stressed.

Cardboard boxes piled corners and littered the ground, with words like, ‘Luz’s costumes’, or ‘Manny’s cosplay 2008’ scribbled hastily in black ink. The fairy lights, which hung from every corner of the wall and every pole in sight, paint the room a warm white shade.

You now look to the two sleeping areas in the middle. The couch, which you presumed was where Gus slept, was unmade and rather messy, with the blanket sprawled across the couch and pillows everywhere. The sleeping bag, however, was neat and tidy, without a crease in the covers.

“Done examining me and Gus’s room?” The cocky, scratchy voice cuts into the silence, and you perk up at such a sound.

Quickly you whip your head to where it had come from. Hunter, who now was smirking triumphantly because he had properly startled you, was sitting behind a table with the…uh, sewing device in front of him. You were a little cautious of the gizmo, seeing as it pricked you when you put your finger in the needle contraption the first time you tried repairing a towel! Honestly, you even wondered why Hunter spent so much time with such a thing.

Said blonde now runs his fingers through his newly cut hair. “What are you even looking for? The Titan’s lost gold or something?”

You roll your eyes at the reference of a child’s tale back in the demon realm, but you stride to Hunter and plop yourself down in his chair, “What are you doing, then?”

He gestures to the denim jeans inside the mouth of the device, “I’m repairing Gus’s jeans!” he replies cheerfully, “They got ripped when Vee was teaching him those….uh, roller skating tricks?” he shakes his head as he begins the device, its whirring sound making his voice a little muffled, “I’ll never get the point of it.”

“The point is to have fun!” you laugh, “What, do you not know what that is?”

He stops the machine to give you a pointed look, “I know what fun is!” his voice cracks when he says ‘what’, and you chuckle at his face, with reddened embarrassment.

He raises an eyebrow when he recovers, “Really? Sticking wheels on your feet and rolling around, with the very high risk of falling and getting a broken nose counts as, ‘fun’?”

“Just admit you’re scared of it, Hunter.”

“Wha – I am NOT scared of roller skating!” he utters a little too loudly, and now you tilt your head sideways, your smirk telling him he shouldn’t have said anything, “Oh, really? Then how come you were clinging onto my sweater and demanding I won’t let go of your hand?” you accuse.

“I — Uh, I was just trying to make you feel better about your poor skating skills!” he counters, “And anyways, I saw Luz and Amity holding hands while they were skating, are we not allowed to do that?”

You flush, because he doesn’t realize what he’s said. Amity and Luz were holding hands because they were dating.

But…weren’t you and Hunter dating too?

You had forgotten about that! Yes, yes you were. Ever since a week ago, you and him had been, er, going out, as one could say. It still surprises you every time you remember.

With your lack of words he decides he’s won, so Hunter turns his attention back to the sewing device. His hands move against the denim as the thread makes a trail against the blue fabric.

You have to admit, it’s kinda mesmerizing. The way his hands work, moving the fabric higher and higher, the needle stitching the thread by itself. You can’t quite wrap your mind around how technologically advanced humans have become. Maybe having no magic pushed them further to create better things?

You glance back at your frie — your boyfriend. He’s humming an idle tune as he works, reminding you of that one movie with the yellow and blue dressed princess who talked to animals and cleaned a stranger’s house Luz had showed you during one of the movie nights.

Hunter’s wearing a red shirt with some triangle red bird with very dark eyebrows etched down, with its beak in a frown. He’s wearing sweatpants with that bat superhero, and his pink bunny slippers hit on the ground as he taps them. With the tapping and humming, it looks like he’s hosting his very own synchronized dance.

“Aaand done!” he says finally, sunnily as he lifts up the newly repaired jeans, with a grin that pictures his tooth gap perfectly, “So? Whaddya think?”

You tilt your head. The brightly bubblegum colored thread certainly…added a pop of color to the pants.

“It’s colorful.” you decide finally. Hunter’s smile only seems to brighten more, “Thanks! For a beginner I think I’m not too shabby, personally!” he puts down the jeans and runs his fingers down the stitches of pink, beaming at his work.

You can’t help it as a soft smile upturns your lips. Why was his smile so pretty?

You hadn’t seen much of that smile in the Boiling Isles, where he was always frowning or angry or stressed.

Hunter’s gone through so much. From being a scout at age eleven to becoming the golden guard at age fourteen, to then finding out his life was built upon a tower of lies, to then finally becoming him. Just Hunter.

And you’re proud of him.

You put your hand to his shoulder, just smiling at the newly-fixed jeans with pops of pink then saying quietly, “You did great Hunter. I’m so proud of you.”

You don’t get a response for a while, so you tear your eyes away from the pants and look up curiously at him.

Alarm pierces your chest as you can see his fingers tremble on the pants, so slight yet so noticeable, and put them down. You dart your eyes up, and his own magenta ones are blurry and unfocused.

Immediately you scoot closer to him, bringing a hand up to mop the tears away with your sleeve, “W-why’re you crying? Did I do something wrong? Did I say something?” you panic.

Hunter laughs, coming out more of a breath than a chuckle as his scarred hand touches yours. When he turns his head to graze his lips on your palm, you feel his blonde curls move against your hand.

Heat spreads in your face as he clears his throat and begins, still a little raspy, “No, you didn’t say anything wrong, (reader).” he chuckles, “It’s just….I haven’t really heard those words come from anyone, much. You know, the emperor’s coven and their high expectations!” Now the tears begin to fall, slowly, “It was impossible to please Unc — emperor Belos.”

Your heart drops when he says that. He sniffles, “Sorry, this was stupid—”

His words are interrupted with your body clashing with his, you cradling one arm on his head and the other at his back. Your heart presses with his, and you can feel his muffled beating grow quicker.

Hunter stays frigid for a second, before he melts into the hug, leaning his head on your shoulder as he wraps his arms around your body. The warmth of it all encourages you to say what you want.

“I’m always going to be proud of you, Hunter,” you whisper softly against his hair, “Always and forever.”

No answer again, but you don’t need one. This says enough, more than enough, with your bodies intertwined with each other, sharing each other’s warmth.

He doesn’t pull away, and neither do you for a bit. Because this is what he needs, and this is what you’ll give him.

“Thank you.” he mumbles hoarsely, sniffling. You hold him tighter, squeezing his body. You hope he understands the message you’re giving him.

That you won’t ever desert him, for as long as you can. That you’ll stay by his side. Always and forever.

So that’s where you stay until the last of his tears end. And when you pull away, you’re grinning.

“So, how about a sewing lesson?”

#angst and hurt/comfort #the owl house #the golden guard x reader #hunter x reader #oneshot #fluff #toh hunter x reader

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kohakurin8 · 6 months

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It's Not Me, It's My Basement

Explained

⚠️ WARNING ⚠️

This Post Contains Soilers Following the First Paragraph.

Proceed with Caution.

That's right! It's Halloween time, my favorite holiday ever, and I'm back at it again with the semi-extensive theory posts. This time I'm tackling something in one of my favorite genre of media -- Horror RPG Maker Games.

Last night I experienced an adorable, eerie little game called It's Not Me, It's My Basement.

Developed by arcadekitten, the incredibly short-&-sweet story follows a non-binary child named Embry G. Oliver who is hiding a horrible monster in their basement. Although they didn't see it for themselves, they believe that the monster ate their parents, and Embry now feeds it whatever they can so that it doesn't attempt to eat them too. Unfortunately, as the story progresses it appears that the more the monster eats, the stronger and hungrier it becomes...

The story then begins to reach its climax when Embry visits the market to find a traveling doctor in town. Since Embry has been telling the villagers that their parents are bedridden sick, they're forced to meet Dr. D. Light (who is acutely of his punny name) and take him back home. Dr. D. is incredibly kind and helpful, even capable of making Embry trust him enough to open the basement door. However, in an attempt to stop him from descending the stairs to meet the monster, Embry accidentally pushes the Dr to his death. Truly tragic ...

Throughout the entire short story, the monster is never truly seen. However, it does demonstrate its ability to mimic voices and presumably shapeshift, all the while acting mercilessly manipulative. By the ending, that took me entirely by surprise, Embry has a nightmare where they confront the demon and get consumed by it, only to wake up and brazenly descend the basement for real.

And that's it

That's where it ends.

Boom, roll credits.

Now, my intense OCD ass simply can't cope with an ending so sudden and inexplicable, even if it was written incredibly well. In fact, the entire story was cryptic and felt immensely symbolic, steeped so heavily in allusions to depression and guilt that you could serve it at tea-time. So of course, I began to research popular opinions and theorize about what all of it really meant.

Now, the most popular theories (and almost exclusively) are either:

1) Everything is exactly as it's spelled out for you. A monster ate Embry's parents, it can shapeshift and manipulate, and Embry finally gains the courage to confront it instead of running away.

2) Embry actually has a Split Personality, or psychotic alter-ego, which murdered their parents and now the Main Personality of Embry is living with guilt that they don't entirely understand.

3) Something bad happened to Embry's parents that, as a child, Embry cannot understand and the entire story of the game is Embry suffering from traumatic hallucinations.

Obviously, these all have some pretty big flaws. The first theory is simple enough, but relatively uninspired, and feels rather like an insult to the thought put into the nuances of the story. Not to mention, Embry, their parents, and even Dr. D. Light cameo in other arcadekitten games that canonically take place afterwards.

Which farther disproves the second theory, since the characters are all clearly alive and well. Not to mention, as someone with a lot of experience in the field of child trauma and psychological issues, the story really gives no hints whatsoever to Embry potentially having a split personality. Nor does it hint at any potential triggers that would cause them to kill their parents.

And the third theory is the best yet, but still leaves some holes.

So, after careful consideration, I offer you my inspired theory: The Coma Dream.

Perhaps they were in an accident with their parents, like a car crash (or in this world, carriage crash). They were sent into a coma and assumed their parents died based on the sounds they'd heard, since while in a coma they couldn't remember the details of what happened.

Being a child, Embry would have related the sounds they heard during the accident to some sort of monster. Especially if they were asleep when the accident occured.

Within the mysterious subconscious of a coma they could have fabricated a story based on their fears about what really happened and what life would be like without their parents. The heavy theme of guilt and mistakes would even be Embry's immature mind trying to cope with what happened, and feeling like they had done something wrong since they couldn't really understand it all.

Kids have a tendency to blame themselves for things that weren't their fault, simply because they don't understand the situation.

Then of course, facing those fears in the basement is what allows them to wake up.

This even potentially explains Dr. D. Light. Considering Embry's mother was a nurse, as revealed in her cameo in Crowscare, the Dr could be her boss or the family's personal doctor. Someone Embry trusted and liked.

Although Embry acted like they'd only just met the Dr, it isn't unheard of to not entirely recognize (or only subconsciously recognize) someone typically familiar in a dream.

And have you ever had a really intense nightmare where things start to get better, and you think something good might happen and help you, but then your fear and anxiety of something bad ruining it actually causes that to happen in the dream?

Because I have and that would explain why Dr. D was so reassuring only for Embry to panic and push him down the stairs. The more they worried about D getting hurt, the more they thought about what bad could happen, and suddenly those thoughts came to fruition.

Following this theory, after facing the monster in the basement, Embry may have either unlocked their memory about what happened -- a painful, terrifying memory that they were trying to hide -- or perhaps they merely finally gained the courage to wake up from their coma. Either way, when they wake up their parents and Dr. D would be safe and sound, and they could all live together happily again.

Of course, this is only a theory, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

If you're interested in playing the game, you can download it here:

#it's not me it's my basement #inmimb #horror #rpg #horror rpg #rpg maker #explained #theory

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thecreaturecodex · 1 year

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Rakshasa Immortal, Hajun

Image © Light Studio, accessed at the Shinza Bansho Wiki here

[Commissioned by @tar-baphon. I’ve done a number of monsters from anime and games that I haven’t seen or played, but this is the first from a series I haven’t even heard of! In the real world, Hajun is one of the many names of Mara, a demon who attempts to distract the Buddha from reaching enlightenment (presumably he’s not called Mara in the series because in archaic Japanese, “mara” means “penis”). In the visual novels, Hajun is the supreme god, having killed the previous three supreme gods and absorbed their abilities. Obviously, that’s not going to fly at Pathfinder power levels, especially when I was requested to make this a CR 25 monster.]

Rakshasa Immortal, Hajun CR 25 LE Outsider (native) This young man has bronze skin and golden hair. He wears a simple robe but armbands and earrings of gold and platinum. A third eye grows in the center of his forehead, and all three of his eyes are solid black with white pupils..

The Heavenly Eye, the Empty LE male Rakshasa Immortal Domains Evil, Law, Madness, Void Subdomains Corruption, Isolation, Truth, Tyranny Concerns hypocrisy, narcissism, solitude Worshipers martial artists, mystics, solipsists, tyrants Minions evil daitengu, tataka rakshasas, undead (especially incorporeal undead) Favored Weapon unarmed strike Unholy Symbol a lotus blossom with three eyes, the lower two closed and the upper one open Obedience meditate in absolute silence for 1 hour. If you are interrupted, punish the intruder with physical violence. Gain a +4 profane bonus on saving throws against sonic and language dependent abilities. Boons 1: silence 2/day; 2: crushing despair 2/day; 3: banishment 2/day

Hajun the Empty is one of the most powerful rakshasa immortals, and has a strange and elaborate origin. He was mortal once, a child immured in a cave as a sacrifice to wicked gods. In his life, Hajun had always been solitary and strange, convinced that he had consumed a twin in the womb and that it could still communicate with him in his thoughts. In his death, the slow suffocation combined with his psychic power and conviction that he was not truly alone catapulted his soul to come back and revenge his own death. Once he had wreaked his bloody revenge, he turned to make the world truly empty, so he could finally, blissfully, be in perfect isolation. Hajun’s ultimate goal is to destroy the River of Souls and empty the universe. He is mad enough to try, and powerful enough that even if he fails, will cause untold destruction through the planes.

Hajun’s cult attracts narcissists and solipsists of all kinds, as his dogma of individual importance above all else and peace through violence appeals to them. These cults are strongly micromanaged, as the Heavenly Eye regularly views his followers through divination magic. In areas where Hajun’s influence is most felt, people live in solitude and are habitually cruel to each other, for fear that a single act of kindness might be brutally punished as much as anything else. The weak tend to die in these communes and the strong survive, leading to an isolated patch of powerful and wicked characters silently resenting each other and anyone who crosses their path.

Hajun considers mortal creatures to be filth, not worth a fair fight but instead cleansing them from afar with his mandala blast. This technique creates a swirling pattern of energy, marked at its vertices with elaborate diagrams, mockeries of techniques used to focus the mind and meditate. If creatures survive long enough for a direct confrontation with Hajun, he fights with a combination of powerful psychic magic and unarmed strikes. He is a master of martial arts, and can tear off an enemy’s head with a single blow.

In order to achieve his great power, Hajun has slain three powerful outsiders--a solar, a lhaksharut and a malebranche--and absorbed their power. Although Hajun disdains their remaining influence as being stains on his perfect form, without them, he would not have the breadth of magical abilities that he has. His parasitic twin, real or imagined, is similarly resented, but Hajun can divide his mind in order to combine magic and martial power simultaneously. Hajun’s domain is a demiplane of his own creation, called the Throne of Heaven. Here, he can rewrite reality according to his whims, and pretend, at least for a while, that he is the sole being in existence.

Hajun usually assumes a human form to appeal to his vanity, but leaves his third eye visible. In his natural form, he has the head of a crow with golden feathers.

Hajun CR 25 XP 1,640,000 LE Medium outsider (native, rakshasa) Init +16; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +41, true seeing Defense AC 43, touch 33, flat-footed 30 (+12 Dex, +10 Wis, +1 dodge, +10 natural) hp 560 (32d10+320); fast healing 20 Fort +22, Ref +30, Will +28 DR 20/epic and piercing; Immune curses, death effects, disease, paralysis, petrifaction, poison, sleep; Resist acid 20, cold 20, electricity 20, fire 20, sonic 20; SR 40 Defensive Abilities double mind Offense Speed 50 ft. Melee unarmed strike +47/+42/+37/+32 or +45/+45/+40/+40/+35/+35/+30 (2d10+12/19-20) Special Attacks detect thoughts (DC 36), mandala blast, vorpal strike Spell-like Abilities CL 25th, concentration +35 (+39 casting defensively) At will—analyze aura, flesh to stone (DC 26), greater teleport, song of discord (DC 26), vision 3/day—quickened disintegrate (DC 26), finger of death (DC 27), heal (DC 26), insanity (DC 27), moment of prescience, orb of the void (DC 28) 1/day—create greater demiplane, divide mind, foresight, implosion (DC 29) Spells CL 20th, concentration +30 (+34 casting defensively) 9th (7/day)—akashic form, mage’s disjunction, microcosm (DC 29), miracle, power word kill 8th (7/day)—demand (DC 28), discern location, greater planar ally, iron body, maze 7th (7/day)—banishment (DC 27), ethereal jaunt, greater scrying (DC 27), mind blank, waves of exhaustion 6th (8/day)—foster hatred (DC 26), mental barrier V, mind thrust VI (DC 26), psychic surgery, transformation 5th (8/day)—commune, echolocation, feeblemind (DC 25), greater synaptic pulse (DC 25), overland flight, utter contempt (DC 25) 4th (8/day)—confusion (DC 24), crushing despair (DC 24), freedom of movement, guardian of faith (DC 24), telekinesis (DC 24), thoughtsense 3rd (8/day)—arcane sight, blink, haste, heroism, magic vestment, protection from energy 2nd (9/day)—anticipate thoughts (DC 22), bear’s endurance, eagle’s splendor, silence (DC 22), suggestion (DC 22), spiritual weapon, undetectable alignment 1st (9/day)—bless, command (DC 21), expeditious retreat, mage armor, magic aura (DC 21), magic missile, psychic reading 0th—detect magic, ghost sound, grave words, light, mage hand, message, prestidigitation, read magic, telekinetic projectile Statistics Str 35, Dex 35, Con 35, Int 31, Wis 31, Cha 31 Base Atk +32; CMB +44; CMD 67 Feats Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Crane Riposte, Crane Style, Crane Wing, Dodge, Improved Critical (unarmed strike), Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike (B), Panther Claw, Panther Parry, Panther Style, Power Attack, Quicken SLA (disintegrate), Tiger Claws, Tiger Pounce, Tiger Style Skills Acrobatics +43, Bluff +41, Climb +38, Diplomacy +38, Disguise +26, Fly +40, Intimidate +38, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, history, nobility) +38, Knowledge (local, planes, religion) +41, Linguistics +23, Perception +41, Sense Motive +41, Spellcraft +38, Stealth +43, Use Magic Device +23; Racial Modifiers +4 Bluff, +8 Disguise Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Infernal, Tengu, 13 others, tongues, telepathy 300 ft. SQ change shape (animal or humanoid, alter self), feather step, monastic training, triple style Ecology Environment any land Organization unique Treasure double standard Special Abilities Double Mind (Ex) Hajun rolls twice for all Will saves and takes the superior result. Feather Step (Su) Hajun ignores all difficult terrain as a supernatural ability. Mandela Blast (Su) As a standard action, Hajun can create a column of divine energy in a 40 foot radius, 240 feet high, within 1,500 feet. All creatures in the area take 25d10 damage, half of which is force and half of which is fire damage (Reflex DC 36). The save DC is Charisma based. Monastic Training (Ex) Hajun gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat and deals damage with unarmed strikes, and gains flurry of blows, as per a 20th level monk. Hajun also adds his Wisdom modifier to his AC and CMD unless he is helpless. Rakshasa Immortal Trait (Ex/Su) Hajun is a rakshasa immortal, a powerful unique outsider capable of granting spells. This also grants him the following abilities

Immunity to death effects, disease and poison

Resist acid, cold, electricity, fire and sonic 20

DR/epic

Telepathy 300 ft.

Hajun’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons he wields, are treated as epic, lawful and evil for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.

Spells Hajun casts spells as a 20th level psychic. He does not gain psychic class abilities such as a phrenic pool, but does gain bonus spells from the Faith and Self-Perfection disciplines. Triple Stance (Ex) Hajun can have three martial arts stances active at a time, and can enter up to three stances as a swift action. True Seeing (Su) Hajun can sense the world as a true seeing spell as a supernatural ability. Vorpal Strike (Su) If Hajun succeeds at confirming a critical hit on a roll of a natural 20, he knocks off the opponent’s head. This kills most living corporeal creatures.

#hajun #rakshasa #rakshasa immortal #demigod #buddhism #shinza bansho #dies irae pantheon #visual novel #commissions

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notedgyanymore · 9 months

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Lmk x Ninjago crossover prompt

Some important information before I start fully explaining the idea! The Ninjago side of the story takes place in Japan, and its lore is modified to fit lmk's version of Journey to the West, meaning that the characters’ power comes from local gods, not spinjitzu and even though the ninjas are still considered legendary warriors in their own right, they are not that well known outside of Japan and are considerably weaker than the lmk cast, who are just starting to become globally recognizable, especially with the return of Sun Wukong who is already world-renowned.

( Sorry for nerfing the ninjas 😢)

Also Qi Xiaotian and MK are different people in this universe.

Qi Xiaotian is the harbinger of chaos, when his stone was found, it was seen only as a bad omen that needed to be dealt with immediately, so the Jade emperor called upon the help of Sun Wukong and ordered the complete destruction of the stone, so the presumably malicious being could never be born. Even with the similarities to his own origins, Wukong could still see the signs that something was wrong, that this creature wasn’t naturally formed like he was. With much thought, he comes to a conclusion that it was best to comply and accept this mission. The monkey king quickly ground the stone into a fine powder, for there was no sympathy for that which has never lived and never will live, or that’s what he thought. When resurrecting the Six-Eared Macaque, Lady Bone Demon didn't ask for her freedom in return, no, she asked for something seemingly much more innocent, the macaque only needed to do one thing, to fix a broken stone, to give an opportunity to a child to live. It was difficult to refuse, and it took centuries, but with the help of his lantern, he was able to locate every single grain spread by Wukong each containing a piece of the dormant soul, and with that, the stone monkey Qi Xiaotian was finally able to be born!

Xiaotian wasn't purposely fed lies, but unfortunately for him, his guardian didn't know better, and assumptions ended up being made, and a poor kid grew up believing that his own family didn't want him around.

Mk has a similar start in life, but with some key differences. His name is actually Michio Kajiya born as the fraternal twin brother of Kai the Red Ninja. He caught the unfortunate attention of the celestial realm right after birth as he was in possession of a “defective soul” that was never meant to be incarnated in the first place and wasn't defined as being celestial, human, or demonic, thus being unable to be accessed by the underworld, meaning that MK’s name is not on the book of death either, moreover, his being was incredibly susceptible to influences around him, which meant that under the right/wrong guidance he could be molded to become anything and to hold any power needed.

Once again, the celestial realm told Sun Wukong to get rid of the problem, however, this time he was unable to finish the job. Michio unlike Xiaotian was already alive and wasn't destined for anything malign, so the monkey king took pity on the boy, hiding him in China under his watchful eye. There was now a destiny that belonged to Mk a path to greatness, as monkey king was slowly influencing him to take his power, so later he could become his apprentice.

Qi Xiaotian and MK are rivals, contrary to the show, Macaque does not go after MK, leaving that to Xiaotian. Basically, Xiaotian torments MK and Macaque torments Sun Wukong.

Xiaotian dislikes Mk because he is under the impression that he's related to monkey king and that Mk has been given a position that should rightfully belong to him, additionally, he is also Mei's childhood friend from before she moved to Megapolis, has a huge unrequited crush on her, and is incredibly jealous of the relationship that she currently has with MK. Surprisingly, this antagonism subsides with the arrival of the ninjas in China. In the middle of battle, Garmadon (who is working with LBD) reveals to Kai and his friends that his brother Michio was stolen by a demon right after birth and now lives in China. Obviously, Garmadon isn't trustworthy, but Kai needed to be sure if it was true that his brother was indeed alive and well. There in China, they enlist the help of a friendly monkey demon who swears to help them in their journey. Meanwhile, Xiaotian is questioning his worldview now that he knows that MK didn't steal his destiny but was instead stolen from his family.

Bonus information! Yep there is more!

Lady Bone Demon's plan is to use Qi Xiaotian to end the world, and Mk is her backup, cuz even though his soul is more defined than it was before, he can still wield the power of others under the right conditions.

I don't have a defined timeline for which season of Ninjago this is taking place, but I'm thinking about a hybrid timeline in which the ninjas are older and the same age as the LMK's characters, but the plot is about them battling against Garmadon for golden weapons.

Lloyd is the same age as the other ninjas.

Garmadon in this universe was killed by Master Wu, and it was brought back by LBD.

LBD has asked Garmadon to bring her the golden weapons to use on her mech however, he totally wants to betray her and keep the weapons for himself.

Shipping time!

Pigsy and Tang are married and are MK’s adoptive parents.

Xiaotian falls in love with Lloyd after getting over the fact that Mei doesn't like him back. (He likes green, I guess.)

Mk, I would ship with Red Son cuz I like spicynoodles

And maybe a bit of Mei x Nya 🤔 or some subtle shadowpeach.

I'm aware that no one is going to read this, but I need to get it out of my system so this Au will stop assaulting my brain in the middle of the night when I'm trying to sleep.

#lego monkie kid #lmk #ninjago #crossover #lmk fic prompt #lmk au #lmk x ninjago

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thebibliomancer · 8 months

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Essential Avengers: Avengers #300: Inferno Squared

February, 1989

Presenting the NEW TEAM!

Mister Fantastic

The Mighty THOR

Invisible Woman

Steve Rogers, the CAPTAIN

and reintroducing

Gilgamesh, the FORGOTTEN ONE!

-reverent whisper- The Worst Roster!

Its finally arrived...

I’m going to keep an open mind because at least its not Dr Druid, who I will never stop dunking on. But Gilgamesh is dragging this team down. Look at him in the cast box. He’s just a grim brunette with a boxy head.

Thor is going to be on the same team. You’re going to put Gilgamesh in Thor’s shadow right from day 2? You’re not giving him much of a chance, Simonson.

Also, the title is technically INFERNO^2 but I don’t know how to do the superscript thing and I don’t think it works in the title bar.

Last times on Avengers!

Thor disbanded the Avengers. There are no Avengers.

Because of X-Men demon related biz, the Captain Notmerica decided to go get Invisible Woman and Mr Fantastic in the middle of the night. But they’re already involved in another subplot with a creepy egg kidnapping Franklin.

The heroes chase Nanny down but find her enforcer Orphan-Maker and Franklin-in-a-robot-suit tough fights. Also, Gilgamesh showed up to specifically this subplot even though he was going to New York to fight demons.

AND THE KANG SUBPLOT IS STILL HAPPENING?

GOD DAMN IT

This is Fred Kang, the Kang that was sorta the focus Kang of the Kang Klubhouse subplot of the Nebula Kang arc.

He nicknamed himself after Fred Flintstone.

While every other Kang was getting seduced by Nebula Kang into giving away their best technology, Fred Kang kept his dick in his pants and helped Beard Kang and Dinosaur Kang go after Nebula Kang to stop her from stealing the weapon in the bubble in the center of time that the Kangs really wanted.

But after freeing the Avengers from Nebula Kang mind control, the Kangs fell into time and disappeared.

Fred Kang finds that he’s still trapped on the surface of the time bubble in time. That’s why its all pink around him. Time bubbles are pink.

And that’s why I’m peeved at seeing Kang. Aside from the subplot doing nothing and being bad, explaining it takes a whole lot of words considering how nothing of a story it was.

Fred Kang says a lot of technobabble about why he’s still alive and how he’ll be dead once random probabilities run out.

But he gets distracted by seeing a vision of the demonic invasion of New York. And wonders where the fuck the Avengers are.

Hey, you and me both, buddy.

He speculates that the demons killed the Avengers and are destroying alternate futures. But that can’t be because the Avengers are going to enter the time bubble, the bubble in time in the future. So therefore, he needs to enter their probability envelope to escape non-existence.

Just so much technobabble. I hate you, Fred Kang.

Long story short, he’s going to try to help the Avengers to ensure his own existence.

There is just so much Kang in this ISSUE THREE HUNDRED OF AVENGERS, WHICH IS PRIMARILY CONCERNED WITH AN X-MEN CROSSOVER EVENT.

My positivity is leaving my body.

Kang spies on N’astirh and some of his demon guys discussing all the child sacrifice Madelyne Pryor is getting read to do. Kang don’t like that none.

Not because of the child sacrifice but it does mean that the timeline is going a direction that’s bad for him, personally.

He finds what he thinks are some Avengers (being the Captain, Mr Fantastic, and Invisible Woman) and flies off to their position.

In a bit I kinda love, Mr Fantastic backseat drives Sue by telling her to use her force field to protect herself from being set on fire.

And her reaction is ‘yeah, no shit.’

Gilgamesh is not so worried about how to stop Franklin without harming him. He just walked up and punches Red Franklin in the back.

Luckily (for Franklin’s spine) the suit is pretty mighty and holds up well. Presumably, Gilgamesh is a lot more rusty than he thought.

Meanwhile, the Captain clobbers Orphan-Maker to pay back the cheap shot. He knocks him on his ass and the creep starts crying to Nanny.

Mr Fantastic realizes, oh right, the egg.

He wraps around Orphan-Maker and threatens to murder him if Nanny doesn’t free Franklin.

Mr Fantastic: “I don’t want to hurt your boy, but where my child is at risk, I’ll be just as bad as I have to be. Don’t make me do something we’ll both regret.”

Lamentably, Inferno keeps happening.

Back over with N’astirh, one of his horrible demons brings Red Franklin to N’astirh’s attention and goes ‘hey its an important baby, a dark childe.’

Having this dark childe would help them more efficiently fuck over Madelyne Pryor after she plays her part in this mess.

Back at the quasi-Avengers part of the plot, Nanny agrees to leave without Franklin. But as she’s getting into her airship, she nursery rhyme orders Franklin to murder everyone.

Mr Fantastic was expecting this. Because an easy way to have him be the smartest person in the room is to let him read ahead in the script.

But now that Nanny and Orphan-Maker are out of the picture, Reed has a plan to free Franklin. Or kill him.

Reed... Reed just does this stuff sometimes.

Invisible Woman: “But -- you may hurt him! Even kill him!”

Mr Fantastic: “We must take that chance, darling. As long as he’s under Nanny’s mental control, the entire world is in deadly peril!”

Is it though?

It’s a mighty robot suit but he’s barely a deadly peril to the entire park.

Like I said, Reed just does this stuff sometimes. He’s always willing to make the hard choice, especially if it puts Franklin in a coma.

This time, he yanks some wires out of the Fantasti-Car to zap Red Franklin and fuse his armor.

Red Franklin face plants, armor busted as planned. Franklin maybe dead.

Nanny chooses this moment to try to expeditiously retreat but Scary Susan rears her head.

If you’re not familiar, Scary Susan is the tendency of Sue’s modern personality to be “will fuck you up if you give her half a reason. Do it, jerk. Make her day.”

Some times it seems like she thinks of the most fucked up application of her power and just WAITS for a chance to use it. She needs an excuse. She’d be a monster if she did it for no reason.

Oh, the Spot trying to steal some of Reed’s technology. BAM FORCE BUBBLE IN HIS SINUS.

Yeah, Scary Susan.

Don’t cross her.

Nanny tries to escape, Sue catches the ship and holds it in place, and then the ship blows up from the strain. She contains all the wreckage and then dumps it into the nearby lake.

While Sue was maybe killing an egg and a child (they’re fiiiine), Reed was confirming that he didn’t actually accidentally(?) kill his son.

He can’t actually get the armor off here, though. Franklin was sealed into the armor and the armor is powered by Franklin.

Mr Fantastic: “Looks like Nanny didn’t expect to let him out again. And there’s technology here I’m unfamiliar with. A pity it died with its builder.”

Is it??

Like, science is neutral or whatever. But are you bemoaning the loss of child-powered robot suits?

Gilgamesh remembers he’s in this book so points out that the wreckage that fell into the lake wasn’t enough to be Nanny’s full ship. He guesses that the wreckage was a decoy that Nanny ejected so she could escape.

The Captain also remembers Gilgamesh is in the book now and asks hey who dis.

Gilgamesh reminds the Captain that they’ve fought together, during Eternals vol 2. But, hey, both of them were dressed differently and Gilgamesh didn’t have a name at the time.

For some reason, saying he didn’t have a name at the time doesn’t job the Captain’s memory. So Gilgamesh goes off on a whole speech.

The Captain: “Have you a name now?”

Gilgamesh: “I have had many. I woke when the world was new and slew dragons. Enkidu was my brother; Achilles my friend. I helped Aeneas set his standard upon the Palatine Hill... and strove beside David in the mountains of Judah.”

The Captain: “You’re the Nameless Eternal, the Forgotten One!”

Gilgamesh: “Indeed. It’s nice to be remembered.”

His response comes off as so wry.

Reed apparently listened as far as the first name drop and just decides this dude is Gilgamesh.

And that’s how Gilgamesh gets the name Gilgamesh. He was nameless up until this point, I just called him Gilgamesh for convenience.

Gilgamesh agrees that he was called Gilgamesh once so might as well go by that name now.

Now that Franklin is definitely saved forever, the Captain tells Gilgamesh that New York is swarming with demons and dammit he needs to put together a team, a team of Avengers! And Gilgamesh, monster hunter, would be great for that!

Now that Franklin is definitely saved forever, Mr Fantastic tells the Captain that as for himself and Sue, they’ve retired to devote more time to Franklin.

And while Reed is saying that, N’astirh kidnaps Franklin behind his back.

Just picks up the big red suit of power armor that Franklin is still stuck in and pulls him through a portal.

Plot is playing monkey in the middle with Franklin as the ball.

Reed tries to track the portal N’astirh used but since its demonic magical portal and not a SCIENCE portal, Reed’s at a loss.

The fantastic foursome of Mr Fantastic, Invisible Woman, the Captain, and Gilgamesh pile into the Fantasti-Car and fly around New York. Hoping that they’ll be able to detect Franklin’s unique energy signature.

Half-faded from existence Fred Kang though knows that Reed won’t be able to find Franklin with all the static being generated by Inferno. But his existence depends on them finding Franklin and reforming the Avengers! And Fred Kang is pretty sure he knows where N’astirh is hiding out.

So with his last seconds of existence, he activates an abandoned Growing Man.

Maybe this confirms that “Fred” Kang is actually the same main Kang that the Avengers tend to deal with over and over again. Since the Growing Man is presumably where the Avengers left it during issue #268: the Kang Dynasty.

With Kang, I find it best to just not sweat the specifics.

As the tiny Growing Man walks down the street, a demon actually spots him and decides to mess with him. And while the Growing Man starts off teeny-tiny and the demon is able to fling him around, he grows bigger and winds up hanging the demon over a lamppost like a wet towel.

With that done, the Growing Man follows the order that Kang apparently gave him to not be recognized by the Avengers. Uh, the whatever you call Cap’s group.

To accomplish not looking like a Growing Man when Growing Man he be, the Growing Man wades into some Inferno goo that’s just dripping off the Empire State Building.

It has mutagenic properties but eh Growing Man is a robot.

Now looking like a gross slime monster, the Growing Man walks off to find some Notvengers.

Over at wherever N’astirh set up shop, he plops armored Franklin in front of his demons and tells them to get to it.

For whatever reason, limbo demons are better at cutting Franklin free than Reed was. They didn’t even need specialized equipment.

Free of the armor, N’astirh jams him in some goo that will keep him asleep and siphon his power.

Geez. Franklin just keeps being used as a battery.

With Franklin’s power, N’astirh will be able to power up the portal bringing demons from Limbo. He’ll be able to move his entire army in an instant!

Ruh roh!

And rather than stick around and make sure this goes off without a hitch, N’astirh fucks off to another Inferno tie-in to sort out some business with S’ym.

Who is a Cerebus the Aardvark reference.

Anyway, the fantastic foursome of Cap and friends still haven’t been able to find Franklin’s energy.

Reed says he’ll search building by building if he has to but then there’s a big SKREEE-A-THOOM of thunder and the Captain asks Reed to detour.

It’s a friend from work.

(It’s Thor, doing what Thor does best. Beating up a pile of things and shit talking.)

Hey, remember how Thor disbanded the Avengers and took off with Black Knight to do Asgard stuff?

Black Knight is still with him!

He’s in a coma though.

I expect it’s serious.

Its kind of funny to me that Black Knight’s curse is so afflicting him that he’s become a prop.

No fooling.

Thor even tosses him into a vortex to keep him out of the way/safe while he joins Cap et al.

You could replace Black Knight with a bag full of fine porcelain.

Anyway, when they see that Thor is fighting demons, Gilgamesh gladly jumps in and starts punching. Thor doesn’t recognize Gilgamesh in his new armor or under his new name but is glad for the help.

(Side note: Thor and the Avengers apparently line up really well. He just returned to Earth in Thor #400 which came out the same month as Avengers #300.)

The Notvengers explain the situation to Thor off-panel and he agrees to join the team to help find Franklin.

And this is when he tosses Black Knight’s comatose body into a vortex for later.

Even with Thor, the Notvengers still have no idea where to look for Franklin and are thinking of splitting up to cover more ground. Mr Fantastic and Invisible Woman will keep looking for Franklin while Captain, Thor, and Gilgamesh will keep fighting demons.

The Growing Man doesn’t want them to split up for some reason. Sure, Kang needs A Team of Avengers or else the future is demons forever apparently. But also, I guess he wants it to be A Team of Avengers that also has one-half of the Fantastic Four in it.

So demon goo disguised Growing Man throws a car at them.

Demon goo disguised Growing Man taunts that they’ll all die and then Franklin will belong to demons forever and then runs off, baiting them to follow.

Invisible Woman thinks this is clearly bait for a trap but eh it might lead them to Franklin and they don’t have better ideas.

So they chase.

Goo’d Growing Man tries not to make it too obvious. He knocks down some buildings as he passes, forcing the Avengers to dodge debris or catch it.

The Notvengers get in the Fantasti-Car so they can follow without being at falling building level.

The goo man leads them to the World Trade Center which is where the demons made their base. Also, its just covered in goo and gross. He starts climbing.

The Notvengers fly or stretch up to the top of the building. And Reed’s Franklin-Detector detects a Franklin so they’re sure that the “demon” led them to the real Franklin.

The Growing Man goops into the building. Thor wants to smash into the building with Mjolnir but a bunch of actual demons have shown up, wondering who the fuck is intruding on their cool base.

They attack the Notvengers while loudly announcing everything like who they’re working for and that they’re guarding a kidnapped child.

I mean. Limbo demons aren’t the brightest. They’re dumb enough to follow Belasco, S’ym, N’astirh, Madylne. They’re just a real pack of idiots.

Anyway, action scene. The Notvengers beat up the demons.

A demon: “Look! It’s them was on the view screen! The Dark Childe’s parents! They should be dead! Kill them!”

KA-POW

Mr Fantastic: “Mister, you just said the magic words! There aren’t enough of you in all the world to keep me from my son now! And in the words of my best friend, ‘it’s clobberin’ time!!!’”

I’m always a little confused how Limbo managed to kill or corrupt the X-Men when they came to rescue Illyana in the original timeline of the Magik miniseries. The same Limbo demons when invading New York just get foddered by any superhero that fights them.

There’s an X spinoff book of a bunch of mutant kids beating up demons during Inferno.

That’s besides the point though.

The point is that the Notvengers are kicking demonic ass and making it look easy.

Gilgamesh comments that Avengers Assemble isn't a great battle cry (shut your dumb, eternal mouth) but concedes that the way the Captain says it makes it sound cool.

Because, remember, everything after Stern was fired was meant to lead up to Steve Rogers taking his place as the one, true leader of the Avengers.

Methinks Gilgamesh's comment be shilling.

Invisible Sue ignores everyone else fighting demons and just wanders into the demon nest to find Franklin stuck in demon goo with a star drawing his super Franklin energy out of his eyes.

Sue figures this is Probably Bad. She thinks its maybe connected to the big pentagram teleporting demons into the city. Either way, this nonsense gotta stop.

So she puts an invisible force field around Franklin to prevent the star from absorbing his energy. But the star is still drawing his energy, it just can't escape the bubble. So it builds up and builds up and then explodes.

Luckily, Franklin is immune to Franklin so is unscatched by a massive explosion. And it even frees him from the demon goo.

I don't know if Sue thought that through so its lucky that Franklin was immune to Franklin.

Anyway, when Franklin was freed of the demon suck, the pentagram above the city also blew up.

So this is probably what Fred Kang meant when he ranted that there'd be a forever demon future if there were no Avengers. Except other tie-ins, X books, gave other explanations for why the pentagram blew up. So probably the Notvengers accomplished nothing but saving a child. Which is pretty cool but other groups saved more children during this same event.

The demons present do freak out that the pentagram has been destroyed. N'astirh is gonna be peeved! Unless maybe they beat up the intruders??

Except these same intruders have been kicking their asses and continue kicking their asses.

I mean, we've got a god, someone who has been mistaken for several different gods, coolest man on Earth Steve Rogers, and also Mr Fantastic who is slingshotting the demons at Thor and Gilgamesh to beat up.

After everyone but Sue finishes beating up literally everyone, the demons emit pink smoke and then disintegrate.

Thor and the Captain tell Gilgamesh that he's pretty cool and asks him to stick around.

Gilgamesh: "Will there be more monsters?"

The Captain: "Mister, fighting monsters is what the Avengers does best!"

I dunno about best but they do fight a fair number of monsters.

Mr Fantastic asks Invisible Woman how Franlin is. She says he's asleep but seems fine. But insists that they get him home and having a doctor look over him is probably a good idea too.

I guess it looked like Mr Fantastic and Invisible Woman wouldn't be joining this new Avengers group the Captain is trying to put together because the Demon Goo Encrusted Growing Man pops up again to give them a common threat.

He shakes the World Trade Center tower, threatening to knock the whole thing down.

... Ah, things that are slightly awkward in hindsight.

And I just learned that one of Marvel's favorite ways to imply an alternate history is to show the World Trade Center still around.

I no longer think that demons infesting the building and a future robot trying to shake it down are that awkward in comparison.

Thor throws Mjolnir at what he thinks is another demon. But when getting bonked in the head by a speeding uru mallet makes the monster grow instead of fall down, Thor realizes that this gross goo dripping guy isn't a demon. It's Growing Man!

The Captain seems annoyed that Kang is somehow involved in this. Because, y'know, we're already dealing with a demonic invasion! Geez!

Mr Fantastic says that figuring out Kang's involvement is a problem for later. The problem for now is that this new proto-Avengers team is very heavy on the punching which is bad for facing a foe that absorbs kinetic energy.

So Mr Fantastic streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetches all the way back to the Fantasti-Car.

He makes some adjustments to the front thrusters and FTZAPT!s the Growing Man and then BEEYOOOW!s him.

Even though Mr Fantastic asked the other heroes to not punch Growing Man until he figured out a way to deal with him, Thor and Gilgamesh get bored and jump off the World Trade Center to start punching a Growing Man.

Luckily, Mr Fantastic’s efforts have been successful.

Instead of getting bigger, Thor and Gilgamesh’s blows make the Growing Man into a Shrinking Man.

He did something something science science and maybe reversed the polarity of the neutron flow so now he works backwards.

Thor hits with all his might and the Shrinking Man shrinks down to the point he can’t be seen anymore.

Mission accomplished, I guess.

Franklin wakes up and says he dreamed of “lotsa monsters!”

Reed tells him it was all a long nightmare. So I hope that Franklin doesn’t look around at the state of the city right now.

Thor and Gilgamesh and the Captain’s short term memory must be short because they repeat some conversations from elsewhere in this issue.

Thor again wonders at such a strong warrior as Gilgamesh exists without Thor knowing about him. Despite Cap earlier telling Thor that he’s met Gilgamesh before.

Gilgamesh has completely forgotten ever meeting Thor.

And they’ve all forgotten when the Captain tried to recruit Gilgamesh for his new Avengers team.

Cap again asks if Gilgamesh will join. Gilgamesh again asks if there will be monsters to beat up. And Cap again says yes.

Gilgamesh: “It has been long since I was abroad in the world. I would like to see what mankind has made of itself. And I have little else to do right now.”

Pfft. ‘Sure, I’ve got nothing better to do.’

Mr Fantastic reports from the Fantasti-Car that the radio reports that Inferno has mostly petered out by now. There’s still some demon stuff going on but, eh, other people are handling that. Want to go to the Richards’ house for milk and cookies?

As the group flies over New York back to Connecticut, they have a conversation about how the Fantasti-Car has been nicknamed Pegasus because Reed and Sue have been reading Franklin Greek mythology lately.

Gilgamesh (who seemingly was overlooked by the colorist in this panel) comments that he remembers Pegasus. And then implies that he himself was Bellerophon who rode the Pegasus and slew the Chimera.

God, leave some famous people to actually be themselves! This is why nobody likes the Eternals, on a personal level!

The Captain comments that he can’t tell whether Gilgamesh is bullshitting him or not but intends to get to know him so he can figure it out.

Later, after returning to the Richards’ Connecticut home and putting Franklin to bed, the Captain gives the hard sell.

The Captain: “Reed, Sue, we haven’t really had a chance to talk much... but after tonight, I’m more convinced than ever that the Avengers are not only useful... but essential. They’re needed. That’s why I was coming to see you originally. You’ve got the team experience... and the leadership qualities. Will you join us?”

Reed says he thought that he and Sue had to step back from the superhero biz to spend more time with Franklin.

Now, the way its phrased here, he makes it more about protecting Franklin rather than just being a more present father. Which is a change from how it was presented in Fantastic Four.

But either way, the events of Inferno made Reed and Sue realize that you can’t just retire from superheroics and rely on being left alone. Two separate groups came after Franklin.

Supposedly very quietly (but I spot exclamation points) this new team of Avengers piles their hands over Franklin’s bed and announce that the Avengers are reborn!

The Worst Roster lives!

So let me comment first on this as a milestone issue.

The Avengers don’t have good milestone issues it seems.

Issue #100 tried to be a good milestone with an Every Avenger Ever story but the writing wasn’t prepared to handle that many characters so some of them just dropped out of the plot for a while. And the villain was Ares and the only reason he was a threat that required Every Avenger Ever was that he’d randomly found Black Knight’s extremely cursed sword.

Still, They Tried.

More than I can say about issue #150.

That one built up a shake-up of the team roster. But was basically a clip show and hit deadline problems or something and reprinted half of issue #16.

Issue #200. Well, it was issue #200. It didn’t celebrate team history as a 200th issue. Didn’t try to incorporate Every Avenger Ever. And it had Carol Danvers get magically pregnant and elope with her new baby boyfriend. It was baaaad.

Issue #250 was a double-size issue which had the first East and West Coast Avengers team-up. The villain, Maelstrom, wasn’t anything special. But he presented stakes that required both teams. I call this a good but not great milestone.

And now issue #300.

Well. It boasts a revolutionary new Avengers roster, featuring two mainstays and three new members. It doesn’t really celebrate Avengers history. Kang is around but is only tangentially connected to stuff. And the Avengers milestone is just another Inferno tie-in. It’s a decent tie-in, if we must tie-in. I can’t say that the story is as insulting and stupid as the undermining of Monica Rambeau or the Dr Druid ruins everything issues. But this is nothing special for an Avengers milestone, especially since this revolutionary new roster will not stand the test of time.

So let’s get into the Worst Roster.

This is the end of Simonson’s run. Around long enough to finish demolishing the team and setting up a new roster that will itself be demolished not long after this.

It’s kind of odd to set up a new team and then leave the book. But apparently it was because of that new team that he left the book.

APPARENTLY, Simonson had gotten permission to put Mr Fantastic and Invisible Woman on his new Avengers team. They were free agents at the time with the Thing leading the Fantastic Four. And Simonson likes the characters.

He got permission but it was revoked. Sales dropped on Fantastic Four so the higher ups ordered for Reed and Sue to go back to the Fantastic Four.

This pissed off Simonson, who just went to all the effort setting up this new team only to have two-fifths of it yanked away. So he quit. /APPARENTLY

So, we’ll never know how things would have played out if Simonson got to keep the team he wanted to write and stayed on the book.

I’ll comment how the Worst Roster worked under the writers that actually wrote it when I get there.

For now, I’ll share some thoughts about the new team as a concept.

I don’t hate Mr Fantastic and Invisible Woman joining the Avengers.

I’m a fan of mixing things up. Putting characters in new contexts. Beast on the Avengers was great. What is Beast away from X-stuff? A real fun guy! His BFF relationship with Wonder Man was unexpected but they were a great duo.

The second roster of Avengers was all about this. What are Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver away from their supervillain bad influences? They’re heroes is what!

I actually think Cyclops should join the Avengers! He deserves a little time away from X-stuff too.

And the Avengers and Fantastic Four have pretty close ties around this time. They’ve both housed the other team when they were having headquarter problems. Jarvis babysat Franklin for a while. There’s links there. And with Ben running the Fantastic Four, why not put Reed and Sue in a different context.

I’ve heard criticisms that say a leader type like Reed would rankle under the command of someone else.

But there’s two different ways that could go. Cap cited Reed’s leadership qualities. He may have wanted Reed to lead this new team. Only for Reed to turn this down because if he wanted to lead a team, he’d go back to the Fantastic Four. Uh, like he does do.

Alternatively, gosh, friction over who should lead the team happens so much in Avengers. It’s one of their recurring character beats. During Cap’s quirky quartet, both Hawkeye and Quicksilver argued that they should be in charge instead.

During Shooter’s run, there was friction between Captain America and Thor over how Thor was leading.

Hercules being a sexist dick about Wasp being in charge during Avengers Under Siege.

Hell, even recently you had Dr Druid standing slightly behind Monica muttering how if he ran the zoo.

Friction over who should be in charge is an Avengers tradition! Unlike X-Men or Fantastic Four, there’s not an assumption over who should be in charge. There was a revolving leadership during the first roster and votes for chairman during later rosters!

A power struggle between Steve and Reed! And look how the roster is set up! Thor would back Steve. Sue would back Reed. Would Gilgamesh be a tie-breaker? He’s leaning Steve, currently!

As I said. We can’t know how it’d play out. But Reed preferring to be in charge is a feature, not a bug.

The team doesn’t have to be a perfect, happy family right off the bat. It just needs to have interesting character dynamics.

I’ve mostly talked about Reed here. I have no problem with Invisible Woman being on the team either. She has interesting powers, is legitimately strong enough that she’s not automatically overshadowed by having Thor and Gilgamesh standing nearby, she sometimes has a personality. If this roster lasted, I’d be excited to see how she interacts with the non-Reeds. New contexts!

I’m mostly annoyed that its only Sue. Are we still doing the thing where we’re only allowed one woman per team?

We know Cap and Thor. They’re both very Avengers. No complaints. So what about Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh. Is the weak link in the Worst Roster. I’ll defend the idea to have half the Fantastic Four on the team. But Gilgamesh is a boring option. Not bad, just boring.

That might be why Simonson wanted to put him on the team. He’s been used so infrequently that he’s a bit of a blank slate. And Simonson has written him before.

Gilgamesh claiming that any given myth or legend was actually him could be fun, mostly if he’s just lying about some of it.

But having another strong godly dude next to Thor isn’t the most inspired choice.

I think there’s a reason why Sersi becomes the go-to Eternal for Avengers stuff. She’s fun and has interesting powers. From what I hear, when she is an Avenger she’s used in the most boring way possible (love triangles) but still.

So to teal deer. If this Worst Roster wasn’t infamous for getting almost immediately abandoned. I would be excited to see how it plays out.

That’s the real reason why its the Worst Roster. Not who was part of it. Because Marvel didn’t even have the guts to stand by it.

And also because Reed and Sue quit so quickly we never even got to find out if they’d keep wearing their FF jumpsuits with the 4 on them. Would they have taken a sharpie and extended the 4 to an A? Would they have gotten individualized costumes just for this?

We’ll never know!

Curse you, Marvel! Curse you!

Follow @essential-avengers because I’m willing to give dumb ideas a chance. This is often a character flaw. Reward me for it with likes, reblogs, and comments.

#avengers #essential avengers #inferno #Nanny and the Orphan Maker #various demons #N'astirh #Growing Man #we finally have an avengers again #the Captain #Captain America #Thor #Mr Fantastic #Invisible Woman #Gilgamesh #kang the conqueror #is hanging around #he's sorta relevant but mostly a pain in the ass #TGIF thank god inferno finished

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