#fate stay night analysis

[typellblog]

Illyasviel von Einzbern: The Hole at the Center of Fate/Stay Night

Emiya Shirou is the beating heart of Fate/Stay Night. Every character radiates outwards from Shirou, shapes and is shaped by him. He fights against foils like Archer and Kirei while growing alongside the three main heroines in each route.

There's really only one character who precedes Shirou in influence, who shapes him near-completely but cannot himself be shaped.

Emiya Kiritsugu is already dead, after all.

It's his legacy that drives the novel - but something oft-undiscussed is that Shirou only has half of it. He inherits his father’s justice, and the one that inherits his ruthlessness is Illya. Thus, Illya’s relationship to Shirou is dictated from the start.

She is everything his father left behind, the first gatekeeper of the moonlit world of death and magecraft that Shirou now finds himself in. In this role she transcends routes, appearing at the end of the third day to deliver a near-lethal attack just as the story branches off.

She seems intent to deliver Kiritsugu’s baggage to Shirou, to make him reckon with the past that he himself never experienced; the truth that a hero can only help those he sides with while many others are left alone in the cold.

In this way her very existence is a far more fundamental challenge to Shirou’s ideals than that of any other character - and yet this challenge is met only indirectly. Much of the information regarding her true identity and relationship to Shirou is elided until the end of HF.

She functions similarly to Sakura, a character who totally changes the reader’s perception of the first two routes in retrospect. The reveals about Illya force us to reevaluate how positive her ending in the Fate route really is.

In the narrative of Heaven’s Feel, both Illya and Sakura are considered ‘doomed’ - able to be saved only by Shirou sacrificing his own life to Archer’s arm.

It’s the crux of their characterisation, in the same way that Saber’s pursuit of the Holy Grail leads her into timeless and uncountable doomed battles. In a route based around that character, you would expect fixing it to be the main thrust of the plot.

And so just as the Fate route is focused on Shirou clashing with Saber over her lack of regard for her safety, and Heaven’s Feel is focused on accepting even the ‘impure’ parts of Sakura, there is no route focused on showing Illya that she needn't give up on having a normal life.

Instead all of her scenes in Heaven’s Feel are about accepting that she cannot have one.

This is the hole in the center of FSN that I’m talking about. Its absence is felt keenly throughout the novel, because Illya has another role besides a specter of Shirou's past. She embodies the prize and object of the Holy Grail War itself - the very same wish-granting device.

Many of the characters in this story are not fighting for the Grail specifically, but nonetheless their strong personalities and desires cause them to clash with one another, in a process Kirei sees as comparable to everyday life.

Their wishes, both in the form of the dead’s regrets and victor’s will, enter the neutral, empty Grail in order to produce a miracle. The only one not allowed a will of their own is the vessel of the Grail, who, in absorbing these desires, must completely erase their humanity.

Illya is not intended to have a reason to pursue the Grail, nor any life beyond obtaining it. The war is premised on the sacrifice of the Servants, yes, but nonetheless they enter as contestants. Illya, like Justeaze before her, enters the ritual only as a sacrifice.

And yet an outside element is introduced. Illya being part-human, the product of an actual family rather than just a clone allows for her to have personal motivations. She holds on to her resentment of Kiritsugu, despite knowing that it’s pointless, because it’s all she has left.

A parallel can be made to the Grail itself. Supposedly a pure wish-granting device, it becomes corrupted through the influence of Angra Mainyu, one small, perverse wish colouring the whole thing black.

The desired salvation of the Einzberns, their thousand-year project relies on being able to reproduce the miracle, to understand every component part of their attempts in order to draw ever closer to the Third Magic, but Illya is a random factor, born to a human parent.

She’s also their greatest creation since Justeaze. Miracles, after all, exist because they are not understood.

The corruption of the Grail with the darkest desires of the world is just the inevitable result of any wish - the price of becoming a human instead of existing as a machine. Live long enough and anyone would turn into Zouken, higher goals suborned by a base desire to escape pain.

Like Illya the Grail is a failed project, a tool that can only provide salvation of a limited nature & only fulfill its purpose incompletely, proof positive that true perfection does not exist in the world of Fate/Stay Night.

In Illya’s case the bug in her programming comes fundamentally from a desire for family, for someone to be close to her. Despite her dysfunctional initial approaches she’s perfectly capable of living normally alongside Shirou.

The issue, then, is the Grail War itself.

Her two sides, two different origins, come into conflict here, and her role as the Holy Grail consistently wins. Not because she desires it in any real sense, but because she doesn’t believe that she can do anything else.

Consider how the Fate route ends with Saber and Shirou trying to live without regrets, accepting both the negative and positive aspects of the past without dwelling on that which cannot be changed.

Consider how Illya in the Fate route doesn’t say a single thing about her condition, refuses to burden others with that knowledge, accepting the fact of her death and instead choosing to live in the moment.

Consider how the Unlimited Blade Works route is about Shirou trying to live without regrets, accepting that he will not always succeed, that his self-sacrificing nature will hurt him, but nonetheless his pursuit of that goal is worthwhile.

Consider how Illya’s death is used to illustrate this, how she cannot be saved regardless of whether Shirou makes the choice to intervene or not, how his sorrow is used as proof of his brokenness and his ability to move forward regardless is used as proof of his strength.

Consider why the Heaven's Feel route is named after the ritual that materializes the soul, why this is identified with salvation and rebirth by the Einzberns. I would argue that the Third Magic is a metaphor for the process Shirou undergoes throughout the novel.

He evolves from a machine into a human, gaining his own desires and the will to live. And just as Heaven’s Feel, the ritual, requires a sacrifice: Justeaze’s blood forms the foundation, so too does Heaven’s Feel, the route: Illya spends her own life to fully realize Shirou’s.

In moving past Kiritsugu’s legacy, he moves past his belief that his life is worth less than others. He wants to live, wants to let Illya save him, wants to let her sacrifice herself for him. In moving past Kiritsugu’s legacy, he moves past Illya.

I don’t blame him. I just want to emphasize how significant to this novel the existence of suffering is, how important the figure of someone who cannot be saved, how necessary a single person’s sacrifice. And how this falls on Illya in every route.

In the latter parts of the Fate route she quickly disappears from story relevance. Her functions as a Grail offer a convenient excuse to have her sleeping for much of the day, as it does for Kirei’s kidnapping of her, stringing her up as a sacrifice to open the gate.

In UBW we have Gilgamesh brutally ripping out her heart. He values her purely for her core, which holds the Grail, tossing aside the rest of her body.

If her role as the Grail is what drives her doom, though, she is at least partially able to overcome this at the end of Heaven’s Feel.

For a brief moment, Illya escapes the bonds of fate by uniting her deeply personal wish with the impersonal functions of the Grail.

She also dies. She fucking dies, okay? I’m so tired of talking about this as though it’s supposed to be a good thing, as though we’re just supposed to accept it as the best possible option.

It works precisely because we know there is another, because we know for a fucking fact that an Illya route could have existed, that her salvation is possible not just from a meta perspective but directly implied in-universe.

Illya’s power is to grant wishes, but she is incapable of giving voice to her own. She needs someone there by her side to tell her that it’s okay to want to live, and yet- Shirou is so fucking broken that he needs her to do that for him instead.

Illya could have lived, but she doesn’t, and in not doing so she carries half the weight of this story’s tragedy on her back.

In a way this is an excuse for the lack of an Illya route. I really do think its blatant absence adds something to Fate/Stay Night, really sells the tragedy of HF, becomes even more beautiful precisely because of its unattainability.

It’s a comment on how the artistic process, materializing your soul on paper if you will, is an inherently restrictive one, rife with failure and things left on the chopping board.

But it does not, not for a second, mean that we should accept the lack of an Illya route. It doesn’t mean the desire for it is a bad thing. It doesn’t mean that its addition would make Fate/Stay Night worse.

It would, however, become a different game at that point, and here I want to pay respect to the one that has lived alongside me for twenty years.

Thanks for reading, and happy anniversary to my favourite story of all time.

#illya #fate/stay night #fsn analysis

[pinkrosealice]

I'm starting to notice some patterns among some of the characters I have deeply irrational and intense feelings about.

#blorbo #manga #character analysis #clamp #xxxholic #type moon #kinoko nasu #fate series #fate stay night #nasuverse #ancient magus bride #mahou tsukai no yome #mahoutsukai no yome #kore yamazaki #emiya shirou #chise hatori #kimihiro watanuki #urban fantasy #shirou is my husband #and watanuki and chise are my precious babies #the magical autistic trope is fine actually when it's done by the japanese #i love these idiots #I am determined to live long enough for nasu's pickled brain in a jar to remake stay night with the shirou x issei route like g^d intended #all three of them are bisexual yes even shirou #kinomoto sakura & sumeragi subaru & takashi natsume & kurosaki hisoka & kazahaya kudo can all be added to this Venn diagram in some form

[dopplerdora]

People are talking about Heaven's Feel again.

Don't get me wrong, I likes the movies but... they could have been so much more.

Part of the problem is that as a story Heaven's Feel is ment to come after you do Fate and Bladeworks. The prior routes frame Heaven's Feel in a way that show the "point".

By the climax of Heaven's Feel Shirou's "team" has more power than in either other Route. Shirou has Archer Arm, Rin has the Jewel Sword and hasn't needed to use her Chrest to make a Pass for Shirou, Rider isn't Saber but she has Infinite Energy from Sakura, they even have Illya on their side. All this power, power and knowledge that could shake the world of Magi like never before honestly. All that power... and it doesn't mean a damn thing.

Because Power can't help Sakura, no amount of Power can help the one person they want to help. This isn't Fate; Shirou can't just project Caliburn, make a promise, and go be a hero. This isn't Bladeworks; Shirou can't just keep moving with his ideal, show his resolve through combat, and learn how to move forward. Rin can't just Blast the threat away with raw power. This is Heaven's Feel; Shirou's idea is worse than nothing because the "enemy" is his Family. Rin has the ultimate weapon for blasting away her problems... but the problem is her little sister. The world will end, to end thing Somebody Has To Die. Gilgamesh dies but that makes things worse, Zouken dies but that doesn't fix anything, and deleting Saber doesn't actually fix the problem. Because ether problem is years of torture and abuse, you can't fix something like that by punching the monster after the fact.

Heaven's Feel isn't about power, this is problematic because the movie didn't get that memo when animating it. The fights are beautiful, this doesn't in any way help the story telling outside of Rin's fight with Sakura which is more about Rin's internal conflict anyway. It hurts the story because the fighting takes up so much time that some of the characters don't get to show their parts properly... Also its way more Shirou than anybody else, this is a problem because Heaven's Feel has somewhere between Three and Five protagonists and Shirou is only one of them. That said if I go into how sombody in charge seems to hate woman as characters and seems to... think badly of sexual abuse survivors I would probably be here all day and also fail because it would start going into misogyny in Japanese culture and a bunch of other things.

To digress Heaven's Feel is a beautiful, painful, amazing story. The Heaven's Feel movie isn't bad but I feel like is didn't really read the assignment and tried to make an action flick.

#fate #heaven's feel #heavens feel #shirou emiya #sakura matou #rin tohsaka #illyasviel von einzbern #missing the point #analysis i guess? #Tonal Dissonance #focusing on action #in a story that has tones of #power won't help here #in fact it might make it worse #play the game #honeslty the VN is amazing #why was he jumping at Sakura like an action hero #the movie is pretty as hell tho #screaming into the void #fate/stay night #fate movies

[allseeingbirchtree]

Fate/Zero is about love: an essay

(A crosspost from Reddit, since my post there went unnoticed for some indiscernible reason)

I know as well as everybody else here that Fate/Zero is divisive in the community. It’s meaninglessly dark, cruel and hopeless, with no point to make other than The World Is Horrible, And All Ideals Are Pointless. Except when it’s not.

Fate/Zero is about a lot of things. It’s a Greek tragedy, which I agree with, and it’s a story about the journey being more important and valuable than the destination, which I also agree with, and it’s a story about heroism, ideals and whether it’s ever justified to take a life, which I agree with as well. But consider this: Fate/Zero is also about love. Or, to put it more broadly, Fate/Zero is about the way love and personal connections change us and shape us and turn us into different people — maybe, even better people. It’s about the way it’s foolish and hypocritical to claim to love the entirety of humanity and act in its best interests, when you don’t love any person specifically. And when you look at it that way, a lot of frequent complaints just… disappear.

Ryuunosuke and Caster, for one, are extremely divisive. People often bring them up when they want to prove Fate/Zero’s tendencies for meaningless violence. They both are horrible people, their “art” is disgusting, and they seem not to play any important part in the grand scheme of narrative, Caster being what you call a disc-one final boss, and Ryuunosuke having no stakes whatsoever in the Holy Grail War. So, does that mean they’re only here for the Urobuchi-typical shock value? No. They’re not.

The thing about Ryuunosuke and Caster is that, though they are the first master-servant pair to die, they die as happy people. Einzbern Consultation Room is a comedy series, I know, but even there it’s stated that Caster has zero regrets. Why is that? Because what matters most about this unlikeable pair is the fact that they have one of the best, most genuine master-servant bonds in the entirety of Fate franchise.

That’s pretty much the only thing that makes them sympathetic enough for the viewer to care about them even a little. They are two horrible people who absolutely adore each other. They are a perfect fit, the only master-servant pair in Fate/Zero that was determined not by the artifact used but by the similarity of their characters. Ryuunosuke is pretty much glowing with happiness and excitement whenever he’s around Caster. Caster is so inspired by Ryuunosuke’s weird take on god he changes his entire worldview. Whether it’s a good example of personal connections changing you or not is up to you to decide, but the thing is: their only redeeming feature, the only reason one can care about them, the reason why they’re absolutely content and happy as they’re dying is their bond, so pure and genuine that it contrasts everything else we know of them.

The worst people in the series, cherishing each other like no other master-servant pair in Fate/Zero and exiting the Holy Grail War with no regrets. The epitome of enjoying the journey more than the destination (which is easily explained by the fact that they have no discernible destination). Even though they’re terrible, they are capable of this one meaningful connection that changes both of them. Their purpose in the story, one of many, is to show that even people like them are capable of love and bonds and stuff like this. That’s why they are a thing.

Kayneth is another perfect example of a generally unsympathetic character who is changed and moved and motivated by love. As arrogant and selfish and cruel as he is, he loves Sola-Ui just enough to throw everything that matters in his life for the sake of her safety. Without hope, without reward. One of the reasons he is written this exact way is to make the moment of his choice hit this hard. It’s hard to believe he would forfeit everything for the sake of a single woman — but he does. Because it’s the only thing he can possibly do.

I genuinely adore the way Kiritsugu and Kayneth’s conflict is written, not only because of the fact that Kayneth is an amazing mage who only relies on magic, and Kiritsugu makes a living killing people like him, but also because of the fact that what Kayneth does here is the exact thing Kiritsugu can’t possibly do.

Kayneth throws away his goals, his chance to win the Holy Grail War and regain his abilities and his health, and sacrifices everything for the person he loves. Kiritsugu isn’t like that. Kiritsugu is all about his goals; he would never discard his beautiful wish about peace for the entire world for the sake of Irisviel, or Ilyasviel, or anyone really. In this exact moment the unlikeable Kayneth is so much better, so much stronger than Kiritsugu could ever hope to be. He is capable of making sacrifices for love, and Kiritsugu isn’t. Even if it’s fleeting, even if Kiritsugu fooled him, this mere decision is the most beautiful and meaningful thing in his entire life.

Waver is irrevocably changed and shaped by Rider’s presence in his life, inheriting his ideals and genuine love for life. His arc is pretty much a coming-of-age story, and the main trigger for his growth is Rider, the person who he would always banter with, the person who taught him his true self-worth and showed him how much there is to the world. Rider’s influence, Waver’s connection to him, his love for him are what made him more than just a boy with an inferiority complex. When Gilgamesh acknowledges him and considers him worthy of living, Waver pretty much consists of nothing but love for Rider, nothing but admiration and will to live and desire to see his will through, to live a long, meaningful life as his retainer. God, Rider’s Ionioi Hetairoi is all about personal connections: he was such a great leader his retainers followed him even in death. There’s no better, more grandiose display of loyalty, friendship and love. The reason Waver exits the Holy Grail War the happiest, having gained the most, is because his relationship with Rider is the healthiest one of all.

Kariya, the poor fool, somehow managed to make every mistake in his life. His love for Aoi is a trainwreck, hopeless and hurtful for everyone involved, but it’s not his only love. His entire reason for entering the Holy Grail War is Sakura’s well-being. He loves Sakura. You could make an argument for him trying to play the hero in order to shake off the feelings of guilt, but there’s no way his love for Sakura wasn’t genuine. He didn’t love Sakura as an extension of Aoi — he loved Sakura just because she was Sakura and she was suffering and he didn’t want her to. He ruined his entire life for that little girl alone. Yes, he failed in the end and arguably made Sakura’s life even more miserable, but he loved her enough to throw his own life away, and that was what made the Holy Grail War worth it for him.

Tokiomi is a difficult case, especially when you are an anime-only, but his love for his daughters is something that makes him a part of this argument, and the omission of his inner monologue about his feelings for both of his daughters, and his reasons for giving Sakura away is one of the grave sins of the anime adaptation. He wants nothing more than to be the perfect father for Rin, to be the father she can be proud of, and isn’t it a most beautiful wish?

God, even Kirei, at the very end of the story, makes a connection with Gilgamesh that changes him and for the most part turns him into the person he ends up being, for better or for worse. Kirei, good old I’m Empty And Incapable Of Love Kirei Kotomine — he is changed through an interpersonal connection he has during the Holy Grail War.

And Kiritsugu… Kiritsugu loves no one. Yes, there are Irisviel, Ilyasviel, Maiya — so many people who love him unconditionally — but he doesn’t love them back. Or he doesn’t love them back enough. Even as he claims to love his family, he would sacrifice it the moment it’s necessary for him to achieve his goals. He would never give up his dream for the sake of his loved ones. He couldn’t even give up his habits — look at how fast he picks up smoking again as he enters the Holy Grail War. Kiritsugu is unable to love anyone more than he loves his idea of a peaceful world. Which turns out to be nothing more than that: an idea.

It’s hypocritical to love the humanity itself without loving anything in particular. When you love only the humanity, you love no one at all. Kiritsugu is the only person here with zero meaningful connections. He doesn’t allow himself to be changed through love, through others’ influence. That’s why he ends up the most miserable out of all the participants. He had never been changed. He had never been motivated by his love for a specific person. He had never made any sacrifices for others — only had others sacrifice themselves for him and treated it as if he had any right to take a life and call it his own sacrifice.

In the end, he gains nothing and he loses everything. Only when he finds Shirou, he finally finds the person that — in that exact situation — matters more than any of his goals. A human who means more to him than the humanity, a living child who is worth more than an abstract, meaningless idea of a perfect world.

And what is it, if not the utmost proof that the point Fate/Zero makes is also a point about love? Familial love, friendship, connection, romantic love — whatever you call that. Urobuchi’s works in general are more about love than people think. In his grimdark world, the thing that’s the most beautiful, the thing that makes living worth it is love — love for another person, no matter what kind of love it is. I rest my case.

#fate zero #fate stay night #nasuverse #analysis #emiya kiritsugu #it might be me perceiving everything as a tale of love and bonds #but still

[300iqprower]

@jaclynhyde i think a lot about Avicebron’s role in Anastasia. About his regrets for his atrocities. About his desire to make the world a better place no matter how much easier it would be to shut himself away from it. About his speech on massacres, on the nature of hatred and injustice, and how a moment of anguish can cost you everything. About how someone so physically inhuman lives to find ways to make the world a better place - finding new ideas for his golems, finding solutions to problems, in the tiniest things and most mundane activities.

I think a lot about the way Medea has changed since Stay Night. About how she shuts herself off from the world after losing everything to the cruelty of gods and her own human emotions. About how lonely she is yet would rather be lonely than risk hurting that way ever again, shutting herself away with her dolls and constructs, creating a world for herself in which she can be ‘safe’, in which she can solve her problems.

And i just think a lot about how the man who blindly betrayed and killed his own master, and has seen so many a massacre, might have a lot of things to say about the witch who massacred her children and everything else she ever loved.

#fgo #character analysis #avicebron #caster of black #fate avicebron #fate apocrypha #fate stay night #fate medea

[aaaaamorphous-entity]

I could go on and on about how great Emiya and Cu are as a dynamic but I think Emiya and Artoria are deeply underappreciated, even just strictly from a narrative perspective. (Incoming UBW spoilers)

That moment in the church when Emiya's identity was revealed, and he told Artoria that he never should have been a hero, lives rent free in my head.

Artoria looked Hurt, and who can blame her? Yet again she's led someone to ruin. She imparted her ideal of heroism onto Shirou, or at least compounded his own aspirations of what a hero should be…but the difference was that she knew full well what she was getting into from the start. She knew every pain and sacrifice and failure point. She was prepared to face the lives lost and taken for what she wished to achieve. He wasn't.

And she must have realized at some point then that she repeated her past mistake. She led, but never taught. She did not warn him of what being a hero truly meant. She didn't warn him that it was martyrdom, exhausting; that lives inevitably must be taken. Because she always understood the role of a 'hero' to be that way, and it likely didn't occur to her that he didn't recognize that as well, or at least not to the extent that he was forced to learn as a Heroic Spirit.

And then just the poetry of Emiya being the cause of her breakthrough. That it was not correct or incorrect for her to draw the sword from the stone. That she'd done all she could, and yet trying to change the past was futile. Because whichever path she chose, the outcome would have been the same, and her legacy was all that remained. That what was done was done, and all that was left was the future and what you make of it, how you act moving forwards.

Just! God damn!! Emiya and Cu are parallels, foils, but Emiya is an extension of Artoria's self-destructive ideals and, despite his cynicism and fatalistic views of humanity, he at last handed her the key to abandoning her desperate quest to change what happened so she could finally be at peace - something he himself so deeply longs for.

They're Pretty Neat

#Heroic Spirit Emiya #Artoria pendragon #fate/stay night #unlimited blade works #character analysis #mun speaks

[sakuraswordly]

#This is interesting ever since that blog. His heart was still sensitive to humans in his own way I see.^^; Well he's also an observer too. #character analysis #fate gilgamesh #archer gilgamesh #Fate extra ccc #fate stay night #caster Gil can be just as merciless as archer Gil

[argonometra]

Assorted FSN thoughts

All of Shirou's love interests have magical elements that can exist in the world of Unlimited Blade Works; Saber has Avalon (obviously), Rin's abilities include air and fire, and Sakura has shadows.

There's a line in the early story about Hercules swinging his sword "like it's all he knows how to do" and Shirou can end HF's final battle the same way.

Rin's Servant coming from Fuyuki is a metaphor for her dere. However glamorous magi are supposed to be, she loves her crappy hometown and its high-jumps and teenage politics and mustard sandwiches, and her soul reflects that.

Saber's loss of Avalon basically traded Camelot's survival for Fuyuki's. If Shirou hadn't had it, he wouldn't have survived a lot of things, and Dark Sakura (assuming she was triggered) might not have been able to be stopped. Which is another reason why Saber's regrets are useless.

Shirou's house is the Grail War's real place of sanctuary, not Kotomine's church (which is another similarity between them).

Sakura's worms tie her thematically to Rider, an earth goddess okay, sorry, I shouldn't have said that

Ayako's frustration that Shirou won't rejoin the archery club makes more sense given the mention (in Ataraxia) that he quit before any competitions- competitions he would almost certainly have won for the club.

Rider likes Shirou's blood because it's rich in iron, if you'll excuse the pun.

Shirou objectifies himself because he subconsciously remembers being an object (and one whose purpose was to save people by force).

#fate stay night #headcanon #meta #argonometra #analysis #I've been up all night with my period and Fate is the only thing I wanna think about

[tenderfxck]

I need more alhaitham fics in ur writing plz god…. bully him bully him bully him public teasing which makes him very flustered??.? I’m just ranting at this point anws love ur writing ✍️

al haitham//distraction from argument//gn!reader//18+

contents: flustered!al haitham, pent up!al haitham, gn!reader, exhibitionism, handjob, alcohol mention, drinking, al haitham being put in his place <3

word count: 2.3k

notes: i've been itching to write another fic where i get to tease haitham. enjoy <333 (and thanks to @bobaboob for listening to my crazed ramblings as well as beta reading this fic!)

it’s a warm summer night at lambad's tavern and you find yourself seated in a booth in between the two arguably brightest minds of recent akademia history.

well, they were supposed to be bright. but even with you in their presence, they weren’t courteous enough to keep their bickering to themselves.

to your right sat the great architect and your best friend, kaveh. both of you were kind souls who bonded over the more beautiful things in life (as well as kept each other up to date with all the drama in sumeru city. so what if the two of you were gossips?)

and on your left sat the grand scribe, al haitham. you and al haitham were-

well. . .

enemies? rivals? annoyances to each other?

ah, yes. let’s settle on that. any more analysis would call into question if each tense moment the two of you had shared in passing was just animosity or something more. . .

at this point, you think they were hashing it out over some household chores or some other domestic affair. who ever thought those two could ever be roommates?

while sitting between two grown men arguing like a married couple is usually great entertainment, today you were quite over it. and quite bored.

but this was a bar, wasn’t it? you chose to focus your attention on polishing off your own drink as they continued this little disagreement of theirs. and when your glass was empty, you pivoted to sneaking sips from their neglected drinks.

well, until al haitham shooed you from his glass. of course. he was oblivious enough to (rudely) ignore you for the last fifteen minutes but yet he was keenly aware of you emptying his drink. damn scribe. . .

you sighed. you had completely lost the plot of this little spat a few minutes ago and had no patience to dare decipher where in the hell it had led. resigned to your fate stuck between the two, you pick up the bottle of liquor sitting in the middle of the table, planning to drown your boredom in another stiff drink. 

"-and that's why you're being completely irrational." al haitham stated bluntly, pushing his freshly polished off drink towards you.

"i'm being irrational?" kaveh scoffed, pushing his empty glass towards you as well. "have you even been listening to yourself?"

they hold a tense stare for a few seconds, before whipping their heads to face you.

"who do you think is right?" they snap in union.

"i think you both need a drink." you sigh, tipping the bottle and filling both their glasses with a healthy dose of liquor.

. . .

this had continued for a while. bicker, bicker, fill their glasses, bicker, bicker, more shots, so on, so forth.

you still had no idea what they were arguing about, but it proved a LOT more fun to watch them keep at it all the while becoming more and more intoxicated.

al haitham’s never been much of a drinker. even in his akademy years when some students chose to let loose on the weekends, he preferred to stay in, instead engaging himself with a good book. only a few drinks in and he can feel the flush cross his features. kaveh wasn't faring much better, definitely slurring his words and swaying ever so slightly.

“what do you think?" kaveh slumps against you, resting his weight on your shoulder in hopes of keeping himself steady. "you can't possibly think haitham’s being reasonable.”

“nonsense, my point is perfectly just.” al haitham sits back against the booth and crosses his arms.

they both looked at you expectantly, equally sure that you'd come to each of their aid.

"i think kaveh is making more sense."

watching al haitham's face drop was priceless. granted, you had zero idea what you were even agreeing with kaveh on. but the look of disbelief that al haitham made no effort to suppress confirms your suspicion he's typically used to most (other than his hard-headed roommate) agreeing with him at the drop of a hat.

"you're not even affiliated with the akademia," he bit back after collecting himself once again. "and your thoughts on such matters are inconsequential." al haitham goes to take another swig but finds his glass empty yet again, dropping it back onto the table with little grace before he regards you and kaveh with a certain distaste in his voice. "you artsy types love to have an opinion on everything, don't you?"

you place a hand to your chest in fake offense, unable to suppress a teasing smile. "inconsequential? a well-rounded person should recognize that relying purely on a scholarly view of the world is a detrimental one."

. . .fuck. al haitham was normally weary of rousing you but he mistakenly dug himself this grave. he cursed the alcohol for making him so careless.

"i have opinions on the akademia's actions just as i have opinions on the importance of the arts. what about you, grand scribe?"

"what?" he stiffens in his seat. when did this become a discussion about him?

"what are your view on accessibility of the arts? recognition and comprehension among citizens?" kaveh covers his mouth, poorly hiding his giggles as you laid into the increasingly tense scribe. "what about you, haitham? do you think the akademia is properly instructed in artistic literacy?"

al haitham had a sharp intellect. but not as sharp as your wit.

"I, uh. . . w-well. . ."

“so you have no opinion." you let a devious smile tug at your lips, addressing al haitham with a look of faux pity. "how disappointing. to think the akademia holds you in such high regard and yet you have neglected such a large area of expertise.”

this always seemed to be an ace in the hole for you. using whatever rhetoric he attempts to argue and your gilded tongue to throw it right back at him.

“when your pride allows you to be open to a conversation outside of your area of expertise, let me know. maybe we can have a more stimulating conversation.” you spit, taking up your glass of liquor once again.

“stop that.” al haitham huffs.

“stop what?”

“that. that- thing you always do.”

“eloquent as ever.” you sigh. kaveh snickers behind your other shoulder, and al haitham responds by staring daggers right over the other at him. “haitham, you have to be more clear.”

he grunts in frustration, turning away from the two of you. you were truly skilled at this feigned innocence. the kind that taunted al haitham, just enough to entice him into playing straight into your hand, just to get teased even more. but he chose to keep that observation to himself.

"you purposefully distract me." is what he settles on.

"i distract you? how so?"

“your words. you twist mine and then goad me on purpose.” 

“that’s barely a distraction, mr. scribe.” you chuckle, shifting in your seat. al haitham dutifully ignores how you brush against him. “but if it’s truly my words that prove a disturbance to you, i’ll keep quiet. surely you’ll easily best kaveh then, hm?”

“surely.” he bites back.

a self-satified look returns to him as you, as promised, shut up, instead busying yourself with refreshing your drink.

al haitham’s attention was quickly stolen by a fresh jab from kaveh about how “distracted” he could be, falling so easily back into their regular song and dance of bickering. he was once again far too caught up in this spat to notice the look you were giving him over the rim of your glass, an evil plan forming behind your pretty eyes.

when he first felt your hand graze his thigh he barely registered it. you were in close proximity anyway, seated right between him and his debate partner for the night.

the second was harder to ignore, your palm sitting atop his leg and stroking down ever so slowly. he stumbled a bit on his next words, but put it out of his mind to recover just enough to keep laying into kaveh.

it was only when your hand trailed between his thighs, grasping between his legs, rubbing his crotch with feather light dexterity when he became painfully aware of your wandering hands.

he froze, mouth opening and closing as he felt his body temperature climb a degree or two.

"ha! so you really have nothing left to say." kaveh gloated, a smug expression crossing his features.

"like hell, you still- ggh!" you squeezed a little firmer this time, feeling his cock stir beneath your touch. you could see how his chest now began to noticeably rise and fall, no doubt his heart beating ever so quicker with how you stroked his hardening length.  you licked your lips, savoring each little reaction you pulled from him, made all the more sweet with how he tries so desperately to hide them.

"that doesn't sound like a rebuttal to me, haitham." kaveh laughs, grasping his glass to take a celebratory swig.

al haitham grits his teeth. his attention is divided between his unshakable urge to one-up kaveh, and the slow, purposeful drag of your fingers under the table. the fabric of his pants starts to tent under your hand, al haitham grunting at the now suffocating tightness of them.

he swallows, takes a deep breath, and dissects kaveh’s last few points with precision. albeit, a little more breathlessly than usual.

so this was your game. If you couldn’t distract him with words. . .

a soft palm reaching down his pants causes haitham to jerk so hard he almost knocks over his glass.

. . .you seemed to have other means. 

you were kind enough to rid him of his binding clothes after a few excruciating minutes of teasing caresses, dragging his cock out of his restrictive pants and exposing it to the cool air of the tavern.

he worried his lower lip as you paid special attention to his now throbbing cock, tilting his head back in a sigh as you grabbed him again, now stroking him earnestly.

he sits there, still attempting to argue with his roommate. truly trying to act like everything is fine. but his heart is thumping in his chest so intensely you swear you can feel it as well. he tries to take deep, steadying breaths, but it feels like every time he opens his mouth he has to close it immediately, or else a shuddering noise will escape his trembling lips.

archons, does it feel so good watch him crumble.

you pump him under the table at a steady pace, paying oh so close attention to every sharp inhale and every twitch of his body as he melts in your hands. you only slow when he seems like he’s about to burst at the seams, instead choosing to stroke his inner thighs with teasingly light touches or fondle his heavy balls. and at any moment it seems like he’s regained an iota of composure, wondering if he can still best you, you take a thumb to his sensitive tip, grinding intense little circles into the head of his cock sending such cute little tremors through his whole body.

kaveh takes a glance at his squirming roommate, noticing that al haitham is white knuckling the table as their bickering goes on. he takes satisfaction in the knowledge he's stirred haitham up so much, but only you truly know why.

it builds and builds, threatening to careen off that edge of restraint al haitham keeps himself bound to so diligently. 

he tries to ignore the obvious. but his mind cant help but flash back to last night when he was fucking his fist, imagining it was your hand teasing him so. and now it’s happening, for real, all right in front of him and all of the bar's patrons if they paid any closer attention to the writhing scribe.

al haitham never stood a chance.

“haitham~” you breathe out, so close that it tickles the shell of his ear. he attempts to bite his lip to content the whine that would otherwise escape. “why don't you admit that kaveh has a point? then this whole affair can be finished.” you whisper that last word, giving him an especially drawn out stroke to his twitching length, clearly conveying your intent.

“f-fine.” al haitham stutters, now slumped against the table in front of him, praying it will give him even just a little support. “you’re right. . .” he heaves, unconcerned about his stupid pride. he doesn't care about winning any more. “you’re right!” his voice pitches, feeling your fleeting touches turn steady and fast, pumping his aching cock so fucking good as he finally concedes.  “i’m wrong, just- just!”

he gasps, finally, finally cumming after what felt like hours of teasing. your hand remains firm, stroking him through it while the scribe crumbles in on himself, twitching and biting back moans. he’s sure his release was so intense it hit the underside of the table. but he doesn’t dare open his eyes to check, certain he’ll meet his roommate's confused expression, or the satisfied one you’re surely wearing. 

when he finally does regain enough mental faculties to sit upright again, he can see kaveh across the bar, paying of the tab while happily spouting something about “finally besting that damn bastard.”

his eyes drift up. you’re wearing a sweet, albeit just a bit smug, smile.

“i’m glad you finally came around, mr. scribe.”

kaveh circles back to you, face flushed and cheery as can be. “let’s take this back to our place. The two of us will treat you to a thorough lecture on the arts as a reward for being so humble, haitham”

“you go on ahead, i’ll catch up with you.” kaveh regards him quizzically, but al haitham can only look past him. “i need a moment to. . .” you throw him one last glance before removing yourself from the booth, but not before he can catch you bringing a thumb stained with release to your mouth, licking the last bit of evidence on your person away. he’s reminded of the uncomfortable mess currently staining his abdomen and running slick down his thighs.

“. . .organize my thoughts."

#teasing al haitham: the saga continues #im spreading my best friend kaveh propaganda #al haitham x you #alhaitham x you #al haitham x reader #alhaitham x reader #al haitham x y/n #alhaitham x y/n #al haitham smut #alhaitham smut #genshin smut #genshin impact smut #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #tender library

[jackiequick]

🎶 Fast & Furious OC (+ a long story) 🏁

—

Valentina “Val” Toretto

Full Name: Valentina Toretto

Nicknames: Val, Vally, Babygirl, Shorty, Baby Toretto, Quick, Ankle Biter

Age: 19 in The Fast & The Furious (2001), 26 in Fast & Furious (2009) , 28 in Fast Five (2011) , 31 in Fast & Furious 6 (2013) , 33 in Furious 7 (2015) , 37 in Fate of The Furious (2017) and etc.

Family: It’s a very huge one! But let’s focus on the biological ones and the in laws. Mother & Father dead but siblings are alive!

Big Brother —> Dom Toretto

Big Sister —> Mia Toretto

Brother in law —> Brian O’Conner

Sister in law —> Letty Ortiz

—

Relationship status: Single for most of the time movies but ends up in a few relationships later on 😉

Best Friends/Family: Roman and Tej, Letty, Hector, Brian, Vince, Han, Leo, Santos, Gisele, Elena, Hobbs, Deckard and the list goes on! She mets a lot of the crew as the years go by.

Vehicle of choice: Honestly she’ll ride with anyone or anything, doesn’t matter the car as long as there’s space to move around. But she love a jet black motorcycle ride and adores a Honda coupe cars because it’s slick small style and storage space in the back (it was her very first car ever too!).

Job on the team: One of the drivers. If not, she stays behind to do a analysis of the case being done (teaming up with Mia to do a lot of it) but she is also a bit of a fighter. She’s got a strong punch to her and will lead a chase downtown if needed!

-

Background information, facts and etc

In 2001, she met Brian O’Conner on the beachside due to sweet charming looks across from each other and a few days introduced herself to him properly. It was a start to a beautiful friendship, but Val would she had a crush on the darling blonde. Then she got the chance to introduce Brian to her sister, Mia and sparks flew! God, she teased her sister about it so much!

Dom wasn’t very happy about it, but invited Brian into the crew but Vince wasn’t having any of it which cause problems between Val and him. Claiming that Brian was a low leveled cop! Val wasn’t pleased with that idea but it later became true, as Brian revealed himself to Mia and Val that he in fact, is a cop. Things happened, causing the 3 of them to save their friends and family from being total waste in the highway and Brian and Dom fought then raced off to find revenge for a death of a friend. Finding plenty of respect for each other.

In 2009. Val, Dom and Letty went to the Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 for a few jobs, find some peace and quiet, along adventures meeting more family members as well! However Letty died trying to clear Dom’s name with Brian and Val’s help, resulting in a return to the US. Along with a new heist and a return to old faces! Brian and Mia reunited, rekindling their romance, Dom met a new member of their team Giselle in Mexico 🇲🇽 , Val reunited with her sister and future brother in law and they tried to frame the criminal gang in the process. However Dom’s name wasn’t cleared yet but they decided to break him out and start a new lifestyle on the run, the best they can.

—

In 2011! 2 years on the road and running around until they landed in Brazil 🇧🇷 and still on the FBI most wanted list for prisoners of the USA 🇺🇸. They played low and trying not to draw too much attention to themselves while Dom headed out to do jobs, Mia, Val and Brian stayed protecting each other with Vince help (since he lived in Brazil with his wife and baby boy). Mia was noticed by Vince’s wife and her sister Val one night that she was off and a little sick, she was pregnant with Brian’s baby! After being chased down by Hobbs, Elena and their crew around the countryside and across rooftops, Mia revealed her pregnancy to the small group of 4 saying they have to stick together now especially with their families about to get bigger, Val couldn’t agreed more coming up with a plan as the boys agreed taking the plan one huge step further.

Dom, Brian, Val and Mia planned a huge heist to getaway with a safe full of money in one of Brazil’s bank houses and a team involved, calling everyone they knew. Dom called Han and Giselle, Val called Leo and Santos, Brian called up Tej and Roman while Mia found the perfect safe spot to meet up, eat, sleep and do business! Everyone met up after a few days and the plan was set in motion. Roman flirted with Val while Tej compliment the girl during the work, it was all fun and games, even Mia and Brian teased the trio. They whole group raced, almost got caught many times by Hobbs even earning his respect eventually, they all had plenty of fun, prepared and trained for the heist.

Taking turns for certain roles, joking around so fun, the job becomes like a crazy fun stunt. Val, Mia and Tej were behind the steel safe to replace with a special handprint to break into and switch off, and keeping track of the views and incoming threats during the city heist while everyone else stayed in positions driving alongside one another. They thought they wouldn’t make it out of there alive but they did! As they all were able to steal $100 million dollars in a bank vault to share on individual accounts.

—

Everyone went they’re own separate ways with their earnings from the $100 million dollar, using it for whatever they wanted. Valentina used hers to go traveling around the world, a long vacation for at least longer than two months. She stayed first in Brazil a little longer and went back to Dominican Republic. She went to Italy, Paris, Rome and of course flew to see her family. Seeing Elena and Dom who started a relationship a while back and saw her pregnant sister and Brian on the beachside.

However when she was in Italy on the beachside, sipping a cold freshly opened beer and eating a plate of fruits, she met someone. “Is there seat taken, miss?” Asked the man with a slight raspy voice and a gentle inviting grin. Valentina pulled down her sunglasses to get a better look at the tall man who stood next to her in white button down exposing his tone arms, dark sunglasses, wearing white shorts and no shoes as his feet dipped into the warmth of the sand. She smiled, “Not at all, take a seat.”

He nodded smiling and took a seat beside the woman on the long chair, “Thank you, darling.” Valentina pulled out another beer offering it to the man who took it with kindness and gratitude. She smiled softly, “It’s the least I can do.” “What are you doing here for?” “Hmm, vacation. I needed a break from it all and maybe need a meet few new faces. You?”

The man smiled taking in her natural tan and glow that radiated from her, a welcoming warmth from her as she saw dressed in a dark brown bikini top with brown shorts to match. A nice contact from his own closest of clothes he brought for travels. It took him a moment before he answered, “Work. I came for a job with a client who needed me to help him. Now I’m taking in the gorgeous view.” Valentina blushed looking down at her drink in hand and smiled, “Before you start, you got a name?” “Deckard Shaw, love.”

Valentina smiled holding out a hand to shake in which Deckard gladly took, bringing his lips up to her knuckles gently and said, “Who you got a name, love?” She smiled softly, “Valentina Toretto but everyone calls me, Val.” “Then you call me, Deck.” “Nice to meet you, Deck.” “Very nice to meet you, Val.”

The pair talked the whole afternoon though on the beach, sipping beers and martinis while snacking on fruits and nuts. Deckard even offer to buy her dinner, in which she obliged as they went to the hotel to change into suitable clothes for the restaurant near the beautiful beaches on Italy as they ate. Deckard smiled, “How long are you staying for?” Val shrugged, “For as long as i want.” “There has to be a timeframe there, love.” “A week, dear.” 

Deckard smiled, “That’s more like it. I’ll be leaving in a few days but I’ll glad love to take you around.” Valentina grinned, “I’ll love that, very much. When do we start?” “You’ll have to ask me that again the morning, after breakfast.” “Let’s enjoy tonight then.” The two shared a few glasses of champagne as they enjoyed the rest of their night together. Heading back to the hotel room to continue their lovely conversations and take in the lovely view of the place.

—

The morning was something else to say the least. Valentina woke up underneath the white covers in a empty bed as the morning daylight of the balcony shined though the curtains. She smiled softly and blushed with pinky cheeks looking around, “Morning, lovely..” Deckard stepped out of the bathroom shirtless having woken up less than a few minutes earlier as he leaned down to press against her lips, “Good morning, beautiful..how’d you sleep?”

Val giggled ignoring his questions, “Your a bad influence Deck. I barley do anything like this…” Deck chuckled leaning towards the headboard of the bed, “Neither do i..But it’s vacation, i enjoyed it and I didn’t hear you complain about it.” “I blame the music playing last night from the balcony.” “Yeah, sure you do. We can blame the music.”

The next few days were a blast to be having together, enjoying dinner, running for shelter after some fallen rain, swimming in water after sharing drinks on the beach, walking down the streets of Italy and sadly it all came to a close. Both went their separate ways, hoping to keep in touch for the next time they’re on vacation, however neither of them knew if and when they would see each other again…

—

In 2013, another issue flown to the surface as Hobbs announced a new heist to be taken place with the crews help. Along with Letty’s return, she’s alive and working for the other team. So plans were made and both crew came aggressively against the threat known as Owen Shaw and his teammates, Val and Mia were kidnapped however thankfully they were able to save them, bring Letty home and stop the criminal case of Shaw and his crew. Everyone went back home to their lives together as a family unit once again, going on leave for work and vacation time of course.

—

Then 2015 came around and everything turned upside down. Valentina was on a small break from working with Tej as his co-worker and friend at the garage, as she flew down to Mexico when she saw Deckard again. The two smiled softly and decided to join each other on a small vacation from it all, until Deckard was told about his brother being in the hospital, Valentina didn’t know much about his family and neither did he know much of hers. Valentina was also called in by own brother to help take care of things at home. The pair went to take care of their own family members. Dom and Val were helping Mia, Brian and their son Jack with moving boxes to the van, when a sudden package arrived at the front door, just as Dom went to open it a call came in saying he was coming for Dom and his family..the house was blown to pieces. It was Deckard Shaw, as he was after the family for revenge on his brother and also on the hunt for a job to do.

Val nor Brian didn’t know much or that it was Deckard until later on during a chase in the woods. Which lead to Roman being a huge scared for jumping out a plane and Val being stuck in the car into a plane with him. Tej joked, “What happened Roman I thought you were strong and afraid of anything? This was your stupid idea!” Roman barked back, “Shut up, Tej! Since when do y’all actually listen to me?! I’mma stay here with Val. Y’all go ahead.”

Val started to fight back both of her idiot friends and eventually taking the wheel, with Tej’s help who controlled a switch to the car, as they road onto the streets of the highway in the woods. As they were driving behind the crew, out of nowhere Deckard appeared locking eyes with Valentina before speeding off behind towards Dom’s car. To say she was confused and pissed was a understatement!

Shit went down afterwards as they had to save a few kidnapped family and friends, cracking the codes to a few systems to find Deckard and also help their new member recruited, Ramsey. Again, Valentina was stuck with Roman undercover! She loved the man to death but god damn she wanted to something punch him for being stupidly loud and such.

Deckard arrived in a elevator as he stanched her up with him yelling, “What the bloody hell are you doing here?!” Valentina yelled back, “I swear to god—Did you know about this?!” “That your brother hurt my brother?! Yes i found out a week ago, darling! I didn’t know you were involved in any of this..you knew about he was my brother?” “No! There wasn’t any connection between you guys and your last name are pretty common, I’m sorry i didn’t respond or know about that. You can’t blame me for this…”

He looked down holding his rather large gun in one hand and grabbed her hand gently with the other, pressing a little kiss to her knuckles. He sighed, “Promise me, you’ll stay safe…?” She sighed, “..yes, I will.” Valentina slapped Deckard across the face before walking out of the elevator to play her role with Roman.

It was fine until shit hit the fan again as Dom and Brian came out in a fire engine red sports car, Letty came flying in after fighting a Russian guard and Deckard came in shooting the place up. Roman grabbed her by the waist, picking Val up and ran off to safely as they screamed, “Y’all are the reason I’m always on vacation! You drive me rut sometimes!”

—

Hours later, Dom and the crew found Deckard and his so called friends in a old warehouse as another fight broke out one another one, it could’ve made someone’s head spin. Dom and Val even got into a huge rushed and heated argument about their own family’s safety and The Shaw Family future after being caught, that was slowly settled down once they found ground in California. No one was happy, however they had a job to do for keeping Ramsey safe.

It was settled team A was to keep Ramsey safe teamed up in cars, playing TAG, team B who was Brian was dislocating the connection between cars and internet for they can’t be tracked by any other means necessary, and team C was fighting against Deckard Shaw. Correction, Dom was fighting him! Midway through the search and play of TAG with Ramsey, Valentina switched cars with Roman and Tej, racing off to the building that held Brian working on the power grid. That was her good friend, brother-in-law and nephew’s daddy of course she was gonna get her ass to that building and help kick some ass with him! And they did just that, Val and Brian kicked ass while trying their hardest to quickly finishing the adjustment on the power grid for Tej and Ramsey.

They were on the rooftop connecting the wires and directing the connection toward there friends when out of the corner of her, Val saw it loud and clear. A block away, two cars rivaling against each other with pounding of the groundwork shaking behind them and the sounds of shouting was heard. The pair raced off towards the building and blocking out a chasing threats toward them. Brian turned his head to watch running as he started yelling in his walkie-talkie at the crew as the building there the cars where started to collapse on itself with the men in it.

Cars went flying! Val wasted no time as she appeared with Letty and Hobbs at the scene, Deckard and Dom battling it out until both were on the groundwork on the streets. Suddenly it was dust and rumble in the air, no one can see as more helicopters with explosive waves of shock…Dom was out cold and Deck was gone hiding in the back of the it all, seeing all the looks at their faces. Deckard sighed as from afar he saw Valentina’s upset glares. Brian tried CPR on Dom as Letty sobbing screamed to get off of him, Val started crying in Roman’s arms as Tej held Ramsey while Hobbs looked at the crime scene in sorrow, noticing Deckard but waited for a moment. Letty sobbed begging and hoping, mumbling something only of of the group hear until Dom finally woke up.

—

A few weeks or so past, everyone started getting situated back home, rebuilding the home everyone knew and loved to have a simple BBQ. Mr. Nobody who hired them originally settled on calling them when needed for missions, Hobbs placed Deckard behind bars threatening him strongly. The two were at each other’s neck, Valentina smirked watching it all, pissed off at what Deckard done and how far both men went to end up where they are today. Deckard looked down unable to face her until after a while on standing in his cell block, he screwed up and tried getting revenge for his family, knowing they both care deeply about family and would do anything for it. The pair talked with Hobbs standing by protectively before it was settled down to not see each other for a long time…

She returned home to see her family with grins and smiles, kissing her nephew and talking with Mia as Dom and Brian joked about god knows what. Before they all headed out to beachside for some sun with the rest of their family. They spent hours just enjoying themselves, until a moment of peace and love came as they looked around. Roman, Tej, Ramsey, Dom, Val and Letty all watched as Brian, Mia and their son, Jack played along the coast of the water in pure joy. It was beautiful, Dom told them he will be back and drove off, Brian noticed Dom drove off with a grin and raced off behind him to join his best friend, his brother, his family.

—

There is more story to be told of this crew and plenty to be written still with the road ahead full of possibilities. I might continue it, who knows? Do Fate of The Furious? 👀 Expand on characters and backgrounds who knows.

Did you like it? What did you think about it? Let’s discuss! Remember to like, comment and share! ✨

Tags: @gaminggirlsstuff @t-nd-rfoot @mandylove1000 @topgun-imagines @sherlkore @meirafireshield @levijeanqueen @hangmanbrainrot @drspencereidhotch @gcthvile @missstrawbs2001 @rooster-84 and the list goes on

#fast and furious #fast and furious au #movie oc #my oc character #dominic toretto #dom toretto #brian o’conner #brian and mia #mia toretto #deckard shaw #roman pierce #tej parker #fast five #the fast and the furious #fast and furious 6 #furious 7 #oc stuff #fast x #letty ortiz

[randomfoggytiger]

My Encyclopedia of My X-Files Fic Lists, Analyses, Fan Vids, and Fan Fiction Resources

So, I pushed all my little anthills into one dust pile because I got sick and tired of having to manually search through my colonies to find that ONE drone. 

~~~X-Files Collector’s Edition~~~

Overview

The Fics That Started It All 

Meet the Mulders

Car Accidents, Injuries, and Fluff- Oh My!

Creepy and Cozy Cabins

Redux II Samantha Was Real

I Want To Be Leaves (Fall Fics) 

 Mulder’s Early or Late Birthdays (Season 1)

Mulder’s Early or Late Birthdays (Angst)

Amor Fati(gue) 

Amor Fati(gue) AUs

Time Travel, Time Loops, and Just Wrong Timing 

Happy Halloween with the Mulder-Scully Family  

Many Mondays and “The Creeps”

Ghostly Hauntings and Experiences- AUs 

Thanksgivings Are Better Twofold 

Flying for Christmas 

Christmas and Emily’s Fate 

New Year, New Relationship   

Canonical-Esque Crack Fic {Edited}

Off-The-Wall Crazy Crack Fic  

Coming Home to Their Unremarkable House 

Little Samantha’s Life in Capture 

Car Wrekt  

Friendship Fix (According to Various Authors) Part 1 

Friendship Fix (According to Various Authors) Part 2  

Valentine’s Day, the Platonic Way

MSR Kicks Platonic Valentine’s to the Curb

Mulder and Scully Fight Insomnia  

Scully’s Arcadian Birthday 

The X-File That Started It All 

Diana Fowl(ey) Play-- All Parts 

S9 Mulder Stays or Returns While the Mytharc Barrels On

Anasazi– Shot and Emotionally Fraught

Pranks and Other April Fics

Celebrating Passover and Easter 

Poll Results: Fic Niches and Polls 

Fics That Deserve More Comments (Part I) 

Fics That Deserve More Comments (Part II)

Fics That Deserve More Comments (Part III)

Fics that Deserve More Comments (Part IV)

Fic Moments That “Hit Different” 

Fics That Fit My Niche "Dad!Mulder" Likes

MORE Fics That Fit My Niche “Dad!Mulder” Likes

Dad!Mulder, His "Mini Me"s, and Sports 

Fight the Future Fics (Part I)

Fight the Future Fics (Part II) 

Crazy X-Cops (and Watching the Tragic Ep. Later)

S9, The Season of Secret Dad (Long Fics) 

MOTW but Rinse and Repeat 

The Field Where I Fix-It Fic-ed

Beefy Revival Mulder

S8 Mulder Resurrects to a Miracle 

X-Files Collector’s Edition: Mulder, Scully, and Scents

A Short Fic Tribute to Samantha's 50th Anniversary

Mulder, To Jew or Not to Jew

It’s the Most HTGSC Time of Year

Mulder and Scully and Dancing

Sins of the Eaten Flesh

Mulder, Scully, and Courthouse Weddings

Cars and Conversations (Part I)

Cars and Conversations (Part II)

Bill Scully, MSR, and Pain (Part I)

Reviving that Love

~~~Curated Authors Collection / Short Entries~~~

randomfoggytiger’s Son of Egypt

randomfoggytiger's Fictober Wrap Up

randomfoggytiger’s Chariots of Fire 

Eight Nights of Mulder 2023 

randomfoggytiger’s “Mr. Mulder, I Know Something About You”

randomfoggytiger’s “You Up For Joining Us?” 

randomfoggytiger’s “Think He’ll Call You Tonight?”

randomfoggytiger’s ”You're Not Here, Dana-- You're a Million Miles Away"

randomfoggytiger’s "You're Only Going to End Up Hurting Yourself"

randomfoggytiger’s The Hospital Where You Slept

randomfoggytiger’s "I Know You. It’s What I Do."

randomfoggytiger’s “I Think It’s About Fate”

A Happy Family (Curated Baroness Blixen’s S9)

Curated Baroness Blixen’s Millennium Fics  

Curated Jamie Greco 

Alligator Moon by jordan  

Still Waters by XP1 

Everything But the Kitchen Sink by Amy Schatz

Morse Cody by grumpysimon 

Fox’s Den I/II/III by Thalia D’Muse 

Curated suitablyaggrieved/ScullyLovesQueequeg’s Cancer Arc Fics

Haze and necromance by astronaught 

fragility by homecomingserf 

Just Another Day on the Oil by Vickie Moseley  

Skyland Mountain (AU) by JenAndrews 

My Favorites Curated Fics and Quotes by suitablyaggrieved 

X-Files Fic That Irons Out the Mytharc... by touchstonea

Curated muldertxf Fics 

Curated melforbes Fics

Curated settle-down-frohike Fics

Curated Baroness Blixen’s Car Conversations

~~~X-Files Fan Fiction Resources~~~

Collected Resources

~~~Analysis~~~ 

Mailboxes in Arcadia: Allegory, Leitmotif, and Chekhov’s Gun

Arcadia Analysis: Scully Was Enjoying Herself Immensely 

Arcadia Analysis: Mulder’s Struggle

 Arcadia Analysis: Their Worst Nightmares and Trauma Responses 

Babylon Dance: An Alternative

Mulder Did Not “Lose Himself” in His Early VCU Days 

Biogenesis’s BIG Problem with the Alien-Human Hybrid Virus 

One Son: An Intense, One-Shot Analysis of “You’re Making This Personal”  

Never Again: An Intensive Essay 

Mulder: Sick Fic Vs. Reality

MSR Communication Summed Up

Mulder and Scully’s Most Defining Moment-- “You. Help. Me.”

Charlie Scully in Beyond the Sea

S8 Scully Would Not Have Let Essence and Existence Happen

Mulder Would Never Let Scully Walk Away with Words Left Unsaid 

Mulder’s Necessary Emotional Growth in One Breath 

The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part I): Colony and End Game

The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part II): The Past Is Important to the Present

The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part III): Dissecting the Dynamics in Demons

The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part IV-1): The Death and Redemption of the Man Who “Threw In”

The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part IV-2): Bill Mulder’s Tainted Legacy

The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part V): Tena Mulder’s Relationships Begin to Change

The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part VI): Talitha Cumi and Tena’s Lies

The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part VII): Childhood Damage in Herrenvolk

The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part VIII): Tena, Amor Fati, and Who’s the Daddy

The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part IX): Tena Mulder’s Suicide and Saving Mulder from Himself

The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part X): Samantha, Spitfire and Stardust

Mulder Was a Father, Even in the Desert 

S8 Scully Healing Before Deadalive

We Don’t Value Skinner Enough 

Scully’s Complete Change From One Breath to Herrenvolk

S5 Is a Pretty Dark Time for Mulder

The Glaring Ideological Difference Between Mulder and Scully

I Wish: Post Three Words and Mulder

Ascension: Mulder and Maggie’s Bond

Mulder Saw That Scully Was Alone in Redux II 

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part I): Childhood and The Pilot

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part II): The First Christmas Death

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part III): A Facade and a Funeral

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part IV): Luthor Lee Boggs, Love, and Letting Go

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part V): Miracles, Lyle Parker, and Psychic Charlie?

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part VI): Maggie Scully and Mulder Meet

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part VII): Mulder, Maggie, Melissa, and the Snake

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part VIII): Maggie Calls Mulder "Fox"

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part IX): Mulder and the Two Scully Sisters

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part X): One Breath and the Scully Men

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part XI): The Last Conversations of One Melissa Scully

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part XII): Prophecy, Death, and the Question of Fate

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part XIII): The Erosion of Scully’s Security, on Tape

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part XIV): When Nature Turns So Cruel

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part XV): "Other Fathers", Deleted Scenes, and "Things to Prove"

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part XVI): Crouching Cancer, Hidden Motives

Spooky Jr. Was Born in a Ghost Town

Mulder Is a Brooder; and Scully Is His Concluder

Scully and Christmas Ghosts

I Love the Unanswered Questions of the X-Files

Mulder Respects Scully’s Medical Choices in the Most Baffling Ways

Scully’s Failures and Her Villains

Mulder Has Max Fenig’s Cap in Beyond the Sea

Scully Is the Conduit Conductor and Mulder Is the Dancer

Mulder Didn’t Use Scully’s Apartment Key Until He “Belonged”

Frohike is THE Man

Mulder and Scully Picked Exes With the Most Red Flag Names Possible

Mulder, the Arcadia Trophy Husband

Mulder Trauma Responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Fawn?

Scully Trauma Responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Fawn?   

Arcadia Mulder and His Pillows

How Scully Taught Mulder to Hug

Alpha In-Depth: All Parts

Mulder and Dreams

Milagro In-Depth: All Parts 

How the Ghosts Stole Christmas In-Depth: Full Analysis

Scully's Speech in HTGSC Proves Mulder Is Her Ouroboros

Mulder and Scully Didn’t Want a “Network” Outside of Each Other

All Souls, Lost Girls, and Grief

Mulder’s Alien Baby Baby Trauma In-Depth (Part I): Waking Up to Miracles 

Mulder’s Alien Baby Baby Trauma In-Depth (Part II): PTSD and Guilt

Mulder’s Alien Baby Baby Trauma In-Depth (Part III): "Processing" How to Fit Back into a Healing World

Mulder’s Alien Baby Baby Trauma In-Depth (Part IV): Passive Mulder Turns Passive-Aggressive

Mulder’s Alien Baby Baby Trauma In-Depth (Part V): The Mutual Pain of Reconnection

Mulder’s Alien Baby Baby Trauma In-Depth (Part VI): Bonds Once Forged Cannot Be Broken

Mulder’s Alien Baby Baby Trauma In-Depth (Part VII): Trickery, Terror, and Tears

Movies Were Mulder's Comfort Placebo Pre-Scully

Mulder and "Killing" Scully

Scully, Snakes, and Reincarnation

CSM Inflicted Insanity On the Syndicate

Mulder’s Little Smile in the Paper Hearts Morgue

Mulder and Scully and the Graves of Many Little Girls

Elegy: A Lie Between Two Truths

Mulder and His Nests

Mulder’s Dichotomy in Three Words

Skinner’s Regrets

Fire and False Romance, Ice and Love

All IVF Roads Lead Away from The Unnatural and to Millennium

X-Cops and Vince Gilligan’s Mulder

The Cancer Arc and Scully's Reliance on Mulder's Strength

Tomboy Scully and Pretty Boy Mulder

Mulder and Scully's Love Story: Season 1

You’re a Magician, Scully

"Proving" Mulder Knew He Was the Father of Scully's Baby

Mulder and Scully Broke Each Other’s Patterns

AU Samantha and Schizogeny Thoughts

Explaining the Never Again Script

Dreams, Alternate Realities, and Agency

One Breath Walked So Firewalker (and Episodes Proceeding It) Could Run

The List: Setting the Stage for Scully’s Loneliness and Mulder’s Panic

Elegy Explanation (and Realization)

Scully and Matters of the Heart: S1-4

Gethsemane, Bill Scully Apologia, and Maggie the Emergency Contact

Mulder: Jewish or Religious References (and His S8 Funeral)

Little Green Men and Teliko Parallels

I Want to Believe: A Character Study in Disordered Writing

HTGSC: Old Tricks and New Lessons

Mulder and Vulnerability

Developed Psychic Ability and Death

Psychics Developed Their Abilities Through Alien DNA

Attractive Monsters and Mulder

Disproving CSM’s Conjecture in En Ami

An Evolution of Mulder and Scully’s Forehead Kisses

Bill Scully Kept Melissa Scully’s Photo in Baby Matthew’s Room

Update: The Therapist in The Red and the Black

Scully's Abduction, Emily Sim, and the Lost Scully Baby

Mulder’s a Big Wig in the Conspiracy Community (and Colonization Thoughts)

Mulder and Scully, Past Lives, and the White Buffalo Calf

Scully the Honest, Mulder the Relentless

The X-Files and Werewolves

An Avoidance Shared by Two

Scully and Emily Parallels

Dana Scully and Relationships: Initial Commitment and Cyclical Self-Doubt

Scully’s Survival Broke The Field Where I Died’s Cycle

Diana Fowley, the Four-Poster Bed Instigator (Perhaps)

Dreamland II: Golf Clubs, Diana Fowley, and Mulder’s Father

~~~Typing~~~ 

How to "Type" Personality Types: An Ultimate Resource 

MULDER, The Spooky INTP 

{{Extraction: Proving Mulder Is Not an INFJ/INFP}} 

SCULLY, The Enigmatic ISTJ

Mulder and Scully: Love and Touch for INTPs/ISTJs 

Dissecting ‘One Son’ (Part I)   

Dissecting ‘One Son’ (Part II) 

‘Never Again’ and Fear 

KRYCEK, An Unstoppable Manipulator

INTPs In Their Own Words 

SKINmanNER, The Bald and the Beautiful 

MAGGIE, The Passionate Scully

MELISSA, The Soulful ISFP

BILL SCULLY, Junior and Senior (and Charlie?)

~~~Musicals/Fan Vids/AMVs~~~

Fight Club (Finale)

Fight Club: Finale Redone with Less Kathy Griffiths

TINH: Scully’s Solo

S2 Abduction: Mulder’s Torment 

Drivin’ Right Along

Hungry: Everything Is Food

Our Town: Everything Is Food

Krycek and Marita: You’re My Little Choochie Face

Syzygy: Everything You Can Do I Can Do Better

Mulder and Samantha: Miracle of Miracles

Amor Fati: If I Never Knew You 

Arcadia: People Will Say We’re in Love 

Scully, Far from the Home She Loves

CSM and Diana: The Riddle  

The Mulders: Sunrise, Sunset

HTGSC: Christmas Can Can

Melissa: Mother Earth and Father Time

Monday: There’s Always Tomorrow

Memento Mori: I Bring You a Song

Pilot: I Ride Alone

Milagro: Hellfire

Darkness Falls: Walk Outside

Emily: Come to Me

~~~Extras~~~

React: "Return to Me" from the POV of Someone Averse to RomComs

Personality Typing: Return to Me

Personality Typing: Bringing Up Baby

React: Watching I Want to Believe for the First Time (and Losing My Mind)  

Personality Typing: Hank Moody, Maggie Scully, and ESTPs

What Happens Later: Misdirection and Miscommunication

What Happens Later: ESTJs, ESFPs, and Building Back Love ‘N Trust

David Duchovny’s Face: an Aesthetics Study

Seasonal Color Theory: a Reference Guide

Seasonal Color Analysis: David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson

Seasonal Color Analysis: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, and Their Colors

Kibbe Body Types: Gillian Anderson

Kibbe Body Types: David Duchovny 

#Encyclopedia #Overview #mine #Collector's Edition #Curated #Short Fics #txf #x-files #xf fanfic #fic #meta #Analysis #Types #MBTI #but not #Typing #the Musical #xf fanvid #the x files #xfiles #xf meta #amv #vids #Review #movie #Trauma Responses #4 F Types #randomfashiontiger

[typellblog]

The limits of ‘I can fix her’ mindset; or, Why Emiya Shirou is the protagonist

Here's a kinda improptu analysis post created because I wanted to complain about a meme, but I can hopefully use that as a jumping-off point to talk about some interesting parts of FSN as a whole.

Here’s the meme in question. The phrases chosen in each case do bear some superficial similarity to the events of each route, so I won’t fault anyone for just sharing it for the funny, but if you think about it for 5 seconds the whole thing collapses.

For starters, why are the routes backwards? If anything, Saber’s route establishes a dynamic of Shirou trying to ‘fix’ heroines, which is then subverted in UBW (note the parallel date scenes).

But I don’t think ‘fix’ is the correct term in the first place. I would say the shared theme of all FSN’s routes is that Shirou gains self-worth through his attempts to save each girl.  

We can see this in the Fate route, where Shirou ends up proud of himself for having loved Saber. He is grateful for the emptiness in his heart that allows him to so easily devote himself to other people, because he wants to devote himself to her.

The hole inside of him is filled by a real, actual person, rather than simply a vague ideal from Kiritsugu. It’s something that he can be happy about, rather than something he bears out of self-castigation and to escape from his past.

Much has been made of their mutual recognition of their own flaws in each other – the way they really do attempt to fix each other - but it should be noted that this is not ultimately successful. Saber is, in some sense, saved in the basement scene, but not from the path of kingship. Shirou can’t give her a life as an ordinary girl because he recognises that the thing about her he finds the most beautiful is that very self-sacrificial and uncompromising nature.

They recognise their own flaws in each other, but, just as importantly, they realise their own virtues in each other. Saber sees in Shirou the way she was when she had just pulled the sword out of the stone. Shirou sees in Saber the end of a life pursuing the same unreachable dream – and finds it dazzling.

The implication of Last Episode is that Shirou never stops trying to be a hero, never settles down to a normal life, never gives up on his dream – because his dream is embodied in Artoria herself. She disappears, at the end of the Fate route, but her effect on him remains forever.

I cannot possibly call this a healthy relationship. They did not fix each other, they just realised they were broken in exactly the right ways to slot together.

Saber is a sword, and she perfectly slides into Shirou, her sheath. You could argue they suit each other the best of all three pairs.

But this site is already full of Saberheads, and honestly that part of the meme is the least inaccurate, so let me get into the juicier bit.

Now, Rin tries to fix Shirou in Unlimited Blade Works, she absolutely does. She takes a very proactive approach to it – but what are the results? Shirou still commits to his path of becoming a hero of justice. He says he’ll repeat Archer’s actions despite knowing the result. He says he won’t regret it, and perhaps not, but the habit of self-sacrifice hasn’t disappeared. What he gains from Rin is, again, a sense of self-worth to go along with it.

One of the best scenes in UBW takes place right after Illya’s death. Rin questions what the fuck is wrong with Shirou, jumping in to try and save her like that. Did Kiritsugu do something to him when he was rescued from the fire? Why is his brain so broken?

Shirou has been wondering about a similar thing himself. He’s always had a vague sense of uncertainty about his ideals of heroism. It’s why Archer’s presence bugs him so much, why he can’t provide a convincing counterargument to anything the man says.

But Rin here, seriously worried about him, has provided the answer. It’s because the people who care about him would be sad if he was hurt. His life actually has some value.

And recognising that, he says, ‘Sorry, Tohsaka,” and continues down the same path.

Tohsaka Rin is always a struggle to talk about, because you can quite easily see her as either a victim of patriarchy with severe emotional repression issues, or a Strong Independent Woman who can handle most problems on her own.

Both can be true, of course, but I’d argue that if you look at the VN as a whole (specifically Heaven’s Feel), the latter is deliberately shown to be a façade she has been putting on for so long that she’s forgotten how to take it off. It’s why Sakura at times finds her so unsympathetic and why it’s so vitally important for her to try and sympathise anyway. They both suffered terribly as a result of Tokiomi’s decisions – Sakura perhaps more so, but Rin still had her entire family taken from her as a young child.

But in any case, reading UBW in this light makes it clear that she really does need Shirou, perhaps as much as he needs her. When he describes her as the kind of person who always gets back up and gets even with her enemies, that’s what gives her the motivation to do precisely that.

To her, Shirou is a strange and intriguing person, capable of sticking with tasks that he knows are impossible. She admires that quality, and we notice her developing it herself throughout UBW as she follows Shirou’s example to continue fighting as a Master despite losing her Servant.

Rin and Shirou end up having significant mutual influence on each other, without changing the core of who they are as characters. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than the end of UBW, where they are faced by simultaneous dilemmas. Rin chooses to try and save Shinji from the Grail, despite knowing her chances of success are very low, while Shirou chooses to stand his ground and not fling himself into the abyss with Gil.

In this way, Rin displays in part Shirou’s self-sacrificing nature and pursuit of impossible odds, while Shirou must avoid throwing his life away at the first opportunity and choose to live for the sake of potentially reuniting with Rin and his other family.

Archer is the one that bails them out in the end, the best and worst of them both.

Shirou and Rin’s dynamic is an interplay between selflessness and selfishness. They leave a drop of each in the other like Yin and Yang, the twin swords Kanshou and Bakuya.

You could argue that they balance each other out the best of all three pairs.

And finally, some brief commentary on Sakura. She’s put first in this stupid meme, treated as the most obvious and easy to understand of the heroines, ascribed the least agency with regards her relationship with Shirou. She was broken, and then he fixed her. The end.

The thing is, this interpretation isn’t entirely wrong. Sakura is a very passive character (we see what it looks like when she finally takes action in HF. It isn’t pretty and she knows this.)

Shirou is driven by Sakura, his actions all revolve around protecting Sakura, but what does Sakura herself actually do?

I would posit that this is a coward’s question. Sakura doesn’t need to do any more than she already does in order to spur Shirou to protect her. Heaven’s Feel is about Shirou realising what Sakura has already been doing for him, what Sakura already means to him, the implications of what Sakura has been dealing with this whole time. We’ve had two whole routes to get used to her and now the rug’s come from under us!

I think you can critique Sakura’s lack of agency in her own route, but what I want to point out is that she nonetheless has the greatest impact on Shirou of any of the heroines.

Because, and this is really the worst oversight in that whole meme, Shirou gets fixed in HF far more substantially than the prior two routes. Gaining self-worth through saving others, remember? FSN is a cumulative experience, we learn more about Emiya Shirou with each route, and this is the one that we learn his ideal has been a lot simpler than he thought this whole time. He simply wants to protect the people close to him.

His love for Sakura and, importantly, her love for him, is what gives him the desire to live. He realises that his life has value because she cares about him, and if he wants to save her, he needs to save himself too.

Fate/Stay Night is the story of Shirou, a sword, learning to become a human. You could argue that Sakura helps him accomplish this the best out of all three pairs.

Now, considering Illya’s role in this . . . will have to wait for another time. Augh. You just wait, I've been laying the groundwork here.

#fate/stay night #emiya shirou #fsn analysis

[lilacthebooklover]

pure vanilla cookie analysis- major CRK spoilers ahead!!

it must be so wild to find out that the power you earnt, the ability bestowed upon you for being pure and worthy, is nothing more than a fraction of everything you fight against. to watch the light of freedom be corrupted by the realisation your kind aren't meant to live, and see what should encourage peace be warped into a motive for destruction. to know that the devastation sent through the land is because you couldn't uphold your promise of keeping it all from going too far. to wait for the night of the crescent moon and attempt to fix it all, only to wind up with nothing more than a curse instead and nobody to blame but yourself. to be attacked in your homeland, to watch a war break out that you know is your fault, and to have the only way to stop it be to sacrifice your own power, the power you've used to bring together your world. to have it all taken away of your own volition in what should have been a final fight, to attempt to banish yourself and the one you love most for the good of all, to send away your people and your kingdom and everything you know. to try to isolate yourself for an eternity in a final, desperate act of sacrifice even though you know you cannot die. to expect that to be the end, only to go down in history as a legend and wander alone years later with no memory of your past and the last remnants of your soul appearing through your dreams. to wonder how you came to be, how you're still alive, then to remember it all and regain an identity that has lost its allure to your failures.

to be reminded of your mistakes by the harbingers of all that you oppose, to be easily incapacitated by reminders of how little purity you have left. to set out to reunite with others of your stature, your friends, to find those who share a common goal of protection, and find out just how deeply this power has corrupted their lives. to regain your strength and watch as the person who used to be your closest friend repeatedly pushes you away, insistent that you are but an obstacle she needs to be rid of, to find that same friend's soul split in two. to be a healer, to have the designated role of repairing and cleansing, only to struggle for a solution that will fix wounds that seem far too deep to close. to cause damage and harm and devastation despite wanting anything but, and see those who stayed steadfastly, fatally loyal to you fall at the hands of a monster you crafted. to search for the truth because you are the truth, you have been since you faced the trials and passed, and now it's up to you to find a way to fix this.

to learn that more of your own soul could be used to bring part of a loved, corrupted hero you have missed more than anything back, and to offer it up without hesitation regardless of the impact it could have on yourself. to be denied further sacrifice and see her return, only for her to push you away even now, desiring solitude rather than the solidarity you have been craving for years and years and years. to discover that your power is not your own, that it once belonged to another, that it was salvaged from corruption and destruction and illusions. to encompass light and purity and selflessness and leadership and truth, only to find out that you are nothing more than hastily purified deceit. to be selected as the one to stop the chaos and hatred, to have the fate of the world rest on your decisions.

to see the original wielder of your power be released and know that all you have is the result of another's descent into darkness. to see that your predecessor is a cookie and a beast all at once, to know that they are infinitely stronger than you and back in your world, among those you love. to be the parallel to a monster, the immovable object to an unstoppable force, to reflect deceit with a light of truth you can no longer truly trust. to discover your values are not inherently good, that they are born of the aftermath of evil, that you are simply a tiny fragment of unimaginable power where you used to be considered one of the strongest beings in existence. to see the cycle repeat in the one you care for most, and watch her blame herself for the horrors that have passed and the horrors to come, and wish you had prevented all of this while you still could. to see that your life is built on a throne of lies, and face off against a puppetmaster who shows undeniable, damning similarities to yourself, even down to his appearance. to be alone and yet not, to have power and know it has been corrupted before, to see what you have the potential to become if ever your soul begins to regress. to have back half of what you have so dearly missed, but at what cost? to know you must defend, must remain good, and try not to fall as the weight of your entire world settles heavily on your shoulders, because you are a protector, a ruler, a symbol, a hero, a healer, an embodiment of knowledge and greatness and power and truth, even as the very foundation of all you thought you knew continues to crumble bit by bit. wild.

#crk spoilers #LOTS OF CRK SPOILERS!!! #pure vanilla cookie #i have so many thought about pure vanilla #both as a character and as a symbol #because he's ultimately considered the leader of the side of good #and yet we see him break down again and again over his past mistakes #all of the ancients are broken but pure vanilla refuses to admit that #he's desperate to restore the world he loved #only now he's discovering that everything it's built on is born from corruption #and that despite being selected as Truth himself #he hasn't known what that is for his entire life #it's his obligation to now #even though the truth was what broke white lily #and has been corrupted into his most dangerous foe #.....wild #crk analysis #cookie run kingdom #crk #cr kingdom #white lily cookie #shadow milk cookie #dark enchantress cookie #i could make a whole other post about just pv & sm's parallels and dynamic #but i didn't want this to be even longer than it already is loll #character analysis #beast yeast #cookie run ancients #pure vanilla crk

[victoriadallonfan]

Apologies for the long analysis!

I think Victoria and Taylor share an interesting character in hating people who serve as projections of themselves

For example, here’s Taylor describing the Merchants:

- Worm 10.2

Remove the Merchant label, and you basically described not only Taylor, but her entire team of Undersiders.

Taylor latched onto the only group that would take her (in her mind), Regent is an addict (for emotions), Rachel is a vagrant, and the entire team are thugs, looters, scavengers, and thieves. Like, it was only an arc ago that Taylor had attacked a PRT supply truck to steal from it, and then the PRT HQ itself. Coil has been supplying drugs to the city to pay for the Undersiders, and both of them mooch off of the US government to “rule” Brockton Bay (which is why they panicked at the idea of the Government closing down the city and paying off the residents).

This goes on even after: Taylor hates the Merchants for kidnapping people for their pleasure and thinks being trapped in one’s body is a fate worse than death… which are things Regent does and she *supports* him (by this point he not only had Sophia but a half dozen other victims as well), and later what she does as Khepri.

Taylor (though some may argue otherwise), never reaches the mass depravity and sadism of the Merchants personally, but she has more in common with them than she wants to admit and would make allowances that line up with them (and hates them because of those similarities).

And then we have Victoria:

- Ward 13.3

Victoria last arc had killed a lot of people. She unloaded an assault rifle into mercenaries, she crushed an entire squad with a cave in, and at this point believed that she had killed Etna in self-defense. We later learn that as GG she had night terrors about people dying, showing that this is a deep seated root of fear, possibly stemming from her Aunt’s murder.

Victoria didn’t do drugs*, but she was an addict: she craved Amy’s love/attention to the point that, to paraphrase her own words, she felt like an animal. How it consumed her life and made her thoughts spiral, even when she tried to learn coping mechanisms to handle the cravings. *There might be some connected shame to her needing to take medication to handle her night terrors as we learn in arc 16.

Victoria didn’t really care about money per se, but it was an important argument she had with Tristan, talking about how she used to watch Carol stay up late at night, trying to handle bills and stressing out about them (probably because Carol was supporting two families by herself good lord). She focuses a LOT on paying back the local residents when street fights get nasty and damages property (:insertmemehere:), or making villains pay for it. And while not necessarily monetary, there is the fact that she craves recognition and - in her own words - hates being ignored. She does want fame and the good that comes with it.

I think a point of diversion is how they handle this being pointed out to them. Well, not necessarily these moments above (though Vic does admit she fails her own benchmark and Taylor almost has an epiphany when Piggot is telling her all the details), but similarity moments.

Taylor:

- Worm 21.2

Victoria:

- Ward 18.9

(Sorry for the large images)

We see that Taylor and Victoria both try to deflect and counter argue when their behaviors are called out (TT noting that she’s not thinking straight and not acknowledging the reality of the situation; Sveta and Natalie both pointing out that Victoria is acting more and more desperate and reckless in each fight and maybe pushing that on others).

And then a key difference happens:

Taylor - in a mirror to her conflicts with Danny - leaves. She doesn’t have a counterpoint to make, so she doesn’t, and just leaves to stew on her anger. It’s not like she could gag TT like she did Piggot after all; the only winning move was to not play. Or change the rules so that she would have the advantage (or gun to the head, as TT so aptly puts it later on as Khepri goes into full swing).

Victoria admits defeat. She treated the argument as, well, an argument and conceded her loss when she found that she had no proper rebuttal. Even though she disagreed (and heavily at that; even trying to forget that she had judged Switch Hitter for breaking down for a bit) she couldn’t find the words to do so, thus she lost. Which later plays out into her deciding to trust others to handle defeating Fortuna (and awakening them) instead of herself.

What do y’all think? Am I just spewing nonsense? If not, any other points that you think where they have similar character flaws but different ways of handling them?

#parahumans #wildbow #ward #worm #victoria dallon #antares #glory girl #ward web serial #taylor hebert #skitter #weaver #Khepri #worm web serial #analysis

[welcome-tothe-madness]

So upset I have yet to see a kuroshitsuji edit to Brutus, like, ARE YOU KIDDING ME.

That song is SOOOO O!Ciel coded.

I could literally do a lyrics breakdown analysis of how each verse correlates with his backstory.

I've been watching him for my entire life

I hate the air he breathes, his foolish decrees

His words so contrived

And I hate the way the townspeople gather outside

They hang on every breath, cling to his chest

Home to his heart full of pride

Obviously, O!Ciel has been forced into his brother’s shadow, and watch how everyone adores his brother while he stays inside alone with a dog

The oracle told him to beware the Ides

And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't wishing

For untimely death or demise

Or am I just wishing I could be like you?

That the people would see me too as a poet

And not just the muse

The oracle could be Undertaker meeting the twins when they were young, foreboding a terrible fate to come. Also, O!Ciel had to face some pretty complicated feelings of being in R!Ciel’s shadow.

Oh, it's not true, I don't wish harm upon you

From birth we've been like brothers of different mothers

Within the spirit of the same womb

May the gods strike me down if I forsake you

Frater meus, you're beautifully made

And to you I'm forever grateful

O!Ciel does not actually wish harm upon his brother, but he does feel immense envy for being born as his sickly spare. But he is grateful to him for being his protector and light

I'll never forget that you showed me to make art

And I know the love you showed me came

From a pure and noble heart

I love you, and if you want, I'll call you King

But why do I lie awake each night thinking

"Instead of you, it should be me"?

O!Ciel knows his brother is kind, noble, and pure, but he cannot help but believe he is the one deserving Earldom

Something wicked this way comes

And as I set to face it, I'm unsure

Should I embrace it, should I run?

What motivates me? Hatred? Is it love?

What's more wrong; that I too wish to be great

Or my mother wished she'd had a son?

And even if I can't be the one

Maybe I could at least help make way for him

Until the day that he comes

Maybe my name could also be known

That I helped return good to the people

And restored greatness to Rome

I believe this could be where Sebastian is introduced and O!Ciel begins to grapple with survivors guilt, his own selfishness, and him forever being changed by what happened. He wants to be the one remembered.

My name is Brutus and my name means heavy

So with a heavy heart

I'll guide this dagger into the heart of my enemy

My whole life, you were a teacher and friend to me

Please know my actions are not motivated only by envy

I, too, have a destiny

This death will be art

The people will speak of this day from near and afar

This event will be history, and I'll be great too

I don't want what you have, I want to be you

I believe these lyrics for the most part are self explanatory, but I think this would be a cool part to bring back O!Ciel witnessing R!Ciel’s death (by a dagger), and him reclaiming his dead brother’s name and family ring

I always knew I could be the one

Though I feel the endless pain of being

And I am scorched by the Sun

Of humble origins and born of the cursed sex

My name is Brutus, but the people will call me Rex

That last lyric is the one that feels like the cherry on top for me. “My name is ___ but the people will call me Ciel” is a good alternative for a potential black butler animatic/edit whatever.

Idk, I’m an artist so I could def be the one to make this happen, but GRRRR I think this song fits him so well it drives me insane I haven’t seen anybody else make the connection

#black butler #kuroshitsuji #ciel phantomhive #sebastian michaelis #manga #o!ciel #r!ciel #Spotify

[300iqprower]

A character I mentioned getting screwed over by Fate due to wafiu-ism is Medb, but another that got completely screwed over is Penthesilea, and unlike Medb, I can't really identify why. She got given a bad deal in being introduced in Agatha but she is probably one of the easiest characters to drag out that dumpster fire, there is so many ways to take her character and so many relationships she has to other characters. She and Asclepius shared a writer, he must have seen that it was Penthesilea nephew, Hippolytus, that was raised from the dead, why doesn't she comment on that? In most versions of the story it is the Amazons, lead most likely by her, that accidently kill Hippolytus's mother, in this case most likely Antiope, shouldn't that be addressed? She must feel a lot of guilt over that. She is Romulus's half sister but they don't have voice lines for each other. Penthesilea is a character that had and still has a lot of ways to be explored, but they keep on focusing on this hatred of Achilles for what was a comment that doesn't really matter and it just annoys me, and TM can still do it, they can still expand on her character but it seems like they don't want to. I just wish more people would be able to appreciate who Penthesilea is as a character, the amazoness event was a good start, showing her leadership skills and also it was funny, but I just wish their was more. Also she doesn't have her iconic leopard skin cape, which is lame, give her the damn cape, it might be petty, but it shows how good of a fighter she is!

Sorry this took a while to get back to but I had to look into Penth's myths more. I knew a lot less about the Amazonians than I thought, like the fact they get their name from the belief they would cut off a breast so they could better use a longbow. Holy shit that is metal.

I feel like Penth is a character torn between Nasu's obvious adoration of greek mythology and FGO's priority of making sure there's not such thing as a strong independent female character who doesn't have some sort of caveat that makes it so they wont "Scare off" the (believed) target whale audience of insecure men. The end result is a character with a lot of qualifiers and self contradictions that are best resolved by sweeping her under the rug entirely.

I'm not against the idea of her being obsessively angry with Achilles; there's a ton of potential in that and if done right it wouldn't just boil down to "Oh this character is a badass bc we want to make sure you know this other character is an even better SUPER MEGA badass" unlike......actually I was gonna give a snarky "cough X cough" example but there's too many to pick from. Regardless, this post does a great job outlining what i mean and goes a step beyond by framing it in fate specific lore.

But they obviously didn't do that in the game. She never even had enough substance to commit to that level of deeper meaning (though the stuff that post talks about is very much hinted at in her dialogue) and that's because of the aforementioned "just pretend it doesn't exist" approach to an amazonian queen and how it's at odds with the gacha status quo. Not a real status quo, mind you, I think I speak for all of good taste when I say if Penth was a take no shit unflappable badass commander I would love her more for it not less. I'm talking about this ASSUMED belief on the part of those wringing money out of things that the only market is straight insecure men who want someone to be dependent on them. I'm sure you already know this and that it's exactly what you meant by "screwed over by waifuism" but I want to outline it because it makes clear just how at odds a character like Penth is. Her design, her mannerisms, her story relevance or rather lackthereof, all of it is them trying their damndest to skirt around the obvious. To restate what i've said time and again, these things aren't always inherently issues, but things that would normally be innocuous become problematic when you know there is a specific malicious intent.

In fact that's exactly why even though as I said her hatred for Achilles could be an incredible point of depth, it still ends up being on the list of problematic things with her.

Penth is obsessed with a man, and she specifically hates him, and even though she's clearly shown to not hate all men, her character is hyperfocused on that hatred of Achilles in order to make it "special" that she doesn't hate you (with the game as per usual being written with a clear assumption that the player is male); her 4th ascencion and bond 5 lines post name reveal are EXTREMELY on the nose about this, basically labeling you "the exception" to her not wanting to be seen as a women first and foremost, and portraying her desire for otherwise to be childish and naive.

Which brings me to the part that killed my interest in her as a character. She's retroactively de-aged which, on top of just being fucked up and so very very problematic for completely standalone reasons, means they can have their cake and eat it regarding her design. She's fixated on the events that happened at the end of her life how they define who she is, yet they don't have to actually portray her as that person. Supposedly she pulled a liz because she doesn't want to be seen as the same beautiful person Achilles fell in love with. She wants to be seen as a warrior first and foremost. Ok, if she's obsessed with being seen as a warrior then why doesnt she wear any armor? Why doesn't she have her golden belt, or her famous leopard pelt, or her crescent shield, or her helm? I'm fine with her not wielding a bow or lance, in fact IMO her (afaik completely original) ball and chain wielding along with the claws is easily her best aspect in terms of character design. But not even a mention of archery, the thing from which the amazons got their name? I'm not asking to show a mutilated chest or something, if she's younger and doesn't yet have to worry about that sort of thing that's a chance to have your cake and eat in a GOOD way! (and obviously ILR breasts are not going to be an issue with archery but baseless myths like that have affected character design before so...) But again, they don't do any of that. She's barely got anything on and nothing indicative of warrior status aside from the weapons themselves, which is such a blatant contradiction of their own in-universe reason for her appearance. If she's so obsessed with looking like a warrior, why is she wearing almost nothing and her FA is a stereotypical "undressing by waterside" portrait? Actually I know why, it's in addition to stupid eye candy garbage to the convey that this is an act, that she's obsessed with being this perfect warrior but at the end of the day under that nonexistent armor is a human being like anyone else. The mask has to come off eventually...

...even though what she aspires to doesn't have to be inherently wrong or something to live in denial of. Which brings me to the last, and arguably even more damning aspect. She's portrayed as childishly wrong. They emphasize her anger as something along the lines of denying reality and "going through a phase" even if they state otherwise. They try and dress it up with materials and such but there's a very clear tone of bullheaded recklessness she's written with, like someone who won't admit they're wrong and instead pushes back violently against being challenged. She's portrayed as arrogant, not proud. She's portrayed as brash, not determined. She's portrayed as in denial, rather than rightfully frustrated. She's portrayed as if she's a stubborn child who is in the wrong, and her one true story role having her be...THAT in agartha really makes that even more overt.

Penth COULD be an amazing character as you and that post point out. She COULD be an absolute badass with her own identity and expand on her in a dozen different ways without losing anything. But they won't, because that's not their intention. They don't WANT to write her as the best character she could be because that would go against the perceived market they're trying to cater. They would never admit it, but she's written condescendingly. Because in the context of a waifu obsessed gacha, she is patronized simply by existing.

#fgo #penthesilea #fgo penthesilia #never thought i'd get an ask #character analysis #fuck fgo #i swear to god learning that Fate Stay Night completely changed the main character to appeal to straight men explained so much #long post #fate grand order