#he was truly magical and a kind of an alien | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

starsomens · 4 months

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this is for my ✨ bilingual girlies ✨ I am one which is why this can be grammatically incorrect but whatever

Noah finds your accent ADORABLE. and HOT of course. like, he can listen to you for hours noticing how certain words and/or syllables here and there in your speach sound different from what he's used to hear and it hits the right spot for him;

with that being said, he still jockingly mocks you from time to time trying to do impressions of the way you speak. he never takes it to far though, so it's just an ongoing banter which you gladly paticipate in, intentionally making your accent sound harsher from how you "normally" speak;

and you and Jolly cooperate in making Noah lose his mind with your accents. Hoah goes like "guys, human throats are not designed to reproduce such insane sounds, what planet are you both from?"

you melt when he lovingly says "you're so special, you're out of this world" only to roll your eyes three seconds later when he continues "seriuosly, you're a fucking alien, the more you talk the more I'm sure of it. I won't turn you in though, you're mine now";

he also makes fun of you when you misspell in your texts to him. "darling, are you okay? is everything alright or you having a stroke? should we call an ambulance or an English teacher?":

also, did you know your voice sounds not the same when you speak different languages? no? oh, trust me, HE KNOWS. it never stops to amuse him how suddenly your voice switches to softer and huskier or goes higher and cuter depending of the language. to him it's basically the same kind of "magic" (you call it that) he uses when he sings switching registers, so yeah, your voice is music to his ears. and he loves that more than anything;

sometimes you forget certain words or mix them up and it makes you feel awkward and embarressed. you're afraid that you speak gibberish instead of proper English. especially in front of Noah with his sophisticated way of expressing his thoughts. but not only he ALWAYS knows what you're trying to say, he also makes you feel less in your head about it. for example, he makes up silly stories about him saying the wrong words at the wrong circumstances and embarrassing the heck out of himself (and you're sure it never happened, but he wants to cheer you up so you play along) or he turns your mistakes into something special for the two of you, like an inside joke or a secret code (remember that cringy "I wolf you" line from You? yep, that's what I'm talking about). so when he shows you his new song which is his personal love anthem to you and the greatest thing he's ever written to this day and you say it's terrible instead of terrific, he looks as proud as he only can be and jokingly says he tried his best to make it the worst song in the history of music. from now on all of his song are "terrible". and all about you, of course;

remember when he said that Jolly comes up with the greatest lyrics without realizing it because he thinks in Swedish? same applies to you. it truly fascinates Noah to hear you saying the most beautiful genius things based on some sayings in your first language. he takes inspiration from that and includes it in his lyrics without saying that and you realize it afterwards when you hear him singing it;

he's for sure secretly learning your language just to surprise you all of the sudden. like, you two have a movie night date on your big comfy couch, he brushes his fingers through you hair and says "I love you" in your language and you automatically reply back the same way and then go "wait, did you just..?" and he sits there smiling from ear to ear and being so hella proud of himself, throwing at you one compliment in your mother tongue after another. and you have no idea when or how he managed to learn it all but it makes you love him even more;

which is why the next thing he'll learn from you will be the dirty talk. oh god, help us all lol

ANON SHIT UP RN

COME TO MY HOUSE SO I CAN GIVE U KISSES STOOPPPPPPP OMG MY HEART

So I was born here, but I want to say that, technically my first language was Spanish. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother and I had heard from someone that the way you express your emotions, whatever language you use is your first language, which I thought was a very cool concept. And a lot of times there are words that I don’t know in English so I just resort to Spanish but oh my God literally made me smell so big I’m at work and the noise I let out was crazyOMMGGGGG

I was going to write a small story on this, but you beat me to the punch, but I’m not complaining. I will add onto this later on thank you thank you thank you thank you again.🩷🩷🩷🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

#bad omens #noah sebastian #star’s anons✨#bad omens cult #noahsebastian #badomens #bad omens band #noah sebastian x reader

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fanfic-obsessed · 2 years

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The Chancellor made a mistake

All it takes is a single mistake and generations of planning goes down the drain. It’s actually kind of impressive when you think about the sheer amount of forethought that the death of the Jedi took. Because all it takes is moving just a little too fast and a thousand years of hiding go out the window.

Sheev Palptine was a font of patience when working toward his aims, but, well he had been listening to rants about Obi Wan Kenobi being the ‘Perfect Jedi’ for years. That he was detached, alien to the wider galaxy in a way that few beings ever were. Those rants sparked an idea. A way to isolate the Jedi further from the galaxy by showing them the ‘Perfect Jedi’.

And yes, Obi Wan Kenobi is one of the best representatives of what it means to be a Jedi who currently lives. But it was not for the reasons that Anakin (encouraged by Palptine) thought. The mistake Palpatine truly made was forgetting that the ‘Perfect Jedi’ image that Anakin held was created by Palpatine himself.

There is an artifact in Palpatine’s collection (one of the few that he had both legally and visibly) that is the center of Palpatine’s plan. It is a thing of Sith magic (and could be considered a device of torture, not that any one outside of Palpatine realizes that at first) that projects key moments in the subjects life for everyone to see, to hear, and even to feel a reflection of what the subject feels (It could be considered torture becaus the subject is forced to relive these memories in their entirety, as if they were happening again. Also they have no control over what memories are being shown and once started this process cannot be stopped until it has found all of the key moments). As it uses the Force the moments can be seen from a third person point of view. Palpatine had even found a way to connect the artifact to a broadcasting system, meaning that the entire galaxy can see and hear and feel what it is to be the ‘Perfect Jedi’.

At first the plan goes exactly as it was supposed to. In the guise of ‘fostering relations to disprove the horrible rumor of Jedi warmongering’ Palpatine maneuvers the Senate and the Jedi Order into Obi Wan Kenobi being the subject of this artifact and putting himself on display for all the galaxy to see. Anakin is visibly excited about this. Obi Wan is put in a Pod hovering in the center of the Rotunda, visible to all. Many Clone Commanders (and, though Palpatine had no way of knowing, Ghost Company) ring the top of the Rotunda, looking down at the General. Mace Windu and Yoda are in the Jedi Pod, looking weary (they know what a violation this is, even if no one else seemed to. The Clones, particularly those assigned to the 212th understood as well).

The one concession that Obi Wan had managed to get is that neither he, nor those he was working with, could be prosecuted for anything that might appear in the memories (using the logic that he did not want to be prosecuted for giving away military secrets if that is something that is shown to the entire galaxy).

The plan went wrong from the first memory (and it could not be stopped, even if Obi Wan was killed and the artifact destroyed, the Force itself would continue projecting until the memories had run their course).

The very first memory comes with the echo of fear and pain and the sensation of being unable to breath. The galaxy watches a tiny redheaded toddler being held under a river by a woman that could be his mother. A jedi of Togruta descent comes upon them and pushes the woman away and gently lifts the toddler. The reflection of a warmth easing the feeling of drowning echoes and comforts, the fear also easing. The woman then shrieks that the boy is cursed; is Obi Wan Kenobi. As she runs off the Togruta looks down at the toddler, smiles sadly and says “Not to worry, little Obi Wan, where we’re going, having the Force is no curse.”

A ripple of horror spreads throughout the galaxy. The darkness that the Sith had worked so hard to cultivate begins to thin, as beings of all kinds absolutely fall in love with the red headed toddler whose earliest memory is being rescued by the Jedi. It thins further though moments in Obi Wan’s childhood. Instead of seeing indoctrination or baby stealing the galaxy sees sentients doing their best for the children under their care. Yes there is bullying, the misunderstandings and teasing of any group of children and too few caretakers. But there is also Grandmaster Yoda playing prank after prank on and with the younglings. There is sleeping in a pile of crechemates, feeling safe (even in the presence of a bully). There are ‘adventures’ of sneaking into the kitchen with friends. Daycare workers, Nannies, and caretakers the Galaxy over have never felt closer to the Jedi than experiencing Obi Wan’s memories of the Creche.

The galaxy sees the teachings of the Jedi from the eyes of their children, and it is easier to understand there is so much emphasis on self control when a tantrum causes every toy in the room to shoot up to hit the ceiling then rain down on children. They see the mistakes, because there are always mistakes and things that could have been done better when raising children. They see Obi Wan’s visions and nightmares, and how they are handled. They see the places where rigid tradition is to the detriment of the Order but they also see the soft moments. The moments of comfort. They see Yoda calming Obi Wan after a nightmare and how the words “Always in motion, the future is” is not just an admonishment but also a comfort.

And they see the mystical powers of the Jedi being taught. That it is not just some magically granted power, but something that is taught and studied and worked for. They see behind the magic, what’s more for the first time the majority of the galaxy feels the Force the way the Jedi do (an odd consequence of the artifact being tied to the broadcaster like it was, is that most of the galaxy never really lost that sense after, even if they were not Force Sensitive enough to use the Force) for the first time.

And Sheev Palpatine is undeniably evil, there is no question about that. He is, in fact, proud of that. But even he feels…something when he watched a grown man tell a twelve year old Obi Wan that he is destined to fall (that memory alone swelled the darkness again). Through the memories, and armed with hindsight, the galaxy can hear the Force whisper to Obi Wan, telling him he is destined to be a knight. Compassion lights up the galaxy, shaded with horror, when the bomb collar locks home. And for many of the comfortable in the galaxy, even among those that consider themselves ‘good’ this is the closest they have come to experiencing slavery, the fear, the cruelty, the hollow ache. They hear and feel the secrets that slaves keep and vow to take action (it is a vow that turns to words again for many, but on dozen worlds it sparks into a bonfire that roots out slavery where it finds it).

When Cody hears Qui Gon Jinn tell Obi wan that the reason he is taking him as a padawan is because he was willing to die, he scoffs softly and murmurs “so that is where that comes from”. (Gree asks him why he is not surprised by any of this, since Skywalker visibly is. Cody looks at Gree and says that the General had already told these stories, all they had to do was ask).

It is with the memory of Obi Wan leaving the Order for the Young that it first occurs to Anakin that this was a violation. They should not be watching Obi Wan’s most intimate memories. This is not how Anakin should be learning about his former Master. The horror grows as he feels with every moment of the war that is shown. Then Cerasi dies. Three quarters of the galaxy sob outright for this young girl, who in her last moments spoke of Peace. It is nigh on impossible not to feel for these tired child soldiers and the Jedi Padawan that fought with them, they find the peace that they fought for but it took so much. Too much.

Then Obi Wan returns to the Temple. These are sentient beings, with hopes and dreams and flaws, the galaxy is reminded again and again. Nearly every memory has something that someone in the galaxy can relate to. The successes and failures that they can see through Obi Wan’s eyes.

When the child version of the Hero with No Fear is brought before the council the entire Galaxy feels the ache of never being enough, for always feeling like the second, the third, the last choice. Not even a thought during Qui Gon’s last moments. The grief of losing a parent is all too common, the stress of having to suddenly raise a younger sibling, of subsuming your own grief to be there for someone else and feeling alone in the world are not much less. And every parent in the galaxy knew the feeling of the teen years, where it seemed like everything Obi Wan did was a mistake or a misstep (Anakin remembered those years differently, shaded in a defensiveness that he was not sure the origin of now). Most of all everyone could feel the love that suffused Obi Wan every memory of Anakin, this boy who should have been his brother but instead was his son.

The attempted assassination of Senator Amidala drew Obi Wan to Kamino. For the first time the galaxy and, almost more importantly, the Senate saw the Clones through the eyes of the Jedi. Instead of rows of identical, interchangeable faces, it was constellations of stars in miniature. Each unique. Each beautiful. It was profound. It was striking.

Reflected horror only grew with each memory of battle. With each memory of grieving with Clones, they became more real. Even the Kaminoan Senator was discomforted, could not quite maintain the line that the clones were flesh droids.

There were memories of Obi Wan meeting with other Jedi, with Commander Cody, with Commander Fox, within his own Battalion trying desperately to protect the Clones and the Jedi. It hurt a number of the Senators and representatives to realize that they were the ones Obi Wan was protecting them from. An ache that served to Lighten the Force even further grew when Obi Wan and Cody acknowledged their desire to be together, but put that desire to the side so the could always be ‘above reproach’ to be able to protect other relationships (Padme/anakin, Aayla/ Bly, a number of others that involved either Jedi or Clones). An ache that grew when they watched from Obi Wan’s eyes as Fox and Quinlan Vos did the same. When several Lieutenants came forward with a plan to reduce Bacta (and other resources) use enough that they could send the excess to the Coruscant Guard, since they are never given enough. Countless discussion of where to move Clones to, either for their own protection or to protect others. The updating lists about which Senators the Clones must never be alone around.

There is a flurry of notes taken when Obi Wan explains to Ghost company that relationships with Jedi are not forbidden by the Council, but formalized relationships (marriage, parent/child, any relationship that have a legal basis) were made illegal by a treaty with Naboo some three hundred years before. This treaty does allow for exceptions to be approved with restrictions (Ki Adi Mundi’s exception is cultural, he is only allowed to have contact with his wives when trying to get them pregnant and is not allowed contact with his children. If he has a boy he will be required to dissolve that marriage and if the ratio of male/female stabilizes he will be required to dissolve all of his marriages). The consequences for breaking this treaty are severe, particularly for the non Jedi party. These consequences include imprisonment for approximately 1/10 of the beings potential life span, with any children born of the union to be surrendered to be studied (The law does not say that they will be studied expressly, but it is certainly implied). This was explained as part of a lesson on how to subtly discourage gossip about a topic (primarily Padem and Anakin’s marriage). When asked he also explains that there are two reasons that he would ask them to do that. One reason is personal, Anakin loves Padme and it would hurt him if something happened to her. The Second reason has to do with what happens with Politics and Scandal. That once it becomes known that they had married, Padme would effectively become poison to anything her name was on. And Padme had long been a champion of the underdog. Her name was on a lot of less than popular measures, including everything to do with Clone rights (He had tried to bring this up with both Padme and Anakin, they didn’t listen). He explained how important image was in this case, that was why he tried to make sure his troops were both visible and seen doing positive things. He was hoping that by the time the marriage became common knowledge they had enough goodwill to survive the fallout. (In the audience three of Padme’s advisers along with Padme herself start hyperventilating slightly when they do indeed find that little known treaty. Up with the Clones, Commander Thorn went ‘huh. I wondered why the 212th rarely got arrested on shore leave anymore’) When asked why the Jedi of that time let that treaty be signed, Obi Wan sighed and told them that he Jedi were not consulted.

The very last memory shown is Obi Wan, being told that he would need to be hooked up to a Sith Artifact and expose all of his best and worst memories for the Galaxies entertainment. His quiet dread looking at the pod that they were currently seeing him in.

For a moment the Light overtook the Force. Every being in the galaxy was bathed in the Light of Force. They saw themselves, both their flaws and their beauty as it truly was.

The Artifact shuts off and before anyone else can do anything, Ghost company descends on Jetpacks. They landed the Pod and bundled their General out of the Rotunda.

In the aftermath there were many that weren’t affected by what the Galaxy had seen, there always would be, but there just as many that did. In spite of the assholes, most people thought themselves as good, wanted to give more than they took, wanted to be happy and have those around them be happy.

A young scientist on Kamino looked into a mess hall crowded with Clone cadets. The day before they would have seen one cadet indistinguishable from another, mechanical instead of organic. Today all they could see were shining stars, individual and unique. In that instant they made a choice that would change the galaxy. They approached Shaak Ti and Commander Colt asking to speak privately. They explained that each clone was decanted with an inactive inhibitor chip (knowledge of which had been explicitly barred from being given to the Jedi) and that on these chips there was a set of orders hardcoded, they did not know what the orders were, that would take precedence over even the clone own free will. They handed over a flimsi with a frequency on it. This frequency would shut off the chips once they were activated, but would not do anything to them until that point. They could not be removed without alerting whoever included the orders and the chip in the contract.

Colt asked the scientist why now. The Kaminoan was quiet for a moment then said ‘yesterday you were interchangeable. Today you are not.’ and leaves.

On Coruscant a senatorial aide moves toward her next meeting. A few of her colleagues were further down the hall talking and complaining about the clones, the cost of creating more, calling them things and equipment, and jokes about their deficiencies. Not five feet away is a member of the Coruscant Guard, standing guard. She considers herself a good person, a kind person but it strikes her how many times she has seen this exact scene play out. It strikes her how many times she has ignored the beings protecting her, and how she was considered among the kindest beings in the senate for it. Looking at the red painted guard all she can see is Obi Wan Kenobi's memories of meetings with Commander Fox, lists of people they needed to protect the Clones from, a tiny list of people outside the Jedi and the Clones they can trust. Abruptly she decided that her meeting could wait as she squared her shoulders to confront the talkers, she knew what list she wanted to be on and it was time to prove it.

It took a thousand years of planning to carefully darken the Force to the point where the Sith could hide on Coruscant itself. A thousand years to cloud the Force, all to be ready to destroy the Jedi. It took a thousand year and all it took was one day, not even a day. It took the six hours that Obi Wan was in the clutches of the Artifact to destroy all of that planning.

Palpatine didn’t even realize what it meant, at first, when the entire Galaxy seemed to get six shades lighter. Then, two tenday after, a new bill was introduced contending that the Clones met all the requirements to be considered a previously unknown near human variation.

It should have failed. He owned 75% of the senate outright. It should have failed.

It passed. It passed overwhelmingly because too many of the voting morons thought they were giving a pittance they could then ignore. Not that being declared a near human variation automatically granted the rights he had spent so long denying the clones.

Then some sour apple tried to prosecute Amidala for marrying a Jedi (Palpatine was holding that in reserve, to get ahold of any children), Commanders Cody and Fox for the very obvious collusion to assist in the desertion of GAR Clones, prior to their rights being granted, and Jedi’s Vos, Windu, Koon, and Kenobi for the same reason. Which was now impossible because a blanket pardon was issued for any crimes that came to light as a result of Kenobi’s memories.

Petitions were already streaming in to have the treaty that makes Jedi marriage illegal broken and they seemed to be going to people that would actually do it (A spontaneous group formed, nearly 40,000 people strong across six system composed of both Republic and Seperatist citizens, whose sole goal is to get Codywan together and married).

At first Palpatine tries to wait it out, tries to keep with the plan because he is not one to act impulsively. Six tenday later, he realized differently. The Galaxy continued to lighten, kindness springing up. Slavery was in a downward spiral as more people stood up, spoke up, and tried to make things better. His empire was slipping from his grasp.

He executed Order 66. For a moment the light of clones dimmed and their minds compressed. Then the Clones who had taken his call jolted as if stung. There was a sharp crack and the remaining darkness fell apart. And Palpatine learned a lesson that few Sith lived long enough to, too long standing in the dark make the light fatal.

#star wars au #star wars the clone wars #fanfiction prompt #sheev palpatine #anakin skywalker #codywan #order 66 #obi wan kenobi #bamf obi wan #star wars #Showing Memories #order 66 au #jedi #clone wars #tcw #the clone wars #star wars prequels

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doctorcrowleywho · 1 year

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December 6. Christmas Cuddles (10th doctor x gn! reader)

25 Days of Ficmas - Day 6

Christmas Cuddles (10th doctor x gn! reader)

Word count - 1537

Warnings - None just tons of fluff

Pairing(s) - 10th doctor x Gn! Reader

Summary - Movie night leads to the cutest moment

Traveling with the doctor made everything a little bit more complicated. There were times that you thought you had died and gone to heaven because surely this wasn’t your life! Surely you weren’t fighting aliens and monsters and everything in between. But, somehow it was your reality and you loved every last second of it.

You loved being able to save all of those innocent beings, you loved the thrill of running for your life hand in hand with a handsome timelord, you loved the excitement of waking up wondering what new planet you were going to wind up on, and you especially loved your doe-eyed, sticky uppy haired timelord.

That's right you had fallen head over heels with the Doctor. There was something so utterly fantastic about him, that you couldn’t help yourself. He was like the painting museums kept hidden in the very back, not admired by everyone but the ones who saw the beauty in it enough to stay were truly lucky. The TARDIS never took him to where he wanted to go, but only where he needed to go. And, she took him to you- you of all the creatures and being in the universe. You felt lucky enough that he picked you as his companion, although he would always say that you picked him.

This was the biggest mystery in the whole entire universe to you. But, you decided to thank your lucky stars she had deemed you worthy of him.

Your relationship with the Doctor was interesting to say the very least. There would be fleeting glances, small touches, and most importantly…movie nights. Because, if the Doctor was one thing- he was a sap when it came to seeing you happy.

Nothing seemed to make you happier than having a weekly movie night. A simple time where you two were able to stay in and enjoy each other's company and simply be in the stillness. At first, the Doctor absolutely hated it. He was a time lord for heaven’s sake! He was meant to be running about and fixing things, but you quickly changed his mind. Especially once the Christmas season rolled around.

There you were in your very fuzzy large hoodie in your absolutely favorite color, or your “movie night hoodie” as you deemed it. You had made yourself a makeshift fort amongst all the blankets the Doctor seemed to have in his movie room. Even though you’ve spent what felt like years with the Doctor and his little blue box, you still find yourself constantly surprised by new things. The excitement seemed to practically burst out of you as you wiggled in your spot on the very large couch.

The best part about tonight was that it was your turn to pick the movie. Last week the doctor picked ‘A Muppets Christmas Carol’, which he claimed was an utter classic (and he was absolutely right). It was honestly adorable to see him get so passionate about something for you, something so very human. It warmed your heart to see someone who had the universe at his very fingertips willing to pay attention to you and what you liked.

Tonight you decided to pick one of your all-time favorite Christmas movies ‘Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer’. This was the movie you were brought up on as a child, and even though your childhood had some rocky patches in it this movie always brought up wonderfully warm nostalgia.

Slowly your head moved back and forth as the title credits began to play. You could practically feel the Christmas spirit swell up in your belly like some kind of Christmas magic. Funny how pure moments from our childhood can make us believe in magic all over again.

“Please tell me you didn’t start it without me!” The Doctor peaked his head into the room as he carried a tower of snacks with everything from popcorn, candy, and even some perfectly balanced mugs of hot cocoa in his arms.

Your eyes flicked over to him as they widened with anxiety. “Doctor I swear if you drop any of that-” you sighed as he raised an eyebrow at you before setting everything down on the coffee table. Smugly he gave you a ‘you were saying’ look as you picked up the blankets and he snuggled up right next to you.

Sometimes you forgot just how affectionate this regeneration of his was, and honestly, you didn’t mind. His ninth regeneration was kind, but never like this. He never curled up to you like a cat desperately seeking warmth. But, ten on the other hand…well he was a completely different story.

“No of course I didn’t start it without you, the opening credits are just a mile long, so I thought we’d get those out of the way,” you said as you kept nodding your head along to the music

“Ah, how smart of you, no wonder I chose you as my companion.” he hummed wrapping one arm around yours and resting his head on your shoulder. When he was this close it made you want to confess every last thing you felt for him. But, something always held you back and you always let it.

Trying your very best to ignore how fast your heart was pounding you turned your attention to the movie and forced yourself to get lost in it. Everything was going perfectly until-

“What do you mean they won’t let him be a dentist!” The Doctor exclaimed sitting up straight with concern in his eyes. He looked like a golden retriever who just lost his favorite ball, and it made your heart utterly melt.

“Well they want him to be an elf just like everyone else is, he has to make toys for Santa, or else no one thinks he’s any use.” you tried your best to explain but it seemed fruitless.

“NO USE?!?! Y/N dear there’s plenty of use for a dentist at the North Pole! Do you know how much sugar those elves digest on a daily basis?” he said taking a couple of sips of his hot cocoa.

“Oh just watch the movie spaceman.” you playfully rolled your eyes as you patted the spot next to you again, and happily, he settled back down. This time resting his head in your lap. Oh the things this alien does to you

A little while later you were on the part where Rudolph decides to sacrifice himself if needs be and rescue his hometown. Glancing down at the Doctor a small smile formed on your lips as you saw how intently he was watching the movie. Absentmindedly, you started to play with his hair. Then all of a sudden you heard a soft “Y/N?” and you froze.

Gently, he reached up and grabbed your hand encouraging you to keep going “No no please don’t stop, I um erm um I like it.” he choked out awkwardly but it warmed your soul nonetheless. So, you kept going and could practically feel him relax into you.

It was peaceful moments like this with the Doctor that you’d always valued. There was nothing quite like being able to sit on the couch and make the man who always runs relax for a couple of moments. Not every person can claim they’ve managed to tame the Doctor, but you proudly have. Even if it was just a little bit. To you, it meant the entire world- no the entire universe.

There you two laid, a tangled mess of Christmas warmth and love, even if it was just platonic love you were okay with that. For to be loved by the Doctor in any fashion was the greatest kind of them all. As the end of the movie played neither of you dared to move from your spots. Too scared you’d break the magic that seemed to be surrounding you.

“Doctor-”

“Y/N”

You two blushed a light pink as you laughed at the awkward moment. Slowly, he picked up his head from your lap moving closer to you. His eyes held a mixture of fear, love, worry, and adoration. Somehow you could tell that it was all for you. After a long silence, he finally blurted out something he’d been dying to ask since you bumped into the TARDIS.

“Can I kiss you?”

Without even thinking you quickly nodded moving impossibly closer to him. Your heart was racing faster and faster, and to be honest you were a little concerned that you’d have a heart attack. Then, as if out of a dream, it finally happened.

His lips collided with yours in a beautiful sympathy, and you knew for sure then that you truly loved him. His kiss was everything you ever dreamed about and even more. Your arms wrapped around his neck as his hand got tangled up in your hair as he smiled in the kiss.

As you two pulled back for some air you both wore the same dopey love-sick grin. “Merry Christmas Doctor,” you whispered gently.

“Oh merry Christmas my shooting star,” he replied stealing another kiss from you…and another….and another….and- oh you get the point.

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dictee · 1 year

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leaning into the concern for the domestic in the first book was such a smart smart storytelling choice like truly my favorite kind of monster story. bc there's always the regressive draculaesque understanding of the vampire as something on the outside of society looming over it and preying on it but separate from it and needing to be excised. and then the straightforward reaction to that which is queerness compounds w monstrosity in total alienation from society. and you do get that of course. the revenants, in the show the "weird brothers," the circles of salt on the doorstep. sort of the narrative louis is presenting where the book daniel writes will be a warning: the sinister inexplicable vampire bond, the magical vampire apocalypse. but he doesnt need a memoir he needs a hundred sessions of emdr bc we're not outside the house looking on in fear wondering why the neighbors pets keep disappearing. we're inside of it and the terror is admitting to your child exactly how you've disappointed them. it's a hundred thousand identical nights spread out in front of you with no horizon. the sound of your husband's footsteps on the stairs. the specter of your father in your own voice. dozens of dolls on a bookshelf and all of them with your face. not the alienation and the difference but instead the sameness. getting cannibalized into universal archetypes with no escape

#going through my drafts 😄#iwtv

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a-midnight-rest · 8 months

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Fixing the T'au empire part 2

So, in the first part I explained how the T'au were fine as they were, because their relatively hopeful outlook on the galaxy shone bright in contrast of the rest of the setting, how that turn the rest of the setting even darker, and how I love the idea that the solution to the Galaxy's problem is a truly different, alien approach to our individualist societies.

However, I have come to realize something, a reason as to why the T'au Empire may not feel at home in the 40k universe, and I thought about it by watching Indiana Jones 4, so sacrifices have been made.

The T'au Empire is not mythological.

The 40k is not a sci-fi setting, it is a dark fantasy setting with guns. And part of what makes the grandiosity of it is how mythologized every faction is. And I do not speak about religion, I speak of myths as in the stories we, right now, tell ourselves are the foundations of the world, the archetypes of what is and is not.

The Imperium incarnates the various mythologies of vast empires. Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, the British Empire, vast swats of lands combining different people united by righteousness and oppression. And also how all those empires fell. It's the idea of "things were better before" (even when they were not). Moreover, the equipment used by this faction is deliberatly old, centuries old, technology is religiously taken care of, weapons are blessed, vehicles are passed down from generation to generation. It is all very old, marked with that myths of the old Empire on its last leg.

The Orks are the Barbarians At the Gate, the savages who relish only destruction, like Attila the Hun, but british. In truth, it's not like barbarians actually existed, those were just foreign countries, but the myth is there.

The Tyranids are the Monsters in the Dark.

The Craftworld Eldars are the Atlanteans, the Utopians, the Babelians, the Old Civilization who fell due to their own hubris, and is now a superior people with no place to call home and no way back their transgression.

The Dark Eldars are the Feys of old, trolls, goblins, fairies stealing children in the night, playing cruel and horrific pranks, eating people. And following them to their home is a death sentence.

The Chaos is the Evil of Man, the primordial sin, the dark part of Humanity that eats itself to death, self destructive and perverse (They should have western dragons, that would fit them).

The Necrons are Death, or at least they try. They are like the Craftworld Eldars in a sense, but in a more Inevitable return way.

But the T'au? They do not fit any myth, in fact they specifically are immune to myths and the Warp. They are no none-sense, they do not play by any rule. As they were written, they would be better as a recurring joke than a faction. Everything about them is bright new, from theme to lore, and it makes them feel shallow.

There is one exception to that, and that is Farsight, who fit the myth of the Virtuous Rebel, an archetype that is not really coined by any faction as far as I know. In a way, he could also be kind like King Arthur, with his magic blade and his knights around him, but the clash of eastern/western reference hide this interpretation of him.

So... how to fix it? Modern problems requires modern myths.

As I said, myths are not about what is actually old, myths are always modern, visions we have right now about the past. So what Myth could fit the T'au Empire? I think we must look to a very modern work of literature: The SCP Foundation. A collective work written like articles depicting how an advanced and secret organization captures, study, and contains supernatural entities. They are much like the Men in Black, or the government in X-Files. They gain they mythology not through what they are, but what they deal with.

I think we should make the T'au Empire's main armies kinda fade in the background and focus on an organisation within the the T'au Empire that would approach the other mythological faction with a saavy appraoch based on tech to contain and use the horrors back at the horrors. A cold scalpel who knows what they are dealing with, knows they are outmatched, and use secrecy, focused efforts, and unconventional tactics to deal with it. The T'au Empire already have the foundation for it, they are technologically advanced, learn from their mistakes, and have authoritarian ruling cast shrouded in mystery.

They could pop up bio/cyber/solar-punks units, highly specialised and modified modern soldiers. Not the WW1 Kriegsmen, not the WWII Cadians, not the Catachan Rambos, not the Angelic Space Marines. People, with modern, recognizable equipment, turning to extremes in order to deal with demons, and civilizations using farming equipment more ancient than their prehistory.

In that perspective, the T'au main armies would kind of become the background, the necessary fight force to win actual battles and hold ground. Their stories could develop nicely on their own until they become established enough to have their own mythos. But the main event would be the Secret Cadre, the Black ops, the Foundation, the Men In Black of the T'au Empire, using not ancient techs and beliefs against demons like the Inquisition does, but developing Reality anchors of their own, sending modified Tyranid viruses into the other faction, using Soul Traps to capture and send daemons to corrupt enemy tanks.

Fire warriors spawned from tyranids biopools, weapons build by engineers trapped in time distortion to produce more advanced stuff faster, ships recycled from Space Hulks...

To mythologize the T'au, the T'au must, I believe, become Myth users to become Myth Breakers.

#warhammer 40k #t'au empire #Imperium #Orks #Myths #Tyranids #Space Marines #Chaos #Farsight #tau #tau empire

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haru-sen · 8 months

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Through the Gates of Horn and Oak

Caught the BG3 Brain Rot AND a deep love of the tieflings, hithero referred to as "my cabbages!" No, seriously, I've been screaming about them like the guy from ATLA.

Anyway, WIP preview, playing with some Tav X Zevlor, which will eventually be some Zevlor X Halsin, and maybe some poly dynamics. Look, I just want to poke sad old men with a stick and then feed them cheese.

This preview has light spoilers for early Act I side quests. I have not beat the game, I'm still in Act 3, so please be mindful of spoilers. This is spicy but not explicit.

“How do you do it?” you grumbled, perched on a crate and resting your forehead on the cool stone table, your eyes closing as you reviewed your day. “From harpies, to bugbear assassins, to evil druid-controlled child-tormenting serpents, how do you keep these people alive? I mean, honestly, Zevlor, I’ve only been at it for like a day, and I’m exhausted.”

Zevlor, the tiefling-wrangler in question, gave a dry humorless laugh. “You assumed it was easy?”

“No,” you muttered. “I’m just gobsmacked by the sheer variety of ways they get into trouble. You have my deepest respect and my most heartfelt sympathies.” You stayed facedown while you spoke, which might have detracted from the authenticity of the delivery, but alas.

About a meter away, Tilses snorted. “Have you met Mol yet?”

“Have I met Mol?” you laughed, and it might have been a sob. “Have I met the future legendary patron of the Thieves Guild, you mean? Have I met a force of chaos constrained in a tiny tief package? Have I counted my purse half a dozen times today? Where do I even start?”

Zevlor groaned, clearly not interested in delving into that subject.

Tilses laughed. “You should have seen the time she-”

“Tilses, it’s getting late: you don’t have to stay,” Zevlor said.

“But-”

“Tilses, it’s getting late: you’re dismissed.”

You didn’t need to use your illithid powers to read the subtext in the room. Small talk aside, Tilses didn’t want to leave Zevlor alone with an outsider. Zevlor, however, didn’t seem worried. It could be that he thought you were trustworthy, but it was more likely that he knew that it didn’t matter if she was here. If you decided to turn on him, her presence wouldn’t make a bit of difference.

You could picture his expression easily, that no-nonsense frown, accentuated by the severity of his hellfire eyes and sharp ridged bones. He wasn’t exactly scary, but he had a quiet dignified gravitas that you and Tilses lacked; the kind of man was used to being in charge. Still, Tilses wouldn’t argue, not with you here.

“Understood, sir.”

Military discipline was a hard habit to shake, or so you heard. You smiled as you as her steps faded in the distance and the stone door grinding open and shut. And then there were two.

“I don’t blame you for Mol,” you said. “Obviously, the circumstances are shaping that one, and it would take more resources than you, me, or the entire Grove has to alter her trajectory.”

Zevlor sighed. “...I don’t think I’m capable of discussing Mol’s future right now.” There came a soft grunt and you didn’t have to open your eyes to know that the tiefling was sitting on the table across from you, just a few handspans away. If you lifted your head, he would probably move away, so you stayed there, the slight dissonance of his aura making your ears ring. You didn’t mind though. Things that might have bothered you a week ago couldn’t really match up to a godsdamned mindflayer tadpole swimming through your brain.

Some tieflings possessed a discomforting presence, akin to knowing you were being stalked by an apex predator, or that feeling of something alien crawling across your skin, or that screaming gut instinct that warned you when truly dark magics were abound. It was an involuntary inheritance, a side effect of being part devil, or at least having their human bloodlines tainted by a Hellish pact. But you knew better than most that biology didn’t override character.

Zevlor was a striking model of an Asmodeus tiefling: deep red skin, sharp features, and a pair of thick black horns twisting out of his skull. From what you heard, that strain got well and truly screwed over by their progenitor devil lord’s plotting.

“Would you like something to drink?” A cork popped and there was the clink of metal cups sitting on the table.

“Is it poison?” you asked. “Because I’ve got some lovely wyvern poison of my own. No need to dip into your personal stores.”

“That would be a poor repayment for all the help you’ve given,” Zevlor said, his tone mild.

You didn’t think he was offended. Hard to say. He was difficult to read, unless you decided to use your illithid powers, but then- People didn’t like it when you did that. You didn’t always like it when you did that.

He poured the drinks, and you slowly raised your head, lured out by your own dry mouth.

Zevlor was standing now, he gestured to the uncorked bottle, which sat beside the cups in front of you, all of it available for your inspection.

“Ashaba Dusk?” you asked, sniffing the common wine.

“It’s not so bad,” he said.

It figured that he liked red wines. You wondered if he smoked a pipe too. “You seem like the type to prefer a Gulthmeran Reserve.” It was a dryer red, complex with stronger mineral taste. Something suited for the palate of a stoic older man.

Zevlor’s lips twitched. “Is that so?”

“Am I wrong?”

“I wouldn’t say “no” to a bottle. But finding one out here might prove difficult,” he said as you chose your cup, pretty certain that none of it was poisoned. After all, they still needed your help dealing with the goblins, defanging Kagha, and rescuing the Archdruid. Logic made rationalization easy, even though you had no logical reason to be here alone with this man.

The wine wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. You drank it though. Today had been long, and you weren't going to turn your nose up at his hospitality.

The two of you finished your cups and sat in an almost comfortable silence. Your shoulders lowered incrementally and you basked in his calm company. You were on your second round of refills before he spoke again. “Was there something you wished to discuss?” he asked, fixing that burning stare on you.

Your stomach flip-flopped, but you just raised your cup and took a drink, buying yourself a few seconds to compose your words. “Just enjoying the ambiance.”

His brow furrowed, and he looked around the cave, clearly trying to figure out what you were referring to. The air in the chamber was cool, there were a couple shelves lined with books, and the candlelight was warm and golden. There were no fleshpits, no bloodstains, and nothing was trying to kill you. Best of all, you could not hear Shadowheart and Lae’zel bickering. To be fair, Lae’zel sniped at everyone, but Shadowheart got so damn shrill about it.

“Look, my...friends are nice and all, but sometimes they’re a bit much,” you said. “I’m taking a break from being mediator.”

“Ah,” he said. He rested his chin in his hand, thoughtfully. “I can lend you the chamber. Would you like some privacy?”

You winced. “No, no, I’m enjoying the company too.”

“I see,” he said, brow furrowing momentarily. He refilled your cup, sitting on the edge of the table farthest from you.

You studied the map of Elturel on the desk, while sipping your unpoisoned wine. And then a thought occurred to you much too late. “Oh gods, I’m intruding, aren’t I?” you groaned. “Look, don’t feel obligated. I’ve found a ton of great hiding spots in the Grove. I can take a dip in the sacred pool. There are some very private corners in the library. Hell, I can even go camp out with Mol.”

“...Don’t do that,” Zevlor grimaced.

“You’re right. She absolutely doesn’t need access to wyvern poison. I’ll go sit with Dammon. Aside from the hammering and the smithing, he’s pretty quiet.”

You’re not intruding,” Zevlor said, forcefully. “My hosting skills are simply rusty. I...welcome the chance to practice.”

“Oh,” you said, a smile tugging at the corner of your mouth. It wasn’t a believable reason in the least, but it did seem that he wasn’t trying to shoo you out. At least, you felt more confident that you were not unwelcome.

Zevlor studied your face. “How do you find Dammon’s company?”

“He’s a good kid and so cheerful in the face of everything that’s happened. I’m impressed by his attitude and his skills,” you said. “He’s helping me keep my tiefling in good shape.” Karlach was a certified badass, but she still needed extra special care. Gods, now that you thought about it, tieflings were like exotic fish, it was a real struggle to keep them alive.

Zevlor nodded. “We’re lucky to have him.” He set the empty bottle down and looked over his shoulder at the worn down storage crates, clearly considering the state of his supplies. He was a lean man, and while the kids were small, it was clear that the adults weren’t letting them go hungry. He likely didn’t have a lot to spare.

“Oh! I’ve got a bottle of Ithbank in my pack – the good kind.” You quickly dug into your bag and pulled it out. You were considering trying to bribe Asterion with it, but honestly, he would probably just turn his nose up at the unimpressive offer. You rummaged around your supply pack and found some cheese wedges, ham, a loaf of sourdough bread, and the treasure you scored while exploring. Looking around furtively, you pulled a small ripe sunmelon out and winked. “I know everyone is eating apples, but I’m sick of things trying to poison me-”

“You’ve mentioned poison very frequently today. How often does this happen to you?” Zevlor asked, looking concerned.

“Well, just this week-” You tried to think back. “The bandits, the goblins, some traps, the swamp apples, Nettie-”

“The healer?” Zevlor sounded alarmed.

“Yeah, because of the whole parasite infection thing,” you muttered, the wine loosening your tongue. Only a select few knew that you were carrying mindflayer tadpoles, and he was one of them since you had to explain to him why you were able to just walk into the Absolute camp without raising the alarm. “Look, the point is, I’m put off apples for awhile.” You pulled out a clean food knife – not a dagger, people applied all sorts of deadly coatings to their weapons – and eyed the cheese.

Zevlor rose and brought over clean plates and more cutlery. There was an economy to his motions, a careful precision to everything, no wasted movement. No tells either. This man tried to keep his cards very close to his chest.

It was very different from the first time you met, when he was shouting orders and coming down from the post-battle fury and the loss of one of his charges. Rage uncoiled all those carefully suppressed feelings and destroyed self control: you understood that feeling all too well. The contrast was interesting, you liked watching him.

You made a nice little plate cubes of cheese and ham, slices of bread, and cut your half of the melon into long wedges. Zevlor made a neat sandwich and chopped his melon into bite-sized chunks. This time you poured the Ithbank while Zevlor watched.

He took a sip. “This is nice. Thank you,” he said quietly.

“It really is,” you smiled, biting into the melon and getting some down your chin. The flavor was honey sweet, the flesh luscious and crisp under your teeth. You happily licked your fingers, slurping down the juice. Fuck, these were so much better than apples, and absolutely worth fighting a bunch of bandits for.

When you looked up, Zevlor was staring down at the table.

“I’m being messy, aren't I?” you muttered, wiping your mouth off. The heady combination of too much wine, sweet melon, and the company was making you sloppy. “Sorry.”

“No, no, you’re fine,” Zevlor coughed and poured himself some more wine, averting his eyes. He carefully bit into his melon cubes. His tongue flicked out and he licked his lips, closing his eyes. “That is delicious,” he murmured, his voice a low rumble, his tail swishing behind him.

Satisfied that he was enjoying his fruit, you devoured your slices too quickly, eating them down to the rind. When you looked up, Zevlor was only half finished, clearly taking his time and really savoring the experience.

“These are better than apples,” he said, glancing down at your empty plate. He speared a chunk of melon and extended his fork. “I don’t know if I can finish all this though.”

A damned lie if you ever heard one, and between Wyll and Asterion, you heard a lot of creative truths. You took a swig of wine and met that burning gaze, your breath catching. “I’ll take a bite,” you said. “But you clearly aren’t eating enough. You really should take better care of yourself, Zevlor.”

You leaned forward, delicately took the melon between your teeth, and pulled it off the tines. You gave the utensil a light parting bite, never looking away from Zevlor’s face.

He swallowed audibly, but his hand did not shake and he did not draw back. He just watched you with narrowed eyes, his jaw clenched, those sharp nails digging into his palms, his tail snapping from side to side. That tension was familiar. You remembered a similar strained look back when he got into a confrontation with that asshole mercenary. Maybe you were pushing him too far.

“Have I offended you?” you asked a little sheepishly. You did just take his food from him while insinuating that he was bad at taking care of himself.

“No,” he said gruffly, his voice an octave lower. “But are you going to claim that you don’t know what you’re doing?”

You smiled, lowering your eyes in amusement. “I’m just enjoying the ambiance.”

Zevlor gave a low exhalation, those orange eyes burning intently as he regarded you. “The situation is difficult enough,” he said, his voice harsh. “Hells, teasing an old man is cruel.”

You blinked. “I’ve seen you fight, Zevlor. I’d hardly call you old.” You met his gaze. “And teasing is only cruel if one doesn’t intend to follow through.” You stood, the wine giving you a cocksure recklessness that you would not possess sober. You leaned over the table, nearly nose to nose with him, baring your teeth in a grin. “I’ll deal with Kagha tomorrow. We’ll figure out the goblins after that. And then, if you’re still interested, let’s do something about it.”

Zevlor stiffened, his eyes widening, his lips parting in shock.

You took a swig of the Ithbank, and slammed it down next to him, lifting one of those calloused hands to your lips. You brushed your mouth against the inside of his wrist and then caught his index finger between your teeth. You sucked it down to the knuckle, tasting the blended salt and sulfur of his skin and the sweet stickiness of the melon. The heat of the digit made you want more than this, but you had to be careful with those sharp nails.

Zevlor’s nostrils flared, those brimstone eyes burning as he gritted his teeth, your name a hoarse curse in his mouth.

“And if you’re not interested,” you said, lowering his hand gently. “That’s fine too. It’s entirely up to you. We can just blame the wine.”

And with that, you turned on your heel and left, before you did something really stupid. It didn’t matter though, the fire was already in your veins and the taste of him lingered on your tongue.

Fic posted on AO3 now.

#balders gate 3 #tav x zevlor #reader insert #Reader X Zevlor #fanfiction #Zevlor #Light spoilers for act I

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scienceandstorytelling · 4 months

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After seeing @gesamkuns-twerk ’s post about Steve putting his employees in danger I can’t stop thinking about the implications of Steve being a trickster god. He comes off as just this weird funny guy but when you think about it you realize he’s an ancient, borderline immortal alien who survived the vacuum of space and the molten core of the earth. I wouldn’t be surprised if he genuinely doesn’t know how fragile humans are. Even if he’s aware that they’re weaker than him it’s still a very large gap with plenty of room for underestimating our durability.

Slight tangent but I would love to see more of clown society and see how Steve’s general weirdness compares to the other clowns. Thinking about him truly as a trickster alien makes his behavior so interesting. The part where he says “hellooo little boy!” to the guy in the very first episode is obviously funny and absurd but now I’m like. It took Steve 300 years to age from child to young adult(?) and millions of years to age to middle aged. Every human might genuinely be like a child to him. Which just means that this is yet another thing that he has in common with Cesare with both of them being ancient and inhuman, even if Cesare used to be human and is only a thousand-something years old compared to Steve’s billions.

I also wonder how and if the crew rationalizes the magic they see Steve do, because they never seem to react to it beyond an initial bout of surprise and confusion. It might just be for comedic value and we’re not supposed to read into it, but I’m like, what if their brains just go “nope, can’t process that” and sort of censor the memory so they’re aware that something weird happened but they don’t know the full extent of it, like someone being unable to comprehend an eldritch god (which I guess he is). Hence the repetition of “weird vibes on that guy,” even after they literally see him teleport both himself and objects. Or maybe Steve is deliberately doing some kind of magic to make them forget it. Either way, the vibes are all they remember. But I get the feeling seeing Cesare magically slam dunk him is going to stick with them way better. Anyways that’s my borger ramble for tonight.

#bigtop burger #btb #btb steve #Worthikids

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izunias-meme-hole · 5 months

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Top 15 Final Fantasy Villains

(In My Opinion)

Number 1. Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII) - Sephiroth is one of the hardest bosses in gaming and a genuine horror villain. He is a tragic monster born from science, and a loyal “son” fo his alien mother, Jenova, but he’s still scary as hell thanks to his god complex, unlimited strength, ethereal vibes, years of experience, his ability to live off of pure spite just so he can make the lives of his enemies (and Cloud) complete hell. His appearance in of itself is creepy due to how beautiful, yet unsettling it is, thanks to his silver hair, green snake-like eyes, and perfect physique which is complimented by a black coat. However the most dangerous things about him are that he’s completely delusional, his strength is unmatched, and just how far he’s willing to go to distort other peoples sense reality, specifically Cloud’s sense of reality. Sephiroth a tragic character and a phenomenal villain.

Number 2. Kefka (Final Fantasy VI) - Were it not for Sephiroth’s existence, and the fact that this clown’s debut game being at the end of an era, Kefka would definitely be number 1 on here, and get more respect. Aside from that, Kefka is basically what Majora is to the Zelda series. A completely insane, and legitimately funny villain with a desire to destroy everything, however the difference is that Kefka is a mere jester with magic powers that became god! Plus he actually did send the world into ruin, but because of a little group of heros with hope, he was utterly defeated. So while Sephiroth is indeed ethereal, delusional as hell, and a horrifying nemesis, Kefka is the better manifestation of the pure unadulterated evil a person can bring, with the right tools.

Number 3. Ardyn (Final Fantasy XV) - Ardyn Lucis “Izunia” Caelum is the near perfect mixture between Sephiroth and Kefka in a way. He’s got the same “funny man wants to watch the world burn” vibes like Kefka, but he’s also a creepy, vengeful, tragic, and very personal villain, much like Sephiroth. Ardyn was once a messiah, a healer who was going to become a king, before he was betrayed by his brother, Somnus, and the gods, and cursed to be made immortal via daemons. So after centuries of imprisonment, he decides to take revenge upon his own kin, AND the gods. A simple motive, but in all honesty the amount of trolling he does in order to achieve it, is truly gut wrenching sometimes, and it gives you the motivation to plunge your blade into his chest, but at the same time… you kinda feel slightly bad while doing it too for some reason. He's a villain that you love, hate, and pity in the end.

Number 4. Kuja (Final Fantasy IX) - Kuja is one of the more unique Final Fantasy villains because of his personality. He’s a narcissist that wants to destory, which isn’t new for most JRPG villains, but he’s also flamboyant as hell, and talks as if he’s in some kind of play where the world is his stage. He isn’t funny like Kefka, nor is he as intimidating as Sephiroth, but you can feel that wasn’t the route the writers were taking with his character. If anything he’s a pitiable, destructive, and flamboyant narcissist, but the Dissida series expands upon his character a lot in a way that kinda gets you hooked. So yeah, Kuja is unique alright.

Number 5. Ultimecia (Final Fantasy VIII) - This time manipulating witch is all style over substance, but god damn her style is really terrifying. She also has quite the presence, much like Sephiroth before her, so its not like she's sitting on her ass all day.

Number 6. Professor Hojo (Final Fantasy VII) - Wow, another FFVII villain, and it's Sephiroth's piece of shit mad scientist dad, Professor Hojo. This walking mass of complexes is a perfect example of the "Greater-Scope Villain." Never taking away from the Big Bad's spotlight, yet is responsible for almost half of the shit in the narrative. Though responsible for many things, his most noticeable crimes against nature were his experiments with Jenova, and the creation of Sephiroth, whom he also experimented on throughout his whole life. Pretty easy to see why Sephiroth was doomed from the start.

Number 7. Vayne Solidor (Final Fantasy XII) - A politician who wants to give the freedom of choice back to man, and preserve his family’s status and power. Those were Vayne’s end goals, and his personality is that of the ideal of a politician. He’s charismatic, ruthless, and levelheaded, so he’s surprisingly one of the more sane Final Fantasy villains too, but that doesn’t mean he’s the least evil.

Number 8. Garland/Chaos (Final Fantasy) - The first man to go by the title of Chaos. Jack Garland was seemingly a generic princess kidnapping video game villain, and he was the first boss in the first game. Granted he did have a small bit of backstory that explains that he was a former knight of Corneria who went mad, and wanted world dominations, but it wasn't enough at the moment. A couple of hours of gameplay later, along with some buildup of the entity known as "Chaos," we find out that Garland IS Chaos, and has practically made himself immortal thanks to a time loop he created with the Four Fiends, whom he sent into the future. Granted he's still a very simple antagonist if we're talking about goals, but in terms of how he went about it, he set up a standard for other villains in the series to surpass.

Number 9. Exdeath (Final Fantasy V) - Raw menace, ham and cheese, presence, permanently killing one of the main characters, and THE VOID. Exdeath was just a delightfully evil bastard, and it's all explained by him literally just being all of the evil in the universe that was sealed inside of a tree of all things. Bro really was "born evil."

Number 10. Rufus Shinra (Final Fantasy VII) - This man is the literal definition of a "Magnificent Bastard." Calm in almost every given situation, legitimately intelligent and level headed, smug as shit, and has the occasional "pet the dog" moments. Rufus Shinra pretty much has it all.

Number 11. Emet-Selch (Final Fantasy XIV) - He has gone by several names, led two empires, and lived thousands of lives, one of the most prominent antagonists in the entire game, but this man will forever be known as Emet-Selch, a.k.a Hades and Solus Soz Galvus. While he never appeared onscreen at first, we did know him as the founder of the Garlean Empire, and the emperor in the first 2 parts of the game, until we saw him in the flesh in Stormblood and Shadowbringers, and good lord he's surprisingly good. He does share some of Ardyn’s vibes, but compared to that glorious troll, Emet acts like a worn out and bitter old man, which is very fitting when you remember that he constantly reflects upon his great his old life was, and lived in a replica of his former home with the souls of his fallen comrades. Jesus Christ, no wonder his real name is Hades, the man is constantly surrounded by the dead in both a literal and metaphorical sense. Compared to the top picks he isn’t that great, but considering how well done he actually is, in-spite of how much people kinda oversell him, this is a decent placement.

Number 12. Sin (Final Fantasy X) - Ever wanted to see Jaws in a Final Fantasy game? Well that's what Sin was. Granted, it’s goddamn terrifying, unforgettable, and moves the plot, but it doesn’t really have much to it outside of being this eldirch whale monster that was created to destroy. Still it makes the goddamn most out of what it is.

Number 13. Ultima (Final Fantasy XVI) - Oh god where do I begin? There's a great amount of stuff that the writers of this great game got right when deciding to make their main villain a literal eldritch god, and he's honestly fascinating in some areas. His buildup is similar to Sephiroth's, his terror level is 100% its own thing that's worthy of him, and good god the way he operates is honestly something to behold. Yet he falls off the mark in a lot of ways. He isn't a bad villain, and honestly is overhated sometimes, but good god a fair amount of potential was missed.

Number 14. Golbez (Final Fantasy IV) - The first Darth Vader expy of the series, and goddamn he’s surprisingly good. Keyword good, not great.

Number 15. Caius Ballad (Final Fantasy XIII-2) - Another tragic immortal, however this one is a former time traveling protector. My thoughts on this guy are mixed. On one hand, as the main antagonist of FF XIII-2, he's great on a lot of angles. On the other hand he, much like half of the FF XIII trilogy's cast, suffer heavily from its writing. Still, his stripes aren't unearned.

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alien-hybreed · 2 months

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Story Master-List

Here you can find a complete list of my monster and transformation erotica that I've published to Tumblr!

You can also find summaries of my Characters on my Character Master-List (coming soon)

Aliens and Extraterrestrials -

They may not always come in peace, but they're certainly out of this world. Here you'll find a plethora of Aliens ranging from the almost human, to the utterly Monstrous.

Overtime: A nine-part series following a group of restaurant employees as their small town is gradually assimilated into an alien hive. Their manager just happens to be the hive queen turning everyone into drones and hybrids...

Contact: He awakes aboard their mothership. They tell him he is special, that's why they chose him to be their connection to humanity. Because he can repopulate their race. But what aren't they telling him?

The Abduction: Abigail's night is ruined. Her heart broken. Walking home late at night, she prays to God for a reprieve from her loneliness. But what answers her plea is something truly out of this world...

The Chimera: Jason has nightmares. So does his roommate Kelly. But is there perhaps a terrifyingly real element to their dreams of Alien abduction? And why are they suddenly so attractive to one another?

Insectoid Infection: A remote jungle planet, an isolated research facility and one very bored, frustrated soldier. But when she encounters an unusual lifeform, she finds herself developing a new appreciation for the local ecosystem...

Revenant: An ancient, alien demigod infiltrates a space station on the fringes of colonised space. The last of its kind, the Revenant is compelled to remedy that. A task it relishes when it imprints on one of the crew and plans to seduce her...

Replication Infestation: You trapped your friend in the room with an alien parasite. You wanted to see what would happen. Now that she has changed, she intends to repay you in kind...

Citation Needed: You know how you find diaries and research notes in a video game that gradually tell the story of how something terrible befell the crew of the empty Research station? Yeah.

Demons and the Supernatural -

The inexplicable bumps in the night, the entities that exist beyond the mortal coil. Ghosts, enchanted items, the Angelic and Demonic.

The Infernal Coronation: Part of the Demon Queen saga. The Demon Queen Allarielle was once mortal. A Paladin of fearsome remown. Then she was an Angel. So how does something so pure of heart become the Queen of Hell?

Demon Slayer's Descent: Part of the Demon Queen saga. Amelia is a living weapon, raised solely to destroy demonic trespassers and little else. However a chance encounter with an incubus may give her the chance to explore her darkest desires, but at what cost?

The Opening: Part of the Demon Queen saga. A haunted office is the last place you want to be at night. So when Danica and her boss, Glen, are called back in, is it at all surprising they are about to become the pawns of an otherworldly plot?

Ruined: A Relic found in ancient ruins inflicts it's bearer with a terrible Curse as he finds himself transformed into a giant spider-demon. Three women on the same expedition soon find themselves at its mercy, but even if they can escape... will they want to?

Purrfect Match: A late night hook-up takes a supernatural turn when a pair of enchanted collars are worn by a pair of lovers. Transformed into Werecats and compelled to complete an ancient ritual, these two may never be the same again...

Monsters and Mutants -

Not all monsters are born of Magic or in the vastness of space. Sometimes they're creatures lurking in the dark corners of our world or creations of our own science going horribly right.

The Experiment: Ally has been kidnapped. Her memory is shot, she's trapped in some kind of lab and a strange chemical now course's through her veins. But she isn't alone. Someone is in there with her and they're both being watched...

Date Night: It's Valentine's Day and Cam is late for his date. Because something happened to him. Amnesiac and consumed by his instinctive needs, Cam is compelled to make more of his kind.

Sticking Together: An adventurer is lost in the sewerage tunnels and stalked. But what exactly is this slime creature? What possible use could it have for him?

From the Depths: Nobody escapes their past. Especially when it returns from the bottom of the ocean, reborn as an enthralling, predatory mermaid. One way or another, she won't settle for anything less than her happy ending...

The Queen's Pet: Trapped in a giant underground hive, a man finds himself at the mercy of a giant bee-woman. Tormented, teased and coerced by his captor, its only a matter of time until his will to resist her begins to break.

The Willing: A monsterfucker gets the chance to experience her fantasy for real. It's everything she hoped for, it's put a spring in her step, her skin is healthy, people are finally noticing her. But what else is changing? And at what point will it stop changing?

Into The Meteor-Verse -

Superhero Multiverses are all the rage right now and Captain Meteor? She's the strongest hero there is! Which makes it kinda weird how she keeps failing and getting turned into a monster in every reality she exists in. How and into what... varies...

Lizard Brain: A horrible lab accident creates a monster that only a superhero could hope to stop. But when the mighty Captain Meteor is exposed to the Lizard creature, she finds herself experiencing a change of heart, mind and body...

#monster transformation #monster romance #alien #tentacles #demoness #alien breeding #alien transformation #corruption #demon #Monsters #Werecats #Alien abduction #Terato #Horror #my stories #my writing

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samble-moved · 1 year

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(Some of the) Many Lies of Kyubey

Madoka Magica as a whole doesn't always give full detail of a character's life or back story, but one of the more mysterious characters is the antagonist of the story, Kyubey. A supposedly "emotionless and wholly logical" alien who sees humans as disposable, Kyubey is shown time and time again to not only act irrationally and emotionally, contrary to what he and his species supposedly believe in above all else, but to openly lie and manipulate the main cast and other magical girls throughout the series.

Some Kyubey supporters claim he isn't "evil", just entirely unable to understand or feel emotion, thus being so logical that he is cold and uncaring. He thinks only in numbers, nothing else. But not only is he truly antagonistic, he does, in fact, repeatedly show he is perfectly capable of emotions and irrational behaviors. He just lies about them.

I) Kyubey's Emotions

Despite the claim that Kyubey (or Incubators as a species) think of emotion itself as a "mental disorder", or flat out don't experience them, Kyubey tends to show genuine emotion repeatedly. Obviously, some of this is faked for manipulation and blending in with human society/morals and to form connections, but not all of it.

For instance. This goes along with Kyubey being illogical as well, but Kyubey tells Madoka she has enough potential to become a God. But then, when she actually makes her wish (with becoming a goddess/concept as a side effect of said wish), Kyubey gasps and seems genuinely shocked and surprised, if not almost nervous or scared, about this. The transcript for it actually describes the emotion he's expressing as "dismay".

While "fear" can be argued to be not always an emotion (I guess — as you could argue it's more a part of a survival instinct or fight-or-flight in some cases), "dismay" and shock/surprise in this way are.

Kyubey also shows:

Fear (at the end of Rebellion, potentially during Madoka's wish)

Surprise (Madoka's wish, during Rebellion during the LoC secretary reveal parts/when they're breaking out of the labyrinth)

Confusion (Homura's existence as an "abnormality", Homura rewriting the universe, regarding human morals)

Loneliness, if you trust Puella Magi Wiki's article here as a source ("Strangely, Kyubey 'wanted' to talk to Juubey [fake/man-made Incubator]. He wanted to talk to another of his kind, even if it was man-made")

Worry/Anxiety (the whole "we must prevent the heat death of the universe" thing, when in reality that event is billions to trillions of years away — not urgent or soon)

II) Incubators are Irrational - Heat Death and Motivations

For a species and creature who claims to only act with pure, total logic, Incubators actually seem prone to irrationality and overreaction at times. This is shown, firstly, with their main motivation for contacting with girls in the first place — collecting energy to prevent/beat back the heat death of the universe.

Entropy and universe heat death are things that exist in real life. However, these things won't happen for...

Well, the amount of time the universe has before it potentially happens can't even be written out normally.

[Please note that I am a layman, not a scientist, so please don't attack me for not 100% grasping this information.]

On Wikipedia, the amount of time before hypothetical universe heat death is written as "around 1.7×10^106 years", and that's just with the "Big Chill/Big Freeze" hypothesis, the one I believe PMMM uses, and the one (as far as I can tell) is the most probable. The "Big Rip" theory suggests 22 billion years before false vacuum decay. The "Big Crunch" hypothesis guesses at 100 billion years, though this one seems less probable than the former ones.

This means that Kyubey, and Incubators as a whole, make contracts and have caused the horrific, unnecessary deaths of millions of little girls, all because they are worried about something that won't happen for a time so distant and far from now it can't even be properly written out in full.

How is that logical or rational? How is that not considered a major, major overreaction to a species that prioritizes intellect and lack of emotion?

I won't say wanting to survive/live is an emotion or illogical, as almost all creatures have survival instincts and will instinctively fight to live, regardless if they want to or if it's even possible. But being worried over hypothetical heat death in billions and trillions of years from now isn't rational.

If you want to argue that heat death is so far away in PMMM from all the energy Incubators have made from contracting, you're ignoring the canon where Kyubey implies they still don't have enough energy to combat it. That's why they're after Madoka, and still making contracts. Heat death of the universe is so far away that the number of years until it maybe happens can't even be written out, but the Incubators apparently don't think "trillions of years in the future, if not more" isn't distant enough to not be a constant, immediate concern. The fact that they're still contracting and seeking out magical girl candidates to get more energy despite this implies irrational fears, not something that makes sense, like if the heat death was happening a year/decade/century from the present. Billions and millions of years from happening, but Incubators treat it as a constant worry and concern, and believe killing children and ripping out their souls is a rational way to maybe push the date back even further.

III) Incubators are Irrational 2

Despite claiming to be emotionless and only relying on reason to act/think, and claiming to be hyper intelligent an from a very advanced society way beyond humanity's capabilities, Kyubey sure has shown an ability to...not always do those things. He actually has moments of being pretty blisteringly unintelligent.

In Episode 8, he flat out tells Madoka that she has enough magical girl potential to become a God, and easily surpass him in power/influence. He tells her that basically reversing a magical girl contract, something that Kyubey himself can't do, would be "just child's play" to her, and tells her she could theoretically wish to become an "all powerful God".

Except...how is telling Madoka this demonstrating reason?

Madoka doesn't like the magical girl system, which is created and continued by Incubators and magical girl contracts. Knowing this, Kyubey then openly tells Madoka that she can easily overpower him, his system, and become an actual Capital G God.

Telling someone who's against you exactly how they can defy you, alter everything your species has ever worked for, and even easily outmatch you with zero effort...isn't a great strategy.

You can argue that Kyubey didn't expect Madoka to actually do this, but he himself planted the idea in her mind — and, in my opinion, it's highly likely Madoka may have never made her final wish if Kyubey never made this suggestion. After all, we see no evidence she's made a wish like this before. He put it in her head that becoming a God is possible for her. Easy for her, potential wise, even. He said that outright defying his system with her potential is child's play to her.

It's the same thing as walking up to your worst enemy, handing them a gun, then helpfully telling them where exactly to shoot to kill. Then being shocked and surprised when they pull the trigger.

IV) Blatently Lying

AKA "Kyubey doesn't lie", but then openly and obviously lies.

Some people say Kyubey never lies, he just gives half truths. Kyubey himself claims lying is incomprehensible to his species, even. But, uh, that's not true. He lies about not understanding lying. He lies in canon. Repeatedly.

Sayaka asks Kyubey if Witches are different from magical girls. We know that magical girls, basically, are witches. Or, at least, witches yet-to-be. But Kyubey lies and doesn't answer yes to the question, to avoid telling the truth. His explanation is only technically true, but he doesn't actually answer truthfully with regards to "magical girls = witches?" question. He dodges it.

It's claimed he can't coerse girls to contract, but is shown canonically to basically back them into corners, let them fall into life-or-death situations to all but force a contract, and rush girls to contract.

Kyubey also claims he can't suggest wishes, but then suggests wishes to Madoka, as seen in Part III.

Kyubey blatently lies, not denying that bringing a magical girl back from being a witch is impossible, though he knows it is. He answers without actually giving solid answers here. I'm also pretty sure in the final script that the final line is actually "nobody's ever tried it before", and if that's correct, it's even worse — as I can't imagine that not a single magical girl, over millions of years of history, never tried or attempted it. And even if you want to claim him not knowing if it's possible isn't a lie, he's lying to Kyoko about not being able to advise her. He just doesn't want to, because Kyoko trying her plan means she dies, and he gets another obstacle out of the way. A logical, truthful bit of advice he could give here would be "I highly doubt it's possible to do". But he doesn't say this.

Kyubey, the whole of the anime, is constantly and consistently shown manipulating and lying to the girls. But then the next minute claims to not even understand the concept of deceitfulness.

V) Final Word

As Katy @silvermoon424 said, Kyubey is like a "facts over feelings" guy run amok. He claims to be an emotionless creature running solely on rationality and logic, utterly incapable of deceit, but then proves he's lying about all of that. He emotes, he is irrational, he manipulates and lies and all but disproves everything he and his species claim to be with both words and actions.

Sorry that this post is a bit disjointed and rambly. It is based off another similar essay I never wrote/finished, but is also a bit based on this post by Katy that I also suggest people read, as it reminded me of this idea I never wrote out.

#pmmm #madoka magica #puella magi madoka magica #madomagi #kyubey #essays #meta #// will finish alt text later

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agitowarrioroftheforest · 7 months

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Thoughts on gender locked magic. Specifically the concepts of Witches. Discussion of gender essentialism and transphobia.

Ok this is a pretty common thing to run into in fiction. The idea that “Only women can become witches.”

But I have always wondered, but Why though? What is the reason only women get access to magic? What about their soul makes that a thing and why is that gender locked to woman as a gender specifically?

These fictional worlds with such a magic system always come with gender essentialism to me. They were not structured to include trans people. More likely because we weren’t a thought to the author.

Would a trans girl suddenly be able to do magic when she realizes? Would she always have had magic? Likewise, would a trans boy suddenly lose the ability to do magic? Did he never have any? People’s individual transitions are so unique, how would that effect their access to magic and how would that not be exclusionary? What about nonbinary people? What are genderfluid people who are women sometimes going to do? It all gets very complicated the moment you consider trans people and anyone whose gender is not binary.

It just strikes me as gender essentialism to say that only one gender has access to magic. I can never understand what in particular makes a character “worthy” of magic because of their gender, If we are going to look at gender with less binary expectations, then gender locking magic kinda goes against that goal.

Why has this cosmic magic or being that gives magic chosen “being a woman” as their qualifications?

If it’s about the oppression of misogyny, there are trans men and nonbinary people who experience that as well with no choice in the matter of how other people misgender us.

If it’s about a specific kind of physical body or genital, then there is no way to make that not exclusionary. If it’s about the trauma that young girls go through (Example: Madoka magica’s answer to this, where that trauma creates Energy to stop the heat death of the universe.) then that *still* becomes trans exclusionary, because there are people whose childhoods may have looked like that of young girls to society but were not, and were still traumatic in extremely similar, or the same ways. (right now i’m talking specifically about trans men and women who came out after adulthood and didn’t 100% know they were trans as kids. Madoka’s system also has no room for nonbinary people. )

The gender essentialist concept of "women are Closer to Nature and More Primal and have Secret Knowledge" also plays into this, and on top of that being something I don’t believe. I don’t think it’s smart to treat any gender as somehow secretly better than another.

Talking a bit more personally here, I did struggle to come out, and one reason because of people, who called themselves progressive feminists(in actuality this was a mindset from radfems), who treated the possibility of me being a boy as some kind of threat or loss. I’m definitely feminist, I want to make that clear. But I don’t stand for any kind of system that treats one gender as better or treats you as some kind of traitor because you didn’t turn out to be a woman.

I think that is the heart of the issue of why gender locked magic hits a sore spot.

The frustration that the experiences I have had, being treated like facets of womanhood. I know I and people like me don’t fit in magic systems like these, that there just isn’t a place there. So that part is alienating all on it’s own. I don’t have fond feelings for this trope. On top of all this, Trans men just aren’t considered in most media. There’s a sense of invisibility to finding representation. That isn’t just what I’ve noticed. Glaad has some stats laid out.

I feel like i’d be more interested in a world with this kind of magic if the point was about breaking and challenging this exclusionary magic system. Or perhaps, centering a transmasc perspective about losing magic because the system is exclusionary and how truly fucked up of an experience that must be in a society that places your value in magic.

Even in the few cases where a magic system is trans affirming to trans woman, trans men don’t seem to exist in the creator’s eyes. I am not going to name where this came from, but it did frustrate me that in a specific world that called itself queer friendly, cis and trans women and nonbinary people could become witches, but trans men got basically nothing. Didn’t seem to exist. A huge flaw in a world I really wanted to like and now just can not engage in without being reminded that people like me don’t belong. I get enough of that in real life.

My personal feeling is “fuck exclusionary magic!” like anyone in these fictional worlds should have the ability to become a witch. It shouldn’t be locked to a nebulous gendered expectation. (It shouldn’t just extend to magic too. Gender locked hair styles and clothing and pitches of voices in games also fall into gender essentialism. “You can’t be X if you look like Y.” Is exclusionary and transphobic, just on it’s own.)

#agito speaks #I get a little personal #transandrophobia #transphobia #gender essentialism #magic systems

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domnorian · 6 months

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How does isekaied Luthor get along with his companions?

Oh boy, it's gonna be a long one. I'm gonna make a list in order of appearance.

First, let me tell you that for ALL the companions, Lex WILL adapt his personality to be sure they will stay by his side. Because he's a manipulative bitch. But I guess everyone knew that already.

Lae'zel : She's an alien. And an alien from a species that tries to conquer the galaxy. So of course Lex first reaction to her and her people was not particularly friendly. But the fact she get things done, she's strong and efficient, made him quickly change his mind. He realized she was a very helpful asset. He also started asking questions about her people, to learn more about them because he's a giant nerd. Lae'zel quickly showed an interest in him: Lex is strong, charismatic (16 in charisma helps), smart and pragmatic, so of course she fell hard for him. And since it was just about sex and no feelings attached, Lex went with it. Lex still would betray Lae'zel if she wasn't enough of an asset for him anymore though. Lucky for her, she is pretty useful. He made sure to make her see what her Queen really was. And I think Lae'zel would now follow him until the end of times.

Shadowheart : Yes, Lex saved her on the mindflayer ship. For the same reason that he agreed to take all the others with him: he is aware he needs all the help he can get. So he opened her pod, hoping she could prove useful or throw her on a mindflayer to be able to escape. Fortunately, she was useful. The main issue is that Shadowheart tends to trust the wrong kind of persons, as you must know. And Lex is no exception. He did try many times to steal the artifact from her but failed. The fact she was avoiding telling the truth, though, that annoyed Lex pretty badly. When she finally revealed who she was, he at first was sceptical about her religion, but eventually showed great interest in Shar (you know, the whole "hope is pointless" was the moment he decided her religion wasn't so bad). Since Shadowheart was used to people hating on her cult, she was pleasantly surprised and well... let's just say she likes Lex. She approves his decisions most of the time and regrets hiding the truth from him since he's so trustworthy and comprehensive (lol). I think deep down she knows who he really is... but in the full meaning of it. She sees a broken man who will fight until the end to get what he wants. I think she pities him in some way.

Astarion : I was actually not that surprised when I realized Astarion and Lex wouldn't get along really well. Sure, Astarion approves Lex's decisions most of the time. But he still disapproves when Lex asks him to fuck off. Which is pretty often. For Lex, Astarion is annoying and clearly tries way too hard to get his nose into Lex's business. Also, the fact he hid he was a vampire. I wouldn't say Lex hates him, though. They have a relationship that looks more like siblings bickering. Astarion likes to mess with Lex and Lex likes to remind Astarion who's boss and who's the man who gave his blood so Astarion could finally be useful. I think maybe Astarion doesn't trust Lex because he reminds him too much of Cazador.

Gale : Ha. Gale. Poor darling. He really was right when he told Lex that he made him worse. Lex has a very bad influence on Gale. And Gale knows it. But he also knows he has no choice but to follow Lex to survive. He really is the one companion I'm truly sad about. He knew from the beginning that Lex was bad news but he went with it anyway. They both try to be civil with one another. Lex is a very good student to Gale and always listen to him when he talks about magic. Because for Lex, magic is science unexplained. And he's dying to find an explanation.

Wyll : Lex tried his best to manipulate Wyll. Only to fail again and again. Wyll isn't dumb, he sees clearly that Lex isn't a hero but is a selfish bastard with too much ambition. Lex thinks Wyll is an annoying goody two-shoes. When Wyll left after they attacked the emerald grove, Lex was relieved.

Karlach : Lex and Karlach didn't interact much. Lex did try to manipulate her as well but she too left camp after they attacked the emerald grove.

Minthara : She and Lex are adorable. In a creepy kinda way. That's all I'm gonna say for now because I will post screenshots of them later I think.

Halsin : Believe it or not, Halsin is still alive. He reminded Lex too much of Clark to be able to kill him from the get go. So Lex made sure the goblins already left the place when he rescued Halsin. Of course, Lex lied and didn't tell him he was with the goblins at the time. Halsin left, trying to reach the grove in time. Lex told him: "good luck". Maybe he did have luck because Lex didn't find Halsin on the battleground. He's hoping Halsin left and is still alive somewhere.

That's it for now. It may evolve as I progress into the game.

#thanks for the ask!#bg3!lex #lex luthor #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #dc comics

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uniiiquehecrt · 8 months

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Why is it a cosmic problem that the Asgardian bloodline will end with Thor? Asgard is no more - what we have is a nonmagical place on Earth where Asgardians live. When Asgard doesn't exist, who cares that there will be no heirs. The current ruler is someone to whom King Thor just gave the rulership. That's how every ruler will be made now - anyone the current ruler gives it to. Or maybe they start holding elections. Make it democratic.

They don't need heirs now. And Thor will die alone in a ditch. It doesn't matter anymore. Taika has made it so that everything in Thor's world is insignificant now. But this is a happy ending.

I... genuinely can't entirely tell if you're being sarcastic, nonny, or if this is a genuine question that perhaps I may be misreading... (and if I have, do feel free to send a follow up and correct me)

but there's quite a many problem with the royal bloodline ending with Thor from an in-universe standpoint, just as well as the trajectory of Asgard's fate from Ragnarok and Endgame onward is an insult to the worldbuilding of Earth-199999's Asgard and the Nine Realms.

There's a couple of different ways you could slice my statement and I would still argue that what I've said can be seen as true. But I'll go through the wide range of elements in your ask to best illustrate the broader strokes of my point.

but TL;DR:

Ultimately you answered your own question, and that's the best way to boil down the travesty of it all:

Q: Why is it a cosmic problem that the Asgardian bloodline will end with Thor? A: Taika has made it so that everything in Thor's world is insignificant now.

Not only this, but Thor is the lastoline of the royal family. Before which, there only existed himself, and his father, Odin. He is the last of a subspecies of alien on par with other massively powerful aliens like Titans and I would wager, potentially even more mortal Celestials like Ego. He's a being who can generate storms just because he's miffed. Once Thor is dead and gone, there will NEVER be an Asgardian who is more than just your usual 'super-strength, super-speed, super-endurance' humanoid looking alien. There will NEVER be an Asgardian with the ability to summons storms and have lightning flow through his veins.

Hela had dominion over life and death, Thor is effectively a living, breathing, walking, talking tempest, Odin can be inferred to have some kind of 'order' seeking affinity. Who knows about MCU Bor and Buri. They are INCREDIBLY ancient, and powerful beings. If MCU Asgardians are to MCU humans what D&D elves are to D&D humans, then Thor is to Asgardians what an eladrin elf is to normal elves.

And we are watching – have already watched, even, — that incredibly powerful, incredible RARE sub-species of asgardian effectively be driven to extinction.

Just think about that for a second.

(the rest has been put under a cut because this answer got long, and for that I apologize ... mostly.)

Asgard is no more - what we have is a nonmagical place on Earth where Asgardians live.

Yes. This. This is quite actually the crux of the problem of this choice. The most beautiful and compelling aspect of the MCU in Phase 1 in particular is the prospect of an alternative universe out there where, to quote Jane Foster, "magic is just science that hasn't been explained yet". A world where superheroes truly can exist and aren't cartoonishly corny as superhoes used to be depicted... I'll say pre!Raimi Spider-Man era. (Though.. the Goblin's costume is still pretty goofy.)

What made Thor stand out as an individual hero within the Avengers (both the team, and the 2012 feature), and what made him so compelling to quite a many fans new, old, or casual, was that Thor is magical. He comes from a place where magic and science are the same thing. His whole world is ethereal and timeless, it's vast and expansive, and because it's inspired by real world norse mythology — of which is itself a rich and fascinating study in and of itself — there are a thousand different directions he could be taken.

I may be speaking partly for myself, but he also further ropes in a fantasy-centric audience such as myself who largely enjoy high-fantasy, medieval inspirations, tales of chivalry, hope, love, adventure, magic, timeless knights and princes — Dark World in particular has him acting quite a bit like your typical idea of a chivalrious, regal, stately prince or honorable knight who is virtuous and kind, and who protects those who can't protect themselves.

And that's just a single aspect of what made him so unique. What made him so unbelievably lovely. Thor is lovely, and Thor is magical. His family, friends, world, and people are magical.

But as of RAGNAROK, the realm he hails from was destroyed before our eyes before we got to truly know anything about it.

As of ENDGAME and LOVE AND THUNDER, the people and culture of asgard that remain has been so watered down that they dared to make New Asgard a tourist attraction in some rinky-dink nowhere backwater coastal town no different than Puente Antiguo, New Mexico where Thor first crash-landed in the first film.

Asgard used to be on par with, if not even more intriguing and full of mystery, than Wakanda, the earthen monarchy. Now it's a tourist trap that ... for some reason has "infinity gauntlet" ice cream in the heart of the town of a people devastated by Thanos twice.

The current ruler is someone to whom King Thor just gave the rulership. That's how every ruler will be made now [...] They don't need heirs now.

Potentially unpopular opinion (?) but I have so many issues with the decision to give Lady Valkyrie Thor's birthright that it could take an entire 10 paragraph essay for me to fully delve into all of the issues.

In short:

To say Valkyrie had a character beyond "traumatized alcoholic with a chip on her shoulder" is ... generous at best. That's not a diss, that is entirely factual. I could not tell you what her Want vs. Need is, or her character goal, or her motivations, or why she bothered to suddenly help Thor (re: lack of motivations) because she never took any action with any real agency in RAGNAROK that wasn't spurred on by Loki. ....Off screen.

I also don't think that the woman who had spent over 1,500 years MINIMUM running away from her home and her people, festering bitterness, spite and hatred towards the royal line, and who never actually respected Thor in the first place because of who his father is should have been honored the title of King. She did not deserve that. Both in general, and as a character who frankly just did not get enough screentime to really be SHOWN caring for her people, atoning for her absence and otherwise supporting, caring for, and working alongside Thor. Had she actually been shown doing any of the above in a substantial amount of screentime, perhaps then I might have felt differently, as if she earned the position more than Thor who has spent 2 solo movies (not counting RAGNAROK) earning his place as a future leader. This is likewise not entirely counting his O.S. actions of maintaining peace under his authority between Avengers and Dark World, and his personal search for the Infinity Stones post!Age of Ultron.

Valkyrie is powerful, yes, but she is ultimately still NOT an Asgardian Royal. And to your point about "this is how every ruler will be made now" — Heimdal aside, NO OTHER ASGARDIANS have special powers. It is EXCLUSIVE to Odin's bloodline. (Frigga is a practicing witch and these are two incredibly different things, since Loki was taught his magic, not born with it.) This is a GLARING worldbuilding issue further highlighted down below, but the tl;dr of it is: the only reason why Earth has been largely untouched and the Nine Realms kept safe in isolation despite the constant going-ons of the other galaxies in the universe is BECAUSE of the royal line. Odin isn't kidding around when he says he (and his bloodline) are protectors of the Nine Realms. Valkyrie is most certainly able to try, but at the end of the day she's NEVER going to be able to get through very many galactic battles without ultimately calling on Thor for assistance at the end of the day. And when her time is up? Or when Thor is finally dead and gone? There goes your ace in the hole.

But more than that, thinking about it semi-realistically from a worldbuilding perspective:

It's quite literally a cosmic problem in that there is now a galactic power imbalance. MCU!Thor comes from a version of Marvel's world where the there aren't literal gods, but there are aliens. Tons of aliens. All with varying powers and proportions and what-have-you-not. More specifically: power humanoid aliens from a realm called Asgard, that in Earth-199999 inspired the entirety of the Norse mythos of the viking age.

These aliens, governed by the ruling monarch of the realm eternal, also govern over 8 additional realms— which for all we know could range from a territory that is a singular planet (vanaheim, asgard), to potentially an entire solar system (earth and its solar system). BOTH options nine times over marks an absolutely incredible empire for a singular species of alien to claim complete control and territory over.

But they were not only able to obtain this territory but continue to safeguard it under Asgardian protection because the royal family is gifted incredible power (Thor, for instance, can change the atmosphere out of sheer mindless emotion not to mention conscious thought), and have secured and/or subdued multiple infinity stones throughout the millenia (the aether/reality stone, the tesseract/mind stone, thor has also personally endured a power stone directly to the temple, for instance), and have maintained peace for a MINIMUM of a thousand years beneath Odin's reign as All-Father, Protector of the Nine Realms.

So, if the royal family governs its own pocket dimension planet, AND maintains peace and prosperity by personally safeguarding the territories itself and of eight additional realms, all with a variety of other alien species, ecosystems, solar systems, galactic quadrants, etc. ...Who are also KNOWN to be fierce and proud warriors who have likewise safeguarded ancient and powerful alien relics the likes of the tesseract/mind stone for hundreds if not thousands of years — and you take this long-lived warrior race out of their own equation...?

We're talking potential outbreaks of a new age of war the likes of those talked about in Thor (2011), in-fighting amongst the Nine Realms, invasions from outside realms of conquesting species, so on and so forth. Without Asgard and specifically a Royal Asgardian at the seat of power to maintain the balance of what has been built, (and i specify a ROYAL asgardian, aka Thor's line, because his bloodline is the only asgardian bloodline with the raw power to maintain and preserve everything long-term), well, you've effectively started a cosmic power vacuum — even if the MCU likely will never bother to explore the consequences of it.

Slight sidebar (albeit still mostly related), but:

Quite frankly one of the funniest aspects of Thor's relationships with Nick Fury and the humans that are equally as worked up about aliens existing, pointing their fingers at Thor as an example of their right to be wary (and eventually Loki and the Chutari, though those are more earned) is that they are effectively minimum-wage fast-food employees bad-mouthing he who is essentially the up-and-coming Chairman of the metaphorical "Yggdrasil's Nine Realms Fast Food Chain" without realizing who he actually is.

(Which, viewing through that lens makes the Avengers Nick Fury scene and the Tony Stark Age of Ultron scene even more hilarious despite the eventual coming of Thanos, because Thor, bless him, doesn't take ...much... offense to it until the bad-blood becomes over-bloated and geared towards the violent. RE: "My people want nothing but peace with your planet." / "Your work with the tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war.")

For all of the drama of MCU Phases 1-3, realistically speaking, Midgard is low enough on the hierarchy of Asgard's protected territories that not only would it not be targeted first by Asgard's enemies (or other conquesting alien species), but even if it WAS to be targeted, or if Asgard was in its own fit of warfare ... Earth wouldn't even know it in the first place because THAT is how good at their jobs the Asgardians are. Earth, despite being SURROUNDED by alien activity and having even been in possession of multiple infinity stones at a time throughout history, not ONCE realized that (other) aliens existed out there... during the entirety of the 1,000-some years of peace that Odin so often talked about.

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captaincryolicious · 2 years

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Hi! I love your writing! I just found your blog and have only read a few thing, but I'm fully planning on binging everything you've written so far.

I saw that your requests are open. May I request a Kazuha/reader fic (gn if possible?) where the reader is touch adverse? Like, if someone touches them without their permission/or their terms it can send them into an anxiety attack? Some days are better than others, some days they can be affectionate to an extent but others they just can't handle being touched at all?

It's totally cool if not! I have seen a lot of really cuddly Kazuha content lately, (not that there's anything wrong with that!) and as someone who is touch adverse, I though the change of pace might be cool.

Okay, I'm rambling now. I hope you have a great - insert time of day here-!

Kazuha with a touch aversive s/o

➳ Kazuha x gn!reader

➳ Headcanons ; 1.1k

➳ Fluff, comfort ; No warnings

The title says it all. [03.10.2022]

Zep's Note ; This request was made over a year ago but I finally got to write it (I HAD to, since I really relate to this). I'm sorry it took so long! Also, I went with headcanon format instead of a fic, I hope you don't mind!

content under the cut | masterlist

It was a mystery to you.

The way people described physical touch as magical, as warm and safe, as loving and comforting, as a spark of joy that erased the sourness from one's mind and body. You couldn't even begin to imagine that; it sounded alien to you, impossible, as if it were something from an utterly different dimension than the one you lived in — which, in a sense, was true.

All you ever felt when people touched you was panic, the strong urge to push them away and flee in a wave of fear, discomfort and anxiety washing over you. It made your heart race, your skin burned where you had been touched, your breath would hitch before accelerating, but in a way most negative.

No one, not even your closest loved ones such as your own family, were allowed to hug you, give you an encouraging pat on your shoulder, ruffle your hair or hold your hand when times got rough. It was a barrier so unbreakable, and even you often failed to understand why.

Why couldn't you relish in the affection of loved ones? Why did it bring you the exact opposite of what people described? How could something supposedly so beautiful bring forth such negativity within you?

What was most painful, maybe, was how no one found it in them to truly love you in a romantic way. You tried, others tried with you, but it never lasted. Of course no one wanted a relationship with someone who did not want to be touched at all, you bitterly thought. That's why you always ended up on your own. Loneliness gnawed at you, and painfully so. Maybe you were meant to be alone, simply because your stupid curse.

You believed so, until he came around.

Kaedehara Kazuha. A name that brought so much happiness to your life ever since that awkward moment when the two of you met. He wanted to shake your hand that day, causing you to freeze on the spot. Usually that would lead to taunting laughter and confused faces, but not with him. The male with hair as pale as the moon regarded you with a certain understanding in his ruby eyes, taking a step back and introducing himself with a kind smile.

You instantly trusted him that day, and until this very day the faith you put in him only grew more and more.

Kazuha is a real sweetheart, so understanding and very patient with your touch aversion.

He never pushes through when you draw a line, he always respects your boundaries.

He got used to it so quickly, adapting to what you called your curse seemingly with ease. Of course he slipped up a few times in the very beginning, but his profuse apologies were sincere and he would do whatever it took to soothe you again.

But as I said, Kazuha swiftly adapts and does everything he can to show you how much he loves you in a way that doesn't bring you any discomfort.

Taking you on little dates, looking at you with the warmest smile ever, being super romantic in ways that don't involve touch, and his favorite; writing you haikus.

Of course not every day is the same. There are good days and bad days, and the difference between those starts to grow when your bond of trust with Kazuha grows.

On bad days, where being touched will send you into a pit of anxiety from the discomfort that seems to take over, even when it's him, he will always reassure you that it's okay, that he loves you more than anything in the world and that your boundaries are totally valid.

He will keep reminding you, because that one day where you told him how afraid you were of him leaving you because of your curse broke his heart.

"Love is so much more than physical touch alone," he tells you, and his instincts are screaming to hold you close and comfort you because you look so miserable but he knows better. He simply sits opposite of you, patient as ever, looking at you with calm eyes as he thinks of other ways to cheer you up.

On bad days, he learns a lot about you. It's those days that show him your preferences and habits, things that make you smile and bring you joy, objects and gestures that bring some peace in the turmoil when a comforting hug is out of the question.

Let's be honest, in the beginning he struggled with what he could do to make you happy if he couldn't shower you with affection. He had to get a little creative, but he picked up all the little details in no-time; your favorite time of the day, your go-to snack, topics of conversation that brought a spark to your eyes, hobbies and other ways of passing time you enjoyed, small things he did that would bring a smile to your face, and so on.

He got to know you super fast, and despite the lack of affection, the two of you are like, really really close.

But then there are the good days.

It barely happened in the beginning, but as you grew more at ease around Kazuha, there are more and more days on which you feel like you can drop your boundaries a little.

Days where it genuinely brings you a ginger feeling of joy when the male is hesitantly affectionate.

Those days where you feel like holding his hand, when you can stand the sensation of his fingertips on your skin. Days where you carefully lean against him, your heart beating rapidly as you try to make sense of what you are feeling. Days where you let him cup your cheeks softly and have him gaze at you full of love. Rare days, where you are brave enough to let Kazuha hold you against him in a hug so frail, as if you are made of glass.

He is so careful with you, pouring all his love into his gentle touches while closely keeping an eye on how you are feeling; as soon as he finds the slightest hint of discomfort on your face, he backs off. But it happens less and less, because you genuinely feel safe with him.

On good days, you begin to understand why people describe physical touch as something dreamlike.

But the next day, it could be all gone.

Kazuha never touches you without permission or without you taking the initiative. He always waits for you. He's so selfless, all he cares about is you and your wellbeing.

He is so so so patient with you, and he truly respects your boundaries. It doesn't even take effort for him. It comes with ease, as if it grew to be his second nature, simply because he loves you so dearly.

You're safe with him.

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