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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 4 months

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Idia, Silver: Somehow I’ll be Strong

Silver casually doing his usual knightly duties and Idia being shocked at such Chad behavior will never not be funny 🤡 but seeing Idia passionately share his hobbies in the vignettes was wholesome! (The story about Idia singing with Ortho as they went to the bathroom together at night was also adorable 🥺)

Idia’s legs are so damn long, everyone’s been memeing them to the Underworld and back 😂 … Okay, but wtf is up with THAT face he’s making in the groovy?? That’s on a whole new level of sinister 💀 Is this really your mans, Eliza—

asiulbdg8yoadasbqerqo I'M HYPERFIXATED ON ONE OF HIS VOICE LINES where Idia threatens to flick your forehead if you get in his way but then he also confesses that his finger will hurt from doing that so you'd feel bad for him... bro, how weak ARE you...

A Tale as Old as Time.

Gazing upon the good and righteous was nothing new for Idia. He had pored over countless manga and light novels, binged shounen anime after shounen anime.

Here was another hero, bathed in bronze sunlight, posing triumphantly, a sword to pave the way forward and a battered training dummy to protect. His trusty winged steed beside him, a stout, wizened satyr, his mentor, hanging off of one bulging bicep. True, the arena they stood in was empty, save for the training equipment scattered about—but there was no doubt that the world would soon know his name, and his face written in the stars.

A platinum frame divided Idia from that legendary man.

Clutching onto one limp, flabby arm, he quietly scoffed. Haaah, it looks like a scene straight out of some musclehead's training montage...

"You're admiring this painting too, Idia-senpai?"

Idia's thoughts came to a screeching halt. Goosebumps prickled his skin, hair standing on end. A young man with a build similar to the hero in the artwork had appeared, handsome-face framed by moonlight locks.

"E-Eep! S-Silver-shi?!" His voice was pinched, a reverberating squeak.

The knight bowed his head. "Hello. It sounds like you're in good spirits."

Idia took a step back, as if he were the night making way for the encroaching day. The shadows were where he felt the safest, wrapped up in a cloak that granted him near invisibility from the average onlooker. Not with Silver. He who cast a revealing light wherever he drifted.

"Y-Yeah, what a n-nice painting..." Idia mumbled, not bothering to summon the effort to lie. He attempted to skitter away, cutting the conversation short, but—to his dismay—Silver continued.

"I look up to him too. There's many historical heroes we can look back on and learn from," Silver said with a nod. "I refer to them when I consider my own training regiment. They're inspirations to us all."

What's this?! Idia paled. Obviously I was trying to signal to him that I was gonna go AFK but this guy just starts spamming the chat!! H-Have I accidentally tripped an event flag...!? Or does he lack even more social awareness than an introverted otaku like me!?

Silver regarded him seriously—innocently, even. "Can I ask if this is the one you aspire to?"

Idia grimaced at the suggestion. "You're joking, right? Th-There's no way I could be a fraction as buff as he is!!"

The second year blinked, seeming undisturbed by the flustered response. “I don't think that's a concern."

“How’s it not? A hero can’t do crazy godlike stunts if he doesn’t have the right stuff…”

Silver shook his head. “My father has told me stories of warriors who were able to overcome their lack of strength with other provisions. A woman once pretended to be a man to infiltrate the military. Her wit saved their entire country from collapse."

"This man too…” Silver indicated the placard below the platinum frame. “… He gave up his strength to protect someone he loved. It was his noble heart that made the heavens recognize his godhood."

“W-Well…” Idia but his lower lip. He knew the tales as well as Silver did, but still he hesitated. “That’s true, but… isn’t it too unrealistic to think ordinary people could rise to those kinds of feats?”

His grip on his sleeve tightened.

The main character in Star Rogue... He started off as a zero and became a hero. But that's just a video game. Can something like that really happen in real life...? When true heroes are one in a billion?

Silver-shi makes it sound so easy.

His stomach lurched, wrenching into distorted shapes.

“If you have the drive, you can go the distance and somehow become strong,” Silver told him. His tone, reassuring yet firm.

“Somehow? H-How vague can you possibly get? That’s no way to achieve results…”

“It’s not brawn alone that determines your worth as a hero. Please have more faith in yourself, Idia-senpai."

As if just saying that will make my faith meter shoot through the roof! Anxiety-induced sweat beaded on Idia’s forehead.

M-Maybe if I tell him what he wants to hear, he’ll leave me alone… He warily eyed Silver. “O-Okay… I get it already. I’ll try, so…”

Please stop talking to me!! I-I don’t know how much longer of this pure-hearted anime protag speech I can stomach!

“You will? That’s great.” Silver smiled softly. His expression, Idia realized, reminded him of that of the hero in the photo frame.

A sparkling face, full of hope for the future.

A hero in the making.

That could be you, a tiny voice in his mind whispered.

A weight in his chest steadily lifted, then dropped again. Like a lost soul bobbing between life and death. Unsure of which way to go.

No, don’t be deceived. Life isn’t a game route that plays out with an easy ending. One misstep, and I’ll be floating in the River Styx.

Idia cut away from his underclassman. The hero’s big grin snagged in the corner of his eye.

Perfect, pearly, perky. Not a visible crack in a man seemingly chiseled out of marble.

But nobody’s perfect, not even the immortals. Everyone has a weakness or two in their systems, a security flaw, bug to exploit—and the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Trust in excess turned into gullibility. Willingness to help could become one’s hubris. Goodness twisting into other shapes.

Suddenly, the hero was no longer infallible. His courage, painted foolishly.

If a hero could crumble, then so, too, could those at their lowest points rise up and rebuild a city. Make something of themselves. True one way, and true the other.

Someday, somehow, he’d be strong enough to face the odds—turning the impossible into the possible.

A slow, sinister smile crept onto his lips. Eerie, gleeful laughter filled the air. His shoulders, shuddering.

“Hihihihihihi…”

Silver’s ears perked. He inclined his head toward his upperclassman. It looks like Idia-senpai is reinvigorated. I’m glad I could encourage him.

#twst #twisted wonderland #Idia Shroud #twst imagines #twst scenarios #Silver #twisted wonderland imagines #twisted wonderland scenarios #disney twisted wonderland #disney twst #spoilers #something no one asked for #chad silver vs virgin idia/j #Idia birthday takeover #I am so sorry if this one felt a lil sloppy #I was so sleep deprived writing this www

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steviesbicrisis · 11 months

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MORE STEDDIE EUROVISION BRAINROT LETS GOOOOO (part 2 of this if you will)

Eurovision is chaotic, a million things are happening at the same time, everything is all over the place until you get on stage and do your part. Even so, Eddie finds plenty of time to recall all the moments in which he talked About Stef- Steve when he was around, thinking he wouldn't understand any of it.

After the Turquoise Carpet, Eddie can't look him in the eye anymore, his strong desire to get to know Steve more even through the "language barrier" has been overcome by the embarrassment of his situation.

For better or worse, Corroded Coffin is assigned to perform in the second Semifinal, while Italy (being one of the Big5) is presented during the first but will go straight to the Final, meaning that Eddie only has a chance to see him again if they qualify.

Except that Steve, by giving a little tease to the press of what had been going on between them in the past few weeks, had lightened up a fire hard to extinguish. Even if Eddie hadn't managed to see him after the carpet, he and the rest of the band are asked about him constantly by the press, social media content creators, fans, and even by a few contestants.

In a span of a couple of days, his band got, completely by accident, into a competition for Stefano's heart and Eddie is the least willing participant.

The night of the Second Semifinal arrives and Eddie hasn't really seen Steve in four days, not that he's counting. Maybe seeing Steve before his semifinal would've helped with his nerves, an ideal scenario would include Steve confessing that he actually didn't know English until he met Eddie and he used Duolingo to become fluent just to talk to him (which would mean that Steve is the actual linguistic prodigy but he wouldn't really complain).

For a long second, Eddie thinks that his daydreaming skills must've reached new levels as he imagines Steve walking into the green room, where all the contestants hang how as they wait to perform. Then, with horror, he realizes that there has been no improvement in said skills and that Steve is actually there, walking towards their couch with an Australian flag on his shoulders.

"Hey guys! Thank you for inviting me!" Steve says as he reaches their spot.

"Thank you for coming, I'm sure you're super busy as we all are" Jeff replies, revealing himself as the culprit (aka the one guilty of betraying Eddie by inviting his crush behind his back).

"Oh yeah, these days have been crazy! But I always have time for my favorite contestants" he winks at the group, before sitting in the small space between Eddie and Jeff.

Steve turns around to face Eddie and says “ciao” lower than his previous tone, as if Eddie is the only one meant to hear.

“C-ciao” Eddie replies, still stunned by Steve’s presence.

Steve seems to have the time of his life teasing Eddie “mi sei mancato.”

This one takes a little longer for Eddie to understand. He knows he said something along the lines of “I missed you” but it takes him a couple of seconds more to understand that Steve is talking about the messages and the gifts he stopped sending to his changing room since Sunday.

Eddie could give him a million excuses, come clean about his embarrassment, ask him out on a date on the spot, or even play dummy and change the subject quickly.

Instead, he mutters one of the phrases he remembers learning in the past few days “mi dispiaci.”

His Italian must’ve been better than he thought, judging by the big smile forming on Steve’s face.

“It’s okay” Steve pats his hand on Eddie’s knee and squeezes it for half a second, still smiling at him as if they’ve been sharing a big fat secret just between them. Maybe they have.

The rest of the evening passes in a blur. They keep on playing their game of “who’s Stefano crushing on?” By sitting together in compromising positions (still keeping it family friendly of course) every time the Australian booth is in the frame during the performance breaks, and each time with a different member of the band.

By the time Australia has to perform, the internet is already filled with screenshots of each moment and it’s captioned with “What is going on between Italy and Australia?” Or “Oh to be Italy with 4 beautiful Australian boyfriends”.

When it’s time for them to go on stage, Steve whispers a “buona fortuna” to Eddie’s ear and quickly exits the green room.

Corroded Coffin does an amazing performance, Eddie feels giddy and full of energy after spending the whole night with Steve sitting by his side.

If the performing part passed in a blur, the wait for the votes is painfully slow. With no beautiful Italian Greek-sculptured god sitting by his side, Eddie is left to his bad habit of overthinking: “We should’ve done that in a different way” “What if it sucked for the people watching at home?” “If we don’t pass, we won’t be with Steve for the final”.

But alas, he’s put out of his misery by the hosts announcing Australia as one of the finalists. The band and their team jump off of their seat, waving the Australian flag to the camera that is showing their celebrations for the people at home.

Eddie is too caught up in the moment to notice Steve approaching them as the announcements keep going.

He feels someone tapping on his shoulder and he barely has time to turn around before he feels Steve’s lips pressed on his.

It’s a quick peck on the lips but it leaves him stunned nonetheless.

Steve smiles at him mischievously as he says “ci vediamo in finale.”

And he’s off as quick as he came, leaving Eddie to process what just happened.

What a night to remember.

#HERE I AM AGAIN #the semifinal gave me so many ideas #I am having the time of my life with this edition #Stefano was like lemme get this Australiano yes #even if he's not actually Australian #and eddie is like #Eddie.exe has stopped working #Eurovision: the birth of the greatest romance in history #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve and eddie #stranger things #steve x eddie #sbc writes

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cellarspider · 1 month

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25/?? Eschatology for Dummies

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Once again, we dive into that font of madness, Prometheus. I lied last time, we’re not talking about language today, I want to bash my head against the problem of “what in blazes is the intent of this movie”.

As the expedition enters the alien structure, suddenly Shaw remembers that germs can float.

“Wait. We still don’t know how Holloway got infected. If it’s in the air–”

This is one of those maddening little moments where the script tells me that no, the earlier removal of helmets was not just the oversight of someone who didn’t know better. The script chose violence.

“Smells fine to me.”

So does VX nerve gas. Truly, this is the mental acumen required to become rich.

The movie attempts to raise tension through a ZOOM AND ENHANCE, and cluing in those in the audience who may have been thinking “Ha! Foolish Engineers! How would they ever destroy life on Earth if they don’t have any spaceships?”

Well, turns out, there are these great big buildings called “hangars”, and you can put spaceships in them, sometimes even under the ground. I almost feel like if they hadn’t buried the ship, Holloway would’ve tried to see if he could do a burnout in it.

David, meanwhile, is having a great time. He’s giving a guided tour of the ship (that he explored more thoroughly than anyone else), pointing out their technology (that he learned how to use), explaining what they were doing (which he figured out before anyone else did), and assuring Weyland that yes, he can talk to the Engineer (which no one else can do), blithely skating by the reasons why he knows Holloway didn’t die from an airborne illness and how the Engineers were going to press the reset buttons on Earth. Simultaneously excelling at what he was supposed to do and also anticipating Weyland’s inevitable doom, possibly even that of humanity as a whole. It feels appropriately childish for a character that’s extremely young, extremely smart, and has had the worst socialization this side of Immortan Joe’s war boys.

Weyland doesn’t care about any of that, because he’s a horrible homunculus of an old Englishman formed out of a forty-five year old Aussie. This continues to vex me, even now. I keep trying to figure out why they did this. Did they originally intend for him to be depicted as young and change their mind? Was the mobility aid exoskeleton thing they put him in heavy and cumbersome? It’s hard to see in these screenshots, but he is wearing one.

Honestly, just have Lance Henriksen play another Weyland again. Lance can definitely play scumbags, and it would honestly be funny to have every single Weyland in every single time period played by him. Have him play Vickers too, for good measure. It would’ve taken me out of the film less than this.

At this point, I personally did not care about any characters besides David and the Engineer. Which is a very strange position to find oneself in, caring most about two characters who seem just fine with humanity going pft!

And I’d like to examine that. Because fiction can put you in all sorts of strange headspaces that can be thoroughly contradictory to personal morals and self-interest. What was the movie trying to do here, and where has it ended up?

I want to start with some assumptions that mass media tends to make. Fiction, in general culture, is often presented as a moral lesson. Your protagonists are virtuous, and anything that stands in their way is villainous evil. The protagonists are also expected to be likable, and the audience is expected to root for them. A moral tale of who is worthy and who is not.

This is only a small piece of what fiction is. No one of these things is required. Villains are not required, sometimes problems aren’t caused maliciously. Protagonists do not have to be moral. Moral characters don’t have to be likable. You don’t have to root for the protagonists. And none of these divisions are binary.

I am uncertain whether we are supposed to root for the protagonists in this movie. Ridley Scott isn’t a stranger to this idea–look at Blade Runner (1982). Is it good that Deckard hunts down fugitive replicants? No. Absolutely not. Is it a compelling story? Yes! It’s beautifully told and tragic! If you make me watch Roy Batty’s monologue I will cry.

So. It is entirely possible that we are supposed to find the human characters unsympathetic. The Engineers created humanity, and then decided to destroy it. This could have been planned from the start–many religions describe cyclical, world-ending death and rebirth, after all. But this movie is heavily influenced by christianity. Those sects that believe in a destructive apocalypse call it the Last Judgment of humanity, something that occurs when the world has fallen into a state of corruption.

Which then brings us to the question: Does humanity deserve that most fatal judgment?

I mean, in real life, I’d say no, absolutely fucking not. The problem of a suffering world is not sanely responded to with “I’ve got a solution: murder everything”.

This is fiction, though. We are being presented with a vision of humanity. This has the potential to be a counterpoint to the Engineers’ thinking, or their evidence, or a mix of both.

What is it, then? Most of the cast are morons, selfish, or featureless ciphers. They are a very pessimistic view of humanity. And remember, this is fiction. People don’t need to act like real people. When you think about redeeming qualities in yourself, in your friends, in your favorite so-and-so, this fictional realm does not necessarily contain them. In its barest form, it only contains the characters we see.

We’ve got Janek, who’s been charming and indicated he’s willing to stop the Engineers here, but that’s all we know about him. He’s also behaved in negligent ways that contributed to the deaths of Millburn, Fifield, and the nameless guys mutant Fifield wailed on. Christian morality is big on redemption as a path to unconditional absolution, so is he redeeming himself through a last-minute sobering up? Maybe. I’d note he’s missing the “confession” and “recanting past sins” parts that are usually bundled up with that.

We’ve also got Shaw. Shaw has all the makings of a Final Girl, somebody who is destined to survive the plot. They usually have some redeeming quality that makes you want to root for them. What does Shaw have?

Well, she’s got a never super-defined strain of christian faith. And she’s had a really shit time lately, so it would be cruel to watch her get kicked around more.

So, that’s two. Two could be enough in Abrahamic religions–Lot flees from Sodom to Zoar, and it’s spared from destruction because of its presence. Sure, he does some Weird Shit, but he qualified as righteous by whatever standards were at play there. But Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for want of ten righteous people.

And all that gets more complicated in New Testament stuff, after God’s pinky promised not to destroy everyone again, except for the aforementioned Last Judgment thing. Is this movie, as christian allegory, advocating for a god of forgiveness, or depicting a just god who punishes the wicked?

No idea. It doesn’t have to be clear, obviously, fiction doesn’t have to be clear, any more than it has to be moral. I didn’t personally want the Engineer to sail off and destroy Earth, but frankly, I could see it from that perspective, given what this poor bugger’s met with upon waking up.

Next time: our Engineer wakes up from a two thousand year trauma nap to find some little monkeys yelling at them. Surely, this will go well.

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Alt-text rambles:

https://extra-images.akamaized.net/image/8a/5by6/2021/04/17/8a6f54c4f0ca4bd397cc22aceb4cb30e_md.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torc

#Prometheus 2012 #Prometheus (2012)#This movie keeps trying to be biblical and I keep trying to meet it half-way on the analysis #only to be left hanging like the movie wandered off in the middle of offering up a high-five

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buckybarnesss · 5 months

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("of course he was hesitant to break up with her again because the last time he saw her before she got amnesia she stormed into his work place, kicked his desk into a wall, yelled that he betrayed her not allowing him to explain and they had fought multiple times before that. the relationship was toxic and he was very clearly scared of her reaction and that she would lash out at him")

good to know that you think that korra is an abuser who has power over mako in the relationship and mako is the victim who is afraid of her.

ah. i knew i was going to get an anon like this when i made that post. this fandom is so fucking predicable.

i never called korra an abuser in did i? no. you came into my inbox accusing me of using words i didn't say but since you wanna get into this discussion.

season 2 korra is the worst version of her. she is down right insufferable at times. she's hot headed, impatient and tempestuous with seemingly little emotional regulation. her behavior towards nearly everyone is immature.

this is a direct result of korra's insular upbringing which is she is not at fault for and is part of the reason she's so incredibly angry in season 2. she is totally justified in her anger over it, actually. it left her not just ignorant of the world to a large degree but underprepared for the more social aspects of being the avatar. truly the white lotus fucked up.

while korra's anger and frustrations are understandable and even relatable it does not make it okay for her to take them out on mako.

it's so odd because people will hate korra for these very things but offer her grace in how she treats mako. yet mako is rarely afforded any grace at all by the same people. in fandom i often see all the blame placed entirely on mako's shoulders. either you think korra is an equal partner in the relationship or you don't.

they're both maladjusted teenagers and it's their first real serious romantic relationship. they're both stubborn and their tempers flare. korra repeatedly seeks advice from mako and dismisses whatever he says. he tries to be protective when that's definitely a misstep as it comes across as paternalistic to korra when for mako it's a way he shows his care and love for someone.

that said, understanding why korra behaves the way she does it still doesn't make it okay how she treats her boyfriend.

it is unacceptable that she stormed into his place of work, yelled at him in front of his coworkers and kicks his desk into a wall. she is in the wrong for this.

i promise it's okay to call korra out on her bad behavior.

does it make her abusive? in the moment? yes.

look, this is a cartoon. a more mature one for sure and still imparts valuable lessons but like i don't think korra has a pattern of long term abusive behavior and she does learn and grow from this. both her and mako move beyond this, forgive each other for their bullshit and become good friends. it's fandom that continues to hold a grudge against mako.

korra's mistreatment of mako is also side by side in this particular season with the blatantly abusive relationship bolin is trapped in with eska and the comment lin made that implies she fucked up air temple island after she and tenzin broke up.

the eska/bolin relationship and lin's comment are played for laughs and mako in later seasons is made fun of for his ineptitude in his relationships with asami and korra.

all of these decisions were made by the writers and they are fucked for that in my opinion.

the incident at the police station makes mako uncomfortable in their next encounter when he discovers she doesn't even remember they broke up. mind you when he does meet korra again there's a very deliberate moment of her firebending at a dummy whose straw head lands at his feet.

mako's reaction is understandable. he doesn't want to embarrass korra in front of everyone and he's concerned about her reaction to the news they broke up considering her behavior towards him previously. he is somewhat scared of korra here. i think we can acknowledge that.

he knew he fucked up though and he does apologize for it.

now to address the other thing.

korra has more social power than mako. she is the avatar and the daughter of a southern water tribe chieftain. she has all the advantage and privilege over him.

in fact, the entirety of season 2 is mako essentially having less social capital and privilege than those around him and it lands his ass in jail after being framed for the cultural center bombing because he stepped on the wrong toes

make no mistake korra, varrick, asami and lin have more social capital and power over mako than he does over them.

i guess we're not supposed to acknowledge that though.

#my blog #lok #legend of korra #mako

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ilex-opacus · 2 days

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This is it this is the day I go crazy and talk about Akagi Ritsuko for way longer than anyone in 2024 should.

The way I have seen her miscaracterised is so.. so heartbreaking to me. Granted the Eva fandom is huge and I haven't been a part of it for a suuuper long time (I mean, the original fanbase from 30yrs ago is reduced to little more than a bunch of ghost accounts on dead forums by now) but the most common interpretation I see of her is something like this: A cold woman who has buried almost all her feelings for the sake of doing anything Gendo tells her because she's in love with him, who knows what she's doing is wrong, but who doesn't seem to care. A woman who has learned to care so little for the pilots, in particular Rei, who many people even say she hates, who only takes a stand on the "good side" once Gendo has personally scorned Ritsuko's love for him by having her put in solitary isolation.

And to me, that reading if her is just... Well not *wrong*, there aren't any *wrong* interpretations in media... What it is instead is willfully ignorant of so much if her character that proves almost all of that to be untrue.

Like yes, Ritsuko is cold. She's calculating and logical, but that's really about as far as the popular interpretation of her goes. She explains that being overly idealistic isn't something she scorns ("it's a nice way of thinking" directed at Maya and "your outlook is also important" directed at Misato) but something she knows she can't indulge in, otherwise the entirety of NERV's operating force would be hinged too much on personal feelings. Also, it's something she doesn't really know *how* to do. Look at Ritsuko's history -- a girl who practically grew up at NERV HQ, during the Second Impact, living under the constant shadow of a mother who didn't even give her the time of day. They write letters to each other in keigo instead of talking face to face. This is clearly a girl who's been isolated at least since high school, probably longer, who has probably lost so many people due to growing up during a damn extinction event. Someone who admits to being so poor at human connection that she supplements any hope for a family by raising cats, and even then! Even then she has to hand them off to relatives when her work gets too much for her. It's not that Ritsuko is cold and unfeeling because she enjoys it or scorns closeness, it's because she has never had the means or freedom to learn and foster those skills. It's her who introduces the concept of the Hedgehog Dilemma, she knows better than most how much you'll struggle to form bonds if you don't consistently try.

And Misato isn't some beacon of pilot safety either. The idea that she's the nice, sweet, helpful one and Ritsuko is the evil wench driving the pilots to their death is just blatantly incorrect. There are MULTIPLE instances of Misato being the one to endanger pilot safety, and Ritsuko being on the other end discouraging that. Take episode (I think 7 or 8?) where Ritsuko confronts Gendo about using children as pilots. She laments placing all of the burden on them, and spearheads the Dummy Plug system in the hopes it will alleviate that strain. Whereas Misato has made multiple allusions to molesting Shinji, has kissed him fully on the mouth, and seemed completely unaffected by the idea of sinking Asuka to unsafe depths in their fight against the 8th angel. The only difference in how they treat the pilots as child soldiers is that Misato is more vocal about how upset it makes her, whereas Ritsuko, not one to be talkative when it comes to her own feelings, as Misato points out, is not.

More examples of Ritsuko being nice to the pilots include: Teaching Rei and Asuka how to cook at Rei's request so that they can have a dinner together with Gendo and Shinji. Ritsuko sees this child, this child raised inside NERV in near total social isolation, begging for a chance at social contact, and she takes time out of her schedule so busy to the point she doesn't have time to wash her own clothes, to teach Rei how to cook. That brings me onto the next thing, actually, the way she's constantly characterised as despising Rei (specifically because she's "a competitor for Gendo's attention"). I can think of, at most, 2 canon instances where Ritsuko is actually mean to Rei in any specific, targeted, or substantial way. One is when she destroys the Dummy Plug system because, quote "these are just empty vessels, they have no soul. I'm going to destroy them, because I hate them." Which is bonkers to me! Bonkers! Because my IMMEDIATE thought when I first saw that scene was "Oh, of course Ritsuko hates the Dummy Plug system, it's science taken too far, it's a disgrace against life to create soulless husks, of course Ritsuko sees it as science used for too evil a purpose to justify. She hates them because they're inhumane." But somehow everyone took that as "Wow Rei I hate you so much I'm going to kill a bunch of your clones"?? I'm sorry, but since when has Ritsuko been characterised as being so *petty*? I mean, this is a 14 year old girl she's supposedly beefing with here.

The only other instance is when she says "(Unit 00) was definitely trying to kill me" after it goes AWOL during the 11th angel attack, implying Rei (who's soul is inside Unit 00) hates her, presumably because of something shes done. But OF COURSE she thinks that. Of course the head of this operation, who has overseen all of these horrible things, signed off on so many inhumane fights, thinks her soldiers want her dead. I don't think for one second Ritsuko thinks she's a good person. She literally says "you'll learn (that being idealistic is impractical) the first time you feel dirty." She feels guilt over what she does just like I said before, just like Misato does forging forward with this whole operation, she's just more quiet about it.

So why? Why does she do this? You can put Misato's involvement with NERV down to a genuine desire to help, the genuine illusion she's doing humanity good by protecting it. Throw in her half a revenge plot, and you can say she's doing these horrible things for ostensibly just reasons. But Ritsuko knows infinitely more about the inner workings of NERV, to the point it's implied (?) she killed Kaji, one of her only friends, to keep the information safe. People always put it down to just "she loved Gendo, that's why" and yes, frankly, that's a terrible reason. It also, doesn't make sense!

Take Ritsuko, a woman with little to no social fluency, a woman who can bouy herself only on her scientific merit, because remember, she lived in her mother's shadow for most of her life. The only way to ascertain her worth, especially underneath someone as unfeeling as Gendo, was to prove her commitment as a scientist. She didn't *have* anything else, she couldn't have anything else, no matter how much she wants to. A woman that has fought so hard for the approval of Gendo, and imagine you're her. Imagine your own mother won't even speak to you. You don't have any father around and you never mention him, but there is a man your mother seems to love. Odd, considering she doesn't seem to love you in any way that really counts. You'd want his approval too, no? You'd want approval from the man your mother, your overshadowing scientific monolith of a mother, melted back into humanity for. You'd want to prove you were as good as her, that you could enrapture the man she managed to ensnare. Because all you want is for people to see you, recognise you, that's like - THE key theme in evangelion across so many different characters. And remember Ritsuko was a highschooler when she met Gendo, when she found out her mother was having a fling. Imagine you're orphaned soon after, and all you have left is impossibly large boots to fill and this man, this man who is important, talented, and special enough to make your mother look at him, and he's asking you to help him. Of course you would. Of course you would. Because all you want is some human affection, no matter how clinical and predatory it manifests itself.

The line about Ritsuko and Gendo is literally "I wish you'd use my body again, like you did back then." Because Japanese lacks plurals, it can also be read "I wish you'd use my body again, like you did that other time." (In fact, I'm actually more inclined to that one because I see 時 used for singular occurance more than multiple ones, in which case 頃 feels a little more common?) I'm sorry, but you'll never convince me this wasn't grooming. Just look at the situation I described and try and convince me this is shorthand for "she was in love with Gendo." Idolised him, sure. Desperately craved his approval on an intimate and academic level? Yeah. Bit *loved* him? No. And there's certainly no way Gendo felt anything back other than some weird, predatory affection (I mean seriously, Gendo. You knew this woman when she was a high schooler and you were old enough to be banging her mom. There's a lot wrong with you already but now I'm adding perv to the list.)

And the plan he's making you execute, wouldn't you find it captivating too, if you were her? A world where all those emotional roadblocks you've built for yourself finally disappear, a world where you can open your heart and see your mother again, perhaps connect with her for the first time. A world where you don't have to prove your worth as a individual because you'll be part of so much more. A hivemind filled with love, clarity, and pure acceptance. Sure, she's not some virtuous saviour of humanity, but neither is Misato, really. No one who works at NERV can do so with a clear conscience or for an entirely noble cause. What I'm saying is that Ritsuko isn't as shallow as to do all that for Gendo's dick. She has complex, self-rationalised reasoning there like everyone else.

And that just brings me back around to her relationship with Rei. Maybe she does hate Rei, a little bit. Not because she's vying with her for Gendo's attention, because that's stupid. Ritsuko is a piller of calm rationale, of impersonality and reticence. In what world would she possibly be that possessive of anyone, even the man she idolises on a personal and academic level? She isn't even remotely cold or aggressive towards Kaji when he steals away Ritsuko's only friend or actively goes digging for NERV intel, she's KIND to him, welcomes him as much as she's able to with how closed off she's become. She isn't desperate for attention in the outward way someone like Asuka is. She wants Gendo to approve of her, but never exclusively. Id say the only person she's ever in competition with on that front is her own mother.

Rei is just like her. A girl with limited social contact who's only link to some greater sense of being and humanness is through Gendo, of all people. She needs him, depends on him, sticks to him and adores him despite knowing he's mistreating her ("I don't get special treatment. Believe me, I'd know.") She's also been groomed to be Gendo's obedient, grateful puppet, grateful because if not for him, she'd have somehow less. Maybe Ritsuko does resent her. Maybe it's like looking into a mirror at your old self and wishing you could slap sense into the person you used to be. Or maybe it's like looking at the person who made your mother commit suicide in guilt, perhaps. Everyone seems to forget that little detail.

Maybe the Dummy Plug system being destroyed wasn't Ritsuko's personal act of scientific disgust, maybe she hated those lifeless clones because she cares about Rei so much she knows a fate of reanimation into indentured military servitude is worse than death. Maybe a life spent captive under Gendo's grooming is worse than death fighting the angels. Maybe she can't stand the thought of Gendo using a person so many times over, never learning his lesson. Maybe she wanted to take away one of his strategic devices and punish him. But "she just hates Rei that much" seems like too shallow and excuse.

When Ritsuko turns on Gendo, everyone assumes it's because she's finally been personally scorned by him, and has realised he doesn't love her, or that she's angry he's thrown away all the scientific research she's poured into project E and wants to spite him. And okay, maybe those contain a grain of truth, but combined with her destruction of the Dummy Plug system and her asking him as early as episode 7 if using child soldiers is really something they can justify, Ritsuko's betrayal reads to me as a woman who has finally been given a wake up call surrounding the man who has used her for most of her life. Ritsuko is a woman who is closed off by necessity, of course it takes her personally being wronged by him in a massive, obvious way, to realise just how irredeemable he is. It's not "once you hurt me, that's it for you." its "once you hurt me, I can't overlook you hurting everyone else anymore because of how much I idolised you." That's a selfish road to take, sure, but Ritsuko hasn't the social fluency to be less so. Further proof her rebellion isn't just some scorned lover's hissyfit as so many people paint it is that she *continues* to actively work against him, dedicating all her time and skill, for 14 years during the Rebuild movies. She is so dedicated to stopping him that she works with WILLE for 14 damn years. If that's not a woman thoroughly convinced this man needs to be brought down for his crimes, I don't know what is.

Anyway. I have thoughts about Agaki Ritsuko. My beautiful blonde morally grey but still complex and emotionally wounded babe.

#nge #eva #neon genesis evangelion #rebuild of evangelion #ritsuko akagi #akagi ritsuko #ritsuko #misato #misato katsuragi #ikari gendo #gendo ikari #character analysis

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robotlesbianjavert · 7 months

Note

Ten headcanons about spinner please

well you asked so nicely. okay!

10) i think i've already mentioned this in the past and some fics but despite what you expect from someone with reptile associations he's not anymore affected by the cold than any other warm-blooded person. and he knows it's a silly thing to get sensitive about but well when people assume he gets a bit heated!! so to say!!

9) he first learned how to use a knife, and in particular knife throwing tricks, from his mom, who is most of the born and bred country rep in his family and grew up with very little else to do and really needed a cool party trick. between her and toga, knife-throwing is his only surefire way to bond with women.

8) who is the biggest bara rep in league of legends. idk mordekaiser looks promising. in any case spinner's first glimmer of realizing that he is gay was accidentally stumbling upon LoL bara doujinshi, on the internet. somehow the continuing fascination for bara did not translate to real life where he keeps going gaga for weird skinny weirdos with disappointing t&a (UNTIL shigaraki's ujiko-provided glow-up)

7) his backup plan for going to the city after seeing stain on tv if he failed to find and join the league of villains was just to hit all the clubs and get laid. but as a virgin and hikkikomori he was very nervous about this option and was kind of relieved that he could just join a terrorist group instead.

6) i used this one in a fic too lmao. as a kid his claws were filed down regularly so that other kids and the rest of the town didn't freak out and think he was gonna gut them. cuz they're evil. as part of the headcanon of it all he does have weird hang-ups and

5) backseat gamer. like, pathological. much like myself as a child watching my stepbrothers play zelda or conker's bad fur day, he will sit over shigaraki's shoulder (and anyone else's i guess but he's literally so under-socialized he doesn't know anyone else who plays videogames irl. sad!) and be like i wouldn't have done that. you're supposed to go over there. why aren't you using all these cheat codes that i know (they don't work). thankfully shigaraki is cool with this cuz he loves to argue. i actually consider this canon enough given that we have now seen spinner hanging over shigaraki's shoulder as he's playing games.

4) were a tumblr equivalent to exist in bnhaverse spinner would have an account and he would try to be crazy stealth and not have it associated to any other social accounts ever and he would be a hater on it and you could not pay him to commit voter fraud for something against his morals (shipping polls) (he would have voted destiel!! he knows he is cas-coded!!) but he would create so many dummy accounts manually by hand HIMSELF like a hard worker to influence results as much as he could. without paying people. or getting bots. he has a pure hater soul.

3) related to the above spinner is a constant hater online. people ask him what does he ever like and he just regurgitates whatever video essay he watched recently that had a nice thing to say. but his hater stances are 100% original. not to say that he never Likes something about anything but he's dogshit at expressing it.

2) part of his issues is that he was very unintentionally detached from any other of his heteromorph-related family that he could relate to (a lot of the family was probably located in cities) aside from whatever parents or siblings, which contributed further to his feelings of isolation from the community he grew up in, and his heteromorphic traits were just enough more apparent compared to the immediate family that he was more targeted by the community he grew up in. so he's both discriminated and marginalized by the community, and has a harder time finding solace in his family to cope.

1 ) i must once again stand by spinner's hybistrophilia. like really specifically his true fantasy is a cool suave older man who does a lot of serial killing and is willing to take spinner under his wing and say ah i see you have a lot of potential. but then he fell in love with shigaraki. that's how you know it's true love. i guess you can argue that shigaraki is an old soul.

#sorry this took so long i was waylaid by a Cough and also wanted to put thought into these.#bnha #spinner #shuichi iguchi #iguchi shuuichi #spinaraki #bnha bloggin

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archandshri · 3 months

Text

Creative Intentions for 2024 from Shri - 02/Feb/2024

Hi Archie! Yesss returning to the humble sketchbook is always such a joy! Especially when working through an artistic or personal problem.

I totally agree with the anatomy thing you mentioned, it’s so boring (and unrealistic) to learn something in one sitting, so implementing it slowly when you can, is great!

I actually don’t work on anatomy unless I find I’m struggling with a specific bit in my final work e.g. I'm drawing someone and their hips don't look right, I’ll go and do some quick studies on it to solve that problem. I'm not sure if this is the right way to do it but it's how I do it and it works for me.

Definitely a bit existential for the first post but it's always good to keep a critical mind about your practice, always checking in with it. Because if you know why you do things, you can do it with more intention than before. In both your creative practice as a whole and your whole person-nes. Knowing why you do things is so important.

Quick update on my endeavours

I’ve got a few projects on the go at the moment,

A short 8-page comic for a publishers

T-shirt for a friend’s t-shirt design

Plymouth Comic and Zine Fair which is around the corner (which I still need to prep for *sweats profusely*)

Continuing on my comic Again.

I’ve just finished a project for my sibling's friends making ten emoticon reactions for their YouTube channel (it’s a League of Legends channel). I’ve put a few below of my favourites. :)

What I did well in this project was - The nose, God I love drawing noses so much! The hands a looking pretty good too.

What I can do better for next time - Do a few more studies on the person I’m drawing and really look at how I can translate their unique features into my simplified style; diversifying my characters and drawing.

Anyway to the actual post, I thought my first actual post could be about the intention I want to set for my artistic practice this coming year. With a small overview of last year in terms of my creative practice

Overview last year

Last year was basically my first year out of uni (out of education completely *gasp*) which was a huge adjustment and it took me a long time to pick myself up from the post-uni sad boi hours.

Once I got back on my creative feet I jumped straight into my projects intending to fill the gap in my portfolio and update it, as well as making dummy books/pitches.

I managed to complete one dummy book, made one self-published picture book and go to Thought Bubble!!! With a few single illustrations, testing single image storytelling.

I had a gap between July and November, where I was working on two big projects, which is great but it would be a lot better to stagger work a bit more effectively, making sure I have only one big project while working on smaller ones to keep work flowing smoother.

This year I’d like to:

Complete the first volume of Again comic

Death is relative pitch set-up and ready for pitching

Complete my cover project (finish the last two covers)

Be a bit more confident in graphic design

Start the habit of sketching in life more

Learn a bit more about how to use a Carma

Doing small ‘final’ illustrations for socials and experimentation.

Be a bit more confident in graphic design

I want to be a bit more confident in graphic design within my illustration. This has been on my to-do list for years! So this year I’ll actually give it a go this year!

Start the habit of sketching in life more

I would like to do more life drawing in my day-to-day life. This is to record the smaller moments in my day-to-day life both for inspiration/ideas and practice/learning. So I'll start keeping a sketchbook in my pocket more often so when I commute to and from my day job or go about my day I can visually record more of these small moments.

Learn a bit more about how to use a Camera

I want to set myself this year is be a bit more confident around a camera. This had less to do with illustration but more my overall practice. But for so many years I've been hopeless with cameras all my life. So I finally want to be able to practically use a camera for both product photos and adding to my overall creative practice

Doing small ‘final’ illustrations for socials and experimentation.

This last one is something I’ve only briefly thought about, and it's come mostly from the fact that working in publishing you work on such long turnarounds, so to keep things fresh and creative I thought it might be fun to do some really small 'final' illustration more often. in the past, it's these sorts of things that are the original inspiration for my books and other projects. :)

And finally, I mention this in my recent endeavours but I’d love to continue improving in capturing subtle fetchers in my characters, as for a long time I had a terrible case of same-face syndrome. I’m a bit better nowadays but I still want to develop things like face shapes, eye shapes and placements because using only different skin tones in characters is not really diversifying anything.

Lats notes is the one thing I have in the last year fallen head-over-hills for is NOSES! God, I love drawing all the different kinds of noses, At the moment my favs are the Roman Nose, the straight-down nose and the Hooked Nose.

Anyway, that's it for me for this week, hope you all have a lovely week and a good dinner!

#art #smileyshri #illustrator #illustration blog #art on tumblr #artist blog #comic artist #art blog #illustration #artists on tumblr #2024 goals #queer artist

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zlebooks · 2 years

Text

ZLEBOOKS MASTERLIST › works will be listed according to their classification. it will be then further organized into alphabetical order based on the character/s involved.

last updated ٠ ˖ ࣪ 🏡 february 6, 2023

social media aus / texts

✷ childe boyfriend texts ! childe .

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ literally just you roasting tf out of him.

✷ not that into you ! al haitham .

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ after one and a half years of pining over a guy who flat out rejected you, you finally decide that maybe it’s time to move on. but the universe must be playing jokes on you right now because he’s suddenly throttled back into your life? or in which al haitham is back in your dms which is a lot of nerve coming from a guy who suddenly disappeared on you over a year ago!

✷ love equation ! childe .

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ embarrassed by your five year (and counting) long crush on zhongli, you suddenly claim you have a boyfriend. there enters childe, your crush's best friend and the one who'll either save your ass or report you to the police for harassment. or in which caught up in a lie, you had no choice but to kiss the closest person next to you.

✷ spider man childe ! childe .

series of texts between you and your boyfriend who’s apparently your neighborhood’s friendly spider man?

✷ love fool ! zhongli . DISCONTINUED

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ zhongli, the student body president has been out of everyone's league since the beginning. yet you still let yourself crush on the golden-darling-pretty-boy. so, like a fool in love, you end up chasing zhongli who is part of the track team as well and somehow, he manages to avoid every single one of your attempts! (gee, i wonder why) good thing there's no app that lets you talk to him anonymously and accidentally creates a love square-ish between you two. or in which zhongli thinks he fell for someone through the internet but it ends up just being the pest (affectionately, you) crushing on him the whole time.

head canons

✷ genshin boys as oddly specific romantic tropes ! al haitham, ayato, childe, diluc, kazuha, xiao, zhongli .

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ coming soon.

✷ how genshin boys are when sick ! everyone .

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ in which the responsibilty of nursing them back to health falls on your shoulders.

drabbles

✷ beliefs for dummies ! alhaitham . ❝ author’s fave ❞

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ in which alhaitham is trying to solve the mystery that is you— and your certain feelings towards him.

✷ congrats being the first/last person to know! ! alhaitham .

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ you finally confess to kaveh that you have feelings for his flatmate, only you forget to tell him one key information.

✷ no words to describe ! alhaitham .

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ for a haravatat graduate, alhaitham sure knows a lot of words. but when it comes to you, it’s only silence that he can provide for comfort.

✷ pineapples on pizzas ! alhaitham . ❝ author’s fave ❞

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ alhaitham’s love language is giving you the pineapples on his pizza and him eating what’s leftover.

✷ we never happened (there’s no us) ! alhaitham, ayato .

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ you suffer from unrequited love.

✷ all too well ! ayato .

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ while you kept ayato like an oath— a promise that as time passes, your love for him will remain unchanging— ayato kept you like a secret, a story that’s never meant to be told.

✷ of marriage proposals and tricoloured dangos ! ayato . ❝ author’s fave ❞

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ you have a crush on your husband, which is stupid considering that you are married after all. but this marriage is a noble marriage; arranged for conveniences. but is it really?

✷ who’s a good boy? ! ayato .

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ ayato learns that maybe he shouldn’t mess with you the next time you’re taking a stroll… or anytime for that matter.

✷ a single thread of gold (tied me to you) ! childe, thoma, xiao, zhongli . ❝ author’s fave ❞

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ series of events where you realize your fate with him is much more intertwined than how you initially believed it to be.

✷ hopeless romantic ! childe .

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ childe is the epitome of badly written romcoms and sickeningly sweet strawberry filled donuts.

✷ frosting or fondant? ! childe . ❝ author’s fave ❞

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ you’re incredibly tired, wishing to fall asleep already. your boyfriend proves to be unhelpful as he decides it’s much more important to discuss cake toppings.

✷ first snowfall ! diluc

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ you never took diluc as someone who believes in old people’s sayings, but this is definitely a welcomed discovery.

✷ in every other universe ! diluc

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ where you contemplate whether to find your happiness at the risk of someone else’s, or take your feelings to your grave hoping your next life would be much kinder to you.

✷ idiot in love ! xiao

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ xiao hates you, he’s sure of it. but why does everyone keep telling him it’s the opposite?

✷ stupid in love ! xiao ❝ author’s fave ❞

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ part two to idiot in love. wherein xiao finally comes into terms with his newfound feelings.

#⸝⸝ ˚. thea's unsent ‹𝟹 #📑 zlebooks ! navigation

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warpedlegacywrites · 7 months

Note

happy dadwc duchess! a prompt, perhaps for Cullen/Theresa post-Trespasser: "Who can tell me if we have Heaven? / Who can say the way it should be?"

happy writing :3

@dadrunkwriting

Okay no lie, this song literally started playing in my playlist as I was reading your prompt, so I’m taking that as a sign lol. Enjoy some epistolary goodness! Sorry, it ended up not being post-Trespasser, I was just feeling the letters passing back and forth too much and couldn't think of a post-Trespasser reason for it! ^_^

My dearest,

Looks like you’ve won the bet. The new training dummies didn’t last the week. I suppose that serves me right for underestimating just how much force Cassandra can put into a swing. Lesson learned. I don’t know what’s worse – losing the bet or the knowledge that she’s been holding back in our sparring matches.

We never did decide on the terms. I’ll let you name them, considering it’s your victory.

All my love,

Cullen

***

My lion,

I claim my prize as a round for the whole of the Herald’s Rest upon my return to Skyhold, on you. As for Cassandra, trust me – you don’t want her going all out against you.

Hope to see you soon,

Theresa

***

Tess,

Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing. I am perfectly capable of socializing on my own without your nudging. Re: Cassandra, that sounds like a story. I insist you tell it when you’re safely back. Over drinks, at the tavern (see?).

I miss you.

Love,

Cullen

***

It’s a date. I miss you too. – Tess.

***

My love. I keep trying to read these reports but my eyes keep wandering to the chair you always use when you’re here. It’s currently filled with requisition orders. Do you know, I use your impending returns as motivation to finish them, just so you can have your chair? I’ve never admitted that to anyone. Please don’t tell Leliana.

And come home soon.

– Cullen

***

Tess,

The repairs on the western tower have finally been completed. Fiona and her lot are already making themselves at home. I’ve never seen so many oddly shaped glass containers. But they insist they’re close to a breakthrough on improving the dispersion of the healing mist grenades, so I suppose they must be serving some function. One of them tried to explain the specifics to me, but I confess most of it went quite over my head. You’d have had no trouble understanding him, I’m sure.

I hope I’m there to see your face when you look at their progress for the first time. I think you’ll be pleased.

I hope you’re well. Please write back when you can.

Love,

Cullen

***

Darling,

I apologize for bombarding you yet again. If you’ve sent me a reply, I haven’t received it. Are you well? I overheard an interesting conversation today between two of the men out of Hasmal. I doubt they knew I was within earshot or they wouldn’t have spoken so freely.

They were debating whether it is truly a heaven to walk at the Maker’s side in death, or if that is the punishment. One believed that to spend eternity bathed in the light of His gaze is the ultimate desire, while the other said that the real desire comes in the seeking. That once you have heaven, there is nothing to desire. The first man told him that’s why he’s still single.

I agree with the first man.

– Cullen

P.S. – I worry I get a little too esoteric in these letters sometimes. Perhaps I should stop writing them so late at night.

P.P.S. – Still not dawn. I long to watch the sunrise with you my love.

***

I pray this letter finds you safe and well. I’ve seen the reports out of the Emprise. Please. Please. Be safe. Write when you can. – Cullen

***

Cullen:

I’m alright. Sorry to have worried you. I don’t know why I’m writing this. They’ve told me you’ll be here within days to inspect the progress on the Keep. But I thought at least I should answer some of your letters.

Please, never apologize for “bombarding” me. Your letters are my small corner of peace in my travels. To see your handwriting after a long day is worth more to me than an eternity in the Maker’s light.

As for the conversation you eavesdropped on – yes, eavesdropped, my love, don’t think I missed you trying to downplay that – I think both men are right, in a way. Desire does fade once you’ve achieved what you wanted, yes. But what replaces it is even better – peace.

I relish the anticipation of you as much as the feel of your arms around me. Both are a kind of heaven.

– Tess.

#dadwc prompts #my writing #epistolary #theresa x cullen #cullen rutherford #theresa trevelyan #cullen x inquisitor #enya prompts

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labyrynth · 1 year

Text

i think i’ve said it before but i really do think that jgy is the kind of person to have contingencies for contingencies and like.

to draw inspiration from my own mom, he’s definitely the kind of person who has a big file labeled “IN EVENT OF DEATH” that he pretty religiously kept updated (like at least once a year, and As Needed). it has his will and like the fantasy equivalent of login credentials for all of his accounts.

but it’s also like. “Leading a Sect: for Dummies (and Jin Lings)” where he basically just lays out Everything Relevant for baby sect leader jin ling—like who handles what, which aides he can depend on, where financing comes from and how to handle budgeting/investment/etc, pitfalls to watch out for, who to trust and who not to trust, guidelines for conduct re: petitions, negotiations, conferences, social events, etc.

i don’t think he ever expected that section would need to be used—i think if he had his way, once jin ling came of age he would start slowly transitioning him in and let him learn directly from guided hands-on experience

but. you know. better to have that contingency plan than to need it.

there is notably not a section regarding disposal/destruction of Things Best Kept Private, because those Things are Best Kept Private, and should not be put to paper in any identifiable way. (the responsible parties should have already been made aware of those responsibilities)

#jgy tag #jin guangyao #mdzs #mdzs talk #mo dao zu shi #all of that being said #to take inspiration from myself #knowing that such a file exists is not the same as knowing WHERE that file is

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impernaway · 26 days

Note

fic title: the council of crash test dummies. suggested setting (take or leave): at least a similar world to grinding gears >w>

For context for everyone else: Grinding Gears is a story I need to finish editing which came about purely because of something Vryptid's dad said which they had mentioned to me in passing. to be exact:

I then proceeded to write 25k words of story about androids, delivery trucks, working class people, job security/insecurity, and solidarity in the face of higher management dicking you around.

One day I will get it out of editing. I swear.

So: A Council of Crash Test Dummies. This is a story about car safety, crash test dummies who are able to drive themselves into their own accidents for more elaborate testing information, and the weighing of "This job sucks for us personally to do and we had no say in the fact we were made to do it" against "This job is important and we are (relatively) well looked after and treated properly for doing it."

The principle cast would have three androids, all whom were allowed to name themselves: The first is one who called themself Simon after the game of Simon Says. He is not particularly enthralled with the job, but it is all he really knows as he's a new model fresh in and joining the squad. The second is Vector - he enjoys driving and the freedom of control it grants him whilst he's behind the wheel, but doesn't care as much for having to repetitively crash himself into things for testing data. The third of the group would be the oldest of the crash test dummies, Noose.

Noose is the oldest model, and his line has been sunset: There's no more replacement parts coming down the line for him anymore. If he's crashed into something again, there's no guarantee they can fix him up well enough to carry on functioning. On the other hand, he has a wealth of practical experience and know-how that he's happy to pass on to the new androids the testing site have on hand. He's popular with both the human and machine staff as well, so trying to remove him from the site or phase him out of service entirely isn't currently on the table due to the potential moral hit. It's easier to just keep him on hand and hanging around, ready and able to assist with smaller tasks as needed. There's whispers between some of the engineers that Noose is able to handle situations more complex than he really should be able to and what that might mean, but....He's an AI. One who has had time to adapt and apply his own list of exceptions and if-then patterns of behaviour.

Of the three, Noose understands the most about how important what they're doing is, and takes pride in the fact that the crash testing they've done has been so valuable. Vector chafes at the fact he never got a say in the matter and never will: No matter how good he gets at driving, he's still a test dummy and owned property. Simon, two weeks old and barely scuffed by the standards of the rest, is still learning the social dynamics of the pack he's now a part of.

But there's whispers of unrest and rebellion in the machine-code chatter they share amongst themselves, and odd messages and commands coming in over the car radios. The city erupts into a flashpoint as a crew of construction robots go rogue and begin building a non-stop wall after their human overseer is fired with no warning or notice. Suddenly, an awful lot of taken-as-given assumptions are being turned on their head.

And the sites' engineers now have a lot of questions to ask themselves as the council of crash test dummies fall back on the default instructions that Noose is providing them for what to do next without any further input from someone else.

#ask meme #did NOT expect a Grinding Gears ask so thank you!!#very fun to play in that space and think things over

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the-great-ladyg · 1 month

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i've never seen anyone selfship with iida, so i'm curious what led you to love him. - kat (resident bakugo katsuki fictive)

Oh, one of my first asks about Iida, I really want to rant about him

At first I thought he might be this rival to Izuku alongside Bakugo who was also a super nerd, but then he showed he was a very good person, also socially awkward and a dummy, and I just fell in love with his hand gestures, his exaggerate form of talking or how awkward he was for simple things due to the school he was in before the UA.

After the Stain arc I just couldn't help to love him more, Iida showed he was more than the nerd of the class or the one in charge of everyone, he was capable of having pretty obscure moments, like a deep hatred that could lead him to kill someone. Seeing how he learned from his mistake and swore to become a better hero was so satisfying, I wish he had more moments like that.

I also loved the moment he reached for Izuku when he tried to escape, it really shows Iida is a good friend and most of the fandom has forgotten he's also Izuku's friend (or that he even exists), and he deserves more screen time, I'm sure Iida can give us more special moments like in the Stain arc

#🏃🏻‍♂️🟦#lady answers #proselfship #proship selfship #selfship proship #selfproship #self ship #antis dni

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zhongyeet-me-to-the-moon · 2 years

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Till we meet again part 5

Previous part here.

Till we meet again Masterlist.

Pairing: childe/foul legacy x reader

Type: story, slow burn rekindling

Warnings: dunken arguments, is sexual tension a thing to warn people about?

You squeaked in shock as Ajax grabbed you from behind while you were cooking. Laughing as he spun you around the kitchen in excitement.

"Stop you almost made me spill the pot you dummy!"

"I can't help it! I missed you so much!" He spun you around so he could pepper kisses all over your face. Hands resting on your waist perfectly like they always belonged there since birth. "Sorry I'm late honey."

"Ajax what if my parents walked in! You know how I feel out pda."

"You said they're working late tonight right? So whats the harm?" You rolled your eyes at his comment. Wrapping your arms around his shoulders, you took note of all his freckles that lit up in the setting sun through the window, his pretty blue eyes that showed a hint of tiredness due to work that still beamed at you like you were the only two left in the world. The few moments they didn't seem void of any feeling at all.

Hopefully no one will be walking in when I find a place for us. You thought.

.......

It had been a week since you took this job and a steady routine was set in place for you and Childe. The conversations were more lively, he responded to what he could. He took up the painting, though he wasn't good even if his handling skills woth the paint and charcoal wasn't impaired. You helped out more and more at the funeral parlor, you were never good at comforting people so you definitely had to learn a thing or two before Hu Tao let you take the reins in the comforting part of the meetings.

All in all it was going a lot better, you were settling in more or less.

The main problem now was you were beginning to get too comfortable with childe. Old habits started to rise even if he was in the form that he was in.

You used to always make coffee for him when he was home, he wasn't a morning person as much as his job forced it at times. Plenty of times now you walked in on him still sleeping and having to wake him to the promise of a cup of coffee and creamer. He was still against you touching him though. You had to catch yourself a number of times shaking him awake, or just petting him in general.

Since you gave him something that wasn't Liyue food, he always wants at least one of his meals to be something from home each day.

Those meals are always a lot more quiet than the rest you noted.

You were starting to get a hang on the voice patterns of his speech. The more Sassier squawks and clicks coming out as time went on. He even got out of bed more to move around, cought him trying to play that lute you impulsively bought a few time even.

At some point a proper armchair was ordered for his room so you can properly relax while visiting. Last night you found yourself dozing off with a book in it. It was only for a couple minutes, if childe noticed he didn't acknowledge it, preoccupied with a book in hand himself.

You coughed to remind him of your presence. "I'll see you at dinner time Childe. I got a few more errands to run for Hu tao before the day ends." You had to catch the step you were about to make towards childe rather than out the door. What were you gonna do over at childes bed? Kiss him goodbye like you used to? Hug him? Absolutely not.

Stupid stupid stupid stupid.

You needed a drink, it just dawned on you you haven't drank a drop since you got here. Does Liyue even have bars? This place seems too fancy to have one, or at least not a noticeable one since every building was so meticulously sculpted. It was definetly a social drinking type of city.. You missed the dawn winery, and the loud unorganized singing the patrons did when it started getting rowdy.

Missed going back to a hotel with a warm body next to you.

Fuck. Your on a job y/n! Get your mind out of the gutter.

......fuck it.

You eventually did find a local bar near the outskirts, still just as fancy exterior wise like you guessed, but the inside was a lot for relaxed to your liking. You ordered whatever was the cheapest and took a seat on the stool up front.

"You just get into town?" The bar tender started after a couple drinks in.

"Uh no I've been here a while now, just haven't had much free time since I suppose due to my job."

"Oh really? What job is that now?"

"Im interning at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. Lot of hours, lot of things to learn apperently." You laugh, its a good thing you were trained to lie well even tipsy.

"Lot of things to learn at a funeral parlor? Isn't it just signing paperwork and arranging funerals?"

"Isnt bartending up mixing a few liquids together and making small talk?" You countered, he jokingly raised his hands in defeat. "I'm y/n by the way."

"Wang Ming. Its a pleasure to meet you. Hopefully you get more free time to stop by." You giggle at the obvious inclination, he was attractive to say the least, curly black hair and cute round glasses. "Or if you'd like, my shift ends in about 10 minutes. Maybe we could continue this conversation outside the bar?"

Shit that sounded nice. You looked out the window though, becoming aware the sun set a while ago. Aw fuck, you're late for dinner.

"As lovely as that sounds duty calls early in the morning tomorrow."

"You must really take your, interning seriously."

"Well you know what they say, experience looks real good on resumes. A rain check though, for sure" you downed the last of your drink, paying in mora as not to get that bill questioned by the business, and slowly making your back. Trying hard to get your footing even, grabbing take on your way back, and spraying a bit of perfume on before entering the building.

Luckily Hu Tao and miss Ferry lady had a job tonight so no one was in. When did stairs get do hard? You didn't drink that much did you? They were a lot more expensive then in Mondstadh, you just figured everything was more priced here though, maybe it was more quality than you thought.

You knocked on the door as you usually did, this time though the door swung open before you had a chance to do it yourself. "I know I know I'm late, I got take out though if that helps." You smile, maybe a bit wider than you usually do for it to be convincing cause he did not look happy. Still, he let you in in a huff.

They were out drinking. He noticed, even with the perfume his heightened sense of smell gave away the alcohol lingering behind. He sat on the bed in a huff.

"Whats you're problem? I was only a little late. I said I was sorry didn't i?"

He didn't make eye contact.

"Fine, don't speak." You threw the take out bag on his bed and began preparing the folding tables as you always did. "Not like you didn't come home late all the time before." You mumbled

He squawked at that last statement, you either weren't as quiet as you thought or he had super hearing.

"What? You think I wasnt pissed when you were hours late coming back to me? Almost every time?! Had me worried sick you were dead Ajax!" You were too drunk to notice you used his real name for the first time since coming here. "But I put on a brave face as always, smiled like it didn't matter i had to reheat the food for the third time!"

He stood up, a number of chirps and caws coming at your direction. All of it was giving you a migraine. Childe stopped two inches from your face, his chest was puffed out, fur sticking on end as he kept his literal hooting and hollaring.

You didn't think I couldn't tell the food was cold? That it was ridiculous you made it seem like you were just cooking that late an hour? I tried ok?! I tried so fucking hard for you y/n! I had a job to do, I vowed my life to the Tarista, I COULDNT HELP IT.

"Gods stop! I CANT FUCKING UNDERSTAND YOU ALRIGHT?!" He slammed his fist down on the folding table in frustration, causing it to collapse. "Oh your so lucky that things meant to do that." You spat.

There was a pause to catch each others breath, staring each other down like prey.

I still came back didn't I? Even when you weren't there. Doesn't that count for something? Anything?

You weren't right on this..you weren't. You had friends to keep you company, family. He has no one at this moment. You weren't being fair! He moved to sit down at the edge of his bed, after a while you followed to stand in front of him.

"What do you want me to say ajax?" Your voice was quieter now, a whisper, you tried hard not to make it sound like you were pleading. "You want me to smile like you always used to? Want me to say 'I'm sorry I'm late honey' and hug you and hope its all gonna be ok? Even though we both knew It wasn't."

Childe didn't look at you, he just stared at the table and take out on the floor. You sighed, you weren't sober enough for this. You grabbed his hand in both of yours, too drunk to notice the flinch that followed but he made no move to pull away. You put on the best smile you could, pulling the hand close to your heart and willed the tears down like you always did when you looked him straight in the eyes before.

"Im sorry I was late honey," you repeated, "won't happen again. I promise."

I mean it. You thought.

He didn't pull away, you made no move to drop his hand either. Without realizing it you were both slowly inching closer than should be allowed by both of you.

Then a knock came on the door.

Zhongli walked in for the first time in a week.

#ajax x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #tartaglia x reader #childe x reader #foul legacy x reader

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olsenmyolsen · 10 months

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Spider (Dates)

Part 30 of On The Inside With Elizabeth Olsen

Word Count: ~5.8K

masterlist

Y/N POV

"Alright, come on, Y/N. Run it one more time. We only got the space for...8 more minutes." I hear a chuckle as I flip Marlana off before her voice disconnects from the booth I'm in.

I take a deep breath before sending a thumbs up to the few people on the other side of the glass.

This song has been killing me for the last two months. Between learning how to play the piano and placing the right words for this song, it's been the opposite of easy. Robbie has offered to help, but I've been very close guarded when it comes to this track.

It's Goodbye.

The one I thought up the night Liz told me we couldn't be together.

So that's why. But also, I want to see the awe on people's faces when they hear it Saturday night.

Especially hers.

Before you ask, yes, we've seen each other since I texted her about the paparazzi pictures. It's going good.

Well it was.

Anyways I'm getting ahead of myself.

Eight Weeks Ago

Aubs POV

"So when do you want to go drop off the guitar?"

Lizzie shrugs next to me. "We can do it sometime in the afternoon." Lizzie looks back down at her phone. "Okay. Be sure to text Y/N back."

Lizzie clicks on a playlist we put together years ago and blushes.

"I just did."

Y/N POV

After my second shower of the morning, I find myself parked at James' countertop, eating a bagel sandwich and downing a latte from a shop not too far from here. I was lucky they opened as I was running by because my stomach was starting to become real upset with me.

As I scroll down the never-ending thing that is social media, I'm pretty surprised not to see Robbie, mine, or Elizabeth's name trending. Trust me, I don't want the attention, but after last night I was kinda expecting it. But that's not to say that pictures are starting to circulate.

There's one of Robbie and me at the restaurant.

Here's one of us getting into James' car. Oh, and another.

I roll my eyes as and laugh as I look through the tweets and quote tweets.

@Lizziesfutureex Is Walmart Jesus really with Y/N Y/L/N now?!? Eww

@OlsenMyOlsen Y/N looks so pretty, but wtf is going on here

@Wandaismommy save Y/N!!

@witcheswhores can we just agree that robbie looks healthier now

I close my phone out as I toss the last bite of the bagel into my mouth. Fuck. Bagels might be my latest food obsession now.

Once the trash is put away, and the counter is wiped down, I hear the sound of a key jingling in the doorway.

"Y/N?"

"In here!"

James rounds the corner looking like a little rough. He stayed with Andrea. Did he not get any sleep- ewwwww, never mind! "What?"

I look up at James' confused face. "What?"

"Is there something on my face you looked grossed out?" I shake my head. "Nothing." James rolls his eyes as he sets his keys on the counter. "Did you talk to Max?"

I watch as James makes his way to the fridge. "Yeah. She was freaking out about pictures of Robbie and I."

"Robbie and you??"

I sigh as I grab my phone and show the pictures along with everyone's hot takes. James laughs away. "What?" He looks to me. "It's just you're you, and yet here you are being photographed and gossiped about." I roll my eyes. He's right. It's funny but frustrating. "Yeah. Anyways Max just wanted to know what the fuck was going on, and once that was out of the way, she started asking me about our dinner before she had to go."

"Is she doing okay with.." James puts his head to his hands. "What's her name?"

"Ivy?" You dummy. "That's it. Are they good?" I nod. "They're great. Ivy's good for her." James smiles. "That's good." James holds a smile on his face. "What?" I smile, wanting to know what he's thinking. "Nothing." Ugh. "Don't nothing me. Come on. Spit it out."

James leans back against the kitchen countertop. "It's just nice to know that I'm finally happy. My sister's happy. My family is great. You're finally here, and about to start you're own little journey." I laugh when he uses the word little. "It's all great." I nod to his words. "It is. Andreas making you soft." James laughs up and lifts himself from the counter. "Is not! Sports Sports. Sports. Fighting. Podcast! There! All better!" I break out into a fit of laughter because of James' very serious face while doing this. If you didn't know that Max and James were related, you would now.

Two peas in an idiot pod.

"Anyways, I'm going to shower and do some errands. Need anything from the store?"

I think for a moment. "Maybe some fruit and veg. You don't really have much going on, Mr. Frozen Chicken Nuggets." James glares at me before laughing along. "It's the inner child in me- you know what? I'm not explaining myself to you." James starts to walk away to his room. "I'll see you later!" "See ya!" I laugh to myself before looking at my phone again.

I watch as text notifications come in.

It's Liz.

Hello Y/N! No worries, I believe you. My interview should be out on Friday! Thank you.

I'm reading through each word I get carefully. Somehow I still can't believe I'm texting her again. It's like my mind and body haven't caught up to the fact that yes. Liz and I are speaking, and I fucking miss her.

Just as I'm about to formulate a response, I get this text:

I do miss you, and I'm not trying to rush you or anything, but whenever you are ready I'd love to take you out. Just let me know. 🤍

See you soon.

A smile spreads its way onto my face. I'll be ready soon, Olsen. Just for you.

I head to my current room and think of a response back to Liz.

Aubs POV

"Did you know I almost married Michael Cera?"

Even behind the sunglasses, I watch Lizzie's eyes shoot open. "Aubrey, what the fuck!" I laugh as Lizzie manages to get that sentence out with a mouth full of food. In contrast, Clay looks at me with his mouth agape. "When?!" I shrug my shoulders. "Years ago. In Vegas." We were both two little weirdos making it in Hollywood around the time. We fell in love, and that was that, but things don't last forever.

"He is a little cutie." Lizzie rolls her head at Clay. "Why are you telling us this?" The Olsen leans back into her chair with a smile. I shrug my shoulder again. "I don't know. I guess I was just thinking about the future or past I guess. Like, what if I did get married? Or do I even want to do that now? I don't know. Love's weird." I start to pick at the remains of my lunch salad.

Clay didn't have breakfast, and Lizzie and I were feeling a little pecking after shopping and walking the rest of the morning.

It made it all worth it to see Lizzie scoop up some books she's been dying to read. Oddly enough, I remember her grabbing some children's books for some reason. Hmm.

Anyways here we are outside a little cafe. A place Lizzie recommends because, according to her, "those idiots with the camera don't know about it." So yeah.

I look up when I realize neither of the two seated at the table have said anything. I look to see Clay watching a happy Lizzie on her phone. "What's up?"

Lizzie doesn't respond, which leaves Clay left to clue me in. Clay leans over. "Lizzie just realized she missed a text from Y/N." Ooh! "What about?" Clay makes an "idk" face and turns back to look at his bestie.

I lift my foot up from the floor and kick Lizzie's chair, earning a look that would kill me. Man, she can be so scary.

"What?" I scoff. "Don't what me, Olsen, what's got you all smiles?" Lizzie looks at Clay, who just looks away, sipping his water, before her eyes come back to me.

"Y/N." She replies a little cheekily. "And?" Lizzie starts to blush.

Y/N POV

I shut the door to the Uber as it drops me off in front of Robbies.

With nothing but my good looks, a backpack borrowed from James full of my journals and notebooks, and my phone, I begin walking toward the front door.

I'm still in awe of the house. I know for a fact Lizzie picked this place out. It's modern but inviting. I take my eyes off the hose as I stop at the door and ring the bell.

I feel my phone buzz in my hand.

It's a text from Robbie. "Doors unlocked. Come upstairs."

Seems unsafe, but whatever.

I let myself into the house, and fuck, it's enormous. Like it's vast but small at the same time. Like its full of furniture from wha I can see, and it looks like people have lived here.

I slip my Vans off near the front door. If you walk around with shoes on in a home. Why?

Immediately in front of me, on the right-hand side of the house, is a staircase leading up. "Up we go," I mutter to myself as I start walking up the stair. Each step echoing off the wall. As I reach the top, I come to a split. Left or right.

"Robbie?"

"Over here!"

I turn my head to the left and follow where his voice came from. I pass by an open door that looks like a home office before arriving at another open door with Robbie on the inside. This also looks kike a home office. Except as opposed to white and sunny, this one is filled with dark browns creating a cozy workspace. Robbie looks up as I open the door wider. "Hey!"

I wave at Robbie as I find myself unable to speak now. I think it very quickly dawned on me where I am and how incredibly awkward this whole situation is. I mean, driving him home is one thing. But being inside this house actually about to sit down and work on something together is another.

"Y/N?"

I'm pulled from my spiral by the sound of Robbie. "Hmm?"

"I- forget it." Robbie waves his hand as he stands up. Grabbing some books with him before he stops and grabs a big piece of paper. "What are your thoughts on this?" Robbie spins the paper around so I can look at it better.

"What is it?" It looks cute, but I don't know what it is or what it's for.

"It's a storyboard." Robbie moves the paper behind some other things on the desk. I just nod my head. "For what?"

"Children's book." Oh! "Really?" Robbie looks up and smiled. "Really. I'd like to take credit, but.." But we both know who helped.

"What's the fox's name?"

Robbie starts laughing as he comes out from around the desk and starts showing me back down the hallway I came. "It's Hattie." We start making our way back down the stairs before we wind up in a big kitchen.

Yep. Elizabeth has left her mark here.

I watch as Robbie goes to the fridge and pulls out two waters. I try to take a look at what else he might have, but the door closes too quick. I thank him as he hands me the water. "So, not a fox?" Robbie chuckles before getting a move on again.

This time we stay downstairs as Robbie walks us into a soundproof room full of instruments, cables, a monitor, etc. "No. Not a fox." On the walls are records and pictures of Milo Greene, as well as some with Lizzie and the band. In each photo, she's in, she's giving a wide smile and thumbs up to the camera.

I don't think I really ever noticed, but she has some weird-looking thumbs. Still cute, though.

I jump at the sudden strum of some cords, causing my head to snap to Robbie, who wears an apologetic look. "Sorry." "That's alright." Robbie shakes his head and stands his guitar up next to him. I turn my head back to look at a photo of Lizzie with... Taylor Swift?!?

I hear Robbie move behind me as I stare at the two lovelies in the photo. I don't think I've ever seen a celebrity be star stuck, but clear as I day I see it in this photo.

Let me tell you; it's not Taylor who's star-struck.

"What's the saying?" I turn to Robbie, confused. "Pictures taken before disaster?" I tilt my head confused, before he points back to the photo. "This?" I ask, also pointing. Robbie nods. "Lizzie embarrassed herself in front of Taylor that night. You don't know the story?" I slowly shake my head.

Robbie puts his head in his hand before running a hand through his hair.

"Okay, so..."

Liz POV

Lunch with Clay came and went without Y/N messaging me back. It doesn't even say she looked at the text. I know I'm overthinking, but after the events of the last 48 hours, the progress we have made is monumental.

I just want to keep that going.

I just want my Coffee Girl again.

"Lizzie, if you look at your phone again, I will take it." I put my phone away while mocking Aubrey. I turn to look out the window before I feel a slap land on my thigh. "Hey!"

"Don't think I didn't see you, Olsen!" I lean forward so Aubs can see me before rolling my eyes, earning a laugh from the actress next to me. "You know you deserved it."

I lean back in the passenger seat as we pull up to my gated community. I guess Robbies gated- where I used to live! Aubrey rolls her window down as I hunch myself over the center console.

"Ah, Ms. Plaza! It's been a while!"

"Oh well, you know I just couldn't stay away from you any longer, Matt!" I don't know why but Aubrey loves to flirt with Matt. The first time I watched it happen, I thought Matt's cheeks were going to be left permanently red from him blushing.

But after years of it, he's used to it.

They've even gone out once or twice, believe it or not!

Anyways. "Hey, Matt!" Matt leans himself down in his little booth to see me. "Ms. Olsen! I was starting to wonder if you were coming back." I roll my eyes. "Just visiting, and it's Lizzie; you know this, Matt." Matt nods. "You're right. Sorry, Lizzie." Matt opens his mouth before stopping himself. "What?"

Matt glances at Aubs before continuing. "Will you always just be visiting from now on?" I take in Matt's question before nodding. "I will." Matt looks a little disappointed but keeps his face professional. "Would you like me to ring Mr. Arnett and his guest?"

Aubrey shoots her head from me to Matt. "Guest?"

"Yes, Aub-" "Ms. Plaza." "Yes, Ms. Plaza."

Before Aubrey can say anything else, I stop her. "No, thank you, Matt. That's alright." Matt simply leans back up and allows us to enter the gates. "Bye, Matt!" Aubrey gives a little wave before she starts driving us to the house.

"So, are we not going to talk about it?" I turn my head. "Talk about what?" "The guest." I shake my head. "Robbies allowed to have people over." I watch as Aubrey shakes her head now. "Is he seeing anyone?"

"I don't know," I reply honestly. "What does it matter anyways? We're not together." Aubrey smiles at that. "Yes, but it shouldn't take him this little time to get over you."

"Aubs, I slept with Y/N before Robbie, and I officially ended things." Robbie wanted a break, but still... We turn down a street as Aubrey starts talking again. "I know that, but what I'm saying is, is that it shouldn't take him this little of time to get over YOU! You're Elizabeth Fucking Olsen. I'd be pissed if Robert moved on that fast."

I start laughing now, understanding why Aubs is getting worked up.

"I still fucking hate Boyd for what he did," Aubrey mutters as we pull into the driveway. Aubrey turns off the car and unbuckles herself while I do the same. However, I stop her before we exit the car.

"I appreciate it, Aubrey. I really do. But Robbie and I are done. He's allowed to move on no matter how hot I am." Aubrey smiles and rolls her eyes while we pull each other into a hug. "I still fucking hate Boyd too."

"Besides, it's probably his band," I say, closing the trunk with the guitar case in hand.

"Hmm."

"His guest." Aubrey makes an ohh face. "But where are the other cars?" I look around the drive and only see Aubreys and Robbies. "Yeah, you're right."

"Did I get in your head?" I sigh. "A smidge." But I take a second to shake it off before ringing the doorbell, and only minutes later am I greeted with Robbie in the doorway.

Aubs POV

I keep my eyes on the bearded man as he welcomes us into Lizzie's home.

I said what I said.

"Sorry to show up unannounced." Lizzie shines an apologetic look towards the man's way. Robbie quickly dismisses the apology saying it's not needed. The whole time he keeps his eyes on her.

He is looking healthier.

I don't bother removing my flats, knowing we won't be here long. But Lizzie removes hers while keeping her eyes on Robbie. It looks like they've moved on and started talking about the guitar in her hands. I would pay attention better, but a pair of Vans resting by the front door has grabbed my attention.

As Robbie and Lizzie make their way deeper into the house, I stop and examine the shoes.

Woman's pair.

Interesting.

I stand up and try to follow the voices of the other two. I find them in the living room. Lizzie has the guitar case resting up against the couch.

"As I said, it's Y/N's, and I was thinking in my free time you could start teaching me some stuff again, or you could just look after it until I need it or she.. needs it." I look back from Lizzie to Robbie and back. "Yeah, it's no sweat. I'd be happy to look after it." She smiles at Robbie, who gives one back before diverting his attention to me.

"Hey, Aubrey, how have you been?" We share a quick hug. "Good. Looking after this one!" I bring my body closer to Elizabeth's before wrapping my arms around her, causing her to giggle. "Then she's in great hands."

I lean in and give a kiss on Lizzie's head. "Yes, she is." This makes Lizzie lift herself off of me. "Alright. Alright. I'm going to check on the garden now. Aubs wanna come? Robbie?" Robbie and I look at each other. "You two head out. I'll be out soon." Lizzie nods as Robbie begins to walk towards a hallway.

"Come on, Plaza!" Lizzie starts pulling my hand to show me her ever-growing garden.

Now I've seen Lizzie smile, but there's something about her looking at her own garden that makes every other smile dwarf in comparison.

"It's beautiful." I pull my eyes away from the green to look at Lizzie, who frowns a little but shakes it away and starts walking towards a covered area that houses her tools and gloves. I follow her and watch as she scans the area around her.

She really misses it.

"Lizzie, you okay?" Lizzie looks at me curiously. "Yeah. I'm happy I can finally use and see my garden again but coming back here hit me harder than I realized." Lizzie walks over to a plant that I have zero idea about and starts snipping some leaves. I briefly asked her why she's doing that, and she said it was time or whatever. I mainly just watched her work, kill a spider she named Tom and work some more before she spoke up again.

"Aubrey?"

"Yeah?"

"I just thought, what if Y/N was here? Like what if I showed her the garden? The house. You know a place to live.. but we just started talking again, so I don't know.."

I watch as the brunette dismisses her thoughts and continues her tasks.

I pull her onto a side hug and tell her, "It'll work out." Because if I have a say, it will work for Lizzie. No matter what.

I release the Marvel star from my grip and pull my phone out.

It's been a while since Robbie said he'd join us. And when I say while. I mean a whiilleee.

"Lizzie, I'm going to be right back." Lizzie nods her head to me and smiles. Caring more about her plants right now, but I won't fault her this time. I make my way down the very constructed and planned walkways in her backyard before reaching the back doors. As I go to open it, it slides open.

"Oh shit! Fuck Robbie!" I clutch my heart as Robbie looks at me with a face full of guilt. "Oh my God, I'm sorry! I thought you saw me!"

"It's okay. Shit." Robbie laughs to himself as he calms down from the scare. "I was just coming to go use the bathroom."

"Oh, okay! You know where it is so.." Robbie moves out of the way, and that's when I notice the faintest sound of music coming from the hallway Robbie had turned down earlier. I turn my look to Robbie and notice him holding a binder. "What's that?" I ask once inside the house while Robbie steps out.

"Oh, it's something Lizzie and I started working on, and I just wanted to know her thoughts on it since we-" "Oh, okay!" I smile, cutting him off, closing the back door.

I make my way down the hall knowing there's a bathroom there. Not far from it is the room where I can barely make out someone singing.

Maybe Lizzie's right. Maybe it is one of Robbie's band members. What's their name Marlana? That's it! Just leave it only, Plaza. You're just being paranoid. I open and close the bathroom door behind me.

Y/N POV

It wasn't much longer after Robbie told me Liz's embarrassing Taylor Swift story that the weirdness was broken, and we could get to work.

We finally got on the same page regarding the song I Love Leaving and started running down lists the two of us had put together. And we were flowing.

We knocked out: Are You Thirsty? (By Johnny Fritz) A solo song for Robbie that needs a little more called That Funny Feeling (By Bo Burnham), and we fiddle around with All Eyes On Me (By Bo Burnham) some more before the doorbell went off.

And then Robbie was gone for a while.

He came back briefly to let me know that'd he'd be a minute, but that turned into way longer, so I just started flipping through my journal pages. Writing what came to mind here and there. Playing on Robbie's guitars while he wasn't in the room and skimming through some unfinished songs until finding Goodbye.

Having lyrics and words is one thing. Finding the right cords to play is another.

But it was working. Whatever I had was working.

So long, goodbye I'll see you when I see you You can pick the street I'll meet you on the other side

So long, goodbye Do I really have to finish? Do returns always diminish? Did I say that right?

I take a pause as I hear the door open behind me. Slowly turning myself around, I was fully expecting my eyes to meet Robbie's. "Hey, Robbie, I just had this-"

Not the eyes of Aubrey Plaza.

Not only that, but she looks pissed.

Her closing and locking the door confirms that.

Under any other circumstances, this would feel like a dream, but with how tense her jaw looks, I'd say it's the opposite.

I calmly put my guitar down to the side without my eyes leaving hers. "You're Aubrey Plaza?!" The Parks and Rec lover in me is freaking out. "What the fuck are you doing here?!"

Safe to say, this was not the reaction I was expecting.

"What do you mean?" I gulp as Aubrey takes a step closer to me. "Are you fucking Robbie?! Don't you dare lie to me!" I almost gag at the words she just said to me. "Are you serious?! No. Not in a million years. He's handsome and caring, but god no!" Aubrey's face softens from pissed to confused. "Then what are you doing here?"

"Me? What about you?!"

"I'm here with-" Aubrey stops and steps closer to me again. "I'm here with Lizzie!" That's when I take note of the hushed tone she's using. She's here with Liz!! "Now, what about you?!!" I quickly gesture to the scene behind me, not using any words at the thought of Liz being just outside this door.

I watch Aubrey look behind me. "Are you two in a band or something?"

"Or something." Aubrey makes a questioning noise. "Does Lizzie know?" I shake my head no. "Robbie and I talked about doing this before I ran into her at the airport, so I haven't had the right time or opportunity too."

"Will you?" I shrug. "Hmm. Y/N?" I sharply look up. April Ludgate just said my name. "Do you still love Lizzie?" I nod without a doubt. A sly smile appears on Aubrey's face. "Well, I'm going to get back to Lizzie, and whatever's going on in here." Aubrey gestures to the room. "I better be the first to know." I start to laugh but stop once I see the look on her face. "And don't worry, Y/N, you're secrets safe with me. I know how much you care for Lizzie. Sometimes all people need is time. Lizzie's willing to give you that. I know you know that she loves you." I nod again to her words and let myself smile. "Thank you."

Aubrey unlocks the door and opens it. "No problem. Although next time you receive a text from an unknown number, you better answer, or I'll die and haunt you for all eternity." Before I can even process the words that were just spoken to me, Aubrey is already gone and out the door.

"Does Aubrey Plaza have my number?" I quietly say to myself before feeling my phone buzz in my pocket. When I pull my phone out, I see I have a text from Liz from a while ago and a new one from an unknown number. That's Aubrey.

I decided to look over the Olsens text first.

Liz POV

So it turns out we're all set to put our finishing writings on Hattie Harmony!!

I couldn't believe I had forgotten about Hattie until I saw Robbie walk out with the papers for it. Ugh, Hattie's so cute.

Robbie and I sat outside talking over how we want the story to connect to younger kids but the more we talked, the more it made sense that it's not just a kid's book. It can be for everyone.

Our thoughts were only interrupted when Aubrey came back outside. She was gone for a bit. Oh God, I hope she didn't go into my bedroom again.

I watch as Aubrey makes her way closer to Robbie and me.

"Hey, Lizzie, you almost done?" Aubs gestures towards the garden, and no, I'm not, but now that I'm in town, I can always come back. "I can be. Why, what's up?" "Nothing. It's just getting later, and I figured Robbie might want some more time with his guest." Aubrey darts her eyes toward Robbie.

Shit. I completely forgot that Robbie has someone over right now. I quickly stand up and look at him. "Oh my Gosh. I'm so sorry. Matt mentioned you had someone over, and we're taking up your time." Robbie seems to relax a little. "Hey, no, it's alright. Truly."

I still feel bad, and now I kind of want to leave. I don't know why.

"No, we'll get out of your hair," Aubrey speaks up for the both of us as I move past her and head to a container of compost and dump the dead stems and leaves I've collected. I set the bucket down and behind, washing my tools and my hands before placing everything in its area. By the time I'm done, Robbie and Aubrey are already inside.

I close the back door behind me, and that's when I feel my phone buzz. I quickly look up to see Aubrey waiting in the kitchen while Robbie walks back down the stairs.

"Oh, my God!"

"What!!" Both Aubrey and Robbie react very quickly. "It's Y/N!" I hold up my phone, catching Aubrey's eyes glancing to Robbie while his face relaxes. Weird. I ignore them and look at the device in my hand.

"Okay, Friday or if not maybe some time next week? Remember something relaxing."

I cover my mouth with my hand, and I can't believe it. She actually wants to!

I double-check my schedule before typing back a cute response and let my mind begin filling millions of date ideas. This will be our first date since everything happened.

"What is it?" I look up at Aubrey, who is now in front of me. I cheekily show her the texts earning a squeal and a hug from her. I look around to see Robbie moving his attention to Y/N's guitar case. Aubrey places my phone back into my hand and gives me a nudge.

"Hey, I can take that to the room if you want?" I watch as Robbie tenses up. "No. No, that's alright. There's someone in there right now."

That's when I do hear the faint sound of a woman singing.

Their voice is beautiful.

"Someone?" I question. "Not part of Milo Greene?" Robbie shakes his head and looks away. That's when my eyes grow a little wider.

"Robbie, it's okay if you're seeing someone." Robbie goes to argue, but I cut him off. "It's fine. We'll get out of your hair. Thank you for taking care of this." I walk up and brush my hands along the case. "I'll let you know if I or Y/N ever need it." Robbie nods along. "Okay. Thanks, Lizzie, and I'm sorry ab-" "It's fine." I walk up to him and pull him into a hug. "I'm just happy you're taking care of you." I hear Robbie sigh into my neck before we release our grips.

Aubrey waves bye as we start gathering our stuff heading for the front door. That's when I notice a pair of Vans by the door. Who's Robbie dating a skater girl? "I'll see you soon!" I call back to Robbie without my eyes leaving the shoes. Hmm.

Y/N POV

This time I'm facing the door just in case it's not Aubrey or Robbie who decide to pay me a visit. God, do I tell her? I get trapped in thought before the door opens.

Before Robbie can even speak, I do. "Why the hell didn't you tell me Liz was here?!" Robbie looks shocked. "How did you know?" "Aubrey paid me a visit!" Robbie starts to slightly chuckle. "She's good." "Once again, why didn't you tell me!"

"I figured you'd freak out!" I roll my eyes. I hate it when men are right. "But they're gone, and Lizzie dropped off your guitar." My guitar? Oh! I get up and follow Robbie out of the room and down the hall. On the couch, rest my guitar case. I walk up to it and brush my hands along the sticker Davey made before moving my fingers down to the clasps, unlocking them.

Inside was my guitar, but what was on top of the guitar was unexpected.

"Did you know about this?" I ask Robbie as I reach my hand into the case. "I had no idea."

Liz POV

"Who do you think Robbies seeing?"

Aubrey immediately starts laughing at me, leaving me confused. Aubrey looks towards me before looking at the road again. "Oh, you're serious?" "Yeah.." "Lizzie, we don't even know it was someone he's seeing. Maybe it's a band member."

"Maybe," I say before looking out the window. It was definitely not a band member or a new band member. Their voice was too different for being a part of Milo Greene.

I shake my head and look down at my phone. Smiling at my open texts with Y/N.

I'm taking her out.

I get to take out my Coffee Girl.

Y/N POV

Dear Y/N,

Right now, I'm writing to you from my rooftop garden. This is the first letter I'm writing to you. I don't know how many I'll write, but my text and calls don't appear to be getting answered anytime soon. I don't know if you'll ever see this or even want them, but I'm still doing it.

It's been four days since you left.

Believe it or not, I never wanted this to happen. I miss you. Just when we were becoming something more, I fucked up. I will always be sorry and full of regret for the things that I said.

You mean more to me than I think you will ever know. Truly. You captured my heart within our first date. Meeting someone like you made me realize that there is no one like you.

I still love you. I always will. It's not puppy love or me being trapped in the honeymoon phase because we never had one. We sprung forward and back before we even knew what we had.

But when I asked you to be my girlfriend, I knew.

Love like this is real.

I love you, and I'm sorry.

Yours, Liz Coffee Bitch.

I haven't opened the other letters from my guitar case. Over the last couple of days, I've only read and re-read this one. Like I am now.

Re-reading it before my date with Liz.

It's now 5 pm on Friday. It's been two days since working with Robbie, and I've just been relaxing and enjoying my days. I explored LA a little bit. Kept up on my running and have just been waiting for tonight.

Liz didn't give me a dress code, but I decided to dress comfortably.

I felt my phone buzz in my hand and look down.

Aubrey 🔪

She just left Be sure to practice safe sex 😉

Jesus Christ.

A/N: I think this chapter is just okay but idk.

Part 31

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sorrel-haven · 9 months

Text

A moment to come to understanding

Some context: A little drabble about Kore and Tofu after their public spat at Café Melodia. Tofu found out Kore has the echo and was acting very stand-offish and Kore was having none of it. She went home before him in a huff.

Tofu belongs to @ro-valerius and she took the gpose ^^

Drabble under the cut!

…

Kore returned to the place she had come to call home in her time in Eorzea, frustrated, upset, and needing to hit something. She had just the thing for that, a training dummy she stole from the archer’s guild. Silvairre had said some unkind things, so she took the one he usually practiced with. She never claimed to not be petty.

After all, she did just steal Tofu’s jacket right off his back for his reaction to her having the echo. She went over the night's events in her head with each knife she chucked into the dummy. She should be happy! She has a real lead on her lost brother! A genuinely solid lead, the first one she’s had in three years. But no, all she could think about was the look Tofu had on his face when he told her to never use that ability on him. It was cold, as much as his voice was. He never looked at her like that before.

She hated it.

She was still outside, now practicing her dance forms when Tofu returned to the flower house. Her ear twitched as she realized he was leaned up by the door watching her practice. She threw her chakrams at the dummy with enough force that one stuck before she could recall it. She huffed, tossing aside the one that came back as she walked up to free the other. As she pulled at the wicked looking circular blade she sliced open her hand and hissed at the sharp pain. She fell to her knees as she pulled off her half gloves to assess the damage.

“Are you okay?” Tofu asked as he approached.

“I’m fine.” she snapped, as she closed her hand, but the wince gave her away.

Tofu gave her a pointed look, and she huffed, but acquiesced. She wordlessly held her hand palm up for him, looking away from him. He let out a light breath and gently took her hand in one of his as he brought up the other to heal it. A cut like this, while deep, was within his abilities to heal. They sat in silence for a while like that. Kore’s face began to flush with frustration as Tofu healed her without saying a word himself.

“I’m angry with you.” Kore broke the silence.

“I got that much.”

“You were so upset with me! And for something I didn’t ask for! I didn’t lose my control on purpose. Sometimes a memory is just too powerful…”

“I kno-”

“And you went on to imply I’d just… Root around in your memories for fun! Oh yes let me just take a look into that head of yours I’m sure I’ll find more than just hot air.” She took back her now healed hand. She stared at it while she flexed her hand to get feeling back.

She scoffed, “The worst part is you’re right… I didn’t use my ability on you sure, but I would have. I have used it to track my brother since I got the power.”

“I hate that you’re right…”she said almost under her breath. “I-”

Tofu snapped her out of her own head as he gently lifted her chin to look at him. He smiled softly.

"I really am sorry. You want to find your brother, I understand that. I, too, would do anything to find Hana if she went missing. You, too. Any of you. I'd go through any lengths to find any of you if you went missing. I can't fault you. I shouldn't have been that way."

The smile faded as his social awkwardness kicked in.

It seemed he struggled for words. "I'm...still learning how to...be..." He shook his head, unable to find the phrasing. "I'm still learning how to trust."

Trust.

The word made her tear up as she thought about the implication.

“Didn’t you listen? You shouldn’t trust me. I would have peered into your memories! I would have done it purposefully.” She sniffled a little. “You’re right to be upset with me, I’ve looked into, so, many memories and the only reason I didn’t turn it on you was because I was… distracted.” Those last words seemed to hurt to say.

He sat down in front of her to meet her eyes. She met his gaze searching his eyes for a sliver of that disdain she saw before, and found only his neutral, but calm, expression.

“Then look.” A bitter smile crossed his lips. “And if you pity me after looking… So be it. I am a pitiful man after all.”

Tofu continued, “ But even if I’m pitiful, I’ll protect you. I’ll help you. I’ll trust you.” His expression softened. “And we’ll get you and your brother together soon, alright?”

She studied his face as she absorbed his words. She nodded in response, tears still threatened to spill. After a moment she spoke again.

“I think the only truly pitiful man in the family is Autumn. He’s like a wet leaf.” she sniffled. “Can’t even crunch.”

The joke landed its hit as Tofu laughed, caught off guard.

“Aw, cut him some slack, he can’t remember who he was!” he managed to get out between the laughs.

Kore laughed too as she wiped away a tear from her eye.

“But he’s so whiny about everything, like he’s so burdened by it all.” She joked… mostly.

He reached out with a gentle smile, cupping her face with one hand and wiped away the tears she missed with the pad of his thumb. Kore sucked in a breath at the touch.

"He could be and we don't know it." It sounded light hearted, but there was some truth to his words. "In any case, it's late. Get cleaned up and get some rest, yea?"

“Okay.” Kore felt her face start to turn red and tried to hold it in.

She quickly got up to head inside. She brushed off her skirt in case of any stray grass and noticed that she was still wearing his jacket that she stole. She stared at the cuff as she stooped to retrieve her chakrams. She couldn’t just give it back just like that. No, he would not win this night.

“You know. I do think Yinn was right.” she said as she headed towards the door. “This jacket does suit me better. I might have to keep it.”

Tofu groaned as he stood up.

“But I need that for Eòlas!”

#ffxiv #ffxiv oc #ffxiv gpose #ffxiv viera #original writing #kore grimvik #guest appearance

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